[April 10, 2020] Securian Financial Waives 401(k) COVID-19 and Hardship Distribution Fees, Offers Employers Free Fiduciary and Wellness Services

Securian Financial is waiving all COVID-19 related 401(k) distribution fees for the retirement plans it serves as recordkeeper and, moving forward, will permanently make all hardship distributions fee-free to customers-regardless of the triggering event. Additionally, Securian Financial will act as an ERISA 3(16) fiduciary for participant distributions and loans under the CARES Act, at no additional cost, for its existing full-service 401(k) employer customers. The company will also provide these customers with a suite of wellness services to make available to their employees, free-of-charge, through the end of the year. "Many of our retirement plan customers are struggling and need help during this challenging time. We are here to support them and their employees by providing financial relief and one-on-one wellness counseling resources, at no cost, to those who need it most," said Ted Schmelzle, Securian Financial's senior director of retirement solutions. Under the recently enacted CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act, individuals younger than age 59 can withdraw up to $100,000 from their 401(k) without paying the usual 10% penalty provided the distribution meets certain criteria. Securian Financial will not charge customers a fee for COVID-19 related 401(k) distributions, and to ensure equitable treatment, the company is permanently waiving all 401(k) hardship distribution fees. For all full-service 401(k) employer customers who provide relief to their employees under the CARES Act, Securian Financial will assume the role of ERISA 3(16) fiduciary1 at no additional cost-reducing employers' administrative responsibilities and lessening their fiduciary burden. Securian Financial will also waive the ordinary applicable plan amendment fee. The wellness services Securian Financial is making vailable free-of-charge to its 401(k) customers through the end of the year include access to professional financial and grief counselors, self-service tools to prepare legal documents such as a will, power of attorney or health care directive, and relevant education.



A history of retirement plan service excellence Securian Financial has been helping people save for retirement since 1930. Its platform features long-tenured retirement specialists, fiduciary-friendly fee levelization practices and extensive administrative outsourcing, most of which is offered at no additional cost. Securian Financial provides services to employer-sponsored retirement plans through group annuity products issued by Minnesota Life Insurance Company.

ABOUT SECURIAN FINANCIAL At Securian Financial, we're here for family. And we're here because of it. We're guided by our purpose: helping customers build secure tomorrows. Since 1880, we've been building a uniquely diversified company that has outlasted economic ups and downs while staying true to our customers. We're committed to the markets we serve, providing insurance, investment and retirement solutions that give families the confidence to focus on what's truly valuable: banking memories with those who matter most. 1. Securian Financial's Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) 3(16) fiduciary role as part of this free offer to its existing customers involves approving and processing loan and distribution requests resulting from the CARES Act. Plan Sponsors may outsource a variety of administrative tasks to accredited, independent professionals called 3(16) fiduciaries. This information is a general discussion of the relevant federal tax laws provided to promote ideas that may benefit a taxpayer. It is not intended for, nor can it be used by any taxpayer for the purpose of voiding federal tax penalties. Taxpayers should seek the advice of their own advisors regarding any tax and legal issues specific to their situation. This is a general communication for informational and educational purposes. The materials and the information are not designed, or intended, to be applicable to any person's individual circumstances. It should not be considered investment advice, nor does it constitute a recommendation that anyone engage in (or refrain from) a particular course of action. If you are seeking investment advice or recommendations, please contact your financial professional. Securian Financial's qualified retirement plan products are offered through a group variable annuity contract issued by Minnesota Life Insurance Company. Securian Financial is the marketing name for Securian Financial Group, Inc. and affiliates. Minnesota Life Insurance Company is an affiliate of Securian Financial Group, Inc. Securities and investment advisory services offered through Securian Financial Services, Inc. registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC. DOFU 04-2020

1146324 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005020/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
YEREVAN.  The essence of the protocol is that in conducting proceedings, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) may have data that include confidential information and other such information.

Gevorgyan, Chairman of the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition (SCPEC) of Armenia, stated this at Fridays meeting of the Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration of the National Assembly, during the discussion of the issue of ratification of the protocol on Armenia's joining the agreement on protection of confidential information and its publication during the exercise of control over the observance of the common rules of competition by the EEC

At the same time, he clarified that the question also lies in the specific regime of work with such information, how to ensure its confidentiality, and how to circulate the respective documents.

"This agreement does not contain a provision on the providing of information of national importance and state secrets," Gevorgyan explained.

After the debates, the MPs endorsed this protocol.
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed readiness to host the regular session of the Eurasian Inter-Governmental Council in Armenia in autumn, the PM said this during the Councils video conference on April 10.

Armenia is ready to host the regular session of the Inter-Governmental Council this autumn. We hope the pandemic will already be overcome before the session, the PM said.

The session of the Eurasian Inter-Governmental Council, scheduled to take place in Minsk, is currently being held via a video conference due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally has surpassed 1,608.000. 95,837 people have died from the virus so far.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
OROVILLE, Calif. - Wednesday evening a man was arrested by members of the Oroville Police Department in the area of Martin Luther King, Jr. Park on B Street in Oroville on several charges including possession of a short-barreled shotgun, shooting at an uninhabited vehicle and bringing a controlled substance into the Butte County Jail.

Sylvester Howze is not allowed to possess a firearm, as he is a convicted felon. He was arrested after the incident at his home on C Street in Oroville. His bail is set at $85,000.

When police responded to the reports about a man carrying a firearm and pointing it at people at the park, they were told shots had been fired at the location.

Officers said they found a victim who reported that an unknown subject had returned to the park after an earlier physical altercation. The victim told police the tires of their vehicle were shot by the subject, who then fled westbound on C. St. in a maroon-colored sedan.

The suspect and vehicle were located in the 2000 block of C Street, said police. They said the subject, 56-year-old Sylvester Howze, matched the description provided to them by witnesses and seen on video surveillance.

After Howze was arrested a search warrant was obtained. According to the Oroville Police Department, the search resulted in the discovery of a short-barreled shotgun.

Sylvester Howze of Oroville
By PTI

BHOPAL: As Madhya Pradesh battles rising number of COVID-19 cases, burdening its health infrastructure, government data showed the state has just one ventilator for every 75,000 people and one intensive care unit (ICU) bed for every 47,000.

However, to the satisfaction of authorities, the availability of hydroxychloroquine, a common anti-malaria drug seen as a potential cure for COVID-19, is around 30 tablets per person, according to an analysis of state government data.

Madhya Pradesh has so far registered 426 coronavirus positive cases and 33 fatalities.

Indore leads the tally with 235 COVID-19 cases followed by Bhopal, which has 98 patients of the infection which has now spread to 20 districts of the state.

The state, having a population of over 7.5 crore, has a total of 993 ventilators and 1,598 ICU beds in government and private hospitals put together (as on March 9, 2020), according to the data.

Overall, 29,914 beds, including 9,492 in isolation wards, are available in states hospitals, the data said.

If compared to total population, Madhya Pradesh has just one ventilator (whose count now stands at 993) for about every 75,000 people and one ICU bed for every 47,000, it showed.

Asked about the low ratio of ventilators and ICU beds vis-a-vis population, Principal Secretary (Medical Education) Sanjay Shukla told PTI that efforts are being made to improve overall medical facilities and procure necessary healthcare equipment in the state.

The state government has placed orders to procure 200 ventilators but as everybody knows that manufacturers of life- saving equipment are overburdened these days so it may take time to receive supply, Shukla said.

He said there is no shortage of funds.

"Development of healthcare infrastructure needs time. We also need expertise to operate these ventilators. Funds are available."

"We are making all-round efforts to improve medical facilities in the state to deal with the COVID-19 menace, said the Principal Secretary. Shukla said private hospitals are also arranging additional ventilators to deal with the coronavirus crisis. The state has 29,380 Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits and 1. 50 lakh N95 masks, two important protective gears required for healthcare workers who are on the frontline of the anti-coronavirus fight, he said.

Meanwhile, health commissioner Faiz Ahmed Kidwai has called for rational use of PPE kits, which healthcare workers and those deployed at quarantine centres, hospitals and laboratories need the most at this crucial time.

On the other hand, the state has about 24.25 lakh tablets of hydroxychloroquine, the data showed.

The drug is used to prevent and treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, among other ailments.

It is seen as offering a viable therapeutic solution to coronavirus.

The virus sneaked in Madhya Pradesh on March 20 when four people, including two women with foreign travel history, tested positive for COVID-19 in Jabalpur city.

Of them, three have recovered and returned home.

Some top officials of the health department, including two IAS officers, who attended meetings chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, have also tested positive for COVID-19 in Bhopal.

In Bhopal, 50 health workers, including doctors, and 12 police personnel have been found to be infected with the viral disease.
It was only in retrospect that San Franciscans remembered they started seeing dead rats  far more than the usual number  around the streets of Chinatown in January 1900.

The city was dirty, though, a maze of muddy, unpaved streets and leaky sewage pipes, so most thought little of it.

One of the few who did was Dr. Joseph J. Kinyoun, the chief quarantine officer of the Marine Hospital Service on Angel Island. Though not yet 40, he was one of Americas brightest epidemiological minds and the founder of the nations Hygienic Laboratory. Hed been fretting for years that the United States was on the brink of the first bubonic plague epidemic in its history  and with good reason.

Plague was circulating in Asia, recently taking 6 million lives in India. Because of San Franciscos position as Americas biggest Western port, Kinyoun expected the city to see plague cases before any other.

He instituted a new policy: All ships from Asian or Hawaiian ports must be inspected before disembarking in San Francisco. The reaction from Californias businessmen and newspapers was dismissive. They accused Kinyoun of overstepping his authority and waved away any suggestion of a potential outbreak.

San Francisco is plague-proof, the Examiner boasted in February 1900.

It is a disease peculiar to the Orient and seldom, if ever, attacks Europeans There is absolutely no danger of the plague ever getting here, echoed Navy Surgeon General W.K. Van Reypen in a remarkable effort to either erase or forget the Black Death epidemic that killed up to 60 percent of Europes population in the 1300s.

Unfortunately, it wasnt yet well-established that plague was transmitted from animals and fleas, so ship checks were only for infected people. For months, historians now believe, rats and their piggy-backing fleas leapt from ships into San Franciscos streets, settling into the citys most-crowded, least-maintained district: Chinatown.

---

For many upper and middle-class white San Franciscans, the first sign something was wrong in Chinatown on March 7, 1900, were their empty kitchens.

Switchboard operators noticed next, as lines lit up with angry callers, demanding be transferred to their missing Chinese servants.

From there, word began trickling out around the city: Chinatown was locked down.

Looky-loos found the neighborhood roped off between Broadway, Kearney, California and Stockton. Police officers paced the borders, keeping its approximately 25,000 to 35,000 mainly Chinese residents inside; white residents and visitors had been escorted out the night before.

The Chinese were not the only people who had to suffer, complained The Chronicle. The white employers of the Chinese awoke to find that there was nobody on hand to prepare breakfast.

The quarantine came from an order issued by the San Francisco Board of Health, which the day before had confirmed its first case of plague in the city. The dead man was a Chinese laborer who lived in Chinatown, and his autopsy showed a number of the buboes, or lymph node swellings, that give the bubonic plague its name.

The news was met with near-universal outrage by businessmen, politicians and the citys big three newspapers  the Bulletin, the Call and the Chronicle  which took to calling it the plague fake. (Perhaps more predictably, the William Randolph Hearst-owned Examiner decided to go all-in on the plague, playing the outbreak as sensationally as possible to drive up readership.)

The three papers quickly settled on a strategy, teaming up with California Gov. Henry Gage and high-ranking business leaders to align their budding campaign against Kinyoun and the Board of Health. They all knew plague in California would mean the temporary end of many things: travel, tourism, free-flowing trade and their unfettered wealth.

"Apprehension that an epidemic might generate widespread furor, and cause severe economic consequences, encouraged the business interests to deny the truth," wrote Michigan professor of nursing Philip A. Kalisch. "... Thus, for a few dollars they were willing to endanger the lives of thousands of people.

This plague case was invented, the papers claimed, simply in order to increase the health boards funding. The most dangerous plague which threatens San Francisco is not of the bubonic type, the Call wrote. It was the plague of politics.

But the plague  quite real, as it turned out  had only just started to tear California apart.

The events that unfolded in San Francisco from 1899 to 1901 [are] still being researched and written about more than a century later, wrote the National Institutes of Health.[They] represent one of the most infamous chapters in U.S. public health history.

---

To verify the coroners findings, Kinyoun took samples from the deceased to test on animals at his lab on Angel Island. He infected a few guinea pigs and a monkey. A few days after the Call definitively declared it a plague scare, all the animals died.

San Francisco Mayor James Phelan ordered 100 doctors to make a sweep of Chinatown, knocking on every door and identifying every possible plague case. It sent terror through the Chinese community, which was understandably fearful of what would happen if a plague victim was found in their homes: A few months before, 4,000 homes were burned to the ground in Honolulus Chinatown during a plague outbreak.

When doctors went looking, they found no bodies and no sick  of any kind. They suspected the residents hid sick, dying and dead friends and family to keep themselves safe. Although they found no bodies, they did find horrifying, squalid conditions. Most white landlords had no political pressure or personal desire to keep up their Chinese renters homes. Many, the doctors found, were living tightly packed in slums with floors soaked through with years of raw, seeping sewage.

Print Collector/The Print Collector via Getty Im

It was the perfect breeding ground for rats and fleas, and Kinyoun started seeing a regular stream of dead. There were dozens he was sure had died of the plague.

On May 15, Kinyoun wired the U.S. surgeon general with his suspicions that community transmission was now widespread, as he could find no connection between confirmed cases. He begged the state for help but was met with hostility as business owners fought to suppress even the word plague.

This will cost San Francisco between six and ten million dollars, one merchant told the media darkly.

Seeing that Kinyoun refused to stop researching plague cases, Gage and his cronies changed tack. It was time to discredit him.

In a stunning address to the California legislature, Gage raged against Kinyoun. Plague fakers were casting a fearful shadow on California, Gage said, assisted by a federal officer, one Doctor Kinyoun. He then made the astonishing accusation that the plague outbreak was real, but it was caused by Kinyoun, who was inserting imported plague samples into dead bodies to create positive tests.

Gages solution was to propose two bills. The first made it a felony, punishable by life in prison, to import plague cultures or slides to the state. The second made it a crime to write or publish allegations of plague without permission from the California Board of Health  permission Kinyoun would never receive. Californias top doctor was a man who agreed to deny the plagues existence in the state; for his cooperation, Gage appointed him state surgeon general.

Although the second bill didnt pass, the chilling effect was enough. In January 1901, Kinyoun was sent four federal health officials to assist him. When they arrived at their promised lab space on the UC Berkeley campus, they were told they had to leave; it was assumed the university had been threatened to turn them away or risk losing state funding.

In the end, it was business interests that eventually turned the tide. In April 1901, the governor of Texas declared he would cut off all trade with California if they didnt prove theyd handled their obvious plague epidemic. We have little confidence in the California authorities, he said. In the absence of proof, he considered the states silence on the matter to be evidence enough that things were bad in San Francisco.

In exchange for their silence  and Kinyouns immediate reassignment out of state  Gage finally allowed federal officers in to inspect, test and diagnose suffering Chinatown residents. On June 1, he declared victory over the contagion.

On July 5, another Chinese man died of the plague. By July 8, four people in one Japanese household had it. At the end of the summer, there were dozens more cases, all of which Gage claimed were syphilis victims.

Officials from 21 states elected to hold a national conference to decide how to proceed. At the conference, they called the California Board of Health grossly negligent and termed Gage obstructive at best. The only course of action was banning all traffic from California, including trains.

Railroad barons were furious. They demanded state officials do something. So, at last, California cleaned up Chinatown. Unsafe and unsanitary buildings were demolished and rebuilt. Rats were killed. Rotting floors were replaced.

The epidemics official death toll is 119, but its impossible to know if more cases were hidden, covered up or never discovered.

It is worth noting that when plague cropped back up in 1907, it was found among some white residents in Oakland and San Francisco. This time, officials jumped into action immediately, spending $2 million to trap and kill rats  over $55 million today.

---

The episode ended Kinyouns career as a federal medical officer. As a final indignity, as he was leaving town for a reassignment in Detroit, he was arrested for attempted murder. A fisherman claimed Kinyoun ordered him to be shot. It all turned out to be a misunderstanding  the actual shooters were soldiers under orders to stop the fisherman from aiding an escaping prisoner  but it was yet another strange, upsetting episode in the San Francisco chapter of Kinyouns life.

In 1902, Kinyoun tendered his resignation to the Marine Hospital Service, becoming a private citizen for the remainder of his life. Although he didnt stick around to see it materialize, his work with the MHS and his beloved Hygienic Laboratory laid the foundation for what would eventually become what is today the National Institutes of Health.

His biography on the NIH site lovingly refers to him as the indispensable forgotten man and Father of the NIH.

Dr. Kinyouns offense was that he simply told the truth, editorialized the Journal of the American Medical Association upon his resignation, and did not actively go to work to suppress it.

Katie Dowd is a senior digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: katie.dowd@sfgate.com
The authorities said each of the attacks happened within about a day of each other in 2013.

As we gather corroborating evidence, we have reached out to other possible sexual assault victims, Ms. Lacey said in a news release. If we find new evidence of a previously unreported crime, as we did here, we will investigate and determine whether additional criminal charges should be filed.

Lawyers for Mr. Weinstein could not be immediately reached on Friday.

The victim in the latest case was first interviewed by law enforcement officials in October 2019 as a possible corroborating witness in the charges brought in January.

Last month, she provided detectives with information confirming that an assault took place within the 10-year statute of limitation  on May 11, 2010  at a Beverly Hills hotel, Ms. Lacey said.

Prosecutors have started the process of requesting temporary custody of Mr. Weinstein from New York, the first of several steps in the extradition process. California prosecutors said it was unclear when he would be transferred to Los Angeles County.

Prosecutors also on Friday announced that two cases involving Mr. Weinstein were declined for prosecution because the victims did not want to testify against him.
Run, a new romantic comedy with twists to flatter a pretzel festival, follows former lovers who are escaping their lives. And it arrives when most of us cant even escape our own homes. To watch the show now is to entertain an impossible fantasy. No, its not receiving a text from your college ex, not upending your life to meet said ex, not the subsequent hotel room sex, though Run does include all that.

Its the running itself  by plane and train and pleasure boat and hitchhiked ride from a shy taxidermist.

The idea of being able to go anywhere, the idea of being able to be close to people by choice, I wonder how that will color peoples experience of the show, Merritt Wever, who plays the female lead in Run, said.

Run, which introduces the first of its seven episodes on April 12, opens with Wevers Ruby, neck-deep in ennui in a Ralphs parking lot. Her phone vibrates with a one-word text: RUN. Moments later, Ruby is en route to the airport, on her way to meet Billy (Domhnall Gleeson), the former boyfriend she hasnt seen in 17 years.
New Delhi, April 10 : Urging people not to resort to panic buying, the Retailers Association of India (RAI) has said that there is adequate stock of essential food products including grains and pulses.

In a statement, the industry body has said that it is working with state governments to assure the availability of essential products.

"There is enough stock of grains, pulses and other daily essentials for the lockdown period and beyond. There is no need for citizens to believe otherwise and engage in panic buying," it said.

The entire government machinery at the central, state and local levels has been working relentlessly along with RAI and other stakeholders to ensure a smooth supply of essentials, it said.

RAI, along with its members, is working closely with various state governments and with the Centre to resolve supply concerns with regards to essentials as they arise at the earliest, said the retailers' body.

"All stakeholders are working at war footing with the sole intent of ensuring citizens are safe and comfortable and do not face any hardships for accessing daily essentials," it said.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa on Friday assured Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of USD 2.2 billion (about Rs 16,500 crore) support to India in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a call, Asakawa commended the Indian government's decisive response to the pandemic, including a national health emergency program, tax and other relief measures provided to businesses and a USD 23 billion (Rs 1.7 lakh crore) economic relief package announced on March 26 to provide immediate income and consumption support to the poor, women, and workers affected by the three-week nationwide lockdown.

"ADB is committed to supporting India's emergency needs. We are now preparing USD 2.2 billion in immediate assistance to the health sector and to help alleviate the economic impact of the pandemic on the poor; informal workers; micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; and the financial sector," Asakawa said.

ADB is also engaged with the private sector to meet its financing needs during this period, ADB said in a statement.

"ADB assistance for India will be further increased if needed. We will consider all financing options available with us to meet India's needs, including emergency assistance, policy-based loans, and budget support to facilitate swift disbursement of ADB funds, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Local businesses are a linchpin of our community, and they need the support of their loyal customers now more than ever.

If youre wondering what you can do to support the local businesses during this unbelievable time, The Southern Illinoisan has an easy solution: "Shop Local" is a new partnership launched this week that connects us all to these vitally important local businesses through an online marketplace.

Purchasing a gift card through this marketplace provides local businesses a timely boost, while giving you the flexibility to shop at a later date or through their online Ecommerce where available or directly through a phone call or text. These local businesses need this important revenue to help them through this challenging time.

Special thanks goes to Reynolds Roofing and Exteriors for sponsoring this initiative so there are no setup fees for any local business. The online marketplace is free to any local business that wishes to participate in offering gift cards to its customers.

Know someone with a birthday or who could use a bit of cheer? Send them a local gift card, or purchase gift cards now for things you know youll need later or when your favorite business reopens.

Every little bit helps right now. So check out our Shop Local page at https://localbusiness.lee.net/southern-illinoisan to see who is offering gift cards and watch for more opportunities to help as additional businesses sign on.

If your business would like more information on how to get listed for free, please send an email to advertising@thesouthern.com.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Corona has engulfed more than 188 countries of the world. The South Asian Association for Regional Co-Operation (SAARC) has announced forming an emergency fund. Pakistan seems to be backing down after donating 30 lakh USD to the SAARC Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund. Regarding this, the Foreign Ministry has said that the seriousness of each nation can be gauged from their behaviour.

Sonia will give important instructions to Congress-ruled Chief Ministers

On Thursday, Pakistan's Foreign Office announced that it will contribute 30 lakh USD to the SAARC Covid-19 Emergency Fund. Pakistan's statement comes weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed to create funds during a video conference of SAARC member countries.

Corona: African countries struggling with lack of facilities, only 5 beds for 1 million people

On the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the SAARC countries immediately showed their solidarity for contribution to the Covid-19 Emergency Fund, but this announcement was made recently by Pakistan. Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Shrivastava said in a statement that Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka also gave preliminary consent to the fund. He said that as far as India is concerned, the commitment made by the Prime Minister is in its final stage. Except for Pakistan, all other SAARC countries immediately donated to the Corona Virus Emergency Fund.

petition seeking corona test at doorstep filed in SC
New Delhi/Washington: As the deadly coronavirus continues to claim lives in US at an alarming rate, a new report suggests that the country's spy agencies were tracking the rise of covid-19 as early as November. The information has come at a time when President Donald Trump has maintained that he learned about the seriousness of the coronavirus "just prior" to enacting US travel restrictions on China that took effect February 2.

A CNN report quoted its sources as saying that the US intelligence gathered details in November and in the weeks following offered multiple early warnings about the potential severity of the pandemic. However, the exact date of the first report remains unclear.

Intelligence is often only elevated to the highest levels of the government once analysts and officials reach a certain threshold of confidence in their assessment. That day came on January 3, the first day the President's daily briefing included information the US intelligence community had gathered about the contagion in China and the potential it had to spread, including to the US, according to a person briefed on the matter.

But behind the scenes, the work had been going on for weeks, with the CIA and other intelligence agencies combing through their collection to find out what China was beginning to grapple with, the CNN report stated.

ABC News reported earlier on Wednesday that the National Center for Medical Intelligence, a branch of the Defense Intelligence Agency, compiled information in November warning that a new virus was spreading through China's Wuhan region.

A defense official denied any such report existed, telling CNN, "NCMI and the Defense Intelligence Agency spent considerable time over the last 24 hours examining every possible product that could have been identified as related to this topic and have found no such product."

The Pentagon also issued a statement denying the ABC News report late on Wednesday. "As a matter of practice the National Center for Medical Intelligence does not comment publicly on specific intelligence matters. However, in the interest of transparency during this current public health crisis, we can confirm that media reporting about the existence/release of a National Center for Medical Intelligence Coronavirus-related product/assessment in November of 2019 is not correct. No such NCMI product exists," Colonel Dr R Shane Day, director of the National Center for Medical Intelligence, was quoted as saying.

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Hyten seemed to push back on reports that the US intelligence community was aware of the coronavirus in November, saying Thursday that the first intelligence reports he saw were in January.

Asked when the first intelligence streams about the virus began to arrive, Hyten said, "We went back and looked at everything in November, December. The first indication we have were the reports out of China in late December that were in the public forum. And the first intel reports I saw were in January.

The question of when the President was first aware of the Covid-19 threat has become politically sensitive as the US death toll surges, the administration's response comes under fire and Trump repeatedly denies it was possible to know how deadly the virus would be.

On Wednesday, Trump said that he only learned about the seriousness of the coronavirus "just prior" to enacting US travel restrictions on China that took effect February 2.
Workers in industries across Russia are being sent back to their factories, even as the country reports record increases in the number of coronavirus infections, the total number of which now exceed 10,000, distributed across 50 different regions.

With the support of the federal government, local officials have already allowed dozens of enterprises to reopen this week, with more expected to come back online starting April 13. Some plants that produce non-essential products were never shuttered, despite the fact that President Vladimir Putin declared the entire month of April to be a paid national holiday and ordered the shutdown of businesses.

In Moscow oblast, the region encompassing the capital city, which has the majority of COVID-19 infections and saw a jump of 859 in just one day, enterprises run by international giants Mars, Campina, Kimberly-Clark, Wilo, and PepsiCo, to name a few, never closed their doors. Luxury carmaker Mercedes will restart operations on April 13 at its facility in the area, where more than 1,000 employees work.

Seven hundred miles to the south, in Rostov oblast, Guardian, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Mars, Tekhnonikol, a producer of industrial and consumer building materials, and the Segezha Group, an international holding company that makes packaging materials, have continued their operations uninterrupted. They are running at full capacity. PepsiCo, for instance, is producing 230 tons of product every 24 hours.

After concerns erupted at the Rostov-area NEVZ plant, a factory that produces transportation and rolling-stock materials, over the violation of social distancing measures because crowds formed at checkpoints to enter the facility, production is now back online. According to the company, this week 1,500 workers have been recalled to their jobs, with another 1,500 to 3,000 expected to join them shortly.

Auto plants in Kaliningrad and Ulyanovsk oblasts will restart beginning Monday of next week. In the region of Novosibirsk, an area in southern Siberia with a population of 1.5 million where there are dozens of COVID-19 cases and thousands of people are under medical observation, the governor authorized all enterprises associated with manufacturing, mineral extraction, construction and education to start work again. In Pskov oblast, a western region that borders Latvia, the government announced that salons and hairdressers can reopen.

In every case, local officials insist that the conditions inside Russias factories are safe for workers and that necessary precautions are being taken to protect employees. In Yaroslavl oblast, for instance, where there are a dozen known cases and hundreds of people under isolation orders, officials report that four enterprises are being closely monitored for compliance with workplace safety laws. One government representative told the media that even in the case of a single infection, monitoring is so tight that they would discover and localize the spread immediately.

However, according to a 2010 article published in the Journal of International Circumpolar Health, The occupational safety system in Russia has severely deteriorated in the last 2 decades, with legislators tending to promote the interests of industry and business, resulting in the neglect of occupational safety and violation of workers rights. The majority of workers are employed in conditions that do not meet rules of safety and hygiene. More than 60 percent of [occupational accidents] can be attributed to management practicesviolation of safety regulations, poor organization of work, deficiency of certified occupational safety specialists and inadequate personnel training.

In the countrys far eastern Primorskiy region, two workers at a factory that produces military helicopters have fallen ill with COVID-19. One person has died, and another two are under observation for the infection at a hospital in Vladivostok. Despite testing negative for coronavirus, imaging of the patients lungs indicates they have contracted the disease.

According to official Russian estimates, fully 30 percent of COVID-19 tests produce false negatives, such that hospitals in Moscow are now treating known coronavirus patients and those simply diagnosed with pneumonia on the same ward, based on the assumption that the latter are really unrecorded COVID-19 victims.

Dependent on their paychecks for survival, Russian workers are under immense pressure to continue in or return to their jobs, regardless of the dangers posed by the coronavirus and the questionable assurances of management and state officials.

In Moscow, the wealthiest city in the country, officials have announced additional unemployment benefits of up to 7370 rubles (US$100). When combined with the maximum amount granted by the federal government, this could bring the total amount a laid-off worker receives to 19,500 rubles ($264), which is barely above the subsistence minimum set by the federal government itself.

Prices for food and medicine are skyrocketing around the country. According to Rosstat, the official statistical agency, the cost of tomatoes, onions, garlic, lemons and buckwheat increased between 6 and 14 percent in March alone. This week, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) reported being deluged with complaints by consumers of price gouging for fruit, vegetables, buckwheat and sugar. Experts estimate that prices could rise by a further 20 percent in the coming weeks.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin proposed on Thursday a price freeze that would limit increases in the cost of medicine, food and other basic necessities to 10 percent. Even if implemented, this would still leave Russian families in dire straits. With the value of the countrys currency having fallen to 74 rubles to the US dollar, down from about 60 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, households are confronting a substantial drop in real income, as layoffs grip the country.

The Kremlin continues to announce various social measures to offset the impact of the health crisis, including one-time payments to families with children and medical personnel involved in combatting coronavirus. These range from 5,000 ($100) to 50,000 ($1,000) rubles. However, the main promise of the governmentthat workers will continue to receive their April wages during the national holiday mandated by the governmentis false, as businesses have been left to their own devices to determine how to fund those payments. In addition, thousands in Russia work off the books and therefore have no formal employer, should the government provide some means to finance Aprils supposedly paid time off.
An employee of a nearby hospital that has a special coronavirus intake area leaves a market in protective clothing on April 09, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Hospitals in New York City, which has been especially hard hit by the coronavirus, are facing shortages of beds, ventilators and protective equipment for medical staff. New York City has nearly 88,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of this afternoon, according to health data.

New York state has more confirmed coronavirus cases than any other country outside of the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The state has at least 161,807 confirmed cases, overtaking Spain, Italy, France and Germany. The United States leads as the country with the most confirmed cases, clocking in at over 466,000.

New York state, though it beats out every country but the United States in terms of confirmed cases, has fewer deaths than countries like Spain, France, and Italy. Spain's reported 15,843 deaths, according to the latest tallies, while Italy has reported 18,279 and France has 12,228.

New York City, which has become the epicenter of the outbreak, has had at least 5,150 deaths, according to the latest tallies from Johns Hopkins University.

China, where the virus is believed to have originated, has 82,940 confirmed cases, according to the latest data. But the Chinese government has deliberately underreported the total number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the country, the U.S. intelligence community told the White House, according to a report. China denied the accusation, calling it a "despicable attempt to put political interests above human life."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been vocal about New York receiving support from the federal government to deal with the outbreak. He has asked the White House for ventilators, masks and other respiratory and medical equipment to ensure the safety of those on the front lines responding to the pandemic.

"We're in a battle, right, but this is about a war," Cuomo said at a press conference in Albany on Thursday.

"This virus is very, very good at what it does. We lost more lives yesterday than we have to date." New York has lost more lives and is suffering greater economic damage than from the 9/11 attacks, Cuomo said.

President Donald Trump, in response, invoked the Defense Production Act, a statute that gives the White House authority to compel companies to manufacture much-needed goods. He's since called upon companies like General Motors and others to ramp up production of ventilators and other medical equipment.

While the number of deaths in New York is climbing, the rate of new cases and new coronavirus hospitalizations is starting to level off, Cuomo said on Thursday. But he warned residents against becoming complacent, saying officials worry the coronavirus could resurge if they let up on stay-at-home restrictions that were put in place 18 days ago.

The number of new coronavirus hospital admissions dropped to 200 on Wednesday, the smallest number of new cases since March 18, according to a chart. Cuomo said it was the "lowest number we've had since this nightmare started."

Earlier on Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned that the city may need to tighten its social distancing restrictions to contain the coronavirus outbreak and prevent it from resurging, saying it's going to be a "long, tough" April.

The coronavirus has spread to dozens of countries globally, with more than 1.6 million confirmed cases worldwide and over 96,787 deaths so far, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

CNBC's Noah Higgins-Dunn, William Feuer, Kevin Breuninger and Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed to this report.
[April 10, 2020] Plymouth Rock Offers Relief for Auto and Home Insurance Customers

Plymouth Rock Assurance, a leading auto and home insurance provider in the Northeast, today announced that it will provide relief to its customers affected by COVID-19, as well as an option to donate the savings to non-profit organizations supporting the fight against the pandemic. Subject to regulatory approval, the company will apply a 25 percent premium credit on Liability and Personal Injury Protection Coverages to all existing and new auto insurance policies, and will voluntarily waive comprehensive and collision deductibles for any health care worker involved in an accident while driving to and from work, or in the line of duty. For its home insurance customers, Plymouth Rock will apply its Alternative Living Expense Coverage to any health care worker required by illness or job requirements to stay away from home. The 25 percent premium credit reflects the decrease in driving due to stay-at-home orders, and both the credit and the Alternative Living Expense Coverage will be offered to all existing and new customers across the six states in which Plymouth Rock does business. Relief will be effective as of April 1, 2020 and will remain in effect as long as the current state stay-at-home guidelines are in place. Credits will be applied automatically to affected customers' policies. "Plymouth Rock was founded on the principle of doing the right thing for our customers," said Hal Belodoff, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Plymouth Rock Company. "Right now, we believe that means extending relief to those affected by the coronavirus pandemic, particularly those who need it most." By focusing its auto insurance relief on Liability and Personal Injury Protection Coverages, Plymouth Rock is able to offer someting that benefits all auto insurance customers, but could have a more meaningful impact on those who may have had to remove optional coverages in order to save money. The Alternative Living Expense benefit is a small way to thank those families in the health care community who are directly affected by COVID-19. Added Belodoff: "We are enormously grateful to those on the frontline of this fight who are sacrificing so much in order to provide care for others."



Option to Pay It Forward All customers will also have the option to waive their 25 percent credit and instead donate it to one of several charitable organizations focused on providing relief to people affected by COVID-19 as a simple way to help those in need. A list of charities to choose from will be made available at plymouthrock.com in the coming days.

Flexible Payment Options In addition to its premium relief, Plymouth Rock has taken steps to provide impacted customers with payment flexibility, waived late fees and extended coverage since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, please visit our COVID-19 Information and Resources page on plymouthrock.com. If you are a Plymouth Rock customer facing financial difficulty due to COVID-19, please contact us to discuss how we can help. Plymouth Rock's COVID-19 relief measures are available to the Teachers' Insurance Plan of New Jersey. About Plymouth Rock Plymouth Rock was established to offer its customers a higher level of service and a more innovative set of products and features than they would expect from an insurance company. Plymouth Rock's innovative approach puts customers' convenience and satisfaction first, giving them the choice to do business the way they want - online, using a mobile device, by phone or with one of Plymouth Rock's agents. Plymouth Rock Assurance and Plymouth Rock are brand names and service marks used by separate underwriting, managed insurance, and management companies that offer property and casualty insurance in multiple states. Taken together, the companies write and manage more than $1.6 billion in auto and home insurance premiums across Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Each underwriting and managed insurance company is a separate legal entity that is financially responsible only for its own insurance products. Actual coverage is subject to the language of the policies as issued by each separate company. Some discounts, coverages, payment plans, features and benefits are not available in all states and companies. You can learn more about us by visiting plymouthrock.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005211/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
The worldwide death toll from coronavirus has hit 100,000 as Christians around the globe marked a Good Friday unlike any other  in front of computer screens instead of in church pews.

The death toll approached the grim milestone as some countries edged towards reopening segments of their battered economies.

Around the world, public health officials and religious leaders alike warned people against violating the lockdowns and social distancing rules over Easter and allowing the virus to come storming back. Authorities resorted to roadblocks and other means to discourage travel.

In Italy, officials employed helicopters, drones and stepped-up police checks to make sure residents did not slip out of their homes. On Thursday alone, police stopped some 300,000 people around Italy to check whether they had permission to travel. About 10,000 were issued summonses.

Some churches held services online. Fire-scarred Notre Dame Cathedral came back to life briefly in Paris, days before the first anniversary of the April 15 inferno that ravaged it. Services were broadcast from the closed-to-the-public cathedral.

The death toll kept by Johns Hopkins University hit the sad milestone, though the true number of lives lost is believed be much higher because of limited testing, different rules for counting the dead and cover-ups by some governments. The number confirmed to be infected was more than 1.6 million.

In the US, deaths climbed past 16,700, with close to half in New York state. Still, there were signs of hope.

New York state reported 777 new deaths, down slightly from the day before, for an overall toll of more than 7,800.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel Dr Jolion McGreevy, Mount Sinai Hospital

I understand intellectually why its happening, said governor Andrew Cuomo. It doesnt make it any easier to accept.

But state officials said the number of people in intensive care dropped for the first time since mid-March and hospitalisations are slowing: 290 new patients in a single day, compared with daily increases of more than 1,000 last week.

Mr Cuomo said if the trend holds, New York might not need the overflow field hospitals that officials have been scrambling to construct.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, said Dr Jolion McGreevy, medical director of Mount Sinai Hospitals emergency department. Its getting better, but its not like its going to just drop off overnight. I think its going to continue to slowly decline over the next weeks and months.

With the pandemic slamming economies, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned that the global economy is headed for the worst recession since the Depression.

Over 170 countries are expected to see negative per capita income growth this year. Three months ago: 160 expected to see positive per capita income growth.



Read the latest on our look ahead in @KGeorgievas speech before the #IMFMeetings. https://t.co/4WmYD9DZsO #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/PYdVEix8em  IMF (@IMFNews) April 9, 2020

In Europe, the 19 countries that use the euro currency overcame weeks of bitter divisions to agree on spending 550 billion dollars to cushion the recession caused by the virus. Mario Centeno, who heads the eurozone finance ministers group, called the package totally unprecedented.

As weeks of lockdowns were extended in nation after nation, governments were pressed to ease restrictions on key businesses and industries.

After a two-week freeze on all non-essential economic activity, Spain decided to allow factories and construction sites to resume work on Monday, while schools, most shops and offices will remain closed. Spanish authorities said they trust that the move will not cause a significant surge in infections.

We wouldnt be adopting them otherwise, said Maria Jose Sierra of Spains health emergency centre.

The head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that a premature lifting of restrictions could lead to a deadly resurgence.

In Italy, the industrial lobbies in regions representing 45% of the countrys economic output urged the government to ease its two-week lockdown on all non-essential manufacturing, saying the country risks definitively shutting down its own motor, and every day that passes the risk grows not to be able to restart it.

Italy reported 570 additional deaths for a running total of more than 18,800  the highest of any country  but said the number of hospital admissions is falling along with the number of patients in intensive care.
London, April 10 : Amid the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, filmmaker Matt Reeves says he is spending his time looking for ways to move forward with "The Batman", which stars Robert Pattinson in the title role.

Reeves is in London, waiting until production on his highly anticipated Warner Bros. feature "The Batman, reports deadline.com.

"We're not officially editing right now" said Reeves, adding: "We've actually shot a quarter of the movie and I have been pouring through dailies, looking at takes, and what's to come." When production stopped on March 14, the filming was expected to move on from London to Liverpool.

Asked if the team would relocate the shooting location, he said: "It's way too early to say. I can't imagine we wouldn't finish in London. The situation is fluid." The director also refused to answer whether the film will feature Robin's family, saying: "I can't give you the answers to any of that." The film stars Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Paul Dano as the Riddler, and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman. It won't be an origin story. Rather, it's about Bruce Wayne trying to find his footing on becoming a genius detective.

As he's diving into dailies, Reeves says he has no plans to re-write anything that he has already written.

"It took me two years to work on that story, and it's a very specific mystery noir that's been really thought-out by me and my partners," he said.

Reeves might reconsider "the tone of things".

He said: "It happens any time you shoot anything. The unexpected -- happy accidents and things you didn't quite expect: That is the lightning in a bottle for something that is alive. I would say that the changes really have to do with 'Oh, seeing the tone of this' with these scenes we haven't done which connect to that part of the storyline. It feels like there might be an opportunity to explore some of that unexpected tone that we found. With these movies, you never have enough prep time, because they're so complex and so enormous in so many ways. It also gives me a moment to think about the larger sequences that have yet to come up and how I want to realise those."
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

DecisionDatabases recommend a most recent report on the Smart Manufacturing Market based on industry analysis and forecast until 2025 with the estimated the year 2020. This report delivering key insights and offering an economical advantage to the client thought a comprehensive report. The report also covering the latest outbreak of COVID-19 impact analysis on the market. This pandemic has pretentious every phase of life worldwide. This has fetched several changes in the market scenario. The swiftly changing market scenario and impact on future assessments are covered in the report. The report also comprises future opportunities, growth rates, trends on global, regional as well as on country level.

The global smart manufacturing market report presents a complete research-based study of the industry including details such as company shares, forecast data, in-depth analysis and an outlook of the market on a worldwide platform. The report further highlights the market drivers, restraints and the top manufacturers at the global and regional levels. For a thorough understanding, the report also offers market segmentation and regional analysis for the forecast period from 2020 to 2025.

Get FREE Sample Report Copy @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-43373

According to this study, over the next five years, the Smart Manufacturing market will register a 9.6% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ 245700 million by 2025, from US$ 155700 million in 2019. In particular, this report presents the global revenue market share of key companies in the Smart Manufacturing business, shared in Chapter 3.

This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares and growth opportunities of the Smart Manufacturing market by type, application, key companies, and key regions.

The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3.

GE

ABB

Siemens

SAP

Schneider

Emerson

Oracle

IBM

Honeywell

Cisco

Rockwell

Yokogawa

Fanuc

NVIDIA

Keyence

Cognex

3D Systems

Daifuku

View More about this Market @ Global Smart Manufacturing Industry Report

This study considers the Smart Manufacturing value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments:

Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2015 to 2020, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2025 in section 11.7.

Manufacturing IT (MES, ERP, PLM, APC, EAM, etc.)

Automation Control System (DCS, PLC, HMI, SCADA, FCS, etc.)

Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2015 to 2020, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2024 in section 11.8.

Automotive

Aerospace & Defense

Chemicals & Materials

Healthcare

Industrial Equipment

Electronics

Oil & Gas

Others

This report also splits the market by region: Breakdown data in Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Americas

United States

Canada

Mexico

Brazil

APAC

China

Japan

Korea

.........

In addition, this report discusses the key drivers influencing market growth, opportunities, the challenges and the risks faced by key manufacturers and the market as a whole. It also analyzes key emerging trends and their impact on present and future development.

Buy Complete Global Smart Manufacturing Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-43373

Other Related Report Provide by DecisionDatabases.com is -

Global Manufacturing Execution Systems (EMS) Market Growth (Status and Outlook) 2020-2025

About Us:

DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research report provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research reports, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.

Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.

For more details:

DecisionDatabases.com

E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com

Phone: +91 90 28 057900

Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/
Tri-State COVID cases surge, but number falls in Washington County

While the number of new COVID-19 cases in the Tri-State area skyrocketed in the past week, the number cooled slightly for Washington County.
The family members of a former Bangladeshi military captain, who is on death row for his involvement in the 1975 coup in which the country's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated, on Friday met him in prison ahead of his execution.

Abdul Majed was arrested in Dhaka on Tuesday after hiding in India for nearly two-and-a-half decades.

President Md Abdul Hamid on Thursday rejected his mercy plea, removing the last hurdle for his hanging.

"(Sacked) captain Abdul Majed's wife met him along with four other relatives at the prison," an official of the Keraniganj Central Jail told reporters.

He said the family members stayed with Majed for nearly two hours.

The official, negating speculation, hinted that the execution was unlikely to be carried out on Friday night.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal earlier told PTI that the presidential decision meant there was no bar in executing the convict, who was arrested in a surprise development earlier this week from Dhaka's Mirpur area.

"I can't tell you exactly when the execution will be staged but prison authorities will take steps to hang him as soon as possible," Kamal said.

A specialised police unit arrested Majed, one of the fugitive convicted Bangabandhu assassins, as he returned home after hiding for nearly two and half decades in India.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the "self confessed killer" was not only involved in Bangabandhu's assassination but also took part in the subsequent killing of four national leaders in high security Dhaka Central Jail on November 3, 1975.

He said previous reports indicated Majed was hiding in India but eventually he was arrested from Dhaka as he secretly returned last month.

Police's Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit arrested him in a predawn raid at Mirpur area while he was roaming around a shrine.

Majed is one of the six absconding ex-army officers who were handed down capital punishment after trial in absentia.

A prosecution lawyer said Majed told the court that he returned to Bangladesh on March 15 or 16.

The convict, he said, claimed he managed to live secretly in Kolkata for the past 23 years.

Law Minister Anisul Huq, who was a key prosecution lawyer of Bangabandhu murder trial, told PTI that Majed has no scope to challenge the judgment other than seeking presidential clemency.

"The original verdict was delivered in 1998 which was confirmed by the High Court under a mandatory legal procedure," Huq said, adding that a notice was issued asking Majed to surrender while he had a constitutional right to appeal before the Supreme Court within the subsequent 30 days after the High Court decision but he continued to be on the run to evade justice.

"Now there is no legal option for him to challenge the verdict," he said.

Another senior lawyer said the stipulated time for appealing against his death penalty expired long ago and Majed now could only seek presidential mercy unless the Supreme Court decides to consider any plea on his part.

Twelve ex-military officers were sentenced to death for the August 15, 1975 killing of Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with most of his family members. Five of them have been executed while one died of natural causes as he was on the run abroad.

Bangabandhu's elder daughter and incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and younger daughter Sheikh Rehana survived as they were on a visit to the then West Germany at the time of the putsch, which also toppled Bangladesh's post independence government.

The five convicts were hanged at Dhaka Central Jail on January 28, 2010, after a protracted legal procedure while the delayed trial process began in 1996 when an infamous indemnity law was scrapped as it was protecting the assassins from justice until then.

Majed was one of the remaining fugitives believed to be hiding abroad with no confirmed whereabouts.

The rest of the fugitives included the key mastermind of the coup ex-lieutenant colonel Abdur Rashid. Interpol issued red alert against the absconders believed to be hiding in several countries including Pakistan.

Bangladesh confirmed two cases where two convicts took refuge in the United States and Canada, one of them is said to have shot dead Bangladesh's founder.

Dhaka said it was trying to extradite them but Canada declined to entertain the request citing provisions of the country's laws.

After the 1975 carnage, Majed was rehabilitated in civil service during the subsequent regime of former military-dictator-turned-politician Ziaur Rahman as an ex-cadre official and posted as the director of National Savings Department.

He later fled the country while serving in the finance ministry along with other 1975 coup plotters as the 1996 general elections brought Awami League back to power which vowed to expose to justice Bangabandhu killers in line with its election manifesto.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Experts said the soaring death rate in New Orleans may be linked to the rampant obesity and other pre-existing health problems in that city. Nearby, St. John the Baptist Parish, a heavily industrialized area along the Mississippi River with a long history of air quality problems, has one of the highest per capita death rates in the country. And while it may not be possible to conclude what role industrial air pollution has played in that statistic, Dr. Hassig said that, more generally, what we know is that bad air quality is associated with a lot of respiratory conditions.

Recent coronavirus projections watched closely by state officials and public health experts have shown the possibility of a less severe impact on the South than earlier forecasts, in terms of deaths and the demand on hospitals. But, Dr. Marrazzo said, the fluctuations underscore the level of uncertainty facing doctors.

Its just like walking a tightrope every day, Dr. Marrazzo said in an interview, because you dont know what the wind is going to do and if its going to knock you over.

The majority of Southeastern states under conservative control have declined to expand Medicaid insurance for the working poor under the Affordable Care Act, on the argument that the states contribution to such expansions, which would insure millions of working-class people, might eventually wreck state budgets.

That has left a number of Southern hospitals in shaky financial health, and has led to widespread closures in states like Tennessee.

Although Louisiana expanded Medicaid in 2016, the impact of the virus there nonetheless appears to be falling disproportionately on people of color, who for decades have been systematically denied access to economic opportunities and thus access to better health care. On Monday, Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, a Democrat, said that African-Americans accounted for 70 percent of all coronavirus deaths in the state, even though they make up about a third of total residents.
Ethos is a nationally recognized, award-winning independent student publication. Our mission is to elevate the voices of marginalized people who are underrepresented in the media landscape, and to write in-depth, human-focused stories about the issues affecting them. We also strive to support our diverse student staff and to help them find future success.



Ethos produces a quarterly free print magazine full of well-reported and powerful feature stories, innovative photography, creative illustrations and eye-catching design. On our website, we also produce compelling written and multimedia stories.



Ethos is part of Emerald Media Group, a non-profit organization thats fully independent of the University of Oregon. Students maintain complete editorial control over Ethos, and work tirelessly to produce the magazine.



Since our inception as Korean Ducks Magazine in 2005, weve worked hard to share a multicultural spirit with our readership. We embrace diversity in our stories, in our student staff and in our readers. We want every part of the magazine to reflect the diversity of our world.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  Some Overseas Filipino workers who are not eligible for the Labor Department's cash assistance to workers displaced by COVID-19 are appealing to the national government to reconsider the aid guidelines.

At least two of the OFWs say they grapple with limited work opportunities in countries where the pandemic has resulted in job losses. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, there were over 2 million Filipinos employed abroad.

OFWs who will not get the Department of Labor and Employment's one-time cash assistance, intended for those affected by the outbreak, are asking that the guidelines be adjusted, to include particularly those that are not among the listed "priority countries" and are under "no-work, no-pay" rules.

Geebee Bulanon, a full-time teacher at a learning center in Hanoi, Vietnam, aired her concern about the lack of clarity and communication on the eligibility of OFWs who are set to receive aid from the government.

"We have received some information from the POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) Facebook page about financial aid for OFWs, but the memo does not include Vietnam among the priority countries," Bulanon told CNN Philippines.

She added that those who have been in contact with the Philippine embassy were informed that the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration had not provided any guidelines for such aid.

"The biggest disappointment, though, is that it seems the aid will only be provided to OFWs who asked to be repatriated," Bulanon noted.

Bulanon said her employer had already informed her that a no-work, no-pay policy will be implemented as classes had to be called off during the outbreak.

"Wala kaming maasahan. Ano ba ang plano ng OWWA sa mga katulad namin? May financial assistance ba kaming makukuha? As an OFW, buwan buwan rin kaming nagpapadala ng panustos sa Pilipinas," she added.

[Translation: We can't turn to anybody. What is OWWA's plan for us? Will we even receive financial assistance? As an OFW, we are also expected to give monthly assistance to our loved ones in the Philippines.]

Others affected by the provision aired similar sentiments.

Mga kababayan kong OFW, malinaw pa sa sabaw ng pusit sa interview kay Secretary Bello na hindi kasama ang mga OFW na No work No pay. Nakakalungkot isipin. Lahat naman naging apektado ng COVID-19. Sana nilahat na lang nila, Mark Villa said in a Facebook thread.

[Translation: My fellow OFWs, what Secretary Bello said in an interview that OFWs under a no-work, no-pay scheme will not be assisted is clearer than a squid stew. It is saddening to think of it. Everybody is affected by COVID-19. They should have just included all of us.]

The DOLE earlier promised a one-time financial assistance of $200 (equivalent to P10,000) for affected OFWs through the Department Order 212 or its AKAP program.

The program only covers regular and undocumented OFWs, qualified undocumented OFWs, and balik-manggagawa or those who cannot return to their host country due to lockdowns.

The DOLE said it can only provide aid to qualified OFWs living in "priority countries" for now.

In the Middle East and Africa, these are Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

For Europe and the Americas, the only countries listed are Canada, Cyprus, Italy, Germany, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States.

Qualified countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region include Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III told CNN Philippines that they can only consider those who are not part of the coverage if there is a remaining balance from the cash aid for disenfranchised OFWs that were initially rolled out.

As soon as the displaced OFWs are given their cash assistance, and there is still cash balance, they can be considered, Bello said.

The DOLE earlier proposed to the national government that some 150,000 OFWs will only receive the grant.

The Department of Foreign Affairs bared Thursday that over 600 OFWs have already contracted the virus, with fatalities now at 72.

There are already 171 recoveries from the infection while 364 OFWs are still undergoing treatment.

CNN Philippines' Janine Peralta and Glee Jalea contributed to this report.
We have assured the global leadership that India will continue to be one of the leading demand centres for oil, said Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after the G20 Extraordinary Energy Ministers' meeting on Friday.

"I took part in G20 Extraordinary Energy Ministers' meeting today. India raised 2 issues, less volatility of oil price is good for all stakeholders and price should be reasonable and affordable to producing and consuming countries," Pradhan told ANI after the meeting.

"I have assured the global leadership that India will continue to be the global demand centre. We are confident that post-COVID-19 situation, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the demand will come from India and it will contribute its bid to the global energy market through its robust demand centre," he added.

The meeting, held through video conferencing, was called by Saudi Arabia, in its capacity as the G20 Presidency, and chaired by its Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz.

Energy Ministers of G20 countries, guest countries and heads of international organizations including OPEC, IEA and IEF attended the meeting.

Deliberations were also held in the meeting over the effects due to the reduction in demand owing to COVID-19 pandemic.

Pradhan in the meeting stated that India has always advocated for a stable oil market, which is reasonable for producers and affordable for consumers.

He also appreciated the collective efforts of OPEC and OPEC-plus countries to balance the supply-side factors which is imperative for long-term sustainability.

He has, however, urged that oil prices should be targeted to affordable levels to allow for a consumption-led demand recovery.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lucy Cavazos (L) and her daughter ride a construction lift to see 91-year-old Margaret Jones at the assisted living facility The Kensington Redondo Beach on April 7, 2020. (Photo by Cristal Chavez/Courtesy of Lucy Cavazos)

Pandemic Didnt Stop Two Friends From Celebrating a 91st Birthday

SANTA CLARA, Calif.Social distancing doesnt always mean disconnecting from each other. Two friends have been celebrating their birthdays together for 25 years, and theyre keeping the tradition going during the CCP virus pandemic.

Margaret Jones turned 91 years old on April 7. Her longtime friend Lucy Cavazos went to see her at The Kensington Redondo Beach, an assisted living facility in Southern California where Jones is staying.

Cavazos rode on a 30-foot construction lift to her friends window on the second floor to wish her a happy birthday for the 26th time.

She was in great spirits, so I was quite happy to see that, Cavazos told The Epoch Times.

A caretaker helps Margaret Jones see her friend Lucy Cavazos through a window at The Kensington Redondo Beach for Joness 91st birthday on April 7, 2020. (Photo by Cristal Chavez/Courtesy of Lucy Cavazos)

The facility requested a lift so that visitors could meet with their loved ones. The lift happened to arrive on Joness birthday, so Cavazos and her daughter were the first to use it.

They gave us time; we spent time talking to her. We were up thereI lost notion of time because we were just so excited, she said.

Despite their 44-year age gap, the two usually celebrate their birthdays for the whole month. Cavazos would take Jones somewhere every day, and everyone would know it was her friends birthday.

This year, Jones was able to celebrate her pink, white, and yellow-themed birthday with cake and balloons.

I was able to go to Rossmoor in Signal Hill and order a cake. So I dropped it off, and they had that for her and the residents to share, said Cavazos.

The cake was decorated with the words 91 Never Looked This Good and Happy 91st Birthday Margie.

Margaret Jones celebrated her 91st birthday in her room at The Kensington Redondo Beach on April 7, 2020. (Photo by Cristal Chavez/Courtesy of Lucy Cavazos)

Margaret Jones eats her 91st birthday cake at The Kensington Redondo Beach on April 7, 2020. (Photo by Cristal Chavez/Courtesy of Lucy Cavazos)

Last year we were able to have a birthday party with 25 of her closest friends, said Cavazos.

After it is safe to go out again, she will consider throwing a late birthday party for her friend.

Cavazos said Jones would walk down to the beach when she was in the mood. Now that shes cooped up at the facility, she does other activities indoors.

They do exercise, they color, she reads the paper. They keep them really busy and occupied, so that helps with missing your loved ones or that anxiety of not being able to visit, she said.

The facility will keep the lift for a month, and visitors can make appointments to borrow it.

Cavazos said she will check in again after a week to see when the lift will be available to raise her up again.
In this week's special election, voters overwhelmingly rejected proposals to recall Westminster Mayor Tri Ta and two council members. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

A three-member majority of the Westminster City Council will stay in office after a recall campaign failed, according to early results in this week's special election.

With 16,787 ballots counted, voters appear to have overwhelmingly rejected replacing Mayor Tri Ta and council members Kimberly Ho and Chi Charlie Nguyen, whom opponents accused of aligning as a bloc to steer policies they favor. For the last year and a half, the trio have been embroiled in a bitter fight with opponents, as both sides traded charges of a "dictatorship," nepotism and legal threats.

Westminster has more than 45,000 registered voters, and Tuesday's election represented a 37.1% turnout. Officials conducted it via mail-in ballot and set up drop-off stations after the coronavirus pandemic forced them to cancel in-person voting.

Ta and Nguyen issued statements after initial ballot counts were released Wednesday.

"The voters have given us a clear mandate and we take this mandate as a sacred duty to represent the best interest of all the residents of this great city," said Ta, a council veteran.

Nguyen, a first-term council member, promised to continue pushing for "full transparency and accountability while reducing red tape." He said he had "barely served six months when this recall effort was initiated."

"I truly felt like an innocent political victim caught in the wrong place at the wrong time," he added.

So far, results show Ta emerging with 59.2%, or 9,899, votes against his recall; Nguyen with 57.5%, or 9,594 votes, against his recall; while Ho received 57.2%, or 9,540 votes, against her recall. Their apparent victory enables the three Vietnam natives to retain power in the Orange County Vietnamese Americans enclave, the largest in the nation.

For months, members of the grass-roots group Westminster United had worked strategically to unseat the council majority, gaining in-kind help with a flier and robocalls from a second group funded by Vietnamese billionaire Kieu Hoang, who lives in Los Angeles County and has paid circulators collecting signatures, according to organizer David Johnson.

Story continues

Opponents broadcast multiple reasons why the trio should be removed, alleging inefficiency, corruption and ethical lapses. Rivals also alleged that the trio had tried to circumvent dissent by passing a measure that requires a majority of the five-member council to agree before any items can be placed on a future agenda.

Opposing factions have wrestled for control of a city that has had 10 city managers in the last 14 years; the position currently remains open. Westminster leaders must eventually decide whether to ask voters to renew a one-cent sales tax increase before it expires in 2022, or face a $13-million budget shortfall that could lead to major cuts in public services.

The nastiness on the council played out between the so-called Gang of Three versus their two colleagues, Tai Do and Sergio Contreras. Do had been in the running to replace Ta as mayor if the recall were successful.

Board members of Westminster United released a statement Wednesday saying that although the group's effort "was not successful and devastating to the community, we are all trying to find the silver lining."

"We are also looking towards the November election," the statement continued. "Our city deserves leaders that will hear the concerns and fight for every citizen, not just those residents who have been misled and brainwashed. We will not give up on making our city a better place for all of our residents."

Election results are expected to be certified by April 17. Meanwhile, Ta vowed to reach out to rivals who haven't supported him.

"I promise to work harder to gain your trust, not by words but by deeds," he said. "It is time for all of us to leave the campaign behind, to join hands and work together as one."




THANKS, GUYS

Dont forget to thank your mail person, your Federal Express deliverer, and your UPS guy. They are bringing good stuff to people during this time. They are essential and they are putting their lives on the line for people. So thank them.

POOR CHANNEL 6

I cant believe how bad Channel 6 is. Recently, my cable went out; my son had installed an antenna so I could still enjoy TV as I am home bound. I called him and he explained to me that some other people he had done it for also had trouble with Channel 6. He guessed that their signal was weaker than the other channels. I guess Channel 6 doesnt care about poor people who cant afford cable.

BREATHING ROOM

The line moves. In three seconds Im in the space just vacated, 6 feet ahead, where a persons exhaled breath lingers for me to inhale as I arrive. Lets make it a 20-foot spacing instead of 6. And lets use exhaust fans as the warmer weather arrives, and not pump in virus-friendly cold air.

RETIRED CARPENTER, CLIFTON HEIGHTS

BEWARE, DELCO

The plea deal made by the District Attorney and his staff for the murder of Joseph Iavarone is the epitome of not doing their job. The D.A. and his hand-picked staff are all influenced by Philadelphias D.A. Who is soft on crime too. The case should have gone to a jury and let them decide the murderers fate. The defendant pulled the trigger; the victim died; enough said. Delaware County residents watch out.

GOOD GOFFS

Just wanting to give a big shout out to all the workers at Goffs, putting theirselves in harms way to keep Delco a little sane during this trying time. The service is amazing, and the workers are always so pleasant and helpful! Thank you and stay safe and keep up the good work!

IN A PERFECT WORLD

I whole heartily agree with Kelly Johnsons suggestions for a coronaviras probe, but also give them subpoena power. In a perfect world and with a honest president this would work. First, Bill Frist does seem like the right man to head this committee. But how long would it take for Trump to obstruct this committee by ordering people not testify when the commission begins finding out that his planning and response was not perfect? That is when Trump and his lackeys would start to trash Bill Frists integrity .Trump doesnt want any kind of oversight or review . This was proven by his firing of two inspector generals. He will only go along with this probe if it is done in a Bill Barr way.

VOTE FOR TRUTH

Yo God Bless Donald in Wednesdays Sound Off: You actually question whether Americans would rather have Joe Biden and open borders as their president rather than President Buffoon, who allowed 70 days to pass before he actually took the coronavirus virus seriously? Why you even mentioned open borders in this conversation demonstrates you have the same thought process as President Twitter. Do you realize how valuable those 70 days were? Time to develop tests, make and order PPE, build ventilators, begin work on a vaccine, etc. On Nov. 3, 2020, Trump Zombie, I and the rest of America will answer your asinine question with a resounding, Yes! We choose Joe Biden over President Pathological Liar!

BILL FROM BROOMALL

WE DONT NEED NO EDUCATION

The highly educated Trump supporter from the suburbs believes to state that threats against Dr. Fauci are coming from Trump supporters is false and ridiculous. It seems Trump followers regardless of their level of education cling to their alternative facts unable to grasp the truth. HHS Secretary Azar first saw the need for added security do to his concern about online attacks against Fauci. He had become the target of right-wing bloggers and commentators. Many on the right are enraged by the foremost infectious disease experts assessments that counter Trumps happy talk, statements unsupported by data, and lies. Some have even accused Dr. Fauci of being part of the deep state.

JAY FROM UPPER PROVIDENCE
A newborn left on a Melbourne beach with her placenta and umbilical cord may have been there for two days before being found dead.

Police believe the baby girl was left on Seaford Beach between 7am and 5pm on Monday, the force confirmed on Friday.

Police are appealing for the girl's mother to get in touch as they hold serious concerns for her health and welfare.

The body of a newborn girl was found lying next to placenta and the umbilical chord at Melbourne's Seaford Beach (pictured) on Wednesday evening

Victoria Police believe the baby girl was left at Seaford Beach (pictured) on Monday

A passer-by found the infant's remains on the beach adjacent to Nepean Highway about 4.30pm on Wednesday.

The area was cordoned off on Wednesday night as the police investigation got underway.

Victoria Police said: 'The exact circumstances surrounding the death and the identity of the infant are yet to be determined at this stage.'

They urged the mother to come forward and voiced concerns for her wellbeing.

'At this stage she is yet to be located and ensuring her wellbeing is the primary focus of the current investigation,' police said.
Over 140,000 Ukrainian migrant workers leave Poland for Ukraine over COVID-19

12:28, 10.04.20 6947

In total, 650,000 people returned to Ukraine from March 13 to April 1.
Apple and Google fueled hopes for digital technologys promise against a fast-moving, invisible killer, announcing a joint effort to help public health agencies worldwide leverage smartphones to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

New software the companies plan to add to phones would make it easier to use Bluetooth wireless technology to track down people who may have been infected by coronavirus carriers. The idea is to help national, state and local governments roll out apps for so-called contact tracing that will run on iPhones and Android phones alike.

The technology works by harnessing short-range Bluetooth signals. Using the Apple-Google technology, contact-tracing apps would gather a record of other phones with which they came into close proximity.

Such data can be used to alert others who might have been infected by known carriers of the novel coronavirus, typically when the phones owners have installed the apps and agreed to share data with public-health authorities.

Developers have already created such apps in countries including Singapore and China to try to contain the pandemic. In Europe, the Czech Republic says it will release an app after Easter. Britain, Germany and Italy are also developing their own tracing tools.

No such apps have yet been announced in the United States, but Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said Friday that state officials have been in touch with the companies as they look ahead at how to reopen and lift stay-at-home orders.

We were on the phone just this morning, for example, with Apple, he said at a news conference.

Privacy and civil liberties activists have warned that the apps need to be designed so governments cannot abuse them to track their citizens. Apple and Google said in a rare joint announcement that user privacy and security are baked into the design of their plan.

The technology might serve as a stopgap until there is widespread testing for the novel coronavirus, which in the U.S. remains limited after production problems and limited federal coordination of the tests production and distribution.

Its not a replacement for just having widespread testing, which would be more accurate, said Tiffany Li, a visiting law professor at Boston University who studies privacy and technology. But clearly we have a huge shortage of tests.

Bluetooth signal tracking, as Google and Apple plan to use it, can protect privacy far better than other options such as GPS or cell-tower based location data, which allow centralized authorities access to the information.

But Li noted it could still lead to numerous mistaken alerts  for instance, if someone were in full protective gear or in an adjacent apartment while physically close to an infected person.

Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, said a conversation with Apples senior director for global privacy, Jane Horvath, assured her that the initiative will protect peoples privacy.

Sensitive information will stay on individual phones in encrypted form  no personally identifiable data would be collected  and alerts would be handled by public health agencies, not the tech companies, according to briefing paper seen by The Associated Press. It says location data for users wont be used and the identity of people who may have been infected will be protected by encryption and anonymous identifier beacons that change frequently.

I think theyve taken care of some of the really big problems, Dixon said, noting the companies say they can turn off the system when its no longer needed. The government is not going to have identity information of those testing positive.

Asked about the Google-Apple effort at his daily news briefing, President Donald Trump called it very interesting, but expressed concern that a lot of people worry about it in terms of a persons freedom. Were going to take a look at that.

Security experts note that technology alone cannot effectively track down and identify people who may have been infected by COVID-19 carriers. Such efforts will require other tools and teams of public health care workers to locate people in the physical world, they say. In South Korea and China, such efforts have included the use of credit-card and public-transit records.

In general, epidemiologists say contact tracing wont be effective without widely available testing. In the Czech Republic, the plan is to have soldiers perform testing; medical students have been trained to staff call centers for notifying people at high risk of infection.

The Czech app will use both Bluetooth technology and geolocation data from wireless carriers and banks to create memory maps that trace the movement of infected people. That will help them identify others they came into close proximity with in the five to 10 days before they tested positive.

The hope is to quickly isolate people who may be affected so the virus can be contained and restrictions on movement relaxed. The app builds on a popular cellular-location mapping app used by one in 10 Czechs, who number 10 million.

The Google-Apple solution will also be voluntary  or opt-in  but with far greater privacy protections, something the European Commission specified as a central requirement of any such apps in a policy recommendation this week for the 27-nation bloc.

Given the great need for effective contact-tracing  a tool epidemiologists have long employed to contain infectious disease outbreaks  Google and Apple will roll out their changes in two phases. In May, they will release software that will support public-health apps for both Android and iOS phones. In coming months, they will also build the functionality directly into the underlying phone operating systems.

On Friday, the companies released preliminary technical specifications for the effort, which they called Privacy-Preserving Contact Tracing.

___

AP reporters Karel Janicek in Prague; Darlene Superville in Washington and Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento, California contributed to this report.
Houston police on Friday afternoon were investigating two deaths in different parts of the city.

In one, police said they found a man fatally shot in the 13800 block of Ella Boulevard, in north Houston.
A shipment of more than 100,000 testing swabs arrived in Ontario contaminated and unusable, the Star has learned, illustrating how even as the province strives to expand its COVID-19 lab-testing capacity it is still contending with global supply-chain havoc wrought by the pandemic.

The shipment of much-needed swabs, a critical component of the testing, was the first instalment of a big order procured by the federal government, with hundreds of thousands of more from the contaminated batch on the way. The contamination is believed to be mould.

Without the federal order, the province currently has about 200,000 swabs on hand, enough for seven to 10 days worth of tests, according to provincial officials. Multiple agencies and departments are actively working on acquiring more.

Ontario rolled out a plan to scale up COVID-19 testing Friday, from current levels of about 4,000 daily  a testing rate Premier Doug Ford slammed as unacceptable earlier this week  to over 16,000 by the first week of May, including protocols for who will be prioritized with the expanded capacity.

Ford promised a vast and robust testing regime for COVID-19 at a press conference Friday.

Earlier this week, I told you that we would do better when it comes to testing, Ford said, adding that everyone who needs a test should get it.

The first step to winning any battle is knowing your enemy.

Testing for COVID-19 relies on a specific type of nasopharyngeal medical swab that captures cells harbouring the virus in the nose or throat. Before shipments of swabs are deployed to assessment centres, they have to be validated by Public Health Ontarios laboratory.

Because every jurisdiction battling the pandemic is relying on the same type of swabs to run testing programs, supply chains have jammed in the same way that they have been for medical masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE).

Ontarios goal of testing 16,000 patients for COVID-19 daily assumes a continued ability to acquire swabs, as well as PPE and reagents, the substances used to extract viral genetic material before it is loaded into testing machines. A shortage of reagents was one factor that contributed to the backlog of tens of thousands of tests in recent weeks, which has since been cleared.

Ontario is not alone in battling swab supply chain challenges. Some U.S. states have reported shortages, and the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Scott Gottlieb, tweeted in March that swabs could be a weak link in broadening testing.

Gottlieb noted that medical products like swabs that have low profit margins are often the weakest link in supply chains. Because they dont attract investment capital, production is consolidated in the hands of just a few suppliers.

The Star couldnt confirm the manufacturer of the contaminated swabs, but supply chain challenges generally during the pandemic have meant that governments are turning to new, and potentially unreliable, manufacturers to meet their ballooning needs.

Provincial officials said that Ontario is working with partners here and federally to obtain more swabs, and along with other critical supplies is making an effort to manufacture these products locally, including looking at 3D printing.
Employers will have to show donation made by employees from their salary to PM-CARES fund in Form 16 TDS certificate, the Income Tax department has said.

Donations made to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund are eligible for 100 per cent deduction u/s 80G of I-T Act.

In a notice, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has said that in cases where donation is made by an employee through his/her employer, a separate certificate u/s 80G will not be issued for every employee as contribution to the fund is in the form of consolidated payment.

"It is hereby clarified that the deduction in respect of such donations will be admissible u/s 80G of the Act on the basis of the Form 16/certificate issued by Drawing and Disbursing Officer/ Employer in this regard," the CBDT said.

Nangia Andersen Consulting Director Shailesh Kumar said in many cases, the employees are donating a portion of their salary (viz 1 day or 1 week or 1 month, etc) to the PM-CARES fund, through their employers.

"In all such cases, Form 16 issued by employer will be considered to be a conclusive evidence of donation made by employee and tax deduction u/s 80-G shall be allowed to the respective employee. This is a welcome move by the CBDT and will encourage employees to donate for this noble cause through their employers, at the same time making them eligible for tax benefit of such donation," Kumar said.

AKM Global Partner Amit Maheshwari said: "This is an important clarification as there was apprehension in the minds of several employees as to how they would get the benefit after contributing to this noble cause. This clarification has made availing tax benefit simpler for them now".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The world is fighting hard with COVID-19, that has completely wreaked havoc on our lives. Everyone is trying their best to stand against the novel coronavirus. And now a YouTube gamer helped in raising funds to help COVID-19 relief efforts.

Youtube

Sean McLoughlin -- also known as Jacksepticeye participated in the #HopeFromHome Livestream on YouTube, celebrating World Health Day on Tuesday. #HopeFromHome is a platform that brought together content creators on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok to help charities.



Sean took over YouTube as a platform and streamed for 12 hours straight. His livestream was able to generate a whopping $659,000 during that time -- around 40 percent of the global total raised by the collective.

Sean shared about his experience on his Instagram handle stating, Words cannot express how crazy today was. I am so emotionally overwhelmed but I have nothing but love and gratitude to all of those who donated and made such a huge difference today.

The collective was able to generate a total of $1.7 million across the platforms. The funds were collected through the fundraising platform Tiltify. These funds will be evenly distributed in three charities -- United Way Worldwide, The United Nations Foundations COVID-19 Solidarity Response for the World Health Organization and Comic Relief US's Red Nose Day.

Reuters

Tiltify CEO Michael Wasserman said in a statement, It was inspiring to see the online community come together for #HopeFromHome. Yesterday was the highest numbers of unique online donations we have ever seen in 12 hours.



It isnt the first time McLoughlin has used his channel to raise money for charity through his livestreams. He does it every month for causes that really are close him. In Januart, he streamed and raised over $212,000 for the Australian bushfire relief. In April last year, he raised over 100,000 for Comic Relief USAs Red Nose Day.
As COVID-19 testing becomes more widely available, it's vital that health care providers and public health officials understand its limits and the impact false results can have on efforts to curb the pandemic.

A special article published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings calls attention to the risk posed by overreliance on COVID-19 testing to make clinical and public health decisions. The sensitivity of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing and overall test performance characteristics have not been reported clearly or consistently in medical literature, the article says.

As a result, health care officials should expect a "less visible second wave of infection from people with false-negative test results," says Priya Sampathkumar, M.D., an infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic and a study co-author.

RT-PCR testing is most useful when it is positive. It is less useful in ruling out COVID-19. A negative test often does not mean the person does not have the disease, and test results need to be considered in the context of patient characteristics and exposure." Dr. Priya Sampathkumar, M.D., infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic and a study co-author

Even with test sensitivity values as high as 90%, the magnitude of risk from false test results will be substantial as the number of people tested grows. "In California, estimates say the rate of COVID-19 infection may exceed 50% by mid-May 2020," she says. "With a population of 40 million people, 2 million false-negative results would be expected in California with comprehensive testing. Even if only 1% of the population was tested, 20,000 false-negative results would be expected."

The authors also cite the effects on health care personnel. If the COVID-19 infection rate among the more than 4 million people providing direct patient care in the U.S. were 10% -- far below most predictions -- more than 40,000 false-negative results would be expected if every provider were tested.

This poses risks for the health care system at a critical time. "Currently, CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines for asymptomatic health care workers with negative testing could lead to their immediate return to work in routine clinical care, which risks spreading disease," says Colin West, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic physician and the study's first author. Victor Montori, M.D., a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist, also is a co-author.

While dealing with the enormity of the growing COVID-19 pandemic, it's important for public health officials to stick to principles of evidence-based reasoning regarding diagnostic test results and false-negatives. Four recommendations are outlined in the Mayo Clinic article:

Continued strict adherence to physical distancing, hand-washing, surface disinfection and other preventive measures, regardless of risk level, symptoms or COVID-19 test results. Universal masking of both health care workers and patients may be necessary.

Development of highly sensitive tests or combinations of tests is needed urgently to minimize the risk of false-negative results. Improved RT-PCR testing and serological assays -- blood tests that identify antibodies or proteins present when the body is responding to infections such as COVID-19 -- are needed.

Risk levels must be carefully assessed prior to testing, and negative test results should be viewed cautiously, especially for people in higher-risk groups and in areas where widespread COVID-19 infection has been confirmed.

Risk-stratified protocols to manage negative COVID-19 test results are needed, and they must evolve as more statistics become available.

"For truly low-risk individuals, negative test results may be sufficiently reassuring," says Dr. West. "For higher-risk individuals, even those without symptoms, the risk of false-negative test results requires additional measures to protect against the spread of disease, such as extended self-isolation."

At Mayo Clinic, RT-PCR testing is "one of many factors we take into account in deciding whether the patient meets criteria for COVID-19," Dr. Sampathkumar says. If the RT-PCR test is negative but chest X-ray or CT scan results are abnormal, or there has been close contact with a person who has confirmed COVID-19, the recommendation is to continue caring for the patient as if he or she has COVID-19.

"We need to continue to refine protocols for asymptomatic patients and exposed health care workers," says Dr. Sampathkumar.
Major US airbase in Afghanistan comes under Daesh attack: NATO

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 10:18 AM

US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan say five rockets have hit a major American airbase in the country and that the attack, claimed by the Daesh terrorist group, left no casualties.

"Five rockets were fired at Bagram airfield early this morning," the NATO-led mission, Resolute Support, said in a post on Twitter on Thursday, referring to the main US airbase in the north of the Afghan capital, Kabul. "There were no casualties."

Afghan media reports said the rockets targeting the US military compound had been fired from a vehicle parked in an adjoining village.

The Takfiri terrorist group of Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on social media and said its members had targeted a helicopter landing pad at Bagram.

The terror outfit, which has based itself mainly in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar Province, has an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 militants and has been behind a string of horrific bombing and other attacks since its emergence in the country in 2015.

The assault came after the Afghan government released 100 Taliban inmates from a jail near the Bagram airfield as part of a peace deal between the US and the militant group.

The base has been hit several times since the deal was signed last month. Some 100 Taliban members are also scheduled to be freed on Thursday from detention at a jail near the base.

The government and the Taliban militant group had been discussing a prisoner exchange. While the Taliban walked away from the negotiations on Wednesday, Kabul has been releasing the prisoners in an attempt to save intra-Afghan dialog.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The asthmatic child of a Qantas cabin crew member has been diagnosed with COVID-19 after contracting the virus from their mother.

The child is among four family members and flatmates of Qantas staff who caught the virus from flight crew exempt from mandatory quarantine rules and returned home after working on international flights.

The ACTU says 59 Qantas staff tested positive for coronavirus. Credit:Getty

A total of 59 Qantas staff - including 37 cabin crew - have tested positive for coronavirus and several more family and flatmates are awaiting results, the Australian Council of Trade Union said.

The cases confirm concerns that exempting crew from the 14-day quarantine would put their loved ones at risk, the union's president Michele ONeil said.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) on Friday posted an advisory on Twitter released earlier by the health ministry on the use of hydroxychloroquine as treatment for patients suffering from coronavirus disease Covid-19.

The advisory is based on recommendation of the taskforce constituted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The advisory recommends not administering the drug to children below the age of 15. It also says that people with known case of retinopathy and known hypersensitivity to hydroxychloroquine or 4-aminoquinoline compounds should also not take the medicine.

Hydroxychloroquine is being widely touted as the medicine which can treat Covid-19, but ICMR has said that it is not recommending its commercial use unless it gets satisfactory test results.

It is important to understand that this (hydroxychloroquine) medicine is not mandatory. Whether it will reduce the infection, will be known only after tests. The doctors are still testing it on symptomatic patients. ntil we get satisfactory results, we wont recommend this to anyone, senior ICMR scientist R Ganga Ketkar told news agency ANI on Thursday.

Hydroxychloroquine has emerged as the most sought-after medicine after preliminary trials in China suggested it boosted recovery and lowered the severity of the coronavirus disease.

According to ICMR, hydroxychloroquine is recommended only to those asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19 and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases.

The advisory released by the health ministry has also listed things to be considered before administering/taking hydroxychloroquine. The most important consideration is to take the drug only after it is recommended by a registered medical practitioner, and to check with a physician about any adverse event before starting the medication.

If anyone becomes symptomatic while on prophylaxis, he/she should immediately contact the health facility, get tested as per national guidelines and follow the standard treatment protocol, the health ministry guideline says.

The government has ensured that there is no shortage of hydroxychloroquine in the country at present as well as in the future, Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Aggarwal said on Wednesday.
Dr. John Abad, a surgical oncologist at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield and Northwestern Delnor Hospital in Geneva, said that when the virus first began to spread, he and his colleagues tried to move up as many surgeries as they could, so patients would be out of the hospital and at home recovering during projected peak times for the virus.
Chennai, April 10 : With no downward trend seen in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus and a possibility of the state moving into the community spread stage (third stage) looming large, Tamil Nadu is yet to chart out any lockdown exit strategy.

On Thursday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami said the state is now in the second stage of coronavirus spread and there is a possibility of moving into the third stage -- community transmission -- and steps are being taken to prevent that from happening.

Pointing at the rising number of positive cases in the state, Palaniswami said the decision to extend the lockdown will be taken after looking at various aspects.

A 19-member medical team has been constituted for the purpose. The group's advice, along with that of the 12 official groups set up earlier, will be taken into account by the government while deciding whether to extend the lockdown.

Officials also said the exit strategy is yet to be charted out as the number of people testing positive for coronavirus is on the rise and the curve has not gone flat yet.

They also pointed out that several Chief Ministers have asked the Central government to extend the lockdown period.
Michigan musician Seth Bernard, who has been playing music for more than 20 years, is well known throughout the state as someone who cares about his community.

In fact, on Facebook he calls himself a Music Maker, Cultural Worker and Water Protector.

In a way, its almost expected that during this coronavirus Covd-19 pandemic and shutdown, the Michigan native, who grew up on a farm near Lake City, would be as busy as ever.

Over the last couple weeks he has organized workshops, concerts and even community efforts to help the poor.

Few people have had more of an impact on Michigans music scene than Seth Bernard, said my good friend and former colleague John Sinkevics, who is editor and publisher of LocalSpins.com.

"From founding the Earthwork Music collective that represents and assists local artists to organizing the annual Earthwork Harvest Gathering on his dads farm outside Lake City to his ceaseless work to protect the environment and educate citizens about water resources through the new statewide organization, Title Track, hes been a beacon of collaboration and hope for musicians, fans and those trying to better their communities.

Not only that, but Ive known him for many years, and hes never been anything but an uplifting and joyful presence. His attitude has made him a true leader by example.

I had a chance to talk to Seth Bernard this week for our Michigans Best Podcast. It was the highlight of my week. Spend just a few minutes in his light and youre ready to jump through walls.

I asked him to describe his music.

I love rock and roll, I love folk music. I just keep writing songs," he said, describing his guitar as his lifeline.

Ive played in 10-piece rock bands. I have played solo with the guitar. And I love what I do. Ive got songs to share, and I try to use music to lift people up.

As for songwriting, he said, its a healing process. Its a process of trying to effect positive change and to encourage people, and to be a voice of whats happening.

On the Podcast we talk about all these things, as well as:

*A new series of music workshops and kids concerts that begin this weekend,

*His trip to Armenia that was derailed by the coronavirus,

*His recent birthday that was celebrated online,

*More about his fall harvest gathering on the family farm,

*And his community projects.

Learn more about Seth Bernard, as well as his Patreon, at samuelsethbernard.com.

Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/eggsbernard.

Listen to the Podcast below. It will give you a renewed strength in the human spirit.

Michigans Best Podcast with Seth Bernard

More on the Workshops

According to Bernard, Earthwork Harvest Gathering and Blissfest Music Organization have joined forces to offer an instructional workshop series. His FB post said they want to offer tools for creativity and resilience for our community, and we think it will be helpful to splash some of the festival energy around.

2 p.m. Saturdays.

More info on Facebook.

April 11th - Audra Kubat - Songwriting (Blissfest page)

April 18th - Frank Youngman - Ukulele (Earthwork Harvest Gathering page)

April 25th - The Accidentals - Improv (Blissfest page)

May 2nd - Sam Cooper - Singing (Earthwork Harvest Gathering page)

May 9th - Bruce Ling - Mandolin and Violin (Blissfest page)

May 16th - Chris Michels - Guitar (Earthwork Harvest Gathering page)

May 23rd - Mark Lavengood - Dobro (Blissfest page)

May 30th - Jordan Hamilton - Cello and Looping (Earthwork Harvest Gathering page)

He added: Artists will share their preferred payment methods and your contributions will be greatly appreciated.

Kids Concert Series

Bernard said Earthwork Harvest Gathering and Hoxeyville Music Festival are partnering to offer a kids concert series to serve up creative and uplifting family concerts and we hope this will be helpful to the kiddos during this time.

2 p.m. Sundays.

More info on the Facebook page.

April 12th - Chris Dorman

April 19th - Rachael Davis and Dominic John Davis

April 26th - Joe Reilly

May 3rd - Peter Madcat Ruth

May 10th - Melissa Talmage Sigh

May 17th - brotha James

May 24th - May Erlewine

May 31st - Deep Fried Pickle Project Jug Band

June 7th - Seth Bernard

Bernard said they will be accepting contributions, and all the proceeds go to the performers.
In a relief to liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the high court in London has deferred hearings on a plea by the SBI-led consortium of Indian banks, seeking the indebted tycoon to be declared bankrupt to enable them recover a loan of around 1.145 billion pounds from him.

Justice Michael Briggs of the insolvency division of the high court granted relief to Mallya, ruling that he should be given time till his petitions to the Supreme Court of India and his settlement proposal before the Karnataka high court be determined, allowing him time to repay his debts to the banks in full.

Chief insolvency and company court judge Briggs, in his verdict delivered Thursday, said there is no obvious advantage to the banks to pursue this class action at this point in time.

This bankruptcy petition is by any measure extraordinary. The banks are pressing for a bankruptcy order at a time when there are extant proceedings in India, read the judgment.

In my judgment the banks are secured, at least in part The hearing of the petition should be adjourned for the purpose of amendment and for time to pay the debts in full, it noted.

A consortium of Indian public sector banks led by the State Bank of India had sought a bankruptcy order against Mallya as part of efforts to recoup around 1.145 billion pounds of unpaid loans from Mallya.

Judge Briggs had reserved his judgment after hearing arguments from both sides in December last year over the loans to Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

In his judgment, the judge concluded that the legal cases being pursued by Mallya in India stood a reasonable prospect of success.

Although the petition to the Supreme Court and proposal before the Karnataka high court are not guaranteed to succeed, they are genuine. The evidence supports the view that the petitions stand a reasonable prospect of success, he said.

According to the court document, the judgment on the bankruptcy petition was produced in December last year and circulated in January this year but its handing-down was adjourned for further argument at the request of the parties.

The parties agreed to a hearing after 1 June 2020. The outbreak of Covid-19 has made fixing a date uncertain. In my judgment it is in the interests of the administration of justice and in the public interest that this judgment be handed down now, the ruling noted.

While the banks had argued for a bankruptcy order to ensure they receive what is owed to them amid a multiplicity of creditors, Mallya's lawyers stressed that the Indian banks were identified as secured creditors by Indian courts, which makes the bankruptcy petition in the UK court unfair.

Why should we take less than everything we are owed, said Marcia Shekerdemian, the barrister for the Indian banks, referring Mallya's settlement offers.

During the hearing last year, the court had also heard that the banks do not accept the former Kingfisher Airlines boss' assertion that most of his assets are in India and to a lesser extent worldwide.

A villa in France and assets spread across the British Virgin Islands, a trust registered in the Caribbean nation of St Kitts & Nevis and the Indian Empress superyacht in Malta were some of Mallya's worldwide assets referred to during the course of the hearing.

Mallya's legal team, led by barrister Philip Marshall, sought dismissal of the bankruptcy petition, arguing that their client was being unfairly pursued by the banks in India and the UK on opposite grounds.

Payment has been inhibited by virtue of the intervention by the Enforcement Directorate of India the banks are seeking a bankruptcy order against Dr Mallya for non-payment but have created a situation where he can't make a payment, Marshall told the court.

A previous UK high court ruling had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and upheld an Indian court's ruling that the consortium of 13 Indian banks were entitled to recover funds amounting to nearly GBP 1.145 billion.

The banks then launched efforts to recover dues as part of the freezing order, with the bankruptcy petition aimed at seizing UK-based Mallya's assets to recover the dues.

Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail pending a UK High Court ruling in the extradition proceedings brought by India in relation to charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crores.
Advertisement

All participants in the study will continue to receive clinical care as indicated for their condition. Those randomized to the experimental intervention will also receive hydroxychloroquine, according to the NIH."Effective therapies for COVID-19 are urgently needed," said James Kiley, director of the Division of Lung Diseases of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the NIH."Hydroxychloroquine has showed promise in a lab setting against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 and preliminary reports suggest potential efficacy in small studies with patients. However, we really need clinical trial data to determine whether hydroxychloroquine is effective and safe in treating COVID-19," he said.While COVID-19 usually presents as an acute respiratory infectious illness, it can damage multiple organ systems, including heart, lung, and blood.Currently, no therapies have been demonstrated to prevent the progression of COVID-19 to severe illness, but several medicines available in the United States have been proposed as potential therapies, said the NIH.Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria and rheumatoid conditions such as arthritis. In various studies, the drug has demonstrated antiviral activity, an ability to modify the activity of the immune system, said the NIH.The drug has an established safety profile at appropriate doses, leading to the hypothesis that it may also be useful in the treatment of COVID-19, according to the NIH.Source: IANS
Investor Alert: As oil prices crash towards $20 on the back of an insufficient production cut agreement, all eyes will be on G20 developments and more production cut news over the weekend. If you haven't already signed up for Global Energy Alert then make sure you do so today to get expert analysis on what will happen on Monday when markets reopen.

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

Friday, April 10th, 2020

OPEC+ agreed to the largest oil production cuts in history on Thursday, but oil prices crashed towards $20 as markets decided that a 10 million bpd cut was insufficient to balance the demand deficit. Today, the G20 will meet to discuss more cuts and more details will likely come out about the OPEC+ deal. Markets are closed today and so all eyes will be on developments over the weekend.

OPEC+ strike 10 mb/d deal, oil prices fall. OPEC+ agreed to joint cuts on the order of 10 mb/d, a historic agreement. The deal calls for both Saudi Arabia and Russia capping production at 8.5 mb/d for May and June, after which cuts would ease in phases  down to 8 mb/d and then to 6 mb/d of cuts. The deal was not received well by the markets, which sold off WTI and Brent over fears that the reductions are inadequate. The supply and demand fundamentals are horrifying, said OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo.

Premium: Oil Market Data Is About To Get Very Ugly

G20 meets to chip in. OPEC+ is also looking for help from other non-OPEC countries in the G20. Mexico temporarily held up the OPEC+ deal because it does not want to cut. At the time of this writing, Mexicos president said that he spoke with President Trump, who promised to contribute to the cuts on Mexicos behalf. First they asked us for 400,000, then 350,000, Mexicos President Lopez Obrador said. Mexico was only able to cut by 100,000 barrels a day, and Trump very generously expressed to me that they were going to help us with an additional 250,000 to what they are going to contribute. I thank him.

Demand loss at 20-30 mb/d. The OPEC+ deal is historically large, but still insufficient to plug a 20 to 30 mb/d decline in demand. Inventories are set to rise in the coming months. The proposed 10 million bpd cut by OPEC+ for May and June will keep the world from physically testing the limits of storage capacity and save prices from falling into a deep abyss, but it will still not restore the desired market balance, Rystad Energy said.

Analysts say cuts are too little, too late. Other analysts also said the risk is to the downside. These cuts are not enough to prevent massive stockbuilds in May, let alone April, JBC Energy wrote in a note. Oil prices could fall back despite the cuts.

Bearish EIA data. The weekly EIA data was negative  crude inventories jumped by 15.2 million barrels, gasoline stocks rose by 10.5 million barrels, and gasoline demand fell by another 1.6 mb/d.

Enbridge: 20-25% of Canadian oil to be shut in. Enbridges (NYSE: ENB) CEO Al Monaco said that 20-25 percent of Western Canadas oil production could be shut in because of low prices. Roughly 135,000 bpd has already been shut in. RBC predicts declines of 1.1 to 1.7 mb/d.

Flood of Saudi oil heading to U.S. Saudi Arabia is sending a flood of oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to Bloomberg, with an estimated 14 million barrels en route, compared to just 2 million barrels a month ago.

IMF: Global economy hit worst since 1930s. The IMF said that just about all countries could see falling living standards this year, the first time that has occurred since the 1930s. Today we are confronted with a crisis like no other, the head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, said.

Nearly 17 million newly unemployed. Nearly 17 million people filed for unemployment insurance in the U.S. in the last three weeks. In its first month alone, the coronavirus crisis is poised to exceed any comparison to the Great Recession, Glassdoor Senior Economist Daniel Zhao told Politico.

Premium: What Will $15 Oil Mean For Producers?

Banks to seize shale assets. Big U.S. lenders to shale drillers could seize energy assets in order to avoid losses from forthcoming bankruptcies, according to Reuters. JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citigroup are setting up companies to own oil and gas assets. The shale industry owes more than $200 billion in debt. Banks can now believably wield the threat that they will foreclose on the company and its properties if they dont pay their loan back, Buddy Clark, a restructuring partner at law firm Haynes and Boone, told Reuters.

ExxonMobil to lower methane emissions. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) said it would lower methane emissions at 1,000 of its Permian sites using drones, satellites and planes.

Franklin Resources preparing for Chesapeake default. Mutual-fund company Franklin Resources is taking steps to prepare for a potential bankruptcy by Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), according to the Wall Street Journal. Franklin Resources owns a significant portion of Chesapeakes $9 billion in debt.

Occidental tells workers to write Congress for money. Occidental Petroleums (NYSE: OXY) CEO Vicki Hollub told her employees to send pre-written letters to Congress asking the government to provide liquidity to the energy industry, according to Bloomberg.

Coronavirus could kill fracking fever dream. The U.S. shale industry has never demonstrated profitability and has been built on a decade of cheap capital. The dream was always an illusion, Bethany McLean writes in the New York Times. All thats left to tally is the damage.

Concho Resources shutting down Permian output. Concho Resources (NYSE: CXO) said that it is already curtailing production in the Permian. Concho, as well as other operators in the Permian Basin, have begun shutting in uneconomic production in rapid response to the recent market shift, the company said in a letter to the Texas Railroad Commission.

By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has taken to his Twitter handle to commend President Muhammadu Buhari for releasing prisoners to decongest prisons amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.

Recall that on Thursday, President Buhari approved the release of 2,600 inmates nationwide as part of efforts to decongest custodial centres and halt the spread of coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Also Read: COVID-19: Shehu Sani Laments On Quality Of Food Shared As Palliatives

Reacting to this development, the former lawmaker from Kaduna commended the federal government. However, he pleaded for the release of more inmates in order to achieve decongestion.

See his tweet below:
ULLIN  Three detainees at the Pulaski County Detention Center and one correctional officer have been diagnosed with COVID-19, officials confirmed Thursday.

It is the first publicly reported correctional facility in Southern Illinois with a known outbreak.

The detention center houses court-involved individuals in Alexander and Pulaski counties who have criminal cases pending or have been sentenced to serve time.

Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency contracts with Pulaski County to use part of the 240-bed facility to house people who are accused of being in the U.S. illegally.

Currently, there are about 145 people in custody at the facility, about 130 of whom are ICE detainees, said facility administrator Damon Acuff. He said that everyone in the custody of the facility is treated the same, and declined to say whether those in the facility's custody who tested positive for COVID-19 were jail inmates or ICE detainees.

Acuff said that the three individuals with COVID-19 had not been housed with the general population.

"Those individuals hadn't been here very long and they were actually housed by themselves," he said Thursday afternoon. "About 48 hours after they arrived here, they started complaining of not feeling well. We checked their temperatures. They had low-grade temperatures. We put them on medical isolation."

Because of that, Acuff said that he does not believe any other detainees in the general population have been exposed.

Acuff said he was notified Thursday morning that the three detainees, as well as one correctional officer, had tested positive. Upon receiving this information, four other correctional officers were tested due to potential exposure. They are not symptomatic and are continuing to work pending those results, he said. Acuff said that the facility tests correctional officers' temperatures when they report to work, and checks detainees' temperatures twice daily. He said the facility will continue to monitor the situation closely.

The detained individuals with COVID-19 include one male in his 20s and two males in their 30s, according to the Southern Seven Health Department.

Immigrant rights organizations have been sounding the alarm for weeks about COVID-19 risks to people being held in ICE's network of jails in facilities across the country. According to the Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center, ICE apprehended and detained nearly 10,000 people in March, as COVID-19 infections began to spread throughout the U.S.

More than 35,000 people were in ICE's custody at the end of March, all facing civil violations, and the detention facilities where they are being held are "tinderboxes for the virus to spread," the advocacy organization wrote on its website. It called on ICE to limit enforcement and release people in its custody on humanitarian parole or on their own recognizance.

ICE's media department had not responded to The Southern's emailed questions as of deadline Thursday evening.

BuzzFeed News and other national media outlets reported earlier this week that an ICE official told congressional staffers that the agency is reviewing cases of individuals in detention "who may be vulnerable to the virus" and is making "case-by-case determinations for release" in accordance with guidance from medical experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cindy Buys, a Southern Illinois University law professor who has made numerous trips to the Pulaski County facility to deliver educational seminars with her law school students, said an outbreak there is concerning. ICE detainees are housed in large pods in which 30 or more people share an open space, she said. "If one person were to be infected in the pod, it would really be impossible to keep it away from the rest," she said. "Theyre in bunk beds, theyre sharing restroom facilities, everything."

Several other members and volunteers of the Southern Illinois Immigrant Rights Project also expressed concern for detainees at the facility. Buys, Rafael Fu, of Marion, and Dr. Ana Migone, a family physician from Carbondale, all said that ICE should look at alternatives to detaining people during the COVID-19 outbreak, especially those who are at high risk for developing serious complications from the coronavirus.

Fu said that about 30 ICE detainees in Pulaski County are over 50, and others may have underlying health conditions that also put them at risk. He said efforts are underway to help these individuals seek humanitarian parole. Fu said that some of the detainees he's talked with do not feel as though they are receiving timely information from the facility about COVID-19.

Migone said that she and her husband had started making twice monthly trips to visit with ICE detainees beginning late last year. Migone, who is Catholic, said she felt called to undertake this volunteer work, and found it very rewarding. Their trips were called off in March when most facilities, including this one, stopped allowing visitors in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. Many of the people there are isolated from their families, and do not have the financial means to make regular phone calls. Some are afraid or anxious, she said.

While the jail inmates are largely from Pulaski and Alexander counties, Fu said the ICE detainees arrive from throughout Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri. The detainees may have entered the country illegally, overstayed a visa, violated the terms of their legal status, or face other issues related to lawful residency.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Leaders in the towns of Barkhamsted, Litchfield and Winsted continue to provide updates for residents during the coronavirus pandemic. As always, residents should visit their towns website for full information.

Barkhamsted

First Selectman Don Stein reminded residents that town hall is closed to the public, and that people should call 860 379-8285 or email the department  tax collector, town clerk, town assessor, for example  to avoid face-to-face contact. All email addresses can be found at barkhamsted.us

We are trying to make this as easy as possible for everyone, but at the same time, we must keep people as safe as they can be during this difficult time, Stein said.

The towns recreation areas are closed for now, but state parks are still open. Gatherings of more than five people are prohibited. As of now, all these areas are open to the public, so that people can get needed recreation and fresh air, Stein said. Unfortunately, many people are abusing this privilege and there is a risk that the MDC and the CT DEEP will be forced to shut down the parks. That would be very unfortunate, but all we can do is obey the rules and hope others do likewise.

Stein also reminded small business owners and nonprofits that they can now apply for the Paycheck Protection Program  loans totaling 250 percent of their average monthly payroll in the year before the loan. If they spend at least 75 percent of that money to pay their workers for 8 weeks, those businesses will be eligible to have the cost of those eight weeks fully forgiven at federal expense.

For people in need of help, Barkhamsted has assembled a group of volunteers willing to help those who cannot, or should not leave home to get groceries, pick up prescriptions, go to the post office, or run other errands. We also have funds available to help those in financial need and will be adjusting the groundrules for who qualifies for the help, and how much money they can be given, Stein said. Contact Town Hall at 860-379-8285 if you have a need for either program.

Winsted

Municipal leaders are following the same procedure in Winsted, asking residents to call for assistance instead of visiting town hall offices or the public works department. All phone numbers and email addresses are available on the town website, www.townofwinchester.org/departments

Meetings related to the proposed 2020-21 budget are being extended into May, and officials are hoping this measure will allow them to hold their usual public meetings and referendum.

We believe this to be prudent as we deal with the unknown, while wanting to preserve the time-honored process of the Annual Town Meeting and Referendum, Mayor Candy Perez wrote in a message.

Officials have scheduled the budget public hearing for May 14, a town meeting on June 10, and a referendum on June 24. The 2020-21budget as presented by the Town Manager has been posted on the Towns website since March 16 in the Finance Department section for those that wish to review it. https://www.townofwinchester.org/board-of-selectmen/pages/town-budget

Litchfield

Residents can receive emergency alerts from 860 567-7583. Phone calls from this number are not spam, officials wrote in a statement on the town website, www.townoflitchfield.org.

It may take up to 5 second or longer for a message to start. At the end of the call please remain on the line to confirm you received the message by pressing 1. You can always go to the Town of Litchfield Web Page for updated information. Please continue to stay safe by practicing social distancing.

Litchfields town hall is also closed to the public, and officials are following the same procedure, asking people to call ahead for assistance, at 860-567-7561.

The town is offering a Neighbors Helping Neighbors service, for people who need help.

Residents who may need a little help in the following areas are urged to call 860 567-7567 or 860 567-1333 and ask for Lisa and receive assistance with sign-up for CVS Prescription delivery, for Instacart - a BIG Y food delivery service, and the towns emergency alert system. Or visit www.townoflitchfield.org/home/news/neighbors-helping-neighbors
New Delhi, April 10 : The Centre on Friday said that under the Lifeline Udan initiative, over 180 flights have transported around 258.24 tonnes of medical supplies across the country till April 9.

The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation said that these flights are being operated to transport essential medical cargo to remote parts of the country to support India's war against Covid-19. Accordingly, these flights are being operated by Air India, Alliance Air, Indian Air Force and other private carriers.

"Over 180 flights have been operated under Lifeline UDAN during Covid-19 lockdown out of which 114 flights were operated by Air India and Alliance Air . 58 Flights were operated by IAF," the ministry said in a statement.

"Pawan Hans Ltd operated 5 cargo flights upto 8th April 2020 carrying 1.07 tons of critical medical supplies to Guwahati, Agartala, Kishwar, Navapachi, Srinagar, Jammu , Nagpur, Aurangabad, covering distance of 3,561 kilometres." State-run Air India has collaborated closely with the IAF primarily for J&K, Ladakh, North-East and other island regions. "The cargo essentially covered COVID-19 related reagents, enzymes, medical equipment, testing kits and PPE, masks, gloves and other accessories of HLL and cargo requisitioned by State or UT governments and also postal packets," the statement said.

Besides Air India, Blue Dart, SpiceJet and IndiGo are also operating cargo flights on a commercial basis. The Lifeline Udan flights connect hubs in locations such as Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Agartala, Aizwal, Dimapur, Imphal, Coimbatore, Thiruvanthapuram, Bhub aneswar, Raipur, Ranchi, Port Blair and Goa.

Special focus has been given to the northeast region, island territories and the hill states. As part of India's war against Covid-19, the Civil Aviation Ministry had launched Lifeline Udan flights on March 26 for movement of medical and essential supplies across the country and beyond. At present, no foreign or domestic passenger flight operations are allowed in the country.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
(File) OPEC Conference President Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khaled al-Falih (2ndR), OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo (R) and Angola's Governor for OPEC and Chairman of the Board of Governors Estevao Pedro (2nd L) the 173rd OPEC Conference of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna. (AFP Photo))

London: Major oil producers except Mexico agreed to cut output in May and June by 10 million barrels per day, OPEC said Friday, after marathon talks to counter a collapse in prices.

The agreement, which reduces production to eight million bpd from July to December, depends on Mexico's consent for it to take effect, the oil cartel said after a videoconference.

The virtual meeting of OPEC countries and their OPEC+ allies including Russia, as well as other key non-members, began just after 1440 GMT on Thursday.

It was seen as the best chance of providing support to prices, which have been wallowing near two-decade lows due to the coronavirus pandemic and a Saudi-Russian price war.

Talks dragged on into the small hours of Friday. Bloomberg News reported that the main sticking point was the refusal of Mexico to sign up to its share of cuts under the deal, which would have been 400,000 barrels per day.

Mexican Energy Minister Rocio Nahle Garcia tweeted that her country had suggested a cut of 100,000 barrels.

Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA said in an earlier statement that Caracas "supports the proposal of Saudi Arabia and Russia to reduce production by around 10 million barrels per day".

US President Donald Trump had expressed optimism about the prospects for an agreement even as the talks appeared to be at an impasse.

"I would say they are getting close to a deal. We will soon find out," Trump told a press briefing at the White House at on Thursday.

Trump was speaking fresh from a conference call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- both countries being key players in the talks.

At the beginning of the meeting, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo warned that the rapid economic damage wrought by the virus meant the industry's "supply and demand fundamentals are horrifying".

Another virtual meeting is scheduled for June 10 "to determine further actions, as needed to balance the market", OPEC said.

Saudi Arabia will on Friday host a separate virtual gathering of energy ministers from the G20 group of major economies in a similar bid to ensure "market stability".

Oil prices have slumped since the beginning of the year as the COVID-19 pandemic sends large parts of the planet into lockdown and brings the global economy to a virtual standstill.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Beata Stoczynska (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 14:39 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd1095de 3 Opinion Poland,COVID-19,pandemic,infectious-diseases Free

All generations have their own unique set of experiences, scope of notions, concepts and references that create mass imitation and public discussion. Simultaneously, all generations have their own set of challenges that constitute their contribution to the history of humankind.

My generation was raised during a dark communism period in Poland, with repressions, no freedom of speech, shortages of basic articles and a general lack of hope. The situation of my country and other Central and Eastern European states seemed to be truly hopeless  the Soviet Union was almost unconquerable. It appeared that there was no power to bring freedom for our nations.

However, I remember when the light of freedom began to come back to our homes and families. It was one of the most powerful human phenomena that put us back on the track toward the dream of self-determination. This phenomenon is called solidarity.

In Poland, 10 million people created Solidarnosc (Solidarity), the union movement that challenged the all-controlling communism regime. Solidarnosc succeeded in 1989. Consequently, the Berlin Wall was demolished and Europe reunited.

Currently, we have been unexpectedly facing a new invisible challenge. All nations have been struggling to prevent the COVID-19 epidemic. People are staying at home. Global and local supply chains have been disrupted. We all fear for our families. Doctors and nurses are the new heroines and heroes. We are really proud of them.

In Poland, we believe again that solidarity is the only way to win the war against the virus. Solidarity between nations, generations (especially with helping the elderly), families and individuals. As the restrictions in people movement had become inevitable, the Polish government together with the Polish airline LOT decided to roll out widespread operation to bring Polish citizens stranded around the globe back to Poland.

During the so-called LOTdoDomu (flight-to-home) operation, 388 flights took off from 71 different airports, with almost 55,000 passengers on board, including 2,000 other nationals. Two of these flights also brought 30 Indonesians back home.

Recently, Polands government decided to send medical assistance to Italy. The first part of it was dispatched on April 7. We strongly hope that while fighting the coronavirus at home there is also an obligation to support all nations in need.

Let me refer to John Paul II on the 100th anniversary of his birth. The pope from Poland underlined that solidarity was not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all. This is the message we need to recall now.

Polish history proves that there are two values, two ideas and two very human concepts that can overcome even the most forceful regimes and powers - namely freedom and solidarity. They are the source of our common obligation to stand together, build trust and consolidate all nations experience, resources and wits to win the fight with the invisible coronavirus. And at the end of this dark day, to strengthen our global community.

***

Ambassador of Poland to Indonesia

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
First Time Flying RPA for Customer Delivery; Saves Packing, Shipping and Reassembly

SAN DIEGO, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Jan. 8, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GAASI) for the first time flew a new MQ-9 Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) to a customer location at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Typically, a new MQ-9 is packed and shipped by GA-ASI for reassembly after delivery. Ferrying the MQ-9 to Holloman saves costs and time in shipping, reducing time for airmen to reassemble the aircraft, making it available for training immediately upon arrival.

A key aspect of delivery was flying the RPA through the National Airspace System (NAS) after originating from GA-ASI's Flight Operations Center in Palmdale, California. GA-ASI and Holloman air crews worked together to ensure the successful ferry of the aircraft.

"GA-ASI continues to lead the charge towards enabling large unmanned aircraft to fly in the NAS," said David R. Alexander, president, GA-ASI. "Our efforts, along with other partners, are gaining momentum and successfully flying the MQ-9 to our U.S. Air Force customer further demonstrates the safety and efficiency of RPA flight in the broader airspace."

The USAF estimates that ferrying the MQ-9 saved 142 man-hours.

"This is the first time that team Holloman has taken delivery of a new MQ-9 by ferry flight," said Col. Casey Tidgewell, 49th Operations Group commander. "It's critically important because flying outside of our training area helps normalize RPA flight inside the NAS and provides broader aviation experience for our instructors. I could not be more proud of our operations and maintenance professionals that made this happen."

GA-ASI has flown several RPA flights in the NAS while working with the FAA and other authorities to secure proper approvals. The company continues to work towards a future where its RPA can simply "file and fly" in the NAS just like commercial flights.

Hi-resolution images of MQ-9 are available to qualified media outlets from GA-ASI.

About GA-ASI

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator RPA series and the Lynx Multi-mode Radar. With more than six million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas. For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com.

Predator, Lynx, SeaGuardian and SkyGuardian are registered trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

CONTACT:

GA-ASI Media Relations

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

+1 (858) 524-8101

[email protected]

Related Images

ga-asis-mq-9a-block-5.jpg

GA-ASI's MQ-9A Block 5

'This is the first time that team Holloman has taken delivery of a new MQ-9 by ferry flight,' said Col. Casey Tidgewell, 49th Operations Group commander.

Related Links

http://www.ga-asi.com



SOURCE General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
Dear Plainview and Hale County Citizens,

As your County Judge and Plainview Mayor, we want to say how honored we are to serve you and to thank you for your continued patience and support during this COVID-19 Public Health Disaster.

This is an unprecedented event that over the past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of information and changes requiring everyone to adjust schedules, work, play, travel and other events  changes that were unheard of two months ago.

We recognize you may be working from home, homeschooling children, facing the possibility of loss of income or just tired and stressed wondering when life will get back to normal. Our hearts go out to you whether you are struggling with all or some  we understand this is difficult. AND please do not hesitate to contact our City, Chamber of Commerce or Economic Development Corporation for questions about resources that might be available for you or your business.

We have worked to take a balanced approach in our response to COVID-19 that keeps our citizens and communities safe while supporting as many local businesses and restaurants to remain open as safely as possible and in accordance with the guidance provided by our Local Health Authority, CDC and Department of State Health Services.

Despite all the unknowns in the COVID-19 situation, one thing we do know is that we are fortunate to live in Hale County/Plainview. The show of community support for one another and neighbors helping neighbors is inspiring but not surprising  Hale County/Plainview citizens are the best and you have proven it once again.

We ask you to please be patient as we work with federal and state leaders as well as local leaders in charting the best possible course during this time that keeps you safe. We will continue to keep you updated via the media, website and social media as information becomes available.

In the meantime, please do you part to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and remember to wash your hands, practice social distancing, call your physician if you are experiencing symptoms  we are stronger together and will make it through this trying time.

Very Truly,

Your County Judge David Mull & Plainview Mayor Wendell Dunlap
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Starting Monday, state courts will ease up on some of the coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions for pending non-essential cases.

Those matters had been suspended mid-March in a bid to stem the spread of the pandemic. Essential matters were being conducted remotely.

Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks outlined the plan in a memorandum earlier this week to all trial court justices and judges.

He said preliminary steps will be taken to open up remote access to the courts on pending non-essential cases. Those matters comprise the vast bulk of trial court caseloads, said Marks.

However, the ban on filing new non-essential matters stays in place, he said. Likewise, the prohibition remains against convening any new juries or grand juries.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Specifically, judges were told to check their inventories to identify those cases in which conferences could help advance them toward a resolution  either a settlement in civil matters, or a plea or dismissal in criminal cases.

Judges could also schedule conferences at lawyers request and be available during normal business hours to address discovery disputes and other concerns.

All conferences would be conducted remotely via Skype or by telephone.

In addition to conferencing cases, judges will rule on undecided motions.

Marks said additional measures will be taken in the upcoming weeks to further increase the access to justice in non-essential matters.
The new virus is conquering the world. The more people who become infected with Sars-CoV-2, the more cases there will be in which severe illness will occur. In these cases, the virus penetrates the lower respiratory tract, causing the body's own defense system to attack the affected lung tissue. Patients suffer from acute symptoms from shortness of breath to outright respiratory distress.

If half of the surface of the lungs are damaged, it takes twice as much oxygen in the air we breathe to ensure that the body receives an adequate supply." Wendelin Stark, Professor at the Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, as well as Head of the Functional Materials Lab at ETH Zurich

Since there are still no effective drugs or a vaccine against COVID-19, those affected must persist in surviving the disease until symptoms subside, usually a period of two to three weeks. "Oxygen can buy time," says Stark.

Masks are not the only bottleneck

It is already clear that there is an increasing shortage of masks and ventilators. Stark fears that the rapid spread of the virus will lead to another bottleneck: "A rigorous analysis shows that more equipment is needed to enrich oxygen. Especially in low-income countries, such as the Middle East or Africa, where there are only a few intensive care units available."

ETH Zurich researchers are pursuing two different strategies. On the one hand, Samuel Hess and Elia Schneider, both of whom studied under Stark for their doctorates, rely on a novel membrane technology. The membrane enables them to separate molecules of different sizes. "The pore size of our membrane can be precisely adjusted, which makes our technology platform versatile," says Hess. UniSieve AG, an ETH spin-off with which Hess and Schneider commercialize membrane technology, already produces a membrane that separates oxygen from nitrogen. The UniSieve team is now processing this membrane into cartridges that can enrich oxygen using compressed air.

On the other hand, in response to the pandemic, Stark and his team are designing oxygen concentrators that are as simple and as cost-effective as possible. "It motivates us that we, as engineers, can contribute to improving the situation," says Stark. "We have already created several prototypes, that we are currently expanding and improving," adds Robert Grass, Stark's co-pilot in this project. "On the project website, we publish our construction plans and videos with the aim that the oxygen concentrators can be replicated almost anywhere in the world - with materials that are available everywhere."

Spare rooms converted into research labs

Like the commercially distributed devices, the prototypes from Stark and his team also contain columns filled with a material called Lithium X-zeolite. The material has very small pores and a special chemical structure, so that the oxygen molecules in the air pass through, but the nitrogen molecules remain trapped. It is, therefore, sufficient to force air through the column in pulses to enrich the oxygen in the gas mixture.

The problem is that Lithium X-zeolite is expensive and only highly specialized companies offer this material. Stark and his team have therefore produced the microporous material themselves from a desiccant - a drying agent - and lithium batteries - at home in their spare rooms that they converted into makeshift research laboratories. Stark and his team have calculated that three good laptop batteries can produce enough Lithium for a patient ward.

Local solutions

Those who can build a breathing apparatus themselves are not dependent on global supply chains, which are less reliable during the Coronavirus crisis. Stark relies on local solutions: "In low-income countries there is a distinct handicraft and workshop culture - and many skilled and clever people. I am confident that, with our instructions, they will be able to produce oxygen locally, even in remote places."
H arvey Weinstein has been charged with a new count of sexual assault, prosecutors in Los Angeles have said.

The disgraced Hollywood mogul is currently serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in New York.

He is alleged to have attacked a woman at a Beverly Hills hotel in May 2010, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney.

Weinstein had already been charged with one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint.

Prosecutors have now added one felony count of sexual battery by restraint / AFP via Getty Images

Prosecutors have now added one felony count of sexual battery by restraint.

"We are continuing to build and strengthen our case," Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said.

"As we gather corroborating evidence, we have reached out to other possible sexual assault victims.

"If we find new evidence of a previously unreported crime, as we did here, we will investigate and determine whether additional criminal charges should be filed."

Rose McGowan makes statement ahead of Weinstein trial - In pictures 1 /16 Rose McGowan makes statement ahead of Weinstein trial - In pictures Actress Rose McGowan arrives for a press conference after Harvey Weinstein arrived at State Supreme Court in Manhattan January 6, 2020 on the first day of his criminal trial on charges of rape and sexual assault in New York City AFP via Getty Images Actress Rose McGowan arrives for a press conference after Harvey Weinstein arrived at State Supreme Court in Manhattan January 6, 2020 on the first day of his criminal trial on charges of rape and sexual assault in New York City AP Actress Rose McGowan arrives for a press conference after Harvey Weinstein arrived at State Supreme Court in Manhattan January 6, 2020 on the first day of his criminal trial on charges of rape and sexual assault in New York City Getty Images Actress Rose McGowan arrives for a press conference after Harvey Weinstein arrived at State Supreme Court in Manhattan January 6, 2020 on the first day of his criminal trial on charges of rape and sexual assault in New York City AFP via Getty Images Actress Rose McGowan arrives for a press conference after Harvey Weinstein arrived at State Supreme Court in Manhattan January 6, 2020 on the first day of his criminal trial on charges of rape and sexual assault in New York City AFP via Getty Images Actor Rose McGowan speaks at a news conference outside a Manhattan courthouse after the arrival of Harvey Weinstein, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, in New York AP Actress Rose McGowan arrives for a press conference after Harvey Weinstein arrived at State Supreme Court in Manhattan January 6, 2020 on the first day of his criminal trial on charges of rape and sexual assault in New York City AFP via Getty Images Actress Rose McGowan arrives for a press conference after Harvey Weinstein arrived at State Supreme Court in Manhattan January 6, 2020 on the first day of his criminal trial on charges of rape and sexual assault in New York City AFP via Getty Images Actor Rosanna Arquette speaks as actor Rose McGowan, right, listens at a news conference outside a Manhattan courthouse after the arrival of Harvey Weinstein, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, in New York AP Dominique Huett, who says Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her, speaks at a press conference along with actresses Rosanna Arquette (L) and Rose McGowan (R) outside court on January 6, 2020 in New York City Getty Images Harvey Weinstein (centre) leaves the Manhattan Criminal Court, on January 6, 2020 in New York City AFP via Getty Images Film producer Harvey Weinstein sits in Criminal Court on the first day of his sexual assault trial in the Manhattan REUTERS

Prosecutors also announced that two cases involving Weinstein were declined for prosecution because the victims did not want to give evidence.

The latest charge alleged he assaulted a woman at a Beverly Hills hotel on May 11 2010.

The alleged victim was first interviewed by police in October 2019 as a possible corroborating witness in the case, prosecutors said.

Last month, she provided evidence to detectives confirming the alleged assault took place within California's 10-year-statute of limitation.

The original criminal complaint charged Weinstein with sexually assaulting two women during separate incidents in 2013.

If convicted as charged in the amended complaint, he faces up to 29 years in state prison.

The Los Angeles district attorney launched the extradition process to bring Weinstein, 68, to California from New York in March.
The Embassy of Pakistan, Tashkent successfully repatriated 128 stranded Pakistani nationals from Republic of Uzbekistan, through a special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Monday

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Apr, 2020 ) :The Embassy of Pakistan, Tashkent successfully repatriated 128 stranded Pakistani nationals from Republic of Uzbekistan, through a special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Monday.

According to a press release issued by the embassy as a humanitarian gesture, the same flight also brought back 22 Uzbek nationals from Pakistan said a press release received here. These stranded Pakistanis including tourists who came to Republic of Uzbekistan on short-term visa and could not return to Pakistan due to suspension of international flights following COVID-19 outbreak.

During their stay in Uzbekistan, the Embassy of Pakistan, Tashkent took all necessary steps to ensure complete well being of these Pakistanis.

The embassy provided food, accommodation and medicines to many of these compatriots.

The entire embassy personnel were at the Tashkent International Airport during their repatriation to Pakistan in order to avoid any inconvenience to them.

"We are grateful to all relevant authorities of government of Uzbekistan for their support and cooperation to ensure smooth repatriation of our citizens," said an official of Pakistani Embassy.
A solicitor offering free legal advice on coronavirus legislation has provided a step-by-step guide on how to challenge fines for 'stay at home' breaches.

Annabel Wurth has set up COVID Rights to help citizens understand the limits of police powers during the lockdown and what actually constitutes an offence.

'Police powers are limited to asking for a person of interest's name and address,' Ms Wurth told Daily Mail Australia.

'There has been no new legislation granting police the new power to demand a response to any other question, i.e. a reasonable excuse for being outside their home.'

Ms Wurth began her legal career with the high-profile solicitor Chris Murphy and has worked in the United States, Hong Kong and France.

She was part of the legal team which represented 'celebrity accountant' Anthony Bell when his estranged wife Kelly Landry unsuccessfully sought an apprehended violence order against him in 2017.

Sydney solicitor Annabel Wurth offering free legal advice on coronavirus legislation has provided a step-by-step guide on how to challenge fines for 'stay at home' breaches

Ms Wurth (left) was part of the legal team which represented 'celebrity accountant' Anthony Bell (right) when his estranged wife Kelly Landry unsuccessfully sought an apprehended violence order against him in 2017

Ms Wurth wants citizens to understand the new coronavirus laws. Environment protection officers are pictured talking to a pair of beachgoers at Cronulla in Sydney's south on April 5. There is no suggestion anyone pictured is doing anything wrong

The 31-year-old onetime model also convinced a magistrate to dismiss an assault charge against X-Factor contestant Nellie Dargan the same year.

Ms Wurth has been establishing her own criminal defence practice, working between Sydney and Byron Bay, while conducting immigration cases with Tarrant Law.

With no new visas being issued during to coronavirus border closures the immigration work dropped off and she started COVID Rights as a side project.

'Overnight, everyday activities became a criminal offence, and many people are having difficulty navigating rather poorly drafted legislation,' Ms Wurth said.

'A lot of the rules seem inconsistent and arbitrary, and it is hard to see how they even provide security against transmission of the disease.'

Ms Wurth set up her COVID Rights website and Facebook page to provide clarification and advice on the laws.

So far she has fielded a handful of questions about coronavirus legal matters but expects there will be a spate of fines over the Easter long weekend.

'Overnight, everyday activities became a criminal offence, and many people are having difficulty navigating rather poorly drafted legislation,' Ms Wurth said. She is pictured with accountant Anthony Bell at Sydney's Downing Centre court complex in 2017

A NSW policeman is pictured talking to delivery drivers in Sydney on April 9

Among the first inquiries came after a father and daughter were asked to move on by police while they had coffee on a park bench.

FINES FOR BREACHING SOCIAL DISTANCING IN EVERY STATE Queensland: On-the-spot fine of $1,334 or a fines up to $13,000. New South Wales: Fines up to $11,000 or on-the-spot fine of $1,000 Victoria: $1,652 on-the-spot fine Tasmania: On-the-spot fine from $700-$1,000 and other fines up to $16,800 Western Australia: On-the-spot fines of $1,000 Northern Territory: On-the- spot fines of $1,099 ACT: Fines up to $8,000 South Australia: On-the-spot fine of $1,000 Advertisement

'Part of my motivation behind creating COVID Rights was to provide some resistance to the ease with which we extend police powers,' she said.

Ms Wurth said the first step for anyone wishing to challenge a fine was to treat the matter as they would if they had been caught travelling without an Opal card, for example.

'You can provide a written excuse. However, in my experience, the policy is to reject most of these,' she said.

If that didn't work the fine could be challenged before a magistrate.

'All fines can be contested in court and it would be interesting to see some test cases given the opportunity to be heard and to be interpreted by the judiciary,' Ms Wurth said.

People in NSW are legally obliged to stay in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic unless they have a 'reasonable excuse' for going outside.

Those excuses fall into four categories: obtaining essential goods such as food, for medical or compassionate needs, exercising in compliance with the public gathering restriction of two people, and for work or education.

People in NSW are legally obliged to stay in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic unless they have a 'reasonable excuse' for going outside. A policeman is pictured at the Sydney Fish Markets. There is no suggestion anyone pictured has done anything wrong

Annabel Wurth began her legal career working for prominent Sydney solicitor Chris Murphy. She has worked in the United States, France and Hong Kong. She has now set up a free legal service advising on coronavirus legislation called COVID Rights

Ms Wurth encouraged people to stay inside while they were being told to do so but wanted citizens to be aware of their rights.

'I think the community should be alive to police misusing their power,' she said.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

'The new legislation is porous, and in many ways unenforceable. Technically we all have the right to remain silent in response to police questioning.

'I would not advise this however if you have the capacity to give a reasonable excuse. Trying times call for community cooperation.

'This legislation does ask people to use their common sense and to avoid leaving home.

'As with every other police interaction, you're more likely to be arrested if you are belligerent.'

Public health legislation provides for penalties up to $11,000 or six months in prison for breaches of coronavirus measures but fines for individuals in NSW have typically been $1,000.

Last week a 21-year-old man in Newcastle, north of Sydney, was given a $1,000 penalty infringement notice for eating a kebab on a park bench after exercising.

This week police issued the same fine to a 41-year-old man out for a morning walk in Bathurst, in the state's central west, because 'he gave several different reasons for being out of his home.'

The number of COVID-19 cases in Australia has now topped 6,000 and deaths have reached 51

Ms Wurth, who lives at Potts Point in Sydney's inner-city, has seen first-hand how members of her community had problems interpreting the coronavirus laws.

She said many local residents lived in single-person households had previously relieved on parks, restaurants and bars as a means of escaping their studio flats.

'Potts Point also has a significant population of rough sleepers and backpackers, both of whom are likely targets for police,' she said.

Ms Wurth said the COVID-19 legislation should incorporate a 'first-contact warning' rather than provide for immediate on-the-spot fines.

'The fines are hefty, and by all accounts, police efforts have focused on youth in low socio economic areas who have no means to repay them,' she said.

'I am also concerned about how many people who claim to be civil libertarians are embracing the laws wholeheartedly, and relishing the occasion to dob people in.

'Police accosting a father and daughter having a coffee on a park bench is extreme behaviour, the kind Australia has not experienced before.

Ms Wurth said the COVID-19 legislation should incorporate a 'first-contact warning' rather than provide for immediate on-the-spot fines. Police are pictured at Bondi on April 4

Ms Wurth nonetheless said during 'a time of confusion and flux' people could take comfort in a strong message to stay at home.

'I don't disagree with that message and it should be followed,' she said.

'But there's a big difference between a community enacting its sense of civic duty and responsibility to being arrested by the police for everyday acts.

'Once civil liberties are sacrificed it is a slog to get them back, hence the need for resistance now.'

Police have made a number of recent arrests for drug possession and other offences while conducting COVID-19 checks.

'I think police are using these powers to give a reason to search people of interest, whereas previously you needed a reasonable suspicion of another crime,' Ms Wurth said.

While Ms Wurth's advice service is free she would charge clients for any matters which required written representation or an appearance in court. She is pictured with Anthony Bell

'This legislation could lead to the disintegration of other personal rights that have been hard fought and defended in court over the years.'

While Ms Wurth's advice service is free she would charge clients for any matters which required written representation or an appearance in court.

'Because it is generally not financially worthwhile hiring a lawyer to contest a fine probably less than their fees I'd be happy to offer a reduced rate, and I'm sure others would too,' she said.

'As business develops I will work on a blog attached to the website which shows how the police are interpreting the legislation, and provide commentary.'

Ms Wurth, who is fluent in French and can converse in German and Italian, is also working on a pamphlet she hopes to have translated into several languages which will distill the legislation and be distributed to the community.
Rising global demand for anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine for treatment of coronavirus patients has turned the attention to India which supplies 80-85 per cent of the drug's global demand. India recently agreed to export HCQ to the US and Brazil after requests from their Presidents. But with cases spiking in India, the question remains if India produces enough to meet exports without compromising on domestic needs.

Also read: Hydroxychloroquine makers Zydus, Ipca, others plan 6 times capacity to meet demand

HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE PRODUCTION IN INDIA

To begin with, India currently produces 10 metric tonnes (MT) that is estimated to be increased to 40 MT by the end of the month. Indian pharmaceutical companies are raising production capacity further to meet the demand for Hydroxychloroquine. By next month, the production is set to rise to 70 MT.

When producing at peak capacity, India would be able to produce 35 crore of Hydroxychloroquine tablets of 200 mg every month. However, India's total demand is unlikely to exceed 10 crore tablets, for which the government has already placed order with manufacturers. Industry experts believe that 10 crore tablets can treat 7 crore people. However, only people who will be safe from the side-effects of Hydroxychloroquine will be given the drug to combat coronavirus.

The remaining 25 crore tablets are likely to be exported to other countries. As of now the US, Spain, Italy, France, Germany and some of India's neighbouring countries are seeking Hydroxychloroquine.

Also read: Infographic: Does India have enough hydroxychloroquine to fight coronavirus?

HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE MANUFACTURERS IN INDIA

Zydus Cadila and Ipca Laboratories are the biggest Hydroxychloroquine manufacturers in India. Intas Pharmaceuticals, McW Healthcare of Indore, Macleods Pharmaceuticals, Cipla and Lupin are the other manufacturers who can produce the drug. But only Zydus and Ipca have backward integrated production capacity that allows them to convert key raw materials to intermediates and then finally to APIs that subsequently lead to the final formulations. The entire process is some 12-15 steps long.

The others will have to bank on API suppliers. Abbott India, Rusan Pharma, Mangalam Drugs, Unichem Remedies, Laurus Labs, Vijayasri Organics are the API suppliers of the drug. However, as China slowly moves towards normalcy, procuring the raw materials would not be difficult.

Also read: Coronavirus: Trump calls Modi for Hydroxychloroquine, but Indian makers at China's mercy

WHY HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE

While the effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine is still being tested, it is touted to put a curb on the spread of the virus and prevent it from entering cells. A report in China stated that the drug helped more than 100 patients with various degrees of illness across 10 hospitals. They were treated with various doses. Other researchers stated that cough, pneumonia and fever were treated faster in 31 patients who were given Hydroxychloroquine over 31 who were not given the drug. However, not everyone is onboard with this theory. And moreover, these results are yet to be reviewed.

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug and is also used for the treatment of immunological diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Most global pharmaceutical manufacturers had stopped producing this drug as the demand for it was very low.

Also read: Coronavirus treatment needs a rethink; and why Hydroxychloroquine matters

US, BRAZIL, ISRAEL THANK INDIA

After India said that it would help countries in need with Hydroxychloroquine, US and Brazil Presidents thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister Modi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" said President Trump.

Meanwhile, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said: "We have more good news. As an outcome of my direct conversation with Prime Minister of India, we will receive, by Saturday, raw materials to continue our production of Hydroxychloroquine so that we can treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of Lupus, Malaria, and Arthritis. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil."

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also thanked PM Modi, "Thank you, my dear friend Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!"

Also read: Coronavirus: Shashi Tharoor slams US President Donald Trump over retaliation remark
There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. But while history lauds those rare successes, those that fail are often forgotten; who remembers Pets.com?

So should Boss Resources (ASX:BOE) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? In this article, we define cash burn as its annual (negative) free cash flow, which is the amount of money a company spends each year to fund its growth. Let's start with an examination of the business's cash, relative to its cash burn.

See our latest analysis for Boss Resources

When Might Boss Resources Run Out Of Money?

You can calculate a company's cash runway by dividing the amount of cash it has by the rate at which it is spending that cash. When Boss Resources last reported its balance sheet in December 2019, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$5.3m. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$3.2m over the trailing twelve months. Therefore, from December 2019 it had roughly 20 months of cash runway. While that cash runway isn't too concerning, sensible holders would be peering into the distance, and considering what happens if the company runs out of cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

ASX:BOE Historical Debt April 9th 2020

How Is Boss Resources's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Whilst it's great to see that Boss Resources has already begun generating revenue from operations, last year it only produced AU$383k, so we don't think it is generating significant revenue, at this point. As a result, we think it's a bit early to focus on the revenue growth, so we'll limit ourselves to looking at how the cash burn is changing over time. Even though it doesn't get us excited, the 46% reduction in cash burn year on year does suggest the company can continue operating for quite some time. While the past is always worth studying, it is the future that matters most of all. For that reason, it makes a lot of sense to take a look at our analyst forecasts for the company.

Story continues

How Hard Would It Be For Boss Resources To Raise More Cash For Growth?

Even though it has reduced its cash burn recently, shareholders should still consider how easy it would be for Boss Resources to raise more cash in the future. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future growth. By looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn.

Boss Resources's cash burn of AU$3.2m is about 4.3% of its AU$75m market capitalisation. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money.

How Risky Is Boss Resources's Cash Burn Situation?

As you can probably tell by now, we're not too worried about Boss Resources's cash burn. In particular, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap stands out as evidence that the company is well on top of its spending. Its cash runway wasn't quite as good, but was still rather encouraging! Based on the factors mentioned in this article, we think its cash burn situation warrants some attention from shareholders, but we don't think they should be worried. Separately, we looked at different risks affecting the company and spotted 4 warning signs for Boss Resources (of which 1 is concerning!) you should know about.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: A bipartisan group of the top US lawmakers have urged China to "urgently" shut down all of its operating wet markets, amid the coronavirus pandemic, that have a potential to expose humans to "health risks" through the introduction of zoonotic disease.

A wet market sells fresh meat, fish, produce, and other perishable goods as distinguished from "dry markets".

It gets its name from the floors being constantly wet from the spraying of fresh produce and cleaning of meat and seafood stalls.

"We write to urgently request that China immediately close all operating wet markets that have a potential to expose humans to health risks through the introduction of zoonotic disease into the human population," wrote the Senators, in a letter to Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai.

ALSO READ | Wet markets important risk factor for coronavirus spread: UN biodiversity chief

A zoonotic disease is an illness that can be passed from an animal to a human.

"It is well documented that wet markets in China have been the source of a number of worldwide health problems, and their operation should cease immediately so as to protect the Chinese people and the international community from additional health risks," they wrote.

"Therefore, we are urging China to shut down all wet markets that allow for interactions between humans and wild animals that pose public health risks," the lawmakers concluded.

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES

Prominent among the group of 11 Senators were Republican Mitt Romney, Republican Lindsey Graham and Democratic Chris Coons.

"We understand and respect that wet markets are an important component to Chinese society and way of life, but we believe the current moment, which has disrupted everyday life around the world, calls for extreme precautions."

Gao Fu, the director of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has acknowledged "that the origin of the new coronavirus is the wildlife sold illegally in a Wuhan (China) seafood market," they said.

A wet market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan is believed to be the source of the coronavirus pandemic that began in December last year, crossing from animals to humans.

ALSO READ | COVID-19: Australia PM Scott Morrison urges WHO, UN to act against China's wet markets

Last week, China published an official timeline that said that the novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in late December where it was listed as "pneumonia of unknown cause".

The letter of the Senators comes after Dr Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health, called for the closing of these markets.

"They should shut down (wet markets) right away. I mean it boggles my mind when we have so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual human animal interface that we don't just shut it down. I don't know what else has to happen to get us to appreciate that," he said.

"And I think that there are certain countries in which this is very common place.

"I would like to see the rest of the world really lean with a lot of pressure on those countries that have that because what we are going through right now is a direct result of that," Fauci said.

In the October 2006 issue of Current Opinions in Infectious Diseases, it was found that "in Chinese wet-markets, unique epicenters for transmission of potential viral pathogens, new genes may be acquired or existing genes modified through various mechanisms such as genetic reassortment, recombination and mutation.

"The wet-markets, at closer proximity to humans, with high viral burden or strains of higher transmission efficiency, facilitate transmission of the viruses to humans."
Representative image

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Pharma stocks have been in the focus amid the turmoil caused by the coronavirus outbreak , as experts and brokerages say that the sector is better placed to navigate the economic crisis brought by the pandemic.

The highly contagious virus has taken a huge toll on most sectors, but pharma companies have withstood the carnage, with some stocks delivering healthy returns.

Experts say that the pharma and healthcare sectors have a crucial role in supporting the government and people and are doing a great job by managing medicine supplies as demand remains strong.

The BSE Healthcare index has closed in the green in the last four consecutive sessions. BSE Healthcare has emerged as the top gainer among sectoral indices, jumping 29 percent since March 25, the day the three-week lockdown began.

Pharma, as a sector, has emerged a strong contender to drive the next leg of the rally. In anticipation, pharma stocks have seen a huge run-up in the last few days.

Since February 1, the BSE Healthcare index is 4 percent up against a 23 percent fall in the Sensex, as of April 9 close, data from Ace Equity shows.

Shares of IOL Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, Abbott India, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Cadila Healthcare and Cipla have surged up to 44 percent since February 1.

However, shares of Take Solutions, Shalby, Jubilant Life Sciences, Aster DM Healthcare and Piramal Enterprises have cracked up to 50 percent during the period.

The road ahead

Brokerages say the 21-day lockdown has sprung several unprecedented challenges for the sector such as lower employee attendance, logistic problems and a shortage of accessories like packaging and labelling material. These have led to lower capacity utilisation at most plants.

The sector, however, is well-positioned to endure the coronavirus pain, brokerages say.

"In pharma, barring few supply-related disturbances, we do not envisage material earnings impact in FY21. Also, note that in this unprecedented global lockdown, pharma and healthcare services, being at the top layer of essential services, remain exempted everywhere," said brokerage firm ICICI Direct.

HDFC Securities has a positive view on the sector, too. The brokerage says its positive stance on Indian pharma is premised on sectors relative resilience to coronavirus disruption, favourable currency tailwinds and stable outlook for India and the US business.

HDFC forecasts 11 percent growth for its covered companies over the next two years. However, the brokerage identifies extended lockdown as a risk, as it can impact demand and manufacturing.

Moreover, a delay in key approvals, delay in the USFDA plant resolution due to travel advisory, EM markets currency risks and subdued demand are seen as the key risks for the sector.

Stocks to consider

Brokerages say while in the short term most companies will bounce back from the last five years of underperformance, this time around, the leader will be different. Hence, one needs to choose stocks carefully.

Edelweiss Broking suggests following five stocks:

Ajanta Pharma

Edelweiss sees Ajanta Pharma as a turnaround story. The brokerage expects the company's margin to improve to 31 percent by FY22 from 27 percent in FY19.

It expects FY20/21/22 EPS of Rs 53/70/83, respectively. At its April 8 closing price of Rs 1,367.5, the stock trades at 23/19/16 times FY20/21/22E P/E and FY22E RoCE of 20 percent.

Degrowth in the Africa business is a point of worry but Edelweiss is quite comfortable with Ajanta's US and India numbers. "We expect Africa to grow by 12 percent over the next two years," Edelweiss said.

Abbott India

Edelweiss sees it as a CAGR story. The brokerage highlighted that Abbott India has seen strong sales growth (organic: 15 percent CAGR; inorganic: 18 percent) in the last 10 years compared to an average 11 percent growth by other Indian pharmaceutical players.

This has been driven by strong execution and acquisition of Piramal Healthcares domestic formulation business in May 2010, Edelweiss said.

The brokerage expects FY20/21/22E EPS of Rs 313/360/416. At its April 8 closing price of Rs 17,481, the stock trades at 56/49/42 times FY20/FY21/FY22E P/E and FY22E RoCE of 23 percent.

"The Indian government periodically issues a price cap on certain essential drugs. About 40 percent of Abbotts portfolio falls under Drug Price Control Orders (DPCO), so any incremental coverage would pose a risk to earnings," Edelweiss said.

Dr Reddys Laboratories

It is 'new management, new story' theme for Edelweiss as India business is a key focus for the company now.

Edelweiss highlights that despite its strong innovation capabilities since inception, Dr Reddys Laboratories is not even among the top 10 domestic formulation players. Its India business was never a focus area for the management, which led to market share loss over a period of time.

"But for the new management, India will be a key focus area. It recently acquired a large portfolio from a competitor," Edelweiss said.

The brokerage expects FY20/21/FY22 EPS of Rs 120/150/174. At its April 8 closing price of Rs 3,683, the stock trades at 31/25/22 times FY20/21/22E P/E and FY22E RoCE of 20 percent.

Any delay in gCopaxone launch can impact FY22E earnings of the company significantly, said Edelweiss. Also, any USFDA issue with its Bachupally facility is a risk.

Laurus Labs

Edelweiss sees the company as a classic investment story.

The brokerage thinks the earnings of the company will shoot up to Rs 34 per share in FY21E from Rs 9 per share in FY19.

The stock trades at 12 times FY21E P/E. RoCE is seen improving to 13 percent in FY21E from 6 percent in FY19.

Edelweiss expects FY20/21/22 EPS of Rs 24/34/37. At its April 8 closing price of Rs 391, the stock trades at 17/12/11 times FY20/21/22E P/E and FY22E RoCE of 14 percent.

The brokerage said its margin assumption for FY21/22 is 22 percent but any pricing pressure in API/formulation can impact EPS significantly.

Biocon

It is a participant of mega theme -- biosimilar and TINA, said Edelweiss.

Edelweiss points out that the total biosimilar market size was pegged at $20 billion in 2019 by various studies. The same is expected to touch $60 billion by 2025, the highest growth category for pharma companies globally.

The brokerage is of the view that Biocon has proven its mettle by launching Pegfilgrastim ($4 billion) in the US last year. In March, it received approval for Lantus ($6 billion).

The brokerage expects FY20/21/22 EPS of Rs 7.5/10.2/13.4. At its April 8 closing price of Rs 327, the stock trade at 43/32/24 times FY20/21/22E P/E and FY22E RoCE of 12 percent.

Any facility-related USFDA action is a risk for the stock.

The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
ANN ARBOR, MI  As social distancing becomes increasingly common across the globe, an Ann Arbor startup is tracking just how intensely communities are trying to avoid contact and limit the spread of the new coronavirus in some of the worlds busiest places.

Voxel51, a company that services the artificial intelligence industry for image and video processing and understanding, was founded by Jason Corso, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Michigan. Two weeks ago, Corso said he and his team began tracking physical distancing at locations like Times Square in New York, Miami Beach, Abbey Road in London and the Ruthven Museums Building at UM.

The street cams are public on the internet, so we can just connect to them and pull the data from them, Corso said. We found ones that had a good feed, looking at interesting places, but also had historical data that we could access because its important for our (physical distancing index) analysis.

The physical distancing index, or PDI, measures the amount of human activity in an image, Corso said, including pedestrians, cars, bicycles and motorcycles. A computer detects those objects and counts them, and each location is given a PDI score once every 15 minutes.

The researchers recently added graphs to each location to show its PDI, as well as the number of cases and deaths over time. So far, Corso said there is a sharp drop-off for each feed right around mid-March, when many states and countries began issuing stay-at-home orders. There are some areas during certain times, however, where there have been spikes in activity.

The weathers getting nice and people sort of need to go outdoors, so the (camera) thats at the Jersey Shore at Seaside Heights, you actually see a large uptick two weekends ago when it was 70 degrees or something, Corso said.

In Ann Arbor, there is no historical data for the street camera the team is using, so the graphs only go back until April 4. The PDI for the area shown is nearly zero, while the number of COVID-10 cases and deaths has continued to rise in the area.

Most of the graphs on the website show the PDI dropping while the number of cases rises. In a few months, Corso and his team are hoping to see the opposite  the PDI increase while the number of cases declines.

Corso said Voxel51s project protects peoples privacy. The PDI is simply a number, so theres no notion of individual identity. Corso said all of the video on the website is already public, pulled from websites like YouTube and Earthcam, and the platform is deployed in a cloud provider with best-in-class security, so Corso and his team are not worried about someone breaking into it.

The website also has state-of-the-art redaction capabilities, Corso said, which includes blurring faces and images on the footage that is stored.

So far, Corso said there are hundreds of visitors to the site each day, including some who are returning to watch different street cams. He said his team is adding new feeds from different locations, and the company is accepting requests to add locations or specific installations of the system for local government and taxpayer usage.

Were certainly seeing a lot of interest in what the website can offer, and we couldnt be more pleased that were doing something to help, even if its only public awareness, Corso said.

More information on Voxel51 can be found here.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here.

Related coverage:

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends coronavirus stay-at-home order through April 30

Whats the difference between Michigans stay-at-home order and state of emergency?

Michigan becomes 3rd state to eclipse 20,000 coronavirus cases

Report: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will extend stay-at-home order

How Michigans coronavirus stay-at-home order compares to other states

Wednesday, April 8: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Heres when federal stimulus payments should hit bank accounts

As coronavirus scare relaxes Michigan transparency laws, experts question long-term effects

Michigan unemployment questions answered: When to expect it, if its taxable and more

Gov. Whitmers latest order ensures speedy delivery of emergency coronavirus supplies
I know that a lot of people are skeptical that justice ever will be done in Spygate, the attempted sabotage of a presidential campaign and presidency by a leadership cabal within the intelligence apparatus of the United States. But the wheels of justice grind slowly because there are a lot of is to be dotted and ts to be crossed, so to speak, for the convictions to be obtained and upheld.

Last night, Laura Ingraham broadcast the second part [i] of an interview with Attorney General Barr in which he made some significant points about what is ahead for that cabal, in very general terms, of course. Sometimes, he is so economical and subtle that the significance of his remarks is not immediately obvious to all.

William Barr chooses his words very carefully and is systematic (among the traits that made him a super-lawyer), so it is always worthwhile examining them closely and putting things together.

Fortunately, two knowledgeable observers have offered exegeses today that are worth reading.

Sundance of Conservative Treehouse picks out the biggest reveals and cues them on the video embedded below, while retired FBI special agent (and AT contributor) Mark Wauck of Meaning in History puts together the pieces and teases out some subtleties. I'll start with video of the entire seven-minute interview, courtesy of Sundance.

Sundance highlights Barr's comments on the firing of Michael Atkinson, on Durham's investigation, and FISA abuses. Here's what Barr said about the Durham investigation and Spygate:

@4:10 of Video] INGRAHAM  What can you tell us about the state of John Durham's investigation? People have been waiting for the, the final report, on what happened with this, what can you tell us? BARR  "Well I think a report y'know, may be, and probably will be, a by-product of his activity; but his primary focus isn't to prepare a report, he is looking to bring to justice people who were engaged in abuses if he can show that there were criminal violations; and that's what the focus is on. And, uh, as you know, being a lawyer yourself, building these cases, especially the sprawling case we have between us that went on for two or three years here, uh, it takes some time, it takes some time to build the case." "So he's diligently pursuing it, uh.. My own view is that, uh, the evidence shows that we're not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness, there was something far more troubling here; and we're going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law, and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted."

The rest is here.

Mark writes:

First of all, it seems apparent that the Durham investigation has completed most of its evidence gathering--whether documentary or through interviews. That doesn't mean the investigation is finished. There is also the question of putting together a prosecutive case, and that will probably involve complicated negotiations with the lawyers for the persons being investigated. That, in turn, could lead to further substantive investigation. But the bottom line is that at this point Barr appears confident that he knows what happened and, most likely, who was behind it. As Barr says, this is a "sprawling" case. Second, Barr several times refers to things that "they" did. Not things that "were done." So, multiple human perpetrators. That points toward the strong likelihood that a conspiracy case is being pursued that will encompass an attempt to "sabotage the presidency." As Barr says, this is a "sprawling" case. And this case is very much focused on developing a criminal prosecution of the conspirators. Third, Barr says that, while Durham's "primary focus" is not on preparing a report, a report will "probably" result from Durham's investigation. That's important. IMO, the American people deserve a report that lays out the narrative of how a group of highly placed federal government operatives conspired to "sabotage the presidency." Such a report would be unusual coming from a prosecutor, but this is an unusual case that goes to the heart of our constitutional order. The American people deserve to have a report that they can read and readily understand, rather than having to glean the narrative from complicate testimony, court proceedings, and documents written in bureacratic language and, possibly, released without full context. The release of the Papadopoulos interview is a down payment, as are no doubt the firings of corrupt Deep State operatives such as Dan Coats, Michael Atkinson, and others. Fourth, there is a twofold key in what Barr tells. He tells us that Crossfire Hurricane--"this investigation of [Trump's] campaign"--was inititated "without any basis." That means that Crossfire Hurricane was initiated without proper predication and was an unlawful investigation. I think we will see confirmed what we've always known, that Crossfire Hurricane was initiated for the purpose of developing a narrative that could derail and sabotage a presidential election. But, that baseless investigation nevertheless served as the predication for what Barr says he has found "even more concerning": "... what happened after the campaign--a whole pattern of events while [Trump] was president ... to sabotage the presidency." From this I think we can readily gather why this Durham investigation is so "sprawling." What happened after the campaign? The attempt to frame Michael Flynn and to sabotage the presidency through the frame job on Flynn, at the very inception of the administration, to tar it as "colluding" with Russia, rather than conducting foreign policy. The continued renewals of the Carter Page FISA, known to be fraudulent, which implicate the highest levels of the FBI and of DoJ--McCabe, Comey, Yates, Boente, Rosenstein, and many more. The bogus Intelligence Community Assessment, the development of which we're told Durham has spent so much time examinging. And lastly but far from least, the entire Mueller Witchhunt--which, as frame by Rod Rosenstein, purported to be a continuation of the baseless FBI investigation, Crossfire Hurricane. The release of the Papadopoulos transcript not only is a dagger in the heart of the predication for Crossfire Hurricane and the Carter Page FISA, a dagger in the heart of the FBI's role in the conspiracy. It is also a dagger that, along with the final FISA renewal, we may learn is directed at Team Mueller through its pursuit of George Papadopoulos.
The active number of Oregonians hospitalized with a confirmed case of COVID-19 stood at 146 on Thursday, according to statistics released by state officials.

This week marks the first time that Oregon officials have disclosed daily tallies of active hospitalizations for confirmed coronavirus cases.

In the past, Oregon released cumulative hospitalizations and active hospitalizations, but the later category did not distinguish between confirmed or suspected cases.

Oregon reported 156 confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations on Wednesday, the first day the tally was available. The cumulative number of hospitalizations for confirmed coronavirus cases since the outbreak began in February is 326, according to the state.

State officials have said social distancing measures have helped blunt the spread of coronavirus, which in turn has helped prevent a flood of severe cases to hospitals. Oregon has nearly 300 intensive-care-unit beds available, more than 2,200 non-ICU beds open and almost 800 ventilators not in use.

It remains unclear where many hospitalized patients are being treated. Thats because the state is not disclosing hospitalizations by hospital, hospital system or county.

The Oregonian/OregonLive has been reporting information it obtains for the Portland area, however.

Providence Health & Services active hospitalizations of confirmed cases stood at 40 as of Thursday -- the same number it was March 31. That means the volume of identified new cases has not outpaced the number of people discharged.

The tally of confirmed cases at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Washington County has dropped from 24 last week to 15 Thursday. But confirmed cases have grown at Portland Providence Medical Center from 13 last week to 22 Thursday. Theres been no change for the systems tallies from Newberg (2) and Milwaukie (1).

The rise of cases at the Portland hospital comes as more infections are identified in Multnomah County, which is on the verge of passing Washington County for the most infections in Oregon.

Legacy Health, meanwhile, has seen an increase of confirmed cases. The tally for all of its hospitals -- including in Southwest Washington -- rose from 22 last week to 27 as of Thursday. Legacy wont provide hospital-level breakdowns.

Kaiser Permanente has also seen confirmed cases increase since last week. The count stood at 16 as of April 2 and is now 19. Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Centers tally rose by four, to 10, while Kaiser Westside Medical Centers number dropped from 10 to nine.

OHSU Hospital, the only system that discloses its numbers online, reported 10 hospitalizations of confirmed cases as of Thursday.

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
While COVID-19 has prevented many Houstonians from going into work physically, road construction in the area should not see any delays according to both the Texas Department of Transportation and Harris County Precinct 4.

Deidrea George with TxDOT said the organization is working closely with contractors and implementing higher safety guidelines to keep construction crews safe during the pandemic. George said no Houston-area projects have been delayed.
A police team was attacked with bricks and stones during a raid to check illicit sale of liquor in Uttar Pradesh's Chitrakoot district on Friday, an official said.

One sub-inspector and two constables sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment at a government hospital, said ASP Balwant Chaudhari.

He said the incident took place in Ghadighat village under Pahadi police station limits when the police team reached there to check illicit liquor sale during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown.

Additional police force was deployed in the village and six people taken into custody, Chaudhari said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NORTH Mara Gold Mine (NMGM) has donated items worth 37m/- to Tarime District and Referral Regional Hospital in Musoma to intensify COVID 19 battle in Mara Region.

The items included 120 hand washing tanks each with 200 litres capacity, bottles of sanitisers, gumboots and hazmat suits for health staff, who would take care of any coronavirus suspect.

These are preventive equipment to protect the community and health workers. It is our responsibility as an investor to support efforts speeded by the government to fight covid-19 in Tanzania, said the mines Occupational Health and Safety Manager, Dr Nicholas Mboya, while handing over the items to Tarime District authorities.

The list also included five scan thermometers (infrared), which will be placed in every entry point across Tanzania-Kenya borders in Tarime.

Welcoming the assistance, Tarime District Commissioner (DC) Eng Mtemi Msafiri (pictured) said the preventive gears will also be placed in Churches, markets and Mosques.

The scan thermometers will be helpful in checking temperatures of people along the border in several stations, Eng Msafiri said.

The Infrared, he said will further help in screening people, who are going under quarantine in the district to ensure that the area is free from the pandemic.

The DC pointed out that some of the items will also be provided to small scale miners in the district.
A staggering 16.8 million Americans lost their jobs in just three weeks in a measure of how fast the coronavirus pandemic has brought world economies to their knees.

A spike in deaths in Britain and New York and surges of reported new infections in Japan made it clear the battle is far from over.

As fatalities in the UK continued to spiral, there was some good news as prime minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care after three days.

Downing Street said the prime minister was in the "early phase" of recovery, having been moved back to a low-dependency ward at St Thomas' Hospital, London.

Meanwhile, the IMF warned the pandemic would push the global economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, with the world's poorest countries suffering the most.

However, if the virus fades in the second half of the year, allowing the gradual lifting of containment measures and the reopening of the global economy, the IMF is forecasting a partial recovery in 2021.

In the US, New York state reported 799 more dead, its third straight day of record-high fatalities.

More than 7,000 people have died in the state, accounting for almost half the US death toll of around 16,000.

"That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking, I don't even have the words for it," said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, though he added that there were hopeful signs, including slowdowns in the number of people being hospitalised and being admitted to intensive care.

He said hospitals were standing up to the strain so far and the onslaught of patients had not been as big as feared.

Worldwide, the number of dead rose past 90,000 and confirmed infections reached about 1.5 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, though the true numbers are believed much higher, in part because of different rules for counting the dead and cover-ups by some governments.

Numbers released in the US yesterday showed 6.6 million American workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, on top of more than 10 million in the two weeks before that. That amounts to about one in 10 US workers, the biggest, fastest pile-up of job losses since record-keeping began in 1948.

The real numbers could be even higher because state unemployment offices around the country have been overwhelmed with claims, and some people have been unable to get through by phone or online. More job cuts are still expected.

The US unemployment rate in April could hit 15pc - a number last seen at the tail end of the Great Depression.

The Federal Reserve announced it would provide up to $2.3trn (2.1trn) in loans targeted toward both households and businesses.

The UN's labour organisation said the equivalent of 195 million jobs could be lost in the second quarter, while aid organisation Oxfam estimated half a billion people worldwide could be pushed into poverty if wealthier nations do not take urgent action.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the top American infectious diseases expert, shot down hopes that warmer spring weather would bring an end to the crisis.

"One should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather," he said. "You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing."

New infections, hospitalisations and deaths have been levelling off in hard-hit Italy and Spain, which together have around 33,000 deaths, but the daily tolls are still shocking. Spain reported 683 more dead, bringing its total to more than 15,200. Britain recorded 881 new deaths, for a total of close to 8,000.

Japan recorded more than 500 new cases for the first time, a worrisome rise since it has the world's oldest population.

About 350,000 people globally have recovered.
An amputee rescue dog has been branded a 'miracle girl' after surviving a car accident which broke both her legs, her pelvis and her hips.

Owner Zach Skow, 40, from California says Cora, a seven-year-old poodle mix, is 'a bright shining source of light' who improves his day and makes 'everything better'.

The founder of non-profit animal rescue Marley's Mutts rescued Cora from an animal shelter, and despite having both her front legs amputated after the car accident Zach says she lives every day 'as though it were her last'.

Pink-eared Cora has adapted perfectly by running around and sitting up on her hind legs.

Scroll down for video

Owner Zach Skow, 40, says Cora, a seven-year-old poodle mix, is 'a bright shining source of light' who brightens up his day and makes 'everything better'. Pictured together in California

The founder of non-profit animal rescue Marley's Mutts rescued Cora (pictured) from an animal shelter and the pair now live together in sunny Tehachapi, California

Despite having both her front legs amputated after the car accident Zach says she lives every day 'as though it were her last' (pictured running)

'She, quite simply, is always in the moment and never allows a moment to go by without truly living it to 100 per cent,' he added.

Pictures of the adorable pooch show her running around with other dogs in both sun and snow on her two remaining back legs.

The pink-eared dog cuddles up to Zach in other images as she enjoys her life while looking stylish in a range of accessories and tops.

A soaking wet Cora is pictured looking delighted in the shower. Her usually fluffy exterior has been flattened by the water

Cora is pictured with sweet pink-coloured ears as she enjoys a cuddle in Zach's arms

The pink-eared dog enjoys her life while looking stylish in a range of accessories and tops

Don't stop me now! Pictures of the adorable pooch show her running around with other dogs in both sun and snow on her two remaining back legs

A fluffier-looking Cora poses next to another of Zach's dogs at their home in California

Zach and Cora make the most of their life amidst the Tehachapi Mountains south of the state

Cora has a well-earned rest on a rug but is bothered by another of Zach's dogs

Cora has fun in the sun as she plays inside a blue tube toy. The fun-loving pooch often joins Zach on his positive change prison program where he says she is 'definitely the biggest hit'

The sweet pooch would melt anyone's heart as she looks up to the camera with her big eyes

Zach revealed his support of Cora's differences means she 'is able to succeed and find her happiness'.

'Cora has the same effect on me that she has on everyone who meets her, she makes everything better,' he said.

'She is quite simply a bright shining source of light which has the ability to bring light into places of great darkness.'

Cora joins Zach on his positive change prison program, which that pairs incarcerated people with rescued dogs for mutual rehabilitation, where she is 'definitely the biggest hit'.

He added: 'The girls at our juvenile justice detention center class call her "The miracle girl".'
Mohali districts Jawaharpur village, which has emerged as a hotspot of Covid-19 in Punjab, now accounts for as many as 21% cases of the disease in the state, with 10 more persons found infected on Friday.

The number of total cases in the village that falls in Dera Bassi sub-division has reached 32. Now, the district has 48 positive cases, contributing 31% to the states tally.

Deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said, Extensive sampling has enabled us to detect more positive cases in the village and isolate them timely. Without testing, containing the village of around 2,500 plus population would not have achieved the desired results.

Of the 206 samples collected from the village, reports of 12 are awaited.

On Friday, 20 new cases reported in Punjab, yet another day of highest spike in a single day.

Earlier on Wednesday, as many cases were reported. With one more death in Mohali in a 78-year old woman, the total count of Covid-19 casualties in the district rose to 2. The samples of the woman, who died on April 6, came out positive on Friday.

However, the state governments media bulletin mentioned only one death in the district.

With 15 cases, Pathankot districts Sujanpur has emerged as another hotspot as 14 people have been found infected from the town.

Of a total of 3,461 tests conducted in the state, reports of 2,972 samples have been received. Of these, nearly 95% have turned out be negative.

Even as the state government is claiming to have increased its testing capacity to 800 tests a day, only 269 samples were sent for testing on Friday.

State health departments Covid-19 official spokesperson Dr Rajesh Bhaskar said the department is waiting for rapid testing kits from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) which will be used in the hotspots.

In a rapid test, results arrive within 15 minutes. The samples found negative during these tests will be sent to our state laboratories to reconfirmation. Our increased capacity will be fully utilised during the rapid testing, said the spokesperson.

Everyday, ICMR officials assure us that rapid testing kits would be arriving anytime. We are waiting for these kits for the last three days, a senior health department official said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A convicted sex offender from north Alabama has been arrested and charged with the stabbing death of a 33-year-old Boaz man Wednesday, police said Thursday.

Brandon Richard Davis, 50, of Kilpatrick, was arrested in connection with the Wednesday night murder of Cory Austin Tidwell, 33, of Boaz, according to Boaz police chief Josh Gaskin.

Davis, who was convicted in 1997 for sexual abusing an 8-year-old girl, knew Tidwell through an adult female acquaintance, the police chief said.

Tidwells body was discovered with multiple stab wounds around 8 p.m. Wednesday on the 215 block of Woodley Terrace in Boaz. Officers at the scene began CPR on Tidwell, who was later pronounced dead.

Davis was arrested at his home in Kilpatrick without incident on murder charges and confessed to the killing to Boaz police investigators, Gaskin said. He was expected to be transferred to the Marshall County Jail on Thursday.

****PRESS RELEASE**** HOMICIDE *ALL SUSPECTS ARE INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY IN A COURT OF LAW* On the night of April 8, 2020, at approximately 8:00 p.m., the Boaz Police Department responded to a call at 215 Woodley Terrace Boaz, AL of a male suffering from multiple stab wounds. Officers arrived on scene, located the male inside the home and began CPR. The male was later pronounced deceased. The victim was identified as Coy Austin Tidwell, 33, of Boaz. Investigators and Officers on the scene worked quickly to gather information about the homicide. A suspect was developed and later located at his home in Kilpatrick by Boaz Assistant Chief Colbert and Boaz Police Chief Gaskin. The suspect exited the home after being given loud verbal commands by Assistant Chief Colbert. Dekalb County Sheriffs Department arrived on scene during this time and assisted in taking the suspect into custody peacefully without further incident. The suspect was identified as Brandon Richard Davis, 50, of Kilpatrick. Davis was transported to the Boaz Police Department to be interviewed. Davis gave a full confession to Boaz Police Department Investigators. He has been charged with murder. He will be transported to the Marshall County Jail later today and a bond will be set by a Judge. The victim and suspect were acquaintances through an adult female they both knew. The suspect, Brandon Richard Davis, is a convicted sex offender. He was convicted in 1997 for the sexual abuse of an eight (8) year old female. The victims body was transported to the Department of Forensic Science for an autopsy. The Boaz Police Department Officers, Investigators, and Dispatcher did an outstanding job in their response to this call. After attempting to provide medical assistance to the victim, the scene was quickly secured and witnesses were separated. The investigators were thorough at the scene, while being respectful and professional to all those involved. The Boaz Police Department sends their thoughts and prayers to the victims family during this very difficult time. The Boaz Police Department is also appreciative to the continued teamwork from Albertville Police Department, Dekalb County Sheriffs Department, Marshall County Coroners Office and ALEA State Troopers. All of which responded to the suspects and victims residence and helped with the management of the scene and several individuals that were at the suspect's house. -Boaz Police Chief Josh Gaskin Posted by Boaz Police Department on Thursday, April 9, 2020

Tidwells body was transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science in Huntsville for an autopsy.

The Boaz Police Department officers, investigators, and dispatcher did an outstanding job in their response to this call. After attempting to provide medical assistance to the victim, the scene was quickly secured and witnesses were separated, Gaskin said. The investigators were thorough at the scene, while being respectful and professional to all those involved. The Boaz Police Department sends their thoughts and prayers to the victims family during this very difficult time.
TCPVN donates total $21,700 to Bach Mai Hospital

Of this, VND500 million ($21,740) of the donation has been earmarked for Bach Mai Hospital, which is one of the health centres which have been hit the hardest during the pandemic and is on the frontline of battling the virus in Vietnam.

According to an announcement from the Ministry of Health made at 6am on April 9, 2020, Vietnam had recorded 251 positive cases of COVID-19, with 44 infected at Bach Mai Hospital. In order to minimise the likelihood of the virus spreading in the community, the entirety of Bach Mai Hospital has been cordoned off for quarantine. With no one able to leave or enter the premises, the hospital is experiencing a range of difficulties with regard to shortages of resources, medical equipment, and the provision of necessities for patients.

In order to ease the burden, through the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, TCPVN has donated VND500 million ($21,740) to support Bach Mai Hospital during the pandemic. Previously, on April 3, 2020, through the Central Committee of Vietnam Fatherland Front Ho Chi Minh City, TCPVN contributed VND100 million ($4,350) in funds and 21,420 products in response to the government's call for action to help with the pandemic.

Nguyen Thanh Huan, general director of TCPVN, said: We acknowledge that this is a tough time for Vietnam, and that it is necessary to share the burden with the community, especially with regards to the complicated COVID-19 situation at Bach Mai Hospital in recent days. TCPVN wishes to stand side-by-side with citizens across the country and the hospital in dealing with this crisis. The company is ready to strictly implement the government's and the Ministry of Health's directives in order to help fight the pandemic together, and we hope that the efforts of TCPVN and other businesses, along with the government, will help all of us pull through this crisis as soon and safely as possible. TCPVN inherited the sustainable values of TCP Group in Thailand, and we will continue to promote and spread this spirit in Vietnam.

Saravoot Yoovidhya, CEO of TCP Group, said: Red Bull energy drink has been served to consumers in Vietnam for over 20 years through our local partnership. In 2018, TCP Group decided to expand its business in Vietnam by setting up TCPVN to offer a wider portfolio to Vietnamese consumers. For TCP Group, Vietnam is one of the most important and fastest-growing markets in the region. Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam, like many other countries in the world, is experiencing a challenging period. TCPVN's contribution to Bach Mai Hospital in particular and Vietnam in general is a testament to TCP Groups long-term commitment to Vietnam. We hope to contribute to mitigating the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as helping to prevent the spread of this virus in Vietnam and around the world.

On a regional level, TCP Group has been living up to its social responsibility commitments by supporting several governments in the region in dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. Specifically, TCP Group and its partners have donated funds 0to support Wuhan (China) and Myanmar, as well as 120,000 face masks with Nano Zinc Oxide technology and automatic diagnostic tools to some hospitals in Thailand.
Avakov suggests it is possible to end quarantine in May.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has outlined possible deadlines for lifting the quarantine restrictions imposed in the country over the coronavirus.

"How long should we be cooped up indoors? [People] are running out of money, businesses are crumbling... How long?! Let's talk, answering the question honestly," he wrote on Facebook late on April 9.

Read alsoUkraine president's office considering possible quarantine easing by April 24

Avakov says he receives many reports about the incidence rate and the situation in the regions, but he honestly admits he does not know when exactly these restrictions may be lifted. However, he suggests it is possible to end quarantine in May.

"I don't know, nobody knows. And if someone confidently says that he knows  don't believe him. I can nevertheless suppose and hope the country will begin to return to normal life in May, but will recover completely by summer at this stage," the minister said.

Avakov said the easing of quarantine measures would take place in several stages.

"First for the youth, then for the older people... in the second half of May... If we proceed with the current model of resistance to the virus, if we keep order and discipline. If we set aside feuds and will firmly adhere to the quarantine now," he added.
As the old saying goes, the only guarantees in life are death and taxes. And the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department is driving home that point amid a public health emergency that threatens the lives  and livelihoods  of New Mexicans.

The Taxation & Revenue Department has decided to let property taxes be the outlier, not offering an extension of second-half property tax payments that are due May 10. Odd, since state Taxation & Revenue Department Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke went along with the federal government when the Trump administration decided to extend the deadline for filing federal income taxes from April 15 to July 15.

We understand that this unprecedented public health emergency is placing enormous financial strain on many residents and businesses, Schardin Clarke said regarding the state and federal income tax extensions. These tax extensions will allow individuals and businesses in New Mexico to keep more money in their pockets for the next three months and to better weather this storm.

Shouldnt the same logic and consideration apply for those owing property taxes, particularly when the states unemployment claim process has been overwhelmed and many New Mexicans dont know when they will see their first benefits?

Bernalillo County Treasurer Nancy Bearce said her office asked the state to extend the May 10 property tax deadline, but the request was denied. Now all 33 New Mexico counties are imposing the May 10 deadline, which will come about two weeks after what University of Washington researchers predict will be the height of the COVID-19 daily death toll in New Mexico. Bearces advice for those struggling to make property tax payments: contact their mortgage or financing institution to see if assistance or payment options are available.

A record number of New Mexicans  more than 77,000  have sought unemployment benefits since the government-imposed closures began. Some utilities have agreed to suspend disconnections and the New Mexico Supreme Court has ordered a temporary halt on most evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet, when it comes to property taxes, were told to contact our mortgage or financing institution.

State government will ultimately get its share of everything produced and earned, but right now, money is needed more by those who pay taxes than those who collect them. The financial health of many New Mexicans is reaching a critical point a month into a near shutdown of the states economy, with people struggling to pay and juggling bills. The Taxation & Revenue Departments decision not to extend the property tax deadline is indefensible when one takes a 30,000-foot-view of the current situation.

As it stands, property taxes are due May 10 (they become delinquent after that), while state and federal income taxes are due July 15. The lack of synchronicity doesnt make sense.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has exercised extraordinary and unprecedented powers to fight the spread of the coronavirus and flatten the curve of community spread of infection. Tax and Rev is claiming state statute prohibits it from adjusting the deadlines, but somehow its able to waive the interest on late income tax payments that is also in statute. Lujan Grisham should do what is necessary to extend the deadline to pay property taxes, even if lawmakers must later ratify it. Its a move that would have little opposition outside bureaucratic circles and be welcomed by New Mexico property owners trying to make ends meet.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Eighteen years after being convicted of stabbing and slashing his best friend's mother 52 times inside her St. John's home, Brian Doyle has been granted day parole.

Doyle killed Catherine Carroll on New Year's Day in 1991 after breaking in through her basement window.

He later watched as her son, Gregory Parsons, took the fall in a wrongful murder conviction that later sparked an inquiry into Newfoundland and Labrador's judicial system.

Parsons was exonerated in 1998. Another four years passed until Doyle was convicted, the result of a Mr. Big sting with undercover police officers.

Now Doyle is allowed out of prison, with the condition that he return to his halfway house each night and stay away from Newfoundland and Labrador.

He's also not allowed to consume alcohol or drugs, and must undergo mental health counselling specific to the sexual nature of his crime.

Mike McArthur/CBC

"You exposed the family to the trauma of a trial involving the victim's son, and only co-operated and confessed as a result of conversations you had with investigators who you did not know were police," the parole judgment reads.

"The judge also commented that the notion of a 'killer slashing his victim and then calmly showering off the splattered blood [exposes] a flawed humanity.'"

Son became prime suspect

Doyle was high and drunk when he broke into the house after a New Year's Eve party. He later claimed he was in a relationship with Carroll  a claim Parsons rejects  and she refused to sleep with him that night.

Parsons quickly became the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary's prime suspect. He was convicted in 1994, but was soon released on bail pending the outcome of his appeal.

It was another four years until he was cleared by the courts, based on DNA evidence. Parsons was given two $650,000 payments by the provincial government for his wrongful conviction.

The Parsons case was key to a judicial inquiry headed by retired Supreme Court of Canada justice Antonio Lamer, who faulted the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary for "tunnel vision" in two murder investigations.

Story continues

According to the parole documents, Doyle went on the run to the United States after stealing money from a drug trafficking accomplice in 1995. He was arrested in New Mexico with a stolen car and was deported to Ontario in the late 1990s.

In 2002, he confessed to undercover police officers that he had killed Carroll. The officers pretended to hire Doyle to kill someone for $20,000. He told them he could do it in a way that would make someone else look guilty.

Doyle is now listed as a moderate risk to reoffend.

Killer was emotional over victim impact statement

Parsons wanted to be in British Columbia for Doyle's parole hearing, but was unable to attend due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He requested the hearing be delayed, but the Parole Board of Canada proceeded without him present.

Parsons instead sent along a victim impact statement. The parole decision says Doyle became emotional as the statements were read aloud.

"You shared that you are aware of the pain you have caused and that you live everyday with what you have done," the parole decision reads.

"You said that you are sorry and that you never meant for any of this to happen. However, the board did find that your request at the end of the hearing for 'everyone to move on and find peace' to lack the level of insight one would expect at this point in your sentence regarding the significance of the hurt and harm the victims continue to live with each day."

Michael McArthur/CBC

Doyle attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in prison, and was granted leave to attend them in the community. The decision said Doyle withdrew from the leave of absence program after other inmates were using the trips to smuggle contraband back into the prison.

He's been considered minimum security since 2015, and was staying at the minimum security William's Head Institution in British Columbia. Parsons previously spoke out about comfortable conditions in the prison, which mostly houses white-collar criminals.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
Attorney General William Barr said in an interview aired Thursday that he supported President Donald Trump's controversial decision to oust the intelligence community's inspector general, whose decision to alert Congress about a whistle-blower complaint last year helped spark Trump's impeachment.

In an interview with Fox News, Barr said Trump "did the right thing" in removing Michael Atkinson from his post as the intelligence community's internal watchdog, and recalled how the Justice Department had fought against Atkinson last year when he wanted to turn the whistle-blower complaint over to lawmakers.

"He had interpreted his statute, which was a fairly narrow statute which gave him jurisdiction over wrongdoing over by intelligence people, and tried to turn it into a commission to explore anything in the government and immediately report it to Congress without letting the executive branch look at it and determine whether there was any problem," Barr said of Atkinson.

In the past seven days, Trump has drawn bipartisan criticism after he told Congress he intended to fire Atkinson in 30 days, and then effectively removed Glenn Fine from his post as the chairman of the federal panel Congress created to oversee his administration's management of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.

Critics alleged that Trump was launching an assault on a critical mechanism for good government; inspectors general are supposed to be independent, nonpartisan watchdogs ferreting out fraud, waste and abuse. The removal of Atkinson, in particular, troubled Senate Republicans, who have pushed the White House for a more detailed explanation.

A spokesperson for the intelligence community inspector general's office did not immediately return an email message seeking comment late Thursday night.

Atkinson has said previously that he was "disappointed and saddened" by Trump's decision, adding, "It is hard not to think that the president's loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial inspector general." Trump has said he felt Atkinson did a "terrible job," and that he had lost confidence in the inspector general.

"I think he wants responsible watchdogs," Barr said of Trump.

That Barr would support Trump in the dispute is not entirely surprising. Barr has been one of the president's most loyal cabinet secretaries, and he has long held the view that the president should wield expansive powers in the executive branch.

Barr's Justice Department, too, also disagreed in real time with Atkinson about what should happen with the whistle-blower complaint, which alleged malfeasance in Trump's dealings with his Ukrainian counterpart, particularly during a July 25 phone call in which Trump pressed for an investigation of his political rival, Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden.

The inspector general felt the complaint should be forwarded to the intelligence communities in Congress, believing that was appropriate protocol because the matter was an "urgent" concern. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, however, felt that because the matter did not concern the "funding, administration, or operation of an intelligence community" matter  but instead was an allegation of possible criminal conduct by the commander in chief  it should be more properly handled as a criminal referral and not be routed to lawmakers.

That determination initially stopped the complaint from being turned over to Congress, though Atkinson made lawmakers aware of its existence. The department ultimately determined the matter did not warrant criminal investigation. The complaint and a rough transcript of Trump's call with Zelensky were eventually made public and played a major role in triggering Trump's impeachment.

In the same Fox News interview, Barr said that U.S. Attorney John Durham  who he handpicked to investigate the origins of the FBI's 2016 investigation into Trump's campaign  would likely produce a report of his findings, though that was not his main mission.

"I think a report may be, and probably will be, a byproduct of his activity, but his primary focus isn't to prepare a report," Barr said. "He is looking to bring to justice people who were engaged in abuses, if he can show that they were criminal violations."

As Trump has, Barr also expressed skepticism about voting by mail  which some states view as a necessary step to stem the spread of coronavirus  though he said he expected by the November general election "we're going to be dealing with a difference set of circumstances."

"It's not the right time to be experimenting with the way elections are conducted, that is, through mail in and other kinds of techniques," Barr said.

The comments come as some states have had to postpone their primaries in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus  with one notable exception. Earlier this week, Wisconsin proceeded with its election after the state Supreme Court blocked the governors effort to suspend in-person voting.

The move inflamed partisan rancor in the state and perhaps foreshadowed some of the legal battles that could lie in the months ahead, if the virus persists.

For his part, Trump publicly encouraged people to vote for a conservative justice running in a hotly contested race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and suggested he was not responsible if people waiting in long lines contracted coronavirus.

"Look, all I did was endorse a candidate," Trump said. "I don't know anything about their lines. I don't know anything about their voting."

Trump has in recent days repeatedly disparaged one alternative to in-person voting, voting by mail, suggesting it is susceptible to fraud, even though he himself did so in Florida.

I think that mail-in voting is a terrible thing, Trump said at a recent White House briefing. Theres a lot of dishonesty going along with mail-in voting, mail-in ballots.
More than $70,000 worth of fines have been handed out by police in just 24 hours to social-distancing rule-breakers.

New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys confirmed on Friday that almost 50 residents across the state had been slapped with the $1,000 infringements.

Queensland Police revealed they handed out 18 fines of $1,334 to residents who failed to follow COVID-19 directions during the same time period.

Police in Western Australia have also been ordered to issue on-the-spot fines to people ignoring social distancing, with photos emerging of packed beaches on Good Friday.

In a separate 24-hour period, Victoria Police issued almost $43,000 in fines to activists who held a car convoy protest on Friday demanding the release of refugees detained in Melbourne.

Despite the COVIDIOTS, many Australians have followed the Australian Government's orders to stay at home and exercise social distancing by staying 1.5 metres from others.

NSW Police issued almost $50,000 worth of coronavirus fines in 24 hours. Pictured: Police patrol outside the Sydney Fish Market on Good Friday

Surfers hit the waves at Bells Beach in Torquay, Victoria, Friday. Australians have been advised to holiday at home over the Easter break

Mr Worboys said while most people in NSW were following the rules, it was disappointing to issue almost $50,000 worth of fines.

'Here we are at the start of Easter. Right around this state, police are reporting that there's a good deal of consideration and compliance with those requests around not travelling, social distancing,' he said on Friday.

'But it's also disappointing, in the same time, to say that in the last 24 hours nearly 50 people have been issued infringement notices for $1,000.

'Those people who just failed to get the severity of the situation that we face in these last few months and days.'

The latest fines came as NSW recorded an additional 49 coronavirus cases, bringing the state's tally to 2,822.

In a statement on Friday afternoon, NSW Police said eight people had been charged under the Public Health Act and 45 Penalty Infringement Notices were issued.

The latest fines came as NSW recorded an additional 49 coronavirus cases, bringing the state's tally to 2,822

A 23-year-old man was spotted by police in the middle of a road in Canley Vale, in Sydney's south-west, at about 10pm on Thursday.

He asked police officers for a lighter and was told to get off the road. When police asked why he wasn't staying home during the COVID-19 crisis, the man said he was 'bored'.

The man was then allegedly aggressive towards the officers and was eventually taken to Fairfield Police Station, where he was charged.

The latest fines in NSW include a brawl in a unit, a group of people drinking alcohol at a shopping mall and a teenager smoking and drinking in a park.

Police were called to a unit on Chamberlain Street in Campbelltown, Sydney's western suburbs, at about 10pm on Wednesday, following reports of a fight.

Pictured: Boats are anchored off Port Beach in Perth on Good Friday

There were eight people inside the unit and seven did not live at the address.

Three men - aged 22, 20 and 19 - were fined after police realised they were previously cautioned when officers were called to the same unit on Thursday April 2.

On Thursday at 1pm, police fined a 34-year-old man who was on a train near Dapto, south of Sydney.

The man, who was travelling without a ticket, said he was going for a swim but he did not have swimming gear.

Four men were also slapped with the $1,000 fines after police were called to a shopping mall in Mt Druitt at 2pm, following reports a group gathered to drink alcohol.

Police were conducting patrols in Gordon, Sydney's Upper North Shore, when they saw seven young people smoking and drinking at a park.

A 15-year-old girl, who had already received two previous warnings for breaching the Public Health Act, was slapped with the $1,000 fine.

The rest of the group were cautioned and ordered to go home.

NSW Police said they have issued 28 Court Attendance Notices and 245 since March 17.

Residents across Australia are urged to stay at home over the Easter holidays

QLD Police said on Friday 18 COVID-19 infringement notices were issued overnight after officers intercepted a number of vehicles allegedly conducting burnouts at an industrial area in Loganholme.

'The road was cordoned off and police took up with at least ten cars that had been performing burnouts,' a statement said.

'Queenslanders are reminded that blatant disregard for the Chief Health Officer's directives will not be tolerated, and police will continue to ensure compliance over the Easter long weekend.

'Particularly around self-isolation, mass gatherings, borders, non-essential business activity and private residence gatherings.'

WA Police complimented beachgoers who hit the waves on Good Friday.

'The overwhelming majority of people attending the beaches were consciously following the advice about maintaining appropriate distances,' they said in a statement.

'This was helped by the many members of the community who obviously decided to stay at home and not overwhelm the beaches.

'Those people made it possible for the beaches to remain open and we thank them.'

A group of people appear to break social distancing rules as they wait outside a KFC store in Miranda, in Sydney's south, on Friday

There were 6,204 confirmed coronavirus cases across Australia on Friday

In Melbourne, 26 activists who held a protest outside the Mantra Hotel were fined by police on Friday.

The group - who were calling for refugees to be released - were slapped with fines for breaching social distancing orders.

'While Victoria Police respects the public's right to protest, these are extraordinary times and the health and safety of every Victorian needs to be our number one priority at this time,' a Victoria Police statement said.

'As directed by the Chief Health Officer, there are only four reasons why people should leave their home: to get essential goods and services, for care and other compassionate reasons, to work or study, or to exercise.'

Victorians who fail to follow the rules can be fined $1,652, while businesses can be fined $9,913.

Police patrol Cottesloe Beach in Perth as residents hit the beach for the first day of the Easter long weekend

A trio sit together at Cottesloe Beach in Perth on Friday. Beaches remain open in Western Australia but the government has warned they could be shut if beachgoers don't adhere to social distancing rules

NSW residents are legally obliged to stay at home unless they have a 'reasonable excuse'.

This includes travelling to work or school, buying food or other essentials, exercise and medical reasons.

From Friday, residents who cough or spit on health workers, police, pharmacists, paramedics or other public officials during the COVID-19 health crisis can be fined $5,000.

'This is a substantial fine,' Mr Worboys said.

'It's something that the police can write on the spot and hand to a person, and it should be something that is not taken lightly.

'And I have no doubt that, over the coming days, we will have to issue some of these fines.'

Shoppers adhere to social distancing rules as they line up to enter Sydney Fish Market on Friday

People are given hand sanitiser and have their temperatures checked before entering the Sydney Fish Market on Friday

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

Health Services Union state secretary Gerard Hayes said NSW would not tolerate residents spitting on health workers.

'If anybody out there thinks it's funny, thinks it's of some kind of right of passage to either spit at a health worker or cough on them to make them feel vulnerable, you're a coward,' he said.

'And that's all you are. This society, New South Wales, won't tolerate it. The union movement

'This Government is working very hard, and we're gonna work hand in glove with them to make sure the people of New South Wales are safe.'

During Friday's press conference, Health Minister Brad Hazzard confirmed NSW's 22nd coronavirus fatality.

The 69-year-old man died in John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle after catching the virus locally, possibly during travel to Queensland.

'I just want to say, on behalf of all of the community of New South Wales, and on behalf of the Government and all involved, our sincerest sympathies are with your family,' Mr Hazzard said.

'It won't be an easy time for the family of that 69-year-old, as it hasn't been with the previous 21 people.'

Of NSW's COVID-19 cases, 211 are in hospital including 29 patients in intensive care. Some 23 are being ventilated and another is having their blood mechanically oxygenated via the ECMO system.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said testing clinics remain open over the Easter break, with the state now processing more than 4000 tests a day.

Friday is the sixth successive day NSW has recorded fewer than 100 cases. The state's highest daily count was 212 on March 27.

There are 6,204 confirmed cases of coronavirus across Australia and 54 people have died.
For Fr Rafic, the emergency triggered by the pandemic "is bringing Christians and Muslims closer. Family members call each other; young people bring medicines and help to their elders. The government has taken steps to counter the pandemic. Churches (and mosques) have been closed. The Internet and social media are the venue for maintaining social ties and following religious services.

Cairo (AsiaNews)  The coronavirus outbreak in Egypt "is bringing Christians and Muslims closer together, more "united against this virus. Neighbours are looking out for each other; family members are getting in touch to see how others are doing, said Fr Rafic Greiche, head of the media committee of the Council of Churches of Egypt.

The pandemic is making people rediscover the value of closeness and solidarity. Young Christians and Muslims are delivering medicine to the elderly, and visiting the homes of needy families to bring help, Fr Rafic noted.

As Holy Week is set to start in Egypt on 13 April, seven days after the Latin Church, people of various confessions are boosting social ties and establishing new connections, he explained.

The renewed unity includes Muslims, with the violence of the past put aside. This is essential to counter a virus that has so far infected 1,699 people with 118 deaths and 305 healed.

The Egyptian government is facing the crisis with great resolution. Two days after the announcement of the pandemic, the Health Minister went to China to study the methods used to fight it. We are in the fifth week of a curfew. The military has set up field hospitals and the number of infections is currently limited.

When the first cases were reported, Egyptian authorities imposed a curfew as well as ordered all places of worship closed.

With Ramadan approaching, the Muslim holy month of fasting and prayer, public gatherings, even religious ones, are prohibited. Measures of social distancing and the ban on outdoor activities will remain in force.

Up to 90 per cent of large infrastructural projects have been suspended, as many construction workers caught the virus.

By and large, people respect the ban. There are three groups: educated people who are frightened by the coronavirus but respect the restrictions; the poorest who know nothing about it but tend to follow instructions starting with personal hygiene and frequent hand washing; and finally, workers and the middle class who try as far as possible to use the Internet and smart-working.

In Egypt, we pray and celebrate Mass every day, even if the churches are closed, Fr Rafic said. We stream the celebrations online and have a considerable following since it is a long-established practice.

For two years we have been broadcasting the Mass on social media for migrants in Canada, the United States, Japan and Australia. Young people and students in European and North American universities also follow us.

Churches may be empty, but at a spiritual level, my eyes continue to see people sitting in their places, as usual. Some worshippers come, alone, and ask to pray.

Muslim places of worship are also closed, but five times a day the muezzins call the faithful to pray from minarets. TV channels broadcast the ritual to enable people to pray at home.

People can choose from six televisions close to the Coptic Orthodox Church to follow Easter services. There is also a multi-denominational channel, the Lebanese Christian broadcaster Nursat, and another channel that broadcasts papal functions. At present, it is unclear whether the Egyptian state TV will broadcast the Easter mass.

Every day some faithful come to church, pray and light a candle; they ask to confess and receive communion, said Fr Rafic. For many, not being able to come to church is a source of sadness, but to make them feel our closeness, every day, I call 10 to 15 families; I pray with them, and I invite them to follow celebrations on social media.
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

0108263 License for publishing multimedia online



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
Find out if your business is eligible for support from the new Welsh Economic Resilience Fund

This article is old - Published: Friday, Apr 10th, 2020

Further details about support from the Welsh Governments new 500m Economic Resilience Fund has been published today.

Economy Minister Ken Skates today released further information about the fund, including eligibility criteria for businesses and charities to enable them to prepare to apply.

Welsh Government say the fund will provide additional financial support during the coronavirus pandemic and will help organisations to manage cash flow pressures. It is aimed to help to address gaps not met by schemes already announced by the UK Government, Welsh Government and Development Bank of Wales.

Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates said:

Today is another important step to providing businesses, charities and social enterprises with the support and reassurance they need at an incredibly difficult time. We are making the next 200m available through the fund  a substantial amount of money. It will be available to firms who pass the eligibility criteria and is designed to help those businesses and charity organisations who are struggling with cash flow problems. The fund will go live for applications next week, but I must reiterate the importance of those considering applying to go through the guidance to establish whether they are likely to be eligible. This fund will reach a significant number of businesses, charities and social enterprises, but its clear it wont reach all. Thats why were calling on the UK Government to provide further financial support for Welsh firms to help steer them through this incredibly difficult period. We also need to see funding from the schemes they have announced reach businesses much quicker than they currently are.

Information about this second phase of the Economic Resilience Fund is available on the Business Wales website.

This phase, which will release 200m of funding, will be targeted at microbusinesses, SMEs and large businesses of critical social or economic importance to Wales.

The first phase saw the 100m Development Bank of Wales loan scheme fully subscribed in a week  all applications are being processed.

To be eligible for this second phase of support, businesses, charities and social enterprises, must meet criteria including:

Micro businesses, including start-ups, employing up to nine employees could be eligible for up to 10k support. This includes sole traders employing staff. Businesses in this bracket could qualify for support from the fund if they:

 Have experienced in excess of a 40% reduction in turnover since 1 March 2020

 Can demonstrate that efforts have been made to sustain business activity

 Are not pursuing other forms of Welsh Government non-repayable grant funding support

 Are not be entitled to business rate relief grants

Small and medium sized firms with between 10 and 249 employees could be eligible for grants of up to 100,000 if they:

 Have experienced in excess of a 60% reduction in turnover since the first day of March

 Are not be eligible for business rate relief grants, or if they are, that amount would be deducted from their allocation from this fund

 Have a sustainable business plan to trade beyond the Covid-19 pandemic

 Confirm no future compulsory redundancies will be made as long as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is in place

 Are not be pursuing any other form of Welsh Government non-repayable grant funding support

Funding will also be available to support large businesses with more than 249 employees. Applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis to consider where funding can be deployed most effectively to compliment other sources of support.

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said:

This fund is part of more than 2bn of support that we have made available to help businesses and charities during these difficult times. Support for business is crucially important, and it is an issue which dominated discussions when I met with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and devolved Finance Ministers yesterday. It is clear that whilst we are doing all we can in Wales to plug any gaps and provide the best possible financial support to businesses, there are further steps that the UK Government needs to urgently take.

Full details on the eligibility criteria can be found at: https://fundchecker.businesswales.gov.wales/

The application process for businesses qualifying for financial support from the Economic Resilience Fund will open on Friday 17 April via the Business Wales website.
A 71-year-old Alabama law prohibiting people from wearing masks in public will not be enforced against those who wear medical masks covering only the nose and mouth, Attorney General Steve Marshalls Office said Wednesday.

But at least one civil rights group is concerned. The head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, in an email to AL.com, said the existence of an anti-masking law puts people of color in Alabama at further risk of interacting with law enforcement.

Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, said that people of color will have to weigh whether to wear masks given the continued use of excessive and often lethal force against minorities. He referred to an incident that occurred last month at a St. Louis area Walmart in which two black men were told by police to remove their medical masks while inside the store.

We encourage police agencies to resist using this law  or any other  in a way that continues the use of unnecessary citations and arrests during this public health crisis, said Marshall of the ACLU.

Common sense

The attorney generals office said that common sense enforcement would be applied while people were medical masks and cloth face coverings during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of last week, is encouraging people to wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are sometimes difficult to maintain such as a grocery store or pharmacy.

As numerous Attorney Generals Opinions have noted, words used in a statute must be given their natural, plain, ordinary and commonly understood meaning, according to the statement from the attorney generals office. In this context, the commonly understood use of the term being masked read in context with the rest of this law, would not include wearing medical masks that covers the nose and mouth. Just as statutory interpretation requires common sense, so does the enforcement of said statues.

The Alabama Department of Public Health referred questions to the Attorney Generals Office.

The states largest county health department, however, is urging local police to disregard the state law during the coronavirus crisis.

The Jefferson County Health Department, in a statement, said they are aware of the state law and are in regular contact with state and local officials including law enforcement.

The departments statement reads that there have been no suggestions by any official or law enforcement agency indicating that there is any interest in enforcing this prohibition. In fact, no one has raised the issue, as far as we are aware. The Health Department, of course, strongly encourage all law enforcement officers and agencies to disregard the prohibition during the current crisis.

Rooted in racist past

The CDCs pro-mask position has placed Alabamas anti-masking law in the spotlight.

The law was approved in 1949, at a time when states were looking to separate themselves from the cross-burning and violence of the sheeted Ku Klux Klan. By an 84-4 vote, the Legislature that year made it a misdemeanor (punishable today by a $500 fine, or a year in jail) to appear in public wearing a mask. Gov. Jim Folsom Sr., who held progressive views toward race relations during the era of his political career, signed it into law. Alabama became a trend setter as other Southern states  Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, among others  followed up with similar bans out of concern over the racial violence by the masked Klan.

Wayne Flynt, a political historian and professor emeritus at Auburn University said the anti-masking law is another example of the virulent strain of racism that affects virtually everything that has happened in Alabamas history.

The most violent of white Alabama terrorists from Reconstruction to the 1920s often disguised themselves with masks, said Wayne Flynt, a political historian and professor emeritus at Auburn University. Hence, reformers assumed that if they could not kill, maim, flog and torture with impunity, they were cowardly and afraid of punishment and would desist. Thus, the unmasking laws.

Mardi Gras exception

The Order of Inca parade on Valentine's Day during Mardi Gras festivities Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, in downtown Mobile, Ala. (Mike Kittrell)/AL.com)

In Mobile, the city has an anti-mask ordinance specifically carved out to make sure Mardi Gras is an exception. The annual pre-Lenten celebration is organized by masked mystic societies that parade along the city streets.

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, during a news conference Tuesday, was asked specifically about whether the citys ordinance ran afoul of the CDCs recommendations.

I think there is a way to overcome that, Stimpson said, adding that he was in discussions with Mobile County Health Officer Dr. Bernard Eichold to further discuss mask wearing. But Stimpson also said he wants to make sure that residents are not walking around grocery stores wearing vital personal protection equipment utilized by doctors and nurses on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic.

The CDC recommendations, for instance, urge people to wear cloth masks and not hoard N-95 masks.

Mobile City Council President Levon Manzie said he hopes the public abides by the CDCs recommendations.

We are in unusual times that call for an unusual response, he said. I would definitely hope there is some deference paid to those who choose to have a mask on as they go about their daily routines.

Outdated law

At least one scholar on mask laws believes Alabamas law is outdated.

Rob Kahn, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis who has studied the issue of restoring First Amendment protections to mask wearers, said Southern laws crafted to outlaw masks were never intended to reach the ordinary mask wearer.

Anti-masking laws have been centered on free speech debates in recent years, as protestors have been arrested for wearing them. Two examples of recent significance in Alabama: In 2017, campus police at Auburn University forced protestors to remove masks and bandana during a protest against an on-campus speech by white supremacist Richard Spencer; and in 2018, following an officer-involved shooting of a black man at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, the organizer of a protest was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and loitering for wearing a mask.

Flynt, the historian, said an outdated Alabama law conflicting with the CDCs recommendations during the pandemic represents an irony of history.

Said Flynt, What was in Alabama history a painful episode in racism (wearing masks to cloak violence) is now urged by the state as a way of preserving and protecting life.
Your browser does not support the audio element.

A German living in Ho Chi Minh City recently posted a photo to Facebook drawing attention to a landlord who offered rental discounts to tenants in order to share the difficulties brought about by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Finally, some are showing humanity! Bless them! Whose elses rent has been reduced? Spread the love, she captioned the photo of an announcement proclaiming, In order to share the difficulties due to COVID-19, the landlord reduced your room rate by 20% for guests in April and May.

As government regulations and guidance related to social distancing measures have led to the closure of businesses nationwide, many landlords in Vietnam are offering a helping hand to their lessors by offering discounts to both commercial and residential tenants.

The German national, who preferred to stay anonymous, said that the photo was taken in her friends building in Binh Thanh District.

[My friend] took the photo and sent it to me, she said, explaining that she shared it because she admired the landlords helpfulness during these tough times.

I think these landlords deserve credit because not many people are showing empathy during this hard time thats literally affecting the whole world.

The woman, originally from Berlin, has lived in Vietnam for three and a half years, long enough, she says, to feel at home here.

Her Facebook post has caught the attention of hundreds of people who offered love and like reactions, as well as dozens of comments with many sharing similar experiences with their landlords.

[My rent] was reduced by US$100, awesome landlords, Verena Malherbe, a financial advisor from South Africa, commented.

In an email exchange with Tuoi Tre News, Malherbe explained that her Vietnamese landlord justified the rent reduction by explaining that many of his tenants are not working or earning full income right now.

My landlord has always been [the] most helpful, kindest and most generous [person], and Ive lived in this apartment for a year already, Malherbe said.

The landlord declined an interview, stating that he preferred to stay anonymous and just wants to help without being mentioned.

While Malherbe admitted that she is so thankful to live here, the 53-year-old is no stranger to the kindness of local people after having lived in Ho Chi Minh City for 18 months.

This is not the first time I have encountered Vietnamese generosity, sympathy, and helpfulness, she recalled.

Since I arrived in Vietnam, I have only been treated with the utmost respect and friendliness. This is why I love Vietnam. I have always experienced a wonderful sense of community here.

Verena Malherbe is seen in a photo she provided Tuoi Tre News.

Malherbes experience with her empathetic landlord was mirrored by Michaela Anne Barthus, a South African English and science teacher who has lived in Ho Chi Minh City for two and a half years.

They sent us a letter to say they will be discounting the rent by ten percent for April and May, and if things continue then they will consider giving us a bigger discount, Barthus told Tuoi Tre News.

Kerry Watterson, from Ireland, is another foreign tenant whose rent was discounted by a local landlord.

For Watterson, the discount was a whopping 30 percent.

I was extremely grateful for the offer because my partners salary has been significantly reduced for the foreseeable future, Watterson said.

I think my building management and landlord are doing all they can to help the tenants.

Caring and sharing people

Some tenants, however, have refused discount offers from their landlords.

He needs the money more than me, South African math teacher Sandra Swanepoel shared her feelings about a rent reduction offer from her landlord.

His business had to close and my salary was not cut, so I said thank you, but no thanks.

Swanepoel currently lives on the first floor of her landlords coffee shop which has been closed for several days owing to regulations restricting social interaction meant to stop the spread of COVID-19.

I know that he is suffering from this. I am working at an international school and we [have been] teaching online since the beginning of the school closures," she said.

I still got paid every month and Ive never considered asking my landlord [for a discount].

He [offered] obviously out of the goodness of his heart.

Sandra Swanepoel is seen in a photo she provided Tuoi Tre News.

Swanepoel has lived in the same apartment since moving to Vietnam three and half years ago, more than enough to witness the dozens of occasions her landlord has been kind and considerate."

My landlord and his wife are so good to me. They always park my bike in the evening so that its easy for me to leave in the morning because they know Im the first one to leave the house, she said.

Swanepoel added that she considers the landlord and his family as her own family in Vietnam and is thankful for the support they have given her when she found herself in trouble, despite the fact that they can only communicate through Google Translate.

That caring and sharing spirit is one of the reasons why she has stayed in Vietnam so long, she said.

I originally planned to live five years abroad in five different countries and Vietnam was the first," she recalled. "But after living here for four months, I realized that I was happy here and do not want to leave again.

Swanepoel summed up her experience in Vietnam with one example.

When Vietnamese people have bought a fruit, they will cut up the fruit and share with everyone in their vicinity, until there is only one piece left for them. How wonderful is that? I have never seen that in any other place.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Former Congress MP from Haryana Shruti Choudhary has launched an initiative to home deliver medicines to needy villagers during the lockdown period.

The cost of medicines and expenses incurred on delivering them is being borne by the former parliamentarian from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh. Her well-wishers and supporters are donating for the cause, she said.

Choudhary, the granddaughter of former chief minister late Bansi Lal, said she has started the service for the people of Dadri, Bhiwani and Mahendergarh districts.

Those in need can WhatsApp their prescription on 9812195558 with their name, address and contact number, she said.

With this lockdown, in villages it is not possible for everyone to have stocks of medicines. With public transport shut, they cannot get out and procure these from far off places.

I was in touch with people on the ground and I was getting this feedback that there are many who are cancer patients, having heart ailments and other serious ailments who are not getting medicines easily, one reason could be that chemists in Bhiwani have to source these from Hisar and Rohtak, she told PTI.

The 44-year-old said on these feedbacks, she along with some well-wishers and supporters then decided to start this initiative. It was lunched on Thursday and on the first day I received 32 requests on the WhatsApp number and a day later (on Friday) these rose to 650-700, the Congress leader said.

Choudhary said she has engaged a team of 40 people for delivering the medicines within 24 hours.

We only procure those medicines prescribed by the doctors for which a valid prescription is needed. After receiving the request over WhatsApp, a printout is taken and our team makes purchase of these medicines for which we bear the cost, she said.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, every precaution is taken during purchase, packing and delivery of medicines, Choudhary said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A FORMER Sue Ryder women of achievement award winner has died, aged 81.

Val Stoner, of Wyndale Close, Henley, died from pneumonia at Lashbrook House, a care home in Shiplake, after a final time with her husband Jim, on April 1. She had been unwell for about 18 months.

The couple, who had two children, Daren and Jamie, would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Saturday.

Mr Stoner said: She had suffered a series of serious strokes over the past year. They allowed me to go in and be with her for the last time and I am very grateful to them for that  they were really kind. Mrs Stoner, a reiki and crystal healing therapist, spent more than 50 years volunteering for charities in and around Henley.

She was born and bred in the town and first became involved in charity work in the Sixties when she joined the Womens Royal Voluntary Service, delivering meals to the former day centre, now the 60+ Social Club.

She promoted alternative healthcare, including a healing glade which was planted in Marsh Meadows in 2014.

Mrs Stoner started the Henley Be Well Centre in early 2000, which still takes place every Monday at Kings Arms Barn, offering free massages, healing and reflexology in return for a donation to charity. She also helped set up Eco Henley, a pressure group campaigning for greater action on air pollution in the town.

She used to visit the Henley YMCA each month to spend time with young people and was known as a knowledgeable local historian.

Together with Jennifer Scott, Mrs Stoner raised funds for the refurbishment of the green room at the Kenton Theatre in Henley.

Mrs Stoner was also involved in international aid campaigns, travelling to Romania in 1989 with the WI to help in orphanages and hospital and later persuaded the Royal Berkshire Hospital to donate an ultrasound machine to a Romanian hospital.

She set up a fund to help build new schools and provide computers for pupils in Thailand after the 2004 tsunami hit. Mrs Stoner and her husband were on holiday in the country at the time of the disaster.

More recently, she was in charge of a project to plant a wising tree at Marsh Meadows. In 2017, Mrs Stoner won the community award at the Sue Ryder women of achivement awards for her charity work.

Her funeral will take place at Reading Crematorium in Caversham on April 24 but only close family will be allowed to attend due to the coronavirus restrictions.
Bettiah, April 10 : Amid the countrywide lockdown, reports of infiltration through the Nepal border in Bihar have been received. Bettiahs District Magistrate Kundan Kumar said this in a letter he wrote to the Superintendent of Police and other officers of the border districts of Narkatiaganj and Bettiah.

Kumar said in the letter that the 47 Corps Battalion of the Border Security Force has informed him that 40 to 50 suspects have entered India from Nepal to spread the coronavirus in India. In a letter dated April 3, the Border Security Force informed the DM that a man named Jaleem Mukhiya is overseeing the entire operation. He is from Jagarnath Pur in Parsa district, 10 km inside Nepal and is planning to spread the epidemic in India.

The letter said that the person has been involved in the illegal arms trade and smuggling along the Nepal-India border earlier. Therefore, vigilance should be increased in all the border districts.

When asked about this, Bettiah MP and Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal said: "The information has been received in this case." According to Jaiswal, a person named Jallim Mukhiya has been involved in extortion and illegal trade of arms for the last 20 years. Taking advantage of the lockdown, these people are spreading their hateful agenda in India, he added.

Meanwhile, Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey said that "there is no need to create a furore over that letter as it was not verified. The intelligence wing of the SSB wrote the letter to DM and SP of Bettiah. 50 people are about to enter through the route, who may be corona patients. But after that there is no development in it. At the same time, the SSB said that the border has been completely sealed and there is no evidence that those people have entered India."
In this article:

Annie, Krull, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Feel-good musicals, Ealing Studios classic, unsurpassed action and taut 1970s thrills as TopFilmTip brings you the best films on TV for Friday, 10 April.

A neglected orphan begins marvellous adventure with enormous insect companions in Roald Dahls wondrous tale of friendship James And The Giant Peach 9am Sony Movie Channel

Two warring kingdoms unite to use Liam Neeson and a five bladed throwing star to fight off an alien invasion in 1980s sci-fantasy fun Krull 11am Horror Channel

A young girl discovers Its A Hard Knock Life when she stays with a warmonger and seeks out her lost parents in classic musical Annie 1pm Gold Channel

Read more: The best 4K TV deals

Alec Guinness decides to steal three million pounds in gold from his employer in top Ealing comedy classic The Lavender Hill Mob 3:30pm BBC2

The Lavender Hill Mob, poster, Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, 1951. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)

Woody Allen applies his neurotic prism to childrens animation as an individual breaks the system in inspiring kids's film fun Antz 3:35pm ITV2

Unlikely sheep-pig befriends animals, learns new shepherding skills, is inducted into secret society of friends and wins childrens hearts Babe 3:45pm Sky1

Booby trap-dodging, tomb-pillaging, swordsman-shooting, artefact-robbing, snake-burner achieves absolutely nothing in iconic adventure Raiders Of The Lost Ark 6:40pm BBC1

Apocalyptic lunatic and self-actualising fems fight fanatical clan convoy in unrelentingly insane explosive mayhem Mad Max: Fury Road 9pm ITV2

Pursued by sword wielding believer, space cowboys discover conspiracy to cancel Firefly two years too late in Joss Whedon's Serenity 9pm Horror Channel

Newly jobless Liam Neeson is railroaded into nefariously talkative locomotive murder mystery: axe-fighting fun The Commuter 9pm 5Star

Tenacious journalist dedicates decades to discovering cryptic killer's identity in David Finchers obsessive, atmospheric thriller Zodiac 10pm Sony Movie Channel

CoE poet and cosmological genius forge unconventional love in face of MND, fame and temptation in flawless dramatic gem The Theory Of Everything 10:15pm ITV 1

Story continues

Cops & criminals unite to survive synth-scored, silenced sniper siege in John Carpenters unflinchingly brutal bullet bathed melee Assault On Precinct 13 1:25am Film4

Everything new on streaming in April:

Netflix UK: Aprils new releases

Everything coming to Now TV in April

Amazon Prime Video UK: The biggest April releases

Everything coming to Disney+ in April

Follow TopFilmTip on Twitter for daily film recommendations.

Some films may require a Sky subscription.
Arnold Schwarzenegger sent 1,000 lunches to medical workers, in a bid to help those on the front line against coronavirus.

The former Governor Of California provided the meals from Italian restaurant Buca di Beppo to the staff Keck USC Medical Center.

As advised by California's Safer At Home mandate, Arnold, 72, has been holed up at home with his family. But, he explained, he knew others didn't have that option.

'While we are in quarantine and social distancing, there's a lot of people out there that are really fighting on the front lines of this coronavirus,' he said.

Doing his bit: Arnold Schwarzenegger sends 1,000 lunches to 'unbelievable' medical workers on the front line against coronavirus

'Fighting': The 72-year-old sent enough meals to feed all the hospital staff

'This is the people in the hospitals. Specially at USC, the Keck School Of Medicine. I mean they are unbelievable. And this is why I said to myself, we got to do something special for them besides just providing masks.

'So I said to myself, maybe I should send them some food... Thank you for the great work you are doing, hasta la vista.'

Video footage showed a series of trucks from the Italian chain, pulling up outside the hospital to unload the lunches, which were enough for all the staff working that day.

Buca di Beppo is owned by Planet Hollywood, owned in turn by Earl Enterprises, which was launched in 1991, with the backing of Schwarzenegger and his Hollywood chums Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore.

Calling the restaurant his 'favorite', Arnold said they often catered events at his house.

The donation comes after Schwarzenegger previously established the Frontline Responders Fund, which will provide critical supplies such as masks, gowns, and gloves to first responders as they treat patients suffering with coronavirus.

Deliveries: Arnold sent 1,000 meals to the medical center - enough for everyone on duty

Carefully packaged: In individual bags for safety reasons, the meals were delivered by drivers wearing gloves and masks

He announced the fund on Instagram and wrote: 'I never believed in sitting on the couch and complaining about how bad things are, I always believed we should all do our part to make things better.

'This is a simple way to protect our real action heroes on the frontlines in our hospitals, and I'm proud to be part of it. I donated 1 million dollars, and I hope that all of you who can will step up to support these heroes. Go to the link in my bio to help out.'

The fund aims to raise $5 million in total, with Arnie kicking things off with $million of his own money.

The Terminator star also teamed up with TikTok to help feed hungry families.

The online platform donated $3 million to the Conan the Barbarian actor's After-School All-Stars, which usually funds afterschool programs for children.

Amid school closures to try and halt the pandemic, Schwarzenegger thought it would be 'cool and great' to provide food through the foundation instead.

He said in a TikTok video: 'Because of the corona crisis, those kids have been sent home so now instead of providing after school programs we thought it would be cool and great if we could provide food for those families.

Much deserved: The restaurant sent over multiple meals for those on the front line

'But, of course, you can have the best ideas in the world but if you don't have the money you have nothing ... So TikTok came along and said we are the ones that are going to donate the millions of dollars to help feed those families.'

The foundation's team will deliver food and gift cards for groceries to families in need to 60 cities in the country, including New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Miami.

After-School All-Stars have partnered with the likes of Food Land, Giant, Kroger, Publix, Ralphs, Safeway, Target, and Walmart to supply the food vouchers.

Safer At Home: Arnold, seen on Instagram on Friday, is staying with his family




According to him, the IMF, World Bank, and the EU are ready to help Ukraine

The vote on the bill on improvement of banking regulation mechanisms in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will be a key moment that will determine Ukraine's future  whether it will be under the oligarchs rule or in the Western-backed civilized environment reformed according to the European standards, as the ex-U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations Kurt Volker wrote in the article for the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

Ukraines Parliament will face a moment of truth when it meets. As the novel coronavirus increasingly impacts the country, the Rada must finally pass the banking legislation necessary to free up $8 billion in IMF funding, and a further $1.5 billion from other sources, he wrote.

The expert explained that the Verkhovna Rada must approve banking legislation that prevents the return of nationalized banks to former owners, or ban the payment of compensation to those former owners.

Ukrainian taxpayers already paid once when bailing out the bank after those former owners could not account for billions of dollars. Neither the Ukrainian taxpayers, nor the international financial institutions standing behind them, should pay anything more, Volker stated.

However, according to him, the IMF, the World Bank, and the EU are ready to help Ukraine through the crisis.

The IMF has boosted its package from $5 billion to $8 billion, the World Bank is offering $1 billion, and the EU a further $500 million. At least $2 billion would be disbursed quickly by the IMF, making funds available almost immediately to fight the coronavirus. Without such financial assistance  and the seal of good housekeeping the IMF package represents  Ukraines financial position would fall even faster than it is falling today, Volker emphasized.

As we reported before, an extraordinary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will be held on Monday, April 13.
Small businesses across the United States are trying out new methods to try to survive the economic fallout of coronavirus.

Small businesses in the United States have turned to the internet to fight back against being hit too hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

It comes during a standoff between US senators on whether to free up $250bn in economic relief.

As Al Jazeeras Rosiland Jordan explains, some businesses are turning to the internet rather than waiting on the government to stay afloat.
The coronavirus crisis is first and foremost about people.

People stuck at home, people out of work. People sick with the virus, people caring for them. People canceling dream weddings and vacations, people deciding public-health policies.

Technology is also about people.

Here in Israel, a powerhouse of innovative technology, people are busy inventing and adapting technologies to ease the corona burden.

Technology has a great role to play in solving and helping us get through this crisis, from diagnosis, mitigation, patient tracking, contamination prevention, and protecting medical staff, to education and exercise for the homebound, says OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved.

As you read below about Israeli medical technologies for the COVID-19 pandemic, remember that each one is about peoplepeople striving to protect themselves, their loved ones and all humankind against this terrible pandemic.

Assessing and diagnosing COVID-19

The economic and logistic limitations of current assessment and testing methods have motivated many Israelis to find better solutions.

BATM is scaling up production of a rapid diagnostic kit that detects coronavirus infection from saliva samples within 50 minutes. The kit is compatible with equipment used to do the current PCR test for diagnosing COVID-19 in a matter of hours.

Diagnostics.ai is working toward complete automation of PCR testing for COVID-19 using artificial intelligence (AI). Now being tested at Kings College Hospital NHS London and soon at CLIA labs in the United States, the pcr.ai method would enable doubling the number of samples tested per day without additional staffing needs.

The Defense Ministrys Directorate for Defense Research and Development is working with Vocalis Health to identify a unique vocal fingerprint of virus carriers based on voice samples from confirmed coronavirus patients and a control group from the general population. The remote technology also could help monitor recovery of COVID-19 patients.

Researchers from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Rambam Health Care Campus say they can dramatically increase COVID-19 testing capacity by pooling multiple samples in a single test tube.

MyEleanor, a voice bot and virtual care manager from MyndYou, can call individuals or act as a hotline to assess risk, manage symptoms and provide guidance. On each call, AI-driven voice analytics can detect subtle changes in health and trigger proactive interventions.

An app from K Health uses AI to give free COVID-19 risk assessment and primary care advice based on US Centers for Disease Control guidelines. Symptomatic or high-risk users may be connected to a physician for a free 14-day chat-based consultation.

Geneyx is working with hospitals in Israel, China and Italy to determine whether certain genetic mutations may lessen or worsen individual COVID-19 infections. The company intends to create a database to help predict the severity of each patients case.

VocalZoom autonomous sensors for Industry 4.0 applications may be repurposed for noninvasive skin scans to detect possible COVID-19 symptoms in hospitals and mass transit hubs.

RADLogics has adapted its AI-powered medical-image analysis solution to automatically and accurately detect and classify COVID-19 infection in chest CT images of patients believed to be infected. The solution has been deployed in China, Russia and Italy to measure the percentage of affected lung volume.

Air Doctor, an app connecting travelers with local doctors, now offers a constantly updated list of COVID-19 testing sites and regional rules in 42 countries across five continents.

Managing COVID-19 patients

TytoCares unique modular device and telehealth platform is allowing healthcare organizations in the US, Europe and Israel to remotely examine and monitor potential and actual COVID-19 patients at home and in hospitals. Tyto Care exams of lungs, heart and temperature fully replicate an in-person checkup.

Several hospitals are using software and hardware from Mittwoch to enable remote exams and diagnosis of COVID-19 patients using technologies such as Tyto Care devices and digital stethoscopes.

Datos Health introduced a Coronavirus Telemedicine Program for hospitals and HMOs to provide online symptom-checking and video consultations to COVID-19 patients who dont need hospitalization.

The Wearable Vital Sign Monitor from Biobeat is providing continuous, noninvasive medical-grade monitoring of blood pressure, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, heart rate, temperature and other vitals in COVID-19 patients at several Israeli hospitals and at home.

An under-mattress contact-free monitoring solution from EarlySense allows hospitals to monitor and analyze COVID-19 patients breathing patterns for subtle changes and signs of respiratory distress.

The OLO blood analyzer from Sight Diagnostics performs rapid automated testing ofCOVID-19 patients samples using a self-contained cartridge to collect two drops of blood from a venous or finger prick sample. The cartridge is inserted in the OLO unit, which provides full blood count results in minutes via computer vision and AI. (OLO has point-of-care regulatory approval in Europe and Israel but not yet in the United States.)

A TeleICU technology from Clew Medicalnow being deployed in two Israeli hospitals and tested in two US facilitiesuses AI-based predictive analytics to expand ICU capacity and resources while protecting frontline care workers. It includes AI-based algorithms to identify respiratory deterioration in advance, and machine learning models for proactively managing disease severity and workload.

Sweetch AI-powered mobile health platform, developed for diabetes patients, is enabling remote monitoring, management and intervention for COVID-19 patients with chronic diseases.

Hospitals are using the RenalSense Clarity RMS platform to monitor critical COVID-19 patients urine flow remotely and continuously.

A robotic process automation (RPA) solution from Kryon allows for automated reporting of COVID-19 testing results to the Israeli Ministry of Health from Maccabi Healthcare Services, one of Israels national HMOs. Manual uploading was causing huge backlogs and human errors. The streamlined process is available free of charge to healthcare providers anywhere.

Treatments, vaccines

We have no reliable clinical data about any drug useful in reducing severity and mortality in COVID-19 patients, says Dr. Eyal Leshem, director of geographic medicine at Sheba Medical Center. Perhaps in several weeks or months we will know what drugs may be useful.

In Israel, about a dozen existing drugs are being tested for their effectiveness alone or combined. Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is donating millions of its hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets to US hospitals for testing as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

As for vaccine candidates, Studies are in various stages and well have to wait patiently for safety and efficacy trials to be completed within one to one and a half years, says Leshem.

Antibody therapy, immunotherapy and immunization options are being investigated in many Israeli companies, universities and research institutions.

Kamada is developing a polyclonal immunoglobulin treatment for severely ill COVID-19 patients, using purified blood and plasma samples from recovered patients. Kamada previously developed serums for treating rabies and Zika.

The Israel Institute of Biological Research is working toward a coronavirus vaccine as well as an antibody-based treatment for COVID-19 using plasma from recovered patients. The treatment is expected to take less time to develop than the vaccine, says Chief Innovation Coordinator Eran Zehavy, who is actively pursuing collaborations with startups.

A poultry coronavirus vaccine under development at MIGAL Galilee Research Institute is being reformulated as an oral vaccine against human COVID-19 that could be adapted to future forms of the virus.

CEO David Zigdon says animal trials of MIGALs human formulation may begin this week. We are raising money and looking for a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) facility to produce our vaccine, he says.

TransAlgae has opened an investment round to support development of an oral algae-based coronavirus vaccine in pill form.

The patented PLX cell product from Pluristem Therapeutics is being evaluated at the BIH Center for Regenerative Therapy and the Berlin Center for Advanced Therapies as a potential treatment for respiratory and inflammatory complications associated with COVID-19.

Pepticom is seeking partners to validate and develop peptide drug candidates to inhibit proteins in the novel coronavirus.

Intubation and mechanical ventilation of critically ill COVID-19 patients is invasive, expensive and can damage the lungs.

Inspira is developing a disposable alternative for direct blood oxygenation via a catheter placed into a central vein. Another solution comes from Dr. Ishay Benuri, a pediatric gastroenterologist and medical device inventor. His unique laryngoscope, enabling easier, more accurate and faster intubation of critical COVID-19 patients, is patented in Israel and soon to be patented in Europe and the United States.

Enlivex has developed a medication that could help treat severe symptoms of COVID-19 including catastrophic organ failure.

XRHealth provides specialized therapeutic apps delivered through virtual reality (VR) headsets for quarantined coronavirus patients. Options include stress and anxiety treatments, cognitive and physical exercises, support groups and two-way interactions with healthcare providers. XRHealth recently set up virtual reality telehealth clinics in the United States.

Israeli VCs are also working toward solutions

On March 24, Jerusalem Venture Partners launched the first of a series of teleconferences bringing together experts from Israel and other countries to address immediate and long-term strategies for the COVID-19 crisis.

Cukierman & Co Investment House will hold a COVID-19 Innovation Conference in early April, matching investors with Israeli and global medtech and biotech companies.

https://www.shebaonline.org
With Kerala getting the nod from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to explore plasma therapy to treat Covid-19 patients, medical experts in the state are upbeat and are waiting for the permission of the Drug Controller of India that is expected on Friday.

Kerala will be the first state to carry out the test called convalescent plasma therapy against the coronavirus disease in the country.

The test involves transfusion of specific components from the blood of people recovered from Covid 19at least 14 days after their complete recoveryinto those who have contracted the disease virus or are in the high-risk category.

The recovered persons plasma, which is rich in antibodies, is expected to help the patient, said experts adding they are getting encouraging reports from South Korea and the United States in this regard.

We have to get blood transfusion norms relaxed. Normally a healthy person is allowed to give blood for transfusion and other tests but here a person who recently recovered will have to bleed, Dr Asha Kishore, director of Sree Chithira Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), the nodal agency to conduct the test, said.

The donor has to be a patient who has fully recovered and shown no symptoms of the infection after 14 days isolation after getting discharged from the hospital, she said adding the blood group of both will have to be compatible.

Also read: We must look at mass antibody testing for a calibrated exit from lockdown, says T Jacob John

This can also be tried in people who are at high risk of contracting the virus. She said her institute and four medical college hospitals in the state were fully equipped to conduct the plasma therapy.

Dr Anoop Kumar, a member of the Kerala Medical Taskforce and also the head of the critical care unit of a leading private hospital in Kozhikode, explained that as a patient grapples with the virus, the body produces antibodies to attack it.

These antibodies, proteins that are secreted by immune cells called B lymphocytes, are found in plasma or liquid part of the blood that helps in clotting when needed and supports immunity, Dr Kumar said.

Also read: In my blood, there may be answers, says a Covid-19 survivor in New York

Even after recovery, these anti-bodies will remain in their blood waiting to guard any recurrence of infection. When these antibodies are injected into another person with the disease they recognise the enemy virus and kills them, he said.

He along with his friend Dr G Arun Kumar of the Manipal Institute of Virology was first to detect nipah virus in north Kerala two years ago.

Usually one persons donation of plasma can produce two doses of blood component needed for transfusions. A patient needs one transfusion to get enough antibodies to fight the virus. This is not like blood donation. Only plasma is collected. A healthy person can donate 800 ml of plasma that can be treated at least four, he said.

Meanwhile, 12 fresh cases were reported in Kerala taking the total number of infected to 357.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said it was a proud moment for the state as 13 people, including eight foreigners, were discharged on Thursday which also marked the 100 days since the virus was first detected in the state.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Prince Harry is feeling isolated and regrets his and Meghan Markle's big decision to cut ties with the royal family, said a royal expert.

The former royal couple's decision to step down as senior working members of the royal family and become financially independent sent shockwaves to the public earlier this year.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex declared in January their decision to be independent, dubbed as "Megxit." They moved to Canada after their announcement.

The Sussexes renounced their royal duties on March 31.

As of now, Prince Harry and Markle have relocated to the United States, living in a secluded place in Los Angeles near Markle's mother Doria Ragland and her friends.

Meanwhile, members of the royal family are currently responding to COVID-19.

Queen Elizabeth II recently relocated from Buckingham Palace to Windsor and is currently living with Prince Philip.

Markle, 38, has gone back to work already as she landed a gig narrating documentary for Disney+.

On their move stateside, royal commentator Angela Mollard asserted that Prince Harry may have regrets to uproot his life and move across the Atlantic.

Mollard spoke with Zoe Burrell on the Royals podcast and commented that she is "really worried" about Archie's father.

"He is someone who is very connected to his family as it is all he has ever known. He had his life with his mum Princess Diana and his dad Prince Charles and then he had his life with them separately when they divorced."

Also read: Royal Heartbreak: Prince Harry Regrets Megxit, Misses Royal Family

While Hollywood is under lockdown in an effort to curb the novel coronavirus outbreak, the royal commentator said she fears that Prince Harry is feeling "isolated" with solely his wife and son for company.

Mollard spoke on the podcast that she was concerned that the prince has "no sense of purpose" and no "stabilizing" family influence during the pandemic.

Until the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, the pair will not be able to take a visit to the U.K. to see the royal family.

According to Mollard, the structure of the royal family and the duties he has done within that, particularly his military work, have been a very stabilizing guidance in his life.

Megxit has resulted in parts condemnation and support from royal family fans.

Mollard added, "In fact of all the times to move apart from the royal family I can imagine that right now he feels tremendously isolated."

"Everybody, of course, is isolated but he is not just isolated from his family he is isolated on the other side of the world."

Prince Harry and Markle decided to reside in LA because of their support system there, according to an insider.

The Queen issued a formal statement regarding concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, particularly on the challenges of social isolation.

"Many of us will need to find new ways of staying in touch with each other and making sure that loved ones are safe. I am certain we are up to that challenge."

Related article: Fact Check: Prince William, Kate Middleton Will Be Reportedly Crowned as King and Queen in July?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Its been a while since weve done an installment in our long running Civil War on the Left series, but it makes sense to take a time-out when the Democrats put it all on display in their nomination contest. But now that the nomination contest is over (maybe), it is fun to see how a lot of the Bernie bros arent going quietly into blithering Bidens good night.

Over at Jacobin, which is the hot magazine on the left these days, Carl Beijer isnt having any of it in a piece titled Voters Wont Risk Their Lives for Joe Biden. After clearing his throat that capitalism is responsible for the coronavirus, Beijer gets down to business:

Why did Bernie Sanders lose? There will be no dearth of campaign postmortems in the months ahead, and some fraction of the second-guessing may even be plausible, but let us be clear: the Sanders campaign was ultimately destroyed by a political establishment led by capital and marching under the banner of the Democratic Party. . . Bernie Sanders lost because decades of deliberate propagandizing by the Republican Party, routinely accepted by an inept and complicit Democratic opposition, has entrenched among voters the self-fulfilling conventional wisdom that America is a center-right nation that would never elect even the most moderate democratic socialist. Bernie Sanders lost because the institutions and system of neoliberal domination in the twenty-first-century United States, while showing clear signs of dysfunction and decline, have yet to collapse beneath the contradictions of capital; and until they do, no amount of activist enthusiasm or strategic savvy or socialist vision or political ambition is likely to prevail against them. . . Voters are not going to risk their lives for [Biden]. No one is going to join a rally or knock on doors or stand in line at the polls for a man who will not even guarantee them health care if they get sick. No one is going to risk the economic ruin of unemployment and high hospital deductibles for a man who has spent most of his political career championing austerity. When Hillary Clinton lost four years ago, I wrote that 2016 was the apathy election. Incredibly, the Democratic establishment has chosen to repeat its mistake. It has overcome Bernie Sanders and the movement he inspired, and set in his place a consummate next-in-line figurehead for the neoliberal plutocracy. No one will fight for this man. No one will risk their lives for this man. In 2020, faced with a raging pandemic on one hand and the hopeless politics of the Democratic Party on the other, voters will once more decide, wisely, to stay at home.

And theres some survey data showing that 10 percent or more of Bernie voters say they wont support Biden in November. Meanwhile, there is also new polling data showing that much of the rest of the Democratic Party is having buyers remorse already. A recent Club for Growth poll found that a majority of Democrats prefer dumping Biden for Andrew Cuomo, with 56 percent preferring Cuomo to 44 percent wanting to stick with Biden. (Caveat: the NY Post news story doesnt link to the actual poll itself, so we cant see the questions, but this is not the only poll to suggest a Cuomo boomlet and Biden buyers remorse.)

Fortunately, my local stores have not run out of popcorn.
1. According to the passage, thick sediment found in the ancient river deltas of Lake Fryxell



C. makes it unlikely that scientists will search there for traces of life



The third paragraph states that deltas around the Lake Fryxell have ancient sediements that are so thick that they point towards the uncertainity of the existance of any life form there. Thus, the scientists will probably not search these areas for traces of life. Option (C) fits our thinking and is the correct option.

2. The passage is primarily concerned with



D. the evolutionary histories of ancient lakes and the clues they hold about life in cold, dry ecosystems

In such questions, we must summarize each paragraph and collate their summaries to determine the primary concern of the passage.

Option (A) is out because while the passage does talk about the adaptations of microorganisms, it is referenced only in passage two. This choice is not the correct option becasue of partial scope.

(B) is out because availability of fresh water is not the concern of the passage as whole.

(C) talks about evidence which is correct but that is not the main purpose. The main intention behind writing this passage is to study the Dry Valley and determine clues they hold about life so as to gain insight about life on Mars.

(D) is our correct option.

(E) is out because its scope is limited to the third paragraph.

3. Based on the information in the passage, scientists looking for life on Mars in conditions similar to those in the Dry Valleys would be most likely to find it in which of the following areas?



E. former lakebeds

4. Based on the information in the passage, mounds of sediment found at the bottom of Lake Vida are refined by



C. III only

I is definitely out because it is referenced in paragraph two where we talk about Lake Fryell. Thus, we can elimiate options (A), (B) and (E).

III is definitely correct as is vividly stated in paragraph three.

I'm confused about whether II is correct because while the text does reference large rocks (it says smaller rocks, which means there have to larger ones out there!). Howveer, those larger rocks are on the lake's surface and not on the lake's floor. Thus, we can conclude that only the cracks formed in ice by sinking rocks and gravel refine the mounds of sediment. Thus, option (C) is correct!

If you are not moving forward, you are moving backward.

Signature Read More

A. forms layers of deposits laden with dried bacteria that are tens of thousands of years oldB. masks life forms by continuously depositing new layers on top of older onesD. collects liquid water from nearby glaciers warmed by sunlight during the Antarctic summerE. is devoid of life due to the impenetrable barrier formed by the sedimentA. the adaptations of microorganisms that allow them to live in the Dry Valleys' hostile environmentB. the relationship between frozen lakes and glaciers which contributes to the availability of fresh water in the Dry ValleysC. evidence of past and present life forms in the extreme conditions of Antarctica's Dry ValleysE. the differences and similarities between ancient river deltas and ancient lakesA. former river deltasB. circumpolar ice fieldsC. larger rocksD. former glaciersPay attention to the third paragraph last few sentences. Thye state that-"Dried bacteria in Lake Vida sediment have been dated back tens of thousands of years. Some researchers are hoping that exploration of similar terrain on Mars may yield similar results."The lakebed of Lake Vida is talked about in this context. Thus, our correct option ahs to be (E).I. Continual sublimation and ice coverII. Large pieces of rock decomposing on the lake floorIII. Cracks formed in the ice by sinking rocks and gravelA. I onlyB. I and IID. II and IIIE. I, II, and III_________________
The home ministry has sought views of state governments on the 21-day lockdown including whether more categories of people and services need to be exempted, officials said on Friday, amidst indications of a possible two-week extension of the restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus.

IMAGE: Police personnel wear face masks and stand guard near Charminar during the lockdown in Hyderabad. Photograph: ANI Photo

In its communication, the home ministry informed the state governments and Union Territory administrations about the steps taken by the Centre for the strict implementation of the lockdown, announced on March 24.

It also conveyed them about the people and services exempted from the purview of the lockdown.

The home ministry asked the state governments and UT administrations to inform it about different aspects of the lockdown and whether there are necessities to give exemptions to some more categories of people and services from the restrictions, a home ministry official said.

A few state governments, including Bihar, wrote back to the home ministry.

Among the suggestions of the state governments include allowing construction-related activities in rural areas.

The central government, while imposing the lockdown, had announced that shops dealing in essential commodities, including the online platforms, will remain open, besides services like health, sanitation, police, media and bank.

The home ministry had also asked states and Union Territories to ensure smooth harvesting and sowing operations, saying agricultural activities were exempted from the lockdown.

It also allowed opening of shops of agriculture machinery, its spare parts, highway truck repair shops, preferably in petrol pumps, tea industry, including plantation with maximum of 50 per cent workers, during the lockdown period.

Movements of essential and non-essential cargos were also allowed by the government.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with leaders of opposition political parties earlier this week, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad had said the PM told the meeting that he had received several requests for extension of the lockdown, but will take a call on it only after consulting experts and the chief ministers of various states.

Azad had said around 80 per cent of the leaders from various political parties, who interacted with the prime minister through video-conferencing, favoured extending the lockdown.

Don't allow religious gatherings, processions

In view of the ensuing festivals, the Centre on Friday asked the states and UTs to strictly adhere to the ongoing 21-day lockdown and not allow any social or religious gathering and procession.

In a communication, the MHA also said that appropriate vigil on social media should be maintained against circulation of any objectionable content.

In view of the ensuing festivals in the month of April, the home ministry has directed all states and union territories to ensure strict compliance of lockdown measures to fight COVID-19 and not allow any social, religious gathering or procession, an official statement said.

While Shab-e-Barat was on Thursday, April 10 was Good Friday.

Baisakhi, Rongali Bihu, Vishu, Poila Boishakh, Puthandu, Maha Vishuba Sankranti etc., are also in April.
Tucker Carlson was in particularly high dudgeon Tuesday night, his brow wrinkled in rueful anger as he launched into a public scolding on his Fox News program.

"It is probably the most shameful thing I, as someone who has done this for 20 years, has ever seen," he proclaimed. "It's making a lot of us ashamed to work in the same profession as those people. So reckless and wrong in the middle of a pandemic, it really is, for real."

The source of Carlson's apparent regret? The fact that some "members of the media" - he didn't offer any specifics - have criticized President Donald Trump's energetic touting of hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment.

Sean Hannity, whose program follows Carlson's, was mad about it, too. The drug is showing signs of success, "in spite of what the mob and the media is telling you," he insisted Monday.

Fox News's opinionated prime-time hosts were among the earliest and most enthusiastic cheerleaders for the potential of the drug and its variant, chloroquine, to stem the coronavirus crisis - a viewpoint echoing and frequently prompting the president's endorsement of it in his daily briefings, despite questions from the scientific community about its safety and effectiveness.

But lately their promotion has taken on a form familiar to longtime viewers - as a another front in a long-running culture war against an array of supposed enemies, who are again allegedly standing in the way of what they hold to be righteous and true.

"After hearing all of the stories where hydroxychloroquine is credited with saving lives, it is amazing that the left and the medical establishment is still in total denial about the potential of these decades-old drugs," Laura Ingraham said on her program Thursday night.

To be sure, much of the reporting and commentary on hydroxychloroquine in the mainstream media isn't so much "reckless" as it is cautious and hedged. That's because the scientific knowledge surrounding hydroxychloroquine is nuanced and unsettled.

The drug has been in use as an anti-malaria treatment for decades and more recently as a treatment for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. But it's not clear whether it works for covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Among the few preliminary studies was one showing promise, although that result was subsequently questioned by the study's publisher. Experts have cautioned about side effects, such as heart arrhythmia, which can be fatal.

The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency approval for doctors to prescribe it to coronavirus patients from the National Medical Stockpile, but it has yet to be tested and approved through the usual process of clinical trials. Multiple trials are ongoing.

As a result, experts - like Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, Trump's leading infectious-diseases advisers - are at best lukewarm about the drug as a covid-19 treatment. Appearing on Hannity's program Monday, Birx declined to make any definitive claims about its success or venture any opinions about "the mob and the media." Prescribing hydroxychloroquine should be "up to the physician and the patient," she said.

This doesn't quite reflect the ferocity of the Fox hosts' framing of the matter, which has taken on an us-vs.-them coloration.

In touting the drug, Fox weekend host Jesse Watters denounced the "cherry-picking snakes, liars and backstabbing hypocrites" who have allegedly prevented people from receiving it. He added, "The president was hopeful but was savagely attacked in the media." By way of example, he played a clip of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow calling Trump's drug hype "cruel and harmful and needlessly diverting and wildly irresponsible from anyone in any leadership role."

The framing of a fairly arcane medical question as a culture-war argument is part of a long pattern at Fox, where hosts often give "partisan cues" in discussing scientific questions, such as climate change, said Dan Cassino, a political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University who has studied the network.

"Even if there's not a lot of disagreement in the medical community about the use of hydroxychloroquine, the fact that you can point to people on both sides means that any opinion is justified" in the eyes of Fox producers and pundits, said Cassino, the author of "Fox News and American Politics: How One Channel Shapes American Politics and Society."

So Fox, Cassino said, will present "a scientist who says it isn't happening and another who says it is, so there's now a controversy. Once the debate is framed as a controversy . . . it's no longer a question of science as to who should be believed, but a matter of opinion. That opens the door for pundits with no knowledge of the area to weigh in, as they've got backing for whatever they say."

Fox's late co-founder, Roger Ailes, often established a daily theme for the network's opinion hosts and even its reporters, coordinating the message across the day's programs. These thematic topics had clear and identifiable heroes and villains, whom the hosts lauded or criticized depending on the narrative established by Ailes. While most centered on political issues - with conservatives and Republicans usually cast in the hero role or as the put-upon victims - some have touched on cultural topics. Perhaps most famously, the network's hosts have argued that there was a "war on Christmas," driven by secular Democrats and retailers supposedly hostile to Christian values. Whatever its merits, the campaign was persuasive: Public-opinion polls found that over a decade, Americans' willingness to be greeted with "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" dropped sharply over a decade.

The rhetoric on hydroxychloroquine follows this pattern. Hannity and his colleagues have variously emphasized that the critics of the drug are wrong, or that they are overstating its dangers, or are just out to get Trump.

The Fox hosts' advocacy appears to be part of a feedback loop between the network and the president, both reflecting Trump's enthusiasm for the drug and prompting his repeated endorsements in the first place. It resembles the sudden shifts in tone that Fox hosts underwent at the dawn of the coronavirus crisis - at first insisting, as did Trump, that concerns were overblown and possibly stoked by Democrats; and later pivoting, when Trump declared a national emergency March 13, to declare his efforts necessary and heroic.

Ingraham personally introduced Trump last week to two doctors who have been guests on her program and talked up the potential benefits of hydroxychloroquine. The next day, Trump praised the drug in a televised briefing: "What do you have to lose? What do you have to lose? Take it," he said. (He repeated the advice the following day, adding: "I'm not a doctor. But I have common sense.")

The meeting - first reported by The Washington Post and which Fox has declined to confirm -would be an extraordinary breach of ethical standards at most news organizations, which typically prohibit their employees from directly advising public figures.

A Fox News representative, Carly Shanahan, declined to comment on its hosts' comments about hydroxychloroquine. She instead pointed to more skeptical reporting about the drug from others at Fox. On Monday afternoon, for example, daytime host Dana Perino interviewed a former Harvard Medical School doctor, William Haseltine, who called the drug a "quack cure" with potentially dangerous side effects.

But the skeptical interviews have occurred outside prime-time hours, when the audience is far smaller than those attracted by Carlson, Ingraham and Hannity.
Most mammal fossils are visually unimpressive: a handful of teeth here and a fragment of bone there. Some are not even enough to identify the species they belonged to. But even a tiny fossil found in the right place can raise some really exciting questions about evolution.

In a new paper published in Science, an international team of researchers have described one such fascinating fossil, a set of monkey teeth from Peru. They belong to a species named Ucayalipithecus perdita (which we will call perdita). The name means lost monkey of Ucayali.

Perdita comes from a family called the Parapithecidae whose members had previously never been found in the Americas. It has been dated to around 31.7 million years ago, and its closest relative was the roughly contemporary Qatrania wingi from Egypt. This suggests that perdita also most likely originally came from Africa.

This presents an obvious conundrum. How did monkeys so closely related come to be living as far apart as North Africa and South America, separated by 1,500-2,000 kilometres of ocean and significant tracts of land? The researchers, led by Professor Erik Seiffert at the University of Southern California, argue convincingly that the new fossils provide the first proof that there were multiple crossings of the Atlantic by ancient monkeys.

Scientists have actually been debating this issue for decades. Evolutionarily speaking, there are two possible explanations: vicariance and dispersal. Vicariance happens when a widespread species range is fragmented by the appearance of a new barrier like a ravine or a river, while dispersal occurs when species migrate to colonise new lands.

Africa and South America once lay side-by-side as part of a supercontinent. Had monkeys been present, spread across it, then they would have been carried in different directions by the opening of the Atlantic. This would lead to divergence through vicariance. However, the initial opening of the Atlantic occurred between 180 million and 120 million years ago, and the origins of the monkeys are much more recent. This explanation is now not widely accepted.

Story continues

Instead, we are left with the possibility of long-distance dispersal across an ocean. The presence of living South-Central American monkeys suggests it must have happened at least once. We cant be sure how, but one possibility is that a great storm might have ripped a chunk of vegetation from a coastal forest and transported it across the ocean. If this chunk had animal passengers, and if it moved fast, they might have survived to colonise new lands. This would, of course, be a very rare event, and even more rarely successful, though we do know it occurs occasionally today.

Perdita, as the oldest South American monkey, has potentially pushed the timing of this dispersal back a few million years. More importantly, it has also shown that it happened more than once.

The importance of tooth shape

The paper on perdita is mostly about the new species anatomy, which the authors use to decide how it fits on its evolutionary tree. Monkey teeth are often studied to reconstruct relationships because they preserve well and differ between species.

The chewing surface of each tooth is covered in cusps (raised parts) and basins (dips) that give the tooth its distinctive shape. In the perdita paper, the authors compared their new fossil teeth with those of others from the same family and other living and extinct monkeys. We have modified one of their images to show just the molars in the lower jaw. Perdita is outlined in red, Egyptian teeth are outlined orange, and those in blue are from South-Central America.

Courtesy of Erik Seiffert

The Egyptian teeth H and I (in orange) and those of perdita (J, in red) all have very pronounced cusps with small basins. If this were a landscape, it would be made up of a series of steep hills that sit tightly next to each other.

Courtesy of Erik Seiffert

K (in orange) is also from Egypt, and L (in blue) is from Argentina. These teeth have fewer cusps joined by crests that form a deep basin in the centre. The landscape here is one of mountains with continuous ridges surrounding a deep valley.

These teeth from Egypt and Argentina belong to monkeys of a different family. The final tooth M (in blue) is from a living South-Central American monkey (all the others we have shown are from extinct ones). Comparing it to K and L shows the similarity between this living South American monkey and the two extinct ones. But clearly, perdita doesnt fit in this group.

In short, we have two groups of South-Central American monkeys, one containing perdita and the other all the remaining species. These two groups are only distantly related to each other. Instead, each of them has close relatives in Egypt. This means two distinct monkeys must have made the journey.

The implications for evolution

The implications are startling. Perdita would have reached the Americas at roughly the same time as the relatives of living South-Central American monkeys and co-existed with them.

This coexistence may have been challenging, as closely related species often compete. But perdita survived long enough to travel inland a long distance and became well enough established to leave fossils.

The fact that these two groups of monkeys dispersed roughly simultaneosuly is also surprising given the supposed rarity of long-distance dispersal. At about this time, the polar ice caps expanded and sea levels fell. This lowering of sea levels may have been important in facilitating rafting.

Finally, to have survived a long-distance crossing, perdita and contemporaries must have been hardy creatures. Perhaps, like living lemurs, they were physiologically adaptable to harsh environments. Or perhaps they relied on the behavioural flexibility that is so characteristic of living monkeys. However they managed it, surviving a transatlantic crossing suggests these species would have been extremely interesting animals.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
South Africas national lockdown period will be extended to the end of April 2020, after which many hope it will then be concluded.

When this happens, it will be critical to ensure this period is managed correctly, or South Africa risks a second wave of coronavirus infections and deaths.

To find out what this scenario could look like, MyBroadband spoke to DA Shadow Minister of Trade and Industry Dean Macpherson shortly before the lockdown extension was announced.

Macpherson said that while the DA will be articulating its position more clearly next week, it is considering various measures and ideas already.

A transitional period

According to Macpherson, it is important that South Africa implements a transitional mechanism to bridge the gap between full lockdown and business as usual.

This will allow South Africa to move between different levels of lockdown in order to balance health and economic concerns.

Social distancing and use of PPE will become even more important in this time, which will require guidelines or protocols for social distancing in different contexts, said Macpherson.

What is required for social distancing in a mall is different to a mine, and this needs to be fleshed out.

One area where Macpherson said the South African government needs to do better is transparent, reliable, and regular data reporting.

Macpherson said this will be particularly important in an environment where restrictions are eased.

If you are going to squeeze and lift in cycles, as many countries are contemplating, then you need to have transparent indicators which will trigger squeezing or lifting, he said.

The economy needs to get up and running

Macpherson said it is critical that the economy resumes itself  albeit in a staged approach.

The longer we take to get the wheels turning the deeper the economic devastation, he said.

Its not a choice between lives and livelihoods. Destroyed livelihoods will lead to loss of life.

Poor health is an economic issue, and poor economics is a health issue so we must maintain that balance.

Government refuses to work together

Macpherson said that while the current lockdown has been necessary, the DA has been disappointed with how the ANC has not taken advice from opposition parties on board.

We have articulated our concerns along the way to various ministers and to the president. What has been regrettable is the almost complete unwillingness on behalf of the executive to engage on these inputs that the DA has made which serenely undermines the call to work together, Macpherson said.

One such concern raised by the DA was the banning of non-essential items in stores and pharmacies.

It is illogical and makes no sense for instance that a store at a petrol station is not allowed to sell pies or that a grocery store is not allowed to sell prepared, warm food, MacPherson said previously.

We have seen even more ridiculous examples of this in this week [ending 4 April] of lockdown, such as retail stores closing their magazines and snacks shelves and mothers of newborn babies not being able to buy clothes for their babies.

Any item, from hygiene products to electronics, found in a retailer that is allowed to be open should be available for sale to consumers. Once existing stock is sold out, then these items wont be replenished until after the lockdown.
The vast majority of British people are heeding the Government's call to stay at home to beat coronavirus.

Nine in ten people have left their house no more than once a day, according to a major attitudes-monitoring project led by Imperial College London.

The global study suggested the UK was better than almost every other country at adhering to the tough measures. Almost two-thirds - 62 per cent - of Britons said they had not been within six feet of anyone outside their household in the last week in an incredible feat of social distancing.

Across all 13 nations included in the study, only 46 per cent of people could say the same.

Only Spain and Italy - both of which are under very strict lockdown - performed better, with 65 per cent and 67 per cent of people seeing nobody in the last seven days.

Equally, UK residents are washing their hands an average of 12 times a day - a key measure to stop the virus spreading - with 96 per cent doing so more than before the outbreak.

The vast majority of British people are heeding the Government's call to stay at home to beat coronavirus (pictured, a woman walking through Square Mile in London)

Nine in ten people have left their house no more than once a day, according to a major attitudes-monitoring project led by Imperial College London

Health experts said the UK's response has been far better than they had 'dared hope'.

Oxford University analysis suggests death rates may have started to plateau. But doctors stressed it is vital that people keep following the measures to ensure progress is not undone.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night pleaded with the public to keep to the rules over the Easter weekend.

'However warm the weather, however tempting your local beach or park, we need everyone to stay at home,' he said.

'Because in hospitals across the country, they are battling day and night to keep desperately sick people breathing. And they need you to stay at home.'

Professor Lord Ara Darzi, a surgeon and director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, which is running the monitoring project with polling firm YouGov, said the results were 'encouraging'.

The UK recorded 980 coronavirus-related deaths yesterday, bringing total to 8,958

An overhead road sign on the M1 northbound advises people not to travel this Easter weekend

But he stressed it was 'not the time for complacency' and added: 'Staying home, wherever possible, will save many lives.'

The researchers asked 14,649 people from 13 countries about their social distancing actions over the last week.

Respondents included adults from the UK, along with people in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Sweden, the US, Australia, Canada, China, India, Mexico and Singapore.

The data also shows 88 per cent of Britons had left their house no more than once the previous day - compared with 80 per cent on average across the other countries.

Volunteers from Islington Covid-19 Mutual Aid group preparing food parcels for distribution to members of their community who are in self-isolation and experiencing financial difficulties

Canal boats moored in Skipton, Yorkshire during the coronavirus lockdown

The Government's distancing strategy requires social contact to be cut by 75 per cent. Some 92 per cent of Brits have avoided taking public transport, 96 per cent are avoiding crowded areas and 72 per cent are avoiding shops.

Professor Paul Cosford, emeritus medical director at Public Health England, said yesterday: 'Once you start getting things under control that's the time you absolutely need to continue with all your measures so that you can bring the disease right down and crack it.'

Government adviser Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that early signs suggest 'larger reductions in normal behaviour... than we would have dared hope'.

The behavioural study data, provided exclusively to the Mail, will be published online on Tuesday. It will expand to 30,000 people in 29 countries by week two.
Forty-seven people under quarantine have been locked inside their homes with their families by authorities in Madhya Pradesh to prevent them from moving out during the isolation period of 14 days, according to officials.

This is the first time such a step has been resorted to by authorities in the state in the fight against Covid-19. This was done in Khajuraho and Rajnagar towns of Chhatarpur district, about 350 km northeast of Bhopal, on Thursday evening.

Both towns have been under curfew since March 25, after it was found a tourist infected by the Coronavirus had visited the places. Arrangements have been made for delivery of essential goods to the people locked within their homes.

The sub-divisional magistrate of the area, Swamnil Wankhede, said he took the decision to lock the houses as the families were not cooperating with the administration in observing home isolation norms.

The step was taken for only those persons who went out of the district after March 30 and returned after getting themselves treated in hospitals in Gwalior, Bhopal, Kanpur, Allahabad, Delhi and other places. We had not put any lock earlier but we observed that in the past two days, many of them violated the home quarantine norms and moved out, he said.

Since they came from areas which are in a danger zone as far as Covid-19 is concerned and they were not willing to follow the home quarantine norms strictly, such a step was taken by the administration.

The families of these 47 people had to be quarantined too as they were in touch with them, Wankhede said.

He said arrangements were made for delivering goods to meet the needs of the people locked within their houses. We have given them phone numbers for home delivery of essential items. We have also provided emergency phone numbers to them in case they need it, he said.

The patwari of the area and nagar parishad employees will visit these houses every morning and evening, he added.

Though outsiders arent being allowed to enter the area, Wankhede said similar steps will be taken for anyone who comes to the district from outside and doesnt cooperate with the administration in observing home isolation.

Chhatarpurs Congress MLA, Alok Chaturvedi, criticised the administrations action, describing it as autocratic and inhuman.

The administration has unleashed a reign of terror instead of creating awareness among people. The public representatives were not taken into confidence before taking such a harsh measure, he said.

However, Chhatarpurs district collector Sheelendra Singh said, The step is just to ensure they strictly follow the home quarantine norms to ensure their own safety and that of others in society. The decision was taken only when it was observed that they left their houses during the night. If they are willing to cooperate with the administration and stay in their houses during the [quarantine] period, we will remove the locks.
'More Cases to Come': Pentagon Frets at Deploying Carrier Nimitz as Roosevelt's Outbreak Worsens

Sputnik News

19:00 GMT 09.04.2020

As roughly 10% of the USS Theodore Roosevelt's crew has now tested positive for COVID-19, Pentagon leaders are questioning the wisdom of deploying another aircraft carrier. The USS Nimitz is scheduled to sail later this month, but at least one case has already been detected among her crew.

In Bremerton, Washington, thousands of US Navy sailors are preparing to put to sea: their ship, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, is scheduled to depart the West Coast port later this month. However, while Navy officials have been slowly bringing crew aboard the ship in an effort to segregate them from the general population and avoid an outbreak while at sea, some Pentagon leaders are questioning the wisdom of the move.

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten told reporters at a Pentagon press briefing on Thursday that there have been "a very small number of breakouts on the Nimitz," but he cautioned that "it's not a huge breakout. It's not a big spike at this point."

On Wednesday, Sputnik reported, along with other outlets, that two sailors assigned to the Nimitz had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, one of whom had been allowed to board the ship recently. However, the Navy clarified to Business Insider on Thursday that only one sailor had tested positive and that person had not been on the Nimitz yet; the second person, who had been aboard, produced two inconclusive tests.

However, while a positive test means it's very likely the person has the coronavirus, a negative or inconclusive test does not mean the person does not, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have cautioned.

Yale medical professor Harlan Krumholz wrote in the New York Times last week, "If you have had likely exposures and symptoms suggest COVID-19 infection, you probably have it - even if your test is negative."

Hyten seemed to bow to this wisdom on Thursday when he told reporters that other cases like that of the USS Theodore Roosevelt - a sister ship to the Nimitz that found more than 400 cases of coronavirus while at sea - are basically guaranteed to happen again.

"It's not a good idea to think that the Teddy Roosevelt is a one-of-a-kind issue," Hyten said. "We have too many ships at sea. ... To think that it will never happen again is not a good way to plan."

Hyten also noted that 416 sailors on the Roosevelt had tested positive, while 3,190 had tested negative; the huge warship has more than 4,000 crew, as does the Nimitz. The Navy has followed the urgings of the Roosevelt's former commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, and quarantined 2,700 members of the crew on Guam, where the ship put into port after cases were first discovered. The cramped conditions aboard naval vessels, where every inch of space is used, make it impossible to observe social distancing guidelines, much less quarantine persons for weeks at a time.

"Clearly there are more cases to come," James Stavridis, a retired US Navy admiral and former top NATO commander in Europe, told the Associated Press in an email. "The Navy and all the services have some hard choices ahead in terms of whether to pull units off the line to get them well or accept some level of casualties due to the coronavirus. I think it will be a case-by-case approach depending on the mission of the unit."

The pandemic has affected the way the US Armed Forces work in many ways, from shutting down operations at dozens of military bases to canceling major war games and other drills. Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist noted at the Thursday Pentagon presser that the military will have to learn to function in the era of the coronavirus nonetheless, however.

"We're going to need to change and adapt, because even over the coming months, the virus isn't going to go away," Norquist said. "We're going to have to be able to operate in a COVID environment."

In addition to the Roosevelt and Nimitz, the aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan and USS Carl Vinson have also had crew members test positive, although neither warship is at sea. However, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle detected at least 40 cases of COVID-19 while sailing in the eastern Mediterranean and is returning to Toulon early, the French Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






In a series of discussion with foreign leaders over phone calls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Nepal counterpart KP Sharma Oli to discuss the current situation due to the pandemic. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi expressed solidarity with the neighbouring country and appreciated its citizens in the fight against COVID-19.

Spoke today with Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri @kpsharmaoli. We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

Read: PM Modi Discusses COVID-19 Challenges With Uganda President Over Phone, Assures Support

Read: PM Modi Discusses COVID-19 With PM Shinzo Abe; Highlights Indo-Japanese Global Partnership

Agreed for close coordination

The two leaders exchanged their views on the ongoing crisis and the challenges it poses to the health and safety of the citizens. They agreed to continue close coordination and consultation among the experts and officials of the two countries on all the issues arising out from COVID-19, including the issue of cross-border supplies of essential commodities.

PM Modi reiterated Indias commitment to ensure all possible support and assistance for Nepal's efforts in fighting the pandemic. He also appreciated the response and crisis management by the Government on Nepal under PM Olis leadership.

Read: IMPORTANT: PM Modi To Interact With CMs On Saturday; Covid Lockdown Extension On Agenda

Read: 'India Ready To Do Whatever Is Possible': PM Modi Emphatic In Reply To Israel's Netanyahu
By Akbar Mammadov

Visegrad Group has reiterated its firm support to sovereignty and territorial integrity of all Partners and stressed the urgency of the earliest solution of unresolved conflicts in territories of Partner countries based on UN Charter and Helsinki Final Act, Spokesperson of the Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said in her Twitter account on April 9.

With the participation of the ministers of Foreign Affairs of the V4 (Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia), the Visegrad Group made a joint statement on the future of the Eastern Partnership at the video-conference on Wednesday.

"We stress the urgency of the soonest settlement of the unresolved conflicts in the territory of the Eastern Partnership countries on the basis of the norms and principles of international law, as enshrined in the UN Charter and Helsinki Final Act," the Group said in its statement.

It should be mentioned that the video-conference organized by the Czech Presidency of the Visegrad Group replaced the meeting that was planned to be conducted earlier between the foreign ministers of V4 and the Eastern Partnership countries but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In turn, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry stated: we would like to reiterate that the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples as one of the 10 principles of the Helsinki Final Act is defined as follows: The States will respect the equal rights of peoples and their right to self-determination, acting at all times in conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant norms and principles of international law, including those relating to the territorial integrity of States.

"As a result of the video-conference, the Visegrad Group adopted a Joint Statement on the future of the Eastern Partnership. The statement emphasized the importance of maintaining high priority and strategic importance of the Eastern Partnership in the foreign policy of the European Union," the ministry noted.

"While including the paragraphs on the EUs policy towards its Eastern Partners, the statement stressed that this policy should reflect shared values as fundaments of Eastern Partnership, as well as pointed out the importance of being inclusive and supporting the choices of Partners concerned and differentiation on the basis of Partners commitments and aspirations".

It should be noted that a number of countries, including France, Germany, Turkey, UK, Canada, Australia, Norway, Pakistan, Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia, Estonia, as well as major international organizations such as the EU, NATO, OIC, GUAM, TURKPA have recently reiterated their support for Azerbaijans territorial integrity and condemned the illegal elections held in in Karabakh on March 31.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Groups efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Several funding opportunities lined up for local projects this year
amazon jfk8 staten island warehouse protest strike

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Five senators are pressing Amazon over its decision to fire an employee who organized a strike over safety conditions at a New York City warehouse last month.

Amazon said it fired Christian Smalls for violating a 14-day quarantine order after being exposed to COVID-19, not for organizing the strike. It's illegal to fire workers for striking in New York.

But lawmakers say Amazon's timeline doesn't add up, citing news reports and Amazon statements that indicate Smalls' 14-day quarantine would have ended five days before the strike took place.

Amazon disputed the lawmakers' line of questioning, saying that Smalls made contact with someone with coronavirus less than 14 days before the protest.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Wednesday, five Democratic senators are pressing for answers about the company's reasoning for firing a warehouse worker who organized a strike last month to protest working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Amazon fired Christian Smalls, a worker at its warehouse in Staten Island, NY in March after he helped organize a strike. Workers who participated in the strike called on Amazon to provide paid sick leave to all warehouse workers and to temporarily shut down warehouses that have had COVID-19 cases for deep-cleaning.

Amazon insists that the strike wasn't the reason for Smalls' firing  the company says Smalls "had close contact with a diagnosed associate" and was fired for refusing to comply when "asked to remain home with pay for 14 days."

But in their letter to Bezos, led by New Jersey senator Cory Booker, lawmakers seem to poke holes in Amazon's explanation.

The senators cite the fact that an Amazon spokesperson told The Guardian that the "diagnosed associate" in question had last reported to work on March 11, meaning a 14-day quarantine for those who came in contact with him would have ended on March 25. Smalls was fired on March 30, the same day as the protest.

Story continues

An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the company confirmed that Smalls did in fact have contact with a person diagnosed with coronavirus well after March 11.

"We did not terminate Mr. Smalls employment for organizing a 15-person protest. We terminated his employment for putting the health and safety of others at risk and violations of his terms of his employment," the spokesperson said. "Despite that instruction to stay home with pay, he came onsite further putting the teams at risk."

Amazon has maintained that it is ensuring safe working conditions at warehouses by enforcing social distancing, cleaning more regularly, and distributing protective gear to workers. The spokesperson said that Amazon has expanded benefits for warehouse and logistics workers, including an additional $2 per hour, 2x base pay for overtime, and paid time off benefits for regular part-time and seasonal employees.

Some workers at the Staten Island warehouse have continued to protest working conditions. They held a second strike one week after Smalls' firing.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Sam Kingsley (Agence France-Presse) Inari, Finland  Fri, April 10, 2020 10:07 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0fc12a 2 Art & Culture Frozen-2,rap-music,Lapland,finland,language,Sami,Sami-people,music Free

Sporting a grey hoodie, goatee beard and oversize headphones, rapper Amoc spits a stream of aggressive, staccato rhymes into the microphone of his home studio as he works on new material.

The punchy rhythm of the 35-year-old's vocals would sound familiar to rap lovers all over the world.

But Amoc's lyrics are only understandable to the 300 speakers of the seriously endangered language of Inari Sami, from Finland's far north.

Until the middle of the last century, the 10 languages of the indigenous Sami people -- who are spread across the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia -- were decimated by brutal assimilation policies by their governments.

Now, a new generation of young speakers has spawned music, TV programs and even a Disney blockbuster, in a "golden age" for Sami languages.

But re-learning the almost-forgotten tongues has stirred up painful memories of past injustices against the Sami.

"The more you learn," says Sami parliament president Tiina Sanila-Aikio, "the more you realize this might be something that you cannot ever take back as a mother tongue."

Read also: Tourism's gifts and woes for Santa and Sami homeland

Not flowers but violence

When Amoc -- real name Mikkal Morottaja -- started rapping two decades ago, only "10 or fewer" young people could speak his language.

His preferred themes of "occultist horror and violence" did not always go down well with the other Inari Sami speakers, who thought his lyrics would be more traditional.

"The older people didn't realize that it's not about flowers and nature," he tells AFP.

"I don't think they liked my music so much."

Morottaja often has to innovate to express modern concepts in a language more tailored to describing indigenous traditions such as reindeer herding.

Inari Sami used to have no word for outer space, for instance.

But his father, Matti, an activist and president of the language council, has been able to advise and even help create new constructions.

In the case of "space", Inari Sami has now adopted "komovuota", which literally means "openness".

Morottaja's latest project is a collaboration with fellow Sami rapper Ailu Valle.

Valle speaks a different language, Northern Sami, with 25,000 speakers and classed as "endangered" by UNESCO.

The pair have played gigs far beyond Sami-speaking areas: in the United States, Canada and around Europe.

Initially inspired by Eminem and the Wu-Tang Clan, Valle first rapped in English and Finnish, avoiding Northern Sami.

"I thought I'd need urban vocabulary," he tells AFP in his remote wooden home on the shore of the frozen Ivalo river.

But learning at university about his culture and its history of oppression sparked a determination to sing in Sami.

"I thought it's the same as in America," Valle says. "A minority expressing themselves in their own community and within the bigger society."

His early songs drew on Sami literature, including the internationally acclaimed poet Nils-Aslak Valkeapaa, whose 1988 epic "Beaivi ahcazan" ("The Sun, My Father") is an intimate and melodic voyage through thousands of years of Sami history.

Immersive 'language nests'

Until at least the 1960s, Sami children were routinely forbidden to use their mother tongue at school, under an education system that saw Sami people as second-class citizens to be assimilated into mainstream society.

But a gradual shift in attitudes across the Nordic countries resulted in a milestone in 1992, when Finland passed a Sami language law giving speakers the right to use their mother tongue with authorities.

Since then, the number of younger speakers has grown thanks to immersive "language nest" schools and nurseries, a policy copied from New Zealand's Maori language revival.

Yet still only a quarter of the country's 10,000 Sami speak a Sami language, Finland's Sami parliament says.

"One major concern is that rights to education and services in Sami only apply in Lapland's designated Sami region," parliament's language protection secretary Anne Kirste Aikio tells AFP.

"Even though over half of Sami live in cities and elsewhere."

Finland's center-left government has promised to address the issue, such as by expanding distance and online teaching in Sami.

For now, the children's program Unna Junna is a vital resource.

Produced since 2007 by Finnish broadcaster YLE, each episode covers aspects of Sami life, in all three of Finland's Sami languages.

Producer Heli Huovinen and her small team sometimes ask viewers and their parents what they would like to see.

"They want more films about nature, about animals, about traditional Sami things and ways of life," she tells AFP.

"We were expecting modern things like robots and computer games."

Huovinen, in her early 30s, grew up with a strong Inari Sami identity but had no opportunities to learn the language until high school aged 16.

"It would have been so cool to have Sami children's TV, I could have learnt from that," she says.

"So I'm very happy that we have children's TV now."

But Sami's growing popularity has also highlighted a shortage of resources and teachers.

"We need more schoolbooks, we need more media, we need more arts and all kinds of support," Huovinen says.

Elsa and Anna in Sami

In a sign that mainstream culture is becoming more widely available in the Sami languages, in December the blockbuster hit Frozen 2 became the first ever Disney film to be dubbed into Northern Sami.

Continuing the adventures of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, Jiknon 2 -- as it is called in Northern Sami -- draws heavily on Sami folklore and ways of life.

The sisters embark on a trek through an enchanted forest to meet the tent-dwelling Northuldra tribe, whose clothes and reindeer-herding way of life are distinctly Sami.

The soundtrack, meanwhile, features traditional Sami "yoik" singing.

Ailu Valle, tasked with translating the film's song lyrics, describes the release as an "exceptional" moment for Northern Sami children.

Disney's producers collaborated with Sami leaders to ensure a respectful representation of their culture, and the film has been praised for rejecting the stereotypical depiction of Sami traditions as primitive.

"We have had so many bad examples of our culture being misused," Sanila-Aikio, Finland's Sami parliament president, tells AFP.

"It's a win-win for all of us and we're very happy with this collaboration," she says.

Read also: Disney's 'Frozen 2' thrills Sami people in northern Europe

'Retaking what was stolen'

Although Sanila-Aikio talks of a "golden age" of Sami languages, she says the scars of the past remain.

The 2016 film Sami Blood, by Sami director Amanda Kernell, won international success with its depiction of the vicious treatment of Sami children by Swedish officials in the 1930s.

Nordic governments imposed brutal and often violent regimes which denounced Sami language and culture as uncivilized and devilish, forcing children to assimilate into the majority society.

As a result, many of today's Sami adults did not have the chance to learn Sami from their parents.

Regaining the languages has meant "taking back something which was stolen," Sanila-Aikio says.

"It brings up very many feelings."

In a nearby classroom, Iiris Maenpaa is leading a group of eight adult students in a discussion in Inari Sami.

The immersive language course which she coordinates at the Sami Educational Institute in Inari is state-subsidized and leaves students largely fluent after 12 months.

Maenpaa followed the course herself eight years ago, aged 30, saying she previously felt like an "outsider" in her own culture.

"I wanted to speak with my grandfather in his mother tongue," she says.

Until then, the pair could only communicate in Finnish. She had always thought her grandfather sounded a bit angry.

"The first time I spoke with him in Inari Sami, I realized that he doesn't sound angry at all," she remembers.

"It was life-changing for me."
Medical workers take in patients at a special CCP virus intake area at Maimonides Medical Center in New York City on April 10, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

New York Reports Negative Number of ICU Admissions for First Time Since Pandemic Started

New York hospitals recorded more COVID-19 patients leaving intensive care units than those that entered overnight, resulting in a negative number for the first time since officials began keeping track of metrics early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hardest-hit state in the nation saw a change in ICU admissions of negative-17 and a net increase in hospitalizations of just 290, another day of signs that the peak has arrived there.

Every model cited by state officials was wrong in predicting the number of hospital beds and ICU beds needed at the apex, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, including the Gates Foundation-funded IHME, Columbia University, and McKinsey.

The actual curve is much, much lower than any of them projected, he said, referring to the rise, peak, and fall of hospitalizations and other metrics.

Hospitalizations are a main focus of officials and healthcare managers because a system becoming overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients can lead to a spike in mortality rates. That happened in both Spain and Italy in recent weeks.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo shows how actual hospitalizations from COVID-19 never reached as high as the models state officials relied upon predicted in Albany, New York, on April 10, 2020. (Screenshot/New York Governors Office)

Officials at one point said theyd need 140,000 beds statewide and one model even projected 130,000 beds would be needed in New York City alone. The scramble for beds led to extreme measures, including mandating every hospital in the state boost its capacity by 50 percent and plans to seize ventilators from upstate facilities for downstate buildings. Cuomo also repeatedly pushed the federal government to send thousands of ventilators, claiming the city might need up to 40,000.

The state has about 18,500 patients in hospitals, many in New York City. Current ICU numbers werent made available by the state. Cuomos office hasnt responded to multiple queries about the number of ventilators now needed and how many the state is currently using.

The big variable in the models was social distancing, the governor alleged, with modelers having to guess not only what policies would be enacted but also how many people would obey the policies.

Cuomo last month ordered a lockdown, restricting people largely to their homes and shuttering thousands of businesses designated as non-essential.

Elvin Gonzalez, an MTA bus driver, has his temperature taken before starting his shift at the West Farms Bus Depot in New York City on April 10, 2020. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Re-opening the state and other areas that have also been locked down will require a surge in testing for new cases and for past infections along with stimulus from the federal government, according to Cuomo. For now, hes telling New York residents to stay at home, warning the curve could start climbing again if they dont, mandating schools and nonessential businesses stay closed through April 29.

The states death toll climbed again by 777, taking the total to 7,844, by far the highest in the United States. Deaths are described as a lagging indicator, since many COVID-19 patients spend weeks on ventilators before dying.

The new disease is caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.
Easter is April 12, and typically that means church in the morning and families getting together for a meal and maybe an Easter egg hunt. But this year, coronavirus has changed the way the Christian community is able to celebrate.

As a solution, many local churches have gotten creative by hosting virtual masses and even some drive-in ones.

>> Click through for information on some of the virtual Easter services in Connecticut.

CT Insider took an in-depth look at how religious communities in Connecticut are coping with the coronavirus pandemic. Local religious leaders spoke about their Easter initiatives.

First Congregational Church in Guilford has been calling every single member to check in, according to Rev. Ginger Brasher-Cunningham. The churchs director of children and youth ministries will lead virtual games on Easter Sunday.

>> Click here for our CT Insider story on how faith communities in Connecticut are coping with the pandemic.

In Milford, the Christ Presbyterian Church will hold a Drive-By Easter Egg Hunt. Participants are asked to make an egg large enough to be visible from the street and place it in a window of a home, business, yard, tree or post. Then, according to the church, participants should take a photo of the egg and post it as a comment on a Facebook video.

And in Ansonia, the Reclaim Christian Church is inviting people to experience their Easter service sitting in their cars parked in the Ansonia High School lots.

Rev. Dr. Robert A. Jackson Jr. of Stamfords Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church told Hearst the act of physically being in a church is not what's important.

We believe that the church is not the building, the church is within us, Jackson said.
MALTA  The coronavirus staggered people with illness, fear and stress but for some it's become a way to help others and inject satisfaction into lives lived in isolation.

Among the people and organizations that are shopping for seniors, cooking for the chronically ill and delivering free school lunches to children is a new social media group, #MaltaHelps. Its the brainchild of Kristan Gottman, a teaching assistant at Gordon Creek Elementary School who was home with her four teens. They all needed an outlet.

I think I spent a few days being scared, Gottman said. But then I thought, yeah, I got to do something. Im a mom at home with four kids, what can I do? There are so many seniors who cant get out.

With the help of Kathy Eitzmann, president of the Malta Seniors Citizens, and Renee Farley, founding board member of Malta Veterans, she created a Facebook page where anyone stuck at home  seniors, veterans or those who are ill or without a car  can be connected to a volunteer. Those who arent on the Internet can call Gottman directly and ask for food or help with an errand. All of it has been done without face-to-face interaction, keeping everyone a safe social distance.

Everything we pick up is left at the door, Gottman said. The seniors leave us checks at the door. We are not getting close.

The group, mainly Gottman and her daughter ,Greta, who is home from college, formed on March 23. They started with shopping for groceries for seniors. That grew to meals prepped by Gottman or volunteers. Im cooking for six anyway. Whats one more.

The effort grew.

Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements

The latest coronavirus numbers in NY

Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter

Full coronavirus coverage

So far, she and more than 50 volunteers have fulfilled every request from more than 100 people.

Every time I sent out a request for help, someone does it right away, Gottman said. Its been life-affirming.

The requests are varied. A veteran needed a thermometer and paper towels. Someone else needed a prescription pick-up. Another person needed a mask. One senior needed branches that came down in a storm removed from her walk and driveway. Another woman who underwent surgery needed meals for a few days. A veteran needed a ride to his dialysis. Whatever the need, for those who cant get out, #MaltaHelps is there, Gottman said.

She even got her reluctant teen boys got involved, raking and cleaning up yards.

The first time, the kids were kind of annoyed, Gottman said. Like whos this person. I said you dont know them, just come on. We are doing something for someone. After, they felt good. They were proud and the senior was happy.

The family was back at it again, earlier in the week, raking Maureen Higgins yard. Groups who are doing yard work are restricted to only those who live together or are a family.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

They are a godsend, said Higgins, a senior citizen who could not do the work herself. They have been wonderful.

She also said it was easy. She called Eitzmann, who reached out to Gottman and it was arranged.

Eitzmann said she has heard that from a lot of seniors who are grateful for the extra help in a time when all of the senior activities planned in Malta  including an outing to Proctors  have been canceled. Its been especially touching to see all the kids, who are home from school, becoming involved in helping the seniors.

Seniors are already isolated, so this really helps, Eitzmann said. The group has been so responsive. Its been awesome.

Farley agreed adding that the needs are great and the response has been excellent.

We will continue to do what we need to do until this blows over, Farley said.

But Gottman said shed like to see the group continue its work after the community is clear of the coronavirus.

I hope it will continue, Gottman said. I am not doing this for notoriety. I believe in the human spirit."
With Democrats pushing for 100 per cent mail-in voting for the upcoming presidential election in November, Republican Party's Donald Trump has called it "RIPE for FRAUD" and that it shouldnt be allowed. US President Donald Trump took to Twitter where he supported the absentee ballots but opposed 100% mail-in voting, accusing it of not being fair to all. As per reports, calls for mail-in voting in the United States grew after people turned up for April 7 Wisconsin primaries wearing masks, standing six feet apart from each other at polling stations.

Read: COVID-19 Outbreak: Trump Vows To 'soon' Open US Economy 'with A Bang'

However, Trump lashed out at the idea of everyone voting through mail-in ballots, making unsupported claims that the practice is "fraud and unfair". Trump also admitted that mail-in ballots could threaten his Republican Party as the practice would bring out more voters, who he believes would vote for the Democratic party.

Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for the many senior citizens, military, and others who cant get to the polls on Election Day. These ballots are very different from 100% Mail-In Voting, which is RIPE for FRAUD, and shouldnt be allowed!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

In an earlier Tweet, Trump had said, "Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to statewide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesnt work out well for Republicans."

Read: COVID-19: Chinese City On The Russian Border To Go Under Lockdown

Mail-in ballots

Voting by mails is being practised in the United States for decades and the President himself voted by mail in the last Florida election. Mail-in ballots are mostly used by government officials, military personnel stationed away from home, diplomats residing in foreign countries. According to reports, 24 per cent of voters cast their votes through mail-in ballots in the 2016 presidential election and the figure rose to 26 per cent during the 2018 mid-term Congressional polls. There are reportedly five states in the United States that have implemented the practice fully, while other states have partially allowed the system.

Read: IMF Chief Says Pandemic Could Trigger Worst Global Recession Since Great Depression

Read: Coronavirus Deaths In US Projected To Come Down, People Fear Undercount

(Image Credit: AP)


By Amanda Ferguson

BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Ireland authorities on Thursday gave the green light for the rollout of abortion services, activists and leading doctors said, although it was unclear when the first procedures would take place.

While abortion was decriminalised last year, the British region's health ministry missed an April 1 deadline to begin providing wider access to terminations, blaming the pressure the coronavirus has placed on services.

That left the British government's Northern Ireland Office advising women to travel to England for an abortion even though the pandemic has closed air traffic, leaving women facing an 8-hour ferry journey from Belfast to Liverpool.

In a statement on Thursday, the health ministry said medical professionals "may now terminate pregnancies lawfully on health and social care premises," but the ministry did not provide details on where and how women could access abortion services.

Former director of the Royal College of Midwives in Northern Ireland Breedagh Hughes told Reuters that her understanding was that teams of medics were ready to run the services from Friday, but women would need to contact local health organisations or support groups for details.

The Northern Ireland committee of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists welcomed the move.

"We are aware of women seeking an abortion in very difficult circumstances, including those with an underlying medical condition who cannot travel and others in extremely vulnerable situations," committee chair Carolyn Bailie said in a statement.

"We welcome the advice that those women can now be cared for within Northern Ireland."

The Alliance For Choice advocacy group said the new advice was a huge development but noted that women unable to leave their homes due to the coronavirus restrictions would struggle to access services as regulations state a first course of abortion pills must be taken in a clinic.

Story continues

The delay in rolling out services prompted Britain's leading provider of abortions to step in earlier on Thursday and say it will offer abortion pills to women in Northern Ireland by post.

Some local charities have been trying to source abortion pills and offering telephone consultations with doctors abroad. But the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which books abortions for Northern Irish women in England, has far more resources to offer the service.

BPAS said it had been informed about two women attempting suicide because they could not access abortion care in Northern Ireland.

Doctors can prescribe pills via telephone in the rest of the United Kingdom, a measure introduced in response to coronavirus lockdown. Socially conservative Christian members of the Belfast regional assembly voted down a similar proposal on Monday.

The British parliament bypassed a years-long veto from those politicians in Belfast last July to bring Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the United Kingdom, where abortion has been legal for decades.

Some lawmakers remained sceptical about Thursday's changes and demanded clear information on how women access services.

"Today's announcement further muddies the waters," Green Party leader and long-time abortion rights advocate Clare Bailey told Reuters.

"There is a maze for women to get through. The executive have acknowledged the legal change but have not implemented services properly. The fight for abortion rights in Northern Ireland has not ended."

(Writing by Conor Humphries and Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Cynthia Osterman)
With major TV channels re-telecasting their iconic shows of the '90s, another beloved show titled, Hum Paanch, is returning to the television screens during the lockdown. Actress Rakhi Vijan, who plays Sweety in the show, said she is excited about the show coming back, and there couldn't have been a better timing.

The actress spoke to Mumbai Mirror recently, and while talking about the show's return to television, she said, "I am more excited about the time when it is being brought back because we have so much negativity and scare around us right now, and Hum Paanch will bring a smile on people's faces, just like it did for the nine years of its runtime."

Talking about her co-stars, Rakhi recalled an incident while they were shooting on location and revealed that everyone was shocked to see the crowd. "At first, we thought there has been an accident or a murder in the area and hence the crowd, but when we realised that the people were there to see us, we couldn't believe it! We were jumping and dancing and our joy knew no bounds. We were kids at that time. I and Vidya Balan (who played Radhika) were 16-year-olds and were just out of school. Bhairavi Raichura (Kajal bhai) was still studying, and Priyanka Mehra (Chhoti) was in class 4. We had a lot of energy to work back then,"

Hum Paanch was one of the very first all-female lead shows and it also marked the debut of now filmmaker Ekta Kapoor as a producer on the small screen. Speaking about Ekta and her contribution to the show, Rakhi said, "Ekta is very passionate about her work. Even at that time, when she was just 16, the focus that she had and the show that she delivered, she has to be a prodigy, a genius!"

She added, "It was a lot of hard work from Ekta's side, but for the actors, we all were just having fun. She made sure that we did a lot of rehearsals and improvisations. Our writer Imtiaz Patel was a genius. Plus, if Ekta has carved a character, it is bound to be a hit. Khel khel me Hum Paanch bann gaya aur vo superhit ho gaya,."

"The beauty of Hum Paanch was that it showed a very normal middle-class family going about with their daily lives just like it happens in the real world. It never looked fake and it never felt fake for us too." Rakhi concluded.

PM Modi Tags 'Fake Ram' On Twitter; 'Ramayan' Actor Arun Govil Urges Fans To Report It

The Raikar Case Web Series Review: The Thriller Is A Surprise For Whodunit Fans
Austrian Chancellor confirms plan for mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in February

Gulf, Iran and Turkey FMs to visit China

20 pregnant women with COVID-19 die in Azerbaijan in year

Economy ministry: Organizing of accommodation and public catering increased by 61.1% in Armenia

Azerbaijan opens fire toward Armenia village sector, one soldier wounded

Netflix shows teaser of Kanye West's documentary

Azerbaijan official pledges to remove Armenian toponyms from Google Maps

UN offers two plans to help Afghans totaling $ 5 billion in 2022

Salah says he is not asking for crazy stuff

Armenia attorney general travels to Moscow on working visit

Azerbaijan MOD blames Armenian side for soldiers death

Dollar drops in Armenia

PSG show interest in Ronaldo

Drake becomes most popular rapper on Instagram

Shirak Province captives families hold protest outside Armenia government building

Rolls-Royce sales rise to record high in 2021

Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis directed gun at Armenia residents car in which his wife, 3-year-old child were

ANCA urges President Biden and Congress to hold Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable for war crimes

Serbia's Orthodox Patriarch tests positive for COVID-19

Cadiz fire head coach

Brothers, sisters of 2020 Artsakh war military casualties to get compensation in lieu of their deceased parents

Gucci honors year of tiger with new incredible collection

Deltacron: New danger or laboratory error?

Turkish authorities sanction arrest of 33 suspected FETO ties

Copper rises in price

Erdogan's spokesman, Biden's adviser discuss Armenian-Turkish relations

Armenia deputy defense minister: No one can rule out border tension at any moment

New commander elected of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh

Dybala, model girlfriend pose topless in photoshoot

Armenia official: Those 100 soldiers absence will not assume any change in terms of border tension

Real arrive in Saudi Arabia

Millionaire Robert Durst dies aged 78

Turkey national team footballer dies in car accident

Reuters: Over 1.13 million cases of COVID-19 detected in US per day

Great Armenian poet Razmik Davoyan dies

2 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Deputy PM Matevosyan: About 1,190 subvention programs implemented in Armenia from 2018 to 2021

243 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia MP: It would be right to put pressure on Azerbaijanis to remove their firing positions

Oil is getting more expensive

Humayun Saeed to star as Dodi Fayed

Nearly 10,000 people detained in Kazakhstan in connection with riots

Djokovic holds closed training session in Melbourne

Tokayev: CSTO peacekeepers will pull out from Kazakhstan within 10 days

US man is successfully transplanted animal heart for first time

Newspaper: Armenia businessmen pay customs duties to Azerbaijanis to go to Iran

Netflix announces production of The Witcher season 3

European Parliament speaker David Sassoli dies

Alikhan Smailov appointed Kazakhstan Prime Minister

Newspaper: Health minister makes decision full of contradictions in terms of Covid-related restrictions in Armenia

Newspaper: Armenia authorities once again showed their being unprincipled, worthless, opposition MP says

Germany teacher who had cannibalism fantasies is sentenced to life in prison

FA Cup: Man United eliminate Aston Villa

Israel's military and other security services undergo largest rearmament in years

Spain PM calls for a debate to consider COVID-19 endemic disease

Barcelona's striker resumes training half a year later

Flyone Armenia and Pegasus receive permission for Yerevan-Istanbul-Yerevan flights

Pope condemns "baseless" ideological misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines

Arab foreign ministers to visit Beijing

UEFA: Arsen Zakharyan one of the most promising football players

Why are obese people more likely to face severe COVID-19?

Azerbaijanis stoned an Armenian car on the Stepanakert-Goris road

Armenian FM has a phone call with his Polish counterpart

Macron travels to French Riviera to discuss internal security issues

Artsakh Foreign Ministry: Azerbaijan's aggressive behavior aims to disrupt Russian peacekeepers' activities

US COVID-19 cases reach 60 million

European Parliament President hospitalized due to immune system dysfunction

Washington and Ankara discuss normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey

WHO excludes emergence of deltacron strain

In Karabakh Azerbaijanis shelled tractor

Indian Defense Minister tests positive for COVID-19

Vahan Bichakhchyan to continue his career in Poland

US-Russia talks on security guarantees lasting for seven hours already

NEWS.am daily digest: 10.01.22

Pashinyan appoints Hayk Mkrtchyan as Deputy Governor of Kotayk province

Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills nine children

Pashinyan: One of key priorities of Armenia presidency at CSTO is strengthening of crisis response mechanisms

Turkey demands banning Netflix because of Armenia map in its historical borders

Internet cut off in Kazakhstan

Armenia, Kazakhstan ombudspersons confer on Armenian communitys rights

Armenia, Russia defense ministers discuss Kazakhstan

What daily activities increase risk of contracting COVID-19?

Turkey defense minister meets with their envoy in process of normalization of Armenia relations

Pixar's Turning Red taken out of rent

Iranian Foreign Ministry reports progress in Vienna negotiations

Specialist: 2 persons who contracted Omicron variant came to Armenia from US, Egypt

Dollar continues going up in Armenia

Mbappe: Benzema is a great player and left his mark on Real Madrid's history

New attempt by migrants in Belarus to storm Poland border

Skat Airlines resumes Yerevan-Aktau and Aktau-Yerevan flights

New Covid-related restrictions to be introduced in Armenia

Karabakh police: Firefighters also targeted by Azerbaijan shooting (PHOTOS)

Artsakh Defense Army has not fired on Azerbaijan positions

Azerbaijani military are protesting amid military awards deprivation

Azerbaijanis open fire in Nagorno-Karabakh

COVID-19 pandemic causes increase in deaths from cardiovascular diseases, specialist claims

Spanish Super Cup: Barcelona's squad list against Real Madrid

Karabakh MFA: Events in Kazakhstan are result of actions planned by Turkey

Eco-activists accuse Leonardo DiCaprio of hypocrisy

Armenia army General Staff has new deputy chief
Independent TD for Laois-Offaly, Carol Nolan, has welcomed a series of clarifications on payment entitlements for carers and family carers from the Department of Employment and Social Protection.

Deputy Nolan went on to say, however, that some categories of carers, particularly those who have voluntarily reduced their working hours to care for a dependent family, member remain very confused about their eligibility for payments:

At a time of such significant upheaval, it is vital that we have real clarity and all the information necessary that will enable people to access their entitlements and supports.

"That is why I want to acknowledge the guidance on payments that has been provided by the Department to organisations like Family Carers Ireland.

"We now know for example that if you are were working less than 18.5 hours per week and receiving family carer and receive Carers Allowance, but have now lost your job due to Covid-19-you can apply for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment of 350. You will also be allowed to keep your Carers Allowance and receive an additional 350 to compensate for your lost earnings.

"This also applies to family carers in receipt of the Half-Rate Carers Allowance and Carers Benefit are if they have been laid off due to COVID-19.

"What we need further engagement on, however, is payments for those who voluntarily reduce their working hours to look after a child or family member who may have a profound intellectual disability and who has been told to self-isolate.

As I understand it at present, if you voluntarily give up work even for genuine reasons, you are not eligible for the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

"This is an anomaly that must be addressed specifically because it will disproportionately affect carers.

"We know that people who have been medically directed to self-isolate may be entitled to an enhanced Illness Benefit of 350. Surely the logic of this position could be extended to carers who have chosen to self-isolate in order to safeguard the health of their loved ones.

"I have engaged with the Ministers office on this issue but I am still awaiting her response.

"I would encourage all those carers who are in any way unsure about their entitlements to contact Family Carers Ireland or access the following link, concluded Deputy Nolan.
These are extraordinary times and we all are in uncharted territory. There is a lot of fear and negativity in all spheres due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. While the Corona Warriors are doing a tremendous job fighting from the frontlines, we at Adgully are embarking on an endeavour to highlight the positive developments during these challenging times.

Over the next few weeks, Adgully will be featuring a series of brief interactions with industry leaders in India and find out how they are keeping their spirits up as well as keeping their employees motivated, also how they are joining in the fight against the adverse impact of the global pandemic.

Prasad Shejale, Founder & CEO, Logicserve Digital, shares how his organisation is setting training goals, keeping everyone engaged and motivated with apt training to prepare them for the post-COVID-19, new normal world.

What steps are you and your organisation taking to help out the society at large or those engaged in the war against COVID-19?

We have ensured to take care of this situation in the best possible way we could think of. We quickly devised a team of health marshals. To avoid chaos and make sure each employee gets equal attention, we decided to have one marshal per 25 employees. They are in regular contact with the Logimates to keep a tab on their health status and further share the information with the management. This has greatly helped us during the management of the COVID-19 crisis. We were able to identify any vulnerable employees much earlier and implemented work from home as early as 16th March. The early implementation helped us understand the possible issues for a full lockdown, and with the systems in place to tackle any issues, almost 99 per cent of our 350+ strong workforce went into the work from home phase by March 17-18. I am positive that the support for early social distancing was needed to reduce the chances of spread of this deadly virus.

With regards to doing our bit to help the society at large, we have used our CSR funds to contribute towards the PM-CARES fund as well as some other NGOs who are working for this cause. We are also working on delivering digital campaigns (with a partner) free of cost that are centred around COVID-19 awareness with the support from some publishers.

How are you keeping your employees motivated and are encouraging them to give their best, even as they are working from home?

Well, this is definitely not as simple as it feels, but I strongly believe keeping the employees motivated is of utmost importance always, and even more during such challenging times. For me, the key to having coordinated efforts and making things happen is  Communication, Clarity, Collaboration.

While our employees are serving our clients and taking care of their digital marketing needs, they are fighting the fears and uncertainties of life too. I make sure to communicate regularly with them, and it is essential. I go live every morning for some time where all the employees join in the session while I share my day-to-day thoughts, views, etc. Many Logimates take it as a morning motivation session, and most of them find it as a strong gesture to feel the togetherness amongst us. This is crucial in these times since the human in us is suddenly deprived of the regular in-person interactions that we are so used to. The smallest of wins or good news also get mentioned in the morning and celebrated on our internal communication tool. The overall session is always very casual, light and I try my best to share a lot of my learnings with everyone that, I feel, will boost their confidence and push them towards positive thoughts. Once the session ends, I share a feedback/ suggestion form asking all my employees to share across their personal thoughts anonymously, which helps me gain more clarity allowing me to personalise the communication.

Apart from this, well-structured teams, strong internal communication, governance tools and daily virtual team meets are some of the ways that are helping us stay connected as well as motivated and resolve any key issues quickly.

We are initiating various cross-team special projects to promote further collaboration. We are also setting training goals, keeping everyone engaged and motivated with apt training to prepare them for the post-COVID-19, new normal world.

And, as I say every day in my morning session, #OneDayAtATime. Thats the hashtag we follow, and it helps people to focus on making the present day great instead of worrying about the number of days left, what will happen, and all such thoughts.

What is most needed in challenging times such as these:

(a) From the general public

I believe the general public has an equal responsibility during such challenging times to put in efforts to tackle the situation. First and foremost, people must avoid panic and cooperate with government authorities/ guidelines. This should not be done as a burden or a task but as a greater responsibility as a citizen. While we are focusing on physical well-being, people also need to look after their mental health which can be significantly affected if ignored. Amongst all the chaos that is happening during these times, the general public should refrain from believing in every news or message they get from others unless it is from a genuine source. People should also help the needy in some way possible, at least on a local level. Provide them the support they need. Another essential thing to take care of is that, accept the situation and do not stigmatise the COVID-19 patients. And lastly, I would say be positive and #KeepPositivityModeOn.

(b) From the authorities

I feel they are doing good and should continue putting in their best efforts to tackle this situation. In my view, some of the things that can be focused on are:

- Enabling the primary and secondary healthcare centres too and not just working on strengthening tertiary healthcare centres

- Rigorous testing

- While they try to maintain law and order, they should stop sensationalisation of any confirmed cases

- Educating people with the right information

(c) From business leaders

Business leaders definitely have a key role to play. Patience is the key to winning this situation. While they are pulling themselves up, they should make it a point to communicate with their employees too and be the source of strength for them. Be humane in your approach, interactions, etc., and strive to create and spread positivity. These are tough times for everyone, and hence, you should clear any pending invoices without being too optimistic or pessimistic. And lastly, extend a helping hand and support the industry, your fraternity.
Like many Hollywood movie productions, filming on The Batman was halted in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

And on Thursday, director Matt Reeves shared with Deadline.com that he's been spending the pandemic lockdown at his home in London doing what he can to keep the project moving forward.

'Weve actually shot a quarter of the movie and I have been pouring through dailies, looking at takes, and whats to come,' he explained.

On hiatus: The Batman director Matt Reeves said Thursday he's been spending the pandemic lockdown at his home in London doing what he can to keep the project moving forward

When production was shut down on March 14, star Robert Pattinson had been shooting scenes as the Caped Crusader on location in London.

Other famous names who had signed on included Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Paul Dano as the Riddler and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman.

Reeves co-wrote the screenplay for The Batman and has previously described it as a noir-driven story about one particular case that takes place in Gotham.

'It took me two years to work on that story, and its a very specific mystery noir thats been really thought-out by me and my partners,' he told Deadline.

Prepping: 'Weve actually shot a quarter of the movie and I have been pouring through dailies, looking at takes, and whats to come,' Reeves explained in an interview with Deadline.com

Shutdown since March 14: Reeves co-wrote the screenplay for The Batman and has previously described it as a noir-driven story about one particular case that takes place in Gotham

He also said he's making use of the extra time to prep for what's to come.

'With these movies, you never have enough prep time because theyre so complex and so enormous in so many ways,' Reeves said. 'It also gives me a moment to think about the larger sequences that have yet to come up and how I want to realize those.'

The film is scheduled to be released in movie theaters on June 25, 2021, but as there's no date yet for when principal photography will start up again, that could change.

A new Dark Knight: Robert Pattinson has the starring role as The Batman with Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Paul Dano as the Riddler and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman




Russia releases first cargo of wheat to Saudi Arabia

Russia releases first cargo of wheat to Saudi Arabia

A symbolic 60,000-tonne cargo of Russian wheat has set sail for Saudi Arabia from a Black Sea port seven months after conditions were set to allow the trade, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The cargo is being sent by a trading house under a tender with optional origin it won a couple of months ago, sources said.

Saudi Arabian state grain buyer SAGO did not reply to a Reuters request for immediate comment.

Russia, the worlds largest wheat exporter, has long sought access to the Saudi market.

Saudi Arabia last August moved to smooth a path for Russian wheat imports by relaxing import specifications.

That was seen as a sign of strengthening ties with Moscow beyond cooperation on oil, weeks before Russias President Vladimir Putin visited the country.
On Monday, The Real's Jeannie Mai confirmed via Instagram that she'd accepted a proposal of marriage from rapper Jeezy.

And on Thursday, Jeezy posted his own loving tribute to their engagement on his Instagram.

'Would say 4 life but thats not long enough (Heart) Infinity...,' the 42-year-old wrote alongside a photo of himself with his lady love.

Heartfelt: 'Would say 4 life but thats not long enough (Heart) Infinity...,' Jeezy wrote about Jeannie Mai in an Instagram post Thursday after proposing to the host of TV's The Real

Confirming her engagement Monday, Jeanie had also gushed about her beau in her social media post.

'I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life loving you....YES,' Mai, 41, wrote in the caption. 

'Thank you, everyone, for celebrating this journey with us. We are praying love over everyone from here.'

'YES': Jeannie, 41, confirmed her engagement to the rapper, 42, with this sweet Instagram post on Monday

According to People, Jeezy got down on one knee to propose to the daytime chat show co-host on March 27.

Though he had originally planned to pop the question during a romantic vacation to Vietnam, he had to change plans after they canceled their trip in light of current travel restrictions.

'Jeannie and Jay were set for a trip to Vietnam this April. What Jeannie didn't know is that Jay was planning to propose,' Mai's rep revealed.

Since the trip was cancelled, Jeezy - born Jay Wayne Jenkins - came up with a creative way for them to keep exploring.

'Instead, Jay decided to bring Vietnam to Jeannie with a surprise quarantine date night in his home filled with Vietnamese food and decor,' Mai's rep went on.

Getting hitched! Jeannie first met Jeezy when he appeared on her daytime chat show. The pair are seen in February above

The pair originally met on Jeannie's talk show and have had a strong connection ever since.

'We both went through enough in our life to connect on the understanding that love should feel safe, honest, and pure,' Mai told People last fall.

'Immediately that was a magnetic attraction. We are very attracted to each other's passions to serve. So because we have a mutual joy of having purpose, we're going to find a way to do that together.'

Jeannie and Jeezy first confirmed their romance in September 2019.

It will be the second marriage for the TV personality who divorced first husband Freddy Harteis in 2018 after a decade of marriage.

Jeezy has an adult son from a previous relationship.
Ghana will close all land, sea and air borders to human traffic until further notice, President Nana Akufo-Addo has reiterated.



This, he said, is part of new measures to combat COVID-19 (coronavirus) as positive cases climb to 378 with six deaths.



In his 6th address on Thursday April 9, 2020, on measures taken by the government against the spread of coronavirus , President Akufo-Addo said the decision to close down the borders has been justifiable.



He explained that 79 percent of over 300 confirmed cases were imported.



Clearly until we have the situation fully under control, we cannot at this time open our borders. They will have to remain shut until further notice'', President Akufo-Addo stressed.







Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The French government could provide up to 20 billion euros in fresh capital to help companies hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Friday.

"We have decided to put 20 billion euros into a special (state) fund in order to be able to support all those companies which might need it," Le Maire said on Europe 1 radio.

The funds will be included in a new budget plan due to be submitted to ministers next week.

France, like all its peers, is struggling to limit the damage to its economy caused by a strict coronavirus lockdown which is likely to be extended by at least two weeks to the end of April.

"As regards Air France, we are ready, when the time comes... to intervene," Le Maire said.

Separately, the head of automaker Renault, Jean-Dominique Senard, said his company would hope to get state guaranteed bank loans worth four to five billion euros to help it through the crisis.

"We are working on ideas for bank loans which will be guaranteed by the state and which, one day or another, would be repaid, that is we would not weigh on the state's finances," Senard told RTL radio.

"I am absolutely certain that that should allow us to get through this difficult period," he added.

Asked about the amount of four to five billion euros (USD 4.4 to 5.5 billion), Senard said any loans were likely to be around that size but stressed it was too early to talk numbers.

Senard also ruled out any prospect of renationalising Renault, in which the French government holds a 15 percent stake.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A huge hurrah and a big thumbs up to Waterford Estates neighbor Shanna Shannon who was just named 2019 - 2020 Teacher of the Year for Keenan Elementary School!

According to Shanna, she received a call from her Principal, Mallory Kirby, congratulating her on winning this prestigious recognition. The Teacher of the Year award is given to only one teacher each year and that person is chosen by the entire faculty and staff of that school.
NEW DELHI: India on Friday morning recorded 6412 COVID-19 cases and 199 fatalities, according to the latest data provided by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry while the global death toll due to novel coronavirus exceeded 95,000. According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of active COVID-19 cases is 5,709 and as many as 503 people have been cured and discharged and one had migrated.

The Ministry said at least 30 new deaths have been reported since Thursday evening. Twenty-five deaths were reported from Maharashtra, three from Delhi and one each from Gujarat and Jharkhand. One death was reported from Assam on Friday morning.

Maharashtra has reported the most coronavirus deaths at 97, followed by Gujarat at 17, Madhya Pradesh 16 and Delhi 12. Punjab and Tamil Nadu have reported eight fatalities each while Telangana has reported seven deaths.

West Bengal and Karnataka have registered five deaths each. Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh have reported four deaths each while Haryana and Rajasthan have recorded three deaths each. Two deaths have been reported from Kerala. Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry data.

The 6,412 figure includes 71 foreign nationals. The death toll on Thursday evening was 169. According to the ministry's data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 1,364, followed by Tamil Nadu at 834 and Delhi with 720 cases.

The cases have gone up to 463 in Rajasthan, while they have risen to 442 in Telangana, Uttar Pradesh has 410 cases so far, followed by Kerala at 357 cases. Andhra Pradesh has reported 348 coronavirus cases.

Novel coronavirus cases have risen to 259 in Madhya Pradesh, 241 in Gujarat, 181 in Karnataka and 169 in Haryana. Jammu and Kashmir has 158 cases, West Bengal has 116 and Punjab has 101 positive patients so far. Odisha has reported 44 coronavirus cases. Thirty-nine people were infected with the virus in Bihar while Uttarakhand has 35 patients and Assam 29.

Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh have 18 cases each while Ladakh has 15 and Jharkhand has 13 positive patients so far. Eleven cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands while 10 were reported from Chhattisgarh.

Goa has reported seven COVID-19 infections, followed by Puducherry at five cases. Manipur has two while Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported one case each.

"State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation," the Health Ministry said on its website.

Meanwhile, the death toll from COVID-19 exceeded 95,000 worldwide on Thursday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The number of confirmed cases reached 1,600,427 and while the global death toll stood at 95,699 as of Friday morning, an interactive map maintained by the university`s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) showed.

Italy saw the most deaths, standing at 17,669 among 139,422 confirmed cases, followed by Spain, with 15,238 deaths among 152,446 cases, the tally showed.

The death toll from coronavirus in the United States has risen by 1,904 to 16,672 within the past 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University said. A day earlier, the United States registered 1,965 fatalities, which is the worst number since the start of the pandemic. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States now stands at 465,750, with about 26,000 people having recovered.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. Till today, more than 1.6 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 95,000 fatalities, according to the same university.
Councils across Western Australia are standing down hundreds of staff members as they face a plunge in revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As some inner-city councils roll out multi-million dollar relief packages, some local governments in regional WA are warning they could run out of money within months.

Council across Perth face a sharp fall in revenue as costs rise due to the coronavirus pandemic. Credit:Erin Jonasson

In a further blow, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed local governments are ineligible for wage subsidies through the federal government's JobKeeper package, saying additional support should come from individual states.

But to date, the WA government has refused to throw a lifeline to struggling local governments, despite desperate calls for debt relief and a deferral of the gross rental value revaluation.
[April 10, 2020] MetLife Opens InterContinental Times Square to COVID-19 Healthcare Workers

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), which owns a majority stake in the InterContinental Times Square, today announced that it will open 250 rooms to healthcare workers on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. MetLife will offer free housing at the hotel for nurses, doctors and other medical workers effective immediately. Visiting medical professionals, once they have been assigned to a New York hospital by New York's healthcare authorities, will be provided with credentials to book directly at the hotel. This process is being coordinated by the state of New York and the Hotel Association of New York City. "Throughout MetLife's history, we've worked with nurses and doctors to promote the nation's health, including our partnership with the Visiting Nurse Association," said Mike Zarcone, Executive Vice President and head of Corporate Affairs at MetLife. "Now more than ever they are the backbone of our healthcare system, and society is depending on them to help keep us safe. We are honored o help."



MetLife's close association with the healthcare profession dates to 1909, when the company began its visiting nurses program that sent nurses to the homes of low-income customers to care for the sick and teach modern hygiene. MetLife's agents would notify the Visiting Nurse Association when a family needed help. MetLife has been headquartered in New York City since its founding in 1868. In addition to MetLife's corporate support, MetLife Foundation is donating $300,000 to New York-area food banks to help them deal with increased demand for their services as a result of coronavirus. This giving is part of a larger $25 million commitment MetLife Foundation announced on March 31 to help with the global response to COVID-19.

About MetLife MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005146/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Washington: Joe Biden is America's newest podcast host. He's also launched an email newsletter and began holding Zoom calls this week with individual supporters in what his campaign is calling a "virtual ropeline".

Like much of the world, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is stuck at home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But amid growing concerns that he's missing opportunities to build enthusiasm around his campaign for the White House, the former vice-president is stepping up his efforts to connect with voters.

Joe Biden holds a virtual campaign event. The presumptive Democrat presidential nominee is reaching out to voters to keep the momentum up during the coronavirus pandemic. Credit:Getty Images

"We are trying to leave no channel unturned when it comes to where we put the VP and how we get the VP to engage with people," said Rob Flaherty, the Biden campaign's digital director.

The pandemic has effectively frozen traditional campaigning, preventing Biden and President Donald Trump from the type of massive rallies that are a hallmark of presidential politics. In some ways, that's beneficial to Biden, who has struggled in large settings but is known for his ability to bond with voters in more intimate gatherings.
Strategir, an international market research group, and Hansa Research group, a consumer insights and market research agency in India and South East Asia, has joined forces to create a partnership in India.

Emmanuel Delsuc, CEO of Strategir, said As part of our internationalisation we are delighted to welcome Hansa Research Group to our JV network. It will strengthen our ability to deliver insights all over the world to all our clients.

Adding to the same Praveen Nijhara, CEO at Hansa Research Group says It is a genuine opportunity to add Strategir expertise, solutions and technology to the benefit of our clients in India particularly in product/fragrance, pack, shelf test and shopper research. Strategir is very strong in these areas and there is growing interest for these in our markets.
Most Americans distrust politicians and journalists in this hyper-connected, hyper-partisan world, no surprise there, but I would never have guessed that employees would rely on their boss medical advice instead.

In a 10-country study, 63 percent of adults said they would trust information from their employer about the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to 58 percent for a government website or 51 percent for traditional media, according to Edelman, the global public relations firm.

The good news is that 31 percent of adults said they would never trust anything from social media, according to a special COVID-19 edition of Edelmans Trust Barometer. Good for them.

The spread of the new coronavirus has triggered a flood of misinformation, disinformation and propaganda. When people are scared and confused, they scramble for information to make sense of their world and are easily manipulated.

TOMLINSONS TAKE: Rules for restarting the Texas economy once COVID-19 peaks

Almost two-thirds said they rely on someone like themselves for information, a sign of what experts call confirmation bias. People are more likely to believe someone who confirms what they already think, and they often end up with wrong information.

An employees bond to their boss similarly creates confidence in the information he or she provides, said Jorge Ortega, Edlemans general manager for the Southwest United States.

Employees feel this is my company that I have worked for, and I trust, Ortega said. We are advising a lot of our clients that you have to be really careful, be very clear, and be very comprehensive.

Too many bosses dont realize how their employees hang on their every word, particularly during a crisis. To maintain trust, business leaders cannot seem too profit-driven, and they cant claim to have all the answers, Ortega advised.

Weve known for years that younger professionals expect their CEOs and bosses to tackle big issues outside the office as well as inside, Ortega added. If they do not think their company reflects their values, workers will look for jobs elsewhere.

They want CEOs to change policies and procedures based on the greater good, Ortega said. Employers wanting to have a good relationship with their employees are realizing that if employees are out there on social media commenting, they have to listen.

Oddly enough, social distancing and working from home are strengthening these bonds, as bosses and employees see each other at home, in casual clothes, dealing with the same problems. Despite the social distancing, we feel closer.

Theyve created this new expectation between employee and employer, and I dont think its one that theyre going to be able to walk away from, Ortega said. I think therell be this continued reliance on what a CEO is doing and saying, and how theyre caring for their employees and their families.

Thousands of bosses, though, are laying off employees as most of the nation shelters in place, waiting for COVID-19s initial wave to pass over us. But there are right ways and wrong ways to lay off or furlough.

Most workers understand that a closed business generating no revenue cannot pay salaries indefinitely. Good bosses, though, couple the layoff or furlough with some form of assistance, such as continued health care coverage.

One hotel chain sent employees home with boxes of food and other supplies. Others are setting up relief funds and building systems to stay in touch until rehiring can begin. Workers will remember these things and reward loyalty with loyalty.

TOMLINSONS TAKE: COVID-19 demands generosity from the privileged to keep economy going

Employees are not the only ones looking to CEOs and companies for leadership, so are customers. More than 80 percent say they expect the brands they buy to do the right thing, and 62 percent believe brands must play a role in stopping the pandemic, Edelman found.

Almost a third of consumers have already decided to stop patronizing a brand that was not acting appropriately, the survey found.

Consumers want companies and brands to be brave enough to help solve the problems that were all facing. To protect their employees and their partners, their vendors and people they do business with to get creative in how they use their products and services, Ortega said. We want brands to act like fellow humans.

Obviously, I would prefer the public trust professional journalists more, and Im horrified by the crazy bosses out there saying some stupid things. But I understand why we trust those we know personally over those we dont.

Leading a company in a thriving economy is a lot easier than holding a team together in a crisis. While bosses may feel odd speaking into a webcam about viruses, they need to know it matters to their employees, and so does the information they share.

Tomlinson writes commentary about business, economics and policy.

twitter.com/cltomlinson

chris.tomlinson@chron.com
A Chinese PPE manufacturer that Stormont is poised to place a multi-million pound order with is a credible supplier, the finance minister has said.

Conor Murphy said securing personal protective equipment from overseas did come with risks, but he insisted the executive was doing all it could to mitigate those risks.

Mr Murphy and Health Minister Robin Swann visited a factory in Belfast on Friday afternoon that has re-purposed production lines to make millions of pieces of PPE locally.

On the visit they addressed concerns that have been raised about the administrations efforts to secure PPE internationally.

On Friday, BBC Radio Ulsters Nolan Show revealed that a Department of Health official had raised flags about the 170 million deal with a Chinese state firm, expressing concern about the quality of the PPE products and that the executive may place itself in competition with UK-wide procurement efforts in China.

A previous executive effort to purchase PPE from China fell through after the administration was outmuscled by rival bids from the US and India.

Mr Murphy and Mr Swann both insisted the new deal did not place them in competition with the UK Governments co-ordinated supply line.

They also said they would be securing assurances over the quality of the products purchased.

Were dealing with people who have credibility, we are dealing with people who have a state association and an assurance from the Chinese government, said Mr Murphy.

And were dealing with the Chinese administration itself to make sure.

And we have people on the ground trying to ensure that theres quality, that theres security of supply.

There are always risks in going to procure items abroad, but what we have to do is mitigate those risks, to make sure that we have assurances on security of supply, quality of products.

And then we also have to balance that out against whats needed, whats needed for frontline staff in this pandemic.

On the question of Stormont pursing different procurement lines, local, UK and international, Mr Swann said one did not represent a threat to the others.

Theres no threat, theres no challenge  this is about working in partnership to make sure we have the PPE supply that we need in Northern Ireland, he said.

The minister added: As health minister I will not put any inferior product into the line or into the supply chain for my health workers to use.

That would be irresponsible and I wouldnt do that.

The ministers made the remarks on a visit to Huhtamaki in west Belfast  a company that has partnered with another Northern Ireland business, Bloc Blinds, to produce four to six million face shields a week.

Mr Swann said: I am delighted to visit Huhtamaki today to see the essential work they are doing to help ensure our health and social care workers have the protective equipment they need.

We are working very hard to build up our PPE stockpiles for the post surge period and the expected second surge and I will pursue every feasible route locally and indeed internationally to do this.

The protection of our frontline health and safety staff is an absolute priority and my Department continues to work with the Department of Finance to ensure that all supply lines are maximised to their full potential.

Mr Murphy added: I commend Huhtamaki and Bloc Blinds for their partnership approach to manufacturing face shields visors for health and social care staff, the first large order of which arrived today which will be sent out to Trusts immediately.

Local companies are playing a key role in helping protect our frontline workers in the fight against Covid-19.

Over 300 local businesses have so far offered to help produce PPE equipment with orders having been placed for 75 million items of PPE.
With many Americans adhering to stay-at-home orders amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, law enforcement officials told ABC News they fear a rise in domestic violence incidents.

Rihanna, whose charitable foundation is already donating millions to the fight against COVID-19, is now addressing this problem head on.

Rihanna's Clara Lionel Foundation is teaming up with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to commit $2.1 million each -- $4.2 million total -- to the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles, in order to help manage the domestic violence crisis.

The L.A. Housing Authority estimates that around 90 people a week, as well as their children, have been turned away from domestic violence shelters since the stay-at-home order in the city was instituted, according to the Clara Lionel Foundation.

The grants will cover housing and food for 90 victims per week for 10 weeks, as well as counseling.

PHOTO: Rihanna accepts the President's Award onstage during the 51st NAACP Image Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Feb. 22, 2020, in Pasadena, Calif. (Rich Fury/Getty Images, FILE)

Last week, Rihanna's CLF and Jay-Zs Shawn Carter Foundation announced $2 million in grants in support of undocumented workers, the children of front line health care workers and first responders, and incarcerated, elderly and homeless populations in New York City and Los Angeles.

Before that, CLF announced $5 million in grants to protect vulnerable and marginalized communities from the pandemic in the United States, the Caribbean and in Africa.

Dorsey had announced earlier this week he would be giving $1 billion from his equity in the mobile-payment platform Square, which he also founded, to help "fund global COVID-19 relief."

Rihanna, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey donate $4.2M to combat quarantine-induced domestic violence originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Some lawmakers in Botswana have been moved to supervised quarantine after failing to observe an instruction to self-isolate as the country tries to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the government said on Friday.

All of the country's parliamentarians, including President Mokgweetsi Masisi, had been asked to quarantine for 14 days and be tested for the coronavirus, after a health worker screening lawmakers for the virus herself tested positive.

Some members of parliament had since breached quarantine by going to supermarkets, "spreading the risk", a statement posted on the government's official Twitter account said.

"This is regrettable and the public is informed that the MPs have been removed from home quarantine and will be quarantined under government supervised quarantine," said the statement, from Malaki Tshipayagae, director of health services at the ministry of health.

It did not disclose the number of lawmakers involved or who they were.

Lawmakers were given the option to self-isolate at home or to be taken to facilities designated by the government after the nurse who had screened them tested positive.

Botswana has reported 13 coronavirus cases and one death.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


It was an email by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that led officials in Maharashtra's Satara district to find Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, promoter brothers of the scam-tainted DHFL, in the tourist town of Mahabaleshwar, officials privy to the development said on Friday.

They said the federal agency, that has been on the heels of the duo as part of its money laundering probe in the Yes Bank case, got source-based information that the Wadhawans and a few others had moved out from the state's Khandala area and were staying at a location in Satara.

Officials said the investigating officer of the case, who was present at the agency's office in Ballard Pier in Mumbai, immediately shared "vital details" of this information with the Superintendent of Police and Collector of Satara district on Thursday evening.

The email mentioned that as the Wadhawans were jumping Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons in the Yes Bank case, the probe agency had deployed its "assets" to track their movements and hence the district administration should help in locating its accused who were present in their jurisdiction.

"This was on the lines of sharing information and seeking cooperation by one law enforcement agency to the other in the course of investigating a criminal case," a source said.

They said the ED had been looking for the Wadhawans since they rejected its three summons, issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in the high-profile case where top business honchos like Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani and Essel promoter Subhash Chandra have already been questioned.

The Wadhawans kept changing their locations in Maharashtra and were using different phones, sources claimed.

They were also not living in the premises owned by them or their companies but in the houses of some acquaintances, like in Khandala, and hence it was difficult to trace them, the sources claimed.

Civic authorities of Satara found them along with 21 others at the 'Diwan farm house' on Thursday after which they were put under quarantine in the same district and relevant sections of the IPC and the Disaster Management Act were slapped against them as they travelled from Khandala in alleged breach of the lockdown imposed across the country to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The ED is expected to soon apprise a local Mumbai court about the incident stating "non-cooperation" by the duo.

Ironically, after skipping the ED summons thrice, the Wadhawans had cited the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic for their non-appearance in connection with the money laundering probe against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and others.

The Wadhawans denied any wrongdoing in their dealings with the bank and were supposed to appear before the central agency on March 17 in Mumbai.

The agency had summoned them thrice, with the first communication for deposition sent on March 10.

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) CMD Kapil Wadhawan and non-executive director Dheeraj Wadhawan are already being probed by the agency as part of a separate money-laundering investigation related to late Mumbai gangster Iqbal Mirchi.

Kapil Wadhawan, 47, was also arrested by the agency in the case related to Iqbal Mirchi but is now out on bail.

Their role is now being probed by the ED in the criminal case filed against Kapoor for receiving alleged kickbacks through companies purportedly controlled by his family and for going slow on bad loans extended by his bank to some big corporates.

The brothers had also told the ED that they would reply if the investigative agency sent them a questionnaire in connection with the Yes Bank probe.

The ED has also moved a Mumbai court seeking a non-bailable warrant against Dheeraj Wadhawan in connection with the Iqbal Mirchi case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WLFI)- The American Red Cross is taking extra steps to keep blood donors safe during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

"We want anyone who is healthy to come in and donate," said Ian Kohrman a Team Supervisor for the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross is always in need of people willing to donate blood. With the COVID-19 pandemic still spreading, some people have been apprehensive to do so. However, the Red Cross has new safety guidelines they are following.

"Upon entering the blood drive donors are getting a pre donor check of their temperature and as long as it's not elevated 99.6 degrees or higher then they will be able to go in and donate," added Kohrman

Along with doing a pre-temperature check, a limited number of people are allowed in the drive area, social distancing is strictly practiced and all equipment is sanitized regularly.

"We have the chairs separated 6 feet apart and also our donor beds that the donors will be donating on are separated by a 6-foot table in between, said Kohrman. We want to ensure accurate distance is applied for each of the donors that come in and donate."

Once you're set up and ready to go, it only takes around 8 to 12 minutes to give a pint of blood that will save someone's life

"We do everything that we can to have the donors come in and feel comfortable," added Kohrman

While donations have increased in the last couple of weeks, with more blood drives being canceled daily the Red Cross is hopeful people who can donate will continue to do so.

"We are well over the amount that we typically would have in stock but that doesn't mean we don't want people to donate, said Kohrman. The need will always continue to be there. "

The Red Cross is currently only accepting donations by appointment. This allows the donation centers to limit the number of people to maintain social distancing. To find a blood drive near you click here.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





Jeremie city prohibited until further notice

The Jeremie municipal council has formally prohibited until further orders any entry and exit to the city of Jeremie by land, sea and air. However, trucks, boats and planes carrying goods and drugs are allowed to freely enter and exit the city of Jeremie after inspection by the competent authorities.



Journalist "Loucko" wounded by bullet

Eddy Jackson Alexis, the Secretary of State for Communication learned with dismay of the armed attack which was victim the political journalist of Radio Tele Eclair, Luckner Desir aka "Loucko" in the evening of Wednesday April 8, 2020, at Carrefour Pey. Gunshot wounded, Luckner Desire, and two other persons accompanying are in a stable state according to the latest information. Alexis, while wishing the victims a speedy recovery, condemns this despicable act which almost cost the life of a press worker.



Gonaives : Prohibition of fasting

In accordance with the decree of March 19, 2020 declaring a state of Sanitary Emergency Gasius Serard, the Commissioner of the Government of Gonaives, reminds all pastors that it is strictly forbidden to organize fasts on the "Bottle" place as planned.



Return to the United States

The US Embassy in Port-au-Prince continues to work diligently to assist US citizens in Haiti who wish to return to the United States during this period of the pandemic. The Embassy of the United States will continue to inform United States citizens of authorized commercial flight options as soon as they become available. Citizens wishing to return to the United States can send a letter to the following address : PortauPrinceUSCitizen@state.gov See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-30491-icihaiti-urgent-return-flight-to-the-usa.html



Manufacture of masks, inspection visit

Thursday, Daniel Denis the Director General of the Ministry of Commerce Daniel Denis made an inspection visit to the National Society of Industrial Parks (SONAPI) in order to ensure compliance with standards relating to the production of protective masks intended for the population.



Death of Professor Amos Durosier

"The Higher School of Infotronics of Haiti learned with deep sadness of the death of Professor Amos Durosier, Rector of the Institute of High Commercial and Economic Studies (IHECE), member of the Conference of Rectors and Professors of Universities of Haiti (CORPUHA). Professor Durosier, his modern points of view, his vision, his scientific approach and his objectivity will be greatly lacking in the construction of a new Haiti. Rest in Peace, colleague and friend." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30493-haiti-notice-passing-away-of-founder-of-the-anti-corruption-unit.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Five employees of a state-owned bank have been killed by Taliban militants in the western Afghan province of Herat, police officials said on April 10.



The men were on their way from the Kuhsan district to the provincial capital, Herat City, when they were abducted and shot dead by the militants late on April 9, local police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada said. The men worked for a local branch of the Central Bank of Afghanistan.



The Interior Ministry confirmed the incident and blamed it on the Taliban, which has kidnapped several government employees and military personnel in the area in the past. There was no immediate comment from the militant group.



Earlier on April 9, the Afghan government said it had released 100 Taliban fighters, bringing the total number of militants released this week to 200. The government has said it will release 1,500 Taliban prisoners before the start of intra-Afghan peace talks with the militants.



The prisoner release is a critical first step to intra-Afghan negotiations aimed at bringing an end to the Afghan conflict.



A U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February also calls for the Taliban to free 1,000 government personnel whom the militant group is holding hostage.

Based on reporting by dpa, tolonews.com, and AP
By PTI

MUMBAI:Twenty-four of 26 coronavirus patients in Maharashtra's Sangli district have recovered from infection, and 22 of them have been discharged, local authorities said on Friday.

All these patients were either members of a family living in Islampur town or those who came in close contact with it. They accounted for all known coronavirus patients in this western Maharashtra district. "Twenty-four members of this group tested negative twice, indicating recovery," said district civil surgeon Dr CS Salunkhe.

Four members of the family tested positive for virus on March 23 after returning from Saudi Arabia. Within a week, another 21 relatives or close contacts, including a two-year- old boy, were found to have contracted the infection. "On April 5, the first four persons tested negative twice after the completion of 14-day isolation," Dr Salunkhe said.

ALSO READ| Maharashtra government to probe IPS officer Amitabh Gupta's role in travel nod to Wadhawans

"In the second and third slots, repeat samples of five and three family members tested negative, and recently 12 others tested negative twice," he said, adding that 22 of them have been discharged from hospital.

"Two persons (a couple) who have tested negative are still in hospital because their two-year-old son's isolation period is yet to be over, so they are with him," he added. But those who have been discharged will have to stay in institutional quarantine for some time before they can resume normal life.

Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh and Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, who is also local MLA and Sangli guardian minister, announced the news earlier and praised the doctors and nurses who treated the patients.

"These patients were under observation at Miraj Medical College. The results of their second test have come out negative, which marks a big success," said Deshmukh.

Patil said a three-pronged approach of isolation, cluster identification and social distancing prevented the spread of the virus in the area, and called it "Islampur pattern". However, he reminded people of the district that lockdown is still in force and it must be followed.
Watchdog Blames Syria For Chemical-Weapons Attacks

By RFE/RL April 09, 2020

The global chemical-weapons watchdog has for the first time directly blamed the Syrian government for three chlorine and sarin nerve-gas bomb attacks in late March 2017 on the central town of Lataminah.

An investigative team set up by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on April 8 issued its first report assigning blame for chemical attacks in the country. Previously, it had only been able to say whether chemical attacks had occurred but without naming the perpetrators.

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that the perpetrators of the use of sarin as a chemical weapon in Lataminah in 2017...and the use of chlorine...were individuals belonging to the Syrian Arab Air Force," the OPCW's new Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) said.

Western states have long accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons against rebel groups and civilians in the country's nine-year civil war.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and its main allies, Russia and Iran, have dismissed the accusations, claiming that rebels were staging the attacks to trigger international outrage and Western military intervention. Russia and Syria have repeatedly tried to block investigations into a series of chemical weapons attacks in the country.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the OPCW's latest report "is misleading and contains falsified and fabricated conclusions," while Russia's permanent mission to the watchdog described the document as "not trustworthy."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that "no amount of disinformation from Assad's enablers in Russia and Iran can hide the fact that the Assad regime is responsible for numerous chemical-weapons attacks."

"The unchecked use of chemical weapons by any state presents an unacceptable security threat to all states and cannot occur with impunity," Pompeo said.

He added that Washington believed that the Syrian government retains enough sarin and chlorine as well as expertise to use and produce chemical weapons.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose country holds a rotating seat on the 15-member UN Security Council, said, "Such a blatant violation of international law must not go unpunished."

It is now up to the United Nations and OPCW members to determine what, if any further action, should be taken against the Syrian government.

The OPCW report said Syrian Arab Air Force pilots flying Sukhoi Su-22 military planes dropped two bombs containing sarin on Lataminah in Hama Province on March 24 and 30, 2017. A Syrian military helicopter dropped a chlorine cylinder on a hospital in the same village on March 25 that year, the report said. More than 100 people were affected by the attacks.

"Military operations of such a strategic nature as these three attacks only occur pursuant to orders from the highest levels of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces," the ITT report said.

Another deadly sarin assault in nearby Khan Sheikhun on April 4, 2017, killed more than 80 people.

The United States led Western countries in launching air strikes on Syrian military targets in response to the Khan Sheikhun attack.

The OPCW team is expected to later release another report into a 2018 chlorine attack in the Syrian town of Douma.

Damascus was supposed to relinquish its chemical-weapons stockpiles under a 2013 agreement reached between the United States and Russia following a suspected sarin-gas attack that killed 1,400 people in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters, and TASS

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/syria-russia-chemical- weapons-war-crimes-assad/30543097.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Parliament speaker comments on progress of legislative changes required by IMF

20:00, 10.04.20 2082

Some 16,000 amendments have been submitted to the bill on banking regulation, an absolute record for Ukraine.
Theres a slow but steady decline in the number of active COVID-19 patients and those under observation in Kerala. Its a sign that the measures taken by the state, coupled with the complete lockdown imposed in the nation, have started yielding results. But its not a sign for the state to relax or pat its own back for how it handled the epidemic. Not when there is a huge spike in cases in many parts of India. That is why it is essential to say Keralas finance minister Thomas Isaac may have jumped the gun when he, earlier this week, tweeted applauding his governments efforts in containing the virus.

He said Kerala, which once had the dubious distinction of having the highest number of active COVID cases, has moved to the eighth position nationwide and its testimony to the states medical and social strategy of containment and vibrant public health system. Kerala has indeed done creditably well so farwaking up early to the threat and quickly putting in place measures to deal with the contagion after reporting Indias first cases. But the minister must realise this is not a race. While Kerala is reporting fewer fresh cases than it used to, the reality is its total count is still rising.

That it has moved down the list has to do with the fact that others are reporting a higher number of cases. Thats no reason to celebrate. But logic doesnt seem to be the finance ministers strong point. In February, he hurriedly declared through a tweet that Kerala has won (its) battle with Coronavirus though the rest of India was yet to report a case. While he was referring to the recovery of the first three patients in the state, the truth is Kerala has had 354 more cases since then.

The state may have managed to bring down the numbers and limit the epidemic to known clusters, but the fight is far from over. It will have a bigger challenge to deal with when the lockdown is relaxed. Even otherwise, it has to remain extremely alert to deal with any potential threat to its efforts. The time for celebration will come but the road ahead is long and tough.
Home Minister Amit Shah has asked the Border Security Force (BSF) to enhance vigil along the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders, especially at non-fenced areas, an MHA official told PTI. Shah has asked BSF to ensure no cross-border movement takes place through Pakistan and Bangladesh borders.

The directive comes as India's Coronavirus count goes up; a similar trend in the neighbourhood. Pakistan has so far confirmed 4,600 COVID-19 positive cases while reporting 66 deaths and over 700 recoveries. Bangladesh has reported 424 cases of the viral disease and has seen 27 deaths and 33 recoveries.

READ | HM Amit Shah Hails Corona Warriors For Their Courage & Service As India Battles COVID-19

Both countries share a large and porous border with India. Illegal immigration to and from these countries is a matter of concern as the Coronavirus is a highly contagious disease and unchecked border crossing can create clusters in border districts on both sides of the fence.

READ | Muslim Organisations, Civic Society Members Urge Amit Shah To Stop 'harassment' Of Activists, Students

Coronavirus toll goes up

India has so far recorded 5,709 Coronavirus cases while 503 patients have recovered. 199 people have died of the infection. Maharashtra has the highest number of cases (1364) and casualties (97) in the country. The health ministry has so far denied that the country has entered the stage of community transmission of the virus.

READ | Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Assam Reports First COVID Death, Nationwide Toll Reaches 6412

READ | COVID: Rs 4,100 Cr Released To States; More Time Needed To Flatten Curve, Says Health Min
Please register or log in to keep reading. No credit card required!

Stay logged in to skip the surveys.
Drone footage shows coffins stacked in a pit in the city, as the state logs more cases than any country.

Drone footage shows mass burials in New York.

Images have emerged of coffins being buried in a mass grave in New York City, as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak continues to rise.

Workers in hazmat outfits were seen using a ladder to descend into a huge pit where the coffins were stacked.

The location is Hart Island, used for New Yorkers with no next of kin or who could not afford a funeral.

New York state now has more coronavirus cases than any single country, according to latest figures.

The state's confirmed caseload of Covid-19 jumped by 10,000 on Thursday to 159,937, of whom 7,000 have died.

Spain has had 153,000 cases and Italy 143,000, while China, where the virus emerged last year, has reported 82,000 cases.

The US as a whole has recorded 462,000 cases and nearly 16,500 deaths. Globally there are 1.6 million cases and 95,000 deaths.

The drone footage comes from Hart Island, off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, which has been used for more than 150 years by city officials as a mass burial site for those with no next-of-kin, or families who cannot afford funerals.

It is probable that many of the coffins are for coronavirus victims, but it is not clear whether they fall into the above categories.

Burial operations at the site have ramped up amid the pandemic from one day a week to five days a week, according to the Department of Corrections.

Prisoners from Rikers Island, the city's main jail complex, usually do the job, but the rising workload has recently been taken over by contractors.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio indicated earlier this week that "temporary burials" might be necessary until the crisis had passed.

"Obviously the place we have used historically is Hart Island," he said.

The number of coronavirus deaths in New York state increased to 799 on Wednesday, a record high for a third day.

But Governor Andrew Cuomo took heart from the fact that the number of Covid-19 patients admitted to New York hospitals dropped for a second day, to 200.

He said it was a sign social distancing was working. He called the outbreak a "silent explosion that ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9/11".

Another glimmer of hope was heralded on Thursday as official projections for the nationwide death toll were lowered.

Dr Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House's coronavirus task force, told NBC News' Today show on Thursday the final number of Americans who will die from Covid-19 in the outbreak "looks more like 60,000".

In late March, Dr Fauci estimated "between 100,000 and 200,000" could die.

The 60,000 projection would match the upper estimate for total flu deaths in the US between October 2019 to March 2020, according to government data.

But Vice-President Mike Pence stressed on Thursday that Covid-19 is about three times as contagious as influenza.

The White House has previously touted estimates that 2.2 million Americans could die from coronavirus if nothing was done to stop its spread.

Stay-at-home orders have in the meantime closed non-essential businesses in 42 states, while drastically slowing the US economy.

New data on Thursday showed unemployment claims topped 6 million for the second week in a row, bringing the number of Americans out of work over the last three weeks to 16.8 million.

Chicago meanwhile imposed a curfew on liquor sales from 21:00 local time on Thursday to stop the persistent violation of a ban on large gatherings.

The measure, due to remain in place until 30 April, comes after health officials this week said black Chicagoans account for half of all the Illinois city's coronavirus cases and more than 70% of its deaths, despite making up just 30% of the population.

Figures from Louisiana, Mississippi, Michigan, Wisconsin and New York reflect the same racial disparity in coronavirus infections.

Presumptive Democratic White House nominee Joe Biden joined growing calls on Thursday for the release of comprehensive racial data on the pandemic.

He said it had cast a spotlight on inequity and the impact of "structural racism". BBC

Coronavirus: New York has more cases than any country Photos emerge of workers in hazmat outfits stacking coffins in a mass grave in New York City.
OTTAWALeaders at Canadas biggest hospitals have written an urgent plea to the prime minister to extend the federal wage subsidy or risk catastrophic layoffs at hospital-based research institutes across the country.

All research and clinical trials not related to COVID-19 have recently been either suspended or cancelled as a result of an immediate funding crunch in the key sector, the letter sent Thursday says.

Hospital-based research institutes across the country depend on outside charitable organizations, foundations, and biotech or pharmaceutical companies to fund their lab operations and work, and those sources have dried up, the research directors and hospital heads wrote.

If trends hold, the pandemic will cannibalize Canadas overall research capacity, generating mass layoffs of critical research staff.

It is a stunning warning coming from research leaders and directors who say the wage subsidy Ottawa unveiled April 1 is no help.

The wage subsidy is part of a $2-billion aid package designed to help employers hang on to workers who might otherwise be laid off.

HealthCareCAN, the association representing more than 55 hospitals and healthcare organizations, says it has been told that Ottawas eligibility criteria exclude employees in publicly funded sectors. Morneaus office confirmed this on Friday.

The federal government admits there are gaps in the program, and it continues to scramble to address the needs of workers who dont qualify.

The directors of research in major hospitals in Toronto, Hamilton, London, Ottawa and beyond, wrote to Trudeau and members of his key cabinet committee in charge of the COVID-19 response.

They said the staff positions of thousands of hospital-based researchers are typically funded by outside partners  these include charitable organizations, foundations, and biotech or pharmaceutical companies  whose own circumstances in light of COVID-19 prevent them from funding research or staff.

For example, the University Health Network in Toronto is losing a projected $6 million per month, money that helps employ 650 people, including clinical research associates and coordinators, research nurses, laboratory technicians, biostatisticians, data managers, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows.

HealthCareCan did a rapid survey of 24 Canadian health research institutes and said they expect to lose almost $500 million over the next six months, a figure it says is likely an underestimate.

The same circumstances are playing out in academic health sciences centres across the country.

This decision will have catastrophic implications for Canadas capacity to respond to COVID-19, and for Canadas health research sector more generally, says the letter, signed by 26 research leaders at dozens of hospital centres.

They warned that Canadas hospital-based research sector may become a casualty of this pandemic in the absence of government support.

Clinical studies involving real researchers and real patients have already been shelved and Canadian researchers have already lost their jobs. This process is happening now, the letter says.

It says the research community has no end of gratitude for the measures already taken by this government, notably its $275M investment in research to support the COVID-19 response.

Yet, as things stand, very few institutes can make employment decisions on the basis of those dollars. The process of assigning those moneys, while the health workforce fires, rehires, and/or reallocates its talent, will impose a harsh administrative burden when the sector can least afford it.

Those most at risk of layoffs are clinical research associates and coordinators, research nurses, laboratory technicians, biostatisticians, data managers, graduate students, and thousands of postdoctoral fellows.

Their knowledge and talent will be wasted in this crisis if the health sector cannot employ them, an outcome that would also pose a dire threat to morale across the health sector, which is already at a nadir in Canada, the letter says.

The letter is signed by Dr. Duncan Stewart, head of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; Dr. Brad Wouters, vice-president of research at the University Health Network; Dr. Robert McMaster of the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute; Dr. Kullervo Hynynen at Sunnybrook Research Institute; Dr. Paula Rochon at Womens College Research Institute; HealthCareCAN president Paul-Emile Cloutier, and many others.

Late Friday, Finance Minister Bill Morneaus office told the Star that researchers may be eligible, depending on their place of employment, and might get support from other levels of government, but said private companies, charities and not-for profit organizations may be eligible for the wage subsidy.

Morneau spokesperson Maeva Proteau said researchers, whether employed or self-employed, who are unable to work due to COVID-19 may also be eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) which provides workers who are directly affected by COVID-19 with a payment of $2,000 for a four-week period for up to 16 weeks.

The Liberal government has provided money for research into COVID-19 testing, treatments and vaccine, but Morneaus office acknowledged many researchers not working on COVID-19 have had their research disrupted by the pandemic.

To support these individuals, some researchers have received one additional year of funding, while other researchers have been granted one extra year to use their existing research funds.

The government will continue to carefully monitor all developments relating to the COVID-19 outbreak and will continue to take further action to protect Canadians and the economy as necessary, said Proteau.
Brazzaville, Congo (PANA)  The European Union is carrying out a two-pronged support in response to the Congolese authorities' call to activate the national plan for responding to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a statement issued by the EU Delegation in Brazzaville
Rose Harrison first started running a fever Monday, March 30. It wasnt much, just a hair or two above 99 degrees.

The fever wasnt high enough to keep Harrison from her shift as a nurse at Marion Regional Nursing Home in Hamilton, a small town near Mississippi. But it worried her youngest daughter, Jessica Black.

We knew there had been a nurse that had tested positive that had worked the week before up there at the nursing home, Black said. So, I was devastated. My heart just sank like a rock. But she swore she was fine. And I begged her  I said, Mom, just please, go get tested. Please, Ill be happy if you go get tested.

And she flat out said they would not test her because she was not having any signs or symptoms.

Marion Regional Nursing Home sits next to a regional hospital, at the heart of the communitys medical district. Black and others said multiple cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at the facility. Rick Emerson, whose mother lives at the facility and contracted the virus, said a nurse told him 12 residents tested positive. A spokeswoman for North Mississippi Health Services, which owns the nursing home, declined to comment.

Unlike some other states, Alabama does not release the names of facilities with multiple cases of COVID-19. Staff members are particularly at risk, with 90 confirmed cases according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Harrison appears to be the first person to lose her life while working at a nursing home in Alabama.

Passion for nursing

Black said her mother had a big heart, a passion for nursing and strength that sometimes lapsed into stubbornness. Those qualities built her a happy life and close-knit family, with three daughters and 10 grandkids who kept in touch almost daily. They also might have gotten her sick.

Her family was her whole world, Black said. And she stood strong for us. And I think thats part of what brought her down. She was trying to be strong. She didnt want her family to know how sick she really was.

The Wednesday before she started feeling ill, Harrison worked a shift from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. to cover for a certified nursing assistant. She cared for a resident who later tested positive for the virus. In hindsight, Black wonders why her mother was even tapped for the shift, which might have been the one that exposed her to COVID-19.

Why did they have a 60-year-old nurse going in there to work as a CNA anyway? Black said. I mean, thats just mom. Thats what she does anyway. Thats what she told me over and over again, If I leave, they wont have anyone to take care of them. Ive got to take care of my people.

Its clear from numbers released by the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama Nursing Home Association that some nursing homes have multiple cases. On Thursday, the association reported that 40 facilities had cases of the virus, and the Alabama Department of Public Health reported a total of 156 cases among residents and staff statewide.

That could spell trouble for nursing homes, which struggle with staffing in normal times.

High rates of COVID-19 among staff at other facilities have forced some administrators to scramble. Members of the National Guard have been deployed to some hard-hit homes, and officials evacuated a facility in California after staff stopped coming to work.

Harrison knew the risks and had concerns about her symptoms that she brought to the attention of her supervisors on Monday. By then, positive results had come back for one of the residents. According to Black, her mothers temperature didnt hit the cutoff for testing. So, Harrison soldiered on.

She was expected to be there because she was a team leader, Black said. She was one of the managers. She was expected to work until her temperature reached 100.4.

By Tuesday, her fever had subsided, but she picked up a cough. It got so bad she had to leave a managers meeting. Even then, she told her daughter it might be nothing. Nurses were now required to wear masks, two weeks after the first case. Harrison assured her daughter the mask made it hot and difficult to breathe, trying to ease her worries.

The next night, Harrisons husband called. After work, the nurse had collapsed on the couch, too tired to cook, shower or even change her clothes. Her fever had returned.

I mean thats not mom, Black said. Thats not her.

Black said Harrisons bosses shot her down Wednesday when she asked again about testing. Harrison knew her daughter was worried and told her the symptoms - fatigue and fogginess  might be related to thyroid trouble that bothered her for years.

By Thursday morning, Harrisons funk deepened. She called Black.

She said, Im just so exhausted I cant barely hold my head up, Black said. She said I made some cereal and I just looked at it and it made me physically sick. I just cant do it. I cant eat.

From work to ventilator

Still, she dragged herself to work, where she could barely focus. Three days had passed since a resident tested positive for COVID-19, and more than two weeks since the first nurse got sick. Harrison and another nurse finally tested every resident in the facility, and then tested themselves.

Harrison hid her worries from her daughter, but had been quarantining herself upstairs at home, away from her husband. The separation was supposed to protect her husband, just in case. Still, the results of her test wouldnt be available for several days, so Harrison went into work Friday too.

She called my other sister and told her she couldnt think, she couldnt focus, she couldnt eat, Black said. She was writing something down at work and had to go back because she couldnt remember. She was just out of her mind Friday. She didnt know what she was doing.

Black became very worried when she didnt hear from her mother after work Friday. She called her stepfather that evening and asked him to go upstairs to check Harrisons temperature and oxygen levels.

Normal oxygen levels usually sit above 95, and Harrisons hovered around 85. She had a fever of 102. Blacks sister took her mother straight to the hospital in Tupelo, Miss.

The next day, Black spent almost six hours on the phone with her mother. Harrison was receiving supplemental oxygen in an isolation room. Otherwise, she seemed okay.

I just carried the phone around with me all day, Black said. Whatever I was doing in the house, cleaning, doing laundry, I was just talking to her. We were just talking, you know, regular conversations. You know, she was fine Saturday. She was just getting winded, like she couldnt breathe.

In the evening, Black got off the phone to tend to her daughter. As she finished up the bath, her sister called. Doctors had placed Harrison on a ventilator.

A devastating loss

On Monday, Harrison lost her battle with COVID-19. Her loss has devastated her family and community.

I just want everybody to know that she did not deserve this, and it can be prevented, Black said. You can prevent this stuff. It is a bad virus and its very contagious, but if you take the proper precautions that you should, it doesnt have to be this way. Nobody else has to die the way she did.

Black said she feels the nursing home was too slow to take preventative action, too slow to require masks and test residents and staff. Had Harrison been tested Monday, when she first showed symptoms, Black believes shed still be alive.

There was no reason for her to even contract it, Black said. She should have been masked. She should have been expecting everyone to have it. They should have told everyone in that building that a nurse tested positive, and this is what were going to do.

Marion Regional Nursing Home received high marks from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service, which regulates nursing homes. The most recent inspection found only a handful of minor infractions.

But even highly ranked nursing homes have struggled to deal with COVID-19, which flourishes in the close quarters of typical nursing homes.

Marion County has been hit harder than other counties by COVID-19. Its rate of infection, 7.7 cases per every 10,000 residents, ranks 12th in the state. As the disease spreads, Black doesnt want her mothers story lost in the statistics. In death, as in life, Black hopes her mother can continue to care for others.

Any one sign or symptom, you need to be tested, even if its just a 99 fever, Black said. If you know that youve been in a place where it could possibly be there, you need to be tested. Dont wait.

Black believes Harrisons death isnt just a tragedy, its also a lesson.

I just want everybody to know, Black said, she left this earth doing exactly what she loved to do and that was caring for everybody else.
A masked food delivery worker for Caviar making his way down Broad Street near Chestnut. Read more

DoorDash and its newly acquired Caviar delivery service will reduce commission fees for most restaurants by 50% from Monday through the end of May.

DoorDash Inc. said in a statement that the commission relief program in the United States, Canada, and Australia would help more than 150,000 restaurants with five or fewer locations. It estimated the total savings at $100 million.

Commissions are a recent source of ire among restaurateurs, who accuse the services of profiteering during the coronavirus crisis, which has closed dining rooms and left operators with few alternatives. Restaurants pay up to 30% commission on delivery orders  a punishing fee to a business with slim margins.

 READ MORE: Restaurant customers are being caught in a delivery war

Rival Grubhub seems to be sticking to its plan announced in March to defer collection but not eliminate or reduce its commissions.

Last month, DoorDash announced a plan to charge no commission fees for 30 days for independent restaurants in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Australia that sign up with DoorDash and Caviar for the first time, and to waive commissions for all existing DoorDash- and Caviar-affiliated restaurants on pickup orders.
Ebel said Two Brothers now provides the sanitizer to agencies in about 36 municipalities, and the company gets tons of inquiries every day. They have found a market with many essential businesses that must remain open and have some contact with customers, such as animal adoption agencies, cable and internet providers, grocery stores, hardware stores and even heating and air conditioner firms. Because Two Brothers does business with beverage distributors, they found that truck drivers for such places like Coca-Cola had a great need for the hand sanitizer.
The 2020 U.S. Trotting Association Board of Directors Annual Meeting, which was conducted through a series of teleconferences, concluded Thursday (April 9) with the closing session of the full board. Among the highlights of the annual meeting were the election of some new officers, approval of the 2020 budget as well as new rules that will take effect on May 1, plus the announcement of a new location for the 2021 annual meeting.

Teleconferences were required for all committee and board meetings after the COVID-19 outbreak forced the cancellation of the meetings that were scheduled for March 13-16 in Columbus, Ohio. Following is the schedule of the meetings that were held during the past two weeks: Racing and Registration Committees on Tuesday (March 31); Rules Committee on Thursday (April 2); Finance Committee on Friday (April 3); Executive Committee on Tuesday (April 7) with the annual meeting concluding with the full Board of Directors general session on Thursday (April 9).

Following are the results of the officers elections: In the election of the new chairman of the board, District 8A Chairman Joe Faraldo defeated District 9 Chairman Don Marean, who abdicated his USTA vice-chairman position to run. Faraldo replaces District 3 Chairman Ivan Axelrod, who did not seek reelection. District 7 Director Mark Loewe defeated District 4 Chairman Gabe Wand for vice chairman, and District 5 Director Jim Miller defeated District 1 Director Donald Skip Hoovler for treasurer.

Sally Stauffer was unopposed as secretary while President Russell Williams, whose term expires in 2023, remains in that position.

Among the newly adopted rules were: Rule 4.70 Gene Doping  prohibiting the non-therapeutic use of gene therapy to improve performance, Rule 5.19 Racetrack Maintenance  that sets specific standards for staffing, grading, material for surface cushion and conditioning of the track at all extended pari-mutuel tracks with the requirement that racetrack operators must ensure that those standards are maintained, and Rule 17.07 Contents of Application for Trainers License  that, effective Jan. 1, 2021, will require new trainer applicants to be a USTA member and to show evidence of at least three consecutive years of experience as a groom or trainer licensed by a state racing commission or be issued a Limited license.

These approved regulations will now be circulated to the various racing commissions and to the Association of Racing Commissioners International for adoption into their model rules.

To see the complete list of rule changes, click here.

In his concluding remarks, USTA President Russell Williams discussed the difficult times that the harness racing industry and its participants are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the end of our meetings I always like to say what (former USTA President) Corwin Nixon used to say, This is the best meeting weve ever had, said President Russell Williams.

When we look at the present landscape, its tempting to say that this was the worst meeting weve ever had. Almost our entire sport is shut down. It is not too much to say that death walks among us. But thats not the whole story, at all, added Williams.

The United States Trotting Association Board of Directors and staff have conducted themselves with courage, with wisdom, with dedication, and with compassion. I consider it a true privilege to be associated with you all.

The spirit that we have shown makes this, by far, the best meeting that weve ever had. Let us go forward in this spirit. We shall find a way to win, concluded Williams.

Outgoing Chairman Ivan Axelrod closed the meeting by announcing that the 2021 annual meeting will be held March 12-15 in Columbus, Ohio, at a new location, the Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square located downtown at 75 East State Street.

(USTA)
This is a mobile-focused video chat app for iOS, Android and computers which was acquired by Fortnite-maker Epic Games in the middle of last year. It wasn't especially well known until everyone started looking for a good way to catch up with their friends virtually from isolation. Houseparty is a straightforward app that connects up to eight people at a time for video hangouts and simple games, without many settings or advanced features, but there are still a few things you should look out for.

While the two services are moving quickly to adapt to their new role as mainstream communication tools there are some privacy and security considerations you might not expect. If you're just getting started with either of these apps, here are some tips to stay safe.

As almost every interaction we have with people outside of our own household moves online, easy-to-use and platform agnostic video services like Houseparty and Zoom have become indispensable tools for staying in touch with friends, family and colleagues. But this isn't exactly what the services were designed for, with the former emphasising open socialisation with whoever happens to be online and the latter optimised for business meetings.

Friends are added by entering in their exact username or allowing the app to look through your contacts or Facebook friends. If you allow the app to see your location, you can also request to be friends with people physically near you (kind of moot during a global shutdown).

Because you're likely to end up with a very diverse list of friends, it's important to get to know the "lock" feature. Hitting the padlock once a chat's going makes it so nobody else can drop in without asking. By default, people using Houseparty can see when their friends are in a room and will be able to barge right in, so you could conceivably end up in a chat with friends of friends you don't know. If you never want to be in an open room like this, you can enable private mode in settings to automatically lock every room you're in.

As its name suggests Houseparty was designed for casual, open gatherings.

Houseparty has become a popular app for school-aged kids who want to keep up with friends from home. If you're worried about your child using Houseparty you should make sure they know to use the lock or private mode options, and that they're only adding people they know personally. Houseparty is a less scary service than many in this sense, because you can essentially only add people you know, but if you don't lock the rooms or if you're playing fast and loose accepting Facebook friend requests it could still get dicey. Consider downloading the app yourself and asking your kid to add you; that way you can always check in to see who they're in a room with.

Finally, there were rumours circulating last month that installing Houseparty allowed hackers to take control of your other accounts including Spotify and even banks. This is very likely not the case. The Houseparty app only asks for permissions it needs (microphone and camera, plus optionally contacts, Facebook or location), and there's no indication it has suffered any kind of data breach.
Follow Social Distancing, Self-Quarantine Guidelines and Rules

Members of the University of Wyoming community are reminded to continue following guidelines on social distancing to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 on campus and in the community.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that includes staying at least 6 feet away from other people; not gathering in groups; staying out of crowded places; and avoiding mass gatherings.

In Wyoming, Gov. Mark Gordon has issued an order prohibiting indoor or outdoor gatherings of 10 people or more, with few exceptions.

The governor also has directed that any individual coming or returning to Wyoming from another state or country must self-quarantine for at least 14 days, with few exceptions.

For more information, visit the universitys website at www.uwyo.edu/campus-return; call the UW COVID-19 incident command center at 766-COVD (2683); or email COVID19@uwyo.edu.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Let us analyse and find origins of coronavirus: US tells UN Security Council

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 10: The United States sought for a science-based data collection and analysis of the origins of the coronavirus.

Ambassador Kelly Kraft told the United Nations Security Council that he could not stress enough how important these methods are. The UNSC had its first closed-door meeting to discuss the outbreak of the pandemic. The point made by Kraft echoed what US President Donald Trump has said on the virus while labelling the virus as the Chinese virus. The Trump administration has often underscored its origin in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Fake News Buster

Trump and his administration also said that Beijing should have acted faster to warn the world.

The discussion on the pandemic which was blocked by China all of March was taken up after 10 non-permanent members led by Dominican Republic forced the UN Secretary General to deliberate on the issue.

Kraft said that the United States reiterates the need for complete transparency and the timely sharing of public health data and information within the international community.

The most effective way to combat this pandemic is through adequate science-based data collection and the analysis of the origins, characteristics and spread of the virus, she also said.

On the other hand, China's Ambassador Zhang Jun told the UNSC to reject any acts of stigmatisation and politicisation. UN Security General Antonio Guterres in his brief to the council described the pandemic as the gravest test since the UN was formed.

It is the gravest threat since the organisation was formed 75 years ago. This is the fight for a generation, he also said.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

The discussion was taken up after China demitted the Presidency of the UN Security Council last week. It may be recalled that Estonia had attempted to have a discussion on the pandemic, but was blocked by China, Russia and South Africa. It was argued that this was not a peace and security issue and hence could not be part of the UNSC's mandate.

On Friday, UNSC President Dominican Republic demanded for the informal consultation arguing coronavirus impacts peace and security. The demand was backed by Indonesia, Germany, Vietnam, Belgium, Estonia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Niger, Tunisia and South Africa.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a perfect example of a rags-to-riches story as he rose from being a struggling farmer to a much in demand actor with several critically acclaimed performances to boast about. The actor has an inspiring tale of how determination, persistence and talent never go unrewarded as it took 12 years of struggle for Nawazuddin to bag a lead role, which he could proudly brag about to his father.

Nawazuddin did every tiny role that came his way and was seen in blink-and-miss roles like that of a pickpocketer in Munnabhai MBBS(2003), a terror suspect in Sarfarosh (1999) and many others like Black Friday (2007) and Ek Chalis Ki Last Local (2007).

Sharing his late fathers disappointment with his choice of work, the actor had told Cinestaan in an interview, My father used to get upset when I did small roles. He used to say, why do you do these small roles where you get bashed up. Please dont come here, its embarrassing for the family. Neighbours say that your son is getting hammered. He felt I was beaten for real, but he was fine upon learning that its only drama. He asked me to stop doing such roles.

Finally, when the actor got a lead role in Anurag Kashyaps Gangs of Wasseypur, he went to his father and told him, why dont you watch my film now? He, however, did not face any disapproval from his father about his career choice.

Also read: Salim Khan is in touch with Salman Khan over video calls since three weeks, says this is not the time for false bravado

Nawazuddin had once shared how he would borrow money to make ends meet during his initial days in Mumbai. He had told said in a post on Humans of Bombay Instagram account, I would borrow money from my friends, saying Id return them in 2 days. Two days later I would borrow money from someone else and pay the first person back. I lived in a flat with four other people  it was about survival. I worked odd jobs  sometimes as a watchman, sometimes selling coriander. I even held acting workshops! I must have gone for a 100 auditions and took up every single role that came my way, no matter how small it was. It took 12 years before I got a breakthrough. It wasnt easy  the struggle was not beautiful, it was just that; a struggle.

The actor was the eldest of the nine siblings and confessed stealing diyas with friends during Diwali in his village.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Germany has suffered a record daily increase in coronavirus deaths as 266 more people were added to the death toll today.

The latest deaths bring the total from 2,107 to 2,373, surpassing the previous record of 254 fatal cases announced on Wednesday.

Meanwhile the total number of infections jumped by 5,323, a figure which has now risen four days in a row - dampening hopes that the crisis is under control.

The 4.9 per cent increase in cases takes the overall tally from 108,202 to 113,525.

Germany's daily death toll from coronavirus reached a new peak of 266 today, surpassing Wednesday's previous high of 254

The number of cases has ticked up again in recent days after reaching a two-week low on Monday. Another 5,323 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours

Germany's mortality rate is now 2.1 per cent, meaning that one in 48 confirmed cases have resulted in death.

The figure remains conspicuously lower than in Italy (12.7 per cent), Spain (10.0 per cent), France (14.1 per cent) or Britain (12.3 per cent).

The low figure is thought to be linked to mass testing, meaning that many people with mild symptoms are counted in Germany but not elsewhere.

However, the rate has been rising steadily, from 0.6 per cent a fortnight ago to 1.3 per cent last week and 2.1 per cent today.

Of the 266 new deaths, nearly half were in the two southern states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg which are closest to Italy and have been hardest hit.

There were also another 62 deaths in the industrial centre of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Germany had its first major outbreak.

Berlin has recorded more than 4,300 cases with 42 deaths, of which five were added to the tally in the last 24 hours.

The former East has generally been less affected. German media has suggested this could be linked to a lower population density and a less developed economy which makes encounters between global jet-setters less likely.

A medical worker wearing a protective suit attends to a coronavirus patient in the intensive care unit of Aachen University Hospital in Germany yesterday

Two hospital workers wearing masks attend to patient in Aachen University Hospital's intensive care ward as they deal with the coronavirus outbreak

The rising number of cases, after the daily count had fallen to a two-week low on Monday, is a setback to German hopes of ending the lockdown.

Neighbouring Austria has already unveiled plans to re-open some shops next week and larger ones on May 1.

However, German chancellor Angela Merkel has called for 'patience' despite a voicing 'cautious optimism' over the spread of the epidemic.

Restrictions would only be lifted 'slowly', she said, with their effectiveness reviewed on a 'two to three week basis'.

'I don't want to take such a big step that it throws us back completely and we find ourselves once again with an exponential rise,' she said.

The restrictions including a ban on gatherings of more than two people are currently in place until April 19.

The federal government in Berlin and the 16 state governments are set to review the measures next week.

Merkel said Germany could be 'happy' that it had avoided more stringent measures such as those in France, Spain or Italy, but warned that the situation was still 'fragile'.

Earlier on Thursday, health minister Jens Spahn similarly warned that any relaxations would happen 'step by step, if at all'.

The Easter weekend would be a 'fork in the road' on the return to normal circumstances, he added.

A medical worker attends to a coronavirus patient in Aachen yesterday. Germany recorded a record 266 deaths in the last 24 hours

Many countries have warned their citizens not to ruin their good work by spreading the virus through unnecessary Easter travel.

However, Spahn noted that 'the number of new infections is beginning to level off' despite the fluctuating figures.

Merkel has also renewed her opposition to so-called 'corona bonds' or joint European borrowing, despite pleas from Italy.

Germany has long been against the idea, unwilling to take responsibility for the debts of free-spending European neighbours.

'I spoke today with Italian PM Giuseppe Conte for a long time and we agree that there is an urgent need for solidarity in Europe, which is going through one of its most difficult hours, if not the most difficult,' Merkel said yesterday.

'And Germany is ready for this solidarity and committed to it. Germany's wellbeing depends on Europe being well.

'Now, which instruments are fit for this purpose, here there are different views. You know that I don't believe we should have common debt because of the situation of our political union and that's why we reject this.

'But there are so many ways to show solidarity and I believe we will find a good solution.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-09 22:49:58|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Thursday refuted comments that China exports the Chinese model to foreign countries by sending medical teams, saying China never asks anyone to copy its methods.

So far, China has sent 12 teams of medical experts to 10 countries, which are Italy, Serbia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Venezuela, the Philippines and Myanmar, to help them combat COVID-19, Zhao told a press briefing when answering a relevant question.

The Chinese experts shared their experience with local medical workers, helped them improve their ability in epidemic prevention, containment, diagnosis and treatment, boosted their confidence in jointly overcoming the pandemic, and their efforts have been well recognized by the governments and people of these countries, he added.

"China is making such efforts to reciprocate the goodwill we received earlier during the pandemic, to act on international humanitarianism and to implement the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind," Zhao said.

China will never stand aloof and shun away from our friends when they are in trouble, and we will never pick and choose nor attach any string when we offer a helping hand, the spokesperson said, adding that by working with the rest of the international community in this global war against the epidemic, China's goal is nothing but making concerted efforts and giving mutual assistance to tide over difficulties together.

Noting that no country is immune to this global public health crisis, Zhao said that the international community needs solidarity and cooperation more than ever.

"China is determined to ensure effective prevention and control of the epidemic at home, strengthen international anti-pandemic cooperation and take an active part in global health governance," Zhao said.

China has never exported the Chinese model to anyone, nor asked anyone to copy China's methods, he said.

China stands ready to continue to uphold the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, pool the strength and wisdom of all parties, share and exchange useful practices with all parties, carry out joint prevention and control, and support the role of WHO and other international organizations, so as to stem the spread of the pandemic around the globe and win the final victory of international battle against COVID-19, Zhao said.
GLENDALE, Ariz.  Arizona faces an estimated $1.1 billion budget shortfall in the coming year because of the massive economic hit caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the Legislatures top budget analyst said Thursday.

But there is so much uncertainly around state revenue that the damage could be $500 million higher or lower for the budget year that begins July 1, according to Richard Stavneak, who heads the Joint Legislative Budget Committee. A lot depends on how quickly the state and nation recovers from slowdowns caused by the response to the virus.

The estimated loss equals nearly 9% of the states total general fund spending in the current year of $11.8 billion.

The good news is that the state had anticipated a nearly $1 billion surplus for the coming budget year and has $1 billion in its rainy day fund. The bad news is that all that money could quickly evaporate and the economists in Stavneaks group estimate it may take three years to fully recover.

Its too early to tell the full impact to state revenues, he said, but there are signs it is massive.

Over the last three weeks the number of initial (unemployment insurance) claims have grown by 247,000, Stavneak told lawmakers by phone at the quarterly Finance Advisory Committee meeting. That is just a phenomenal number.

Claims had been averaging about 3,500 a week before restaurants, bars and many other businesses shuttered in the past month.

Stavneak ticked off other statistics that were just as staggering: The hotel occupancy rate in Phoenix has dropped by 70%, while restaurant sales in the last week of March also dropped by 70%. And the number of low-income people in the states Medicaid program has grown by 2.3% this month alone, or 42,000, and is expect to keep rising.

Possible ways to fill the $1.1 billion gap include tapping the rainy day fund or using some cash from federal relief programs. The $2.2 trillion rescue package passed by Congress two weeks ago also boosts Medicaid spending, and that could save the state about $350 million, even with higher usage.

Matt Gress, Gov. Doug Duceys budget director, told lawmakers that he agreed with the assessment by Stavneaks team.

But theres also, you know, a strong potential for an upside based on how well we are dealing with the public health crisis, he said while noting the states strong financial position. That being said, we are in a place right now that is bleak.

The governor said during a briefing on the states virus response Thursday that the crisis is affecting state finances but theres no rush to act.

There are no needed cuts in state government today. Our teachers are being paid, our school workers are being paid without disruption, Ducey said. Like I said, before we come with any unneeded cut, we have money in the bank, we have money in the general fund and of course we have our rainy day fund.

Ducey has taken a number of steps to slow the spread of the virus and protect public health, including closing schools, bars, restaurants and movie theaters and last week issuing a stay at home order for all but essential activities.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

Stavneak said it is too early to tell the extent of the damage to the states finances or to do anything to adjust. He expects some of the financial hit to come during the current budget year, with most effects put off to the year that starts July 1.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 17:07 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd1135e8 1 National Jokowi,Joko-Widodo,COVID-19,novel-coronavirus Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo conveyed his gratitude and appreciation to those who have complied with calls for physical distancing and reminded the public to work together to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

I would like to say 'thank you' to everyone who is staying at home because by staying home you are doing your part in cutting the chain of the COVID-19 transmission, which means we have saved many families from the virus, he said in a special address released by the Presidential Secretariat YouTube channel on Friday.

He called on all walks of society to work together to curb the outbreak, pointing out that with the spirit of gotong royong (mutual cooperation), Indonesia can overcome the problems caused by the spread of COVID-19.

Indonesia is not alone in this fight, Jokowi said as 209 countries and territories across the world had been affected by the disease.

Stay patient and optimistic. When we remain disciplined in staying home and [maintaining] physical distancing, we can soon return to our normal routines," the President said.

In his address, he also expressed his appreciation to the medical workers who have been working tirelessly at the frontline of the crisis. He also thanked the Indonesian Military (TNI), the police and volunteers for stepping up their efforts in protecting the people.

On behalf of the nation, I convey my highest appreciation to what you have been doing. It is an extraordinary sacrifice to us all, Jokowi said in his speech.

Indonesia has reported 3,512 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Friday with 306 fatalities and 282 recoveries.
William R. Polk, a longtime historian, diplomat and noted Middle East scholar who helped negotiate resolutions to several conflicts, including the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, died on April 6 at his home in Vence, in southeast France near the Mediterranean Sea. He was 91.

His daughter Milbry Polk said the cause was leukemia.

Over six decades, Mr. Polk delved into multiple careers, working in and out of government, writing, co-writing or editing more than two-dozen books and traveling the globe, often to hot spots.

His academic background was in Middle East studies. In the late 1950s, he started writing articles in The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs and other publications detailing what he saw as the failures of American policy in the region. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy put him in charge of planning policy for most of the Islamic world.

He also served on Kennedys three-man crisis management committee during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
The Congress on Friday urged the Modi government to talk to the Trump administration to prevent job losses of Indians holding H-1B visa due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said after compromising the "India First" policy in the HCQ drug climb-down, the government is again failing to secure the safety and livelihood of Indians in the US.

"Time for the prime minister to ensure that our soft power of 'Namaste Trump' converts into fair treatment of H-1B visa holders in the US," Surjewala said, noting that the US has put Americans on a temporary paid leave or allowed them to work for reduced hours in the wake of the pandemic.

But "the sword of H-1B visa job terminations" looms large over an estimated 75,000 Indians, with the United States giving them only a 60-day period to find a new job in case of a lay off, he said.

"Time for the prime minister to rise to the occasion. We demand that the Modi government ensure the extension of post-job loss limit of H-1B Visa holder Indians to 180 days," Surjewala said.

He said this will give them sufficient time to find another job when the situation improves.

"Modi government should also ensure that H-1B visa holders, who lost their jobs, are covered for COVID-19 and other health insurance free of cost, including extending support to their families," he said in a statement.

The Congress leader said the party also demands that the Modi government deliberate with Indian industry confederations like NASSCOM, CII, and FICCI to prevent further H-1B job losses.

He said there are 309,986 Indians working on H-1B visa in the US, and given the COVID-19 lockdown in the two countries, it is logistically impossible for them to return to India.

He said nearly 60,000 H-1B visas are generally granted to Indians each year which have already been on a steady decline for a few years whereas the rejection rate has gone up to as high as 53 pc for some top IT companies, who contribute 8 per cent to the GDP.

The economic slowdown is becoming "more and more extreme" during lockdown, he said.

Surjewala alleged that most organisations are even considering to terminate the contract unless the Modi government and the Trump administration find a solution.

This, he said, has to be taken-up on war footing as post-termination they would have 60 days to find a job, which seems bleak in these challenging times.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three startups started and focussed on niche technologies decided to join with the request of IIT Roorkhee and the state government to come up with innovations that would help combat COVID-19.

Three startups founded and focussed on niche technologies have decided to join with the request of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and the state government to come up with innovations that would help combat COVID-19. Thus came about three unique products--to be made available in a short time in the market--hand sanitiser, corona oven-to sanitise surfaces and products, and an app to track quarantined patients.

Low-cost herbal sanitiser

When his family members complained of the shortage of sanitisers in the market in Roorkee, 29 year-old Siddharth Sharma decided to do what he does best. Make it himself. Sharma, a Ph.D research scholar at Centre of Nanotechnology and Vaibhav Jain, research scholar at Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at IIT Roorkee decided to get on with the task at Heal Agnostics that was co-founded by associate professors --Indranil Lahiri, and Debrupa Lahiri and Sharma.

Heal Agnostics Pvt Limited was launched in 2019. It was incubated at Technology Incubation and Entrepreneurship Development Society (TIEDS), IIT Roorkee, and is developing technology for early and quick detection of various type of cancers. It makes affordable technologies for tissue regeneration, biomedical devices and early diagnosis of degenerative diseases and their bench-to-bedside translation.

Sharma and Jain wanted to make a low-cost hand sanitiser. "We decided to make a herbal sanitiser with anti-bacterial, anti-microbial agents, along with moisturiser. We started work on this project a month ago when the coronavirus cases were being reported in the country. We tested our products by asking our fellow colleagues to use and found it to be very effective. For manufacturing and distribution, we roped in the help of our fellow students--Satish Jaiswal, Kanike Rajesh, Dibyanshu Lahiri, Anshu Dubey, Souvik Ghosh, Nitam Kumar, Vishal Panwar who worked day and night for five days by distributing it within the campus and the Roorkee municipality."

Heal Agnostics gave away 300 litres they made by investing their funds in it. Soon, the product was developed on larger scale with funding from IIT Roorkee. At first, the hand sanitisers were made available in 100 ml plastic bottles free of cost to everyone at the campus. But Sharma and Jain found plastic bottles were a bane as it was discarded after use and added to environmental pollution.

A huge plastic bottle was then been placed within the campus where anyone in the campus can bring their own individual bottle and fill it. So far, over 600 litres of sanitisers have been given free of cost. Around 10 litres has been given to Roorkee municipality.

Sharma said the bottles will be out for commercial use in the market soon.

Corona oven to sanitise surfaces

Log9 Materials, a Sequoia & Exfinity-funded startup, has come up with an innovative, first-of-its-kind product named CoronaOven that makes use of UV-C light in combination with significant design parameters. This helps to effectively sanitise the surfaces of various products/objects of regular use in healthcare and household settings, thus preventing surface-to-human transmission (of Covid-19 causing virus).

The firm, which has over 16 global patents, is a nanotechnology company that aims to revolutionise the energy sector with an innovative zero emission, low-cost aluminium-air fuel cell. It was incubated at IIT-Roorkee in 2015 by Akshay Singhal (26 years) and Kartik Hajela (24 year), who graduated in metallurgical and chemical engineering, respectively.

Log9 Materials had to develop a new technology making it safe to test products and surfaces that posed a risk to coronavirus. Singhal says he heard of people keeping groceries in the sunlight so as to kill the germs in it. He decided to make a product that would make it easier to kill the virus.

The corona oven-a technology that Log9 came out within two weeks, was done beating the lockdown challenges, he said. "CoronaOvens patent pending proprietary design has been specifically engineered, by taking into consideration, the cell structure and other characteristics of the Corona Family of Viruses. CoronaOven provides accurate and necessary energy on each point on the surface of an object to be decontaminated," Singhal said.

CoronaOven is made up of UV-C safe materials-- making it operations safe and ensuring UV-C blockage to ensure that outside personnel do not get affected with the UV-C light. For example, the UV-C doesn't start till the chamber is closed which is made sure using the right switches. Also the internal surface of the chamber is completely reflective and the main body is made-up of UV blocking material to make sure proper safety is maintained for outside personnel.

The oven is available in two variants and will cost around Rs 8,000 and Rs 14,000.

In 2017, Singhal and Hajela set up Log9 Materials in Bangalore in 2017. Pankaj Sharma, a scientist with over 17 years experience in drug discovery, nano-biotechnology and molecule simulations, serves as a co-founding advisor. The company has developed a fuel cell prototype that can power an automobile for 1,000 km with zero waste and zero emissions and works in energy, and filtration.

One of its famous products is an attachable plug-in filter for cigarettes which incorporates nanocomposite filter made out of graphene particles in a bio-safe plastic casing. The filter has been proven to reduce the toxins in cigarette smoke by up to 50 percent, without compromising in terms of the user experience; each filter is reusable up to 4-5 times. The product is available in e-commerce stores.

App to track COVID-19 quarantined persons

Raven Eye, an incubated startup founded by Prof Kamal Jain of IIT Roorkee, had earlier developed an app to locate one's vehicle. Called FindMyVehicle, the app helps persons to locate their vehicles. It has been in use for over 8 years. When TIEDS made a request to come up with a product to provide relief during COVID-19 outbreak, Jain decided to customise the FindMyVehicle app technology. The unique tracking mobile application uses geo-fencing technology and the system sends an alert to the authorities if any individual violates quarantine. In case the network is not available, the application will send alert through SMS, he said.

The app can be used by government and hospitals. It can also be used to alert the government of a crowd when the lockdown is in force.

The 60-year-old professor's hobby is to come up with solutions using electronics, machine learning, etc. He has over 50 patents so far which are largely used by his Ph.D students and some like the large scale mapping of land is used by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Uttarakhand for its smart city.

Platform for innovators

With the outbreak of coronavirus in the country, the government was looking for solutions. The state government approached TIDES Business Incubator at IIT-Roorkee, asking them for assistance by developing technologies and medical devices on a war footing for COVID-19 relief. TIEDS has been established to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the region.

TIEDS Business Incubator plays a catalytic role in encouraging spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation. By designing equipment for diagnosis, treatment and safety, we are gearing to meet the challenges in this crisis, said Azam Ali Khan, CEO, TIDES, IIT. Some of these innovations were made in less than 10 days and will be out in the market in the next week while a few others will be out in a few week's time.

"It is heartening to learn that our incubated companies, past and present, are coming forward to tackle COVID-19. We stand with the government at this critical juncture, said Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee.

Other innovations in the pipeline are low-cost ventilators, smart helmets for health workers and doctors among other products.

Akshay Dwivedi and Arup Das, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, along with AIIMS Rishikesh have developed a low-cost, portable closed-loop ventilator. Named, Pran Vayu, the ventilator has feedback that can control tidal volume and breaths per minute. Some of the features of the ventilator are remote monitoring by health professionals, touch screen control of all operating parameters, moister, and temperature control for inhaled air. The ventilator has generated extraordinary interest from the industry community with several offers for manufacturing in scale. The team has also developed face shields which can be used by health workers/ doctors while treating COVID-19 patients.

Shellios, a smart helmets startup, founded by Alumnus Amit Pathak, is developing a Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) which can be used by health workers and doctors to counter infection in the hospital premises. They are also separately working on another model of low-cost respiratory aid. Vyaan, a cleantech startup, led by a group of IIT R Alumni, is developing an extremely low-cost reusable mask which can be made available in mass quantity. Both Shellios & Vyaan are incubated and seed funded by TIDES BI.

Test right Solution, founded by Alumnus Shubham Rathore, is developing a Real Time PCR and virus detection kit. This indigenously developed system is expected to be floated at one-fourth of the cost and would multiply the number of tests conducted, by enhancing the existing hospital and lab facilities available in the country. TBS Planet, a media tech start-up at IIT Roorkee, is providing free online subscription of its comics to motivate children during the lockdown period.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The first day of complete lockdown in Nizamuddin area in south Delhi, which has emerged as the biggest hotspot of coronavirus in the country, saw empty roads and quiet bylanes as residents largely remained indoors.

According to the locals, district administration and police have issued passes to grocery store owners and other vendors for doorstep delivery hence they faced no difficulty in the procurement of daily essentials.

People had rushed to local stores on Wednesday evening when the government announced to seal the area in panic. But Thursday was normal. Passes were issued to suppliers of essential services, said Syed Sajid Nizami, member of the family of the Sajjada Nashin (hereditary administrators) of 13th-century Sufi-saint Hazrat Nizamuddins Dargah (shrine).

On Wednesday, the government announced to seal 20 hotspots to combat COVID-19 from where positive cases were reported including Nizamuddin.

In last week of March, in a joint operation of government and Police, about 2,300 devout were evacuated from Markaz near Nizamuddin Basti area, headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat (Islamic preaching group), where 3,000-4,000 attended religious gathering before lockdown had come into force.

All evacuees were admitted to various hospitals and quarantine facilities. About 430 of them have been tested coronavirus positive so far.

M Sufian Siddiqui, an advocate living in Nizamuddin (West), said people of the area had been cooperating with authorities and strictly following restriction orders.

During door-to-door verification drive initiated by the government to locate coronavirus cases, residents are providing all information. People dont step out until there is some urgency. We are abiding by the rules hence there has been no spread of COVID-19 in the locality including Basti despite both sites are located in proximity to Markaz, Siddiqui said.

Javed Khan, an elderly residing near Markazi Market, said no team of health officials or police had visited the households in his locality yet.
Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari says the suspension on jummat prayers and church services across the state was lifted because of reports reaching the government on planned protests by residents of the state.

Masari said this while speaking at a stakeholder meeting in the state, adding that the government had also uncovered that despite the ban, residents of the state have been trooping to either Jigawa or Kano state to conduct such prayers.

Last week, several vehicles and motorcycles moved to other states to perform the Jummaat prayers. Some have been planning to stage protests in response to the suspension of the prayers, the governor said.

It was in that regard and to overcome the problems, that government relaxed and asked people to pray the Jummaat with some conditions attached, he added.

The decision to lift the ban on religious gatherings was made on the same day that the state recorded an index case.

Read Also: Ekiti Discharges Second Coronavirus Patient

The state chairman of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Mohammed Nafiu Abdulaziz while reacting on the issue, said the union had already met with the state governor and the deputy and urged them to reverse the lifting of the suspension.

The union wouldnt have said anything to that effect if there was no case in the state. But having a reported case, we advised them to reverse the lift on the suspension and this is our stand and has been made open

It was lifted when there was no case and a case has come up suddenly almost same day because of this new case, the government should reverse to its earlier suspension status, he said.
A federal judge has refused to release inmates from Chicago's Cook County jail despite the fact that it is now the cluster of coronavirus cases in the United States.

Civil rights lawyers filed a lawsuit last week seeking improved conditions and releases in the face of the accelerating outbreak at the jail, where at least 401 infections have been reported among detainees and staff.

In a ruling on Thursday, US District Judge Matthew Kennelly denied immediate mass release to home incarceration and other forms of custody but acknowledged the dire situation inside the complex as he handed down a set of mandates directing Cook County Tom Dart to take action to stop the spread.

Kennelly noted that the jail currently has the highest rate of new COVID-19 infections in the country with 50 per 1,000 people, far exceeding that of Cook County, which stood at 1.56 per 1,000 as of Monday.

Inmates at the jail have plastered handmade signs with desperate pleas including 'SAVE US' and 'WE MATTER 2' in their cell windows, as seen in heartbreaking photos taken Thursday.

A federal judge has refused to release inmates from Chicago's Cook County jail as it faces the highest coronavirus infection rate in the United States with 401 cases as of Thursday

Heartbreaking photos from outside the jail on Thursday show handmade signs with the words 'SAVE US!!' and 'WE MATTER 2' plastered on cell windows

Civil rights lawyers filed a lawsuit last week seeking improved conditions and releases in the face of the accelerating outbreak at the jail

In his ruling, Kennelly described the complex as a 'a campus of separate physical facilities' with a population 'the size of a small (but not all that small) town.'

The judge wrote that the prison is full of people who the government has decided to imprison 'pending determination of their guilt or innocence, and by doing so the government takes on an obligation to protect their health and safety'.

'It cannot be forgotten that by requiring this, we safeguard the health and safety of the community at large - from which the detainees have come and to which they and the officers guarding them will return,' he added.

In a ruling on Thursday, US District Judge Matthew Kennelly (pictured) denied immediate mass release but acknowledged the dire situation inside the complex

Referencing the lawsuit, Kennelly wrote: 'The [detainees] have demonstrated that certain of the conditions created by the intentional actions of the sheriff enable the spread of coronavirus and significantly heighten detainees' risk of contracting the virus.'

He noted that sheriff's personnel have not been cleaning common spaces after an inmate in that area has tested positive for coronavirus.

He also wrote that Sheriff Dart has not provided inmates with adequate supplies of soap, cleaning supplies or personal protective equipment like face masks.

Additionally, Kennelly also asserted that conditions at the complex 'make social distancing impossible' - pointing to how beds are only separated by a few feet and rooms are 'like a military barracks'.

Judge Kennelly said sheriff's staff have failed to adequately clean the complex or provide inmates with the supplies they need to stay healthy. An officer is seen at the jail on Thursday

The judge handed down a set of mandates ordering Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart (right) to improve conditions over the weekend

The judge ultimately gave Dart three deadlines to improve certain conditions.

By Friday, Dart must begin providing all detainees with enough soap and/or sanitizer to frequently clean their hands on Friday.

He is also required to provide the staff and detainees with sanitation supplies so they can 'regularly sanitize surfaces and objects on which the virus could be present'.

Dart has until Saturday to implement a policy 'requiring prompt coronavirus testing of detainees who exhibit symptoms consistent with coronavirus disease' as well as detainees who have been exposed to such individuals.

The Saturday deadline also applies to an order to enforce social distancing during the new inmate intake process - specifically suspending the use of bullpens to hold detainees awaiting intake.

By Sunday, Dart must provide all quarantined detainees with face masks.

One of the law firms behind the inmate's suit, Loevy and Loevy, called Kennelly's ruling 'a significant, important first step to protecting the rights and well-being of people of the jail in the midst of a crisis'.

'This is a first step and we will continue to work to protect those who are vulnerable in the jail as the lawsuit continues,' Loevy and Loevy lawyer Sarah Grady said in a statement.

The Cook County Sheriff's office, which runs the jail, issued the latest figures on the outbreak on Thursday evening. At least 401 cases have been confirmed - an increase of 48 from numbers reported earlier this week

A sign in a cell window at the jail calls for a hunger strike to force officials to protect inmates

The Cook County Sheriff's office, which runs the jail, issued the latest figures on the outbreak on Thursday evening.

At least 401 cases have been confirmed - an increase of 48 from numbers reported earlier this week.

Almost 70 percent of those cases - 276 - were detainees and 172 were sheriff's staffers.

Twenty-one detainees are currently hospitalized and 36 have been moved to a recovery facility.

A 59-year-old detainee died last week of apparent complications due to coronavirus.

The sheriff's office did not say how many of the roughly 5,500 detainees have been tested but said 49 tests have come back negative.

'Sheriff's officers and county medical professionals are aggressively working round-the-clock to combat the unprecedented global coronavirus pandemic,' the statement said.

'Even before the virus started rapidly spreading in the Chicago area, the office instituted early screening and testing of detainees and moved to increase the availability of PPE and sanitation supplies throughout the jail.

'Detainees who test positive are isolated and receive thorough medical attention and cellmates are quarantined and monitored.

'The Sheriff's Office also created an off-site, 500-bed quarantine and care facility for detainees, took up an unprecedented effort to move detainees from double cells to single cells to increase social distancing, partnered with The New Roseland Community Hospital to provide on-site testing for frontline staff, and is consulting with noted sanitation and infectious disease experts.'

The Cook County jail is now believed to be the largest known source of coronavirus infections in the country.

Previously, the Seattle nursing home linked to the initial outbreak in the US, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the New Rochelle neighborhood in New York had been the biggest coronavirus clusters.

Cook County, which includes Chicago, is now an emerging hotspot for the coronavirus with more than 11,062 cases and 351 deaths.

Officials have already released hundreds of inmates early if they were convicted of nonviolent crimes like disorderly conduct.

It comes as jails and prisons across the country are reporting an accelerating spread of coronavirus.

More than 280 inmates and 400 staff in New York prisons have been infected with the coronavirus and at least seven people have died, according to the New York Department of Corrections.

Louisiana has also reported coronavirus-related deaths among prison inmates.

The United States has more people behind bars than any other nation, a total incarcerated population of nearly 2.3 million as of 2017, including nearly 1.5 million in state and federal prisons and another 745,000 in local jails, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Frances competition authority has ordered Google to negotiate payments with publishers and news agencies to display extracts on its news, search and discovery pages. The interim ruling comes after France implemented the EUs Copyright Directive law that forced Google to pay publishers to use snippets of articles in searches. Googles practices... were likely to constitute an abuse of a dominant position and caused serious and immediate harm to the press sector, the ruling states.

In a statement, Google told Engadget that it would comply with the order. Since the European Copyright law came into force in France last year, we have been engaging with publishers to increase our support and investment in news. We will comply with the FCA's order while we review it and continue those negotiations.

After the law came into effect last year, Google said that it would simply remove snippets altogether unless publishers granted it the right to do so. However, the ruling body (called lAutorite de la Concurrence) said that the the vast majority of press publishers have granted Google licenses to use and display their protected content... without any remuneration from Google.

The Autorite believes that Google may have abused its dominant position in the market for general search services by imposing unfair trading conditions on publishers and news agencies.

The publishers were forced to give away the content for free, it suggested, because Google has a 90 percent share of the search market in France. As such, publishers would suffer lost business (a 26 to 90 percent decline in traffic) if their article extracts didnt appear in Googles results. At the same time, Google gained the benefit of providing better search results for its users without having to pay anything.

The authority decided to make the interim ruling following complaints by the Agence France-Presse (AFP) and several unions representing publishers. During the negotiations, Google must continue displaying snippets, photos and video according to its current (non-paid) agreements with publishers. Once remuneration has been decided, Google will need to pay publishers retroactively going back to October 2019.

Story continues

Google has previously said that it sells neither searches nor clicks. "We sell ads, not search results, and every ad on Google is clearly marked, said Google's VP of News, Richard Gingras last year. That's also why we don't pay publishers when people click on their links in a search result."

Google told Engadget that it has been working with publishers in Europe to drive more traffic to their sites, while also investing in partnerships and subscription tools. At the same time, it is reportedly in talks with publishers to pay for content via a possible subscription service similar to Apple News+.

However, Frances competition body believes that Google has violated the new law and caused a serious and immediate harm to the press sector. The interim ruling will remain in effect until the Autorite has completed its investigation and made a final decision on the merits of the case.
Popular actress, Juliet Ibrahim, has received a series of backlash over her comments on Canadian rapper, Tory Lanez Instagram Live Radio session.

The actress was attacked for saying that if it were her hosting the Live feed, all she would be seeing is account numbers from her fans.

Her statement was welcomed with harsh words as Twitter users dragged her.

READ ALSO: Twitter Users Drag IK Ogbonna Over Nigeria Flag Emoji On Live Video

The actress is, however, not the only one being dragged by the audience from the Live radio session as actor Ik Ogbonna had his served to him earlier.

See Photos Here:
The West Bengal government said on Friday that 9-10 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hotspots have been identified in the state, including one in the state capital of Kolkata and another in the twin town of Howrah, but refused to name any of them as a matter of principle.

Bengal chief secretary Ravija Sinha made the statement a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that all Covid-19 cases are restricted to seven zones in the state. She, too, had refused to name these areas. The state has reported five Covid-19 deaths and 89 people have tested positive so far, Sinha said. Altogether, 2,095 people have been tested for SARS-Cov-2, which causes Covid -19, to date, the chief secretary added.

We have identified 9-10 hotspots. Complete lockdown will be maintained in these hotspots. The state will, however, ensure the supply of food and essential commodities for people living in these containment zones, Sinha said.

The chief secretary reiterated that only a panel of doctors has been empowered to declare Covid-19 related deaths in the state.

A committee of doctors conducts the audit of Covid-19 related deaths. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) or other civic bodies are not authorised to reveal deaths linked to Covid-19, said Sinha, indirectly referring to a purported KMC record that went viral in social media mentioning 10 deaths related to the viral outbreak.

The chief secretary refused to identify the hotspots as a matter of principle because that may lead to social and administrative problems. But he mentioned Kolkata and Howrah figure on the list of hotspots and the local administrations are on high alert.

Weve taken all the necessary steps such as barricading roads, closing down markets and shifting them to safer locations, barring entry of outsiders and urging local residents to remain indoors, he said.

We are identifying clusters where several people in an area have been affected. If more people around a cluster test Covid-19 positive, were marking the bigger area as a hotspot, Sinha added.

Sinha weighed in on the discrepancies in the state and Central governments data on Covid-19 positive cases and death toll figures. I think the state health department is reporting the figures faithfully. Those whove doubts can clarify from the health department. Its unfortunate if one government starts doubting another, he said.

Besides, this is not the opportune time to make a distinction between state and Central governments. Were all stakeholders in this pandemic, the chief secretary said.

The Bengal government has bought 25,6100 personal protective equipment (PPE) units, including 188,550 N-95 masks and 559,000 pairs of gloves for health workers and doctors, Sinha said, adding that the number of quarantine centres has also been increased to 582.

Altogether, 44,474 people were put under home quarantine. Were keeping a strict vigil on these people to ensure zero movement outside their homes, he added.
With the Delhi Government making the wearing of masks compulsory while stepping out, dairy major Mother Dairy has also urged customers to adhere to the directive.

"Face mask has been made compulsory in Delhi and few areas in UP. We are requesting all customers to comply for own safety and safety of our staff," Mother Dairy tweeted.

On Wednesday, wearing face masks was made compulsory, anyone stepping out will need to wear it or face action.

Delhi Government has identified 25 hotspots in the battle to contain coronavirus and nobody will be allowed to enter or exit from these areas.

India's total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 6,412 on Friday.

Out of the total cases, 5,709 are active patients and 504 of them have been cured/discharged, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the death toll stands at 199.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Karl and Jasmine Stefanovic are expecting their first child together in May.

But things aren't going smoothly for the Today show host, 45, and his 36-year-old shoe designer wife.

On Thursday, Karl revealed they couldn't agree on a name for their baby daughter and joked that Jasmine had made him sleep in the spare room after an argument.

In the doghouse! Karl and Jasmine Stefanovic are expecting their first child together in May - but things aren't going smoothly for the Today show host and his shoe designer wife

'It's a very heated discussion with the names, I don't want to go into it, but I'm not winning at the moment,' he told Fitzy and Wippa.

'I've been asked to self-isolate from my own home - through an argument.'

Karl added that he was hoping to name the baby after one of his favourite rugby league players.

'I'm not winning at the moment': On Thursday, Karl revealed they couldn't agree on a name for their baby and joked that Jasmine had made him sleep in the spare room after an argument

'I love Alfie,' he said, referring to former Brisbane Broncos player Allan 'Alfie' Langer.

Jasmine's concerns are understandable given that the couple are expecting a baby girl and Alfie is generally considered a boy's name.

Karl shares three older children, Jackson, 20, River, 12, and Ava, 14, with his ex-wife, journalist Cassandra Thorburn.

Are you sure about that? Karl is hoping to name the baby after one of his favourite rugby league players, despite the fact he and Jasmine (pictured) are expecting a baby girl

On Wednesday, it was revealed the Stefanovics had purchased a $3.6million property in Noosa, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

After their child arrives, Karl and Jasmine plan to spend a lot of time relaxing at their holiday home, according to The Courier Mail.

The expansive house overlooks Sunshine Beach and has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a three-car garage and a swimming pool.

Baby pad: On Wednesday, it was revealed the Stefanovics had purchased a $3.6million beachside property in Noosa, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast (pictured)

It features a spacious living room that connects to an outdoor entertaining area with views of the beach.

The swimming pool has a waterfall feature and see-through glass, which means that the beach is always in view, even when underwater.

The house is just 200 metres away from the dog-friendly Sunshine Beach, where the couple can walk their pooch, Chance the Yapper.

It is also less than 30 minutes from Sunshine Coast Airport for when Karl needs to jet back to Sydney to film Channel Nine's Today show.
The president of Mexico -- the lone holdout in an OPEC-led deal to cut crude production -- said Friday he has reached a deal with President Donald Trump to reduce oil output.

Mexico will cut production by 100,00 barrels per day (bpd), President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said, adding that it was Trump who reached out to him. "Trump communicated with us," he told a press conference.

Under the OPEC deal, Mexico was to cut its output by 400,000 bpd. But Mexico resisted, and wanted the reduction limited to 100,000. Lopez Obrador said Friday that Trump agreed to cut US production by 250,000 bpd "as compensation" for Mexico.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chamath Palihapitiya Founder and CEO of Social Capital, presents during the 2018 Sohn Investment Conference in New York

Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Chamath Palihapitiya, the CEO of the investment company Social Capital, told CNBC the US should let 'zombie' companies  and the billionaires and hedge funds invested in them  get 'wiped out' during the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 10 million Americans filed for unemployment in a span of two weeks, and Palihapitiya said they would be the ones hurt most by the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, not business executives.

Palihapitiya said employees wouldn't be fired if massive companies filed for bankruptcy; speculators would take the hit instead.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya told CNBC that poor-performing billionaires, hedge funds, and massive companies  including airlines  deserved to be "wiped out" during the coronavirus pandemic.

During the interview, Palihapitiya, who founded venture capital firm Social Capital in 2011, said "zombie" companies run by billionaires that aren't performing well shouldn't be propped up during the public-health crisis. They should be exposed to the market forces at play, he added.

"Are you arguing to let airlines, for example, fail?" CNBC asked Palihapitiya.

"Yes," he replied.

Nearly 10 million Americans filed for unemployment in a span of two weeks. Palihapitiya said average Americans filing for unemployment would bear the brunt of the economic crisis, not billionaires, their companies, or hedge funds.

"On Main Street today, people are getting wiped out. And right now, rich CEOs are not. Boards that have horrible governance are not. Hedge funds are not. People are," Palihapitiya said. "It's happening today to individual Americans, and what we've done is disproportionately prop up and protect poor-performing CEOs' companies and boards. And you have to wash these people out."

Story continues

But Palihapitiya said the employees of these companies would not be at risk if the companies went under  instead, speculators and the wealthy would take the hit.

"When a company fails, it does not fire their employees, it goes through a packaged bankruptcy," Palihapitiya said. "If anything, what happens is the people who have pensions inside those companies, the employees of these companies, end up owning more of the company."

"Just to be clear, who are we talking about? We're talking about a hedge fund that serves a bunch of billionaire family offices?" he said. "Who cares? Let them get wiped out. Who cares? They don't get to summer in the Hamptons? Who cares?"

As the economy slips into further disarray, the US has government stepped in.

The Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act nearly two weeks ago to support people, businesses, and the healthcare system. And the Federal Reserve also plans to boost the economy by providing $2.3 trillion in aid, which includes loans to businesses, big and small.

But Palihapitiya, who grew up on welfare, living above a laundromat with his dad unemployed, stressed the idea that the economy would be better off if the Fed gave money to average Americans, rather than financing businesses.

"I'm not disagreeing with what the Fed has to do," Palihapitiya said. "What I'm saying is it's creating a land mine, and it's creating a bill that will have to come due."

Read the original article on Business Insider
LONDON  After a week of mounting legal pressure, Northern Irelands Department of Health authorized abortion services in the region late on Thursday, putting into force legislation that overturns one of the worlds most restrictive abortion laws.

Last month, abortion rights were extended to Northern Ireland for pregnancies up to 12 weeks, but the introduction of services was delayed by the health minister, Robin Swann, who has been accused of using the coronavirus outbreak to stall the process because of his ideological objections.

Abortion is one of the most contentious issues in Northern Irish politics. The legislation legalizing abortion was passed by the British Parliament after the collapse of the regions power-sharing government. The regional government was restored in January, and has been torn by the abortion issue ever since.

Before the laws went into effect on Thursday, women seeking free abortions in Northern Ireland had to travel to England. (Abortion services are available in the Republic of Ireland, but the cost of $500 is prohibitive for many women.)
Ashley Reid and her three daughters are spending their Easter long weekend at a west-end motel wondering if theyll have a place to live in a week.

Reid has kidney cancer and a child who is asthmatic and another who has autism. She was relocated from an emergency shelter to a motel earlier this month after she raised concerns about the building staff allegedly not respecting social distancing protocols, especially after a positive COVID-19 case was identified at the building last month, which made her fear for her safety.

She believes she is being punished for complaining about what she says were staff putting people at risk  something the shelter disputes.

It was completely done out of maliciousness because I stood up for my human rights, Reid said.

Carol Latchford, executive director of Red Door Family Shelter, where Reid was staying, says thats not the case.

Latchford confirmed the shelter had a positive case of COVID-19 and says staff were wearing personal protective equipment when escorting the infected individual out of the shelter.

She said they relocated Reid and her family because they felt the shelter wasnt the right place for a high-risk person with immunocompromised children.

This was what we hoped would enhance her privacy and ability to self-isolate ... the shelter didnt feel we were equipped to meet her complex needs, and were working with the city right now to find more suitable long-term accommodations, Latchford said.

Now Reid, who says she was told the move would be for two weeks and then other accommodations found, is worried she and her family will be homeless after April 15. She said theyre all staying in one room, are stressed out and its taking a toll on the family.

My daughters birthday is on the 11th, Reid said. So now shes spending her birthday unsure of her livelihood and everything.

Reid said her complaint originated over a utility dispute.

According to Reid, after a fire broke out in another unit at the shelter, staff introduced a rule that they were to enter each unit at night to make sure the stoves were off, a move Reid objected to.

They continued to have staff come in and out of my unit during the beginning of the pandemic, knowing that they were putting my life at risk, Reid said. If I were to be exposed to it, itd be more than likely I would not survive due to my condition.

Reid says her kidney cancer is in the terminal stage and she also suffers from fibromyalgia. She and her family have been without stable housing for about 14 months.

When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, Reids doctor told her it is imperative the family self-isolate as she and her children would be at high risk of complications if they contract COVID-19.

When there was a confirmed case of COVID-19 at the shelter, Reid panicked. Her doctor sent a letter to the buildings administration urging them to adhere to physical distancing after Reid says staff insisted on entering her unit to monitor the stove.

Red Door staff confirmed in an emailed statement that a staff member does enter each unit nightly to turn off the breaker which controls the stove.

Reid says not long after her doctor sent the letter to administration, she was told she would be relocated.

Last Thursday, a Red Door Family Shelter staff member showed up to Reids door with two Toronto police officers and said she had to pack up her essentials and vacate the unit. She left the unit and moved into the west-end hotel Friday.

Latchford acknowledged theres no guarantee Reid will be able to find a housing unit within two weeks and may be moved into a different hotel or other emergency accommodation.

In an email, the citys Shelter, Support and Housing Administration division said the city has a tight rental market that is made even more challenging now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of our usual housing supports may not be available or have been redeployed to support other essential functions, the statement said, adding the city is working to help people find housing wherever possible.

Reid said she has no faith in the City of Toronto to find her a place in two weeks and says the relocation happens at the worst possible time.

I could end up on the street ... Its a known fact that theres no units (in Toronto), Reid said. So they literally took away the only facility I had to put me back into another homeless crisis thats even more severe and detrimental to my life.
The Daily Beast

Fox News White House correspondent and perpetual nemesis of Jen Psaki thought he had Joe Bidens press secretary cornered on Monday when he asked her why the president is still referring to COVID-19 as a pandemic of the unvaccinated when so many people are getting breakthrough infections. He was wrong.I understand that the science says that vaccines prevent death, Doocy began, before undercutting that basic truth. But Im triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. Youre triple-vaxxed, still got COVI
Donbas conflict, prisoner swap agreed

Militants from the so-called self-proclaimed republics in Donbas have declared their readiness to send 19 people to Kyiv in the framework of the prisoner swap. The exchange is supposed to take place on Monday, April 12.

Pro-Kremlin mercenaries shelled the civilian vehicle with journalists of Ukraina TV channel. The vehicle took damage, but no one of those inside was hurt.

Ukraine and Russia did not agree on new phase of disengagement of forces in Donbas.

A ceasefire breach occurred in Donbas, involving a threat to the lives of civilians. Pro-Kremlin mercenaries opened fire from 82 mm mortars and automatic grenade launchers. No casualties were observed; shell fragments hit the windows and the rooftop. Ukrainian military serviceman deceased in combat on the same day.

COVID19

Ukraines Health Ministry adds new drug to protocol of Covid-19 treatment.



Oil and Crimea

This week, it was found that the Black and Azov Seas near Kerch in annexed Crimea are polluted by oil products and other combustive and lubricating materials from the tankers of the Russian Federation. The pollution is spotted in the neutral waters of the Black Sea to the south from Kerch Strait and at another three sites, with the total square of more than 24 square km.

Criminal proceeding were opened due to marine pollution in Crimea by oil products from Russian tankers.

Economy - Ukraine's export and import

On April 7, it was reported that Ukraine cut wheat exports in April. Ukraine's weekly wheat seaport exports show dramatic drop.

In addition, the country has suspended electricity imports from Russia and Belarus during quarantine and plans to apply special duties on coal imports from Russia.



Wildfire in Chornobyl exclusion zone

A fire began in Chornobyl exclusion zone; it appeared to be the arson, as the police have found and detained the man who burned dry grass in the forest, and then could not put out the fire. The flames engulfed the area of 25 hectares. By the afternoon of April 6, the State Emergency Service reported that the fire was extinguished. However, several hectares of forest were completely burned down.

MH17

Ukraine, which is a member of the Joint Investigative Group, calls on the Russian Federation to implement UN Security Council resolution No. 2166 in the case of the downed Malaysian Boeing of flight MH17.
The world's best brains are starting to unpick the lethal secrets of Covid-19 to work out what makes us vulnerable and how we can best defend ourselves.

Here, JOHN NAISH analyses their findings.

France's chief advisor on coronavirus has confirmed that being overweight or obese greatly increases your chance of dying from the infection.

The world's best brains are starting to unpick the lethal secrets of Covid-19 to work out what makes us vulnerable and how we can best defend ourselves

Professor Jean-Francois Delfraissy claimed this put the US, where almost a third of the population are obese, particularly in peril. Indeed, being overweight is already being cited as the reason why the coronavirus death rate in New Orleans  where more than 40 per cent of middle-aged people are obese  is double that of New York, where 22 per cent of adults are obese.

In the UK, 58 per cent of patients who were obese and on ventilators died, compared with 44 per cent who were not overweight, according to figures from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC).

Professor Stefan Bornstein, a diabetes expert at King's College London, said this is because two common complications of obesity  Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure  weaken the immune system.

He claims the infection can also send blood pressure soaring  which could be fatal in victims where it's already high. For those with diabetes, coronavirus can also infect the pancreas and interfere with insulin production.

France's chief advisor on coronavirus has confirmed that being overweight or obese greatly increases your chance of dying from the infection

Early statistics indicate that black and Asian people are more than twice as likely to have severe symptoms than whites. In the UK, some 35 per cent of critically ill patients with confirmed coronavirus are non-white, nearly three times the proportion in the overall population.

But this disparity could be caused by environmental factors, rather than race itself. Kamlesh Khunti, a professor in primary care diabetes at the University of Leicester, said: 'For example, south Asians live in more deprived areas and have more cardiovascular disease and diabetes.'

Likewise, one in six black people live in overcrowded conditions compared with two per cent of the white British population. These poorer areas are also often plagued by another danger: air pollution, which significantly increases the risk of respiratory issues that can be fatal for coronavirus patients.

This group is also twice as likely to be affected by poverty, which is linked with lifestyle factors such as obesity.

The average critically ill patient is a 60-year-old male, according to the latest UK data from ICNARC. Figures from China also suggest that middle-aged men are at greater risk than women the same age.

The average critically ill patient is a 60-year-old male, according to the latest UK data from ICNARC. Figures from China also suggest that middle-aged men are at greater risk than women the same age

Among Italy's first 14,860 deaths, almost 68 per cent were men. Given that men are more likely than women to have heart disease, diabetes and chronic lung disease, this is to be expected.

In addition, they are also more likely to drink, smoke and be obese in middle age, making them even more vulnerable. Experts have also suggested that men are less concerned about hygiene and don't generally wash their hands as often as women and are thus more likely to catch the infection.

According to Philip Goulder, the professor of immunology at Oxford University, genes and hormones may be the critical factor rather than lifestyle. He believes that the immune system's response is 'typically more aggressive and effective in females compared with males'.

He adds that this may be due to the X chromosome, which carries several crucial immune-system genes. Since women have a pair of X chromosomes while men have only one (and a Y chromosome), females effectively possess double the immune genes, he says.

According to a yet to be published Chinese study, patients with Type-A blood had more severe coronavirus symptoms than those with Type-O blood

Coronavirus infects us by attaching itself to a receptor on the outside of our cells. Its genetic material then 'invades' the cell and takes it over to manufacture more copies of the virus. This has led some scientists to postulate that due to their genetic makeup, some individuals may have cells that are more resistant to invasion by the coronavirus.

According to a yet to be published Chinese study, patients with Type-A blood had more severe coronavirus symptoms than those with Type-O blood. The authors say it's too early to make clinical decisions based on their findings. But there has previously been promising research in this area.

For example, a study carried out by the University of Toronto in 2014 indicated that people with Type-O blood are better protected against severe malaria than other blood types, possibly because infected TypeO blood cells are recognised as abnormal by the immune system and easier to target.

Common sense says that the lasting damage smoking has on your lungs will only increase your susceptibility to coronavirus

Researchers are exploring whether the BCG vaccination against TB, given to British children until 2005, strengthens immunity against the virus. According to a paper by scientists at the New York Institute of Technology, it might explain why there are fewer cases and deaths in countries such as Japan where the BCG jab has been given for decades, compared with nations such as Italy and the US that haven't traditionally had universal vaccinations.

A Danish study in the journal Vaccine in 2005 found that the BCG also reduces the severity of lower lung infections caused by viruses. Spurred on by these findings, health workers in Australia and the Netherlands are being given the BCG vaccine in trials to see if it prevents them getting the infection, or reduce its severity if they do.

Common sense says that the lasting damage smoking has on your lungs will only increase your susceptibility to coronavirus. In fact, researchers have just discovered that current smokers and those who have only recently stopped smoking may be at greater risk because they have higher levels of a molecule called 'angiotensin converting enzyme II' (ACE-2), which sits on the surface of their lung cells.

This chemical acts as an 'entry point' that allows coronavirus to get into the cells of the lungs. That may explain why a survey from Wuhan, where the virus first emerged late last year, has found that smokers infected with coronavirus were 14 times more likely to develop severe symptoms.

There is growing evidence  and numerous anecdotal reports from around the world  that cats can be infected with coronavirus and spread it to other cats.

There is growing evidence  and numerous anecdotal reports from around the world  that cats can be infected with coronavirus and spread it to other cats

So far, the biggest feline to fall victim is a four-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York. Nadia, along with six other big cats, is thought to have been infected by an asymptomatic zoo keeper.

The cats started showing symptoms, including a dry cough, late last month. While the big cats did have some lost appetite, the zoo has confirmed they 'are otherwise doing well under veterinary care and are bright, alert, and interactive with their keepers'.

But there is no direct evidence that infected felines 'shed' enough coronavirus to pass it on to humans, according to Chinese researchers. Dog owners, however, can breathe a sigh of relief, as the investigators at China's Harbin Veterinary Research Institute claim canines are not susceptible to the infection.

Farmers can also find solace in the fact that, according to more Chinese research released this week, the virus cannot thrive in pigs, chickens and ducks - though it can survive in ferrets.

A study by Cambridge University confirmed this week that Covid19 has mutated into three distinct strains, Type A, B and C.

Type A is most commonly found in the US and Australia, rather than China, although paradoxically it is the virus most closely linked to Chinese bats which is where Covid-19 is thought to have originated. Type B is found in China and Type C in Europe. Ongoing research will establish variations in infectivity and virulence.
A SEPTA bus driver wears a mask and gloves while waiting at the light at Broad and Spring Garden in Philadelphia April 07, 2020. SEPTA employees are considered essential and still have to report to work during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown millions of Pennsylvania workers into one of two extremes: Some are out of work indefinitely, while others have to report to work at a time when government officials have issued sweeping stay at home orders for everyone else.

If youre one of the workers who has to report to work, heres what you need to know about your rights.

TL;DR: There arent many legal protections for workers who have to report to work right now. Your best bet is to talk with your coworkers and together ask for safer working conditions. That way youre protected under the National Labor Relations Act, which says workers cant be retaliated against for collectively asking to improve their working conditions.

Still, those cases can drag on for months.

My employer is continuing to operate, but I dont think its allowed to under the current rules. What can I do?

On March 19, Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the closure of all businesses that were not life-sustaining. Heres a full list of the kinds of businesses that are allowed to stay open in Pennsylvania. The state police are enforcing the order. You can report a business by calling your local law enforcement agencys nonemergency number, the state has said.

In Philadelphia, Mayor Jim Kenney has also ordered nonessential businesses to close. You can report a food establishment that is still open to the citys Environmental Health Services at 215-685-7495. For all other businesses, call 311 (or 215-686-8686 if you dont have a 215 area code), or email businesses@phila.gov.

Community Legal Services also recommends calling the police district near your job.

 READ MORE: Unemployment benefits in Pa. during the coronavirus pandemic: How to apply and who is eligible

My employer says I have to come in to work, but Im at a higher risk for coronavirus complications / live with someone who is high-risk / dont feel safe going to work. What can I do?

You have a few options.

You can ask to work from home, if thats possible for the kind of job you do.

You can use sick leave if you have it, though the Philadelphia sick leave law  recently extended to cover those affected by the public health crisis  allows workers to accrue only up to five days a year. And the newly passed federal sick leave law excludes most workers.

You can request leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which is mostly unpaid but was expanded to include some paid leave during the pandemic.

You can request accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) but it will largely depend on if your health condition or risk factor is considered a disability. Diabetes, for example, is considered a disability, but being over 60 would likely not.

 READ MORE: Philadelphia extended its paid sick leave law to cover public health emergencies such as coronavirus

None of those work for me. Is there anything else I can do?

You could talk to your coworkers about their concerns and then ask your employer  whether its as a collective or as an individual  to change its work policies so that its safer on the job.

Its important that you talk to your coworkers about their concerns, so that you are protected under the National Labor Relations Act, which states that people who join together with coworkers to improve working conditions cannot be retaliated against (for example, fired). The law should also protect individuals who are acting in the interest of their coworkers  that means that if an employee knows that coworkers are concerned about a lack of protective gear and chooses to email management about it, that employee should be protected, said Greg Greubel, a Philly labor attorney.

But getting a case through the National Labor Relations Board takes time, so if you were to be fired and the board decided in your favor, it could take months to get reinstated.

Nadia Hewka, a lawyer with Community Legal Services, says that if youre afraid of retaliation, you could create a dummy email account to email your employer on behalf of you and your coworkers. But, she notes, there is power in having names  and many of them  attached to such an ask. More-public demands can also carry weight.

This the kind of thing that many groups of workers have been doing across the country, whether theyre union or non-union: In Detroit, unionized bus drivers went on a work stoppage and won better safety precautions, like protective equipment and more rigorous cleaning protocols. Meat processing factory workers, both union and non-union, have been walking out to protest safety conditions. Non-union grocery store workers at MOMs Organic Market in Center City protested unsafe working conditions in early April.

Here are the guidelines for employers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Know that these are voluntary guidelines  not laws  and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency in charge of keeping workers safe on the job, has chosen not to enforce these guidelines as law.

 READ MORE: Moms Organic staffers protest in Philly, joining grocery workers call for coronavirus hazard pay

If I cant come to an agreement with my employer about safe working conditions and I refuse to work, will my job be protected?

If youre not part of a union, the short answer is no.

Union members generally have just-cause protection in their contracts, which means they can only be fired for cause and can challenge what they believe is an unfair firing.

But most employees in the U.S. are at-will," which means that they can be fired for any reason at any time, except for on the basis of certain identity categories like age and race.

 HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker or other expert? We want to hear from you.

If you believe you were fired because of a disability that made you unable to work during the pandemic, that could be a violation of the ADA. But as noted before, it has to be a condition that is considered a disability under the ADA. You can file a complaint here. Keep in mind that these matters can take months, or longer, to resolve.

 READ MORE: 'Just cause': Philly passes a cutting-edge worker protection law for the parking industry

If I quit or get fired because I refused to work in unsafe conditions, can I apply for unemployment?

Yes. You must have tried to keep your job, though, which means that you need to bring up your concerns with your supervisor. Legal experts advise putting those concerns in writing.
United Nations

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic is deepening already existing inequalities and "is having devastating social and economic consequences for women and girls" that could reverse limited progress toward gender equality over the last 25 years.

The U.N. chief said in a video message and policy paper that "across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex."

While early data indicates that the mortality rates from COVID-19 may be higher for men, Gutterres said "nearly 60 percent of women around the world work in the informal economy, earning less, saving less, and at greater risk of falling into poverty."

He said millions of women's jobs have been lost at the same time that their unpaid work has "increased exponentially" as a result of school closures and children being at home, and the increased needs of older people.

"These currents are combining as never before to defeat women's rights and deny women's opportunities," Guterres said.

The secretary-general said the year 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the U.N. conference in Beijing that adopted a 150-page road map to achieve gender equality and was intended to be "ground-breaking" in promoting progress toward that goal.

"Instead, with the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic even the limited gains made in the past decades are at risk of being rolled back," he said.

Guterres warned that "progress lost takes years to regain," citing as an example teenage girls who are out of school and may never return.

The U.N. chief urged governments "to put women and girls at the center of their efforts to recover from COVID-19."

He called for women to be put in leadership roles, with equal representation and decision-making power.

Guterres also called for expanded social safety nets, unpaid care work to be recognized and valued, and measures to stimulate the economy  from cash transfers to credits and loans  to be targeted at women.

The secretary-general warned that as the COVID-19 pandemic deepens, "economic and social stress coupled with restricted movement and social isolation measures, gender-based violence is increasing exponentially."
It all started when President Nana Akufo-Addo on Friday (27th March 2020) evening announced restrictions in movements in some urban areas of the country. The lockdown was to start from Monday 30th of March and was expected to last the next two weeks. The move was part of efforts to control the spread of the Coronavirus.

The flu causing virus had announced its presence in Ghana on the 12 of March with two confirmed cases in the Greater Accra Region. By the time of the President's announcement of a lockdown, the virus had killed four persons, infected over one hundred persons across six regions of the country.

Hours before the lockdown, female head porters, popularly referred to as Kayayei, who travelled to cities in southern Ghana from the northern parts of the country in search of non-existing jobs, decided to travel back home.

A toad, they say does not run in daylight for anything. Coronavirus has claimed lives all over the world, the rich, poor, black and white, all suffered death in the hands of coronavirus. The development created considerable fear and panic across the world, and kaayayes, one of Ghana's most vulnerable groups, were no exception.

According to available data, Accra, Tema, Kasoa, and Kumasi, have recorded significant numbers of infections. Our elders say it is only a fool who does not change his/her mind. Since there was no immediate ban on traveling between the day of the announcement and midnight of Monday 30th March 2020, everyone could travel out from the four cities. It was therefore not surprising to see a lot of the kayayei leaving Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi where they render their services. Although I disagree with those who argue there was nothing wrong with the state allowing people to leave.

Several news outlets reported of the arrest of tracks loaded with kayayei heading to the north. One of such reports claimed About 171 head porters, popularly known as kayayei, who were disguised as cargo, have been intercepted by the Nkawkaw District Police Command

https://www.theghanareport.com/police-intercept-cargo-trucks-loaded-with-171-kayayei-heading-to-the-northern-region/

Meanwhile Municipal Chief Executive for Ejisu, Beatrice Serwaa Derkyi has directed the police to send the trucks with all passengers on board back to Accra.If the cars are coming, you should stop them for them to go back to Accra or wherever they are coming from but they [the two cargo trucks] have been able to cross Ejisu, reported by another portal.

https://gcfrng.com/2020/03/31/police-intercept-walewale-bound-truck-at-ejisu-with-kayayei-packed-like-sardines/

I wonder why an appointee of the state will decide that Kayayei be returned in the same cargo track with their children. Two wrongs they say do not make a right.

In desperation, Kayayes opted to travel in cargo tracks meant for transporting foodstuffs and animals.

According to them, there were not enough buses to send them to their home towns although they had paid. The Municipal Chief Executive had many options and resources under her disposal which she could have used to support these poor girls and their children.

According to government officials, over 1,030 Ghanaians who travelled to foreign countries and returned on the 12th of March were quarantined in the best hotels in Ghana. Most of these people came in first-class, others in economy class yet the state did not ask that they foot their bills. Why? Because it is in the best interest of the good people of Ghana.

My worry is that the state hosted these well-to-do 1,030 Ghanaians because the state wants to prevent the spread of the virus yet the same state could not provide a means of transport to send these poor girls back to their home towns.

Couldnt the MCE have asked to be quarantined in a hostel, primary or any of the numerous secondary schools within her jurisdiction? They could have been sent to their destinations with security escort without this humiliation they were subjected to.

If we think they were going to spread the virus in their villages or in Ejisu, we could have housed them in schools while in their villages for the 14 days mandatory quarantine with the support of their respective District Assemblies through the department of Social Welfare providing needed support before they are made to rejoin their families after testing them just as we did to the 1030 Ghanaians.

If there is anything Coronavirus has thought us as a people it is the fact that, we are all equal.

There is no animal farm when it comes to coronavirus. The poor, the rich, the Prime Ministers, Prince, Minsters, and Prophets etc have been infected while some have passed on.

To still think that some people are VIPs as shamefully stated by the Minster for Health that VIP infected persons would be sent to Bank of Ghana Hospital clearly shows that some people are still living in some illusion. The MCE owes kayayes an apology.

Move all homeless people to the schools.

The idea to provide one hot meal to the poor including the kayayei who were returned to Accra is a laudable one. However, watching them on TV makes me wonder whether we are serious as a people. What are the schools (Junior and Senior High) for? Cant we move them to the schools? Yes, a place has been created for the kayayei to help them observe social distancing. What of the general homeless or even those living in slums. There are lots of people who are homeless, should the virus spread to any of these street dwellers then we are in serious trouble as a nation.

That is why I hold the view that housing all the homeless in our schools and providing them with food is the appropriate thing to do now. There is a need to make use of social workers in the operations. For Social workers are trained to handle psychosocial needs and contact tracing.

Medical Social Workers in Ghana have played this role judiciously and are prepared to bring their expertise to bear in this challenging moment of our time.

Let us handle the poor as we have done to the rich through whom we got coronavirus into the country. Discriminating against the poor at this very moment is dangerous and can escalate the infection rate if the spread gets to the street.

Remember with coronavirus, there is neither rich nor poor, minister or laborer, military general or watchman we are all vulnerable. Let us stay home or help the homeless to get a place to stay so that our campaign on stay home can materialize.

A Social Worker and Member of Ghana Association of Social Workers

A Programme Manager with World Education Inc.
A motorcyclist clocked doing more than 123km/h over the limit gave a shocking excuse to police as to why he was speeding.

The man was allegedly speeding at 223km/h in a 100km/h zone down Geelong Ring Road in Corio, Victoria about 4pm on Thursday.

After being stopped, the man aged in his 30s, told police that he had gone to purchase hand sanitiser and was driving around before heading home.

The rider is expected to be charged on summons with exceeding the speed limit by 45km/h or more and driving at a speed dangerous.

His Ducati was also impounded for 30 days at a cost of $1,137.

The man was allegedly speeding at 223km/h in a 100km/h zone down Geelong Ring Road in Corio, Victoria about 4pm on Thursday

His Ducati (pictured) was also impounded for 30 days at a cost of $1,137

The man will be fined a further $1,652 to breaching the stay at home orders during the COVID-19 restrictions.

Another motorcyclist was caught nearly three times over the speed limit in Diggers Rest, in Victoria on Thursday.

The rider was weaving through traffic, splitting lanes, and overtaking other vehicles in the emergency lane on Calder Freeway.

He was also caught speeding at 123km/h in a 80km/h zone and failed to stop for police.

Shortly after he was once again spotted travelling at 137km/h in a 50km/h in a residential street.

Police believe the rider was travelling through a roundabout before falling off the bike on a medium strip.

He did not sustain any injuries and was praying and thanking God for his survival.

The bike, which had a cross hanging off it, was impounded.

The rider was caught travelling at 137km/h in a 50km/h in a residential street

The bike (pictured), which had a cross hanging off it, was impounded. The rider thanked God for his survival after crashing and falling off his bike

'He won't be praying to that cross for a while as his bike has been impounded,' Brimbank Highway Patrol Sergeant Andy Oakley said.

'There's no doubt this man was very lucky; sadly, and all too often crashes such as this and with the driving behaviour we saw the rider would have been taken off to hospital if not worse.

'Someone may have just been looking out for him yesterday to keep him safe.'

It is expected he will be charged with speed and manner dangerous, riding without a licence, unregistered, and failing to stop for police along with other traffic matters.


Ombudsman Moskalkova proposes to review parole terms amid pandemic

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

17:16 10/04/2020

MOSCOW, April 10 (RAPSI)  Russias Federal Ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova proposed during the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum 9 : The Rule of Corona on Friday to revise the terms for release on parole at time of the spread of coronavirus epidemic.

According to Moskalkova, on Friday she talked to an ombudsman of Azerbaijan and knew about a major decision on pardoning citizens of the Republic; more than 100 people convicted of non-grave crimes were freed. She added that such a measure should take place as well as release on parole.

She also drew the attention of her foreign collegues and international bodies at the problem of convicts jailed abroad and willing to return home.

St. Petersburg International Legal Forum 9 : The Rule of Corona  is a special event exclusively focused on the legal aspects of social life under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to its website. Legal responses to the current epidemic challenges are discussed by leading law professionals from all over the world. The Forum 9  is held online.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic emerged, Washington had made a series of aggressive moves in its competition with Beijing. But the severity of the virus has in recent weeks forced government officials worldwide to grapple with their approach to China across many fronts.

Like lawmakers, some Trump administration officials have used the crisis to fuel their push to encourage American manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and reduce dependence on China for the drugs and medical products that fuel the domestic health care system. The White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, a longtime China hawk, has pressed to tighten Buy American laws and end exceptions allowing the government to purchase medical products from other countries.

United States military officials last week called on Congress to authorize additional funding to bolster deterrence against China, a sign that many in the military expected tensions between the two nations to grow. In Japan, officials have earmarked money to help its manufacturers move production out of China in an effort to offset the disruption caused by the virus and curtail their reliance on the nation.

We would really be missing an opportunity  and frankly it would simply be a failure of leadership  if we did not take this present crisis and say, Now its time to do something about this, Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, said in an interview.

Mr. Hawley last week released a three-page memo outlining policies he said should be included in the next economic stimulus package to loosen Chinas hold on the global supply chain. His proposal would require that manufacturers begin to use more materials from domestic suppliers, impose crisis export controls on critical American-made equipment like ventilators, and provide investment subsidies to manufacturers to encourage them to bring their production back to the United States.

We need to put American workers in position to surge out of this, he said.

Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, who said the Chinese government must be held accountable for its role in the spread of the virus, has unveiled legislation that would allow Congress to impose sanctions on government officials who perform acts intended to deliberately conceal or distort information about a public health emergency of international concern such as the virus. It is modeled after the Global Magnitsky Act, a law designed to punish individuals around the world who are accused of human rights violations or corruption.

Mr. Cotton, a hawk and one of the first lawmakers to warn of the dire effect the virus could have on the United States, is among the most vocal proponents of adopting a more adversarial relationship with China. He has also called for Congress to withhold funding from the World Health Organization, which has come under fire for what critics call its repeated deference to Beijing.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs on Friday informed that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Company Secretaries of India and Institute of Cost Accountants of India have contributed Rs 28.80 crore towards the PM-CARES Fund.

After the establishment of the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, people from all walks of life have come forward to contribute and help the country in its fight against COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday informed that India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,412. Out of these, 5,709 are active patients and 503 of them have been cured/discharged.

With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the death toll has reached 199.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Judge John Davies, an Olympic swimming gold medallist from Sydney whose discipline, independence and Down-Under drollery was credited with helping to prevent more riots in Los Angeles after he presided over the second trial of four officers in the Rodney King police brutality case, died on March 24 in Pasadena. He was 90.

The cause was cancer, his son, Jack, said.

Applying the same command and composure that swept him to a world record at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki when he was 20, the Australian-born Judge Davies presided over the 1993 federal civil rights trial of the officers accused of beating Rodney King, a motorist whom they had seized after a 188km/h-chase that began when he was driving erratically on March 3, 1991.

John Davies during heat two of the 200-metres breaststroke at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. Credit:Getty

When the four were initially acquitted by an all-white state jury in 1992 despite an amateur videotape that vividly confirmed the violent beating of King, a black construction worker, Los Angeles erupted in rampages that left scores dead and a billion dollars in property damaged.
Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

LinkedIn

Email

Telegram



New York, April 10, 2020  Bahraini authorities should immediately stop retaliating against imprisoned journalist Mahmoud al-Jaziri for reporting on conditions inside Bahraini prisons and should free all journalists imprisoned for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Al-Jaziri, who according to CPJ research has been imprisoned since December 2015 and is serving a 15-year prison sentence on charges of belonging to a terrorist group, recorded an audio clip that was posted on dissident-run channel Bahrain Today3 on YouTube on April 7. During the clip, al-Jaziri disputed reports that Bahraini authorities had taken measures to protect prisoners from the spread of COVID-19 and that in-person family visits for prisoners have been replaced by video calls, according to a CPJ review of the clip.

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of advocacy at the independent, London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, told CPJ via email that al-Jaziri was moved to solitary confinement the next day, citing phone calls with two different inmates at Jaw Prison. Alwadaei told CPJ that he confirmed the voice on the audio clip was al-Jaziri, but CPJ is withholding the details in order to protect the security of his source.

In his audio clip, al-Jaziri referred to an April 6 interview with Mariah Khoury, president of the Bahrain Institute for Human Rights, a government body, that was posted to the Bahraini Interior Ministrys YouTube channel. The interview detailed the measures taken to protect prisoners and showed footage purportedly from Jaw Prison, where according to CPJ research al-Jaziri and several other imprisoned journalists are held. In his recording, al-Jaziri describes the segment as an acting performance and says that there is no system for video calls in place, adding that the prisons remain overcrowded and that authorities have not undertaken health and sanitation measures in response to COVID-19. On April 9, Reuters also reported that inmates in the prison were afraid of contracting the virus due to the lack of access to medical care and protective gear inside the facility, as well as overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

Not only is Mahmoud al-Jaziri at risk from COVID-19 in Jaw Prison, but now hes also being punished for pushing back on the official narrative, said CPJ Senior Middle East and North Africa Researcher Justin Shilad. Instead of retaliating in a petty manner against journalists, Bahraini authorities should be releasing Mahmoud al-Jaziri and all other imprisoned journalists right now.

The Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to an email from CPJ requesting comment. The Bahrain Institute for Human Rights responded after publication with an emailed statement, saying it could not confirm the allegation that al-Jaziri had been transferred to solitary confinement and that it would visit the prison.

Last week, CPJ wrote an open letter to world leaders urging them to immediately release all journalists behind bars, as freedom has become a matter of life and death amid the coronavirus pandemic. Imprisoned journalists have no control over their surroundings, cannot choose to isolate, and are often denied necessary medical care.

Earlier this week, CPJ signed on to a joint letter calling on Bahraini authorities to free all journalists and other prisoners of conscience, citing poor conditions and lack of access to medical care in Jaw Prison and other facilities and in light of the increased danger posed by the spread of COVID-19.

Editors note: The sixth paragraph has been updated with a response received after publication from the Bahrain Institute for Human Rights.
Southeast Asian foreign ministers have endorsed the setting up of a regional fund to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and discussed a planned video summit of their leaders with counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said Friday that the top diplomats of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations linked up by video Thursday in a meeting led by Vietnam.

The ministers endorsed several collective steps to fight the pandemic, including the establishment of a COVID-19 ASEAN response fund, the sharing of information and strategies and ways to ease the impact of the global health crisis on people and the economy, the department said in a statement. It did not provide details.

They also discussed the planned meeting of their leaders with counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea in a video conference on April 14 to talk about the pandemic, three Southeast Asian diplomats told The Associated Press. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity due to a lack of authority to discuss the high-level meeting.

In Thursdays discussion, Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea amid the contagion, the department said.

The Philippines has expressed solidarity with Vietnam after a Vietnamese fishing boat was reportedly rammed and sank by a Chinese coast guard ship in disputed waters near the Paracel islands in the South China Sea.

Vietnam and the Philippines and two other ASEAN member states, Brunei and Malaysia, have been locked in longstanding territorial disputes with China and Taiwan in the strategic waterways, one of the world's busiest,
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has donated some Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and medicines to the Upper West Regional Health Directorate to aid the fight against COVID-19 and the outbreak of Cerebral Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in the region.



Details of the donation include 50 pieces of overall gowns, 50 pieces of gumboots, 1,000 pieces of ceftriaxone (CSM injection), 1,000 pieces of surgical gloves and 100 pieces of face/nose masks.



Sir Dr Edward N. Gyader, a former Member of the Council of State who presented the items on behalf of former President John Dramani Mahama, noted that the region was fighting two battles including the global COVID-19 pandemic and the meningitis outbreak.



Aware of this, he said, the former President and the NDC, therefore, deemed it fit to assist health workers who were the frontline 'soldiers' fighting the battle on behalf of people of the nation with the necessary tools to enable them to win the battle.



Sir Dr Gyader said the devastative nature of COVID-19 on other nations already called for the need to put pragmatic measures in place to ensure that Ghana does not get to that level of devastation.



On meningitis, Sir Dr Gyader who worked at the Upper West Regional Hospital for several years noted that the region was an endemic zone and called for pragmatic measures to block the resurgence of the disease every year around this period.



The former Member of the Council of State said even as they donate to support the frontline workers, they would also continue to help in educating the general public on the prescribed protocols to help reduce the spread of the disease.



Dr Osei Afreh Kuffuor, the Upper West Regional Director of Health Services noted that ever since the problem occurred, they had made calls to individuals and organisations for support and that the donation from the NDC had come to complement what they had already received.



He said the fight against COVID-19 was not only for government and expressed gratitude to former President Mahama and the NDC for the kind gesture and called on others to emulate the kind gesture.



He noted that the region had four holding centers and that they would make sure they all received the items and put to good use to combat the spread of the two diseases.



The region has so far recorded one positive case of COVID-19 and 214 cases of CSM with 33 deaths.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Australia's second largest health fund, Bupa, is threatening a four-month rent strike across its dental outlets, declaring it cannot afford to pay any rent to landlords during the coronavirus pandemic.

The British-based multinational, which made $564 million in profit out of its Australian and New Zealand arms last year, wrote to landlords on Thursday after all but essential dental operations were cancelled.

The company is the latest in a string of high profile businesses refusing to pay rent, putting pressure on commercial landlords after the national cabinet put a moratorium on evictions and instituted a national code of conduct for negotiations between owners and tenants.

Bupa Dental has asked for a 100 per cent rent abatement during the coronavirus crisis. Credit:Mick Tsikas

Franchisees of Australia's largest serviced apartment chain Quest told landlords on Thursday they will not be able to meet rent as occupancy rates plummet to 10 per cent. Solomon Lew's Premier Investments, which owns Just Jeans, Postmans and Jay Jays, is also on a rent strike across the country's shopping centres.
The entire wine business is affected. Big companies and corporate wineries have far more resources to face difficulties. For small family businesses, its potentially an existential crisis.

For some, the anxiety is assuaged by a direct connection to the earth. Vineyards in the Northern Hemisphere are at a delicate moment.

Just around now, give or take a few weeks depending on the climate, weather and grape variety, vine buds are bursting forth with leaves and the first tender shoots.

Its a tenuous time agriculturally as the potential for deadly frosts, which in one cold night can literally nip a harvest in the bud, lingers for weeks. Farmers must be prepared to sometimes work through the night to protect their fragile vines.

At the same time, these ordinary anxieties provide a distraction from the pandemic.

Throughout this confused and disorderly time, we are finding some respite in the vineyard activity here at home, Andrew Mariani, a proprietor of Scribe Winery in Sonoma, Calif., wrote in an email. Mother Natures course continues, and bud break still requires our attention.

So far, Scribe has not had to lay off or furlough any of its team. Mr. Mariani said that it was hard to know what to expect, but that Scribe was trying not to make any big decisions with such uncertainty.

The situation continues to change so quickly, its hard to tell what hurdles we are actually facing, he said. But we cant imagine anyone is in a long-term, sustainable position at the moment.
A labourer takes a nap in front of closed shops during a nationwide lockdown in Bengaluru. (PTI)

Bengaluru: Two municipal wards here would be sealed for 14 days in view of five coronavirus cases detected in the two areas, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike commissioner B H Anil Kumar said on Friday.

The wards are Bapuji Nagar and Padarayanapura.

"We will do it (seal) the two areas for that much time (14 days)," Kumar told reporters.

Earlier speaking to reporters, he said people would not be allowed to venture out. If they violate the regulations, criminal cases would be filed against them, he said.

"We are pretty sure that people won't defy the rule," he said.

Besides these two areas, no other area has been chosen for total seal-down, Kumar clarified.

Mayor M Gautham Kumar told reporters that the reason behind sealing the two wards is that these are thickly populated areas and people there were defying the lockdown.

"It was difficult to control people there," the Mayor said.

According to the Palike officials, nobody would be permitted to venture out as the essential goods would be supplied at their doorstep.

The BBMP has built two entry and exit gates in these areas, which are in close proximity, he said, adding that there would be door-to-door screening of people living in the areas.

According to the bulletin issued by the BBMP commissioner on his Twitter handle on Thursday, 69 positive cases have come to fore in which 16 patients recovered completely till Thursday while there was one death.

As many as 2,490 persons were screened, of which 33 were referred for further tests, the regular bulletin issued by the BBMP said.
Investigators in Taiwan say they have found a number of fake Twitter accounts linked to China posting fake apologies to World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has accused the democratic island of involvement in a series of personal and racist attacks against him.



Investigators from the ministry of justice in Taiwan said they had uncovered an effort by Chinese netizens to exploit the controversy by falsely identifying themselves as Taiwanese and issuing apologies to Tedros online, the island's Central News Agency reported.



The posts appeared on fake accounts made to imitate the account of Radio Free Asia, and included apology templates posted by an account calling itself "Radio Free Xuzhou."



The messages represented "a grave threat to Taiwan's international reputation," the investigators told a news conference in Taipei on Friday.



Tedros told a news conference on Wednesday that he had been personally attacked, had suffered racist abuse, and had even received death threats, a statement which nobody seems to be disputing.



But the island's government from the president down to the foreign ministry spokesmen and women have said the attacks had nothing to do with them.



"This attack came from Taiwan," Tedros said. "Taiwan, the foreign ministry also, they know the campaign. They did not dissociate themselves."



Taiwan's foreign ministry on Thursday called on Tedros to retract and apologize for the remarks.



President Tsai Ing-wen meanwhile invited Tedros to visit Taiwan and "experience for himself" the country's commitment to international engagement and public health.



Diplomatic pressure from Beijing



Taiwan, which has never formed part of the People's Republic of China nor been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, has nevertheless been denied membership in international organizations under huge diplomatic pressure from Beijing, which claims the island as part of its territory.



The island, which is a formal sovereign state under the 1911 Republic of China which fled to the island after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists, has repeatedly called on the WHO to allow it to participate as an observer.



But WHO advisers and officials have ignored the requests and refused to discuss the possibility in public, responding that Taiwan is already participating in an unofficial capacity.



The WHO has also come under fire during the coronavirus pandemic for pro-China bias, and for failing to hold the statements of health officials up to closer scrutiny in the early stages of the epidemic in the central city of Wuhan.



Information warfare



China is no stranger to information warfare, having honed its techniques last year on the anti-extradition and pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, as well as the election campaign on the democratic island of Taiwan.



Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China "strongly condemns the personal attacks and racist words and actions directed against Dr. Tedros."



Zhao, who has been lauded by state media as a key figure in China's online infowars, continued: "The DPP in Taiwan have continually speculated about Taiwan's so-called participation in the WHO and the World Health Assembly since the epidemic began. Their purpose is to seek independence on the back of the epidemic."



Zhao has recently promoted the idea that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 didn't originate in China at all, tweeting in March: "When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals?."



"It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!" he wrote, triggering a diplomatic spat between Beijing and Washington, which summoned Chinese ambassador Cui Tiankai for a formal protest.



China's overseas propaganda offensive can be traced back to August 2013, when President Xi addressed the National Conference on Propaganda and Ideology, calling on officials and state-run media to "tell the China story well, and make sure China's voice is heard."



China's diplomatic service then swung into action in 2014, setting up social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter for its diplomatic missions around the world.



Social media, while blocked for ordinary people back home, is now seen as a key plank in Xi's drive to reshape China's international image, and experts say Beijing's propaganda specialists have now become adept at targeting different audiences around the world.



Reported by Hwang Chun-mei for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.


Health officials have predicted that some African countries will have many thousands of coronavirus cases by the end of April.

African health care systems are less prepared to treat serious infectious diseases than ones in Europe, Asia or any other part of the world. African hospitals also lack important health care equipment.

As of Tuesday, there were more than 6,000 coronavirus cases in African. John Nkengasong told reporters that number is very, very close to where Europe was after a 40-day period. Nkengasong is the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or Africa CDC.

The virus is an existential threat to our continent, he said. Almost all of Africas 54 countries have reported cases of the coronavirus after Malawi reported its first case last week. Local transmission has been reported in many places.

Nkengasong said officials are aggressively seeking medical equipment such as ventilators: devices that help sick patients breathe. Officials also are exploring local manufacturing and repurposing.

Weve seen a lot of goodwill expressed to supporting Africa from partners in the international community, Nkengasong said. But he and others are waiting for those feelings to turn into action.



Matshidiso Moeti is the director for Africa at The World Health Organization, or WHO. She told reporters the WHO does not know how many ventilators are available across the region to help people with breathing problems from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

We are trying to find out this information from country-based colleagues, Moeti said. What we can say without a doubt is there is an enormous gap.

Some countries have only a few ventilators. For example, the Central African Republic has just three.

WHO official Zabulon Yoti said only a small percentage of people who are infected will need ventilators while about 15 percent may need intensive care.

African health officials are calling for the world to work together at a time when even the richest countries are struggling with the medical crisis.

Countries like Cameroon just reached out yesterday, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, asking, Look, we need tents because were running out of hospital beds already, Nkengasong said.

Even if equipment is found, getting it to countries is a growing problem. Africas travel restrictions are spreading although some countries have given permission to flights carrying supplies or humanitarian aid.



Estimating the number of coronavirus cases in Africa is difficult, even in South Africa, the most developed country in the region. Officials there have had problems with testing.

Other countries suffer from a shortage of testing supplies. But, 43 countries in the WHO Africa sub-Saharan region are now able to perform tests. That is up from two in early February.

As more African countries establish lockdowns, the WHO and Africa CDC have expressed concern for the millions of poor people who need to go out daily to earn their living. This is a huge problem, Moeti said, noting that hundreds of thousands of children also are now out of school.

It is too soon to tell how the lockdown in places like South Africa has affected the number of cases, she added.

Health experts in Africa are working to understand whether some conditions, such as Africas young population, might help in fighting off the virus. It is estimated that about 70 percent of Africans are under age 30. Experts are also studying how the widespread problems of poor nutrition, HIV and other diseases might affect peoples ability to fight off infection.

Our greatest fear is that programs dealing with those ongoing issues will be harmed by the current crisis, Nkengasong said.

Im Pete Musto.

The Associated Press first reported this story. Pete Musto adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

existential adj. related to existence

continent n. a very large landmass

transmission n. passing from one person to another

colleague n. a fellow worker

region n. an area separate from others, often very large

enormous adj. very large

gap n. a space between two things

tent n. a shelter made of cloth

lockdown  n. forcing prisoners into the cells or measures to keep people in their homes
A university student has launched an initiative to feed hundreds of frontline workers during the coronavirus crisis.

Alex Dekker, 20, from Melbourne's Monash University launched 'Alex Makes Meals' two weeks ago to provide homemade meals for exhausted workers in the medical field.

Dekker got the idea after offering to cook his sister, a doctor, a lasagne two times a week after she told him she only had time to munch on a muesli bar during her long shifts.

Alex Dekker, 20, from Melbourne's Monash University launched 'Alex Makes Meals' two weeks ago to provide homemade meals for exhausted workers in the medical field

The university student posted on Facebook offering to extend the offer of a free meal to healthcare workers, but he told the Sydney Morning Herald it quickly spiralled out of control.

'I really just wanted to make lasagne for my sister, but in the first 40 hours I had 60 respondents and from there it kind of ballooned,' Mr Dekker said.

After trying to handle the demand on his own, the student quickly realised he was out of his depth.

Within a few days he had managed to organise a warehouse and commercial cooking space in Moorabbin to ramp up production.

Alex Dekker, 20, (pictured) launched 'Alex Makes Meals' two weeks ago to provide homemade meals for exhausted medical workers

The charity relies on donations of food and materials, including a haul of fresh fruit and vegetables (pictured) from the Northpoint Centre in Melbourne

He said it's taking up all his spare time but it's positive to see the groundswell of support within the community.

'I'm on the phone about 10 to 15 hours a day now with people who have catering companies and restaurants offering to help, it's all been volunteers,' Mr Dekker said.

'Because this is one of the only good things to come out of this crisis, the community is leaping onto it. The mountain of support we've got  we just can't believe it.'

He has now recruited more than 100 volunteers and he's gone from feeding 8-10 people to delivering over 2000 meals to more than 600 people.

More than 100 volunteers help make up the charity 'Alex makes meals' which is feeding healthcare professionals across Melbourne for free

Mr Lekker told Sunrise that social media is the reason he was able to grow his idea so quickly.

'The community has really used Facebook to come together and make sure everyone who wants to help can help,' he said.

'We have about 50 highly-qualified chefs rostered on that we're put in in rotation -so we don't work any of them too hard. it's been fantastic how the community has got on board.'

The university student started the charity out of his own pocket, but has recruited dozens of businesses to donate produce or their time to help support healthcare professionals.

'Originally it was funded by me draining my bank accounts dry but at the scale we've grown to that's become unsustainable so we have started a GoFundMe, it's currently at about $50,00 but to continue doing what we're doing we're just constantly looking for more,' he said.
The Maharashtra government on Friday sent senior IPS officer Amitabh Gupta on compulsory leave and initiated a probe against him for allegedly helping scam accused Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan and 21 others to travel to a hill station amid lockdown.

of DHFL promoters Wadhawans, their family and close friends traveling from Khandala near Pune to Mahabaleshwar in Satara district despite coronavirus lockdown sparked off a political row in the state.

The Wadhawan family and their friends, who drove to the family's farmhouse at Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday evening, were put under quarantine by the Satara authorities.

Gupta, special principal secretary in the Home Department, had allegedly given the Wadhawans a letter which facilitated the travel.

Home Minister Anil Deshmukh tweeted that "as per discussion with chief minister (Uddhav Thackeray),Amitabh Gupta has been sent on compulsory leave".

The government also ordered a probe, to be headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Manoj Saunik, into the matter. Saunik will submit his report in 15 days, it said.

Srikant Singh, ACS (Appeals and security) will handle additional charge as principal secretary in Gupta's place.

The probe order noted that when the entire country was in lockdown to tackle coronavirus, Gupta gave a letter on his letterhead to allow Kapil Wadhawan and others to travel.

The permission for travel by cars, in the form of "To Whomsoever It May Concern" letter, was issued on April 8. It stated that the Wadhawan family was known to Gupta and they were traveling for "family emergency".

Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan are under the scanner in Yes Bank and Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank scams.

Opposition BJP, meanwhile, latched onto the issue and tried to corner the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government.

"No lockdowns for mighty & rich in Maharashtra? One can spend holidays in Mahabaleshwar with official permission from police. It is not possible that a senior IPS officer would do such gross mistake knowing the consequences on his own," former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted.

Kirit Somaiya, another BJP leader, said sending Gupta on leave was only window dressing, and Deshmukh should resign.

In related development, the CBI on Friday wrote to Superintendent of Police and District Magistrate of Satara not to release Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan without a no objection certificate (NOC) of the agency or a court order.

The CBI had registered an offence against Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Yes Bank's then Managing Director and CEO Rana Kapoor and others on March 7, an official said.

Since then Kapil and Dheeraj were absconding, he added. A court had issued a non bailable warrant against both on March 17, but they did not appear, he said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) too had issued summons to Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan in Yes Bank case and asked them to appear on March 17. The duo reportedly cited the pandemic and skipped the appearance, officials said.

Satara police, meanwhile, registered a case against the Wadhawans and others under IPC section 188 (disobedience of lawful order of public servant) and the Disaster Management Act, 2005, for defying lockdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For almost three weeks, Britons across the country have been staying at home to help stop the spread of Covid-19.

Trips to the supermarket have been reduced to help with social distancing measures and many stores have had to introduce methods to prevent stockpiling.

Working from home means that many have found themselves with extra time on their hands, with people taking up hobbies to pass the time.

And it appears that baking has come become one of the nations favourite ways to keep busy. This, along with depleted stocks in supermarkets, has led to a rise in demand for flour.

Grocery sales of flour were up 92% in the four weeks to 22 March compared to the same period last year, according to consumer analysts Kantar.

Since Boris Johnson announced a virtual lockdown on 23 March, searches for bread and cake recipes have surged, according to analytics tool Google Trends.

Increasing interest in baking, along with rising demand for flour, means that many shops and supermarkets are struggling to keep up with requests.

The National Association of British and Irish Millers (Nabim) says the industry is working round the clock to double production but still struggling to meet demand.

One flour mill in Oxfordshire says it has begun running a 24-hour operation for the first time in its 25-year history to help get flour to shops.

Its unprecedented, Emily Munsey, who runs Wessex Mill with her father, told the BBC. Weve increased production about four-fold but were nowhere close to meeting the demand weve seen.

Ms Munsey says traffic to Wessex Mills website has become so high that they are only able to open the service for 10 minutes per day.

The business has also employed out-of-work builders and chefs after losing around 15 per cent of its staff because of self-isolation.

Alex Waugh, director general of Nabim, says the problem is not being able to mill enough flour. Rather, the industry lacks the capacity to pack the flour into smaller bags for retailers.

Nabim says that only 4 per cent of the flour produced in the UK is sold through shops. Bakeries and food manufacturers make-up the rest of sales and usually buy in bulk.

Packing lines are now running at capacity, Nabim says, but this is only enough for 15 per cent of households to a buy a regular bag of flour per week.
Google has continued its progressive global rollout of Duplex, its AI-powered automated phone booking service for Android smartphones. The latest countries to receive the functionality include Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Working For Notebookcheck Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! English native speakers welcome! News Writer (AUS/NZL based) - Details here

Google Duplex is undoubtedly one of the coolest examples of AI-powered software technology available on mobile devices. Since it made a huge splash at Google I/O in 2018 during a live demo where it made a booking with a seemingly unsuspecting restaurant staff member, Android users have been keen to test out its functionality. Until now, the only countries that have had the feature rolled out are the United States and New Zealand.

Venture Beat has spotted that Google has now quietly rolled out Duplex to users in Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia with support numbers added for the service on a Google website for business owners. This appears to be the fruit of Googles recent efforts to use the Duplex service to directly contact businesses requesting the opening hours and interesting in being accessible by the service. The plus side of this is approach means that restaurants will be expecting calls from Duplex to take bookings.

When Google first unveiled the technology, it did cop some criticism as the original demo didnt involved Duplex identifying itself to the person it was interacting with. With businesses opting in, that avoids that sort of controversy and should also help restaurants understand that Duplex still has limitations. If it cant work, Google will hand off the call to live Google service rep who will make notes to improve the service in the future. Its like having your own personal assistant, and has massive potential for making life easier.
Fifty years ago, an explosion crippled the Apollo 13 spacecraft 200,000 miles from Earth, forcing NASA to abandon a lunar landing and race against time to safely bring three astronauts home.

The drama unfolded on television for four days as the world held its collective breath until the trio was safely pulled from the Pacific after splashdown on April 17, 1970.

The heroes of the historic endeavor extended far beyond the confines of Mission Control in Houston and included Jack Swigert, the Apollo 13 command module pilot, who once flew fighter jets out of Westfield; and life-saving technology built by engineers at Hamilton Standard in Windsor Locks, Conn.

Don Rethke, 82, of East Hartland, Conn., was one of the engineers who worked on the lunar module during the Apollo years.

Rethke vividly recalled the efforts to rescue the crew and meeting Swigert following his return.

"He came to Hamilton Standard a month later to shake a thousand hands,' Rethke recalled. He was glad to be home.

Swigert had flown F-86H Sabre jets for the 104th Tactical Fighter Group of the Massachusetts Air National Guard out of Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield for three years. He left Barnes in 1960 to join a Connecticut Air National Guard F-100 Super Sabre squadron at Bradley International Airport, where he took night classes to qualify for entrance into NASA in 1965.

Jack was very good. He flew by the book. He knew the engineering inside and out, the late retired Col. George L. Rivest, a South Hadley native, told The Republican in a 1995 interview. He had been a test pilot for Pratt & Whitney.

Swigert logged over 7,200 hours in flight, with more than 5,725 in jet aircraft.

It was Swigert who first radioed the memorable words to Mission Control, OK, Houston, weve had a problem here.

Swigert was a last-minute addition to Apollo 13 after exposure to measles sidelined astronaut Ken Mattingly. He joined mission commander James Lovell and lunar module pilot Fred Haise when the Saturn V rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 11, 1970.

When the command ships cryogenic oxygen tank ruptured on April 13, 1970, it left Swigert, Lovell and Haise in partial darkness with a dwindling supply of breathable air. The blast had wrecked a critical fuel cell, which was built by Hamilton Standard sister company International Fuel Cell of South Windsor, Conn.

Mission Control was in constant contact with engineers at Hamilton Standard, who had worked on the lunar module systems. The lander was quickly tasked with becoming a lifeboat to keep the Apollo 13 crew alive.

Life support systems on the lunar module were designed to support two astronauts for two days. However, the lander now had to house Swigert, Lovell and Haise for four days as the command and linked lunar modules were to slingshot around the moon and return to Earth.

Luckily, there were several redundancies and systems had been tested to perform beyond their designed needs, Rethke said.

We designed for overkill. We always had a safety factor on top of a safety factor, Rethke said.

For example, the module had three water pumps: in case one failed, there were two spare, he said.

NASA and engineers faced numerous complexities and were forced to solve them within a tight time frame. One effort involved CO2 filters and the classic putting of a square peg in a round hole as depicted in the Ron Howard movie Apollo 13.

Throughout the ordeal, engineers remained focus on their work.

The mood was: We have a job. Were familiar with the hardware. We want to help NASA as best we can, Rethke said.
Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST

Bazaar Corporate Radar

Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar.
She is expecting her first child in May with fiance Tommy Edney.

And Danielle Armstrong shared a video to her Instagram Story on Friday reassuring fans she hasn't gone into labour, following a few days off social media.

The former TOWIE star, 31, spoke to the camera candidly while chilling out at home in a black bikini top, which displayed her blossoming bump.

Blossoming bump: Danielle Armstrong shared a video to her Instagram Story on Friday reassuring fans she hasn't gone into labour, following a few days off social media

She hilariously reassured everyone: 'I've actually had people messaging me worried thinking I've gone into labour'

This follows a two day silence on Instagram after the beauty shared a stunning snap on Tuesday.

She shared: 'I've got nothing that fits, I keep wearing bikinis tops and baggy trousers, yes I've got the bump out'

Honest: The former TOWIE star, 31, spoke to the camera candidly while chilling out at home in a black bikini top

On Tuesday the star was forced to fire back at a troll who asked her to 'pull her trousers up' when she had her beautiful bump on display.

She said: 'Someone just messaged me saying "pull your trousers up". I don't like that look, I would rather have my stomach out and it's free. Do you know what? It's my bump and I can do what I want and if you don't like it, don't watch my story.'

In her Instagram Story, Danielle continued: 'I went to my midwife the other day and I actually feel really good seeing her.

Reassured: She hilariously reassured everyone: 'I've actually had people messaging me worried thinking I've gone into labour'

'She made me feel really goos she was lovely.'

The reality star let fans know that everything is well with her health and that she is not suffering with preeclampsia.

This is a condition that can occur in pregnancy characterised by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the liver and kidneys.

Beauty: This follows a two day silence on Instagram after the beauty shared a stunning snap on Tuesday

Instead she hilariously told fans her feet are fat despite no medical condition and that she was 'always going be one of those Kim K girls, rocking all the monster munch feet.'

Danielle is currently hunkering down alongside Tom, however recently admitted that he wasn't self-isolating due to his job.

The blonde beauty took to social media ahead of the shutdown to urge the government to push for stronger measures, as her husband-to-be continued to work.

The TV personality said: 'So lots of you have been asking me: "Is Tom self-isolating?" So he's not.

'I know this sounds stupid but this is where the government I feel like just need to either just do the lockdown or not because Tom has to go to work, like his company has not shut down.

'I mean no one has had any of the symptoms in his work and he's on a construction site but he's in the office part.'

Insisting that Tom was taking the necessary precautions when he returned home from work, she said: 'As soon as he comes back home he goes straight in the shower, washes his hands, [uses] hand sanitiser...

'But, I don't know, realistically, if I'm self-isolating he should be as well. But what can you do when his work is carrying on as normal and you can't really not go to work.'

In the days following her post, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that gatherings of more than two people were banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war.

In a grim address from Downing Street, he said family reunions, weddings, baptisms and other social events must be cancelled to stop the NHS collapsing under the strain. Funerals can go ahead attended by just a handful of closest relatives.
The United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was able to walk in hospital on Friday, 24 hours after leaving intensive care treatment for COVID-19.

AFP reports that Mr Johnson, who tested positive nearly two weeks ago, was admitted to St Thomas hospital on Sunday evening with a persistent high temperature and cough, as his condition deteriorated.

He was rushed into the intensive care unit on Monday night where he was receiving oxygen support.

Three days later, he was moved out of the intensive care unit (ICU) and so far, he has been in good spirits.

The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery, a Downing Street spokesman said.

His thoughts are with those affected by this terrible disease, he added.

His designated deputy, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, said he (Johnson) would soon be back at the helm as the world faces one of its gravest public health crisis in a century.

Period of readjustment

Mr Johnson is one of the high-profile world leaders to suffer from coronavirus.

He was hospitalised Sunday over concerns he still had a cough and high temperature after spending 10 days in self-isolation in a flat above his Downing Street office.

While in intensive care, the conservative leader received standard oxygen treatment and did not require a ventilator.

His transfer to the ICU had rattled the UK and sent shockwaves around the world.

The U.S. President, Donald Trump, called Mr Johnsons release from intensive care a very positive development.

Mr Johnson, who continues to be monitored closely, was able to wave at medical staff as he left intensive care, according to his official spokesman.

Worsening number of fatalities

However, as Mr Johnson battled the novel coronavirus in hospital, the United Kingdom was entering what scientists said was the deadliest phase of the virus for the first time as it recorded nearly 1,000 daily deaths.

This brings the total number of fatalities from coronavirus in UK hospitals to nearly 9,000, while the number of confirmed cases in the country climbed close to 74,000.

Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, at a daily briefing said this was only a fraction of the actual number of people infected because not everyone has been tested for the virus.

We never forget that behind this number, behind each one is a name, a loss and a family that will never be the same again, Mr Hancock said. We all share a responsibility to tackle this virus, first and foremost by staying at home.
In Lake Geneva, wedding season is big business.

But the coronavirus outbreak is disrupting wedding plans for many couples, costing the Lake Geneva region its chance to host those memorable springtime moments.

Its a confusing feeling, bride-to-be Teresa Huemann said. But its not like were the only people going through this.

Huemann and her fiance, Patrick Green, have dropped their plans for a May 9 wedding reception in the Wood Boat Showroom at Pier 290 Restaurant in Williams Bay, following a ceremony down in Illinois.

With more than 350 people on the guest list at a time when the coronavirus makes such large gatherings impossible, the couple have to reschedule their dreams of tying the knot.

We decided holding the wedding would not be the responsible thing to do right now, Green said.

With a picturesque lakefront, Lake Geneva and its neighboring municipalities have long been a favorite locale for young couples ready to walk down the aisle. Hotels, resorts and other businesses cater to brides and grooms looking for the perfect spot to create lifelong memories.

But the regions cottage wedding industry is being thrown into upheaval by the coronavirus crisis.

The Rev. Marcia Boyer, who provides clergy and other services through a business called My Best Ceremony, said about 15 clients have either rescheduled or cancelled their spring wedding plans.

Theres a great uncertainty right now, Boyer said. Some couples cant plan, or dont know if they should move forward.

For couples trying to arrange one of the most important days of their lives, the requirement for people to maintain a six-foot safety zone around themselves is hard to comprehend.

Imagine a groom not being able to kiss his bride or a father not being able to dance with his daughter, Boyer said.

Some couples are resetting their plans for 2021, while others are hoping to squeeze in a new date later this year. With only so many weekends on the calendar, the result could be a glut of local ceremonies.

Matt Mason, co-owner of Matt Mason Photography in Lake Geneva, said he is concerned about schedule conflicts if too many weddings are rescheduled on the same day.

With about 10 photographers on staff or on call for his business, Mason said: We usually do not like to do more than four weddings in a day. But we may have to do more, if people are rescheduling for a later date.

The wedding season disruption is starting to have an impact on the Riviera, a city-owned lakefront ballroom that is one of the regions most popular venues for matrimonial celebrations.

Because of unrelated construction work underway, the Riviera is not available for weddings this season before May. But one wedding event there has been rescheduled already because of concerns related to the coronavirus.

Stephanie Copsey, director of event sales for the Riviera, said other couples also have inquired about the Rivieras rescheduling policy.

Copsey said she is concerned about how the situation will affect florists, caterers and resorts, too, because they are currently unable to operate under a state-ordered lockdown of non-essential businesses.

Its been a tough time for all of us, she said.

Jaffe Wojcik, owner of a wedding planning firm called Graceful Events, said she had 61 weddings on her calendar this year, and many are rescheduling for either late summer or autumn.

Wojcik agreed it has been a challenge to work around the public health emergency.

We are taking it by a case-by-case basis, she said. We feel bad if they have to cancel. We will help them the best we can.

At the Pier 290 complex in Williams Bay  where the Huemann-Green reception was scheduled  sales manager Clare Mulcahy said most clients are taking a wait-and-see approach on this wedding season.

Some people are going forward with a smaller wedding now, then hoping to organize a larger ceremony later, after the virus outbreak has ended. Other couples trying to reschedule are having a difficult time finding a venue, Mulcahy said.

We feel bad, she said, if they have been planning their wedding for a long time, and things are starting to fall apart on them.

Huemann and Green intend to reschedule their reception in Williams Bay for Oct. 17. They are considering making the ceremony itself a virtual event that they broadcast on the internet from a remote location.

The couple said officials at Pier 290 have been understanding and helpful about the scheduling issues.

I dont think anyone has been upset, Green said. With the current climate were in, sometimes you have to roll with the punches.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Coronavirus: What you need to read

Coronavirus maps: Cases and deaths in the U.S. | Cases and deaths worldwide

Vaccines: Tracker by state | Booster shots | For kids 5 to 11 | Guidance for vaccinated people | How long does immunity last? | County-level vaccine data

What you need to know: Omicron variant | Breakthrough infections | Symptoms guide | Masks FAQ | Delta variant | Other variants | Follow all of our coverage and sign up for our free newsletter

Impact of the pandemic: Supply chain | Education | Housing

Got a pandemic question? We answer one every day in our coronavirus newsletter
3 1 of 3 Emily Spicer /Staff file photo Show More Show Less 2 of 3 The Modernist Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Whether you're in the mood for an old fashioned or a pina colada, The Modernist has you covered as the San Antonio bar is selling some of its house favorite cocktails in to-go kits.

David Naylor, a bartender for The Modernist, told mySA.com the cocktail kits were launched last weekend and are a way to keep the staff working after the city and county ordered bars to temporarily close in March to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The Delhi High Court has dismissed the bail plea of a man, who is an accused in an attempt to murder and arms case. He sought the bail to run the fruit business of his father, who he claims is suspected of having coronavirus and is undergoing treatment.

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait on Thursday dismissed the bail plea of Rizwan Iqbal, who sought bail to run his father's fruit business for the survival of his other family members as his father has been advised complete bed rest.

Iqbal has been under judicial custody in a case filed under Section 307 (attempt to murder), 394 (voluntarily causing hurt to commit robbery), 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and 34 (act by several for common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and several relevant sections of the Arms Act at Roop Nagar police station.

The petition said that Iqbal has falsely been implicated and is kept in judicial custody since November 30, 2017, whereas the alleged incident had taken place on November 29, 2014, and he was subsequently arrested upon the false discloser statement of one of the main accused.

The counsel of the accused claimed that the petitioner has dependent family members, including elderly parents and young siblings.

The petitioner's father has been quarantined in the house in a separate isolated room along with the oxygen cylinder for breathing for the safety of the family members from potential coronavirus infection, the plea said.

On the other hand, the state submitted that a visit was conducted at the native place of the petitioner wherein it was found that the father of the petitioner was suffering from critical respiratory and acute asthmatic disease, which is causing congestion in breathing and he wasbreathing through an oxygen cylinder and had been provided with a prescription letter.

"The residence of the parents of the petitioner is around 180 km away from Delhi. If he is directed to be released on interim bail, it will be difficult for the State to make special arrangements for his travel from Delhi to Bijnor," the court observed.

The court said that in the present situation when the whole nation is under lockdown and his commute from Delhi to Bijnor will be difficult to arrange and even thereafter, he will certainly commute in the society to run his father's fruit business.

"Therefore, I am of the considered opinion that this is not a case where extreme urgency is there to grant interim bail to the petition. Accordingly, I find no ground to grant bail to the petitioner, the same is dismissed," the court said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Amit Shah has directed the Border Security Force (BSF) to intensify the vigil along the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, especially along the unfenced area, to ensure that no cross border movement is allowed. Shah had reviewed border guarding arrangements, at India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders, with BSF Command and Sector Headquarters through video-conferencing on Thursday.

The Home Minister further directed that farmers in the border areas must be educated about coronavirus COVID-19 and the preventive measures to be taken to contain its spread in these areas. Also, in coordination with district administration, the BSF must ensure that the people do not venture across the border fence inadvertently.

Shah praised the good work done by the BSF formations amidst COVID-19 outbreak. During the lockdown, BSF formations have focused their energy towards awareness campaigns, as per the guidelines of Ministry of Health; sanitization efforts, wherever possible in the villages; providing face masks and soaps for hand wash; and providing ration, potable water and medical facilities to the needy, including remote villages, migratory labourers, daily wage earners and stranded truck drivers in border areas.



In the review meeting, Ministers of State for Home Affairs, G Kishan Reddy and Nityanand Rai, along with Union Home Secretary, Secretary (Border Management) and DG, BSF were also present.

The BSF troops formation has also been taking active participation in Jammu and Kashmir to help the locals. The BSF has reached out to the villages in a bid to help them fight coronavirus. "Our units under 183 battalion deployed at Poonch area are providing free rations, medicines and masks to the locals. We have communicated to villages that those who have returned back to the area should self-quarantine for at least three weeks," said a BSF official.

The BSF is deployed on the borders of Pakistan and Bangladesh for more than 6,200 km. At the borders, the operational activities have not seized rather the vigil has been enhanced to prevent any mischief of trans-border criminals. "There are some seizures of contraband items on eastern and western borders during this lockdown period. We have enhanced our vigil to prevent any mischief of trans-border criminals," said one official.

In areas like Punjab and Jammu, migratory labours were stuck during the lockdown. On the eastern front on ICP Petrapol, truck drivers got stranded. Similarly in many areas, in the border belt, there were many daily wage earners. They were identified and provided with necessary rations.

The BSF has asked its personnel to remain ''wherever they are'', saying that there would be no movement before April 21 amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country. The BSF has issued an alert in which it said that there would be no movement before April 21 as part of the precautionary measures put in place due to coronavirus pandemic.

Instructions have been issued to all formations of BSF that leave of those who are already on leave be extended till April 21 and also for those who are due to join in April. Similar instructions have also been issued for the training centres where training programs were already running.
Two staff members at Berks Heim Nursing and Rehabilitation have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a statement from Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach.

Leinbach said the staff members who tested positive had been proactively monitoring for signs and symptoms and had been off-work before becoming suspicious of symptoms. One of the staff members had not been in the Bern Township facility since March 22, and the other had not been there since March 27. They have contacted healthcare providers and remain under self-quarantine.

Berks Heim has an Infection Control Nurse that is following all staff who have reported signs and two symptoms, tracking their progress, Leinbach said.

The nursing home is also providing care to residents per its Infection Control program and under guidance that was provided by the Centers for Disease Control, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service, the Berks County Department of Emergency Services and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Berks Heim stopped allowing visitors on March 11, and instituted screening for all employees and people approved to enter the building, Leinbach said.

Other precautions include monitoring of temperatures, symptoms and restricting access as necessary.

All staff are wearing isolation/surgical masks which serve the purpose of protecting staff and residents from the wearer should he/she be asymptomatic while carrying the virus, Leinbach said.

Residents are also being asked to remain in their nursing units as much as possible, Leinbach said.

Also on Thursday, Cumberland County officials announced a nursing home employee tested positive for COVID-19.

Read more on PennLive:

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday, Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources, that asserts US property rights in outer space. Throwing aside decades of international negotiations, it declares that the United States does not view it [space] as a global commons, and that [s]uccessful long-term exploration  will require partnership with commercial entities to recover and use resources, and these will require the right to commercial recovery.

The Trump administrations order follows its December creation of a new Space Force branch of the US military, but this is not uniquely a phenomenon of this administration. Last summer, Frances Macron administration announced its own space command, and programs to weaponize space were previously touted by both the US administrations of Reagan and George W. Bush. Bushs report explicitly made a connection to the early days of empire, comparing the militarization of space with the early development of navies, and the necessity to achieve full spectrum dominance in space, land, sea and air.

From the time of the Age of Exploration, new achievements in technology and the productive forces have opened new frontiers to scientific discoveryand to the scramble for profitable returns. Outer space is now simply the latest of these frontiers in which US imperialism expects future advantage, and to attain it is prepared to assert and defend its strategic interests.

Both the assertion of commercial interests in and the militarization of space directly flout international agreements built up over the post-World War II period. The idea of international governance, as a means to suspend for a time the scrambling over frontiers not yet ripe for exploitation, was first applied in the Antarctic Treaty System, which entered force in 1961. Antarctica was declared a scientific preserve, with freedom of scientific exploration but with military activity banned.

The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the Outer Space Treaty) emulated the Antarctic agreement, forbidding weapons of mass destruction in space and reserving the use of celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.

A conceptual depiction of asteroid mining (Credit: NASA)

Articles I and II of the treaty specifically state, The exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries  and shall be the province of all mankind, and that outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty.

A further treaty, the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (the Moon Treaty) of 1979, extends this concept to declare, Neither the surface nor the subsurface of the moon, nor any part thereof or natural resources in place, shall become property of any State, international intergovernmental or non-governmental organization, national organization or non-governmental entity or of any natural person.

The 1979 treaty, negotiated at a period when international divisions were rapidly intensifying, failed to gain any spacefaring nations signatures, and among the great powers only France signed.

And even with these treaties, Earth orbit was rapidly filled with surveillance satellites, nuclear radio-isotope power supplies, and even several high-powered military satellites powered by full-blown nuclear reactors, subject to eventually reentering and polluting the Earth, as one already has.

By 2015, the grubbing for profit was asserted openly in the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015, which passed the US House by 281133, with nearly all Republicans and 48 Democrats voting in favor. It was affirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate and signed into law by Democratic President Barack Obama. While the act claims it does not assert sovereignty, or sovereign or exclusive rights, it grants a commercial operator the right to be entitled to any asteroid resource or space resource obtained, including to possess, own, transport, use, and sell.

The latest executive order goes further. Trump has directed the Secretary of State to object to any efforts to represent the 1979 Moon Treaty as customary international law. This Agreement [the 1979 treaty] represents a failed attempt at constraining free enterprise Furthermore, the administration stated that it will negotiate joint statements, bilateral and multi-lateral agreements  with like-minded states. One can already see the no trespassing signs.

The Trump executive order was immediately criticized by the Russian space agency Roscosmos, which noted, Attempts to expropriate outer space and aggressive plans to actually seize territories of other planets hardly set the countries [towards the goal of] fruitful cooperation.

A driver for the division of space is the rapidly dropping cost to reach it. From the first US satellite launch in 1957, the price has dropped a hundredfold, from $1,000,000 to $10,000 per kilogram by 1970, where it remained for thirty years. But efficient and reusable new technologies now promise launch costs in the relatively near future under $2000 per kilogram, and within a few decades, under $200 per kilogram.

Something of a gold rush is underway to set down stakes and interests, years before expected returns. In fact, the last US landing of any spacecraft, manned or unmanned, on the moon was in 1972. Meanwhile, nation after nation is entering or reentering the race, with China having landed four unmanned probes on the moon, including the first on the far side, never directly visible from Earth because of the moons tidally-locked orbit.

One reality that will not change is that the surface of the Earth remains in a deep gravity well, which even with newly affordable launch costs will remain an expensive source of raw materials from which to develop facilities in space. Long-term, bulk supplies for building stations, fueling vehicles, and providing water and oxygen to inhabitants, are best provided from asteroids or potential resources on the lunar surfaceincluding in particular the water ice that is thought to exist in the cold perpetually-shadowed regions of its polar craters.

In the language of rocketry, the delta-v, the fuel-consuming velocity shift which a rocket requires to accomplish a certain mission, is far smaller from the surface of the moon, and even smaller from certain asteroids, to Earth orbit than from the surface of the Earth. This is why the Apollo lunar lander was so much smaller to return astronauts from the lunar surface than the vast Saturn V launch vehicle necessary to set them on their way. And establishing priority, especially for potentially limited good mining locations for lunar ice, or for asteroids on a rare trajectory that permits Earth-orbit capture with minimal cost in resources, is driving the stake-building.

The potential benefits to humanity, as anticipated in the UN treaties, are vast. But under capitalism and its associated nation-state system, every advance is also simultaneously turned into a tool of class oppression and national advantage. With the partition of space comes its militarization, and the provisioning of resources to unlock new explorations also enables populating Earth orbit with new weapons and more complete surveillance directed below, and drawing the inevitable national boundaries on the moon.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday stressed on ensuring smooth doorstep delivery of essential items for people in coronavirus hotspot areas of 15 districts of the state which has been sealed.

Only medical, sanitisation and doorstep delivery personnel will be allowed in the hotspot areas, he said and directed officials to ensure that this instruction is adhered to strictly in the sealed areas as those under lockdown.

No person should go hungry in the state during the lockdown period and authorities should make sure that everyone gets essential commodities, the chief minister said.

According to an official release, Adityanath held a review meeting with the heads of 11 committees set up in view of the lockdown, imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, and told them that going by the number of COVID-19 cases in western Uttar Pradesh, testing facilities in these areas should be scaled up.

"It is important that in order to control the rising number of COVID-19 cases, testing should be done in a time-bound manner. Testing facilities should be set up in the state's western parts -- Greater Noida, Noida and Saharanpur," the chief minister said.

He further told officials that sample collection centres must be set up in each district in a time-bound manner.

Even in districts where no coronavirus case has been reported till now, suspected patients who have been quarantined at home or in an institution should be immediately tested so that sensitive cases may be isolated, Adityanath said.

All the Level-1, Level-2 and Level-3 hospitals established in the districts for the treatment of COVID-19 patients should be fortified and improved, the chief minister said and instructed officials to increase the number of L3 hospitals.

Authorities should ensure adequate availability of personal protective equipment and N95 masks for all the workforce involved in sensitive activity related to COVID-19, he said.

Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad informed the chief minister that 21 new COVID-19 cases have been reported between April 9 and 10 from six districts.

Twelve laboratories in the state have been approved by the ICMR, out of which 10 are already operational. The remaining two laboratories will be made functional with immediate effect, Principal Secretary of Medical Education Rajneesh Dubey said.

The chief minister was appreciative of the efforts made by the various committees of 'Team 11' and said that these activities should be intensified in the coming days.

People who have completed institutional quarantine should be further directed to stay in home quarantine for 14 days, he said and told officials that all the Indians living abroad who are willing to contribute to the UP COVID Care Fund should be assisted in doing so.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Natural News) A growing compendium of scientific evidence is linking 5G exposure to increased severity of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, though YouTube doesnt want you to know about this.

The Google-owned video platform, which for years has been censoring information that it deems unworthy of consideration, says that any allegation of 5G exacerbating Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) infections is a conspiracy theory, and in violation of the platforms guidelines.

Even just questioning the official story of the World Health Organization (WHO), YouTubes ministry of propaganda for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), is no longer in line with YouTubes community guidelines, which command total obedience to the globalist entitys decrees about the pandemic.

It is also no longer permitted to question or speak against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) itself, such as asking hypothetically whether its really as serious as authorities are claiming.

Now any content that disputes the existence or transmission of COVID-19, as described by the WHO and local health authorities, is in violation of YouTube policies, a company spokesman is quoted as saying in a recent statement.

This includes conspiracy theories which claim that the symptoms are caused by 5G.

According to YouTube, anything other than what the WHO is saying about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) is medically unsubstantiated, and thus not allowed on the YouTube platform because it might interfere with people rushing out to get treatment at the first signs of symptoms.

We have clear policies that prohibit videos promoting medically unsubstantiated methods to prevent the coronavirus in place of seeking medical treatment, and we quickly remove videos violating these policies when flagged to us, the statement from YouTube goes on to explain.

For borderline content that could misinform users in harmful ways, we reduce recommendations. Well continue to evaluate the impact of these videos on communities around the world.

Be sure to listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about some of the science showing that 5G does, in fact turbo-charge the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) and make its symptoms even worse:

Brighteon will NEVER censor video content dealing with the health risks of 5G

YouTube recently pulled a London Real video featuring David Icke, who believes that 5G is part of a much larger globalist plot to take over society and control humanity. Icke discussed how people in Europe are now destroying 5G towers, and that an increasing number of people everywhere are opposed to their installation.

Whether Ickes claims are fully true, partially true, or not true at all is beside the point. Whats disturbing is that, once again, YouTube has taken it upon itself to police all content that doesnt regurgitate the official government narrative on any given topic, in this case the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

Such behavior is precisely why we created the Brighteon.com platform, which exists as a free speech alternative to YouTube. You wont find any censorship of content on there that deals with the very real health risks associated with 5G technology, regardless of its link to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

We tend to agree with Ickes overall conclusion that, If 5G continues and reaches where they want to take it, human life as we know it is over  so people have to make a decision.

Again, this is true regardless of a potential link to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) because 5G uses intense, millimeter wave radiation to deliver coverage, and this type of radiation does not mesh well with the human frame, to put it simply.

You can learn more about the dangers of 5G by checking out the powerful documentary film 5G Apocalypse: The Extinction Event.

You can also keep up with the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) by checking out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

Infowars.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Delhi Development Minister Gopal Rai commissioned the "disinfectant tunnel" set up at the entrance of the wholesale Azadpur vegetable market on Friday in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Talking to reporters, the minister said people visiting the market will now pass through the tunnel, where a sodium hydrochloride solution will be sprayed on them in a bid to check the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Rai, who is also the labour minister, said in the coming days, more such tunnels will be set up at other wholesale vegetable and fruit markets in the national capital.

"Since Azadpur is one of the largest mandi in the country, a huge number of traders and customers visit it everyday. The disinfectant tunnel has been set up as a precautionary measure to deal with COVID-19," he added.

The minister said one disinfectant tunnel costs the government around Rs 1.5 lakh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
SOUTH HAVEN, MI  Firefighter/Paramedic Brandon Hinz has been named the executive director/chief for South Haven Area Emergency Services (SHAES), the organization announced.

Hinz was selected by the SHAES Authority Board following a national search. A committee of citizens participated in the selection process, according to an April 10 news release from SHAES.

Hinz will succeed current Executive Director Ronald Wise who will retire on Sept 30. Hinz will begin his duties June 1 and will work alongside Wise.

Brandon has a solid reputation for being a hardworking, self-motivated and trustworthy member of SHAES, South Haven Township Supervisor and SHAES Board Chair Ross Stein said. After multiple rounds of interviews he was clearly the best choice to lead the organization for years to come.

Hinz said the organization has been an integral part of his life.

I am very proud to have been a part of this organization for the past 21 years. I will continue to lead SHAES toward all our collective goals with hard work and integrity. Together, we will further our mission of providing the residents of the greater South Haven area with the best fire, rescue and EMS services," Hinz said.

Hinz joined the SHAES staff in 1999. A lifelong resident of the South Haven community, he started as a paid-on-call responder and since 2005 has been a full-time firefighter/paramedic. He currently oversees the departments maintenance service, assists in the training program and has served as an acting Captain. In 2012, he was presented the departments Leadership Award. He is completing Blue Card Command training which is a nationally recognized training and certification program for fire command officers.

Brandon lives in Geneva Township with his wife, Dawn, and sons, Jake and Cal. He enjoys farming as a way to relax, raising crops and pigs.

South Haven Area Emergency Services (SHAES) serves the City of South Haven, Casco Township, Geneva Township and South Haven Township. The department operates from three stations with a combination of fulltime and part-paid staff. Last year the department responded to more than 2,000 calls for service according to the news release.
Wireless IoT sensor manufacturer Aranet releases a new medical-grade human body temperature sensor especially for healthcare professionals battling COVID-19. The new solution is designed to take off some of the load of the most heavily understaffed hospitals dealing with sick patients. The latest edition to Aranet sensor ecosystem is a complete system where up to 100 sensors can be added to a single base station. The new solution means that medical professionals can monitor the patients without coming in direct contact with them. The system is currently being tested in several large healthcare institutions.

Other benefits of Aranet medical thermometer include accuracy of 0.1C/ 0.2 F, exceptionally long range, extra soft and flexible cable, as well as no field calibration necessary  the sensors come pre-calibrated for lifetime. The set-up of the system is simple and quick, saving time when every moment counts. Custom alarms can be set for each patient, allowing medical staff to prioritize patients who need immediate care. The built-in local memory within the PRO base station guarantees continuous data collection even if the internet connection goes down or is not available.

As the novel coronavirus is spreading and taking its toll on the worlds population, its also exposing the deficiencies in global healthcare systems and their ability to respond to a major epidemic. Aranet is acting fast in the current situation, expanding their medical sensor portfolio with a new SpO2 sensor in the making. The upcoming sensor measures peripheral capillary oxygen saturation  an estimate of the blood oxygen level.

Aranet offers industrial IoT environmental monitoring solutions for a variety of businesses, making it easy to collect and analyze real-time data.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has played a highly controversial role in the royal family ever since her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018. After the birth of her child, Archie, and being the center of gossip for British tabloids, she realized living life in a castle was not for her.

Much to the astonishment of the queen, the couple decided to resign from their royal duties to reside in Canada in early 2020. Since that time, they have moved on and are now living in Los Angeles.

As British followers of the royal family shake their heads in amazement, a former friend of Meghan says she will have no problem adjusting to her new lifestyle.

Meghan Markles claim to fame

In 2011, Meghan began living in the Seaton Village area of Toronto to work on the USA Network television show Suits. A series regular, she appeared in 108 episodes of the legal drama.

Her role as Rachel Zane ended during season 7 of the popular show. Meghans character got married and was cut out of the storyline. Coincidentally, it was at the same time that she was planning to marry Prince Harry.

Meghan Markles social status in Toronto

According to Lainey Lui, a Toronto society gossip columnist, Meghan was very selective about which events she chose to attend. Lui told Vanity Fair, Markle wasnt a constant presence on the scene, she was in with what would be considered by Toronto standards, the social influencers.

Shinan Govani, a freelance columnist for the Toronto Star, is known as the go-to-Canadian when it comes to society gossip. He claims Meghan made a lot of her social connections through Cory Vitiello, a popular Toronto chef.

The couple dated for two years before she became involved with Prince Harry. Vitiello was very charming and had a way of working his way into Toronto social circles. Govani befriended the couple and invited them to his home for a dinner party.

Meghans friend reveals all

Meghan Markle | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Govani recently wrote an article for Tatler revealing some interesting information about Meghans life in Toronto before she became a duchess. He claims that during his dinner party he had a conversation in his kitchen with Meghan.

The two talked about the time she spent in Buenos Aires and other places she has lived. He now reflects on that conversation, saying, Something that has stayed with me, especially post-Megxit, is that Meghan is no stranger to picking up and reinventing herself.

He continued saying that she was both a go-getter and shapeshifter. Govani seemed to concur with a friend, that traveled in the same social circles as Meghan, who said she is like liquorice, you either love her, or you dont.

Meghan and Prince Harrys royal exit

The term Megxit has taken on a life of its own. When the famous royal couple chose to resign their duties and move to North America, the British press coined the catchy term.

Several years ago the United Kingdom chose to withdrawal from the European Union. The controversial moment became known as Brexit. It only stands to reason that Meghan leaving behind her role in the royal family is now sarcastically referred to as Megxit.

In the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic, the royal couple decided it was time to leave their rental property in Vancouver Island, Canada. They packed their royal suitcases and headed to Markles hometown of Los Angeles to be close to her mother.

The nomadic couple is currently renting a multi-million-dollar property in Malibu and is reportedly searching for a Malibu mansion to purchase. It is their intention to split their time between Los Angeles and the United Kingdom. For now, they are spending their time in isolation following the stay at home guidelines.
Australia spinner Nathan Lyon will not play for English county Hampshire this year after a mutual decision was made to cancel his contract because of the coronavirus chaos. Lyon is third on Australia's all-time Test wicket-taker list with 390 scalps and his signing was a big coup for Hampshire. But the start of the English domestic season has been postponed until at least May 28 because of the pandemic. Lyon was due to play for Hampshire for a "significant" portion of the County Championship campaign until the on-going health crisis prompted both parties to call off the deal. Giles White, Hampshire's director of cricket, said on Friday: "These are obviously very uncertain and challenging times, and it's clear the issues cricket currently faces will contribute to the way in which counties are able to operate and prepare for this season. "As a result of this and following conversations with Nathan and his management, it was mutually agreed that he would no longer join us this season." Hampshire have cancelled their deal with Australia's Nathan Lyon
Boolavogue: Shop Local! - Alec and Louise Lawless in Boolavogue PO are still open during the Covid-19 lockdown to serve the people of the area. All their customers are asked to observe the HSE guidelines on physical distancing and hand washing. Alec is now delivering groceries and fuel and can be contacted at 053 9366237.

GAA News

In line with Government guidelines, all the Monageer-Boolavogue GAA facilities in Monageer have been closed to all members and the general public for over a week. It is expected that this will continue till April 20 at least.

The annual Easter Camp has also been cancelled and the club has been in contact with all those who had booked a place on this very popular holiday skills camp.

The underage teams' mentors and trainers are urging all players to try to keep up their skills with plenty of practice at home till formal training resumes.

St Cormac's Church

All public Masses have been suspended in the diocese of Ferns since March 20. However, like all churches, St Cormac's church remains open for individual prayers and devotion.

RTE is broadcasting Mass daily and some of the churches in the county are also broadcasting Mass over the internet. Easter devotions will also be available on various platforms including the internet.

Boolavogue NS News

Like all schools all over Ireland, Boolavogue National School is closed. But the staff are emailing work to the pupils to help with the 'home-schooling'.

Everyone in Boolavogue and especially the school community send their congratulations and best wishes to the principal, Avril Mullery on the birth of her baby boy recently. And the very same congratulations and best wishes to Ms Zara Gallagher, the junior infants' teacher on the recent birth of her son.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Martin and Lorraine Dempsey on the birth of their little daughter recently. Also to Peadar and Lorraine Lacey on the birth of their baby boy and to Peadar's sister, Sarah Jane and her husband Conal Nolan on the birth of their baby boy. There is always joy, even in the gloomiest of times!

Clonegal-Kildavin

Veteran Players Group

We have been quiet for a while, planning our next project. We hope all our followers and supporters are well and safe. Our next project is a book of historical photos connected to the community, people and places. Now that the world is quite waiting for the end of this crisis, we are asking you to look up your old photographs, so we can consider publishing them. It is also an opportunity to remind ourselves of the generations who endured much more than is being asked of us. If you have old photographs let someone on committee know, we can arrange to scan them and return immediately. Photos can be scanned and emailed to maggie1980@live.ie.

Holy Week and Easter Schedule 2020.

Parishes Clonegal/Kildavin, Ballon/Rathoe, and Myshall/Drumphea, Holy Week Ceremonies and Easter Sunday Mass will be celebrated using the webcam in Ballon Church available on webcam mcnmedia.tv/cameras/st-peter-and-pauls-churchballon. Ceremonies also available on radio 107.6FM.

Holy Week Schedules are as follows: Saturday, April 4, Mass at 6 p.m.; Palm Sunday, April5, Mass at 11.30 a.m.; Tuesday, April 7, Mass at 10 a.m.; Holy Hour at 7 p.m. - Theme Healing; Wednesday, April 8, Mass at 10 a.m.; Holy Hour at 7 p.m. - Theme Reconciliation - Forgiveness; Holy Thursday, April 9, Mass of the Lord's Supper 7 p.m.; Good Friday, April 10, Solemn Celebration of the Lord's Passion at 3 p.m.; Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m.; Holy Saturday, April 11, Easter Vigil at 9 p.m.; Easter Sunday, April 12, Mass at 11.30 a.m.

Community Group - Volunteers

A 24-hour phone line will be answered by volunteers from the parish of Clonegal and Kildavin. Don't be alone. Done be isolated. If there is something you need, medication pick up, groceries or just need someone to talk too, we are here for you.

All contact will be kept confidential. All of our volunteers will follow the HSE guidelines to keep everybody safe. Please phone 087 7181850, please share this number with your neighbours who may be living on their own.

Ben Mulhall Park Association

In line with the Governments announcement regarding Covid-19 and following their guidelines, the Ben Mulhall Park is officially closed to the public. NO entry is permitted. We appreciate your understanding during this difficult time. Please keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

Clonroche-Poulpeasty

Sympathy

During these difficult time we would like to extend sympathy to two families in the parish, The Kehoe Family Killegney on the death of Bridget Kehoe, Killegney Clonroche, who will be sadly missed by her brother Martin, nephews nieces and relatives, and to the O'Doherty family, Coolnacon, Clonroche beloved husband of Mary and father of John, Eamon, Martin, Kevin, Ann, Mag, Bernie and Pauline.

Sadly missed by his loving family, grandchildren Carol, Chris, Paul, Ellie Mai, Harry, Sophie and Ryan, sons-in-law, John, Wayne and Johnny, daughters-in-law Geradine and Cheryl, relatives and friends. Private funerals and burials have taken place, and we send our condolences to all concerned. RIP.

Midweek Voices with Dan Walsh

South East Radio will air a recording from 2003 on Wednesday, April 8, at 8 p.m. this recording will feature 12th annual Horticultural course held in Teagasc the old Agricultural Institute in Clonroche. It features Denis Kennedy, John Cassidy and Marie Barron.

Covid-19 Help Facilities

Elderly people that require help with collecting shopping or prescriptions can ring Enniscorthy Garda Station 053 9242580. They will put you in touch with a person from their area that can help or Cloughbawn GAA Club would like to play our part by providing help to anyone in our community, member or non-member, who needs help with collecting groceries, prescriptions, or any other essential needs.

Please contact one of our Healthy Club Committee members if you need any help and we can co-ordinate a helpful volunteer for the task: Joe Lillis 086 8644609, Suzanne Keating 087 9837080, Mairead Furlong 087 9692229, Seamus Flood 086 2533397, Anne Kehoe 087 9881081.

Kiltealy-Ballindaggin

MESSAGE FROM FR. JIM FEGAN

The obligation to be physically present at Mass is suspended till further notice. Mass will continue to be celebrated privately in our parish, and the intentions of parishioners will be remembered at these Masses.

In these extraordinary times when we cannot gather as a christian community to celebrate Mass, let us unite ourselves spiritually to the Mass as it is being celebrated in our churches. You can do this by praying the prayers in a booklet - which is on Kiltealy and Ballindaggin Development Facebook pages- and also by joining broadcast Masses on radio or television. On weekday mornings at 10.30 a.m. Mass is broadcast on RTE News Now and on Sundays on South East Radio and also RTE television.

If I can help in any way during this time, please feel free to give me a call at 087 2395087. We will continue to keep each other in prayer, and ask God's protection for our families and our country.

LATE MARGARET MULHALL

It was with a feeling of deep regret that news was learned of the sudden passing of Margaret Mulhall (nee O'Brien), Ballycrystal, Kiltealy which occurred on Sunday, March 29, Deepest sympathy is extended to her husband Jim, to her daughter Claire and to her sons James, John and Jimmy and extended family and friends.

Margaret was a native of New Ross and she and her husband Jim moved to Ballycrystal following their retirement. Margaret was very popular in the area and her pleasing personality endeared to all who had the pleasure of knowing her. She was a woman of deep faith and was on the rota of readers in Kiltealy church and had recently joined the Eucharistic Adoration team. She was a loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother and friend and her passing will leave a huge void in her family and also in the community in Kiltealy.

A private family funeral took place and a memorial Mass will be held at a later date. May she rest in peace.

COVID 19 HELPLINE

The Wexford County Council Covid 19 community support helpline is 053 9196000 or email covidsupport@wexfordcoco.ie Lines are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Seven days per week. Assistance will be provided for medical, food and fuel needs.

It is important especially for older people to have their eircode written down and stuck up in an easily accessible place, i.e. on the fridge. Local Duffry Rovers and Kiltealy and Ballindaggin Development groups are also available for assistance, deliveries etc for people cocooning in their homes.

KILTEALY BOTTLE BANKS

If you see that the bottle banks outside Kiltealy Community Hall are full you can log a request to have them emptied by emailing customerservice@wexfordcoco.ie with the location of the bank, i.e. Kiltealy.

Great efforts are being made to keep the village and area clean and tidy so with this in mind people are asked not to leave bottles in boxes/bags beside the bins if the bins are full. Please notify the council and bring your bottles back another time.

AGE ACTION IRELAND

Age Action and the Irish Red Cross have announced funding to provide additional assistance to older and vulnerable people around Ireland, who are experiencing hardship or extra expenses as a result of Covid 19 pandemic by making once off grants up to a maximum of 500, per person/household affected. For further information go to ageaction.ie or for an application form email hardship2020@redcross.ie or phone Irish Red Cross at 01 6424600 or Age Action at 01 4756989.

BEST WISHES

Best wishes to anyone who may be ill at this time and also to all the heroic doctors, nurses, health care and front line people who are getting us through this health crisis. Ye are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Marshalstown-Castledockrell

Good Wishes

Good wishes to all from the parish, who are unwell at the moment. A speedy recovery to all. A very happy Easter to all readers and contributors.

Storytelling

Story House in Castledockrell has been cancelled till further notice due to Covid-19. Thank you to all our supporters.

Church Services

There will be no Church Services in the parish for the foreseeable future.

Bingo

We wish to inform everyone that the bingo in Marshalstown Community Centre has been cancelled till further notice due to Covid-19. Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your support in the past.

Social dancing

social dancing that usually takes place in Marshalstown Community Centre has been cancelled till further notice due to Covid-19. Looking forward to seeing all soon again.

Notes Deadline

Please note due to an earlier deadline items for the notes should reach me by 6 p.m. on the Thursday before each issue including on bank holiday weekends. Also only not for profit items should be included in the notes. Thank you for your co-operation.
A new attack ad by President Donald Trump's campaign that portrays former vice president Joe Biden as too cozy with China to confront the country over the coronavirus pandemic includes an image of Gary Locke, a former governor of Washington state, that appears to falsely suggest he is a Chinese official.

Locke, who is Chinese American and was serving as U.S. ambassador to China at the time, is briefly depicted onstage at a 2013 event in Beijing with Biden, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The clip is interspersed with others of Biden toasting the country's leader, Xi Jinping, and criticizing Trump as xenophobic for imposing a travel ban on China following the coronavirus outbreak in that country.

"During America's crisis, Biden protected China's feelings," asserts the ad, which prompted swift condemnation by Democrats for its inclusion of Locke.

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh defended the online ad in a Thursday night tweet, saying it was used because it "specifically places Biden in Beijing in 2013" on a trip he took with his son Hunter Biden. "Memory Lane for ol' Joe," Murtaugh wrote.

The Trump campaign's contention that Biden helped his son profit from Chinese investments is part of its argument that the former vice president is cozy with China. Hunter Biden traveled with his father on Air Force Two to China in December 2013. Shortly afterward, he joined the board of a just-formed investment advisory firm.

Murtaugh's tweet did not address criticism that the Trump campaign appeared to be suggesting that Locke is a Chinese official at a time when Asian Americans face rising bigotry and blame for the coronavirus outbreak.

Nor did he address the fact that Trump initially praised Xi for China's response to the outbreak.

In a statement, Biden spokesman Andrew Bates called the depiction of Locke "repugnant" and said it "speaks to exactly why the Vice President is determined to win this battle for the soul of our nation."

"It's also incredibly revealing that this ad comes from a president who spent weeks buying the Chinese government's spin about containment of the outbreak, despite Joe Biden warning him not to," said Bates, who also noted that Locke supports Biden's presidential bid.

Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur and former Democratic presidential candidate who is Asian American, said Locke's inclusion in the Trump ad is "infuriating."

"Gary Locke is as American as the day is long," he tweeted. "Trump rewriting history as if he effectively responded to the virus is utter garbage. We lost 70 days and thousands of lives due to his incompetence and disregard for what was happening overseas."

American Bridge, a Democratic super PAC, also lambasted the Trump campaign.

"President Trump and his gang of ghouls have never been afraid to trot out racist tropes when they think it suits political goals, but this is a new low - even for them," said Kyle Morse, a spokesman for the group. "In case the Trump campaign needs a refresher, Governor Locke is a lifelong public servant who blazed trails and inspired Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the country."

Before his appointment as U.S. ambassador to China in 2011, Locke served as commerce secretary under President Barack Obama - positions that followed his eight-year tenure as governor of Washington.
This whole thing has been a nightmare, and I had to physically pull myself from watching the news because I was having panic attacks. I cannot fathom someone so twisted and vile as this man who has done nothing but prove his utter incompetency in all this, and yet still have people wanting to go to bat for him. I never want to understand it, and I'm so sick that so many people are losing their lives because of it

Reply

Thread

Link

I couldn't agree with you more.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

For a hot second, I really thought that Barbra Streisand was doing some political journalism

Reply

Thread

Link

I hope Pence suffer through all 7 circles of hell.

Reply

Thread

Link

time for the urn mike

Reply

Thread

Link

So Pence banned something, it drew attention to how the admin is a bunch of cowardly tools, inlcuding attention from Streisand, and he was forced to un-ban them? lmao



exactly the brilliance I expect from the guy who's afraid of Mulan





Reply

Thread

Link

I like this Streisand Effect much more than the old one

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Ok I don't think I ever realized that was how her name is spelled.

Reply

Thread

Link

Yeah for the longest time I use to spell it Barbara which is legally her name but chooses by the other spelling lol.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

It's part of the Berenstein conspiracy tbh

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

my employer finally notified us that we'll be furloughed as of the 18th :( i'm very lucky to be living at home rn and have all of my needs met, plus we'll have full access to our healthcare benefits through may 31st. but fuck i feel awful for my coworkers who are going to struggle during this time.

Reply

Thread

Link

Team nobody, CNN can choke and so can Trump and Pence.

Reply

Thread

Link



Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ

Reply

Thread

Link

Eh, a lot of the media aren't that much better than this administration when it comes to giving people the proper information that's so needed in this crisis situation. They are so busy complaining about misinformation from the giant orange at the podium and yet continue to give him the spotlight he loves so much to spout out said misinformation. It just makes getting the proper information so much more difficult and it's literally jeopardizing people's lives.

Reply

Thread

Link

Pretty much. I dont watch the nightly rally, but do want to know how the rest of the nation is dealing with this. However the media just goes to OMG he talked about Tiger King and regurgitated his disinformation. CNN and MSNBC should just report on the science facts from Fauci and Birx, and if there is any actual news.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Can he do that? Does Fauchi work for him?

Reply

Thread

Link





https://lawandcrime.com/lawsuit/trump-family-loses-huge-court-fight-to-force-racketeering-enterprise-lawsuit-into-secret-arbitration/ Just gonna leave this here..

Reply

Thread

Link

I remember my mom telling me to take zinc and I was confuse as to why shes suddenly urging me to take it. Then I learned its because of Trump who obviously has no business dispensing medical advice. I dont bother with the press briefings. She has 40 years of experience as an RN and she talks about how some doctors are not good (calls out on them), but shell listen to Trump. The cognitive dissonance is disappointing but unsurprising.

I even semi-argued with her about hydroxychloroquine where I didnt see much difference or improvement with Covid patients. She couldnt argue back because she hasnt been assigned with said patients due to having COPD and diabetes.

Reply

Thread

Link

The local news posted how some 60something year old woman said that hydroxychloroquine cured her. I'm like "...., okay." There's so much misinformation, all the time. It's one reason I'm glad to be in Germany. My county does a daily update on Facebook on how the disease is progressing (new cases, recovered, dead) by city. It's a nice break down without being all doom and gloom. It keeps me feeling much more at ease.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Im quite envious that you have leader isnt sociopathic idiot. I have classmates who are nurses in Germany and it kinda makes me jealous lol.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link
A shootout between a suspect and law enforcement on Interstate 10 in Boerne on Thursday left one man hospitalized and a Kendall County Sheriffs Office deputy shot in the arm.

Park Nathan Palmore, 50, of Adkins, faces one count of attempted capital murder of a public servant, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a public servant, and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a civilian, authorities said.

Chris Shadrock, a Boerne spokesman, said officers responded at 9:32 a.m. to the 35000 block of Interstate 10 westbound for reports of a man armed with a shotgun who was chasing another man.

RELATED: 2 more die of COVID-19 as S.A. cases surpass 600

As officers arrived, Palmore allegedly drove past them and left the scene.

Boerne officers Paul Bilotta and James Schmidt as well as Kendall County Deputy Rollin Senger chased Palmore onto Interstate 10 heading toward Comfort.

Palmore abruptly stopped off the interstate, exited his vehicle and allegedly fired a shotgun at his pursuers, police said. Senger was struck in the arm.

Senger, Schmidt and Bilotta returned fire, striking Palmore multiple times, authorities said.

Officials said Senger was treated for his injury. The Boerne officers were not injured.

Palmore was flown to San Antonio Military Medical Center where he underwent surgery. Officials did not reveal his condition.

Bilotta is a 14-year Boerne police veteran and Schmidt is a five-year veteran. Senger has been with the Kendall sheriffs office for 7 years.

Shadrock said Bilotta and Schmidt are on administrative duty pending the outcome of a Texas Rangers investigation.

Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. To read more from Jacob, become a subscriber. jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 18:33:48|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

People wearing handmade protective gears wait to enter a supermarket in Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 8, 2020. (Photo by Martin Zabala/Xinhua)

The Chinese side firmly supports the South American country's measures against the outbreak, and has sent to Argentina supplies related to epidemic prevention and control, said Xi, adding that experts of the two countries have also exchanged experience on how to battle the epidemic.

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said the Chinese side is ready to continue sharing COVID-19 prevention and control experience with Argentina and offering assistance within its capacity.

Xi made the remarks in a recent exchange of messages with Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez.

Xi, on behalf of the Chinese government and the Chinese people, extended sincere sympathies to the Argentine government and people as they are fighting against the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The Chinese side firmly supports the South American country's measures against the outbreak, and has sent to Argentina supplies related to epidemic prevention and control, said Xi, adding that experts of the two countries have also exchanged experience on how to battle the epidemic.

A staff member checks the body temperature of a passenger at a train station in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Martin Zabala)

He also said that the Chinese side is ready to continue sharing COVID-19 prevention and control experience, as well as therapies with, and offering assistance within its capacity to Argentina so as to step up bilateral anti-epidemic exchanges and cooperation, and make positive contributions to preserving global and regional public health security.

In his message to Xi, Fernandez appreciated China's strong support, and said that China has demonstrated strong leadership and the ability to innovate during its COVID-19 fight, setting an example for his country.

He also said that China has the world's most professional epidemic prevention and control experience, from which Argentina hopes to learn, adding that he firmly believes that the bilateral cooperation to fight against the outbreak will further deepen the friendly and mutually beneficial relationship between the two peoples. 
Harvey Weinstein arrives at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on Feb. 24, 2020. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

Harvey Weinstein Free of CCP Virus Symptoms, Spokesman Says

Harvey Weinstein, who is serving a prison sentence for rape, has no symptoms of the CCP virus, his spokesman said on Thursday, more than two weeks after a union official for corrections officers said the former movie producer had tested positive.

As of now, its been 14 days since reports of concern from people inside the prison, and he has no symptoms and no issues, Weinstein spokesman Juda Engelmayer said.

Weinstein, 68, was sentenced on March 11 for sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping Jessica Mann, a onetime aspiring actress.

Michael Powers, head of the state corrections officers union, said on March 22 that Weinstein had tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, which causes the respiratory illness COVID-19.

At the time, Powers said Weinstein had been placed in isolation at Wende Correctional Facility, the maximum security prison east of Buffalo, New York, where Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence. Powers said he was concerned for corrections officers, who he said lacked protective equipment.

Powers could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

I dont know the exact status of his medical condition, Arthur Aidala, a lawyer for Weinstein, told Reuters on Thursday. But when I speak with him he sounds fine.

In a statement on March 23, Weinsteins defense team would neither confirm nor deny whether Weinstein had tested positive for COVID-19. They said statements made about his health had not been authorized by the Department of Corrections and could be a violation of privacy regulations.

State prison officials have said they cannot comment on any individual prisoners medical record.

Weinstein was one of Hollywoods most powerful producers, known for transforming the independent film industry. He produced the Academy Award winner Shakespeare in Love and was responsible for other films including Pulp Fiction, The English Patient and Gangs of New York.

Following his March sentencing, Weinstein spent time at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for heart problems. He arrived in Wende on March 18 from New York Citys Rikers Island jail.

Weinsteins conviction was hailed as a victory for the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct by powerful men.

More than 100 women, including famous actresses, have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct stretching back decades. He has denied the allegations, saying any sex was consensual.

Weinstein faces separate sexual assault charges in Los Angeles.

Imran Ansari, another of Weinsteins lawyers, on Thursday declined to comment on Weinsteins CCP virus status, but said Weinstein remains in the prisons medical unit for treatment of various conditions he was suffering from prior to his arrival at Wende.

Hes not receiving any special perks or treatment, Ansari said.

By Karen Freifeld

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
The curve is getting a little flatter. That was Thursday's good news: In some states, graphs showing new infections of the novel coronavirus seem to be leveling out, after a long period of sharp increases that have given America the worst confirmed outbreak in the world.

Thursday's bad news was that, in the process, the U.S. economy has been flattened.

The Labor Department said that 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment last week and another 6.9 million the week before that. That was a massive surge: the previous record high was 695,000, set back in 1982.

Overall, about 17 million Americans have suddenly become jobless, thanks to business closures and limits on movement that were imposed in March, after spotty testing and a slow federal response gave the virus a two-month head start.

So as epidemiologists turned to restrained positivity this week - "We are hoping with cautious optimism" said Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious-disease doctor - it was the economists' turn to sound somber.

"This isn't a recession, it's the Great Depression II," wrote Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Bank, in a note to clients.

These crosscurrents - the apparent slowing of the pandemic and a virtual collapse of the economy - are certain to increase pressure on leaders to figure out how and when to ease restrictions that are costing jobs and growth. Some will probably push to relax the restrictions faster, while others warn that doing so prematurely could invite a resurgence of the outbreak.

More broadly, the news was sobering. In the United States, the virus's death toll continued to mount rapidly, with the total coming to roughly 16,300.

Overseas, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care, where he had spent three days suffering from the virus, though he remains hospitalized.

President Donald Trump is expected to name a second coronavirus task force within days, this one aimed specifically at reviving the economy.

On Capitol Hill, competing proposals for more financial help failed in the Senate on Thursday, as Democrats objected to a proposed $250 billion increase in a small-business program, saying it was insufficient, and Republicans shot down the counter-offer. That left the prospects of more aid unclear.

Top officials began chiming in on when restrictions can be loosened. Attorney General William Barr said it should be next month. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said it might be next month.

But they don't get to decide. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat - one of those who do - said he wasn't yet sure how to do it without letting the virus roar back. His comments came on a day when New York reported another record-high death toll.

"Everybody is assuming, well, once we get through this, we're done," Cuomo said. "I wouldn't be so quick to assume that. This virus has been ahead of us from Day One. We've underestimated the enemy, and that is always dangerous, my friends. We should not do that again."

Trump - who downplayed the virus' threat during crucial weeks of squandered preparation - now faces a pair of crises, one medical and one economic, that will largely define his first term. That is becoming increasingly clear at a time when Democrats are coalescing around the standard-bearer who is likely to challenge Trump in the fall, former vice president Joe Biden.

Trump told reporters Thursday that the administration was likely to release a proposal over the weekend to help the airline industry. "The airline business has been hit very hard, as everybody knows, and we are going to be in a position to do a lot to help them," he said.

The president also said he is talking to foreign leaders in an effort to boost the energy industry. More generally, he added, "We are going to open up very, very soon, I hope."

Still, Trump's handling of the crises brought a rebuke Thursday from the Wall Street Journal editorial board, often a Trump ally, which wrote that the president's daily press briefings have become "less about defeating the virus and more about the many feuds of Donald Trump." Trump responded with a tweet, telling the Journal that "the ratings for the White House Press Briefings are 'through the roof.' "

Around the world, countries continued to struggle while hoping they were seeing positive glimmers.

In Italy - the country with the highest confirmed death toll - officials announced 4,204 new cases of the virus. That is a decline from the peak of the country's outbreak, but it is 1,000 more than the daily total from earlier this week. The outbreak, in other words, may be in a decline in Italy, but it appears to be a slow one.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that he might consider relaxing some elements of the country's stringent national lockdown "by the end of this month," if scientists agree.

At the current rate, America seems likely to surpass Italy for the world's largest confirmed death toll in the coming days. China, the nation where the outbreak began, has announced just 3,300 deaths - but there is evidence that the real number is many times higher.

In the United States, New York accounts for about 40 percent of all the deaths so far. That state's outbreak, which has spread outward from New York City, is now so deadly that the state needs more funeral directors to handle the load.

"If you ever told me that as governor I would have to take these actions, I couldn't even contemplate where we are now," Cuomo said Thursday during his daily news briefing. "And to put all this in perspective, I lived through 9/11; 9/11 was supposed to be the darkest day in New York for a generation."

As officials in New York said the outbreak seemed to be slowing, public health experts raised another question: Will there be another New York?

On Thursday, one of the biggest problems seemed to be in Michigan, which has the third-highest total of cases. The state reported 117 new deaths, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said she thought an influential model of the disease's spread, which predicted this week that Michigan's outbreak had peaked, was too optimistic.

She extended the state's stay-at-home order until April 19. "You can see that we are in control of our fate here," Whitmer said.

She also announced a task force aimed at understanding why black and Hispanic Americans have made up a disproportionately large share of the virus's death toll. In Michigan, African Americans make up 14 percent of the population but more than 40 percent of those who have died.

"This virus is holding a mirror up to our society and reminding us of the deep inequities in this country," Whitmer said. "From basic lack of access to health care, transportation and protections in the workplace, these inequities hit people of color and vulnerable communities the hardest."

If the virus' spread is indeed starting to slow, its economic cost is only growing. On Thursday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy was headed downhill fast.

"We are moving with alarming speed from 50-year lows in unemployment to what will likely be very high, although temporary, levels," Powell said in a Brookings Institution webcast. The Fed has taken aggressive measures to prop up struggling companies in recent days, an intervention more sweeping than during the financial crisis a decade ago.

Even after Congress passed a sweeping $2 trillion relief package, many individuals and business owners say they've found it hard to get help.

Democrats on Thursday resisted a GOP proposal to add $250 million to the Paycheck Protection Program, a small-business initiative, saying more is needed; Republicans said they are playing politics, leaving a standoff for now.

And state unemployment offices - charged with helping a flood of newly jobless people - have been unable to keep up. Florida started handing out paper unemployment applications this week because the state's jobless claims website kept failing. In New York, laid-off workers are having to call hundreds of times to complete their applications.

Around the country, new bread lines have sprung up, as people wait - often in long traffic jams - to get food from local food banks. The slow release of funds in the United States is in marked contrast to some other countries, such as Denmark, where the government is paying workers 75 percent of their salaries during the pandemic, and Canada, which has vowed to get money to workers in 10 days or less.

That pain has led some conservatives to push for a relatively quick relaxation of virus-related lockdowns, to get the economy moving again.

"When this period of time, at the end of April, expires, I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have and not just tell people to go home and hide under their bed but allow them to use other ways - social distancing and other means - to protect themselves," Barr said late Wednesday in an interview on Fox News Channel.

On Thursday, Mnuchin also said it was possible that some restrictions could be relaxed next month.

But while such comments can create pressure for action, the decisions that would restart the economy depend far more heavily on governors and mayors. And public health officials say they should hold off until the virus is at very low levels.

Many experts say the stay-home orders and social distancing will probably be lifted in phases. Even then, consumers would need to feel safe going out to stores, movie theaters, ballparks and restaurants. If they won't leave home, the economy will stay flat.

Tom Barkin, president of the Richmond Fed, said he saw parallels to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when far-reaching security measures allowed Americans to feel safe going out again. In this case, he said, it might take a coronavirus vaccine or widespread immunity testing, but both of those things probably are still far off.

"We're going to have to think hard about what are the things that will have to make us feel it's safe to shop again or eat out again," Barkin said.
The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), has asked the minister of communication, Isa Pantami, to provide it with data to help identify vulnerable persons across the country.

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, the NGF chairman, said this at the end of the Forums fourth COVID-19 teleconferencing.

The details of the meeting were made available via a copy of the communique on Thursday.

The Forum received update from the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, on the response of his ministry to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Including support to State Governments to help them identify vulnerable persons through a data mining study coordinated by the Nigerian Communications Commission with the support of telecommunications providers in the country.

Lingering controversies

Recently, there have been controversies on how the federal government through the National Social Investment Programmes was able to identify the vulnerable members of the population benefiting from the palliatives.

President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered a 14-day lockdown in Abuja and Lagos, as well as Ogun State due to its proximity to Lagos. Mr Buhari said the most vulnerable people affected by the lockdown would be assisted.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs subsequently announced the distribution of the first tranche of N5 billion.

But the leadership of the National Assembly on Tuesday criticised the approach adopted in the distribution social grants to the vulnerable Nigerians who suffer the impact of the coronavirus lockdown.

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, called for legislation for the programme in line with what it said was global best practices.

In reaction to the National Assemblys assertions, an irate senior special adviser to the president on social investment, Maryam Uwais, in a release she issued on Wednesday, described the lawmakers claims as false, regrettable and dangerous.

She also alluded to the fact that the lawmakers were not happy with the scheme because they could not manipulate the process.

She explained that the beneficiaries are captured under the National Social Register (NSR), through a poverty mapping of the LGAs in each state, community mobilisation, targeting and identification supported by trained enumerators at State and LGA levels.

She also said state governors were equally carried along in the process.

The lawmakers have since reacted to her comments, saying their own comments were taken out of context and misunderstood by the aide.

Governors wade in

In the NGF communique, Mr Fayemi said the forum resolved to use all data from the communication ministry to target palliatives to the most vulnerable persons the country.

The forum commended the Minister for taking a functional role in the COVID-19 response and assured him of their resolve to use all relevant data available to target palliatives to the most vulnerable persons in the most effective and efficient manner, Mr Fayemi said.

Read the gull NGF Statement

Issued at the end of the 4th COVID-19 teleconference meeting of the Nigeria Governors Forum held on Thursday, April 9, 2020

We, member of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) at our meeting held today deliberated on the COVID-19 pandemic in he country and resolved as follows:

1. The NGF Chairman briefed State Governors on ongoing COVID-19 coordination efforts between the Forum and various organisations including the Presidential Task Force to the COVID-19 Coalition Against COVID (CACOVID) and MTN.

Advertisements



2. The Forum received update from the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, on the response of his ministry to the COVID-19 pandemic, including support to State Governments to help them identify vulnerable persons through a data mining study coordinated by the Nigerian Communications Commission with the support of telecommunications providers in the country.

3. The Forum commended the Minister for taking a functional role in the COVID-19 response and assured him of their resolve to use all relevant data available to target palliatives to the most vulnerable persons in the most effective and efficient manner.

4. Governors are taking necessary measures to strengthen operations in their Emergency Communication Centres (ECCs) to improve the communication response between distressed citizens and Emergency Response Agencies (ERAs) including the State Emergency Agency, ambulances, police, Fire Service and the Federal Road safety Corps. Operations will be resident in the ECCs to process distress calls and contact relevant ERAs.

5. Finally, following an update from Olubayo Adekanmi, Chief Transformation Officer, MTN Nigeria on ongoing work with the NGF Secretariat to estimate the vulnerability profile of all States based on their populations, age risk, international travel profile, population density and state contiguity, epidemiological metrics and spending patterns. Governors resolved to adopt the new data to strengthen the distribution of palliatives put in place and support from various organisations and persons.

Governor Kayode Fayemi, Chairman, NGF, 9th April, 2020
WASHINGTON  Rong Sun, aka Vicky Sun made her initial appearance on federal charges of illegally selling an unregistered pesticide, illegally importing the unregistered pesticide, and mailing a prohibited article. Sun was charged with a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorneys Office on April 8, 2020.

The defendant took advantage of the current worldwide crisis to sell an illegal product with the claim that it protects individuals from viruses, said U.S. Attorney Byung J. BJay Pak. We will take quick action through the Georgia COVID-19 Task Force to put a stop to criminals preying on the public with Coronavirus-related fraud schemes.

Reliance on fraudulent products may increase the spread of COVID-19 and exacerbate the current public health emergency, said Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Susan Bodine. EPA and our law enforcement partners are working hard to keep these illegal products off the shelves, off the internet, and out of this country. We ask American consumers to help by checking the list of approved products found at epa.gov/coronavirus before making any purchases.

In an event of this magnitude, the public needs facts, not fiction, on the best ways to protect themselves from viruses, said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark for the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division. We must all remain vigilant against unsubstantiated or false claims that products ward off viruses. Those marketing such illegal products should beware they may end up on the radar of federal investigators, and be vigorously prosecuted.

The sale of this product not only violates several federal laws, it also gives people a false hope. During a global crisis, like we are experiencing right now, it is incredibly dangerous and reckless to exploit peoples fear for profit, said acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Hammer, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. HSI Atlanta, in conjunction with our law enforcement partners, will continue to prioritize our efforts to protect Americans from COVID-19 fraud.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service will pursue those individuals that are illegally utilizing the mail system to defraud victims during this coronavirus pandemic, said Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division. With the collaborative investigative efforts of our law enforcement partners, we remain resolute to pursue and bring to justice any criminals involved in these deceptive schemes.

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court: The defendant allegedly sold an unregistered pesticide, Toamit Virus Shut Out, through eBay, claiming that it would help protect individuals from viruses. The pesticide was marketed as Virus Shut Out and Stop The Virus. As shown below, the eBay listing depicted the removal of viruses by wearing the Virus Shut Out and Stop The Virus product.

Additionally, the listing stated that its main ingredient is ClO2, which is a new generation of widely effective and powerful fungicide recognized internationally at present. Bacteria and viruses can be lifted up within one meter of the wearers body, just like a portable air cleaner with its own protective cover. It also stated that In extraordinary times, access to public places and confined spaces will be protected by one more layer and have one more layer of safety protection effect, thus reducing the risks and probability of infection and transmission.

The listing further claimed that Toamit is office and home essential during viral infections reduce transmission risk by 90%.

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, FIFRA, regulates the production, sale, distribution and use of pesticides in the United States. A pesticide is any substance intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest. The term pest includes viruses. Pesticides are required to be registered with the EPA. Toamit Virus Shut Out was not registered and it is illegal to distribute or sell unregistered pesticides. In addition, Sun allegedly imported the pesticide from Japan, violating the anti-smuggling law and then sent it via U.S. Postal Service priority mail.

The EPA has taken steps to block importing of Toamit Virus Shut Out and its sale within the United States: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-administrator-wheeler-talks-retailers-and-third-party-marketplace-platforms-discuss and https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/us-epa-acts-protect-public-unregistered-virus-shut-out-product-imported-honolulu-and.

Rong Sun, a/k/a Vicky Sun, 34, of Fayetteville, Georgia, made her initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan J. Baverman. Members of the public are reminded that the complaint only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the governments burden to prove the defendants guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

The Environmental Protection Agency-Criminal Investigation Division, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are investigating this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Huber, Deputy Chief Complex Frauds, and Senior Counsel Krishna Dighe of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division are prosecuting the case.

The public is urged to report suspected fraud schemes related to COVID-19 (the Coronavirus) by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) hotline (1-866-720-5721) or by e-mailing the NCDF at disaster@leo.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorneys Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
SAN FRANCISCO, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman urges investors in TAL Education Group (NYSE: TAL) who have suffered significant losses to submit their losses now . The firm is investigating possible securities law violations.



Relevant Holding Period: Before Apr. 8, 2020

Sign Up: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/TAL

Contact An Attorney Now: TAL@hbsslaw.com

844-916-0895

TAL Education Group (TAL) Investigation:

The investigation focuses on the accuracy of TALs reported financial results and effectiveness of its internal controls and procedures over financial reporting.

TAL is a leading K-12 after-school tutoring services provider in China. Over the past two years, TAL has been dogged by accusations of cooking its books. One such detractor includes research firm Muddy Waters, which published several scathing reports about TAL beginning in June 2018, calling the Company a fraud and claiming TAL had overstated net income by more than 43% over the past two fiscal years.

On Apr. 7, 2020, after market hours, TALs financial reporting came into the spotlight again, when the company announced that it had discovered irregularities and violations of the Companys business conduct and internal control policies by an employee in the Companys newly introduced Light Class business. The Company stated that it suspects that the employee in question conspired with external vendors to wrongly inflate Light Class sales by forging contracts and other documentations. TAL disclosed that after reporting this information to the authorities, the employee had been taken into police custody.

On this news, the price of TAL shares dropped sharply over the next trading day.

Were focused on investors losses and determining the true scope of this already admitted financial fraud at TAL, said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding TAL should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email TAL@hbsslaw.com .

About Hagens Berman

Hagens Berman is a national law firm with nine offices in eight cities around the country and eighty attorneys. The firm represents investors, whistleblowers, workers and consumers in complex litigation. More about the firm and its successes is located at hbsslaw.com . For the latest news visit our newsroom or follow us on Twitter at @classactionlaw .
Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi says it is donating 100 million doses of a malaria drug being tested for use as a treatment against the new coronavirus.

Track live updates on coronavirus here

In a statement Friday, the company said the hydroxychloroquine doses will be given to 50 countries. The company said it also is ramping up production, aiming to quadruple is capacity to manufacture the drug.

Sanofi said it will continue to donate the medicine to governments and hospital institutions if ongoing clinical studies demonstrate its efficacy and safety in COVID-19 patients.

But the company also cautioned that hydroxychloroquine has several serious known side effects and tests are so far inconclusive over its safety and efficacy in treating COVID-19.

It said that while hydroxychloroquine is generating a lot of hope for patients around the world, it should be remembered that there are no results from ongoing studies, and the results may be positive or negative.

United States President Donald Trump has been among the drug's proponents, tweeting that hydroxychloroquine plus an antibiotic could be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine and should be put in use immediately.
The confirmed death toll from the new coronavirus has exceeded 100,000 worldwide, as the United Nations global health agency  the World Health Organization  warned governments against rolling back measures introduced to curb the spread of the pandemic.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday the agency would like to see an easing, but cautioned that lifting restrictions could lead to a deadly resurgence.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, Tedros said there had been a welcome slowing of epidemics in some European countries  Italy, Germany, Spain and France  but there had been an alarming acceleration elsewhere, including community transmission in 16 countries of Africa.

His comments came shortly before a tally by the Johns Hopkins University showed that the number of confirmed deaths associated with COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, stood at 100,376.

Some health experts fear the actual toll is higher given the challenges of confirming the cause of death, especially outside of hospitals, as well as limited testing, different rules for counting the dead and possible cover-ups by some governments.





Real risk of resurgence

As the new coronavirus virus spread across the globe, an increasing number of countries have imposed extraordinary curbs on movement and social contact in a bid to contain the spread of the disease and prevent healthcare systems from being overwhelmed.

With economically-crippling lockdowns extended in country after country, governments have been pressed to ease restrictions on key businesses and industries.

But with a vaccine at least a year away, the world faces an uphill battle, according to Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the United States-based Council on Foreign Relations. He said that any one country or regions success in containing the disease was shaky so long as the pathogen continues to sicken people elsewhere.

There is a real risk of resurgence of cases for two reasons: the prevalence of asymptomatic people who might spread the disease without knowing they are sick, and the threat from imported cases, he told Al Jazeera.

Around the world, public health officials and religious leaders alike have warned people against violating the lockdowns and social distancing rules over Easter and allowing the virus, which has infected more than 1.6 million people, to come storming back.

Authorities resorted to roadblocks and other means to discourage travel.

In Italy, where Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday announced an extension of the countrys lockdown until May 3, officials employed helicopters, drones and stepped-up police checks to make sure residents did no slip out of their homes.





Meanwhile, the WHOs Tedros said he was particularly concerned by the large number of infections confirmed among health workers on the front lines in the fight against the pandemic.

In some countries [there are] reports of up to 10 percent of health workers being infected, he said. This is an alarming trend.

A new UN supply task force will coordinate and scale up the procurement and distribution of protective gear, lab diagnostics and oxygen to the countries that need it most.

Every month we will need to ship at least 100 million medical masks and gloves, up to 25 million N95 respirators, gowns and face shields, up to 2.5 million diagnostic tests and large quantities of oxygen concentrators and other equipment for clinical care, he said.

The WHO also chief warned that no country was immune from the pandemic.

From this pandemic we have to try to learn  what the gaps are, this is a message even for the developed countries. Across the board you see a lack of preparedness of the public health system, Tedros said.

No country can claim it has a strong health system. We have to be really honest and assess and address this problem.
We cant give President Trump an excuse to delay the November election, but we can make it as safe as possible by supporting widespread use of vote-by-mail. Members of Congress should do what they can to ensure federal support and resources to push states to build out their systems for widespread and effective vote-by-mail. This should be included in the next coronavirus relief legislation. That means everyone should be able to vote by mail, without having to photocopy a form of identification (not everyone has a home copier) or have a witness present (many voters live alone) or have their signature compared with what is on record by an unqualified person who cant take into account any illness or disability that may cause handwriting to change. Making voting safe and accessible also means that there should be masks and gloves provided to election officers (such as me) so we can safely work at the polls to allow in-person voting.
In an effort at greater public transparency, the CEO of Springhill Medical Center said Thursday evening that 12 of the hospitals employees had tested positive for COVID-19.

The positive test results came over the last three weeks. A handful of the dozen have already returned to work while most are recovering in quarantine.

Of the dozen that tested positive, all have recovered at home with the exception of one who was hospitalized briefly and that employee is fine as well, said Jeff St. Clair, President & CEO of Springhill Medical Center.

Around half of those who tested positive work around patients, increasing the likelihood that some could be nurses. The remaining positive employees are support staff and work in other areas of the hospital.

"They do know the risks but I think they also know a hospital work environment is probably safest place in the community you can be, said St. Clair. Everybody is in a mask. All our patients are in masks when we transport. Everyone gets their temperature taken when they cross the threshold to come back in the building. Everyone knows to self-report any type of COVID-type symptoms.

He added: "Not a single positive came from anybody working on the isolation units, so these are most like community acquired.

The hospital has around 1200 employees, he said.

The hospital has typically had about 30 to 15 COVID-19 patients on any given day. Between 10 and 20 cases are awaiting results.
After a slow growth in 2019, Vietnam's cement market continues to be hit by the COVID-19 pandemic

According to FiinResearchs Vietnam Cement Market Report 2020, after reaching the record growth of 16.4 per cent in 2018, clinker and cement on-year sales growth shrank to only 3.2 per cent in 2019 due to the slowdown in both domestic and export markets.

Particularly, Vietnam began a 14-day nationwide social distancing from 1 April, resulting in the suspension of the construction of residential, commercial, and hospitality projects in big cities. In fact, domestic sales of cement recorded an on-year decline by 5 per cent while the total clinker and cement export volume reached 6.6 million tonnes for the first three months of 2020, posting a sharp decrease by 17 per cent compared to the same period last year.

As a response to the negative impact of COVID-19, the government will provide the credit stimulus package of VND250 trillion ($10.87 billion) and fiscal stimulus package of VND30 trillion ($1.3 billion) to reduce to the negative impact of COVID-19 on the economy and support economic recovery after the disease outbreak. In addition, the government has committed to boosting public investment disbursement in 2020. On March 12, the government agreed, in principle, to convert three North-South Expressway projects which were initially planned to be executed under the public-private partnership (PPP) model into public investment projects to accelerate public fund disbursement and support economic growth.

FiinResearch assesses a moderate outlook for the domestic cement market thanks to the government's commitment to boost public investment packages in 2020 to reduce the COVID 19 impacts on the economy, as well as expected improvements in residential real estate with launches in the second half of the year thanks to the support from the local authorities to accelerate the licensing process as well as to solve other legal difficulties faced by property developers.

Meanwhile, cement export markets have a negative outlook due to limited demand from key export markets, especially China, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.

The report also pointed out that the designed capacity of the Vietnamese cement industry is expected to surge in the next four years thanks to the aggressive expansion by local private players including Tan Thang, Thanh Thang, Long Thanh, and Vissai. Especially, the year 2021 is expected to witness a significant increase in cement supply thanks to the completion of five large projects.

FiinResearch forecasts domestic cement sales volume to increase by 1 per cent in 2020 and follow 4 per cent CAGR in 2021-2030 thanks to the recovery of infrastructure development, as well as the residential, commercial, and industrial real estate segments in Vietnam.
: The YSR Congress government in Andhra Pradesh on Friday abruptly removed State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar from the post by promulgating an Ordinance, amending the AP Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, curtailing the tenure of the SEC to three years from five.

"In pursuance of promulgation of Ordinance No. 5 of 2020, Dr N Ramesh Kumar, IAS (Retd), the incumbent State Election Commissioner ceases to hold the office of State Election Commissioner on and with effect from 10.04. 2020," Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department Principal Secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi said in an order.

In all, the government issued three confidential orders to this effect, providing that a retired judge of a High Court would henceforth be eligible for appointment as the State Election Commissioner.

Consequent to the promulgation of the Ordinance, Dwivedi issued an order stating that the State Election Commissioner shall be appointed by the Governor, on the recommendation of the state government.

"The State Election Commissioner will be a full time officer and will have the status of a Judge of the High Court. The State Election Commissioner shall hold office for a term of three years and the incumbent shall also be entitled for re-appointment to another term of three years, the order said.

The developments on Friday came in the backdrop of a reported tiff the Chief Minister had with the SEC after the latter postponed the elections to rural and urban local bodies on March 7 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jagan complained against him to the Governor.

The state government subsequently filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the SECs decision but the Apex Court only endorsed the deferment of polls.

The previous TDP government appointed Ramesh Kumar, a 1983-batch IAS officer who retired as Special Chief Secretary to the Governor, as the SEC for a five-year term on January 30, 2016.

The opposition parties launched a blistering attack on the YSRC government over the issue and wondered what was the express need for such a backdoor legislation when the state was fighting a major health pandemic like Coronavirus.

The main opposition Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and Congress state president S Sailajanath shot off separate letters to Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan taking strong exception to the promulgation of the Ordinance, calling it unethical and against the law.

Any amendments to the APPR Act would become applicable only after the current tenure of the incumbent SEC ends, they contended.

The opposition parties requested the Governor to uphold the rule of law and democratic values.

The ruling YSR Congress, however, called it a policy decision initiating electoral reforms in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Everyone in Washington, D.C., thinks their experiences and insights are interesting and should be part of the historical record - which explains why there are so many memoirs and why so many are so bad.

Linda Tripp, who died Wednesday, was one those people. She wanted to write a book about her life as a secretary in the White House for two presidents: George H.W. Bush, whom she adored, and Bill Clinton, who she thought was crass and immoral. She believed that she could write a book exposing Clinton's infidelities and that history would remember her as a truth-teller and a whistleblower.

Instead, she became a supporting player in Clinton's impeachment, stuck forever in the role of the duplicitous harpy who betrayed then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky by secretly recording their conversations.

"Central casting couldn't have cast a better villain," she told the podcast "Slow Burn" in 2018. "The entire country had decided who I was, and it was evil incarnate."

Unfair? Of course it's unfair. History is a narrative written by the winners, and Clinton was acquitted and thrived. Thanks, in part, to the #MeToo movement, Lewinsky has been able to transform her image from oversexed intern to a more accurate and nuanced characterization: a naive young woman swept up in an affair with a powerful man - in fact, the most powerful man in the world.

But Tripp's legacy is frozen in time: a big, brash caricature of a woman with bad highlights and questionable motives. That image was sealed in popular culture by actor John Goodman, who dressed in drag to play her on "Saturday Night Live." How did it feel to be the most hated woman in America? "Feels like high school," Goodman-as-Tripp giggled.

But it all started with a book proposal.

The New Jersey native had spent two decades as a secretary for the military, following her Army husband around the globe. After their separation in 1990, she landed the most glamorous job of her life - working at the White House.

It was a blissful two years, despite her divorce. Then, Clinton defeated Bush and the gang from Arkansas descended on the executive mansion. Tripp, a career civil servant, stayed on to work for White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum and deputy counsel Vince Foster. She didn't like them, but they liked her work: After two years, she was transferred to the Pentagon's public affairs office - a job with higher pay and prestige because she was now a political appointee.

Tripp always maintained that she was never motivated by politics, that she was just deeply troubled by Clinton's behavior toward women. Armed with little more than suspicions, she approached her friend Lucianne Goldberg, a literary agent known in conservative circles as a vocal critic of Clinton. A proposal was written for a book focused on Clinton and a ghostwriter was secured, but the book was never completed or sold.

Then in 1996, fate handed her the proof she needed: Monica Lewinsky. The former White House intern, still in the midst of her two-year affair with the president, was transferred to the Pentagon in an effort to limit their contact. At 46, Tripp was 24 years older than the young woman, but the two became close. Although some co-workers described Tripp as abrasive and overbearing, others said she was a maternal figure, nurturing and understanding. Lewinsky began to share details of her tortured affair with a married man - and not just any married man.

After a year of listening to Lewinsky - they talked up to a dozen times a day - Tripp was contacted by a Newsweek reporter digging into allegations about Clinton's womanizing. Unnerved, Tripp went back to Goldberg, shared what she knew about Lewinsky and again pitched a book. Goldberg encouraged Tripp to secretly tape her conversations, and the trap was set: Tripp recorded 22 hours of Lewinsky's confessions and encouraged the young woman to save a blue Gap dress with a stain of presidential semen instead of having it cleaned - just in case she needed evidence of the affair.

In January 1998, Tripp called independent counsel Ken Starr and, soon after, agreed to wear a wire to meet Lewinsky at a local hotel, where FBI agents confronted the unsuspecting former intern.

After the betrayal was fully revealed, Lewinsky told the grand jury: "I'm really sorry for everything that's happened. And I hate Linda Tripp."

While politicians debated whether Clinton's infidelity was America's business or just his wife's, the impeachment centered, properly, on the question of perjury: Did the president lie under oath? But Tripp was more fixated on the sex and defended her actions based on her moral code: The president was damaging the reputation of the Oval Office.

Reporters dug into her background and discovered her parents had divorced because of her father's blatant philandering. The reasons for Tripp's own divorce were not clear.

But perhaps the most shocking to Washington insiders were Tripp's secret recordings. It's hard enough to know whom to trust in this most transactional of cities, but taping was next-level betrayal. The fact that, as a woman, Tripp had broken the confidence of a friend who had trusted her with the most intimate details of her life was beyond the pale. And it was against the law: Maryland, where Tripp lived, doesn't allow recordings without both parties' consent. She was investigated, but the case was eventually dropped.

In 1999, Tripp defended herself in a CNN interview, saying she had "no choice" but to tape the conversations. "How would I prove I was telling the truth?" Tripp said on "Larry King Live." "All I can say is Monica made choices, the president made choices, and I was forced to make choices."

By the late 1990s, Tripp had become a hero to Clinton's conservative critics, and she remained so for the rest of her life. On the last day of Clinton's presidency, she was fired from her Pentagon job because, as a political appointee, she had refused to resign.

And then she disappeared from the landscape. She remarried and moved to Middleburg, Virginia, where she ran a holiday store called "Christmas Sleigh." She lost weight and became chic and polished, almost unrecognizable from the woman in the headlines. And that was pretty much it until 2018, the 20th anniversary of the scandal.

Last July, she delivered remarks at an event for National Whistleblower Day on Capitol Hill, where she said her actions were motivated not by left or right politics but by right and wrong.

"We're different," she told the group. "We're compelled to act. There comes a point where it's no longer a choice. And despite the hardships and the personal pain - not only to us but to our families - when asked most of us say we would do it all again. You know, in my case, had the circumstances been similar and had the sitting incumbent been a Republican, I would've acted no differently at all."

That summer, she also sat down for the "Slow Burn" interview. She said she feared for her life and believed the Clintons would have her killed.

And her betrayal of Lewinsky?

"Even though I believed it was the right thing, I couldn't face her, because I knew she would never in a million years understand," Tripp said. "I kept holding on to thinking that had that been my daughter, I would want to have had someone stop it - kind of like ripping a Band-Aid off a wound. It has to be done. It's not something you enjoy, but you do what you have to do. But there was no enjoyment in it. None."

Tripp was 70 when she died this week, not of coronavirus but of cancer, according to media reports. When news of her condition went public, Lewinsky tweeted: "No matter the past, upon hearing Linda Tripp is very seriously ill, I hope for her recovery. I can't imagine how difficult this is for her family."

And no, Tripp never did write the book that started it all. History will remember her, just not in the way she ever hoped or imagined.

- - -

The Washington Post's Dan Zak contributed to this report.
From tracing missing COVID-19 vulnerable individuals, contact tracing of COVID-19 positive individuals, enforcing lockdown to embarking on humanitarian missions, the role of Assam Police in these times of crisis has expanded exponentially.

"Corona ne kuch aur kya ya na kya, lekin insaan ko insaan bana diya."(Whatever Corona has done or not done, it has made people human). This was from Anand Mishra, superintendent of police, Charaideo district in Assam.

As the novel coronavirus or the COVID-19 emerges as the global pandemic, the fight against the disease has been not left with the healthcare professionals alone but other arms of the administration like the police have become deeply involved with it. From tracing missing COVID-19 vulnerable individuals, contact tracing of COVID-19 positive individuals, enforcing lockdown to embarking on humanitarian missions, the role of police in these times of crisis has expanded exponentially. The Assam Police is no exception to this phenomenon which is now a common sight across the country.

Enforcing lockdown a challenge initially

"I have been on the ground since day one. Initially, it was becoming very difficult to make people understand why it is important to stay home. People used to question the necessity of it. There were times police used to lose control. There were incidents where people were beaten up and sent home. There were a few incidents where some innocent people were hit. But there were also elements who came out with a sense of mischief and uploaded videos on social media taking self-gratification on how they have fooled the police. The police also got irritated at the beginning because they were trying really hard to enforce the lockdown but the situation was getting out of hand. Actually, neither the police nor the public knew how to handle it," Mishra told Firstpost admitting there was confusion initially as to how to implement the lockdown.

What remains a challenge for the police are the willful violators who consider breaking the lockdown as some kind of achievement.

"A lot of people are cooperating but then there is a certain section of people who would always want to violate. We have registered a lot of cases. We have been working round-the-clock to just make sure that people are kept in lockdown. We go and tell the people not to come out and then after the police leave the place they again tend to come back. You just keep chasing them. That section of society is causing a problem everywhere. We are no different. It is tough on the field but we are taking strict action against violators. It has so far been okay by and large. But in general people in rural areas are aware that somebody from outside might come and infect us," said Nalbari district superintendent of police Amanjeet Kaur.

A similar sentiment was echoed by Inspector Rajen Saikia from the Special Branch of police in Dibrugarh district.

"Police are doing everything to impose lockdown by explaining its necessity to the people, doing public announcement and even using the baton sometimes but there is one segment who simply refuses to oblige," Saikia said.

Ironic though it may sound the spurt in cases has actually helped the police and the administration alike in maintaining the lockdown.

"If an individual has not seen the magnitude and impact in his or her neighbourhood, for that individual it is difficult to believe things which are shown in the news and social media. But now since there are a few cases in my district voluntarily people are staying inside their homes. Whatever people see on social media and news, unfortunately, they have developed the tendency to be sceptical about the information. Until a few days back, Assam had zero cases. Then it was very difficult for them to believe that this is real. As cases are coming out now, people are cautious and are staying inside," said Golaghat superintendent of police Pushpraj Singh.

Over time people have started understanding the seriousness of the situation and that the threat is real.

Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates

"We let people understand that this lockdown is for people only. This is not for the administration. People have to stay safe. Social media has also created awareness about what coronavirus is. Our main focus was to inform them that there is no medicine to treat this disease. Apart from one or two violations nowadays, everybody now wears a mask which indicates awareness. People have started understanding the gravity of the situation," said Kokrajhar superintendent of police Rakesh Raushan.

The importance of lockdown was underlined by a person no less than an expert on Community Medicine.

"The decision of the lockdown was timely and had it been delayed then the casualty would have been high. The main worry is if the infected people don't take the precautions and roam around freely. That is the most dangerous thing," said Jenita Baruah, associate professor, Community Medicine, Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh.

From hardened enforcers of law to a mellowed force

Compared to the scenes that the country witnessed of police highhandedness, a semblance of peace and order has returned to the streets barring a few incidents of a willful violation of the restrictions imposed. The police on the ground have now taken on the role of counsellors in a visible image makeover and sought to understand the problem of the individual instead of going straight for the baton.

"But gradually what happened is there was a realisation that cops are also part of the society. They understood what the situation is all about, how it is all about life and death. As a policeman, as senior officers, we also keep briefing and debriefing them (cops on the ground) like what is happening around. A sensitisation from the higher-ups also came up. They told us that people should not be beaten up left and right. They should rather be counselled. There will be some people whom we have booked for violations and will continue to do so. We have been very strictly implementing this and we have registered more than 25 cases already under Section 141 (IPC)," the Charaideo superintendent of police said.

What is important to note is the role that the families of police personnel on the ground have played to soften their stand.

"At home, their relatives are also there. They also talk to their relatives. They gradually understood how the lockdown is really making life difficult for the general public and adding to the hardships," Mishra said.

He went on to explain the nature of emergencies people face during the lockdown.

"For some, it was like 'my mother is dying', 'my father is dying', 'you beat me up but I still need that medicine'. These are the kind of personal experiences many police personnel had. I personally had one such experience. When I met a young boy while patrolling he started crying. He said he needed to go or else his father will die," the Charaideo superintendent of police said.

Feeding the hungry, getting medicines for the sick

The lockdown, which is the only effective step so far, to control the spread of the contagion, plunged the country into another crisis of hunger among the poor.

"On the ground when we move around for patrolling we see people lying here and there not eating. People, in fact, shout out at us saying they need help, they are hungry," the Charaideo superintendent of police said.

"Firstly I was caring about the policemen only who had to stand in a picket or a naka for 12 to 15 hours. All shops are closed including restaurants, even tea stalls. That's when the thought came to me that we need to feed our boys. When I had a word about it with a constable about it he said 'it's fine for us because we are on duty. But I meet so many people who just lie around hungry'," Mishra said.

Soon the Charaideo Police started a mission 'Food For All' wholeheartedly.

"After that, we started distributing food items to people in different places but still we missed something. So we made a list of poor but what happened was the same set of poor were getting the relief repeatedly because everybody had the same list. The same beneficiary was getting the foodstuff from everyone. Still, there were many people who were left out like homeless, beggars, differently-abled and even the animals. These people didn't have things like a ration card," he said.

"Initially, my officers joined me and we contributed from out salaries and figured out what we can feed them within that range. We started off with a nutritious khichdi. On the first day itself, we were surprised to see how many people were actually going without food. The reaction from those people was an emotional moment for all of us. Now we have this Food For All campaign running in eight police stations of Charaideo district. Now there are various different organisations which participate with us. Even officers from the neighbouring state of Arunachal Pradesh have contributed to our efforts in cash or kind. There are judges who have also contributed who don't want to be named. This whole effort is run by the society. Suddenly we have realised that there are so many nice people in the society. This has been a grand success. Only yesterday we fed over 2,000 people, 840 directly. And out of them we gave 500 people packed lunch so that they can take back home with them for those who could not come. We also have a mobile vehicle also which goes around to distribute food," Mishra said.

Our 'Food For All' scheme under Project #GoodSamaritan saw us serve food to about 877 people across all 8 Police Stations of the district today. We remain committed to serve the needy.#WeCare#Covid19 #Lockdown@assampolice @DGPAssamPolice@gpsinghassam @Gen_VKSingh pic.twitter.com/db6ITwtF9w  Charaideo Police (@CharaideoPol) April 9, 2020

"Today (on Thursday) a local organisation came in and served Pulao and Shahi Paneer in Moranhat. The whole thing has been very encouraging. Society is feeling empowered. In our knowledge, there s no person who is sleeping hungry. The Assam government and the district administration are also doing an exceptionally good job," the Charaideo superintendent of police said. These acts of kindness are not limited to Charaideo alone. "On humanitarian grounds on a daily basis, we are providing help to needy people. We arrange for those people who don't have anything to eat. All ranks right up to the Home Guards have responded to my appeal and helping out many poor families. We have been arranging food for those people who are in quarantine including Horlicks, Cerelac for children and infants," said Kokrajhar superintendent of police Raushan.

Distribution of food and other essential items by O/C Gossaigaon PS and I/C Soraibil BOP with staff to 70(seventy) poor and underprivileged families and requested them to remain their home to fight against COVID-19.@Gen_VKSingh@assampolice@DGPAssamPolice@gpsinghassam pic.twitter.com/W2fBbjwx3G  Kokrajhar Distrct Police (@KokrajharPolice) April 6, 2020

Another key area where the police are helping out is getting medicines for the sick.

"Although pharmacies were open there are people who need medicines from faraway places. Everything is not available locally. This is a far-flung remote district in the country where things are not easily available. We don't have anything like Swiggy here. Whatever has to be done it has to be led by us only. We keep patrolling, we keep on moving. We have our own channels of communication across the police thanas. We can get things delivered by the patrolling teams also. I helped one fellow initially. The reaction I got from that person is food for the soul," the Charaideo superintendent of police said.

"People have started calling us up willing to volunteer. Someone even called us up to say if we allow them they can go and deliver medicines as they own two-wheelers. In the beginning, a few youths joined us, then a few paramedics and followed by the pharmacists and overnight we had a team of 30 people. This was something phenomenal for a district like Charaideo. In fact, just before you called there were two calls asking for medicines from Dibrugarh which we said we will get to them by evening. Beneath the khaki, we are also human beings. The police have now realised that if somebody is coming out he must have come out for some real exigency. Even if somebody is loitering around, now we counsel them why we are doing this and send them back home," said Mishra.

Tracing Tablighi Jamaat attendees and support from people

Unlike anywhere else in the country, the Tablighi Jamaat event in March in Delhi's Nizamuddin had sent the whole country into a tizzy including Assam. It necessitated an immediate action of tracing the attendees besides those who came in close contact with them. Assam had a whopping list of 831 and barring a few nearly all have been tracked down. Except for a very few cases where the attendees voluntarily came forward, it was the collaboration of the public and the police that helped majorly in getting hold of these people.

"We are getting a lot of community help because people are generally aware of the seriousness of the disease. A lot of people have informed us and they are also helping us. Apart from that, there are our usual ways and means. We have our people on the ground. There are Gaonburhas and other people in the village system. We are also seeking help from community leaders. Of course, we have technology also where everything else fails. But so far we have been getting help from the people in our district. It's a challenge but we have to find ways and means to do it. There is a lot of awareness on the ground also that it is important that these people are found as they can become major spreader," Kaur said.

"Whatever information we received so far we have done our own analysis and we are also getting information from other places. From Nizamuddin also information came like how many people of Assam went there and left. Information is flowing from above and also from the ground. We also tracked a few people whose names had not come from above and quarantined them and got them tested also. All the people we got to know from above that these many people from Nalbari have gone, we have been able to track them all," the Nalbari superintendent of police said.

"Apart from that whatever more people could have come from outside (the state) and those who have not returned yet and those have actually come back and not yet reported we are tracking them one by one. Many of them have been found and some of them have gone from Nizamuddin to some other state. We are sharing this information with our higher-ups so that it can be shared with other states and everybody is benefitted," Kaur said.

The Golaghat superintendent of police pointed out to another important factor.

"We are tracing them with the help of their neighbours and their mobile numbers. There is no problem as such. But the problem is we cannot just say how many are left to be traced. Suppose I was in there situation and I returned to my village on 22 March. If you ask me how many people I met yesterday in the normal course of the day it is very difficult to remember. The amount of information we are getting we are verifying with other people also. More or less we have traced most of them and if some are left we are trying to trace and quarantine them," said Singh highlighting on the risk of an individual becoming a spreader of the virus which has been globally acknowledged to be highly infectious.

Like for many districts in the country, the Tablighi Jamaat event managed to surprise the Kokrajhar Police as well.

"We got a list from a reliable source that 29 people attended the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi. We have traced all of them and right now all are outside Assam. We have continuous watch over their locations. If they move we will know immediately. Some of them are in Indore, some in Kolkata and some in Delhi itself. We have advised them to be in quarantine and told them this is good for themselves and their family. There are two quarantine centres in Kokrajhar district -- Fakiragram and Srirampur. There are 467 people in quarantine in Srirampur and 107 in Fakiragram taking the total to 574 and most of them will be released if their health parameters permit," said Raushan.

The local mosques did play a key role in tracing the Tablighi Jamaat attendees in some places.

"We contacted the maulavis of each and every mosque to find out if anyone from their area visited Nizamuddin recently. They provided us with a list of names and accordingly we located these people. Whatever names were given to us we have traced them all. There were around 40 in Dibrugarh and we have detected all of them. There are two from Dibrugarh in Delhi now and a few are in Uttar Pradesh," Inspector Saikia said.

In many cases, the stigma that has come up along with the COVID-19 is also to be blamed.

"When people are quarantined they usually feel that they are being stigmatised. But that is not the case. Due to the availability of technology an individual can be traced relatively easily. In many cases, the organisations themselves have come forward to share the travel history of an individual so that they can be traced and effective action can be taken," said Baruah, a specialist on Community Medicine.

An image makeover

The coronavirus has come as an opportunity for the police to show their humane side. Overcoming initial hiccups it looks like the police are well on course to do that.

"Usually, police are despised by the people and they are talked about badly. Now we are getting respect. We are helping out people with genuine consideration without really asking for anything. Generally, the job of the police is negative. We have to punish, we have to hit. We don't give anything good that would make somebody really feel good. The things, which we are doing now make us feel good in return as well," said Mishra.

Seems the novel coronavirus can not only kill but also melt hearts too.


Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two men were arrested in connection to the armed robbery of a Connecticut jewelry store after crashing their cars on Staten Island, officials said on Thursday.

Robert Rallo, 56, and Paul Prosano, 59, also known as Tony Pro, both of Brooklyn, crashed their Jaguar and BMW X3 on the North Shore on March 30, two days after they allegedly violently robbed a jeweler in Stamford, Connecticut, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

On March 28, Prosano drove Rallo and another man, Thomas Liberatore, 62, of White Plains, to Marco Jewelers, officials say.

Liberatore and Rallo, who was armed with a gun, entered the store, and, according to officials, Rallo engaged in a physical altercation with Mark Vuono, the owner of the jewelry store, while Liberatore proceeded to steal items from the display cases, federal officials say.

Vuono and Rallo struggled in the proximity of an open safe, officials say. During the scuffle, Rallo eventually shot and killed Vuono, police said.

These three defendants are alleged to have committed a brazen, violent robbery that left an innocent victim dead, said U.S. Attorney John Durham. The FBI, Stamford Police, Greenwich Police and our other law enforcement partners have conducted an extraordinary investigation that resulted in the quick apprehension of these three men before they could wreak any additional havoc."

On March 30, Prosano pulled up a black BMW X3 next to a black Jaguar Rallo was in, officials say.

The two men drove away and started accelerating, according to officials.

Rallo crashed the Jaguar on Tompkins Street and attempted to flee on foot, but was quickly apprehended, officials say.

Prosano also crashed the BMW he was driving into a tree and a parked car at the intersection of Daniel Low Terrace and Corson Avenue. He also attempted to flee and was apprehended, according to officials.

Inside the BMW, police found 63 rings, eight bracelets, two tie pins, an earring and a cufflink Rallo allegedly stole during the robbery two days before, officials say.

Rallo, Liberatore and Prosano are charged with Hobbs Act Robbery and could face up to 20 years in prison.

This investigation and resulting prosecution is a great example of cooperation between the U.S. Attorneys Office, Stamford/Norwalk States Attorneys Office, FBI and the Stamford and Greenwich Police Departments, said Chief States Attorney Richard Colangelo. We could not have moved as quickly as we did to apprehend the individuals alleged to be responsible for these offenses without the cooperation of all parties working together.
There are 227 vacancies for epidemiologists, who track disease outbreaks, across all states and union territories as the country battles the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ten states  Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Mizoram, Tripura, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana  and Delhi dont even have a state-level epidemiologist.

The Centre has now written to the states to fill these vacancies to ensure the availability of qualified human resources during the Covid-19 pandemic. A letter issued by the Union health ministry on April 7 directed states to fill a total of 382 vacancies under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).

Of these vacancies, the maximum are for epidemiologists, who study patterns of frequency and causes and effects of diseases. The other vacant posts are those of data managers, veterinarians, financial consultants and microbiologists.

The need to fill these vacancies was raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a virtual meeting with chief ministers on April 3, according to the letter issued by the health ministry and accessed by Hindustan Times. The vacancies for epidemiologists and others should be filled to ensure surveillance activities of Covid-19, the letter states.

An epidemiology professor, who didnt want to be named, said that ideally, every district under the IDSP should have at least one epidemiologist and there should be one state-level epidemiologist. According to data from census 2011, there are 640 districts.

The letter states the highest number of vacancies are in Telangana (26), Bihar and Chhattisgarh (21 each), Madhya Pradesh (20) and Delhi, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir (11 each).

As we know, the entire health team in all the States/UTs is putting all their efforts in the effective containment and management of COVID-19. Availability of Qualified Human Resources at required places is a critical element in the effective management of pandemics like COVID-19, the letter said.

In the wake of the present COVID situation, it is essential to fill up the IDSP (lntegrated Disease Surveillance Programme) positions especially the Epidemiologist in all the District and State Units of IDSP in your States, it added.

IDSP was launched in 2004 to train state and district surveillance officers, rapid response teams and other medical and paramedical staff on principles of disease surveillance.

The mission, according to IDSPs website, is to strengthen disease surveillance by establishing a decentralised state-based surveillance system for epidemic prone diseases and to detect early warning signals, so that timely and effective actions can be initiated to respond to health challenges at the district, state and national levels.

Currently, there are teams working on vector-borne diseases and HIV, the professor cited above said.

The letter further states that any epidemiologists trained by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), working in other divisions of health departments, should be immediately deployed for Covid-19 surveillance.

The Central government has asked state governments to offer a salary on war footing and use agencies empanelled under the National Health Mission to fill the vacancies. States can also redeploy existing human resources working in other programmes and departments.

This is an extremely important step, said Jagat Ram, the director of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.

Even if we eliminate coronavirus from clusters and the country, there is still a possibility of isolated cases coming up. We need people to consistently track any possible contact cases that may spring up, not just for the present, but the future.

Ram said the 100% elimination of the Coronavirus will be very difficult.
YPSILANTI, MI  Every Friday, the Ypsilanti-based Boylesque Michigan drag group hosts a show and fundraiser for a cause, and an April 10 livestreamed performance will raise money to treat St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor employees to lunch.

Theyre risking their lives to save our family members, said Jadein Black, Boylesque show director. Its better to see smiles first-hand with a gift card. Its an essential. Theyre going to need food and its hard to go to the grocery store after youre working 12-hour shifts.

The Boylesque show will feature Black herself and performers Izaya Cole, Maxi Chanel and Ani Briated, along with DJ Austin Moan.

The funds raised will be split in half to pay drag performers and assist front-line employees working to fight the novel coronavirus. Gift cards from DoorDash and Grubhub will be distributed to hospital employees.

A minimum donation of $10 will be required by 7:30 p.m. to view the 8 p.m. show. Payment methods of Cash App, Paypal and Venmo are accepted. Email jadeinblack@gmail.com to receive the link to the show after you have paid. If you send more than $20, you will receive a shout-out during the show, organizers said.

Further payment instructions are available on the Facebook event page.

Since the groups transfer to livestreamed shows, Boylesque has raised money for Ann Arbor Pride, Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels and a community member with multiple sclerosis.

Normally, Boylesque drag shows are hosted at The Tap Room in Ypsilanti. In 2019, the group says it raised $180,000 for nonprofits organizations in the Ypsilanti area.

At the end of each show, the group has a mission to spread positivity in the community, encouraging each audience member to find three people to smile at and tell them to have a great day.

Hopefully after the stay home order, people are actually nicer to each other, because before all of this, people can get a little mean, said Black.

Michigan Medicine delays field hospital opening, predicts lower curve in coronavirus cases

Nearly 900K Michigan students to receive food stamp benefits to battle meal shortages amid coronavirus outbreak

Emoni Bates adds 2nd straight AP Division 1 Player of the Year award to list of accolades

Ann Arbor startup tracks social distancing efforts around the world using street camera footage

Letter from the Editor: You can support MLives vital reporting by subscribing today

Michigan Medicine delays field hospital opening, predicts lower curve in coronavirus cases
CARBONDALE  The COVID-19 emergency has touched nearly every part of life, from homes to city halls. But, one unlikely victim could be U.S. Census.

I think this is unprecedented certainly in the 20th and 21st century, John Jackson, a visiting professor at Southern Illinois Universitys Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, said. Jackson has also participated in Carbondales Complete Count effort.

Jackson said theres a lot of stake for a city like Carbondale. The citys home rule status  its ability to levy its own taxes  is dependent on population. A low count could trigger a ballot question about whether citizens want the city to maintain home rule status. Then, theres funding for social services, things like public transit and schools. Each person, over the course of the 10 years between counts, can account for thousands of dollars. Every person matters, Jackson said.

We are extremely concerned about getting an accurate count, Chris Wallace, Carbondales development services director, said, pointing to the census importance for the citys funding. Carbondale City Manager Gary Williams said while an artificially low count wont impact the budget he and others are preparing for this coming fiscal year, it certainly could make a difference in future years.

But, with the COVID-19 outbreak and the universitys decision to suspend in-person classes, many students arent here to be counted. Some never came back after spring break.

SIU calls off in-person classes for remainder of semester, other colleges make changes Citing the uncertainty around a timeline for COVID-19, SIU Carbondale will cancel most face-to-face classes for the rest of the semester, Interim Chancellor John Dunn said in a statement.

Obviously right now with a lot of students not coming back or being told not to return, theres a lot of census forms not being filled out, Wallace said. He said the university would still be sending counts for students registered to live in student housing, but it's the off-campus residents hes worried about.

There is some hope, though. Wallace said he had received word from the census higher-ups that indicated they would likely come back as late as mid-August to count college communities. The hope is that the concern over COVID-19 will have settled out enough by then for census workers to get a good count.

They are going to do everything they can and get everyone counted, Wallace said.

While the university population is one issue, the regular community outreach is another.

We cant get out there and reach out to people in their neighborhoods, Wallace said of the safety concerns over COVID-19. Wallace said there were events and other outreach methods in hard-to-count communities that have had to be postponed.

But, Wallace said, he has hope. He checks the census tracker often and said the number of citizens counted goes up every day. Though the coronavirus crisis is certainly adding stress, Wallace said he is hopeful it will all shake out.
Early missteps allowed the new coronavirus to spread throughout the U.S for weeks before state and local officials implemented strict lockdowns designed to keep the pandemic from spinning further out of control.

Why it matters: The U.S. missed the boat on the kind of swift, early response that would have been most effective, and has been scrambling to catch up ever since. This timeline, compiled from official sources as well as media reports, shows how that all-important time was lost.

Dec. 31, 2019: China reports the novel coronavirus to the World Health Organization.

Jan. 6: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel notice for Wuhan, China.

Jan. 15: The first U.S. case is confirmed, in a man who traveled from Wuhan.

Jan. 17: The World Health Organization publishes a protocol for manufacturing coronavirus tests.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opts to develop its own test instead of using the WHO's.

Jan. 30: The WHO declares global health emergency.

The CDC confirms person-to-person spread of COVID-19 within the U.S.

Jan. 31: The Trump Administration suspended entry into the U.S. for most foreign nationals who had traveled to China in the past 14 days.

The WHO reports 11,950 coronavirus cases worldwide.

Feb. 5: The CDC begins shipping its diagnostic tests to state and local health agencies.

Feb. 8: Labs report problems with the CDCs tests.

Feb. 24: President Trump tweets: The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!

Feb. 29: Washington state reports the first COVID-19 death in the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration allows academic labs to develop and begin testing coronavirus testing kits while reviewing pending applications.

The WHO reports 86,604 coronavirus cases worldwide.

March 5: LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics launch coronavirus test for commercial use.

March 9: Trump tweets: So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!

The WHO reports 114,381 coronavirus cases worldwide.

March 13: Trump declares a national emergency, freeing up $50 billion in federal funds for states and territories.

March 15: 33 states and the District of Columbia closed public schools, according to Education Week. This included the New York City school system, the largest in the country.

March 16: Trump advises Americans to self-isolate for 15 days.

March 19: Trump signed into law an emergency coronavirus relief package for paid sick leave and free testing.

March 23: 9 states had stay-at-home orders.

Washington, Oregon, California, Louisiana, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

March 26: The U.S. now leads world in coronavirus cases.

12 more states issue stay-at-home orders, totaling 21: Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Hawaii, Connecticut, Vermont and Delaware

March 29: Trump extends social distancing measures to April 30.

March 30: Nine more states issue stay-at-home orders, bringing the total to 30.

Governors say testing is still lacking in many states.

March 31: Trump warns of the potential for 100,000 to 240,000 deaths.

April 6: Twelve more states issue stay-at-home orders, bringing the total to 42.
More than 3,000 stranded Brits will be brought home from India on 12 government-chartered flights.

They follow seven flights that were already arranged between Wednesday and Sunday this week, and will take the total number of UK nationals repatriated from India to around 5,000.

A 75 million operation to charter flights from destinations where commercial routes have been severed due to the coronavirus pandemic was launched by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office last week.

Thousands more Brits are to be repatriated from India, like these, pictured at Goa airport earlier this week

But efforts to bring people home from India have previously been criticised by travellers complaining about lengthy waiting lists and expensive fares.

In many cases, passengers are being charged up to 1,000 a head to get seats.

The new flights will leave from Goa, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram between April 13 and April 20, with bookings opened today.

The Foreign Office's Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, said: 'We are doing all we can to get thousands of British travellers in India home.

'This is a huge and complex operation which also involves working with the Indian government to enable people to move within India to get on these flights.

Efforts to bring people home from India have previously been criticised by travellers complaining about lengthy waiting lists and expensive fares

'Over 300 people arrived from Goa on Thursday morning, 1,400 more will arrive over the Easter weekend, and these 12 flights next week will bring back thousands more.'

The Foreign Office said India is one of its priority countries for arranging charter flights, along with South Africa and Peru, due to the large number of Britons seeking to return.

Last weekend, a chartered plane touched down at Heathrow after picking up tourists in La Paz, Bolivia and the Ecuadorian cities of Quito and Guayaquil.

It came just hours after the London airport sparked fury by announcing it will keep one of its runways open.

Despite the Foreign Office's best efforts, hundreds of thousands of others around the world are struggling to return to the UK due to travel restrictions put in place following the Covid-19 outbreak.

British ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce issued a video message earlier this week urging people to take advantage of the flights.

He said: 'Everyone, please don't miss this opportunity. Something better will not come along.

'We've mobilised our resources to help get you home. We now need you to mobilise yourselves. This is your last chance.'
An anaesthetist claims hospitals are coronavirus "incubators" akin to cruise ships and must radically lift efforts to prevent the spread between healthcare workers and patients - including quarantining doctors and nurses from their families.

As clusters of COVID-19 cases of unknown origin emerge in hospitals across Australia, outspoken Sydney anaesthetist Rob Hackett called for expanded testing and access to personal protective equipment for healthcare workers.

Every patient should be treated as if they are infected, anaesthetist Rob Hackett says.

Dr Hackett, who campaigned early in the outbreak for parents to keep their children at home and refused to perform elective surgery without PPE, told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age "they should be running hospitals at the moment as if they're high suspected areas of coronavirus".

"Everyone in hospital, all the time, should be wearing a mask. This is what they did in Wuhan, as soon as they realised how transmissible it was."
My Red Heaven

Lance Olsen. Dzanc Books, January, 2020.

In what PWs review called a narrative that pushes boundaries and reflects on what is means to dwell in the here and now, Olsen weaves together a mixture of styles to render Greta Garbo, Werner Heisenberg, and Vladimir Nabokov, among others, across a single day, June 10, 1927. The effect is inspiring and masterfully captures a distinct moment in history. The Michigan-based Dzanc Books was founded in 2006 by Steven Gillis and Dan Wickett and has launched the careers of writers like Laura van den Berg, Anne Valente, Robert Lopez, Jen Michalski, Jac Jemc, and more.

Reverse Cowgirl

McKenzie Wark. Semiotext(e), February, 2020.

Deemed an auto-ethnography by the publisher, Mark poses questions like, what if you were trans and didnt know it? What if you went through life not knowing why you only felt at home in your body during the height of inebriation? The underlying work designs an entirely new genre to answer these questions, resulting in a melange of literary criticism, auto-fiction, and memoir. Active for over three decades, Semiotext(e) is leading the introduction of French theory to American readers, as well as publishing the work of bold voices like Michelle Tea, William S. Burroughs, Eileen Myles, and more. The press is coedited by Sylvere Lotringer, Chris Kraus, and Hedi El Kholti.

Hezada! I Miss You

Erin Pringle. Awst Press, February, 2020.

At the core of this novel is an exploration of the effects of time. A traveling circus has visited a town every year for a century. Like the town, the circus is a shell of its former self: down to a handful of staff and a single elephant. Pringles novel fearlessly tackles what it means to see tradition passed over for our breakneck 21st century, social-media-driven present. Awst Press is an independent press based in Austin, TX and edited by author Tatiana Ryckman (I Dont Think of You (Until I Do)) focusing on the elevation and publication of diverse voices.

$50,000

Andrew Weatherhead. Publishing Genius Press, February, 2020.

In his latest collection, Andrew James Weatherhead (Cats & Dogs) uses a succession of facts and musings to render the emotional economics of being a creative. The use of white space creates a rhythm to each pondered line, allowing Weatherhead to deftly bob and weave between topics long enough for the sum of the poems effect to hit like a knockout blow. Founded in 2006 by Adam Robinson in Baltimore, Publishing Genius has grown to become an acclaimed publisher of authors including Rachel B. Glaser, Michael Kimball, Melissa Broder, Matthew Simmons, Shane Jones, and more.

Ceremonials

Katharine Coldiron. Kernpunkt Press, February, 2020.

Inspired by the Florence + the Machines album of the same name, Coldiron weaves together a twelve-part novella about two girls, Amelia and Corisande, falling in love while at boarding school. When Corisande dies and suddenly and haunts Amelia, the effect is as majestic as it is heartbreaking. Kernpunkt Press was founded by editor and librarian Jesi Buell to curate her own blend of poetry and fiction titles. In a little more than a year, the press has published dozens of experimental and hybrid blend titles.

Whiteout Conditions

Tariq Shah. Two Dollar Radio, March 2020. The protagonist of the short novel, Ant, attends a funeral, which would affect him more if he didnt enjoy funerals. A lot of it has to do with his history of loss, which makes for a stark, grim, yet hilarious perspective to explore timeless themes. Two Dollar Radio was founded in 2005 by Eric and Eliza Obenauf to publish books too loud to ignore. They opened Two Dollar Radio HQ, the press bookstore, in Columbus, OH, where they publish up to four books a year.

Intergalactic Travels: Poems from a Fugitive Alien

Alan Pelaez Lopez. The Operating System, March, 2020.

Utilizing a mixture of photographs, emails, and collages to break away from traditional structural forms, Lopez explores the intersections of queerness, blackness, and migration, a refusal to belong to structured politics in this ambitious poetic memoir. The Operating System evolved out of a Dada-inspired magazine called Exit Strata that began in 2011. Operated by managing editor Lynne DeSilva-Johnson in Brooklyn, NY, the press aims to publish books outside of the academic, MFA. and trade publishing eco-system.

DMZ Colony

Don Mee Choi. Wave Books, April, 2020.

The latest collection from Don Mee Choi, deemed a sister book to Hardly War, combines the personal and the political exploring Edward Saids notion of the intertwined and overlapping histories" concerning to South Korea and the United States. One of the most prolific and popular independent poetry publishers in the country, Wave Books was founded in 2005 in Seattle, Washington, merging with the established Verse Press to publish bold, innovative poetic texts.

Pets: An Anthology

Edited by Jordan Castro. Tyrant Books, April, 2020.

Containing a mixture of new and old writing from authors like Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Ann Beattie, Chelsea Hodson, Sarah Manguso, Kathryn Scanlan and more, editor Jordan Castro presents an anthology of deft writing, a wide range of stories about pets. Tyrant Books started in 2006 by Giancarlo DiTrapano in Hells Kitchen, New York. In 2009, DiTrapano began publishing full-length books, beginning with a limited edition blood-printed hardcover editions of Brian Evensons Baby Leg, and has gone on to publish many successful titles, including the PEN/Faulkner award-winning novel, Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish.

Life of the Party

Tea Hacic-Vlahovic. CLASH Books, May 2020.

In this clever debut novel of fashion and nightlife, readers are introduced to Mia, an expat newly moved to Milan. The drugs, nightclubs, and men blur together into a seemingly nonstop, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-style fever dream as intense as it is dripping with style. CLASH Books was founded in 2015 by Leza Cantoral and Christoph Paul to publish books that imbue a sense of punk rock, goth cool. The press has published the work of authors like Sam Pink, Mark de Silva, Lindsay Lerman, and more.

Sleepovers

Ashleigh Bryant Phillips. Hub City Press, May 2020.

The winner of the 2019 C. Michael Curtis Short Story Book Price, this debut collection of stories explores the seemingly forgotten corners of America. Hub City Press began in 1995 in Spartanburg, SC, by a group of writers looking to preserve some sense of their gentrifying city. Operating for 25 years, the mission hasnt changedevolving into a press, community bookshop, and literary programming.

Killer Unconquered

Chris Lambert. King Shot Press, May 2020.

The author of 2015s Killer & Victim, Lamberts second offering is structured to be a full deck of 52 vignettes brimming with corporate espionage, murder, impossible miracles and more. With characters that run the gamut from a professional wrestler-turned-preacher to a game designer responsible for a deadly RPG, each story adds a layer of bold intensity to already alarming material. King Shot Press was founded in Portland, OR in 2014 by writers Tiffany Scandal and Michael Kazepis to be a radical publishing house that blends together 80s hardcore records, Goth existentialism, Gucci Mane, and monster movies.

A Fish Growing Lungs

Alysia Li Ying Sawchyn. Burrow Press, June 2020.

Chronicling the authors experiences after being misdiagnosed at age 18 with bipolar I, Sawchyn uses topics as varied as music to medical journals, friendship and loneliness, to link each individual essay with unrivaled honesty. The Orlando, Florida-based Burrow Press was founded in 2010 to expand the boundaries of Florida Literature and to foster the literary community around the city.

Collective Gravities

Chloe N. Clark. Word West, July, 2020.

The 26 stories comprising Clarks debut collection display a dizzying range of genre-bending playfulness. The scenarios explore everything from a zombie apocalypse that actually happens (yet literally everything remains the same) to a woman suddenly feeling the planet moving on its orbit. Word West was founded by David Queen after he moved from New York City to the prestigious MFA program at the University of Montana.

Index of Haunted Houses

Adam O. Davis. Sarabande Books, Oct. 2020.

A debut collection of prose poetry, Davis tackles themes generally reserved for the annals of genre fiction. Everything from things that go bump in the night to disappearing and destroyed Bison, the pieces actualize how even the worst hauntings, the scariest monsters, carry their own nightmares and doubts. Founded in 1994 as a nonprofit operation, Sarabande Books is a Louisville, Kentucky-based independent publisher created by Sarah Gorham and Jeffrey Skinner. Notable authors published by the press include Frank Bidart, Louise Gluck, Karen An-hwei Lee, Cate Marvin, Edith Pearlman, Ann Townsend, and more.

Michael J. Seidlinger is a frequent PW contributor and the author of My Pet Serial Killer (Fangoria, 2018). He lives in Brooklyn.
KAGERA Regional Commissioner (RC) Brig Gen Marco Gaguti has banned public gatherings and night discos during Easter.

People are warned against gatherings along L ake Victoria shores during Easter celebrations. The directives also involve discos and night gatherings. People should continue taking precautions against the spread of coronavirus and those who defy the directive will be punished, he warned.

He also appealed to on border villagers to be vigilant and report to relevant authorities if they suspected any alien as the region had porous borders and it was not possible to allocate police officers to each area.

Kagera Region shares borders with three East African Community (EAC) member countries - Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.

Kagera Region reported its first suspected coronavirus patient a few weeks ago who was reported to have entered the country through Kabanga Entry Point in Ngara District.

The patient was later confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus and was immediately sent to an isolation centre.

Meanwhile, Bukoba Municipal Council has allocated an alternative bus station to mini-buses (Hiace) as precaution measures against the spread of coronavirus.

Bukoba Municipal Council Executive Director Morice L imbe said the move aimed at reducing the congestion of vehicles and travellers. Only buses are allowed to continue using the main bus stand.
Oil demand is set to plunge by as much as 27 million barrels per day (mb/d) in April, a decline larger than anything that has occurred in the history of oil.

The decline in demand could cause inventories to fill up, enforcing substantial curtailments by refineries and shut ins at oil wells, according to a new report from Rystad Energy. The hit to demand will last longer than previously expected, as more countries impose lockdown orders while the spread of the virus will resist restrictions more than we first expected, the firm said. Rystad sees a demand hit of around 20 mb/d in May and more than 15 mb/d in June. Demand growth remains negative for the duration of 2020.

New data from India shows that oil demand has plunged by 70 percent as the country has gone into lockdown.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., gasoline demand fell to 5 mb/d in the U.S. for the week ending on April 3, down from 9.6 mb/d three weeks earlier.

The collapse of demand and prices has quickly translated into supply cuts. Refining runs fell to 13.63 mb/d on April 3, down 2.2 mb/d in two weeks. Crude oil inventories jumped. Despite the sharp cuts at refineries, gasoline stocks also spiked by more than 10 million barrels. Staggering figures all around.

The sudden stop of demand filters back to the wellhead. EIA data shows that U.S. oil production fell 600,000 bpd for the week ending on April 3, potentially heralding a faster-than-expected price response, as JBC Energy interpreted the data in a note.

Prices that oil drillers are getting behind the pipeline  that is, not the broader WTI benchmark, but what they may receive in West Texas or North Dakota  have fallen much more sharply than WTI or Brent. Midland discounts have widened to around $6 per barrel below WTI, according to Morgan Stanley. Bakken oil is now fetching prices as low as $14 per barrel.

Premium: How To Find A Bargain In A Distressed Energy Sector

Pipelines are clogged with oil, so drillers have nowhere to sell. In response to low prices and potential loss of flow assurance, we expect producers will begin to shut-in currently producing wells over the coming weeks, Morgan Stanley wrote in a note. Legacy production from older wells appears most at risk, where we expect costs are higher than these basin averages.

A lot of hope from the U.S. industry has been pinned on OPEC+ cuts. At the time of this writing, an OPEC+ deal was coming together, with reports suggesting somewhere around 10 mb/d, although the exact duration and terms of the cuts remains unclear.

Regardless, output declines  top-down mandated or not  are in the offing. Several analysts say that even a historic OPEC+ cut wont be enough. At best, the production cuts that are being considered could somewhat soften the blow of this slump in demand, Commerzbank wrote on Thursday. Thus the oil price faces considerable downside risks following todays video conference.

In a separate report, Goldman Sachs said that even if OPEC+ manages to cobble together 10 mb/d of cuts, another 4 mb/d of cuts from market-induced shut-ins are likely. As a result, while there could be a short price rally from the announcement from OPEC+, this support will soon give way to lower prices with downside risk to our near-term WTI $20/bbl forecast, Goldman said. Ultimately, the size of the demand shock is simply too large for a coordinated supply cut, setting the stage for a severe rebalancing.

In a sign of the times, Continental Resources said on Tuesday that it would suspend its dividend and also curtail its own supply by 30 percent for April and May. Parsley Energy said it would shut down 400 wells in the Permian.

While any potential cuts from Thursdays OPEC+ meeting would be positive, we do not expect a deal large enough to fix near-term oversupply given the sheer magnitude of lost demand from the Covid-19 pandemic, analysts with Morgan Stanley said. [W]e continue to see further oil production shut-ins and curtailments as likely with or without coordinated supply cuts.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Imphal, April 10 : Amidst the nationwide lockdown, when crores of Indians are struggling to procure essential items, a remote village in Manipur has set an example by distributing free vegetables to thousands of people.

Cutting across religious divides, residents of Christian dominated Konsakhul - a small village in Kangpokpi district = are distributing various vegetables in the neighbouring villages inhabited by Hindus and Muslims.

Under the initiative of Konsakhul village Chief Alyson Abonmai, the villagers of Konsakhul collected the vegetables from and around the village and gifted them to the people of various villages dominated mostly by tribals, migrant workers and daily wagers.

.

"We are carrying the vegetables in trucks and distributing them among the people of the neighbouring villages. As per our prior announcement, the villagers are gathered in mutually convenient locations to take the vegetables," Abonmai told IANS over phone from Konsakhul village, 60 km north of state capital Imphal.

He said: "We are distributing the vegetables for the past two weeks. So far we have distributed the veggies among 7,500 villagers in three districts - Kangpokpi, Senapati and Imphal West. We will continue our endeavours in the coming days if the lockdown continues." "The vegetables we have been distributing might not be sufficient for the villagers, but we would be failing in our human responsibility if we do not extend that little help that is within our capacity as fellow human beings," said Alyson Abonmai.

"It is a very touching gesture of the Konsakhul villagers headed by village Chief Alyson Abonmai to help their neighbours," said writer Rajkumar Kalyanjit Singh.

Singh told IANS: "This act of Konsakhul villagers in this difficult situation where people struggle to find food items is worthy of appreciation. The villagers of Konsakhul village are also not differentiating between any communities, caste, creed and religion." After the photographs of the distribution of the vegetables appeared in various social media platforms, thousands of people appreciated this. Comments praising the initiative of Konsakhul villagers poured in from different individuals across the country and even abroad.

"Such initiatives would narrow down the gap between the hills and valley," Kalyanjit Singh remarked.

In Christian dominated neighbouring Mizoram too, the influential Young Mizo Association (YMA) is taking vegetables and various essentials to the people in the mountainous state, bordering Myanmar and Bangladesh. After procuring the items from the government's Food and Civil Supplies, Agriculture and Horticulture Departments, the YMA volunteers carrying the vegetables and a variety of essentials in small vans visited hundreds of localities across the state, providing them to the consumers at fixed prices.

Joining the "Local Task Force", managed by the YMA, hundreds of youths, both men and women, are on the forefront to manage stores, packaging and delivering the much needed essentials to the people.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in)
1. Hollywood Psychological Thrillers Movie - Black Swan (2010)

2. Hollywood Psychological Thrillers Movie - Shutter Island (2010)

3. Hollywood Psychological Thrillers Movie - Enemy (2013)

4. Hollywood Psychological Thrillers Movie - Gone Girl (2014)

5. Hollywood Psychological Thrillers Movie - Split (2016)

5. Hollywood Psychological Thrillers Movie - The Joker (2019)



Directed by Todd Phillips, the film, based on the most famous DC Comics villain, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and provides an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, it follows Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comic who goes mad by degrees and starts off his crime spree by murdering policemen but ironically, his crime is seen as an act of defiance against the authorities by the dissatisfied citizens of Gotham and the city, which has a high crime and low employment rate, goes into anarchy. Like Norman Bates from Psycho, he loves his mother and takes care of her -- the difference is that here the mother is alive and not dead. She has fed him a lie that he might be the illegitimate child of Thomas Wayne, Bruce Waynes father. Upon learning the truth he becomes more violent. He begins to have hallucinations about falling in love with his next-door neighbour. He see-saws between moments of vivid clarity and madness, embracing madness instead of coming to terms with his life. He kills a talk show host who has always made fun of him. Arrested by the police, hes rescued by ar army of rioters wearing Joker masks. Hes finally confined to a mental asylum, but his journey isnt over, it has just begun...



Directed by Todd Phillips, the film, based on the most famous DC Comics villain, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and provides an alternative origin story for the character. Set in 1981, it follows Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comic who goes mad by degrees and starts off his crime spree by murdering policemen but ironically, his crime is seen as an act of defiance against the authorities by the dissatisfied citizens of Gotham and the city, which has a high crime and low employment rate, goes into anarchy. Like Norman Bates from Psycho, he loves his mother and takes care of her -- the difference is that here the mother is alive and not dead. She has fed him a lie that he might be the illegitimate child of Thomas Wayne, Bruce Waynes father. Upon learning the truth he becomes more violent. He begins to have hallucinations about falling in love with his next-door neighbour. He see-saws between moments of vivid clarity and madness, embracing madness instead of coming to terms with his life. He kills a talk show host who has always made fun of him. Arrested by the police, hes rescued by ar army of rioters wearing Joker masks. Hes finally confined to a mental asylum, but his journey isnt over, it has just begun...

It is said that mind, and not space, is the final frontier. If you conquer your mind, you can conquer everything. The mind can tell you the greatest of lies and compel you to believe in them even if the whole world tells you otherwise. It can form diverse personalities and make them co-exist with one another in one body. Hollywood has always taken a keen interest in psychology and has time and again made films that take their cue from the subject. The current pandemic is said to have created a web of anxiety and depression over a locked-down populace told to maintain quarantine for its own benefit. We provide you with a list containing theto help shake-off those lockdown jitters.Directed by Darren Aronofsky, this psychological horror stars Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder. The film revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet, where the parts of the White Swan and the Black Swan are traditionally performed by the same dancer. Nina (Portman) is perfect for the White Swans role but her teacher tells her that a new dancer Lily (Kunis) is more suited to play the Black Swan. Her jealously and insecurity takes extreme forms and she begins to see hallucinations, which lead her to self-harm and even murder. Though she doesnt understand what part of it is real and whats not real. The only place where she truly comes alive is the stage, everything else seems like an illusion to her. Thealright but can also be interpreted as a study of an artistes obsession for reaching the pinnacle of her given craft.Directed by Martin Scorsese, its based on Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel of the same name. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as U.S. Marshal Edward Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric ward on Shutter Island after one of the inmates goes missing. He encounters several false leads into his investigation and comes to believe that the island has been used as a front by the chief psychologist running the institution to conduct mind-control experiments. He even meets a patient who corroborates the theory and says that patients are getting lobotomised as well. The patient also hints that the doctors and other members of the hospital staff are playing games with him. He thinks hes losing his mind and forcibly breaks into the lighthouse, convinced that its the den of some evil conspiracy. What he learns there shocks him even more. Its one of themade in modern times and the ending is surely going to stump everyone who watches it.Directed by Denis Villeneuve and adapted from Jose Saramago's novel The Double (2002). The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal in a double role as two men who are physically identical, but different in personality. Adam Bell (Gyllenhaal), a college history professor, rents a film, Where There's a Will There's a Way and spots an actor who looks just like him playing a minor role. He traces other releases of the actor and finally tracks him down to his agent, where everyone believes him to be the actor. Hes given a confidential letter there which he doesnt open. He finally meets the actor, who abruptly cancels the meeting. Later, the actor becomes obsessed with him, to the extent of telling him that he wants to sleep with the professors girlfriend. Strangely, the professor agrees. When his girlfriend discovers the charade, the duo fight then leaves together in a car which meets with an accident. The professor, meanwhile, has gone to the actors place in retaliation. His wife too discovers the deceit but agrees to sleep with him. The morning brings the biggest twist of the film, however, which has the professor questioning his sanity and will leave the viewers questioning theirs as well.Directed by David Fincher, its based on a novel by Gillian Flynn carrying the same name. The film stars Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tyler Perry. On their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Affleck) returns home to find his wife Amy (Pike) missing. Amy was the inspiration for her parents' popular Amazing Amy children's books and as a result, shes a minor celebrity. The press gathers around for a story and the media gets convinced shes been killed by him. The police too begin to suspect that as well. It later comes to light however that Amy has a history of falsely incriminating her boyfriends when she got bored of them or when she believes they deserve some sort of punishment. Her husband lays a trap for her but she proves to be too intelligent for him and even for the lead investigator on her case.Split is the second instalment in the Unbreakable trilogy directed by M. Night Shyamalan and stars James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Betty Buckley. The film centres around the split-personality disorder. Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy) has 23 different personalities and compelled by them kidnaps three teenage girls. He says they are to be sacrificed for The Beast. The three try to befriend the less violent personalities but to no avail. As news of the girls kidnapping spreads, his psychiatrist begins to suspect he might be the culprit. When she visits his house, she finds one of the girls there. He overpowers her as well but the girl says his entire name aloud and that calms him. Kevin asks her to shoot him, and thats when the other personalities take over and summon The Beast. The girl finds that the other two victims have been killed. The Beast, however, spares her because shes pure. The film was criticised by a section of healthcare professionals who felt it wasnt truthful to the depiction of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
(JTA)-As the coronavirus continues to spread, synagogues, Jewish centers and other organizations that serve as gathering places for the community around the world have closed.

But even while communities cannot come together physically, some are still organizing projects to provide support to those who are suffering or at perilous risk amid the pandemic.

From phone counseling to sewing face masks to buying kosher food for Jewish doctors and nurses, there's no shortage of ways to help.

Here's a list of Jewish initiatives that you can support-without having to leave your house.

Get kosher food to Jewish health care workers

Journalist Bethany Mandel is raising money to provide kosher meals for observant Jewish health care providers and their co-workers. She has raised more than $16,000 through more than 200 individual donations, which have been used to order some 40 deliveries from restaurants to hospitals. She is partnering with restaurants in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Wisconsin for the deliveries. You can donate to the effort, titled Kosher19, here.

Areyvut, a New Jersey-based organization that engages Jewish youth, is delivering kosher meals to Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, a heavily Jewish township in New Jersey that has been hit hard by the virus. The organization has raised $4,000. You can donate here.

Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob, an Orthodox synagogue in Skokie, Illinois, also has raised $4,000, to deliver kosher food to local first responders. Donate here.

Sew face masks

A number of Jewish organizations (including the Jewish Pavilion here in Central Florida) are asking community members with sewing machines to help make face masks, which the CDC says helps lower coronavirus transmission rates. The Jewish Association on Aging, a senior care facility in Pittsburgh, is asking for face-mask donations for its at-risk residents. Masks should be made following specific directions and can be dropped off or mailed to the facility.

Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob also is collecting masks locally. Those who want to get involved should email manyatreece@gmail.com.

Donate to produce medical face shields

Kohelet Yeshiva High School, an Orthodox day school in suburban Philadelphia, has turned its high-tech arts center into a factory for making face shields for local doctors and nurses treating coronavirus patients. The shields are made of a transparent acrylic that covers medical providers' entire faces to protect against bacteria and viruses that can be present in droplets when patients cough or sneeze.

The school has made 200 shields but recently started implementing a new production method that will allow it to significantly ramp up production. Kohelet has raised money to sustain production for five weeks and is raising additional funds here.

Send food to community members struggling with poverty

B'nai Brith Canada is raising emergency funds for needy Jewish community members in the Greater Toronto area, including seniors, who are struggling amid food pantry closures. You can donate here.

Masbia, a network of kosher soup kitchens in Brooklyn and Queens, is looking to raise $350,000 to provide food for 1,000 people who are quarantined amid the pandemic. Each box contains enough food to last 14 days. The organization has raised more than $100,000. Donate here.

Provide phone counseling

Ruach: Emotional and Spiritual Support is a group of Jewish therapists, social workers, rabbis and chaplains who are providing free emotional support to community members during the pandemic. Those looking to be counseled fill out a form to be paired with a provider who will call them for a 30-minute phone session.

The initiative, which is organized by Jewish doctoral student and spiritual care intern Taylor Winfield Haboucha, is seeking additional volunteers to offer care. Licensed therapists, social workers and clergy, as well as board-certified chaplains, can get more info and apply to participate by emailing RuachEmotionalandSpiritualCare@gmail.com.

Check up on Holocaust survivors

Chabad of Southwest Broward, Florida, is organizing volunteers to make daily and weekly calls to homebound Holocaust survivors and seniors. Though the seniors all live in South Florida, volunteers can sign up to make calls from anywhere by signing up here.
PHILADELPHIA, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Berger Montague is investigating securities fraud claims against NMC Health Plc ("NMC" or the "Company") on behalf of all purchasers of NMC securities, including American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") (OTC Pink: NMHLY) between March 13, 2016 and March 10, 2020 (the "Class Period").

If you purchased NMC securities, have information, would like to discuss this investigation, or have any questions concerning your rights or interests, please contact our attorneys Benjamin Galdston, Esq. at (619) 489-0300 or Andrew Abramowitz, Esq. at (215) 875-3015, or visit www.bergermontague.com/nmc-health.

According to the lawsuit, throughout the Class Period, NMC made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) it lacked effective internal controls and risk management; (2) it engaged in undisclosed and extensive related party and de facto related party transactions; (3) its debts were significantly understated and obfuscated; (4) its cash-on-hand figures were overstated; and (5) it was not enforcing its Relationship Agreement with the principal shareholders and thus improper related party transactions were being conducted.

On March 10, 2020, Bloomberg published an article titled "Abu Dhabi Insurer Steps In to Help NMC Health Pay Salaries," which reported that an insurer in Abu Dhabi was assisting the Company in paying its expenses. On this news, the price of NMC's ADSs fell nearly 64%, or $3.28 per ADS, to close at $1.85 per ADS.

If you purchased NMC securities during the Class Period, you may seek Court appointment as lead plaintiff to represent other injured investors in a class action. The lead plaintiff appointment deadline is May 11, 2020. You do not need to be a lead plaintiff to share in any potential Class recovery.

Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding NMC Health Plc should consider their options to help Berger Montague's investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under this program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to thirty percent (30%) of successful recoveries obtained by the SEC. For more information, contact us.

Berger Montague, with offices in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and San Diego, has been a pioneer in securities class action litigation since its founding in 1970. Berger Montague has represented individual and institutional investors for five decades and serves as lead counsel in courts throughout the United States.

Contacts

Benjamin Galdston, Shareholder

Berger Montague

(619) 489-0300

[email protected]

Andrew Abramowitz, Senior Counsel

Berger Montague

(215) 875-3015

[email protected]

SOURCE Berger Montague

Related Links

https://bergermontague.com


Yemen reported its first case of coronavirus Friday in a southern government-controlled province, raising fears of an outbreak in the war-torn country as air strikes blamed on the Saudi-led coalition tested a unilateral truce. The announcement came on the second day of the two-week ceasefire declared by the military coalition supporting the government in what it said was a move to help fight the pandemic. "The first confirmed case of coronavirus has been reported in Hadramawt province," Yemen's supreme national emergency committee for COVID-19 said on Twitter. The committee, run by the internationally recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, said the infected patient was in stable condition and receiving care. "The case is in isolation and treatment, all known contacts are being traced and quarantined," the World Health Organization said on Twitter. "WHO is working closely with (the health ministry) to ensure further rapid containment measures are taken." Aid groups have warned that when the coronavirus hits Yemen's broken healthcare system, the impact is likely to be catastrophic for a country already in the grip of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. "What's facing Yemen is frightening," said Lise Grande, the UN coordinator for Yemen. "More people who become infected are likely to become severely ill than anywhere else." - 'Critically under-equipped' - Yemen is "critically under-equipped" to face the pandemic, said Xavier Joubert, country director for Save the Children in Yemen. "Only half of Yemen's health facilities are still fully functional," said Joubert. "There are 700 intensive care unit beds, including 60 for children, and 500 ventilators for a population of about 30 million." Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed over the past five years in the war between the coalition and the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who control large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa. Millions have also been displaced and diseases including cholera are widespread due to the scarcity of clean water. Grande renewed the UN's plea to Yemen's warring parties to "stop fighting each other and start fighting (the virus) together". But Yemeni pro-government forces and Huthi rebels reported several air raids in the northern districts of Al-Jawf and Hajjah despite the coalition's unilateral ceasefire which began on Thursday. - Renewed clashes' - The coalition raids "targeted Huthi vehicles after they rejected the ceasefire and were attempting to attack government positions", a pro-government source told AFP. The source also reported ongoing clashes between pro-government loyalists and the rebels in Al-Jawf and the Marib, northern regions which have seen intense fighting since the beginning of the year. There was no immediate comment from the coalition. The military alliance said its ceasefire was aimed at helping efforts to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak in Yemen. The move was welcomed by the United States but dismissed by the Huthi rebels, who charged that the continued coalition air strikes showed the announcement was a public relations stunt. "We consider the ceasefire a political and media manoeuvre," Huthi spokesman Mohamed Abdelsalam told Al Jazeera news network. The United Arab Emirates, a key Saudi ally, said that the battle against the coronavirus trumped all other concerns. "The COVID-19 crisis eclipses everything -- the international community must step up efforts & work together to protect the Yemeni people," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly appealed for ceasefires in conflicts around the world to facilitate the battle against the coronavirus. The UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths said last week he was engaged in talks to secure a nationwide ceasefire. Griffiths said he was in regular contact with both sides "on reaching agreements on a nationwide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people". "This process further aims to foster joint efforts to counter the threat of COVID-19," he said. Saudi Arabia is also scrambling to limit the spread of the disease at home. Its health ministry has reported more than 3,200 coronavirus infections and 44 deaths from the illness. Despite two decades of air and drone strikes by the United States, Yemen also still hosts a significant jihadist presence, with a longstanding Al-Qaeda network challenged in recent years by militants loyal to the Islamic State group. Control of Hadramawt province, where the first coronavirus case was reported, has long been divided. Coalition-backed government forces control the coastal towns but parts of the interior remain in the hands of Al-Qaeda. A Yemeni volunteer sprays disinfectant in a poor district of the capital Sanaa amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak Aid groups have warned that a COVID-19 outbreak in Yemen would be catastrophicbecause years of conflict and Saudi-led military intervention have already gutted the country's healthcare system
We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message.
Still reeling from the death of her father from complications with the coronavirus, Paola Rodriguez braces herself for another death in the family, as her sister clings to life in a Summit hospital.

After battling the brutal symptoms of the coronavirus, Francisco Rodriguez, 75, died in his Linden home from a pulmonary embolism on March 29, his daughter said. The results of a test that came in Wednesday showed he was positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, she said.

The morning of Franciscos death, Paola Rodriguez raced to his home with her daughter, who went inside while Paola stayed outside because she is immunocompromised. She waited tensely as paramedics entered the house. Then firefighters. Then more medics.

Finally, her daughter came out and told her.

That was it, said Paolo Rodriguez. My father was gone.

But Paola Rodriguez had no time to mourn her father. Her sister Maria Derius Rodriguez, 54, had been taken to Overlook Medical Center on March 19 and diagnosed with pneumonia. The day after she arrived at the hospital, Maria was taken to the intensive care unit and placed on a ventilator that has kept her alive as her lungs struggle to take in air.

Maria Derius Rodriguez, 55, has been in the hospital on a ventilator for nearly three weeks. Her father Francisco died March 29 from complications with the coronavirus.

Nearly three weeks later, Maria remains on the ventilator and is not responsive. Doctors have told Paola Rodriguez and Marias husband and two children to prepare for the worst.

Through the pixels of an iPad held to Marias face by a hospital worker clad in full-body protective gear, Marias family tearfully said their goodbyes on Wednesday. Framed by tubes and medical equipment, Marias eyes flickered at the sound of her familys voices.

She opened her eyes to the sound of our voice, said Rodriguez.

The barrage of tragedy has hit Rodriguez and her family in swift and cruel succession, starting March 14, when her brother-in-law complained of a headache and chills, she said. Despite the coronavirus pandemic that was infecting more and more people by the day, Marias brother-in-law was refused a COVID-19 test, she said.

Days after her brother-in-law visited her parents in their Linden home, the first of Franciscos symptoms came abruptly.

My mother called me and said Something so weird happened, said Rodriguez. 'Your father was in the bathroom and he fainted.' In their 56 years of marriage, Ingrid Rodriguez had never seen that happen to her husband. Francisco was a healthy man, with no underlying health conditions, said his daughter.

As the days went on, Franciscos condition worsened, as he developed severe chills, a low-grade persistent fever and lost his appetite. At night, Francisco would be delirious with fever, talking to himself in bed, said Rodriguez.

Throughout the week, my father just kept getting worse," said Rodriguez.

At 4 a.m. March 28, much like he did every morning, Francisco got up and shaved his face, a daily ritual he had neglected as he grew weaker and more sick. The next morning, Franciscos face was white as a paper, Rodriguezs mother told her. Medics arrived, but it was too late. At 11 a.m. March 29, Francisco was pronounced dead.

Much like her brother-in-law, Rodriguezs father was not able to be tested for the coronavirus. Doctors told him to assume he had the virus, to stay home so he wouldnt infect others, and to only go to the emergency room if he had a fever above 101 degrees and trouble breathing.

It was only after he died that Francisco was tested for the deadly virus.

Entire families across New Jersey have been impacted by the coronavirus deadly toll. A husband and wife from Palisades Park died alone in the same hospital, a week apart. One family from Freehold ravaged by the virus lost four members. A Kearny woman, who cared for her son who had Down Syndrome, died just nine days before the virus also claimed her sons life.

In one of the harsh changes forced by the virus and facing families across the world, Rodriguez and her family were unable to bid her father farewell, as they were all sick or in quarantine and limited by strict social distancing rules. Francisco was cremated April 3.

None of us were able to go see his body," said Rodriguez. "We werent able to have a proper ceremony. The last one to see him was my mother and my daughter.

In the time since Franciscos passing, Rodriguezs mother, brother-in-law, niece and nephew have all tested positive for the coronavirus, she said.

None of them have shown severe symptoms, and all are in self-quarantine.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.

More: Central Pa.s COVID-19 peak weeks away, UPMC Pinnacles chief medical officer says
April 9 (Reuters) - British foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Thursday that the United Kingdom supported the Saudi-led ceasefire in Yemen that went into effect on Thursday amid the coronavirus outbreak and has raised hope for an end to the five-year-old war.

A Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi movement said it would halt military operations from 0900 GMT on Thursday for two weeks in support of United Nations efforts to end the conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people and spread hunger and disease.

"This is an important step towards the permanent ceasefire Yemenis need", Raab said on Thursday. "I urge the Government of Yemen and the Houthis to immediately cease all hostilities and engage constructively with these proposals."

The United States and Britain have provided the Saudi-led coalition with arms, intelligence and logistics support during the conflict.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)
BUCKS COUNTY >> Police in Northampton, Lower Southampton and Upper Makefield townships report the following incidents and arrests: Lower Southampton THEFT >> In the early morning hours on Monday, Jan. 10 two individuals made off with the entire change machine from the Feasterville Laundromat along Bustleton Pike. The male appears to be "cracking himself up" while he hatches his scheme...
Bollywood actor Kriti Kharbanda reveals about her coronavirus scare, says she was paranoid for the first three days.

When it comes to being talented and smart, how can anyone miss out on Bollywood actor Kriti Kharbanda. Recently, while interacting with a media portal, Kriti Kharbanda opened up about her coronavirus scare. She revealed that everything started when she returned her home in Mumbai after taking an international flight. She revealed that she developed that fear that she has contracted the virus.

She revealed that she consulted the doctor but till then the test kits were not available in India and since she had no fever, the doctor advised her to stay at home and distance herself from everyone. Further, he also advised her to keep a check on her symptoms. The hottie than revealed that for the first three days, she was paranoid.

Kriti Kharbanda also added that she is living with her boyfriend Pulkit Samrat during this lockdown and both of them are having fun with each other. From playing board games to spending time with other, Pulkit shifted to Kritis place to make her feel good. Kriti further added that she cant imagine how other couples are managing their time during this lockdown.

Also Read: Coronavirus lockdown: Hina Khan ventures into kitchen to make poori, fans remind her its a bhatura

Talking about their relationship, both of them featured together in comedy-drama film Pagalpanti and started dating each other last year. Further, Kriti Kharbanda was the one who disclosed her relationship and revealed that she first wanted to tell her parents. Kriti admitted saying that yes she is dating Pulkit Samrat and both of them are in their happy place.

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-11 01:03:41|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that China is ready to continue to provide as much support as its capacity allows for Mexico's fight against COVID-19, including helping the Latin American country purchase badly needed anti-epidemic supplies in China.

Xi made the remarks in a phone call with his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Noting that the coronavirus disease keeps spreading in Mexico and other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Xi extended sincere sympathies and firm support to the Mexican government and people on behalf of their Chinese counterparts.

He said he believes that under the leadership of Lopez Obrador, Mexico will overcome the epidemic at an early date.

Pledging more support, Xi also suggested that the two countries continue to exchange experience in COVID-19 prevention and control as well as diagnosis and treatment via such means as video conferences of experts.

Xi stressed that China, upholding the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, has always been actively carrying out international cooperation against the epidemic and firmly supporting the World Health Organization.

Recalling the recent extraordinary leaders' summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, where he put forward four proposals on promoting international anti-epidemic cooperation and stabilizing the global economy, Xi said China is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with Mexico and all other G20 members to implement the consensus reached at the summit.

He said he is confident that through the anti-epidemic cooperation, the friendship between the Chinese and Mexican people will grow deeper, and the bilateral relationship will have more strategic significance.

China, he added, stands ready to enhance communication and coordination with Mexico within such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations and jointly advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

For his part, Lopez Obrador said that as Mexico is at a difficult moment in the fight against the epidemic, China has offered valuable support and assistance, which is of great importance to the Mexican side.

Mexico has always maintained a brotherly friendship with China, he said, adding that his country will stay committed to actively developing its relations with China and strengthen bilateral exchanges and cooperation in such fields as epidemic containment and public health.
Attorney General William Barr said in an interview aired Thursday that he supported President Donald Trump's controversial decision to oust the intelligence community's inspector general, whose decision to alert Congress about a whistleblower complaint last year helped spark Trump's impeachment.

In an interview with Fox News, Barr said Trump "did the right thing" in removing Michael Atkinson from his post as the intelligence community's internal watchdog, and recalled how the Justice Department had fought against Atkinson last year when he wanted to turn the whistleblower complaint over to lawmakers.

"He had interpreted his statute, which was a fairly narrow statute which gave him jurisdiction over wrongdoing over by intelligence people, and tried to turn it into a commission to explore anything in the government and immediately report it to Congress without letting the executive branch look at it and determine whether there was any problem," Barr said of Atkinson.

In the past seven days, Trump has drawn bipartisan criticism after he told Congress he intended to fire Atkinson in 30 days, and then effectively removed Glenn Fine from his post as the chairman of the federal panel Congress created to oversee his administration's management of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.

Critics alleged that Trump was launching an assault on a critical mechanism for good government; inspectors general are supposed to be independent, nonpartisan watchdogs ferreting out fraud, waste and abuse. The removal of Atkinson, in particular, troubled Senate Republicans, who have pushed the White House for a more detailed explanation.

A spokesperson for the intelligence community inspector general's office did not immediately return an email message seeking comment late Thursday night.

Atkinson has said previously that he was "disappointed and saddened" by Trump's decision, adding, "It is hard not to think that the president's loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial inspector general." Trump has said he felt Atkinson did a "terrible job," and that he had lost confidence in the inspector general.

"I think he wants responsible watchdogs," Barr said of Trump.

That Barr would support Trump in the dispute is not entirely surprising. Barr has been one of the president's most loyal cabinet secretaries, and he has long held the view that the president should wield expansive powers in the executive branch.

Barr's Justice Department, too, also disagreed in real time with Atkinson about what should happen with the whistleblower complaint, which alleged malfeasance in Trump's dealings with his Ukrainian counterpart, particularly during a July 25 phone call in which Trump pressed for an investigation of his political rival, Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden.

The inspector general felt the complaint should be forwarded to the intelligence communities in Congress, believing that was appropriate protocol because the matter was an "urgent" concern. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, however, felt that because the matter did not concern the "funding, administration, or operation of an intelligence community" matter - but instead was an allegation of possible criminal conduct by the commander in chief - it should be more properly handled as a criminal referral and not be routed to lawmakers.

That determination initially stopped the complaint from being turned over to Congress, though Atkinson made lawmakers aware of its existence. The department ultimately determined the matter did not warrant criminal investigation. The complaint and a rough transcript of Trump's call with Zelensky were eventually made public and played a major role in triggering Trump's impeachment.

In the same Fox News interview, Barr said that U.S. Attorney John Durham - who he handpicked to investigate the origins of the FBI's 2016 investigation into Trump's campaign - would likely produce a report of his findings, though that was not his main mission.

"I think a report may be, and probably will be, a byproduct of his activity, but his primary focus isn't to prepare a report," Barr said. "He is looking to bring to justice people who were engaged in abuses, if he can show that they were criminal violations."

As Trump has, Barr also expressed skepticism about voting by mail - which some states view as a necessary step to stem the spread of coronavirus - though he said he expected by the November general election "we're going to be dealing with a difference set of circumstances."

"It's not the right time to be experimenting with the way elections are conducted, that is, through mail in and other kinds of techniques," Barr said.

The comments come as some states have had to postpone their primaries in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus - with one notable exception. Earlier this week, Wisconsin proceeded with its election after the state Supreme Court blocked the governor's effort to suspend in-person voting.

The move inflamed partisan rancor in the state and perhaps foreshadowed some of the legal battles that could lie in the months ahead, if the virus persists.

For his part, Trump publicly encouraged people to vote for a conservative justice running in a hotly contested race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and suggested he was not responsible if people waiting in long lines contracted coronavirus.

"Look, all I did was endorse a candidate," Trump said. "I don't know anything about their lines. I don't know anything about their voting."

Trump has in recent days repeatedly disparaged one alternative to in-person voting, voting by mail, suggesting it is susceptible to fraud, even though he himself did so in Florida.

"I think that mail-in voting is a terrible thing," Trump said at a recent White House briefing. "There's a lot of dishonesty going along with mail-in voting, mail-in ballots."
I felt like we did everything right, Bartnett said. Obviously, you cant go in and look at your accounts every day. You can do so much checking to follow up on things. But this was so out of the blue  there were no warning signs along the way. Its in the account one day and transferred out another day.
Rose Parade rejuvenates Stary's love of music, teaching

Ronald Stary of Watertown Middle School has returned from the Rose Parade. This year, the parade honored 300 music directors.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is joining a growing call for the release of comprehensive racial data on the coronavirus pandemic, which he says has put a spotlight on inequity and the impact of 'structural racism.'

Biden's Medium post on Thursday said he is joining Democratic congressional members Ayanna Pressley, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and others who have also called for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies to release more data.

Biden said he wants data released on income, too, to better help allocate resources to communities in need.

Biden acknowledged this is an 'anxious, difficult time' for all Americans, but he noted the disparate impact on black Americans and Latinos, saying the virus can 'hit anyone, anywhere,' but it doesn't affect every 'community equally.'

The former vice president also noted a climbing number of infections and deaths among 'Navajo Nation and fears about the disproportionate impact the virus could have on Indian Country.'

Of the increasingly apparent racial divide Biden wrote: 'It's unconscionable, and it shouldn't be the case in the United States of America in the 21st Century.'

Of the victims whose demographic data was publicly shared by officials  nearly 3,300 of the nation's 13,000 deaths thus far  about 42% were black. African Americans account for roughly 21% of the total population in the areas covered by the analysis

'Unsurprisingly, it's also amplifying the structural racism that is built into so much of our daily lives, our institutions, our laws, and our communities,' Biden wrote. 'It's unconscionable, and it shouldn't be the case in the United States of America in the 21st Century.'

The coronavirus pandemic has transformed the presidential race, forcing candidates to find innovative ways to reach voters and confront the rippling effects of the virus across the country.

After disappointing finishes in the first three voting states, Biden's campaign was reinvigorated with a victory in South Carolina, thanks largely to black voters, who also helped propel him through Super Tuesday and beyond.

But the very voter base that helped cement Biden's front-runner status is now being hit particularly hard by the virus, which has ravaged black cities like Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans and Milwaukee.

An AP analysis, which was based on data through April 8, found that black Americans are disproportionately being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden addressed the challenges in a virtual town hall Wednesday.

The AP analysis found that of the 3,300 COVID-19 victims whose demographic data was publicly shared by officials, about 42% were black. Black people account for roughly 21% of the total population in the areas covered by the analysis. At the time, there had been 13,000 deaths in the nation.

The analysis was one of the first attempts to examine the racial disparities of COVID-19 cases and deaths nationwide.

It involved examining more than 4,450 deaths and 52,000 COVID-19 cases from across the country, relying on the handful of state and local governments that had released victims' race. Since then, other states have also released data, but a majority of the data is still missing.

On Wednesday, the CDC released racial data for hospitalizations in 14 states in March that showed that one-third of patients were black. In the United States, black people make up about 13% of the total population.

Biden's Medium post comes one day after Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential bid, making Biden the presumptive nominee to challenge President Donald Trump in November.

Meanwhile, Trump has also acknowledged the virus impact on African Americans, saying Tuesday that his administration was trying to address what he termed a 'tremendous challenge.'
A former Union County mayor has died from complications due to the coronavirus, state officials announced Friday.

Samuel McGhee, 79, died Wednesday, said Hillside Mayor Dahlia Vertreese. In 1988, he was the first African-American to be elected mayor of Hillside, a Newark suburb. McGhee was turning 80 next month, said Vertreese.

Its a great loss to the community, said Vertreese. He was definitely one of the first people in the African-American community to get involved in politics in Hillside. Those are the people from our past we really need to honor for their bravery and courage, for even just stepping up to be at the plate and the table.

Sam McGhee was the first African-American elected to serve as Mayor of Hillside. He was a member of the township committee & also served on the Union County Improvement Authority. For 32 years, he served as dean of admissions at @NJCUniversity. Our hearts are with his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/r1SQU4JfJD  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 10, 2020

Governor Phil Murphy honored McGhee for his years of service at Fridays press briefing, offering condolences to his family and the Hillside community.

McGhee was a member of the Hillside Township Committee and also served on the Union County Improvement Authority, said Murphy. He was also a high school history teacher and served 32 years as dean of admission at New Jersey City University, he said.

McGhee was active in the township as recently as last year, attending joint meetings of Essex and Union Counties, said Vertreese.

Just months after his election, McGhee was a vocal proponent of desegregation in the townships schools, standing strong against residents who complained of white flight, reported The New York Times.

"If the goal of America is to bring people of all races together in harmony, there have to be some sacrifices,'' said McGhee, according to the Times.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 18:36:11|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

DAMASCUS, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army on Friday brought in reinforcement to the desert region in eastern Syria as battles with Islamic State (IS) militants continued, a war monitor reported.

The reinforcement arrived in the Sukhneh city in the eastern desert region of Homs province amid Russian airstrikes on the IS positions near the town, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog group said that the battles, which started on Thursday morning, have claimed the lives of 32 Syrian soldiers and 26 IS militants.

The observatory said on Thursday that the battles started when the IS militants launched a wide-scale offensive near the city of Sukhneh in the desert region.

The attacks are the latest in a string of offensives launched by the IS in the desert region in eastern Syria.

On April 6, the IS militants attacked Syrian forces in the countryside of the eastern province of Deir al-Zour.

In an earlier report, the observatory said that more than 377 government forces had been killed since last month in similar attacks by IS militants in the countryside of Deir al-Zour as well as the countryside region of Homs, Raqqa and Sweida provinces.

Also, over 119 IS militants had been killed within the same period of time, the observatory added.

The IS lost key areas across the country, but sleeper cells and some groups in the desert region often launch attacks on Syrian forces.
Sabulao recalls how around the start of the pandemic, one shopper's generous tip bumped his $10 pay up to $83 for a delivery that lasted less than 30 minutes. He earned $289 in over seven hours on Monday, more than half of which came from tips. Earning $200 is typical for that amount of time, he said.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Every day, grocery workers are restocking toilet paper, eggs, produce and canned goods as fast as the items fly off the shelves.

They disinfect keypads, freezer handles and checkout counters as hundreds of people weave around them, sometimes standing too close for comfort amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some work for hours behind clear plastic barriers installed at checkout counters, bulwarks against sudden sneezes or coughs that can propel germs.

They aren't doctors or nurses, yet they have been praised for their dedication by Pope Francis, former U.S. President Barack Obama and countless people on social media, as infections and death counts rise.

COVID HITS HOME: Pearland H-E-B worker tests positive for coronavirus

From South Africa to Italy to the U.S., grocery workers  many in low-wage jobs  are manning the frontlines amid worldwide lockdowns, their work deemed essential to keep food and critical goods flowing. Some fear falling sick or bringing the virus home to vulnerable loved ones, and frustration is mounting as some demand better workplace protections, including shorter hours to allow them to rest, and hazard pay for working closely with the public.

Everyone is scared everywhere, here in South Africa and everywhere in the world," said Zandile Mlotshwa, a cashier at Spar supermarket in the Johannesburg suburb of Norwood.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and the vast majority survive. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can be more severe, even causing pneumonia or death.

MARCH DROP: McDonald's executives take pay cut as sales plummet

In the U.S., a handful of states  Minnesota and Vermont were the first  have given grocery workers a special classification that allows them to put their children in state-paid child care while they work. Unions in Colorado, Alaska, Texas and many other states are pressing governors to elevate grocery workers to the status of first responders.

The government's responsibility is to step up in these moments, said Sarah Cherin, chief of staff for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union in Seattle, the first U.S. epicenter of COVID-19.

The union, which represents about 23,000 grocery workers and 18,000 health care workers, won early concessions for higher pay.

We have always been a group of people who come to work when others stay home," Cherin said. Our workers need the same protection others get.

U.S. grocery and food delivery workers are insisting employers pay them more and provide masks, gloves, gowns and access to testing. Whole Foods workers called for a recent sickout to demand better conditions, including double pay. A group of independent contractors for the Instacart grocery delivery service walked out to force more protections.

Some of the biggest employers in the U.S. are responding.

Kroger, the nation's largest grocery chain, said it will give all hourly employees a $2-an-hour Hero Bonus" through April 18. That follows temporary $2 pay bumps by Walmart, Target and others.

Walmarts raise is just for hourly employees in distribution centers, but its also giving bonuses to full- and part-time workers. Walmart, the nations largest private employer, and Target will provide masks and gloves to front-line workers and limit the number of customers in stores. Walmart is taking the temperatures of its nearly 1.5 million employees when they report to work.

Most will see it as a welcome relief, Walmart spokesman Dan Bartlett said of the new measures.

But that doesn't alleviate the fear when shoppers won't follow the rules, including social distancing.

Jake Pinelli, who works at a ShopRite in Aberdeen, New Jersey, said customers don't stay 6 feet (2 meters) away from others and typically don't wear masks or gloves. Staffers have protective gear, but the younger employees often give it to older co-workers or those they know have health conditions.

Most of us are terrified, Pinelli said. But he stays on because he wants to help.

"I have not only bills to pay, but it's the only way right now I feel like I can do anything for my community and help out, Pinelli said.

Some have fallen sick.

The Shaw's supermarket chain told workers last week at six stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont that one of its employees had been diagnosed with COVID-19. The company reminded workers to wash their hands regularly and stay home if they don't feel well.

At the Organic Food Depot in Norfolk, Virginia, cash is no longer used. Customers can't bring reusable bags. Children under 16 are banned.

If somebody fell sick in the store, the store is most likely going to shut down, manager Jamie Gass said.

Gass, 47, said his wife has asthma, which means she would be more vulnerable to the coronavirus. Yet he feels pride going to a job that helps ensure people get fed in a crisis.

Am I scared that I could catch this? Absolutely, Gass said. But Im sure everybody is in that position. Im just taking as many precautions as I can, so I dont have to worry as much.

In Italy, where more than 14,000 people have died of COVID-19, consumers seem to prefer smaller, family-run stores and markets.

One of them, the Innocenzi grocery store in Rome, was established in 1884 by Emanuela Innocenzis grandfather. Its wooden shelves, marble entrance steps and cherished custom of clerks waiting on each customer hearken back to another era. The small store now allows in only two customers at a time.

A dentists office provided masks, which employees wipe down with alcohol each day and reuse.

Emanuela Innocenzi shrugged off the popes praise.

The doctors, the nurses have special training," she said. "This is our work.

___

Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Michael Casey in Boston; Alexandra Olson and Anne D'Innocenzio in New York; Frances Demilio in Rome; Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg; and video journalist Rodrique Ngowi in Quincy, Massachusetts, contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
It's about rounding the art world. It's not about separating, he said. Andrew has been mindful of creating a safe space for artists to express ideas that some may find confronting. Artist Pedro Wonaeamirri and his group travelled from the Tiwi Islands off the coast of Darwin to exhibit their burial poles at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Despite being more than 4000 kilometres from his community, he says being surrounded by other First Nations artists makes us feel at home. Spectrum met five of these artists whose work can now be seen online at biennaleofsydney.art Nicholas Galanin with his work, Shadow of the Land on Cockatoo Island. Credit:Rhett Wyman

NICHOLAS GALANIN

USA

TLINGIT & UNANGA What do colonial monuments represent? And whose monuments are they? These were the questions Nicholas Galanin asked in Shadow of the Land. The Tlingit and Unanga artist set up an archaeological dig site on Cockatoo Island, excavating the shadow of the Captain Cook monument in Sydneys Hyde Park. The statue itself was notably absent, while the hole was conveniently deep enough to bury the monument, imagining a future where the memories of settler colonialism have become distant and buried.

Galanin said it was important to reclaim the practice of archaeology, which had been largely used historically to uphold white supremacy and  oppress Indigenous communities. On the 250th anniversary of Cooks landing in Australia, Galanin examined what he called the myth of discovery that underpins colonial monuments around the world. Tellingly, the dig site was littered with markers indicating found objects. The conundrum of that is, when you dig down, you're going to find evidence of existing communities. LATAI TAUMOEPEA

AUSTRALIA

TONGAN Sydney-born Latai Taumoepea drew on her Tongan heritage to make art about the impact of climate change on low-lying Pacific islands. In her performance work, The Last Resort, Taumoepea donned brick sandals and wielded a Tongan mallet to crunch through a sea of glass bottles, collected from two Sydney night clubs over the past months, slowly building an island of shattered glass. Latai Taumoepeau uses her art to raise awareness about how climate change is affecting Indigenous communities in the Pacific. Credit:Rhett Wyman Through her performance, Taumoepea symbolically returned the glass to its original form: sand, conveying a message about consumerism and climate change in the process.

Across the world, many First Nations people have already been subjected to the harsh realities of climate change, but they're also leading a lot of the ways of how we should be thinking about our relationship to environment or country, she said. The waste of developed nations comes from a particular lifestyle and that's what's causing the problem for [developing] countries it's our disposable lifestyle. So this is looking at that and the fragility in our relationships with each other and the environment. TONY ALBERT

AUSTRALIA

KUKU YALANJI

Following Australias catastrophic summer, Tony Albert is expanding on a past project for a new work focused on healing and rejuvenating the land. Alberts native planting project has previously helped foster healing at the site of the Blacktown Native Institution in Western Sydney, one of the first known places where Aboriginal children were taken from their parents and institutionalised, under assimilation practices that continued until the 1970s. Tony Albert constructed a greenhouse on Cockatoo Island for the Sydney Biennale. Credit:Rhett Wyman Using a similar concept, Healing Land, Remembering Country invited art lovers to write a memory on paper embedded with native seedlings, then bury it to propagate inside Alberts custom-made greenhouse on Cockatoo Island. It's not just rejuvenation, it's actually gifting the earth a memory, and bringing [us] a step closer to humanity and the earth in a much more Indigenous philosophy of not owning the land, but it owning you, he said.

The seedlings will now be planted at the Blacktown Native Institution, Alexandria Park Community School and other sites to be determined. MAYUNKIKI

JAPAN

AINU It was only last year that the Ainu people were recognised as Indigenous people of Japan, after decades of discrimination and forced assimilation. Hokkaido-based Mayunkiki uses art to explore her people's language and culture, much of which has already been lost.

Mayunkiki feels beautiful and proud when wearing traditional Ainu face tattoos. Credit:Rhett Wyman Her latest photographs document her research of Sinuye, the traditional tattooing practice for Ainu women, which was outlawed in 1871. Today, the few people who continue the practice do so with temporary paint, and only on special occasions. Mayunkiki's installation captured the memories of Ainu elders who still recall the tradition. "My interviewees were very old and only a few of them have actually seen Sinuye in the past," she said. "I ask those few who remember it to draw Sinuye on my face as they recall it being done. Through this act, I think about Ainu culture, our Ainu history and myself."

Mayunkiki continues to paint Sinuye on her face when wearing traditional dress. She says it makes her feel beautiful and proud. ADRIAN STIMSON

CANADA

SIKSIKA (BLACKFOOT) NATION Adrian Stimson created his famed art persona, Buffalo Boy, decades ago while studying at university. Adrian Stimson has created an art persona Buffalo Boy. Credit:Rhett Wyman
A 52-year-old Lincoln man died early Friday in a crash at 27th and Vine streets, police say.

Just after 3 a.m., a Lincoln Police officer came upon the single-vehicle crash involving a 2000 Ford Taurus that had been eastbound before crashing into the Moose's Tooth building.

Officer Erin Spilker said the officer summoned rescue workers and attempted life-saving measures. But when Lincoln Fire & Rescue arrived, they declared the driver  identified as Ronald R. White in the accident report  dead at the scene.

White, who worked as the assistant food manager on East Campus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was the only occupant and was not wearing a seat belt.

Spilker said alcohol does not appear to be a factor. The vehicle was totaled, but the building sustained only minimal damage because the car had collided with a utility pole first.

On Friday morning, news of White's death spread on campus.

Charlie Francis, senior director of housing and dining services, said "Ron White was truly part of our UNL family and he worked hard to build a sense of community among our students."
An iconic hotel in the Rocky Mountains has ceased operations  temporarily  as COVID-19 continues to decimate Alberta's tourism.

The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel has closed as of noon Friday, a rare move for the 132-year-old business.

Over the years, the hotel has shuttered for renovations and during wartime, and was a seasonal operation prior to the late 1960s.

"This certainly isn't goodbye, it's farewell for now," hotel management said in a message posted to its website.

Doors at the hotel were closed to support local authorities in their work "to halt the spread of COVID-19," the message said.

"We currently live in a world that is changing rapidly  by the day and by the hour," it said.

"As we navigate through these times of change and uncertainty, we do so with the safety of both our loyal and valued guests and employees as our highest priority."

Dale Einarson/Banff & Lake Louise Tourism

Banff in particular has been hit hard during this pandemic. Unemployment has hit up to 85 per cent in the town, according to the local MLA, as the community's economy depends on now non-existent tourism.

The Banff Springs Hotel itself draws thousands of sightseers each year. But in recent weeks, the area around the hotel has been quiet.

'Challenging' path forward

Leslie Bruce, president and CEO of Banff and Lake Louise Tourism, said the town is facing hard times but many people are starting to look at what comes next.

"That path forward, it's going to be challenging," Bruce said.

"With so many people who have left, with so many businesses that have shut their doors in order to weather this period of time  this unknown period of time, it's going to take a very large effort to restart the industry."

Officials in the community have asked non-residents to stay away from the townsite to avoid further spread of the deadly coronavirus. As of Friday, officials have begun stopping cars to urge drivers to turn around.

Parks Canada has also restricted access to parking and facilities in national parks.

Jasper Park Lodge also closed temporarily as of noon Friday.
Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

LinkedIn

Email

Telegram



New York, April 10, 2020  In response to Jordanian authorities arrest of Fares Sayegh, general manager of the privately owned satellite station Roya TV, and Mohammad Alkhalidi, the channels news director, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:

Jordanian authorities should be working with media outlets to inform citizens about the wide-ranging impacts of COVID-19, not jailing members of the press who expose public concerns about the virus and the government response to it, said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Coordinator Sherif Mansour. Fares Sayegh and Mohammad Alkhalidi must be released immediately and allowed to resume their work without interference from the authorities.

Today, the Jordanian military arrested both journalists following a public prosecutors order to detain Sayegh and Alkhalidi for 14 days over a news report highlighting workers complaints about the economic impact of the COVID-19 curfew, according to a statement published by the broadcaster and news reports.
A man with suspected Covid-19 has been jailed after coughing in the faces of two NHS nurses.

Lance King, 30, was taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital on Monday where he deliberately coughed at the A&E workers just after 1.30pm, Staffordshire Police said.

He also urinated on the floor of his hospital cubicle and scribbled on himself and hospital property with a pen from the nurses desk, the force added.

King, of no fixed address, was sentenced to a year in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to assaulting an emergency worker and criminal damage.

A 49-year-old man has also been charged with persistently making use of a public communication network to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety, the same police force said.

The man, who has not been named, allegedly made more than 50 calls to police and ambulance services between April 6 and 7.

He is due to appear in court on May 7.

Assistant Chief Constable Simon Tweats said: Thankfully, on the whole people are complying with Government guidelines. However, as these cases show, we will take enforcement action when required.

Coughing on nurses who are working to save peoples lives is totally unacceptable.

The message remains clear; stay at home and follow the guidelines.
A 101-year-old man has returned home after being treated in hospital for coronavirus.

Keith Watson was admitted to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch for surgery last month and tested positive for Covid-19.

But he was discharged on Wednesday and a post celebrating the recovery from the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been shared thousands of times on Facebook.

It said: This is Keith, hes 101 years old.

He went home today after beating coronavirus.

Well done to everyone on Ward 12 at the Alexandra Hospital for looking after Keith so well for the past two weeks!

Having gone in for the operation is one thing and then when we learnt he was tested positive we were thinking the worst... but he's amazing for his age

Mr Watsons daughter-in-law Jo Watson told the BBC the reaction had been a bit mad.

She added: We didnt know anything about this Facebook page until a member of the family had it pop up and its gone a bit mad.

He was in hospital having taken a tumble at his care home and needed surgery and that was a big enough ordeal at 101, but he got through that.

Having gone in for the operation is one thing and then when we learnt he was tested positive we were thinking the worst but hes amazing for his age.
Tehran, April 10 : Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday welcomed the nomination of Mustafa al-Kadhimi as new Iraqi prime minister, according to the state TV.

"The Islamic Republic has invariably supported independence, national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political stability in Iraq, and considers formation of consensus among all of its political movements through democratic pathways to be the only peaceful solution for all differences," the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi was quoted as saying, reported Xinhua news agency.

Iran considers the current consensus that has led to al-Kadhimi's appointment as "a right step in the right direction," said Mousavi.

On Thursday, Iraqi President Barham Salih named al-Kadhimi, director of Iraq's National Intelligence Service, as the new prime minister-designate and tasked him with forming a new government in a month.
Talks are underway with U.S. airlines, promised a $50-billion (U.S.) chunk of the federal stimulus package, on how to deliver aid to them as they endure a dearth of passengers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump said Thursday.

Trump led his daily White House briefing by saying that negotiations will be going on this weekend to decide how funds would be delivered to beleaguered airlines. He said the carriers would be consulted as part of the process.

It is moving along quickly. The airline business has been hit very hard, as everyone knows. Trump said. We will be position to do a lot to help them.

Trump didnt go into details, pledging only that it is going to be a very acceptable package. Good for the country. Good for airlines. Good for a lot of people.

Airlines were among the top recipients of federal aid in the $2-trillion stimulus package that Trump signed last month.

Half of the $50 billion earmarked for airlines is intended as direct, immediate aid to them, with much of it required to be used to pay employees, many of whom have been furloughed due to the drop in passenger traffic.

Airlines have been asking for the amount they say they need out of the package. American Airlines, for instance, said it is eligible to receive $12 billion.

Essentially, the U.S. government is providing funds to motivate airlines to continue air service and not involuntarily furlough any team members, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker told employees in a video. There are no similar provisions in the bill for other large industries.

While the major airline trade association, Airlines for America, has lauded the aid along with carriers like Southwest and Delta, some smaller and ultralow fare airlines take issue with details in the stimulus. In particular, they said in filings that requiring carriers to maintain minimal levels of service when there are few passengers works against how they see the intent of the package: to help them stay afloat financially until passengers return to the skies.

How empty are airports? The Transportation Security Administration said they screened fewer than 100,000 passengers Tuesday. That number was a record low, and less than half the amount of travellers just two weeks ago.

Air careers have been reporting that their planes have been flying from 10 per cent to 20 per cent full on average, Airlines for America said March 26.
Nuevo Laredo has recorded an eighth confirmed case of COVID-19, municipal and state health officials confirmed late Wednesday night after press time.

The patient is a 43-year-old woman from the IMSS Hospital.

Tonight, the cases in Nuevo Laredo rose to eight positives. Let's prevent this from growing and take our responsibility as a society now. It is in our hands to save lives, Nuevo Laredo Mayor Enrique Rivas Cuellar said.

Nuevo Laredo now has eight confirmed cases, eight suspected cases and two deaths, according to Tamaulipas health officials. With those numbers, Tamaulipas has 56 confirmed cases, 103 cases under investigation, five recovered and three deaths.

The city had its first case a little more than a week ago on March 30, with Tamaulipas having six positives at the time.

Tamaulipas Secretary of Health Dr. Gloria Molina Gamboa continued to urge the community to stay home, wash hands with soap and clean surfaces to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Molina Gamboa emphasized the importance of avoiding travel during these Easter days because this is the decisive stage of highest risk of contagion, where the impact of the new strain of coronavirus will be known, she said.

Disinfection

Municipal personnel continued disinfecting plazas and public places. Rivas Cuellar led the cleaning operation on the Mexican side of the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge.

I carry Nuevo Laredo as my duty as mayor but also in my heart. There is no truce against the virus, but there is a great team. You and us. Lets save lives, Rivas Cuellar stated.

Rivas Cuellar launched the disinfection operation at the port of entry as part of taking proactive measures to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

Civil protection personnel and firefighters used sanitizing pumps to spray soap on the bridge infrastructure on the Mexican side, Later, they used pressurized water hoses to remove soap and biodegradable substances residues, officials said.

Travel

This week, the U.S. Consul in Nuevo Laredo, Kathryn Flachsbart, issued a statement informing the restriction of travel across the border between the United States and Mexico.

The Mexican authorities have increased the health controls of personal vehicles and buses at the ports of entry. U.S. citizens are subject to denial of entry or the possibility of quarantine in Mexico, therefore, we ask that you stay home and limit travel unless absolutely essential, Flachsbart said in a statement.

Rivas Cuellar also released a statement.

The message to paisanos is to avoid crossing. We love them very much. They have always been welcomed, but this contingency forces us to ask them not to come, not to visit Mexico, not to visit Nuevo Laredo. As there is no mobility, we will be able to pass the coronavirus faster and with less consequence, Rivas Cuellar stated.
Republican allies of Donald Trump say his daily briefings are hurting his image and have urged him to let medical experts take center stage instead.

The President has been giving daily updates on coronavirus as the country's death toll and infection rate continues to soar.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Mr Trump 'sometimes drowns out his own message' and said a 'once-a-week show' could be more effective.

US President Donald Trump speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on April 9

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci attends the daily coronavirus briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 9

Rep. Susan Brooks said 'they're going on too long' while Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said the briefings were 'going off the rails a little bit'.

Others were concerned that Trump was shifting the focus away from the health crisis and was instead more interested in ratings and slamming his political opponents.

Senator Lindsey Graham told the President 'your opponent is no longer Joe Biden  it's this virus,' the New York Times reported.

With one eye firmly on his November reelection prospects, Trump has been accused at times of bristling against tough public health recommendations and has urged a rapid restart to the nation's economy.

Senator Lindsey Graham said Mr Trump 'sometimes drowns out his own message' and said a 'once-a-week show' could be more effective

Trump on Monday stopped Dr. Tony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, from answering a question about the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in treating the coronavirus as he tried to push a more hopeful message about the pandemic.

'You know how many times he's answered that question: 15 times,' Trump told CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond, who tried to question Fauci.

'You don't have to answer that question,' the president told the doctor. And then he turned back to Diamond. 'He's answered that question 15 times.'

Trump is accused of trying to drown out Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and has attempted to blame the former vice president for bureaucratic failures.

White House spokesman Judd Deere came to the defense of the President. 'Any suggestion that President Trump is struggling on tone or message is completely false,' he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives with Vice President Mike Pence to lead the daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, April 9

'During these difficult times, Americans are receiving comfort, hope and resources from their president, as well as their local officials, and Americans are responding in unprecedented ways.'

Trump allies point to the president's actions - such as suspending direct flights with China and, later, Europe - as measures that kept the nation safe and said that his brashness and sense of urgency have improved the response by both the government and the private sector.

'A big part of the reason why President Trump was elected was to be that bull in the china shop, to take those brash, declarative actions,' said Jason Miller, Trump's 2016 campaign communications director.

Trump predicted on Thursday that deaths from the coronavirus in the United States will be much lower than 100,000 as he predicted the economy was on track to reopen.

'You are looking at a much lower level than the level of, I hope the level of 100,000,' he said at the daily White House briefing on Thursday.

There have been more than 15,000 deaths in the U.S. with over 436,000 people infected.
A University College Dublin (UCD) researcher, Professor Paula Bourke, UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, is principal investigator (PI) on a 4.5 million collaborative project to develop new therapies to treat an orthopedic infection with antibiotic-resistant microorganisms using cold plasma.

Plasma is the fourth state of matter, along with solid, liquid and gas, and is generated by applying energy to a gas to generate a range of active components. Cold plasma can be used to inactivate microbes and bacteria that cause human infections and this project will use cold plasma to tackle the challenges of antimicrobial resistance for human health.

The funding for this project, announced today by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), has been awarded through the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership, a tripartite partnership between the United States of America (USA), Republic of Ireland (RoI) and Northern Ireland (NI).

A total of four (4) projects were announced today, which between them will receive a joint investment of 12 million and will support more than 40 research positions across 10 research institutions, for three to five years.

The US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership, launched in July 2006, is a unique initiative that aims to increase the level of collaborative R&D amongst researchers and industry professionals across the three jurisdictions.

Professor Bourke will co-lead a project entitled, 'Cold Plasma Therapies for Orthopaedic Infection' in collaboration with Professor Brendan Gilmore, Queen's University Belfast and Professor Theresa Freeman and Professor Noreen Hickok, Jefferson University.

Infection following orthopedic implant is a life-threatening and devastating complication to the reconstructive surgeries that are routinely performed to restore mobility and functionality to a huge patient population. New therapies to combat antibiotic-resistant microorganisms and stimulate the patient's own immune response to combat their infection are required.

I am delighted that our project has secured this significant funding from the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership to address the serious medical complications which can arise due to bone infection following orthopedic surgery. I now look forward to working with this multi-PI team of researchers from UCD, QUB and Jefferson University, and our aim is to develop cold plasma treatments, tailored for high antimicrobial efficacy as well as stimulating immune responses, to eradicate such bone infections." Professor Bourke, UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering

Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact said, "I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Professor Paula Bourke who has successfully secured funding through the prestigious US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership program."

"The health project she is co-leading in collaboration with researchers in Queen's University Belfast and Jefferson University has the potential to make a significant impact in the way bone infections are treated in patients following orthopedic surgery."

The partner agencies for the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership in the Republic of Ireland are; Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the Health Research Board (HRB) and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

In Northern Ireland, the Health & Social Care R&D Division (HSC R&D), the Department for the Economy (DfE), and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) are partners.

In the USA, it is facilitated by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). These organizations manage peer review and support US researchers through grants, on which Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland investigators are collaborators.

The continued success of the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme demonstrates the strong open relationship between our countries and highlights Ireland's scientific standing internationally. I would like to congratulate all of the award recipients and their collaborators, who are forging innovation and discovery across the Atlantic, with the potential to greatly benefit our collective societies and economies." Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland

The program, which uses a 'single-proposal, single-review' approach, focuses on prioritized thematic areas, including sensors, telecommunications, energy and sustainability, health and agriculture.

The Irish components of research projects in the area of health, such as Professor Bourke's project, are jointly co-funded by SFI with the Health Research Board (HRB).

The HRB is committed to supporting highly innovative international research collaboration through the US-Ireland R&D Programme. These new awards have strong potential to create new knowledge and address major health challenges in society and demonstrate the high calibre of researchers we have in Ireland." Dr. Darrin Morrissey, Chief Executive, HRB

Dr. Roger Glass, Director, NIH's Fogarty International Center and Associate Director for International Research, NIH said, "This partnership creates research consortia that leverage investments by the three participating countries. This not only advances cutting-edge science, but it also builds international collaboration in the best possible way."

The US Ireland R&D Programme is important to HSC as it enables powerful international collaboration across Ireland and the US, producing world leading science and strengthening the global community to advance the health of our population." Professor Ian Young, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Health in Northern Ireland and Director of Health and Social Care (HSC) Research and Development

Trevor Cooper, Director of Higher Education, Department for the Economy (Northern Ireland) said, "I welcome the announcement of these new awards under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership. They represent ground-breaking trans-Atlantic research which will help to drive forward the Executive's goal of transforming Northern Ireland into an innovation economy."
Its the invisible enemy, said Donald Trump at his March 18 press conference. Thats always the toughest enemy, the invisible enemy. Were going to defeat the invisible enemy. I think were going to do it faster than we thought and it will be a complete victory, a total victory.

In Hollywood, the problem with a total victory is that it leaves little room for a sequel. Director Leigh Whannell didnt make that mistake in The Invisible Man, the perfect parable for the COVID-19 pandemic. He delivered a satisfying ending, but left a crack open for the follow up, most likely The Invisible Woman.

In the real world, the problem with Trumps assertion of a fast, total victory over the novel coronavirus is that it hinges on the development and mass distribution of a vaccination, which is at least a year in the future, probably longer. With the legions of anti-vaxxers at large in western society, its unlikely that a total victory is possible. Propelled by the same disdain for science regularly displayed Trump, they are already responsible for the resurgence of viruses such as measles, once considered eradicated in the U.S.

Until a vaccination is available, the new coronavirus will drift among us, invisible, rising and falling in waves, the size of which will be determined by our ability to social distance, the only weapon we now have, especially with the unavailability of widespread testing.

The Invisible Man was the last movie I saw in a theater before the coronavirus completely subsumed life as we know it. Normally I see a movie a week on the big screen, often on Tuesdays at MJR, when admission is $5 and medium popcorn is free. With virus bearing down on us, I adopted a new strategy. Skip the popular Tuesday promotion. Attend the very first showing on Monday, pay the full $6 for matinee admission and $6.75 for a large popcorn. I was nervous. The U.S. already had 423 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The first death in the country had been announced 10 days earlier. The parking lot at Chesterfield Crossing was nearly empty. There was a big bottle of Purell on the ticket counter even though it had already vanished from supermarket shelves. I Purelled myself after getting my credit card and MJR rewards card back from the ticket seller. She and the ticket-taker were the same two women who had been welcoming me to the theater for months. They looked healthy. Whered they find such a large Purell? The theater, it turned out, had piles of it the stock room. The employee behind the concession stand kept his hands off his adolescent face. I bought the popcorn, scanning the golden puffs for any sign of abnormality. It smelled delicious. I had brought two sheets of Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes with me in a Baggie. I carefully wiped down the middle seat of the third row, feeling like Julianne Moore, the compelling germophobe in Todd Hayness 1995 multiple-chemical-sensitivity movie Safe. Except for a woman encamped in the far seat of Row 8, I was alone in the theater. She did not cough.

Elizabeth Moss, who stars as Cecilia Kass, looks at the clock. Its 3:41 a.m. The hand on her stomach belongs to the man sleeping behind her on the bed. She carefully removes the hand as her face flashes disgust blended with fear. Moss is the great every-woman of modern movies. She plucks the bottle of Diazepam from under the mattress, which she obviously used to knock out the man on the mattress. She retrieves a packed bag from a secret compartment in the walk-in closet and flees the stereotypically hyper-modern home, all glass and angles and sterility.

Her sister Emily, played by Harriet Dyer, picks her up on a deserted two-lane road. Shes late. Just as Cecilia climbs into the car, out of the woods charges the freshly awake boyfriend, handsome and crazed Adrian Griffin, acted by Oliver Jackson-Cohen, who attacks the car as the women screech away into the night.

A brainy optics engineer by day, Griffin is a domestic abuser by night, one who promises to find Cecilia no matter where she flees. Momentarily overjoyed upon word of his suicide, Cecilia soon is haunted by the sense of an invisible presence. She becomes convinced its Griffin.

Hes figured out a way to be invisible, she tells her friend. Hes not dead. We just cant see him.

If it was nearly impossible to prove that he was abusing her, now she must enroll her pluck and persistence in the effort to prove that he is as invisible as a virus, capable of striking down anyone at anytime.

By grounding a Universal classic monster  think Frankenstein, his Bride, the Wolfman, Dracula, the Creature, the Hunchback, the Phantom  in one of contemporary societys most insidious scourges, Whannell managed to write and direct a stripped down horror movie thats totally scary.

It was March 9. The last day I saw a movie on the big screen. On March 10, the first two Michigan cases of COVID-19 were confirmed and Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency. On the March 11, the World Health Organization proclaimed a global pandemic. The president waited two more days to declare a national emergency, but continued to do essentially nothing. He babbled.

The choice was clear.

In the battle against the unseen, Id take Elizabeth Moss over Donald Trump any day.

Jim Bloch is a freelance writer. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 09:13:56|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HEFEI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Kangmei Chinese medicinal material price index, a barometer of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) material market, dropped 0.06 percent to 1,293.25 points Friday.

Covering more than 500 TCM materials including herbs and minerals from six major markets nationwide, the closely watched index reflects the overall price trend in the country's TCM material market. It is released daily by Kangmei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, one of China's major TCM companies.

The index was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission of China in 2012 to offer more timely and accurate reference for TCM material growers, traders and pharmaceutical companies.

Traditional Chinese medicines, often given as oral liquid, granule and pills, typically use the combination of a number of medicinal materials, mostly herbs, to address health problems.
On the initiative of President of Azerbaijan, chairman of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States Ilham Aliyev, an extraordinary Summit of the Turkic Council will be held on April 10 through videoconferencing.

The Summit will focus on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Companies are affected by crises in different ways.

The Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented in the way governments over the world have responded.

Borders have been shut, air travel curtailed and whole cities locked down.

Companies in industries such as tourism, travel, hospitality and airlines have seen sharp declines in demand, leading to warnings of plunging revenue and cash flows.

Others may suffer indirectly from social distancing measures that restrict peoples movements and prevents them from patronising shops and stores.

Yet others complain of lower demand for their products and services due to widespread job losses and lower consumer spending ability.

Here are two blue-chip companies that have been badly impacted by Covid-19. However, I believe they are massively undervalued if you consider their long-term prospects.

Genting Singapore Limited (SGX: G13)

Genting Singapore Limited is an owner and operator of Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), which houses a casino, hotels, a theme park and MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) facilities.

In mid-March, Genting issued a profit guidance stating that its first-quarter fiscal year 2020 (FY 2020) financial results are expected to be significantly and adversely impacted.

The update said that RWS had experienced a significant decrease in visitor attendance due to travel restrictions and border closures.

Revenue across all its facilities, including attractions, hotels, restaurants, MICE facilities and the casino was significantly lower.

On 4 April, Genting further announced that due to the implementation of the Circuit Breaker measures from 7 April till 4 May, all guest offerings at RWS will be temporarily suspended.

The groups share price has tumbled 21.5% year to date, and shares now trade at just 13x historical earnings.

As the virus outbreak remains uncontained, the closure of RWS could be extended beyond 4 May. If so, this would result in the continued loss of revenue and cash flow for Genting.

Story continues

However, over the long haul, the effect is likely to be temporary.

Once the pandemic is over and the economy picks itself back up, Genting should be able to continue generating strong cash flows.

The group has laid out plans to expand its RWS floor area by up to 50% over the next five years. This organic growth will stand the group in good stead once this crisis has passed.

Hongkong Land Holdings Limited (SGX: H78)

Hongkong Land Holdings Limited, or HKL, is a major property investment, management and development group. The group owns and manages more than 850,000 square metres of prime office and luxury retail property in Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing and Jakarta.

Covid-19 has greatly dampened demand for office and retail space, and also increased the financial stress for tenants in HKLs properties.

Shares in HKL have declined by 27% year to date and now trade at almost a 75% discount to book value.

The low price to book value makes shares cheaper than they have been in the last decade.

Though its development properties will no doubt face delays, its investment properties division should still see relatively resilient rental income.

Looking ahead, pressure on its business may last until the end of 2020 and into 2021 as well.

However, the group has positioned itself for long-term growth by purchasing a piece of land in Shanghai.

The purchase was made on 20 February via auction for approximately US$4.4 billion and will be developed into a mixed-use development by 2027.

Get Smart: Focus on the long-term prospects

Though these two companies are facing severe short-term headwinds due to the severity of the pandemic, I believe their long-term prospects remain sound.

Both companies have strong balance sheets and have historically generated healthy free cash flows. Dividends have also been a staple.

Investors can take comfort knowing that both companies can most likely get through this tough period unscathed. This should give them the confidence to include them in their portfolios.

Want to know what stocks we like for our portfolio? See for yourself now. Simply CLICK HERE to scoop up a FREE copy of our special report. As a bonus, we also highlight 6 blue chips stocks trading at a 10-year low. But you will want to hurry  this free report is available for a brief time only.

Disclaimer: Royston Yang does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned.

The post Here are Two Massively Undervalued Blue-Chip Companies appeared first on The Smart Investor.
US Marines Weigh Converting JLTV Trucks Into Anti-Air Weapons

Sputnik News

20:05 GMT 09.04.2020

In the Pentagon's latest move to thwart the rising threat posed by enemy drones, the US Marine Corps has proposed converting some of its Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV), a Humvee replacement, to carry anti-air missiles, autocannons, and jamming technology.

According to Military.com, Marine Corps Systems Command has invited defense contractors to submit their ideas for converting the Corps' new JLTV into an air defense vehicle.

Called the Direct Fire Defeat System, the upgrades could potentially include anti-air missiles, 30-millimeter autocannons and a suite of electronic warfare tools to "detect, track, identify and defeat aerial threats," as the March 27 solicitation note requesting submissions states. Companies have until April 13 to submit proposals.

"This system will provide new and improved capability to mitigate the risk of attacks from Unmanned Aerial Systems and Fixed Wing/Rotary Wing aircraft while maintaining pace with maneuver forces," the document says, according to Military.com.

The JLTV only met its initial operational capability (IOC) requirements last August, but the Marines moved quickly to triple their order of the armored trucks. The JLTV is designed to partially replace the Humvee, which proved vulnerable to improvised explosive devices, as well as the heavily armored but clumsy Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) trucks invented as a response to Humvee shortcomings.

The Marine Corps is now ordering 15,000 JLTVs from Wisconsin-based manufacturer Oshkosh, but it's unclear how many of them would be modified to fill the anti-air role if the proposal moves forward.

The threat posed by hostile unmanned aerial vehicles has steadily increased in recent years, with experiences in Syria and Yemen demonstrating the need for dedicated, close-in anti-air defenses. During the August 2019 attack on two Saudi oil facilities for which Yemeni Houthi forces claimed responsibility, suicide drones slipped under the protective aegis of the US' Patriot air defense systems, delivering a devastating blow that temporarily crippled Saudi oil production.

As Sputnik has reported, the US military once had extensive short-range air defense systems (SHORADS), but after the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon shifted toward longer-range strategic threats. Systems like the Patriot, Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GBMD) and Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) all focused on downing high-trajectory, exo-atmospheric weapons like ballistic missiles, leaving US forces without a workable, close-in air defense system.

In response, the Army pushed forward in adopting the "Howler" system, which combines the Coyote loitering muntion - itself a kind of "suicide drone" - with the KuRFS Ku-band short-range radar to produce a point air defense system. The Pentagon also laid out anti-drone defenses as one of its top priorities in 2020, with one Pentagon official saying it hoped to produce "three to five" counter-drone systems for various service branches, Sputnik reported.

Some of those proposed systems include the DroneDefender and Silent Archer electronic warfare systems, both of which create no-go zones for drones by blocking signals between them and their remote controllers, causing the aircraft to crash.

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin has also built an Advanced Test High Energy Asset (ATHENA) prototype laser system, which in a November 2019 test demonstrated "full kill-chain performance" capability, the contractor noted. Northrop Grumman also indicated earlier this year the contractor was working on an airburst weapon, similar to the World War II-era flak cannons, to shoot down drones.

Military.com noted the Marines also already use the Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (LMADIS), which reportedly jammed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz last year, although Tehran has denied the drone was shot down, as Washington has claimed.

The US Army will also be buying substantial numbers of the JLTV, with 10,760 under contract for manufacture, Defense News reported. According to USNI News, the British Army is also interested in acquiring 2,747 JLTVs through the Pentagon's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital Editor
Mumbai, April 10 : Producers Jewel and Deepak Chopra have decided to release their documentary feature, "The Mindfulness Movement", digitally, owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The film was initially scheduled to be ireleased n over 50 theatres across the US and Canada, and is now available at ThemindfulnessMovement.com.

The feature documentary examines how people are increasingly taking to mindfulness -- a peaceful quality of attention anyone can develop by simply focusing on the present moment in a non-judgmental way -- as a means to create a healthier, happier world.

Sharing the importance of the film, Chopra took to Twitter and wrote: "Mindfulness can help reduce anxiety in these uncertain times. Please take a moment to visit the site to learn more about this important film." According to Jewel, mindfulness can help reduce the "pandemic's silent symptoms of anxiety, fear and depression".
PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-11 01:02:01

Fusionex and Heriot-Watt University Sign MoU to Nurture Future Talent

Media:

Nancy Baker

nancy@international-marketinsights.com

Leading multi award-winning data technology specialist Fusionex signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Heriot-Watt, a prestigious leading UK university, to embark on a strategic collaboration that will enable the exchange of invaluable industry knowledge, insights and expertise between the parties.

The MoU was signed by key representatives of each organization, namely Mr. Chen Keat Ming, Vice President from Fusionex and Professor Mushtak Al-Atabi, Provost and Chief Executive Officer of Heriot-Watt University.

This partnership will see Fusionex also providing employment and internship opportunities to graduates of the universitys data science program, as well as setting up a scholarship and other programs for outstanding students. Other areas of cooperation include joint consultancy activities in various academic and professional fields, joint organization of data science-related events and providing mentorship to scholars of the university.

The MoU is in line with Fusionexs endeavour to nurture a new generation of data scientists, analysts and engineers who are fully-equipped to meet the growing demands of the technology landscape, both now and in the future. Furthermore, Fusionexs expertise in data technology will empower students with the knowledge and skills to explore different pathways to create more innovations and breakthroughs in the industry.

In todays world, cutting-edge innovations in digital technology plays a huge role in the way people work and play. As such, Fusionex is honored to be partnering with Heriot-Watt University to cultivate a future workforce that is not only highly sought after by organizations, but also adept at dealing with any challenge and solving problems. We hope this cooperation will serve as a motivation for the universitys students to excel, thus, creating the next generation of brilliant innovators and data technology prodigies, said Fusionex Group CEO Dato Seri Ivan Teh.

About Fusionex

Fusionex is an established multi award-winning data technology provider specializing in Analytics, Big Data, IR 4.0, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence. Its offerings are focused on helping clients unlock value and derive insights from data. Featured on Forbes, Bloomberg, Gartner, IDC, Forrester, Edison and Huffington Post, Fusionex is the largest Big Data Analytics company and market leader in ASEAN, bringing state-of-the-art, innovative and breakthrough data-driven platforms to its stable of clientele (including Fortune 500, FTSE companies, large conglomerates as well as a wide array of small and medium enterprises (SMEs)) that spans across the United States, Europe as well as Asia Pacific. Fusionex is also an MDEC GAIN company as well as an MGS recipient.

Gartners 2018 report on Modern Analytics and Business Intelligence shortlisted and commended Fusionexs data technology platform. In addition, Fusionex has been as identified as a Major Player in IDCs MarketScape Report for Big Data & Analytics. Fusionex is the only ASEAN-based company to be featured in both reports, cementing its credentials in the data technology market for this region.

To learn more about Fusionex, visit www.fusionex-international.com.

About Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt is a specialist, pioneering University, with a global presence, world renowned, innovative research and highly employable graduates. The universitys pioneering story began in Edinburgh in 1821 and continues today across the world. Founded in 1854, The Watt Club is the UK's oldest graduate club in the UK.

The university has five campuses across the world: Edinburgh, Scottish Borders, Orkney, Dubai and Malaysia, as well as 53 Approved Learning Partners (ALPs) and educational collaborative partners in 150 countries. The university has over 29,000 students studying at its campuses and online through distance learning (as at year end 2017). One third of its on-campus students studying in Scotland are from outside the UK, making Heriot-Watt one of the most internationally diversified of any UK university

Heriot-Watt University is 37th in the world, 13th in the UK and 3rd in Scotland for its international outlook based on The World University Rankings 2019.

With over 130,000 alumni worldwide in over 190 countries, Heriot-Watt is the university of choice for business and industry and its graduates are sought by the best organizations worldwide.

To learn more about Heriot-Watt University, visit www.hw.ac.uk.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, with the exception of Mexico, agreed to a historic 10 million barrel per day production cut to contribute to the efforts aimed at stabilizing the market. The ninth extraordinary OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial meeting, under the chairmanship of Saudi King Abdul Aziz Bin Salman, was held on April 9 following a bitter fallout between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Read: Iran Says US Oil Production Must Be Known Before OPEC+ Call

As per the agreement, 10 million barrel per day production cut will come into effect from May 1 and will continue for an initial period of two months ending June 30. For the next six months, the total adjustment agreed will be eight million barrel per day output cut which will be followed by a six million barrel per day production cut for a period of 16 months.

Read: OPEC+ Likely To Cut Oil Production If US Joins Talks: Report

Conditional to Mexico's consent

Oil production of October 2018 will be the baseline for the calculation of the adjustments except for Russia and Saudi Arabia which will follow the same baseline level of 11 million barrel per day. The agreements validity will remain until April 30, 2022, but the possible extension will be reviewed in December 2021.

Mexico refused to participate in the cuts and left the meeting without giving consent to the agreement which could jeopardise the deal. Mexicos Secretary of Energy Rocio Nahle tweeted that the country would be willing to cut production by 100,000 barrels per day for the next two months. Since it has not agreed to the proposed deal, it remains conditional on the consent of Mexico.

Read: OPEC+ And Russia Postpone Virtual Meeting On Plunging Oil Prices

Read: Saudi State TV: OPEC Deal Includes 10M Barrel Per Day Cut

(Image Credit: AP)
Wrapping your head around the scale of a global pandemic is not easy, and the volume of stats and data can be bewildering.

What, for instance, are we to make of the fact Australia recorded just 109 new cases in its daily count for April 6? Given this figure peaked at around 400 new cases per day, does this mean the rate of infection is now tapering off?

And what, apart from sadness, are we to make of more gruesome statistics, such as the 969 COVID-19 deaths reported in a single day in Italy on March 27?

Read more: Coronavirus: how long does it take to get sick? How infectious is it? Will you always have a fever? COVID-19 basics explained

Which stats are most useful in making sense of the situation? To help interpret and understand the mountains of COVID-19 data, well look at five commonly used methods, and explain the pros and cons of each.

To illustrate each method, well use Johns Hopkins University data for Italy during the 43 days from February 23 to April 5.

1. Daily increases

Much of the COVID-19 data is presented as a daily count of new confirmed infections for the preceding 24 hours. For example, on April 5, Italy had 4,316 new cases.

Such numbers accurately convey the horrific scale of the pandemic, but are less good at revealing how the situation is evolving. Without knowing the previous daily totals, it is impossible to say whether the trend is up or down. We need a way to put it into context.

2. Bar chart of daily new cases

One way to provide context is with a bar chart, also called a histogram, showing each new daily case count.

The graph below shows the number of new cases in Italy, from February 23 (the first day with over 100 new cases, and which we have labelled day 1), to 4,316 on April 5 (day 43).

This type of graph can reveal meaningful trends at a glance. We can see the number of new cases began to stabilise on about day 26, and may even have begun to trend downwards.

But while large trends are obvious, we need to be careful when it comes to smaller trends  they may merely be random variations in the daily counts.

3. Graph of cumulative cases

Daily counts tell us how fast the epidemic is growing, but they dont tell us how big it has grown overall. For that, we need a graph of the total number of cases so far.

This is called a cumulative graph, because each days data point is the sum total of all the previously confirmed cases.

This is an excellent tool for visualising the full extent of the outbreak so far. But the danger is that it makes things look much worse than they are, because the total number of confirmed cases since the beginning of the outbreak can only go up, not down.

This method also makes it hard to see when growth rates are slowing, because you have to look for a plateau in the curve, rather than a drop.

4. Cumulative cases (log scale)

To compensate, we can present the same data on a logarithmic (or log) scale. This means the graphs vertical axis (y-axis) is graduated by orders of magnitude (1, 10, 100, 1,000) rather than in equal increments (10, 20, 30, 40).

This basically squashes the y-axis so large numbers do not skew the whole graph. If an epidemic is growing exponentially, it arguably makes more sense to plot it this way because the trend line can keep up with the numbers instead of shooting off into the stratosphere.

The log scale graph above shows the same data as the previous graph, but now it clearly tells the story of how Italys infection rates actually began to slow before day 26.

One downside is that this is clearly a more abstract way of looking at the data, so you need to know how a log scale works before you can make meaningful sense of it.

5. Percentage growth of the total

A less common, although extremely important, way to present the data is to express the daily number of cases as a percentage of the total so far. This is another good way to put the situation in context.

Like the log scale graph, the graph above also shows that the daily rate of increase in total cases has dropped steadily over the 43 days.

This method is perhaps the most useful for demonstrating the effectiveness of social distancing and other public health measures for flattening the curve.

However, one drawback of using percentages is that this method does not reveal the actual numbers involved. It also risks lulling people into a false sense of security  the percentage graph can trend downwards even though the virus is still widespread, and the risk of resurgence still exists.

Theres no best way to present the data

These five different ways of presenting exactly the same data can give five different impressions of the situation.

There is also the question of the wider population context in which these numbers are presented.

Italy now has more than 128,900 confirmed cases, compared with a reported 82,600 in China. Given the differences in population (Italy: 60.4 million, China: over 1.4 billion), that means 1 person in 468 has been infected in Italy, compared with just 1 in 16,949 in China.

In tiny Luxembourg, infections stand at 1 person in 223  an even higher per capita infection rate than Italy.

Countries can also have large differences between regions. New South Wales, the hardest-hit state in Australia, accounts for 46.5% of the countrys cases, despite having 32% of the population.

Testing times

Another crucial piece of context is the total number of tests conducted. This varies hugely, both between countries and over time. When interpreting data on case numbers, it is important to know what proportion of the population has been tested.

Mark Osborn , Author provided

Widespread testing also helps to improve estimates of the true fatality rate among those infected with the virus.

Read more: The coronavirus looks less deadly than first reported, but it's definitely not 'just a flu'

As we strive as a society to flatten the curve, it will be heartening to know when our efforts are beginning to bear fruit. The better we understand the data, the easier that will be.

Not only is this important as we all try to come to terms with our new normal, but it will no doubt be crucial in convincing people of the necessity for various restrictions and lifestyle changes as the months drag on.

Mark Sanderson, Professor of Information Retrieval, RMIT University; Irene Lena Hudson, Professor of Statistics and Data Analytics, RMIT University, and Mark Osborn, Professor of Microbiology, RMIT University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Friday stressed the importance of maintaining cross-border supply lines amid the Covid-19-related lockdown during a telephone conversation with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The two leaders exchanged views on the Covid-19 crisis and the challenges it poses to the health and safety of citizens of both countries and the region. They also discussed steps taken in their countries to tackle the pandemic.

Oli tweeted that he had emphasised the need to provide good care to citizens of both countries who have been stranded in each others territory because of the lockdown. He said the two sides also discussed the issue of keeping supply lines intact and further improving them.

Nepal is largely dependent on India for supplies of essential goods, medicines and fuel. The movement of goods across the border is continuing through designated checkpoints, though the movement of people has been stopped. Thousands of citizens of both countries have been stranded because of the lockdown, many of them along the border.

Oli also thanked Modi for the assistance provided by India to Nepal, including medical supplies.

Nepal is among the neighbouring countries to which India is providing medical supplies, including the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, to fight Covid-19.

Modi appreciated the response and management of the crisis by the Nepal government under Olis leadership, while Oli reiterated his appreciation for Modis initiative in coordinating the response among members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), according to a readout from the external affairs ministry.

Modi reiterated Indias commitment for providing all possible support and assistance for Nepals efforts to counter the pandemic. The two leaders agreed their experts and officials will continue to closely consult and coordinate with each other on all issues related to the Covid-19 crisis, including facilitating cross-border supplies of essential commodities.

The Indian prime minister also spoke on telephone with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Friday and discussed global health and economic challenges caused by the pandemic. They expressed appreciation for the support and facilitation provided during the crisis to each others citizens, and agreed to continue such coordination.

Modi and Abe also agreed the India-Japan partnership can play a critical role in helping the world find solutions to challenges arising from the pandemic.

Modi also had a telephone conversation with Ugandas President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Thursday. He assured Museveni that India stands in solidarity with its friends in Africa during the crisis, and will extend all possible support to Ugandas efforts to control the spread of the virus.

Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the goodwill and care extended to the Indian diaspora in Uganda by the host government and society, including during the present situation, said a statement from the external affairs ministry.
Poyry Awarded EPCM Contract from LD Celulose for New Dissolving Pulp Mill in Brazil LD Celulose, a joint venture between Duratex and Lenzing group, is building a new dissolving pulp mill in Minas Gerais, Brazil, that will have the capacity to produce 500,000 tons per year. April 10, 2020 - Poyry announced that it has been awarded an EPCM (Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Management) contract from LD Celulose for the BOP (Balance of Plant) for the new dissolving pulp mill in the Triangulo Mineiro area of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The new mill will have the capacity to produce 500,000 tons of dissolving pulp per year and will represent an investment of US $1.3 billion. The services provided by Poyry, part of AFRY, include interconnections between all process areas, turbo generators and steam distribution systems, the water cooling center and other complimentary systems. Luis Kunzel, CEO of LD Celulose, said the new dissolving pulp mill will bring a positive socioeconomic impact throughout the region. "Our intention is to benefit the municipalities that comprise the hub, providing opportunities in various sectors," Kunzel said. "We are committed to working with the best environmental practices, and Poyry's expertise and ability to provide sustainable engineering solutions make it the ideal partner to lead this process from the initial stages of the project." The start-up of the new mill is planned for the first half of 2022. About LD Celulose S.A. LD Celulose is a joint venture between Duratex and Lenzing group. The JV's new mill will have the capacity to produce 500,000 tons of dissolving pulp per year. All production from the new plant will be exported, supplying Lenzing group's operations in Europe and Asia. Poyry, part of AFRY group, is an international engineering, design and consulting company. For further information, visit: www.afry.com . SOURCE: Poyry
Debenhams flagship store on Henry Street in Dublin boarded up after the British department store chains chief executive confirmed it had formally entered administration. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The Irish arm of Debenhams has been placed in administration after store staff were told they had lost their jobs.

The company said it expected a liquidator to be appointed to the 11-store operation here.

It said it employed 950 in Ireland, with a further 300 working for in-store concession partners.

However, the Mandate trade union said liquidation would mean the loss of almost 2,000 jobs across the country.

Struggling

Debenhams was already strugg-ling at the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

It said the majority of its Irish stores were not expected to re-open, but that decision would now be in the hands of a liquidator, who is expected to be appointed next week.

Irish staff were informed of the move by email yesterday. With the chain shut as a result of Covid 19, most had already been temporarily laid-off.

Stefaan Vansteenkiste, chief executive of Debenhams, confirmed the decision.

We are desperately sorry not to be able to keep the Irish business operating but are faced with no option in the current environment, he said.

This decision has not been taken lightly and is no way a reflection on our Irish colleagues, whose professionalism and commitment to serving our customers has never been in question.

The colleagues have been placed on temporary lay-

off under the Irish Governments payment support schemes for employers, and we will be working with them to support them through this process.

Debenhams Irelands biggest creditor is its UK parent, which was taken over last year by its own creditors.

The Roche family, who sold the Roches Stores chain to Debenhams, are the landlords for the bulk of the Irish outlets.

The companys most recently filed accounts showed turnover in 2018 was close to 170m (194m), but the company made a loss for the year of 4.7m (5.35m) in Ireland, even after an examinership process in 2016 that had cut rents.

While the news is a huge blow to retail, consultant Eddie Shanahan believes it is not the end of the high street.

The high street as we knew it is not gone. It will be different, but it is not gone, he said. We dont know how different yet.

There will have to be rules around social distancing and in 12 months or thereabouts theres a strong likelihood we will have some form of vaccine and then that will bring us closer again to where we once were.

Retail will be multi-channel, and if you dont have a trading website, youre not a real retailer.
Lockdown restrictions on movement in Ireland are to be extended for a further three weeks, the Taoiseach has announced.

The measures, which prevent people from leaving home in all but limited circumstances, were due to expire on Easter Sunday.

Leo Varadkar said the advice from Irelands national public health emergency team (NPHET) was to extend the restrictions until Tuesday May 5.

He said the Government had accepted that advice.

The move was accompanied by an announcement from Education Minister Joe McHugh that Leaving Cert exams will be postponed from June until late July or August and Junior Cycle exams are being cancelled and will be replaced with school-based tests at the start of the new school year.

Minister for Health Simon Harris also announced that he intends to extend regulations that have given the Garda added powers to enforce the social distancing rules.

The laws, which came into effect earlier this week, give gardai the power to arrest and fine people up to 2,500 euro if they fail to comply with their instructions upon detection of a breach of the rules. Those found guilty could also receive a prison sentence of up to six months.

Mr Varadkar thanked Irish people for their forbearance and said every sacrifice they were making was saving lives.

Because the vast majority of people have heeded the advice of the experts we have been able to interrupt the spread of the virus, we have been able to shelter the most vulnerable and protect them, he said.

Your sacrifices are making a difference, we have slowed the spread of the virus considerably but unfortunately we have not stopped its spread.

An Taoiseach, @LeoVaradkar,



"Today, the expert recommendation is to extend them for a further three weeks, until Tuesday May 5th.



The Government has accepted this recommendation."



The full speech can be read on MerrionStreet - https://t.co/u19k6jLNUE pic.twitter.com/Cx17hYGiYx  MerrionStreet.ie (@merrionstreet) April 10, 2020

The coronavirus death toll in Ireland rose to 287 on Friday, with a further 25 deaths reported.

The were 480 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed.

The NPHET initially reported that the total number of confirmed cases was 7,054.

But it later clarified that an additional 1,035 positive results had come back from samples that had been sent to German labs for analysis, bringing the actual total of Irish cases to 8,089.

Mr Varadkar added: We all know people who are suffering and grieving at this time, too many have died and sadly more will die and get sick before this is over.

So todays message is that we cannot be complacent and we cannot lose focus.

What were doing is difficult, but it is making a difference and we have to keep going. We need to persevere and we need to maintain our discipline and resolve.

The restrictions we introduced two weeks ago were set to expire on Sunday.

Today, the expert recommendation is to extend them for a further three weeks until Tuesday May 5.

The Government has accepted this recommendation.

The current restrictions were ordered by the Government on March 27.

They were initially in place for a two-week period ending on Easter Sunday.

Experts have credited the social distancing measures with significantly flattening the curve of the viruss spread.

The day-on-day growth rate of Covid-19 has dropped from more than 30% to 9%.

The reproductive rate, the number of people infected by each infected person, had also fallen significantly, from around four at the beginning of the outbreak to close to one.

Under the restrictions, people have been ordered to remain in their homes in all but a limited set of specific circumstances.

The circumstances include travelling to or from work deemed to be essential, food shopping, medical appointments, brief exercise, farming activity and vital family reasons.

People who do leave their homes for exercise are prevented from travelling beyond a 2km radius from their homes.

Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp (PA Graphics)

All people over the age of 70, and other people considered vulnerable to the disease, have been told to cocoon and not leave home at all.

All non-essential surgery, health procedures and other non-essential health services have been postponed.

All public and private gatherings of any number of people outside a single household or living unit have been prohibited for the last two weeks and social visits to relatives beyond the family unit at home have not been allowed.

The Taoiseach continued: I know many of us would like to know when things will go back to normal and life will be as it was.

We are working towards that time.

And were planning carefully so that we get there safely.

The truth is nobody knows for certain when that will be or how our lives will be different when it comes.

All we can do for now is take one day at a time.

Think of others and choose hope and solidarity over self-interest and fear.

Your decisions will save lives. What may be an inconvenience for some will be life saving for others.

So Im calling on everyone to do what is asked of them, to be tolerant and compassionate, to think about each other before we think about ourselves.

Nothing greater will be asked to many of us.
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Occasional snow showers. High 3F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 60%. About one inch of snow expected..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this evening. Low 3F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 60%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
Joseph Stiglitz, an American economist and a professor at Columbia University, New York, has picked the editor-in-chief of PREMIUM TIMES, Musikilu Mojeed, as one of the journalists he admires most around the world.

Mr Stiglitz also picked another Nigerian journalist, Omoyele Sowore, who is the publisher of SaharaReporters.

Mr Stiglitz, a public policy analyst, is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and the John Bates Clark Medal.

The Nobel Prize-winning economist was asked in an interview with The New York Times to mention the writers, novelists, playwrights, critics, journalists, and poets he admires most.

We support the Committee to Protect Journalists and I admire brave reporters all over the world including Maria Teresa Ronderos (Colombia), Giannina Segnini (Costa Rica and now a colleague at Columbia), Ferial Haffajee in South Africa, Musikilu Mojeed (Nigeria) and the tenacious human rights reporters at Rappler (Philippines), Mr Stiglitz said in the interview.

Continuing, he said, A Columbia alum and citizen journalist, Omoyele Sowore, ran for president in Nigeria and was arrested after a controversial tweet. Now more than ever we need good journalism and we are getting it thanks to the philanthropists funding groups like the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, ProPublica, The Marshall Project, Daily Maverick and others.

Editor-in-Chief, Premium Times Musikilu Mojeed

The interview was published Thursday in The New York Times.

Mr Mojeed, a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), has won multiple awards within and outside Nigeria. He was a co-winner of the 2017 edition of the Global Shining Light Award, a prize endowed by the Global Investigative Journalism Network. He also shared a Pulitzer Prize for his ICIJ teams reporting on the Panama Papers.

Admired writers

Mr Stiglitz, 77, mentioned a Nigerian author, Chimamanda Adichie, as one of the three writers he would love to invite if he were to organise a literary dinner party. The other two are Diksha Basu, Indian-born author, and Anita Desai, an Indian novelist who has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times.

Another Nigerian author, the late Chinua Achebe, also got a mention in the interview when Mr Stiglitz was asked about what book he was planning to read.

The journalist Robyn Meredith came back from Hong Kong and got us organized into a monthly reading group. We are rereading Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, this month and then next month we will read Claude McKays book Romance in Marseille, which has just been rediscovered, he said.

Mr Stiglitz said what moves him most in a work of literature are stories of struggle, fighting injustice and oppression.

He does not go near science fiction, he said. Not sure why. I just dont. Perhaps its because I think its hard enough to understand our own world and try to fix it. Its escapism to try to create another one.
Johannesburg: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday prolonged by a further 14 days a national lockdown aimed at stemming coronavirus, saying the struggle was "far from over" as infections rose to 1,934.

"After careful consideration of the available evidence, the national coronavirus command council has decided to extend the nationwide lockdown by a further two weeks beyond the initial 21 days," Ramaphosa announced in a televised address.

The president added that while it was too early to make a "definitive analysis" of the pandemic in South Africa, there was evidence to suggest the measures had been effective.

"In the two weeks before the lockdown, the average daily increase in new cases was around 42 percent," Ramaphosa said.

"Since the start of the lockdown, the average daily increase has been around four percent." But he warned against complacency and said it was not the time to "relax".

South Africa is the worst-affected country on the continent, followed by Algeria with 1,666 cases confirmed so far.

The number of deaths remains relatively low, with 18 fatalities recorded to date.

Ramaphosa said he recognised the "great sacrifices" made by citizens and vowed to adjust lockdown measures so as to enable "a phased recovery of the economy".

Despite a recession and huge public debt, Africa's most advanced economy has set aside millions of rands for businesses and workers affected by the shutdown.

The president and all his ministers will now also take a one-third salary cut for three months and donate the money to the country's virus solidarity fund.

"If we end the lockdown too soon or too abruptly, we risk a massive and uncontrollable resurgence of the disease," Ramaphosa warned.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party called for a "gradual phasing out" of the lockdown to prevent a "complete economic collapse".

Story continues

"We must ensure that in our attempt to protect our country from the coronavirus outbreak, we also protect the livelihoods of our citizens who will be... unemployed as a result," said the party in a statement after Ramaphosa's address.

South Africa embarked on a mass door-to-door screening and testing campaign last week, with thousands of field workers deployed across the country of 57 million people.

Mobile phones will be used to track people who may have come into contact with infected citizens.

But the president said testing would only provide a "better picture" of the infection rate and that only behavioural changes would stop the respiratory disease from spreading.

"The struggle against coronavirus is far from over," Ramaphosa added. "But we know that this is a matter of survival, and we dare not fail."
Michelle Obama took a rare political stand on Tuesday, speaking out against the Wisconsin presidential primary election going ahead despite concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Today, Wisconsin voters had to choose between making their voice heard and keeping themselves and their family safe. No American should ever have to make that choice, the former first lady wrote.

We must do better to ensure voting is safe for all voters. The latest Wisconsin voting information is below.

Obama linked to a When We All Vote tweet pointing to government guidance for the submission of absentee ballots.

Obamas tweet targeted the decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Democratic governor Tony Evers bid to postpone the ballot amid the US coronavirus outbreak, ruling that the election would go ahead.

As a result, on Tuesday residents of Wisconsin had to decide between sacrificing their vote or risk the possibility of being exposed to coronavirus.

The Republican-dominated court voted against the bid 4-2, stating that Gov Evers did not have the legal right to postpone the vote on his own authority,

Defenders have said that the election can be done safely and should be allowed to proceed.

President Donald Trump also spoke in favour of the election going ahead, saying that he believed the Wisconsin primary should still continue as planned.

Gov Evers said: The people of Wisconsin, the majority of them, dont spend all their waking hours thinking about are Republicans or Democrats getting the upper hand here, when attempting to order the delay.

Theyre saying theyre scared. Theyre scared of going to the polls. Theyre scared for their future. At the end of the day, someone has to stand up for those folks.

The state has emerged as a new hot zone for the virus with more than 2,500 people infected with the virus as of Tuesday. There have been at least 92 deaths.

The intention that voting would go ahead as usual, with some extra measures, did not seem to go as planned.

Just five of the initially scheduled 180 traditional polling places In Milwaukee, the states largest city, were operating and some voters were forced to wait in long lines without personal protection.
(Photo : www)

Zoom has another lousy thing going for them now amidst all the chaos within their systems and their 90-day plan. Currently, Singapore has barred Zoom from being used by their teachers due to the "Zoom bombings."

Read More: Zoom Invites Facebook Head of Security Among Others To Compensate Lack of Security

Zoom Banned From Singapore

Singapore has temporarily banned Zoom after learning that students became a target by troll attacks during online classes. On Friday, Apr. 10, The country's Ministry of Education announced that it would be launching inquiries into several "very serious incidents" wherein some students were reportedly exposed to lewd images and comments during live-streamed sessions of classes -- something called "Zoom bombing" that's been a nuisance ever since people are now forced to stay in their homes and conduct their businesses or classes to make up for the social distancing.

Aaron Loh of the department's educational technology division said, "MOE (Ministry of Education) is currently investigating both breaches and will lodge a police report if warranted," as stated by Reuters.

No specifics about the kinds of incidents really, but they were reports that several strange men were crashing to a virtual geography lesson only to show obscene images and making lude comments towards teenage students, reported local media. Loh also said that Singapore's teachers are now banned from using Zoom "until these security issues are ironed out."

Zoom spokesperson reached out regarding the concern via email and had this to say, "We have been deeply upset by increasing reports of harassment on our platform and strongly condemn such behavior. We are listening to our community of users to help us evolve our approach and help our users guard against these attacks."

Read More: Ransomware Attack: Travelex Pays Hackers $2.3M Ransom; Here's What Happened

The statement highlights some of the standard security precautions Zoom has been implementing over the past few weeks. Features like making digital waiting rooms, and of course, password-requirements for virtual conference enabled rooms now by default, which is added in the "Security" menu. They soon removed Zoom ID, a tag that's commonly used to spread among the trolls as part of their coordinated attacks from the toolbar itself.

Singapore's Actions

Singapore has not banned Zoom for the meantime, but that's not all, they also are doing restrictions as well as precautions from lawmakers worldwide to take action against the video conferencing company. On Monday, New York City has issued a similar ban among their digital classrooms, citing still the widespread cybersecurity issues that Zoom's shareholders have since been sued over.

Zoom has been lacking necessary end-to-end encryption despite what they previously published that they do.

Officials from Taiwan and Germany are also now restricting government employees to use Zoom, and even Google, the tech giant, has barred the desktop version for their company's use until further notice.

Things are going from bad to worse, and we have already talked about this on a previous article, which you should check out after reading this to know why it's so crucial that Zoom needs to get back on track.

Read More: Zoom Banned by Google Due To Security Issues: Why Is It Not Safe To Use?

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Delhi University has postponed theory and practical exams until further notice amid the coronavirus outbreak in the national capital.

Delhi University

As per the notification available on the website, DU informed that the exams of the regular colleges, School of opening learning and Non-Collegiate Women Education Board have been deferred and the various date sheets issued in this regard stands withdrawn."

Students are advised to keep checking the official Website that is www.exam.du.ac.in on regular intervals. The university also said examinations may be rescheduled at a short notice."



The university had to put out an official order last month on its website declaring about the deferment of exams and the closure of the university till 14 April due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Delhi University states that during the lockdown online classes and learning processes will continue.

The order said the university's website has details of VPN connection for the students and teachers to access the resources available in the library from the home.

Last week, a letter was sent to the heads of various colleges which are affiliated with the Delhi University asking them to support students and staff with disabilities during lockdown period.

DU had issued another notification on Thursday regarding counselling services being provided by a designated group of faculty members. Any students, faculty members and non-teaching staff can avail service through email, Whatsapp.
Boris Johnson is not going straight back to work after leaving intensive care last night, Downing Street has said.

The prime ministers official spokesman told reporters that Mr Johnson was just beginning his recovery and would resume his official duties only on the advice of his doctors.

First Secretary of State Dominic Raab continues to deputise for the PM, said the spokesman, who gave no timetable for Mr Johnson's return.

The spokesman said he was not aware of any direct contact between the PM and his team at No 10 since his release from intensive care, and refused to say whether Mr Johnson would be back in the saddle by 16 April, when a review is planned to decide whether to ease lockdown restrictions.

Mr Johnson was admitted to hospital on Sunday with persistent symptoms of Covid-19, including a high temperature and cough, before spending three nights in intensive care following a deterioration in his condition on Monday.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

He "waved his thanks" to doctors and nurses as he was moved out of intensive care and back onto a general ward at St Thomas' Hospital in central London on Thursday evening, said No 10.

But the spokesman batted away questions over whether Mr Johnson might have been waving because he was unable to speak, telling reporters: "The PM has been known to thank people by making friendly gestures and I'm sure it was the same in this case."

The spokesman said: The prime minister is back on a ward and continuing his recovery, which is at an early stage. He continues to be in very good spirits.

The prime minister is just beginning his recovery and he will be taking advice from his medical team.

The decision on when and to what extent Mr Johnson can resume his work would depend on"the advice of his medical team", said the spokesman.

"They have given him brilliant care and the PM wants to thank the NHS for all they are doing, he added.

Boris Johnson applauds the NHS at Downing Street, shortly before his admission to hospital (PA)

Foreign Secretary Mr Raab continues to chair important meetings in Mr Johnson's absence, such as this mornings daily Covid-19 war cabinet video conference and the virtual gatherings of the government's Cobra emergency committee.

The spokesman declined to predict whether Mr Johnson would be back in time to make the decision on whether to begin easing the lockdown on 16 April.

But he added: The First Secretary of State and Cabinet have all the authority they need to take key decisions at the right time.

Mr Johnson's senior adviser Dominic Cummings, who has also tested positive for coronavirus more than a week ago, is still in contact with No10, the spokesman said. But he refused to expand on exactly what that meant.

The spokesman refused to say whether Mr Johnson would recuperate at his Chequers on his release from hospital before returning to Downing Street.

Mr Johnson's father Stanley this morning suggested a spell at the PM's country residence in Buckinghamshire would be a good idea to give him a period of readjustment and rest before returning to No 10.

Stanley Johnson said the whole family was amazingly grateful for the efforts of the NHS and the huge outpouring of support for his son.

He has to take time," said Mr Johnson Sr. "I cannot believe you can walk away from this and get straight back to Downing Street and pick up the reins without a period of readjustment.

The news of the prime ministers move out of intensive care prompted messages from well-wishers across the political spectrum, while his pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds - who has herself experienced the symptoms of coronavirus - tweeted a string of applauding emojis as she joined the Clap for Carers campaign at 8pm on Thursday evening.
.                    . - ,  !          -       ? -   ,  .   ,  ,   ,        ,     ...




China News on Women





Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page
10 Apr 2020, 12:08 PM

Coronavirus fallout: IMF predicts bigger economic crisis than Great Depression

The year 2020 could see the worst global economic fallout since the Great Depression in the 1930s with over 170 countries likely to experience negative per capita income growth due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday. Observing that the world is faced with extraordinary uncertainty about the depth and duration of this crisis, she said that it is already clear, however, that global growth will turn sharply negative in 2020.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu thanks PM Modi for Hydroxychloroquine export

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked PM Narendra Modi for the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to Israel, touted to help in the treatment of coronavirus patients. India sent a five-tonne cargo of medicines, including anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to Israel to contain coronavirus pandemic. According to worldometer, Israel has reported a total of 9,968 coronavirus cases and 86 deaths, as of April 10, 8.00 am.

COVID-19 may push half million people into poverty, says Oxfam

The fallout from the coronavirus spread that has killed more than 83,000 people and wreaked havoc on economies around the world could push around half a billion people into poverty, Oxfam said on Thursday. "The estimates show that, regardless of the scenario, global poverty could increase for the first time since 1990," it said, adding that this could throw some countries back to poverty levels last seen some three decades ago.

Read: India Coronavirus live updates: 614 active cases, 33 new deaths in 24 hours; country's tally at 5,709

UK PM Johnson leaves intensive care, remains under observation

Prime Minister Boris Johnson left intensive care on Thursday evening as he continues to recover from COVID-19, but he remains under close observation in hospital. He was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital on Sunday evening with a persistent high temperature and cough, and was rushed to intensive care on Monday where he spent three nights receiving treatment.

Uday Kotak opts to forgo salary, to receive one rupee for FY 2020-21

Kotak Mahindra Bank's leadership team has decided to take a 15% pay cut for the financial year. Its MD and CEO Uday Kotak has chosen to forego his salary and will receive one rupee as compensation for FY 2020-21. The bank and Kotak together have donated Rs 60 crore towards relief efforts being undertaken for coronavirus.

Coronavirus: Delhi govt plans buffer zones around containment areas

The Delhi government is planning to create buffer zones in the national capital around areas with a cluster of coronavirus cases. The government has also started house to house screening in all the hotspot areas which were sealed on Wednesday. The government will soon begin random screenings in Delhi and would also monitor any coronavirus symptoms in the general public.

Also Read: Coronavirus: ICMR urges containment action in 36 districts, hints community transmission
Utah Governor Orders All Adults Entering State to Disclose Their Travel Plans

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert issued an executive order on Thursday that will require adults entering the state to disclose their travel plans in a bid to restrict travel during the CCP virus pandemic.

The order went into effect on Friday morning, according to his office. It applies to all adults regardless of how they enter the state.

They will have to complete a travel declaration form and the state Department of Transportation will then collect this information in an electronic form that individuals will receive via text message upon entering the state, said a press release from Herberts office.

I am impressed with the extraordinary things that Utahns are doing each day to help one another stay safe and stay home. In recent days, however, we have seen an uptick in travel on our roads, the governor said.We need to limit our travel to essential purposes only. Our goal is to trace potential cases of COVID-19 in inbound travelers.

A wireless emergency alert system will be placed near the Utah borders to notify people entering the state via a vehicle to complete a declaration. People who come into the state through the Salt Lake City International Airport will also have to complete the declaration. Its not clear if people flying into the state on small aircraft will have to complete it.

The Utah Department of Technology Services will provide the encryption of all data collected and transmitted pursuant to this order. It will also ensure the system involving the collection, transmission, and storage of data collected pursuant to this order meets national privacy and security standards, said the news release. It added that no personally identifiable information or personal health information will be shared with the public.

The order was implemented starting at 8 a.m. local time on April 10. It will remain in effect until May 1.

Utah still has not issued a statewide stay-at-home order amid the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus epidemic. In Utah, there are about 1,800 cases with 13 deaths, according to a running tally from Johns Hopkins University.

More than 40 states have issued stay-at-home orders, while Michigan went a step further on Thursday. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an order banning travel between two residences to curb the CCP virus spread.

The new order says travel is allowed between two residences in this state, through April 10, 2020. After that date, travel between two residences is not permitted. The exceptions include caring for an elderly parent or relative, caring for a pet, visiting a nursing home or a similar facility, attending a funeral with no more than 10 people, and complying with a court order related to child custody.
10 Apr  Iza Calzado recently expressed her hope that everybody in the Philippines would get better healthcare especially during these tough times, having experienced the struggle with COVID-19 earlier.

As reported on Inquirer, the actress who was interviewed on "Magandang Buhay" recently following her recovery from the coronavirus, stated that she was thankful for the care shown by medical frontliners to her during the tough period.

"That's the ultimate goal. I hope there would be no Filipinos who cannot go to the hospital, or have to even deliberate on whether or not they have to go because they do not have enough money," she said.

Calzado reiterated her wishes for everybody to have access to that kind of healthcare, and that perhaps such a thing can happen after the pandemic or even while it is happening.

At the same time, she also hopes that people will not have a stigma on those who had COVID-19, saying, "Those people who went through it, let us not be disgusted by them."

Calzado then added that she will never forget the great treatment she received at Asian Hospital.

(Photo Source: Iza Calzado Instagram)
PM Modi to inaugurate 11 new medical colleges in Tamil Nadu on Jan 12

In pics: PM Modi to inaugurate new campus of Classical Tamil institute in Chennai tomorrow

PM Modi recalls 'courage and righteousness' on Good Friday

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Apr 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Good Friday recalled Jesus Christ, saying he devoted his life to serve others.

He said we should remember Lord Christ and his commitment to truth, service and justice on this day.

"Lord Christ devoted his life to serving others. His courage and righteousness stand out and so does his sense of justice. On Good Friday, we remember Lord Christ and his commitment to truth, service and justice," PM Modi tweeted.

The Congress also paid tribute by remembering the teachings of love, forgiveness and compassion of Lord Christ.

"Lord Jesus Christ's teachings of love, forgiveness and compassion must be inculcated by one and all to sail through these times. Wishing everyone a blessed #GoodFriday," the party tweeted from its official handle.

Good Friday is a solemn day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
A man has been charged with assaulting two police officers including biting one female officer on the arm while allegedly breaching the coronovirus lockddown regulations.

Christopher Hill, 29, of no fixed abode, has been charged with two counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker and one count of criminal damage.

He his accused of attacking the two officers on Drake Street, Rochdale on Thursday.

The Greater Manchester Police officer was bitten while responding to reports of a street disturbance in Rochdale

Hill, 29, is alleged to have punched the two officers before biting the female officer on the upper arm.

Hill has been remanded in custody to appear at Manchester Magistrates' Court tomorrow.

Officers attempted to explain to the man in line with government guidelines he should not be visiting other people's homes.

He punched two officers, including the constable he bit which left teeth marks.

It comes as police across UK have been clamping down on Britons flouting lockdown with people having barbecues on Brighton beach and sunbathing in Hyde Park.

Last weekend a south London park closed after 3,000 people visited despite the government's plea for people to stay indoors.

The officer had to go to hospital after the incident on Thursday around 6.40pm. She was later discharged.

She had been delivering Easter eggs to children days earlier while out on patrol, GMP said.

Chief Constable Ian Hopkins later tweeted: 'Words fail me when it comes to some people's behaviour.

'This is shocking at the best of times, but during a Coronavirus Pandemic this is just the lowest of the low.

'I trust the CPS & Court will now do what we all expect of them!'

Home Secretary Priti Patel retweeted the message.

A Chief Constable said yesterday that the police could soon look through people's shopping items for 'essential items' and impose road blocks if the lockdown wasn't taken seriously.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the Government was not considering more stringent lockdown restrictions.

Officers attempted to explain to the man that he should not be visiting other people's homes during coronavirus lockdown. He lashed out by punching two police officers, including the one he bit

Hundreds of people, including these two pictured today in London's Hyde Park, continued to ignore the lockdown rules to take advantage of the sunny weather

The widespread action in public places, pictured, comes as Downing Street has been forced to warn police officers against 'heavy-handed' lockdown tactics
The debate is growing on whether it is time to downgrade the emergency and start easing restrictions after a strict five-week lockdown. Falling daily death rates and fewer admissions to intensive care units are reason for hope. On top of that, there is pressure to reopen industries and businesses in the face of what could be a massive economic meltdown.

Many people in Italy are calling for the government to begin easing restrictions now that the coronavirus spread is showing what some see as signs of slowing down. The daily death toll has been dropping steadily, as have admissions to intensive care units. But with about 500 people still dying each day, the country's prime minister is resisting calls to relax strict safe-distance measures.

In the face of it all, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is urging caution and says any decision to downgrade the emergency must be taken gradually and together with scientists.

He also warned of dire consequences yet to come for the whole of Europe if the EU does not come together and agree on a rescue package. Conte said the future of the European Union is at stake in a challenge he has compared to that of World War II.

In a video interview with the German newspaper Bild Conte, the Italian prime minister said Europe must unite and deliver a solid response to head off a devastation of the European economy. He said the sooner financial instruments are created that will allow countries to deal with this crisis, the sooner everyone will emerge from this situation and enjoy economic and social and advantages.

Divisions between southern European nations, led by Italy, and northern ones, mainly Germany and the Netherlands, have so far stalled plans for a massive package to help the hardest-hit economies recover from the effects of the pandemic.


A medical worker collects samples from individuals who signed up for "drive-through testing" for the coronavirus at a Penn Medicine site in West Philadelphia on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Read more

As the former Philadelphia Health Commissioner who led the citys response to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, and with nearly five decades in crisis management, including time as Massachusetts Deputy Secretary of Health reacting to the radiation release from Three Mile Island, I understand the need for decisive action, truthful and prompt communication, and strong leadership in a public health crisis.

Over the last two months, I have remained publicly silent, offering private counsel to those responding, and keeping my own notes for an after-action report once cases of COVID-19 begin to decline. But I cannot stay silent any longer as this crisis has many similarities to the sudden emergence of AIDS and how we responded may inform and improve the response at the local, state and federal levels.

AIDS exploded early in Philadelphia, along with San Francisco and New York. It was deadly, there were no diagnostic tests, the methods of spread were little understood, treatments were elusive, and citizens and healthcare workers were scared. Some hospitals were overwhelmed with cases.

The good news was that leadership at the local level, where the sick were located, responded and collectively demanded state and federal action  and they did respond.

 READ MORE: Why Ed Rendell supported needle exchange during the AIDS epidemic and safe injection sites today | Perspective

The City Health Department immediately brought together scientists and physicians from Philadelphias finest hospitals and medical schools to begin to deal with the epidemiology. We built a team of disease trackers to trace contacts of those with the early symptoms of AIDS as there were no tests. Other cities did the same thing and we compared results. This informed our communications, and we continued to track, track, track. This greatly reduced spread. We were the first city to distribute condoms widely and set up programs to inform the public of the dangers of needle sharing. As soon as a rudimentary diagnostic test was available, we figured out how to prioritize its use. Eventually, we helped set up programs where anyone who wanted a test could get one.

 FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered.

By 1985, thousands of non-monogamous heterosexuals were regularly testing. We systematically and quickly implemented safety protocols for EMS, police, and other first responders, directly addressed the sexual activity in our local jails, and made sure all healthcare providers knew what they should do to protect themselves. With early, honest, and frequent communications, we reduced panic and reduced spread.

Given that experience, Philadelphia should be acting more proactively, and with greater urgency, in the following areas:

Disease/contact tracing should dramatically increase in Philadelphia. Use restaurant inspectors and other Health Department personnel to ramp up this effort.

The homeless: It should be Code Blue right now, just as it would be a freezing night. No homeless should be on the streets of Philadelphia.

EMS protocols should be developed and announced on how first responders will be protected and how they will screen patients from a distance before even thinking of transporting. EMS has always been over used by Philly citizens.

Philadelphia should develop contracts with private ambulance providers so that they are ready to respond when the need arrives.

The city jails have been slow to develop social distancing and the correctional officers are not well protected. This will lead to greater spread in both the jails and in the city. First steps: Spread out meals throughout the day so prisoners have some space while they eat. Move prisoner to single cells now. Many are empty, and protect employees.

And, the federal government must do its part. Bobbing and weaving at press conferences is no substitute for distributing life-saving supplies, organizing a national testing and disease tracking effort, and following sound scientific advice. Americans are strong and can handle the truth.

Stuart H. Shapiro, M.D. is the former Philadelphia Health Commissioner, Massachusetts Deputy Health Secretary, and Senior Staff Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health and Scientific Research. He currently is a strategic healthcare consultant. shapirostu@gmail.com
Antibody tests help public-health officials better understand how much a virus has penetrated society. Photo: Omar Marques/Getty Images

Much of the discussion around coronavirus testing concerns the type of test that requires a long swab to go deep in your nose so you can find out, eventually, if you have the virus. These tests are helpful at diagnosing patients but less helpful at assessing the spread of the virus. For that, experts have called for antibody tests. What is an antibody test and why would it help? Heres what we know:

What is an antibody test?

Antibody tests, also known as serological tests, look for antibodies in a patients blood. People who have gotten sick and recovered from COVID-19 have these antibodies, as do those who had the virus without ever experiencing symptoms. Some antibody tests, which require a quick finger prick, can return results in as soon as 15 minutes.

Can an antibody test detect an active coronavirus infection?

An antibody test is not meant to detect an active infection, as it can take ten days or more for coronavirus antibodies to become detectable in a blood sample after someone has recovered.

As of the end of April, only two kinds of tests are being used to detect active COVID-19 infections, both by looking for the viruss genetic material in samples obtained by either a PCR (nose swab) test or, in places where it is available, a saliva test.

Why are antibody tests helpful?

As Dr. Anthony Fauci said on April 10, these tests will help health officials better understand how many people have been infected with COVID-19.

As we look forward, as we get to the point of at least considering opening up the country as it were, its very important to appreciate and to understand how much that virus has penetrated this society, Fauci said. Its very likely that there are a large number of people out there that have been infected, have been asymptomatic, and did not know they were infected.

The tests could detect people with some amount of immunity to COVID-19, which, theoretically, might allow them to reenter the workforce without concern that theyll get sick or infect anyone else, but there is still an active debate about that. The tests could also indicate who has not been exposed to the virus and remains at risk.

From a public-health perspective, results of these tests could change, or confirm, what is known about the viruss spread, particularly since the U.S. has struggled to increase its testing capacity, making it likely that a still-unknown number of coronavirus cases have gone undetected. More than a million confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the U.S. so far; if antibody tests reveal that, say, 4 million people have actually had the virus, that would be very valuable information for public-health officials.

Does the presence of coronavirus antibodies confer immunity?

Not necessarily. The presence of antibodies only indicates that someone has had COVID-19, but it does not guarantee that person cant become reinfected with the disease. And even if they are protected, its not clear how long that protection will last.

On April 24, the WHO cautioned that no study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity to subsequent infection by this virus in humans, and recommended against the use of the tests as the basis for any kind of immunity certificate.

All that being said, most experts agree that the antibodies produced by having and recovering from COVID-19 will confer some amount of immunity  its just not clear how much. Experts warn that a positive antibody test may result in a false sense of security. Heres a useful explanation from the Atlantics James Hamblin on the reliability of antibodies in helping fight a coronavirus infection:

Usually antibodies work very reliably, but in some cases they barely help, and in certain diseases having some antibodies is worse than having none. This is known as immune enhancement, a phenomenon that may or may not prove relevant with this coronavirus; it is worth keeping in mind when people suggest that antibody tests are currently painting a clear picture of who is totally protected from the disease.

How accurate are coronavirus antibody tests?

There are some very valid concerns about the accuracy of the currently available coronavirus antibody tests, as well as their value, since no test is able to determine if or when someone with antibodies could be reinfected with the coronavirus.

A recent study, which has not been peer reviewed, evaluated 14 coronavirus antibody tests on the market and found that only three provided consistently accurate results. According to the New York Times, those three tests were able to detect the antibodies no more than 90 percent of the time, and only one of the tests never delivered a false positive, while the other two did not deliver false positives 99 percent of the time.

Four tests delivered false positives anywhere from 11 to 16 percent of the time. Overall, the false positives were less likely when the blood sample was taken longer after the patient recovered. (More specifically, the test results were less reliable when detecting the transient initial antibody IgM than they were when detecting the subsequent antibody IgM.)

A House panel recently called attention to the threat of inaccurate tests, and on May 4, the FDA announced that all companies that sell antibody tests must submit data proving their accuracy within ten days, or else they would be forced to remove their test from the market.

The other issue is that antibody tests may be far more valuable to public-health researchers than they are to individuals or for policy-makers at a local level. Florian Krammer at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York offered this warning about false positives to the Times:

Dr. Krammer said false positives are less of an issue for assessing how widely the virus has spread in the population. If a test has a known false-positive rate, scientists can factor that into their calculations, he said.

But false positives become dangerous when making policy and personal decisions about who can go back to work. You dont want anybody back to work who has a false positive  thats the last thing you want to do, Dr. Krammer said.

What antibody tests are available, and what has the FDA been doing to make sure they work?

As of the week of May 4, only 12 companies antibody tests have been verified and authorized by the FDA. On April 18, the FDA said it would partner with the NIH and CDC to begin validating tests that manufacturers voluntarily submit. But under an emergency policy meant to help rapidly expand coronavirus testing in the U.S., the FDA allowed 160 antibody tests to hit the market without having to undergo government review  provided the companies selling the tests follow a few rules, which the FDA has already acknowledged not all of them have done. How much policing the agency subsequently did has also come under scrutiny, as NBC News reported on April 29:

Its unclear how much policing the FDA is doing when test manufacturers overstate the applicability of their tests. House Oversight Committee staff members found that the FDA has no dedicated staff focused on enforcement regarding antibody tests. The same FDA officials who review applications for emergency authorization are given the double duty of monitoring the market and acting on violations.

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn has said we have and will take action such as issuing Warning Letters telling companies to stop making false claims. But the FDA didnt respond to inquiries about how many letters have been issued or whether the agency has pursued any civil or criminal actions against violators.

Then on May 4, the FDA directed all companies selling antibody tests to submit data within ten days proving they are effective or face removal from the market. Its not yet clear how many of the 160 tests companies have made available will soon be left in light of that requirement  assuming the FDA effectively enforces it. According to the FDA, more than 100 companies have begun working with the agency to submit data.

Meanwhile, state-level protocols also apply. For instance in New York, strict regulations have likely limited the availability of ineffective tests.

Two of the biggest U.S. lab testing companies, LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics, have announced that they are offering nationwide coronavirus antibody testing. Quests test is being offered direct to consumers at its patient service centers. LabCorp is only testing blood samples collected by health-care providers; the test must be ordered by a physician and can be done at a LabCorp service center or at a partnering Walgreens. Neither company has received official FDA authorization for their tests, and both companies have warned that a positive antibody test does not confer immunity.

How can you get an antibody test?

Anyone who is currently experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus should contact their health-care provider, as antibody tests cannot be used to diagnose active infections. Anyone who believes they have had the virus and wants to get an antibody test, whether they have previously tested positive for COVID-19 or not, have a few options.

Through a health-care provider

Any health-care provider can likely arrange for an antibody test, and if ordered by a physician, its likely most insurance plans would cover the cost. LabCorp is offering antibody tests with a physicians referral at its more than 2,000 service centers and 100 partnering Walgreens pharmacy locations.

Quest Diagnostics

Quest is selling its $119 direct-to-consumer COVID-19 Immune Response test via its QuestDirect website. A physicians approval is not required. When ordering the test, customers will need to make an appointment to have their blood drawn at one of the companies 2,200 local service centers, as well as affirm that they have not had any coronavirus symptoms in the past ten days.

The company says its test meets FDA standards, and that results should be available in a few days.

PM Pediatrics

On May 4, the pediatric urgent care company announced that it was offering antibody testing, without the need to confirm symptoms, at 36 locations around the country, and would test entire households. There would be no copay for patients with insurance, and the tests cost $65 for anyone self-paying.

City MD (in New York City only)

The New York walk-in urgent-care chain City MD announced on April 28 that it would offer antibody testing to anyone who has had coronavirus symptoms at least 14 days prior to seeking the test, or if they believe they have come into contact with someone who had the virus.

Free testing programs

On May 3, Jersey City announced that all residents of the city will able to get free tests for either an active coronavirus infection or antibodies, without a doctors referral, at a drive-through testing site in the city. Bergenfield is also providing free tests to its residents, regardless of symptoms.

How can people with coronavirus antibodies help people with active infections?

Some health-care providers have already set up programs to test patients who have recovered from confirmed cases of COVID-19 in an effort to collect plasma, which can be used for convalescent treatment of people fighting active coronavirus infections. In the New York City area, Mount Sinai Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, and the New York Blood Center are asking recovered COVID-19 patients to donate plasma. New Yorkers can also email COVIDSerumTesting@mountsinai.org for possible testing.

The National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project has contact information for those interested in donating plasma in California, Colorado, Florida, Houston, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin.

How does antibody testing differ from antigen testing?

An antigen test is a kind of diagnostic test used to rapidly detect active infections by checking a sample for proteins attached to the virus. As of the end of April, no coronavirus antigen tests were available, but several were in development. There have also been some concerns about the accuracy of antigen tests.

This post has been updated throughout to reflect newly available information.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland musicians DJ Red-I and MellowXZACKT have teamed up to release a new single today called Trip to Jamaica.

The song, featuring beats by DJ Red-I (aka Brittany Benton) and verses by Mellow, came after Benton emailed a few bits of music to the rapper for consideration.

I was making beats; it was an instrumental I had been working with, and it had this kind of dancehall, tropical bounce, but with some of the chords and the way I put effects on it, it had a dark, kind of haunting sound, Benton said. I wanted to make a Cleveland summer track - something that gave you a summery, rooftop, or poolside vibe -- but it was still very hip-hop.

Mellow sent back a demo of his verses over the beat, matching the summery vibe. He said he was inspired by the tropical beat and his knowledge of Bentons Jamaican heritage.

It happened really organically, its one of those verses that wrote itself really fast, he said.

The two sent files back and forth until they were happy with the result. Then they worked with local artist Nat Cherry, who pieced together a music video for the track.

You can watch the music video for Trip To Jamaica below.

This isnt the first time Benton and MellowXZACKT have worked together; the rapper provided verses on the track Living For Me by FreshProduce., Bentons hip-hop project with Samantha Flowers.

Mellow and Benton have kept busy with music work this year; Bentons been releasing new beats and instrumentals regularly in 2020, and Mellows at work on a debut full-length album with his group Funkshway, which he plans to debut this fall.

For now, they hope Trip To Jamaica helps spread positive vibes in Clevelands music scene.

I just thought, lets do something thats a little bit more tropical, thats going to welcome the warmer season, Benton said. Its just something to keep your spirits high We can all pretend that were going on a trip to Jamaica.
A prisons official on Friday said five inmates across the country had been tested for the novel coronavirus, all results returning negative, with all prisons, housing around 38,000 prisoners, being sanitized to prevent the spread of the virus.

At an event involving the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Prisons Department Director Chan Kimseng said five detainees had fevers and coughs and were tested for the virus, but were negative for the respiratory disease, though did not detail which prisons the inmates were housed in. Also, new inmates were being quarantined before being allowed into the general cells.

A new inmate, because he could have the virus, is detained for 14 days separately. If there is no doubt, we will send him to the main building, Chan Kimseng said. Additionally, he said prison visits had been suspended and inmates were only allowed to speak to friends and family on prison phones two times a week, for a maximum of 30 minutes each time.

Rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released statements alerting to prisons being a potential detonator for the virus to spread. Cambodian prisons are notoriously overcrowded, unhygienic, lack decent health facilities, and are ripe with corruption.

According to Amnesty International, government data showed that Cambodian prisons held 37,000 people despite having the capacity for only around 26,500 inmates. This overcrowding was exacerbated by the governments war on drugs campaign, started in 2017, that saw prison populations explode exponentially. The inhumane conditions in Cambodian jails and other detention centers make it impossible for detainees and staff to take preventive steps, including physical distancing and isolation, said Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty Internationals regional director.

These conditions were never acceptable, and now they risk lighting a fuse for what could quickly become dramatic and exponential levels of community transmission of COVID-19. A short video released Friday on Amnesty Internationals Twitter showed inmates in an unidentified Cambodian prison in a cramped cell, sleeping almost on top of each other, with some prisoners having to stand because of the lack of space.

Roman Paramonov, the ICRCs head of mission in Cambodia, said it would be a luxury if inmates would have the privilege of washing their hands routinely and could practice social distancing.
 Flash

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Thursday refuted comments that China exports the Chinese model to foreign countries by sending medical teams, saying China never asks anyone to copy its methods.

So far, China has sent 12 teams of medical experts to 10 countries, which are Italy, Serbia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Venezuela, the Philippines and Myanmar, to help them combat COVID-19, Zhao told a press briefing when answering a relevant question.

The Chinese experts shared their experience with local medical workers, helped them improve their ability in epidemic prevention, containment, diagnosis and treatment, boosted their confidence in jointly overcoming the pandemic, and their efforts have been well recognized by the governments and people of these countries, he added.

"China is making such efforts to reciprocate the goodwill we received earlier during the pandemic, to act on international humanitarianism and to implement the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind," Zhao said.

China will never stand aloof and shun away from our friends when they are in trouble, and we will never pick and choose nor attach any string when we offer a helping hand, the spokesperson said, adding that by working with the rest of the international community in this global war against the epidemic, China's goal is nothing but making concerted efforts and giving mutual assistance to tide over difficulties together.

Noting that no country is immune to this global public health crisis, Zhao said that the international community needs solidarity and cooperation more than ever.

"China is determined to ensure effective prevention and control of the epidemic at home, strengthen international anti-pandemic cooperation and take an active part in global health governance," Zhao said.

China has never exported the Chinese model to anyone, nor asked anyone to copy China's methods, he said.

China stands ready to continue to uphold the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, pool the strength and wisdom of all parties, share and exchange useful practices with all parties, carry out joint prevention and control, and support the role of WHO and other international organizations, so as to stem the spread of the pandemic around the globe and win the final victory of international battle against COVID-19, Zhao said.






Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Rajasthan government on Friday announced it will provide an assistance of Rs 50 lakh to the family of any employee who dies due to coronavirus while on duty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, an official statement said.

This assistance scheme also includes state government contractual employees deployed on coronavirus related duty, it said.

However, those healthcare workers for whom central government had announced Rs 50 lakh insurance cover will not come under this scheme, the statement said.

Various employees like patwaris, police constables, home guards and Anganwadi workers have been put on duty to check the spread of coronavirus in the state, an official said.

Intense contact searching of the patients and massive screening of people in affected areas is being conducted through the state government machinery in Rajasthan, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A "much loved and gifted" science teacher has died aged 35 after it is thought she contracted coronavirus.

Emma Clarke, who taught at Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy in Runcorn, Cheshire, died on Thursday.

In a letter to parents, principal Tony Rawdin said: "We are very sorry to have to share the tragic news that Emma Clarke, a much-loved and gifted member of staff, sadly died yesterday seemingly after she contracted the coronavirus and became unwell.

"All of our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with her family and loved ones at this difficult time.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

"Many of you will have known her, Emma was one of those people who everyone liked.

"She was a brilliant science teacher and very popular with her pupils, not least her Year 11 tutor group, and her colleagues.

"I know that this may come as a shock to you and that you and your children may be incredibly saddened."

He said that staff and students would be able to remember Ms Clarke together when the academy reopens.

Mr Rawdin added: "For now, I speak for everyone connected with the school in saying that we will always remember Emma extremely fondly, and I am sure you will join me in sending our deepest condolences to Emma's family at this difficult time."
The Shiv Sena on Friday objected to a meeting held by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari with administrative officials on how to curb the spread of Covid-19, and called it unnecessary parallel governance. The Sena also said such meetings will only create confusion among state administrative staff.

In an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana, the ruling party said in the prevailing war-like situation, there should be a single centre of command to give directives to the administration.

The Prime Minister at the Centre and the Chief Minister at the state level (should have that authority). Even at the video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, the Shiv Sena and NCP chief Sharad Pawar told the PM that the entire country was united under his leadership to fight Covid-19, the editorial read.

ALSO READ | Uddhav Thackeray calls for all hands on the deck against Covid-19

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Pawar had been part of that video conference from Mumbai.

Praising the leadership of the CM for his handling of the coronavirus health crisis, Pawar had told PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah about the Governors role (in holding the meeting with officials), the editorial said.

There was no bitterness. If someone runs a parallel government, it will lead to confusion. If a senior leader like Sharad Pawar feels this way, then the matter should be taken seriously, the editorial said.

The editorial also slammed the opposition BJP for frequently going to the Raj Bhavan to criticize the Sena-NCP- Congress government.

ALSO READ | Maharashtra to start fever clinics for Covid-19 patients: Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray

Earlier this week, Governor Koshyari held a meeting through video conferencing with district collectors and divisional commissioners.

The meeting discussed availability of medical facilities and food items for migrant workers and homeless and needy people, who have been badly hit by the coronavirus outbreak as well as the lockdown.

The meeting was attended by divisional commissioners, the additional commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and collectors of ten districts.
Home  Just In  Nepalis in South Korea send medical supplies to Nepal

Seoul, April 10

Nepalis working in South Korea have sent various medical supplies including 4,000 coronavirus testing kits to their home country.

The supplies worth Rs 8 million is expected to arrive in Kathmandu on Friday afternoon. Under a call of the Non-resident Nepalis Association (NRNA), the workers had launched a campaign to collect funds for the purchase a few days ago.

Then, the NRNA had signed an agreement with a Korean company to purchase the kits and other equipment.

Symbolically, the NRNA handed over a section of the equipment to be supplied to Nepal, to Nepals acting ambassador to South Korea, Ram Singh Thapa, in Seoul on Thursday.

It has been learned that the kits they have sent can detect infection results in three hours.
Taiwan on Thursday angrily condemned accusations from the World Health Organizations boss that racist slurs against him had come from the island, saying racism did not exist in Taiwan.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]
A New York City surgeon who was diagnosed with the coronavirus was met with applause from his colleagues when he returned to work fully recovered.

Dr. Paul Saunders tested positive for COVID-19 in March after feeling symptoms of the virus  which has infected more than 460,000 Americans and killed at least 16,000.

After Dr. Saunders recovered from a mild case, ABC News reports, he returned to the frontline of the coronavirus disease in the world's epicenter on Thursday.

Dr. Paul Saunders (pictured) returned to work at a Brooklyn hospital after recovering from COVID-19

Footage shows Dr. Saunders walking through the Maimonides Medical Center entrance in Brooklyn to rousing applause from fellow medical staff and employees.

'This is totally unexpected and undeserved but thank you all for coming to work and for working so hard ... Happy to be back,' Saunders told staffers who welcomed him back.

His colleagues set off more applause for the humble surgeon, but for Dr. Saunders the feelings were mutual.

'Everyone's working so hard and the whole time I was home, I was just anxious to get back, just get back and get back to work,' he said.

The excitement around Dr. Saunders' return to Maimonides Medical Center was also because he is trained in ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

"Happy to be back."



A heart surgeon at Maimonides Medical Center returned to work after recovering from COVID-19 himself, receiving rousing applause from hospital employees welcoming him back to treat coronavirus patients. https://t.co/uqgIODJwIB pic.twitter.com/8KbJRpMbYL  ABC News (@ABC) April 9, 2020

Dr. Saunders' (right) first day back was met with applause from his fellow doctors, nurses and hospital employees

'ECMO provides us a way to basically ... do the job of their lungs. Some people describe it as intravenous oxygen,' he said.

Saunder said that ECMO was 'really a treatment of last resort,' but is currently treating two patients with the measure in ICU.

The hospital could have up to five patients on the treatment. Doctors took extra care to decide which patients would be the best candidate.

Saunders (center): 'Everyone's working so hard and the whole time I was home, I was just anxious to get back, just get back and get back to work'

'Obviously with so many people being so sick, ECMO is still a relatively scant resource so we have to use it very judiciously and apply it to patients who really are failing every other possible treatment strategy', Saunders said.

'We have to be very careful as to who we're going to offer it to and making sure that those patients are ones that are, really have a good chance of a good benefit.'

Dr. Saunders treated one of the patients at the medical center with ECMO before he got sick. Even at home, he received updates on the patient's condition and monitored their progress.

'Everyone's really been, you know, pitching in and everyone wants to help,' said Dr. Saunders.

'People are working outside their normal comfort level but everyone's coming to work every day with good attitudes, really wants to get in there and take care of these patients. ... We see the best in our team, the best in our hospital, the best in our institution during times like this.'

Yosef 'Joe' Kaydanov, a nurse at Maimonides Medical Center, recalled his skepticism when COVID-19 first began growing in the United States.

He said: 'I was one of the people that said, 'This is fake. This is not real. This is gonna be fine. We'll get over it. This is the flu.' It's not the flu. This is so far from the flu.'

He added that Americans needed to see the reality of the health crisis currently playing out at hospitals across the country.

'They need to see what it's like. Just stay inside for a little bit, just a bit,' he said.

'Flatten that curve, get those infections down and you'll see it get so much better, because you do not want to see what it's like on the inside here. ... Nobody does.'

Worldwide, health care workers recovered from COVID-19 have returned to the same hospitals where they most likely contracted the disease in the first place.

'It was quite frustrating being at home and seeing how badly the hospitals needed help,' said Dr. Aurelie Gouel, who fell ill while treating coronavirus patients in Paris, France.

'We were trained for this,' she added. 'The world needs us.'

In the brutal months since France reported Europe's first coronavirus cases in January and then, in February, the first death on the continent, the scourge has infected so many thousands of doctors, nurses and other health workers in Europe that some have now recovered and are going from their sick beds back to the front lines.

Dr. Aurelie Gouel (pictured) was infected by the new coronavirus in March but rushed back to work as soon as she recovered from her high fever, cough and other symptoms because she felt compelled to rejoin the fight to save lives

'It's a bit like what happened in the First World War. People were wounded and came back to the battlefield,' said Dr. Philippe Montravers, head of anesthesiology and critical care at Bichat Hospital in Paris.

The hospital treated the 80-year-old Chinese tourist who in mid-February became the first person outside Asia to die from COVID-19.

'They feel ... very guilty staying at home,' Montravers said. 'As soon as they are feeling better, they come back to help.'

Dr. Montravers: 'It's a bit like what happened in the First World War. People were wounded and came back to the battlefield.' Pictured: Medical workers wait for patients at a special coronavirus intake area at Maimonides Medical Center

Pictured: Three medical workers wearing gloves and face masks stand at the entrance to the Maimonides Medical Center this week

As scientists race to unravel the new coronavirus' mysteries, as yet unsure of how resistant people become to re-infection after exposure, health workers hope that those among them who recovered and are returning to hospitals are now armed not only with a deeper, more personal understanding of the virus but also with some degree of immunity.

That armor against possible reinfection could make them especially useful in the drawn-out battle until a vaccine is found.

'It helps a lot for them to return to work, and especially for them to return with immunization. That's really fantastic because it takes away the fear that we have for a second wave of infections,' said Dr. Julio Mayol, medical director of the San Carlos Clinic Hospital in Madrid.

In New York, a glimmer of hope shined through Friday after Gov. Andrew Cuomo said ICU admissions are lower than they were before the pandemic spread.

'They couldn't count the spirit of New Yorkers and the love of New Yorkers. That's what their computers couldn't count on,' Cuomo said on Friday.

'To use an overused term, we are cautiously optimistic that we are slwoing the infection rate. That's what the data suggests.

'The change in total hospitalizations is down, not relative to yesterday but in its three day average.

'The change of ICU admissions is a negative number for the first time since we started this intense journey. That means fewer people are in intensive care statewide than there were before. That's good.

'Intubations is a little tick higher than it has been. The bad news is we continue to lose a tremendous number of lives. 777. That this situation should exceed 9/11 is still beyond my capacity to fully appreciate.

'Overall, New York is flattening the curve,' he said.

The next phase will be rolling out an antibody test that should tell if a person has had the virus and recovered from it which will allow people to 'gradually' get back to work.

New York more than 159,937 infections and 7,000 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon. They recorded 87,725 cases and a death toll of 4,778.
The case for introducing a universal basic income (UBI) for all citizens has been strengthened immeasurably by the coronavirus pandemic, Nicola Sturgeon has insisted.

Scotlands first minister said she had long been interested in the concept which would see existing means-tested benefits replaced with a flat rate income, regardless of earnings, to all citizens.

But the SNP leader also said it would require the cooperation of the UK government, as she highlighted recent proposals from Reform Scotland suggesting adults should be given 5,200 per year  100 per week.

It comes as the latest figures show 1.2 million people have made claims for universal credit in the past three weeks as government measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus brought swathes of the economy to a standstill.

The think tank said a basic income would ensure financial certainty to the many people who have been thrown into a sudden and catastrophic loss of employment or reduced hours as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

Reform Scotland said the scheme would cost the Scottish government 20.4bn per year, but suggested raising over 18bn through scrapping personal tax allowances alongside some traditional benefit payments.

Our current social security system is overly complicated, and actively discourages work because the loss of benefits when a person start work can often leave them losing money. People are suffering from the pandemic because they are doing the right thing by government. Now the government must do the right thing by the people.

In response, Ms Sturgeon said: This is an interesting and timely read from Reform Scotland  Ive long been interested in concept of UBI but the current situation strengthens the case immeasurably.

She added it would require the cooperation of the UK government as the Scottish parliament did not currently have the powers. But hopefully we can have a serious discussion, she said.

Last month, Rishi Sunak rejected calls for a basic income to deal with the financial insecurity many people across the country are experiencing as a result of the coronavirus and government restrictions on public life.

Speaking in the Commons after Boris Johnson announced the current lockdown, the chancellor insisted the government had already injected more money into welfare, as over 170 MPs urged ministers to support a basic income.

Were not in favour of a universal basic income, although we have strengthened the safety net for the most vulnerable in our society with over 7bn invested in improving our welfare system, Mr Sunak said. Those payments are all available much quicker, much easier and more generously than they were before and I know that will make an enormous difference to many vulnerable people.
Brussels: European Union finance ministers have agreed to a plan calling for more than half a trillion euros worth of new measures to buttress their economies against the onslaught of the coronavirus, but dealt a blow to their worst-hit members, Italy and Spain, by sidestepping their pleas for the bloc to issue joint debt.

Even in the face of an unprecedented economic crisis caused by a virus that has killed more than 50,000 and infected more than 500,000 bloc citizens, wealthier northern European countries were reluctant to subsidise cheap debt for the badly hit south.

MPs Fabio Rampelli, left, and Galeazzo Bignami wear face masks in the colours of the Italian flag to protect themselves against the spread of COVID-19. Credit:LaPresse/AP

And while Germany, the Netherlands and others showed greater generosity than they had in previous crises, the details of the measures announced showed they had gone to great lengths to limit and control the way the funding is used.

Finance ministers agreed to recommend to their countries' leaders for final approval programs that include a 100 billion ($172 billion) for unemployment benefits, 200 billion in loans for smaller businesses, and access to 240 billion in loans for euro-area countries to draw on from the eurozone bailout fund.
At least 923  or 48%  of the 1,932 people who have died of the coronavirus in New Jersey had known underlying health issues, state officials said Friday.

But that number could be larger. The state was still investigating the medical histories of 814 deaths as of Wednesday.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Wednesday only 28  or 2%  of those who died from the virus in New Jersey had no known underlying conditions. She did not have an updated number Friday.

Heres the breakdown of the dead known to have underlying medical conditions as of Friday:

29% had cardiovascular disease;

17% had diabetes;

10% had chronic lung disease;

7% chronic had renal disease;

7% had neurologic conditions;

6% had cancer.

Officials said another 15% had other chronic conditions.

Cardiovascular diseases include hypertension, which is common in the U.S., said Edward Lifshitz, medical director of the state Health Departments communicable disease service.

COVID-19 can sicken people of any age or health condition. But in general, officials say, about 85% of people will see only mild symptoms of the virus, while about 15%  especially those who are older and those who have other conditions  face more severe cases.

Of New Jerseys total deaths, 1% were under 30 years old, 4% between 30 to 49 years old, 17% 50-64, 33% 65-79, and 45% over 80, officials said.

Lifschitz suggested caution when looking at the numbers.

We get more and more information on people who die than people who dont die, he said Friday during the states daily coronavirus press briefing in Trenton. That information comes in somewhat slowly, so we dont get it all at one time.

One month after the states first death from the virus, New Jersey now has at least 54,588 cases of COVID-19, officials announced Friday. Only New York has more cases and deaths among U.S. states.

The state reported 3,627 new positive tests and 233 new deaths since Thursday.

Its difficult to get a complete picture of exactly how many people in New Jersey currently have the coronavirus or have died from it. Thats because the state is testing only residents showing symptoms of COVID-19, and officials say testing has been backed up for up to 14 days. The state also is not reporting significant increases in daily testing, so its unclear how quickly the virus is spreading.

Gov. Phil Murphy has said in recent days New Jersey is starting to see signs the rate of infection is slowing, but he stressed that cases and deaths are continuing to rise and residents should still practice social distancing to help reduce the spread and preserve hospital space.

Officials say the state could see the peak number of hospitalizations over the next few days  with about 14,400 people with the virus projected to be hospitalized, including 2,880 in critical care.

Separately, officials say the peak number of cases in the state is predicted to come between April 19 and May 11, and it could be between 86,000 and 509,000 cases.

We think well have enough (hospital) beds, Murphy said Friday. But if we take our foot off the gas, you can throw that out the window. We have got to stay home. Were not close to the end zone.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

To help halt the virus spread Murphy has put the state into near-lockdown. The governor has ordered residents to stay at home, banned social gatherings, closed schools, and mandated non-essential retail businesses close until further notice. He has also limited the number of people can be in businesses allowed to remain open and required employees and shoppers to wear face coverings.

Murphy has said the virus effect on New Jersey could last into the summer. And he has said he is not close to lifting the restrictions to help prevent the virus from boomeranging.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Few ever thought that workers in the food industry and grocery stores would be considered the "front line" of defense. The pandemic has changed that and much more  and letter writers reflect  in this Letters to the Editor.
: The Andhra Pradesh government on



Friday issued three "confidential" Government Orders (GOs) related to what ruling YSR Congress called a policy decision initiating electoral reforms amidst speculation that State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar has been removed in the backdrop of a reported tiff with the Chief Minister over postponement of elections to rural and urban local bodies.

Two of the three GOs have been issued by the Panchayat Raj Department and and another by the Law Department



YSRC spokesman and MLA Ambati Rambabu claimed they related to curtailment of the SEC's tenure from five to three years.

The Law Department GO related to an Ordinance in this regard, promulgated by the Governor, amending Section 200 of AP Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 on the appointment of the new SEC.

The opposition parties launched a blistering attack on the YSRC government over the issue and wondered what was the express need for such a backdoor legislation when the state was fighting a major health pandemic like Coronavirus.

The main opposition Telugu Desam Party and the Congress shot off letters to Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, taking strong exception to the promulgation of the Ordinance, calling it unethical and against the law.

Any amendments to the APPR Act would become applicable only after the current tenure of the incumbent SEC ends, they contended.

The opposition parties requested the Governor to uphold the rule of law and democratic values.

Article 243K (2) of the Constitution of India says, Subject to the provisions of any law made by the Legislature of a State, the conditions of service and tenure of office of the State Election Commissioner shall be such as the Governor may by rule determine."



"Provided that the State Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of a High Court and the conditions of service of the State Election Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment," the Article adds.

The developments came in the backdrop of a reported tiff between Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and the SEC after the latter postponed elections to rural and urban local bodies on March 7 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jagan complained against him to the Governor.

The state government subsequently filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the SECs decision, but the Apex Court only endorsed the deferment of polls.

The previous TDP government appointed Ramesh Kumar, a 1983-batch IAS officer who retired as Special Chief Secretary to the Governor, as the SEC for a five-year term on January 30, 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As of now, 20 Ukrainian doctors are helping their Italian colleagues with the fight against COVID-19

Open source

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has held a telephone conversation with Italys Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian president.

"Ukraine is genuinely rooting for the Italian people. At this difficult moment, Ukraine is with you. I truly believe that Italy will soon pass through this crisis," Zelensky said.

Giuseppe Conte thanked for Ukraine's humanitarian assistance to Italy, which included sending a team of doctors and disinfectants. The parties also discussed practical aspects of Ukrainian doctors stay in the Marche region.

Volodymyr Zelensky is convinced that the combined efforts of Ukrainian and Italian doctors in the fight against the pandemic will be a successful example of bilateral cooperation and the ability to overcome common challenges.

As we reported earlier, South Korea may provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the form of medical equipment.

This issue was discussed President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during a telephone conversation with South Korean President Moon Jae In.
With last weeks significant deployment of United States naval assets in the Caribbean, the Trump administration upped the ante in its confrontation with the Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. For the past 15 months, the administration has applied maximum pressure on Mr. Maduros regime, with the hope that the upper echelons of the military  the regimes main pillar of support  would fracture and trigger a return to democracy. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed the administrations commitment to replacing Mr. Maduro with a legitimate, transitional government. Yet as the coronavirus stalks the globe, the ill-timed deployment punctuates a series of consequential but erratic moves on the United States Venezuela policy.

The deployment came on the heels of two other major developments in this policy: the criminal indictment of Mr. Maduro and several close collaborators, and the launch of a democratic transition framework by Secretary Pompeo. Taken separately, they signal the administrations commitment to toppling Mr. Maduro. Together, they betray confusion over how best to do it. The question now is how far the administration is prepared to go with a strategy that has so far yielded few tangible results and may be making matters worse for Venezuelans.

The naval deployment, whose stated purpose is to combat drug trafficking, aims to send a message to Mr. Maduro that his time is up. Its scale recalls the military buildup before the 1989 invasion of Panama that deposed the strongman Manuel Noriega. Fortunately, a similar action is improbable today. More likely, this is saber rattling and an expensive distraction for a domestic audience as much as a foreign one, and its utility was apparently questioned even within the Pentagon. Still, the deployment is sensitive and potentially risky; an accident or misstep could set off a violent escalation.

The show of military force in the Caribbean was part of the administrations stick, coming shortly after the Department of Justice indicted Mr. Maduro and other senior Venezuelan officials on charges of drug trafficking. Mr. Maduro sits at the head of a criminal regime considered illegitimate by the United States and immensely unpopular in Venezuela. He has so far managed to hang on, despite a concerted campaign of diplomatic and economic pressure from Washington, including tough sanctions imposed on the oil-rich country in January 2019 and strong support for the democratic forces led by Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly. More than 50 governments join the United States in recognizing Mr. Guaido as interim president.
Pakistani troops violated ceasefire for the fifth consecutive day on Friday by shelling mortars along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army, officials said.

"At about 2230 hours tonight, Pak army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms & shelling with mortars along LoC in Balakote and Shahpur & sectors in district Poonch", a defence spokesperson said.

The Indian Army retaliated befittingly, he added.

All through the week, Pakistani troops fired small arms and mortar shells along the LoC in Poonch district.

Last week, it injured six security personnel in Sunderbani-Nowshera sector.

In March, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik told Parliament that Pakistan violated the ceasefire at least 646 times between January 1 and February 23 this year.

Over 3,200 ceasefire violations were recorded in 2019.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus: Actor Salman Khan praises his fans, shares a thanking note for abiding lockdown rules. He also pledges to support 25,000 daily wage workers by sending money to their bank accounts.

Coronavirus: Bollywood is playing an active role in spreading awareness related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through their Instagram post actors are urging their fans to abid the lockdown rules and stay safe. Actor Salman Khan is no less to give an eye-opener to his fans, he tries all possible ways to explain the importance of lockdown and social distancing.

Earlier today, Salman shared thanking note to all his fans for understanding and obeying the rules, with some photos of empty streets and temple. The note reads, thank you all for understanding the reality of the situation. May God bless you all, lets fight against coronavirus, #staysafe #stay home.

The actors team also developed a short film, VAASTAV- 2 with a heartwrenching storyline. Where an alcoholic father dies due to coronavirus and infect other members of the family. The video conveys a strong message that the coronavirus crisis is real, so stay indoors and protect your family.

Check the post:

The actor also shared a video on Twitter where he proudly accepts his fear from the COVID-19 pandemic. Requesting his fans the actor said, dont show bravery as the situation doesnt demand it, sitting at home is the only way to curb the spread of the virus, so no shame in accepting that we are scared.

Meanwhile, Twitteratis were also roasting Khan for not donating, the actor did a silent donation to PM CARES Fund, he also pledges to support 25,000 workers by sending a paycheck to their bank accounts. No doubt, various prominent personalities came forward and joined the hands in the battle against the deadly virus.

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
In 1966 George Harrisons passion for Indian music was continuing to grow. He took his sitar with him on his honeymoon in Barbados and practiced while his wife sunbathed. On their return to England he enthused to Maureen Cleave in the Evening Standard about Ravis Festival Hall concert: I couldnt believe it. It was just like everything you have ever thought of as great all coming out at once. He explained his struggles to play sitar cross-leggedI wish I could sit on the floor like Raviand revealed that he had considered going to India for six years to study properly. Dreamily, he told her, Just before I went to sleep one night, I thought what it would be like to be inside Ravis sitar. Among the four Beatles, it was Harrison who led the fascination for Indian music, and he encouraged the others in the same direction. John Lennon also enthused about it to Cleave: Its amazing, thisso cool. Dont the Indians appear cool to you? This music is thousands of years old. It makes me laugh, the British going over there and telling them what to do.

On April 6 the Beatles returned to Abbey Road Studios to create Tomorrow Never Knows, the most startling leap forward of their whole career. Lennons song, an aural recreation of an LSD trip, takes its lyrical inspiration from Timothy Learys book The Psychedelic Experience (using lines different from those included in Ravis soundtrack of the previous year). It opens with a tanpura drone, has no modulation and stays on a C chord throughout, with McCartneys bass guitar reinforcing the drone. This was because of our interest in Indian music, said McCartney. We would be sitting around and at the end of an Indian album wed go, Did anyone realize they didnt change chords? Wow, man, that is pretty far out. So we began to sponge up a few of these nice ideas. With this song, the drone was relaunched into the mainstream of Western popular music culture, and it is easy today, habituated as we are by its ubiquity in electronic music, to underestimate its impact then. As Ian MacDonald wrote, it was like an unknown spiritual frequency tuning in. Another psychedelic ingredient was the series of saturated tape-loops that were mixed into the song liveinspired, like Conrad Rooks, by the cut-up technique. One of these loops contained a sitar phrase played backward. Lennons voice was even treated in order to sound like a Tibetan lama declaiming from a Himalayan mountaintop.

Harrisons song Love You To, recorded the following week, makes its Indian influence even more explicit. It is like an Indian classical recital reshaped as a three-minute pop song. The opening passage on unaccompanied sitar, played by Harrison himself, represents a brief alap, and with the entry of the tabla segues into a medium-tempo gat in teental, before stepping up to a fast gat for the last 20 seconds. The scale has flattened third and seventh notes and is thus in Dorian modeor, as a north Indian classical musician would put it, Kafi thaat. Indeed, his melody is based on a typical phrase of Raga Kafi. The tabla player Anil Bhagwat, who had been recommended by Ayana Angadi, was asked by Harrison to play the same rhythmic cycle as Ravi had used on a specific album track, almost certainly Dhun-Kafi from Ravis album In London, which features an alap followed by medium and fast gats in teental. The resemblance is closest from about 2 minutes 30 seconds to 3 minutes 5 seconds in Dhun-Kafi, and both pieces open with an arpeggio on the sitars sympathetic strings. The most likely scenario is that, after hearing In London, George asked his sitar teacher to show him Raga Kafi, and then he worked out his own composition based on it. The result is still pop music, with overdubbed guitars, vocals and tambourine, and it is a composed piece, not improvised. Moreover, the rhythmic cycle is not authentic. It is teental quarter-sliced into beats to the bar, and it does not run continuously throughout, as it would in Indian classical music, instead stopping three times for breakdowns, while the penultimate chorus comes in a beat early (on the twelfth beat rather than the thirteenth). But the song reveals that Harrison had absorbed a great deal from listening and from his initial lessons.

These new Beatles songs did not see light of day until Revolver was released to British radio in July, by which time the smoldering timber of Norwegian Wood had set off what Ravi came to call the sitar explosion in the world of rock and pop. In 1965 there was just a handful of pop stars tentatively exploring Indian music. In 1966 it became the flavor of the year.

When the Byrds had toured America in a motor home in November 1965, they took with them one of the newly available compact cassette players. They had just two tapes, which were on constant rotation, rigged via a Fender Showman amplifier to reverberate throughout the bus. One was John Coltrane, the other Ravi Shankar. Steeped in these sounds for a month, they recorded two new songs in December that took pop into the territory of modal improvisation. Eight Miles High is based around a recurring four-note guitar phrase lifted from Coltranes Village Vanguard recording of Indiaitself an interpretation of Indian music. McGuinn plays long jazz-tinted solos on a Rickenbacker electric twelve-string against a bass-guitar drone, and the lyric has a deliberately druggy double meaning. If that was the Byrds playing Coltrane, then the second track was their Ravi Shankar number. Why has two extended guitar solos with a loosely Indian feel, again improvised modally by McGuinn on electric guitar over a bass drone.

When the two tracks were released as a single in March 1966, Columbia Records announced the invention of a new musical form called raga rock, derived from the sitar music of Ravi Shankar. At the press launch McGuinn brandished a sitar, even though it had not been used on either track, and the event was delayed while the band struggled to tune it backstage. A wryly skeptical report in the Village Voice made it back to Ravi in Bombay, the cutting annotated in an unknown hand, The Raga Rock? Do you believe it? He needed to, because in June World Pacific rush-released a cash-in album of pop covers entitled Raga Rock by a session band billed as the Folkswingers featuring Harihar Rao. Harihar guested on sitar amid a wail of fuzzbox guitars. If Ravi heard it, it is unlikely that he was impressed. The Byrds, however, were influential, David Crosby in particular. Renowned as a creative catalyst, he came to epitomize the brash, hedonistic side of the Californian counterculture. As Jackson Browne put it, He had this legendary VW bus with a Porsche engine in it, and that summed him upa hippie with power! He used that power to tell his friends about Ravis music.

Another Californian group channeling its Indian fixation through Western instruments was the Doors. Keyboardist Ray Manzarek was, through another band, signed to World Pacifics pop subsidiary Aura Records, and at Dick Bocks suggestion he attended Maharishi Mahesh Yogis transcendental meditation classes at a house in Pacific Palisades. There, in the summer of 1965, he met both Robby Krieger, who was about to join UCLA to take a course in Indian music, and drummer John Densmore. As Manzarek later wrote, The Doors needed the other Doors. And we found each other in India. The foursome was completed by his friend Jim Morrison. Their first demo (without Krieger) was recorded at World Pacific, and from the outset their sound was shaped by an Indian sensibility. They spent the first half of 1966 developing their repertoire in Los Angeles clubs, including the now iconic song The End, which was conceived as a rock version of a raga. It has a modal structure, mostly staying on one chord, starts out slow and serene, and gradually develops over eleven minutes (an unprecedented length for a rock song) to its tumultuous climax. Krieger alternates his guitar melody line with playing open-tuned strings as though they are chikari drone strings on a sitar, and there is a moment when it shifts to double time that was likewise inspired by the jhala phase of a raga. I got the idea for that from watching Ravi, says Krieger. Its not based on a specific raga, just the structure and feel. They also worked on Light My Fire, which features a guitar solo modally improvised by Krieger using fingerings copied from sitar technique. This became their first massive hit.

Pop musics Indian flowering was, if anything, thriving even more across the Atlantic. How about a tune on the old sitar? asked a Melody Maker headline on May 7. The new offering from the Yardbirds, Over, Under, Sideways, Down, had a guitar distorted to sound like a sitarnot that the effect was exactly convincing. So did the Birmingham band the Move, who were reported to be playing Brum-raga sitting cross-legged on the stage. Others incorporated a real sitar into their arrangements, although they tended to follow the example of Norwegian Wood in using it merely as a decorative element, usually replacing the role of a lead guitar. Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones was driven in this way by Brian Joness sitar riff, offsetting a drawling vocal line by Mick Jagger, whose accent, according to Melody Maker, was becoming progressively more curried. Jones had taken up the sitar after trying out George Harrisons at his home. Meanwhile, Donovan had put sitars on his latest album, and a cover version of Simon and Garfunkels A Most Peculiar Man was released by Adam, Mike and Tim with sitar lines played by Big Jim Sullivan, one of Britains busiest session guitarists. Sullivan took sitar lessons in London from Nazir Jairazbhoy and subsequently recorded two albums of Indian-spiced pop covers. By 1968, the concept of vinaya having apparently passed him by, he had rebranded himself as Lord Sitar.

On the other side of the world in early 1966, Ravi was largely cut off from this trend. When he eventually caught up, it bemused him. Using Indian music to make pop songs, he said, was like learning the Chinese alphabet in order to write English poems.

* * *

Oliver Craske is a writer, editor, and the author of Rock Faces: The Worlds Top RocknRoll Photographers and Their Greatest Images. He first met Shankar in 1994, worked with him on his autobiography (Raga Mala, 1997), and was encouraged by him to write his full story after his death. He lives in London.
GREENWICH  Federal authorities have charged three men in connection with the robbery of a Stamford jewelry store and the shooting death of its owner in late March. And one of those suspects was behind the armed hold-up of a jewelry store in Byram just 10 days before.

The U.S. attorneys office announced Thursday that Robert Rallo, 56, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Thomas Liberatore, 62, of White Plains, N.Y., and Paul Prosano, also known as Tony Pro, 59, of Brooklyn; have been charged with federal robbery offenses in connection with the March 28 robbery of Marco Jewelers in Stamford. During the robbery, the owner, Mark Vuono, was shot and killed.

Liberatore committed the armed robbery of Byram Jewelers on Mill Street in the Byram section of Greenwich on March 18.

In Stamford, Vuono was killed by a bullet wound to the head at his store on Sixth Street. The 69-year-old businessman was found by a customer on the afternoon of March 28. The federal complaint said he was found lying on the ground in front of an open safe.

According to the federal prosecutors, Prosano drove Rallo and Liberatore in a black Jaguar to Marco Jewelers, and Rallo and Liberatore then entered the store.

Rallo, armed with a handgun, engaged in a physical altercation with Vuono, while Liberatore stole items from the display cases, the federal complaint said. Vuono, who also carried a firearm, and Rallo struggled next to a large open safe, prosecutors said.

During the struggle, Rallo reached into the safe and pulled out a third firearm, a .357 Magnum revolver, prosecutors said. Rallo subsequently shot and killed Vuono with the .357 revolver, the complaint states.

Law enforcement officials later located the black Jaguar on Staten Island and maintained surveillance on it, the federal prosecutors said.

According to the account from the U.S. attorneys office: Rallo exited the rear door of the BMW and entered the drivers door of a black Jaguar. The two vehicles then left the area and rapidly accelerated. The Jaguar crashed on Tompkins Street. Rallo attempted to flee on foot, but was quickly apprehended. The BMW crashed into a tree and parked car at the intersection of Daniel Low Terrace and Corson Avenue. Prosano also attempted to flee and was apprehended.

Authorities said they recovered from the BMW a large amount of jewelry from the Stamford store: 63 rings, eight bracelets, two tie pins, an earring and a cuff link. A subsequent search of Prosanos residence turned up 23 pairs of earrings and three rings, the federal authorities stated  all items stolen from Marco Jewelers on March 28, as well.

Police said that Liberatore, the suspect in the Greenwich robbery, was taken down with an FBI tactical-response unit, with Greenwich police officers taking part. He was arrested March 30.

According to the federal complaint, Liberatore stole a Honda Civic from a car dealer in Yonkers, N.Y., and drove to Byram Jewelers. He entered the store at approximately 4:45 p.m. and asked a store employee to show him engagement rings. He then pointed a pistol at the employee, stole several rings, smashed a display case with his pistol and stole other items before exiting the store, the complaint said.

No one was injured in the robbery at Byram Jewelers.

Greenwich police said the arrests came as a result of a wide-ranging investigation.

Mutual efforts by several police agencies resulted in all of the suspects being taken into custody and bringing justice to the victims of these crimes. Greenwich Police Detective Carlos Franco was crucial in obtaining early evidence, which led to the identification of the Greenwich robbery suspect and provided critical information for both investigations, police Capt. Robert Berry said.

We hope that these efforts provide some solace to the victims and we want to assure the public that we will aggressively pursue any criminal who targets our community.

Stamford police last Saturday announced a major break in the homicide case. On Thursday, Stamford police Capt. Richard Conklin said, During this crisis within a crisis, which created many logistical obstacles, federal and local agencies worked hand in hand and got this job done.

The suspects were cited with federal charges of robbery involving interstate conspiracy, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. They were detained in New York on state parole violations.

Authorities described the three suspects as having extensive criminal histories. The three men met while behind bars within the New York State Department of Correction, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Vuono was a married father of two.

He believed in treating everyone fairly and took pride in his work, according to his family. Vuono was an excellent craftsman and good with his hands. He enjoyed traveling and visits to Latin America.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

We continue to emphasize collaboration in our law enforcement efforts and are proud of all of the detectives and investigators involved in this case, Greenwich Police Chief Heavey said. Our sincerest condolences go out to the family of Mark Vuono, owner of Marco Jewelers.

U.S. Attorney John Durham noted that the multiple agencies deserved extra credit due to this pandemic, an especially challenging time for law enforcement.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
A day after he celebrated the festival of 'Shab-e-Barat,' legendary actor Dilip Kumar on Friday expressed gratitude to all his fans who extended best wishes to him.

The 'Naya Daur' actor took to Twitter to thank his fans and also posted a picture of himself along with the tweet.

"Thank you for all your prayers and duas on #Shab_e_baraat My heartfelt prayers for all of you too," he tweeted.

In the picture, he is seen standing while one of his pictures with his wife and actor Saira Banu is seen hanging on the wall in the background.

Shab-e-Barat is observed as a day of forgiveness or atonement in Islam.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Last week, President Donald Trump fired Michael Atkinson from his post as inspector general of the intelligence community. This week, the administration ensured that acting Pentagon inspector general Glenn Fine will not oversee coronavirus relief. To White House allies, these seemed like natural steps in an environment where everything is seen as political. As former White House aide Cliff Sims put it, Trump shouldn't "be subjected to his political enemies in supposedly apolitical oversight roles."

To transparency advocates of any ideology, Trump's actions should be troubling. Inspectors general should be a vital part of Trump's promise to "drain the swamp" that he repeated on the campaign trail in 2016.

Spending on inspectors general just might be the best regular investment our government makes. They ensure that government is accountable to its citizens and that taxpayer money is not wasted. A recent progress report to Congress found that every dollar invested in inspectors general returns more than $22 in potential savings. Following their recommendations each year would yield savings of more than $50 billion. Other reports have found potential savings of up to $67 billion.

Since the late 1970s, inspectors general have been one of the few bright spots for taxpayers as government, spending and deficits have expanded. These watchdogs are tasked with eliminating the proverbial waste, fraud and abuse that fiscal conservatives often highlight as the reason to oppose substantial government programs. They have a proven track record of taking on the noble task of rooting out corruption, even in the toughest circumstances.

During the financial crisis in 2008, most fiscal conservatives, myself included, strongly opposed the large bailout packages coming from Washington. Legislation such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) were aimed at stimulating the economy, but many of us also saw moral hazard in propping up irresponsible actors. We argued that these laws were mistaken attempts to socialize losses after years of privatized profits and could provide a treasure trove of misspent cash as the government rushed to dole out money.

But, while it garnered far less attention, the worst of our fears on that front never came to pass, thanks to the strong oversight an inspector and recovery board provided. In fact, one investigation found that only $7.2 million was lost to fraud in the first two years - that is, "about 0.001 percent."

Sure, $7.2 million is nothing to sneeze at, but consider that experts had warned at the time that 5 to 7 percent could be lost - that's between $36 billion and $50 billion.

But inspectors general don't just make sure money is not wasted. The inspector general for the Justice Department helped uncover a plan by meatpacking executives to sell uninspected and adulterated meat. The Department of Veterans Affairs' inspector general announced it would investigate allegations that Secretary Robert Wilkie tried to find damaging information on a woman who reported being sexually assaulted at a VA hospital. Other governmental organizations, such as the General Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office, and outside taxpayer watchdogs can play a similar and valuable role for ensuring efficiency, but there is one key difference - these organizations rarely have the access afforded to IGs.

This unique value was made clear in December when Americans learned for the first time that their government had been lying to them for over a decade about the war in Afghanistan. Broken in these pages, The Afghanistan Papers laid out mind-boggling corruption and mismanagement at the highest levels, belying the years of public assurances that the war was going fine, gains were being made and victory was just around the corner in America's longest war. The reality was anything but.

None of these revelations would have been possible in the first place had the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) not conducted hundreds of interviews with prominent decision-makers over the course of years. Outside watchdogs could - and did - criticize the rising costs and apparent stalemate, but the extent of the scandal would have been lost to history without the inspector general.

Trump's recent move to weaken coronavirus-relief oversight threatens to create another generation of lost accountability. During an unprecedented pandemic, the Cares Act is the largest economic relief package in history, setting in motion over $2 trillion in spending on items including direct relief, expanded unemployment aid and business support.

Like TARP and the Recovery Act, the Cares Act created a new, independent inspector general to oversee the distribution of relief funds and, perhaps most importantly, produce reports on who exactly receives funding and how much. As before, this structure would have the potential to stop waste and fraud before they begin. The creation of real oversight reassured fiscal conservatives and fans of small government who gulped at the price tag.

Real oversight would also not just be responsible; it would be good politics for a president struggling to preserve his legacy amid an international emergency and be a shield against inevitable criticisms that will emerge if dollars begin to be doled out in a nontransparent or inappropriate manner. Investing any amount of money without independent oversight - not to mention such an enormous chunk - is a recipe for misspent funds and scandals.

While it's true that inspectors general serve at the pleasure of the president, unlike many appointed positions, they commonly serve across administrations because their function isn't partisan. Another way of phrasing Trump's pledge to drain the swamp is a commitment to rooting out waste, fraud, abuse and corruption - the exact mission of an inspector general. The president would be wise to rethink his decision regarding Cares Act oversight and enlist a truly independent inspector general to assist him in his cause.

- - -

Bydlak is the director of the R Street Institute's Fiscal and Budget Policy Project and the creator of SpendingTracker.org.
Excelso Sabulao delivers groceries for Amazon.com Inc in California so he can help provide his parents an income.

Now, with endless interactions at stores and at homes during a pandemic, he worries his work will kill them.

"I'm just putting my faith in God that, you know, somehow while doing this, I'm going to be spared," he said. "Once I get it, I'm going to spread it at home. And you know, it's like bringing (a) death sentence to my parents."

Sabulao, 35, is one of countless Amazon contractors shuttling food and staples that consumers depend on to their doorsteps, with nearly all of the US population under government stay-at-home orders.

Yet he and other drivers say they feel short-changed by Amazon for not giving them more pay or protections, as frontline workers in a global pandemic.

On Monday morning, Sabulao commuted about an hour to Dublin, a city in the San Francisco Bay Area, to pick up grocery orders from Amazon-owned Whole Foods. He lives in Stockton with his mother, who suffered a mild stroke three years ago, and his father, who is on a virus-related leave from Walmart Inc For Sabulao, taking care of his parents - vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus, he said - is part of Filipino culture.

Donning a white face mask, Sabulao towed two shopping carts overflowing with brown paper bags that were stamped with a logo for Amazon's loyalty club Prime. He started loading his car in a parking spot for Amazon Flex, a program that lets contractors like himself sign up for delivery times with their own vehicles.

He quickly filled up the trunk and began lining bags and other packages along the back seat of his car.

The harrowing part of the shift was over. What Sabulao had feared most, he said, was having to fetch those orders from the Whole Foods staging area where other drivers stood side by side, disregarding health officials' recommendation to stay 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart.

Sabulao had to open the same storage coolers that they did, and he generally has no time to use a wipe, he said.

"Its making me paranoid," said Sabulao. "Youre handling stuff that other people already put their hands into, and maybe if they have coughed - I dont know."

Amazon said gloves, masks and sanitizer are available at the Dublin Whole Foods store and across its facilities. "We remain committed to keeping our teams healthy and safe," the company said, adding that it was requiring social distancing among staff and telling delivery workers to stay further apart from customers.

Sabulao took off his mask and started driving. At his destination, he scanned a code on grocery packages using his smartphone and took those to the shopper's doorstep.

He has wanted to minimize customer contact as much as possible. Amazon's app lets him text shoppers to inquire where to leave the items and share his estimated time of arrival.

Still, across 21 deliveries Monday, there was no avoiding face time. One woman was in her driveway when Sabulao arrived, so he put the groceries down next to her car. At another home, a customer opened the door, got on her knees and started wiping down the items she had ordered.

The work at times has been worth the trouble. Sabulao recalled how around the start of the pandemic, one shopper's generous tip bumped his $10 pay up to $83 for a delivery that lasted less than 30 minutes. He earned $289 in over seven hours Monday, more than half of which came from tips. Earning $200 is typical for that amount of time, he said.

Increasingly he feels the reward is changing. Now rare surge pay for warehouse deliveries means he may make less than before, and he fears his personal supply of wipes will run out. He wishes Amazon would give him and other contractors sanitizer.

"Were risking our lives, literally, risking our life delivering packages," he said. But quitting is not an option.

"I have bills to pay. That's it," he said.
South Africa: 2 003 confirmed cases, 24 COVID-19 deaths

South Africa has 2 003 confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19), with 24 deaths.

On Friday, 10 April, the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said the country has recorded 410 recoveries.

To date, Gauteng has the highest number of positive cases with 801, followed by the Western Cape with 541. KwaZulu-Natal has 412, Free State 94, Eastern Cape 68, Limpopo 24, Mpumalanga 20, North West 18 and the Northern Cape 15, with 10 unallocated cases.

KwaZulu-Natal has recorded the highest number of deaths with 12, followed by the Western Cape with 6 and Gauteng and the Free State with three, respectively.

The Minister said with the President having extended the national lockdown by two weeks, screening and social distancing will continue to be key pillars in slowing the spread of the virus.

Furthermore, 13 488 tracers have been brought on board to help the country to find the contacts of those who test positive for COVID-19.

We want to call on everyone to cooperate with the screening processes. Contact tracing, screening and test referring will be our strongest way going forward. We must have a new culture of social distancing, and no hugs, kissing or shaking of hands.

Contact tracing is important. We need to scale up the screening of patients in various communities. Thus far, 456 074 people have been screened in the provinces, said the Minister, adding that 73 028 COVID-19 tests have been conducted.

He said the widespread use of masks is now recommended in the arsenal against the virus.

We recommend the widespread use of cloth masks. Individuals can make their own masks.

There shouldnt be a need for everyone to wear surgical masks. Lets reserve those for the frontline workers treating patients, Mkhize said.

He warned, however, that people must be cautious when using masks.

Dont keep touching or removing the mask. Treat the mask as potentially infective. Ensure regular washing of the mask, the Minister said.

Mkhize said authorities have met with a large number of unions, where the protection of health workers was discussed.

We were able to agree on the issue that protection of staff is the most important. No member of staff will be forced to go to work without the respective gear that they need in their designated position, Mkhize said.

The Minister said he is impressed with the unity that has been shown during this time among all quarters of society.

Effects of lockdown

Since the lockdown came into effect at midnight on 26 March, the rate at which new cases have been identified in South Africa has slowed significantly, according to Mkhize.

In the two weeks before the lockdown, the average daily increase in new cases was around 42%. Since the start of the lockdown, the average daily increase has been around 4%, the Minister said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
With just a few days left for the national shut down to come to an end, both Tamil Nadu and Punjab governments, on Friday, are mulling an extension of lockdown, as per sources. Apart from these two states - Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, Delhi are major states also mulling extending the lockdown. Currently, India's Coronavirus (COVID-19) is at 6412 - with Tamil Nadu reporting 834 cases and Punjab reporting 101 cases.

ICMR revises COVID-19 testing strategy to include 'testing clusters using anti-body tests'

Punjab & Tamil Nadu mull extension

Sources report that CM Captain Amarinder Singh has already asked a high-powered committee to plan for an exit strategy on lockdown, but is seriously contemplating the extension of lockdown. Tamilnadu, on the other hand already has a medical expert committee that has recommended extension of lockdown by 2 weeks. While the Centre has maintained that it has not decided on extension, the Prime Minister is scheduled to speak with all CMs on Saturday prior to the end of national lockdown.

ICMR allows tuberculosis testing machine to screen for COVID-19 as cases soar to 6412

Markaz & Tamil Nadu - Punjab

The Nizamuddin Markaz event which almost amounts to 30% of India's COVID-19 tally has majorly contributed to both states COVID-19 tally. With Tamil Nadu having 1100 Markaz attendees, it has tracked down all cases and quarantined their contacts. Punjab, on the other hand, is yet to track several attendees who are in hiding. Apart from Markaz woes, Punjab is also tracing 64,000 NRIs who have come back to India in the past 4-5 months.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Assam reports first COVID death, nationwide toll reaches 6412

Coronavirus crisis in India

As of date, 5709 active cases have been reported of the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19) - 503 have been discharged and Maharashtra reported the highest at 1364. 199 deaths have been reported till date. India has suspended all visas and barred travel from Afghanistan, Philippines, EU, UK, China, Malaysia and mandatory 14-day quarantine from several other countries. The Prime Minister has issued a 21-day countrywide lockdown starting from 23 March to April 15 and the Finance Minister has announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore package under the 'PM Gareeb Kalyan Scheme'. With the rise in the number of cases, the Centre and several states are mulling extending lockdown.

PM Modi to interact with CMs on Saturday; Covid lockdown extension on agenda
Molly Parker Reporter Molly Parker is general assignment and investigative projects reporter for The Southern Illinoisan. Follow Molly Parker Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Like millions of Americans, my husband and I recently found ourselves sucked into a vortex of mullets and tiger cubs while trying to shake the COVID-19 blues.

Having been taken by the hit Netflix Joe Exotic limited series, I was amazed and amused to discover that Mr. Exotic had visited Southern Illinois over a decade ago  apparently not only once, but at least twice. Joe and his mullet, baby tigers and band of misfits traveled to the Marion mall in 2007 and 2009. Both times, it was around Christmas time, and what a sight it must have been, inside the now eerily deserted mall, to see Santa Claus and his tiny elves, and Joe Exotic and his big cats.

Joes visit to Marion was covered by The Southern Illinoisans Codell Rodriguez in 2007 and WSIL-TV 3s Christen Drew in 2009 (both of whom have since moved on to other jobs).

I reached out to Codell and Christen to get their impressions on meeting him in person. For those who havent seen the seven-part series, "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness" explores the world of private big cat ownership in the U.S., and in particular follows the collapse of a flamboyant zoo owner from Wynnewood, Oklahoma, Joe Maldonado-Passage  or Joe Exotic as he is known.

When I called Christen one day in early April, she was working at her husband Bryan Drews law firm. She said she needed to step out of the office so she could talk without disturbing the others in the office. Situated in her car, she asked me what my angle was. I didnt have one. I got nervous that she might think I was an idiot for not having thought this through beyond wanting to write something light-hearted.

So I told her the truth: I thought it was entertaining that Joe had been in Marion, and I wanted to know what it was like meeting him. And I needed a brief reprieve from the COVID-19 interviews that have dominated my days.

Im totally all about a distraction these days, she said. I think everybody is.

I explained to Christen that I had seen her husbands post on Facebook, in which he gushed about his wife and all her awesomeness, including that  much to his surprise  she had once interviewed this international star during her reporter days. She made a wincing sound. I think she was perhaps a wee bit embarrassed by the post, since this wasnt exactly her career-making story. He included several screen captures from the footage, including a young Christen interviewing a man with a monkey on his head.

Yeah, so thats funny, she said. I just find it funny that when I was a news person, I got to meet some pretty important people. But my claim to fame is a wacky zookeeper with a mullet. Just my luck, right?

We laughed. And seriously, this was the most fun Id had all week, so no judgment here. Christen had just started working at WSIL-TV 3 when she met Joe. She doesnt exactly remember how the assignment came to be. But she assumes she suggested it because she liked producing family-friendly feature stories that celebrated the community. Joes appearance was newsworthy because its not every day you find a tiger in Marion. She also figured it would make good TV.

And it did.

During the interview with Joe, he wanted to put on a show for the camera, she said. I remember that he held an unruly monkey on his shoulder. The monkey took off Joes hat and pulled his hair. And Joe used it as a teachable moment to tell the camera that these sorts of pets do not make good pets for the average family.

Christen said that she watched the series with her husband after realizing she had interviewed him. According to media reports, filming for the Netflix series didnt begin until some five years after her interview with him in Marion. So this was really early Joe  before he was known as Joe Exotic, and perhaps before he began to slide into his life-derailing obsession with Carole Baskin.

I will say Joe seemed sincere about wanting to care for his tigers and the other animals, she said. He made it very clear that his mission was to provide for these animals and encourage others not to adopt such dangerous pets. But somewhere between then and now, hes lost sight of that it seems like, after watching the documentary.

What do you think went wrong with Joe, I asked.

I have thought about this, she said. I have to admit. The show isnt suitable for children or the easily offended, but it was very thought-provoking, she continued. And I think there are some life lessons to be learned: In particular, hatred, anger and unforgiveness can cause someone to lose perspective of what their mission is, to lose sight of what you really set out to do.

And I believe unforgiveness totally ruined Joes life.

Thats a pretty powerful message. I was glad I called Christen, who, by the way, left reporting in 2012 to raise her children and is now working as a commercial developer specializing in remodeling historical buildings in Southern Illinois. And when theres a pandemic, she helps her lawyer husband answer the phones.

My husband and I started watching Tiger King several weeks ago on accident. We had both finished long days at work, much of it involving COVID-19. Neither of us wanted to rehash the day. After dinner, we slithered into the living room, feeling heavy. He plopped into his leather chair and I sank into the couch, glued to my phone, trying to make sense of the health and economic tragedies unfolding. He suggested I unhinge myself from the news.

I flipped on Netflix and went searching for something to watch. Sometimes we play Cheers in the interlude between dinner and bedtime  its easy to watch, and easy to turn off. But I was missing Mollys Pint and didnt want to touch that nerve. Thats how we discovered Joe Exotic.

Im sure many others have their own story about how they tripped into the twilight zone. For days, we clung to the drama of a gun-toting, sequin-wearing lion tamer now serving 22 years in federal prison for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot and other wildlife violations. Meanwhile, COVID-19 ripped through the nation. But it brought us together. Every night after work, we met in the living room to watch an episode, and during the day, we sent each other links to Joes amazingly cheesy music videos.

After talking to Christen, I also checked in with my former colleague Codell that same night. He was my boss for several years, and remains a close friend. He couldnt connect until late in the evening because hes an enterprise editor at the El Paso Times. He had to edit a bunch of important copy before we could dive into a conversation about his Joe Exotic experience from 2007.

Codell said that, at the time, his office was stationed at the Marion mall. Some people might have forgotten, but for years, The Southern had a satellite office there. Thats where his desk was located when he was assigned to cover parts of Williamson County, namely Herrin and Johnston City. He also doesnt recall specifically how the assignment came about. Codell said he figures he offered to cover it because it was a story literally right outside his office door.

He also recalls that he didnt have a lot of time for this particular piece. Back then, Codell said Johnston City was embroiled in juicy, nonstop controversy, and thats where he was expending most of his reporting efforts. He does recall getting an odd feeling from the experience, especially after someone suggested he should actually get into a cage to pet a tiger cub.

I didnt know how bad the cub petting was back then, he said. I didnt really think about the negative effects of that, or how messed up it is.

I had no idea, either. The Netflix series dives into the grim underworld of private big cat owners who breed cubs to charge people to pet them, and then fail to take care of the animals once they are too old. Its shockingly grotesque, and frankly, not something Id given any thought to before tuning into the series.

He said that someone put the cub on his lap, and it felt sort of like holding a medium-size dog. It scratched him a little, tearing at his sweater and leaving a mark on his arm, and he decided that was enough.

I was just kind of weirded out about it at the time, he said. The novelty wore off super quick. I was like, OK, I held a tiger cub. Im good now. Codell said that after his feature story appeared, he did receive a call from PETA raising concerns about Joe. Codell said he recalls following up with Joe about some of their claims. And he said its been fascinating to watch the series and witness the depths of the dysfunction behind the man and his operation.

When I talked to Codell, he hadnt seen the entire Joe Exotic series yet. He was only on Episode 1, but had plans to watch it all. But with the first episode, Codell said he was struck right away by one critical detail.

Im pretty sure his mullet back then was way more intense. You watch the documentary ... and Ive just seen the first episode where he references his mullet. I could be wrong about this, but I was like, Dude, your mullet isnt even close to what it used to be.

This intrigued me, naturally. I asked him to describe how he remembered the mullet. Codell prefaced his response by saying that he cant be sure, but in his mind, Joes mullet really stood out in a crowd of mullets.

I remember it being sort of like business in the front and, like, party all the way down the back, he said.

Its funny the things that stick with us.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Trolls World Tour (Rakuten TV, U)

Verdict: Inventive and fun

Rating:

The Iron Mask (various streaming platforms, 12A)

Verdict: A spectacular mess

Rating:

There's no snobbery quite like music snobbery. Dare to profess an admiration for the work of Phil Collins or Bono, let alone Justin Bieber, and in some circles you will be treated like the guttersnipe who gatecrashed the banquet.

In Trolls World Tour, those clever people at DreamWorks take this premise and rather brilliantly run with it, dividing the troll universe into half a dozen separate tribes, each of which worships a different form of music: pop, classical, techno, funk, country and hard rock.

Each tribe exists in blissful ignorance of the others.

In Trolls World Tour, those clever people at DreamWorks take this premise and rather brilliantly run with it, dividing the troll universe into half a dozen separate tribes, each of which worships a different form of music. Pictured: Poppy and Branch

The pop trolls don't know anything about the country trolls  never the Shania Twain shall meet, you might say  and the classical music trolls with their bouffant hairdos in the style of a bewigged Mozart or Beethoven get along quite happily without ever encountering the techno trolls and their thumping drum machines.

In the enchanting 2016 original, Trolls, Poppy (voiced by Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) returned trollkind to its near-perpetual state of happiness by saving it from the miserable Bergens, who could only feel happy by eating a troll.

But now there's a new existential threat, in the form of hard-rock leader Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom), fierce mohawked daughter of King Thrash (Ozzy Osbourne, no less), who knows about the other tribes and wants to bring them all under her baleful musical influence by dragooning them into a 'one-nation' world tour.

Her particular nemesis is Poppy and her pop trolls.

Barb hates them for their empty lyrics, 'which crawl into your head like an ear-worm'.

Hard-rock leader Queen Barb (pictured) knows about the other tribes and wants to bring them all under her baleful musical influence by dragooning them into a 'one-nation' world tour

Needless to add, this is one of those family films, ostensibly perfect for lockdown, from which young viewers may meander away, leaving adults chortling in delight.

Children will love the vibrant animation but many of the one-liners will fly over their heads.

For the rest of us, there really are some cherishable gags, and even the corniest of them will raise a smile  'I'm a vegan/ I don't have no beef with them,' sings a hiphop troll, one of the rogue bounty hunters (others include smoothjazz trolls, reggae trolls and yodelling trolls) recruited by Barb in her bid for world domination.

There is further pleasure just in a scan of the cast list: American funk king George Clinton and soul queen Mary J. Blige lend their voices, as do Sam Rockwell and James Corden.

Significantly, too, this is arguably the first true post-coronavirus movie, in the sense that it's a major Hollywood film which won't now get any kind of theatrical release and has instead been repackaged purely for on-demand home viewing.

It's a shame it will be denied the cinema treatment; it would be a blast to see it on a big screen. But these are unprecedented and unsettling times, from which Trolls World Tour, even in our own living rooms, is a delicious distraction.

Sadly there is nothing delicious about The Iron Mask , a comedy-fantasy that you can hardly believe someone bothered to make  even though it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger (pictured) and Jackie Chan

Sadly there is nothing delicious about The Iron Mask, a comedy-fantasy that you can hardly believe someone bothered to make  even though it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan.

Rarely was so much energy ever expended on such a spectacular mess, in which the dialogue vies with the acting as the worst thing in it, both being narrowly trumped by the plot.

It's like a Carry On film, minus the giggles and dated charm, crossed with a terrible remake of Clash Of The Titans.

Where shall I start?

Jason Flemyng plays an 18th-century English cartographer whose improbable adventures take him from Moscow to Peking (the film is a Russian-Chinese co-production).

Meanwhile, amid bizarre tangents involving wizards and dragons, the kidnapped tsar Peter the Great must escape from the Tower of London, which is governed by a mutton-chopped Schwarzenegger barely even bothering to act.

Honestly, you'll yearn for Sid James.

Charles Dance pops up, too, as an English aristocrat, trying forlornly to grapple the script into submission, as does Rutger Hauer, who deserved much better in one of his last roles before his death last summer.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has begun searching for a new envoy to Libya, diplomatic sources said Wednesday, after the United States refused to endorse the previous candidate.

Former Algerian foreign minister Ramtane Lamamra seemed to be all but confirmed in early March. But the US increasingly posed "questions" about his candidacy, even though "everyone else" supported him, a diplomat said.

Wednesday, during a closed-door meeting on Libya, a UN official told the Security Council that Guterres had launched a search for a new candidate, another source said.

Guterres "is working hard to make a proposal," the source said on condition of anonymity.

The US mission to the UN gave no further explanation for opposing Lamamra, 67, who served as Algeria's foreign minister from 2013 to 2017 and as African Union commissioner for peace and security from 2008 to 2013.

He is considered an experienced diplomat and has been a mediator in several African conflicts, notably in Liberia.

Among the reasons proposed by some diplomats was the pressure on Washington from Egypt and the UAE, who back strongman Khalifa Haftar and considered Lamamra to be too close to the UN-recognized Government of National Accord.

A fourth source suggested that Washington could have considered Lamamra as too close to Russia, which is accused of sending mercenaries to support Haftar, an accusation that Moscow denies.

The United Nations' previous envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, quit in early March following the repeated failure of efforts to restore order, although he said his resignation was for health reasons. He had served in the role since June 2017.

Guterres is also still looking for a new envoy for the Western Sahara conflict. The post has been vacant since May 2017 after the previous envoy, former German president Horst Kohler, 76, resigned, also for health reasons.

In February, Slovak foreign minister Miroslav Lajcak, who once served as the president of the UN General Assembly, appeared tipped to become the next Sahara envoy.

But the European Union snagged him at the last minute and appointed him the envoy for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

There is currently "nothing new" on a next potential candidate. "We are waiting," a diplomat told AFP.
Bangladeshis affected by the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic receive food from a private organization in Dhaka, April 7, 2020.

Millions of low-income people in Bangladesh lack food and have been hit hard economically because of social distancing enforcement and lockdowns imposed as public safeguards against the coronavirus pandemic, the countrys largest NGO said in a report released Friday.

As a result, 14 percent of the countrys poor have no food, according to a survey published by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee. Before the viral outbreak, the average monthly household income of the 2,675 respondents was 14,599 taka (U.S. $172) but it has since fallen to 3,742 taka ($42), BRAC said.

Low income people of the country are suffering great losses in their earnings since the enforcement of social distancing measures and lockdowns to fight Novel Coronavirus, the NGO reported.

Food assistance must be immediately [delivered] to the millions of households across the country suffering from acute food shortage, BRAC recommended. Special attention is needed to keep the agricultural value chain from stalling.

People who have returned to their home villages from cities are not enrolled in any social safety net programs and so need proper delivery mechanisms to get food aid immediately, the NGO warned.

When asked to comment on the report, the countrys planning minister said that food programs were available for those in need.

Certainly there is a crisis as those who used to live hand-to-mouth have no work now. But many of them will fall under the social safety net, Minister M.A. Mannan told BenarNews late Friday.

Enamur Rahman, the state minister for disaster management, said the government had considered a possible food crisis before declaring a general holiday in late March in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The government has the capacity to provide food to those in need for the next three months without interruption, he said.

As a result, so far 65,900 metric tons of rice have been allocated countrywide, the state minister told BenarNews.

He also said 3.14 million taka (U.S. $369,000) had been allocated to meet food demand for children.

We have not received any such report yet that someone has no food at home, Enamur Rahman said.

BRAC released the findings of its survey six days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced that her government was expanding a stimulus program to $8.5 billion to help the nations economy recover from massive knock-on effects brought on by the pandemic.

Much of the package is aimed at helping businesses and sectors, particularly the export-oriented garment industries, which has lost billions of dollars through contracts cancelled by foreign buyers and which has caused some 2 million employees to lose their jobs or be furloughed, according to a leading trade group.

But a portion of the package that Hasina unveiled on April 6 included expanding social safety-net programs to help people living below the poverty line meet their basic necessities, the prime minister said. The government would also distribute free food  particularly to the poor and elderly  and help them buy rice at a subsidized price, she said.

Mustafizur Rahman, an economist with the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a local think tank, said there had been millions of day laborers and self-employed workers in Bangladesh.

Around 40 million people who survive either through day labor or doing small businesses and are not getting monthly salaries and were not in extreme poverty when they were working, he told BenarNews. Many of them went below the poverty level as their incomes came to a halt because of the coronavirus.

In his opinion, the government needs to ensure food for those in need and expand safety-net programs in rural areas.

Those who were not under the programs will have to be brought under the net now, Rahman said.

He called for coordination between the public and private sectors to introduce a rationing system and expand the distribution network.

Awareness campaigns

In its news release regarding the survey, BRAC recommended focusing large-scale awareness campaigns on prevention, management and treatment of the coronavirus to run on TV and social media.

The survey found nearly all respondents  99.6 percent  had heard about COVID-19 and two-thirds first heard about it on television. Still, many did not know how to combat the pandemic as only 40 percent mentioned isolation/quarantine as a treatment option and 9 percent had no idea what to do if someone contracted the coronavirus.

BRAC also found that more than one in three people did not have a clear idea of the steps needed to prevent COVID-19.

Most people do not have any idea about the message that one should not directly go to any health facility with symptoms of the infection (fever, cough, breathing problem), 53 percent of respondents said they would suggest neighbors with these symptoms go to an urban hospital or a public health care center. Only 29 percent said they would ask the patient to call a helpline.

On Friday, Bangladesh health authorities reported 424 COVID-19 cases and 27 deaths, an increase of 94 and six from the day before.

At least 1.6 million people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and more than 101,000 have died, according to the latest data compiled by disease experts at Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Friday (April 10) took objection to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari holding a meeting with administrative officials on steps being taken to curb the spread of coronavirus, saying "parallel governance" will create confusion.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana', the ruling party said in the prevailing "war-like situation" (a refernce to the coronavirus crisis), there should be a single centre of command to give directives to the administration.

"The Prime Minister at the Centre and Chief Minister in the state (should have that authority). Even at the video conference meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, the Shiv Sena and NCP president Sharad Pawar told Modi the entire country was united under his leadership to fight the virus," the Marathi daily said.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Pawar had attended the meeting from Mumbai.

While lauding Thackeray for his handling of the coronavirus situation, Pawar apprised Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah about the Governor's role (in holding the meeting with officials), the editorial said.

"There was no bitterness. If someone runs a parallel government, it would lead to confusion. If a senior leader like Pawar feels this way, then the matter should be taken seriously," it said.

The newspaper said the Governor is known for his zeal for work as in the past he has been an RSS pracharak and a BJP worker.

"The state has got a Governor who does not follow any time schedule and people experienced this when they saw Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar being sworn in early morning (last year)," the Sena mouthpiece quipped.

The editorial also slammed the opposition BJP for frequently going to the Raj Bhavan to criticise the Sena-NCP- Congress government.

Earlier this week, Koshyari held a meeting through video conferencing with district collectors and divisional commissioners.

The meeting discussed availability of medical facilities and food items for labourers, migrants and homeless persons, who have been badly affected by the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown.

It also discussed measures for sale of agriculture produce, involvement of NGOs in relief efforts and tracking people who returned from the religious gathering held in Nizamuddin, Delhi, last month, among other issues.

The meeting was attended by divisional commissioners, additional commissioner of BMC and collectors of ten districts.
The Plainview Area United Way and Plainview Area Endowment have joined forces in an effort to provide financial assistance to those in need.

The Plainview Disaster Relief Fund was established earlier this week. A number of Plainview entities are involved with the project, including the City of Plainview, but the United Way and Area Endowment are leading the way. The funds are intended to go to individuals, families and businesses feeling the brunt of the current economic situation surrounding COVID-19.

Mark Warren, chairman of the Plainview Area Endowment said putting the fund together was hectic but happened quickly given the emergency need.

You can put these initiatives together, but not many of them are as big of an emergency as this, he said. This is a national emergency and its affected almost everyone.

According to Warren, the idea formed last week when Plainview City Manager Jeffrey Snyder reached out to formulate a plan for fundraising and distribution.

I would say its been about the past week we started talking about it and the ball started rolling, said Brandon Ahrens, president of the Plainview Area United Way. We decided we could make a difference and started getting going.

The Plainview/Hale County Economic Develop Corporations donation of $25,000  which was announced via a news release on Thursday  is the first big chunk of money being put into the relief fund. When United Way and the Area Endowment approached the EDC about donating to the fund, EDC Executive Director Mike Fox took the decision to EDC board members who agreed via email to contribute.

Primarily knowing that our local businesses are impacted, some of their employees are impacted and we exist to make the business environment of Plainview better. Thats why we made the decision, said Gary Massingill, president of the EDCs executive board.

That donation means monies from the relief fund can start being distributed to applicants. Those who are seeking financial assistance, be it for food, rent, utilities or other bills, can fill out an application at www.plainviewareaendowment.org.

To apply for funding, people must provide certain details about their current situation. For example, Warren said, part of the consideration for who gets the money includes how much money theyre requesting and why specifically the need it for. Details matter when it comes to the application process.

If someones going to apply, we ask that theyre going to be very specific, said Warren.

The Plainview Disaster Relief Fund is still very new, so theres not a ton of money to go around. Warren said the goal is to raise $160,000. As of Thursday, the fund was about one-fourth of the way toward that goal. Thanks to the EDCs donation, funds are going to begin being distributed this weekend, starting with food cards.

Thats probably going to be our first thing we start as soon as possible, Ahrens said of the food cards. We want people to be able to eat as soon as possible. We dont want any kiddos being hungry over the weekend.

While food is the starting point for distribution of the relief fund, rent and utility bill help is on the horizon as well. A committee has been formed to go through each application  about 50 have been submitted so far. Once the committee members are able to confirm each applicants situation  for example, how behind they are on rent  then they will determine the next step.

Those involved with the relief fund efforts are hoping the community will contribute to the fund as well. Though theres no online donation setup right now, Warren said people can go to any bank in town and donate to the fund. Payments should be made payable to the Plainview Disaster Relief Fund.

While the Plainview Relief Fund was created specifically to serve Plainview, the Lubbock Area United Way and Community Foundation of West Texas  both of which also serve Hale County  have established a South Plains COVID-19 Response Fund. The fund was created essentially for the same purpose but serves a wider region.

A news release from LAUW sent earlier this week, the fund had raised $497,159 from donations and gifts from community members for the first round of grants distributed to area nonprofits. The money is intended to provide assistance for rent, utility assistance, childcare and youth support, food assistance, medical needs and mental health needs.

To contribute to or learn more about that particular fund, visit cfwtx.org.
Maryland police announced Wednesday that they have recovered the body of 8-year-old Gideon McKean. The announcement comes two days after police found the body of Gideon's mother, Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean, and nearly a week after the pair disappeared after paddling a canoe into Chesapeake Bay.

"After a five-day search that involved aviation and underwater imaging sonar technology, authorities recovered missing person, Gideon McKean, on April 8th at approximately 1:40 pm," the Maryland Natural Resources Police said in a statement. Officials said they found his body in 25 feet of water, 2.3 miles south of his grandmother's home in Shady Side, Maryland, where the canoe was launched. He was found approximately 2,000 feet from his mother.

According to McKean's husband David, the family had been "self-quarantining in an empty house" on the Chesapeake Bay when Maeve and Gideon decided to play kickball. They got in the canoe to retrieve a lost ball.

"They got into a canoe, intending simply to retrieve the ball, and somehow got pushed by wind or tide into the open bay. About 30 minutes later they were spotted by an onlooker from land, who saw them far out from shore, and called the police," McKean wrote on Facebook.

Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean

Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean and her son Gideon Facebook/David McKean

Boats and helicopters from the fire department, the City of Annapolis Fire Department, and the United States Coast Guard quickly began to search the bay, Anne Arundel Fire Captain Erik Kornmeyer said. More than two hours after the pair was reported missing, a canoe and paddle were found floating several miles from where they were first seen.

Approximately 120 members of the Kennedy family came together Monday to hold a memorial service on Zoom for the pair, who were presumed dead even before their bodies were recovered.

Lives to Remember: Nurse Freda Ocran

Refinancing your mortgage during a pandemic

The racial impact of COVID-19
The world has surged past 1.5 million new cases of COVID-19 and over 90,000 deaths, with the United States nearly 300,000 cases worse than Spain, the second-place country. After suggesting at Tuesdays White House briefing that his administrations efforts on the pandemic had achieved light at the end of the tunnel, President Trump dumbfounded journalists by asserting that the United States would halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to his perception that the WHO has been critical of US policy, despite the critical role the WHO has played in the worldwide battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Were going to put a hold on money sent to the WHO. Were going to put a very powerful hold on it. They called it wrong. They call it wrong. They really, they missed the call. He followed this with a tweet, The WHO really blew it. For some reason, largely funded by the United States, yet very China-centric. We will be giving that a good look. Fortunately, I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?

In actuality, the WHO was notified by Chinese health officials in early January of an outbreak of a novel virus and, subsequently, they had been holding briefings and press releases on developments in Wuhan as the world was waking up to the concerns emanating from China that an epidemic was rapidly moving through the city. By the end of January, the WHO had elevated their concerns, declaring the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

Servpro cleaning workers are sprayed as they exit the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., Thursday, March 12, 2020, at the end of a day spent cleaning inside the facility near Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Also, the WHOs position on travel bans has remained consistent, stating that such restrictions make a response to a pandemic more challenging by impacting response time and diverting resources. Travel bans did not prevent the spread of the contagion. Moreover, it has been clearly demonstrated that the time the breathing room bought by the massive lockdown across Hubei province was mostly squandered by the US administration.

The health agency is notoriously strapped for cash, with the annual dues paid by member states, making up 20 percent of their budget, having been frozen for more than a decade. Its present budget is just over $4.8 billion, most of which comes from private donors and voluntary contributions from the member states. According to STAT Health, the US has provided the WHO with $893 million during the agencys current two-year funding period. The United States provides 14.67 percent of the WHOs finances. Trump has already proposed that he would cut funding to the WHO by half, from $122 million to less than $58 million in 2021.

Behind Trumps displays of animus and disregard for the WHO is the need to undermine their authority on providing counsel to nations on combating the pandemic based on factual data. The White House, responding to the demands of the financial markets, is looking to redirect the narrative on the course of the epidemic by deluding the public to believe that the pandemic has mostly been vanquished and workers need to return to their place of work and reignite the economic engines.

On Wednesday, the WHOs European office said despite positive signs from some countries, it is too early to scale back measures aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus. Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director of Europe, said at a news conference, Now is not the time to relax measures. It is the time to once again double and triple our collective efforts to drive towards suppression with the whole support of society. Kluge called on all countries to strengthen their efforts in several main areas.

Firstly, protecting health service workers, including training and making sure they have the necessary support structures. Second, authorities needed to focus on stopping and slowing the spread of COVID-19 by using public health measures aimed at separating healthy people from suspected and probable cases.

At yesterdays WHO Press briefing, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was immediately inundated by journalists to respond to President Trumps threat to cut funding and his criticism of the WHOs relationship with China. The directors response was much more straightforward than his usual evasive answers. He also revealed he had received death threats in recent months.

He challenged his critics by stating, When there is a crack at the national level between political parties, between religious groups or between other groups, thats when the virus gets a hold in a crack that it can exploit and can defeat us  at the end of the day, the people belong to all political parties. The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please dont politicize this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level. If you want to be exploited and you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you dont want many more body bags, then refrain from politicizing it. My short message is quarantine politicizing COVID. The unity of your country will be very important to defeat this dangerous virus. Without unity, we assure you, any country that may have a better system will be in trouble and more crisis  there is no need to score political points using COVID. Its like playing with fire.

He continued, The world is getting smaller and smaller. We need solidarity and unity more than ever before. It has become more important than ever before. Anything that starts in one place affects the whole world. We cant live in our nation-state boundaries. Globalization is a must. Something we should accept and live with it. That means interdependence and helping each other. He challenged the United States and China for honest leadership.

In response to this declaration, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published new guidelines yesterday that detail how essential employees can return to work even if they have been exposed to infected individuals, as long as they do not have symptoms.

The White House also received a report today from the National Academy of Sciences that the spread of the coronavirus may not decrease in the summer as some had forecast. Preliminary findings did indicate that they found fewer cases of COVID-19 in warmer climates. Still, as Australia and Iran, both warmer countries than average, are experiencing rapid virus spread, they suggested that such assumptions may be erroneous.

As the WHO director-general noted, Still there are many unknowns [about the nature of the virus], and we dont know how it will behave in the future. Its very contagious as the flu but at the same time more fatal than the flu.

Despite the WHOs official adherence to scientific and public health principles, it is an entity created by world capitalism, part of the United Nations apparatus originally founded by the imperialist powers who won World War II, along with Stalin and the USSR. Its existence is based on voluntary dues paid by nation-states and private donors (most of them wealthy capitalists), and it in no way challenges the profit system, even when, as today the conflict between the profit system and human life is so acutely posed.

The WHOs professed principles inevitably run into direct conflict with the imperialist powers and their policy of malign neglect. Despite the directors well-intentioned words, the fundamental obstacle standing in the way of global solidarity is the conflict of rival capitalist nation-states, each with their own national interest in defending the wealth of their own national financial oligarchs.

The epidemic has exposed the ruling elites utter indifference to the plight of the working class and the life on this planet. The WHO cannot implore and hope that the G20 will find its senses. This reality was demonstrated at the end of the press briefing, when Director-General Tedros concluded by extending his thanks to the United States for their generous support of the organization he heads.
PARIS (Reuters) - The French government has set aside 20 billion euros ($21.7 billion) to help inject capital into big companies struggling to survive the coronavirus crisis, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday.

Le Maire has repeatedly pledged to help France's corporate champions get through the coronavirus crisis by taking stakes in them or even going as far as nationalisation if necessary.

"We've decided to put credit on the fund, to put 20 billion euros on the special fund to support to the capital of companies that need it, whether public or private," Le Maire said on Europe 1 radio.

The funds are earmarked in a package of crisis measures that Le Maire more than doubled on Thursday to 100 billion euros and which is set to go to parliament next Wednesday for approval.

First on the list of companies that may need state funds is Air France KLM <AIRF.PA>, which said on Thursday it expected the French and Dutch states to help meet its cash needs with air travel at a standstill.

"As regards Air France, we are ready for when the time comes, without a doubt soon, to support Air France and make sure that this French industrial champion ... recovers quickly," Le Maire said.

Sources have told Reuters that Air France-KLM is in talks with banks to receive up to 6 billion euros in loans guaranteed by the French and Dutch governments, a sum which the junior transport minister has described as "not unrealistic".

Meanwhile, other companies whose business activity has ground to a halt are seeking to tap bank credit first rather than rushing to the state for new capital.

Renault <RENA.PA> Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said on Friday that the carmaker, in which the French state has a 15% stake, could seek bank loans worth 4-5 billion euros.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas. Editing by Jane Merriman)
LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - Insurance firms have started covering charter flights to carry gold, helping to ease logjams in the bullion supply chain that caused prices to diverge sharply in different markets, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said on Thursday.

Gold is usually moved between countries in the holds of passenger planes, but most flights around the world have been grounded by measures to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Worries that it may be impossible to ship gold quickly from London, a major storage centre, to New York have pushed U.S. gold futures prices far above London spot levels. Dealers in bars and coins have also faced shortages, with demand for gold, traditionally seen as a safe haven asset, accelerating as the economic impact of the virus become clearer.

"Charter flights have now been approved by insurers in terms of shipping gold," LBMA CEO Ruth Crowell told a conference call with market participants, calling it a "positive and significant development". Charter flights remained expensive, however, because of increased competition, she said.

Adding to supply disruption are the partial or full closure of some precious metals refineries, a particular problem because countries often want gold of different shapes and sizes, meaning metal must be melted and recast before delivery.

Three plants in Switzerland, the most important refining centre, partly reopened this week. Crowell said refiners in China had reopened and three of the world's biggest in other countries  Rand Refinery in South Africa, Australia's Perth Mint and the Royal Canadian Mint  had been recognised by governments as essential businesses. "There's definitely enough refining capacity. The challenge ... is still one of logistics," she said.

Crowell also said operators of precious metals vaults had agreed to cooperate to increase capacity on a best effort basis if one of the vaults closes, but this mechanism had not been triggered as vaults remained open.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Though Staten Islands streets are nearly empty, one sound has sadly became more consistent: The sirens of ambulances speeding by as paramedics try to save those in severe condition after contracting the coronavirus (COVID-19).

EMS workers constantly put their lives at stake while responding to these emergencies, and theyve been asked to work longer hours with little rest. Protective equipment is also lacking, said Lt. Vinny Variale, president of the Uniformed EMS Officers Union.

It is just making it harder, physically, mentally and emotionally, on the EMTs and medics who are working out there, Variale said.

Variale, who himself tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of March, said that currently 24% of EMS workers are out sick, while that number is usually closer to 7%.

You are talking about a 17% increase for coronavirus-related illnesses, he said.

The union president, however, said he didnt know an exact number of EMS workers who tested positive for COVID-19 because getting tested is challenging under these circumstances.

Even though there is some testing available at certain sites, our members are working a tough schedule, Variale said. They are working 16 hours on, eight hours off, and when you work 16 hours, you are tired and you gotta get some rest, and its hard to go find a testing site.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Working longer hours contributes to the sick leave rate, Variale said, because working that much brings down the immune system.

Additionally, the department is getting an unprecedented number of calls every day, ranging from 6,500 to 7,000 emergency calls, Variale said, and with the department already understaffed and more workers out sick, the job has become even harder.

We have asked to work 12-hour tours,'' he said. "[This] would give our members the time to rest a little bit more. Also, the way the schedule is created, it increases the amount of bodies available to go respond to jobs. Everybody is doing it except us. Variale said with a 12-hour tour, EMS workers would get 12 hours off.

AN ALREADY PRECARIOUS SITUATION?

The department has also seen a surge in cardiac arrest calls -- from an average 80 calls a day to about 300, Variale said.

The increase in calls, recent guidelines changing how EMS workers are required to respond to cardiac arrest calls and the lack of experience of current workers all represent a potentially dangerous mix for New Yorkers, Variale said.

Guidelines recently released by the Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City, which organizes and coordinates emergency medical services, directed EMS workers to not transport any patients in cardiac arrest to hospitals should they need more revival procedures than can be provided at the scene.

No adult non-traumatic or blunt traumatic cardiac arrest is to be transported to a hospital with manual or mechanical compressions in progress without either return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) or a direct order from a medical control physician, unless there is imminent physical danger to the EMS providers on the scene, the guidelines say.

The people who currently respond to those calls have less than three years of experience because of the years of neglect, the underfunding and understaffing of EMS, Variale said.

Seventy five percent of the workforce has less than three years experience, he said, and survival rates increase when the EMT paramedic has six or seven years or more of experience.

When you have 75% of the service with three years or less of experience, what does that do to this cardiac arrest problem?,'' he asked. "I am not taking anything away from EMTs and paramedics -- they are dedicated and committed professionals, but they dont have the level of experience that we need out there.

The Advance/SILive.com previously reported on the critical situation EMS workers are in, as low salaries cause high turnover in the department.

Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore), chairman of the New York City Council Fire & Emergency Management Committee, presided over a council meeting on Jan. 28 during which multiple EMS union leaders testified.

The administration struggled to answer basic questions, Borelli told the Advance.

Borelli added that the high turnover in the department is causing a shortage of personnel, which forces those who do remain in the department to work extremely long hours of overtime.

We lose people after we have spent time and money training them, Borelli said.

A CALL FOR MORE PROTECTION

As EMS workers put in long, exhausting hours, a lack of protective materials has also become a consistent threat.

Right now, they issue each member three masks per tour and every time you use, you have to come back and try to get another one, but three masks a day is not enough,'' Variale said. "We should be wearing the N95 masks to every single call. I dont know of any shipments that are due to come in, but when you ask the city that question, they say we have enough supplies so that tells me dont expect anything coming soon. They are trying to cover up for their lack of planning and preparing.

An FDNY spokesman told the Advance/SILive.com that N95 masks are to be used for aerosol generating procedures, which include intubation, asthma treatment, and cardiac arrest patient care.

CDC now recommends the use of face coverings when in public places, the spokesman said. FDNY goes one step further, mandating surgical mask use for all medical responses other than aerosol generating procedures (which require an N95), and during all close proximity work.

FDNY is working tirelessly to obtain adequate supplies, but all healthcare workers are in need, the spokesman continued.

But surgical masks might not always be enough, Variale said. Though some EMS calls might not be directly related to the coronavirus, like a broken ankle, for example, a patient without a mask could be asymptomatic and still spread the virus, even though an EMS worker is wearing a surgical mask.

EMS workers are also extremely concerned about contracting the virus and bringing it home to their spouses and family members, Variale said.

About 130 first responders are being put in hotels and apartments in order to prevent that from happening, but those beds are being paid for with part of the donations made to an emergency fund the FDNY Foundation created to help its members, the FDNY spokesman told the Advance/SILive.com.

The department is also working with 21 hotels to place members in hotels or furnished apartments throughout the city, the spokesman said.

The goal is to get alternative lodging near where members live or work when possible and to provide housing for FD members who are concerned about bringing illness home,'' he said. Members must make the request to the department.

The city has also offered some hotel rooms, Variale said, but not enough to cover EMS needs.

Its not enough," he said. "There are still members sleeping in cars.

The EMS also has a fund to help their workers. Those who wish to donate to the EMS fund can do so on this website.
1 of 2

COVID-19: 5 more test positive in Mumbai's Dharavi, tally now at 22, Maharashtra govt seals all hotspots



5 more people, including two who returned from the last month's religious gathering at Nizamuddin, have tested positive for coronavirus in Dharavi, taking the tally in the slum-dominated area here to 22, said BMC officials on Friday. According to the officials, among the five two are women. One of them, aged 29, is the wife of a doctor who tested positive earlier in Vaibhav Nagar, while the other, aged 31, is a resident of the Kalyanwadi locality, they said.



The Maharashtra government on Thursday sealed all the covid-19 hotposts in Mumbai, including the largest slum cluster, Dharavi, as the state reported 229 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 1,380. Dharavi on Thursday reported the third dying when a 70-year-old girl handed away after testing constructive for covid-19. Greater than 14 folks have been confirmed with the covid-19 an infection in Dharavi. Fearing group transmission, the well being ministry drafted a containment plan for slum clusters.

Read More...


A man has been arrested for allegedly gunning down an Indianapolis police officer responding to a domestic violence call and injuring a second woman.

Detectives arrested Elliahs Dorsey, 27, on preliminary charges of murder and attempted murder in the Thursday slaying of Officer Breann Leath, 24, police said.

The surviving victim of the shooting has not been identified as of Friday afternoon.

Elliahs Dorsey, 27 (left), faces charges of murder and attempted murder in the Thursday slaying of Indianapolis police officer Breann Leath, 24 (right)

Leath was among three officers who responded to the call at around 2.45pm on Thursday afternoon at at 1803 Edinburge Square on Indianapolis' far east side, police said.

As officers knocked on the door of the apartment, shots were fired through the structure, striking Leath, police said.

The other officers pulled Leath to a safe area and found the second woman who had been shot, police said.

The critically injured officer was rushed to Eskenazi Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.

The other victim was transported to Methodist Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition.

Leath was a veteran of the Indiana National Guard who followed her deputy sheriff father's footsteps into law enforcement

Leath is survived by her toddler son, pictured above with the officer

Officers located and apprehended Dorsey, who was taken into custody without further incident.

Indianapolis Metro Police Department Chief Randal Taylor released a statement, describing Leath as an exemplary officer.

'Officer Leath was an example of what an IMPD officer should be,' he said. 'She showed resolve, strength, and compassion in a dangerous job, and was always focused on serving the community she loved. She will be sorely missed.'

Leath joined the police force more than two years ago. Prior to that, she served in the Indiana National Guard between March 2014-April 2017.

A procession of patrol cars escort office Leath's body to the cemetery on Friday

Her father is a deputy sheriff and her mother is a control operator with the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Besides her parents, Leath is survived by her toddler son.

Those who knew Leath described the 24-year-old officer and mother as caring and charismatic.

'She was hilarious; she always was cracking jokes,' high school friend Mikaela White told Indianapolis Star. 'She always made you want to think highly of yourself and loved the heck out of her family.'

Leath is the first officer to be killed on duty in Indianapolis since 2014.
Nursing home residents are getting scared as they prepare for new neighbors who have coronavirus.

The state told nursing homes, two weeks ago, that they could not reject a transfer from a local hospital simply because the person had tested positive for coronavirus.

While nursing homes are now making plans to keep those new residents in isolation, they must also give them the rehabilitation needed to return home. That means sharing exercise machines with the general population.

They must care for them, which means health care workers going in and out.

Nursing home residents fear it will all lead to the virus spreading rapidly.

Im feeling helpless, said Ron Hintz, who lives at the Washington Center in Argyle.

He has been closely following the news of deaths at Williamstown Commons, a nursing home in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, where the virus is spreading so much that every person is being tested. Ten people have died so far.

If we dont do something about this (state) order, which is total insanity, one facility or another is going to wind up like Berkshire, he said.

The residents have made significant sacrifices to avoid the virus, which kills many elderly people.

They arent allowed any visitors. In Washington Center, they also arent generally leaving their rooms  there are no group activities in the activities center and the center has been segmented into units to stop travel back and forth.

We are pretty much confined to our rooms, Hintz said. The other day we were allowed to go outside for a while. And yesterday we played bingo in the hall, which was an interesting way to do it, so we didnt have to get together in the activities room.

All new residents are quarantined for 14 days. All workers are screened for fever or illness before entering.

People arent complaining. Hintz said morale is high because the residents feel safe.

I think our staff here in Argyle is doing a fantastic job. We are in very secure lockdown, Hintz said, adding that as a retired engineer he has tried to analyze the plan to see if there are any holes. Hes confident it will work.

We are running a tight ship, he said. As long as we dont have someone torpedo it, well survive just fine.

He thinks one location should become a nursing home for those who are ready to leave the hospital, are still testing positive for coronavirus, and need rehabilitation.

I think its time to face the music and devote one of our nursing homes to these patients, he said.

Centers officials arent offering their opinion on the state rule.

All Centers Health Care facilities throughout New York state are cooperating with the state, as well as with the DOH and CDC, will continue to offer the best care possible to all patients and residents already in-house and for those to be admitted, said spokesman Jeff Jacomowitz. The safety of all of our residents and staff have always been our first and foremost our number one priority, especially in this crisis.

Family members have said theyre worried about their loved ones living in a nursing home with an infectious disease. They questioned why the state couldnt use the Javits Center in New York City, or state college dormitories.

The state Department of Health has maintained that the rule is necessary because hospitals need to free up space for new patients.

Locally, Fort Hudson Health System has taken in one patient from Glens Falls Hospital. The woman, who is recovering from coronavirus, is being cared for in a five-bed ward in what was the day care lounge. She has a dedicated staff that is not caring for anyone else, in an effort to avoid spreading the virus. His meals are served with disposable kitchenware so that nothing travels back to the kitchen. She will receive physical therapy on the unit instead of going to the nursing homes gym.

The measures appear to be working, but Fort Hudson CEO Andy Cruikshank wrote a second letter to the state on Sunday urging officials to let patients stay in the hospital until they tested negative, if the hospital was not overloaded. Local hospitals are not overwhelmed.

In his letter, he said the policy was extremely ill-advised and would force some nursing homes to place a contagious patient within feet of other, vulnerable residents.

Nursing homes have taken unprecedented and extraordinary steps to remain free of COVID-19 and have been largely successful despite the significant odds, he wrote.

Those efforts could fail if infectious residents are moved in.

We continue to believe that it is ill-advised to admit patients into the nursing home environment who are COVID-19 positive if there are safer options available, he said Friday. But Fort Hudson also understands it is our responsibility to be part of the community response so long as we can do it safely, which we can.

He has the support of many people, including Claire Coto, whose husband lives at Fort Hudson. Coto lives next door, at The Oaks apartment complex, and used to spend her days with her husband. Now she cant visit him out of fear of spreading the virus.

She is not concerned about the coronavirus ward Fort Hudson has created in the basement.

I think that they are being very careful. I think theyre doing everything they can do, she said. I totally trust them.

You can reach Kathleen Moore at 742-3247 or kmoore@poststar.com. Follow her on Twitter @ByKathleenMoore or at her blog on www.poststar.com.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
[April 09, 2020] NOTICE TO UBS CUSTOMERS WITH MARGIN ACCOUNTS: KlaymanToskes Commences Investigation into Damages Sustained by Investors Who were Forced to Sell Securities Due to Margin Calls

KlaymanToskes ("KT (News - Alert)"), www.klaymantoskes.com, announced today that it is investigating damages sustained by investors with UBS (NYSE:UBS) accounts who were forced to sell securities due to margin calls. The investigation focuses on UBS's potential negligence and mismanagement of leveraged accounts. Recently, investors quickly saw the major stock indices lose significant value after closing on Friday, February 21, 2020, at near 52-week highs. The market volatility has been precipitated by COVID-19. Many investment portfolios, like the stock indices, have also seen tremendous declines, leaving leveraged accounts especially at risk of margin calls.



The use of securities in an investment account to collateralize margin loans exposes investors to leverage, which increases the risk in an account. Margin abuse can result in excessive use of margin loans or the failure to utilize risk management strategies to protect account collateral. Therefore, UBS and its financial advisors are required to disclose to investors the risks of the use of margin. Additionally, the failure to use risk management strategies directly exposes an investor's leveraged account to margin calls due to fluctuations in the volatile securities markets. Those margin calls may result in the forced sale of securities. The sole purpose of this release is to investigate whether strategies deployed by UBS were suitable for investors whose investment accounts were leveraged by a margin loan and received calls forcing the sale of securities. Investors who held leveraged accounts at UBS and have information relating to the manner in which the firm handled their portfolios, are encouraged to contact the attorneys of KlaymanToskes at (561) 542-5131, or visit our firm's website at www.klaymantoskes.com.

About KlaymanToskes KT is a leading national securities law firm which practices exclusively in the field of securities arbitration and litigation on behalf of retail and institutional investors throughout the world in large and complex securities matters. The firm represents high net-worth, ultra-high net-worth, and institutional investors, such as non-profit organizations, unions, public pension funds, and multi-employer pension funds. KT has office locations in California, Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico. Destination: https://klaymantoskes.com/notice-to-ubs-customers-with-margin-accounts/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005863/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is calling on Gov. Tom Wolf to prevent a public health catastrophe in Pennsylvania prisons with the mounting death toll from the coronavirus. Thousands of prisoners live in close quarters with limited access to even soap and water, making spread of COVID-19 almost inevitable. And many believe non-violent inmates should be released to help stop the spread of the virus inside prisons.

Claire Shubik-Richards, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, appears noon Friday on PennLives Coronavirus Q & A on Facebook Live to discuss whats being done to protect prisoners in Pennsylvania and what we know how whether the virus has already started to claim lives. The society advocates on behalf of prisoners and is the oldest such organization in the nation.

Claire Shubik-Richards, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, joins us today to discuss whats being done to protect prisoners in Pennsylvania and what we know how whether the virus has already started to claim lives. The society advocates on behalf of prisoners and is the oldest such organization in the nation.Thousands of prisoners live in close quarters with limited access to even soap and water, making spread of COVID-19 almost inevitable. What is being done to protect them and stop the spread of the virus inside prisons? Posted by PennLive.com on Friday, April 10, 2020

The Society advocates for systemic policy change and support inmates and the families, who are concerned now more than ever about their health and safety inside Pennsylvania detention centers.

Bring your questions and comments to todays Coronavirus Q & A at noon on PennLives Facebook Live.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. You deserve the best. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

And please subscribe to Battleground PA to stay abreast of the issues in the 2020 elections!
The province needs more daycares to reopen their doors for critical services workers.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

The province needs more daycares to reopen their doors for critical services workers.

Licensed daycares were ordered to close March 20, then allowed to reopen at reduced capacity April 2. Families Minister Heather Stefanson said at a news conference Thursday that as a result, her staff matched more than 1,900 children of health-care and other emergency-services workers with a space.

Stefanson couldnt say how many more spaces might be needed.

The first round of placements were for the children of health-care providers, emergency service providers, corrections workers, law enforcement workers, fire and paramedic workers and front-line social services and child protection workers.

The department will complete that round of placements in the coming days.

The second round of placements will begin via a new website. The website provides information on available daycare spaces and parents can then make contact themselves.

This second round of spaces are for parents of critical workers, as defined by chief provincial public health officer Brent Roussin. That list includes support staff at hospitals and clinics, grocery store staff, farmers and farm workers, construction workers and bank or credit union employees.

Parents working in these sectors who have been unable to make other child care arrangements can go to the new website to see which facilities have spaces and work directly with them to secure child care, Stefanson said.

These parents will be eligible to access child care beginning April 14.

Stefanson acknowledged child care providers are juggling the governments ever-changing response to the pandemic, while working to meet the expectations set out by public health recommendations.

She called child care providers "heroes helping heroes."

Licensed child care facilities that are interested in reopening at the limited capacity of 16 children can visit Manitoba Child Care Online to update their status.

All facilities are provided with health and safety guidelines developed by Roussin. He will be available to answer questions from child care providers next week.

 mletourneau@brandonsun.com

 Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism.
Decades later, in more mutual social orbits, Anne feels compelled to tell the countess about the grandson she never knew she had. Rather than keep a lid on it, the countess sees an opportunity. As in Downton Abbey, the focus is on the old rules of rightful vs. presumed inheritance, hidden paternity and the measures people will take to retain what they think they are owed  including the servants, who can be coerced to spy on their employers.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 23:51:17|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HONG KONG, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The last Hong Kong resident who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 while aboard the virus-hit cruise ship Diamond Princess on Friday returned to Hong Kong from Japan upon recovery, said China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.

In early February, a cluster of confirmed COVID-19 cases occurred on the Diamond Princess, initially carrying around 3,700 passengers and crew from more than 50 countries and regions, which thereafter had been quarantined at Yokohama Port south of Tokyo until late March.

A spokesperson for the Security Bureau of HKSAR government introduced that out of the some 3,700 people onboard, there were some 370 Hong Kong residents. Among the 712 confirmed COVID-19 cases associated with the cruise ship, 76 patients were Hong Kong residents who were thereafter hospitalised in Japan for isolation and treatment.

Three Hong Kong residents among them unfortunately passed away, while the remaining 73 patients were discharged from hospital and have all returned to Hong Kong or their places of residence, the spokesperson said.

As for other Hong Kong residents on board the cruise ship, the HKSAR government sent three batches of chartered flights to bring back a total of 193 Hong Kong residents between Feb 19 and 23. Another 144 Hong Kong residents returned on their own way by other flights, including 25 close contacts of the confirmed patients, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that of the 231 Hong Kong passengers of the Diamond Princess who were admitted to a quarantine center for 14 days upon their arrival, nine subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 and had to be sent to hospitals for isolation and treatment.

The HKSAR government expressed profound condolences on the passing of the patients and the deepest sympathies to their families, said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson also said that the government expressed thanks to the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in HKSAR and the Chinese Embassy in Japan, saying that the incident could not have been resolved smoothly without their staunch support that rendered to the HKSAR government, as well as the cooperation given by the Japanese authorities.
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

View Results
Man escapes crashed plane just before it's hit by train
On Tuesday, acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly resigned, attempting to end the uproar over a coronavirus outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the dismissal last week of its commander, Navy Capt. Brett Crozier.

But significant questions remain about what led to the crisis - specifically, the decision to proceed with a March 5 "port call" in Vietnam.

Last week, President Donald Trump criticized the port call, saying, "Perhaps you don't do that in the middle of a pandemic." Of course, it's impossible to be certain that the Roosevelt's port call led to the spread of the virus onboard the ship. But while in Port Danang, an estimated 4,500 sailors disembarked to meet with "the people of Vietnam through tours, professional exchanges, and community relations events" - activities that could spread the virus.

Why did the Navy decide to go ahead with the port call in Vietnam, which had confirmed the presence of the coronavirus? Here's what we know:

1. A Vietnam "presence mission" trumped pandemic concerns

The U.S. government considers port calls essential to the Navy's "presence missions." By visibly deploying Navy ships to foreign ports and Freedom of Navigation Operations, the government hopes to signal a strong commitment to a "free and open Pacific."

Both the Defense Department and the State Department saw the Roosevelt's port call in Danang as a strategic way to strengthen its relationship with Vietnam at a time when U.S. influence in the Philippines might be in decline. And China's recent military activity has increased in the Spratly Islands, territory claimed by both China and Vietnam. The port call also signaled the importance of the Navy's carrier fleet in maintaining U.S. influence in Asia, at a moment when budgetary support for ships is in decline.

But military analysts and political scientists also consider port calls "cheap talk," a symbolic use of force. There is little evidence that U.S. "presence missions" are effective deterrents against aggression or serve as meaningful signals of resolve. And whatever deterrent value was gained from the March stop in Danang, much more might be lost in "military readiness" from the spread of the virus.

2. Even during a pandemic, there were pressures to conduct "business as usual."

If the port call brought limited strategic gains, why did leaders go forward? Three reasons might explain the decision to disembark at Danang.

First, when faced with uncertainty, militaries tend to adhere to standard operating procedures, the rules already in place to guide operations. The Roosevelt's port call was timed to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam. Planning involved the Pentagon and the State Department. Leaders would be loath to depart from these complex operations.

Second, leaders probably worried that canceling the port call could damage relations with Vietnam. Approval for the aircraft carrier's visit required a consensus among Vietnam's 19-member Politburo. Vietnamese officials had reported that there were only 16 coronavirus cases in the country, all well north of the port. Keeping the port call on the roster signaled U.S. officials' trust in their Vietnamese counterparts.

Canceling the port call would also be an economic loss for Vietnam and cause potential damage to the bilateral relationship. Port calls often bring in millions of dollars to the host country, as sailors disembark and support the local economy.

A third factor may have been morale on the Roosevelt. Port visits - perhaps once a month - are one of the few bright spots for sailors deployed at sea for eight or nine months. Seven days a week, sailors work eight- to 10-hour shifts fixing engines and computers, tracking aircraft and ships, or making meals. After about 30 days at sea, an aircraft carrier will pull into port for four days. Of those four days, a sailor is free for three. The loss of a port visit and another 30 days at sea without respite can be tough on a ship's crew.

3.This was U.S.-Indo Pacific Command's decision, not Crozier's.

Although Trump criticized Crozier for going ahead with the port call, that's a decision outside the scope of an aircraft commander's authority. As the USS Theodore Roosevelt's commander, Crozier was responsible for the internal functions of the aircraft carrier. His task was to oversee the operations of the ship and be accountable for the performance of both ship and crew.

Authority to cancel the port call lay with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, in consultation with the Pentagon and the State Department, which helped coordinate the visit. The commander of Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Phil Davidson, decides where naval assets are deployed. If there was information that a port call would threaten the crew of an aircraft carrier, Indo-Pacific Command had the authority to either keep sailors on the ship when it docked or cancel the port call entirely.

The coronavirus timeline suggests Indo-Pacific Command had both the time and the information needed to change course. At the end of January, shortly after the Roosevelt left its San Diego home port, the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency. On Feb. 14, well before the carrier arrived in Vietnam, the Navy ordered all ships in the Indo-Pacific region that had made port calls to quarantine at sea for at least 14 days.

The USS Roosevelt crisis comes on the heels of several events that have raised concerns about leadership command in the Pacific. The "Fat Leonard" scandal uncovered systemic corruption within the Pacific Fleet. Investigations last year into two separate collisions in 2017, the USS John S. McCain and the USS Fitzgerald, revealed that commanders had failed to train and equip surface combatants properly, as the Navy attempted to maintain an unsustainable operations tempo.

All of this suggests that the March port call in Vietnam was a symptom of a more dangerous ailment. When the Navy finishes its coronavirus fight, it faces a raft of decision-making dysfunctions beyond this current pandemic.

- - -

Goddard is professor of political science at Wellesley College and a nonresident fellow of the Quincy Institute. She is the author of When Right Makes Might: Rising Powers and World Order (Cornell University Press, 2018).

ameron is a retired navy captain who served most of his career in the Pacific and served as Director of Operations in the White House Military Office during 9/11.

MacConaghy is a law student at the University of Virginia and former naval intelligence officer who served aboard an aircraft carrier and as a member of the Chief of Naval Operations and Secretary of the Navy's briefing staff.

For other commentaries by political scientists from universities around the country, see www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage
Santa Clara County nurses are calling on the county to provide more paid leave for frontline healthcare workers who could be affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"While almost everyone else is sheltering at home, nurses and other frontline healthcare responders are running to the fire, knowing their own lives are at risk," Debbie Chang, a county nurse and president of the local Registered Nurses Professional Association, said in a statement Friday.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Theyre the frontline employees of the airline industry and theyre afraid. Afraid of getting sick. Afraid of spreading illness. Afraid of losing their jobs.

Several long-time United Airlines flight attendants recently reached out to The Plain Dealer about their fears, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to decimate the airline industry. The three, two of whom live in Northeast Ohio and the other in New York City, agreed to speak freely with the condition that their names not be used. Per airline policy, they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Among the points they wanted to make:

* Theyre upset that they and their colleagues, for the most part, dont have access to COVID-19 tests, which are in short supply across the U.S. In Ohio, testing is generally limited to health care workers, first responders and people sick enough to require hospitalization. These airline employees contend that they should be considered first responders, as well -- because when they are in the air, they are.

* Theyre fearful of being exposed to the virus  on planes, in airports, in hotels and elsewhere  then taking it home to their families.

* They think the government should shut down leisure travel for a few weeks to stop the virus spread, a position recently advocated by the Association of Flight Attendants, the union that represents 50,000 in the field, including several hundred United flight attendants in Northeast Ohio.

Its unclear how many airline workers have tested positive for coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 illness, but the number is certainly in the hundreds, if not thousands.

A spokeswoman for the AFA said this week that 250 members of the union have tested positive; earlier, the union for Southwests flight attendants, TWU Local 556, confirmed that at least 600 Southwest employees have tested positive. And the union that represents American Airlines attendants, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said at least 150 of their members had gotten sick. At least two flight attendants have died because of the virus.

A spokesman for United, Charlie Hobart, would not provide a number of infected employees, other than to say, Weve had crew members test positive for the virus. We are continuing to take aggressive and proactive steps to ensure all of our employees are safe.

Whatever the official number, the unofficial tally is likely much higher because of the many employees who have self-quarantined with symptoms, but dont have access to testing.

I personally know of three co-workers who are in self-isolation and consider themselves to have it, said one Cleveland-based flight attendant. They do not qualify for testing per state guidelines. The company is only notifying us if someone on our plane tests positive. Other than that, we have no numbers for how many crew members have it.

On a flight last month, she said she was nervous every time someone on the plane coughed.

Her colleague, also a Cleveland-based attendant, has not been on a single flight this month. Every flight that I have had has been canceled, she said. She considered taking a leave, but said she couldnt give up her paycheck.

I have this elephant on my chest of anxiety, she said. What if I take it home to my son with asthma?

She is making every effort to protect her family, including taking off her uniform and shoes before she enters her house after work. I dont even bring my bag into the house, she said, a practice she started years ago to avoid the possibility of bringing bed bugs home. I already know how to do that.

She and her colleagues are also concerned that they may not be emotionally prepared to help passengers in need, out of fear of getting sick themselves.

All three of us have experienced death on the aircraft, heart attacks, strokes, labor, said one. Weve all stepped up and did what we needed to do. This is a different ball game. Now, if you see some of those things going on, you may be hesitant to help them.

Said her colleague, bluntly: Sorry, Im not risking my life to save theirs.

And its not just sick passengers theyre worried about. Theyre also concerned that some of their co-workers may report to work when they shouldnt, if they dont have enough sick time accumulated or want to avoid using up personal time off.

Hobart, with United, stressed that the company does not want anyone who isnt feeling well to come to work. He also said the carrier had relaxed its sick-leave policy, to encourage employees to stay home if theyre not well.

Hobart did acknowledge that the airline hasnt always been able to make good on its promise to equip every flight and employee with disinfectant and protective gear. It has been challenging to consistently provide hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes because the supply has just not been available. This is an issue that is affecting the entire country.

On one recent flight, the New York-based attendant requested hand sanitizer and received soap instead. I was told, This is the best we can do, she said.

Her Cleveland colleague said the uncertain work conditions were making her nervous about returning to work. Will we have supplies? What will happen with the plane, the passengers? The circumstances are changing every day.

The airlines and federal government have tried to ease some concerns.

Airlines have largely eliminated food and beverage service on flights, to limit physical interactions between flight attendants and passengers. And the Federal Aviation Administration this week eased several rules so that flight attendants can now sit in passenger seats, rather than side-by-side jump seats, to promote social distancing. In addition, flight attendants no longer have to demonstrate how to use oxygen masks, to minimize contact with items that might not be properly sanitized.

But the attendants concerns extend beyond the aircraft and the people on the plane.

They also wonder: Are the hotels clean, are the restaurants open, might they be quarantined in their arrival city, or when their return home?

The New York-based attendant recently volunteered to work an overseas flight, even after she was told she might be quarantined in another country for 14 days upon arrival.

She gambled that the flight would be canceled -- it was -- knowing that she would get paid anyway. If she had declined the assignment, she wouldnt have been compensated.

Despite their fears, the three attendants believe United is doing the best it can during an extremely difficult time. They love their jobs and want to continue working.

The federal stimulus bill, the CARES Act, passed by Congress last month, includes $50 billion in bailout grants and loans for the airlines, in exchange for some commitments from the industry. Among them: no airline layoffs through September.

The three flight attendants interviewed for this story all have decades of experience and are unlikely to get laid off, if and when a reduction in force is necessary. Theyve been through 9/11, the Great Recession, an airline merger and more.

Weve had to adapt to so much, said one. This is just something else well have to get through together. At the end of the day, we all have a really great job. I cant imagine doing anything else.

Read more:

Spirit Airlines suspending service at Cleveland Hopkins, other airports, for one month

Frontier Airlines cuts 90% of capacity, flying only to Orlando from Cleveland Hopkins in April

Empty Ohio hotels offer up space to hospitals, homeless shelters, health care workers during coronavirus pandemic

Cleveland-area hotels starting to close amid steep drop in occupancy
By PTI

LOS ANGELES: Filmmaker Martin Scorsese is reportedly in talks with Apple and Netflix to produce or distribute his next feature "Killers of the Flower Moon".

After "The Irishman", the veteran filmmaker is once again facing issues due to the budgetary issues.

According to Wall Street Journal, the inflating cost of the film, which has now reached the USD 200 million figure, has made the studio Paramount Pictures tense about the project.

At the insistence of the studio, Scorsese's representatives have started talks with Netflix and Apple for either financing the film or distributing it.

According to the report, the filmmaker has also reached out to other potential players, Universal and MGM.

Paramount is open to a deal that would still allow them to participate as financier or distributor.

"Killers of the Flower Moon" will feature Scorsese's favourite leading men -- Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The film, based on David Grann's historical book of the same name, is set in 1920s Oklahoma and centres around the Osage Nation murders, in which members of the Native American tribe were murdered one by one after the group became rich off the oil found underneath their land.

This is the second time that the filmmaker is having trouble with making his film.

His previously directorial, "The Irishman" was also set up at Paramount but due to its climbing cost, the film was sold to streamer Netflix.
The theatrical release of In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda's screen adaptation of his musical hit, was postponed due to the coronavirus.

Actress Dascha Polanco, who co-stars in the upcoming movie-musical, discussed her feelings regarding the delay and shared a tender on-set moment with Lin in an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV this week.

The 37-year-old is in full agreement with the difficult decision to postpone the movie, versus releasing the film digitally on schedule, because she doesn't think a streamed version would do the project justice.

Adjusting to the new normal: Actress Dascha Polanco exclusively chatted with DailyMailTV about the delayed theatrical release of Lin-Manuel Miranda's movie musical In the Heights and said she agrees that fans should see it on the big screen

'When I heard that they were postponing and they were going to delay it, I felt that it was the right thing to do,' Dascha explained.

'I'd rather it be shown on a big screen and we all enjoy it that way, than for it to be seen and just thrown out there, especially now.'

Fans have been clamoring for the film adaptation of Lin-Manuel's 2008 Tony Award winning Broadway hit to debut on the big screen.

However, due to the COVID-19 crisis shuttering movie theaters across the United States and keeping viewers indoors, the initial June 26 release date was scrapped.

Delays: The theatrical release of Lin-Manuel Miranda's screen adaptation of his musical hit In the Heights was postponed due to the coronavirus

'When I heard that they were postponing and they were going to delay it, I felt that it was the right thing to do,' Dascha explained. 'I'd rather it be shown on a big screen and we all enjoy it that way, than for it to be seen and just thrown out there, especially now.'

'I'm trying to find the silver lining in everything,' Dascha told DailyMailTV. 'And, hey, it's all for a good reason. We are going to wait, but we are going to hit that ground running and surprise everyone with this beautiful gift.'

Adding: 'It's a gift for the world.'

Her thinking falls in-line with the director of the project, John M. Chu, who also recently expressed his feelings about the delay being for the good of the film and the good of the fans.

'What we are committed to is, it's going to be in a theater. It has to be in a theater. It demands to be in a theater,' said Chu on the Variety After-Show.

'I'm trying to find the silver lining in everything,' Dascha told DailyMailTV. 'And, hey, it's all for a good reason. We are going to wait, but we are going to hit that ground running and surprise everyone with this beautiful gift. It's a gift for the world.'

'This community lived a life that deserves to be on the big screen and celebrated in the biggest magical way, [and] we're going to deliver that,' he said.

Dascha recalled that one day during shooting, they were filming an carnival scene with all the actors and dancers together and Lin-Manuel - who both produces and acts in the film - broke down in tears.

'Hes on the fire escape and he had a moment where he just starts crying,' she said. 'You know that was the first time I saw his vulnerability at that point.'

'You think of Lin, like here, and you think of him artsy on the piano - so creative,' Dascha continued. 'At that point, when I saw him there was so much respect for him and his trajectory.'

Musical hit! Miranda penned the earliest script for In the Heights back when he was a freshman in college and the story is set in Manhattan's tight-knit uptown Washington Heights neighborhood centered on bodega owner Usnavi

Emotional: Dascha recalled that one day during shooting, they were filming an carnival scene with all the actors and dancers together and Lin-Manuel - who both produces and acts in the film - broke down in tears looking down at the crowd

Miranda penned the earliest script for In the Heights back when he was a freshman in college and transformed it from a one-act show to a Broadway juggernaut.

Like the original musical, the movie is set in Manhattan's tight-knit uptown Washington Heights neighborhood, a largely Dominican-American community.

It centers on bodega owner Usnavi 'who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines and sings about a better life,' according to the Warner Bros. synopisis.

'This is a special movie,' said Dascha. 'Everytime I speak about it, I get goosebumps, right? Because it's a special movie,' she continued. 'It tells a story that will forever be relevant and it's a story about celebration and unity.'

'This is a special movie,' said Dascha. 'Everytime I speak about it, I get goosebumps, right? Because it's a special movie,' she continued. 'It tells a story that will forever be relevant and it's a story about celebration and unity.'

Washington Heights itself is practically its own character in both the original book, musical and now, film. Polanco marveled at how the cast and the crew honored the real community and how, in turn, the community supported the project.

'I'm in their territory and I have to respect it,' she said. 'The cast and crew was so respectful of the community in the Heights that everything worked out so beautifully.'

For her character, Cuca, who works in a Domincan beauty salon, Dascha said she had a lot of fun and wanted to bring her own genuine experience to the role.

And, she had plenty of personal experience to pull from for the film, the actress was born in the Domincan Republic and her mom worked as a cosmetologist.

Art imitating life: For her character, Cuca, who works in a Domincan beauty salon, Dascha was able to bring her own experience into the role as she was born in the Dominican Republic and her mom worked as a cosmetologist

'I wanted to portray, as much as I can, my experience and the authenticity of being Dominican,' she said.

Dascha was a fan favorite of Netflix's first huge scripted drama, Orange Is the New Black playing inmate Dayanara Diaz.

Following the successful seven seasons of the show, Dascha worked on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, and Netflix projects Russian Doll and When They See Us.

While the COVID-19 crisis continues to shut down Hollywood and most of the nation, the future of In the Heights remains in flux but it will, at some point, reach theaters.
Mergers and acquisitions largely grinded to a halt at the end of March, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic spreading around the world, but today comes news of a deal out of Europe that underscores where pockets of activity are still happening. Avira, a cybersecurity company based out of Germany that provides antivirus, identity management and other tools both to consumers and as a white-label offering from a number of big tech brands, has been snapped up by Investcorp Technology Partners, the PE division of Investcorp Bank. Investcorp's plan is to help Avira make acquisitions in a wider security consolidation play.

The financial terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed in the companies' joint announcement, but the CEO of Avira, Travis Witteveen, and ITP's MD, Gilbert Kamieniecky, both said it gives Avira a total valuation of $180 million. The deal will involve ITP taking a majority ownership in the company, with Avira founder Tjark Auerbach retaining a "significant" stake of the company in the deal, Kamieniecky added.

Avira is not a tech startup in the typical sense. It was founded in 1986 and has been bootstrapped (in that it seems never to have taken any outside investment as it has grown). Witteveen said that it has "tens of millions" of users today of its own-branded products -- its anti-virus software has been resold by the likes of Facebook (as part of its now-dormant antivirus marketplace) -- and many more via the white-label deals it makes with big names. Strategic partners today include NTT, Deutsche Telekom, IBM, Canonical and more.

He said that the company has had many strategic approaches for acquisition from the ranks of tech companies, and also from more typical investors, but these were not routes that it has wanted to follow, since it wanted to grow as its own business, and needed more of a financial injection to do that than what it could get from more standard VC deals.

Story continues

"We wanted a partnership where someone could step in and support our organic growth, and the inorganic [acquisition] opportunity," he said.

The plan will be to make more acquisitions to expand Avira's footprint, both in terms of products and especially to grow its geographic footprint: today the company is active in Asia, Europe and to a lesser extent in the US, while Investcorp has a business that also extends deep into the Middle East.

Cybersecurity, meanwhile, may never go out of style as an investment and growth opportunity in tech. Not only have cyber threats become more sophisticated and ubiquitous and targeted at individual consumers and businesses over the last several years, but our increasing reliance on technology and internet-connected systems will increase the demand and need to keep these safe from malicious attacks.

That has become no more apparent than in recent weeks, when much of the world's population has been confined to shelter in place. People have in turn spent unprecedented amounts of time online using their phones, computers and other devices to read news, communicate with their families and friends, entertain themselves, and do critical work that they may have in part done in the past offline.

"In the current market, you can imagine a lot are concerned about the uncertainties of the technology landscape, but this is one that continues to thrive," said Kamieniecky. "In security, we have seen companies develop quite rapidly and quickly, and here we have an opportunity to do that."

Avira has been somewhat of a consolidator up to now, buying companies like SocialShield (which provided online security specifically for younger and social media users), while ITP, with Investcorp having some $34 billion under management, has made many acquisitions (and divestments) over the years, with some of the tech deals including Ubisense, Zeta Interactive and Dialogic.
A new case of Ebola has been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a raising new concerns about public safety as the world combats the coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation said the new case was confirmed in Beni, a town at the heart of the epidemic in eastern DRC.

According to the report, the patient died on Thursday morning in a hospital after showing symptoms several days earlier.

The confirmation of the new case is a setback in the DRCs battle against the disease that has killed about 2,264 of out of 3,453 people infected, since the outbreak began in eastern North Kivu province in August 2018.

The announcement on Friday came just days before the countrys largest-ever outbreak was expected to be declared over.

Apart from the Ebola outbreak, the DRC is currently battling the COVID-19 as well as measles and cholera which has killed thousands of children.

As for the COVID-19, the country has recorded 215 cases, 20 deaths and 13 have recovered so far.

As for the Ebola outbreak, the country had hoped to declare the epidemic over on Sunday after 52 days of not reporting a case of the disease.

WHO had declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in July 2019, after the highly contagious virus threatened to spread to the large city of Goma and neighbouring countries.

After the last patient was discharged in February, WHO had set to declare the outbreak over on April 12  the date marking double the diseases 21-day incubation period since the departure of the last patient  if no other cases emerge.

Until Friday, no new cases had been registered since February 17.

Preliminary information shows that the new patient is a 26-year-old man in Beni territory, the multisectoral committee for the response to the epidemic said in a statement.

Our teams, in collaboration with the WHO, are already on the ground to deepen the investigations and implement public health actions, it added.

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said in a tweet that after 52 days without a case, surveillance and response teams on the ground have confirmed a new case.

He said the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on Ebola in DRC met on Friday by teleconference to discuss whether the outbreak still constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

However, with the new case, the outbreak will not be declared over as previously anticipated.

We have been preparing for and expecting more cases.

Unfortunately, this means the government of DRC will not be able to declare an end to the Ebola outbreak on Monday, as hoped. But WHO remains on the ground and committed as ever to working with the government, affected communities and our partners to end the outbreak, he said.
U.S. Defense Department officials on Thursday outlined foreign attempts -- particularly by Russia -- to spread disinformation on the novel coronavirus, such as recent claims that handwashing doesn't prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

The Pentagon and other agencies in the U.S. government routinely work to counter false news stories and social media posts from foreign governments seeking to influence public opinion. It has been no different with COVID-19, officials said.

In March, China claimed that the U.S. was responsible for the virus. But Russia has been particularly prolific about spreading coronavirus disinformation to sow global mistrust and confusion, Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, told defense reporters during a call-in roundtable.

"These are messages that are endangering global health because they are undermining the efforts of governments, of health agencies and organizations that are responsible for disseminating information about the virus to the public," she said. "As recently as late March ... we have seen articles that handwashing is ineffective."

Related: Chinese Official Says US Army May Have 'Brought the Epidemic to Wuhan'

In mid-March, Russian-backed, English-language websites were reporting "that there actually was no pandemic and that some deaths in Italy may have been caused by the common flu," Cooper said.

"In early January, we saw reports on several different Russian news sites claiming ... it was really just Big Pharma in the United States spreading rumors about the virus in order to drum up business," she added, referring to the pharmaceutical industry. "The thing with all of these various messages is you can see how they could cause individual citizens to act in ways that contradict advice that they are being given by public health officials."

Aside from Russia, there are a variety of actors around the world that are blaming COVID-19 on the United States in particular, Cooper said. "We saw this with a claim in January that the U.S. was behind COVID-19, that it was a weapon."

The Chinese government made the "false accusation that COVID-19 began with a U.S. Army service member bringing that to China somehow," Chad Sbragia, deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, told reporters.

"We were very clear that this was unhelpful; this is moving the coronavirus out of an area of cooperation between the two militaries and into an area of confrontation. ... We communicated what our expectations were and they should retract that," he added.

The Chinese government was quick to reverse its stance on the issue, Sbragia said.

"They have since backed away from that narrative, and we have not seen ... that in authoritative commentary or narratives from the Chinese since then," he said. "If you take note of what their most recent Ministry of Foreign Affairs statements reflect, [it] is they don't have an official position on the origins of that and will leave that to the scientific community to determine that over time."

Cooper said these kinds of claims have also come out of Russia and Iran, as they tried to convince the public that the U.S. was "purposely spreading COVID-19," Cooper said.

One way the U.S. has tried to combat these campaigns is to call on all countries, Russia included, to rein in malign actors spreading disinformation about the virus, she added.

"You can't treat it like an old-fashion whack-a-mole ... and try to dispute every single piece of information, especially on COVID-19; there [are] so many," Cooper said. The best course is to expose the most egregious claims but also focus on educating the public on the truth, she explained.

"And just transparency in general -- the fact that you have so many briefings that are happening just within the [DoD] at the Pentagon ... this transparency on the DoD effort, not to mention the whole-of-government effort, that is really the most important aspect of countering disinformation, when it comes to the public health perspective," Cooper said.

Sbragia agreed.

"It really isn't about getting bogged down on what kind of disinformation is coming out of China, but highlighting the strength and unity of the global system that we all benefit from," he said.

The Chinese military has since taken steps to cooperate with its U.S. military counterparts and made commitments to treat "this as an area of cooperation in terms of battling the COVID-19 pandemic," Sbragia said.

"It is critically important that they have done so, and it was certainly welcomed and reciprocated by the department here," he said. "Our militaries must remain committed to seeking cooperation over confrontation in this pandemic so that the world can recover and prosper."

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Read More: Army, White House Issue Warnings About Coronavirus Hoaxes and Scams
DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan were detained at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra's Satara district on Thursday for violating prohibitory orders amid lockdown, police said.

Photograph: Rediff.com IMAGE: DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan along with Dheeraj Wadhawan and 21 others have been detained for violating lockdown.

Police found 23 people including members of the Wadhawan family at their farmhouse, an official said.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party sought an explanation from the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress government, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said a probe will be conducted.

"Will probe how the 23 members of the Wadhawan family got permission to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar," Deshmukh tweeted.

According to local police officials, the Wadhawan family along with others travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday evening in their cars, even when both Pune and Satara districts are sealed amid ongoing lockdown for containing coronavirus.



Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan are accused in Yes Bank and DHFL fraud cases.

They were spotted at their 'Diwan farm house' by civic authorities, officials said.



All 23 people will be booked under section 188 of IPC (disobedience of lawful order of public servant), said a senior official of Mahabaleshwar police station.

Speaking to 'ABP Majha' news channel, Home Minister Deshmukh said that principal secretary (home) Amitabh Gupta had apparntly given the Wadhawans a letter, permitting the family to travel to Mahabaleshwar.

"Such letter is given only in emergency... On Friday detailed information will be collected and action will be taken keeping in mind the protocol. What happened was not right," the minister said.

The Enforcement Directorate had recently issued summons to Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan in Yes Bank case and asked them to appear on March 17. The duo reportedly cited the pandemic and skipped the appearance, officials said.

The letter purportedly issued by Gupta mentioned that he knew the Wadhawans, and they were travelling because of some family emergency, police sources said.

Meanwhile, the BJP latched onto the issue.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis wondered how could one vacation in Mahableshwar with official permission from the police when lockdown is in force.

"No lockdowns for mighty and rich in Maharashtra? One can spend holidays in Mahabaleshwar with official permission from police," the former chief minister said.

"It is not possible that a senior IPS officer would do such gross mistake knowing the consequences on his own... With whose order or blessings was this done? Mr CM & HM you owe us an explanation," Fadnavis said.
Matt Hancock has admitted that he still holds face-to-face meetings with officials, but rubbished accusations he is ignoring the government's social distancing rules.

The Health Secretary was this morning grilled on allegations he surrounds himself with between 10 and 20 colleagues during daily Whitehall coronavirus conference calls.

The cabinet minister insisted he works from home where possible, but claimed that on the occasions he is forced to the office he 'spreads out the chairs' to avoid person-to-person contact.

Responding to the reports in the Health Service Journal, Mr Hancock told BBC Radio 4: 'No, not since the social distancing rules came in. I work from home whenever I can - I'm working from home now.

'But I do have to go into the office and sometimes the best way to get something done is to have some of the key people in the room and obviously some on the video.

'I have spread out the chairs in the office precisely to follow the social distancing rules.

'We do follow the rules in the office, it is very important people follow the social distancing rules in the same way that people should stay home wherever possible.'

Matt Hancock has admitted that he still holds face-to-face meetings with officials, but rubbished accusations he was flouting the government's social distancing rules

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, pictured in Downing Street yesterday, has been accused of setting a bad example on social distancing measures

NHS leaders suggested the approach apparently taken by Mr Hancock was not in line with government advice for everyone to work at home if they possibly can.

They said it appeared as if Mr Hancock and his staff viewed social distancing rules as being 'for other people'.

Speaking at the daily coronavirus press conference in Downing Street, Mr Hancock defended himself and said: 'I work from home when I can and we have enormous numbers of meetings on Zoom and other video conferencing facilities.'

He added: 'When I do come into the office I follow social distancing rules and that is very clear - around my table there is now only a small number of chairs.'

Mr Hancock, pictured at Nightingale Hospital on April 3 demonstrating social distancing, has been one of the government's most high profile ministers during the coronavirus crisis

A senior NHS leader who has seen the meetings told the Health Service Journal that the approach was effectively 'encouraging presenteeism'.

It also makes it 'hard to send the right messages' to the public about staying at home, they said.

The anonymous senior NHS source said: 'It looks like the Health Secretary and his colleagues think 'social distancing' is for other people and that coming into the office is necessary for senior leaders.'

The government's official coronavirus guidance states that people should 'work from home, where possible' and that 'your employer should support you to do this'.

It also states that 'employers who have people in their offices or onsite should ensure that employees are able to follow Public Health England guidelines, including, where possible, maintaining a two metre distance from others'.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman told HSJ: 'We continue to do everything we can to keep this country safe, including by following all guidance and practising social distancing.'

It is understood that department staff are being encouraged to dial into meetings remotely wherever possible.

Allies of the Health Secretary rubbished suggestions of staff being squeezed into the meetings as they pointed out Mr Hancock has a large office.

Mr Hancock self-isolated for seven days after testing positive for coronavirus, with the Health Secretary returning to work last week.

He described having the disease as 'like having glass in your throat'.

Mr Hancock has been one of the government's most high profile ministers during the coronavirus outbreak.

He has chaired numerous Downing Street daily press conferences and won plaudits for the way in which he conducted the one on the day that he formally returned to work after his illness.
The Napa County Superior Court will continue its ongoing closure and maintain limited operations through May 1 because of continued concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court significantly scaled back operations on March 18 in response to the public health emergency.

This included closing two courthouses and limiting entrance to a third facility while reducing calendars to time sensitive and certain public safety matters. These efforts were previously in effect through April 10.

Earlier this weekbased on the continued guidance provided by federal, state, and local public health officialsthe court submitted a request to the Chief Justice of California to extend limited operations through May 1. On Wednesday, the Chief Justice signed an emergency order granting authority to the court to extend, as it deemed appropriate, various deadlines.

Under this authority:

Handling of time-sensitive in-custody arraignments, certain family and juvenile cases, and emergency matters will continue.

Most non-time-sensitive matters scheduled through May 1 will be postponed from 8 to 12 weeks from the current hearing date. Refer to the Courts website for more detailed information by case type.

Check the online Court Calendars to confirm if you are required to appear. If your case is on the list, you need to appear.

All court calendars will be heard in the Criminal Court Building.

The Historic and Juvenile Courthouses will remain closed.

A drop box for emergency matters is available at the Criminal Court Building located at 1111 Third St.

Routine matters will not be processed until normal court operations resume or conditions permit staff to report to work.

No jury trials will occur during this time. If you have been called for jury service, please check your status online or at 707-299-1150.

Check the courts website at

for the latest information. Detailed plans by case type are posted there.

Expanded Self-Help Center services

Starting Monday, the court is expanding services in the Self-Help Center.

All court users may seek assistance by phone or email from 8 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday at 707-299-1137 or by email at Selfhelp@napa.courts.ca.gov. All inquiries will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Expanded Use of Technology

The court has aggressively pursued the use of digital, telephonic, and remote video services to conduct court hearings. This includes in-custody arraignments and juvenile detention hearings by video.

These efforts have been in coordination with justice system partners and have been driven by the goal to follow social distancing guidelines through reduced foot traffic in the courthouses while holding mandatory hearings.

The Napa County Superior Court will continue to work on efforts to conduct court business through remote technology and other related means.

For details, contact the Court Executive Office by email at Court.Administration@napa.courts.ca.gov.
The article notes that the shipment of face masks, all of which are made of antimicrobial fabric, were handed to the respective ambassadors of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK in Hanoi on April 7th.

At the handover ceremony (Photo: vov.vn)

The Diplomat also quotes the countrys Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung as saying that the assistance underlines the value of the strategic partnership between both sides, in addition to showing the nations recognition that strengthening international co-operation and unity is an important factor necessary in minimising the impact of the COVID-19.

Prashanth Parameswaran, the author of the article, said that the aid provided falls in line with the countrys broader diplomatic policy shown throughout the COVID-19 crisis, noting that Vietnam has also offered assistance to other countries, including neighbours Cambodia and Laos.

Featured in the article, Prashanth indicates that ties between Vietnam and the EU have been negatively affected by the growth of the global pandemic due to restrictions placed on exports and visa regulations hitting economic ties.

Despite this, he points out that both sides have also been striving to manage the fallout of the COVID-19, with steps including sharing information relating to the security of citizens and pursuing a number of key developments such as the final steps in ratifying the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, more commonly known as the EVFTA.

The featured piece highlights the Vietnamese sides continued willingness to assist other countries to the best of its abilities on a bilateral and multilateral basis, even as it remains vigilant regarding its own challenges faced domestically.

At present, there have been over 200 COVID-19 cases reported in the country with no deaths, leading the country to take additional protective measures such as placing restrictions on movement and stepping up the production of masks, according to the article.

The author affirms that the latest round of assistance is just one part of Vietnams multifaceted approach to fighting the COVID-19 both at home and abroad./.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 10

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

The Government of Uzbekistan held a videoconference with the President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Bandar Al Hajjar, Trend reports citing the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov discussed with Al Hajjar the issues of cooperation to ensure effective protection of Uzbekistan's population in the conditions of coronavirus pandemic.

Al Hajjar said the IDB is ready to provide comprehensive support to Uzbekistan, using the capabilities of the Strategic Preparedness and Response Package (total size of the package is $2.3 billion). This resource was created to assist the Bank's member countries in the face of the global pandemic.

He noted that the IDB, in particular, has directed funds in the amount of $17 million from the current portfolio of the Bank's loans in Uzbekistan to finance urgent purchases of medical equipment and products for new clinics, created to combat coronavirus.

Bandar Hajjar also expressed willingness to provide additional support to Uzbekistan through redirecting $46 million on infrastructure projects to equip new clinics for patients infected with coronavirus.

Following the videoconference, the sides agreed to work out additional financing from the IDB for the needs of healthcare system and support of small and medium businesses in Uzbekistan worth over $140 million.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
GCC Secretary General welcomes announcement of ceasefire in Yemen

Saudi Press Agency

Thursday 1441/8/16 - 2020/04/09

Riyadh, April 09, 2020, SPA -- Secretary General of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Arab States, Dr. Naif Al-Hajraf has welcomed the announcement of the Command of Joint Forces of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen for a two-week comprehensive ceasefire in Yemen, starting from today, Thursday, April 9, which can be extended.

Dr. Al-Hajraf expressed his hope that this announcement will contribute to creating conditions and responding to the efforts of the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen to hold a meeting between the legitimate government and Houthis to discuss steps and mechanisms to implement a permanent ceasefire in Yemen, to build confidence, and the resumption of the political process between Yemeni parties to reach consultations between Yemeni brothers and a comprehensive political solution.

He also stressed the GCC support for the call of the United Nations Secretary General on March 23 for a ceasefire around the world to focus efforts on combating the spread of the novel Coronavirus, and called on Houthis to respond to a permanent ceasefire, intensify efforts to confront this pandemic, prevent its spread in Yemen, and engage with the UN Envoy to end the conflict and reach a political solution, based on the GCC initiative, its executive mechanism, outputs of comprehensive national dialogue, and Security Council Resolution 2216.

--SPA

12:55 LOCAL TIME 09:55 GMT

0008

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Pakistan has asked neighbouring Afghanistan to extradite a leader in the local Islamic State affiliate who was arrested in an Afghan intelligence operation in southern Afghanistan earlier this month, the foreign ministry said.

Aslam Farooqi is a Pakistani national wanted in connection with attacks claimed by IS in Pakistan. The Afghan government accuses him of involvement in last month's attack on a Sikh house of worship in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that killed 25 worshipers.

The Islamic State group, on the website of its Aamaq agency, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by Indian national Abu Khalid Al-Hindi in revenge for Indian military actions in Kashmir.

A single gunman rampaged through the Gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, exploding grenades and firing at worshipers. There were about 150 people inside at the time, before Afghan special forces killed the attacker.

The request from Islamabad came late Thursday. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Atif Mashal, had been summoned and told of Pakistan's worries about the activities of the Islamic State affiliate, headquartered in eastern Afghanistan.

"Since Aslam Farooqi was involved in anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan, he should be handed-over to Pakistan for further investigations, the ministry said.

Farooqi, whose real name is Abdullah Orakzai, was arrested last weekend along with 19 other IS operatives, according to Afghanistan's intelligence agency.

On Friday, Kabul said it would not hand him over as it has no extradition treaty with Pakistan. Instead, "Aslam Farooqi will be dealt with based on the Afghanistan's law", the Afghan government said.

The regional affiliate of the Islamic State group has taken credit for attacks in Pakistan, including one in January in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, that killed 15 worshippers.

In recent months, Afghan and American officials say the IS has been weakened as a result of relentless US bombing raids in eastern Afghanistan, as well as military operations by the Afghan security forces and attacks by IS rivals, Taliban insurgents.

In the months leading up to Washington's peace deal with the Taliban signed in late February, US officials said a key component of the agreement was a promise by the Taliban to aid in the fight against IS, seen as the greatest threat to US national security emanating from Afghanistan.

Still, the US-Taliban peace deal has had a rocky start. Political wrangling in Kabul between President Ashraf Ghani and his rival in last year's disputed presidential polls, Abdullah Abdullah, has frustrated Washington, which has threatened to withdraw $1 billion in aid if the two don't find a power-sharing deal.

Their bickering has delayed the next critical step in the deal, which calls for intra-Afghan negotiations between Kabul leaders, many of whom are linked to warlords, and the Taliban.

Also, delays in completing a prisoner release as laid out in the US-Taliban deal have further frustrated peace efforts. Still, the US and NATO began withdrawing forces from Afghanistan.

If the Taliban keep their promise to fight other militant groups, the US is expected to withdraw all its forces over a 14-month period from the signing of the deal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New York continues to overtake other parts of the world in death and infection due to the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic. The state recorded almost 160,000 cases by Thursday night. More than 7,000 people have died, with over 700 people dying every day this week. New York City hospitals continue to intubate patients at a rate of 200 to 300 per day. There are currently an estimated 4,000 patients on ventilators, with some hospitals reporting only two or three available ventilators left.

In what is regularly being referred to as the epicenter of the epicenter, one-third of the citys COVID-19 patients are emerging out of Elmhurst, Queens, and its surrounding neighborhoods. Elmhurst Hospital, one of the citys 11 public hospitals, is being transformed into an exclusively coronavirus hospital as it continues to be inundated by hundreds of patients. Operating rooms, recovery rooms and empty wards are now treating COVID-19 patients, while patients with other medical conditions are being transferred to neighboring hospitals.

Cases per thousand in New York City by zip code

The hospital had become a grim scene in the unfolding social catastrophe, with continuous lines of masked people lined up to be tested for the virus as hospital workers load a continuous supply of dead bodies into the makeshift morgues outside. Chronically low on resources, New York Citys public hospitals were already facing immense strain before the pandemic. In numerous interviews, hospital staff report desperately critical shortages of personnel, medications and equipment. Overwhelmed nurses and doctors have been diverted from other departments to treat COVID-19 patients for whom they are untrained care.

It is not a coincidence that Elmhurst has emerged as a focal point of the crisis in New York City and the US. Recent demographic studies of the outbreak in New York City and the Elmhurst community make clear that the most oppressed layers of the working class, especially immigrant workers employed in essential and low-paying industries, are disproportionately affected by the outbreak. Social inequality and class, the determining factors of social life in the US, are also determining the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Wednesday, the neighborhoods of Corona, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights had recorded 7,260 out of the states total 160,000 cases. By contrast, Manhattan, which has nearly three times as many residents, had about 10,860 cases. There are 18.5 coronavirus cases for 1,000 residents in Elmhurst, 15.5 in Jackson Heights, and 15.4 in Corona. Wealthy neighborhoods in lower Manhattan and on the Upper West Side have between 3.8 and 5.8 cases per 1,000 residents, and up to 73 percent fewer cases than the citywide average.

Elmhurst map

Elmhurst is above all an immigrant working-class district. In New York City, it is the locality with the highest share, almost two-thirds, of foreign-born residents. Fifty-six percent of the population speak Spanish as their native language. Another quarter of the population speaks an Asian or Pacific Island language as their first language. Apart from Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador, many residents hail from the Philippines or Nepal.

Some 19 percent lived at or below the federal poverty line, which amounted to just above $20,000 for a family of three in 2017, an income that is impossible to live on in New York City. A recent report by the Citizens Committee for Children in New York emphasized that 52.3 percent of families in the district were living in or near povertythat is, at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, the equivalent of $40,840 for a family of three in 2017. The study was based only on data from the 145,000 officially registered residents of Elmhurst, which excludes the many thousands of workers who are undocumented.

According to the BBC, about half the patients at Elmhurst Hospital are undocumented immigrants, who have until recently been terrorized by ICE raids. Around 17 percent of residents of Elmhurst-Maspeth and up to 33 percent of residents in North Corona lack health insurance. The vast majority of residents are insured through programs like Medicaid and Medicare, which have been the subject of a bipartisan assault in the past decades.

The area is also one of the most densely populated in the city, a factor that has significantly contributed to the spread of the virus. Forty percent of the population depends on subsidized housing, and a large proportion are living in overcrowded units, with several families often sharing one apartment.

Elmhurst has a very high labor participation rate, but most workers are employed in low-wage jobs that often are not enough to enable them to make ends meet. Most of these jobs are in hospitality, construction and manufacturing. Many also work in education and the gig economy as delivery workers or Uber and Lyft drivers. For many of them social distancing came either too late, or has proven impossible because they have to continue to work. By contrast, according to a recent study of the employment structure of the different boroughs, Manhattan, home to 82.8 percent of mostly high-wage jobs in office sectors, can more easily implement consistent social distancing measures and have barely seen layoffs.

Income distribution

While no concrete numbers have been released about the occupations of those who have been infected, it is clear that among those who have become seriously ill and are dying are Uber drivers, construction workers, workers in grocery stores and delivery workers. The New York Times quoted 39-year-old construction worker Angel, from Ecuador, who had worked at a Manhattan construction site until he fell sick. Since his symptoms were not life-threatening, he was not admitted to the hospital, and had to return to his apartment in Corona, where he lives with three other workers. He said, I dont have anyone to help me. New Yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo only banned non-essential construction work weeks into the outbreak. In much of the city, this ban on non-essential construction is, in fact, being ignored to this day.

The Times also cited the case of a long-time Uber driver from Nepal, Anil Subba, who was 49 years old and diabetica condition widespread among immigrants from Central America and South East Asia, and one of the most dangerous for COVID-19 patients. Mr. Subba contracted the disease on his job. His wife and two of his children were also infected. There are hundreds of sick Nepalese immigrants, many of them Uber drivers. Mr. Subba died on Wednesday, many are in the ICU, and some of them are on ventilators.

Hispanics, who compose about 29 percent of the population, account for 34 percent of those who died, suggesting that a large number of immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, are among those dying. The African-American population, roughly 22 percent of the state total, account for 28 percent of the dead, and 27 percent of those who died were white (total population of 32 percent).

Population by citizenship status

Democratic Party politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the Democratic Congresswoman for the district that includes Elmhurst, have combined their cover-up for the trillion-dollar bail out of the big corporations with attempts to use this data to inject racialist politics into the coronavirus pandemic. However, the truth is that what makes these layers of the working class particularly vulnerable to both the spread of the virus and a severe outcome is the poverty they are facing.

Dr. Dave Chokshi, chief population health officer for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, told the Times that the rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions in central Queens are considerably higher than the citys average. The Bronx, where residents are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than in the rest of the city, is the poorest borough in the city and has 5 out of 10 neighborhoods with the highest rates of diabetes in New York City.

According to data released by the New York Department of Health, almost 80 percent of those who have died from COVID-19 had preexisting conditions. By far the most common conditions among these were hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol (hyperlipidemia), all conditions associated with obesity. These conditions are known to be particularly widespread among the immigrant and African-American populations. However, ultimately these are diseases of poverty which bring with them high levels of stress and poor access to healthy food.
France's competition authority has ordered Google to negotiate with publishers to pay for reuse of snippets of their content -- such as can be displayed in its News aggregation service or surfaced via Google Search.

The country was the first of the European Union Member States to transpose the neighbouring right for news into national law, following the passing of a pan-EU copyright reform last year.

Among various controversial measures the reform included a provision to extend copyright to cover content such as the ledes of news stories which aggregators such as Google News scrape and display. The copyright reform as a whole was voted through the EU parliament in March 2019, while France's national law for extended press publishers rights came into force in October 2019.

A handful of individual EU Member States, including Germany and Spain, had previously passed similar laws covering the use of news snippets -- without successfully managing to extract payments from Google, as lawmakers had hoped.

In Spain, for example, which made payments to publishers mandatory, Google instead chose to pull the plug on its Google News service entirely. But publishers who lobbied for a pan-EU reform hoped a wider push could turn the screw on the tech giant.

Nonetheless, Google has continued to talk tough over paying for this type of content.

In a September 2019 blog post the tech giant dug in, writing -- without apparent irony -- that: "We sell ads, not search results, and every ad on Google is clearly marked. Thats also why we dont pay publishers when people click on their links in a search result."

It has also since changed how Google News displays content in France, as Euractiv reported last year -- switching to showing headlines and URLs only, editing out the text snippets it shows in most other markets.

Screengrab showing how Google News displays content in France

However France's competition authority has slapped down the tactic -- taking the view that Google's unilateral withdrawal of snippets to deny payment is likely to constitute an abuse of a dominant market position, which it writes "seriously and immediately damaged the press sector."

Story continues

The company has a dominant position in Europe's search market with more than 90% marketshare.

The authority cites Google's unilateral withdrawal of "longer display article extracts, photographs, infographics and videos within its various services (Google Search, Google News and Discover), unless the publishers give it free authorization" as unfair behavior.

"In practice, the vast majority of press publishers have granted Google licenses for the use and display of their protected content, and this without possible negotiation and without receiving any remuneration from Google. In addition, as part of Google's new display policy, the licenses which have been granted to it by publishers and press agencies offer it the possibility of taking up more content than before," it writes in French (which we've translated via Google Translate).

"In these conditions, in addition to their referral to the merits, the seizors requested the order of provisional measures aimed at enjoining Google to enter in good faith into negotiations for the remuneration of the resumption of their content."

Hence issuing an emergency order -- which gives Google three months to negotiate "in good faith" with press agencies and publishers to pay for reusing bits of their content.

Abusive practices the agency says it suspects Google of at this stage of its investigation are:

The imposition of unfair trading conditions;

circumvention of the law;

and discrimination (i.e. because of its unilateral policy of zero renumeration for all publishers)

The order requires Google to display news snippets during the negotiation period, in accordance with publishers wishes, while terms agreed via the negotiation process will apply retrospectively -- from the date the law came into force (i.e. last October).

Google is also required to send in monthly reports on how it's implementing the decision.

"This injunction requires that the negotiations actually result in a proposal for remuneration from Google," it adds.

We reached out to Google for comment on the Autorite de la Concurrence's action. In a statement attributed to Richard Gingras, its VP of News, the company told us:

Since the European Copyright law came into force in France last year, we have been engaging with publishers to increase our support and investment in news. We will comply with the FCA's order while we review it and continue those negotiations.

A Google spokeswoman also pointed back to its blog post from last year, highlighting what she described as "the ways we already work with news publishers for context."

In the blog post the company discusses directing traffic to news sites; providing ad tech used by many publishers; and a funding vehicle via which it says it's investing $300M "to help news publishers around the world develop new products and business models that fit the different publishing marketplace the Internet has enabled".

Interim measures are an antitrust tool that Europe's competition authorities have pulled from the back of the cupboard and started dusting off lately.

Last October EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager used an interim order against chipmaker Broadcom to stop applying exclusivity clauses in agreements with six of its major customers  while an investigation into its practices continues.

The commission EVP, who also heads up the bloc's digital strategy, has suggested she will seek to make greater use of interim orders as an enforcement tool to keep up with the fast pace of developments in the digital economy, responding to concern that regulators are not able to respond effectively to curtail market abuse in the modern Internet era.

In the case of France's competition authority's probe of Google's treatment of publishers content the authority writes that the interim protective measures it's ordered will remain in force until it adopts its decision "on the merits".
Virus-stricken British Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked medics for saving his life after leaving hospital on Easter Sunday, as hundreds of millions of Christians observed the holiday under lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. More than half of humanity is confined at home as governments scramble to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed more than 112,500 lives around the world. More than 1.8 million people have been infected but glimmers of hope were emerging that the worst may be behind -- especially in Europe, where hard-hit Italy recorded its lowest death toll in three weeks and fatalities fell in France. Johnson, the highest-profile leader to contract the virus characterised by high fevers and coughing, voiced confidence that Britain would beat the pandemic in a candid video message after he was discharged from a state-run National Health Service (NHS) hospital. "I hope they won't mind if I mention in particular two nurses who stood by my bedside for 48 hours when things could have gone either way," said 55-year-old Johnson, who was admitted on April 5 to a London hospital where he spent three days in intensive care. In a suit and tie but visibly worn, Johnson said he was discharged after "a week in which the NHS has saved my life, no question." Even as Johnson headed to a country estate to rest before returning to work, Britain passed the grim milestone of 10,000 deaths. Johnson, like US President Donald Trump, had initially resisted stringent measures such as shutting down public places. The United States has since recorded the world's highest death toll at more than 22,020. - 'Easter of solitude' - From the Vatican to Panama and the Philippines, there were unprecedented scenes of empty churches as the world's two-billion plus Christians celebrated Easter from the confines of their homes. Speaking from a near-empty Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Pope Francis offered prayers for the ill and urged "solidarity" to fight the outbreak. "For many, this is an Easter of solitude lived amid the sorrow and hardship that the pandemic is causing, from physical suffering to economic difficulties," he said in a live-streamed message beamed around the world. On the outskirts of Rome, one devout follower held a video session with friends to mark the holy day in lieu of being able to gather in church. "Before lunch, six of us connected online for the Angelus prayer," said Rosa Mastrocinque, adding that her "spirituality has increased" during her weeks-long confinement. The pope had earlier urged creativity to mark the holy weekend -- a call that was met by many. In Panama, an archbishop blessed his nation from a helicopter, while one priest in Portugal addressed the faithful from the open top of a moving convertible car. In one church north of the Philippine capital Manila, hundreds of pictures of parishioners were taped to pews as a priest led a Sunday service in a near-empty sanctuary. "We also feel their presence virtually," said Father Mark Christopher De Leon. "This is our way of being with them, praying for them spiritually, praying for them, praying for their safety." - 'Far from victory' - Unlike France and Italy, Spain reported a slight spike in deaths with 619 fresh fatalities after declines over three straight days. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned there could still be tough times ahead, even as the number of new infections continued to slow. "We are still far from victory, from the moment when we will recover normality in our lives," Sanchez said in locked-down Spain. "We are all keen to go back out on the streets... but our desire is even greater to win the war and prevent a relapse," he added. New York, the epicentre of the virus in the United States, has gradually seen the public health crisis stabilise after a devastating week. "You're not seeing a great decline in the numbers, but you're seeing a flattening," Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters. "And you're also seeing a recurrence of the terrible news, which is the number of lives lost, which is 758," he said of the past 24 hours across the state of New York. - Questions on reopening - The World Health Organization has warned countries against lifting lockdown restrictions too early. Governments are under pressure to keep populations safe while preventing the collapse of their economies, amid warnings from the International Monetary Fund of a downturn not seen since the Great Depression. Trump had earlier voiced hope at returning to normal by Easter but backtracked after dire warnings from public health experts. Anthony Fauci, the White House's top advisor on infectious diseases, said Sunday that parts of the world's largest economy may be ready to reopen by May 1 -- but warned it would not be like a "light switch" with the entire country ending restrictions together. In Turkey, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu offered to resign over a 48-hour nationwide shutdown that was announced Friday night with just two hours' notice. The abrupt declaration sparked panic buying at markets -- defeating the aim of social distancing. But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to accept Soylu's resignation. There were also worrying signs the virus could be taking hold in new -- and vulnerable -- parts of the world. Conflict-wracked Yemen reported its first case last week, while in Mumbai's crowded Dharavi slum -- one of Asia's biggest and the inspiration for the 2008 Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" -- more than 43 cases have been confirmed. "We have been running extensive medical camps in Dharavi and other areas of Mumbai to test more people for coronavirus and make sure carriers are not ignored," said Mumbai official Khabale-Patil. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari urged all residents to stay at home and wash their hands -- but has not said whether stay-at-home orders due to end Monday in three major cities will be extended. Bucking the global sports shutdown, Taiwan opened a new baseball season on Sunday in front of empty stands. burs-jv-sct/bgs/to The pope's Easter Sunday message was peppered with prayers for the ill and urged European solidarity to fight the pandemic Global spread of coronavirus "We will defeat this coronavirus and defeat it together," Boris Johnson vowed, thanking medics he said saved his life "no question"  Mexican Archbishop Francisco Moreno Barron wears a face mask as he celebrates Easter Mass at the empty cathedral in Tijuana The faithful found creative ways to celebrate Easter Sunday in the age of social distancing France's lockdown continued over the Easter weekend, while the government said the virus's plateau may have been reached India has imposed a nationwide lockdown but dozens of cases were reported in a Mumbai slum, Asia's biggest
Advertisement

With car production grinding to a halt due to factory closures as part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, don't think that Britain's manufacturers are simply sitting on their hands waiting for the pandemic to blow over.

Auto operations have shifted from assembling hundreds of motors each day to developing and manufacturing technology to save lives on the frontline, while also providing much-needed services for those in greatest need during the lockdown.

And with Britain's car industry including Formula 1 teams and luxury car makers, this has meant the likes of McLaren, Williams and Mercedes building ventilators for hospitals and making face masks for the NHS, and Rolls-Royces and Bentleys ferrying essentials to vulnerable people in isolation.

Here's how members of Britain's motor sector are putting their strength into the cause...

How the UK automotive sector is changing gear during the lockdown: From Mercedes F1 creating ground-breaking ventilators (pictured) to Jaguar Land Rover donating Defenders to the Red Cross - here's how the motor industry is helping the fight against coronavirus

Car industry at the forefront of developing ventilators

Some 29 product manufacturers have teamed up to answer the UK Government's call for 20,000 new ventilators for the NHS to supplement the 8,000 in hospitals before the pandemic.

They've grouped together as part of the Ventilator Challenge UK consortium to boost the availability of the devices required to treat patients with severe Covid-19 symptoms who can no longer breathe for themselves.

Almost a third of these companies are automotive firms.

Ford is part of the efforts alongside seven Formula One teams with headquarters in the UK.

This includes Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, BWT Racing Point, Haas, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG Petronas, Renault and ROKiT Williams Racing.

Days ago it emerged that reigning World Champions, Mercedes, based in Brackley, Northamptonshire, and academics at University College London had developed the first 'continuous positive airway pressure' (CPAP) device - 100 of which are now going into clinical trials at a hospital in north London.

The equipment - which pushes air and oxygen into a mask to inflate a patient's lungs - is an alternative treatment for people too frail to undergo invasive ventilation procedures and has been signed off as safe for medical use by the MHRA safety watchdog.

Williams Advanced Engineering - a division that's an extension to the F1 squad some 35 miles from Bracknell in Grove - has also helped to re-engineer the ParaPAC300 ventilator unit, producing a number of prototype components within a fortnight of joining the consortium.

Mercedes-AMG's F1 team is based in Brackley, Northamptonshire (left). It, with the help of University College London, has created equipment that pushes air and oxygen into a mask to inflate a patient's lungs as an alternative treatment for people too frail to undergo invasive ventilation procedures

Williams Advanced Engineering - a separate division to the F1 squad - has helped to re-engineer the ParaPAC300 ventilator unit (pictured)

And it's not just ventilators being developed by British car makers.

Engineers at McLaren F1 have developed a respirator prototype to protect frontline NHS staff.

The personal respirator, which consists of a fabric hood connected to an air filter, could soon be used in UK hospitals by those attending patients on coronavirus wards.

The device, developed in partnership with University of Southampton medical staff, is connected to a small portable unit that supplies clean air.

It uses readily available components and has an open-source design, meaning it could potentially be modified by medical teams globally.

A prototype of a personal respirator McLaren's F1 team has developed for frontline healthcare staff tackling the Covid-19 pandemic

The mask consists of a fabric hood that covers the head with an integrated plastic visor to protect the fact. It connects to a small portable unit that straps around the wearer's waist that supplies clean, filtered air

McLaren's Automotive arm - which usually creates seven-figure supercars - is also designing bespoke trolleys specifically for ventilators.

Not just that, but the exclusive vehicle maker is also crash testing the trolleys to ensure they can move valuable ventilators around hectic hospitals safely and without being damaged.

Mike Hawes, the chief executive at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders in the UK, described the efforts as 'essential and extraordinary work'.

He added that it is a 'beacon of hope to our NHS and all of society, and is a shining example of how the wider automotive and other manufacturing sectors can help in this time of crisis'.

Jaguar Land Rover is using it's leading 3D printing technology to rapidly create a stock of comfortable visors for NHS staff to wear during prolonged shifts

From 4X4s to facemasks at Jaguar Land Rover

Demand for facemasks has boomed since the virus outbreak, with conflicting reports claiming the effectiveness of wearing one to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

As such, supplies have been running thin globally. And it's car makers that have been at the forefront of increasing their availability.

Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has become one of the world's biggest producers of mask, making 5 million a day to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Even Lamborghini, better know for making supercars like the Huracan and Aventador, has changed tact and started turning out face masks and 3D printed plexiglass protective medical shields for a local hospital near the iconic brand's Sant'Agata Bolognese factory in Italy.

And there are similar efforts in the UK, too.

The company is has repurposed its Advanced Product Creation Centre in Gaydon into one that makes visors for doctors and nurses after images emerged of medical staff showing bruises caused by wearing uncomfortable masks during shifts

The resusable visors are the first of their kind and have been designed following feedback from a team of NHS healthcare professionals

The nation's biggest car producer, Jaguar Land Rover, has switched attention from premium SUVs and 4X4s to making protective visors for NHS frontline workers.

The company has repurposed its Advanced Product Creation Centre in Gaydon into one that makes more comfortable visors for doctors and nurses after images emerged of medical staff showing the bruises and injuries caused by wearing masks during shifts.

The reusable visors are the first of their kind and have been designed following feedback from a team of NHS healthcare professionals.

The equipment is produced using the 3D printing technology usually used for part design, which is one of the most advanced facilities of this type in Europe.

A spokesman for JLR said: 'Using rapid prototyping technology, has enabled the engineers to work through several iterations of the design in under a week, allowing for medical staff to feed back and improvements to be made.

'It is Jaguar Land Rover's intention to make the open source CAD [computer aided design] files available to Additive Manufacturers and suppliers, so many more protective visors can be printed over the coming weeks.'

Ford is also ramping up efforts to provide personal protective equipment where needed.

Its research and development facility in Dunton, Essex, is trialing the fabrication of face shields for the NHS and medical staff.

The soon-to-close Bridgend engine plant has also donated 13,500 pairs of gloves, 150 one-piece disposable suits and a significant quantity of safety glasses to local health authorities.

Nissan says it is going to churn out some 100,000 protective face visors for the NHS a week at the Sunderland plant where the Qashqai is built

Nissan supply chain experts are also lending a hand to get hundreds of thousands of protective face visors and aprons to frontline workers.

A team of volunteers have created a parts processing line in the final assembly area at the company's Sunderland Plant to sort thousands of individual visor parts and pack them in sets of 125 for shipping direct to the NHS.

MG Motors is also providing PPE to NHS staff

More than 77,000 visors will leave the plant by the end of the first week of operations, with up to 100,000 being distributed each week after that.

The Sunderland car plant in eight days also created an assembly line to make protective aprons for NHS workers following a request for more protective PPE from the Royal College of Nursing.

Initial capacity is 18,000 a week but the team has plans to increase this to over 70,000 within weeks.

MG Motor is also supplying PPE face masks to hospitals in the UK and Ireland.

The donation, which is one part of MG's contribution to the international effort, will benefit hospitals in Birmingham, South Wales, Dublin and Cork.

MG's first donation of 10,000 face masks was delivered to the NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham, at the NEC, on 20th April. The hospital, which was built in just two weeks from inception, has an initial capacity of 500 beds which can be increased to 2,000 if necessary.

A spokesperson for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Nightingale Hospital Birmingham, said: 'This donation of face masks reinforces our resources in the fight against coronavirus.

'NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham will give hospitals across the West Midlands extra capacity should they need it and we are grateful for the support of local businesses like MG Motor.'

Meals, groceries and medication delivered to your door...via a Bentley or Rolls-Royce

The coronavirus hasn't just closed the plants that mass produce mainstream cars - it's also paused efforts at bespoke vehicle makers creating six- and seven-figure sum motors, such as Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

But the fleet of vehicles both legendary UK brands have at their disposal are being put to good use while tools are down.

Bentley, based in Crewe, has allocated a number of Bentayga SUVs - worth in excess of 133,000 each - to a local charity.

As of March 20, it has been helping The Wishing Well charity in Cheshire to deliver meals to the vulnerable using the powerful 4X4s - and professionally trained drivers.

Bentley, based in Crewe, has allocated a number of Bentayga SUVs - worth in excess of 133,000 - to a local charity. It has been helping The Wishing Well in Cheshire to deliver meals to the vulnerable using the powerful 4X4s - and professionally trained drivers

Rolls-Royce has provided its unused fleet of 30 luxurious vehicles - including the latest Phamtom pictured - to provide grocery and medication deliveries to the vulnerable

Rolls-Royce, based in Goodwood (headquarters pictured with a Cullinan SUV in the foreground) is offering its vehicles and drivers to those in most need in and around Chichester

And if you thought that was flash, Rolls-Royce has also been using its fleet of 30 luxurious limousines to deliver groceries and medical supplies for free to those in need in and around Chichester, close to the brand's headquarters in Goodwood.

Motors being used for the service should include the Phantom, Cullinan SUV, Ghost, Wraith and Dawn.

Priority for deliveries is being given to local charities and the NHS services Rolls-Royce already has partnerships with.

A spokesman for Rolls-Royce told the Chichester Observer: 'Rolls-Royce is determined to demonstrate its commitment to the people and organisations on its doorstep in the service of the greater good.

'We have taken the unprecedented decision to place our entire fleet of cars at the disposal of local charities, hospitals and other essential services.'

JLR has distributed a total 27 new Defenders and 30 other vehicles to the British Red Cross to deliver medicine and food to vulnerable people across the UK who now need additional support during the lockdown

New Land Rover Defender gets its first UK test

Land Rover's new Defender 4X4 is arguably the most hotly-anticipated model arrival of 2020. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed its debut in UK dealerships as the lockdown hits the motor trade.

But the car company has put some of the first UK deliveries from Slovakia to good use already, distributing 27 new Defenders to the British Red Cross to deliver medicine and food to vulnerable people across the UK who now need additional support due to social distancing rules.

The Defender's already proved it has go-anywhere capabilities, having only recently returned from a trek across Namibia to prove its offroading credentials - which you can read more about here.

Jaguar and Land Rover have deployed more than 160 vehicles globally to support emergency response organisations during the coronavirus crisis - 57 of these in the UK

Jaguar Land Rover has deployed more than 160 vehicles globally to support emergency response organisations during the coronavirus crisis - 57 of these in the UK.

Finbar McFall, customer experience direction at JLR, said: 'Our partnership with the Red Cross goes back 65 years and we will work hand in hand with them to do all we can during this global health emergency.

'We will also provide help to those closer to home in our local communities. We can all play a part in helping the vulnerable during this global pandemic.'

Free cars for NHS staff: Nissan dealers are offering their fleet of demonstrator and courtesy cars to frontline workers to use during the pandemic - even paying for the insurance and breakdown assistance during the crisis

Nissan providing NHS workers with more than 100 FREE cars during the pandemic

More than 30 Nissan dealers are taking part in an initiative to support frontline health workers by loaning them free vehicles should their normal mode of transport currently be compromised during the Covid-19 crisis.

The motors being offered out to NHS staff include Micra, Juke, Qashqai and all-electric Leaf - all of which are cars showrooms usually use as demonstrators or courtesy vehicles when customer cars are being serviced or repaired.

All the cars are provided at no cost and will include complimentary insurance and roadside assistance.

Only fuel or charging costs will need to be covered by the recipient. For insurance cover, the NHS worker has to be over 25 with no more than 6 points on their license.

For those NHS workers offered a Nissan Leaf, the dealer will also provide free access to the dealers charging facility.

The motors being offered out to NHS staff include Micra, Juke, Qashqai and all-electric Leaf (pictured) - the latter of which also provides customers with free access to Nissan's network of chargers

If you are an NHS worker and want to take advantage of the offer, you can register interest via an online registration form hosted on the Nissan UK website.

Their details will be relayed to their local dealer who will be in contact to arrange the vehicle loan.

The initial number of vehicles is limited, so Nissan encourages those most in need of mobility to not delay their application.

Applicants will be informed that they will be contacted if a car is available from a local dealer (within a 20-mile radius of their home).

And the rest....

Lotus' Chinese owner, Geely, is supplying thousands of items of personal protection equipment to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, close to the brand's factory.

Ford is also supplying some 170 vehicles to the emergency services, local authorities, volunteer groups and other critical services to support transport needs.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT said the automotive sector 'stands ready to help the national effort in every way possible'

'This includes working with ambulance services to provide additional non-emergency support vehicles and providing fleet management expertise', a Ford spokesman said.

'We are also responding to requests from local authorities close to our main facilities to support with the distribution of food and medication to vulnerable and shielded groups and transport for key workers and community support.

'Press vehicles are also being loaned out to support local community actions,' he added.

Fellow volume-selling car firm Vauxhall is also supplying free roadside breakdown assistance to all NHS staff who own one of its models.

Aston Martin is helping by offering NHS workers at Milton Keynes University Hospital emergency car repairs when required.

Speaking of the industry's response to the pandemic, Mike Hawes from the SMMT said: 'The entire sector stands ready to help the national effort in every way possible, from production of critical medical equipment, to supporting delivery of essential supplies, maintaining emergency service vehicles and providing transport for key workers to support the most vulnerable in our communities.'

Nigel Stein, Automotive Council chairman, added: 'Such collaboration has helped make this vital sector globally competitive, with a highly skilled, dedicated and productive workforce that will be essential to getting the economy back on its feet once this crisis is over. '
A coalition of gun store owners and customers filed a suit Thursday against the Baker administration, calling on a judge to reverse the states restrictions on gun sales during the state of emergency.

Four store operators and six would-be gun owners, along with a handful of nonprofits, filed the suit in U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, requesting an order that blocks the state from banning gun sales, arguing it violates the Second Amendment. They also seek an unspecified amount of damages.

The need for personal self-defense is most acute during times of uncertainty and crisis  when law enforcement services may not be available or may not be reliably available, and when (as now) criminal offenders may be released from custody or may be less likely to be taken into custody in the first place, the complaint states. It is precisely times like these that the Plaintiffs and the Plaintiffs members need to be able to exercise their fundamental rights to keep and bear arms.

The plaintiffs include the operators of Troy City Tactical LLC in Fall River, Precision Point Firearms in Woburn, Shooting Supply LLC in Westport and Cape Gun Works in Hyannis. Michael McCarthy of Boston, William R. Biewenga of Wellfleet, Timothy Galligan of Easton, Jim Simmons of New Bedford, David Lantagne of Dunstable and Alfred Morin of Brewster joined the lawsuit as prospective gun buyers.

Other plaintiffs include the California-based Firearms Policy Coalition, Washington state-based Second Amendment Inc. and Commonwealth Second Amendment Inc. in Natick.

Gov. Charlie Bakers first executive order making non-essential businesses close their shops did not exempt gun shops, raising complaints from Second Amendment advocates and trade associations.

The Baker administrations updated order and list of exempt businesses included gun retailers and shooting ranges, sparking outrage from gun control advocates who argue that the exemption would lead to more suicides, domestic violence incidents and unintentional shootings hurting children.

Gun retailers and shooting ranges were removed from the exempted business list hours later.

Old updated essential business list in Massachusetts

Toby Leary, co-owner of Cape Gun Works in Hyannis, told MassLive on April 1 he was not aware the Baker administration had removed gun retailers from the exempt businesses list. Leary said he believed he could remain open because the business manufacturers and distributes firearms in addition to selling them, fulfilling orders for local law enforcement and federal agencies.

I feel we fit the guidelines in more than one way, but Im talking more for the other retailers who have closed their doors in other parts of the state, Leary told MassLive. I think other states are recognizing that gun stores are an essential service.

Later that day, the Barnstable Board of Health called the business owners telling them they could not continue selling guns to the public, according to the complaint.

On April 3, Cape Cod Gun Works received a copy of a notice drafted by the Jamison Gagnon, commissioner of the Department of Justice Information Services. It said that by "noon on April 1, 2020 gun dealers must remain closed for all business transactions under the non-essential businesses executive order.

According to the complaint, Cape Cod Gun Works and other gun stores implemented sanitization guidelines as the coronavirus pandemic spread across Massachusetts. The store owners routinely cleaned doorknobs and countertops, implemented social distancing measures and limited the number of people in the store at once. Some businesses sold guns by appointment only.

Biewenga contacted Cape Cod Gun Works in hopes of buying a gun but was turned away, according to the complaint. He and Laurie Warner, who hold valid licenses to carry firearms but do not have guns, live close to the Cape Cod National Seashore and often see trespassers. They claim they would not be able to protect themselves otherwise because they cant rely on emergency services.

Cape Cod Gun Works told Biewenga that the state had shut (them) down at this time and that they couldnt transfer a gun to him or Warner.

Other prospective gun owners expressed similar frustrations with trying to obtain firearms, according to the complaint.

McCarthy, who is licensed to carry but has no firearm or ammunition, claimed he wanted a gun to protect his family in Boston. When he asked Precision Point Firearms, the operator said the store could not sell guns or ammunition because of the governors executive order.

Galligan, a single father who is licensed to carry, claimed he wanted a gun to protect himself and his teenage son but could not get one. He contacted Troy City Firearms in Fall River but was turned away.

Other states have clashed with gun owners and Second Amendment advocates during the pandemic. New Jersey initially closed gun stores but reopened them after the federal guidance listed gun retailers as essential. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf reopened gun stores after a group of gun owners sued the state, even though the lawsuit was narrowly rejected.

Related Content:
Pakistan shot-down Indian drones as border tension rises

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, April 9, IRNA -- As diplomatic and border tensions between Pakistan and India rise, Pakistan army on Thursday claimed to shoot an Indian drone after it violated country's airspace in Kashmir region.

Pakistan's Army media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said that an Indian quadcopter was shot down by army on Thursday after it violated Pakistani airspace in Sankh district, along the Line of Control (LoC), the defecto border in Kashmir region.

"In this provocative act, Indian quadcopter intruded 600 meters inside Pakistan's territory for conducting surveillance. This blatant act was aggressively responded to by Pakistan Army troops shooting down Indian quadcopter," said the statement.

It added that such unwarranted acts by Indian Army are clear violation of established norms, existing Air Agreement between two countries and reflect Indian Army's consistent disregard to Ceasefire Understanding of 2003.

India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947 when British colonialists left the subcontinent. Since partition, the two countries have fought three wars  in 1948, 1965 and 1971  two of them over Kashmir, in addition to a three-week-long Kargil skirmish in 1999.

Both countries accuse each other of targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire on the border in Kashmir.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had also written a letter to the President of United Nations Security Council and the UN Secretary-General urging them to play roles for regional peace and also warned India of any misadventure.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aisha Farooqui in a statement had rejected the latest Indian action aimed at changing the demographic structure of the Indian administered Kashmir.

272**1430

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Canada's coronavirus death toll is set to soar from more than 500 currently to as high as 22,000 by the end of the pandemic, health officials said on Thursday, while the economy lost a record 1 million jobs last month.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the country would not return to normal until a vaccine is developed, which could be as long as 18 months.

Health officials said the two most likely scenarios showed between 11,000 and 22,000 people would die. The total number of positive diagnoses of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, ranged from 934,000 to 1.9 million.

They said they expected between 500 and 700 people in Canada to die from the coronavirus by April 16. There have been nearly 21,000 positive diagnoses so far.

Chief public health officer Theresa Tam said it was crucial that people continued to stay at home as much as possible.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"While some of the numbers released today may seem stark, Canada's modeling demonstrates that the country still has an opportunity to control the epidemic," she told a briefing.

Howard Njoo, Tam's deputy, said if all went well, the first wave of the outbreak could end by July or August. But he emphasized there would be subsequent smaller waves.

Local governments across Canada have ordered non-essential businesses shut to combat the spread, throwing millions out of work.

Canada lost a record-breaking 1 million jobs in March while the unemployment rate soared to 7.8%, Statistics Canada said, adding that the figures did not reflect the real toll.

"This was about as bad as it could be," said Derek Holt, vice president of capital markets economics at Scotiabank.

More than 5 million Canadians have applied for all forms of federal emergency unemployment help since March 15, government data showed, suggesting the real jobless rate is closer to 25%.

Energy is among the hardest-hit sectors, as the pandemic cuts oil demand. OPEC and allies agreed to cut output by 10 million barrels per day, and Alberta's premier said his province had not been asked to contribute to the curtailments.

Trudeau told reporters the country was "at a fork in the road between the best and the worse possible outcomes," predicting that once the first wave was over, the economy could partially be reopened.

"Normality as it was before will not come back full on until we get a vaccine for this and ... that could be a very long way off."

The Liberal government has announced a range of measures to help businesses totaling around C$110 billion ($78.3 billion) in direct spending, or 5% of gross domestic product.

Trudeau's government recalled the House of Commons to meet on Saturday and vote in limited numbers on measures including a wage subsidy worth C$73 billion to soften the economic blow.

Canada's independent parliamentary budget officer predicted the budget deficit would balloon to C$184.2 billion in the 2020-2021 fiscal year from C$27.4 billion in the 2019 2020 fiscal year.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 17:01:21|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Viruses respect no borders and are a common enemy of humankind. In the global war against the novel #coronavirus outbreak, China has received aid from the international community and is lending a hand to many other virus-hit countries. Only through solidarity and mutual assistance can mankind prevail over the pandemic. #COVID19
The Oregon Department of Corrections late Thursday said it had identified an estimated 3,244 inmates -- about 22 percent of the state prison population -- who fall into one of seven categories that the governor is considering for possible early release amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Gov. Kate Brown this week asked prison, parole and probation officials to come up with the estimates and report their findings by Monday.

The state divided medically vulnerable inmates into two tiers based on the severity of their conditions. The categories and estimates:

-- Inmates who can be released to an approved residence (293)

-- All inmates, regardless of their conviction, who are within eight weeks of release (590)

-- Non-Measure 11 medically vulnerable inmates, tier one (35)

-- Non-Measure 11 medically vulnerable inmates, tier two (115)

-- Non-Measure 11 inmates over age 60 (159)

-- Non-Measure 11 inmates who have served half of their sentence and are within six months of release (1,079)

-- Non-Measure 11 inmates who have served half of their sentence and who are within six to 12 months of release (973)

Late Thursday, a spokeswoman for the governor said Brown is focused on gathering detailed information at this point.

We anticipate ongoing conversations and review of the data that (the Department of Corrections) provides before any decisions are made, said Liz Merah, a spokeswoman for Brown. She said the governor does not have a timeline for making a decision.

State and county corrections and probation officials began meeting Wednesday to discuss the states estimates and how local communities would handle early release of prisoners. Those meetings are set to wrap up Friday.

Hood River County Sheriff Matt English, who sits on one of the committees, summarized the discussions for fellow sheriffs in a memo obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive. English said from the consensus of those on the conference call, this is neither a popular, nor a supported direction to move.

In his memo, English said counties lack resources to deal with a large influx of people released from prison.

Im going to go out on a limb here and say that the overarching consensus of sheriffs would be that zero early releases is the desired outcome, English wrote to Oregon sheriffs.

Brown has faced rising pressure from prominent advocacy organizations to address the COVID-19 threat to inmates and corrections staff.

Social distancing poses a challenge in prisons and jails, where people live in close quarters and where, studies show, the population in general tends to be sicker. Oregon is also home to an aging prison population -- it houses among the highest percentages of prisoners ages 55 and older in the country, according to a 2018 study by Pew Charitable Trusts.

So far, a dozen staff members and inmates in the state prison system have confirmed cases of the virus: four workers at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, three staff members and four inmates at the Santiam Correctional Institution Salem and one inmate at the Shutter Creek Correctional Institution in North Bend.

This week, Brown, corrections chief Colette Peters and other top prison officials were named in a class action lawsuit over the alleged failure to protect inmates from the pandemic. The federal suit doesnt seek money, but asks prison administrators to provide adequate medical care, access to cleaning supplies and testing for those who may have been exposed.

The plaintiffs also want a judge to order prisons to allow 6 feet between prisoners and to release inmates if prisons are too full to comply with social distancing guidelines.

Prison administrators have opened medical wards to triage inmates with symptoms of respiratory illness and said they would ramp up coronavirus testing as tests become more available.

Administrators said they have identified the systems most medically vulnerable inmates and placed them in single cells when possible.

A hygiene committee also is reaching out to each and every unit to provide basic information on how people can protect themselves from the disease. Routine medical visits to prison health clinics are on hold so the agency can conserve personal protective equipment and practice social distancing.

The federal government is taking steps to limit the spread of the virus in the Bureau of Prisons. This month, U.S. Attorney General William Barr told federal prison officials to expand early release at prisons where confirmed cases are on the rise.

-- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
A trio of executive orders Gov. Charlie Baker signed Thursday aims to expand the health care systems capacity and ensure access to COVID-19 treatment, including in field hospitals.

The actions come almost one month into a state of emergency as the latest step preparing for a surge in infections and hospitalizations that could arrive as soon as Friday.

At his daily press conference, Baker also discussed new details about a South Boston field hospital and the states ongoing quest to obtain ventilators.

Baker said the state heard from the federal government last night that it will receive an additional 100 ventilators, and Boston Childrens Hospital is making a wonderful donation of five ventilators. So far, Massachusetts has received 100 ventilators of the 1,700 its requested from the national stockpile.

Obviously, we continue to be focused on the pursuit of ventilators through other means and other channels as well, he said.

At this point, Baker said, the COVID-19 surge is on track to land about when we thought it was going to land -- somewhere between April 10 and April 20 -- but he doesnt have a crystal ball with respect to how long its going to last or how high its going to go.

As of Thursday afternoon, 503 people in Massachusetts had died from COVID-19, at least 1,747 had been hospitalized, and a total of 18,941 had tested positive for it.

Were going to talk to our colleagues in the health care community, Baker said. Were going to think about what life could be like once we get past this, but I will be incredibly careful about not permitting this insidious, awful and horribly dangerous and contagious virus from coming back anytime soon, and I think thats got to be the way we all look at this.

Baker said he knows economic consequences are severe -- nearly 470,000 Massachusetts residents filed new unemployment claims over the last three weeks, he said -- but the reason the state has ordered businesses to close, advised residents to stay at home and imposed other restrictions is to keep people alive and to keep our health care system from getting so overwhelmed that it isnt able to do the things it can do for people.

One will allow nursing school graduates and final-semester students to practice, under direct supervision, before they receive their license.Another makes graduates of international medical schools eligible for licensure in Massachusetts if they have completed at least two years of postgraduate resident training in the U.S. Advocates and lawmakers have been pushing for the state to ease licensing requirements for foreign-trained doctors.

Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, called the move an excellent first step and great news for international medical graduates who are well into their residencies but said many foreign-trained medical professionals in Massachusetts dont fit that profile, even though they have very robust skills and experience.

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders also announced a new website hosting job opportunities and applications for COVID-19 temporary care sites, including field hospitals and dedicated skilled nursing facilities. She said those surge sites are hiring for a variety of health care and human services roles, including respiratory therapists, nursing aides, and housekeepers.

Officials are kicking off an all-out, statewide strategy to recruit laid-off and furloughed health care workers, volunteers, students and others, Sudders said.

Bakers third new order mandates that health insurers cover all medically required costs of COVID-19 treatment, with no charge to the patient. He said the new field hospitals -- in Worcester at the DCU Center and at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center -- might be considered out-of-network facilities under normal circumstances.

Officials announced Thursday that Partners HealthCare will lead the clinical care at the BCEC site, now dubbed Boston Hope. The medical center will be a partnership with Boston Health Care for the Homeless, eventually providing 500 beds on the medical side and 500 for homeless populations.Dr. Anne Klibanski, the Partners president and CEO, said Boston Hope will begin accepting patients Friday and will be open to patients from across the city and region, not just those from Partners hospitals.

I think we should all be proud of this, how many have come together in such a short amount of time to make this happen. The clinicians, the support staff and so many others from across our system and across the regions, theyre raising their hands and asking how they can take care of patients, she said. Staffing has been a challenge, it has been an issue, but seeing the number of people who have come forward, seeing the creativity, seeing the willingness to serve is what is making us be able to move forward now.

Related Content:
BOISE  Idaho Gov. Brad Little said Thursday night on his weekly coronavirus Q&A with Idaho Public Television that the state is making progress in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its not perfect, but we have really flattened the curve, Little said.  We believe that the good work that everybody in the state of Idaho is doing is starting to yield dividends, which is less people getting sick, and most importantly fewer people dying.

Idahos curve of new cases peaked April 1-2 with 141 and 205 new cases reported on those days.

Since then, the maximum was 114 on April 3, and the state hasnt hit 100 since. The state reported 94 new cases Thursday.

Idahos death toll jumped to 24 on Thursday with the second straight day of five reported deaths, the two deadliest days Idaho has seen. Some deaths are reported days after they happen, so its unclear when those deaths actually occurred or when those patients got sick.

Littles 21-day stay-home order runs through the end of the day next Wednesday. He said hell decide early next week what to do beyond that date, but he does expect some sort of action.

We will not flip the switch and go back to what it was before, Little said.  Theres ample reason for us to maintain some of those best practices in place, and well decide where we are on the scale as we look forward. So I guess what Im taking out of this is yes, in some way, shape or form, there will be something still in play after that.

 There will be things in place that we need to have to continue to allow us to flatten the curve.

He hinted that he might not go as far as Washington state, which has a stay-home order in place through May 4, or the federal government, which extended social distancing guidelines through the end of April.

Because of our very successful results that were seeing now, were looking at it from a variety of if this happens, we want to do this, Little said. Weve got enough personal protective equipment. Weve got enough hospital room. Its not a comfortable enough margin that we want to get carried away. What you worry about in this is we talk about flattening the curve. You dont want a second wave afterwards.

Nobody wants to open the economy up more than I do. So thats our goal.

Little and Dave Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said Idaho is in good shape with its hospital capacity, which is one of the critical factors in handling this pandemic.

The availability of health care workers has been more of an issue than infrastructure, Jeppesen said. Idaho has reported 143 infected health care workers, which is more than 10% of the states 1,354 cases.

The hospitals are doing quite well, Jeppesen said.  Weve been very fortunate so far that the capacity of the hospitals has met the need for our coronavirus patients as well. Were not at a place where we need to move into surge capacity.  Theyre able to fairly easily at this point handle the volume of patients that they see.

Other notes:

 Little was asked about appearing in studio once a week for the Q&A during the stay-home order. Jeppesen appeared remotely this week and Little said he will next week.

 The state is still about a week away from producing recovered patients data, Jeppesen said. Those numbers will be estimates, he said. We know the virus takes anywhere up to 21 days before people have recovered, he said. And were going to use our best science to really estimate how many of those individuals have recovered. However, the Panhandle Health District in North Idaho began posting no longer monitored patients this week (14 out of 45).

 The lower number of test results posted this week (525 per day average on weekdays) compared with last week (833), Jeppesen said, is because the state was catching up on a backlog of tests last week and they were returned in bunches. Obviously, wed like to have more testing capacity, he said. We continue to work on that. But at the moment we dont have a big backlog, and this is kind of our current, steady state. While the number of tests has dropped, so has the percentage that are coming back positive. It was 13.7% for a six-day stretch ending Saturday; its 9.6% the past five days.

 Antibody testing, which can show who has had the virus and is potentially immune for some amount of time, hasnt arrived in Idaho yet, Jeppesen said. However, he said theres some exciting research in Blaine County related to antibody testing.
South Africa: Nationwide lockdown extended by two weeks

The 21-day nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 has been extended by a further two weeks until the end of April.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the extension in a televised address on Thursday evening, as the number of confirmed cases climbed to 1 934 cases.

If we end the lockdown too soon or too abruptly, we risk a massive and uncontrollable resurgence of the disease. We risk reversing the gains we have made over the last few weeks, and rendering meaningless the great sacrifices that have been made.

After careful consideration of the available evidence, the National Coronavirus Command Council has decided to extend the nation-wide lockdown by a further two weeks beyond the initial 21 days, said the President.

The Presidents address follows a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council on Wednesday and consultations the President held with premiers and political parties and various social partners during the course of today.

With the severe restrictions on movement and many daily freedoms, the President thanked South Africans for their adherence to regulations and their commitment to saving lives.

For your cooperation, for your commitment and above all for your patience, I wish to thank you personally. I wish to thank you for reaffirming to each other and to the world that we South Africans are a people who come together and unite at moments of great crisis, he said.

The extension comes as the number of confirmed cases worldwide surged to 1.5 million - with over 90 000 people losing their lives to the disease.

In a plea to South Africans, the President called on citizens to endure the lockdown a bit longer.

While it is too early to make a definitive analysis of the progression of the disease in South Africa, the President said there is sufficient evidence to show that the lockdown is working.

Since the lockdown came into effect, the rate at which new cases have been identified here in South Africa has slowed significantly.

In the two weeks before the lockdown, the average daily increase in new cases was around 42%. Since the start of the lockdown, the average daily increase has been around 4%.

Government ramps up mass screening and testing

Since the 21-day lockdown, government has refined and intensified its public health strategy to manage the Coronavirus.

In the last week, government developed its screening and testing methodology in various parts of the country.

Over the next two weeks, government will roll out its community screening and testing programme across all provinces, focusing in particular, on highly vulnerable communities.

Those who test positive and cannot self-isolate at home will be isolated at special facilities that have been identified and are now being equipped.

To ensure that its strategies are effectively coordinated and to ensure they are informed by comprehensive, real-time data, government has established the COVID-19 Information Centre at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

This world-class centre will keep track of all screening, testing, isolation and hospitalisation throughout the country.

It is already identifying infection hotspots. It is following the spread and the severity of the disease, and enabling us to move our focus and resources where they are most needed, said the President.

Easter Weekend

With the extension announced on the eve of the Easter Weekend, the President called on South Africans to embrace the spirit of Easter which is a message of hope, recovery and of rebirth.

As we walk this road together, as we struggle to defeat this pandemic, we remain strong and united and resolved.

Much is being asked of you, far more than should ever be asked. But we know that this is a matter of survival, and we dare not fail. We shall recover. We shall overcome, said the President.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
You are here: China

A Chinese mainland spokesperson Thursday strongly condemned the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority in Taiwan for its "malicious" verbal attacks on the World Health Organization (WHO) and its director-general.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, also slammed the DPP for conniving in the wanton spread of racist remarks by the internet mob from its camp.

Zhu said the DPP took whatever means to "bank on the epidemic to seek independence."

The spokesperson urged the DPP to immediately stop political manipulation.

"The DPP's attempt to take the opportunity of the epidemic to undermine the one-China principle and seek entry into the WHO is doomed to fail," she added.
President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook cast their ballots at a polling station in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap



Wearing a face mask against the coronavirus, President Moon Jae-in cast his ballot Friday, as South Korea began a two-day early voting for the April 15 parliamentary elections that are seen as a referendum on him.



He voted at a polling booth established inside a Samcheong-dong community service center near Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul.



Moon cast the early ballot as part of efforts to help enhance public awareness of the elections and raise the voter turnout, according to his aides.






ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With worldwide travel at a standstill, airlines and cruise lines are issuing vouchers for cancelled trips.

Travel insurance comparison site, Squaremouth.com, says there is one big reason to purchase travel insurance for trips booked with vouchers, and explains how these policies can be affordable.

Medical Benefits Can Cover Expensive Emergencies Abroad

A travel insurance policy can provide travelers with essential medical benefits, as the majority of US health insurance providers, including Medicare, do not cover travelers on international trips. Travelers using vouchers to book future international travel can purchase a policy for medical care if they fall ill or get injured on their trip. These policies can even cover their evacuation back home if necessary.

Don't Pay More to Insure Travel Vouchers

If a traveler rebooks their trip using only travel vouchers, they will have no or limited expenses to insure. The lower the trip cost, the lower the price of the policy. Travelers booking with vouchers can save money by forgoing cancellation coverage, but can still purchase a comprehensive policy to include a host of other benefits, including emergency medical, baggage delay and trip delay.

Travelers can search for low cost policies that do not include trip cancellation coverage on squaremouth.com here .

To keep travelers informed about their insurance options amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Squaremouth.com created The Traveler's Guide to Travel Insurance for the Coronavirus Pandemic . This resource is updated daily as events unfold.

ABOUT SQUAREMOUTH

SQUAREMOUTH compares travel insurance policies from every major travel insurance provider in the United States. Using Squaremouth's comparison engine and third-party customer reviews, travelers can research and compare travel insurance policies side-by-side . More information can be found at www.squaremouth.com .

Available Topic Expert:

Kasara Barto

[email protected]

SOURCE Squaremouth

Related Links

http://www.squaremouth.com


Pakistan Demands Afghanistan Hand Over Detained IS Leader

By Ayaz Gul April 09, 2020

Pakistan demanded Thursday that neighboring Afghanistan hand over the captured regional Islamic State chief for plotting terrorist attacks against Pakistani targets.

A foreign ministry statement said it summoned the Afghan ambassador to convey Islamabad's "views with regard to the arrest of ISIS-K leader, Aslam Farooqi, by the Afghan authorities on 5 April 2020."

The statement used an acronym for Islamic State's regional affiliate, known as IS Khorasan Province (ISKP), operating in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and surrounding areas.

"It was underscored to the ambassador that since Aslam Farooqi was involved in anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan, he should be handed over to Pakistan for further investigations," the ministry said. It went on to emphasize that Islamabad and Kabul should "coordinate actions against the menace of terrorism."

There was no immediate reaction from Afghan officials.

The Afghan spy agency announced last Saturday it had arrested Farooqi, also identified as Abdullah Orakzai, along with 19 key operatives of his terrorist group. But it did not say when or where the operation was conducted, noting Farooqi is a Pakistani militant.

IS militants regularly carry out attacks on both sides of the long border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, killing scores of people in recent years.

On Thursday, the terrorist group claimed responsibly for an early morning rocket attack at the U.S.-run Bagram airfield, north of the Afghan capital.

NATO's Resolute Support mission said five rockets were fired at the base but there were no casualties or injuries. It noted Afghan authorities are investigating the incident.

Last month, ISKP conducted a suicide attack against a minority Sikh place of worship in Kabul, which killed at least 25 worshippers.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 23:57:28|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

JERUSALEM, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli President Reuven Rivlin apologized on Friday for having the Jewish Passover holiday dinner "Seder" with his daughter despite the government's ban as part of the combat against the novel coronavirus.

"I apologize. Since my wife passed away, my children help me a lot in my personal affairs, and in work matters as contacts during holidays and weekends, when my office is not staffed," Rivlin wrote in his statement.

Rivlin, 80, hosted his daughter at the presidential residence in Jerusalem for the traditional Passover dinner on Wednesday evening, contrary to the government's ban on having meals with the extended families as part of a curfew.

It was only allowed to have a Seder meal with nuclear families at home.
For the first time since the new coronavirus began spreading around the world more than three months ago, the United Nations Security Council met to discuss the pandemic, amid rising alarm that it could lead to social unrest and political instability.

The meeting on Thursday of the 15-member council, the most powerful body at the United Nations, was held via videoconference link and was not publicly shown on the organizations website. But diplomats who participated said just the convening of the meeting represented progress compared with a week ago, when disputes among its five permanent members  mainly between the United States and China  prevented the Council from even discussing the pandemic.

Inaction by the Council to combat Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, has led to criticism that it has become increasingly irrelevant in dealing with threats to peace and security.

Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who has called the pandemic the greatest threat in the 75-year history of the United Nations, warned the Council that it could lead to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to find the disease, according to his office. This is the fight of a generation, he said.

Diplomats said the meeting, which lasted three hours, was less tense than some had feared and that the representatives from China and the United States did not confront each other with arguments over the origins of the virus, which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December. The worst outbreaks have since shifted to Europe and the United States.

The Council issued a statement after the meeting expressing support for all efforts of the secretary-general concerning the potential impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to conflict-affected countries and recalled the need for unity and solidarity with all those affected. But it did not specifically call for a cease-fire in all armed conflicts, as Mr. Guterres has sought.

Taiwan accuses Chinese web users of meddling in spat over racist abuse of W.H.O. chief.
A self-isolating grandmother celebrated her 92nd birthday on April 8 with a song and dance at a party with two of her daughters  at a social distance, naturally.

Dolores McEvoy recorded this video of 92-year-old Bridie Orgian celebrating in her home in Borris-in-Ossory, County Laois, Ireland. Doloress daughter Gearoidin McEvoy originally posted the video to Twitter. Dolores told Storyful she and her twin sister decided they wanted to surprise their mom with a visit and a cake.

We werent really surprised with her dancing as she loves music and a good party, she said. Shes looking forward to a proper celebration when all this isolation is over. Breda my twin sister and I are definitely the favorite children at the minute.

The video shows Bridie Orgian singing happy birthday to herself while dancing in the kitchen. Doloress daughter later posted a photo of Orgian blowing out her birthday candles. Credit: Dolores McEvoy via Storyful
An amnesty must be granted to people who live in Northern Ireland but work across the border and inadvertently received a Covid-19 hardship payment from the Irish Government, it has been claimed.

The Irish Government set up the hardship fund for workers who lost their job as a result of coronavirus control measures.

People living in the Republic but working in Northern Ireland are entitled to the Covid-19 payment. However, the scheme does not apply to people working in the Republic, but whose home address is this side of the border.

The Republic's Business Minister Heather Humphreys said yesterday it is up to Stormont to give them the money.

"I think it is something we can take up with them when we meet them again but I think it would be something that they should be looking at themselves," she said.

"People who live in the South and work in the North can claim the 350 unemployment payment. Perhaps the Northern Ireland Executive would look at doing the same for people who are living in the North."

When the scheme was launched, a small number of people living here who submitted an application for the 350 payment received the money.

They have now been told by the Irish Government they must return it - something Foyle SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said is wrong.

"An amnesty should be granted to anyone in the North who received the Covid-19 payment because they applied to the scheme in good faith believing that because they paid their taxes and national contributions in the jurisdiction where they worked they were entitled to it," he said.

"There should also be adequate support put in place for cross-border workers who are falling through the nets of both Governments.

"Since this Covid-19 payment was launched, the Irish Government did come back with some additional support for people living in the North who work in the Republic, but if you are self-employed this additional support does not apply," he added.

One office worker from Co Armagh who did receive the payment said she feels let down by the Irish Government.

Speaking to RTE radio, she added: "I didn't know you had to be a resident of the Republic and I put in my address in Northern Ireland.

"The payment came through but I'm afraid to spend a penny of it. I'm anxious and stressed.

"Everybody should be pulling together but that doesn't seem to be the case.

"The Revenue doesn't seem to mind where my address is when I am paying tax."

The Irish Department of Social Protection, which set up the Covid-19 pandemic payment, said people living in Northern Ireland but working in the Republic are considered "frontier workers".

Ms Humphreys said: "Under the legislation that currently exists, if you are laid off south of the border and you live in the north, you have to claim your social welfare in the country in which you live.

"That is the situation currently. I have asked the Department of Social Protection to look at it and they examined it carefully.

"They have not been able to find a way in which they can pay workers who live in Northern Ireland and work south of the border."
The Narendra Modi government did well to lift export restrictions on certain drugs, especially hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), the anti-malarial drug that United States (US) President Donald Trump has touted as a game-changer in the fight against the coronavirus disease. Even though the drugs efficacy against the deadly pathogen remains scientifically unproven, if it helps save lives, as Trump and some of his advisers have contended, letting US orders go through is the right thing to do on humanitarian grounds. This is presuming India did not dip too deep into its own reserves.

Equally important perhaps are the implications for the bilateral relationship. Americans have for long been very clear that while they may seem, and have been, genuinely supportive and generous with India, they dont expect to see the relationship run like a charity. There is an expectation of returns, pay back  reciprocity, as Trump likes to put it. No administration, Republican or Democratic, has been less or more transactional; the current dispensation is avowedly more.

Anyone who doubts that should check the archives to learn of the outpouring of indignation in 2012 when India overlooked the bids of two US companies for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft. The Americans had expected to win the multibillion-dollar contract  among other things, as an expression of gratitude from India for the civil nuclear deal signed four years before, that ended Indias nuclear isolation.

There have been constant reminders then of Indias voting record at the United Nations (UN), that does not align with US interest (guess what, not so surprisingly India has voted mostly in line with its own interest). Americans express a sense of hurt that this is so despite the growing relationship and all that the US does for India at the UN, especially to block or fend off the Chinese on a range of issues, including shaming it last year and getting it to agree to designate Masood Azhar a terrorist.

Just as the HCQ decision does not take care of all past favours, it will not unlock a bottomless treasure trove of goodies. But its significance for the relationship cannot be overstated, as Trump himself acknowledged in a thank-you tweet on Wednesday.

In the short-term, can India expect to be an early beneficiary of the vaccines that are either undergoing clinical trials in the US or are about to? More than two dozen pharmaceutical companies are racing to find a vaccine; two of them got off the starting line just this past Wednesday.

Human trials began on one in Seattle in mid-March, which could hit the markets next year. Gilead Sciences investigational drug, remdesivir, has been called the most promising of antiviral treatments on the way. India might also need ventilators and other medical supplies that are being cranked out or repurposed in American manufacturing facilities.

In the longer-term, Indians will feel most reassured by the presidents promise that their gesture of goodwill at this time of grave crisis for the US will not be forgotten.

yashwant.raj@hindustantimes.com

The views expressed are personal
An Australian minister has resigned after breaching the countrys ban on non-essential travel during the coronavirus pandemic.

Don Harwin, the New South Wales arts minister, was caught relocating to his holiday home on the Central Coast and subsequently fined 1000 Australian dollars (508), with NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller saying that no-one was above the law.

The politician argued he had travelled to his second home before the imposition of the nationwide travel ban, but has since announced his resignation.

Today I have offered my resignation to the Premier as a Minister in her government, he said in a statement on Friday.

There is nothing more important than the work of the Government in fighting the coronavirus crisis.

I will not allow my circumstances to be a distraction from that work and I very much regret that my residential arrangements have become an issue during this time.

At all times I have sought to act in accordance with public health orders and I sought advice that my living arrangements complied with those orders.

Mr Harwin said he remained confident he had acted in accordance with those orders.

I know however that perception is just as important during these times, he added.

The Premier and her team are doing an outstanding job during the biggest crisis our state and nation have faced during our lifetimes.

It is absolutely vital they should be able to focus entirely on the health and economic issues facing our community.

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian later announced that she had accepted the resignation, while praising the public for their sacrifices amid the nationwide lockdown.

During this health crisis, my government has asked the community to make greater sacrifices than all of us have ever had to make before, she said.

These sacrifices are saving lives, and I am proud of the people of NSW for continuing to uphold the law in the interest of the public health.

She added: Whilst Minister Harwin has served the people of NSW well, and he continues to assure me that he did not break the rules, the orders in place apply equally to everybody.

Accordingly, Minister Harwin has appropriately resigned from cabinet.

To date, Australia has reported more than 6,204 cases and 54 deaths from coronavirus, according to figures from John Hopkins University.
Huawei is looking to expand its chipset offerings to include graphics processing units (GPUs) and its hiring engineers from NVIDIA to do it. Thats based on recent reports stemming from South Korea. The implication is that Huawei will soon be setting up shop in the country. The new team will be dedicated to competing directly with NVIDIA on GPUs.

The GPUs in question wont be competing against that company on desktop platforms, however. Theres already a fairly robust level of competition in that space. Instead, it will be pushing its efforts toward GPUs that are usable in its own servers. But those may also find use in cloud computing platforms and elsewhere.

Huawei GPUs would have a strong foundation to stand on

Now, a decision by Huawei to hire on NVIDIA workers to develop GPUs is hardly surprising. Thats a space that other company currently dominates to a large extent. But Huawei isnt without experience in the realm of GPUs either.

Advertisement

Not only does Hauwei have its own line of chipsets with the multi-purpose Ascend-series AI chips. Its been working for years with its subsidiary HiSilicon. The latter companys Kirin-series chips have become synonymous with AI SoCs since thats been Huaweis focus for its phones. Among the offerings put forward by HiSilicon is the recently launched Kirin 820 5G.

As the branding implies, thats an AI-heavy chipset geared at bringing 5G in the mid-range price bracket.

While AI may seem unrelated to the GPU industry, thats just one technology of many that rely heavily on GPUs and GPU-like computing. In fact, GPUs are among the best chipsets for running AI. So Huawei already has its foot in the door via its work with AI.

Advertisement

The addition of employees who previously worked with NVIDIA would pad that out with more direct GPU know-how beyond the mobile industry.

Does this have any mobile implications?

Whether or not the rumors about a new series of Huawei GPUs built by ex-NVIDIA employees are true remains to be seen. But the development, if true, could have resounding implications for the mobile industry too.

For the time being, Huaweis chipsets  including HiSilicon SoCs  are heavily reliant on other industry leaders. In particular, the Kirin chipsets rely on GPUs built by MediaTek. Specifically, those are MediaTeks Mali-branded graphics chips. Given that MediaTek has recently been called out for cheating on benchmark tests, thats not necessarily a good look for the company.

Advertisement

Moreover, Huawei has made a point of moving away from using hardware and software built by competitors over the past year. Government officials in the US and elsewhere have continually pushed to make cooperation between Huawei and others difficult. Among the more prominent examples of that, the US placed Huawei on an entity list in early 2018. That forbade US companies from working with it.

With sanctions and investigations against Huawei ongoing  and the company continuing to decry those  it has no choice but to continue looking inward for solutions. So it makes a lot of sense that GPUs would be among the next projects it undertakes.
Odisha has extended the lockdown to contain the coronavirus disease till the end of this month as more states identify new risk areas and impose stringent restrictions. India is also preparing to start clinical trials to treat Covid-19 patients with convalescent plasma therapy that involves drawing antibody-rich blood from survivors to treat the sick.

Here are the top stories on Covid-19 pandemic from India today.

816 cases jolt India amid harder curbs

The Centre on Thursday approved an emergency response package worth ~15,000 crore to control the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and was considering dividing the Indian Railways into three zones for a staggered exit from the nationwide lockdown, even as it opened a new front in the battle to halt the outbreak by creating over 1,100 containment zones. Read more.

10 lakh crore stimulus need of the hour, experts estimate

Economists and business leaders are pitching for a massive Rs 10 lakh crore stimulus package to support people who have lost their livelihoods and businesses on the verge of collapse because of the coronavirus crisis.Former chief economic adviser in the finance ministry, Arvind Subramanian, has said the government will have to spend Rs 10 lakh crore, an amount equivalent to 5% of Indias gross domestic product, to deal with the disruption caused by the pandemic. Read more.

Covid-19: What you need to know today

On Wednesday and Thursday, more states adopted the containment zones approach, enforcing hard lockdowns selectively  the size of the zone ranges from a single apartment block to an entire city  highlighting the strategy that India will use over the next few weeks to fight the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Read more.

India gears up to begin plasma therapy trials

India is preparing to start clinical trials to treat coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients with convalescent plasma therapy that involves drawing antibody-rich blood of Covid19 survivors to treat the sick.The therapy has shown promise in treating Covid-19 patients, the American journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reported on Tuesday. Read more.

After Supreme Court orders free tests, labs urge govt to reimburse costs

Private laboratories on Thursday urged the government to intervene after the Supreme Court asked all Covid-19 tests to be free of charge, even as experts said the judgment could impact the effective expansion of testing, which is key to the containment of the infection. Read more.

West Bengal Covid death data under scanner

With five deaths till Thursday, and 107 infections, West Bengal seems to have Covid-19 under control. But, according to state government data, it tested only 1889 till April 9, and its protocol for reporting Covid-19 fatalities has come under question.Read more.

Odisha to remain locked down, states weigh options on curbs

Odisha took the lead on Thursday by extending the lockdown for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic by a fortnight until the end of the month, shrugging aside its economic impact, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated that his government isnt inclined to lift the emergency protocol in its entirety when it lapses on April 14. Read more.

Food prices surge 3 times as supply chain takes a hit

The prices of key staples, barring cereals, have surged nearly three times from a month ago because of a noticeable supply shock amid the three-week nationwide lockdown to fight the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, according to official and market data reviewed by Hindustan Times. Read more.

Mapping covid relief schemes in states

Respiratory illness study hints at community spread: Experts

About one in 50 people hospitalised with acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia are suffering from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), according to a new study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)  findings that some experts said suggested the disease has entered the community transmission phase in the country. Read more.

Coronavirus hangs over future like a spectre, says Reserve Bank of India

The outlook for the Indian economy has been drastically altered by the coronavirus outbreak, the central bank said in its bi-annual monetary policy report, without specifying how fast it expects the country to grow, but added that its forecast would depend on the intensity, duration and spread of the pandemic.Read more.

Rural women in India bear the brunt of the lockdown

On Wednesday, 62-year-old Vandini Devi walked five kilometres from her village in Bokaro, Jharkhand to the bank in order to check if money had been credited to her Jan Dhan account. She was disappointed to learn that it hadnt. A resident of Chargi village, Devi said that she had not received her widow pension since February, either. Read more.

Coronavirus may not go away in warmer weather, says US report

In a finding that has huge significance for India, where summer is just breaking, a prestigious scientific panel in the US said that high temperature is unlikely to significantly stop the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) without major public health interventions, such as personal protection and social distancing.Read more.

In the line of duty, till the last patient is cured

At 8am on Monday, March 16, a group of 47 health care workers reported for duty at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality hospital in Delhis Tahirpur, aware that they would not see their families for at least the foreseeable future. Read more.
President Trump said Friday that determining when it will be safe to drop social distancing guidelines to stop the spread of the coronavirus is the biggest decision Ive ever had to make.

With hospitalization rates from COVID-19 falling in New York and California but the overall number of cases still rising in the United States, Trump spent much of Fridays briefing by the coronavirus task force addressing the question of when the country could expect to return to normal. While state governors hold the power to lift restrictions that have crippled economic activity across the country, Trump framed the issue as his own burden.

I dont know if Ive had a bigger decision than that, if you think, right? I mean, think of that decision, somebody said, Its totally up to the president, and it is. I dont know if Ive had a bigger decision, Trump said. But Im going to surround myself with the greatest minds. Not only the greatest minds in numerous different businesses, including the business of politics and reason and were going to make a decision and hopefully its going to be the right decision. I will say this, we want to get it open as soon as we can.

Trump said that next week he would announce the formation of an opening our country council, designed to coordinate jump-starting the economy, which would include some state governors. But he repeatedly stressed that he would ultimately be the one in charge.

I can listen to 35 people. At the end, Ive got to make a decision, and I didnt think of it until yesterday, I said, You know, this is a big decision. I want to be guided, Trump said. I want to be guided by them [Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx], Im going to be guided by our vice president. Im going to make a decision based on a lot of different opinions. Some will maybe disagree, and some will  Id love to see it where they dont disagree.

One key question at the briefing was raised by Jeff Mason of Reuters, who noted that the statistical models now predicting a lower number of total deaths from COVID-19  as few as 60,000, down from a range of 100,000 to 240,000  are based on social distancing continuing through May. He continued: If you were to open the economy on May 1 or sometime during that month, would that impact the models in terms of the deaths that you expect?

Story continues

President Trump during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House on Friday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump quickly turned the microphone over to Birx, who conceded the premise of the question  that the modeling assumes a continuation of social distancing precautions through the end of next month  but quickly segued to discussing how the models are informed by the data, and you can see how much that model has shifted on the amazing work of the American people. In a complex answer that invoked multivariate analysis and the widening confidence bands on the graphs of expected deaths, she implied that other steps, such as contact tracing, which some states have put into effect, could make it feasible to relax some of the more stringent social distancing guidelines.

Trump then reclaimed the lectern to give a more direct answer, based on his long-standing desire not to have a cure thats worse than the disease: Couldnt it lead to death? Staying at home leads to death also, and its very traumatic for this country. Staying at home, if you look at numbers, that leads to a different kind of death, perhaps, but it leads to death also.

Still, the president acknowledged that abandoning social distancing too soon could result in new flare-ups of the virus, as has been seen in countries like South Korea and Japan. All of these factors, Trump said, would contribute to what he called the biggest decision of my life.

Im going to have to make a decision, and I only hope to God its the right decision. But I would say, without question, its the biggest decision that Ive ever had to make.

_____

Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

Read more:
The AI in Oil and Gas market was valued at USD 2 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 3. 81 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 10. 96% over the forecast period 2020 - 2025. As the cost of IoT sensors declines, more major oil and gas organizations are bound to start integrating these sensors into their upstream, midstream, and downstream operations along with AI-enabled predictive analytics.

New York, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "AI in Oil and Gas Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05881461/?utm_source=GNW





- Oil and gas remains as one of the most highly valued commodities in the energy sector. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on improving efficiency, and reducing downtime has been a priority for the oil and gas companies as their profits slashed since 2014, due to fluctuating oil prices. However, as concerns over the environmental impact of energy production and consumption persist, oil and gas companies are actively seeking innovative approaches to achieve their business goals, while reducing environmental impact.

- In addition, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) is making use of AI in parallel ways, owing to the United Kingdoms first oil and gas National Data Repository (NDR), launched in March 2019, using AI to interpret data, which, according to the OGA anticipations, is likely to assist to discover new oil and gas forecast and permit more production from existing infrastructures.

- The offshore oil and gas business use AI in data science to make the complex data used for oil and gas exploration and production more reachable, which lets companies to discover new exploration prospects or make more use out of existing infrastructures. For instance, in January 2019, BP invested in Houston-based technology start-up, Belmont Technology, to bolster the companys AI capabilities, developing a cloud-based geoscience platform nicknamed Sandy.

- However, high capital investments for the integration of AI technologies, along with the lack of skilled AI professionals, could hinder the growth of the market. A recent poll validated that 56% of senior AI professionals considered that a lack of additional and qualified AI workers was the only biggest hurdle to be overcome, in terms of obtaining the necessary level of AI implementation across business operations.



Key Market Trends

Upstream Operations to Witness a Significant Growth



- Organizations across the world are trying to make the exploration and the production processes more efficient and optimized. The operations in this field are the major factors that are driving the usage of AI in oil and gas companies. The AI tools can help oil and gas companies in digitizing records and can automate the analysis of the gathered geological data and charts, which can lead to potential identification of issues, such as pipeline corrosion or increased equipment usage.

- Oil and gas companies can potentially gain crucial insights to improve their business outcomes in their upstream processes with the integration of AI software. This process would involve the feeding of curated data records and information from data sources to the software that could include structured documents, PDFs, handwritten notes, audio, or video files.

- The market is witnessing many investments by big players in the technology. For instance, in Jan 2019, BP invested in a technology start-up: Belmont Technology to strengthen the companys AI capabilities by developing a cloud-based geoscience platform. The investment will be used to support BPs ongoing work in exploring the application of cognitive computing and machine learning in its global oil and gas business.



North America is Expected to Hold a Significant Market Share



- Owing to the increasing adoption of AI technologies across the oilfield operators and service providers and the robust presence of prominent AI software and system suppliers, especially in the United States and Canada, the North American segment is anticipated to account for the largest share of the AI in the oil and gas market, over the forecast period.

- Factors, such as the strong economy, the high adoption rate of AI technologies across the oilfield operators and service providers, robust presence of prominent AI software and system suppliers, and combined investment by government and private organizations for the development and growth of R&D activities are poised to drive the demand for AI in oil and gas sector, in the region.

- ExxonMobil, one of the leading oil producers in the country, announced its plans to increase the production activity in the Permian Basin of West Texas, by producing more than 1 million barrels per day (BPD) of oil-equivalent by as early as 2024. This is equivalent to an increase of nearly 80 percent compared to the present production capacity.



Competitive Landscape

The AI in the oil and gas market is highly competitive and consists of several major players. In terms of market share, few of the major players currently dominate the market. The companies are continuously capitalizing on acquisitions, in order to broaden, complement, and enhance its product and service offerings, to add new customers and certified personnel, and to help expand sales channels.



- February 2020 - Royal Dutch Shell PLC has been expanding an online program that teaches its employees artificial intelligence skills, part of an effort to cut costs, improve business processes, and generate revenue. Artificial intelligence enables the company to process the vast quantity of data across the businesses to generate new insights, which can keep the ahead of the competition.

- October 2019 - Microsoft announced the collaboration with energy industry tech company Baker Hughes and AI developer C3.ai to bring enterprise AI technology to the energy industry via its Azure cloud computing platform. It would allow customers to streamline the adoption of AI designed to address issues like inventory, energy management, predictive maintenance and equipment reliability.



Reasons to Purchase this report:

- The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

- 3 months of analyst support

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05881461/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Determined chocolatiers and chefs in Belgium have kept producing their Easter delicacies despite the coronavirus lockdown, with specialist chocolate shops remaining open and also doing deliveries.

Belgian-based cake maker and pastry chef Michael Lewis-Anderson made a chocolate scene based on the fable of the tortoise and the hare to remind people to stay at home.

"You shouldn't be outside running because you have to be protected at this difficult time and the tortoise is actually staying home, which is his shell," said Lewis-Anderson.

Easter is normally a time for chocolatiers in Belgium to show off the stamp of quality built up over the century since Jean Neuhaus invented the hard-shelled, cream-filled praline in 1912.

While French-Born Belgian chocolatier Jerome Grimonpon initially closed his shop in Brussels when the Belgian lockdown measures were imposed on March 18, he has since reopened and is also making deliveries, with an Easter collection around balloons.

"I didn't want to play the coronavirus card. I know a few have done so. It is already depressing enough," he told Reuters.

Belgium has so far suffered 2,523 deaths from the coronavirus and has almost 25,000 confirmed cases.

(Reporting by Christian Levaux, writing by Robin Emmott, editing by Alexandra Hudson)
WE ARE an Easter people and will rise again was Bishop Brendan Leahys Palm Sunday message

And now a County Limerick priest has come up a novel but simple idea of showing hope in these dark times. With no Easter ceremonies, Fr Roy Donovan has suggested lighting a fire on the highest point in the archdiocese of Cashel & Emly.

The idea arose from considering was there anything that we could do here in our own parish, within the present safeguarding guidelines, for the Easter vigil. Then Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly sent around an email looking for ways of supporting each other and for ideas around Holy Week from the deaneries in the archdiocese given that there were going to be no public ceremonies.

Then it struck me that lighting a big Easter vigil fire on the Rock of Cashel would be powerful and to get it televised nationally by RTE - that this would offer great hope to people, said Fr Donovan.

He says this short drama of fire and light could foster further solidarity.

It would be a great gesture, a non-threatening one to the whole country. It needs to be very short - five minutes. The message is simple - Christ is Risen, Alleluia, the Light of the world, said Fr Donovan,

At the Easter vigil a fire is often lit outside the parochial church in the open.

Then the Paschal candle which is used throughout Easter (50 days) and at baptisms and funerals is lit from the fire and brought into the church - three times it is raised high within the church with the words (often sung) - Christ is the light (Lumen Christi), said Fr Donovan.

The parish priest of Caherconlish and Inch St Laurence would like the Church of Ireland archbishop would also take part - to communicate further the Resurrection of Christ.

I also want it to be inclusive - that a woman would light the fire. To give greater centrality to women - this too could be a powerful gesture. I wanted it to be a 12 foot candle like at Lourdes - to give a sense of the light for the whole country and for everyone, said Fr Donovan. It remains to be seen if the logistics are possible but often it is the thought that counts.
Im in the process of gathering information from small businesses around the state right now, to find out how the application process is working for them, now that weve the crash of the system and theyve reinstated it and weve got some banks working with it I think successfully, others that are having a hard time with it, so we can figure out where those tweaks need to happen once we get back into the Banking Committee, Tester said.

Montana Bankers Association CEO Cary Hegreberg said Wednesday that his members embraced the program and were working long hours to get Montana Small Business claims submitted. He credited SBA Montana District office for taking questions from the banks late into the night to get loan applications processed.

All payments on the loans are forgiven as long as 75% of the money is used to keep employees on the payroll. The other 25% of the loan may be used for expenses like rent, mortgage interest and utility bills. Anything the money was spent on outside those parameters would have to be paid back at 0.5%.

SBA Montana Director Brent Donnelly said Montana has roughly 121,000 small business. The several thousand applications already processed is just the start. Friday, the program opens up to independent contractors and sole proprietors.
ALTON  In the first of its kind for the area, people on Thursday paid their last respects to Randy Garrett, 56, of Brighton, with a drive-by visitation at Gent Funeral Home in Alton.

Garrett, a long time employee of Sanders Waste Systems, died Sunday. His wife, Melody, died Feb. 8. They had two daughters, Miranda and Malayna, who are under the care of their aunt.
I know whats wrong with me  Main Street, St. Helena is shuttered, quiet and empty. A few cars are driving north or south on Highway 29, but on a Wednesday afternoon, I look up and down Main Street and nothings moving. No people, no traffic.

The post office, Sunshine, Safeway, Smiths, Vasconis, Steves Hardware, Browns Auto Parts, Villa Corona, Nature Select, St. Helena Bistro, St. Helena Cyclery, the banks and gas stations are the only stores open in downtown St. Helena. Thats a short list  compared to whats closed.

And maybe thats whats wrong with you, too. By staying inside, staying away from people, working from home, we are flattening the curve of COVID-190, the coronavirus pandemic in the Napa Valley and California.

We miss a sense of engagement, community, camaraderie. We cant gather with friends for a meal, a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.

The Cameo Cinema, one of St. Helenas several community centers, is closed. But the marquee gives a hint: Virtual screenings of movies on Cameocinema.com.

Six full-length movies currently are available to rent  ranging from $6.50 to $12  for screening on your laptop, iPad, smartphone or with Chromecast or AppleTV on your TV at home. Once youve rented a movie with your credit card, the distributor will send you a link and youll have 72 hours to watch the movie from the time you start.

Its so cool, said Cathy Buck, proprietor of the Cameo Cinema, describing the virtual movie theater she and Janet Costner have created. Its been a huge learning curve, adding she, Costner and others have been working on the process to curate a program that normally would have been at the Cameo for its patrons, who are shut in.

As Balloon opens, its 1979. A family uses a hot-air balloon to try to escape East Germany, but fail. Another 200 meters and they would have made it. An idea grows, they enlist the aid of another family to build a second balloon, all while the East German secret police, the Stasi, are monitoring their actions and moving in. The film, based on a true story, is one of six movies available to rent.

Buck said shes working with some of the smaller studios, whom she usually works with, and tickets are roughly $10 with a dollar or two for service fees. The best part, though, is that 50% of the ticket price goes to support the Cameo Cinema.

On Thursday, April 16, Buck said the Cameo will offer an exclusive screening of Paper Planes, a 2015 Australian film. Tickets are $5 and Sausalitos John Collins, the world record holder for the longest flight by a paper airplane, will give a tutorial on how to make planes.

Also on the schedule is Mati Hari: The Naked Spy, a documentary about the German World War I spy, who was executed at age 41 on Oct. 15, 1917. Buck said she did a 20-minute Q&A via two Smartphones with the films director, Susan Wolf from Corte Madera. Collins, who is also a tech guy, was able to put the questions and answers together, even though Buck was in St. Helena and Wolf was in the Bay Area. It was my first experience and Im excited to do more of these question-and-answer sessions, Buck said.

The irrepressible Buck said, What I love about this is you dont have to be in St. Helena to watch these movies. During this time of closure, with the Chamber of Commerce offering gift cards and some restaurants doing take-out meals, she is encouraging people to just buy a movie ticket. If its once a month, thats OK with me. She said ticket proceeds come to the Cameo to support us in the streaming project and also when our doors open back up.

And, just when will that be? Right now, we know that we wont be open until after May 3. My goal is May 15; it just depends on what the government says. As soon as we can get our doors back open, well be open.

Buck began looking at streaming movies a year ago, asking herself if there was anything the Cameo could do to have a broader outreach, or when a movie comes to town, is there a way for the Cameo to continue its run, online.

And then, when all this craziness hit, Janet Costner and I started working 10 hours a day to get a streaming platform. Weve had conversations with a platform streaming company out of Australia  they have a huge program and theyre willing to work with the little guys and were so excited about this, Buck said.

Now, the movies are streamed by Vimeo, and Buck said it will take the Australian company a couple of weeks to get the Cameo set up. She plans to pick and choose the best films  not so many that it will be overwhelming. We hope to do a couple of series, on the planet Earth, on adventure, maybe a foodie series or an Italian film series. If the Cameo is open for the end-of-May family film festival, it will be held both at the Cameo and streamed online through its website.

One more advantage to the virtual experience: Buck said her attire is fuzzy slippers, along with a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Try getting away with that on Main Street.

Editors Note: Because of the health implications of the COVID-19 virus, this article is being made available free to all online readers. If youd like to join us in supporting the mission of local journalism, please visit napavalleyregister.com/members/join/.

You may reach David Stoneberg at 967-6800 or editor@sthelenastar.com

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
New Delhi, April 10 : The Tower & infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) has urged the state-run telecom major BSNL to clear dues worth Rs 1,500 crore as its members, the tower companies, are facing cash crunch.

In letter to the BSNL Chairman and MD P.K. Purwar, the industry body said: "There is an urgent need for intervention and support regarding clearance of outstanding dues of our IP - 1 members due to which our members are facing huge cash crunch which is leading to following challenges with regard to ensuring 24x7 telecom operations on telecom tower sites of BSNL in view of present situation due to COVID-19," citing difficulty in paying rent and in incurring operational expenses among other issues.

TAIPA, on Friday, said it has also asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to intervene and support in clearance of the dues.

TAIPA's members include Indus Towers Limited, ATC Telecom Infrastructure Pvt Limited, Bharti Infratel Limited and Tower Vision Limited, Sterlite Technologies Limited, Space Telelink Limited, Applied Solar Technologies andCoslight India Limited.

In its letter dated April 9, TAIPA said that landlords where BSNL sites are installed have been demanding the payment of rentals and threatening for coercive action and the infrastructure providers are also facing difficulty in payment of electricity bills of BSNL tower sites.

It further said, "procurement of diesel/batteries and other back up storage devices for telecom towers sites of BSNL is getting impacted." The tower companies are also facing challenges in keeping the uptime as per SLA's (service-level agreement) for BSNL tower sites which is leading to BSNL network outage and blackouts in nearby areas of the sites.

T.R. Dua, Director General, TAIPA said: "The situation has become highly critical now with total outstanding dues from BSNL amounting to approximately Rs 1,500 crore which has been pending for long. Already the telecom industry is going through financial crisis, this is an addition to the financial woes of the telecom IP-1 players who are working tirelessly for ensuring 24/7 connectivity across the country." "We are looking forward to an urgent intervention and support from the CMD, BSNL in the matter," he added.
Editors note: Adds response Friday night from Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Turzai.

An order Gov. Tom Wolf issued Friday could lead to the temporary releases of as many as 1,800 state prisoners with medical issues that put them at dire risk if they contract the coronavirus.

Wolfs directive would apply only to ailing inmates imprisoned for non-violent crimes who are within months of their scheduled releases.

We can reduce our non-violent prison population and leave fewer inmates at risk for contracting COVID-19 while maintaining public safety with this program, Wolf said. We must reduce our inmate population to be able to manage this virus. Without this temporary program, we are risking the health, and potentially lives, of employees and inmates. We can safely release individuals to the community to reduce their vulnerability and allow the department to successfully manage COVID-19.

He noted that as of Friday that 11 COVID-19 cases had been detected in the state prison at Phoenix in Montgomery County.

The governor said inmates eligible for virus prompted releases are those who have been identified as being non-violent and who otherwise would be eligible for release within the next 9 months or who are considered at high risk for complications of coronavirus and are within 12 months of their release.

Wolf said 1,500 to 1,800 inmates fall into that category, although given the reentry challenges of ensuring connection to the health care and behavioral health system, housing and food security, the number will likely be less than the eligible pool.

Inmates to be eyed for release include those who are 65 or older and have conditions including autoimmune disorders and any other conditions the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has concluded places them a high risk of complications from COVID-19. Pregnant female prisoners are on the governors list as well.

A reentry program is being established and the first releases could occur as early as Tuesday, Wolf said.

Our reentry plans will include several days of release planning with the inmate, preparing and connecting the inmate to treatment programs in the community, release transportation and a complete medical screening to ensure that we are not releasing sick inmates, Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said. Well also provide them with an appropriate medication supply and connect them to medical providers in the community.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) n a statement Friday night called the decision "an inappropriate overreach of executive authority that does not serve the public interest.

This decision to let out prisoners  especially while Pennsylvania citizens are adhering to a stay-at-home order  is irresponsible," he continued. We need to focus on staving off the virus with appropriate and balanced mitigation efforts and provision of personal protection equipment to our frontline health care professionals. We also need to make sure the economy does not collapse.

Wolf described the pending releases as temporary reprieves during which the inmates will be supervised by parole agents. Once the coronavirus crisis abates, they will be returned to prison complete their sentences, he said.

The governor said he is taking the step under the emergency powers granted to him in the state constitution. He indicated legislative support for his action will be sought. Without any current legislation, we are moving forward with the understanding that future legislation could further advance these efforts, he said.

Wolfs order follows actions by county prisons across the state to release inmates with a low risk to the community and a high risk of COVID-19 complications. A federal judge has cited the same concerns in ordering the release of ICE immigration detainees from the York, Pike and Clinton county prisons.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, has said his recent statement on not knowing how bad Nigerias healthcare infrastructure is, was misinterpreted.

He also pledged his commitment to the reformation and transformation of the health sector in Nigeria.

Mr Mustapha while clarifying what he said at a meeting with the leadership of the national assembly on Thursday, said his statement was taken out of context.

Mr Mustapha on Thursday said: I can tell you for sure, I never knew that our entire healthcare infrastructure was in the state in which it is until I was appointed to do this work.

Following his comments, Nigerians questioned why a top official like him will be ignorant of the countrys health care system.

However, Mr Mustapha speaking at the Presidential Task Force briefing on Friday, clarified that what he meant was that his duty at the PTF has given him a better opportunity to champion reform and transformation of the Nigeria health system.

Yesterday I mentioned that I became fully aware of the state of our medical system during the execution of this task force assignment, it has become clear that this has been taken out of context.

I must clarify that I am aware and has indeed been a champion for the reform and transformation of the health care system and in my modest way, I am working assiduously to see the improvement of the health care system in my small community, he said.

The SGF also said the PTF assignment has afforded him the opportunity to dig deeper, interrogate and X-ray the system better.

I had asked the permanent secretary, general service office, to make available to you the copy of my seven page address to the National Assembly where I spoke about what this current opportunity of the pandemic gives to us.

In paragraph 9, I said the pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to X-ray the state of the national health care system which is in dire need of reforms and funding.

The weaknesses in our health systems became more glaring given the way more established health system in Europe and America collapsed under pressure.

The plan is to lay a legacy foundation for the immediate medium and long time development of the health system, he said.

Misinterpretation

The SGF further explained that his earlier statement about the state of healthcare in Nigeria is a complete misinterpretation.

He said the statement was taken out of context because that was not the reflection of what he said.

So for anyone to think that I didnt know the level of the deplorable state of our healthcare systems, that is a complete misinterpretation.

For those of you that dont know me well, I came from a rural community. I was born in a village almost 64 years ago that didnt even have a hospital.

It had only a small missionary dispensary with one midwife. No birth certificate were offered so I have declaration of age.

 A lot of you sitting here are privileged to have been born in a better and equipped Facility. From birth I knew the state of our medical health care system. I am not a foreigner.

My statement was taken out of context because that was not the reflection of what I meant, he said.

Even before the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, Nigerians and health workers have been complaining about the deplorable condition of the health facilities and services in the country.

This has led many Nigerians to seek health services in private facilities and the affluent embark on medical tourism.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought to the forefront the decay in the countrys health sector.

Advertisements



The number of confirmed cases in the country has been on the increase. As of 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, the NCDC announced a total of 288 cases including seven deaths.
Laois Offaly Gardai have urged the public to only engage with religious service via the recommended methods at home over Easter and during the Covid-19 emergency.

Garda Chief Superintendent John Scanlon urged the public to follow the guidance of church leaders and comply with the Government's Covid19 restrictions not to gather, to cocoon practice social distancing.

He warned against the temptation of attending any ad hoc services that could put them at risk of contracting the virus.

The garda praised all parishes who have been to the fore in helping people during the crisis and maintaining religious services through virtual means.

Churches are closed during the emergency but people can engage with religious services through various means such as radio, TV and online streaming via parish webcams.

The Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin has 56 parishes and includes virtually all of Carlow and parts of counties Kildare, Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow. They say they are constantly trying to reach out to more and more people each day across the diocese and beyond through various means

PARISH WEBCAMS: https://www.kandle.ie/holy- week-parish-schedules/ this is a list of the 30+ parishes in our diocese who have a webcam and are streaming services daily.

FUNERALS: The diocese hopes they bring comfort to those who are mourning at the loss of a loved one due to COVID-19.

HOLY WEEK AT HOME: Julie Kavanagh from the FDS team has prepared resources for use by families in the home this Holy Week. It includes lots of ideas on how to celebrate Holy Thursday, Good Friday as a family at home Easter Sunday when we cant enter a church - Holy Week at Home Resources

SOCIAL MEDIA: The diocese isvery active on Facebook and twitter @KANDLEi. There is daily live streaming of various services from across the diocese so feel free to share our pages with your followers as there has been a remarkable engagement, especially in these past few weeks.

All these resources and many more are available on our diocesan website www.kandle.ie.

Meanwhile, Faithcast, the weekly faith podcast from the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference, launched during special Holy Week. The Faithcasts will focus on how we can live Holy Week as people of faith in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Irish bishops say faithcast is a mixture of interviews, news and stories of faith from the Catholic Church in Ireland. The podcast, which is usually published weekly, will now have a daily episode from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.

Contributors to the Holy Week reflection series are:

Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Dromore and Primate of All Ireland

Bishop Denis Nulty, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin

Bishop Fintan Monahan, Bishop of Killaloe

Caoimhe de Barra, CEO of Trocaire

Brother Richard Hendrick Ofm Cap

Father Vincent Sherlock of Achonry Diocese

Brenda Drumm, Catholic Communications Office

Ger Gallagher, Pastoral Worker in Dublin Diocese

Contributors to the series will reflect on the meaning and symbolism of each of the days of Holy Week, beginning with a reflection from Brother Richard Hendrick on Palm Sunday and taking us through the week, concluding on Easter Sunday with a message from Archbishop Eamon Martin.

Commenting on the Faithcasts, Archbishop Eamon said Martin said: As we prepare to celebrate Holy Week at home this year, we are offering people a chance to hear from different voices of faith. These daily reflections from bishops, priests and lay people will hopefully offer listeners a pause for thought from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.

I invite people to tune in to our Holy Week reflections. There are many people feeling alone and isolated at the moment and we hope that our short pieces of audio can assist people in living Holy Week in their homes.

This podcast series is just one of a number of digital opportunities that we have been offering to people during these days. I would like to thank all those priests and people putting out into the deep of the net at this time and connecting with their parishioners on the digital highways, he said.

The podcasts will be available on www.catholicbishops.ie and on all Bishops Conference social media platforms:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ IrishCatholicBishops/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ CatholicBishops

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ catholicbishops/

You can also subscribe to the podcast at this link https://audioboom.com/ dashboard/4929766
UL Hospitals Group has launched a recruitment campaign to attract a diverse range of clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals.

The campaign is part of the immediate response to the Covid-19 public health emergency, and to support the future development of their hospitals.

Staff are sought in a wide range of disciplines, including staff nurses and midwives, consultants and non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) in all specialties, support staff (in catering, hygiene and portering), medical and social care professionals, and health care assistants (HCAs).

Specific purpose contracts for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic will be issued, to ensure sufficient staffing for such initiatives as the intermediate step-down healthcare facility that has been proposed for the University of Limerick.

It is envisaged that recruitment panels will also be formed to support recruitment into the future, including for such service developments as the 60-bed block, which is scheduled to open on the University Hospital Limerick campus later this year.

The Mid-West recruitment drive follows on from the national, Be On Call For Ireland initiative, with more than 60,000 people registering online.

There is clearly a huge level of support for the services that our hospitals group provides, and we are urging anyone with the appropriate skill sets not already working in the public health service to register their interest with us, said UL Hospitals Group director of HR, Lorraine Rafter.

UL Hospitals Group is seeking the best, most ambitious and motivated staff, and we urge them, in any of the disciplines, to immediately register their interest.

Email CVs to UHLrecruitment@hse.ie or contact 061-588420.
She is the no-nonsense Great British Bake Off judge who stepped into Mary Berry's shoes without batting an eyelid. But when it came to making a heart-rending journey to Cambodia to help her adopted daughter search for her biological parents, Prue Leith admits she became 'such a blubber'.

Prue made the radical decision 45 years ago to adopt a 16-month-old Cambodian girl, Li-Da, giving her an idyllic upbringing at her Cotswolds home.

But she rarely questioned if she could have helped Li-Da connect more with her Cambodian roots. Now social media and DNA testing are allowing thousands of children who, like Li-Da, were evacuated before Pol Pot's genocide to find relatives.

Li-Da, 46, who has recently adopted her own baby, not only felt a burning desire but also a poignancy as a new mother herself to explore her heritage and help Prue understand why it's important.

Prue Leith, 80, joins her adopted daughter Li-Da, 45, in a journey to Cambodia for a one-off Channel 4 show. Pictured: Prue and Li-Da in Ta Khmau

So they travelled to Cambodia together in January, and now their emotional trip can be seen in a one-off Channel 4 show, Prue Leith: Journey With My Daughter.

'Adoption was not an obvious choice, I had doubts,' recalls Prue, now 80.

'My late husband Rayne was 20 years my senior and had raised three children. But I wanted the experience of pregnancy. So we decided to have one baby then adopt another.

'Our son Daniel was born in 1974, the apple of our eye. Then I worried I'd never love anyone as much as him.

'But we heard of a Cambodian baby urgently in need of a home after her French foster mother could no longer care for her. I rushed out to Paris to get Li-Da.

'The minute we actually had her, the whole problem went away. But I've always felt cheated that I didn't have Li-Da's babyhood because I so loved Daniel's.

'But I didn't feel it so much until we went to Cambodia and I saw these gorgeous babies  every single one reminded me of Li-Da.

'Every day we went off to some horrible thing like the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the graves, looking for the name of her birth parents, so it was a rollercoaster emotionally.

Li-Da who is a film maker, said she's proud of her mother for connecting with Cambodia. Pictured: Daniel, Rayne, Prue and Li-Da in her early years

'It looks like [in the film] I spend my whole life crying. That's not like me. I don't know why I've suddenly become such a blubber.'

Li-Da, a film-maker, doesn't think she's ever seen her mother cry, or at most only rarely.

'I've seen another side of my mum,' she says. 'I wanted her to connect with Cambodia. I knew she'd support me but she's not very good at empathy, so I'm proud of her.

'I didn't realise it'd hit home that much and to have our mother-daughter relationship on view was huge. But it's brought us much closer.'

In April 1975, the Khmer Rouge, whose Killing Fields took the lives of nearly two million Cambodians, marched on the capital Phnom Penh.

We looked for their names on the graves

Just three days before the city fell, six-month-old Li-Da was flown out of the country in a bassinet beneath the feet of the pilot of a US helicopter on one of the last flights.

Her adoption was organised by the late French humanitarian Yvette Pierpaoli, who got hundreds of orphans and sick babies out before the end of the war.

After 26 years, Li-Da returned to Cambodia to make her moving 2003 documentary Belonging, to find out the truth about her past.

She discovered a little about her parents, but adopting her son in the UK, who's nearly two and was placed with her and her husband a year ago, was the catalyst for returning.

Prue revealed that Li-Da adopted a baby of her own, after breast cancer left her unable to conceive. Pictured: Prue embracing her daughter, Li-Da

'Li-Da always said she'd adopt as it had worked for her. I'm so proud she wanted to do what I did  have one baby then adopt.

'She did try for her own baby. But she got breast cancer and couldn't conceive,' says Prue.

'She tried IVF and had a miscarriage, so she decided on adoption and to get that little boy was such a joy. It's brilliant just to have Li-Da as happy as she is.

'Having her son triggered the trip. She'd always wanted to go back and she wanted me to come because she always felt  and she was quite right  that I wasn't very interested in Cambodia.

'All I knew was that the Khmer Rouge nearly killed my daughter.'

'My childhood here was like a fairytale,' Li-Da recalls.

'To a degree I'm sure I wanted to be a good child. There's an element of the adopted person in me saying, 'They gave me this wonderful life and I don't want to upset them.' But the idea of being lucky and saved from genocide is absolutely part of the fabric of me.

'I've always wanted to give another child a chance but going through the adoption process, unanswered questions came rushing back.

'I had to fill in a form that asked for all the addresses I've lived at, with no gaps; I have huge gaps in the start of my life. It's really important for me to see where I really came from.'

Prue was told a tragic story when she adopted Li-Da, revealing that her mother had been killed in a rocket attack. Pictured: Prue and Li-Da at Angkor Wat

Li-Da left Cambodia with only her birth certificate and an adoption contract saying her family were from Ta Khmau, a suburb ten miles outside the capital.

After 20 years of research, one concrete thing she has learnt is her adoption contract was signed by a nurse from a psychiatric hospital.

'No one really knows what happened to her parents,' says Prue.

'But I was told a tragic story when I adopted her. Her mother was killed in a rocket attack and her father, an injured soldier, carried her until he could walk no further. He had to give her up before the Khmer Rouge came.

'In a sense I suppose I've been safe in the knowledge that all my life Li-Da's mother was already dead, killed by a rocket.

'But one fact we definitely knew was that 20 babies from this hospital were taken away to be adopted by foreigners, and Li-Da was one.'

On a previous visit to the hospital Li-Da was told the story of the rocket attack, but wasn't sure it was true. This time they learnt the rocket didn't kill anyone, so her mother could still be alive.

Research led to a woman whose daughter of the same age was adopted from there, and in the show there is a heart-in-the-mouth day for Prue and Li-Da as they track her down and wait for the DNA test results to see if this is indeed Li-Da's birth mother.

'We thought we'd struck lucky,' says Prue.

'When she got married, the Cambodian tradition is to have photos of dead ancestors.

Li-Da revealed that she's become more certain of herself, while searching for her birth mother. Pictured: Li-Da with Prue at Yvette Pierpaoli's former house

'So there were ones of Rayne and my mother and of Li-Da's husband Matt's family, but Li-Da wrote 'My Father' and 'My Mother' on two blank frames. I thought how wonderful it'd be if she could fill those frames with photos.

'When she was waiting for the DNA results, my thoughts were odd. One moment I'd think, 'Oh my God, what if this family becomes part of my already big family? They're desperately poor, Li-Da and I will want to look after them.'

'But then I was really hoping it'd be her mother, so I felt so sorry for her when it wasn't the case.'

'Mum said the most wonderful thing,' says Li-Da.

'For the first time she said, "If you do find your real parents I'll be devastated, but I've been so lucky to have you for 45 years." I did feel emotionally pulled.

'But I'm still in contact with the woman, and I want to help her find her daughter and to help others too.'

Li-Da is philosophical about the disappointment, because subsequently an online DNA database found a match with a third cousin who lives in LA.

'My third cousin's family are in Cambodia and they're going to help me fill in more gaps. But now if I can't find my own mother, it's not such an emotional pull as I'm more certain of myself, and my relationship with my mother is stronger.'

Prue agrees.

'To have these two weeks with Li-Da in Cambodia has been amazing. And whether she finds a family or not, I absolutely know she loves me and I know how much I love her. That will never change.'

Prue Leith: Journey With My Daughter, Tuesday, 9pm, Channel 4.
Carter Malloy thinks that lucrative investments include dirt, some seeds, maintenance, and growth -- literally. So, he founded Fayetteville, Arkansas-based AcreTrader, an online farmland investment platform.

AcreTrader wants to lower the barrier of farmland ownership for people who arent experts in investing in the field to begin with. Malloy calls it a Robinhood for buying farmland.

AcreTrader is trying to solve the traditionally cumbersome process it takes to acquire a piece of land. Historically, Malloy said, people have to acquire a piece of land which could cost millions. Land-buyers will either have deep pockets or acquire the land from family. After that, buyers have to go to a farm broker, do due diligence, and learn how to work with the farmers who will work on the land.

"Farmland has provided 11 to 12 percent average annual returns for nearly 30 years, he said. With much less volatility and price swings than other asset classes.'

The AcreTrader platform connects buyers, like individual investors, family offices, or investment funds, to farmland that is available for purchase. AcreTrader incorporates each property it acquires under an LLC, and then users are able to buy shares of that entity. Think of shares in terms of acres, so 20 shares could be 2 acres of land.

If you want to sell the shares of your land, AcreTrader has a marketplace for you to do that. But, since land has a long-term investment benefit, the company recommends holding ownership of land between 3 to 10 years, based on the property.

AcreTrader vets land properties before buying them, accounting for factors like soil quality, irrigation methods, or the history of annual crop rotation. Malloy claims the platform analyzes over 100 points of data from the farms.

The startup is currently focused on buying and selling property on the West Coast and Midwest. The farmland isnt from the expensive rolling fields of Napa Valley, but instead less trafficked land, like an almond farm in Tulare, California or a soybean plain in Kankakee, Illinois.

Story continues

Once a customer purchases a vetted piece of land, AcreTrader takes care of land maintenance so the onus isnt on the buyer to learn how to grow a harvest or maintain the land. It does so through a team of dedicated farmland experts, who manage hundreds of millions of dollars of farmland and check in with farmers on a weekly basis.

It becomes a truly passive investment, Malloy said.

AcreTrader makes money from the real estate brokerage fees when it buys land from a seller, or in this case, a third-party farmer that pays rent to the company.

In December, ProducePay picked up up $190 million in debt financing for a purchase program for farmers. While the company isnt a direct competitor of AcreTrader, it could actually operate complementary to it. ProducePay helps farmers afford the lumpy revenues that come with the growing season, and works as a middle man between distributors, growers and grocers.

Along with charging farmers, the company also charges an annual management fee of 0.75% to 1% to oversee land from a buyer.

AcreTrader today announced that it raised an oversubscribed $5 million seed round led by RZC investments, with participation from Revel Partners .

Malloy grew up in a farming family, and hes witnessed his father buy and sell land over the years. He said its led to him believing strongly in the consistency and risk-adjusted returns of farmland. As the world enters a time of economic uncertainty, Malloys belief in the slow and steady might echo with more people than ever before.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Remember the good ol covid-free days when The Buckeye States biggest rival were the Michigan Wolverines? Now even the Wolverines opponents would be rooting for Michigan to comeback against the coronavirus which has been hitting that state harder than in Ohio.

As of Thursday, Ohio has had 213 deaths, compared to 1,076 in Michigan. Michigan had 21,504 confirmed cases, Ohio had 5,512. Even while Ohio authorities acknowledge that covid-19 cases are likely underdiagnosed in Ohio, as in all states, the big difference between the two neighboring states numbers is still stunning and disturbing.

Under the direction of Governor Mike DeWine and Dr. Amy Acton, Ohios response to coronavirus continues to show signs its effective. While the number of Ohio confirmed cases and resulting deaths has increased daily, the rate of the increase is going down from March. In March that rate of increase was 20%, its now down to 7% so far in April. No one can or should rest easy until it reaches 0%, but the current trend should further encourage all of us to continue the trend of abiding by safety measures.

GO BUCKS! GO WOLVERINES! GO AWAY COVID-19!
Kate Ritchie has made a plea for her fans to donate blood over Easter.

The 41-year-old shared an Instagram photo on Thursday, offering a rare glimpse of her daughter, Mae, five.

The actress captioned the sweet photo: 'This Easter is different. But the need for blood is not! Make this Easter different for a good reason. Give life. Give blood.

Sweet: Kate Ritchie has made a plea for her fans to donate blood over Easter. The 41-year-old shared this Instagram photo on Thursday, offering a rare glimpse of her daughter, Mae, five

'If you're feeling well and haven't been overseas in the last 28 days, book a donation today because we need 29,000 donations each week. Please be one of them!'

In the photo a fresh-faced Kate wore glowing makeup and had her brunette locks pulled back.

She opted for a red and black animal print dress, with little Mae holding up an egg-shaped blood donation sticker beside her.

In comes after Kate and her estranged husband Stuart Webb put on a brave front as they came together for their daughter Mae's first day of school in February.

The actress captioned the sweet snap: 'This Easter is different. But the need for blood is not! Make this Easter different for a good reason. Give life. Give blood'

Kate and Stuart's reunion came three months after the actress reportedly moved out of their marital home after police took out an apprehended violence order on her behalf against the NRL star, 39 after an incident at her house in Randwick.

In December, Stuart made headlines for his five-time drink driving history.

His shocking driving history was revealed in a police fact sheet, as he faced court for blowing 0.083 when he was pulled over by highway patrolmen in the city's east in March.

Coming together: In comes after Kate and her estranged husband Stuart Webb put on a brave front as they came together for their daughter Mae's first day of school in February. Pictured together in 2014

Stuart came in front of a magistrate on the same day that NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia that he will not be charged over a separate 'incident' at home with Kate in October.

That ended in an AVO being brought against him, which banned him being in Kate's company within 12 hours of drinking alcohol.

The former couple had reportedly been spending weekends away in a last bid to save their marriage.
Dr. Hyoungchul Kim's research team, from the Center for Energy Materials Research at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, Acting President Yoon, Seok-jin), have successfully developed a sulfide-based *superionic conductor that can be used to a high-performance solid electrolyte in all-solid-state batteries. This new material delivers the Li-ion conductivity of 10.2 mS/cm at room temperature and is comparable to that of liquid electrolytes used for typical Li-ion batteries. The research team has also reported a new synthesis technology that can reduce the processing time of existing synthesis technologies by more than one third. We expect that this technology will greatly accelerate the mass production of superionic solid electrolyte materials and contribute to the commercialization of all-solid-state batteries.

* Superionic conductor: A material with high ion transport property corresponding to ion conductivity of 10 to 100 mS/cm at room temperature. These materials have been receiving much attention recently as they are used as electrolytes in various electrochemical devices such as batteries, fuel cells, and sensors.

Currently, Li-ion batteries based on liquid electrolytes are mainly used for batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage devices. However, as battery safety issues have recently been raised several times, various concerns about the use of existing batteries using flammable liquid electrolytes have increased. To solve this safety issue, all-solid-state battery technology, in which all battery components are replaced with solid materials, has recently attracted great attention. However, unlike a liquid electrolyte in which Li-ions can freely move, a solid electrolyte has a low Li-ion conductivity of 1/10 to 1/100 of that of a liquid electrolyte because the movement of Li-ions is confined within a rigid solid lattice. This is one of the most important and difficult challenges in the development of all-solid-state battery technology, and its technical and economic value is very great.

Dr. Kim's research team at KIST has developed a solid electrolyte with superionic conductivity using a sulfide-based crystalline structure called **argyrodite. Meanwhile, this crystal structure had high expectations for utilization due to its high Li-ion concentration and structural stability, but its Li-ion conductivity remained below 4 mS/cm due to the structural uniqueness of Li-ions trapped in the octahedral cage in the argyrodite crystal. The research team has newly developed a novel Li-ion pathway that crosses the octahedral cage by applying a technique for selectively substituting chlorine, a halogen element, at specific atomic positions. The new solid electrolyte material, developed by KIST researchers, has an Li-ion conductivity of 10.2 mS/cm, which is equivalent to that of a conventional liquid electrolyte at room temperature, and still maintains electrochemical stability under various battery operating conditions.

**Argyrodite: A crystal structure that was discovered in the mineral of Ag8GeS6 by Clemens Winkler in 1886. Recently, much research has been conducted on replacing cation sites with alkali metals such as Li and applying them to electrochemical devices.

In addition, the new synthesis method reported by KIST research team has attracted more attention as it is possible to maximize the mass productivity of superionic solid electrolyte materials. While the conventional ***solid-state reaction process requires more than several days of processing time, this study proposed a simple synthesis method that combines the nanocrystalline nucleation process and an infrared rapid heat treatment technology to shorten the process time to within 10 hours.

***Solid-state reaction process: A dry-based material process in which one or more solid reaction products are formed with the diffusion of elementary particles. It generally requires high-temperature heat treatment in order to make reactions to occur at an appropriate rate.

According to Dr. Kim, "In the field of all-solid-state battery technology, foreign researchers including Japan are leading the research. In this study, there is great significance in developing a high-performance solid electrolyte material with excellent mass productivity." He further comments, "Synthesis of superionic sulfide materials through rapid process is very likely to be commercialized, and can be widely used in electric vehicles and energy storage system as a solid electrolyte in the future."

###

The research was supported by the Dual Use Technology Program of the Institute of Civil Military Technology Cooperation granted financially resources from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Ministrer Sung, Yun-mo) and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (Minister Wang, Jung-Hong). This work was also supported by the Institutional Research Program of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and the Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Changes of the National Research Foundation funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Choi, Ki-young). The results of this study have been published online in Nano Letters (IF: 12.279, top 5.743% of JCR), a prestigious international journal in the areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
Organizers in Northampton have launched a program seeking to alleviate food insecurities facing residents in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Community Action Pioneer Valley, Grow Food Northampton and the Northampton Survival Center announced Thursday they are working to ensure community members can get vegetables and other farm-fresh products during the outbreak as well as non-perishable items, dairy products and meat.

Alisa Klein, executive director of Grow Food Northampton, told MassLive that organizers are planning to operate the program for nine to 12 months. They are preparing to run the food distribution system longer than that, though, as the financial impact of the crisis could last well past the pandemics peak.

Even if the health risks go away, the economic problems will continue," she said. Theres going to be a deep need for food in the coming months.

The program launched Monday, and Klein saw almost double the number people in the first week of the distribution service compared to during the groups normal operations before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Our most important emphasis is just this idea that we are creating a just and resilient food system," she said.

If youre having trouble viewing the embed to sign up on your mobile device click here.

The Community Food Distribution Project is providing products at the Jackson Street School three days a week and through delivery to five locations once a week. Organizers are expecting to make food available at nine total sites in the weeks to come.

The goal of the service is two-fold: to provide fresh and durable" produce to those in the community experiencing food insecurity during the public health crisis and to keep nearby farmers afloat by purchasing their products.

Klein noted that farmers are seeing a decrease in revenue due to restaurant and produce market closures during the pandemic.

Our area farmers are finding that their income sources are drying up," she said. We see this as serving the food supply chain in a very holistic way.

Pre-bagged packages of food are being put together by staff and volunteers, who are taking rigorous health precautions, the three organizations said in a joint statement. Bags will include pantry items and fresh produce.

The local produce is being purchased with money from a recently formed funder collaborative" called Local Roots Care" as well as through other donors. Shelf-stable products are largely being supplied by the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and the Northampton Survival Center.

The groups running the service posted a schedule of the locations hours and operations:

Organizers at the Jackson Street School on 120 Jackson Street are distributing bags directly outside the school cafeteria Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Bags are available for pickup at the school meal distribution site Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Doorstep delivery is also available at Hampshire Heights, Florence Heights and Meadowbrook. Signup is required for doorstep delivery.

News about the food distribution program comes after Northampton Mayor David Narkewiczs announcement Monday that $1.2 million in federal grants would be going toward the citys response to the public health crisis.

More than $200,000 is expected to be provided to small businesses. Another $120,000 will go to emergency shelters for the homeless, and $25,000 will be allocated for the Northampton Survival Center and Grow Food Northampton.

Each partner organization has been able to bring its unique strengths to feeding our community," Heidi Nortonsmith, executive director of the Northampton Survival Center, said in a statement. "The Survival Center, despite needing to close its building temporarily, was able to reproduce a fully-functional staging and distribution site at Jackson Street School, generously lent to us by the City of Northampton, within days.

Grow Food Northampton brings its expertise in mobile food distribution and Community Action brings its experience relocating their Center for Self Reliance Food Pantry to the Federal Street School in Greenfield.

Related Content:
Saudi declares ceasefire in Yemen, then promptly breaches it with airstrikes

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 2:18 AM

The Saudi-led coalition, which had declared what it called a "ceasefire" in its devastating war against Yemen a few hours ago, targeted several Yemeni positions shortly after the announcement.

On Wednesday night, the coalition claimed it was halting military operations in Yemen in support of UN efforts to end its five-year war, which has killed tens of thousands and spread hunger and disease.

Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malkiclaimed that the move was decided in part to avoid a potential outbreak of the new coronavirus in Yemen, where no cases have been reported so far.

The spokesman said the ceasefire would go into effect at midday on Thursday for two weeks and was open to extension.

However, shortly after the announcement, the coalition's warplanes struck positions at several Yemeni regions, including Sa'ada, Amran, and al-Bayda, according to Yemen's al-Masirah TV.

Before the airstrikes, Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement had downplayed the Saudi ceasefire announcement, describing it as a chance for Riyadh to get out of the quagmire with minimum disgrace.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior member of the Political Bureau of the Ansarullah movement, told al-Mayadeen TV that the coalition's move to announce a ceasefire was just another ploy by the aggressors.

"Saudis have repeatedly declared ceasefire in Yemenbut have violated it every time," he noted.

Bukhaiti said Riyadh is using the outbreak of COVID-19 as an opportunity for ceasefire and a face-saving exit from the Yemen war.

However, he added, with the siege of Yemen in place, the war will not end.

"If any ceasefire does not include the removal of the siege on Yemen, that would be the continuation of the Saudi war," he noted.

The fresh air raids came hours after the coalition fighter jets launched at least nine airstrikes against the Hazm district in Yemen's northern province of al-Jawf.

The warplanes also struck Qaniya area in the central Yemeni province of al-Bayda on four occasions, with no reports of casualties and damage immediately available.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in order to bring former president, AbdRabbuh Mansur Hadi, back to power and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past five years.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have purchased billions of dollars' worth of weapons from the United States, France and the United Kingdom in their war on Yemen.

Riyadh and its allies have been widely criticized for the high civilian death toll resulted from their bombing campaign in Yemen.

The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






As Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker worked to secure millions of pieces of personal protective equipment for medical workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, he began to realize logistics would become an issue. Once he had secured over a million N95 masks from China, the governor called up one of the states most prominent families to ask for some help.

Appearing on WEEIs The Greg Hill Show on Friday, Baker said that after locating the masks in China, the state determined commercial transport by boat or plane would be too risky and that a sizable private plane was required to bring the masks to Massachusetts. Thats when he decided to call Patriots owners Robert and Jonathan Kraft.

There are lots of small private planes but if you want to get a big cargo you need a big private plane, Baker said. As I thought about that, I remembered that the Patriots had a big private plane. So I called Jonathan Kraft and I said, I think I have a path to purchase a significant number of N95 masks, which we really need. I asked the Krafts if they would be willing to spearhead the process of working with us to get the plane out of the U.S. into China and back. Eventually, it became like a humanitarian mission.

The Krafts, who own the Patriots, agreed to allow the state to use their plane and got the wheels in motion for the journey to China. The plane first flew from Boston to Alaska, then stopped before completing the second leg of its journey and having 1.2 million masks loaded onto its cargo bay in the matter of three hours.

The plane arrived back in Massachusetts on April 2, after more than two weeks of planning. Another half million pieces of PPE didnt fit on the plane and are expected to come in another shipment, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It was a lot of moving parts to that thing and a lot of people both in the U.S. and in China were very helpful in making it happen," Baker said. "And we really needed it.
Weeks after COVID-19 started killing elderly residents in seniors homes, the Ontario Ministry of Health is releasing directives to ramp up coronavirus testing and infection control.

Reaction among seniors advocates is mixed. Some are heartened while others believe the directives wont stop the surge of deaths.

Guidelines published Wednesday demand increased COVID-19 testing in long-term care and retirement homes. As well, new residents entering a home must be isolated for 14 days and tested within that period, which the Ontario Health Coalition says is not soon enough.

The directives also require that all nursing home staff and essential visitors for gravely ill residents wear surgical masks, whether the home is in outbreak or not. Retirement homes are expected to take all reasonable steps to follow the new long-term care rules. As well, there are directives for testing in remote and Indigenous communities.

Its never too late to save lives, said Doris Grinspun, president and CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, who has been pushing for heightened protections for the last month.

We cannot buy back time, but we can make the most of the time we have left.

Grinspun is pushing for randomized COVID-19 testing, casting a wider net than the new rules. In the directive, residents sharing a room with an infected individual or those living in adjacent rooms will now be tested.

She also questioned how the government will find enough supplies to ensure every worker and visitor wears a surgical mask for the duration of the pandemic.

The key point, Grinspun said, is to ensure these changes are in place before an outbreak. It means very little if you do it after.

The directives were released on Wednesday by Dr. David Williams, Ontarios chief medical officer, who has been criticized for not acting swiftly on protections as the virus swept through seniors homes.

A spokesperson for Minister of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton acknowledged the struggle to find masks for workers.

Ontario is competing with other countries for personal protection equipment, said Gillian Sloggett, in a written statement.

The whole world is scrambling to get their hands on as many masks and other pieces as they can, Sloggett said. We will continue to source the supplies we need so that our front-line staff are equipped to defeat this ruthless virus.

In Ontario, at least 69 long-term care homes have confirmed a COVID-19 outbreak, which is one or more positive cases, according to figures released by Public Health Ontario.

Its data says 498 residents and 347 staff in nursing homes have been infected. Death counts rise almost daily. The public health figures say 86 people in long-term care who tested positive for COVID-19 have died.

Those numbers are dire, said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, a 40-year-old grassroots organization that advocates for public health.

Nursing home residents make up almost half of the 200 COVID-19-related deaths in the province, but the 77,000 people living in long-term care are a mere fraction of Ontarios overall population, Mehra said.

That just puts in perspective how devastating the spread has been in the homes, she said.

Weve been tracking this since the very beginning of the first outbreak and the escalation of the numbers, for almost three weeks now, has been unfathomable. Its unspeakable how quickly it is spreading.

Mehras Health Coalition wants stronger protections in homes. All staff working with residents who are sick with COVID-19 should have N95 masks, which offer more protection, she said. Even with the better masks, Mehra said she is hearing from nurses who complain they dont fit properly.

And while the directives allow homes to find creative spaces for isolation, many homes are so old and small there are few options outside of shared bedrooms, she said.

Its going to get more serious, she said. These directives cannot be the only answer.

Elderly people living in long-term care are extremely vulnerable to the coronavirus because most are very frail with multiple health issues.

On Wednesday, Toronto Public Health said 16 residents of the City of Torontos Seven Oaks nursing home have died. On Thursday morning, Pinecrest nursing home in Bobcaygeon reported its 29th death.

The deaths this week really highlighted the need for stricter rules around testing and the universal use of masks, said Lisa Levin, CEO of Advantage Ontario, which represents not-for-profit, municipal and charitable homes.

The new rules are really important to implement, and we are really happy to see this, Levin said.

However, if a home doesnt have enough masks, that is a big problem. This requirement needs to be accompanied by homes having sufficient supply, which the government is working on.

All staff working for seniors homes operated by the Country of Simcoe have been wearing surgical masks since early March, said Jane Sinclair, general manager of health and emergency services.

As of Thursday, no residents or workers in the four county-operated long-term care homes have tested positive for COVID-19, Sinclair said.

We felt we needed to act really quickly to keep ahead of this, she said.

The hard part is keeping up the supplies. Staff use nearly 400 masks each day.

We have to conserve and be prepared.
The analysts covering Spirit Airlines, Inc. (NYSE:SAVE) delivered a dose of negativity to shareholders today, by making a substantial revision to their statutory forecasts for this year. This report focused on revenue estimates, and it looks as though the consensus view of the business has become substantially more conservative. Surprisingly the share price has been buoyant, rising 19% to US$12.51 in the past 7 days. Whether the downgrade will have a negative impact on demand for shares is yet to be seen.

Following the latest downgrade, the current consensus, from the nine analysts covering Spirit Airlines, is for revenues of US$3.2b in 2020, which would reflect a not inconsiderable 16% reduction in Spirit Airlines' sales over the past 12 months. Prior to the latest estimates, the analysts were forecasting revenues of US$3.7b in 2020. It looks like forecasts have become a fair bit less optimistic on Spirit Airlines, given the measurable cut to revenue estimates.

See our latest analysis for Spirit Airlines

NYSE:SAVE Past and Future Earnings April 9th 2020

The consensus price target fell 21% to US$23.31, with the analysts clearly less optimistic about Spirit Airlines' valuation following this update. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Spirit Airlines at US$48.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$10.00. So we wouldn't be assigning too much credibility to analyst price targets in this case, because there are clearly some widely differing views on what kind of performance this business can generate. With this in mind, we wouldn't rely too heavily on the consensus price target, as it is just an average and analysts clearly have some deeply divergent views on the business.

Story continues

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Spirit Airlines' past performance and to peers in the same industry. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast revenue decline of 16%, a significant reduction from annual growth of 14% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 2.4% annually for the foreseeable future. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Spirit Airlines is expected to lag the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The clear low-light was that analysts slashing their revenue forecasts for Spirit Airlines this year. They're also anticipating slower revenue growth than the wider market. After such a stark change in sentiment from analysts, we'd understand if readers now felt a bit wary of Spirit Airlines.

Hungry for more information? At least one of Spirit Airlines' nine analysts has provided estimates out to 2022, which can be seen for free on our platform here.

Of course, seeing company management invest large sums of money in a stock can be just as useful as knowing whether analysts are downgrading their estimates. So you may also wish to search this free list of stocks that insiders are buying.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Relying on a model developed by experts at the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Public Health, Governor Tim Walz issued a broad shutdown order on March 25. Governor Walz asserted that, under the models projections, up to 74,000 Minnesotans would die of the Wuhan virus absent the shutdown. Later we learned that, under the models projection, 50,000 Minnesotans would die with the shutdown. In his most recent remarks, extending the shutdown order to May 4, Governor Walz advised that the model wasnt to be taken literally.

To people like me, who spent time trying to figure how those numbers could work, Walz should have borrowed the line from Animal House. You [screwed] up  you trusted us! If Walz and his experts didnt pull the numbers from thin air, they may as well have. The death toll ramped up yesterday from 39 to 50, along with the median age of decedents from age 86 to 87. The total hospitalized in ICU as of today is given as 63. (The Minnesota Department of Health Situation Update is posted here.)

The model has become a political issue. State authorities have refused so far to release it or the underlying analysis. Our friend Kevin Roche calls for the release of the model and other related information in this column published by the Star Tribune today.

At the same time, the Star Tribune supports the governors approach in an editorial that notes the wild numbers with no analysis beyond this cheerleading: To the extent that theres a choice, it must be to save lives and deal with the economic consequences, or to risk more deaths, overwhelmed hospitals, critical shortages and economic consequences.Those initial, higher numbers werent necessarily wrong [sic]. They offered a glimpse of what could be if we did nothing, made no sacrifices and just tried to carry on with business as usual. Minnesotans collectively rejected that fate. Instead, together, they flattened the curve.

On page one the Star Tribune features Top Minnesota GOP lawmaker opposes Gov. Tim Walzs extended stay-at-home order on coronavirus. Theres something about the model. Republicans want to see the beef. The Star Tribune reports: Walz defended his decision to extend the order Thursday, saying it was based on data and guidance from health experts.

The experts responsible for the model  the data and guidance  at the Minnesota Department of Health and the University of Minnesota are to hold a press briefing this afternoon to lay their cards on the table. So far all we have seen is a few summary slides, as House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt rightly asserts in the linked Star Tribune article.

While we await the briefing this afternoon, I urge interested readers to take a look at the April 1 overview of COVID-19 modeling provided by Stefan Gildemeister, state health economist, Minnesota Department of Health, and Eva Enns, associate professor, University of Minnesota School of Public Health (video below). They discuss the model on which Walz relied when he issued his shutdown order on March 25. This is what we have seen so far. It comes across (to me, anyway) as something like an April Fools joke, but it was good enough for the editors of the Star Tribune.
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
Free Admission to Huangshan Attract Huge Crowds of Visitors When CCP virus Crisis Is Far from Over

Click Here to Our YouTube Channel for More Videos

The Yellow Mountains (Huangshan) in Anhui Province, one of Chinas most spectacular areas of natural scenery, offered free entry to all residents in Anhui Province. Starting April 1, lines began forming as early as 4 a.m. Soon after the opening of the main gates, scenic spots were full of visitors. On April 4, Huangshan Scenic Area reached its limit of 20,000 tourists,

The following video shows that on April 1, the first day of free entry, many people were already queuing at 4 a.m. The trails going up the mountain were packed, and many were not wearing masks, sparking fears of another viral outbreak.



My God! Look at the sea of people in Huangshan, its too crowded to move. Dont come to Huangshan today. With these long lines, you wont be able to get in.



This is the situation in Huangshan when visitors havent even started to climb the mountain yet. We are still waiting for shuttles. Its just horrible.



Friends from Anhui Province, please dont come to Huangshan, you have to wait a long time for the shuttles, dont come! Look at how many people there are.



All you get to see in this footage is peoples heads. No sightseeing but looking at peoples heads if you are here.

A twitter user named Dong Brother originally wanted to go to Huangshan but canceled his trip because of the crowds. He tweeted, Tickets for Huangshan are usually too expensive230 yuan per person ($32). Now many people are going there because its free. See how they suffer! (Remember that) the epidemic is not over yet!

At the same time, Chinese authorities banned tomb-sweepingvisit cemetery to pay respect to the deceased, on the Tomb Sweeping Festival this year, which was April 4, citing the excuse of coronavirus control.

Anhui netizen Mr. Shi commented on this, saying: Thousands of people from Anhui are visiting the mountains during such a dangerous period. Many people are outraged and complaining about not being allowed to go to the cemetery to worship the dead. Is visiting the dead more dangerous than allowing so many people to gather here?

Huangshan is located in Huangshan City, south of Anhui Province. It is the only mountain scenery among Chinas top ten scenic spots.
If projections hold, the coronavirus may peak in Pennsylvania next week. The sooner that happens, Gov. Tom Wolf says, the sooner the statewide shutdown may be lifted.

However, it is unlikely the entire state will see the expected surge in COVID-19 patients at the same time. And as for when stay-at-home orders will end, thats still a moving target, Wolf told media during a Friday afternoon conference call.

For now, the governors administration is urging residents not to ease up on social distancing. To do so now, they say, will make the surge worse and result in more people getting sick and dying.

Asked when the coronavirus will peak, Wolf said that if it happens next week as expected, and if hospitals are able to cope with the increased demand, then thats going to allow us to shut this shutdown down fast.

Exactly when and how quickly will depend on the virus.

The University of Washington projects Pennsylvanias peak happening middle to late next week, around April 16-17. The following graphic shows the projected death toll for Pennsylvania, as of April 10, from the universitys Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Click here if its not displaying.

The forecast shows the demand for hospital beds staying below capacity. It also predicted that peak projected deaths per day in the state will top out around 60  a number that has been surpassed three times just this week.

But when it all happens will vary regionally.

"Theres not going to be one peak, Health Secretary Rachel Levine said in a media briefing earlier Friday. Some areas may hit theirs early next week, she said.

The eastern part of the state has been most affected by COVID-19. Philadelphia has the single most cases and deaths of any county. When adjusted for population, the virus is most concentrated in the Lehigh Valley and Poconos.

However, that doesnt necessarily mean those areas will be later to peak.

I think it is somewhat tough to say what will peak when, said Nate Wardle, a health department spokesman, told lehighvalleylive.com following Levines daily briefing. The eastern part of the state is seeing more cases now, but that could change and the lower cases in other parts of the state may lead to those places peaking later. However, as Dr. Levine has said, we cant necessarily predict a peak, we have to follow the data.

A day earlier, the health secretary said that, like the varied peaks, Pennsylvania wont reopen in one grand day, but gradually across counties as circumstances dictate.

In the meantime, Wolf said the labor department is bringing on more people and newer technology to handle the historic influx of unemployment claims. The state expects to have a compensation website for independent contractors and other gig jobs ready by April 24, in tandem with a federal website. And his administration said it is working with hospitals to keep them funded and stocked with supplies.

But, he said, businesses cant reopen until its clear that the virus has subsided.

The key thing is, all of us really need to stay home, Wolf said. "In a perfect world wed have a vaccine, and plenty of tests, and plenty of equipment. In a perfect world, we wouldnt have this virus, but were not in a perfect world, so were making a lot of decisions with, whats the least bad decision? And the least bad thing we can do is stay home.

(NOTE: There are maps and tables embedded in the story above. If they dont display properly on your device, open this story in your Internet browser.)

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @SteveNovakLVL and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Photo Illustration by Sarah Rogers/The Daily Beast/Photos Getty

Mike Ferguson was adamant: He would never cast a ballot for Joe Biden. The 38-year-old resident of Los Angeles had voted in every presidential election since 2000 and if Bernie Sanders was not going to be the Democratic Partys nominee this time around well, then, fuck them.

I feel hopeless about our government, he said of his decision. Nothing will change, millions will die unnecessarily because boomers want a tax cut, and the planet is collapsing.

As Ferguson saw it, there was no point in voting. Politics wasnt about Democrats versus Republicans, it was the powerful versus the powerlessa paradigm that the ultimate insider, a former vice president and senatorial ally of the credit card industry, would never change.

Then Ferguson took a second and thought about it some more. At the end of the day, he told The Daily Beast, I will probably end up voting for him... I look at this like an addiction. We have to look at this like harm reduction. The only thing that will feel right to me is we have to get Trump out of office.

Ferguson is part of a subset of voters that now could swing the course of the election: the self-identified Bernie or Busters. With the 2020 Democratic primary having wrapped up with Sanders decision to suspend his campaign on Wednesday, the task has now fallen to Biden to win this group of individuals overa task hes begun in earnest.

It wont be easy, laid bare by the fact that Sanders-supportive media showed no initial interest in toning down their criticisms of Biden even as the Trump campaign moved to pry Bernie backers from the Democratic Party. And the stakes are certainly high. Reflecting on her failed 2016 bid, Hillary Clinton said of Sanders and his base: He hurt me, there's no doubt about it.

But in conversations with more than two dozen self-described Bernie or Busters, a nuanced picture emerges, suggesting that Bidens hurdle may not be quite as difficult as Democratic doomsayers fear. While all insisted, up front, that they would never support the former vice president, a fair number, like Ferguson, conceded that they could or even would likely do just that.

Story continues

Take Jason Peters, 24, of Philadelphia. In a conversation with The Daily Beast he said he found it nearly impossible to support Biden whom he accused of lying during debates and angling to put Mike Bloomberg in charge of the world bank. Hes against everything that the youth believes in, Peters said, going on to talk about his detestation for the Democratic Party and his conscious desire for Trump to destroy it. But by the end of the conversation, hed talked himself into another scenario: voting for Biden out of a sense of moral obligation to others. I might have to vote for him, he conceded, because I have many friends who arent white and Ive witnessed race relations get worseso maybe things will feel a little better under Biden.

Or take Greg Schultz, 52, from Farmington Hills, Michigan. When he first responded to The Daily Beast he said there were two reasons hed never back Biden in the general: Neera Tanden (the head of the Democratic think tank Center for American Progress and a bete noire among Sanders supporters) and the fact that Biden is a Republican. He then wrote back moments later: I obviously do not like Bidens moderate (even republicanish) positions. The only way to break this cycle is to stop playing their game; but, he conceded, I probably responded to you in an angry state. Who knows what I will do in November right now.

Winning Was the Easy Part. Now Biden Has to Charm Bernies Base.

Mark Simmons, 55, of Madison, Wisconsin, said hed made up his mind not to vote for Biden and I don't think it is unreasonable to be honest with you. For 35 years, he explained, hed been told, always, to eat it and vote for the non-worst candidate in the race. But by the end of the conversation, Simmons had conceded that there was one issue area that could convince him to change his tune. I dont think much is going to change in the first year from Trump to Biden. Certainly Supreme Court picks and judges. That matters. That would be the only possible thing where I would consider voting for Biden, he said.

Conversations like these, which took place over the course of several weeks, are anecdotal. While they underscore that the hurt feelings of a bruising primary often can and do dissipate as the general election nears, they by no means represent the total universe of the Bernie or Bust crowd. Indeed, an equal number of Sanders supporters interviewed for this piece remained adamant that they would never back Biden, even if it meant helping Trumps chances.

Colin Poulton, 29, of Nashville, Tennessee said he could not bring himself to vote for Biden because of his support for the Iraq War and, more recently, because Biden encouraged primaries to be held even as coronavirus made those elections public safety threats. He and the DNC have the blood of the people who catch Covid after being encouraged to vote on his hands, Poulton said.

Michael Pietrowski of Philadelphia both canvassed and worked the phones for Sanders and pledged not to vote for another candidate in the general. I believe Biden is an evil man with a lifetime of evil policy behind him and I wouldn't vote for him at gunpoint, he explained.

And Carl Bryan, of Illinois, said that hed vote for Sanders but no one else. Voting for Biden feels like giving your dog treats for shitting on the floor instead of shitting on the bed, he said. Sure, the bed doesn't have shit on it anymore. But now you convinced your dog shitting on the floor is cool.

To those who worked to woo Sanders supporters before, the colorful imagery rang familiar.

There is going to be a significant swath of Bernie's support base who are just not interested at all, said Brian Fallon, who served as Clintons press secretary during the 2016 campaign. Even if you start with the inclination to try and win them over, a lot of what attracted them in the first place are completely at odds with what a Biden-led ticket has to offer. I think she tried as much as she could. She tried and did enough that Bernie bought in to the point that he did more than two dozen events for her in the fall. But there were still plenty of people who were still not willing to get on the bandwagon.

Estimates from the 2016 election showed that about one out of every 10 Sanders supporters in that cycle ended up backing Donald Trump. That doesnt count the number that didnt show up to vote for president at all. But its impossible to say if those numbers will be repeated in 2020. Trump is no longer a theoretical president and Clinton, who inspired intense derision among a certain sect of progressives, is no longer on the ballot.

Markos Moulitsas, the founder of Daily Kos and the polling firm Civiqs, shared data with The Daily Beast showing that 89 percent of self-identified Democrats support Biden with 4 percent supporting Trump. That number was 89 to 3 for Clinton at the end of the 16 cycle. So at this stage of the race, Biden is starting where Clinton ended, Moulitsas said. All of which could be interpreted as good news for the former VP, since he has time to heal the wounds of the primary.

In 2016, Bernie went all the way to the convention, and there was never a time to process that loss, said Moulitsas. They took out their anger at the convention and it was fed by the Russian bots. Also, Bernie is already more conciliatory toward Biden than he ever was toward Hillary.

Those who have worked with both Sanders and Biden do attest to a productive, mutually-respectful relationship between the two. But its an open question as to whether Sanders supporters will follow those types of cues or ignore them entirely. While some of the Senators more pugnacious operatives went public on Wednesday calling for unity in beating Trump others didnt bother concealing their desire for policy concessions and political retribution.

What was telling about many of those Sanders backers who swore they would never support Biden, however, was their self-awareness about the impact of their vote. In conversations with The Daily Beast, many acknowledged that their position was due, in part, to the luxury of hailing from a state that would be uncontested in November.

Eric Niemeyer, a Bernie supporter from New Jersey, said that if he was from a swing state I would most likely cast a vote for Biden.

A 25-year-old Bernie supporter named David, who declined to give his last name, said hed not support Biden but would urge anyone living in what could reasonably be considered a swing state to vote for the former VP. The Supreme Court is too important, he explained.

Joe Walsh, 33, from San Francisco, said he would eat my hat if Biden pivoted left on issues in a way to win his vote. But when asked if hed feel that way if he were living in Wisconsin, he replied: I think my calculus would be a little bit different for sure.

All of which is not to say that Bidens obstacles in winning over Sanders supporters are nonexistent or inconsequential. Any election in November is likely to be decided by close margins in just a handful of states, making turnout (or lack thereof) paramount. But for those who have navigated this challenge in the past, there is reason to feel confident that the damage can be managed.

My impression is that Bernie has good chemistry with Biden. They have a relationship. Its easier for them to connect on a human level, said Tad Devine, who served as Sanders top strategist in 2016 before having a falling-out with the campaign in 2020. I think a lot of it depends on Bernie's messaging to him and on Biden acknowledging that issues like climate and education and student debt matter and affect this voting bloc that is critical to Bernie. I would move on that front by recognizing that Bernie has good ideas.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here

Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!

Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
Gardai and PSNI officers mount armed coronavirus checkpoints on the border with Northern Ireland at Carrickarnon Co Louth. PA Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The new Northern Ireland Nightingale Hospital wards designed to treat coronavirus sufferers at Belfast City Hospital

A further 10 people have died in Northern Ireland after contracting coronavirus, it has been confirmed.

It brings the total number of deaths across the region to 92 people. This is the second highest daily death rate announced so far, with the highest being 12 patients.

The Public Health Agency said a further 112 Covid-19 cases were confirmed after testing as of 12.02pm on Friday.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in NI to 1,589. So far a total of 11,006 people have been tested for the virus.

In the UK as a whole the death toll jumped by 980 to 8,958, according to figures released by all of the home nations.

On Friday Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the lockdown in the Republic of Ireland would continue to May 5 and "nobody knows for certain when we will get back to normal".

There were 25 further deaths reported in the Republic of Ireland on Friday bringing the death toll to 287.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the country has risen to 8,089.

Read More

Here's how Friday unfolded:
The planned reopening of the Danville Farmers' Market on Saturday has been postponed due to community concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak, city officials and the Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association said Friday.

Officials said they decided to hold off on reopening the market after concerns started pouring in from residents.

"We understand the concerns that are being voiced by our residents and we want to be mindful of them, so we started working with the PCFMA on how to address them," Danville Economic Development Manager Jill Bergman said Friday in a release.

The market, held at the Railroad Avenue parking lot, had closed in March. The city said Thursday that it was set to reopen this weekend after two weeks of planning measures for social distancing, including limitations on the number of vendors and booths and a ban on non-essential vendors or activities.

A pet food bank has been created for San Mateo County pet owners facing financial hardship or considered at high risk for the novel coronavirus in San Mateo County, the Peninsula Humane Society said Friday.

Income or health verification won't be required to obtain free pet food, but pet owners should have an address in San Mateo County.

"We all know that the COVID-19 pandemic is both a health and a financial crisis, and PHS/SPCA has programs in place to help pets and their owners impacted in both of those ways," said Buffy Martin Tarbox, the organization's communications manager.

County residents who shouldn't leave their homes can contact the organization and arrange for a delivery, Tarbox said.

Those who are able can pick up pet food on Fridays between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., but should first call (650) 988-5280 so that an appropriate care package can be arranged. The pick-up location will be at Pick of the Litter, 1127 Chula Vista Ave. in Burlingame. Social distancing guidelines will be followed.

During deliveries, strict social distancing will also be followed and food will be left at a resident's door.

Cash donations - but not pet food - are welcomed by the Peninsula Humane Society. Donations the organization's COVID-19 Crisis Relief Fund can be made via credit card or check. Information on how to donate is available at www.phs-spca.org

A report of a pipe bomb found in a shopping cart at an Oakland grocery store Friday morning prompted an evacuation, but officials said it turned out to be an electrical conduit.

The device was found about 7:20 a.m., at The Ridge shopping center at 5100 Broadway in Oakland, where there is a Safeway store.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office bomb squad responded and the area was evacuated, according to Oakland police.

About two hours later, the sheriff's office reported that the device was not suspicious.

"Pipe bomb unfounded. It was electrical conduit in a shopping cart that looked very suspicious. Thanks to the community for the alert and reporting. Nice job by @oaklandpoliceca and ACSO bomb squad on a quick response," the sheriff's office posted on Twitter.

Santa Clara County nurses are calling on the county to provide more paid leave for frontline healthcare workers who could be affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"While almost everyone else is sheltering at home, nurses and other frontline healthcare responders are running to the fire, knowing their own lives are at risk," Debbie Chang, a county nurse and president of the local Registered Nurses Professional Association, said in a statement Friday.

"Is it too much to ask that when we get sick or are forced to quarantine from COVID-19, that County leaders have our backs - not just for 14 days, but for as long as it takes?" Chang asked.

The nurses association is asking the county to extend paid administrative leave up to 80 additional hours, on top of their two-weeks leave they currently have, to mirror similar policies implemented in San Francisco, according to a Friday news release which said the county is "failing" frontline healthcare workers.

"A once-in-a-generation crisis is no time to prioritize bottom lines over lifelines," Chang said.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a referral asking for additional support for frontline healthcare workers during its Tuesday meeting. The item will return to the board at a later date unspecified in the board's referral.

The county's Employee Services Agency could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Midpenninsula Regional Open Space District will be closing several preserves in San Mateo County on Saturdays and Sundays at the direction of the San Mateo County public health officer in a continued effort to battle the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, district officials said.

The closures will be effective beginning Saturday and will impact the following preserves:

-Coral Creek Preserve

-El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve

-E Honda Creek Preserve

-Los Trancos Preserve

-Puglas Ridge Preserve

-Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve

-Ravenswood Preserve

-Russian Ridge Preserve

-Skyline Ridge Preserve

-Teague Hill Preserve

-Thornewood Preserve

The Lone Ridge Preserve and the Windy Hill Preserve will remain completely closed until further notice, officials said.

District staff will continue to monitor the use of the preserves and will follow county health directives in deciding when to change preserve operations.

The Danville Police Department is asking residents to bring needed medical supplies to the Village Theatre and Art Gallery on Friday and Saturday to help out frontline medical workers in need of personal protective equipment.

The donation drive, dubbed Operation LOVE, will go from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Residents will be able to drive up and drop off items at the Village Theatre and Art Gallery at 233 Front St.

A volunteer wearing safety attire will be on-site to take the donations.

Items sought include masks, goggles, disinfectant wipes, gloves, gowns, hand sanitizer and brown lunch bags for nurses to store their masks.

The Alameda County Law Library is offering a limited reference and document delivery service on weekdays during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The library building remains closed, but law librarians are working remotely and will still be able to provide the public with access to legal information.

The reference and document delivery service is available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

For more information, email the library at lawlib@acgov.org or call (510) 208-4832.

San Francisco Animal Care and Control will begin offering care kits to residents who find stray kittens as kitten birthing season heats up, the shelter said Friday.

While Animal Care and Control is closed during the city's shelter-in-place order due to the novel coronavirus, it will still offer limited services, including the kitten care kits to residents starting Saturday.

While animal shelters can care for injured or ill pets during the pandemic, they will not be able to take in trapped cats and kittens while the order is in place, requiring residents to care for them in a shelter's stead.

Residents can contact Animal Care and Control at (415) 554-6364 or acc@sfgov.org to schedule a contact-free kitten care kit pick-up appointment. The shelter is located at 1200 15th St. at the corner of Harrison Street.

The East Bay Regional Park District will close parking areas at certain parks this weekend to prevent overcrowding and promote physical distancing in light of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the district said Friday.

Parking areas will be closed at Black Diamond Mines, Coyote Hills, Garin, Kennedy Grove, Lake Chabot, Lake Temescal and Miller Knox, according to the district. In addition, staging areas will be closed at Briones, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Regional Shoreline and Mission Peak.

"This upcoming weekend, the public should consider staying at home, walking in their neighborhood, or visiting parks on less crowded days or times," district General Manager Robert Doyle said. "No picnicking and group activities are allowed by the 'stay-at-home' orders, which has been in place for the past two weeks."

Trails and open spaces will remain open to the public, but staffing will be reduced as district officials and staff members work from home where possible.

People who do spend time at an East Bay park or open area are advised to practice recommended coronavirus safety protocols like wearing a protective face mask, practicing physical distancing and bringing water and hand sanitizer from home. Park-goers should also take their trash with them when they leave as trash service at parks has been suspended under the regional and state shelter-in-place orders.

A full list of park district closures and updates can be found at ebparks.org/coronavirus.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Wyatt Nemeth celebrated his 9th birthday on Monday afternoon in front of his Trenton home.

He sat in a chair, on the driveway, and opened gifts on the warm spring day. He was joined by his parents, Steven and Chantae Nemeth, along with his 12-year-old sister, Jacey, and his 10-year old brother, Aiden.

The youngster didnt expect more family members and friends to join him on his special day this year as gatherings are currently on hold as the nation battles to stop the spread of COVID-19.

But what Wyatt didnt know was that his parents rallied to bring him a birthday parade, featuring family and friends and was led by members of the Trenton Police Department.

During all the madness, he was unable to have a party with his friends, Steven said. So my wife set the parade up. I added a twist with the police escort with help from a Trenton police officer, Mark Driscoll.

The parade kicked off when a line of Trenton police vehicles slowly rolled down Longmeadow Drive at about 2 p.m. Monday. When the first car reached the Nemeth home, Officer Jeff Neese got on his vehicles loudspeaker and said, Happy birthday, Wyatt.

A few more Trenton police vehicles followed behind as they slowly went past the Nemeth home and ultimately back out of the neighborhood.

Behind the police vehicles was a long line of cars, each with Wyatts friends or family members inside. As the cars went by, people waved and yelled Happy birthday, Wyatt from the open windows and he waved back. A few people even displayed homemade signs along the way.

The 9-year-old boy was initially stunned when the police cars came down the street. He said, Am I being arrested? and How do they know my name?

The elder Nemeth said that overall it was a birthday no one will forget and that jokingly hell remind his son of his initial reaction that day.

This is going to be a memory for our entire family for the rest of our lives, he said. Hey Wyatt, remember your birthday parade when you thought you were getting arrested?'

Steven had approached Driscoll about involving the Trenton Police Department in the parade. Driscoll brought the idea to Lt. Mike Oakley and the rest of the officers on the shift.

Yesterday Mark sent a group text to me and the officers that were working the road today, Oakley said. He kind of gave us a heads up as to what was going on and asked us if we would be willing to do that.

I talked to the guys this morning and of course they were more than willing to do it. They get a kick out of doing stuff like that. They really appreciated it.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday prepared a detailed action plan to be submitted to the Centre seeking extension of the coronavirus lockdown till April 30, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets chief ministers to take stock of the situation.

The proposed action plan was worked out at a meeting held by Rawat with senior officials, including Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh, DGP Anil Raturi and Additional Chief Secretary Om Prakash, to discuss the strategy to contain the outbreak in the coming days.

The state government is planning to seek extension of the lockdown in all the 13 districts of Uttarakhand till April 30. It will also demand removal of certain restrictions like the one on inter-district and intra-district movement of people in districts which have not reported any COVID 19 cases.

A decision by the central government on the nationwide lockdown, which entered its 17th day, is expected after Modi's interaction with all chief ministers on Saturday.

The emphasis on uninterrupted supply of essentials and maintaining social distancing during the lockdown remains intact even as it proposes stricter norms for identified hotspots in the state.

"Corona cases are rising. Though in Uttarakhand we have been able to contain it to some extent, some of our states are badly affected by it. So I don't think it is time to lift the lockdown," Rawat said.

"Many enlightened people have suggested to me that the lockdown should be extended in the larger interest of people so that we get rid of COVID-19," he said.

The chief minister said coronavirus is still in stage 1 in Uttarakhand where 35 people have tested positive for the infection so far.

"Our hill districts fortunately have not reported a single positive case so far. One person who tested positive in Almora was a Tablighi Jamaat member and the one who tested positive in Pauri had returned from Spain," Rawat said.

He said the situation in the state is better after the sealing of around half a dozen localities and villages in Dehradun and Haridwar districts where Jamaat members had taken shelter.

Rawat attributed the "partial success" in controlling the spread of the disease to strict enforcement of social distancing norms during the ongoing lockdown.

The chief minister said currently 110 cases were being tested on a regular basis at the two testing facilities in the state-- AIIMS, Rishikesh, and Government Medical College and Hospital, Haldwani.

Efforts are on to ramp up testing facilities in the state by engaging more hospitals, he said.

When asked whether the period of six hours,between 7 am and 1 pm, given to people to buy essentials will be reduced, Rawat said it will cause crowding on the streets in violation of social distancing guidelines.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Karnataka Congress on Friday



accused some state BJP leaders of making 'vituperative' statements over COVID-19 aimed at "creating enmity" between communities and disrupting harmony and demanded that police take action against them as per law.

It alleged that the ruling party leaders were "ostensibly misusing" even the "killer COVID-19" pandemic to further their "oblique political purposes".

KPCC President D K Shivakumar in a letter to DGP Praveen Sood referred to BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje's remarks about "Corona jihad", her party colleague Ananthkumar Hegde's reported call that "Tablighi people should be shot down" and similar "vituperative statements" by two ruling party MLAs -- M P Renukacharya and Basanagouda Patil Yatnal.

Claiming that their utterances were offences under Section 153A of the IPC (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), he said there was a conspiracy to create enmity between two communities.

"Their statements have all the ingredients to incite communal violence and disrupt harmony," Shivakumar said, urging the DGP to take suo-moto cognisance and proceed against them as per the provisions of IPC.

The letter was submitted to the DGP by KPCC working president Saleem Ahmed.

Despite appeals by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa that no one should target any particular community for the spread of the deadly virus, some BJP leaders have made controversial remarks.

Accusing some of the returnees of Tablighi jamaat event in Delhi of hiding and not coming forward for tests, Renukacharya had on Tuesday said it was not wrong to shoot such people.

He, however, had said it was wrong to blame the entire community for the misdeeds of a few.

Nizamuddin West in Delhi has emerged as a major epicentre for the spread of coronavirus after thousands of people took part in the Islamic congregation organised by the Tablighi Jamaat from March 1-15 and travelled to various states across the country with several of them testing positive for the virus.

Speaking to reporters later, Shivakumar said some people were trying to disturb peace by making certain statements and it was the duty of the DGP to take suo motu action.

Referring to the fight against COVID-19, he appealed to Congress workers to join hands with the government.

"We are waiting to see what decision government takes (on lockdown)...

we expect them to announce the decision soon," he said, adding Congress would function as a constructive opposition and point out mistakes of the government in managing the crisis.

Stating that hospitals across Karnataka were running short of blood stock, the KPCC chief called on able-bodied party workers and public to volunteer and donate blood.

Shivakumar also urged party workers and the public to celebrate the 130th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar in a meaningful way by reading the preamble of the Constitution at 10 am on April 14.

The event would be organised in a simple way, because of COVID-19 and in line with social distancing requirements, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Updates with Reuters tally)

By Lisa Shumaker and Daniel Wallis

April 2 (Reuters) - Global coronavirus cases surpassed 1 million on Thursday with more than 52,000 deaths as the pandemic further exploded in the United States and the death toll climbed in Spain and Italy, according to a Reuters tally of official data.

Italy had the most deaths, more than 13,900, followed by Spain. The United States had the most confirmed cases of any country, more than 240,000, the data showed.

Since the virus was first recorded in China late last year, the pandemic has spread around the world, prompting governments to close businesses, ground airlines and order hundreds of millions of people to stay at home to try to slow the contagion.

Amid unprecedented government steps to prop up economies battered by the outbreak, U.S. weekly jobless claims jumped to a record 6.6 million, double the record from the previous week. That reinforced economists' views that the longest employment boom in U.S. history probably ended in March, and that claims were expected to rise further.

Morgues and hospitals in New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, bent under the strain on Thursday, struggling to treat or bury casualties, as New York state's Governor Andrew Cuomo offered a grim prediction the rest of the country would soon face the same misery.

Staff at one medical center in Brooklyn were seen disposing of their gowns and caps and other protective wear in a sidewalk trash can after wheeling bodies out of the hospital and loading them into a refrigerated truck.

In hard-hit Spain, the death toll rose to more than 10,000 on Thursday after a record 950 people died overnight, but health officials were encouraged by a slowdown in daily increases in infections and deaths.

Spain has shed jobs at a record pace since it went into lockdown to fight the coronavirus, social security data showed on Thursday, with some 900,000 workers having lost their jobs since mid-March.

Appearing for the first time since recovering from the virus himself, Britain's health minister Matt Hancock promised a tenfold increase in the number of daily tests for the coronavirus by the end of the month after the government faced criticism for failing to roll out mass checks for health workers and the public.

Story continues

Britain initially took a restrained approach to the outbreak but Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who tested positive for the virus himself, changed tack and imposed stringent social distancing measures after modeling showed a quarter of a million people in the country could die.

In Italy, which hit a daily peak of 6,557 new cases on March 21 and accounts for around 28% of all global fatalities, the death toll climbed to 13,915 on Thursday. But it was the fourth consecutive day in which the number of new cases stayed within a range of 4,050-4,782, seeming to confirm government hopes that the epidemic had hit a plateau.

Italy was the first Western country to introduce sweeping bans on movement and economic activity, having first confirmed the presence of coronavirus almost six weeks ago.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin prolonged until April 30 a paid non-working period across the country, just a week after the Kremlin said there was no epidemic.

Click https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 for a GRAPHIC tracking the global spread of coronavirus.

There has been particular concern about the spread of the virus in countries that are already struggling with insecurity and weakened health systems.

In Iraq, three doctors involved in the testing, a health ministry official and a senior political official said there were thousands of cases of COVID-19, many times more than it has publicly reported. The health ministry denied it.

In Latin America, Ecuador said it was building a "special camp" for coronavirus victims in the country's largest city, Guayaquil, where more than 80 people have died.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro further played down the pandemic, telling church ministers it is "not all it's being made out to be" and denying that any hospital in the country had reached full capacity. But with his closest aides refusing to support his plan to relax coronavirus rules to keep the economy going, according to sources with knowledge of the dispute, Bolsonaro was looking increasingly isolated.

The first 100,000 cases worldwide of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, were reported in around 55 days and the first 500,000 in 76 days, according to a Reuters tally based on official records.

(Reporting by Lisa Shumaker and Daniel Wallis; Additional reporting by Catherine Cadell; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Howard Goller)
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro looks on while meeting supporters as he leaves Alvorada Palace, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brasilia

By Gabriela Mello and Rodrigo Viga Gaier

SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Lockdowns in Brazil's largest cities to slow the coronavirus outbreak are beginning to slip, according to new data this week seen and analyzed by Reuters, with more people leaving their homes as President Jair Bolsonaro continues to criticize the measures.

State governments in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have expressed growing concern as their social isolation orders lose effectiveness, even as the outbreak spreads to nearly 16,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 800 deaths.

Cellular phone data, public transportation figures and interviews with taxi drivers in Rio and Sao Paulo point to rising traffic and footfall in Brazil's two largest cities.

Mayors and governors trying to keep Brazilians indoors have struggled against Bolsonaro's repeated attacks on the social distancing measures, which he described as "poison" that could kill more through economic hardship than the virus itself.

In Sao Paulo state, Brazil's most populous and home to Latin America's largest city, anonymous cellular data gathered by the local government and passed to Reuters on Wednesday showed the number of people considered to be in "social isolation" reached its lowest point this week since the lockdown began on March 24.

"Social isolation fell significantly in the past two to three days and that makes our challenge harder," Patricia Ellen, state secretary for economic development, told Reuters. "We are concerned."

On Wednesday, 49% of Sao Paulo residents were considered to be in "social isolation," compared to a weekday-peak of 56% on March 30, according to a government analysis of cellular data collected from phone operators. The all-time peaks were on Sundays, when 59% remained in isolation.

Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria told reporters on Thursday that the state was targeting a 70% rate of compliance, which he said science showed was necessary for it to be properly effective.

Story continues

In the city of Sao Paulo, the number of passengers using public buses increased by 28% on Monday compared to the same day a week earlier, according to official figures.

This week in Rio, the metro reported the highest weekday passenger numbers for a Monday and Tuesday since the lockdown there began on March 23. Trains and buses also saw an increase in ridership.

Luciano Ventura de Jesus, a 58-year-old taxi driver in Sao Paulo, said he has seen a jump in demand from passengers since last week.

He is now doing seven or eight trips per day, up from just two or three last week. On a normal day, before lockdown, he said he was doing 12 to 15 trips.

"People are becoming a bit more relaxed (about the lockdown)," he said.

(This story corrects Doria to governor, not mayor)

(Reporting by Gabriela Mello in Sao Paulo and Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro; Additional reporting by Pedro Fonseca in Rio, Eduardo Simoes and Stephen Eisenhammer in Sao Paulo; Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Brad Haynes, Aurora Ellis)
Karnataka Chief Minister B S



Yediyurappa has appointed new district in charge ministers, who will work towards checking the spread of coronavirus and implementation of relief measures.

According to the government order issued on Thursday, Yediyurappa will be in charge of Bengaluru urban district whereas his Deputy Chief Ministers Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Laxman Savadi and Govind Karjol will be in charge of Ramanagara, Raichur and Bagalkote.

In all, 25 ministers including the Chief Minister have been assigned one district each.

However, the ministers who have been excluded from district level responsibilities are Ramesh Jarkiholi, Shrimant Patil and K Gopalaiah.

According to sources in BJP, the district responsibilities were revamped following reports that many ministers did not visit their respective districts to oversee the COVID-19 related relief work despite the increasing number of cases in the state.

The Chief Minister had to confront questions on the issue during a recent media interaction, where he had promised to strengthen the relief work monitoring system at the ministerial level.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TORRINGTON  Blondin Law Offices, 379 Prospect Street, Torrington, is carrying on during the coronavirus pandemic.

Tracy Olmstead and his wife Jen had their closing recently at the law office, well-protected with masks and gloves; Jen is pictured with attorney Audrey Blondin.

The Olmsteads are first-time home buyers in Torrington; Tracy is the head CNA at Valerie Manor. The couple has two young children.

EdAdvance offers Skills 21 projects

LITCHFIELD  Across the country, state and local leaders have identified personally meaningful student projects as a best practice that can be used during this period of remote and distance learning, according to a statement from EdAdvance. To help students, teachers and families take advantage of this strategy, Skills21 at EdAdvance is sharing pip.skills21.org, a free curriculum and online platform that guides students through a process to explore an area of interest and create something of their own choosing. Students can learn to code, build something, create a series of paintings, sew, shoot a film, do an experiment. More than 200 students have already signed up and have started building their projects.

In early June, Skills21 will also host a PIP Online Expo in concert with the teams nationally recognized Expo Fest which will also take place online this year.

Because its so important that students remain connected to adults and peers during this time, each task provides an opportunity for students to collaborate digitally with family members, peers, teachers and the Skills21 team. Students will get feedback from existing Skills21 Expo Fest judges and there will be student awards in a range of categories.

Of special note to parents, while students can sign-up through their school, they are also able to work on a project independently from home with support from the Skills21 team. Anyone can get started immediately at pip.skills21.org.

The Skills21 Personal Interest Project curriculum, platform, and online support are free to all schools, students, and families. Skills21 PIP has been adapted from the organizations Capstone program which has been supported by the National Science Foundation. For more information visit skills21.org/pip or email info@skills21.org

EdAdvance is the Regional Educational Service Center in western Connecticut, providing diverse education, health, and human service programs to promote the success and well-being of schools and communities. To learn more about EdAdvances programs and services, visit www.edadvance.org .

For 18 years, Skills21 has worked with schools and organizations to promote inspired learning, creative designs, and student solutions to real world challenges in STEM and new media. For more information, visit skills21.org.

Harwinton Historical Society offers scholarship

HARWINTON  The Harwinton Historical Society will grant a $1,000 scholarship to a Harwinton resident or an individual active in the HHS. Applicants must show an interest in history and/or the social sciences through coursework and/or experiences. Graduating high school seniors and students currently pursuing post-secondary education are encouraged to apply. Applications are available from appropriate high school guidance departments or requested on line at harwhistsoc@gmail.com. Applications must be postmarked by June 1, an extended deadline.

Kent Library to host virtual quiz night

KENT  A Virtual Quiz Night on Zoom will be offered by the Kent Memorial Library on April 11. Players must register by noon April 10. The first 20 teams to register can compete; all other teams will play for fun. Teams can be 1 to 6 people, as long as you can communicate with each other by texting/messaging, etc.) Participants will need access to Google Docs and Zoom. To register, email smarshall@biblio.org

Participants will receive links once successfully registered. Participation is free but the Library is always happy to receive donations.

Mask Fabric For Free Campaign has begun

TORRINGTON/LITCHFIELD - Ocean State Job Lot recently launched its Mask Fabric For Free campaign to supply its customers with the fabric necessary to make cloth face masks. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that all Americans wear cloth face masks in public in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Customers are invited to visit the newly-created displays in each of the retailers 140 store locations to pick up free, high-quality cotton-polyester blended fabric to craft their DIY-masks. Customers interested in making one or two masks are invited to take cloth napkins, while customers who intend to make a larger amount of masks will be supplied with a tablecloth, free of charge. To ensure that as many people as possible are able to benefit from the program, customers are limited to five units of fabric. The company is also encouraging groups and organizations who can create masks at scale to speak with their local store leaders to coordinate large orders.

During this critically-important time, its our responsibility as community partners to think outside of the box and provide as much assistance as we can, said Paul Conforti, Chief Marketing Officer of Ocean State Job Lot, in a statement. While weve been focused on sourcing critical supplies and medical grade masks for healthcare professionals and first responders battling COVID-19, our Mask Fabric For Free campaign specifically focuses on the needs of everyday people who are looking for responsible ways to protect themselves and others.

OSJL also continues to utilize its global supply chain to source one million critically-needed surgical and N95 face masks, which are being donated to hospitals and other medical facilities in the region. Last week alone, the Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation donated essential items, and also sold items below cost, to organizations including Rhode Island Hospital, Bradley Hospital, RI Free Clinic, Boston Medical Center, the State of Rhode Island, and multiple fire and police departments. These essential items included thousands of masks, gloves, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, hazmat suits, eye protection and more.
Lifestyle Myanmars Food Delivery Boosted by COVID-19 Restrictions

Social-distancing rules have changed the nature of food deliveries. / Myo Min Soe

Coronavirus has boosted demand for food deliveries with some entrepreneurs starting to sell home-cooked meals through delivery services.

But deliveries still risk infection between customers and delivery staff.

In Yangon there are five main food delivery services, Food2u, Yangon Door2Door, Foodpanda, Hi-So Mall and Grab Food, but there are also smaller operations setting up.

Demand for delivery staff is also rising.

COVID-19 is mostly spread through coughing, sneezing and droplets left on surfaces.

If the kitchen uses sensible hygiene with regular hand washing, the virus should not be transmitted. Coronavirus can reportedly survive on plastic, paper, cardboard and other materials for an unknown amount of time, so packaging can be a risk.

And not all companies have been providing gloves, masks and hand sanitizers for couriers.

Delivery staff have to enter several restaurants, touching the doors, counters and cash.

Customers are advised to remove bags or boxes before bringing a meal into their homes and to use gloves. A 2-meter distance is advised from the courier. Hands should also be washed for 20 seconds before eating.

Recently, Foodpanda started to leave deliveries at the door to reduce contact.

One challenge is using cash because online payments are still in their infancy.

Yangon Door2Door and Foodpanda have launched cashless services but many customers are still using cash. Some restaurants and Melia Yangon, Sedona and other hotels have also started deliveries.

Yangons bars are offering cocktail buckets, beer and wine deliveries.

A few days ago, a pizza delivered to The Irrawaddy by Food2u took 90 minutes and the masked delivery man used hand sanitizer before touching the box.

Couriers often have little job security and are forced to work through the coronavirus restrictions to support themselves. Until normal life resumes, they may provide an increasingly useful service.

You may also like these stories:

Myanmar Sees First COVID-19 Recovery

Myanmar State Counselor Says State Will Care for Family of Deceased COVID-19 Patient
09:33 PM IST

WHO warns about dangers of premature lifting of COVID-19 restrictions

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday warned countries to be cautious about lifting restrictions introduced to curb the spread of coronavirus.

"The WHO would like to see an easing, but at the same time "lifting restrictions could lead to a deadly resurgence," Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.
Seven Punjab Police personnel and a judge were among the 10 people quarantined at home after an alleged thief tested positive for COVID-19 here, police said on Friday.

A second man caught by police at Focal Point on Monday managed to escape custody.

Residents of the area nabbed the two alleged snatchers and handed them to the police, said Assistant Commissioner of PoliceVhaibh Sehgal. They were later produced before a court of judge Monika Singh.

Alarm bells rang because the two men were coughing continuously, prompting the court to order their medical check. During the medical examination, one of them escaped while the other tested positive.

The police team that took their statement and conducted the initial investigation went into home quarantine as did the judge. Two civilians are also among the 10 quarantined.

Sehgal said a hunt is on for the man who is absconding.

Punjab has 130 COVID-19 cases and 11 fatalities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Washing of the Feet ceremony would normally draw Catholic faithful to church.

It is a religious ceremony completed after homily on Holy Thursday, re-enacting what Jesus Christ did for his disciples and reminding people that like Christ, everyone should be willing to serve others.

This year however, Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Apostolic administrator of Manila, is performing the rites at the Manila Cathedral without a congregation.

Instead the mass is being streamed online, with the faithful having to settle for watching it through their screens from home in the Philippine capital.

Chico Cabalatungan, 23, said it is strange.

He and his family observed a yearly tradition for Holy Week.

Surrounded by devout parents, Cabalatungan was raised with their faith at the centre of their family life.

Preparing for Holy Week is very sacred to them, but for the first time, there will be no church visits, there will be no observations together as a Catholic community.

Churches are closed, masses can only be heard online, and no one is leaving home because of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Cabalatungan said it feels like living in exile, with the streets empty, the churches silent.

He and his family would normally visit at least nine churches for the traditional Visita Iglesia.

He said while marking the Holy Week from home feels strange, he also sees it as meaningful.

Father Aris Sison, parish priest of St. John Paul II church in Manila, has been celebrating mass by streaming it on social media since March.

He has not seen his parishioners for weeks, but he said the enhanced quarantine imposed on the Philippines' Luzon island since mid March, is also bringing people back to worship.

What would normally be distractions during Lent are not possible in this time of quarantine, so Sison sees it as a blessing in way.

And for the faithful like Cabalatungan, this too shall pass. He said Easter is coming and it gives him hope.
A 99-year-old Second World War war veteran received a guard of honour from nurses from Tickhill Road Hospital in Doncaster after defeating coronavirus.

Albert Chambers was pushed through the hospital's corridors in a wheelchair while staff stood on either side gave him a round of applause.

He thanked NHS staff in a video posted by NHS North East & Yorkshire on Twitter.

Mr Chambers, who will turn 100 in July, said: 'There's nothing I can say. Thank you very much. I appreciate every bit you've done for me. You couldn't have been better.'

Albert Chambers, 99, recovered from coronavirus after being treated at Tickhill Road Hospital in Doncaster

His grandson Stephen Gater told Doncaster Free Press: 'My grandad is amazing. Hes pretty incredible. Hes not only survived the war and being in prison camp, now hes won the battle with coronavirus.'

He added the food which got his grandfather through the good and tough times is Marks and Spencer strawberry trifles.

Mr Chambers wounded his leg in Germany in the Second World War and served in the Coldstream Guards, Doncaster Free Press reported.

He thanks NHS staff and says: 'I appreciate every bit you've done for me. You couldn't have been better.'

Staff line the corridors and clap while Mr Chambers is pushed out in a wheelchair

He also guarded Buckingham Palace at one time.

A 101-year-old grandfather Keith Watson recovered from coronavirus in Worcestershire.

He became the oldest person to beat coronavirus in the country after being treated at Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

Rita Reynolds, a 99-year-old great grandmother from Stockport, recovered from the virus last week.

Keith Watson, 101, became the oldest person in the country to recover from coronavirus on Thursday after being treated at Alexandra Hospital in Redditch

Her family joked she owed her recovery to her love of 'marmalade sandwiches'.

A 104-year-old who survived the Spanish flu pandemic beat the virus in northern Italy after falling ill at her nursing home.

Ada Zanusso tested positive for coronavirus after experiencing a fever, difficulty with breathing and vomiting.

Yesterday marked 100 days since the World Health Organization were notified of 'pneumonia with unknown cause' in China.
An 'anti-commie' who hurled abuse about coronavirus at visitors outside of a Chinese Consulate was arrested and will face court.

The man, 55, was filmed wearing a cowboy hat and cracking a bullwhip while launching into a racist tirade at the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney's inner-west on March 31.

He was arrested at his home in Dee Why yesterday and was charged with attempt to intimidate intend fear of harm and armed with intent to commit an indictable offence.

A 55-year-old man who was seen cracking a whip and exploding into a racist tirade outside the Chinese Consulate in Sydney (pictured) was arrested on Thursday and will face court in July

The 'anti-commie' was released on strict conditional bail and is set to face Manly Local Court on Wednesday 1 July.

Footage of his racist rant goes for several minutes, with the 55-year-old even threatening to shoot the Chinese general-secretary and accusing China of spreading COVID-19.

The frightening incident is the latest in a string of coronavirus-related racial attacks, and comes just days after a Australian woman of Vietnamese background was called an 'Asian dog' and spat on in nearby Marrickville.

He yelled racial abuse at the people in the queue on March 31 and said they had deliberately spread the killer coronavirus around the world

The Chinese Embassy was seen closed with nobody in sight days after the act of racial abuse

'Death to communism! Wake up Australia! Wake up! No more s**t from China,' the man said.

'I'll put a bullet in the General Secretary's head. I'm going to kill that leader of China.

'Filthy f**ing commies. Trying to take over the world. No more.'

The man then turned to the queue of people at the building's entrance and accused them of spreading coronavirus throughout the world.

'We know it's deliberate. Five million people left your country and spread that filthy f***king disease worldwide,' he said.

'You're all wearing your masks and you know why you're wearing your masks? You knew about it!

'I'm onto you. I know you deliberately released this virus.

'Wake up Australia! Be wise to these pr**ks.'

NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia they received no reports about the incident and did not attend. The Chinese Consulate has been contacted for comment.

The disturbing act follows a series of vile racially-motivated attacks on people of Asian appearance since the coronavirus crisis began.

The argument broke out in the streets of Marrickville, in Sydney's inner west, at around 3pm on Monday, with a woman in grey (pictured) allegedly racially abusing two sisters

Sophie (pictured, left, with sister Rosa) said no one should be able to get away with racial attacks, which have ramped up in recent months due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Rosa Do, 19, was allegedly spat in the eye by a 17-year-old girl in Marrickville on Monday while crossing the road with her sister.

The Caucasian girl allegedly screamed abuse at the teenager, calling her an 'Asian dog'.

'Asian b**ch. You brought corona here. Eat a bat again you dumb wh***,' she said.

The stranger then allegedly continued to taunt the sisters, trying to kick them before spitting in Rosa's face.

Police arrested a 17-year-old woman on Tuesday afternoon and charged her with three counts of common assault, use offensive language in/near public place, and two counts of attempt stalk/intimidate intend fear of harm.

On a Melbourne train last week a mother who was with her young daughter was seen yelling racial abuse at two passengers and allegedly punched one of them in the face.

A bystander filmed the moment the woman on the train in Melbourne yelled at two men to 'go back to your own country' as her young daughter begged for her to stop

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

The woman then screamed 'go back to your own country' at the men, calling one a 'disease-carrying motherf***er'.

Police officers are understood to have taken the woman off the train and received statements from the victims, as well as numerous other passengers.

In Epping in Sydney's north-west a street with a large Asian population was covered in graffiti that read 'death to dog eaters'.

Daniel Palmer who lives in the street shared the pictures online.

'Week 2 of isolation: This s*** on my road in front of an Asian household in f***ing Epping,' he captioned the images.

'S*** like this lurks beneath the surface in society, and you usually only notice it if you're ethnic when it creeps out in small bite-sized chunks.'

Mr Palmer said someone had since painted over the racial comments and the police had been notified.

Daniel Palmer, a designer and developer, shared the images of the graffiti that read 'death to dog eaters' on his street in Epping, 18km north-west of Sydney's CBD, on Monday

In Queensland, a South Korean woman was viciously attacked by a group of six people after they demanded how long she had been in the country.

The woman, 27, was left with scratches above her eyes and on her cheek following the attack where she was repeatedly shoved to the ground.

She tried to defend herself - but then the group began to beat her with their fists.

She then desperately tried to call Triple Zero as her hair was pulled and she was kicked in the face.

She said the thugs told her to 'go back to your country' and asked if she had 'self-isolated for 14 days'.
The I-29, a major highway south of the Canada-U.S. border, closed Thursday night due to flooding, according to the North Dakota Department of Transportation.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/4/2020 (640 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The I-29, a major highway south of the Canada-U.S. border, closed Thursday night due to flooding, according to the North Dakota Department of Transportation.

A nearly 40-kilometre section of the I-29, from Manvel, N.D., to Grafton, N.D., is now closed, as are other roads that run off of it.

To read more of this story rst reported by CBC News, click here.

The Winnipeg Free Press and CBC Manitoba recognize each other as trusted news sources. This content is made available to our readers as part of an agreement to collaborate to better serve our community. Any questions about CBC content can be directed to talkback@cbc.ca.
The plan involves the busing of all students to Griffith Middle/High School, which begins class at 7:45 a.m. Then, K-5 students would be bused to Wadsworth and Beiriger, which would start at 8:05 a.m. and end at 2:25 p.m. The busing routes would be reversed at the end of the day with the secondary dismissing at 2:45 p.m.
After over a decade and a death in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlett Johansson a.k.a Black Widow is finally getting a solo movie. But, as has become the norm for Black Widow, itll have to wait a bit longer. As Marvel fans wait in uncertain anticipation for the delayed movie, there is an interesting connection between the upcoming project and one of the most popular film franchises of all-time.

That link is Jany Temime, who has been hired as the films costume designer. Temimes biggest claim to fame is her stunning work as the costume designer for a majority of the films in the Harry Potter franchise. Amazing characters from Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch) to Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) to Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) himself have been dressed by Temime, an exciting thought concerning what the characters of Black Widow may look like.

Scarlett Johansson | Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Jany Temimes previous film work

The French-born designer has dazzled viewers with her beautiful costume work in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 & 2. Thats right, Temime is responsible for Ron Weasleys (Rupert Grint) traditional dress robes and Hermione Grangers (Emma Watson) iconic pink dress worn for the Yule Ball in The Goblet of Fire.

Besides her work on Harry Potter, Temime has designed costumes for many blockbuster films including Wrath of the Titans, Gravity, and Skyfall. These films show a variety of design elements that are action-centric and exciting. Temime clearly has experience designing for some of the most popular characters of all-time, shown by her work with the James Bond series, another high-powered spy much like Black Widow. Her most recent work was on the Oscar-nominated film Judy starring Renee Zellweger, which earned praise for transforming Zellweger into the legendary Judy Garland. This high-level work is exciting for Black Widow fans, and Temimes experience could help place the film alongside some of Marvels greatest triumphs in the field of costume.

The best Marvel costumes

Costumes are one of the most important parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A hero needs to conceal their identity, and many Marvel heroes suits provide much-needed firepower to their fighting ability. One of the best parts of watching a superhero movie is seeing iconic costumes in action for the first time. Who could forget Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) building the original Iron Man suit, or the first time Spider-Man (Tom Holland) appears wearing his costume while wielding Caps shield in Captain America: Civil War.

Marvels greatest achievement in costuming was a 2019 Oscar win for Best Costume Design for Black Panther, one of three Oscars for the film. The Oscar win was the first for Marvel Studios and introduced one of the franchises most exciting new characters. These reveals can be inspiring, even when they are mired in controversy. While many fans were upset about the perceived changes to Captain Marvels costume, the moment between Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Akira Akbar) deciding what Captain Marvel should wear into battle was a bit of movie magic.

It is also exciting to see how a characters costume can evolve from movie to movie. Seeing Iron Man upgrade his suit in each film has been one of the most interesting parts of his evolution, and these types of costume changes can add a touch of humor. Seeing Professor Hulk walk the line between brilliant and brute in a button-up and glasses, and a thick Thor in Avengers: Endgame was a hilarious bit of character development, punctuated by a brand-new look. Black Widow has also seen her costume evolve throughout the years, and her upcoming solo movie is sure to provide a new look for the heros origin story.

What will Black Widow and other characters look like?

One of the original Avengers, Black Widow is first introduced to the MCU in Iron Man 2 as the Latin-speaking Natalie Rushman. Later, it is revealed that Rushman is the Russian Natasha Romanoff (code name Black Widow). Her traditional combat outfit is a black bodysuit with a variety of places to store gadgets and weapons. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, she and Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) must disguise themselves as normal people; as a secret agent, Romanoff knows how to hide in plain sight and infiltrate any occasion, as she is seen in elegant formalwear to extract information from powerful people. As seen in the Black Widow trailer, Natasha will wear a never before seen white combat suit, an exciting new addition from Temime.

Black Widow will also introduce a slew of new characters and costumes, including Romanoffs super-powered family. Natashas father is the Captain America of Russia, Red Guardian (David Harbour). The film will also introduce a mysterious masked villain named Taskmaster, who is able to mimic any fighting style. Taskmasters costume includes a Captain America type shield and Black Panther-like claws, which should make for an epic showdown between Black Widow and her newest foe.
Another horror day of the coronavirus pandemic saw the global death toll pass 94,000, although there were tentative signs of hope that the crisis was peaking in the United States and Europe. The picture of the unfolding economic catastrophe also became clearer with the IMF warning of a Great Depression and data showing 17 million Americans lost their jobs, but a European Union financial rescue package agreement offered some relief to the barrage of bad news. Another 1,700 people died in the United States on Thursday, while there were hundreds more deaths across Europe, driving the confirmed global toll above 94,000. Nearly half of all pandemic fatalities have occurred over the past week. But authorities in worst-hit Europe and the United States said a slight decline in daily deaths and infections gave reason to hope the worst could be over. "The fire started by the pandemic is starting to come under control," said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain, where fatalities inched down to 683 from 757 a day before, pushing that country's total above 15,000. "Our priority now is not to turn back, especially not to return to our starting point, not to lower our guard." France also reported that 82 fewer people were in intensive care for COVID-19 -- the first fall since the pandemic broke out. And Anthony Fauci, the US government's top pandemic expert, said the United States was "going in the right direction". The US recorded 1,783 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University as of 0030 GMT Friday, lower than the previous day's record toll of 1,973. The US has seen more than 16,500 confirmed deaths, the second-highest tally in the world after Italy, and more than 460,000 confirmed cases. In New York, the epicentre of the virus in the United States, only 200 more people entered hospitals, the lowest number since the pandemic struck, even though 799 people died over the last day, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "We are flattening the curve by what we are doing," Cuomo said, adding, "We have to keep the curve flat." But he declined to predict how New York would fare in the coming weeks, telling reporters bluntly: "I have no idea." Further lifting spirits, the health improved of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the highest profile of the 1.5 million people infected by the virus, and he ended three days of intensive care. However Britain announced another 881 deaths on Thursday, taking the total to nearly 8,000. - 'A Europe that protects' - On the economic front, Europe attempted a fightback with EU finance ministers agreeing in late-night talks to a 500 billion-euro ($550 billion) rescue package aimed at reducing pain across the 27-nation bloc, especially hardest-hit Italy and Spain. "Europe has decided and is ready to meet the gravity of the crisis," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted after the talks. He warned earlier in the day that France's economy was expected to shrink six percent this year, even with the country's own 100-billion-euro relief plan. The US Federal Reserve threw its own fresh lifeline to Americans, with chairman Jerome Powell announcing a $2.3 trillion financing measure "to provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity." The International Monetary Fund said 170 of its 180 members would see declines in per capita income this year -- just a few months after predictions that nearly all would enjoy growth. "We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, urging governments to provide lifelines to businesses and households alike. - Developing world fears - And despite hopeful signs in Western nations as well as in China, where the virus was first detected late last year, there are fears the worst is still to come in much of the developing world. War-torn Yemen, which has been experiencing one of the world's most acute humanitarian crises, on Friday reported its first case. Brazilian authorities Thursday confirmed the first deaths in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro where crowding and poor sanitation have raised fears of a catastrophe. There are similar fears in India, where hundreds of millions of poor people are becoming increasingly desperate. "I keep hearing that the government will do this and that. No one has even come to see if we are alive or dead," Rajni Devi, a mother of three, told AFP in a slum on the outskirts of New Delhi. In a move to build international solidarity over the crisis, Germany on Thursday led a videoconference session of the UN Security Council on the pandemic. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the session by calling the pandemic "the fight of a generation -- and the raison d'etre of the United Nations itself." Guterres appealed for a global halt to conflicts to concentrate on the COVID-19 fight. Saudi Arabia embraced the call by announcing a unilateral pause in its brutal offensive against rebels who control much of Yemen. US President Donald Trump said he spoke Thursday to Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and thought they were near a deal to end an oil price war that has thrown further uncertainties into the global economy. OPEC announced Friday that major oil producers except Mexico had agreed to cut output. burs-kma/mtp
Its success has also taken place in the current context of fierce competition in the auto industry.

The company has recently worked with an American partner to export semi-trailers made at its plant in Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, Quang Nam Province to the U.S. -- one of the world's most challenging markets with strict requirements on product quality.

THACOs plant in Chu Lai Open Economic Zone, Quang Nam Province.

THACO is set to export the first batch of 69 semi-trailers to the U.S. at the end of May 2020, and sign a dealership agreement with PIITS Enterprises.

In 2020, the Vietnamese automaker expects to ship overseas a total of about 1,600 vehicles of different kinds worth around $50 million.

This February, THACO and PIITS signed a memorandum of understanding on production and distribution of THACO semi-trailers in the U.S. Under the MoU, Dorsey Intermodal - a subsidiary of PITTS Enterprises - will be the representative of THACO in North America.

THACOs products and services will be distributed and guaranteed via Dorseys network to ensure quality standards and satisfy American customers demand.

Aware that America is a challenging market with great potential, THACO has researched the market thoroughly and then met and discussed a cooperation strategy with PITTS Enterprises - one of the five largest manufacturers of semi-trailers in North America with a history of more than 100 years.

Fiber lazer cutting machin in THACO Chu Lai Mechanical Complex.

Hi-tech investment

The companys latest achievements have its roots in 2016, when it established the THACO Special Vehicles Manufacturing Limited Company (THACO SV) to produce high quality semi-trailers, special vehicles, and heavy-duty special vehicles with the features satisfying diverse demand in both domestic and overseas markets.

The factory is equipped with modern facilities, advanced and automatic technology in all processes, including the laser cutting machine (CO2 laser/fiber laser); CNC plasma cutting machine with 0.2~1.0 mm tolerance; automatic welding robots and jig systems controlled by pneumatic and hydraulic components; advanced shot blasting technology to eliminate residual stress, increase the adhesion of primer and improves corrosion and fatigue resistance; and electronic deposition (ED) painting technology, which creates a special primer that covers every single part, efficiently preventing rust and withstanding harsh climates (below 0 degrees).

The company said it pays special attention to quality control at every single stage. Products are tested by modern equipment imported from Japan, Italy and South Korea. An automotive proving ground with a total length of 2.4 km at the THACO-Chu Lai Industrial Park fully simulates actual terrain with ramps, slippery roads, gravel, winding stretches and flat roads, and vehicles can be tested at different speeds.

A highly professional R&D engineering team oversees the companys research and development (R&D) activities using quality design and simulation software including AutoCAD, Catia and Hyperworks.

THACOs 20ft sliding semi-trailer.

An export focus

THACO SV produces and supplies a full range of special vehicles from mid-sized to heavy vehicles, meeting the diverse demands of customers. Its main products include all kinds of semi-trailers (skeleton, gooseneck, flatbed...); and special vehicles such as dump semi-trailers, cargo semi-trailers, fuel tanks, concrete mixers, car carrier semi-trailers and heavy crane trucks.

Aside from serving the domestic market, the company also focuses on developing export products customized to the needs of each partner and market while meeting all the standards and regulations of importing countries.

So far, THACOs semi-trailers, fuel tanks and concrete mixers have been exported to Columbia and South Korea. Its semi-trailers have been granted with roadworthy certification in the U.S., Japan and ASEAN countries.
The Citigroup Inc logo is seen at the SIBOS banking and financial conference in Toronto

(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc <C.N> said on Thursday it is offering full-time positions to its interns, but delaying the new class of summer intern program to July 6 amid the current coronavirus crisis.

The U.S. bank's decision comes at a time when companies across the globe are restructuring to cut costs amid recession fears.

The bank said it is considering conducting classes virtually for the interns and keeping compensation unchanged. The interns in New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo will receive full-time job upon graduation, Citigroup added.

(Reporting by Amal S in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
This content is expired!

Unfortunely this content is expired and cannot be viewed anymore; if You are the owner of this content please login to our Website, go to our access panel and enable this content again.
A mother has paid a heartbreaking tribute to her "bubbly" 35-year-old daughter who was found dead at her home as a man arrested on suspicion of murder was released without charge.

The body of Theresa Redmond, a mother of one, was found at the property in Wellington Close, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on Thursday.

A 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder but Surrey Police have confirmed he has been released with no further action to be taken.

Ms Redmond's mother, Jules Turner, 60, said that she had been informed by police that a post-mortem examination had shown no sign that her death was suspicious.

She explained that Ms Redmond had suffered from scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine, and took painkillers to handle the pain.

She said her daughter was unable to work because of her back condition but ran a Facebook page to help children with ADHD.

Describing her daughter, Ms Turner said: "She was a bubbly girl, she was funny, always there to help people out."

Ms Turner added: "There's a possibility she was in so much pain with her back and on so many painkillers, there's a possibility she might have taken too many, she was getting quite forgetful lately."

She said that her daughter, whose 18-year-old son Ryan is in the Army, had also struggled to come to terms with the death of her brother, Christopher, who was diabetic and died in London last year.

A Surrey Police spokesman said: "A man arrested following the discovery of a woman's body at an address in Walton-on-Thames yesterday, has been released with no further action.

"The body of the 35-year-old woman was found at an address in Wellington Close just before 3am.

"Her family has been made aware and our thoughts are with them at this time.

"A post-mortem has been completed today (April 10), and as a result the 39-year-old man who had been arrested on suspicion of murder has now been released with no further action.

"The death remains unexplained at this time and our inquiries are continuing on behalf of the coroner."
The usually busy streets of Cairo were exceptionally quiet after the curfew was imposed on 25 March as part of government efforts to contain the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic that started in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and has now spread to almost 200 countries around the world, killing over 23,500 and affecting 512,701 people and leaving the streets of the busiest cities around the world almost empty.



The Covid-19 virus has so far managed to stop most activities around the world, closing borders and cancelling public gatherings of any kind. Awareness campaigns are everywhere on every TV channel and website, but there are also messages and videos posted on the Internet either offering wrong information or spreading negativity. Some people are constantly keeping an eye on the news, thinking that even running a minor errand could become a nightmare in a form of panic that can have very negative psychological effects.



While government representatives around the world are advising people to stay in their homes, governmental and non-governmental organisations in Egypt have been brainstorming methods of assisting people during this difficult time. The ministry of health is regularly updating its data regarding the pandemic in Egypt on its Facebook page, with a daily report showing numbers of confirmed cases, new deaths, and the numbers of cured people and released patients.



Doctors have established Facebook pages to give people medical tips, like the Esmaouna (Listen to Us) initiative and the Sit at Home and Ask Your Doctor page. Cairo Universitys Qasr Al-Aini Hospital has designed a Facebook page to give people medical information about the pandemic and other diseases. One initiative, Fight not Flight, was set up by a group of young people with the aim of finding practical solutions to the problems faced by citizens during the coronavirus crisis. They kicked off a two-day hackathon (a competition in software design) that ran on 16-17 March.



The initiator of Fight not Flight, Sarah Seif, said the idea was due to CEO Hussein Moheieldin. The European Union started a fund calling for those who have ideas for dealing with the new coronavirus to send in their ideas. The deadline was on 18 March, and he thought it would be a good idea to stage a hackathon in response. We opened the door for applications on Sunday from 12 noon and closed it at 8 in the evening the next day and received 37 teams of applicants, she said.



The ideas included initiatives in the fields of medical and healthcare support, damage control, solutions for the continuity of education, well-being, and enhancing lifestyles. In the first phase, competitors were required to state the problem they wanted to solve and to indicate feasibility, Seif said. In the second phase, they were required to conduct research on the problem and how it has been dealt with internationally. The third phase was to find an approach to solving such a problem and demonstrate this in a one-minute video pitch. The fourth phase would be refining their ideas after feedback from the judges, she added.



Feedback would be offered after each phase, and after the participants had refined their work they would be allowed to go on to the next phase. In the last phase, they are supposed to make a final pitch and prototype of their idea. Those who were shortlisted were five teams, mostly of people aged between 23 and 30 years old, she added. There were no special criteria, just that the competitors had to work in a group of two to five and have an idea and be free to work on it.



Five teams won the competition. The first was the Raye7 team represented by Samira Negm, which tackled the problem of reducing infection while people use public transport and offering carpooling as an alternative. Second was the Hodhod team represented by Abeer Al-Sayed in the field of healthcare that aimed at helping to minimise the pressure on the medical sector to help doctors focus on severe cases. Their solution was a unified framework that provides a medical self-reporting mobile application and dashboard to facilitate volunteering activity and ease the provision of services.



The third team was VAX represented by Aya Fayad, also in the field of healthcare. They tackled the problem of the lack of direct medical reassurance by creating a platform for digital medical consultations aiming to aid in the containment of the virus by identifying serious cases and decreasing public anxiety. Fourth was Antivirus, represented by Mohamed Amr in the field of e-commerce. This team tackled the problem of panic-buying, leading to shortages of some products, an increase in prices, and the increase of black-market activity. Its solution was establishing an e-commerce platform that could provide customers with their needs.



The fifth team was INNOVA represented by Miral Bassem in the field of well-being. This looked to help with the problem of fear and anxiety due to the spread of the virus. The teams solution was in the form of an application that takes personal information from individuals about their daily routines, working hours, free time, interests and hobbies and helps them to construct a proper schedule.



The hackathon was thus not a coding hackathon, but instead was a thought-leadership movement for leaders and innovators in different industries and areas of expertise, helping to bring them together to fight the Covid-19 virus, said a statement. We are currently working on a second hackathon, Seif said.





PANDEMICS: The new coronavirus pandemic is not the first form of dangerous flu that has spread around the globe.According to World Health Organisation (WHO) data, the first influenza pandemic of the 21st century occurred in 2009-2010 and was caused by the H1N1 influenza virus. The 2009 pandemic caused between 100,000 and 400,000 deaths worldwide in the first year alone.Three influenza pandemics occurred at intervals of several decades during the 20th century, the most severe of which was the Spanish Flu epidemic that is estimated to have caused 20 to 50 million deaths in 1918-1919. Milder pandemics occurred in 1957-1958 in the Asian Flu caused by an H2N2 virus and in 1968 with the Hong Kong Flu caused by an H3N2 virus. These are estimated to have caused one to four million deaths each.In the past, pandemics that killed millions around the world have included HIV/AIDS, a disease that first appeared in Africa in the 1970s and destroys a patients immune system. It was not until this century that modern medications appeared to control this disease that has killed about 35 million people around the world.In 1855, a third plague pandemic started in China and killed about 15 million people. In 1852, a cholera pandemic that originated in India because of contaminated water killed over a million people. The Black Death (1346-1353) killed about 200 million people around the world, including half the population of Europe at the time. It originated in European port cities from fleas that had fed on the blood of rats, spreading bacteria to humans.Psychologist Ali Suleiman said that pandemics could have complex psychological effects. At this point, the cleanliness mania we are witnessing is a good thing because it is a method of eliminating the virus. However, it could become a type of mental illness, what we call obsessive compulsive disorder [OCD] when people can become terrified of going outside their homes or who suffer from the disease but are still able to live normally, he said.

Today, some people are in denial about the seriousness of Covid-19, he said, meaning that they may not take precautionary instructions seriously enough. One type are in a state of shock because they believe that if they dont use sanitisers all the time they will die, although it is enough to wash your hands to avoid infection. This is why they buy more than they need, leaving supermarket shelves empty. They could become obsessed with cleanliness after the pandemic stops spreading, he said.These are people who think the future will be dark, and they may need post-traumatic therapy. They listen to the news about the coronavirus, for example, and the more they listen to it, the worse their condition becomes. These are the types of people who have a psychological disposition or susceptibility to disease, and in the state of fear of a pandemic they could become mentally ill, Suleiman added.Such mental disorders could be contagious in the same family, as a child may imitate his parents with OCD and need family therapy to become mentally stable again. Other people might feel physical pain, with some elderly people even feeling flu symptoms because they saw on the television that the elderly are vulnerable to the new coronavirus. They could start to imagine that no one cares about them, Suleiman said.He contrasted such people to others who may be indifferent and live as if there was no pandemic and continue to meet for social gatherings. These people should be controlled by law, as they potentially not only harming themselves but also others, he added.He gave some tips on how people could calm down and shift pessimistic thoughts to optimistic ones. Anyone who has a good idea to help during the crisis should tell the government about it. There is a group of psychologists who offer consultations via the Internet to anyone who needs them to help them to overcome the psychological effects of the coronavirus crisis, for example, and similar services are offered by other doctors in other medical fields, Suleiman said.People should remember that the current crisis is an international one and that they are not alone. People should be especially careful about circulating videos to others, as there is a risk they may be spreading incorrect information about the disease and scaring other people, he said. Either a person writes something that will be beneficial to others or writes nothing at all. People should be encouraged to stay at home for their own safety and not out of fear, he added.We need to think logically when it comes to dealing with the new coronavirus. We need to know information about the disease, how it can spread, how to avoid being infected, and how to safeguard ourselves from it. We need to teach people how to protect themselves from the disease and then people will not be afraid. This way we will decrease emotional overreactions, allowing people to calm down and think logically about the disease.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Hundreds of central Pa. home and business owners were again without power Friday morning, just a day after strong wind ripped through the area and knocked down trees and electric lines.

Those blustery conditions are expected to continue, as gusts reach up to 50 mph as early as noon.

As of 10 a.m. Friday, the majority of outages were centered around Dauphin and Cumberland counties, with about 320 and 1,000 each. Nearly 250 outages were also reported out of Perry County, according to PPL Electric spokeswoman Carol Obando-Derstine.

Met-Ed reported nearly 700 outages Friday morning from customers in Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Perry and Lebanon counties.

A map of power outages in central Pennsylvania as of 10 a.m. on Fri., April 10, 2020.

Obando-Derstine said some of Fridays outages are unresolved from Thursdays storms, while others were caused by Friday mornings wind.

More than 45,000 local home and business owners were left without power Thursday when 40 to 50 mph winds tore through the area.

PPL expects outages to continue throughout the day as severe wind gusts hover around the midstate. The companys outage map is estimating power in the greater Harrisburg area to be restored by 11 p.m.

PPL Electric customers can report outages by visiting the companys website, texting OUTAGE to 898-775, or by calling 1-800-342-5775.

Met-Ed outages can be reported by calling 1-888-LIGHTSS.
Teams will create three-minute pop songs with the help of artificial intelligence (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

A judge of the AI Song Contest has said he hopes the event inspires more musicians to embrace the technology as a weapon in their arsenal.

The inaugural event, styled after the Eurovision Song Contest, will see 13 teams from Europe and Australia create three-minute pop songs with the help of artificial intelligence.

It is organised by Dutch public broadcaster VPR and was due to be held alongside this years Eurovision in the Netherlands.

However, following that events cancellation due to the coronavirus pandemic, the AI Song Contest will go ahead using an online format.

Ed Newton-Rex, judge and founder of London-based AI composition start-up Jukedeck, said the event would dispel the lingering fear around the technology.

He told the PA news agency: There is some disbelief around what AI can do and I hope the competition serves to shatter that and show people that AI can create some pretty impressive things.

The more the public understands what AI is capable of, the more we are able as a society to make the right decisions about how it should be used. Ignorance is no good thing in this scenario.

It will be a good thing to raise awareness of the technology and what it will do. I hope it might inspire more musicians to embrace AI as a weapon in their arsenal.

We hope to dispel the lingering fear around what AI might do. Still, you hear AI and you think Terminator, and showing that it doesnt need to be terrifying is important.

Video of the Day

It doesnt need to replace musicians. It can instead be a tool. We would be pleased if that was the message people came away with.

Contestants were tasked with producing a song as successful as last years Eurovision winner, Arcade by Duncan Laurence, but were allowed to choose how much their song relied on AI.

Newton-Rex added: What we are interested in with this competition is AI being used as a tool by musicians to collaborate with.

In my mind, that is a much more healthy way of looking at what AI can do.

Since music began we have used tools to make music. Since the first flutes and drums found in prehistoric caves. Today we use our computers. We use Logic Pro or Ableton.

We use synthesisers, we use electric instruments, we use the tools  and AI can be a tool in the same way.

Thats what we really wanted to explore with the competition. How can we open up this technology? And how creative can people be?

The songs are available to hear from April 10 and the winner will be announced on May 12.




File photo

Fear has gripped residents of the ancient city of Kano, over the death of One Abdulrasheed Ibrahim, a resident of Gwammaja Quarters in the metropolis, who was suspected to have died in self-isolation.

According to neighbours of the deceased, late Abdulrasheed was said to have returned to Kano from Abuja last Monday.

The neighbours also revealed on the day he returned to Kano, he was seen washing his car before proceeding on an alleged self-isolation.

TheNation gathered that residents in the neighbourhood became apprehensive after an offensive smell started oozing out of the deceaseds house.

They observed he had remained indoors for three days.

The development compelled the residents to alert his relatives, who broke into his home where he was found dead.

Efforts for further inquiries were unsuccessful from relatives of the deceased.

The director, Public Health and Disease Control, Dr Imam Wada Bello, confirmed the incident.

He called for calm, stating that health officials have been deployed to the scene to exercise all requisite medical measures.

According to him, the blood sample of the deceased has been collected and subjected to medical examination.

He assured that the public would be informed about the outcome of the test that is currently been conducted on the samples collected.
With more than 50 per cent of export orders currently getting cancelled, the export sector is expected to see massive job losses estimated at at least 15 million, unless a targeted economic relief package is announced soon, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has told the government. "We are left with very less orders and if factories are not allowed to work with a minimum work force to execute them timely, many of them will suffer irreparable losses and bringing them to the brink of closure as they are saddled with fixed cost, which in any case has to be absorbed ...

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital Editor
The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus cross a pedestrian walkway on Friday, April 10, 2020, in Tokyo. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency last Tuesday for Tokyo and six other prefectures to ramp up defenses against the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

TOP OF THE HOUR

 Good Friday observed at home as Japan virus divide surfaces.

 Russian doctors to use coronavirus treatment for all pneumonia patients.

 Hungary secures 2,000 ventilators; says it needs 8,000.

___

MOSCOW  Russian doctors will start treating all patients with pneumonia for the new coronavirus without waiting for test results to confirm the diagnosis, the countrys Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said.

Were seeing that the disease progresses fast, and it has specific clinical presentation, (allowing) to diagnose (it) without confirming in the lab based on the clinical presentation, Murashko said in a TV interview that aired on Thursday night.

Murashkos statement echoes earlier comments from Moscow doctors involved in treating coronavirus patients, saying that the vast majority of pneumonia cases in Russia are most likely caused by the new virus and should be treated as such.

Existing tests for confirming COVID-19 are 70-80% accurate, Denis Protsenko, chief doctor of a top Moscow hospital treating coronavirus patients, said Thursday.

Russian health officials reported 1,786 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, bringing the countrys total to 11,917. The outbreak has picked up speed in Russia in recent weeks, with the number of cases growing exponentially and doubling every few days. Kremlin critics have been questioning the official statistics, pointing to a growing number of pneumonia cases and suggesting that Russias coronavirus case count might be much higher.

___

BUDAPEST, Hungary  Hungarys prime minister says the country now has about 2,000 of the 8,000 ventilators it expects to need at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban also said Friday on state radio that he expects around 20% of Hungarys health workers to be infected with the coronavirus.

Fewer than usual people at Shibuya Scramble Crossing is seen Wednesday, April 8, 2020, in Tokyo. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency Tuesday for Tokyo and six other prefectures to ramp up defenses against the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Orban, who has extended indefinitely restrictions put in place two weeks ago to make people stay home, said Hungary was learning from measures implemented in neighbouring Austria, which he called our large laboratory, where the pandemic is at a more advanced stage.

Hungary has 1,190 cases of the coronavirus, and 77 people with have died.

___

LONDON  Boris Johnsons father says the British prime minister needs time to recover from the new coronavirus and is unlikely to be back at work imminently.

The U.K. leader spent three nights in the intensive care unit at St. Thomas Hospital in London after his COVID-19 symptoms worsened. He was moved back to a regular ward on Thursday evening, and his office says he is in the early phase of his recovery.

His father Stanley Johnson said the prime minister needed to rest up.

He has to take time, Stanley Johnson told the BBC. I cannot believe you can walk away from this and get straight back to Downing Street and pick up the reins without a period of readjustment.

Johnson was diagnosed with COVID-19 two weeks ago, the first world leader confirmed to have the illness. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is standing in for Johnson while he is in hospital.

___

MANILA, Philippines  Southeast Asian foreign ministers have endorsed in a video conference the setting up of regional fund to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and discussed a planned meeting of their leaders with counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said Friday that the top diplomats of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations linked up by video Thursday in a meeting led by Vietnam. The ASEAN ministers could not hold an actual meeting due to the pandemic.

The ministers endorsed several collective steps to fight the pandemic, including the establishment of a COVID-19 ASEAN response fund, sharing of information and strategies and ways to ease impact of the global health crisis on people and the economy, the department said but did not provide details.

They also discussed a planned meeting of their leaders with counterparts from China, Japan and Korea in a video conference on April 14 to talk about the pandemic, three Southeast Asian diplomats told The Associated Press.

In Thursdays discussion, Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea amid the contagion, the department said.

The Philippines has expressed solidarity with Vietnam after a Vietnamese fishing boat was reportedly rammed and sank by a Chinese coast guard ship in the disputed waters.

A drawing of a rainbow with the word "Hope" by Logan age 6 is displayed in one of the windows of 10 Downing Street, London, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in hospital following his admission on Sunday with continuing coronavirus symptoms Thursday April 9, 2020. The highly contagious COVID-19 coronavirus has impacted on nations around the globe, many imposing self isolation and exercising social distancing when people move from their homes. (Aaron Chown/PA via AP)

___

TOKYO  Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike on Friday asked nonessential businesses such as hostess clubs, internet cafes, as well as cinemas and fitness facilities to close down to bolster defence against the coronavirus, after gaining consent from the reluctant central government.

The measure adds to her earlier stay home request to the Tokyo residents, the only measure in place so far under the state of emergency declared by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Japans capital and six other prefectures Tuesday. Koikes business closure plans outlined ahead of the declaration had to wait temporarily as Abe government suddenly asked her to wait for two weeks until effects of the stay-at-home requests are evaluated.

Koikes business closure requests in Tokyo will take effect Saturday.

Koike sought stricter measures to put peoples lives first, while Abes government wanted a more relaxed approach to avoid confusion. The two sides agreed to allow barbers and hardware shops to stay open and Japanese style iazakaya pubs to open limited hours. The move highlighted Abes perceived reluctance to take tougher measures damaging to the economy.

In order to protect peoples lives, it is only appropriate to take tougher measures first and relax as we see how they go, not the other way around, Koike said.

Universities, movie theatres, live music venues, pachinko parlours and internet cafes are to close, while schools, nursery schools and welfare services are allowed to operate on limited conditions.

___

PARIS  Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi says it is donating 100 million doses of a malaria drug being tested for use as a treatment against the new coronavirus.

In a statement Friday, the company said the hydroxychloroquine doses will be given to 50 countries. The company said it also is ramping up production, aiming to quadruple is capacity to manufacture the drug.

Sanofi said it will continue to donate the medicine to governments and hospital institutions if ongoing clinical studies demonstrate its efficacy and safety in COVID-19 patients.

But the company also cautioned that hydroxychloroquine has several serious known side effects and tests are so far inconclusive over its safety and efficacy in treating COVID-19.

It said that while hydroxychloroquine is generating a lot of hope for patients around the world, it should be remembered that there are no results from ongoing studies, and the results may be positive or negative.

United States President Donald Trump has been among the drugs proponents, tweeting that hydroxychloroquine plus an antibiotic could be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine and should be put in use immediately.

___

A security guard checks the temperature of people coming inside a market during an enhanced community quarantine to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus at the usually busy downtown Manila, Philippines on Friday, April 3, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

MULTAN, Pakistan  Pakistani police and rescue officials say at least one woman was trampled to death and 20 others were injured in a stampede as authorities distributed money among families affected by a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

Pandemonium broke out Friday at a school in Multan, a city in eastern Punjab province, when hundreds of women gathered there to receive 12,000 rupees (about $70) promised by the government for each family.

Pakistan plans to distribute financial assistance among 10.2 million low-income families across the country. The program began in Multan.

___

JERUSALEM  The number of coronavirus infections has risen to more than 10,000 in Israel, which imposed strict measures to contain the pandemic early on but has seen it tear through the insular ultra-Orthodox religious community.

The Health Ministry on Friday reported a total of 10,095 cases, including 92 deaths.

Israeli authorities moved quickly in mid-March to close borders, ground flights and shut down all non-essential businesses. But in the early days and weeks of the pandemic many in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community ignored guidelines on social distancing, which health experts say is key to containing the outbreak.

___

ALBANY, New York  People around the world began celebrating Good Friday and Easter from the safety of their homes, as rare divisions surfaced in Japan over how to tackle the growing coronavirus outbreak there.

Politicians and public health officials have warned that the hard-won gains against the pandemic must not be jeopardized by relaxing social distancing over the holiday weekend. Across Europe, where Easter is one of the busiest travel times, authorities set up roadblocks and otherwise discouraged family gatherings.

In a measure of how fast the coronavirus has brought world economies to their knees, a staggering 16.8 million Americans lost their jobs in just three weeks. And still more job cuts are expected. The U.S. unemployment rate in April could hit 15%  a number not seen since the end of the Great Depression.

There was some measure of relief in Britain as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care at the London hospital where he is being treated for the virus. The 55-year-old took a turn for the worse earlier in the week as his country descended into its biggest crisis since World War II.

Worldwide, the number of dead topped 95,000 and confirmed infections reached 1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, though the true numbers are believed much higher, in part because of different rules for counting the dead and coverups by some governments.

The U.S. appeared on course to overtake Italy within days as the country with the highest number of fatalities. However, virus deaths as a proportion of the population in the U.S. remains about one-sixth of those in hard-hit Italy and Spain.

___

TOKYO  Aichi, home to Toyota Motor Corp. in central Japan, has declared its own state of emergency, saying it cannot wait for a slow-moving decision by Prime Minister Shinzo Abes government to add the prefecture to an ongoing emergency declared this week.

Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura said one-third of about 300 new coronavirus cases in the prefecture have been confirmed in the past week as the infection spreads rapidly in the region, making it the fifth-most infected prefecture in the country.

The situation is critical, Omura said. We decided to do everything we can to protect Aichi residents lives and health.

Omura issued a request to all residents to stay home and work remotely until May 6, when the government-issued state of emergency is to end. Omura, however, did not request closures of non-essential businesses and facilities for now.

His announcement came just as Tokyos outspoken governor, Yuriko Koike, was to request closures of non-essential businesses and facilities in the city after agreeing with Abes government that had asked her to wait two weeks, apparently to avoid impact on the economy.

Earlier on Friday, leaders of Kyoto, Japans ancient capital, urged Abe to add that prefecture to part of the state of emergency to allow them to issue stricter social-distancing measures. Such actions by local leaders are unusual in Japan and come as Abe faces criticism for slow and lax measures.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that additional state of emergency declarations in Aichi and Kyoto are not immediately planned.

Japan as of midday Friday had 5,246 confirmed coronavirus cases, as well as 712 from a cruise ship, with 99 deaths.

___

JAKARTA, Indonesia  Authorities in Indonesias capital began implementing stricter restrictions Friday to slow the spread of the new coronavirus in a city where COVID-19 deaths have spiked in the past week.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Jakarta is home to 10 million people, 30 million including those in a greater metropolitan area thats become Indonesias coronavirus epicenter with 1,706 cases out of 3,293 nationwide. The country has recorded 280 deaths, with 142 of them in the capital alone.

The decree, giving authorities more power to press people to stay home and businesses to close, will be re-evaluated every two weeks. It will be imposed in Jakarta, where people who violate the restriction will face up to a year in jail and a 100 million rupiah ($6,350) fine.

Televison footage showed padlocked parks and empty roads where lines of cars once idled in bumper-to-bumper traffic as motorbikes zoomed through the narrow gaps in between.

According to the decree, police can ban any event that would involve more than five participants, including preventing people from going to mosques to pray on Friday.

___

Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
As European countries settle into weeks of tough measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, governments are beginning to chart possible routes out of their lockdowns. Austria and Denmark have both announced an easing of restrictions, with the opening of small stores and elementary schools.

Researchers in the U.K. have presented the government with a different proposal, under which young people aged 20-30 would be the first to be allowed to leave their homes and get back to workonce the infection rate has been brought under control in the next few months leaving their parents and bosses stuck at home.

A research paper by economists at the University of Warwick published this week argues that the 20-30 group would be at relatively low risk of suffering severe cases of COVID-19 if they began to rejoin the workforce and breathe some life back into the economy. It also suggests that 20-30 year olds may feel the economic impact of remaining in lockdown more severely than older adults. Under the proposal, only young private sector workers who dont live with their parents or any older adults would be allowed to leave lockdowna group that includes 4.2 million people in the U.K. (Much of the public sector, including government employees and healthcare workers, has continued to run as normal.) The proposal is being studied by British government officials, according to the Financial Times.

The idea is controversial. Epidemiologists agree that until a vaccine for the virus emerges not expected for 12-18 monthsany loosening of lockdown measures carries the risk of increasing the spread and the death toll of the virus. Scientists say more work is needed to model the impact of different ways of easing lockdowns.But as governments grapple with the painful economic fallout of their measures, the pressure is on to find options that enable some activity to restart in the coming months, or at least before the end of the year.

Story continues

There is no risk free way forward from our current situation, says Andrew J Oswald, one of the Warwick papers authors. So were looking for a solution that balances the economic objectives and the epidemiological objectives. Young people fit that bill rather naturally.

Heres what to know about the idea of relaxing measures for younger people  and the other possible ways out of lockdown.

What is the economic case for releasing young people earlier?

The U.K. has been under a nationwide lockdownsimilar to the measures imposed in many countries in mainland Europesince March 24. Only essential workers are allowed to leave their homes for work, and only the children of those workers are allowed to go to school. Most people are only allowed to leave their homes to go for brief periods of exercise or to buy food or medicine. Gatherings in public of more than two people are banned.

Oswald argues that, while the entire U.K. population faces severe economic risk from those measures, young people are likely to be particularly hard hit by a looming recession. Theyre the lowest-earning age group, he says, and theyre unlikely to have the savings or protected income that older people and retirees could rely on without having to go out to work. Theyre also beginning their careers and this [period of lockdown] might have long term deleterious effects on their career trajectory.

Allowing the 4.2 million 20-30 year oldsaround a sixth of the U.K.s workforceto return to work would create a kind of mini economy, Oswald argues. Young workers could communicate with their bosses and older colleagues online, while helping to restart businesses activity. That would allow young people to earn a living, and prosperity to spread to other demographics.

How would releasing young people from lockdown affect the spread of the virus?

Though young people die at a lower rate from COVID-19 than older people, they are by no means immune to the virus. The Warwick paper argues that allowing 20-30 year olds to return to work while older people stay at home would add a reasonably small, but unfortunately not negligible extra health risk for the U.K. population. It suggests that the number of additional premature deaths caused by releasing the young people would be around 630. The number is based on the current average death rate from COVID-19 for this age bracket, of 0.03%, an estimated 50% infection rate, and the number of people in the bracket in the U.K., 4.2 million.

But the purpose of including people in the 20-30 age group in isolation measures in the first place is not to protect them, says Liam Smeeth, a professor of clinical epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The point is to lower transmission rates for the virus in society as a whole, and they would definitely be increased if young people leave isolation.

Aris Katzourakis, a professor of genomics and evolution at the University of Oxford, says the 630 figure does not take into account the potential knock on effect for the infection rate. Though the proposal envisages only 20-30 year olds who do not live with their parents re-entering the workforce, Katzourakis says theres no way to do it without increasing the exposure of older people to the virus. If youre leaving your home to go to your workplace every day and come back, youre increasing your contact with other people, and those people youre coming into contact with are increasing their contacts with other people too, and so on. Its true that the impact might be low. But that hasnt been explored yet.

Though the young dont tend to suffer as severely from COVID-19, Katzourakis says theres some evidence that they could spread it more than older demographics do. Since young people are more likely to have fewer symptoms, they are less likely to be aware they are carrying the virus.

Still, Katzourakis says that young people may well be the first groups to be released from lockdown measures in the long run. I imagine thats probably what [the U.K. government] is going to do eventually. But wed need very tight monitoring systems on track to make sure that we can see how it affects infection rates. Testing for the virus would need to be carried out on a large scale, and systems to track peoples contacts would need to be in place, he says. If it proved a miscalculation and got out of hand, wed be back at square one.

What other routes are there out of lockdowns?

There will be no sudden, wholesale end to the changes recently imposed on societies, says

Smeeth. Its going to have to be a gradual, phased process in some way. There are a range of options for what such a process would look like.

Governments in several European countries, including the U.K., have floated the idea of immunity passports,, which would allow people who have already had COVID-19 and have antibodies to protect them from contracting it again, to abandon isolation. But scientists say there are major obstacles to such a system, including the lack of widely available tests for antibodies and the still unresolved question of how longif at allimmunity to the virus lasts.

Other options for easing the lockdown being discussed include lifting measures in geographical regions where there have been fewer cases, or to use a stop-start process, in which some measures would be lifted and reinstated as the rate of new infections falls and rises, with the aim of keeping cases at a manageable level for the health system.

On April 6, Austria became the first European country to announce a relaxation of its quarantine after recording a downward trend in the growth rate for infections. The government will allow small stores to open first on April 14, and then larger stores and malls on May 1. Social distancing rules will remain in place, as will a requirement to wear masks in public places.

Denmark, meanwhile, has decided to start easing its lockdown by reopening kindergartens and elementary schools from April 15, as children are at a low risk of contracting serious cases of COVID-19. Both Austria and Denmark say that measures will only be relaxed further if cases remain stable. This will probably be a bit like walking the tightrope, said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

For Smeeth, reopening schools is a sensible option for easing lockdowns, because managing children is easier than managing 20-30 year olds. With young adults, you cant stop them moving around in random directions in random combinations of people with all different levels of contact. Its very hard to predict. For school kids, though, it would be feasible to create a situation in which parents drop them off at school and bring them home, meaning theres only transmission at school and within childrens homes.

There are no good options, though, for exiting an unprecedented shutdown amid a global pandemic. As scientists we can give the government all the information we have, but then theyve basically got to guess how the public will respond to partial loosening of restrictions. Smeeth says. I dont envy the politicians right now.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has promised to do his best to take care of foreign workers even as the city-state reported 198 new cases of COVID-19 infection and one death on Friday.

With the latest infections, the total number of coronavirus cases in the island nation stood at 2,108 and related deaths at six after earlier reports of an Indian citizen purportedly dying of the virus was later confirmed to be a case of heart attack.

The new death is of an 86-year-old female Singapore citizen, who died from complications due to the COVID-19 infection on Thursday night.

Prime Minister Lee appreciated the hard work put in by foreign workers and assured them of doing his best to take care of their needs amid the virus outbreak.

"If any of their family members watch my video, let me say this to them: We appreciate the work and contributions of your sons, fathers, husbands in Singapore. We feel responsible for their well-being, said Lee on Friday.

We will do our best to take care of their health, livelihood and welfare, and to let them go home, safe and sound, to you," said Lee in a speech posted on Facebook.

The number of COVID-19 cases in foreign worker dormitories has surged in recent days, with clusters emerging in nine dormitories so far.

"We are paying close attention to the welfare of the foreign workers. They came to Singapore to work hard for a living and provide for their families back home.

They have played an important part in building our HDB flats, Changi Airport, MRT lines," he said of the foreign workers contribution to building public housing and the subway network.

He added that authorities have worked with employers to make sure that the workers will be paid their salaries and can remit money home.

"We will provide them with the medical care and treatment that they need," Lee said, as reported by Channel Asia.

There had been concerns about the welfare of foreign workers in dormitories, and the ability of dorm operators to implement COVID-19 safe distancing measures, after photos and videos circulating online appeared to show crowded and unsanitary conditions at S11 Dormitory, a dormitory for foreign workers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On March 20, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that the states primary election will be moved from May 5 to June 2 because of the spread of the COVID-19 virus. About a week later, the Indiana Election Commission approved new rules for the primary, including that every registered voter can cast an absentee ballot by mail without having a specific reason to do so, like is normally required.
Edward Abratowski at the Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame, California, on April 9, 2020.

Edward Abratowski

Nearly two months into fighting the pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area, Edward Abratowski believes that he and other doctors underestimated the coronavirus.

Abratowski noted that his hospital, Mills-Peninsula Medical Center, is seeing a precipitous drop in patients because people understand that a hospital is "not the best place to be" right now.

Abratowski believes the Trump administration botched its coronavirus response and "should have shut down the entire country right away."

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Edward Abratowski received an email in mid-January, informing him about the emergence of a novel coronavirus in China.

No one in his network was tuned into or perturbed by the illness so the San Francisco resident "didn't even really click" on the note, it was so minor a "blip," he told Business Insider.

Related: Help Hospitals, Healthcare Workers Fighting COVID-19

Abratowski is a hospitalist  an internal medicine doctor who treats patients who come into Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in Burlingame, California.

"When I first heard about the coronavirus, I, and a lot of other doctors I know, thought that it wasn't going to be that big of a deal, that we were all being overly reactive to it," he recalled.

"I was completely wrong."

Edward Abratowski and other Mills-Peninsula hospitalists.

Edward Abratowski

Medical specialists are nervous about seeing patients

Abratowski told Business Insider he's spent nearly every day of the past two months at the medical center, helping his colleagues fight the ravages of the coronavirus. What he has seen has left him shaken.

The 50-year-old doctor said most types of flu tend to take a harsher toll on the "really old and the really young." The coronavirus isn't quite as discerning.

"We're seeing roughly half of the people that get admitted to the hospital with coronavirus end up in the ICU," he said. "And so many young, otherwise healthy people  without underlying conditions like cancer or lung diseases  are ending up on ventilators. I haven't seen that before."

Story continues

Also, Abratowski said, the coronavirus is easily transmittable.

The fear of contagion has rattled specialists to the extent that some "don't want to see any patients or come to the hospital  period," according to Abratowski.

This development prompted one of Abratowski's colleagues to compare the coronavirus pandemic to the AIDS epidemic, when some medical professionals "rushed in to help, while others were too afraid" to help the ailing.

The coronavirus, which was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has since swept the globe. As of Friday, more than 1.6 million people have been infected and nearly 97,000 are dead. The US is home to the largest outbreak on earth, with over 466,200 cases and 16,600-plus deaths, based on data from Johns Hopkins University.

The number of COVID-19 cases has 'plateaued,' and the hospital is seeing fewer patients overall

New York has had more COVID-19 cases than any other state: 161,800 and counting. By contrast, California has 20,100 cases. And Abratowski isn't concerned about Mills-Peninsula, which is not a Level 1 trauma center, becoming overwhelmed. Currently, its number of cases is not large; the situation has "plateaued" and is "stable," he said.

Abratowski continued: "The overall volume of the hospital has slowed a great deal because we've stopped elective surgeries, people are afraid to come to the hospital, and we're finding that patients want to get out of here sooner than usual. They understand that this is not the best place to be."

Edward Abratowski wearing a protective face shield at the Burlingame medical center where he works as a hospitalist.

Edward Abratowski

Abratowski spoke to Business Insider after a 12-hour shift on Wednesday, during which he had seen only six patients. Typically, doctors can see between 12 and 14 patients, he said, whereas a "super busy day" might even entail 16 patients.

"But six patients is kind of unheard of. It doesn't take that long to see six people," said Abratowski, who is among 20 hospital-based physicians who are utilizing this lull to enhance their coronavirus-related expertise and explore ways to improve their overall response to the illness, in preparation for the virus to peak.

Abratowski expects that to happen in about a week, "but it's not going to be a sharp peak, it's going to be a plateau," he said. "It's going to probably hang out for a while before it starts to come down."

And Mills-Peninsula is prepared for any eventuality. In the event of a surge in cases, all operating rooms, already outfitted with ventilators, will be converted into patient rooms, and more doctors and nurses will be brought in to deal with the influx of patients.

What helps, he said, is that none of his colleagues have tested positive for the coronavirus.

"We are at full capacity and no one can travel so we have lots of backup people," Abratowski said.

Mills-Peninsula has also been able to obtain Abbott rapid coronavirus tests. These nasopharyngeal swabs have not only helped the hospital cut down on turnaround time  getting test results in less than an hour as compared to five days  but also reduced employees' need for PPEs, which the hospital has plenty of in any case.

"Now we can test somebody in the ER and know before they even come in to the hospital whether they have the virus," Abratowski said. "Earlier, if we were waiting for five days for a test result, doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists were using up all this protective equipment for that entire duration. Being able to find out right away, who has it and who doesn't has huge implications."

Fighting the pandemic hinges on social distancing

Ensuring that people stay at least 6 feet away from one another is "far and away the most important protection" from the coronavirus, Abratowksi said. He credited California Gov. Gavin Newsom for the gains Mills-Peninsula and other hospitals have been able to make in the state's fight against the coronavirus and praised him for prioritizing social distancing early on in the outbreak.

Newsom declared a state of emergency on March 4, schools were shut down, and gatherings of over 250 people were banned. Then, on March 16, nine Bay Area counties and Berkeley issued a sweeping shelter-in-place order that meant millions of people couldn't leave their homes unless it was for essential work or to buy groceries or visit the pharmacy or bank. On March 19, a mandatory, statewide stay-at-home order was put in effect, with Newsom issuing a grim warning: 56% of California residents  some 25.5 million people  could be infected in the next two months, necessitating this aggressive and unprecedented move, he said.

This has helped California begin to flatten the curve: Cases in the state were doubling about every 3.5 days at the end of March. Now, they're doubling every week.

Edward Abratowski has been social distancing with his cats, Baby (L) and Iggy.

Edward Abratowski

Such measures are especially critical given it will be at least 12 to 18 months until a vaccine is developed, and the data on hydroxychloroquine, a malaria medication that President Donald Trump touts as a panacea, is "not solid," Abratowski said.

"It has a lot of side effects, some potentially very serious ones like cardiac arrhythmias, so we're using it a bit judiciously," he said, all while acknowledging that there's a lot they don't know.

Another drug that's shown some promise is Remdesivir. But even at Mills-Peninsula, patients "can only get it by enrolling in clinical trials" through Gilead Sciences, starting Monday, he said. And then there's supportive care, like ventilators, which has helped some patients, he said, but others have developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and died from inflammation, damage, and scarring in their lungs.

All this to say that "there isn't much in the way of effective treatments for the coronavirus," Abratowski stressed, "so the key is to stop people from getting it and to stop people from passing it on to other people."

A 'hard lockdown' would have saved the most lives

Asked what he'd do with a magic wand that could help the US wrestle control of the coronavirus, Abratowski didn't hesitate.

"I would enforce a hard lockdown  social isolation for the entire country," he said. "I don't think it's realistic or necessary to have the National Guard on the streets or anything like that, but I think it's essential for the federal government to come out strongly, saying, 'Everyone needs to stay home.'"

Abratowski excoriated the Trump administration's early response to the virus, noting that the president's failure to take the virus seriously resulted in a loss of at least four weeks in which officials could have cracked down on the coronavirus.

The US reported its first case on January 21. A day later, Trump told CNBC's Joe Kernen that he was "not at all" worried about the coronavirus because "it's one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It's going to be just fine."

On February 26, Trump predicted that in a matter of days the total number of coronavirus cases in the US would be "close to zero." On March 24, he predicted "suicides by the thousands" if the economy wasn't back up and running, and, on the same day, pushed for the nation to be "opened up" by Easter  April 12.

It wasn't until March 29 that Trump went from downplaying the pandemic to saying, "I knew everything. I knew it could be horrible, I knew it could be maybe good ... You know I'm a cheerleader for the country  we are going through the worst thing that the country has probably ever seen."

But it took the White House coronavirus task force predicting that the coronavirus could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 people in the US for Trump's tone to change  and Abratowski fears that the US's fatalities could reach at least the lower end of that horrifying death toll.

Despite being urged by experts that a national lockdown is necessary, the president has also left it up to state officials to enforce a patchwork of stay-at-home orders that, as of Tuesday, encompass about 95% of the US population.

"He should have shut down the entire country right away  instead, he told people that this was nothing to worry about," Abratowski said. "He could have bought tests early, tested people quickly, and contained it a lot better  instead he doesn't even let his experts speak."

Trump's response to the coronavirus has been "horrifying, terrible, abysmal," Abratowski said. "But, then again, what do you expect from a president who doesn't believe in science?"

Business Insider
The Foreign Office has chartered 12 more flights to bring more than 3,000 stranded UK nationals back from India.

They follow seven flights that have already been arranged between April 8 and April 12 and will take the total number of Britons repatriated from India to around 5,000.

A 75 million operation to charter flights from destinations where commercial routes have been severed due to the coronavirus pandemic was launched by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office last week.

But efforts to bring people home from India have previously been criticised by travellers complaining about lengthy waiting lists and expensive fares.

Were working round the clock to bring British nationals home, with an estimated 1.3 million people returning to the UK since the #coronavirus outbreak began. Heres how were helping  Read our guidance: https://t.co/G30uvrt6iW #COVID19UK pic.twitter.com/idHX4h0pNZ  Foreign Office  (@foreignoffice) April 9, 2020

The new flights will leave from Goa, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram between April 13 and April 20, with bookings opened on Friday.

The Foreign Offices Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, said: We are doing all we can to get thousands of British travellers in India home.

This is a huge and complex operation which also involves working with the Indian government to enable people to move within India to get on these flights.

Over 300 people arrived from Goa on Thursday morning, 1,400 more will arrive over the Easter weekend, and these 12 flights next week will bring back thousands more.

Story continues

The Foreign Office said India is one of its priority countries for arranging charter flights, along with South Africa and Peru, due to the large number of Britons seeking to return.

Labour, meanwhile, has called on Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to appoint a minister to take charge of the Foreign Office while he is deputising for Boris Johnson as he recovers in hospital from the coronavirus infection.

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said: It is crucial that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to function effectively during this period. This is a global crisis and demands a global response.

In addition, the swift and safe repatriation of UK citizens currently stranded overseas must be an absolute priority.

There is growing concern that thousands of people are not able to access the support and advice they urgently need to return home. They must not be left to face this crisis alone.
(JNS)Israel must take a series of immediate steps that would enable it to end its nationwide closure and enter a new corona routine that would revive the economy and that could begin immediately after Passover, Interim Defense Minister Naftali Bennett stated on Sunday.

In a new national response plan that he published, Bennett wrote that the State of Israel saw the danger early and took a series of correct decisions that revolved around closing Israel. On one hand, this bought us precious time, but on the other, it had a terrible economic effect. Millions of Israelis lost the source of their income in the past month. They and their families face a double existential anxiety: being infected, and being unable to pay bills and support their families. Many businesses and companies are closing every day.

Instead of continuing with the national lockdown without a clear exit point, Bennett said that there are a number of critical actions that have not yet been taken in Israel, adding that failing to take them now would deal a mortal blow to the economic future of millions of Israeli citizens, employees and business owners in the private sector.

He pointed to the success of countries in stopping the pandemic without destroying the income of their citizens, such as South Korea, Germany, Singapore and Taiwan, adding that we must learn from them and adapt their measures to Israeli conditions.

To achieve this, explained Bennett, Israel must transition from closure to a focused and consistent effort to track the carriers and isolate them; conduct pinpoint treatment of cluster points; closely protect the elderly and vulnerable population; and increase the capacity of the health-care system to absorb thousands of patients in critical condition.

If we act immediately, the State of Israel can exit the corona economic crisis immediately after Passover, reopen its economy in a supervised manner and return most of the workers to their jobs, while entering a reasonable corona routine for the coming year until we overcome the pandemic, he argued.

As of Friday, April 3, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel was 7,030, with a death toll of 37, and 357 recovered.

Elderly and vulnerable to remain in isolation

For his plan, Bennett outlined a strategy in which Israelis would gradually return to work and studies, beginning with younger people, before releasing older members of society (not including the high-risk group).

The elderly and vulnerable would remain in isolation during this period and have all of their physical and mental needs cared for by the state, he said. Anyone who has a sore throat or fever turns to their family doctor as usual, who refers them to a corona test. Those found to be positive go to the hotel recovery centers. Their relatives, friends and colleagues are immediately checked. When a cluster is found, say in an office building or neighborhood, it is closed off immediately for a few days; we check all of the people in the area, find the carriers and send them to isolation.

A pandemic is a mix between medicine and war. We have to combine many disciplines.

After a few days, we reopen the area, he continued. This is the way in which we maintain a low-level spread until either a medicine is found or most of the Israeli public is infected, recovers and will be immune.

Bennett said that such a routine would not be pleasant, but it isnt terrible and its not a closure of Israel. I estimate that in less than a year, the corona event will be behind us.

Similarly, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat said in a briefing to cabinet ministers that the government may slowly ease restrictions after Passover. However, he cautioned that it would be a slow, careful and gradual return to a routine that is entirely different from anything we knew before.

A new information system to deal with corona

In a video press conference, Bennett said that Israel has one of the lowest coronavirus fatality rates in the world, and that although spread is continuing, the scope of severe cases and fatalities is lower than in all of the major countries affected by the pandemic.

Bennett also raised Netanyahus decision on Friday to instruct the Ministry of Health to reach a 30,000 PCR test capacity per day for detecting people who are currently infected. The Health Ministry is currently conducting 10,000 PCR tests a day.

We must learn and adapt.

To reach the 30,000 level, Bennett said, there is no alternative but to order the IDF and the defense establishment take over and establish a strong national testing system, and to have them lead the logistics and centralized data efforts. They are the most qualified to manage systems during an emergency. A pandemic is a mix between medicine and war. We have to combine many disciplines, he maintained.

The defense establishment is in the best position to create mass testing facilities, such as drive-in centers, and to get the samples to lab on a mass scale.

We have already built a new information system to deal with corona, added Bennet, outlining a data system designed by Unit 8200 intelligence, which at any given moment would give Israeli citizens a 1-to-10 score on their likelihood of being infected and infecting others.

The score would change in real time as data about a citizens movements and area are updated. If they walk into a grocery store within a day of a confirmed carrier visiting the store, their score would rise to 9 or more, requiring a corona test. The system would be powered by artificial intelligence.

Bennett called on the government to adopt the system immediately and place it under full civilian government supervision.

The private sector is in terrible distress. People have been fired, yet no one has canceled their council tax, rent or need to buy food. People are breaking into savings. They are in terrible fear, he said. We have to lift this from over their heads.
On Good Friday, Pope Francis presides at the Way of the Cross, which this year takes place in Piazza San Pietro.

By Vatican News

Pope Francis led the traditional Via Crucis in a near-empty Saint Peters Square on the evening of Good Friday.

A stark contrast

It marked a stark departure from the usual ceremony, which normally takes place at the Colosseum amid throngs of people as the Church remembers the final moments of the Passion, Death, and Burial of our Lord Jesus Christ. This year, measures taken to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, Covid-19, made it necessary to hold the service without the physical presence of the faithful.

Meditations from Prison

For 2020, the meditations for the fourteen Stations along the Way of the Cross were prepared by the chaplaincy of the Due Palazzi House of Detention in the northern Italian city of Padua. Five prisoners, the family of a murder victim, the daughter of a man given a life sentence, the mother of another prisoner, a guard, and a priest who was convicted of a crime but eventually exonerated, were among those contributing their reflections on the Passion of the Lord, and how it bears on their own situations.

A path through the darkness

With the path marked out by burning torches on the ground, the black Cross was carried around the obelisk at the centre of the Square, before coming to the door of the Basilica. The Cross was escorted by members of the Due Palazzi chaplaincy, and by members of the Health and Hygiene Directorate of the Vatican City State.

The papal blessing

Arriving at the sagrada, or porch before the facade, the Cross was given to Pope Francis for the fourteenth and final Station.

Finally, at the conclusion of the ceremony, the Holy Father gave his papal blessing to all those following the Via Crucis, wherever they might be throughout the world.
Boris Johnson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved out of intensive care as his condition improves, Downing Street said on Thursday evening.

"The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery. He is in extremely good spirits," a Downing Street spokesperson said.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Johnson while he is in hospital, had told reporters during the daily briefing that the Prime Minister continues to make positive steps forwards and is in good spirits.

Earlier on Thursday, Downing Street had confirmed that Johnson continues to improve after he spent a third night in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a London hospital with coronavirus.

The 55-year-old was shifted to the ICU of St Thomas' Hospital in London on Monday night as his condition worsened over 10 days after he had tested positive for coronavirus and went into self-isolation. He has since received "standard oxygen treatment" but has not been diagnosed with pneumonia or required a ventilator to aid his breathing.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"The Prime Minister had a good night and continues to improve in intensive care at St. Thomas' Hospital. He's in good spirits," a Downing Street spokesperson said, providing a health update on the UK PM.

He's stable, improving, sat up and engaged with medical staff. I've known the Prime Minister for a long time and I wish him well in this difficult time and I think things are getting better for him," UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said earlier on Thursday.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the UK PM while he continues treatment for Covid-19, will chair a virtual Cobra emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss a review of the UK's coronavirus lockdown to consider whether the strict social distancing measures should be extended beyond the 21-day period initially announced by Johnson on March 23.

The measures are set to end next Monday but indications are that they would have to be extended.

Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething  who will take part in the Cobra meeting  said there was "virtually zero prospect" of government experts advising that it was safe to lift the lockdown, adding the measures would continue for "a number of weeks".

"I think rather than speculate about the future, I think we should focus very seriously on the here and now and the present," said Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer who led the daily Downing Street briefing on Wednesday evening.

The senior Indian-origin Cabinet minister, who announced a new 750-million pound fund to support frontline charities across the UK through the pandemic, stressed the importance of the British public continuing to follow the government's stay-at-home guidance especially during what is a usual holiday travel period over a long Easter weekend.

Sunak, who is the next in line in the government's chain of command after UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, also gave his own update on the UK PM's health to confirm that he was sitting up in bed and engaging with his clinical team.

"The latest from the hospital is the Prime Minister remains in intensive care where his condition is improving," he had said.

The Prime Minister is not only my colleague and my boss but also my friend, and my thoughts are with him and his family," he said, adding that the UK PM's illness is a reminder how indiscriminate this disease is.

The coronavirus death toll in the UK registered another record daily jump of 881 fatalities on Thursday to hit 7,978.

Deputy chief scientific adviser, Dame Angela McLean, had said COVID-19 cases were not "accelerating out of control" in the country and warned against complacency and breaking the lockdown norms.
The parody featured three sections, 24 joke advertisements, 73 spoof articles and 155 fake news briefs, all meticulously edited to mimic The Timess style. Even the typefaces used on the front page and the spacing of the headlines exactly replicated those of the real paper.

The writer of one column praised Genghis Khan for his ability to get things done, and an in-depth investigation by a team of 35 Not The Times reporters found that cocaine appears popular.

We all had a lot of time on our hands, the designer Richard Yeend said.

After the strike ended, the Times journalists went back to work and kept quiet about their satirical moonlighting.

Thats it for this briefing. See you next time.  Victoria

Thank you

To Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the break from the news. The Back Story was based on reporting by Alex Traub. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.

 Were listening to The Daily. Our latest episode is about how Mardi Gras in New Orleans may have played a role in the spread of the coronavirus.

 Heres todays Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Hurricanes have strong ones (five letters). You can find all of our puzzles here.

 The Timess climate journalists will discuss some of the unexpected consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, like less air pollution and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. R.S.V.P. here to join them today at 4:30 p.m. London time.
The Navy's top officer has not ruled out reinstating USS Theodore Roosevelt captain Brett Crozier, who was fired after his memo leaked urging the Navy to respond more quickly to a coronavirus outbreak on the aircraft carrier.

Admiral Mike Gilday said on Thursday that the investigation of the USS Roosevelt matter, which he ordered last week, is now complete and he has started to go through the report.

Gilday, the Navy's chief of operations, said he has not ruled out any options, including possibly reinstating Crozier, if that's where the investigation leads.

'I am taking no options off the table,' he said when asked about Crozier's fate. He said hasn't spoken to Crozier. He said he has gotten no pressure from anyone about the investigation and just wants to make sure his actions are fair.

Admiral Mike Gilday (left) said on Thursday he has not ruled out reinstating USS Theodore Roosevelt captain Brett Crozier (right), who was fired after his memo leaked

The USS Theodore Roosevelt, seen in a file photo, is currently docked in Guam after more than 400 sailors aboard tested positive for coronavirus

The key question, Gilday said, is why Crozier felt compelled to send the memo, and whether it signaled a breakdown in communications with leadership.

The outbreak aboard the Roosevelt began in late March and has thrust the Navy into a leadership crisis. Thomas Modly, who resigned Tuesday as acting Navy secretary, had fired the commander of the Roosevelt, Crozier, for having widely distributed a letter urging faster action by the Navy to save his sailors.

Modly then came under fire for flying out to the Roosevelt last weekend and making remarks to the crew that were harshly critical of Crozier.

Modly's disastrous trip to address sailors aboard the Roosevelt in Guam reportedly cost taxpayers more than $243,000.

The secretary stepped down hours after he returned to Washington, DC, on Tuesday amid outrage over his scathing speech to the sailors, during which he branded Crozier 'naive' and 'stupid' for allegedly sharing his letter outside the chain of command.

On Friday, photos were released showing the Roosevelt's crew members being taken into quarantine, with some being quartered in a hotel and others moving into a high school gymnasium equipped with cots. A skeleton crew remains aboard the ship to maintain its nuclear reactor and fire suppression system.

Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalions 1 and 5 coordinate transportation of Sailors assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt who have tested negative for COVID-19

Sailors assigned to the Roosevelt who have tested negative for COVID-19 depart vans after being transported from Naval Base Guam to military-approved commercial lodging

Theodore Roosevelt Sailors were moved to local hotels in an effort to implement an aggressive mitigation strategy to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of the Sailors

Sailors remain in quarantine in their assigned lodging for at least 14 days, in accordance with DoD directive and the Governor of Guam's executive order

On Thursday, a sailor from the Roosevelt was found unresponsive in isolation on a Guam military base after testing positive for the virus.

No details about the sailor, including their gender, age or whether or not they have any underlying health conditions, have been released aside from that they tested positive for COVID-19 on March 30. Since then, they have been in isolation on land.

They were found unresponsive in their room on Thursday morning and have been taken to the Naval Hospital on Guam where they are in intensive care.

Meanwhile, Pentagon leaders anticipate that the coronavirus may strike more Navy ships at sea after an outbreak aboard the Roosevelt infected more than 400 sailors, a top general said Thursday.

Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said one member of the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt was hospitalized Thursday in intensive care on Guam, where the carrier has been docked for more than a week. He said 416 crew members are now infected and that 1,164 test results are pending.

'Its not a good idea to think that the Teddy Roosevelt is a one-of-a-kind issue,' Hyten told a Pentagon news conference. 'We have too many ships at sea. ... To think that it will never happen again is not a good way to plan.'

Sailors assigned to the Roosevelt move MREs off the ship to supply crew members who are being placed in quarantine at military-approved facilities

Some of the sailors from the Roosevelt will be quarantined in the gymnasium at CommanderWilliam C. McCool high school

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Frank Rivera assigned to 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, sterilizes the gymnasium before the sailors from the Roosevelt arrive

TIMELINE OF CORONAVIRUS ON USS ROOSEVELT MARCH 26: Navy announces the Roosevelt will dock in Guam due to health concerns for those on board MARCH 30: Crozier writes a letter asking to evacuate some of the 4,000 crew due to COVID-19 risk. He said: 'We are not at war, sailors do not need to die' APRIL 2: Crozier is fired by Thomas B. Modly and is forced to leave the ship to cheers from the crew APRIL 3: Modly tries to defend the decision in an interview, saying 'loose lips sink ships' APRIL 4: Trump says he '100% agrees with the firing' APRIL 6: Modly flies to Guam and gives speech on board Roosevelt calling Crozier 'naive and stupid' Trump distances himself from him following military backlash. Modly later apologizes. APRIL 7: Modly resigns APRIL 9: Sailor is found unresponsive. More than 400 sailors from the ship test positive for coronavirus. Advertisement

The Navys top officer, meanwhile, said the biggest problem is the inability to test enough people quickly, including those aboard the USS Nimitz, the next U.S.-based aircraft carrier due to deploy out to sea.

'The challenge that we have now, is having that type of capability where we can test in volume and at speed,' Gilday told a small number of reporters Thursday. 'I really dont have a good estimate right now on when that testing capability might be available in the kinds of quantities we would like to see.'

He said sailors on the USS Nimitz, which is in port preparing for a deployment, will have all movement restricted for two weeks before the ship leaves.

One sailor was taken off the Nimitz more than a week ago after showing symptoms, but the test was not conclusive, the Navy said. Hyten suggested a small number of sailors were ill, but the Navy said Thursday that no sailors currently on the carrier have tested positive for COVID-19 or are showing symptoms.

A retired Navy admiral and former top NATO commander in Europe, James Stavridis, said he sees more trouble ahead, and not just for the Navy.

'Clearly there are more cases to come. The most recent tally on Roosevelt alone is well over 400,' Stavridis said via email. 'The Navy and all the services have some hard choices ahead in terms of whether to pull units off the line to get them well or accept some level of casualties due to the coronavirus. I think it will be a case-by-case approach depending on the mission of the unit.'

Former Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's disastrous trip to address sailors aboard the coronavirus-stricken USS Roosevelt in Guam reportedly cost taxpayers more than $243,000

Gilday said the Navy has learned from the outbreak on the Roosevelt, including how to move from preventing the virus to containing it when sailors begin showing symptoms.

As of Thursday, 3,190 have tested negative, and results from tests on the rest of the crew are pending. About 2,700 crew members have been taken off the ship and are lodged on the base and in hotels on the island, which is a U.S. territory. Those who have tested positive are being checked by medics twice a day.

More broadly, Hyten said the outbreak aboard the Roosevelt is an illustration that the military has to adapt.

'This will be a new way of doing business that we have to focus in on,' he said, referring to the challenge of recruiting, training, deploying and potentially conducting combat amid the pandemic. 'Were adjusting to that new world as we speak today.'

Later, in a separate appearance, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said that despite the outbreak aboard the Roosevelt, it could be put back to sea and returned to duty relatively quickly if required by world events.

Crozier is seen addressing the crew of the Roosevelt last year. He was removed from his post after his memo leaked, urging the Navy to act faster to deal with the crisis

Crozier is seen above disembarking the ship in Guam for the last time after he was fired over a letter he wrote asking the Navy high command to evacuate the ship due to an outbreak of the coronavirus on board

Speaking along with Hyten at the Pentagon, David Norquist, the deputy secretary of defense, told reporters the defense leaders realize the coronavirus is not going to be a short-term problem in the military.

'We're going to need to change and adapt because even over the coming months, the virus isn't going to go away,' Norquist said. 'We're going to have to be able to operate in a COVID environment.'

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
For young doctors like 26-year-old Christian Vigil, battling on the frontline against the new coronavirus is a journey back in time to an era they can scarcely imagine.

"We feel like doctors a century ago when we didn't have antibiotics," said Vigil, who works in intensive care at Madrid's overloaded October 12 Hospital.

He, like other doctors and nurses of his generation, trained in an age when medicine is at the peak of its powers, with a huge arsenal of life-saving treatments and equipment.

Now, they are being handed a sobering lesson on its limits.

"The feeling that you can offer the patient nothing, and that you have so many patients with the disease, is frustrating. It's an impotence we are not used to experiencing," Vigil added in a phone interview at home after resting from a 24-hour shift.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

There is no vaccine for the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus, and although most infected people do recover, deaths are soaring as it races around the world. Spain has lost more than 14,500 citizens, the world's second largest toll.

Given social isolation to curb contagion, patients often die without their loved ones near, comforted only by medical staff.

"That feeling when you realise there is nothing left you can do is very hard, especially with someone you start getting to know," Vigil said, describing a 70-year-old woman dying on his watch, despite oxygen treatment.

"Basically, the lung is not able to oxygenate the blood and the patient dies. It's a bit like drowning."

As they battle a highly infectious disease often defying treatment and killing at a rate they have never seen, the young medics find themselves in emergency conditions usually faced in conflicts or natural disasters. Heavy workloads and fear of infecting others when they leave work add to the strain.

"Some of these nurses are in their early twenties," said Rahuldeb Sarkar, 42, a consultant physician in respiratory medicine in the English county of Kent. "It can break a hardened war veteran, so they will obviously be affected by this."

PAINFUL CHOICES

With the coronavirus crisis stretching capacities for intensive care beds and ventilators, doctors face appalling dilemmas, including who to prioritise with precious resources, who stands most chance of pulling through.

"As a young doctor, these decisions are difficult - even when you are not alone," said Joyce Scholtens, a 27-year-old doctor at the Epicura Hospital in Boussu, a Belgian town near the French border. In her hospital, experienced doctors make the big calls, but based on the assessment of younger colleagues, who thus share the weight of responsibility.

"We try very hard. It really moves us and it makes us evolve," Scholtens said.

To switch off in Madrid, Vigil shares a beer with his two flat-mates: one also a doctor, another a film student.

He reads, watches TV - currently the "Euphoria" series about a group of high school students - or chats with his parents back in his hometown of Aviles in Spain's northwest Asturias region.

Also read: Politics | In Maharashtras COVID-19 response CM Uddhav Thackeray disproves his critics

They are anxious for him, but also proud, especially when the nation pauses nightly to honour its health workers.

"They told me they go out everyday at 8 p.m. to applaud and that it's me they applaud," Vigil said.

On top of their core medical work, the doctors are conduits to worried families, both for daily telephone updates or to pass on personal items: bags, a phone charger, whatever they need.

They are also counsellors, helping patients contain their fears, while also dealing with their own risk of contagion.

Vigil, who on a recent day counted about 120 patients in the waiting room as he left, said he seeks to project "serenity" to his charges. He trusts his youth and protective gear to keep him safe, though admits: "If I were 60, I wouldn't be that calm."

Vigil dreamt of becoming a doctor in his teens, and the current experience has not put him off. He has a very practical message for the public and government leaders going forward.

"I don't want people to have too romantic an image of us doctors and forget that we also need good working conditions," he said. "In normal times, we are also overwhelmed."

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here.
Jawaharpur village in Dera Bassi confirmed 10 more coronavirus cases on Friday, leading the total number of cases to spike to 32, making the village the biggest Covid-19 cluster in Punjab.

A 78-year-old Mundi Kharar woman, who had died on April 7, was also confirmed positive for the virus, taking the Mohali district count to 48.

In Chandigarh, the cases  stable at 18 for the past eight days  rose to 19 on Friday with a Panjab University faculty member testing positive at the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16. He was later shifted to PGIMER.

Panchkula, with its count of five, did not register any new case. The number of positive patients in the tricity is now 72 (Mohali with 48 cases and Chandigarh with 19).

The 10 positive patients in Dera Bassis Jawaharpur village are all members of the extended family of the panch and sarpanch, who had tested positive earlier.

After the number of cases in the village rose to 22 on Thursday, 64 more samples were taken. Of these 10 tested positive, 32 negative and 12 reports are pending.

The state government has already declared the village, having a population of 3,000, a containment zone, completely banning movement of people. Besides, three neighbouring villages  Devi Naga, Mehmudpur and Haripur Kurha  have also been sealed.

The 42-year-old panch was the first to test positive on April 4.

The 10 fresh cases include seven women, two men and a six-month-old boy. Among the women, two are 53 and 52 years old, two are aged 32, and another 28. The men are 24 and 28 years old.

Mohali civil surgeon Dr Manjit Singh said all patients were admitted in Gian Sagar Hospital in Banur. Five Covid Commandos, a special group of Punjab Police constables trained as a quick response team for the pandemic, reached Jawaharpur village on Thursday to assist the health teams in collecting samples. Police check posts are monitoring people across the village.

Deputy commissioner (DC) Girish Dayalan said all patients were relatives of the panch and sarpanch, thus there was no case of community transmission. Extensive sampling has enabled us to identify more positive cases within the village and isolate them timely, he added.

He said all patients were responding well to treatment, and five of the total 48 patients had recovered and been discharged. Residents are advised to comply with the curfew and stay indoors, the DC said.

PU TEACHER CHANDIGARHS 19TH CASE

A 40-year-old Panjab University teacher tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday after eight days of no new case.

Admitted at PGIMER, the Sector-37 resident has no established contact or travel history, and had complained of cough and mild fever.

A faculty member of University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences has tested positive and is undergoing treatment at PGIMER. He has not attended office since the lockdown was announced, a university spokesperson said.

The patients X-ray report suggested that he had developed pneumonia, following which he was suspected for infection and sampled. He is diabetic, a health official said.

No contact or travel history has been established in the case reported on Friday. Further investigation in on, Arun Kumar Gupta, principal secretary, health, told HT.

With this case, the total cases in Chandigarh have reached 19, of which seven have been discharged. Reports of four suspected cases are awaited.

EIGHT KIN OF POSITIVE JAMAAT MEN TESTED

The Panchkula health department collected eight samples of the kin of three men who had tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday.

The trio had attended a Tablighi Jamaat event in Sikar, Rajasthan, last month. Two men, aged 18 and 37, are residents of Banoi Khuda Baksh village, while the third man, 80, is from Bakshiwala village in Pinjore block of the district.

Panchkula civil surgeon Dr Jasjeet Kaur said samples of four family members of the men aged 18 and 37 were taken and reports were awaited. The villages have been cordoned off, and health teams screened villagers on Friday, she said.

FIRST TWO POSITIVE CASES TEST NEGATIVE

The first two cases in Panchkula, a salon worker and a nurse, are recovering. Dr Kaur said fresh samples of the women returned negative results. As per protocol, their samples will be taken again after 24 hours. They may be discharged if the second sample also comes negative, she added.

The first case was reported on March 21, when a 38-year-old salon worker, a resident of Kharak Mangoli village, tested positive. She had come in contact with Chandigarhs first coronavirus patient who had visited her at a salon on returning from London. The second case was reported on March 31, when a 36-year-old staff nurse at Panchkula civil hospital tested positive. She had reportedly attended to the salon worker.

18 VILLAGES MADE CONTAINMENT AREAS

The district health department on Friday announced five villages, located in proximity of Dera Bassi on the Barwala side, as buffer zones to restrict the movement of villagers. Dr Kaur said, As several positive cases have come up in Jawaharpur village in Dera Bassi, five villages in Barwala have been announced as buffer zones. Besides, 18 villages in Pinjore in proximity of the Banoi Khuda Baksh village, where three men tested positive on Thursday, have been made containment areas as a precautionary measure.
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday (April 9, 2020) called on the Security Council to put up a united front in its fight against the coronavirus COVID-19, even as the world struggles to contain the virus outbreak.

The meeting, a first on COVID-19 crisis was held via video conferencing and was called by Guterres who termed the COVID-19 crisis as "the fight of a generation -- and the 'raison d'etre' of the United Nations itself".

"A signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for a lot at this anxious time," he told the group.

The UN chief also appealed to UN Security Council to demonstrate unity in mitigating peace and security challenges posed by the pandemic.

He also pointed out the lack of preparedness during the global pandemic which reveals how non-state actors could access deadly strains to perpetrate a bioterrorist attack.

"Non-state groups could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe." Guterres worried that some states might take advantage of the current situation to promote divisions which could result in escalation of violence in conflicted regions.

"The weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic provide a window onto how a bioterrorist attack might unfold - and may increase its risks," Guterres said.

Further, the people`s trust in public institutions could be eroded if citizens perceive government have mishandled the response or lacked transparency about the scope of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the John Hopkins University, the number of people infected with the virus is almost 16 lakhs with over 95,000 deaths reported.

US is the worst-hit nation with over 4,62,000 infections and 16,000 deaths, followed by Spain with 1,53,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 15,000 deaths.

(With inputs from agencies)
Shaza Morani Tests Negative For Coronavirus, To Be Discharged After Another Test
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Egyptian intelligence officials are mediating between Israel and Gaza Strip factions to prevent a possible military confrontation over the need for medical supplies to battle the coronavirus, an Egyptian parliament member told Al-Monitor recently.

The parliamentarian, who is close to Egyptian intelligence, told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Egyptian calls to the leaderships of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to contain the situation came after Egyptian intelligence received calls from Israeli officials to stop the two movements from carrying out military actions against Israel to pressure it into allowing the entry of anti-coronavirus medical tools.

The source added that the Egyptian intelligence command asked Israel to allow the entry of necessary medical provisions into the Gaza Strip without restrictions, and "Israel has responded positively to this request.

Gaza Strip Ministry of Health spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said in a news briefing April 8, Testing at our central laboratory has stopped after coronavirus test kits completely ran out. He added that dozens of samples are still waiting to be tested. The ministry so far has recorded 13 coronavirus cases, he said; eight of the patients had recovered while the remaining five were still under treatment.

On April 5, Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziyad Al-Nakhaleh threatened to fire rockets at Israel if the shortage of equipment to fight the coronavirus persists. Nakhaleh said in a statement published in local media outlets, Because death knocks on everyone's doors mercilessly (referring to the coronavirus outbreak), we will not die alone.  The enemy (Israel) must choose between [taking shelter and subsequent] consequences or lifting the blockade [imposed on the Gaza Strip since 2007].

Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in the Gaza Strip, told Al-Aqsa satellite channel April 2, If coronavirus patients in Gaza can't breathe, we will take away the breath of 6 million Israelis, and we will get what we want by force.

Sinwar and Nakhalehs comments came in response to the April 1 statements of Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett linking the provision of coronavirus aid to the condition that Hamas hands over two missing Israeli soldiers that Israel believes were captured or killed during the 2014 war on the Gaza Strip.

On March 18, Israel allowed hundreds of coronavirus testing kits into the Gaza Strip, as well as medical preventive equipment, through the Erez crossing. That move came at the request of the World Health Organization (WHO). But since then, no new medical equipment has entered Gaza from Israel.

The parliamentarian pointed out that the Egyptian calls with Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders persuaded the factions not to carry out any military activities against Israel, and to trust Egypt's diplomatic mediation to solve the problem.

The source further indicated that Egyptian intelligence promised both movements that it would not allow a health crisis to occur in the Gaza Strip, whether by pressuring Israel to pass through the medical supplies or by sending medical aid directly.

On March 26, Egypt sent an emergency medical and humanitarian aid convoy to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing.

Talal Okal, a political analyst and writer for the Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam, told Al-Monitor, Egypt is working on avoiding a health crisis in the Gaza Strip because it wants to prevent the outbreak of a military confrontation between Gaza and Israel, in addition to protecting its eastern borders with the Gaza Strip from security or health complications. Such troubles would negatively affect Egypt's health situation, which has already taken a dangerous turn in the past few days due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Ahmed Rafiq Awad, a media and political science professor at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, told Al-Monitor, I think that Israel, which is also facing a real crisis due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, would not want to create a health crisis in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. But it believes the Palestinian Authority (PA), not the Israeli government, is responsible for the Gaza Strip."

On March 22, Israel released 120 million shekels ($33.6 million) in Palestinian tax money to the PA for emergency use against the coronavirus in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israel said it also will allow the establishment of a 300-square-meter (3,229-square-foot) emergency laboratory in Gaza to conduct 3,000 coronavirus tests daily. The lab will be supervised by Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) and Israel's AID Genomics, both specializing in medical and biotechnological techniques, and will be funded by international donations.

Gaza Strip Ministry of Health Undersecretary Youssef Abu al-Rish told Al-Monitor the ministry welcomes the move to build this laboratory, which is expected to be equipped by April 16, but he said it is an insufficient step that does not replace the provision of lab test kits to detect the virus in the Gaza Strip hospitals.

Abu al-Rish added, Since the beginning of the quarantine procedures in the Gaza Strip on Feb. 16, we have completed 2,000 laboratory tests for citizens. But we have run out of testing kits, and we run the risk of the spread of the virus in the Gaza Strip.

He stated that the PA is not giving the health sector in Gaza enough attention and is focusing its efforts on fighting the virus in the West Bank, which reflects the Palestinian rift. The Gaza Strip only received 1,500 test swabs, worth $4,000, from the PA, he said. Although the PA has been ignoring the suffering health sector in Gaza, we believe Israel is the most responsible due to its 14-year siege on the Gaza Strip, he added.

Meanwhile, Kamal al-Shakhra, director-general of primary care at the PA's Ministry of Health, said in an April 7 press conference in Ramallah, We have not received any official request from Gaza to fulfill the required quantities of testing kits.
[April 10, 2020] PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev Takes Part in Online Summit on Business After the Pandemic Hosted by the RUIE Coordinating Council for Combating the Coronavirus

MOSCOW, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE) Coordinating Council for combating the coronavirus outbreak yesterday hosted an online summit to discuss business after the pandemic. The event was moderated by Andrey Guryev, Co-Chair of the Coordinating Council and CEO of PhosAgro. Mr Guryev discussed the possibility of a dramatic transformation in the structure, principles and processes for doing business following the coronavirus pandemic. Other speakers were Russian Post CEO Maxim Akimov; SIBUR CEO Dmitry Konov; AEON owner Roman Trotsenko; and A1 Managing Partner Andrei Elinson, who initiated the summit. Some 250 entrepreneurs, market experts and journalists attended the event. In his opening remarks, Mr Guryev noted that there would be stark differences in the post-pandemic business environment compared with before the crisis. One important trend, he said, would be an increase in the number of people working remotely and with flexible schedules, while adding that offices would be vacated in a number of sectors. According to Mr Guryev, the pandemic has shown that state-of-the-art IT infrastructure is capable of supporting remote workflows without a significant loss of efficiency. In general, he said, the trend for increased digitalisation that was developing even before the epidemic will now be given a strong additional impetus, as sales and interactions with both customers and counterparties move to online platforms. Already, one of the most common topics of conversation outside Russia is the need to achieve self-sufficiency in terms of essential goods. Many will follow Russia's example in this regard, said Mr Guryev. In recent years, Russia has been forced to implement import substitution programmes. Given border closures as a quarantine measure, this has enabled the country to become completely self-sufficient in terms of food. Clearly, PhosAgro's CEO said, many states taught by bitter experience will reorient their efforts to protecting and supporting their domestic markets, to the detriment of economic cooperation. Mr Akimov, CEO of Russian Post, agreed with Mr Guryev, saying that "The customary modus operandi is over, not only for the main sectors of the economy but also for life in society as a whole. What used to be our daily routine in business, in our interpersonal interactions, in the activities of practically every institution will have to be reinvented from scratch. "The traditional answers to challenges and support measures taken by governments and heads of state around the world will be of little value in this new situation. We are at a point of uncertainty, and we are going to be figuring out answers to the questions we are facing for quite a long time," said Mr Akimov. He added that one of the key challenges is the breakdown in supply chains in the production f complex products. "Confusion on an inconceivable scale has arisen in terms of solving even the simplest tasks, and many of our European colleagues have already turned to us for help in the implementation of logistics routes."



Mr Konov, SIBUR's CEO, noted that the flip side of widespread digitalisation could be an increase in public fears about the protection of personal data and freedoms. "In addition, the transition of the services sector online and the resulting slight reduction in services available could increase unemployment and lead to an exodus on the part of those in the workforce who came to work in Moscow and other megacities, who will return to the regions where they came from. This would be another distribution of the young and mobile part of the population," said Mr Konov.

Mr Trotsenko, AEON's owner, noted that, historically, pandemics have caused fundamental transformations in the structure of society, and he added that the coronavirus epidemic would be no different: "There will be an increase in the cost of labour, and division of labour will become more profound; in terms of technology, there will be a ubiquitous transition to 5G and digital twin technology. In social terms, there will be a transition to individual self-employment, where individuals sell their knowledge, time and skills as elements of exchange in new ecosystems." He added that every pandemic has led to a change in world leadership. "In this case, we will see that our country will be, if not the leader, then one of the technological leaders in the post-covid era alongside China." Mr Guryev agreed that, after the pandemic, Russia would have every opportunity to integrate into the new economic reality and to deepen and expand its ties with China and Europe: "Today, Russia is facing this crisis in a qualitatively different state than in the 1990s. We have a well-developed domestic market, a raw materials and energy sector, a digital industry, self-sufficiency in food, zero debt and huge gold and foreign exchange reserves. Russia has every opportunity to enter the new economic reality as an even stronger and more balanced player," said Mr Guryev, adding that this would require large companies to coordinate their efforts with one another and with the authorities. In this context, A1's Managing Partner Mr Elinson proposed the creation of an additional mechanism for the exchange of experience in adapting business to new challenges. "We suggest creating an online platform where leading companies can gather and share their experience in transforming companies and businesses. Such a resource would help everyone reach a new level of business relations and build new models of fair interaction as soon as possible," said Mr Elinson. Summing up the discussion, Mr Guryev noted that the future discussed by the participants of the online summit would depend on the steps that are being taken today: "It is important that the measures taken by the President and Government and coordination on the part of big business, in my opinion, greatly increase our chances of overcoming the crisis with the fewest possible losses." About PhosAgro PhosAgro (www.phosagro.com) is one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of phosphate-based fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39% and higher. PhosAgro's environmentally friendly fertilizers stand out for their high efficiency, and they do not lead to the contamination of soils with heavy metals. The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe (by total combined capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS), the largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39% and one of the leading producers of MAP/DAP globally, one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) in Europe, and the only producer in Russia, and Russia's only producer of nepheline concentrate (according to the RAFP). PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, 39 grades of fertilizers, feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by customers in 100 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents. The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin America, Europe and Asia. PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and global depositary receipts (GDRs) for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes. More information about PhosAgro can be found on the website: www.phosagro.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/phosagro-ceo-andrey-guryev-takes-part-in-online-summit-on-business-after-the-pandemic-hosted-by-the-ruie-coordinating-council-for-combating-the-coronavirus-301038750.html SOURCE PhosAgro

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
We are thrilled to provide a Direct Routing solution that saves customers over 50% on Microsoft Teams while enabling feature sets and customized integrations, exclusively available through CallTower's Direct Routing solutions.

CallTower, a global leader in delivering cloud-based enterprise-class unified communications and collaboration solutions, launches a new aggressive pricing model for Microsoft Teams Direct Routing.

When customers migrate to Teams with CallTower Direct Routing, they take advantage of Teams' powerful collaboration technology plus the feature-rich solutions CallTower adds to Teams-all while saving money.

CallTower has rolled out a new Teams Direct Routing pricing model, which includes three options, all these options apply to any Office 365 license type and user count.



Teams Direct Routing All In unlimited calling

Teams Direct Routing Metered and Unlimited can be combined options based on user needs throughout any organization.

Teams Direct Routing Metered - metered calling plan, pay as you go

Teams Direct Routing Unlimited  unlimited calling, mix and match with metered

"As many companies explore migration paths to Microsoft Teams, we are prepared to make the transition smooth and ROI-friendly. We are actively migrating and on-boarding customers to Microsoft Teams Direct Routing every day," said CallTower's Chief Revenue Officer, William Rubio. "We are thrilled to provide a Direct Routing solution that saves customers over 50% on Microsoft Teams while enabling feature sets and customized integrations, exclusively available through CallTower's Direct Routing solutions. Our customers experience Direct Routing with the CallTower advantage, leveraging cloud contact center, CRM integration, Connect online provisioning and other applications and features we integrate into our Microsoft Teams Solution."

CallTower delivers an integrated Office 365 Microsoft Teams experience with global calling plans, empowered by a US-based client services team. This solution ensures a personalized implementation, adoption, training and support strategy. As a Microsoft Gold Partner, CallTower's monitoring and management services deliver the highest quality user experience.

About CallTower

Since its inception in 2002, CallTower has become a leading provider of cloud-based, enterprise-class Unified Communications solutions for growing organizations worldwide. CallTower provides, integrates and supports industry-leading, cloud-based, Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions, including Cisco HCS, Microsoft Teams Direct Routing, Office 365, Native Skype for Business, CT Cloud, CT Cloud Boost, and CT Cloud Meeting powered by Zoom for business customers.

For more information, contact marketing@calltower.com.
Islamabad, April 10 : All the benches of the Pakistan Supreme Court (SC) will gradually resume work from April 13 despite the increase in the coronavirus cases in the country, it was reported on Friday.

According to the apex court's roster, six division benches will work at Islamabad registry, while a three-member bench will work at Karachi registry and a two-judge bench at Lahore registry, The Express Tribune reported.

However, only a few cases will be fixed before all the benches.

The SC judges were already concerned over the rapid increase in the backlog of cases in the top court.

According to a recent report of the apex court, 43,847 cases had been pending until March 31.

The report said that despite the lockdown in the country, 602 new cases had been instituted, while 438 cases were decided from March 15 to March 31.

The decision comes as Pakistan has registered a total of 4,474 confirmed coronavirus cases with 65 fatalities.
The government on Thursday removed customs duty and health cess till September on ventilators, coronavirus testing kits and other medical supplies to increase domestic availability of these products to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the removal of the duty and cess, prices of these products that include personal protection equipment and face and surgical masks would also come down.

"In the context of COVID-19 situation, considering the immediate requirement of ventilators and other items, the central government has granted exemption from basic customs duty and health cess, on the import of these goods, with immediate effect," the Department of Revenue said in a statement.

These exemptions will also be applicable on inputs used to manufacture these items. "This basic customs duty exemption shall be available up to the September 30 this year," it said.

Currently, there is a 10 per cent duty on ventilators, and test kits; and 7.5 per cent on face and surgical masks. It ranges from 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent on PPE. Health cess is flat 5 per cent on all these goods. With the number of COVID-19 patients increasing, there is a significant rise in demand for these items in the domestic market.

India has already restricted exports of diagnostic kits to discourage outbound shipments. The government has also banned exports of all kinds ventilators, sanitisers, and textile raw materials for masks and coveralls. These all moves are aimed at maintaining the availability of these goods in India.

Commenting on the move, Abhishek Jain, Tax Partner, EY said: "This was a much anticipated and a welcome exemption given the dire need of these goods to fight COVID 19 in India". According to trade experts, China is a major supplier of these goods in the world.

Also read: Coronavirus in Telangana: Total cases, deaths, cured patients, helpline & more

Also read: Coronavirus treatment needs a rethink; and why Hydroxychloroquine matters
A new economic recovery task force in Missoula County is helping small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic navigate the resources they need to stay afloat.

With so many businesses being closed as a result of a state order designed to limit the spread of the virus, the Missoula County Economic Recovery Task Force is working to quickly connect businesses to the advice and expertise they need.

The task force developed a framework that "every small business can follow to understand how to navigate COVID," Grant Kier, the executive director of the Missoula Economic Partnership, said in a video posted on Missoula County's YouTube channel on Thursday.

Kier said the task force's main objectives are to help businesses understand how they are being affected economically, improve access to available resources, expand awareness of resources that are still in development, and identify gaps in resources.

The task force partnered with the University of Montana to create the Business Emergency Assistance and Recovery (BEAR) program through Accelerate Montana, which aims to connect small businesses that don't have established professional support with people who can advise them.

The BEAR program will also help small businesses better understand the benefits and resources expected to come out of the federal CARES act, and how they can access those.

A link to register for the assistance through the BEAR program can be found at the Missoula City-County Joint Information Center at covid19.missoula.co, on the Missoula Economic Partnership's website at missoulapartnership.com, and at Accelerate Montana at acceleratemontana.umt.edu.

Kier said the program is designed to help "make sure that every dollar or minute you spend with a legal advisor or accountant or potentially with a bank is as efficient and simple as possible."

Kier said that two businesses had already applied for help Thursday afternoon within a few hours of the site going up.

Businesses who apply for the BEAR program should receive a response within 24 hours, Kier said. After submitting a form, the BEAR team will work with other partners on the task force to identify the agency best suited to help based on the businesses' needs and circumstances. Kier told the Missoulian that UM staff and faculty are operating the BEAR program.

In addition to the BEAR program, the task force developed a four-step process businesses should take right now. The process, which can be found on MEP's website, advises businesses to protect the health and safety of their workforce, evaluate their contracts, assess their cash flow and, finally, contact a lender or the Small Business Administration for economic relief.

Kier told the Missoulian local businesses can still complete a survey on MEP's site, which they are constantly updating as the COVID-19 situation evolves, to understand the struggles businesses are facing and where they can help.

"I think the level of uncertainty has been the chief concern, and trying to create more clarity has been our chief course of business," Kier said. "Now that we have more clarity, we're really trying to understand how these programs are working on the ground, giving feedback to policymakers and leaders so they understand what needs to change, if anything."

Bryan von Lossberg, Missoula City Council president, told the Missoulian he thought the work done so far by the economic recovery task force serves as "a good example of why we invest alongside the private sector in an organization like MEP."

Von Lossberg, who has an ex-officio board seat on the MEP board as council president, said he and his colleagues have also been following the advice and recommendations from another financial task force that MEP is chairing.

"We're going to start seeing some disaster relief funding come into the community and one of the biggest things council is going to have to do is be really strategic with our budget and have an eye on where are the gaps and where can we devote resources," he told the Missoulian.

County commissioners also approved a budget amendment on Thursday to include an additional $135,115 in federal funding for the county's COVID-19 emergency response efforts. Leah Hickey, a public health emergency preparedness coordinator for the county, said that money will come in the form of a grant resulting from the federal CARES act. The money will add to the county's overall funding to address the COVID-19 situation. That funding currently includes the county's other public health and emergency preparedness grant for about $145,000 and money from the Missoula City-County Health Department.

Hickey said she was not sure whether the funding had already been spent and that the county is still figuring out "where theyre at exactly" with emergency expenses.

"Were putting everything under public health and emergency preparedness for now," she said.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
More than 500 voices, all affiliated with ACU, came together virtually to sing "The Lord Bless You and Keep You." Voices were contributed from around the world, including Canada, Turkey, Germany, Thailand and Japan. Students, employees, alumni and other friends submitted videos over a 10-day period, with more than 300 arriving the final day.

The song, based on Numbers 6:24-26, was composed for a cappella choir usage in 1910 by Peter Lutkin, and it has been a tradition at the university, based in Abilene, Texas, since the 1930s. It is ACU's closing anthem at all major events.

The virtual choir was a joint production of Abilene Christian's choral program and office of student productions.

The video can be viewed here .

SOURCE Abilene Christian University
The World Bank allocates additional $50 million to Ukraine to support vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 epidemic.

The agreement was reached at the meeting of representatives of the Government of Ukraine and the World Bank in Kyiv, the Government portal reports.

Already in May this year, Ukraine will receive funding worth $50 million to strengthen social support for the population during the measures aimed at curbing the COVID-19 pandemic, the statement reads.

These funds will be transferred to pay to pensioners and recipients of social assistance in connection with disability. Moreover, these funds will be used to increase the amount of the subsidy during quarantine and to remove restrictions on the provision of this type of support to those who have lost their jobs due to quarantine.

The money is provided as additional funding for the project "Social Assistance System Modernization" in Ukraine, which has been implemented by the Ministry of Social Policy with the support of the World Bank since 2014.

In general, Ukraine will receive an additional $150 million from the World Bank, in particular, $50 million to support vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 epidemic and $100 million to improve an overall social protection system.

ol
Alan Kinsella, the well-known archivist of Irish election material, recently posted online leaflets issued by the Young Progressive Democrats which railed against the evils of socialism. What made them interesting was their unusual nature, an Irish political leaflet from a mainstream party that talked about an ideology, as opposed to the usual Whatever You're Having Yourself of Irish politics.

To be honest, as a former Young Progressive Democrat myself, I was never too enthused about railing against socialism, because I was very much on the progressive wing of the party, so much so that Michael McDowell once declared me the "leader of the Young Communists".

What was interesting, nevertheless, was that there was a pretty clear understanding of what socialism was. High spending funded by high taxation.

It's very easy for those of us on the centre-right to regard socialism as having a place in western society. Capitalism remains the greatest way of generating innovation and wealth, but socialism, in its crudest form, wealth redistribution, remains the emergency safety valve that stops capitalism blowing itself apart, and that's a symbiotic relationship I can live with.

Having been to communist countries I've come to the conclusion that socialism works best when inside a robust capitalist economy. What's frustrating now, however, is that we don't have a real socialist option in this country, and we are going to need it when this awful disease is finally beaten into submission. For many on the left, the Covid-19 crisis has a silver lining, demonstrating very effectively the power of the State to achieve good things quickly. They're right. The Irish public service has excelled itself in its response, and many people will live because of it.

But the maths don't lie. We are spending billions on emergency services and welfare provision, and that bill will have to be paid eventually. On top of that, there are many of the actions taken, such as the emergency 350 Covid-19 payment, and various freezes on rents, etc, that many populists want to keep, and their continuation will cost money too.

As it happens, such a programme is perfectly legitimate to advocate for. I don't agree with it all, but what bothers me is not the advocacy but the refusal of advocates to, in good faith, then stand by the other half of the deal, which will have to be considerably higher taxes paid for by all. That's what I mean about needing real socialists, not the Fauxcialists we have.

Consistently those in Ireland who call themselves socialists, but are populists in practice, refuse to stand by the need for higher general taxation on all. Instead, they advocate the constant narrowing of the tax base or a focus on unsustainable sources of tax revenue like the Apple tax account, or the idea that swingeing taxes on the very wealthy will provide in the long term. Even our old friend Corrib gas will probably get a run out.

Ask them in a radio interview a straightforward "will your voters pay higher taxes if you get in?" and you'll get a sailor's hornpipe around the question with more caveats than a Japanese kamikaze squadron's life insurance policy.

There's still a refusal in our society to have serious, rounded, warts-and-all debates about the choices facing us.

Take the issue of a Universal Basic Income. There's been much talk of it in light of the emergency payment, and yet all the debate is on one side, about people being entitled to it and how much it should be, with many focusing on the idea that it should fund a work-free lifestyle.

There's almost no debate that it will probably be funded primarily by abolishing most existing social welfare payments, and that it would almost certainly require people who don't currently work to work to some degree (and probably pay income tax) if they require additional money. In fact, it might even require the abolition of the minimum wage in order to create all those casual gig jobs that allow top-up income. That's why so many on the right like it as a concept, because it abolishes means-tested welfare traps.

The big issue looming at the back of all this will be the realistic broadening of our tax base beyond the pretend top-hat-wearing, moustache-twirling plutocrats of past debates. All the people who demanded that water taxes be replaced by "general taxation" will now have to step up in support of the latter as they discover that making stuff "free" doesn't absolve its cost but reduces tax revenue you could have spent on something else.

The big challenge for the legitimate left is to make the honest case for higher common taxes. Interestingly, Labour's choice of Alan Kelly as leader might make a useful contribution towards this. On the one hand, as one of the primary defenders of the water tax, he cost his party a lot of votes. On the other hand, he has economic credibility to make the honest argument that, yes, social justice does cost money.

All those 700,000 people getting the emergency payment paid Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI), and it's a living embodiment of your taxes paying for a social safety net when it is needed. Let's hear someone make that argument rather than the usual cop-out of Someone Else Will Pay For It. Let's have a courageous rather than a pandering left.

The post-Covid period will be an opportunity to reset Irish politics. But first it means all of us being very honest to ourselves.
Covid-19 is caused by a zoonotic virus, or one that can hop between animals and humans. The precise path it took to people is unclear, and scientists say it may have included a stopover in an intermediary species such as the pangolin, an endangered and highly trafficked mammal. But the virus, SARS-CoV-2, has shown an ability to be passed from humans to animals, including dogs, cats and, most recently, a Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Health Authority (NHA) has launched a drive to temporarily empanel private hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat scheme to ensure continuation of treatments for serious cases such as cancer and cardiac ailments.

This is the Centre's follow-up call to its recent decision of bringing COVID-19 testing and treatment under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) carried out according to protocols and guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Union health ministry.

In a statement, the NHA said in the current situation of novel coronavirus outbreak, many medical colleges, civil and district hospitals, which were otherwise treating a bulk of AB-PMJAY patients, are being converted to dedicated COVID-19 facilities in states.

"With the launch of this new mechanism called Hospital Empanelment Module (HEM) Lite, patients suffering from serious illnesses, such as cancer, cardiac issues and diabetes that require continuous treatment, will be able to continue getting inpatient services without the fear of contracting the infection," it said.

The mechanism will also help in empanelling dedicated COVID-19 hospitals as well. Hospitals can empanel themselves temporarily for three months through a user-friendly online system available on the AB-PMJAY website.

Dr Indu Bhushan, the CEO of Ayushman Bharat PMJAY and NHA said, "As part of our effort to enhance our capacity for serving beneficiaries of AB-PMJAY, we have designed and launched express empanelment of private hospitals on a temporary basis to strengthen providing of care under the scheme."



"We have started reaching out to the states, hospital associations and healthcare industry bodies with this new proposal to bring on board private hospitals through a simple, quick and seamless system on a temporary basis. These hospitals have a choice whether to provide regular treatment for serious illnesses such as cancer and cardiac illnesses under the scheme or convert themselves into COVID-19-only hospitals," the official said.

State Health Agency (SHA), the apex body of state governments responsible for the implementation of AB-PMJAY will sign a memorandum of understanding with express empanelled hospitals for three months only.

After this period, the SHA can continue with the empanelment on mutual agreement between hospital and the SHA but only after the detailed empanelment process is followed, according to a NHA statement.

As on date more than 8,804 private hospitals are empanelled under AB-PMJAY across the country and account for 51 per cent of all treatments and 64 per cent of hospital admissions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Miami resident Danielle Rivera is 36-years-old and mother to a 7-year-old son, Emmett. She has a disability and cannot work a job outside her home. Her husband, Anthony, age 35, recently lost his work as a chef at a restaurant due to the economic fallout caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus. She is worried about making ends meet. Her biggest fear: impending homelessness.

Anthony has already filed for unemployment benefits but his account is yet to be authenticated by Floridas Department of Economic Opportunity despite sending in his identifying documents and repeatedly calling and emailing the office.

The Miami Herald has previously reported on the states understaffed, underfunded and now over-burdened unemployment benefits system, where the chief obstacle is calling in to get a PIN to complete the process. The number rings busy around the clock, with only about 2 percent of calls getting through, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

But thats only one factor working against the newly unemployed. The plight of recently laid off and furloughed Floridians is particularly bleak compared to other states, compounded by the fact that the state has among the most miserly unemployment-benefit caps in the country  a maximum of $275 a week, or $1,100 a month.

The $275-a-week cap hasnt increased in more than 20 years. The same cannot be said of the cost-of-living of the newly unemployed, a group that disproportionately includes those who worked in lower-income jobs.

An April 8, 2020, Danielle Rivera called the Florida Reemployment Assistance Authentication Line, three weeks after her husband, Anthony Rivera, filed for unemployment benefits. She and her husband have yet to connect with an associate, despite calling all hours of the day for days on end.

A comparison of unemployment benefits for each state shows Florida fifth from last, tied with Tennessee, barely edging out Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arizona, places where the cost of living is significantly lower than, say, Miami Beach.

When it comes to the number of weeks an eligible person can receive the benefits, Florida is dead last, weighing in at 12.

Florida is not the most expensive of states, but it is far from the least expensive. According to a Miami Herald analysis of data on cost of living, Florida ranks 28th in the United States. Among the 67 counties in Florida, Collier, Monroe and Martin counties are the three most expensive to live in. Miami-Dade ranks 13th.

Story continues

The data is compiled by the Council for Community and Economic Research and relies on information from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. To calculate a cost of living index and compare between states, it takes into account factors like population, population density, income per capita, growth rates for both population and income per capita, government cost, and unemployment rate. The Miami Herald analyzed the 2019 version of the data  the most recent figures available.

The people most directly impacted by the economic shutdown, those working in retail and hospitality, often dont have much of a cushion to fall back on.

When he had his job, Anthony Rivera earned around $1,900 a month, Danielle said. Their total household expenses including rent for their one-bedroom condo and utilities is roughly $1,300.

Danielle has herniated discs in her neck, nerve damage and rheumatoid arthritis and requires the use of mobility aids to walk any significant distance, she said. She works from home through Mechanical Turk, an Amazon-operated crowdsourcing website for businesses to hire people for work like data entry, writing product descriptions or identifying content in videos.

Weve managed to pay our bills for April, but have no clue what well do in the future, she said.

In Florida, the lowly compensation for those who have lost their jobs is a feature not a bug.

The system is designed not so much as a safety net to cushion the blow but as a tool to supply businesses with people to fill often low-paying jobs  and grow the economy.

Normally to qualify for continuing benefits, an applicant must show he or she has applied for five jobs in the previous week.

Its one reason Florida calls its unemployment office the office of Reemployment Assistance. The system worked as intended over the past decade as the economy prospered and employment increased.

Danielle and Jonathan Rivera with their seven-year-old son.

The model breaks down when there are few jobs to apply for, as is currently the case, and the website for applying for benefits undergoes a meltdown.

Mark Wilson, president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce said no unemployment system in the United States was built for a global pandemic and in ordinary circumstances the system works because Florida typically has more jobs than people looking for them.

Floridas system is built for people who want to work, he said. Sixty days ago it was the best system in the country and a year from now after were on the other side of COVID, itll be the best system in the country again.

The federal government is supplementing state-level unemployment payments with $600 per applicant per week. The hitch is that the money will be funneled through the individual states unemployment infrastructure. Thats a challenge for many states, but especially Florida, with its presently overwhelmed application process. No one knows when the financial relief  state or federal  might flow properly.

According to a public statement by the Department of Economic Opportunity, the state is updating its online unemployment benefits application system, accepting paper applications and also waiving the waiting week, so individuals can claim their first week of Reemployment Assistance. The requirement that applicants demonstrate they have applied for five jobs has been put on hold.

Recipe for disaster

Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Living Wage Calculator estimates that single adults with no children need to earn roughly $26,000 to live in relative comfort in Florida, a number that many in South Florida, with its spiraling rents, would dispute. MIT also estimates that food preparation and service-related workers earn only around $21,500 annually. People working in sales earn roughly $26,500, maintenance and sanitation workers make $24,500 and healthcare support workers earn $29,000.

During the Great Recession of 2007-08, laid-off workers could get benefits for up to 26 weeks. But in 2011, as the economy was coming back to life, then-Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-dominated Legislature opted to cut taxes on companies and reduce that safety net to 12 weeks.

For many, many years there has been the goal of saving the state money, lowering employer taxes and lowering benefits , said Arthur Rosenberg, a former lawyer at Florida Legal Services who lobbied against the 2011 changes.

Now the states junior senator, Scott, whose net worth is at least $166 million, recently argued in favor of reduced unemployment benefits in the $2 trillion federal stimulus package, saying that such benefits would discourage people from trying to get a job.

State Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota, who now heads the Florida Republican Party, declined to comment for this story.

The low cap on benefits, shorter-than-normal eligibility span and bollixed-up process for applying digitally are putting laid-off and furloughed workers in a precarious position. Many worry they will be financially ruined.

Among them is Carmen Cordoba, a 53-year-old who until recently worked at a Macys in Fort Myers. She is now furloughed indefinitely. Her husband, Peter Becker, is 10 years older and is a sales employee at a cigar store. Since the store he works at is now closed, he too is out of a job.

We dont have any other income or another job, said Cordoba. We dont have anything anymore.

Carmen Cordoba with her husband, Peter Becker.

Lee ranks 17th out of Floridas 67 counties when it comes to cost of living, Miami Heralds analysis of the cost of living data found.

The couple live in an apartment and have two pets  a cat and a dog. They also have some outstanding loans and credit cards to pay off. Cordoba said that their monthly expenses come to nearly $2,000 a month.

Cordoba said she has applied for other work online but has received no response yet. The high cost of living coupled with uncertainty regarding when they will receive their unemployment benefits and how much is now her biggest concern about the near future.

I dont know how well pay the rent or buy food for ourselves or our pets, she said.

Maria Leticia Gonzalez Moreno, one of Cordobas former co-workers at Macys, is in a similar fix. She too was furloughed last week. She had been working at Macys for 13 years.

The unemployment benefit was something that was supposed to be faster but I dont know how long the money that I have is going to last, she said. We dont know what is going to happen.

Morenos husband, 68, is retired. Normally she earns around $600 a month. After deducting costs for health insurance, she gets to take home around $400 to $450, she said. Her monthly expenses  a mortgage for her home and utilities  come to around $850.

The recent stimulus bill, the CARES Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump on Mar. 27, is what provides the $600 per week supplement until July 31, 2020. It also mandates that the Internal Revenue Service send a one-time payment of up to $1,200 to American taxpayers with a Social Security number. The payment is reduced  on a sliding, based on income, down to zero  for Americans making more than $75,000.

Benefits will be paid from the date they became eligible under the CARES Act, the Department of Economic Opportunity said in a public statement. At this time, individuals who apply for Reemployment Assistance whose employment was negatively impacted as a result of COVID-19 will follow the same application, review and payment process as all applicants for Reemployment Assistance in Florida.

I dont know when that money is going to come, but I have to pay the bills, said Moreno. I am scared because I dont know when Im going to go back to work.

Anti-poverty advocates, including Carolina Fernandez-Mazzoni of Catalyst Miami, an advocacy group working on issues affecting low-wealth families, say a change is needed. Given that Florida has become a low-wage, high-cost state, especially in its urban areas, and many workers are employed by industries that are effectively closed for business right now or have dramatically reduced operations, the state should raise the amount and duration of unemployment benefits, she said.

Maria Leticia Gonzales Moreno with her husband, Emilio.

These workers not only make low wages, they are unlikely to have paid leave and very likely to have little-to-no financial cushion to sustain them through an economic downturn, she added.

We need to ensure [these] families are not feeling the long-term effects of this pandemic.

The economic downturn has led some to look for alternative sources of income. For people like Rivera, the Miami resident, the usual work opportunities through Mechanical Turk are drying up.

Theres so many people now, theres a lot more competition, she said. Jobs I could grab before, people are snapping em up.

Rivera and her husband worry about not having enough money to pay for rent and being left out on the street with their 7-year-old.

Our landlords small. Hes not a big corporation, she said. They need to pay their bills, too.

Right now they have the moratorium [on evictions] in place but once thats lifted, if we dont have the money, our landlords gonna evict us.

McClatchy data reporter Ben Wieder contributed to this report. The Miami Heralds congressional correspondent Alex Daugherty also contributed.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 10:34 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0fdecf 1 World COVID-19,pandemic,scientists,scientific-development,international-cooperation,health-care,global-health Free

Several academies of science and medicine around the world issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling for greater international cooperation and noting the pivotal role scientists play in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The statement was signed by 15 members of the InterAcademy Partnership of Academies of Sciences and Medicine (IAP), including the Indonesian Academy of Sciences, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of Canada, the French Academy of Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Indian National Science Academy and the Global Young Academy, an international society of young scientists based in Germany.

The other signatories are Italys Accademia dei Lincei, the Science Council of Japan, the Nigerian Academy of Science, the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, the United States National Academy of Sciences and the US National Academy of Medicine.

In the statement, the group emphasized the urgency of international cooperation in several areas.

Rapid, accurate, and transparent international communication about the unfolding epidemiology of this novel viral disease, including patterns of transmission, incubation period and lethality, and the efficacy of various methods of intervention was required, the statement read.

Read also: Majority of Indonesians want transparency about COVID-19 patients

It also called for real-time sharing of detailed scientific information about the virus, the pathophysiology of the disease it causes and the human immunologic response, its origins, genetics, and mutations, and coordinated activities to advance knowledge in all of these areas, as well as information sharing on the research and development of medical products, along with collaborative research efforts to advance this vital R&D.

In recognition of our mutual reliance, coordination and alignment of regulatory and manufacturing processes and quality standards [are] required to accelerate availability of reliable personal protective equipment, diagnostic testing devices, and medical treatment capacity, it states.

The group said that international communities also required collaborative efforts to undertake rapid but evidence-based analysis of emerging concerns [] that may emerge as the global pandemic progresses.

International cooperation and information sharing in all of these dimensions will be particularly critical in countries and regions where the public health and healthcare infrastructure is not adequate.

In order to push the government to carry out the recommendations, the Indonesian Academy of Sciences sent a letter to President Joko Jokowi Widodos administration. The letter was sent through Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung on Wednesday.

Read also: Indonesia calls for collective response as UN passes COVID-19 resolution

In the letter, academy chairman Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro reiterated the message from the academies, calling on the government to consider the role of civil society and private organizations, as well as to give greater support to the World Health Organization in addressing challenges posed by the pandemic.

The Cabinet Secretariat has received the letter and Pak Pramono said it will be followed up on, Satryo told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Lucknow, April 10 : The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday transferred Rs 1,000 as financial aid to over 11 lakh construction workers each amid the nationwide lockdown.

Addressing the media on the occasion, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, "The state government had decided to extend help to those people whose livelihood has been affected due to corona outbreak. In this context, in the first phase, more than 11 lakh construction workers in the state have been provided Rs 1,000 each in their accounts." Yogi Adityanath is holding meetings twice a day on the coronavirus situation with senior administrative officials at his residence.

They are closely monitoring the ground situation in various districts, especially those reporting corona cases.

The hotspots in 15 districts which have six or more cases of coronavirus have been sealed.
Coronavirus lockdown: Bollywood actors-- Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Arjun Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn share a thinking note on twitter, to which Mumbai Police give a hilarious replies, check the post here.

Coronavirus lockdown: Keeping life at risk, policemens of all the states and union territories are serving the country fearlessly. Praising hard work and dedication of Mumbai police, Bollywood celebrities wrote a thanking note on Twitter with an inspirational video.

The video showcases the life of Mumbai police, how they are working 247 to serve their nation. Actor Ajay Devgn shared the video on Twitter, just after that other celebs Alia Bhatt, Arjun Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, and Ayushmann Khurrana applauded their great work in the time of coronavirus crisis. However, the Mumbai police gave an epic reply to each of their tweets with a filmi twist to it.

To Arjun Kapoor, the tweet reads, to million of Ishaqzaades in the cities, take all measures for safety from COVID-19. While to Shahid Kapoor, Mumbai police wrote, Mumbaikars can extend their support with their Shaandaar way in obeying the lockdown, and by making plans related to Jab We Met.

Check the post here:

Thank you, @akshaykumar for this heartfelt message. We are able to do what we do because we are never alone in this war. There's a much bigger army of Mumbaikars doing all that they can  from home. The whole of Mumbai is by our side. And for that  #DilSeThankYou Mumbaikars https://t.co/6TFrzZRYwm  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020

Taking no half measures to ensure safety from #corona in Mumbai  a city with millions of Ishaqzaades in love with it! https://t.co/fvwRIoAk5l  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020

Meanwhile, Mumbai Police gave a hilarious response to Alia by writing, hope all are Raazi with her and wont disembark in any Gully. Take care of your Dear Zindagi. Whereas, to Abhishek Bachchans reads, following the footsteps of ACP Jai Dixit to ensure safety, soon the situation will come to normalcy with a DHOOM, all have to abide the rules without Dus Bahaane.

Just taking the ACP Jai Dixit route to ensure that the city gets back to normalcy soon  that too, with a Dhoom! All Mumbaikars need to do is not make Dus Bahaane about going out unnecessarily! https://t.co/USkaUrnbCE  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020

The most Shaandaar support Mumbaikars can provide right now is to stay at home. And make plans for what all we would do together Jab We Meet post #lockdown #TakingOnCorona https://t.co/OrliU3BtXZ  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020

Mumbaikars, we hope you all are 'Raazi' with this advise of Ms @aliaa08 to not venture out in any Gully unnecessarily and take care of Dear Zindagi for all! https://t.co/WcGui5iYUS  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 9, 2020

On the verified Twitter handle, Mumbai police shared an emotional video, asking them if they get the opportunity to stay indoors what they would have done, to which some express their desire to take rest and spend time with family.

Feel that the lockdown is just too long? Guess what we wouldve done had we been home?#MumbaiFirst#TakingOnCorona pic.twitter.com/Ec80R6Cm1U  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 8, 2020

For all the latest Entertainment News, download NewsX App
Mallam Shamuna Uztaz Jibril, who was mostly accurate with his predictions prior to the 2016 elections says he can tell when the worlds most deadly coronavirus will end.



He promised to make known only if the world will give him listening ears.



The soothsayer in a psychic in-depth statement to Peacefmonline.com said he already watched all in spirit the brouhaha surrounding the pandemic.



If the nations of the world and the leaders will bow down and listen to the real spirit, I would tell them the exact date that we are going to say goodbye this pandemic and the way forward God willing.



I finished watching the clip of the pandemic spiritually last night. May the Almighty Allah have mercy on the innocent souls and the world at large," he said.



Read the full unedited statement . . .



(1) A girl blocked Mallam Shamuna and challenged him to unblock him if he is a true hacker in the spirit and finally did it within three minutes at (porti)



(2) Mallam Shamuna hacked into the dream of Black Rasta during the 2016 elections. Black Rasta was sleeping and he dreamt about the victory of NPP and suddenly he woke up. By then I was also calculating the elections in a different town altogether, then his dream reflected and corresponded with my calculations. Immediately I called him and told him that what he saw will be manifested in reality by God-willing, which came to pass.



(3) Mallam Shamuna removed America's telephone number spiritually for Imam Rashid when he and the family lost his contact for almost nine years. When he called him, he was shocked. This incident happened ten years ago at Mamobi.



(4) Mallam Shamunas miracle on the Taxi driver by stopping his car from moving. I had a problem with a taxi driver and I wanted to show him a lesson. I took the number on the speedometer of the taxi and mixed up everything spiritually and the car could not move. Finally, he came and beg and I brought it back to normal.



(5) The miracle of Mallam Shamuna on the Germany borger about missing wallet together with Euros at Laboni restaurant. For those of you in Germany(Hamburg) and Bawku central, Mark Sony is the borger am referring to who lost his wallet and the euros and I directed him to Laboni restaurant to ask of Adjua and collect the bag from her hand, open it and take his wallet together with his euros and make his way.



(6) Mallam Shamuna versus the white man from New Zealand at Mamobi opening forum where Mallam Shamuna removed the date of birth of the white man and the place where he had an operation when he was 2 years, instantly he removed his phone and called his mother from New Zealand and the mother confirmed. Funny enough said by the white man but I did not believe in the existence of God. V in between the Chief Moshi mosque going to Gidanaakas house. The road was blocked with about 200 hundred audiences which happen in 2010.



(7) Mallam Shamuna speaks 23 languages and have the information of almost 21 million peoples in his head and can identify the voice of each of them and can remember the activities that went on between them for one year. And also being the Hafiz of the Holy Quran without a teacher. If he wishes, he can memorize the Holy bible within 72 hours off headed as he memorized the Holy Quran.



(8) Mallam Shamunas miracle on the first bullet in the Bawku crisis that will kill a particular bird and the direction of where the bullet will come from. Three days before one of the Bawku tribal crisis, Mallam Shamuna hacked and saw that the first bullet will kill a bird on a particular tree in the area called Majima and asked one of the worries on that day he should go there and pick the bird and the bullet as a piece of historical evidence. In that crisis, Mallam Shamuna calculated and saw exactly the number of bullet that will be used and when the crisis will seize which came to pass. May God continue to restore peace in Bawku, Dagbon and any place that there is crisis.



(9) Mallam Shamunas miracle on the motor bike without fuel from zhobodom to Techiman, the same incident happened in Tamale together with Oga Maahei.



(10) Miracles of Mallam Shamuna on retrieving the phone to Kalasona at circle commercial bank. Osman Kalasona of Bawku phone (Siemens) was missing and he came to me at Mamobi. Fortunately for him the spiritual network of my calculation was very clear like the moon of 14th of jernuary. I hacked in the spiritual realm and saw that the phone was with guy name Joe, he took five phones and placed Kalasonas phone beneath them. I told Kalasona after finding Joe, he should pick the first five phones, beneath it is his phone then take his phone. Eventually he went and took his phone.



(11) Mallam Shamuna versus a spiritualist who wanted to disgrace and disprove his calculations. Once upon a time, time hahahaha. Anyway is a real story but just funny. Mallam Shamuna himself was just laughing. For those of you in Accra, Nima market precisely on the T-junction, thus hot coffee from the main Nima-Circle road. On the left side of the road, there are hairdressers wearing milk color with green design on top and on the arms. There was once a theft case there which is almost thirteen years ago and all the girls were brought to my compound and almost eight of them, thus Nuwairas group. I mentioned those who were absent and their names which their madam doesnt know about their absence. In the end I mentioned the name of the thief, then they went. I the next three hours, I saw them back with one spiritualist who is the father of the thief and he challenged me to prove it was his daughter who stole the thing. Insulting and saying lot of things to me and hes was a spiritualist for more than 40 years and he can do better than me. Then I was begging him and the whole crowd was confused and he insisted suddenly I was annoyed. I was begging him because I saw some negative secret him which I dont want to expose him, unfortunately on his part, his wife was there. Finally, I asked the girls to take the thief inside and check her whether there is a tattoo which they were not aware of. Second, prove the spiritualist thats the father of the thief impregnated a girl which the wife was not aware of by name Akos to the extend of removing her telephone number spiritually. They now forget about the theft and we are now solving the pregnancy issue. I was the same person who quench the fire.



(12) Mallam Shamunas miracle on the white lady (Norway) about birth which she finally named him Shamuna. Once upon a time, a white lady from Norway who was married to a Juniedus brother from Fadama, a suburb of Accra,Ghana in West Africa, debated with me on non-existence of God, thus God does not exist. We finally ended the debate by her asking me to tell her about the future spiritually. Then I said that you are pregnant and its one month pregnancy which was not showing and she responded yes. She further asked me when will she deliver, the month and the day? I gave her a vivid answer of the date, the duration and the gender of the baby, to the extend of describing the baby which she wrote everything down in her diary. Then she pledged that if what I said happens, she will name the child with my name and think of Islam. Eventually, precisely what I said came to pass and she named the child with my name Shamuna. But as with whether she will become a Muslim? Shamsu the husband and Junidu of Fadama the brother in National Chief Imams house, asks your wife the promise she made about Islam after seeing the realities. I hope Shamuna is doing well and he is now a big man, it is 10 to 11 years now.



The incident took place in Mamobi under a tree I used to sit under. However, this is not the first time of doing this. The related incident happened in Nkawkaw-Zongo, Eastern Region-Ghana,West Africa. The wife of Mallam Mumuni (Man do it) by name Fati when I hacked and saw that she will be pregnant in the next three months and saw the baby that she will give birth to, the date, the description the baby that she will give birth to as well as the time, duration and the gender and in advance named him Shamuna my name instantly, meanwhile the father didnt get near to the mother. Precisely, came this came to pass. Thats the reason why he left his grandfathers Arabic school and went to my direct brother in Kwahu,Praso to learn the Holy Quran from Mallam Rabilu. It is the tiniest dot power of Prophet Mohammed(SAW) and the Holy Quran. Im happy being the hopeless student of the disciples of Prophet Mohammed (SAW) and not the boss himself. And I thank Allah (SWA) for giving the spirit and the power to do that.



If the Nations of the world and the leaders will bow down and listen to the real spirit, I would have tell them the exact date that we are going to goodbye this pandemic and the way forward God willing. I finished watching the clip of the pandemic spiritually last night. May the Almighty Allah have mercy on the innocent souls and the world at large.

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Russia will provide Armenia with 20 thousand coronavirus test kits, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, director of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova said during EAEU Intergovernmental Council session.

In the near future Russia will provide the EAEU member states with over 50 thousand coronavirus test kits.

In addition, 20 thousand reagents will be provided to Armenia on April 10 for carrying out examinations, Popova said.

According to the latest data, the total number of people infected with coronavirus in Armenia is 937. The death toll is 12. 5,144 people tested negative so far. The number of recovered patients has reached 149.

On March 16 Armenia declared a 30-day state of emergency to battle the spread of COVID-19. The state of emergency is effective until April 14, 17:00.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global pandemic and named the virus COVID-19.

According to the data of the World Health Organization, coronavirus cases have been confirmed in more than 210 countries and territories.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, March 2, 2020.

World Health Officials said on Friday that the coronavirus appears to be slowing in some of the hardest-hit countries in Europe like Spain, Italy, Germany and France, however, lifting stay-at-home orders too soon could lead to a "deadly resurgence."

"[The] WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone. At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

WHO declared Europe the new epicenter of the disease in March after cases in China, where the pandemic began nearly four months ago, started to slow.

Spain, which is the second hardest-hit country behind the U.S., has more than 157,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Italy, which has the most reported deaths than any country globally, has more than 143,600 confirmed cases. The coronavirus has infected more than 467,100 people in the U.S. and 1.6 million people globally.

There's been an "alarming acceleration" of cases in other countries, especially in Africa, Tedros said. He said that the WHO is now seeing clusters of cases and community spread, where the virus spreads without a known source, in more than 16 countries in Africa, which poses a threat to already overstretched health-care systems.

Tedros added that the WHO is especially concerned about the high level of health-care workers infected across the globe. He said that in some countries, reports indicated up to 10% of health workers are infected with COVID-19.

He said that evidence from some countries, including the U.S. and China, show that some health-care employees are being infected outside health-care facilities. Within the facilities, some personnel are also undertrained and inexperienced when dealing with respiratory pathogens, like the coronavirus, and they're exposed to large numbers of infected patients with inadequate breaks.

"This is an alarming trend. When health workers are at risk, we're all at risk," Tedros said.

Before social distancing restrictions can be lifted, Tedros said each country needs to consider whether the virus' transmission is controlled, if sufficient medical services are available and if outbreak risks in special settings like long-term care facilities are minimized. He said that preventive measures must also be in place in workplaces and schools and that communities are fully aware during the transition.

"Countries who relatively have the strongest health system have been actually surprised by this pandemic," Tedros said. "It shows that any system could have gaps and we should have the humility to see to what extend our system is prepared, where are the gaps and how we can improve it for the future."
An 88-year-old church mystic close to Vladimir Putin has performed a blessing in an executive jet above Moscow and St Petersburg to 'protect Russia from coronavirus'.

Orthodox elder Iliy Nozdrin was seen alongside another prominent priest with icons and a cross blessing residents.

The elder - who is confessor to Russia's most senior churchman Patriarch Kirill - prayed to rid the country of the 'destructive infection'.

A church source said: 'Iliy today flew over our capital cities with a pray to protect Russia from coronavirus pandemic.'

Orthodox elder Iliy Nozdrin on board business jet (left and right) above Moscow and St Petersburg where he blessed residents to protect them from the coronavirus pandemic

Elder Iliy Nozdrin is a church mystic who is said to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin

The hunched, grey-bearded Nozdrin is seen as having sway over Putin and one ex-official told Proyeky investigative journalists he is Russia's 'most important and fashionable elder' who is 'popular among VIPs'.

Seen as a healer, he has been sought out by many leading officials.

He once ordered a Russian governor to sideline both his wife and mistress, it was reported.

Referring to Putin's divorce in 2013, he asked the surprised politician: 'Do you see women close to our president?'

Orthodox Church elder Iliy Nozdrin (right), pictured with Russia's most senior churchman Patriarch Kirill (left), prayed to rid the country of the 'destructive infection'

Nozdrin pictured (above) in a business jet as he flew above Moscow and St Petersburg to 'protect Russia from the pandemic'

A former regional official said that 'through Iliy, you can convey information to the president in [just] two days'.

Nozdrin has dismissed anti-Kremlin protests as 'trash' and 'enemy acts' unleashing 'dark forces from an abyss', while urging people to pray for Putin.

The elder is a schema-archimandrite, a monastic priest who has attained the highest level of spiritual excellence.

It was unclear who had supplied the business jet.
After Odisha, Punjab too has extended the lockdown/curfew in the state till May 1 amid coronavirus crisis.

"Punjab cabinet led by Captain Amarinder Singh decides to extend lockdown/curfew in the state till May 1, 2020," tweeted Raveen Thukral, Media Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of cases in Punjab have climbed to 101, including 4 cured and discharged and 8 deaths.

After a state cabinet meeting on Thursday, the Odisha Government extended the COVID-19 lockdown till April 30, becoming the first state to do so. .

The 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month to contain the spread of novel coronavirus will end on April 14.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kitchen (c.19441945). Dimensions: 43.25 x 64 x 63cm. Reported to Nutshell Laboratories Wednesday, 12 April 1944. Barbara Barnes, a housewife, was found dead by police who responded to a call from the husband of the victim, Fred Barnes, who gave the following statement: About 4pm on the afternoon of Tuesday, 11 April 1944, he had gone downtown on an errand for his wife. He returned about an hour and a half later and found the outside door to the kitchen locked. It was standing open when he left. Mr Barnes attempted knocking and calling, but got no answer. He tried the front door, but it was also locked. He then went to the kitchen window, which was closed and locked. He looked in and saw what appeared to be his wife lying on the floor. He then summoned the police. The model shows the premises just before the police forced open the kitchen door. Credit:Hachette Australia

The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death are miniature death scenes. In one of the tiny rooms, I noticed the dotted pattern on the tiled floor and the incredibly precise floral wallpaper. Another showed a wooden cabin with a kitchen and bunk beds. There were snowshoes in the attic, a pot on the counter. I played with dolls houses as a girl but I had never seen dolls houses this sophisticated before. To make plates for my dolls, I would pop out the plastic liner inside bottle caps. The plates in the Nutshell Studies were made of porcelain. Porcelain!

The chief, Dr David Fowler, asked if I had seen the Nutshell Studies. I told him, honestly, that I had no idea what he was talking about. Fowler then escorted me into a dark room and switched on the lights. Pushed into a corner, some hidden under sheets to keep the dust off, were a bunch of little boxes, and inside those, enclosed in plexiglass, I discovered a precious and intricate world of violence and death.

I first encountered Frances Glessner Lees dioramas as a young doctor in 2003, when I travelled to Baltimore to interview for a position at the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The labels on the cans stacked on the kitchen shelves and the headlines on the 18 tiny deaths newspapers were legible. I couldnt stop peering at the details. Among those details, of course, were the blood spatters on the wallpaper, the grotesquely charred remains of a body on a burned bed, a man with a purple head hanging from a noose. These were no ordinary dolls houses. This was not childs play. What was I looking at? Who made these? And the most compelling question: what had happened here, in each of these stories frozen in miniature?

I had come to the interview in Baltimore after two years of training as a forensic pathologist at the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). Part of my education there included going to death scenes with the medico-legal investigators from the office, learning what to look for at a scene and what I might find there that would help inform my final determination of cause and manner of death in the sudden, unexpected and violent stories we were tasked by law with investigating. This is how you learn death investigation anywhere  through on-the-job training.

Still, there was always something uncomfortably voyeuristic about entering someones home unannounced and going through their medicine cabinet, rubbish bins and refrigerator as part of the process of trying to find out why they were lying dead on the floor.

The investigators at the New York City OCME were certified professionals, and they told me where to focus my attention and what to look  and smell and listen and feel  for.

The medicine cabinet would hold evidence of the deceaseds ailments. A big bottle of antacids could mean they suffered from gastrointestinal problems, but it could also be a clue pointing to undiagnosed heart disease. Prescription drug bottles might indicate whether those medicines were being used as directed, underutilised or abused.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam  Fri, April 10, 2020 16:37 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd110dc0 1 National COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,PSBB,social-restriction,Riau-Islands,Batam,social-aid,staple-food,health-ministry Free

The administration of Batam, Riau Islands, has expressed its intention to implement large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) similar to those in force in Jakarta to flatten the curve of COVID-19 transmission. But unlike Jakarta, Batam is looking to keep the measures in place for three months.

Batam Mayor Muhammad Rudi said he had submitted a proposal for such a policy to Riau Islands acting governor Isdianto on Wednesday.

"Hopefully, the governor will soon submit the request to the health minister," Rudi said on Thursday.

According to Government Regulation No. 21 on PSBB, provinces and cities are required to obtain a permit from the Health Ministry to impose the policy.

Theres only one way to stop the disease from spreading: by suspending all activities in the city. Its our job to assure that the basic needs of every resident are fulfilled, the mayor went on to say.

Read also: COVID-19: Batam to ban residents traveling to Singapore amid new border policy

The mayor added that authorities would distribute staple food packages comprising of rice, sugar and cooking oil to around 429,000 households during the PSBB.

The Riau Islands administration would provide the social aid in the first month of the PSBB period, while the Batam administration and Batam Indonesia Free Trade Zone Authority (BP Batam) would provide social assistance for the second and third month, respectively.

The Batam Industrial Estate Association (HKI) claimed it had yet to be informed of the citys plan. However, the associations deputy chairman, Tjaw Hoieng, said the policy would not affect industrial operations.

Batam Council Speaker Nuryanto expressed support for the mayor's initiative to curb the COVID-19 outbreak in the region.

"We support whatever decision the mayor makes. We're also ready if the city needs to [alter] the 2020 budget for its COVID-19 response," said Nuryanto. (vny)
Nick Oxford/Reuters

Under the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill signed by President Trump last month, John Vold can apply for unemployment benefits that would otherwise not be available to people like him. Vold, who agreed to an on-the record-interview only if he could use a variation of his full name because, he said, he did not want to put himself on the radar of officials in his city of Hialeah, Florida, expected to get $600 a week. In addition to that sum, the 39-year-old barber was looking forward to half of the average jobless benefits in his home state as part of a new program geared at the self-employed.

The only thing standing in his way was Floridas widely criticized online unemployment system that has shown signs of collapse from the weight of more than 300,000 people trying to file applications since mid-March. Thats when the states tourism-driven economy largely shut down as part of the national effort to flatten the coronavirus infection curve. (The states governor enacted a shelter-in-place order much more recently, after being roundly criticized for waiting too long.)

Florida is not the only state experiencing unemployment logistical woes. Last month, New Yorks online application system crashed after a surge in volume not seen since right after 9/11. The department was forced to extend hours and stagger filing times alphabetically by last name, according to the New York Times. Maines Department of Labor is also using an alphabetical system to schedule call-ins from people seeking unemployment benefits. Oregon added more staff and secure phone lines, and shifted employees schedules, to handle more calls. Other states have enacted similar measures.

Facing life as an unessential worker in a crumbling economy, Vold was forced to stop lining up fades and trimming beards andlike at least 16 other million people over the past three weeksappeal to the state.

It did not go well.

CDC Gives Green Light for Some Exposed to Coronavirus to Return to Work

Story continues

I tried to apply online a few times, he told The Daily Beast. But every time I clicked to login, I would get kicked out. (A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, which oversees unemployment benefits, did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.)

On Tuesday morning, Vold was among hundreds of residents in Hialeah who showed up at a local library to pick up and fill out paper unemployment forms being distributed by city officials. Local helicopter TV news footage of the massive crowd, many wearing surgical and homemade masks, waiting to get applications despite the danger of person-to-person contact spreading the coronavirus. The distribution was supposed to begin at 11 a.m., but the line began hours earlier.

I got there at 7:30 in the morning, thinking I was going to be one of the first ones, Vold said. Yeah right. The whole parking lot was full of people waiting in their cars for them to come out with the forms.

As more people showed up, they couldnt control it, he added. It became a nasty mob. People were skipping straight to the front. Everybody was crushing up against each other, on top of each other and screaming at each other.

(Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez admitted to the Miami New Times that his administration was caught off guard: "I'm not gonna lie: We were not expecting people there at 7 a.m. The need was overwhelming, even more than what I expected. We have everything under control now.")

Even though he was wearing a mask and gloves, he felt exposed, Vold said. There was no social distancing, he said. I had old ladies holding on to my arms so they wouldnt fall down. Some people didnt have masks. If one person had it, everybody got it.

Around 12 p.m., Vold finally escaped with an unemployment benefits form written in Spanish. I thought they were going to help me fill it out, Vold said Wednesday. But obviously it didnt turn out that way. I will need to go to my moms house and have her help me fill it out. I speak Spanish, but dont really read it.

Vold, who is married and has three children, explained that he stuck it out at the library because hes had zero income since he was forced to close his barber shop more than two weeks ago.

The cops came and shut me down, he said. My barbers were looking at me as if it was my choice. Now everybody is getting desperate.

On a weekly basis, he typically made about $1,000 cutting hair and collected an additional $500 from barbers who rent chairs in his shop, Vold said. His business expenses include $3,000 a month in rent, plus electricity. I have no idea what I am going to do about the barber shop, he said. I called my landlord, but hes not answering.

Between his home mortgage, his car payments, the cellphone bill for him and his wife, his personal monthly expenses are at least $1,700. That doesnt include food, Vold said. I was able to pay the mortgage last week, but I will see what happens next month. AT&T just sent me a message that my payment is late.

But Vold realizes he is not alone and doesnt have faith the system will deliver. A lot of people are counting on their unemployment, he said. I am hopeful I will get something, but I am not counting on it. I am stressed out like crazy.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here

Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!

Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
There's an upsurge in the number of affordable wireless earbuds from phone makers since the last six months. Realme, Xiaomi, Oppo and others have come up with new wireless earbuds at affordable prices. Realme took the lead in the Indian market with the Realme Buds Air earphones last December, after which, rival Poco showed interest in doing the same. Poco's C Manmohan has confirmed working on new earbuds for India and we think it may already be ready for launch in China under a different Redmi nametag.

Xiaomi is working on a new pair of Redmi AirDots, expected to be called the Redmi AirDots 2 and these have just been spotted on Bluetooth certification. Spotted by Gizmochina, the AirDots 2 has been spotted in an official listing but none of the specifications have been listed yet. All we know about these earbuds is that they will rely on Bluetooth 5.0 for connecting to devices.

Given that these are coming under the Redmi brand, they will most likely be similar to the older AirDots. The design could avoid the AirPods-like stalk and Redmi could focus on longer battery life. The AirDots 2 could offer longer battery life along with usual smart features such as touch-based controls for music playback and smart voice assistants.

The focus with the Redmi AirDots 2 could be on achieving a lower price tag. A lower price means Poco could easily bring it to India as a more affordable alternative to the Realme Buds Air earbuds. Poco has been following a rebranding strategy for the initial part of 2020 and it seems that it will bring rebadged Redmi products for the Indian market.

Currently, Xiaomi does not have a major presence in the affordable earphones segment. Poco is trying to combat Realme in the same way the latter did a few years ago. The Poco X2 has been a prime example that came in as the rival to the Realme X2 but with a superior feature set and slightly more affordable price tag.

In fact, Poco is now rumoured to bring the Redmi K30 Pro to the Indian market under its own name. Initially, it was expected to come as the Poco X2 but Poco dismissed those claims. Later, a leaked list of 2020 Xiaomi models revealed a Poco X2 Pro, which could be the name for the Redmi K30 Pro in India. The Poco X2 Pro could establish itself as the most affordable smartphone in India with a Snapdragon 865 chipset.
At the holiest time of year for Christians, churches across the United States are wrestling with how to hold services amid the coronavirus outbreak, and in some cases, that has set up showdowns with local governments over restrictions that prohibit large gatherings.

Many churches are offering parishioners livestreaming options so they can observe Good Friday and Easter on TVs, smartphones and computers. Others are sending worshipers to drive-in movie theatres for services.

Governors in several states have deemed church an essential service, allowing Easter worship to proceed even as public health officials warn that large gatherings could be a major setback amid a pandemic that has killed more than 16,000 people in the US.

The restrictions have created conflicts with state and local authorities. Kansas lawmakers on Wednesday threw out an order by the governor that limited church gatherings to 10 people. A Georgia church where more than 30 people congregated inside a small building on Palm Sunday, prompting a visit from state troopers, plans to move forward with normal Easter worship.

The Reverand John Greiner said the Glorious Way Church in Houston, Texas initially moved services online after the county limited large gatherings, but his congregation will hold in-person services on Easter.

We cant do what God called us to do on livestream, Greiner said.

The church has installed handwashing stations and rearranged the 1,000-person sanctuary to hold about 100 people with six or more feet (1.8m or more) between them, Greiner said. They plan to hold two abbreviated Easter services to accommodate everyone who wants to attend.

Churches such as The Center Arena in Orlando, Florida held in-person services on Palm Sunday and plan to do the same for Easter, Pastor Envor Moodley said. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican and close ally of President Donald Trump, exempted religious services from a stay-at-home order issued this month, although he said they must observe social distancing guidelines.

Traditions upended worldwide

The fallout from the pandemic has upended other rituals worldwide. Easter egg hunts have been cancelled in favour of virtual events where children go on the internet to find eggs. Families are reconsidering whether to invite grandparents and other relatives to dinner.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasised that even short trips inside Germany, to the seaside or the mountains or relatives, cant happen over Easter this year. New Zealand police warned people not to drive to vacation homes and risk arrest, and Lithuania moved to lock down major cities in the heavily Catholic nation.

Catholic Christian believers wearing nose and mouth face masks, amid concerns over the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, attend the Sunday service in the town of Achmiany, Belarus, some 130km (81 miles) northwest of Minsk, during Palm Sunday celebrations that mark a week before Easter [Sergei Gapon/AFP]

Pope Francis will celebrate Easter Mass in Rome in a nearly empty St Peters Basilica, instead of the huge square outside, and in the United Kingdom, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will deliver his traditional Easter sermon by video.

In the US, major denominations are adhering to the restrictions and keeping parishioners at home to stop the spread of the virus.

In the Miami Archdiocese, no in-person services are being held. But church leaders have recorded Mass in English and Spanish for broadcast on local TV on Sunday instead, said spokeswoman Mary Ross Agosta.

We taped the Easter Sunday Mass in all its glory, she said. The Catholic Church is not closed. People are looking for something uplifting.

The Reverend Michael Waters said members of his 500-person Methodist congregation are among those whove gotten sick, and many have jobs that dont allow the luxury of social distancing.

He said religious gatherings around the world have been breeding grounds for the virus and condemned holding in-person services as reckless.

At the core of our faith, of the Christian faith, is the commandment to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and our neighbour as ourself, Waters said. Anything that puts the lives of our neighbours at jeopardy should not be promoted or endorsed through the church.

But some smaller churches plan to defy the orders, and law enforcement will be watching in some locations.

Some plan to defy orders

In New Mexico, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe said it was closing the grounds of El Santuario de Chimayo, one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in the nations most Hispanic state.

Police will be at a various locations to tell pilgrims to turn around, officials said.

In Kansas, Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican, said her phone had been ringing off the wall since the Democratic governor restricted the size of religions gatherings.

It appears to be out of line and extreme and clearly in violation, a blatant violation, of our fundamental rights, she said. Religious leaders and faithful have made similar arguments elsewhere.

After receiving a complaint Sunday, troopers showed up at Church of God the Bibleway in Statesboro, Georgia, and found more than 30 people inside the small building. The congregation was not following social distancing practices, and many people were seen hugging and shaking hands with the pastor, an incident report said. Troopers gave the pastor a warning and urged him to hold services in the car park.

They returned in the evening to find the pastor holding another indoor service with people again standing close together. Thats when the pastor, Eli Porter, was cited on a misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct, as were four other men.

Clayton Cowart, president of the Statesboro churchs parent corporation, told The Associated Press news agency the church plans to move forward with a normal, indoor service for Easter.

Were going to do as much as we can to respect the law. But when it comes down to telling us how our religious services should go, were not going to do that, he said.

RiverTown Church in Columbus, Georgia, which has about 200 members, plans to hold drive-in services for the third straight weekend on Easter.

Pastor David Rathel estimates they drew about 55 cars last week. The church marked off every other parking place and asked parishioners to stay in their cars.

Our message even this Easter Sunday is the resurrection has not been cancelled.

The motto on the churchs website reads: Come as you are, worship in your car.
(Photo : Sergiu Nista on Unsplash ) China Uses Zoom To Spy Americans US Officials Say

According to US officials, China spies have been targeting Americans during the ongoing pandemic using the popular teleconferencing application, Zoom. As the lockdown caused by the coronavirus has forced millions of employees to work from home, video conferences have become the norm where teams share private company information.

However, the application has also provided a playground not just for cybercriminals, but also for spies. Zoom was previously accused of having weak security measures over allegations that it was sharing user information to third parties, and that incidents of "zoom-bombings" -- where trolls and strangers enter private video conferences -- were becoming common. The US Intelligence Officials have observed that Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China are attempting to spy on Americans using Zoom and other video chat platforms during video conferences.

Chinese spies target Americans during video conferences: Why is it not safe to use Zoom?

According to a Time report, three US counter-intelligence agencies observed that foreign spies have observing Americans through popular applications. The intelligence officials stated in the report that among the foreign cyberspies, China has been the swiftest and most aggressive.

"More than anyone else, the Chinese are interested in what American companies are doing," said one of the three US officials.

The intelligence officials and internet security researchers have been increasingly worried since the Chinese, Russians and other foreign countries are focusing on virtual tools that millions of Americans are using as they are forced to work from home. One of those has been, of course, Zoom.

According to the report of The Citizen Lab on April 3, a research organization at the University of Toronto found several security issues with the teleconferencing application. One of them makes users particularly vulnerable to China. The app's encryption keys through Chinese servers are weak and are responsive to pressure from Chinese authorities since its ownership relies on Chinese labor.

Zoom responded to address the concern with multiple public statements. After the US intelligence officials claimed that the app's platform has end-to-end encryption for all its conferences, Zoom clarified that the encryption is absent from some online messaging tools.

"While we never intended to deceive any of our customers, we recognize that there is a discrepancy between the commonly accepted definition of end-to-end encryption and how we were using it," said the Chief Product Officer of Zoom, Oded Gal, on his blog on April 1.

However, the investigation conducted by The Citizen Lab found other issues in Zoom's security. They found that the key for conference encryption and decryption was delivered to one of Zoom's participants located in Beijing. The investigation was able to locate five servers in China and 68 in the United States that have the Zoom server software, which is the same that the Beijing server has.

The US intelligence officials, who requested anonymity, clarified that no evidence has yet been found to show that Zoom is cooperating with China.

Read Also: Zoom CEO Eric Yuan Apologizes For Security Problems in Live YouTube Stream

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has thanked a number of countries and organizations that have extended support to Ghana in its fight against coronavirus.



He made specific mentions of the Governments of China and USA, the World Bank, African Development Bank, the Jack Ma Foundation, among others, for the support they have extended to Ghana.



China recently donated some Personal Protective Equipment to Ghana.



The Jack Ma Foundation did same earlier and the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and African Development Bank availed funds towards the fight of the virus.



Delivering his sixth address on Thursday evening, President Akufo-Addo says We appreciate the expression of solidarity. A friend in need is a friend indeed.















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
[April 10, 2020] DIVERSITY in Ed Supports Teachers and Schools with Virtual Teacher Recruitment Fair on April 15, 2020

HOUSTON, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DIVERSITY in Ed Magazine & Online Service will host their 5th annual Virtual Teacher Recruitment Fair for teachers from 11am-5pm CST. DIVERSITY in Ed also extends heartfelt support to the community of educators, administrators, students, and parents all affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. All staff will be working remotely during this time to observe and support "social distancing" and are available to school partners and job seekers during normal business hours. A tried-and-true approach to national teacher recruitment, DIVERSITY in Ed is proud to continue offering digital solutions to support educators and administrators in schools across the country who are looking to move forward with hiring during an uncertain time Already, 85 school districts from 28 states have registered, and additional schools may register online at https://diversityrecruitmentexpo.vfairs.com by the deadline of April 10th.



The event offers a unique opportunity for job-seeking teacher candidates of diverse and bilingual backgrounds to connect with hiring representatives real-time in a live virtual setting. The virtual career fair is an innovative and efficient platform that will create a great experience that will lead to more connections and ultimately more hires for those who attend. Admission is free to all job-seekers. In addition to its annual virtual job fair event, DIVERSITY in Ed features a year-round job board where candidates and schools can create profiles to connect. Says Trina Edwards, DIVERSITY in Ed Publisher, "Now more than ever, we are committed to advocating teachers, job seekers, and school administrators to find excellent candidates of diverse backgrounds who can rise to the occasion and support students during a challenging time. We need candidates to be proactive by registering and attending this free recruitment event."

For more information on DIVERSITY in Ed's Virtual Teacher Recruitment Fair, or to register to attend, please visit https://diversityrecruitmentexpo.vfairs.com or contact 281-265-2473. Contact: Trina Edwards

DIVERSITY in Ed

(281) 265-2473

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diversity-in-ed-supports-teachers-and-schools-with-virtual-teacher-recruitment-fair-on-april-15-2020-301038768.html SOURCE DIVERSITY in Ed

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
The Saudi-led coalition said it began observing a unilateral ceasefire in war-wracked Yemen on Thursday to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but Huthi rebels dismissed the initiative as political manoeuvering. The coalition said a two-week pause in the five year-conflict took effect from 0900 GMT, but a spokesman for the Huthis alleged air strikes continued to pound targets in Yemen after that. "The aggression didn't stop... and until this moment there are tens of continuous air strikes," Huthi spokesman Mohamed Abdelsalam told Al Jazeera news network some five hours after the truce began. "We consider the ceasefire a political and media manoeuver" to bolster the image of the coalition "in this critical moment when the world is facing" the coronavirus pandemic, he added. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict in support of an internationally recognised government in 2015, pitting it against the Iran-aligned Huthi rebels. If the ceasefire were to take root, it would be the first breakthrough since the warring parties agreed to a UN-brokered truce in the port city of Hodeida during talks in Sweden in late 2018. The truce offer was welcomed by the United States, key Saudi-led coalition partner the United Arab Emirates, UN chief Antonio Guterres and the Arab League. "The announcement is a constructive response to the UN Secretary General's call for the parties to focus on countering the COVID-19 pandemic", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. "We urge the Huthis to respond in kind to the coalition's initiative," he added. The UAE, which drew down its troops in Yemen last year as the conflict became increasingly intractable, said the Saudi move was "wise and responsible". "Hope the Huthis rise to the occasion. The COVID-19 crisis eclipses everything -- the international community must step up efforts & work together to protect the Yemeni people," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted. - Wider solution - Yasser Al-Houri, secretary of the Huthis' political council, poured cold water on the coalition's declaration, saying that the Saudis "are dishonest and violate every truce they announce". "The announcement of this truce is to evade the true national vision that offers real solutions," he said, referring to a roadmap for peace unveiled by the rebels on Wednesday. The declaration of the ceasefire follows an escalation in fighting between the warring parties. Saudi Arabia said Wednesday that the truce, which may be extended, could pave the way for a wider political solution. Officials indicated they are keen for a UN-sponsored face-to-face meeting with the rebels to achieve a permanent ceasefire. Hours before the announcement, the Huthis released a document that called for a withdrawal of foreign troops and the end of the coalition's blockade on Yemen's land, sea and air ports. The rebels also demanded that the coalition pay government salaries for the next decade and hand over compensation for rebuilding, including homes destroyed in air strikes. Guterres, who has called for an "immediate global ceasefire" to help avert disaster for vulnerable people in conflict zones, welcomed the truce offer, urging the government and Huthis to enter negotiations. "Only through dialogue will the parties be able to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nationwide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, and the resumption of the political process to reach a comprehensive settlement to end the conflict," he said. - 'Rare opportunity' - The declared ceasefire comes as Saudi Arabia, reeling from plunging oil prices, seeks to extricate itself from the costly conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Yemeni people and triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Yemen's broken healthcare system has so far recorded no cases of the COVID-19 illness, but aid groups have warned that when it does hit, the impact will be catastrophic. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit hailed the ceasefire offer as a "rare opportunity to stop the bloodshed in Yemen". Fighting had recently re-escalated between the Huthis and Riyadh-backed Yemeni government troops around the strategic northern provinces of Al-Jouf and Marib, after a months-long lull. Fatima Abo Alasrar, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, noted that "the Huthis have currently opened multiple battlefronts they cannot afford to close." Saudi air defences intercepted Yemeni rebel missiles over Riyadh and the border city of Jizan in March, leaving two civilians wounded in the curfew-locked capital, state media reported. It was the first major assault on Saudi Arabia since the Huthis offered last September to halt attacks on the kingdom after devastating missile and drone strikes on Saudi oil installations. Last week, the coalition carried out multiple air strikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa in retaliation for the missile strikes.
France on Friday reported 987 more COVID-19 deaths registered in hospitals and nursing homes over the last 24 hours, although the number of patients in intensive care fell for the second day in a row.

The new deaths -- including 554 in hospitals and 433 in nursing homes --- brought the total toll in France to 13,197 since the epidemic began, top health official Jerome Salomon told reporters.

A child aged under 10 infected with COVID-19 died, but Salomon said that the causes of the death were "multiple".

In better news, Salomon said there were now 62 fewer people in intensive care, continuing a trend first seen on Thursday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
UN health body urges African countries to urgently increase testing and warns the virus peak is near.

Some African countries could see a peak in coronavirus cases in the coming weeks, and testing should be urgently increased in the region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

During the last four days, we can see that the numbers have already doubled, Michel Yao, the WHO Africa programme manager for emergency response, told a media teleconference on Thursday.

More:

If the trend continues, and also learning from what happened in China and in Europe, some countries may face a huge peak very soon, he said, adding it could arrive in the coming weeks but without naming countries.

The number of cases recorded of the novel coronavirus in Africa have been relatively low so far  with nearly 11,000 cases and 562 deaths.

200407103942701

The WHOs Africa head, Matshidiso Moeti, said there is an urgent need to expand testing capacity beyond capital cities in Africa as the virus spreads through countries.

Without help and action now, poor countries and vulnerable communities could suffer enormous devastation, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told diplomats in Geneva.

The infection numbers in Africa are relatively small now, but they are growing fast, he said.

He noted the havoc wrought even in wealthy nations in the 100 days since China first informed the WHO of cases of a pneumonia of unknown cause in the city of Wuhan.

Although Africa accounts for a fraction of global cases of the disease, its countries are feeling the economic impact. In a report published on Thursday, the World Bank said the outbreak is expected to push sub-Saharan Africa into recession in 2020 for the first time in 25 years.

The banks Africas Pulse report said the regions economy will contract 2.1 percent to 5.1 percent from growth of 2.4 percent last year, and coronavirus will cost sub-Saharan Africa $37bn to $79bn in output losses this year because of trade and value chain disruption, among other factors.
On March 25th, the conclusion of a four year investigation by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks was published which determined that the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 on September 11th, 2001 was not caused by fire. The peer-reviewed inquiry was funded by Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, a nonprofit organization composed of more than 3,000 building architects and engineers who are a signatory to the groups formal appeal calling for a new investigation into the three  not two  WTC skyscrapers destroyed on 9/11. The researchers infer that the collapse of Building 7 was actually the result of a controlled demolition:

The principal conclusion of our study is that fire did not cause the collapse of WTC 7 on 9/11, contrary to the conclusions of NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) and private engineering firms that studied the collapse. The secondary conclusion of our study is that the collapse of WTC 7 was a global failure involving the near-simultaneous failure of every column in the building.

With or without a pandemic, it is likely corporate media would have ignored the study anyway, just as they have anything that contradicts the official story of 9/11. However, it is notable that many have drawn parallels between the COVID-19 outbreak and the 9/11 attacks based on the widespread changes to daily life as a result of the crisis going forward. Already there is talk of nationwide lockdowns as a new normal with many rightly expressing concerns over civil liberties, press freedoms, the surveillance state, and other issues just as there were following 9/11. By the same measure, a false dichotomy is being established by political gatekeepers in order to silence those who dare challenge the official account as to how the coronavirus began. It is a stigmatization that is all too familiar to those who have never believed the conventional narrative that 19 Arab hijackers loyal to Osama bin Laden armed only with box-cutters were solely responsible for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on that fateful day.

There is a common misconception that to believe in so-called conspiracy theories is to somehow lose sight of the bigger picture or systemic problems. Behind this phenomenon is a mistakenly presumed conflict between understanding the broader, overarching system versus the sinister motives of those in power who administer it  when they are inextricably linked. Political scientist Michael Parenti, who drew the ire of many of his fellow left-wing colleagues for his work on the Kennedy assassination, refers to it in his lecture Understanding Deep Politics as a perceived incompatibility between the structural and the functional. The anti-conspiracists wrongly assume that the more impersonal or wider the lens, the more profound an analysis. By this logic, the elite are absolved of conscious intent and deliberate pursuit of nefarious self-interest, as if everything is done by incidental chance or out of incompetence. Not to say efficacy applies without exception, but it has become a required gesture to disassociate oneself from conspiracies to maintain credibility  ironically even by those who are often the target of such smears themselves.

This applies not only to mainstream media and academics, but even leading progressive figures who have a mechanical, unthinking resistance to assigning intent or recognizing the existence of hidden agendas. As a result, it disappears the class interests of the ruling elite and ultimately assists them in providing cover for their crimes. With the exception of the Kennedy assassination  coincidentally the subject of a new epic chart-topping song by Bob Dylan  nowhere has there been more hostility to conspiracism than regarding the events of 9/11. Just as they assailed Parenti, David Talbot and others for challenging the Warren Commissions lone gunman theory, leading figures on the left such as Noam Chomsky and the late Alexander Cockburn railed against the 9/11 Truth movement and today it is often wrongly equated with right-wing politics, an unlikely trajectory given it occurred under an arch-conservative administration but an inevitable result of the pseudo-lefts aversion to conspiracies. If polls are any indication, the average American certainly disagrees with such elitist misleaders as to the believability of the sham 9/11 Commission findings, yet another example of how out-of-touch the faux-left is with ordinary people.

A more recent example was an article by left-wing journalist Ben Norton proclaiming that to call 9/11 a false flag or an inside job is fundamentally a right-wing conspiracy, in complete disregard of the many dedicated truther activists on the left since its inception. Norton insists the 9/11 attacks were simply blowback, or an unintended consequence of previous U.S. foreign policy support for the mujahideen in Afghanistan against the Soviets during the 1980s which later gave birth to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Norton argues Al-Qaedas unofficial strategic alliance with the US eventually broke down resulting in 9/11 as retaliation, completely overlooking that Washington was still supporting jihadist factions during the 1990s in Bosnia (two of which would be alleged 9/11 hijackers) and Kosovo in the Yugoslav wars against Serbia, even while the U.S. was ostensibly pursuing bin Laden for the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998 and the USS Cole in 2000.

A 1997 Congressional document by the Republican Policy Committee (RPC) throws light on how Washington never discontinued its practice in Afghanistan of using jihadist proxies to achieve its foreign policy goals in the Balkans. Although it was a partisan GOP attack meant to discredit then-U.S. President Bill Clinton, nevertheless the memo accurately presents how the U.S. had turned Bosnia into a Militant Islamic Base:

In short, the Clinton administrations policy of facilitating the delivery of arms to the Bosnian Muslims made it the de facto partner of an international network of governments and organizations pursuing their own agenda in Bosnia: the promotion of Islamic revolution in Europe. That network not only involves Iran but Brunei, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan (a key ally of Iran), and Turkey, together with front groups supposedly pursuing humanitarian and cultural activities. For example, one such group about which details have come to light is the Third World Relief Agency (TWRA), a Sudan-based, phoney humanitarian organization which has been a major link in the arms pipeline to Bosnia. TWRA is believed to be connected with such fixtures of the Islamic terror network as Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (the convicted mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing) and Osama Bin Laden , a wealthy Saudi emigre believed to bankroll numerous militant groups

It was also in Bosnia where a raid was conducted in 2002 by local police at the Sarajevo branch of a Saudi-based purported charitable organization, Benevolence International Foundation, which was discovered to be a front for Al-Qaeda. Seized on the premises was a document, dubbed the Golden Chain, which listed the major financial sponsors of the terrorist organization to be numerous Saudi business and government figures, including some of Osama bin Ladens own brothers. By the 9/11 Commission Reports own admission, this same fake Islamic charity supported the Bosnian Muslims in their conflict with Serbia at the same time as the CIA.

It cannot go without mentioning that the common link between Al-Qaeda and subsequent extremist groups like ISIS/Daesh and Boko Haram is the doctrine of Wahhabism, the puritanical sect of Sunni Islam practiced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and founded in the 18th century by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the religious leader who formed an alliance with the founder of the first Saudi state, Muhammad bin Saud, whose descendants make up the House of Saud royal family. The ultra-orthodox teachings of Wahhabism were initially rejected in the Middle East but reestablished by British colonialism which aligned with the Saud family in order to use their intolerant strain of Islam to undermine the Ottoman empire in a divide-and-conquer strategy. In a speech to the House of Commons in 1921, Winston Churchill admitted the Saudis to be intolerant, well-armed and bloodthirsty.

This did not stop the British from supporting the House of Saud so long as it was in the interest of Western imperialism, an unholy alliance which continues to this day. However, U.S.-Saudi relations did come under scrutiny when the infamous 28 redacted pages of the December 2002 report of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 conducted by the Senate and House Select Committees on Intelligence were finally disclosed in 2016. The section revealed not only the numerous U.S. intelligence failures in the lead-up to the attacks but the long suspected culpability of Saudi Arabia, whose nationals were not the focus of counterterrorism because of Riyadhs status as a U.S. ally. The declassified pages show that some of the hijackers, 15 of them Saudi citizens, received financial and logistical support from individuals linked to the Saudi government, which FBI sources believed at least two of which to be Saudi intelligence officers. One of those Saudi agents received large payments from Princess Haifa, the wife of Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a stipend from the latters bank account which inevitably went from the go-betweens to the sleeper cell.
An Iranian man confronts riot police during a demonstration outside Tehran's Amir Kabir University on Jan. 11, 2020, after Iran admitted to having shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet by mistake on Jan. 8, killing all 176 people on board. (-/AFP via Getty Images)

Inadvisable for Canada to Resume Diplomatic Ties With Iran, Experts Say

News Analysis

It was back in 2012 that Canada closed its embassy in Tehran and suspended all relations due to concerns about terrorism and the safety of Canadian diplomats, Irans support for Syria, and its threats against Israel. The Iranian embassy in Ottawa was subsequently closed.

Lobby groups for the Iranian regime on Canadian soil have long pushed for the re-establishment of bilateral relations and the re-opening of embassies in Tehran and Ottawa. And in January of this year, shortly after the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran proposed resuming some diplomatic ties.

But there continues to be strong opposition to such a move in Canada, not only from the Conservative Partywhich severed diplomatic ties in 2012but also from many in the Liberal Party. During the 2015 federal election campaign, the Liberals pledged to resume relations with Iran if elected, but put the idea on hold in June 2018 when all Liberal MPs voted in favour of a Conservative motion to cease negotiations on re-engagement efforts.

The shooting down of the Ukraine International flight is not the only time Iran has killed Canadians, Kaveh Sharooz, senior fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and one of Canadas leading experts on Iran, said in an interview.

The Iranian regime has detained, tortured and murdered Canadians in the past. Now is not the time to reward the Iranian regime with restored relations and the re-opening of embassies.

While the majority of the Iranian diaspora in Canada is against the current regime in Iran under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Sharooz says a number of groups have sprung up in Canada and other countries in recent years to act as the Iranian governments apologists in the West.

In Canada, for example, the positions taken by the Iranian Canadian Congress are virtually indistinguishable from those taken by Irans foreign ministry, he said.

Because of legal non-compliance, the ICC has been forced in recent months to reveal its membership list, which shows it represents minuscule numbers of people. So its disheartening to hear about them in media or cited positively by some politicians.

Sharooz adds that these groups say they are pro-peace when in reality they support the military endeavours of the regime.

They never object when its Irans regime waging war in places like Syria. In those cases, they are in favour of Iranian military adventurism. Its only when the Iranian regime is pressured that they put on pro-peace rallies. Their defence of the Iranian regime is very transparent, he says.

At one point after Stephen Harpers Conservative government closed the Canadian embassy in Tehran and expelled Iranian diplomats, there was talk of opening an interests section in Ottawa to provide essential consular services. Currently, Canadians must travel to the Pakistani Embassy Washington, D.C., to avail of such services.

But according to Avideh Motmaen-Far, president of the Council of Iranian Canadians, Iran rejected that idea because it has been holding out for an embassy here with full diplomatic relations.

When Canada closed the Iranian embassy they offered to open an interests section, but the Iranian regime refused, she said. The regime and their lobby here in Canada have been promoting the reopening the embassy under the pretext that would be easier to have talks and intervene Canadians got imprisoned or had any trouble in Iran.

But the regime may have come to the conclusion that an interests section would be better than nothingeven if not located in Canada.

According to a recent article in the Globe and Mail, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made an overture to renew diplomatic ties during a face-to-face meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne in Oman on Jan. 17.

A source told the Globe that while Zarif didnt mention immediately reopening an embassy in Ottawa, he proposed opening interests sections in embassies of third countries as a small first step. Although Champagne didnt reject the idea, he did not entertain discussion of it either, given that the federal governments priority at the time was matters regarding the downing of Flight 752, the article said.

Commercial relations between Canada and Iran expanded rapidly during the 1990s, and Iran became one of Canadas most important trading partners in the Middle East region.

Motmaen-Far notes, however, that relations between the two countries declined dramatically after the killing of Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist who was arrested for taking pictures of protesters outside Irans notorious Evin prison and was subsequently detained and tortured to death.

Keeping the Islamic Republics embassy closed in Ottawa is extremely important, she said, adding that diplomacy only works with a government that knows and respects the diplomacy language and the Iranian regime does not.

Plus, not having our diplomats in a country that can take them hostage whenever they desire would be a good thing. They have done that before to American diplomats. Even recently, they arrested the British diplomat (Rob Macaire) in the streets of Tehran and burned his pictures all over the city, she said.
A remote Amazon tribe has recorded its first case of coronavirus after a 15-year-old boy fell critically ill.

The teenager, who belongs to the Yanomami community along the Brazilian-Venezuelan border, is in intensive care with COVID-19 symptoms.

He was admitted to the General Hospital of Roraima, Brazil's northernmost state, on April 3 suffering with shortness of breath, chest pain, a sore throat and fever.

The remote Yanomami tribe (file photo) has recorded its first case of coronavirus after a 15-year-old boy fell critically ill

The Yanomami tribe is believed to be the largest indigenous people in Brazil and occupies over 200 villages across 2.3million acres on the Venezuelan border

The native initially tested negative, but fears of coronavirus were later confirmed in a second examination, according to the country's Globo newspaper.

The Yanomami tribe is believed to be the largest indigenous people in Brazil and occupies over 200 villages across 2.3million acres.

They are a remote community, but it is reported that the boy, travelled back to his reserve on the banks of the Mucajai River after his school classes were suspended to stem the tide of Brazil's outbreak.

Seven tribesmen have now contracted the deadly virus across the Amazon states of Para, Amazonas and Roraima.

Their infections have compounded fears among Brazil's medical experts that the country's indigenous communities face an unprecedented crisis.

The teenager, who belongs to the Yanomami community scattered along the Brazilian-Venezuelan border, is in intensive care with Covid-19 symptoms. Pictured: A Yanomami tribesman in 2012

The community's elders are most vulnerable to the lethal effects of the virus, and their deaths would strip the tribe of its highly valued wisdom and hierarchy which could unleash 'chaos' their structures.

To tackle the outbreak, members of some communities are breaking off into smaller groups equipped with hunting supplies to isolate themselves.

Federal University of Sao Paulo researcher Dr Sofia Mendonca told BBC News: 'There is an incredible risk of the virus spreading across the native communities and wiping them out.

'Everyone gets sick, and you lose all the old people, their wisdom and social organization. It's chaos.'

Previous epidemics, such as the 1960s measles outbreaks which killed 9 per cent of the Yanomami tribe, have wreaked havoc on Brazil's native population as they have not built up immunity and are not equipped with adequate medication.

President of the Federation of Indigenous Organizations of Rio Negro (Foirn) Marivelton Bare said some local communities are 'in a panic'.

'We'll need to take the food to the villages so that they don't expose themselves during this critical moment.'

Members of the communities have been told to use stop sharing eating utensils and to isolate those who have become infected with the bug.

Although the recorded cases in the tribes have so far been kept low, Brazil has more than 18,000 cases and 957 deaths.
The son of a doctor who begged Boris Johnson for PPE for frontline workers spoke of the emotional farewell at his father's hospital bedside as he died from coronavirus.

Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, died in hospital after a 15-day battle against the virus after warning the Government NHS doctors needed more protective equipment.

Intisar Chowdhury, 18, said he was able to see his father in hospital. He told ITV News: 'I was able to hold his hand. I said a big prayer for him.

'I got to say goodbye to him. I got to apologise for everything I've ever done and tell him how much I love him.

He said his biggest regret was that his 11-year-old sister Wareesha, who is best friends with her father, wasn't able to say goodbye.

He said: 'That broke her heart. She's the strongest girl I know.

'My little sister is stronger than me in every single way.'

Mr Chowdhury said he was proud of his father for warning the Government about a lack of protective equipment for NHS workers.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that his father was in 'such pain' in hospital and unable to communicate with his family when he wrote the appeal.

He said: 'He wrote that post while he was in that state, just because of how much he cared about his co-workers, and the courage my dad had to point out something wrong that the Government was doing, which I'm so proud to say that he was able to do.

'Even in his state, he did that, and Im glad that even though I only found out about it yesterday, Im not surprised, I genuinely am not surprised, because he is a man of the people.

Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, pictured left, passed away in hospital after a 15-day battle against the virus

Mr Chowdhury said his father was 'unfortunately not going to be the last NHS frontline worker to die' during the outbreak.

He added: 'Im glad it is getting the attention now that it needs to protect NHS workers on the front line because it pains me to say that my father is not the first and he is unfortunately not going to be the last NHS frontline worker to die.

'If there is anything we can do to minimise that from happening as much as possible, thats all we need to do.

'I want everyone to remember him for the kind and compassionate hero he was, because he was a hero.

'He started a conversation that I hope does not end for a while - does not end ever.'

Just three weeks ago, Doctor Chowdhury wrote to the Prime Minister, asking him to 'urgently' ensure PPE was available for 'each and every NHS worker in the UK'.

Dr Chowdhury wrote a message addressed to Boris Johnson asking for PPE equipment for every NHS health worker in the UK

The doctor, pictured with his wife, worked as a Consultant Urologist at Homerton Hospital in east London

The doctor, known to friends and family as Faisal, worked as a consultant urologist in east London and leaves behind a wife, with whom he only recently celebrated a 25th wedding anniversary, and two children.

He died at 1am yesterday at Queens Hospital in Romford, according to his brother, who wrote: 'I ask you humbly my dear brothers and sisters to please keep my brother in your prayers.'

The Muslim Doctors Association paid tribute to him in a statement, which reads: 'We are deeply saddened by the death of Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, Consultant Urologist at Homerton Hospital, after fighting for his life from Covid-19.

'He leaves behind his wife and two children. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

'Two weeks before his admission to hospital he wrote a message to the Prime Minister urging for better PPE. May he rest in peace.'

In his letter to the PM, Dr Chowdhury wrote: 'Please ensure urgently PPE for each and every NHS health worker in the UK.

'Remember we may be doctors/nurses/HCAs/allied health workers who are in direct contact with patients, but we are also human beings to practice human rights like others, to live in this world disease free with our family and children.

The Muslim Doctors Association said it was deeply saddened by the death of Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, pictured right

Dr Chowdhury, pictured left, warned Boris Johnson children are at risk of being put off wanting to go to medical school in future

'People appreciate us and salute us for our rewarding job which are very inspirational but I would like to say, we have to protect ourselves and our families/kids in this global disaster/crisis by using appropriate PPE and remedies.

'I hope we are by default entitled to get this minimal support for our safe medical practice.

'Otherwise in future our children will lose interest to go to medical school.

'We also should get first track facilities for coronavirus testing to help our patients to prevent the disease spreading.'

Dr Chowdhury's death is the latest in a list of NHS staff who have died fighting the pandemic.

Tributes flooded in for Barbara Moore, 54, who worked as a patient discharge planner at Aintree University Hospital.

NHS worker Barbara Moore, 54, who 'dedicated her life to caring for others', died on April 6 at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital after testing positive for coronavirus

She died on April 6 at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital after testing positive for coronavirus.

Described as an 'unsung hero', the mother-of-two and grandmother, who 'loved nothing more than spending precious time with her family', is now the second member of staff to die from coronavirus at Aintree Hospital.

In a statement, Mrs Moore's family said: 'Barbara was a much loved wife, mum, nan, sister, aunty, friend and beautiful person.

'Barbara dedicated her life to caring for others and doted on her two beautiful children and grandchildren.

'She loved nothing more than spending precious time with her family. Barbara will be sadly missed by so many.'

On Wednesday, it was that Rebecca Mack, who once worked at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, died aged 29 and friends have taken to social media to pay tribute to her.

Rebecca Mack (pictured) died aged 29 after contracting coronavirus, her friends said on Wednesday

Her heartbroken best friend, Sarah Bredin-Kemp, revealed her sorrow in a touching Facebook post about the medic, who most recently worked as a 111 operator.

She wrote: 'Becca was one of the best friends I've ever had. She was a devoted friend, an incredible nurse and a unapologetically imperfect person: She was the most accident-prone, stubborn, chatterbox with a bizarre catchphrase and inappropriate joke for every occasion.

'Her iconic love of leopard print and statement earrings was rivaled only by Pat Butcher herself.

'She would never take 'I'm busy, I'm not coming to the pub' as an answer. She was useless at hiding her emotions: she would just describe things she didn't like as as 'interesting' or 'alternative', with an expression of pure loathing.

'She was a high maintenance, foot-in-mouth oversharer with a love of cheesy music, crappy tv and an inexplicable hatred of small animals.

'But she would be the first in line to tell you off when you were doubting yourself.

'She was honest, warm and charismatic. She worked hard and made her family proud every single day.'

They came to join the NHS and made the 'ultimate sacrifice': Syrian GP becomes the 10th doctor from overseas who has died of coronavirus

By Rory Tingle

A dedicated GP who 'felt it was his duty to help' people has died aged 76 after testing positive for coronavirus, after he decided to step out of retirement so he could continue caring for his patients.

Fayaz Ayache was taken by ambulance to Ipswich Hospital on April 2 and passed away six days later. Dr Ayache had worked for the NHS for more than 40 years and helped raise funds for refugee charities to help people in his birth country of Syria.

Dr Ayache is the tenth immigrant doctor to die during the pandemic, prompting Health Secretary Matt Hancock to say in a moving tribute: 'They came to this country to make a difference and they did. They made the ultimate sacrifice'.

The doctors, who were from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria and Sudan, will be among those clapped at 8pm tonight in another tribute to the sacrifices of NHS staff.

Mr Hancock, the Health Secretary, thanked all NHS staff for their dedication in fighting the pandemic, before turning to commemorate those who had made the ultimate sacrifice.

He said: 'Many of those who have died who are from the NHS were people who came to this country to make a difference, and they did, and they've given their lives in sacrifice, and we salute them.'

As Britain suffered another 887 more coronavirus deaths today, these are the fallen heroes who came from overseas to care for our loved ones.

Rural village GP, 76, who came out of retirement to serve his patients

Fayaz Ayache died six days after being taken to Ipswich Hospital by ambulance

Fayaz Ayache died six days after being taken to Ipswich Hospital by ambulance.

The grandfather, who lived in Raydon in Suffolk and was born in Syria, had been diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and coronavirus.

His eldest daughter Layla Ayache, 35, said her father retired around two years ago but his retirement was short-lived.

She said he was back working 'a couple of days a week' as a GP with North Clacton Medical Group soon after as he wanted to help people. He also ran an ear, nose and throat clinic at Ipswich Hospital.

Dr Ayache had stopped working about three and a half weeks ago due to the risk of coronavirus, his daughter said.

She said she did not know where he had contracted the virus, but believed he may still have been seeing people to give medical advice.

'My dad was very, very commonly phoned and people would say 'my daughter's ill' or 'my son's ill' or 'my husband's ill',' she said. 'He would often pop round and just check people were OK.

'He was a rural village GP at heart and that's the sort of thing that he would do.

'I wholeheartedly believe that if someone had called him with a concern he would have gone over and checked they were OK, because that's what he wanted to do for everybody.

'His entire life was split between his family and his work. That was all he lived for really, was those two things. He was the most dedicated GP that I've ever met.'

Urologist, 53, who warned Boris Johnson about 'urgent' need for more protective equipment for NHS workers

Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, passed away in hospital after a 15-day battle against the virus.

Just three weeks ago, he wrote to the Prime Minister, asking him to 'urgently' ensure PPE was available for 'each and every NHS worker in the UK'.

The doctor, known to friends and family as Faisal, worked as a consultant urologist in east London and leaves behind a wife, with whom he only recently celebrated a 25th wedding anniversary, and two children.

Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, pictured left, passed away in hospital after a 15-day battle against the virus

He died at 1am this morning at Queens Hospital in Romford, according to his brother, who wrote: 'I ask you humbly my dear brothers and sisters to please keep my brother in your prayers.'

The Muslim Doctors Association paid tribute to him in a statement, which reads: 'We are deeply saddened by the death of Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, Consultant Urologist at Homerton Hospital, after fighting for his life from Covid-19.

'He leaves behind his wife and two children. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

'Two weeks before his admission to hospital he wrote a message to the Prime Minister urging for better PPE. May he rest in peace.'

In his letter to the PM, Dr Chowdhury, who was born in Bangladesh, wrote: 'Please ensure urgently PPE for each and every NHS health worker in the UK.

The doctor, pictured with his wife, worked as a Consultant Urologist at Homerton Hospital in east London

'Living legend', 68, who came back from retirement to care for coronavirus patients

Dr Alfa Saadu was described by his family as a 'passionate' physician who had come out of retirement to help fight the coronavirus pandemic in Britain.

The 68-year-old doctor, who died on March 31 after fighting the virus for two weeks, had been working at Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.

His son Dani told HuffPost UK: 'He was a very passionate man, who cared about saving people. As soon you spoke to him about medicine his face would light up.

'He worked for the NHS for nearly 40 years in different hospitals across London. He loved to lecture people in the world of medicine  he did so in the UK and Africa.'

He also described his father as a 'massive family man', adding that he leaves behind two sons and a wife who is also a retired doctor, in occupational health.

Dr Saadu had been working at Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Welwyn, Hertfordshire

Dr Saadu, who was originally from Nigeria, was a former clinical director of the care of the elderly department at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

He was also medical director of Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, and medical director and consultant physician at Ealing Hospital in West London.

Lance McCarthy, chief executive of The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, said: 'Alfa was well-known at the trust for his passion for ensuring our patients received high quality care.

'He was a committed member of the team and is remembered fondly by many. His family and friends are in our thoughts at this sad time.'

'Highly respected, selfless' GP who came to Britain in the 1970s

Dr Habib Zaidi worked as a GP at Eastwood Group Practice in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex

Dr Habib Zaidi's grieving family said the GP 'sacrificed' his life to take care of his patients.

He became ill on March 24 and died just 24 hours later in hospital. Test results for Covid-19 came back positive yesteday - and his daughter Sarah, a GP at his practice in Essex, had earlier said he had 'textbook symptoms'.

Dr Zaidi, who came to the UK from Pakistan in the early 1970s and worked at Eastwood Group Practice in Leigh-on-Sea, had been self-isolating for a week before he became ill.

His death raised concerns among the medical community about being exposed to the deadly virus without sufficient protective equipment.

Dr Zaidi's family said: 'For him to be snatched away from us in this way, in these desperately troubling times for the whole world, has left us truly heartbroken.

'But we are overwhelmed, touched and comforted by the many kind tributes and love we have received. The name Habib means beloved and beloved he truly was.

'We know that not only has he left a gaping hole in our hearts but a loss that is also felt within the community that he devoted almost his entire life to.'

His daughter Sarah told the BBC: 'For that to be the thing that took him is too much to bear. It is reflective of his sacrifice.'

Dr Jose Garcia-Lobera, GP chair at Southend Clinical Commissioning Group, said he was a 'hugely respected, selfless man who dedicated his life to helping others'.

He added: 'Dr Zaidi will always be remembered for his significant contribution to local health services through his long career as a GP.

'Deeply committed and hard working' Ear, nose and throat surgeon who became the UK's first front-line doctor to die

Amged El-Hawrani became the UK's first front-line hospital doctor to die from coronavirus following warnings that a lack of protective equipment would cost medical staff lives.

The 'dedicated' consulant, who was an ear, nose and throat specialist at Queen's Hospital in Burton, was known for being 'extremely hard-working' and deeply committed to his patients.

He died on March 28 at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester  the first UK death of a full-time hospital doctor from the virus since the crisis began.

Mr El-Hawrani was primarily an ear, nose and throat consultant and surgeon but before he became unwell, he had also been volunteering in A&E

Mr El-Hawrani was born in Sudan and served primarily an ear, nose and throat consultant and surgeon but before he became unwell, he had also been volunteering in A&E.

His family said they were devastated but 'immensely proud', and staff at his hospital said they were 'desperately saddened'.

But the British Medical Association warned that his death would reverberate amongst NHS staff, who are becoming increasingly concerned over the lack of protective equipment.

Last week the trade union claimed lives would be lost because the clothing and masks were being rationed by hospitals, with doctors forced to source their own.

Mr El-Hawrani was known for being 'extremely hard-working' and dedicated to his patients

The consultant was known for being 'extremely hard-working' and dedicated to his patients, and was well-liked by his colleagues across the board.

Outside work he took part in a trek across the Himalayas several years ago to raise money for the trust.

He was also closely involved in the merger of the Derby and Burton hospitals in 2018 and provided regular support for doctors outside of his own department.

His family issued a statement which read: 'Amged was a loving and much-loved husband, son, father, brother, and friend.

'His greatest passions were his family and his profession, and he dedicated his life to both. He was the rock of our family, incredibly strong, compassionate, caring and giving.

'Losing Amged is devastating for our family. Life without him is impossible to imagine but together, we will do all we can to honour his memory and live how he would have wanted us to.'

Gavin Boyle, chief executive at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS trust, said: 'The whole UHDB family are desperately saddened at losing Amged who was such a valued and much loved colleague.'

Mr El-Hawrani is understood to have fallen ill several weeks ago and had been on intensive care for some time.

Colleague Sonia Maxim, a healthcare assistant, wrote on Facebook: 'He was an amazing colleague and friend, he will be missed so, so much. My heart is broken.'

Transplant surgeon, 63, who 'always had a willing smile' and volunteered to work closely with coronavirus patients

Mr Adil El Tayar, 63, an organ transplant consultant, developed symptoms after he volunteered to help treat patients

Mr Adil El Tayar, 63, an organ transplant consultant originally from Sudan, developed coronavirus symptoms after he volunteered to help treat patients at Hereford County Hospital.

His grieving family warned NHS staff were 'sitting ducks' and called for them to be given better protective kit and disease testing.

Cousin Dr Hisham El-Khider said he believed Dr El Tayar's death was preventable, saying: 'If we don't improve protection for staff across the board then more of us will die.

'The brunt of this disease is only going to get bigger and bigger, and more needs to be done.

'If we don't, there will be more doctors and nurses who fall seriously ill and are unable to treat patients who desperately require their care.'

Mr El Tayar, a father-of-four, self-isolated once he developed symptoms but had to be taken to hospital with breathing difficulties and died last Wednesday at the West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth, West London.

His cousin, BBC journalist Zeinab Badawi, said: 'He'd wanted to be deployed where he would be most useful during the crisis.

'That was typical of my cousin Adil, always willing to help, always with a willing smile.'

She added: 'It had taken just 12 days for Adil to go from a seemingly fit and capable doctor working in a busy hospital to lying in a hospital morgue.'

Mr El Tayar, pictured with his family, self-isolated once he developed symptoms but had to be taken to hospital with breathing problems

'Incredibly dedicated' heart surgeon, 58, and father-of-two who was 'well-liked and respected by everyone'

Jitendra Rathod, 58, was admitted to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, earlier this month, before being taken to intensive care.

His colleagues battled to save Mr Rathod - known at Jitu - but he died on Monday morning.

Mr Rathod, who was from India, had been working in the hospital since the 1990s.

Jitendra Rathod, 58, was admitted to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, where he first started working in the 1990s, but died from coronavirus yesterday

A statement by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: 'It is with profound sadness that we must inform you that Mr Jitendra Rathod, associate specialist in cardiothoracic surgery, has passed away.

'He died early this morning on our general intensive care unit after testing positive for Covid-19.'

The father-of-two was described as an 'incredibly dedicated surgeon' who cared deeply for his patients and was highly regarded in the medical profession in Wales.

A cardiothoracic surgeon is a specialist who operates on the heart, lungs and other thoracic (chest) organs.

'He was well-liked and and greatly respected by one and all,' the health board statement added.

'He was very compassionate and a wonderful human being. His commitment to the speciality was exemplary. He is survived by his wife and two sons.'

Mr Rathod worked in the department of cardio-throacic surgery since the mid 1990s. He later had a brief stint abroad before returning to UHW in 2006.

Consultant geriatrician who came back out of retirement to help his colleagues.

Dr Anton Sebastianpillai, a consultant geriatrician, died on Saturday at Kingston Hospital in South West London after he was admitted to its intensive care unit on March 31.

In a statement, a spokesman for the hospital said Dr Anton had completed his last shift with the hospital on March 20.

Dr Anton Sebastianpillai, who was born in Sri Lanka, is the thirteenth frontline medic to die from the virus. So far in the UK there have been 6,159 deaths from the disease

'It is with great sadness that I confirm the death of a consultant geriatrician who was part of the team.

'Dr Anton Sebastianpillai died on Saturday 4 April 2020 having been cared for in the hospital's intensive care unit since March 31.

'Dr Sebastianpillai completed his last shift with us on March 20 and we would like to extend our sincere condolences to his family.'

The Peradeniya Medical School Alumni Association of the United Kingdom said the doctor had retired from his career and had volunteered to work with Covid-19 patients.

Consultant and honorary professor at Imperial College, 79, who left behind his wife and two daughters

Professor Mohamed Sami Shousha died in a London hospital two weeks after falling ill with coronavirus.

He had worked at UK cancer research laboratories since 1978 and was an honorary professor of histopathology at Imperial College London.

His nephew, Abdelrahman Shousha, told The Sun: 'He was very keen on going to work on his final days despite the health hazards.

Professor Mohamed Sami Shousha was from Egypt and had worked at UK cancer research laboratories since 1978 and was an honorary professor of histopathology at Imperial College London

'However, most likely, his work did not involve direct contact with Covid-19 patients.

'He had been hospitalised since March 23, after contracting the virus, before he succumbed to the illness on Thursday April 2. We will all miss him dearly.'

One of his former pupils, Dr Neha Tabassum, tweeted: 'My prayers and thoughts are with his family. It's so sad to hear this news, I am in tears!!

'Professor Sami Shousha was one of my mentor. Without his support, my PhD would not have been possible. He was such an amazing human being.'

'Selfless' GP who was 'driven by his passion for his profession

British-Pakistani GP Dr Syed Haider had been receiving treatment at Queen's Hospital in Romford where he died.

A staff member at the Valence Medical Centre in Dagenham, east London  where Dr Haider worked  confirmed the tragic news.

The News International, a Pakistani newspaper, spoke to his son, who described him as a 'selfless man driven by his passion for his profession'.

He added: 'Even whilst in hospital breathing his last, he was urging doctors and nurses to pay attention to other patients rather than him.

'Many at his age would have retired yet his dedication to his profession was immeasurable.'

No photograph has been made available of Dr Haider.


(Photo : How to become an Emergency Medical Technician)

What is an emergency medical technician?

Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) or ambulance technicians are health care providers of emergency medical services. They are trained to respond quickly to emergencies regarding medical problems, traumatic injuries, and accidents. Emergency medical technicians typically respond to 911 calls and then transport the patients to a hospital after providing them with lifesaving first aid. They must work under immense pressure and are required to make life-saving decisions in a short amount of time. EMTs also work alongside other professionals such as the police, firefighters, paramedics, and doctors.

Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are trained to carry out simple, non-invasive procedures to help save the patient's life.

The path to becoming an EMT

It usually takes 1-3 years to become an EMT, depending on one's career goals and educational path. Highlighted below are the educational steps to become an EMT:

1. Basic education:

In comparison to other health care positions, much less is required to get a job as an EMT. To become an EMT, the candidate must be 18 or above and must have a high school diploma or pass the GED exam to be eligible.

2. CPR certification:

Most EMT programs require the student to have a certificate in CPR-Basic life support issued by the American Heart Association or American Red Cross before applying. Several online and local organizations are available to give training for this certification.

3. Find an EMT program:

Aspiring EMTs must complete a state-approved education program and get a diploma in emergency medical technology to apply for certification. Students must make sure it is an accredited program like the Emergency Medical Services program in Florida at City College. In the state of Florida, training can be completed in a few as 27 months. Every state has an approved EMT course that meets the National Education Standards, and these courses can usually be finished in around two years.

4. NREMT examination:

After completing your state approved EMT course and getting a certificate in CPR, you can apply to take the National Registry Emergency Medical Technician or NREMT examination to get your national certification. The NREMT exam consists of 2 parts: a cognitive exam and a motor skills exam. The cognitive test is a computerized written exam that consists of 70-120 questions that are to be answered within 2 hours. The questions are from topics such as trauma, medical emergencies, airway management, ventilation, gynecology, cardiology, and EMS operations. In order to pass, candidates must achieve a "standard level of competency." In case of failure, the candidate can give a re-test after 15 days. The candidates have a total of 6 attempts to pass the computerized cognitive exam.

The practical examination tests the candidate's ability to deal with emergency and traumatic situations, for example, assessing the patient, controlling bleeding, managing fractures, joint dislocations, and immobilizing the spine. They will also be tested on how to handle medical emergencies like cardiac arrest, shock, stroke, etc.

The candidate can apply for the test by visiting the NREMT website to start their application process, and this must be done within two years of course completion.

5. Apply for a license:

In order to start practicing and apply for a job, you need to first apply for a license by completing an online form and submitting the required documents, which may vary according to where you live. To find out about licensing requirements, the candidate can contact the EMS agency within their state. The EMTs have to renew their license every two years for which they are required to complete a 30-hour refresher course.

6. Other requirements:

Other than the educational and certification requirements, there are some other skills that are necessary for a job like this. For example, the candidate must have a valid driver's license. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to deal effectively with many different types of people is a must. To complete the certification process, the candidate will also go through a criminal background check. EMTs also need to be physically fit as they have to perform physically demanding jobs.

What will you learn:

In an EMT certificate program, the students are taught the basic life-saving procedures they will need in order to provide emergency medical care to patients on the way to the hospital. Students learn communication skills and how to assess and transport patients to the hospital. Along with classroom knowledge, they are also taught by hands-on simulations and experiences through labs and internships at trauma centers, ambulance services, and fire departments.

Programs:

 Anatomy and physiology

 Patient assessment

 How to care for injuries and medical conditions

 Internships for hands-on experience

The skills learned:

 How to respond to 911 calls

 Stabilizing and transferring the patient

 Managing airways

 Bandaging

 Documenting patient treatment

 Learning medical terminology

 Managing medical emergencies

 History taking

 Making patient assessments and deciding what care they need

Job opportunities

EMTs respond to 911 calls, then care for and transport the patients to the hospital in an ambulance. After obtaining experience and some additional training, many professionals pursue careers as advanced EMTs or paramedics. Others enter similar fields that require their existing skill set, for example, in the police, fire department, or ER medic/tech.

How much does an EMT earn?

The median annual salary for EMTs is $34,320 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Most EMTs work full time, and some may work more than 40 hours in one week. Since EMTs must be available to work during emergencies, they may have to work night shifts and on weekends. Work as an EMT is physically and mentally strenuous, and sometimes involves life and death situations. To be able to deal with such working conditions, the EMT must be physically fit, focused, and mentally strong. They should remain rational and compassionate while communicating with patients and dealing with emergency situations.
Might fiscal incentives draw more volunteers for the New Canaan Fire Department and New Canaan Emergency Medical Services?

New Canaan Assistant Fire Chief Russ Kimes III and New Canaan EMS Capt. Phil Sheibley say that tax breaks, free passes to municipal facilities for non-residents and opportunities for group insurance might help buck a national trend that sees fewer and fewer people volunteer to respond to emergencies.

Both organizations, fire and EMS, are losing volunteers and need help, Kims said.

Nationally, Kimes said, the number of volunteer firefighters is the lowest it has been since the National Fire Protection Association began tracking data.

New Canaan has a hybrid fire department, with career firefighters on duty 24-7, their numbers augmented in emergencies by volunteers.

All of the emergency medical technicians with EMS are volunteers, Each 12-hour shift also includes a paid paramedic hired on a contract with Norwalk Hospital, who is authorized to give more advanced treatment.

Sheibley said he reached out across Connecticut to find an all-volunteer service such as that found in New Canaan.

They are rare to find, he said.

Weve been lucky with EMS here that in the past year weve gotten a good group of probationary members, he added.

New Canaan EMS offers classes for those who wish to become an EMT, and pay for that training once a threshold on hours or service is met.

EMS is very proactive, Kimes said. Were looking to mirror their efforts.

Some firefighters volunteer to get training to help them climb into a paid job, Kimes said. Its important for the service to have sufficient numbers.

A number of career firefighters in New Canaan have recently retired.

Its been a rough year and a half in fire, Kimes said.

Not only is it a matter of losing experience. Fighting fires is also a numbers game.

At a fire, its important to have a large number of people there as quickly as possible, Kimes said. Those first five, 10 minutes have a major impact on the outcome.

New Canaan EMS requires volunteers to serve 60 hours a month (usually five 12-hour shifts), Sheibley said, and needs 50 volunteers to fill the calendar.

Some neighboring Connecticut towns offer a $1,000 tax abatement to volunteers. Kimes said the state will increase that to $2,000 in 2021.

No action was taken when the Town Council heard a presentation on incentives, but Kimes and Sheibley said something needs to be done.

We need to make corrective actions now, Kimes said, to make sure our organizations exist in five, 10, 15 years.
New technology uses optical imaging to help surgeons map out tumors in the body and help them learn how certain diseases affect activity in the brain. The findings of the study are published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.



"We are using light to extract new information from tissue to inform doctors and assist them in designing and carrying out surgeries to remove tumors," said Brian Bentz, a Purdue alumnus, who worked on the technology with Kevin Webb, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue. "It is a localization method where our technology helps the surgeon pinpoint precise information about the depth and location of tumors. Such information is not easily accessible with current technologies."
Assessment centres in several parts of the province are denying COVID-19 tests to some people who say they meet the criteria, even as the premier says his patience has run thin that the province is not testing to its capacity of 13,000 tests per day and that we should be testing everyone possible.

Hayley Chazan, spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott, meanwhile, told the Star there is no plan for widespread testing. That, she said, would only cause a new round of lab test backlogs.

Its the kind of mixed messaging thats led to confusion and concern for people including 21-year-old Caleigh Fera.

Fera, an Oakville resident who developed a fever with a sore throat and cough, was referred for testing by Halton Public Health on Thursday. But when she arrived at the assessment centre at her local hospital, she was told she wouldnt be tested.

What worried me was the shortness of breath and chest pain, said Fera, a student at Sheridan Colleges program for technical production for the performing arts.

The province announced Wednesday that it was scaling up its testing to include more at-risk groups, including new admissions to retirement homes or nursing homes, as well as residents of those facilities who have symptoms. The new guidelines also include symptomatic health-care workers and front-line responders, according to a release from the health ministry that outlined the expanded testing guidelines.

But the province also said that where there were limited testing resources, as there have been at times since the start of the pandemic, priority should be given to people who had been referred for testing by individual public health units.

The guidelines appear to include Fera. She figured she was a prime candidate for testing, not only because she was presenting symptoms but also because she had several underlying health conditions  a heart murmur that requires close monitoring, as well as respiratory issues.

Dr. Neil Rau, medical microbiologist and infectious diseases specialist at Halton Healthcare, said the testing criteria continues to evolve as the availability of testing expands in Ontario.

He did not comment specifically about Feras case.

When Ontario ran into a problem of limited testing availability and long turnaround times, in consultation with Halton Region, our hospital limited testing to those who work with the most vulnerable people, such as health-care workers or those who work in long-term care who might unwittingly spread the virus to vulnerable people, he said.

A Star survey of testing policies at individual public health units also reveals a variety of different criteria for who is eligible for testing, leaving some to wonder what theyre supposed to do if they think they have the virus.

Public health units such as Chatham-Kent said their criteria included travellers who have been to an affected area and had symptoms, as well as people who had been in contact with a probable or confirmed case.

And the William Osler Health System, which operates assessment centres in Brampton and Etobicoke, says online that it tests people who have mild symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection or flu-like illness in combination with a number of factors, including if they are over 60, immunocompromised or have been referred by public health due to contact with a confirmed or probable case.

The province has said before that there is a global shortage of testing kits. Chazan, the health ministers spokeswoman, said Thursday there were no critical shortages at any of the provinces assessment centres, which are being run by hospitals.

And Dr. Barbara Yaffe, associate chief medical officer of health for Ontario, said currently were not short of any testing materials. Now, that may not stay that way forever, but that is currently the situation.

But Torontos public health unit said it is limiting testing to people who may spread the virus to large groups. When asked why, Dr. Vinita Dubey said in an email that the prioritization of certain groups is occurring now as there is a shortage of testing kits (swabs) across the province.

Lambton County Public Health also said it follows the provincial criteria, but that it may be applied differently depending on the setting and the availability of swabs.

So while the premier is advocating more testing, it doesnt look like the province is planning to adopt the kind of widespread testing that has slowed the spread of the virus in countries such as South Korea, or even closer to home, in Alberta.

The Western province is testing many of the same at-risk groups as Ontario and this week broadened the criteria to include anyone 65 and older with possible symptoms.

Dr. David Williams, the provinces chief medical officer of health, said Thursday that no country does general population surveys at this time.

Typically, countries track the spread of viruses such as the flu using the Sentinel system. Physicians will swab patients who exhibit symptoms and send the swabs in for testing. Those tests serve as a baseline to estimate how prevalent the virus is in the wider population.

Williams said theres no plan to expand tests broadly while the province is still using conventional lab testing, known as PCR, which is more cumbersome than some of the new technology thats coming on the market.

We havent planned to do a population survey with the PCR at this stage but it doesnt mean that we wont consider something in the future as we get more technology around doing population surveys of exposure to the coronavirus, he said.

Not all epidemiologists interviewed by the Star agree with that premise and some say wider testing is needed in the general population, especially due to the fact that 30 per cent of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic.

On Thursday, when asked if Toronto was close to flattening the curve of infections, Dr. Eileen de Villa, the citys top public health officer, said thats difficult to know without more testing.

One of our challenges ... is that unless you get to a point where you have a lot of testing, trying to get to make an assessment as to what is happening in the city of Toronto, premised on the existing numbers and the case counts and the information that we have in front of us, only gives us a partial picture, de Villa said.

Based on information from other cities, we are not quite there yet, in terms of peak number of infections, she said. Its not always easy to see that youre beyond the peak, or at the peak, until youre (further) beyond it.

To the extent that we can get more testing, that helps not only to inform the response, but it also helps to inform us as public health practitioners around where we believe we are on this epidemic curve and what actions we might then take.

With files from David Rider

Read more about:
When Mogae Media volunteered to do some communication work for the Punjab Police, in view of the pandemic, the client was both happy and willing, but the rider was that Stay Home messages were becoming trite and predictable. So, if communication was to be created, it needed to be different and interesting. Also, communication that would generate social media chatter, getting citizens engaged.

Mogae Media reached out to the top brass at Wunderman Thompson who gladly assigned a team headed by Nakul Jambotkar to work on the campaign. Initially, five or six different ideas were tabled. But one communication route using old songs looked a sure winner, different and humorous at the same time. The Wunderman creative team had used old songs like, Gore gore, oh baanke chorey , Oonchi hai building, lift teri bandh hai , Main nikla oh gaddi leke, raste par oh sadak mein . Nine different ads were created for print and social media. But more importantly, each ad had a real Punjab Police officer featured. This gave the ads a distinctive look and clearly established that the message was from the law and order team. More so since the officers were portrayed as friendly and relatable, despite the messaging being one for discipline and restraint.

Sometimes difficult briefs can end up in communication that is warm and friendly, and where the tone of voice is fun but the messaging is unerringly what it is supposed to be: about self restraint, self discipline and in a manner of speaking, self help, says Carol Goyal, Executive Director, Mogae Media.

The campaign with the Bollywood songs, while providing some welcome relief from the sombre and challenging times we are all living in, delivers a very clear and unambiguous message that self-restraint is any day better than social policing. But most importantly for us, it helps us celebrate our own force, and showcase their contributions. We have plans to use the social media to reach out to the community, especially the millenials, explains Director General of Police, Punjab, Dinkar Gupta, IPS.

Adds Hanoz Mogrelia, Senior VP & Global Executive Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson,This was a very interesting exercise for us. My creative team approached the project from different angles  and once we were given a go ahead on the Songs idea, we really went to town. The team, enjoyed working on this and would not mind doing work like this again!!!.

Says Nakul Jambotkar, AVP and Client Servicing Director, Wunderman Thompson It is always a pleasure when as an agency we can use our skills to help society at large and in this case it was an honor to partner with the Punjab Police. The work created by the team is refreshing from a communications point of view and at the same time does its job in delivering the message to the audience in an effective and easy to consume manner.

A lot of work and effort has actually gone in to the Punjab Police communication during the pandemic. The campaign initially started with famous Punjabi comedian, Jaswinder Bhalla, posting two videos on cooperation with the police and another on washing hands and not shaking hands with anybody.

Special communication was also created to show how the force was swinging into action in all districts of the State.

Diljit Dosanjh and Sidhu Moosewala were roped in to help with videos to speak to those returning from overseas, and their families.

Sometimes in communication, you get unexpected bonuses. A video of a cop exhorting women to put their men to work at home chores instead of sitting idle or roaming on the streets went viral over social media. It received applause and accolades across the spectrum.

Videos were then put out as updates on the community outreach and supply of food being done by the police all over the State. Over 3 crores of food packets were handed out in a week to ensure no one slept hungry in the granary of India. In each of the communication, the contribution of the policemen who were braving disease to support the community was highlighted.

It has been barely two weeks since communication was organized and intensified by the Punjab Police, but it is the work of many months squeezed into a very short time interval.

New campaigns are in the pipeline. And everyday brings a newer communication issue that needs to be addressed. Mogae Media feels privileged to be able to assist the police in Punjab at this important juncture. The creative team at Wunderman Thompson have worked round the clock in trying circumstances to create communication that is different, and impactful, adds Goyal.
BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China pledged continued support to aid its foreign trade firms and minimize the impacts of COVID-19 on the sector as the virus hit the global economy and international trade, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

The country's imports and exports improved in March, and work and production resumption of foreign trade firms has also been advancing in an orderly manner, said MOC spokesperson Gao Feng at an online press conference, noting that more than 76 percent of key firms in the sector recovered over 70 percent of their production capacity so far.

However, part of China's foreign trade enterprises, especially those in the textile industry, had to postpone or cancel orders as the virus spread around the world and weighed on the global economy and international trade, Gao noted.

Gao highlighted collaboration among governments, companies and business organizations to cope with the lack of production materials faced by foreign trade firms due to disrupted global industrial and supply chains.

China will strengthen macro-economic policy coordination with relevant countries and regions to facilitate customs clearance and logistics of important raw materials while encouraging foreign trade firms to avert risks by exploring new business opportunities and increasing spending on innovation.

Gao also said that the MOC will join hands with other related parties to ensure an open, stable and safe global supply chain.
With its small population and isolated location, Iceland has earned praise and headlines for its plan to test as many people as possible for exposure to the new coronavirus. Why, some wondered, couldnt other countries be like Iceland?

But critics inside the country have called this rosy picture misleading.

They say the tiny Nordic island country of 360,000 people has not done enough to suppress new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Primary schools and day-care centers remain open, as do some restaurants with limited seating. Tourists are still allowed to arrive and travel without quarantine. The authorities at first limited gatherings to 100 people, then changed that to 20, long after other countries were imposing greater social isolation.

Icelands goal of testing everyone faces the same logistical hurdles that all countries face, the critics point out. It does not have enough medical personnel, supplies or hours in the day to test hundreds of thousands of people in a few weeks or months. They have warned of false optimism that will ultimately lead to more infections and death.

But Kjartan Hreinn Njalsson, the assistant to Icelands director of health, touted what he called a landmark moment on Wednesday: More people are now getting better than getting infected. In fact, he said, government officials believe cases may have peaked. We are not over the hill, but close to it.

Njalsson also said the country is well stocked with testing swabs and other necessary materials. We know that we will eventually need more viral swabs, he added, and that every country in the world is trying to secure stocks.

But so far Iceland has been steadily testing people with and without symptoms, with the help of deCODE genetics, a company that has long operated in the country and is a subsidiary of Amgen. The country has one of the highest proportion of tests performed by any country for the coronavirus, according to government officials. They have tracked the origins of different infections, traced contacts and even looked at the virus different strains.

As of Wednesday, at least 30,000 samples had been tested, according to officials, and the country had at least 1,600 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Iceland confirmed its first case on Feb. 28. Six people have died.

To get tested at a hospital or clinic, individuals must meet certain criteria, such as having symptoms like a fever or being a member of a high-risk group. Health care workers, people who have traveled from high-risk areas, and those in quarantine are also able to get tested at a hospital or clinic.

Nearly everyone else can sign up to be tested by deCODE.

Dr. Kari Stefansson, the chief executive of deCODE, said the testing and sequencing that his company had provided indicates that, with a cohesive screening approach, you can slow the spread of the virus, you can make it manageable for society. The company has called for testing asymptomatic people as a way of finding undetected cases and stopping the spread of the disease.

Dagur B. Eggertsson, the mayor of Reykjavik, credited the countrys large-scale testing and daily briefings about the results with getting average citizens engaged with preparations. We cant use force, the mayor said. We have to use arguments and voice of reason to get people to work together.

But a few dissenters have said extreme restrictions were exactly what Iceland needed to stop the outbreak entirely. They warned, for example, that keeping schools open could contribute to the virus spreading.

Its true that many people got tested, said Frosti Sigurjonsson, a former member of Parliament who has been critical of the government response. Its more than in most countries, lets say that, but it is certainly not true that everybody can get tested. Its not feasible.

Sigurjonsson and another veteran parliamentarian had written an open letter calling on the government to be more aggressive. For example, he had suggested that Iceland close to tourism and isolate infected people from their families in the empty hotel rooms. If you can save a life, save it, he said. Dont think about the cost.

But on Wednesday he said he had been made hopeful by the latest statistics. The growth has certainly slowed and new cases are now becoming fewer every day, he said. So yes. It could have reached its peak. He suggested that the government had taken his criticism to heart.

But another critic of the government strategy, Chris McClure, an entrepreneur and trained social-behavioral epidemiologist who has worked on epidemic efforts in Connecticut and Florida in the past, said he believed the government should still take tougher steps, such as closing primary schools and day-care centers. He noted that children can be asymptomatic carriers, adding that Iceland now has confirmed cases in children.

He did acknowledge that new cases have reached a plateau. But this does not mean it will decrease, he said.

The evidence has shown that closing schools in other countries worked, McClure wrote in a Medium post. And while Iceland is testing about 1,000 people a day, he said, testing everyone would still take at least the rest of the year.

Iceland started off out of the gate doing quite well, he said during a phone interview, but as you see occurring everywhere in the world, there is an absolute scarcity of everything. Tests, respirators, everything.

Thorolfur Gudnason, the chief epidemiologist in Iceland, said the country was using both mitigation and suppression efforts. We are using extreme measures with rapid detection, he said, noting that the majority of new cases found have come from people already in quarantine. The stricter ban on gatherings took effect on March 24, and it was extended to include swimming pools, gyms, pubs and museums, which were closed. People have also been instructed to stay 6 feet apart.

He said primary schools and day care centers could remain open with limited class sizes and social distancing by teachers because studies have shown infection in children is rare. But in fact the most recent research shows children do get COVID-19 and some have died, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their symptoms tend to be milder but that means they could be spreading the virus to others in their families and communities.

Iceland has not prohibited tourists or placed them into quarantine, Gudnason said, because we think theyre not mixing that much with the population. They stay with their own groups and leave after a few days, he said.

You would cause a lot of problems to the functions in society, and I dont know if people would accept that for months and month, he said. Its going to be interesting to see whats happening in countries using extreme measures.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Donald Trump is threatening a major shakeup of the World Health Organisation after criticising it for missing the coronavirus outbreak and complaining the United States pays far more than other countries like China.

Mr Trump campaigned on the United States, in his view, paying too much into NATO coffers, and also criticised the World Trade Organisation. But while he pushed for funding changes, the president did not move to essentially terminate either global entity.

He told reporters during his daily coronavirus briefing that he will discuss potential WHO reforms "next week," suggesting any changes might be related to how much Washington gives the organisation annually.

But in doing so, he exaggerated  again  the US funding contribution.

Mr Trump continues saying, depending on the year, that Washington pays $500m or $400m or $300m into the group. But budget documents show the US was slated to give the WHO around $120m in 2020 and his administration is proposing to cut that amount by half in 2021.

The organisation's leader this week responded to Mr Trump's criticisms by saying now would not be "the time" for a US funding reduction amid a pandemic.

One of Mr Trump's top Senate GOP allies, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who chairs a subcommittee that oversees that chamber's spending legislation that includes the WHO funding line. He says he will propose stripping it out  but final yearly spending measures are months from being finalised and Democrats, who generally favour global entities, run the House.
Empty churches on Easter Sunday around the world represent an image that, until this year, would have made sense only in a fever-pitched 1990s end-times novel. Yet, in the middle of a global pandemic, that will now be our reality. The grief that Christians already face over missing their church services for necessary social distancing will intensify when it comes to the preeminent day on the Christian calendar. But if we pay attention, we may see something new and holy about Easter in quarantine. And that something is fear.

At first glance, fear seems alien to Easter, belonging more to Good Friday. Even our hymnody reflects this. Were You There When They Crucified My Lord is in lyric and tune foreboding, while Up From the Grave He Arose peals triumphant. This makes musical sense. Good Friday evokes the emotions the first disciples experienced when they thought all was lost and the noon skies above them turned dark. By contrast, Easter evokes a new dawn, the truth that everything sad is coming untrue.

And yet, the Gospel accounts are not so neatly categorized by emotion. The first reactions to the Resurrection were confusion and fear. The guards at the tomb trembled and became like dead men at the sight of the angel there (Matt. 28:4, ESV). To the faithful women, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, the first words spoken by the angel were Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, just as he said (vv. 56).

The first reactions to the Resurrection were confusion and fear.

Upon hearing the angel, the women were filled with with fear and great joy (v. 8). They then ran right into the risen Jesus, who repeated the angels words, Do not be afraid (v. 10). The earliest record of the Resurrection, from Marks gospel, closes with the women fleeing the empty tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid (Mark 16:8).

One could imagine, of course, a less traumatic Resurrection, in keeping with the natural rhythms of the worldexcept that the Resurrection was wholly unnatural, naturally eliciting fear and alarm.

The Resurrection is not a timeless truth about the immortality of the human being, or the reassurance that everything works out in the end. The Resurrection takes place in a graveyard, a reminder that, left to ourselves, every one of us will retreat to the dust from which we came. Thus Jesus said to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). He is the only one of us who has life in himself (John 5:26).

The resurrection of Jesus does indeed destroy fear, pulling us out of slavery from the fear of death (Heb. 2:1415). But that freedom from fear does not come the way we usually pursue it, through denial and the illusion of immortality. On the contrary, to see fully the glory and mystery of the resurrection of Jesus, we must feel the just sentence of our own deaths, the inevitability, apart from him, of our own demise. The Resurrection shows us our lives hidden in Christ, which means that on our own, we are the walking dead. The Resurrection means we follow Jesus where he went, toward where he is. Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me, Jesus said (Mark 8:34, NIV). Easter is not the end of our carrying our crosses but the beginning.

This is terrifying when you think of it. And Jesus means for you to think of it. Only then can you listen to the Shepherd who walks you through the valley of the shadow of death. Only then can you know what it means to know Because he lives, all fear is gone.

Article continues below

Many Christians around the world will not gather this Easter. Our churches empty, we will wait in our respective homes, hopeful that our collective efforts to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 will prove effective, while still alarmed that we may yet witness thousands more of our neighbors die, and millions more sick, from a brutal disease. This Easter, we do not know which of our loved ones, or which of us, will die alone on a ventilator, unable even to see the face of the nurse behind a protective mask. Let us experience that fear, and then let us turn to Christ to be reminded that death is awful but, in Christ, death is defeated.

This Easter, our churches will be empty. Thats scary. But the tomb is still empty too. Do not be afraid.

Russell Moore is the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

[ This article is also available in . ]
Ithaca, N.Y.  A coronavirus patient transferred from New York City has died at Cayuga Medical Center.

Two New York City coronavirus patients were sent to the 212-bed Ithaca hospital earlier this week as part of a state program to transfer some patients Upstate to relieve overwhelmed New York City hospitals.

One of them died this morning.

Our hearts go out to the patients family at this difficult time, Dr. Martin Stallone, the hospitals CEO said in a prepared statement.

Cayuga Medical Center sent 51 of its doctors, nurses and other staff to New York City Wednesday to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. The volunteers will work for one month at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

James T. Mulder covers health news. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

NY clarifies essential rules on physical therapy, retail, fitness by video, chiropractors, lawyers, defense work

From Syracuse, with love: Nurses bring supplies, expertise, hope to Long Island outbreak

NY order closes golf courses, boat launches, marinas, playgrounds in coronavirus shutdown

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com
The Liberty Movement is fighting back against liberal elites in corporations like Facebook, Google, and Twitter using corporate power to marginalize their message. The Daily Beast reports that Twitter had no problem with Chinese disinformation about origins of the coronavirus. "Coronavirus disinformation spread by senior Chinese government officials does not violate Twitter's terms of service, a spokesperson for the company told The Daily Beast on Monday." This would be fine if Twitter had not already targeted conservatives for temporary and permanent bans.

The double standard is outrageous.

It is time for right-leaning users of social media to punish these companies using the free market. One way is for users to choose new cutting-edge social media platforms, like Parler, to use the power of the consumer to drive demand away from the big social media platforms to ones more friendly to open discussion and diverse political opinions.

Government policies have enabled these companies to use politically correct rules to moderate political speech. The giants of tech today benefit from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that provides a de facto massive subsidy for our nation's largest social media platforms. Many of the ideas politicians are promoting to carve out exceptions to that law miss the boat. Section 230 has served to protect these companies when they moderate political speech in a way that violates the idea behind the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The Electronic Freedom Foundation makes the case that this law is "the most important law protecting Internet speech." The benefits of this law are great, yet there is a strong case to be made that Twitter, and other social media giants, have used this protection to go after conservatives.

Twitter is a classic case of how one company can abuse conservative users in a way that limits speech. Twitter has engaged in the banning of many conservatives for a subjective violation of the platform's rules. Look at the case of James O'Keefe of Project Veritas. Twitter blocked O'Keefe's access to his Twitter account after he released a video showing a New York Democratic election commissioner admitting to voter fraud. The company also "shadowbanned" Dilbert cartoon creator Scott Adams because he asked his followers to tweet examples of supporters of Hillary Clinton violently confronting Donald J. Trumpsupporters back in 2016. Shadowbanning is when a Twitter user's comments are invisible to that person's followers. That type of politically biased activity was not considered when Section 230 was made law.

Signing up for alternative platforms as a supplement to Twitter will put pressure on the media tech giants to change behavior without a change in law. The act of diversifying social media use will provide an outlet to conservatives who want to reach out to a targeted audience of conservatives and open-minded people who are OK reading messages they disagree with. Twitter has a monopolistic hammerlock on short-form social media communication, but that can be broken by right-leaning social media users diversifying and signing up for other means of communication.

The new social media company Parler has taken on Twitter with a business model that is friendly to the voices that have been stifled by social media giants. The company put out a statement after Katie Hopkins, a British conservative, was banned from Twitter for violating the subjective rules of the platform. Parler made the case: "Big tech has once again failed to take a moral stance and protect debate, discussion, and free speech when bullied by the censorship mob." Parler correctly pointed out that the "cancel culture" that allows a liberal mob to stop speech it doesn't like had won again, and Twitter showed "cowardice" in dealing with it.

At CPAC this year, Jeffrey Wernick, an investor in Parler, made a strong economic case about the "contestability of markets" with regard to social media giants. He cited the return on investment of Google (44%) and Facebook (51%) as examples of companies ripe for competition, yet they have grown market share. These companies are acting like monopolies with a market that is not being contested because of some obstacles to entering these markets.

It is time for conservatives to use the market power to fight back and move consuming to friendly sites like Parler.

Beau Rothschild, the founder of Rothschild Policy and Politics, formerly served as the members outreach director for the Committee on House Administration.
Residents wait at a rest area after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at a mobile station in Hong Kong on Sunday. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Few of the citys older residents have been fully inoculated, leaving them highly vulnerable as the city battles an outbreak of the new variant.
SIU Carbondale to conduct virtual interviews with three finalists for chancellor

CARBONDALE, Ill.  Three finalists for chancellor of Southern Illinois University Carbondale will participate in two-day virtual interviews starting April 16.

Due to COVID-19, the entire interview process will be conducted remotely, according to SIU System President Dan Mahony.

Early in the pandemic, we were planning a blend of small group, face-to-face interviews and virtual interviews, Mahony said. We regrouped when the states stay-at-home order was put in place. We evaluated postponing interviews until late summer or fall, but that put us at risk of losing candidates and missing important voices in the discussion. An entirely virtual interview process is not ideal, but it moves the search forward and provides greater clarity around the timeline for installing a new chancellor.

Each candidate will hold a public forum that will be available via Zoom and posted on the chancellors search website, according to Marc Morris, chair of the search screening committee and director of the universitys School of Accountancy.

Our goal is to use technological tools to engage as many people in the interview process as possible, Morris said. We want to be sure students, faculty, staff and others have an opportunity to engage with and hear from the candidates.

Information on each candidate is available at chancellor.siu.edu/search. The site will also provide details about accessing the open forums at least two days before each forum. It will also include an online form to provide confidential feedback on each candidate.

The candidates will have public forums from 9 to 10 a.m. on the following dates:

Susan R. Stapleton, special assistant to the provost at Western Michigan University: April 17

Austin A. Lane, former president of Texas Southern University: April 21

Kenneth R. Evans, president of Lamar University: April 23

Stapleton, a professor of chemistry/biochemistry and biological sciences, has been at Western Michigan University since 1990, beginning as an assistant professor. She was associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 2007 to 2012 and dean of the Graduate College from 2012 to 2019. She also served as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs in 2017-18 and became special assistant to the provost in 2019.

In her current role, Stapleton is responsible for helping develop a university strategy to grow research, scholarship and experiential opportunities at the university. As graduate dean, she expanded recruitment activities, grew applications, added accelerated degree programs and certificates and received a University Excellence in Diversity Award. In 2010-11, Stapleton was an American Council on Education Fellow at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

She holds a bachelors degree in chemistry/cellular biology from Juniata College in Pennsylvania and a doctoral degree in chemistry from Miami University in Ohio.

Lane was president of Texas Southern University, based in Houston and enrolling 10,237 students, from 2016 to February 2020. A professor of education, he oversaw the development of the universitys five-year strategic plan and the campus master plan.

In 2015 and 2016, Lane was executive vice chancellor for academic and student affairs for the 90,000-student Lone Star College System in Texas. He served as president of Lone Star College-Montgomery from 2009 to 2015 and executive vice president for student affairs for Tyler Junior College in Texas from 2005 to 2009. He worked at the University of Texas at Arlington from 1995 to 2005 as a counselor, assistant dean of students and director of judicial affairs and dean of students.

Lane holds a bachelors degree in psychology from Langston University in Oklahoma, a masters degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma, and a doctor of education degree in higher education administration from the University of Alabama.

Evans, an award-winning teacher and researcher, has been president of Lamar University in Texas since 2013. Prior to becoming president of Lamar, which enrolls more than 15,000 students, he was dean and Fred E. Brown Chair in Business at the University of Oklahoma from 2007 to 2013.

From 1991 to 2006 he was at the University of Missouri-Columbia, serving as chair of the marketing department, associate dean of undergraduate studies, acting dean and associate dean of graduate studies. Evans held additional academic positions at California State University, Sacramento; University of Colorado, Boulder, and Arizona State University. Prior to entering academe, he worked in the transportation industry in various marketing and sales capacities

Evans holds a bachelors degree in English and political science from the University of California, Davis; a masters in business administration with an emphasis on marketing and quantitative methods from California State University, Sacramento; and a doctoral degree in marketing from the University of Colorado.

Morris said the screening committee, which includes representatives of multiple campus groups as well as community members, vetted 26 nominees and applicants for the position. It interviewed 9 individuals before identifying the finalists for on-campus interviews.

The committee has stayed on track and focused on bringing forward strong finalists, he said.

Their hard work has paid off, bringing us three outstanding chancellor candidates from a strong pool.

The new chancellor will replace John M. Dunn, who has served as interim chancellor since January 2019 following the death of previous chancellor Carlo Montemagno.

Mahony said he hopes to have a new chancellor in place July 1.
Chinese doctors who have for months treated patients on the front lines of Chinas fight against the new coronavirus offered a sobering assessment of the potential treatments, saying they hadnt seen clear evidence that drugs such as chloroquine were effective.

One doctor, however, said he saw some promise for Kaletraan antiretroviral drug for HIV.

In hospital interviews arranged Thursday by government authorities in Wuhan, the central Chinese city of 11 million where the new coronavirus crisis erupted late last year, doctors called for further research into the use of chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug.

The doctors also cautioned that some recovered patients had tested positive again, while expressing concern about asymptomatic cases, dozens of which have been disclosed in recent days across China.

The doctors assessments came one day after Chinese authorities eased their lockdown of Wuhan, and as the U.S. braces in the coming days for what is expected to be the worst of its surge in infections.

Chloroquine has been the subject of fierce debate within the U.S. administration. President Trump has at times touted it as a remedy and in recent days he has advised even those without symptoms to take the drug. That has come in defiance of advice from public health experts and some of his own medical advisors.

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro has cited a study from Wuhan, among other evidence, to argue for the federal government to distribute its stockpile of one form of the drughydroxychloroquineto hard-hit areas of the U.S.

Zhang Dingyu, the head of Wuhans Jinyintan Hospital, which has handled hundreds of coronavirus cases since December, said the evidence on chloroquine was so far inconclusive.

Some patients took it by themselves, and after taking it, there were good and bad results, Dr. Zhang said Thursday, adding that some patients hadnt tested negative even seven to 10 days after taking the drug. Theres no scientific conclusion.

He expressed concern too about the drugs recommended dosage. Local health authorities warned in February that an overdose of chloroquine could be fatal.

At the peak of the epidemic in Wuhan, Dr. Zhang said Jinyintan Hospital was treating as many as 500 patients. It still has 123 patients, of which three were in serious condition on Thursday. None were in intensive care, he said.

While Dr. Zhang expressed uncertainty about chloroquine, he said Kaletra a drug made by U.S. pharmaceutical giant AbbVie Inc. that blocks the enzymes some viruses need to replicateappeared to have been effective with patients and infected colleagues, even though a recent study concluded it didnt work.

Desperation and the lack of a proven cure have prompted doctors around the world to experiment with remedies that havent yet passed clinical trials.

On Feb. 18, Chinas National Health Commission added chloroquine phosphateone common form of the drugto a list of officially approved treatments for coronavirus patients, though clinical trials havent yet finished.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on March 28 authorized the emergency use of chloroquine phosphate and hydroxychloroquine in hospitalized coronavirus patients who werent able to participate in a clinical trial. That allowed the government to distribute millions of doses donated by drug companies.

Zhang Junjian, a doctor who ran a field hospital in Wuhan that treated more than 1,700 coronavirus cases, said in a separate group interview on Thursday that 20 to 30 patients had been treated with chloroquinewith the patients permissionbut it was unclear if the drug was effective.

Given the drugs unproven effects, we were extremely careful, said Dr. Zhang, who is vice president of Wuhans Zhongnan hospital, another institution that treated thousands of coronavirus cases. You cant see any difference between it and other treatments.



Dr. Zhang, the Jinyintan Hospital chief, said that several of his patientsand three of his infected colleagueshad taken Kaletra.

After taking it, the changes in their entire lungs were really dramatic, he said, adding that none of them needed critical care. If I had a chance to do things again, I would definitely have patients take this drug within three to five days of getting sick.

A study published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine, based on a test on severe coronavirus cases at Jinyintan, concluded that Kaletra wasnt effective. But Jinyintans Dr. Zhang said supplementary data in the study suggested it had potential.

Many of the cases at Jinyintan took Kaletra in conjunction with bismuth subcitrate potassium, which had also been effective, he said. Bismuth subcitrate is used in combination with other drugs to treat a common bacterial stomach infection.

Dr. Zhang of Jinyintan also recommended convalescent plasma treatment, which involves transfusing blood plasma from someone who has recovered from the coronavirus into someone who is sick with the virus, in hopes that the donors antibodies help the recipient recover.

The FDA says the treatment hasnt yet been shown to be safe and effective for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, but the agency approved its emergency use on a case-by-case basis in March and issued broader recommendations on its use and study on Wednesday.

The Chinese doctors said that 34 of their patients had tested positive again after recovering and being discharged, but they suspected that was because of flawed tests giving false negative results, rather than the patients having been reinfected.

They also both said they didnt expect a big second wave of infections in China, although they allowed that smaller outbreaks in certain locations were still possible.

Most worrying was a small number of patientsstill in hospitalswho had been infected for several weeks, including several for more than 60 days, said Dr. Zhang of Jinyintan. Another focus of concern, he said, was the number of asymptomatic cases and their level of infectiousness.

This virus may be with mankind for a long time, so what we need to work on is how to take the next steps, he said. We used to pay attention to the flu, AIDS and hand, foot and mouth disease. Now we may need a special ward for this.

Zhongnans Dr. Zhang said his field hospital, in a converted exhibition center, had been closed due to the winddown in the number of cases. But he cautioned that it would not be dismantled for some timea reflection of lingering concern around how the pandemic will develop in Wuhan in the coming weeks.
Jill Goldsmith is a home seamstress who learned to sew as a girl and continues to sew items that bring her joy and comfort. She has a small home-based business making one-of-a-kind handbags. When the virus first appeared Goldsmith looked at her fabric stash and realized she could make washable, home-sewn masks for friends and family. (These are not masks a frontline caregiver would use, and Goldsmith said the masks must be washed in hot water first. "I did wash all the fabric before any sewing or cutting, so who knows where the hands have been!" she said.)

The requests came in faster than she could sew. At the same time, her friend Deanne Schott, put out a request for sewers to make masks for a nursing home. This inspired Jill to think about the Jewish Pavilion and the community it serves. With the help of Joanne Fink from Zenspirations, Goldsmith created a Facebook page and group to support the seniors served by the Jewish Pavilion.

She spoke with Nancy Ludin at the Jewish Pavilion who contacted the facilities served to see if masks were desired. Within a minute, one executive director requested 200 masks for his seniorliving community. While writing the article, Ludin received a call from an activities director at a senior facility who begged for 12 masks for her staff.

The group needs sewers! You do not need to be a seamstress to do this. You can help by cutting out patterns for the people you know that do sew. Goldsmith has learned that just one yard of fabric will yield about 12-14 masks. The Facebook page has links to patterns and invites comments from sewers to help each other.

Before getting involved with this project, Ludin contacted Jewish Pavilion board member Dr. Lee Adler who is an Infectious Disease specialist. He was the former vice president of Quality and Safety at AdventHealth Central Florida Division. Adler explained that the issue of the general public wearing masks is still being explored by the CDC. There is currently an insufficient supply, so the priority for now remains emergency responders and healthcare workers who have the greatest exposure. However, the transmission of the virus is possible two or more days before an individual becomes symptomatic. So, wearing the masks may protect the seniors against healthcare workers and other residents who may carry the disease. Adler explained that the main transmission for COVID-19 is respiratory droplets. The facemask serves as a potential barrier against the droplets and therefore reduces the likelihood of virus transmission and disease. Adler adds " Social distancing (at least six feet), hand hygiene and disinfectant are still the most effective methods to reduce spread of infection."

To learn more about this effort, go to the Facebook group, Jewish Pavilion Mask Challenge, https://www.facebook.com/groups/579109062683073.

Jill Goldsmith models one of her designer masks.

Go to the Facebook Jewish Pavilion Mask Challenge and sign up now!

Once the masks are made they can be delivered to the office of the Jewish Pavilion. Ludin, Jewish Pavilion CEO will distribute them to the facilities.

Ludin says the masks look terrific. The Jewish Pavilion is happy to distribute them to senior communities beginning with Brookdale Lake Orienta who made the first request. Masks can be dropped off at the office at 421 Montgomery Road suite 131 Altamonte Springs, FL 32714. You can contact Ludin by email NancyLudin@JewishPavilion.org or call 407-678-9363.

Jill Goldsmith and her team of sewers are our Jewish Pavilion Heroes during a difficult time. To contact Jill send her an email, jillsg1234@gmail.com or contact through the Facebook group noted above.
The federal government has admonished some state governors to stop playing politics with the directives issued to contain the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading across the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, gave the admonition on Friday when he featured on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme, Good Morning Nigeria.

Mr Mohammed. who was giving updates on efforts of the Presidential Task Force for the Control of Coronavirus at containing the pandemic, underscored the need for continued engagements with states and harmonisation of directives.

The Minister, a member of the task force said the kind of rifts and counter directives between some states and the federal government in the efforts to contain COVID-19 were uncalled for and unnecessary.

Responding to a question on the controversy over the chopper that flew into Rivers State and the arrest of the pilots, Mr Mohammed said such rift was uncalled for and people should stop politicising COVID-19 fight.

The federal government has responsibility to all Nigerians irrespective of the state they reside.

A situation where the federal government needs exemption for a certain category of people but the state government will not cooperate is not helpful.

We will not succeed if there is no cooperation with the state governments, he said.

Reacting to a question on some state governors that have ordered the relaxation of stay at home order for Jumat and Easter festivities, the minister underscored the need for harmonisation of the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari for lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun states.

We have a very little window, and as of today, there is no known cure or vaccine for this disease. All we have is Non Medicinal Intervention basically on prevention and management.

We need the cooperation of the populace as a whole and they need to listen to what the federal government is saying.

The whole essence of the lockdown is that by the time we lockdown for 14 days, it is a presumption that whoever is incubating the virus must have manifested.

However, people can contact the disease by not staying at home or not adhering to the hygiene instructions like washing of hands regularly, using hand sanitiser and social distancing, he said.

It will be recalled that as parts of measures to check the spread of coronavirus, many states banned large gatherings and restricted movements.

However, despite the fact that COVID-19 as at Thursday had spread to 17 states with 288 confirmed cases, 51 recovered and discharged patients and seven deaths; some states have relaxed the measures ahead of Easter and for Jumat prayers.

READ ALSO:

Specifically, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State approved the request of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the state to observe the Easter Sunday worship in various churches across the state.

Similarly, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State directed the Muslims to hold Jumat prayers and Churches to hold Easter service across the state with a full congregation.

Ebonyi State Government, relaxed the ban on burials by giving those in the state between April 9 and April 20 to bury their dead.

Worshippers in the state are expected to attend their normal service only on Sunday for Christians and Friday for Muslims with effect from April 12.

Similarly, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State directed that the ban on religious gathering be lifted to allow for normal worship and services.

In Katsina State, Governor Aminu Masari directed that Muslim faithful will be allowed to observe their Jumaat prayers under strict health and security guidelines.

Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State on his part relaxed interstate boundary closure on the ground that it would allow for foodstuffs, drugs and vehicles conveying personnel on essential duty access to the state.

(NAN)

Advertisements


Any premature lifting of restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a fatal resurgence of the new coronavirus, the World Health Organization warned Friday. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while some states were considering ways to ease the restrictions which have placed around half of humanity under some form of lockdown, doing so too quickly could be dangerous. "I know that some countries are already planning the transition out of stay-at-home restrictions. WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone," he told a virtual press conference in Geneva. "At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly. "WHO is working with affected countries on strategies for gradually and safely easing restrictions." Tedros spelled out six factors that should be considered before restrictions could be safely eased. He said that transmission would have to be controlled; sufficient public health services made available; outbreak risks in care homes minimised; preventative measures imposed in workplaces and schools; virus importation risks managed; and communities made aware of and engaged in the transition. - Africa acceleration - The global death toll has gone over 100,000. More than 1.6 million infections have been recorded globally, according to an AFP tally, since the virus first emerged in China in December. Tedros welcomed signs that its spread was slowing in some of the hardest-hit countries in Europe -- citing Spain, Italy, Germany and France. But he also warned of an "alarming acceleration" of the virus elsewhere, highlighting Africa, where he said it was beginning to emerge in rural areas. "We are now seeing clusters of cases and community spread in more than 16 countries" on the continent, the former Ethiopian health minister said. "We anticipate severe hardship for already overstretched health systems, particularly in rural areas, which normally lack the resources of those in cities." Tedros said that even the countries with the world's strongest health systems had been caught by surprise by COVID-19. He urged them to reinforce their healthcare provision rather than plunge into a "cycle of panic and neglect". In many countries, "we're now in a phase of panic because there is this dangerous, invisible virus which is wreaking havoc," he said. "But that should actually lead into asking questions on what to do to strengthen our system. "No country is immune." - Exit strategy - The WHO director-general also said he was particularly concerned by the large numbers of cases being recorded among health workers -- with more than 10 percent reportedly infected in some nations. "When health workers are at risk, we're all at risk," he said. Tedros said evidence from some countries, including China, Italy and the United States, showed that health workers were being infected outside healthcare facilities, in their homes and communities. Switching to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he said a new case had been reported, just three days before a deadline that would have marked the official end to the long epidemic. WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said some 2,600 alerts were still being investigated every day in the DRC, with thousands of samples taken every week. "Maybe that's our lesson for COVID-19: there is no exit strategy until you're in control of the situation, and you must always be ready to go back again and start again," he said.
An empty North Broad Street in Philadelphia is photographed on Tuesday evening, March 24, 2020. A stay-at-home order has been issued due to the spread of COVID-19. Read more

Every year since 2016 Ive been thrilled to take part in Philly Free Streets as thousands of residents from every neighborhood came out to walk, bike, roll, and play after we closed some streets to cars. Each time I was awestruck. Their unbridled joy, their enthusiasm, and their love for our city were abundant on the streets of Philadelphia. It made me very proud.

Today, the streets are quiet. Most residents are heeding our order to stay at home. Businesses are shuttered. Playgrounds, schools, and houses of worship are empty. We are waiting, hoping, praying, and mourning those who were lost.

But I write to tell you that even amid our silent streets, the spirit of this great city has not, in any way, been diminished by this virus.

I see this spirit in the growing number of folks at home sewing and donating face coverings, and manufacturers who have shifted production to personal protective equipment. Its seen in the countless people opting to order food and supplies from our restaurants and local small businesses. That spirit is in our philanthropic community who mobilized in record time and raised tens of millions of dollars for struggling nonprofits. Its in the School District and Community College of Philadelphia, doing everything possible to bring remote learning to all students. And its also in the scores of volunteers packing thousands of meals every week to ensure Philadelphians dont go hungry.

If youre looking for ways to help, here are some ideas:

Call neighbors, particularly seniors and those who live alone. Help them get the essential supplies they need.

Stay in touch with others by phone, video conferencing, or emailand reconnect with those who you may have lost touch with.

Remind others of social distancing guidance, including teens who may still feel inclined to hang out with friends.

Order take-out or delivery from a locally-owned eatery.

Donate to the PHL COVID-19 Fund to help our nonprofit organizations on the front line of this pandemic.

Offer a wave of thanks when you see essential employees, especially our healthcare workers and first responders who quite literally put their own health on the line for all of us.

But the greatest single contribution you can make is simply to do the basics: stay at home, wear a face covering if you must go outside, and wash your hands frequently. To those of you doing these things, please know that you are already part of the solution. You are already helping our healthcare workers save lives.

We have weeks if not months to go before the crisis eases. Before we reclaim our lives.

Take comfort knowing that when were through this, we will once again enjoy all that Philly has to offer  whether it be a crowded festival on South Street, a sunny picnic on Belmont Plateau, a stroll in the Italian Market, or a block party on North Fifth Street in Fairhill. Well see joggers and bicyclists moving in groups, food vendors and merchants busy with customers, musicians playing to applause, and neighbors sharing stories on their steps.

When we get all of that back, we will stop and remember the sacrifice, the loss, the pain of this time. We will realize that the silence which now pervades the streets of Philadelphia was not, by any means, a sign of defeat. Rather, it was the abundant evidence of our resilience.

When that day comes, we will watch our children head off to school, play on the sidewalks, and even share snacks and hugs. And well know that when it mattered most, we stepped up, we cared for one another, we did what was right, and we endured.

Because we are Philadelphia.

James F. Kenney is mayor of Philadelphia.
Confusion. Anxiety. An endless busy signal. Online error messages. Letters that dont make sense.

Hundreds of thousands of Texans are navigating an impossibly overwhelmed web of bureaucracy as they attempt to file or request payment for their unemployment claims as a result of business closures to slow the spread of the coronavirus. First-time claims for unemployment in Texas surged by another 314,000 last week, bringing the total over the past three weeks to 750,000  more than than all the filings in 2019.

Nationally, another 6.6 million workers filed first-time claims for jobless benefits, driving the total over the past three weeks to more than 16 million, a stunning pace of job loss that far exceeds that of brutal downturn of 2007 to 2009 that became known as the Great Recession. Despite the $2 trillion stimulus package recently enacted by Congress, the money is not getting to workers and businesses fast enough as vast need overwhelms institutions ability to deliver aid.

In Texas, laid-off workers have complained of backlogs as calls to the Texas Workforce Commission, which administers unemployment benefits, reached nearly 2 million on some days, according to the agency. The TWC has desperately tried to keep pace by dramatically increasing its staff by the hundreds, adding phone lines, and expanding server capacity.

But even with those efforts, outdated technology and a system not designed to handle claims from newly eligible independent contractors and self-employed people is bogging down the agency. Normally, it takes an average of 21 days for someone to begin receiving benefits in Texas.

Some have already spent that long trying to get applications approved.

I keep hearing all these promises, but nothing is going through so far, said Wendy Mooneyhan, a bartender in Spring, who supports three children. Unemployment needs to get with the program. I dont even see light at the end of the tunnel anymore.

Confusion, frustration for self-employed

How to apply for unemployment assistance: You should apply for benefits as soon as you are unemployed or underemployed. Those who are self-employed, independent contractors or part-time workers are eligible. Go to ui.texasworkforce.org or, if you do not have internet access, call 1-800-939-6631 during your assigned call time based on area code. Log on with an existing TWC User ID or create a new user ID. When to call the Texas Workforce Commission: Area codes beginning with 9 should call Monday, Wednesday or Friday between 8:00 a.m. and noon. Area codes beginning with 3, 4, 5, or 6 should call Monday, Wednesday or Friday between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Area codes beginning with 7 or 8 should call Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday between 8:00 a.m. and noon. Area codes beginning with 2 should call Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. . See More Collapse

The number of jobless Texas is almost certainly understated as hundreds of thousands of people struggle to get past crashing websites and jammed phone lines to file applications. The claims filed in Texas since the business closings began represent about 5 percent of the states civilian workforce, compared to 10 percent of the workforce nationally.

The stimulus package passed by Congress in March promised to extend benefits to those not traditionally eligible for unemployment: self employed people and independent contractors.

But that has created immense challenges for the Texas Workforce Commission  and the workers. Typically, employers report wage records to the state for each of their employees. But self-employed people and independent contractors were not required to do that, so the agency has no record of earnings.

That means the workforce commission will need to evaluate each independent contractor or self-employed person to determine their earnings, whether they qualify and what their benefits should be, a daunting task given the hundreds of thousands of people applying.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: $600 checks to start next week

Jimy Sanchez, a gig worker in Magnolia, who works as a furniture mover, has been self-employed for two years, but his unemployment claim was denied since the state said he did not earn enough to qualify. The evaluation was based on his records from when he worked at the pizza chain Dominos in 2018.

Now, hell have to wait for the TWC to re-evaluate his application with new information about his self-employment. A notice from the state instructed him to contact the agency on April 15 to request his payment  of $0.00. He hopes at that time, he will be able to straighten things out.

Im confused, and its impossible to get through (on the phone), Sanchez said. The system is not fit for people like me.

In a statement, the TWC said that the agency is in the process of upgrading the system to handle the new classes of workers.

In the meantime, the self-employed are receiving conflicting messages from the agency. The online portal frequently instructs them to call, but on social media, the agency has said: Told to call TWC? Dont worry, well call you if we need more information.

Show me the money

Its not just self-employed people who are having a hard time filing. Priscilla Gonzalez, an early childhood teacher in Webster, said that every time she tries to log on to file her claim, it instructs her to call the agency. Shes tried everything: re-setting her pin, logging off and logging back on, and repeatedly calling the TWC to no avail.

No one ever answers, said Gonzalez, who is a single mother to two young children. Its been stressful. Its hard every day.

Gonzalez had just signed a lease to move into a larger, more expensive apartment with her children when she was let go. Since she works with young children below the age of kindergarten, her school decided not to provide the instruction remotely.

She tried to get an extension on her car payment, but that was denied. Now, shes worried about how she will pay the $879 rent due on April 22.

She said she could miss the rent since evictions are suspended in the state, but, she added , I know Ill eventually have to pay them back.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: Texas Workforce Commission relying on tech from the 1980s

Even among those who have managed to submit claims, many have yet to get their money. Unemployed workers across Texas are anxiously waiting both for their regular benefits to start, as well as the additional $600 per week that they were promised by the stimulus package passed by Congress weeks ago.

The Texas Workforce Commission said it would start paying the $600 next week, but that will only be applicable to those who have already had their claims approved. The federal emergency funding runs through July 31. If the claimant files late, the funds will be paid retroactively to the week ending April 4.

Mooneyhan, the bartender in Spring, works as an independent contractor. Her application was submitted, but she hasnt heard anything from the state concerning where to send her proof of income so that she can begin to receive benefits.

She called the agency 600 times on Thursday  her assigned day based on her area code to call  and still couldnt get through. While she waits, shes holding off on paying any bills. Shes down to her last $1,000.

Im scared to pay anything just in case I have to pay something important like water, gas or lights, she said. Ive tried to keep everything as tight as possible. I dont want to spend until unemployment starts coming in, in case of an emergency.

erin.douglas@chron.com

Twitter.com/erinmdouglas23
Cameroon's Separatists Relaunch Attacks to Reject State Reconstruction Plan

By Moki Edwin Kindzeka April 09, 2020

Cameroonian separatist fighters have relaunched attacks after the government announced a reconstruction plan, claiming that peace was returning to the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of the central African state. The military said attacks were reported in at least seven villages, with about 13 fighters killed, but the fighters say the military had more casualties.

Public Works Minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi says road construction engineers are leaving after persistent attacks in several parts of the Northwest region, where President Paul Biya had instructed them to begin reconstructing the central African state's English-speaking regions, devastated by three years of separatist conflict. Djoumessi spoke to VOA via a messaging app.

"The work started, unfortunately some criminals came and destroyed the property of the company but we have to continue without showing any signs of weakness. The head of state [Cameroon's president] himself is extremely committed," he said.

Biya last week created what he called the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions. The reconstruction and development plan envisages construction of roads, schools, hospitals, public edifices, markets, private homes and villages in areas destroyed by three years of fighting.

After the plan was announced, separatists warned on social media that they will not accept such projects from what they said a foreign government in Yaounde, and began attacking military posts and burning more infrastructure. The fighters torched local council offices and schools in Bui, Donga Mantung and Ngoketunjia administrative units in the Northwest and Lebialem and Manyu administrative units in the Southwest.

The military said in a release that there was heavy fighting in the northwestern villages of Vekovi, Tatum and Mbiame and the southwestern town of Kumba, with 13 fighters killed. The fighters on social media said the casualties were more on the side of government troops. The military has denied the allegations.

Benard Okalia Bilai, governor of the English-speaking Southwest region, speaking via a messaging app, said since the attacks were relaunched last week, the population has been collaborating with the military to denounce the attackers.

"The populations have understood that they were misled, so they have realized that their future, their hope is within the institutions, and that what the head of state has put at their disposal is their future and that they should collaborate with those authorities, the forces of law [the military], to denounce those who are disturbing. The damages are enough," he said.

Christopher Effimba, leader of the NGO Hope Cameroon, said the central African state should make sure peace fully returns to its English-speaking regions before reconstruction projects are launched. He said the separatists are still very active and strong. He also spoke via a messaging app.

"Infrastructural development cannot be implemented in the field if we do not have a peaceful atmosphere. Therefore, calm the atmosphere," he said. "We need peace to enable the road workers to dig the roads. If the people do not accept peace, it is impossible for any Caterpillar, any bulldozer to go in there and try to do any road."

Unrest began in Cameroon in 2017 after a government crackdown on peaceful protests led by lawyers and teachers who complained of being marginalized by the French-speaking majority.

In October 2019, Biya organized a national dialogue to solve the crisis but the separatists did not attend. The separatists said they will only be ready to discuss the terms of their independence in a republic they have created called Ambazonia.

The unrest has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced over 500,000 according to the United Nations. Fifty thousand others are asylum seekers in neighboring Nigeria.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






This shortage could be devastating for developing countries. Image: Getty

As factories around the world shut down, the United Nations is warning of a potentially devastating shortage of condoms.

Related story: Looming global condom shortage spurs Thai firm to ramp up output

Malaysia is one of the worlds biggest rubber producers but has shuttered factories to stop the spread of the lethal coronavirus.

And its restrictions mean contraceptive firm Karex, which makes around 20 per cent of all condoms in the world, will make around 200 million fewer condoms than usual between mid-March and mid-April.

The company makes 5 billion condoms a year and ships them to more than 140 countries, supplying brands including Durex and for government programs and organisations like the United Nations Population Fund.

In a statement to Yahoo Finance, Durex said its supplies have not been affected.

Durex would like to confirm that all of our operations are working as normal and we are not experiencing any supply shortages.

Its not just Karex, other producers will also face transport challenges, Karex chief executive Goh Miah Kiat told AFP.

"The world will definitely see a condom shortage," Goh said.

"It's challenging, but we are trying our best right now to do whatever we can. It is definitely a major concern - condom is an essential medical device.

He said the importance of access to contraceptives cant be overlooked as the fight against coronavirus continues, expressing concern about supplies in developing nations.

My concern is that for a lot of humanitarian programs deep down in Africa, the shortage will not just be two weeks or a month. That shortage can run into months, he told Reuters.

The United Nations has also warned of the risk a condom shortage poses, as it faces a shortfall of between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of its usual supply.

"A shortage of condoms, or any contraceptive, could lead to an increase in unintended pregnancies, with potentially devastating health and social consequences for adolescent girls, women and their partners and families," a spokesperson said.

Story continues

Border closings and other restrictive measures are affecting transportation and production in a number of countries and regions.

Make your money work with Yahoo Finances daily newsletter. Sign up here and stay on top of the latest money, news and tech news.

Follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
(Natural News) The segment of the American population being most impacted by the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) is black people, for which President Donald Trump and his administration have expressed their sympathies. But why, then, isnt the president trying to help African Americans stay better protected by encouraging them to get more vitamin D?

During a recent press conference, President Trump admitted that black people are disproportionately dying from complications while having the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), stating that they are getting hit very, very hard. Trump added that it remains a tremendous challenge, and that its terrible that so many African Americans are said to be suffering from the virus.

But the elephant in the room that nobody is talking about is the fact that black people are also disproportionately vitamin D deficient due to the dark pigment of their skin, which doesnt as readily accept vitamin D-producing ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun as lighter skin does.

Consequently, millions of African Americans are vitamin D deficient, which means their bodies arent as protected against infection as lighter-skinned people, not to mention that black people are also disproportionately fatter and sicker, in many cases, compared to non-African Americans.

Were very concerned about it, added Dr. Anthony Fauci, whos been trying to sway Americans away from taking chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to fight the virus, and instead wait for an eventual Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.

Its very sad, its (sic) nothing we can do about it right now except to try and give them the best possible care to avoid those complications, he added.

Listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, discusses how Natural News has been right about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic pretty much since Day One:

All Americans could benefit from a little more vitamin D

Truth be told, most people these days are probably vitamin D deficient, seeing as how many of them work indoors all day, and are now cooped up even more due to Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) quarantines. But black people have it the worst, on average, which is why theyre most in need of this critical information.

But the Trump administration seems more concerned with steering people towards pharmaceuticals rather than nutrition, even though a healthy immune system is dependent upon proper nutrition. Vitamin D is inexpensive, safe, and when combined with vitamin K2 provides incredible immune support.

While black people arent more likely to catch the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) simply because theyre black, they are more likely to develop severe complications or die while having it, often due to other preexisting health conditions such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension.

Some 40 percent of all Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths in the state of Michigan, as one example, have occurred in black people, even though black people represent less than 15 percent of the states overall population.

The White House is currently said to be compiling demographic data to go along with Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) reporting, which will allow the public to see for itself how the pandemic is affecting various racial groups. And this is happening at the request of President Trump.

This is a critical issue for us that were raising, and were sounding the alarm, stated Hardie Davis, president of the African American Mayors Association and the current mayor of Augusta, Georgia, another area where the ratio of black infections and deaths to white infections and deaths is noticeably disproportionate.

We want to find the reason to it, added President Trump.

For more related news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com

USAToday.com
(Newser)  Los Angeles County prosecutors have added another charge, felony sexual battery by restraint, to their case against Harvey Weinstein. They said the charge involves a 2010 attack at a Beverly Hills hotel, NBC reports. The victim had been interviewed last year, prosecutors said, and provided information in March confirming that the case fell within the statute of limitations. Weinstein already faces a series of charges in Los Angeles County involving two 2013 incidents; that trial is pending.

story continues below

"We are continuing to build and strengthen our case," District Attorney Jackie Lacey said Friday in a statement, per the Los Angeles Times. "If we find new evidence of a previously unreported crime, as we did here, we will investigate and determine whether additional criminal charges should be filed." Weinstein is imprisoned in New York, where he was just released from a coronavirus quarantine. Conviction on the California charges could bring a sentence of 29 years in state prison. (Read more Harvey Weinstein stories.)
A female inmate in Northern Ireland who threatened to slice and smash the head of a nurse has been jailed for five months.

Belfast Magistrates' Court heard the victim was left terrified by Michelle Wilson's comments at Hydebank Women's Prison.

Wilson, 49, pleaded guilty to making threats to kill during the encounter on March 10 last year.

A prosecution lawyer said: "She told (the nurse) she would slice her face, smash her head and make sure she doesn't have any breath left in her body."

Later, the victim allegedly overheard Wilson talk about shooting her.

District Judge Amanda Henderson was told the defendant suffers from psychotic episodes and has no memory of the incident.

Turlough Madden, defending, said his client has battled mental health and drug issues, but has been clean since the incident.

Wilson, whose address was given as Hydebank, had been behind bars at the time for a previous offence, and was due for release in May.

But Mrs Henderson told her that she now faces a longer period in custody.

The judge described a victim impact report as "very powerful", adding that the nurse must have been "terrified".

Imposing five months imprisonment, she said: "These were extremely vicious threats towards someone there to protect the defendant's physical and mental health."
KENT COUNTY, MI -- A West Michigan nursing home hit hard by coronavirus COVID-19 cases is now reporting six deaths related to the virus.

The number was released Thursday, April 9 through a public relations representative for Metron of Cedar Springs.

Administrators with Metron, whose parent company is Mission Point Health Care Services, on March 31 announced that 31 residents and five staff members had tested positive for COVID-19.

31 residents, 5 staff at West Michigan nursing home have coronavirus

The death total at Metron of Cedar Springs represents more than half of Kent Countys 10 deaths attributed to the virus.

Among the deaths are 66-year-old Lou Ann Dagen, who died Saturday, April 4, and 81-year-old Anna Russell, who died Sunday, April 5.

WOODTV also reported that another resident, 96-year-old Maxine Pifer, died Monday, April 6.

Mark Winter with Identity Public Relations of Bingham Farms, said he was told the latest death happened Thursday morning. He did not have ages or dates of death for the remaining three residents.

Paul Pruitt, chief operating officer for Metron Integrated Health Systems, earlier said the Metron staff had been in continuous contact with doctors at Spectrum Health.

We are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety and protection of our residents, staff and community, he said in a written statement issued March 31.

Michigan coronavirus deaths top 1,000

The health, safety and wellbeing of our residents and our staff members is our top priority as we navigate this global pandemic and unprecedented health crisis, he said.

Sally Armstrong, a sister-in-law to Anna Russell, said she thought the Metron staff was doing the best they could under the circumstances.

She said Russell had excellent care while a resident at the center. She came to the facility more than six years ago.

I was just really pleased with the care she received there, she said.

Armstrong said family buried Russell on Wednesday but only a handful of family members could attend because of the ongoing ban on large gatherings.

We all wore masks, she said about the small assemblage.

Armstrong said the whole situation has been heartbreaking because no one with the family could visit Russell because nursing homes are essentially locked down to visitors. She had not seen her in-person for more than three weeks.

Russell retired from General Motors in Wyoming in 1999 and loved to cook and sew and, at one point, wanted to go into the catering business.

She was a devout Christian, Armstrong said.

For more statewide data, visit MLives coronavirus data page, here.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here

Thursday, April 9: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.

Coronavirus cases are growing outside metro Detroit and rural Michigan isnt ready
Published on 2020/04/09 | Source

From heart-aching love stories to affectionate eyes, there are those that make one want to jump into the TV and comfort them. We take a look at men in dramas who make us think, "I'd like to buy him a drink".

Advertisement

"Extraordinary You" Baek Kyeong

Ha Roo and Baek Kyeong are two leading characters from "Extraordinary You". Boys group SF9's Rowoon and rookie actor Lee Jae-wook's performance was just perfect. Ha Roo is like a big gentle dog while Baek Kyeong is a cold, but sometimes warm charismatic character who left behind the famous line "Eun Dan-oh, you're my girl". They made girls excited in the final episode at their graduation saying they were finally old enough to drink.

"Itaewon Class" Park Sae-ro-i

The hottest character at the moment is Park Sae-ro-i. Park Seo-joon synchronized 100% with the character of Park Sae-ro-i from the webtoon. He lost his father and went to prison in the first episode and sparked a sense of protection in viewers. His manly appeal while plotting a 'hip' revolt in Itaewon for revenge on Jang-ga made many want to have a drink with him, especially in his pub 'Dan Bam'.

"One Spring Night" Yoo Ji-ho

Yoo Ji-ho was acted out by Jung Hae-in. He went through affectionate love in the soft season of spring. His eyes looked like they're about to cry and has the magic ability to make one feel drunk without drinking a single drop. The way he raised his child alone without a wife made viewers want to buy him a drink along with something delicious.

"Crash Landing on You" Ri Jeong-hyeok

Ri Jeong-hyeok has become the perfect husband material to the 20-30s and the perfect son-in-law material to the 50-60s. Hyun Bin played out the part of a North Korean soldier in love perfectly. The way he was on that bike while shooting away with his gun to protect Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) is one of the most popular scenes. When he drank with Yoon Se-ri, many wanted to join them.

"When the Camellia Blooms" Hwang Yong-sik

Hwang Yong-sik is the male character in 2019's greatest drama "When the Camellia Blooms". Kang Ha-neul's good-natured appeal emphasized Hwang Yong-sik's innocence. The way he loved Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin) so innocently made him an ideal type to many. Every time he was bullied by Kang Jong-ryeol (Kim Ji-suk), he looked like he needed cheering up with a drink.

"Dr. Romantic 2" Seo Woo-jin

"Dr. Romantic 2" ended with a high viewing rate of 27%. Seo Woo-jin, played by Ahn Hyo-seop, was a blunt and bold character who helped viewers remember the actor's name. Social media was in a frenzy with Seo Woo-jin's 'reset kiss'. Despite his good looks, every time he went through an ordeal in the drama, he looked like he needed a huge beer.

"Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung" Yi Rim

'Do you like 000 or Cha Eun-woo?'

'Cha Eun-woo is... Cha Eun-woo'

Cha Eun-woo's beauty is beyond good-looking. Prince Do-won was just a star on his own.

Cha Eun-woo played a prince who pulled off the hanbok with luxuriousness and loved Goo Hae-ryung (Shin Se-kyung) with all his heart. Sometimes he looked childish, but was trustworthy and sturdy when it came to protecting Shin Se-kyung.

"Encounter" Kim Jin-hyeok

Kim Jin-hyeok is a character performed by Park Bo-gum in "Encounter". He comforted Cha Soo-hyeon (Song Hye-kyo) who lived a lonely life and brought along a craze for 'younger men'. Many female viewers would have wanted to buy him soju at the spot he went to all the time.

"I'll Visit You When the Weather Is Nice" Im Eun-seob

Im Eun-seob from 'I'll Visit You When the Weather Is Nice" was played by Seo Kang-joon. It hasn't been long since the drama started, but Seo Kang-joon's eyes are already being talked about. The way he's so cute and warm towards Hae-won (Park Min-young) touches the heartstrings of female viewers all over the world.
NEW DELHI: Nearly Rs 280 crore has been withdrawn in just ten days since the government allowed 75% withdrawal from the pension fund amid the current coronavirus COVID-19 crisis. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) said in a release that it has so far remitted Rs 279.65 crore to 1.37 lakh subscribers under the special withdrawal window provided as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) package.

Announcing the PMGKY package on March 26, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that nearly four crore workers registered with the EPFO can withdraw a non-refundable advance to the extent of the basic wages and dearness allowances for three months, or up to 75% of the amount standing to members credit in the EPF account, whichever is less.

After the FMs announcement, the same was notified by the EPFO on March 28.

Anticipating a huge surge in demand, the EPFO also came out with new software for online receipt and settlement of claims and deployed the software on March 29.

It may be informed that since the introduction of this scheme, the EPFO across the country has processed about 1.37 lakh claims disbursing an amount of Rs 279.65 crore and the remittances of the money have already started. The system as it stands today is processing all applications which are fully KYC-compliant within less than 72 hours, the EPFO said in a release.

An EPFO subscriber can also apply for a lesser amount. Being an advance, it does not attract income tax deductions.

Claims for availing of advance to fight the pandemic are to be filed online, necessitating every EPF account to be KYC-complaint as the pre-cursor.

In order to help millions of its subscribers, the organisation has also relaxed the criteria for correction in date of birth to ease KYC compliance.

It accepts the date of birth recorded in the Aadhaar card of a subscriber as a valid proof for rectification of the date of birth in PF records. All cases with variation in date of birth of up to three years are now being accepted by the EPFO.

Amid all this, the government is planning to allow subscribers of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) for a partial withdrawal from employees' contribution as the current lockdown to battle COVID-19 has crippled the monetary power of workers in the unorganised sector.

News agency PTI reported that the government circular would be out in a day or two for adding COVID-19 as one of the conditions for partial withdrawal from pension fund by APY subscribers.

"In our regulation, we already have an enabling provision of partial withdrawal for specific purposes such as life-threatening kind of emergency, or some kind of critical illness and the likes. There we have done a classification that it should include COVID-19 also," Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA) Chairman Supratim Bandyopadhyay said.

He said PFRDA has requested the finance ministry for enabling this provision. PFRDA runs two flagship pension schemes -- APY and NPS (National Pension System).

While the NPS caters to the central and state governments alongside autonomous bodies as well as individual taxpayers, APY is largely targeted for workers in the unorganised sector.

India's majority workforce is employed with this sector which is facing hardship due to the lockdown. Bandyopadhyay said there is unlikely to be any disruption in terms of PF contribution from NPS subscribers.
War of words continues at Barcelona as Rousaud lays into Bartomeu Barcelona Director hits back after board split

Emili Rousaud had been expected to succeed Josep Maria Bartomeu as the next president of Barcelona.

But after Bartomeu's extraordinary coup d'etat at Tuesday's board meeting, Rousaud has hit back, furthering the divide in a fractured Blaugrana boardroom.

"I didn't present my candidacy in [Tuesday's] meeting, because I wanted to first understand the outlook," Rousaud told Radio Catalunya.

"There would be no sense in declaring a succession plan at a meeting that had no credibility.

"There was a consensus in the meeting that if things were to remain the same, I wouldn't be involved.

"I really wanted that as I'm a huge supporter of this club."

Rousaud also discussed the situation surrounding Jaume Masferrer, Bartomeu's ex-adviser.

"Bartomeu told us that Masferrer has been suspended from work since 'Barcagate' (the social media scandal that has engulfed the club).

"I don't know if he's being paid or not.

"But I was surprised to hear another director tell me yesterday that Masferrer was ringing up to ask him things... maybe he is still advising the president, I don't know."

Rousaud revealed what Bartomeu had mentioned in relation to the coup d'etat during the meeting.

"Bartomeu called me to tell me that he wanted to change what was to happen in the meeting, and that he was suspicious of some of the directors, me included.

"Things had been leaked to the press that damaged the players and he thought I had been critical of how the board had handled it.

"I told Bartomeu that I talk to the press but hadn't leaked anything, and that I hadn't criticised the players.

"I also told him that, as in business, some people are more trustworthy than others.

"I didn't much appreciate him doing all this over the phone and without prior warning."

The 54-year-old felt that the Blaugrana president could've handled his demotion better.

"I understand that the president is looking for a different profile of director, but he could've waited three or four weeks to do it," he said.

"I don't like the way it's been done."

"When the audit was ready I had been prepared to present it.

"But before this Bartomeu had already made the decision to demote his vice-presidents.

"I don't believe in his reasoning for why things happened as they did."

Rousaud also spoke about the club's current money situation.

"We're in a difficult situation with the coronavirus crisis as regards our income," he mentioned.

"If there aren't any games, or TV rights, the sponsors will drop their paymnents to us.

"We can't take on much debt and it's important to preserve the way we run ourselves."

"In the committee meeting a few weeks ago, no one asked Bartomeu to step down, instead many leaned towards him carrying on up to the elections."

The matter of alleged financial irregularities also came up.

"I'm on the audit committee and the invoices of I3 Venture were set up to avoid the club's internal controls, that's a fact."
KYODO NEWS - Apr 10, 2020 - 13:24 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

The Kyoto prefectural government will request the central government to add it to regions placed under a state of emergency amid the coronavirus epidemic, Gov. Takatoshi Nishiwaki said Friday.

Nishiwaki announced the plan as the number of people infected with the virus has topped 160 in the prefecture, one of the top tourist destinations in Japan, adjacent to Osaka and Hyogo prefectures which are already covered by the emergency declaration.

"(We are) in a severe situation," Nishiwaki told a press conference, noting that infection routes of many of the new cases confirmed in the region over the past week are unknown.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures with big urban populations that have been grappling with a recent sharp uptrend in the number of new cases.

In a related development, the central Japan prefecture of Aichi has also asked the central government to be included in the state of emergency.

But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference on Friday that he has not heard whether Aichi and other prefectures would be added to the declaration.

Aichi, home to Toyota Motor Corp.'s headquarters and manufacturing facilities, declared its own month-long state of emergency on Friday and requested people to refrain from making nonessential outings.

On Friday, the governor of the neighboring prefecture of Gifu, Hajime Furuta, also issued its own emergency declaration in the afternoon.

The two prefectures' state of emergency has no legal basis, unlike the central government declaration.

Once being added to the list of the declaration, governors can expropriate private land and buildings for use in the battle against the virus, requisition medical supplies and food from companies that refuse to sell them and punish those that hoard or do not comply. They can also force firms to help transport emergency goods.
Taipei has alleged that Chinese internet users are impersonating island country's citizens to publish "racist comments" against WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as per Taiwan's Ministry of Justice.

This was revealed in a report published in the government-run Central News Agency (CNA) that comes a day after the WHO Director-General on Wednesday claimed the island has targeted him in a series of "racist comments" in the past few months, as reported by CNN.

The report published says that the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau has allegedly found a number of internet users, who pretend to be from Taiwan but are not and have published an increasing number of racist comments.

The Ministerial investigation into such attacks has allegedly traced accounts back to China, as per the Ministry. Taiwan has criticised such users for intentionally damaging the country's reputation

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has "strongly protested" against the accusation, adding that the island has always opposed all forms of discrimination.

Taiwan claims that it could not access timely information to save its people from the COVID-19. A claim that the WHO has denied.

Meanwhile, Taiwan is also frustrated for not being a member of WHO as China strongly opposes it and considers it a break-away part of the mainland.

The WHO chief in a press conference on Wednesday had said that internet users in Taiwan have published racist comments for months.

While giving an update on COVID-19 during the conference, he said, "Giving me names, black or negro ... I'm proud of being black, or proud of being negro -- I don't give a damn.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prosus, the global consumer internet group of Naspers, has committed Rs 100 crore to the Indian government's response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The donation will be made to the 'Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund' (PM CARES Fund) created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Donations received by the PM CARES Fund are used to alleviate directly the suffering of those affected by the COVID-19 crisis and to aid the emergency response (as well as promoting new technology and advancing research findings for resilience against similar situations in the future).

Prosus has been an investor in India since 2005 and is committed to contributing to India's growth and digital evolution through investing in local Indian entrepreneurs and companies.

To date, Prosus has invested more than USD 5billion in Indian technology businesses including classifieds, payments and fintech, ecommerce, education, and food delivery.

The group continues to partner with exceptional and transformative entrepreneurs who are using technology to provide economic opportunities and to improve the everyday lives of millions of people in India.

In addition to its direct contribution to the PM CARES Fund, Prosus is working closely with the companies it partners with, to support measures designed to help Indians affected by the situation.

A variety of innovative initiatives have been created by these companies to benefit their customers and communities.

* Swiggy has launched a campaign to donate meals to persons in need in India. The public can also donate to this campaign. The campaign is currently donating approximately 35,000 meals per day, with a goal of raising this to 500,000 meals per day as soon as possible.

* In addition to itself contributing directly to the PM CARES Fund, PayU has built a platform to enable any brand in India to start raising funds from its customers for the PM CARES Fund. PayU is also extending its support to NGOs and charities collecting relief donations for COVID-19, by charging zero transaction fees and processing donations at no cost. In addition, as part of the initiative to bring India online, PayU is helping small to medium businesses (SMBs) build free websites and get their online: PayU's 'Startups Helping Startups' platform is enabling emerging businesses to receive help from each other. PayU has also launched several other initiatives to help merchants, SMBs and entrepreneurs manage their during the COVID-19 crisis.

* OLX is allowing advertisements to stay on its site for an additional 30 days, at no extra cost, to help its customers during the lockdown period. Ads that have recently expired or are about to expire have also been extended. In addition, OLX will contribute to an NGO fund to help migrant and blue collar workers displaced by the crisis.

* BYJU'S has offered its learning platform for free in India until the end of April, helping parents support their children's learning while away from school.

Prosus's partner companies are working hard to safeguard and support their workers that have been affected by the situation, including the creationof a fund by Swiggy to help their drivers.

"These are unprecedented times and we want to play our part in contributing to the efforts underway in India. By working with government and civil society, we hope to help India overcome this very difficult period. We are also immensely proud of the innovative efforts of our partner companies to help their country, customers and colleagues", said Bob van Dijk, Group CEO, Prosus and Naspers.

"We have a deep relationship with India and are committed to supporting PM Modi, the Indian government and her citizens overcome this extraordinary crisis. Our contribution to the PM CARES Fund and the impactful work by our partners is a testament to our commitment", said Sehraj Singh, Director of Public Policy India, Prosus.

"We are fully committed and aligned with our government in their efforts to get through these challenging times. We are happy to extend our support in all possible ways and help our nation overcome this pandemic", said Anirban Mukherjee, CEO, PayU India.

This story is provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Chetan Ahimsa

It is only during periods of illness that so many of us are reminded how we take our physical and mental health for granted; similarly, in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic, the world has realised that we humans have always taken functioning societies with symbiotic ecosystems for granted.

Destruction of biodiversity is a possible reason for a crisis as widespread and debilitating as COVID-19, as suggested by respected theories. Harmful human actions include deforestation, mining, hunting, logging, wildlife cruelty, etc. Our urban settings with their congestion issues, pollution problems, and consistent travel facilitate the diseases spread and offer fertile hosts (i.e., human beings) for the virus. Metaphorically, when humans assault nature, the latter reciprocates; as a result, humans in every nation have begun retreating into their homes via social distancing; and consequently, nature is in a process of healing.

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

With human activity at a standstill, pollution levels across the globe have been reducing while fish, birds and animals are being sighted in never-before-seen numbers. Only time will tell if governments institutionally and citizens personally will learn from this pandemic and take steps to tread more softly on our planet. As a native American proverb suggests, We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.

On a personal level, the ongoing 21-day lockdown has given me an opportunity to introspect on the unjustified privileges I and so many with our class-caste-educational access are fortunate to have. As I sit at my computer in the friendly confines of my Bengaluru home with a heavy downpour outside, I can only imagine (without ever experiencing) the minute-to-minute struggles faced by those hardest hit by this national shutdown: the poor, daily-wage workers, and those without savings.

As a nation of unemployed, the few affluent like myself have to find ways to do timepass while the vast majority such as the labourers living hand-to-mouth who walk hundreds of kilometres across the nation with young children in their arms and livelihoods on their backs are uncertain whether they may see time pass for all that much longer. Ironically, the coronavirus which came to our nation via airplane travellers and globetrotters is wreaking havoc on those who use public transportation & live on ration cards.

Track sate-wise confirmed coronavirus cases here

It is during such times of transnational, unforeseen hardships that we as a society begin to value the sacrifices and dedication of true heroes (i.e, doctors, nurses, sanitation personnel, etc.) and not superficial ones playing roles on the silver-screen. Only those whose contributions either through words and/or actions that can alleviate the current volatility are held in high esteem while those celebrities & stars whose recognition is based on external popularity, fan clubs, & large cut-outs are neglected, being deemed futile, insignificant.

The simple question on many peoples minds currently is: how can we help? Its answer is a bit more complex. In the midst of social distancing, we must find our own unique ways of coming closer as a society. Each of us possesses varied talents, passions with different social networks; hence, how to give back must be determined on a personal level. I have seen several conscientious citizens with culinary capabilities cooking foods and packaging them while others in their circles hand them out to the needy and public servants. Some animal lovers are coming to the aid of street dogs in their neighbourhoods.

My social service has been two-fold: 1. assisting daily-wage cinema labourers financially; 2. providing essentials to nomadic communities in North Karnataka.

With shootings in the film industry currently on hold, the most affected are industry workers. Kannada Film Industry (KFI) has over 6,000+ daily-wage labourers, and our service organisation FIRE (Film Industry for Rights & Equality) has documented that 1,000+ of them are living below the poverty line (BPL). For these BPL workers, FIRE has already helped facilitate the allocation of 146 homes through government schemes.

Over the past couple weeks, FIRE has joined hands with director Pawan Kumars crowd-funding mechanism to disseminate funds of Rs 2,000 directly to the bank accounts of as many workers as possible from diverse film departments. In this initiative, FIRE has assisted in fundraising (Rs 9 lakh) as well as distributing to the economically-challenged (450+ cinema workers). Upon returning to normalcy, FIRE intends to bring union leaders from all departments together to compel the government to provide sustainable benefits for cinemas daily-wage labourers.

Nomadic communities in North Karnataka are among our states most disadvantaged, marginalised people. Nomads from diverse groups like the Sudagad Sidda, Sillekyatha, Gondali, Chennadasa, etc., are still living in small tents without bank accounts, ration or Aadhar cards. Their livelihoods, based on daily earnings from selling trinkets or performing theatre, have been decimated by this 21-day lockdown. Our social service organisation Yuva Karnataka that has been working to provide upliftment to nomads across the state for the past three years has donated necessary items like food essentials, oils, and soaps to 300 dispossessed nomadic families in Bidar district. After this corona crisis is dealt with, Yuva Karnataka aims to continue working for our states poorest and most neglected including the nomads.

If we can learn something redeeming from the coronavirus, its equality for all. Covid19 doesnt discriminate on gender, caste, class, religion, race, language, sexuality, colour, looks, job, age, nationhood, education, IQ, or EQ. If only we viewed all human beings with the same equality this virus views us

And, as a newlywed with a wife who also believes in a marriage of equality, the current lockdown period has given us both an opportunity to understand one another on deeper, more meaningful levels. I hope, like ours, all relationships can grow more fruitful, thoughtful, and beautiful through and after because of corona-- just as we hope our planet will.



(Chetan Ahimsa is an actor and social activist)
The coronavirus pandemic has not stopped the new, groundbreaking housing partnership between Holyoke Community College and Westfield State University.

The institutions share a partnership in a state-sponsored pilot program that provides free campus housing and meal plans to students struggling with homelessness and food insecurity. Although the arrangements have been complicated since the coronavirus outbreak, Governor Charlie Bakers stay-at-home advisory and the transition to remote instruction at both colleges, the students remain housed on the Westfield campus.

Westfield and HCC were the sixth college team chosen for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Educations Campus Housing Security Pilot program, which matches a public university with a nearby community college to offer free room and board for up to five students.

Beginning with the spring 2020 semester, two first-year students from HCC, as well as a senior, junior, and sophomore from Westfield State, have been living in a dormitory on the Westfield campus with full campus meal plans. The program also provides for free public transportation from Westfield to Holyoke, as well as case management services and other resources through the Shine Young Adult Housing Program in Springfield.

The program started last year with the pairing of Bridgewater State University and Massasoit Community College; Framingham State University and MassBay Community College; Worcester State University and Quinsigamond Community College; and UMass Lowell and Middlesex Community College.

This year, Salem State University and North Shore Community College were added as a team, along with Westfield State and HCC.

An unfortunate byproduct of growing income inequality in Massachusetts is the rise of hunger and homelessness among our students, said Carlos E. Santiago, commissioner of Higher Education.

I am thrilled to see the expansion of our pilot program to serve this vulnerable population and commend our campus leaders for committing resources to fund meal plans and offer academic supports that will increase the likelihood that these students succeed in earning college credentials.

The goal is to help struggling students gain stability in their lives so they can complete their college degrees and make a successful transition to permanent housing and meaningful careers.

A lot of people are surprised to hear that housing insecurity and homelessness are a reality on many college campuses, HCC president Christina Royal said.

In order for our students to succeed academically, we must address some of the challenges they face with their basic needs. This partnership with Westfield will provide stability for these students so they can focus on their studies.

The state is providing $48,000 per regional campus team to cover the cost for five beds in a university residence hall, with additional block grant funding from the Department of Higher Education to cover any remaining housing costs.

Each participating institution covers the cost of its own students meal plans, which for the two HCC students is being paid by the HCC Foundation, the colleges nonprofit fundraising corporation.

The five students will also continue to live on the Westfield campus during vacation breaks and summer months. To be eligible, they must be enrolled full time and be in good academic standing.

We are proud to help address an increasing societal issue by assisting some students with housing and meals on campus through this thoughtful, state-initiated program, said Gloria Lopez, Westfield State vice president for student affairs.

We are fortunate and pleased that we are able to accommodate these students, as we eagerly welcome them to our supportive learning environment and inclusive campus community.

Massachusetts is the first state to address these issues as a matter of intentional, state-level public policy, thanks to a unique partnership among the departments of higher education, housing and community development, and health and human services.
- Jinkee Pacquiao shared good vibes on Instagram amid the COVID-19 crisis in the Philippines

- She did that by uploading photos of the Pacquiao family home gym in Makati

- This Makati mansion is where Senator Manny Pacquiaos wife and children are staying amid the enhanced community quarantine in the country

- Jinkee is taking advantage of all the time being spent at home to get fit, healthy and strong

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Jinkee Pacquiao took to social media to share good vibes amid the COVID-19 crisis in the Philippines.

KAMI learned that she uploaded photos of the Pacquiao family home gym in Makati.

This Makati mansion is where Senator Manny Pacquiaos wife and children are staying amid the enhanced community quarantine in the country.

Based on the pictures, Jinkee is taking advantage of all the time being spent at home to get fit, healthy and strong.

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

In a previous report by KAMI, Jinkee showed off different interior shots of one of the Pacquiao mansions in Makati.

Jinkee Pacquiao worked as a sales attendant for a cosmetics brand before she met Manny Pacquiao. Her uncle introduced her to Manny, who happened to be the latter's trainer at that time. They got married in 2000 and they have five children  Emmanuel Jr., Michael Stephen, Mary Divine Grace, Queen Elizabeth, and Israel.

Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters!

Our host Paula Coling gave some tips on how to wisely spend your time at home during the enhanced community quarantine! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
Exactly 50 years ago, Apollo 13 set off from Earth and for the Moon. Just a couple of days later came a blast and the words that would shock and fascinate the world: "OK, Houston, we've had a problem here".

Nasa is marking the anniversary of the mission it refers to as a "successful failure", which represents one of its most high-profile disasters and its most famous miracles. It is a part of space history that is celebrated even today, with the story of the mission continuing to captivate the world.

It was 11 April that marked the day the astronauts blasted off on their way to the Moon, and 13 April that an oxygen tank explosion started the mission to save the astronauts from being stuck in space.

On 17 April, nearly exactly six days after the mission began, the astronauts fell back through the Earth's atmsosphere and arrived safely back on Earth. It was an unlikely end to an unlucky mission.

While it is now remembered as one of the most important moments in Nasa's history, the mission began in relative obscurity for a trip to the Moon. Apollo 11 had already managed to get to the lunar surface, and so what just a couple of years before was regarded as a near-impossibility was by that time relatively unexciting.

Recommended Astronauts on screen from The Right Stuff to Apollo 13 and Gravity

But hours later, television stations around the world were giving rolling updates on the mission's status, following closely as the astronauts and Nasa engineers back on Earth tried to save them from disaster.

As well as being a relatively unwatched mission, the first couple of days of the journey were almost tediously straightforward. After two days of flight, one of the Nasa staff in mission control joked the astronauts that the spacecraft was in such good shape that they were "bored to tears".

Problems began on Apollo 13 when the astronauts were nearing the Moon and heard a bang and felt a shudder through their spacecraft. During what should have been a routine stir, one of the oxygen tanks on the spacecraft had burst and exploded.

(After the mission was over, the explosion was traced back to overheating while the spacecraft was being tested on the ground, but there was no way to know that at the time.)

The explosion also knocked out the fuel cells that should have been powering the spacecraft, and sent voltage in its circuits plunging. Engineers watching the mission from Mission Control saw the pressure in the damaged oxygen tank drop instantly.

"OK, Houston, we've had a problem here," said Jack Swigert, the command module pilot who had actually joined the mission as a last-minute substitute for a colleague who had become sick just before the mission took off.

"This is Houston. Say again, please."

"Houston, we've had a problem," said Jim Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13.

Almost immediately, it became clear that the astronauts would not be landing on the Moon, as planned. But that was a relatively unimportant challenge compared with the more pressing job of staying alive.

In many ways, the explosion happened at the best possible time, and the astronauts would later say they considered themselves lucky. If it had happened earlier, they would have run out of power; later, and the blast could have happened in lunar orbit or on the surface of the Moon.

Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Mystic Mountain, a pillar of gas and dust standing at three-light-years tall, bursting with jets of gas from fledgling stars buried within, was captured by Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope in February 2010 Nasa/ESA/STScI Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures The first ever selfie taken on an alien planet, captured by Nasa's Curiosity Rover in the early days of its mission to explore Mars in 2012 Nasa/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Death of a star: This image from Nasa's Chandra X-ray telescope shows the supernova of Tycho, a star in our Milky Way galaxy Nasa Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Arrokoth, the most distant object ever explored, pictured here on 1 January 2019 by a camera on Nasa's New Horizons spaceraft at a distance of 4.1 billion miles from Earth Getty Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory in January 2012. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures The first ever image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon telescope, as part of a global collaboration involving Nasa, and released on 10 April 2019. The image reveals the black hole at the centre of Messier 87, a massive galaxy in the nearby Virgo galaxy cluster. This black hole resides about 54 million light-years from Earth Getty Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Pluto, as pictured by Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft as it flew over the dwarf planet for the first time ever in July 2015 Nasa/APL/SwRI Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures A coronal mass ejection as seen by the Chandra Observatory in 2019. This is the first time that Chandra has detected this phenomenon from a star other than the Sun Nasa Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks running downhill on the surface Mars were believed to be evidence of contemporary flowing water. It has since been suggested that they may instead be formed by flowing sand Nasa/JPL/University of Arizona Nasa's groundbreaking decade of space exploration: In pictures Morning Aurora: Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station in October 2015 Nasa/Scott Kelly

But the astronauts now still needed to travel the 200,000 miles back to Earth, and do it without the oxygen or power they required for the journey. It would require them to slingshot around the Moon  coming frustratingly close to the surface they were supposed to land on  and then whip back around and float back home to Earth.

In the meantime, mission control got to work putting together a rescue plan while the astronauts on board attempted to put out of their mind just how likely it was they would now die in space, something they say they never discussed.

Flight controllers told the astronauts to shut down their command module and climb into Aquarius. That module was supposed to be the box that took the astronauts down to the lunar surface  but was refashioned into a lifeboat in an attempt to conserve power.

Because it was never meant for so many people for so long, the lander was low on space. It was also filled with carbon dioxide, as the astronauts breathed inside their new, tiny spacecraft.

One of the most famous breakthroughs came as engineers tried to find a way to fix that problem, by using the air purifiers from the now abandoned capsule in the lander. The two were the wrong shape to fit together  they were literally trying to fit a square canister into a round hole  but engineers back on Earth came up with a way of using various pieces of spacecraft to push the two together.

Even once that was fixed, conditions inside the lander were miserable, without the energy for heating or other improvements to their conditions. They were stuck inside of a frigid box that was never meant to hold them, stuck for days with little to do but wait and see if the various last-minute solutions to their desperate situation would actually work.

(The astronauts have said they didn't argue during this time, despite the miserable conditions, and didn't talk about the possibility of getting stuck floating in space and waiting to die either; Lovell wrote in his autobiography that they "were too busy struggling for survival". He also denied that they had poison pills hidden away in case of becoming lost.)

Eventually they arrived back near home for what is traditionally one of the most perilous parts of the journey: dropping back through Earth's atmosphere to come home. They had enough power to switch on the command module and wait as they went through the gruelling, hot ordeal of slamming back down to Earth.

As they did, the communications blackout that comes from the extreme conditions of the Earth's atmosphere lingered for much longer than usual, leaving flight controllers in the dark as to whether the three astronauts and their hacked-together spacecraft had survived.

But eventually they appeared in the air, the spacecraft being cradled by three parachutes as it fell through the sky and down to Earth. They were picked up and all three completed a journey whose legacy  one of inventiveness and luck that became mission control's greatest achievement  is still celebrated by Nasa today.
Chandigarh, April 10 : In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, an Indian-origin owner of restaurants in Oslo has been providing free Indian food to doctors, nurses and others on the frontline.

In a video shared on Twitter by former UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim, he said: "Bravo! Baljit Singh and his family are running the best Indian restaurants in Norway.

"During the coronavirus lockdown they give fabulous Indian food free of charge to health personal at the frontline and to poor people. Great service." Congratulating Singh, the Embassy of India in Oslo said he has been doing wonderful social service for the past many years and making India proud.

"Keep up the good job," it said in a Facebook post.
Book by former PGC officer highlights unusual wildlife encounters

Dick Bodenhorn has published a book highlighting some of the unusual encounters he had while working with the Pennsylvania Game Commision.
Italy shut ports as a safety measure but people fleeing war and persecution continue to arrive, upsetting some locals.

Rome, Italy  Tensions are rising on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where dozens of refugees and migrants have continued to arrive despite a recent government order closing domestic ports to international charity refugee boats wishing to dock.

Italian ministers on Tuesday ruled that at least until July 31, for the duration of the national health emergency sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, domestic ports can no longer be considered a place of safety  a move which caused concern among some refugee rights groups.

But although international rescue vessels such as the German NGO vessel the Alan Kurdi are being kept offshore by this new measure, small ships setting sail from Libya and Tunisia have continued to arrive towards the Italian coastline.

We cannot stop migrants: if they set sail, it means that they have to dock somewhere, Salvatore Martello, the mayor of Lampedusa, told Al Jazeera.

Lampedusa is Italys southernmost island, closer to Tunisia than to Sicily. Three wooden boats, carrying 34, 67 and 57 asylum seekers, have disembarked on the island this week.

Italy requires all arrivals to undergo a two-week quarantine.

When the first 34 refugees docked on Monday, before the new restrictions at the ports, they went into quarantine at a local reception centre, which can host a maximum of 96 people in normal times.

But after physical distancing became a requirement for every public facility, there is even less room available.

The next arrivals were made to wait the whole night in the harbour.

Half were subsequently let into the centre, while the others were transferred to the mainland on a regular ferry line.

Arrivals are not decided by controls in the open sea or on African shores, but simply by the good weather, Martello said. And forecasts until Saturday are good.

Claudia Vitali, a humanitarian worker for Mediterranean Hope, the reception programme run by the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy, told Al Jazeera: The island does not have the capability of receiving migrants in the long run in full compliance with the health protocols required by the COVID-19 emergency.

Locals protest as more refugees arrive

While the newly arrived refugees waited to be transferred, about 60 Lampedusa locals held a demonstration in front of the town hall.

Martello claimed the protest arose after three African men left the reception centre for a walk, a sight that upset some citizens who were frustrated the newcomers were not abiding by quarantine rules.

Martello said he understood the locals concerns and fears more arrivals could inflame tensions further.

Since there is no more room to receive asylum seekers, he has appealed to the Ministry of the Interior to ask for a welcoming boat to be permanently docked in the harbour.

There are health rules that must be abided by to protect our individual and collective safety, and these must be applied to everyone, migrants included, he said.

Mediterranean Hope has been monitoring the conditions of asylum seekers on the island since the aftermath of the October 2013 shipwreck, when 360 refugees and migrants were believed to have drowned.

Vitali, who has lived on Lampedusa for 10 months, says while preserving the health of refugees and citizens was paramount, closing ports is not a solution.

The coronavirus wont stop those escaping from violence and prosecution, she said.

After a lull in the arrival of boats from Africa at the end of 2019, numbers started to pick up again in the first two months of this year  only to plunge in March as Italy was hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

But the trend could yet reverse again.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least six boats have departed from Libya since the beginning of April, carrying roughly 500 people, among them 150 later rescued by the Alan Kurdi.

According to Vitali, Lampedusa, home to about 6,000 people, would not be able to cope with the kind of coronavirus outbreak wreaking havoc in northern Italy.

More than 18,000 people have died in Italy from coronavirus, a disease that has infected more than 143,000 people in the country.

With only 115 infections, the province of Agrigento, which includes Lampedusa, has been relatively spared.

The only citizen found positive on the island was a woman who travelled back from Bergamo, one of the worst-affected areas in the north of the mainland.
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
EDITORS NOTE: This article is part of the Intelligencers series  Ask Us. Anyone who has questions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic should use the new coronavirus question box located on our website at theintelligencer.com to submit your questions.

EDWARDSVILLE  As a way to help combat the coronavirus, Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered all non-essential businesses close beginning late last month ago. Among the list of essential businesses that remain open are grocery stores.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges people to avoid shopping if you are showing symptoms of COVID-19. Other safety measures the CDC suggests are ordering online and using curbside pickup, protecting yourself while shopping by wearing protective equipment and washing your hands.

Stores in the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon area are facilitating standards of safety for employees and customers to help thwart the spread of the coronavirus. Most stores, taking into consideration the advice of the CDC, are asking that all shoppers wear facemasks flatten the curve.

Some specific measures from area stores include:

 Dierbergs - Edwardsville (6671 Edwardsville Crossing Drive)

As of April 5, Dierbergs policy includes one shopper per household as a way to cut down on the number of people in each location. At all 23 locations in both Missouri and Illinois, the overall number of shoppers will be limited at each location. The grocer has begun distributing protective bandanas and special eyewear for employees. Dierbergs was also the first store in the Edwardsville area to install plexiglass barriers at each of its cashier stations. Dierbergs in Edwardsville has also changed its multi-use doors to be used as either an entrance or exit, no longer used as both. At the Edwardsville location, there are also sanitization stations at both the entrance and exit.

 Schnucks - Edwardsville (2222 Troy Road)

Schnucks is joining Dierbergs as they will also limit one shopper per household and the overall number in each location. They have also temporarily suspended all Rug Doctor and Redbox rentals. Vendors, starting April 13, will no longer be allowed on-site if not wearing the proper protection like facemasks, bandanas will not be sufficient. Shoppers are no longer allowed to bring in their own personal reusable bags. The hope is that any bacteria on personal reusable bags would not be able to hitch a ride into the store. As a way to cut down on handling money, lottery sales are temporarily suspended in all locations as they must be bought using cash. Rainchecks and floral online or in-app purchases are temporarily suspended. All locations also have plexiglass walls set up as well.

 Walmart - Glen Carbon (400 Jct Dr. W)

The first step that Walmart took in Glen Carbon was installing barricades, forcing shoppers to funnel into lines. At each entrance, there are rope barricades that corral shoppers through the doors and mark where the appropriate place is to stand to keep a safe six feet apart. The company chose this route as a way to not only help control the number of people going into the store, but also help promote social distancing. Once through the first set of sliding doors, a worker is armed with a tablet that tallies the number of people entering and exiting the store. Walmart said they are limiting the store to no more than five customers per 1,000 sq. ft. into the store. This is about 20 percent of its overall capacity. Walmart would not comment on the exact numbers. Walmart also shifted their hours and are now open from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily. Walmart pharmacies are open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to p.m. on Sundays. Shoppers 60 and older are allowed to shop from 6 a.m. to p.m. at all locations only on Tuesdays.

 Target - Edwardsville (2350 Troy Road)

Target is also monitoring the number of customers allowed in the store in relation to its square footage. If need be, Target crew members will set up waiting areas marking off six feet distances for those who wish to go in and shop. Target is also supplying its frontline workers with gloves and facemasks.

 Joes Market Basket - Edwardsville (447 South Buchanan St.)

Joes is offering curbside pick-up as their main way to combat the coronavirus. To participate, shoppers should call their local Joes with a list of what is desired and workers will fulfill as best as possible, there may be some substitutes. Shoppers are advised to place their order before 11 a.m. so it can be picked up after 1 p.m. The Edwardsville locations number is 618-656-9055

 Green Earth Grocery - Edwardsville (441 South Buchanan St.)

For the time being, Green Earth is only offering curbside pick-up from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. To place your order either call 618-656-3375 or visit their website at: https://www.greenearthgrocer.com/
G4S boss Ashley Almanza has been awarded stock in the security firm worth almost 2.6million at current prices.

The 57-year-old South African will be handed the shares in three years time if he meets performance targets.

Almanza was criticised last year over a 240,000 cash payment to go towards his retirement.

He has been chief executive of G4S since 2013.
Chief Minister



Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday directed officials to maintain a strict vigil on the Assam-Bangladesh border in Salmara- Mankachar district.

He asked the deputy commissioner to have regular interactions with the Border Security Force so that none could move even to the "No Man's land" along the border for farm activities during the lockdown period.

While reviewing COVID-19 preparedness of the district, the chief minister also directed the Veterinary and Animal Husbandry department to arrange adequate feeds for animals in the district.

The chief minister also visited Goalpara district and held a review meeting with the administration to take stock of COVID-19 preparedness apart from visiting a quarantine centre set up at Goalpara College.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grand Rapids firefighters searched the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids after witnesses saw a man go under the water.

Firefighters responded about 4:30 p.m. to the river.

Grand Rapids Fire Chief John Lehman said there were conflicting reports about how the man got into the river, but witnesses in a boat apparently last saw him near the Gillette Bridge behind DeVos Place.

Fire crews used boats and poles to search the river.

More from MLIve

Healthcare workers cheer first coronavirus critical care recovery at Grand Rapids hospital

Muskegon area African Americans disproportionate coronavirus suffering grows
The corporate hub of Gurugram in Haryana bordering Delhi has become the latest addition to the list of places where the wearing of face masks has been made compulsory. The Haryana government released an order to this effect on Friday evening, making masks compulsory for all who are out in public spaces even if they are inside their vehicles.

A similar order is in effect in several adjoining areas in the national capital region including Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad.

The order released by the district authorities in Gurugram says all persons in public places like streets, hospitals, markets, offices, etc must be wearing a 3-ply mask or cloth mask compulsorily.

It goes on to specify that any person who is moving around in his personal or official vehicle must be wearing these masks compulsorily.

The order also says that any person or officer will attend any meeting or go to the workplace wearing the facemasks.

It further states that any violation of this order will be punishable under Section 188 of the indian penal code and will also be penalised.

States like UP and Odisha have made the wearing of masks compulsory in the entire state with Odisha even instructing all petrol pumps across major cities to not dispense fuel to anyone who is not found wearing a mask.

Several NGOs and other organizations have been roped in for manufacturing masks, which are either being supplied to state administration or distributed among the providers of essential services.

The health ministry has also released guidelines on the specifications for homemade masks.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  You find out what people are really made of in a crisis.

The coronavirus pandemic has been no different, and it has been Gov. Andrew Cuomo who has stood head and shoulders above just about everyone else, including President Donald Trump and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Cuomo has provided decisive, steady leadership literally every day since COVID-19 began to really hit us here in New York. His daily press briefings have become must-see TV across the country.

Cuomos stock has risen so high that people began to mention him as a potential Democratic candidate for president. Too bad that Joe Biden has that slot sewn up for 2020.

But Cuomo for vice president, perhaps? Stay tuned.

Its not that the first time that White House talk has surrounded a member of the Cuomo family. The governors father, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, was also considered presidential timber.

But its not just on the big stage that Cuomo has excelled during the crisis. Take a look at what hes done on Staten Island.

Cuomo ensured that the Island had the first drive-through coronavirus testing facility in the city, on the grounds of South Beach Psychiatric Center. Part of the governors thinking: Staten Islanders are more car-reliant than the other boroughs. So a drive-through made sense here.

At last, an occasion where Staten Islands car culture, so vilified by some New York officials, actually worked in our favor.

With Cuomos office spearheading the effort along with the state departments of Health and Environmental Conservation, as well as the Army National Guard, the testing facility was up and running within days. Personnel from Northwell Health, parent system of neighboring Staten Island University Hospital, do the actual testing.

And while there were initial questions about site operations, and frustration expressed by people who were unable to get through on the phone to make a test appointment, an average of about 700 people have been tested at the site each day. Testing has been a crucial part of helping the state manage the coronavirus crisis.

The governors office, working with Northwell and the leadership of SIUH, also moved quickly to establish a 262-bed emergency hospital facility in a new but unopened building also on the South Beach Psych campus. Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), currently deployed with the National Guard, has been the National Guard lead at that facility.

Cuomo promised resources, and he delivered. And in time to actually put a dent in the coronavirus pandemic here.

It makes sense: Staten Island would be the second largest city in the state if we stood on our own. We need and deserve resources to serve our population of 500,000.

But we havent always been treated that way during the pandemic.

Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered a surge in coronavirus ICU beds and personnel, aimed at boosting capacity in the citys public hospital system. But Staten Island has no public hospital, so we didnt get the benefit of those extra resources.

De Blasio backhanded us again when he failed to send us any of the 291 military medical personnel the city received from the federal government. Again, the public hospital system, which we are not a part of, got those resources.

Staten Island often feels like a forgotten borough, even in the best of times. Other boroughs have bigger populations. Their politics arent like ours. Were literally an island, physically cut off from the rest of the city. People are amazed when they hear that we take a boat to get here.

The pandemic has been a time when we were told that we were all in this together. Cuomo has made sure that the Island wasnt left out.
The Punjab and Uttarakhand governments recommended on Friday that the ongoing national lockdown be extended beyond April 14, when it was supposed to end, and restrictions not be lifted until the end of the month.

The Punjab announcement came hours after chief minister Amarinder Singh insisted it was the only way to fight Covid-19 as the community transmission has started in his state with 27 cases linked to secondary sources.

Later in the day, the Uttarakhand government recommended the extension of lockdown till April 30, closure of all educational institutions till May 15 and made masks mandatory for all residents.

The recommendations came a day after Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik extended the lockdown in his state till April 30. There were calls from states such as Tamil Nadu for extending the curbs. The BJP-ruled states have left it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take a decision on extending the lockdown.

Modi on Wednesday indicated that his government is not inclined to lift the emergency protocol in its entirety on April 14. He is due to discuss extending the lockdown with chief ministers on Saturday. The number of positive Covid-19 cases will increase as is happening across the world and even in India. How can Punjab be isolated from it? We have contained the pandemic to some level as compared to other states. But this will spread, Singh told media via video-conferencing.

He said the 27 positive cases of secondary transmission were a serious cause of worry and that is why the Centre has to consider extending the lockdown. Punjab has reported 151 cases and 11 deaths. We had around 140,000 NRIs and foreign returnees... They were the primary ones. Now, with 27 positive cases of secondary transmission we have entered the stage of community transmission.

The Union health ministry has denied that India had reached the community transmission stage, insisting that it was still at the local transmission stage.

Singh said he would convey the decision of his cabinet to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

Singh said in view of the harvest season in Punjab starting from April 15, the state government will allow district-wise exemption for farmers to harvest the rabi crop with appropriate social distancing.

We are expecting another bumper crop of 185 lakh tonnes of wheat this year and for that we will have to make adequate arrangements, he said.

In Uttarakhand, the policy enumerating steps to move out of lockdown was formulated at a meeting at the residence of chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat, on Friday evening.

Madan Kaushik, cabinet minister and spokesperson, said the decision regarding extending lockdown till April 30 will be sent to the Central government for approval.

Regarding other points in the policy like making masks compulsory, the state government has taken them on its own and doesnt need the permission of Centre, he said.

In Tamil Nadu, a panel of health care experts on Friday recommended extending the lockdown till the end of April. After meeting with them, chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami said the final decision would be made on Saturday.
What is the coronavirus?

A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people. Viruses break into cells inside their host and use them to reproduce itself and disrupt the body's normal functions. Coronaviruses are named after the Latin word 'corona', which means crown, because they are encased by a spiked shell which resembles a royal crown.

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Experts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a 'sister' of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it.

The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

Dr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals.

'Until this new coronavirus was identified, there were only six different coronaviruses known to infect humans. Four of these cause a mild common cold-type illness, but since 2002 there has been the emergence of two new coronaviruses that can infect humans and result in more severe disease (Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses).

'Coronaviruses are known to be able to occasionally jump from one species to another and that is what happened in the case of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus. The animal origin of the new coronavirus is not yet known.'

The first human cases were publicly reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where approximately 11million people live, after medics first started publicly reporting infections on December 31.

By January 8, 59 suspected cases had been reported and seven people were in critical condition. Tests were developed for the new virus and recorded cases started to surge.

The first person died that week and, by January 16, two were dead and 41 cases were confirmed. The next day, scientists predicted that 1,700 people had become infected, possibly up to 7,000.

Where does the virus come from?

According to scientists, the virus almost certainly came from bats. Coronaviruses in general tend to originate in animals  the similar SARS and MERS viruses are believed to have originated in civet cats and camels, respectively.

The first cases of COVID-19 came from people visiting or working in a live animal market in Wuhan, which has since been closed down for investigation.

Although the market is officially a seafood market, other dead and living animals were being sold there, including wolf cubs, salamanders, snakes, peacocks, porcupines and camel meat.

A study by the Wuhan Institute of Virology, published in February 2020 in the scientific journal Nature, found that the genetic make-up virus samples found in patients in China is 96 per cent identical to a coronavirus they found in bats.

However, there were not many bats at the market so scientists say it was likely there was an animal which acted as a middle-man, contracting it from a bat before then transmitting it to a human. It has not yet been confirmed what type of animal this was.

Dr Michael Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, was not involved with the research but said: 'The discovery definitely places the origin of nCoV in bats in China.

'We still do not know whether another species served as an intermediate host to amplify the virus, and possibly even to bring it to the market, nor what species that host might have been.'

So far the fatalities are quite low. Why are health experts so worried about it?

Experts say the international community is concerned about the virus because so little is known about it and it appears to be spreading quickly.

It is similar to SARS, which infected 8,000 people and killed nearly 800 in an outbreak in Asia in 2003, in that it is a type of coronavirus which infects humans' lungs. It is less deadly than SARS, however, which killed around one in 10 people, compared to approximately one in 50 for COVID-19.

Another reason for concern is that nobody has any immunity to the virus because they've never encountered it before. This means it may be able to cause more damage than viruses we come across often, like the flu or common cold.

Speaking at a briefing in January, Oxford University professor, Dr Peter Horby, said: 'Novel viruses can spread much faster through the population than viruses which circulate all the time because we have no immunity to them.

'Most seasonal flu viruses have a case fatality rate of less than one in 1,000 people. Here we're talking about a virus where we don't understand fully the severity spectrum but it's possible the case fatality rate could be as high as two per cent.'

If the death rate is truly two per cent, that means two out of every 100 patients who get it will die.

'My feeling is it's lower,' Dr Horby added. 'We're probably missing this iceberg of milder cases. But that's the current circumstance we're in.

'Two per cent case fatality rate is comparable to the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 so it is a significant concern globally.'

How does the virus spread?

The illness can spread between people just through coughs and sneezes, making it an extremely contagious infection. And it may also spread even before someone has symptoms.

It is believed to travel in the saliva and even through water in the eyes, therefore close contact, kissing, and sharing cutlery or utensils are all risky. It can also live on surfaces, such as plastic and steel, for up to 72 hours, meaning people can catch it by touching contaminated surfaces.

Originally, people were thought to be catching it from a live animal market in Wuhan city. But cases soon began to emerge in people who had never been there, which forced medics to realise it was spreading from person to person.

What does the virus do to you? What are the symptoms?

Once someone has caught the COVID-19 virus it may take between two and 14 days, or even longer, for them to show any symptoms  but they may still be contagious during this time.

If and when they do become ill, typical signs include a runny nose, a cough, sore throat and a fever (high temperature). The vast majority of patients will recover from these without any issues, and many will need no medical help at all.

In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people.

Figures are showing that young children do not seem to be particularly badly affected by the virus, which they say is peculiar considering their susceptibility to flu, but it is not clear why.

What have genetic tests revealed about the virus?

Scientists in China have recorded the genetic sequences of around 19 strains of the virus and released them to experts working around the world.

This allows others to study them, develop tests and potentially look into treating the illness they cause.

Examinations have revealed the coronavirus did not change much  changing is known as mutating  much during the early stages of its spread.

However, the director-general of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, said the virus was mutating and adapting as it spread through people.

This means efforts to study the virus and to potentially control it may be made extra difficult because the virus might look different every time scientists analyse it.

More study may be able to reveal whether the virus first infected a small number of people then change and spread from them, or whether there were various versions of the virus coming from animals which have developed separately.

How dangerous is the virus?

The virus has a death rate of around two per cent. This is a similar death rate to the Spanish Flu outbreak which, in 1918, went on to kill around 50million people.

Experts have been conflicted since the beginning of the outbreak about whether the true number of people who are infected is significantly higher than the official numbers of recorded cases. Some people are expected to have such mild symptoms that they never even realise they are ill unless they're tested, so only the more serious cases get discovered, making the death toll seem higher than it really is.

However, an investigation into government surveillance in China said it had found no reason to believe this was true.

Dr Bruce Aylward, a World Health Organization official who went on a mission to China, said there was no evidence that figures were only showing the tip of the iceberg, and said recording appeared to be accurate, Stat News reported.

Can the virus be cured?

The COVID-19 virus cannot be cured and it is proving difficult to contain.

Antibiotics do not work against viruses, so they are out of the question. Antiviral drugs can work, but the process of understanding a virus then developing and producing drugs to treat it would take years and huge amounts of money.

No vaccine exists for the coronavirus yet and it's not likely one will be developed in time to be of any use in this outbreak, for similar reasons to the above.

The National Institutes of Health in the US, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, say they are working on a vaccine based on what they know about coronaviruses in general, using information from the SARS outbreak. But this may take a year or more to develop, according to Pharmaceutical Technology.

Currently, governments and health authorities are working to contain the virus and to care for patients who are sick and stop them infecting other people.

People who catch the illness are being quarantined in hospitals, where their symptoms can be treated and they will be away from the uninfected public.

And airports around the world are putting in place screening measures such as having doctors on-site, taking people's temperatures to check for fevers and using thermal screening to spot those who might be ill (infection causes a raised temperature).

However, it can take weeks for symptoms to appear, so there is only a small likelihood that patients will be spotted up in an airport.

Is this outbreak an epidemic or a pandemic?

The outbreak was declared a pandemic on March 11. A pandemic is defined by the World Health Organization as the 'worldwide spread of a new disease'.

Previously, the UN agency said most cases outside of Hubei had been 'spillover' from the epicentre, so the disease wasn't actually spreading actively around the world.
A hospital in Michigan has discharged its first critical care coronavirus patient, video from April 8 shows.

Mercy Health Saint Marys, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, praised those who had treated the patient in a Facebook post. This is what our remarkable health care colleagues on the front lines of COVID-19 are fighting for, the post said.

As the patient is being pushed down the corridor to the sound of applause, he can be heard turning and saying: Just thank you for saving my life. It means everything to me. I dont know what else to say but thank you.

The US had 427,460 confirmed cases of the coronavirus by April 9. Credit: Mercy Health via Storyful
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ismael Lopez (Reuters) Managua, Nicaragua  Fri, April 10, 2020 10:45 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0ff1e2 2 World Nicaragua,Daniel-Ortega,presidency Free

During Nicaragua's devastating civil war in the 1980s, youthful revolutionary Daniel Ortega toured every town in the Central American nation, clad in his green Sandinista uniform.

Now in his second stint as president, the 74-year-old leftist leader has disappeared from public view for nearly a month, raising questions about his health and whereabouts as the world reels from the spread of the coronavirus.

As in 2014, another time he dropped off the map, his absence has even prompted speculation he may have died.

The government did not respond to a request for comment on the reasons for Ortega's absence, his health or whether he is alive.

However, a government official close to Ortega said he was alive, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Over the years, the former guerilla has suffered two heart attacks and developed high cholesterol and other ailments, said the official. Since then, the president has been increasingly protective of his health, said the source.

Ortega's last public appearance was on March 12, in which he spoke briefly via video from a living room.

"He has always fled from problems; no wonder he is absent in the midst of the coronavirus crisis," said Dora Maria Tellez, a former minister in Ortega's first government in the 1980s who later broke with the president.

Ortega also disappeared for several weeks in 1998, after his adopted stepdaughter accused him of abuse, which he denied.

During his current absence, Vice President Rosario Murillo, his wife, has spoken publicly every day, fueling speculation that Ortega will eventually emerge to oversee a campaign to defeat the coronavirus.

So far, Nicaragua has not encouraged social distancing or other measures against the virus, even as neighboring Honduras and nearby El Salvador implement tight restrictions.

Nicaragua has registered seven coronavirus cases and one related death, but experts question the numbers because the government has not revealed how many tests have been conducted.

Ortega's health has often been a closely guarded secret. Elected president in 1984, Ortega was voted out of office after a single five-year term as the economy floundered. He eventually won re-election and returned to office in 2007.

After orchestrating a constitutional change to allow for re-elections, his current term is due to end in 2022.
For many New Yorkers, the time of coronavirus will be defined by two sounds. One is the ambulance siren, shrieking at all hours through deserted streets. The other is its opposite: the nightly 7 oclock cheer for front-line workers.



Some of the tweets that follow have been edited and condensed.

Video from Elizabeth Waters, Upper East Side, via Twitter
A County Derry student has spoken of how students staying in rented accommodation in Belfast are being forced to continue rent payments, despite universities being closed.

Castledawson man Jason is currently renting a flat on Ireton Street, off Botanic Avenue near Queens University in south Belfast with three other students.

Jason said his letting agency were unsympathetic to the students situation, saying there was nothing they could do.

He told Derry Now: They said it wasnt their problem  that was what guarantors were for.

The situation is that they wont give us any sort of leeway in terms of paying it when they know were not in the house due to university being cancelled.

Theyve said its not their problem because its privately rented and I understand that to a point, but common sense has to kick in somewhere.

Jason and his flatmates are renting their accommodation through USPM Ltd, a letting agent based on University Road and say they had to initiate contact about Covid-19.

Theres very little contact with the letting agency unless you miss or have to arrange a payment. They hadnt contacted us about the pandemic, we had to do the ringing, said Jason.

I rang them, and our contact said they understood the frustration but there was nothing they could do. To them, we were renting a house in Belfast to live in.

Our landlords are usually dead on, but if they had any sort of generosity, they could do something. Its not always up to the person on the end of the phone.

While Jason is able to fall back on the support of his family, he realises not everyone has that support available.

He said: I have a few friends who wouldnt come home as much, they dont have a stable home to come home to and theyre paying rent through jobs in Belfast.

A lot of them were in part-time jobs and have now been laid off. They have no way to continue that, no income. Its not a good situation for them.

Jason believes the mortgage holidays mooted by the government could provide the solution to the problem, but that the options did not appear to be being explored.

Anybody renting privately is just being made to pay. There are no mortgage holidays coming into play, he said.

Were probably now having to pay2-3 months where we arent there whereas we had been in years gone by. Thats probably half the year of not being in the house and having to pay for it.

If they can take mortgage holidays, there is absolutely no reason for us to be paying rent, except for making a profit.

Derry Now contacted UPSM Ltd for a response, but none was available at the time of going to print.
MILFORD  You can add the names of Nathan and Paige Stauffer to the city rolls when the next U.S. Census is released.

Transplants from Seattle, the Stauffers, along with soon-to-be-16-month-old daughter Callie, chose to live in Milford when they crossed the nation in February.

I always wanted to be an CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist), Nathan said. CRNAs are advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), who administer anesthesia and other medications. There are 100-plus schools that I was eligible for, but there were no local schools.

We opened our search and I started looking at schools from all over the country. We whittled it down to 10. I applied at Fairfield University and four others. I got an interview, was accepted, and Fairfield U met all the requirements we were looking for.

After checking off the school of his choice, the Stauffers, who will celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary in September, had to find a home.

We went to Google maps, with an overview of Connecticut, then hit Craigs List, Zulu and Realtors.com, Nathan said. We worked our way out from Fairfield to find the right price and right area. We got lucky when we expanded our search.

They chose a home in the Gulf Beach area of Milford.

Being by water is amazing, Paige said. We grew up in a port town, Marysville (Wash.). The similarities are comforting. I love Milford. It is quaint and pretty, just like our old town.

Meeting all our neighbors has been weirdly awesome, Nathan said. People in Washington like to stay indoors. Coming here, and the fact that we went to a barbecue and met all the neighbors in the first week, was amazing.

The running joke with our family is that we moved into a Stepford neighborhood, Paige said. Everyone is so nice, so kind, it is so great.

The trip to Milford was challenging.

The process of getting here was rough, Paige said. It was months and months in the planning, plus me being pregnant on top of that (due date April 18). Should we take a U-Haul? Or should we take two cars?

Nathan ended up driving, while Paige and her sister, Deborah, flew out with Callie.

We started moving in mid-February, Nathan said. First it took three weeks to get the Pod with all our stuff shipped here. Then I drove out with my friend Jared and my brother, Steven.

Oh man, it was exhausting (not like a college road trip). We switched off driving two cars for four days. It was no fun. We woke up 5 a.m., took a quick shower, and then traveled to 11 at night. Plus, we were going against time (west to east) so we were losing an hour a day.

We got in on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 6. We unloaded the Pod and I drove Steven to the airport the next morning at 5. Jared stayed through the following Wednesday. Deborah was here 10 days to help. I flew home with Jared so, I could go to work another week at the hospital. Im now on paternity leave.

Nathans path to Fairfield University took a steady hand.

I received my associate of nursing from Everett Community College and then earned a bachelor of science and nursing degree at the University of Washington, Nate said. I worked for two years as a nurse in a critical care unit (Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Wash.). I was there for three and a half years before applying to Fairfield.

Paige said: I was working at Providence Hospital as a surgery tech and then switching over to the Everett Clinic, which is like your walk-in clinics, and was an administrator. With Callie, childcare costs are almost as much as you are going to be paid. The extra money wasnt worth it.

We decided to give Callie a little pal now, while Nate is going through school. Im open to going back to work, maybe sometime next year. But, it would have to be a perfect storm.

Lack of family brings an element of distress.

Nates folks were going to come out and stay with us for three weeks with the baby, Paige said. My mom works as a personal trainer at a retirement home. She would like to fly here. But this whole thing ... . Right now we are doing FaceTime, sending pictures back and forth, showing what is happening.

The Stauffers are anxious to share more about their new location with relatives.

Its frustrating that we cant see more of Milford, Paige said. The city is cute. We are bummed because we want to walk the streets downtown and visit the shops. Wed like to explore our new town before the newborn arrives. But we are so happy to be here. It has been so lovely. The only negative has been not being able to get out.

I will say that your guys pizza is phenomenal, way better then Washington State.

william.bloxsom@hearstmediact.com Twitter: @blox354
Chennai: In a surging numbers worry scenario in tackling the Covid-19 new coronavirus crisis in Tamil Nadu, the total number of positive cases zoomed to 834 by Thursday evening; but there were no new deaths during the last 24 hours and the state toll for the virus remains at eight.

Of the new 96 cases testing positive today, as many as 84 are from a "single source" who travelled together or their contacts (read returnees from the Tablighi Jamaat meet in New Delhi to the State). Of the remaining 12 samples testing positive today, three have history of inter-state travel, eight are contacts of those who travelled and one a private doctor, State Health Secretary Dr Beela Rajesh told reporters here late this evening.

In replying to critics why Tamil Nadu "is not testing more and fast", Dr Beela Rajesh said the way forward, in the backdrop of this emerging macro-scene was the arrival of the 'Rapid Test Kits (RTK), all imported from China. It may be recalled that four lakh RTKs' are arriving in Tamil Nadu.

Though imported from China, where it all began, Dr Beela Rajesh to a question assured that all these RTK kits have been "approved by an expert committee and the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research)."

Stating that the imported RTKs' were "specific to Covid-19", she said this test will help us to understand the prevalence (of the disease) in the community in any particular area in just 30 minutes. By testing more people and fast, "we will be actually able to assess how many people have been affected by the infection," the health secretary said and reiterated that "only approved kits are being imported."

While the RTK is an antibody test, by showing the "antibody for Covid-19" virus, Dr Beela Rajesh said it is the 'PCR test' which is eventually the confirmatory test for the RNA of the new coronavirus. So, even after the "antibody test" is done with help of RTKs', there might still be a need to do the confirmatory 'PCR Test', said the health official. Tamil Nadu has also ordered for purchase of 1.30 lakh 'PCR Test' kits.

Dr Beela Rajesh said the number of persons under home quarantine as on date were 59,918, while 213 others were in government quarantine. As many as 32,896 others in quarantine have completed their 28-day follow-up. The total blood samples tested so far across the state has been 7,267.

The 'Containment Plan (CP)' continued to be aggressively implemented across 34 districts in the State, she said. Over 32,800 field medical staff have so far surveyed 16,61,487 households and screened a population of 58,77,348 for coronavirus symptoms. The Interactive voice response scheme launched today evoked 449 calls from members of the public.
We have experience adhering to that level of rigor, even during frightening epidemics. During the 2014-2016 West African Ebola outbreak, an antibody-based treatment called ZMapp was tested in a randomized trial, involving 72 people, against the then-standard treatment, which included intravenous fluids to maintain hydration. Patients receiving ZMapp appeared somewhat more likely to survive, although the results were not strong. Then, in the 2018 Ebola outbreak in Congo, more drugs were added to another randomized trial, involving 681 patients. Thankfully, two of the drugs, REGN-EB3 and MAb114, each a combination of manufactured antibodies, showed stronger results than ZMapp. In contrast, the antiviral remdesivir did not appear to be effective, even though it had looked promising in the lab. By following the careful process of randomized studies, we now have at least two treatments that we feel confident improve survival and can be used for future Ebola patients.
Nearly all of Michigans health insurance companies have agreed not to charge customers for any COVID-19 treatments.

Ten health insurers will waive the costs, the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services announced on Friday, April 10. Here's the list of providers that have agreed to waive cost sharing.

Aetna Better Health of Michigan

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Blue Care Network, MI Blue Cross Complete

HAP, Alliance Health

Humana Insurance

McLaren Health Plan

Meridian Health Plan

Molina Healthcare Michigan

Physicians Health Plan (PHP)

Priority Health, Priority Health Insurance Co., Priority Health Choice, Total Health Care

United Healthcare Insurance, United Healthcare Community Plan

Heres a list of all the authorized major medical companies in Michigan.

Treatments covered include all coronavirus-related medical treatments, like primary care visits, lab testing, emergency room visits, ambulance services and Food and Drug Administration-approved medications and vaccines for COVID-19, once available.

For questions on your specific coverage, reach out to your health care provider.

Michiganders that are fighting for their lives should not have the extra burden of fighting with their health insurer to cover the costs of their care, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in the release. I am thankful that health insurers agreed to cover Michiganders coinsurance, deductibles and copays as we fight this virus."

Many residents are losing their health insurance, as the stay-at-home order has spiked unemployment in Michigan. People who've lost their job or had a pay reduction should contact the Michigan Health Insurance Consumer Assistance Program for help, via 877-999-6442 or DIFS-HICAP@michigan.gov.

In the last two weeks through April 4, Michigan has had nearly 700,000 unemployment claims, per the U.S. Department of Labor.

Michigan has been one of the states hit hardest by COVID-19, with 21,504 confirmed cases and 1,076 deaths, as of Thursday, April 9.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here

Friday, April 10: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Vice President Pence praises Michigan hydroxychloroquine trial to fight coronavirus

With Michigans coronavirus stay-at-home order extended, frustration builds over whats been deemed non-essential

IRS launches coronavirus stimulus payment web tool for those who usually dont file

Bills, stress, fear mount as overburdened system delays unemployment checks

How many Michiganders have recovered from coronavirus? Why state, local leaders have different answers
A Delhi court Friday denied bail to a 42-year-old man, arrested for allegedly assaulting a29-year-old resident doctor from Safdarjung Hospital and her younger sister in South Delhi's Gautam Nagar while accusing them of spreading coronavirus.

Sanjeev Sharma, an interior designer, had allegedly assaulted the doctor and her sister on Wednesday night when they were buying fruit and groceries outside their residence.

The court accepted the argument made by the police that the offence was serious the accused should not be enlarged on bail.

The court sent the accused to judicial custody till April 24.

The police had registered a case at Hauz Khas police station under IPC sections 354 (molestation), 509 (outraging the modesty of women), 323 (causing hurt) and 341 (wrongful restraint).

According to police, the incident took place around 9.30 pm on Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA has selected five teams led by university faculty and students to examine a range of technical areas in support of the agency's aeronautics research goals.

Known as the University Leadership Initiative (ULI), the project will provide a total of $32.8 million to the five teams during the next four years.

"Each of these teams is working on important problems that definitely will help break down barriers in ways that will benefit the U.S. aviation industry," said John Cavolowsky, director of NASA's Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program in Washington, D.C.

This is the third time NASA Aeronautics has reached out to the academic community in this way. Five teams were selected in 2017 and three teams announced in 2019.

Unlike other NASA-funded research programs in which the agency specifies the project goals, universities are asked to come up with a compelling investigation, so long as that technical challenge addresses one of the strategic research thrusts of NASA.

Another key goal of ULI is for the student researchers involved to gain experience in leading a multidisciplinary team made up of partners from other universities and industry, especially representing those who traditionally have not applied their skills to aviation problems.

"We've also sought to emphasize inclusion of universities that serve underrepresented student populations and I think we've been successful this year in achieving that goal," said Koushik Datta, ULI project manager at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley.

For the first time, a ULI team will be led by a historically black university, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in Greensboro. Moreover, team leader Oklahoma State University in Stillwater is known for graduating the most Native American students of any school in the nation.

The five team leaders and their research topics are:

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University

The team seeks to develop a novel integration of secure and safe autonomous systems used on unmanned Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) aircraft with the goal of advancing their technical readiness level and be ready for industry to consider using these technologies. The team intends to validate these systems with flight tests of multiple aircraft.

The team will receive $8 million over four years. Team members include Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana; Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta; Aurora Flight Sciences in Manassas, Virginia; Alaka'i Technologies Corporation in Hopkinton, Massachusetts; General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in Poway, California; and Northrop Grumman Corporation in Linthicum, Maryland.

Oklahoma State University

The team will look for ways to improve real-time weather forecasting of low-level winds and turbulence in both rural and urban environments with an eye to improving safety for Unmanned Aircraft Systems flying in AAM operations.

The team will receive $5.2 million over four years. Team members include the University of Oklahoma in Norman; University of Nebraska Lincoln; University of Kentucky in Lexington; National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado; Vigilant Aerospace Systems Inc. in Oklahoma City; AirXOS, part of GE Aviation, in Boston; and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Stanford University

The team will seek to develop tools that ensure machine learning in autonomous systems used by unmanned AAM aircraft work as expected in real-time, as well as to employ fault detection and recovery methods if they do not, particularly in situations involving taxiing, landing and collision avoidance.

The team will receive $8 million over four years. Team members include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge; Georgia Tech in Atlanta; University of New Mexico in Albuquerque; Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia; University of California, Berkeley; MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts; and United Technologies Research Center Inc. in Berkeley, California.

University of Delaware

Using a composite supply method already developed under a Defense Advanced Research Project Agency program, the team plans to demonstrate the ability to produce aerospace-quality components at a rate comparable to that of the automotive industry.

The work supports a NASA research goal to find ways to help manufacturers increase the rate at which they can produce hardware using composite materials.

The team will receive $5.9 million over four years. Team members include Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Joby Aviation in Santa Cruz, California; Spirit AeroSystems Inc. in Wichita, Kansas; Advanced Thermoplastic Composites Manufacturing in Post Falls, Idaho; American Composite Manufacturers Association in Arlington, Virginia; Arkema Inc. in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; and SGL Carbon in Charlotte, North Carolina.

University of South Carolina

The team seeks to develop tools and technology to help better understand and safely use a composite tape made of thermoplastic in designing and manufacturing parts for an AAM vehicle. Two structural parts typical of an AAM vehicle  a fan blade and airframe shell component  will be designed and built to demonstrate the technology.

The team will receive $5.7 million over four years. Team members include the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg; Boise State University in Boise, Idaho; Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina; The Boeing Company in Chicago; Joby Aviation in Santa Cruz, California; Toray Advanced Composites USA in Morgan Hill, California; Ingersoll Machine Tools Inc. in Rockford, Illinois; Smart Tooling in Xenia, Ohio; C. A. Litzler Co. Inc. in Cleveland; Schrdinger in New York City; and Collins Aerospace in Melbourne, Florida.

A fourth round of ULI request for proposals is anticipated to be announced soon. An online virtual workshop for interested participants is currently scheduled for Thursday, April 30. More information is available at this ULI website.

For more information about NASA's aeronautics research, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/aero

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


New Jersey hospitals have been able to double the number of critical care beds from nearly 2,000 to 4,000 in recent weeks, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Thursday, adding that the state projects the peak number of coronavirus patients who need hospital care could hit as early as Saturday.

In the past month, New Jerseys 71 acute-care hospitals responded to the Persichillis urgent call for help by adding about 60 percent more beds to the existing 23,000 beds in the state by commandeering space wherever they could find it, Kerry McKean Kelly, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Hospital Association said.

Theyve done it with plans to reopen closed hospitals as is the case with Inspira down in Woodbury, reopening closed wings and converting existing space, sometimes even cafeterias quickly outfitted for patient care. We also have 56 percent of the hospitals using medical tents in some fashion to help build out capacity, Kelly said. Its a moving target, but we remain hopeful that the best-case numbers we are seeing will hold out and we will have sufficient capacity."

The hospitals efforts inspired guarded optimism from Gov. Phil Murphy during his daily briefings this week.

If we keep our current practices, we can get through the peak with the hospital beds we are preparing, Murphy said earlier this week. The new wings, the reinstated buildings, the field medical stations. It will be tough, and it will be stressful. But our health system can get through this intact.

There will be 37,000 hospital beds once field hospitals and newly re-opened facilities are ready, according to state and hospital association data.

Forecasting models predict the state to peak at 14,400 people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases on Saturday, including 2,880 patients in the intensive care unit, Persichilli said Thursday. That would assume the number of patients in the hospital doubles from 7,363 on Thursday, including 1,523 in the intensive care unit, she said.

"We look at it (the prediction) every day. It changes every day, the commissioner said.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

RWJBarnabas Health, a chain of 11 acute-care hospitals, added 115 critical care beds to the existing 438 for a total of 553 in recent weeks. The system was taking care of 1,294 positive COVID-19 patients and 226 other awaiting test results, spokeswoman Ellen Greene said.

We are as ready as we can be now, and for the upcoming weeks, for the greater Essex, Middlesex, Hudson, Monmouth, Ocean and Somerset county areas. We are busily planning and making surge plans on an almost daily basis," said Barry Ostrowsky, RWJBarnabas president and CEO.

Hospital bed space is an issue not only because so many people are getting sick. Once they enter the hospital, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the average stay is 10 to 13 days.

Persichilli said there are several encouraging signs that the states decision to close schools and most businesses is helping to prevent infections, and in turn tamp down hospitalizations. Hospitals discharged 471 patients over the past 24 hours, she said Thursday.

Officials are also studying the doubling rate  the length of time it takes for the volume of patients to double. As of last evening, the doubling time was 28.8 days. The day before 14.6, and the day before that it was 12.4 days, Persichilli said. We want to see that increase because that means there are fewer hospitalizations.

The state has moved aggressively to add more beds.

A makeshift hospital inside the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus opened this week; seven patients were expected to be admitted there by Thursday evening, Persichilli said.

A 500-bed hospital inside the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison is expected to open Saturday. The Atlantic City Convention Center will house another 250 beds and open at a date to be determined, state officials said. (State officials scrapped a fourth field hospital and doubled the capacity inside Edison.)

New Jersey and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA are in the midst of creating three field hospitals to serve 1,000 patients.

State officials are also trying to reopen Inspira Woodbury Hospital and Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield.

The number of hospitals that notified the health department they needed to divert incoming patients to surrounding hospitals also went down in recent days, according to a state website that keep real-time information about diversion requests.

The bed capacity is only part of the reason hospitals temporarily decline to accept new patients, Kelly said. Many times those diverts are based on staffing as much as space, and weve said it numerous times  staff at the bedside is the most critical need in this emergency.

The issue of bed capacity aside, Murphy and Persichilli agreed finding enough health workers to treat the onslaught of patients, and ventilators to keep the sickest alive is currently the most pressing concern.

That is the biggest challenge we have because the healthcare workforce is dwindling, as people leave to go on quarantine themselves and come back, she said.

Ostrowsky of RWJBarnabas also expressed concern about managing the "tidal wave of patient need and the predictable second wave of cases in the fall.

In the coming days and weeks...one of the things I have concerns about is we have been living in this pandemic, and this emotional environment, which is exhausting," he said. "If this flattens out to a more manageable level, one of the things we have to do is replenish the staff, medically and psychologically.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.
Anu Kuruvilla By

Express News Service

KOCHI: Modelled on the lines of the Chinese, but not China-made! The drones deployed by the Kerala Police to track down lockdown violations are indigenously built by the startup AI Aerial Dynamics incubated at Maker Village in Kalamassery here. Vishnu V Nath, founder and vice-president, AI Aerial Dynamics, said a striking feature of the drone is that unlike those used by filmmakers and others, the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) designed by the company are powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

AI-powered UAVs enable police officers to carry out surveillance tasks over locked down streets and residential areas, he said.We have inked an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Kerala Police after they evinced interest in purchasing the drones. However, for the time being, we are helping out the officers with crowd control by deploying drones customised for the purpose, said Vishnu. AI Aerial Dynamics has also developed newer versions which can carry out thermal scanning of crowds, collate data and process it to detect Covid-19 infection from a safe distance.

According to Vishnu, whenever the police ask them, they help them out by launching the drones fitted with sirens, safety audio alert broadcasting and situational awareness system. These have been used successfully in the coastal areas of districts like Kollam to disperse crowds and collate data, he added.

The startup, with the technical and infrastructure backing of Maker Village, is right now carrying out trials of drones that can be deployed for aerial disinfection drives.

That version will most probably be deployed in the post-lockdown period in association with the police and the health department, he said. Besides, the drones are equipped with features like urgent collection of medical samples, delivery of medical supplies and on-demand emergency delivery in urban environments. We are also providing technical support to the police and have been travelling to various parts of the state after being asked to do so, said Vishnu.
With the country battling the coronavirus outbreak, genetic testing startup Redcliffe Life Sciences on April 10 said it is looking at genome sequencing tests and wants to partner the government in this initiative as it will help in dissecting the spread patterns of the deadly virus.

The proposal is to sequence around 100 positive samples using our own funding, and finally sequence around 1,000 to 5,000 samples from across the country for which we have requested the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to look into our proposal," Ashish Dubey, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Redcliffe, told Moneycontrol.

The company is pricing its test at Rs 6,000 while RT PCR test has been kept at Rs 4,500.

"We have proposed this for a better diagnostics yield and also to understand the severity of the cases," he said.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Track this blog for latest updates on coronavirus outbreak

Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a laboratory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA and amplification of specific DNA targets using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Generally, the biggest challenge during any outbreak for scientists is to predict the pattern or evolution and disease spread, especially with RNA viruses such as COVID-19, which have very high genetic variability. This makes it difficult to understand the transmission pattern, number of active strains and their geographical locations, or if a person is affected with multiple strains.

"Sequencing is the most advanced method of any DNA/RNA based analysis, hence this is going to give us the answers for even unexplored questions, like what is the virulent potential, the spread pattern and many more such questions, this exercise is already been done in various countries like China, US, UK and Europe and a great result is been obtained, which has helped in understanding the disease in these countries. This will definitely help in patient diagnosis and treatment management," he said.

The proposal so far does not have a revenue model besides the subsidised price, and government funding will have to play a huge role for this plan to be implemented and testing to happen.

"This is a high value test and definitely needs government help, hence we are reaching out to ICMR to consider this as one way of looking at the answers of the spread of the pandemic. I am ready for creating a consortium, provided we have approval for the same from ICMR, This definitely has to be funded by the state but we are ready to put the investment for 100 samples in the beginning," he added.
A case was registered



against 40 men for allegedly violating the COVID-19 lockdown, by gathering at a mosque in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district, police said on Friday.

At least 40 people, including the sarpanch of Khairikhurd village, were found offering namaz at a mosque at the village in Chourai tehsil, 38 km from the district headquarters, on Thursday night, inspector Mukesh Dwivedi said.

A police patrol party got an alert about a gathering at the mosque amid section 144 (banning assembly of five persons or above) of Criminal Procedure Code imposed in the area, he said.

The men were charged under sections 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by a public servant) and 269 (unlawful or negligent act likely to spread infection of a dangerous disease) of Indian Penal Code, the official said.

They were also booked under the Disaster Management Act, Madhya Pradesh Epidemic Diseases Act, Madhya Pradesh Public Health Act 1949 and Epidemic Act 1897, the official said, adding that the men were subsequently granted bail.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Elaborately decorated eggs predate Easter by thousands of years Science

Some churches confront virus restrictions on Easter services AP. We cant do what God called us to do on livestream. Not clear to me why God wants his chosen people to spread a lethal respiratory virus, but you do you.

Liberty University police issue arrest warrants for NYT, ProPublica reporters The Hill

Exclusive: U.S. banks prepare to seize energy assets as shale boom goes bust Reuters

Strays feel the bite as pandemic spreads Agence France Presse

How are some drivers trying to get into the Keys? With counterfeit stickers, sheriff says Florida Keys News (Re Silc).

#COVID19

The science:

How does COVID-19 kill? Uncertainty is hampering doctors ability to choose treatments Nature

Science is popping:

(Sourced from NIH.)

The COVID-19 vaccine development landscape Nature

* * *

Treatment:

Correlation between universal BCG vaccination policy and reduced morbidity and mortality for COVID-19: an epidemiological study (PDF) Aaron Miller, Mac Josh Reandelar, Kimberly Fasciglione, Violeta Roumenova, Yan Li, and Gonzalo H. Otazu, medrXiv

Will the BCG Vaccination Help the World Combat COVID-19? The Wire

Lice drug a head-scratching Covid-19 home remedy Asia Times (Re Silc).

* * *

Testing:

Thousands of coronavirus tests are going unused in US labs Nature

False negatives queering the pitch in Covid fight Times of India

* * *

Spread:

Mystery surrounds cured patients who tested positive FT and Fifty-one recovered coronavirus patients test positive AGAIN in South Korea amid fears virus can hide in human cells and reactivate Daily Mail

Susceptibility of ferrets, cats, dogs, and other domesticated animals to SARScoronavirus 2 Science

Researchers modelling the spread of the coronavirus emphasise the importance of avoiding busy indoor spaces (press release) Alto University. Makes sense, given results on bus travel in China (another enclosed space).

Jennifer Nuzzo: Were Definitely Not Overreacting to COVID-19 JSTOR Daily. Respiratory pathogen expert.

* * *

Economic effects:

Believe it or not, people are still booking cruises for next year Los Angeles Times. More petri dishes.

* * *

Finance response:

Explainer: What the Federal Reserve has done in the coronavirus crisis Reuters

The Feds radical policies are uncharted territory FT

Fed to buy municipal debt for first time, underscoring peril facing cities Politico

The Fed finds another kitchen sink to throw at us The Reformed Broker

Kudlow Says U.S. Should Allow Firms 100% Immediate Expensing Bloomberg. [Larry Kudlow] said the U.S. should allow companies to deduct the entire cost of capital spending, including relocating from China. Japan as well. Maybe claw back some of the profits from offshoring?

* * *

Political response:

Guest Editorial: Even If Offered a Loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, I Probably Wont Take It Portland Mercury (notabanker).

Banks brace for new wave of small businesses at troubled loan program Politico

A GOP senator just proposed a Denmark-style recovery plan where the government helps pay workers wages during the coronavirus pandemic Business Insider

Roll Call for Congresss Coronavirus Bailout The Intercept. The Intercepts roll call is in progress below. If you have information about the position taken by your congressperson or any congressperson on this list, fill out our survey here.

Are We Entering A New Era Of State Nullification? The American Conservative

* * *

Exit strategy:

Stop covid or save the economy? We can do both MIT Technology Review

Asia struggles to find coronavirus exit strategies FT

* * *

Remedies and ameliorations:

Trashy Fashion: Dressing Up To Take The Bins Out In Virus Lockdown Agence France Presse

Medical Student COVID-19 Curriculum COVID-19 Student Response (JT McPhee).
President Trump is once again turning his aim on California, asserting that the state and its mail ballots are a center of vote fraud and that he has evidence.

He doesnt. And state officials are livid about the presidents new round of charges, which have been widely discredited since he first made them days after his inauguration in 2017.

Trump should focus on suppressing the virus, not the vote, Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement Friday. No-excuse vote-by-mail ballots are a vital way to protect both voting rights and public health during this pandemic.

The latest brouhaha started Wednesday, when Trump was asked at a news conference to back up his recent statements that mail balloting, which is heavily used in California and many other states, is an invitation to voter fraud.

I think theres a lot of evidence, but well provide you with some, OK? the president answered. And theres evidence thats being compiled just like its being compiled in the state of California.

Trump then pointed to a settlement agreement reached last year in a suit by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group, against Padilla and Los Angeles County over voter registration lists bloated with inactive voters.

Judicial Watch settled where they agreed that a million people should not have voted, where they were 115 years old and lots of things, and people were voting in their place, the president said.

But the settlement agreement said nothing about vote fraud or wrongdoing. Instead, it requires Los Angeles County and the state to take measures to purge the voter rolls of people who may have died, moved, changed their name or otherwise invalidated that registration.

Even the groups that sued didnt say any fraud had taken place. An outdated registration roll opens the door for voter impersonation and fraud, Ellen Swensen of the Election Integrity Project California, which joined with Judicial Watch in the suit, said after the settlement.

Plenty of inactive voters have perfectly valid registrations but havent bothered to cast ballots in recent elections, said Wendy Weiser of New York Universitys Brennan Center for Justice, which studies voting issues.

Having out-of-date records is not an example of voter fraud, but of lists that havent been updated, she said. Inactive voters arent necessarily ineligible voters.

An inactive voter, according to the state, is someone who has not voted in two consecutive federal general elections or in any election between them, and has not responded to address confirmation postcards from their county.

Los Angeles County officials admitted that they had been slow to purge their voter lists in an attempt to make sure all eligible voters were allowed to cast ballots.

The settlement does not validate the inaccurate and misrepresented claims made by Judicial Watch and their clients that the county has more voters than eligible citizens, said Mike Sanchez, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County registrar.

This isnt the first time Trump has made this charge. In a June 23, 2019, appearance on NBCs Meet the Press, the president said the Judicial Watch settlement proved there was much illegal voting in California.

Padilla was quick to dismiss that.

No matter how much he repeats them, Trumps lies about voter fraud are patently untrue, Padilla said at the time. Specifically, the settlement with Judicial Watch, Los Angeles County and the secretary of state contains absolutely no admission to or evidence of illegal votes.

In the days after his inauguration, Trump also complained that more than 3 million undocumented immigrants voted in the 2016 presidential election in California, another claim for which he had no evidence.

Trumps charges that mail ballots are corrupt has a strong political element. In a Fox News interview March 30, the president said that youd never have a Republican elected in this country again if Democratic efforts to allow unrestricted absentee voting and boost mail ballots succeeded.

While vote fraud does happen, the amount that occurs with mail ballots is infinitesimally small, said Weiser, whose article on the Brennan Centers website looks into those allegations.

Trumps concern about vote-by-mail problems didnt stop him from casting his ballot by mail in last months Florida primary. He said he did it because Im allowed to.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth
The number of coronavirus



patients in Gujarat shot up to 308 after 46 new cases, one of them a doctor, were reported during the last 12 hours, said officials on Friday.

Of the 46 new cases reported during the last 12 hours, 17 were from a single locality in Vadodara city, followed by Ahmedabad (11), Rajkot (5), Bharuch (4), Bhavnagar (4), two each from Patan and Kuch, while one case was reported from Gandhinagar, said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi.

Those who tested positive included a doctor from Ahmedabad who was engaged in collection of samples for coronavirus testing, she told reporters in Gandhinagar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Your mother was right. Wash your hands before meals.

But now with the deadly spread of COVID-19, that should be amended to before meals, after coming in from outside, playing with the dog, handling the mail and so on.

You should wash your hands a minimum of five times a day, says Olga Pellegrino, director of operations for Vanis Salon & Day Spa, with locations in Schererville, Crown Point and Valparaiso.

And Pellegrino doesnt mean just a quick rinse.

You should sing 'Happy Birthday' twice during each cleaning, she says, or anything else that takes 20 seconds.

I have always stated that you should clean and disinfect all implements, as well as furniture and equipment used, Skin Day Spa owner Rose Wright says of the Crown Point salon that specializes in anti-aging and organic treatments. If you maintain these standards, your deep cleaning routines are easy. At Skin Day Spa, we are fortunate to have a spa that has a low density of guests at any given time because we do not offer hair or nail services, which allows us to better maintain a sanitary environment.
WOOD RIVER  As the number of cases of coronavirus continue to rise, icluding the first cases in Greene County, state officials on Friday focused their discussion on racial disparities within healthcare relating to COVID-19.

The Illinois Department of Public Health on Friday reported 1,465 new cases statewide for a total of 17,887. Also reported were 68 deaths, bringing the total to 596.

Two cases were reported Friday by the IDPH in Greene County, the last local county to report virus cases.

The Madison County Health Department has confirmed 107 case, including two previously-recorded deaths. The IDPH website showed 101 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county on Friday. There have been some discrepancies in the daily counts as the number of cases grow.

According to the county health department, its confirmed cases include 62 women and 45 men from their 20s to 80s. A total of 27 are hospitalized; 35 are listed as recovered, meaning they have completed isolation.

Within the county by ZIP code, the Alton area (62002) shows 16 cases, Godfrey (62035) has seven, Edwardsville (62025) has 13, Glen Carbon (62034) has six, Granite City/Pontoon Beach (62040) has 20 and Collinsville (62234) has 12. Numbers are not released in ZIP codes with five or fewer cases to protect the privacy of patients.

The IDPH also reported the number of cases in area counties:

 Jersey County: 6

 Calhoun County: 1

 Macoupin County: 14

 Bond County: 4

 Clinton County: 32

 Washington County: 2

 Monroe County: 42 with one death

 St. Clair County: 159 with five deaths.

The information is available online at www.dph.illinois.gov. Select the coronavirus banner, then COVID-19 statistics in the drop-down menu on the left side.

On Friday, both Gov. J.B. Pritzker and IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike focused their comments on concerns about demographic disparities in testing and case outcomes.

The Madison County Health Department has not released any information on racial demographics relating to COVID-19.

Pritzker said black communities have suffered disproportionately from the virus, adding that generations of systemic disadvantages have been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health disparities and major inequalities are major concerns to me, Ezike said. We see alarmingly high rates of COVID-19 in the black population.

She said the mortality rate in general is five times higher for blacks than whites. She noted the rate is 12 times higher for people in their 50s, eight times higher for those in their 60s and 10 times higher for blacks in their 70s.

Ezike said blacks have a higher rate of many of health issues that put people at a higher risk if they contract COVID-19. They include jobs with higher risk of exposure, those uninsured or under-insured, those lacking access to medical care and those with extended family settings.

As part of the response, Pritzker said the Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation will be taking samples at three local facilities and sending tests to Anderson Hospital in Maryville. He also said Illinois hotels will be used as alternate housing facilities to help isolate people who have been exposed to the virus and need to be quarantined, or for first responders who want to avoid having to go home and risk infecting their families.

Pritzker also said more money was being made available to community health agencies to help deal with the pandemic.

Illinois also is developing a COVID-19 text messaging system, Ezike said. To participate people can text covid to 312-500-3836 or covidesp to the same number for messages in Spanish.

For the latest information on COVID-19 or coronavirus resources, visit the Madison County Health Department online at www.madisonchd.org or on Facebook @MadisonCHD. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us for more news and a daily update or on Facebook @MadisonCountyIL.
The house of a village police



patil in Bhiwandi township of Maharashtra's Thane district was pelted with stones after he stopped four persons from assembling due to the lockdown in place for novel coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Friday.

The incident happened in Pimplas village under Kongaon police station limits on April 5, he added.

"Police patil Ashok Jadhav had pulled up four people who were standing and talking on April 5 despite prohibitory orders. When the four argued with him, he shot a video of the them on his mobile phone. Later that night, his house was stoned. A case has been taken but no arrests have been made," the Kongaon police station official said.

A patil is a person who acts as the official associate of the police in a village and is tasked with obtaining information as well as maintaining law and order in the area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After a considerable recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the state, the Haryana government has decided to double the salary of all healthcare officials and workers who are tackling the COVID-19 outbreak in the state.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made this announcement through a video address Thursday evening:





While thousands of celebrities, politicians and regular folks have been loud and proud regarding their faith in Indias grossly overworked and under-equipped medical staff, Haryana has decided to lead by example, becoming the first state to take such a step to motivate health workers to continue their fight against the pandemic caused by the novel Coronavirus.

We have taken this decision after deliberations with the State Health Minister (Anil Vij). All those health officials, including doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and class-4 employees working in hospitals, as well as staff working with ambulances and testing centres, will be paid double the salary till this continues, Khattar said.

Of course, where theres policy, there will be politics. Congress supporter and ex-Haryana MLA Randeep Singh Surjewala swept in on Twitter to claim responsibility:

2/2

Dear Khattarji,



Spl. category of employees serving despite threat of #Covid_19 infection are-



1. Police Officials who are on duty round the clock;



2. Safai Karamcharis serving tirelessly;



3. Elect. & Drinking Water employees.



Pl give them benefit of double pay too. https://t.co/1I250ZKCCI  Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) April 9, 2020

Surjewala had, in a 31 March video press conference, asked the government to incentivise police personnel and sanitation workers, who, along with the doctors and paramedical staff, are playing a pivotal role in our battle to check the spread of the deadly virus. He went on to suggest a 50% pay hike, which the current government has vastly outdone.

The move was widely appreciated across social media, as campaigns and awareness about the challenges and risks faced by Indias healthcare industry have recently come to light.

The salary of doctors, nurses, paramedical and all other staff working in COVID-19 hospitals would be doubled in Haryana. The first state to take such a step to motivate corona warriors, fighting against the pandemic. Superb decision by @cmohry @mlkhattar ji  Samir Abbas (@TheSamirAbbas) April 10, 2020

This is how it should be! They are risking their lives, away from family, working 24x7

They deserve it!

Well done @mlkhattar ji!!  Anjaniputra (@Anjaniputra18) April 9, 2020

@mlkhattar has made a grandiose announcement of doubling the salary for #Doctors #nurses & other #healthworkers till the #COVID19Pandemic is arrested in #Haryana . This would be a great inspiration & respite for those toiling in the field & #hospital . #COVID #coronavirus  Raju (@nbrengaraju) April 9, 2020

Superb decision.

Proud of u @mlkhattar ji.  Proud Indian  (@16abha16) April 9, 2020





A few users used the new policy to take a stab at Shiv Sena boss Uddhav Thackeray, who had recently come under a barrage of memes for the perhaps not-so-surprising support he received online from Bollywood stars.

Still UNESCO declared CMO Maharashtra as best CM.  Aniket Dighe (@aniketdighe21) April 9, 2020

Best CM of India in Maharashtra is experiencing earthquake with this news.  Qween of WinterHell (@QweenOfHells) April 9, 2020

But Uddhav is still the best CM as certified by UNESCO  Anoop Chathoth (@AnoopChathoth) April 9, 2020

Everything isnt that funny, however, despite this laudable move from the state government, a team of health officials that was conducting a door-to-door check in Panchkulas Rajiv Colony looking for members of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, were attacked by residents and stopped from conducting the search, Haryana DGP Manoj Yadav told The Print.

Haryana Government will provide Rs 30 lakh cover (in case of death), to the police personnel directly engaged in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in the state.  CMO Haryana (@cmohry) April 9, 2020

With the Haryana government also focusing on aiding police officers who may be vulnerable while maintaining social distancing and order during the pandemic, we hope that other states are paying close attention.

Meanwhile, Khattar's latest move has also sparked a #BestCMOfTheWorld trend on Twitter, where people from different states are coming forth expressing how well their state is doing in handling the COVID-19 outbreak. It's an all-out fight.

The way in which he works for Nation, Yogi Adityanath Ji as the best performing chief minister #BestCMOfTheWorld pic.twitter.com/UaSQQJDReG  Sanket Kende (@SanketKende) April 10, 2020

Karnataka has the lowest coronavirus cases among the large states. We should appreciate BS Yediyurappa and his administration for this.#BestCMOfTheWorld pic.twitter.com/W3eEHBNpZK  Arun Kumar Kundra (@arunkumarkundra) April 10, 2020

Of course.

#BestCMOfTheWorld

I don't know who is best CM in the world but we have best #PM in the world

We love u @narendramodi ji@BJP4India pic.twitter.com/OoxbWF67WC  Bharat Ojha (@Bharatojha03) April 10, 2020

Here is hoping this stops becoming a state-wise affair and the nation comes more united in the matters of handling the consequences of Coronavirus. After all, India is my country, all Indians are my brothers and sisters.


SPRINGFIELD  More than half a million Illinois workers have filed first-time unemployment claims in the four weeks since the COVID-19 outbreak first hit the labor market.

Economists at the University of Illinois are now forecasting a major economic downturn that could last months, or even years, depending on the local severity of the pandemic.

The unemployment claims account for nearly 8% of the states civilian labor force, and they are just part of the estimated 17 million workers nationwide who have lost their jobs over the past month.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday that during the week that ended April 2, Illinoisans filed 201,041 initial claims, surpassing the previous record of 178,421 that was set just one week earlier.

The most recent estimates from the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute, dated April 1, suggest that as many as 779,000 people in Illinois could be out of work by July, which would boost the states unemployment rate to 15.6%.

That would be higher than the historic record rate of 13.1% set in February 1983, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In February, just before the COVID-19 outbreak hit, Illinois actually recorded a record low unemployment rate of just 3.4 percent.

On the same day the new numbers came out, the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois issued a report suggesting the economic downturn could have a devastating impact on the states economy, and on state revenues in Illinois, depending on how severe the outbreak is and how long it takes the states economy to recover.

Economically, the researchers said, a low-severity pandemic would likely push growth in gross domestic product this year to 0%. That would sink to about negative 3% growth under a moderately-severe pandemic, and negative 6% under a severe pandemic.

All of those scenarios assume the economy would recover quickly once the pandemic ends and that GDP growth would return to its normal rate of about 2% by 2023.

State revenues are also expected to take a major hit.

Under the most optimistic scenario  a low-severity pandemic followed by a quick recovery  the state could expect to see a decline of about $4.3 billion across calendar years 2020 and 2021.

Under a worst-case scenario  a severe pandemic followed by a slow, protracted recovery  the researchers estimate the state could see a loss of revenue totaling $28.4 billion through calendar year 2023.

It is important to recognize the high level of uncertainty about the crisis economic effects, the researchers cautioned. The uncertainty stems from a lack of clarity about the epidemiological and health consequences of the virus, as well as from uncertainty about government monetary and fiscal policies to combat the economic consequences of the health crisis.

The researchers also noted that the full impact on the state and its economy could be lessened, depending on the kind of economic recovery measures are enacted at the federal level.
Good Friday, a day of repentance and meditation on the agony of Christ on the cross, passed quietly with all the 25 churches closed and prayers offered online because of the curfew to prevent the spread of the disease.

Heads of various churches conducted prayer services through YouTube, Facebook Live and WhatsApp for the 20,000 members of the Christian community here.

Addressing the devotees through YouTube, Ignatius Mascarenhas, Bishop of Simla and Chandigarh Diocese, said, We ask Lord Jesus Christ to stop the coronavirus pandemic which has infected nearly half a million people and disrupted countless lives. Good Friday is a time of repentance when the faithful are supposed to admit their guilt and find ways for improvement. Jesus Christ transforms the person, he said.

Pastor of Church of North India (CNI), Sector 18, Reverend Denzal Peoples, in a Facebook Live session, said, Good Friday is marked as the day of crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross for the mankind. Its the first time in the History that the churches were closed across the Globe on the Good Friday, he said.
Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh Friday termed attacks by terrorists on civilians a "shameful act" and said security forces are taking enough measures to counter the "evil designs of Pakistan and terrorism sponsored by it".

During a visit to Jammu city to review coronavirus lockdown arrangements, he referred to ceasefire violations by Pakistan saying it is extremely shameful and condemnable that when the entire world is coming together to fight the pandemic, Islamabad and its "sponsored terrorists" are making attempts to infiltrate and disrupt peace.

"The recent civilian killings exposed the inhumane and senseless conduct of the terrorists," the DGP said.

"A group of terrorists has been gunned down in Keran sector. Our forces are taking enough measures to counter evil designs of Pakistan and its sponsored terrorism," the DGP said.

During the visit, Singh took stock of preventive measures being taken for the police personnel deployed at sensitive places.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A pple and Google have launched a major joint effort to use smartphone technology to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

The companies plan to add new software to phones that would make it easier to use Bluetooth wireless technology to track down people for who may have been infected by Covid-19 carriers.

The idea is to help national governments roll out apps for so-called "contact tracing" that will run on iPhones and Android phones alike.

The technology works by harnessing short-range Bluetooth signals.

The World on Coronavirus lockdown 1 /60 The World on Coronavirus lockdown Getty Images A UK government public health campaign is displayed in Piccadilly Circus Reuters Chinese paramilitary police and security officers wear face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus as they stand guard outside an entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing AP A usually busy 42nd Street is seen nearly empty in New York AFP via Getty Images Bondi Beach, Australia Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images View of the illuminated statue of Christ the Redeemer that reads "Thank you" as Archbishop of the city of Rio de Janeiro Dom Orani Tempesta performs a mass in honor of Act of Consecration of Brazil and tribute to medical workers amidst the Coronavirus (COVID - 19) pandemic Getty Images Rome AFP via Getty Images An Indian man paddles his bicycle in front of a mural depicting the globe covered in a mask, as India remains under an unprecedented lockdown over the highly contagious coronavirus Getty Images Aerial view of the empty 9 de Julio avenue in Buenos Aires in Argentina AFP via Getty Images A view of an empty Grand Canal Reuters Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Central cemetery in Bogota, Columbia AFP via Getty Images The facade of the Palacio de Lopez (seat of the government palace) AFP via Getty Images Miami, Florida AFP via Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Simon Bolivar park in Bogota AFP via Getty Images An LAPD patrol car drives through Venice Beach Boardwalk AP Venice Beach, California Getty Images Los Angeles, California Getty Images Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images Many shops stand shuttered on the Venice Beach boardwalk Getty Images Empty escalators are seen at a deserted train station during morning rush hour after New South Wales began shutting down non-essential businesses Reuters A nearly empty Times Square in New York AFP via Getty Images Caracas AFP via Getty Images Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador AFP via Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Midland Park in Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Civic Square at lunchtimein Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A policeman rides his motorcycle wearing a face mask in front of a closed shopping mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina AFP via Getty Images Florida Keys AP The historic Channel 2 Bridge closed to fishermen, bikers and pedestrians in Florida Keys AP The Beach on Scenic Gulf Drive near Seascape Resort in south Walton County, Florida sits empty of tourists AP Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images A deserted Rajpath leading to India Gate in New Delhi AFP via Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images Empty roads are pictured following the lockdown by the government amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Kathmandu, Nepal Reuters An empty New York Subway car i AFP via Getty Images The empty pedestrian zone is seen in the city of Cologne, western Germany, AFP via Getty Images Place de la Comedie in the city of Montpellier , southern France AFP via Getty Images An empty street in Kuwait city AFP via Getty Images A building is covered by the Portuguese message: "Coronavirus: take precaution" over empty streets in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, AP A general view shows an empty street after a curfew was imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters Parliament of Canada is pictured with empty street during morning rush hour AFP via Getty Images A near empty beach on Southend seafront in England PA Near empty Keswick town centre in Cumbria, England PA

Using the Apple-Google technology, contact-tracing apps would gather a record of other phones with which they came into close proximity.

Such data can be used to alert others who might have been infected by known carriers of the novel coronavirus, although only in cases where the phones' owners have installed the apps and agreed to share data with public-health authorities.

Software developers have already created such apps in countries including Singapore and China to try to contain the pandemic.

In Europe, the Czech Republic says it will release such an app after Easter. Britain, Germany and Italy are also developing their own tracing tools.

Privacy and civil liberties activists have warned that such apps need to be designed so governments cannot abuse them to track their citizens.

Apple and Google plan said in a rare joint announcement that user privacy and security are baked into the design of their plan.

Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, said she will be looking closely at the companies' privacy assurances and for evidence that any health data they collect will be deleted once the emergency is over.

"People are dying. We have to save lives. Everyone understands that," she said. "But at some point, we're going to have to understand the privacy consequences of this."

More than 100,000 people have died worldwide from the coronavirus, with nearly 70 percent of all fatalities in Europe / AFP via Getty Images

Security experts also note that technology alone cannot effectively track down and identify people who may have been infected by Covid-19 carriers.

Such efforts will require other tools and teams of public health care workers to track people in the physical world, they say.

In South Korea and China, such efforts have included the use of credit-card and public-transit records.

Given the great need for effective contact-tracing - a tool epidemiologists have long employed to contain infectious disease outbreaks - the companies will roll out their changes in two phases.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

In the first, they will release software in May that lets public health authorities release apps for both Android and iOS phones.

In coming months, they will also build this functionality directly into the underlying operating systems.
The controversy around Taiwan and the World Health Organisation (WHO) refuses to die down with China targeting the self-governing island republic over racism allegations. Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office criticised Taiwan for allegedly using internet army to spread racist comments.

The Chinese office, in a statement, said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities are unscrupulously using the coronavirus to seek independence and venomously attacking the United Nations health agency and their officials.

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the conflict over the sovereignty of Taiwan after reports of advocacy for its participation in the WHO emerged. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus rejection of racist slurs, which he said had originated from Taiwan, provoked a stern response from Taipei.

Taiwan called it 'baseless'

Taiwan strongly protested and condemned the accusations of instigating racist attacks against the WHO chief over Taipei feud with the UN body. President Tsai Ing-wen said in a statement that Taiwan has always opposed all forms of discrimination since they know better than anyone else what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated.

Read: Taiwan Condemns 'baseless' Accusations Of Attacking WHO Chief With 'racial Slurs'

Ing-wen invited the WHO chief to visit Taiwan and experience the commitment of Taiwanese people in engaging with and contributing to the world, even in the face of discrimination and isolation. She added that Taiwan is dedicated to the values of freedom, democracy, diversity, and tolerance and do not condone the use of racist remarks to attack those with different opinions.

If Director-General Tedros could withstand pressure from China and come to Taiwan to see Taiwans efforts to fight COVID-19 for himself, he would be able to see that the Taiwanese people are the true victims of unfair treatment, said Ing-wen in a statement.

Read: Taiwan Demands Apology From WHO Chief Over Virus 'slander'

Taiwans Foreign Ministry called the accusations levelled by the WHO chief as baseless and without merit. In a series of tweets, the ministry said that people around the world have witnessed the way WHO mislabeled and outright ignored inquiries about the country.

.@DrTedros said there's "No need to use #COVID19 to score political points. We agree! Yet without evidence, #Taiwan is accused of orchestrating personal attacks. This claim is baseless, without merit & further marginalizes the good work in which the @WHO is engaged worldwide. 1/3   Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan)  (@MOFA_Taiwan) April 9, 2020

Read: COVID-19: Taiwan Makes Masks Mandatory On Rail, Inter-city Buses Amid Tomb Festival

Read: Taiwan Announces $35 Bn COVID-19 Stimulus Package, Says Will Donate 10 Mn Masks
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta

GAZA/WEST BANK (Reuters) - Political and physical divisions between Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have induced two very different responses to the coronavirus pandemic, with a strict lockdown in the first and crowds milling about freely in the second.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has 250 recorded cases of the COVID-19 lung disease, a lockdown on public life was swiftly imposed - Bethlehem was sealed off after the first outbreak in March and a state of emergency declared.

But in the Gaza Strip, a densely populated coastal enclave, there have been few restrictions on movement and people packed into public markets and beaches, with few wearing masks against the risk of coronavirus contagion.

Forty km (25 miles) apart and separated by Israel, the West Bank and Gaza have no direct link between them.

Gaza, measuring 375 sq km (145 square miles), is home to around two million Palestinians. Since 2007 it has been under the control of the Islamist militant group Hamas, bitter rivals of President Mahmoud Abbas's more secular Palestinian Authority whose power base is in the West Bank.

Smaller and poorer, Gaza has for years been under a blockade by Israel, which cites security concerns to stop weapons and money reaching Hamas. Gazans say the blockade has crippled their economy and undermined the development of medical facilities, weakening their ability to face a pandemic.

But the geographical isolation that Gazans chafe against may also have helped stem the entry of the new coronavirus, with only 13 reported cases. All are at quarantine facilities.

Hamas says health conditions make a full lockdown unnecessary in Gaza, but it has closed schools, mosques and wedding halls and banned large street gatherings.

However, public markets remained busy this week. "We will stay home (to avoid coronavirus) when they give us money, food, aid and diapers, our children want to eat," greengrocer Ahmed Al-Nahal said in the Beach Camp market.

Story continues

But many fear disaster if the coronavirus penetrates further into the teeming Mediterranean enclave.

Scenes of crowds on beaches last weekend provoked criticism on social media, prompting Hamas to deploy police along the coast urging people not to gather.

"I kept my mouth shut last week but I'm genuinely concerned for Gaza, my family and people here," Gaza journalist Omar Ghraieb tweeted. "Do we think we are invincible?"

Eyad Al-Bozom, a Hamas interior ministry spokesman, said: "We will not hesitate to impose a curfew if we have to...We are taking necessary decisions in accordance with our daily evaluation."

The reaction has been different in the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule over around 3 million Palestinians living alongside Israeli settlements and military bases.

President Abbas ordered tight restrictions that left some West Bank towns nearly deserted except for shoppers going to groceries and pharmacies.

Some flouted the lockdown, prompting security forces to seize their cars, and to intervene last week after hundreds of government employees gathered outside banks to draw salaries.

Palestinian labourers also angered the authorities after reports that they had become infected in Israel then sneaked back into the West Bank, bypassing Israel's military barriers and Palestinian health officials.

"There are health measures that must be heeded to prevent the spread of the coronavirus." said Ghassan Nimer, a Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman.

(Additional reporting by Zainah El-Haroun in Ramallah. Writing by Stephen Farrell; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
T he Prime Minister in very good spirits after being discharged from intensive care as he continues to fight coronavirus, his spokesman said.

Boris Johnson is said to be enormously grateful for the care he has received from NHS staff at St Thomas Hospital.

I am told he was waving his thanks towards the nurses and doctors that he saw as he was being moved from the intensive care unit back to the ward, the spokesman said.

Hopefully it was clear to the staff that he was waving his gratitude.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

The spokesman said he was not aware of any contact between Mr Johnson and No 10, while it was too early to say how long he would need to remain in hospital.

The Prime Minister is back on a ward and continuing his recovery which is at an early stage. He continues to be in very good spirits, the spokesman said.

Decisions such as this will be on the advice of his medical team. They have given him brilliant care.

Loading....

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is filling in for the PM "where necessary".

There is speculation that it could be weeks until Mr Johnson is fit enough to return to work.

His father Stanley Johnson today spoke of his son needing to rest as he shared his relief he had left intensive care.

It comes as lockdown measures look set to extend perhaps weeks beyond the initial three-week mark.
African officials pushed back Thursday against the global jostling to obtain medical equipment to combat the coronavirus, warning that if the virus is left to spread on the continent the world will remain at risk.

"We cannot be neglected in this effort," the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, told reporters. "The world will be terribly unsafe, and it will be completely naive, if countries think they can control COVID-19 in their countries but not in Africa."

While Africa's 1.3 billion people had a head start in preparing for the pandemic as the virus spread in China, Europe and the United States, Nkengasong warned that "the very future of the continent will depend on how this matter is handled" as cases, now over 11,000, quickly rise.

"The worst is still to come," he said, and pointed to the global Spanish flu pandemic of a century ago when cases came in waves.

Africa is competing with the developing world for testing kits that will help give a clear number of cases, as well as ventilators for patients in respiratory distress and protective equipment that front-line health workers desperately require. Already, anxious workers have gone on strike or gone to court in places like Zimbabwe over the lack of gear.

"We may not actually know how big is the size of the problem" without scaling up testing, Nkengasong said.

While 48 of Africa's 54 countries now have testing capability, that often is limited to countries' capitals or other major cities, officials with the World Health Organization told reporters in a separate briefing.

There is an "urgent need" to expand testing, the WHO Africa chief, Matshidiso Moeti, said, noting that clusters of community transmission have emerged in at least 16 countries. That means the virus has begun spreading beyond the initial cases imported from abroad.

"Some countries might face a huge peak very soon" in cases, said the WHO's emergency program manager, Michel Yao.

Even if testing kits and other equipment are found, another challenge is delivering them amid the thicket of travel restrictions. Cargo space is rare because many airlines have stopped flights to African destinations, Yao said.

Close to 20 African countries have closed their borders, and several are now under lockdown to try to prevent the virus' spread. Millions of people wonder whether nations will follow Rwanda's lead in extending the period that all but essential workers are confined to their homes.

Lifting the lockdowns will depend on the situation in neighboring countries, Nkengasong said. Otherwise, "what's the point? If Botswana or Zimbabwe have cases and South Africa opens up, you waste everybody's time."
The number of people being



brought for burial in graveyards in Indore in Madhya Pradesh has increased and authorities must probe if these deaths had a coronavirus link, a senior religious authority said here on Friday, though the local administration said there didn't seem to be a connection to the outbreak.

Indore has 235 COVID-19 cases, including 26 who died from the infection.

Speaking to PTI, Indore's Shahar Qazi, Mohammad Ishrat Ali said. "The Indore administration should compare figures of arrival of janazas (funeral processions) at graveyards prior to imposition of curfew in the city (for the virus outbreak) and after, and find out what could be the reason for these deaths. Only after a probe would a clear picture emerge."



However, Indore Collector Manish Singh said, "It is true that in some graveyards, the number of janazas has increased, but the exact cause behind these deaths will be known only after medical examination. We have spoken with families of the deceased, Shahar Qazi, clerics and local representatives.""These people had had no symptoms of coronavirus, like sneezing, cold and cough, prior to their deaths," Singh said.

He said Khajrana, Chandan Nagar and Hathipala are more affected with the outbreak, and these areas have been sealed and movement of people has been stopped.

On the high death rates due to the virus in the city, Singh said, "It is mainly because COVID-19 patients are informing us late about the infection, despite constantly appealing to the people to inform as soon as possible for timely treatment."



The Shahar Qazi, meanwhile, said public address systems in 200 mosques are being used to ensure people follow the norms in place to combat the outbreak.

He also alleged some people suffering from heart and stomach ailments have been turned away by hospitals, and they had subsequently died.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Applications for the Kobrin Family Scholarship are still available and due by April 30.

The Kobrin family created the Kobrin Family Scholarship in 1990 to be awarded to a qualified, full-time student of the Jewish faith from Orange, Osceola or Seminole County who will be attending the University of Central Florida.

The scholarship is available in the amount of $2,500 per year for a maximum of four (4) years. The student must maintain a 3.1 GPA (based on a 4.0 scale) each year in order to remain qualified for the scholarship.

Visit http://www.JFSorlando.org/kobrin-family-scholarship for the application and complete scholarship information. Students should mail completed applications to JFS Orlando (2100 Lee Road, Winter Park, FL 32789) by April 30, 2020.

Please note: We understand due to school closures during COVID-19 some required application materials might take longer to acquire. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at 407-644-7593 ext. 227 or Sara.Martinez@JFSorlando.org.
The top Navy officer and defense secretary have the same message when it comes to Capt. Brett Crozier being reassigned to the job from which he was removed last week.

"We've taken nothing off the table."

That's what Defense Secretary Mark Esper told CBS News on Friday morning. On Thursday, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday also said he's open to reinstating Crozier as the commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.

"I am taking no options off the table," Gilday told The Associated Press. The CNO hasn't spoken to Crozier, the outlet reported, and isn't facing pressure from anyone about the investigation.

Related: Investigation into Navy Carrier CO's Firing Now Complete, Top Admiral Says

Gilday "just wants to make sure his actions are fair," according to the AP.

The Navy has completed its investigation into Crozier, though the results have not been made public. Crozier was relieved of command April 2. That was after he sent a plea for help with a growing health crisis on his ship to several people outside his chain of command.

Since Crozier's warning, which came in the form of a four-page letter that was later published by the San Francisco Chronicle, nearly 10% of the Roosevelt's crew has tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

Crozier is one of them. Another member was moved into an intensive care unit Thursday after being found unresponsive in Guam, where thousands of sailors have been moved off the ship to stem the spread of the virus among the crew.

The decision to remove Crozier from his position has been met with controversy. When Crozier left the ship, videos emerged of his crew applauding him, chanting the captain's name as he left.

Former Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who made the call, has since stepped down after he disparaged the ousted captain in a speech he gave to the crew days later. Modly flew to Guam to make the speech, which media outlets reported cost taxpayers more than $240,000. He resigned Tuesday following mounting pressure from lawmakers and others over his handling of the situation.

Esper told CBS his guidance to Gilday and the new acting Navy secretary, James McPherson, was to ensure no further action is taken against Crozier until after the service's investigation into his actions is complete.

"We'll see where that takes us," he said.

"What I look to do is hear from the chain of command," Esper added. "My inclination is always to support the chain of command and to take their recommendations seriously."

The defense secretary said he expects to hear the Navy's findings and recommendations "in the coming days."

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read more: Hundreds of Marines Arrive in Guam to Help Virus-Stricken Carrier Crew
The first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in an article published yesterday, When we are united, we are invincible, called on citizens to show patience and wisdom. He is convinced that the reforms carried out in the republic will save the country from unforeseen shocks. Nazarbayev believes that Kazakhstan has all the resources to cope with any problem. In the country, he said, is the third technological modernization.

In past years, I have said more than once: We cant rely on oil and gas deposits, we must move away from this dependence. Therefore, becoming an independent state, we started diversifying our economy. To this end, we developed the Kazakhstan-2050 Strategy, and within the framework of the Forced Industrial-Innovative Development program, over a thousand new enterprises were opened. Thanks to this, we began to produce products competitive on the world market, and new technologies came to us. This marked the beginning of the third technological modernization ation in our country ", - he stressed Elbasy (national leader). He noted, "the pandemic that alarmed the world has given rise to a new global economic crisis." "The largest enterprises have stopped their work, transport communications have fallen. Oil prices have fallen. They have closed the border and locked the interchange. All this leads to a previously unseen, enormous recession increase in unemployment," the article says. Elbasy is convinced that Kazakhstan will overcome this misfortune: "For this we have everything: finances, material resources, equipment, food supplies." There is no reason to panic. Not a single citizen will be left without support.

Earlier, President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev approved anti-crisis measures: targeted support for socially vulnerable groups of the population, tax holidays for businesses, support for farmers in preparing for spring field work. "Measures of social support for the population are already being implemented - today, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, nearly 200 thousand people have been assigned payments in the amount of 42,500 tenge in connection with the loss of income during the state of emergency. Applications from 1 million 285 thousand were received. man, "said Zhanar Tulindinova, a leading expert at the Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Kazakhstan, told Vestnik Kavkaza.

Kazakh political scientist Talgat Kaliyev noted that the coronavirus epidemic made it possible to clearly see the contours of the distribution of zones of responsibility between the first and second presidents of Kazakhstan: "President Tokayev confidently and in full authority announced the introduction of an emergency (emergency) regime, signed a decree on presidential powers in emergency situations, and Nursultan Nazarbayev took the initiative to create a special fund to combat coronavirus and called on those who want, primarily large business, to make a feasible contribution. ss of the response to the epidemic Tokayev issued an appeal in which he instructed to adopt a package of measures to support the population and business, Nursultan Nazarbayev addressed the people in an article calling for patience and wisdom, "Kaliyev said.

According to the political scientist, the behavior of the former and current presidents allows us to ascertain the achievement of the stability of the power structure, in which each occupies his own constitutional niche without intersecting and not contradicting each other either in the semantic or in the political space. Moreover, it becomes clear that Elbasy consciously distanced himself from the current processes, allowing everyone to be convinced of the complete independence of the decisions made by Kasym-Zhomart Tokaev, allowing only to speak out in their support.

Experts see Nazarbayevs article as a reference to the post-epidemic period, designed to instill positivism and confidence. In particular, in the second part of the article, as Zhanar Tulindinova noted, the first president addressed the moral and ethical aspects of society and the arrangement of personal priorities for each citizen. "Elbasy emphasizes that panic, alarmism, infodemia, toxic expressions and behavior on social networks can only aggravate the situation. Nazarbayevs article outlines clear guidelines for society and the citizen - social responsibility and solidarity, caring for neighbors and those most in need of help, participation in volunteering and charity. Elbasy points out that setting positive goals and objectives will help to overcome the crisis with the least losses, "the expert emphasized.

Nazarbayev noted that Kazakhstan was the first to start the fight against the pandemic, and even became a role model for other countries. In the fight against the spread of coronavirus, he urged to look up to neighboring China: "An example of neighboring China is indicative - thanks to organization and iron discipline, they managed to curb the infection there."

Nevertheless, criticism of the authorities nevertheless sounded - due to the fact that they were late with the introduction of quarantine. This was indicated by events in neighboring China and Iran, where the virus spread at the speed of the wind, while the leadership of Kazakhstan waited two months. And only after the statement of the republics chief sanitary doctor that "finally, according to forecasts, the coronavirus should appear in Kazakhstan", quarantine was introduced in the country.

According to the director of the Risk Assessment Group, Dosym Satpayev, the article by Nursultan Nazarbayev has a political and technological component: It was important for the first president to show that he was keeping the situation under control, that he was the initiator of strategic decisions regarding supporting the economy, small and medium-sized businesses, and socially vulnerable groups population and other measures taken in the fight against coronavirus, while the crisis situation helps President Tokaev to establish himself as an independent player. as a managed person who leads the country with an eye on the Library (Elbasys residence), if Tokaev convinces society that his main task is to save the country and its citizens, he can become a president of hopes."
Pintos new book The Doctor & Mrs. A. is culled from conversations between Satya Nand and 'Mrs. A.', with a fascinating exploration of the relationship between ethics and counter ethics.

When Sarah Pinto was in India a few years ago to research the history of hysteria in the country, she got access to the archived case files at NIMHANS Bangalores psychiatry department. A doctor, who was at the helm of the preservation effort, told her he had a case for her that would challenge everything she thought she knew about Indian women. The case was part of Dev Satya Nands 1947 publication The Objective Method, that the doctor had encountered in England.

As a cultural anthropologist, Pinto had long focused on the gendered dynamics of medicine and health, and this piqued her curiosity. A few months later, shed found a copy of the book at Harvard  in it was a fascinating dream analysis study that Satya Nand, a Christian military psychologist at Lahore Mental Hospital, had developed with his family friend Mrs. A., a 21-year-old educated, recently married, upper-caste Hindu woman. Mrs. A.s articulate reflections on marriage, sexuality, socialism, and female mythic figures became dream smudges.

Pintos new book The Doctor & Mrs. A.: Ethics and Counter-Ethics in an Indian Dream Analysis (Women Unlimited Press and Fordham University Press) is culled from those conversations, with a fascinating exploration of the relationship between ethics and counter ethics. Excerpts from an interview with the author, who also teaches at anthropology at Tufts University.

What was it about Mrs. A.'s chapter in The Objective Method that fascinated you?

Dr Sanjeev Jain, who had found the obscure book, had mentioned that it contained a case with a fascinating love triangle and that the cases subject was an unexpected kind of figure  someone whose ideas about gender, sexuality, and personal independence were progressive and bold for her time. When I managed to get my hands on the text, I found, of course, that he was correct, but I also discovered that this was an intimate portrayal of psychoanalysis in action, one that diverged from what I thought I knew about the history of psychoanalysis and, especially, its relationship to women. Mrs. A. was an active, and at times contentious, analysand  she challenged Satya Nands ideas, told him where he had gotten her analysis wrong, and brought her own interesting and original ideas to the case.

She reflected on her love affairs and longings with such freshness and candour, including thoughts on homosexuality, nostalgia about romances before marriage, and reflections on marital sexuality. Her voice feels very real and approachable in a text that is, otherwise, rather dense and difficult.

Mrs. A. wanted to write India's history, and bring Hindu socialism to villagers. It's interesting how Satya Nand accorded a sense of legitimacy to these aspirations, not treating them as delusions. Tell us a bit more about this.

This was also something that excited me about this text. Anyone with an inkling of psychoanalysis history  or familiarity with Freud and his colleagues  is aware of its ambivalences about women. On the one hand, acknowledging  as normal!  the fact of female sexuality, and on the other, overwriting the things women said, including accounts of assault and abuse, with their own ideas, effectively using interpretation to silence women and the facts of their lives. But Satya Nands cases have a different feel. He wrote, in his description of his unique method, that he wanted to take seriously the ways real-life events affect people and shape their personalities and outlooks. He was interested in the truth, as he put it, which meant that he was willing to entertain certain difficult realities that other psychoanalysts might have reduced to matters of fantasy.

At the same time, he was obviously excited about Mrs. A.s formulation of Hindu Socialism  he thought it had potential to reform Indian social structures and he consistently encouraged Mrs. A. to return to that aspect of her reflections. Though the text as a whole is quite authoritative, in the case itself, there is less of a sense of a singular, masculine, authoritative voice. One senses they were figuring something out together, and that this meant not finding it odd that a young woman might have smart, revolutionary ideas and a voice that deserved to be heard. As someone writing about womens history from the western academy (which tends to assume that the West has been the primary source of change and resistance where women are concerned), I find Satya Nands treatment of his analysand  in the 1940s  to be a reminder that the map and timeline of emancipation are not always what we assume.

The appearance of mythic heroines like Draupadi, Shakuntala and Ahalya forms a focal point of Mrs. A.'s musings, and became a defining feature of the analysis. What do you think led Satya Nand to apply their stories to Mrs. A.'s life?

I cant give a good answer to this one  Satya Nands personal motivations are opaque, but I know that his interest in religion as a source for understanding the psyche spanned his career, and that while he came to emphasise sources such as the Bhagavad Gita in his later work, in early work, which is wildly eclectic, he incorporated ideas from diverse traditions. He was the son of two converts to Christianity and was raised Christian, but Hindu themes are prominent in his work, though his versions of key stories are at times rather... original. In fact, I have wondered if it was Mrs. A. who inspired him to turn to Hindu narratives in a more focused way. She was the one who brought up Draupadi and Shakuntala, and Satya Nand ran with it  finding ways to map her inner dilemmas according to (his understanding of) themes from their stories.

When Mrs. A. and Dev Satya Nand met, the partition of India was looming. Concepts of Independence led to Mrs. A. attaching her personal dilemmas about marriage and freedom with national ones. How do you view the significance of this?

One of the things I love about this text is its timing  just on the verge of Independence, not there yet but close enough to be infused by a sense of freedom. To me, Mrs. A.s case is a story about grappling with the stakes and possibilities of freedom, what it means to be contained and what it means to step out of that containment and build something new. There is apprehension, as well as excitement, which strikes me as very human, and also a sense that freedom from the colonial rule may not necessarily mean freedom from patriarchal realities for women, or freedom from poverty for the rural poor  that there will be work to do, new freedoms to accomplish. That this was projected in the near future  not a distant future, but not an imminent one either  is also important. At the same time, it is jarring, sad, and strange to imagine that this conversation happened, in all likelihood, in Lahore, or possibly Amritsar, and to know what would soon come to be and yet see no shadow of it in all that hope and imagination.

You write that as a text on dream analysis, Objective Method is obscure and often confusing, but as an account of mid-twentieth century Indian gender, sexuality, marriage and the ethics and counter-ethics they generate, it is remarkable. Why do you think the publication (and Satya Nand) left little impact on the landscape of Indian psychiatry?

In part, I think this had to do with the timing of the text  not just in Indian history, but in Satya Nands own life. It reads as a rushed piece of writing by a young scholar who is very eager to get his ideas into the world and which, perhaps, would have been more lucid with a few more years to reflect and revise. It is not just Satya Nands ideas that are wild and complicated, his writing is dense and his meanings often unclear. In some places  especially in later work  there are ideas that, while they do not map onto what we know about biology, the brain, or cells, do feel a bit prescient of epigenetics. In other moments, it is straight-up eugenics  which would not have been an uncommon view at the time, but is certainly discomforting. I suppose we can think of him as ahead of his time in some ways, but also be grateful that some of his ideas did not gain wide acceptance.

Your previous books have focused on the gendering of medical practice in contemporary India. There's a fair bit of mulling on this in The Doctor & Mrs. A. too.

As a cultural anthropologist, I have a long interest in the ways practices that aim to make things better  at the individual or social level  can have unexpected effects on peoples everyday lives. Medicine and public health, as among these practices, is lived out in relationships  in families, neighbourhoods, between individuals  and because relationships are infused with gender, so are medical practices and public health efforts. My first research, in rural Uttar Pradesh, was deeply invested in the idea that modernity, globalisation, change, and all their vicissitudes unfold in rural spaces as much as in urban ones. I came to that as much from my own upbringing in rural America as from my interest in South Asian history and social processes. As a feminist, too, I have a commitment to pursuing the  often complex and entangled, what is now called intersectional  ways inequalities are performed, reinforced, and challenged. Because medicine is supposedly charged with an ethical orientation toward healing, it is an ideal place to ask in what complicated ways inequalities, even violences, are tangled up in efforts to fix or change.

In India, as just about everywhere, this has a lot to do with gender. I came to the study of gender in India through the inspirations of the Indian womens movement on the one hand, and an early encounter with dais  traditional midwives  on the other. Dais, who are often from marginalised communities yet who do vitally important, highly regarded, and skilled work with bodies, homes, and cosmologies, had complex and subtle strategies for building lives amid inequalities, oppressions, and the contradiction of being at once reviled and revered. I came to see that these means were at once valid on their own terms and ill-fitting with the goals of the mainstream womens movement in India. Thinking about gender, healing, and power from their perspective utterly transformed my thinking about gender and the stakes of social change. Mrs. A. represents the opposite end of the social spectrum. The dais I worked with in my early research would have been ciphers for her, symbols of lives needing to be fixed, people needing to be taught, but not people with valid perspectives. My work with them was crucial in preventing me from romanticising Mrs. A.s social justice aspirations, considering its stakes, and recognising the kinds of bad faith, even violences, that can plague our best intentions to make the world a better place.

You've been doing research on the interplay between gender and Indian hysteria. Is that going to be your next published work?

I hope so! I have been working on the history of hysteria in India for a number of years, and in fact, this book comes out of that project. I discuss some of this history in broad brushstrokes in The Doctor but there is a much longer story, or rather a library of stories! The history of hysteria in India is wonderful because it calls into question some commonplace assumptions about how medicine moves around the world and what modern medical encounters look like. It is not just a story about the impact of colonial science or European medicine, but is about the ways medical concepts get shared over broad expanses of time and then, also, get made over as owned by one form of knowledge or another.

To my surprise, the history of hysteria in India actually has much less to do with women than I expected, and more to do with ideas about trauma and its effect on our minds and bodies. It has been illuminating to discover the way medical ideas about sudden unconsciousness, fits, muteness, paralysis, and other similar afflictions  ideas that can be found in Ayurveda, Unani-Tibb, and pre-colonial literature and religious writing, as well as in what eventually came to be known as biomedicine, involve ethical discussions about both love and the damages people do to each other.
C abinet minister Robert Jenrick has defended visiting his parents during the coronavirus lockdown, insisting he did so to deliver "essentials including medicines".

The Housing Secretary was spotted outside his parents' Shropshire home over the weekend, which is understood to be 40 miles away from his own residence.

A witness told the Guardian about the visit and Mr Jenrick has since responded to reports of his conduct.

For clarity  my parents asked me to deliver some essentials  including medicines," he said on Twitter.

They are both self-isolating due to age and my fathers medical condition and I respected social distancing rules.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

The Governments guidelines state you should not visit anyone who lives outside your own home, including elderly relatives, though you are allowed to leave your house to help them, for example by dropping shopping or medication at their door.

Mr Jenrick, who is the minister responsible for local government and MP for Newark, has spoken at the daily Downing Street press conferences.

He is a key member of the Cabinet and has represented the Government in a number of broadcast interviews, pushing the stay at home guidance.

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said it is up to Mr Jenrick to explain why he made the journey.

Mr Thomas-Symonds told BBC Breakfast: There are the four reasons for leaving your house. One of them is to deliver essential supplies to vulnerable people.

Clearly if that is what Robert Jenrick has done, then it fits within the four exceptions. It is for him to answer precisely what the purpose of the journey he undertook was.

Loading....

As well as the visit to his parents, the Daily Mail reported Mr Jenrick had travelled from his residence in London to a second home in Herefordshire during the lockdown.

The minister told the paper: My house in Herefordshire is the place I, my wife and my young children consider to be our family home and my family were there before any restrictions on travel were announced.

I have been working in London on ministerial duties, putting in place the system to shield the group most vulnerable to coronavirus and organising the response at a local level.

Once I was able to work from home it was right that I went home to do so and be with my wife and also help care for my three young children.

He said he would be staying at the family home until Government advice changes or he is needed in Westminster.
PGI Chandigarh on Friday said it was not aware of report cited by Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in claiming that 58 per cent of the country's population could be COVID-19 infected by mid-September.

"It's clarified that PGI, Chandigarh isn't aware that any expert/faculty member from Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health of the Institute carried out any study that COVID-19 may peak by mid September and can infect 58 per cent of country's population," said the Public Relations Officer (PRO), PGIMER on Friday.

The Punjab Chief Minister had said during an interaction through video conference hosted by All India Congress Committee (AICC) earlier in the day that medical experts had suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic would peak in India by mid-September and around 58 per cent of Indians would get infected.

He said the report has been produced by "our experts" and there were senior medical officers and really top class people in virology.

He also mentioned John Hopkins University and Boston University in this context.

Reading from the report, he mentioned that in "SF-I scenario" of COVID-19 in India "is expected to reach its peak in mid-September at a point when 58 per cent population is infected".

"When these figures come, these are frightening figures, so we have to do what we can and lockdown is one of the issues," the Chief Minister said.

After PGI Chandigarh issued a clarification, Raveen Thukral, media advisor to the Chief Minister, said the report cited by Capt Amarinder Singh was an assessment done by a team led by faculty member of PGIMER and was based on mathematical models and data of Punjab provided to him.

"Please note the report cited by Capt Amarinder is assessment of Dr. Shankar Prinja, Addl Professor of Health Economics, Dept of Community Medicine and School of Public Health PGIMER Chandigarh and his team, using standard mathematical models with Punjab data provided to him," he said in a tweet.

"State Committee on Health Sector Response and Procurement headed by Vini Mahajan with ex PGI director Dr KK Takwar as professional advisor had sought an urgent assessment of Punjab's COVID19 scenario from Dr Prinja to plan its preparedness," he added.

A Punjab government press release about the video conference had earlier cited the Chief Minister as saying that "the projections by scientists and medical experts suggested that the pandemic would peak in India by July-August, and around 58 per cent of Indians would get infected, with 87 per cent of people likely to get affected in Punjab".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bengaluru, April 10 : City civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has sealed two wards to contain the Covid-19 spread, an official said on Friday.

"BBMP will completely seal Bapuji Nagar Ward 134 and Padarayanapura Ward 135 to prevent the spread of Covid after five fresh cases were reported," tweeted BBMP Commissioner B. H. Anil Kumar.

Following the sealing, Kumar said the civic body will supply all essentials to the residents of the two wards, besides banning all vehicular traffic.
President Donald Trump is warning without evidence that expanding mail-in voting will increase voter fraud.

But several GOP state officials are forging ahead to do just that, undermining one of Trump's arguments about how elections should be conducted amid the coronavirus outbreak.

While Trump has complained that voting by mail was ripe for fraud," Republican state officials in Iowa, Ohio and West Virginia have all taken steps to ease access to mail-in ballots, following health officials' warnings that voting in person can risk transmission of the deadly virus.

The Republican governor of Nebraska urged voters to apply for absentee ballots. Florida's GOP chairman says the party will continue to run a robust vote-by-mail program.

The disconnect between Trump and Republican state officials illustrates the abrupt, hard turn the president and his national political allies have taken on the issue.

Before the coronavirus hit, many in the GOP had warmed to mail-in voting, agreeing that it can be conducted without fraud and even used to their political advantage.

But Trump's hard line appears to be driven by his personal suspicions and concerns about his own reelection prospects. Statewide mail-in voting doesn't work out well for Republicans," he tweeted this week.

Trump's comments put his Republican allies in states in the awkward position of trying to defend their practices without criticizing the president. Some said they agreed with Trump, even as their actions seem to suggest otherwise. Others suggested Trump was out of line.

It is disappointing when anyone in leadership makes fraud claims, said Kim Wyman, the Republican secretary of state of Washington state, which has had universal mail voting since 2010.

When it happens, the public loses confidence in the foundational pillar of our system.

Wyman was part of a group of bipartisan election officials who spoke to reporters Thursday to push for money from Congress to deal with the virus.

In Iowa, Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate did not criticise Trump directly, but he, too, said that sowing doubt about the integrity of the process is as dangerous as vote fraud."



Iowa is mailing requests for absentee ballots to all 2.1 million registered voters ahead of special elections in July. Pate described the move as a reaction to an emergency. You need to have some flexibility," he said.

There is no evidence of widespread mail voting fraud. The most prominent recent case occurred in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District in 2018, when a consultant hired by the GOP candidate was linked to an effort to tamper with absentee ballots.

Trump himself requested a mail ballot for Florida's GOP primary last month.

Still, this week he said mail in voting is horrible, it's corrupt," and the Republican National Committee moved to help state parties block expansion of the franchise.

The effort was most notable in Wisconsin, where voters were forced to wait in long lines after the GOP majority on the state's Supreme Court prevented the Democratic governor's last-ditch attempt to delay the election.

But there's no consensus about Trump's position.

In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose, both Republicans, this week urged the state's voters to cast ballots via mail in the April 28 primary.

The contest was shifted to an virtually all-mail election last month as the virus outbreak worsened.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, is urging all voters to request absentee ballots for next month's primary.

In West Virginia, all voters are receiving applications for mail ballots for the state's upcoming primary.

On Thursday, on the call with reporters, the state's Republican secretary of state, Mac Warner, said he agrees with Trump that voting by mail just opens up opportunity for fraud," but he said he believed his state has necessary safeguards.

In Florida, where Republicans have dominated mail voting, state GOP chairman Joe Gruters also agreed with Trump that the state couldn't entirely vote through the method.

But, he added: The Florida GOP will push vote-by-mail requests and returns among Republicans.

Wendy Weisert of the Brennan Center for Social Justice, which advocates for expanded mail voting, said there had been bipartisan agreement on the election changes needed to adjust to the coronavirus outbreak.

But she said Trump's comments this week were adding partisan fuel to decisions that should be no-brainers."



Trump has a history of making baseless claims of voter fraud. After he won the 2016 presidential election while losing the popular vote, he insisted there was widespread voter fraud.

He set up a commission to investigate, but it disbanded without finding any examples.

Every state has some version of mail voting, but with widely varying rules.

They range from systems like those used in Utah, Washington and Colorado, where all voters are automatically sent ballots, to Wisconsin, where a witness's signature is required for voters to request an absentee ballot.

In about one-third of the states, voters need a state-sanctioned excuse to make their request.

Trump's concerns about mail-in voting appears to come from a belief that the practice benefits Democrats. He tweeted that Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Natural News) As many as 150 members of the royal family of Saudi Arabia have tested positive for COVID-19, including at least one high-ranking prince and dozens of other lower-level officials.

Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud, nephew of King Salman and governor of Riyadh, is currently hospitalized due to health complications from his coronavirus infection. This was confirmed by two doctors with ties to the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, an elite facility known for treating members of the Al Saud clan.

In fact, an internal high alert memo sent out by officials from the King Faisal Specialist Hospital basically confirms that the elite facility is preparing as many as 500 beds for an expected influx of infected royals, as well as close allies of the royal family.

Directives are to be ready for VIPs from around the country, wrote the officials from King Faisal Specialist Hospital in their memo. We dont know how many cases we will get but [stay on high alert].

Hospital officials further ordered that all chronic patients must be transferred to other hospitals in the area, presumably to avoid having to share hospital resources with non-royal patients, and that only top urgent cases would be accepted from thereon out. Furthermore, any sick medical practitioners and hospital staff were not allowed to get treatment at King Faisal Specialist Hospital to make room for the possible arrival of the royals.

According to an anonymous source close to the royal family, as many as 150 members of the Al Saud family have now contracted coronavirus, including members of the House of Sauds lesser branches.

The Saudi royal family is estimated to have about 15,000 members, including thousands of princes, many of whom have deep pockets and routinely go on vacations. Doctors and people close to the royal family believe that several of these royals brought back the coronavirus, where it began to spread among their ranks.

King Salman, 84, has quarantined himself in an island palace near Jeddah, a western Saudi Arabian city on the Red Sea. His son and de facto ruler of the kingdom, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 34, has similarly isolated himself along with several ministers in a remote site in the countrys northwest, in a location where he has promised to build the futuristic city of Neom.

Worst is yet to come for Saudi Arabia

As of press time, Saudi Arabia has 3,287 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 44 deaths and 666 recoveries. Saudi Arabia reacted quickly to the coronavirus pandemic. The country began restricting travel into the kingdom several days before it reported its first case of COVID-19 on March 2.

How the virus initially spread inside the kingdom is impossible to determine. However, the countrys first officially acknowledged case was of a Saudi who visited Iran, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East. After similar cases were detected, most coming from Saudis who visited Iran, the kingdom promptly locked down many areas in the countrys eastern province, which is home to a significant Shia Muslim minority. Authorities deemed that they were more likely to visit Iran, a majority Shia country.

Many of the countrys largest cities have been placed under a strict 24-hour lockdown, with exceptions for trips to the grocery and the pharmacy. The countrys land and air borders, as well as its interregional borders, have also been shut down. The kingdom has even indicated that theres a chance that they will cancel the annual hajj pilgrimage, which begins in late July and draws in over 2.5 million Muslim pilgrims to the holy city of Mecca.

While the King and the Crown Prince may be safe, the Saudi Minister of Health said on Tuesday that the worst is yet to come for the kingdom.

Within the next few weeks, studies predict the number of infections will range from a minimum of 10,000 to a maximum of 200,000, said Tawfiq al-Rabiah, according to the state-controlled Saudi Press Agency.

Three doctors working for the kingdom have said that a significant portion of the countrys infected cases were taking place among non-Saudis. Migrant workers from South and Southeast Asia, as well as less affluent Arab countries make up around a third of the countrys population of 33 million people. Many of these migrant workers live in cramped conditions and must commute using public transport, ideal for a virus that is spread through bodily fluids.

Furthermore, Minister Al-Rabiah berated the response of many Saudi citizens to the crisis, urging people to closely adhere to state directives.

We stand today at a decisive moment as a society in raising our sense of responsibility and contributing together with determination to stop the spread of this pandemic, said Al-Rabiah.

Along with this announcement, King Salman approved the release of 7 billion riyals ($1.86 billion) for the Ministry of Health to combat the disease. Another 32 billion riyals ($8.5 billion) are on standby and can be released before the end of the year if need be.

Spread of virus among Al Saud clan may have affected countrys pandemic policy

According to an expert on Saudi Arabia, the spread of the virus among members of the royal family may have influenced the countrys quick response to the pandemic.

If it is reaching into the family, then it becomes an urgent issue, said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, an analyst and a professor at Rice University. This may be seen in the way the country is currently treating its migrant population.

Recognizing the appalling living and working conditions of its nearly 11 million migrant workers, King Salman decreed that the government would be providing COVID-19 treatment for foreigners, regardless of their visa or residency status.

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia officially declared a cease-fire in their five-year-long conflict in Yemen. This signals that the country may be having a hard time fighting a war on two fronts  in Yemen and in its own borders with the coronavirus.

Accordingly, the pandemic may also benefit the power plays of Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who has served as the countrys crown prince and de facto ruler since 2017. Since his ascension to his current role, MBS has moved ruthlessly to secure his power.

In early March 2020, just as the country was responding to the growing global coronavirus pandemic, many senior royals and top government officials were detained in what many observers believe is MBS latest effort to consolidate power.

Now, with over 150 members of the royal family, including the governor of Riyadh  a position King Salman himself held before ascending to the throne  incapacitated due to COVID-19, the future of the country looks even more uncertain. The fate of MBS own ambitious social and economic transformation program known as Vision 2030 has been called into question due to the effects of the pandemic on social life and economic activity.

While it remains to be seen what Saudi Arabias future will look like after COVID-19, if MBS uses the pandemic to his advantage, hes likely to secure even more power in a royal family that has been plagued with internal strife since MBS rise to power.

Sources include:

NYTimes.com 1

AlJazeera.com 1

Coronavirus.JHU.edu

MiddleEastEye.net

NYTimes.com 2

NYTimes.com 3

AlJazeera.com 2

MiddleEastMonitor.com

CounterPunch.org
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

Mike Daillak and his partner Rhasaan Fernandez bought Sams Log Cabin in Albany in 2010, and, later this year, they plan to be celebrating their 10th anniversary of owning the super-popular brunch spot.

The question is: Will the festivities be inside a packed restaurant or in a takeout spot thats barely limping along, hoping it can survive the COVID-19 pandemic?

Or will Sams be open at all?

Sams has long been a very busy spot on San Pablo Avenue. For years, it has faced problems any restaurant would die for, like how to manage droves of patrons who must wait up to an hour to get a table, and how not to run out of its famous fried chicken sandwiches or cinnamon currant French toast.

That seems like a lifetime ago.

These days, Sams is confronting a whole new set of issues, like letting people know it is actually open as a takeout and delivery-only operation. And then there is the challenge of adopting all kinds of protocols to becoming the safest possible spot for workers and customers alike.

Some popular Bay Area restaurants have just said forget it and closed their doors with plans to return. In a short period recently, some very well-known spots, including Dona in Oakland, Sauls Deli in Berkeley, just shut it down. Comal in downtown Berkeley had closed weeks earlier. All three of these places cited worker safety as a major reason for shutting their doors.

I understand that concern, Daillak says. I also think that a lot of them made the decision based on the fact that they probably had enough of a nest egg to know that they could pay rent for a while and they didnt want to be in a position of possibly being aboard a sinking ship.

The idea that some places can afford to close more easily than others was echoed by John Paluska, the owner of Comal. In an interview as part of the Berkeley Relief Fund, he told author Michael Lewis: Weve been operating in a good way for a long time so if I need to go back to our investors for more cash, then theyre going to see the potential and the wisdom in doing that.

But if someone is hanging in there but barely making ends meet its difficult to go back to the well, take out a big loan, especially with a personal guarantee, and they may not have investors to draw from.

Such is the case with Sams. We dont have a bunch in savings, Daillak says. So it became the thing where on the one hand if we shut down, how are we going to cover rent and bills and expenses like that. In some sense, its better to fight on and see if you can pull it off.

And youve got a lot of employees who are gonna be shut out, are gonna be hurting ... Its really about trying as hard as you can getting this to a place where its gonna be sustainable at the same time being as informed and as cautious as you can with the health factor.

And of course safety is intertwined with building this business in the time of the coronavirus. In a recent article in the Washington Post on the risks of getting takeout, it said: What can you do to protect yourself from this potential route of transmission? Experts say the best way is to patronize only those restaurants/takeaways that you know and trust.

Even in pre-coronavirus world, Daillak always had a zero tolerance policy when it came to employee sickness, but nowadays everything is magnified.

"Youre making sure youre keeping up that standard," Daillak says. "And youre making sure youre going above that standard because you have an environment that you can control."

If one of us gets sick, that threatens everything. Especially if its anything COVID-related, were done. Then its just shut down the restaurant.

This is exactly what happened in Portland to Andy Ricker, owner of the renowned Pok Pok. Rickers chef Floyd Cardoz died from COVID-19 and Ricker quickly shut down his Michelin-starred restaurant.

As Ricker told Eater, Were okay following health code and being careful about spreading foodborne illnesses. But a deadly coronavirus? Thats just not something were trained to deal with. It just hit me: Its better to close than to be open.

Perhaps in an ideal world, restaurants like Sams Log Cabin could close down and workers could go home, shelter in place all day and then the restaurant could get funding to start up again once the coronavirus pandemic has eased. But unless that happens, the daily battle to survive as a business and stay safe continues.



Though he decided to close down his restaurant, Ricker understood that. I cant find fault with it  I myself was there just a few days ago. I wanted to protect as many employees job status as I could, and I wanted to show spirit and feed the community," he said. "I dont think anyone who is staying open is really thinking theyll make money  most of them are scared that if they close, theyll lose everything.

Or, as Mike Daillak puts it, This isnt about making money. Its about survival.

David Curran is an online editor at SFGate. Email: dcurran@sfgate.com

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.
A Hanover man accused of raping a teenage girl was arrested Thursday after more than a year-long investigation into his whereabouts.

Hanover police began searching for Emmanuel Lugo-Fernandez after receiving reports in January 2019 that a 16-year-old girl was raped, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

A warrant was soon issued charging the 31-year-old with rape and other, lesser offenses, but police were unable to find him, the federal agency said.

Federal authorities arrested Lugo-Fernandez on Thursday afternoon after discovering him in a Green Bay, Wisconsin apartment.

Lugo-Fernandez was turned over to Green Bay police, and awaits extradition back to Pennsylvania.
If you're looking for a sliver of hope around the COVID-19 pandemic in Manitoba, take some small comfort in knowing the infection rate among those tested for the virus has been falling in recent days.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you're looking for a sliver of hope around the COVID-19 pandemic in Manitoba, take some small comfort in knowing the infection rate among those tested for the virus has been falling in recent days.

Its not much to celebrate, but it is tangible evidence that the measures government and the public are taking to reduce the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 is working.

When Manitoba recorded its first positive COVID-19 case about a month ago, the percentage of those tested who had the disease (which the province calls the "test positive proportion") was well below one per cent. But as more travellers returned home from abroad, including those showing symptoms, that proportion increased. By early April it climbed to well over one per cent, peaking at 1.56 per cent on April 5. Since then, that number has declined slightly. It fell to 1.47 per cent on Thursday.

At its peak, between two per cent and three per cent of people were testing positive on some days. But of the 2,261 people tested over the past five days (as of Thursday), less than one per cent were positive.

It makes sense. The number of travellers being tested has declined. Travellers showing symptoms are the highest-risk carriers, which is why the province has been testing them first. But as testing has been expanded to others, including symptomatic front-line health-care staff and first responders, the percentage of infected persons has declined.

That means collectively, through rigorous and painful physical-distancing measures (as well as exhaustive contact tracing of those infected), Manitobans are doing an effective job of slowing the spread of the virus. That's confirmed by the relatively small number of people requiring hospitalization. If the virus were spreading rapidly through community transmission, our hospitals would be overwhelmed with very sick COVID-19 patients. They arent. There have been about 12 such patients in hospital, around half in intensive care and some on ventilators, on any given day over the past week. That number has held steady.

With three deaths as of Thursday, Manitobas case fatality rate (deaths as a percentage of positive tests) is 1.3 per cent, which is lower than in many other jurisdictions. Its a small sample size. But its an encouraging sign.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

There are risks associated with Manitoba's early success in containing the virus. Dr. Brent Roussin, the provinces chief public health officer, says in no way do these numbers mean the risk of spreading the virus has declined. While Roussin said hes encouraged by the test results, hes concerned the public may interpret them to mean they can relax their physical-distancing measures.

They cant. If they do, all the work Manitobans have done over the past few weeks, all the sacrifices people have made  especially front-line health-care workers  would be for naught. These numbers could change on a dime. It would take just one or two major outbreaks in a personal care home or a seniors residence to send infection numbers soaring. One church service or large park gathering could send dozens of people to hospital. This is a very infectious disease. It can spread like wildfire if you let it.

While Roussin said hes encouraged by the test results, hes concerned the public may interpret them to mean they can relax their physicaldistancing measures.

Still, Manitobans deserve to know their efforts are paying off. The measures we're taking are working. Were preventing hospitals from being overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. Which means were saving lives and helping protect front-line health workers. Thats the only thing that matters right now. Governments have no idea how long this will last or how many deaths well see. Politicians have been pressured to release models that supposedly project infection rates, deaths and peak periods of transmission. But as Premier Brian Pallister has said repeatedly, those numbers are guesswork. Theyre useless for planning purposes, largely because the assumptions theyre based on are unreliable.

The only thing we know for sure is that through physical distancing and targeted testing, were able to contain the virus. As Roussin has said repeatedly, we are not helpless against this disease. There are steps we can take to protect ourselves and others.

So far, were doing a good job of that. Its now time to double down on those efforts.
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.
One-year-old Yazan's perilous trek from his small desert hometown culminated in a five-hour surgery. He is one of 1,000 children treated by Dr. William Novick's group since it first came to Libya after the 2011 uprising. (AP)

Libya has only one heart surgeon who can't possibly perform surgeries on 1,200 or so infants born every year with heart defects. But an international team of experts, part of the Novick Cardiac Alliance, regularly flies into Libya to perform surgery on patients like Yazan. (AP)

People attend a funeral of a Syrian Democratic Forces fighter who was killed in a battle with remnants of the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, in the town of Qamishli, (AP)

Saudi Arabia's Deputy Health Minister Abdel-Fattah Mashat was quoted on the state-linked news site Al-Yaum saying that groups of visitors to Mecca from inside the country would now also be barred from performing the pilgrimage, known as the umrah. (AP)

Passengers wear masks to help protect against coronavirus, at the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP)

Iran's health ministry spokesman warned authorities could use unspecified "force" to halt travel between major cities. (AP)

Saudi Arabia emptied Islam's holiest site for sterilization over fears of the new coronavirus. (AP)

The Jewish holiday of Purim commemorates the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther. (AP)

The United Arab Emirates will shut down its schools for four weeks as the coronavirus threatens global oil prices, airlines and Dubai's upcoming Expo 2020 world's fair. (AP)

The Jewish holiday of Purim commemorates the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther. (AP)

To reassure his supporters, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani threw open his jacket saying he wasn't even wearing a bullet proof vest. (AP)
The European Union agreed a trillion-euro bailout last night to shore up the bloc's coronavirus-hit economy.

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire, who labelled the agreement the most important in the EU's history, said 500 billion (430billion) will be made available immediately, with the remainder in a fund for specific countries.

Following the deal, he said: 'Europe has shown it can rise to the occasion of this crisis.'

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire (left) in telephone discussions with his EU counterparts yesterday before the deal was announced

The decision came amid warnings from Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte that the pandemic could cause the collapse of the EU. He hit out during a row between member states over how to share debts created by the economic tsunami sweeping the bloc.

Italy, backed by six other nations, wanted EU countries to take on a bigger share of eurozone-wide debts.

But Holland and Germany wanted a bailout solution to come with stricter rules.

Before last night's meeting of EU finance ministers, Mr Conte had warned of the risk to the EU if agreement could not be reached. He said: 'If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real.

'We are not demanding that Germany and the Netherlands pay our debts, I'm calling for the fiscal rules to be relaxed.

'Otherwise we'll have to write off Europe and everyone will do their own thing. We can't end up with 'operation successful: patient dead'.'

Mr Conte was joined by Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez, who added: 'The EU is at risk if there is no solidarity.' Italy and Spain have been worst hit by the virus in Europe.

The deal struck Thursday did not, however, include more far-reaching co-operation in the form of shared borrowing guaranteed by all member countries.

It leaves the issue open as leaders look forward to a further discussion about a fund to support the economic recovery in the longer term.

Borrowing together to pay for the costs of the crisis was a key demand from Italy, whose already heavy debt load is expected to increase because of the recession caused by the virus outbreak.

Mario Centeno, who heads the finance ministers' group from euro countries, called the package of measures agreed upon 'totally unprecedented'.

He said: 'Tonight Europe has shown it can deliver when the will is there.'

The ministers agreed that hard-pressed governments such as Spain and Italy could quickly tap the eurozone's bailout fund for up to 240 billion euros (210 billion), with the condition that the money is spent on their health care systems and the credit line expires after the outbreak is over.

The agreement also provides for up to 200 billion euros (175 billion) in credit guarantees through the European Investment Bank to keep companies afloat and 100 billion euros (88 billion) to make up lost wages for workers put on shorter hours.

Mr Centeno said that countries would work on a recovery fund for the longer term and as part of that would discuss 'innovative financial instruments, consistent with EU treaties'.

Italian PM Guiseppe Conte (left, with his finance minister Roberto Gualtieri) earlier said he feared the economic downturn from Covid-19 could cause the whole EU to collapse

He said that some countries support shared borrowing and that others oppose it.

The deal overcame bitter disagreement between Italy and the Netherlands over the conditions for loans from the bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism.

Italy had rejected the idea of using the fund because the money comes with tough conditions that recalled the austerity imposed on Greece, Ireland and other indebted eurozone countries that were bailed out during the eurozone debt crisis in 2010-2015.

The compromise struck in the final statement says that countries could borrow up to 2% of annual economic output at favourable rates to finance 'direct or indirect' costs of the current health crisis.

The question now is whether the package will be seen as big enough to impress markets and prevent new accumulations of government debt from triggering a new eurozone financial crisis.

For now, bond-market borrowing costs of indebted countries such as Italy are being held in check by the European Central Bank, which has launched an 870 trillion-euro bond purchase programme.

But that programme is so far limited in size or duration.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- One local artist is using his inspiring piece of art to raise money and awareness during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

When James Cox first created his illustration, he did so with the sense of community pride and involvement that hes always had. The piece is titled Thank you to show Coxs and the rest of the communitys strong message of appreciation to those battling the virus on the front lines.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Cox, 23, a West Brighton resident, conceived of the idea when picking up pizza at Cafe Milano on Forest Avenue, when he realized how fortunate he was to still be able to pick up dinner at his favorite restaurant.

I live close to Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC), where sirens can be heard almost all day, every day, as of late, said Cox. That night, feeling inspired by the heroes just outside my rooms window, I began sketching the figures in the piece.

The illustration and message behind it inspired Borough President James Oddo so much that he wanted the borough hall staff to team up with Cox to deliver on the idea behind the illustration.

The team went directly to Lukes Copy Shop in New Dorp and made print copies of the illustration. The team plans to make copies available to the public and proceeds will go towards securing personal protective equipment for first responders and healthcare workers.

We are so proud of James, who sets a shining example for Staten Islanders about how art can inspire and heal and rally us to good causes," said Oddo. James illustration will help to raise funds for supplies for our front line workers and reinforces that Staten Islanders are all in this together.

The first 200 people who donate $50.19 to the Staten Island Not-for-Profit Association, a local organization fielding donations for PPEs and other supplies for local community-based organizations, will receive a signed copy of Thank You. Lukes Copy Shop has agreed to provide prints of the illustration as their donation to the cause.

Those who are interested in donating can do so by visiting https://www.sinfpa.org.
Identity and access management in 2022 - what will the future look like?

As we enter into 2022, there is still a level of uncertainty in place. Its unclear what the future holds, as companies around the world still contend with the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote working has been encouraged by most organisations and the move to a hybrid working system has become business as usual, for the majority of businesses. Some have reduced their office space or done away with their locations altogether. Following best security practices With all this change in place, there are problems to deal with. According to research, 32.7% of IT admins say they are concerned about employees using unsecured networks to carry out that work. Alongside this, 74% of IT admins thought that remote work makes it harder for employees to follow best security practices. This need to manage security around remote work is no longer temporary. Instead, companies have to build permanent strategies around remote work and security. The coming year will also create a different landscape for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Here are some key predictions for next year and what to start preparing for in 2022: The reality of SMB spending around security will hit home SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working SMBs had to undertake significant investments to adapt to remote working, especially in comparison to their size. They had to undertake significant digital transformation projects that made it possible to deliver services remotely, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weve seen a shift in mindset for these companies, which are now more tech-focused in their approach to problem solving. According to our research, 45% of SMBs plan to increase their spending towards IT services in 2022. Around half of all organisations think their IT budgets are adequate for their needs, while 14.5% of those surveyed believe they will need more, to cover all that needs to be done. Identity management spending to support remote work For others, the COVID-19 pandemic led to over-spending, just to get ahead of things and they will spend in 2022, looking at what they should keep and what they can reduce their spending on. Areas like identity management will stay in place, as companies struggle to support remote work and security, without this in place. However, on-premise IT spending will be reduced or cut, as those solutions are not relevant for the new work model. Services that rely on on-premise IT will be cut or replaced. The device will lead the way for security We rely on our phones to work and to communicate. In 2022, they will become central to how we manage access, to all our assets and locations, IT and physical. When employees can use company devices and their own phones for work, security is more difficult. IT teams have to ensure that theyre prepared for this, by making sure that these devices can be trusted. Wide use of digital certificates and strong MFA factors Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication There are multiple ways that companies can achieve this, for example - By using digital certificates to identify company devices as trusted, an agent, or strong MFA factors, like a FIDO security key or mobile push authentication. Whichever approach you choose, this can prevent unauthorised access to IT assets and applications, and these same devices can be used for authentication into physical locations too. Rather than requiring a separate smart card or fingerprint reader, devices can be used for access using push authentication. Understanding human behaviour Alongside this, it is important to understand human behaviour. Anything that introduces an extra step for authentication can lead to employees taking workarounds. To stop this, it is important to put an employee education process in place, in order to emphasize on the importance of security. The next step is to think about adopting passwordless security, to further reduce friction and increase adoption. Lastly, as devices become the starting point for security and trust, remote device management will be needed too. More companies will need to manage devices remotely, from wiping an asset remotely if it gets lost or stolen, through to de-provisioning users easily and removing their access rights, when they leave the company. Identity will be a layer cake Zero Trust approaches to security Identity management relies on being able to trust that someone is who they say they are. Zero Trust approaches to security can support this effectively, particularly when aligned with least privilege access models. In order to turn theory into practical easy-to-deploy steps, companies need to use contextual access, as part of their identity management strategy. This involves looking at the context that employees will work in and putting together the right management approach for those circumstances. For typical employee behaviour, using two factor authentication might be enough to help them work, without security getting in the way. How enterprises manage, access and store identity data There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time For areas where security is more important, additional security policies can be put over the top, to ensure that only the right people have access. A step-up in authentication can be added, based on the sensitivity of resources or risk-based adaptive authentication policies might be needed. There will also be a shift in how enterprises manage, access, and store that identity data over time, so that it aligns more closely with those use cases. Identity management critical to secure assets in 2022 There are bigger conversations taking place around digital identity for citizenship, as more services move online as well. Any moves that take place in this arena will affect how businesses think about their identity management processes too, encouraging them to look at their requirements in more detail. Overall, 2022 will be the year when identity will be critical to how companies keep their assets secure and their employees productive. With employees working remotely and businesses becoming decentralised, identity strategies will have to take the same approach. This will put the emphasis on strong identity management as the starting point for all security planning.
Report reaching DGN Online reveal that the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Ministry has summoned the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Shi Ting Wang for an urgent parley.

The meeting is scheduled for 4pm today at the Ministry.

The meeting, a source said is in connection with maltreatment of Africans particularly Ghanaians by Chinese officials in China.

A statement is expected after the parley.

According to media reports, Chinese officials have started evicting hundreds of African residents and businessmen from hotels and apartments as they are being accused of having the coronavirus.

The Africans say they are just being targeted under the guise of a testing campaign for the COVID-19.

Some of them alleged that they have been placed under forced quarantine without being told about the results of their tests.

The Africans, who are based in China's southern city of Guangzhou, have described the development as discriminatory.

They are accusing us of having the virus, a Nigerian student, Tobenna Victor, was quoted by the BBC.

Guangzhou houses one of the largest African communities in China.

African traders, buy most of their goods from the area to the continent.

Local Chinese health officials have raised concerns about a possible second outbreak of the COVID-19 over the increase in the number of imported cases.

---Daily Guide
Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday expressed hope that the government will formulate a strategy to address the problems being faced by the poor labourers due to the nationwide lockdown in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"We have written letters to Prime Minister and gave him suggestions. We hope that the government comes out with a plan to meet this challenge. The poor, farmers and labourers are suffering the most," Gandhi said at a video conference meeting with Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents.

Gandhi took stock of the party's relief work for people reeling under the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emphasizing that the poor people are suffering the most due to lockdown, Gandhi said, "Due to the lockdown, the poor labourers left for their respective villages, and our workers have worked together to solve their problems."

"Lockdown is going to put a lot of burden on our economy. The economy was already in crisis - it seems that difficulties will increase further. We have to be ready for these situations. In public misery, the people will have to stand by and will have to do their utmost to remove their troubles," she said.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The lockdown will end on April 21. Punjab and Odisha governments have extended lockdown in their respective states.

Addressing the party leaders, Gandhi said the country is fighting the battle against the coronavirus and the party is ready to play its role in it. She also asked them to give suggestions on how the Congress party can contribute more in the fight against coronavirus.

The Congress President suggested five measures to curb government expenditure and to divert these funds to fight the deadly virus.

In her letter, she suggested that the Central Vista project be scrapped, government advertisements in media tbe stopped as well as foreign visits of ministers and other dignitaries, and asked to divert the money in the PM-CARES fund to tackle the impact of COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus-induced isolation measures have led to an explosion in demand for centralised sites where restaurant-quality food can be prepared exclusively for delivery, often referred to as dark kitchens.

While the number of dark kitchens had been growing since the arrival of food delivery outfits such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo, the massive spike in demand for home-delivered food amid the coronavirus lockdown has put them back on the front burner.

Companies are now scouring the market for appropriate warehouse space. In some cases, restaurants that had been forced to shut down due to the restrictions have taken out short-term leases in order to keep their customers satisfied via home delivery.

In many cases delivery groups take out a lease, usually in a more industrial-style property with cheaper rent, and then sublet it to individual restaurants. This allows couriers to collect the food from one centralised location.
Its the morning of Holy Thursday, and the Rev. Canon Dr. Cathy Campbell is explaining exactly whats about to happen. Well. shes trying to. To be honest, shes not quite sure; sort of winging it and hoping for the best.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its the morning of Holy Thursday, and the Rev. Canon Dr. Cathy Campbell is explaining exactly whats about to happen. Well. shes trying to. To be honest, shes not quite sure; sort of winging it and hoping for the best.

"So, I was thinking we could have Richard play a prelude and a postlude on the organ, and we could do Allelujah, Christ is Risen, and then Id deliver my reflection," she says.

Campbell, who wears a blue blazer, a denim skirt, a pair of bookish glasses and a perpetual smile, is standing in front of dozens of rows of empty pews in the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, a massive cathedral in downtown Winnipeg that has been standing for 136 years.

Scattered within the pews, with several metres separating them, are Richard Greig, a Scotsman whos played the churchs 4,600-pipe organ since 1997; Johanna Mast-Kolb, a cheery Sunday-school teacher; and the Rev. Donald McKenzie, an affable man in blue shirtsleeves with shaggy, greyish hair.

Canon Dr. Cathy Campbell prepares and records her service with organist, Richard Greig. at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

On this day, the trio make up Campbells de facto film crew as she produces what will be a Saturday evening address to the Holy Trinity congregation, sent out ahead of Easter Sunday: Greig is providing the soundtrack, Mast-Kolb is doing a bit of prop work and backup vocals, and McKenzie is the gaffer, the cameraman, and the lighting technician.

"What I want to do isnt to recreate a service," Campbell tells the group. "We dont have the capacity for that, and to me, it would feel wrong."

What she wants is to offer some sort of reminder that even if a congregation cant exactly congregate, the church is still a rock, it is still standing there.

"And lets hope that someone who isnt centred in the parish gets something out of this," she says.

This isnt the way Campbell had planned on conducting Easter services, but on March 12, the bishop sent out a notice saying that the next Sunday would be the last one with worship for the foreseeable future as the world grapples with the impacts of COVID-19.

"The church began the process of suspending regular life on the 16th of March," Campbell says.

Since then, life has been irregular for every church in the city, regardless of denomination.

Organist Richard Greig at a near empty Holy Trinity Anglican Church. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Campbell and company have been forced to become more tech-savvy. A few weeks ago, the churchs website was a basic shell; now, it includes video recordings, prayer resources and even a link to the Bishop of Rupertslands Twitch streaming account  a sentence that feels as strange to type as it does to read.

And on Thursday, McKenzie sets up a halo light with a cellphone mounted to it, and Campbell, hoping someone somewhere will soon listen to what she and the gospels have to say, is about to begin talking.

McKenzie starts to record.



Two weeks ago, in a beige bungalow in West Transcona, Jeannette and Jack Foot were fiddling with their computer, and Sister Charlotte Leak of St. Joseph the Worker parish was acting as their personal IT department.

Jack and Jeannette Foot have been attending St. Joseph the Worker together since the late 1950s. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

The Foots, who are 82 and 84, respectively, got married in July 1957 and began attending St. Joseph the Worker soon thereafter. Theyve been members as long as the churchs doors have been open.

For them church is more than a religious institution; its a place to see friends and stay in touch with their community. So when it was announced in March that mass would be suspended, they didn't know what would happen to their Sunday mornings. St. Joseph the Worker is a five-minute walk from the Foots' front step. Now, it might as well have been a five-hour drive.

"For the first time in my life, I wont be in church on Easter," Jeannette says. "If I came out of the hospital, the very next day Id be at mass. I seldom miss it. Its just that important to me."

So she found herself on the internet, looking for a connection.

Eventually, their daughter, Lindsy Jennings, sent them a livestream of a service being conducted at Paroisse des Saints-Martyrs-Canadiens in St. Boniface. It was her playing the organ.

Jennings didnt get much time to prepare. She received the sheet music Saturday night: I Am The Bread of Life, Come Back to Me, the Prayer of St. Francis, among others.

The next day, she arrived at the church, which was eerily empty. She sat down behind a two-tiered organ, a multi-knobbed-and-buttoned instrument she didnt even know how to turn on. Once she did, the camera rolled, the sound guy held up a microphone and the deacon stood nearby to start the proceedings.

Lindsy Jennings had one day to learn several songs for the following day's service. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

"I was sitting there, thinking about the fact there are a whole bunch of (strangers) out there," she says. "But I forgot and I just played. Thats what you do and thats what the moment led me to. I even forgot the church was empty. It felt almost spiritual. I am not usually the kind of person who talks that way, but it was a different feeling."

She drove home afterward and immediately sent the link to her mom. Her parents spent several minutes on the phone figuring out how to turn on the volume, and then they were tuned in.

At the desktop, Jeannette was reciting the prayers as the livestreamers did, trying her best to stay engaged and sing along. She usually sings in the choir.

Its not the same, but it will have to do.

The Foots will tune in again Sunday.



A short drive away, Father Peter Nemcek is alone.

Nemcek, 33, is the priest at the St. Nicholas Tavelich parish, a Croatian Roman Catholic church on north Main Street.

After joining the parish in July, Nemcek, originally from Slovakia, was just beginning to find his footing as a parochial administrator and looking forward to leading his first Easter services at the church  a major milestone for any religious leader.

Pastor Peter Nemcek of St. Nicholas Tavelich parish was set to conduct his first Easter service for his congregation. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

COVID-19 shook up those plans.

"Nothing compares," he says. "This is all very new, and I was never trained for anything quite like this. Like the rest of the world, I am trying to take things day by day and find ways to stay connected."

Nemcek continues to go to work at the church every day... his commute isnt long; he lives in an attached building. But an existence thats normally defined by interaction has now become one somewhat defined by isolation. The church is still open, but only one person is allowed inside at a time.

And isolation is the right thing to do, Nemcek says, but it flies in the face of what Easter normally is, an opportunity to gather. When you celebrate, you dont celebrate alone, he says. This year, there isnt much of a choice.

So he's been doing his best to connect with his parishioners. Phone calls and emails have replaced the face-to-face interaction he normally encourages, and hes livestreaming his services, bringing the masses to unknown masses.

"Its different, and it is sad, personally," he says. "I wish we could be together as a community for these high holidays, but I will accept the will of God."



Back at Holy Trinity, Campbell is looking straight into the camera in the big, empty sanctuary.

"This is such a strange and disruptive time we are in," she says.

"Because this Sunday is Easter, I felt that I would like to speak to you visually, with a voice and a person, and not just a written word. And so instead of an email note to you, we've gathered here to create a video, in the spirit of a letter to you. And I hope this all finds you well and safe, and in the spirit."

Canon Dr. Cathy Campbell believes a connection is still possible. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Campbell is riffing to no one in particular and everyone in the world all at once  an improvisation of immaculate proportions.

"And so I greet you, with the famous Easter greeting, with the way we greet each other on Easter morning. I say to you, Allelujah, Christ is risen!" she says.

"He is risen indeed, Allelujah," McKenzie replied, steadying his cellphone.

For a church so big to be so empty was incredibly strange, Campbell had remarked before starting her address. But somehow, the whole situation presented a strange irony to her. At a time when the world order has been so disrupted, and when people are being told to stay apart, connection was still possible.

"As we are distancing, we are being asked to understand the world," she said a day earlier. "Every corner of the world is touched by this, so at the same time we are at a distance, we are being invited to understand ourselves as a global community, and I think that's fabulous."

Campbell loudly concludes her message. It doesn't go perfectly; there are some "ums" and "uhs" she's hoping can be edited out.

"But I tell you, we don't strive for perfection," she says. "We strive for a clarity of vision."

She turns around and asks Richard Greig to begin a prelude. McKenzie unplugs his lighting rig, rewires it next to Greig's seat and sets up his camera.

Taking Campbell's cue, Grieg hasn't prepared much, either. Naturally, he improvises.

Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"It's sort of like a combination of a performance and a rehearsal," he says before sitting down.

"Now nobody can talk, because we will hear it on the recording," McKenzie says.

Greig begins playing, and the sounds he creates fill the massive space, rising to the ceiling and swirling in the air. He doesn't know exactly what notes he's going to play next, but he keeps playing, nonetheless.

For four minutes, Greig's fingers glide across the four tiers of keys, his feet pounding on the pedals. Campbell sits, nodding her head and smiling as the prelude reaches its closing crescendo.

"Well," she says. "Don't you wish everyone was here to hear that?"

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca
Ask Dr. Land: Why are we so shocked by the coronavirus pandemic?

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Question: Why are we so shocked by the coronavirus pandemic?

Answer: As I was surfing the internet the other day, I came across a title that arrested my attention. It read, Global Deaths: Jan. 1-March 30, 2020 on worldometer.info. As I scrolled down the list, I was shocked by the numbers. Here they are (at the time of writing):

Abortion: 10,402,251

Communicable diseases: 3,177,081

Cancer: 2,009,990

Smoking: 1,223,439

Alcohol: 612,105

HIV/AIDS: 411,415

Traffic accidents: 330, 367

Suicides: 262,441

Malaria: 240,056

Seasonal flu: 118,980

Mothers during childbirth: 75,645

Coronavirus: 35,016

The coronavirus has upended our world here in America and in much of Europe (no one really knows about China because their government has lied repeatedly from day one including imprisoning doctors who tried to warn the world). And yet, coronavirus deaths are at the tail end of this list. Granted, worldwide coronavirus deaths have more than tripled since the end of March, which means that if deaths in childbirth and seasonal flu maintained their usual pace, then coronavirus may now be third from the bottom in worldwide causes of death. While tragic, coronavirus toll is dwarfed by the other causes of worldwide death.

This forced me to prayerfully ponder the question, why has the coronavirus, the Great Pandemic of 2020, caused such a complete disruption of our society and such emotional distress in our population, Christian and non-Christian alike, when there are so many more lethal causes of death bedeviling humanity? And what should Christians seek to do about it?

One answer is, of course, that several of these  childbirth death, malaria, and communicable diseases  are much less likely to cause Americans to die than people in the second and third world because of the advanced health care systems with which we are blessed. Second, several other of these causes of morbidity  alcohol, smoking, HIV/AIDS, traffic accidents, suicide  are causes that we as individuals have at least some control over our risk or exposure. In other words, we can make decisions that at least partially protect us from being victims of these widespread causes of death. The third category  cancer and seasonal flu  while to some degree are random and non-preventable, at least can be somewhat mitigated by taking flu shots, practicing good hygiene and getting regularly prescribed health check ups and screenings such as mammograms and colonoscopies.

In other words, we at least feel we have some control over these leading causes of death and can at least partially protect ourselves by things we do. And the most lethal cause of death is almost entirely voluntary, since only about 1% of abortions involve any legitimate risks to the mothers or the babys health. That means that 99% of the abortions of human babies are voluntary child sacrifices to the secular gods of material well-being, social convention, and mere convenience. The fact that so many Americans are no longer shocked and sickened by this monstrous child sacrifice indicates the extent to which our collective moral conscience has been desensitized by this mass killing over time.

The coronavirus, however, is a new, dangerous, and mysterious stranger in our midst, and we have very few ways to protect ourselves from this highly contagious, lethal interloper into our lives and the lives of our fellow Americans.

I also think this sudden peril has reminded us most vividly of our own mortality. Those of us privileged enough to live in early 21st century America can, and too often have been, lulled into a false sense of security, failing to understand that this thin veneer of modern civilization is fragile and has given us a false sense of security. How quickly we can lose our illusion of safety, our American way of life, and our lives.

In other words, far too many Americans, Christian and non-Christian, have been complacently at ease in Zion (Amos 6:1). The fiery Old Testament prophet Amos denounced his fellow Israelites for trusting their riches and their defensive fortifications, rather than letting judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream (Amos 5:24) against the sin in their lives and the injustices in their society.

Having hopefully been shaken from our besetting complacency, we, as professing Christians, need to embrace this pandemic as an opportunity for spiritual renewal, revival, and awakening for ourselves as well as for our fellow citizens. We must always remember that the Apostle Paul has promised us that God is working all things together for good for those who love Him (Rom. 8:28). In other words, what has been devised as evil can be converted to blessing bestowed on Gods people by Gods providential power.

Recent indicators tell us that many of our fellow Americans have been newly sensitized to spiritual things by the impact of the pandemic. Anecdotal evidence suggests that people are praying more, Bible sales are up, and people are looking to spiritual resources in our society for answers and emotional sustenance, and church attendance is up  even if (or perhaps because) it is in a virtual format.

The Apostle Paul challenged the Ephesian Christians to make the best use of time because the days are evil (Eph. 5:16 ESV). Paul here uses the word kairos for time in its propitious, opportune moments, rather than chronos for time in its regular 24 hours a day, 7 days a week calendar sense. I believe this may well be such a kairos moment for American Christians. I believe it is our Christian duty to pounce upon this moment to redeem it for Gods redemptive purposes.

Far too many professing Christians claim Jesus as Lord, but, in reality, live as if He were merely their relationship advisor, financial consultant, or a lucky charm. The hypocrisy of too much of the American church has too often suffocated the Gospel witness and stifled discipleship and evangelism.

American Christianity at this moment has never more needed far fewer doses of telling and far larger doses of doing. Faithful witness, costly discipleship, and convictional living will quickly separate the doers from the mere talkers and will lead to the rapid un-muffling and un-muzzling of the true Gospel that transforms peoples lives and brings hope, peace, and purpose to people in times of crisis. I pray that all faithful Christ-followers will heed the call to be His salt and His light in this propitious moment. May God use each one of us as sparks to ignite the great spiritual revival and commence the great spiritual awakening that our country so desperately needs.



What better day to commit ourselves to spiritual renewal and awakening than Resurrection Day? He is risen! Have a joyous Easter!
Assam on Friday reported the first death due to complications related to COVID-19 with the total number of positive cases in the state rising to 28, state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The patient, hailing from Hailakandi district, died early today at Silchar Medical College Hospital, the minister tweeted.

The condition of the 65-year-old retired BSF personnel turned 'alarming' on Thursday and he was shifted to SMCH during the day.

The minister had said his other parameters were stable but "his oxygen saturation is decreasing and he has been shifted to the ICU for better monitoring".

The person was confirmed coronavirus-positive on Tuesday night and had attended the Tablighi Jamaat meet at Nizamuddin in New Delhi, He also had travelled to Saudi Arabia before that.

Minister Sarma expressed his deepest condolences and prayers for the bereaved family.

Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy said the funeral of the deceased will be held according to the COVID-19 protocol and the details will be announced later.

The number of positive cases now is 28 with more case confirmed from Dhubri last night.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police were called to a memorial service after crowds of mourners gathered to pay their respects to a crash victim, despite the coronavirus lockdown.

Officers had to break up the group in Manchester yesterday, after they gathered to remember a local father who died on Wednesday.

Clive Pinnock, originally from Longsight, suffered serious injuries after his green Kawasaki motorcycle was hit by a black BMW near to the Tesco on Hyde Road, in Gorton.

The 38-year-old was taken to hospital, where he later died.

Crowds of mourners gathered in Gorton, Manchester, yesterday, pictured, to pay their respects to a local father killed in a bike crash

Mourners have left floral tributes and messages on a section of the road outside the supermarket in the days since the crash and a vigil - attended by a substantial number of people - was held yesterday.

Police were called following reports of disorder and asked the group to disperse. No arrests were made.

Superintendent Rebecca Boyce of Greater Manchester Police said: 'People came together to form a vigil for a man who sadly died in Gorton.

'My thoughts are with his family at this incredibly difficult time.

'However, I appeal to the public to remain calm and to demonstrate respect for this man's grieving family.

'I would like to remind people that it is vital that the government's guidelines are followed for the safety of our communities and I would encourage the people of Manchester to work with us during these challenging times.'

Police in Greater Manchester have revealed they attended 494 house parties and 166 street parties last weekend despite the ban on social gatherings

Police in Greater Manchester have revealed they were called out to 494 house parties over four days despite the coronavirus restrictions.

Between Saturday and Tuesday, officers also had to deal with 166 street parties, 122 group gatherings for sporting activities and 173 gatherings in parks.

Police said some of the house parties even had bouncy castles, DJs and fireworks.

The figures were released as an appeal was launched, involving various personalities in the region, urging people to stay at home over the forthcoming Easter weekend.

The latest government guidance says funerals and similar services should continue to take place during lockdown but that only members of the deceased person's household, or close family members should attend.

All those who do go and pay their respects should continue to follow the social distancing rules and remain two metres apart at all times.

Clive Pinnock, pictured, was killed in the crash on Hyde Road, near a supermarket, on Wednesday

Mr Pinnock was a well-known and popular figure in Manchester and many people have paid tribute to him on social media.

Close family only, social distancing and no rituals: The latest guidance on funerals during lockdown To help reduce the risk of spreading the infection, funeral directors and faith leaders are advised to restrict the number of mourners who attend funerals, so a safe distance of at least 2 metres (3 steps) can be maintained between individuals. Only members of the deceased persons household or close family members should attend funerals. Any individual displaying symptoms of COVID-19 should not attend. Those who do attend will need to adhere to social distancing at all times, including when travelling to and from the funeral. In addition, the guidance advises that since there is a small but real risk of transmission from the body of a deceased person, mourners are strongly advised not to take part in any rituals or practices that bring them into close contact with the body of a person who has died from or with symptoms of Covid-19. Practices that involve close personal contact with the deceased should only be carried out using the correct personal protective equipment (PPE). Advertisement

His brother, Orreon, posted on Facebook: 'Words can't express right now how I am feeling and my family - Clive tho Clive.

'RIP big brother, always always here till we meet again my big bro.

'I love you so much just can't believe we have lost a brother, and don't worry mum and dad and all your kids are looked after.

'Take care big bro, love CP brother.'

Friend Nicola told the Manchester Evening News: 'Clive was an absolutely lovely guy, everyone that knew him loved him.

'He was the life and soul of any party and would do anything for anyone and help them if he could.'

Another pal Marvin said: 'I first met Clive when I was about 17. I saw him at a funeral a few weeks ago and chatted to him.

'He was a funny guy, a bit of a character. Everybody knew him.'

A 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drink driving in connection to the collision.

Greater Manchester Police continue to investigate and are appealing for witnesses or anyone with dash-cam footage to come forward.

Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 4741 quoting incident 2163 of 08/04/20 or email 17707@gmp.police.uk

Information can also be passed to the independent charity, Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
WILMINGTON, Del., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chemours Company (Chemours) (NYSE: CC), a global chemistry company with leading market positions in Fluoroproducts, Chemical Solutions and Titanium Technologies, today announced that the format of this year's Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Annual Meeting") has been changed from in-person to virtual-only.

This change was made to comply with the state of emergency orders issued by the Governor of the State of Delaware and recommendations from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and to support the health and well-being of our shareholders.

As previously announced, the Annual Meeting will be held on April 28, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The Annual Meeting will be accessible via live webcast at www.viewproxy.com/chemours/2020/vm. As described in the proxy materials previously distributed for the Annual Meeting, shareholders of record at the close of business on March 2, 2020 are entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting.

Shareholders will be afforded an opportunity to participate in the Annual Meeting similar to how they have been able to participate at the company's traditional in-person shareholder meetings. Specific time has been designated for a question and answer session at the end of the Annual Meeting.

To attend the Annual Meeting, shareholders should register on or before April 24, 2020 by visiting www.allianceproxy.com/chemours/2020 and following the registration instructions:

If you hold your shares in your name or have received a proxy card or notice of internet availability , please click "Registration for Registered Holders" and enter your name, phone number, control number (found on your proxy card or notice of internet availability) and email address.

, please click "Registration for Registered Holders" and enter your name, phone number, control number (found on your proxy card or notice of internet availability) and email address. If you hold your shares through a bank or broker, please click "Registration for Beneficial Holders", enter your name, email address and phone number, provide proof of ownership in the form of a control number or bank/broker statement, and click submit. If you wish to vote your shares at the Annual Meeting, please also upload a copy of the legal proxy that you have obtained from your bank or broker.

The live, interactive meeting will begin promptly at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. To be admitted to the Annual Meeting, shareholders must enter their control number and the password contained in their meeting registration confirmation. Participants are encouraged to visit the website in advance to test their systems for compatibility. For help resolving technical issues, shareholders may contact [email protected] or call 866-612-8937.

Shareholders may vote during the Annual Meeting by following the instructions on the meeting website. However, whether or not they plan to attend the webcast, shareholders are urged to vote and submit proxies in advance by one of the methods described in the proxy materials for the Annual Meeting. If a shareholder has already voted, no additional action is required.

About The Chemours Company

The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC) is a global leader in titanium technologies, fluoroproducts, and chemical solutions, providing its customers with solutions in a wide range of industries with market-defining products, application expertise and chemistry-based innovations. Chemours ingredients are found in plastics and coatings, refrigeration and air conditioning, mining and general industrial manufacturing. Our flagship products include prominent brands such as Teflon, Ti-Pure, Krytox, Viton, Opteon, Freon and Nafion. In 2019, Chemours was named to Newsweek's list of America's Most Responsible Companies. The company has approximately 7,000 employees and 30 manufacturing sites serving approximately 3,700 customers in over 120 countries. Chemours is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware and is listed on the NYSE under the symbol CC.



For more information, we invite you to visit chemours.com, or follow us on Twitter @Chemours , or LinkedIn .

CONTACT:

INVESTORS

Jonathan Lock

VP, Corporate Development and Investor Relations

+1.302.773.2263

[email protected]

NEWS MEDIA

David Rosen

Global Leader, Media Relations and Strategic Communications

+1.302.773.2711

[email protected]

SOURCE The Chemours Company

Related Links

https://www.chemours.com


The UKs coronavirus lockdown restrictions will likely be lifted for certain age groups and areas of the country first, one of the top scientists advising the government has said.

Speaking on Friday morning Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London said that measures will be targeted probably by age, by geography.

It comes after a new report from behavioural scientists at Warwick University which said that about four million people between the ages of 20 and 30 should have restrictions lifted as the first stage of easing the lockdown.

I think there are lots of ideas worth exploring. Thats what is happening right now, Professor Ferguson told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

We clearly dont want these measures to continue any longer than is absolutely necessary. The economic cost, social cost, personal and health costs are huge. But we do want to find a set of policies which maintains suppression of transmission of this virus.

Without doubt, measures will be targeted probably by age, by geography and we will need to introduce in my view  this is not government policy  much larger levels of testing at the community level to really isolate cases more effectively and identify transmissions. 

The scientist, who is a member of the governments Sage advisory committee, added: Both in the scientific community  and in government itself its the number one topic and priority every waking minute as it were.

Geographically, London is thought to be the epicentre of the outbreak in the UK.

Professor Paul Cosford, emeritus medical director for Public Health England (PHE), suggested that schools could be one of the first places to reopen. There is academic debate about whether closing schools is necessary, as childrens lower susceptibility to the virus may mean they are also less contagious.

We do know that children are at very low risk of getting complications from this disease. The importance of childrens education, children being in school, is paramount, Professor Cosford said.

Schools could be among the first places to reopen (Reuters)

I could conceive of circumstances in which some of the restrictions are lifted sooner and some are lifted later.

Andrew Oswald, professor of economics and behavioural science at the University of Warwick, was one of the authors of the report suggesting young people should have their restrictions lifted first.

The rationale for lockdown is to save lives in the short to medium term, he said.

However, severe damage is being done to the economy, future incomes, unemployment rates, levels of national debt, and the freedoms we enjoy as a modern society. Before long, some balance will have to be struck.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

Like children, younger people are less susceptible to developing severe symptoms when they catch the virus  though the researchers estimated that their proposed strategy would result in between 600 and 700 extra deaths. There are currently around 900 officially reported deaths a day in hospitals in the UK.

Nick Powdthavee, professor of behavioural economics at Warwick Business School, said: We support the existing lockdown strategy, but in the future it will be necessary to allow citizens to go back to some kind of normal life.

Unless a vaccine is suddenly discovered there are no risk-free or painless ways forward.

If this policy were enacted, there would still be tragic cases and some pressure on the NHS, but the effects would be far smaller than if the wider population were released.

Asked about the comments that the lockdown could be relaxed by age and geographical area, a Downing Street spokesperson said: He [Professor Ferguson] is a member of Sage as you know. I dont have anything to share with you at this point in time. We will set out the details at what we consider to be the right moment.
People stand in line to get tested for the CCP virus (COVID-19) at Elmhurst Hospital Center in the Queens borough of New York City on March 26, 2020. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

First Cases of CCP Virus in NYC Were Transmission From Europe: Studies

Two separate research studies indicate that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, arrived in New York City earlier than reported and was mostly transmitted by people travelling from Europe and other regions of the United States and not from China were the virus originated.

The studies of SARS-CoV-2 virus, also referred to as the CCP virus, were released by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) in New York City and the NYU Grossman School of Medicine on Thursday, which is said will help guide the citys public health response, according to a press release.

The Mount Sinai study is the first molecular epidemiology study of SARS-CoV-2 in New York City that determines the route through which the CCP virus arrived in the city, the researchers said.

The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in New York City predominately arose through untracked transmission between the United States and Europe, with limited evidence to support any direct introductions from China, where the virus originated, or other locations in Asia, said the researchers.

The United States was among the first countries to announce an entry ban for all travelers who had recently been in mainland China on Jan. 31. The ban came into effect on Feb. 2. Although the United States was the first to announce an entry ban from Europes Schengen countries on March 11, the CCP virus had already spread to the U.S. mainland from Europe. President Donald Trumps ban for Europe came into effect on March 14.

As of April 9, the citys death toll from the CCP virus stands at 4,571; nationwide, there have been more than 15,900 deaths.

ISMMS researchers said that knowing the time the CCP virus arrived in the city and the route it took is important for informing the design of effective containment strategies.

We sequenced genomes from COVID-19 cases identified up to March 18, said Harm van Bakel, Assistant Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at ISMMS.

The team sequenced 90 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from 84 of over 800 confirmed COVID-19 positive cases within the Mount Sinai Health System.

These cases were drawn from 21 New York City neighborhoods across four boroughs (Manhattan, Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn), as well as two towns in neighboring Westchester County, said Bakel.

The researchers said that only one of the cases was identified as being transmitted directly from Asia.

Only one of the cases studied was infected with a virus that was a clear candidate for introduction from Asia, and that virus is most closely related to viral isolates from Seattle, Washington.

The study also suggests that the virus was likely circulating as early as late-January 2020 in the New York City area, said Viviana Simon, Professor of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at ISMMS.

Another study released on Thursday by NYU Grossman School of Medicine, which also identified the genetic code of SARS-CoV-2 from 91 COVID-19 patients in 3 hospitals across the NYU Langone Health System in New York, reported the same conclusion as the Mount Sinai studythat the first COVID-19 cases in New York City spread from Europe.

The value of determining viral local sequences is that the more that become available, the better we can monitor the spread and severity of the disease, and the more it can clarify which drugs, vaccines, or social interventions are effective here, Adriana Heguy, the director of the Genome Technology Center at NYU Langone and leader of the sequencing team, said in a statement.

The researchers said the genetic code of the virus has undergone slight changes since spreading from Wuhan, China, as it transmits from person to person.
'Some colleagues come from very far, some come on bikes, some come in a group in a four wheeler.'

'This is because all of them want to come for work.'

'No one wants to stay at home despite the risk.'

'We have this feeling inside us that we have this responsibility towards society and that is why nobody wants to stay at home.'

Mumbai is bearing the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic, accounting for more than 75 percent of the 1,000-plus cases across Maharashtra so far.

The Mumbai police has its task cut out, as the force grapples with the tireless task of trying to keep citizens indoors and prevent the coronavirus from spreading further in the city.

When the national lockdown was announced on March 24, the focus was on keeping people inside their homes, but many were reluctant to comply, preferring to venture out regularly, making the Mumbai police's task doubly difficult.

It was then that Sachin Suryavanshi, an assistant police inspector at the Kherwadi police station in suburban Mumbai, came up with a novel idea to convince Mumbaikars to stay at home.

Despite his hectic schedule during the lockdown, API Suryavanshi produced a video in which he reveals how the Mumbai police is frustrated by the careless attitude of Mumbaikars and how he wants them to support the police force in making the city free of the virus.

Rediff.com's Harish Kotian speaks to API Suryavanshi whose video has become a hit on social media.

VIDEO: Kind courtesy Sachin Suryavanshi

When did the idea of this creating a video come to you?

When the lockdown in Maharashtra was announced on March 22, the police were very strict in their approach to stop people coming out. Videos and photos of police officers using lathis were posted on social media and on Whatsapp groups.

We were struggling to understand how to make people understand that they should stay indoors.

Even after knowing the dangers of stepping out of their houses, a lot of them were coming out without reason and that is why we had to resort to some force to make them understand.

So we had a discussion on how to make people understand. We thought about using social media because it makes an impact and is a good tool to reach a lot of people.

At that point I decided to make a video to create awareness. I got in touch with some of my contacts to help me with editing, sound recording and all.

I took our seniors's permission and we shot the video on duty.

How did your seniors react when you told them about this video?

I had to take oral clearance from my superiors. After the video was edited, I showed it to them. Once I got their approval, I uploaded it on social media and it immediately became viral.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone 8 Manjunath Sengi, who is the DCP for my area, supported me a lot and encouraged me in this cause. He told me to make sure that the message reached the common man.

How has the response been for your video?

I never expected that the response would be huge. We made the video viral at noon and by evening, it was on Whatsapp or Facebook across Mumbai. The next day, people were making copies on Tik Tok.

We got a good message across to people and I am happy I was able to contribute.

Has this been the toughest challenge faced by the Mumbai police because there is little crime happening and it is proving to be a huge task to get people to stay indoors? It is more like the role of a school teacher...

Like in the past, school teachers used to beat children, but can't do in today's times, similarly, the police are also trying not to use the lathi.

We are trying to use less force and make people understand with such social messages because if they stay indoors then we can stop the spread of coronavirus.

How stressful has it been that people still come out at every opportunity?

It has been very stressful. The lockdown is not total, people can still come out to buy essentials like milk or vegetables or medicines.

Since the lockdown is partial, it is proving to be difficult. If we ask anyone why they stepped out, they will say they are going to the medical shop or going to buy vegetables, so we can't stop them.

A lot of people want to go outside Mumbai to their native places because offices are shut and schools are closed, so they will make an excuse that someone has passed away in their village. We know that they are lying, but how can we prove it so we have to allow them.

Has the situation improved in recent days in Mumbai as far as the attitude of people is concerned with regards to the lockdown?

People have started co-operating with the police.

We have started filing cases against people who are venturing out without reason, bringing their bikes or cars on the highway. We intercept them and file cases.

So a good message is reaching out to people that the police is taking action with resorting to the lathi.

People are scared to come out and that is a good thing because if they stay indoors, it will help everyone.

The current lockdown has been imposed till April 14. Do you think a lot of people will come out on April 15? Is that keeping the Mumbai police on its toes?

The public is on the verge of leaving for their villages as they feel the lockdown will be lifted on April 14. Many Mumbaikars stranded in their villages or in other places want to come back to the city.

So if people are allowed to travel, then you will see a lot of traffic on the highways and toll nakas after April 15th.

There will also be huge queues at fuel stations with people want to fill their tanks with petrol and diesel.

This will put a lot of pressure on the police force and the state machinery.

Will things get difficult if the lockdown is extended? Will it increase the frustration among people?

Yes, the frustration will definitely increase.

The people who stay in big societies or in big houses, they have no problems. But people who stay in slums, in small houses -- in some cases you have 8 to 10 people in a small house -- they will struggle if the lockdown is extended, they won't be able to bear it.

IMAGE: Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Suryavanshi, centre, with his colleagues as they grapple with the tireless task of trying to keep Mumbaikars indoors to prevent the coronavirus from spreading further in the city. Photograph: Kind courtesy Sachin Suryavanshi

Do you get scared at times?

Yes, definitely, we are also scared.

We the police are not scared for ourselves, but we are worried for our children and our families.

When we return home, we get worried thinking whether we have brought the infection home. In this coronavirus, you don't get symptoms for the first few days, so it is difficult to know whether you are infected or not.

You meet so many people at the police station or you are making security arrangements in the quarantine zones, so there is a chance that you could meet someone who has the infection.

That is why we try and take as much precaution as possible and leave the rest to God.

You know some of our police colleagues come from very far like Kalyan or the Vasai-Virar region, some of them come on bikes, some of them come in a group in a four wheeler.

This is because all of them want to come for work. No one wants to stay at home despite the risk.

We have this feeling inside us that we have this responsibility towards society and that is why nobody wants to stay at home.

We wear a mask whenever we report for duty. Our seniors are constantly providing us with sanitisers, masks.

We have now been given a face-covering glass shield which is very helpful. So a lot of new equipment is being made available regularly, which is helping us to go out and help the people.

Does your family get scared every time you step out for work? What do they tell you?

My family tells me every day not to go to work and just stay at home. But we can't do that because if the police stays home then the law and order situation in the city will collapse completely.

When I go home in the evening, I take a bath and only then I talk to my kids. I am trying to keep a distance from them these days.

Have you taken a single holiday since the lockdown was imposed?

I haven't taken a single day off. But during duty hours, we get some time to rest.

We either go home and rest for a couple of hours. At the police station they have made arrangements for us to take a break and get some rest.
Interior of Sobrato Pavilion at Valley Medical Center. (Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group)

The first to get sick was a woman in the nurse staffing office, who died in mid-March after a girls trip to Las Vegas with some hospital colleagues.

A nursing manager fell ill next, followed by a nurse on the night shift and then a day supervisor. A short time later, a day shift nurse went out and then a temp.

At the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, the nurses on a second-floor medical-surgical unit kept the grim tally in furtive texts and emails: Six women who had worked on their ward or visited it in the course of their duties had developed symptoms of the coronavirus. Four reported testing positive, one had yet to be tested and one was dead.

Yet from the hospital administration, the worried employees said they heard nothing about what appeared to be an outbreak of the virus within the hospitals walls. There was no official acknowledgment of the cases, and nurses who shared phone headsets, computer keyboards and a tiny break room were not tested, according to interviews and correspondence reviewed by The Times.

The frustration boiled over this week with an anonymous whistleblower complaint to Santa Clara County, which runs the hospital.

Management is not communicating confirmed positive cases  information that would enable potentially-exposed/infected staff to take extra precautionary measures to not affect their loved ones at home and elsewhere, stated a complaint signed, employees not treated responsibly from within.

The hospitals compliance office has now launched an investigation.

A spokesman for the county health system, Maury Kendall, said in a statement that some of our healthcare workers have tested or will test positive for COVID-19 and are out sick. He said, though, that administrators were unaware of any deaths in the hospital ranks from the virus and declined to answer specific questions about the administrations handling of the situation in the 2 Medical ward.

We cannot comment on pending investigations, or on personnel matters, except to say that we dispute the allegations presented, Kendall said.

Story continues

Silicon Valley has been one of the hardest-hit parts of California with Santa Clara County reporting more than 1,440 confirmed cases and 47 deaths. Of the confirmed cases, 109 have been healthcare workers, according to state data. Valley Medical Center, the regions flagship public hospital, has cared for a wave of COVID-19 patients.

The 2 Medical unit was not a designated ward for coronavirus patients, but nurses were trained in infection protocols for virus patients and some with suspected or confirmed cases ended up receiving treatment there.

The staffer who died, who was the first widely known by collegaues to have symptoms, worked on another floor of the hospital, but she had frequent contact with the unit staff as part of her job, according to interviews with four employees, the whistleblower report and a written complaint to the president of the nurses union. The employees spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying they feared retaliation.

The 50-year-old woman was a close friend of a unit nurse on the night shift, and the pair had gone with other colleagues to Las Vegas in the middle of March, co-workers said. The trip occurred after local officials, alarmed about coronavirus cases cropping up in the community, had urged residents to stay home when they were sick and warned against nonessential travel.

Shortly after the staffer came back from Nevada, she developed symptoms of the virus and was admitted to a Kaiser Permanente hospital.

Her death March 19 stunned many in the hospital, including on 2 Medical.

I was on my shift and I got a text message and I was like, Oh, my God! [The staffer] died, a nurse recalled.

The staffers husband did not return messages seeking comment, but a nurse who is in contact with her family said the woman was suspected of having COVID-19 and was in an isolation unit when she died.

Her colleagues put up fliers summoning co-workers to a short memorial service at the hospital and her friends encouraged donations to a charity she supported, but there was no official communication to the nursing staff, according to the whistleblower complaint and interviews.

Within a few days of the staffer falling ill, the nurse manager of 2 Medical had a fever and went on sick leave. She later told her nurses in an email that she had tested positive, according to interviews and the complaints to the whistleblower and the union.

In the same period, a night shift nurse who had cared for a patient suspected of having COVID-19 started experiencing body aches and chills and later a fever. She called in sick and went to see her primary care doctor, who tested her for the virus, according to a union representative she consulted. In late March, the results came back positive, the representative said.

A manager told her that the suspected patient had tested negative, the union representative said. She was told, You contracted it in the community  you didnt get it from the patient.

Her father, with whom she lived, also got the virus and is now in an intensive care unit, the union representative said.

By then, nurses on 2 Medical had grown worried. There was no way to stay 6 feet from each other at the nurses station. At meals, the staff  sans masks  sat close to one another around a small table. The work was often communal as well.

If we need help putting a Foley catheter, how are we supposed to do social distancing if the other nurse is holding the patients leg? one nurse said.

The spokesman for the county hospital system said there are robust cleaning processes in place and that our healthcare workers must practice social distancing at work where possible, including in the break rooms, meeting rooms, and other locations. 

On the weekend of March 21, an assistant manager on the unit called in sick, but she opted to return to work on Monday while still feeling poorly, according to interviews and the complaints.

As described in the whistleblower complaint, the assistant manager made her own determination and communicated to others in management that the unit needed her help and subsequently returned to active work...in spite of continued symptoms.

Over the next week, the assistant manager worked a half-dozen shifts. She continued feeling ill and ultimately tested positive earlier this month, according to the whistleblower and the union complaints.

She was seen throughout this last week, on the unit, meeting with traveler nurses in close face-to-face contact while not wearing a mask, one nurse wrote to the union president.

The assistant manager could not be reached for comment. The spokesman for the county health systems, Kendall, said in a statement that the hospital requires everyone, including our healthcare workers, to be screened for fever and influenza-like illness symptoms before entering any of our patient care facilities.

We require that everyone wear surgical masks while in the hospital, clinic, or building where patient care or patient services are provided, and we require that all healthcare workers self-monitor for influenza-like illness symptoms and stay home (and notify their manager) if they have any such symptoms, he wrote.

After the assistant manager was diagnosed, a nurse on the day shift then became ill and tested positive and one of the traveler nurses, brought in from out of state to help with understaffing, also developed COVID-19 symptoms and is out sick, according to the whistleblower complaint and interviews.

Still, there was no communication from hospital administrators. On Monday, the email detailing the problems on 2 Medical was sent to the county.

The Hospital has not implemented any communication methods to alert those who may have interfaced with individuals who have been confirmed positive, the email stated.

In his statement, the county spokesman said administrators understand this is a very stressful time for our staff, particularly those who are on the front line caring for patients.

We truly appreciate and care deeply about all of our healthcare workers and remain committed to doing everything possible to ensure they are supported and safe, he wrote.

Ryan reported from Los Angeles and Lin from San Francisco. Times staff writer Anita Chabria contributed to this report.
09.04.2020 LISTEN

The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako Jnr has exposed the barefaced lies being peddled about the provision of medical infrastructure by the NDC, led by former President John Mahama.

Mr. Baako, who made the exposure on the Kokrookoo Morning Show of Peace FM, quoted copiously from official documents to rubbish medical infrastructure claims by the NDC and stripped former President Mahama naked on his much-touted but empty slogan of infrastructure king.

Mr. Baako Jnr., reading from official sources including cabinet memos signed by NDC Ministers and letters from the Ministry of Health, insisted that the NDC and former President Mahama cannot take credit for projects he never started and did not complete before leaving office. He disputed, with evidence, claims that John Mahamas administration built hospitals across the country.

Citing the Ho Teaching Hospital, formerly Volta Regional hospital which started under Gen. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong and commissioned under the current Akufo-Addo government, Mr. Baako indicated that it would be wrong for one administration to take sole credit for such projects.

Zeroing in on the Bank of Ghana and International Maritime hospitals, Mr. Baako insisted it would be wrong to list them as achievements of the Mahama administration since both are independent bodies and funded the construction of their hospitals with no support from central government or former President Mahama.

Mr. Baako Jnr. also deplored several attempts by the NDC, including pictures in the infamous Green Book, to claim credit for the construction of 9 hospital projects under the Euroget Projects. Describing these attempts as "shocking", Mr. Baako explained that the entire Eurojet project received cabinet and parliamentary approval in 2008 under Kuffours administration, and had still not been completed when President Akufo-Addo assumed office on January 7, 2017.

Reading a cabinet memo dated July 2012 and signed by Hon. Alban Bagbin, then Minister of Health, Gen Henry Smith, Minister of Defence and Dr. Kwabena Duffour, Minister of Finance, Mr. Baako challenged anyone to prove that the "Eurojet Hospital Project agreement was not signed and the loan facility agreed in 2008.

The Kufuor government signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Euroget S. A. for the construction of the hospitals in April 2008, gave Cabinet approval for the commencement of the project on October 29, 2008, with parliamentary approval received on November 12, 2008.

The Upper West Regional Hospital was the first to commence construction in August 2010 and the other projects such as the Afari Military Hospital, Tepa Municipal Hospital, Twifo Praso Municipal Hospital, Adenta-Madina Hospital at Kwabenya, Salaga Hospital among others are all under construction but are being claimed by the NDC as former President John Mahamas legacies and have been captured in the partys Green Book ahead of the 2016 elections.

According to the contractors, the Madina Hospital at Kwabenya would be completed by December, while Tepa Hospital would be completed and handed over in April 2020, with Nsawkaw Hospital to be ready by June 2020.

The contractors claim the Konongo and Kumasi Sewua hospitals will be completed by November 2020, with the Salaga and Twifo Praso also targeting 2020.

Mr. Baako Jnr. also disputed claims made by the Ranking Member of the Health Committee in Parliament and MP for Juaboso Constituency, Hon. Kwabena Mintah Akandoh that Ghana was unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Baako Jnr. said the claims by Akandoh are false. WHO rated Ghana 56% in overall preparedness to fight COVID-19. This is beyond average, he told host Kwame Sefa Kayi.

The Central Regional Minister, Kwamina Duncan was the NPP representative on the show.
A flood of calls to the Salvation Army of Bryan-College Station from those requesting rent assistance has squeezed the local nonprofit, and regional captain Paul Ryerson said many who come for help may eventually be turned away.

The first three or four days of April, we were hit like a hurricane, he said. We have never received this many requests for rent assistance since Ive been commander here just in the first four days of April.

Ryerson said he isnt sure how many calls have come in, as the requests are constantly being processed. So far this month, the flow of calls has amounted to more than 100 requests; the average is 20 to 30 a week. The Salvation Armys staff of fewer than 10 people is handling calls and proving a persons need by garnering evidence of a layoff or furlough. Whereas call response normally takes less than 24 hours, some families are not hearing back from the nonprofit for 48 hours, Ryerson said.

So far, thanks to gifts from the community and other nonprofits, the organization still has some money still to give. But, Ryerson said, that wont be enough in the end.
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Virginia rose to 4,509 Friday, up from 2,878 Monday, with reported deaths up to 121, an increase of 12 from the day before.

The Virginia Department of Health reported that it had received results from 35,459 COVID-19 tests. While lack of access to testing has been an issue nationally, Virginia ranks 24th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in the total number of tests it has performed, according to data gathered by the COVID Tracking Project. Because it is one of the more populous states, Virginia has ranked toward the bottom in testing rates per person.

Currently, the state receives between 2,500 and 4,000 test results each day from labs that can take from 24 hours to a week to process, according to state Secretary for Health and Human Resources Dan Carey.

Our number one job is to increase the capacity and the rapidity of testing, Carey said at a briefing Friday.
Rosanna Davison has spoken about the hardship facing couples who have had their fertility treatments cancelled because of Covid-19.

The former Miss World welcomed her first baby, Sophia, with husband Wes Quirke via gestational surrogacy in November.

She was born in the Ukraine after a long fertility journey for the celebrity couple.

Rosanna urged those affected to not give up hope.

"Every single day, we look at Sophia in amazement and can't believe she's our daughter and that we've been this lucky," she told the Irish Independent.

"We don't take a moment of it for granted because it was such a long and challenging journey for us.

"Just yesterday, we said how lucky we both feel about the timing of her birth because so many women and couples have had to put their fertility treatment plans on hold while the global crisis unfolds. And they don't know when IVF clinics will re-open.

"My heart just goes out to them as it's so stressful already without this extra uncertainly.

"Staying positive and strong is really the only option right now."

Ms Davison added that it had been difficult not seeing her parents for a month but having their four-month-old to focus on had kept them busy during this tough time.

She s also looking forward to eventually catching up with her grandmother, dad Chris de Burgh's 93-year-old mum Maeve, who has been cocooning at her Castle Dargan home in Wexford.

"I've been calling my grandmother regularly and we also exchange emails to keep in touch. Thank goodness for technology. When all of this is hopefully over, I'll be looking forward to travelling again. I'll start with a road trip to visit her and give her a big hug.

"But for now, it's so important to listen to advice from the Government and experts because staying home saves lives."

Ms Davison is an ambassador for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, which today sees the launch of its annual 65 Roses Day campaign, with CF sufferers particularly vulnerable to Covid-19.

People can donate via its website: www.65rosesday.ie.
Every year on April 9, Iran marks its national nuclear day by unveiling new achievements in the field. Not this year. The country's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said because of the exploding coronavirus pandemic this is not a time to celebrate and keep the feast, CGTN writes in the article Is Iran teetering on the brink of collapse? The official cancellation represents the latest effort by a country of 80 million inhabitants that's been laser-focused on containing the devastating spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It's no mistake, then, that many observers are wondering whether Iran can rise to the occasion and salvage its struggling economy  either with sanctions relief from the United States, or bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), or improved trade with the European Union.

Sanctions relief

In a world of rising disruption and disaster, should Iran be given sanctions relief for a few months to alleviate the effects of the coronavirus? For Iranians with serious and urgent medical needs, it would be a great humanitarian gesture, but it's wishful thinking. The U.S. has no intention to suspend its shameful economic strangulation to help Iran keep its people apart and grounded, national and local. The Trump administration officials have said they won't let go of their foreign policy dreamscape even on humanitarian grounds. Thanks to its reckless addiction to sanctions, Iran has no access to its frozen assets. The government cannot afford to close small-and medium-sized businesses. Many are already facing great financial pain. Health officials can shout until they are blue in the face. Even if there would be a huge spike in cases in the coming days, the country won't remain closed indefinitely. As maintained by President Hassan Rouhani, pandemic containment efforts must not put the economy on hold. The working-class people cannot sustain a long period of unemployment.

IMF loan

Although Iran has requested a five billion U.S. dollar loan from the IMF, it is not sufficient to sustain the economy. What about millions of working-class families who are living below the poverty line? What about the governments fiscal deficit of 50 percent and many other expenditures? Washington would stonewall the loan request, anyhow. New reports suggest that the U.S., which has the largest number of shares and votes within the IMF, is against the loan. Many theories are being expounded that this is about "containing Iran." But its also about the U.S. furthering its long-term goals in the Middle East. So consider the application rejected, even though some U.S. officials, including Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, have called on President Donald Donald to expand humanitarian exemptions to Iran. To say that Washington's immoral opposition to an IMF bailout wouldn't produce widespread misery for Iranian businesses would be the understatement of the year.

During this deadly pandemic and getting just a tad grimmer here, escalation of tensions will not only increase the risk of conflict with Iran but will make it harder for regional governments to focus on the unfolding health crisis - forging partnerships with Iran to fight the pandemic.

INSTEX

Only recently, France, Germany and Britain exported medical equipment to Iran. This was the first transaction conducted under the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), a mechanism to barter goods after Washington diminished its participation in the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

The mechanism was set up "to match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods." Thanks to Washington's pressure, the EU used it after a year to export medicine and medical devices worth 500,000 euros to Iran. Until this mechanism includes energy trade, it won't be sufficient. All of this is a reminder that Iran needs to sell oil and gas to prop up its economy, seeing that only the value of its pharmaceutical and medical industry is six billion U.S. dollars.

Notwithstanding Washington's conscience-soothing fallacies, it is apparent that ill-equipped Iran will have to rely on itself - and to some extent to the remaining signatories to the nuclear deal - to weather the unfolding health and economic crises. One doesnt have to look far to see why: No matter the frantic state of so many Iranian people and businesses, America's economic war has no timetable.

Iran has already proven that it has the sufficient capacity to mitigate the virus before it plagues the population and tears the economy apart. Much of the world also agrees that the government is well-placed and heavily-involved to do so, as it has a comprehensive, coherent and realistic strategy to protect the nation, in both health and economic terms. But it needs to flatten the curve on the virus fast, because this cannot be allowed to become a long battle, as the political class in Washington would make good use of the pandemic to advance their political agenda.

For all the talk of Washington refusing to suspend sanctions and imposing new ones, it suffices to conclude that such efforts will not derail the Iranian economy as it largely relies on non-oil exports to endure. In the post-COVID world, the country's 2020 budget was approved to strike back against Washington's brutal sanctions by limiting dependence on energy export revenues.
California this week declared its independence from the federal government's feeble efforts to fight covid-19 - and perhaps from a bit more. The consequences for the fight against the pandemic are almost certainly positive. The implications for the brewing civil war between Trumpism and America's budding 21st-century majority, embodied by California's multiracial liberal electorate, are less clear.

Speaking on MSNBC, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, said that he would use the bulk purchasing power of California "as a nation-state" to acquire the hospital supplies that the federal government has failed to provide. If all goes according to plan, Newsom said, California might even "export some of those supplies to states in need."

"Nation-state." "Export."

Newsom is accomplishing a few things here, with what can only be a deliberate lack of subtlety. First and foremost, he is trying to relieve the shortage of personal protective equipment - a crisis the White House has proved incapable of remedying. Details are a little fuzzy, but Newsom, according to news reports, has organized multiple suppliers to deliver roughly 200 million masks monthly.

Second, Newsom is kicking sand in the face of President Donald Trump after Newsom's previous flattery - the coin of the White House realm - failed to produce results. If Trump can't manage to deliver supplies, there's no point in Newsom continuing the charade.

Third, and this may be the most enduring effect, Newsom is sending a powerful message to both political parties. So far, the Republican Party's war on democratic values, institutions and laws has been a largely one-sided affair, with the GOP assaulting and the Democratic Party defending. The lethal ruling this week by the U.S. Supreme Court's Republican bloc, which required Wisconsin residents to vote in person during a pandemic that shut down polling stations, is a preview of the fall campaign. The GOP intends to restrict vote-by-mail and other legitimate enfranchisement to suppress turnout amid fear, uncertainty and disease.

At some point this civil war by other means, with the goal of enshrining GOP minority rule, will provoke a Democratic counteroffensive. Newsom, leader of the nation's largest state, is perhaps accelerating that response, shaking Democrats out of denial and putting Republicans on notice. California, an economic behemoth whose taxpayers account for 15% of individual contributions to the U.S. Treasury, is now toning up at muscle beach.

What that means, of course, is left to the imagination. But not much is required to envision what might evolve.

Newsom, a former lieutenant governor who won the top job in 2018, has used the "nation-state" phrase before. It's a very odd thing to say. California, like its 49 smaller siblings, qualifies only as the second half. But it's obviously no slip of the tongue. State Sen. Scott Wiener, D, a leader in California's cumbersome efforts to produce more housing, said soon after Newsom took office in 2019 that reorienting the state's relationship to Washington is a necessity, not a choice.

"The federal government is no longer a reliable partner in delivering health care, in supporting immigrants, supporting LGBT people, in protecting the environment, so we need to forge our own path," Wiener said. "We can do everything in our power to protect our state, but we need a reliable federal partner. And right now we don't have that."

The statement appears prescient in light of the Trump administration's failure to protect against a pandemic. Newsom was the first governor to issue a stay-at-home order, on March 19. Though his state is chock-full of cosmopolitan centers, and rural threats loom as well, California is weathering the virus in far better shape than New York, which has many fewer people and many more deaths.

Federalism has always had rough spots, but conflict is rising and resolutions are not. California is a sanctuary state while the Trump administration is fond of immigration dragnets. Marijuana is grown, marketed and used in abundance in the state while the White House conjures more restrictions. The Trump administration endorses extreme gun rights; California has other ideas. Most of all, Trump's failure to act, or even take responsibility for acting, in the face of pandemic has required California, like other states, to look out for itself.

One conflict, however, encompasses all others, and could galvanize Californians into new ways of thinking about their state and its relationship to Washington. The GOP war on democracy is inspired by a drive for racial and cultural supremacy that jeopardizes the democratic aspirations and human rights of California's multiracial citizenry.

From Fort Sumter to Little Rock to Montgomery, the blueprint for states opposing federal control has a recurring theme. But there is no reason that states can't adopt a racist playbook for other ends. If California and other 21st-century polities withhold revenue, or otherwise distance themselves from Washington's control, legal and political battles will escalate. Republicans will have a legitimate constitutional argument - but it will be a morally tainted and politically illegitimate one so long as they continue to subvert majority rule.

The experience of states battling covid-19 while the White House devotes its energy to winning the news cycle may be instructive. What is the difference, conceptually, between a state deploying its power to protect its population's health and a state using it to protect its population's democratic rights?

John Calhoun, who used the theory of states' rights to defend the institution of slavery, is not generally a philosophical lodestar for liberal Democrats such as Newsom. But if Republicans (or foreign friends) succeed in sabotaging democracy in November, Calhoun's theory of nullification, which posited that states have the power to defy federal law, could be ripe for a comeback on the left coast. With the heirs of the Confederacy now reigning in Washington, turnabout might be very fair play.

- - -

Wilkinson writes editorials on politics and U.S. domestic policy for Bloomberg Opinion. He was executive editor of the Week. He was previously a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.
It didnt take long for evangelical Christian leaders in the United States to identify the coronavirus as an agent of Satan. Once they had, many were initially reluctant to retreat from the battle by obeying social distancing measures.

Some had hoped the lockdown would be over by Easter  the most important event in the Christian calendar. They were buoyed by Donald Trumps optimism, when he said at the end of March that he wanted the country opened up and just raring to go for the holiday.

But as the virus continued to spread across the country and the death toll rose, churches began to adapt their services by organising online services and worship to protect their congregation.

Not all were willing to stop, however. This Easter Sunday, a number of churches are planning to go ahead with services, ignoring the advice of public health experts in what they are pitching as a test of faith.

"Satan and a virus will not stop us," megachurch pastor Tony Spell, of the Life Tabernacle Church in Louisiana, said of his plans to hold services this Easter Sunday. "We are not afraid. We are called by God to stand against the Antichrist creeping into Americas borders. We will spread the Gospel," he told Reuters in an interview.

The pastor said he expects a crowd of more than 2,000 to gather in worship at his megachurch.

Mr Spell has already been in trouble with police for violating an executive order by Louisianas governor banning gatherings of more than 50 people. He was arrested and charged on 31 March with six misdemeanours.

Despite criticism for potentially putting peoples lives at risk, the pastor doubled down again this week and said he planned to go ahead with Easter Sunday services.

True Christians do not mind dying. They fear living in fear, he told TMZ.

Pastor Tony Spell talks with journalists before attending Sunday service at the Life Tabernacle megachurch challenging state orders against assembling in large groups to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana U.S., April 5, 2020. (REUTERS)

He added that holding services over livestream, as other churches have done, "does not work.

If it worked then why did America spend billions and billions of dollars on churches, he said.

Pastor Spell is not alone. In Houston, Texas, Reverend John Greiner said his Glorious Way Church would hold in-person services on Easter, after initially holding some online.

"We can't do what God called us to do on livestream," he said.

The restrictions over large gatherings across the country has sparked a backlash from Christian leaders who argue that it constitutes a breach of religious freedom. It has led to a number of confrontations between churches and local authorities.

Jon Duncan, a preacher at the evangelical Cross Culture Centre in Lodi, California, was locked out of his church by the owners when he tried to defy stay-at-home orders from the San Joaquin County Public Health Services.

Instead, he held a service on the curbside outside the church, and he plans to do the same again this Easter weekend. He is keeping the location a secret to avoid being scuppered by the police.

"God commands us to meet and that's what we're going to do Easter," he said.

In eight states, pastors have found support from sympathetic local governments who have classified churches as essential services and exempted them from the measures.

A panel of lawmakers in Kansas even went so far as to overturn an executive order by Democratic Governor Laura Kelly which banned religious services of more than 10 people during the coronavirus outbreak.

Florida megachurch pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was also arrested at the end of March for hosting Sunday services at his church with up to 500 attendees. The pastor was defiant, saying his church would never close, but later changed his mind, blaming a tyrannical government.

Following the arrest, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican and ally of Donald Trump, issued a statewide stay-at-home order that exempted religious services conducted in houses of worship, deeming them "essential business."

According to Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, an activist law firm that took up Howard-Browne's case, the pastor "has not made a decision on what he plans to do on Easter Sunday", according to NBC.

Public health officials are concerned that church services could lead to a spike in coronavirus cases in those communities. Since the pandemic began, there have been a number of cases of infected people unknowingly spreading the disease by attending church services.

In South Korea, a so-called superspreader reportedly infected 37 people at the Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony in Daegu. Authorities there referred to the service in question as a super-spreading event. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention also identified a church service in Chicago as the location for someone contracting the virus from a spreader.

Despite the few holdouts, however, most churches across the US are adapting to the new reality and new dangers posed by the virus.

Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr.s Vous Church in Miami, Florida, is one of hundreds of churches hosting live streams of its services throughout Easter Sunday on YouTube and Facebook, in Spanish and English. Joel Osteens non-denominational Lakewood megachurch in Houston will do the same.
Malawi Electoral Commission Plans July Vote Despite Coronavirus

By Lameck Masina April 09, 2020

Malawi's Electoral Commission (MEC) says it is pushing ahead with voter registration for July's presidential election re-run, despite a government-ordered suspension because of the coronavirus.

Malawi has so far eight confirmed cases of the virus and one death. Health officials worry people grouped for registration and voting could easily spread the virus but the MEC says only it has the authority to halt the election process.

The MEC says there is no plan to stop voter registration over coronavirus concerns. Spokesman Sangwani Mwafulirwa on Wednesday said there were adequate measures in place to prevent infections in registration centers.

"For example, those that are coming for registration they are observing the social distance. Fortunately, this time around, our biometrical voter registration system is efficient. So, we are not having queues in voter registration centers," he said.

Mwafulira said all MEC staff wear protective equipment such as face masks and that hand sanitizers, soap, and water are provided for the public.

The MEC last week launched voter registration for a July re-run of last year's presidential election.

Health officials criticized going ahead with the election process at a time when they are trying to check the spread of coronavirus.

Heath Minister Jappie Mhango says up to 50,000 Malawians could die from the disease if not enough action is taken to stop the virus.

Mhango, who also chairs a cabinet-level committee on the coronavirus, on Tuesday announced voter registration would be suspended.

"What we are saying is, you can only have an election where people are enjoying good health. We are a government and as a government we have a duty to protect our citizens. Assume tomorrow we are attacked by foreign forces - will you go to register? We are already in a war situation; we are fighting the virus. This is war. You cannot subject your citizens to hazardous situation just because you want an election, for what?" asked Mhango.

However, the MEC argues only it or the courts can halt the election.

Opposition parties, whose court case saw last year's election results overturned in February, have been pushing for the election to go ahead, despite the risk.

United Transformation Movement Party President Saulos Chilima made his argument Wednesday during a televised press conference.

He said the group that was talking about the suspension of the electoral process was lying. That is because the laws of Malawi do not allow them to suspend the registration process, he argued. That is the responsibility of the electoral commission. What I know, said Chilima, is that the exercise is still on and I urge people to go and register.

But health rights groups say allowing voters to gather for registration and polling contradicts key coronavirus prevention measures.

Executive Director for Malawi Health Equity Network George Jobe says the public is getting mixed messages from authorities.

"There have been messages on social distancing to be observed and also [against] gatherings. And at the same time, we saw there was registration. Isn't that breaking the rules given out? So, the two activities are contradicting and confusing to the general public," Jobe said.

Malawi's Constitutional Court nullified last year's presidential election citing massive irregularities in the re-election of President Peter Mutharika. The court ordered fresh polls by July 3.

If allowed to continue, voter registration would continue until June 7.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






BERLIN (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers are close to overcoming differences that are blocking approval of a multi-billion euro programme to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Thursday.

"It looks like an agreement is possible," Scholz said, signalling that the Netherlands, alone in demanding tough conditions for countries like Italy and Spain if they draw aid funds, had softened its stance.

(Reporting by Christian Kraemer; Writing by Joseph Nasr)
New Delhi: Pakistan has hatched a conspiracy to change demography in POK (Pak Occupied Kashmir) by settling large numbers of retired Pakistani soldiers in that region, besides allowing labourers engaged with ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to settle there, according to security agencies.

"The demographic profile of PoK has already been changed by settling ex Pak army soldiers from its Punjab province. Due to ongoing CPEC projects, a huge area of public and private land in the PoK has been given free of coast to Chinese companies. This is worrisome," said an official who is privy to Pak activities in PoK.

According to reports, a huge influx of Pakistani labourers from outside PoK has been seen from the past few months mainly because of the ongoing construction works of Chinese companies. Pak government has already settled them in many areas of PoK very secretly.

AK Mahapatra, Professor of International Studies of JNU, told Zee News that Pakistan is scared of Indian action of abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir last year. Pakistan is suspicious that in future India may recapture PoK.

"Pakistan is scared of Indian decision or abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir state last year. Pakistan is suspicious that India may launch action to recapture PoK in the future. This is the reason Pakistan is conspiring to change the PoK's demography. There was a lot of protest in PoK last weak due to Pakistan's decision to shift coronavirus patients to PoK from different areas of Pakistan. PoK people are unhappy with Pak for their biased attitude towards them. The fear of losing PoK in the future could be reason that Pakistan is trying to change POK's demography, said AK Mahapatra, Professor of International Studies of JNU.

According to the report of security agencies, Pakistan is also giving land to several Chinese companies engaged in the work of CPEC creating resentment among PoK residents.

"In the coming days, China and Pakistan will be even closer. China is constantly supporting Pakistan on Kashmir, while US and western countries questioned China's role for spreading coronavirus. India should take tough measures against the Chinese companies engaged in various projects of CPEC in PoK. The government should put a ban on these companies," Profesor Mahapatra added.

A spokesman of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN, rejecting Indian media reports that China, during its presidency of the Security Council in March, had ignored Pakistans call for urgent consideration of the situation in J&K, said that Beijings position on the issue remains unchanged. The Kashmir issue is a dispute left from history and should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the Charter of the UN Security Council resolutions," he added.

On Thursday, India strongly rejected remarks on Jammu and Kashmir by the Chinese permanent mission to the United Nations asserting that the Union Terroririty 'has been' and shall continue to be an integral part of India.

India's External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "We reject the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in a statement made by the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations. China is well aware of Indias consistent position on this issue. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India."

"Issues related to J&K are internal matter to India. It is, therefore, our expectation that other countries, including China, would refrain from commenting on matters that are internal affairs of India and respect Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. We also expect China to recognise and condemn the scourge of cross-border terrorism that affects the lives of the people of India, including in J&K," Srivastava added.

India has already stated that it will take up the issue with China to expose Pakistan's conspiracy to change the demography of POK besides its interference in that region.
Srinagar: Police have arrested more than a dozen people for joining the funeral of a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander in Sopore area of north Kashmir in violation of government advisories against public gatherings during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The arrests were made after Jammu and Kashmir Police registered a case against those who assembled for the funeral of the JeM commander at Saidpora locality.

Sopores superintendent of police Javed Iqbal said more than 12 people were arrested for violating social distancing norms at the funeral. More people will be arrested, he said.

The JeM commander, Sajjad Nawab Dar, 23, was killed in a gun battle with security forces in Gulabad area of Sopore on Tuesday.

Soon after his body was handed over to his family, more than 1,000 people, including women, from his village and adjoining areas joined a large funeral procession. Pictures of the gathering went viral on social media and many people questioned why social distancing norms were ignored at the funeral.

A police spokesperson said on Thursday a first information report (FIR) was registered against the people who gathered for the funeral and violated Covid-19-related protocols and government advisories on social distancing.

The legal heirs had stated in writing they would adhere to social distancing norms when the body was handed over to them after completing medico-legal formalities. The matter is under investigation and defaulters will be dealt with strictly as per the law, the spokesperson said.

People familiar with developments said police teams conducted raids at several villages last night and arrested some people who participated in the funeral. Police are trying to identify more people who were in the gathering.
In a twist fit for a blockbuster movie, Mexico has emerged as the decisive player for the OPEC+ production cut deal, according to OPEC.

"The above was agreed by all the OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation, with the exception of Mexico, and as a result, the agreement is conditional on the consent of Mexico," OPEC said in a press release.

Speaking to Reuters earlier today, Prince Abdulaziz said, "I hope (Mexico) comes to see the benefit of this agreement not only for Mexico but for the whole world. This whole agreement is hinging on Mexico agreeing to it."

The surprising focus on Mexico is a result of the country walking out of the OPEC+ meeting yesterday without agreeing to the production cuts. Another report, however, said Mexico had offered to reduce its crude oil production by 100,000 bpd during the talks, to 1.68 million bpd.

Mexico en el consenso para estabilizar el precio del petroleo en la reunion de la @OPECSecretariat ha propuesto una reduccion de 100 mil barriles por dia en los proximos 2 meses. De 1.781 mbd de produccion que reportamos en marzo del 2020 disminuiremos a 1.681 mbd. @GobiernoMX  Rocio Nahle (@rocionahle) April 10, 2020

Yesterday, the oil producers' cartel agreed on a 10-million bpd production cut, noting that its members hoped other producers will join in, too, cutting another 5 million bpd in an attempt to rebalance the oil market. Canada and Norway are among the countries that have suggested they would cut while the U.S. has stood firm in its unwillingness to interfere in the oil industry.

Premium: How To Find A Bargain In A Distressed Energy Sector

Reuters asked Saudi Arabia's Prince Abdulaziz about that, too.

"They will do it in their own way, using their own approaches, and it is not our job to dictate to others what they could do based on their national circumstances," the energy minister said.

Texas railroad commissioner Ryan Sitton, the man who first floated the idea of a production cut in the oil state, said in a tweet that the world needs to cut at least 20 million bpd in the next couple of months, adding the U.S. could reduce its output by 4 million bpd in that period without having to impose mandatory production caps.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The outbreak, the 10th in Congo, is the second-worst ever, after the epidemic that swept through Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia between late 2013 and 2016. The new case announced on Friday is a 26-year-old man in Beni, a city of a few hundred thousand in eastern Congo that has been the epicenter of the outbreak for most of its duration. The man died, the Congolese government announced later Friday.
After Gregory Darven was exposed to someone with coronavirus, the 32-year-old correctional officer reported to health services at his Elkton, Ohio, federal prison job site.

Bureau of Prisons (BOP) medical staff initially sent him home and his doctor told him "under no circumstances" should he work. Darven said he requested emergency administrative leave for the 14-day recommended quarantine.

Management denied the request, according to Darven, and told him to take his personal sick leave or come back to work.

"So, I had to take two weeks of my own time off," he said. "I obviously didn't want to get anybody sick or expose anybody if I potentially did have it." Fortunately, he did not.

Being forced to take personal sick time makes some staffers angry, said Joseph Mayle, the Elkton prison union president, "because we're being forced to use our own leave, although they [supervisors] have put us in harm's way."

Cases like Darven's led his union, the Council of Prison Locals in the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), to file an "imminent danger report" with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The union's report was previously reported by Government Executive.

The agency's actions "are proliferating the spread of a known and deadly contagion both within our prison system and to our surrounding communities," says the complaint, and "are expected to result in death and severe health complications and/or possible life-long disabilities."

Prison officials have directed employees who have had contact or proximity with people experiencing covid-19 symptoms, the union added, "to report to work and not be self-quarantined for 14 days per the CDC guidelines."

AFGE's National Veteran Affairs Council filed a similar imminent danger complaint with OSHA on March 31, the same day as the BOP report.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has directed employees who have been close to others with coronavirus symptoms "to report to work without regard for the 14-day, self-quarantine guidance promulgated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," according to the labor organization. It also accused the department of not providing all staffers with the personal protective equipment "they desperately need to protect themselves, their peers, and patients from COVID-19 exposure."

Without addressing specific cases, both agencies defended their actions against the disease.

"The BOP has taken, and will continue to take, aggressive steps to protect" against the coronavirus, said a lengthy statement from Justin Long, a prisons spokesman. He outlined a series of actions, including limiting inmate movement between and within facilities, suspending social and legal visits, canceling staff training and travel, and screening and quarantining newly arrived inmates.

On Sunday, inmates and staff were issued surgical masks, according to Long's statement. Prison factories are producing masks "for our staff and inmate population, non-surgical medical gowns for medical facilities, and packaging hand sanitizer for use within the BOP and other agencies."

As of Tuesday, 253 federal inmates and 84 staffers had tested positive for covid-19. Eight inmates and no employees have died of the ailment. BOP has 145,613 inmates and 36,530 employees.

VA press secretary Christina Noel said the allegations in the union's filing "are false to the point where sharing them with your readers would be highly irresponsible."

"All VA facilities have essential items and supplies, and we are continually monitoring the status of those items to ensure a robust supply chain," including personal protective equipment, she added. Under CDC guidance and VA protocols, "employees exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms are immediately isolated to prevent potential spread to others."

Noel also said the union misrepresented VA policy and CDC guidelines. The guidelines say, according to Noel, "health care professionals may continue to work if they have been exposed to a COVID-19 patient as long as they are asymptomatic, using personal protective equipment and have been cleared to work by their occupational health department."

VA "closely monitors" its health care workers and if symptoms develops, she added, "the health care professional is tested, treated and quarantined in accordance with CDC guidance."

As of Wednesday, recorded 3,265 positive patient cases and 167 deaths from covid-19. There were 1,130 infected employees and six staff fatalities, including one each in Houston, Indianapolis, Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and two in Reno, Nevada. VA has 390,000 employees and nine million patients are in its health care program.

AFGE National President Everett Kelley said the employee deaths were "avoidable and . . . highlight the risks facing front-line health care providers and other mission-critical workers every day - and the scandalous lack of action to keep these workers safe."

The union gets daily reports from members who "still do not have the proper protective equipment to keep themselves and the public they are serving safe from further spread of the virus," according to Kelley's statement.

"We wouldn't send our soldiers off to war without the proper equipment, but that's precisely the situation facing many of the federal workers on the front lines of this pandemic. Employees are literally risking their lives to do their jobs, and the government must take immediate action to protect these brave employees and the public they serve. Not tomorrow. Today."
As wheat harvest season in Syria approaches, the regime and the opposition are separately setting up new pricing plans, hoping to get farmers to sell to them amid fears of a worsening shortage of domestic and imported supplies. These supplies are critical to ensuring food security for the populations in their respective areas of control.

Russia sent a ship carrying 25,000 tons of soft wheat to help replenish the local stock needed for making bread in government-controlled areas. The shipment arrived April 3 in Latakia.

The government's General Establishment for Cereal Processing and Trade (Hoboob) announced in early March it had been unable to close new wheat deals for 2020 because of high wheat prices, logistical difficulties, and expensive freight charges and freight insurance due to sanctions imposed on Syria. The government, normally the exclusive importer of wheat, in late March gave its approval for all industrialists and merchants to import wheat flour for bread.

Prior to this decision, the government had sought to acquire the entire wheat crop, competing with the opposition in northwestern Syria.

The Syrian Cabinet set the purchase price of a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of hard (durum) and soft wheat from farmers in the current season at 200 Syrian pounds (roughly 16 cents), plus a bonus that brought the total price to 225 Syrian pounds (18 cents). This reflects an increase of 21.6% compared with 2019, and amounts to a major government subsidy for the agricultural sector and wheat crop, Agriculture Minister Ahmed Qadri told al-Watan newspaper March 16.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, about 70% of planned wheat cultivation for the current season has been reached out of a target of 1.8 million hectares (4.45 million acres). The majority of the cultivated areas are concentrated in Hasakah province, followed by Aleppo.

In March, Hoboob announced its intention to purchase 200,000 tons of Russian, Bulgarian or Romanian wheat. The freight operation is supposed to be completed within two months of signing the contract.

During the past two years, Syria imported more than 2 million tons of wheat from Russia, Eastern European countries and the Black Sea region. Previously, it would achieve self-sufficiency at an annual production rate of 4 million tons, part of which would be allocated for export.

At the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, Syria exported some of its wheat to Italy and other countries in exchange for soft wheat. Syria also exported flour to Iraq from 2004 to 2006.

However, in 2018, production hit its lowest level in 29 years, falling to 1.2 million tons. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) attributed this to an extended period of dry weather early in the cropping season followed by heavy out-of-season rains. FAO added, The conflict in Syria has also damaged vast farming areas, displaced thousands of Syrian farmers and triggered a sharp increase in the cost of agricultural inputs.

Independent economist Samir al-Tawil in France told Al-Monitor, The emerging coronavirus crisis in Syria heightened Syrians fear and increased the demand for bread. This  led to the emergence of a black market for bread.

Tawil said that to reduce demand, the government could lift subsidies on bread and increase the loaf prices.

He also noted, By recapturing new areas from the opposition, the government is forced to provide greater supplies of flour for bakeries in these areas. Consequently, this upped the value of its wheat import bill in dollars.

The Syrian Public Establishment for Grains, affiliated with the opposition-led government, intends to price wheat purchases from farmers in opposition-controlled areas after it develops a plan to determine production costs by May. The 2020 harvest season will take place this year in May and June. Hassan al-Mohammad, director of the agency based in Gaziantep, Turkey, told Al-Monitor, Expectations currently indicate the price will vary between $230 and $240 per ton of durum wheat, and between $225 and $230 per ton of soft wheat." He noted the great shortage in the opposition areas of Aleppo and Idlib.

Mohammad pointed out that rainfall, especially in March, boosted production figures. However, there are still large areas in Syria suitable for growing wheat that have yet to be cultivated, due to the lack of production [necessities] and fertilizers, he added. This reflected negatively on the country's supplies of flour and caused Syria as a whole to suffer a wheat shortage.
As India's coronavirus cases rise to 6,412 amid the lockdown across the country, it is worth looking back at what Indians, confined to their homes since 24 March, and the rest of the people around the world, have been searching for online since December 2019, when news of the virus first began emerging from China's Wuhan.

As India's coronavirus cases rise to 6,412 amid the lockdown across the country, it is worth looking back at what Indians, confined to their homes since 24 March, and the rest of the people around the world, have been searching for online since December 2019, when news of the virus first began emerging from China's Wuhan.

Google searches explode

As per SEMrush, an online visibility management and content marketing platform, which conducted a study to document the Indian public's awareness about the coroanvirus outbreak, found that searches for the term "coronavirus" went from an anemic 2,400 times in December to an incredible 61 lakh times in January, an increase of 2.54 lakh percent.

In February, the keyword coronavirus was searched over 1.6 crore times, which is 162.5 percent more than compared to January. The term "coronavirus symptoms", which was searched only 40 times in December, received 12.2 lakh searches in January. The other top terms searched for on Google included coronavirus disease, coronavirus treatment, coronavirus cause, coronavirus infection, coronavirus vaccine, coronavirus diagnosis and novel coronavirus as per the SEMrush study.

Top questions on Google Trends

As per Google Trends (as of 5 April), the top trending questions on coronavirus over the past week were:

1. How many cases of coronavirus in India 5 April?

2. What is COVID 19 or coronavirus?

3. When coronavirus end in India?

4. Will lockdown get extended in India?

5. How China controlled coronavirus?

What people around the world are searching for

As per a report in Fast Company, the top questions from around the world had are fairly similar to those of people from the United States:

Is Disney World closed? How many cases of coronavirus are in Michigan? How many cases of coronavirus are in Ohio? What kills the coronavirus? Where can I get tested for Coronavirus?

The top coronavirus-related searches from people around the world indicate widespread interest in the health and actions of world leaders. Searches for loneliness have reached the highest point in the history of Google Trends (since 2004) with Iran, Afghanistan and Italy being the top three countries searching for this term, as per Google.

Google Trends from December to April

Searches for the term coronavirus remained flat from December till late January before ticking up in early March, exploding mid-March and saw the highest level of traffic on 23 March (100)  the day before the lockdown came into effect  and has since tapered off.

Searches for the term coronavirus hit its peak on Google Trends the day before the lockdown called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The most interest in the term was shown by the following regions: Nagaland (100), Jammu and Kashmir (95), Tripura (78), Sikkim (68) and Goa (66). The top related search topics over the past three months are: Coronavirus (100), China (4), Italy (3), United States (3), Death (3), Worldometers (2) and Corona - Beer (1)

"Coronavirus symptoms"

Searches on Google Trends for coronavirus symptoms remained flat till 26 January (0) before rising sharply 0n 28 January (71), the day World Health Organisation leaders met with the Chinese to discuss the disease and how best to contain it. On 1 February, the day after the WHO declared a public health emergency and India reported its first case in Kerala, the Google Trends searches (63) came close to its then all-time peak. The rest of the month saw intermittent bouts of interest on 11 February (39), 18 February (14), 22 February (15), 25 February (15).

Early March saw sustained levels of searches in Google Trends before scaling new heights on 12 March (81), the day the first death was reported in India due to the virus. On 16 March, when the Central government ordered all malls, gyms, cinemas to remain shut till 31 March, interest saw yet another upwards tick (72). The prime minister calling for a 21-day lockdown on 22 March (62) gave the term a boost before its predictably hit its peak on 23 March (100), the day prior to the lockdown.
Forcing insurers to cover business interruption losses that fall outside the original scope of policies would threaten the solvency of the industry on a global scale, rating agency DBRS has warned.

The failure of insurance companies in Ireland to pay out for business interruption cover has become a massive bone of contention. Industry groups say stricken companies will take legal action to recover losses they say are covered in their policies.

Jim Flannery, president of the Irish Claims Consultants Association and a director of Balcombes Claim Management which advises people on their insurance claims, said its analysis of insurance contracts found at least some policy holders should be entitled to compensation under the cover they had taken out ahead of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Mr Flannery said his firm had been contacted by a huge number of business owners including pubs, restaurants, coffee shops, and other retailers, who are closed as a result of Covid-19.

"We have done an analysis of over 20 policies on the market and have identified those that have cover for business interruption losses as a result of closure due to Infectious Disease or Denial of Access by order of a Local Authority," he said.

Despite that, some insurers have been issuing formal letters of declinature, even using solicitors to deny claims, he said. Insurers were, he said, "playing on words to avoid paying out".

The Central Bank last month wrote to all insurers in Ireland saying that if there was any ambiguity in the wording of an insurance policy concerning extent of cover, the benefit of the doubt should be given to the customer.

Insurance industry insiders say that policies which included cover for business premises shut as a result of an infectious disease were typically focused on local food poisoning outbreaks rather than a shutdown of entire industries.

But policy holders insist that where they've paid for business interruption cover, insurers must honour policies.

The clash between insurers and insurance customer is not just happening in Ireland, according to DBRS.

There is growing pressure on insurance companies in a number of jurisdictions to assume business interruption (BI) claims, it said, even if original policies were not intended to cover pandemic losses.

Following the Sars outbreak in 2003, insurance companies were hit with millions in BI claims and the industry globally began changing standard commercial policies to exclude losses caused by viruses.

The scale of the current lockdown means honouring those claims could become ruinous to the property and casualty (P&C) insurance sector, said DBRS.

"Forcing P&C insurers to cover losses they had not originally priced in - or had no proper reinsurance in place for - could jeopardise the underwriting performance and solvency of the industry in the short term," it wrote.

The rating agency said even if that doesn't happen the legal costs associated with cases taken by customers will affect the profitability of insurers in 2020 and 2021.
Hotel Business News and Analytics

Important! This article is written by orangesmile.com editors and is protected by copyright law. The article can only be re-used with a direct link to www.orangesmile.com

NEWS BLOCKS:

Spa Experts at Anantara Offer Home Self-Care Recommendations

Isolation at home can be very hard because it drastically changes the way we live and relax. The inability to travel and enjoy various revitalizing treatments is the necessary evil these days because this way people can protect themselves from COVID-19. To make self-isolation a little bit more enjoyable, many companies and personalities share advice and recommendation. This time, experts from Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas want to help people to practice self-care at home.



The famous hotel company is going to share a series of videos and articles targeted at helping people to stay healthy and happy at home. As a part of the new initiative, spa experts from Anantara hotels around the world share their recommendations. For example, the Anantara the Palm hotel in Dubai, the UAE, recommends people to try to follow their typical routine when they work from home. Try to wake up and go to bed at your typical time. To help the immune system, consider squeezing half a lemon into a glass with warm water and drink it before breakfast.



The companys hotel in Koh Samui, Thailand, has the following advice. Fasting or not eating for 16-18 hours can be helpful in reaching restorative sleep. Stop eating after lunch and have your next meal the next morning. Sip a bit of oil before going to sleep if you are very hungry. It is better to go to bed before midnight as this helps to restore the immune system better.



The Ayurveda Doctor from Anantaras hotel in Sri Lanka reminds us that meditation is good for the body in so many ways. It reduces blood pressure, improves focus, lowers the stress level, and makes us full of energy. Breathing techniques are also great during the self-isolation period. Consider trying the Pranayama breathing meditation.



Finally, the Master of Wellness at Anantara Resort in Koh Phangan has a whole plan on how to make lockdown easier. Eat light and healthy food, maintain your routine lifestyle, drink a lot, and dont forget about regular exercise. As most people are less active during the self-isolation period, it is necessary to eat mostly light and simple food. Dont forget about drinking from two to three liters of water every day, avoiding various carbonated beverages. Try to follow your usual routine, do your chores, and exercise every day for 45-60 minutes. Activities like yoga and Tai-Chi are perfect for this period.

10.04.2020Stay in touch with the latest news of a worldwide hotel industry. All up-to-date analytics, reports , and news about hotel business trends on OrangeSmile.com.
Religious associations are abandoning traditional celebrations, in line with coronavirus lockdown, to help others.

Granada, Spain  Religious associations in the small southwest town of Aznalcazar were already in the thick of preparations when news arrived that Spains tens of thousands of traditional Easter processions were likely to be banned for the first time in nearly 90 years, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

We had bought pretty much everything we needed, right down to the cloth for the uniforms for the penitentes  the hooded and cloaked worshippers in the processions, Lola Diaz Montero, of Aznalcazars Brotherhood of Saint James, told Al Jazeera.

Wed started cancelling Masses for Lent  before the state of alert was declared in the middle of March. Then the news came through that all the processions were going to be stopped too.

Montero, the head of logistics of the Brotherhood, said an alternative for at least part of the associations stock of Easter procession material was quickly found  one which highlights how religious communities in Spain are helping the countrys struggle against the pandemic.

For the past weeks across Spain, there has been a severe shortage of protective facemasks for the general public in chemists and other stores.

One member, Antonio Jesus Diaz Ponce, had the idea of using the cloth originally intended for making our penitents hoods to make homemade protective ones instead, Montero said.

Weve made them for pensioner  the local police take them round, cleaners, refuse collectors, anybody who needs them. The other day we handed over a box of masks to priests who work with a hospital because we realised that as they arent health workers, they wouldnt be getting their own.

Montero estimated the Aznalcazar Brotherhood has made at least 350 masks.

Each volunteer seamstress makes between eight and 12, she said.

Other religious associations in Spain are also working to battle the pandemic.

The poster for the 2020 Aznalcazar Brotherhood of Santiago procession, cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic [Courtesy: Hermandad de Santiago de Aznalcazar]

In the nearby regional capital of Seville, for example, the 18 nuns in the San Leandro Convent have given up making their traditional sweetmeats  their only source of income  to sew facemasks free of charge, and the Brotherhood of Nuestra Senora de los Reyes, which has one of the best-known Easter processions in the city, has paid for the cloth the nuns now need.

One of the basic tenets of associations like ours is to help people and weve been doing that for years, Jose Manuel Gutierrez, a long-standing member of the inner council of the Jesus Despojado Brotherhood in another southern Spanish city, Granada, tells Al Jazeera.

But this year things are much worse, and much more help is needed.

With their most high-profile public activity, the Palm Sunday procession, cancelled, behind the scenes members of his Brotherhood are working alongside charities like Caritas and the local foodbanks.

Using special police permits for front-line aid workers using vehicles, they are driving around Granada taking provisions to the elderly or other people who cant leave their homes, said Gutierrez.

Its a very sad situation, people are suffering  theyre losing jobs, theyre dying and theres a real sensation of powerlessness when facing this.

So were trying to help people who dont have the means to get through, above all those who are alone, like the old people who, at the drop of a hat, have found themselves without their carers.

To make up for cancelled processions, some Brotherhoods have organised online religious ceremonies, including historical documentaries mixed with prayers, videos of last years parades and messages from their association presidents.

Some penitents have organised their own individual marches, remodelling processions in Lego, hanging religious symbols from their balconies, or marching around their kitchen table in their procession uniform.

A local policeman hands over Aznalcazar Brotherhood of Santiago facemasks to nuns in a convent [Courtesy: Hermandad de Santiago de Aznalcazar]

Lockdown rules, however, look set to be strictly respected, as the death toll and the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise.

Police have told one local priest in the southern town of Puebla de Don Fadrique, whose plans to go through the streets in his own individual enactment of the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday was widely publicised, would not be allowed.

In southern Spain, where the Easter processions are traditionally the largest, local authorities for tourist-friendly cities like Malaga and Granada have said the economic effect of their loss runs into more than 100 million euros ($109m), while in Seville, the regions capital, it has been estimated at four times that amount.

However, as Montero says: At the end of the day, our brotherhoods arent just there to parade around the Virgin Mary or Jesus. And right now, what better use could there be for the cloth were not using in the processions?
Comes as New York City accounts for over two-thirds of the state's deaths

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a mortuary hiring spree in New York City.

The city has seen 44 job listings for mortuary technicians and medicolegal investigators posted by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in under a month.

The jobs are not for the faint-hearted and involve investigating the deceased's cause of death.

Mortuary technicians usually assist pathologists in carrying out a post-mortem and tasks include taking tissue samples and weighing organs.

A body is moved from a refrigeration truck serving as a temporary morgue to a vehicle at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, in the Borough of Brooklyn on April 8. The city has seen 44 job listings for mortuary technicians and medicolegal investigators posted by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in under a month

A spokesperson for the medical examiner said: 'Available positions for medicolegal investigators and mortuary staff were recently posted by our agency, and we're assessing applicants at this time.'

It comes amid an unprecedentedly busy time for mortuary workers, as the state of New York observed a record-breaking increase in coronavirus deaths for a third consecutive day on Thursday, even as a surge of patients in overwhelmed hospitals slowed.

The death toll in New York state sits at 7,067 deaths following a rise in 799 fatalities.

Over two-thirds of the state's deaths are in New York City alone, where fears are growing that the real death toll has been significantly miscounted and that a dramatic spike in New Yorkers dying in their homes is also linked to coronavirus.

Governor Andrew Cuomo described the death count - which increased by 799 in 24 hours - as a lagging indicator reflecting the loss of people sickened earlier in the outbreak.

Sally Aiken, a Spokane, Washington, medical examiner and president of the National Association of Medical Examiners said she had no doubt the demand for workers for 'body transport' was very high.

Medical personnel moves a fence in front of refrigerated trucks serving as make shift morgues at Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City on April 9

She told Politico: '[I'm] sure the need for personnel is acute: workers to help with body transport, those to coordinate keeping track of bodies in the refrigerated trucks, workers needed for finding and notifying next of kin.'

The death toll for the entire country has continued to skyrocket. The US hit a death toll of 16,715 Thursday evening, a jump of nearly 2,000 fatalities of the deadly virus over the past 24 hours.

The country saw an increase in 33,381 infections mounting to 469,450 reported cases as of Thursday.
That was also true of Margaret Thatcher, Britains first female leader, who was very unpopular in the early 1980s, when there were waves of strikes across the country. But she saw a huge uptick in support after the 1982 Falklands War. In 1983, she won a landslide victory in the general election.
Wally, a 26-foot fiberglass Stegosaurus, is spending the summer at his birthplace for restoration work. PreviousNext

Wally the Stegosaurus Departs for Restoration Summer

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Wally was hoisted from his Berkshire Museum home and onto a flatbed Friday morning to take a trip to his birthplace in New York for some freshening up.

The 1,200-pound Stegosaurus sculpture is a favorite feature of the local museum and has stood guard near its entrance since 1997. Created by Louis Paul Jonas Studios in Hudson, N.Y., Wally spent his first 30 years at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Cleveland commissioned a twin, "Steggie II," to take his place from the original casts.

Wearing a mask just in case, the fiberglass Wally was carefully lifted by Berkshire Crane and Logistics onto a trailer for the 40-mile trek back to the Hudson studio for some much-needed repairs of his 50-year-old body. He's expected to stay in quarantine for most of the summer before returning to the museum in the fall.

A number of people  keeping careful social distancing  took pictures or watched from their cars on the cold, rainy morning.

The museum posted Wally's journey on its Facebook page so people could catch a glimpse of him driving by. Banners that read "Thank you for doing your part to make COVID-19 extinct" were attached to both sides of his 26-foot-long body.

"We hope that catching a glimpse of Wally in the wild provides a brief respite for everyone who comes out to see him. Its not every day that a Stegosaurus roams the Berkshires," Executive Director Jeff Rodgers wrote in announcing the trip. "Wally will be missed, but we are happy he will be receiving a much-needed restoration so that our community can enjoy him for many years to come."

Wally is only the second sculpture made from the mold created for the Sinclair Dinoland pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1964-1965. Dinoland was sponsored by the Sinclair Oil Corp., known for its green brontosaurus logo. Jonas is known for his work on natural history exhibits and worked with paleontologists to craft the Dinoland sculptures that later ended up in museums around the country. Another of Wally's brothers is at the Quarry Visitor Center in Dinosaur National Monument in Utah.

When he arrived in Pittsfield in 1997, a contest was held to name him. The museum chose Levi Bissell's suggestion of Wally because of the Stegosaurus' walnut-sized brain.

This is Wally's second return to the Jonas studio, where he was reconditioned in 1997 before being placed on the museum's front lawn on South Street. The museum is currently closed to the public during the novel coronavirus pandemic but hopes to reopen in May.
GREENWICH  As New York and other states begin to report a possible flattening of the curve when it comes to the coronavirus, Greenwich Hospital is advising residents to continue social distancing.

I always hesitate to talk about doing projections on something like this, Greenwich Hospital COO Diane Kelly said Friday. Some of the best minds in the country are trying to predict this. What we are seeing is a steady number thats been pretty consistent for the last four to five days on the number of (hospital) admissions. Whats exciting is were discharging more every day. Is that a flattening? I dont think we have a enough data yet to say it is.

First Selectman Fred Camillo has pushed for social distancing throughout town, and closed beaches and parks when crowds turnd out in those places. And on Friday, he reiterated that message.

Its going well and were doing well  but we are so far from the other side of this, Camillo said. And even when we are on the other side of this, until theres a vaccine, we really have to be careful.  Weve seen countries after 30 days where the curve was flattening out and they relaxed their restrictions and unfortunately they paid a price. Weve seen it  and we dont want to make that same mistake.

Residents should continue to take precautions by wearing gloves and masks, washing their hands frequently and practicing social distancing, Kelly said.

We have to keep very vigilant no matter what we see in the numbers, she said.

According to the town, 289 residents had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Friday, which is up from 251 on Thursday.

Grenwich Hospital is still seeing a steady number of COVID patients, Kelly said. But 171 patients have been discharged to continue their recovery at home. She called that figure very promising. As of Friday, 115 patients were hospitalized after being diagnosed with the virus, down by two from Thursday.

That number includes patients from all over the region, and not just Greenwich residents.

There are 19 patients in the intensive care unit, she said. At Greenwich Hospital, 24 patients have died who had been diagnosed with the coronavirus. No deaths were reported on Thursday, Kelly said.

There was no immediate information available on how many of those deaths were Greenwich residents.

Camillo, who has instituted more rigorous policies in recent days, said the measures would stay in place as long as they are needed. That includes requiring employees of grocery stores, restaurants and other places that handle food to wear gloves and either a mask or a facial covering.

Until a vaccine (the need for social distancing and other safety precautions) are going to be a way of life for a while, he said. The trends are going in the right direction. ... (But) its like were in the second inning of a nine inning ball game, but it is going in the right direction.

To that end, Camillo said he agreed with Gov. Ned Lamonts call to keep schools closed and business restrictions in place until at least May 20.

We are assessing and reassessing every day, and make no mistake about it, I dont think were going to see much action in the next 60 days, Camillo said. And thats if were doing the right thing and everyone keeps physicially distancing and keeps wearing gloves and wearing masks. ... Right now, I agree with the governor. History has shown us if you let up too early, you will pay a price.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
A new case of the Ebola virus has been confirmed in eastern Congo, just three days before the country expected to declare an end to the outbreak, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The new case was confirmed in Beni, a community which had been an epicenter of the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.

It had been nearly 42 days without a case, and WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the declaration had been planned for Monday. We have been preparing for and expecting more cases, he said, reflecting the caution that mixed with optimism in recent days.

I am so sad, WHO Africa chief Matshidiso Moeti said in a tweet.

Health workers in Congo had been awaiting the end of one global public health emergency  Ebola  while bracing for the arrival of another: the coronavirus.

Well just have to go for another 42 days, or the required period of time without a case for the Ebola outbreak to be declared over, said Mike Ryan, the emergencies chief for the WHO.

Maybe thats our lesson for COVID-19: There is no exit strategy until youre in control of the situation, Ryan said. You must always be ready to start again  never be surprised.

The Ebola outbreak has claimed more than 2,260 lives  second to the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa.

The current outbreak declared in August 2018 has occurred in especially challenging conditions amid deadly rebel attacks, community suspicion and some of the worlds weakest infrastructure in remote areas. Some Ebola responders were attacked and killed.

This is a devastating development for the communities in eastern (Congo) who are also under threat from the coronavirus outbreak, in addition to ongoing conflict and displacement, Kate Moger, a regional vice president with the International Rescue Committee, said in a statement.
The mighty Harland & Wolff siren  which has not been heard for two decades  blared across Belfast in tribute to the selflessness and professionalism of the healthcare staff battling coronavirus last night.

Across Northern Ireland church bells rang, car horns honked and families came to their front doors to clap, cheer, and make a joyful noise last night in tribute to the NHS heroes battling to save lives as the crisis intensifies.

Applause for the valiant workers who daily risk their lives has filled the streets of Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK every Thursday night since the lockdown began, and last night was no exception.

In Belfast the shipyard which built the Titanic sounded its horn in solidarity with the dedicated legion of NHS workers.

In the harbour even the freighters and passenger ships sounded their foghorns from their berths.

Stormonts Parliament Buildings was once again bathed in NHS blue in honour of the healthcare workers.

Expand Close Jackie Upton from East Belfast brings a pot out to join the clap for the Carers and NHS staff battling the Covid-19 outbreak. Photo by Peter Morrison / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Jackie Upton from East Belfast brings a pot out to join the clap for the Carers and NHS staff battling the Covid-19 outbreak. Photo by Peter Morrison

Harland & Wolff managing director John Petticrew said: We figured that it would be appropriate because they are unique times we are in, we thought we would sound a unique alarm.

It is quite simple. It is to support all the essential workers who are working, like nurses and doctors and bus drivers, to show our support from Harland & Wolff, just the same as everybody else.

He added: It is not about Harland & Wolff, it is about the people risking their lives on our behalf.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Residents from East Belfast join the clap for the Carers and NHS staff battling the Covid-19 outbreak. Photo by Peter Morrison Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Emma McWIlliams and daughter Emily hold the Belfast Telegraph Clap for the Carers poster in East Belfast . Photo by Peter Morrison Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 9th April 2020 - UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

A long row of cars parked outside the yard and its famous yellow cranes sounded their own horns to mark the occasion.

Unite the Union represents workers at Harland & Wolff.

A spokesperson said they sounded the shipyard horn to show their appreciation and that of workers across Northern Ireland for frontline NHS staff and those working to sustain other frontline services in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

East Antrim Ulster Unionist Assembly Member John Stewart, who is based in Carrickfergus, 12 miles up the coastline, tweeted: Got goose bumps hearing the shipyard horn sound out from Harland & Wolff as we joined in #ClapForHeroes.

Expand Close John and Laura Gallagher and their children Abbie and Oran who have been showing their support for carers every Thursday outside the family home in Derry's Waterside. Picture Martin McKeown. 09.04.20 / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp John and Laura Gallagher and their children Abbie and Oran who have been showing their support for carers every Thursday outside the family home in Derry's Waterside. Picture Martin McKeown. 09.04.20

In London Boris Johnsons pregnant partner Carrie Symonds tweeted a string of clapping emojis as she joined in the Clap For Carers campaign at 8pm.

Her tweet came less than an hour after it was confirmed Mr Johnson had been moved out of intensive care at St Thomas Hospital.

She accompanied her post with a painted picture of a rainbow.

Expand Close Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab clapping outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to salute local heroes PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab clapping outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to salute local heroes

Blue lights from a row of fire engines and police vehicles on Westminster Bridge lit up the outside of St Thomas Hospital during the national round of applause for the nations healthcare heroes.

More than 10 emergency vehicles, including boats on the Thames, performed the display as dozens of police and firefighters applauded.

One firefighter, who gave her name as Mo, from Lambeth, said the display was an act of solidarity with our fellow workers, adding: Were all one family.

She added: Theres a lot of bad stuff going on in the world, so its nice to do something all together, everyone up and down the country.

Expand Close UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp UNISON members and staff at Craigavon Hospital, Northern Ireland alongside colleagues in the NI Fire and Rescue Service, NI Ambulance Service and PSNI hold a short event at 8.00pm to recognise and acknowledge the public support during a Clap for Blue Light Services.

In Newtownards, Pastor Mark McClurg  who spent days in the intensive care unit at the Ulster Hospital battling the virus and is now recovering at home  joined in the tributes.

Our wee street is clapping for our heroes in the NHS, he said in a brief video message filmed on his doorstep.

As he and his neighbours applauded and cheered, Pastor McClurg added: Thank you so much for all you do  and thank you so much for saving my life.

Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker tweeted three clapping emojis, adding: Really lovely that our @NHSuk workers are being shown the love and respect they deserve.

Shouldnt have taken something as dreadful as this, but lets ensure that its continued long after this nightmare is over.
India Coronavirus Lockdown, Total Cases Live Updates: The overall coronavirus tally has touched 6,761 in India, including 896 new cases in the past 24 hours, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs Ministry said. Of all these cases, 6,039 are active cases, 516 have been cured and 206 deaths. The country has also reported 37 deaths in the past 24 hours alone. Of all states, Maharashtra tops the tally with 1,364 cases, followed by Delhi with 898 cases and Tamil Nadu with 834 cases. Earlier, the Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has extended the curfew in the state till May 1. Punjab is the second state to extend restrictions after Odisha.

Follow BusinessToday.In for all the live updates on novel coronavirus:

10.30 PM: Boris Johnson up and running

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was back on his feet in his recovery from COVID-19 on Friday, while his fellow Britons were told to resist the temptation of going out in the spring sunshine over Easter as the coronavirus death toll rose to nearly 9,000. - Reuters

10.10 PM: Sonia Gandhi on deficit in number of testing centres:

Sonia Gandhi stresses on necessity of instituting meaningful financial incentives for COVID-19 frontline workers, says it is non-negotiable.

Sonia Gandhi calls for special financial package for MSMEs and labourers employed there.

Sonia Gandhi seeks special assistance for farmers, urges Congress's state unit chiefs to help them in sowing of next crop.

10.00 PM: Coronavirus cases in Rajashtan

As many as 98 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Rajasthan today, of which 53 are from Jaipur. Total positive cases in the state stand at 561.

9.45 PM: Containment zones raised to 30 in Delhi

Number of 'containment zones in Delhi raised to 30 with addition of 6 new areas including Nabi Karim, E pocket GTB Enclave, Street No. 18 to 22 of Zakir Nagar and nearby area of Abu Bakar Masjid, Zakir Nagar

9.30 PM: Arunachal Pradesh CM, MLAs to take 30% salary cut

Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu says in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the state Cabinet rolled out several decisions. One among them being reduction of 30 per cent salary of chief minister, DCM, ministers and all MLAs to be used for fight against COVID-19.

9.20 PM: The police in Srinagar, Bandipora and Handwara have arrested 110 persons and seized 8 vehicles for defying the restriction orders imposed by the government in view of COVID-19.

9.15 PM: Drones being used to spray disinfectants in Majnu-ka-tilla area, in wake of coronavirus outbreak.

Delhi: Drones being used to spray disinfectants in Majnu-ka-tilla area, in wake of #coronavirus outbreak. pic.twitter.com/1ZWA9psGE2 a ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2020

9.00 PM: Containment zones in Delhi

The Delhi Government declares street No.18 to 22 of Zakir Nagar and nearby area of Abu Bakar Masjid as 'containment zones', and rest of Zakir Nagar as 'buffer zone', after COVID19 positive patients found here earlier.

Delhi Government declares street No.18 to 22 of Zakir Nagar & nearby area of Abu Bakar Masjid as 'containment zones', and rest of Zakir Nagar as 'buffer zone', after COVID19 positive patients found here earlier pic.twitter.com/0eQRYovEgK a ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2020

8.50 PM: Delhi coronavirus cases rise by 183; highest single-day increase

Total coronavirus cases in the national capital have reached 903. Out of 183 new cases, 154 are Tablighi Jamaat attendees and their contacts.

Total coronavirus deaths in Delhi are 14, which includes 2 from today.

8.40 PM: CRPF, ITBP launch PPE, masks preparation units

Two Central Armed Police Forces -- CRPF and ITBP -- said they have started making PPEs (personal protective equipment) and face masks for COVID-19 frontline warriors of the country. (PTI)

8.30 PM: 212 new coronavirus patients found in Mumbai, total 993

Mumbai recorded 212 new coronavirus cases, taking the total COVID-19 cases in the city to 993, said Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

8.20 PM: Three Noida residents gave shelter to 10 Tablighi attendees; FIR against all 13

3 Greater Noida residents have been booked for providing shelter to 10 Tablighi Jamaat attendees, including five women, and taking them to public places in the city, in violation of the restrictions imposed due to coronavirus outbreak, reports PTI quoting UP Cops.

8:15 PM: Total coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu reaches 911, with 77 more patients tested positive for COVID-19 today.

Of the 77 new cases, 70 are people had attended the Delhi congregation or are their contacts. The number of coronavirus positive cases in the state because of Delhi's Tablighi congregation and their contacts is 833.

Click here to Enlarge

8.05 PM: Total daily cases vs Tablighi in last three days:

Total cases in Delhi - 246 Tablighi cases - 169 - 68.6 per cent.

Total cases in Uttar Pradesh - 125 Tabligi cases - 84 - 67.2 per cent (including today's figures)

Total cases in Tamil Nadu - 213 Tablighi cases - 189 - 88.7 per cent (including today's figures)

Total cases in Karnataka - 40 Tablighi cases - 10 - 25 per cent (including today's figures)

Total cases in Haryana - 248 Tablighi cases - 101

Total cases in Himachal - 28 Tablighi cases - 21.

Similarly, Rajasthan and Gujarat also have a very high percentage of cases due to Tablighi and their contacts. West Bengal is not revealing the figures.

Source: State Health Dept

7.55 PM: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has allowed the use of TrueNat, a machine that is used to detect drug-resistant Tuberculosis, for coronavirus testing in India.

What is TrueNat?

TrueNat is a small battery-operated machine. It requires minimal training expertise to operate and can easily be used in a smaller setting. The machine scans sample collected from of throat and nasal swab, which is collected by the trained technicians wearing personal protective equipment.

The TrueNat is also able to provide results under an hour and can run up to 32-48 samples of multiple diseases such as COVID-19, HIV, and TB. Additionally, the Truenat machine test would cost around Rs 1,000 - Rs 1,500.

7.45 PM: Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal gave nod to India's first and oldest pharmaceutical company Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited (BCPL) to manufacture the anti-malaria drug -- hydroxychloroquine (HCQ).

Directorate of Drugs Control, West Bengal, gave the necessary licence to BCPL, which will now manufacture HCQ tablets of IP 200 and 400 mg.

7.35 PM: Three ASHA workers in Hubballi, Karnataka, alleged that few people snatched their documents while they conducting a health survey of citizens over coronavirus.

S Dandappanavar, Dy CMO, said, "Police is cooperating, the issue will be resolved". (ANI)

7.27 PM: Gurugram's district administration makes wearing masks outside of home compulsory. Any person found without a mask would be punishable under section 188 of IPC.

7.17 PM: A 40-year-old from Chandigarh who was admitted at GMSH Sector 16 has tested positive for COVID-19. Total positive cases stand at 19: Chandigarh Health Department.

7.06 PM: Coronavirus cases in Karnataka

The government of Karnataka has said that 10 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state in last 24 hours. The total number of positive cases in the state now stands at 207, including 6 deaths and 34 discharges.

7.05 PM: Coronavirus cases in Haryana

The Haryana Health Department has said to date, the state has tested 162 persons, of which total 22 persons have been discharged. Three patients have also died.

7.01 PM: Coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu

As many as 77 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Tamil Nadu on Friday. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state now stands at 911.

77 new COVID19 cases reported in the state today; the total number of COVID19 cases in the state is 911: Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary CS Shanmugam pic.twitter.com/kJ8rVHOeSZ a ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2020

6.58 PM: FCI officials to get Rs 35 lakh insurance

The government will give life insurance cover up to Rs 35 lakh to FCI officials, labourers if anyone succumbs to COVID-19 during their duty. -PTI

6.50 PM: ED seizes 5 vehicles belonging to DHFL promoters

The Enforcement Directorate has seized five vehicles that were used by Dewan Housing Finance Limited promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan during their travel to Mahabaleshwar even as the Centre has imposed 21-day lockdown in the entire country.

6.45 PM: 218 more patients test positive in Maharashtra

As many as 218 persons test positive for coronavirus in Mumbai, taking tally of cases in city to 993: BMC

6.27 PM: Punjab offers land for Advanced Centre for Virology

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has proposed to the Centre a Rs 550 crore project for setting up an 'Advanced Centre for Virology' in the state, with land to be offered by his government for free, the Punjab Chief Minister's Office said.

6.25 PM: 13 nations to get hydroxychloroquine

India has approved supply of hydroxychloroquine to 13 nations, including the United States. Here's the list: USA, Spain, Germany, Bahrain, Brazil, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Dominican Republic.

6.20 PM: 21 new cases in Punjab today

Total 21 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Punjab today, taking the total tally to 151 in the state, says the Punjab government.

6.07 PM: Those wearing masks not to get fuel in Odisha

Petrol pumps in Bhubaneswar have decided not to provide petrol, CNG and diesel to people who don't wear masks. Sanjay Lath, Utkal Petroleum Dealers Association, General Secretary says, "Our worker's are our heros & this will protect them as well as our customers from COVID-19".

6.00 PM: HP Govt seeks more PPE kits from Centre

Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur has urged the Centre to provide adequate number of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits along with rapid diagnostic kits to the state so that the existing medical facilities could be strengthened to effectively fight COVID-19.

5.55 PM: More mandis to cater to demand in Punjab

These would be in addition to the 3,800 Mandis already notified this year for procurement operations, disclosed an official spokesperson after a Video Conference of the Council of Ministers: Punjab CMO

5.50 PM: over 1,400 cases in past two days

India has reported about 1,487 COVID-19 cases in the past two days, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

5.47 PM: 37 new cases in 24 hours

India has reported 37 deaths and 896 new cases in the past 24 hours. This is the sharpest ever rise in coronavirus cases in India. With this, the number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 6,761 (including 6,039 active cases, 516 cured/discharged/migrated and 206 deaths).

5.42 PM: Punjab DCs authorised to declare new mandis

Punjab Cabinet, headed by CM Captain Amarinder Singh, has authorised the deputy commissioners to declare new mandis in their respective districts, as needed, to meet the demands of social distance while ensuring smooth procurement of the grain.

5.40 PM: Capt Singh seeks cooperation from Punjabis

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has sought cooperation from the people of Punjab in its relentless campaign against coronavirus.

5.31 PM: Montek Singh Ahluwalia to lead fiscal committee in Punjab

The Punjab Cabinet led by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has extended the curfew in the state by 21 more days to May 1. Punjab is the second state to do so. The Cabinet has also decided to promote Classes 5-8 to the next classes. The Cabinet roped in former Planning Commission chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia to lead a fiscal committee once the coronavirus situation normalises, reported The Tribune.

5.20 PM: Punjab lockdown extension

The lockdown has been extended by 21 more days from today. During this period, a strict enforcement will be done in the entire state.

BREAKING:



PUNJAB CABINET @capt_amarinder UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES EXTENSION OF PUNJAB CURFEW/ LOCKDOWN till 30 April, 2020/ 1st May, 2020.



Extension by 21 days from today. Strict enforcement. a KBS Sidhu, IAS, Spl. Chief Secretary, Punjab. (@kbssidhu1961) April 10, 2020

5.18 Punjab CM on COVID-19 situation

In the fight against #Covid19, I would again like to thank all Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Sanitation Workers, Police, Patwaris, Asha & Anganwadi Workers, Food & Supplies staff and full team under DCs for all the hard work. We all owe it to you & you have all our support.

In the fight against #Covid19, I would again like to thank all Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Sanitation Workers, Police, Patwaris, Asha & Anganwadi Workers, Food & Supplies staff and full team under DCs for all the hard work. We all owe it to you & you have all our support. pic.twitter.com/afDLKRlyWu a Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) April 10, 2020

5.00 PM: Punjab extends lockdown/curfew in the state till May 1st

Punjab extends lockdown/curfew in the state till May 1st pic.twitter.com/mCjw01uy4D a ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2020

4.42 pm: Coronavirus updates: India has stock of 3.28 crore Hydroxychloroquine tablets, says Health Ministry

Health Ministry said on Friday that India has a stock of 3.28 crore of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets. HCQ is an anti-malaria drug and is said to be an effective antidote for treating COVID-19 patients.

Also Read: Coronavirus in Telangana: Total cases, deaths, cured patients, halpline & more

Also Read:Coronavirus in Maharashtra: Total cases, deaths, cured patients, halpline, news updates

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry said on Friday that the government conducted 16,002 tests on Thursday out of which only 0.2% cases tested positive. He added that on the basis of the samples collected, the infection rate is not high and rapid diagnostics kits have also been sanctioned.

Also Read: Coronavirus Lockdown V: Three ways govt can help farmers, migrant workers overcome teh current crisis

4.30 pm: Coronavirus live updates: 678 new COVID-19 cases, 33 deaths in last 24 hours: Health Ministry

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Home Ministry said on Friday that India recorded 678 fresh COVID-19 positive cases and 33 deaths in the last 24 hours. He added that the total number of confirmed cases have jumped to 6,412 while the death toll is at 199 and 503 people have recovered so far.

Also Read: Coronavirus impact: Can India afford to export Hydroxychloroquine?

4.25 pm: India coronavirus news: Home Ministry directs all states/UTs to ensure strict compliance with lockdown rules amid upcoming festivals

Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs said on Friday that all states/UTs have been directed to ensure strict lockdown in the wake of upcoming festivals in the April.

4.20 pm: Coronavirus Live updates: 20,473 foreign nationals evacuated so far, says External Affairs Ministry

Dammu Ravi, AS & Coordinator (COVID-19), Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday that the government has evacuated 20,473 foreign nationals as of Thursday. He added that is an ongoing process and receiving excellent cooperation.

Also Read: Delhi coronavirus cases count: Total cases, deaths, cured patients, halpline, updates

Also Read: Coronavirus in India: State-wise COVID-19 cases, deaths, list of testing facilities

4.13 pm: Coronavirus India news: Rs 15,000 crore package for fighting COVID-19

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry said on Friday that the government has earmarked Rs 15,000 crore package for fighting novel coronavirus pandemic.

4.06 pm: Coronavirus India: Government beings briefing on COVID-19 outbreak

The government has begun its daily briefing on the novel coronavirus outbreak.

4.00 pm: Punjab coronavirus news

Jallianwala Bagh memorial in Amritsar will remain closed for visitors till June 15, 2020. The Union Ministry of Culture informed that the renovation at the site was to be completed by March 2020 but was affected due to novel coronavirus crisis.

3.49 pm: Puducherry coronavirus news: 2 new COVID-19 cases takes the tally to 7

Two more people tested positive for novel coronavirus in Puducherry on Friday. This has taken the totally tally in the union territory to 7. According to health department officials, the two patients had returned from Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi's Nizamuddin.

3.36 pm: Coronavirus in Delhi: Quarantined man booked for stepping out; hid trip to Nizamuddin markaz

A Delhi man with COVID-19 patients in the family has been booked for stepping out of his Najafgarh house despite being asked by health authorities to remain in home isolation. The man was found to be missing during a physical verification of the people quarantined at home and also hid information on where all he went, the police said. The man was a part of Tablighi Jamaat congregation and went to Markaz in the second week of March. Two of his family members have the novel coronavirus infection, the police told India Today TV. An FIR has been filed against him under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), as well as relevant sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act. A containment zone has been declared in Deenpur village, where Shokeen lives, the police said.

3.20 pm: Coronavirus hotspots in India: Congress writes to PM Modi; asks to arrange transport for stranded migrant workers

Congress party leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and appealed to him to arrange transport for ferrying migrant workers to their homes or at a nearest point from where their respective states would ensure that the return their homes safe and sound.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha, writes to PM Narendra Modi, urging him to arrange ferrying migrant labourers to their home or at a nearest point from where their respective States would assure them safe return to their homes. pic.twitter.com/br6cuvdi3G - ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2020

3.11 pm: Coronavirus in India: Union Health Minister addresses media after review meet

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said on Friday that Rs 4,100 crore funds have been allocated to states to fight COVID-19 pandemic. He added that the lockdown guidelines have also been issued to the states to fight the virus. He further stated that everyone should wear a mask to prevent the furthe spread of novel coronavirus infection. The Health Minister also hinted at lockdown extension but did not say anything clearly.

3.10 pm: Coronavirus live updates: Trade unions write to PM Modi, raise lockdown issues

The RSS backed Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh and Communist Party supported CITU in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issues related to the lockdown. The unions said in the letter that small businesses and MSME employees are hit the most by the lockdown and demanded a tripartite committee for lockdown exit plan.

2.59 pm: Coronavirus live updates: PM Modi followed by White House on Twitter, become the only Prime Minister in the world

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the only Prime Minister in the world to be followed by the White House on Twitter. The White House is the official residence of United States' President Donald Trump. White House's official Twitter account follows 19 people including PM Modi now.

2.50 pm: Coronavirus India: RBI director urges PM Modi to reschedule loan accounts

RBI Director Satish Marathe on Thursday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that all banks should be asked to reschedule loan accounts to help the industry, specifically MSMEs, to tackle the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more here:Coronavirus: RBI director writes to PM Modi; suggests rescheduling loan accounts

2.39 pm: Coronavirus India: Maharashtra worst-affected state followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi

Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state in India with 1,364 COVID-19 positive cases and 97 deaths, according to latest data on Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's website. Tamil Nadu is the second most-affected state with 834 cases and 8 deaths, whereas, Delhi has 720 confirmed novel coronavirus cases and 12 deaths as of now. Meanwhile India, recorded 547 cases and 30 deaths in 12 hours. 10 new cases have been reported in Karnataka and Assam witnessed its first COVID-19 death on Friday

2.28 pm: Coronavirus live updates: In Pics: Dr Lal PathLabs COVID-19 testing booth

2.24 pm: Punjab coronavirus news

Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh said that the lockdown should go on and the discussion regarding the same will be taken by the state cabinet on Friday.

2.16 pm: Delhi coronavirus news: CM Kejriwal's operation SHIELD stopped COVID-19 spread at Dilshad Garden

Delhi government's operation SHIELD to check the further spread of novel coronavirus carried out at Dilshad Garden has resulted in no case from the area reported in the last 10 days. The operation was activated after a 38-year-old woman who returned from Saudi Arabia was detected positive and infected eight others including a mohalla clinic doctor. The Delhi government traced all the people who came in touch with the lady and quarantined them. The government took the help of CCTV cameras to find out the movement of her son and traced the places or the people he visited. OPERATION SHIELD was activated and the curfew was imposed in the area (Dilshad Garden and Old Seemapuri).

The operation is aimed at sealing, identifying and quarantining people, house-to-house checking of people and doorstep delivery of essential items. Delhi Health Minister Mr Satyendar Jain said, " I feared a massive COVID-19 outbreak at Dilshad Garden area after 7 people were found positive. It was transmitted from the woman who returned from Saudi Arabia and found COVID-19 positive." He said that thereafter Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal gave directions to implement Operation SHIELD at Dilshad Garden. "It was the first implementation. Under OPERATION SHIELD 123 medical teams screened more than 15,000 people living in 4032 houses. Thousands of people were quarantined and tests were done. The hard work of the health officials and the successful implementation of the OPERATION SHIELD made Dilshad Garden Coronavirus free, he added.

2.06 pm: Punjab coronavirus news

Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh said on Friday that 95,000 people came back to Amritsar and other places from across the world, hence, the state has an uphill task to keep the COVID-19 situation in control.

1.54 pm: Coronavirus India: PM Modi talks to Nepal's Prime Minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter on Friday to say that he had a discussion with the premier of Nepal KP Sharma Oli over the COVID-19 situation. PM Modi said, "Spoke today with Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri @kpsharmaoli. We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19."

Spoke today with Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri @kpsharmaoli. We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19. - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

1.45 pm: Coronavirus in India live updates: Petition filed in SC on door-to-door COVID-19 tests

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court (SC) seeking instructions to the central government to conduct door-to-door tests for identifying and treating those infected with novel coronavirus.

1.33 pm: Coronavirus India live updates: India takes a dig at Pakistan after it boycotts SAARC meeting over the COVID-19 pandemic

India on Friday took a dig at Pakistan on Friday a day after it boycotted a SAARC meeting on fighting the COVID-19 crisis. Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said that "the degree of seriousness of each nation can be gauged by their behaviour," in a clear reference to Pakistan's opposition to India's leadership in dealing with the novel coronavirus crisis in the region.

1.22 pm: Madhya Pradesh coronavirus news

2 doctors in Bhopal have been tested positive for novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, 12 other cases have also been recorded in the capital city of Madhya Pradesh (MP). With 14 new cases, the total number of novel coronavirus cases in Bhopal has gone up to 112 while the total tally in MP stands at 440.

1.15 pm: Delhi coronavirus news

The Delhi Police has arrested 32 people for coming out of their houses without wearing a mask.

1.05 pm: Coronavirus news: Wadhawan's visit to Mahabaleshwar not new

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been informed that DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan and his family's visit to Mahabaleshwar is now new. In Mid-March, the family was there with a big entourage. This is also the same time when both ED and CBI issued multiple summons to Wadhawans to join the investigation in Yes Bank scam. However, they told the ED that they can't join the probe due to novel coronavirus pandemic.

12.53 pm: Rajasthan coronavirus news

The COVID-19 positive cases count has reached 463 in Rajasthan with 82 cases being reported in 24 hours, according to latest data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Meanwhile, 24 patients have recovered while 3 people have lost their lives in the state

Read more here: Coronavirus cases count reaches 463 in Rajasthan; 82 cases reported in 24 hours

12.45 pm: Coronavirus updates: Priyanka Gandhi writes letter to UP CM Yogi Adityanath

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday wrote a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath urging him to replicate Bhilwara, Rajasthan model to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. She suggested to increase Coronavirus testing and treatment facilities, stop the misinformation and myths over Coronavirus and distribution of masks and sanitisers on a war footing.

12.30 pm: Coronavirus India live updates: PM Modi to hold virtual meet with state CMs tomorrow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a digital meet with the chief ministers of all the states on tomorrow i.e., Saturday (April 11). He is likely to discuss the lockdown extension issue among others with the ministers.

Also Read: Coronavirus: PM Modi to interact with CMs on Saturday to discuss lockdown extension

12.20 pm: Punjab coronavirus news

A 78-year-old woman from Mundi Kharar in Punjab, who passed away on April 7, has been tested positive for COVID-19. According to Mohali District Collector (DC), her body was cremated as per protocol. The DC further said that all her primary contacts are being traced and will be sampled.

12.10 pm: Delhi coronavirus news

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Friday that a total of 720 people have been tested positive for COVID-19 in the national capital till now. He added that out of these, 22 are in the ICU and 7 on ventilator. He further said that in the hotspots identified in Delhi, the government is conducting door-to-door medical scanning of the residents and 6,000 houses have been scanned in Nizamuddin are as well where one person has been tested positive for novel coronavirus.

12.05 pm: Haryana coronavirus news

Gurugram's sector-9 was sealed by the district administration on Friday under the Haryana government's containment plan to stem the further spread of COVID-19.

Haryana: Sector-9 in Gurugram has been sealed by the district administration. The locality has been sealed under the containment plan to prevent the spread of #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/erb0ezf3PA - ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2020

11.59 am: Uttar Pradesh coronavirus news

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to give Rs 1,000 each to 11 lakh construction workers whose lives have been affected due to COVID-19 pandemic, said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

11.55 am: Coronavirus updates: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to hole meet with state health ministers

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will hold a meeting with state health ministers to take stock of the current situation in the wake of novel coronavirus pandemic at 12 pm on Friday.

11.48 am: Coronavirus live: FIR filed against DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan and 22 others for lockdown violation

Mahabaleshwar police station has registered an FIR has been registered against DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan and 22 others for violating the COVID-19 lockdown orders. The 22 people include his family members and servants who Wadhawan was travelling with from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar.

11.35 am: Madhya Pradesh coronavirus news

12 fresh COVID-19 cases have been reported from Bhopal on Friday. This has taken the total number of novel coronavirus positive cases to 112 in the capital city, said the Bhopal District Administration.

Also Read: Coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh: Cases, Deaths, Helpline Numbers and More

11.33 am: Mumbai coronavirus news

5 more COVID-19 cases have been reported in Dharavi on Friday. With this the total number of novel coronavirus cases stands at 22 now, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

11.21 am: Jaipur coronavirus news

A 65-year-old woman, who tested positive for COVID-19 in Jaipur died on Friday. This has taken the total death toll to 8 in Rajasthan. The women was admitted to SMS Hospital for treatment, an official said. She breathed her last on Thursday evening.

11.16 am: Coronavirus India live updates

INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic

11.10 am: Kerala coronavirus news

Kerala reported its first COVID-19 case and also the first in India 100 days ago. Since then the state has recorded 357 cases with only 2 deaths, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

100 Days of #COVID19 | Kerala Story It's been 100 days since the first case was reported. 258 active cases 97 recovered Total confirmed: 357 Deaths: 2 12710 samples tested Special COVID Hospital 1251 Community Kitchens 2808650 Individuals Served 3676 Destitutes Rehabilitated - Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) April 10, 2020

11.04 am: Coronavirus live updates: China reports 42 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

China has recorded 42 fresh COVID-19 cases, comprising 38 imported infections. This has taken the total count to 81,907 in the country, health officials said on Friday. Meanwhile, China has began a new trial of re-testing the recovered novel coronavirus in the wake of heightened concern of a rebound in the cases.

10.56 am: Coronavirus in India: PM Modi replies to Israeli and Brazilian prime ministers on Twitter

Prime Minister Narendra Modi replied to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Brazilian President Bolsonaro saying that the world has to jointly fight the COVID-19 pandemic. "We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel. @netanyahu," PM Modi tweeted.

We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel. @netanyahuhttps://t.co/jChdGbMnfH - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

Replying to Brazil President Bolsonaro, he tweeted, "Thank you President @jairbolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times. India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic."

Thank you President @jairbolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times. India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic. https://t.co/uIKmvXPUo7 - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

10.46 am: Maharashtra hotspot: Industries allowed to delay rental payments

The Maharashtra industries department has allowed companies to delay lease rentals as the industry has been facing massive disruptions caused by novel coronavirus pandemic. The department will also consider the industry's demand for lowering or rescheduling power and water bills.

Read more here: Coronavirus: Maharashtra allows industries to delay rental payments

10.38 am: Gurugram coronavirus news

9 areas in Haryana's Gurugram have been declared as containment zones. The city's district administration said that the areas have been declared containment zones for all the purposes and objectives as prescribed in the protocol of COVID-19, to stem its spread in the adjoining areas.

Nine areas in Gurugram, Haryana have been declared containment zones for all the purposes and objectives as prescribed in the protocol of #COVID19, to prevent its spread in the adjoining areas: Gurugram District Administration pic.twitter.com/MhJbg0nahj - ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2020

10.26 am: Coronavirus India: 614 active cases, 33 deaths in 24 hours

India recorded 614 active COVID-19 cases and 33 deaths in last 24 hours, according to Ministry of Health Family Welfare. The total number of active cases now stand at 5,709 whereas the total death toll is at 199 now. Meanwhile, the those cured, discharged, migrated are now at 503.

10.16 am: Coronavirus live updates: Can India afford to export Hydroxychloroquine to other countries

With the rising demand for Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) which is an anti-malaria drug globally for treating COVID-19 patients, all attention is turned to India which supplies 80-85% of the drug's global demand. With cases increasing back home, can India really afford to export HCQ to other countries?

Read more here: Coronavirus impact: Can India afford to export Hydroxychloroquine?

10.08 am: Gujarat coronavirus news

Gujarat recorded 21 fresh COVID-19 positive cases in Vadodara city. Out of these 21 new cases, 20 people are from Nagarvada area. Meanwhile, the total number of novel coronavirus positive cases in Vadodara now stands at 39.

10.04 am: Maharashtra coronavirus news

Maharashtra Home Department has issued orders for a complete lockdown of 5 prisons in Mumbai and Pune- Mumbai Central Prison, Thane Prison,Yerawada Prison, Byculla Prison and Kalyan Prison. The orders have been issued till further orders.

9.58 am: Jharkhand coronavirus news

The COVID-19 tally in Jharkhand has moved up to 14. Meanwhile, death toll in the state stands at 1 so far, according to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

9.55 am: Bihar coronavirus news

Two more COVID-19 cases have been reported in Bihar, taking the total number of cases to 60 in the state. One female aged 10 years and one 28-years-old male from the same family in Siwan were tested positive for the deadly virus.

9.53 am: Delhi coronavirus news

Despite the police putting barricades in Delhi's Sadar Bazaar, people still can be seen on road, with many in masks but still a lot of them without masks. The supply of essentials such as milk, fruits and vegetables is being taken inside in crates inside as the vehicles carrying them are stopped at the barricades.

9.40 am: Coronavirus live udpates: Second ICMR report on COVID-19 shows sings of community transmission

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) which has been conducting random sampling tests on COVID-19 patients from several states to check for signs of community transmission, has dropped possible hints at community transmission in clusters in India. The date compiled by it indicates towards the community transmission.

9.30 am: Coronavirus news global: Around 16,000 Americans die of COVID-19 in US

More than 16,000 American citizens have died due to novel coronavirus pandemic and 4.6 lakh of them are infected so far. This has devastated the US economy leaving 16 million workers jobless in just three weeks. While, New York, including New Jersey and Connecticut, alone account for over 9,000 cases and 2,20,000 cases.

9.23 am: Assam coronavirus news

Assan reported its first death due to COVID-19 on Friday. The patient hailed from Hailankandi district and died early morning at Silchar Medical College Hospital. Meanwhile, the total number of positive cases in the state has risen to 28, said state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Coronavirus:Assam reports first death; number of cases stands at 28

9.15 am: Coronavirus latest news: IMF pegs COVID-19 as bigger economic crisis than Great Depression of 1930s

The IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday that the year 2020 could witness the worst global economic fallout since the Great Depression in the 1930s as around 170 countries are likely to experience negative per capital income growth due COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more here: Coronavirus fallout: IMF predicts bigger economic crisis TEMPthan Great Depression

9.08 am: Coronavirus news: DHFL promoter, 22 others detained by police for violating COVID-19 lockdown rules

Dewam Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL) promoter Kapil Wadhwan and Dheeraj Wadhwan along with 22 others have been detained by local police in Mahabaleshwar as they were found violating the prohibitory lockdown orders over COVID-19. A case has been registered against all of them. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmuk tweeted that he would conduct an inquiry on how these people travelled to Mahabaleshwar.

We will conduct an inquiry to find out how 23 members of Wadhwan family travelled to Mahabaleshwar. - ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) April 9, 2020

8.57 am: Coronavirus India: Country's active cases at 5,709, death toll at 199

The total number of active cases of novel coronavirus stand at 5,709 while the death toll is at 199, according to latest figures posted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on its website. The total number of confirmed cases in the country stand at 6,412.

8.45 am: Coronavirus updates: Terrorists may strike as govts get busy dealing with COVID-19, says UN Chief

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in the first meet of UN Security Council over the novel coronavirus pandemic on Thursday that terrorists may see it as an opportunity to strike as the government are busy fighting COVID-19. "Terrorist groups may see window of opportunity to strike while the attention of most governments is turned towards pandemic," he said.

8.30 am: Coronavirus live: Every nation going to suffer consequences of COVID-19: UN Chief

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held the first meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the current situation in the wake of novel coronavirus pandemic on Thursday. The meeting was held via video-conferencing. Guterres called for the unity of all the countries to deal with this global crisis. He also said that there has been no greater crisis in the world since the United Nations was founded. He added that every country is "poised to suffer the devastating consequences of COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of lost lives, broken families, overwhelmed hospitals and overworked essential workers."

8.15 am: Coronavirus updates: British PM Boris Johnson moved out of ICU

British premier Boris Johnson moved out of ICU as his condition improved, Downing Street said on Thursday evening. The 55-year-old who was diagnosed with novel coronavirus, was shifted to the ICU of St Thomas Hospital on Monday night after his condition worsened.

8.00 am: Coronavirus live updates: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu thanks PM Modi for supplying Hydroxychloroquine to his nation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for sending a five-tonne cargo of medicines, comprising hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to his country. HCQ is an anti-malaria drug and is seen as a possible antidote for COVID-19. The Israeli prime minister thanked India two days after a plane with the medicines arrived in the Jewish nation on Tuesday.
An investigation into the death of a man who swallowed crack cocaine to try to avoid arrest, then collapsed at the Dauphin County booking center in December did not reveal any criminal acts, said District Attorney Fran Chardo.

Chardo reviewed the circumstances around the death of Terelle Thomas, 31, after a Harrisburg police officer said he was observed consuming crack, but did not take him to a hospital, which is department policy.

Instead, police took Thomas to the booking center where he was placed under observation. He spent about an hour waiting for his arraignment before collapsing in a holding cell from an apparent seizure. He died three days later at a hospital.

Thomas relatives have retained two attorneys who said they are pursuing a civil action against the police department and booking center for not getting Thomas immediate medical help after knowing he ingested crack cocaine. They disagreed with Chardos decision not to file charges.

Our argument would be, police are trained in how to deal with people who ingest dangerous narcotics, said Kevin Mincey, a Philadelphia attorney working on the case. But the officer and her supervisor made the blatant decision to ignore the rules and take him to the booking center. They should have known the danger.

Police have said the officer asked Thomas if he had ingested drugs and he repeatedly denied it. But the officer cited him for felony possession of drugs with intent to sell and misdemeanor tampering based on the officers observations of him ingesting cocaine.

Those are two inconsistent stories, said Riley Ross, who is working on the case. It boggles the mind.

An autopsy showed Thomas died of acute cocaine and fentanyl toxicity. His manner of death was ruled accidental by Coroner Graham Hetrick.

Police pulled Thomas over during a traffic stop Dec. 14 at 15th and Swatara streets. Thomas had small amounts of crack cocaine on his shirt and clothing, police said, and white powder on his lips. The officer reported Thomas had something in his mouth.

When the officer asked Thomas asked if he had swallowed anything or needed to go to a hospital, he said no to both questions, a police spokesman told PennLive.

PennLive obtained the criminal affidavit written by the officer to support a felony drug trafficking charge against Thomas, and it said Thomas was found in possession of crack cocaine inside of his mouth and where he was seated inside the vehicle.

Further, the officer justified a misdemeanor tampering charge against Thomas by writing that he was observed consuming crack cocaine in order to conceal it from police.

The officer called for a supervisor and Thomas again said he did not swallow drugs, Chardo said. At the booking center, officials put Thomas through body scanner to check for swallowed drugs, and he also was checked out by a nurse. The nurses decision was to have him watched closely, Chardo said. He was placed in a holding cell and watched via video surveillance. After he fell backwards and collapsed in his cell, employees responded within 12 seconds, Chardo said.

The fact that the officer and supervisor disregarded their departments policy did not factor into criminal liability, Chardo said, adding that thats more of a matter for an internal review or civil lawsuit. But the fact the officer consulted with a supervisor and nurse was important in the criminal review that resulted in no charges.

The available charge being considered was involuntary manslaughter, which carries a prison term of up to five years. To win a conviction, Chardo said he would have to prove an officer was reckless or grossly negligent, which he didnt believe he could do with the facts of this case.

Did they act recklessly? Chardo said, which means consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that death would occur. Thats the only question I had to answer.

Chardo said there were also issues of causation (Did he cause his death or did police cause his death?) and diffusion of responsibility.

Who do you charge? Who made the call? There were a series of people who made decisions that ultimately turned out badly, Chardo said. Weve charged people before. I have no problem making tough calls. But this wasnt one where the right thing to do was file criminal charges.

The attorneys representing Thomas relatives said they were disappointed that prosecutors didnt file charges. They dont believe a local prosecutor reviewing a local department amounts to an independent investigation of conduct.

Thats not going to stop us from pursuing a claim, Mincey said. Thats our plan.

Mincey said they have been in touch with city solicitor Neil Grover and will proceed to trial, barring a settlement. Its obvious there is liability here, Mincey said, for the city and county.

The jail employees should have reacted strongly when they found out an officer saw Thomas consuming cocaine.

They should have said, Why are you bringing this person here?' Ross said. That should have set in motion a series of actions.

Authorities had opportunities to save Thomas two times, Mincey said, but they didnt.

Mincey said he believes the booking center has since changed its policies regarding situations like Thomas and Chardo agreed that was his understanding. County officials, however, were not immediately available Thursday to say if changes had been made.

Chardo said policies at the booking center had evolved in recent years, with employees relying more heavily on medical staff at the facility for judgments instead of taking inmates to hospitals, as was done years ago.

The policies evolved to try to address manpower shortages from officers waiting hours at hospitals for doctors to check out inmates.

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse previously told PennLive it is department policy to take someone to a hospital rather than the booking center if they have consumed illegal narcotics in a way that could jeopardize their health and welfare.

The death is a tragedy and I feel very sorry for Mr. Thomas family, Papenfuse said. In retrospect, he should have received urgent medical care, and I deeply regret that he did not.

Papenfuse said Thomas denied consuming drugs, and given that denial, the officer exercised her best judgment as to how to proceed. She clearly felt there was enough evidence to seek charges but not enough to seek immediate medical attention. Those types of calls can be difficult but must be made by officers every day in Harrisburg.

I am not going to second-guess their decisions or question whether their judgments were made in good faith, he said. We should, however, endeavor to learn from difficult experiences like these and strive to handle such situations differently in the future.

READ: Harrisburg police get creative with protective gear amid mask shortage

READ: Harrisburg man ran down street to fire back at fleeing shooters: watch video
Victoria registered its 13th coronavirus death on Thursday, an 80-year-old man who died in hospital, as another 13 people were diagnosed with COVID-19, taking the statewide total to 1241.

The total number of cases includes 650 men and 591 women, ranging in age from babies to people in their early 90s.

Of the 1241 cases, 1001 are in Melbourne and 229 are in the regions while several other cases remain under investigation.

Thirteen people remain in intensive care and another 30 are in hospital, after seven patients were released on Thursday.
The Times Union has lifted the paywall on this developing coverage to provide critical information to our community. To support our journalists work, consider a digital subscription.

Total COVID-19 cases:

 174,481 in New York state, including 7,884 deaths

 500,399 in the U.S., including 18,693 deaths. 28,837 recovered

 1,696,139 worldwide, including 102,607 deaths. 376,200 recovered

Note: The number of positive confirmed cases is cumulative and includes people who have recovered as well as those who died.

Additional resources:

 Here are the latest cancellations and postponements.

 For a detailed map, check out the Times Unions New York Coronavirus Tracker

 To get regular updates on our coverage, sign up for our coronavirus newsletter.

 Share stories about people helping others in our Facebook Group.

Friday's coronavirus updates:

5:43 p.m. Albany Med nurses to speak out Saturday to demand more P.P.E.

Nurses at Albany Medical Center will hold a speak-out event early Saturday morning in front of the hospital to demand greater access to personal protective equipment.

Nurses say the hospital administration has been rationing PPE and limiting access to N-95 respirators that help to prevent airborne infection. Despite receiving "generous" donations of PPE from political and community supporters earlier in the week, they contend the hospital has put even more restrictions on access to supplies.

Healthcare workers at a number of Capital Region hospitals have spoken out about the rationing of PPE as the novel coronavirus continues to spread worldwide. They've told the Times Union they fear a lack of "adequate" protective equipment puts them, their patients and their families at risk. Read more

___

4:10 p.m. Albany Med, St. Peter's seeking plasma donations from recovered COVID-19 patients

Albany Medical Center and St. Peters Health Partners are among the first hospital systems nationwide to receive federal approval for an experimental COVID-19 treatment that involves using the antibody-rich plasma from a recovered person to treat a sick person.

The treatment  known as convalescent plasma therapy  involves taking blood plasma from someone whos survived an infectious disease and sharing it with someone currently fighting the disease. Plasma from a recovered person will contain antibodies that they developed to fight off the infection, and may provide a powerful boost to an ill person whos having trouble fighting the infection on their own.

Albany Med said Thursday that it had already administered its first plasma donation to a critically ill patient. The plasma was donated by an employee who had fallen ill but has since recovered.

At St. Peters Hospital in Albany, three patients in the intensive care unit have been identified as potential plasma recipients. Plasma from a donor in New York City was on its way to the Capital Region on Friday and will be in hand in the next few days, the hospital announced.

Theyre calling on local people who have recovered from the illness caused by the novel coronavirus to volunteer to become donors. Those interested must be fully recovered and symptom-free for 14 days.

Albany Med is asking interested donors to call 518-262-9340 to determine eligibility. St. Peters is asking people to visit www.redcrossblood.org and click on Potential Donor and Fully Recovered from COVID to register. Read more

___

4:06 p.m.: Rensselaer County reports 112 coronavirus cases

The county added one positive case Friday afternoon. This case involved a 45-year-old Troy woman.

The county now has six residents hospitalized and about 300 in monitor quarantine. The county has 34 cleared cases. About 1,620 county residents have been tested.

___

3:10 p.m.: Columbia County reports sixth, seventh COVID-19 deaths

County Public Health Director Jack Mabb said that of the seven deaths so far, five have been residents of the Pine Haven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Philmont, which suffered an outbreak last month.

All of the county's deaths so far have been among senior citizens who had underlying medical conditions, he said.

Countywide, 84 residents have tested positive for the virus, with 32 recovered and eight in the hospital. Two of the hospitalized individuals are in intensive care.

___

2:30 p.m.: Schenectady County reports 12 new coronavirus cases

The county has 179 total positive cases since the outbreak began. Of that number, 60 have recovered and there have been 90 hospitalizations. There are 710 people in mandatory quarantine and 8 people have died from the virus.

___

1:16 p.m.: Rensselaer County reports 9 new coronavirus cases

The county said this brings the total of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 111 in the county. The county currently has nine in hospitalization. About 1,600 residents have been tested and about 300 residents remain in monitor quarantine. The county has had 34 cases cleared for recovery. The number of deaths remains at five.

___

12:45 p.m.: Cuomo says upstate New York coronavirus spread is leveling

The rate of spread of the coronavirus in upstate New York communities has flattened and the state, for the first time in a month, had fewer people being treated in intensive care units overnight Thursday than a day earlier, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said.

"The percentage of growth in upstate New York and suburban communities has basically been stabilized," the governor said.

There was also a slight decline in fatalities associated with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, as 777 people died Thursday, down from 799 on Wednesday. New York's total fatalities attributed to the illness has reached 7,844. Read more

___

10:50 a.m.: 12th person dies in Albany County

Albany County Executive Dan McCoy says the victim was in his or her 50s with underlying medical conditions.

The county has 397 total positive cases since the outbreak began. The county has not said exactly how many of those have recovered. There are 520 people in mandatory quarantine, 75 in precautionary quarantine and 38 county residents hospitalized. Of those, 14 are in the intensive care unit. Read more

___

10:22 a.m.: Stay tuned for Facebook Live at 1 p.m. with Chris Churchill

Times Union columnist Chris Churchill will conduct a Facebook Live chat at 1 p.m. Friday to discuss the ways the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the Capital Region community.

Please log on with any questions you might have. This is part of a series of Facebook Live discussions with a range of Times Union journalists covering the story.

___

9:43 a.m.: New York shipments from the National Stockpile based on outdated data

The federal government sent hundreds of thousands of masks, gloves and face shields to New York from the Strategic National Stockpile, but most of the shipments were based on outdated population data rather than the extent of a state's outbreak, new information from the House Oversight Committee shows. Read more

___

6:40 a.m.: New York streamlines unemployment application after weeks of frustration

The state rolled out a new unemployment application Thursday to help deal with a record number of claims, state officials said.

The updated application will have fewer questions, and claimants who leave some fields blank will no longer have to wait for hours on hold with the Department of Labor's phone system.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Instead, state employees will return calls of applicants within 72 hours after their claim is submitted, Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa said during a Thursday news conference. Read more

___

6:35 a.m.: Arrests plummet but domestic violence rises

Arrests in the Capital Region have plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic with one disturbing exception: a jump in domestic violence.

Domestic violence is increasing as people try to stay safe from the virus at home, where police say a different danger lurks. And once the outbreak wanes and victims can leave their homes, law enforcement and domestic violence advocates expect the number of reported incidents to climb even more. Read more

___

Thursday: Times Union launches coronavirus Facebook group

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world as we know it. What can we do to help each other? In this place, wed like to share and hear your stories about people doing what they can to help others during these difficult times. We also want to support area businesses by providing a forum for them to share news and other information with the community. Join here.

___

Thursday: More than 1,000 cases reported in the Capital Region

There are more than 700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the greater Capital Region. Below is a breakdown of known case counts, hospitalizations, recoveries and deaths, as reported by local counties or the state.

 Albany County: 365 cases, 34 hospitalized, 11 deaths

 Columbia County: 76 cases, 6 hospitalized, 31 recovered, 4 deaths

 Fulton County: 14 cases

 Greene County: 25 cases

 Montgomery County: 18 cases, 1 death

 Rensselaer County: 102 cases, 9 hospitalized, 5 deaths

 Saratoga County: 176 cases, 11 hospitalized, 5 deaths

 Schenectady County: 167 cases, 85 hospitalized, 8 deaths

 Schoharie County: 12 cases

 Warren County: 33 cases

 Washington County: 20 cases, 1 death

___

Thursday: Albany Med to use experimental therapy

Albany Med is among the first hospitals in the country to obtain Food and Drug Administration approval to use convalescent blood plasma therapy to experimentally treat critically ill patients who are infected by COVID-19.

Convalescent plasma therapy  or plasma from a survivor of an infectious disease  is the same treatment used during the 1918 flu pandemic, the hospital said.

Albany Med is seeking plasma donors for further research. Read more

__

Thursday: Schenectady County closings

Schenectady County announced it will close the Plotter Kill and Indian Kill preserves until further notice.

The household hazardous waste collection scheduled for May 8 has been canceled.

___

Thursday: Stewart's employee in South Troy store tests positive

Rensselaer County's Health Department are urging customers or others who visited the store at 8 Vandenburg Ave. between March 27 and 31 to call the health department at 518-270-2655 if they show any symptoms. The county says the employee lives in Albany County.

___

Thursday: Demand for power down in NYC

The Rensselaer-based New York Independent System Operator released an analysis of virus outbreak-related impacts showing energy demand is down across the New York Control Area, with certain zones experiencing more dramatic drops in load than others.

Demand reductions are largest in the morning, particularly in New York City. For weekdays during the period of March 30  April 3, reductions in electric consumption there approached 18% during the 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. hours. Overall, New York City hourly demand for that week ranged from 2% to 18% below typical demand levels. Beyond the city, reductions in electric consumption compared to typical demand levels ranged from 1% during the 12 a.m. hour to 12% during the 7 a.m. hour.

___

Read more of Thursday's developments here
Northam said at a news conference that Laurie Forlano, the deputy commissioner of population health at the Virginia Department of Health, will lead the group, which will focus on preventing and containing COVID-19 cases in the facilities, which are susceptible to outbreaks.

While weve taken a lot of steps across the commonwealth to protect residents of nursing homes and staff that work in nursing homes, we need to offer them more help, Forlano said.

The task force will also track data on COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities.

Forlano said Friday that of the 82 coronavirus outbreaks identified across the state, 45 are in long-term care facilities, whose residents account for 525 confirmed cases. Overall, the state had about 4,500 cases as of Friday, the department said. The number of cases reported by the department is likely lower than the number of people actually infected because of a lag in testing results and shortage of tests.

Fears of infection severely affected staffing levels at Canterbury at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, a shortage that Wright says has improved with the help of out-of-state nurses and the VDH at one point supplying 20 to help with testing.
Early data from the US coronavirus pandemic exposes how systemic racism and inequality put minority groups at risk.

Chicago, Illinois  The early data emerging from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States has laid bare the disparities many public-health specialists are all too familiar with: Racial minorities are disproportionately affected by health crises such as this one. And in the case of COVID-19, more of them have died.

Earlier this week, officials in Chicago, Illinois were among the first to release a racial breakdown of the citys 6,100 cases. More than half were African American, despite only the group only accounting for 30 percent of the citys 2.7 million residents. Seven in 10 patients who died from COVID-19 in the city were African American, officials said.

Similar statistics were seen elsewhere in the US. In Louisiana, where 32 percent of the population is African American, that group accounted for 70 percent of COVID-19-related deaths. In Michigan, 40 percent of those who died were African American even though the group accounts for 13 percent of the population statewide. In both states, the largest and predominantly black cities  Detroit and New Orleans  were hardest hit.

In New York, the epicentre of the pandemic in the US, the coronavirus is killing African Americans and Hispanics at twice the rate of white people, according to preliminary state data.

The alarming trends follow a long history of racism and inequality that have disproportionately affected African Americans. They suffer from high rates of obesity, diabetes and asthma  underlying health conditions that put people at greater risk for complications from COVID-19, which is compounded by a lack of economic opportunities and access to adequate healthcare.

Weve been working extremely hard to address these historical disparities, said Brian Bragg, vice president for behavioural health and community integration at ACCESS Community Health Network, whose chain of health centres cover some of Chicagos poorest neighbourhoods.

With the pandemic this is yet another aspect to health disparity that has been made visible, as the burden of death is borne more heavily by the black and brown communities, Bragg told Al Jazeera.

Poverty

Mindy Thompson Fullilove, a professor of urban policy and health at The New School in New York City, said that in health disparities, the faultlines are not merely racial.

Fullilove has done research on the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1990s.

Epidemics follow social fractures. If you have society that is fractured, or fracturing, you know thats where the disease is going to go, Fullilove told Al Jazeera.

Medical workers talk as people wait in line to receive testing during the global outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outside Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago, Illinois [Joshua Lott/Reuters] [Daylife]

Poverty and unemployment rates are higher than those for non-Hispanic white individuals in the US, according to government data.

Fernando De Maio, sociologist and co-director of the Center for Community Health Equity at DePaul University in Chicago, also said that implicit biases and structural discrimination in the healthcare system have stacked the deck against minorities. Leading causes of death such as heart disease and lung cancer see higher rates in African Americans  so much so that they live 10 to 12 fewer years on average than white people, De Maio told Al Jazeera.

Public health problem

While the preliminary data that is available on the coronavirus is disturbing, experts say more is needed to be able to adequately address the problem.

The CDC [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] needs to lead on this; otherwise wed miss the worst of the problem and misdiagnose the problem, said De Maio. We need to stop seeing the pandemic as a medical problem but [see it as] a public health problem.

In order to improve racial tracking, Chicagos mayor Lori Lightfoot has since made it mandatory to identify the race of all patients admitted to healthcare facilities for COVID-19. She also called on community leaders to guide minorities to medical resources, saying the stark statistics should be a wake-up call for all Chicagoans.

Other officials have also acknowledged there are lessons to be learned.

Why are more African Americans and Latinos affected? asked New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at a news briefing Wednesday. Now the numbers in New York are not as bad as the disparities we see in other places across the country, but there still are apparently disparities.

A working copy of a death certificate for a man who died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) indicates that the mans race was Black or African American, as seen on a computer screen [David Ryder/Reuters]

US President Donald Trump, who said his administration would release racial data related to coronavirus cases and deaths, called the preliminary numbers a tremendous challenge.

Its terrible, he added, vowing to provide support to African American communities.

But experts say its not just a challenge in the coronavirus pandemic, but one that has always been prevalent.

For far too long this country, the politicians and the public have accepted the disparities as natural, said De Maio. I hope this pandemic highlights how were all in it together because our health depends on our neighbours health.
A spacecraft taking the scenic route to Mercury successfully completed a crucial maneuver on its journey: a precisely choreographed swing past Earth.

The spacecraft, BepiColombo , represents a partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The mission launched in October 2018 , but its destination, Mercury, is very challenging to reach: Achieving orbit around the innermost planet requires a seven-year trajectory including complex planetary acrobatics in the form of a total of nine flybys.

BepiColombo executed the first of those nine flybys  the only one of its planet of origin  today (April 10) at 12:25 a.m. EST (425 GMT). The spacecraft came 7,887 miles (12,693 km) away from Earth , approaching at an angle designed to slightly reduce its speed with respect to the sun. That adjustment will allow BepiColombo to head deeper into the solar system.

Related: A radar station in Puerto Rico can see ice on Mercury

BepiColombo is now out of Earth's shadow, and basking once again in sunlight!#FLYBYSUCCESS#EclipseEnds#BepiColomboEarthFlyby pic.twitter.com/szH2fwLuGWApril 10, 2020 See more

The spacecraft's next dance will be with Venus , which BepiColombo will approach in October. The probe will loop around Earth's evil twin twice, this year and next, in order to further reduce its speed and put itself on track to meet its target, Mercury.

But even with three planetary adjustments, the trajectory to a successful Mercury stay is tricky. BepiColombo will conduct a series of six Mercury flybys between 2021 and 2025 before the small planet's gravity finally traps the probe in December 2025.

Once BepiColombo arrives at Mercury , it will split into two constituent spacecraft: JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter and ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter. The first probe will orbit relatively high above Mercury's surface and focus on studying the magnetosphere, the region of space governed by the planet's magnetic field . Scientists are excited for this research because, before spacecraft visited Mercury, experts didn't think the planet should be able to create a magnetic field. And the phenomenon remains confusing today.

The second BepiColombo probe will approach closer to Mercury's surface, and although it will contribute some magnetosphere measurements, it will focus on analyzing the planet's composition. Scientists hope this work will help them understand how Mercury  and, in turn, the entire solar system  formed.

Once BepiColombo arrives at its target, it will be just the third mission to study Mercury up close, which given its proximity to the sun is both a difficult target and a scorchingly hot one. NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft flew past the tiny world three times in the 1970s; NASA's Messenger spacecraft orbited Mercury from 2011 to 2015. Each BepiColombo spacecraft's primary mission will last for one year.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
The financially recovering city needs that revenue, and many visitors need and want the tram cars to carry them along its miles of Boardwalk.

Riders can get off anywhere they wish, so whether stores appeal to them is between them and the stores. Thats how business works.

Taxi operators say getting rid of the trams would force visitors to ride with them. Sure, just as getting rid of taxis would force visitors to use jitneys, buses and ride-hailing services.

People want to ride on trams, so its in the interests of everyone in the local economy to allow them to keep using trams.

Rolling chairs were a historic Boardwalk ride popular in another era. Now they struggle to survive. Six years ago we said their deteriorating appearance and lack of appeal to tourists was doing the citys image more harm than good. Instead of protecting them, the city should make them shape up or ship out.

When tram cars were allowed more than five years ago, we urged city officials to let them charge enough to make a first-rate service successful. That has happened, and the trams are an example of how the city can improve its appeal to tourists. More of that is needed, not less.
Confusion about new HSE guidelines over what will happen to people in nursing homes if they contract the Covid-19 virus is causing Louth families unnecessary fear and concern, according to a Louth TD

The Sinn Fein deputy Ruairi O Murchu revealed how he has been contacted by families from the county this week voicing their concerns about the interpretation of HSE guidelines by some local private nursing homes.

The guidelines, issued by the HSE on March 25, detail the steps that nursing homes should take if a resident contracts Covid-19.

Mr O Murchu said one family, whose loved one is in a private nursing home, had been contacted last week and told that the resident would not be transferred to an acute hospital if they contracted the virus.

However, the TD said he had been in touch with the HSE and with Nursing Homes Ireland  the representative body for the private care facility sector  and was able to reassure the family that their wishes would be paramount when it comes to the care of their loved one.

Mr O Murchu said the raised issue showed how "better communication and compassionate consultation with families is urgently needed".

He said: "There was anecdotal information coming to me this week from families who were told that their loved ones would not receive acute hospital treatment if they contracted Covid-19.

"This was a frightening experience for the families involved, but I have been able to get clarity from the HSE and the nursing homes sector about it and it is obvious that care plans for people in facilities will, of course, take into account the wishes of the resident and their families.

"These HSE guidelines, which were cited by the nursing homes, were not widely available and were not made available to the families until my office sent them.

"What is required from nursing homes is that they maintain communications with families so residents and their loved ones can be assured that any consultation and decision made about care in the event of a Covid-19 diagnosis is truly done in a meaningful and compassionate way.

"The least that families and residents can expect is fair, upfront and compassionate communication from nursing homes.

"The views of senior clinicians and medical officers at the care facilities have, of course, to be taken into account to ensure the best outcomes for patients, following best practice.

"But everyone, without exception, has the right to life-saving medical interventions and no-one should fall out of that category because of their age.

"Families should feel secure and empowered to articulate their wishes for their loved ones care in the event of the virus is contracted by the resident. They should have seen these guidelines because there was no clarity for them until they saw them.

"What is creating the problem, like in other scenarios around the Covid-19 situation, is that communication is paramount so that those who are most vulnerable are sheltered from the sharp edge of this disruption.

"Even if no-one expected the scenarios that the guidelines had detailed, families had not seen them before they were told about them and this caused a huge amount of unnecessary fear, when, with some compassion, a lot of it could have been avoided".
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 14:08:54|Editor: zyl

Video Player Close

SAN FRANCISCO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State of Alaska issued a new health mandate on Thursday to extend schools closure in order to protect the public health and mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

Governor of Alaska Mike Dunleavy announced the extension in a media briefing with Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Adam Crum and the state's chief medical officer, Anne Zink.

According to the mandate, the statewide school closure of all K-12 public and private schools is extended from May 1, 2020, to the end of the 2019-2020 school year to flatten the curve and disrupt the spread of the virus.

Student learning will continue, per each school district's individual plan, to provide distance-delivered educational services to students, the mandate said.

As school districts contemplate how to properly celebrate this year's graduates, the mandate also warns that social distancing is still in effect, which prohibits gathering for events, such as graduation.

"I know that these decisions have impacted sports, proms, get-togethers, graduations, and we know that a lot of our seniors are only going to get one shot at this," Dunleavy said in the briefing, "This would not happen unless we were dealing with this epidemic, this pandemic, and trying to keep people safe."

The state's Department of Health and Social Services confirmed a total of 235 cases and seven fatalities in the state of Alaska as of noon Thursday.
: A total of 212 areas across



Telangana covering over 4.50 lakh households have been marked as containment clusters or red zones, an exercise to prevent coronavirus spread, an official saidon Friday.

The cluster containment strategy would be to contain the disease within a defined geographic area by early detection of cases, breaking the chain of transmission and thus preventing its spread to new areas, the official of the health department said.

As of today (April 10), we have identified 212 containment clusters in the state. We have already set up 130 clusters or red zones covering 3.37 lakh households. The remaining clusters covering 1.17 lakh households will be done in a day or two," the official told PTI.

According to him, as many as 3,067 teams would be engaged in enforcing geographical quarantine, surveillance, testing suspected cases, quarantine of contacts and isolation of cases.

All the essential commodities such as milk, vegetables, and medicines would be delivered at the doorstep of the households by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and police personnel.

The cluster containment strategy would "include geographic quarantine, social distancing measures, enhanced active surveillance, testing all suspected cases, isolation of cases, quarantine of contacts and risk communication to create awareness among the public on preventive public health measures", a health ministry document had earlier said.

GHMC has set up 12 containment clusters to combat COVID-19 spread, GHMC commissioner D S Lokesh Kumar had said in a press release on Thursday.

He said as per the instructions of the government,GHMC officials and staff are working in coordination with Police, Revenue, Health department personnel.

The civic body chief had said as many as 89 coronavirus positive cases were registered in these clusters. And special attention is given to sanitation and spraying of disinfectant in these clusters.

Besides, a team consisting of health and GHMC officials are going to each and every household to identifythose who are symptomatic and getting them tested.

In these identified clusters, public movements are monitored and barricading is done to keep check on public movement, Lokesh Kumar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Escalating volcanic activity in the Icelandic Reykjanes peninsula has the potential to cause disruption for 300 years, scientists have warned.

The penninsula, which is south-west of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, has not erupted for 800 years.

However, since the 21 January it has has seen more than 8,000 earthquakes and the land uplift of 10cm due to underground magma intrusions, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO). These figures suggest the area is becoming active once more.

The last time the peninsula erupted around 800 years ago during the 10th century, it continued to erupt for 300 years into the 13th century.

The Icelandic Reykjanes peninsula has seen 8,000 earthquakes since 21 January, suggesting increased levels of activity in the volatile area

The last time the area erupted was 800 years ago, but this volcanic activity went on to last 300 years, covering over square 50kms in lava

The Icelandic Reykjanes peninsula, shown in red, is close to Iceland's capital Reykjavik, and just 15km away from the country's international airport

Speaking to the i, Sigriur Magnea Oskarsdottir, a specialist in natural hazards at the IMO, said: 'There were eruptions in the Reykjanes peninsula 800 years ago, but in our lifetime, what we are experiencing is very unusual.'

Speaking to The Guardian, Dave McGarvie, a volcanologist at Lancaster University, said: 'It seems that after being relatively inactive for many centuries, this region is waking up.'

Typical Icelandic volcanos, the effects of which were seen in 2010 with the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull which covered much of Europe in ash clouds, tend to wake for a few years before dying down.

When the Reykjanes peninsula sees volcanic activity it can produce eruptive episodes, known locally as 'fires', for centuries, creating fissures of up to 8km in length in the earth which spew lava.

Fissures of 8km long, which are large cracks that open as the ground splits, could open up and spew lava that would cover large areas of land. Pictured: Laval rivers flow from a volcanic eruption between the Myrdalsjokull and Eyjafjallajokull glaciers on March 24, 2010

An area of around 50 square km was covered in lava the last time the peninsula erupted 800 years ago

Pictured: An aerial view of the volcanic eruption in March, 2020. This eruption saw more explosive activity than would be seen if the Reykjanes peninsula was to come to life

While these 'fires' have less explosive activity, as was see in 2010, they can cover large areas of land in lava.

When this occurred 800 years ago between 1210 and 1240, an area of around 50 square kilometers was covered, while volcanic rock fragments and particles were spread tens of kilometers by wind.

Such a volcanic event could cause huge disruption for people living in the area, and many of their generations to come.

The nearby town of Grindavik would be at severe risk if lava flowed towards it. The area is also home to a geothermal power plant, while water supplies could also be damaged, as could a number of key roads.

When the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in 2010, huge plooms of volcanic ash covered much of Europe

With Iceland's international airport Keflavik only 15km away, this activity could also cause huge levels of disruption for Iceland's international travel.

Almost all international flights entering or leaving the country go through Keflavik, at which many flights between Europe and the U.S. also stop or change.

The Icelandic Geo Survey, which catalogues Icelandic volcanoes, predicts that in a similar event to 800 years ago, the airport runway could be covered with up to 2cm of ash, which would halt all flights.

'Wind direction during times of ash production is critical  anything with a slight northerly aspect is going to cause problems for the international airport and the metropolitan area of Reykjavik,' McGarvie said to the Guardian.

'People on the Reykjanes peninsula, and their descendants for several generations, may have to be on their guard and ready to evacuate every so often.'

These ash clouds are incredibly dangerous to aircraft, and as a result, many flights across Europe were grounded causing global travel disruptions between March and June, 2010

Pictured: A departures board at Oslo's Gardermoen airport in 2010 shows all the flights for the day have been cancelled as a result of the volcanic eruption

Pictured: At Zaventem Airport outside Brussels, many people can be seen queuing as they wait to learn the date of their flights as ask spreads across the skies of Europe in 2010

Icelandic volcanoes bring back memories of 2010, when the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull spewed giant ash clouds across much of Europe, causing huge levels of global travel disruption.

However, the eruption in 2010 only lasted for slightly over three months, a fraction of what is being predicted if the if the Reykjanes peninsula comes to life once more.
The top departments of the US government have endorsed cutting off Beijing-controlled China Telecom from serving the US market because of legal and security risks, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

The departments, including Defense, State, and Homeland Security, said after a broad review that the Federal Communications Commission should revoke and terminate all authorizations for the Chinese giants US subsidiary, China Telecom (Americas), to provide international telecommunications services to and from the United States.

The Executive Branch agencies identified substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecoms operations, which render the FCC authorizations inconsistent with the public interest, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The agencies -- which also included the Justice Department, the Commerce Department, the US Trade Representative and US counter-intelligence -- said China Telecom is vulnerable to exploitation, influence and control by the Chinese government.

They said it has inaccurately reported to US authorities where it stores its US records and how it manages cybersecurity.

The agencies also made the recommendation based on the nature of China Telecoms US operations, which they said allow Chinese government actors to engage in malicious cyber activity enabling economic espionage and disruption and misrouting of US communications. The recommendation has to be decided upon by the FCC, but will almost certainly involve the White House, where it could be weighed amid ongoing trade negotiations with Beijing.

It came just five days after President Donald Trumps administration formed an interdepartmental body to formally review national security concerns related to foreign telecommunications companies involved in the United States.

In September 2019 two senators, Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Tom Cotton, asked the FCC to consider banning China Telecom and another company, China Unicom, from the US market over national security concerns.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Its serious in the sense that its real hand sanitizer that will help people, Atkinson said. But everyone needs a little bit of a laugh and something to make them smile. We know how people feel about Malort, so we figured why not throw the name on.
Over 20,400 foreign nationals have been evacuated from India amid the coronavirus crisis and any decision on bringing Indians from abroad will be taken at a later stage after reviewing the situation, the government said on Friday.

It also maintained that there is no community transmission in the country so far. A study by apex medical research body ICMR found that 40 people out of a total of 104 coronavirus patients with severe acute respiratory infection had contracted the infection without having any recent international travel history or contact with any confirmed cases of the disease.

Responding to a question over this study, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health Lav Agarwal told reporters, "No community transmission has happened in the country so far. If there would be, we would be first to tell you so as to alert people."



Amid concerns over the export of hydroxychloroquine, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India has received requests from several countries for the tablet and keeping a sufficient buffer of stocks, a decision has been taken to export some surplus medicines. The anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine has been cited by many as a viable therapeutic solution for fighting the coronavirus infection.

Addressing the daily press briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the country, MEA Additional Secretary Dammu Ravi said, "There were requests from governments of several countries. We have successfully evacuated 20,473 foreign nationals as of yesterday."



"This is an ongoing process. Some questions have come about Indians abroad. It is a situation where we cannot give a definite answer because the lockdown is still there. We need to assess the situation It will be the government's decision on how we manage the return of Indians from other countries," he said.

"Our ambassadors and high commissioners in all these countries are in regular touch with all Indians abroad and giving all support to them. The MEA COVID control room helplines are active, teams are taking calls and guiding them in these matters. The situation is under control. We will review at a later stage about their return," Ravi said.

According to Agarwal, India has a stock of 3.28 crore tablets of hydroxychloroquine, which is three time more than the projected requirement of one crore tablets in the country for the coming one week and that tie-ups have been made for additional supply of two to three crore tablets for the future need.

"Domestic requirement and production of hydroxychloroquin has been 100 per cent ensured, not even for today but for coming times as well. Also, two crore tablets have been sent to states to ensure their availability in the private sector," Agarwal said assuring that there is no shortage of the medicine in the country.

Ravi, who is also also the COVID-19 coordinator, said that hydroxychloroquine is in high demand globally and the decision for exporting the drug to the first list of countries which had put in a request has been approved after proper review.

Certain medicines were in the restricted list and others in the prohibited list. Based on review by the Committee of Secretaries and by the Group of Ministers, restrictions were lifted on many medicines.

"Several countries have made requests for this particular drug. Taking into view the domestic stocks available and keeping sufficient buffer for our own requirement, a decision was taken by GoM to release some surplus medicines for export purposes.

"The first batch of list of countries have been approved and now we are working on the second and third list. I want to emphasise that the domestic requirement and necessity will be a priority for the government," Ravi said.

"We should follow social distancing and the do's and don'ts. A total of 16,002 tests were conducted yesterday and only 0.2 per cent of the cases have tested positive On the basis of the samples collected, the infection rate is not high," he said adding rapid diagnostics kits have also been sanctioned for conducting coronavirus tests.

An ICMR official said 146 laboratories are functional in the public sector while 67 private labs have been given approval for testing of COVID-19.

"A total 144910 samples have been tested till 9 PM on Thursday," he said.

Reacting to the attack on frontline healthcare workers, Agarwal said people should not misbehave or attack those who are rendering service even amid the risk of contracting the deadly infection stating that will "bring their morale down". He reminded how people had enthusiastically expressed their solidarity with the healthcare professions during the Janta curfew on March 22.

He further said 39 PPE manufacturers are available in the country today; adding PPEs have been procured and given to states, due to which they have double the stock available with them compared to what they had two months back.

Around 20.4 lakh N-95 masks have been supplied to the states and further procurement has already been initiated to address future requirements. Also, an order for 49000 ventilators has been placed and stock is being taken for future requirements, he said.

"We don't expect any shortage of N95 masks at the field level," he said.

The officials also maintained that rumours and media reports claiming protocol has been issued by Railways regarding passenger travel for post-lockdown are speculative and incorrect.

Agarwal further informed that Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed actions and preparedness for COVID-19 management through video conference with health ministers, chief secretaries/health secretaries of all states and union territories on Friday.

Vardhan suggested that there is a need to make dedicated COVID-19 hospitals in each district of the country and notify them as soon as possible so that people are informed about them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A doctor stands in front of two 3D-reconstructed lung models of a newly diagnosed coronavirus pneumonia patient during a 5G long-distance consultation at the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University on March 2, 2020 in Kunming, Yunnan Province of China.

Google wants to make it easier for people to get medical care virtually, so they don't need to leave their homes in the midst of a pandemic.

The company on Friday said it is rolling out two new features in its Search and Maps products to direct people looking for medical care to available doctors, including tele-health options when they're available. For instance, when people search for immediate general care (like "urgent care near me" or "walk-in clinics"), they may see national virtual care platforms alongside the results. When there are specific doctors' offices with virtual care options, those will pop up as people search for them.

The company shared the update in a blog post, written by Google Health's director of product management Julie Black, noting that it has seen "interest in virtual care and telehealth rise dramatically."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has encouraged people to leverage telemedicine wherever possible, so they don't risk spreading the virus to medical workers. That includes those with mild symptoms, who don't need to access in-person care.

To meet the increasing demand, some hospitals are ramping up their virtual offerings -- and Google will start to highlight those via Maps and Search. Many employers and insurance companies are covering the cost of a telemedicine visit scheduled via apps like Teladoc, Doctor on Demand and American Well, which Google will also feature in its search and maps results. These companies have said they are hiring doctors and other medical professionals to increase capacity as people flock to them -- Doctor on Demand's CEO Hill Ferguson told CNBC it has brought on "hundreds" of licensed doctors since the COVID-19 pandemic started, and is still actively hiring.

Health professionals can set up their own virtual care offering in their Google business profile. Google will then surface the option "to get online care" when people are searching for a provider. From there, prospective patients can schedule a virtual visit.

Google said it is also displaying cash prices for the visit for those who aren't using insurance, or have high-deductible plans. Those will vary depending on the provider, but are typically less than $50 per visit.

The new features are initially going live in the U.S., but Google may eventually expand it to other countries.

Google parent company Alphabet has rolled out a range of tools and services related to the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks, both from the Google Health team and Verily, its life sciences unit. Last week, it introduced a website that shows the level of social distancing taking place in various locations based on information collected from Google apps and services on people's phones.
Some have hoped that warmer weather would slow or stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Health experts warn that we don't know yet what the virus will do.

A recently released report indicates that the studies published so far on potential seasonal effects have conflicting results and are hampered by weak data.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

While springtime may bring hope of life returning to normal in the Northern Hemisphere, scientists don't think people should bet on warm weather alone being enough to stop the coronavirus from spreading at alarming rates.

There have been several studies on how a change in temperature could affect the coronavirus. However, the results have been conflicted and hampered by weak data, a report released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said.

"One should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather" Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Thursday on Good Morning America. "You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing."

There has been some precedent of other coronaviruses and influenza not thriving in warmer temperatures, but at this time there is no proof that COVID-19 will respond similarly.

Some studies outlined in the report did find that that an increase in temperature or humidity led to a drop in the transmission of the virus. Still, the data it was based on was not without its flaws, the report said.

One early study out of China's Hubei province suggested that for every 1 degree C increase in atmospheric temperature at relatively high levels of humidity, daily confirmed cases decreased 36-57%, but the results didn't hold up across mainland China.

A different study found that 90% of global transmission through March 22 occurred when temperatures were 3-17 degrees C. That study, though, didn't figure in variables like a country's testing capacities or policy responses.

Story continues

"Some limited data support a potential waning of cases in warmer and more humid seasons, yet none are without major limitations," the report says. "Given that countries currently in 'summer' climates, such as Australia and Iran, are experiencing rapid virus spread, a decrease in cases with increases in the humidity and temperature elsewhere should not be assumed."

The conflicting studies don't necessarily mean that summer vacations are entirely off the table, though.

Fauci told CBS This Morning that getaways "can be in the cards."

"And I say that with some caution, because as I said, when we do that, when we pull back and try to open up the country, as we often use that terminology, we have to be prepared that when the infections start to rear their heads again that we have it in place a very aggressive and effective way to identify, isolate, contract trace and make sure we don't have those spikes we have now," Fauci said. "So, the answer to your question is yes, if we do the things that we need to do to prevent the resurgence."

Business Insider
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is pushing to reopen much of the country next month, raising concerns among medical experts and economists of a possible covid-19 resurgence if Americans return to their normal lives before the virus is truly stamped out.

Behind closed doors, President Donald Trump - concerned with the sagging economy - has sought a strategy for resuming business activity by May 1, according to people familiar with the discussions.

LONE STAR BUNKERS: Texas-based subterranean bunker company receiving heavy orders as pandemic escalates

In phone calls with outside advisers, Trump has even floated trying to reopen much of the country before the end of this month, when the current federal recommendations to avoid social gatherings and work from home expire, the people said. Trump regularly looks at unemployment and stock market numbers, complaining that they are hurting his presidency and reelection prospects, the people said.

Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions.

Trump said at his daily briefing Thursday that the United States was at the "top of the hill" and added, "Hopefully, we're going to be opening up - you could call it opening - very, very, very, very soon, I hope."

Multiple Cabinet secretaries in recent days have publicly expressed hope that the various government orders directing residents to stay at home and forcing nonessential businesses to close could be eased at least partially next month.

Asked Thursday during an appearance on CNBC whether he thought it was possible that the country could be open for business next month, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, "I do." A day earlier, Attorney General William Barr had called some of the stay-at-home orders and other restrictions "draconian" and suggested they needed to be reevaluated next month.

"When this period of time, at the end of April, expires, I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have, and not just tell people to go home and hide under their bed, but allow them to use other ways - social distancing and other means - to protect themselves," Barr said on Fox News.

The White House cannot unilaterally reopen the country. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued federal guidance advising people to avoid social gatherings, work from home and use pickup and delivery options for food, it is state officials who have put the force of law behind those suggestions.

The CDC guidance is set to expire April 30, but the states are free to choose their own paths. Already, the state directives have varied in timing and in severity, and that is certain to continue as they are rolled back.

REAL ESTATE: Redfin furloughs 41 percent of realtors amid pandemic

White House advisers have contemplated scenarios in which some "hot spot" states will not be ready to reopen as quickly, the people familiar with the matter said. There have already been vigorous debates, with public-health experts and some presidential advisers warning against reopening too soon, while key members of the president's economic team - and some conservatives in the vice president's orbit - push for a quicker return to normality.

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious diseases, said Thursday that some places might reopen sooner than others, and that hard-hit New York, for example, shouldn't loosen its restrictions until there was a "very steep decline" in infections.

"It's not going to be one-size-fits-all," he said.

The president, said one senior administration official with direct knowledge of the conversations, asks regularly: "When can we reopen?"

Health experts say ending the shutdown prematurely would be disastrous because the restrictions have barely had time to work, and because U.S. leaders have not built up the capacity for alternatives to stay-at-home orders - such as the mass testing, large-scale contact tracing and targeted quarantines that have been used in other countries to suppress the virus.

Even one of the most optimistic models, which has been used by the White House and governors, predicts a death toll of 60,400, but only if current drastic restrictions are kept in place until the end of May.

There have been nascent signs that the aggressive social-distancing measures imposed by state and city governments have slowed the spread of the infection, which has killed more than 16,000 Americans. Federal officials have noted that Washington state and California were among the first states to see cases of the virus but have not experienced the high levels of infection and death that others, such as New York and New Jersey, are enduring. Pence said Thursday that officials were beginning to see "stabilization" in some of the hardest-hit areas.

"It's working, America," Pence said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said Thursday that hospitalizations and intensive-care admissions in the state have fallen, suggesting progress. But he stressed that he did not know when New Yorkers would be able to begin a return to normal life.

"We're not going to go from red to green; we're going to go from red to yellow," Cuomo said.

Trump aides internally have taken note of New York's stabilizing hospital numbers, and some believe that the modeling projections are excessively high.

The comments from Barr, who is not a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, and Mnuchin, who is, seem to indicate the growing recognition in the administration that the steps meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus have inflicted economic pain that is likely to last for many months.

EMPTY STREETS: Photos show how coronavirus has desolated New Orleans' French Quarter

On Thursday - as the Labor Department tallied another 6.6 million Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy was deteriorating "with alarming speed" and called for a national discussion about what will be required to reopen it.

Trump is preparing to announce this week the creation of a second, smaller coronavirus task force aimed specifically at combating the economic ramifications of the pandemic, according to people familiar with the plans.

The task force is expected to be led by Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, and include Larry Kudlow, the president's chief economic adviser, and Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, along with outside business leaders. Others expected to play a role are Kevin Hassett, who has been advising Trump on economic models in recent weeks, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, administration officials say.

Stephen Moore, a conservative economist who advises the administration informally and has pushed for the country to reopen more quickly, said he believed the task force was a good idea to help expedite that process.

"You have to figure out: How do you do it? Where do you it? When do you it? What areas of the country? What industry?" Moore said. "His presidency depends on getting that right."

Barr, the nation's top law enforcement official, noted that the economics of the shutdown could cost lives. For example, he said, cancer researchers were probably at home, not doing their critical work.

"We will have a weaker health-care system if we go into a deep depression," Barr said. "So, just measured in lives, the cure cannot be worse than the disease."

Barr's comments came in response to repeated questions from Fox News's Laura Ingraham about the civil liberties problems created by government-imposed shutdowns.

Barr, a person familiar with his thinking said, has known Ingraham for many years and agreed to the interview some time ago.

The attorney general repeatedly lauded Trump and said states were, at least for now, within their rights to impose such measures. The person familiar with his thinking said he was focused on what happens after the CDC's guidelines on social distancing expire this month.

The person said Barr has been informally talking with associates about how businesses could reopen, including having more equipped with personal protective equipment or on-site testing.

GROCERS AFFLICTED: Pearland H-E-B worker tests positive for COVID-19

"He was trying to say once we're through this period, it's not sustainable to live in fear," the person said.

Health experts and economists have said that reopening prematurely could backfire and lead to another shutdown if coronavirus cases begin surging again and a long-term solution is not found. Past pandemics have offered clear warnings of what can happen.

A 2007 study funded by the CDC examined the fate of several U.S. cities when they eased restrictions too soon during the 1918 flu pandemic. Those cities believed they were on the other side of the peak, and, like the United States today, had residents agitating about the economy and for relaxing restrictions.

Once they lifted the restrictions, however, the trajectory of those cities soon turned into a double-humped curve with two peaks instead of one. Two peaks means overwhelmed hospitals and many deaths, without the flattening benefit authorities were trying to achieve with arduous restrictions.

Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, notably did not advocate a May reopening, saying such steps were more likely after July. And even some close to Trump seemed wary of supporting an early date.

Pence on Thursday did not put a firm date on a possible reopening but said the decision would be guided by medical experts and that Trump wanted it to be done "responsibly."

"No one wants to reopen America more than Donald Trump," Pence said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally, said an early reopening was "an aspirational goal."

"The real fear is that you do it too quickly and you create a spike in the disease, which is likely to come back in the fall," Graham said. "It has to be a science-based assessment, and I don't see a mass reopening of the economy coming anytime soon."

HOUSTONS FINEST: These people are Houstons heroes of the coronavirus pandemic

Even some of those most affected by the economic downturn expressed fear of a premature return to work.

"If restoring the economy means restoring transit systems back to full-throttle schedules, before covid-19 is defeated, it's just going to expose more transit workers to harm's way, and it's something we would not be in favor of," said John Samuelsen, the international president of the Transport Workers Union. "Public transit systems are the most effective disperser of the virus. An evil-genius engineer could not have engineered a better system than the New York City transit system to spread covid-19."

Zack Hershman, 27, has been out of work since mid-March, when he was laid off as a server at Suraya, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood. The layoff was profoundly unsettling, he said, but he nonetheless commended his employers for leveling with the staff early on about why the closures were necessary.

"As much as I would love to get back to work," he said, "it's not the right thing to do long-term in terms of the safety of people working and eating at restaurants."
While some Australians are struggling with self-isolation amid the coronavirus, there are two Neighbours stars who seem to be coping well.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Matt Wilson, who plays Aaron Brennan, revealed that he is actually enjoying himself.

The 30-year-old admitted to the paper: 'I'm actually loving isolation!

Doing okay: Neighbours star April Rose Pengilly (pictured), who plays Chloe Brennan on the soap, reveals that she's enjoying social isolation amid the coronavirus pandemic

'It feels like those few hours of bliss you have on an aeroplane when you have zero connectivity to the outside world and every minute to yourself.'

He went on to say that he and wife Jessica Lee Wilson have been finishing 'passion projects'.

He explained: 'All those passion projects are now finally happening. We've just become beekeepers so that has been an obsession of ours lately.'

Matt Wilson, who plays Aaron Brennan, revealed he is actually enjoying himself: 'I'm actually loving isolation! All those passion projects are now finally happening' he said. Pictured with wife Jessica Lee Wilson

April Rose Pengilly, who plays Chloe Brennan on the soap, tells the paper she is a 'homebody' which makes it easier for her to be in isolation.

'I am an only child and a homebody at heart, so isolation has been... not that difficult?

'I work out every morning, as I always do, then I somehow have a zillion things that I need to deal with,' she said.

He explained: 'We've just become beekeepers so that has been an obsession of ours lately'

Matt added: 'It feels like those few hours of bliss you have on an aeroplane when you have zero connectivity to the outside world and every minute to yourself'

However the 31-year-old actress says that she wept with her mother on FaceTime when she missed her birthday.

'I normally fly home to Sydney whenever we have breaks from shooting... For the first time in my life, I wasn't with my mum for her birthday - we cried over FaceTime instead,' she said.

Neighbours ceased filming last last month, just days after the cast had returned to set.

April Rose revealed: 'I am an only child and a homebody at heart, so isolation has been... not that difficult? ' work out every morning, as I always do'

Tough: However the actress wept when she missed her mother's birthday. 'I normally fly home to Sydney whenever we have breaks from shooting. For the first time in my life, I wasn't with my mum for her birthday'

The Australian soap had planned to film until its scheduled production break in early April, but COVID-19 restrictions pushed the finishing time forward by one week.

The first temporary shutdown was announced on the Australian soap's 35-year anniversary last month.

The ensemble cast had only returned to the set in Nunawading, Melbourne on Monday, after an employee who had come into contact with a COVID-19 patient tested negative.

Production has plans to resume in mid-April.
The Woodlands Township Board of Directors has lost the youngest member of the seven-person board, as Director Brian Boniface announced his resignation effective immediately due to being called up on a six-month humanitarian mission with the U.S. Army Reserves.

Boniface made the announcement at the end of the virtual online board meeting Thursday night, the third one in three weeks since the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic began.

Effective immediately, I Brian Boniface, am stepping down from my position on The Woodlands Township Board of Directors. Earlier this week, I was notified that I was activated by the U.S. Army Reserves to assist in a humanitarian and disaster relief mission for the next six months, providing aid to areas affected by COVID-19, Boniface said while reading a prepared statement. While this is a challenging time for our community and our nation as a whole, I believe that the board needs to be fully staffed in order to handle the upcoming challenges The Woodlands is facing.

Boniface was in his second two-year term on the board, having been first elected in 2016, defeating then two-time incumbent Mike Bass, who died March 29. For his second term, Boniface defeated his lone challenger, local mother and aerospace engineer Treva Taglieri by a wide margin. He is a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves, working in logistics. He also works at a county medical facility as a registered nurse.

It has been an honor and a privilege to serve, what I consider, the greatest community in the world. I want to thank all our residents for your confidence in me and allowing me the opportunity to serve these two terms. I would also like to thank the township staff, our first responders and my fellow directors, Boniface said in his statement to the board during the meeting, which was conducted via videoconference. You are at the center of what makes this community great! May God Bless you and keep you safe.

After his statement, township board Chairman Gordy Bunch, who is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, thanked Boniface for his service to the board and also to the nation while calling him a hero on many fronts.

I understand why the Army needs him, Bunch said of Bonifaces call-up. Im grateful for his service to our community and our country. I also appreciate his wife and their daughters allowing him to serve our hometown and country.

In a brief telephone interview with The Villager after the meeting said he will be traveling to Fort Sam Houston on Friday before being deployed with his unit to an unknown location to help with the COVID-19 pandemic response. Boniface, who was a member of the township Development Standards Committee in addition to being on the board, said he was proud of his time as an elected official, notably being a part of the more than two-year incorporation planning studies as well as fiscal conservativism.

I report to Fort Sam Houston tomorrow and we are just part of a response unit to different parts of the United States as humanitarian relief, Boniface said. I appreciate everyones support. It was an honor to serve. I think (my legacy is) being fiscally conservative and keeping our tax rate low for residents while keeping all the amenities we have here.

Boniface was one of four directors up for re-election in November, including Bunch and directors Bruce Rieser and John Anthony Brown.

Bunch said the board would be working quickly to appoint an interim director to replace Boniface until the November election when his term would have ended. The application for candidates filing window usually opens in late July and continues through the third week of August for the next election.

jeff.forward@chron.com
Ottawa: Canada is lifting a freeze on weapons exports to Saudi Arabia and has renegotiated a much-criticised $US14 billion contract to sell armoured vehicles to Riyadh, the government said.

The "significant improvements" to the contract would secure thousands of jobs at General Dynamics, the US firm's Canadian subsidiary, where the vehicles are being made, Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.

The announcement marks a retreat by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said in December 2018 he was looking for a way out of the deal. A month earlier, the government had frozen new permits pending a review.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Credit:The Canadian Press/AP

Human rights groups and political opponents, citing the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey and Saudi Arabia's involvement in the Yemen war, had insisted Ottawa scrap a deal agreed by the previous Conservative government in 2014.
Brooklyn Beckham is currently in lockdown in New York with his American girlfriend Nicola Peltz in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday, the photographer son of David and Victoria Beckham, 21, was passing the time in isolation by snapping selfies with the sizzling actress while also sharing throwback pictures with his beloved family.

It seemed things truly hit home for Brooklyn earlier in the day however when he received a care package from his adoring sister Harper, eight, after she sent him a T-shirt she dyed and Percy Pigs in the post.

Hot stuff: Brooklyn Beckham is currently in lockdown in New York with his American girlfriend Nicola Peltz in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic and has on Friday shared a sexy snap

Brooklyn is isolating away from the rest of the family as he is with Nicola's family at her billionaire father Nicola Peltz's 27 bedroom mansion in Bedford, New York.

During their isolation he shared the sizzling bikini-clad snap while adding the caption: 'Will never get bored of looking at your beautiful face'.

His own family meanwhile - including Victoria, 45, David, 44, Romeo, 17, Cruz, 15, and Harper - are holed up in their Cotswold home - a move which sparked controversy as they were slammed for moving from west London despite instructions not to travel.

The Beckhams have been passing their time with a host of fun activities, including tie-dying T-shirts and dying Cruz's hair pink.

Yum! It seemed things truly hit home for Brooklyn earlier in the day however when he received a care package from his adoring sister Harper, eight, after she sent him a T-shirt she dyed and Percy Pigs in the post

Nice! Despite missing out on the fun, Brooklyn seemed to reap the rewards of the family activity as he shared an image of one of Harper's tie-dye tees with the message: 'I love you Harper, thank you for my amazing shirt'

Despite missing out on the fun, Brooklyn seemed to reap the rewards of the family activity as he shared an image of one of Harper's tie-dye tees with the message: 'I love you Harper, thank you for my amazing shirt'.

He also seemed to yearn for some British classics, as he shared a snap of a pack of Marks & Spencer sweets Percy Pigs.

Brooklyn seemed to struggle with the absence as he also shared throwback snaps featuring both his mum and dad giving him loving embraces.

The happy couple, who confirmed their romance in November last year, have been passing the time in quarantine themselves with a host of fun activities, including baking cake and cutting Brooklyn's hair.

Fun activity: Earlier in the week, Victoria shared pictures of the family tie-dying the T-shirts that would make their way to Brooklyn in New York

Loving: Brooklyn seemed to struggle with the absence as he also shared throwback snaps featuring both his mum and dad giving him loving embraces

The blossoming romance between Nicola and Brooklyn - who have dubbed each other 'soulmates' - is said to have got the seal of approval from his parents David and Victoria, who are worth around 350million.

A source close to the Beckhams told The Sun: 'David and Victoria have very much given this relationship their blessing.

'They have always been supportive of Brooklyn when he has had girlfriends, but this is one they really want to work.
Sensitive information will stay on individual phones in encrypted form  no personally identifiable data would be collected  and alerts would be handled by public health agencies, not the tech companies, according to briefing paper seen by The Associated Press. It says location data for users won't be used and the identity of people who may have been infected will be protected by encryption and anonymous identifier beacons that change frequently.
U2 have donated 10million (8.7million) to help aid the fight against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in Ireland.

The generous donation will be used to source and buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline staff, according to RTE.

The donation is part of an initiative between a number of public and private companies, with the first batch of supplies arriving at Dublin Airport on Tuesday.

Donation: U2 have donated 10million (8.7million) to help aid the fight against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in Ireland (pictured L-R: The Edge (David Evans), Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr and Bono)

Irish aircraft leasing company Avolon offered one of its planes to Ireland's Heath Service Executive with 40 ventilators delivered.

The Irish government has spent more than 200million (175million) securing additional PPE from China with stock brought from Beijing on dozens of flights.

Several other stars have made donations to aid frontline workers including George and Amal Clooney who recently donated $1million (802,000) to various organisations and charities to help combat the virus.

In March, Bono released a new song dedicated to Italians who were at the epicentre of the pandemic at the time.

Aid: The generous donation will be used to source and buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline staff (Bono pictured in November 2018)

The new song, Let Your Love Be Known, is the first music Bono has released since U2's 2017 album, Songs of Experience.

Bono revealed that he wrote the song an hour before posting it online, and shared a video of himself performing the tune whilst playing the piano.

In the song, which was written on St Patrick's day, Bono described walking through the deserted streets of Dublin.

Inspired: Bono released a new song in March dedicated to Italians who were the epicentre of the pandemic at the time

He added that he was fearful of the thought of isolation during the coronavirus outbreak but had been inspired by the footage of quarantined Italians singing to each other from their balconies.

Lyrics include: 'You cant touch but you can sing across rooftops / sing to me down the phone / sing and promise me you wont stop / sing and youre never alone.'

Bono shared the video captioned: 'For the Italians who inspired it for the Irish

'for ANYONE who this St. Patricks day is in a tight spot and still singing. For the doctors, nurses, carers on the front line, it's you were singing to. Bono'.
The daughter of a Belfast woman who died after contracting coronavirus has appealed for people to stay at home this Easter weekend.

Josephine Brown (70) passed away at the Mater Hospital on Tuesday, two weeks after contracting the virus.

Her youngest daughter, Rhonda Tait, pleaded with people to "stay inside to save lives".

"The thought of this happening to other families and affecting them in the way it has affected our family... the thought of that happening over and over again is absolutely devastating," Rhonda told the BBC.

She was speaking as the Chief Constable warned that the PSNI will issue fines from today onwards if members of the public breach travel restrictions during the crisis.

Simon Byrne told Stormont's daily media briefing that the public would see "a different approach and attitude" from police officers in the next few days in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Mr Byrne said that from today his officers would be stepping up patrols and checkpoints at beauty spots and on roads going to resorts and "asking motorists to explain why they are going about their journey".

"If you don't have a reasonable explanation for a necessary journey, we will turn you back and if you don't listen to that advice, we will issue a fixed penalty notice," he added.

Mr Byrne said police were "picking up frustration" from those living in popular resorts that people have come to their second homes or are visiting and putting them at risk. He added: "Whilst this is traditionally seen as a holiday period and I don't want to be seen as a killjoy, we have to remember, as has been said time and time again, this is a health crisis and not a holiday."

Mr Byrne said police have issued nearly 100 community resolution notices directing people to behave differently.

First Minister Arlene Foster added that while she knows this is a special time, Easter 2020 would have to be "like no other".

The DUP leader urged people to stay at home and to follow all other public health guidelines.

"We cannot behave like we normally do or interact with relatives or friends as we normally would.

"Please, stay at home. Please do not undertake non-essential travel. Please exercise outdoors, once a day, close to home. Please do not travel to beauty spots, no matter how sunny it is," she said.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill also said people should not hold gatherings over Easter.

Mrs O'Neill said the surge in the spread of Covid-19 cases would occur this weekend and urged people to stay at home.

"We know that this is a special time this weekend and one where we normally get together, we congregate, we make dinner together, we sit down as a family together.

"We take trips but this is not normal circumstances and if you behave as normal, more people will die," she added.

"That's a very direct message, but it's a message I think people need to understand right now."
This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.

Jean-Laurent Cochet was the most renowned acting teacher in France, and one of the strictest.

If a student arrived five minutes late to class, they didnt get into the course, Maxime dAboville, a former student, said in an email. If we coughed in class, he added, we were sent out.

But Mr. Cochets demanding nature led to success. His former students included Gerard Depardieu, Isabelle Huppert and a host of French television, movie and stage stars.

The Americans had Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio, said Pierre Delavene, director of the Cochet-Delavene School, which Mr. Cochet founded in 1965. The French had Jean-Laurent Cochet.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 22:13:35|Editor: Wang Yamei

Video Player Close

LONDON, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Britain's coronavirus lockdown faces its most serious test this weekend as the public is urged to stay at home during the Easter bank holiday weekend to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Announcing Thursday that lockdown measures will remain in place, the British government called upon people to stick by social distancing rules amid fears that warm weather over the weekend could tempt breaches.

The appeal came as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to a general ward on Thursday evening after spending three nights in an intensive care unit in St Thomas' Hospital in London. He was taken to the hospital on Sunday, 10 days after testing positive for the virus.

The country's hospital deaths linked to the virus, to be announced later Friday, are expected to exceed 8,000 as the official figure currently stands at 7,978. A total of 65,077 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed as of Thursday morning.

Police chiefs want the government to consider toughening lockdown restrictions as they head into the Easter weekend with concerns that a growing minority will flout the rules, according to the Guardian newspaper.

More stringent restrictions to prevent people driving long distances are among options supported by at least five chief constables who want enforcement action to be bolstered by clearer and tougher government policies, said the newspaper.

Other options include using legislation to enforce the order to limit exercise to once a day.

Police have sent speed and traffic camera data to the government showing that road use in some areas last weekend was up nearly 10 percent compared with the previous weekend.

Compliance with lockdown restrictions imposed on March 23 is still high. However, a minority still ignored the rules to take walks or exercise their dogs far from home, sometimes in groups, said the Guardian.
After two years as the Miami Heralds minority affairs reporter, he moved to New Orleans in 2007 as an education reporter for the Times-Picayune, compelled to document the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Down the road, 35 years from now, when memories are all I have, he told the University of Rhode Island alumni magazine, Ill be able to look back at this time and remember this experience.
How to get a medical marijuana card, step by step. Read more

If you want to become a medical marijuana patient in Pennsylvania, you can do it from the comfort of your own home.

During the early days of the pandemic, Pennsylvanias medical marijuana program began temporarily allowing registered physicians to certify new patients and recertify existing ones, by doing a remote consultation over video conferencing or with a phone call. (Pre-pandemic, patients had to be certified for a medical marijuana card by meeting in person with a registered doctor.)

Now, that change, among others, is permanent. Gov. Wolf signed House Bill 1024 into law, which permanently allows for remote consultations, according to a statement from Pennsylvania Department of Health deputy press secretary Maggi Barton.

The bill also made other changes including what conditions qualify and how dispensaries can operate, Barton said.

So, how do you go about getting certified for medical marijuana in Pennsylvania now, and what is the process like? Here is what you need to know:

What conditions qualify for medical marijuana in Pennsylvania?

You have to have at least one of about two dozen qualifying medical conditions to participate in the Commonwealths medical marijuana program. According to the state, those conditions are:

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Anxiety disorders

Autism

Cancer, including remission therapy

Crohns disease

Damage to the nervous tissue of the central nervous system (brain-spinal cord) with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, and other associated neuropathies

Dyskinetic and spastic movement disorders

Epilepsy

Glaucoma

HIV / AIDS

Huntingtons disease

Inflammatory bowel disease

Intractable seizures

Multiple sclerosis

Neurodegenerative diseases

Neuropathies

Opioid use disorder for which conventional therapeutic interventions are contraindicated or ineffective, or for which adjunctive therapy is indicated in combination with primary therapeutic interventions

Parkinsons disease

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin or severe chronic or intractable pain

Sickle cell anemia

Terminal illness

Tourette syndrome

Youll need documentation of your diagnosis, which will be reviewed and evaluated by a physician. You can get records through your health-care providers online portal or by contacting with them directly.

A copy of their last office note, an after-visit summary, [or] a printout list of their diagnoses would be helpful, Jennifer Minkovich, a Philadelphia-area physician who offers remote consultations, said last year. Really, anything from their health-care provider that simply states their name and diagnosis would be sufficient.

How to register online for Pennsylvanias program

If you qualify, you can register for the medical marijuana program online through the state health departments Medical Marijuana Registry.

Youll need to provide your name, address, and contact information, and must have a state-issued drivers license or identification card. Your address needs to be exactly as it appears on your state ID.

Be meticulous, Minkovich said.

How to get a remote consultation

There isnt an official list of registered doctors who are offering remote consultations. The state health department, however, provides a list of Pennsylvania physicians who are registered with the program.

New patients should look at the list on our website and find a registered physician, and then call to determine if a remote consultation is available, former state health department press secretary Nate Wardle said in 2020.

Consultations are generally not covered by insurance, so you will have to pay for it out of pocket. If youre a new patient, it will usually cost between $125 and $199, and take about 15 to 30 minutes.

Some organizations hold certification events, where they do individual consultations with a batch of patients on a particular day.

 READ MORE: Can I be evicted for using medical marijuana?

The Pittsburgh-based All Life Advanced Care Centers, for example, has an online form where patients can sign up for a consultation and become certified, if they qualify, president Carla Mader said last year. That group began doing consultations remotely with physicians in late March 2020, and helps patients through the registration process.

What is a remote consultation like?

Remote consultations are not much different than traditional office visits for a medical marijuana certification, Minkovich said  theyre just by phone or video.

The consultation is just a discussion; a physical exam is not required, she said.

The practitioner will typically ask about your medical history, give you an overview of the states medical marijuana program, and tell you what to expect when visiting a dispensary.

 READ MORE: Is it legal to smoke weed at the shore?

How to get your card after being certified

Once certified, you can log into your Medical Marijuana Registry account and pay for your medical marijuana card. The fee is $50; if youre on a program like Medicaid and WIC, you could get that refunded. You should get your card in the mail within seven to 10 days.

Getting marijuana from an approved dispensary

Once you get your medical marijuana card, you can make a purchase at a dispensary. You can find one near you on the state health departments website.

Pennsylvania dispensaries are operating differently now than before the pandemic, and some of those changes have become permanent. You can pickup curbside and buy up to a 90-day supply of cannabis at a time. (Previously, dispensaries needed to do their business indoors and could only sell a 30-day supply).

 READ MORE: Live your best life in Philly: Read our most useful stories here

Expert sources:
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday hailed accredited social health activists, auxiliary nurse and midwives and anganwadi workers for their role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, saying they are "true patriots" who toil to keep communities safe in the midst of this grave crisis.

In an environment where fear and misinformation pose a bigger danger than the virus itself, community workers have a key role to play in educating people about the dangers of COVID-19 and the manner in which it is transmitted, Gandhi said



In a message for Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), Auxiliary Nurse and Midwives (ANMs) and Anganwadi Workers, he said they are working with dedication and courage, putting their lives at risk, on the frontlines of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The greatest form of patriotism is to serve our country in her hour of need. Our community workers are true patriots, our unsung heroes, who toil tirelessly away from the limelight, to keep our communities safe in the midst of this grave crisis," the former Congress chief said.

"As a nation, we owe them and their families a huge debt of gratitude for the tremendous personal sacrifices each of them is making. I hope that when this crisis is over their exemplary service will serve as a catalyst for deep-rooted change in their conditions of work," he said.

Gandhi said he salutes each and every community worker for their service to the nation and prays that they and their families will remain safe during this pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With Australians stuck inside the house during the coronavirus pandemic heading out on the town for now is a distant memory.

One hilarious way some people have thought up to still enjoy a social outing is to get dressed up to take the bins to the kerb.

And with the bins heading out more than most people, the trend has become quite popular.

The Facebook group 'Bin isolation outing' has more than 400,000 members and features pictures of people dressed up in everything from ball gowns with high heels to colourful costumes and super hero outfits.

Group administrator Danielle Askew told Daily Mail that the community started as a way to 'just have a bit of fun' during social distancing.

One hilarious way some people have thought up to still enjoy a social outing is to get dressed up to take the bins to the kerb

This woman wanted to enjoy a night out but wrote that her date was 'rubbish' on the 'bin isolation outing' page

Ball gown also feature quite often on the page with people wanting the chance to dress up during the lockdowns

'My friend posted a meme on Facebook about being excited it's bin night so they get to go out,' Ms Askew said.

'I dared her to dress up and said I would too. Then I made the page so all my friends could join in and dress up too.'

Ms Askew, from Hervey Bay in Queensland, dressed up in a blue dress as Else from the animated movie Frozen.

Super hero costumes also feature quite often on the page with this woman dressing up as Catwoman

This woman setup a tea party with some quiet guests during the coronavirus pandemic

Suits are also quite popular with this man donning a waistcoat and fedora for his trip to the kerb

She said she was quite nervous when she walked from the front door to the kerb but once the nerves subsided she got more comfortable and gave the neighbours a wave.

The trend has now caught the attention of others around the world and now people from other countries are joining in on the fun.

'I'm blown away at how it took off, all over the country and the world. It is something to do in a chaotic world that we are in at the moment. A reason to dress up, have a smile and a laugh.'

She said in normal times taking the bin out is a chore but with the way things are at the moment it brings 'a little bit of comic relief' and is just plain 'hilarious.'

This girl celebrated her 16th birthday this week by taking her green wheelie bin out

This woman said she quite literally wheeled her wheelie bin out for collection

Pets are even joining in on the trend with this pup dressed up as a superhero
Police on Friday



seized an unspecified quantity of India made foreign liquor (IMFL) from an ambulance in Malda district of West Bengal and arrested its two occupants.

The private ambulance, carrying no patient, was being used to ferry liquor during the lockdown period, police said.

Policemen found that the ambulance was carrying several cartons of liquor bottles during checking on a state highway at Aiho locality under Habibpur police station area, Malda SP Alok Rajoria said.

The vehicle and the liquor bottles were seized.

The SP said the occupants of the ambulance were being questioned to find out details of the consignment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Various countries have handled the outbreak of coronavirus in their own different ways

Various countries have handled the outbreak of coronavirus in their own different ways. Each country's journey has been marked by delay in several decisions, be it delays in imposing travel bans, initiating screening measures or in delaying the eventual lockdown. A combination of these mistakes has resulted in the ensuing struggle that most countries have faced, as they have struggled to contain the outbreak from growing exponentially.

In contrast, the Indian response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been very proactive. Its decisions were early, initially met with scepticism from critics within India and outside. These decisions now stand vindicated, as several countries have ended up taking pretty much the same decisions that India took very early on in its efforts to flatten the curve.

Recently, a chart was put out by the website Our World in Data, which essentially plotted Government Response Stringency Indices for various countries. The Index essentially is a sum of seven response indicators which including school closures, workplace closures and travel bans among others and subsequently rescaled to a value from 0 to 100 (100 = strictest response).

This chart has been prepared by Our World in Data and the SDG-Tracker, which are collaborative efforts between researchers at the University of Oxford, who are the scientific editors of the website content.

The charts drawn up clearly demonstrated the seriousness, scale and swiftness of the Indian response, as government stringency swiftly escalated within a short span of time, as the reader sees India coming out on the top compared to every other country.

The fact that India's actions were stringent and early is a direct result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's risk-taking ability, taking many decisions knowing that they come with the potential of significant political blowback.

It is not that this COVID-19 challenge has been surmounted; we still have a long way to go. But looking at how many other countries are now doing what we started out with, it does look like India is on the right track.

India starts with screening, stays ahead of the curve

Some of the decisions by India were taken well ahead of global standards, even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) itself gave very conservative estimates of the situation. Just note the following chronology related to screening.

On 17 January, screening of international passengers at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi began. This was when India did not even have a single case.

Even before hitting a single case of COVID-19, India had already prohibited the export of N95 masks and PPE.

By 30 January, the day India's first case of COVID-19 was reported, screening of passengers with travel history from China at 20 airports along with land border vigils was already underway.

On the same day, the government started to test all those who came from China after 15 January and advised 14 days of home isolation for them.

Contact tracing and symptomatic patients' testing was initiated within January 2020 itself to identify patients coming from abroad.

Soon, the government took the harsh decision to scrap visas gradually. Criticised at first, the step was later seen as vital, as the realisation of countless lives being saved turned up. Seeing the situation in China, all e-visa facilities for Chinese nationals were suspended on 3 February, when India had not even seen 10 cases.

By 11 March, all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/international organisations, employment and project visas, were suspended till 15 April.

Early lockdown: A tough political decision taken in national interest

On 22 March, India went into a self-imposed curfew  a "Janta Curfew"  when the nation had only seen 390 cases. The Janta Curfew gave the government and the people time to step into an actual lockdown. Within two days, the leadership displayed more of its ability to stay ahead of the curve, when on 24 March, at just 562 cases, it announced a complete lockdown. At the time, many people were calling India's actions unnecessary, and criticised the stringency of the lockdown.

In retrospect, the Modi government has been proven right, as many countries seen as seemingly managing the COVID-19 pandemic better like Singapore and Japan also announced lockdowns of their own to flatten the curve and curb the spread of COVID-19. Many other countries like Mauritius, South Africa and Fiji among others, especially in the developing world also took a leaf from India's book and announced their own lockdowns soon enough.

Further, one of the points of concern had been the economic damage that the poor would suffer. However, the government immediately announced relief packages for the poor and farmers. The RBI pitched in with measures that benefit industry, business and middle class.

So, it turned out to be a good combination of hard decisions and softening the blow of a lockdown. India has been ahead of the curve in dealing with a pandemic of this scale, and each passing day is showing just how invaluable decisive leadership has been in facing an invisible but deadly enemy like COVID-19.
The renewable energy sector is pressing for the "phase 4" coronavirus response bill to provide the aid that was omitted from the recent $2 trillion rescue package  and they might have a wider opening this time around.

Why it matters: Wind and solar developers are warning of project cancelations and layoffs as activity is frozen, supply chains are disrupted, and companies risk missing deadlines to use tax credits.

Where it stands: The industry has been seeking provisions including extended deadlines to qualify for incentives, and the ability to receive them as upfront payments because the collapsing economy is freezing the tax financing market.

The odds: While the next package, like the last one, will be the stuff of intense lobbying from a range of industries, there's reason to think the sector could have a chance.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has listed the energy grid and infrastructure more broadly among the areas she'd like to address.

The first bills were largely emergency rescue and stabilization plans, the next phase is shaping up as a better fit with the notion of stimulus and recovery.

President Trump yesterday tweeted that he wants to revive focus on infrastructure (though he's not a fan of renewables).

The White House and Republicans didn't get their sought-after $3 billion for buying oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the last package, so that could be an energy-related bargaining chip.

But, but, but: All that said, it's not clear how wide the opening is. For one thing, a bipartisan infrastructure deal is almost a mythical beast  spoken of at times, but never materializing.

Plus, Republicans, like last time around, are warning Democrats against what they're framing as extraneous provisions.

Via NBC News, Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News on Tuesday that "it is not time to do the Green New Deal."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell yesterday told conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt: "Im not going to allow this to be an opportunity for the Democrats to achieve unrelated policy items that they would not otherwise be able to pass."

What they're saying: Bill Parsons, COO of the American Council on Renewable Energy, tells me via email...

"Now that Congress is turning its attention to infrastructure and other sector-specific concerns, we want to make sure policymakers understand the significant supply chain disruptions and other pandemic-related project delays currently threatening the jobs of hundreds of thousands of workers in the renewable sector and the time-sensitive tax incentives on which those projects depend."

The industry "wants to be a key economic driver to help the nation through this downturn, as well as an effective climate solution over the long haul."

The big picture: The International Energy Agency wants to help governments weave climate-friendly provisions into economic recovery packages crafted in response to coronavirus.

IEA head Fatih Birol said via Twitter that they're preparing a report that will "offer actionable measures for governments to support economic recovery & job creation while achieving structural emissions reductions."

Birol also met remotely yesterday to discuss the topic with EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson and Frans Timmermans, who is the European Commission's executive vice president in charge of the European Green Deal.

Go deeper: Coronavirus response should promote clean energy  IEA
More than 30 states and union territories in the country are now hit by the coronavirus disease as Maharastra, the worst-hit region, recorded 1586 cases of Covid-19 and 97 deaths on Friday.

There are 6412 cases of the coronavirus disease and 199 people have died in India till date, the Union home ministry said on Friday morning. There are 5709 active cases and 503 people have been cured or discharged, the Union health ministry data showed at 8am.

Also read: India gears up to begin plasma therapy trials

Heres a look at the state data on the active Covid-19 cases, deaths and the number of patients who have cured or discharged:

Maharashtra

Maharashtra, the worst-affected state in the country, has seen 1364 coronavirus cases and 125 patients have recovered. State health minister Rajesh Tope indicated that the nationwide lockdown in place from March 25 could continue after April 14.

We are monitoring how the number of cases is increasing in districts. We are also looking at the advisories of the Centre. Based on that, we can decide to relax the lockdown in areas where there are no cases, Tope said on Thursday.

Senior officials said the government could decide after Prime Minister Narendra Modis meeting with chief ministers on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu has reported 863 Covid-19 cases, the second second-highest number in the country, 21 recoveries and eight Covid-19 deaths.

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said on Thursday that the decision on extending the lockdown will be taken after consulting experts after holding a meeting with the panels set up to contain the diseases spread.

Also read: Woman, 50, rides 1,400 km on scooty to bring back son stranded in Andhra

We are now in stage two, and there is a chance for progression into stage three. The government is taking all the steps to confine the infection to stage two, the chief minister said.

Delhi

Delhi with 757 Covid-19 patients the third-highest number of coronavirus cases in the country. The Union health ministry data shows there are 720 active cases of Covid-19, 25 people have recovered and nine have died from the infection till date.

Rajasthan

The desert state, which is being recommended for its Bhilwara model of containment, has 487 Covid-19 patients, out of which 21 have been cured and three have died.

Telangana

This southern state follows Rajasthan closely with 484 coronavirus disease patients till date. Telangana, which has seen 35 people recover and seven died because of Covid-19, was among one of the first states to pitch for the extension of lockdown.

Kerala

Kerala is the fifth most affected state in the country with 455 patients of coronavirus disease. There are 83 people in the state who have been cured and two have died of Covid-19.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state will make a decision on extending the three-week lockdown after the video conference with the Prime Minister on Saturday. The Indian Medical Associations Kerala chapter and many health experts have called for the lockdown to be prolonged.

Uttar Pradesh

Indias most populous state has seen 410 people have been infected from Covid-19 in the state, 31 recoveries and four have died of the infection. Uttar Pradeshs additional chief secretary Awanish Awasthi has said lifting the lockdown may not be possible.

The state government had on Wednesday sealed 105 areas in 15 Uttar Pradesh districts until April 15 to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease.

Andhra Pradesh

In Andhra Pradesh, there are 348 Covid-19 patients, six cases of recovery, four fatalities. The southern state has not taken any decision on lockdown extension.

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh, which has hinted that the lockdown will be extended, has 259 cases of coronavirus disease and according to central data. 16 people have died from Covid-19.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered the closure of the borders of three major cities of Bhopal, Indore and Ujjain and made it mandatory for people to wear masks.

The state has around 200 containment zones, where people will need to mandatorily keep indoors. No movement is allowed in these zones, of which there are 74 in Indore, 70 in Bhopal and six in Ujjain.

Karnataka

The state, which has 12 of its 30 districts free of the virus, has recorded 181 coronavirus disease cases, 28 people recoveries and discharges and five deaths due to Covid-19.

Chief minister BS Yediyurappa said an expert panel of doctors has unanimously recommended that the lockdown be extended for another fortnight. A final decision on the matter will be taken only after consulting PM Modi and experts on what to do, he added.

Gujarat

Gujarat has registered 241 Covid-19 patients and 25 people have recovered so far. There have been 17 fatalities from the infection in the state. The Prime Ministers home state has also hinted towards extending the 21-day lockdown beyond April 14.

Jammu and Kashmir

There are 166 cases of the coronavirus disease till date in the Union territory. Out of which, eight people have been cured and eight others have died.

Haryana

The northern state has 201 Covid-19 cases, 29 people have recovered and three have died. Haryana is likely to go along with the Centres decision.

Indications that the state is expecting an extended lockdown became apparent on Wednesday when chief minister ML Khattar held a video conference with opposition as well as religious denominations leaders, seeking help in persuading people to abide by stay-at-home orders.

Punjab

Punjab, which has not decided on the extension of the lockdown, has recorded 113 cases of the respiratory illness till date. Eight patients of Covid-19 have died and four have been sent home in this northern state.

West Bengal

West Bengal has seen 137 people infected with coronavirus so far. There have been five deaths and 16 recoveries in the eastern state.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with various chambers of commerce and representatives of micro, small and medium enterprises on Thursday to chalk out future plans on the lockdown.

I will put across my views if the Prime Minister consults the states before announcing anything. If the Centre takes a decision we will abide by it, Banerjee said.

Odisha

This state has 44 Covid-19 patients and out of which two have been sent home from hospitals and one has been died so far.

Odisha on Thursday extended the 21-day lockdown for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic until the end of the month as chief minister Naveen Patnaik said human life is more important than the economic losses.

Assam

The northeastern state reported its first Covid-19 related death on Friday as 65-year-old patient passed away at Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH). Assam has 29 positive cases till date and 28 of them have links to the Nizamuddin Markaz.

Manipur (2), Mizoram (1), Tripura (1) and Arunachal Pradesh (1) are other states in the region to have recorded positive cases, while Nagaland and Meghalaya dont have any case yet.

Uttarakhand has 40 Covid-19 patients and five people have recovered from the infection. Bihar has reported 39 cases of Covid-19 and one person has died.

Himachal Pradesh has 21 cases of the coronavirus disease, two patients have recovered and one has died. Chhattisgarh has recorded 10 cases of coronavirus and nine people have been cured.

Also read: Focus on 1.1k containment zones in Covid action plan

Jharkhand has 13 Covid-19 cases and Goa has reported seven coronavirus disease patients.

In Chandigarh, 18 people have contracted Covid-19 and seven have recovered. Ladakh has 25 cases and out of which 10 have recovered. Andaman and Nicobar has recorded 11 Covid-19 cases and Puducherry has reported five cases and one person has recovered.

Sikkim, Meghalaya and Nagaland have not reported any Covid-19 case yet.

Note: These figures are from data released by the Union ministry of health, and may differ from realtime numbers released by various state governments subject to confirmation from the Centre.
NIPS Hotel Management has been built on a tradition of providing quality education and unparalleled placements for close to three decades now.

NIPS achieved a milestone and have recently been awarded the "Black Swan Award for Best International Placement", 2019-2020 at the 13th Edition of Asian & Social Investor Forum 2019-20 & 4th Edition- Asia's Greatest Brands & Leaders 2019-20.

The grand event was held at The Marriott Marquis Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand and the event was marked by the presence of eminent personalities from different walks of society diplomats, ambassadors from across the globe.

NIPS Hospitality Group has been proudly decorated with the industry's top honors. Maintaining the undisputed legacy of quality placement all across the continents over two decades, NIPS added a feather in its cap with this award.

NIPS Hotel Management is proud recipients of eastern India ranked No 1 College in Hotel management category consequently four years in a row. Year after years NIPS Hotel management consistently delivers quality culinary education.

The awards signify our dedication to hospitality and especially to culinary education, students, faculty, and the chefs community. The graduates of NIPS Hotel Management learn to become important members of the global hospitality industry.

Their qualifications enable them to travel the world and share with others, their passion for leadership and creativity. The high and quality placement statistics of NIPS enables the students to intern with the icons and enable them to either work abroad or settle as a permanent resident in countries like USA, England, France, Canada, Germany, South Africa, China, Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Russia and so on.

Most of them are associated with renowned multinational brands like JW Marriott, Hilton, Taj, Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, Hyatt, Westin, Sheraton, WelcomeGroup, Leela Group, Qatar Airlines, Indigo, Spice Jet, Emirates, Royal Caribbean Cruises, American Cruise, Sodexo and so on.

Right from the first batch of students, who graduated in 1996, the noteworthy designations of NIPS alumni in all countries have brought laurels for NIPS.

They are now well established as general managers, executive chefs, food & beverage executives, front office executives, executive housekeepers, wine experts, mixologists, cruise managers, guest relation executives, and so on.

There has been a paradigm shift and Hotel and Hospitality education has evolved over the years and our alumni are not confined to a specific niche of the domain in this industry.

NIPS alumni are shining in cruise lines, airline catering & cabin service, food & confectionery production, multiplex, health & wellness, institutional & industrial catering, retail sector, event management, tour operators, travel agencies, government sectors like army, air force and navy, railways and other Govt and public sectors to name a few.

This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Anti-hunger advocates and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are in a dispute about the meaning of new legislation meant to give Americans additional food stamp benefits, known as SNAP benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. (Richard B. Levine/Sipa USA/TNS) Read more

As the nation fights the coronavirus, anti-hunger advocates are in a battle of their own with the U.S. Department of Agriculture over food stamp benefits for the poorest Americans.

Advocates charge that the USDA, which administers the program, will be temporarily boosting allotments for better-off recipients but not for the neediest  the result, they contend, of the agencys misreading of language in a new law that disburses emergency funds during the latter part of April.

According to the USDAs interpretation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, some 60% of the nearly 40 million Americans who receive food stamps  or SNAP benefits, for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Act  will see a $1.7 billion increase in each of two monthly allotments for March and April. But the other 40%, the lowest-income recipients, will get nothing extra to help see them through the pandemic.

In drafting the legislation, signed into law on March 18, Congress intended to enable SNAP households to purchase two weeks worth of food to have on hand during stay-at-home orders and business closures, according to Ann Sanders, public policy advocate for Just Harvest, an anti-hunger organization in Pittsburgh. This would limit the number of their trips to grocery stores, thereby helping maintain social distancing, Sanders said.

The controversy centers on a single paragraph in the act.

It says that the USDA will provide emergency allotments to households participating in [SNAP] ... to address temporary food needs not greater than the applicable maximum monthly allotment for the household size.

By instructing the USDA to provide emergency allotments to SNAP households, the act stipulates that the agency must increase benefits to all people in the program, Sanders and others inferred. The only caveat is that the emergency money shouldnt exceed maximum allotment levels.

Typically, SNAP benefits are capped according to household size and poverty level: A single person can receive up to $194 a month; for two people, its $355; for three, $509; for four, $646. It goes up to families of eight, whose caps are $1,018. Families bigger than that can add $146 per person. Under the new law, for instance, a family of three getting $200 a month in SNAP benefits will receive a bump to the maximum $509 for each of two months.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters.

As the USDA interprets the new law, the term emergency allotment doesnt mean an extra layer of funding to be applied to existing benefits. The agency is saying emergency money should go only to households that do not receive maximum allotments.

This omits the poorest households, which currently receive the highest possible levels of benefits.

According to the Families First Act, the USDA said in a statement, "SNAP households that currently receive the maximum allotment are not eligible for an emergency allotment.

That, said Sanders, is the more stringent interpretation, and less money than if the USDA gave everyone an emergency allotment. To correct it, she added, some members of Congress are drafting a letter of intent to the Trump administration stating that the USDAs reading of the law is not what federal legislators wanted.

Sanders also said that the USDA interpretation will make it harder for the lowest income families to follow self-distancing, as per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also means such families cant have a stockpile of food, cant fill their cupboards.

Kathy Fisher, policy director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, called the USDAs interpretation of the act "infuriating.

Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, headquartered in New York, agreed, adding, Its great we helped some families, but if we fail the neediest families, then its a failed public policy.

Challenging time

In a statement, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said: USDA is committed to maximizing our services and flexibilities to ensure children and others who need food can get it during this coronavirus epidemic.

This is a challenging time for many Americans, he said, "but it is reassuring to see President Trump and our fellow Americans stepping up to the challenges facing us to make sure kids and those facing hunger are fed.

In addition to the USDAs alternative view of the emergency allotment, representatives of the Washington-based Food Research & Action Center are puzzled by something else: Why is the agency allowing an increase in benefits for just two months?

Nothing in what Congress wrote mentions limiting the emergency funding to two months, said Ellen Vollinger, legal director of FRAC, the nations largest anti-hunger lobbying group. Its certainly not helping the poorest.

USDA officials did not address the issue.

15% increase

As of February, 1,737,459 individual Pennsylvanians were receiving SNAP benefits, including 448,279 in Philadelphia, according to the Greater Philadelphia Coalition.

Advocates said that numbers reflecting coronavirus-related increases in SNAP enrollment have not been tabulated yet.

More than 100 lawmakers sent a letter this week asking congressional leaders to boost SNAP benefits for all recipients by 15%. That request, which was rejected, had originally been made as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act, signed into law March 27.

Legislators are also asking that the minimum SNAP allotment be increased from $16 a month to $30.
Eventually, the pandemic came up. Of course it did. Scott Lauze was on a teleconference with other psychiatrists like himself. This new way of living, they said, one after another, was surreal.

And a number of people in the room  and they were, you know, white, older (50s and 60s) well-educated people  said that they had never in their lifetime imagined that anything like this could happen. It felt incomprehensible to them.

I was thinking Wow. Thats so not my experience.

His colleagues couldnt imagine a chaotic government response or empty streets or an ever-growing list of the dead, but he could. He had lived it once before, as HIV/AIDS killed thousands of gay men and infected millions of others.

When he heard about an Italian newspaper, its front page covered in death notices and nothing else, he thought about the Castros Bay Area Reporter. Every day the newspaper would come out, people would look to see which of their friends had died. The empty streets today remind him of the Castro back then, quiet, stripped of vibrancy.

There was a moment during that teleconference, Lauze says, where I didnt feel like I was a part of society. It just reminded me of those years, feeling like, somehow, my experience was not real.

Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

Theres no sense in comparing the two viruses  the novel coronavirus and HIV. They are not alike, not in speed or reach or genome. And yet, survivors cant help but draw parallels between the two crises. They understand today with a clarity many do not.

Ive been to so many funerals and spent so much time in ICUs, its not even funny  lovers, friends, friends of friends, says David Donovan, another San Francisco psychiatrist. He moved to the city in 1989; before that he was in Los Angeles, another place where the gay community was devastated by HIV/AIDS. All of this just reverberates against the memories from before. You just cant help it. Its a human thing.

We all have pictures in our head we dont want.

What reverberates for each person is different  how they handle it, too.

Its very interesting for me to see how different people are moved or touched by this, Gregg Cassin says. He leads a program for long-term HIV/AIDS survivors, and those whod like to hear their stories, called Honoring Our Experience at Shanti Project. For some people, its very, very painful and triggering. Some people, they are reflective and pensive and theyre very aware of how different it feels to have a whole world that becomes motivated to respond, and to feel like for several years our community just begged and pleaded for help.

Manjula Varghese / The Chronicle 2019

A few days ago, Jesus Guillen, a long-term AIDS survivor and community activist, came across a news report about a nurse in Italy who killed herself after testing positive for the coronavirus. She did not want to spread the virus, the reports said. If I start crying, Guillen says, dont mind me. Guillen tested positive for HIV 35 years ago. My question has been, through my life: How many people did I infect with this virus we still have no cure for?

In San Francisco, there are something like 2,700 people still living who were diagnosed with HIV before 1996, Guillen says. These are the latest numbers. From pandemic to pandemic to pandemic, they still have no cure. And many of these people or most of these people saw all their friends and lovers die. And to be in that same space again, afraid maybe the ones that you have still might die 

To bear witness to an epidemic twice is a frustrating and maddening thing. Longtime gay rights activist Cleve Jones draws parallels between the government response then and now. Both pandemics began with a Republican president in the White House who did not perceive the gravity of the situation, who failed to lead the country, he says. Back then, it was a gay cancer. Now, its a Chinese virus. Bigotry on both counts, Jones says. No virus has a nationality. No virus has sexuality.

What comes next seems obvious to him and to others. Racial disparities are revealing themselves within this new pandemic  something still true of HIV/AIDS. Where the epidemic really settled was in the South and in communities of color, Jones says. And even today, all these decades later, we still see that in that Deep South  people still getting infected and still dying.

Eric Risberg / Associated Press 2001

Hank Trout is angry, too. He wrote an essay in late March about the parallels for A&U Magazine. He runs down a list of all the ways the government failed him and his community decades ago.

But hes also scared, and so are many of the long-term survivors he knows. He talks about a collective sense of doom. Im 67. I tested positive 31 years ago. My immune system is shot to hell, Trout says. So Im in that group thats most likely to die from this virus. He laughs a short, maybe bitter laugh. Its great incentive for staying indoors Ill tell ya.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Theres another piece to all this, too. Good memories  or hopeful ones, at least  rub up against the bad.

There are memories tucked away  memories if I really think about them Ill start to shiver, Donovan says. And there were heroes. There were helpers. There were moments of community and solidarity. It was something beautiful.

Shanti Project was made up of those heroes, and now, Cassin says, the citys Department of Disability and Aging Services is looking to that group to mobilize the same sort of response they aimed against the threat of HIV/AIDS. The response, he says, is overwhelming. They cannot hold the hands of the dying as they once did, but they will be shopping, delivering medicine and dog walking. Theyll be offering a lifeline to the most vulnerable.

I hope that everybody can identify for themselves one way that they can contribute to this fight, Jones says. Find a use. It could be as simple as checking in on your neighbors who are isolated.

Find one thing, and do it.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle 2018

Guillen doesnt know why he lived. He doesnt know why anybody did, really. Some survivors sought every new therapy, even as one after another failed. Some took the breakthrough three-drug cocktail right as it came out in 1996. Others waited. Whatever it is, he says, Somehow we find a reason to live, a reason to be here.

Probably others would offer different advice, but if somebody is asking him for a way forward, Guillen offers this: Its not easy to say smile, but it helps. Find something to learn, and listen to music and watch funny movies. Keep seeing possibilities.

Ryan Kost is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkost@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @RyanKost
Volunteers taking part in an initiative in Israel are assisting doctors and healthcare workers in everyday life tasks so they can focus on the fight against coronavirus.

Besides providing protective gear and other medical supplies, an army of volunteers has spread across the country, carrying out grocery shops, delivering home-cooked meals, babysitting children and even walking the pets of health care workers.

Adi Karmon Scope, the founder of the initiative said that the aim is to ''make sure that our medical teams are taken care of, all their personal lives are taken care of so they can really focus on only being a professional and at their best in the hospitals."

She uploaded a Facebook post calling on Israelis to assist those on the frontline of the pandemic, the health care professionals who are saving lives while being exposed to long hours in hospitals and the families they have left behind.

In less than three weeks, more than 10,000 have signed up to the initiative.

In Israel, over 9,000 people have contracted coronavirus and more than 70 have died.

The government imposed severe restrictions on movement to try to slow the spread of COVID-19, but it brought out a sense of solidarity across vulnerable neighbourhoods,

Einat Kedem, a 51-year-old digital project manager from Raanana in central Israel was enthusiast to help those on the frontline of the battle against coronavirus.

She said in her community it was way they could "feel like a part of something," despite having to stay at home most of the time.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.
Ashley Tisdale has been giving her 12.3million Instagram followers plenty of quality content during self-quarantine.

The Disney alum recently teamed up with her High School Musical co-stars for a dance-along 14 years later.

She shared her makeup routine Wednesday, posting an Instagram TV video of the tutorial with her dog Sushi.

Makeup routine: Ashley Tisdale shared her makeup routine Wednesday, posting an Instagram TV video of the tutorial with her dog Sushi

The 34-year-old went through the makeup look she has been wearing around the house in recent weeks.

She captioned the video: 'My Everyday Self Quarantine makeup. Sometimes just putting on some makeup can feel a bit normal!'

Tisdale said in the video: 'Today I wanted to do a little makeup tutorial for you all. I mentioned doing one on my Instagram, and I got a lot of comments, so I figured I would show you my self-quarantine everyday makeup.'

While Ashley isnt seeing anyone at home, she still likes to do her hair and makeup on 'some days,' as it helps her 'feel a bit normal' despite the circumstances.

Quarantine glam: She captioned the video: 'My Everyday Self Quarantine makeup. Sometimes just putting on some makeup can feel a bit normal!'

Beauty vibes: While Ashley isnt seeing anyone at home, she still likes to do her hair and makeup on 'some days,' as it helps her 'feel a bit normal' despite the circumstances

Natural look: For her makeup, the Suite Life of Zack & Cody star kept things natural with a simple brown eyeshadow look and nude lip

She added: 'Some days, you know, where I feel like I just want to feel a bit normal, I definitely do my hair and my makeup and it makes me feel like - you know, I get dressed and it's a normal day even though I don't go anywhere.'

For her makeup, the Suite Life of Zack & Cody star kept things natural with a simple brown eyeshadow look and nude lip.

And although she didnt mention every product she used in her routine, she did specify using the Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation, as well as the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer.

Reunited: Last month, she was joined virtually by Vanessa Hudgens to perform Were All In This Together from High School Musical

Disney days: They starred together in the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie and the sequels in 2007 and 2008

Tisdale used the Nars Multiple Blush in the shade Orgasm as she gushed over her love for cream blushes, and she finished the look off with a Fenty Beauty lip color.

At the end of her video, she said: 'I will usually put this on, like I said, when I feel like getting ready for the day and doing some TikTok videos. But I hope you guys are staying in, staying safe, and I hope you liked this tutorial.'

Last month, she was joined virtually by Vanessa Hudgens to perform Were All In This Together from High School Musical.

They starred together in the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie and the sequels in 2007 and 2008, before she got her 2011 spin-off film Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure.
BENI, CongoA new case of the Ebola virus has been confirmed in eastern Congo, just three days before the country expected to declare an end to the outbreak, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The new case was confirmed in Beni, a community that had been an epicentre of the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.

It had been nearly 42 days without a case, and WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Congos declaration had been planned for Monday. We have been preparing for and expecting more cases, he said, reflecting the caution that mixed with optimism in recent days.

I am sad, WHO Africa chief Matshidiso Moeti said in a tweet.

Health workers in Congo had been awaiting the end of one global public health emergency  Ebola  while bracing for the arrival of another: the coronavirus. Already, two coronavirus cases have been reported in Beni.

Well just have to go for another 42 days, or the required period of time without a case for the Ebola outbreak to be declared over, said Mike Ryan, the emergencies chief for the WHO.

Maybe thats our lesson for COVID-19: there is no exit strategy until youre in control of the situation, Ryan said. You must always be ready to start again  never be surprised.

The Ebola outbreak has claimed more than 2,260 lives  second to the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa.

The current outbreak declared in August 2018 has occurred in especially challenging conditions amid deadly rebel attacks, community suspicion and some of the worlds weakest infrastructure in remote areas. Some Ebola responders were attacked and killed.

And yet, the outbreak has seen the use of experimental Ebola vaccines, a welcome development in fighting one of the worlds most notorious diseases.

In Beni on Friday, some residents were crushed.

Its really a shame, said Mbusa Kyota, who had just heard the news of the new Ebola case on the radio. Now doctors, and the population, have to multiply their efforts to defeat this outbreak one more time.

Health workers had already been turning their Ebola messaging and other efforts to fighting the coronavirus.

This is a devastating development for the communities in eastern (Congo) who are also under threat from the coronavirus outbreak, in addition to ongoing conflict and displacement, Kate Moger, a regional vice-president with the International Rescue Committee, said in a statement.
Kate Garraway joined the nationwide applause in honour of the NHS, police and key workers during the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, amid her husband Derek Draper's battle with COVID-19.

It was confirmed last week that the Good Morning Britain star's husband had been admitted to intensive care and had tested positive for COVID-19.

Kate joined her children Darcey, 14, and William, 10, outside their home to celebrate the the hard work of those battling coronavirus, sharing a video of a fireworks display put on by her neighbours.

Support: Kate Garraway joined the nationwide applause in honour of the NHS, police and key workers during the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, amid her husband Derek Draper's battle with COVID-19 (pictured December 2019)

She wrote: 'The neighbours added some extra sparkle to tonights #clapforcarers . Thank you thank you. you are all amazing.'

In the clip, Kate's children can be seen watching the fireworks with awe, as applause is heard in the background.

While Kate did not give an update on her husband's condition, she was inundated with good wishes from followers.

One wrote: S'end thoughts to you and your family! Hope your husband is recovering xx' while another added: Thoughts are with you and the children dear Kate and sending positive vibes to your darling Derek.'

Support: Kate joined her children Darcey, 14, and William, 10, outside their home to celebrate the the hard work of those battling coronavirus, sharing a video of a fireworks display put on by her neighbours

A third wrote: H'ope your husband is getting better kate.'

It comes one week after it emerged Derek was battling COVID-19 in intensive care, after being admitted to the hospital one week beforehand and testing positive for the virus.

Kate who hasn't been tested but is displaying 'mild symptoms' is self-isolating at home with their two children.

Just days ago, the presenter voiced her fears on Good Morning Britain after meeting with Prince Charles before he tested positive for coronavirus.

She spoke about their encounter live on air, revealing that the pair had got 'relatively close' at the Prince's Trust Awards on March 11.

Sparkle; In the clip, Kate's children can be seen watching the fireworks with awe, as applause is heard in the background

Kate's spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Kate's husband, Derek Draper, has been taken to hospital and is being treated in intensive care with a confirmed case of COVID-19.

He was admitted on Monday and has since tested positive for the virus.

'Kate, hasn't been tested, however she has also been displaying mild symptoms, also since Monday, and as a result has been on strict isolation with her children at home.'

A source added to The Sun: 'This is a desperate situation for Kate who is sick with worry about Derek's health.

'She is obviously off TV too. Everyone at GMB is so worried for her.'

Thank you: The star thanked key workers in an emotional Instagram post

Kate shared a video of herself clapping for the NHS earlier this month where she said her family had an 'extra special reason' to clap for our carers.

She wrote: 'We had a an extra special reason to #clapthecarers in our house tonight but there's a special reason for us all isn't there.

'Thank thank you to all the health workers caring for our loved ones and key workers keeping our lives going [clapping emojis] you are incredible.'

For the past two weeks, NHS workers have been the recipients of the cheers and claps from the nation.

But last week the event, organised by the Clap For Our Carers campaign, was expanded to include all key workers, such as supermarket staff, the emergency services and teachers who are continuing to work.

Tough times: It comes one week after it emerged Derek was battling COVID-19 in intensive care, after being admitted to the hospital one week beforehand and testing positive for the virus (pictured December 2019)

It comes as an urgent new appeal was launched tonight in an attempt to raise millions of pounds to support NHS nurses, doctors, staff and volunteers.

NHS Charities Together hopes the #OneMillionClaps campaign will raise at least 5million.

The appeal will be promoted with a short film voiced by David Walliams and featuring NHS staff and people from across the UK.

#OneMillionClaps is part of National COVID-19 URGENT APPEAL, which was launched two weeks ago by NHS Charities Together - the official umbrella organisation for NHS charities.

The appeal asks people to donate 5 by texting the word 'CLAP' followed by any messages of support to 70507.

Heartfelt: Kate shared a video of herself clapping for the NHS earlier this month where she said her family had an 'extra special reason' to clap for our carers

Each 5 donation will be used to provide a range of supplies and support for NHS staff and volunteers- including food, travel, accommodation and counselling. Individual messages of support will be also forwarded to local NHS charities and sent to the donors' local hospital.

The goal is to inspire at least a million people to donate 5 - meaning more than 5million will be raised for NHS staff in just one evening.

The UK recorded 881 more coronavirus deaths on Thursday, taking Britain's total to 7,978 as its coronavirus crisis rumbles on and 4,344 more positive tests pushed the number of patients, past and present, to 65,077.
US drugmaker Pfizer said on Thursday that early data has helped it identify a drug candidate with the potential to help treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus. It also finalised a plan to develop a coronavirus vaccine in partnership with German drugmaker BioNTech SE and said the companies hope to produce millions of vaccines by the end of 2020. The companies said they plan to start trials of the vaccine as early as this month. Data from preclinical studies of a compound that was originally developed to treat SARS  a different coronavirus that caused a ...
A new study published in the British Medical Journal in April 2020 suggests that the number of people infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ( SARS-CoV-2) is astonishingly higher than the number of cases reported so far. This could help shape future social distancing measures.

With the spread of COVID-19 all over the world, causing over 1.5 million cases and over 95,000 deaths so far, many countries have enacted social distancing measures to reduce the transmission rate and bring down the mortality as quickly as possible. Such measures consist basically of keeping infected people away from those who are not, primarily due to the absence of a vaccine.

As a result of these measures, public health authorities hope to flatten the curve of the epidemic. However, once these are rescinded, the virus will resume its uninterrupted spread, fear many experts.

At present, most tests are taking place within hospitals, within the UK as well as in many other countries. Thus, the number of reported cases is mostly parallel to the number of symptomatic cases. However, the true number of infected asymptomatic people is still unknown  nor is the risk of transmission due to these cases. These numbers may hold the key to understanding the true risk of transmissibility.

Measuring forehead by infrared for COVID-19. Study: COVID-19: four fifths of cases are asymptomatic, China figures indicate. Image Credit: Robert Kneschke / Shutterstock

The study

The study is based on a compilation of Chinese data published by the authorities there from April 1, reporting the number of new but asymptomatic coronavirus cases. They stated that 130 of 166 new cases (78%) detected over a 24-hour period up to the afternoon of April 1 were asymptomatic. The 36 symptomatic cases involved arrivals from overseas, as per the National Health Commission of China. Moreover, the South China Morning Post cites classified sources to indicate the finding of over 43,000 cases of asymptomatic infection through contact tracing. These cases are being kept in isolation, along with their contacts, to prevent another wave of infections.

The current study suggests findings that are quite different from earlier studies. For example, a reading of the situation on the ship Diamond Princess showed that only about 113 (18%) of infected people were totally asymptomatic. In another study of the Japanese evacuees from Wuhan, only a third were asymptomatic despite being positive. Most earlier epidemics have caused symptomatic and, therefore, readily detectable infections.

The WHO said in February of this year that asymptomatic infections appears to be relatively rare and does not appear to be a major driver of transmission. However, a recent WHO report states that among infected people, 80% are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. The exact split between mild and no symptoms is unclear, however, as is the basis on which the asymptomatic cases were identified.

The current study also cites research from Vo, an isolated village of about 3,000 in Italy. Blanket testing was followed by the isolation of symptomatic as well as asymptomatic positives. This brought down the rate of positives by about 90% over ten days, from 3% of the population to 1%.

Immunologist Sergio Romagnani concluded that this shows that anywhere from 50% to 75% of infected cases showed no symptoms, while still being able to spread the virus freely. Another study in Iceland based on a widespread testing effort also supports the view that at least half the positives are asymptomatic. In stark contrast, most testing taking place in other parts of the world today is confined to people who have symptoms suggestive of coronavirus infection and go into hospital.

How the researchers did their calculations

Mathematical models are a powerful way to simulate a situation using math formulas and conditions that reflect the state of knowledge about virus transmission and generate reliable forecasts about the future course of the pandemic.

This type of modeling should include the susceptible population, the exposed population, the infected population, and the recovered population. The infected population subgroup should be identified as symptomatic and asymptomatic, in turn, to be included separately in the model. No current model includes all these parameters accurately because of the large amount of uncertainty about the numbers in this group.

For instance, all current models use data from people who have tested positive for the virus after developing symptoms. If asymptomatic people do indeed make up a vast majority of such infections, the modeling framework must be rethought. For one, the case fatality ratio would look quite different, because of the huge number added to the denominator (number of infected people).

Secondly, not much is known about how long an asymptomatic case remains so before displaying symptoms  another important modeling parameter. While a Singapore study suggests a gap of 1-3 days, this must be confirmed, in which case it will significantly add to the quality of modeling.

This is where the new study will need supporting information in the form of actual testing, either for the virus or better, from antibody testing. This data could help to frame better and more reliable modeling frameworks, which can, in turn, provide more reliable predictions that are of actual use to health authorities.

The final word will be available only much later when antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 becomes widespread. Such tests are a long way off at present but could inform decisions on social distancing extensions. If much of the population is already immune, for instance, restrictions on social mixing could be lifted earlier due to herd immunity. However, if the tests show a large pool of non-immune people, the measures would have to be continued much longer until an effective vaccine is found and has been effectively administered to at-risk groups, at least.
(Bloomberg) -- Texas can once again clamp down on most abortions after a federal appeals court acted quickly Friday to slam shut a narrow opening an Austin judge created Thursday to let some abortions continue during the coronavirus epidemic.

Importantly, this time around the New Orleans appellate judges said women whose pregnancies will be too advanced to obtain legal abortions by the time the Texas governors public-health emergency decree expires may go ahead and get them. In an earlier order, in support of Texass ban, the same appellate judges foreclosed that option along with medication abortions that dont require masks and gloves.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott banned all non-essential medical procedures to conserve scarce medical equipment and hospital beds. The order is set to expire April 21, unless its extended.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Chynna Rogers, 25, in an image from her Instagram account, was a popular model-turned-rapper, who died Wednesday, April 8, 2020 at her Philadelphia home. The cause of death was an accidental drug overdose, said James Garrow, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Read more

Chynna Rogers, 25, the Philadelphia model and rapper known as Chynna, died Wednesday, April 8, of an accidental drug overdose, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health said Thursday.

She was found unresponsive at her Philadelphia home. She had residences here and in New York.

Ms. Rogers, who grew up in West Philadelphia and graduated from Lankenau High School, was 14 when she was signed with Ford Models after being discovered at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.

Chynna was deeply loved and will be sorely missed, the family said in a statement issued through her manager, John Miller.

A 2015 profile in The Inquirer noted that her quick delivery flows in and out of aggressive beats. Shes a female emcee who hates stereotypes and doesnt rap about sex, but who fits in with the rowdy boys of A$AP Mob, whom she calls close friends.

Although she was first known as a model, she had long dreamed of a career in music, according to Pitchfork magazine. She was still in high school when she sought out the producer Steven Rodriguez, better known as A$AP Yams, hoping he would help her.

 READ MORE: Chynna Rogers: Model and rapper and chasing more

Ms. Rogers described herself in a YouTube feature as a musician who raps. She was known as a talented rapper with a throaty alto voice sounding far more mature than her years.

In that same feature, Ms. Rogers voice becomes choked when thanking A$AP Yams, who formed the New York hip-hop collective A$AP Mob, for inspiring her music career. He died of an accidental overdose in 2015.

When you find someone like that, and they believe in you and have good things to say about you, you run with it, Ms. Rogers said. She went on to became associated with the A$AP Mob.

According to Pitchfork, Chynnas first online hits  2013s Selfie and 2014s Glen Coco  offered up her magnetic charisma, unfettered rawness, and natural understanding of form.

The magazine said she was open about her opiate addiction and brought her struggles out in her music. She released a 2016 mixtape, Ninety, on her 22nd birthday in August that year to acknowledge completing three months of sobriety.

In 2018, she told Vibe about her struggles: I felt crazy. I didnt want to be a statistic. It was nerve-wracking to be open, but when you see how many more people who are dealing with the same thing, its good to have some kind of example of someone you didnt expect to be going through it.

In 2019, she released a trio of singles: mood, asmr, and iddd, which stands for I dont do drugs. In the last of the three, she sings, I dont do drugs no more.

The last work she released was Decembers in case i die first EP.

There was no immediate information about services.
One of the plaintiffs, Craig Sussek, has kidney disease, making him more susceptible to COVID-19. He is eligible for parole for a crime he committed at 16 more than 20 years ago, the ACLU said.

Sussek shot a woman in the head with a 15-year-old friend, Joshua Briggs, while trying to steal her car. The woman, Jackie Millar, survived and has since forgiven Sussek after going through a restorative justice program. Sussek and Millar were both interviewed for the Oprah Winfrey TV show.

Millar was left partially paralyzed and legally blind. In a 1999 interview with the Wisconsin State Journal, Millar said she considers herself a mother not only to her two biological sons, but to Sussek and Briggs, who through the error that they made ... made their way into my heart.

Another plaintiff, Ramond Ninneman, 66, has cardiac disease, which leaves him with only 25% to 30% of his heart function and at a high risk of death or serious injury if he contracts COVID-19, the ACLU said. He has 16 months remaining of a two-year sentence.
As coronavirus cases continue to climb and the death toll grows in New Jersey, emergency rooms are reporting a decline in non-COVID-19 patients.

With non-essential businesses shuttered, many working from home and a growing list of places like boardwalks, beaches and parks closed to encourage social distancing, that may mean fewer auto accidents and generally fewer opportunities for the daily sorts of mishaps that land people in ERs with broken bones, sprains and cuts requiring stitches.

Others may be fearful of visiting an emergency room over worries that they could end up contracting the virus that has infected more than 51,000 and killed 1,700 in New Jersey.

In talking to our members, they report that the number of non-COVID cases in their emergency rooms are lower than normal, said Kerry McKean Kelly, vice president of communications and member services with the New Jersey Hospital Association. I think were seeing New Jerseyans being extra cautious about when they come to the (emergency department) and when they instead use an urgent care center or go to the doctors office.

While that may be a wise choice during the pandemic, Kelly and others are urging residents to continue seeking help for emergencies.

We are definitely seeing a decrease in our lower-acuity, walking well ED visits, said Dr. Christopher F. Freer, regional medical director of emergency services at North Jerseys RWJBarnabas Health. The company operates emergency departments in all 11 of its acute care hospitals and a satellite emergency department in Bayonne, and reported 742,000 emergency room visits last year. If you have something more minor, theyre definitely not coming here.

That said, they are still seeing patients with appendicitis and other serious health conditions unrelated to the pandemic. They see many patients who rely on emergency room services provided by RWJBarnabas Health.

You have a group of chronically ill patients that need services and they need emergency services, Freer said.

They normally see an average of 280 patients a day in their emergency departments, but are now seeing around 240, with half of those being patients showing COVID-19 symptoms.

Any patients debating whether to visit an ER should first consult their doctor to see if a trip is warranted, Freer said, noting that some needs can be addressed via a telemedicine appointment.

Those who truly need emergency services from RWJBarnabas Health will find a beefed up effort to protect patients, Freer said.

Those arriving are met by a staffer in the parking lot who will ask questions, determine if the patient needs emergency services and sort them into separate COVID or non-COVID areas.

We basically have two separate emergency departments, Freer said. We dont want the person who is non-COVID to get mixed with the patient thats COVID.

The triage process is huge.

Every patient receives a mask, regardless of their diagnosis.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

In South Jersey, Virtua Health is reporting similar declines in ER visits.

Over the past few weeks, Virtuas five hospitals and two satellite emergency departments have experienced a significant increase in coronavirus-related visits and a decline in all other types of visits, said Dr. Reginald Blaber, executive vice president and chief clinical officer for Virtua Health.

Blaber sees several factors potentially at play.

Because people are by-and-large staying home, social distancing, and playing it safe, they are less likely to exasperate existing health conditions or sustain injury, he said. It is also possible that people are foregoing or delaying medical treatment for fear of exposure to the coronavirus.

While he understands the anxiety, he encouraged anyone experiencing a medical emergency to seek treatment.

Hospital officials in Atlantic County report declines for emergency care and urgent care visits.

We are currently experiencing a significant decrease in emergency department patients at our Mainland (Pomona) and Atlantic City campuses, and our satellite emergency department in Hammonton over what we would normally see at this time of year, said Dr. Thomas Brabson, chairman of emergency services with AtlantiCare.

The health care companys trauma center, located at the Atlantic City campus, has also seen a decrease in arrivals, but is still seeing patients from auto accidents, pedestrian/motor vehicle crashes and slip and falls.

Our Urgent Care Centers also have seen a significant decrease in visits, Brabson noted. Approximately 90 percent of the patients AtlantiCare is seeing in urgent care are for minor illnesses and injuries. Approximately 10 percent are for influenza-like illnesses.

Like others, Brabson encouraged anyone with health issues to still seek care, whether by phone, in-person or via telemedicine resources.

We continue to emphasize and encourage people to call their primary care and specialty care providers or pediatrician if they are having any symptoms or other medical problems, he said. Ignoring your symptoms of chronic illnesses or thinking you can put off getting evaluated or treated is dangerous.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is working on an economic stimulus package at the state level aimed at helping immigrants in the country illegally during the coronavirus pandemic.

Undocumented workers are not covered by the federal government stimulus package which will see payments of $1,200 per adult go to people who file their taxes with a social security number.

Most undocumented people living in the country illegally file taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) and are therefore not eligible for federal help given the way the bill was written.

The move by California comes as an amendment to the $2.2trn CARES Act has already been proposed by three congressional representatives. New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also given her backing to the move to help undocumented tax payers.

In a tweet, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said: If you dont believe undocumented workers should have access to relief during #COVID19, does that mean youre willing [to] return the billions they pay in taxes each year? Will you defund your schools?

Or, in this moment, will we recognise that we should just take care of each other? she said.

Those in the country illegally who pay taxes will also be ineligible for the increased unemployment benefits portion of the CARES Act.

California representatives Judy Chu and Lou Correa, and Marylands Jamie Raskin, introduced the Leave No Taxpayer Behind Act to amend the stimulus bill and issue cash payments to everyone with an ITIN.

Mr Correa said: I was appalled to learn hardworking, taxpaying immigrants were left out of the $2 trillion CARES Act. These taxpayers work in critical sectors of our economy, like agriculture, and contribute greatly to our country. While many of us sit at home, these hardworking immigrants are still at work in our hospitals, our fields, and countless other industries.

He adds: The coronavirus doesnt care about a persons wealth, job, or immigration status. By casting out immigrants, we are placing some of our most vulnerable residents in grave danger. Every individual taxpayer, irrespective of citizenship status, needs government assistance now.

Approximately 2 million people live illegally in California, according to the California Latino Legislative Caucus, which has asked Governor Newsom to create a Disaster Relief Fund to cover cash payments to immigrants until the emergency proclamation is lifted.

On Tuesday, Governor Newsom said that all of that is being considered as part of a broader package he plans to unveil in May.

That legislation will include some economic stimulus strategies at a state level, not just waiting for the federal government to do that for us.

Californians care deeply about undocumented residents in this state, the governor added.
At least five inmates and one guard were injured during riot inside a notorious Dominican Republic prison on Thursday as inmates demanded to be released over fears of a coronavirus outbreak.

Detainees used smuggled cellphones to record the rebellion as inmates set mattresses in fire and hurled objects at guards and cops, who responded by firing rubber pellets at the overcrowded La Victoria National Penitentiary in Santo Domingo.

Authorities on Thursday said the virus has caused the deaths of four inmates, who were named as Issac Lara De La Cruz and Adalberto Rosario Pena.

Ministry of Public Health personnel wear protective suits as they are surrounded by prisoners that La Victoria National Penitentiary in the Dominican Republic after inmates rioted Thursday due to fears of a coronavirus outbreak. The deadly disease has killed four inmates and sickened 25 others.

Prisoners record the moment a mattress was set on fire inside one of the cells at La Victoria, a notorious jail in the Dominican Republic

The Ministry of Public Health said the at least 25 prisoners have tested positive for Covid-19. At least 50 prisoners have been isolated and are in the process of being transferred to newly built jails that have not been opened yet.

On Thursday, an inmate still inside the La Victoria National Penitentiary recorded the moment an injured prisoner was carried away by two jail staffers.

'Look how they're taking him out,' the detainee said. 'They hit him in the head.'

Footage of the riot showed two guards lifting the sheet-covered body of one prisoner.

A prisoner urged President Danilo Medina to take immediate action and consider the well-being of more than 9,000 inmates that are being held in facility that has a capacity of just 1,500.

A group of inmates were caught on video sharpening what appears to be weapons by rubbing them against the jails concrete floor during Thursday's riot at La Victoria. The footage was filmed on a smuggled phone by a prisoner

An inmate armed with a stick was filmed walking around La Victoria as prisoners led a revolt that called for their immediate release from the facility due to concerns of a coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic has resulted in the deaths of four detainees

'The people in La Victoria are rebelling,' he shouted while recording the mayhem. 'The president has to give the order for us to be released.'

Additional video captured by prisoners caught the moment a group of detainees where sharpening what appeared to be weapons by rubbing the edges against the concrete floor.

A prisoner is carried by jail staffers after he was allegedly injured during Thursday's riot at La Victoria, a notorious, overpopulated jail in the Dominican Republic

Four prisoners were treated on-site for minor pellet wounds and another was taken to a local medical center after his arm was seriously injured after he was shot. A cop suffered a hand stab wound.

Jail officials started splitting prisoners last week after several men presented symptoms related to COVID-19 inside the Alaska pavilion.

According to Diario Libre, La Victoria's medical staff performed rapid coronavirus diagnostic testing on about 1,000 inmates last week.

As of Friday, the Dominican Republic has registered 118 deaths and 2,349 confirmed cases related to the coronavirus global pandemic.
Thousands of people are fleeing Liberian capital Monrovia as a state of emergency goes into effect on Saturday. With 37 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and five deaths reported, President George Weah declared a total countrywide lockdown in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

As a further measure under this state of emergency, all Liberians and residents within the borders of Montserrado County, Margibi County, Nimba County, and Grand Kru County are to stay at home for the next 14 days, beginning at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, April 10, 2020, Weah said in his declaration to the nation.

In these four counties, no movement is possible without access passes. The other 11 counties will be permitted to move in other communities, but none are allowed to move from one region to another. The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and joint securities will enforce this directive during the 14-day period.

The new measures aim to reinforce the publics adherence to health protocols in order to limit the spread of the virus, as health authorities complained about non-compliance exhibited by some Liberians.

Health Minister Wilhelmina Jallah fears that communities refusing to work with health workers would put many lives at risk and further weaken any effective response of an already fragile health system.

Sometimes when you get to these communities where cases were recorded, people are dogging you, taking their relatives and running away. At times they unleashed their dogs on healthcare workers, she said as she provided updates on the countrys efforts on the fight against the virus.

Liberians prepare for the lockdown

Immediately following the pronouncement, thousands of people in the capital Monrovia were out on the street, searching for food or trying to flee.

In the commercial hub of Paynesville outside of Monrovia, 46-year-old Hawa Massaley tells RFI she went to purchase enough food for their upkeep during these period.

I am a businesswoman, and in times like these we must prepare. We dont know how long this crisis will last so we are buying enough food that will keep us going, she said as her supplies were loaded on a commercial vehicle.

Story continues

Others tried to flee Monrovia, such as 32-year-old unemployed Mafanta Sheriff.

I attempted to go to my parents in the rural areas but with an increase in the transportation fare I am compelled to stay, she says, disappointed.

Before the Presidents pronouncement, she had paid L$800 (3.50) to visit her parents in Suakoko, Central Liberia, but was shocked to know that the fare has increased to L$3,000 (14).

I appealed to the drivers to accept L$2000 (9) but they refused. I cant force it. I will go back home. We will struggle to survive, she adds.

To add to the stress, all banks in Liberia were closed on Friday due to the Good Friday holiday.

Sheriff was just one of many who were trying to flee the capital into rural communities where they say life will be more flexible than living in Monrovia during the state of emergency.

Single mother of four Yamah Kezelee, 52, a resident of West Point, Liberias biggest slum, was among dozens of people in the waterside market in central Monrovia, ignoring health protocols to try and sell her wares.

For Kezelee, whose survival depends on her daily sales of avocados and bananas, she says she is more worried about hunger than the virus.

Its preferable that the virus kills us than the hunger, she says.

This is what I sell daily to feed my children. I am aware the virus is real but I decided to come to this crowded market just to sell and buy few cups of rice, she said.

The pronouncement has forced people to cluster in various shops and business areas to buy what they can.

Water and electricity shortages

Additionally, a water and electricity shortage remains a challenge for great number of people.

For nearly seven days Ansu Sheriff, a resident of central Monrovia, says he and several residents have been without water supply, stressing that they depend on the sale of water in containers by wheel barrel boys to survive.

How can we go into quarantine without water and electricity? It means we are going to die. Let the government focus and ensure these basic services are affordable, he says, expressing grave concern.

Parts of the city, such as 9th through 12th streets in Sinkor as well as Barnersville and other adjacent communities are without electricity.

How do we charge our cell phones if we are not to leave? How do we keep our kids indoors when there is no electricity?, asks Moses Acquaoi, a resident of 11th Street in Sinkor.

No government economic plan for poor

People throughout the country, but especially in Monrovia, are worried that the government did not provide any practical economic plan to assist low-income earners, extremely poor people and people with disabilities.

Representative Francis Saidy Dopoh III is one lawmaker who insists there should be incentives to ensure that supplies of staple and essential foods are regionally and sufficiently available for vulnerable communities.

The Government should ensure that employees of Government receive salary advances, while private companies are encouraged to do whatever they can to give their employees advances, he says.

Small businesses that have loan obligations should have repayment deferred, including tax returns filings, he adds.

But despite his criticism, Information Minister Eugene Nagbe told a local radio station that his government is working to assist vulnerable people.

He further noted that his government has already disbursed March 2020 salaries for all public sector employees, adding that water and electricity will shortly be restored.

Although President Weah declared the state of emergency, the Liberian legislature has yet to decide whether the proclamation of a state of emergency is justified, by order of Article 88 of the constitution. They will need to vote within 72 hours resulting in a two-thirds majority in order for the proclamation to be official.
Writer-illustrator Baek Hee-na poses in this Dec. 20, 2012, file photo. / Korea Times file



By Park Ji-won



The legal battle between award-winning author Baek Hee-na and publishing house Hansolsoobook has regained attention after Baek won the 2020 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in Sweden for her debut book "Cloud Bread."



The two sides clashed over the copyright of the 2004 book, leading them to confront each other in court. Recently the upper court upheld the lower court's ruling which sided with the publisher.



Hansolsoobook, which owns the copyright and republication rights of "Cloud Bread" according to contracts between the two parties, released a statement justifying its legal rights earlier this week, as the legal battle drew fresh attention from the media after Baek won the prestigious children's book award.



The publisher also denied rumors about its income from sales of the book.



"We know there's a rumor that the book created the income of 440 billion won. This is not true we signed contracts with the author twice, the first contract about publication and copyright and then another one about incentives. She was aware that the copyright of her work would belong to the publisher and it was possible her work would be used in other art formats."



The publishing company said it earned 2 billion won from sales of the book and other goods.

About 400,000 copies of the book have been sold so far.



The publisher denied Baek's claim that it handed over the copyright of the book to a third party without her prior consent, saying the two sides had a verbal agreement regarding the transfer.



But the company failed to make a final agreement with Baek as she made "unreasonable demands," it claimed. It also pledged to pay royalties for the book sales.



The statement came out about one week after Baek won the Swedish children's book award, and the author and illustrator has been openly criticizing the publishing company for the allegedly unfair contract over her book's copyright.



Baek is a rare children's book author with a fandom of both children and parents. Her success owes a lot to her hugely successful debut book "Cloud Bread."





Seen is a page from "Cloud Bread," a book by Baek Hee-na. Courtesy of Hansolsoobook
The coronavirus pandemic notched up another round of record death tolls in the US and Europe, dousing the optimism of American President Donald Trump who insisted there was light at the end of the tunnel.

The virus has now killed more than 92,000 people and infected over 1.5 million, sparing almost no country and tipping the world into a devastating crisis as global commerce shudders to a halt.

While the US and the UK continued to report a high number of deaths and cases, France saw its number of dead go past 10,000 as the country prepared to extend its lockdown measures. Spain reported 446 new deaths and Italy confirmed 610 new fatalities as the two countries continue to bear the brunt. In Italy, which is now planning to extend its lockdown until May 3, about 100 doctors have died since the pandemic reached the country in February.

The pandemic is marching into areas previously only lightly affected: in Africa, Ethiopia declared a state of emergency and Liberia said it was locking down its capital Monrovia.

Its deadly tentacles also crept deep into the Amazon rainforest, with the first case detected among the Yanomami, an indigenous people isolated from the world until the mid-20th century and vulnerable to disease.

Also on Thursday, the US accused the World Health Organization (WHO) of putting politics first by ignoring Taiwanese warnings over Chinas coronavirus outbreak, laying out its case against the UN body.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The National Tertiary Education Union is negotiating through Easter with universities on deals likely to temporarily trade pay and conditions concessions for greater job security as the sector faces a mammoth funding shortfall.

But staff in one of the unions' most active and confrontational branches say it has been too quick to offer concessions despite the universities' dire financial state. The union's leadership argues negotiations are essential to get staff and their employers through a disastrous period.

The National Tertiary Education Union is trying to protect staff jobs after universities revealed their finances had taken a multibillion-dollar hit from coronavirus. Credit:Paul Jones

Prominent Australian universities have lost billions of dollars in student fees as student enrolments plummet because of the coronavirus and international travel restrictions.

In an email to members on Wednesday, the union said it was considering measures it "would never normally consider" to protect jobs, including the "deferral of pay rises, providing the ability to direct taking of leave, or other cost saving measures".
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 15:09:06|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to provide support and assistance for the Maldives as required, and share experience in prevention and control, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Maldivian counterpart, Abdulla Shahid, in a phone call on Thursday.

Wang said that during the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, China has always been committed to safeguarding the health and safety of the Chinese people and making contributions to the international public health cause.

China's arduous efforts have bought precious time and provided useful experience for the global fight against the pandemic, he added.

Upholding the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, China is providing urgently-needed medical supplies to more than 120 countries, Wang said.

The attempts to stigmatize China will get nowhere, Wang said, and such attempts are not conducive to the virus fights in their own countries or the international cooperation in combating the pandemic, and will not win the support of the international community.

The Chinese side appreciates the Maldivian side's objective and fair position on the issue, he added.

Wang pointed out that the Maldives, based on its national conditions, has taken effective measures to contain the epidemic to the greatest extent since the outbreak.

He said the Chinese side believes that under the leadership of Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the country will surely overcome the epidemic.

Noting that China and Maldives are good friends and always lend each other a helping hand when in difficulties, Wang said China is ready to provide support and assistance according to the needs of the Maldivian side, carry out exchanges and cooperation among experts and share experience in prevention and control.

It is believed that through joint efforts to prevail over the epidemic, bilateral relations will make new progress, he added.

For his part, Shahid said the Maldives highly appreciates China's constructive role in the global fight against the novel coronavirus, adding that the Maldives is firmly opposed to any stigmatization and discrimination against China and the Chinese people.

China sets a model of global cooperation in fighting the pandemic by actively helping other countries and sharing experience in prevention and control, he said.

Shahid also expressed gratitude for China's timely medical assistance, saying that the country stands ready to strengthen anti-epidemic cooperation with China to tide over difficulties.
Immunology expert Kingston Mills has called on the government to question airlines about the necessity for passenger flights into and out of Ireland.

For the last number of weeks I've been looking on the Dublin airport website and seeing substantial numbers of passenger flights to-ing and fro-ing from Europe, he told RTE radios Today with Sean ORourke show.

The government has to talk to the airlines perhaps and say do you need to have these flights? Or put in place the restrictions already in place in New Zealand - I think there is a need for stricter measures here.

That's one element that caused a lot of problems early in the pandemic - we allowed flights still to come from Northern Italy and from other areas that brought in a lot of the early cases, now we have community spread of the virus and that's a big issue.

There were two ways of dealing with this - one you either keep people indoors and stop them from coming in contact with each other - that can be effective. The other way which China and Korea did very effectively is contact tracing of everybody who was in contact with somebody infected, we're not doing that here, he added.

However, Prof Kingston warned that this would completely overpower the testing facilities here. We're not doing contact tracing to the extent that it was done in China or Korea. The capacity is not there to do it.

If somebody is infected in the community everybody who was in contact with them is not being tested. That needs to be done, if you want an alternative to lockdown.

It was correct to prioritise health service workers for testing, he said, but the problem was that diagnoses were happening two weeks after people displayed symptoms and they would have recovered by the time the test results arrived.

If we can identify those people and test them and show that they've developed antibodies, then we can, with a certain degree of confidence, say they're likely to be protected against reinfection and therefore are safe to return to work.

Prof Mills said that the universities were looking at developing antibody testing kits which would allow infected patients be tested and once they have developed sufficient antibodies they could be allowed back to work.

It's a huge new addition to the potential arsenal that's coming down the line.

Prof Mills said that the current figures for those infected with Covid-19 in Ireland were much lower than the actual figures.

If the estimates from Germany are correct you're talking about between five and 15 per cent of the entire population, not 6,000, but hundreds of thousands potentially infected and recovered.
The world is going through something right now that we have never seen in our lifetime. When Coronavirus first made an appearance in Wuhan, China, no one could predict that it would end up impacting every single person's life. While we owe our health and well-being to all the doctors and health professionals, and look up to every single one of them, from a more superficial and fun perspective, there are a few who are extra special.

We have 7 doctors here who are frontlining the battle against Coronavirus, while looking like real-life superheroes. No, really, after the first glance, one would actually mistake them for insanely good looking (borderline hot, according to popular opinion) actors who are playing the role of doctors. But they are real life doctors. Don't believe us? Take a look.

1. Dr. Marco CA

He's an MD by qualification, and is fighting the battle against Corona with heart and soul.

2. Dr. Yazan A. Ismail

Dr. Yazan is a Hematology and Oncology expert who often takes to Instagram to spread awareness about COVID-19.

3.Dr. Miguel Ribe

Dr. Ribe is an ER specialist, who hails from Miami.

4. Dr. Bruno Fonseca

Dr Fonseca has posted multiple videos and hosted multiple Coronavirus awareness sessions on Instagram.

5. Dr. Alberto Centurion

Dr Alberto Centurion has quite a fanbase, and he hails from Sao Paulo.

6. Dr. Nik

Dr. Nik is based out of Canada, and has been actively involved in combating COVID-19.

7. Dr. Gabriel Prado

Dr. Prado is a Neurology Specialist from Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Well, all we can say is that when the doctors are this goodlooking, Corona might just decide to overstay its welcome for a bit!
Almost four years after a Lee County jury convicted former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard of 12 ethics charges, six of those convictions still stand after a review by the states highest court.

The Alabama Supreme Court upheld six of the charges today. It reversed five others and remanded the case back to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, which had previously reversed one of the dozen convictions handed down by a Lee County jury in June 2016.

Read todays ruling.

Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker sentenced Hubbard to four years in prison and 16 years on probation in July 2016. Hubbard has remained free on bond during his appeal.

Efforts to reach lawyers for the former speaker were not immediately successful.

Seven of the nine justices participated in the decision, while two recused. Justice Will Sellers wrote a separate opinion disagreeing with the decision to uphold six of the convictions. Sellers and other justices criticized what they said was a lack of clarity in the ethics law.

The convictions that remain involved consulting contracts with three companies that paid Hubbard a total of $525,000 from 2012 to 2014. The crimes fell under an ethics law that Hubbard helped revise after he led a successful effort by Republicans to take over the Legislature a decade ago.

Our role as Justices is not to praise or question the wisdom of the Ethics Code or to reprove or excuse Hubbards behavior, Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote in the majority opinion. We must interpret and apply the law. And every person accused of breaking the law -- even one who had a hand in creating that law -- is entitled to (and bound by) the same rules of legal interpretation. When charged with a crime, public officials must be treated no better -- and no worse -- than other citizens in this State where all are guaranteed equal justice under law.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall released a statement about todays decision.

The Courts decision reflects what we have argued from the beginning: Mike Hubbards actions were corrupt and betrayed the public trust," Marshall said. It is well past time for Mike Hubbard to serve the time he has so richly earned.

Marshall said he was disappointed in the courts interpretation of one definition in the ethics law that reversed one of the charges.

Hubbard, 58, was one of Alabamas most powerful politicians until his conviction, which removed him from office. He has denied wrongdoing since his indictment by a special grand jury in Lee County in 2014.

Prosecutors said Hubbard used the power of the speakers office to land lucrative consulting contracts and investments in a failing printing company that he partly owned. Hubbards lawyers said during the trial the transactions were normal business deals that were not violations of the ethics law, which prohibits public officials from using their offices for personal gain.

Justices held a hearing in the case in June 2019.

In todays ruling, the Supreme Court reversed four charges against Hubbard for soliciting and receiving $150,000 investments in Craftmaster printing from business executives who employ lobbyists, who are called principals in the ethics law. The court also reversed a fifth charge involving a principal, which was that Hubbard unlawfully received financial and business advice from Will Brooke, the former chairman of the Business Council of Alabama.

In reversing the four charges on the Craftmaster investments, the Supreme Court cited an argument by Hubbards lawyers that receiving the investments was not a crime because Hubbard paid full value for the investments. The investors were guaranteed dividends equaling a 6% return on their money. The Supreme Court said the state failed to prove that the dividends did not amount to full payment for the investments.

On the charge involving Brooke, the Supreme Court agreed with Hubbards lawyers that evidence did not show that Brooke was a principal as defined by the ethics law. The law says a principal is a person or business that employs, hires or otherwise retains a lobbyist. The court said that while the Business Council of Alabama is a principal, the state failed to prove that Brooke, as the chairman, hired or employed a lobbyist.

The court said a board member for a business that hires a lobbyist could be considered a principal, but it depended on that board members specific activity.

Parker wrote a second opinion with a more narrow definition of principal than the main opinion. He wrote that the definition does not include owners, shareholders, directors, officers, employees, or other individuals associated with a corporate entity if the lobbyist represents the entity and not the individual personally.

Other justices commented on what they said were problems with the ethics law. Sellers wrote that he would have reversed all 11 convictions.

The law, especially as it relates to conduct deemed criminal, requires clear rules, easily discernible so that everyone can know with certainty what specific acts are forbidden and the concomitant consequences, Sellers wrote. I am not convinced that all the statutes applied in this case are clear and concise, and I am troubled by a strained statutory interpretation that was aimed at finding criminal conduct on the part of Michael Gregory Hubbard.

Justice Tommy Bryan wrote a separate opinion concurring in the decision to affirm six of the charges but expressing concern that parts of the ethics law are inexplicably broad and somewhat confusing.

Thus, I encourage the legislature to take immediate action to once again revise and clarify the language of the Ethics Code, Bryan wrote.

Bryan also wrote that given his concerns about the ethics law, he was not sure if Hubbards sentences were appropriate.

However, Hubbard did not challenge his sentences, nor did he ask this Court to consider whether the jury should have been instructed on misdemeanor charges rather than felonies, Bryan wrote.

Concern that the definition of principal was not clear or was overly broad has been one of the main topics among state officials and lobbyists since the Hubbard conviction.

Attorney General Marshall, while pleased with the overall decision today, expressed concern about the courts interpretation of the definition of principal.

While I am pleased that the Supreme Court agreed that former Speaker Hubbard broke the law and will be held accountable for his abuse of power, I am also disappointed in the courts interpretation of Alabamas ethics law concerning the definition of a principal," Marshall said. "While I can live with the courts insistence on a clearer definition of principal, going forward, that definition must also be strong.

This case was not just a trial of former Speaker Hubbards misconduct, but also a test of our ethics law. Mr. Hubbard campaigned in 2010 on the message that Alabama sorely needed a stronger ethics law. As a state, we must now ask ourselves a serious question: Do we want the type of behavior that Hubbard got away with to be illegal? If the answer is yes, then legislative action is again sorely needed and we must commit to strengthening our ethics law."

House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, who replaced Hubbard as speaker, also issued a statement about the ruling today.

The Supreme Courts ruling has made it clear that our ethics law has flaws that must be addressed, McCutcheon said. "Our task now is to fix those flaws without weakening any of the provisions that make our ethics law among the toughest in the country.

"As a former police officer, I believe that strict ethics requirements offer a much needed deterrent to corruption. By following the roadmap suggested by the State Supreme Court, we can preserve that deterrent while firmly holding those who abuse their office accountable for their actions."

The court upheld charges involving Hubbards consulting contracts with Edgenuity, Inc., an education software firm, and American Pharmacy Cooperative Incorporated. Edgenuity paid Hubbard $210,000 and APCI paid him $95,000 from 2012 to 2014.

Hubbard contended that the contracts were not related to his position as speaker. But the Supreme Court said the state presented evidence showing the payments were related to Hubbards public office, including an email from an Edgenuity executive saying, Mike is the current Speaker of the House in Alabama....my thought in using him would be for intros into House and Senate leadership in states where we do not have lobby support ....

The other four charges upheld by the court involved Hubbards contract with Capitol Cups, a company owned by Robert Abrams, who owned several other businesses. Capitol Cups paid Hubbard a total of $220,000 under a consulting contract from 2012 to 2014. Related to that contract, Hubbard was convicted of using his office for personal gain, using state personnel (his former chief of staff) to help another company owned by Abrams get final approval for a patent, and lobbying for Abrams by setting up meetings with the governors office and the Department of Commerce to help Abrams try to obtain employee training assistance from the state.

Hubbard had contended, in part, that his efforts on behalf of Abrams companies were to help an important employer in his district, an expected service by a legislator. But the Supreme Court noted evidence from the trial, that Hubbard, speaking with his chief of staff about helping Abrams with the patent, said he had 100,000 reasons to get this done." That was shortly after Hubbard had received his 10th $10,000 check from Capitol Cups.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement about the court decision.

Todays ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court is the culmination of four years of deliberation, and I support and accept their findings, Ivey said. "As an elected official, our first priority is to be above reproach and avoid even the appearance of misconduct and abuse of office.

"I support seeking clarity on our states ethics laws to ensure those who want to abide by them may not be unfairly targeted. However, let me be abundantly clear, I do not support weakening a system that is meant to hold our elected officials accountable. The rule of law must be upheld.

Even more so on this Good Friday, my thoughts and prayers are on Mike Hubbards family and upon our state as we move on from this unfortunate part of Alabamas history.

Two of the nine justices -- Greg Shaw and Jay Mitchell, recused from the decision. Shaw wrote that he had known Hubbard for many years and that they attended the same church. Mitchell wrote that before becoming a justice he worked for a law firm that was involved in the case.

Hubbard testified for three days during his 2016 trial, which lasted 12 days.

Hubbard was elected to the Legislature in 1998 in his first run for public office. He became chairman of the state Republican Party in 2007. In that position, he led an effort to recruit and support candidates that resulted in Republicans winning majorities in the Legislature in 2010, ending 136 years of Democratic control in the State House.

Hubbards House colleagues elected him speaker, a position he held until his conviction.

Jenny Carroll, a professor at the University of Alabama Law School, said today the Court of Criminal Appeals has the option of reconsidering the five charges that were reversed by the Supreme Court or sending the case back to the trial court.

Carroll said the trial judge could re-sentence Hubbard now that six of the 12 charges he was initially found guilty of have been reversed.

The Court of Criminal Appeals or the trial court could revoke Hubbards appeal bond, which would require him to report to jail by a specific date, according to Carroll.

The former speaker has the option of filing a federal court appeal because he has raised constitutional issues, Carroll said.
Bernie Sanders has ended his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, which is a tragedy, because he was right about virtually everything. He was right from the very beginning, when he advocated a total overhaul of the American health care system in the 1970s. He remains right now, as a pandemic stresses the meager resources of millions of citizens to their breaking point, and possibly to their death. He was right when he seemed to be the only alarmist in a political climate of complacency. He is right now that hes the only politician unsurprised to see drug companies profiteering from a lethal plague with Congresss help. In politics, as in life, being right isnt necessarily rewarded. But at least theres some dignity in it.
A second inmate at Chicago's Cook County jail has died after testing positive for coronavirus on the same day a federal judge refused an emergency request to release detainees vulnerable to infection.

Leslie Pieroni, a 51-year-old convicted sex offender, died on Thursday after he was hospitalized on April 3 for the coronavirus.

The official cause of death is pending, but 'preliminary reports indicate he died as the result of complications due to the virus,' according to the Chicago Tribune.

Pieroni was booked into the Cook County Jail in December 2018 after he was accused of sexually abusing a boy under 13, CBS News reports.

Leslie Pieroni (pictured), an inmate at Cook County jail and registered sex offender, died after contracting coronavirus in Chicago, Illinois

Jeffrey Pendleton (pictured) was the first Cook County jail inmate to die after being diagnosed with COVID-19

The first Cook County inmate to die was Jeffrey Pendleton, 59, who was pronounced dead on April 5 after contracting COVID-19.

Pendleton arrived to the jail on several charges, including armed violence, drug and weapons crimes.

His family has since filed a lawsuit against the Cook County Sheriff's office and took particular grievance with inmates being shackled to hospital beds.

Cook County jail is now the largest cluster of coronavirus cases in the United States.

Civil rights lawyers filed a lawsuit last week seeking improved conditions and releases in the face of the accelerating outbreak at the jail, where at least 401 infections have been reported among detainees and staff.

A federal judge has refused to release inmates from Chicago's Cook County jail as it faces the highest coronavirus infection rate in the United States with 401 cases as of Thursday

In a ruling on Thursday, US District Judge Matthew Kennelly denied immediate mass release to home incarceration and other forms of custody but acknowledged the dire situation inside the complex as he handed down a set of mandates directing Cook County Tom Dart to take action to stop the spread.

Kennelly noted that the jail currently has the highest rate of new COVID-19 infections in the country with 50 per 1,000 people, far exceeding that of Cook County, which stood at 1.56 per 1,000 as of Monday.

Inmates at the jail have plastered handmade signs with desperate pleas including 'SAVE US' and 'WE MATTER 2' in their cell windows, as seen in heartbreaking photos taken Thursday.

Heartbreaking photos from outside the jail on Thursday show handmade signs with the words 'SAVE US!!' and 'WE MATTER 2' plastered on cell windows

Civil rights lawyers filed a lawsuit last week seeking improved conditions and releases in the face of the accelerating outbreak at the jail

In his ruling, Kennelly described the complex as a 'a campus of separate physical facilities' with a population 'the size of a small (but not all that small) town.'

The judge wrote that the prison is full of people who the government has decided to imprison 'pending determination of their guilt or innocence, and by doing so the government takes on an obligation to protect their health and safety'.

'It cannot be forgotten that by requiring this, we safeguard the health and safety of the community at large - from which the detainees have come and to which they and the officers guarding them will return,' he added.

In a ruling on Thursday, US District Judge Matthew Kennelly (pictured) denied immediate mass release but acknowledged the dire situation inside the complex

Referencing the lawsuit, Kennelly wrote: 'The [detainees] have demonstrated that certain of the conditions created by the intentional actions of the sheriff enable the spread of coronavirus and significantly heighten detainees' risk of contracting the virus.'

He noted that sheriff's personnel have not been cleaning common spaces after an inmate in that area has tested positive for coronavirus.

He also wrote that Sheriff Dart has not provided inmates with adequate supplies of soap, cleaning supplies or personal protective equipment like face masks.

Additionally, Kennelly also asserted that conditions at the complex 'make social distancing impossible' - pointing to how beds are only separated by a few feet and rooms are 'like a military barracks'.

Judge Kennelly said sheriff's staff have failed to adequately clean the complex or provide inmates with the supplies they need to stay healthy. An officer is seen at the jail on Thursday

The judge handed down a set of mandates ordering Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart (right) to improve conditions over the weekend

The judge ultimately gave Dart three deadlines to improve certain conditions.

By Friday, Dart must begin providing all detainees with enough soap and/or sanitizer to frequently clean their hands on Friday.

He is also required to provide the staff and detainees with sanitation supplies so they can 'regularly sanitize surfaces and objects on which the virus could be present'.

Dart has until Saturday to implement a policy 'requiring prompt coronavirus testing of detainees who exhibit symptoms consistent with coronavirus disease' as well as detainees who have been exposed to such individuals.

The Saturday deadline also applies to an order to enforce social distancing during the new inmate intake process - specifically suspending the use of bullpens to hold detainees awaiting intake.

By Sunday, Dart must provide all quarantined detainees with face masks.

One of the law firms behind the inmate's suit, Loevy and Loevy, called Kennelly's ruling 'a significant, important first step to protecting the rights and well-being of people of the jail in the midst of a crisis'.

'This is a first step and we will continue to work to protect those who are vulnerable in the jail as the lawsuit continues,' Loevy and Loevy lawyer Sarah Grady said in a statement.

The Cook County Sheriff's office, which runs the jail, issued the latest figures on the outbreak on Thursday evening. At least 401 cases have been confirmed - an increase of 48 from numbers reported earlier this week

A sign in a cell window at the jail calls for a hunger strike to force officials to protect inmates

The Cook County Sheriff's office, which runs the jail, issued the latest figures on the outbreak on Thursday evening.

At least 401 cases have been confirmed - an increase of 48 from numbers reported earlier this week.

Almost 70 percent of those cases - 276 - were detainees and 172 were sheriff's staffers.

Twenty-one detainees are currently hospitalized and 36 have been moved to a recovery facility.

The sheriff's office did not say how many of the roughly 5,500 detainees have been tested but said 49 tests have come back negative.

'Sheriff's officers and county medical professionals are aggressively working round-the-clock to combat the unprecedented global coronavirus pandemic,' the statement said.

'Even before the virus started rapidly spreading in the Chicago area, the office instituted early screening and testing of detainees and moved to increase the availability of PPE and sanitation supplies throughout the jail.

'Detainees who test positive are isolated and receive thorough medical attention and cellmates are quarantined and monitored.

'The Sheriff's Office also created an off-site, 500-bed quarantine and care facility for detainees, took up an unprecedented effort to move detainees from double cells to single cells to increase social distancing, partnered with The New Roseland Community Hospital to provide on-site testing for frontline staff, and is consulting with noted sanitation and infectious disease experts.'

The Cook County jail is now believed to be the largest known source of coronavirus infections in the country.

Previously, the Seattle nursing home linked to the initial outbreak in the US, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the New Rochelle neighborhood in New York had been the biggest coronavirus clusters.

Cook County, which includes Chicago, is now an emerging hotspot for the coronavirus with more than 11,062 cases and 351 deaths.

Officials have already released hundreds of inmates early if they were convicted of nonviolent crimes like disorderly conduct.

It comes as jails and prisons across the country are reporting an accelerating spread of coronavirus.

More than 280 inmates and 400 staff in New York prisons have been infected with the coronavirus and at least seven people have died, according to the New York Department of Corrections.

Louisiana has also reported coronavirus-related deaths among prison inmates.

The United States has more people behind bars than any other nation, a total incarcerated population of nearly 2.3 million as of 2017, including nearly 1.5 million in state and federal prisons and another 745,000 in local jails, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Maharashtra government on Friday sent a senior IPS officer on compulsory leave for allowing DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan to travel despite the ongoing lockdown, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said.

The bureaucrat had issued a letter exempting the Wadhawans from the lockdown norms citing a family emergency.

"As per discussion with Hon. CM, Mr Amitabh Gupta, Principal Secretary (special), has been sent on compulsory leave with immediate effect, till the pending of enquiry, which will be initiated against him," Deshmukh tweeted.

The Wadhawans were detained at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra's Satara district on Thursday for violating prohibitory orders amid lockdown, police said.

Police found 23 people including members of the Wadhawan family at their farmhouse, an official said.

According to local police officials, the Wadhawan family along with others travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday evening in their cars, even when both Pune and Satara districts are sealed amid ongoing lockdown for containing coronavirus.

Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan are accused in Yes Bank and DHFL fraud cases.

They were spotted at their `Diwan farmhouse' by civic authorities, officials said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had recently issued summons to Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan in Yes Bank case and asked them to appear on March 17.

The duo reportedly cited the pandemic and skipped the appearance, officials said.

Meanwhile, opposition BJP has latched onto the issue.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis wondered how could one vacation in Mahableshwar with official permission from the police when a lockdown is in force.

"No lockdowns for mighty and rich in Maharashtra?. One can spend holidays in Mahabaleshwar with official permission from the police," the former chief minister said.
"In fact, it means that for the seven days to today, we have had 93 cases," he said.

Health Minister Steven Miles said the number of cases continued the trend of cases decreasing.

Queensland Health revised its total of positive cases overnight, taking one off Thursday's total of 953.

Thirteen more Queenslanders have tested positive for COVID-19, raising the state's total to 965.

"That's an average daily growth rate of 1.5 per cent down, from a peak seven-day rate of 380.

"It means all of the effort and all of the sacrifices that we are making is working and they're helping to keep our community safe, to keep our community well and to save lives."

Mr Miles said there were 987 people in enforced quarantine in hotels this Easter and reiterated that this long weekend was not the time to travel.

He said chief health officer Jeannette Young had published the COVID-19 hotspots list on Friday to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The direction applies from 12.01am on Saturday until the end of the declared public health emergency, unless it is revoked or replaced.
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Matt Hancock tonight told NHS medics to only use the protective equipment they need because it is a 'precious resource'

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tonight told NHS medics to only use the protective equipment they need because it is a 'precious resource'.

Addressing the nationwide shortage that has left nurses 'petrified' to fight the crisis, he claimed: 'There is enough PPE to go around.'

But he added that the supply of masks, aprons and gloves would only stretch across the UK's healthcare workforce if it is 'used in line with our guidance'.

Guidelines now say medics no longer need to change PPE between patients, instead wearing the same gear for longer spells - called 'sessions'.

In tonight's Downing Street conference, Mr Hancock admitted Number 10 was struggling to source additional PPE to help NHS workers fight Britain's spiralling crisis, which has killed almost 9,000 Britons.

He admitted there was a 'huge international demand' for gloves, masks and aprons and warned of a global squeeze in supply.

It comes three weeks after the Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised there was a 'massive effort to ensure we have adequate supply of PPE equipment'.

The PM - currently in hospital with COVID-19 - also told MPs: 'We have stockpiles of PPE equipment.'

In response to Number 10's promise to address the shortage, furious Brits today asked: 'When will the Government step up?'

Nursing bodies today said they were still being inundated by scared staff who can't get hold of any PPE and have seen colleagues die already.

The British Medical Association warned last month that NHS medics fighting COVID-19 on the frontline would die without adequate protection.

Three nurses who were pictured wearing bin bags because of a lack of protective gear tested positive for coronavirus, it was revealed earlier this week.

Mr Hancock, who outlined a three-point plan to tackle the shortage, said his goal was for 'everyone' working in a critical role to get what they need.

Three nurses from Northwick Park hospital in London who posed last month while wearing protective equipment made from bin bags have been diagnosed with Covid 19

DOCTORS' LIVES ARE STILL BEING PUT AT RISK BY A LACK OF PPE, BMA WARNS Doctors' lives are still being put at risk by a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), the British Medical Association warned earlier this week. More than two thirds of doctors (69 per cent) questioned by the union said they do not feel protected while fighting Britain's COVID-19 outbreak. The snapshot poll of 2,000 medics also found some feel forced to come into face-to-face contact with infected patients without the right equipment. And doctors warned that some of the aprons and goggles they are currently relying on to fight the coronavirus crisis is 'useless'. The BMA and other doctors' unions have repeatedly warned NHS staff will die unless frontline staff are properly equipped with protective gear. Hospitals have taken to begging for equipment from companies and DIY stores on social media amid a nationwide shortage of PPE. While one frontline doctor resorted to spending 90 on motorcross goggles to make improvised equipment for his team. Advertisement

But he acknowledged distributing masks, gloves, aprons and even hand sanitiser to frontline workers is requiring a 'Herculean logistical effort'.

Mr Hancock also warned against the use of PPE outside of the NHS, urging Britons to stay at home and save lives.

He said: 'A front door is better than any face mask. There's enough PPE to go around, but only if it's used in line with our guidance.

'We need everyone to treat PPE like the precious resource that it is. That means only using it when there's a clinical need, and not using more than is needed.'

Public Health England's rules do not clarify how long a session is but says it will 'vary depending on the clinical activity being undertaken'.

For example, it could be defined as a ward round - which take place twice a day and involve medics assessing each patient needing care.

Usual guidelines from the Royal College of Nursing - a union for 450,000 nurses - say aprons and gloves should 'always be changed' between patients.

Other NHS hospital trusts say face masks should also be 'changed immediately' after each patient and disposed of correctly to avoid the spread of germs.

Mr Hancock claimed that more than 742million pieces of PPE have been delivered to hospitals, ambulance trusts, GPs and pharmacies so far during the outbreak.

This includes 161million masks, 127million aprons, and 345million pairs of gloves, as well as 1million gowns.

Some items can be used for a whole session and do not need to be changed each time they finish treating an individual patient, he added.

Mr Hancock added: 'This is a Herculean logistical effort. We've brought together the NHS, private industry and the Army, in fact, the armed forces, to create a giant PPE distribution network on an unprecedented scale.'

In order to ensure sufficient future supply, he is urging companies which can do so to 'step up to the plate' and help with manufacturing.

Susan Masters, director of nursing at the Royal College of Nursing, said: 'These figures on deliveries are only impressive when nursing staff stop contacting me to say what they need to use wasn't available.

'The calls are still coming through - people are petrified. They have seen colleagues die already.

'Things have improved in recent days and I credit the Government with that. But the safety of nurses and care staff must not be compromised.

'They're pretty clear about what they need to do to stay safe and they'll be angered by any suggestion they cause shortages by misusing kit.'

Jonathan Ashworth, Labours Shadow Health Secretary, said: 'This isnt the first time ministers have given NHS and social care staff big promises on PPE.

'There has been a mismatch between statements at Downing St press conferences and the realities facing health and care staff on the ground.

'Staff have been raising the alarm over lack of PPE for weeks. We hope the plans today deliver the adequate supplies of PPE our brave health care staff deserve.'
Thanks to the passing of the $2 trillion coronavirus law, about 145 million Americans will receive stimulus checks to help them stay afloat during the pandemic, but some will have to wait longer than others.

Nearly 115 million Americans who filed their taxes last year will receive their stimulus check via direct deposit into their bank account by April 14 at the latest, according to the Washington Post. But $30 million will be mailed to residents in the form of paper checks and won't be sent out until April 24. Some checks may not reach Americans until September.
TRIBUTES have been paid to the late John [Sean] Gilligan, a leading figure in musical and community circles in Tullamore who passed away last week.

Sean, Arden Vale, made a huge contribution to life in Tullamore through his involvement with a host of local organisations and his musical talent. He passed away peacefully at Tullamore hospital and his Funeral Mass was celebrated on Friday last, April 3 in the Church of the Assumption, Tullamore.

Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, attendance at the Mass was limited to family only but it was viewed by many on the parish webcam.

To his wife, Patricia, sons Ciaran and Brendan, daughter in law, Jacqui, sister Mary, brother in law, Pat, nephew Brian., extended family, neighbours and many friends the deepest sympathy is extended.

In a tribute this week, Tullamore Musical Society said members were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of their former musical director.

For years, Sean brought his expertise to the orchestra pit, whether as a director, musician or conductor. He was not only prolific in Tullamore Musical Society but in societies all over the midlands, a tradition his son Ciaran has carried on. He could turn his hand to almost any instrument, but his first love was the trumpet. He was not only monumental in musical societies, but he shared his gifts throughout the midlands with many organisations.

Seans own words best sum up his experience in musical societies. In Tullamore Musical Society's book celebrating fifty years, he wrote the following: They come the day before the opening night, assemble in the midst of people rushing around, amid tying painted props, staled chairs, lighting cables and worst of all, in cold draughts that affect you in places you did not think were exposed. Cases are opened, instruments lovingly assembled, chairs pulled around and then - the band plays on! It is the orchestra rehearsal. Curtains rise and curtains fall. Then, in a week or less, they disappear, not to be seen again in ensemble until the next year. And thats provided they survive the critics review, the Chairmans review, the Treasurers review, the reviews of the leading (man, woman, or committee) member, and provided that the committee agree that they should get the same players as last year. Even then, it may be a case of but do you need every one of them? Such is the rise and decline of the musical society orchestra.

The Society extended its condolences to his family and friends at this very difficult time and said members looked forward to celebrating the life of a truly remarkable man.

Cllr Sean O'Brien, Secretary/PRO of Tullamore St Patrick's day Parade committee, said the group wished to convey its sincere condolences to the family of the late Sean Gilligan

Sean made an enormous contribution to the community in Tullamore and Offaly. He was a founding member of the current St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee when it met in the Bridge House, Tullamore in 1983, said Cllr O'Brien.

He added: From small beginnings the parade has prospered over the years and is now one of the leading parades in the Midlands. Of course the Tullamore Town Band, with which Sean had a very close association, was a star attraction in the parade over many years. Over later years Sean sounded the bugle to announce the start of the parade at the reviewing stand, working closely with the late Seamus O' Connor who was MC for the Parade for many years. The late Kevin O' Toole and Syl Shelley were also part of that original Committee, together with the current Chairman and Secretary, Johnny O' Connor and Sean O' Brien.

Sean was a great committee member in those early days as he was very keen to see a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Tullamore. He was very good humoured and supported the establishment of the Parade in every way he could. He kept in contact with the committee over the years and was always willing to help in any way he could when we contacted him.

Our community has seen the passing of a person who contributed greatly and we would like to offer our sincere condolences to his family and to thank Sean through them for his great contribution to our Committee, added Cllr O'Brien.
Seminaries launch Dial-a-Priest to give prayers, last rites to patients so they don't feel alone

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A pair of Episcopal Church seminaries have launched a hotline in which clergy can give prayers and last rites to people in the hospital over the phone, namely for coronavirus patients for whom access might be limited because of social distancing.

Virginia Theological Seminary and General Theological Seminary launched Dial-A-Priest on Tuesday through their joint project, the TryTank Experimental Lab.

The Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija, director of TryTank, told The Christian Post that he believed the coronavirus pandemic has brought out in many of us the deep desire to want to help.

When a call comes in, it rings at the same time to all of the volunteers currently logged into the system, explained Lebrija, who noted that at present Dial-A-Priest had around 100 volunteers on the system, plus 70 who were on a wait list.

A nurse or doctor will call, tell the clergy-person the name of the patient and then the prayers of Ministration at the Time of Death are spoken.

VTS Dean the Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, who commented that Dial-A-Priest was a way to make sure the dying do not feel alone.

In a season where hospitals are overwhelmed and where pastoral care is limited because of physical distancing, the Seminaries step in to suggest a way forward, stated Markham.

Our goal is to make sure that the dying do not feel alone at this time. It is a simple idea: we provide this free service to support those who are most in need.

The Rev. Peggy Muncie, a retired Episcopal priest who previously served as a hospital chaplain, is one of the volunteers with the hotline.

She had been on the mailing list for TryTank and when they asked for volunteers for Dial-A-Priest, she felt a calling to participate.

As a hospital and long term care chaplain, I often offered prayers at the time of death, sat with the dying and their loved ones, she told CP.

I know what patients, the families, and staff can feel in times of grief and deep sorrow. When a patient is actively dying it is hard. No one wants to have a loved one be alone at the time of death.

Although the hotline has only been in operation since this week, Muncie has already given last rites over the phone to a dying patient, describing the experience as a bit surreal at first.

However, when I made the connection with one family member as the spouse was actively dying I found myself connecting with the individual as we spoke, said Muncie.

Once I said the prayer, I let a silence fall. We began to connect and she shared her story, their story, and we spoke of their life together. The meaning of their life together and how important they were to each other became real.

Muncie recalled that somehow she was able to believe through her deep grief that God would receive her loved one into the Kingdom.

I heard her belief and her gratitude. Together at the end we prayed the Lords Prayer  that prayer that unites all Christians, she continued.

Muncie hopes that Dial-A-Priest would be a help to hospital staff who focus on spiritual care, as it would be available when a patient or loved one asks for an Episcopal rite and prayer.

To offer prayers of hope for the patient, that is more than last rites. It is the support that religion provides for those in crisis in hospital, said Muncie.

Even over the phone, hearing the warmth and compassion of a human voice when you or your loved one is at the brink of death, sharing with you the hope that there is a dwelling place of perfect rest and blessedness, a place where the angels surround you and the peace of God is real is powerful and offers consolation.
(Newser)  Texts sent from the phone of a Florida woman beginning on March 23 claimed she was sick with the coronavirus, at a medical center, subsequently moved to a facility that didn't exist, and finally placed on a ventilator. In fact, Jupiter Police believe 51-year-old Gretchen Anthony was killed by her estranged husband on March 21, the same day neighbors heard a scream from inside her garage. Friends and family members sounded the alarm days later, concerned that the texts didn't sound like her. Police verified Gretchen hadn't actually been admitted to the Jupiter Medical Center, where her car had been left by a man matching David Anthony's description, per the Palm Beach Post. Forcing their way into the garage on March 27, officers found what they described as a bleach stain and apparent blood on the floor, per the Washington Post.

story continues below

There was also blood in a bedroom and what appeared to be blood-soiled towels in the washing machine, police say, per WPEC. Days later, after Gretchen and David's phones pinged off towers in Texas, 43-year-old David was arrested in New Mexico and charged with second-degree murder and kidnapping. Gretchen's body has not been found. A neighbor recalled hearing a woman yell, "No! No, it hurts," around 6am on March 21. Other witnesses reported seeing chemicals draining into the street from the closed garage while David's pickup truck sat outside, its bed covered with a tarp, per the Post. David had told a witness that Gretchen "mentioned something about going to beach," per an arrest report. He now awaits extradition. (Read more murder stories.)
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Health Secretary Beela Rajesh has emerged as the face of Tamil Nadu in the fight against COVID-19. An MBBS graduate from the Madras Medical College, Beela is a 1997-batch IAS officer.

Before her current stint in the health department, she served the State in various capacities such as Sub-Collector of Chengapattu, a special officer in CM Cell, Commissioner of Fisheries and Commissioner of Town and Country Planning.

She was the Commissioner of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy before being appointed as the Principal Secretary to the Health and Family Welfare Department.

During my brief working experience with Beela Rajesh, I could see that she is very good at interacting with media. She is also good with fine details and is able to coordinate with various departments, said Dr S Senthilnathan, Port Health Officer, Chennai Port.

She asks us (Central governments team) to be part of media briefings because she wants to show that the State and the Centre are working in tandem. Her dedication to control the pandemic is excellent, added Senthilnathan.

Apart from handling administrative works, Beela makes frequent field visits to inspect COVID-19 containment and preventive measures. She is also active on Twitter and a big hit with her prompt replies.

However, the doctor-turned-administrator talks limitedly even with the Directors of the Health Department, said a senior government doctor who coordinates for government doctors rights.

She doesnt talk that much. However, if she says yes for passing an order, she will do it immediately.

Though she is yet to learn many technical subjects in the department, she is thoroughly informed about COVID-19 and has been doing a good job so far, the doctor said. Senthilnathan said the way Bella is dealing with COVID-19 cases linked to the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi, is remarkable.

It was after her appeal that people started coming forward to get tested. Instead of ordering, she appealed to them and it is a very sensible approach, he said.

Beela Rajesh is the daughter of Rani Venkatesan, a senior Congress leader and former MLA, and S N Venkatesan, a retired DGP.

Her husband Rajesh Das is an IPS officer, currently serving as an Additional Director General of Police in the State.
Erode: The Erode district police on Thursday arrested six persons from Thailand in a government hospital, for allegedly violating the 'tourist visa rules' and for engaging in religious activities in the district in the wake of the restrictions imposed to stop spread of Covid-19 new coronavirus.

The six foreigners from Thailand, all Islamic clerics, had reached Kollampalayam Pallivasal in Erode on March 11 and had since been visiting various Mosques in the district for expounding the Koran.

On March 16 they were screened for suspected symptoms of coronavirus and admitted to the IRT Medical college hospital in Perundurai near Erode.

During tests, three of the Thais were found positive for the coronavirus and all six continue to be under treatment in the hospital.

Meanwhile, police booked cases against the six Thailand nationals, for among others, violating Tourist Visa rules and under certain sections of the IPC and other Laws, for mixing with others in their religious activities even though, having corona symptoms, they knew the disease was contagious.

The Soorampatti police station inspector handling this case arrrested all six of them through video conference as they were in the government hospital.

Later, again through video conference, the six arrested were produced before the Erode district Judicial Magistrate-III, Dr Saryanya, who remanded all the accused to police custody till April 23, though the Magistrate allowed them to continue to take treatment in the hospital.
MORRISVILLE, N.Y.  SUNY Morrisville is holding a dairy drive Friday to provide milk, cheese and yogurt to families in need in local communities.

There will be a drive-thru set up at the SUNY Morrisville Dairy Complex on Eaton Street from 4  6 p.m.

SUNY Morrisville professor of dairy science, Ashley Adams Marshall, says this event was organized to help local residents, as well as dairy farms.

We wanted to do something to help those in the community during these difficult times, said Marshall. Not only does this help those in need in our community, but it also helps the struggling dairy industry since the demand on dairy products has dropped dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Products for the drive were donated by Dairy Farmers of America, Hood and Chobani.

Students and faculty will be following social distancing and sanitation guidelines during the event.
As I stated in my national broadcast on Sunday, March 29, 2020, since there is currently no known vaccine against the virus, the best and most efficient way to avoid getting infected is through regular hygiene and sanitary practices as well as social distancing.
Medical workers work at Sant'Orsola-Malpighi hospital in Bologna, Italy, on April 9, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed 18,279 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries to 143,626 by Thursday, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department. (Photo by Gianni Schicchi/Xinhua)

BRUSSELS/GENEVA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Over two months after Europe confirmed its first COVID-19 case, latest data started to show encouraging signs of the pandemic abating, bringing a glimmer of hope to this continent.

The coronavirus pandemic had claimed some 65,000 lives and infected more than 750,000 people in Europe as of Thursday evening. Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Britain remained hardest hit.

RISING HOPE

In Italy, four of the past five days -- including Thursday -- have ended with fewer patients hospitalized compared to the previous day, said Franco Locatelli, president of Italy's Higher Health Council.

"As for the number of patients admitted to intensive care, five days out of the last five ended up with a drop compared to the previous day, and this proves the reduction in the pressure on hospitals," Locatelli told a press conference.

Italy's daily number of fatalities too showed clear signs of falling, from the single-day record of 969 deaths on March 27 to 610 fatalities on Thursday. The country also reported 1,979 new recoveries in 24 hours, raising the total recoveries to 28,470.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, in an interview broadcast by the BBC on Thursday, said his country may start gradually lifting some anti-coronavirus restrictions by the end of April.

"We need to pick sectors that can restart their activity. If scientists confirm it, we might begin to relax some measures already by the end of this month," Conte told BBC.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said the latest COVID-19 infection figures in Germany gave "reason for cautious hope." "The curve is flattening out," she said after a cabinet meeting.

Merkel stressed that it would be necessary to be "very, very careful" with relaxing the current restrictions. The ultimate goal is not to overburden the healthcare system in Germany, she said.

In France, admissions in intensive care units (ICUs), considered "an important indicator" to evaluate pressure on hospitals, reported a negative trend for the first time since the epidemic began in mid-February. Some 7,066 infected people need intensive care on Thursday, an 82 decline in the last 24 hours.

"The balance is for the first time slightly negative. So we can hope for a plateau, but it is a very high. We have to be careful," said French Director General of Health Jerome Salomon.

Adding to these encouraging signs was good news from London -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Thursday evening moved out of intensive care and "in extremely good spirits" in a regular hospital ward, a government spokesperson said.

Johnson was taken to hospital on Sunday, 10 days after testing positive for the coronavirus, and was moved to intensive care on Monday.

DON'T POLITICIZE VIRUS

On Thursday, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, once again, called on countries worldwide to "quarantine politicizing this virus at national and global levels."

"As I said in the press conference yesterday, we must quarantine politicizing this virus at national and global levels. We have to work together, and we have no time to waste," Tedros said at a Mission briefing on COVID-19 from Geneva.

The fatality rate of COVID-19 is estimated to be 10 times higher than influenza. "This pandemic is much more than a health crisis. It requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response," he said.

At Wednesday's press conference, when answering a question from the press about U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to freeze U.S. funding to the WHO, Tedros said his message for the world is unity and solidarity, instead of politicizing the virus.

"At the end of the day, the people belong to all political parties. The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please don't politicize this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level," Tedros told reporters.

"Please quarantine politicizing COVID. That's the way. If we want to win, we shouldn't waste time pointing fingers. We need time to unite," Tedros said.

"No need to use COVID to score political points. You have many other ways to prove yourselves. This is not the one to use for politics, It's like playing with fire," Tedros added.
India on Friday reported 6,761 Covid-19 cases with the death toll climbing to 206 in the country. In the last 24 hours, 37 deaths have been reported and 896 new infections, the largest ever increase in single day cases.

This is not only the largest ever single-day spike in the number of Covid-19 patients, it is also the highest number of deaths reported in 24 hours.

Out of the total 6,761 Covid-19 cases, 6039 are active cases and 516 have been either cured, discharged from hospitals or have migrated, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

ALSO READ | Covid-19: Centre says no community transmission, Punjab CM says may have begun

Earlier in the day, Punjab became the second state in the country after Odisha, to extend the nationwide lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month. The lockdown was scheduled to be lifted on April 14 but will now continue, in Punjab and Odisha at least, till April 30.

Amid apprehensions that India was inching towards community transmission of the coronavirus, that the country had already entered Stage 3 of the infectious disease, the World Health Organisation (WHO) clarified an error in its daily report and said that may not be the case yet. The global health watchdog said that India has reported cluster of cases in specific areas and not community transmission.

On Friday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) asked the Centre to inform it within two weeks the arrangements that are being made for mentally ill people roaming on the streets during the nationwide lockdown.

In a statement, the NHRC said, it has taken cognisance of a complaint on the alleged violation of human rights of mentally afflicted people and asked the Union Home Ministry to respond within two weeks.
Technavio has been monitoring the telerehabilitation systems market and it is poised to grow by USD 199.03 million during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of almost 18% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005103/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Cisco Systems, GESTURETEK, Honeywell International Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., and Rehametrics are some of the major market participants. The high patient influx will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

High patient influx has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Telerehabilitation Systems Market is segmented as below:

Product Hardware Software

Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30799

Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our telerehabilitation systems market report covers the following areas:

Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size

Telerehabilitation Systems Market Trends

Telerehabilitation Systems Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies advent of advanced technologies as one of the prime reasons driving the telerehabilitation systems market growth during the next few years.

Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the telerehabilitation systems market, including some of the vendors such as Cisco Systems, GESTURETEK, Honeywell International Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., and Rehametrics. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the telerehabilitation systems market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist telerehabilitation systems market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the telerehabilitation systems market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the telerehabilitation systems market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of telerehabilitation systems market vendors

Table Of Contents:

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Hardware Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Software Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by product

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Europe Market size and forecast 2018-2023

APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023

South America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

MEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

Advent of advanced technologies

Strategic alliances

Increasing adoption of data-based decision-making

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Cisco Systems

GESTURETEK

Honeywell International Inc.

Koninklijke Philips N.V.

Rehametrics

PART 14: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005103/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. The Aznavour Foundation has announced joining the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Foundation issued a statement, which says: The COVID-19 outbreak in the beginning of 2020 has already affected more than one million people in every corner of the world. It is a historic disaster that disrupted every aspect of our lives, including health care systems, education, tourism, and many others.

Today, all countries are facing challenges in the field of healthcare. However, we are certain that together we can overcome this disease by being more united, more caring and more responsible. Many years ago, Charles Aznavour stood by Armenia and its people in a difficult time and commenced the humanitarian activities. Pursuant to Charles Aznavours values, the Aznavour Foundation joins the worldwide fight against COVID-19, highlighted Nicolas Aznavour, Co-founder and Chairman of Board of the Aznavour Foundation.

In close cooperation with Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, the Aznavour Foundation has enabled the purchase of more than 5000 N95 masks and 1000 protective jumpsuits for the doctors and nurses, as well as the delivery of more than 7000 litters of disinfectant to medical care facilities, which will suffice for the 2 months needs and thus create a safer environment for specialists who have been working with exceptional dedication and altruism for months, saving many lives.

The Aznavour Foundation expresses its gratitude to all health personnel and volunteers who risk their lives to save others and will allow us to overcome this disease. This initiative of the Aznavour Foundation was made possible with the generous support of the Foundations Armenia and Philippossian et Pilossian from Switzerland, Armen Grishkyan and other donors who wished to remain anonymous. Please follow the instructions in your countries to keep safe and save lives! the statement said.
Lindsie Chrisley Campbell defended her estranged father Todd Chrisley from an Instagram troll making light of his three-week COVID-19 battle, which included a four-day stay at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

'The audacity of some people blows my mind,' the Atlanta-based 30-year-old wrote - re-posting a fan's tone deaf DM.

'This is disgusting. My inbox is flooding with similar messages and I'm not here for it. Get right or get off my page. Don't make me post your handles. Let's make you "legendary."'

'Alive and well!' Lindsie Chrisley Campbell defended her estranged father Todd Chrisley from an Instagram troll making light of his three-week COVID-19 battle, which included a four-day stay at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center (pictured Thursday)

The Atlanta-based 30-year-old re-posting a fan's tone deaf DM: 'This is disgusting. My inbox is flooding with similar messages and I'm not here for it. Get right or get off my page. Don't make me post your handles. Let's make you "legendary"'

It was the same day the recovering real estate mogul said he was '75%' better from the coronavirus, which made him 'the sickest I have ever been in the 52 years I've been on this Earth.'

'But that last 25 percent is kicking my a**!' Todd admitted Wednesday on his weekly podcast Chrisley Confessions.

'Fever between 100 to 103 [degrees]...This has been a life-altering experience for me. I know it's been a life-altering experience for everyone in my family.

I think that what it has taught me is to look around and see the things that truly, truly matter - and what matters is health. You can have all the money in the world but if you don't have your health, you have nothing. It's been a tough, tough three weeks.'

'But that last 25 percent is kicking my a**!' It was the same day the recovering real estate mogul (pictured) said he was '75%' better from the coronavirus, which made him 'the sickest I have ever been in the 52 years I've been on this Earth'

Todd admitted on his podcast Chrisley Confessions: 'This has been a life-altering experience for me and everyone in my family...You can have all the money in the world but if you don't have your health, you have nothing. It's been a tough, tough three weeks'

Plead not guilty: Following his health battle, Chrisley (R) and his wife Julie (2-R) will next face a 12-count indictment reached by a federal jury on August 13 on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion

Fertile family: The Southern grandparents-of-two are also parents of son Kyle (M), 28; son Chase (R), 23; daughter Savannah, 22; and son Grayson (L), 13

Following his health battle, Chrisley and his wife Julie will next face a 12-count indictment reached by a federal jury on August 13 on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion.

The Southern grandparents-of-two - who plead not guilty to all charges - are also parents of son Kyle, 28; son Chase, 23; daughter Savannah, 22; and son Grayson, 13.

Catch more drama from the hot-tempered germaphobe and his family in the eighth season of Chrisley Knows Best, which most likely premieres next month on the USA Network.

Lindsie famously quit Chrisley Knows Best in 2017 after a falling out with her famous father involving her on/off marriage to Will Campbell, with whom she has 10-year-old son Jackson.
Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, speaks at a Security Council meeting about Afghanistan at United Nations Headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, March 10, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

To overcome this global challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic, China's envoy to the United Nations called for solidarity, cooperation, mutual support and assistance, while "beggar-thy-neighbor or scapegoating will lead us nowhere", and "any acts of stigmatization and politicization must be rejected".

"Fighting COVID-19 is an urgent task that brooks no delay. I am confident that as long as we face up to the challenge and work as one, the virus will be defeated," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said in a briefing during a Security Council video meeting on COVID-19 on Thursday.

Zhang said the COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge. The numbers of confirmed cases and deaths around the world indicate that the global peak of infections has yet to come, which is "indeed worrying".

China commends the UN and WHO for their leading and coordinating role in this fight, Zhang said, adding that China actively supports the global effort made by the UN and hopes the international community will diligently respond to the UN's call by coming together in order to win this battle as soon as possible.

The ambassador stressed that under the leadership of President Xi Jinping and with the utmost sense of responsibility for the Chinese people and people of the world, the Chinese government has adopted the most comprehensive, thorough and strict measures of prevention and control. Important results have been achieved at the current stage, he said.

"During the toughest time in China's fight against COVID-19, many countries came forward with sincere help and solid support. We are grateful for the valuable help," he said.

Zhang said China, although facing risks of a coronavirus rebound and imported cases, is doing everything possible to help other countries.

China has provided support of various forms to more than 100 countries, including all those on the agenda of the Security Council. It has sent medical supplies, shared experiences, sent expert teams and assisted with commercial procurement, Zhang said.

Zhang said China's support will not stop as long as the pandemic continues.

"The COVID-19 pandemic shows once again that people of the world live in a global village and have a shared future," he said.

"What China has gone through proves that defeating the outbreak is possible as long as national governments demonstrate strong leadership and formulate and execute right policies and strategies, and the people pull together and act for the greater good," he added.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has taken a series of initiatives, including the launch of the Appeal for Global Ceasefire, the Global Humanitarian Response Plan and the Report on Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19, all in an effort to promote international solidarity and cooperation to fight the pandemic.

Zhang said China supports the secretary-general's appeal for a global ceasefire and called on the council to push for cessation of hostilities as "the virus knows no borders, race, fraction or faith. It is a common enemy of mankind", he said.

Zhang pointed out that vulnerable states and populations are the hardest hit in this crisis.

Healthcare systems are inadequate in conflict countries and the less developed ones. Special attention and assistance should be given to African countries, he said.

Zhang said China supports the Global Humanitarian Response Plan.

"China hence calls on countries to increase resource input to this plan, strengthen support to relevant countries and create a 'green corridor' for the sake of safeguarding people's lives," Zhang said.

"At the same time, we also urge relevant countries will respond to the secretary-general's appeal by lifting unilateral sanctions to reduce negative impact on the humanitarian situation," he added.
Updated: An elderly woman is the second person to die from COVID-19 in New Zealand.

The woman aged in her nineties is from Christchurch and passed away yesterday. The woman had recently returned a positive test to COVID-19.

She was a resident of the Rosewood rest home and was part of a group of residents that had been transferred to Burwood Hospital, as part of a cluster management process.

"Our thoughts are with the womans family," says Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay.

The elderly frail women had common age-related conditions prior to testing positive, says Caroline.

The woman was unable to have family around her in the last few days because they were not allowed at the facility in Burwood Hosiptal, she says.

"However, hospital staff were able to provide her with comfort and support, and we thank them for that."

The Canterbury DHB is investigating staff and residents to find out how the virus affected the rest home.

She says the number of new cases in New Zealand has risen by 44 today, there are 23 new confirmed and 21 new probable cases.

The country's current total of Covid-19 cases is 1283.

There are now 16 people in hospital with coronavirus - four are in ICU and two are in a critical condition.

Fourteen of the new cases are linked to existing clusters around the country. There are currently 12 clusters in New Zealand.

There were 29 new cases yesterday and Caroline says the rise in new cases today shows the country cant be too complacent.

"We are heading in the right direction. We're not out of the woods."

There are now 373 people that have recovered from the virus, an increase of 56 people since yesterday.

There is still a strong but declining link to overseas travel at 40 per cent, Caroline says.

The number of cases linked to community transmission remains at two per cent with around 14 per cent of cases still being investigated.

Earlier: The All of Government COVID-19 National Response will provide an update at 1.00 pm today.

Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay will be speaking.

What we know so far

On Thursday there were 29 new cases of COVID-19 - made up of 23 new confirmed cases and 6 new probable cases. There have been no additional deaths.

There are now 317 reported cases of COVID-19 that people a have recovered from  an increase of 35 from Wednesday.

The combined total of confirmed and probable cases in New Zealand is 1239.

There are currently 39 confirmed and probable cases of the virus in the Western Bay of Plenty.

There is one confirmed or probable case in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, eight cases in Rotorua and four in Taupo.

There are 14 people in hospital. That includes four in ICU  one each in Wellington, Waitemata, Counties Manukau and Southern DHBs. Two of these ICU patients in Southern and Waitemata are in a critical condition.

For those cases the Ministry of Health has information on, there is still a strong but declining link to overseas travel at 41 per cent, and growing links to confirmed cases within New Zealand at 44 per cent including those in clusters and community transmission remains at two per cent. The ministry is still investigating 13 per cent of cases.

There are still 12 significant clusters. The three largest clusters remain the same: Matamata at 64, up two from Wednesday; Bluff 87 up six; and Marist College at 84 with no change.

There were 3990 tests processed on Wednesday bringing the total number of cases carried out to date to 51,165.

The Ministry of Healths day rolling average of tests is at 3,547 per day.

The test capacity continues to increase and there are supplies in stock for nearly 47,000 tests. The ministry expects to have between 50,000 to 60,000 complete tests in stock by the end of the week.
President Donald Trump speaks during the daily CCP virus briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on April 09, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump Says He Is Speeding Help to Farmers Hurt by CCP Virus Dislocation

President Donald Trump said on April 9 he has directed his agriculture secretary to expedite help to farmers, especially small farmers, hurt by the economic disruption caused by the CCP virus outbreak.

On Twitter, Trump also said he expects Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to use all of the funds and authorities at his disposal to make sure that our food supply is stable, strong, and safe.

Trump did not specify what he expected Perdue to do, but farmers are waiting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to announce how it will disburse $9.5 billion Congress set aside for the industry in the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus relief bill signed by Trump last month.

A pile of zucchini and squash is seen after it was discarded by a farmer in Florida City, Fla., on April 1, 2020. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Farmers are an important part of Trumps political base as he seeks reelection in November.

Also on Twitter, Perdue said the USDA is using all financial resources we have been given to develop a program that will include direct payments to farmers & ranchers hurt by COVID-19 & other procurement methods to help solidify the supply chain from producers to consumers.

Chief Allan Lawson (R) and Colonel Gent Welsh, both from the Washington Air National Guard, help distribute food with volunteers at the Nourish Pierce County food bank set up at the Mountain View Lutheran Church, in Edgewood, Washington, on April 4, 2020. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

The American Farm Bureau Federation said last week that farmers need immediate help and it urged the USDA to make special direct payments to dairy and cotton producers, livestock farmers, and cattle ranchers, among others.

The group said certain sectors have been particularly hard-hit, including dairy farmers and specialty crop producers, such as vegetable and fruit farms.

By Eric Beech

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
Hiding in plain sight on a road they now call home, hundreds of people from distant corners of the country wait outside Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS for a pandemic to abate so they can be treated -- for cancer, kidney, cardiac problems and a host of other critical diseases.

The usually busy road dividing two of the biggest government hospitals in the national capital is quiet, the desperation of those who are too poor to move to a private hospital, too sick and too far from home to return echoing in the eerie silence of a lockdown.

Most of them, drawn to the hospitals for specialised treatment from various states, are packed into the few shelter homes, or ren baseras', on the side of the road and the subway connecting the two complexes.

Vijay Sahay, a farmer from Panna district in Madhya Pradesh, came here with his 13-year-old son who has been diagnosed with blood cancer.

The wait for treatment is endless.

Stuck in the national capital since the 21-day lockdown came into effect from March 25, his priority is to get his BPL card from his village that can help him get medicines.

But he can't go back home and can't avail treatment either.

I have been here since March 15. The doctors at AIIMS prescribed certain medicines but they are very expensive. Somebody told me that since I have a BPL card, I don't have to bear the cost. I want to get my BPL card. But how do I go back? he asked helplessly, looking at his ailing son, a Class 7 student who doesn't know when he will go back to school. .

Back in Panna, when Sahay is not farming, he works as a labourer to earn a living.

In the same shelter home is Amanjit Singh, a 22-year-old from Jammu who was referred to AIIMS after he met with an accident in October last year.

There is no movement in his right hand and no medical attention as yet.

There is neither any diagnosis nor any treatment happening here. We have no money left and the best is if we can go back home. But we cannot as there is no means to do so, said Amanjit, who came here with his father.

Tens of thousands of migrant labourers left Delhi-NCR when a 21-day lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus that has infected more than 6,000 people and claimed almost 200 lives.

Since rail and road transport services were suspended, they preferred to walk hundreds of kilometres.

Those who came for treatment in the national capital didn't have that option because they were in no condition to even contemplate the journey home.

Though there are no exact numbers, there are hundreds of people like Amanjit and Sahay.

In normal days, the two hospitals see thousands of patients.

But all that has virtually stopped now as a coronavirus pandemic sweeps through the country.

While the AIIMS OPD is shut, the one in Safdarjung is functioning in a restricted manner.

Patients have been waiting for days, weeks and sometimes months for appointments for dialysis, chemotherapy and other emergency procedures.

With the focus now on COVID-19, many are simply stranded.

The lockdown was imposed to ensure social distancing but it goes for a toss with scores staying in the cramped shelter houses, essentially makeshift tents set up on the sidewalk. In some cases, relatives have to share a bed with their patients.

Although cleaning does take place in the government-run ren baseras', the sheer number of people crammed into a small area makes it difficult.

There are flies all over the place.

The rising temperatures adds to their woes.

Among the worst hit are patients with serious aliments like cancer, renal failure and heart disease -- in terms of hygiene as well as care and treatment.

Rekha Devi, 34, has been diagnosed with cancer and came here from Pillibhit in Uttar Pradesh with her husband Surjit Shrivastav just before Holi.

A month later, they are literally where they started in terms of the treatment. And all roads to home are closed.

We could not even complete the prescribed testing when the lockdown was announced. With no money, we are not only stuck here but my wife is also not being treated, Shrivastav said.

He is also worried for his sons, aged 11 and 12, waiting in the village for their parents to return home.

The stories are many.

Shahne Alam, from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, was referred to AIIMS when the malignant tumour in his stomach burst.

He is waiting for a call to know when his next chemotherapy session is.

We have been told not to leave the city. They (the doctors) can call us anytime for the session, said Alam, visibly weak and looking far younger than his 25 years.

Across the road, in another ren basera', waits Ajay Kumar Yadav, 45, with his wife Anju Devi, 36 , whose kidneys are rapidly failing.

The couple came to the national capital with the hope that Yadav could give his wife his kidney.

No treatment is happening right now. Plus, my wife needs dialysis twice a week, he said.

For the dialysis, he has to go to Munirka, which is some five kilometres from AIIMS.

"Since the DTC buses only allow those involved in emergency services, we cannot use it. So we have to arrange private transportation that costs an additional Rs 500. When we don't have money, me and my wife walk five kilometres one way, he said.
The land border between China and Russia has been closed, China's foreign ministry said on city in Heilongjiang province went into lockdown after it reported 40 new cases on Wednesday, all Chinese nationals who returned from the Russian side.

The temporary border closure came as the Chinese city of Suifenhe in Heilongjiang province on the border with Russia was put on lockdown after it reported 40 new cases on Wednesday, all Chinese nationals who returned from the Russian side of the frontier, according to several state media reports.

On Tuesday, Russia's TASS news agency reported 20 new coronavirus cases among Chinese citizens all of whom arrived Vladivostok on an Aeroflot flight on April 3, then crossed the Russian-Chinese land border the following day at Suifenhe.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular news conference unknown number of Chinese nationals stranded on the Russian side of the border.

"The Chinese embassy in Russia recently learned from the relevant authorities of both China and Russia that all land passenger crossings between China and Russia have been temporarily closed," in Beijing.

He said the embassy had told Chinese citizens in Russia to "pay close attention to the above information, abide by the relevant Russian rules, conduct self-isolation, strengthen self-protection, avoid long-distance travel, and respond scientifically to the outbreak."



Zhao was unable to confirm whether goods traffic was still being allowed across the border, however. State media reports carrying the Moscow embassy's statement did not say when the checkpoints would be reopened along the nearly 2,700 mile-long border.

TASS reported on Thursday that the country had 10,131 confirmed coronavirus cases--two thirds of them in Moscow--with 76 COVID-19 deaths.

Meanwhile, the easing of lockdown restrictions in a number of Chinese provinces and cities has led to conflicting advice about facial masks, prompting fears of a resurgence in coronavirus cases as China goes back to work.



Authorities in Guangzhou, Anhui, Hainan, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Hunan and Liaoning have all issued guidelines suggesting that it is unnecessary to wear masks when nobody else is around.



In the eastern city of Hangzhou, the authorities have stopped compulsory body temperature checks in public places.



Concern about relaxing guard too soon

Chen Bingzhong, former director of the China Institute of Health Education under the ministry of health, said he is concerned that making such advice official could be dangerous, as asymptomatic individuals can't be identified, but can still transmit the coronavirus to others without a mask.



"There is quite a high proportion of people infected with the virus who experience no symptoms or mild symptoms -- about 60 percent," Chen said.



"Yet they are all carriers, and they are all capable of transmitting it to other people," he said.



"People may relax their guard if they think there is no disease around, no outbreak," he said. "But they shouldn't do that, because it is there but still hidden."



"Wearing masks is absolutely necessary," Chen said, adding that the ruling Chinese Communist Party is playing down the severity of the threat because they want to keep the numbers low.



In the central province of Hunan, which borders worst-hit Hubei, rights activist Ou Biaofeng said he will continue to steer clear of large gatherings of people, in spite of official assurances that the epidemic is under control.



"I don't think the Chinese official reports of [coronavirus] cases are very credible, so if I go out I always drive alone and go to places where there won't be too many people," Ou told RFA.



Wuhan reopens

In Wuhan, which saw 2,574 of the deaths reported by the National Health Commission, representing 80 percent of Chinas total of 3,215, auto factories and other key economic players reopened following the lockdown that began in late January.



Thousands of people were once more on the street, albeit the majority of them wearing face masks.



Wuhan accounted for 2,574 of the deaths reported by the National Health Commission as of , or 80% of Chinas total of 3,215. It had 50,008 of the mainlands 67,803 confirmed cases.



The ruling Communist Party started easing controls in early March to try to revive the worlds second-largest economy after declaring victory over the virus as daily numbers of newly reported cases declined.



Auto factories and other businesses deemed essential for the national economy or that produced daily necessities reopened. Some businesses including real estate agencies are still closed.



But Zhang Dingyu, director of the city's Jinyintan Hospital, said the virus is far from being eradicated.



The virus will survive with human beings in the future, so we have to think about how to deploy the next step, Zhang told the Associated Press. We used to focus on flu, AIDS and hand-foot-mouth disease, but now we need to have a ward or an area to deal with this disease (COVID-19)."



The UN Security Council was scheduled to meet on to discuss the coronavirus pandemic for the first time.



Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to focus on efforts to fight the pandemic, peacekeeping missions and fostering unity between the non-permanent members and the five permanent ones in the teleconferenced meeting.



Reported by Wong Lok-to for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
As time remains in strange suspension, the future seems to stretch inexorably before us.

Once we exit our makeshift WFH offices for the day, the next step of the evening seems to lurk ominously over us.

Perhaps youre opting to cook freshly-cooked meals, or youre ordering Deliveroo and praying for a dishy driver as a helpless distraction. Maybe youre immersing yourself in literature and the all-encompassing power of prose, or maybe, just maybe, youre perusing Netflix in search of an escape.

After all, with a pandemic ravaging broad swaths of the country and social distancing now the new normal, indulging in an escapist series to emulate a semblance of normalcy seems like a nutritional source of TV comfort food.

One particular series, which is undoubtedly escapist, and unabashedly addictive is Netflixs Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. In fact, so compelling is the seven-part docu-series that within 10 days of it being available to watch online, 34 million of the streaming services users had already watched it.

For those who have yet to immerse themselves in the utterly mind-boggling true-crime series, Tiger King, as its referred to, tells the tale of a murder for hire reuse which is set between rural Oklahoma and Florida.

Its the perfect storm of illegality, questionable morals and baby wild animals with a high dose of country music and a sprinkle of polygamy; true voyeurism in its most addictive and luring form.

The protagonist  and serial antagonist - of the show is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, ne Schreibvogel, who goes by the name of Joe Exotic. Exotic breeds tigers, presides over what he describes as my little cult of drifters and much younger men and ran for governor of Oklahoma in 2018 on a libertarian platform.

Hes a gun-touting, sequin-sporting, fringed fashion-fanatic with a penchant for DIY country music videos and a bleached mullet which resembles another strain of mutant virus in and of itself.

Joe Exotic posing with one of his pet tigers / Netflix

While the show left me scraping my jaw off the floor due to the antic-ridden saga it portrayed, I was left in awe of Exotics devotion to a handful of hypnotic sequinned shirts, his kohl-rimmed eyes and a slew of tacky tie-dye tops. The sartorial result was what can only be described as a compelling strain of cowboy-goes-to-a-rave which is unequivocally en vogue.

If, like me, your proclivity to flirting with a feisty animal print has taken on gravity-defying heights since binging Tiger King, it would seem were not alone. According to fashion platform Lyst, searches for tiger, leopard and zebra prints have all more than tripled over the last month, with searches for Kenzo Tiger  no doubt a reference to the French brands iconic tiger sweatshirt - having spiked by 200 per cent since March.

Tiger King also introduces us to Exotics nemesis, Carole Baskin, a Floridian animal advocate. Shes the CEO of Big Cat Rescue, a Tampa-based sanctuary dedicated to big cats, and she dresses almost exclusively in wild animal prints  her wardrobe, which she gives a tour of  is an Eton mess of leopard spots and tiger stripes.

Carole giving a tour of her print-filled wardrobe / Netflix

From her leopard luggage to her animal-print shoes, Baskin - who possesses the most mysteriously mellifluous voice - appears to only take a break from her adored feline prints when she dons her second-best accessory of a flower crown, which she pairs with a bohemian kaftan-style top.

While Baskin is undoubtedly the biggest champion of the head-to-toe feline look, animal print is ubiquitous throughout Tiger King. From former drug pins to the safari workers of Floridas The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species who are required to sport minimalist feline outfits, the fashions are as eye-catching as they are jaw-dropping.

Wild animal prints, which were once the preserve of Eastenders stalwart Kat Slater, are no longer the tacky token they once were. In fact, during the spring/summer 2020 shows, animal prints vied for dominance on the catwalks.

Safari workers at Doc Antel's safari park are required to wear skimpy animal print clothing / Netflix

At Balenciagas show, Demna Gvasalia sent varying iterations of leopard print down the runway, while at Bottega Veneta during the same season, Daniel Lee introduced accents of tiger print into the brands cult-status accessories. For Saint Laurent's spring/summer 2020 show, high octane wild animal prints were interpreted into evening wear, all of which would slot right into Exotics repertoire.

Feline fashion has similarly infiltrated a fleet of middle-market brands. Cult-British brand Rixo has incorporated some strain of animal print into all of its collections since the brands inception in 2015.

We consider animal print a classic, we call it a neutral or non-print print because its really easy-to-wear no matter the time of day or season, its versatile enough to pair with other pieces and is also very timeless, Rixos co-founder Orlagh McCloskey ruses. It never goes out of fashion - its a print that our customers can keep in their wardrobe, re-wear and will still be relevant whether they wear now or a few years time.

Balenciaga SS20 / IMAXtree

Perhaps when you take a moment to consider the provenance of these prints, and the fact that the characters of Tiger King have dedicated their worlds to breeding, rearing, protecting and working with and for these cats, their stylistic choices ostensibly make more sense.

The only character in the series who takes a break from the feline head-to-toe, style-of-dress is Exotic himself, who exhibits more of a porny cowboy aesthetic. He wears his series of sequinned shirts buttoned to the sternum, his eyes kohl-rimmed and his trousers seemingly sprayed-on, and leather.

In recent years, Exotics eye-catching take on a discotheque cowboy has been mirrored by a bevy of stars in the public eye. Lil Nas X has made the country-western aesthetic his sartorial staple since he burst onto the music scene and, in his most notable public appearance at the Grammys, sported a Pepto-Bismol pink Versace cowboy ensemble to collect his two gongs.

Cowboy garb was also rocked at the music ceremony in February by prolific producer Diplo and his collaborator, Orville Peck, who both donned their finest yee-haw get-ups for the occasion in Western-inspired ensembles which would be quite at home in Exotics collection.

Lil Nas X arriving to the Grammy's in February 2020 / Getty Images

Tiger King is an anthropological gem that is in equal parts jarring as it is uncomfortable. Exotics chutzpah, Baskins omnipresent attitude and the casts adoption of the prints whose original owners they are employed to tend to, make for a mesmeric and indulgent watch.

Exotic unfortunately wont be able to revel in his newly acquired infamy as hes currently serving 22 years in prison, but the good news is that Orlando Bloom is in talks to play him in the movie adaptation of the story. The only thing better than Exotics sartorial choices is Orlando Bloom wearing them.
Seven more patients have been discharged from the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, following their recovery from coronavirus, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has announced.

I bring you more good news from our Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba. Today, 7 more patients; 3 females and 4 males were discharged to reconnect with the community after a full recovery and having tested negative twice consecutively for COVID19, he tweeted Friday.

This brings to 46, the number of patients successfully managed and discharged from our Yaba facility. So far, we have had 100 percent recovery from the COVID19 cases we have admitted and managed at our isolation facilities.

While we celebrate our successes, let us note that Social Distancing is important & non negotiable in the war against COVID19. Stay at home, observe good personal hygiene and adhere strictly to advice from our health experts, he tweeted.

READ ALSO:

As of Friday, Lagos State had 158 confirmed cases of coronavirus, 107 active cases, 46 recoveries, two evacuated cases and three deaths.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, announced on Thursday that the state would commence community active case search for two weeks.

The search, which will be a house to house identification, will help in detecting possible cases of Covid-19 in the state, the commissioner said.

He added that health workers will move from house to house to administer electronic questionnaires to citizens bordering on the symptoms of Covid-19. Lagosians are urged to accord the health workers full cooperation.
[April 10, 2020] Prudential Financial, Inc. to sell Prudential of Korea to KB Financial Group for US $1.9 billion

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with KB Financial Group Inc. (KB), a Korean financial services provider, to sell The Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea, Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, Prudential Financial will sell 100% of its life insurance business in Korea for cash consideration of approximately 2.3 trillion Korean Won, or US $1.9 billion.1 Established in 1989, Prudential of Korea is a leading provider of life insurance and other protection products through its signature Life Planner business and growing general agency channel. This transaction is consistent with Prudential Financial's strategic focus internationally on Japan and higher-growth emerging markets around the world. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to occur by the end of 2020. Proceeds of the transaction are expected to be used for general corporate purposes. About Prudential Financial, Inc. Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial wellness leader and premier active global investment manager with more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of Decmber 31, 2019, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees help to make lives better by creating financial opportunity for more people. Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit news.prudential.com.



About KB Financial Group Inc. KB Financial Group is Korea's leading financial services provider offering a broad range of financial products and services. The group was founded in 2008 to better serve clients, enable growth and deliver value in a rapidly changing financial environment. Our core strengths are expertise, broad customer base, wide distribution network and strong brand.

Forward-Looking Statements Certain of the statements included in this release, such as those regarding the expected closing of the transaction and the receipt and use of the proceeds thereof, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "includes," "plans," "assumes," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "should," "will," "shall" or variations of such words are generally part of forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects upon Prudential Financial, Inc. and its subsidiaries. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting Prudential Financial, Inc. and its subsidiaries will be those anticipated by management. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and there are certain important factors that could cause actual results to differ, possibly materially, from expectations or estimates reflected in such forward-looking statements. Certain important factors that could cause actual results to differ, possibly materially, from expectations or estimates reflected in such forward-looking statements can be found in the "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" sections included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Company does not undertake to update any particular forward-looking statement included in this document. 1 Based on April 9, 2020 currency exchange rate. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005890/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Nearly one month after President Donald Trump declared the coronavirus a national emergency, and three weeks before he would like to reopen much of the country, the Food and Drug Administration has announced a comprehensive list of best practices to protect workers and consumers in the essential businesses that are feeding Americans during a pandemic when everyone is supposed to keep their distance.

Many of the guidelines reiterate practices that are already in place or considered a routine part of the food business - social distancing, no facial touching, standard food-safety procedures - but they also emphasize what companies should do to protect employees and maintain a safe workplace during the ongoing outbreak. The FDA suggests employers assess workers' health before they start a shift, including temperature checks. Employees should wear masks, maintain six feet of separation from co-workers and assess their own health throughout the day.

If an employee turns up sick at the workplace, the FDA is recommending protocols to try to prevent the spread of the virus and avoid what happened at a Smithfield Foods processing plant in South Dakota, which was shut down this week after 80 employees were confirmed to have the coronavirus. The agency's protocols include cleaning and disinfecting the work station of the infected employee; acknowledging that all employees within six feet of the infected worker have likely been exposed; and informing fellow employees of their possible exposure while maintaining confidentiality. Notably, the FDA's guidelines include contract workers, who are not considered formal employees, such as the drivers for food delivery companies.

The agency is recommending that employees wear gloves and masks at all times, while asking employers to discontinue "salad bars, buffets, and beverage service stations that require customers to use common utensils or dispensers." The FDA is also encouraging retail stores to figure out ways to maintain six feet of space between customers in checkout lines or while waiting on a service.

Yet because the FDA's authority is limited to food safety, the agency cannot require that restaurants, retail stores and other shops limit the number of customers who enter their establishments. These requirements must come from local jurisdictions. This week, the District of Columbia government mandated that supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, food halls and other establishments limit the number of customers to maintain six feet of separation between people. Montgomery County in Maryland issued a similar order, and other jurisdictions, such as the city of Miami, have mandated that shoppers wear face masks, as grocery chains are reporting their first employee deaths related to the coronavirus.

An FDA spokesman said the agency's new guidelines were not a response to a letter Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., sent this week. "We will respond directly to the Senator," the spokesman, Peter Cassell, wrote in an email.

The senator's Tuesday letter to the heads of the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked the agencies "to issue and promote clear guidance for workers in the retail food industry and their customers." The CDC also updated its safety guidelines this week. The senator said he was moved to action after an interaction with a supermarket worker who was "probably more exposed than almost anyone outside our medical community to hundreds of people a day, any one of which could have coronavirus."

The latest FDA guidelines, however, are not mandates, which Markey would prefer to recommendations. They still leave safety decisions up to individual businesses.

"This overdue new guidance is an improvement from the minimal information FDA and CDC previously provided, but the Trump administration must do more to promote these resources to employers, employees, and consumers, and must ensure businesses are implementing these worker protections," Markey wrote in a statement.

"Our frontline workers at grocery stores and in the retail food industry are making it possible for families and businesses to survive this pandemic, and we owe it to them to provide the resources they need to protect their lives and the public's health."
Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

LinkedIn

Email

Telegram



Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

/ Vice-President of the Commission

European External Action Service

9A Rond Point Schuman

1046 Brussels

Belgium

Sent via email

Dear High Representative,

Amid the unprecedented public health threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, I am writing on behalf of the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent press freedom organization, to urge you to call on certain governments to immediately and unconditionally release journalists who have been imprisoned for their work, and are now also at heightened medical risk.

COVID-19 poses a major threat to the lives of journalists in detention. A prison sentence virtually anywhere can now amount to a death sentence. Recognizing the threat this poses to journalists around the globe, CPJ has launched #FreeThePress, a campaign calling on world leaders to release all jailed journalists immediately and unconditionally.

CPJs most recent prison census found at least 250 journalists behind bars globally. The worst jailers included China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egyptall of which have suffered COVID-19 outbreaks. The European External Action Service should seize this moment to call on the respective heads of state of these four countries to release all imprisoned journalists as a matter of public health.

In many countries, one of the first victims of the pandemic has been the truth. It has never been more essential that the public have access to information, yet censorship and surveillance efforts are on this rise. In some countries, governments are taking advantage of the situation by introducing emergency measures that undermine the free press and clamp down on freedom of expression.

Some, like Vietnamese blogger Truong Duy Nhat, Beninese journalist Ignace Sossou, or Cuban journalist Roberto Jesus Quinones, are being held on trumped-up charges, while others have been targeted with fake news laws, like Esraa Abdel Fattah and Mahmoud Hussein Gomaa in Egypt. Many are jailed for their coverage of conflicts, civil unrest, or for exposing human rights violations, like Aasif Sultan in Kashmir, Azimjon Askarov in Kyrgyzstan, Samuel Wazizi in Cameroon, or Nariman Memedeminov in Crimea. In Venezuela, Darvinson Rojas was arrested this March for reporting on local COVID-19 cases.

At the Committee to Protect Journalists, we believe this moment presents an opportunity for the European External Action Service to exert its full influence to also push for the release of these individuals, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For journalists jailed in countries affected by the virus, freedom is now a matter of life and death. Imprisoned journalists have no control over their surroundings, cannot choose to isolate, and are often denied necessary medical care.

I thank you in advance for taking our request into consideration.

Sincerely,

Joel Simon

Executive Director

Committee to Protect Journalists
Q. Which billionaire has pledged to donate two million protective masks for distribution across Europe, with a first consignment arriving in Belgium? He has also said he will donate 500,000 coronavirus testing kits and one million masks to the United States, while urging international cooperation to fight the health crisis.

A. Jack Ma

Q. In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus pandemic in the country, the Ministry of Home Affairs on decided to treat Covid-19 as a X. The move would enable the states to spend a larger chunk of funds from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to fight the pandemic. What is X?

A. Notified Disaster

Q. This is a predominantly low-income, mixed-use residential, commercial, and semi-industrial neighborhood in northeastern Beirut. The neighborhood lies east of the Port of Beirut, which also encircles it from the north, west of the Beirut River and north of the Charles Helou highway and the Achrafieh district of Beirut. The neighborhood gets its name because it was the location where a lazaretto for travellers was built at the request of Ibrahim Pasha, the son of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the Governor of Egypt, who controlled Syria and Beirut in 1831. It was brought into limelight when on January 18, 1976 there was a massacre of about 1500 residents during the Lebanese civil war. Name it.

A. Al Karantina from La Quarantine.

Q. It was the Romans who popularized this (for some) pesky tradition, spreading it throughout Europe and North Africa as their empire grew. They had several words to describe the act of kissing, including saevium for a loving kiss and osculum for a friendly or religious kiss. But this word , was used for a kiss signifying courtesy or politeness. During the 14th century people stopped doing it altogether as a result of the plague and it didn't make a reappearance until after the First World War. A situation which is going to repeat itself as the French government has banned this form of greeting for fears of Coronavirus. What are we talking about?

A. La Bise or the French traditional double cheek kiss used to greet people.

Q. The name came from the city's historical origin from the conglomeration of Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang. It lies in the eastern Jianghan Plain, on the confluence of the Yangtze River and its largest tributary, the Han River, and is known as "Nine Provinces' Thoroughfare" (). What are we talking about?

A. Wuhan

Q. What do the third and the 4th squares of the graph depict

A. This is based on a simulation experiment done by the journalists at Washington Post. It shows how keeping Social distance is the best way to remain healthy in an epidemic. Even moderate social distance outperforms any quarantine by a margin , the green parts depict the healthy , the Pink depicts the recovered patients and the brown depicts the affected patients.

Q. The Blarney Stone is a block of Carboniferous limestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) from Cork, Ireland. According to legend performing a certain act with the stone endows the person with the gift of the gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world. The word blarney has come to mean "clever, flattering, or coaxing talk". Irish politician John O'Connor Power defined it this way: "Blarney is something more than mere flattery. It is flattery sweetened by humor and flavored by wit. What do the people need to do get the gift of the Gab an act which has recently been banned due to the Coronavirus scare?

A. Kissing the Stone.

Q. This was a movie based on Richard Prestons 1992, New Yorker non fiction article Crisis in the Hot Zone. Its lead star Dustin Hoffmann had insisted that poet Maya Angelou be used to make the ending less depressing. (Little of her work is said to have been used). The movie was so effective that at an afterparty at Chasen's, one guest was overheard to remark: "After seeing a movie like this, you kinda don't want to eat something that somebody else has touched."

A. Outbreak

Q. What are these the stages of?

A. These are the six stages of a Pandemic.

Q. What does this picture depict?

A. It explains why Soap is most useful in killing of Coronavirus as compared to all other agents.

Q. Who is this new superhero who is seen helping the kids here with some info on Coronavirus?

A. A new superhero created by PGIMER Chandigarth to disseminate info on Coronavirus in a friendly way.

Q. Who has started this contactless delivery for safety of users worried by the CoVid Scare?

A. Zomato

Q. What is happening here?

A. The Italian airforce gives a big emotional lift to their nation with Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma (let no one sleep)and where lyrics say venceremos(we will overcome)they have their planes dramatically facing and overpowering the single plane (virus) with their National Flag!

Q. What is happening here?
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
 Flash

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has directed his agriculture secretary to "expedite help" to American farmers hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I expect Secretary (Sonny) Purdue to use all of the funds and authorities at his disposal to make sure that our food supply is stable, strong, and safe," Trump tweeted Thursday night, adding he wanted to "expedite help to our farmers, especially to the smaller farmers who are hurting right now".

Also on twitter, Perdue said that his department "is using all financial resources we have been given to develop a program that will include direct payments to farmers &ranchers hurt by COVID-19 &other procurement methods to help solidify the supply chain from producers to consumers."

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ripple across the country, crop and livestock prices have fallen to levels that threaten the livelihoods of many U.S. farmers and ranchers, according to recent analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

"The drop in demand is pushing the prices farmers would get paid for their crops to lows that may make it very difficult for them to justify putting another crop in the ground this spring," John Newton, chief economist of the AFBF, said Tuesday in a statement.

"I stand by my assurance that our food supply remains strong, but America will have fewer farms and ranches supplying it unless USDA acts quickly to deliver aid and our economy is released from the grips of this pandemic soon," echoed AFBF president Zippy Duvall.

Last month, 48 agriculture groups, including the AFBF, had called on Congress to expand the United States Department of Agriculture's borrowing authority to assist farmers and ranchers facing serious cash flow challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Millions of producers will need help with cash flow given the rapid and unanticipated decline in commodity prices, the likely closures of ethanol processing plants, the effective elimination of direct-to-consumer sales and decline in full-service restaurant and school meal demand," the groups wrote in a letter to congressional leaders.




The Delhi government on Friday said 7,242 more construction workers in the city have received financial assistance of Rs 5,000 each in view of the 21-day lockdown imposed to combat coronavirus.

In the first phase, the government had provided assistance of the same amount to 32,358 construction workers following the imposition of the lockdown, an official statement said.

"To tackle the coronavirus outbreak, India is under 21 day-lockdown. The Delhi government is working hard to ensure every basic facility to the people," the government said in statement.

Recently, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced measures, such as doubling of pensions under various schemes of the Delhi government, free rations for 71 lakh beneficiaries and free food in night shelters across the city, it also stated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Its been a little over two weeks since Harris County issued a stay-at-home order. And one model shows that we still have two weeks to go before our areas COVID-19 cases peak.

Houstonians are wondering: How will we get our lives back?

To discuss that, we called Gerald Parker at Texas A&M, where he directs the Bush Schools biosecurity and pandemic public policy program and is associate dean of Global One Health. Hes also served for decades in federal government. In the U.S. Department of Defense, he was deputy assistant for chemical and biological defense. And at the Department of Health and Human Services, he led efforts to prepare for public health emergencies.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Youve said that you expect our current pandemic to have five phases. Could you explain what those are, and where Houston and Texas are on that timeline?

The first phase is containment. Thats when we try to keep the virus from entering our area and try to keep it from spreading in the community.

Containment really started at the end of January, when the United States declared a public health emergency, and the president imposed traveled travel restrictions and travel bans from China. That was to try to slow the spread of the virus from China into the United States. And it did.

That's where our public health authorities ramped up their capability to identify patients, isolate and care for them, and also do contact tracing.

But clearly, some time late February, the U.S. had an inflection point: community spread. Once we had widespread human transmission in the United States, it overwhelmed the ability of public health to do individual, case-by-case containment.

So we transitioned from Phase One, containment, to Phase Two, mitigation. We are clearly in the mitigation phase now.

The primary purpose of mitigation is to slow the spread of virus within our communities. What you're seeing now is a lot of activity to try to prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed caring for those patients who get really, really sick from COVID.

That is the purpose of the aggressive social-distancing measures, like closing schools, universities going to distance learning, asking that people avoid large gatherings, closing businesses except for essential functions.

We've also seen action to mitigate the viruss economic impact  to provide economic relief and keep people employed.

Now Playing: 'COVID-19 in 60': Houston coronavirus news in a minute Video: Houston Chronicle

Those of us stuck at home, or worrying about our jobs or the economy, are very ready to exit this phase. What are the next phases? How do we get out? How can we safely begin to reopen some schools and businesses?

Phase Three would be (a second stage of) containment before we have a vaccine to deploy. Im optimistic that in three to six months well have (a better treatment for coronavirus symptoms), a therapeutic in our toolkit that can rescue those who become severely ill.

But it's going to be at least 18 months, I believe, before there's a vaccine available to deploy in any meaningful way.

While we wait for a vaccine, well enter a second stage of containment. During this time, we need to restart our economy  -- and we need to do it safely.

What's essential to go the next phase is greatly expanded lab testing both the antigen and the antibody lab testing so we can have a much better view of what's happening in our community. Despite the rapid advancement that's occurred in lab testing over the last month, we're still catching up. And without the lab testing, we're still almost blind to what's really happening in our community.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Texas A&M to launch TV series on COVID-19

I think everybody is now familiar with the epidemiology curve the curve from flattening the curve and its peak. Once were on the other side of the peak, once we're seeing a decreasing number of cases, we'll be back in a position where we can attempt to contain the virus in our communities with surgically applied social distancing measures not community-wide social distancing measures.

Were going to have to target new infections more aggressively. Were going to have to isolate those and do contact tracing. It takes a lot of resources to do that.

Our public health authorities don't have the manpower to do this. We need a lot more public-health soldiers.

What will life be like during that phase?

We're gonna have a new normal. We're all going to remember how important personal hygiene is hand sanitizers, cough etiquette, the importance of washing our hands often for 20 seconds with soap and water.

We're probably also going to do more cleansing and disinfection of our public spaces, like you see in other countries our subway systems and mass transit, and things like that, where there's a lot of people. We'll seriously consider cleaning and disinfection of public places where we haven't done really that that much in the past.

What does vaccine development look like now?

There are three vaccines that are actually in Phase Three clinical trials already, and there's at least 20 more that are in the laboratory phase of development, waiting to go into clinical trial. I'm hopeful that one or two of those will make it all the way.

So whats the next phase?

Phase Four is (a third stage of) containment once we have a vaccine.

We're going to get into a situation like we're used to with seasonal flu, because I don't think COVID is going away. In fact, I think we should anticipate that we're going to have a second wave in in the fall.

We may see a seasonal periodicity with COVID-19, like we see with seasonal flu. Our scientific community cannot say that for certain yet. But I think that's the predominance of the scientific thinking right now.

Having a vaccine to deal with this virus as it evolves is going to be important, but we know how to live like that. Coupled with our personal hygiene,well be in a much better place.

And then we have to prepare for the next pandemic?

We do. We do. Thats Phase Five: Making preparation for the next pandemic a national security priority.

Unfortunately, we've entered a period where emerging infectious diseases are increasing with alarming frequency. Go back to the first coronavirus: Recall the major problems with SARS in 2000 to 2003. That was supposed to be a wake-up call for the world to be ready for these things.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: The latest information on coronavirus in Houston

Unfortunately, I don't I think we got the message. We got complacent afterwards. But then we had a H5N1 avian influenza We actually had a pandemic in 2009 with H1N1 influenza. We had Ebola from 2014 to 2016. We've had MERS. We've had Zika. We have Ebola again in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

COVID-19 became the nightmare scenario that many of us in the community have been afraid about. Now we know we have to go into Phase Five, pandemic preparedness, with renewed vigor.

Much of our national pandemic security plan dates back to 2006. To the George W. Bush White House. You were part of the large team that helped prepare that. Could you talk about that?

Yes, I had the privilege and honor to work with an outstanding team of scientists and executives. There was an avian influenza, H5N1, that was very, very concerning at the at the time. We were seeing outbreaks in Southeast Asia. Whenever that virus spilled over from poultry into humans, there was 50 percent mortality.

Fortunately, it was just animal-to-human and not human-to-human. But it wouldn't have taken too many mutations for it to go from human to human. That would have turned into a very serious pandemic very quickly.

So under President Bush, 43, we embarked on an aggressive pandemic preparedness strategy implementation plan. Congress appropriated $7 billion through an emergency supplemental that was requested by President Bush.

I was in the Department of Health and Human Services as a deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response, so I helped develop part of that. But it was a whole-government effort actually, a whole-society effort. It included state governments, local governments, tribal governments, private sector, NGOs.

It was extremely aggressive. We had a national strategy, and national implementation plan that had over 300 action items. The implementation plan is still available on the web: it was a 250-page implementation plan with very detailed action items. It clearly spelled out who had lead responsibility, then who had supporting responsibility across the the federal government, state government, local government in the private sector. We made a lot of progress.

When the pandemic happened in 2009, we were able to pivot that work to address the 2009 pandemic. We were lucky because the virus turned out to be not as serious as we first thought it was when we first started seeing the cases in Mexico and even in Texas. But as the virus spread around the world, we were able to pivot a lot of that work to address the pandemic in that time.

That was during a period where we changed administrations, from the Bush administration to the Obama administration, but it was a seamless transition because the plans were there. The Obama administration was able to pick up the plans.

What's important about that is, it was really the first time in human history that a society made a commitment to try to be as prepared as we can for a pandemic.

Since then, youve thought a lot more about what we need to be doing to prepare for future pandemics. I saw a 2018 paper in which you mentioned the weakness of supply chains and the nightmare scenario that what if, say, a region in Asia that produces a lot of medical supplies suddenly was itself hit by a pandemic. Could you talk more about those supply chains?

I think we are seeing the dangerous vulnerability of our supply chains. Even before COVID happened, over 80% of the active ingredients for all of our pharmaceuticals are sourced in China. Thats a dangerous dependency on one country.

The same goes for personal protective equipment. Most of the world's N95 respirators  the masks that medical workers are are in dire need of right now  are manufactured In China.

COVID-19 has been a wake-up call. Some of the pharmaceuticals that we need and the N95 masks have been nationalized by China. It's no surprise that they nationalize those stocks in their country to take care of their population. That's only natural.

The same thing happened to the U.S. during the 2009 pandemic. We at HHS had a contract for influenza vaccines with an Australian manufacturer. Despite our contract delivery requirements and so forth, our deliveries were delayed until the Australian population was covered.

So we've got to address this dangerous vulnerability for national security with pharmaceuticals. We should not be relying on just one country for some of our basic pharmaceuticals, like heparin.

There's a lot of legislation already in Congress to begin to address this. There probably will be an increase in the prices we pay for some drugs. But we're going to have to incentivize industry in a way that they will want to make some of these things in the United States.

We cannot rely on having everything manufactured in China. But we essentially are now.

What are some of the other things you've worried about with pandemics? What are other issues that we need to address to prevent future ones?

We have in in our grasp the technologies that can prevent an outbreak anywhere in the world from becoming a major epidemic or pandemic. I don't think we have the political will yet to do it.

It will require an investment in international development. Most of these dangerous viruses emerge in low-income countries that have very little health infrastructure, very little public health infrastructure, very little animal health infrastructure to do the basic diagnostics and surveillance  early detection and response to to stamp it out before it spreads.

So thats going to require international development, investments global health security.

We will also have to have a lot more tech  investment in technologies here, so that we can have rapidly scalable vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities.

Is there anything else that's on your mind now? Anything else you want to add?

Yes, absolutely. We've had lessons observed over and over: SARS, the 2009 pandemic, Ebola, Zika, and so forth. I say lessons observed very purposefully. Thats different from lessons learned.

We've observed things, but we haven't really turned them into lessons learned.

lisa.gray@chron.com
Maharashtra Home Department on Friday ordered an inquiry against IPS officer Amitabh Gupta, who allegedly gave permission letter to the Wadhawan family to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar.

The inquiry would be conducted by Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Finance, Manoj Saunik in a time frame of 15 days, said an official order issued on Friday.

Gupta has been sent on compulsory leave with immediate effect till the pending of inquiry. Shrikant Singh will take charge as the new Principal Secretary, Special, in place of Amitabh Gupta.

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has written to the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police of Satara, asking them not to release businessmen Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan from the quarantine facility. A CBI court had earlier issued a non-bailable warrant against them in a fraud case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Employment Development Department Logo View Photo

Sacramento, CA  Taking effect this Sunday, Governor Gavin Newsom says those receiving unemployment payments during the coronavirus pandemic will receive an additional $600 on their weekly check.

It will bring the maximum payment to $1,050 per week. The additional $600 will continue through July 31.

It is part of the federal C.A.R.E.S. stimulus package that was approved by Congress and signed by President Trump in response to COVID-19.

Newsom says, Many Californians are feeling the effects of this pandemic, and this added benefit is very important to our workers so they have needed resources during this difficult time.

In the last four weeks, California has processed about 2.3 million unemployment insurance claims, which is more than the total number of claims filed in 2019. Just for the week ending on Saturday, April 4, 2020, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) processed 925,450 claims, which is a 2,418% increase over the same week last year.
[April 10, 2020] aptihealth appoints Kori-Ann Taylor as Chief Marketing Officer

BOSTON and NEW YORK, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- aptihealth, the nation's leading innovator in tech-enabled behavioral health engagement, today announced the expansion of its executive team with the appointment of Kori-Ann Taylor as Chief Marketing Officer. "We're thrilled to have Kori-Ann join the aptihealth team," said Dan Pickett, aptihealth Co-Founder, President and CEO. "She has extensive experience in marketing strategy, leading U.S. and global campaign development and launches for healthcare brands. With a track record of successfully growing brands and driving market demand, she will be instrumental in positioning aptihealth for tremendous growth." Taylor will be responsible for leading marketing, corporate communications, advocacy, and public relations initiatives. "I'm excited to join a mission-driven company that's providing groundbreaking solutions to transform the delivery of behavioral healthcare," said Taylor. "Through innovative, use-friendly technology and personalized care, aptihealth is providing a fast-track to better mental health and changing lives."



Taylor was the Director of Client Services and Marketing at 32 Mile Media where she worked with healthcare companies to launch brands through video marketing. Before 32 Mile Media, Taylor was an award-winning account lead at highly respected healthcare marketing agencies, including Fingerpaint Marketing and Palio where she provided strategic leadership developing integrated marketing campaigns for US and global healthcare brand launches. Taylor has worked in public relations in both the public and private sectors, including Ketchum's corporate practice divisions and in New York State Government. Taylor also held communication positions as part of Governor George E. Pataki's administration, where she was the Director of Communications at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and a New York City Press Officer.

About aptihealth aptihealth, inc. is a behavioral health engagement company that seamlessly integrates physical and behavioral healthcare. Our platform connects medical providers, behavioral health specialists, and individuals with our proprietary assessment and treatment management protocols to get and keep people healthier faster. aptihealth's investors include Hudson River Capital Holdings, KASA Investments and Timber IV. For more information, visit www.aptihealth.com. 2020 aptihealth, inc. All rights reserved. aptihealth, the aptihealth logo and other aptihealth marks are trademarks of aptihealth, inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other company names, product names, and logos may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they're associated. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aptihealth-appoints-kori-ann-taylor-as-chief-marketing-officer-301038766.html SOURCE aptihealth

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Despite President Donald Trump's inconsistent response to the coronavirus pandemic, his approval ratings rose last month. After months of denying that the virus posed a serious threat, by late March, the United States had more confirmed coronavirus cases than any other country in the world, and Trump suddenly declared a national emergency with himself as a "wartime president."

At that point - to the surprise to many observers - Trump's approval rating on March 24 rose to the highest level he had attained since becoming president. Why did his approval rating go up, even as medical experts described his performance handling the pandemic with terms ranging from "poor" to "abysmal?"

Here's one explanation. In a recent book, "Cultural Evolution: Peoples' Motivations are Changing, And Reshaping the World," I explain how threats to survival trigger what I call the "authoritarian reflex." Here's how this plays out.

- - -

In insecure times, people want a strongleader

For most of history, survival was insecure. Populations would rise to meet the food supply and then not grow further, because of starvation, disease and violence. Under these conditions, societies emphasized strong in-group solidarity, conformity to group norms, rejection of outsiders and obedience to strong leaders.

In situations of extreme scarcity, xenophobia becomes a realistic scenario. If there is just enough land to support one tribe and another tribe tries to claim it, survival becomes a zero-sum struggle between "us" and "them." Under these conditions, a successful survival strategy is for the tribe to close ranks behind a strong leader, forming a united front against outsiders.

- - -

The authoritarian reflex is kicking in

This explains the strategy that I call the authoritarian reflex - in reference to presidential support, it is sometimes called a "rally-round-the-flag effect." This reflex includes a yearning for strong leaders in dangerous times, and it helps explain the relatively muted criticism and rising support we are currently seeing for top political leaders in most countries.

The coronavirus pandemic demonstrates how a threat to survival affects people's worldviews. When businesses, schools and public events closed and people were restricted to their homes, they suddenly realized that the pandemic was a life-threatening event. This provoked deep-seated fears.

According to the argument, these fears should make people yearn for a strong leader who can lead them to safety. And this is what appears to have happened. The pandemic has generated economic and physical anxieties that brought rising support for many countries' leaders, including Trump.

But in other countries, the pandemic evoked even greater surges of support for other heads of government than it did for Trump. Over similar periods, the pandemic approval boost for Italy Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was 27 points; for France's Emmanuel Macron, it was 15 points; for Germany's Angela Merkel, the boost was 11 points. For Trump, the boost in March was five points, according to Gallup polling - though polls in early April suggested this bump was temporary.

The pandemic approval boost extends to other levels of authority. Within the United States, New York has become the pandemic's epicenter - and an overwhelming majority of New Yorkers say that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is doing a great job. In a recent survey, 87 percent of eligible voters approved of how Cuomo was handling the outbreak.

These numbers suggest that frightened people yearn for strong leaders. The strength of the reaction is also influenced by perceptions of how good a job the leader is doing, but in times of crisis, the authoritarian reflex is pervasive.

- - -

This may lead to a political shift

But will deference to authority encourage xenophobia and other forms of intolerance? This is not a new concept. A book from the 1950s, "The Authoritarian Personality," viewed authoritarianism as a personality trait caused by harsh child-rearing practices and made this idea prominent. The underlying Freudian theory and the measurements used to test it have been superseded, but over the past seven decades, scores of studies have confirmed that there is a strong tendency for deference to authority to be linked with xenophobia, intolerance and conformity to group norms.

This tendency can have large-scale consequences. The rise of fascism during the Great Depression seemed to reflect a deep-rooted human reaction to insecurity. Authoritarianism, xenophobia and conformism tend to go together, reflecting an interaction between 1) some individuals' enduring predispositions to intolerance, and 2) changing levels of threat to society.

There are also generational effects. Given generations of people tend to have relatively high or low levels of authoritarianism, according to whether they have been raised under low or high levels of existential security.

The relatively liberal politics of the past several decades reflected how people grew up in an era in which they could take survival for granted. This relative safety, many studies find, led them to become increasingly open to new ideas and more tolerant of outgroups.

Accordingly, the unprecedentedly high level of existential security that developed democracies experienced after World War II brought an intergenerational shift. We began to see a greater emphasis on freedom of expression, democratization, environmental protection, gender equality and tolerance of foreigners, people with disabilities and people within the LGBT community. Rising inequality and large-scale immigration interacting with the coronavirus are reversing this trend, demonstrating what happens when a global pandemic brings survival fears to the forefront of people's concerns.

- - -

Inglehart is the Amy and Alan Lowenstein Professor Emeritus of Democracy, Democratization and Human Rights at the University of Michigan's Center for Political Studies. He founded the World Values Survey and is the author of "Cultural Evolution: Peoples' Motivations are Changing, And Reshaping the World" (Cambridge University Press, 2018).

For other commentaries by political scientists from universities around the country, see www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage
The Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a partial lockdown of Ghanas national Capital, Accra and the other two regions for the next three weeks.

The lockdown also means slow pace of economic activities which is leaving thousands of people struggling to survive.

In light of this development, an all-female Non-governmental organization, Sisters Keepers Association has donated foodstuff to the less privileged in Nima and Madina to sustain them throughout the period.

According to the organization, they anticipate the impact of this lockdown hence the intervention in these areas and the plan to also reach out to other ghettos in Accra and other parts of the country.

The Assemblyman for Skippers(Nima), Mr. Abdul Ganiyu Ibrahim better known as Mallam Fari expressed his gratitude to the organization and also urged others to emulate.

Accra is currently the epicenter of COVID-19 in Ghana with more than 200 people tested positive and currently under intensive care. The central government led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo is working industriously to curb the outbreak.

The three weeks lockdown is in its second week and expected to be over late April.
A nurse has expressed her gratitude to the New York City residents who have cheered nightly for healthcare workers.

In recent weeks, New York City has found itself an epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in the US, with the city confirming more than 81,803 cases of the virus and 4,755 deaths.

To thank the healthcare workers and hospital staff who have worked on the front lines, New Yorkers have been clapping each night at 7pm as the hospitals change shifts, a trend that has been named #ClapBecauseWeCare.

The daily 7pm clapping from our windows all across NYC to thank our first responders, healthcare and essential workers makes me so proud to be a New Yorker, one person tweeted about the nightly display, which has continued to pick up speed as more residents join in.

According to Kelley Bradshaw, a New York ICU nurse at Mount Sinai, the cheers fill her with joy and give her such a boost each night.

You guys, its 7pm and theyre doing the thing, Bradshaw told ABC News during a virtual interview, while walking over to her window to hear the applause. Oh my gosh, you guys, this makes me cry almost every dang time.

That gives me such a boost and such hope that were going to unite and were going to fight this bad boy because this virus is vicious.

Bradshaw is not the only one that has been moved by the emotional display of support each night.

After a 14-hr day, can be tough not to get disheartened (although pts slowly better) and exhausted given the end of Covid-19 not yet in sight, David Furfaro, a pulmonologist at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, tweeted. Then a friend shared this video of NYers cheering us on. The texts, cheers, and thoughts are incredible and really do help. Thanks #NYC.

7pm Eastern time. Just walked out of the hospital to hear the applause, cheers, and honking horns of NYC. Almost a full moon rising over the river. I felt like doffing my cap. But I dont wear one. I didnt expect to feel moved, but it was very moving! another healthcare worker tweeted.

The cheers have also resonated with New Yorkers, who have described the "unity" they feel as a result of the nightly applause.

The 7PM applause really makes you feel the unity #NYC, one person tweeted.

Another said: Every night, Hells Kitchen in NYC lights up with cheers, shouts, and all kinds of love for our medical frontline and first responders.

"We will keep cheering for them until this plague is over.

New York City is not the only city to applaud healthcare workers each night. In cities around the US, including Los Angeles and Atlanta, as well as in cities around the world, people have cheered from their homes to show their support for those fighting coronavirus on the front lines.
Rosemary Pathy-McKinney was as nervous about her pre-operation MRI exam as she was about the surgery to remove a nonmalignant brain tumor which was to follow. Areas of her head had already been shaved and marked by stickers and the sedative shed taken had done its job. Shed survived what seems like an eternity in that tube and was on her way to get dressed when she was told that her brain surgery, scheduled for the following morning at the UCSF Parnassus campus, had been postponed.

I thought it was a joke. I really did, says Pathy-McKinney, 49, a second-grade teacher in San Jose.

But it was not a joke. Around 6 p.m. on March 15, not long after her MRI, leadership at UCSF had made the decision to cancel all nonemergency surgeries and clear the operating rooms for an expected influx of gravely ill COVID-19 patients. This came two days in advance of a citywide moratorium on elective surgeries.

When Pathy-McKinneys husband, Rick McKinney, took the call from the hospital and heard the term elective surgery from the scheduler, he was shocked. You know this is brain surgery, right? he said. We are not electing this.

Starting March 16, as shelter-in-place orders were being announced in San Francisco and other Bay Area cities, all elective surgeries in area hospitals were being canceled. One day later, Sutter Health, which controls a network of 12 hospitals in the region, including the recently opened CPMC Van Ness Campus in San Francisco, canceled all elective surgeries, an order that has been extended through May 5. Critical-care capacity is being been doubled or tripled systemwide, said a spokesperson, squeezing out elective surgery.

This is the longest Ive not operated since my residency ended in 1991, said Dr. Gordon Lundy, an orthopedic surgeon affiliated with CPMC.

In alignment with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kaiser Permanente is reviewing all elective procedures through May 3. Alameda Health System, which controls Oaklands Highland Hospital and San Leandro Hospital, canceled all elective surgeries indefinitely, according to a spokesperson.

To the McKinneys, as to people everywhere, the term elective surgery often implies cosmetic enhancements, knee replacements or bunion removals. But, during the pandemic, its being interpreted as any surgery that is scheduled in advance and can be postponed without harm. A higher tier, urgent or essential, includes cases like Pathy-McKinneys in which surgery can be postponed for a short period of time, perhaps up to a month. The highest tier includes operations for heart attacks, strokes, traumatic injury and other emergencies that need immediate action.

At UCSF, a systemwide effort was put in place to reduce both of the lower tiers  elective and urgent surgeries  by up to 90%, or from 70 per day to eight per day at the Parnassus campus, where most of the surgeries take place.

We needed to open up beds for presumed COVID patients, said Dr. Philip Theodosopoulos, one of the leaders of the operating rooms at UCSF, who is also the neurosurgeon for Pathy-McKinney. Its not that the COVID patients will need major surgery, he explained, but we might need to convert operating rooms to ICU space.

From the moment that Pathy-McKinney was sent home after the MRI with a brain tumor the size of a walnut, UCSF Parnassus has been on crisis alert. Some 220 beds in the hospital have been left empty, along with 40% of the capacity in the intensive care unit. The surgery schedule has been cleared to May 1, with some 1,900 cases postponed.

Theodosopoulos, 49, is director of the skull base tumor program at UCSF and a renowned expert who normally does three surgeries a day. But he has not performed a nonemergency operation since March 12, as he awaits an expected surge in COVID-19 patients that has yet to materialize. As of now, there are 15 in-patients being treated for the coronavirus at UCSF, which leaves 205 beds available, plus all that space that can be converted in the ICU.

If we are hit by a surge like New York, well need all of the beds, Theodosopoulos said. But, four weeks in, there has been no surge.

And four weeks in, Pathy-McKinney is still at home with a tumor that continues to grow, albeit slowly, close to her optic nerve. It has already caused blurry vision in her right eye and numbness on the right side of her face. She has stayed upbeat and positive about her condition, for the benefit of her daughters Sarah, 18, and Sabrina, 15, both students at Leland High School in San Jose. And for her second-graders at Simonds Elementary School.

What to know The shelter-in-place order in effect across the Bay Area and all of California is shutting down nonessential services, including medical appointments that are not emergencies, to preserve critical health resources for COVID-19 cases and reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Here's what you need to know if you get sick or have other medical needs. Q: What should I do if I have a surgery or appointment scheduled? A: The order from Bay Area health departments calls for all routine medical appointments and elective (nonemergency) surgeries to be canceled or rescheduled. To the extent possible, all physical and mental health care visits that are not canceled or rescheduled should be done remotely. Doctor's offices are increasing telemedicine or home visits, although some noncritical services like dentists may be closed. Contact your individual provider for more information to see whether your situation requires in-person treatment. Q: What if I have an urgent medical need that is non-coronavirus related? A: Avoid going to the hospital unless it is a true medical emergency. It's critical that resources are preserved for those with the most acute symptoms to avoid overwhelming the health care system. Reaching out to a doctor virtually should be the first step to assess your situation and get medical advice on what help you need. Q: Can I visit someone in the hospital? A: In San Francisco, all hospital visitors including spouses, partners, family members, friends and clergy are banned until April 30. Special permission for necessary visitation will be given for those performing critical legal or medical duties, like end-of-life consideration, or the care of minors or people with developmental disabilities. See More Collapse

Before she went in for surgery, shed made lesson plans for a substitute to teach through the end of the school year, June 4. This effort went for naught because all her plans were left in the classroom when it closed for the year. Also on hold was her husband, who works as a contractor in tech and had cleared his schedule to dedicate himself full time to her post-operation recovery.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Every day, someone reaches out from UCSF to check on her condition, which continues to worsen.

It is getting harder for me she says. The pressure in my head is really bad. Im OK until about 3 p.m. It is just uncomfortable, and I cant sleep. I have memory issues and wake up from the pain.

As time has gone on and the COVID-19 patients have not arrived at UCSF, Theodosopolous has decided to loosen the backlog of 1,900 cases. The plan is to increase surgeries to about 20 a day, staff-wide, while still maintaining enough capacity if the COVID-19 outbreak worsens.

He will perform his first nonemergency brain surgery Monday. Pathy-McKinney will be the patient. And he is not requiring her to take the MRI all over again, as she has been dreading.

I am giving her that, he says. She wont have to go through another MRI.

On Sunday, the McKinney family members plan to attend Easter services with Venture Christian Church of Los Gatos via streaming into their home. Then there will be an Easter egg hunt for the girls, who never seem to outgrow it.

At 4 a.m. Monday, Pathy-McKinney will leave home for surgery, but she knows this is not the end of her ordeal because she has a second brain tumor that is inoperable. It will require radiation treatment after the surgery to remove the first one.

I see things differently than I did before COVID, she says. There are a lot of people who are worse off than I am.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SamWhitingSF
Vodafone Idea launched a unique initiative #RechargeforGood with the aim to help digitally unconnected customers remain connected during the current times. The program enables every Vodafone and Idea customer to recharge for a friend, family or anyone who doesnt know how to recharge online or doesnt have access to the internet. This good deed will be rewarded with a cashback OF UPTO 6% on recharges done by an existing Vodafone or Idea customer for someone else through MyVodafone App or MyIdea App.

Speaking about the new #RechargeforGood program, Avneesh Khosla, Marketing Director, Vodafone Idea said, The current situation has impacted a large number of our prepaid customers who have been unable to step out and recharge and/or do not have access to the internet to recharge digitally. As a telecom company it is our constant endeavor to ensure seamless connectivity to all consumers even during these uncertain times. We are launching #RechargeforGood with the objective of enabling recharges for those subscibers who are having difficulty in recharging their phones during these unprecedented times. We appeal to all our digitally engaged Vodafone and Idea pre-paid customers to do a good deed by undertaking one or multiple #RechargeforGood.

How Vodafone Idea #RechargeforGood works:

Existing Prepaid Customer logs in to My Vodafone App or My Idea App and does a recharge for any other Vodafone Idea Prepaid customer

Post which the customer doing the recharge will get a cashback depending on the Recharge value

The cashback coupon can be applied on the customers subsequent recharge

Note  Cashback offer is applicable only on recharges undertaken through MvVodafone App or MyIdea App

#RechargeforGood offer goes live on 9th April 2020 for Vodafone customers and on 10th April 2020 for Idea customers. This offer will be valid till 30th April 2020.
Close on the heels of lockdown



violation by DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan and their family, another case of a family obtaining safe passage through an official letter has come to light in Pune district.

As per a letter purportedly signed by Mulshi Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) Sandesh Shirke, which is making rounds on social media, three members of a family and a driver were given permission to travel to Mumbai on April 8.

The man in whose name the permission was obtained is a relative of a local Member of Legislative Council (MLC) facing a bank fraud case.

When contacted, Shirke said he never issued such permission, and claimed that someone from his office might have "misused" his signature specimen.

"I never issued such a pass to them. But as I have to be out in the field during lockdown, I have kept a signature specimen in the office to issue movement passes to vehicles carrying essential goods," he said.

"It seems someone from my office misused that signature by scanning it and issued that letter," the SDO said.

He would conduct an inquiry and the person who did this would be sent on forced leave, Shirke added.

District Collector Naval Kishore Ram said he will conduct an inquiry into the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Theories about the possible connection of the arrest of a Harvard scientist and two chinese nationals to the novel coronavirus pandemic and allegations that they are chinese spies contnue to circulate online.

Harvard University scientist, Charles Lieber, and two other Chinese nationals were charged by the Department of Justice on January 28, 2020 on three different cases for allegedly lying to the U.S. on their connection with the Chinese government.

The story behind the charges against Dr. Lieber

Dr. Lieber, 60, the chair of Harvard University's Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department lied to both the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health about his involvement with Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) and his participation with the "Thousand Talents Plan," in China which is intended to recruit Chinese ex-pats and foreign scientists to China.

Lieber reportedly failed to disclose the amount of money he received from the Chinese Government which includes more than $1.5million to establish a lab at the said university and a monthly salary up to $50,000 and additional living expenses for his work. Based on the charging document, Lieber's contract only demanded him to perform the job functions of an academic scientist, which includes publishing journals, organizing conferences, and advising students.

Read also: China Fears of 'Silent Carriers' Spreading COVID-19

According to Andrew Lelling, one of the prosecutors, the concern for the investigation is not that Lieber was acting as a spy but the possibility that he could be vulnerable to Chinese pressure since the amount of money involved drew their attention and could be considered as a corrupting level of money.

Lieber is a nanoscientist whose specialty is on infinitely small materials on the nanoscale. Recently, his work focused on new ways of using nanowires in cells which does not include biology and virology. Wuhan University Technology also does not appear to conduct studies on viruses, according to the list of projects on the university's website.

Two separate cases also do not have any link to the COVID-19 crisis

The two other cases charged to the two Chinese nationals were not related to the spreading of new coronavirus.

Yangqing Ye, 29, is a student at Boston University from October 2017 to April 2019 who admitted to being a lieutenant in the Chinese army. She reportedly lied about her position to get her visa. She was charged with visa fraud, making false statements, conspiracy, and acting as an agent of a foreign government, Since she has conducted researches on American Military projects and gathered online information of two professors working in the fields of computer security and intelligence robotics.

As with Lieber, Ye does not have expertise in virology and her published research at Boston University's Center for Polymer Studies was about a computational method for analyzing data that is unrelated to viruses.

Chinese national who conducted research on cancer Harvard's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Zaosong Zheng, 30, attempted to smuggle 21 pieces of vials of biological samples out of the US.

On December 29,2019, Zheng reportedly tried to travel to Beijing with the vials taken from Harvard's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and hid the vials on a sock in his luggage. However, the agents at Boston's Logan airport stopped him. He told the officers that he planned to continue the research on his lab in China, takes credit for the results, and publish under his name.

Zheng was charged with smuggling goods from the US and making false statements to Customs and Boarder Protection Officer.

Beth Israel lab, where Zheng has started his research, focused on basic research about cancer which is not related to the engineering of the new coronavirus.

Related article: Fact Check: Can 5G Networks Really Transmit the Deadly Coronavirus?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
TL;DR: The global coronavirus death toll has surpassed 100,000 people and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the countrys leading infectious disease expert, said tests to determine if a person has developed immunity to COVID-19 will be available soon. In Philadelphia, the number of new confirmed coronavirus cases has been stable most of the week, at around 500 per day, leading to cautious optimism that social-distancing measures are slowing the curve. But, Mayor Jim Kenney warns, this doesnt mean the city is in the clear and the new normal could last through the summer.

See these photos of a COVID-19 field hospital at Suburban Community Hospital in Montgomery County. Make sure you check Inquirer.com/coronavirus for the latest news, and please feel free to tell your family and friends to sign up.

Enjoy getting our journalism through email? You can also sign up for The Inquirer Morning Newsletter to get the latest news, features, investigations and more sent straight to your inbox each morning Sunday-Friday. Sign up here.

 Ellie Silverman (@esilverman11, health@inquirer.com)

What you need to know

 The global coronavirus death toll has surpassed 100,000 people. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said tests to determine if a person has developed immunity to COVID-19 will be available soon.

Thousands of inmates in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are eligible to be temporarily released in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus in prisons.

 A viral video shows multiple police officers dragging a man off a SEPTA bus, allegedly for not wearing a mask. SEPTA says it will no longer enforce a policy requiring riders to wear facial coverings.

The testing site at Citizens Bank Park has closed. Here are other test sites around the region.

 Mayor Jim Kenney wrote an open letter to Philadelphia, saying the spirit of this great city has not, in any way, been diminished by this virus. Read the letter here.

Local coronavirus cases

As of Friday evening, there are more than 12,900 reported cases in the Philadelphia area. Track the spread here.

PHILADELPHIA: 5,793 confirmed cases (up 522 since yesterday)

SUBURBAN PA: 4,608 confirmed cases (up 421 since yesterday)

SOUTH JERSEY: 2,500 confirmed cases (up 181 since yesterday)

The number of new confirmed coronavirus cases has remained stable for most of the week, at around 500 per day, leading officials to be cautiously optimistic that the city is slowing the curve with its social-distancing orders.

But, officials warn, this doesnt mean the city is in the clear. The social distancing new normal could continue through the summer, Mayor Jim Kenney said Friday.

What weve put in place as far as social distancing and other things need to go on and on, at least probably through the summer," he said. I dont see that changing. We need to continue to modify our behavior and what were used to doing in order for this not to come back.

On Friday afternoon, Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said 33 Philadelphians died of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the citys largest one-day increase in the death toll. Farley warned residents: If we start behaving as we behaved before all this, theres no question the virus will start surging.

The Rev. Leslie D. Callahan sits at her kitchen table, trying to teach her 7-year-old first grader while schools are closed, while also writing sermons, meeting with deacons, and holding prayer calls.

She is the first female pastor at the 130-year-old St. Pauls Baptist Church in North Philadelphia, and a 400-person congregation is counting on her to guide them through the coronavirus pandemic.

When she thinks of the situation she finds herself in, she references a couple of scriptures: Psalm 46  God is our refuge and our strength  and Proverbs 11:14, which says that in the multitude of counselors, there is safety.

The church had its first coronavirus-era service on the video-conferencing application Zoom and she has been guiding her church through Lent with powerful sermons. The church mailed palms to members for Palm Sunday, and under no circumstances will they meet in-person for Easter.

I feel as a leader, I have a responsibility to do what I believe is the right thing and the healthiest thing for the people, she said. Read more about her here.

This story is part of a new series called Portraits of a Pandemic. It is co-produced between The Philadelphia Inquirer and the 19th News , a nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics, and policy and sponsored by the Pulitzer Center and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism .

Helpful resources

Lets take a quick break

 See pictures of Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. The Vermont senator ended his presidential bid this week.

Celebrated Fork chef Eli Kulp is back, finding his voice with a new podcast. Read about the CHEF Radio Podcast and listen here.

 The reason I have a son is because Im here for him. Heres how parents are helping their kids with Type 1 diabetes, a disease for which children of color fare far worse than white children.

Social distancing tip of the day: Get outside, but follow these guidelines

Its important to get outside, especially when were spending so much time holed up at home. So if you want to go on a hike, my colleague Gary Thompson outlines the guidelines in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania so you can get some exercise while staying safe. Read about the risks of hiking now, which parks and forests are still open, and how to hike safely here.

Have a social distancing tip or question to share? Let us know at health@inquirer.com and your input might be featured in a future edition of this newsletter.

What were paying attention to

Its not all horrible

Philadelphians are spreading cheer during these dark times. Mike Hans gave away free beers, dunking cans of Yards Pale Ale into a bin of soapy water before placing in a a Ziploc bag.

The world needs heroes right now, he said. Im not a hero. But I do have some beer.

After the CDC recommended everyone wear a mask in public, Lauren Rinaldi realized she had the perfect one: The Gritty mask she made for her son last Halloween. She thought her floor-length red dress complimented it well and then she went out for a walk.

Some people were taking pictures, she said. Others werent really amused, so I just waved like a prom queen and kept walking.

Read more here about the free beer, costumes, and other ways Philadelphians are brightening up the days.

News about coronavirus is changing quickly. Go to inquirer.com/coronavirus to make sure you are seeing the newest information.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 20:49:34|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SINGAPORE, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong promised on Friday that the state would do its best to take care of foreign workers' health, livelihood and welfare here, and to let them go home, safe and sound, to their family members.

He said in a video posted on Facebook that Singapore appreciates the work and contributions of foreign workers here, and feels responsible for their well-being.

The prime minister said that COVID-19 outbreaks were seen in several foreign worker dormitories. "Many dorms have cases, and some dorms have many cases," he added.

According to the Ministry of Health, Singapore reported a record high of 287 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, in which 202 cases were linked to foreign worker dormitories. Foreign workers of the confirmed cases are from countries including China, India, Myanmar, the Philippines and Bangladesh.

Lee said that the Singaporean government had responded comprehensively to contain the COVID-19 spread in the dorms, and to protect the foreign workers. An interagency task force has been set up to handle the situation in the dorms, and it has deployed Forward Assurance and Support Teams in all the dorms. These teams worked closely with the dorm operators and could respond quickly to the workers' essential needs.

He said that the government had worked with the employers of foreign workers to make sure the workers would be paid their salaries, and could remit money home. Meanwhile, the government will provide foreign workers with the medical care and treatment that they need.

Besides, in the video Lee also asked all Singaporean people to take the Circuit Break, the month-long substantially tighter safe distancing measures started this Tuesday, very seriously.

"Stay home and stop socializing with others," he said. "If we do not observe this strictly, all our inconvenience, pain and sacrifice will all be in vain."
Volunteers looking on during the opening of a newly operative field hospital for coronavirus patients, financed by US evangelical Christian disaster relief NGO Samaritans Purse in Cremona, southeast of Milan on March 20, 2020. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

Italy Reports 570 Deaths in 24 Hours, PM Announces Lockdown Extension

Italy on Friday reported 570 more deaths from the CCP virus, bringing the total number of fatalities to more than 18,800, which is still the highest out of Europe.

Authorities noted that the number of new deaths and cases have decelerated over the past several days, according to ANSA, coming more than a month after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced a nationwide lockdown in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus.

The latest figures have led to a drop in hospital pressure that began a week ago, Civil Protection agency Angelo Borrelli said on Friday, reported ANSA. The positive signals must not let us let our guard down, he added. The actions taken are important but we must not delude ourselves that the situation is resolved.

In a widely expected move, Conte announced Friday that the lockdown would last until May 3 at the very least.

We are extending the restrictions until May 3. It is a difficult but necessary decision for which I assume full political responsibility, Conte told the nation, reported The Local.

People wave and clap their hands during a flash mob, Un applauso per lItalia (An applause for Italy), at the Garbatella district in Rome on March 14, 2020. (Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images)

Good Friday celebrations in Pontoglio on April 10, 2020. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

The lockdown forces the majority of Italian businesses to close and prevents residents from leaving their homes other than for essential purposes. It was first implemented on March 8 and was originally slated to end on April 13.

We cant risk it starting all over again, Conte explained a day before, noting that the move to re-start the Italian economy would waste the already month-long lockdown and would lead to a surge in new CCP virus cases.

We do not have the conditions to re-start [this] thing now, he added.

On Thursday, Italian authorities announced 610 deaths from the virus over the past 24 hours.

Faced with an epidemic of this proportion, Id tend to trust the viral experts, Deputy Finance Minister Antonio Misiani said on Thursday, reported Bloomberg News. The sooner we get the health situation under control, the sooner we can get the economic engine started again.

The top Italian doctors federation also confirmed that more than 100 doctors have now died during the pandemic.

The number of doctors who have died because of COVID-19 is 100perhaps even 101 at the moment, unfortunately, the federation told AFP. Reports have also said that 30 nurses and assistants have also died.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- To protect public health and safety during the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Alabama Power will conduct its upcoming annual shareholders meeting using remote communications technology.

The 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders is scheduled for 8 a.m. April 24, central time. Holders of Alabama Power Company common stock, preferred stock and Class A preferred stock as of close of business on March 9, 2020 can participate. Shareholders can attend the meeting online at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/ALPQ2020 and can vote online prior to the meeting at www.proxyvote.com by entering the control number found on their proxy card, voting instruction form or notice.

For additional information, please refer to Alabama Power's 2020 Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Proxy Statement, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 19, 2020. It is available to view at www.alabamapower.com. Click "Our Company" then "How We Operate" then "Financial Information" and then "Current Proxy Statement."

Alabama Power Company, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO), provides safe, reliable, affordable electricity to more than 1.4 million customers across the state. Learn more at www.alabamapower.com.

http://alabamanewscenter.com

SOURCE Alabama Power Company

Related Links

http://www.alabamapower.com


Victorias opposition and crossbench politicians are demanding to be allowed back into the states political process, saying the Andrews government is limiting personal freedoms in the COVID-19 crisis without democratic scrutiny.

Police have extraordinary powers to stop, fine and even detain Victorians while enforcing the shutdown regime, but State Parliament, the major check on the government, was sent home last month and it is unclear when it will return.

Police have been given extraordinary powers during the crisis. Credit:Nine

Government decision-making on the crisis is in the hands of a group of just eight senior ministers including the Premier with much of the regular cabinet sidelined and Labor backbenchers even further removed from the centre of power.

The Liberal-National Opposition, Greens, minor parties and independents have in effect been left without a role.
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website  when visited by a user  asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies  which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting  for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a sale of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a sale of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a sale of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated sale of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated sale of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated sale of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Listed landlord and developer Hibernia Reit has pre-let 24,000 sq ft of its 2 Cumberland Place development to 3M Digital Science Community.

The property is located in Dublin 2.

In a trading update, Kevin Nowlan, Hibernia's chief executive, said it was "too early" to have a full picture of how the coronavirus pandemic would impact upon the company going forwards.

However, he said the group is in "a strong position with low leverage, substantial cash and undrawn facilities, and a diverse range of tenants", many of which are on long-term leases.

"While we expect activity in occupational markets to slow until the current crisis abates, some lease negotiations are continuing and we are delighted to have pre-let three floors in 2 Cumberland Place to 3M," Mr Nowlan added.

In the first three months of this year, Hibernia secured three new office lettings covering 56,000 sq ft, adding 3.3m to its contracted annual rent.

The new lettings have reduced the company's vacancy rate in the in-place office portfolio to 7pc, down from 12pc.

All three lettings were ahead of September 2019 net estimated rental values.

A real estate investment trust (Reit) is a company that owns, operates or finances income-producing real estate. It benefits from reduced taxation, as long as it pays out 85pc of rental profits each year by way of dividends.

Hibernia said it will continue to comply with all aspects of the Irish Reit regime, including the payment of the majority of rental income to its shareholders.

The company's annual contracted rent now exceeds 66m, with approximately 90pc coming from offices, and the majority of the balance coming from residential properties.

It collected 87pc of its rent within seven days of its latest quarterly payment date.

The company has fully unsecured debt funding with no maturities until December 2023, and had cash of 21m and undrawn facilities of 133m as of March 31 this year.

Colm Lauder, analyst at Goodbody Stockbrokers, said: "Hibernia is in a fortunate position versus many UK and European peers.

"Rent payment rates for quarter two have been solid, the tenant base is a concentration of high-quality, well-capitalised, low-risk occupiers, and the balance sheet is increasingly defensive."

In terms of real estate prices in the current economic crisis, Mr Lauder said it is "too early to get an assessment on where things are going".
Church doors will be shut and the Vatican sealed off when Pope Francis leads 1.3 billion Catholics in Easter Sunday celebrations held under a worldwide coronavirus lockdown. Fear and confusion in the face of a disease whose toll has unrelentingly climbed towards 100,000 are reshaping society and transforming the way religion is observed. Even such hallowed traditions as the pope's messages to the faithful on Saint Peter's Square are being replaced by livestreamed prayers that Francis reluctantly records from the seclusion of his private library. The Vatican has been closed to visitors for a month and the 83-year-old pontiff -- beloved for breaking stuffy customs and mingling with the people -- has complained of feeling "caged". "We have to respond to our confinement with all our creativity," Francis said in an interview published by several Catholic newspapers this week. "We can either get depressed and alienated... or we can get creative." - Religious improvisation - The pope's virtual prayers are just the starkest example of religious improvisation in the age of social distancing and confinement. Others abound worldwide -- from the Archbishop of Panama blessing his tiny Central American nation from the air in a helicopter to the faithful in Spain blasting religious music from their balconies during Holy Week. The scale of the unfolding tragedy has seen a New York City cathedral replace rows of wooden seats with hospital beds in case of overcrowding in surrounding emergency wards. The powerful Catholic Church in the Philippines is urging the faithful not to kiss the cross and its Orthodox counterpart in Greece is planning to hold mass behind closed doors for its Easter on April 19. "Seven out of 10 Greeks enjoy roasting lamb for Easter," Greek meat trader Angelos Asteriou told AFP in Paris. "That's not happening this year." Jews across the world did their best by using Zoom or other video conferencing apps to "seder-in-place" when the eight-day Passover holiday kicked off on Wednesday evening. Westminster Abbey in London is following the technological trend by releasing Easter podcasts for the faithful of the Anglican Church. Prince Charles -- the heir to the British throne who was briefly quarantined last month after testing positive for the virus -- recorded a reading of the Gospel for Easter Sunday. And priests at France's Roman Catholic shrine in the southwestern town of Lourdes began relaying nine consecutive days of prayers on Sunday by Facebook Live and YouTube. "Since the pilgrims can no longer come to us, we invite ourselves into their homes," Sanctuary of Lourdes rector Olivier Ribadeau Dumas said. - 'Saints next door' - The pope himself previously observed Holy Thursday service marking Christ's last supper -- most famously depicted by Leonardo da Vinci in a mural housed in Milan -- by washing the feet of 12 inmates on the outskirts of Rome. The virus has now made this impossible. Francis instead said a prayer for the dozens of priests and health workers who have died across Italy while attending to the sick since the outbreak began in the Mediterranean country's north in February. "They are the saints next door, the priests who gave their lives by serving," Francis said. The Argentine-born pontiff has reportedly been tested twice for COVID-19 since coming down with a cold at the end of February. He has enjoyed a life of good health despite losing part of a lung as a young man and suffering from sciatica -- a nerve condition that causes pain in his hip. Francis told the Catholic newspapers that people across the world can try to spiritually escape their confinement through introspection. "So: to be in lockdown, but yearning, with that memory that yearns and begets hope," the pope said. "This is what will help us escape our confinement." burs-zak/har/amj Coronavirus has led to hallowed traditions such as the pope's messages to the faithful on Saint Peter's Square being replaced by livestreamed prayers
Hundreds of children from all over the country have answered a Garda appeal to make cards for the elderly in isolation this Easter.

The appeal for an initial 100 cards by Meath gardai was met five fold as little artists took the time to sent greeting cards to surrogate grandparents all over the county.

Navan community garda Stacey Looby began delivering the cards to nursing homes and older people living on their own this weekend after the huge nationwide response.

"I had hoped for 100 cards for 68 residents in a nursing home and another 30 who I shop for and visit while they are in isolation.

"So I put out an appeal and within a week, I had nearly 500 cards from children from Tipperary, Limerick, Offaly - every county in the country almost.

The cards are handmade and have lovely messages and poems asking the elderly to stay positive and safe during the Covid-19 crisis.

"They are from girls and boys from all ages just wanting to help put a smile on someone who may feel a little lonely this Easter. It's lovely that they'll know someone is thinking of them."

Stacey even received a card herself from a child thanking her for organising the appeal

"These cards will be a little lift for the elderly now, especially when family members can't come and visit them. Sure I was even chuffed myself to receive a card from a child."

Stacey didn't take any chances however when it came to Covid-19 and checked with medical experts to see if the virus remained on paper for long.

Some of the cards sent by the children to self-isolating elderly people.

"Advice I received is that the virus could remain on paper for up to 24 hours so I stopped taking them a week ago as an extra precaution.

"They were sealed and remained in boxes for a week to make sure any traces of any virus had died and they were safe to distribute.

"I am shopping for the elderly so will distribute those then and the Meals and Wheels in Navan will also give some out with meals over the weekend."

"I'll also drop them into local nursing homes where the elderly can't have any visitors due to the current restrictions."

Navan community gardai have set up an elderly register at the station to put in names of anyone living on their own who people are concerned about and can no longer reach due to the restrictions.

Some of the cards sent by the children to self-isolating elderly people.

Stacey said: "We make sure to contact them and see if they are okay as they cocoon.

"I've delivered prescriptions and food items but all they want to do is have a chat, even from a distance. They're just lonely so I thought this may be a nice thing to do and it will connect children with the elderly."

Pictures of the cards will be posted on the Meath Crime Prevention Facebook page over Easter.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
Coronavirus clusters are blooming within several Australian hospitals, as the virus spreads between staff, patients and their visitors from untraceable sources.

Undetected coronavirus cases have infiltrated wards and units in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, sending hundreds of exposed healthcare workers into quarantine, as staff and patients report lax policing of screening and distancing rules within some facilities.

Australia's coronavirus death toll sits at 51, with total number of confirmed cases climbing to 6089 on Thursday. However, the rate of new cases continues to decline under the government's social distancing and isolation measures.

NSW accounts for 2773 confirmed cases  39 new transmissions in the 24 hours up to 8pm on Wednesday night, the lowest number since March 16.
Sorry!

This content is not available in your region
The Associated Press

Three astronauts flew to the International Space Station on Thursday, departing the virus-plagued planet with little fanfare and no family members at the launch site to bid them farewell.

NASAs Chris Cassidy and Russians Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner arrived at the orbiting lab in their Soyuz capsule six hours after blasting off from Kazakhstan. They joined two Americans and one Russian who will return to Earth in a week.

There was no social distancing 420 kilometres up: As they floated into the space station one by one, the new astronauts embraced the three already there. They had been in prelaunch quarantine for the past month.

The newest crew members will remain on board until October, keeping the outpost running until SpaceX launches a pair of NASA astronauts from Floridas Kennedy Space Center, as early as next month. It will be the first orbital launch of astronauts from the U.S. since NASAs space shuttle program ended in 2011.

Thursdays liftoff was low-key even by Russian standards, given the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe. NASA televised the liftoff live as usual, but only a few Russia-based employees of the space agency were at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Cassidys wife, Peggy, watched the launch from NASAs Mission Control in Houston. She returned home a few weeks ago, after saying goodbye to her husband at cosmonaut headquarters in Star City, Russia.

Exp 63 crewmembers @NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and @Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner took a six-hour ride to the space station today beginning a 195-day mission. pic.twitter.com/7DRftdHVA5  Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) April 10, 2020

No virus is stronger than the human desire to explore, tweeted NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. Im grateful to the entire @NASA and @roscosmos teams for their dedication to making this launch a success.

Chris Cassidy, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner are safely in orbit. No virus is stronger than the human desire to explore. Im grateful to the entire @NASA and @roscosmos teams for their dedication to making this launch a success. https://t.co/LX36JhD5Fp  Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) April 9, 2020

On the eve of liftoff, the astronauts said they felt fantastic after being in strict quarantine. The sparse crowds mostly stayed a safe distance from the astronauts; even the Orthodox priest offering the customary blessing stood several feet away.

Obviously, wed love to have our families here with us, but its what we understand we have to do to be safe, Cassidy said Wednesday. The whole world is also impacted by the same crisis.

Added Ivanishin: Weve been completely isolated at this final stage of training.

There was another twist, besides coronavirus: Ivanishin and Vagner were assigned to the flight just two months ago, after one of the original Russian crewmen suffered an eye injury.

Because of the late crew swap, Ivanishin and Vagner had no clothes waiting for them at the space station. They took a few extra outfits with them on the Soyuz, with more due to arrive on the next Russian supply ship later this month.

Officials from NASA and the Russian Space Agency were among only a few to address the astronauts, protected behind a glass wall, before they departed for the launch pad. The room normally is packed with family, friends and space program types; on Thursday, the rows of seats were almost all empty. Journalists were among those kept away.

The Exp 63 crew, with Chris Cassidy, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, is nearing the station for a docking today at 10:15am ET. They lifted off from Kazakhstan at 4:05 am ET. #AskNASA | https://t.co/yuOTrZ4Jut pic.twitter.com/ZAypAZs0yQ  Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) April 9, 2020

It was a stunning launch and docking, NASAs Mission Control radioed from Houston after the crew arrived. And while we wish we had everyone to see you off from Baikonur, we know your family and friends, and your NASA family, were watching the whole way and couldnt be more proud.

Were just really happy to get here, replied Cassidy, a Navy captain.

This is the third spaceflight for Cassidy and Ivanishin, and the first for Vagner.

Already on board  and due to return to Earth on 17 April  are NASAs Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan, and Russian Oleg Skripochka.

The director of Roscosmos  Russias space agency  said earlier this week that nine employees have tested positive for coronavirus. Roscosmos controls a sprawling network of production plants and launch facilities, and has about 200,000 employees, said director Dmitry Rogozin, who attended Thursdays launch.
The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike.

We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve.
GARDAI have moved to reassure victims of domestic violence in Limerick that resources for dealing with such incidents have not been affected by the current public health restrictions.

While gardai have allocated additional resources to operations such as Operation Fanacht, members assigned to divisional Protective Service Unit remain on duty.

Gardai are concerned that victims of any crime but especially domestic violence might be reluctant to contact them as they may think that we are too busy to help them. Can I just say that the garda service in Limerick has not been impacted by Covid-19. In fact, because of the restructuring of An Garda Siochana there are more gardai than ever on our streets and in our communities around the country and we are ready to assist and protect all victims including victims of domestic abuse, said Sergeant Ber Leetch.

In recent days, gardai have rolled out a new operation in Limerick which is focusing on those who may be a risk in domestic situations.

Operation Faoiseamh now uses the Garda Victims Services Office to make phone contact with previous victims of domestic abuse. Their purpose is to find out if there are any issues that gardai may be able to resolve and any concerns will be responded to immediately. One of our functions is to assist the victim in getting access to the many support services available and to the Courts Services so that protection and safety orders can be obtained, said Sgt Leetch who added that the response has been positive,

Victims are often relieved because they wanted to contact gardai but felt that they might be bothering us. The call you make to gardai should not be seen as the one you make when you are at the end of the road. Gardai will meet you at any point along the way and help you but you are still in control and gardai will respect this, she said.

Any victim of abuse or those who know of a family member or friend who is a victim of such abuse is being urged to contact gardai.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 06:48:27|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

by Grandesso Federico

PADOVA, Italy, April 9 (Xinhua) -- After receiving the latest batch of medical supplies - 50,000 masks - this week from its sister city of Handan in north China, Italian city Padova's deputy mayor Arturo Lorenzoni said they will be distributed to the "angels on the frontline." The friendship counts amid the current pandemic.

The masks, the latest of a total of 450,000 from Guangzhou, Handan and Xi'an - all Chinese cities - will go to doctors, nurses, workers at homes for the elderly, police and civil servants in the city in northern Italy which has been hit hard by the coronavirus.

The biggest challenge of Padova is the fight against coronavirus. "Thanks to a government measure, we were able to distribute very quickly the first 'food vouchers' of 20 euros each to potentially 7,000 people in need, for one month's time. Now the danger in this area is that many entrepreneurial activities would stop forever. For this reason, it is key to find the financial resources to help them," the deputy mayor said.

Lorenzoni said they were amazed by solidarity coming from Guangzhou, Handan, and Xi'an. "All these Chinese cities sent medical equipment to help us," he added.

"The relation between Padova and Guangzhou originated from the collaboration between two universities through the Confucius Institute. Since the beginning, I had been part of the discussion as a member of the board of the Confucius Institute in Padova. Already at the time, I saw the potential of collaboration not only between the two universities, but also between the two cities," Lorenzoni said.

When taking office as deputy mayor in Padova, Lorenzoni heralded a partnership with Guangzhou to expand their ties to more areas, for example in ports.

"Seeing the importance of the Chinese ports, I hope we could be able to build up an efficient logistic collaboration in this regard, in Padova, also in Veneto," he noted.

The Italian official believes that after every night there is a dawn.

"We start to see light after this very difficult period. We accumulated huge experience in dealing with the virus and I think that our health care system is now prepared even to help other areas. I hope that these difficult days could bring more 'openness', as only through cooperation can we get out of this difficult period," he added.
SEATTLE, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adaptive Biotechnologies (ADPT), a commercial stage biotechnology company that aims to translate the genetics of the adaptive immune system into clinical products to diagnose and treat disease, today announced the addition of two prominent hires to its executive leadership team. Mark Adams, Ph.D. has been appointed Chief Technical Officer to advance technology strategy across the company. Jyoti Palaniappan joins as Senior Vice President, Clinical Diagnostics, immunoSEQ Dx to establish the commercial infrastructure for the diagnostics pipeline resulting from our partnership with Microsoft.



We are excited to further expand our executive leadership team as we scale our organization and accelerate the development and commercialization of clinical products stemming from our immune medicine platform, said Chad Robins, CEO and co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies. Marks experience leading large bioinformatics and data analytics programs, and Jyotis successful track record of building robust commercial organizations will add tremendous expertise to Adaptive as we evolve into a more commercially focused-company. I also want to thank Sean Nolan for his phenomenal six years of service as our first Chief Technical Officer.

With more than 25 years of experience, Dr. Adams joins Adaptive to lead teams across all technological functions, including software development and IT, to ensure product development meets customer needs and stays focused on innovation. Dr. Adams takes over for Sean Nolan who joined Adaptive in 2014 as Chief Technical Officer. Mr. Nolan remains an integral part of the Adaptive team and will fill a newly created role of Distinguished Engineer to allow him to return to his passion and expertise in programming and bioinformatics.

Mr. Palaniappan brings a diverse set of commercial executive experience to build the immunoSEQ Dx commercial team and launch a pipeline of diagnostics with a goal of enabling earlier and more accurate detection of infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and Lyme, autoimmune disorders, and cancer. In addition, Thomas Snyder, Ph.D. returns to Adaptive as Vice President of Research, immunoSEQ Dx after five years spent as the Head of Computational Biology at Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences). Dr. Snyder is responsible for translating the research from our partnership with Microsoft to feed the immunoSEQ Dx pipeline.

Story continues

About Mark Adams, Ph.D., Chief Technical Officer

Dr. Adams brings a proven track record of experience in the development of strategy, design and implementation of large-scale bioinformatics and data analytics programs for companies across the healthcare spectrum, including SVB Leerink, Celmatix, Good Start Genetics and Variagenics Inc. While at Celmatix, he scaled the companys technology operations to support next-generation DNA sequencing-based testing, successfully navigating regulatory challenges while driving growth of the companys platform. Dr. Adams carried out his post-doctoral studies in Computational Biology at Boston University; and holds a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from Baylor College of Medicine; and a B.A. in Biology from Oberlin College.

About Jyoti Palaniappan, SVP, Clinical Diagnostics immunoSEQ Dx

Mr. Palaniappan brings 20 years of experience delivering commercial value in healthcare to Adaptive. Prior to joining Adaptive, he served as Chief Commercial Officer for Bigfoot Biomedical. While at Bigfoot Biomedical, he led the development of the companys go-to-market strategy, oversaw key partnerships for the organization, built out the commercial organization and capabilities, and drove execution of commercialization. He spent eleven years at Abbott in their diabetes care business, leading and developing the business commercial capabilities. Prior to Abbott, he led global and US commercial organizations for Thermo Fisher Scientific, as well as provided strategic consulting services at McKinsey & Company. Mr. Palaniappan holds an MBA/MPH from Emory University and a BS Biology from University of Michigan.

About Adaptive Biotechnologies

Adaptive Biotechnologies is a commercial-stage biotechnology company focused on harnessing the inherent biology of the adaptive immune system to transform the diagnosis and treatment of disease. We believe the adaptive immune system is natures most finely tuned diagnostic and therapeutic for most diseases, but the inability to decode it has prevented the medical community from fully leveraging its capabilities. Our proprietary immune medicine platform reveals and translates the massive genetics of the adaptive immune system with scale, precision and speed to develop products in life sciences research, clinical diagnostics, and drug discovery. We have two commercial products, and a robust clinical pipeline to diagnose, monitor and enable the treatment of diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions and infectious diseases. Our goal is to develop and commercialize immune-driven clinical products tailored to each individual patient. For more information, please visit adaptivebiotech.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on managements beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. All statements contained in this release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our ability to develop, commercialize and achieve market acceptance of our current and planned products and services, our research and development efforts, and other matters regarding our business strategies, use of capital, results of operations and financial position, and plans and objectives for future operations.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the words may, will, could, would, should, expect, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, predict, project, potential, continue, ongoing or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors are described under "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and elsewhere in the documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. We caution you that forward-looking statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by us and our projections of the future, about which we cannot be certain. As a result, the forward-looking statements may not prove to be accurate. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent our views as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason, except as required by law.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Beth Keshishian

917-912-7195

media@adaptivebiotech.com

INVESTOR CONTACT:

Lynn Lewis or Carrie Mendivil

415-937-5405

investors@adaptivebiotech.com
Massachusetts regulators are urging all the state's automobile insurance companies to at least consider joining several that have announced plans to give partial rebates or discounts to policy-holders amid a sudden decline in driving brought about by COVID-19 restrictions.

Insurance Commissioner Gary Anderson is in discussions with a number of insurance companies about ways they can help customers weather COVID-19 - including the possibility of refunds or discounts due to a decline in miles driven, a spokeswoman for the agency, Carolyn Assa, said.

Attorney General Maura Healey also is calling on insurers to share savings stemming from reduced driving with motorists.

"It's incredibly important that car-insurance companies are responsive to consumers throughout this crisis and should consider reducing rates to reflect decreased risk. This is an area that we will continue to monitor," said Alex Bradley, a Healey spokesman.

The Division of Insurance and Attorney General share oversight of automobile insurers and both play key roles in the annual rate-setting process.

As of Thursday mid-day, Allstate, GEICO and Liberty Mutual had announced rebates or discounts. Allstate already has won Division of Insurance approval to issue rebates or offer off-setting documents. All such applications are receiving expedited reviews, Assa said.

The refunds or discounts vary by company, but GEICO says its nationwide discount will average around $150 on a $1,000 annual auto-insurance bill.

Of the insurers that announced plans to give refunds, GEICO has the largest presence in the Massachusetts automobile insurance market with the third-largest share, according to the website agencychecklists.com. Liberty Mutual ranks 5th and Allstate 15th.

MAPFRE Insurance, the largest player in the states automobile insurance market by far with nearly a quarter of premiums collected and Safety, which is second in the market, have not announced discounts publicly or said through spokespersons contacted by State House News Service that they are seeking to offer rebates or discounts. Applications to the Division of Insurance are not public records until theyre approved. Arbella is putting together a plan to share savings due to low driving volume with policy-holders and likely will announce it next week, a spokeswoman said.

The Massachusetts Insurance Federation, which represents companies that write about 80 percent of the property and casualty policies -- including automobile coverage -- in the state, opposes forced refunds, Executive Director John P. Murphy said. Companies are "doing it on their own," he said.

"Moreover, Murphy added, a reduction in claims will lead to future savings for policy-holders because the state's rate-setting process factors in claim history. "Rates are based on losses," he said. "To the extent there are reduced losses, that ultimately will inure to the benefit of drivers down the road."

The Division of Insurance discussions with insurers accompany the agencys March 23 issuance of a memo asking market participants to explore all possible ways to relax due dates for premiums payments; to extend grace periods; waive late fees, non-sufficient funds fees, installment fees and penalties; allow payment plans for premiums payments; assist affected policyholders to find ways that insurance policies do not lapse; and consider cancellation or non-renewal of policies only after exhausting other efforts to work with policyholders to continue coverage.
Paris, April 10 : French hospitals registered a one-day loss of 424 COVID-19 patients, taking the total toll to 8,044, while some 4,166 elderly people living at nursing homes had died of the virus since the epidemic began, a health official said.

In total, 12,210 patients succumbed to the COVID-19 compared with Wednesday's 10,869 which did not update human loss reported in retirement homes due to a technical problem, according to figures unveiled by Health General Director Jerome Salomon, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

Some 86,334 people had tested positive for the virus, up by 4,334 in one day. Including infections reported in retirement homes, the figure rose to 117,749, Salomon told a daily conference on the epidemic.

He added that 30,767 patients are now hospitalized, up by 392 in the last 24 hours, while 23,200 others have recovered, a one-day rise of 2,000.

Admissions in intensive care units (ICU), considered "an important indicator" to evaluate pressure on hospitals, reported a decline for the first time since the epidemic began. Some 7,066 infected people need intensive care on Thursday, an 82 decline in the last 24 hours.

"The balance is for the first time slightly negative. So we can hope for a plateau, but it is a very high. We have to be careful," Salomon said.

Salomon noted that even if some relief in emergency services was noteworthy "the epidemic will only drop when there are fewer patients in hospital." The confinement imposed since March 17 "begins bearing fruit," he said. "So, it's absolutely essential to continue the lockdown. Stay at home. The first slowing seen is linked to your good respect of the confinement rules." On April 7, France entered its fourth week of nationwide confinement. Tough restriction on people movement would likely be maintained for further two weeks to stem the virus spread.

President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation next Monday, his third televised appearance in less than one month, to unveil a new batch of measures to contain the coronavirus epidemic and cushion its severe economic fallout.

In its report released on Wednesday, French central bank BdF estimated that every two-week confinement would lead to a 1.5 per cent loss in the gross domestic product (GDP).

The coronavirus pandemic has hit hard local businesses in tourism and manufacturing, with the country's economic activity tumbled by 32 per cent since the lockdown began.

Adding to that, strict instructions to limit people movement had negatively impacted local demand, one of the main growth engines in the domestic economy.

In a joint interview with Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin, Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire on Thursday told business newspaper Le Echos that the government would double its financial aid to 100 billion euros (US &109.23 billion) to help companies stay afloat through the virus outbreak, consisting in large part of tax and payroll charge deferrals.

"These figures could change as the economic situation and businesses' need of support change rapidly. We are doing everything to save our businesses," Le Maire said.

As almost all sectors are at halt and because of costly measures to help local firms to be back on the recovery track, Le Maire expected the French economy to shrink by 6 percent for the whole year of 2020.

"This is the biggest recession in France since 1945. Unknowns remain and this forecast may still change, particularly with regard to the duration of confinement and the terms to lift it. This is crucial: the longer the confinement is, the lower the growth will be," he added.

The government predicted the budget deficit would hit 7.6 per cent of the GDP this year, in its second update to the 2020 budget it will present next Wednesday, according to Budget Minister Darmanin.

"We will be over 170 billion euros of budget deficit, while we had forecast 93 billion in the initial finance law. This is higher than that of post-financial crisis of 2010 ... This figure may still change," Darmanin said.

France's previous deficit record dated back to 2009 when the eurozone's second largest economy recorded a gap at 7.2 per cent of the GDP during the global financial turmoil.

"The economic recovery will be long, difficult and costly. It will require efforts from all the French," Le Maire said.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
The Assad regime has called on Russia to help them deal with coronavirus outbreak, requesting medical supplies and testing kits writes Alsouria Net.

On Tuesday, the Assad regime called for the help of its Russian ally in the fight against the novel coronavirus, demanding medical supplies to test for the virus.

According to the TASS news agency, the regimes ambassador to Russia, Riyad Haddad, said the government has sent a request to the Russian Ministry of Health to provide Syria with needed equipment to detect the coronavirus, and also requested protective and medical equipment to help Syrians deal with the spread of the virus.

This comes days after Russia provided 25,000 tons of soft wheat to the regime, which was unable to provide bread as a basic need.

The head of the regimes Syrian Institution for Grains, Youssef Kassem, said that a Russian ship loaded with tons of wheat arrived at the port of Lattakia last Sunday, and the vessel was sterilized as a precautionary measure.

This comes as Russia boasts that it has sent aid to several countries amid the pandemic, including doctors and medical equipment to Italy, Serbia and the United States.

According to reports by the regimes Health Ministry, up to 19 infections were recorded in areas under the regimes control, including three recoveries and two deaths.

The regime and its allies, especially Russia, have tried to use the coronavirus as a pretext to lift economic sanctions.

In March, the regime issued a statement holding the United States and its allies responsible for any human losses caused by the virus, blaming them for obstructing efforts to combat it. The regime also said that efforts must be united to save humanity from the pandemic, stressing that sanctions imposed against it and against other countries should be lifted.

Eight countries, including Russia, China, the Syrian regime, and Iran, sent a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, calling for the lifting of unilateral sanctions that hinder the fight against the virus.

The destructive impact of the said measures undermine the ongoing efforts of national governments to combat COVID-19, especially in terms of the effectiveness and timing of purchasing medical equipment and supplies, such as testing kits and medication needed to receive and treat patients, the letter read, calling for the lifting of sanctions.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Storyful

An affable deer created somewhat of a buzz in a neighborhood near Salt Lake City, Utah, he regularly visited over the holiday period.The deer, nicknamed Cooper by local residents, has been playing with children in the neighborhood of Herriman and was even spotted posing for photos, reports said.Herriman resident Angelica Lujan recorded footage of the tame deer interacting with her children outside of her home on South Rowell Drive.Speaking to KSTU, a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources representative said despite the deers friendly attitude, the best thing for the animal is for people to leave him alone.People dont realize these beautiful, cute deer can be aggressive as they get older. Weve had times in the past where these friendly deer, they do get aggressive, said Scott Root, Conservation Outreach Manager, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.Weve had kids hurt at bus stops. Bad things happen when we feed deer in a residential area, Root added. Credit: Angelica Lujan via Storyful
A team of Chinese experts has shared the country's experience in fighting COVID-19 in many parts of Iraq, and worked to come up with prevention and control plans and countermeasures along with their Iraqi counterparts over the past month.

Chinese expert Xu Yonghao demonstrates wearing a protective suit in Baghdad, Iraq, March 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

During this period, the experts traveled to government offices, hospitals and communities throughout Iraq to fight against the virus, sometimes even having to wear bullet-proof vests while traveling through unstable regions.

Chinese experts built a special nucleic acid detection laboratory in two weeks as part of efforts to improve the regions currently insufficient testing capability, said Xu Yonghao, member of the expert team and doctor of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University.

Xu added that the number of people that can be detected daily has gone from 200 to more than 1,000. After training, the Iraqi technicians are now able to independently complete test operations.

Furthermore, in light of local conditions, the Chinese team has also proposed using CT scans to screen suspected patients, and is assisting the Iraqi side in rebuilding a CT laboratory and training the relevant personnel, a move that was warmly welcomed by the locals.

The guidance of Chinese experts has provided Iraqi people valuable help in preventing and controlling the epidemic, said Arthur Adnan, director of the radiology department of Baghdad Teaching Hospital, noting that the exchanges with Chinese experts have not only enriched their understanding of how to prevent and treat COVID-19, but also helped enhance the friendship between the experts from these two countries.

Hand in hand with our Chinese friends, we have the confidence to contain the outbreak, said Adnan.
Almost 160 Victorian healthcare workers have been infected with coronavirus, a figure which has doubled in a week, prompting the state's peak medical body to demand an explantation from authorities.

The Australian Medical Assocation's state president has expressed alarm after the latest figures from the Department of Health and Human Services showed 157 healthcare workers from at least seven different Victorian hospitals and one radiology clinic have tested positive to COVID-19 so far.

The Austin's coronavirus screening clinic and ward as the hospital and medical staff prepare for up to a 400 per cent increase in the number of patients they will need to treat. Credit:Justin McManus

This is almost double the number of confirmed cases among healthcare workers this time last week. The infected workers include doctors and nurses as well as support and administrative staff.

Questions still remain, however, over what is fuelling the spike of COVID-19 cases in the medical workforce.
Tom Barkin, president of the Richmond Fed, said he saw parallels to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when far-reaching security measures allowed Americans to feel safe going out again. In this case, he said, it might take a coronavirus vaccine or widespread immunity testing, but both of those things probably are still far off.
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048235eb40)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048246d1f8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048235eb40)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048246d1f8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f04824f2fb8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048246d1f8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f048246d1f8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481b668f8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f048246d210)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f048246d210)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Chennai, April 10 : The medical expert group set up by the Tamil Nadu government has recommended that the lockdown be extended in the state by two more weeks, said a group member on Friday.

The government is expected to take a decision on the matter on Saturday at the Cabinet meeting.

The recommendation has come in the wake of increasing number of persons testing positive for coronavirus in the state and the 21-day lockdown period coming to an end on April 14.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K.Palaniswami on Friday held a meeting with the expert committee and other state government officials on preventing the virus spread and the treatment given to the patients.

Speaking to the reporters after the meeting, a member of the medical expert group contended that the impact of Coronavirus is on the rise despite various measures by the government and hence the group has recommended to extend the lockdown period by two more weeks.

With no downward trend seen in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus and a possibility of the state moving into the community spread stage (third stage) looming large, Tamil Nadu is yet to chart out any lockdown exit strategy.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Palaniswami said the state is now in the second stage of coronavirus spread and there is a possibility of moving into the third stage -- community transmission -- and steps are being taken to prevent that from happening.

Pointing at the rising number of positive cases in the state, hesaid the decision to extend the lockdown will be taken after looking at various aspects.

A 19-medical team has been constituted for the purpose. The group's advice, along with that of the 12 official groups set up earlier, will be taken into account by the government while deciding whether to extend the lockdown.

Officials also said the exit strategy is yet to be charted out as the number of people testing positive for coronavirus is on the rise and the curve has not gone flat yet.

They also pointed out that several Chief Ministers have asked the Central government to extend the lockdown period.
Donald Trump responded almost instantly to a Joe Biden policy initiative Thursday, saying he 'may' waive student loan payments after a six-month freeze ends - hours after the Democrat made write-offs a key policy pledge.

Biden called for new efforts to forgive student loans as he unveiled policies designed to appeal to Bernie Sanders' supporters, the day after Sanders announced he was suspending his presidential campaign, but will remain on the ballot in upcoming states to try to influence the direction of the party.

Sanders vigorously campaigned on 'Medicare for All' Americans and total forgiveness of student loan debt. While stopping short in both areas, Biden's proposals move in his direction.

Biden unveiled plans to expand eligibility for Medicare and forgive college debt for millions of Americans in a Medium post, as the former vice president begins courting progressives whose support he will need against Donald Trump in November.

It came as a slew of polls show him leading the president. A new CNN poll has Biden leading Trump 53 to 42 as the president contends with the coronavirus crisis that now has 16 million Americans filing for unemployment. A Monmouth University poll has Biden up 48 to 44.

Biden leads in the last 13 polls tracked by the RealClearPolitics site, with an average lead of nearly 7 percentage points.

But at a White House coronavirus briefing Thursday, Trump said: 'Previously, student loan payments have been waived for 6 months, and we'll discuss it after that. May go further.'

Trump has already openly appealed to Sanders' supporters to vote for him, saying they agree on trade - although Sanders himself described Trump as 'the most dangerous president in U.S. history' as he quit.

But Sanders' younger supporters are a target for both Trump and Biden, prompting their dueling student loan announcements - Biden's more concrete, but Trump with the benefit of being made on live television.

Flanking move: Donald Trump used a coronavirus briefing to hint at more freezes of student loan payments - a move designed to respond to Joe Biden unveiling write-off for some loans for people earning under $125,000 a year as part of his platform

Former Vice President Joe Biden Biden would lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60 from 65 and provide for substantial student loan debt forgiveness, according to new plans he revealed Thursday

It was the latest overture from first Biden, then Trump, in a presidential campaign that has moved online with coronavirus making large rallies and even speeches out of the question for now.

Biden kicked off his post with a discussion of the coronavirus, then called for the nation to 'think big' about how to achieve a long-term recovery.

'Recovery will require long term changes to build a more inclusive and more resilient middle class, and a greener and more resilient economy. We have to think big  as big as the challenges we face. As we start to lay the groundwork for recovery, we have to build back better for the future,' he wrote.

Biden's swift move to shore up his left flank underscores the choice many progressives were left after Sanders abandoned his presidential bid: Side with the more centrist former vice president or keep up the fight and potentially lose the White House again.

As they weigh their options, activists are already working to push Biden to the left on key issues. And he is amenable to the idea because he will likely need them to defeat President Donald Trump in November.

Former President Barack Obama gave a possible hint recently when he tweeted out an interview about the coronavirus plans put together by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts early this year. Warren vied with Sanders for support on the party's left. Biden has said he will choose a woman as his running mate.

The first indication of just how much came when Biden announced he'd support expanding government-funded health insurance through Medicare to people 60 and older who opt out of health insurance sponsored by their employers - down from the current 65. Biden also said he'd back a plan to forgive student debt for many low- and middle-income borrowers.

Neither proposal goes as far as Sanders promised had he won the presidency. And they may not be enough to persuade supporters of the Vermont senator to embrace Biden.

'We can try all we want to use our leverage as a movement but, at the end of the day, I wouldnt expect anything coming from the establishment, the Biden campaign or the Democratic National Committee as a way to bring in the base,' said Nomiki Konst, a Sanders surrogate who worked on party reforms on his behalf. 'I think they want power - and I think they want money.'

Such sentiment could be a hurdle for a party desperate to defeat Trump. If Biden can't bridge the ideological divide, he risks heading into the fall with the same vulnerabilities as Hillary Clinton in 2016. But if he gives too much to progressives, he could be portrayed as a far-leftist, an argument the Trump campaign is already trying to make.

Despite Thursday's moves, Biden has signaled he's not willing to make major concessions, including embracing Medicare for All universal health insurance and the most sweeping Green New Deal policies to combat climate change.

Still, Biden has already embraced an overhaul of bankruptcy laws proposed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the other leading progressive, who ended her presidential bid last month.

RoseAnn Demoro, a close friend of Sanders and former head of the National Nurses United union, predicted Biden would make concessions on tuition-free college, labor and the environment, but not go as far as she and other activists wanted on health care. That leaves her unsure whether Sanders' supporters can be moved.

'The calculation is, this base has nowhere to go but Biden because of Trump,' she said. 'But if history teaches anything, a lot of the base sat it out last time.'

Demoro noted that, after 2016, many Sanders supporters knew he would try again for the presidency four years later. That seems unlikely going forward, potentially raising the profile of rising-star congressional progressives such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Sanders, and Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who was a Warren backer.

Though he's suspended his campaign, Sanders' name will remain on the ballot in states that have not yet weighed in on the primary. He said Wednesday he still wants to collect delegates to influence the party platform.

Sanders and Warren have also notably stopped short of endorsing Biden for now.

Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, which backed Warren before shifting its support to Sanders when she dropped out, said Biden's goal is to rebuild the Obama coalition, which spanned generations, races and education levels. But he said Biden won't be able to do that without attracting the support of 'young people committed to real, progressive change' who were most enthusiastic about Sanders.

'The question is, will Joe Biden increase voter turnout, be able achieve significant levels of voter enthusiasm, be able to achieve significant levels of individual volunteerism and small dollar donations and the type of enthusiastic voter to voter communication,' Mitchell said. 'That is a political question that Joe Biden has to answer, and it cant be done simply through rhetorical flourishes.'

Jennifer Epps-Addison, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy Action, which endorsed Sanders, said progressives 'are a real constituency' that Biden 'will have to earn the votes of.'

'Vote blue no matter what is absolutely not a winning electoral strategy,' Epps-Addison said. 'Biden has some real negatives.'

The movement's next leaders might focus on building bridges with moderates rather than burning them - an approach Warren and Ocasio-Cortez have more closely adopted than some top Sanders supporters.

'Progressives have done a very effective job of moving the mainstream of the party in a more progressive direction,' said Sean McElwee, founder of Data for Progress, a data and messaging organization. 'Many people in the Democratic Party have progressive sensibilities, and the way you win them over is you build relationships.'

Biden aides, meanwhile, began outreach to Sanders' camp to discuss policy weeks before the senator suspended his campaign. That included meeting with progressive leaders from at least two groups, the Sunrise Movement and March for Our Lives, who co-signed a letter Wednesday making certain demands of Biden if he hopes to win them over.

The former vice president himself, meanwhile, has had conversations with some of his former rivals - the kind of direct interactions that preceded his adopting Warrens bankruptcy proposals.

Larry Cohen, chairman of Our Revolution, the offshoot of Sanders 2016 campaign, said hed like to see the same kind of moves on other core issues for progressives. That could mean, instead of Biden building his 'public option' health insurance plan as something only individuals can buy into, he could structure it so employers could buy in with their employees.

Whatever the outcome, Cohen argued that activist groups must stay aligned to maintain leverage. 'The grassroots,' he said, 'has to reach out together.'
In view of the upcoming festivals, the Centre asked the states and Union territories on Friday to strictly adhere to the ongoing 21-day lockdown and not allow any social or religious gathering and procession.

In a communication, the Union Home Ministry also said that appropriate vigil on social media should be maintained against circulation of any objectionable content.

In view of the festivals in April, the home ministry has directed all states and UTs to ensure a strict compliance of the lockdown measures to fight COVID-19 and not allow any social, religious gathering or procession, an official statement said.

While Shab-e-Barat was on Thursday, today is Good Friday. Baisakhi, Rongali Bihu, Vishu, Poila Boishakh, Puthandu, Maha Vishuba Sankranti etc. are also in April.

In the communication, the home ministry has requested the states and UTs that for the attention of the public authorities, social and religious organisations and citizens, the respective provisions of the guidelines should be widely circulated.

It adds that for any violation of the lockdown measures, action under the relevant penal provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and Indian Penal Code (IPC) should be taken by the law-enforcing agencies.

The consolidated guidelines on the lockdown measures to be taken by the ministries and departments of the government of India, states and Union territories for the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country were notified by the home ministry on March 24, 25, 27, April 2 and 3.

Clauses 9 and 10 of the consolidated guidelines state that no religious congregation will be allowed without any exception and all social, cultural, religious functions and gatherings shall be barred.

The home ministry communicated to the states and UTs to inform the district authorities and field agencies about the specific prohibitions as mentioned in the consolidated guidelines on lockdown measures.

The district administrations should take all precautionary and preventive measures for the maintenance of law and order, peace and public tranquillity, the ministry said.

The 21-day nationwide lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
100,000 of polymerase chain reaction tests and 200,000 reagent needed for polymerase chain reaction tests will be supplied in a week

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky president.gov.ua

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the planes with the medical means and tests of coronavirus continue to arrive in Ukraine as 112 Ukraine TV channel reported.

During a week, our planes supply from China and South Korea everything necessary. Four planes have already arrived; we except another four today and on the weekends. The result of the one-week delivery is almost half a million respirators, 150,000 of single-use advanced suits, 100,000 of polymerase chain reaction tests and 200,000 reagent needed for polymerase chain reaction tests, the president reported.

Besides, he stated that 20,000 of protective glasses, ten artificial lung ventilators and ten special boxes for transportation of ill people will be delivered to Ukraine. Moreover, 10 million of masks will be supplied and passed to the Ukrainian pharmacies.

In parallel, we are building up our own production. This week, 4,000 reusable protective suits made in Ukraine will be supplied. We continue to produce almost a million of masks daily. And by plane from China, the production line was supplied and it will accelerate the production of masks in Ukraine, Zelensky added.

As we reported, in Ukraine, the number of people infected with coronavirus infection increased by 2,203 cases. 311 new cases of infection were spotted. 69 people died, while 61 patients recovered.
An impressive oceanfront estate in Newport, Rhode Island, previously belonging to novelist Edith Wharton and her husband at the time, Edward Robbins Wharton, is officially off the market. The sprawling home, known as Lands End, was previously listed last spring for $11.7 million but ultimately sold to friends of the current owners for $8.6 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The property spans a generous 5.6 acres and includes an 11,000-square-foot main house that dates back to the 1800s. Many of its historic details, including original moldings and a stone bench in the entry hall, remain, though other aspects of the home were renovated and redesigned under Whartons ownershipand likely in the many decades that followed. There is a living room parlor with a stately wood-burning fireplace, buttercream walls, and floor-to-ceiling French doors that open out onto unobstructed views of the ocean. There is also a formal dining room with parquet hardwood floors and a unique peach-colored ceiling, as well as a room dedicated solely to the cutting of flowers picked from the garden. The home boasts nine bedrooms. A saltwater pool out back helps to round out the homes many swoon-worthy amenities.

See the video.

Wharton and her husband purchased the home in 1893 for roughly $80,000, or approximately $2.3 million in todays dollars. At the time, Wharton was critical of lavish decor and architecture, and opted to significantly alter the interiors with the help of the couples friend Ogden Codman Jr. Codman shared my dislike of these sumptuary excesses, and thought as I did that interior decoration should be simple and architectural, Wharton wrote in her autobiography. Changes included stripping out the existing Louis XVI paneling and carvings, Richard Guy Wilson previously told the WSJ. Wharton and Codman would later cowrite her first book, The Decoration of Houses, which was largely influenced by their big renovation undertaking.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
New Delhi, April 10 : The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday said that there is no community transmission in India yet and the rate of the infection of novel Coronavirus is low.

Speaking to media at a conference, Joint secretary of the Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal said: "at least 16002 samples were tested on Thursday, of which only 320 people tested positive for COVID-19. Only 2% cases tested positive. Based on the samples collected, we can say that the infection rate is not high although it is dynamic." Agarwal, however, suggested that people need to be alert. "Today, the challenge is not local or community transmission but the challenge is whether we are following all the precautionary and containment measures? There is no community transmission in the country yet, but we need to remain aware and alert," said Agarwal.

Agarwal also said that there was just one lab in the country and now there are total 213 laboratories in the country at present for testing COVID19 and the government is opening labs at the rate of 2.5 per day. "There are 146 government and 67 private labs. Earlier we did five to six thousand tests per day but yesterday 16002 tests were conducted. We are making 2.5 labs operational per day.

Manoj Murhekar. Director, National Institute of Epidemiology who was also present at the press conference told the media, "144910 samples were tested till yesterday 9 p.m. from 103792 suspected patients of which 5075 were positive. We conducted 16002 tests in a single day. It (number of tests per day) has increased substantially.

The Joint Health Secretary informed the media that there were a total of 6412 cases of COVID-19 reported so far. "At least 503 people were cured while 199 people died till date. A total of 678 new cases and 33 new deaths in a single day."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
GRAND ISLAND  Stay at home. Stay connected. Stay healthy.

Those measures are keeping COVID-19 in check in central Nebraska, said Ed Hannon, president of CHI Health St. Francis in Grand Island.

Speaking Thursday at a Zoom press conference for members of the regional press, Hannon said he believes the CHI Health network of 15 hospitals, including Good Samaritan in Kearney, has enough ventilators, N95 masks and other personal protective equipment for the peak of cases that is expected here in the next two weeks.

Projections show that 80 ventilators could be needed across Nebraska at that time, he said.

"Early on, we looked at our projections and needs, and reached out for more ventilators, and in less than 24 hours, the Nebraska Heart Institute provided three ventilators, he said.

The 15-member CHI Health network, with hospitals from central Iowa to Kearney, can move equipment and supplies to meet the needs. We have a good amount of equipment, he added.

If necessary, it could obtain more from CommonSpirit Health, an umbrella organization of 700 medical institutions in 21 states that includes Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health.

Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}}
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 09:12:03|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The world is now in a battle against COVID-19, a disease caused by a previously unknown coronavirus that has spread to over 200 countries and regions.

The following are the updates on the contagious disease.

- - - -

WASHINGTON -- A clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug, for the treatment of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 has begun in the United States, according to a release of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Thursday.

The first participants have enrolled in the trial at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Tennessee.

The blinded, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial aims to enroll more than 500 adults who are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 or in an emergency department with anticipated hospitalization.

- - - -

BRUSSELS -- Eurogroup finance ministers agreed Thursday night on a financial package worth half a trillion euros to combat the fallouts from coronavirus, but without the so-called Eurobonds.

The ministers' meeting endorsed a proposal from the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), which is called Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE).

- - - -

UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for unity of the Security Council over the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic," he told the council in a virtual briefing. "Indeed, a signal of unity and resolve from the council would count for a lot at this anxious time."

- - - -

GENEVA -- The fatality rate of COVID-19 is estimated to be 10 times higher than influenza, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said here on Thursday.

Speaking at a Mission briefing on COVID-19 from Geneva, the WHO chief said that so far, more than 1.3 million people have been infected, and almost 80,000 people have lost their lives.

"This pandemic is much more than a health crisis. It requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response," he said.

- - - -

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Thursday moved from intensive care back to the ward days after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus infection.

A No. 10 spokesman said the prime minister will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.

- - - -

NEW YORK -- The death toll from COVID-19 exceeded 90,000 worldwide on Thursday afternoon local time, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh figure reached 90,057 as of 12:25 p.m. (1625 GMT), an interactive map maintained by the university's Center for Systems Science and Engineering showed.
Nearly a day after a fire began to tear through forest in Cumberland County, firefighters continue to battle the blaze that has already consumed more than 1,000 acres of land, a fire official said.

Sometime after 3 p.m. Thursday, a fire was reported in the Millville Wildlife Management Area, in Downe Township, said Bill Donnelly, assistant state fire warden for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. As many as 20 firefighters are fighting to douse the flames that can reach as tall as 10 to 12 feet, he said.

About 1000 acres are burning right now in Downe Township, Cumberland county. pic.twitter.com/5lovf7jIOi  Mike Niklauski (@6abcmike) April 10, 2020

As of Friday morning, two bulldozers, six fire engines and a helicopter were all deployed at the scene of the fire to help firefighters keep it under control. Firefighters would be putting in control lines to box in the fire by backburning it, which means theyll use a controlled fire to deprive the larger fire of anymore fuel.

There have been no injuries reported and no evacuations as there are no homes currently threatened by the fire, said Donnelly.

Firefighters have been vying with the raging conflagration being stoked by high winds Thursday into Friday, said Donnelly.

Right now our biggest obstacle is this wind, he said.

The fire will likely have burned through more than 1,500 acres by the time firefighters get it under control, he said. Firefighters expect to have the fire under control by the end of Friday.

A wind advisory was issued by the National Weather Service Friday morning and will remain active until 7 p.m. Friday across most of the state, including Cumberland County. The weather service says steady winds of 20 to 30 mph are blowing, and some gusts could get as strong as 50 mph.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.
A suspect in a series of vehicle break-ins who fired on Colonial Heights police during a traffic stop early Thursday was found dead after an officer returned fire, authorities said.

Virginia State Police identified the man as Zyon Romeir Wyche, 19, of Hopewell. No officers were injured.

In a news release, Colonial Heights police Sgt. Renee Walters said officers responded about 2:30 a.m. to the 100 block of Clearfield Circle for a report of a person entering vehicles.

Responding officers located an unoccupied suspicious vehicle. As officers canvassed the area, a person got into the vehicle and attempted to leave the area, Walters said.

At that point, officers conducted a traffic stop in the 100 block of Dunlop Farms Boulevard. The driver, the lone occupant, got out, displayed a firearm and fired multiple rounds at the officers, Walters said.

A Colonial Heights officer returned fire, and the suspect fled on foot toward Greenmeadow Court, Walters said.

A short time later, a Prince George County police K-9 unit, which had been summoned to the scene, located the suspect dead behind a residence in the 300 block of Greenmeadow Court, Walters said
Americans have received conflicting information on when they will receive stimulus checks due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. But theres good news: Checks will be hitting their bank accounts soon.

Automatic payments are set to begin next week. Eligible taxpayers who filed tax returns for either 2019 or 2018 and chose direct deposit for their refund will automatically receive a stimulus payment of up to $1,200 for individuals or $2,400 for married couples and $500 for each qualifying child, the IRS said Friday.

Individuals who receive Social Security retirement or disability benefits, or who receive Railroad Retirement benefits but didnt file a return for 2019 or 2018 will automatically receive a payment in the near future, the agency said.

The government is prioritizing the first few waves of payments in the coming weeks toward low-income Americans and Social Security beneficiaries, according to Lisa Greene-Lewis, a certified public accountant at TurboTax.

Direct deposit is the quickest way that people will receive their money, Greene-Lewis says. Then the IRS will work on issuing the paper checks.

Stimulus checks: IRS rolls out new website to help non-filing Americans receive emergency payments

Should I withdraw money from my 401(k)? The CARES Act allows no-penalty withdrawals, but experts advise against it

Coronavirus relief: Homeowners hurt by COVID-19 can delay mortgage payments, but some say they're anxious and confused about the real cost

Some Americans were confused following conflicting reports from different corners of the government in recent weeks. The IRS said at the end of March stimulus payments would start being distributed within three weeks.

Shortly afterward, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on April 2 the first stimulus payments would arrive in some taxpayers accounts via direct deposit within two weeks. Then Larry Kudlow, senior economic adviser to President Donald Trump, said this week that checks could go out this week or next. Others have said they could have come as early as April 9.

Story continues

U.S. Treasury checks

Who's eligible?

About 80% of Americans are eligible to receive a stimulus payment, according to the IRS. Cash will be distributed by the agency, so Americans who have received prior tax refunds via direct deposit will get rebate checks faster than those waiting on paper checks. The IRS is expected to start sending paper checks on April 24.

Most U.S. adults with a Social Security number will receive a payment, as long as they arent claimed as dependents by someone else. If you dont have direct deposit, a check will be mailed to the address on file.

If your address has changed, you can notify the IRS by mailing a 8822 change of address form or call the IRS to report your new address. It may take time to process change of address forms in the next few weeks, so experts suggest calling.

Can I enter my direct deposit info online?

The IRS is building a tool called Get My Payment, expected to be available by April 17. You can enter your bank account information for direct deposit if the IRS doesn't have your information.

If you don't typically file tax returns and havent set up direct deposit with the IRS, you can register through an online portal the agency rolled out Friday. The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service launched a new web tool that will allow Americans who dont normally file a tax return to register for stimulus payments.

For those who dont normally file a tax return, visit IRS.gov and look for Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here. Then provide information including your Social Security number, name, address and dependents.

The IRS will use this information to confirm eligibility and send a stimulus payment. Using the tool to get your payment wont result in any taxes being owed. Entering bank or financial account information will allow the IRS to deposit your payment directly in your account. Otherwise, your payment will be mailed to you.

Can I track my payment?

To help check the status of payments, you can use the Get My Payment tool from the IRS, which is expected to be ready by April 17. It will provide the status of your payment, including the date the payment is scheduled to be deposited into your bank account or mailed to you.

How do I get relief money?

The emergency stimulus checks could be as much as $1,200 per person, $2,400 for married couples filing taxes jointly and $500 per dependent child.

Income amounts for the payments made this year are based on 2019 tax returns, or 2018 tax returns for people who havent filed their 2019 return yet.

Those who are eligible for relief payments dont have to do anything to get it, and if they filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return with direct deposit information on it, the money will be deposited there when the IRS issues payments.

Do Social Security recipients need to file a tax return?

Social Security income recipients dont need to file a return to get their stimulus payment. It will be calculated based on information from their SSA-1099 Social Security Benefit Statement for 2019 or RRB-1099 Social Security Equivalent Benefit Statement and deposited by the IRS.

Low-income Americans on Social Security who dont file a return are still eligible, says Dina Pyron, financial services partner and global TaxChat leader at Ernst & Young. As long as they receive a SSA-1099 form, the IRS knows where to find them since they have their address or pay them the way they receive Social Security.

What if I didn't earn enough to file a return?

There are as many as 10 million Americans who arent required to file a tax return, according to TurboTax. If you need to update your information with the IRS, you can register through the agency's online portal.

In an effort to help, the tax-prep software company also launched a free Stimulus Registration product in partnership with the IRS that will allow those who arent required to file a tax return to register with the IRS to get their stimulus money.

You can calculate how much you should receive with TurboTaxs stimulus calculator.

To be sure, low income families without a bank account will likely wait longer for their stimulus money. While only 6% of people in the U.S. dont have a bank account, according to data from U.S. Financial Health Pulse, those who make less than $30,000 a year have an unbanked rate of 17%, or about 12 million people.

Once again, the greatest burdens will be shouldered by the most vulnerable among us, when instead we should be doing everything to give them a leg up, Jennifer Tescher, president and CEO of Financial Health Network, a non-profit authority on consumer financial health, said in a note.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When are stimulus checks coming?
DENVER - It starts with a few people letting loose with some tentative yelps. Then neighbours emerge from their homes and join, forming a roiling chorus of howls and screams that pierces the twilight to end another days monotonous forced isolation.

From California to Colorado to Georgia and upstate New York, Americans are taking a moment each night at 8 p.m. to howl in a quickly spreading ritual that has become a wrenching response of a society cut off from one another by the coronavirus pandemic.

They howl to thank the nations health care workers and first responders for their selfless sacrifices, much like the balcony applause and singing in Italy and Spain. Others do it to reduce their pain, isolation and frustration. Some have other reasons, such as to show support for the homeless.

In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis has encouraged residents to participate. Children who miss their classmates and backyard dogs join in, their own yowls punctuated by the occasional fireworks, horn blowing and bell ringing.

Theres something very Western about howling thats resonating in Colorado. The call-and-response aspect of it. Most people try it and love to hear the howl in return, said Brice Maiurro, a poet, storyteller and activist who works at National Jewish Health.

The nightly howl is a primal affirmation that provides a moments bright spot each evening by declaring, collectively: We shall prevail, said Dr. Scott Cypers, director of Stress and Anxiety programs at the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Its a way to take back some of the control that the pandemic-forced social isolation has forced everyone to give up, Cypers said.

The virus impact is very different for everyone, and this is a way to say, This sucks, and get it out in a loud way, Cypers said. Just being able to scream and shout and let out pent-up grief and loss is important. Little kids, on the other hand, are really enjoying this.

Maiurro and his partner, Shelsea Ochoa, a street activist and artist, formed the Facebook group Go Outside and Howl at 8 p.m. The group has nearly half a million members from all 50 U.S. states and 99 countries since they created it as Colorados shelter-in-place order went into effect last month.

We wanted to do this mostly because people are feeling isolated right now, said Ochoa, 33, who works at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. I think it hit on something others needed.

Why howling?

In California, friends and family of Ochoas would howl at sunset; in Brazil, where she lived recently, residents would cheer at sunset. Maiurro, who also works at National Jewish Health, and fellow poets would howl at the moon during back-alley poetry readings in Boulder.

Theres no wrong way to do it, said Ochoa. People can subscribe any kind of meaning they want to it.

The couple suggest different themes for the evening howls, such as a recent The Day of I Miss You.

Health care workers are grateful for the support  and the nightly moments relief from the stresses of their work.

Jerrod Milton, a provider and senior vice-president of operations at Childrens Hospital Colorado, makes it a point to step outside at 8 p.m. each evening.

It not only inspires me with a sense of solidarity and appreciation, but it makes me laugh a little each day, Milton said. I cannot tell the difference between the howls coming from fellow humans and those instinctively coming alongside from our canine neighbourhood companions.

In downtown Los Angeles, thousands of people yell, scream, cheer, applaud and flash lights from their apartment balconies and windows, thanks in large part to Patti Berman, president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, who promotes the ritual conceived by council communications director Marcus Lovingood.

I never believed it would take off like this, said Berman, who in her 70s is staying inside her apartment in deference to the health concerns of her family.

Bermans concerns are for the homeless on LAs Skid Row, the struggling family-owned small businesses, the people shes used to meeting and helping face-to-face in her 15 years on the council.

These people are my stakeholders and my job  and this is where the howl comes in  is to let them know that we havent disappeared. To preserve the human contact, she said.

Organizers say restoring and keeping that contact through such extreme adversity will be an achievement to look back upon when the crisis eventually passes.

When people look back on this and with so many sad stories, hopefully theyll also remember this as one of the good things, Ochoa said.
Viridor.sharepoint.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 1 Jul 2015, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the viridor.sharepoint homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the viridor.sharepoint homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the viridor.sharepoint homepage on Twitter + the total number of viridor.sharepoint followers (if viridor.sharepoint has a Twitter account). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the viridor.sharepoint homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if viridor.sharepoint has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the viridor.sharepoint homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE Sign in to Office 365 DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS account, sign in, make sure you typed, make sure you, sure you typed, looks like, user id



The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE HTML 4.01 Strict CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Microsoft-IIS/8.5 (ASP.NET) OPERATIVE SYSTEM

Type of server and offered services. Character set and language of the site. Operative System running on the server. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) The language of viridor.sharepoint.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for viridor.sharepoint.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND

The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The URL of the found Facebook page. The type of Facebook page. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
Danny Mays arrives in the pub car park wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses. Social distancing has already begun when we meet, but it's still pre-lockdown so this gathering is legal.

'Is this the meeting of the Rebel Alliance?' he grins conspiratorially as we walk through the doors of his local in north London. We're the only people here.

It feels apt to be chatting to Danny in the pub, as it's much more his natural home than the sort of smart hotel in Soho where his fellow RADA-trained actors like to meet.

He's not drinking today because he's on a health kick, but he wonders how long that will last in lockdown.

'We might need to drink all the way through it,' he muses.

Essex-born Danny Mays, 42, (pictured) who is best known for starring in Line Of Duty, stars in four new shows this year

Essex-born Danny, 42, the son of an electrician and a bank cashier, remains that rare beast, a working-class actor in a world where almost all of his contemporaries seem to have gone to Eton or Harrow.

His hangdog expression and rubbery features mean that alongside lead roles in films such as last year's sleeper hit Fisherman's Friends and the feature-length TV movie Mother's Day about the Warrington bombing, his bread and butter is playing coppers and spivs.

This, he says, is both a blessing and a curse. He may be getting more work than almost any other actor out there, but it's sometimes a struggle to get casting directors to see outside the box.

Now, thanks to the coronavirus, all his work has been cancelled for the foreseeable future. But for the rest of us there's going to be a lot more TV viewing  and that means we're bound to see Danny at some point over the next few months.

'I've had a busy year and everyone is going to be properly entertained by Danny Mays,' he laughs.

'I'm just a bit worried that people might get sick of me.'

There's a cameo performance as himself in an upcoming BBC4 mockumentary by Spandau Ballet stars Gary and Martin Kemp.

The Kemps: All True is a spoof tribute to the brothers after the band's 40th anniversary celebrations last year, 'I've loved them since they were in The Krays  I was obsessed with that film  so when they asked me to record a spoof audition for them I leapt at the chance,' says Danny.

Danny plays DI John Major in new Sky comedy Code 404, about a policeman who is brought back from the dead. Pictured: Danny with his Code 404 co-star Stephen Graham

'It's mainly me repeating a line in many, many different ways. The show is really funny and I was honoured to be asked to be part of it.'

But before that there's his first police show of the year  new Sky comedy Code 404, due to air on 29 April.

Here he plays DI John Major, a policeman with a difference  he's a comedy Robocop.

'I keep saying to my agent, "Enough is enough, no more cops", but then these interesting roles keep arriving and that's part of the problem,' says Danny, who won a BAFTA nomination for playing a rogue policeman in Line Of Duty in 2017.

Maybe I come across as a bit dodgy

'I don't know why I keep being sent scripts for characters on both sides of the law  arguably the thought patterns of policemen and criminals have to be pretty close. Maybe I'm a little bit dodgy  or maybe I just come across like that?'

The premise of Code 404 is that Danny's character John was the top undercover cop in his unit until a sting went horribly wrong and he ended up dead.

But unbeknown to John's wife Kelly and his police partner Roy, who take comfort in each other's arms, the force decide he should be a prototype for a new artificial intelligence robot, and he's brought back from the dead after a year of experimentation.

Code 404 is a kind of comedy spoof of crime drama Line of Duty, featuring two of the thriller's alumni. Pictured: Danny with Vicky McClure in Line Of Duty

Only he's not quite the same  and neither is the relationship between the trio. It's very silly and a welcome reminder that Danny is as good at comedy as he is at gritty drama.

Line Of Duty fans will also be thrilled to learn that, thanks to Danny, Code 404 has become a kind of comedy version of the crime drama, with two fellow alumni joining him in the six-part series.

Anna Maxwell Martin, the Motherland actress who had a scene-stealing turn in Line Of Duty last year as fierce anti-corruption officer Patricia Carmichael, won the part of his wife Kelly after he mentioned it to her when they were playing a married couple in Mother's Day.

Stephen Graham, one of Danny's oldest friends in the business, played dodgy undercover cop John Corbett in the last series of Line Of Duty and took the role of Roy after Danny suggested him to producers.

Stephen Graham was my matchmaker One of Danny's co-stars in Code 404 is Stephen Graham, and the pair have been friends for years. Danny jokes that the Liverpudlian actor was actually his 'Cilla Black' matchmaker because he was instrumental in setting Danny up with his make-up artist wife Louise Burton. 'He got us together when we all worked on the sitcom Top Buzzer,' Danny recalls. 'I really fancied her and Stephen encouraged me to ask her out, but she knocked me back because she was coming out of a long relationship. 'So I went to Steve and said, 'I told you I shouldn't have asked her.' But he said, 'Let me pull some strings.' And then it all sort of happened. We got together at the wrap party because she said she hadn't wanted to mix business with pleasure!' Advertisement

'I worked with Steve in Top Buzzer [a sitcom about low-level cannabis dealers] years back when we both started out, and we've been looking for something to do together since,' he says.

'We've both done some quite serious stuff recently  as well as Line Of Duty Stephen had done TV drama The Virtues and Scorsese's The Irishman  and I knew he wanted to do something silly and different and funny, as did I.'

The idea of a spoof Line Of Duty is there from the start. Danny's character is killed 'in the line of duty' in the first scene and at any moment the robot reboot could be terminated if he malfunctions.

'While it's a comedy there's also some drama, as well as a conspiracy theory element, and I think Line Of Duty fans will enjoy seeing us all together,' says Danny.

He's full of admiration for his mate Stephen, who's finally being hailed as one of our most accomplished actors following the critical success of The Virtues and The Irishman.

'I think in the 80s and 90s working-class actors like Gary Oldman and Christopher Eccleston were much more in vogue,' Danny says.

'So it's good to see my friends like Stephen and Eddie Marsan being recognised, because so often people from working-class backgrounds put in the graft but don't necessarily get the rewards.'

It is odd that coppers and criminals are Danny's stock in trade, because in the flesh he's nothing but gentlemanly. No one in the industry has a bad word to say about him, and for all his dodgy roles he's a softie at heart.

Danny revealed that Stephen Graham shared his desire to do something silly, after a series of serious programmes such as Life Of Duty. Pictured: Adrian Dunbar and Stephen Graham in Line Of Duty

But at the same time, he has an edge that the camera seems to draw out. 'I don't have a problem tapping into my anger or rage,' he says.

'It's easy for me, I just imagine I'm sitting in traffic or my general impatience with things.

'I'm one of four boys and we lived in a relatively small house, so it was always boisterous and loud and I think my household today is still like that. It's part and parcel of who I am.'

The closest he's been to getting into trouble was when he was caught throwing a large bin used for storing bread across a street after a night in the pub when he was in his late teens.

'It was about 4am and my friends had been taking some of the bread out and I picked up the bin and hurled it. A squad car came past as it sailed through the air. I was put against the wall and searched, but that was it.'

Now he gets approached by policemen because they're fans, but 'it unnerves me' he admits. 'I was at the airport a few years ago and this guy clocked me and said, 'Oh, you're from Line Of Duty, that was amazing.'

Danny (pictured) is set to star as small-time drug dealer Marcus in Netflix's drama White Lines

'We talked for a while and I asked what he did. 'I'm a policeman,' he said.

'Undercover.' Then he pointed to a few other people and said, 'We're all undercover here,' and they grinned at me. It freaked me out.'

We'll soon see Danny in complex ten-part Netflix drama White Lines, made by the production company behind The Crown and due to air later this spring.

It's about a superstar Ibiza DJ who vanishes, and when his body turns up 20 years later a police investigation delves into the lives of his friends. Danny plays Marcus, a small-time drug dealer who still DJs on the island.

'He's a tragi-comic character and it's a gift of a role,' says Danny.

'It's a really layered show set in the nightclub scene, underpinned with huge drama. I just love it and can't wait for people to see it.'

Then later this year he'll be back as a copper in Des, a three-part ITV drama about Dennis Nilsen with David Tennant as the notorious serial killer.

Danny plays DCI Peter Jay, the officer investigating the monster who is thought to have killed up to 15 men, and the story is told partly from his point of view as he tries to cope with the horror.

Yet Danny says despite all the harrowing roles he's had, he never takes his work home. He and his wife Louise have been together for 16 years, though they only married two years ago.

Danny (pictured) who has been with his wife Louise for 16 years, claims he never takes his work home despite the harrowing roles he's had. Pictured, in a scene in Code 404

They have two children, son Mylo, 14, and daughter Dixie, seven, and decided to marry after Lou lost both her parents in quick succession.

'We were never going to get married, then it just felt like it was the right time,' he says. 'It was such a brilliant day that I immediately thought, 'Why didn't we do this sooner?'

'I felt very chilled right up to the moment when Lou walked down the aisle, and then I was gone. Completely gone.

'She was walked down the aisle by her brother and the loss of her parents was palpable from that moment.

'I started crying through the service and I didn't stop. I couldn't even get it together when I was doing my speech. I was a wreck.'

He grins and I swear there's a hint of a tear in his eye. The sunglasses are quickly popped back on  he has a reputation to maintain, after all.

Code 404, all episodes available from 29 April on Sky One and Now TV.
Welcome to Strongman Medicine, a weekly column looking at how governments around the world are taking advantage of the pandemic for censorship, surveillance, and repression. Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial.

Russia

After weeks of downplaying the crisis, Russia has shifted into full lockdown mode as the number of cases in the country has exceeded 10,000. There are numerous media reports of police using their new authority to detain and harass citizens. In one egregious case, a doctor who had criticized the governments response to the crisis was detained while attempting to deliver medical supplies. Anastasia Vasilyeva of the Doctors Alliance, a group backed by opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, was arrested on April 2 along with several colleagues while bringing masks and other equipment to the Novgorod region as part of a nationwide tour to assess the preparedness of health facilities. She had previously posted videos on YouTube and given media interviews criticizing the governments response. Vasilyeva was charged with violating the governments quarantine restrictions. According to Amnesty International, she was choked and punched in the abdomen while being detained in a police station overnight.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

New legislation signed by President Vladimir Putin this week punishes spreading false information with up to five years in prison and violating quarantine orders with up to sevenboth rules that are rife with opportunities for abuse.

China

An outspoken property tycoon and member of the ruling Communist Party has been put under investigation for publishing an essay that criticized the Chinese governments handling of COVID-19.* Ren Zhiqiang, who has not been since in public since mid-March, when he posted the essay, said the virus had revealed a crisis of government and referred to Chairman Xi Jinping as a clown with no clothes on who was still determined to play emperor. Ren, the former head of a state-owned company and son of a prominent official, has courted controversy before. His party membership was suspended for a year in 2016 after he criticized Xis handling of the state media.

Uganda

Human Rights Watch this week criticized the government of Uganda for a police raid on a homeless shelter serving LGBTQ people in Kampala. Like many other countries, Uganda is currently prohibiting public gatherings of more than 10 people, but that does not apply to a residence or shelter. Nonetheless, 20 people in the shelter were sent to prison, likely putting them at greater risk for the disease and ensuring they were unable to meet with lawyers because of the lockdown. Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, and while the infamous 2014 law that would have punished it with life in prison has been annulled, discrimination is still rampant. Police searched the shelter for evidence of homosexuality but eventually decided to charge the residents with coronavirus-related offenses.

Cambodia

Cambodias government passed a new emergency law that human rights groups say could allow autocratic Prime Minister Hun Sen to run the country by fiat. The law creates new crimes, punishable by multiple years of jail time, of obstructing operations during a state of emergency and not respecting measures ordered by the government to address the emergencyboth of which could easily be abused to punish government critics. The country has already arrested more than a dozen people for spreading information about the disease outbreak. Hun Sen, who even before the outbreak had been criticized for clamping down on the media under the guise of fighting fake news, is one of a number of leaders, including Hungarys Viktor Orban and the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, using the coronavirus as pretext to assume sweeping emergency powers.

The No-Case Club

COVID-19 has touched nearly every corner of the globe, but there are still a handful of countries reporting no cases. Most are small island nations where travel bans have been effective at keeping cases out. Other examples are more suspicious.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

North Korea still says it has no cases, a claim that U.S. officials describe as impossible. The Hermit Kingdoms isolation may work to its advantage here, but given the level of cross-border trade with China, it does seem very unlikely that there are no cases at all. U.S. President Donald Trump sent a letter to Kim Jong-un in March offering assistance in fighting the disease and told reporters that North Korea is going through something, though its not clear quite what he was referring to.

Tajikistan, which borders hard-hit Iran, also claims to not have a single case, though it has quarantined more than 6,000 people who traveled abroad. The virus could wreak havoc in a poor country with a weak health system, yet dictator Emomali Rahmon has taken almost no steps to institute social distancing, and held a massive public celebration for the Nowruz holiday in late March.

Advertisement

Then theres Turkmenistan, where even discussing the coronavirus is banned; where President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, a former dentist and health minister, has suggested that his recently published book on herbal remedies could help COVID patients; and where a 7,000-person bike ride was held on Tuesday to celebrate World Health Day.*

Maybe these countries really are just extremely lucky.
BEIJING, April 10 (Reuters) - China's factory gate prices fell 1.5% March year-on-year, data showed on Friday, marking the sharpest decline in five months and suggesting the economy remains some way off from mounting a durable recovery from the coronavirus shock that shut down the country.

The producer price index reading, published by the National Bureau of Statistics, compared with a median forecast of a 1.1% fall tipped by a Reuters poll of analysts and a 0.4% drop in February. March's downturn was also the sharpest drop since the 1.6% decline in October 2019.

Consumer inflation rose 4.3% in March from a year earlier, the statistics bureau data also showed, compared with a 4.8% rise tipped by a Reuters poll and a 5.2% rise in February. This marked the slowest rate since a 3.8% rise in October 2019. (Reporting by Lusha Zhang and Huizhong Wu; writing by Se Young Lee Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a gloomy picture being painted of Vietnams tourism industry in the first quarter of the year, as it triggered an 18.1 percent decline in foreign arrivals.

Visitors to a shop in Hoi An Ancient Town, the central province of Quang Nam, before the destination is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Hanoi welcomed some 133,740 foreign visitors in March, an 80 percent nose-dive compared to the same period last year. The total stood at 3.85 million for the first quarter, down 47.2 percent year-on-year.

The capital also posted a 38.8 percent decline in tourism revenue during the quarter, to 15.69 trillion VND (665 million USD).

Ninh Binh province, another tourism magnet in Vietnams north, welcomed 1.47 million visitors in the quarter and earned 761.33 billion VND in revenue, equivalent to 42.1 percent and 53.1 percent, respectively, of figures posted in the first quarter of last year.

Overall, foreign arrivals to Vietnam in March plunged 63.8 percent against February and 68.1 percent year-on-year. The first-quarter total stood at around 3.7 million, down 18.1 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office.

Sharp falls were posted in the number of visitors from major markets like Asia (down 21.1 percent), the Americas (20.2 percent), and Australia (14.4 percent).

Fewer tourists also meant less revenue in related services. Accommodation and catering services earned just 126.2 trillion VND over the last three months and travel services 7.8 trillion VND, down 9.6 percent and 27.8 percent, respectively, year-on-year.

Vietnam has targeted 20.5 million foreign arrivals in 2020. Hanoi hoped to attract 31.88 million visitors in total and Ninh Binh, host of National Tourism Year 2020, anticipated 7.78 million.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Vietnams tourism sector is forecast to endure a host of ongoing difficulties, making the targets of most localities and the country as a whole virtually unachievable.

The World Tourism Organisation has projected that the number of foreign tourist arrivals globally will fall by 1-3 percent this year, rather than grow 3-4 percent as forecast in January just before the outbreak.

Some, however, believe the industry will prove resilient when the pandemic is over.

Mauro Gasparotti, Director of Savills Hotels Asia Pacific, said the hospitality industry is likely to see the fastest and strongest growth among all sectors once recovery comes into view.

Vietnams reliance on local tourists, who accounted for 82.5 percent of travel in 2019, and the Chinese and the Republic of Korean markets could turn out to be an advantage, as these are expected to be some of the first who are able to travel again, he explained./.VNA

Tourism industry faces unprecedented crisis Since mid-March, officers of travel firms say that 99 percent of visitors to their offices have come to cancel tours.
Tsai invites WHO chief to Taiwan amid 'attack campaign' controversy

ROC Central News Agency

04/09/2020 05:23 PM

Taipei, April 9 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen () on Thursday invited World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to visit Taiwan amid growing controversy over his claim the day before that Taiwan is behind a campaign of personal attacks against him.

In a press briefing Wednesday (Central European Time), Tedros -- an Ethiopian microbiologist and the first African to lead the public health body -- said he had been the victim of racially abusive attacks emanating from Taiwan, and said that the country's foreign ministry, rather than disavowing the attacks, actually stepped up its criticism of him.

"Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan. We need to be honest," he said.

Tsai responded Thursday in an English-language Facebook post, writing that "I strongly protest the accusations today that Taiwan is instigating racist attacks in the international community. Taiwan has always opposed all forms of discrimination."

"For years, we have been excluded from international organizations and we know better than anyone else what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated," she continued.

Tsai then invited Tedros to visit Taiwan, where she said he could "experience for himself" Taiwan's commitment to international engagement and efforts to fight the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

"If Director-General Tedros could withstand pressure from China and come to Taiwan ... he would be able to see that the Taiwanese people are the true victims of unfair treatment," Tsai said, adding that the WHO "will only truly be complete if Taiwan is included."

Tsai's remarks came after several Taiwanese government offices spoke out in protest over Tedros' remarks.

At a press conference Thursday, Cabinet spokesperson Kolas Yotaka dismissed the accusations, saying that "disinformation spreads faster than a virus."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), meanwhile, issued a press release calling on the WHO chief to retract his comments, which it called "utterly baseless."

"The government of Taiwan has in no way condoned nor encouraged any personal attacks on Dr. Tedros. It's always believed in Health for All and continues seeking full cooperation with the WHO to share Taiwan's response to the coronavirus with the international community," the ministry added in an English-language Twitter post.

Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO has become a major point of contention during the COVID-19 coronovirus pandemic, as the government has called for public health to be put above political considerations.

The WHO, meanwhile, said that Taiwanese experts are participating in the organization's response efforts and are accessing its information, albeit in an unofficial capacity.

Taiwan participated in the WHO's policy-making body -- the World Health Assembly -- as an observer from 2009-2016 under the designation "Chinese Taipei," when relations between Beijing and Taipei were better under Taiwan's previous Kuomintang ruling party, which accepts the concept that the two sides are part of one China, with each side free to interpret what that means.

Since 2017, however, Taiwan has been excluded from the body due to opposition from China, which objects to Taiwan's current ruling Democratic Progressive Party's rejection of that concept.

(By Chen Yun-yu and Matthew Mazzetta)

Enditem/J

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






09.04.2020 LISTEN

Education is the main factor that drives the growth of every nation.

Research over the years has proven that countries with high literacy rate are more developed.

It is based on this that Ghanaians warmly embraced the introduction of free SHS program by the John Mahama administration which has been poorly implemented by Nana Addo which we hope John Mahama comes back to review to give hope and life to many.

As a tertiary student, I was extremely happy when Professor Kwesi Yankah former Pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Ghana and former President of Central University was appointed as a minister of state in charge of tertiary education. I was happy because of his vast experience in the educational sector.

He distinguished himself very well during his vetting and even pledged to make tertiary institutions go back to its core mandate of knowledge exchange.

Unfortunately, this man has disappointed a lot of students. From his own backyard in the Central region, UEW has been embroiled in a needless and unproductive tussle and turf war for almost three years.

As students are struggling to cope with the emotional trauma as a result of the lockdown and closure of schools occasioned by the COVID-19, the sector has introduced E-learning with some of the modules undefined and very cumbersome to access.

How can students in deprived areas access the internet?

How can those in lockdown areas go out to buy recharge cards to partake in the E-learning.

One other problem we are losing sight of is that lecturers through the module are giving out assignment which students will be assessed with after the COVID-19. How are they going to assess those who for one genuine reason or another can't partake in the E-learning? Is this policy insensitivity or what?

The problems of revenue diversification and institutional autonomy, changing students' mix still persists.

To add insult to injury, I understand Prof Yankah has won primaries and aiming to annex the Agona East seat. Anokwa "s yn angyae abetwa aa ybehu akokono nkasi".

Having failed miserably as a minister of state what is this man coming to do in Agona?

As a minister of state, what has he done for his people?

The people of Agona East and tertiary students in Ghana deserves better

Thank you

Shadrach Appiah

0557704605
Russia, Saudi Arabia To Discuss Cutting Oil Output Amid Glut

By RFE/RL April 09, 2020

Representatives of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia, and other oil-producing countries are set to meet to try to agree to cut output to stabilize the global oil market.

The meeting comes as oil prices have dropped to a level not seen in decades, with travel restrictions and lockdowns issued amid the coronavirus pandemic drastically reducing demand for energy.

Oil prices before the pandemic were already weak, owing in part to a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the world's largest oil producers, over a previous pact on curbing supplies.

Recent efforts to address the glut and decline in prices have been complicated by the reluctance of the United States to agree to participate in a cut over fears that it would violate U.S. antitrust laws.

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week he brokered a deal with Saudi Arabia and Russia that could lead to cuts of as much as 10 million to 15 million barrels per day, an unprecedented amount.

Such a cut would require the participation of producers outside OPEC and its allies, and Saudi Arabia and Russia have yet to indicate any agreement on reducing output.

The Trump administration has shown no desire to mandate cuts in domestic supply, saying the country's output has already dropped without government action.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on April 8 there was a difference between a natural decline in output and a reduction.

"You are comparing overall decline in demand with cuts aimed at stabilizing global markets. These are different concepts and they could not be compared," Peskov said.

The meeting on April 9 of OPEC, Russia, and other producers will be a video conference in keeping with guidelines to avoid large gatherings amid the pandemic.

On the eve of the meeting, nearly 50 Republican members of the U.S. Congress told Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in a letter that economic and military cooperation between Washington and Riyadh is at risk unless the kingdom helps to stabilize oil prices by cutting output.

The message is the latest U.S. move to pressure Saudi Arabia to cut production.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-saudi -arabia-to-discuss-cutting-oil-output- amid-glut/30543330.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China has reported 42 new coronavirus cases, including 38 imported infections, taking the total tally to 81,907, health officials said on Friday, as the country started a new trial of re-testing the recovered COVID-19 patients amid heightened concern of a rebound of the deadly disease.

The Chinese health authority on Friday also said that 47 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases, including 14 from abroad, were also reported in the mainland. China's National Health Commission (NHC) on Friday said 42 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported, including 38 imported cases on Thursday.

Four new domestically transmitted cases were reported, with three in Guangdong Province and one in Heilongjiang Province, it said. As the new infections continue to increase, China on Thursday unveiled a new trial protocol warranting re-testing of the recovered coronavirus patients besides intensifying the screening of asymptomatic cases as concerns grew over a second wave of the infections in the country. The move comes a day after China lifted the 76-day lockdown in Wuhan, where the pandemic originated.

READ | China denies cover-up of COVID-19 info; defends WHO chief

One death was reported in coronavirus epicentre Hubei Province taking the overall death toll in the country to 3,336, while the overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 81,907 by Thursday. This includes 77,455 patients who were discharged after treatment.

The NHC said 1,097 asymptomatic cases, including 349 from abroad, were still under medical observation. Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested positive for the coronavirus but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat but they are infectious and pose a risk of spreading to others, according to a new official notification.

READ | China introduces new measures to curb COVID-19 spread from asymptomatic cases

By Thursday, 973 confirmed cases, including four deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, 45 confirmed cases in the Macao and 380 in Taiwan including five deaths. The new trial protocol on recovered COVID-19 patients included return visits by doctors, re-testing and their health monitoring. As of Thursday 77,455 patients were discharged after treatment, most of them were from Wuhan and Hubei province which bore the brunt of the virus.

According to the protocol, recovered COVID-19 patients should stay in quarantine for 14 days either at home or in an isolation centre for medical observation, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

READ | China introduces new measures to curb COVID-19 spread from asymptomatic cases

During the isolation period, those having recovered from the disease should take their temperatures daily and be on the lookout for fever and respiratory symptoms, including cough and breathing difficulties, the protocol said. Designated hospitals should make plans for patients' return visits and re-testing for the next two to four weeks following their discharge, it said, adding that sputum samples are more reliable and should be the first choice for re-testing.

A high-powered committee headed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang which was leading the efforts to contain the virus since January has also called for intensified detection and prompt response to asymptomatic case meaning people infected with coronavirus but showed no symptoms.

READ | US threatens to block China Telecom from serving American market
OTTAWAFor most people, the pandemic has turned border crossing into an impossibility. But for Laurie Dufrense, who lives in Canada and works in the United States, it remains part of her daily commute.

Dufrense is one of about 1,600 nurses and other health care workers who leave Windsor, Ontario, a city of 217,000, for daily work in Detroit, a metropolitan area of more than four million people. In Windsor, infections remain comparatively under control. Detroit, though, has one of the most severe coronavirus outbreaks in the United States.

For health workers like Dufrense, fulfilling desperately needed medical duties across the border means being in an uncomfortable position. Canadian officials have been blunt about the risks, and health workers have found themselves under scrutiny at home as potential vectors of the pathogen, not just to Windsor but to all of Canada, which so far has not been hit as hard as the United States.

In other countries, health care workers have also found themselves grappling with a community afraid they will spread the virus when they leave their hospitals to come home.

In Mexico, government officials have reported several instances of discrimination and violence against medical personnel motivated by such fears. Nurses have been kicked off public transportation, doused with chlorine and assaulted.

In Canada over the past few days, Windsors border-crossing caregivers have been used in thinly veiled threats by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Canadian politicians challenging an effort by President Donald Trump to cut off exports of medical supplies to Canada.

The dilemma facing officials in Windsor is how to help a neighbour in crisis while also protecting their citizens.

I think it is important that we do not abandon our neighbour in this difficult time, said Dr. Wajid Ahmed, the medical officer of health at the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.

But we also need to make sure that we are taking every step that we can to protect our community, protect our health care workers and ensure that we are reducing the risk as much as possible, he added.

The Canada-U.S. border has been closed to everyone except essential workers, truck drivers and airplane, ship and train crews since March 21.

Detroit sits across the Detroit River from Windsor, just a few minutes drive by bridge or tunnel. The current outbreak has created an extraordinary contrast, though: In Detroit and its surrounding counties, there are 17,543 COVID-19 cases, and 926 people have died. Across all of Canada, 20,748 people have been infected, and 509 have died. Metropolitan Detroit, with about 20 times the population of Windsor, has reported about 67 times the number of infections and 132 times the number of deaths. Ahmed said about a third of Windsors infections have been traced to health care workers returning from the United States.

For Dufrense, who has worked at various Detroit-area hospitals and as a travelling nurse for 11 years, the shutdown of the border has both eased and complicated her commute.

The border guards are being much more respectful, she said. And the Canadian border authorities have given all health care workers special car placards to speed their passage.

But Dufrense has a new post-work ritual when she gets home: deep disinfection.

After pulling into her garage and closing the door, she immediately takes off and bags all her clothes for laundry, sanitizes the van and then showers.

Its scary if you look at the numbers in Windsor compared to the numbers in Michigan, Dufrense said. Im aware of the risks, and we try to limit them. But Im not going to not take care of my patients.

Similarly, Dufrense is determined not to be separated from her husband and their two school-age children for weeks or months by moving to a hotel in Detroit, as some in Windsor have suggested.

Detroits hospitals have long actively recruited in Windsor. Dufrense said Detroits large and sophisticated hospitals offer more and a greater variety of career opportunities than Windsors two comparatively small hospitals, which often send patients to a regional hospital about 120 miles away if they need complex treatments or special procedures.

Ahmed said that despite the large number of health workers who travel daily from Windsor across the border, no agency keeps statistics on these commutes. Numbers posted by The Henry Ford Health System, a non-profit that oversees six hospitals in the Detroit area, show that 538 of its 6,200 nurses are Canadians.

Dufrense, a surgical nurse, said she had worked in groups where upward of 40 per cent of her colleagues lived in Windsor.

Ahmed said Canadian officials should consider limiting the number of times health care workers can cross the border, encouraging more of them to stay in Detroit hotels, barring part-timers from crossing and possibly requiring that international commuters isolate themselves from their families within their homes.

Its not about saying, Just stop everything and we shouldnt provide any service, Ahmed said. Its about how do we minimize the risk.

Dufrense said that some of her colleagues had been criticized on social media and that at least one had been denied entry to a bank in Windsor. I think people are scared, and they get a lot of misinformation, she said.

Many health care workers noted that they are experts at responsibly mitigating risk. And while they understand the fear in Windsor, they say the dangers are overstated.

Some people are blowing up the negativity, said Zain Ismail, an administrative health care worker who commutes to a Detroit hospital. Its not like these health care workers are hanging out at a mall.

While back home in Windsor, Ismail stays inside. Friends handle his grocery shopping.

When youre in health care, youre in the same community no matter what side of the border youre on, he said.

Read more about:
WASHINGTON  As the number of COVID-19 cases among the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt surged, a senior military officer warned on Thursday that the outbreak on the carrier may eventually be seen on other naval ships.

The Navy said that 416 Theodore Roosevelt sailors have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Those sailors constitute almost 22 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the military, and almost 70 percent of those in the Navy, according to the latest figures released by the Pentagon.

Air Force Gen. John Hyten during his confirmation hearing to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, July 30, 2019. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

The outbreak has sidelined the carrier in Guam, captured the attention of the American public and cost two officials their jobs: Capt. Brett Crozier, the ships commanding officer, who was relieved by former acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly for circulating too widely a memo to his chain of command expressing concern with how the Navy was responding to the outbreak; and Modly himself, who resigned Tuesday amid intense criticism of a speech he gave to the Theodore Roosevelt crew on Monday after flying 8,000 miles to Guam.

Its not a good idea to think that the Teddy Roosevelt is a one-of-a-kind issue, said Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a Thursday press conference. Theres 5,000 sailors on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. To think that it will never happen again is not a good way to plan.

Also known as the TR or the Big Stick, the Theodore Roosevelt is one of the Navys 11 aircraft carriers. Nuclear powered and each capable of carrying more than 75 aircraft, the carriers are the largest warships in the world and together constitute a key part of the United States ability to strike targets around the globe. There are usually fewer than five deployed at any time, so even though senior Navy and Pentagon officials have said the TR could still go to war if required, the pause in the carriers deployment has raised questions about the threat that COVID-19 poses to military readiness generally, and to the Navys carrier force in particular.

Story continues

Seabees coordinate transportation of sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt who have tested negative for COVID-19. (U.S. Navy)

Hyten said the military is closely examining what he called an interesting set of data regarding the Theodore Roosevelt outbreak to glean information that could help prevent or mitigate future outbreaks that might threaten critical military capabilities. How do we quarantine a ship before it goes out? he said. How do we consolidate the ship so we can operate? How do we do that on a nuclear-powered carrier? On a nuclear-powered submarine? How do we do that with our bomber force?

The military needs to figure out how to protect the capabilities inherent across its force, including combat aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to Hyten. This will be a new way of doing business, he said. Were adjusting to that new world as we speak today.

At least one other Navy carrier preparing to get underway, the Nimitz in Bremerton, Wash., has reported COVID-19 cases among its crew. The Navy said Wednesday that two of the Nimitz crew had tested positive: one sailor whod contracted the virus while visiting his family on leave and who remained with his family out of state at the Navys direction, and another who had been immediately removed from the carrier and isolated after experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms, but whose test results were inconclusive.

On Thursday, Hyten said that there were a very small number of breakouts on the Nimitz. Were watching that very closely before the Nimitz goes out, he added. But when asked directly, Cmdr. Ron Flanders, a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Air Forces, which oversees carriers while they are in port, told Yahoo News that as of Thursday morning there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 physically on the ship.

The vice chairman said that almost all of the Theodore Roosevelts crew of about 4,800 sailors had been tested for COVID-19. (The Navy later said 97 percent of the crew had been tested.) Of those tested, 3,170 had tested negative, 416 had tested positive and 1,164 were awaiting their results, according to Hyten. The 416 positive cases included 229 sailors who displayed no symptoms, he said.

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Shayne Johnson/U.S. Navy)

About 2,700 of the Big Sticks sailors have come off the ship, according to Hyten. Because of the ships cramped living quarters, the goal was to get them off that ship as fast as we can, he said. Those that have tested positive are placed in isolation on Naval Base Guam, those who are awaiting results are in quarantine on the base, while those who have tested negative are being placed in quarantine-like status in hotels on the island, according to Lt. j.g. Rachel McMarr, a spokesperson for the Navys Pacific Fleet.

Hyten praised Lourdes Aflague Leon Guerrero, the governor of Guam, for her cooperation as the military tried to find lodging for several thousand sailors on short notice (Guam has a total population of about 168,000). We were working that before the ship even got back to port, Hyten said.

But for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak aboard the Theodore Roosevelt, a sailor who had tested positive required hospitalization Thursday. The sailor, who was admitted to the intensive care unit of Naval Hospital Guam, had tested positive on March 30 and was in a 14-day isolation period on Naval Base Guam, according to a Navy statement.

A medical team that checks on the sailors status regularly found the sailor unresponsive in his room Thursday morning, according to McMarr. We are hoping that that sailor recovers, Hyten said. Were praying for him and his family and his shipmates.

_____

Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

Read more:
Benjamin Netanyahu thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for rushing a five-tonne cargo of medicines, including anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, seen as a possible cure for COVID-19.

"Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!", Netanyahu said in a tweet Thursday evening.

The Israeli's PM's thanked India two days after a plane carrying materials used to make medicines for treating coronavirus patients arrived in Israel from India on Tuesday.

The five tonne shipment included ingredients for drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, being seen worldwide as the best possible cure as of now for treating COVID-19 patients.

The dreaded coronavirus has infected nearly 10,000 people in Israel and claimed 86 lives. As many as 121 others are on ventilators in serious condition.

The Indian consignment reached Israel within days after Netanyahu spoke to Modi on April 3, requesting supply of hydroxychloroquine, with India being the world's largest producer and exporter of the drug.

India, however, had to restrict its export to meet domestic contingencies.

Netanyahu had been in touch with Modi ever since the coronavirus crisis erupted. He had made a special request on March 13 asking the Indian prime minister to approve and allow export of masks and pharmaceuticals to Israel.

"I also spoke to the prime minister of India, my friend Narendra Modi. We are dependent on supply lines from various countries. We are looking into it all the time," Netanyahu had then said addressing a press conference.

The Israeli leader spoke to Modi a second time on April 3 to discuss various steps to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Several countries have been experimenting with hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus symptoms. US President Donald Trump recently touted its potential in treating COVID-19 positive patients, requesting India to help his country with supplies.

Experts, however, have urged caution until bigger trials validate hydroxychloroquine's efficacy. Chloroquine can have potentially serious side effects, especially in high doses or when administered with other medications.

Netanyahu's thanks to India followed soon after US President Donald Trump described Modi as "terrific" for allowing the export of hydroxychloroquine to the US, seen as a possible cure for COVID-19, saying India's help in the extraordinary times "will not be forgotten".
A man in New South Wales, an elderly man in Tasmania and a person in Victoria have died of coronavirus, taking the national death toll to 54.

The victim in NSW was a 69-year-old Newcastle man who caught the virus on a trip inter-state.

The Tasmanian was described as an elderly man who died in Northwest Hospital overnight. The Victorian's age and gender have not been released.

There were 49 new cases in NSW on Thursday, a modest increase from 39 new cases on Wednesday.

Thirteen new cases were recorded in Victoria while Queensland reported 12 new cases and no deaths.

There were four new cases in Tasmania, seven in South Australia and three new cases were recorded in the ACT, taking the territory's total to 103.

Western Australia recorded 11 new cases, taking the national total to 6,204.

Stranded Australian travellers arrive at Melbourne International Airport after flying from Peru

The news comes amid fears Australia could be trapped in coronavirus lockdown until the start of 2021.

Experts say the tough social distancing measures will mean not enough people are immune to the deadly bug.

The Federal Government took swift action to stop the spread of COVID-19 - which has killed nearly 90,000 people worldwide - and infection rates across Australia are relatively low, with 6,109 cases and 51 deaths to date.

But this could prove to be a double-edged sword, with any relaxation of lockdown restrictions potentially creating a huge spike in cases, scientists predicted.

Overseas, in countries such as America - where nearly half-a-million people have been infected - lockdowns could end within just a few months, or even weeks.

Australia has significantly fewer confirmed cases of COVID-19 than other countries

Restrictions that have seen the closure of parks, beaches, public BBQs (pictured on April 7 in Mollymook) and restaurants could go on for months to come

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

This is because huge swathes of the population will have been struck down with the virus and either died or recovered, making them immune.

But in Australia, not enough people will have been exposed to COVID-19 - meaning it could still prove fatal for the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions.

The situation has the potential to create a dangerous new social stratification in Australia, with healthy people allowed outside and the elderly trapped in their homes until a vaccine is produced.

Paul Komesaroff, Professor of Medicine at Monash University, told Daily Mail Australia the Federal Government's 'responsible' approach to the pandemic may be a mixed blessing.

'In the UK and the United States - because of the irresponsibility of the political leaders - they missed the opportunity to impose restrictions early and huge numbers of people are getting the disease,' he explained.

'But it does mean that the peak is very, very sharp, and it may well be that the timeline for them is shorter than it will be for us. Ironically.'

A world-leading specialist on epidemic response, Professor Komesaroff said the strategy means Australia will likely avoid the 'terrible suffering' seen overseas, and be able to provide proper treatment to all patients hospital.

How one coronavirus patient could infect FOUR HUNDRED people and cause an 'explosion' in case numbers if social distancing measures are relaxed

Coronavirus case numbers could 'explode' if restrictions are relaxed, Professor Paul Kelly warned today.

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer said easing social distancing measures could have serious implications 'down the track.'

'If we don't have these measures, one person can lead to 400 other cases within a month,' he said.

'That is the sort of explosive epidemic we've seen in other countries. And we just cannot afford at this stage to be considering that happening.'

Despite the stark warning, Professor Kelly hinted at what the 'road out' might look like for Australia.

He said mass testing and a readiness to re-introduce restrictions were key.

'The fear is that as we start to lift those measures and allow people to get on with their lives, there are still a lot of susceptible people left in the population who could get infected, and we want to avoid seeing a further outbreak occur,' he said.

Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly (pictured today) has dismissed rumours that a cure has been found for coronavirus

'To prevent that we really need to have very good testing, very good situational awareness of what might be happening out there in the population as we lift those measures.

'We need to be ready to detect and isolate cases as soon as they're discovered, and potentially to re-introduce some of those social distancing measures if we get a hint of a second wave.'

Asked if Australia's borders would have to kept closed for up to two years until a vaccine was found, the professor did not rule out the possibility.

'That depends on what is happening in the rest of the world in terms of the epidemic and, of course, the vaccine,' he said.

'If we have a vaccine which does work, and does give lasting immunity and can be rolled out across the world, not just in Australia, then that changes everything.

'Certainly the border closures will be a component of what needs to happen into the future. How that would actually work remains to be seen.

Australia's daily infection rate has dropped significantly, but the aim of flattening the curve is not to stop people getting COVID-19 - but to ensure it is contracted gradually, experts said

'We are an island, of course, and that's our advantage. But we also do need to our trade both back and forth, to continue in the society that we love.'

On a positive note, Professor Kelly said the infection rate was heading below one, meaning one patient passes the virus on to less than one person on average.

'Once you get to that point, the epidemic dies out. At the moment, we're probably on the cusp of that in Australia,' he said.

At the start of today's press conference, the professor addressed claims in media around the world that scientists are close to a cure.

'I just want to reiterate that there is no specific treatment yet proven to be able to cure this virus,' he said.

Professor Kelly said several treatments are being developed and are in clinical trials.

He also said he was 'concerned' about reports that people in Japan and South Korea have been infected again after overcoming the virus, leading to fears the virus is mutating.

If people can get re-infected then making a vaccine is going to be much harder.

'If immunity does not last for a long time that has implications for the vaccine. If there are slight changes in the virus that leads us to be able to be re-infected, that also has vaccine implications,' he said.

Earlier today it was announced that a man in New South Wales and a person in Victoria have died of coronavirus, taking the national death toll to 53.

The victim in NSW was a 69-year-old Newcastle man who caught the virus on a trip inter-state. The Victorian's age and gender have not been released.

There were 49 new cases in NSW on Thursday, a modest increase from 39 new cases on Wednesday.

Thirteen new cases were recorded in Victoria while Queensland reported 12 new cases and no deaths.

Three new cases were recorded in the ACT, taking the territory's total to 103.
TIRANA, Albania - Kosovos prosecution office charged 19 former senior officials on Friday with abuse of power for allegedly causing at least 13.7 million euros ($15 million) in losses to the public budget.

A statement said the ex-officials, including four former ministers, exceeded their competencies in ordering the privatization of four hydro power stations.

Corruption in Kosovo, one of the poorest countries in the continent, remains a top challenge for its economic development.

If convicted, the defendants may be jailed for up to five years.

Kosovo, a former province of the former Yugoslavia until NATO intervened in 1999 to end Serbias bloody crackdown on the countrys ethnic Albanian nationalists, declared independence in 2008. Serbia doesnt recognize Kosovos sovereignty.
New Ross Community Hospital's residents have been keeping in regular contact with family through Skype and phone calls, as they are cared for round the clock.

Ranging in ages up to the eldest resident, Loretta Dooley, who is 103 years young, the residents have not been able to see family members in person since restriction were put in place in mid-March.

Activities co-ordinator Jean O'Leary said: 'We are taking all of these measures. We would have been doing them on a smaller scale all of the time anyway, with a focus on cleanliness and hand-washing. At the moment all of the residents are doing their hand-washing and using hand sanitisers before and after they eat.'

Ms O'Leary said every effort is being made to keep everything as normal as possible for the residents who enjoyed a fun day of Irish traditions on St Patrick's Day.

'We have volunteers who come up here who can't come in here during this to keep them entertained. We've been closed since the Friday before St Patrick's Day which is important, especially for vulnerable people and they are all very vulnerable as most residents are over 90.'

She said the restrictions are very difficult for family members.

'It's more difficult for them as the residents are largely unaffected. Some of the residents live every day in the moment and don't remember how long it was since they last had a visitor, but their families know.'

She said Skype and other video call technology has been a godsend for family members who want to see their mother, father, aunt, uncle, brother or sister, and chat with them; with some conversations lasting for well over 20 minutes.

'It means the world to people to be able to see them. Distance makes everything more difficult. We have a Facebook page but with data protection it's so hard.'

She said family members regularly drop up items for loved ones.

The residents also get to attend a religious service as staff member Peter O'Connor is a Eucharistic Minister.

'We have masses and the parish keep us stocked up with consecrated hosts. The residents also listen to the 10 a.m. masses online.'
Industry got a helping hand this week when a decree issued by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi postponed the deadline for companies to file and pay taxes by three months until 30 June without interest or fines.



The Export Support Fund will also disburse at least 30 per cent of money owed to exporters before the end of the current fiscal year. The decisions were part of a package intended to ease the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy.



The presidential decree meets some of the demands that the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) had included in a report last week on the urgent procedures needed to address the repercussions of the coronavirus outbreak on the economic and industrial levels.



More than 15 demands were highlighted by the report to support industry and enable it to continue production, especially by managing the liquidity needed for companies and enabling the industrial sector to provide the countrys needs for goods in order to maintain stability.



The demands include postponing filing tax returns for a period of three months until 30 June, exempting all companies for a period of three months from items such as social insurance to provide them with liquidity to meet their obligations such as wages, deducting 50 per cent of the road tolls imposed on trucks, and exemptions from fixed installments of electricity and gas bills.



The federation also called for accelerating the issuing of permits and licences and the allocation of land for industrial activity to accelerate new investments. Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said in a statement on Monday that the proposals were under consideration and would be submitted to Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli as some would require legislative amendments.



Khaled Abdel-Azim, head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, stressed that safety procedures were being applied inside all industrial facilities to limit the spread of the virus. The factories are in a good condition so far, and there has been no stoppage of production, he said.



However, the number of administrative staff had been reduced and meetings canceled along with direct visits by clients or visitors to factories. All training activities had been stopped at the administrative level, he added.



Many factories have purchased thermometers to measure the temperatures of factory workers, and a medical examination is obligatory for anyone with suspected symptoms, he said.



He also said that there was a high level of awareness among workers, especially regarding personal and public hygiene. Protective supplies have been provided to workers, and factories are being sterilised constantly, he added.



Tarek Metwalli, a member of parliaments industry committee, said in a press statement that there was a commitment in factories in all sectors to reduce the number of administrative workers whose physical presence is not required, as well as to use the sterilisation and disinfection tools available and test workers temperatures continuously.



But it was difficult to reduce employment in certain industries, including the manufacturing of medicines, medical supplies, and food products, he said. Egypt needed its factories, especially food factories, to work at full capacity to prevent supply problems, he added.



To help overcome this dilemma some have suggested that workers be quarantined at their factories for 14 days. The initiative entails that factory owners bear the expenses of the resing workers througout the 14 days.



Mohamed Shoukri, head of the Chamber of Food Industries at the FEI, said that food production was stable, and that the factories were operating two shifts.



There are raw materials available to continue production for several months, and the market is operating normally, he said. No factory had decided to reduce working hours, and production could continue normally for a period of six to nine months, he added.



The Customs Authority was working 24 hours a day to release any goods and production requirements needed by industry, but other bodies such as the Food Safety Authority and others should also work 24 hours a day as well in order not to slow down production efforts, Shoukri said.



He added that releasing exports and imports from the ports had been an important obstacle because it could be an expensive process and take up to 20 days. We have been discussing this problem with the prime minister to find a solution because it reduces the competitiveness of Egyptian exports and is a deterrent to investments, he said.



Minister of Manpower Mohamed Saafan announced last week that all governorates would launch follow-up campaigns and the inspections of factories, companies, and private-sector establishments to make sure environmental protection and health protection procedures are taken to protect workers from the coronavirus.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The case was diagnosed in the southern oil producing region of Hadhramout, the supreme national emergency committee said

Aden: Yemen reported its first case of the novel coronavirus on Friday as aid groups try to prepare for an outbreak in a country where war has shattered the health system and spread hunger and disease.

The news came after a nationwide ceasefire began on Thursday over the COVID-19 pandemic. A Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemens Houthi movement announced it would halt military operations for two weeks, but the Houthis have yet to agree.

The case was diagnosed in the southern oil producing region of Hadhramout, the supreme national emergency committee said on its Twitter account.

The individual is stable and receiving medical attention and the medical teams, it said, adding that authorities had taken necessary measures, but did not give details.

The sufferer was a Yemeni working in the port of Ash Shihr, a local official told Reuters.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

If the virus spreads in Yemen, the impact would be catastrophic, as the health status of at least half the population is very degraded and the country does not have sufficient supplies, capabilities or facilities, its UN humanitarian coordinator, Lise Grande, told Reuters on Thursday.

Yemen has been mired in violence since the Iran-aligned Houthi movement overthrew the government in the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene.

The five-year-old conflict has killed more than 100,000 and pushed millions to the brink of famine.
When it comes to grocery shopping, the rulebook has changed.

What used to be a normal activity has drastically been altered in the age of the coronavirus pandemic.

Grocery stores are responding by implementing new policies and procedures to ensure we all abide by the new social distancing guidelines.

Theyve posted signs reminding shoppers to maintain a six-foot distance, designated spots on floors marking where shoppers should stand and installed plexiglass sneeze guards at cash registers.

Early on, some grocers shaved back hours to give employees more time to restock shelves and clean stores. Others have designated shopping hours for senior citizens and those with compromised immune systems and reconfigured aisles into one-way lanes.

A lot has changed in the past month. The measures are intended to keep both shoppers and associates safe.

Weis Markets spokesman Dennis Curtin said the situation is constantly evolving and the chain is always trying to anticipate the next step.

This is simply uncharted territory. There is no manual, no guidebook for this. What we are trying to be is responsible, Curtin said.

For the most part, grocers say shoppers are following the rules with the exception of a few extreme cases.

Last month, a Carlisle man faced charges after police said he deliberately coughed near a senior citizen who was wearing a medical face mask at a Karns store in Cumberland County. In a similar case, police in Luzerne County sent a woman to jail after she "intentionally contaminated meat, produce and other items at a Gerritys Supermarket on Sans Souci Parkway.

READ MORE:

Alex Baloga, CEO and president of the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, told PennLives Opinion Editor Joyce Davis on Wednesday, grocers wont tolerate those sorts of behaviors and will call law enforcement.

Its just not something that is acceptable at any time, but especially now when people are putting their safety at risk to serve the public, Baloga said.

This is life or death, and we need to have everyone do the right thing and be on their best behavior. Then we can minimize the risk to these folks who are going in every day and doing the tough work for us, he added.

Heres some etiquette - shall we call them house rules - on how not to be a jerk at the supermarket.

Follow store signs

Old habits are hard to break. Now more than ever, pay attention while shopping because store rules have changed. Many stores have posted signs outlining the new rules.

Also, to help shoppers maintain 6-foot distances, chains have implemented several measures including designating spots on the floor at cash registers and other parts of the stores marking where shoppers should stand.

Some stores including Giant have realigned traffic patterns. Earlier this week, they implemented one-way aisles and designated separate store entrances and exits.

Wear a mask

Wearing a mask can be awkward but consider it a new fashion accessory.

The CDC recently issued guidelines urging Americans to tie on masks when visiting public places, especially where its hard to socially distance yourself such as at grocery stores and drug stores.

You arent protecting yourself by wearing one but reducing the chance youll spread it to others, according to the CDC.

Last week, Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf advised all residents to wear masks when going out in public but cautioned masks are not fool-proof. He urged people to stay at home unless you absolutely cannot.

If you dont own a mask, here are some suggestions on how to make one.

Minimize shopping trips

If you follow the advice above from Gov. Wolf about staying home, this rule wont be hard to break. You do not need to grocery shop every day. Minimizing trips to the supermarket, cuts down on chances of the virus spreading.

This is the moment to not be going to the grocery store, not going to the pharmacy, but doing everything you can to keep your family and friends safe, advised Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator of the White Houses coronavirus task force, over the weekend.

Obviously, fewer trips means youll have to be more organized.

If you can get it down to once every week or every two weeks, thats great, Anne-Marie Gloster, lecturer in the nutritional science program at the University of Washington, told Vox.

Dont hoard

If youre only going to shop once or twice a week, it might seem logical to buy a dozen of everything. Dont. The grocery industry has urged shoppers not to hoard food and other supplies, which cuts into the supply chain making it harder for everyone to acquire items. Many stores have set limits on high-demand products such as toilet paper.

The supply chain is holding firm and being stretched but food will continue to be on the shelves, Baloga said. Only come when you need, dont panic buy or hoard and leave some for everyone else."

Keep your hands to yourself

Its kind of like telling small children not to touch everything. Now the rule applies to all of us.

Experts warn you should only touch food or items you plan to buy. The virus can live on surfaces for at least some amount of time.

But with that said, remember experts say the virus is most likely to spread through person-to-person contact, not through touching cereal boxes.

A checkout clerk at Karns grocery store at Hampden Centre on Carlisle Pike in Hampden Township wears gloves due to the coronavirus. March 31, 2020. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

Use touch-less pay options

Limit contact by paying with credit or debit cards instead of handling cash.

But if you dont want to touch anything, opt for touch-less options such as Apple Pay or grocery store apps.

You dont have to sign anything or come in contact with any pens, Baloga said. These are ways to eliminate the spread.

If you must handle money, a card or use a keypad, the CDC recommends you immediately use hand sanitizer after paying.

Properly dispose of gloves

If you use disposable gloves, dont toss them on the ground. Latex gloves are supposed to starve off the spread of the virus, not increase it.

Unfortunately, many people are discarding them in parking lots.

This is certainly something that is a problem we have seen, Baloga said.

Again, while the virus is believed to be primarily spread by human contact, evidence suggests it can live on surfaces for hours.

It puts people in harms way, especially people who have to clean it up. Its something that should be common sense, Baloga added. Clean up after yourself and dont put these people at risk.
Amid lockdown in wake of the coronavirus crisis, a first parcel train carrying essentials commodities arrived at the Jammu Railway Station from New Delhi, here on Friday.

"The train departed from New Delhi last night around 10 pm carrying essential supplies and delivered it to Panipat, Ambala, Ludhiana, Pathankot and Jammu. The essential supplies include masks, sanitisers and other medicines," Vijay Kumar, Indian Railways Officer told ANI.

Indian Railways on Thursday introduced time-tabled parcel trains for nationwide transportation of essential commodities and other goods, the transporter said on Wednesday.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
[April 10, 2020] DEADLINE TODAY: The Schall Law Firm Announces it is Investigating Claims Against Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. and Encourages Investors with Losses to Contact the Firm

The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. ("Spirit AeroSystems" or "the Company") (NYSE: SPR) for violations of the securities laws. The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Spirit AeroSystems launched an internal review of its accounting process compliance in December 2019. The Company "determined that it did not comply with established accounting proesses related to certain potential contingent liabilities." The Company announced the resignations of its Chief Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer for failure to comply with accounting rules on contingencies on January 30, 2020. Shares of Spirit AeroSystems fell by almost 4% the same day.



If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 1880 Century Park East, Suite 404, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 424-303-1964, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected].

The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005147/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
A two-month-old who is believed to be the youngest COVID-19 patient in Italy has been discharged from the hospital after she tested negative for the infection on Thursday, April 9. The infant showed no symptoms, such as temperature or cough, and was discharged from the medical facility in the southern city of Bari along with her mother. Both mother and daughter were released by the medics on account of good health, media reports confirmed.

Read: South Africa Extends Coronavirus Lockdown As Increase In Cases Slows

Earlier, in another remarkable recovery that is being called a 'ray of hope', a 95-year-old Italian woman was reported to have battled and survived the COVID-19 infection. Alma Clara Corsini was admitted to a hospital in Pavullo on March 5 and the medics declared her 'free from the disease' after she tested negative on March 24.

Clara reportedly became the oldest woman to have defeated the ailment which is considered more vulnerable for the elderly. She was later discharged from the hospital and returned to her home in Fanano. Not just that, a 97-year-old from Lombardy, the epicentre of the outbreak, became the oldest man in Italy to overcome the deadly COVID-19 infection.

Read: Coronavirus Shutdown Presents Challenges For Teams, Sponsors

Total ban in the region

Italy has recorded the highest global death toll of 18,279 and has surpassed China with over 143,626 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus as per John Hopkins University data, becoming the second-worst impacted country. According to reports, despite imposing a total ban on movements across the region, and placing million under the lockdown as a containment effort, Italy has a combination of several factors contributing to the death toll. The countrys large elderly population and the inaccurate methods of testing could have been among the leading causes of the surge of deaths, health experts claimed.

Massimo Galli, head of the infectious disease unit at Sacco Hospital in Milan, said in a news conference that Italys recorded data did not accurately represent the ground report. The real figures, he said, were significantly higher. He was also quoted saying that thousands waited to be tested with mild symptoms at home, as tests were limited to only up to 5,000 per day.

Read: Two Coronavirus Deaths Reported In Andhra Pradesh, Toll Rises To Six

Read: UK Records 881 Coronavirus Deaths
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 20:01 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd118075 1 World COVID-19,coronavirus,virus-corona,Australia,Sydney,Dompet-Dhuafa,humanitarian-aid,homeless Free

The Australian branch of Jakarta-based Muslim philanthropic organization Dompet Dhuafa has launched an initiative to feed hundreds of homeless people in Australia.

Twenty-five Indonesian volunteers from the organization hit the streets of Sydney on Wednesday to give away 300 food packages to underprivileged citizens who are at high risk of falling into indigence and hunger.

Enjoying the citys atmosphere in a developed country often makes me think that everything here is going fine. However, poverty is still a challenge for many, volunteer Ilma Fitsannisa Zette said in a media statement on Thursday.

Ilma, a student of the University of Technology Sydney, said the initiative made her more aware of others conditions in the time of crisis.

Read also: Cannes opens doors to homeless as virus spreads

Dompet Dhuafa Australia head Ali Zaenal said there were around 116,000 homeless people in Australia. The figure had increased about 13 percent in the past five years, according to a housing and population census from the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2016.

They are very vulnerable, especially amid a health crisis of the COVID-19 outbreak. As fellow human beings, [members of] Dompet Dhuafa Australia took the initiative to show our support, Ali said.

The Australian branch of the organization said the initiative would continue to run in the future with volunteers to hand out blankets to the homeless during winter.

The Australian Department of Health recorded 6,203 COVID-19 cases across the country with 53 deaths as of Friday afternoon. More than 338,000 tests have been conducted across Australia.
A woman suffering flu-like symptoms gave birth standing and fully clothed while detained near the Mexican-US border, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Guatemalan woman, 27, was being processed at the Chula Vista Border Patrol Station near San Diego when her complaints of pain and pleas for help were allegedly ignored by agents, according to a complaint filed on Wednesday by the ACLU and Jewish Family Service of San Diego with the US Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General.

The woman, holding onto a garbage can for support, was repeatedly told to sit and wait to be processed. Her husband, hearing a baby's cries, removed her pants to reveal the newborn's head while their daughters, aged 2 and 12, witnessed the event, according to the ACLU's interviews with the family.

"This horrific case is just the most recent and one of the most egregious examples of this agency's abuse," said ACLU attorney Monika Y. Langarica.

An account of the birth by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), released a few days after the incident on 16 February, describes a conflicting version of events.

After entering the country illegally, the family was detained but "did not appear to be in distress and did not request any medical attention", the agency said in a statement.

"Thanks to the medical resources available in our stations, this woman and her child were well cared for and received immediate medical attention," said Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke. "Our agents are well trained to manage the unexpected, and I'm proud of the work they did in caring for this mother."

A CBP spokesman told The Independent that after an internal investigation of the complaint, the agency "strongly disagrees with the unsubstantiated allegations against our agents".

"Based on this available information, CBP supports what appear to be nothing short of heroic actions of medical personnel and agents on scene and welcomes the response of [Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General]," the spokesman said.

In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal demanded an investigation into the incident, as well as other reported mistreatment of pregnant women in custody.

In the letter, Mr Blumenthal said the woman was not allowed to shower after giving birth and after returning from hospital to the Border Patrol station two days later was refused a blanket for the baby.

"Nobody should be treated this way. But sadly, this woman is not the only one to have experienced inexcusable treatment at CBP's hands," Mr Blumenthal said in the statement.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has called for ramping up testing facilities to check coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, saying it can prove to be a lifesaver in the big state.

In a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, she called for steps that could win over the confidence of everyone by creating a fear-free atmosphere, while keeping aside political ideology, to ensure that people come up voluntarily for testing.

"We are with you in this fight against the pandemic. Coronavirus does not see any religion or caste and affects everyone. In this battle, there is need to take steps by keeping our political ideologies away and help bring people together and create a fear-free atmosphere," she said in her letter.

Stressing on the need for ramping up testing facilities, she said for a state with such a big population "increasing testing can prove to be a lifesaver".

She said state authorities have to conduct testing on more and more people, on "mild to moderate high risk cases" and treat them on a war footing so that there is less pressure on ICUs.

The Congress leader also called up creation of more isolation wards and quarantine centres soon.

She said with reports of community transmission coming from some parts and clusters in urban areas are being formed, she said there are also reports about COVID infected people hiding their disease.

"This is happening because of fear mongering in the society about this disease. Hence it is important, especially in these clusters to provide right information on a war footing in these areas and immediately stop fake and myths about the coronavirus," she said in her letter.

She also called for taking such steps that people win the confidence of the government and come forward to get testing done voluntarily.

"It is important that the government takes such steps to inspire confidence of people so that they come up voluntarily for testing," she said, while also calling for seeking the help of NGOs and social and political organisations to unitedly fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Making a host of suggestions in her letter to UP CM, the Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh also called for improving sanitation facilities and provision of free ration to the poor and the marginalised.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PLANTATION, Fla., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- American Heritage School has been offering an international homestay high school program for the past 10 years, and many of the students hail from China. The parents of the current Chinese students banded together to help those in the front lines of this medical crisis and shipped over 50,000 masks from China to Broward County, Florida.

A nurse at one of the Broward hospitals expresses gratitude at the large donation of face masks from American Heritage School.

Only a few months ago, the parents of the international students experienced the serious impact of this virus in their hometowns. As news of a PPE (personal protective equipment) shortage spread, the parents in China wanted to help. So they worked together to collect more than 50,000 protective face masks and 650 European certified medical goggles. The supplies were quickly shipped from China to American Heritage School, and the parents also generously added many specialized 3M 1860 N95 face masks. These FDA-approved respiratory protective masks are the recommended respirator for the 2019-2020 Coronavirus outbreak, designed to achieve a very close facial fit and filter out a minimum of 95 percent of airborne particles. It is almost impossible to find these N95 face masks in the U.S. today.

At the request of the donors, the PPE supplies have been distributed to Broward hospitals, including the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Memorial Healthcare System, Memorial Hospital Miramar ICU, West Regional Hospital, and the Broward Institute of Orthopedic Specialties, as well as to the Broward Sheriff's Office and Weston Sheriff's Office, Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward County, and the maintenance staff and security guards at both campuses of American Heritage School.

"It is truly heartwarming to receive the shipments from our Chinese families of the PPE supplies as they arrive one after another and are distributed to the first responders," said Wenjing Hu, International Admissions Director and high school Chinese teacher at American Heritage. "I believe that our joint effort and social responsibility is what will make a difference during this extraordinary time."

About American Heritage School

American Heritage School is the #1 private school in Florida for the highest number of nationally recognized scholars, math competition, and science fair. American Heritage is an independent, non-sectarian, co-educational, college preparatory school in South Florida educating students in PK3-12th grades.

SOURCE American Heritage School

Related Links

http://www.ahschool.com


The federal government has so far disbursed N2.6 billion to 130,000 poor households in Katsina State under the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme.

Abdulkadir Nasir, Special Adviser on social interventions to Governor Aminu Masari, made the disclosure at a news briefing in Katsina on Friday.

He explained that the disbursement was part of the federal governments interventions to cushion the harsh effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people.

Mr Nasir said 133,228 households had so far been enrolled into the social intervention programme in the state.

As at Thursday, going by the directives of President Muhammadu Buhari that allowances be paid for January, February, March and April, cumulating to N20,000 per household, these households have been paid fully over N2.6 billion.

So far, of the 133,238 households, 130,000 have successfully been paid, he said.

Mr Nasir also said the federal government spent N473 million monthly under the National Home Growth Feeding programme in the state.

According to him, 338,488 pupils in 1,407 primary schools are benefiting from the programme.

He said 4,097 food vendors were engaged and that N70 was spent per child under the programme.

The governors aide further said that 13,478 volunteers in the state currently benefit from the federal governments N-Power programme.

Mr Nasir further said 8,364 indigenes had benefited from the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme under the TraderMoni.

(NAN)
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala has filed a police complaint in Panchkula claiming that he received a threat call from a person who identified himself as a gangster from UP, police said on Friday.

Surjewala, the chief spokesperson of the Congress, in his police complaint said the caller threatened to eliminate him and his cousin Sudeep Surjewala.

He filed the complaint with the Panchkula police on Thursday, hours after receiving the threat call, police said, adding that they have registered a case and are investigating the matter.

In his police complaint, Surjewala said he was present at his Panchkula residence when he received the call on Thursday morning.

"My neighbour who had come to my house to help me with some legal proposition attended the phone call on my landline number as I was busy on videoconferencing," he said in his complaint.

Surjewala, a former minister from Haryana who enjoys 'Y' category security cover, told the police that the caller claimed that he was a gangster from Uttar Pradesh.

"He threatened to eliminate my cousin brother Sudeep Surjewala and me and disconnected the call. A minute later he again called from the same number and said he was aware of my location at Panchkula and had complete details of my as well as my brother's movements, vehicles and residential addresses and he would shoot my cousin and thereafter he would eliminate me," Surjewala said.

He said in his complaint that he received another call from the same number and the caller extended the same threat again.

Surjewala also mentioned in his complaint a threat he had received a few years back on behalf of another gangster.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Asian Development Bank is also engaged with the private sector to meet its financing needs during this period

New Delhi: Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa on Friday assured Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of USD 2.2 billion (about Rs 16,500 crore) support to India in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a call, Asakawa commended the Indian government's decisive response to the pandemic, including a national health emergency program, tax and other relief measures provided to businesses and a USD 23 billion (Rs 1.7 lakh crore) economic relief package announced on March 26 to provide immediate income and consumption support to the poor, women, and workers affected by the three-week nationwide lockdown.

"ADB is committed to supporting India's emergency needs. We are now preparing USD 2.2 billion in immediate assistance to the health sector and to help alleviate the economic impact of the pandemic on the poor; informal workers; micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; and the financial sector," Asakawa said.

ADB is also engaged with the private sector to meet its financing needs during this period, ADB said in a statement.

"ADB assistance for India will be further increased if needed. We will consider all financing options available with us to meet India's needs, including emergency assistance, policy-based loans, and budget support to facilitate swift disbursement of ADB funds, he said.

Weakening global economic growth is causing disruptions in India's trade and manufacturing supply chains, along with the slowdown in tourism and other economic activities.

This is straining the large number of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, and the livelihood of formal and informal labourers across the country.

Asakawa said the policy measures announced by the government will provide much-needed relief and stimulus to the most vulnerable people as well as businesses and become a basis for faster recovery.

On March 18, ADB announced an initial package of approximately USD 6.5 billion to address the immediate needs of its developing member countries, including India, as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, it said, adding, ADB stands ready to provide further financial assistance and policy advice whenever the situation warrants.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members49 from the region.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-11 02:03:10|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MOGADISHU, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Somali Health Ministry on Friday confirmed nine new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of recorded cases to 21.

Fawziya Abikar, Health Minister of Somalia said the new cases did not have a history of travel and were thus local transmissions.

"The health ministry confirms nine new people got COVID-19, bringing the number of corona infected cases to 21," Abikar said, adding that two of the nine cases are officials from the Ministry of Health.

She called on members of the public to stay at home, exercise social distancing and avoid public gatherings.

The latest confirmation comes two days after four new cases were announced. So far, four health workers have tested positive for the deadly pandemic.

The Health Ministry had warned there could be several undetected cases of COVID-19 in Somalia following a case of local transmission which was detected on April 3.

The Horn of African nation which has so far one recovery and one death has instituted measures to contain the possible spread of COVID-19 including closing schools, banning large gatherings and suspending international and domestic passenger flights.

There were clashes between the police and worshippers in the city after the security forces imposed lockdown in Mogadishu to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Several main mosques were closed despite protests from worshipers who argued that they did not receive any prior notice from the government.

Somalia which has a fragile health system has confirmed the delivery of COVID-19 testing kits in the country following support from the World Health Organization.

The minister said that coronavirus cases are now being screened and tested in the country's National Public Health Research Laboratory (NPHRL) in Mogadishu.
A wildfire burning in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, as imaged on April 5, 2020, by the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite.

The forest near the old Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is burning, and the effects are visible from space.

The Suomi NPP satellite , a joint project of NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), captured a photo Sunday (April 5) of the human-caused wildfire burning in Ukraine's Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Radiation counts near the fire have registered 2.3 microsievert per hour, a spike from the typical 0.14 Sv/h, according to Live Science.

"At this point, the fire is about 250 acres (100 hectares)," NASA officials wrote in an image description . "Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points."

Related: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is on fire and radiation levels are spiking

Chernobyl, of course, was the site of a deadly meltdown on April 26, 1986 . The plant's Reactor No. 4 exploded, releasing large amounts of dangerous radiation. The contamination was so extensive and so extreme that the Soviet government  at the time, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union  quickly ordered people to leave the area, setting up the 1,000-square-mile (2,600 square kilometers) Exclusion Zone. (Not everybody obeyed, however; about 200 people live in the zone today, NASA officials said.)

The Exclusion Zone is still heavily contaminated, and will be for many years to come. The fire isn't helping things at the moment, either; radiation levels in the Zone are apparently spiking .

The Suomi-NPP photo is no isolated data point. NASA and NOAA Earth-observation satellites, in addition to tracking long-term trends on our planet, commonly monitor wildfires and other natural disasters.

"Together, NASA instruments detect actively burning fires, track the transport of smoke from fires, provide information for fire management and map the extent of changes to ecosystems, based on the extent and severity of burn scars," NASA officials wrote in the statement.

Mike Wall is the author of " Out There " (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate ), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook .
President Muhammadu Buhari has restated his advice to Nigerians on avoiding the coronavirus, saying the best and most efficient way to avoid getting infected is through regular hygiene and sanitary practices as well as social distancing.

Mr Buhari stated this in his Easter message on Friday.

Nigerian Christians join their counterparts globally to celebrate the annual festivities which holds between Friday and Monday.

The federal government had earlier declared Friday and Monday public holidays to mark the festival.

This years celebration is, however, blighted by the coronavirus pandemic which has affected most countries in the world and caused almost 100,000 deaths.

A large part of Nigeria is already on lockdown as the federal and state governments strive to prevent the spread of the virus which has caused seven deaths in the country and infected almost 300 people.

See the full text of Mr Buharis Easter message below.

I rejoice with our Christian brothers and sisters as well as all Nigerians on the occasion of the celebration of this years Easter.

This years commemoration of Easter comes amid the grip with which Covid-19 has held the entire world.

Unprecedented in living memory, majority of Christians have found themselves marking Easter in a subdued manner, away from the usual congregation in churches. This is unusual and very unfortunate.

However, I wish to enjoin our Christian compatriots to rekindle their faith in Christ who overcame persecution, sufferings and displayed endurance, steadfastness and above all piety.

Jesus Christ represented mans ability to withstand temporary pains in the hope of everlasting glory.

I urge you to imbibe and live the values of humility, discipline, perseverance, sacrifice and obedience which Jesus Christ demonstrated during His stay on earth.

There is no better opportunity than now for all Christians in particular, and Nigerians in general, to remain faithful and hopeful that with intensified prayers backed by personal and collective responsibility, the nation shall pull through this most difficult trial.

I have no doubt that if all stakeholders  individuals and groups  play their part to the fullest as advised by our scientists and medical experts in confronting Covid-19, the inherent resilience and determination of our people will enable us to pull through.

As I stated in my national broadcast on Sunday, March 29, 2020, since there is currently no known vaccine against the virus, the best and most efficient way to avoid getting infected is through regular hygiene and sanitary practices as well as social distancing.

May I use this opportunity to commend the encouraging containment and ameliorating strategies put in place by members of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

I am very much aware of the personal and collective inconveniences suffered by our people due to measures such as restriction of movements and closure of business premises. Being a matter of life and death, these sacrifices are in everybodys interest to save our country from calamity.

The welfare of our people is paramount. Accordingly, the most economically vulnerable in our communities will continue to be uppermost in our plans, and efforts will be made to supply them with basic means of survival.

While we see the COVID-19 pandemic as a global challenge, this administration is not oblivious of the constant threat posed to our national security by terrorists and insurgents. They may take this opportunity to perpetrate attacks. But our armed forces and other security and intelligence services will remain vigilant and continue to contain these threats and consolidate efforts to eradicate them completely.

As we mark this years Easter, whatever the circumstances, I encourage you to make the most of the situation, and to keep safe.

I wish you all a Happy Easter.

Muhammadu Buhari

President, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Advertisements


While much of San Antonio is shut down during the coronavirus pandemic, many owners of 3D printers have never been busier. Theyre cranking out much-needed protective face shields, masks and other medical equipment for health care workers.

This is a need we can fill right now, said Thuy Dinh, an engineer. Most of the shields were making are for local hospitals.

She had a $200 3D printer at home, found an open-source design for face shields that can prolong the use of face masks and N95 respirators, and ordered supplies.

Dinh also convinced a handful of her friends to also make protective gear. The maker community is full of people who want to make things, she said.

Theres a very can-do attitude in the community.

She contacted Canopener Labs, which eagerly joined the project, and discovered that Felishia Powell, a program director at San Antonios Hemisfair, had also created a face shield with a group of 3D designers working out of Geekdom, a co-working space in the citys Tech District. They all joined forces.

Canopener Labs co-founder Dale Bracey said its prototyping and development space is part of a maker movement rising up to do the right thing by manufacturing protective face shields and respirator masks.

His firm has attracted the help of County Commissioner Tommy Calvert and District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino, an architect who created a basic ventilator.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio City Councilman builds a ventilator in response to national shortage

Ventilators are lifesaving devices that allow a critical patients lungs to rest and recover while the machine helps the patient breathe.

Dinh said dozens of independent makers and students at several schools that have 3D printers are producing parts made from a plastic filament material called PLA. On some machines it takes up to four hours to print one shield.

The goal right now is not to create the worlds best face shield, she said. At the end of the day, all we wanted to do was give the men and women on the front lines some protection.

Theyre helping fill a gap in the medical supply chain. Manufacturers were unable to keep up when medical facilities around the world scrambled to order personal protective equipment, or PPE, in anticipation of a surge of coronavirus-infected patients.

The U.S. government has directed health care workers to reuse single-use masks to conserve the supply. In response, people started swapping tips online on how to sew cloth face masks at home, and collected the results to send to hospitals and clinics. But initially these hand-sewn masks werent allowed.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

Thats when makers  from novice hobbyists to large-scale operations  started to take notice.

Powell asked her employer if she could use its new 3D printer to help make face shields that can be sanitized and reused. Hemisfair officials gave her the go-ahead, as long as she bought all the materials herself.

After spending $200 and posting her work on Facebook, donors started to pitch in for materials. On March 22, a friend created a fundraising campaign on Gofundme.com thats collected more than $1,800.

Powells unique design is made from PET-G, a sturdy material that allows for sterilization of the shields.

A few days later, federal officials made a 3D Print Exchange webpage where people can submit various PPE and medical-device parts designs to be reviewed by the National Institutes of Health.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with the NIH and the Department of Veterans Affairs Innovation Ecosystem, agreed to share data and coordinate with America Makes, an Ohio-based public-private additive manufacturing organization.

Additive manufacturing is the industry term for the process that creates three-dimensional objects by adding layers upon layers of material, often based on a computer-aided design.

Still, the U.S. government is behind the curve and doing a poor job of leading these efforts, said Peter Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner for external relations and president of the New York-based think tank Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, which receives funding from the drug industry.

There has been a lot of exciting work down the road relative to mitigating shortages via the use of open-source 3D printing  especially for masks, Pitts said in an email. Unfortunately, the federal health care bureaucracy has no standards or (it seems either willingness or enthusiasm) to facilitate such programs.

Industry experts say theres a risk that individuals and organizations who 3D-print medical supplies on their own could infringe on patents, which could lead to the do-gooders being sued in federal court.

Patents and other intellectual property are the cornerstone for economic survival of companies, said John Gebhard, assistant vice president at the office of technology commercialization at UT Health San Antonio. If they are socialized then it becomes very difficult for a company to exist.

One of the most widely reported incidents of possible patent infringement stemming from the virus outbreak involved a couple of designers in Italy who reverse-engineered a crucial, but unavailable, valve needed by hospitals.

Their 3D-printed piece cost $1 to make in a pinch, but the original manufacturer said it wont share their 3D blueprints for the valve because its ultimately safer to get these pieces directly from the manufacturer.

Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox

Under current U.S. law, the original patent holder, who likely invested millions in research and development, could sue, requesting an injunction to stop DIY makers in their tracks.

Stephanie Chandler, a partner at the law firm Jackson Walker in San Antonio, said the patent holder could also sue for monetary damages, which could entitle them to reasonable royalties.

Lawyers should be measured in their decision to advise a client to sue, weighing potential public brand harm in the marketplace if they appear to be harming the public good versus the need to protect the patent holders rights, she said. Its hard to predict when someone will elect to sue, but I expect it will happen.

Chandler said the suits dont have to happen right now as patent holders typically seek damages for six years of pre-lawsuit damages.

There may be some protection for makers under a federal law called the PREP Act, recently activated by Alex Azar, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The act gives individuals and entities making medical supplies immunity from liability in times of crisis.

While patent law is indifferent to emotional or physical state, UT Healths Gebhard said, he finds comfort that people tend to band together in crisis.

Some medical device companies, meanwhile, have loosened their grip on intellectual property during the pandemic.

On March 30, publicly traded Medtronic, which has a San Antonio location near The Rim, agreed to share the design of its ventilator so any company could manufacture the device.

Ann Beal Salamone, chairman of privately held research company Rochal Industries, said she believes there will be some upheaval in the fiercely competitive medical device industry.

San Antonio-based Rochal creates wound care products, and Salamone was part of a team that developed the first no-sting, liquid bandage 30 years ago and licensed it to manufacturing conglomerate 3M.

The companies that produce medical devices in slower, traditional methods might seek to buy out manufacturers that use 3D-printing technology to produce a similar product.

My guess is whats going to happen is well see some mergers and acquisitions within the medical device community, Salamone said.

Laura Garcia covers the health care industry in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her stories and more local coverage on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | laura.garcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @Reporter_Laura
The wife of Texas businessman Wilbur 'Ed' Bosarge claims that her billionaire husband has been using a tangled web of trusts and limited liability companies to stop her from getting her fair share of their assets amid their contentious divorce.

Marie Bosarge claims he is concealing more than a dozen properties and a laundry-list of assets, including a French-style chateau, a London apartment and three yachts, .

Bosarge, 80, the founder of the Houston-based high-speed trading company Quantlab Financial who has a PhD in applied mathematics from Brown University, left his wife in 2013 for a Russian socialite in her 20s.

The same year, Bosarge moved his girlfriend, Ana Kostenkova, into a luxury apartment at London's prestigious Belgrave Square, which he and Marie purchased through a trust for $45million two years prior, according to a detailed report published by the Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Dr Wilbur 'Ed' Bosarge, a pioneering Texas businessman (left), is in the middle of a drawn-out and contentious divorce from his wife of 30 years, Marie Bosarge, 66 (right)

Marie Bosarge, who spent two years decorating their new pied-a-terre in England's capital with an interior designer, lamented that she never got to enjoy the fruits of her labor. Instead, her husband's mistress got to admire the nautical-themed wallpaper and custom finishings she had picked out.

Ed formally filed for divorce in 2017, and the case has been winding its way through the court system ever since. It had been scheduled to go to trial this month, but has been put on hold due to the businessman's health and the raging coronavirus pandemic.

According to Marie, her estranged husband, known for his ever-present beret perched at a jaunty angle on his bald pate, has been relying on a complex network of trusts and various arcane ownership devices to prevent her from accessing not only their 13 far-flung properties, but also billions of dollars in cash, because she claims he has sole control of everything.

What's at stake for the pair is a roster of multimillion-dollars homes, including the Versailles-inspired 27,000-square-foot Chateau Carnarvon in Houston, a $250million 72-acre private island in the Bahamas called Over Yonder Cay, five homes in different parts of Maine and three superyachts, which Bosarge, an avid sailor, has been racing in regattas around the world.

One of the luxury boats, a custom-built 1920s-style 180-vessel that sleeps 10, is named Marie, after Bosarge's now-estranged spouse.

What's at stake in the divorce is a laundry-list of high-end assets, including the Bosarges' Versailles-inspired Chateau Carnarvon in Houston, which has a listing price of $30million

Ed Bosarge's portfolio includes three superyachts, including the 180-foot Marie (pictured)

In court filings, the 66-year-old Marie argues that her husband has secreted away many of the assets in trusts in South Dakota, which has emerged over the last 30 years as a popular tax haven for the ultra-wealthy because of its taxation and privacy laws.

His lawyers have dismissed some of Marie's claims as false, but did not specify which ones, citing court orders.

According to court filings, Ed's attorneys wrote that Marie has insufficient evidence to prove that any communal property acquired and owned by both spouses is included in the trusts.

The former couple have given different estimates of the worth of assets held in trust, with Marie's attorneys citing a figure of $2billion and Ed claiming in a deposition that there were at least $800million worth of assets.

The businessman's legal team contended that he has no control of the assets because they are in trusts, and that the couple's community estate, which is typically split even;ly in case of a divorce, is worth just $12million.

But Marie's representatives accused her husband of concealing community assets in trusts to prevent her from laying claim to them.

'Im not trying to do anything but get a fair share so I can move on,' she told the paper.

In 2011, the couple bought a $45million apartment through a trust at Belgrave Square in London, which Marie spent the next two years decorating

Bosarge bought homes through trusts in Boothbay, Maine (general view of the town)

Bosarge, a Fulbright Scholar with applied math degrees from Georgia Tech and Brown, early in his career worked for IBM, where he helped design computerized navigation and guidance systems for NASAs Saturn rocket program, according to his online profile.

He married Marie Taylor in 1989, and a decade later launched his high-frequency trading firm, now considered one of the world's premier companies of its kind.

The success in business allowed Bosarge to acquire an impressive portfolio of homes, boats, art, and antiques, including a mummy in a sarcophagus, according to WSJ's reporting.

His wife said Ed carried out most of the purchases through trusts and limited liability outfits. She told the paper when she once asked her husband if it was legal, Ed allegedly replied that he was doing it for tax purposes and that it was for her own protection.

In 2012, after 23 years of marriage, Ed reportedly become romantically involved with Kostenkova, a tall, willowy brunette from Russia.

A year later, he told Marie he was leaving her.

A few weeks before Christmas in 2017, Marie said she got a letter from the limited liability company that owned Chateau Carnarvon where she lived, ordering her to clear the premises.

Marie says her husband moved his new girlfriend, more than 50 years his junior, into the London apartment

Another LLC then sued her, seeking to claw back the yellow diamond necklace that Ed presented to her for Christmas years back.

The couple's palatial mansion in Houston has been on the market since 2014. It was initially listed for an eye-popping $43million, making it the most expensive property in the city at the time.

The asking price for the property featuring eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a music room, among other high-end features, has since been reduced to just under $30million.

Meanwhile, Marie told WSJ that she is now in dire financial straits and is struggling to scratch together enough money to pay her lawyers.
UPMC led global trial fast tracks testing of hydroxychloroquine, other COVID-19 therapies

PITTSBURGH, April 9, 2020 - A novel clinical trial developed by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine launched today at UPMC to address one of the most important debates during the COVID-19 pandemic: How should doctors decide between quickly adopting new therapies, such as the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, and waiting until they are tested in longer clinical trials?

"The solution is to find an optimal tradeoff between doing something now, such as prescribing a drug off-label, or waiting until traditional clinical trials are complete," said Derek Angus, M.D., M.P.H., professor and chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine at Pitt and UPMC. "We've developed a way to do that with an adaptive clinical trial model that relies on a type of artificial intelligence known as reinforcement learning to identify the best, evidence-backed therapy for COVID-19 much faster than using the traditional scientific approach."

Before COVID-19 emerged, Angus and a wide range of international collaborators had developed a platform, called REMAP-Community Acquired Pneumonia (REMAP-CAP), designed to find optimal treatments for severe pneumonia both in non-pandemic and pandemic settings. When COVID-19 began circulating, REMAP-CAP was rapidly adapted, as per its intent, to incorporate additional treatment regimens specifically targeting the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The international team describes the REMAP-CAP platform in a manuscript published today in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society (AnnalsATS).

REMAP (randomized, embedded, multi-factorial, adaptive platform) allows researchers to rapidly test multiple treatment approaches simultaneously at a lower cost and with fewer patients than traditional clinical trials. The REMAP design, first described by Angus in 2015 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), is a flexible version of what are called "adaptive platform trials." "Adaptive platform trials are rapidly being endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others as a long-needed revolution in clinical trials," said Angus, who holds the Mitchell P. Fink Endowed Chair at Pitt.

He compares the REMAP approach to a chef offering a prix fixe menu with appetizer, main course and dessert. The chef may try various combinations, serving sizes and options, sometimes leaving out the appetizer or dessert, and adjusting on the fly as plates come back scraped clean or barely touched, until hitting on the combination that sells best.

The UPMC-REMAP-COVID19 trial, built on the backbone of the REMAP-CAP platform, will be particularly powerful because it is being integrated with the electronic health record system at UPMC, noted Angus. "In a pandemic, doctors will not have the time to debate the pros and cons of every possible clinical trial. By building this one-stop solution at the point-of-care, we are rolling out an approach that can assure that every patient admitted with COVID-19, if they choose to, can be enrolled in the program."

"We must throw out old ways of thinking and fuse clinical care and clinical research into one extremely efficient system," said Angus, who authored a recent viewpoint in JAMA advocating for the "learning while doing" approach. "This is an unprecedented pandemic and we need an unprecedented response."

UPMC-REMAP-COVID19 will open across UPMC's 40-hospital system and begin with multiple treatments tested simultaneously in different combinations -- including hydroxychloroquine, steroids and medications called immunomodulators that alter the responsiveness of the immune system. If new drugs need to be tested, they are simply rolled into the platform as study amendments, rather than tested in separate free-standing trials. All participants will receive the current standard of care, and most also will receive one, two or three of the experimental treatment options. This means that, at launch, only 12.5% of participants will be strictly assigned to the placebo arm of the trial and, within weeks, researchers expect that about 99% of patients will be receiving one or more active therapies specifically targeting COVID-19.

Furthermore, because the UPMC-REMAP-COVID19 platform is connected to the worldwide REMAP-CAP, the trial learns from the entire international experience. REMAP-CAP is enrolling patients with COVID-19 in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and expanding rapidly.

"The trial design uses a machine-learning model that incorporates data from patients enrolled across the world to continuously learn which therapies and combinations of therapies are performing best," explained AnnalsATS co-author Scott Berry, Ph.D., president and senior statistical scientist of Berry Consultants, who worked with Angus and his colleagues to build the statistical model. "Last week, the Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom's National Health Service urged every hospital in the country to participate in this trial. As more institutions join, the model learns faster."

If one of the treatments shows early signs of performing better than the others, patients are automatically enrolled more often into that treatment option. Physicians can be assured that they are always betting on the winning horse in the moment, and poorly performing options are quickly discontinued.

"This allows us to always rapidly identify which treatment works best, while keeping the number of patients needed to achieve statistical significance low," said Angus. "It also means we get the best treatment to the most patients right out of the gate."

###

The design and implementation of the UPMC-REMAP-COVID19 trial is led by Angus and colleagues at Berry Consultants (Austin, Texas), and supported by UPMC Enterprises.

The design and implementation of REMAP-CAP worldwide is supported by multiple governments and institutions. A complete list of the collaborating authors, institutions and funding agencies can be found in the study.

To read this release online or share it, visit https:/ / www. upmc. com/ media/ news/ 040920-innovative-clinical-trials .

About UPMC

A $21 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates 89,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 700 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, and a more than 3.7 million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania. In the most recent fiscal year, UPMC contributed $1.2 billion in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region's most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution, and paid $587 million in federal, state and local taxes. Working in close collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC shares its clinical, managerial and technological skills worldwide through its innovation and commercialization arm, UPMC Enterprises, and through UPMC International. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside on its annual Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals and ranks UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh on its Honor Roll of America's Best Children's Hospitals. For more information, go to UPMC.com.

About the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1998. In rankings recently released by the National Science Foundation, Pitt ranked fifth among all American universities in total federal science and engineering research and development support.

Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www. medschool. pitt. edu .

http://www. upmc. com/ media

Contact: Arvind Suresh

Mobile: 412-509-8207

E-mail: SureshA2@upmc.edu

Contact: Allison Hydzik

Mobile: 412-559-2431

E-mail: HydzikAM@upmc.edu

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The speaker of the house of representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has summoned the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian over reports that Nigerians living in Beijing were inhumanly treated by the Chinese authorities.

During the summon, he confronted the Chinese ambassador with a video to back his claim before going on to call for an address over the incident.

Read Also: COVID-19: Chinese Doctors Will Be Quarantined On Arrival  Gbajabiamila

This was made known via a statement in the official Twitter handle of the house of representatives.

Statement below:

The leadership of the House of Representatives has expressed displeasure over the inhuman treatment meted out on some Nigerians by the Chinese authorities in Beijing.

The Speaker of the House, Rep. @femigbaja said at a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, that the inhuman treatment on Nigerians in China must be addressed forthwith.

He confronted the Ambassador with the protest video of the incidence where a Nigerian was seen challenging Chinese officials over the maltreatment.

At the meeting, which had in attendance the Minority Leader, Rep. @ndudi04 & Deputy Minority Leader, Rep. Toby Okechukwu,

The Speaker said viral media reports/videos from Beijing showed Nigerians being forced out of their houses and hotels, rounded up & their passports seized by the Chinese police even after their initial 14 days quarantine period.

The Speaker said there should be an official explanation for treating Nigerians in such a manner.

As a government, we will not allow Chinese or other nationals to be maltreated just as we will not allow Nigerians to be maltreated in other countries.

The leadership of the House of Representatives has expressed displeasure over the inhuman treatment meted out on some Nigerians by the Chinese authorities in Beijing. pic.twitter.com/Vg2m2sRokq  Speaker of the House of Representatives (@SpeakerGbaja) April 10, 2020

The Speaker of the House, Rep. @femigbaja said at a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, that the inhuman treatment on Nigerians in China must be addressed forthwith. pic.twitter.com/MncfpuW2lH  Speaker of the House of Representatives (@SpeakerGbaja) April 10, 2020

The Speaker said viral media reports/videos from Beijing showed Nigerians being forced out of their houses and hotels, rounded up & their passports seized by the Chinese police even after their initial 14 days quarantine period. pic.twitter.com/TWNRQ7ByYZ  Speaker of the House of Representatives (@SpeakerGbaja) April 10, 2020

The Speaker said viral media reports/videos from Beijing showed Nigerians being forced out of their houses and hotels, rounded up & their passports seized by the Chinese police even after their initial 14 days quarantine period. pic.twitter.com/TWNRQ7ByYZ  Speaker of the House of Representatives (@SpeakerGbaja) April 10, 2020
Military personnel set up the 627th Hospital Center field hospital at CenturyLink Event Center in Seattle, Washington on March 31, 2020. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

Emergency Field Hospital Dismantled After Treating No CCP Virus Patients

An emergency field hospital set up by the military in Washington state last week is slated to be dismantled after treated no CCP virus patients, said the governors office.

The hospital was built inside the Century Link Field Event Center in Seattle. It will now be returned to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) so it can be sent to another state that has a greater need, according to a press release from Gov. Jay Inslees office.

Dont let this decision give you the impression that we are out of the woods. We have to keep our guard up and continue to stay home unless conducting essential activities to keep everyone healthy, Inslee said in a release.

About 300 soldiers from Fort Carson, Colorado, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma built the facility inside the convention center. It is normally home to the Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Sounders, but it was repurposed for Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus patients.

We requested this resource before our physical distancing strategies were fully implemented and we had considerable concerns that our hospitals would be overloaded with COVID-19 cases, Inslee added. But we havent beat this virus yet, and until we do, it has the potential to spread rapidly if we dont continue the measures weve put in place.

The facility housed about 250 beds, X-ray machines, intensive care facilities, and had more features, according to reports.

Local station KUOW reported that the hospital never had a single patient.

With that said, Im incredibly appreciative of the men and women from the 627th Hospital Center out of Fort Carson in Colorado. These soldiers uprooted their lives to help Washingtonians when we needed them most, Insee added.
Gov. Gavin Newsom takes notes on a tour of Bloom Energy in Sunnyvale, which is refurbishing ventilators for coronavirus patients, as Chief Executive K.R. Sridhar looks on. (Associated Press)

With its nearly $1-billion deal to acquire 200 million respiratory and surgical masks a month, amid a nationwide shortage of the crucial protective gear for first-line healthcare workers, California has demonstrated what seems to be a unique capability to chart its own course in the coronavirus battle.

"We decided, enough's enough," Gov. Gavin Newsom told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Tuesday in announcing the deal, which has inspired admiration for its audacity as well as questions among lawmakers in Sacramento about transparency. "Let's use the purchasing power of the state of California as a nation-state."

Newsom's description of California as a "nation-state" was instructive, for it underscored the advantage of the state's size while hinting at its limitations.

One cannot be Pollyannish and understate the magnitude of impact to state coffers but also to local governments that were already stretched a few months ago.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom

It's true that California's economy is world-class in its sheer magnitude  its 2019 gross domestic product of $3.14 trillion would rank fifth in the world, ahead of Britain and France, were it an independent country. But because it's a state, California faces constraints on its ability to manage its own affairs that could turn into brick walls as the coronavirus crisis unfolds.

The state's healthcare policies, such as its wholehearted embrace of the Affordable Care Act, have given it tools to manage the immediate public health ramifications of the crisis better than many others.

Its proactive implementation of stay-at-home orders and other social distancing measures may have resulted in lower infection and death rates from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, than in states such as New York, where infections surfaced about the same time but action came later.

But there is only so much that a single state can do without assistance or cooperation from the federal government. The limitations are legal, administrative and financial. While California's fiscal resources are great, they're not unlimited.

Story continues

While the federal government can essentially print money to finance its programs, California must enact a balanced budget every year. And that requirement is almost certain to bite harder as tax revenues sink as a result of business shutdowns, soaring unemployment and the stock market slump.

"One cannot be Pollyannish and understate the magnitude of impact to state coffers but also to local governments that were already stretched a few months ago," Newsom told me. "It's not only the front-end revenue loss; it's the back end in increased responsibility to deepen and broaden the social safety net ... for those who have been most impacted, which is low-income [households]."

He said he has written to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) to emphasize the need for more stimulus help for states and localities from the federal treasury.

Newsom has the support of state trade leaders in that appeal. "State and local government is not going to have a dime left," says Robbie Hunter, president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council. "They're going to shut down public works construction, and we're going to have 2008 on steroids."

Newsom has avoided banning major construction projects, as some other states have done, in order to keep construction workers on the job and public works projects on track.

Pain from changes in the fiscal landscape will be especially acute in California because Newsom and the Legislature had laid out an ambitious expansion of help for low-income Californians, including broader eligibility for Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program, regardless of applicants' immigration status.

The state also expanded premium subsidies for enrollees in Affordable Care Act health plans through Covered California, its individual insurance exchange.

These expansions reflected the assumptions as recently as January that the state budget was flush, its economy on a roll and its budgetary rainy-day fund on pace to reach $21 billion by this summer.

All those expectations have had to be revised. The crisis could exhaust the budget surplus within months. The economic reversal, moreover, has underscored the structural flaws of a state tax system that minimizes property tax revenue (thanks to Proposition 13), leaving it dependent on income tax, especially from the wealthy.

"The reality is that we're in a state that's overly reliant on capital gains," Newsom says. As a result, the volatility of tax receipts "will be acute."

California is relatively well prepared to manage the public health ramifications of the coronavirus crisis.

"California is in a better place than other states because we were aggressive in implementing and improving on the Affordable Care Act," says Anthony Wright, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Health Access California. "We have the Medicaid expansion, we have set up our own exchange, we did things just in the year to expand Medi-Cal."

Still, the state can't achieve everything it wishes without the cooperation of the federal government, especially when it comes to Med-Cal, since as a version of Medicaid it's a joint state-federal program.

The state has applied for several waivers of Medicaid rules, which are permitted by law with government approval. Most are still pending, but the state recently won approval of one change that had become a bone of contention with the government.

That was a request for a tax on managed care organizations that was expected to provide $1.5 billion for Medi-Cal starting next year.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rejected the application last year, raising concerns that the agency was acting on President Trump's oft-expressed disdain for California policies rather than on the merits. On April 3, however, the agency signed off on a revised request through fiscal 2022-23.

"That was a big, big boost for us," Newsom says. "I don't think that would have happened were we not in the throes of this crisis. We were ready for litigation." In the heat of the crisis, he says, the relationship between the state and the Trump administration "has improved substantially in the last few weeks," at least on healthcare, as the approval demonstrates.

California faces other challenges as one state among many rather than a sovereign. It has almost no ability to control its own borders, for example. That could pose a risk should the state's success in suppressing and mitigating COVID-19 infections not be matched in states that haven't acted to encourage social distancing as proactively.

"In California, given the responses in other states, one thing that's going to be an issue is whether you restrict people coming in from Utah, or Texas, or Florida or any other state that has a later spark in the virus, says Kevin Klowden, an expert on regional and California economics at the Milken Institute. Some states, including Florida, have dictated that travelers from "hot spot" states must self-quarantine for weeks after they cross the state line.

"California is a large state with a lot of different entry points," Klowden observes. "This is why you've got huge concerns in terms of the federal government relationship, because you have to be able to coordinate travel issues and make sure that if 70% of the country gets the virus under control but 30% doesn't, it doesn't come back."

Not all the pressure on California policy will come from outside the state. Battered by stay-at-home orders, the California Restaurant Assn., for instance, has already asked Newsom to defer scheduled increases in the state minimum wage, aimed at raising it from the current $13 per hour ($12 for employers of 25 workers or fewer) to $15 by 2022 or 2023.

"When the COVID-19 crisis passes, there will be scorched earth on the restaurant and employment landscape," the association said in a March 27 letter.

The proposal is sure to be opposed by labor representatives. "We're going to be playing defense against a lot of corporate lobbying issues," Steve Smith, a spokesman for the California Labor Federation, told me.

The real challenge for California will come when it tries to start reopening its economy. The phase depends on vastly expanding its testing capability for signs of coronavirus infection in the general population. Shortages of testing supplies, including swabs and chemical reagents for the tests, loom as obstacles to the process.

"We just have to scale that exponentially," Newsom says. "That remains an issue, especially if we talk about the next iteration, which is getting back to work: How do we go back to some semblance of normalcy?"
The COVID-19 outbreak in the beginning of 2020 has already affected more than one million people in every corner of the world. It is a historic disaster that disrupted every aspect of our lives, including health care systems, education, tourism, and many others, the Aznavour Foundation noted in a statement, which also reads as follows:

Today, all countries are facing challenges in the field of healthcare. However, we are certain that together we can overcome this disease by being more united, more caring and more responsible. Many years ago, Charles Aznavour stood by Armenia and its people in a difficult time and commenced the humanitarian activities. Pursuant to Charles Aznavours values, the Aznavour Foundation joins the worldwide fight against COVID-19, - highlighted Nicolas Aznavour, Co-founder and Chairman of Board of the Aznavour Foundation.

In close cooperation with Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, the Aznavour Foundation has enabled the purchase of more than 5000 N95 masks and 1000 protective jumpsuits for the doctors and nurses, as well as the delivery of more than 7000 litters of disinfectant to medical care facilities, which will suffice for the 2 months needs and thus create a safer environment for specialists who have been working with exceptional dedication and altruism for months, saving many lives.

The Aznavour Foundation expresses its gratitude to all health personnel and volunteers who risk their lives to save others and will allow us to overcome this disease.

This initiative of the Aznavour Foundation was made possible with the generous support of the Foundations Armenia and Philippossian et Pilossian from Switzerland, Armen Grishkyan and other donors who wished to remain anonymous.

Please follow the instructions in your countries to keep safe and save lives!
A man was found dead in the street after he had been shot and run over in Acres Homes late Thursday night.

Homicide detectives are not sure if the man was run over by the shooter or someone else, but no one stayed behind after the violence around 10:30 p.m. in the 2100 block of South Victory. Paramedics tried saving the man, who was lying lifeless in the street outside Carver High School.
The host of the religious congregation that has proved the largest single source of coronavirus infections in India, the Tablighi Jamaat, is being cast by propagandists as the vanguard of an Islamic conspiracy to inflict mass death

For four days, Zakia Ahmed sat in her living room, staring the newspaper photograph, her heart blinding her mind to the truth. "I didn't recognise the person on the ground," she recalled, "I didn't recognise him as my son." The last time she had seen Kafeel Ahmad, he had been pursuing a PhD in computational fluid dynamics in the United Kingdom. Then, one day in 2007, he crashed a car-bomb into Glasgow airport  and after it failed to detonate, turned his body into a weapon by setting himself on fire.

Lonely, socially disconnected and alienated from the values of society around him, Ahmed had found meaning in a missionary order, where he discovered a new brotherhood that fired his imagination with stories of the jihadist wars in Chechnya, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Follow all the latest coronavirus updates here

That group, the Tablighi Jamaat, now lies at the centre of the most fraught conversation in India. The host of the religious congregation that has proved the largest single source of COVID-19 infections in India, the Tablighi Jamaat is being cast by propagandists as the vanguard of an Islamic conspiracy to inflict mass death. In the crucible of #coronajihad, propagandists are forging the terror unleashed by the pandemic into a weapon  hate.

For the Tablighi Jamaat, this is good news: Over the course of a century, the organisation has worked to sunder Muslims from the world around them, drawing power from the storm-winds of hate unleashed by India's competing communalists.

***

The Tablighi Jamaat was birthed in the shadow of another great pandemic, the most murderous in Indian history. The savage plague of 1896-1925, and the great influenza of 1918-1919, had claimed millions of lives, and reshaped culture and politics. Like every time of mass death, the pandemics had led to a great efflorescence of religion, emphasising the importance of personal piety. New proselytising groups sprang up across the country.

In the 1920s, the Arya Samaj began proselytising among the Meo Muslims of the Mewat region, spanning Alwar and Bharatpur. Like many other liminal religious communities in India, the Meo practice of Islam incorporated many Hindu cultural practices. The Arya Samaj hoped to win them back to the Hindu fold.

Faced with this challenge, a Deoband-educated cleric, Muhammad Illyas, created the Tablighi Jamaat. His new organisation, whose story has been masterfully told by the scholar Yoginder Sikand, sought to turn members of Meo clans into lay preachers, who would transmit religious knowledge from village to village. The Tablighis propagated a purist Islam, that sought to defend Islam's cultural frontiers by eradicating the Meos' syncretic practices.

Today, the Tablighi Jamaat is estimated to have some 15 million followers worldwide, centred in its headquarters in New Delhi's Nizamuddin. From there, the Tablighi Jamaat runs an ideological empire stretching from Indonesia to Central Asia; the United Kingdom; even Gambia.

Every Tablighi chapter, in essence, follows the same pattern. Preachers reach out to new audiences through local mosques or cultural organisationsand then invite them to join in the project of preaching and proselytisation. Each missionary journey, or tashkil, can run to four weeks  known as a chilla  all the way up to a year.

Tablighi sermons and texts are firmly focussed on pietism, urging adherents to focus on matters of faith, not politics. Though it propagates the neo-fundamentalist vision of Deoband, aimed at weeding out supposed heresies and deviations from scriptural Islam, there is nothing in the Tablighi Jamaat worldview that encourages armed struggle to establish an Islamic political order.

Indeed, the relentless inward gaze of the Tabligh has earned it it stinging criticism from Islamistsamong them, Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz, the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia. Ibn Baz instead endorsed the jihadist Abdullah Azzam's jihadist urtext In Defence of Muslim Lands, the first modern call for Islamist-led war against nation-states.

For its Islamist critics, the distinction the Tablighi Jamaat draws between the realm of din, or faith, and dunya, is itself heretical: Islam, rival schools like the Ahl-e-Hadith contend, rejects such a division.

Tablighi resistance to jihadism, though, is one reason why Indias intelligence services, among others elsewhere in the world, have quietly encouraged its activities. For years, Indian authorities allowed foreign visitors to attend Tablighi Jamaat activities on tourist visas, not the obligatory  and tightly-rationed  missionary permits.

Sa'ad Kandhlawi, the head of the Tablighi Jamaat  the 1965-born great-grandson of its founder, Illyas  is known to have informally met with senior Indian intelligence officials over the years, including now-national security advisor Ajit Doval.

***

Like most stories people tell, though, the idea of the Tablighi Jamaat as prayer-obsessed pietists elides over important parts of the truth. The Tablighi Jamaat has found itself enmeshed with the great currents of jihadist thought that transformed the world in all kinds of complex ways. Indian Mujahideen founder and fugitive jihadist Iqbal Shahbandri, his brother Riyaz Shahbandri, both participated in Tablighi events in Karnataka's Bhatkal. So were Sufian Patangia, the cleric at the heart of a jihad cell founded in Gujarat after the carnage in 2002, and, of course, Kafeel Ahmed.

There are similar stories from across the world. Richard Reid, the Al-Qaeda operative who sought to down a transatlantic flight using an explosive planted in his shoes, had attended Tablighi Jamaat gatherings; so too had Jose Padilla, who hoped to unleash a radiological weapon on New York, and Lyman Harris, who sought to bomb Brooklyn Bridge.

Barcelona's Tariq bin Ziyad mosque  a facility that serves a large community of illegal immigrants from West Asia and Pakistan  has been associated with at least three plots involving Tablighis: Bombings of the city in 2007 and 2008, and another attempted strike in 2008.

And in Pakistan, two former special forces personnel accused of attempting to assassinate former Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf in 2008  Naik Arshad Mahmood and Lance Naik Zafar Iqbal Dogar  were both members of the Tablighi Jamaat. Even the journalist Daniel Pearls assassin, Omar Saeed Sheikh, attended Tablighi events.

This body of evidence might seem damning  but there's a catch. In each of these cases, the jihadists acted with inspiration, training and resources provided by organisations or leaders other than the Tablighi Jamaat. In the case of the Shahbandri brothers, inspiration came from the Lashkar-e-Taiba; Patangia was tied to the Jaish-e-Mohammed. The western bomb-plots, similarly, were linked to Al-Qaeda.

Indeed, Yasin Zarar Siddibapa  a top Indian Mujahideen operative charged with staging multiple attacks in India, including the bombing of the German Bakery in Pune  told police interrogators that his jihadism was a form of rebellion against his father, a traditional Tablighi Jamaat follower.

Are terrorists, then, simply recruited from the Tablighi Jamaat by jihadists fishing, as it were, in the same religious-fundamentalist pool? Or is it that would-be jihadists tire of the pietism of the Tablighi Jamaat, and turn to other groups? Is there, alternatively, a kernel embedded in the Tablighi Jamaat message that leads some to violence?

The simple answer is no-one knows: Human motivation is opaque, and theres no machine to look inside peoples' minds. Its significant, though, that terrorists, in interviews and under interrogation, almost invariably attribute their actions to political events  like wars, discrimination or communal riots  not theological exegesis. Indeed, theres a large corpus of social science research showing that ideology is, for the most part, a post-facto rationalisation of decisions people have already made.

From Tablighi texts, though, it isnt hard to see that the semantic space that separates the jihadist from the Tablighi proselytiser isn't a large one. In one sermon, the British Tablighi scholar Abu Yusuf Riyadh al-Haq encourages Tablighis that their missionary journeys begin with "the intention of laying down your life for the sake of Allah". He argues, "You are not just talking about going on the battlefield... You are on the battlefield."

Perhaps as important, Tablighi principles do not reject the idea of a struggle for the creation of a state ordered by the principles of God's law. Instead, they assert that political struggle to create such a state must be preceded by the religious purification of the Muslim ummah, or nation.

This is precisely why so many jihadists have begun their journeys in the Tablighi Jamaat, before finding other vehicles for praxis. There's no arguing with the fact, though, that of millions of Tablighis, just a handful have been drawn to terrorism. That's why intelligence services across the world see it as something of an ally  a less-that-perfect one, to be sure, but one that merits engagement.

As the scholar Marc Gaborieau has perceptively noted, the Tablighi Jamaat far from being indifferent to politics: Instead, its conception of of power and influence has a different sensibility from that Islamists, who are obsessed with capturing the State.

***

From the stories of other transnational religious organisations  among them Hindu groups like the Osho cult and the Hare Krishna, or Christian Evangelists  we know new religious movements flower when the traditional social order no longer appears to hold out answers to the complex psychological needs of individuals. The contexts vary, but these are all movements that seek to address dislocation and trauma by obliterating all forms of uncertainty and intellectual doubt.

In the United Kingdom, much of the Tablighi Jamaat following comes from educated immigrants  enthused by the material possibilities of their new homeland, but profoundly uncomfortable in a post-religious cultural milieu with extensive sexual freedoms and gender equality.

The Tabligh's growth in India, alternately, has mirrored the growing ghettoisation of Muslim communities in response to communal violence; in Indonesia, it appeals to social classes like the urban petty bourgeoisie, disoriented by the rapid reordering of their world by capitalism.

Pietist Tablighis, at their core, are responding to an urge to secede from the world they live in, and retreat into another, walled-off society governed and protected by God's will  not the fraught, ever-shifting norms of often-hostile human beings.

That this separatist impulse has become embedded across many Muslim communities is now clear. In one Indore neighbourhood, Muslims rioted when health workers  led by a Hindu, Dr Trupti Kataria and a Muslim, Dr Zakia Syed  arrived to conduct quarantine inspections. Tablighi Jamaat workers have been accused of spitting at medical staff, and throwing urine-filled bottles at the police; in several parts of India, Muslim communities defied efforts to suspend congregational worship.

Assam legislator Aminul Islam even expressed paranoiac fears the government was plotting to kill Muslims at quarantine facilities by injecting them with coronavirus.

Little genius is needed to see why fear and suspicion characterise the relationship many Indian Muslims have with the State and the wider society around them. The most spectacular growth of the Tablighi Jamaat has come not in its homeland in Haryana and Rajasthan, but in states battered by communal violence. Indeed, Gujarat has seen a dramatic expansion in Tablighi activities since 2002; preachers from that state have increasing influence over the groups activities.

The pandemic has cast merciless light on just how deep Indias communal fault lines are, and how fractured the relationship between the State and Muslim communities has become. Theres a real possibility these strains could deepen in coming months: religious frenzy has, after all, flowered through every pandemic in human history, sometimes exploding into large-scale violence.

For the Tablighi Jamaat, the answer lies in a kind of Partition: One made not of borders, but a sundering of Muslim from Hindu, and a walling-off of minds more profound, in many ways, than that even the savagery of 1947 could achieve. The construction of its dystopia could prove the pandemic's most toxic legacy.
Night and day, Info-Sante employees work to inform the sick about COVID-19 at a call centre in downtown Montreal.

The union representing health-care workers at the call centre says there have been two cases of COVID-19 at the centre, and some employees say more should be done to protect them.

"We are separated by cubicles, but above it's open air," said one nurse who spoke with Radio-Canada on the condition they not be publicly identified.

They said the call centre is full of people working to answer the flood of calls about the virus, and those with symptoms come to work wearing masks.

"If the Montreal 811 line reduces or closes services, the rest of the health network will be clogged," said another employee.

The information line has been overwhelmed with calls since the outbreak began last month. The province set up another phone line, 1-877-644-4545, as a triage line that people with symptoms are supposed to call first.

New measures in place

Until the end March, employees shared a kitchen and break room.

Now, the break room is closed and meals must be eaten at their desk. The kitchen can only be used for meal preparation.

Surfaces are now also cleaned every three hours.

The president of the union, Stavros Birbatakos, said their employer should bolster the measures already in place and look for any gaps.

"Some are certainly worried," said Birbatakos, the head of the Syndicat des professionnelles en soins du Centre-Ouest-de-l'Ile-de-Montreal.

But he said the call centre's conditions follow the recommendations of Quebec public health.

"The physical distance between the desks removes the necessity for two metres [of distance]," he said.

He said some employees have asked to work from home, and they are awaiting a response from their employer.

With about 50 employees, the call centre is the largest of 15 in the province.

In an email, a spokesperson for Quebec's Health Ministry said operations at the Montreal call centre have not been interrupted, and that if an employee must stay home due to a positive test result, resources from other regions are used to maintain service.
A man (R) wearing a facemask and a face shield commute on a street during rush hour in Beijing on April 7, 2020. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images)

China Should Have Millions of CCP Virus Cases Instead of Tens of Thousands, Report Says

The Chinese Communist Party has underreported its CCP virus numbers, according to a recent report by Washington-based think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

The report, released on April 7 and penned by resident scholar Derek Scissors, concluded that there should be an estimated 2.9 million confirmed cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, in China, instead of less than 100,000 known cases currently reported by the Chinese regime.

The estimate was based on reviewing information in a Chinese state-run media report; an infection rate observed in South Korea, where data reporting is reliable; and assuming a conservative number of days during which the virus spread across China before Wuhan was placed under lockdown.

The escalating pandemic began in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. Initially, the regime tried to hide the fact that a new form of pneumonia was spreading in Wuhan, by silencing eight doctors, among them ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, after they posted on Chinese social media about the disease.

Eventually, Wuhan authorities locked down the city on Jan. 23, but not before roughly 5 million peoplewithout being screened for the CCP virushad left the city to travel abroad or to another region of China for Lunar New Year festivities, according to the Wuhan mayor.

In the AEI report, Scissors scrutinized a Jan. 27 article by CGTN, the international arm of Chinas state-run broadcaster CCTV, exposing loopholes in the data.

Scissors first questioned a claim in the CGTN article that 1.5 million to 2 million people traveled out of Wuhan and to another region of China before the lockdown was put in place.

He explained that these were overstated figures. There are about 170,000 migrants from a city in the neighboring province of Henan who work inside Wuhan, according to the AEI.

A graphic in the CGTN article also showed the top 10 Chinese cities with flight arrivals from the Wuhan airport. About 465,000 people flew out of Wuhan to these 10 cities between Dec. 30 to Jan. 22.

If fewer than half a million people flew to those [10 cities] and the most likely top city received no more than 170,000 [referring to the migrant workers], it is unlikely 1.5 million left the [Hubei] province, much less two million, Scissors wrote.

He then analyzed the extent of infection by people who left Wuhan before the lockdown. He chose to use the infection rate of about 2.3 percent, as reported by South Koreas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) on April 6.

The report explained that the South Korean figure was reliable given that the South Korean government was an aggressive, transparent testing country, which means it provides the best information about infection rates in other countries.

Using the estimate of 1.2 millionlower than CTGNs lower estimate of 1.5 millionpeople leaving Hubei before Wuhan was locked down, Scissors said that there should be at least 27,000 (1.2 million multiplied by 0.023, or 2.3 percent) known cases.

The Chinese regime officially reported roughly 15,200 known cases outside of Hubei as of April 6.

The level China reports [about 15,200] cases can be generated by cutting South Koreas already low infection [rate] nearly in half, but there is no justification to do so. Far worse, it would also require Wuhan migrants to have infected no one at all. Chinas number is not reasonable, Scissors concluded.

Based on the estimate of 27,000 known infections, Scissors stated that the number could grow to 130,000 cases after 21 daysbased on how it took Italy roughly 21 days to go from 27,000 cases to over 130,000.

The population of China excluding Hubei is roughly 23 times the size of Italy. Simply scaling 130,000 up for [Chinas] population size yields over 2.9 million cases outside Hubei, he said (130,000 multiplied by 23 equals 2.9 million).

Scissors said in reality, the duration of virus spread in China is almost surely longer than 21 days.

Although the 2.9 million figure is shocking, he encouraged people to consider whether its likely that after 1.2 million travelers left Wuhan, it only resulted in national contagion of a little over 15,000 cases.
The Tennessee Department of Education has established a partnership with PBS stations across the state to offer first through eighth grade students up to 30 hours of instructional lessons a week, Governor Bill Lee said.

He said this instruction is made possible by Tennessee teachers teaching with Tennessee curriculum.

Governor Lee said, "The state has also worked to ensure there is support for early literacy through a partnership with an early education app, ReadyRosie, which provides short videos and free resources on topics like literacy and math for Tennessee families with children from birth to 3rd grade.

Additional information can be found here

"With the passage of the federal funding through the CARES Act, the Department is preparing to deploy one-time relief funds to school districts as soon as the funding becomes available. Federal funds will support meal preparation and distribution, extended learning opportunities for all students, internet and hardware accessibility, and student needs related to homeless and high mobility populations."

Also, he said Tennessee is partnering with Nextdoor to provide official, real-time information to Tennesseans about the states response to COVID-19.

He said, "The partnership will allow us to reach thousands of neighborhoods with critical information during this unprecedented time.

"All Tennessee neighbors on Nextdoor will automatically receive messages. If you're not on Nextdoor, but interested in joining your Nextdoor neighborhood, you can visit Nextdoor.com to download the free app."
The Arunachal Pradesh



government, as part of its measures to combat COVID-19, has launched an app, which will enable people to self-report health status, including their body temperature or any other complications they were encountering.

The easy-to-use app 'COVID CARE' is available on Android phones and efforts were on to extend the facility to Apple users, too, state Health Secretary P Prathiban told PTI.

"The app will provide real-time information to the administration, which, in case of emergencies, can take necessary measures. It makes giving and receiving care safe and easy for healthcare workers and common people," he said.

Launched two days ago, the app has notched up at least 120 downloads, Prathiban said, adding that it could turn out to be a "powerful tool" for the state government to combat the dreaded disease.

"The platform will also offer friendly reminders to those placed under quarantine and a geofencing feature will ensure that people don't break isolation norms," he said.

Citizens, the principal beneficiaries of the app, were being sent a text message along with a link to download it.

COVID CARE has been developed by Atsuya Technologies, a Chennai-based IT company, which reached out to Chief Minister Pema Khandu to offer its services for free, the health secretary added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Downtown Conroe like everyone else in our county, state, and nation is having to be creative to connect with the public through social media, online programs, and a large use of YouTube. Many of my references will take you to YouTube to understand and experience the community.

Currently the Conroe Art Gallery is closed, but you can have a front row seat to the 5th Annual Madeley National Art Show! Follow their YouTube link to see many of the entries from across the country. Overall, there were 684 entries consisting of oil paintings, pastels, watercolors, photography, and sculpture with 61 finalists chosen to compete for final judging of 7 awards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOPd2lC4Nug

Any one can join the group page on Facebook to interact with the artists on art related subjects, ask questions about your work in progress, share your completed work, celebrate an achievement or just have a discussion with your art community. Create, Appreciate, and Learn from each other: facebook.com/groups/1049784482050852. The mission of CAL is to encourage artistic development and cultivate an appreciation for the visual arts through education, exhibitions, and community outreach.

Recently 14 local Downtown Conroe venues were interviewed to tell their story via a video. Their stories are very emotional and inspiring. They help the community understand the unity of the Downtown merchants and how they are working together to get through this crisis. Last week we shared the story of Rodney Pool and The Corner Pub. This week we highlight Brownlee Jewelers and Carmelitas.

Wayne and Carmen Overbay opened Carmelita's Restaurant 22 years ago working everyday 7 days a week serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Over the years their faith in God has provided for their needs and will continue to provide for their family for years to come. Carmelita's is not going anywhere and will continue to be in Historic Downtown Conroe serving the best tamales in the county! Listen to their video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IsNt8qKL_I

Since 1932, Lewis C. Brownlee, present owner and gemologist Janice Parish, have provided the best services, fairest prices, and the most incredible selection. Visit them for custom jewelry, watches, engraving, repairs, appraisals and upgrades on your heirloom jewelry.

Janice has been at Brownlee Jewelers since 1981 as a student at Conroe High School, stayed to learn the trade and never left! She is one of the reasons Downtown Conroe is a community of people with stories of a community of hardworking entrepreneurs. Janice tells her story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldpqMm7TJiI

Visit Downtown Conroe to help the American Dream of #SmallBusiness be fulfilled. www.ExperienceDowntownConroe.com Thank you to Cut-N-Shoot Studios for the production of the compilation of videos. Creative concept compliments of Taylorized PR.

Check our Facebook: Experience Downtown Conroe for frequent updates, specials, and information from our merchants. Please try to use small businesses whenever possible.

Be blessed and safe! Happy Easter!

- Margie Taylor

Send Historic Downtown Conroe news to margie@taylorizedpr.com.
FINANCE Minister Paschal Donohoe has said it is very possible Ireland will access the new European Union Covid-19 rescue package, but is confident Ireland will recover from the economic impact the pandemic has had.

His comments come after EU finance ministers last night reached a compromise which can free up to 500bn in coronavirus aid for European countries hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic.

Mr Donohoe said the country will need to access the rescue package and will evaluate if it is worthwhile using the aid to fund the wage subsidy scheme.

Theres three different strands to it, a plan for governments, a plan for workers, and the plan for employers. It's very possible that we will need access to some elements of this, Mr Donohoe told RTEs Morning Ireland.

We will be evaluating whether it is worth our while accessing the program to help fund wage subsidy schemes.

Mr Donohoe said he has no reason to doubt the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) forecast that the coronavirus pandemic will push the global economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

Read More

However, he is confident Ireland will recover from the economic impact the health crisis has had, but the country has "a journey ahead of us."

"I've little reason to doubt what the IMF has said. The reason for that is because this virus is global in nature, the economic impact tragically will also be global in nature," he said.

"What is also different versus other difficulties we successfully dealt with in the past is the huge speed, with which that change has happened.

"All that being said, I'm confident that our country can create a new economy to get us back to work, to get incomes growing again, to fund really good public services. I'm certain we're going to be able to do that, but we have a journey ahead of us."

He added that welfare supports put in place that are intended to help employers retain staff on their books for the duration of the crisis will be kept under review as more than 200,000 employees are now accessing the wage subsidy scheme.

"We keep them under review and if they need to be changed to deal with a prolonged effect of Covid- 19 in our country we will look at doing that.

"If they need to be changed as we get ready for recovery we will do that as well. We now have over 200,000 workers, for example on the wage subsidy scheme. We are paying up to 70 pc of their wages directly on behalf of their employer to keep the people working, to keep them having a relationship with their employer."
In #KansasCity #COVID19 has killed 5 men and 3 women; 5 black, 2 white, 1 other. Please, think about their families & do everything you can to #StayHomeSaveLives

Emarking On Mission Of Mercy To The Big Easy

Dozens of metro nurses fly to New Orleans to aid coronavirus relief efforts KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Dozens of Kansas City nurses are now working in COVID-19 hot zones. Twenty nurses from HCA Health System are in hard-hit Louisiana right now. Twenty more are headed that way. A city known for its vibrant music and incredible eats now sits silent.

Golden Ghetto Testing

Johnson County Kansas set to begin randomized COVID-19 testing Johnson County, Kansas is about to start randomized testing of thousands of people for COVID-19. Ultimately 2,000 people will be randomly selected for testing, which is made possible by funding from the Johnson County Board of Commissioners.

Rent Strike Becomes reality

Nearly a third of Americans didn't pay rent this month, new data shows With nearly 10 million Americans filing for unemployment in March, April 1 was always going to be a difficult day for US renters. Now we know just how difficult: Nearly a third of American renters didn't pay their rent this month. That's according to data from the National Multifamily Housing Council, a trade association for the apartment industry.

Outbreak Questions Emerge

Family Wants Information As COVID-19 Deaths Rise At Kansas City, Kansas, Rehab Facility To hear Donna tell it, she may have the "19," but she's doing just fine, thank you. Donna is an 82-year-old resident of Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation, a Kansas City, Kansas, facility that appears to have the largest cluster of COVID-19 cases in Kansas. As of Thursday, 7 people had died at Riverbend.

More Deets On Kansas City Community Fabric

SINGER gives 30 sewing machines to face mask effort; Rightfully Sewn doubling goal Editor's note: The following is part of Startland News' ongoing coverage of the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Kansas City's entrepreneur community, as well as how innovation is helping to drive a new normal in the ecosystem. Click here to follow related stories as they develop.

Even Tiny Help Matters A Lot To People In Need

KC mom starts mini 'food pantry' on corner where neighbors can take what they need KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Residents in one Kansas City neighborhood are making sure their neighbors don't go without during these trying times. On the corner of 70th Terrace and Holmes in Brookside, not far from Waldo, sits what used to be a kid's storage container.

Kansas Cash Demands Intensify

Kansas Gov. Kelly ramps up states unemployment response KANSAS CITY, Mo. - With record numbers of residents seeking assistance from the state of Kansas , Gov. Laura Kelly said Thursday she is bolstering resources within the state's Department of Labor to meet increasing demand. Kelly said that the department received 1.6 million calls, a one-day record, on Monday.

Systems Struggle Amid Worsening Claims

Unemployment claims stretch Missouri, Kansas systems because of COVID-19 The unemployment journey has stretched more than 17 million people across the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic.Last week, more than 91,000 people filed for unemployment insurance in Missouri.More than 50,000 filed in Kansas. Those numbers released Thursday from the U.S.

NextGen Survivor Story

Young KCMO COVID-19 patient describes road to recovery KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A 28 year-old Kansas City, Missouri man is recovering after testing positive for COVID-19 last month. Lawrence Smith spent several weeks in quarantine after testing testing positive on March 17. "I felt like I was an outsider," he said. "I couldn't be close to anyone.

Local Coronavirus Homecoming

GOING HOME: Providence Medical Center celebrates for recovered COVID-19 patient Celebrations like this one are a sign of a light at the end of the tunnel for the coronavirus pandemic, and for the patient involved, home is at the end of a tunnel of hospital workers.Kansas City hospitals are throwing celebrations as patients who had been fighting COVID-19 are released from treatment to return home.Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas, posted a video of a patient being discharged on Thursday.

Kansas City Nurse Shares Heroic Story

KC nurse adjusts to new reality amidst COVID-19 pandemic KANSAS CITY, Mo. - It's been weeks since many health care workers around the country have been able to go home to their families after work. Lauren Gremillion, a registered nurse at IVX Health in Kansas City, Missouri, said she hasn't been able to spend time with most of her family in person amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Local Holy Week On TV

KSHB, KMCI to broadcast Holy Week services KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Because churchgoers are not able to worship with their congregations due to COVID-19 regulations, KSHB and KMCI are partnering with area houses of worship to broadcast Good Friday and Easter Sunday services to the public. On Friday, KMCI will broadcast Cathedral of St.

As locals wonder when "the curve will flatten" at this point it looks like stay at home orders are working to keep infections low inside city limits.The big picture is thatAccordingly, tonight we gather a collection of hyperlocal coronavirus news . . .Developing . . .
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush turned to one of the worlds most exclusive clubs for help raising money after an Indian Ocean tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in 2004.

He paired his father, George H.W. Bush, and the man who defeated him to win the presidency in 1992, Bill Clinton. It worked so well that he signed the duo up again after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans less than a year later.

President Barack Obama followed the same playbook and sent Clinton and the younger Bush off on a fundraising effort for Haiti after a devastating earthquake in 2010.

Not President Donald Trump, who has no plans to seek his predecessors counsel during the coronavirus pandemic, a complex crisis with profound public health and economic consequences.

No, not really. Were doing a great job, Trump said recently when asked if he would contact any of the living former presidents.

Even in the face of the greatest challenge of his presidency, Trump has expressed confidence in his team, and said he didnt want to bother the former presidents. He added that he would reach out if he thought he could learn from them.

Instead, he has frequently criticized his predecessors, disparaging Obamas handling of the H1N1 virus pandemic of 2009-2010 that killed nearly 12,500 Americans, and George W. Bushs response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, in which more than 1,800 people were killed, mostly in New Orleans.

Look, I respect everybody, but I feel I have an incredible team and I think were doing an incredible job, Trump said at the White House. So I dont want to disturb them, bother them. I dont think Im going to learn much. I guess you could say that theres probably a natural inclination not to call.

Now, if I felt that if I called Id learn something and that would save one life  it would save one life, OK?  I would make the call in two minutes, he said. But I dont see that happening.

That hasnt stopped Clinton, Bush and Obama from getting involved in their own ways.

Obama, who has been deliberate about keeping a low profile during Trumps presidency, has become more of a presence on social media during the pandemic. The Democrat has been posting health and safety tips from public officials, news reports and uplifting accounts of the ways Americans are coming together during the crisis.

His decision to share with his 115 million Twitter followers a recent Washington Post article about how viruses spread and can be slowed made it the newspapers most-read story ever, spokeswoman Molly Gannon said in an email.

Obama on Thursday addressed leaders from more than 300 cities around the world who were discussing the pandemic at a New York event sponsored by former New York Mayor Mike Bloombergs philanthropic organization. Obama encouraged the leaders to speak the truth and speak it clearly with compassion and empathy.

His comments appeared to carry an implicit criticism of Trump, who sought early on to minimize the severity of the outbreak.

Bush, a Republican, hosted a teleconference this month with more than 500 mayors and local leaders who are working to keep their communities from being overrun by the virus. He is also using the Bush Institute to highlight how people across the country are helping each other, Bush spokesman Freddy Ford said in an email.

Bush and former first lady Laura Bush are also social distancing to the max at their ranch in Crawford, Texas, Ford said.

Democrats Bill and Hillary Clinton recently sent hundreds of pizzas to hospitals in Westchester County, New York, where they live.

Michael Chertoff, homeland security secretary when Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast, said Bush leaned on the former presidents because he understood that presidents bring to the table a unique perspective that no other official has.

Bush was widely faulted for a lacklustre response to the unfolding disaster in New Orleans, which became a permanent blot on his two terms in office.

Chertoff, who commented at a recent event hosted by The Cipher Brief, an online intelligence newsletter, said presidents have to be the ultimate decision-maker, often relying on information that is fast-moving and changing.

So I think getting the perspective of your predecessors is very helpful, Chertoff said.

Presidents seeking help from those who came before them isnt a modern phenomenon.

In the late 1940s, Harry Truman put former President Herbert Hoover in charge of a commission charged with streamlining the executive branch of government.

John F. Kennedy sought feedback from former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had been an Army general, after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961.

Jimmy Carter led a Clinton-sanctioned mission to North Korea in 1994.

Former presidents are a rarity and they are a precious, valuable informed commodity, Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginias Miller Center, said in an interview. And its not only because they know issues, but they also have the experience of being president.

Trump was liberal in criticizing some of his predecessors, especially Obama, even before he took office. He has torn into Bush over the Iraq war, criticized Clintons treatment of some women, and even tried to stoke the false notion that Obama was not born in the United States.

In office, Trump has routinely criticized or blamed Obama for things that go wrong, including aspects of the current pandemic.

Last year, he responded to Carters suggestion that Russian interference in the 2016 election rendered Trumps presidency illegitimate by publicly calling Carter a terrible president.

Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said President George H.W. Bush kept his living predecessors briefed on issues big and small in case a situation arose where he would need to seek their counsel.

The fact that Trump doesnt go outside of his own info bubble to seek advice is perhaps among the biggest problems of his presidency, Engel said.

You dont know the information that you dont know that you dont know, he said.

___

Associated Press writers Julie Pace and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap
UPPER THUMB  Registered Nurse Melissa Leggieri didnt have plans to kick back and chill during the coronavirus pandemic, but those are doctors' orders now as she fights to regain her life from the coronavirus.

Leggieri, who is currently in the COVID Unit at McLaren Bay Region, is approaching day 10 of her battle.

I am a nurse and know whats going on, and Im scared, Leggieri said. Im in the hospital alone. I cant imagine being a lay person and maybe not understanding everything thats going on. Its a lot of tests and poking and prodding. Just when we fix one thing, another pops up.

Leggieri is a public health nurse with the Tuscola County Health Department, and she doesnt know where, how or when she contracted the virus. According to Leggieri, the health department was quick to have its staff work remotely, conducting most of their work via telephone or computer. She said she has only seen a handful of clients since mid-March.

Leggieri said she adhered to the states stay-at-home order, only going shopping for essentials and using extra precautions such as wearing gloves when pumping gas and using hand sanitizer religiously.

She even sent her son to stay with his father, because she felt there was less of a chance for her son to contract the illness when staying with two people who are working from home, versus with her and her boyfriend, who was still working.

No one I know is sick, Leggieri said. But, as with anyone, carriers can be asymptomatic. Thats what aggravated me about skeptics. They dont understand that a person can be carrying the disease and not appear sick, may not even get sick, but still spread the disease.

Timeline

Leggieris symptoms began April 1, when she first noticed some sneezing and sinus congestion. She said at first she believed it was seasonal allergies. On April 2, her congestion worsened and she started have a feeling of general malaise.

I had this tickle in my throat making me cough and I just felt a little blah, she said. I was conflicted, do I call in for allergies or go to work.

Leggieri reached out to her boss, who decided it was best that she stayed home as a precautionary measure. On Friday, Leggieri said her cough worsened, but it was still manageable. However, she started to feel aching in her hips, thighs and upper arms, which she initially brushed off to a recent power walking session, but it didnt explain the aching in her arms. She also started to feel extremely cold.

On Saturday, I slept all day, freezing the whole time with terrible chills and just incredible aching from head to toe, she said. The coughing was heavier  it was a gagging cough  and my head was pounding from all the coughing. I was also very nauseated. I was fairly certain then that I was really sick and pretty sure it was the coronavirus.

Leggieri reached out to her supervisor, who wanted her tested for the virus. However, she still didnt feel sick enough to go to the hospital, but wasnt well enough to drive anywhere. Instead, her colleague came to her house, donning the proper personal protective equipment, and tested Leggieri on her front porch.

I am sure the neighbors were wondering, Leggieri joked.

Over the next three days Leggieris condition worsened, starting with her fever spiking to 102.9 degrees several times between Monday and Wednesday.

I was getting very concerned Monday night as despite my best efforts to hydrate, I was so nauseous even liquids were a challenge and I wasnt putting out much urine, she said. My lower and mid back were killing me.

Leggieri had a virtual visit with her doctor, who provided her with various comfort medications such as Zofran for nausea, Tessalon Perles for the cough, and Zithromax and an inhaler for shortness of breath.

She was also concerned because my blood pressure was fairly low and I hadnt been taking two of my three blood pressure meds for three days, Leggieri said.

When Leggieri had her medications picked up, she also had a pulse oximeter put in with the order to measure her oxygen saturation, which later revealed her oxygen saturation was down to 87%. A safe oxygen saturation is considered above 90% and a healthy person should be at 100%. The combination of low oxygen saturation and low blood pressure forced Leggieri to seek hospitalization, first by reaching out and giving them advance notice of her diagnosis.

Hospitalization

Leggieri said despite the excellent efforts of the hospital staff  which she said have been extremely attentive, professional, helpful and caring  she has been in complete agony at several points.

The strange thing is over the course of the eight days so far, there were periods of time I thought I was improving, she said. Then there would be a new or worsening symptom, like the fever. A person usually gets a fever, they medicate a few days, and it improves and goes away. It doesnt typically appear, get better, get way worse, slowly drop, get way worse, magically disappear and come back two days later.

Leggieri said there were times she felt OK and other times the nausea was so bad she was afraid to move out of fear for vomiting.

At home, what helped was a shower, she said. I took several a day and just laid in the bottom of the shower. It helped with the ache, the chills and the cough.

However, that relief was short lived, and Leggieri couldnt stay in the shower all day, and now hospitalized, it wasnt an option.

I desperately wish I could, but cannot for now, she said. Ice chips, oxygen and an adjustable bed are helpful, but I wish I had about 10 pillows because my back is aching from laying around the last seven or eight days.

Reflecting

Leggieri had been paying attention to the coronavirus spread.

I have been paying pretty close attention to the virus since it started, she said. Im interested because Im a public health nurse, and in a previous life, I worked for a large international automotive engineering company and I have friends all over the world. My friend of 20-plus years, Chris, is an Englishman living and working in Wuhan, and he was giving us all regular updates on the situation.

Leggieri said she followed the diseases spread on social media, through the Facebook pages of her friends living around the world. She also had been monitoring it on the Johns Hopkins University and Medicine realtime map, receiving weekly and daily conference calls with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

I was well up-to-date with the progression of the disease, she said. Its hard to implement and enforce all these recommendations, but the general public has to share in the responsibility. Its not going to stop spreading, if people dont stop spreading it. Which means we all stay home. Its that simple.

Leggieri said if she did it over again, she would have worn a mask everywhere she went.

I dont ever want this or anything remotely like it again, she said. This is honestly the sickest Ive ever been in 50 years of life. My body is in more pain than it was after 26 hours of labor to deliver a nearly 9-pound baby. Im a fairly tough cookie, but this is tougher. When I get out of the hospital Ill be wearing a mask wherever I go until this virus has stopped, including outside on my walks and bike rides.

Leggieri said people living in the Upper Thumb are lucky in the sense that it is a rural community, with people spread further apart and less population density. However, they need to be mindful that the virus is here and they shouldnt let their guard down.

They need to stay home, disinfect, wash their hands, avoid touching their face, she said. Staying at home goes for the kids too. Your kids can go for a walk on a trail, just not with the neighbor kids. They can play in the yard, just not with the neighbor kids. The virus is here. Its very opportunistic. Its nothing to mess with. This is something I would only have thought existed in Robin Cook novels. This is the sickest Ive been in my entire life.

Future

The battle for Leggieri isnt over. Hopefully over the next several days she will overcome the coronavirus.

This is a medical challenge to keep up with and keep me out of the ICU and off a ventilator, she said. I was hoping to be in my home and in my bed by Easter Sunday, but that may be wishful thinking.

However, there are mixed reports on whether people can become reinfected with the virus. She said her boyfriend will now have to be in quarantine for 14 days after her symptoms resolve, and she doesnt know when she will be able to safely bring her 12-year-old son home.

Hes already been gone a month and its killing me, she said.
To cushion the harsh effects of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on some vulnerable Nigerians in Abuja, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) said it presented some household items to widows and single mothers.

The spokesperson of the privatisation agency, Amina Othman, said on Friday the items targeted at about 1,200 households in the Federal Capital (FCT) were presented by the Director General of the Bureau, Alex A. Okoh.

Mrs Othman said the distributed items consisted about 300 bags of assorted foodstuff to the less-privileged in the second phase of the programme on Friday at Yimitu Village, a suburb of Apo, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

At the presentation, the BPE spokesperson said the agency was moved to embark on the gesture by the hardship some Nigerians are facing, particularly the vulnerable amongst them.

Following the decision by the government to declare a lockdown throughout the country to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, some families have been facing difficult times observing the stay-at-home order.

People who survive on menial, daily paying jobs have been facing serious challenges feeding their families during this period.

The BPE DG said the gesture to give some palliatives to the less privileged was initiated and supported solely by the management and staff of the Bureau.

He denied that the privatised enterprises in the country were behind the initiative.

In line with the criterion set for the selection of the beneficiaries, he said preference was given to widows and single mothers in the distribution of the items.

Our target was the widows and single mothers to get at least 60 per cent of the items, while the remaining 40 per cent would go to the vulnerable people in the area, Mr Okoh said.

READ ALSO:

One of the beneficiaries, Leonard Iheanacho, commended the Bureau for the kind gesture, describing it as timely, particularly as most families in the area had been without food since the lockdown began.

We cant believe what we have seen since the lockdown began. When we heard the news of the Bureaus team coming with the food items, we took it with a pinch of salt as such promises in the past have never been fulfilled.

But BPE has proved us wrong and we thank the organisation immensely for the gesture, Mr Iheanacho, who is also one of the community leaders in the area, said.

On Monday, BPE began with the donation of assorted food items to the Dutse-Alhaji Community, also in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
A family of five from Russias Sverdlovsk region took social distancing recommendations to the extreme by self-isolating in a forest several kilometers away from the nearest human settlement.

On April 6th, Sverdlovsk police received a phone call from a woman in the village of Krasnogvardeisky who claimed that her brother had taken his wife and three children ages four, eight and ten years old into a nearby forest to escape the threat of coronavirus infection. The family had left the village a day before and handt been in touch since, so the woman was worried about their well-being, especially the young children. After organizing a search-party, police found the family living in the indicated forest, under the open sky.

Photo: Press Service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Sverdlovsk Region

Asked what they were doing in the woods with three young children, the 33-year-old head of the family told police that they had fled their home in order to avoid getting infected with the novel coronavirus. And since social distancing was advertised as the best way to minimize the risk of infection, isolating themselves in a forest away from civilization seemed like a good idea.

The head of the family said that they had gone into the forest, in order to save themselves from the coronavirus Covid-19, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported. The family took with them a some basic provisions, a cell phone, and were planning to return periodically to the village for groceries. The family was in the forest for just a day, the children slept on tree branches in the open air and ate the products that they had brought with them.

The family was escorted back to Krasnogvardeisky, 150 kilometers north-east of Yekaterinburg, where local doctors examined the children and found them to be in generally good health, except for the fact that one already had a tick on him. Still, the kids were then taken to the social services office.

Photo: MirceaIancu/Pixabay

The parents have been charged under Part 1 of Article 5.35 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for non-fulfillment or improper fulfillment by parents or other legal representatives of minors of obligations to look after, educate, protect the rights and interests of minors, the press release mentioned.

The couple now face a fine of between 100 rubles ($1.3) and 500 rubles ($7). I think theyll be ok
[April 10, 2020] UGI Energy Services, LLC Develops Virtual Food Drives in Partnership with area Food Banks

UGI Energy Services, LLC ("UGIES"), a subsidiary of UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI), has announced a $40,000 donation to several food banks and has worked with the food banks to establish virtual food drives for UGI's employees to make contributions to programs in areas where they live and where we operate. "One of the hallmarks of UGI Energy Services' employees is their commitment to the communities where we live and work," Joseph Hartz, President of UGI Energy Services said. "In light of the great need that is being experienced right now as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, our employees wanted an opportunity to become involved in the effort to help. The food insecurity that already exists for millions of people in our operating footprint is being greatly added to with those disadvantaged by the physical and economic effects of the virus. We are pleased to work with the various food banks to create this dedicated opportunity." This program is part of an initiative conducted by the family of companies that are part of UGI Corporation to provide support to the many communities we serve. Virtual food drives and donation programs have been established with Helping Harvest, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank, the CEO/Weinberg Food Bank and Philabundance. "Helping Harvest would like to thank UGI Energy Services for their generous financial support during this critical time," said Jay Worrall, President of Helping Harvest. "With the help of corporate partners such as UGIES, Helping Harvest is able to keep up with the unprecedented demand on our services and ensure that families in our community continue to receive the food they so desperately need." Helping Harvest serves Berks & Schuylkill Counties. "The COVID-19 crisis continues to evolve and grow and it is clearly having a financial impact on millions of Pennsylvanians. We are seeing increased deman on food banks," said Joe Arthur, Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. "Partnerships like the one with UGI Energy Services and their employees will allow us to serve even more people in need in the coming weeks. We are grateful to the employees of UGI Energy Services for partnering with us on this virtual food drive. Life sustaining donations like the ones made through this virtual food drive will provide thousands of additional meals during this time. We are very grateful for UGI's support." The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank serves Adams, Bedford, Blair, Bradford, Centre, Clearfield (News - Alert), Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga & Union Counties.



"We are extremely grateful to UGI Energy Services for their financial contribution during this global pandemic," said Lisa Scales, President & CEO of Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. "This donation will allow us to feed more of our neighbors, so that putting food on the table is one less worry for them in this uncertain time." The Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank serves Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Somerset & Washington Counties. "Food drives have always been a traditional way for community members to help our neighbors in need," said Philabundance Chief Development Officer Sara Hertz. "Hosting a virtual food drive allows people to give back while implementing social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate UGI Energy Services and its employees for stepping up to fight hunger during this turbulent time." Philabundance serves Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia in PA and Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem in NJ Counties.

Stated Gene Brady, Executive Director of CEO/Weinberg Food Bank, "We are grateful for the support of UGI Energy Services! As a concerned corporate partner, they are doing their part to meet the critical and urgent food needs of our community." Weinberg Food Bank serves Lackawanna, Luzerne, Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties. UGIES's donation will contribute $10,000 to Helping Harvest, $7,500 to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, $7,500 to the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank, $5,000 to the CEO/Weinberg Food Bank and $5,000 to Philabundance. "In addition to these programs, UGI Energy Services is working with our employees outside of Pennsylvania to assist food banks in their locales," Hartz added. About UGI Energy Services, LLC

UGI Energy Services, LLC markets natural gas, electricity and liquid fuels to commercial, institutional and industrial customers at approximately 43,000 locations in eleven eastern states and Washington, D.C. UGI Energy Services owns and operates natural gas midstream assets such as liquefied natural gas storage and vaporization, underground storage fields, gathering, intra and interstate pipeline systems and compressor stations. These assets support the retail business as well as our electric generation assets, and peaking plants. To learn more about UGI Energy Services, visit: http://www.ugies.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005035/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Republican lawmakers in Kansas have revoked an order by the Democratic Governor that limits the size of church gatherings ahead of Easter Sunday.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly issued an order limiting religious gatherings to 10 people, according to The Wichita Eagle.

The vote in the state's combined legislative assembly - the Legislative Coordinating Council - was split along party lines, with Democrats supporting the governor and Republicans voting to toss out the order. Ultimately, the Republicans won.

Ms Kelly called the decision on behalf of the legislators "shockingly irresponsible" and said it would likely cost some individuals their lives.

"There are real life consequences to the partisan games Republicans played today," Ms Kelly said.

Ms Kelly is suing the lawmakers to have the repeal overturned. Fox News reported that her attorneys have requested an expedited hearing by the state's Supreme Court to rule on the challenge.

"The last thing I want right now is a legal battle," she said. "But as I said yesterday, lives are on the line and I took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution."

Republicans voting to repeal the measure said they did so on behalf of religious liberty, characterising the ban as state overreach limiting the religious freedoms of Kansans.

Susan Wagle, the state's Senate president and a Republican, called the ban an overreach and a "blatant violation of our fundamental rights."

"I think they were just very upset with the fact that the government was going to tell them that they couldn't practice their religion," Ms Wagle said.

When The Wichita Eagle reporters pressed her, asking if she was concerned that revoking the order might cause people to die, she seemed to brush off the idea that the order would have changed anyone's behaviours, suggesting people were aware of the virus's dangers, "but don't tell us we can't practice our religious freedoms."

A Republican congressional candidate, Adrienne Vallejo Foster, called for sheriffs across the state to ignore the order and encouraged churches to meet while practicing social distancing.

The state's Attorney General, Derek Schmidt, said the order would likely be ruled unconstitutional if challenged in court and urged police not to enforce it. He simultaneously argued that Kansans should follow the order but also advised police not to give out misdemeanour citations to those breaking it, a move which the governor called "nonsensical."

Kansas House GOP leaders said they agreed with the governor's desire to see people stay home, but that they disagreed that individuals should be arrested if they chose to meet for church services, and said the governor should seek "safe and legal" solutions to the issue.

More than a dozen coronavirus cases in Kansas  and at least one death  are tied to a church conference that was held in Wyandotte County, according to state officials.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment identified at least 15 cases stemming from the Kansas East Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction's Ministers and Workers Conference, which was held 16-22 March.

Of the 15 cases, six people have been hospitalised.

Kansas is one of 44 states whose governors have enacted measures meant to limit church gatherings
BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua held a phone conversation on Thursday with British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on advancing bilateral cooperation on epidemic prevention and economic development.

Hu, who leads the Chinese delegation to the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD), noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently held two phone conversations and reached important consensus on jointly dealing with the pandemic and developing China-UK relations.

The Chinese side stands ready to work with the British side to implement the consensus reached by the two leaders, deepen practical cooperation in such fields as epidemic prevention and finance, and provide Britian with support and assistance within its capabilities in medical supplies and other fields, Hu said.

The vice premier expressed hope that the two sides will further strengthen cooperation under the framework of the United Nations and the Group of 20, promote macroeconomic policy coordination, cut tariff, remove barriers, and facilitate the flow of trade, so as to maintain the stability of the global industrial supply chain and promote sustainable growth of the world economy.

For his part, Sunak thanked China for its support and assistance, adding that Britian stands ready to strengthen bilateral cooperation in epidemic prevention, economy and finance through channels like the China-UK EFD, so as to continuously advance bilateral relations.
When Laura Mae, 27, first heard about the coronavirus, it didn't seem like a big deal.

"I'm in college, and school was still going on. It didn't really sink in," she said. "And once it did start spreading, I thought, if I did get it, I'm young and healthy, I'll be fine. I don't need to worry."

It was Saturday, March 14, and concerns about the coronavirus were amping up around the nation, said Laura Mae, who lives in Milwaukee. (Kaiser Health News is using Laura Mae's first and middle names to grant her request for partial anonymity due to concern about online harassment.)

She realized it might be the last weekend to go out before everything shut down. Plus, her spring break had just started. So she and a friend decided to party that night.

And she wasn't the only one.

As college and university spring breaks across the country converged that weekend, news coverage showed young people frolicking on Miami beaches, walking down Bourbon Street in New Orleans and crowding music clubs in Nashville, Tennessee. And to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, many cities, such as New York, Washington, Chicago and Austin, Texas, saw throngs of people dressed in green and lining up for beer. There wasn't a lot of social distance to be seen.

Part of the reason these young adults might have felt comfortable going to spots with large crowds was that media reports, buttressed by data from China's outbreak, indicated younger people were not as susceptible to the coronavirus as older age groups or people with underlying conditions. But, that hasn't held true. Now, in several major American cities, young adults between 18 and 40 account for some of the largest shares among groups testing positive.

As of Thursday, in New York City, 39% of cases were among those ages 18 to 44. Out of Los Angeles County's 7,194 confirmed cases, 2,409, or 33%, were in the 18-40 age range. Nearly half of those testing positive in Travis County, Texas, which encompasses much of the Austin metro area, were between 20 and 39. Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, released numbers Wednesday showing that 40% of the district's cases were ages 19-40.

Dissecting the numbers

Epidemiologists say that these high percentages of young adults testing positive for the coronavirus don't necessarily mean that a disproportionate number of young people are becoming infected. What the numbers show is that people in this demographic are just as susceptible to COVID-19 as other age groups.

"Young people are equally at risk of becoming infected and spreading [the coronavirus] to others who then become infected," said Denis Nash, a professor of epidemiology at The City University of New York School of Public Health.

The percentages of coronavirus cases appear high partly because health departments are reporting based on age groups that cover wide spans of years, he added.

New York City, for example, has 3.5 million people in the 18-44 age range, Nash said, and 700,000 people in the 65-74 age range. Since the "young" age group constitutes a large segment of the city's population, it is logical that the numbers of those testing positive for COVID-19 are high. In other words, the numbers make sense once a calibration for population size is done.

"This just means everybody in every age group has the same rate of infection," said Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, director of Mount Sinai's Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute in New York.

But fewer 20- and 30-somethings are likely being diagnosed, Garcia-Sastre said, since most of them have milder symptoms compared with older patients and can often recover at home. New York health care providers have been limiting coronavirus testing to individuals who are experiencing the most severe symptoms and need hospitalization.

The more important statistics to consider, Nash said, are whether young people are being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19. And those numbers are much less stark.

He calculated the case fatality rate (with data up to March 23) in New York City by dividing the number of COVID-19 deaths by the hospital admission numbers. He found that 1.8% of deaths were among people 18-44. By comparison, 3.9% of deaths were among people 45-64, 9.5% were 65-74, and 16.3% were 75 and older.

A March 18 CDC report showed a similar trend. While 29% of coronavirus cases were among those ages 20-44, the percentages of ICU admissions were lowest in this age category. In addition, the percentages of people who died from COVID-19 increased with age.

'It was a complete shock'

Young adults are now coming to terms with that new reality  driven in part by statistics that show they are not safe from the coronavirus. News reports, such as that of a 25-year-old dying from COVID-19 or the announcement by Texas public health officials that 44 college students tested positive for the illness after returning from a group spring break trip to Mexico, drove home the point that they, too, were at risk.

A couple of days after her Saturday night out, Laura Mae started to feel sick. First, she had a sore throat. Then she developed a fever and chills and was short of breath and constantly tired - all reported symptoms of COVID-19. She called a local coronavirus hotline and a nurse told her she was presumptive positive, which meant it would be assumed she had the coronavirus but wouldn't be tested for it.

"It was a complete shock," said Laura Mae. "I didn't realize that someone like me, a healthy 27-year-old who has no immune issues, could get so sick."

While she's now mostly back to normal, she said her experience changed her perspective  especially when she thinks about the people she might have unknowingly exposed in the days before her symptoms appeared.

"You might be young and healthy and be able to fight this off on your own, but there are people who could end up hospitalized, and it's not a joke," she said. "I was laughing at all the memes and the jokes [about the coronavirus], and now Im not. It's real."

Ishaan Shah, a political science major and 22-year-old senior at Washington University in St. Louis, said some of his classmates had similar reactions, staying relatively carefree despite the public health warnings. Then, the university shut down in the middle of its spring break - giving students only a few days to gather their belongings from the dorms before the campus was shuttered.

Once that happened, Shah said, "we knew what was up. That made it immediately serious."

And as he hears more about the coronavirus, his concerns amplify. "Every day that goes by, I personally have become more scared of this virus," he said.

This change in perspective seemed to happen fast in hot spots like New York City, where the virus exploded with a shockingly high daily death rate and case counts. People there now say that almost everyone  whether crossing paths on the street or in line at the grocery - is presumed positive.

Indeed, a tracking poll released last week found that most of the nation has adjusted its behavior to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Eighty-two percent of respondents reported they are sheltering in place and nearly everyone (92%) now reports some kind of social distancing  up from 59% two weeks ago, according to the poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)

But there are those who had factored this new reality into their daily habits almost from the beginning.

Take Megan Bohley, a 30-year-old behavioral health nurse who works in an outpatient facility in Flint, Michigan, interacting with patients all day.

When she gets home from work, she drops everything by the door, washes her hands, changes out of her work clothes and then dons a pair of rubber gloves and Clorox wipes to clean off her belongings. She also has talked to her husband about offering to help at a nearby hospital if Flint's circumstances worsen.

But she's scared, knowing that nurses and doctors are getting exposed and falling ill. "Some are dying," Bohley said. "It does make me more nervous about what I do."
The states plan to make a rapid new COVID-19 test available to nursing homes and to provide four sites to isolate nursing home residents sick with the virus is a game changer that will save lives, a top health care official said Thursday.

Speedier tests for nursing home patients who had been sent to hospitals for non-COVID-19 issues but are now ready to return to their residential facilities will free up badly needed hospital beds, according to Matthew Barrett, president and CEO of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities.

Nursing homes have been so worried about allowing potential coronavirus patients back into their facilities that they have been requiring multiple COVID-19 tests for residents before they can be returned from hospitals, Barrett said.

Barrett said allowing nursing homes to use those 45-minute new tests is going to have a measurable impact on substantially reducing cases backing up in hospital emergency departments. Other types of testing for the coronavirus can take up to several days to get results, officials said.

This will free up hospital beds and enable hospitals to better deal with the [predicted COVID-19] surge, Barrett said.

The Lamont administration this week designated four nursing home sites to welcome residents sickened by coronavirus. Lamont also said a new form of coronavirus test that would allow for very rapid results will be made available to nursing homes.

Immediately implementing a strategy to isolate COVID-19 patients in alternative recovery sites will be extremely helpful in the overall plan to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, Barrett said. The health care facility association represents 145 skilled nursing facilities in this state.

State officials and nursing home operators have settled on two existing facilities - Sharon Health Care Center in Sharon and Northbridge Health and Northbridge Health Care Center in Bridgeport, and two vacant facilities - Westfield Care & Rehab Center in Meriden and Torrington Health & Rehab in Torrington.

The vacant facilities are being cleaned and owners are in the process of hiring staff to manage the buildings and care for residents. Sharon and Northbridge already are staffed and ready to go, said Tim Brown, a spokesman for Athena Health Care Systems, which owns all four facilities.

Sharon and Northbridge will each dedicate a floor to people who have contracted the disease, Brown said. Westfield and Torrington will dedicate their entire buildings to those residents.

It was not immediately clear when sick residents would be moved to those sites. Barbara Cass, head of facility licensing and investigations for the state health department, said only that it would be happening shortly.

Collectively, the four buildings will provide more than 500 additional beds for COVID-19-positive residents.

Other nursing homes throughout the state are still equipped to care for residents who contract the virus, Cass said. In those buildings, sick patients will continue to be isolated from the healthy ones.

The COVID-19-designated facilities will help save lives by providing extra beds for ailing residents, proponents of the plan said. By Wednesday, 660 nursing home residents had tested positive for the disease, up from 124 a week ago. Ninety-nine had died, up from 13 a week ago.

Residents of long-term care facilities represent our most vulnerable population during this pandemic, as the virus can spread quickly within the enclosed environment, Health Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell said. We are committed to doing everything we can to make sure our nursing home residents get the care they need.

State officials said Wednesday that nursing homes will soon require hospital patients to have two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests before they are admitted to those facilities. Some long-term care centers have already adopted that mandate.

The state health department is working with hospitals to get more patients tested before discharge so they can go to the nursing homes. There are more than 2,000 empty beds available across all of the states long-term care facilities.

Officials last week announced a plan to pay Connecticuts 213 nursing homes about $35 million - a 10 percent increase - over the next three months to cover costs associated with the coronavirus crisis. The state also will pay $600 a day per patient to the facilities housing COVID-19-positive residents.

Nursing home ratings

Both the Northbridge and Sharon nursing homes received overall ratings of average - three out of five stars - on the US. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Nursing Home Compare website.

Northbridge was cited five times for health issues during the latest inspection, reported on Aug. 1. Sharon Health Care Center was cited for six health issues on March 27, 2019.

All but one of the violations was classified as either causing or having the potential to cause minimal harm. One citation against Sharon concluded that a patient suffered actual harm and involved a resident slipping in the shower.

Neither facility was cited for fire or safety code violations.

The average number of citations per inspection for Connecticut nursing homes is 7.1 for health infractions and 0.6 for fire and safety code issues.

Critics of the Nursing Home Compare site say it relies on limited data compiled from a few points in time and doesnt always reflect a facilitys ability to quickly resolve problems.

Both facilities also received average ratings for staffing. Northbridge was ranked above average for quality of care. Sharon was ranked average.

Fines and citations are common for nursing homes, and federal health officials track and post penalties imposed over the last three years. Reasons for the fines are not posted.

Northbridge was fined once in the last three years, and ordered to pay $6,500 in August 2018, according to the website.

Sharon was fined twice: $4,758 in May 2017 and $10,839 in March 2019.
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Members of the Eurasian Economic Union are holding a videoconference of its Inter-Governmental Council on April 10 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, addressing the heads of government of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, delivered a speech from Yerevan. I am very happy for the opportunity to see you all through the videoconference. Despite going through difficult times, I think we have to do our utmost in order for our organization not to interrupt its usual rhythm even for a second, Pashinyan said.

He presented to the EEU heads of government the coronavirus situation in Armenia and noted that it is under control.

Pashinyan also briefed about the coronavirus response, as well as the business and social assistance programs.

Unfortunately, we are standing on the brink of [economic] crisis. No one can say what scenario it will have, how much longer the pandemic will last, how deep the crisis will be and how the global economy will behave in that situation, Pashinyan said.

Reporting and writing by Norayr Shoghikyan

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
P olice have been criticised for expressing their pleasure at "non-essential aisles" being empty in a Tesco as they patrolled it amid the coronavirus lockdown.

"Good to see everyone was abiding by social distancing measures and the non essential aisles were empty," an officer wrote on the Cambridge Police twitter account following the visit.

People swiftly questioned what constituted a non-essential aisle. Although Government guidance outlines shopping should be for "essential" goods, it does not detail what does not fall into this category.

One wrote: "I bought biscuits the other day. Should I hand myself in?"

Another said: "Hi. Am I allowed sauce on my pasta or does it have to be plain?"

Following backlash, the tweet was blamed on an "over exuberant officer" who has since been "spoken to". The original post has since been deleted.

A subsequent post said: "For clarification, the force position, in line with national guidance, is that we are not monitoring what people are buying from supermarkets. This message was sent with good intentions by an over exuberant officer who has been spoken to since this tweet was published."

This original post has been deleted / @CambridgeCops

Cambridgeshire Police's chief constable yesterday said: We will be out across the county over the weekend ensuring people continue to comply. Where there are cases where people refuse we will engage with those people and if we have to use the powers available to us.

People may not think it but by staying in they are really making a difference. This disease does not discriminate, we are all at risk and we have a responsibility to do everything we can to protect people.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

Our approach is to engage and encourage people to go home but if people still wont comply we will act."

It comes after a chief constable for Northamptonshire Police yesterday suggested officers could start searching people's shopping to deem whether their trips were necessary.

TODO: define component type apester

He has however since said his wording was clumsy and this would not be the case.

Dominic Raab says coronavirus lockdown 'not done yet' and UK must 'keep going'

Speaking to Talk Radio, she said: Thats not appropriate, let me be clear about that.

That is not the guidance, that is not down to the measures weve been adopting thus far.

I think though, what we should just say about this weekend, in particular, is the weather is going to be good, its Easter, we really do need to all take responsibility here, and its not about overreach.

Police have powers to break up gatherings and fine people breaching lockdown rules.

Legislation bars people from leaving their home unless they have a reasonable excuse, which includes getting basic necessities such as food and medical supplies.
The received scientific wisdom of the day drew from the same pool of self-evident truths as did Chief Justice Taney. The Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz offered the same rationale for slavery. Agassiz had come to believe that people of different races had not descended from a single Adam, but rather from different Adams, who lived in different parts of the world. Therefore, he said, it would be a mistake to assume that races have the same abilities, enjoy the same powers, and show the same natural dispositions, and that in consequence of this equality they are entitled to the same position in human society.

Douglass knew that all else in the quest for the abolition of slavery, and equal status and protection under the laws depended on the refutation of the scandalous allegation that the genetic origins and social and cultural evolution of black people constituted prima facie justification for their second-class status.

He had to devote much of his oratory simply to proving the humanity of black people. Speaking at Western Reserve College in 1854, in one of the first commencement addresses ever delivered by an African-American, Douglass deconstructed word by word a recent editorial in the notoriously racist Richmond Examiner that argued that the negro did not have the same right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness as the white man. The reason: BECAUSE HE IS NOT A MAN.

Douglass, in his remarks, made his own declaration: Tried by all the usual, and all the unusual tests, whether mental, moral, physical, or psychological, the negro is a MAN  considering him as possessing knowledge, or needing knowledge, his elevation or his degradation, his virtues, or his vices  whichever road you take, you reach the same conclusion: The negro is a MAN.

Sixteen years later, when the 15th Amendment was ratified, Douglass knew that while one battle may have been won, the forces of white supremacy and pro-slavery stubbornly persisted, as he warned in his speech Our Composite Nationality in 1869. Unfortunately, he was right: The promises of Reconstruction gave way to the destructive emergence of Jim Crow. In the continued need for African-Americans to account for their own humanity, we see permutations of Douglasss struggle: from the British antislavery catchphrase popularized in the 1780s, Am I Not a Man and a Brother?, to the Memphis sanitation workers signs proclaiming I Am a Man on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr.s assassination and in the very phrase Black Lives Matter.

Much has been made lately of the metaphor that anti-black racism is part of the DNA of American culture. Some have taken offense, presuming incorrectly that the genetic allusion suggests that America is unalterably racist. Rather, the metaphor means to say that anti-black racism has been passed down through the generations as an elemental aspect of American history and American culture.

Genetics is not determinism. The 20,000 or so genes that compose the human genome can each be silenced or amplified. Think of our genomes as akin to a piano keyboard: The melodies it yields depend upon how its played. Racism, like anti-Semitism, is a chord that we can choose to play or not. Or think of racism as a cultural mutation. The introduction of that tainted mutation into our countrys founding  and the weight it continues to place on black people to prove themselves worthy of inclusion over and over again  is what is meant by racism being part of our DNA. Mutations cannot be silenced by pretending they are not there; they cannot be silenced by being censored or shouted down. Mutations do not magically go away. But they can be combated, as the 15th Amendment sought to combat the long history of denying the manhood of black American men.
Maharashtra Police registered 161 cases against fake news and rumors on social media regarding COVID-19 so far.

In the last 48 hours, a total of 30 FIRs have been registered in the state while 39 people have been arrested for indulging in spreading misinformation about coronavirus.

"From the lockdown to till date, total of 161 cases registered regarding fake news, rumors and hate speech over social media regarding COVID19. In last 48 hours, total 30 FIR registered in the state. 39 accused are arrested and 33 are identified," said a police official.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday informed that India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,761.

Out of the total cases, 6039 are active patients and 515 of them have been cured/discharged and migrated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A man was found shot dead in a car Thursday outside of a Chick-Fil-A in north Houston.

Police and paramedics were called to the restaurant in the 100 block of West Road, just east of Interstate 45, around 6 p.m. The victim was found in the back of a Chrysler, which had both drivers side tires blown out.

Witnesses told police the driver of the Chrysler drove the car to the restaurant after the shooting, police on scene said. Paramedics pronounced the victim dead in the car.

At least two other people were in the Chrysler at the time of the shooting, who were detained by officers at the restaurant. Police believe the shooting might have taken place near West Montgomery Road and Interstate 45.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as they come in.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
Amazon is building its own lab to test a small number of employees for the coronavirus, as cases have been confirmed in at least 10 of its US warehouses.

The firm has a team of Amazonians with a variety of skills ranging from research scientists to procurement specialists and software engineers to help with the initiative.

However, the e-commerce giant is unsure how many tests it will produce, but is willing to share its findings with others.

The new lab is part of an effort to combat testing shortages, and the company hopes to regularly test all employees.

Scroll down for video

The firm has a team of Amazonians with a variety of skills ranging from research scientists to procurement specialists and software engineers to help with the initiative

Weve made over 150 significant process changes at sites around the world to ensure the health and safety of our teams. Our operations sites and grocery stores are distributing masks to employees and conducting employee temperature checks, shared Amazon in a blog post.

A next step might be regular testing of all employees, including those showing no symptoms.

The coronavirus is a global pandemic, but the US is feeling the brunt as more than 469,000 people have been infected and over 16,000 have died.

Amazon workers have become just as essential as first responders, providing food and other basics for millions of people who are isolating themselves under government stay-home directives.

The new lab is part of an effort to combat testing shortages, and the company hopes to regularly test all employees

There is no timeline set for when the lab will be up and running, but Amazon is currently assembling the equipment and has a team of specialists to help with the research

However, employees have tested positive for the coronavirus in at least 10 US warehouses as experts reveal that the virus can live on packages for up to 24 hours.

Workers at warehouses in Queens and Staten Island, New York, Shepherdsville, Kentucky, Jacksonville, Florida, Katy, Texas, Brownstown, Michigan, Wallingford, Connecticut, Joliet, Illinois, Moreno Valley, California, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma have tested positive for the virus.

The firm sites that not only is the world being plagued by the coronavirus, they are also struggling with a scarcity of tests.

If every person, including people with no symptoms, could be tested regularly, it would make a huge difference in how we are all fighting this virus, reads the page.

Those who test positive could be quarantined and cared for, and everyone who tests negative could re-enter the economy with confidence.

Amazon hopes its efforts will create enough tests to regularly check all of its employees

There are a team of specialists working at the lab who will help with the initiative

There is no timeline set for when the lab will be up and running, but Amazon is currently assembling the equipment and has a team of specialists to help with the research.

A team of Amazonians with a variety of skills  from research scientists and program managers to procurement specialists and software engineers  have moved from their normal day jobs onto a dedicated team to work on this initiative.

'We have begun assembling the equipment we need to build our first lab and hope to start testing small numbers of our front line employees soon.'

'We are not sure how far we will get in the relevant time frame, but we think its worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn with others.'

Amazon is building its own lab to test a small number of employees for the coronavirus, as cases have been confirmed in at least 10 of its US warehouses

The coronavirus is a global pandemic, but the US is feeling the brunt as more than 469,000 people have been infected and over 16,000 have died

Amazon is working tirelessly to do its part during the coronavirus.

Earlier this week the firm added a section exclusively for hospitals and government organizations that gives them priority to medical supplies needed to fight the pandemic.

The tech giant has also suspended shipment of nonessential items from its warehouses in order to provide those with necessities such as household items and medical supplies.

It has also banned price gouging of products and is policing the platform in search of hoaxes claiming to protect or cure consumers.
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. IDBank has launched the service Rocket Loan, which will give you an opportunity to get up to 5 million AMD loan, with the speed of a rocket, without leaving home. The service is available as through IDBanking.am online platform, as through Idram application.

Any moment, just a few simple steps from any place are needed and the loan amount will be on your account; there are no hidden commission fees, the loan amount can be transferred to any other account or card.

Head of Marketing department of IDBank, Tatevik Hovhannisyan, noted that taking into consideration the importance of the digital tools and products at present conditions, the Bank has replenished its already existing digital toolset with this proposal.

"Fortunately, we offer our clients a complete range of remote services, with an opportunity to get more than 250 services, from making payments to getting online loans through IDBanking.am online platform and the Idram app. One of the advantages of Rocket Loan is that even without being a client of the Bank, with the help of Idram, in the process of submitting a loan application, you can pass a full remote identification and receive the loan without having to visit the Bank. Directly from the Idram app, customers can make payments for utilities, for various services, online and offline remote payments, QR and NFC payments for products and services in stores, said Tatevik Hovhannisyan.

If you don't have Idram app yet, then download it from the App Store or Google Play and take advantage of the complete range of remote services.

You can find more details about Rocket Loan here.

The Bank is controlled by the CBA, reads the statement issued by the Bank.
More than 1,000 people could have died from coronavirus in care homes across the UK, without being counted in the official death toll.

This week, the Office for National statistics revealed for the first time that 20 people had died in care homes across England and Wales in the week up to March 27 of the illness.

However, over 200 people have have been reported to have died in care homes by two different providers in the UK so far.

But Care England, the industry body, estimated that the true death toll is likely to be closer to 1,000.

Now, experts are warning that the difference in figures suggests that ministers may be underestimating the true impact of the pandemic on the elderly and most frail.

Burlington Court Care Home in Glasgow where 16 residents have died from coronavirus

Castleroy Residential home in Luton is believed to have had 15 deaths from coronavirus

The daily death toll reported by the government only relates to deaths in NHS England hospitals.

Statistics for deaths in care homes in England and Wales were published by the ONS for the first time this week.

However, the current figures are 12 days behind the daily hospital death rate and rely only on registered death certificates, which take an average of five days to process.

This means there is a lag of 17 days between deaths and their announcement, leading to fears the care home death toll could be far higher.

And the Alzheimer's Society fears hundreds of thousand of people with dementia may be being 'abandoned' in care homes.

Care workers across the country are also saying they still lack adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing to properly deal with the virus.

The Alzheimer's Society and other care industry leaders believe that the virus is now present in homes that care for around 400,000 people in the UK.

On Tuesday, Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said that just over nine per cent of care homes had the virus.

Nine Covid-19 related deaths have been reported at Tranent Care Home in East Lothian

Hawthorn Green Care Home in Stepney, where seven residents are reported to have died with suspected coronavirus

It comes as the UK recorded another 881 deaths on Thursday - although in a small relief numbers fell back from the high of almost 1,000 declared the day before.

Thursday's deaths took Britain's official death toll total to 7,978 as its coronavirus crisis rumbles on and 4,344 more positive tests pushed the number of patients, past and present, to 65,077.

The grim tally is considerably smaller than the devastating 938 announced on Wednesday but still represents the second biggest surge since the epidemic began almost six weeks ago.

Trade union Unison has sent a dossier of hundreds of carers' complaints about a lack of PPE to ministers, including one report of a carer wearing a bag over their face in the absence of a mask.

Jason Oke, a senior statistician at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences in Oxford, told the Guardian: 'The worry is that we discover in six months that the numbers are way larger because no one was counting what was happening in care home.'

Prof Martin Green, the chief executive of Care UK, which represents the largest care providers, said: 'We are seeing underreporting of the number of deaths.

'Deaths might not be in the thousands yet, but it is coming up to that level.'

He called on the government to be more accurate with care home date.

MHA, the UK's largest charitable care home provider, revealed that 70 per cent of patients in one of its Yorkshire care homes for dementia sufferers are suspected of having coronavirus.

In another Yorkshire home, 13 people have died, while 11 died in Northamptonshire.

In Luton, one care home said 15 patients had died during the crisis, while three homes in Scotland announced 30 deaths between them.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We are determined to give the social care sector the support it needs to respond to coronavirus and continue to work closely with Public Health England to monitor the impact on cares homes.

'The government has announced 2.9bn to help local authorities respond to pressures in key services, such as adult social care, and enhance the NHS discharge service, allowing patients to return home safely. We have published extensive guidance for care homes on admitting and caring for people during the outbreak, and we are reinstating the professional registration of 8,000 former social workers to fill vital roles in the community.

'We have also delivered 7.8m pieces of PPE to more than 26,000 care settings across the country and are rapidly working to extend testing to social care workers.'
It was an angry, impulsive picture, and in painting it he discovered the way he wanted to paint, Edwin Mullins wrote in F.N. Souza: An Introduction (1962).

Souza spent time in Goa, painting rural landscapes and portraits of poor laborers in a style reminiscent of Gauguin, then returned to Mumbai, where he began showing his work at the Bombay Art Society and gathered the coterie that became the Progressive Artists Group, among them Maqbool Fida Husain and Sayed Haider Raza.

In 1949, after taking part in an exhibition of Indian art at the Royal Academy of Arts the previous year, he set sail for London. He toiled in obscurity until catching the eye of the poet Stephen Spender, who introduced him to Peter Watson, a well-connected collector and philanthropist. A group show with Francis Bacon, Henry Moore and others followed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1954.

A year later Spender published Souzas autobiographical essay, Nirvana of a Maggot, in Encounter magazine. His career took off when Victor Musgrave, the owner of the pioneering Gallery One, began selling his work.

It was in the 1950s and 60s, fusing stylistic elements drawn from classical Indian art, African tribal art and Western modernism, that Souza produced some of his most notable works. He expanded his reach beyond landscapes and portraits to embrace the sacred and profane in erotically charged images, teetering at times on the edge of violence, and religious subjects like the crucifixion and the Last Supper.

With a few slashing lines and a raw, expressive energy, Francis Newton Souza stripped away all subterfuge, The Times of India wrote in a 2010 review of a retrospective of his work at the Dhoomimal Gallery in New Delhi. Be it the sluts or the suits, the seamy side of life or the steamy, the gnomish, pox-scarred boy from Goa who went on to become one of the first Indian artists to be feted in the salons of Europe, laid it bare.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has decried the poor state of Nigerias healthcare infrastructure.

The SGF made this known during a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly on Thursday, according to TheCable.

Also Read: SGF: Nothing FG Can Do About Businesses Using COVID-19 To Exploit Nigerians

Mustapha, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Taskforce (PTF) on COVID-19, said he realised how bad it was, after he was appointed to head the team.

He noted that the pandemic has provided the opportunity to examine the state of the national health care systems which is in dire need of reforms and funding.

He went to explain that the weaknesses in Nigerias health systems became more glaring given the way more established health systems in Europe and America collapsed under pressure.

He, however, assured that there are plans to lay a legacy foundation for the immediate, medium and long-term development of the health system in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic across the country.
MattGush/iStock(NEW YORK) -- The homeless community is among the most vulnerable of contracting the deadly novel coronavirus.



Housing is health care so people without housing really are in a compromised health situation from the get-go," Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, told ABC News.



They're a high-risk population," she added. "People who are homeless live in situations that don't contribute to good health, they're under stress, they don't eat well, they don't have a home, they are traumatized."



Another area where she sees major concern is their access to food. Some shelters don't actually provide meals and instead rely on donations from volunteers.



The biggest issue right now, according to Herbert Smith, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Mission, is that the homeless need to understand they arent immune from the virus.



The biggest challenge, I think, is really just getting people to understand the severity of it, he said.



Over half a million people experience homelessness on a given night in the U.S., according to a 2019 White House report. New research from UCLAs Fielding School of Public Health, Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania shows that COVID-19 is likely to kill more than 3,400 homeless Americans.



In California, those numbers could reach as many as 1,200 deaths and 7,000 hospitalizations, according to the report. Los Angeles has one of the largest homeless populations in the country and officials have been planning on testing the homeless there for weeks, but with a current lag in receiving test results, they havent figured out how to inform someone if they've tested positive.



Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Peter Sanders told ABC News that testing has already begun at shelters but not on streets. Sanders said some homeless people have not consented to the swab test.



A game-changer for the city, according to Sanders, would be the five-minute test to eliminate the lag in obtaining results and remove the fear that officials wont be able to find, treat and isolate those who have the virus.



Theyre just detached, Roman said. A lot of homeless people do have phones but many dont  they dont have any way to find out these things.



During this pandemic, shelters are having to adjust their facilities to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Smith said his shelters in Los Angeles are being re-worked to create more spacing between beds. Meal lines are also being affected.



We cant have as many people in the dining room at any one time so weve spaced that out," he said. "We had to cut down some of the sit-down hot meals to takeaway meals for individuals.



He said he and his team are trying to accommodate everyone and keep them safe. But, he acknowledged, some homeless "feel theyre actually safer out on the street."



Brenda Rosen, president and CEO of Breaking Ground in New York City, said its not practical for shelters that are running large-scale operations to comply with the social distancing guidelines.



They're still eating in the same place and they're still traveling in the same elevator and they're bumping into each other or they're walking right by each other because there simply isn't the space to ensure that," she said.



The $2 trillion federal stimulus package set aside $4 billion to help the homeless. Roman said the funds could be used to create more shelters that meet social distancing guidelines or to rent hotel rooms for the homeless.



But according to the report from UCLA, theres an immediate need for 400,000 additional emergency accommodation beds to manage the impact of the pandemic. That is estimated to cost $11.5 billion.



We were hearing about and talking to people who just had really no idea what was going on, Roman said. You know, just completely clueless as to what was happening  them being informed or even getting any kind of information is challenging.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
President Trump says he hopes to be able to begin reopening the nation's shuttered economy on May 1. But ultimately, nervous governors, mayors, school boards and families across the country will determine when to resume normal life.

With more Americans out of work than at any time since the Depression in the 1930s, Trump is eager to ease the stay-at-home guidance he issued on March 16 and later extended through April 30 in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

The president and his top economic advisors have floated plans to restart economic activity in phases, with some regions given greater leeway than others. Privately, White House officials concede the approach will have little effect on the larger economy, but hope to at least let some small businesses begin bringing back employees.

Speaking at the White House, Trump said he would consider the advice of his public health advisors, who have urged caution in lifting restrictions too quickly. Outside public health experts say another month or more may be necessary to keep the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus under 100,000.

"I'm going to have to make a decision, and I hope to God it's the right decision," Trump said Friday. "I would say without question it's the biggest decision I've ever had to make."

Asked what metrics he would use in deciding, Trump pointed to his head.

Trump also said he would probably include governors from both parties in a council to advise him on the issue and hinted that California Gov. Gavin Newsom may be among them.

The president wields tremendous influence over the national response to the pandemic, and many local and state leaders, especially fellow Republicans, would weigh his advisories heavily in deciding their own policy.

Although Trump asserted Friday that he has "absolute authority" to order the country open, the guidelines are not mandatory but recommendations.

Governors, mayors and business owners have the ultimate power. Many issued their own guidance before Trump did, and some already have announced plans to restrict commerce and public gatherings beyond May 1 no matter what Trump recommends.

Story continues

At least 16 states  and numerous individual school districts  have closed schools at least until the summer, with more expected to follow, increasing pressure on business owners to remain closed or allow parents to continue working from home.

"When this started, the private sector basically shut the economy down before Trump told them to," said Justin Wolfers, a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan.

"It turned out that what the federal government did was not very relevant  the government can't force you to take risks you don't want to take," he added. "It couldn't on the way down and it also can't on the way up."

Administration officials acknowledge that even their most optimistic plans would not open the entire country at once. And while corporate leaders are eager to reopen, polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans accept the restrictions because they appear to be working.

"Some places will be able to think about opening on May 1; most of the country will not, to be honest with you," Surgeon General Jerome Adams told Fox News on Friday. "That's how we'll reopen the country. Place by place, bit by bit, based on the data."

New York City, the nation's economic capital and the area hit hardest by the pandemic, is expected to stay under a virtual shutdown until at least June 1, Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, told a news conference Thursday.

Newsom, a Democrat, has declared that California will chart its own course, relying less on the White House and leveraging its considerable economic power as "a nation-state."

Newsom was the first governor to issue a formal stay-at-home order, on March 19, a step credited with preventing the type of spread that overwhelmed New York. Los Angeles County officials on Friday extended stay-at-home orders through at least May 15.

Governors in 42 states, comprising the vast majority of the U.S. population, have issued stay-at-home orders. Mayors in some of the other eight states issued their own restrictions.

"Governors and mayors have had to make the tough decisions that Washington has refused to make in terms of helping to manage the lives of the people we represent," Michael Hancock, the mayor of Denver, said in an interview Friday. Though his office, like most mayoralties, is nonpartisan, Hancock is a Democrat.

It wasnt the president who decided to shut cities, schools, businesses down, he added. And it wont be his call to get everyone back to work in terms of our states and our cities.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who tested positive for COVID-19 in March and recovered, issued restrictions for his city before Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a mandatory stay-at-home order for the state that took effect April 3.

Opening up prematurely could be problematic, and create a reinfection of our community, Suarez, a Republican, said in an interview.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, a Democrat, said his city had 310 new cases Thursday, its most yet, and chided Trump for what he called dangerous mixed messages.

Any elected official right now talking about reopening publicly is, my opinion, doing a disservice to their community, he said. This is a virus. It's unpredictable. It doesnt have an end date on it.

Public health officials say the nation needs not only more testing, but also a better network of workers trained to trace people who have the virus so they can isolate their contacts, as other countries have done.

Pulling back from a nationwide system of social distancing too soon could spur new hot spots.

"The big challenge is that [state and local] borders are porous, no matter how much we talk about lockdowns," said Jeffrey Levi, a public health expert at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Some business owners plan to reopen slowly but will take their lead from local and state officials, rather than Trump.

Stephen Loftis, vice president of Firebirds Wood Fired Grill, based in Charlotte, N.C., said the chain's 51 restaurants in 19 states followed local guidelines in ending dine-in service. When sit-down service resumes, the chain plans to offer fewer menu options and reduced seating capacities to protect customers and servers.

We're anxious to get back to some sort of normalcy as everyone is," Loftis said. "The safety of our team members and our guests is paramount.

Even if officials give more businesses the OK, it will not be easy for all of them to retrofit operations to satisfy safety requirements or get the products they need, given supply chain disruptions.

Mike Brzoska, who runs an aerospace supply company outside Detroit, was allowed to stay open as an essential manufacturer. But he now does temperature checks on employees and supplies isopropyl alcohol to rub down hands and equipment.

When a shipment of protective masks was stolen, he bought a 3-D printer and a set of filters to make his own. But he still feels at risk.

I'm 60 and I smoke, so it's got me worried, Brzoska said.




New Delhi, April 10 : While the rest of the world is struggling against the coronavirus pandemic as hundreds continue to die every day, the Xi Jinping regime has been vigorously carrying out its ambitious defence exercises in the Indo-Pacific region.

Additionally, Beijing has also announced that it is ramping up of military industries in Wuhan, the original epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last month, a People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft flew at night over the sea, crossing the Taiwan Strait, provoking an F-16 fighter jet response from Taiwan. Though conducting provocative military and naval operations near Taiwan is not new for the PLA, it was for the first time that its aircraft crossed the strait at night.

On April 1, PLAAF undertook a 36-hour combat oriented exercise near Taiwan.

The same day two PLA Navy Air Force maritime strike bombers and one electronic warfare and surveillance aircraft flew through international airspace between two Japanese islands in the East China Sea. In a prompt response, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force flew its fighter jets.

Two days later, Chinese Navy warships attacked and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat.

The PLAAF also conducted a long-range military drill with bombers, an airborne early warning and control aircraft, an electronic warfare and surveillance plane and fighter jets passing through the Bashi Channel, a strategic waterway between the Philippines and the Taiwanese island of Orchid connecting the South China Sea with the western Pacific Ocean.

In March, the Chinese military carried out high-altitude 'live fire' exercises in Tibet.

In January this year, Beijing and Islamabad carried out their naval exercise 'Sea Guardian 2020' phase one, the images of which were caught on satellite and posted on Twitter by an open source intelligence tracking handle d-atis. The image "echoes the China-Pakistan solidarity and its evolving military interoperability west of India in the Arabian Sea," he tweeted.

These Sea Guardian "anti-terror" exercises near Karachi were the largest between China and Pakistan. The Chinese military literature describes Karachi as a PLA Navy base and Gwadar as a PLA Navy Logistics Base.

India's China expert Jayadev Ranade believes that all the activities amidst the coronavirus pandemic were "clearly intended to convey to Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and India, as well as the US, that China retains the capability and intent of becoming the dominant power of the Indo-Pacific." Incidentally, on Friday, a United States military reconnaissance aircraft and Chinese warplanes were monitored southwest were reported flying near Taiwan's southern airspace. A US RC-135U Combat Sent was operating in the South China Sea, according to a flight chart posted on Twitter Friday morning by Aircraft Spots, a military air movement tracker.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has decried the poor state of Nigerias healthcare infrastructure.

Mr Mustapha, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Taskforce (PTF) on COVID-19, said he realised how bad it was, after he was appointed to head the team. He made this known during a meeting with the leadership of the national assembly on Thursday.

I can tell you for sure, I never knew that our entire healthcare infrastructure was in the state in which it is. Until I was appointed to do this work, he said.

While he noted that the pandemic has provided the opportunity to examine the state of the national health care systems which is in dire need of reforms and funding, he said the weaknesses in Nigerias health systems became more glaring given the way more established health systems in Europe and America collapsed under pressure.

He, however, assured that there are plans to lay a legacy foundation for the immediate, medium and long-term development of the health system in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic across the country.

To this end, he said, the taskforce has proposed to utilise the resources being mobilised in a strategic manner. This includes:

Direct development and delivery of critical infrastructure to states by donors; direct procurement and delivery of personal protective equipment and other critical equipment by donors; deployment of rapid response teams to states for capacity building and support; and expansion of the testing capacity in the country.

Mr Mustapha added that for transparency and accountability, the taskforce will not be directly involved in the collection and disbursement of the cash donations for COVID-19.

The Accountant General of the Federation has already published the account details for collection through some commercial banks and also provided the modalities for its utilisation. All the main COVID-19 accounts shall be domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.

However, all non-cash donations shall be duly received by the PTF, acknowledged, documented and appropriately deployed, he said.

Tasks for national assembly

Mr Mustapha further explained that Nigeria, like the rest of the world, is at war against a dangerous enemy and all hands must be on deck to successfully prosecute the war.

To this end, he charged the national assembly to:

 Develop a legislative framework to prepare Nigeria for any future pandemic;

 Develop a legislative framework for reforming and transforming Nigerias healthcare systems;

 Strengthen the legislative framework for economic growth through domestic manufacturing;

 Deepen the legislative oversight during this pandemic and beyond;

 Pass legislations that will further ease the ability of the executive to cushion the impact of the economic decline and

 Be part of community mobilization and enlightenment efforts.

While applauding the taskforce for the work done so far, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, advised the team to have a better coordination of the donations received from public-spirited individuals, corporate bodies and Institutions to avoid duplications or the relevant bodies working at cross purposes.

Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate

First of all, you are supposed to be the custodian of all the challenges that we face as far as COVID-19 is concerned. If any state has a challenge, I am sure there is a proper structure and route for reporting, so that you take down the situation and take the necessary steps.

I believe that we face one critical challenge today in our fight against COVID-19. We have donations made by various organisations, corporate bodies and so on but it is my candid opinion that there is no coordination.

The Corporate Nigera, as I was told as at yesterday (Wednesday), has gathered N22 billion; the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), I was told had 28 million dollars; CBN and the banks, I dont know how much they have. The National Assembly, the ministers and so many individuals and Institutions have also made donations, he said.

Advertisements



NNPC Towers: P&ID and the Petroleum ministry signed the contract here

He also suggested that donations should go to just one common platform as against multiple accounts.

I believe we must have a central body and not the PTF nor the corporate groups should receive and manage the funds but based on what the constitution provides for.

Where everybody is just collecting and spending, I think it will lead us in a very bad shape. When people contribute their funds, they want to see such funds properly utilised. They want to see efficiency. They want to see transparency. They want to see accountability and of course, probity in what the funds are used for.

There could be duplication, working across purposes. At the end of the day, there will certainly be inefficiency in the application of such resources. But this meeting is going to give us opportunity to discuss this and the way forward.

The meeting, he said, is aimed at ensuring that performance is improved and service delivery is effective and efficient.

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the distribution of stimulus package to the most vulnerable during the lockdown. He had also ordered that impounded rice be distributed across the 36 states to cushion the effect of the pandemic.

The ministry of humanitarian affairs has since announced the distribution of the first tranche of five billion naira.

The number of confirmed cases in the country has been on the increase. As of 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, the NCDC announced a total of 288 cases including seven deaths.
U.S. The Daily Beast

Fox News White House correspondent and perpetual nemesis of Jen Psaki thought he had Joe Bidens press secretary cornered on Monday when he asked her why the president is still referring to COVID-19 as a pandemic of the unvaccinated when so many people are getting breakthrough infections. He was wrong.I understand that the science says that vaccines prevent death, Doocy began, before undercutting that basic truth. But Im triple-vaxxed, still got COVID. Youre triple-vaxxed, still got COVI
(Newser)  The social distancing effort by local government officials in Florida has reached Mike Huckabee's waterfront home, and he's decided he'll fight them on the beaches. Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, has joined a lawsuit seeking an injunction to block the enforcement of a Walton County ordinance closing all private beaches, Law & Crime reports. The order prevents Huckabee and his Gulf Coast neighbors from "being able to use or even set foot in their own backyards," the suit says. Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order last week that made exceptions for activities such as fishing, running and swimming, per the Orlando Sentinel. DeSantis has not ordered all beaches in the state closed, but many local governments in Florida have taken that step.

story continues below

The suit does not appear to endorse social distancing as a way to curb the spread of the coronavirus. "Any hypothetical, negligible benefit conjured by those who passed the Walton County ordinance cannot possibly outweigh the profound trammeling of the present plaintiffs constitutional rights," the suit says. The measure could even force the homeowners into crowded public places in their search for recreation, they argue. There's a hearing scheduled for Monday. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
Amid the boredom and frustration facing housebound children right now, the heroines of literature might well offer respite. Inspired by characters such as Anne Shirley or Mary Lennox  either in book form or on screen  small, secret gardens of imagination can emerge from the chaos.

Mary Lennox, from The Secret Garden, was due to come to us in a new film adaptation before COVID-19 closed cinemas. Its a strange coincidence that Frances Hodgson Burnetts enchanting 1911 book also begins with an epidemic  an outbreak of cholera in India. After her unkind parents die of the infection, the sour, 10-year-old Mary is sent to Yorkshire to live with her reclusive uncle at his moorland manor house. There, she discovers a walled garden, which slowly helps her to overcome her bitterness and heal her wounds. With her friend Dickon she uncovers the secrets of her family and learns of lifes wonder for the first time.

Dixie Egerickx plays Mary Lennox in the latest screen version of The Secret Garden, now due for release later this year. Credit:StudioCanal

It may be one of the greatest and best-loved childrens books ever written. With its tenderly realised characters and poetic descriptions of natural beauty, the book offers magic of the kind that the writer Eden Phillpotts was talking about when he wrote that the world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.

From Alice to Dorothy, Heidi to Lucy Pevensie, writers have been crafting inquisitive, sparky, adventurous girl heroes for more than a century who have guided young readers through the wonderful and frightening terrain of childhood. Now, with the novelistic scope of longform television, the most famous of these girls are more visible than ever.
Pioneering woman newspaper reporter Nelly Kenyon of the Chattanooga Times in 1932 snuck onto the private compartment of the passenger train transporting Alphonse Al Capone to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary to begin serving his 11-year sentence for income tax evasion and obtained a personal interview of Americas number one gangster.



While Nelly got the interview scoop from Capone from a journalistic perspective little has been printed that it was a young female Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) from California that initiated the legal theory that ultimately led to Capones conviction in Chicago.



Mabel Walker Willebrandt (May 23, 1889-April 6, 1963) was born in Woodsdale, Kansas and moved to Los Angeles, California in 1912. She received two law degrees in night school from the University of Southern California in 1916-1917 while teaching elementary school during the day.



After graduating from law school she became the first public defender for the Los Angeles area and actually handled cases pro bono (free) while a student in law school. One area in which she developed expertise was the defense of prostitutes.

During World War I she handled cases for the Draft Board dealing with soldier eligibility for military service.

In 1921 she was appointed by the Warren G. Harding administration to be only the second woman to serve as an Assistant Attorney General in the United States. In that capacity from 1921-1929 she was the highest-ranked woman in the federal criminal justice system and became the first female head of the Tax Division that would ultimately lead to the downfall of Al Capone.

Enforcing the Volstead Act of 1919 (prohibition) was one of several areas that she headed and had important responsibilities.

Due to division in the country over the 18th Amendment, which banned the manufacture, sale, or the transportation of alcohol for public consumption, she was faced with many problems enforcing the Amendment due to incompetent public officials, public indifference, and the reluctance by many politicians and law enforcement officers when it came to prosecuting the law.

Although she faced strong criticism from both federal and state officials in her commitment to follow the letter of the Volstead Act, she was successful in overcoming many obstacles. During the one-year period from June, 1924 to June, 1925, she obtained 39,072 convictions out of 48,734 cases brought for alcohol-related offenses.

During her tenure as the major prosecutor enforcing the Volstead Act she argued and won 40 cases in the United States Supreme Court that dealt with the prohibition statutes. She prevailed in spite of strong prejudice displayed towards her by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, James C. McReynolds, because she was a woman.

Al Capone, took over control of the crime syndicate in Chicago from Johnny Torrio, who stepped down as crime boss after a near fatal gangland shooting in 1924.

During the era mobsters such as Capone could not be prosecuted for murder or other serious crimes because of the reluctance of witnesses to testify against them. Most of them lived very opulent lifestyles flaunting the display of their illegally gained wealth from prohibition, gambling, prostitution, etc.

Wiilebrandt created the novel idea of prosecuting the high-spending criminals under the federal income tax evasion laws and the United States Supreme Court upheld the legality of such prosecutions in the landmark decision of United States v. Sullivan, 274 U.S. 259 (1927), which she personally argued in the high court.

She was responsible for successfully convicting several prominent bootleggers throughout the country including Capone and Cincinnati crime boss George Remus, who were both prominently featured in the popular 2010 HBO television series, Boardwalk Empire. Actress Julianna Nicholson portrayed Willebrandt and her law enforcement career was also featured in the 2011 public broadcasting system series (PBS) Prohibition by Ken Burns and Others.

After being rejected by President Herbert Hoover for the position of attorney general she resigned her job and returned to the practice of law in California where she developed a successful legal career. She represented Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the Screen Directors Guild of America, as well as movie stars Clark Gable, Gene Harlow, Jeanette McDonald and others.

A fitting tribute was paid to her by her friend and Watergate Federal Judge, John J. Sirica, who stated, If Mabel had worn trousers she could have been president.

In the era where few women were in the legal profession, Mabel Walker Willebrandt relentlessly enforced the prohibition laws and earned herself such nicknames as Prohibition Portia and First Lady of the Law from both foes and supporters of the controversial 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment.

* * *
West Champaran: A 21-day lockdown is imposed in the country regarding the Corona infection, but in the meantime, SSB has alerted the West Champaran district administration on the information of a conspiracy by the Communist Party of Nepal Maoist leader Jaleem Mukhiya, a resident of Parsa district of Nepal. Special security arrangements have been made on the Indo-Nepal border after the letter written by SSB. With this, the alert has been increased on the border.

This state can soon control corona, 10 lakh people are going to be screened

According to the information, DM of West Champaran had sent a letter to SP Bettiah asking to take special security along the Indo-Nepal border. In the letter written by the District Magistrate, it was said that Jaleem Mukhiya, a resident of Jaganathpur village in Parsa district of Nepal, is planning to spread corona infection in India. He is also involved in the illegal supply of weapons and smuggling of counterfeit notes.

"Making Muslims scapegoat is no cure for Corona" Owaisi taunts BJP

After the letter written by SSB and DM, there was a stir on the Indo-Nepal border. After this, security was tightened on the outskirts. The SSB commandant posted on the Raxaul border said that patrolling along the Nepal border has been increased after receiving intelligence input. According to the information, the SSB commandant had received intelligence that about two hundred special community people were reported to come to Khairawa and Chandanbara in Nepal of which 6 to 7 are Pakistani citizens.

Corona affected Saudi's royal family, King Salman goes in isolation
Hundreds of people have been arrested across Asia for posting purported false coronavirus information, according to an AFP investigation, deepening concerns that growing government efforts to combat "fake news" will target the wrong people and silence dissent. From teenagers to a TV star, people have been wrongly detained under vaguely worded cybercrime laws or broad state-of-emergency powers ushered in since the outbreak began, rights groups say. "Governments are using the 'fake news' label to dress up their rights-abusing efforts to censor views and statements that are at odds with whatever strategy they have taken to deal with the COVID-19 crisis," said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for Human Rights Watch (HRW). "It's insane frankly. In many cases it's people being dragged out of their homes to the lock-up, put in pre-trial detention, in crowded spaces where they're more likely to get COVID." At least 266 people have been arrested for posting coronavirus-related information in 10 Asian countries, from Thailand to India and Mongolia, according to an AFP tally based on police reports. They include a local politician in India who claimed on Facebook that the government was downplaying virus fatalities, and a Malaysian TV personality made to pay a fine of several thousand US dollars after he posted a YouTube video criticising a hospital's handling of the pandemic. Authorities say criminalisation is needed to curb the online flood of dangerous fake cures and conspiracy theories that the World Health Organization has called an "infodemic". But HRW and other campaigners point to cases where opposition figures or journalists have been targeted -- as well as questioning the fairness of arresting ordinary people who may not even realise they are spreading misinformation. A middle-aged woman in Sri Lanka spent three days in custody this week after posting a prank message on Facebook saying the president had tested positive for COVID-19, police said. In Cambodia, a Facebook pundit who posted a quote from Prime Minister Hun Sen was charged with incitement to commit felony and is facing up to two years in jail, according to a court warrant seen by AFP. Officials say Hun Sen was joking when he told motorbike taxi drivers to sell their vehicles if they cannot make money in the pandemic. - 'Rumour mongering' - Cambodian authorities have also detained four opposition politicians, according to HRW, while a local rights group and police sources said a 14-year-old girl was among more than a dozen people arrested. She was released soon after questioning with no charges. The surge in arrests in Asia focused on coronoavirus misinformation has come after various countries toughened laws or introduced new ones on so-called fake news. "Regulating misinformation by either introducing new legislation or by expanding the scope of existing laws has been the trend in Asia for the last few years," said Masato Kajimoto, a journalism researcher at the University of Hong Kong. The pandemic has accelerated this because a crackdown can be perceived as protecting public health, rather than infringing on freedom of speech, he said. In Thailand, a state-of-emergency decree passed in late March criminalised sharing misinformation online about COVID-19 that could "instigate fear". This is on top of the Computer Crimes Act, which has a five-year maximum jail penalty and is often used to stifle dissent online. The Philippines also recently adopted an emergency law giving it more powers to combat the pandemic, including arresting people who share false information about the disease. Nearly 100 people in India have been arrested for spreading virus misinformation under existing penal laws and the disaster management act -- with punishments including up to one year in prison. "While India lacks any specific fake news law, there do exist provisions of laws that can be used for 'rumour mongering'," said Apar Gupta, director of the Delhi-based Internet Freedom Foundation. "It is fair to state that these laws are broadly phrased and can result in arbitrary action, given India's slow judicial system that also generally displays a prosecutorial bias," he said. Karuna Nandy, an Indian Supreme Court lawyer, told AFP that such arrests were particularly alarming in a lockdown, when courts are mostly shut. - Hoax confusion - In Singapore, an anti-government website was blocked earlier this year under the city-state's controversial and sweeping new anti-misinformation law, passed in October. Authorities accused the States Times Review of circulating falsehoods including about the coronavirus outbreak. Police in neighbouring Indonesia have made more than 80 arrests under the country's strict electronic information law since the outbreak began. The maximum penalty is five years in jail. They include individuals accused of attacking the government and its response to the outbreak, and multiple people who shared claims that a Muslim woman had died suddenly from COVID-19 at Jakarta's international airport. Damar Juniarto, from digital rights group SAFEnet, said Indonesian law gives "no clear definition" of a hoax, which can be spread by accident. "The source of the problem is that there is no information leadership from the government," said Juniarto. Indonesia's doctors association has warned that the crisis there is worse than officially reported. HRW's Robertson echoed this sentiment. "People should not be criminalised for saying what they think online. It's up to the governments to provide effective information". burs-kaf/kma Since the virus crisis began, there has been an online flood of dangerous fake cures and conspiracy theories that the WHO has called an 'infodemic' A middle-aged woman in Sri Lanka spent three days in custody this week after posting a prank message on Facebook related to the virus India is under the world's biggest coronavirus lockdown Indonesia's doctors association has warned that the crisis there is worse than officially reported
The quarantined citizens of New York have established a unique way of showing their appreciation for the essential workers continuing to serve the community.

And Sarah Silverman returned to her apartment fire escape on Thursday with a pan and wooden spoon in hand to display her personal gratitude.

'7-7:03 NYC every night,' captioned the 49-year-old comedian, who explained the nightly ritual on her Instagram page earlier this week.

Appreciation: Sarah Silverman returned to her apartment fire escape on Thursday with a pan and wooden spoon in hand to cheer on 'health care workers, grocery store workers and delivery people'

Ritual: '7-7:03 NYC every night,' captioned the 49-year-old comedian, who explained the nightly appreciation ritual on her Instagram page

Silverman was joined by the rest of her neighborhood, who flooded their fire escapes and balconies to contribute to the evening's joyful noise.

Sarah, accompanied by her quarantine partner, wore a black beanie over he lengthy raven tresses as she hooted and hollered.

She sported a navy blue knit sweater layered over a generic grey hoodie.

The well known standup comic rounded out her celebratory ensemble with a pair of grey toned camouflage pants and some black knee high boots.

Joyful noise: Silverman was joined by the rest of her neighborhood, who flooded their fire escapes and balconies to contribute to the evening's joyful noise

Suiting up: Sarah, accompanied by her quarantine partner, wore a black beanie over he lengthy raven tresses as she hooted and hollered

Prior to Thursday night's performance, Sarah took to Instagram to share footage from the night prior with her 1.8million followers.

In the short clip, Sarah stands with a neon green megaphone in hand, while voicing comical advice to the citizens below.

'Wash your hands,' she began. 'Don't forget to floss! Death creeps in through the nose!'

Sarah explained the meaning behind her and her community's daily ritual on her Instagram page Tuesday night.

Pride: The well known stand-up comic beat on her pan with pride during the '7-7:03' time slot

Camo cute: Sarah rounded out her celebratory ensemble with a pair of grey toned camouflage pants and some black knee high boots

'Everyday at 7pm in nyc, people open their window or stand on their fire escapes and bang pots and pans and howl and cheer on appreciation for our health care workers, grocery store workers and delivery people,' she wrote.

'It makes us feel connected and that we arent alone. I live for ever 7-7:03pm,' concluded Silverman, who attached a video from the evening prior that showcased her community's collective support.

New York is considered the epicenter on the coronavirus pandemic in the United States with over 151,000 confirmed cases.

Explanation: Sarah explained the meaning behind her and her community's daily ritual on her Instagram page Tuesday night

Dedicated: 'Everyday at 7pm in nyc, people open their window or stand on their fire escapes and bang pots and pans and howl and cheer on appreciation for our health care workers, grocery store workers and delivery people,' wrote Silverman

This makes up around 35% of the country's cases, according to a report released by New York magazine on Thursday.

But even with the state's startling numbers, Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed during a press conference on Wednesday that the 'curve is flattening' and 'hospitalizations are down.'

'I don't think we return to yesterday, where we were. I think if we're smart we achieve a new normal,' said Cuomo.
Students at Cleveland State planning to graduate next month received news worth celebrating this week. After hearing from the graduating class via student survey and discussing options with the college's Commencement Committee, the college has decided to move the previously postponed Spring 2020 graduation to a new date on the calendar. The commencement ceremony will now be held at the L. Quentin Lane Center on Friday, July 31, at 5:30 p.m.

According to Dr. Bill Seymour, Cleveland State president, the decision on what to do to honor the graduates was a scheduling priority. The college had originally wanted to plan a virtual commencement ceremony, but after hearing from a few soon-to-be graduates who did not like this idea, the college decided to survey all spring graduates to ask their opinions on a variety of alternatives for the traditional spring graduation. When the survey results were in, the majority favored a rescheduled ceremony for the end of the summer term. These results were then reviewed by the Commencement Committee.

The group identified the date of July 31 as our new preferred commencement date, said Dr. Seymour. The hope was by the end of July we would be past restrictions due to COVID-19. For graduates who plan to transfer, this date allows them to participate before they get started with their new college or university.

Lindsey Mowery, assistant registrar and graduation coordinator, said, I was hearing from graduates on a daily basis wanting to know what the college was going to do about the Spring Commencement Ceremony. I thought the survey was a good option to let the graduates feel included in the decision. They have all worked hard to earn their degree/certificate, and it was important for them to have a ceremony to celebrate this accomplishment with their families.

Cleveland State was one of the first schools to switch to online instruction allowing students to extend their Spring Break for two additional days and start back to school on Wednesday, March 18.

"Our faculty and staff did an exceptional job and were very quick making the conversion to fully online instruction, said Dr. Seymour. This was just another sign of the dedication and commitment of our employees to always take care of our students. Sure, there have been bumps in the road. Our students are facing many challenges in their lives in addition to college. We are trying to be as supportive and flexible as possible to help each student complete the semester successfully.



While approximately 95 percent of the colleges employees are working from home, CSCCs Campus Police / Security are continuing to function on campus, as well as the physical plant staff. While not direct employees of the college, the physical plant staff continue to take care of the campus at this time. The janitorial services have done extra work deep cleaning and sanitizing any and all high-traffic areas. In addition, in an effort to keep the safety and health of the students a top priority, a second step taken was the installation of hand sanitizers throughout Cleveland State.

According to Dr. Seymour, the CSCC Foundation has reactivated the Student Relief Fund originally created after the 2011 tornadoes. This fund provides emergency assistance for students experiencing financial hardships due to an unexpected crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond. During this current health crisis, student relief grants will help offset some expenses related to food, transportation, utilities, daycare or other financial needs.

Dr. Seymour continued, We are still looking for donors to help support students who have been adversely impacted by COVID-19, such as the loss of jobs.

When asked if he had any words of encouragement to share with upcoming graduates, Dr. Seymour said, Thank you for always letting us know what you think. This graduation is all about you and your accomplishments. Your faculty and staff look forward to celebrating with you. Finish cougar strong!

For more information on how to give to the CSCC Student Relief Fund, visit mycs.cc/studentrelief. To learn more about the latest Coronavirus-related updates impacting Cleveland State, contact CSCC Director of Communication and Marketing Don Foley at 473-2341 or email dfoley@clevelandstatecc.edu.
Exercises to Build a Big BackTotal Back Training Workout

Written by Ron Harris

09 April 2020

Exercises to Build a Big Back

Total Back Training Workout

By Ron Harris

We all start out lifting weights for bigger chests and arms, but eventually most of us move on to training the entire body with the goal of achieving a symmetrical physique that flows like a classic Greek sculpture. Even so, many trainers never quite bring the development of their backs into proportion with the rest of their body. Perhaps its because the back is behind us and thus difficult to see, or it could be that fostering a mind-muscle connection with the lats is more challenging than for muscle groups like the arms or chest. But make no mistake  no mans body is every truly complete unless he has a rugged, powerful back. Wide, thick lats stand out in any crowd, and mark you as real strong man. Why do you think the English language is peppered with phrases like put your back into it and back-breaking labor? If you dont have much muscle going on back there, its time you did something about it. Comprehensive training for the largest muscle structure of the upper body can be simply broken down into just a few areas. Choosing an exercise from each group will ensure maximum back development.

Vertical Pulling Movements

These include all types of pull-ups, cable pulldowns, and similar movements done on various machines. The toughest of all of these, without question, are pull-ups. It is much harder to pull your own bodyweight up to a bar than it is to pull the same amount of weight down from a cable pulley. Almost any 175-pound man can do sets of pulldowns with 180 pounds, but few can do three good sets of chins. The balancing and mechanics of pull-ups make them far more difficult, yet this also translates into better results in the growth and strengthening of the back. If you elect to do chins, make sure you do them right  almost no one does. You can use either a pronated grip with palms away from you and slightly wider than shoulder width, or a supinated grip with palms facing you and set at shoulder width or slightly narrower. Start from almost a dead hang, but do maintain a very slight bend in the arms. Do not relax the shoulders, as they could dislocate, especially if you are over 220 pounds. Next, pull smoothly up until your upper chest comes within an inch or two of the bar. Most guys dont go anywhere near that high up, and it shows in their weak backs. Hold the contraction for a second and then slowly lower, feeling the lats stretch. This is a far cry from the jerking style of chin-ups you see in Army boot camps and police academies, and if you can complete three sets of 10 reps like this, you are doing quite well. Once you can do that, start hanging weights from your waist to add extra resistance. If you cant do a single chin-up, it is acceptable to use the cable pulldown station or an assisted chinning machine to help develop your strength. But by all means, chin if you can.

Horizontal Pulling Movements

The second type of exercise you must do for your back is a horizontal pulling movement, more commonly known as a row. You can choose a barbell, a dumbbell, a T-bar, a seated cable row, or any one of many fine rowing machines made by companies like Hammer Strength, Cybex, Icarian, Paramount, Strive, and Flex. They are all essentially the same exercise, pulling resistance toward your body the way the poor old slaves had to pull the oars of ships back in the days of the Roman Empire. Focus on pulling the weight through your body, even though this wont actually happen, and squeeze the shoulder blades together at the end of each rep as you flex the lats. If you are using a barbell or a freestanding T-bar, take care to keep your torso locked in place during the set. Letting your body rock back and forth or jerk while youre pulling a couple hundred pounds is just not safe. You may selectively target either the lower lats by pulling the resistance into your belly button, or the upper lats and smaller muscles around the shoulder blades by pulling toward your top row of abs. In all rows, focus on driving the elbows as far back as possible for a full range of motion, and never bounce the weight out of the bottom position.

Deadlifts

Deadlifts are really the closest thing to a total-body exercise there is, as you are using the quads, hamstrings, glutes, lower back, lats, traps, biceps and rear delts to pull a bar off the floor and up into a standing position. Thus, most trainers can eventually work up to using a great deal of weight. A tough set of deadlifts will knock you on your ass like nothing else, and thousands of weight trainers over the years swear by its ability to pack meat on to the back. A more recent trend is to do deadlifts only from the knees up in a power rack, making the exercise more of a back movement and taking away most of the participation of the legs and glutes. Whichever method you choose, try to find someone well versed in proper form to teach you the correct technique.

Pullovers

The only way to isolate the lats without having to go through the weak link of the biceps is by performing pullovers. You may be familiar with the dumbbell version of these, which some lifters still do for their chests. A more effective option is to either use a machine or a high pulley cable station. Companies like Nautilus, Life Fitness and Hammer Strength all make excellent pullover machines, with roll bars and pads for the elbows so that you arent even tempted to cheat and use your arms. Pullovers are especially useful for those of you who find your biceps giving out before your lats on chins or rows. After a set of pullovers, jump right into the chin or row while your lats are temporarily fatigued and your biceps are at an advantage. They are also good to sandwich in between vertical and horizontal pulling movements to give your biceps a few minutes to recharge so they dont become a weak link.

The Traps and Lower Back

Finally, dont neglect the muscle groups at the top and bottom of your back, the traps and lower back. Well-developed traps are especially impressive and give the illusion of a thicker neck. Shrugs and upright rows will take care of the traps, and the lower back can best be worked with hyperextensions or good mornings. Nautilus also makes a very good lower back machine thats easy to use and has a pretty heavy weight stack for those who want lower backs forged of solid steel.

Top 5 Tips for Efficient Back Training

1. Never Round the Back

The lower back stabilizes your torso during most exercises, but attention must be given to maintaining a slight arch or concave shape to it at all times during your sets. The number one reason most lower back injuries happen is because trainers get sloppy and start rounding their lower backs, creating a convex shape in the lumbar spine. This puts the area in an overly vulnerable position where the muscles of the lower back and the disks between spinal segments are at high risk of injury. These types of injuries can often be debilitating to the point where even everyday tasks like putting on your own shoes and socks become impossible without excruciating pain. Dont round the lower back while training, ever!

2. Emphasize the Squeeze/Peak Contraction

Many lifters fail to reap substantial results with back training because they employ a ballistic style of executing repetitions, a continuous rapid motion with no pause at either the stretch or the contraction points of the rep. At this speed, momentum and other muscle groups rob the lats of the tension they need for adequate stimulation. Using too much weight is the usual reason this happens. If you suspect this may apply to you, try pausing for a full second to stretch the lats before the pull, then pull into a flex of the lats and hold another one-one-thousand count. Use no more than 60 percent of the weight you typically do. You may be surprised at how much better feeling in the lats and a subsequent pump that training in this style promotes. Never be afraid to lighten the weight if your form is less than optimal.

3. Dont Overtrain

The back is a complex structure that can be trained from various angles and with a wide selection of grips. Some rowing machines, for example, give you the option of three or four different hand positions. Its very easy to start doing more and more exercises and variations in a single workout. Before you know it, youre doing four sets of 10 different exercises and spending two hours training your back. Your enthusiasm in this case is commendable, but misguided. Too much training can cause so much muscular damage that even a full week may not be sufficient to allow for recovery before training it again. You could actually start losing size and strength in the lats. Its OK to employ a wide variety of exercises and grips, but dont try to do them all every time you train.

4. Stretch Between Sets

An easy way to enhance your flexibility and range of motion for the back is to stretch the lats between sets. Simply grab hold of any upright pole or part of a machine, then slowly rotate your body away from it while pulling on the immovable object. Stretch each side individually and hold the stretch for five seconds.

5. Consider Training Twice a Week

If your back is a real missing link in an otherwise complete physique, you may want to specialize on it for a period of two to four months by training it twice a week, say on a Mondays and Thursdays. However, you dont do the same movements both times. In the first workout of the week, try deadlifts and rows, then come back later in the week to do chins, pullovers and shrugs. The high workload for a brief time should shock your back into a new realm of size and shape.

Basic Back Routines

Routine A

Deadlifts

3 x 8-10

Chin-ups

3 x 8-10

Machine Rows

3 x 8-10

Dumbbell Shrugs

3 x 8-10

Routine B

Chin-ups

3 x 8-10

Barbell Rows

3 x 8-10

Machine Pullovers

3 x 8-10

Barbell Shrugs

3 x 8-10

Routine C

Dumbbell Rows

3 x 8-10

Cable Pulldowns

3 x 8-10

Cable Pullovers

3 x 8-10

Hyperextensions

3 x 12

Ron Harris got his start in the bodybuilding industry during the eight years he worked in Los Angeles as Associate Producer for ESPNs American Muscle Magazine show in the 1990s. Since 1992 he has published nearly 5,000 articles in bodybuilding and fitness magazines, making him the most prolific bodybuilding writer ever. Ron has been training since the age of 14 and competing as a bodybuilder since 1989. He lives with his wife and two children in the Boston area. Facebook Instagram

DISCUSS ON OUR FORUMS

SUBSCRIBE TO MD TODAY!

FOLLOW MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT ON:

FACEBOOK: MuscularDevelopment Magazine

TWITTER: @MuscularDevelop

INSTAGRAM: @MuscularDevelopment

YOUTUBE: http://bit.ly/2fvHgnZ
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is reportedly prepared to sell five players this summer as part of a complete overhaul of his squad.

According to Manchester Evening News, Solskjaer is looking to sell Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard, Andreas Pereira, Chris Smalling and Alexis Sanchez when the transfer window re-opens.

Solskjaer is looking to ensure that there is room in his squad to bring in new signings and Jones, who has made just two Premier League appearances this season, could be among those to depart.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could sanction the sales of five players

Centre back Phil Jones is one of the five players that could be sold by United this summer

Jesse Lingard has struggled to make an impact for United this season and could also be sold

Jones is one of the longest-serving players at United and in 2013 Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that the centre back could become one of the club's greatest ever stars.

However, he has often struggled for form and fitness and could see his time at the club come to an end in the coming months.

Lingard, meanwhile, has fallen down the pecking order at United and has often struggled to make an impact when he has been called upon, as evidenced by the fact that he has mustered just two goals in all competitions this season.

Andreas Pereira has also often been underwhelming and could be sold by Solskjaer this year

Chris Smalling has impressed on loan at Roma and could end up making a permanent switch

Alexis Sanchez is set to return from Inter Milan but could end up being sold this summer

HOW THE FIVE PLAYERS HAVE FARED FOR MANCHESTER UNITED Phil Jones: 224 appearances, six goals, ten assists Jesse Lingard: 202 appearances, 31 goals, 20 assists Andreas Pereira: 72 appearances, four goals, five assists Chris Smalling: 323 appearances, 18 goals, four assists Alexis Sanchez: 45 appearances, five goals, nine assists Advertisement

Andreas Pereira has made 37 appearances for United this season but, like Lingard, has frequently been underwhelming, and it wouldn't be a major surprise if the midfielder was to move on to pastures new.

Chris Smalling has enjoyed a new lease of life on loan at Roma and the centre back could end up joining the Serie A side on a permanent basis.

Alexis Sanchez is poised to return to United when his loan deal at Inter Milan expires at the end of June.

It is difficult to envisage the winger having a future at Old Trafford, though, and he could also leave, although his 400,000-a-week wages could be an obstacle to any potential transfer.

If United manage to sell the aforementioned players, the money raised could be used as part of a deal for Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho.

Leicester midfielder James Maddison has also been heavily linked with a move to United, along with Aston Villa star Jack Grealish.
Frankfurt, Germany

Governments from the 19 countries that use the euro agreed Thursday on a package of measures that could provide more than a half-trillion euros ($550 billion) for companies, workers and health systems to cushion the economic impact of the virus outbreak.

The deal struck Thursday did not, however, include more far-reaching cooperation in the form of shared borrowing guaranteed by all member countries, leaving the issue open as leaders look forward to a further discussion about a fund to support the economic recovery in the longer term.

Borrowing together to pay for the costs of the crisis was a key demand from Italy, whose already heavy debt load is expected to increase because of the recession caused by the virus outbreak. But it was rejected by Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

Mario Centeno, who heads the finance ministers' group from euro countries, called the package of measures agreed upon "totally unprecedented... Tonight Europe has shown it can deliver when the will is there."

The ministers agreed that hard-pressed governments such as Spain and Italy could quickly tap the eurozone's bailout fund for up to 240 billion euros ($260 billion), with the condition that the money is spent on their health care systems and the credit line expires after the outbreak is over.

The agreement also provides for up to 200 billion euros in credit guarantees through the European Investment Bank to keep companies afloat and 100 billion euros to make up lost wages for workers put on shorter hours.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Centeno said that countries would work on a recovery fund for the longer term and as part of that would discuss "innovative financial instruments, consistent with EU treaties." He said that some countries support shared borrowing and that others oppose it.

The deal overcame bitter disagreement between Italy and the Netherlands over the conditions for loans from the bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism. Italy had rejected the idea of using the fund because the money comes with tough conditions that recalled the austerity imposed on Greece, Ireland and other indebted countries bailed out in 2010-15.

The compromise struck in the final statement says that countries could borrow up to 2% of annual economic output at favorable rates to finance "direct or indirect" costs of the current health crisis. The question is whether the package will impress markets and prevent new government debt from triggering a new financial crisis.
[April 10, 2020] eClinicalWorks' healow Telehealth Usage Exceeds 1.5 Million Daily Minutes Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

eClinicalWorks, a leader in healthcare IT solutions, today announced healow Telehealth, the most widely used telehealth solution, has experienced an unprecedented increase in usage while physicians support the care of millions of Americans throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first 10 days of April, utilization has crossed 10 million minutes. From everyday ailments to life-saving diagnoses, patients are continuing to receive the care they deserve during a time when they are urged to stay home to help minimize the spread of the life-threatening disease. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005193/en/ (Graphic: Business Wire) eClinicalWorks' healow Telehealth solution features and capabilities are contributing to better decision-making and patient care with the following: Patients are encouraged to fill out questionnaires prior to the telehealth appointment tosupport a more productive visit;

In an effort to streamline the patient assessment, patients are able to enter their vitals via the healow platform prior to the visit;

The ability for patients to join the telehealth visit, without any download required, by smartphone, laptop or desktop via a link sent through text or email;

The capability for patients to connect to personal wearable devices (glucometers, weighing scales, blood pressure cuffs, etc.) with the healow app to share data with their provider in real-time.



Navani, CEO and co-founder, eClinicalWorks. "In these unprecedented times, we will continue to work with our healthcare providers to enable telehealth services to ensure patients have access to care anytime." The recent update from CMS regarding COVID-19 resources and modernized guidelines around telehealth during this time of mandated social and physical distancing, illustrates the essential need for telehealth technology, and how it is a game-changer towards a more lasting telehealth model in healthcare.

About eClinicalWorks eClinicalWorks is a privately held leader in healthcare IT solutions. With more than 130,000 physicians and nurse practitioners using its solutions, customers include ACOs, physician practices, hospitals, community health centers, departments of health, and convenient care clinics. During the past ten years, 19 eClinicalWorks customers have received the prestigious HIMSS Davies Award, honoring excellence in Electronic Health Record implementation. The company is second largest in the country for e-prescribing. Based in Westborough, Mass., eClinicalWorks has additional offices in Austin, New York City, Chicago, California, Georgia, London, India, and Dubai. For more information, please visit www.eclinicalworks.com, Facebook, Twitter or call 866-888-6929. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005193/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
"Even if we are now doing distance learning... you can still talk to me online," says the 42-year-old, standing in front of a white board.

Like in much of the world, educators in Syria are taking classes online after the country's various regions sent pupils home hoping to stem the COVID-19 pandemic.

But distance learning is no small feat in a country battered by nine years of war, where fighting has displaced millions and the electricity supply is sporadic at best.

Syria's last major rebel bastion of Idlib has not yet recorded any case of the virus.

But aid workers fear any outbreak would be catastrophic in the region, which is under a jihadist-dominated authority and home to at least three million people.

In the main city of Idlib, Dbeis points to a map of Syria she has drawn on the white board, her voice bouncing off the walls of the empty classroom.

Her school used to teach 1,000 girls before it closed last month, she says, but now only 650 have continued learning online as the others have no access to a smartphone or laptop.

Even those with the right equipment face difficulties, says the teacher, who uses WhatsApp to send her students videos.

"Most students don't have constant access to the internet," she says.

And during long power cuts, she adds, they "are not able to charge their phones".

- 'Anything not to miss out' -

At home elsewhere in Idlib city, Nour Sermini spends her days with her eyes riveted on her mobile phone screen, books and notes scattered around her on her bed.

Switching from one WhatsApp group to another, the 17-year-old checks in with her various teachers.

"We'll do anything not to miss out on our education," she says.

The deadly virus is just the latest of many obstacles to learning in Idlib, she says, after years of air strikes on the surrounding region by Damascus and its ally Russia.

"The bombs didn't manage to stop us from learning," and neither will the virus, she says.

Since March, a fragile truce has held in northwest Syria.

But months of bombardment before that disrupted the education of some 280,000 children, the UN Children's Fund says.

Across the Idlib region, more than half of the 1,062 schools are now damaged, destroyed or in areas too dangerous for children to reach, according to Save the Children.

Displaced from their homes in the rounds of violence, hundreds of thousands of children live in overcrowded camps or temporary shelters, with little to no water or electricity.

In one of these camps, in the village of Kafr Yahmoul, Ahmed Rateb has just finished recording a maths class in a tent.

"We're trying as much as possible not to deprive the kids of an education," says the 29-year-old teacher, who sends along his tutorials on Telegram and WhatsApp.

But some are now unable to follow for lack of a smart screen as well as long blackouts inside the camp, he admits.

'Sufficient power and internet?' -

As the civil war enters its tenth year, the Damascus regime controls around 70 percent of Syrian territory after successive victories against jihadists and rebels.

In these territories too, where Damascus has announced 19 cases of COVID-19 including two deaths, schools have closed their gates.

To make up for lost time, the education ministry has started beaming Arabic, English and science classes into homes via a special television channel.

But there too, power cuts can last up to 14 hours a day, and the government caps the size of internet bundles allowed for each family.

In the northeast of the country, the semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities are looking to launch distance learning within days, education official Nureddin Mohammad says.

No case of the novel coronavirus has yet been announced in the region, where medical supplies are limited and there are no tests.

Teachers are filming classes to be broadcast on local television channels and on Youtube, and teachers will keep in touch with pupils via WhatsApp, he tells AFP.

Bandar Ismail, a 35-year-old father of three, says he cannot wait for the first episodes.

But he wonders whether the authorities will be "able to ensure sufficient power and internet for the project to succeed".

Kurdish language teacher Hayat Abbas, meanwhile, says she already misses teaching students in person.

In distance learning, "it's just a half-an-hour lecture or less, and we try to explain as much as possible," the 43-year-old says.

"But you can't answer pupils' questions."
Lead casting has been revealed for Frozen in the West End.

Joining the previously announced Samantha Barks as Elsa in the show will be Stephanie McKeon as Anna.

Frozen, which has music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and book by Jennifer Lee, opened on Broadway in March 2018 and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical.

It follows Elsa, who is gifted with ice-manipulating powers, and her relationship with her sister Anna as they try to run a nation.

The show is based on the highest-grossing animated film of all time, which was released in 2013 and won two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. The sequel  Frozen 2  was released last autumn.

McKeon's credits include Close to You  Bacharach Reimagined, The Commitments and Beautiful. Further casting is to be announced.

The theatre production is due to open in the West End on 30 October 2020 and will be directed by Michael Grandage with choreography by Rob Ashford, set and costume design by Christopher Oram, lighting design by Neil Austin, sound design by Peter Hylenski, video design by Finn Ross, puppet design by Michael Curry and musical supervision and arrangements by Stephen Oremus.

The production has also extended its run, and is now booking until May 2021. In addition to its West End transfer, the show has recently gone on tour around North America and further productions are set to play in Australia, Japan and Hamburg.

Grandage said: " Frozen tells the story of two extraordinary women and we're thrilled to have found Samantha and Stephanie who will bring their incredible talent to the roles of Elsa and Anna, allowing us to create a production of Frozen especially for London. Now more than ever, we're looking forward to the day we can all get together in a rehearsal room to bring their story to the stage."

The London transfer will open the newly revamped Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, which is currently undergoing a 60 million restoration project and has been dark since 5 January 2019 after the closing of 42nd Street.
Over 130 cases were registered against people for stepping out of their houses without wearing masks to guard themselves against coronavirus in the national capital, police said on Friday.

According to the police, a total of 137 cases were registered under section 188 of the IPC.

Among the 137, 32 cases were registered in Delhi's northwest district, 23 in south district, 20 in north district, 14 in outer district and 14 in the Shahdara district, police said.

Face masks have become mandatory for people stepping out of their homes in Delhi.

In south district, a case was registered at the Mehrauli police station for violation of directives issued by the police against gathering of people during Shab-e-barat amid the lockdown imposed to control the spread of coronavirus.

Police also said around 240 people were detained on the apprehension that they may cause trouble during Shab-e-barat but were later released.

Shab-e-Barat, also known as the night of forgiveness, was observed on April 8.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As more offenders win reduced sentences in the wake of COVID-19, one Winnipeg thief learned Wednesday the pandemic is no get-out-of-jail-free card.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As more offenders win reduced sentences in the wake of COVID-19, one Winnipeg thief learned Wednesday the pandemic is no "get-out-of-jail-free" card.

Michael Prince appeared in court hoping to be sentenced to time served for a serious of brazen thefts at Home Depot and Shoppers Drug Mart; instead, provincial court Judge Murray Thompson sent him back to his cell to serve another six months of a one year jail sentence.

"The courts and Crowns certainly have a heightened awareness of the dangers of COVID-19 in terms of the prison population, but at the same time, the rules with respect to sentencing are still in place," Thompson said.

"Where appropriate, for the appropriate candidate and for the appropriate property crimes, court may consider time in custody," he said. "This is not one of those cases."

Crown attorney Paul Cooper likened Princes crimes to last years wave of liquor store thefts that prompted a public outcry and an overhaul to security measures at the provinces liquor marts.

Major retail chains in the city "are seeing an incredible upswing in this sort of behaviour... to the point even additional security isnt doing anything to dissuade or deter any of these individuals," Cooper said. "They know walking in they will not be interfered with, they know walking in they can grab what they want and go, and their methods become more and more brazen."

Prince, 31, pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and one count of possession of a stolen vehicle for a series of offences between October and December.

Court heard Prince visited a Shoppers Drug Mart on Main Street the afternoon of Oct. 4 when he loaded a shopping basket with nearly $700 worth of feminine skin-care products and perfumes before walking past the cashier and out of the store.

Ten days later, Prince was at a Home Depot on Leila Avenue where he stuffed nearly $1,000 worth of tools into a cloth bag and walked out the contractors entrance without paying. Police at the store for an unrelated complaint arrested Prince and took him into custody.

Free on bail, Prince returned to the same Shoppers Drug Mart three weeks later and walked out with a staff members iPad and hundreds of dollars in skin care products and DVDs.

Police arrested Prince again that same day, and again he was released on bail.

Prince targeted a Home Depot on Empress Street next, walking out Dec. 10 with $600 worth of power tools.

"These arent even shoplifting, in the classical sense," Cooper said. "This is simply looting."

Police arrested Prince for a final time Christmas Day in possession of a stolen car.

In an effort to reduce the risk of the novel coronavirus spreading to the provinces already overcrowded jails, justice officials have moved in recent weeks to speed the release of offenders deemed not to be a danger to the community.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Prince's crimes were motivated by a substance abuse problem, said defence lawyer Kathy Bueti, who urged Thompson to conclude conditions in the provinces jails amounted to "harsh and unusual circumstances" that justified sentencing Prince to time served.

Bueti said the only reliable information defence lawyers are receiving about conditions in the jails is coming from their clients.

"We still have individuals in cells with four or five others  That is not social distancing," she said. "We have seen Crowns significantly cutting (sentencing) positions, sometimes to half of what they were seeking, because of these conditions."

Cooper argued Prince's "escalating" pattern of offending and seeming inability to follow court orders made him a danger to the community.

"There are great lengths being taken... to identify individuals who do not need to be in custody while the pandemic is in place," he said. "Mr. Prince does not fall into that category."

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
New Delhi, April 10 : With domestic pharmaceutical majors ramping up their capacity to monthly churn out around 25-30 crore anti-malaria pills --Hydroxychloroquine, India can easily manage to export the drug and maintain robust domestic stocks as well, industry insiders and experts said.

At present, the drug is being aggressively pitched as the best option to fight the Covid-19 infection. However, no large-scale trials have taken place to prove such claims yet.

Nevertheless, world leaders like US President Donald Trump have become ardent advocates of the drug.

India, thus, has become the world's focus for being the largest producer of the drug and the manufacturing numbers are just staggering. Some industry estimates show that India can produce around 30 crore doses of the medicine per month, while the domestic requirement will not exceed 10 crore pills.

Consequently, both the US and Brazil have requested the Centre to allow exports of the drug, with the Brazilian side going as far as to compare the drug to 'Sanjivani', a mythical herb which was referred to in the epic Ramayana.

India has now allowed the drug to be shipped out, but on a case-to-case basis, making the product as vital as adhesive tape or aspirin of the present time, not to mention that it was developed during World War-II.

Pharma major IPCA Laboratories' Joint Managing Director Ajit Kumar Jain said: "We are currently producing 10 crore Hydroxychloroquine pills per month. We plan to increase the production to 13 crore pills by June." "We have already supplied the Central and the state governments with 4 crore pills and there are still pending orders with us which we will easily fulfil. There will not be any domestic shortage of the medicine from our side. Exports to the US will start some time after addressing the supply chain." According to Sudhir Kalhan, Chairman, Institute of Minimal Access Metabolic Bariatric Surgery, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital: "India at present has enough stock of this medicine and can even afford to export some of it to the countries which have been heavily impacted by Covid-19." "At present, only healthcare workers would require this drug to deal with the initial signs of being infected with Covid-19," Kalhan who is also the Chairman of industry body Assocham''s National Council on Healthcare said.

On March 25, India had banned the export of Hydroxychloroquine. However, on April 6, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notified lifting ofrestrictions on 14 drugs, including Hydroxychloroquine.

"The ban earlier imposed was based on emergency situation and in absence of proper assessment of requirements within the country vis-a-vis capacity," said Shirish Ghoge, an independent industry expert and a former senior director with Abbott and Sanofi.

"Two factors weighed in favour of bringing Hydroxychloroquine tablets from the banned to the restricted category. There were assessments of realistic requirements for local consumption and the capacities with the Indian companies like IPCA and Zydus Cadila which can produce over 10 crore tablets per month," Ghoge added.

"As a result, a very wise and rational decision has been taken by the Indian government in allowing measured quantities of export of Hydroxychloroquine tablets and we should compliment them for earning goodwill from the US government which will further improve the trade relations between the two countries," he said.

Pharma industry expert Aamit Khanna said: "India has enough stocks of Hydroxychloroquine despite the Indian government lifting the ban in order tosupport its relationship with the US and Brazil. India has stood strongly for human interest and supported the global fight against the Covid19 crisis.

"Indian pharma companies currently can boost production capacity by 5-6 times to 70 MT per month, totalling to 35 crore tablets every month. India needs to have 10 crore tablets in stock for its domestic consumption." However, Anil Tiwari of Fenesta Healthcare LLP said: "Even though India needs a lesser quantity of anti-malarial drug in comparison to countries in the African continent, and Indian manufacturers are well equipped to fully fill the domestic demand, the real hurdle will be faced to source raw materials to manufacture the drug." In addition to the goodwill generated towards India, many industry insiders feel that the move will also help them build brand reputations in the US andother key markets.

They said that this opportunity can be used to project India as not just generic drugs major, but also as a powerhouse of medicine production.

(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in)
The Management of Ikeja Electric Plc wishes to state that it fully supports the ongoing efforts of the National Assembly, in collaboration with the Federal Government, to consider a proposal on the possibility of providing free electricity for two months as part of COVID-19 palliative for customers, the company said in a statement.
Kapil Wadhawan

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Not long ago, the Wadhawans  Kapil and Dheeraj  promoters of the crisis-hit DHFL embodied success and were perfect role models for young aspirants of aggressive entrepreneurship. DHFL was a name to reckon with in India's mortgage lending business.

Bu then, what a difference a few months can make. The fall of the brothers was as steep as it was sudden. The Wadhawans are now the central figures in a raft of investigations into cases of skulduggery at DHFL and Yes Bank. Investigating agencies also accuse them of underworld links with respect to certain real estate transactions.

Yet, none of these seemingly worrisome charges have dented their immense political clout. What else would explain them managing to get a letter from a top bureaucrat in Maharashtra to go on a family holiday to a prominent tourist spot in the middle of a lockdown on the alleged pretension of 'family emergency'  all this when they are under the radar of multiple investigative agencies?

Also Read: Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan detained in Mahabaleshwar for violating Section 144

The irony is stark because the Wadhawans were skipping summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) citing the COVID-19 outbreak.

Always in the headlines (for the wrong reasons)

The Wadhawans continue to embody the rich crony capitalist  typical in Bollywood flicks. Compare this with the case of a common man who is at the wrong side of the law, say for defaulting a business loan.

The fall of Kapil Wadhawan, whose family built one of the most fascinating mortgage businesses in India, came much quicker than his rise. Even if one sets aside the criminal element to the story, DHFL's collapse is an important case study on how promoters can destroy even successful businesses by growing too big and too fast.

"An NBFC is always at the mercy of its financiers. It needs to be careful at all times. Somewhere, DHFL forgot this cardinal rule," said a senior analyst who has been tracking the firm for years. For almost two decades, DHFL was an enviable story in Indias booming housing finance space. With total assets under management of over a trillion rupees, and an aggressive approach to the fast-growing affordable housing market, DHFL was able to stand apart from the new crop of competitors, and even some of the established ones.

Banks and investors once queued up before the Wadhawans' office for business. The firm's shares hit a peak of Rs 690 on September 3, 2018 valuing it higher than some of the competing full-fledged banks. Kapil, who nearly two decades ago inherited the legacy of the firm - set up by his father Rajesh Wadhawan back in 1984 - was a sought-after man in Mumbai's financial world.

How the cookie crumbled

All of it collapsed like a pack of cards. The first shock came in September 2018 when DHFL plunged into a deep liquidity crisis and began defaulting to investors. But that was only one side of the story. Not long after that, stories of the Wadhawans sailing to the forbidden waters flirting with Mumbais underworld surfaced.

"When I took up my first day, it was like being put into the deep sea with no land in sight, but when I look back, the last 20 years have not only been challenging but also satisfying," Kapil Wadhawan had told The Economic Times in an interaction just the month before the shares hit the peak. It was probably the last time Wadhawan grabbed the headlines for the right reasons.

DHFL's liquidity crunch triggered fresh defaults and panic in markets. As in the case of any housing finance company, the biggest funding sources of DHFL were banks and mutual funds. Both began to shut doors to DHFL one by one in the following weeks. Rating agencies flashed warning signals to investors, adding to their woes.

The IL&FS crisis, which occurred following years of mismanagement and dangerous over-leveraging by the Wadhawans, weighed down DHFL heavily. When the mess deepened, the RBI finally superseded the board on November 20, 2019, and later pushed the firm to the NCLT for insolvency resolution ten days later. The company was admitted for IBC proceedings on 3 December and the writing was on the wall for them.

Iqbal Mirchi link

But DHFL's misery wasn't confined to its financial situation. There was more than meets the eye. The Wadhawans -- Kapil and his brother Dheeraj -- were allegedly engaged in a web of unlawful transactions involving the underworld.

According to the ED, the Wadhawans had real estate dealings with gangster Dawood Ibrahim's aide and drug trafficker Iqbal Mirchi, whom they allegedly met in London.

Kapil allegedly created a string of shell companies to facilitate illicit financial transactions and purchase prime real estate properties belonging to Mirchis family in Mumbais Worli area. The Wadhawans also routed money from DHFL to the shell companies in which Kapil Wadhawan had shares. DHFL, at one stage, was used like a piggy bank by the Wadhawans, who had unquestionable control over it.

The fate of DHFL is now up to the bankruptcy court. With its share price nosediving to Rs 15 apiece, the market capitalisation of DHFL is just about Rs 470 crore, making it an easy buy for any prospective bidder.

But the question is if even that price is worth taking over the mess. With a total debt of Rs 80,000 crore and half of it to commercial lenders, banks are a worried lot and, sure, wouldnt be mute spectators as the process progresses.

The total collateral that banks can claim from DHFL is worth only a few billion rupees against a debt of Rs 40,000 crore. Whoever buys DHFL, if it comes to that, will have to have a deep pocket to set the course of the ship in rough waters. For the second time in his life, Kapil Wadhawan has been pushed into the deep sea with no land in sight.
Local churches are continuing to offer services to their congregants via alternative service options. Some have taken to online streaming, others are offering services hosted in the parking lots of churches and others have been called off completely for the time being.

Here's a list of where and when they're hosting services. Included in the list are some of the special Easter service updates.
US Defence Secretary Mark Esper has said he is open to reinstating the Navy captain removed from his post last week after asking for help with a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship.

Captain Brett Crozier was relieved from his post as commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt after sending a letter to Mr Esper pleading for help with an outbreak on the aircraft carrier. That letter was leaked to the media leading to his dismissal.

We've taken nothing off the table, Mr Esper told CBS News on Friday morning. My inclination is always to support the chain of command, and to take the recommendations seriously.

Mr Esper said that no further action will be taken against Captain Crozier until an investigation is completed.

CBS News's Gayle King asked if is ever OK to break the chain of command or protocol in cases where lives are in danger.

Following the chain of command and maintaining operational security is very important in the military. There are always extreme cases where going outside of the chain of command makes sense, and that's why we want to see where this investigation leads, Mr Esper replied.

The last time I spoke to the chief of naval operations, we have over 90 ships at sea right now, and none of them have any problems, there are no infected crews, so I'm confident that the navy is taking prudent steps to maintain the health of our sailors and ensure our warships are ready to go.

Since Captain Crozier's letter was leaked, the Roosevelt docked in Guam and sailors are being rotated off the ship into quarantine. As he left the ship he was cheered by those onboard who chanted his name.

The acting Navy secretary, Thomas Modly, has since been forced to resign after comments he made about Captain Crozier's actions came to light. Mr Modly referred to him as stupid and naive.

More than 400 of the 4,800 crew, reportedly including Captain Crozier, have tested positive for Covid-19.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 10, 2020 - 06:38 | All, World, Coronavirus

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday convened its first meeting to discuss responses to the coronavirus pandemic as the United States and China remain at odds over the naming of the virus.

The informal videoconference, held at the request of nine non-permanent Security Council members, became a closed-door session according to China's preference.

Some members of the Security Council had hoped to hold a meeting on the pandemic earlier, but it was delayed due to a row between the world's two largest economies over U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated use of the phrase "Chinese virus."

Trump has defended his phrasing regarding the virus as the outbreak was first reported in China, while Beijing has strongly opposed the naming.

According to a conference source, participants on the Security Council are likely to have discussed how the coronavirus will impact peacekeeping missions and people in conflict-affected areas.
(Natural News) If symptoms lead you to get a coronavirus test and it comes back negative, youre in the clear, right?

While wed all like to believe that is the case, some experts are casting doubt on the processes used to collect samples, saying that there could be a lot of false negatives as a result.

The RT-polymerase chain reaction detection is considered the gold standard for testing. However, it can give people a negative result despite actually having the disease if the sample isnt taken correctly. Although coronavirus forms in the lungs, it can sometimes sit inside a cavity between a persons nose and throat where swabs cannot reach.

On top of that, hospitals and drive-through testing sites are seeing so many patients these days that healthcare workers may not be able to spend the amount of time needed to get each individual sample properly.

Moreover, the rush of tests can sometimes mean samples arent being stored properly and kept at the appropriate temperatures, which can cause them to degrade before they have a chance to get tested.

Timing can also come into play. If a test is carried out too early or even too late, the virus might not be detected. When the sample is collected too early, there might not yet be enough of the virus for the swab to pick up its particles. When its taken too late, on the other hand, the virus levels may be on their way down, which means not enough may be left to be detected.

The test, which experts claim is very good when performed correctly, uses a long swab to enter a persons nose and take samples from the upper part of their throat. But for some people, the virus could be sitting in the nasopharynx, which is situated between the nose and the throat  and its a place swabs simply cannot reach.

The growing number of false negatives with swab tests has some doctors calling for chest CT scans to replace them as the go-to way to determine if someone is infected. In these images, fluid can be seen in the lungs in those with the virus. It often appears as white patches in the lower corners of a patients lungs. Similar abnormalities could be seen in people with SARS and MERS.

How many people could be spreading coronavirus unwittingly after testing negative?

Although its not known how many tests are actually producing false negatives, one of the biggest manufacturers of tests in the country, Roche, has said their coronavirus tests have a sensitivity of 95 percent. This may sound high on the surface, but it still means that it could miss around 5 percent of infected people.

Yale University medicine professor Dr. Harlan Krumholz wrote in the New York Times that research from China shows a false negative rate of around 30 percent. He stated that some lab medicine experts he knows are concerned that the rate in the U.S. could be even higher than that.

This is why many medical experts are advising people who test negative for COVID-19 but have symptoms that are consistent with the disease to continue to quarantine until their symptoms go away and consider getting retested. And many patients with these symptoms are being given the same treatment they would had they tested positive, just to be on the safe side.

It seems like every day we learn more about the ways this disease is so dangerous. It remains absolutely essential to keep your distance from others, symptoms or not, and wash your hands and surfaces frequently. Even if youve tested negative for the disease with a swab test, you could be putting others at risk.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

ABCNews.go.com
Memphis-style fried chicken has arrived in Oakland.

Guss World Famous Fried Chicken, a small Tennessee chain, opened its first Bay Area location this month. The restaurant in downtown Oakland is offering delivery and takeout with a focus on crunchy, spicy fried chicken.

There are about 30 locations of Guss in the country, including four in Southern California owned by Raehan Qureshi. Qureshi first brought Guss to California in 2016 and knew pretty much right away hed want to expand to the Bay Area. A year ago, he signed a lease in Oakland, transforming a former Foot Locker into a 2,400-square-foot restaurant with about 50 seats.

The restaurant was ready to open leading up to the coronavirus crisis in the Bay Area, with longtime Guss employees moving up from Los Angeles.

While it may end up costing us more to operate the restaurant in the current environment than to remain closed, I was unwilling to tell those team members that we dont have a position for them right after they made the sacrifice to relocate, Qureshi said.

Guss World Famous Fried Chicken

Before operating Guss locations, Qureshi invested in restaurants on behalf of a firm. He wanted to venture off and get into the restaurant business himself, and zeroed in on Guss from afar. When he flew out to Memphis, he fell in love with the chicken.

Guss specializes in Memphis-style fried chicken, a departure from the states more famous Nashville hot chicken. Nashville hot chicken is traditionally made with a dry coating of spices at levels that can cause serious gastrointestinal distress. Memphis-style chicken, meanwhile, uses a spiced wet batter.

When the chicken sits in the batter, the spices from the batter seep into the chicken, which gives not only the outer layer but the actual chicken a nice kick, Qureshi said.

The restaurant offers its bone-in chicken in one spice level, which Qureshi rates as a 7 out of 10 in terms of heat.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

I think almost everybody would notice theres some kick and very few people would think its not bearable, he said.

Chicken plates start at $14.49, which includes a chicken thigh and leg plus baked beans and slaw. The restaurant also serves classic sides such as macaroni and cheese and slices of homemade chess pie. During the coronavirus, Guss will also give children 18 and younger a free meal to assist families that typically rely on schools to provide lunch  no proof of need is required.

Eventually, Qureshi would like to open another location in the Bay Area, but its hard to plan anything for sure right now.

More Information Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken. Noon-8 p.m. daily. 1430 Broadway, Oakland. http://gusfriedchicken.com See More Collapse

At this point, he said, were just sort of blocking and tackling and waiting for the world to go back to normal.

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
In years past, diseases engendered by microscopic organisms have taken their toll on this perpetually mutant human species. Like the event of 9/11 and its subsequent effect on policies and heightened security around the world, history is littered with many such adversities that have woken up the genius in mankind in no small measure, shaping the world we live in today.

Scientists all over that world are in a race against time to provide man with a vaccine for COVID-19. It is prudent we know that the death counts shouldnt be the only element associated with a pandemic.

To the economists, the most calamitous effect of a pandemic should or, dare we say, with more facts to back our assertions, is the plummeting of the economies of the nations and to a larger extent, the globe as a whole. However, another school of thought will attempt to trigger a shift in the paradigm of pandemics and their popular negative effects.Attempts to make known the unpopular positive effects of a pandemic is mostly proven futile.

However, it is expedient that we discuss the negative and positive effects of a pandemic on the economy. This article focuses on Ghana; a promising prospect in the world of economics and the effects of the pandemic on its promised economic growth.

First, a radical revolution with regard to the processes of teaching and learning is to be expected post this pandemic. The world is leaving Africa behind when it comes to innovation pertinent to formal education and its associated pedagogies. We have been hit the hardest. If Dr. Dennis Caroll, director of the U.S. Agency for International Developments Program ever was in search of a premise to back his famous quote that says, the biggest driver of the economics of pandemics is not mortality or morbidity but risk aversion, then he needs not to look any further. We strongly believe he has serendipitously found one in this era of COVID-19 madness. The pandemic is an economic shock.

In effect, it leads to the plunging of the aggregate demand in the country. All spheres contributing to the Aggregate Demand and GDP growth are affected immensely. Consumer spending, investment, government spending, and net export have all taken a beating. Back to Dr. Dennis famous quote and its relationship with education, all schools have been temporarily shut down in the country in a bid to flatten the exponential curve of this pandemic.

Wed all agree to some extent that these Schools have been shut not because cases of COVID-19 have been recorded but in order to minimize the danger associated with assembling of people at one particular place and prevent people from coming into contact with asymptomatic carriers of the virus. In summary, social distancing has been the paramount reason for the closure of schools.

If it is an inherent character of a man to be risk-averse, then in the event of any pandemic, formal education in our part of the world shall continue to be affected immensely. However, as the popular aphorism by Tom Frester goes, innovation is taking two things that exist and putting them together in a new way. Humans, therefore, are tasked to always find ways to adapt in all situations we find ourselves in. Since a new world awaits us post the pandemic, we may be denied the keys to the lock of this new world if we seek entry into the new world with the already collapsing system of education here in Ghana and Africa as a whole.

The onus falls on us as Millenials to fuse technology into education henceforth, which will in effect, smooth-sail the teaching and learning journey post the pandemic. The advent of EdTech in Ghana will seek to seal the gaping holes present in our education system. The Government of Ghana stands to benefit the greatest if this initiative is greeted with unprecedented enthusiasm. Do you know what the discovery and manufacture of the COVID-19 vaccine by Ghanaian researchers would do for the economy of the nation?

Do that math as we ship out billions of vaccine drugs to all nations across the globe. The fusion of technology into education here in Ghana shall in a few years breed tech-savvy learners. The use of zoom and other learning platform has seen an increase in usage here in Ghana and all over the globe. However, the question that begs to be asked; is the Ghanaian learner, from the basic school to the tertiary level savvy enough with regard to technology in order to facilitate the learning process?

The choice is ours to wail over the calamity befallen us or look closely, read between the lines and fish out the implicit gift this pandemic has gifted us. In our bid to booster economic growth and productivity, let us not lose sight of the fact that education is the propeller of this giant ship. William Brady uses a few words to create the undeniable link between education and economic growth; what is the Calculus of innovation? The Calculus of innovation is really quite simple; knowledge drives innovation, innovation drives productivity, productivity drives economic growth.

Second, the lockdown of countries has positively affected the environment greatly, even so, aiding the immune system to slow down respiratory symptoms. Men do not live in isolation, rather, in an ecosystem. Our existence is supported by biotic and abiotic factors that determine the quality of life as an environmental bioassay would have it. Economically there are environmental positive short-run effects from the lockdown that needs attention. According to satelite images from NASA, ESA/Copernicus, nitrogen dioxide levels in the atmosphere has drastically reduced globally in these few weeks. Also known as NO 2, this gas gets into the air primarily from the burning of fuel, formed from emissions of cars, trucks and other industrial activities.

The less to almost no vehicular movement and shutdown of industrial supply around the world have drastically improved external air quality that is good for the ecosystem. Breathing air with a high concentration of NO 2 can irritate airways in the human respiratory system. Such exposures over short periods can aggravate respiratory diseases leading to respiratory symptoms which is an immense symptom of COVID-19.

In Ghana where most homes are not fitted with mechanised cooling systems, many depend on external air to cool their rooms thus making way for fresh air. As Ghana and the world continue to do mass contact tracing and further testing of COVID-19 cases, air-quality is a great support to the effort of the health system as ventilators and ICUs are becoming scarce. Due to enhanced air-qaulity, COVID-19 patients that are yet to be located will not have externally influenced respiratory symptoms other than the virus.

The few ventilators will be saved for critical cases, thus, reducing the stress on the health system. To have a continous reduction in these gases that risk quality of life, COVID-19 has thought us that, the world needs to radically implement the policies that will protect the ecosystem.

Furthermore, with COVID-19 cases growing at an exponential rate globally, business owners and stakeholders are slapped with the reality of an economic shock impact and are left to scramble to deal with a variety of problems from slumping sales, stalling of supply chains, employees health, and wages, and also making sure their businesses can survive this crisis and continue working even though some economists believe that a recession is inevitable. The private sector is mostly to be hit by this pandemic.

Taking on the supply chain, most businesses have been amazed and realized how vulnerable they are to supply chain interruptions and how dangerously dependent they are to one source of material supply or finished products. Businesses that have most part of their operations directly relied on China must explore the possibility of how to diversify their risks and develop supply alternatives including domestic sourcing as a way of future-proofing their businesses and ensuring survival after this pandemic.

Traditional retail business owners rarely survive in this type of disruption as we will emerge in a very different world from the one we lived prior to the outbreak. There are no doubts future-proofing businesses will involve how business owners can leverage the power of technology and shift the paradigm to an omnichannel business strategy to captivate customers in both online and physical retailing.

Business and technology will be redefined, even before the pandemic, the most profound behavioral change in commerce was the shift to digital shopping, The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly accelerating the transition to digital commerce. As consumers are being asked to practice social distancing, e-commerce orders for groceries and other essentials have taken a significant shift from traditional retail outlets towards digital sales. There will be a need to incorporate technology into all forms of business establishment.

Faced with this new reality, consumers are likely to be more comfortable shopping online and thus spell a new dawn of retail disruption in Ghana. After COVID-19, businesses that want to remain competitive must figure ways to have online services if they want to remain relevant. Its of no doubt that, to survive through pandemics, businesses need to future proof their business strategies.

When tragedy strikes, we must accept the situation, evolve, embrace and adapt to changes and improve on business strategies by thinking into the future and making provisions for it. COVID 19 economic crisis is another opportunity to revolutionize business management and enhance strategies by leveraging technology. We, therefore, suggest that the government should have technology incubators where tech ideas are locally developed for our local consumption. Technology is an enabler and also a shifter in market forces, hence increase aggregate supply due to enhanced ways of production. The long-run effect of technology will increase our total output as a nation.

Also, In the event of a global pandemic like the COVID-19 where there is a significant halt in production of all kinds, it is the country with enough food to sustain its citizens that comes out less scathed, free of potential looting. If the aggregate food supply does not meet the aggregate food demand, looting will be the only resolution of the less privileged due to their buying ability. In a country like Ghana, it will be at the height of wishful thinking to think that we will be able to sustain our nutritional needs should this pandemic exceed a year.

A country's level of food import compared to its local food production to an extent gives us a clear idea of whether it is food sufficient in the eventuality of a collapse in global trade during a pandemic. The uncertain projections of COVID-19 will eventually influence nations to become inward-looking that will churn protectionist policies in regard to its food.

Ghana spends about 2.4 billion USD each year on food imports in the area of rice, sugar, sorghum, chicken, frozen meat and vegetables. This figure far exceeds the amount we make as a country from food export ( our exports are mainly in cocoa which is not a staple). This trend over the years gives the indication that there is a cumulative deficit in food production, which in the face of a pandemic is scary. Ghana s agricultural contribution to GDP has been wobbly and has been on a sturdy decline since 2009 with its share of national economic output measures by GDP dropping from 31.8 percent to 18.3 percent in 2017.

From 7.2 percent in 2009, growth decline to 0.8 percent in 2011 before climbing up to 2.3 percent in 2017. In 2016, the agric sector grew by 3 percent but rebounded to 8.4 percent in 2017( at the back of strong growth in the cocoa and fishing sector). For a country like Ghana which is supposed to have a comparative advantage in agriculture, this is indeed not encouraging. These figures, assuming we don't export won't be able to sustain the nutritional needs of the country population especially in times of a pandemic where every country will take the path to self-preservation guarding jealously its food.

Moreover, though we produce little, our food stock and its contribution to cutting down import and its contribution to GDP would have been better considering the amount of food that is left to rot due to factors such as bad roads and the inability to process most of our food.

According to USDA, food partially processed in Ghana is 9 percent whereas food fully processed in Ghana stands at 8 percent. If only we could adopt the method of processing our food, it will do us a great deal to cut down the waste which is mostly not accounted for. It is only good that we take deliberate steps on the back of these figures in terms of food production to take concrete steps to ensure food security at all times. The planting for food and jobs is a laudable policy that should go beyond a particular party's property to being a national policy with massive investments.

In conclusion, whereas pundits predict an inevitable recession, possibly in emerging markets too, it is glaring that the demand effects are probably much larger than the initial supply shock. Even though we are not privy of the shock geometry since we are still challenged, Ghana needs to be gathering intelligent data that will influence policies to post COVID-19. As pandemics are inevitable, we should be in a better position the next time we are consumed by it.

This article is jointly written by; Arafat Sapaka, Nicholas Solomon, Derek Osei, Johnson Kefome and Brown Opare who are all students of GIMPA. Email: [email protected]
Italy has continued to show signs its coronavirus lockdown is working as the number of new deaths and infections both fell today.

The number of fatalities recorded on Friday was 570, down from 610 the previous day, while the number of new cases slowed to 3,951 from 4,204 the day before.

The latest tallies broadly confirm what experts describe as a plateau of new cases and deaths, which are no longer accelerating but are still not falling steeply.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on February 21 rose to 18,849, the Civil Protection Agency said, the highest in the world. The number of officially confirmed cases climbed to 147,577, the third highest global tally behind those of the United States and Spain.

A doctor from the Bassini Hospital making a test tube for a COVID-19 test swab yesterday in Milan. There have been well over 100,000 reported COVID-19 cases in Italy

ITALY TO EXTEND LOCKDOWN INTO MAY The Italian government is planning to extend its lockdown to contain the country's COVID-19 outbreak until May 3, two trade union sources told Reuters on Thursday after meeting ministers. The lockdown, closing most Italian businesses and preventing people leaving their homes for all but essential needs, has been in place since March 9 and was due to end on April 13. After a marked reduction from previous peaks, new infections have picked up in the past two days, frustrating hopes that the illness was in clear retreat. 'The Prime Minister has confirmed that, as of today, the conditions to restart the suspended activities are not yet in place,' UIL union leader Carmelo Barbagallo said in a statement. After the government shuttered businesses not deemed essential to the supply chain on March 21, calls have recently been growing from industry lobbies to reopen some activities to prevent an economic catastrophe. The trade union sources and an industry source said the closure of industries may be slightly eased before the end of April, with a few factory sites allowed to reopen if health conditions permitted. Advertisement

There were 3,497 people in intensive care on Friday against 3,605 on Thursday - a seventh consecutive daily decline.

Of those originally infected, 30,455 were declared recovered against 28,470 a day earlier.

Today Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was reportedly preparing to extend Italy's lockdown until May 3.

Italy's main newspapers said Conte will publish a decree either today or tomorrow banning people from taking walks or lounging in parks.

Daily rises in new infections have slowed dramatically in recent days and Italy is gradually approaching a point when the number of people officially suffering from COVID-19 might begin to drop.

The growth in new cases has been around two to three per cent in the last few days, far below the regular 20-25 per cent at the peak of the crisis.

The Corriere della Serra newspaper reported today that Conte will bow to growing pressure and allow a tiny number of businesses to reopen when the existing restrictions expire on April 13.

These reportedly include book and stationery stores as well as lumber companies and factories that make agricultural machinery.

The government and scientists reportedly view these as businesses with the least amount of human interaction.

A doctor at a new coronavirus unit at Casal Palocco hospital near Rome checking on a patient suffering from the virus

Italian firefighters in Catania, Sicily, commemorate their colleague, firefighter Giuseppe Coco, today who died of the coronavirus

A mounted police patrol check the area around the the Colosseum yesterday, which is closed during the coronavirus emergency

Drones with heat sensors are used to spot infected people Italian police are using drones with thermal sensors to detect people with coronavirus out in public during the strict lockdown. The small drone flies above virus hotspots such as Bergamo in the Lombardy region, measuring the temperature of those below. It then tells residents to go home and can even be used to issue fines if they are seen to have a raised temperature. If a suspect is seen with a raised temperature, police on the ground will then approach and take a reading by hand. An aerial image taken by a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise drone equipped with a thermal sensor picturing a police officer and its instructor (to the right) The hovering drone emits a mechanical buzz reminiscent of a wasp and shouts down instructions in a tinny voice. 'Attention! You are in a prohibited area. Get out immediately,' commands the drone, about the size of a loaf of bread. A heat sensor takes the offender's temperature and sends the information to a drone operator, who stares at a thermal map on his hand-held screen - shining orange and purple blobs. 'Violations of the regulations result in administrative and criminal penalties,' the drone says. Italy's coronavirus epicentre in the northern province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, has had enough of people spreading COVID-19. Matteo Copia, police commander in Treviolo, near Bergamo, said: 'Once a person's temperature is read by the drone, you must still stop that person and measure their temperature with a normal thermometer. But drones are useful for controlling the territory.' Reporting by AFP Advertisement

Only grocery stores and pharmacies have been allowed to operate since a general lockdown began at the peak of the Mediterranean country's outbreak on March 12.

The Italian government on Thursday won a confidence vote in the Senate on an emergency decree that lays out measures worth 25 billion euros ($28 billion) to support the economy battered by a severe COVID-19 outbreak.

The package, dubbed the 'Heal Italy' decree and presented by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on March 16, suspends loan and mortgage repayments for hard-hit companies and families via state guarantees for banks.

Among other measures, it also increases funds to help firms pay workers temporarily laid off as a result of a lockdown imposed by the government to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.

The ruling coalition dominated by the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic Party won the Senate motion by 142 votes to 99.

The decree was contested by the opposition, spearheaded by Matteo Salvini's right-wing League party, which said the package was insufficient and bedevilled by bureaucracy which made it hard for people to access the funds available.

Since the March 16 initiative, the government has presented two more decrees aimed at helping the most needy with basic provisions, and offering guarantees to banks to try to ensure that credit and liquidity to companies does not dry up.

Madrid and Rome are also seeking assistance from EU partners to rebuild their economies in the wake of the disaster, but Germany had initially rejected the idea of joint borrowing and the Netherlands was blocking a compromise solution.

'If we do not seize the opportunity to put new life into the European project, the risk of failure is real,' Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte told the BBC on Thursday, suggesting the very future of the EU was at stake.

But today EU finance ministers agreed a 430bn (500bn) rescue package for European countries hit hard by the pandemic.

The chairman of the Eurogroup, Mario Centeno, announced the deal, reached after strenuous discussions in Brussels.

EU ministers failed to accept a demand from France and Italy to share out the cost of the crisis by issuing so-called coronabonds.

Medics placing an empty biological isolation stretcher - designed for transporting patients with coronavirus - into the back of an ambulance at a hospital in Salerno

The package finally agreed is smaller than the European Central Bank (ECB) had urged, saying the bloc may need up to 1.3tn (1.5tn).

Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, said it was vital the ministers hatch a plan big enough to meet the challenge, warning: 'If not all countries are cured, the others will suffer.'

European companies are also suffering under a public lockdown, which health experts say is vital to slow the virus' spread but has effectively frozen economic life.

In one example, German airline Lufthansa warned it was losing one million euros ($1.08 million) an hour and would need state aid.

The coronavirus slump has also exacerbated the instability in world energy markets, and on Thursday top oil producers from OPEC like Saudi Arabia and its OPEC+ partners, including Russia, met to discuss cutting production to boost prices.

The World Trade Organization has warned of the 'worst recession of our lifetimes.'

An Italian Army officer from a unit specialising in biological defence offloads supplies at a nursing home in Torre Boldone, Italy

A soldier from a biological weapons unit uses a hose filled with disinfectant to clean the parking lot of a nursing home in Torre Boldone, Italy

Three officers from the Russian army, which has been drafted in to help Italy, carry three containers filled with ethanol to disinfect a nursing home in Torre Boldone

The worst-hit countries in Europe - the worst-hit continent - are Italy and Spain, where daily death tolls are now down from their peaks but still running high, despite strict lockdowns.

The number of people dying of coronavirus in Spain each day fell again today as the country registered 605 fatalities over the past 24 hours.

The overall death toll rose to 15,843 today from 15,238 the previous day, the health ministry said in a statement.

The total number of coronavirus cases rose to 157,022 on Friday from 152,446 on Thursday.

In Italy, the country's youngest COVID-19 patient, a two-month-old baby girl, was reportedly released from hospital, a moment of hope in a country with 17,669 dead.

Italy's epidemic has turned life in the country upside down, but also brought out acts of generosity from the likes of Sister Angel Bipendu, a nun and a doctor who distributes medical care alongside spiritual succour.

She tried to remain optimistic, despite the ravages of the coronavirus reminding her of earlier epidemics in her former central African homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The 47-year-old told said as she made home visits in Bergamo province, epicentre of Italy's outbreak: 'I think of my Congo, where sick people will also die of hunger.

'I'm afraid of not being able to do everything I have to do. Fear of being infected? Absolutely not.'

One hundred Italian doctors, Sister Bipendu's colleagues, have died in the outbreak, according to their health association.
South Africa: President spreads hope as SA marks Easter

President Cyril Ramaphosa has encouraged the millions of South Africans, who are commemorating Good Friday, to take courage and strength from the message of Easter as the country deals with COVID-19.

The President on Thursday, 9 April announced a two-week extension of the previously announced 21-day national lockdown, which is part of efforts to slow the spread of Coronavirus.

To date, nearly 2 000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in SA, with 20 deaths, according to the Presidency.

Delivering a message after a Good Friday liturgy, led by the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, His Grace Thabo Makgoba, President Ramaphosa said South Africans must be emboldened by the core message of hope that is brought about by Easter.

The President delivered his message from his home in Johannesburg for the virtual Good Friday Service at St Georges Cathedral, Cape Town.

We are strengthened by the invisible bonds of faith and fellowship. As we commemorate Easter this year, a shadow hangs over our world. We are in the grip of a pandemic, the likes of which we have not seen for over a hundred years.

Coronavirus continues to spread, leaving devastation in its wake. More than a million people are infected. Over 90 000 have lost their lives, the President said.

Government has announced several interventions, which are aimed at assisting small business and the most vulnerable to weather the storm.

President Ramaphosa said while many feel vulnerable, he was confident South Africa would endure, for the sake of saving lives.

As we recall and recount the life of Christ on this Good Friday, we also remember the greatest virtue of all, that of sacrifice. Despite the heavy burden that has been placed on our people over the past two weeks, we have understood that for the greater good, these sacrifices have had to be made.

Our people have endured the extreme restrictions on their daily lives with patience and fortitude.

As Christians, the belief that Christ gave his life as a ransom for humankind is the most fundamental tenet of faith. Today, many Christians around the world recite the Way of the Cross, remembering the pain Christ suffered. This meditation on deprivation and adversity is a reminder that, throughout history, as they face daily life, every human being upon this earth has had their own cross to bear, said the President.

He commended the fact that since the lockdown began, the rate of identified new cases has slowed down.

Together with other measures like closing our borders and putting an end to public gatherings, we are seeing progress.

If we continue to observe social distancing and proper hygiene, if we continue to scale up detection and testing to ensure those who need medical care get it, we will be able to turn things around, said the President.

He commended the role played by the faith community in supporting the national effort to contain Coronavirus.

We thank each and every one of you. It has not been easy. Worshiping in congregation is a source of strength and comfort to many.

It has been hard for those who have lost loved ones, to be unable to attend their burials. Couples wishing to marry have had to postpone their plans. But you have endured with patience.

In the true spirit of Christian fellowship, you have extended a hand to the poor, the sick and the hungry. The pastoral and charity work by our Christian community has been a lifeline for many of our people in their hour of need and comfort in their time of sorrow. On behalf of all the people of South Africa, I thank you, said the President.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Pak aims at scoring narrow political goals by seeking COVID-19 initiatives under SAARC

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 10: Pakistan is aiming to score narrow political goals by attempting to bring India's initiatives to collectively fight the coronavirus pandemic in the SAARC region under the formal umbrella of the grouping, government sources told PTI.

On Wednesday, Pakistan boycotted a video conference of trade officials of the SAARC countries to discuss ways to minimise the economic cost of the pandemic.

Islamabad said such initiatives could only be effective if spearheaded by the group's secretariat instead of India.

In such a scenario, the sources said, Pakistan will get a free hand to block India's initiatives and proposals by using the SAARC charter of provisions and rules of procedure.

"It is an attempt to score narrow political goals while people of the region are facing the coronavirus crisis," said a source on Thursday.

Pakistan pledges USD 3 million to SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund

The trade officials of the SAARC countries on Wednesday broadly agreed to identify new ways to "sustain and expand" the intra-regional trade to offset the huge economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic.

The officials also deliberated on creating a larger framework of trade facilitation and highlighted the need to enhance the quantum of intra-SAARC trade as the pandemic is likely to have a considerable impact on the region.

The deliberations took place as a follow up to an India-initiated video conference of SAARC leaders on March 15. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested in the conference that the member nations of the bloc should come together to jointly fight the pandemic.

Coronavirus outbreak: Four countries that received 'defective masks from China'

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

All the SAARC member nations are reeling under adverse social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!

Your notification has been saved.

There was a problem saving your notification.

{{description}}

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
The Jamaican native wanted to move to the UK to look after his sick daughter

Fitness guru Mr Motivator had to abandon a planned raffle of his Jamaican paradise resort after being accused of trying to scam entrants, it has emerged.

The TV personality, real name Derrick Evans, 67, has recently returned to TV screens to keep Britain active with live workouts during the coronavirus lockdown.

But he said he had been left 'hurt' by the allegations, and had genuinely been trying to sell off his 2million home.

Fitness guru Mr Motivator, real name Derrick Evans, 67, had to abandon a planned raffle of his Jamaican paradise resort after being accused of trying to scam entrants

Mr Evans revealed that he was trying to raise money to return to the UK, where he grew up, to care for his sick daughter Abigail.

But after initial flurry of entrants to the competition in 2018, he was accused online of attempting to defraud people of their $30 ticket cost.

'This guy set up a website saying it was a scam,' Mr Evans told the Telegraph.

'He said, "Look, he's short of money and he's trying to get people's money." 60,000 people saw that and when you have something like that on a site, it spreads like wildfire.'

But he said he had been left 'hurt' by the allegations, and had genuinely been trying to sell off his 2million six-bedroom home

The resort is located in the hills of north Jamaica, and includes a six-bedroom main house, a small apartment block, a cottage, zipwire course and paintball zone.

Mr Evans explained that he chose a raffle rather than an auction because he wanted to give an 'ordinary person' the chance to the stunning property.

The raffle was meant to conclude with a draw in January 2019, but the deadline was extended until the end of August, with only 1,200 tickets sold.

Posting on social media at the time, organiser Golden Ticket Online, said this was due to 'overwhelming requests for an extension'.

Mr Evans revealed that he was trying to raise money to return to the UK, where he grew up, to care for his sick daughter Abigail

The company also published the competition's approval letter from the Betting, Gaming, and Lotteries Commission.

But following poor sales, Mr Evans announced that the raffles would have to cancelled, and refunded entrants with their ticket cost.

'It hurt me. I was doing something I thought would give an ordinary person a chance to own something  a step in the right direction,' he said.

Mr Evans was born in Jamaica but was adopted aged three months before moved to Leicester as a child.

'It hurt me. I was doing something I thought would give an ordinary person a chance to own something  a step in the right direction,' he said

He shot to fame in the early 1990s as Mr Motivator with a slot on GMTV, and has returned to screens on BBC One to 'offer expert advice to get people moving during the coronavirus'.

'Now more than ever it is important to keep our bodies and minds healthy,' the fitness guru said.

'Everybody say: 'Yeah, let's get happy and be wicked at home!'

The programme will offer audiences 'information and company, to keep viewers upbeat while in isolation'.

There will be tips on how to keep healthy, including how to boost the immune system, beat boredom and stay active.

He divides his time between Jamaica and Manchester, where he lives with wife Sandra and Abigail, who has Type 1 diabetes.

Golden Ticket's website has since been taken down, and could not be reached for comment.
With social distancing the catchphrase of the times, public and private companies locally and overseas are implementing work from home. In the Philippines, where the government has put the entire island of Luzon under enhanced community quarantine to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, government work is largely suspended while most private establishments enforce remote work.

As organizations undertake measures to ensure business continuity without endangering their workforce, the rapid response and creativity of managers will be key to ensuring an easy transition to a new work setup with minimal or zero disruption in operations and business processes. Managers know what works best for their teams and can tap into this knowledge to make adjustments seamless, deliver results and maintain business viability amid this uncertain period.

Robert Walters, a global recruitment specialist group headquartered in England and with regional offices in Southeast Asia, shares tips on how businesses and organizations can ensure efficiency and productivity even while working from home.

Be clear on the work arrangement

Guidelines on how to execute a new work setup are vital, especially for employees who will be working from home for the first time. A clear plan can mean the difference between disrupted work and continuous operation.

Robert Walters urges managers to execute a contingency plan for remote work or customize an approach that works best for their teams, and to announce such plan as soon as possible during an emergency to avoid confusion as to how work should be conducted. This plan should include how reporting will be done, how meetings with clients may be conducted and what other changes will be implemented during the temporary work arrangement.

Some employees experiencing a disruption in their regular office schedule  stuck at home alone with no more water cooler chats and lunchtime banter with colleagues  might feel alienated by the lack of structure in a new schedule. Managers are expected to rise to the occasion and guide their employees in establishing a new daily setup and parameters for ensuring deliverables are met. Preset weekly KPIs, regular calls or even video conferences will be of great help in keeping everyone updated and sustaining the team spirit, especially for highly collaborative jobs. These also foster a sense of normalcy.

At Robert Walters, managers make sure to check in with their team using text or Workplace chat for urgent matters, video conferencing tools such as Skype, Microsoft Teams and Zoom for daily check-in meetings and webinars instead of live events. With the majority of business operations temporarily moved online, technology is indeed every managers friend.

Ensure productivity

Lets face it: Out of sight, out of mind can be the case with many team members on remote work setup. Some staff could be carried away by being at home and neglect their tasks, thinking no one will be checking anyway. Managers and business heads must be ready to address this.

One way is through an output-based system that can be monitored online. Managers can do daily morning reviews for each team member either through a conference call or online group chat, clarifying deliverables to lessen the instances of delay and to have end-of-day catch-ups to check what theyve accomplished. Make the most of free apps online for employee supervising and progress monitoring.

Evaluating where the gaps are and focusing on results are very important. The team may be unable to meet present weekly KPIs as before given the stressful situation and change in most business operations, so its best to do a weekly analysis of activities that yield weak results and shift to a different approach that works for employees in this unique situation, shared Andrea Dela Casa, associate director for Technology & Transformation/Sales & Marketing at Robert Walters. Its about having a mindset around agility and flexibility toward productivity more than just being operational. Leaders must know the pulse of the team and manage frustrations early. We should remember that this crisis is temporary, and we as leaders should create ways for the team to keep delivering results.

In addition to setting clear targets and monitoring employee output, Robert Walters recommends managers advise team members on ways of boosting productivity at home such as creating a dedicated workspace separate from communal areas to help avoid distractions. This separate home-office space aids team members to not only stay focused on a task but also to mentally keep an at-work mindset.

Be tech-ready

Lack of proper office equipment and an unstable internet connection are two challenges some employees could face if tasked to work from home. These can be exacerbated by the lack of access to company data essential to operations.

Managers and team leads can make an audit of the technical requirements of their respective teams on a regular basis. This helps prepare them for any emergency as they know what their team members have, do not have and will need in case they have to work remotely.

Preparedness for sudden changes in the work setup is what sets good managers apart from the rest. Business continuity strategies and contingency plans laid out even without a pandemic determines the future of a business, said Dela Casa.

Technical challenges such as internet problems and lack of data security, network access, and remote access to resources and files could cause major disruptions to the daily routine of employees.

Robert Walters has provided data plans and prepaid Wi-Fi to employees with internet connection problems at home during this period and encourages other employers to consider doing the same. All tools and intranet sites should be ready and accessible VPNs installed for employees to use even from the comforts of their homes.

Keep open communication

In this digital age, keeping communication lines open has become a lot easier. Regular communication between managers and employees about work, each others well-being and other issues outside of work increases productivity and reduces professional isolation. It also strengthens team spirit, which can be even more difficult to build and sustain when people work apart.

Managers can utilize any of the suite of messaging and videoconferencing applications to constantly keep in touch with their teams. Ensuring that calls are a forum where employees can consult and share concerns with managers makes the communication even more successful, something Robert Walters does as consultant workforce is often very mobile and working from locations such as their clients office, cafes where they meet their clients or candidates and of course, home. For HR managers, a handy list of all the contact information of the whole company would be very useful.

With quality, integrity and teamwork at the heart of Robert Walters business operations, HR managers ensure employees are kept updated on the latest situation through their pre-outlined communications plan that includes a sophisticated archive of emails, contact information, and automated messages for clients and applicants. With technology that enables various teleconferencing or videoconferencing platforms for meetings and interviews, Robert Walters continues to stay in touch with the different stakeholders across various countries. Similarly, it is able to stay in touch with external clients and candidates using these tools in place of face-to-face interviews, which are discouraged to lessen the risk of contagion.

Effective and early employer intervention in the face of a pandemic could save lives and help companies and organizations earn the trust and loyalty of their employees at the same time. Dela Casa says: Managers should know the pulse of the team and manage possible hurdles early on and manage them more efficiently. When planned and executed properly, teleworking could change the way we view and experience work while supporting company goals.
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 10 - Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their colleagues have discovered a gene that can be used to develop varieties of wheat that will be more resistant to Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), a disease that is a major threat both overseas and to the nation's $10 billion annual wheat crop.

A paper reporting the discovery and the cloning of the gene, known as Fhb7, was published today in the journal Science. The study was led by scientists at the Shandong Agricultural University in Shandong, China and co-authors include ARS researchers Guihua Bai and Lanfei Zhao in Manhattan, Kansas, and Steven Xu in Fargo, North Dakota.

The discovery is a major advance in addressing a significant threat to the world's wheat supply. FHB, also known as "scab," is caused by a fungal pathogen, Fusarium graminearum, and results in significant losses in the United States, China, Canada, Europe, and many other countries. It also attacks barley and oats.

When the pathogen grows unchecked in infected grains, it releases mycotoxins that can induce vomiting in humans, as well as weight loss in livestock when they refuse to eat the grains.

The prevalence and severity of FHB outbreaks also could potentially be exacerbated by climate change and varying weather conditions, and by an increasing trend toward more corn production and no-till farming, which both may be increasing the prevalence of the pathogen in fields. Growers often must use fungicides to reduce FHB damage.

The researchers found that the gene effectively reduces FHB by detoxifying the mycotoxins secreted by the pathogen. The gene also confers resistance to crown rot, a wheat disease caused by a related pathogen.

The researchers originally identified the gene in Thinopyrum wheatgrass, a wild relative of wheat that has been previously used to develop varieties of wheat with beneficial traits, such as rust resistance and drought tolerance. They cloned the gene and introduced it into seven wheat cultivars with different genetic profiles to study its effects on plants grown under field conditions.

The results showed that the gene not only conferred resistance to scab in the new plants, but it also had no negative effects on yield or other significant traits.

The study sheds new light on the molecular mechanisms that can make wheat, as well as barley and oats, resistant to the pathogen that causes FHB. New varieties of wheat with better FHB resistance using Fhb7 are expected to be available in a few years, the researchers say.

###

This research supports the climate adaptation components of the USDA's Science Blueprint.

The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact.
Now that its Trump v. Biden, its a bit easier to game out the direction of the 2020 presidential election. The withdrawal of Bernie Sanders from the Democratic race leaves former Vice President Joe Biden with nobody to focus on but President Trump, while Trump now knows he can hammer away at Sleepy Joe rather than Crazy Bernie.

The coronavirus pandemic and the economic collapse it has caused obviously make it a volatile election, with surprises ahead. But its also clear that Trump faces a tough challenge, given that no president in 70 years has been re-elected in the midst or the aftermath of a recessionespecially one as severe as the coronavirus recession is likely to be.

Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg recently joined the Yahoo Finance Electionomics podcast and outlined the risks he sees for Trump in his survey results. Here are three:

Biden is strong in swing states. Greenbergs polling closely follows voters in 16 battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump won the battleground states by 1 percentage point against Hillary Clinton in 2016giving him enough electoral votes to clinch the election. But Biden is ahead of Trump so far in 2020. Bidens winning by 4 to 5 points, Greenberg says. If Hillary won the popular vote by 2 nationally, that would translate to 7 for Biden. And thats enough for him to win.

Bidens margin at the moment isnt as large as the 9-point advantage Democrats had in the 2018 midterms. But that could reflect Sanders role in the race. Since Sanders stayed in until April 8, he could have detracted from Bidens performance against Trump up to that point. With Sanders out, some voters have a simpler choice, which could benefit Biden. Thats not a given, but Sanders is more chummy with Biden now than he was with Clinton in 2016, which could swing more of the Sanders vote toward Biden.

The Republican party is shrinking. Theres been a revolt against Trump that people just havent paid attention to, Greenberg tells Yahoo Finance. The Republican party has been shedding voters. Thats not apparent in Gallups survey of party affiliation, which shows the GOP with a relatively stable 30% share of the electorate nationwide. But Greenberg and other pollsters say theyve seen surprising shifts in battleground states during the primary elections.

[Check out all of our Electionomics podcasts.]

Story continues

In Michigan, for instance, there was a notable increase in turnout in the Democratic primariesin some predominantly Republican areas. That suggests some moderate Republicans arent just turning on Trumptheyre also switching parties. I thought moderate Republicans who have pulled away from Trump, maybe by November theyd vote for Biden, Greenberg says. But theyre voting in the Democratic primaries.

FILE - In this combination of file photos, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks in Wilmington, Del., on March 12, 2020, left, and President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington on April 5, 2020. Barring unforeseen disaster, Biden will represent the Democratic Party against Trump this fall, the former vice president's place on the general election ballot cemented Wednesday, April 8, by Bernie Sanders' decision to end his campaign. (AP Photo)

Voters judge a president on the last six months. The state of the economy will obviously be a major factor in the November elections, given a massive surge in unemployment and lost earnings for millions as they go to vote. Its possible the economy will be recovering by then, allowing Trump to claim credit for defeating the virus and getting the country back on track. But theres almost no chance employment or economic output will be back to pre-virus levels by then, and many voters wont care how good the economy was before the virus arrived.

People will say to themselves, am I making gains now, and in the last six months? Greenberg says. They dont have a longer time frame on it. That means Trumps many boasts about jobs, jobs jobs and record stock market highs wont count for much.

Biden, 77, has vulnerabilities. Hes not a gifted speaker or TV personality and he doesnt excite many voters. His frequent flubs invite speculation that hes slowing, mentallya meme already rampant in conservative media.

But Biden may not have to excite voters or master the oratory arts to win. I think the voters are self- motivating, Greenberg says. Why wouldnt he be able to unite the party, which has Trump as a motivator?

Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. Encrypted communication available. Click here to get Ricks stories by email.

Read more:

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, YouTube, and reddit.
DETROIT, MI -- Michigans first alternate care facility is open and accepting coronavirus patients at the center of the states COVID-19 outbreak.

On Friday, April 10, the state announced the opening of the TCF Regional Care Center in Detroit to immediately accept up to 25 patients. Officials expect to be able to care for 250 patients by the end of next week as staffing resources become available for the 350,000-square-foot converted convention center

The TCF Regional Care Center will save lives and ensure those suffering some of the worst cases of COVID-19 get the critical care they need as cases in the state continue to grow," said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a prepared statement.

The center, formerly known as Cobo Hall, includes a triage area, patient support services, staff changing areas, a pharmacy, administrative space and a command center. Itll accommodate 970 bed spaces across two floors for COVID-19 patients who dont need ventilation and who have already been admitted into other area hospitals.

It will not accept patients by ambulance or walk-up, and will not have an intensive care unit area.

Initial staffing of the alternate care facility will be provided by a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) public health team, with additional waves of contracted teams getting on site over the next week. Staffing and resources for the center have been provided by Henry Ford Health System, McLaren Health Care, Beaumont Health and the Detroit Medical Center.

Southeast Michigan hospitals have been overwhelmed with the large number of COVID-19 patients, said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigans chief medical executive and chief deputy for health, in a press release. Expanding bed capacity will support our hospitals in managing the large influx of patients and making sure people are getting the best care possible.

Related: Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.

There is a need for both paid medical professionals and volunteers in Michigan. Applicants for paid positions as physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners and other medical, administrative assistant and security positions can fill out an online form, here, to be contacted with details about needs, pay rates and shifts.

Medical professionals  including retired physicians and nurses  who are interested in volunteering at an alternate medical care facility can register at www.michigan.gov/covid19volunteer.

Converting the convention center into a medical facility took nine days, led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District. The hospital will be in place at least six months.

Im proud that the team was able to complete this mission and get help to the doctors and nurses on the front lines so quickly, said Lt. Col. Gregory Turner, Army Corps commander for the Detroit District, in a prepared statement. With this facility coming on line as supplies and staff pour into Michigan, I really expect that the TCF Center will be a beacon of hope for Detroit and the nation.

With work at the TCF Regional Care Center complete, Detroits U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is pivoting its resources and focus to Michigans Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi as it works to convert the convention center into a 1,100-bed alternate care facility.

Construction of the Novi facility is expected to be completed by April 20.

As of Thursday, April 9, there were 21,504 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state and 1,076 deaths from the virus. Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties make up 79.6 percent of the states total confirmed cases and about 85 percent of the total deaths.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home ( door handles, faucets, countertops ) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more on MLive:

With Michigans coronavirus stay-at-home order extended, frustration builds over whats been deemed non-essential

4K apply for Michigan hospitality employee relief fund in first 24 hours

Michigan Lt. Gov. calls on feds to help communities of color with coronavirus, other disparities

Read Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmers revised coronavirus stay-at-home order
Jayapals plan is significantly more generous, using federal dollars to cover 100 percent of workers salaries up to $100,000 and their benefits, such as health care. Hawley would have the Treasury Department foot 80 percent of the salary, with a cap of the median income wage. Hawleys proposal does not specify how that would be calculated, but data suggests that the cap could be somewhere between $30,000 and $50,000.
JOS, Nigeria, April 9, 2020 (Morning Star News)  Muslim Fulani herdsmen in north-central Nigeria on Tuesday (April 7) killed a pastor and three members of his congregation, including a 10-year-old boy, sources said.

In an attack on Ngbra Zongo village, near Miango in Plateau States Bassa County, the herdsmen shot and killed Matthew Tagwai, pastor of an Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) congregation, in his home after 8 p.m. that night, according to area residents. Pastor Tagwai was 34.

He leaves behind two young children and his pregnant wife, area residents said.

Also shot dead in their homes were ECWA congregation members Ishaku Abba, 10; Dih Sunday, 21; and Duh Abba, 38, area resident Patience Moses said.

The attack was carried out by armed herdsmen against the community at about 8:20 p.m. on Tuesday, 7 April, Moses told Morning Star News. Two other Christians, Abbayo Ki, 45, and Monday Adamas, 19, were also injured during the attack by the herdsmen, and they are currently being treated at a hospital at Dantako village.

A survivor of the attack, Moses Gata, confirmed that the assailants were ethnic Fulani, a predominantly Muslim people prevalent throughout western Africa.

Theres no doubt about it  our attackers are Muslim Fulani herdsmen, Gata told Morning Star News. They were communicating with themselves in Fulfulde, the herdsmens language.

After the attack, the second on Ngbra Zongo, the assailants went toward Dutsen Kura, a Fulani herdsmen settlement in Bassa County, he said.

Andy Yakubu, another area resident, said the attack by heartless herdsmen was unprovoked.

In the past one week, Fulani herdsmen have been attacking different villages, Yakubu told Morning Star News in a text message. What is the crime of these innocent people against Fulani herdsmen? For how long shall we continue to experience this killing? For how long shall we continue to beg the government and the security agencies to come to the aid of our people?

The Rev. Yunusa Nmadu, Jr., ECWA general secretary, said the killing of Christians in Plateau state and northern Nigeria has become a thorny problem for the body of Christ, the church.

This new attack, like the ones before it, is condemnable, Pastor Nmadu told Morning Star News by text message. The continuing attacks on harmless and unsuspecting Christian communities without concrete, strategic response from our duty-bearers to protect our people leaves much to be desired.

He said he hoped the government will be able to contain such attacks before they produce a retaliatory spiral of violence.

Let the authorities know that people do not run forever, Pastor Nmadu said. There comes a time when they are pressed to the wall, and in such times reactions and counter-reactions will inevitably occur.

Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, Jos-based attorney and director of the Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria (ECCVN), said in a statement that the government should designate the heavily-armed herdsmen as terrorists.

We appeal for a declaration of Fulani herdsmen as terrorists; passionately appeal for deployment of security agents not only to the areas recently affected, but also other volatile villages so as to avert expansion of the attacks arithmetically spreading unabatedly, Mwantiri said. And [we] solicit for material intervention for the survivors of all the affected persons who are now left to their fate, especially the young pregnant widow with her little children.

On Jan. 30 Christian Solidarity International (CSI) issued a genocide warning for Nigeria, calling on the Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council to take action. CSI issued the call in response to a rising tide of violence directed against Nigerian Christians and others classified as infidels by Islamist militants in the countrys north and middle belt regions.

Nigeria ranked 12th on Open Doors 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution but second in the number of Christians killed for their faith, behind Pakistan.

If you would like to help persecuted Christians, visit http://morningstarnews.org/resources/aid-agencies/ for a list of organizations that can orient you on how to get involved.

If you or your organization would like to help enable Morning Star News to continue raising awareness of persecuted Christians worldwide with original-content reporting, please consider collaborating at https://morningstarnews.org/donate/?

Article originally published by Morning Star News. Used with permission.

Photo courtesy: Getty Images/PeterHermesFurian
Hyderabad, April 10 : Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju on Friday praised Telangana police for its prompt action against a supermarket in Hyderabad after two youths from Manipur were denied entry in an alleged case of racial discrimination.

A day after Rachakonda Police Commissioner tweeted that they have booked and arrested store manager and two guards for not allowing the two students to enter the store, Rijiju praised Rachakonda police.

"I appreciate such prompt actions by @RachakondaCop police. This kind of humane gesture spreads positive messages and make our country united," tweeted the minister.

One Jonah had tweeted that his two friends were not allowed to enter the grocery store at Vanasthalipuram for looking like foreigners. He had also tagged Rijiju, who had inquired about the location.

Telangana minister K.T. Rama Rao, who was also tagged, had requested the DGP to instruct all police commissioners and superintendents of police to take up these issues seriously with retail association and send out a clear message.

"This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Racism in any form should be dealt with sternly," Rama Rao tweeted.

Subsequently, Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat tweeted that a case against the store manager and two guards of Star Market is registered at Vanasthalipuram police station.

The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 153 (wanton vilification or attacks upon the religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc of any particular group or class), 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by a public servant) and 341 (wrongful restraint).

Meanwhile, Bhagwath called the two Mainpuri youths - Angam Weapon and Thangkai Haokip to his office on Friday, interacted with them and handed over rice bags and pulse packets as a gesture.

The police commissioner, who started his career in Indian Police Service in 1997 at Manipur and has knowledge of Manipuri language, society and culture, reassured them to reach him in case of any emergency.

Bhagwat warned managements of super markets that any discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, race, language etc will not be tolerated.

Rachakonda is one of three police commissionerates covering Hyderabad and its surroundings.
BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson Thursday strongly condemned the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority in Taiwan for its "malicious" verbal attacks on the World Health Organization (WHO) and its director-general.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, also slammed the DPP for conniving in the wanton spread of racist remarks by the internet mob from its camp.

Zhu said the DPP took whatever means to "bank on the epidemic to seek independence."

The spokesperson urged the DPP to immediately stop political manipulation.

"The DPP's attempt to take the opportunity of the epidemic to undermine the one-China principle and seek entry into the WHO is doomed to fail," she added.
Gov. Ned Lamont called the latest data on COVID-19 hospitalizations and infections slight glimmers of hope Thursday while announcing schools, bars and restaurants will remain closed until May 20.

I do worry if we rush back to work we could have a second or third wave, Lamont said Were just not going to open the doors on May 20.

Lamont was cautiously optimistic about a slight decrease in Fairfield Countys hospitalization rate, but warned that one days number doesnt indicate the county had reached its peak of COVID-19 infections. Of 3,000 people hospitalized, 42 percent have recovered and 10 percent have died.

Were going to be ramping up our testing, Lamont said. Testing is going to be a big part of going back to work.

State Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona said distance learning will continue and the state will continue to support teachers, students and families. Any decision to close schools for the remainder of the year will likely be made prior to May 20.

If we make a cancellation for the remainder of the school year now, its more difficult to take that back, Cardona. said. We want to give schools a chance to plan.

Cardona addressed students directly and reassured the members of the class of 2020, they will have a graduation.

These are trying times unlike anything weve seen in our lifetime, Cardona said. Your health and safety is utmost in our mind.

The state asked educators to work with students and faculty to help plan graduation celebrations that honor achievement while making public health a priority. This could be a ceremony later in the year or a virtual program. Cardona said any changes in grading to pass/fail or pass/ incomplete wont affect college admissions at state schools.

The state education department will also continue to address the digital divide, working with districts who have large numbers of students who lack technology.

The states 33 Alliance Districts, or lower performing districts, are on track to receive 60,000 laptops for high school students and 180,000 packets of printed materials from the Partnership for Connecticut. Meriden is an Alliance District.

Cardona said the state is working with all districts to provide emotional/educational support and materials and develop resources for summer learning that allows students to reengage

earlier.

Area superintendents were cautiously optimistic about the latest data.

While the number of cases are decreasing and we are making good progress, we will need to stick to our social distancing measures, said Thomas Danehy, director of Area Cooperative Education Services, which operates Edison Middle School in Meriden.

Wallingford schools had already started planning for an extension or complete closure. Lyman and Sheehan high school officials have begun to gather feedback for graduation celebration events.

We will continue to work with our staff to provide the best distance learning experience as possible during this extended school closure, Wallingford School Superintendent Salvatore Menzo said in an email. We know there is a lot of stress on our students, families and teachers. We will work to try to address the stressors.

mgodin@record-journal.com203-317-2255Twitter: @Cconnbiz
Tesla is now producing and selling the long-range rear-wheel-drive version of its Model 3 electric vehicle at its Shanghai factory, a month after receiving approval from the Chinese government.

The move might not be a milestone, but it's notable because Tesla discontinued production of the long-range RWD Model 3 in the U.S. and now only offers that variant as a dual-motor all-wheel drive. It also marks a shift from Teslas initial plan to sell a more basic version of the Model 3 in China.

The company updated its China website showing the standard-range-plus model  the first vehicle produced at the Shanghai factory  as well as the long-range RWD and performance versions of the Model 3. Bloomberg was the first to report the change. The long-range RWD version starts at 366,550 yuan, or about $52,000 after incentives. Deliveries of the long-range RWD version are expected to begin in June.

The standard-range-plus model starts at 323,800 yuan, or about $46,000, before local subsidies.

The standard-range-plus Model 3 can travel 276 miles on a single charge, according to Teslas China website. The same website says the long-range RWD Model 3 has a range of 668 km, or 415 miles. Those range estimates are based on the New European Driving Cycle, a forgiving standard that Europe replaced several years ago with the WLTP. The real-word range is likely much lower.

Tesla model 3 long range RWD china

Image Credits: Tesla/screenshot

Tesla started producing a standard-range-plus rear-wheel-drive version of the Model 3 at its Shanghai factory late last year. The first deliveries began in early January. The March approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology gave Tesla permission to add another variant to its Chinese portfolio.

Eventually, Tesla plans to manufacture the Model Y electric vehicle at the China factory.
WASHINGTON - Michigan's senators have introduced new legislation over the weekend regarding who is eligible for direct payments regarding COVID-19 payments.

Democrats Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow introduced the All Dependents Count Act, which would expand the definition of a dependent that qualifies for payments to include children over the age of 16 and adult dependents.

The payment is structured as a tax refund and administered by the Internal Revenue Service.

Under the passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, a payment of $1,200 per adult and $500 per child will be made to taxpayers with incomes of below $75,000 for single people or $150,000 for a married couple.

The payments phase out in value for a person making over $75,000.

No additional money would be provided for dependents over 16 years old, and they are not eligible to claim payments for themselves on their own returns.

"Michiganders are going through incredible hardships during this pandemic," Peters said in a statement.

"We need to ensure that families - including those with dependents - have more relief and support available to them."

"Last week, Congress came together and passed funding for workers, families, health care providers and small businesses during the coronavirus crisis," Stabenow said in a statement.

"Most Michigan residents will be receiving direct payments, but the law left behind 17 and 18 year olds, college students, and other dependent adults.

"This is unfair to these people as well as their parents and caregivers.

"This new bill will make sure taxpayers receive the $500 payments for all their dependents."

The bill has at least Democratic 14 co-sponsors.
You are here: China

China's launch mission on the Long March-3B carrier rocket carrying a communication satellite of Indonesia, Palapa-N1, suffered a failure Thursday.

The rocket blasted off at 7:46 p.m. Beijing Time from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The rocket worked in normal conditions in the first-stage and second-stage. And abnormal conditions happened in the third-stage.

Debris of the third-stage rocket and satellite had fallen, and the launch mission suffered a failure, according to the monitoring data.

Investigations into the malfunction and following up works are underway.
Former prime pinister H D Deve



Gowda on Friday claimed the lockdown decision was taken in 'haste' without forethought because of which farmers and the working class were 'suffering' and suggested measures to mitigate the impact.

The state government should have consulted experienced citizens, officials, progressive farmers, farmer organisations and wholesale traders about the pros and cons before lockdown, he said in a letter to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, while highlighting that 61 per cent of the state's population depended on agriculture.

Because of the "hasty decision taken without any preparations", farmers of the country and the state are facing financial distress," he said in the April 9 letter, a copy of which was released to media here on Friday.

The JD(S) patriarch suggested taking up some measures, including ensuring no restrictions on agriculture activities, procurement of horticulture produce at a fair price, relaxing export curbs on it, to provide relief to farmers, agriculture labourers, and daily wage workers.

On Sunday, Gowda had said he has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his support in the nation's battle against COVID-19 pandemic when the latter called him to discuss the situation.

In his letter to the chief minister, Gowda said: "...the lockdown implemented to control the spread of coronavirus has led our farmers into despair and put their lives into burning fire. This lockdown looks like a decision taken at haste without proper thinking and forethought for our farmers, agriculture labourers, and daily wage workers."



He said the lockdown decision was taken after remaining 'quite' for about two months since the first corona infection was reported in the country on January 30.

Among the suggestions made by the the former prime minister include, procurement of horticulture produce at a fair price like in the case of milk from villages by the government through related organisations like Karnataka Horticulture Federation, HOPCOMS among others.

As horticulture produce was perishable, there should be no restriction on its procurement, transportation and marketing; all processing related activities of horticulture produce should be given relaxation from the lockdown, he said.

Gowda also called for relaxation on exports for horticulture produce and its processed items.

There should be no restriction on agriculture activities; a national grid has to be set up for marketing of horticulture produce, he said.

If such measures were not taken up immediately, the government will have to pay compensation to farmers for losse.

Lack of remedial measures would lead to shortage of supply, leading to rebellion from the people and may result in farmers' sucidides and bringing about a situation that might be more grave than coroanvirus, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At a market on the outskirts of Nigeria's megacity Lagos, yam trader Olatunji Okesanya is scrambling for produce as measures to halt the coronavirus cut him off from suppliers. "The restriction in movement has disrupted supply -- the farmers are finding it difficult to get their produce to Lagos," he told AFP. "The few who are able are bribing the security agents and this is making the price to rise." Authorities in Africa's most populous nation are battling to stop the spread of a virus that has led to 288 confimed infections and seven deaths. Lagos, an economic hub of 20 million, is deep into the second week of a lockdown that has left it a shadow of its usually frenetic self. The capital Abuja is also shut down and other states around the country have imposed their own restrictions. Officials insist that the measures are needed to contain a disease that threatens to wreak havoc on the weak health system. But farmers, sellers, and consumers complain the fight against the virus has turned Nigeria into a patchwork of roadblocks and regulations that have ruptured business links. - 'Losses are piling up' - Wale Oni has seen the lockdown in Lagos and neighbouring Ogun state hit his fish farm hard. Travel restrictions have prevented him from feeding his stock properly and blocked customers from picking up their orders. "Profits are being wiped off and losses are piling up," he lamented. "Feed prices and transportation costs have gone up." In a sign of how desperate the situation is getting many of the fish have started eating each other. The coronavirus crisis has already battered Nigeria's finances. Africa's biggest oil producer has seen government revenues gutted by a collapse in crude prices. The authorities have frozen loan repayments for farmers and small businesses in a bid to ease the pain but many are demanding more action. Analysts warn there could still be much tougher times ahead as the lockdowns push up costs and upset supply chains. "As the pandemic looks set to be around for at least the next few months, we believe that consumers should prepare for even more price increases," said Nigeria's SBM Intelligence in a note. "This development would have important implications for the health of the economy and largely determine whether the country's present anaemic growth track turns into a full downturn." - Bribes and banks - In theory food supplies should be exempt from most of the restrictions in place against the coronavirus and free to be transported. But in a country eaten away by corruption, officers at checkpoints have often manipulated the situation to rake in money from bribes. Other vital supplies like fertilisers fall into a grey zone and there could be a serious knock-on impact if these do not get through for the upcoming planting season. "Our members have been arrested in some states while trying to deliver their products to farmers," Kabiru Fara of the Nigerian Agro-Inputs Dealers Association told AFP. Importers are also facing major hurdles that have seen the volumes of goods coming into Lagos through its clogged port dwindle. "The banks are in fact closed and though theoretically it is possible to pay customs duties online, not all importers are able to do so," said one employee at a major importer. "As a result volume of deliveries of cargo are probably down 50 percent." - 'We are getting hungry' - Securing their supplies is just one of the headaches for vendors. In the ramshackle Obalende market on Lagos Island stallholders said that just as their costs were rising so customer numbers were falling. The lockdown means that millions of poor in the city are struggling to make ends meet and do not have spare cash to spend. "The price of transport has increased, so everything increases," said Basseg Kate, sitting in front of her stores of rice, tomato paste and eggs. "But we are making small prices for customers because they don't have money." The authorities have restricted markets to working every other day, meaning produce can spoil. "Everything is rotting," said Ma Victor, waving flies away from her wares. "Yesterday I wasn't allowed to sell, now all my tomatoes are spoilt." Ernest Crusoe, a civil servant, was out looking for food -- but he barely had any money left to buy it. "We eat once a day now, the rest of the time we go and rest," he said, showing the few small banknotes he had to spend. "This thing is affecting us. We are getting hungry."
Prasanta majumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: A mosque in the heart of the city is fast turning out to be a hotspot of COVID-19, prompting the authorities to declare it a containment zone.

Around 100 people, including eight Tablighi Markaz-returnees, had attended a congregation at the mosque on March 12. Two of these Tablighi Markaz-returnees tested positive. Another person, who is not among the Markaz participants but attended the Guwahati mosque congregation, also tested positive.

The government has received the names of 58 of the 100 people who took part at the Athgaon Kabarstan Masjid congregation in Guwahati. Efforts were on to identify the remaining others.

Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government had no idea about the Guwahati mosque congregation.

We did not know there was a congregation at the mosque on March 12 and that some 100 people participated. We were not told about it. The authorities at the mosque gave us a list of 58 people who attended the congregation. They are being quarantined

Of the 100 people, eight had come from Tablighi Markaz. Two of these eight people, Maulana Jamaluddin of southern Assams Barak Valley and Jamaluddin Haji of Dhubri district, tested positive. There is another, Rahimuddin of Dhubri, who had not attended the Tablighi Markaz congregation but probably got infected at the mosque, Sarma said.

He said as the mosque was turning out to be a COVID-19 hotspot, the government decided to declare it a containment zone for 14 days. Nobody will be allowed to go in or come out of it. Food for those in the mosque will be provided by the administration, the Minister said.

He also said that a case would be registered against Jamaluddin Haji for hiding his visit to Tablighi Markaz.

Jamaluddin Haji visited three government hospitals. The doctors there had asked him about his travel history but at no place he disclosed he had been to Tablighi Markaz. We will file a case against him, Sarma said, adding, As he had not disclosed his travel history, we are now facing a shortage of doctors and health workers at the three hospitals. They are being quarantined.
CONWAY, Ark. (April 9, 2020)  Two members of the Hendrix College community have been accepted as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program:

Connor Griffin 19, a biochemistry/molecular biology major from Little Rock, Arkansas; and

Tristan Norman 20, a social entrepreneurship and innovation major with a focus on climate change resilience and Asian studies, from Conway, Arkansas.

The highly selective JET Program seeks to promote intercultural exchange and understanding by providing participants the opportunity to live and work in a Japanese community and represent the United States as cultural ambassadors. Each year, between 4,000 and 5,000 applicants compete for approximately 1,000 positions in communities throughout Japan.

My future goal is to be an academic physician, and I think JET can help build skills I need with regard to teaching, listening, and cross-cultural communication when practicing as a physician, Griffin said. Also, I really enjoy learning Japanese and more about Japanese culture, and I think it will be a fun and culturally enlightening experience.

Griffin studied abroad in Japan during the Fall 2018 semester, and during his time on the Hendrix campus he was actively involved with Japanese Language and Culture Club activities, immersion weekends, and language learning with Aya Murata, the Japan Outreach Initiative coordinator who was based at Hendrix from 2016 to 2018.

Norman developed an interest in Japan as a result of participating in the Spring 2018 Tomodachi Kakehashi Inouye Scholars exchange program between Hendrix College and Prefectural University of Hiroshima and Yamaguchi University. Inspired by the personal story of a bombing victim during the groups visit to Hiroshima, Norman helped organize Peace Week events on the Hendrix campus the following September to coincide with the Arkansas Peace Week Initiative. The events centered on sharing the testimonials and experiences of atom bomb survivors and the Spring 2018 scholars experience in Japan, and served as the groups reflection project for the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the exchange program. Norman has since been actively involved in Peace Week events in the state as well as Japanese cultural activities and courses at Hendrix.

JET will allow me to acquire experience in Japan and learn about Japanese society, their challenges, and their way of life, Norman said. In addition to teaching in Japan, I hope to pursue a masters degree there to study climate change adaptation and Asian development studies, using Japan as a place to do research, make connections, and travel to other parts of East and Southeast Asia. And I hope that my family can come to see the Tokyo 2021 Olympics with me.

Gwen Stockwell, assistant director of international programs and adjunct instructor of Japanese at Hendrix, said that the acceptance of multiple Hendrix students into JET over the past five years reflects sustained and enthusiastic interest in Japan on the Hendrix campus.

I am absolutely thrilled that these two students, with so much passion for working with youth, learning about Japanese culture, and participating in cross-cultural exchange, are starting their JET journey this upcoming September, said Stockwell, who is a former JET participant herself (Miyazaki, Japan, 1998-2001). They will bring so much joy to their communities and will make incredible ambassadors for strengthening relations between Japan and the U.S.

JET participants begin with one-year contracts, which may be extended for up to five years. The program is sponsored by the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC).



About the JET Program

The JET Program is a competitive employment opportunity that allows young professionals to live and work in cities, towns, and villages throughout Japan. Most participants serve as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) and work in public and private schools throughout Japan; some work as Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs) as interpreters/translators. Since the JET Program was founded in 1987, more than 61,000 global participants (including nearly 32,000 Americans) have worked in schools, boards of education, and government offices throughout Japan.

About Hendrix College

A private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College consistently earns recognition as one of the countrys leading liberal arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.
An author who is due to publish her diary of her time under coronavirus lockdown in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has been subjected to widespread online abuse and criticism from key media figures.



Wang Fang, who uses the pen-name Fang Fang, has been posting her accounts of daily life during the Wuhan lockdown on social media, drawing furious abuse from nationalist "angry youth" and the ruling Chinese Communist Party elite.



"I'm being subjected to abuse for everything I say now," Fang Fang wrote on the social media platform Weibo. "I have really had a lesson in online violence."



"The extreme left is really powerful," she wrote, comparing the attacks against her to the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).



"It's like a virus itself, which spreads from person to person."



Fang Fang began the diary on Jan. 25, day 3 of the city-wide lockdown that left millions of people confined to their homes.



She talked about her friends and family, how uncomfortable it is to wear a mask, and the deaths of coronavirus patients, as well as poking fun at her nationalist critics who crowded onto Maoist platforms to criticize her.



It was updated almost daily until March 24, when she finished it with the words "I have fought the best battle of all."



"Without their encouragement," she wrote of her critics, "someone lazy like me might have let far more time elapse before writing [the diary]."

She took a further potshot at her detractors on March 24, asking rhetorically "So what did you do during the great catastrophe of 2020? Oh, I went crazy attacking Fang Fang."



Speaking out against corruption



Wuhan Diary will be published in English by Harper Collins in August, translated by Michael Berry, according to a pre-order page on Amazon.com.



"In a nation where authorities use technology to closely monitor citizens and tightly control the media, writers often self-censor," the publisher's promotional blurb says.



"Yet the stark reality of this devastating situation drives Fang Fang to courageously speak out against social injustice, corruption, abuse, and the systemic political problems which impeded the response to the epidemic," it said, adding that ruling Chinese Communist Party censors have deleted large numbers of Fang Fang's posts.



The diary will also contain valuable lessons for other countries and cities going through what Wuhan did, according to the book's publisher.



"As Fang Fang documents the beginning of the global health crisis in real time, she illuminates how many of the countries dealing with the novel coronavirus pandemic have repeated similar patterns and mistakes," it said.



A testament to the truth



Veteran political journalist Gao Yu said the amount of vitriol slung in Fang Fang's direction is a testament to the authenticity of her writing.



And she quoted the author as saying that the authorities would never allow Wuhan Diary to be published in China, where the government controls all aspects of public expression.



"They won't bring my book out in China, so why shouldn't I go overseas," Gao quoted Fang Fang as saying in a recent tweet. "Lots of Chinese writers have published overseas. This is normal."



RFA was unable to confirm independently that the comment actually came from Fang Fang, but Gao said she believed it to be authentic.



Guangdong-based writer Ye Du said the backlash against Fang Fang indicates how little freedom of speech exists in China.



"The authorities want to eradicate any idea of a China origin or official responsibility for the coronavirus pandemic from history and public opinion," Ye told RFA. "That's why it's hard for writing like Fang Fang's to find a place in the public discourse."



Wang Fang graduated from the Chinese department of Wuhan University. She chaired the Hubei Writers Association from 2007 to 2018, and won the prestigious Lu Xun Literary Prize in 2010.



Reported by Jia Ao for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Trading under new measures announced by the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed on Tuesday.

Marts closed in late March due to fears about the spread of coronavirus, but marts will now be able to provide a limited range of services under the measures, including facilitating calf sales and weighing livestock.

The Department of Agriculture said a farmer can deliver calves to the mart by appointment and the mart can facilitate the sale.

For older livestock, the mart can also allow a deal between a buyer and seller, in specific circumstances.

Minister Creed said the measures will allow the food chain to be maintained and protect animals' welfare and that normal mart activity 'cannot resume until further notice'.

Mr Creed said the economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis on agricultural and other commodity prices 'are only beginning to be felt and are likely to be severe'.

'For many families, this impact will be compounded by the loss of off-farm employment. I am asking the food industry to do whatever it can to support its thousands of farmer suppliers at this time,' he said.

Enniscorthy mart manager Tommy Harrington said an assembly of calves was organised on Thursday which saw every animal sold.

He said: 'We can assemble calves here. If we have sellers that need to unload stock we can facilitate that. We have to find out what kind of quality stock they have. The calf situation is different as the shippers and dealers are buying them.'

Mr Harrington said the sale of older animals is taking time, but is working so far.

'The process is they are brought in and left in the yard. I am the in-between guy.'

He said one positive is that the crisis didn't happen in the late autumn/early winter period as that would have sparked panic. He said with warmer weather comes grass growth which means animals will be able to go out on the fields more without damaging them.

Young farmers have adapted quickly to the new system, he said.

'The young farmers are smart and they know exactly how much kilos they want. It's taking the older generation of farmers more time to familiarise themselves with the new set up. We had a collection here Thursday and there was no calf went home and the cheques have gone out. This week I'll be letting all calves in. When they are in I'll look at them as I have to get a fair value for them. It's not easy but there is no other way. There are a lot of farmers putting cattle on Done Deal and you don't know who you are dealing with.'

New Ross Mart assistant manager Dick Meaney said an assembly was also held at the mart in Rosbercon on Thursday.

Buyers remained in their jeeps and the mart sales team had to get the highest bid for the animals.

'For the older cattle a seller rings us up with details of the kind of cattle he is selling and a buyer puts a bid in. The issue is people need to see cattle before they buy them. The department are saying if you can get an agreement in place then you can take them into the mart to be weighed. We are showing the owner the weight and the buyer the weight, but it's so hit and miss. You have fellas who agree a price on cattle and when the farmers come they might decide not to. We are trying to line up people over the phone to sell and buy and had work done in the background last week based on the presumption we'd be allowed to go ahead.'

Describing last Thursday's assembly as a test run, Mr Meaney said: 'We had close on a clean out of all calves. Time will tell when we'll be up and running fully here. It could be a week or a couple of months.'
Triple Js annual Ausmusic T-Shirt Day started in 2013 to support local musicians, coinciding in with Australian music month in November. This year it has been brought forward to next Friday, April 17, in a bid to encourage fans to buy Australian merchandise to support an industry suffering because of the coronavirus pandemic. To get involved, go to the webstore of your favourite Australian artist, buy some merch (like these fellows, pictured), take a photo of yourself in the gear, and caption it with the hashtag #AusMusicTShirtDay. If youre unable to fork out for something new, dig through your bottom drawers and wardrobe and locate those memories of festivals past. Friday, online, free+, #AusMusicTShirtDay

Last years most talked about film, Parasite, will come to Stan this weekend, and if you missed out on the furore during Oscar season, now is your chance to see what all the fuss was about. Directed by South Korean auteur Bong Joon-Ho, the four-time Academy Award-winning film follows the lives of the Kim family who find themselves thrust from the must of their basement to the comfort of a beguiling mansion when the films lead character, Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho), gets a strike of luck and ends the familys collective unemployment, only to lead them down a path of perpetual mishap. Today, Stan, $10/month+, stan.com.au

Music: Audio Commentary by Snowy Band

Snowy Band: Liam Snowy Halliwell, alongside Emma Russack, Nat Pavlovic and Dylan Young.

Last month's release of Melbourne-based Snowy Bands debut album, Audio Commentary, emerged as a timely soundtrack to life in isolation. Fronted by Ocean Partys Liam Snowy Halliwell, Audio Commentary offers a string of disarming ballads through which Halliwells voice, veiled in vocal effects, ushers the listener through "slivers of an internal psyche". Whether these slivers are, in fact, unique or universal is part of the aural journey of discovery. Today, Spotify, $12/monthly, spotify.com

Comedy: Inside Aaron
Astronauts currently residing aboard the International Space Station have braced for returning to Earth amid the coronavirus pandemic.

When speaking to CBS News, astronaut Jessica Meir confessed she expects to feel more isolated upon returning to Earth during the pandemic instead of how shes felt on the space centre.

It is quite surreal for us to see this whole situation unfolding on the planet below, Ms Meir said on Friday. The Earth still looks just as stunning as always from up here, so its difficult to believe all the changes that have taken place.

It certainly will be very difficult for me to not be able to give some hugs to my family and friends, she added. Thats something after being up here for seven months, and being the type of person that I am, thats going to be difficult for me. ... I think that I will actually feel more isolated on the Earth than I did up here, just because thats part of our expected routine up here.

Astronaut Andrew Morgan, who also is aboard the space centre, added members of his profession typically expected Earth to change in some ways upon returning, but not quite at a pandemic level.

We can watch news up here, and weve been talking to friends and families to try to paint a picture, Mr Morgan said. But from up here, its hard to understand what has transpired and how life will be different when we return.

Mr Morgan came aboard the International Space Station in July, and Ms Meir, who participated in three all-female space walks, in September.

Both of the astronauts will disembark in a Soyuz capsule with Russian Oleg Skripochka next Friday, which will land in Kazakhstan. Their spots in the space station were replaced by three other astronauts, including NASAs Chris Cassidy, on Thursday.

Those three astronauts joining the International Space Station have been in strict quarantine since the beginning of March to prevent bringing any virus into space.

I did not come in contact with anyone other than those immediate people involved with the launch preparation, Mr Cassidy said. And those people were also in the same quarantine as I was. And we were really strict about it.

The landing of the Soyuz capsule next week will come exactly 50 years after Apollo 13 landed in the Pacific Ocean.

Once again, now theres a crisis and the crisis is on Earth, Mr Morgan said.

He joined NASA in 2013 after working as an emergency physician with the US Army. Watching healthcare workers battle the pandemic from afar has been difficult for Mr Morgan.

As an emergency physician, I know what its like to be in a hospital or on the front lines of a field hospital, he said. Im very proud to be part of that profession, but at the same time, I feel guilt that I am as separated from it as I could be right now.
SEOUL, South Korea  They came wearing masks and stood in line at three-foot intervals. They were required to have their body temperatures taken, to rub their hands with sanitizer and to put on disposable plastic gloves handed out by officials. Then they entered the booths and voted, as South Korea pressed ahead with its first election in a time of epidemic.

The coronavirus pandemic is disrupting political calendars around the world, causing delays and triggering electoral chaos in the United States. It has provoked voter ire in Wisconsin, where many absentee ballots failed to arrive in time and voters were afraid to put their health at risk by going out to cast their ballots.

In South Korea, the parliamentary election is proceeding relatively seamlessly so far  albeit with a lot of preparation and protocols in place to protect voters. The government is trying to assure its 44 million eligible voters that it is safe to leave their homes to go to the polls, even as it is urging the public to avoid large gatherings and practice social distancing.

To make the voting run smoothly, South Korea has mobilized armies of public servants, including young men doing civic duty in lieu of mandatory military service, to prepare for the election. They have disinfected 14,000 voting stations across the country and marked waiting lines at three-foot intervals so voters avoid standing too close.
BCN19)

DUBLIN (BCN)

One more inmate at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, bringing the total number of inmates who've tested positive so far to 12, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

In addition, two staff members or contractors at the county jail have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the sheriff's office.

No positive tests for inmates at the jail were reported until last Saturday, when one positive result was announced.

The total increased to three on Tuesday and 11 on Wednesday, prompting inmate activist groups and Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods to call on Sheriff Gregory Ahern and District Attorney Nancy O'Malley to release more inmates to reduce the risk of having the virus spread quickly.

Ahern, working in conjunction with O'Malley, Woods and Alameda County Presiding Judge Tara Desautels, already has released about 600 low-level offenders from the jail, reducing its population from about 2,650 inmates before the COVID-19 outbreak to 1,979 as of Thursday.

Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said additional inmates might be released in the near future under guidelines recently issued by the California Judicial Council.

The sheriff's office said 52 inmates at Santa Rita have been tested so far, with 34 testing negative, 12 testing positive and six results still pending.

Kelly said the first 11 inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 haven't had to be hospitalized and "all are stable and appear to be on the road to recovery."

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
Grain boundaries, which are consist of periodic arrangement of structural units and generally recognized as a two-dimensional "phase", can exhibit novel properties that are not existed in the intrinsic bulk crystal. The altered continuity of atomic bonding at grain boundaries cause local chemical environment dramatically change at a few unit cells, subsequently alter local electrical activity, magnetic order or other physical properties. The effects of grain boundary on properties is even more significant in the complex oxides due to the substantial interactions between lattice and other order parameters. Therefore, such an inhomogeneity of materials with grain boundary may dominate the entire response in nanoscale devices and have garnered particular interest in designing novel functional devices.

The nature of structural defects is determined by the atomic arrangements. Correlating the properties of single defect-based device with its specific atomic structure is vital and prerequisite for the device application. However, experimentally revealing such a structure-property relation is very challenging due to the atomic-size and chemical and structural complexity of defects, especially for the perovskite oxides that contain multiple elements.

In a new research article published in the Beijing-based National Science Review, scientists at Peking university, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tianjin University present atomic mechanism of spin-valve magnetoresistance at the asymmetry SrRuO3 grain boundary. The asymmetry atomic structure is very different from the common assumption based on prototype perovskite SrTiO3. The transport measurements exhibit the spin-valve magnetoresistance for the as fabricated centimeter-size and sub-nm-width 5(310) SrRuO3 grain boundary. Advanced scanning transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy reveal its atomic arrangements based on which the first principles calculations reveal its electronic properties. Scientists find that owing to the Ru-O octahedron distortion near the asymmetric grain boundary, Ru d orbital reconstructs and results in reduction of magnetic moments and change of spin polarization along the grain boundary, forming a magnetic/nonmagnetic/magnetic junction. The calculations bridge the atomic structure with transport properties.

"Our findings can help us to understand the past transport properties such as the negative magnetoresistance and absence of tunneling magnetoresistance at the SrRuO3 grain boundary, and also predict new effects of SrRuO3 grain boundary such as the interfacial magnetoelectric coupling when SrRuO3 is used as a bottom electrode for growth of ferroelectric thin films." Prof. Peng Gao said, "In a broader perspective, control of defect structure at atomic scale can realize peculiar physical properties, providing us a new strategy to design devices with new low-dimensional magnetic properties by using boundary engineering."

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFA0300804), National Equipment Program of China (ZDYZ2015-1), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51672007 and 11974023), the Key-Area Research and Development Program of GuangDong Province (No. 2018B030327001?2018B010109009) and "2011 Program" Peking-Tsinghua-IOP Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter. Project was also supported by State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, China

###

See the article:

Xujing Li, Li Yin, Zhengxun Lai, Mei Wu, Yu Sheng, Lei Zhang, Yuanwei Sun, Shulin Chen, Xiaomei Li, Jingmin Zhang, Yuehui Li, Kaihui Liu, Kaiyou Wang, Dapeng Yu, Xuedong Bai, Wenbo Mi, Peng Gao

Atomic origin of spin-valve magnetoresistance at the SrRuO3 grain boundary

Natl Sci Rev

https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa004

The National Science Review is the first comprehensive scholarly journal released in English in China that is aimed at linking the country's rapidly advancing community of scientists with the global frontiers of science and technology. The journal also aims to shine a worldwide spotlight on scientific research advances across China.
Professionals advise on building world-class public health system

By:Wu Qiong | From:english.eastday.com | 2020-04-10 11:08

Shanghai is eyeing becoming one of the safest cities in the globe in terms of public health by 2025.

On March 8, the city government released 20 measures to build a sound and complete public health emergency management system. What does the document mean to Shanghais response to contingent infectious diseases? Some professionals voiced their opinion.

Only with a strong and responsive prevention and control system can we respond to major emergent epidemics more effectively and quickly, said Zong Ming, deputy mayor of Shanghai. That is why establishing a contingency command system for public health has been put in the first place of the 20 measures. The Shanghai Public Health Emergency Command Center needs to develop with higher standards and a higher degree of sensitivity and responsiveness.

Based on what Shanghai has done in the face of COVID-19, Wu Jinglei, director of the Shanghai Health Commission, believes that contingent prevention and control capability in public health is crucial to a citys public health security emergency management, and Shanghai still needs to improve itself in this aspect, by deploying both soft and hard approaches.

In terms of hardware (infrastructure), disease control centers at all levels and designated hospitals for infectious diseases must be further strengthened. Meanwhile, infectious disease departments in general hospitals also need to be enhanced and more fever clinics and sentinel clinics in residential communities need to be built.

In terms of software, that means talent preservation and generation. Medical schools will be encouraged to build stronger disciplines, like Public Health & Preventive Medicine and Infectious Diseases. Emphasis will be put on disciplines like pathogenic microorganisms and biosecurity, big data and AI applications, health emergency management, disinfection and vector control, parasitic diseases, food and environmental hygiene, psychological and mental health, among some others. Infection, respiratory, acute and critical disease departments in hospitals will also win support from the government.

A doctor on standby at the city's airport entry point





For public health emergencies, active precaution and effective response are equally important, said Dr. Wu Fan, deputy head of the Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University. Overall, Shanghai boasts a good disease prevention and control network foundation, however, if we want the network to operate in a coordinated and efficient manner, institutional mechanisms must be constantly adjusted and optimized, to meet current demands in disease prevention and control and public health security.

In addition, Dr. Wu said technology can empower epidemic prevention and control, and the key lies in the layout of research projects and preservation of industry-leading talents.

A medical-surveillance database was created after the SARS outbreak in China in 2003. The database, however, covers 39 infectious diseases which are classified as notifiable, but still not sensitive enough to emerging diseases or those with unknown causes. In view of this situation, Shanghai has improved its infectious disease monitoring and alarm system from different aspects, according to Fu Chen, director of the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

As Fu said, the issuance of the 20 measures of the city government has raised more requirements for the infectious disease monitoring and alarm system.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Chinese people have been engaged in a war against the coronavirus. The cooperation of citizens is indispensible for Shanghais epidemic prevention and control. According to Wu Jinglei, public health security will be integrated in school curriculums so as to let medical institutions, scientists and teachers play their part in health popularization and engage the entire society in health promotion and education.

(Photos from the Internet)
A state judge in Austin has temporarily halted Gov. Greg Abbotts executive order prohibiting judges from releasing inmates during the pandemic on personal bonds if theyve been accused or convicted of a violent crime, saying that to keep the order in place would cause irreparable harm.

Judge Lora Livingston said her late Friday night order restrains the governor and his lawyers from enforcing any such restraints on judges bond rulings.

Livingstons order expires April 24 when it will be evaluated for renewal by another judge.

This court fully respects the interests and powers of the Governor to meet and manage the extraordinary challenges this State faces in times of disaster, the judge wrote in a letter accompanying the ruling. She added that many provisions in the governors governors sweeping March 29 executive order strip the discretion of the judiciary and potentially subject its judges to mandamus or criminal action with little or no rationale in coping with the current health crisis.

Andre Segura, the attorney for Texas ACLU, said the plaintiffs were pleased the court recognized the urgency of this matter and the need to press pause on Abbotts order.

The Governor has an important role to play in responding to this pandemic, but the Governor cannot impede the ability of judges to use their discretion to release particular individuals, especially when lives are at risk, he said.

The attorney generals office did not respond to a request for comment.

At a webcast hearing Friday, Livingston, who presides in Travis Countys 261st District Court, indicated she was skeptical about the logic behind the executive order and wondered why the governor thought her fellow jurists would handle their bond rulings with any less discretion during the global coronavirus outbreak than at any other time.

I still for the life of me dont understand how letting out someone two months ago who allegedly committed an assault  and (banning it) now in the middle of the crisis, I just dont see how its going to make the community any safer, Livingston said, addressing a packed Zoom broadcast to an audience of more than 300 people watching the hearing live on YouTube. The judge explored with a lawyer from the Attorney Generals Office a hypothetical scenario wherein a governor had the power to suspend whatever powers he or she wanted during a crisis without checks or balances.

Im not suggesting this is happening, Im playing devils advocate, but youre telling me that in a disaster the governor can do whatever he wants? Im saying, how do we rein that in? the judge asked. We have three branches of government designated by our founders to avoid one branch taking over for all the others.

The injunction addresses a civil rights complaint brought by Harris Countys 16 misdemeanor judges, the ACLU of Texas and other civil rights groups. The lawsuit contends that Abbott exceeded his authority and improperly removed judges discretionary powers protected under state law.

The countys misdemeanor judges who are under a federal consent decree have indicated that they will continue to release about 75 percent of people arrested on low-level offenses on general order bonds. Felony judges in the states largest urban county have issued two orders of their own, delineating a small subset of offenses that could qualify for releases in the jail.

The dispute over who has the power to release people from the packed Harris County jail as the infection rate increases has been hampered by three dueling orders  the one by the governor, one issued by County Judge Lina Hidalgo and one by state District Judge Herb Ritchie, along with a competing a federal civil rights request seeking an emergency injunction on behalf of thousands of felony defendants being held pretrial because they cant afford cash bond.

The governors Executive Order No. GA-13 suspended several parts of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure related to personal bonds, halting these bonds for anyone with a prior violent conviction or a conviction involving the threat of violence. He barred the release of prison inmates with prior violent convictions on electronic monitoring.

Abbott also stopped portions of the Texas Government Code permitting a county judge, mayor or emergency management director from releasing people outlawed under his new order. Judges may consider these releases on an individual basis if there is a health or medical reason to do so.

Regarding prison inmates, Abbott suspended portions of the state criminal code related to commuting sentences for anyone convicted of violence or threats.

Segura, from the Texas ACLU, argued that the governors role is carefully limited under the state constitution. He said Abbotts order suspends provisions of the code of criminal procedure. He said the governor does not have the authority to put these provisions on hold under the Texas Disaster Act.

Adam Biggs, from Attorney General Ken Paxtons office, told the judge he was on firm ground as the Legislature gives the governor a wide berth when the state has declared a disaster.

The two lawyers offered opposing accounts of whether the Abbotts order could result in judges being criminally prosecuted by the state for violating its terms and issuing general order bonds for cases on their docket.

Now Playing: 'COVID-19 in 60': Houston coronavirus news in a minute Video: Houston Chronicle

The Travis County judge also shrugged off the suggestion by the governors lawyer that people released from jails would create a unanticipated domestic violence problem. Livingston said protective orders are issued all the time, and that would continue to happen.

Hidalgo said all along she sought to release nonviolent inmates, although the governor apparently assumed she intended to release people facing charges of or previously convicted of violent crime.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who filed a joint federal amicus brief with eight of his legislative colleagues backing the governor, said he opposes the release of people with violent records or charges  which he said the governor and others feared might happen under Hidalgos subsequent order.

There has been broad bipartisan outrage regarding County Judge Hidalgos overreaching order throughout Harris County, Bettencourt said in a statement. We do not need to release burglars, thieves, forgers, fraudsters, or worse, on to the streets of Harris County while citizens are watching their homes, businesses, purses, and wallets in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic. Its a crime-bomb!

The state civil rights lawsuit awaiting a ruling could alter the way courts are proceeding on cases across the state. Other agencies involved in the lawsuit include Texas Fair Defense Project, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, three criminal defense nonprofits and the NAACP of Texas.

Correction: Judge Lora Livingstones order did not set automatic bond. An earlier version of this story misstated the terms of her order.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com
WASHINGTON - Attorney General William Barr believes the Russia investigation that shadowed President Donald Trump for the first two years of his administration was started without any basis and amounted to an effort to sabotage the presidency, he said in an interview with Fox News Channel.

Barr offered no support for his assertion that the FBI lacked a basis for opening the investigation and made no mention of the fact that the bureau began its probe after a Trump campaign adviser purported to have early knowledge that Russia had dirt on Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

Barr, who has appointed a U.S. attorney to lead an investigation into the origins of the Russia probe, said the Justice Department has evidence there was something far more troubling than just mistakes during the investigation that eventually morphed into special counsel Robert Muellers probe.

I think the president has every right to be frustrated, because I think what happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American history, Barr said in the interview with Fox News Channels Laura Ingraham that aired Thursday night.

The attorney general said the FBI launched its counterintelligence investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia without any basis.

Even more concerning, actually, is what happened after the campaign, a whole pattern of events while he was president, Barr said. To sabotage the presidency, and I think that  or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency.

The Justice Departments inspector general found the FBI was justified in opening an investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia  to protect against a national security threat  and found the bureau didnt act with political bias.

Trump and his supporters are counting on different conclusions from the separate investigation led by John Durham, the U.S. attorney Barr selected to examine the early days of the Russia probe. Durhams investigation is ongoing, and Barr did not provide any evidence about what Durham has found so far.

Barr has been a loyal supporter of Trump since becoming attorney general, though their positive relationship showed signs of fraying earlier this year when Barr said in a television interview that Trumps tweets about ongoing Justice Department cases made it impossible for him to do his job.

Mueller concluded that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election, but his investigation didnt find sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Trumps campaign and Russia. Mueller also examined about a dozen possible instances of obstruction of justice and has pointedly said he could not exonerate the president.

The inspector generals report identified significant problems with applications to receive and renew warrants to monitor the communications of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2016 and 2017. Investigators were concerned about Pages ties to Russia, but never charged him with any wrongdoing. Inspector General Michael Horowitz told senators the FBI failed to follow its own standards for accuracy and completeness when it sought warrants from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor Pages communications.

The report detailed 17 errors and omissions during those wiretap applications, including failing to tell the court when questions were raised about the reliability of some of the information it had presented to receive the warrants. Those mistakes prompted internal changes within the FBI and spurred a congressional debate over whether the bureaus surveillance tools should be reined in.

But Barr believes they were more than just mistakes, offering a personal view of the probe, a highly unusual move for a prosecutor in an ongoing investigation.

My own view is that the evidence shows that were not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness, he said. There is something far more troubling here, and were going to get to the bottom of it.

The FBI opened its investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia on July 31, 2016.

By that point, Russian hackers had broken into the Clinton campaign and other Democratic email accounts and George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser, had boasted to a diplomat that he was aware that Russia had derogatory information on Clinton.

Though Trump and Barr have seized on errors made during the surveillance of Page, the investigation had already been underway for months by the time the first application was filed.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked States and Union Territories to strictly ensure lockdown guidelines in view of festivals in the month of April.

"In view of the ensuing festivals in the month of April, the MHA has directed all States and UTs to ensure strict compliance of the lockdown measures to fight COVID-19," said Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, MHA, on Friday during the daily media briefing.

She went on to add that as per the information received from various State governments till April 9, "there are 37,978 shelters and relief camps running around the country and are providing residence to stranded migrant workers and other people in need. Out of these, more than 34,000 relief camps have been set up by the State governments while more than 3,900 are being run by NGOs."

She said that there are approximately 26,225 food camps running in the country, from where over one crore people are being provided with food.

"14,799 food camps are being run by the State governments while 11,426 camps have been set up by NGOs. Close to 16.5 lakh workers are being provided with shelter and food by their employers and industries," she added.

Dammu Ravi, AS and Coordinator -- COVID-19, MEA, and Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), were also present at the press briefing.

Srivastava said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the security conditions at India's border with Pakistan and Bangladesh in a meeting with the officials of the Border Security Force (BSF) through video conferencing and asked them not to allow any cross-border movement.

"The Home Minister held a review meeting over security at India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders with the BSF officials. He ordered to tighten security, especially in the areas where there is no fencing and not to allow any cross-border movement," she said.

According to her, Shah also urged the BSF officials to make the farmers living in border areas aware of COVID-19 and the steps needed to be taken to prevent its spread.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Turkey today began sending planeloads of emergency equipment to Britain to help medics fighting coronavirus.

The first flight from Ankara took off today carrying personal protective equipment including surgical masks, N95 industrial masks and hazmat suits, with a second flight due to take off on Saturday, according to the defence ministry.

The items were sent in boxes displaying the words of 13th century Sufi Poet Jalaluddin Rumi: 'After hopelessness, there is so much hope and after darkness, there is the much brighter sun.'

It came as the German army said it was donating 60 mobile ventilators to the NHS as officials scramble to get enough life-saving equipment to meet the expected peak of the coronavirus epidemic.

The first flight from Ankara took off today carrying personal protective equipment including surgical masks, N95 industrial masks and hazmat suits

The items were sent in boxes displaying the words of 13th century Sufi Poet Jalaluddin Rumi: 'There is hope after despair and many suns after darkness.'

In the past weeks, Turkey has similarly donated medical supplies to Italy, Spain - who like the UK are Nato allies - as well as five countries in the Balkans.

In the past weeks, Turkey has similarly donated medical supplies to Italy, Spain - who like the UK are NATO allies - as well as five countries in the Balkans.

'At the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Armed Forces aircraft that will transport to (the) United Kingdom the medical aid supplies prepared by Turkey's Health Ministry to be used in the fight against COVID-19 has departed Etimesgut/Ankara,' the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Twitter.

There was no information on the quantity of the supplies sent.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had thanked Turkey in a phone conversation on Wednesday with his counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, describing it as an 'indication of strong friendship between the two countries.'

Equipment being loaded on to the flight from Etimesgut Air Base in Ankara today

The German embassy to Britain today confirmed a report in Der Spiegel that the Bundeswehr would be sending ventilators to the UK as soon as possible.

A statement on the embassy's Twitter feed said: 'Support for our friends in the UK - the Bundeswehr is donating 60 mobile ventilators to the UK.'

The NHS is currently reported to have around 10,000 ventilators - still some 8,000 short of the 18,000 which Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said will be required.

The Government has appealed to British manufacturers to fill the gap, but, while a number of firms have come forward, it is taking time to gear up production.

In the meantime, the NHS has been seeking to source supplies from overseas, including 200 from the United States, with president Donald Trump saying this week: 'They need them desperately.'
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (Kyodo News) Tokyo  Fri, April 10, 2020 17:37 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd113724 2 News Tokyo-Disneyland,Tokyo-DisneySea,travel,destination,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

Tokyo Disney Resort and Universal Studios Japan will again extend their closure and reopen later than mid-May to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in line with the government's request, the operators of the theme parks said Thursday.

Oriental Land Co., which runs Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, said on March 27, 12 days after they were originally hoping to reopen, that they would reopen April 20 or later.

Meanwhile, USJ LLC, the operator of the amusement park in Osaka, was previously planning to reopen next Sunday. All three parks have been closed since Feb. 29.

The extension of closure came after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared Tuesday a state of emergency through May 6, covering Chiba and Osaka prefectures, where the parks are located, as well as five other prefectures.

The declaration enables local authorities to instruct people to stay at home and companies to close large facilities.

Oriental Land will also extend the closure of its four group hotels, which are inside or near the parks, such as the Disney Ambassador Hotel.

The opening date of Tokyo Disneyland's newly developed area will be decided after the parks reopen, the company said.
Across the world, authorities are imposing unprecedented restrictions on citizens freedoms in an effort to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But human rights groups warn that some governments are exploiting the state of emergency to grab power. In a multi-part series, VOA examines how even in established democracies, there are fears that the health crisis is being used to silence critics and squash basic democratic rights around the world. Henry Ridgwell reports from London. VOA Khmer's Reasey Poch narrates.
NEW DELHI - For hours, the health worker ticked through a list of questions: How is your health? What is your state of mind? Are you running out of any food supplies? By the end of the afternoon, she had reached more than 50 people under coronavirus quarantine. Weeks earlier, that number was 200.

Sheeba K.M. was just one of more than 30,000 health workers in the Indian state of Kerala, part of the Communist state government's robust response to the coronavirus pandemic. Other efforts include aggressive testing, intense contact tracing, instituting a longer quarantine, building thousands of shelters for migrant workers stranded by the sudden nationwide shutdown and distributing millions of cooked meals to those in need.

The measures appear to be paying off. Even though Kerala was the first state to report a coronavirus case in late January, the number of new cases in the first week of April dropped 30 percent from the previous week. With just two deaths, 34% of positive patients have recovered in the state, higher than elsewhere in India.

The success in Kerala could prove instructive for the Indian government, which has largely shut down the country to stop the spread of the contagion but continues to see the curve trend upward, with more than 6,700 confirmed cases and more than 200 deaths. Its challenges are plenty - from high population density to poor health care facilities - but experts say Kerala's proactive measures like early detection and broad social support measures could serve as a model for the rest of the country.

"We hoped for the best but planned for the worst," said K.K. Shailaja, the state's health minister, while cautioning that the pandemic is not yet over in Kerala. "Now, the curve has flattened, but we cannot predict what will happen next week."

Kerala's approach was effective because it was "both strict and humane," said Shahid Jameel, a virologist and infectious disease expert.

"Aggressive testing, isolating, tracing and treating - those are ways of containing an outbreak," said Jameel, who is also the CEO of Wellcome Trust, a health research foundation.

Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organization's representative in India, attributed Kerala's "prompt response" to its past "experience and investment" in emergency preparedness and pointed to measures such as district monitoring, risk communication and community engagement.

The state faced a potentially disastrous challenge: a disproportionately high number of foreign arrivals. Popular for its tranquil backwaters and health retreats, the coastal state receives more than 1 million foreign tourists a year. One-sixth of its 33 million citizens are expatriates, and hundreds of its students study in China.

Screening at airports was tightened, and travelers from nine countries - including coronavirus hotspots such as Iran and South Korea - were required to quarantine at home starting on Feb. 10, two weeks before India put similar restrictions into place. In one instance, more than a dozen foreign nationals were removed from a flight before takeoff because they had not completed their isolation period. Temporary quarantine shelters were established to accommodate tourists and other nonresidents.

Still, some slipped through. The arrival of a local couple from Italy in the last week of February who did not report to health officials caused an alarm. By the time they were detected, the couple had attended several social gatherings and traveled widely. Nearly 900 primary and secondary contacts were traced and isolated.

Robin Thomas, 34, the son-in-law of the couple who returned from Italy, tested positive for coronavirus, as did his wife and his wife's grandparents. He said apart from the "excellent treatment" he received, the medical staff also helped them overcome stigma.

"People were blaming us on Facebook and WhatsApp," he said. "The counselors called us over the phone regularly and gave us confidence.

Shailaja, the health minister, said six states had reached out to Kerala for advice. But it may not be easy to replicate Kerala's lessons elsewhere in India.

In more than 30 years of Communist rule, the state has invested heavily in public education and universal health care. Kerala has the highest literacy rate and benefits from the best-performing public health system in the country. It tops India's rankings on neonatal mortality, birth immunizations and the availability of specialists at primary care facilities.

The strength of its health care system allowed it to follow the World Health Organization's recommendation on aggressive testing, even as central agencies maintained that mass testing was not feasible in a country like India. Through the first week of April, Kerala had conducted more than 13,000 tests, accounting for 10% of all tests done across India. By comparison, Andhra Pradesh, a larger state with a similar number of cases, had carried out nearly 6,000 tests while Tamil Nadu, with more than double the number of cases, had done more than 8,000 tests.

The state took the lead in deploying rapid testing kits, which officials say they continue to use in hotspots to check community spread. This week, Kerala began walk-in testing facilities, which reduce the need for protective gears for health workers.

Kerala also announced an economic package worth $2.6 billion to fight the pandemic days before the central government instituted a harsh lockdown that left many states scrambling. It delivered uncooked lunches to schoolchildren, liaised with service providers to increase network capacity for Internet at homes and promised two months of advance pension.

But there have also been some blips. The state was criticized for going ahead with a local festival in early March that drew thousands of people. Amar Fettle, the state officer responsible for health emergencies, said there was still room for improvement on aspects like social distancing in markets, cough hygiene and lockdown implementation.

Thomas and his wife have recovered, as have his wife's elderly grandparents - 88 and 93 - who were discharged this week.

"We were very worried about them and thought they may not survive," Thomas said. "Even when grandfather had a heart attack, the doctors told us they will keep trying."

- - -

The Washington Post's Shahina K.K. contributed reporting from Kochi, Kerala.
A lot of speculations were being made about Google Pixel 4a's launch but now it seems that release might happen sooner than expected. Just yesterday a few images of the Google Pixel 4a were allegedly leaked in a private Facebook group. Now more details about the much-anticipated phone have emerged that reveal a lot about the specifications of the phone.

Earlier, Google Pixel 4a was set to launch at the I/O 2020 but the event got cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The images of Google Pixel 4a retail packaging surfaced on Slashleaks ahead of the big release. The leaked pictures give us a glimpse of how the phone is going to look and how the packaging has been done. From outside the box, the phone looks identical to its younger siblingthe Google Pixel 3a. However, there has been one notable change in the device and that is the camera module at the rear. Unlike Pixel 3a's round single rear camera, the Pixel 4a has a squarish camera bump at the rear. The camera island consists of a 12-megapixel camera with an LED flash, which is placed diagonally. It's predecessor the Google Pixel 4, which launched back in 2019, has a dual-camera setup on the rear comprising of a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera and a 16-megapixel telephoto lens.

Coming to the specifications, the Pixel 4a is rumoured to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 chipset paired with 6GB of RAM with a storage of 128GB. The phone is likely to feature 5.81-inch OLED display with an FHD+ resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixel and a refresh rate of 60Hz. In terms of the battery, the Google Pixel 4a will house a 3,080mAh battery with support for 18W USB Type-C fast charger. It will not have support for wireless charging

Another important feature that the leaked images reveal is that the phone will have a capacitive fingerprint scanner at the rear. Which also suggests that Google might not introduce a face lock system on its Google Pixel 4a.

As per the leaked images, the Pixel 4a will have a unibody plastic design. So far all the pictures that have surfaced have shown the phone in a matt black colour. This could be a tad disappointing for Google Pixel fans who were eyeing to get the phone in various colour options.
MOE suspends Taiwan education programs for mainland students

Global Times

By Yang Sheng Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2020/4/9 23:56:58

China's Ministry of Education (MOE) announced on Thursday the Chinese mainland would suspend all programs and work that involves sending mainland students to study in Taiwan, given the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and current cross-Straits relations.

According to a statement released on the ministry's website, the policies for Taiwan students to apply for mainland universities will remain unchanged for 2020. Currently, the most important mission is to guarantee mainland students at Taiwan universities can return to Taiwan to finish their studies as the island authority has banned all mainland residents from entering Taiwan, the statement also said.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, since the separatist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority in Taiwan issued a temporary travel ban for mainland residents on February 6, and most Taiwan schools and universities opened in late February and early March, many mainland students who had already returned home for the holidays could not go back to Taiwan and finish their courses.

The legal demand among mainland students didn't receive a response or any assistance from the DPP authority, and Taiwan universities also failed to help protect mainland students' legal right to receive an education, and instead passed the buck and kicked the students off the island, officials told Xinhua.

Zheng Bo-yu, 32, from Taiwan, has worked in Beijing for years and told the Global Times that this shows cross-Strait relations have worsened, and students are just the victims of the politics.

Zheng, also manager of the Beijing-based Vstartup Station of Taiwan, an institution helping Taiwan youth apply to mainland universities and gain internships at mainland firms, said that "the DPP authority is using the pandemic as an excuse to cut off the people-to-people exchange between the mainland and the island."

The mainland's decision is not a surprise as the island doesn't allow anyone from the mainland to enter Taiwan anyway, he noted.

However, the mainland didn't retaliate to innocent Taiwan students, who can still come to the mainland, according to the education ministry's statement. Taiwan students on the mainland are well-protected, and none of the Taiwan students on the mainland has been infected with COVID-19, Xinhua reported on Thursday.

Zheng predicted that Taiwan students who apply at mainland universities would drop by 40 percent this year, and it's because of the pandemic, but the fundamental reason is that the DPP authority and separatists in Taiwan have already poisoned cross-Straits ties.



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






DUBAI - Yemen announced Friday that it had confirmed its first suspected case of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, in the country.



The case was found in the southern province of Hadramout, under government control.



Humanitarian aid organisations have warned that the impact of the pandemic could be catastrophic in the country after five years of war between rebel fighters and Yemeni troops backed by Saudi Arabic.
WILLIAMSPORT  It has been nearly a year since a pair of legs was found in the Susquehanna River at Williamsport and it has been seven months since human remains were discovered in a Philadelphia storage facility.

But, authorities say they still do not have forensics data to confirm they are the remains of Brenda Lee Jacobs of Montoursville, who was last seen in 2003.

Investigators are waiting for DNA test results, said state police Lt. Greg Watson. Those things take a long time, he said.

Several agencies are involved in the identification process, including the Philadelphia Medical Examiners office and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System in Texas, he said.

Dennis Dirkmaat, a forensic anthropologist at Mercyhurst University, determined by studying the bones the legs belonged to an adult white female approximately 5 to 5-6 feet in height.

His part of the investigation is at a standstill, he said. The best way to determine if the legs and remains match is to either put them together physically or by close-up photographs, he said.

Authorities say they believe that the remains and mummified legs are those of Jacobs because Jade G. Babcock, 50, formerly of Montoursville, in a recorded interview with police admitted killing Jacobs on Dec. 26, 2003, and detailing what he did with the body.

Statements made by Babcock after his arrest last September in Philadelphia are being reviewed. Otherwise, activity is pretty much at a standstill pending receipt of the forensics data, Lycoming County District Attorney Ryan C. Gardner said Friday.

The deadline for chief Public Defender Nicole J. Spring to file pretrial motions has been pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic virtually shutting down the state court system.

Trooper Joe Follmer at last Octobers preliminary hearing when Babcock was held for court on homicide and other charges gave this summary of his confession:

Jacobs and he were drinking heavily around the holidays in 2003. They argued over losing their jobs and being unable to buy gifts for children.

He hit her several times and she fell to the floor. He never called 911. When the body got cold he wrapped it in a comforter and placed it in a living room closet.

A few months later when it got warmer he moved the body to a coal bin in a barn at the rear of the property where it remained until the house was sold on Nov. 18, 2018.

He was unable to fit the remains in a wooden box his father used when ice fishing, so he cut off the legs with a bow saw. and put them in a garbage bag.

He moved the remains to a storage unit in Williamsport where they stayed until last April when he and his then-girlfriend moved to Philadelphia using a rental truck.

The legs were thrown into the Susquehanna River from the Maynard Street bridge in Williamsport. Fisherman found them a short distance downstream May 11, 2019.

The girlfriend who moved with him to Philadelphia turned him in and directed authorities to the storage unit where the remains were found Sept. 17, police said.

Babock was arrested initially by state police in Philadelphia on charges of abuse of corpse, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence.

They later were withdrawn in favor of the Lycoming County charges of homicide, tampering with evidence, obstruction justice and abuse of corpse.

Babcock, who said at his arraignment he is addicted to crystal methamphetamine and alcohol, is jailed without bail.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

--

Other recent John Beauge stories

Feds considering using Lewisburg as a regional quarantine stop for inmates being moved

Northumberland County ATV crash seriously injures 6-year-old driver

Staff member at Allenwood Federal Penitentiary tests positive for COVID-19

Penn State football player denies sexually hazing teammate as alleged in federal suit

Obscene Zoombombing abruptly ends Union County commissioners meeting

Demoted Williamsport police officer claims he was victim of blatant retaliation
As Worcester city officials on Thursday gave their daily COVID-19 update, they sent well wishes to Billy Riley, a well-known face in the community for providing thousands of meals each week at the soup kitchen and pantry at St. Johns Food for the Poor.

Riley has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said as he announced 42 more cases of the virus, bringing the citys total to 482.

Bill is an exceptional person who is very hands-on, very dedicated to serving the most needy in our community. He does it every day with a lot of passion, a lot of energy and a lot of patience down at St. Johns, Augustus said.

Mayor Joseph Petty asked residents to keep Riley and his family in their thoughts.

Because Riley interacts with so many people each day, Augustus said the city is now working to test people who frequent the St. Johns program, many of whom stay at the SMOC shelter.

Worcester EMS started testing at SMOC this morning. About 50 people have been tested so far, officials said.

Dr. Michael Hirsh, the medical director of the citys public health department, said test results could come back in about 12 hours. More testing will resume later Thursday, Hirsh said.

If anyone tests positive, they will be transferred to the citys shelter at Worcester Technical High School, which has been reserved for members of the homeless population who need to quarantine or isolate.

Hirsh said the plan came together quickly after the city found out Riley had tested positive.

One more Worcester police officer has tested positive, Augustus said, for a total of five. One officer has finished quarantine. Six firefighters have tested positive and four have been cleared to return to duty.

There are 72 coronavirus cases in Shrewsbury, 29 in Grafton, 28 in Holden, and 8 in Leicester, the four towns to which Worcester provides nursing services.

Between the UMass Memorial Health Care and Saint Vincent Hospital systems, there are 134 coronavirus inpatients, an increase of four from Wednesday. Of those patients, 44 are in the intensive care units, Augustus said.

The two systems have had 22 patients die from illness related to coronavirus, an increase of three days since Wednesday.

Between the two systems, there are 87 employees who have tested positive, the city manager said.

UMass Memorial Health Care released its own data on Thursday, which indicated its hospitals had 107 coronavirus inpatients, 32 of whom were in the ICU. The system has had 65 employees test positive and has 73 employees on quarantine.

In the eight days since April 1, there have been 367 new cases in Worcester, Augustus said. The field hospital at the DCU Center saw its first patient on Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon, the state Department of Public Health announced 70 more deaths from illness related to COVID-19. There have been a total of 503 deaths.

At least 18,941 residents have tested positive, including 1,461 in Worcester County, DPH said.

Related Content:
Addressing the handover ceremony, Deputy Minister Dung affirmed that Vietnam presented the gift to Myanmar in the spirit of friendship and close neighborhood to combat the pandemic despite Vietnam being also affected by the pandemic.

The donation not only demonstrates the cohesion and mutual support between the two countries but also an expression of solidarity among ASEAN countries, Dung said.

He expressed his hope that the aid will help Myanmar to overcome these current tough times.

Myanmar Ambassador to Vietnam Kyaw Soe Win thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for the assistance, noting that the timely support is a great source of encouragement for Myanmar to overcome their difficulties during this period.

He added that his country will coordinate closely with Vietnam and other ASEAN countries to overcome the pandemic in accordance to the ASEAN Statement on the fight against the pandemic issued in March.
Chester County Coroner Dr. Christina VandePol  seen here with office manager Patty Emmons  said her office has had two positive COVID-19 test results come back from deaths that occurred at home or in the community. Read more

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and PennLive/Patriot-News. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter.

HARRISBURG  Until late last week, Dr. Christina VandePol, the coroner in Chester County, said, she had to turn to local hospitals if she wanted to test a deceased person for the coronavirus.

Since then, she said, shes received 20 tests from the states lab, in two batches. For a county with over 400 cases and seven deaths reported as of Thursday, 20 doesnt seem like a lot, but its more than other coroners have received.

We are very fortunate, as I understand, she said.

Coroners  elected public servants in most of the states 67 counties  say a lack of tests is just one problem theyre facing as they take on the coronavirus. Some say theres also been a weeks-long breakdown in how hospitals are informing them about deaths, and a fundamental dispute with the state over what their role is in the crisis.

By not acknowledging what coroners see as their legal obligation, they say, the state is risking a miscount of deaths, potentially misunderstanding how the virus is spreading and overburdening hospital staff with administrative tasks.

The head of the group that represents the states coroners says he cant seem to get the department to hear their concerns.

We have to agree to disagree, said Charles E. Kiessling Jr., coroner in Lycoming County and president of the Pennsylvania Coroners Association.

Some coroners, like VandePol, have started to acquire diagnostic kits  which they say they need to test people who died in their homes or outside of a hospital  but the Department of Health is recommending that they use them sparingly. In interim guidance released Tuesday, the department said coroners should use their judgment to determine whether to test a body based on a combination of factors, including if a person had symptoms or lived in an area with known community transmission.

To determine which bodies to test, VandePol has been using information she learns from a family, like whether they knew of a fever, shortness of breath, or a cough. She has access to medical records, too, she said, so she can understand a persons underlying health condition.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testing ideally should be conducted, but it is acceptable to report COVID19 on a death certificate without this confirmation if the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty.

Those cases, marked as probable COVID-19 deaths, are included in the states count.

VandePol said she hasnt marked any coronavirus deaths as probable. So far, shes had enough tests to handle suspected cases. But she said she would feel comfortable if she had to do so. For coroners, she said, listing a probable cause of death isnt uncommon.

Whats different about the COVID-19 crisis, though, is the severity of the risk in not catching all positive cases. The ideal would be that we would test everyone, she said.

VandePol added that her office has had two positive test results come back from deaths that occurred at home or in the community. She said she communicated with the families about the results  a standard practice  and has been in touch with the funeral homes.

Giving funeral homes adequate information so they can take the right precautions is another reason for tests to happen, she said.

But as of Tuesday, most coroners in the state didnt have access to tests, Kiessling, of the coroners association, said.

We dont know what we dont know, he said. If were not testing the people who die at home, we might be missing  their family. Thats a concern.

Providing answers to a community about its deaths is precisely what Pennsylvanias coroners are elected to do, Kiessling said. But because of a dispute with the state Health Department, he said, coroners are hindered in that obligation.

County coroners typically dont get involved when someone dies of natural causes at a hospital or nursing home. Instead, theyre tasked with investigating unexpected or suspicious deaths, like homicides or suicides.

They also say theyre obligated under state law to investigate deaths that are known or suspected to be due to contagious disease and constituting a public hazard.

Coroners are particularly well suited to handle these investigations because they have boots on the ground already, said Kiessling. Theyve built relationships with physicians, county officials, and first responders, and can properly communicate with families, track community spread, and build an accurate death count.

The coroners have the connections in our community more accurately to track these cases, Kiessling said. Any time theres a question about a death in a community, who do they call? They dont call the Department of Health.

But the Department of Health sees things differently, saying COVID-19 deaths  confirmed and suspected  should be considered natural and in most cases do not need to be investigated by coroners.

Coroners say they dont need to handle every case, but do need hospitals to submit COVID-19 death information, as theyre required to do, through the states online reporting system. Kiessling said hes spent much of the last month in conversations with the Health Department about whether thats been happening.

According to Nate Wardle, a department spokesperson, it has been ongoing protocol for physicians who certify death certificates to enter COVID-19 deaths into the system.

On Wednesday, following questions from Spotlight PA, the department released additional guidance that clarified this requirement, Wardle said. On the same day, the department reported that over 2,000 new users had begun using the technology over the last two weeks.

But if the Department of Health wants fast, accurate reporting, said VandePol, the coroner in Chester County, it shouldnt rely on busy hospital staff.

These are physicians on the front lines, in ICUs, VandePol said. To me, its a public service for the coroners to be involved.

Kiessling said hes been checking in with coroners across the state every few days. And he said he is working with funeral homes, crematories, and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to plan for a possible surge.

At the moment, coroners have enough personal protective equipment, Kiessling said, because he stocked up a few years ago, when the Department of Health was emptying an old warehouse in Harrisburg.

I took a trailer and an ambulance. I stockpiled boxes and boxes, Kiessling said. Lo and behold, here we are today.

If an area of Pennsylvania sees a spike in deaths, hes ready to deploy the associations four refrigerated trailers, which can each hold dozens of bodies.

Pamela Gay, who spent three decades as a registered nurse before becoming coroner in York County, said shes been told she cant count on receiving one of the trailers, so shes been looking into temporary storage facilities on her own.

Though Gays jurisdiction isnt seeing high numbers of COVID-19 deaths, York County has a population of nearly 450,000 and doesnt have a morgue. Her staff shares space with a hospital in town. The joint morgue fits barely 10 bodies.

For years, long before the COVID-19 crisis hit, Gay was vocal about the morgues capacity issues. In a 2018 report, her office warned that it was their most urgent need. Concerns were reaching critical levels.

Finally, last summer, York County commissioners approved a plan. Gay and her staff could expect a new office in 2020, and following that, a new morgue  triple the size they were used to.

Contracts were signed. Construction began. Then the coronavirus hit.

With the statewide shutdown of non-"life-sustaining" businesses, construction on the York County coroners office has halted.

It could really negatively affect our community in the next few weeks, Gay said. Its just not a good situation.

100% ESSENTIAL: Spotlight PA provides its journalism at no cost to newsrooms across the state as a public good to keep our communities informed and thriving. If you value this service, please give a gift today at spotlightpa.org/donate.
Have I Got News For You star Ian Hislop sent a get well soon message to Boris Johnson (Hat Trick Productions/Ray Burmiston/PA)

Have I Got News For You panellist Ian Hislop sent a get well soon message to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as the satirical show was again broadcast from their homes of its stars.

The long-running comedy series saw the return of team captains Hislop and Paul Merton, while actor Stephen Mangan hosted the evening.

They were joined on Fridays show by guest panellists comedian Zoe Lyons and broadcaster Reverend Richard Coles.

Expand Close Stephen Mangan hosted Have I Got News For You from his home (Hat Trick Productions/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Stephen Mangan hosted Have I Got News For You from his home (Hat Trick Productions/PA)

For the second week in a row, the coronavirus lockdown forced Have I Got News For You and its guests to broadcast from home and appear in a virtual studio.

Hislop took the opportunity to wish Mr Johnson well, after the Prime Minister spent time in intensive care suffering with Covid-19.

Shall we start with the elephant in the room? Hislop said. The fact that our Prime Minister is actually in hospital? Its not great for comedy is it I think we should probably acknowledge that we dont wish him ill.

We wish him well, we want him to get back and you know, obviously then we can be rude about him again!

The Private Eye editor added: But there is absolutely nothing, for anyone, in having the prime minister of your country actually ill with the pandemic thats going on.

We wish him well, we want him to get back and you know, obviously then we can be rude about him again! Ian Hislop

The team also joked about Scotlands chief medical officer, doctor Catherine Calderwood, and the New Zealand health minister, David Clark, who both found themselves in hot water for breaching the lockdown rules they had promoted.

Video of the Day

Lyons said: Is this the Scottish health minister, who was seen flouting her own rules about staying close to home to save the NHS, and, not once, but twice, was caught at her second home in Fife, when she lives in Edinburgh and its a good hours drive even in light traffic?

So she had to step down. Her, and the New Zealand health secretary  he was also caught doing the same thing!

Merton quipped: Exactly, and its a much longer journey for him to get to Fife.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has said it will soon begin door-to-door delivery of palliative materials to 600,000 households in the six area councils of the territory.

The Minister of State for the FCT, Ramatu Aliyu, said the materials would be given to ameliorate the pains caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

According to a press statement signed on Friday morning and signed by the Chief Press Secretary of the minister, Tony Ogunleye, Mrs Aliyu said there will be a monitoring team made up of civil society organisations, religious and traditional rulers, youth and women groups to ensure an equitable distribution of the palliatives. in order to ensure that this palliative gets to the poorest of the poor in the society.

The first set of the palliative is targeted at 100,000 households in a council area, which is a total of 600,000 for the six area councils, she said.

She said each area council would pick the items meant for their people at the main point facility of the FCT for onward distribution.

In the unit level, youll have these nine people who will identify and mark all the houses that have been served the items, she said.

To avoid crowding, the minister said that having identified each household, only the household leader would be invited to receive what is due to the family while the other members of the house remain indoors.

The minister said a reporting mechanism will be put in place for communities to report irregularities with their package.

She also said FCTA has made plans for water tankers to go round the suburbs to supply potable water to households even as she appealed to residents to stay indoors as it is the only safest thing to do now to avoid pushing the administration to adopt stricter measures in order to curb the spread of the virus.

The FCT water board has been directed to liaise with other agencies such as FERMA to supply water daily to rural communities, she said.

However, the minister did not reveal the date for the commencement of the distribution of these palliatives.

600 beds in treatments and isolation centre

Meanwhile, the FCT minister Mohammed Bello said the collaboration between the FCT Administration and private sector concerns will in the coming days make available 600 beds in various treatment and isolation centres across the FCT for the fight against COVID-19.

The treatment and isolation centres are Asokoro Hospital, Idu isolation centre, General hospital Karu and University of Abuja Teaching Hospital.

Mr Bello said the Asokoro Hospital has been fully converted into isolation and treatment centre and can accommodate up to 100 patients inclusive of those that will require intensive care treatment based on medical expert advice.

He said the Asokoro Isolation and Treatment Centre will open this Friday.

Speaking on the Idu Isolation centre, the minister said the facility can accommodate up to 300 beds.

We appreciate Polaris Bank for provision of 100 beds and Mr Fola Adeola of the FATE Foundation for the provision of 50 beds and other items such as monitors and PPEs.We also thanked the CCECC for providing the furniture, air conditioners and power and water to the facility, he said.

He said the general hospital Karu is being retrofitted and upgraded into a standard Isolation and Treatment centre.

Mr Bello said more patients in FCT Isolation and treatment centre at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital will be released in the coming days if their test results come out as negative.

READ ALSO:

On members of the public who violate the lockdown directive especially in some satellite areas, the minister said the continuation of the disobedience will give the administration no choice but to enforce stricter measures as it was determined to flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases in the FCT.

Donations

The minister also said some corporate organisations made donations to the FCTA for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advertisements



They include the MTN Nig PLC and Mikano for the supply of one 350 KVA generators each at the Karu General Hospital and University of Abuja Teaching Hospital Isolation and Treatment Center, Julius Berger Nig. PLC for the supply of 350 hospital beds, GE Health for the repair of broken ventilators, GT Bank and Zenith bank for their efforts at the Karu General Hospital and the Abuja Chamber of Commerce complex respectively, he said.

Cash donations include the Bank of Industry; N100,000,000, CGC Nigeria Ltd N20,000,000, Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company , N15,000,000, Arab Contractors OAO Nigeria Ltd N15,000,000 and Gilmor Engineering Ltd, N10,000,000,

The minister appreciated UBA Nigeria PLC for a donation of N300,000,000 to the FCTA and N200,000,000 to the NCDC as well as the NCC for a donation of N25,000,000.

He also mentioned Honeywell Group for its donations which have become a part of the palliatives to be distributed.

Nigerias confirmed COVID-19 cases, since the first record on February 27, are 288, including 51 recoveries and seven fatalities, as of April 9. There are optimistic views that COVID-19 is not yet a community disease in Nigeria and the comparatively low statistics correctly reflect the countrys true situation.
Egypt Railway Authority is in the process of buying 50 new locomotives from German multinational conglomerate company as the most populated Arab country embarks modernizing its rail way sector.

The deal which is in the pipeline according to Arab Finance Brokerage includes maintenance works for 50 of Siemens Henschel, a model that has been efficiently operating in Egypt since the 70s, Trade Arabia reports.

The future delivery will follow that of GE Transportation which supply the North African country 20 locomotive last month.

Aside from the German and US companies, a Russia-led joint venture group manufacture and supply 1,300 railways passenger vehicles. Egypt awarded the contract to Russian-Hungarian group in September 2018.

Egypt has begun revamping its rail way system and network after at least 22 people died in a train accident in Cairos central station.

Posted by North Africa Post North Africa Post's news desk is composed of journalists and editors, who are constantly working to provide new and accurate stories to NAP readers.
Some years ago I received a letter from an old man, gone from the Earth now. He was a stranger to me but he had achieved much during his life. He had been moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria and was a missionary to the poor in urban Australia before taking his energy to central and northern Australia, serving on the board of the Australian Inland Mission (established by John Flynn, founder of the Flying Doctor Service) and becoming the first executive officer of the Uniting Church of Northern Australia. His name was Graeme Bucknall. He wanted to tell me that he owed his lifes makings to the man who had taught him for four years from 1920 at a tiny school in the village of Drik Drik, in far south-west Victoria. Drik Drik school, built in 1873, a year after Victoria made education free, compulsory and secular. Here my grandfather introduced a small learning revolution. The teachers name was John Wallace Malseed, newly returned from the battles of the Western Front.

Wallace, the letter told me, had introduced a new educational theory called the Dalton system in which I, as a grade eight scholar, was given assignments to complete with him as tutor. He showed me how to research my information ... and I thrived educationally through the responsibility of working alone  Any scholastic achievement of mine, I owe in no small measure to my educational foundation by Wallace Malseed. Malseed, who turned his back on the approved rote learning of the time and, having fought in history's most hideous war, brought a revolutionary plan that valued freedom and self-pacing to a bush school in 1920, was my grandfather. He took to farming, but valued learning all his life. When he was old and ailing, I presented him with a newborn daughter named Jessica. He welcomed her by quoting Lorenzos ode to Jessica from Shakespeares Merchant of Venice: Beshrew me but I love her heartily. For she is wise, if I can judge of her. And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true.

Teachers, the best of them, are born to it. Which brings to mind Mr Noot Noong. I met him almost 30 years ago in a nondescript village north-west of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The train between Phnom Penh and the city of Battambang had just begun operating again after years of horror for Cambodians. A little band of us - journalists and photographers - decided to ride the railway in honour of its reopening. The train, like everything else in Cambodia, had stopped in 1975 when the demented Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge followers set about reducing the nation to Year Zero, where there would be no past nor modern future. Trying to destroy all existing culture, Pol Pots people killed anyone suspected of intellectualism - especially teachers, whose profession offered hope for a future.

Noot Noong was not only a teacher. He wore spectacles, the mark of an intellectual to the Khmer Rouge. Worse still, he spoke English. To survive he turned his back on his school, buried his spectacles and shuffled about as a peasant. Hope for the future: Cambodian students learning Chinese and English at a school in Sihanoukville in 2018. Credit:Kate Geraghty When one of our train party fell desperately ill in 1992 - another story altogether - we disembarked at a village. Noot Noong, wearing his old spectacles, offered assistance. Excited to speak English again, he led us to a hut.
Its imperative that right now we start looking ahead of our headlights in terms of what this pandemic is going to mean. Its going to change the way we operate; its a challenge USAID is going to have to rise to, he said. USAID is filled with incredibly talented people. My job is to make sure they get what they need to fulfill their missions . . . and that the people in the field get what they need from Washington.
Lawmakers Consider Emergency Scenario

Mail-in Voting Becomes Partisan

Issues to Consider

(TNS)  The strife over Ohios 2020 primary election, converted at the last minute last month to a largely vote-by-mail election over the coronavirus pandemic, has cast a new light on whether the state elections system is capable of handling an all-mail election in November if need be.Models currently project the worst of the coronavirus outbreak will recede by the summer. But past pandemics have seen a second wave break out. And with a widespread vaccine not likely to be available for more than a year, there is a distinct possibility that elections officials could be confronted with a similar scenario in November.Voter advocates, elected officials and elections workers say Gov. Mike DeWine and other leaders need to begin planning soon just in case. They want to prevent a repeat of what happened in March, when DeWine canceled Election Day, citing public health reasons, just hours before in-person voting was to have begun.The decision set off public confusion, a flurry of lawsuits and eventually, a new election plan, unanimously approved by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, that sets an effectively all-mail vote through April 28.It requires a conversation to be had with all the stakeholders, said House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, an Akron Democrat. We have to do it quickly, and we have to do it soon, so were not left scrambling as we were with the primary.There are all kinds of systems and protocols that need to be started up right now, said Jen Miller, executive director of the Ohio League of Women Voters, which supports offering in-person voting options. Even now, I dont know that well have time to do it well by fall, to be honest.Unlike some other states, Ohio has had widespread vote by mail for years. But converting to an all-mail vote would require boards of elections to process millions more ballots than they have in the past.Aaron Ockerman, executive director of the Ohio Association of Election Officials, which represents county boards of election, said if the state thinks the coronavirus could disrupt the November election, elections workers are looking for more advance notice than they got last time.If things operate normally, and we have an in-person election, there are no substantive policy changes that need to be made, he said. But if we are looking at doing a vote-by-mail election, then there are definitely some things that need to happen.House Speaker Larry Householder, a Perry County Republican, didnt make himself available for comment for this story. But he said in a Tuesday radio interview that there havent been any in-depth discussions on the topic.He said lawmakers are looking into developing an election plan that could be deployed in the event of any type of emergency.Quite frankly, we think everything is going to be fine, Householder said on WOSUs All Sides with Ann Fisher. I believe, though, when the General Assembly comes back, whenever that is, theres going to be some additional discussion in the hallways and committee rooms about what we do in the event of an emergency.State Rep. Niraj Antani, a Dayton Republican, has begun researching what other states have done in the case of an emergency. In an interview, he was quick to emphasize it could apply for something like a natural disaster, not necessarily a pandemic.We cant have elections if people dont have confidence in them, he said. So I think having a permanent contingency would be confidence-inspiring for the public."Voter-rights groups prefer that some form of limited in-person voting be offered. Alternative options could be a wider prevalence of drop-boxes where people can physically drop off their completed ballots, said Miller with the Ohio League of Women Voters.But, she said there are changes the state could make that could be used whether or not there are public health concerns about in-person voting in November, like making it easier to get a mail-in ballot.We dont want to preclude in-person voting. But I think we could make vote by mail super easy and more attractive to people, she said.Householder, the Ohio House Speaker, said the possibility of fraud is a consideration as lawmakers consider their elections plan.Theres a lot of people in the state of Ohio who really like to go to the polls on Election Day, he said. Its a holiday for them. And also, were very concerned about fraud, frankly. It makes the system a lot easier to try to manipulate.On a statistical level, that statement hasnt been borne out in Ohios experience.In the 2012 and 2016 general elections, then-Secretary of Secretary of State Jon Husted, whos now lieutenant governor, mailed absentee ballot applications to every registered voter in the state.In both elections, 1.9 million Ohioans, about a third of the overall vote, cast mail ballots.Husted, a Republican, oversaw voter-fraud investigations after both elections.In 2012, his office found 132 cases of possible fraud that were referred to prosecutors. In 2016, they found 52 such cases. Both are a minute fraction of the roughly 5.6 million ballots that were cast. Husted, now Ohios lieutenant governor, testified before an elections-integrity panel appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017 that voter fraud exists but is rare.At least 21 states have provisions to allow elections to be conducted entirely by mail, according to the National Conference for State Legislatures.Many states defer to local officials, and some limit the types of elections that can be done by mail only.But five states  Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington  conduct their elections by mail statewide, according to the NCSL.Potential advantages include voter convenience and cost savings, the National Conference for State Legislatures outlined in a summary. A Pew Charitable Trust study found cost savings of about 40 percent in Colorado.Potential disadvantages noted by the NCSL included breaking tradition, and possible coercion by family members or others when voting is not done in a private voting booth.The national prospects of a vote-by-mail election in November have rapidly coalesced into a partisan issue. Some Democrats, including Sen. Sherrod Brown and former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive presidential nominee, have called for expanded vote-by-mail nationally.The issue came into especially sharp focus after Wisconsin carried out its primary election on Tuesday, seeing long lines particularly in urban areas as elections officials limited the number of polling places.Today in Wisconsin, people are deciding whether to risk their health to exercise their fundamental right to vote. No one should have to make that choice, now or in November, Brown said on Twitter, echoing a similar argument Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine made when he closed Ohios polls last month. We need vote by mail everywhere and increased early voting. And we need it now.But Trump, a Republican, has said, without providing evidence, that mail-in voting leads to voter fraud.Mail ballots, they cheat, people cheat," Trump said Tuesday during a White House coronavirus briefing. "Mail ballots are very dangerous thing for this country because they're cheaters. They go and collect them. They're fraudulent in many cases.Trump, who himself voted by mail in 2018, also posted about the issue on Twitter on Wednesday morning, apparently while watching Fox News.DeWine was asked about Trumps comments during his coronavirus briefing on Wednesday. He declined to weigh in on them.But he said Ohios vote-by-mail system is safe.Its safe for people to vote in Ohio, and were asking them to do that, he said.Here are some changes that could be under consideration in Ohio.One is the states process of applying for a mail-in ballot.Currently, Ohioans who want a mail-in ballot must first fill out a paper form, including their signature. They then have to send it in, and wait for the ballot to be mailed back to them.The requirement has led to confusion and delays during the current voting period, which is already compressed because of the last-minute cancellation and rescheduling of the primary.Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, was not made available for an interview for this story. But he issued a statement calling on lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow for Ohioans to request absentee ballots online, with no paper form involved.LaRose previously sponsored a similar bill while he was a state senator. The bill is now sponsored by Sen. Theresa Gavarone, a Wood County Republican. Its drawn no major opposition, and is supported by Ohio elections officials.Ive been hearing about it in light of whats going on, Gavarone said. I think whats going on really kind of shows why this could be a very useful tool in making it easier for people to vote.Another consideration is who gets ballots and absentee ballot applications. In past presidential elections, Ohio has sent ballot applications to everyone in the state.But Ohio could do a universal mailing of ballots with postage-paid envelopes to every registered voter in the state, said Sykes, the House Democratic leader. This could encourage people to vote early, she said, even if in-person voting ends up being an option.Another option could be letting voters specify whether they want to permanently get an absentee ballot, instead of making them re-apply every election, according to Miller with the League of Women Voters. Ohio could also make it easier for elections workers to verify signatures by making it more automated, she said, with elections workers taking a closer look for any flagged flagged by the computer as questionable.Ohio could also extend its mail-in voting period. Currently, absentee voting begins 30 days before an election. Antani, the Dayton-area state representative whos researching election contingency plans, said hes open to the idea.A month more of mail-in voting would be fine, he said. If theres a pandemic, in-person voting isnt smart.Theres also the issue of recruiting enough poll workers, who tend to be older, given potential fears over health and safety issues.Mike Brickner, state director of All Voting is Local, a voting-rights group, has called for increasing poll-worker pay, and relaxing rules that would allow someone to work the polls outside their home county.Another possible issue is the collection of completed ballots.Under current law, only a voter or their immediate family member is allowed to handle a completed ballot. LaRose briefly loosened these rules in March, ordering that boards of elections workers could pick up ballots completed by nursing home residents and people who are hospitalized, as long as a member of each party was present. That was before the election was canceled altogether.Marc Elias, the top legal representative to Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign and Sen. Sherrod Browns 2018 re-election campaign, in The Atlantic this week called on states to permit community groups to gather completed ballots.But Ockerman, the official representing Ohio county elections boards, said one elections official he spoke with recently mentioned the need for clear rules on who can handle completed ballots and who cant. Some of the more prominent examples of election fraud have involved ballot harvesting.There are a lot of groups out there who want to be helpful, he said. But what about nefarious groups that might collect ballots and not return them?
Rynda Scholwinski sat down late Wednesday, opened her computer and typed out a plea.

Her husband, Raymond Scholwinski, was gravely ill with COVID-19. The 70-year-old Harris County sheriffs deputy needed help.

Doctors at Memorial Hermanns hospital in the Woodlands had approved him for a therapy in which doctors inject critically ill patients with blood plasma taken from donors sickened by the disease who have recovered.

The doctor tells be this could be done as early as this coming Friday, Scholwinski wrote. But there was little plasma available.

CHRONICLE EXCLUSIVE: As Harris County deputy battles coronavirus, his wife tries to save him from afar

There is no vaccine for COVID-19, and experts estimate one may not be ready until at least 2021.

But doctors believe convalescent plasma therapy could be a powerful tool until one is ready. Its been used for gravely ill patients for more than a century, including with Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, measles, SARS and Ebola.

Theres no way we can know if it will help, said Scholwinksi. But I want to try everything under the sun to give him the opportunity to heal. We all do.

More Information INTERESTED IN DONATING? Baylor College of Medicine and the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center are working to make plasma available to hospitals. Baylor will screen and test interested donors and the blood center will collect the plasma and get it to hospitals. COVID-19 convalescent plasma can only be collected from recovered individuals if they are eligible to donate blood. Potential donors must have had a prior diagnosis of COVID-19 documented by a laboratory test. Only completely recovered patients - who have gone 14 days without symptoms - can donate plasma. Potential donors should complete Baylor's online questionnaire Questions? Contact the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center at GiveBlood.org or call (713) 791-6373. See More Collapse

Now, Baylor College of Medicine and the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center are working to get donors tested and plasma to the sickest patients.

Our intention is to provide an option for the most seriously ill COVID-19 patients, said Baylor College of Medicines Dr. Ashok Balasubramanyam.

Potential donors need to have been diagnosed as having COVID-19  and a positive test  and then gone 28 days without symptoms, said Dr. Marsha Bertholf, with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. They can also donate if they have gone 14 days without symptoms but obtain a second test showing they are no longer carrying the virus.

NOT-SO-SOCIAL-DISTANCING: From swing sets to adult novelty shops, 311 calls report social distancing violators in Houston area

Our donor pool is pretty small right now that meet these stringent requirements, she said. But it will grow.

Rynda contracted the virus along with her husband. She plans to donate plasma as well, she said, but is still waiting for her negative test results. She was first tested Monday.

Raymond remains in very critical condition, she said. She asked other COVID-19 survivors to donate plasma in the hopes of helping him and other sick patients fight back the virus. She said she has received an enormous outpouring of support in recent days.

And she hopes her plea could also help other Houstonians gain access to the potentially life-saving therapy.

If we can help even one person with all blood donations were getting, then its a small way we can give back to our community for the outreach of love weve received, she said.
File photo of a plane landing at Sydney airport in Sydney, Australia on March 25, 2020. (Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Wuhan Flight to Australia Delivers 90 Tons of Possibly Defective Medical Supplies

A cargo flight from Wuhan, ground zero of Chinas CCP virus epidemic, which arrived in Australia on April 8, contained roughly 90 tons of medical and personal protective equipment, officials have confirmed.

The arrival of the Boeing 747, operated by Chinas Suparna Airlines, just after 9 p.m. Wednesday in Sydney marked the first flight to the city in over two months, following an end to the lockdown in Wuhan on April 8.

This flight will be carrying up to 90 tons of much needed medical supplies, a spokesperson for the Home Affairs Department told the ABC. Flights like this are crucial in ensuring the ongoing supply of these critical goods.

A spokesperson for the department told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement Wednesday that it was aware of the flight which departed from Wuhans Tianhe International Airport. They added that international crew are permitted to transit through Australia but must remain in the port or airport, or self-isolate in accommodation for the duration of their transit.

Quarantine and isolation arrangements in each state are the responsibility for each state and territory government, the spokesperson said.

The medical equipment, which included protective masks, gowns, and ventilators, was unloaded by cargo handlers in a designated freight apron area of Sydney Airport, northwest of the international terminal.

Cargo handlers operating out of all Australian airports follow strict hygiene protocols in line with advice from health authorities, a spokeswoman told 7News.

The Australian Border Force works closely with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to monitor the importation of therapeutic goods, including products imported in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, a spokesperson for the Home Affairs Department told The Epoch Times on Friday in an emailed statement.

Concerns Over Defective Medical Gear

News of the latest shipment to the country comes as defective medical gear from China is drawing growing backlash overseas, with Finland, Britain, and Ireland being the latest to complain about faulty equipment.

Eager to portray itself as humanitarian amid the global pandemic, the Chinese regime has sent medical supplies to virus-hit countries around the world from Spain to Peru. Since March 1, the country has around four billion masks, 37.5 million protective suits, and 2.8 million testing kits, according to an April 5 statement by the Chinese customs administration.

Yet mounting instances of defective masks and test kits have called into question whether Beijing attempts at mask diplomacy can succeed.

A Chinese broker who facilitates the export of masks manufactured in China told Chinese tech news outlet Tech World that workers at many factories that manufacture masks in China dont wear masks or gloves while handling the products. The individual, who used the pseudonym Chen Guohua, said that 60 percent of factories dont have sterile work environments.

Who would dare to use masks that are manufactured like this? Who would dare to wear it on their face? he said.

Upon receiving 2 million surgical masks from China on April 7 by airlift, Finland said they were of disappointing quality and unsuitable for hospital staff.

Meanwhile, Toronto recalls more than 62,000 faulty Chinese surgical masks, worth $200,000, that were distributed to long-term care facilities, according to an April 7 press release. The city is now investigating whether anyone had exposure to the virus while wearing the masks.

The Netherlands, on March 28, recalled around 600,000 masks from China. The Spanish health ministry withdrew 58,000 Chinese-made testing kits upon discovering they had an accuracy rate of only 30 percent.

In recent weeks, officers with the Australian Border Force (ABF) have seized shoddy Chinese-made medical equipment, and other protective clothing that is either counterfeit or faulty, the ABC reported.

As of April 1, its believed that the ABF had already seized some 800,000 masks.

We started seeing this stuff arriving roughly three weeks ago when news of the pandemic was really taking off, a law enforcement official told the news outlet on condition of anonymity.

The dodgy material is coming via air cargo because there is a backlog of sea freight at Australian ports.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Australian Border Force and the Department of Home Affairs for comment.

Eva Fu and Cathy He contributed to this report.
TV star Kapil Sharma may have found a novel solution to shoot new episodes of his hit show, The Kapil Sharma Show, amid the lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. A report claims that show producers plan to revive the show without a live audience and Kapil may shoot the episodes inside his house.

A BollywoodHungama report quoted a source as saying, Why not? Since the coronavirus struck the world, the most popular talk show hosts of America like Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Ellen Degeneres have adopted a no-audience format. Theyre even recording their shows from their homes. Kapil is likely to follow this novel way of beating corona.

Also read: Shatrughan Sinha defends daughter: Not answering Ramayan question doesnt disqualify Sonakshi from being a good Hindu

Meanwhile, Kapil had said recently that he considers the lockdown a blessing and is making the best use of it by spending quality time with family and playing with his newborn daughter Anayra. I told Ginni to consider the lockdown a blessing in disguise, as it will allow us to work out religiously. But its been 14 days and I havent worked out at all. Saara din baby ke saath khelta rehta hoon aur khaata rehta hoon (All day I play with the baby and eat food). However, I have decided to get back to my routine and my birthday resolution is to work out seriously and regularly, Kapil said in an interview.

Earlier this month, Kapil had celebrated Ashtami by worshipping his daughter. He had also shared pictures of which showed Anayra all decked up for the occasion. Sharing two pictures of Anayra on Instagram, Kapil wrote, Jai mata di #ashtami #kanjakpoojan #daddysgirl #anayra #daughter #3monthsold #gratitude.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Kosovo's Kurti Assures EU Of Commitment To Dialogue With Serbia

April 09, 2020

Kosovo's caretaker prime minister has assured a European Union special envoy of his commitment to resume dialogue on normalizing ties with neighboring Serbia.

Albin Kurti said in a letter to envoy Miroslav Lajcak on April 8 that a deal should be accompanied by a political, economic, and financial package to "accelerate the convergence of the two countries' standards of living and their integration into the European Union."

But Kurti warned that "under no circumstances or situation will issues of mutual sovereignty, territorial integrity, and internal affairs be discussed."

He added that any deal with Serbia should be guaranteed by the EU and the United States.

Last week Kosovo lifted a 100 percent tariff on imports from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as a confidence-building measure to resume dialogue with Belgrade. The tariff had been a divisive issue in Kosovo and led to the collapse of Kurti's government.

Kosovo imposed the tariff in November 2018 over Serbia's "de-recognition" campaign designed to get other countries who have already recognized Kosovo to withdraw it.

Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, declared independence in 2008 in a move rejected by Belgrade.

EU-mediated talks between Kosovo and Serbia to settle their differences have stalled.

Separately on April 8, a deadline expired for political parties to come up with a candidate for prime minister.

Kurti was toppled on March 25 and his Self-Determination (Vetevendosje, or VV) party, the largest in parliament, was supposed to renominate him or a replacement within 15 days.

The no-confidence vote was called by the VV's coalition partners, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), amid disagreements over the government's approach to the coronavirus crisis.

Kurti and VV insist that no new coalition is possible during the crisis and that early elections must be held as soon as possible.

Kurti's main rival, President Hashim Thaci, is calling for a government of national unity to tackle the crisis.

Based on reporting by AP and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo -serbia-balkans-eu-united- states/30543098.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Advertisement

Pictures from inside a Spanish care home revealed how the elderly have become even more vulnerable during the coronavirus crisis.

The pandemic that has gripped Europe has heightened the fragility of those relying on social care, stripping away the safety nets that kept them fed and healthy and exposing them to a daily threat of infection that they know could kill them.

Barcelona's visiting health care workers and emergency medical personnel have been pictured as they tend to Spain's house-bound elderly.

Care homes have been hit hard by the spread of the virus, with high death rates as resources have become even more stretched.

Authorities in Madrid, the hardest-hit area of Spain, acknowledged that deaths in care homes could be five times higher than official counts.

Maria Perez Gomez, 70, was visited by medical workers at her home in Barcelona. She reluctantly called them after suffering breathing problems, a cough and a fever. 'Please leave me here at home, don't take me to the hospital', she begged the doctor. She added: 'Tell me, doctor, that I don't have the virus'

Nurse Isabel Solis, 46, wearing a converted garbage bag apron for protection, walking along a corridor lined with paintings made by Enrique Pastor, 86, during a home visit in Barcelona. Pastor's full-time caregiver tested positive for the virus, leaving his wife to care for the bedridden Pastor without knowing if either of them has COVID-19

Josefa Ribas, 86, who is bedridden and suffers from dementia, being attended to by nurse Laura Valdes during a home care visit in Barcelona last week. Ribas' husband, Jose Marcos, fears what will happen if the virus enters their home and infects them

A home care doctor performing a physical exam on Felicidad while her son, Joan, holds her arm at her home in Barcelona. Felicidad had been admitted to the hospital after suffering a stroke but was sent home within a day and soon developed respiratory symptoms

Almost 3,500 people have died in care homes in the city during the outbreak, but their deaths have not been added to the official total because they were not tested before they died.

The number of people dying of coronavirus in Spain each day fell again today as the country registered 605 fatalities over the past 24 hours.

The overall death toll rose to 15,843 today from 15,238 the previous day, the health ministry said in a statement. The total number of coronavirus cases rose to 157,022 on Friday from 152,446 on Thursday.

In the northeasterly autonomous Catalonia region, of which Barcelona is the capital, authorities said that 31 per cent of care homes had residents with coronavirus symptoms, and that they had reported 511 deaths.

The elderly of Barcelona's working-class Poble Sec neighbourhood, the generation who survived widespread hunger after the Spanish Civil War, were vulnerable before the outbreak took hold.

Drawn to Spain's industrial heartland a generation ago, they relied in retirement on free lunches from neighbourhood social centres.

Leopoldo Roman, 85, lying in bed wearing a face mask as he waits for doctors during a home medical visit in Barcelona. Roman, whose leg was amputated years ago, has to pay for daily care out of his pension since the public system only provides for a social worker to come for an hour a day, three days a week

Gonzalo Garcia, 61, being examined by emergency medical workers after he suffered severe respiratory problems at his home in Barcelona on April 6. Garcia had been hospitalised with COVID-19 but was discharged after he improved, only to deteriorate in recent days. He is terrified that his second hospitalisation will again leave his 91-year-old mother home alone

Josefa Ribas, 86, who is bedridden, looking at nurse Alba Rodriguez as Ribas' husband, Jose Marcos, 89, standing by in their home in Barcelona, during the coronavirus outbreak. Ribas suffers from dementia and Marcos fears for them both if the virus enters their home. He said: 'If I get the virus, who will take care of my wife?'

Pepita Jove Puiggros, 92, holding the hand of home care nurse Laura Valdes during a visit in Barcelona on April 2. Puiggros lives alone and receives food deliveries from a social service agency three days a week, but the deliveries have become more unpredictable amid the pandemic

Many received medical care from the local clinic, where doctors and nurses make house calls. Social workers often bring them groceries.

But the coronavirus pandemic has exposed them to even greater risk of becoming ill or not being able to get food and medicine.

Visiting nurse Laura Valdes said after a day of house calls up and down the narrow stairwells of Poble Sec's apartment blocks: 'All the misery is coming to light'.

Catalonia, ranks only second to Madrid in Spain's official count of virus infections and deaths, with nearly 30,000 cases and more than 3,000 dead.

Union leaders say many homes are failing to adhere to basic protocols such as separating healthy residents from those who have tested positive or have symptoms.

Army units have been deployed to disinfect care homes across Spain have discovered unattended bodies, as staff lacked the resources to dispose of them properly.

Home care nurse Alba Rodriguez putting on protective gear before visiting a patient in the Poble Sec neighbourhood of Barcelona. A pediatric nurse by profession, Rodriguez has gotten creative to try to protect herself, fashioning hazmat suits out of giant yellow garbage bags that she and fellow nurses wear over their scrubs as extra protection. 'We're like onions', she said of the extra layers

Jose Marcos, 89, waiting at his front door for the nurses who tend to his bedridden wife once a week, in Barcelona last week. Marcos' son drops off food at the gate, but Marcos doesn't dare go outside on his own for fear he will be infected with the coronavirus

Gonzalo Garcia, 61, saying goodbye to his 91-year-old mother, Gloria, as he leaves for the hospital after suffering severe respiratory problems at their home in Barcelona. Garcia had been hospitalised with COVID-19 but was discharged when he improved, only to deteriorate a few days later, saying: 'I'm drowning, I'm drowning, I can't breathe'

Official data released last week showed that care home residents accounted for around 40 per cent of coronavirus deaths in the region of Castilla y Leon, and a quarter in neighbouring Castilla La Mancha.

As in similarly hard-hit Italy, Spain's elderly aren't usually being tested for COVID-19.

They also are not being admitted to hospital intensive care units, where coveted beds and breathing machines are prioritised for younger, healthier patients with a better chance of survival. Nationwide, only 3.4 per cent of Spain's ICU patients are over 80.

As a result, Barcelona's elderly are suffering at home, alone and more isolated than ever. Few know for sure if they have the virus, but the threat that they might catch it - even from the visiting medical teams they need - has only heightened their anxiety.

'If I get the virus, who will take care of my wife?' asked Jose Marcos, 89, as Valdes and other nurses checked on 86-year-old Josefa Ribas, who suffers from dementia and has been bedridden for two years.

Medical workers in Barcelona making an emergency home visit walk away from a man, moments after they confirmed he died of severe respiratory problems on April 6

Home care doctors, nurses and health staff take part in the morning meeting at a clinic in Barcelona. Many elderly residents of Barcelona's Poble Sec neighbourhood rely on the clinic for their health care, even more now during the coronavirus pandemic

Vicente Lopez, 65, sitting at his house waiting to be examined by a doctor during a home care visit in Barcelona at the end of last month. Lopez is under quarantine, because his partner tested positive for COVID-19 and is in the hospital. Lopez relies on a neighbour to deliver groceries and basic supplies

Before the virus struck, Ribas' nurses would be accompanied by social workers during their weekly visits to treat her bedsores. But those workers have stopped coming, either because they got sick, are observing stay-at-home orders or are themselves caring for loved ones.

Marcos' son drops off groceries at the gate, but Marcos doesn't dare go outside on his own for fear of infection. He tells a visitor that he survived the mass hunger that marked Spain's post-war period, but wonders if he'll survive this pandemic.

The home care workers themselves feel similarly exposed.

Alba Rodriguez is a paediatric nurse by profession but shifted gears to care for Barcelona's elderly who are confined to their homes. She has had to get creative to protect herself, fashioning hazmat suits out of giant yellow garbage bags that she and her fellow nurses wear over their scrubs.

'We're like onions,' Rodriguez said of the layers she wears. 'Nothing is sufficient to protect you from the virus.'

Home care nurse Laura Valdes, 55, leaving an apartment after attending to her patient Emilio Casas, 86, during a home care visit in Barcelona last week. Casas receives a visit from nurses once a week and pays out of pocket for the help since he cannot stand up alone

Enrique Pastor, 86, lying in bed surrounded by the oil paintings he created as he waits for the doctor to examine him during a home medical visit in Barcelona. Pastor's usual caregiver tested positive for the virus, leaving the bedridden retired port worker home alone with his wife

Paramedics tending to a patient who doesn't have COVID-19 inside an ambulance in Barcelona. Medical crews have been doing extra duty during the coronavirus pandemic, checking on patients who are positive and not

The nurses know well there is a chance they might infect their patients during their visits, and they take all the precautions they can. Sometimes the elderly refuse medical care until it's too late, because they fear visiting medics might bring the virus into their homes.

Maria Perez Gomez, 70, reluctantly called emergency medical services when she started having trouble breathing and developed a cough and fever. When the medics arrived, she begged them to tell her she wasn't positive, though she suspected she was.

'Please leave me here at home, don't take me to the hospital,' she pleaded. 'Tell me doctor that I don't have the virus.'

Gonzalo Garcia, 61, does have the virus and was hospitalised for it. He was discharged after he improved, and immediately went back home - to his waiting 91-year-old mother, Gloria. After a few days, he took a turn for the worse and had to call emergency services again.

'I'm drowning. I'm drowning. I can't breathe,' he told the medic who arrived to check his lungs as he heaved on the living room sofa. All Garcia could manage was a raspy whisper.
A joint Fine Gael and Fianna Fail blueprint for government is still a work in progress, the parties have said.

There had been an expectation that the parties respective negotiating teams would finalise the text of the framework document on Friday.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin had suggested on Thursday that Friday was the likely time frame for agreement.

While the negotiators did meet on Friday a final text was not agreed.

An identical statement released by both parties at the same time on Friday evening said: Both parties met today, and made progress on the draft document.

This will be finalised shortly, and both leaders will consider it early next week.

Earlier, Fine Gael Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the final document will offer an inclusive platform for future coalition talks with other parties.

He said once the text was signed off by the party leaders the next move would be to circulate the paper to other parties.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are both keen to have a third party in any new coalition government.

Expand Close Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin had expressed hope the parties could agree the document on Friday (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin had expressed hope the parties could agree the document on Friday (Brian Lawless/PA)

The Greens, Social Democrats and Labour have all been mooted as potential junior partners.

I hope this will provide the basis upon which we can have discussions with other parties, Mr Donohoe told RTE Radio One.

It is so imperative that when and if a new government is formed, it is one that has a stable majority, but more to the point it does reflect the views, the ideas, the hopes, the anxieties that we heard on February 8 (election day) and that is why we believe it is imperative that there are more than two political parties in this government.

Mr Donohoe added: It is my great hope that the work that the two parties are crafting together at the moment in Fine Gael and Fianna Fail can offer an inclusive platform for the beginning of a discussion.

But our own two parties and our party leaders will need to form a final view on that in the coming days.

Following Februarys inconclusive general election, Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail both have 37 seats in the Dail and Fine Gael has 35.

Sinn Fein, which won the popular vote, had attempted to form a left-leaning government with like-minded parties and independent TDs but could not secure the numbers to reach the 80-seat threshold required for a majority.

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have repeatedly ruled out going into government with Sinn Fein.

Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams accused the two parties of refusing to acknowledge the rights of people who voted for his party.

This is the anniversary of the GFA. 22 yrs ago the unionist parties refused to talk to SF or accept rights of our voters. Today the leaders of Fianna Fail & Fine Gael r refusing to recognise rights of SF voters or engage with SF on govt formation. So much for lessons of history pic.twitter.com/nvVjAiKTkx  Gerry Adams (@GerryAdamsSF) April 10, 2020

He claimed their stance was similar to that adopted by unionist parties in Northern Ireland prior to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Here we are all these years, decades later, and the leaders of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are doing exactly the same thing, he said.

Refusing to recognise the rights of the Sinn Fein electorate.

Refusing to engage with Sinn Fein leadership in the formation for government talks.

So, so much for the lessons of history.
Australia share market closed on Friday, 10 April 2020, for the Good Friday holiday.

Asian stock markets were mixed in holiday-thinned trading on Friday, 10 April 2020, despite the positive cues from Wall Street overnight after the U. S. Federal Reserve rolled out a massive $2.3 trillion program to support the economy crushed by moves to stem the coronavirus outbreak . Worries about the spread and the economic impact of the coronavirus weighed on sentiment. Several markets in the Asia-Pacific region are closed for the Good Friday holiday.

Markets in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and India were all closed for the Good Friday holiday.

Wall Street stocks rose overnight on the Fed steps, which include assistance to small businesses and local governments and the purchase of high-yield bonds.

The US Federal Reserve announced US$2.3 trillion in emergency loans to help the world's largest economy reeling from the coronavirus.

The US has become home to the largest number of coronavirus infection cases - roughly one in three of the world's total - and, with more than 16,000 dead, it is second only to Italy in total deaths. The latest jobless claims numbers overnight mean that nearly 17 million Americans have been thrown out of work by the virus, which has led to most of the country to be under lockdown.

Meanwhile, a historic production cut agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known collectively as OPEC+, hit a snag after Mexico reportedly refused to agree to its share of the cuts. The other members of OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, earlier in the day agreed to cuts that would take 10 million barrels per day offline as the coronavirus pandemic saps demand for crude. But after Mexico resisted its allocation, the meeting ended with no definitive agreement. Talks are now set to continue on Friday.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
I DOUBT we will ever see the likes of John Anderson again.

The proud Doon man was as colourful a character as you could ever meet. John was a big gambler. Over his lifetime he must have bet millions upon millions.

John passed away peacefully on Thursday. He had a long battle with cancer, undergoing surgery on his liver in 2017. Sadly, the cancer came back in his liver and then spread to his stomach.

In February 2019 he was given three to six months to live but he fought on for well over a year.

John was well-known. Youd see him in Doon, Limerick city and Tipperary Town ambling around. He would go from bookies to bookies looking for the best price. Although John had a soft spot for Ladbrokes. Invariably, he would be wearing a Munster jersey. He loved The Red Army.

The retired farmer enjoyed sport and betting on it. He kept dogs and there wasnt much he didnt know about greyhound racing or coursing.

John was in the Limerick Leader only last last January. He thought a signed Munster jersey given to him by John Hayes had been stolen.

"John Hayes heard I wasnt well last year and sent me over a signed Munster jersey and tracksuit bottoms. It meant the world to me that a legend like John Hayes did that for me," said John.

Thankfully they had only been misplaced. "They mean the world to me," said John.

He put on his first bet when he was 12  two shillings on Red Maggie at a coursing meeting in Galbally which won. He never looked back.

John was a fearsome gambler. 500 would be the equivalent of a fiver to you or I. He loved coming into the Leader and revealing his latest wins.

There were many winning bets - 28,000 on Man City to win the Premier League; 20,000 on Katie Taylor to win gold at the Olympics; 23,000 on Dublin to win the All-Ireland at 4/9 to name but a few.

John told the Leader in the past: "I am now betting over 60 years and I have enjoyed it whether I win, lose or draw. I believe I am a shrewd punter and I study what I am about to do. I always look before I leap."

Not one for outsiders, the man known as the kid from Doon went in heavy on odds-on shots.

He wasnt afraid to talk about his losses either. Back in 2012, John lost 56,000 when the hot favourites Leinster were beaten in the dying minutes of the RaboDirect PRO12 final. Ospreys scored a try in the corner. Dan Biggar nailed the touchline conversion to win by 1 point.

Afterwards John spoke about it because he said he can take a beating as well as winning.

"Around that time I saw a fellow who had a 10 bet in a shop. He lost. He then kicked the door on his way out. I asked staff why and they said he couldnt afford to lose his tenner. Why did he not think of that before he had his bet?" said John, who echoed the golden rule of gambling  only bet with what you can afford to lose.

After that 56,000 loss, rumours went around that John was finished at betting but he bounced back.

"Ill keep going until the well runs dry and tisnt dry yet!" he laughed. The well never did run dry.

Gerry Kiely, manager of Ladbrokes in William Street, knew John for over 30 years. John would only bet with Gerry in the shop.

"John would be in nearly every day. We will never see the likes of John again. He was a great character and a lovely man. John was very popular," said Gerry.

Back in 2011, Ladbrokes introduced a loyalty card. John was the first to sign up for it. When they scanned his card it crashed the system because he had so many points!

"He was in only a few weeks ago before we had to close. On behalf of myself, the staff and all the customers in Ladbrokes on William Street I would like to express my sympathies to his family," said Gerry.

Deeply regretted by his loving sister Peggy, brother-in-law Michael Noel, niece Julieanne, nephews Kieran, Gearoid and Michael-Joseph and their partners, grandnieces, grandnephew, relatives, kind neighbours and friends. Rest in peace.

Due to the current national guidelines Johns funeral will take place in private. Mass will be arranged at a later date.

May he rest in peace.
All the supply destruction should provide miners with a lift, said IMPACT Silver's CFO Jerry Huang.

Huang spoke to Kitco a week ago about IMPACT that is currently on care and maintenance in Mexico after the government turned off mining in the country to limit the spread of COVID-19.

IMPACT Silver opeates two silver production centers southwest of Mexico City.

At the start of the month the Mexican government declared the pandemic as a national health emergency and forced all non-essential businesses to close up shop until at least April 30. Silver miners likely are considered non-essential. Some mining and exploration companies have already said they are halting operations.

"I know for certain that mid-cap and majors are lobbying the Mexican government, looking for ways to classify mining as an essential service," said Huang.

He notes that silver has uses in pharmaceuticals and antibacterial solutions. Many Mexicans is rural areas depend upon mining for their livelihood.

IMPACT is shouldering labor during the current shut down.

"We're all grappling with new reality," said Huang.

However, Huang said the supply and demand picture could be much improved coming out of this.
Professional work may have come to a halt amid the nation-wide lockdown due to coronavirus, but Bollywood stars have found themselves playing multiple roles for their kids in quarantine- from being their teachers, to engaging with them in activities as friends.

India is currently under the lockdown with around 1.3 billion people asked to stay home in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

Actor Neha Dhupia, who has a one-and-a-half year old daughter Mehr with actor-husband Angad Bedi, says the couple is trying to follow the routine that their daughter would've had at school.

"I'm spending a lot of time with my daughter, teaching her things, trying to follow a syllabus that she would be because she goes to Parent Toddler. She was learning a lot at her school with me but now I'm trying to keep the same rhythm going and teaching her everything, from numbers, to alphabets, to reading more books," Dhupia told PTI.

For Angad, the lockdown has come with a silver lining. As both Neha and him were "always on the go", the quarantine period is bringing him closer to her daughter.

"There is joy in spending time with one another. To see our little one grow up in front of us. I had missed her for 21 days when she was away with her mom on Roadies'. When I left her, she wasn't walking, she was crawling. She has now come back to me, obviously gained some inches in height and is walking, finding her way. It is the most heartening thing to see."



The "Inside Edge" actor says Mehr is a quick learnershe tries to pull off the downward dog pose as she watches Neha do Yoga.

"I try to paint with her, as much as I can. It's just amazing to see her scribble all over her notebooks, magazines. I try to figure out if she's left handed or right, but as of now she's using both her hands! These are the little things you watch really closely, Angad said.

Actor Sunny Leone, who has three childrendaughter Nisha and two sons Noah and Asherhas also shifted her focus to homeschooling, which she says "is not necessarily hard."



"It is a process that takes a few hours to complete, depending on the activity. It's amazing because it provides a structure for Nisha, she's able to keep on learning and keep observing the information she'd normally do in school," the actor said.

Leone understands that virtual learning can deprive children of on-ground learning, but amid a crisis such as this, she, along with her husband Daniel, are doing everything to make the kids comfortable.

"Of course she's missing her friends, outdoor activities and her amazing teachers, but Daniel and I are trying our best. The boys also have their online schooling that's happening as well. They are only two but the little bit of interaction they have with their teachers during classes does help with their learning."



Actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra has been documenting her parenting on Instagram, uploading snippets with her son Viaan, where the duo is exercising, baking and learning new crafts.

Describing parenting in quarantine as a "dichotomy of emotions," Shilpa wrote in one of her posts, "I am concerned about what's happening around us while we are hoping and praying for the situation to get better across the world, I'm also valuing and spending extra time with Viaan every day."



Actor Tisca Chopra is aware that the lockdown will take a toll on kids, who perhaps don't understand why everything, from their school to open spaces have suddenly shut.

In an Instagram post, the actor, who has a seven-year-old daughter, said kids may not have an idea how to express their feelings but can sure process and know "instinctively" that adults aren't being the normal self, considering the anxiety that they are going through.

"Kids have to be patient beyond their years and understanding, at this crazy time. So, I gave Tara am the tightest hug today. Kids don't deserve the world we are making them live in right now. A big hug from me to all of your kids at home.

The stars, however, believe that parenting in quarantine does not mean losing focus from oneself. While Neha and Angad are learning new craftsthe former is trying to sharpen her kitchen skills and staying fitLeone said she was just trying to strike a balance.

The actor, who recently started her digital chat show "Locked up with Sunny", said, "I do the show while the children are sleeping so that they aren't missing anything and I don't either. I get to do my own thing for a while, I've got 90-min to two hours in a day that are just for me so I figured why not have a show and have some fun.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ADDIS ABABA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China's assistance to other countries in the global battle against COVID-19 boosts international cooperation, an Ethiopian scholar said on Thursday.

The Chinese role in the fight against COVID-19 stands in particular contrast to that of certain country "which has disdained international cooperation and invested more political capital in criticizing China," Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, who served as an economic advisor to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, told Xinhua.

The Chinese government and companies have so far donated several batches of medical supplies to all 54 African countries as the continent is grappling with the COVID-19 outbreak.

Africa has registered over 10,692 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Noting that the coronavirus pandemic is raging on in many countries, Costantinos called on the public to strictly adhere to health guidelines to end the global crisis.

"It will depend on the degree to which people follow social-distancing and hygiene guidelines, the availability of quick, accurate, and affordable testing, as well as the availability of antiviral drugs and a vaccine," said Costantinos.

While commending the Chinese shipments of medical supplies to European and African countries hard hit by the pandemic, Costantinos also said the pandemic is a wake-up call for international action.
Google had introduced system partitions with the Android 7.0 Nougat to allow OEM partners to fast-track updates. A lot of smartphone manufacturers already follow Google's regime for Android updates using system partitions. This essentially means that certain partitions in a device system can be duplicated wherein an inactive partition can be updated in the background while the active one is in use, without leaving the Android environment and entering the recovery mode -- and later, the inactive partition is swapped to active with a quick reboot. This is called a virtual A/B system updates, or "seamless" system updates, and Google is now making it mandatory for all the devices that will ship with the upcoming Android 11.

The A/B partition scheme was introduced with Project Treble that began with Android Nougat. As a part of Project Treble, Google required OEMs, who customise Android versions to incorporate their own features, to allow two partitions in the system for easier and seamless updates. During the update process, the inactive partition is updated in the background while the active partition is in use. This process is now being mandated by Google for upcoming Android 11-powered devices, as a new commit in the testing procedure in Google's Vendor Test Suite or VTS. VTS is essentially is a set of actions that check if a device or an Android ROM is compatible with the Project Treble or not. Now that VTS mandates A/B seamless updates, a device will be eligible for Google Play Services certification after clearing the test.

Devices with A/B seamless updates are able to be updated without needing to enter the recovery mode, which means the user is not likely to miss important messages and calls. The only downtime is when the device reboots to swap the partitions. In case the OTA fails to apply, the user data is not impacted since the active partition, which was in use, keeps the data intact and reboots the device into being usable. Some devices use Google's OTA infrastructure for updates, to which the client is provided by Google Play services. The devices using a different update channel need to also have a separate client. Google has issued some mandatory guidelines for the client that certain OEMs will opt for. Devices without A/B partitions take a longer downtime, on the other hand, which sometimes constitutes to users unwilling to update their devices.

Google wants to circumvent this problem with A/B seamless updates. Even if a user does not want to update the device manually, the automatic updates will keep getting downloaded and installed to the inactive partition without causing any trouble to the user. Normally, people reboot their devices, which is what the inactive partition needs once to apply the updates properly to the device. Google has stated that the rebooting takes "no longer than a regular reboot." Moreover, there are some faulty devices or the devices that have a new malfunction in its software -- one anomaly could be boot issue on a device. In such cases, A/B partitions can prove to be useful in pushing important updates, including the fix to the issue, that may not require the device to reboot.
The CBI has asked the Satara district authorities not to release DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan and RKW Developers promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan, both facing non-bailable warrants in a case against former Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor, from a government COVID-19 quarantine facility without an NOC from the agency, officials said on Friday.

The two Wadhawan brothers are named as accused in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR pertaining to swindling of money by Kapoor and others, the officials said.

Both Kapil and Dheeraj were absconding since the case was registered against them on March 7, prompting the CBI to get non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against them from a special court, they added.

The CBI had received information on Thursday about their location at a government quarantine centre in Panchgani in Maharashtra's Satara district, following which it sent an e-mail to the district magistrate, asking him to not release the brothers without a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the agency, the officials said.

The Wadhawans were detained at Mahabaleshwar in Satara district on Thursday for violating prohibitory orders amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown, police said.

Their travel was allegedly facilitated by Maharashtra's Principal Secretary (Special) Amitabh Gupta, who had issued a letter exempting them from the lockdown norms, citing a family emergency.

Gupta was sent on compulsory leave by the Maharashtra government after the letter became public.

According to local police officials, the Wadhawan family, along with others, travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday evening in their cars, even though both the districts of Pune and Satara have been sealed in view of the lockdown imposed to check the spread of the coronavirus.

The Wadhawans were spotted at their "Diwan farmhouse" by civic authorities, officials said.

The police had found 23 people, including members of the Wadhawan family, at the farmhouse, an official said.

The CBI had carried out searches at the premises of the accused on March 9, but both were not there.

Subsequently, the agency had issued a summons, asking them to be present before the investigation officer, but they did not join the probe.

On March 17, the NBWs were issued by the special CBI judge, Mumbai against Kapil and Dheeraj.

"Even after the issuance of the NBWs, they have not appeared before the CBI or the court," an official said.

The CBI has alleged that Kapoor (62) entered into a criminal conspiracy with the Wadhawans for extending financial assistance to DHFL through Yes Bank in return for substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through companies held by them, officials said.

According to the CBI FIR, the alleged scam started taking shape between April and June, 2018, when Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL).

In return, the Wadhawans allegedly paid kickbacks of Rs 600 crore to Kapoor and his family members in the form of a loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, held by Kapoor's wife and daughters, officials said.

DHFL is already facing a separate probe for allegedly siphoning off Rs 31,000 crore out of total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore, using shell companies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the pandemic dwindles in its epicenter, China laid down new measures to prevent asymptomatic or the silent carriers of the new coronavirus that will possibly cause the second wave of the outbreak as confirmed cases increase.

After China imposed strict travel restrictions, new cases have declined from their peak as authorities called the public for continuing to be vigilant amid fears of a new resurgence of infections as the economy slowly comes back to life and as the crowd starts to build up.

On Wednesday's report of the National Health Commission, they confirmed 63 new infections in mainland China and 61 of those were travelers arriving from overseas, resulting to a total of 81,865 confirmed cases in China.

Increasingly focused on managing asymptomatic carriers, China began announcing the number of cases on April 1 and reported 657 new asymptomatic patients for this month and wherein 57 of them developed symptoms on the latter part.

On a Twitter-like application in China, Weibo, one of the most discussed topic on Thursday was the question "Are asymptomatic people really asymptomatic?" after the media interview of a professor of respiratory medicine at People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Liu Youning where he shared that asymptomatic carriers posed a small risk, but that people should continue to avoid crowded areas, maintain social distancing, wear masks and wash hands.

Read also: Fact Check: 21 Million Drop in China Mobile Users Reportedly Indicates True Death Toll



Despite being in the epicenter of the pandemic, Zhang Dingyu, president of Jinyintan Hospital in the central city of Wuhan was not worried about a big second wave of infections for the containment measures are still in place and stated that we think in the future there could be some sporadic cases and even some local outbreaks, like how a company might see 30 or 20 contagion cases that become an outbreak. But the possibility of a big outbreak, isn't happening.

Zhang also shared that there are 14 patients in the hospital that had recovered from the coronavirus. However, they continued to test positive from COVID-19 and because of that they are still observing the patients and did not let them out

Even the patients showed "weak" toxicity because the virus could be deadly and left debris in the cells. But by overdoing protective measures and treatment we could save lives.

Tighter Measures Imposed

On Wednesday the State Council published new rules in managing asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers wherein under the regulations, medical institutions must report the detection of asymptomatic cases within two hours of their discovery. Local governments must then identify all known close contacts of the case within 24 hours.

And for those asymptomatic patients, they will be quarantined collectively for 14 days and will be counted as confirmed cases by the time they show symptoms while people who have had close contact with them must do quarantine for two weeks.

Beijing government announced new guidelines for bars in the capital, as they imposed at least one-meter distance from each table to avoid close contact while Shanghai released that they will reopen some of their schools on April 27.

Related article: Wuhan Ends Lockdown: Thousands Prepare to Leave Coronavirus Ground Zero

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Its no secret that we collectively waste an enormous amount of materials that could otherwise be creatively repurposed or eliminated altogether, with so-called single-use items being among the worst offenders. But does it make any sense at all to make product packaging, to-go containers, and coffee cup lids out of materials that dont biodegrade? The fact is that the world is full of alternatives that break down a lot faster or are, themselves, by-products of another manufacturing process  and some of them last a lot longer than you might think.

Aerial view of select pieces from Evelina Kudabaite's new GIRIA biodegradable dishware collection.

Designer Evelina Kudabaite saw an opportunity in a material thats often overlooked. Tree bark is typically removed from logs before theyre processed into lumber for architecture, furniture, and other projects, creating slash piles of unwanted material that then has to be discarded. While some mills send this material to chipping facilities to become mulch, the logistics of transporting it arent always financially feasible, and it often gets burned instead.

So what if materials like this could be rescued by craftspeople for another purpose? Kudabaites new GIRIA collection upcycles this waste into a range of beautiful tableware that retains the pleasant properties of plant-based materials. Consisting of plates, bowls, platters, and jugs, GIRIA is made of tree bark scraps collected from sawmills which are then dried, chopped, and mixed with powdered leaves.

GIRIA is here to help cut back on the obscene amount of tree bark waste in our world.

The Lithuania-based artist mixes these materials into a paste and shapes them by hand into the vessels, coating them with a non-toxic finish that can be gently washed with a cloth. Since they cant be washed directly in a sink, theyre not ideal for everyday dishes, but they can still serve beautiful decorative purposes, or inspire short-term food usage as an alternative to harmful plastics.

The finished dishes retain a rustic look that reminds us where they came from, and that theres plenty more of the same materials to be had, especially as a byproduct of sustainably managed working forests. The different kinds of leaves and powders used in the making of each object, including charcoal for darker tones, gives them a unique look. No two pieces will ever be identical.

Story continues

One of the biodegradable bottles that makes up the GIRIA dishware collection.

GIRIA biodegradable bowls and plates are great for storing herbs and spices.

The official GIRIA website explains that the project is aimed to pass the sensations of the forest through material, to establish a connection between the user and the object. This collection is a result of an experimental process by which it was meant to show how materials, which are destined to become waste  tree bark and leaves  can be transformed into sustainable design through the traditional crafts like cooking and clay molding.

It is a research on the alternative and unconventional ways to shape wood, which reminds [one] of the culinary process. During the research, a recipe of a unique material that consists of harmless organic substances has been found. No two items in GIRIA are the same: each is made by hand, and the bark dust of different kinds of trees (oak, pine, ash, and tree leaves) gives a unique texture, varying in color and roughness of a surface.

A few GIRIA biodegrable bowls stacked up next to a piece of the tree bark used to make them.

Kudabaite adds that the collection distinguishes itself from mass production, making the products as individual as their owners.
The agencies claim China Telecoms US operations might allow Chinese government to engage in malicious cyber activity.

The United States Department of Justice and other federal agencies on Thursday called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke China Telecom Americas Corps authorisation to provide international telecommunications services to and from the US.

China Telecom is the US subsidiary of a Peoples Republic of China (PRC) state-owned telecommunications company. Last year, two US senators asked the FCC to review approvals of China Telecom and China Unicom to operate in the US.

The FCC last May voted unanimously to deny another state-owned Chinese telecommunications company, China Mobile Ltd, the right to provide services in the US, citing risks that the Chinese government could use the approval to conduct espionage against the US government. It said then that it was looking at the licenses of China Telecom and China Unicom.

China Telecom Americas rejected the allegations and said it has been extremely cooperative and transparent with regulators.

In many instances, we have gone beyond what has been requested to demonstrate how our business operates and serves our customers following the highest international standards, the company said in a statement. We look forward to sharing additional details to support our position and addressing any concerns.

Chinas foreign ministry said on Friday that Beijing is firmly opposed to any action by the US against China Telecom.

We urge the United States to respect market economy principles, to cease its mistaken practices of generalising national security and politicising economic issues, and to cease unjustifiable oppression of Chinese companies, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing.

Chinas telecommunications networks and companies have come under heightened scrutiny by US agencies. An FCC spokeswoman said the agency has been looking at this issue and added, we welcome the input of the executive branch agencies and will review it carefully.

The US agencies, including Homeland Security, Defense, State, Commerce, and the US Trade Representative, cited substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecoms operations.

Those included concerns that China Telecom could be controlled or influenced by Chinas government. The agencies also said China Telecoms US operations might allow Chinese government entities to engage in malicious cyber activity enabling economic espionage and disruption and misrouting of US communications.

In September, US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican, raised concerns that China Telecom and China Unicom have access to our telephone lines, fiber optic cables, cellular networks and satellites in ways that could give it [China] the ability to target the content of communications of Americans or their businesses and the US government.

On Wednesday, the FCC agreed to allow Alphabet Inc unit Google to use part of a US-Asia undersea telecommunications cable.

Google agreed to operate only a portion of the 8,000-mile (1,287km) Pacific Light Cable Network System between the US and Taiwan, but not Hong Kong. Google and Facebook Inc helped pay for the construction of the now-completed telecommunications link, but US regulators have blocked its use.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department said US agencies believe there is a significant risk that the grant of a direct cable connection between the United States and Hong Kong would seriously jeopardize the national security and law enforcement interests of the United States.
For anyone who became accustomed to watching their 401(k) account balance climb higher for years on end, the market's recent drop and continued volatility may be unnerving if not downright scary. Nevertheless, you shouldn't let fear cause you do something that could hurt your long-term retirement planning, advisors say. "The coronavirus is certainly creating a prime opportunity for 401(k) mistakes to be made," said certified financial planner Shon Anderson, president of Anderson Financial Strategies in Dayton, Ohio.

Getty Images

"Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to avoid them, especially if their job or income has been affected," Anderson said. The coronavirus pandemic has taken a sledgehammer to the U.S. economy, as businesses have had to shutter and lay off or furlough employees. In the last three weeks alone, more than 16 million workers have lost their jobs. While it's uncertain when the solid economic footing will return or when the stock market will recover, here are some things to avoid, if possible, with your retirement savings.

Withdrawing money

Under recently passed legislation intended to ease the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis, 401(k) plan participants who are under age 59 are permitted to withdraw up to $100,000 without paying the usual 10% early withdrawal penalty. (You would still owe income taxes if you did not replace the money within three years). The limit for 401(k) loans  which already were allowed  now are upped to $100,000 instead of $50,000. It will be up to employers whether they allow the coronavirus withdrawals or loans in their plans. While the reason for the withdrawal must be coronavirus-related  i.e., you or your spouse contracted it or you are being adversely impacted financially  not much proof may be needed upfront. Down the line, though, experts say you should expect to justify it. In other words, don't take more than you need.

However, financial advisors generally agree that withdrawing money from your 401(k) should be a last resort, even if you are financially strapped. "Withdrawals still want to be avoided unless absolutely necessary," Anderson said. There are other ways to reduce your immediate obligations so you don't have to come up with cash to pay them, he said. For example, you may be able to put a student loan or mortgage in forbearance.

Going to cash

A couple things can happen if you sell your investments  whether individual stocks or, say, a target-date fund  and move the money to a cash account (i.e., money market fund). For starters, any losses you saw on paper become locked in  in other words, you're selling stocks at a low price. Additionally, you may miss out on future gains, because trying to know when to get back into the market is challenging at best. Although it's impossible to predict what stocks will do from here, research shows that missing out on the best-performing days of the market  regardless of when the bad days are  can harm your long-term returns.

"It's a natural reaction to allow emotions to take the wheel and pull out of the market when it drops rapidly," Anderson said. "But if at all possible, locking in losses today should be avoided." He added that although the coronavirus pandemic has been an unusual event, the significant market declines that have accompanied economic disruptions in the past have always recovered and headed even higher.

Stopping or reducing contributions
File image

When Former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweets that he finds Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray a revelation, he speaks for many liberals who are finding themselves increasingly charmed by the CM who has come as a breath of fresh air to even his diehard critics.

Soon after taking over as CM, Thackeray admitted in the assembly that his party had made a mistake mixing religion with politics. The Tablighi Jamaat meeting last month in Delhi and the spread of COVID-19 related to this has created a major furore in many states, and more confusion has been created because of the spread of fake news on this subject. Maharashtra is one of the states which has positives cases traced back to the Delhi event  however, Thackeray has issued a stern warning that his government will not tolerate the spreading of fake news or the communalisation of the pandemic.

The metamorphosis in the political character of the Shiv Sena in such a short time has surprised many, but one can say that Thackeray has finally left behind the shadow of his fathers legacy and his party's long association with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Thackeray has managed to give the Shiv Sena a character of its own  and in this he is proving more like his grandfather Prabodhankar Thackeray. Prabodhankar Thackeray was a fierce opponent of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), including Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. In his writings in the 1930s and 40s he took them on in no uncertain terms. He was a socialist to the core and one of the leading lights of the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti for the unification of Maharashtra. Prabodhankar Thackeray would have greatly disapproved of his son Bal Thackeray's association with the BJP, and the communalisation of the Shiv Sena, which was originally set up for the benefit of the Marathi manoos, irrespective of caste, creed or religion.

Many, including Uddhav Thackerays friends and well-wishers, thought that his government would not last more than six months. However, before that the whole world has been brought to a virtual standstill, exposing the mismanagements of even the best and most well-known global leaders.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

In Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray has had a grip on the crisis right from the first week. In this he has proved wrong his fiercest critic, former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. At the beginning of the crisis in the state there was an attempt to popularise the hashtag, #MaharashtraNeedsDevendra on social mediathat did not pick momentum as the people realised that Thackeray was managing the crisis reasonably well. Similar efforts from other quarters were blunted as well.

Thackeray has so far also managed to paper over the cracks within his own government, especially from Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar. It has been speculated that Ajit Pawar would want to control the affairs of the government as Thackeray is a greenhorn in legislative politics and governance. Here also Thackeray has circumvented what could have become a bottleneck and bone of contention  to a great extent he has decentralised the functioning of the ministries and given greater autonomy to ministers and bureaucrats. Thackeray steps in only when there is a problem or an inter-ministerial difference of opinion.

Recently, Ajit Pawar announced a decision to cut the salaries of government staff to meet the costs incurred to fight the pandemic. This cause great unrest and uncertainty at a time when the staff were facing great challenges to keep the government machinery running. This included staff working in the frontline and managing essential services. Before things went haywire, Thackeray took to the media to reassure the government staff that there would be no salary cutshe clarified that the salary would be given in two parts to tide over a short term fund crisis. In this Thackeray not only diffused a problem but also showed that when it came to governance in Maharashtra, he was the boss.

It is largely believed that Thackeray has the wise counsel of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who it is said advised Thackeray to consider moving away from the shadow of the BJP in Maharashtra. While Thackeray as Chief Minister cannot really be critical of the Centres actions in tackling the pandemic, Sharad Pawar has taken to social media warning people against superstitions and asking them to trust in science to fight the pandemic.

It is not that there are no problems with the States handling of the lockdown  reports have suggested traders charging for supplies that are meant to be free and crowds at markets. However, all these are a far cry from what happened to migrant workers in Delhi and other states. A crisis often makes or breaks a leaderthis could be Uddhav Thackerays test.

For more Opinion pieces, click here.
(by Francesco Tedesco)

NAPLES - "My memories are amplified and seem much better than they really were," she says. "I romanticize memories. That's the thing with time passing: It glorifies what you once had. I construct from that feeling - the happiness, the melancholy; all of it,'' the 20-year-old Lebanese artist Adra Kandil told the website Arab News about her work "Dear Nostalgia".



''Adra Kandil is discussing old photographs in a cafe on Bliss Street. Although in her mid-20s, she has cultivated a deep attachment to photography from the 1960s - particularly Lebanon's Golden Age and the imagery associated with the country's pre-war heyday. For her, such photographs represent something that has been irretrievably lost,'' the website reported.



The article was on young Arab artists that are gaining the spotlight by transforming suffering and myths that come from afar. ''She's far from alone,'' the website reported.



Another is Sara Mousavi, who creates scenes in which Palestinian women suddenly appear in the photos of moonwalks, as well as Stephany Sanossian, a young Syrian-Armenian artist who puts Hollywood stars and models with Luis Vuitton bags in the spotlight and has them walk through the streets of Damascus and puts Kim Kardashian with her son in her arms in front of an Armenian shop.



Lebanese designer Rana Salam has used pop-culture imagery to create everything from posters and bags to cushions and towels. For her, the website said, ''Egyptian or Lebanese cultural icons, just like those of other countries, are key to setting those countries apart and to challenging prevailing perceptions of the Arab world.'' "I was studying in London and felt that the British had no clue what the Middle East or Beirut looked like," says Salam, who first captured her distinctive visual style in 1992. "And as I majored in visual communication and art direction at the Royal College of Art, I was taught how to translate a culture by highlighting its strength. And for me pop culture spoke the loudest.



Paola Mounla, founder of the Instagram account Art of Thawra, which collects the work of young artists connected with the recent protests in Lebanon, noted that nostalgia is a fundamental part of art. Dana Barqawi is a Palestinian artist whose work celebrates Palestinian existence and culture and portrays the people of the land before 1948 using old photographs, ink, newspaper, gold leaf and thread. ''For both artists,'' Arab News said,''nostalgia is used for a purpose. Dig beneath the aesthetics and you'll find strong political and social messages. For Barqawi, that has meant challenging the widely cited rhetoric that Palestine was 'a land without a people for a people without a land'. That's why all of the photographs she uses were taken "before the land and its people were forcibly removed and displaced." She told the website that ''I intend that my act of artistic creation is inseparable from notions of the real world. In times where socio-political changes compose an inherent part of our reality, I choose to reflect the context within my work, consequently creating politically and socially engaged art," she continues. "I might use nostalgia to appeal to an audience on a feel-good level - (just as) I use beauty in my work as a tool to attract the viewer - but beyond the pleasing nature of the work, and below those aesthetic layers, there is a political agenda which challenges the institutional invisibility of Palestinian history and experience."
The son of a woman who was jailed for murder after she killed her abusive husband has begged people to reach out to victims of domestic violence during the coronavirus pandemic.

David Challen, 32, from Surrey, appeared on GMB this morning to highlight the importance of actively checking in on family or friends who may be in abusive households - and not leaving it to them to report it.

His plea came as Refuge, the UKs largest domestic abuse charity, reported a 120% increase in calls to its helpline.

David campaigned for Sally, now 65, to be released from prison after she murdered her husband David in 2010, and was jailed a year later - before being released last summer after a law recognised coercive control as a form of domestic abuse in 2015.

Speaking on ITV's morning show this morning, David was joined by Rachel Williams, who was shot by her ex before her 16-year-old son committed suicide and fitness influencer Alice Liveing, who was in a violent relationship.

David Challen, 32, appeared on GMB this morning to highlight the importance of actively checking in on family or friends who may be in abusive households - and not leaving it to them to report it

Speaking to presenter Ben Shepherd, David pleaded: 'It's our public duty to be aware of these symptoms and reach out to each other. Be persistent, log what's going on'.

Referring to his mother suffering years of emotional abuse, he continued: 'A lot of us aren't aware abuse happens psychologically - controlling who you speak to.'

Rachel Williams added: 'Victims are walking on broken glass and we need to reach in.'

She suggested: 'If you think your neighbour may be being abused bring them shopping and ask if they're okay. The police will help, domestic abuse is their priority.

'Children in these households won't remember social changes, they'll remember what it was like at home and we owe it to these children. We need to make sure they know they'll have somewhere to go'.

David campaigned for Sally,(both seen) now 65, to be released from prison after she murdered her husband David in 2010, and was jailed a year later - before being released last summer after a law recognised coercive control as a form of domestic abuse in 201

Speaking about her own situation, she continued: 'There is life after domestic violence - the tragedy wasn't him shooting me, it was my 16-year-old son committing suicide afterwards as he was a victim too. I'm testament to the fact that there's life afterwards.'

Meanwhile Alice Liveing said: 'Women's Aid is amazing and helped me and so many survivors.

'They are running an online chat service Monday to Friday. Often it's hard to speak to someone at home so this new message service is good. People should also know about the silence solution - press 55 after you ring 999.'

She added: 'It's really concerning that there are only so many refuge space.

'In my situation it started with the small signs you write off as little things like checking your phone and wanting to know where you are all the time. It's the gaslighting I recognise- you become conditioned to believe it's your fault.

Rachel Williams, who was shot by her ex before her 16-year-old son committed suicide. She begged people to look out for neighbours

David (top right) joined Rachel Williams (bottom left) and influencer Alice Liveing, bottom right, who had an abusive relationship

'It doesn't just have to be physical, you are still worthy of help. The telltale signs for family members are these, pick up that phone and make sure they're okay and offer mental support.'

After being jailed in 2011 for murder, Sally Challen served nearly a decade before new evidence showed she had been psychologically abused by her husband Richard for three decades.

In 2015 a law recognised coercive control as a form of domestic abuse and Sally and her family campaigned for her release.

Last June Sally was freed after admitting manslaughter.

Clips from a documentary last year showed Richard posing with two naked models on his Ferrari.

It was later heard that he had sent these images out on Christmas cards in order to humiliate his wife.

Clips were also shown where Sally is playing with her two children, only for her husband to be mocking her clothing.

Despite the abuse Richard put her through, Sally still wears her wedding ring today, as she claims she 'still misses' her husband.

The pair met when Sally was 16 and Richard was 22.

Sally also claimed she was raped by Richard and after accusing him of cheating, he then told her she had been 'going crazy'.
(JTA)There are about 250,000 Jews in the United Kingdom. They account for only 0.3 percent of its population.

But the coronavirus has killed 44 known Jewish victims so farabout 2.5 percent of the total U.K. tally.

That means British Jews are overrepresented by a factor of eight in their countrys death toll from COVID-19.

The statistics are compiled, released and updated periodically by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, an umbrella group representing British Jewry. The stats are unique because they are the first centralized attempt anywhere in the world at measuring the Jewish death rate and comparing it to a national total.

The figures are raising concerns that British Jews are particularly at risk from the virus. They are also giving rise to multiple hypotheses to explain this reality, though none seem conclusive.

Here are the theories and why they are difficult to prove at this point in the pandemics spread.

Its early

While Jews do seem to be overrepresented in the national death tally, the numbers of Jewish deaths being reported so far are, statistically, very smalltoo small to draw any firm conclusions, wrote Jonathan Boyd, the executive director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, or JPR, a group that researches the demographics of European Jewry, in a Jewish Chronicle op-ed published Monday.

Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about her organizations monitoring of Jewish fatalities.

While the figures are worrying, the current sample size is far too small to rule out variance and we cannot use them to come to any definitive conclusions, she said.

But Boyd added that he wouldnt be surprised to see elevated counts among Jews. More on that below.

The haredi Orthodox

Reports of failures to observe social distancing protocols at some haredi Orthodox synagogues and institutions have raised concerns about the spread of the virus among that specific denomination.

People are touching the same surfaces, the same siddurim, or prayer books, a health worker told The Jewish Chronicle last week about the heavily haredi London neighborhood of Stamford Hill. I believe the community is susceptible to the virus because they are so close knit.

Separately, 20 British Jewish physicians, none of them haredi, also singled out haredim in a pamphlet circulated in Stamford Hill a couple of weeks ago urging them to heed social distancing guidelines.

You are fully responsible for deaths that occur as a result of ignoring this advice, the physicians wrote.

Their concern echoed similar warnings in other places with large haredi minorities, including Israel, the United States and Belgium.

But Herschel Gluck, a haredi rabbi and head of Londons Shomrim Jewish security force, argued that the facts dont support this hypothesis.

The disease has claimed several haredi Jews, including Zeev Willy Stern and Uri Ashkenazi. But other victims have included four members of the Modern Orthodox Spanish and Portuguese community in London and two from the Reform community, including a rabbi.

Rabbi Alexander Goldberg, the Jewish chaplain at the University of Surrey near London, agrees with Gluck and he is not haredi. Goldberg believes he contracted and recovered from the virus, although medical authorities did not want to test him when he reported symptoms.

Among Jews, this disease doesnt seem to be confined to the haredi population. All sorts of Jews seem to have it, Goldberg said.

The mobility factor

To Goldberg, a former community issues director at the Board of Deputies, the one thing that the Jews who caught the coronavirus do have in common is that they belong to a group with a high level of mobility.

Haredi families from Britain travel frequently to visit family in Israel, Belgium, New York and beyond, as do Jewish businessmen regardless of their denomination.

Boyd concurs that mobility may be playing a role. Among Jews of all denominations, many work in the center of town, travelling in daily by tube, and are very much in the thick of things, he wrote.

Collectively, we are wealthier and better educated than average, which also means that we are more likely to travel abroadanother way in which we might have been more likely than others to have picked up the infection early on.

But Gluck has his doubts.

The tube had many commuters, the trains were packed, he said of the London underground and national railway, which operated at full capacity until as recently as March 25, when the United Kingdom introduced a national lockdown (it came more than a week after France had taken the same measure.)

London is home to a number of immigrant groups, including more than 800,000 Poles and 600,000 Italians, who travel back to their countries of origin frequently on low-cost flights.

It doesnt stand to reason that Jews would be more exposed because of travel, Gluck said.

Age and city life

Jews are older than the general population and concentrated in Londonthe city that has seen the most coronavirus cases of any region in the U.K., and is believed to be several weeks ahead of the rest of the country.

A London effect may partially explain higher counts among Jews, Boyd wrote, referencing the fact that 60% of all British Jews live in or around the capital. The city is an ideal place for a virus to spread, and like New York City in the United States, it is at the vanguard of the epidemic in this country.

British Jews, Boyd added, are old21% are aged 65 and above, compared to 16.4% of the population as a whole, and given that the virus is more virulent among the old than the young, Jews may be disproportionately affected.

But, he added, Jews are also healthier than average5% have bad or very bad health compared to a national average of 5.6%.

That may sound like splitting hairs, but its not an insignificant difference, particularly bearing in mind our age profile, Boyd wrote.

[I]ts due both to cultural factors and our socioeconomic status, both of which have commonly protected us against ill-health, he continued.

Purim and community life

Boyd and several other commentators have noted the proximity of the Jewish holiday of Purim, which fell on March 9, to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Europe.

At St. Johns Wood Synagogue in London, with 1,300 seats one of the citys largest Jewish places of worship, a rabbi contracted the virus shortly after returning from a Purim celebration in Morocco. He spent many hours interacting with dozens of congregants before he developed symptoms and self-quarantined.

Festivals like Purim bring even more people together than usual, helping the virus spread, Boyd wrote.

More broadly, there may be something about the way in which Jews organize their lives that might inadvertently cause the virus to spread between us, he added. A quarter of Jewish adults attend synagogue most weeks, whereas the equivalent proportion for church attendance among British Christians is about 10 percent, Boyd noted.

These are all perfect environments for a virus to multiply, he wrote. So physical social interactiontypically the essential, even obligatory lubricant which underpins Jewish lifenow poses a mortal threat.
President Xi Jinping talks with a community worker at a community in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, March 10, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

President encourages grassroots staff to continue anti-virus efforts in reply letter

President Xi Jinping has called on community workers to continue their steadfast efforts to combat COVID-19 as communities remain an important line of defense against imported cases and a rebound of the outbreak in China.

Xi made the remark in a letter of reply on Wednesday to community workers at a neighborhood which he visited last month during his inspection tour of Wuhan, the Chinese city hit hardest by the outbreak.

During his visit he spoke with community workers, police officers, doctors, officials and volunteers at Donghu Xincheng residential community in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province.

In his letter to the community workers, Xi said he was glad to know that life in Wuhan was gradually returning to normal.

Wuhan has lifted its 76-day lockdown, but Xi cautioned against any slackening of epidemic prevention work. He noted that routine adoption of epidemic control measures should play a key role in these new circumstances.

The city's urban and rural community workers have, together with other front-line workers, fought the virus regardless of the risks they faced, he said.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said that Party members and officials in communities took the lead in this battle.

The widespread prevention and control measures adopted by the public fully reflected China's capability to win the people's war against the pandemic, Xi added.

He urged the community workers to continue their efforts in containing the outbreak and serving the people wholeheartedly.

Tao Jiudi is one of the community workers at Donghu Xincheng residential community who wrote to Xi. In the letter they invited him to return to Wuhan when it was possible to do so.

"We hope General Secretary Xi can take a walk on our street, and taste Wuhan hot dry noodles and grain liquor after the pandemic," she said.

Tao said she believed that all community workers across the country will feel the same encouragement and excitement that she did when reading Xi's letter of reply.

Acting as the commander-in-chief in the "people's war" on the pandemic, Xi has said on various occasions that communities hold the key to curbing the spread of the virus and praised community workers for their important role in the battle.

Since the start of the outbreak, about 4 million community workers have been working at the front line in 650,000 urban and rural communities nationwide, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

They are responsible for monitoring the outbreak, controlling access to their communities, education campaigns to increase public awareness of the virus and helping disadvantaged residents.

Mao Zongfu, director of Wuhan University's Global Health Institute, told China Youth Daily that community-based pandemic control was an important factor in combating COVID-19 in Wuhan as the community level is a weak point in preventing diseases and treating patients.

A comprehensive mechanism should be established to prevent major disease outbreaks in cities and communities, Mao said.
(Photo : Screengrab from Facebook Page of Instacart)

Buying essentials items from grocery stores are indeed easy despite strict lockdown rules. Thanks to those people who are willing to shop for you, and developers who built such apps for deliveries. However, not all users appreciate them.

READ ALSO: Chatbots And Virtual Assistants To Be Used in College, A New Way Of Learning

Tricked by Instacart Customers

In late March, CNN reported users tricked Instacart worker Annaliisa Arambula by showing big tips when they order groceries. Arambula said she accepted the order because of a big tip: $55, the store was just down the street, and the items were all available.

However, an hour later, when she checked her earnings on the Instacart app, the entire tip was gone, with a message saying the "customer modified the tip post-delivery." She ended up making just $8.95 from Instacart on order.

"I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe it," Arambula told CNN Business.

Delivery Services Surge and Problems Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Since most people (aside from essential workers) are advised to stay at home and practice social distancing, delivery services are now in demand as many customers are struggling to get items they need. With that, there are cases that the delivery time is delayed due to the surge.

Both essential workers and customers are dealing with surge problems. Some customers are offering big tips as high as $50 or more to entice Instacart workers to pick up their orders. Meanwhile, some people use the bait-and-switch tactic to lure workers. At first, they offer big tips and then taking it away as soon as the person accepts their request.

Allowing Customers to Edit Tips

Instacart workers can see the items requested before accepting it. Usually, orders consist of one or a few orders from different customers. The app has a feature that allows customers to change a tip for up to three days. For its workers, tips from customers are a big help to "make up half of their income or more."

"It's very demoralizing," said Arambula. She started working at Instacart in 2017.

"I don't pretend to be a hero, like a nurse in a hospital ... but I literally am exposing myself [to coronavirus] and when I return home, exposing my own family to the possibility of transmitting this disease. When you know that it's somebody who's just doing it to game the system and to get their order when they want it, it's really frustrating," she added.

Her family is relying on her work for Instacart to pay bills and other expenses. Her husband is unemployed and at risk for COVID-19 because he has diabetes.

Instacart is one of the fast-growing companies and now expanding its business due to the demand. Previously, the company announced its plans to bring on another 300,000 full-service shoppers in North America.

An Instacart spokesperson said in March, the majority of their customers did not adjust their tip after delivery. He also added that the company removed the "none" tip option for people. With that, users who want to tip nothing must manually change a tip to $0 and could deter users from doing so. Just like most apps, Instacart allows its users to leave feedback and rate a worker. The spokesperson noted that most of the time, customers leave comments or feedback when they removed a tip.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus Can Be Reactivated After COVID-19 Patients Survived; Second Time Can Be Fatal

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
IT major Cognizant on Thursday said that it was withdrawing its 2020 guidance that was announced in February, on the back of the uncertainties in the business due to COVID-19.

The company said that the pandemic has resulted in delays in project fulfilment as delivery, particularly in India and the Philippines has mainly shifted to work-from-home mode.

The company also foresees reduced client demand, primarily in the travel and hospitality industries. Entering the second quarter, Cognizant expects the pandemic to further reduce client demand as its societal and economic impact causes broader disruptions across industries, the company said.

"The long-term fundamentals of our business remain strong. However, given the unprecedented nature of this crisis, uncertainty around its duration and its impact on our ability to forecast performance, the company is withdrawing its 2020 guidance that was provided on February 5, 2020." Cognizant said in a statement.

During the first quarter, Cognizant had completed the acquisitions of Code Zero and Lev and repurchased approximately 8 million shares. Since March 31, it has not initiated any new share repurchase programs.

Karen McLoughlin, Chief Financial Officer said, "We are confident that the combination of our strong balance sheet, and our robust operating and cash generative business model, will enable us to weather this disruption."

The company said that first-quarter revenue is expected to be $4.22-$4.23 billion, up 2.7-2.9% (3.4-3.6% in constant currency) from the prior-year quarter, including a negative 50 basis point impact from the exit of certain content services.
The April 6 Metro article GWU faculty press case for president to resign failed to include a key development that took place after the petition was submitted. Barely mentioned was that the universitys strategic plan, which is the basis for faculty concerns, was placed on hold, as President Thomas J. LeBlanc noted on April 2, and the article missed that many of the assumptions made when developing the plan will be revisited because of the novel coronavirus. The board of trustees and Mr. LeBlanc have listened and will continue to listen to the concerns about the strategic plan and are fully committed to working closely with the faculty, students, staff and other members of the George Washington community on the critical decisions that affect our future and the well-being of the university as we approach our 200th year. The true test of a leader is how he or she responds to a major crisis, especially in changing times. Mr. LeBlanc and his team have done a remarkable job leading the university as we face the covid-19 challenge, protecting health and safety and bringing our community together.
New Delhi: Union Civil Aviation Ministry on Friday (April 10) said that a total of 180 flights have operated since the beginning of the 21-day COVID-19 lockdown under the 'Lifeline UDAN' scheme carrying 258.24 tonnes of cargo.

The ministry started the 'Lifeline Udan' scheme for the transport of essential goods through aerial routes till April 14 to combat the coronavirus pandemic, said a statement from the ministry.

"Over 180 flights have been operated under 'Lifeline UDAN' during COVID-19 lockdown, out of which 114 were operated by Air India and Alliance Air. Fifty-eight flights were operated by the IAF," the ministry said, adding that total 13 flights were operated under the scheme, carrying 10.22 tonnes of cargo.

Earlier on April 8, the ministry stated that Lifeline UDAN flights transported 39.3 tons of medical supplies across the country on 7th April 2020.

"Total cargo transported by these flights is around 240 tons during Covid-19 lockdown. 161 flights have been operated under Lifeline UDAN till date covering 1,41,080 Kms. Out of these, 99 flights were operated by Air India and Alliance Air while 54 were operated by IAF," it said.

On international route, on 7th April 2020, Air India brought 6.14 tons of medical equipment from Hong Kong and further, Air India lifted 8.85 tons of supplies to Colombo.

Daily updates on Lifeline UDAN flights are also available on the dedicated Medical Air Cargo related website LIFELINE UDAN along with latest photographs. The link is available on the https://esahaj.gov.in/lifeline_udan.

Details of fights and consignments are uploaded constantly by various agencies and government entities which enables planning to be done effectively by coordinating and collating various details from the portal. Based on any challenges faced by the users, the portal is being updated and modified to suit the requirements and serve the purpose.

Notably, Air India and IAF collaborated primarily for J&K, Ladakh, North-East and other island regions. Domestic Cargo operators including Blue Dart, Spicejet and Indigo are extending their services on commercial basis.

Spicejet operated 203 cargo flights from 24 March  7 April 2020 covering 2,77, 080 Kms and carrying 1647.59Tons of cargo. Out of these 55 were international cargo flights. Blue Dart operated 64 domestic cargo flights covering 62,245 Kms and carrying 951.73 Tons of cargo from 25 March  7 April 2020. Indigo has also operated 8 cargo flights on 3  4 April 2020 covering 6103 Kms and carrying 3.14 tons of cargo.
While the chartered accountants' institute would be contributing Rs 21 crore, the company secretaries'' institute would donate Rs 5.25 crore.

New Delhi: Professional institutes representing chartered accountants, company secretaries and cost accountants will donate nearly Rs 29 crore to the government in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

"The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Institute of Company Secretaries of India and Institute of Cost Accountants of India... have come forward to donate an amount of Rs 28.80 crore to PM-CARES Fund for providing assistance to those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic," an official release said on Friday.

The three institutes come under the corporate affairs ministry.

While the chartered accountants' institute would be contributing Rs 21 crore, the company secretaries'' institute would donate Rs 5.25 crore.

The cost accountants'' institute would provide Rs 2.55 crore.

The Prime Minister''s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES Fund) has been set up with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation as posed by the pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected people.
An eczema sufferer who has taken steroids to help her skin condition for the last 40 years has told how she has been left looking 20 years older after kicking the habit.

Ruth Holroyd, 46, from Buckinghamshire, has suffered with eczema for most of her life, and recalled times where at worst, she would tear at her skin, leaving trails of dry skin around her.

Despite being given the steroids by her dermatologist when she was a child, she more recently became worried about the long-term side effects, and decided to go cold turkey - under their supervision.

Only, she went on to suffer 'topical steroid withdrawal' - when the skin reacts adversely after discontinuing steroids after prolonged use - and her skin was left red, sore, burnt and exuding clear liquid, and as a result, she had to leave her job and limit social activity.

Now, it has been a year since Ruth - who was initially advised not to come off them - stopped using steroids, and while she has noticed that the trauma to her skin has left it looking aged, she has learned to love herself and tries to remain positive.

Ruth Holroyd, 46, from Buckinghamshire, who has suffered with severe eczema for most of her life, has told how she was left looking 20 years older after kicking her steroid habit. Pictured, one year ago, while using steroids

It has been a year since Ruth has stopped using steroids (pictured), and she has noticed that while her skin is improving, the trauma to her skin has left it looking aged. Pictured, now

Ruth claims Epaderm ointment (pictured, now) has helped manage her skin as it relieves the incredible skin dryness since she stopped taking the steroids

Throughout the last year of her eczema skin journey, Ruth claims Epaderm ointment has helped manage her skin as it relieves the incredible skin dryness.

'I have suffered with eczema since childhood,' explained Ruth. 'As a child, I would tear at my legs, leaving circles of dry skin on the floor around me.'

WHAT IS TOPICAL STEROID WITHDRAWAL? Topical steroid withdrawal is an adverse reaction that occurs when topical steroids are overused and then stopped. It can occur from prolonged use of high potency steroids, especially on the face. Source: National Eczema Association Advertisement

'To manage my eczema, I have had to use steroids for over 40 years, but have been worried about overusing them due to potential side effects - including high blood pressure and bone damage.'

Ruth says her skin became so dependent on steroids, that when she stopped using them at certain points in her life when she thought her eczema had cleared up, her skin would deteriorate.

'My face would get red, burnt and then would crust and flake,' said Ruth. 'I was then left with little choice but to go back on my steroids again.'

'I was experiencing what is known as "topical steroid withdrawal" - when the skin reacts adversely after discontinuing steroids after prolonged use.

'This experience, plus my research, where I came across horrific photos of people who had come off steroids, made me hesitant to stop using them for good. I was not strong enough to go cold turkey and was worried about how it would impact my job.'

Ruth says she began worrying about overusing steroids due to potential side effects - including high blood pressure and bone damage. Pictured, now, since coming off them

Ruth says people often ask her 'what's wrong with your face?' but she tries to remain positive. Pictured, now

To help with the dryness of her skin, Ruth says she uses Epaderm Ointment. Pictured, her dry skin

However, at the start of February last year, Ruth felt that her eczema and steroids had a hold on her - a feeling she wanted to get rid of.

'I decided to come off steroids completely,' she said. 'It was a hard and very life-changing experience. The first few weeks off steroids were awful, my skin was red, sore and exuding clear liquid and looked like a wound.

WHAT IS EPADERM? Epaderm is a highly effective emollient range, developed by dermatologists for dry skin, eczema and psoriasis. Suitable for sensitive skin of all ages, including babies, Epaderm is free from fragrance, colouring and SLS. Epaderm is recommended by doctors and available on prescription and over-the-counter. Advertisement

'This really affected my work to the point that I had to leave my job - but things were still difficult for me after that. My skin was dry, itchy and oozing.'

'Not only did going free from steroids impact my work, but it made going out and socialising extremely difficult, leaving me feeling isolated.

Following her own research, Ruth learnt that some people prefer to go through topical steroid withdrawal without any moisturiser, however, she just couldnt do it.

'My skin was so dry and itchy and I worried that not using any moisturiser could make my skin worse,' she said. 'To help with this dryness I used Epaderm Ointment.'

'It helps to relieve the dryness and doesnt irritate my skin - and it works well as a cleanser and soap in the bath and shower. I get through a tub every week, as I use it in the morning, during the day and evening. It is the only thing I can put on my skin when it is flaring up.'

Now, it has been over a year since Ruth has been steroid-free and while her skin is improving, she has noticed that the trauma her skin went through during the topical steroid withdrawal journey has left her looking significantly older.

'This has really affected my confidence, but I am trying to unlearn all the negative things I think about myself,' she said. 'People often ask me, "what's wrong with your face?" which makes me even more insecure, but I try my best to remain positive.

'My advice to those thinking about coming off steroids for good for their eczema would be to do their research, seek help from a dermatologist and join online support groups.'
The Ovation of the Seas cruise was allowed to dock in Australia despite 13 passengers falling ill onboard amid the coronavirus crisis, it has been revealed.

The Royal Caribbean-owned ship advised federal authorities about the unwell passengers - including three with high temperatures - before docking in Sydney on March 18, Seven News reported.

Just days before passengers were allowed to disembark at Circular Quay, the crew reportedly made an announcement that Australian Border Force advised they were not required to quarantine.

At least 98 passengers who were on the cruise - which was en route New Zealand -have tested positive to COVID-19 and a 72-year-old man has died.

The revelations are strikingly similar to the Ruby Princess cruise ship, which was allowed to dock in Sydney just after day afterwards.

The Ovation of the Seas cruise was allowed to dock in Australia despite 13 passengers falling ill onboard amid the coronavirus crisis

The Ruby Princess became the largest source of coronavirus infections in Australia, with more than 600 cases infections and 15 deaths are linked the to the ship.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

The Ovation of the Seas crew told passengers on March 16 they would not be required to self-isolate.

'In conference with ABF, or the Australian Border Force today, we have the confirmation that none of our guests will be required to self-isolate or anything of that sort,' the crew said.

'We have a full, clean bill of health, so to speak. Whether you're international or going back home in Australia, you will walk off and go home.'

But documents from the Department of Agriculture revealed 13 passengers showed symptoms of illness prior to docking.

'The symptoms declared by the vessel included three persons with temperature over 38 degrees Celsius, eight persons with muscle aches, diarrhea, severe headaches or vomiting,' the health report stated.

Almost 3,000 holidaymakers were free to enter Australia and even catch domestic flights when the cruise docked in Sydney on March 18.

But four days after they arrived, passengers began receiving frantic emails and calls from health officials, advising them they urgently needed to self-isolate.

The ship had not entered a foreign country, having planned to sail to New Zealand but was refused entry due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Department of Agriculture and Royal Caribbean for comment.

The Royal Caribbean-owned ship advised federal authorities about the unwell passengers - including three with high temperatures - before docking in Sydney on March 18. Pictured: Crew members walk past the Sydney Opera House after disembarking

NSW Police wearing protective gear boarded the Ruby Princess ship to seize evidence and question crew members on Wednesday night at Port Kembla, south of Sydney.

The ship is expected to remain in port for 10 days with its 1,040 crew undergoing medical assessments.

A team of 30 detectives from state crime, counter terrorism and marine area command are investigating the communications and actions which led to the docking and disembarking of the vessel in Sydney Harbour on March 19.

'The only way I can get to the bottom of whether our national biosecurity laws and our state laws were broken is through a criminal investigation,' NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said

The investigation will cover the actions of the port authority, ambulance, police, the NSW Health department and Carnival Australia.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard is standing behind his staff who had allowed the Ruby Princess cruise ship to disembark.

There are more than 600 cases of coronavirus and 15 deaths linked to the Ruby Princess.

At least 98 passengers who were on the cruise from Australia to New Zealand have tested positive to COVID-19 and a 72-year-old man has died
The United Kingdom on Friday announced three special chartered flights from the Amritsar international airport to fly back its Indian-origin citizens stranded in Punjab and adjoining areas amid the ongoing lockdown imposed to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

The flights will take off on April 13, 17 and 19 to London.

In a press release, the British High Commission spokesperson in New Delhi said, Over 3,000 British travellers currently stranded in India will get home via 12 additional chartered flights (from other airports) which opened for booking today.

Jan Thompson, acting high commissioner to India, said in the release, We can confirm 12 more chartered flights to bring British travellers back home. Getting people home soon remains our absolute priority.

UK minister of state for South Asia and the Commonwealth Lord Tariq Ahmad said, We are doing all we can to get thousands of British travellers in India. This is a huge and complex operation which involves working with the Indian government to enable people to move in the country to get on these flights.

The first chartered flight from India reached London on Thursday morning with 317 British nationals aboard from Goa.

Apart from Amritsar, the special flights will also leave from Ahmadabad (April 3, 15), Goa (April 14, 16), Goa (via Mumbai, April 18), Thiruvananthapuram (via Kochi, April 15), Hyderabad (via Ahmadabad, April 17), Kolkata (via Delhi, April 19), Chennai (via Bengaluru, April 20).

A number of seats will be reserved for those deemed vulnerable. To book flights and register their details, British nationals should use the city-specific webpages listed on the India travel advice page, said the spokesperson.

On April 7, as many as 96 NRIs flew back to the US and around 200 to Canada through chartered flights, but still thousands of Canadians of Indian origin are stranded in Punjab due to high cost of these flights..
Confusion over the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland abounded at a briefing this evening on the part of the National Public Health Emergency Team, as it emerged that Irelands total number of cases is more than 1,000 greater than previously thought.

Dr Tony Holohan, the chief medical officer, said that

Read More:

However, the chief theme of the briefing was a long interchange with Dr Holohan as to how many confirmed cases there actually are after a report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) suggested that Irelands figure is 8,089, more than 1,000 greater than that being reported by NPHET.

Three numbers were given, all of which Dr Holohan insisted were accurate.

Officially, NPHET said that 480 new cases had been recorded in the country, bringing the overall total to 7,054.

A second figure of 7,071, recorded by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) as at midnight on Wednesday was also delivered, followed by a final figure of 8,089.

The larger figure includes 1,035 test results delivered from German laboratories and is the most up-to-date one available, Dr Holohan said.

He stressed that the various numbers do not represent ambiguity, but rather the lower number is more accurate in terms of the number of new cases being reported on a day-by-day basis.

He said that many of the tests being returned from Germany date from many weeks past.

Were not trying to obscure them. Some of these tests go right back to the middle of March. If we reported them it would give a false sense of how the disease is increasing day on day, Dr Holohan said.

The cumulative number of cases does not inform NPHET planning, he said. What does inform it are new cases, ICU admissions, and unfortunately, the number of deaths.

In terms of ICU admissions, the number of patients currently receiving critical care is 157, while 62 people have been discharged from intensive care to date, Dr Holohan said.

He said that 156 of the total number of deaths have either occurred in nursing homes or following referrals from same to a hospital.

Asked whether or not Ireland would have a functioning testing regime in place for the revised restrictions

Read More:

Regarding the fact that many of Irelands 49 testing centres appear to have ground to a halt, Dr Colm Henry, the HSEs chief clinical officer, said that this is because the capacity to provide tests now outstrips demand since the threshold for testing was raised to those with an underlying condition.

Of the countrys largest such centre, at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in Cork, Dr Henry said anyone who has sought an appointment there in recent days has gotten one.

Regarding the extension of nationwide restrictions, Dr Holohan said that weve saved many, many lives as a result of societys efforts with these measures over the past number of weeks.

However, the chief medical officer once more could not be drawn as to the number of people who are still waiting to get a test, or who are waiting for a result.

I dont have a precise number, but were not being evasive, he said.
Health Minister Ehanire Osagie has betrayed his insensitivity to the plight of Nigerian medical professionals in the civil service battling to contain Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

He told the leadership of NASS at a meeting yesterday he had no idea of how much the hazard allowance of doctors is, nor if the pittance is paid as and when due.

I am not aware. It is the standard job they do every day; it is the standard jobthat was his response when Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila asked him about the doctors complaint the ministry owes them a six-month backlog.

Besides embarrassing himself and the government he works for, Ehanire drew the fire of Gbajabiamila right there.

It is not enough to say you are not aware, and you dropped the ball, the speaker quipped in a video that has been trending online since then.

According to the National Association of Resident Doctors, the hazard allowance is N5000 monthly, and the government is owing them six months.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday gave the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, a dressing down for failing to answer a question regarding the hazard allowance being paid to doctors treating COVID-19 patients.

The National Association of Resident Doctors had last week stated that Nigerian doctors were receiving N5, 000 a month as hazard allowance.

Nigerians who saw the video have lashed out at the minister for that negligence of the well-being of the human resources the nation needs during this viral crisis.

PV: 0
These days, when the coronavirus reminds us that life can be stranger than fiction, one might reconsider strange legends of old. Legends like Manitou's "healing waters," for example.
By Akbar Mammadov

The international communitys criticism of the illegal elections held in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh once again proved that that the so-called elections were nothing but Armenias attempt to legitimize the consequences of that occupation, head of of Nagorno-Karabakhs Azerbaijani commuity Tural Ganjaliyev told local media on April 8.

Overall, the world reaction to these elections shows that the liberation of our lands is not far off. Also, the occupying regime and its illegal actions have not yielded any results and will continue to do so.

As for the announcement of the "second round" of the "election" show in the occupied territories, Ganjaliyev noted that this illegal action by Armenia and the occupying regime set up in Nagorno Karabakh is a great stain on democracy and elections.

At the time when the world is faced with (COVID-19) pandemic, and despite the danger to human lives, Armenia and the occupying regime remain true to their nature and continue to operate illegally and hold a show called elections. This is another indicator of the values on which Armenia and the so-called organization are based and their attitude toward the Armenian community of Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region, confirming how insignificant the lives and destinies of these people are for the regime, Ganjaliyev said.

We believe that Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh will finally realize that they are a tool in the hands of Armenia and the occupying regime, which do not value them and instead of protecting them from the threat of a pandemic, turn them into the tools in fake games, Ganjaliyev added.

Ganajliyev stated that holding illegal "elections" in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh is a gross violation of the basic human rights of Azerbaijanis who have been subjected to ethnic cleansing and expelled from their lands.

He reminded that the UN, OSCE, other international organizations and the international community have condemned the illegal "elections" and voiced their support for inviolability of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized borders.

The Azerbaijani community has stated that these illegal elections are another blow to the negotiation process and serve to aggravate the situation.

We are confident that Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, along with the Azerbaijanis who will return after the restoration of the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan, will participate in the legitimate elections to be held in accordance with the Constitution and other laws, Ganjaliyev concluded.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Media attention to climate change has had its highs and lows; different parts of the world have covered the story in different ways. Keeping track of it all is Bruno Takahashi, associate professor of environmental journalism and communication at Michigan State University and research director of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. Recently, he spoke with CJRs Lauren Harris on when, how, and where the climate crisis is reported. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Q: What trends do you see in global coverage of climate change?

Coverage in developing countries tends to follow international trends in developed countries. The US and European coveragethat tends to dominatereally sets other media agendas around the world, particularly in volume. Overall, globally, theres an overemphasis on mitigation as opposed to adaptation; thats a big problem in the coverage everywhere.

In terms of framing, if there is a cultural affinity between two countries or commercial trade between two countries, or spatial proximity between two countries, theyre more likely to cover each other and to cover each other in a certain way. I think the framing that different countries use when they cover people who have a similar culture or shared economic interests tends to prioritize certain stories. When you look at a lot of Amazon rain forest coverage from places that are culturally different and geographically distant from the Amazon, there was basically no coverage of the people who live in the Amazon. Most of the coverage was, Oh, lets save the world.

Q: What factors influence the focus of global news coverage?

Globally, its important to consider the role of wire services: the AP, Reuters in the UK, the Spanish agency EFEwhich, because of the language, tends to dominate coverage in Latin America. The French have AFP. Wire services are becoming more and more dominant, because of the crisis in the business of news media around the world. Its just cheaper for smaller outlets to purchase content as opposed to hiring their own reporters. That makes a lot of the coverage homogeneous and doesnt allow more fine-grained coverage. Wire services are pretty neutral, pretty basic, and appeal to everyone, so theyre not specialized to your region.

But at the same time, there are more specialized news outlets out there than there used to be, covering just climate or just environmental issues. In Latin America, we have seen some smaller online organizationsMongabay Latam, for instance, or OjoPublico, in Perudo in-depth coverage about deforestation and its relation to climate change, which we didnt see before.

Q: What are some of the threats to climate coverage?

Theres certainly a lot of pressure when it comes to covering extractive industriesfracking, drilling for oil, logging, miningwhich are obviously connected to climate change. Theres a nonprofit project by a consortium of journalists called Forbidden Storiesfounded by the Freedom Voices Networkwith reports about journalists who have been murdered or harassed or attacked because of their coverage of extractive industries. The stories arent necessarily about climate change, but they are certainly related to climate change. There can be a lot of political, economic, and physical pressure on the media to stop reporting or report stories differently in some regions.

Q: So if theres a region where theres a lot of financial power invested in some of those industries and its also a region that doesnt have a strong record of press freedomthats probably a bad environment for climate coverage, right?

Absolutely. Theres research on this happening in places like the Philippines or Brazil. There are other countries where this has been documented, too, but with less specific research around threats to climate coverage.

Q: How does the tone of climate coverage vary in different parts of the world?

In considering tone, I look at whether or not the coverage says climate change is actually happening. And whether it says humans play the main role in the warming of the planet. In looking at Australian media or the coverage in the US, you can see some inconsistenciesnervous or skeptical or downplayed, or coverage that doesnt highlight the catastrophic potential of climate change. But in the Global South, you dont see that as much. Thats related to the level of skepticism that exists in governments that are more polarized, like the US.

Q: So, in the Global South, there used to be less coverage of climate change in general. But there never was much coverage that said climate change isnt real?

Yeah. In developed nations, when youre talking about reducing emissions and changing the energy grid, youre really talking about changing lifestyles. When it comes to the Global South, I dont think that those connections have been made, meaning that the discussions about climate change havent challenged the status quo or challenged the dominant industry, whatever it is in any particular country. Many of these countrieswith the exception of the brics countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africaoutside of those, the contributions to emissions are so small that that doesnt really matter. But if a developing country starts talking about cutting back on our logging industry or cutting back on our fisheries? Then the discussion goes differently.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Lauren Harris is a freelance journalist. She writes CJR's weekly newsletter for the Journalism Crisis Project. Follow her on Twitter @LHarrisWrites.
Claire Fuller is one of the first people to be recruited and treated in the Exeter arm of the RECOVERY trial.

First Exeter patients start worlds largest trial of COVID-19 treatments

Patients in Exeter with COVID-19 are being recruited to the largest clinical trial in the world to investigate existing medicines which might be effective against the disease.

The trial, known as the Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY (RECOVERY) trial, was set up in just ten days and already fifteen patients have been recruited in Exeter. The trial is being run through a strong partnership between the University of Exeter and the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. Exeter is one of the 157 trial centres being coordinated nationally by researchers from the University of Oxford. There are currently no specific treatments for COVID-19. It is possible that some existing drugs usually used for other conditions may have some benefits  but they may not. As they are already approved for other uses, the trial is able to start more swiftly than for new drugs which would need rigorous safety testing first. The new trial will provide doctors and the health service with information they need to determine which treatments should be used.

The treatments initially included in the study have been recommended by an expert panel that advises the Chief Medical Officer in England. These are Lopinavir-Ritonavir, normally used to treat HIV, the steroid dexamethasone, which is used in a wide range of conditions to reduce inflammation, and hydroxychloroquine, which is mainly used as an anti-malarial drug and the commonly-used antibiotic azithromycin. The safety and side effects of the drugs are well known. The trial has seen research teams at the RD&E uniting to form a single workforce to ensure that patients have the best possible access to the ground-breaking COVID -9 studies being undertaken. The aim is to promote the most positive outcomes for our patients following infection In the future, the RECOVERY trial may be expanded to assess the impact of other potential treatments as they become available.

Dr Ray Sheridan, Consultant at the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Exeter, said: This trial is an incredibly exciting development in the battle against COVID-19. In Exeter, the strong and long-standing relationship between the University and the RD&E health trust means our clinicians and scientists work incredibly well together. We dont yet know if the drugs will work, but its heartening to be part of promising research on this international crisis. As a frontline clinician, I beg everyone to do their part to buy us time to develop this research. Stay home, wash your hands and when you must go out, observe social distancing measures.

The trial will be open to adult inpatients at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital who have tested positive for COVID-19, and who have not been excluded for medical reasons. All patients will receive the usual standard of care. Patients joining the trial will be allocated at random by computer to receive one of the medicines being studied in addition to standard care, or standard full usual care n. This will enable researchers to see whether any of the possible new treatments are more or less effective than those currently used for patients with COVID-19.

Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said last week; We need more patents to volunteer to be part of these trials because the bigger the trial, the better the data and the faster we can roll out the treatment  if, and only if, its proven to work. But for now, the only way to protect yourselves and your family from this disease is to stay at home.

Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Global Health in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and Chief Investigator for the trial, said: There is an urgent need for reliable evidence on the best care for patients with COVID-19. Providing possible new treatments through a well-designed clinical trial is the best way to get that evidence. Adults admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be offered the opportunity to participate in this trial and contribute to improving care for everyone. All patients will receive the standard full medical care, regardless of which treatment group they are placed in.

Martin Landray, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, and Deputy Chief Investigator added: The streamlined design of this clinical trial allows consenting patients to be enrolled in large numbers easily and without compromising patient safety or adding significantly to the workload of busy hospitals and their staff. In this way we can rapidly assess the value of potential treatments for COVID-19 and provide reliable information on the best ways to treat patients with this disease.

The new trial has been classed as an Urgent Public Health Research Study. It is one of a round of projects to receive 10.5 million as part of the 20 million rapid research response funded by UK Research and Innovation, and by the Department of Health and Social Care through the National Institute for Health Research.

The Chief Medical Officers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the NHS Medical Director have written to NHS trusts asking them to fully support the new trial.

Claire, 56, among first patients on Exeter arm of RECOVERY trial into COVID-19

At 56 years old, Claire Fuller did not see herself as particularly high risk of developing COVID-19 despite her mild and well-managed asthma  yet she was among the first patients to be recruited and treated in the Exeter arm of the RECOVERY trial.

A healthy and active global manager for a veterinary company, Claire, from Tiverton in Devon, found herself in isolated treatment at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (RD&E), on oxygen and facing conversations about her options for resuscitation.

Claires ordeal started ten days after developing a dry cough, when her breathing deteriorated so severely that she was rushed to hospital by ambulance. Id got to the point where I could barely talk and I could hardly walk across the house without feeling faint, said the mother of two grown-up children It was really scary how it just suddenly turned.

Once in hospital, Claires COVID-19 test was returned positive, and she was offered the opportunity to sign up to the RECOVERY Trial  A national study led by University of Oxford & run locally In Devon through a partnership between RD&E and University of Exeter. I was more than happy to sign up, said Claire. I know about clinical trials through my work, and I felt it was the least I could do.

Claire was assigned the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, and experienced a tingling in her lungs, although she said it was impossible to establish whether that was a result of the treatment. Its hard to know whether any change is related to the drug or the virus, she said. It took a couple of days and I started to feel better, but I may never know if that would have happened anyway.

After five days in hospital, Claire was allowed to return home. She said: It was such a relief to get home, but Im still very weak. I need to sleep after having a shower. It may take up to four weeks for my lungs to recover fully.

The staff at the RD&E were absolutely fantastic, but theyre working under very difficult circumstances. Theyre learning with each patient that comes in. Theyre having to treat people in isolation conditions  so they wear masks and gloves and only stay long enough to do observations. Thats difficult for everyone involved.

This virus can strike anyone, and people can deteriorate so rapidly. Please just stay home and do everything possible to avoid catching it Id urge anyone who does end up in hospital to sign up to the RECOVERY trial. The more people who do so, the greater the chance of finding effective treatments.

Date: 9 April 2020

Read more University News
By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijani MP Sevil Mikailova, elected from Khachmaz constituency, provided aid in the form of food supplies to 60 low-income families and individuals, Trend reported on April 9.

The aid was delivered to families and individuals in Khachmaz by the MP's assistants. At the same time, residents were given information about the special quarantine regime introduced in the country over the threat of coronavirus.

It should be noted that in order to curb the spread of infection and to control compliance with the requirements of the special quarantine regime, 101 groups have been set up in the district consisting of employees of the Khacmaz Executive Authorities, representative offices of the administrative-territorial districts and municipalities.

Khacmaz Executive Authorities regularly provide assistance to residents. Employees of the regions executive authorities have transferred a portion of their monthly salary to the Fund to Support Fight Against Coronavirus. Entrepreneurs operating in the area joined this initiative.

Earlier, Trend International News Agency and the news portal Day.az transferred 50,000 AZN ($29.4m) to the fund.

In addition, MP Sevil Mikailova donated a part of her monthly salary to the fund.

The Fund to Support Fight Against Coronavirus was set up on March 19 upon President Ilham Aliyev's initiative.

Initially, the government allocated $11.7 million to the fund and the president and the first lady donated their annual salaries to the fund. As of April 8, the fund had collected about $65.1 million. Donations have been made by 2,692 legal entities and 8,223 individuals.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
A boy in HCMC, a woman in Da Nang and nine people in Hanoi are the latest Covid-19 patients released from hospitals in Vietnam.

They brought the nationwide discharges tally to 144 by Friday afternoon, including five earlier in the day.

The patient released in Ho Chi Minh City is "Patient 204," a 10-year-old Vietnamese boy. He returned to Vietnam from Turkey on March 15, a day after hed flown to Istanbul from Prague, capital of the Czech Republic.

He was quarantined on arrival in HCMC and tested Covid-19 positive on March 27. He was treated at the HCMC Children's Hospital.

There was a emotional reunion after the boy, who does not speak much Vietnamese after having living abroad most of the time, cried and hugged his mother.

As his father watches, "Patient 204," a 10-year-old boy, hugs his mother after being discharged from the HCMC Children's Hospital, April 10, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Hung Pham.

His mother thanked doctors and nurses for taking care of her son "with all of their love" and helping her family "overcome such a dark period."

"Patient 135," discharged from Da Nang Hospital, is 27-year-old Nguyen Tra My, a native of the northern city of Hai Phong.

She had left the Danish capital of Copenhagen on March 19 and transited in Doha (Qatar) and Bangkok (Thailand) before landing March 21 in Da Nang on Bangkok Airways flight PG947. She was quarantined upon arrival and was confirmed to have contracted the novel coronavirus on March 25.

The last of six Covid-19 patients treated in Da Nang, she left the hospital to the applause of doctors and nurses.

Covid-19 "Patient 135," Nguyen Tra My (C), presents some cakes to the staff of the Da Nang Hospital as a token of her appreciation after being discharged April 10, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong.

Da Nang treated all its six Covid-19 patients at the Da Nang Hospital. The latest discharge means all the staff can take a break after a month of fighting the disease and staying away from their families.

"This is the first victory of the hospital in the fight against Covid-19. It was made possible thanks to the tireless efforts of all doctors and nurses at the Department of Tropical Medicine," said hospital director Le Duc Nhan.

The nine patients discharged in Hanoi  Patients 25, 86, 94, 148, 194, 202, 205, 237 and 249, included a nurse at the Bach Mai Hospital, the biggest Covid-19 hotspot in Vietnam linked at least 45 cases, 27 of them employees of the Truong Sinh Company, which supplies food and logistics services to the hospital.

All nine patients were released from the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases Friday afternoon.

"Patient 86," a nurse at Bach Mai Hospital is all emotional when she is discharged from Hanoi's National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, April 10, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

"Patient 86," 54, is a nurse working at the HIV Outpatient Clinic of Bach Mai Hospital's Center for Tropical Diseases. Patients 194, 202 and 205 are all employees of the Truong Sinh Company that provides food and water to the hospital.

"Patient 25" is a 50-year-old British woman admitted to hospital on March 8.

"Patient 148" is a Frenchman, 58, who arrived in Hanoi March 12 as a tourist and was confirmed Covid-19 positive on March 24.

"Patient 94" is a 64-year-old woman from the northern province of Bac Giang. She had visited her daughter in the Czech Republic on February 29 and returned to Hanoi on March 18 before she was quarantined and confirmed positive on March 21.

"Patient 94," Do Thi Binh, makes a sign of victory as she is discharged from Hanoi's National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, April 10, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh.

"Patient 237" is a 64-year-old Swedish man with blood cancer who has been traveling in Vietnam since last December. On March 31 he had a nose bleed and a family member took him to the hospital for a checkup. His sample was taken on April 1 and it tested positive.

"Patient 249" is a 55-year-old Vietnamese man who flew back from the U.S., transited in Hong Kong, and arrived in Vietnam on March 22. He was confirmed infected in early April.

All discharged patients will be medically monitored at home for another 14 days per the protocol set by the Health Ministry as an extra protective measure to prevent further transmission of the Covid-19 virus.

With Fridays discharges, the number of active Covid-19 cases among the total of 255 recorded in Vietnam so far has dropped to 111.
STEPHENTOWN  Just one coronavirus infection from an emergency call is all it would take to knock the volunteer Stephentown Ambulance out of service, cutting off the quickest EMS response to residents in this rural eastern Rensselaer County town.

The pandemic has sharpened how close to the edge the three-EMT member Stephentown Ambulance and five-EMT member Petersburgh Rescue Ambulance Squad are when it comes to answering calls for help from residents.

Im worried. This is a day-to-day thing. The two of us could be put out of action on one call of COVID-19, said Rik McClave, a Stephentown Ambulance EMT and Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department commissioner.

Its no different in Petersburgh just north of Stephentown on Route 22. We exercise caution. Weve had a few calls that were iffy, said Dennis Smith, captain of the Petersburgh squad.

The COVID-19 calls to which the EMTs respond with full personal protective equipment and updated training is just magnifying the question of how ambulance service can continue to be provided.

Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements

The latest coronavirus numbers in NY

Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter

Full coronavirus coverage

Then theres the problems of when a Petersburgh or Stephentown ambulance takes a patient to a hospital. A trip to Albany Medical Center Hospital or St. Peters Hospital in Albany or Samaritan Hospital in Troy means the ambulance is gone for up to three hours. And it takes 180 hours to produce a trained EMT to provide the basic life support service. Advance life support has to be done by private ambulance services driving out to the eastern towns from the heart of the Capital Region.

Ambulance service needs to be made an essential service. I dont think any of the towns in eastern Rensselaer can support it on their own, McClave said.

People volunteering to their communities donating their time and service, Smith said, arent appearing to fill the vacancies that occur. Its difficult. For so many years firefighting and EMS have been provided for free by volunteers, Smith said.

Stephentowns EMTs responded to 304 combined fire and ambulance calls, in which 270 were EMS calls alone, in 2019 in their town of 2,903. The Petersburgh EMTs answered 180 to 200 calls for their town of 1,525.

McClave and Smith dont want their communities to go without ambulance service. Berlins ambulance service went out in 2019, which left Stephentown and Petersburgh covering the town between them. The town of Poestenkill and the city of Rensselaer volunteer ambulance services have been closed for years.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Ambulance service is a necessity to protect residents, said Brunswick Supervisor Phil Herrington, whose town operates without a volunteer service. Privatley-owned Mohawk Ambulance Services is building a new facility on McChesney Avenue that could house six ambulances, Herrington said.

The chances of getting an ambulance is better, said Herrington. By moving out of Troy they are avoiding the Hoosick Street traffic congestion, Mohawk will be better positioned to serve Brunswick and to head east to respond to calls in the rest of the county, Herrington said. But theres no guarantees.

Whats left is a perplexing problem for the communities, the volunteers and Rensselaer County. After receiving services for free, having to consider to pay for emergency services is difficult.

Theres definitely a need to rethink how ambulance service is being delivered in the rural areas upstate and our county, said Richard Crist, the county director of operations who has been working on the issue for County Executive Steve McLaughlin.

Details have not been worked out on what to do. The pandemic has pushed many issues to the side. The cost of running the services is expected to be an issue. Private ambulance companies and many municipal squads, volunteer and paid, rely on fees paid by patients' insurance companies. There also is tax-support for some municipal squads.

The County Legislature also is concerned. Public Safety Committee members realize its a brewing problem that could erupt at any moment.

I wouldnt want to be living in the outskirts and rely on someone driving 30 or 40 miles to save my life, said Legislator Carole Weaver, D-Troy.

Originally from Poestenkill, Weaver said its absolutely an issue is a concern for the entire county, even those from Troy, which has paid professional ambulance service provided by the fire department.

Legislature Chairman Michael Stammel, R-Rensselaer, and Legislator Tom Grant, R-East Greenbush, a member of the Public Safety Committee, said a solution to supporting the ambulance services in the smaller towns will have to be worked out cooperatively by the county, towns and volunteers.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  The House Committee on Justice has recommended the granting of provisional liberty to low-level offenders and elderly detainees during the national health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the current COVID-19 crisis demands prompt action, there is a need to grant provisional liberty to detainees in highly congested jails outside the provisions of RA No. 10389, but still within the bounds of the Constitution and other existing laws, according to the April 6 recommendation obtained Thursday. RA No, 10389 is the law allowing the release of detainees unable to post bail to the custody of a local authority.

The recommendation was given to the Peace and Order Cluster of the House of Representative's Defeat COVID-19 Committee -- an advisory and coordinating body to harmonize government efforts to combat the coronavirus disease.

Since inmates in congested jails and detention facilities are at risk of contracting the highly-contagious disease, the committee recommended the decongestion of jails, even temporarily, during this crisis in order to prevent or otherwise mitigate the spread of the disease therein.

An ad hoc committee shall determine the qualifications of the detainees to be granted with provisional liberty.

The qualifications include the following:

a. First-time offenders

b. Age  those who are sixty (60) years of age and above

c. Health  those with underlying health conditions associated with high risk of severe symptoms of COVID-19

d. Those who are detained for the commission of non-violent, bailable offenses, but have no capacity to post bail

e. Those with no history of jumping bail

The ad hoc committee shall also immediately identify highly-congested jails and detention facilities.

On average, there are 4-5 detained persons cramped in a space designed for one detainee. Based on the latest audit report of the Commission on Audit, the congestion rate of jails under the control and supervision of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology is at an astounding 439.48% as of the end of 2018.

All persons denied liberty to be provisionally released will be regularly monitored by barangay officials and Philippine National Police personnel consistent with the guidelines and procedures of the enhanced community quarantine, the recommendation read.

The Department of Health on Thursday confirmed 206 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country total to 4,076. Meanwhile, 21 more patients have died from viral disease, bringing the nationwide death toll to 203.

Authorities are urging people to practice regular hand washing, cover their mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and avoid close contact with those who exhibit virus symptoms.
Attorney General William Barr signaled that federal officials involved in launching the investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election and its links to the Trump campaign could face criminal prosecution.

As part of a wide-ranging interview with Fox News, the attorney general said a federal prosecutor appointed to review the origins of the inquiry, later headed by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, has so far found troubling evidence of possible abuses.

My own view is that the evidence shows that were not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness, Barr said Thursday. There was something far more troubling here. Were going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted.

Court ordered: FBI must review whether wiretaps are invalid after errors found during investigation

Attorney General William Barr

The attorney general's remarks represent the most extensive public assessment yet of Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durhams work since his appointment last year.

Durham, a mob-busting federal prosecutor for more than three decades, has been assisting the attorney general to determine whether federal investigators acted appropriately in the early stages of the now-completed inquiry into Russia's interference campaign. Barr announced the review after expressing concerns about the FBI's use of surveillance.

"Spying on a campaign is a big deal," Barr told lawmakers last year. "I think spying did occur. The question is whether it was adequately predicated."

President Donald Trump, who has voiced enthusiastic support for Durham's inquiry, has long denounced the Russia investigation as a "witch-hunt." Mueller's two-year investigation resulted in the conviction of a half-dozen former Trump aides.

In this April 25, 2006, file photo, John Durham speaks to reporters on the steps of U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn.

Read the report: Special counsel Robert Mueller's report into President Trump, Russian interference

"I think the president has every right to be frustrated," Barr said in the Fox interview, "because I think what happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American history."

While the attorney general asserted that investigators had no "basis" to launch the investigation into the Trump campaign, the Justice Department's inspector general concluded last year that the FBI was legally justified in launching its inquiry.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Barr: 'Troubling' evidence of abuse, spying in Russia, Trump inquiry
A 65-year-old woman who had tested positive for coronavirus died here, taking the toll in Rajasthan to eight, an official said on Friday.

The state also reported 26 fresh cases of the deadly virus Friday morning, taking the total number of COVID-19 patients to 489.

The official said the woman was undergoing treatment at SMS Hospital for COVID-19 and she breathed her last Thursday evening.

"The woman from Ramganj in Jaipur was admitted to SMS Hospital on Wednesday with complaint of respiratory distress pneumonia and co-morbidity hypertension. She had tested positive for COVID-19 and was on a ventilator," the official said.

This is first death of a coronavirus patient in Ramganj and second in Jaipur.

On Sunday, a man from Ghat Gate in the capital city had died of COVID-19.

The state reported 26 new positive cases in the last 12 hours till 9 am Friday, officials said.

While 12 cases are from Banswara, eight are from Jaisalmer, three from Jaisalmer and one each form Alwar, Bharatpur and Kota, they said.

A total of 489 persons have been tested positive for coronavirus in the state so far and 168 of them are from Jaipur. The maximum number of cases in Jaipur are from Ramganj.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CHICAGO, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-and the worldwide reaction to it-has compelled companies to radically rethink their strategies and the way they operate. We salute the industry experts helping companies survive and sustain in this pandemic.

At MarketsandMarkets, analysts are undertaking continuous efforts to provide analysis of the COVID-19 impact on the Revenue Assurance Market. We are working diligently to help companies take rapid decisions by studying:

The impact of COVID-19 on the Revenue Assurance Market, including growth/decline in product type/use cases due to the cascaded impact of COVID-19 on the extended ecosystem of the market

The rapid shifts in the strategies of the Top 50 companies in the Revenue Assurance Market

The shifting short-term priorities of the top 50 companies' clients and their client's clients

You can request an in-depth analysis detailing the impact of COVID-19 on the Revenue Assurance Market:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=93599016

According to a market research report "Revenue Assurance Market by Component (Software and Services), End-User (TSPs, and Enterprises), Deployment Mode (Cloud and On-premises), Vertical (Telecom, Utilities, BFSI, Hospitality, and Others), and Region - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Revenue Assurance Market size is projected to grow from USD 512 million in 2020 to USD 782 million by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.9% during the forecast period. The major factors driving the growth of the revenue assurance market include the rise of the subscription economy, rising number of mobile and internet users, adoption of advanced technologies such as RPA, Big Data, AI, and IoT.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Revenue Assurance Market"

106 - Tables

29 - Figures

142 - Pages

Download PDF Brochure:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=93599016

The services segment to record a larger market size during the forecast period

Revenue Assurance services are estimated to hold a larger market share during the forecast period in the revenue assurance market. Services portfolio includes planning and consulting, implementation and customization, support and maintenance, and managed services. These services enhance the revenue assurance portfolio of the services providers by offering customers with value creation, operational flexibility, and competitive advantage. Companies that lack in-house capabilities for revenue assurance of an organization outsource the functionality from expert Managed Service Providers (MSPs). With the growing demand for revenue assurance solutions, the services portfolio is expected to increase due to the market's dependency on human-interaction for development and growth.

By deployment model, the on-premises segment to record the larger market share during the forecast period

There is a large-scale adoption of revenue assurance solutions among large scale telecom service providers that have significant CAPEX and IT infrastructure investment capabilities. Therefore, the market share of on-premises deployment mode is higher as compared to cloud deployment mode, since the on-premises model gives various benefits such as data security, and lower-latency issues.

APAC to record the highest growth during the forecast period

APAC to record the highest growth during the forecast period due to the presence of growing network technologies, digital infrastructure, and smartphone and internet penetration. Countries, such as India, China, Australia, and Japan also contribute a major share to the APAC economy. These countries are experiencing major growth in data generation due to rapid digitalization and threat from hacker groups or terror networks with the increasing penetration of digital infrastructure and heavy investments on network technologies by key industry telecom players in the region.

Request Sample:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=93599016

Major vendors in Revenue Assurance Market include Amdocs (US), Araxxe Inc. (US), Adapt IT (South Africa), Cartesian (US), Digital Route (Sweden), eClerx (India), HPE (US) Itron (US), Nokia (Finland), Profit Insight (US), Sagacity Solutions (UK), Sandvine (Canada), Sigos (Germany), Subex (India), Synthesis Systems (US), TCS (India), Teoco (US), Transunion, (US), and WeDo (Portugal), and Xintec (Ireland).

Browse Adjacent Markets: Mobility and Telecom Market Research Reports & Consulting

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Sanjay Gupta

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com

Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/
The United States should encourage the use of privateers to fight Chinese aggression at sea, according to a pair of articles in magazine produced by the US Naval Institute.

The reports  titled Unleash the Privateers! and US Privateering Is Legal, and published in the April issue of Proceedings  suggest the US government issue letters of marque  a commission authorising privately owned ships (privateers) to capture enemy merchant ships.

The authors  Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps colonel and senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Brandon Schwartz, a former CSIS media relations manager  said that Chinas larger merchant fleet represented an asymmetric vulnerability with the US, and an attack on Chinas global trade would undermine its entire economy and threaten its stability.

Such a campaign would be a legal and low-cost way to contain Chinas power rise on the sea, they said, adding that it could prevent, rather than provoke, a war.

The reports said privateering was legal under the US Constitution. Photo: DPA

Collin Koh, a research fellow from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapores Nanyang Technological University, said the idea was politically unsound.

That would be regarded as an outright provocation which would invite retaliation from China, he said.

And going by the UN Charter, it might even be construed as a use of force, and would invite international condemnation too.

Privateering with a letter of marque dates back to a period from the mid-16th to the 18th century known as the Age of Sail, but was outlawed with the introduction of various treaties in the 19th and 20th centuries.

However, the authors of the Proceedings reports said that the US government never formally signed any agreements, and argued that the US Constitution gave Congress the power to grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal.

Although no such letters had been issued since 1907, that was due to strategic and policy considerations rather than legal ones, they said.

Story continues

The authors did not say if Chinas trillions of dollars worth of trade with the US should be exempted from attacks by pirates, but that probably was because it would no longer exist in a hypothetical scenario of the two nations already having decoupled.

Privateering with a letter of marque dates back to a period from the mid-16th to the 18th century known as the Age of Sail. Photo: EPA-EFE

Hong Kong-based military commentator Song Zhongping said that such decoupling, as advocated by American conservatives and far-rights, was a dangerous sign that it would place two nuclear powers in confrontation and even conflict.

When the Americans decide to act tough against a so-called adversary or enemy, they will spare no effort and limit no means, he said.

Privateering on Chinese merchant ships may also be possible.

Republican congressman Ron Paul raised the issue of using letters of marque against Osama bin Laden and Somalian pirates in 2007 and 2009, but did not succeed.

Julia Xue, chair professor of International Law at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said the researchers argument was not valid.

It has been customary international law, and the US is also bonded by it, she said. It was an incorrect interpretation of international law.

Koh said the current policy elites were unlikely to seriously consider such a recommendation, but such articles represented the think tankers who advocated a much harder policy stance against China.

If anything, it does reflect the growing schism between China and the US, as both countries see their ties sliding downhill under the cloud of strategic lack of trust, Koh said.

Sign up now and get a 10% discount (original price US$400) off the China AI Report 2020 by SCMP Research. Learn about the AI ambitions of Alibaba, Baidu & JD.com through our in-depth case studies, and explore new applications of AI across industries. The report also includes exclusive access to webinars to interact with C-level executives from leading China AI companies (via live Q&A sessions). Offer valid until 31 May 2020.

More from South China Morning Post:

This article US military researchers call for use of privateers against China first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
By Ofeliya Afandiyeva

Azerbaijan may extend special quarantine regime and tighten it in case of further spread of coronavirus, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers Ibrahim Mammadov told at the briefing held by the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers in Baku on April 8.

He noted that over past day 105 more coronavirus cases were defected in Azerbaijan while 19 people have recovered from this infection.

If the number of infected people increases, then the special quarantine regime can be extended. In addition, if the current measures do not work, they can be further tightened, Mammadov addressed.

"In accordance with the information, the requirements of the special quarantine regime are not observed by many people. Today's statistics show that there are cases of sale of fake certificates and permits. If the conditions of this regime are observed, this will contribute to the positive statistics and it will not be extended. However, today's data shows that requirements may be tightened. This decision is extremely difficult for us, he mentioned.

The official noted that some citizens violate the rules of the special quarantine regime even after the permitting system was introduced in the country on April 5.

Over the past day, administrative measures have been taken against 3,073 citizens, the spokesman said.

Twelve people were arrested. The activity of two catering facilities was revealed. Two people were arrested on one criminal case. One person was arrested for posting false information in social networks, and one person was held administratively liable.

Two people were arrested for selling certificates of journalists. The measures were taken in connection with the false calls, false messages and falsification of permits.

There are many cases of illegal issuance of permits. Even the governmental structures that were allowed to work were instructed to continue the activity by involving only 30 percent of employees, Mammadov emphasized.

He also urged that there is no need to declare the state of emergency in Azerbaijan yet.

The spokesman added that this issue is to be regulated by the Azerbaijani law about emergency state.

"The head of state will take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of citizens. If necessary, any decision is possible, the official stressed.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
* Expected oil output cut boosts Thai energy stocks * Vietnam up for seventh session * Indonesia sole loser, Philippines market on holiday By Arundhati Dutta April 9 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Thursday, tracking an upbeat session on Wall Street, as hopes for the coronavirus outbreak nearing its peak rose, while expectations of a cut in oil output pushed the energy-heavy Thai index higher. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday the state's efforts at social distancing are working to get the pandemic under control, while U.S. President Donald Trump said he would like to reopen the U.S. economy with a "big bang". The Trump administration continued to push for an additional $250 billion in emergency economic aid for small U.S. businesses, also aiding sentiment. The Thai index gained most in the region, adding nearly 2.1%. Energy stocks rose in tandem with crude futures on expectations that the world's largest oil producers would agree to cut production at a meeting later in the day. Index heavyweights, PTT PCL and PTT Exploration and Production PCL added as much as 3.5% and 3.3%, respectively. Singaporean stocks advanced as much as 2.2% in early trade, with heavyweight financials United Overseas Bank Ltd and DBS Group Holdings Ltd adding up to 2% and 2.9%, respectively. Vietnamese equities were up for a seventh straight session and hit their highest in four weeks, led by gains among consumer stocks. On the downside, Indonesian stocks slumped as much as 1.4% and were set to fall for a third straight day. Financials were the top drag on the index, with PT Bank Central Asia Tbk and PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero) Tbk losing 2.4% and 3.5%, respectively. The drop came ahead of a long weekend for most markets on account of Good Friday, according to analysts. "I think it's because today is the last trading day before holiday tomorrow. Investors tend to reduce equity positions before long weekends," said Hariyanto Wijaya, head of equity research at Mirae Asset Sekuritas Indonesia. Philippine markets were closed for a holiday. For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS AS AT 0330 GMT STOCK MARKETS Change on the day Market Current Previous Pct Move close Singapore 2,577.33 2,539.44 1.49 Bangkok 1,226.27 1,205.77 1.70 Jakarta 4,580.871 4,626.695 -0.99 Kuala Lumpur 1,367.58 1,361.39 0.45 Ho Chi Minh 756.2 748.02 1.09 Change so far in 2020 Market Current End 2019 Pct Move Singapore 2,577.33 3,222.83 -20.03 Bangkok 1,226.27 1,579.84 -22.38 Jakarta 4,580.871 6,299.54 -27.28 Kuala Lumpur 1,367.58 1,588.76 -13.92 Ho Chi Minh 756.2 960.99 -21.31 (Reporting by Arundhati Dutta; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
Characters who do the right thing are perfect fodder for big-screen treatment. Some, like Atticus Finch, become icons.

Others often drift into oblivion until a screenwriter shines a light  particularly in terms of real people.

Such is the cast with Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.

In Just Mercy, we discover what made him choose the career and how he made an impact.

Moving to Alabama (despite his familys protests), Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) takes the case of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a laborer whos imprisoned for killing a white girl. While he has plenty of witnesses who say he couldnt have done it, hes still in prison.

With the help of a local woman (Brie Larson), he digs into the research and appears to have a strong case. But  and heres where the To Kill a Mockingbird references bear fruit  folks arent so quick to overturn their long-held beliefs.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton follows the template for films like these, but has a stealth player in Foxx.

Able to help friends on death row, he becomes more than just another statistic. Hes hopeful, too, that the appeal will work, but he knows better.

Just Mercy has its day in court, but its Stevensons tenacity that keeps it going and brings about an inspirational resolution.

Jordan makes the crusading attorney a quiet beacon; Larson complements him nicely as a woman who isnt going to yield to popular opinion. Together, theyre a Norma Rae team, fighting for those who cant.

Thankfully, they didnt ignore these more interesting roles when they joined the Marvel universe. Although roles in those films probably net them bigger paychecks, Just Mercy gives them grist for the acting mill. Larson, in particular, doesnt waste any of the moments shes on screen.

Late in the disclosure phase of the film, Tim Blake Nelson turns up as one of those quirky characters who have essential information. He plays the mans idiosyncrasies like a violin, giving Jordan notes he can share.

Just Mercy hits its highs with Foxx, whos more than willing to let Jordan grab the spotlight. When Cretton shows what happened to the real characters, the casting choices are justified. Both actors do justice to the men they play.

While this isn't a new take on an old story, it is a reminder there are plenty of lives to chronicle -- ones that don't always grab headlines or prompt social media posts that go viral.

Also this week FILM: "Final Kill"; "Underwater" TV: "Criminal Minds," final season; "The Righteous Gemstones," season one

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Staying in? We've got you covered Get the recommendations on what's streaming now, games you'll love, TV news and more with our weekly Home Entertainment newsletter! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
ALBANY  After receiving almost no response from city officials to a survey last summer alleging residents widespread mistrust of the police department and district attorneys office, the Center for Law and Justice issued a report earlier this month, questioning top city officials commitment to community policing.

The report catalogs the tenures of District Attorney David Soares, Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Police Chief Eric Hawkins, and Common Council President Corey Ellis as well as how they've responded to various policing issues. The centers report also asks them to commit to specific changes, including acknowledging the existence of structural racism within the citys police department.

The August 2019 survey was supposed to be a jumping off point for more dialogue between city officials and residents, but it was essentially ignored, Green said in an interview. Green credited Council President Corey Ellis as being the only city official who directly reached out to the center after the survey was released.

And even with a global pandemic going on, Green said she believed the new report should go out.

I know its a difficult time right now, but we saw it as something we have to do, she said.

Last August the center, an Albany nonprofit, released the results of survey of 250 people that revealed many black and brown city residents distrust not only the Albany Police Department but the county District Attorneys Office, too.

Respondents felt that racism was at the heart of a lot of the problems they were experiencing, Green said at the time.

Now the center says it will offer a report card in roughly six months, judging the four city officials on their responses to the latest report and how theyve responded to issues around community policing.

Additionally, Green is calling on them to join the center in a fall symposium on recommitting the city to community policing.

All four city officials pushed back against the idea that they were not sufficiently committed to community policing.

The report offers some of the harshest criticisms for Police Chief Eric Hawkins. It notes that within his first 18 months on the job, he has dealt with three high-profile incidents involving police force against minority residents  the August 2018 Ellazar Williams shooting, a September 2019 incident in which a woman was pulled from her car after refusing orders to exit the vehicle, and the March 2019 beating of several men on First Street.

For all three troubling incidents, Hawkins has displayed a decided lack of responsiveness, transparency, and candor in addressing residents concerns, the report says.

Green questioned whether Hawkins saw community policing the same way the city did when it created the LEAD program, a diversion program designed to keep low-level offenders out of the criminal justice system. She pointed to his recent reorganization of the Neighborhood Engagement Unit and comments he made after announcing discipline against some of the officers involved in the First Street incident.

It raised some questions about whether hes committed to community policing, she said. For us, it's an equal partnership and were not getting that sense.

Hawkins pointed to the national recognition the department had received before he was hired and that said he was trying to continue that level of commitment.

Ive supported every single community policing program in this department, and not only have I supported them Ive expanded a lot of them, he said.

Chief among those is the citys police academy for young people, implicit bias training and a team policing approach the department recently began, matching patrol officers with those in the neighborhood engagement unit, he said.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan said that while she had not read the report, she believed strongly in community policing and that her office had backed community policing solutions in multiple instances. She also defended how the department operated.

I think we have as transparent of a police department as any Ive seen across the country, she said.

The report also asks Common Council President Corey Ellis to push through changes to the Albany Community Policing Advisory Committee and for the council as a whole to take a "more directive role in ensuring effective oversight of the APD." However Ellis said the advisory committee is an independent body, something the council can appoint members to, but not control directly.

"That doesn't fall under my purview," he said.

The report also criticizes District Attorney David Soares for a lack of transparency, and for not appointing a special prosecutor when his office is asked to investigate allegations against Albany police officers.

Its hard to know whats going on in the district attorneys office, Green said. Its still part of the community.

Soares, who is facing a primary challenger for the first time since 2012, declined an interview for the story but in a statement disagreed with the assertion that his office had not embraced community policing and refused to engage with residents.

It is a matter of personal and professional pride that my office prioritizes community involvement, especially in areas most affected by violence and poverty, he said. The mission of the Albany County District Attorney is to protect victims, fragile communities, and to implement reforms where needed.

His opponent, attorney Matt Toporowski, said Soaress office had continually refused to be transparent and contributed to a criminal justice system that disadvantaged poorer residents of color.

To address structural racism and the lack of the communitys trust, you need transparency on how cases are resolved, you need to provide access to critical information on those cases, and you need to empower the community to share input, he said.
OAKLAND, Calif., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Altais and Brown & Toland Physicians today announced they are joining forces to transform patient care for improved health outcomes that's more affordable.

The two organizations have signed a definitive agreement that paves the way for Brown & Toland and its network of more than 2,700 physicians to join Altais Clinical Services, a subsidiary of Altais.

Altais is a healthcare services company that is working to pioneer next-generation clinical tools and technology, along with best practices for high-touch support so physicians can focus on their passion: delivering high-quality, affordable care.

For Brown & Toland, the partnership is a key step in furthering its goal of supporting physicians in providing personalized and high-quality care to more than 350,000 patients in the San Francisco Bay area by working with Altais Clinical Services to transform health care delivery.

"Together with Altais Clinical Services we will serve as an innovator for independent physicians, providing new services and levels of support designed to relieve the burdens associated with managing a practice and providing best-in-class tools to deliver high-quality, affordable care to their patients," said Kelly Robison, CEO, Brown & Toland Physicians. "I am looking forward to bringing our shared vision of a reimagined physician practice experience to the Bay Area and broader market."

"Brown & Toland is a premier medical provider and we are delighted for the opportunity to envision and create together a new care delivery model," said Jeff Bailet, M.D., president and CEO, Altais. "Our goal is to help physicians and the clinical community maximize the health and well-being of their patients and set practices up for long-term success. We have a shared commitment to physicians and patients to support independent practices so they can direct more of their focus on patient care."

As part of Altais Clinical Services, Brown & Toland will provide a robust, clinically integrated system of coordinated care to ensure its network of physicians spend time doing what they do best  caring for patients. Altais will provide a technology-enabled practice management platform to enhance clinical and service quality for physicians and their patients. Together the two organizations will provide a vibrant model of care delivery that enhances quality of care and better serves independent physicians and their patients.

Brown & Toland Physicians, as the physician organization, will continue to operate under the Brown & Toland Physicians brand and continue to service all payers. It will have access to additional capital, services and broader support for physicians to operate independent practices. All Brown & Toland patients can continue to see their physicians with no interruption in care.

The definitive agreement has been approved by both the Altais and Brown & Toland Physicians' boards of directors. The transaction is subject to approval by Brown & Toland shareholders and customary regulatory reviews.

About Altais

Altais is a healthcare services company that helps physicians and the clinical community maximize the health and well-being of their patients in a way that is sustainably affordable and maintains professional gratification. Altais seeks to enhance the vibrancy of physician practice and strengthen the heart of medicine  connecting with patients and providing personalized, high-quality care. For more information about Altais, please visit www.altais.com.

About Brown & Toland Physicians

Brown & Toland Physicians is a leading network of independent doctors focused on delivering personalized and high-quality healthcare to the San Francisco Bay Area. Its network of more than 2,700 physicians, serving more than 350,000 HMO and PPO patients, is dedicated to improving care and reducing costs through innovative care management and care coordination programs, use of healthcare technology, and population health management strategies. Brown & Toland, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018, collaborates with leading hospitals and health plan providers to provide high quality care in the Bay Area. To learn more, visit www.brownandtoland.com.

SOURCE Altais

Related Links

http://www.altais.com


ADB is also engaged with the private sector to meet its financing needs during this period, ADB said in a statement.

New Delhi: Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Masatsugu Asakawa on Friday assured Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of $2.2 billion (about Rs 16,500 crore) support to India in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a call, Asakawa commended the Indian government''s decisive response to the pandemic, including a national health emergency programme, tax and other relief measures provided to businesses and a $23 billion (Rs 1.7 lakh crore) economic relief package announced on 26 March to provide immediate income and consumption support to the poor, women, and workers affected by the three-week nationwide lockdown.

"ADB is committed to supporting India''s emergency needs. We are now preparing $2.2 billion in immediate assistance to the health sector and to help alleviate the economic impact of the pandemic on the poor; informal workers; micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; and the financial sector," Asakawa said.

ADB is also engaged with the private sector to meet its financing needs during this period, ADB said in a statement.

"ADB assistance for India will be further increased if needed. We will consider all financing options available with us to meet India''s needs, including emergency assistance, policy-based loans, and budget support to facilitate swift disbursement of ADB funds, he said.
The one-party National Assembly unanimously voted to pass the draft state of emergency legislation Friday morning, a law widely criticized for giving the government widespread powers to curtail fundamental freedoms and rights.

The newly-drafted law passed the lower house with 115 votes in favor, with 10 members absent from the parliamentary session. The draft law will next head to the Senate, before being vetted by the Constitutional Council and then promulgated.

National Assembly spokesperson Leng Penglong said the draft was passed by members without any changes or amendments.

After an initial draft was written up by Justice Minister Koeut Rith, the Council of Ministers added a 3-month deadline to any declared emergency, though allowing for it to be extended indefinitely. Another article, punishing government officials for not obeying the law, was added to the legislation before it reached the assembly.

There is no change. It was totally adopted, said Leng Penglong, the spokesman for National Assembly, adding that the law has now been sent to Senate for review.

Hun Sen last week sent a letter to Senate President Say Chhum asking him to be ready to urgently convene a session of the upper house to adopt the law.

Pointing to the coronavirus pandemic, the Cambodian government on Thursday evening announced a one-week travel ban within the country, preventing all travel between provinces, and even districts, on account of concerns garment workers were planning to disobey orders to work through Khmer New Year.

However, these conditions were tweaked on Friday and travel between Phnom Penh and Kandal province was permitted, as was travel between districts in a province.

Hun Sen, who just three days ago said there was a 0.1 percent chance he would enact the draft state of emergency law, on Thursday said he would have used the law had it been passed earlier.



If [we] would have had the Law on National Administration in the State of Emergency, it would have been implemented now, he said, referring to the official name of the draft legislation.

The draft legislation would allow for the curtailment of civil rights and liberties, such as freedom of movement, expression, association, and assembly  all enshrined in the Cambodian Constitution  and widely criticized by rights groups.

The draft has not been placed for any kind of public consultation with international stakeholders, civil society groups and NGOs.

Civil society can give comments via online, letters or telephone, not just directly, he said. It is the right time to make [this law].

Based on Article 22 of the Constitution, the draft law requires the King to declare the state of emergency, after reaching consensus with the Prime Minister and Presidents of the Senate and National Assembly, with the state of emergency being enforced through a Royal Decree.

The draft state of emergency law has received strong criticism from civil society members, human rights defenders, and politicians for the wide-ranging powers it gives to the government with nearly no serious accountability.

As of Friday, Cambodia had reported 119 cases in total of the coronavirus in the country.
Roy Gori became the CEO of Manulife Financial Corporation (TSE:MFC) in 2017. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at other large companies. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.

See our latest analysis for Manulife Financial

How Does Roy Gori's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

At the time of writing, our data says that Manulife Financial Corporation has a market cap of CA$35b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of CA$15m for the year to December 2019. We note that's an increase of 13% above last year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth noting the salary is lower, valued at CA$1.5m. Importantly, there may be performance hurdles relating to the non-salary component of the total compensation. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations over CA$11b, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be CA$9.4m. Once you start looking at very large companies, you need to take a broader range, because there simply aren't that many of them.

Next, let's break down remuneration compositions to understand how the industry and company compare with each other. On an industry level, roughly 18% of total compensation represents salary and 82% is other remuneration. Readers will want to know that Manulife Financial pays a modest slice of remuneration through salary, as compared to the wider sector.

It would therefore appear that Manulife Financial Corporation pays Roy Gori more than the median CEO remuneration at large companies, in the same market. However, this fact alone doesn't mean the remuneration is too high. A closer look at the performance of the underlying business will give us a better idea about whether the pay is particularly generous. You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Manulife Financial, below.

Story continues

TSX:MFC CEO Compensation April 10th 2020

Is Manulife Financial Corporation Growing?

On average over the last three years, Manulife Financial Corporation has seen earnings per share (EPS) move in a favourable direction by 26% each year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 109% over last year.

This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. Most shareholders would be pleased to see strong revenue growth combined with EPS growth. This combo suggests a fast growing business. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Manulife Financial Corporation Been A Good Investment?

Given the total loss of 12% over three years, many shareholders in Manulife Financial Corporation are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

In Summary...

We examined the amount Manulife Financial Corporation pays its CEO, and compared it to the amount paid by other large companies. We found that it pays well over the median amount paid in the benchmark group.

However we must not forget that the EPS growth has been very strong over three years. Having said that, shareholders may be disappointed with the weak returns over the last three years. This contrasts with the growth in CEO remuneration, in the last year. Considering positive per-share earnings movement, but keeping in mind the weak returns, we'd need more time to form a view on CEO compensation. On another note, we've spotted 4 warning signs for Manulife Financial that investors should look into moving forward.

If you want to buy a stock that is better than Manulife Financial, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 20:06:49|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HONG KONG, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has rolled out a new relief package to assist embattled businesses and residents amid the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing the total value of rounds of economic stimulus to 287.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 37 billion U.S. dollars).

The latest measures aimed to help cash-strapped firms pay wages of their employees and subsidize struggling workers left out in the previous reliefs have been welcomed and applauded in various sectors of Hong Kong.

Gao Yingxin, chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association, said he supports the government's anti-pandemic efforts.

"The measures, focused on saving jobs and propping up industries most directly and severely affected by the outbreak, can play a very positive role in easing corporate difficulties, boosting market confidence and strengthening Hong Kong's economic strength," Gao said.

Given the unprecedented pandemic in a century and its ensuing economic impacts, the measures announced by HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam are powerful and cover a wide range of sectors, showing the resolve of the government to help all walks of life weather out economic hardships, said Henry Tang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee and former chief secretary for Administration of the HKSAR government.

The Hong Kong economy has suffered from a double blow of social unrest last year and the COVID-19 outbreak since the beginning of 2020. From restaurants to retailers, businesses in a wide range of sectors are struggling to keep afloat, and the livelihood of residents has been seriously affected.

According to a survey of more than 4,000 people conducted by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, the tourism, catering and construction sectors were the hardest hit, with a large number of tour guides on unpaid leave and nearly 40 percent of builders having no work to do.

The overall jobless rate in Hong Kong increased to 3.7 percent, the highest level in more than nine years, in a three-month period ending February.

The government in February set up an initial 30-billion-Hong Kong dollar anti-epidemic fund to assist coronavirus-hit businesses, including 5.6 billion Hong Kong dollars for retailers, 3.73 billion Hong Kong dollars for restaurants and 3.23 billion Hong Kong dollars for transportation businesses.

However, an upsurge in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases recently, which approached 1,000 this week, has led to more stringent social distancing enforcement to curb the spread, exacerbating the economic woes faced by numerous businesses and residents, and prompting appeals for more relief efforts.

As a key part of the latest package, the government will allocate 80 billion Hong Kong dollars to pay up to half of the wages of employees from coronavirus-hit sectors for six months, and distribute subsidies worth 21 billion Hong Kong dollars in total for sectors including aviation and tourism, and for people from minibus drivers to property agents.

Billy Mak, associate professor of the Department of Finance and Decision Sciences of the Hong Kong Baptist University, said the measures will help businesses hold up for a longer time and protect jobs so that the economy can rebound quickly after the pandemic is over.

Non-official members of the Executive Council also pointed out that the government's new policies are unprecedented and will alleviate the economic fallout of the pandemic and pave the way for the recovery of the Hong Kong economy.

As for the growing concerns about the deficit, which will likely expand to 276.6 billion Hong Kong dollars this year, Tang said, on the contrary, it is high time for Hong Kong to actively and properly use its abundant fiscal reserves to save jobs and stabilize the economy.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan has also said the HKSAR government budget remains steady as fiscal reserves are still sufficient. (1 U.S. dollar = 7.75 Hong Kong dollars)
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Galih Gumelar and Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 19:17 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd117002 1 City COVID-19-Jakarta,PSBB,large-scale-social-restrictions Free

An uneasy calm has blanketed much of Jakarta as the city made it through the first day of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) despite concerns over possible social unrest.

Activity in and around the metropolis was visibly reduced on Friday, with roads emptying out and people choosing to remain at home despite the long weekend holiday.

The first day of restrictions in Jakarta coincides with the Christian celebration of Good Friday, which typically sees heavy traffic on the citys toll roads, as people seek to travel out of town with friends and family.

The Jakarta Traffic Police reported via its Twitter account @TMCPoldaMetro that traffic was light on several roads in the city as well as the Cikampek and Bumi Serpong Damai toll roads.

It has been just over a month since Indonesia announced its first two cases of COVID-19 infection, with the nations capital becoming the first region to impose a partial lockdown.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan officially imposed the PSBB status at midnight Thursday in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19, after the city became the national epicenter of the outbreak.

As of Friday, Jakarta had recorded 1,753 confirmed COVID-19 cases, almost half of the country's official tally of 3,512 cases. The capital had also recorded 154 of the 306 fatalities nationwide.

The policy, laid out in Gubernatorial Regulation No. 33/2020, stipulates that firms operating in Jakarta should cease all office activities and that residents are not allowed to go out except to procure basic necessities. Food vendors are allowed to remain open but only to serve takeaway, while public transport services will operate on a limited schedule.

Anyone who violates the regulation will be subject to disciplinary action by the police.

Jakartas PSBB status will be enforced until midnight on April 24 and is open to extension.

Based on The Jakarta Posts observations, police officers and transportation agency officials have already begun enforcing the restrictions.

At the Lebak Bulus traffic checkpoint in South Jakarta, 10 police officers and five agency officials were questioning drivers to ensure they were complying with the rules. Drivers who fail to wear a protective mask are asked to turn back, while passengers of four-wheeled vehicles are asked to keep a safe distance from the driver by sitting in the back seat.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Commr. Yusri Yunus said the police were ready for the possibility of social unrest during the two-week period, with all police officers having undergone training on Thursday to prepare for all possible incidents.

The public is now more aware of the risks of the disease, so we think they will stay home, Yusri told the Post. After all, this is not a total lockdown, as minimarkets are still operating and the transport of goods will continue, so we believe there will be no unrest.

The quietness of the citys empty streets is a stark contrast to the uneasiness felt by many observers, who fear the government is not doing enough to prevent social unrest erupting in response to the long-term restrictions.

The COVID-19 outbreak has dealt a devastating blow to many workers across the country. More than 1.2 million employees from 74,439 companies in both the formal and informal sectors have either been told to stay home or have been laid off as a result of the pandemic, Manpower Ministry data showed on Tuesday.

To anticipate a possible backlash, the Jakarta administration has prepared a social assistance scheme through which 1.52 million households in Jakarta will receive groceries once per week until the policy ends.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has also announced that the government would provide direct cash payments of Rp 600,000 (US$40) per month to 1.2 million registered poor and vulnerable households in the capital from April until June.

Critics have warned, however, that the hasty distribution of assistance to impoverished residents could blow up in the governments face if it is not carried out prudently.

Jealousy and resentment among those who do not qualify for assistance, especially if others deemed underserving do qualify, could lead to social unrest, said Nia Elvina, a sociologist at Jakartas National University.

Nia applauded the efforts to set up the social assistance program, arguing it could help prevent the kind of social unrest seen in India in the early days of its total lockdown, which stemmed from a failure to calculate the economic woes citizens might endure during large-scale restrictions.

She warned, however, that there was still a risk for social turmoil in Jakarta, especially stemming from inaccurate data on who should qualify for assistance, which even Anies had complained about.

The administration also needs to speed up the distribution of aid to ensure the PSBB policy is effective, she told the Post on Friday.

Gugun Muhammad, a community organizer at the Urban Poor Coalition (UPC), expressed similar sentiment about the lack of clarity surrounding the social assistance scheme.

The lack of public awareness, especially among less fortunate households, about the assistance scheme could backfire if questions about the mechanisms are left unanswered, he said.

 Donny Fernando and Dhoni Setiawan contributed to the story.
The Brazilian political establishment, from business circles to bourgeois editorial boards and the whole spectrum of political parties, is treating as an accomplished fact that President Jair Bolsonaros Chief of Staff Gen. Walter Braga Netto has been designated by the military brass to rein in the governments criminally negligent response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic is rapidly gripping the entire country, with authorities projecting as an optimistic scenario of 100,000 deaths in the state of Sao Paulo alone and admitting to having lost control of even how many tests have been carried out throughout Brazil.

The gross negligence and incompetence of the Bolsonaro administration has called into question the legitimacy of the entire bourgeois setup in Brazil.

With the coronavirus death toll approaching 1,000, the fascistic Brazilian president delivered a prime time speech to the nation in which he again condemned state shutdowns of business to promote social distancing, declaring that the cure cannot be more bitter than the disease, while sadistically warning that unemployment also leads to poverty, hunger, misery and finally death itself. He also used the address to promote, like US President Donald Trump, the treatment of COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine, even though there is no data proving the efficacy of the drug.

Under these conditions, the increasing military intervention has as its primary goal not aiding the fight against the coronavirus, but rather preventing a social explosion and, if necessary, repressing it.

The decisive turn came with the near firing of Bolsonaros health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, on Monday, because of his refusal to endorse the presidents thesis of vertical isolation, i.e., sending every adult below the age of 60 back to work.

Major newspapers reported that Bolsonaro had decided to replace Mandetta and was dissuaded chiefly by General Braga Netto and others who feared that his dismissal would strengthen the presidents former right-wing allies and now opponents, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro Governors Joao Doria and Wilson Witzel. The decisive support for the military was summed up in the Tuesday editorial of O Estado de S. Paulo, which stated, The role of the military in the cabinet, such as Gen. Braga Netto, has been to protect the president from himself.

Later, Braga Netto was also praised by Vice President Gen. Hamilton Mourao, who declared he was doing what we (the military) know, putting the house in order. Mouraos statement comes less than a week after he celebrated the 1964 US-backed military coup that inaugurated a 21-year dictatorship by tweeting, 56 years ago, the Armed Forces intervened to face the disorder, subversion and corruption that ravaged institutions and scared the population.

Similarly, Army Commander Gen. Edson Leal Pujol issued a March 24 statement regarding the military and the coronavirus crisis, in which he said, The Strong Arm will act if necessary, and the Friendly Hand will be more extended than ever to our Brazilian brothers, while concluding, WE WILL FIGHT WITHOUT FEAR!

There have been reports from within Brazilian far-right circles, no doubt expressing the presidents own nervousness over the situation, that Braga Netto has staged a glolpe branco, or soft coup, and kept Bolsonaro on only as a frontman.

The feverish mood within the ruling circles is fed by daily reports of the catastrophic spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, which is rapidly eroding the legitimacy of the government, with its cruel "back-to-work" campaign and transparent loss of control over the disease in recent weeks.

While authorities have recorded 941 deaths and more than 17,857 total cases as of Thursday, these figures have no credibility. States have no uniform testing methods, and virtually every one of them tests only hospitalized cases, leading the former president of the national medicine oversight organization Anvisa, Claudio Maierovitch, to claim that the real number of cases is up to 15 times higher than the official count. Even considering official numbers, Brazilian deaths were rising a week ago at six times the pace of those in Wuhan, China during the same phase of the outbreak.

Press reports have provided glimpses of the grim reality. Last week, a Washington Post front-page photograph portrayed the Vila Formosa cemetery in the working class eastern sector of Sao Paulo with dozens of freshly dug graves awaiting incoming corpses that have not even been autopsied. The cemetery has recorded a 50 percent jump in burials.

The countrys largest and richest state, Sao Paulo, is now preparing its own back-to-work order, using statistical manipulations to claim it has flattened the curve. This has been accomplished by ceasing to report less severe cases and counting only those resulting in hospitalization. Even with extremely limited testing, Sao Paulo has 5,682 confirmed cases, 371 deaths and 17,000 unprocessed exams, including those for hundreds of dead patients. The local government now claims it has succeeded in lowering the expected deaths to 100,000 over six months for a population of 45 millionthat is 10 times more deaths per capita than those recorded in Spain.

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazils capital and second largest city, until 1960, Federal University researchers have found that up to 25 percent of healthcare workers in hospitals treating COVID-19 patients are already infected due to lack of personal protective equipment. This compares to 15 percent in Italy, despite official figures stating that the whole of Rio de Janeiro state has only 1,500 cases and 75 deaths.

Cases and deaths have also been reported in the favelas, the shantytowns of Rio and Sao Paulo, where residents lack secure access to water and sanitation, as well as among the Yanomami people, an Amazon indigenous people known for its remoteness and lack of immune defenses to foreign diseases.

The turn to the blood-soaked and discredited Brazilian military in the midst of this catastrophe is the act of a ruling class that will let no amount of corpses stand in the way of its profits. The near universal criticism of Bolsonaro in Congress and the press is solely due to his unsettling bluntness in stating the goals of big business, which his political adversaries fear will stir anger in the working class.

Mired in an almost six-year economic slump, which led to a seven percent drop in the GDP after the end of the commodity boom and caught in the crossfire of the US trade war against China, the Brazilian ruling class is desperate to return to profitability. After the Brazilian Central Bank announced it would inject the equivalent of 17 percent of the Brazilian GDP into the financial markets, Congress approved another 700 billion reais (US$ 140 billion) corporate bailout package, designating only 93 billion reais to pay little more than US$100 a month to 50 million "informal" and autonomous" workers, left without income by the statewide retail shutdowns. Last Friday, the Brazilian House passed by 504-2 a constitutional amendment allowing the Central Bank for the first time to directly buy junk bonds from companies, the so-called "war budget" amendment, freeing the government from its fiscal targets.

Among the most vocal defenders of such policiesand of the military as the adults in the room and natural caretakers of the Bolsonaro governmenthas been the so-called political opposition led by the Workers Party and seconded by the pseudoleft Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) and the Maoist Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB).

All of them voted with the government in the almost unanimous war budget amendment, while mouthing left rhetoric to defend themselves from the torrent of criticism over the massive handout to the banks. Both PCdoB leader Orlando Silva and PT leader Rogerio Correia declared that the approval of the measure was necessary in order not to give Bolsonaro excuses for not paying the minimal US$100 benefits. For its part, the PSOL called the amendment very important for breaking the parameters of neoliberalism." The hypocrisy was even more staggering with PT analysts themselves calling the buyout of junk bonds by the Central Bank the greatest transfer of public funds in the countrys history.

The oppositions unshakable dedication to the interests of the ruling elite was summed up by the joint calls by Sao Paulos finance secretary under ultraright Governor Joao Doria and former PT President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for the government to print money during the crisis, using the Trump administrations massive quantitative easing as a model.

In the name of such unity, the opposition is calling for Bolsonaros resignation. It spelled out its policy in a manifesto entitled, Brazil cant be destroyed by Bolsonaro, signed by PT, PCdoB and PSOL leaders. It affirmed that Bolsonaro is the greatest obstacle to the urgent decision-making needed to reduce the contagion, that his resignation would be the least costly gesture to allow a democratic way out and that he must be urgently contained.

This amounts to nothing but an effort to legitimize Bolsonaros military allies and right-wing politicians in their preparation for containing social opposition.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 07:34:17|Editor: Yurou

Video Player Close

Chinese medical experts introduce epidemic prevention measures to the representatives of overseas Chinese and students as well as China-invested enterprises during a video conference held in the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar in Yangon, Myanmar, April 9, 2020. The Chinese government has sent a team of medical experts to Myanmar to help the country cope with the COVID-19 epidemic. The team, organized by the National Health Commission, consists of 12 experts selected by the health commission of Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Dongqiang)
Philadelphia police fatally shot a man and injured a woman in South Philadelphia early Friday after the woman pointed a gun at the officers, police said.

No officers were injured.

Police said two uniformed officers went to the 1500 block of South Bailey Street just after midnight to investigate a report of gunfire in the area.

Deputy Police Commissioner Melvin Singleton said the officers saw a man and a woman behind a house, and the woman pulled a gun and fired several shots at the officers, prompting the officers to return fire.

In an account released later Friday, the department did not say if she had fired the gun, only that the officers fired when the 22-year-old woman pointed her weapon" at them. After the shots, she and the 33-year-old man both fled inside the house through the rear kitchen door and were apprehended there, police said.

They were taken by police to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. The man, who had been shot in the stomach, died at 1:42 a.m.

The woman, who sustained gunshot wounds to her left thigh, left hip, and left buttocks, was admitted in stable condition, police said.

Their identities were not released.

When asked to clarify whether the woman fired her gun, a police spokesperson said by email: This is preliminary information and is subject to change as the investigation progresses.

Police said investigators recovered five weapons from the scene, including a .380-caliber gun near where the man was found on the living room floor.

In a statement, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw pledged a thorough investigation. She called the use of deadly force the most serious action that police officers are empowered to undertake.

While no police officer begins his or her tour expecting to discharge their firearm, that decision must sometimes be made at a moments notice, her statement said. These situations are often tragic, particularly when they result in the loss of life.
A peon from Ambala, teacher from Gurgaon, police constable and a nurse are among the 160 government employees who have donated their month's salary to the Haryana COVID-19 Relief Fund.

Naresh from Ambala, a c employee, said his family encouraged him to make the decision.

Hailing from a village in Naraingarh in Ambala district, Naresh said he thought of making a small contribution as the entire nation is fighting a war against coronavirus.

A government staff nurse who also contributed her entire month's salary to the fund said, We earn throughout the year, but this is a small contribution one can make when the nation needs our help. There are so many poor people out there who need our help in this difficult time.

I did not consult anyone and I took the decision on my own. I was scared that my husband might get upset, Shashi Bala told Chief Minister M L Khattar during the course of his televised address to the people of the state.

He saluted their spirit as despite not being in the high earning bracket, they chose to donate their entire month's salary.

The nurse told the chief minister that she was fortunate to serve patients during this time of crisis. I look after them like a mother takes care of her children, she said.

Haryana Police constable Ravi who has also contributed a month's salary towards the COVID Relief Fund said this is a small contribution for his country.

Government teacher Sarla Devi said, I thought this is the least I could do for my country at this juncture. I too did not consult anyone at home and donated my salary.

Khattar said in addition to these employees, people from various sections of society are making contributions to the fund, which has so far received over Rs 70 crore.

With everyone's support, we will win this fight against the deadly disease, he said.

The chief minister also lauded the Karnal district administration's 'Adopt A Family' scheme to help the needy during the lockdown.

He said the scheme has drawn praise from the Centre and other states too.

The initiative was launched recently for the benefit of the poor. Four hundred Karnal residents have been providing essentials to 15,000 needy people with assistance from the local administration, Khattar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw has queried the minister for health, Osagie Ehanire for saying he is not aware that doctors are not paid hazard allowance in Nigeria.

Read Also: Coronavirus: We Need A Detailed State Of The Nation Address  Actress Kate Henshaw Demands

Speaking via her official Twitter handle on Friday, the actress asked the minister to explain what he is aware of.

Minister of Health, Osagie Ohanire, you are not aware? What are you aware of?? These doctors and nurses and other support staff put their lives on the line daily and even more so now!! More so now!!, Henshaw tweeted.

https://twitter.com/HenshawKate/status/1248549798472486913?s=19
Miami

A crew member who was hospitalized for days after two ill-fated cruise ships with coronavirus patients were finally allowed to dock in Florida has died, officials said.

Broward County Medical Examiner Craig Mallak on Thursday confirmed the death of Wiwit Widarto, 50, of Indonesia. Widarto had tested positive for COVID-19, raising the Zaandam ship's coronavirus-related death toll to four.

The man died Wednesday, six days after the Zaandam and a sister ship docked in the Fort Lauderdale port after spending two weeks at sea rejected by South American ports, said Holland America Line spokesman Erik Elvejord. He had been taken to a Florida hospital the same day the ship docked.

Four elderly passengers had already died before the cruise ships arrived, and the medical examiner said earlier this week that three of those men tested positive for COVID-19. The fourth man's death was caused by a viral infection. Mallak said he tested negative for the new virus but had been dead for 12 days before he was examined.

About 1,200 passengers disembarked the Zaandam and sister ship the Rotterdam, which was sent to replenish the first with supplies and crew members who were falling ill. The cruise company and federal and Florida officials negotiated for days before allowing disembarkation.

The cruise line says 29 passengers who were kept aboard because they were mildly ill were scheduled to finally travel home Thursday on charter flights, a week after arriving in Florida.

The Zaandam departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7, a day before the U.S. State Department advised to avoid cruise travel and a week before most cruise lines halted their sailings.

Meanwhile, about a dozen international guests will remain in quarantine aboard the Coral Princess, which docked last weekend in Miami with coronavirus cases, according to a Princess Cruises statement. Many former Coral Princess passengers left South Florida on five charter flights Thursday, the company said. One flight was domestic while the others were heading to South America and Europe.

Despite continued efforts through diplomatic channels, the company said current travel restrictions by home countries are preventing homeward travel for 13 international guests, and local authorities won't authorize the use of local hotels. The guests will remain with Coral Princess crew members for a self-imposed 14-day quarantine. The ship was set to leave PortMiami Thursday evening.
A mother-of-five from New York City has told how she spent more than two weeks in hospital battling coronavirus including several days in intensive care before making an astonishing recovery.

Christina Paz, 47, from Staten Island was released from hospital earlier this week after falling ill mid-March.

Video shows the emotional moment she left the hospital after two weeks to the cheers and applause of medical staff, before hugging her husband.

She said it was thoughts of being able to go back home to be with her family once again that gave her the strength to get better.

Christina Paz, 47, felt ill in the middle of March but initially dismissed her symptoms

Claims she had only ever gone out to the supermarket and always washed hands. She is pictures here leaving the hospital after a 15 day stay

Christina was given supplemental oxygen after she arrived at hospital seriously ill

Christina could be seen crying as doctors and nurses applauded as she was released from intensive care into the arms of her family.

'It was something to really be thankful for and knowing that they cared that much to be there, to have that goodbye was wonderful,' Christina told Good Morning America on Friday.

'When I first saw my husband again, I could not have imagined what came over me.'

Christina started feeling unwell in mid-March and initially dismissed her symptoms but things did not appear to be improving.

'I noticed my cough was getting worse and I was having trouble breathing. Then my family started telling me, you could have this,' she said to GMA.

.@ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Christina Paz describes triumphant hospital departure after spending more than two weeks in the hospital battling coronavirus. I just kept saying I have to get better enough to go home. https://t.co/HiIAf0gokC pic.twitter.com/CxiWjEZwe0  Good Morning America (@GMA) April 10, 2020 Twitter Privacy Policy

Christina, mother to five kids, said hearing their voices over the phone gave her strength

Christina, pictured alongside her husband. She was unable to see for more than two weeks

'I was like, "There's no way! Why would I get this How could I get this? The most I did was go out shopping to the supermarket and took precautions. Washing hands before and after."'

But Christina's condition worsened and she ended up having to go to the emergency room where she true seriousness of her situation was made clear.

'I still refused to accept how serious it was until I heard the nurses on the phone with my husband telling him they were taking me to the ICU in case they may need to intubate me and put me on a ventilator.'

Eventually, Christina got better and she was wheeled out of hospital as her medical team lined the corridors to cheer on her recovery

There were emotional scenes as Christina was cheered on by the staff who saved her life

It appeared as though every single staff member who was present came out to see her off

The thought of being sedated and ventilated terrified Christina who said she had never gone more than a few hours without seeing her children. But the thought of being able to see her family once again also gave her strength as well.

'I would sometimes dial just to hear their voices and that for me was help. It reminded me what I was fighting for and not to just lie there and give up. I kept saying I have to get better enough to go home. I have a lot to go home to,' Christina said as she teared up.

After three days in intensive care her condition stopped worsening and she was finally well enough to go home for the first time in two weeks.

Christina was overcome by emotion as she thanked the doctors and nurses who cared for her

Christina's husband was waiting for her at the entrance to the hospital with open arms

The pair embraced after being apart for 15 days as staff cheered Christina on

'There are not words strong enough to thank the doctors and nurses for the care that they give. The nurses all go way above and beyond and nobody can thank them enough,' she said on the morning show.

'I appreciate the opportunity to hopefully give inspiration and hope to those who may be facing or have loved ones facing the situation I have overcome.

'My heart goes out to those who have not been as fortunate in having a positive outcome. I give my sincere condolences as I can only imagine pain you must be going through, but there is hope and I am living proof of that.'
Nigerias Health Minister Osagie Ehanire has said he is not aware if health workers treating the dreaded coronavirus patients are being paid hazard allowance.

The minister made the disclosure during a meeting the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 and the leadership of the National Assembly on Thursday, a video published by Channels TV on YouTube shows.

I am not aware of it, it is a standard job they do every day, Ehanire said in response to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamilas question on whether the health workers would get a special allowance for combating the virus,

Because screening is what they do every day.

Obvious pissed by the ministers response, the speaker further probed, insisting on a direct answer to his question. But the minister said the health workers are just screening body temperature.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-11 02:21:24|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Italy has seen the most deaths, which stood at 18,849 among 147,577 cases.



NEW YORK, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from COVID-19 exceeded 100,000 worldwide on Friday afternoon, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh figure reached 100,376 as of 1:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time (1730 GMT), an interactive map maintained by the CSSE showed.

An Italian Red Cross staff member checks the temperature of passengers arriving at Termini railway station in Rome, Italy, on April 9, 2020. (Ferrovie Italiane Press Office/Handout via Xinhua)

According to the data, a total of 1,650,210 cases have been recorded around the globe. Italy has seen the most deaths, which stood at 18,849 among 147,577 cases. The United States has reported 475,749 cases with 17,925 fatalities.

Other countries with more than 10,000 deaths include Spain and France.

Over 368,000 COVID-19 patients have recovered worldwide. 
Two men, wanted in several cases, were arrested in Delhi's Narela area after a brief exchange of fire, police said on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Pankaj Dabas (25) and Ajeet (30), they said.

"Police spotted the duo in Narela on Thursday around 9.30 pm, following which they were arrested after a brief exchange of fire. Two bullets hit the bullet-proof jackets of as many policemen," a senior police officer said.

Ajeet received a bullet injury on his right ankle during the encounter. He was taken to hospital for treatment. Four pistols and eight live cartridges were recovered from the possession of the arrested duo, according to police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Turkey sends medical aid to Libya

Turkey has been helping a number of countries to step up their fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Turkey on Friday sent medical supplies to Libya to help fight the novel coronavirus, which has infected 1.6 million people worldwide and claimed nearly 96,000 lives in 185 countries.

TURKEY WILL CONTINUE SENDING MEDICAL AIDS TO COUNTRIES IN NEED

"At the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of the preventative measures against coronavirus, medical supplies were sent to our Libyan brothers and our military training cooperation and consultancy teams who are on duty in the region," the country's National Defense Ministry said on Twitter.

It has sent supplies such as protective equipment and sanitizers to Balkan countries, as well as Spain, Italy and the UK, among others.
Five more coronavirus-related deaths were reported at a Littleton nursing home, bringing the total number of fatalities at the facility to 10, officials said.

The deaths at the Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley have been confirmed since March 27. All the residents who died had been transferred out of the assisted living facility to the hospital, the center announced Thursday night.

The nursing home has been the subject of town and state officials scrutiny after the center allegedly failed to properly follow health protocols outlined by the Littleton Board of Health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Guard was mobilized to the facility last week to test all of its residents.

Twenty-two residents in total have been hospitalized since late last month, 13 of whom are still in the hospital, according to a statement from the nursing home.

Sixty-seven of the facilitys 109 original residents have tested positive for the viral respiratory infection. Seventy-four employees at the center are out sick, the statement said. The nursing home did not specify whether the staffers have been diagnosed with the disease.

Thirty-one residents tested negative for the coronavirus, and two test results are still pending, according to the center.

State lawmakers penned a letter to Life Care Centers of America President Beecher Hunter on Tuesday, calling for more transparency from the organization, which runs nursing homes across the country.

The news about the Life Care Center in Littleton comes as assisted living facilities across Massachusetts face the threat of COVID-19. Elderly individuals and those with pre-existing medical conditions are most susceptible of developing potentially severe side effects from infection.

Five residents at the Falls at Cordingly Dam in Newton have died from the virus, and dozens more have tested positive for the disease.

At the state-run Soldiers Home in Holyoke, 28 fatalities have been reported since March 21, according to the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced this week she would be launching an investigation into the facility.

If youre having trouble viewing the embed to sign up on your mobile device click here.

Related Content:
Lee Hae-chan, co-head of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's election strategy committee, speaks during a meeting at the party's regional branch in Gwangju, Wednesday, a week ahead of the April 15 general election. Yonhap



By Jung Da-min



Political parties are going all out to promote their policy pledges for the April 15 general election as they only have a few more days to campaign before voters cast their ballots.



For the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), the main strategy is to divert the high approval rating for President Moon Jae-in to support for the party. As the public has a favorable opinion of the Moon government over its handling of the COVID-19 situation, the DPK has adopted "Overcoming COVID-19" and "Stability in state affairs" as its top campaign slogans.



"This year's general election is about overcoming the difficult situation caused by COVID-19, overcoming the economic crisis and stabilizing state affairs," Lee Hae-chan, party leader and co-head of the DPK's election strategy committee, said Friday during a party meeting in Daejeon. "The Moon Jae-in government is doing well right now, so the opposition party must win and hold back the National Assembly."



The DPK says voters should vote for its candidates to facilitate cooperation between the National Assembly and the government in dealing with state affairs in a time of crisis.









On the other hand, the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) is challenging the ruling bloc by attacking the "failure" of the Moon Jae-in government's income-led growth policies.



"The Moon government said it will create income-led growth but there has been no growth, only shutdowns of businesses and unemployment, while the economy continues to go downhill," said Kim Chong-in, co-head of the UFP's election strategy committee. "The government is under the illusion that the people cannot recognize its failures over the past three years."



Just weeks ahead of the election, the UFP scouted Kim, a veteran economist and politician who helped both President Moon and former President Park Geun-hye get elected. Kim has expressed confidence in leading the UFP's election campaign saying now is the time to "judge" the Moon government and the only way to prevent further damage to the country's economy is with a UFP majority.





Kim Chong-in, center, co-head of the main opposition United Future Party's election strategy committee, campaigns for the April 15 general election, Friday, with candidates running in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Yonhap
New York

The HBO hit "Insecure" typically airs during the summer, but series creator Issa Rae has been moving like the Energizer Bunny with a schedule so booked and busy, the show's return had to be delayed.

But for good reason.

She filmed two movies ("The Photograph," "The Lovebirds"). She executive produced and appeared in HBO's "A Black Lady Sketch Show." The actress who breaks out in raps to cope with life on "Insecure" launched her own record label. And Rae is writing, producing and starring in a new movie called "Perfect Strangers" and producing another HBO series, "Rap (expletive)," about a female rap group trying to find a breakthrough.

"I was just relieved to not be doing the show and to be working on other things so much so that I was finally grateful to come back when I was done with those projects,'" Rae said of "Insecure," which returns Sunday. "I love this show. I love the people on it. I love creating it and making it. It just made me more appreciative of what we were doing."

"Insecure" finds Rae's character Issa Dee on a search to find herself  professionally and personally. The show also stars Yvonne Orji (Molly), Jay Ellis (Lawrence), Amanda Seales (Tiffany) and Natasha Rothwell (Kelli), who also writes and produces the show.

In an interview with The Associated Press, 35-year-old Rae spoke about her Emmy-nominated series and the show within the show, which this season is a docuseries about a missing black woman. Rae also discusses her film "The Lovebirds," which moved from its theater release to Netflix because of the coronavirus pandemic.

AP: What can we expect from season four?

Rae: This season is really about whether the people in your life are there for a reason or a season. It really is about that transitional period when you go from your twenties and you're kind of figuring out who you are, to your 30s when you really know who you are. You know what you're going to tolerate and what you're not going to tolerate and who you want around you to continue that journey.

This season specifically, there's a lot of relationships mirrored to my own personal friendships and my own relationships dealing with the same kind of transitions and the questions.

AP: It was funny seeing Porsha Williams from "Real Housewives of Atlanta" and Masika Kalysha from "Love and Hip-Hop" on the show. Did they have to audition?

Rae: Masika auditioned. That was just a surprise of going through the audition tape and being like, "Oh good, she's good. It's great." And just being like, "OK, cast her." For a show within a show, those are always very specific and you have a cast in mind and then we just approach them and they're down.

AP: It's nice seeing veteran black actors in that show within a show (it also includes Terri J. Vaughn and Carl Anthony Payne).

Rae: It's a way to honor our legends. It's so fulfilling to be able to work with them. To have them be a part of our own cultural moment.

AP: Even the story line is interesting.

Rae: It's so ridiculous. That even came about from our random obsession with true crime podcasts and true crime docuseries and being like, "There's never black people." Nobody would dedicate a whole podcast or docuseries to missing black people. Nobody does a "To Live and Die in LA" if the girl is black. We were just trying to document that.

AP: How have you been able to balance all the projects you're working on?

Rae: I'm not going to lie  I'm toppling plates over here. I have not been great at balancing, but the people that I work with have been amazing. This quarantine, I would have been on a three-week press tour for "Insecure" and "Lovebirds" while having to meet a deadline to rewrite a movie and write a pilot. I don't know how I was going to do that. I wasn't going to do that. I was going to kill myself. Now to be able to have this forced time to be able to dedicate to creating and writing has been so fulfilling. Obviously these circumstances are terrible but it's really just allowed me to put a pause on so much and to focus on what I love to do; the parts that I like to do. I actually don't like traveling for the press, really. I don't like the promotional stuff for the most part. It's stressful. It takes a lot of time. You forget, "Oh this is what I love to do. I'm a writer."

AP: What is different doing the films compared to your TV series? What did you learn?

Rae: The experiences were very different. "The Photograph" felt like, "Oh I'm making a movie with family, it's familiar territory. It feels like home." I shot that after I shot "The Lovebirds," which was kind of a newer process for me just because it was just a different environment, and I think I was still more actively involved in the story of it, the rewriting of it. It was so fun to work with Kumail (Nanjiani). Whereas with "The Photograph," it was like executing (director) Stella's vision and kind of being immersed in her world and her idea for the story. Both of those made me actively miss "Insecure."

AP: Were you excited Netflix picked up "The Lovebirds" since we currently can't go to the movies?

Rae: I was super grateful. I was kind of bummed. Given the circumstances, I was like, "Damn, we're not ... but nobody's going to go to the movies. This is before, obviously, it was announced that it was a pandemic. But then with the movie theaters shutting down I was like, "OK, that's a good decision" ... The fact that Netflix was interested in our movie, it just felt like the best opportunity to showcase it and have maximum people view it during this time.

AP: How have things been going with your record label, Raedio?

Rae: It's been a learning process. It's been exciting to just meet with new artists and to be passionate. I feel like Suge Knight every single time when I'm just like, "Come to Death Row, I got you, but it's much less malicious." We're going to take care of you over here. We're going to put you on a platform and we're going to give you the space to be you and it's coming from a place of just pure fandom. We're in music supervision. We have a music library. We're in publishing. We're publishing songwriters. We're doing podcasts. It is an audio company. I think that's what differentiates us. It's a business.

AP: Have you been able to reflect on your accomplishments?

Rae: I sit and reflect from time to time, but whenever I sit and reflect I just get more anxious. I get worried. I kind of don't want to think about all that I have going on because then it becomes scary ... It's like walking on air and then you look below you and then you're going to fall. That's how I feel. If I pay attention too much then I'll realize, "What the f--k am I doing? Why do I think I could do all this?" I have a capable team of people that I work with. It really is just about doing it  just doing it while I can.
Even if contagion is stemmed on the African continent, its states and economies will struggle to endure the global lockdown for long

Streets are empty; cities are deserted; flights are grounded; nations are disconnected and the world is on lockdown. This is not a scene in the American movie Contagion or post-devastation life in Will Smiths I am Legend. It is reality in the face of an invisible life-threatening enemy, codenamed the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since the outbreak of the deadly virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the world has held its breath in anticipation of the rising death toll and new infection cases around the clock. The most visible result that has emerged in the coronavirus-hit world is the fragility of the system. Nobody ever thought that Italy, one of the G7 members and one of the most advanced nations in terms of its healthcare system could collapse that easily facing a ferocious 125-nanometre virus.

It was also quite shocking to hear the president of the United States, the pre-coronavirus world superpower, saying that the system was not designed for this, referring to the large number of infections in the country.

For Africa, the situation may be far more disastrous if not well contained. Though the spread of the pandemic has not been exponential so far in the continent compared to the northern hemisphere, things may get worse in the very near future.

As many African nations are expecting seasonal torrential rains in a couple of months, and with both poor hygiene and lack of access to clean water, unless strict precautionary measures are taken it may be a matter of time before the coronavirus finds home in Africa. It is true that African nations have followed suit with other world countries, taking similar steps to prevent the spread of the contagion, particularly the lockdown, but they cannot sustain it for long.

That is why, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organisation, former Ethiopian minister of both health and foreign affairs, has rung the alarm, warning that Africa should wake up! In response, African leaders held their first virtual summit to discuss means of combating the deadly virus and its impact on African economies.

In a mini-summit online, the leaders of Egypt and South Africa (both the former and current chair of the African Union) together with their counterparts from Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali agreed to establish a fund for the mobilisation of the necessary resources to stand up to the virus. Earlier, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called for raising $150 billion in emergency finance to help African nations in their fight against Covid-19. He also proposed writing off all interest payment on government loans, as the virus poses an existential threat to African economies.

Indeed, African economies are the most vulnerable to current and post-coronavirus economic repercussions. Most nations will not be able to handle a prolonged lockdown or suspending flights, particularly with Africas number one trading partner, China. Many African nations are highly connected to China with powerful commercial and economic ties, especially as gigantic Chinese corporations are in charge of executing development plans and infrastructure projects in different corners of Africa.

The Addis Ababa-based Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), affiliated to the UN, has warned that Africa may lose half of its GDP, roughly over $1 trillion. Falling oil revenues, as oil prices continue to tumble, may cost African nations more than a $100 billion, with Nigeria, Africas largest producer of oil, expected to lose $19 billion alone.

Food security is another issue to heed because two thirds of African nations are importers of basic commodities and given the shutdown in major exporter countries, prices will hike and food supplies will be interrupted, leading to a disastrous food security crisis in some already ailing economies in the continent. The ECA has also warned that a sharp decrease in commodity prices could lead to fiscal pressures for such big economies in Africa as Egypt, Algeria, South Africa, Nigeria and Angola.

As trade links with non-African countries are interrupted because of the coronavirus, it may be the golden opportunity for African countries to boost their intra-Africa trade and fully enforce the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA). The ECA has also urged African countries to prioritise African markets, especially in the export of pharmaceuticals and food supplies, now much needed for many African nations. In practise, this would help African economies to mitigate the negative effects of the global lockdown, on the one hand, and protect other countries against acute shortages on the other.

This is the time for asserting solidarity with one another. Many African nations will not be able to put up a fight on their own. The G20 Summit has pledged to inject $5 trillion into the global economy to ease the social and economic burdens caused by humanitys now number one enemy: the coronavirus.

A handsome portion of the amount should go to Africa, as most African countries, either due to instability or poor economic potentials, lack basic health services and well-equipped medical facilities to combat Covid-19. For years, Africa has been milked and its immense resources and raw materials have been usurped. There is now a moral obligation to pay back Africa in such critical times till the world finds the means to win the fight against the pandemic.

The coronavirus may serve as a blessing in disguise for African nations to join hands and boost intra-Africa trade. It may be also the opportune moment for African interdependence and an urgent call for integration, thrashing out the issues and working together for a safer and stronger Africa. Collective African leadership is now needed more than ever before. A virus that knows no borders, no colour and does not tell rich from poor needs to be faced up firmly.

In an important piece contributed to The Financial Times, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has warned that unless the virus is beaten in Africa, it will only bounce back to the rest of the world.

*The writer is a former press and information officer in Ethiopia and an expert on African affairs.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Advertisement

Once a crucial cog in the wheel of British industry, Britains 2,200 navigable miles of canals make for a brilliant staycation.

Take the tiller on your own narrowboat and plot a mellow course through some of Britains most fascinating rural and urban landscapes. Length? About 50ft, usually. Top speed? A heady 4mph. Pleasures to be had? Plenty.

LOCKS (AND DRAMS) IN SCOTLAND

The Falkirk Wheel on Scotland's famous Union Canal, where you can do a looping trip from Falkirk to Glasgow via Edinburgh

Confident boaters can test their skills on Scotlands famous Union Canal. It takes roughly a week to do a looping trip from Falkirk in the lowlands to Glasgow via Edinburgh.

How to keep morale high on a route with 14 locks and two major cities? A wee dram on Edinburghs Princes Street should help; a mooring spot lies not far from the famous thoroughfare.

GOOD TO KNOW: The Falkirk Wheel is an engineering marvel that joined two canals separated since 1933. Hitch a lift up 80 ft from the Forth and Clyde Canal before being sent on your way to the Union Canal by this futuristic-looking gondola.

BOOK IT: A week on the Alvechurch Wren, sleeping six, costs from 1,999 (abcboathire.com).

BRECON BEACONS ADVENTURE

The Monmouthshire and Brecon canal, which takes in 33 miles of fine South Wales scenery

A dancing blue squiggle on the Brecon Beacons map may not look like much  but it turns out to be one of Britains most beautiful waterways.

Cast off in Gilwern, half-way up the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal, 33 miles of fine South Wales scenery known as the Mon and Brec, and spend a week cruising north-west to Brecon and back, on waters where coal, iron and limestone were once transported.

GOOD TO KNOW: Theres a village every four miles, plus six locks, five lift-bridges, a tunnel and several aqueducts. And, to the west, the majestic Beacons rise 3,000ft on the horizon.

BOOK IT: Four nights on the 36ft Gilwern Queen costs from 839, sleeping four (narrowboats-wales.co.uk).

SLOW BOAT TO LITTLE VENICE

The exclusive enclave of Little Venice on Regent's Canal in London. From here you can sail past London Zoo to Camden Market

Snub the M25 and glide into the Big Smoke on your own floating abode. In a week you can sail east from Base 50, near Reading, down the Thames to the exclusive enclave of Little Venice in Paddington Basin, and back again.

Cruising along Londons river requires a little steel, but theres untold rewards in watching the capital  by turns, pretty and gritty  slowly introduce itself.

GOOD TO KNOW: From Little Venice, join Regents Canal for colobus monkey-spotting at London Zoo, and waving at Camden Markets madding crowds.

BOOK IT: A week-long return Reading to London trip on narrowboat Stilton costs from 1,499, sleeping four (canalholidays.com).

CHOCOLATE IN THE BLACK COUNTRY

Part of the 30-mile, 58-lock Worcester and Birmingham canal, which flows through the industrialism of 'Brum'

Follow in the wake of 18th-century cargomen on the 30-mile, 58-lock Worcester and Birmingham canal. The landscape dovetails the industrialism of Brum and Wolverhampton with some idyllic Worcestershire countryside.

Great for families, with Cadbury World among the possible pitstops.

GOOD TO KNOW: Navigating the creepy Wast Hills Tunnel, with its dark, dank interior, takes a nerve-shredding 30 minutes but the experience is exhilarating.

BOOK IT: Taking the Gailey Medway narrowboat, sleeping four, on the Black Country ring for a week costs from 777, departing Stafford (hoseasons.co.uk).

WEST COUNTRY OTTERS

The West Country's Kennet and Avon Canal, which is lined with honeysuckle-hued towns

Honeysuckle-hued towns line the West Countrys Kennet and Avon Canal. Enjoy a week-long return trip from Bradford on Avon to Bristol, via Bath.

Nature fans will love the wildlife too, with kingfishers, newts and otters all easy to spot in these waters.

GOOD TO KNOW: John Rennies 1801 Avoncliff Aqueduct is wonderful.

BOOK IT: A seven-night trip costs from 1,649, sleeping four (black-prince.com/hire-bases/bradford-kennet-and-avon-canal-hire-base).

NORTHERN FUN

Skipton in North Yorkshire, which is on Britain's longest canal, the 127-mile Leeds to Liverpool Canal

Britains longest canal is blissfully peaceful in parts. Start up in the middle of the 127-mile Leeds and Liverpool Canal around Skipton to see the best of it in a week.

GOOD TO KNOW: Pass gorges, limestone caves and heather-carpeted hills in the dales to the north, while the Bronte parsonage in Haworth is to the south.

BOOK IT: A week-long holiday on Drummer Boy, sleeping seven, costs from 1,420 (silsdenboats.co.uk).

NORTH WALES FOR BEGINNERS

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct soars 126ft above the Dee Valley on the Llangollen Canal, which links England and North Wales

Light on locks, Llangollen Canal, which links England and North Wales, is great for boaters sporting L-plates.

A three-night taster trip pootles 28 miles in serene scenery; think pretty market towns and the rugged green of the Berwyn Mountains beyond them, before the relative metropolis of Llangollen itself edges into view.

GOOD TO KNOW: The UNESCO-listed Pontcysyllte Aqueduct soars 126ft above the Dee Valley.

BOOK IT: A mid-week short break on 58-footer Duchess 4116, sleeping four, costs from 899 (waterwaysholidays.com).

A PUNT AND A PINT ON THE CAM

The River Cam in Cambridge, pictured, which is an unsung alternative to the Norfolk Broads

An unsung alternative to the Norfolk Broads, the River Cam is famous for its Pimms-clutching summer punters, but join a little earlier, from the northerly River Ouse at Ely, and emerald waters, swaying willows and riverbank pubs are all yours. Ideal for beginners, Ely to Cambridge and back takes just ten hours.

GOOD TO KNOW: Sup a pint in 16th-century Cambridge pub the Green Dragon, where Oliver Cromwell once honed his knife-throwing skills. The hallowed architecture of the historic university campus is all around.

BOOK IT: Three nights on the Rural Fox narrowboat costs from 881, sleeping four sharing (foxboats.co.uk).

The broad appeal of a narrowboat: Soaking up your surroundings at a top speed of 4mph

By Jennie Bond for the Daily Mail

Canal TV: Jennie with Anne Diamond. The pair took part in Celebrity Britain By Barge

Canals are wondrous creations. Long or short, straight or surprisingly bendy, they form a network which offers travellers a very different way of life.

Im a new convert, after taking part in Celebrity Britain By Barge with Anne Diamond, Pete Waterman and Bill Oddie, in which we navigated our way along six British canals. I loved every minute of it.

I have to admit that Im more used to cruising on ocean-going liners, so I wasnt sure how Id feel about living on a narrowboat which, as its name suggests, isnt exactly spacious.

Imagine my joy, then, when I found that all the boats we hired had reasonable living areas, plus two loos, decent shower rooms  and one of them even had a tiny bath. Mind you, the bath caused us to run out of water almost immediately. Another joy is the peace and pace of canal life.

Suddenly your world is transformed into one where the top speed is 4 mph, often even slower. Theres so much time to soak up your surroundings: the countryside, the wildlife, the old mills and the industrial history of the landscape. Every now and again  well, actually, rather more often than that  your progress is interrupted by a lock, or sometimes a series of locks.

And, as I discovered, operating one is pretty hard work. But we all need a bit of exercise, and there are also some wonderful people along the canals who volunteer to help. We took full advantage of their kindness.

Narrowboats are lengthy, lumbering beasts, and learning to pilot one was quite a challenge. You have to think ahead and steer accordingly, often under low bridges or through long, dark tunnels.

A strong wind can play havoc, especially when youre trying to navigate a series of bends. But thats all part of the fun, and I heard more than one fellow boater say that it really is a contact sport.

Youre surrounded by history on the canals. There was a moment of magic in Scotland when a beautiful palace slowly came into view as we meandered down the Union Canal.

Inside a narrowboat. Jennie says that they are lengthy, lumbering beasts, and learning to pilot one was quite a challenge

We stopped to explore, and found it was the remains of Linlithgow Palace, where Mary Queen of Scots was born. On the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, old mills tell the story of the industrial revolution, and the many converted stables are a reminder of the horses that pulled the barges.

But its not all about the past. At Falkirk there is the most astounding piece of modern engineering: the worlds only rotating boat lift. The Falkirk Wheel is a work of genius, carrying boats 80 ft into the air from the Forth and Clyde Canal up to the Union Canal.

If youre new to narrowboats, like me, youll find a great sense of camaraderie on the water; everyone is willing to help.

And theres really nothing quite like boating all day, working the locks, savouring the views and then tying up by a converted old stable block and enjoying a cosy pub meal, before heading back to your floating home.
A man accused of a whip-cracking racist tirade outside a Chinese consulate has been arrested.

Raimond Kelly, 55, allegedly hurled abuse and threatened bystanders outside the Chinese consulate at Camperdown in Sydney's inner-west on March 31.

Kelly was tracked down to his home in Dee Why on Thursday where he was arrested and taken to Manly Police Station.

He was charged with attempt to intimidate intend fear of harm and armed with intent to commit an indictable offence.

Raimond Kelly, 55, (pictured) was arrested after an alleged stunt outside the Chinese consulate at Camperdown in Sydney's inner-west on March 31

He was granted bail on strict conditions and is due to appear at Manly Local Court on July 1.

Footage captured by a member of the public last month shows a man in an Akubra, cracking a whip and yelling anti-communist messages at members of the public who were waiting to enter the building.

'Death to communism! Wake up Australia! Wake up! No more s**t from China,' the man said.

'I'll put a bullet in the General Secretary's head. I'm going to kill that leader of China.

'Filthy f**ing commies. Trying to take over the world. No more.'

The man then turned to the queue of people at the building's entrance and accused them of spreading coronavirus throughout the world.

'We know it's deliberate. Five million people left your country and spread that filthy f***king disease worldwide,' he said.

'You're all wearing your masks and you know why you're wearing your masks? You knew about it!

'I'm onto you. I know you deliberately released this virus.

'Wake up Australia! Be wise to these pr**ks.'

He yelled racial abuse at the people in the queue, saying they had deliberately spread the killer coronavirus around the world

A man was seen cracking a whip after exploding into a racist tirade outside the Chinese Consulate in Sydney
Legend Holdings Corporation (HKG:3396), which is in the tech business, and is based in China, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the SEHK over the last few months, increasing to HK$17.76 at one point, and dropping to the lows of HK$8.86. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether Legend Holdings's current trading price of HK$9.49 reflective of the actual value of the mid-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Lets take a look at Legend Holdingss outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

Check out our latest analysis for Legend Holdings

What is Legend Holdings worth?

The share price seems sensible at the moment according to my price multiple model, where I compare the company's price-to-earnings ratio to the industry average. Ive used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because theres not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stocks ratio of 5.61x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers ratio of 9.48x, which means if you buy Legend Holdings today, youd be paying a reasonable price for it. And if you believe Legend Holdings should be trading in this range, then there isnt much room for the share price to grow beyond the levels of other industry peers over the long-term. Although, there may be an opportunity to buy in the future. This is because Legend Holdingss beta (a measure of share price volatility) is high, meaning its price movements will be exaggerated relative to the rest of the market. If the market is bearish, the companys shares will likely fall by more than the rest of the market, providing a prime buying opportunity.

What kind of growth will Legend Holdings generate?

SEHK:3396 Past and Future Earnings April 10th 2020

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so lets also take a look at the company's future expectations. Legend Holdingss earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 42%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has already priced in 3396s positive outlook, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we havent considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at 3396? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on 3396, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for 3396, which means its worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on Legend Holdings. You can find everything you need to know about Legend Holdings in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in Legend Holdings, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
A cleaning staffer disinfects an intensive care room at Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge in Barcelona, Spain, on April 9, 2020. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

Spains Daily Virus Death Toll Drops to Lowest in 17 Days

Deaths in Spain from the CCP virus eased again overnight as the curve flattened further, prompting officials to mull which strategies to deploy to start phasing out one of the worlds strictest lockdowns.

Spain saw 605 deaths overnight, the Ministry of Health said. The patients died from COVID-19, a new disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.

The toll was the lowest since March 24. The death rate stands at 4 percent after once hitting 27 percent.

The country also saw just 4,576 new cases and a net increase in active cases of 468 as 3,503 patients were discharged from hospitals, a condition the ministry is describing as cured.

Spanish authorities have stopped tallying total hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions, stating theyre not able to confirm reliable figures. No region saw large increases in either category. Madrid continued counting a decrease in those hospitalized and in intensive care, while Catalonia, Spains second most-affected region, saw a decrease in hospitalizations but a slight uptick in ICU cases. The Valencian community, which saw hospitalizations practically double the day prior, saw only small increases in both categories.

A man wearing a mask and gloves walks past the empty landmark Alcala Gate, amid the CCP virus outbreak in Madrid on April 9, 2020. (Sergio Perez/Reuters)

Officials are discussing how to start moving out of the lockdown, which was announced in mid-March and requires people to largely stay at home. Spains Congress on Thursday approved an extension of the lockdown until April 26.

Any step toward deescalation of such an intense lockdown must be done with extreme caution, Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias told local TV channel TVE.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said the formal lockdown will probably continue into May, but some restrictions may soon be lifted to breathe life into a paralyzed economy.

Police intensified traffic controls on Good Friday, where families usually travel for the Easter holiday, and churches in Madrid remained closed.

Members of the Spanish Military Unit persisted their disinfection efforts in nursing facilities and public spaces across the country while patrolling streets in Seville and encouraging people to stay home.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Workers producing facemasks at a factory in Yangzhou in China's eastern Jiangsu Province, on Jan. 26, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

As Pandemic Crisis Grows, China Ships Shoddy Medical Supplies to Virus-Hit Countries

Defective medical gear from China is drawing growing backlash overseas, with Finland, Britain, and Ireland being the latest to complain about faulty equipment.

Eager to portray itself as humanitarian amid the global pandemic, the Chinese regime has sent medical supplies to virus-hit countries around the world from Spain to Peru. Since March 1, the country has exported around four billion masks, 37.5 million protective suits, and 2.8 million testing kits, according to an April 5 statement by the Chinese customs administration.

Yet mounting instances of defective masks and test kits have called into question whether Beijing attempts at mask diplomacy can succeed.

Finland, upon receiving 2 million surgical masks from China on April 7 by airlift, described them to be of disappointing quality and unsuitable for hospital staff.

The Chinese market is very chaotic, Tomi Lounema, managing director of the countrys National Emergency Supply Agency, said in a Wednesday press briefing. He added that this meant that the country has to deal with a large number of obscure suppliers which makes it difficult to trace where goods are made.

Prices are rising all the time, transactions have to be done quickly and you have to pay in advance, he said. The commercial risk is very high.

Meanwhile, Toronto is recalling more than 62,000 faulty Chinese surgical masks, worth $200,000, that have been distributed to long-term care facilities, according to an April 7 press release. The city is now investigating whether anyone had exposure to the virus while wearing the masks.

Among Irelands first batch of personal protective equipment from China, 20 percent was defective, according to local media. The faulty items carry a value of 4 million ($4.37 million). The Chinese embassy in Dublin has promised to replace the equipment, according to The Irish Times. Another 15 percent of the shipment, including white overall gowns, were considered acceptable for healthcare worker use if the preferred product is not available, Paul Reid, the director of Health Service Executive, told the media on April 5.

John Newton, the British testing chief, said antibody tests sourced from China were ineffective, as they could only identify immunity accurately in those who were severely ill with a very large viral load, The Times reported. The government had ordered millions of antibody testing kits from China last week, but Matt Hancock, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said on Sunday that we still dont have any that are good enough.

The Netherlands on March 28 recalled around 600,000 masks from China, while the Spanish health ministry also withdrew 58,000 Chinese-made testing kits upon discovering that it had an accuracy rate of only 30 percent.

A worker producing protective masks at a factory in Handan city, Hebei province, China, on February 28, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Factory Conditions Questioned

As demand for protective equipment skyrocketed globally, thousands of Chinese companies have rushed into the medical equipment manufacturing business, drawing concerns over whether the operations meet health and safety standards.

Last week, the Chinese regime tightened rules governing the export of medical equipment in an attempt to address quality concerns. Authorities announced on March 31 that only manufacturers who were accredited to sell their products within China could export test kits, surgical masks, protective gowns, ventilators, and infrared thermometers.

Lin Xin (alias), who used to run a timber manufacturing business in Chinas northern Heilongjiang Province, is now helping to facilitate the export of masks to Europe. He said his friends in the clothing and toy industry have converted their factory floors into assembly lines.

He said this was a widespread phenomenon in the province. But a number of these companies started production before acquiring an official license, and several were recently caught, Lin told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times.

To make money, people are jumping onto the mask manufacturing like a swarm of bees, he said.

According to the Chinese financial news site Sanyan Blockchain, almost 5,500 mask manufacturers were set up in China between Jan. 23 and March 11.

Chinese broker Chen Guohua (alias), who recently switched from working in e-commerce, told Chinese tech news outlet Tech World that 60 percent of mask factories dont have sterile workrooms and many simply bought their credentials.

Chen had visited one dust-filled factory where workers handled masks from the assembly line without wearing any gloves or masks.

Who would dare to use masks that are manufactured like this? Who would dare to wear it on their face? he said.

Lu Honghai, founder of Shenzhen-based e-commerce site Ennews, said he found dead flies and dark spots in a random check of 350,000 masks he had purchased for export.

In response, the manufacturer Aokang Hygienic Materials in Hua County in Henan Province, with whom he placed the order on March 17, agreed to recall 13,000 masks but refused to compensate for the remainder of the order, Lu wrote in an April 3 post on Chinese social media Weibo. He has since filed a complaint with the police.

Lu said a significant portion of these masks has already been sold online to other parts of the world.
It's the ultimate irony: after massive, longterm efforts to bring the six huge stars of Friends together finally paid off... a global disease struck which made friend gatherings of any sort specifically forbidden.

And while the reunion special to feature Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc is reportedly still in the works, new streaming platform (and Friends home) HBO Max will instead offer up the full 10-season series for streaming upon its launch next month.

The availability of all 236 episodes of the Emmy Award-winning series and cultural phenomenon which ran from 1994 to 2004 will be somewhat of a balm for viewers, who learned last month that the special  which took around six months and labor-intensive negotiations to make happen  was being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It's not happening... yet: While the Friends reunion special is reportedly still in the works, it won't happen in time for the launch of new streaming platform HBO Max next month

It was crushing but expected news, as all television and film productions have ground to a halt amid efforts everywhere to stem the spread of the highly contagious virus.

(To date on Friday, the CDC confirms that the total number of confirmed cases in the U.S. stands at 459,165, and of those, 16,570 have lost their lives.)

Initially, the reunion special was confirmed via concurrent announcements on all six of the Friends' Instagram accounts on February 21, with a lovely throwback photo and a tagline which said, 'It's happening...'

Consolation prize: Instead, the platform will offer up the full 10-season Friends series for streaming upon its launch

And after Jennifer Aniston broke the app from simply joining Instagram in October, the response to the news was obviously huge and enthusiastic.

Filming of the special was scheduled to begin in late March on Stage 24 of the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank, California  where the original series was filmed  but as of last month production has been pushed to May at the earliest.

And with the state of productions and business in general remaining up in the air at present, there is no new premiere date set for the reunion as of yet.

We miss them: The delay of the reunion was crushing but expected news, as all television and film productions have ground to a halt amid efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus

While rumors of the potential reunion had been bandied about since as early as last fall, the delay in making the Friends special a reality was reportedly due to feverish contract negotiations between each of the actors, who all wanted more money to appear in the one-hour, unscripted special.

Ellen DeGeneres has also been passed around as a potential host for the television event, which will see the actors  who are still close  reminisce about their time together on the show.

HBO Max, meanwhile, is still scheduled to launch as planned next month, with offerings covering the entire HBO catalog, all content under the Warner Bros. banner, and now, all episodes of Friends.

Watch Friends on the soon to be launched HBO Max, or on Stan in Australia.

Still to come: Filming of the special was scheduled to begin in late March on Stage 24 of the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank  where the original series was filmed




By Jun Ji-hye







Choi Nan-joo has been appointed as a new general manager of The Plaza Seoul, Autograph Collection, run by Hanwha Hotels & Resorts, becoming the first female and the youngest leader since the establishment of the Hanwha Group's hospitality business.







The 41-year-old said she will push for enhanced change and innovation to offer guests experiences beyond expectation promised by the five-star luxury hotel.







Choi entered the hospitality industry in 2002 with a position at Hanwha Development's Seoul Plaza Hotel, now The Plaza Seoul by Hanwha Hotels & Resorts.







After joining Hanwha Development, Choi spent seven months gaining direct experience of work in all departments of the hotel as part of the company's management course for new recruits.







Through this, she learned that success for a luxury hotel begins with well-trained, professional personnel.







After joining the hotel's human resources team, Choi designed specific training courses for each hotel position, creating a framework for the cultivation of a truly professional workforce.







Choi also played a key role when The Plaza Seoul underwent a groundbreaking six-month renewal in 2010, undertaking responsibility for elements ranging from brand concept to interior design and management strategy.







At the same time, she took a pioneering approach to self-development, becoming a certified chef of Chinese cuisine in order to understand the expertise required in reimagining The Plaza Seoul's in-house Chinese restaurant.







Since then, she has worked on a variety of management strategy and business development projects.







"I have a motto of 'nothing is impossible, no matter how difficult,'" Choi said. "The Plaza Seoul has occupied a position at the heart of Seoul for the last 44 years, sharing the city's past and present. I will be working hard to continue enhancing the hotel's services and facilities, further cementing its status as a landmark destination of history and tradition."







Choi obtained a bachelor's degree in English literature from Seoul's Yonsei University, and a master's degree in business administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.


Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has warned that the Irish Catholic Church is in danger of excluding the working-class faithful.

Following the restrictions placed across the country due to coronavirus, Mass-goers have been deprived of their usual sermons.

While the broadcasting of Mass on the internet has filled that void for some, Archbishop Martin believes it merely serves to illustrate those in society who are less well off.

Warning of the "real danger" of the Irish Church becoming a "middle-class church", Dr Martin said: "A lot of people don't have computers, especially lots of elderly people.

"A lot of elderly have no relatives whatsoever. You really have to be a church community which is out there reaching those people; that sort of witness is very important."

Expressing solidarity with people over Covid-19 restrictions, the Archbishop said the protocols are necessary to save the lives of others and combat this "extremely complicated and virulent virus".

The country's leading prelate turned 75 on Wednesday, the age when bishops are required to submit their resignation to Pope Francis.

"It wasn't quite the usual birthday celebration," he said, but recalled that his 21st birthday was similarly curtailed as it fell on Good Friday while he was studying in the seminary.

Speaking to the Irish Independent about cocooned life, he said: "For a person like me who is maybe hyperactive, it is inconvenient and frustrating." He added: "We have to face the fact that this hardship is going to continue, but it is necessary to save others."

Asked about the Church's message of hope in a time of pandemic, Archbishop Martin responded: "I think we should be very careful to in no way try and play down or cover over or sweeten up how difficult the situation is.

"Christian hope isn't magic. Christian hope is a firm conviction that in the end, good will triumph over evil."

He said that, in order to make this happen, "an avalanche of goodness, help, caring and love" would be necessary.

Drawing from the Prayer of St Francis, he suggested that the role of the Church at this moment was not to seek to be consoled, but to console.

"A lot of people need to be consoled and we have an opportunity to do that," he said in a telephone interview from his Dublin home.

"We have to present ourselves as a church that is the one that cares, is the one that is there in all humility and humiliation, to wash the feet of those who suffer."

He said the lessons for society from the pandemic were simple things, like good neighbourliness and the generosity of young people, things which "we will, in the end, be very proud of."

The Archbishop expressed a lack of enthusiasm for suggestions that the crisis would see people turn to religion. "They said in the last economic crisis that an economic crisis is good for religion. That is very superficial.

"There are people today who may have said a prayer and they haven't said one for a long time, but that isn't a long-term commitment that is going to bring people back to faith. Many believers may even be challenged by what is happening."

Asked if he was worried that people, having become used to not attending Mass, would not return to churches when the crisis is over, Dr Martin observed: "It would certainly be unreasonable not to see that as a possibility."

But he believes that if people see that the Church has reached out "to mirror the mercy of Jesus" during the pandemic and has given itself "totally in a situation like that", it will be judged more on this than on webcam masses.

However, he admitted he was particularly concerned about those who have lost loved ones during the crisis and have been forced, due to the restrictions, not just to have scaled back funerals, but sometimes to have stayed away from the funerals.

"The current situation requires that we have limited numbers. There are other ways in which we can show solidarity to those who are mourning. One of the things is just to keep in contact.

"I think, for example, of somebody who buries their spouse in the shortened funeral rite and then goes home to isolation."

He suggested that when the crisis is over, something must be done for grieving families, such as holding some sort of service for all who mourned during this time.

"There are ways in which you can grieve and mourn at a later stage. We could very easily be dealing with a huge number of people. I think a lot of people would want something very personal," he said, before adding that it would be "good for us as a Christian people" to show care and support further down the line.

Asked about turning 75 and whether he had submitted his resignation to Pope Francis on Wednesday, Archbishop Martin replied, "No, I didn't submit my resignation [on Wednesday] because I did it months ago.

"I communicated with the Pope some months ago and explained what I felt was good for the archdiocese of Dublin and my feeling is that it is a good time to bring in a younger person."

He underlined that "a long period of worthless speculation" would be "very deleterious" and added: "Most of those who speculate are wrong."

In Dr Martin's opinion, the next Archbishop of Dublin needs to be a competent administrator, a man who provides spiritual guidance to people in a secularised world, in which people live with elements of faith and elements of doubt.

"I would also stress somebody who has a great sensitivity to the realities of the poor. Parts of this diocese are by far the poorest in our society."
Three tubs of absentee ballots that never reached voters were discovered in a postal center outside Milwaukee. At least 9,000 absentee ballots requested by voters were never sent, and others recorded as sent were never received. Even when voters did return their completed ballots in the mail, thousands were postmarked too late to count  or not at all.

Cracks in Wisconsins vote-by-mail operation are now emerging after the states scramble to expand that effort on the fly for voters who feared going to the polls in Tuesdays elections. The takeaways  that the election network and the Postal Service were pushed to the brink of their capabilities, and that mistakes were clearly made  are instructive for other states if they choose to broaden vote-by-mail methods without sufficient time, money and planning.

More than 860,000 completed absentee ballots had been returned by Tuesday, already a record for Wisconsin spring elections. But for thousands of other voters, who never received their ballots, there was only one recourse: putting their health at risk and defying a stay-at-home order to vote in person during the coronavirus pandemic. Many chose not to show up.

Federal health officials have suggested that expanding voting by mail could help reduce crowds at polling places and therefore make elections safer amid the outbreak. The issues that have arisen in Wisconsin offer a warning for other states of the potential pitfalls of a rapid, last-minute expansion of absentee balloting, particularly one marred by a flurry of court challenges and 11th-hour rulings that created confusion and chaos.
An aerial photo of an empty Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, at what would usually be rush hour on April 1, 2020.

Rasmus Degnbol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Denmark is now starting to ease some of its COVID-19 restrictions. It will re-open schools and daycare centers on April 15 as its first step towards lifting its lockdown.

Denmark was the second country in Europe to announce a lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus, doing so before the country had even reported its first death.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that social distancing measures will remain, and that the country can't reopen too quickly.

The Danish restrictions were never as stringent as many countries in Europe and beyond, but seem to have been adhered to very closely.



The country recorded 5,830 cases and 237 deaths as of Friday morning. New daily figures have yet to consistently decline, but remain lower than in many other countries.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Video: What Could Be the Fastest Way to End the Coronavirus Crisis?

Having so far avoided mass coronavirus infections, Denmark is planning to lift some of its lockdown restrictions, even as some of Europe's worst-hit countries warn that their outbreaks are yet to peak.

Europe has become a new epicenter for the coronavirus, ravaging Italy and Spain in particular.

But Denmark  a nation of 5.6 million  took remarkably swift action to lock itself down and try and stop COVID-19 from spreading. It appears to have helped it survive the worst of the crisis.

It was the second country in Europe to announce a lockdown, on March 11. It did so before it reported any deaths from the virus.

Denmark was behind only Italy, which was already one of the world's worst-hit nations when it imposed nationwide restrictions.

But now Denmark  along with a few other European countries: Norway, Austria, and the Czech Republic  is considering how to gradually lift its restrictions.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the process "will probably be a bit like walking the tightrope."

"If we stand still along the way we could fall and if we go too fast it can go wrong. Therefore, we must take one cautious step at a time."

Story continues

She announced on Monday that the country will reopen daycare centers and schools on April 15.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks during a news conference on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at her office in Copenhagen, Denmark, April 6, 2020.

Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS

As of Friday morning, Denmark had reported 5,830 cases and 237 deaths from the coronavirus.

The country appears to be seeing a dropoff in its new cases, which remain low compared to many countries.

It saw 233 new cases on April 9, compared to 331 new cases on April 8 and 390 new cases on April 7.

It reported 19 deaths on April 9, 15 deaths on April 8, 16 deaths on April 7.

Copenhagen, Denmark.

Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

Denmark's gamble to slowly reopen country came as the World Health Organization warns against relaxing restrictions.

It pointed to some countries close to China, which managed to keep the virus at bay for months only to see surges in cases as they relaxed their coronavirus suppression measures.

Indeed, Frederiksen warned that cases and deaths could start to rise again if people don't follow government advice.

"If we open Denmark too quickly again we risk that infections rise too sharply and then we have to close down again."

A medical worker performs a mouth swab on a patient to test for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ritzau Scanpix/Niels Christian Vilmann via Reuters

The Danish restrictions that will remain in place for another four weeks include bans on public gatherings of more than 10 people, and border controls.

Denmark's lockdown, which came into effect on March 11, never got as strict as those in many other nations, where people were limited in leaving their homes.

This meant that people in Denmark were not limited in going outside, could still attend events with fewer than 10 people, and get takeaway food and drinks from restaurants and cafes.

The country initially used a "containment" strategy, which Danish police said based on "fast diagnosis, contact tracing and quarantine of those evaluated to be at risk."

But as it spread, the police said their early plan became "irrelevant" and Denmark moved to a "mitigation strategy," which banned large gatherings and protected the most vulnerable people.

These are the measures in Denmark:

People are urged stay one to two meters from each other.

Gatherings of more than 10 people, indoors or outdoors, are banned.

People are urged to minimize trips to busy places like supermarkets and regularly wash their hands.

Businesses where people come into close contact, like restaraunts, salons or nightclubs, are closed.

Schools and daycares are closed.

Public employees with "non-critical functions" were sent home.

People cannot visit nursing homes or hospitals.

Business Insider
Nameless Women of The Bible: an illuminating and relevant study that dives into the background of women who were not given enough recognition in the Bible but played an equally important role in the biblical history. Nameless Women of The Bible is the creation of published author Susan Maluschka, a member of the LCMS. Her studies are based on the teachings of the Lutheran Church. When she is not creating Bible studies, she enjoys spoiling her children and grandson, traveling, and writing a blog. She lives in Victoria, Texas, with her husband, Charlie.

Maluschka shares, Eve, Sarah, Ruth, Marywe are very familiar with these biblical women and we know their stories by heart, but what about the women we are not given names for? There are many women in the Bible that give us their stories, but we have no idea what their name is. Some were positive role models in showing us how to live Christian lives, and some were examples of what not to do. It doesnt matter if their contribution takes up a paragraph or a single sentence; we can learn from these nameless women. This study will help you to put yourself in their shoes. These wives, daughters, and mothers each played a part in Gods plan for the world and have a story to tell. By going through each instance carefully, we might begin to see them in a different light and discover a lesson we didnt even know was there.

Everyone plays a part in Gods plan for this world, and its time these ladies received some recognition for their efforts. Nameless Women of the Bible is a twelve-part study that looks deeper into the stories of these women, from their family relationships to the impact their actions have on the community. Once again, their actions speak, and we have only to listen and learn.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Susan Maluschkas new book is a brilliant manuscript that shares to the readers significant personalities who also played important roles in Gods plan. Here, everyone can take part in these womens stories and see the wonder in their goodness and faith.

View a synopsis of Nameless Women of The Bible on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Nameless Women of The Bible at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Nameless Women of The Bible, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.


Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte presses the button to launch the Damen ASD3212 at the Damen - Song Cam Shipyard (a joint venture between Song Cam Shipbuilding Joint Stock Company and the Damen Group of the Netherlands), June 17, 2014 (Photo: VNA)

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung holds talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague, September 28, 2011 (Photo: VNA)
While Assam reported its first COVID-19 death, 185 people have tested negative for the virus in Arunachal Pradesh.

The patient from Hailakandi, who succumbed to the coronavirus, died at Assam's Silchar Medical College and Hospital on Thursday, said the Union Health Ministry in a statement on Friday.

In Assam, odd-even policy for a private vehicle with emergency permits has been implemented and it will continue till April 12. However, on-duty government vehicles are exempted from this.

A total of 207 samples were collected in Arunachal Pradesh till Thursday. 185 have tested negative, 1 was positive and results of 20 are awaited. One repeat test for COVID-19 positive patient was also done.

An FIR was lodged against some Indian Reserve Battalion personnel for assaulting a health worker in Nirjuli area of Itanagar and an investigation is underway.

In Manipur, the State government has decided to create an Adhoc Food Bank of essential items in which any citizen can donate dry rations and hygiene-related items for needy. Direct distribution of essential items to needy persons is being organised with the help of NGOs, NSS Volunteers and Indian Red Cross Society.

Further, Meghalaya Police is now also using drones in its bid to maintain social distancing when shops are allowed to open and hundreds of people come out to buy essentials in the city. The East Khasi Hills District Magistrate, M War, has extended curfew from April 10 to 6 am of April 14 in the city and on the outskirts of the district.

People who were stranded in different parts of Mizoram have started to return to their destinations within the state. Meanwhile, members of the Mizoram Journalists Association contributed Rs 50,000 to the Chief Minister Relief Fund for COVID-19.Nagaland has no COVID-19 case so far. 65 samples out of 69 have tested negative and the result of 4 is awaited. 23 persons are in quarantine facilities and 658 are under home quarantine. In the state, a total of 109 undertrial prisoners were released on parole. The decision was taken as per the directive of the Supreme Court in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak and also to decongest prisons.

Sikkim Chief Minister P S Tamang has informed that his government is taking all necessary steps and is well prepared to face any challenge and threat posed by the global pandemic. He has urged the people to practice social distancing, quarantine or isolation measures in an effort to slow down the spread of disease.

In Tripura, in order to better manage COVID-19 outbreak in the interest of citizens, the state government has implemented the Essential Services Management Act (ESMA).

No new COVID-19 positive case reported in Tripura apart from the one positive case. The first positive patient is improving and is in stable condition.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
GENEVA (Reuters) - The GAVI vaccine alliance will disburse $29 million (23.41 million) to help health systems in 13 lower-income countries fight COVID-19, it said on Thursday, part of a $200 million programme approved by its board last month.

The Geneva-based publicprivate global health partnership said the first recipients are Myanmar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Afghanistan, Sudan, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau, Tajikistan, Bhutan and Liberia.

Roughly 39% of the initial amount will be spent on protective equipment for health workers, with the rest going for diagnostic tests and to boost disease surveillance, spokesman James Fulker said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay)
Mumbai: Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) promoters, their families and friends, who availed VVIP treatment to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar, have been booked under IPC Section 188 at Mahabaleshwar Police station for flouting Section 144 imposed due to the nationwide lockdown amid coronavirus scare. Cracking down on the flagrant violation of norms, Maharashtra government sent Home Department Principal Secretary Amitabh Gupta, who had issued the permission, on casual leave.

Gupta had granted permission to Dheeraj Wadhavan and Kapil Wadhavan, the brothers who promoted the company and are on bail in DHFL and Yes Bank fraud case, to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar during lockdown on his letter head, citing family emergency as the reason. However, it was found that there was no such emergency.

A look out notice had been issued by the CBI against the Wadhwan borthers in the Yes Bank fraud case despite which Gupta issued the permission.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh announced on Twitter that the decision to send Gupta on compulsory leave was taken after consulting Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. While an inquiry has also been set up against him and he will remain on leave until the probe is completed.

As per discussion with Hon. CM, Mr Amitabh Gupta, Principal Secretary (special), has been sent on compulsory leave with immediate effect, till the pending of enquiry, which will be initiated against him.#LawSameForEveryone  ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) April 9, 2020

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kirit Somaiya lodges a police complaint against Gupta. He had alleged that Dheeraj Wadhavan and Kapil Wadhavan got VVIP facility which allowed their family and friends to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar in a cavalcade of five vehicles on a special pass.

"Wadhawan Brothers who are on Bail in DHFL/Yes Bank Fraud case are given VVIP treatment/passes by Maharashtra Govt to travel from Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar in Convoy. I have urged Governor of Maharashtra to order Investigation," the BJP leader had tweeted on Thursday.

The Wadhawan family, which is being probed by investigative agencies like Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was seen at the Mahabaleshwar Hill Station in Satara district of Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, all the 23 members of the group have been sent to the quarantine facility at St. Xaviers High School.
The deadly coronavirus pandemic claimed lives of more than 16,000 Americans and infected over 4.6 lakhs of them, devastating the US economy and rendering a record 16 million workers jobless in just three weeks.

Of this, the New York metropolitan area, comprising the adjoining New Jersey and Connecticut, alone account for more than 9,000 cases and 220,000 cases.

Globally, over 15 lakh people have been infected so far by coronavirus and the fatalities stands at nearly 95,000. The United States accounts for nearly 30 percent of the all COVID-19 positive cases and over 17 percent of all fatalities.

By Thursday, nearly all of America -- 97 percent of the 220 million population -- are under stay-at-home order. President Donald Trump has notified major disaster declaration for almost all 50 States.

In New York City, which is considered financial capital of the world and has one of the best health facilities, more than 800 deaths were reported in one day alone, taking the fatalities to a record 7,067.

New York Governor Andrew Cumo, however, asserted that COVID-19 now appears to have reached its peak in the city, where the number of new patients to hospitals have started coming down. Strict enforcement of mitigation measures including maintaining social distancing, he said, is having an impact nationwide. "As such they now are projecting far less death -- around 60,000 -- due to coronavirus than earlier projections of between one and two lakhs," he said.

It looks like we're at the lower end of the curb in terms of death, which is a terrible word... a terrible, dark word that we've experienced like nobody's ever seen before in this country. We have numbers that are terrible, Trump told reporters during his daily White House press conference on coronavirus.

It is, in the sense of deaths, a bad week. In fact, every day there seems to be a record number of deaths compared to the day before. In fact, New York today had again another record of -- I think the city itself had about 820-plus deaths, said Dr Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a lead member of the White House Task Force on Coronavirus.

At the same time as we are seeing the increase in deaths, we are seeing rather dramatic decrease in the need for hospitalizations like I think yesterday was something like 200 new hospitalizations and it's been as high as 1,400 at any given time. So that is going in the right direction, Dr Fauci said. The deadly disease, which has forced people to stay standstill, has brought the American economy to standstill.

The air flight traffic has dropped by 96 percent and in just three weeks alone 6.6 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits, a figure which reflects on the dire straight of the US economy.

The latest unemployment figures reflect that the USD 2 trillion relief package has not worked so far. But Trump exuded confidence that the economy is going to bounce back in the coming months.

I think the economy is going to do very well... i think our country, from an economic standpoint, will end up being stronger than ever. We have tremendous stimulus. We have tremendous stimulus plans. We have things in the works that are going to really, I think, fire the country, he asserted.

What's going to happen is we're going to have a big bounce rather than a small balance. But we will be back and I think, honestly, I think our country is going to be back from an economic standpoint, he said in response to a question.

In an interview webcast by the Brookings Institute, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the country needs to have a plan nationally for reopening the economy. We all want it to happen as quickly as possible, he said.

In an interview to CNBC, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the economy could be ready to reopen by the end of May as soon as the president feels comfortable with the medical issues.

We are going to be opening up weekend opening very, very, very, very soon I hope. Together our people are writing one of the most noble chapters in the proud history of our nation, Trump told reporters at the White House.

Also read: Coronavirus fallout: IMF predicts bigger economic crisis than Great Depression

Also read: 'Times like these bring friends closer, we shall win together': PM Modi to Trump on hydroxychloroquine supply

Also read: India Coronavirus live updates: Israeli premier thanks PM Modi for hydroxychloroquine supply to fight COVID-19
" " You can see the pride on the faces of these young Japanese kamikaze who were trained to be suicide pilots, only crash their planes loaded with explosives, extra fuel and special missiles into enemy ships. Hulton Deutsch/Corbis via Getty Images

The iconic image of a Japanese kamikaze has been cooked into our consciousness over the years by countless World War II movies and a library full of history books. A grim and determined pilot, goggles in place, alone in his cockpit, guides his streaking plane through cloudy wartime skies toward the enemy ship and a fiery death.

The kamikaze, as we understand him now, seems both heroic and horrifying at the same time. Depending on where your World War II allegiances lie, he may be just one or the other.

But the kamikaze is, with no argument anywhere, legendary in the annals of human battle.

"Surely, the Kamikaze war was the strangest and in many ways most dramatic ever waged," the late Gordon Allred writes in the 2007 edition of his 1957 book, "Kamikaze," which contains the somewhat disputed account of kamikaze Yasuo Kuwahara. "One wherein nearly five thousand young men were converted by their leaders into human bombs as the suicide pilots who lived to die and caused the greatest losses in the history of our United States Navy.

"Never have so many human beings unitedly and deliberately agreed to die for their country without hope of any alternative."

" " On May 11, 1945, two kamikaze aircraft carrying 250-kilogram bombs hit the USS Bunker Hill in quick succession (seen here). The attack killed 393 and injured 264 U.S. Navy crew on board. Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Advertisement

The Beginnings of the Kamikaze

When Mongol emperor Kublai Khan sent his naval fleets to attack Japan in the 13th century, fierce winds twice repelled the invasions. The Japanese considered these storms direct gifts from the gods and called them "kamikaze." The most common translation of the word is "divine wind."

In October 1944, after stinging defeats had turned the tide of World War II against the Axis powers  the U.S. retook Guadalcanal in 1943, liberated Guam in July 1944 and started bombing Okinawa in October of that year  Japan's commanders in the Pacific were desperate. They needed to slow the onslaught of the Allies though, in reality, many knew that it was just a matter of time until the war was over. Japan was looking for some divine intervention.

Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi, commander of Japanese naval air forces in the Philippines, decided to unleash a new tactic on the enemy: suicide bombers.

"In my opinion, there is only one way of assuring that our meager strength will be effective to a maximum degree," Ohnishi told his men, according to Capt. Rikihei Inoguchi in "The Divine Wind: Japan's Kamikaze Force in World War II," originally published in 1958. "That is to organize suicide attack units composed of Zero fighters armed with 250-kilogram bombs, with each plane to crash-dive into an enemy carrier." (The Mitsubishi A6M "Rei-sen" was the chief aircraft of Japan during World War II. The Japanese pilots called the plane the "Zero-sen" based on the Imperial Year calendar (1940). The Allies eventually dubbed the plane the Zero.) And so the modern-day version of kamikaze was launched.

" " (Clockwise from top left) A kamikaze about to crash into the sea after an unsuccessful run on the USS Essex (CV-9) on May 15, 1945; the USS Suwanee (CVE-27) received major damage from a kamikaze hit on Oct. 26, 1945. The view shows the forward elevator well at the hangar deck level; funeral services were held for several men on the USS Kalanin Bay (CVE-68) after a kamikaze attack. National Archives

Advertisement

How Successful Were the Kamikaze?

Statistics vary, but thousands of kamikaze sorties were launched in the final months of the war, and more than 3,000 Japanese pilots were killed. Those attacks resulted in the sinking of some 47 ships, killing more than 7,000 U.S., Australian and British soldiers.

That sounds deadly effective. But it really wasn't.

"The statistic I quote ... says that 27 percent of the attacks in [the battle of] the Philippines resulted in either a hit or a near miss that caused damage to the ship ... In the battle of Okinawa, when most of the kamikaze pilots were going in, I think it was like 13 percent," Bill Gordon, who has been collecting data and stories on kamikaze on his site, "Kamikaze Images," since the early 2000s, says from a town near Nagoya, Japan. "I guess it's what you compare it to. The reason they were making the attacks was that the conventional attacks were not effective. In the Philippines, they originally thought they were doing great. But 13 percent is pretty low. That means 87 percent were shot down, some well before they reached any ship, by American fighters.

"Most people look at it and say they already lost the war by the time the kamikaze attacks started, so regardless of how effective they were, they were going to lose. If the percentages were higher, it really doesn't matter."

Japanese suicide missions in World War II were not only limited to dive-bombing Zeros. Midget submarines (kohyoteki in Japanese), manned torpedoes (kaiten), manned rocket-powered gliders (oka) and motorboats carrying depth-charges (shin'yo) all were used at various stages of the war.

" " On Oct. 25 1944, the USS St. Louis, an escort carrier of the U.S. Navy during World War II, became the first major warship to sink as the result of a kamikaze attack. National Archives

Advertisement

How the World Viewed Kamikazes

Still, when historians look upon kamikazes, it is the dive-bombing suicide planes, part of a Special Attack Corps (Tokubetsu Kogekitai), that remain the focus.

In 1975, in Chiran, Kagoshima Prefecture in the southern part of Japan, the Chiran Peace Museum  otherwise known as the Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots  opened. Thousands of articles left behind by kamikazes, including letters to loved ones before their final missions, are featured.

Here's a typical one from Corp. Takao Adachi, who took off on his final mission on June 1, 1945. He was 17. (As translated by Kamikaze Images' Gordon.)

Dear Grandmother and Father,

Decisive battle has come for me. Excitement also with instant enemy sinking.

Living as a man in this divine country that faces an extreme emergency, in my heart I am absolutely satisfied that I have a good place to die as a member of the Special Attack Corps Makoto Hikotai (Flying Unit).

I warmly thank each of the officers, instructors, and senior comrades when I was a flight cadet.

In response to your great kindness in raising me for more than 18 years as a son in this divine land, I have not been able to do anything to repay your kindness. I imagine that my going before you must be painful above anything else.

Furthermore, I am determined that I certainly will carry out a certain-death, sure-kill (hisshi hissatsu) body-crashing (taiatari) attack and instantly sink an enemy ship.

Grandmother and Father, please be glad with the daybreak when I splendidly sink at once an enemy ship.

Finally, I will make a body-crashing attack while praying for still more prosperity of this divine country Japan.

On the eve of sortie, Takao

"The big topics, they're talking about filial piety to their parents, what commitment they had, and saying how sorry they were that they were leaving and dying, basically," Gordon says.

The letters have helped portray the young men who flew these missions  their average age was around 21  not as crazed suicide bombers but as loyal sons of Japan, heroic and worthy of praise. It's a widely held belief in Japan, though not everyone thinks that way.

In comparison, many Americans  especially older ones  see kamikazes only as those grim Zero pilots bearing down on poor American soldiers, bent on killing and destruction. Instead of heroism, they see madness.

That may have changed some over the generations. "In the U.S., it's probably not as extreme anymore," Gordon says. "But I will tell you, people were emotional when I talked to them about it on the U.S. side [when he did research back in the early 2000s]. Some people didn't even want to talk to me."

Kamikazes, in the end, were fighters on the front line of a war that their side was losing badly. Americans already were bombing cities in Japan from bases in China. More raids were coming. The kamikazes were Japan's last resort. And so they went out fighting for their country.

"I still think," Gordon says, "that most of them believed that there was a good chance that they could somehow at least stop the American advances  if not necessarily win the war  and not have the destruction of Japan."

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING By the end of the war, as many as 3,800 kamikaze pilots died. "We didn't think too much [about dying]," Hisao Horiyama, one of the last two surviving kamikaze pilots told The Guardian in 2015 at age 92. "We were trained to suppress our emotions. Even if we were to die, we knew it was for a worthy cause. Dying was the ultimate fulfillment of our duty, and we were commanded not to return. We knew that if we returned alive that our superiors would be angry."
The case in the government-controlled southern province of Hadramawt involves a port employee, who is in stable conditions. Saudi Arabias unilateral truce has been in effect since yesterday. For the Vicar of Arabia, COVID-19 might paradoxically have a "positive effect" for the conflict.

Sana'a (AsiaNews)  Yemeni authorities this morning announced the countrys first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in the government-held southern province of Hadramawt, a major oil-producing region.

The news has set off alarm bells and raised concern in a country devastated by five years of civil war with a healthcare system on the verge of collapse.

International humanitarian organisations have sounded the alarm about the disastrous repercussions of a COVID-19 epidemic in the Arab nation, torn by a war since 2015 pitting the Saudi-backed government against Iran-supported Houthi rebels.

The conflict has provoked the "worst humanitarian crisis in the world". An outbreak of the novel coronavirus would have even greater devastating consequences.

According to early reports, the person affected by the virus is a Yemeni citizen who works in the port of Ash Shihr.

The individual is stable and receiving medical attention, an anonymous source said. The authorities have taken the necessary measures but no details have been provided as to how the outbreak is being contained.

Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar of southern Arabia (United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen), noted that "the present pandemic and its horrifying risks also for Yemen may bring people of all involved parties to reason. Thus, the coronavirus could have indirectly a positive effect.

The Vicar of Arabia's reference is to the decision taken yesterday by Saudi Arabia, which leads an Arab coalition in Yemen, to declare a unilateral two-day ceasefire. An estimated 100,000 people have died in five years of conflict.

The ceasefire could be extended; however, Houthi rebels yesterday rejected the offer calling it a political and media manoeuvre.

The Saudi truce proposal might nevertheless facilitate UN-sponsored peace talks between the parties to end the hostilities for good.

Officially, the Saudi decision is meant to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit hailed the ceasefire offer as a rare opportunity to stop the bloodshed in Yemen.
Leigh Ann Cribbs is proof that wishes come true. Leigh Ann, age 3, is the recent recipient of a brand new playhouse through the Make-A-Wish Foundation Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana chapter.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charity that grants wishes to critically ill children at no cost to their families. Leigh Ann was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart.

Leigh Ann wished for her own playhouse where she could play cook for her brother. The Make-A-Wish Foundation made her wish come true, and now she has the playhouse of her dreams right in her backyard.

Nikki Eliason, director of development for the Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana chapter of Make-A-Wish Foundation, was part of the team that brought Leigh Anns dream to fruition. She shared with me when we met that her wish was for a playhouse, said Eliason. She likes to play house, and she likes being outside, and she wanted to have a small house that she could be in all the time outside.

A team of Make-A-Wish volunteers granted her wish and assembled Leigh Anns playhouse.

Leigh Anns mother, Amanda Cribbs, said that the playhouse was the perfect wish to enrich Leigh Annes life. We wanted her to wish for something unique and something that would bring her happiness and memories for years to come through her journey as a child with a heart disease, Amanda said.

According to Amanda, Leigh Anns immune system is compromised due to her heart condition. As a result, she doesnt have much social interaction. Having a playhouse in her backyard brings joy into Leigh Anns life.

She often plays alone as she stays home most days with her home health nurse since she cannot go to daycare due to her compromised immune system, Amanda said. Having her own personal size playhouse right outside our backdoor is exactly what her little heart desired.

To qualify for the Make-A-Wish program, a childs physician first certifies that the child is medically eligible, Eliason explained. Once eligible, a team of two Make-A-Wish volunteers meet with the child to get to know the child on a personal level.

(The volunteers) get to know each kiddo- what they like, what they love- and understand what they think they might want for a wish, Eliason said. Every wish is unique, and our volunteers learn the heart of what the kiddo wants.

According to Eliason, granting wishes is about more than just bringing joy to a child.

More medical research is being published that shows that wishes can be medicine, she said. Wishes are not just nice a kiddo being able to dream about what they want to look forward to and have it come true is actually helping children who are battling critical illnesses with less hospitalizations and overall better health outcomes.

Leigh Anns mother has seen that research in action. This next year Leigh Ann will undergo her third open heart surgery, she said. As her parents, we know that her playhouse has brightened her spirits and given her something to look forward to playing in each morning while being stuck at home.

Amanda added, We are forever grateful for the gift. This unique playhouse is something our family will always cherish and serve as a daily reminder of the fight Leigh Ann faces daily to stay alive.

For more information on the Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation or to support the cause, visit texgulf.wish.org

claire.goodman@chron.com
The British government came under fire on social media on Thursday, accused of promoting the idea that the coronavirus was a "great leveller" hitting rich and poor alike.

Debate over the idea -- rejected by most health experts -- that the virus impacts all people equally arose after a BBC television news anchor said it was a myth put around by members of the government.

"The disease is not a great leveller, the consequences of which everyone rich and poor suffers the same," Emily Maitlis said on Wednesday night's prestigious Newsnight show.

"You do not survive the illness through fortitude and strength of character, whatever the prime ministers colleagues will tell us," Maitlis said on BBC television.

This is a myth that needs debunking.

The government said it had no comment on the controversy.

Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in hospital with COVID-19, joining a roll call of ministers, royals and celebrities who have caught the virus.

"The fact that both the prime minister and the health secretary have contracted the virus is a reminder that the virus does not discriminate," Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove told a press conference last month.

But health experts say it is poor people and essential frontline workers who bear the brunt as they are more likely to come into contact with the disease and less likely to get help.

'FIGHTER'

Key members of Johnson's team such as Dominic Raab, who is standing in for Johnson while he recovers, have voiced confidence in his recovery as the prime minister is a "fighter".

But many on Twitter said Raab's language implied that those who have died from the virus -- more than 7,000 in Britain by the latest count -- did not fight hard enough.

"Saying you survive this horrible virus because you are a fighter is an insult to every single person who has died," said Twitter user Neville Robert Gregory.

"Being a fighter does not matter one bit on whether you survive or not," said university researcher Martin Heneghan.

Maitlis said it was lower paid workers, from nurses to manual workers, and people who live in tower blocks and cramped conditions who were more like to catch the disease.

Millions of people in Britain have lost jobs and income as a nationwide lockdown forces many non-essential businesses to close their doors, with the low paid worst hit.

Maps show poor neighbourhoods of cities - from Chicago to Barcelona - take a far bigger hit from the virus than nearby areas that are home to wealthier residents.

"COVID-19 is not the great leveller, people who are lower income are disproportionately impacted," said opposition Labour party politician Rebecca Moynihan.

"Lockdown is a matter of housing, income, work and health privilege."
In global war on coronavirus, some fear civil rights are collateral damage FILE PHOTO: Spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Budapest

By Luke Baker, Matthew Tostevin and Devjyot Ghoshal

LONDON/BANGKOK/DELHI (Reuters) - In Armenia, journalists must by law include information from the government in their stories about COVID-19. In the Philippines, the president has told security forces that if anyone violates the lockdown they should "shoot them dead". In Hungary, the premier can rule by decree indefinitely.

Across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the Americas, governments have introduced states of emergency to combat the spread of the new coronavirus, imposing some of the most stringent restrictions on civil liberties since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, lawyers and human rights campaigners said.

While such experts agree extraordinary measures are needed to tackle the deadliest pandemic in a century, some are worried about an erosion of core rights, and the risk that sweeping measures will not be rolled back afterwards.

"In many ways, the virus risks replicating the reaction to Sept. 11," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, referring to the welter of security and surveillance legislation imposed around the world after the al Qaeda attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 people.

"People were fearful and asked governments to protect them. Many governments took advantage of that to undermine rights in ways that far outlasted the terrorist threat," he told Reuters.

Roth was speaking about legislation in countries including the United States, Britain and EU states which increased collection of visa and immigrant data and counter-terrorism powers.

Some measures imposed in response to a crisis can become normalised, such as longer security queues at airports as a trade-off for feeling safer flying. In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, similar trade-offs may become widely acceptable around issues such as surveillance, according to some political and social commentators.

South Korea's use of mobile phone and other data to track potential carriers of the virus and impose quarantines has been a successful strategy and is a model that could be replicated around the world to guard against pandemics, they say.

Story continues

Political consultant Bruno Macaes, a former Portuguese minister, said people's obsession with privacy had made it harder to combat threats like pandemics, when technology to trace the virus could help.

"I am more and more convinced the greatest battle of our time is against the 'religion of privacy'. It literally could get us all killed," he added.

EXTRAORDINARY CRISIS

As the virus has spread from China across the world, with more than 1.4 million people infected and 82,000 dead, governments have passed laws and issued executive orders.

The first priority of the measures is to protect public health and limit the spread of the disease.

"It's quite an extraordinary crisis, and I don't really have trouble with a government doing sensible if extraordinary things to protect people," said Clive Stafford-Smith, a leading civil rights lawyer.

The U.S.-headquartered International Center for Not-For-Profit Law has set up a database to track legislation and how it impinges on civic freedoms and human rights.

By its count, 68 countries have so far made emergency declarations, while nine have introduced measures that affect expression, 11 have ratcheted up surveillance and a total of 72 have imposed restrictions on assembly.

EXTRAORDINARY POWERS

In Hungary for example, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose party dominates parliament, has been granted the right to rule by decree in order to fight the epidemic, with no time-limit on those powers and the ability to jail people for up to five years if they spread false information or hinder efforts to quell the virus.

The Hungarian government said the law empowered it to adopt only measures for "preventing, controlling and eliminating" the coronavirus. Spokesman Zolan Kovacs said nobody knew how long the pandemic would persist, but that parliament could revoke the extra powers.

In Cambodia, meanwhile, an emergency law has been drafted to give additional powers to Hun Sen, who has been in office for 35 years and has been condemned by Western countries for a crackdown on opponents, civil rights groups and the media. The law is for three months and can be extended if needed.

The Cambodian government did not respond to a request for comment. Hun Sen defended the law at a news conference this week, saying it was only required so that he could declare a state of emergency, if needed, to stop the virus and saving the economy.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former coup leader who kept power after a disputed election last year, has invoked emergency powers that allow him to return to governing by decree. The powers run to the end of the month, but also can be extended.

"The government is only using emergency power where it is necessary to contain the spread of the coronavirus," said Thai government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat.

In the Philippines, the head of police said President Rodrigo Duterte's order to shoot lockdown violators was a sign of his seriousness rather than indicating people would be shot.

Neither the presidential spokesman nor the cabinet secretary responded to a request for comment.

PUBLIC HEALTH

For Roth and other human rights advocates, the dangers are not only to fundamental freedoms but to public health. They say restrictions on the media could limit the dissemination of information helpful in curbing the virus's spread, for instance.

Indian premier Narendra Modi, criticised in the media for a lack of preparedness including inadequate protective gear for health workers, has been accused by opponents of trying to muzzle the press by demanding that it get government clearance before publishing coronavirus news, a request rejected by India's supreme court.

The Indian government did not respond to a request for comment, while the Armenian government said it had no immediate comment. Both have said they want to prevent the spread of misinformation, which could hamper efforts to control the outbreak.

Carl Dolan, head of advocacy at the Open Society European Policy Institute, warned about the tendency for some governments to keep extraordinary powers on their books long after the threat they were introduced to tackle has passed.

Dolan proposed a mandatory review of such measures at least every six months, warning otherwise of a risk of "a gradual slide into authoritarianism".

(Additional reporting by Josh Smith in Seoul, Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh, Krisztina Than in Budapest, Nvard Hovhannisyan in Yerevan, Neil Jerome Morales in Manila, Panu Wongcha-Um in Bangkok, Linda Sieg in Tokyo, John Mair in Sydney, Ben Blanchard in Taipei, Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade and Tsvetelia Tsolova in Sofia; Editing by Pravin Char)
The UK government, on Friday, announced an additional 12 charter flights to repatriate 3,000 Britishers, stranded in India amid lockdown. UK High Commission said that 12 charter flights will rescue Britons from South India, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram.

The 12 additional flights planned next week for London will cover Amritsar on April 13, 17 and 19; Ahmedabad on April 13 and 15; Goa on April 14 and 16 with an additional one via Mumbai on April 18; Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi on April 15; Hyderabad via Ahmedabad on April 17; Kolkata via Delhi on April 19; and Chennai via Bengaluru on April 20.

Also read: India Coronavirus live updates: Maharashtra worst-affected with 1,364 cases; Delhi, Tamil Nadu follow suit

The announcement comes days after the UK High Commission said seven charter flights will bring back its nationals from Mumbai, Delhi, and Goa. With this, a total of 5,000 Britishers will be taken back to their homes in 19 charter flights.

Yesterday, the first charter flight from India reached London, carrying 317 British nationals.

"Over 300 people arrived from Goa on Thursday morning, 1,400 more will arrive over the Easter weekend and these 12 flights next week will bring back thousands more," said Tariq Ahmad, UK Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

To book flights and register their details, British nationals are asked to use the city-specific webpages listed on the FCO's India Travel Advice page. The FCO added that those who are eligible to fly will be sent information on how to get to airports and flight itineraries directly when their seat is confirmed. Details regarding luggage allowance, flight costs and carriers will be available on the booking portal.

Besides India, British travellers have been repatriated from the Philippines, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nepal, Ghana, Tunisia, Algeria and Peru.

Also read: Cognizant withdraws full-year guidance for 2020 amid coronavirus uncertainty

Also read: Coronavirus impact: ADB assures India of $2.2 billion support package
As the Strategic National Stockpile works to build up its nearly depleted reserves of N95 respirators, surgical masks, face shields, gowns and other personal protective equipment for health care workers fighting coronavirus, President Donald Trump is calling on states to accumulate their own reserves.

The Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday that the federal stockpile was deploying 90% of its personal protective equipment to state and local governments. The remaining supplies were reserved for federal response efforts.

The White House is working with manufacturers to replenish the federal stockpile, as well as state stockpiles, which they should have had, the president said Friday, questioning why state PPE reserves were low.

State and local governments were directed by the White House last month to buy their own medical supplies, competing with one another and the federal government.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker told the president during a video conference in late March that the state was outbid by the federal government three times while attempting to get equipment for health care workers and first responders in Massachusetts.

Ive got a feeling that if someone has the chance to sell to you and to sell to me, I am going to lose on every one of those, Baker said during the event at a Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington.

Prices are always a component of that also. And maybe thats why you lost to the feds, OK, thats probably why, Trump said last month to Baker.

In the chaotic bidding war that has driven up prices on protective equipment, Massachusetts is not the only government to report losing their orders.

Officials in at least six states have accused Federal Emergency Management Agency of intercepting shipments.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in an interview with CNN on April 4 that an order for 500 ventilators was taken by FEMA.

An order for three million masks placed by Massachusetts state officials in early March was confiscated at the port of New York.

After the multiple issues with orders, Baker called upon the Kraft family for help. The New England Patriots team plane was used to transport 1.2 million masks to Massachusetts this week.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported federal officials waited until mid-March to place bulk orders for N95 masks and medical supplies needed to fight the coronavirus, nearly two months after international health officials warned COVID-19 could become a global pandemic.

Doctors and nurses have turned to social media to speak out about shortages of protective personal equipment, relying on a single mask per day or homemade masks donated to hospitals.

Related Content
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Overview:

Sugar has been the most widely used sweetener in the world, with its closest substitute being high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Tropical beet sugar is a biennial sugar producing tuber crop developed in temperate countries. It constitutes around 30% of the total world production as well as distributed in more than 45 countries. Sugar beet is efficient converter of solar energy to a form that can be used by animals and men. The top ten sugar beet producing countries include Russia, France, U.S., Germany, Ukraine, Turkey, Poland, China, U.K. and Egypt. Beet sugar is an industrial crop utilized in food processing as well as in production of ethanol and biogas. In tropical countries, the sugar beet crop offers precious alternative to sugarcane. The beet sugar market growth in terms of production and consumption has showcased an upliftment over the past few years and is likely to intensify at a rapid pace during the forecast period.

To Get Free Sample Request Visit @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/11131

Global Beet Sugar: Market Segmentation

The Global Beet Sugar market is segmented on the basis of consumption in industry such as cereal, bakery, ice-cream, confectionery, beverage and dairy industry. Over the next few years, beverage segment is anticipated to grab highest market attractiveness in the global beet sugar market till 2026. The global beet sugar market is also segmented on the basis of function such as regular and medical conditions. The global beet sugar market is also segmented on the basis of organizational structure such as unorganized and organized market. The share of former is anticipated to be more over the forecast period.

Global Beet Sugar Market: Growth Drivers

Rising population and personal disposable income is anticipated to bolster the growth of global Beet Sugar market. Apart from this, changing lifestyle along with urbanization and increasing health related disorders are expected to drive the global Beet Sugar market during the forecast period as the consumption will rise. The advent of new class of customers as well as the entry of various new global players is expected to intensify the growth of Beet Sugar market all across the globe during the forecast period.

Global Beet Sugar Market: Regional Outlook

Geographically, the Global Beet Sugar industry can be divided by major regions which include North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America contributed the highest share in the global Beet Sugar market in 2015. The size of America has been doubled over the past few years in production of beet sugar. For growers in Western and Central Europe, it is already a high value crop. But in Eastern Europe, while acreage and volumes are maximum, there is significant scope to increase quality of seed. Over the next few years, Asia Pacific is expected to expand at a higher pace during the forecast period. India is expected to be the worlds fastest growing market, driven by increasing standard of living. Apart from this, gains in developing regions such as Middle-east and Africa will also be strengthened by changing standard of living. Advances in Western Europe is expected to benefit from strong incline in number of new housing units.

For More Details and Order Copy of this Report Visit @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/11131

Global Beet Sugar Market: Players

Some of the key vendors identified across the value chain of the global Beet Sugar market include syngenta, Renuka beet sugar, Spreckals Sugar Company, Michigan Sugar Company, Amalgamated Sugar Company. Various players are anticipated to appear in the industry with the manufacturing of new and innovative products in the industry. The companies are anticipated to invest in research and development in order to expand the business and to maintain the market share in the global beet sugar market.
ROME - In the countries hit hardest by the coronavirus, Europe's faltering response to the pandemic turned into a wounding indictment of the continent's unity, accelerating feelings of Euroskepticism and prompting Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to warn that the bloc faces a "real" risk of collapse.

Although the immediate crisis has, for now, been averted with a deal announced late Thursday that would send hundreds of millions of euros to the hardest hit countries, the fractious debate over how to respond to the virus's vast economic fallout bore resemblance to the euro-zone crisis of a decade ago, with the economically fragile south trying to win support from countries in the more stable north.

In Italy, nationalist politicians for years have bashed the European Union, but this time it's been the pro-EU establishment in Rome that wondered whether the bloc was failing one of its most critical tests.

"There is no doubt that if our response isn't strong and unified, if Europe fails to come up with a monetary and financial policy adequate for the biggest challenge since World War II, for sure not only Italians but European citizens will be deeply disappointed," Conte said in an interview with the BBC.

The frustration in Italy started building after EU countries last month were slow to come to Italy's aid with medical supplies. The EU belatedly stepped up its efforts, but resentment crested as leaders bickered over how to support the bloc's stricken economies. A Thursday meeting of EU finance ministers ended with a $590 billion compromise after days of bitterness, but it was clear that tough discussions would continue over future rounds of rescue efforts.

Italy, as well as Spain, France and several other nations, had asked that newly issued debt be shared across the bloc. An alternative involved extending loans with tough conditions to the most economically vulnerable countries, similar to the aid to Greece during the financial crisis. The Netherlands was Italy's main opponent, backed by Germany, Finland and other wealthy nations.

The deal - which still needs to be signed off by national leaders - would use the euro zone's bailout fund to offer up to $262 billion in credit lines to struggling countries. In a nod to Italy's concerns, the demands placed on countries that sought the money would be minimal. An additional $109 billion would go toward support for employment programs that aim to avoid layoffs. Other programs would support struggling businesses and help fund medical relief efforts. And the agreement left open the possibility that euro zone countries eventually share borrowing costs.

"European bonds were put on the table, conditionalities on the [bailout fund] were kept off the table," tweeted Italian Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri after the meeting, signaling Italian support.

Even before the economic talks became testy, the bloc was already under fire for its slow moves to address the health crisis triggered by the pandemic - although on that front, it had a somewhat legitimate rationale, because, until now, countries have fiercely guarded public health issues from oversight in Brussels.

On economic issues, there is no way to escape blame: They are at the core of the EU. But senior EU officials have battled one another even as unemployment has skyrocketed from Lisbon to Helsinki.

Leaders suggested, optimistically, that what would be remembered is the compromise, not the fighting.

"We can all remember the response to the financial crisis of the last decade, when Europe did too little too late. This time around is different," said Portuguese Finance Minister Mario Centeno, who led the discussions.

Analysts said that a deal was desperately needed for the sake of the EU's future.

"There is the question of what do we need Europe for, there's this relevance question. This is not about charity," said Janis Emmanouilidis, director of studies at the European Policy Center, a Brussels-based think tank.

Economists aren't sure how much spending may be needed to jump-start economies across Europe, although they expect it will ultimately be in the trillions. Senior EU officials have floated ideas to boost the common EU budget by $1.6 trillion in the coming years to help fight the crisis. And each of the 27 EU countries probably will have to borrow deeply to help support devastated citizens and businesses.

The main issue is how to pay to reboot Europe's economy once the pandemic eases. Economists forecast that the collective economy of the 19 countries that share the euro currency will contract by more than 10 percent this year - far worse than at the height of the global financial crisis or the euro crisis that followed.

During the euro crisis, Italy, Spain and Greece all faced deep financial difficulties, and long felt anger that northern European countries were unwilling to allow them to pool their credit and borrow money collectively.

This time, Italy and Spain had the misfortune for now to be hit the worst by the coronavirus pandemic, meaning that through cruel coincidence, the countries with some of the most painful scars from the euro crisis also have the deepest economic needs now. It has not taken long for old anger to burst forth.

In Italy, a poll published by La Repubblica newspaper indicated that 70 percent of Italians say they had little or no trust in the EU Across the country, mayors have pulled down EU flags from city hall buildings.

"We believe in Europe but expect it to support our Italy and other nations suffering because of an epochal health-care emergency, and a perhaps more devastating economic crisis," said Piergiorgio Ferretti, the mayor of Atri, in the Abruzzo region, who removed the EU flag for 24 hours in what he called a symbolic "scream for help."

- - -

The Washington Post's Quentin Aries in Brussels contributed to this report.
G S Vasu By

A few years before he passed away in 2004, in a private meeting with a few journalists at the Hyderabad Raj Bhavan suite, the usually reticent P V Narasimha Rao voiced his regret over the dramatic economic reforms he ushered in during the nineties. The results had not been what he envisioned - the top 10% of the population took most of the gains while practically everyone else was left behind. Most of us, Indias middle class that is, were kept busy by the shiniest gadgets and the big, swanky malls. The subsequent decades have hardly been different as the market economy managed to tighten its grip.

As thousands of migrants leave our metropolitan cities on foot to go back to their villages with back-breaking loads, I am haunted by that conversation.

To what extent has the crisis were witnessing today been in motion for years? Life has been thrown out of gear in a matter of hours following the sudden imposition of lockdown, yet it means something dramatically different for some, as those who can afford to stay home begin exchanging ideas to kill time and the particularly inventive consider making money out of the pandemic. Through every conversation, debate and sermon alike, whether interpersonal or on television, the same question keeps surfacing: How have we, as a society, come to this grossly inequitable situation, and are seemingly comfortable with it? This is not to suggest that this is, in any way, a new phenomenon. Indeed, almost every Constitutional debate was centred around social and economic inequality. But what was relegated to the realm of pundits in the post-reform era has now become impossible to ignore in the COVID-19 moment.

Consider this: The latest UN Human Development Index ranks India among the top three countries where inequity is rising at an alarming pace. This is hardly surprising. For almost two decades (2000-2018) the bottom half received 10-15% of the total income. At the same time, with 138 billionaires, we are now next only to China (799) and the US (626). Less than half of Indias urban workers have a regular, salaried job. The rest are drivers, vendors, domestic workers and the new-age digital gig economy workers, all with zero social protections. The two glittering cities, Delhi and Mumbai, have around half of its populations living in slums where 50-100 people are often seen sharing a single bathroom. Eight-lane expressways and bullet trains find their way into budgets, but not housing for the poor. New research reveals how India is in a way unique in the creation of its billionaires.

It is one of the few countries in the world where billionaires are aided by the state with a majority of them representing sectors such as telecom, mining and construction, largely thriving from the benefits doled out by the establishment in the form of free/subsidised land, allotment of mines and so on.

In an economy largely driven by the market, the state has been slowly giving up its primary duty of being custodian for the people at large. It has chosen instead to protect the interests of a privileged few in the guise of trickle-down economics. Yet, in the past few weeks, we have witnessed corporates and the ultra-rich show up with crores of rupees in donations, eager to be the face of the coronavirus solution. This is, of course, much needed funding in this current moment.

At the same time, we should be cautious of what it represents. Whats the business model of being a do-gooder? How are we seeing corporate foundations pledge tons of money as we simultaneously witness layoffs?

In the 2019 book Winners Take All, Anand Giridharadas, a former McKinsey consultant, argues that the elite follow a win-win formula, where they are willing to fight for so-called equality, except in ways that threaten their position at the top. This applies as much to corporates (an online retailer who pays as low as Rs 15,000 a month to a delivery boy, but generously donates a few hundred million as aid) as to organisations that profess to do good work without actually challenging the system. Let us for a moment set aside suspicions over intent. Should our gravest problems be solved by consultants, tech companies and corporates instead of public institutions? In the Indian context, the state abandoned its role in two critical areas - health and education.

Consider health: Some of the best doctors are a product of government-funded medical colleges, but less than 10% of them want to work in a government hospital. The state provides medical insurance for the poor and corporate hospitals are the ones that profit from it (the very same corporate hospitals now generously contribute to relief funds). When a crisis unfolds, workers and doctors of neglected government hospitals are once again on the front line.

Its no different in the field of education. The best teachers would be those who studied at public-funded institutions but later prefer to work for private institutes (like hospitals, quite a few corporate educational groups too handed out fat cheques for the relief fund).

This is a moment for us to reimagine the kind of systems we want to build. Real reform is when public good is a duty discharged by the state, one that the polity can hold it accountable to, and not the charity of a benevolent few. Public institutions that have been pushed to the margins are beginning to be revealed as critical solutions to social problems. The demand should not be a return to normalcy for it is now impossible to deny that the normal was dysfunctional. (Admission: The writer is as guilty as anyone else)

GS VASU is the Editor, The New Indian Express. E-mail: vasu@newindianexpress.com
New Delhi, April 10 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has hailed the work done by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), Auxiliary Nurses and Midwives (ANMs) and Anganwadi workers in fighting coronavirus.

He said that as a nation, "we owe them and their families a huge debt of gratitude for the tremendous personal sacrifices each of them is making".

Rahul Gandhi's open letter dated April 9 to these workers lauded their dedication and courage for putting their lives at risk on the frontlines of India's battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The greatest form of patriotism is to serve our country in her hour of need. Our community workers are true patriots, our unsung heroes, who toil tirelessly away from the limelight, to keep our communities safe in the midst of this grave crisis," wrote the former Congress President.

"I salute each and every community worker for their service to the nation and pray that they and their families will remain safe through this pandemic." "In an environment where fear and misinformation pose a bigger danger than the virus itself, community workers have a key role to play in educating people about the dangers of COVID-19 and the manner in which it is transmitted," Rahul Gandhi pointed out.

Rahul said that he hoped when this crisis is over their exemplary services will serve as a catalyst for deep-rooted changes in their work conditions.
[April 10, 2020] Coalfire's Bayerkohler Wins Women Leaders In Technology Award

WESTMINSTER, Colo., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Coalfire, a provider of cybersecurity advisory and assessment services, announced today that Anne Bayerkohler, director of quality and compliance at Coalfire, has been honored by Consulting Magazine's Women Leaders in Technology Awards in the Excellence in Leadership category. Consulting Magazine has added the Technology category in their awards slate this year in response to the profound impact women make for their clients and firms in critical fields including cybersecurity advisory services. Bayerkohler joined Coalfire in 2014, bringing 15 years' experience in Quality Assurance IT services, cybersecurity and the payments card industry. She is an award-winnig educator and internal auditor, sits on the Coalfire Diversity and Inclusion Council, and co-founded RISE, a group supporting women in cybersecurity at Coalfire. RISE stands for Recruit, Influence, Support, Educate.



"Since founding RISE, Coalfire's female technical staff has grown from less than 10% to more than 26%, nearly twice the average in the cybersecurity industry," said Bayerkohler. "I am glad to work for a consulting company where I can be a leader to the benefit of all my colleagues and our clients. The bottom line is this: your gender should not affect your opportunities."

Winners' profiles will be published in the April issue of Consulting Magazine, and honored at the recognition awards brunch at the in Chicago in August, 2020.

About Coalfire

Coalfire is the trusted cybersecurity advisor that helps private and public sector organizations avert threats, close gaps and effectively manage risk. By providing independent and tailored advice, assessments, technical testing and cyber engineering services, we help clients develop scalable programs that improve their security posture, achieve their business objectives and fuel their continued success. Coalfire has been a cybersecurity thought leader for nearly 20 years and has offices throughout the United States and Europe. For more information, visit www.coalfire.com. For media inquiries:

Mike Gallo

(212) 239-8594

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/coalfires-bayerkohler-wins-women-leaders-in-technology-award-301038359.html SOURCE Coalfire

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
They are Already Here

By Sarah Scoles

Pegasus. 248 pp. $27.95

---

Intimate Alien

By David J. Halperin

Stanford. 292 pp. $26

---

The Contact Paradox

By Keith Cooper

Bloomsbury. 336 pp. $28

---

UFO sightings happen in clusters. The same is true of books about UFOs. While clusters of UFO sightings are called "flaps," there is no similar term for clusters of UFO books. I propose calling them a "Sagan" (despite the risk of implying that there are billions and billions of them).

The 1950s saw one Sagan, with Gray Barker and Frank Scully shaping our idea of flying saucers while skeptics sought to expose them as Barnum-esque bunk-peddlers. Another occurred in the 1970s, with Erich von Daniken and Charles Berlitz pointing to phenomena like the carved stone heads on Easter Island as evidence that ancient astronauts influenced the development of humanity. In the 1990s, Whitley Strieber's "Communion," first published in 1987, ushered in a host of alien abduction books. In each of these Sagans, half the authors required observed phenomena to believe in extraterrestrial contact, while the skeptics worked to show that the reports were false or had alternative, more likely explanations.

We are in the midst of a new Sagan of UFO books that is different and, frankly, more interesting. The central concern in these books is not truth but meaning. UFOlogy is similar in many ways to religion. While writers from Thomas Aquinas to Richard Dawkins argue for and against belief in God, a different approach was taken by William James, who sets aside concern about God's existence and starts from the fact that people do have religious experiences. Whether or not there is a God, James asks, what does it mean that there are so many who have these transcendent experiences? Sarah Scoles's "They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers," David J. Halperin's "Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO" and Keith Cooper's "The Contact Paradox: Challenging Our Assumptions in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" take a similar approach to the question of UFOs. Maybe we have been visited, maybe not (probably not), but regardless, what does it mean that so many of us have these experiences and beliefs?

Scoles treats UFOlogy sincerely as a religion replete with congregations and sects, holy sites, sacred texts, and theological debates. A lapsed Mormon, Scoles sees parallels between her religion and UFOlogy, both derived from American culture, not Middle Eastern antiquity. "They Are Already Here" presents the reader with an exploration of this new religion - its leaders, schisms and followers - while reading like a travel narrative. Scoles, often accompanied by her sister, visits Area 51, Roswell, UFO conventions and offbeat roadside attractions. She does not get into Area 51 or provide insider information about government coverups or alien autopsies. Rather, she camps in the vicinity, takes sketchy private tours, gets approached by park rangers and federal agents, gets scared by trucks rumbling by during the night, and chats with lots of people. Her interest is not in supporting or debunking claims, but in understanding the beliefs and the believers.

Scoles successfully navigates between otherizing (making people into bizarre, foreign objects) and going native (becoming one of the group observed). She is charitable, treating those she meets as rounded individuals full of hope and pain, not as a motley collection of rubes and charlatans to be mocked. Yet, she maintains her position as an outsider journalist making sense of the intricate stew of conspiracy theory, spectacle and kitsch. Scoles marries a thoughtful objectivity with a warm subjectivity as she talks to serious-minded UFO report investigators, tour guides for ET sightseers, and movers and shakers in the UFOlogy community.

Where Scoles is always careful to distance herself from the UFOlogist congregants, Halperin admits to being a lifelong member. Growing up a smart but alienated child with a terminally ill mother in the early 1960s, he buried himself in the world of ETs, full of mystery. He became a professor of religious studies, researching Jewish mysticism - and realizing that his youthful fascination and professional studies were intertwined.

Halperin considers extraterrestrials to be a myth. But where we commonly use that word to mean a false story, he takes it as a technical term from a Jungian perspective. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung held that there is a universally shared portion of the unconscious mind that connects all people and shows itself in myths: deep-seated mental constructs used to make sense of the world.

UFOs, Halperin argues, are such myths. They do not come from space but from the human mind. This does not make them false, he contends; quite the opposite. What they expose about us individually and collectively is, in fact, a much deeper truth.

Those who seek to debunk UFO claims focus wrongly on the object of the experience (flying saucers, aliens with large eyes, men in black). But whether or not the object of the experience is real, the experience itself certainly is. Indeed, the experiences are held to be deeply meaningful. We can suspend belief about the object of an experience while honoring the experience itself as worthy of intellectual analysis. Whether aliens have visited Earth or not, what do the commonalities in the experiences of those who have engaged with UFOs say about us?

The first promoted story of alien abduction involved Barney and Betty Hill, a mixed-race couple, in 1961. Shortly after an uncomfortable experience with racist ruffians, the Hills claimed, they were abducted by a UFO. Halperin examines the transcripts of the Hills under hypnosis, noting language that uncannily connects to the experiences of enslaved Africans. Could such experiences be buried in the subconscious of those whose ancestors lived through them? Do our UFO experiences allow us to direct away from Earth that which we need to unearth within ourselves?

In "The Contact Paradox," Cooper approaches the question from the opposite direction. Where Scoles and Halperin look at past claims of extraterrestrial interactions, Cooper looks at those who are seeking them using our best current theories and tools. The editor of Astronomy Now and Astrobiology Magazine, Cooper examines the assumptions and inferences made by the professional researchers engaged in the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project. The presuppositions of scientists seeking evidence of life beyond Earth tell us a lot about what we consider the essence of the life-forms doing the looking.

Searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life is trickier than it would seem. Just listen for a signal, we say. But what kind of signal? How do we know if it is a signal? What would be used to send the signal? We think automatically of large radio telescopes, their concave dishes pointing skyward. But what frequency should we monitor looking for non-random noise?

Scientists have reasoned that you often find different kinds of life around a water hole, so we should look at the telescopic water hole. Chemical elements emit telltale frequencies when excited. Hydrogen peaks at 1420 MHz and a molecule of hydrogen and oxygen at 1666 MHz. Since the two combine to create water, the radio telescopes keep track of what they hear between those two frequencies - the water hole. It would make sense if there was someone out there like us trying to contact us.

But would the life out there be like us? What other kinds of intelligences could there be? Cooper points out that there are other sorts of intelligences right here on Earth: dolphins, octopi, elephants. We need to understand how they think to broaden our sense of what we might be looking for.

And what has been the result of contact between earthly cultures? Sometimes the interactions are friendly, but often they are exploitative. Should we be afraid of extraterrestrial life? Are we better off not knowing whether there is anyone out there, lest they actually be like us? Cooper weaves together the thoughts of leading scientists, science fiction writers and social scientists to ponder these questions.

The great virtue of Cooper's discussion is that it gives readers a picture of living science. Too often, science is presented as fixed, solved, completed. Cooper shows us scientists disagreeing, presenting and supporting alternative theories, and gives clear discussions of the differing views, letting the science live.

So, is there intelligent life beyond Earth? This Sagan of books will not answer that question. But what these three books will do is make you think much more deeply about what such questions mean. If you look into a telescope backward, it becomes a microscope. Looking from both ends can be the source of fascinating insights.

---

Gimbel is a professor at Gettysburg College and the author of "Einstein's Jewish Science: Physics at the Intersection of Politics and Religion."
Governments from the 19 countries that use the euro overcame sharp differences to agree on Thursday on measures that could provide more than a half-trillion euros (550 billion US dollars) for companies, workers and health systems to cushion the economic impact of the virus outbreak.

Mario Centeno, who heads the finance ministers' group from euro countries, called the package of measures agreed upon "totally unprecedented."

The deal struck on Thursday among the finance ministers did not, however, include more far-reaching cooperation in the form of shared borrowing guaranteed by all member countries.

The officials left that issue open, pushing the question to their national leaders to sort out down the road as part of a further discussion about a fund to support the economic recovery in the longer term.

Borrowing together to pay for the costs of the crisis was a key demand from Italy, Spain, France and six other countries.

Italy and other indebted members are expected to see their debt load increase because of the recession caused by the virus outbreak.

But shared debt was rejected by Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

The question now is whether the package will be seen as big enough to impress markets and enable eurozone governments to handle new accumulations of government debt from the recession.

The concern is that increased borrowing could in the longer term trigger a new eurozone financial crisis like the one that threatened the currency union in 2010-2015.

For now, bond-market borrowing costs of indebted countries such as Italy are being held in check by the European Central Bank, which has launched an 870 trillion-euro bond purchase program. But that program is so far limited in size or duration.

The ministers agreed that hard-pressed governments such as Spain and Italy could quickly tap the eurozone's bailout fund for up to 240 billion euros (260 billion US dollars), with the condition that the money is spent on their health care systems and the credit line expires after the outbreak is over.

A dispute over conditions had held up a decision at a conference on Tuesday.

The agreement also provides for up to 200 billion euros in credit guarantees through the European Investment Bank to keep companies afloat and 100 billion euros (110 billion US dollars) to make up lost wages for workers put on shorter hours.

The deal overcame bitter disagreement between Italy and the Netherlands over the conditions for loans from the bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Italy had rejected the idea of using the fund because of the ESM's requirement that the money come with conditions to reform.

That recalled the tough conditions that recalled the austerity imposed on Greece, Ireland and other indebted eurozone countries that were bailed out during the eurozone debt crisis.

The compromise struck in the final statement says that countries could borrow up to two per cent of annual economic output at favourable rates to finance "direct or indirect" costs of the current health crisis.

Centeno said during a post-decision video news conference that he expected countries to be able to identify enough health costs to access the money.

The package comes on top of extensive spending measures at the national level by member governments.

The European Union has also taken the unprecedented steps of setting aside its limits on debts and subsidies by national governments to their home companies.
Top crude producers will on Thursday hold a crucial teleconference to discuss a possible cut in output after a collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus and a damaging Saudi-Russia price war caused a crash in the market. The talks between OPEC and its allies including Russia (OPEC+) along with key non-members is seen as the best chance to provide some much-needed support to prices, which are wallowing around two-decade lows. The conference, scheduled for 1400 GMT on Thursday, is a critical focus for investors in a market that remains highly volatile, with experts warning that without concerted action -- expectations are for a 10 million barrel-a-day cut -- the commodity could suffer another painful sell-off. But hopes are that a deal can be done. Last week US President Donald Trump claimed Russia and Saudi Arabia would step back from their stand-off and agree to slash output. Then OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia called for an urgent meeting of producers "to try to reach a fair deal" to "stabilise the oil market" following a phone call between its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Trump. And on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported that Moscow said it is willing to cut its output by about 1.6 million barrels a day, or about 15 percent, smoothing the path towards a deal. "The extraordinary producing-countries meeting is the only hope on the horizon for the market that could prevent a total price collapse," said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy. Saudi Arabia will on Friday host a separate virtual gathering of energy ministers from the Group of 20 major economies in a similar bid to ensure "market stability". Oil prices have slumped since the beginning of the year as the COVID-19 pandemic sends the planet into lockdown and brings the global economy to a virtual standstill. Compounding the problem, Riyadh and Moscow have both ramped up output in a bid to hold on to market share and undercut US shale producers. But Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow was prepared to discuss a reduction of about 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in order to "balance the market" and curb oversupply. That is roughly equivalent to what Saudi Arabia and Russia both produced each day in February, according to OPEC data. - Output cutbacks need consensus - "Saudi Arabia and Russia have been extremely clear that they will cut production if -- and only if -- other major oil producers join in as well," said SEB oil analyst, Bjarne Schieldrop. However, there are worries about the participation of Washington. The US is battling to breathe new life into its shale industry, which has transformed the nation into the world's top producer, but which cannot sustain its high cost base as prices collapse. Yet its oil sector appears reluctant to trim production, having extracted a near-record 13 million barrels per day in the final week of March. This fell to 12.4 million bpd last week. At the same time, the global supply glut has pushed oil storage to its maximum limits, forcing many producers to scale back output. Ten oil-producing nations from outside the wider OPEC+ alliance, including the United States, have been asked to take part in Thursday's meeting, Russian news agency TASS reported. Canada, Britain, Norway, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, and Trinidad and Tobago have also been invited. The International Energy Agency warned Monday that the world is set for its first annual decline in oil consumption in more than a decade because of the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak has shut down large swathes of the global economy, including key sectors such as air travel, manufacturing and retail. The global oil glut could reach 25 million bpd in April, according to Rystad Energy.
Googles high-tech Duplex AI calling service has quietly made its way to the UK, Australia and Canada. The tech giant originally launched the feature in the US back in 2018 before it started a pilot testing for it in New Zealand a year later. With Duplex, you can ask Google Assistant to call, say, restaurants or car rentals for you, so you can make a table reservation or book a vehicle.

VentureBeat has spotted a change on a Help Center page that shows the phone numbers Google will use to call business owners per country. The updated list now includes the UK, Australia and Canada in addition to the US and New Zealand.

According to the publication, though, those countries arent getting the full Duplex experience yet. Google told VentureBeat that this rollout is part of the companys efforts to confirm businesses operating hours using the Duplex AI. The tech giant is taking steps to include businesses status and hours in search results, so that people dont go out unnecessarily while the world is still trying to flatten the coronavirus curve.
Attorney General Bill Barr has vigorously defended President Trump's controversial decision to fire the independent inspector general who transmitted a whistleblower's report to Congress about Trump's contact with Ukraine.

Trump late Friday fired the IG, Michael Atkinson, calling him a 'disgrace' and complained: 'Never came in to see me, never requested to see me.' Atkinson complied with reporting requirements set out in statute, which contain an area of friction between congressional and executive authority.

Barr, who has proven to be one of the president's most loyal defenders since Trump nominated him, supported the action in remarks he made on Fox News host Laura Ingraham's show.

Attorney General William Barr said President Trump 'was correct' in firing the IG for the intelligence community, Michael Atkinson

'He was obliged to follow the interpretation of the Department of Justice and he ignored it,' Barr said. 'I think a president was correct in firing him,' he said.

Bar said Atkinson should have followed Justice Department guidance not to hand over the information, which ultimately contributed to Trump's impeachment.

Atkinson reported the whistleblower's report, deemed an 'urgent concern,' in accordance with the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act. That triggered a waiting period before required reporting to Congress. The law states that the director of national intelligence 'shall' provide reports to congressional committees.

In the case of the report on Trump's call to the president of Ukraine, which Trump has said repeatedly was a 'perfect call,' that brought it into the domain of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff of California.

Trump soon after the firing railed against Atkinson, a career official who spent 15 years at the Justice Department before assuming his IG post in 2018.

'I thought he did a terrible job, absolutely terrible.' His words indicated the firing was retribution for his conduct regarding the whistleblower. 'He took a fake report and he took it to Congress,' Trump said.

Barr also called Russia probe an effort to 'sabotage the presidency.' He spoke on Fox News host Laura Ingraham's program

Michael Atkinson, the fired inspector general of the intelligence community, provided Congress with a whistle-blower's report about Trump's infamous call to the president of Ukraine

Trump has been lashing out at inspectors general for a period of days

Atkinson shot back in a statement Sunday: 'It is hard not to think that the Presidents loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial InspectorGeneral, and from my commitment to continue to do so,' he said.

He added: 'The American people deserve an honest and effective government. They are counting on you to use authorized channels to bravely speak up  there is no disgrace for doing so.'

Trump has been lashing out at inspectors general for a period of days, including the IG who authored a devastating report based on interviews with hospital executives about a lack of medical equipment to combat the coronavirus.

Barr has also been a devoted Trump defender on the Russia probe, bringing on a U.S. attorney to probe the FBI's conduct at the start of the investigation.

Barr believes the Russia investigation that shadowed President Donald Trump for the first two years of his administration was started without any basis and amounted to an effort to 'sabotage the presidency,' he said in an interview with Fox News Channel.

Barr offered no support for his assertion that the FBI lacked a basis for opening the investigation and made no mention of the fact that the bureau began its probe after a Trump campaign adviser purported to have early knowledge that Russia had dirt on Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

Barr, who has appointed a U.S. attorney to lead an investigation into the origins of the Russia probe, said the Justice Department has evidence there was 'something far more troubling' than just mistakes during the investigation that eventually morphed into special counsel Robert Muellers probe.

'I think the president has every right to be frustrated, because I think what happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American history,' Barr said in the interview with Fox News Channel's Laura Ingraham that aired Thursday night.

The attorney general said the FBI launched its counterintelligence investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia 'without any basis.'

'Even more concerning, actually, is what happened after the campaign, a whole pattern of events while he was president,' Barr said. 'To sabotage the presidency, and I think that - or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency.'

The Justice Department's inspector general found the FBI was justified in opening an investigation into ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia - to protect against a national security threat - and found the bureau didnt act with political bias.

Trump and his supporters are counting on different conclusions from the separate investigation led by John Durham, the U.S. attorney Barr selected to examine the early days of the Russia probe. Durhams investigation is ongoing, and Barr did not provide any evidence about what Durham has found so far.

Barr has been a loyal supporter of Trump since becoming attorney general, though their positive relationship showed signs of fraying earlier this year when Barr said in a television interview that Trump's tweets about ongoing Justice Department cases made it 'impossible' for him to do his job.

Mueller concluded that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election, but his investigation didnt find sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Trumps campaign and Russia. Mueller also examined about a dozen possible instances of obstruction of justice and has pointedly said he could not exonerate the president.

The inspector generals report identified significant problems with applications to receive and renew warrants to monitor the communications of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2016 and 2017. Investigators were concerned about Pages ties to Russia, but never charged him with any wrongdoing. Inspector General Michael Horowitz told senators the FBI failed to follow its own standards for accuracy and completeness when it sought warrants from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to monitor Pages communications.

The report detailed 17 errors and omissions during those wiretap applications, including failing to tell the court when questions were raised about the reliability of some of the information it had presented to receive the warrants. Those mistakes prompted internal changes within the FBI and spurred a congressional debate over whether the bureaus surveillance tools should be reined in.

But Barr believes they were more than just mistakes, offering a personal view of the probe, a highly unusual move for a prosecutor in an ongoing investigation.

'My own view is that the evidence shows that were not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness,' he said. 'There is something far more troubling here, and were going to get to the bottom of it.

The FBI opened its investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia on July 31, 2016.

By that point, Russian hackers had broken into the Clinton campaign and other Democratic email accounts and George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser, had boasted to a diplomat that he was aware that Russia had derogatory information on Clinton.

Though Trump and Barr have seized on errors made during the surveillance of Page, the investigation had already been underway for months by the time the first application was filed.




Janie Kasse already had full-time and part-time jobs, but after her mother's assisted living facility closed its doors to visitors amid the Covid-19 pandemic, she knew she needed a third job.

As a hospitality aide at the Jeffersonville, Indiana, facility housing her mother.

"My mom is so used to seeing me all the time, and she just doesn't understand why she can't come out of her room and why I can't take her shopping and out to eat. It's hard on her," Kasse told HLN.

Kasse's mom, Carol Chesser, has been at Windsor Ridge since being involved in a near-fatal car crash. According to the Courier-Journal newspaper, across the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky, Chesser suffered a traumatic brain injury during a New Year's Eve car crash in 1976.

The 65-year-old can't read, write or use the phone, Kasse said. If a staff member turns on her television, which is definitely not Chesser's favorite pastime, it remains on until another staffer turns it off, her daughter said.

Kasse worried that while other residents might have things to do, such as crosswords or FaceTiming relatives, Chesser has no such faculty.

"They have the ability to do a lot of other thing to keep their minds busy, and my mom doesn't, so if she's not coloring -- which she loves to do -- she's just sitting there," Kasse said. "For me, I just couldn't imagine sitting there just all day."

Kasse was working full-time as an office manager and part-time as an event planner, but she figured she'd have time for a third occupation if it meant being able to see her mom.

"Even if she watches the news, she doesn't understand what she's hearing, so for me it was just a no-brainer," Kasse said. "The facility was hiring for a hospitality aide. They had been hiring that position before the pandemic and I applied and said, 'Why not? Let's just work there and then I can work my shift and then spend a little bit of time with her.'"

She now works 15 to 20 hours a week at Windsor Ridge, delivering meals. She spends the end of each shift with her mother, coloring and watching TV.

"A lot of the time, I'm just explaining to her again why she has to stay in her room," Kasse said.

After Tuesday night's shift, she reminded Chesser that she needed to stay in her room for her own safety, and her mother responded that she felt like she might be stuck in her room for the rest of her life.

"I was like, 'No you're not, I promise. We're going to go shopping. We're going to get to go do fun stuff, but right now this is really what's best for you,' and I have to remind her that everybody there is in their rooms.

"I think she feels like it's just her, so I'm glad I get to come in and spend a little time with her every now and then," Kasse said.
President Donald Trump arrives at the press briefing room flanked by Attorney General William Barr and other administration officials in Washington on April 1, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Barr: Probe of Trump Campaign One of the Greatest Travesties in American History

Attorney General William Barr said that the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign in 2016 was one of the greatest travesties in American history.

Barr told Fox News on April 9 that hes troubled by the findings from the probe of the FBI by U.S. Attorney John Durham, whos scrutinizing the origins of the probe as well as what the bureau did after Donald Trump was elected president.

My own view is that the evidence shows that were not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness, Barr told Fox News Laura Ingraham. There was something far more troubling here. Were going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted.

Barr told Congress last year the FBI spied on the Trump campaign. He said April 9 that the president has every right to be frustrated by the investigation.

The Department of Justice inspector general found that the FBIs applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) contained a plethora of significant errors and omissions.

What happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American historywithout any basis, they started this investigation of his campaign, Barr said.

And even more concerning, actually, is what happened after the campaign. A whole pattern of events while he was president to sabotage the presidency or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency.

The bureau obtained four warrants from the court to spy on Trump campaign associate Carter Page. An unverified dossier composed by a former foreign intelligence officer and funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee played a crucial role in the bureaus decision to spy on Page, the DOJ inspector general concluded.

Unlike Inspector General Michael Horowitz, whose task was to prepare a report on what the FBI did, Durhams primary assignment is to determine if there is sufficient evidence of a crime and bring those responsible to justice, Barr said.

It takes some time to build a case. Hes diligently pursuing it, Barr said.

The FISC responded to the findings of the DOJ inspector generals report by ordering the FBI to outline what actions its taking to convince the court that the bureaus Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications can be trusted again.

The bureau responded with an extensive list of reforms, which it is currently implementing. Alarmed by the issues with the use of FISA to spy on Carter Page, the inspector general reviewed 29 other FISA applications and found similar issues with every application audited.

I think its very sad, and the people who abused FISA have a lot to answer for because this was an important tool to protect the American people, Barr said. They abused it. They undercut public confidence in FISA, but also the FBI as an institution, and we have to rebuild that.
The Ontario government has passed an emergency order forbidding daycares from charging parents for services not rendered during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Since the province declared a state of emergency in mid-March, all licensed child-care centres have been shuttered. While some suspended fees, others continued to demand full payment.

The province is now temporarily preventing child-care centres from collecting payments from parents, while also ensuring that their child-care spaces are protected, the government said in a release issued Friday.

COVID-19 has imposed significant financial pressure on working parents, said Education Minister Stephen Lecce in a statement.

We need to support our parents who may be facing reduced income or layoffs during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The province said the order immediately prevents any child-care operator from charging parent fees where care is not being provided, exempting those that recently opened to provide care for the kids of front-line workers.

The order also means that parents cannot lose their child-care space because they are not paying fees during this period. This will help provide much needed relief for parents during the outbreak, the government also said.

Lecce said we are defending the interests of consumers and protecting parents hard-earned money by ordering child-care centres to stop charging fees for services not rendered, and noted the federal government has supports in place for businesses to help stay afloat during the pandemic.

Parents have been increasingly vocal about the issue of child-care payments, calling them an unreasonable financial demand during the coronavirus crisis  given the provinces rising jobless numbers  and considering their children are not receiving any care.

Online petitions have sprung up, including one on change.org that noted the inconsistencies, saying many families were being charged full child-care fare for services not rendered. Other parents are saying that their daycares will not be charging them or a credit will be given towards future service.

The order also applies to Montessori preschools.

Markham mom Carey Chan  who is behind the change.org petition  had asked if the government is mandating all child-care centres to close, why is there a difference in the treatment of parents?

Her family, with two children, was looking at a loss of about $10,000.

In Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador, provincial governments are covering daycare costs  including staff wages  while parent fees are suspended.

British Columbia is supporting shuttered child-care centres by covering fixed operating costs, like rent or lease payments.

Lecce said Ontario is working with federal and municipal partners to ensure that our child-care operators remain sustainable, because one day ... we will emerge from this difficulty and we need to get women and men to re-enter the workforce.

Our government believes child care is important to ensuring that people can re-enter the workforce with confidence their child is cared for, he told reporters.

But child-care advocates, who have been urging additional funding for programs since they were ordered closed in March, say they are surprised Lecce had nothing more concrete to offer Saturday.

Many centres were in dire financial straits before COVID-19, said Carolyn Ferns with the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care. Its pretty hard for a centre to hold a space for a child if the centre is closed when this is over.

Unlike other businesses, child care will be needed the minute the economy gets out of hibernation and parents return to work, she argued.

Otherwise nobody is going to be going back to work because they wont have child care, she said.

In Ontario, child-care fees  the highest in Canada  are on average about $1,400 a month.

The Ontario government has previously announced a one-time, $200 payment to families for each child up to age 12.
New York (United Nations) 10 April 2020 (SPS)- The Russian Mission to the UN published a Tweet on its official Twitter Account yesterday after a closed meeting by the UN Security Council on Western Sahara, stressing that any solution to this conflict must respect Saharawi peoples right to self-determination and UN Charter.

The final formula of settlement in Western Sahara must be acceptable for both parties; it should envisage self-determination for the people of Western Sahara on the basis of UNSC resolutions in the framework of procedures that should meet the goals and principles of the UN Charter, the Tweet reads.

Polisario Front has also reacted to this same meeting in a Press Release yesterday, deeply regreting that the UN Security Council today failed to send a clear signal regarding its united support for the UN-led peace process on Western Sahara. Todays consultations on the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) offered another chance for the Council to stand strongly behind international law and reinvigorate the stalled political process. Instead, the Council opted for inaction and delivered no concrete action or outcome.

The Front estimated that the failure to make progress in the political process and the silence and inaction of the UN Secretariat and the Security Council in the face of Moroccos unlawful and destabilising actions have further deepened the loss of faith amid the Sahrawi people in the peace process. Neither the UN Secretariat nor the Security Council has taken any of the actions that we have outlined in our letter (S/2020/66) with a view to restoring our peoples confidence in the UN process.

The Frente POLISARIO remains committed to a peaceful resolution to the conflict. However, we reaffirm that we will not be a partner in any process that does not fully respect and provide for the exercise by the people of Western Sahara of their inalienable right to self-determination and independence in accordance with relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. The right of our people to self-determination and independence is inalienable and non-negotiable, and we will pursue all legitimate means to defend it, the Press release concluded. (SPS)

090/500/60 (SPS)
Customer interaction is the lifeline of our business. The Lounge allows us to scale this interaction directly between our users and the company.

Securly, the leading K-12 student safety company, today announced the launch of The Lounge, their first online user community. Securly is a well-established name in online student safetyoffering end-to-end solutions for K-12 districts, schools, and parents encompassing online and community safety, as well as device management.

The Lounge is a space for IT admins, principals, and educators across Securlys 10,000 served schools to network with their peers, obtain relevant professional development and training, share best practices, and be up-to-date with Securlys initiatives and offerings. The community provides a centralized, unified platform where users can have direct access to leadership, product managers, advocates, and education consultants from the company.

"It was evident from how engaged our customers already were with our support and customer success teams that they needed a transparent platform to communicate from, said Will Patterson, Community Manager. This community was built with that in mind. On top of fun content and professional development opportunities, we host discussion boards and challenges with engaging conversations and pollsmost of which are run directly by product managers or thought leaders of the platforms customers use every day."

The Lounge is also an ideal place for admins to interact directly with and have their voices heard by the company. Chad Loveday, Network Administrator at Maryville City Schools in Tennessee, shares, "I love having a collaborative space where we can all exchange how we are using Securly and how we can make the product better.

"Customer interaction is the lifeline of our business. The Lounge allows us to scale this interaction directly between our users and the company," said Rich Watson, Senior Vice President of Customer Success. "This will allow us to ensure our customers' student safety and classroom management goals are met, even as the company experiences rapid growth."

Email support@securly.com to learn more information and join the community.

About Securly

Securly, the leader in K-12 student safety, has a mission to keep students safe and productive at school and at home. The company offers the most comprehensive end-to-end student safety and device management solution for K-12 districts. Wherever digital devices are used, Securlys cloud-based products work to filter content, manage apps, ensure compliance, alert schools to cyberbullying and self-harm, while engaging teachers, students, and parents. Securlys patented automation and AI sentiment analysis, combined with 24/7 human monitoring by trained safety experts, protects over 10 million students each day. Awarded for innovation and customer service, Securly is headquartered in San Jose, California with offices on three continents.

For more information, visit http://www.securly.com.
Lucknow, April 10 : Two youths, wearing doctor's aprons, were arrested by the Lucknow police on Friday from the Polytechnic crossing. The youths had come out of their houses in search of drugs, mainly heroin.

The police recovered 11 gm of smack from their possession.

Inspector Vibhuti Khan, Shyam Babu Shukla said the two youths were stopped at the barricade for checking and they claimed they were doctors working for corona patients.

"However, he seemed in a drugged state and we frisked him and the other youth and recovered smack from them. One of the youths is Austin Pal and works as a para-medical staff on an ad hoc basis at the King George's Medical University (KGMU). His accomplice is Sunny Masih. Both are drug addicts," said the inspector.
THE MOTHER of a young man whose body was recovered from the River Shannon in Limerick has spoken at his funeral Mass of how her son was failed by the mental health service.

In a soul-stirring address from the altar of St Munchins Church in Limerick this Wednesday, Majella Cosgrove said her son had been failed by the very system that was supposed to help him.

At the end of the funeral Mass for the 30-year-old gentle soul Ms Cosgrove of Clareview took her place at the pulpit. She straightened her spine. She strengthened her soft voice.

This has been very difficult to write, and the next part, I am conscious and aware that it might be difficult for people to listen to, Ms Cosgrove stated after thanking all those who have been on this journey with us.

Derek, Ms Cosgrove explained, had suffered a psychotic episode about three years ago. He was diagnosed with depression.

He had been doing so well over the past year. He was determined to get work - he was sending out CVs everywhere and he had just started an online course, she explained.

Derek, Ms Cosgrove told mourners, wanted to be more alert during the day so he could concentrate, and this resulted in a change of medication which led to sleepless nights, anxiety and fear.

Did the people who jumped from the Twin Towers on 9/11 want to end their lives? Would you say that they died by suicide? Ms Cosgrove asked aloud.

She said the answer was the same for my Derek who jumped because he was more terrified of the flames - the flames which were inside his own head which family and friends could not extinguish.

Hes at peace now, she said, turning to her left where the coffin of her son stood.

Continuing her address, Ms Cosgrove described mental health as a condition that is stigmatised.

We have services here in Ireland that are supposed to support us - the mental health service, which Derek and I trusted and they let us down. Derek is gone. He was failed by the very system that was supposed to help him.

Derek entered the River Shannon on December 16 last. Crews from Limerick Marine Search and Rescue who had been carrying out searches throughout Christmas and over the New Year, located his body shortly before 2.30pm this Monday.

In society, we are all affected by suicide, Ms Cosgrove continued. We hear the helicopters and it sends chills down us. We see search and rescue boats. We see candles, flowers placed on bridges. Why are Irish families suffering in silence? What can we do? Why is it being accepted? Why does our mental health service not have proper supports in place? Why is medication not more closely monitored? Why is funding not a priority set by our government?

Is the answer a simple one? Is it because people suffering with mental health issues have no voice? They have no voice. They have no power.

The mother then turned to her left once more and uttered the words: Sleep well,Derek.

There was absolute silence. Then a rapturous round of applause.

Mourners sat knee-to-knee the breadth of the Catholic Church situated on the banks of the River Shannon. The chief celebrant, Fr Donal McNamara, PP, St Munchins, had encouraged them to remain seated throughout the Mass.

Derek was a father, a son, a friend, a gentle soul who never raised his voice. He was a chef and he made the best cup of tea.

While Derek had no sense of direction, he always seemed to find his way home to his mother.

Derek, mourners heard, was intellectually gifted - he loved maths.

He was such a charmer. He had a smile that could light up a room and, my God, could he pose. I saw some photos lately that I had never seen before and, probably, as a mother, I should never have seen them at all, Ms Cosgrove smiled to soft ripples of laughter.

When someone you love passes away, its natural to remember the bad along with the good. Derek was like Peter Pan in lots of ways - he never grew up. He found it difficult to take responsibility and wasnt the most reliable person. He needed a lot of support and it was hard on his family and friends, and a big part of that was to do with his illness.

Derek Cosgrove is deeply regretted by his son Simas, mother and father Majella and Henry, brothers Ricky and Glenn, sister-in-law, uncles, aunts, extended family and friends. He was laid to rest in Castlemungret Cemetery.

If you have been affected by this article please contact the Samaritans (116 123), Console (1800 201 890) Aware (1890 303 302).
New Delhi: Shahjahanabad society, plot number 1, Sector 11, one of the 20 areas in Delhi identified by the district administration as 'hotspots' defined as any location that has seen atleast one person test positive for COVID-19, sealed during the 21 Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, April 10 : Over 240 families of the Shahjahanabad society in national capital came to know about the sealing of their society through television on Wednesday night to contain the spread of Covid-19, after six people related to Tablighi Jamaat tested positive.

The Delhi Police and the administration immediately sealed the society on Wednesday night after the announcement by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Besides the Shahjahanabad society, the Delhi government also sealed 19 other areas to contain the spread of Covid-19.

A day later, Delhi government added five more areas in the sealing list.

According to Delhi Police sources, the society in Dwarka area was sealed after six people, with travel history to Nizamuddin Markaz and Bangladesh were tested positive.

On Friday, following the sealing of the society, no outsider was allowed to enter the society and only local administration officials along with health officials and sanitation workers entered to carry out sanitization and tests.

A woman resident of the society, wishing not to be named said, "I came to know about the sealing of our society from the TV news. And now we are not allowed to go out." She further said that the administration people are coming in the society for sanitization and health tests of the residents.

She also said that the administration has arranged for the milk and vegetable vendor so that we don't face any problems.

Covid-19 cases went up after several people from Tablighi Jamaat who attended Nizamuddin Markaz tested positive.

The Delhi Police has already registered a case against several people of Tablighi Jamaat.

On Friday, the number of Covid-19 cases in India rose to 6,741 with 206 deaths across the country.
Click here to read the full article.

The coronavirus crisis may be prompting more festivals to migrate online, but not all filmmakers are on board. Director Alex Winter pulled his documentary Zappa, about rock iconoclast and classical composer Frank Zappa from both SXSW and CPH:DOX, rather than let the festivals stream his latest work.

We had to stand down because were in the middle of sales discussions, and we cant have the film leak, says Winter. Our main concern was sales. Being online with these festivals would be the equivalent of a streaming distribution deal.

More from Variety

Zappa is the first time the Panama Papers director and Bill & Ted Face The Music actor had made a film without a distributor already in place. He saw the film festival screening as a way to create buzz and market the doc, attracting buyers and higher returns for his investors.

Because the film was so big, and it took five years to make, with so much archival footage, I had to get independent financing, says Winter.

Winter has discovered other benefits to film festivals, too. Often getting it in front of a wider audience is a good testing ground for the film, says Winter. It helps me get a sense of what my work is or isnt communicating. Weve often made little tweaks and changes after weve premiered it at a few film festivals.

The traditional model of exhibiting at film festivals has established mechanisms for film rights and financing. What happens to value when a film streams on a festival website is less clear. As an artist, youre releasing more and more power, the more people see the film without you being paid, says Winter.  My concern is that artists will lose more moral rights and the ability to fight and protect and monetize their work.

Story continues

Lina Soualem was ecstatic in late February when she learned that her film, Their Algeria, had been selected to the Visions du Reel Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland.

In Cannes, last year, Their Algeria, which follows the separation of her grandparents after 62 years of marriage, won the inaugural Docs-in-Progress Award, a 10,000 ($11,300) cash prize given out by the Cannes Film Markets Doc Corner with the support of the International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA).

Then, in mid-March, there was another email from the festival organizers explaining the event could no longer happen physically, says Soualem. But in the same email, it said they were thinking of an alternative way to honor the films and allow them to launch in April. We automatically understood it was going to be something online.

At first, your automatic feeling is, No, I dont want to do that,' Soualem says. I felt distressed because this would be the first time I would show an audience my film, so I was upset that it (would have to) be online.

However, upon further reflection, she decided to accept the offer. Soualem explains, I was observing (the Doha Film Institutes Qumra event) online, and it was a good experience. I spoke to many programmers and professionals, and little by little, I understood we are all in the same situation and times are so uncertain that if I decided to say no, I wouldnt know what would happen next with the film.

She is also concerned about a bottleneck when physical festivals return: The fall festival season, if it takes place, might be flooded with films because of the absence of film festivals (in spring and summer).

Thania Dimitrakopoulou, head of sales at The Match Factory, had to decide whether to allow the world premieres of Gerardo Naranjos Kokoloko and Bettina Oberlis My Wonderful Wanda to go ahead as part of the Tribeca Film Festivals International Narrative Competition.

Tribeca offered us two options: for the films in competition to go online for jury members, as well as to show the films on the press and industry platform, says Dimitrakopoulou. That makes a difference because it gives a chance for these films to open to an audience festival later.

Nonetheless, making the ultimate decision took time. We needed to understand how the festival would set up, and whether it would engage with the press, and whether journalists would cover the films, say Dimitrakopoulou.

That Tribeca had already announced that the films would be playing at the festival was also crucial to the decision to accept an online premiere. Match Factory is treating the virtual Tribeca premiere as a traditional world premiere in some respects. We have employed publicists and are thinking of certain ways to present those films to distributors as well, says Dimitrakopoulou.

Its new for all of us, adds Dimitrakopoulou. But there needs to be an idea of what you can do with the film afterwards.

The premiere status of the film and the type of festival requesting a film makes a big difference, says Jan Naszewski, CEO of New Europe Film Sales. We are showing films online with the Cleveland International Film Festival. I think its fine for smaller festivals that are audience-orientated, says Naszewski, but we would never do it for a premiere festival.

Certain movies get a buzz from a festival, that you dont get from your couch. This buzz is especially important for a smaller company, he explains.

We had (runaway Icelandic hit) Rams in 2015 when nobody knew us as a company. The buyers go to the usual suspects, and if there had not been the word-of-mouth (buzz) we received around Rams, nobody would have found us. A festival levels the playing field, says Jan Naszewski.

New Europe Film Sales sells a lot of films between festivals by sending links to buyers, So its a bit of a paradox, admits the Warsaw-headquartered executive of the sales process.

However, the first impression creates momentum. Sometimes, the life of a film is very short. I had a film in Panorama in Berlin, and a week after, I was following up with somebody and asked if they wanted to watch it. They said, Oh it was in Berlin; thats a bit old for us now. Do you have anything coming up for Cannes?'

CPH:DOX was one of the first festivals to go online, showing films to Danish audiences, and agreeing with sales agents to a cap of 1,000 views on each film. For successful films, sometimes this limit was extended in negotiations with the rights holders.

Tine Fischer, founder and director of CPH:DOX, says they had to replicate the festival experience as much as possible before requesting films. We called the trades to see if they would cover an online festival. Then the juries all agreed. We talked to sales agents and distributors to make sure they will watch the films on the platform. Then we could call the producers.

Of competition winner, Estephan Wagner and Marianne Hougen-Moragas Songs of Repression, Fischer says, In terms of international press, the fact that it won two awards has been covered quite well, (so) from a financial situation, its great. I think theyre delighted they chose to premiere.

However, more and more festivals have already announced their programs will not go online  Cannes and Venice being the most prominent of the batch. As Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux told Variety earlier this week, (For) Cannes, its soul, its history, its efficiency, its a model that wouldnt work. What is a digital festival? A digital competition? We should start by asking rights holders if they agree.

Germanys Munich Film Festival, perhaps more drastically, chose to cancel, rather than postpone or go digital  a decision that came down to concerns around rights negotiations and the costs of putting on a digital edition.

Christoph Groner, artistic director of Munich Film Festival, says, In the end, we felt that with any of the scenarios  apart from calling it off  we would have very marginal results, in terms of creating a meaningful event for the industry, general audiences and filmmakers.

Groner adds, We feel there are limiting factors in going digital when you are a festival that plays a lot of films and attracts a lot of different audiences. We cant pretend to have the same outreach.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The worlds largest oil producing countries have brokered a historic deal to potentially cut production by 10 million barrels a day due to the dwindling demand triggered by the coronavirus  however the measures have done little to quell concern in the markets as prices continue to fall.

In a meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which was also attended by influential non-OPEC members, nations agreed in principle to slash production by 10 million barrels a day in May and June  the largest cut ever put forward by the organisation.

However despite the proposed step being designed to preserve the value of oil, which has been in free-fall due to dwindling business in aerospace and heavy industry triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as an ongoing price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the value of the commodity continued to fall amid concerns the cut did not go far enough.

Worldwide oil demand has dropped by roughly 30 per cent, or about 30 million barrels per day, since the global pandemic took hold.

What this was is a case of spectacular disappointment, Dave Ernsberger, global head of commodities pricing at S&P Global Platts, said.

Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Show all 11 1 /11 Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Ben Gurion International airport, Israel Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Changsha Huanghua International Airport, China Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Daxing International Airport, Beijing AFP via Getty Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Haneda Airport, Tokyo Reuters Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Shanghai Pudong Airport in Shanghai, China EPA Airports empty as Coronavirus affects aviation industry Noi Bai International Airport, Vietnam AFP via Getty

In the oil market today, 20 million barrels of oil demand just got blown off the face of the Earth by the coronavirus. Its gone, and they cant even begin to paper over that with what they agreed on today.

The measure signals a softening in relations between the two major players in the blocs that make up OPEC+, Saudi Arabia, the largest producer among the OPEC nations, and Russia, seen as the largest of the non-OPEC member grouping that maintain influence over the organisation.

Both had been locked in a price war since early March that saw US prices fall by 34 per cent to a four-year low. The renewed discussions among members of OPEC+ began after Donald Trump pressured Riyadh and Moscow to make a deal in a series of phone calls.

However, despite potential impact on US shale oil businesses, an industry currently facing wide-reaching redundancies, a senior Trump administration official said the US welcomed the pledge ahead of the G20 summit.

These commitments would send an important signal that all major oil producing states will respond in an orderly manner to market realities caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the official said.

Despite pressure from OPEC+ nations for Washington to join in any reduction in production, the US is limited in its ability to call for nationwide cuts similar to those in Russia and Saudi Arabia due to antitrust laws. Mr Trump in turn has said the reduction is happening naturally.

While any coordinated response by companies would ordinarily be illegal, the call for action being led by the federal government could give businesses legal cover to reduce production in line with one another  according to Barbara Sicalides, an antitrust expert at Pepper Hamilton LLP.
All the High Court did was to restate the law. As the Law Council of Australia observed, although the testimony of [Pell's accuser] was capable of being considered truthful and reliable when taken by itself, there was other contradictory evidence before the court that was unchallenged by the Crown and which therefore also had to be considered truthful and reliable. When considered together, a reasonable doubt must have arisen as to which account was correct. This has always been the law. It doesnt say to potential jurors their job is superfluous.

Some have complained the High Court is making the jurys job redundant and that the court has mistreated the jury that heard the charges against Pell in Victorias County Court. Why should we bother to serve if the High Court will not trust our decisions? That has been a theme on social media. It is wrong.

The High Courts decision in the case of George Pell has evoked a deeply emotional response in the community. The subject matter of institutional historical sexual abuse does that. And there has also been some commentary predicting the death of the jury system.

The jury system is regarded as a bedrock institution in the Australian legal system, as it is in others that have adopted the English common law framework. And the right to be judged by your peers is something which the legal system and legislatures have been very reluctant to interfere with because of this central importance. But we live in the age of Twitter and Facebook. Long gone is the reticence that the community, including the media, once had in discussing individuals facing criminal proceedings. The potential for jurors to have knowledge about a case they are selected to decide upon is self-evident.

Loading

It raises an important question. Should Pell, given the hostility of the media, had the option a trial by judge alone? This was not available to him in Victoria but would have been in NSW, South Australia, the ACT, Queensland and Western Australia. Not because of Pells position but because such a right should be available to every person in Australia, irrespective of where they happened to be charged by police.

Pell became for media the personification of the arrogance of the Catholic Church in its dealing with chronic institutional sexual abuse. He had given evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It is fair to say there would be few in the community who had not read, heard, watched or even discussed Pell and his role in the churchs responses.

One will never know whether the jurors in the Pell case were influenced by the negative media. This does not mean they did not undertake their task to the best of their ability and with good conscience. But is it good enough to work on the hunch that a persons liberty and reputation should be in the hands of 12 individuals about whom nothing is known, and in circumstances where no reasons have to be provided as to why they find a person guilty or not guilty? This is a point made often by Malcolm McCusker QC, a leading West Australian barrister and Kim Beazleys predecessor as governor of that state.
The Indian Army on Friday said it has inflicted a heavy damage on Pakistani army's gun areas and terrorist launchpads after unprovoked ceasefire violation by the "enemy side" in two areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

A defence spokesperson said the Indian Army retaliated "effectively and strongly" to the ceasefire violation in Keran sector in Kupwara district this afternoon, with precision targeting of gun areas, terrorist launchpads and ammunition dump across the LoC.

"(There are) reports of heavy damage on the enemy side," he added.

Police officials said Pakistan violated the ceasefire in Uri area of Baramulla district as well.

Pakistan has been increasingly violating the ceasefire agreement with India even as the focus in the two countries has shifted to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

All through the week, it fired small arms and mortar shells along the LoC in Poonch district.

Last week, it injured six security personnel in Sunderbani-Nowshera sector.

In March, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik told Parliament that Pakistan violated the ceasefire at least 646 times between January 1 and February 23 this year.

Over 3,200 ceasefire violations were recorded in 2019.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An emotional Angelina Jolie tried "not to cry" while dropping off son Maddox to college in South Korea. The 18-year-old is attending Yonsei University in South Korea to study biochemistry, and Jolie dropped him off at the school in-person. Image Source: IANS News

Los Angeles, April 10 : Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has urged Americans to keep in touch with at-risk families during the COVID-19 lockdown and report any form of child abuse fears to the authorities.

In a new article for Time magazine, the mother-of-six said that she's worried about the safety of children in self-isolation, because the stay-at-home guidelines play the favour of perverts and abusers, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"(They are) especially vulnerable to so many of the secondary impacts of the pandemic on society. Isolating a victim from family and friends is a well-known tactic of control by abusers, meaning that the social distancing that is necessary to stop COVID-19 is one that will inadvertently fuel a direct rise in trauma and suffering for vulnerable children," she said.

Jolie said there are already reports of a surge in "domestic violence around the world, including violent killings." Jolie is also concerned about the schools shut down.

"It's a lifeline of opportunity as well as a shield offering protection - or at least a temporary reprieve - from violence, exploitation and other difficult circumstances, including sexual exploitation, forced marriage and child labour and domestic violence. It's not just that children have lost support networks. Lockdown also means fewer adult eyes on their situation," she said.

Jolie urged people to "make a point of calling family or friends, particularly where we might have concerns that someone is vulnerable".

"It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child. It will take an effort by the whole of our country to give children the protection and care they deserve."
Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google Inc., speaks during the Google I/O Developers Conference in Mountain View, California, U.S., on Tuesday, May 8, 2018.

Google has created an application portal to help the state of New York deal with a historic surge in unemployment filings. The company said it could potentially bring a similar service to other states.

"Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the New York State Department of Labor's unemployment insurance filing system has faced an unprecedented increase in volume  with peak weeks seeing a 16,000% increase in phone calls and a 1,600% increase in web traffic, compared to a typical week," the New York Department of Labor said in a press release on Thursday.

The site, which is expected to be accessible Friday morning and is supported by Google's cloud infrastructure, should be able to handle a "high volume of uses," allowing users to save incomplete applications and pick up where they left off. It can be reached via smartphones, tablets and laptops.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo first mentioned a partnership on Monday. They're calling the effort "Tech Surge and working with other companies including Verizon and Deloitte.

As New York has become the center of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., with over 800 deaths on Thursday, the economic picture has also become dire. More than 450,000 New Yorkers have tried to apply for unemployment benefits in the past three weeks. Cuomo said in recent press conferences that the surge in activity has crashed the Department of Labor's website and overloaded call center workers.

Google is offering its technical resources in numerous areas. The company has provided officials with websites for general coronavirus information, home-education and global social distancing data. Affiliate company Verily partnered with the state of California and health officials to build a website for COVID-19 test screening.

Google on Thursday also launched a search feature that provides links to federal unemployment resources in the U.S., with plans to extend it to the state level.

A Google spokesperson said the company is partnering with several states on service delivery issues that it hopes will include unemployment insurance processing.

"We continue to work with local, state, and federal agencies on a number of projects to help them better serve citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic," a representative from Google's cloud division said in an email.

Neither the Labor Department nor Google immediately responded to requests for comment about whether applicants would be required to use a Google account or login during the process.

WATCH: What unemployment benefits are and how to collect them
Two Russian cosmonauts, Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy launched to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday morning at 4:05 a.m. ET.

The planned launch comes at a time when many events have been postponed or canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Travel restrictions prevented some of the astronauts' families, media and industry officials from attending the launch. Those involved in the launch were all seen keeping six feet apart and wearing masks.

But many of the health and safety precautions taken were standard for astronauts launching to the space station.

NASA has a long history of quarantining astronauts before they go to space to prevent illnesses like cold and flu from occurring off our planet. It was a concern even in the early days of the agency's astronaut program.

"The health and welfare of the crew is always paramount," said Courtney Beasley, communications specialist at NASA's Johnson Space Center. "All of our crew must stay in quarantine for two weeks before they launch. This ensures that they aren't sick or incubating an illness when they get to the space station, and is called 'health stabilization.'"

Ahead of quarantine, the astronauts followed the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations regarding coronavirus. NASA and the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, maintained the standard quarantine period of two weeks for the crew, Beasley said.

"During quarantine, the astronauts live in their crew quarters  NASA has crew quarters for this purpose at Kennedy and Johnson Space Centers  and Roscosmos has them in Baikonur," she said. "They don't have direct contact with anyone who has not been pre-cleared by NASA flight surgeons. The time is spent preparing for flight, studying and resting, as well as working out and making video calls to friends and family members."

About six hours after Thursday morning's launch, the astronauts docked with the International Space Station at 10:13 a.m. ET. About two hours later, the hatches will open and they will join Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan.

Skripochka and Meir will return to Earth on April 17 after spending six months on the station. Morgan, who will also return to Earth with them, launched to the station on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and had an extended mission of eight months.

When Skripochka, Meir and Morgan return from their stay in space, they will be coming back to a very different Earth. When they launched, coronavirus wasn't a threat. Now, it's a pandemic.

NASA already has a protocol in place for returning astronauts that includes a post-landing medical check by flight doctors. The doctors and other NASA teams help the astronauts reacclimate to Earth's gravity, getting them up and walking soon after landing. In the weeks after, they're monitored to make sure they're healthy.

This time, the protocols will be more extensive.

"NASA will closely adhere to the CDC's recommendations on infection control for the coronavirus as Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir return to Earth and begin their post-flight medical testing and readaptation period," Beasley said.

"This includes cleaning of surfaces, social distancing, emphasizing hand hygiene, encouraging NASA team members who are sick to stay home, and limiting contact with the crew members."

On April 15, two days before the current crew returns to Earth, a "change of command ceremony" will take place on the station as the new crew takes over, according to NASA.

This is the third spaceflight for Cassidy and Ivanishin, and it's the first for Vagner.

Cassidy was selected by NASA to be an astronaut in 2004. The Navy captain also served for 11 years as a member of the US Navy SEALs Team. His previous spaceflight experience includes a shuttle mission on Endeavour to help with assembly of the Space Station in 2009. During that flight, he became the 500th person in history to fly in space.

He also spent six months on the space station in 2013, one of the first crew members to participate in the new rendezvous system that shortened docking with the space station from two days to six hours.

Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner will also welcome NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley when they arrive at the space station in mid-to-late May on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 flight test.

It will be the first time astronauts will launch into space aboard an American rocket and spacecraft from American soil since the final space shuttle mission in 2011. Since then, crews launching to the International Space Station have been leaving from Baikonur aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Demo-2 is the final flight test of the system before SpaceX is certified to carry out operational crew flights to and from the space station for NASA, the agency said.

The agency is monitoring CDC guidance with regards to mission planning, they said. The launch date could be postponed.

The-CNN-Wire &  2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
Researchers from the University of Melbourne have come up with devices called ventilation hoods that could help decrease the spread of COVID-19 from ICU patients to health workers who treat them, and to other patients.

The coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) has swept the globe over the last months, causing panic, and country-wide lockdowns in unceasing efforts to stem the spread of the virus.

With the number of deaths skyrocketing and morgues filled with bodies, governments, and healthcare systems worldwide are struggling. Structurally similar to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus in 2003, the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 spreads with celerity from person to person, primarily through infected respiratory droplets.

The device has been prototyped and tested by researchers in consultation with infectious disease experts at Western Health to ensure that its application is practical, hygienic, effective and safe. Image: Penny Stephens

Unceasing risk

Those who are most at risk, however, are also those who are most indispensable  the health workers who treat the ill. Spending large portions of their day among the infected, their chances of contracting the infection are much higher than others. When they contract the virus, however, they both deprive the already overtaxed healthcare system of a worker and burden it with one more case to treat.

Support for healthcare workers

In the face of this bleak picture. Western Health and the University of Melbourne offer a ray of hope, reacting with agility to the need to help protect healthcare staff working on the frontline.

Western Health has collaborated with researchers from the University to produce a new device to protect healthcare professionals in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In Spain and Italy, 15% of healthcare workers who treat patients infected with the coronavirus end up getting infected themselves. This turns the doctors themselves into patients, triggering a vicious cycle of more patients and fewer doctors.

Professor Jason Monty, a professor of fluid dynamics and lead researcher at the University of Melbourne, says he was contacted in late March by Assistant Professor Forbes McGain of Western Health who asked us to look into the safety and well-being of healthcare workers while theyre attending to infected patients. The idea was to facilitate patient care by healthcare workers while keeping COVID-19 patients with critical illness in individual isolation.

McGain, who is an honorary member of the University of Melbournes Center for Intensive Critical care, discussed the idea of isolating these COVID-19 patients with Professor Monty. After weighing the complexities of the problem, he and his team started working on a solution.

Containing droplets through ventilation hoods

COVID-19 is spread primarily by infection-bearing droplets expelled by infected individuals through coughing or sneezing. Droplet transmission occurs through such acts as people within one meter of the infected individual. This places healthcare workers at high risk.

To combat this, Melbourne University has created a personal ventilation hood that blocks these droplets, preventing them from coming into contact with healthy individuals. These hoods are designed for use with people who are critically ill with the coronavirus and in intensive care.

Researchers design ventilation hoods for hospital beds to help contain COVID-19 spread Play

Monty and McGain came up with the concept of these hoods and then worked with a team of researchers from Melbourne Universitys School of Engineering to bring the concept into reality.

The hoods are made of clear, flexible plastic. This allows healthcare workers to assess the patients condition visually, as well as allowing for verbal communication. Theyre designed to cover the top half of a hospital bed, shielding the patients head and chest region.

The hoods will block the relatively larger droplets that are expelled through a cough or sneeze, while smaller droplets are whisked away by a system incorporated in the hood assembly, through a high-efficiency particulate air filter. Using these hoods, doctors and nurses can now move among and treat the critically ill with less risk of contracting the virus themselves. In countries such as Italy and the USA, where the healthcare system is already overwhelmed, this could be a godsend.

This device has been designed and tested by a team of fluid dynamics researchers in consultation with healthcare workers and infectious disease experts from Western Health to ensure that its efficient, safe, and hygienic. The R&D team has used low-cost components that are readily available to ensure that these devices can be economically produced in low-income countries.

The hoods are being deployed at Footscray Hospital, one of the three major hospitals operated by Western Health. Patient trials should begin this week, and if all goes well, the hoods will start being used with coronavirus patients next week.

Professor Monty says that while they are currently working to supply Australian hospitals with these hoods, they do hope to spread this technology across the globe in the coming months.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 16:13 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd10fb2b 1 City COVID-19,Greater-Jakarta,PSBB,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,Jakarta-traffic,social-restriction Free

The amount of activity around Jakarta has reportedly been down on Friday, the first day of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), with roads quiet as people choose to remain home despite the long weekend holiday.

The first day of the restrictions has coincided with the public holiday of Good Friday, which typically sees heavy traffic on toll roads as people travel outside the city.

The Jakarta Traffic Polices Twitter account @TMCPoldaMetro reported that traffic was light on several roads in the city as well as the Cikampek and BSD toll roads.

Read also: Jakarta will impose stronger mobility restrictions on Friday. Heres what you need to know.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan will impose the PSBB for 14 days from Friday until April 23 in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19 after the capital became the epicenter of the outbreak in the country.

Many residents have taken to social media to describe the scenes they saw on Friday.

A photo posted on Instagram by @jktinfo showed the usually packed Jl. Casablanca in South Jakarta totally empty. The regularly congested street in front of Kuningan City Mall was also quiet.

The capitals main thoroughfares of Jl. Jendral Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto have also been almost totally deserted, pictured with only one or two vehicles passing through.

In Tebet, South Jakarta, the traffic on Friday morning was not dissimilar to previous days, although it has been far less crowded since the coronavirus outbreak was first detected.

Read also: From MRT to Transjakarta, here's how services have adjusted to citywide transport restrictions

The scenes around Tebet railway station were also quiet, although some still passengers were waiting for trains. The station has seen far fewer commuters after work-from-home and study-at-home guidelines were issued last month.

Meanwhile, despite the discussions over the PSBB, some road users appeared unaware of the new regulations. In Palmerah, West Jakarta, traffic police officers had to stop ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers that were still carrying passengers.

09:56 Polri Patwal Ditlantas PMJ menghimbau Ojol terkait pemberlakuan PSBB agar tidak mengangkut penumpang di Stasiun Palmerah . pic.twitter.com/p9aY63wkSF  TMC Polda Metro Jaya (@TMCPoldaMetro) April 10, 2020

According to Jakarta Gubernatorial Regulation No. 33/2020 on PSBB, ojek drivers are permitted only to carry goods.

A Jakarta Traffic Police officer informed an app-based ojek driver about the implementation of the PSBB [and told him] not to pick up passengers around Palmerah Station, @TMCPoldaMetro tweeted on Friday.
An adorable 6-month-old baby from Italy has become a ray of hope after beating the CCP virus.

According to media reports, baby Leonardo returned home in the municipality of Corbetta in the northern Italy region of Lombardy at the end of March after a 50-day battle against COVID-19.

Local mayor Marco Ballarini took to Facebook on March 25, sharing a smiling picture of the baby and welcoming the little warrior back home, calling him the wonderful face of hope.

Today we have one more reason to smile, to be happy, to feel even more like a united community, Ballarini wrote. Today, we look at the wonderful face of hope.

The mayor further revealed that the little baby had been discharged from the hospital after defeating the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

In his heartwarming post, the mayor also expressed his gratitude to the baby and his parents, writing, Thanks a lot Leo, and thanks to your parents who never gave up. They brought summer to the hearts of all Corbetta citizens! Strength Corbetta!

Ballarinis post quickly went viral amassing over 2,500 reactions and was shared by more than 400 people. Social media users took to the comments section to welcome the little fighter back home.

Welcome home son. Your return home is like a sign of hope for all of us. From me I love you son God bless you. And greetings to your parents, a translated comment read.

While another one chimed in, Im so happy, great news. Welcome home little angel.

Congratulations, a light to the world, hope has not perished. force [I]taly, a third comment read.

People sing, wave, and clap their hands next to a banner reading Forza ragazzi hashtag #andratuttobene, restiamo a casa  (Come on, guys #everythingsgonnabeallright, we stay home) during a flash mob Una canzone per lItalia (A song for Italy) at the Magliana district in Rome on March 15, 2020. (ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the Daily Mail, Leonardos mom told local media that she knew her baby was not well when he came down with a fever and his heart rate quickened.

The infants mother also shared that her husbands work colleague had contracted COVID-19. Now that her baby has recovered from the CCP virus, she said, I was worried a lot, especially at night. I do not wish that on any mother.

In addition, the mother expressed that Leonardo received good care from healthcare professionals.

Leonardos news of recovery comes in as a light of hope after the number of young people with no underlying health conditions contracting the virus has been increasing.

An employee wearing protective gear, working for environmental services company AMSA, sprays disinfectant on Piazza Duomo in Milan, on March 31, 2020, during the countrys lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. (PIERO CRUCIATTI/AFP via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, a British mother named Jessie Mitchell has been warning parents to take the virus seriously after her 1-year-old son, Perran, contracted COVID-19. According to SWNS, as reported by the New York Post, the mom shared that her son had developed a temperature around March 22, but she didnt take it seriously as her son was already in great discomfort from teething.

He had no breathing difficulties or cough but was on fire with his temperature, Mitchell said.

The mother added, People think babies wont get it and it is vital we put the message out they do. They will get it but just might not get the severe repercussions. They can still be carriers though and that is what makes it dangerous.

She further urged others to follow the guidelines.
Illinois officials on Friday announced 1,465 more cases of the new coronavirus and 68 additional deaths, bringing the death toll to 596 and the number of known cases since the start of the outbreak to 17,887.

Meanwhile, another Chicago Police Department member who tested positive for COVID-19 died on Friday, according to sources familiar with the matter. The victim, a police supervisor, is the second CPD employee to lose his life to the coronavirus.

The news came a day after Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the rate of increase is looking less and less exponential" and the state may be bending the curve. Still, he dashed any thought that the state could be sprung from a nearly three-week-old stay-at-home order anytime soon. Among other things, Pritzker cast serious doubt on the summer festival season, though Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday that it was too early to decide.

Heres a recap of what happened Friday, April 10 with the new coronavirus in the Chicago area and Illinois:

7:11 p.m. (update at 8:05 p.m.): Pritzkers announcement about ramped up testing takes Chicago officials by surprise, city health commissioner says

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzkers announcement on Friday that four health centers on the South and West S sides will be collecting an additional 400 swabs daily from potential COVID-19 patients took the city of Chicago by surprise, public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said.

Pritzkers office, however, later countered that the mayors office had been looped in and should not have been caught by surprise.

At a Friday news conference, Pritzker announced plans for Lawndale Christian Health Center, PCC Community Wellness Center, Chicago Family Health Center and Friend Family Health Center to start taking more swabs from patients.

Arwady said she learned about the development while traveling back to the Chicago Department of Public Health and watching Pritzkers news conference.

Honestly, we partner with the state on a lot of things, Arwady said. Weve really asked that, especially where there are conversations that are happening with Chicago hospitals or Chicago health care facilities, that we are part of that conversation. Coordination is so important, especially right now.

Arwady said the organizations chosen are good providers, but said she mightve made different decisions had she been consulted. Read more here. Gregory Pratt

7 p.m.: The race for an effective COVID-19 treatment

As COVID-19 continues to take thousands of lives around the world each day, global efforts to find effective treatments are in hyperdrive.

So far, no treatment has been proved through rigorous scientific studies to do more good than harm  a crucial point often glossed over by President Donald Trump and some doctors who have promoted the alleged benefits of specific drugs. That leaves health care providers on the front lines to piece together their own strategies while research continues. Here are some of the more prominent potential treatments that are being studied. Hal Dardick

6:50 p.m.: Federal judge denies request for state to immediately release potentially thousands of at-risk detainees from Illinois prisons

A federal judge on Friday denied an request for the state to immediately release potentially thousands of at-risk detainees from Illinois prisons, saying that while the coronavirus pandemic is clearly a serious threat there was no convincing reason for a federal court to intrude here and now."

U.S. District Judge Robert Dow issued the opinion a week after a pair of lawsuits were filed by a consortium of Chicago civil rights attorneys and community activists seeking the release of as many as 13,000 prisoners due to the COVID-19 crisis, including many who were convicted of non-violent offenses, are elderly, at elevated risk to get ill, or have already served most of their sentences.

The lawsuits alleged that Gov. J. B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Corrections have dragged their feet in the face of the pandemic, putting prisoners, prison staff and the general public at greater risk of severe illness and death.

In his 48-page opinion, Dow acknowledged the serious of the situation, which as of Friday had seen 134 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among IDOC prisoners, including two deaths at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet. But the judge said that Pritzker and other stake holders have taken steps to contain the spread of the virus that plainly pass constitutional muster, even if its not exactly what the plaintiffs were seeking. Jason Meisner

5 p.m.: Total known cases in DuPage County tops 1,000; 5 new deaths reported

Five more deaths involving people with the coronavirus were reported Friday in DuPage County, officials said, making 39 fatalities since the outbreak began.

There were 78 new known cases of COVID-19, for a total of 1,009, including 153 outbreak cases involving multiple victims.

The five fatal victims all had other medical conditions, which can raise the risk of severe complications from the virus. Robert McCoppin

4:36 p.m.: New study at Rush will have patients lie facedown with oxygen to see if it saves them from having to go on ventilators

A new study aims to see if placing hospital patients facedown and giving them oxygen will help treat breathing problems caused by the novel coronavirus, thereby reserving ventilators for more severe cases.

The clinical trial at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago calls for patients to lie facedown on their beds for 16 hours at a time, with heated, humidified oxygen flowing in through tubes in their noses.

Some COVID-19 patients have preexisting conditions such as asthma or lung disease, and almost 1 out of 3 COVID-19 patients may develop acute respiratory distress syndrome, study sponsors said. Fluid may leak into the lungs, causing hypoxemia, or low levels of oxygen in the blood, which can lead to shortness of breath. The condition can be fatal, and may leave survivors with weakness, fatigue and a decreased quality of life.A high-flow nasal cannula, or tube, has been proved to improve oxygenation and avoid intubation for some patients, Rush officials said. Previous studies suggest that placing patients in the prone position, but with the bed angled to keep the head slightly up, can improve breathing and reduce mortality.

The first patient in the study was recruited Wednesday, with more to come as the trial continues through April. Read more here. Robert McCoppin

4:25 p.m.: Rumors of shuttered suburban hotel becoming coronavirus care center prove false

The fate of a shuttered hotel in Itasca took another strange turn this week when local officials briefly thought it might be used to quarantine COVID-19 patients suffering mild symptoms or those at heightened risk from the virus.

It turned out to be a false rumor, but its circulation illustrates the opaque process through which government officials are trying to line up buildings for use in the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency has asked its county-level counterparts to create an alternative housing plan to assist at least 25 people. The federal government would reimburse counties for sheltering those who have been exposed to or tested positive for COVID-19 but dont require hospitalization, and asymptomatic high-risk individuals needing social distancing as a precautionary measure.

Some counties, though, arent saying much about their searches. Asked for specifics, a spokesman for the DuPage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said only that we are working with our municipal agencies to identify needs as well as identifying potential community partners for potential housing.

But it came out this week that one building under consideration was a former Holiday Inn in Itasca that has been the subject of a ferocious debate since Haymarket Center, a Chicago-based addiction treatment center, announced its intention last year to turn the building into a rehab facility. Read more here. John Keilman and Robert McCoppin

4:23 p.m.: Tests still pending on infant whose death officials tied to COVID-19

Medical tests to determine a cause of death on an infant who city and state officials reported two weeks ago had COVID-19 are still pending, according to the Cook County medical examiners office.

City and state health officials announced March 28 that a 9-month-old from Chicago who had contracted the deadly virus had died. Dr. Nogize Ezike at the time said there have been no other confirmed coronavirus-linked cases in the world involving a child so young.

Both Ezike and and city officials, however, cautioned that further testing was required to determine the exact cause of death for the infant, who was pronounced dead March 23.

So far the Cook County Medical Examiners office has withheld releasing the cause, saying further testing is needed to determine exactly how the infant died. Annie Sweeney

4:14 p.m.: Northwestern researchers find racial, socioeconomic disparities in Chicagoans concern over the coronavirus pandemic

Chicago area residents with health problems were less likely to worry about getting COVID-19 if they were black or living under the poverty level in the week before the stay-at-home order, according to a Northwestern University study.

The findings, published Thursday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, show possible breakdowns in communication by government and public health officials, which were often conflicting in the earlier days of the pandemic, said Michael Wolf, lead author and director of Northwesterns Feinberg School of Medicine Health Literacy & Learning Program.

Researchers conducted a phone survey March 13-20 of more than 600 racially diverse participants already enrolled in research studies, asking questions about their perceptions of the emerging coronavirus pandemic. The participants had at least one chronic health condition, and are considered more vulnerable should they contract COVID-19. About two-thirds had at least three conditions, according to the report.

We wanted to get a sense of how they were perceiving this threat early on because ... timing is everything, Wolf said.

Questions assessed things like their awareness of the pandemic, how worried they were and any changes they were making to their daily lives as a precaution.

The results showed black participants and those who had poorer health were more likely than white or healthier participants to tell researchers they were not worried at all about contracting the virus, the report states. Women, blacks, Hispanics and those living below the poverty line also were more likely to say it was not at all likely theyd get COVID-19.

Researchers also found that though all participants reported they knew about the new coronavirus and most considered it to be a high threat, about one-third couldnt identify three symptoms of COVID-19, and about one in five were not changing their daily routines because of the virus, Wolf said.

Researchers acknowledged their data was collected the week before the states stay-at-home order took effect March 21, and also noted that participants reported more worry as the week progressed.

But overall, Wolf said, the data could be a call for government officials to make more efforts to reach vulnerable populations and to avoid confusing, conflicting messages.

The big takeaway is, given what we were seeing .... in this week where we really needed to take actions sooner, we needed clear, concise messages to our communities, so they understood this is a serious threat, he said. Because that message was very, very conflicting, and it wasnt likely it was reaching the people that needed it the most. Read more here. Kate Thayer

3:11 p.m.: From convention center to medical center, Chicagos McCormick Place now has 1,750 beds ready for coronavirus patients

The transformation of McCormick Place from a convention center into a medical center continued Friday as Chicago Mayor Lori insurna announced the completion of 1,750 rooms to help future patients infected with the new coronavirus.

Illinois and Chicago officials have joined with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois National Guard to build out the citys lakefront convention site with beds for sick people in anticipation of a possible crush of COVID-19 patients that could overwhelm area hospitals.

Wearing a face mask emblazoned with a trademark city star, Lightfoot joined Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter on a tour of the new medical area.

I want to stress just how remarkable it was to pull all this together in a short period of time, Lightfoot said. Really quite stunning.

In addition to the beds, Chicago laborers installed more than 100 new water lines, 1,000 electrical outlets, and installed more than 100 data lines for records. The facility could start taking patients next week, Lightfoot said.

Last week, Lightfoot joined Gov. J.B. Pritzker as they unveiled the first 500 beds.

The sprawling tent city, which is being called an alternate care facility, eventually will be able to hold 3,000 beds for patients, most of whom would have mild symptoms and not require intensive care. Officials described the site as a last resort that would become operational if Chicago and surrounding suburbs run out of hospital beds.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the agency that runs McCormick Place, has been authorized to spend up to $13 million on construction, which is being done by 400 workers representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Illinois National Guard and local contractors. Per the convention centers ironclad labor agreements, any construction work not done by military or government employees will be handled by union workers.

The overhaul will be paid for in part by $15 million in federal funding from FEMA to support the Army Corps of Engineers project. Under the terms of the lease, McPier will allow its North and South buildings to be used for free, though the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will be billed for any additional services it requires, according to McPier spokeswoman Cynthia McCafferty.

Officials have warned that if members of the public choose not to follow the governors stay-at-home order and other measures implemented by Lightfoot, such as closing down the citys Lakefront Trail, there could be more than 40,000 hospitalizations in Chicago  a number that would break the health system. Gregory Pratt

2:40 p.m.: 1,465 more cases and 68 additional deaths

State officials on Friday announced 1,465 more cases of the new coronavirus and 68 additional deaths, bringing the death toll to 596 and the number of known cases since the start of the outbreak to 17,887.

There have now been cases in 83 of Illinois 102 counties.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that federally qualified health centers on the West and South sides and near St. Louis are partnering with hospitals, including Lurie Childrens Hospital in Chicago, to increase testing for COVID-19 in predominately African American communities.

Four health centers on the West and South sides will each send 400 samples per day to Lurie for testing, Pritzker said.

The governor also announced that a new drive-up testing facility will open early next week in the Markham-Harvey area in the south suburbs. Dan Petrella

2:29 p.m.: Second CPD member who tested positive for COVID-19 has died

Another Chicago Police Department member who tested positive for COVID-19 has died, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The victim, a police supervisor, is the second department employee to lose his life to the coronavirus. His identity was not immediately released, but source said hes a sergeant in the Area Central detective division on the South Side and he got sick from the disease last month.

Word of his death comes a day after Chicago police Officer Marco DiFranco was laid to rest after dying on April 2 from complications due to the disease.

As of Thursday, CPD has 151 employees, 144 sworn cops and seven civilians, that have been confirmed to have tested positive, police officials said. But they said there could be as many as 47 more employees who have contracted disease but were awaiting test results. Read more here. Jeremy Gorner

1:54 p.m.: Too early to make decisions on Chicagos summer festivals, Lightfoot says

Mayor Lori Lightfoot says its too early to decide whether this summers Lollapalooza and Taste of Chicago will be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

I think its too soon for us to be talking about events that are happening in July and August, Lightfoot said.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday cast serious doubt on the summer festival season, cautioning that organizers should think carefully about canceling large summer events.

From my perspective today, I do not see how we are going to have large gatherings of people again until we have a vaccine, which is months and months away. I would not risk having large groups of people getting together, anywhere. And I think thats hard for everybody to hear, but thats just a fact, Pritzker said.

But Friday, Lightfoot said she hasnt had any substantive discussions about those summer events.

Were still seeing cases rise. But I think its too soon for us to predict where were going to be down the road, Lightfoot said.

The citys Gospel Fest is slated for late May, while Blues Fest is scheduled for early June. Gregory Pratt and John Byrne

1:41 p.m.: Lightfoot extended staff member tests positive for COVID-19

A member of Mayor Lori Lightfoots extended staff tested positive for the coronavirus, the mayor announced.

The persons symptoms are mild and they havent been in the office since April 1, Lightfoot said. Gregory Pratt

1:16 p.m.: Auto insurers are issuing $7 billion in coronavirus refunds. See if your company is on our list.

With highways and roads abandoned as motorists stay home during the COVID-19 health crisis, the nations biggest auto insurers are refunding policyholders more than $7 billion.

Fewer cars on the road typically means fewer accident claims, and according to Arity, a data and analytics firm owned by Allstate, the total number of miles driven nationwide since March 8 is down by more than half.

Here is a list of auto insurers, with details on what they are offering. Abdel Jimenez

12:25 p.m.: How much PPE did Illinois ask for and what did the feds send? Heres a day-by-day account

Reports this week that the federal stockpile of N95 respirators, surgical masks, face shields, gowns and other personal protective equipment are nearly depleted put a cap on a public back and forth between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the White House on the federal governments help with vital equipment.

Masks, gloves and other equipment are key to keeping medical workers safe during the pandemic.

Here is a day-by-day account of what Illinois asked for and what the federal government sent. Chad Yoder

11:59 a.m.: Its helped animals thrive at the Shedd, now a machine called the KingFisher is helping diagnose coronavirus cases

A state-of-the-art machine that helps animals thrive at the Shedd Aquarium is being used to help humans fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The instrument is called the KingFisher, and the Shedd loaned it to the Illinois Department of Public Healths Chicago lab, where its being used to confirm the presence of the virus in patients.

Samples are collected from patients and then prepared for testing with reagents, or special chemical compounds. Then they are loaded into the KingFisher machine, which purifies and amplifies the viral RNA before the results are analyzed. After the samples are collected, prepped and analyzed, scientists can determine if there is evidence of COVID-19. Read more here. Grace Wong

11:52 a.m.: Chicago City Council to hold virtual meeting next week

Chicagoans who want to tune in to the City Councils stay-at-home council meeting next week will be able to tune in via City Clerk Ana Valencias website, chicityclerk.com. And members of the public who want to air their complaints to aldermen and the mayor can sign up to do so starting Monday.

The council will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday, with aldermen logging in from remote locations, Valencia and Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Friday.

The Wednesday meeting will be an abbreviated continuation of the March meeting, which the mayor gaveled in, then immediately recessed in a nearly empty City Council chambers.

There will be a short agenda to adapt to the new format, mainly dealing with adopting rules to allow meetings by videoconference, Lightfoot said.

A City Council meeting to consider substantive legislation likely will occur in the near future, the mayor said. Upcoming committee meetings also will be conducted by videoconference.

During this unprecedented crisis, residents and businesses are looking to their elected leaders to take action and ensure critical services are continue to be delivered and their needs are still being met, Lightfoot said. Despite the necessary constraints of social distancing, the City Council is fully committed to conducting the business of the City, which is more important than ever as our families and communities struggle navigate the new and challenging territory created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lightfoot said the Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamations, allows suspension of provisions of the Open Meetings Act requiring in-person attendance by members of the council. The disaster proclamation also lets officials limit remote participation by members of the public who usually get to speak at the beginning of the meeting in council chambers, according to Valencia and Lightfoot.

"We are living in an uncertain time, Valencia said. However, it is our responsibility, as elected leaders, to continue to inform the residents of Chicago and remain as open and accessible as we possibly can while protecting the health and wellbeing of our staff, elected officials and the general public.

Those interested in providing public comment have two remote options to do so, according to Valencia:

Residents can sign up starting Monday at 12:01 a.m. by filling out an online form at www.chi.gov/PublicComment.

Residents also can contact the Sergeant-at-Arms at 312-744-6800 starting Monday at 12:01 a.m. and leave a voice message with their name and telephone number.

Submissions must be in no later than 8 a.m. on Tuesday. Similar to the current practices, public commenters will be randomly selected by the Sergeant-at-Arms and will be contacted sometime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Tuesday with directions on how to participate.

If you are not contacted, you have not been selected for public comment. To provide a written statement or submission of documents residents should email public_comments@cityofchicago.org. Written comments will be accepted from 8-9 a.m. on April 15 for aldermanic review. Read more here.

11:37 a.m.: As coronavirus hits Chicagos African American community, South Side aldermen call on residents to take social distancing rules more seriously

Citing the high prevalence of coronavirus in Chicagos African American community and parts of their wards in particular, three South Side aldermen on Friday called on residents to take the statewide stay-at-home order seriously.

Ald. David Moore, 17th, pointed to the particularly high numbers in the 60620 ZIP code around the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, which touches his ward and those of neighboring Alds. Howard Brookins, 21st, and Derrick Curtis, 18th.

That shows us, really drives home why its critical that we shelter in place, Moore said.

We have to let these young people know that they could take the virus home to their grandmother, Moore added. They may feel like I didnt have any symptoms, I didnt give it to grandma,' but we know thats not the case. You can pass it anyway, and older people are at real risk of dying, so we need to make that very clear to people.

A Wednesday party in Auburn Gresham in Moores ward to honor a man who had been fatally shot drew a large crowd and required a big police presence plus three arrests to break it up.

So not only are the people at the party putting themselves and all those responding officers at risk, theyre drawing police away from other critical tasks they could be performing, he said. It has this ripple effect that we really need to make sure people understand.

Moore warned that this weekends Easter religious holiday is no excuse for groups to meet up.

Curtis, whose ward includes parts of Ashburn, Wrightwood and Marquette Park, warned against assuming some demographics are safer than others.

The life residents save may be their own, Curtis said in a news release. This virus doesnt discriminate against race, age or gender. When you return back to your home with your love ones the virus could be in your clothes or on your skin. Therefore, it is your responsibility to take care of your relatives and stay at home.

Brookins this week removed basketball rims from the courts in his ward, after seeing groups of young people continuing to congregate to shoot hoops in spite of the stay-at-home order and repeated warnings from officials that coming into close contact with one another risks transmitting COVID-19. Read more here. John Byrne

10:54 a.m.: High rates of confirmed coronavirus cases emerge in south suburbs

A Tribune analysis found that, as of Thursday, the ZIP code in Park Forest had the highest rate of people testing positive for the new coronavirus outside of Chicago. Six residents have died of the disease, according to the Cook County medical examiner. The community is part of a group of south suburbs where higher rates have emerged in a swath of ZIP codes between I-57 and the Bishop Ford Freeway/Illinois 394 extension.

The ZIP code data  which the Illinois Department of Public Health began releasing this week  offers a more detailed map of the viruss spread in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, though the information comes with the usual caveats.

Officials say theres been far too little testing to determine the viruss true reach. Those tested sometimes wait a week or more for results, creating lags in the tally. The data includes everyone whos tested positive, even if they have recovered. And its impossible to know to what extent a communitys rates are higher because residents had better access to testing, rather than more infections.

Still, the state data offers the most precise indications available of how the virus has penetrated local communities. Read more here. Joe Mahr and Zak Koeske

10:40 a.m.: Another extension for drivers licenses, vehicle registrations

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an emergency rule will extend the expiration dates on Illinois drivers licenses, ID cards, and vehicle registrations until at least 90 days after Driver Services facilities reopen, Secretary of State Jesse White announced Friday.

The 90-day extension is the right thing to do, White said in a statement Friday. It will ensure drivers licenses, ID cards and vehicle registrations remain valid during this pandemic and will help alleviate the rush of customers visiting facilities once they reopen.

All Driver Services facilities in Illinois have been closed to the public since March 17 and are not scheduled to reopen until May 1, when Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home order is at this time set to lift. Before the governor extended his executive order through the month of April, the secretary of states office had previously filed an emergency rule extending expiration dates by 30 days.

During the statewide shutdown, some Driver Services transactions  including renewing a vehicle registration or obtaining a duplicate drivers license or ID card  can be conducted online at www.cyberdriveillinois.com. Read more here. Antonia Ayres-Brown

10:26 a.m.: Want a pound of salami with that sandwich? As consumers stay home, some restaurants are selling groceries along with meals.

Six weeks ago, Potbelly executives were celebrating signs the sandwich chains turnaround was finally paying off.

Now, with fears of COVID-19 keeping diners home, its trying to sell cold cuts and rolls alongside sandwiches and shakes  and making no predictions about the future.

Many states, including Illinois, have instituted stay-at-home orders and banned restaurants from offering dine-in service, forcing them to pivot to only takeout and delivery. But only 14% of restaurant operators surveyed by market research firm Datassential in late March said customers had placed enough orders to offset lost dine-in sales.

Some restaurants are pivoting again, selling ingredients alongside standard menu items to help make up the difference. Read more here. Lauren Zumbach

10:14 a.m.: Hospitals that take federal aid must ban surprise medical bills for COVID-19 patients, White House says

Hospitals taking money from the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill will have to agree not to send surprise medical bills to patients treated for COVID-19, the White House said Thursday.

Surprise bills typically happen when a patient with health insurance gets treated at an out-of-network emergency room, or when an out-of-network doctor assists with a hospital procedure. They can run from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands. Before the coronavirus outbreak, lawmakers in Congress had pledged to curtail the practice, but prospects for such legislation now seem highly uncertain.

The Trump administration is committed to ensuring all Americans are not surprised by the cost related to testing and treatment they need for COVID-19, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

The stimulus bill includes $100 billion for the health care system, to ease the cash crunch created by the mass cancellation of elective procedures in preparation to receive coronavirus patients. Release of the first $30 billion, aimed at hospitals, is expected soon. Read more here. Associated Press

10:02 a.m.: Family of first Cook County Jail inmate to die of COVID-19 files lawsuit

The family of a 59-year-old Cook County Jail detainee who died of what appears to be coronavirus-related complications earlier this week has filed a federal lawsuit alleging he was improperly shackled to his hospital bed for days.

Jeffery Pendleton, who was booked into the jail in July 2018 to await trial on charges including armed habitual criminal and armed violence, was the first jail inmate to die from symptoms related to COVID-19. He was taken to Stroger Hospital on March 30 after testing positive for the virus and died there Sunday night.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday by Pendletons surviving two brothers, alleges that Pendelton was shackled by his hand and foot to his hospital bed in accordance with Cook County sheriffs office policy, even though the policy call for an armed guard to be present around the clock.

(Cook County Sheriff Tom) Darts shackling policy, applied to Pendleton, was excessive, caused gratuitous pain, and violated his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit seeks class-action status for all other jail inmates being treated for COVID-19 symptoms at area hospitals, which as of Wednesday stood at 22.

The attorney for the Pendelton family, Thomas Morrisey, has previously sued Darts office over the shackling policy. In 2012, the county paid $4.1 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Morrisey alleging a group of female detainees at the jail were shackled while they were pregnant and in labor, despite a state law banning the practice.

A sheriffs office spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment. A sheriffs office spokesman said the office had no comment because it had not seen a copy of the lawsuit.

While the suit focuses on the shackling policy, attorney Patrick Morrissey said they were exploring whether to add further claims about conditions at the jail, particularly the Residential Treatment Unit, the barracks-style unit where he says Pendleton contracted the virus.

Just because you are locked up in the Cook County Jail as a pretrial detainee, you dont check your rights at the door, he said. It shouldnt have been a death sentence for Mr. Pendleton in the jails custody. (His) last days on earth I dont think should have been spent chained to a bed.

Records show Pendleton was locked up on a $50,000 bond and would have needed $5,000 for release. He had 15 previous convictions, including a 1997 conviction for aggravated criminal sexual assault that required him to register as a sex offender, the sheriffs office said in a statement announcing his death.

Public defenders argued for Pendletons release on bond at a hearing March 26, but a judge denied their request.

The sprawling jail complex on Chicagos Southwest Side has been one of the countrys biggest hotspots for coronavirus since the pandemic hit a month ago. As of Thursday, 251 detainees and 150 staff members have tested positive for the virus. On Friday, the sheriffs office announced that a second inmate had died from what appeared to be COVID-19 complications. Jason Meisner and Megan Crepeau

9:45 a.m.: 7 tips for being a patient advocate for yourself or loved ones during the coronavirus pandemic

Talking to doctors and navigating the health-care system can be challenging  even when we arent facing a pandemic. As the number of people seeking care for COVID-19 continues to swell, we spoke with patient advocacy experts for tips on how to get the help you and your loved ones need. Heres what they told us. Read more here.

9:44 a.m.: Oak Park officials: Man in his 50s is villages second likely COVID-19-related death

Officials with the Oak Park health department announced Thursday a resident in his 50s is the villages second death likely related to the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Public health director Mike Charley made the announcement, adding the official cause of death will be made by the Cook County Medical Examiner.

The villages first suspected COVID-19-related death, a man in his 60s, occurred on April 2, however, the medical examiner has yet to officially rule the virus as the cause of death.

In his report Thursday, Charley said an additional six Oak Park residents had tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the villages total number of confirmed cases to 81. Read more here.

9 a.m.: Before data showed Chicago blacks dying at higher rates, communities of color knew recovery from COVID-19 would be slow

Even with incomplete data, the COVID-19 fears of Chicagoans of color have been confirmed. Higher rates of infection and death, especially in black communities, paired with broader economic and health issues, mean that recovery will take longer in some neighborhoods than in others. Some community leaders are now trying to brace for the impact.

Black residents on the South Side make up the majority of the population in seven of 10 ZIP codes with the most deaths, according to census data. Auburn Gresham, where more than 90% of residents are black, includes the Chicago ZIP code with the most COVID-19-related deaths in the city, according to the Cook County medical examiners office. Two of those 10 ZIP codes were majority-Latino, and the remaining ZIP code was split roughly equally between Latino and non-Latino black residents. Read more here. Nausheen Husain and Ceclia Reyes

7:50 a.m.: Second inmate at Cook County Jail dies after testing positive for coronavirus  same day as judge rejects request to release some detainees

A second inmate at Cook County Jail has died after testing positive for the coronavirus, on the same day as a federal judge rejected an emergency request to release medically vulnerable detainees.

Leslie Pieroni, 51, a convicted sex offender, had been hospitalized since April 3 after testing positive for the virus. The sheriffs office said the official cause of death was pending autopsy, but preliminary reports indicate he died as the result of complications due to the virus.

On Sunday, another inmate at the jail died after testing postive. Jeffery Pendleton, 59, had been hospitalized since March 30. Pendleton had been booked into the jail in July of 2018 on charges including armed habitual criminal and armed violence. Read more here. Chicago Tribune staff

7 a.m.: 1,750 more patient rooms built at McCormick Place as it readies to accept coronavirus patients

The public will gets its second look Friday at work being done at McCormick Place to convert it into a medical center during the coronavirus outbreak.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will tour the sprawling tent city at 1 p.m. with the head of the Chicago Federation of Labor, as well as members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois National Guard.

Called an alternate care facility, the converted space will be able to hold 3,000 beds for patients, most of whom would have mild symptoms and not require intensive care. Officials have described it as a last resort if Chicago and surrounding suburbs run out of hospital beds.

Over the last five days, the Army Corps and trade unions have built 1,750 more patient rooms, according to the mayors office. The National Guard flew two planes to Oregon to obtain 500 isolation tents that will provide a negative pressure environment to contain any spread of the virus.

The city, meanwhile, said it hired more than 400 health care workers for the facility. These doctors and nurses were sourced from not only across Illinois, but the entire country, the mayors office said. More than 300 of them have completed onsite training and will also be conducting clinical simulations onsite, prior to admitting patients. Chicago Tribune staff

6:50 a.m.: Amid coronavirus uncertainty, Pritzker and other top Dems back increased mail-in voting in November. But its not that simple

Fears over the coronavirus pandemic and an emphasis on social distancing have fueled calls for restructuring Illinois Nov. 3 general election, including a push for a large-scale mail-in voting system.

But increased voting by mail comes with cautionary notes both political and practical.

Even advocates acknowledge the need to allow people  among them those who dont trust the post office  to show up at a polling place to cast their vote.

There are also the added costs of printing, mailing, securing and counting mail-in ballots, as well as allowing for drop-off boxes for those who dont believe their vote will be delivered in time. Read more here. Rick Pearson

6:30 a.m.: Oncologists, patients weigh treatment and coronavirus risk. Cancer is a disease that does not wait.

As the coronavirus pandemic intensified, so did Catherine Paynes strategies for avoiding infection while undergoing chemotherapy.

The 33-year-old West Town woman was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in November and began treatment soon after, suppressing her immune system.

What started as avoiding the gym, air travel and limiting contact with anyone who felt ill turned into a full-blown quarantine, Payne said.

And visitor restrictions at Northwestern Memorial Hospital meant her fiance could drive her to and from treatment but could not sit with her during her infusion to keep her company, bring food and lend support. Read more here. Kate Thayer

Thursday, April 9

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Thursday:

Wednesday, April 8

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Wednesday:

Tuesday, April 7

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Tuesday:

Monday, April 6

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Monday:

Sunday, April 5

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Sunday:

Saturday, April 4

Heres a recap of coronavirus updates from Saturday:
Christians in Kerala observed a low-key holy Thursday by baking breads at their homes to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ. (AP)

Thiruvananthapuram: On the eve of Good Friday, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan asked people to step up vigil against the threat of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Christian community, which comprises more than 18 per cent of Kerala's population, had earlier decided to observe the holy week from April 5.

However, there was no gathering at churches due to lockdown declared by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

"A day that reminds us about Jesus Christ, the embodiment of sacrifice. Let's commemorate this day by praying for the rehabilitation of COVID-19 patients by remembering the messages from Jesus for the well being of the sufferers," Vijayan said as he asked people to step up vigil against the deadly virus.

Christians in Kerala observed a low-key holy Thursday by baking breads at their homes to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles and the washing of the feet.

"We are in the 21-day lockdown announced by the PM Narendra Modi. The celebrations of the Holy Week should be limited in respect of the restrictions imposed by the state government and the civil authorities," the Syro-Malabar Church had said last week.

On Good Friday, no public veneration of the cross or way of the cross would be held, the Church said.

Directing the Bishops to celebrate the liturgies in the Cathedral and the priests in their respective parishes, the Church has insisted that care should be taken that there are not more than five people at any time.

Kerala on Thursday reported twelve more positive cases of coronavirus, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 357, Vijayan said and cautioned that the state should continue to maintain vigil against the pandemic.
World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom (L) shakes hands with Chinese regime leader Xi jinping before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Jan. 28, 2020. (Naohiko Hatta/AFP via Getty Images)

House Oversight Committee Members Press WHO on Role in Spreading Beijings Propaganda

Several Republican members of the House Oversight Committee are requesting that the World Health Organization (WHO) hand over information about its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the wake of Beijings widely criticized, botched handling of the CCP virus pandemic.

In an April 9 letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the U.S. lawmakers laid out concerns that the international organization helped to serve Beijings interests over those of other countries by repeating the Chinese regimes lies about the situation and downplaying the severity of the disease.

The letter comes amid the committees investigation into the Beijing regimes role in the spread of the pandemic, including its large-scale propaganda campaign.

The CCPs global disinformation campaign is primarily aimed at deflecting blame, sowing discord internationally, and portraying the image that the regime has contained the outbreak. The lawmakers also heavily criticized Ghebreyesuss role.

Throughout the crisis, the WHO has shied away from placing any blame on the Chinese government, which is in essence the Communist Party of China, they wrote.

You, as leader of the WHO, even went so far as to praise the Chinese governments transparency during the crisis, when, in fact, the regime has consistently lied to the world by underreporting their actual infection and death statistics, the letter states.

Internal government documents obtained by The Epoch Times have highlighted how the Chinese regime purposefully underreported cases of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus and which causes the disease COVID-19, and censored discussions of the outbreak, fueling its spread.

The lawmakers asked for all documents and communications between the WHO and China about public health and the CCP virus, as well as the the total number of infected persons and deceased persons related to the current COVID-19 pandemic in China, including those infected but asymptomatic.

They requested all documents dating back to August 2019, in addition to providing a staff-level briefing no later than April 16.

In a Jan. 14 Twitter post, the WHO repeated Chinese propaganda saying that preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCoV) identified in #Wuhan, #China.

Last week, a number of Republican members of the Oversight Committee sent a separate letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking him for more information about how the United States is responding to what they called Chinas dangerous and dishonest propaganda efforts.

Meanwhile, calls to defund the WHO are ramping up as numerous U.S. lawmakers join the Trump administration to accuse the organization of helping to cover up Chinas poor response. In total, the United States financial contributions make up 22 percent of the WHOs assessed funds from member nations.

CCP Is Responsible

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, said in an interview with Fox News Sean Hannity that Beijing should pay reparations to the United States as compensation for its failed handling of the pandemic.

The first thing I want to do is get the United States Senate on the record, where we dont blame Trump, we blame China, Graham told the network on April 9. The Chinese government is responsible for 16,000 American deaths and 17 million Americans being unemployed.

Graham added that he wanted to cancel some of the U.S. debt to China.

Nikki Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, also backs the idea of an independent investigation into WHO.

The American people have every right to ask the WHO questions, Haley told Fox & Friends on April 9. The American people deserve to know why Taiwan was ignored and China was listened to. Those are real questions that we need real answers [to].

I have dealt with those guys at the UN for a long time.  They turn the tables whenever they are criticized and they have to be held accountable, just like we would hold any American agency accountable.

President Donald Trump first announced on April 7 that the United States plans to place a hold on funding for the WHO. He said it is too China-centric and criticized the organization for opposing his early decision to place a ban on travel from China aimed to prevent the spread of the CCP virus to the United States.




The cancellation of in-person interviews and citizenship oath ceremonies due to the COVID-19 crisis means that a lot of people may not get naturalized before the United States of America's 2020 elections in November, says an article.

Approximately, 441,000 individuals who would have been citizens will be deprived of the chance to vote if the interviews and ceremonies remain postponed until October. This occurs when the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will not place any alternative methods, says Boundless Immigration. Boundless Immigration is a tech business that assists immigrants who want to apply for green cards and citizenship.

Remote Oath Taking and Interview

According to a co-founder of Boundless Immigration Doug Rand, The USCIS's decision to postpone live oath-taking ceremonies and live interviews are right. However, the issue with the decision is coming up with an alternative way to allow oath-taking and interview procedures to commence remotely. The USCIS can conduct the oath-taking ceremony in other methods, says Rand.

Rand says that the oath-taking ceremony is a wonderful sight. However, due to the current conditions of the country brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, this is difficult to administer.

Rand expressed the need for these individuals who are near their goal of becoming U.S. citizens to get the oath and interview in alternative means.

Check these out:

On March 18, the USCIS shut down. During that time, more or less 126,000 people who finished their citizenship process were already scheduled to take the oath to be citizens of the U.S.

Other people were awaiting their in-person interviews to answer a test and showcase their English proficiency. The USCIS had extended its office closures until May 3.

Basing on the available data from the USCIS, the company estimates that more or less 63,000 individuals a month gets approved for naturalization.

Voting Registration Deadline is on October

In all the 50 states of the U.S., the deadline for voter registration for the November 2020 elections is in October.

In 2020, the total number of immigrants eligible to cast their votes had grown to 23.2 million. It makes up 10 percent of the electorate. In 2016, there were a total of 20.6 million immigrants who cast their votes.

Alternative Methods to Get the Job Done While Observing COVID-Control Measures

The turnout ratio of foreign-born United States citizens is lower than those of the natural-born U.S. citizens. The exception to this ratio is Latinos and Asians, the two largest immigrant groups in the country.

Many federal agencies, including schools and businesses, have shifted to working and interacting through online means. These actions were triggered by the COVID-19 crisis leading to people observing social distancing and minimizing the instances of going into contact with surfaces that other people touched.

Boundless Immigration gets its earnings from assisting people for naturalization. The shutdown of the USCIS may affect the operations of the business. However, Rand believes that people will still want to apply when they become eligible, despite the coronavirus delays.
In his first televised speech to the Iraqi people, new prime minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi pledged to protect Iraqis from the coronavirus pandemic and said his government will serve the people.

"A government that serves the people, with deeds and not with words. Everyone, without exception, is responsible of supporting this government," he said.

Iraq's president appointed al-Kadhimi, 53, as prime minister-designate shortly after former prime minister-desginate Adnan al-Zurfi's resigned.

Kadhimi is the third prime minister-designate in just over a month.

According to Iraq's constitution, he has 30 days to present a cabinet lineup to parliament for a vote.

Al-Kadhimi must contend with the unenviable task of forming a government that satisfies parties across Iraq's fragmented political scene, a task neither of his predecessors were able to fulfill.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

But the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those with mild or no visible symptoms.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.
Reiterating his allegation of the World Health Organization being China-centric, US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would be making an announcement next week on America's annual funding of around USD500 million to it.

We're going to have an announcement on the World Health Organization sometime next week. As you know, we gave them approximately USD500 million a year and we're going to be talking about that subject next week. We'll have a lot to say about it, Trump told reporters during his daily White House conference on coronavirus pandemic.

Early this week, the president had threatened to put on hold on the American funding to WHO.

The United States has alleged that WHO sided with China in trusting the latter's fabricated data on coronavirus spread. Trump and US lawmakers have now started questioning the WHO's independence. The WHO chief and China both have denied the allegations.

Responding to questions, Trump said WHO has become China-centric and that Beijing has been taking advantage of the United States for long time.

Meanwhile, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley wrote to WHO questioning its initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its suspected reliance on China's manipulated health data, which is believed to have hindered the world's ability to effectively prepare and respond to pandemic, costing countless lives.

Unfortunately, there is ample reason to question WHO's response to early signs of this outbreak in China. The lack of independent analysis and advice in the face of initial misleading public messages from China has resulted in several countries scrambling to make up for lost time, Grassley wrote.

This reporting raises the question whether WHO had reason to believe the information China was providing was inaccurate, and whether due to its reliance on incorrect, unverifiable information, WHO was slow in raising the global alarm about the outbreak, he said in his letter.

It is WHO's responsibility to act in an independent manner on behalf of the entire world by seeking accurate, impartial information and assessing all information from governments for reliability when advising member countries of possible outbreaks, Grassley said.

China's messages and misinformation campaign on coronavirus spread has had a detrimental impact on the global community, and a clear, direct impact on WHO's ability to stay ahead of this pandemic, he alleged.

Rather than parroting Chinese propaganda and talking points, WHO should be making independent assessments. Like many of my colleagues in the United States Senate, I question Communist China's ability and willingness to coordinate in a transparent manner with international bodies when it comes to combating the threat of the coronavirus, Grassley said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Whenever you see a rhino in Africa, often theyre accompanied with a bird -- a Red-billed oxpecker to be precise.

PA/ Reuters

Theyre often found hitchhiking on the rhinos back, feasting on ticks or other parasites from the Rhinos hide. However, a new research has revealed that the relationship between the oxpecker and rhino is far more intuitive.

The loud oxpeckers often serve as an alarm, alerting rhinos if it notices any humans around. Lead researcher, Roan Plotz who is also a behavioural ecologist at Victoria University in Melbourne Australian explains the situation revealing that rhinos can barely see anything. Even when danger is close it can struggle to miss it.

However, the oxpecker has a sharp vision and as soon as it senses danger, it gives out a loud shout, alarming the rhino as well as others nearby.

Plotz and his colleague Wayne Linklater of California State University, Sacramento decided to do an experiment In South Africas HluhluweiMfolozi Park, where they approached 11 black rhinos by foot, in an open ground 86 times.

They discovered that rhinos that were accompanied the red-billed oxpecker were better at detecting the researchers than ones who were alone.

According to Plotz, Rhinos without oxpeckers on their back were able to detect our approaches just 23 percent of the time whereas rhinos with oxpeckers detected them every single time.

The rhinos responded to the oxpeckers shouts by getting alert, switching from their resting position. Some rhinos then headed to investigate the danger while some ran away.

Smithsonian Mag: Aditya Shah

Once seen in abundance, today the population of black rhinos is dwindling, as poachers hunt it for traditional Chinese medicine. Around 5,500 black rhinos remain globally.



Even red-billed oxpeckers are short in numbers. Earlier they commonly fed on parasites/ ticks on cattle, but since a while farmers have been treating them with pesticides.

When oxpeckers consumed pesticide-induced parasites, they die too. So now, most of them stick to black rhinos.

While their duo surely seems cool, it isnt as effective as most poachers tend to hunt on full moon nights -- a time when oxpeckers arent active. Yet it is great that their arrangement atleast keeps them safe during the day.
(JIS) Certain categories of persons are now required to wear masks under new orders announced by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

During the period April 8 to 21, persons with flu-like symptoms  fever, coughing and sneezing persistently  or who have respiratory illnesses must wear a mask in public.

Senior citizens over the age of 65, persons caring for someone at home with a flu-like or respiratory illness, as well as individuals with co-morbid conditions such as diabetes or hypertension, must also wear a mask when they are in public spaces.

Speaking at a digital press briefing from Jamaica House on Wednesday (April 8), Prime Minister Holness said that while members of the public are encouraged to wear a mask, the selected categories of persons mentioned must wear a device that is fitted to cover the nose and the mouth.

It could be a scarf, but the masks that we are used to, which go over your ears, we recommend those as the best types because they are functional, they have the material that filters the virus that were trying to avoid. If you can get those, thats great, but what we really want is the covering of the nose and the mouth, he said.

The Prime Minister also recommended that persons who are visiting places where people are gathered, such as the markets, or taking public transportation, should wear a mask.

In addition, citizens over the age of 70, persons with co-morbidities, as well as those who have flu-like and respiratory symptoms, have also been ordered to stay home during the period April 8 to 21, but they may leave their premises once per day for food, medicine and other necessities of life.

During this outbreak, many cases have been brought to my attention of persons with symptoms who have said, Oh, cho! Its just a little cold or its just a little flu and they have merrily gone on their way and it turns out that after they have fallen very ill and when tested, they are positive for the coronavirus, he noted.

But having gone on their careless escapades, they would have also infected others. So, a part of the strategy of the Government is to ensure that if you are ill with any symptom at all which suggests a flu or a respiratory kind of illness, stay at home, Mr. Holness implored, noting that persons could face penalties for refusing to comply.

WRITTEN BY: TANESHA MUNDLE (JIS)

PHOTO: ADRIAN WALKER
Police arrest male wanted for extortion in Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  The Office of the Attorney General of the State of Quintana Roo reports the arrest of a male subject who has been charged with the crime of extortion.

The FGE says investigative police officers captured Jair A, charged with the crime of extortion. Police officers took him into custody due to an arrest warrant issued by a judge in the municipality of Solidaridad.

The judicial instruction was issued by the court after prosecutors confirmed that the now accused was involved in events that occurred in November 2019, where he apparently demanded that the employee of a commercial premises pay him 10,000 pesos, while threatening him with a firearm.

Likewise, the ministerial authority has a record that the detainee is also being investigated for the crimes of sexual abuse and family violence. Jair A was detained in the municipality of Othon P. Blanco and transferred to Playa del Carmen.
Every country has its own foundational myths, but its hard to imagine that any are more pernicious than those of the United States of America. How can a nation built on genocide, slavery, and rapacious capitalism still promote itself as the land of opportunity? But perhaps the most insidious tenet of American exceptionalism is the prioritization of the individual over the masses, the mandate that the only person anyone needs to look out for is themselves. Its an attitude that leads to everything from hoarding toilet paper in the midst of a crisis to protesting the election of a monstrous bigot with a sign that says, I should be having brunch right now. And its the exact opposite of the ethos of Senator Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign for president, which is best summed up in its simple three-word slogan: Not Me. Us.

On April 8, Sanders announced he was suspending his campaign, supporting the candidacy of former Vice President Joe Biden, and continuing to push for the progressive agenda that has long been his hallmark, and that has lately become embraced by a wider and wider number of Americans. Since launching his first presidential bid in 2015, Sanders has gone from being an iconoclastic, if mostly regionally known senator from Vermont to a leading figure on the national stage, an inspiration to legions of young voters, and a bellwether on issues like Medicare for All, a universal $15/hour minimum wage, forgiveness for student loan debts, and free public higher education. He has also been one of the few leading political figures willing to acknowledge Americas dark past and present, to make clear just what  and who  had to be sacrificed for the lucky few to achieve their wealth and glory.

Its no wonder, then, that Sanders is disliked by the Democratic establishment. Even as some of his ideas have been adopted by other prominent figures, like Senator Elizabeth Warren, and been integrated into the platforms of a new generation of politicians, like representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, Sanders remained a polarizing figure within a Democratic Party that has grown increasingly more enamored not only with its financially elite base, but also with a mythology of its own: an individuals poverty is the responsibility of the individual and no one else  and America? It was never not great.

Story continues

Its unsurprising, then, that a certain class of Democrats would revile Sanders, who had no qualms about criticizing the last two Democratic presidencies, both of whom maintain high levels of popularity among the Democratic base. Its unsurprising but unfortunate  not least because both Clinton and Obama ran and won on platforms predicated on radical change and hope. Though neither administration delivered as promised, that doesnt mean that their initial campaigns were conceptually flawed. On the contrary, Democrats have recently only lost in their bids for presidency when campaigning on a pledge to keep everything the same, or return it to normal. Which is why Sanders critiques of the Clinton and Obama administrations are so important to hear  he is right in pointing out that their respective maintenance of the status quo was not enough. Instead, we must demand that our politicians promise more to us than just mere survival  particularly when the 1 percent has ascended to unprecedented heights of wealth and power.

Of course, even something as basic as survival is in question right now. Sanders understood that long before the coronavirus pandemic, Americans faced an almost incomprehensible crisis of inequality, and that working to fix it was an existential necessity. But now, as we endure week after week of quarantine, an incomprehensibly uncertain economic future, and skyrocketing unemployment, it becomes more and more clear that there will be no return to normal, and that, with every passing day, our perception of what the world should look like is cracking and shifting. It is up to us to mold it into something new.

This is no small task, and for Sanders supporters, it is a massive blow to come to terms with the fact that he will not be the leader who is shaping our new reality. It is also hard to accept how many Democratic voters  overwhelmingly older and wealthier voters, including those who already benefit from Medicare  dont care about a new reality, and long for a past that they found comfortable, or at least bearable.

That past, though, can not be revisited. For many, this is a cause of despair. This is understandable. A secure future feels less and less tenable; the coronavirus pandemic feels like a nightmarish dress rehearsal for the predicted forthcoming environmental catastrophes. And, when people are scared, they become small; they turn inward, they prioritize themselves and their immediate circle. This is what American exceptionalism has always been about, the fear that if we dont exclusively promote our own interests, someone else will triumph at our expense. Its a fear of failure, and it leads to a type of cynical compromise that has plagued us as a society and is pervasive in our politics  except when it comes to Bernie Sanders.

Throughout this campaign cycle, Sanders was derided by centrist Democrats for being an idealist, for being unliked in the Senate, and for taking once-unpopular, now widely accepted moral stands against things like the Iraq War or the Wall Street bailout. Among Sanders supporters, his decades-long unwavering principles were the foundation of his appeal, and his dissonance with his colleagues and failure to get them to do what was moral and right were examples of his virtue. But, the lesson here is not that there is something noble in failure, or that it is enough to be righteous as the world suffers. Rather it is that, like Sanders, we should not be afraid to fail as we fight for more than just survival, but rather for the right to thrive, to have access to healthcare, to be unsaddled by debt, to be able to provide for ourselves and our families without working multiple jobs and 80-hour weeks.

Sanders has taught us that what looks like failure to some  conceding defeat in a primary election  is not humbling at all, because the electoral loss of one person can not stop the movement he helped foment. Sanders knows that victory and defeat are not a simple binary, and that the process of bringing equality to all Americans is a struggle that has already lasted hundreds of years and is sure to continue longer still. His is a movement populated by more than just one man, a movement driven by millions of people who know that there is something more important to do than autopsy a political loss. Instead, we must fight for more than survival, we must fight for a future that we want to inhabit, a future not just for me or you, but for us.

Related Content:

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

What Bernie Staying On The Ballot Means For Biden

Politicians React To Bernie Sanders Ending His Bid

Bernie Sanders Ends His Bid For President
A 50-year-old newspaper agent



died of COVID-19 infection at Hatpipalya town in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district, a health official said on Friday.

This is the first coronavirus casualty in the district, which has two more positive patients, he added.

The deceased, who worked as an agent for a Hindi daily and as a journalist in small towns, had tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday night, the official said.

He was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Dewas town, where he succumbed to the infection on Thursday, the official said.

The victim had suffered from a fever three to four days ago, and was referred to Dewas District Hospital, from where he was shifted to a quarantine facility at a private hospital, the official said.

Of the 62 swab samples sent for testing in the district, the reports of three patients came out positive, and one of them has died, he said.

High-risk contacts of COVID-19 patients are being quarantined, he added.

Madhya Pradesh has so far recorded 426 COVID-19 cases and 33 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russias government raises caps on mortgages eligible for repayment holidays

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

17:40 10/04/2020

MOSCOW, April 10 (RAPSI)  Russias government had raised upper limits of mortgages the borrowers of which affected by the coronavirus pandemic are eligible to seek repayment holidays with banks, the Cabinet Chair Mikhail Mishustin said addressing a conference on economic issues.

The respective sum, according to Mishustin, is calculated taking into account the specifics of different segments of the mortgage market, since apartment prices vary across Russias regions; thus in Moscow, where housing is most expensive, the cap is to make 4.5 million rubles (about $60,000 at the current exchange rate), whereas in St. Petersburg and in the Far East Federal District it is to be set at 3 million rubles ($40,000); for other regions the upper mortgage limit makes 2 million rubles ($26,500).

The figures, the Chair of the government noted, had been determined in the result of an analysis of objective evidence on the market of mortgage borrowings collected over a two-year period. He expressed his hope that the measure is to help the majority of those concerned.

Earlier, the government announced the caps to be at 1.5 million rubles ($20,000).

On April 3, President Vladimir Putin signed into a law provisions entitling borrowers to six-month repayment holidays if their incomes over the preceding month declined by 30% in comparison with their last year average monthly income.
FEI and knoc join together. We are running low on food and funding, but are dedicated to our mission and know that not only can we help our clients, we can also help small businesses keep staff employed. We found a great partner in Knoq. Emily Brown, founder, and Executive Director, FEI

The Food Equity Initiative and Knoq, have created a no-contact specialty delivery service to deliver allergy-free foods to families in need during the Coronavirus outbreak.

The COVID-19 pandemic is increasing food insecurity by interrupting income, driving up food prices, hoarding and creating supply chain problems that result in shortages of medically necessary food.

The Food Equality Initiative (FEI) is one of only four organizations in the country providing families gluten-free and allergen-free food. FEI is receiving hundreds of additional requests a week to meet the needs of families with allergies.

Emily Brown, founder, and Executive Director hopes that she can keep up. We are running low on food and funding, but we are dedicated to our mission and know that not only can we help our clients, we can also help small businesses keep staff employed. We found a great partner in Knoq.

Knoq sends professionals out into neighborhoods to educate people on products and services. With the COVID-19 crisis we knew could pivot our operations, create a no-contact delivery service and keep our staff employed.

"Knoq builds technology that trains and guides neighborhood representatives (Knoqers) to go into their own neighborhoods and educate people about products and services that can make their lives better. In the midst of the current crisis we could not continue with our usual day-to-day operations, so we started looking for a way to continue serving our communities and to keep our Knoqers employed. We were thrilled to connect with the Food Equality Initiative who are delivering food to those who most need it in Kansas City. Our Knoqers will be partnering with them and other groups to serve our communities during this challenging time." - Kendall Tucker, CEO
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 07:25:21|Editor: Liu

Video Player Close

by Xinhua writer Tan Jingjing

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- While existing evidence shows African Americans have higher rates of COVID-19 infection and morality in the United States, a leading epidemiologist told Xinhua on Thursday that underlying health conditions and higher chances of exposure to virus environment may contribute to the problem.

U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this week his administration is actively engaging on the disease's increased impacts on the African American community, and doing everything to address this challenge.

"It's been disproportional," Trump said, adding he is very concerned about the terrible numbers of infected African Americans.

Zhang Zuofeng, professor of epidemiology, and also associate dean for research at the School of Public Health of the University of California, Los Angeles, told Xinhua that African Americans have higher rates of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and obesity, which may be a main reason for why they had higher rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality.

Moreover, compared with other ethnic groups, more African Americans are working in positions with higher chances of exposure to COVID-19, such as workers and cleaners in health care facilities, and bus drivers, which made them more easily to get infected, Zhang said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said higher rates of pre-existing conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and asthma, within black and minority communities, may contribute to the phenomenon, as well as their higher use of public transportation.

"We are very concerned about that. It is very sad. There is nothing we can do about it right now except to give them the best possible care to avoid complications," Fauci said.

A few states have released racial data on COVID-19 infection, including Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina. Data from these states showed African Americans died at disproportionately higher rates compared with other Americans.

According to state public health departments, of all the coronavirus-related deaths in Louisiana, about 70 percent were African American patients, despite the fact that African Americans comprise less than one third of the state's population.

In Michigan, African Americans account for 14 percent of the state's population, but 33 percent of COVID-19 cases and 40 percent of deaths.

"Currently the race data for COVID-19 are not complete. As soon as other states with huge population released their data, such as Texas, California and New York state, we can have a clearer picture of COVID-19 infection and mortality for all races," Zhang told Xinhua.

Trump said the White House would release data on coronavirus cases by race shortly.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said the risk of tragedy is very real. "It is a reminder that we have to be very careful with people with underlying health conditions."
With 110,000 peacekeepers deployed in more than a dozen countries around a world now ravaged by the coronavirus, the United Nations faces twin challenges: keeping those soldiers safe and, more importantly, persuading governments not to bring them home. One fear is that of a "stampede effect," in the words of one diplomat. Countries that have contributed peacekeepers "might have a legitimate concern to the effect of 'I am not staying here' or 'I am not leaving my men here because if they get infected, they will not be well taken care of,'" the diplomat told AFP. The UN under-secretary general for peacekeeping operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, told AFP Wednesday that as of right now he had not received any requests to withdraw peacekeeping troops because of COVID-19. "It is more essential than ever to press on with our collective commitment to peace," he said. Preparing for the arrival of the virus in countries with UN blue-helmeted soldiers -- and so as to avoid spreading the pathogen -- on March 6 the UN stopped rotating its troops in and out of conflict zones where they are trying to keep the peace. This week the UN extended that new policy through June 30, and it now applies to all countries where UN peacekeepers are deployed. For weeks now, the isolation measures applied around the world for people found to be infected with the coronavirus are now also in force at camps where UN soldiers are housed. Precautions have also been taken with UN patrols so that soldiers do not infect each other or local people, UN officials say. Indeed, the organization is keenly aware that UN peacekeepers from Nepal that were deployed to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake infected local people with cholera in an epidemic that went on to claim at least 10,000 lives. "We are making every possible effort to prevent our people from being vectors of contagion," said Lacroix, citing strict hygiene rules and minimal physical contact with locals. As Africa -- largely spared so far by the pandemic, unlike Europe and the US -- awaits a hard hit in the next few weeks, the goal now for the UN is to keep operating on the continent, such as in Mali, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Measures taken against COVID-19 have had an impact on the UN's peacekeeping operations, a diplomat said on condition of anonymity. But these operations must continue, another diplomat said, predicting "total catastrophe if the operations collapse with the departure of UN troops." - 'Sense of the ephemeral' - Since March 23, Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate ceasefire in war zones all over the world, such as in Yemen and Syria. The appeal has had little effect on the ground. But it also amounts to an implicit ask for countries contributing troops to keep them right where they are. On Tuesday, the European Union -- a major source of soldiers and police officers for UN peacekeeping missions -- backed the idea of keeping UN troops in place, promising to not bring home European soldiers engaged in such operations. "We would like to underline that, despite the strain the pandemic is putting on our own systems, we stay more committed than ever to the work the peacekeepers are carrying out throughout the world," the EU said in a message to Guterres. UN peace operations "will need to be able to continue their operations to support the host countries in this especially challenging time," the EU added. Some UN diplomats are hoping that Africa's response to the pandemic, when it hits the continent with its full deadly force, will be unexpectedly good and allow UN peacekeepers to stay put. "African countries are much more prepared for epidemics psychologically and in terms of their health care systems," one European diplomat said, noting Africa's experience with an Ebola epidemic from 2013 to 2016 and a measles epidemic now affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo. One African diplomat said that in wealthy countries "people have become complacent and over-confident" and this helps explain "their even greater disarray when they face a crisis like this one." "Africans are stronger in terms of mental resilience. They have a sense of the ephemeral, faith in God, be it a Muslim God or a Christian God, and this will be their strength," this diplomat said, adding that Africans also have a much stronger knack for helping each other than do people in rich Western nations. Lacroix, however, said he believes the pandemic will have a particularly rough impact in countries with UN peacekeepers because of weak infrastructure and war-ruined health care networks. Still, he expressed optimism. "What is encouraging is that we are a step ahead of the virus in most of the settings where UN peacekeepers operate," said Lacroix.
INDIANAPOLIS, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) announced today it has entered into an agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study baricitinib as an arm in NIAID's Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial. The study will investigate the efficacy and safety of baricitinib as a potential treatment for hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19, beginning this month in the U.S. with a planned expansion to additional sites including Europe and Asia. Results are expected within the next two months.

Baricitinib, an oral JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor marketed as OLUMIANT, is approved in more than 65 countries as a treatment for adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis. The U.S. prescribing information includes boxed warnings regarding the use of baricitinib, including warnings about risk for developing serious infections, a risk that may be related to baricitinib's effects on the immune system. Given the inflammatory cascade seen in COVID-19, baricitinib's anti-inflammatory activity has been hypothesized to have a potential beneficial effect in COVID-19 and warrants further study in patients with this infection.

Joining the NIAID study is just one approach Lilly is taking to tackle the COVID-19 global health crisis. Lilly is also announcing today that it will advance LY3127804, an investigational selective monoclonal antibody against Angiopoietin 2 (Ang2), to Phase 2 testing in pneumonia patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who are at a higher risk of progressing to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Ang2 is known to be elevated in ARDS patients and Lilly will test whether inhibiting the effects of Ang2 with a monoclonal antibody can reduce the progression to ARDS or the need for mechanical ventilation in COVID-19 patients. This trial will begin later this month at several U.S. centers.

"Lilly is moving at top speed and using all available resources to help fight this pandemic," said Daniel Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., Lilly's chief scientific officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. "Developing potential therapeutic medicines for COVID-19 is part of our vital and humanitarian mission. To be successful, we must combine resources, data and expertise, with government, academia and other companies. We look forward to seeing the results of baricitinib and anti-Ang2 clinical studies."

"There is an urgent need for new strategies to help hospitalized COVID-19 patients, many of whom will progress to respiratory failure," said Vincent C. Marconi, M.D., professor of medicine and global health at Emory University School of Medicine, one of the U.S. sites for NIAID's ongoing Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial. "This NIAID study presents an important opportunity to test whether baricitinib can help these patients."

Lilly currently does not anticipate shortages for any of its medicines, including baricitinib, which remains widely available in countries where it is approved. Should research efforts for baricitinib in COVID-19 prove successful, Lilly will continue to create adequate supply to support both appropriate clinical and investigational use.

Indication and Usage for OLUMIANT (baricitinib) tablets (in the United States) for RA patients

OLUMIANT (baricitinib) 2-mg is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonist therapies. Limitation of Use: Use of OLUMIANT in combination with other JAK inhibitors, biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), or with potent immunosuppressants such as azathioprine and cyclosporine is not recommended.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION FOR OLUMIANT (baricitinib) TABLETS

WARNING: SERIOUS INFECTIONS, MALIGNANCY, AND THROMBOSIS

SERIOUS INFECTIONS: Patients treated with Olumiant are at risk for developing serious infections that may lead to hospitalization or death. Most patients who developed these infections were taking concomitant immunosuppressants such as methotrexate or corticosteroids. If a serious infection develops, interrupt Olumiant until the infection is controlled. Reported infections include:

Active tuberculosis (TB), which may present with pulmonary or extrapulmonary disease. Test patients for latent TB before initiating Olumiant and during therapy. Treatment for latent infection should be considered prior to Olumiant use.

Invasive fungal infections, including candidiasis and pneumocystosis. Patients with invasive fungal infections may present with disseminated, rather than localized, disease.

Bacterial, viral, and other infections due to opportunistic pathogens.

Carefully consider the risks and benefits of Olumiant prior to initiating therapy in patients with chronic or recurrent infection.

Closely monitor patients for the development of signs and symptoms of infection during and after treatment with Olumiant including the possible development of TB in patients who tested negative for latent TB infection prior to initiating therapy.

MALIGNANCIES: Lymphoma and other malignancies have been observed in patients treated with Olumiant.

THROMBOSIS: Thrombosis, including deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), has been observed at an increased incidence in patients treated with Olumiant compared to placebo. In addition, there were cases of arterial thrombosis. Many of these adverse events were serious and some resulted in death. Patients with symptoms of thrombosis should be promptly evaluated.

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

SERIOUS INFECTIONS: The most common serious infections reported with Olumiant included pneumonia, herpes zoster and urinary tract infection. Among opportunistic infections, tuberculosis, multidermatomal herpes zoster, esophageal candidiasis, pneumocystosis, acute histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, cytomegalovirus and BK virus were reported with Olumiant. Some patients have presented with disseminated rather than local disease and were often taking concomitant immunosuppressants such as methotrexate or corticosteroids. Avoid Olumiant in patients with an active, serious infection, including localized infections. Consider the risks and benefits of treatment prior to initiating Olumiant in patients:

with chronic or recurrent infection

who have been exposed to TB

with a history of a serious or an opportunistic infection

who have resided or traveled in areas of endemic tuberculosis or endemic mycoses; or

with underlying conditions that may predispose them to infection.

Closely monitor patients for infections during and after Olumiant treatment. Interrupt Olumiant if a patient develops a serious infection, an opportunistic infection, or sepsis. Do not resume Olumiant until the infection is controlled.

Tuberculosis  Before initiating Olumiant evaluate and test patients for latent or active infection and treat patients with latent TB with standard antimycobacterial therapy. Olumiant should not be given to patients with active TB. Consider anti-TB therapy prior to initiating Olumiant in patients with a history of latent or active TB in whom an adequate course of treatment cannot be confirmed, and for patients with a negative test for latent TB but who have risk factors for TB infection. Monitor patients for TB during Olumiant treatment.

Viral Reactivation  Viral reactivation, including cases of herpes virus reactivation (e.g., herpes zoster), were reported in clinical studies with Olumiant. If a patient develops herpes zoster, interrupt Olumiant treatment until the episode resolves.

The impact of Olumiant on chronic viral hepatitis reactivation is unknown. Screen for viral hepatitis in accordance with clinical guidelines before initiating Olumiant.

MALIGNANCY AND LYMPHOPROLIFERATIVE DISORDERS: Malignancies were observed in Olumiant clinical studies. Consider the risks and benefits of Olumiant prior to initiating therapy in patients with a known malignancy other than a successfully treated non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) or when considering continuing Olumiant in patients who develop a malignancy. NMSCs were reported in patients treated with Olumiant. Periodic skin examination is recommended for patients who are at increased risk for skin cancer.

THROMBOSIS: Thrombosis, including DVT and PE, has been observed at an increased incidence in Olumiant-treated patients compared to placebo. In addition, arterial thrombosis events in the extremities have been reported in clinical studies with Olumiant. Many of these adverse events were serious and some resulted in death. There was no clear relationship between platelet count elevations and thrombotic events. Use Olumiant with caution in patients who may be at increased risk of thrombosis. If clinical features of DVT/PE or arterial thrombosis occur, evaluate patients promptly and treat appropriately.

GASTROINTESTINAL PERFORATIONS: Gastrointestinal perforations have been reported in Olumiant clinical studies, although the role of JAK inhibition in these events is not known. Use Olumiant with caution in patients who may be at increased risk for gastrointestinal perforation (e.g., patients with a history of diverticulitis). Promptly evaluate patients who present with new onset abdominal symptoms for early identification of gastrointestinal perforation.

LABORATORY ABNORMALITIES:

Neutropenia  Olumiant treatment was associated with an increased incidence of neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count [ANC] <1000 cells/mm3) compared to placebo. Avoid initiation or interrupt Olumiant treatment in patients with an ANC <1000 cells/mm3. Evaluate at baseline and thereafter according to routine patient management.

Lymphopenia  Absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) <500 cells/mm3 were reported in Olumiant clinical trials. Lymphocyte counts less than the lower limit of normal were associated with infection in patients treated with Olumiant, but not placebo. Avoid initiation or interrupt Olumiant treatment in patients with an ALC <500 cells/mm3. Evaluate at baseline and thereafter according to routine patient management.

Anemia  Decreases in hemoglobin levels to <8 g/dL were reported in Olumiant clinical trials. Avoid initiation or interrupt Olumiant treatment in patients with hemoglobin <8 g/dL. Evaluate at baseline and thereafter according to routine patient management.

Liver Enzyme Elevations  Olumiant treatment was associated with increased incidence of liver enzyme elevation compared to placebo. Increases to 5x and 10x upper limit of normal were observed for both ALT and AST in patients in Olumiant clinical trials.

Evaluate at baseline and thereafter according to routine patient management. Promptly investigate the cause of liver enzyme elevation to identify potential cases of drug-induced liver injury. If increases in ALT or AST are observed and drug-induced liver injury is suspected, interrupt Olumiant until this diagnosis is excluded.

Lipid Elevations  Treatment with Olumiant was associated with increases in lipid parameters, including total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Assess lipid parameters approximately 12 weeks following Olumiant initiation. Manage patients according to clinical guidelines for the management of hyperlipidemia.

VACCINATIONS: Avoid use of live vaccines with Olumiant. Update immunizations in agreement with current immunization guidelines prior to initiating Olumiant therapy.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

Adverse reactions (1%) include: upper respiratory tract infections (16.3%, 14.7%, 11.7%), nausea (2.7%, 2.8%, 1.6%), herpes simplex (0.8%, 1.8%, 0.7%) and herpes zoster (1.0%, 1.4%, 0.4%) for Olumiant 2 mg, baricitinib 4 mg, and placebo, respectively.

USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS

PREGNANCY AND LACTATION: No information is available to support the use of Olumiant in pregnancy or lactation. Advise women not to breastfeed during treatment with Olumiant.

HEPATIC AND RENAL IMPAIRMENT: Olumiant is not recommended in patients with severe hepatic impairment or in patients with severe renal impairment.

Please click to access full Prescribing Information, including Boxed Warning about Serious infections, Malignancies, and Thrombosis, and Medication Guide.

BA HCP ISI 11OCT2019

About OLUMIANT

OLUMIANT is a once-daily, oral JAK inhibitor approved in the U.S. for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more TNF inhibitor therapies, and approved outside of the U.S. for patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to one or more DMARDs.i There are four known JAK enzymes: JAK1, JAK2, JAK3 and TYK2. JAK-dependent cytokines have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.ii OLUMIANT has greater inhibitory potency at JAK1, JAK2 and TYK2 relative to JAK3; however, the relevance of inhibition of specific JAK enzymes to therapeutic effectiveness is not currently known.i

In December 2009, Lilly and Incyte announced an exclusive worldwide license and collaboration agreement for the development and commercialization of baricitinib and certain follow-on compounds for patients with inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at www.lilly.com and newsroom.lilly.com/social-channels. P-LLY

This press release also contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about OLUMIANT (baricitinib) as a treatment for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and as a potential treatment for patients with COVID-19, about LY3127804 as a potential treatment for patients with COVID-19, and about the supply of OLUMIANT, and reflects Lilly's current beliefs. However, as with any pharmaceutical product, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the process of development and commercialization. Among other things, there can be no guarantee that OLUMIANT will receive additional regulatory approvals or continue to be commercially successful, that OLUMIANT or LY3127804 will prove to be an effective treatment for COVID-19, or that we can provide an adequate supply of OLUMIANT in all circumstances. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see Lilly's most recent respective Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.

i Olumiant Prescribing Information, 2019.

ii Walker JG and Smith MD. J Rheumatol. 2005;32;1650-1653.

Refer to:

Kristen Basu; [email protected]; +1-317-447-2199 (media, baricitinib)

Nicole Hebert; [email protected]; +1-317-701-9984 (media, Lilly Research Laboratories)

Kevin Hern; [email protected]; +1-317-277-1838 (investors)

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company
Two police officers stop a man to question his purpose of going out during the nationwide social distancing period on Dong Me Street, Nam Tu Liem District in Hanoi, April 5, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Chinh.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked law enforcement agencies to strictly discipline those violating social distancing rules and not wearing face masks.

He noted at a government meeting Thursday that Vietnam was not the only nation in the world deploying social distancing to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

As many as four billion people in 90 countries, or half of the worlds population, have been requested to stay at home to curb the virus, he said.

He also said Vietnam was one of the countries that have launched the social distancing earlier than others, adding: "The results we have achieved so far are quite encouraging but the threat still remains unchanged."

No one should neglect social distancing rules and let their guard down, Phuc said.

Vietnam launched a 15-day nationwide social distancing campaign on April 1, not allowing gatherings of more than two people and asking people to stay home, only going out when truly necessary.

The PM, however, also told local authorities while they have to strictly clamp down on public gathering, they should also ensure the availability of essential goods and the flow of commerce needed for it. Earlier, some localities had mistaken the governments social distancing rules for a national lockdown and strictly prevented all traffic between communes and districts by putting up barriers.

Apart from warning people gathering in groups in public places, including those doing exercises, in several places, police have fined people found going out for "non-essential" purposes. The typical fine in such cases is VND200,000 ($8.58). In some cases, those ignoring the rule to organize public gatherings have been fined up to VND12 million ($510).

The public has been informed that those not wearing face masks in public places can be fined VND100,000-300,000.

HCMC has thus far fined almost 2,500 people for not wearing face masks in public places. City officials said Thursday that they have collected nearly VND500 million ($21,260) in fines.

Vietnam had recorded 255 Covid-19 infections as of Friday morning, more than half of whom (128) have been discharged from hospitals.

The Health Ministry said Wednesday that the Covid-19 pandemic has entered the third stage in Vietnam, defined as the community transmission stage, when more than a few locals have got infected without immediate identification of the source of transmission.

The first stage, which began late January, saw the nation record 16 cases by mid-February, with many cases linked to Wuhan in China, where the novel coronavirus broke out. Then the country went 22 days in a row without any new cases before the second stage began March 6, with a wave of infected people returning from abroad, particularly Europe.

To deal with the community transmission, more drastic social distancing is needed to curb infection, track down the source and locate the stricken areas for isolation, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son has said.
Sandra Bell, administrator with the Ste. Genevieve County Health Department, reported to the Ste. Genevieve County Commission Thursday morning on the current status of COVID-19.

Ive been getting a lot of calls on people who are not compliant with social distancing, she said. My answer is, please do your best to encourage it, we dont have the manpower to [enforce] it. Our case numbers are not going up, so I think people are following that.

Presiding Commissioner Garry Nelson noted that the stay-at-home order is almost unenforceable.

Weve got enough officers, city and county, to take care of regular law enforcement, he said. We cant go out every time there is a call saying I saw three people walking side by side on the walking trail.

Bell added, By the time you get there, they are going to be gone.

Nelson continued, Its basically unenforceable. But, if people want this to open up and get better, they have to abide by it.

Nelson also observed that traffic is way below normal, suggesting that the vast majority of people are complying.

According to Bell, there are a lot of rumors and negative reactions.

We spend a lot of time defusing negative rumors, which I dont mind, because I want the positive to get out there, she said.

Nelson reiterated his concerns about calls. We were afraid of this, that people would be calling every time they saw more than two people walking side-by-side.

Bell talked about a call she received about three teenagers sitting on the hoods of their cars in a parking lot 10 feet from each other and chatting.

The mayor got called about that one too," Nelson added.

According to Bell, there was nothing wrong with the situation.

Creative thinking, getting out and chatting with each other off the phones, she said. Good for them, theres nothing wrong with what they are doing.

Nelson added that the governors order says to seek outside recreation.

Get out and do something, just do it the right way, he said.

Bell summarized that she hoped that when the outbreak is over that people will look back and think that everything was done as well as possible.

County Emergency Manager Felix Meyer observed that Bell was not hearing much about the flu.

Bell stated that she has not been hearing about reports on influenza numbers and has not determined the reason why.

Seriously, we should be doing some of these measures all the time anyway and people dont, she said. I cant believe how many people dont wash their hands as much as they should. So, maybe all this awareness has reduced the spread of flu, or is not getting reported. I really dont know yet which one that is, but this is the first week I have not gotten any flu cases.

Bell handed out a paper from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services listing their recommendations for Easter celebrations.

Do look for alternatives to view Easter and Passover prayer services online or on TV.

Do celebrate with family via video chat or phone calls.

Do cook traditional foods at home to enjoy the familiar tastes and smells of the holiday. Eat dinner together via videoconference.

Do follow guidance from your local public health agency.

Dont attend an in-person Easter or Passover prayer service.

Dont congregate in public areas like parks on Easter Sunday or during Passover.

Dont invite loved ones or neighbors to celebrate at your home.

Dont attend a celebration outside your home.

Do celebrate in person only with those who live with you.

Mark Marberry is a reporter for the Farmington Press and Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3629, or at mmarberry@farmingtonpressonline.com

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
The Covid-19 pandemic has upended economies worldwide. Vietnam, for one, must take urgent measures to handle this period of instability.

The impact of Covid-19 has been most significant in the services sector, which accounts for 42% of Vietnams GDP. Government ordinances have halted tourism and entry into Vietnam, which had two million arrivals in January alone. Hotel occupancy has fallen from over 70% at the start of the year to a record low of 9.5%.

Manufacturing, which accounts for 16% of the countrys GDP, relies heavily on the importation of raw materials from China and Korea. This has also effectively been shut down.



Vietnams first priority should be ending the uncertainty around the ongoing review of land transfer pricing (Photo: Bloomberg)

Purchasing Managers Index or PMI has fallen from 51.8% in January to 49% in March. 2020. The recovery of export activity looks challenging since Vietnams export market is dependent on EMEA and the US. One positive is the strong correlation between Vietnams imports and exports: A 20% decrease in one will not adversely affect the balance of trade, though we could see a shrinking of the economy.

Despite these challenging times, the central government has a good opportunity to turn the real estate sector into an engine of growth. The government will need to address key structural issues for the market by working with private businesses to improve the regulatory framework and by injecting much-needed liquidity into the banking and private lending areas of capital markets.

By resolving long-standing issues curbing real estate supply, the state can streamline an important growth sector and a key driver of foreign direct investment (FDI).

There are a number of bottlenecks suppressing the growth of the Vietnamese real estate market. The resolution of these bottlenecks, however, presents significant opportunities for investors as we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis.

Clarification on land transfer pricing

Story continues

The central governments first priority should be ending the uncertainty around the ongoing review of land transfer pricing. The review of project prices paid by developers should be hastened and this matter should be given a clear framework for resolution. The review process has caused the development pipeline to all but stop, cascading to the commercial market and creating supply-side constraints.

Supply constrictions during times of increased demand will of course lead to an increase in the price of land, property and rental rates. Vietnam has experienced this for months already, and valuations are being stretched thanks to this demand pressure, and this is making things expensive.

Providing clear guidelines and a cohesive framework for developers to work within will help resolve supply-side issues without overwhelming or destabilising the market. The creation of a clear mechanism to assess historic and current land values - without resorting to public auctions or speculation - could also be a prudent move by the state.

Increasing confidence through public-private partnerships

One proposal discussed by investors and developers in the industrial sector is for the state to work on the development of a public-private partnership (PPP) for land owned by the military and state. This would improve investors access to suitable land for development and could be used by the landowners to develop more investment-grade facilities. These locations would increase FDI and help attract investors and occupiers in the manufacturing, industrial and logistics sectors.

Another possibility presented by domestic and offshore investors is to develop a robust and transparent application and approval process. This would entail appointing three independent evaluators to establish the value of developers and investors property. The evaluation would be binding to all parties and feed into the conversion process and Land Use Right Certificate (LURC) pricing.

This would give developers and investors the confidence to move forward on projects in a timely manner, and supply-side issues would be curtailed. The government could strengthen this with wholesale investment through an online registry since the master planning of many cities and provinces is already executed online. Public access to these resources would also drive more transparency.

Clearer guidelines, processes, and pricing

Processes and frameworks that allow this can be used to address another market bottleneck: the length and conditions of the LURC. Fifty years is an adequate timeframe for investors looking to acquire land or assets, and they can work within these tenure constraints. Other regional markets have successfully used similar lengths of time for land leases.

What investors do not like is the uncertainty that arises from the lack of guidance or clear framework for potential issues. In this case, the expiry of a project or assets LURC, and the process to renew it, creates uneasiness for investors and developers.

The New Draft Law on Land might remove this bottleneck. The 13th National Congress subcommittee has started its first meetings to discuss the next national construction plan, and it is expected that they will ratify the law shortly after the 13th National Congress has been fully formed in early 2021.

However, as long as this remains in flux, the framework will be cumbersome and affect most sectors of real estate, resulting in project delays and increased development cost. By providing clear guidelines, processes and pricing, the state could open the gates to capital wanting to enter Vietnam.

Investment in Infrastructure

A third bottleneck is the lack of infrastructure hampering the real estate market. In southern Vietnam, the completion of the inner- and outer- ring roads, the linking of ports and industrial parks by cargo trains, and the development of rapid transportation nodes would support the efficient and successful use of investment capital.

An example of a successful PPP project is in Quang Ninh, where Sun Group built an excellent airport, passenger cruise terminal and expressway. The same model could be applied to public transportation nodes by investing in efficient intermodal solutions for transportation, including speeding up the development of railways and improving access to inner cities. This would remove the infrastructure constrictions hindering the development and investment into many types of real estate.

One state-led initiative yielding results is the Five Components Infrastructure plan. The plan focuses on infrastructure investment for coastal and border-gate economic zones, as well as the development of industrial parks, hi-tech parks and agricultural zones.

Investment planning and distribution of capital have been identified by private and public sectors as essential to the sustained growth of real estate markets. Providing stakeholders with a clear understanding of their investments impact assures that their investment is made in an effective manner. Likewise, developers look for investors that can flex up and down on the yield curve to service their capital needs.

Improve access to credit

Another bottleneck is access to credit, which the World Bank identified as the most critical element to improved economic growth. Vietnams policymakers should address financial restraints if they want the nation to continue rapid and inclusive growth..

Access to credit for developers and asset owners is key to broadening Vietnams investor base. At present, the key risk for lenders wishing to work with Vietnamese borrowers is quite simple: in the case of default, seizing pledged assets is arduous without mediation by courts.

To reduce risk, lenders use negative controls like board seats, call options for shares of the borrowing company, control of cash accounts, veto rights on decisions at BOD (board of directors) level or, in some

cases, control of the company chop. This creates a barrier for most capital sources wanting to enter Vietnam since they are forced to step out of their risk curve, increasing the cost of the capital they deploy. Therefore, addressing debt recovery will improve liquidity.

Developers and owners could access other sources of capital with cheaper costs and remove the risk to state and local banks.

Bouncing back

With the current Covid-19 situation evolving on a daily basis, theres a chance we could be moving towards a systemic slowdown of global economies, and all of the challenges that would come with that. For an emerging market like Vietnam, real estate can be a bona fide driver of financial growth and aid recovery in the event of an economic downturn.

This growth depends on FDI in industrial, retail, office and infrastructure sectors. Enabling asset owners to use their buildings as security for lines of private credit, stimulating the domestic market for companies and manufacturers, and expanding operations will put money back into peoples pockets in the form of wages.

In our opinion, Vietnam can swiftly address these bottlenecks, which would heighten investor confidence and help maintain the economys rapid growth. The government can resolve a few of these issues to cement its global reputation as a state capable of adapting to an ever-changing world.



Ben Gray, director of capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield, Vietnam



Paul Tonkes, director of logistics & industrial services at Cushman & Wakefield, Vietnam

Read also:

See Also:






BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Health officials and experts from the Chinese military shared their experience in COVID-19 response with their Russian peers via a videoconference Thursday, according to China's Ministry of National Defense.

The Chinese military introduced the general situation and experience of the military participating in the country's epidemic prevention and control during the videoconference, which was attended by over 30 health officials and experts in Beijing, Wuhan and Saint Petersburg, the ministry said.

Experts exchanged views on the response, testing and clinical treatment, the ministry said, adding that they also analyzed and discussed the epidemiological investigation, treatment of critically ill patients and convalescent plasma therapy with detailed cases.

Speaking highly of the Chinese military's efforts and China's achievements in the fight against the disease, the Russian side appreciated China for its high-quality, candid and in-depth academic exchanges and experience sharing, according to the ministry.

The Russian military said it was willing to strengthen cooperation with its Chinese counterpart in the response and prevail over the pandemic with joint efforts, according to the ministry.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

San Francisco, 10 April 2020: The Report 4D Printing Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Material (Programmable Carbon Fiber, Programmable Wood, Programmable Textiles), By End-Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

The global 4D printing market size is expected to reach USD 313.1 million by 2025, expanding at a CAGR of 33.2%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. 4D printing is an advanced process for printing customizable smart materials where an object is 3D printed using a programmable material. It enables the material objects to adjust their appearance or shape over time by using internal or external stimuli, such as change in temperature or water immersion subjected to pressure, electric current, UV light, or other form energies. 4D printing, with its form changing tools, is estimated to revolutionize every industry on a global scale as the technology offers advantages of reduced resource consumption and energy wastage.

Researchers are increasingly emphasizing on 4D printing materials, primarily focusing at the microscopic level. Technologies incorporating shape memory alloys are developed wherein a temperature change results in the change of an objects shape. Additionally, newer technologies are also utilizing electroactive polymers, pressurized fluids, smart materials, and chemicals.

Technology needs are ever increasing in todays rapidly changing environment. The market is anticipated to witness a robust growth over the forecast period, which is ascribed to the increased demand for technological innovation in the fields of military & defense, automotive, aerospace, and healthcare, resulting in the rising adoption of 4D printing. Additionally, the latent scope for innovations and product development is likely to supplement the market demand over the coming years.

The increasing demand for reduction in the cost of manufacturing and processing is another major factor anticipated to accelerate the market growth by 2025. Moreover, there is a growing demand for efficient material and resource management. The self-transforming property of the technology would lead to the use of limited materials for several purposes, which in turn would lead to reduced wastage of natural resources, thereby maintaining a sustainable environment. Thus, the increasing focus on ensuring a sustainable environment is likely to accelerate the demand in the near future.

The high development cost, growing insecurity of policy makers as the technology is yet to be commercialized, and rising issues related to intellectual property rights and potential safety hazards are some of the factors estimated to restrain the development of the 4D printing market. However, the increasing opportunities for key players are expected to overpower the aforementioned restraints, thereby driving the growth over the next few years.

Access Research Report of 4D Printing Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/4d-printing-market

Further key findings from the report suggest:

The global 4D printing market is estimated to reach USD 64.5 million by 2019 and grow at a CAGR exceeding 33.2% from 2020 to 2025, which is primarily attributed to its rising demand in the military & defense, aerospace, automotive, and healthcare industries.

Programmable carbon fiber is anticipated to emerge as the largest product segment over the forecast period as it is extremely light and strong, like traditional carbon fiber; requires no complex electronics, actuators, or sensors; minimizes failure-prone mechanisms; and decreases the total weight of the product.

The military & defense sector is expected to be the largest contributor to the overall market, accounting for more than 25% of the share in 2019, which is followed by the aerospace segment.

North America is anticipated to emerge as a dominant region for market by 2025 owing to high investments in R&D in the region, which is boosting the 4D printing technology.

Key players such as Stratasys Ltd., Autodesk Inc., and Hewlett-Packard Inc. are estimated to dominate the market over the forecast period with their emphasis on expanding the market presence through a series of new product launches, announcements, and partnerships.

Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/emerging-and-next-generation-technologies

Grand View Research has segmented the global 4D printing market based on materials, end use, and regions:

4D Printing Material Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2019 - 2025)

Programmable Carbon Fiber

Programmable Wood - Custom Printed Wood Grain

Programmable Textiles

4D Printing End-Use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2019 - 2025)

Military & Defense

Aerospace

Automotive

Textile

Healthcare

Others

Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2019 - 2025)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

Access Press Release of 4D Printing Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-4d-printing-market

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

For More Information:www.grandviewresearch.com
Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial.

Here is a short list of what its like to live through the coronavirus: heightened feelings of anxiety, hopelessness brought on by social distancing and self-isolation, a 24-hour death toll to keep track of, life or death decisions facing health care workers, struggles to make rent, worries about keeping your job or maintaining your business, and, on top of all of that, the stress of whether you yourself or your loved ones might get sick. These forms of anguish usher in a pandemic all its owna relentless surge of mental health concerns of all varieties originating in this perfect recipe for anxiety, depression, and hopelessness. Trauma tends to be thought of as belated, after the fact, but it can also be prefatory: a suspended state of knowing that loved ones will die or suffer but not yet knowing who or when.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In other words, even as some people weather the pandemic reasonably well, the need for mental health care like therapy has rarely been more pressing. Teletherapy has always been thought of as a crisis measurewhether that crisis is collective or individual. It has been evangelized for its capacity to go where therapy cant: to locations where there are no specialists available, to those who, for whatever reason, cannot leave their homes, to vulnerable or at-risk populations. Still, mental health care is patchwork in the best of times, and teletherapy has its own drawbacks: It presumes that people can overcome barriers to access (for example, programs only run in English), it introduces privacy concerns (especially for those working from home), or it requires that people can be reached via a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone, media that are still far from ubiquitous. With demand skyrocketing and most of the U.S. sheltering in place, therapy cant go anywhere, which, paradoxically, might send it further out into the world than its ever been before.

Advertisement

Advertisement

It often feels as though the patient has been transported into my mind, and my mind into theirs.  Bruce Weitzman

In the United States, the move to remote treatment during the pandemic has been supported structurally in unprecedented fashion: By March 19, three major insurance companiesCigna, Aetna, and Anthemhad all updated their insurance policies to completely cover all out-of-pocket costs for teletherapy, for a provisional period until at least June 4. The Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services waived HIPAA compliance for ubiquitous media including FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom. This has allowed a greater degree of freedom, and therefore experimentation, in connecting mental health professionals with those in need, despite stay-at-home orders nationwide.

Advertisement

Therapists around the world are grappling with what digital media are doing to their practices. For many, this includes a shock at the intimacy that teletherapy can bring, or surprise at how similar practicing over video chat is. Psychoanalysts have seemed particularly surprisedfinding that there is something more intense about having the patient at an ears distance (on the phone or over video) rather than on the couch. Bruce Weitzman, practicing in the Bay Area (whom I met through a working group on technology and psychotherapy), says, I feel a closeness that is unusual even for in-person sessions  particularly when I use my noise-canceling headsets. It often feels as though the patient has been transported into my mind, and my mind into theirs.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Some therapists have shared moving stories about the ingenuity tele-media can produce. Eric Linsker, a psychotherapist based in New York City (and a friend), is still taking on new patients, mostly children, since moving to remote work. He was initially quite worried about switching to videoconferencing with children, including those he had never met in person, because of the need to translate play and art therapy into the digital, but he found that the whiteboard feature of Zoom allowed for this work to continue. He reports, My child patients and I can draw together, as we would in person.  What matters is finding a way to help a child play through drawing, speak about the drawing, and feel seen and heard. Whats evocative and meaningful is still evocative and meaningful. And whats curativewhat unblocks someoneis still curative.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

For some therapists, keeping a private practice going over digital media is far from ideal even though it allows patients to keep up with their treatments. Many are reporting exhaustion and screen fatigue. Gillian Isaacs Russell, a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst in Boulder, Colorado, is serving as part of the American Psychoanalytic Associations COVID-19 Advisory Team. She says of the transition that the need to give up in-person therapy is part and parcel of the harm COVID-19 brings: Some patients and therapists will have found the transition all of a sudden  that in itself is a trauma.

The star of Showtimes Couples Therapy, Orna Guralnik, who works with both individuals and couples in private practice in New York, feels that it is the experience of living through a pandemic, more than working remotely, which has shifted the nature of therapy. She says that while the loss of a space together has been acute, the work has been surprisinglyshockingly good. People really need the help. And to be in their home with them, and for them to see Im at home is helpful. She thinks that screens are a factor in both the intimacy of these sessions and a subsequent exhaustion from the work: The heat is on in terms of dynamics.  Its extreme couple conditions. While not all of the couples she works with have both members at home full time, and some are essential workers in New York, many are sheltering in place, and are simultaneously dealing with the pressures in their relationships, working full time from home, and home-schooling children.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

For those patients who have established relationships with mental health practitioners, the switch to meeting virtually or speaking by phone has been a lifeline, but it isnt without drawbacks, shock, and disruption. Many patients and therapists alike commented that the tenor of therapeutic work has changed. One patient said, The topic of our conversations has been COVID-19 almost continuously. I feel like my analyst is processing with me too; it cant be helped. The screen not only permits and maintains intimacy, it can even offer a little too much. Patients are seeing the insides of their therapists homes (and the other way around) for the very first time. With many schools closed, and therapists working from home, children, cats, pet birds, and dogs are all making sonic, if not visual, appearances in sessions. Guralnik recounted a patient seeing her childs yearbook, which immediately gave information about schooling choices and their age. Some report these kinds of incursions into privacy as upsetting, but Guralnik sees them as productive: Anything that can come in and we can work with, I welcome. I take it as a fun moment as a surprise erupts and we get to follow the thinking there. And often Im in my patients bedroom with them, and theyre in their pajamas.  Its intimate!

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

To avoid the breakdown in long-held boundaries, some therapists are practicing out of less typical places, including at least one therapist who confessed to taking calls in a locked bathroom so as not to be overheard, or even an unoccupied apartment next door, as is the case for one New York psychoanalyst, who secured its use via his landlord. At the same time, patients are trying to navigate their own privacy issues and are having their sessions in cars for fear of being overheard, or outside while trying to keep distance between themselves and others.

Advertisement

Advertisement

During the pandemic, Neil Leibowitz, chief medical officer of Talkspace, a teletherapy company that facilitates sessions over its proprietary app, reports that he has seen a massive increase in therapists seeking to partner with the app, as well as a 65 percent increase in people seeking therapy. The majority of clients coming through are nurses, he said. Were also seeing a large number of couples start to come in, as well as clients relating severe loneliness from the isolation, clients feeling stuck and trapped, and a large number of grocery store workers and other miscellaneous retailers struggling with feelings of fear and anxiety about their exposure, bringing it home to their family, coupled with guilt as they grapple with trying to still feel grateful they have a job.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Some traditional therapists are wary of mental health care being outsourced to large apps like Talkspace that already dont have a great reputation for protecting patient privacy, and some even question their efficacy. Todd Essig is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in New York, an expert on telemental health, and the co-chairman of the American Psychoanalytic Associations COVID-19 Advisory Team. He worries that the current conditions are enabling a lower standard. Theres a differentiation taking place in the therapy world between people who are doing whatever they can to make it work and be helpful, and people who are viewing this as an opportunity to promote a particular product to sell, he said. There is an assumption among some of the mental health technology entrepreneurs that this will result in an explosion in the products theyre selling. Essig has published an instructional video and, along with Gillian Isaacs Russell, some guidelines for patients on how to begin, or switch to, remote therapy effectively.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Part of the mental health crisis stems from the fact that most people didnt have any access to ongoing mental health care prior to the pandemic, and thus still dont. But the extreme conditions of this moment are encouraging therapists to do outreach to populations that usually go without, using every possible form of teletherapy over every possible medium. The Italian Psychoanalytic Institute, for instance, opened a free hotline, inviting children, adults, families, and couples, as well as doctors and nurses, to call for advice and to be listened to. In New York state, more than 2,000 mental health professionals have signed up to provide their services for free via telephone in an initiative called the NYC COVID Care Network. Through it, essential workersfrom nurses to taxicab driversseeking mental health and spiritual support can match with specialists offering particular forms of wellness care. Deborah Starr, a Ph.D. at Columbia University, was an early volunteer and consultant with the program, and hopes that this kind of work can be replicated across the country. Starr is concerned about all essential workers, including caregivers who are experiencing extreme duress on the job. Starr terms this moral injury, referring to decisions medical staff might have to make, like who should get the respirator? Who should be taken care of and who should not? Its like combat veterans.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Freud demanded mental health care for all at the close of World War I, and after the 19181920 influenza pandemic, to which he lost his daughter Sophie.

Other sources of mental health outreach dont aim to treat individuals but the collective experience of living through the pandemic. The Pandemic Check In podcast began broadcasting on March 18, out of the Brooklyn Minds clinic in Brooklyn. Michelle Bernabe, a registered nurse and a co-host of the Pandemic Check In, says that this and the other programs (including virtual groups) at Brooklyn Minds are aimed at everyone living through COVID-19. The call-in show takes questions over text and voicemail, both anonymously and named. Bernabe terms this work psychological first aid as opposed to ongoing, individual treatment. She recently had to change the voicemail greeting urging callers to seek immediate help after the account received a voicemail where the caller was in active distress. She says that beyond helping address callers needs, she sees it as a way of telling the mental health stories we are collectively experiencing: To me, this sharing is another way to generate a sense of community, normalcy, and belonging in this time of isolation and absurdity.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Peer supportor counseling provided by nonprofessionalsis also in high demand, filling in some of the gaps between the number of clinicians available to take on new patients and the number of people needing aid. Beyond long-standing suicide hotlines and the Crisis Text Line, mutual aid projects, connecting those who feel at risk with those who feel they can help, are forming across the nation, via activist networks, churches, schools, and local associations. Al-Anon and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings went digital immediately, recognizing the importance of keeping a space for peer support in a high-stress time when some might be at greater risk of relapse. Again, this move has not been without shock and disruption. Moving online has made preserving a core tenet of the programfellows anonymitymore difficult. Group meetings have been Zoom bombed. Some arent able or willing to continue with attending groups because they live with their qualifiers, the people whose impact on their life makes them eligible to attend.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The crisis of COVID-19 recalls all the other crises across the 20th century that have brought teletherapy forward as a salve, or as the only way for people to access mental health care at all: Freud demanded mental health care for all at the close of World War I, and after the 19181920 influenza pandemic, to which he lost his daughter Sophie; during World War II, many psychotherapists in London hosted mental health broadcasts over the BBC. The ever-present crisis of suicidality itselfboth historical and contemporaryis what prompted the first crisis hotlines in the 1950s. More recently, Hurricane Sandy yielded digital cognitive behavioral therapy programs in New York, and suicide hotlines grew in Puerto Rico postHurricane Maria.

Advertisement

For some therapists, a preoccupying worry is that the move to the digital en masse will make it the rule after the pandemic rather than the exception. Gillian Isaacs Russell worries that some patients will have found teletherapy convenient or more comfortable, and will want to keep working that way. The shift back to in-person will mean having to trust again, she says, and trust is a big issue. Vanessa Sinclair, a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist in Sweden, hopes that instead of being threatened by remote therapy, the field will embrace it and see it as a way to expand outreachan added tool, not a replacement for the traditional setting.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Looking back on the crises that shifted the traditional parameters of therapy and opened new technological avenues by which patients and therapists could meet, we can see that these new modes usually stick around long after the crisis that engendered them has passedbut without replacing face-to-face encounters, either. Under the present needs and conditions of COVID, teletherapy has been radically expanded, reaching both long-term patients and those whove never had access to mental health care. It remains to be seen whether the concerted effort of mental health outreach during this crisis can be maintained after the pandemic abates. Though, who can say when the trauma of the pandemic will be over? The therapeutic resources now deployed will need to be present long after the virus has been contained.
For the second time, a reporter working for a media controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) failed to disclose this affiliation when prompted by President Donald Trump during the daily White House press briefing on the CCP virus pandemic.

After Trump prompted the reporter, Chang Ching-Yi, to state his question, Trump asked Chang where he was from, seemingly inquiring about his media outlet.

Chang responded that he was from Taiwan.

While that is where he was born, he works for Shanghai Media Group, a company owned by the Chinese regime.

This is the second time in the past several days a reporter from an outlet controlled by the CCP has attended the briefings and was less than forthright about his or her affiliation.

On April 6, a similar incident happened with Wang Youyou, a reporter with Hong Kong Phoenix TV.

Trump asked her whether she was working for China. She denied it, but several experts have noted that the Hong Kong television station is run by a former CCP military propaganda officer, and its programming is controlled by Beijing.

Letting Wang attend the briefing allowed her to air on live television what at least one expert spotted as CCP propaganda.

Due to the social distancing rules recommended by the White House during the pandemic, seating has been limited at the briefings, and reporters, usually from major American outlets, have been rotating in and out every day, coordinated by the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA).

Its not clear what exact criteria are used to determine which reporters are allowed in and how any such criteria would apply to Chang and Wang.

The WHCA didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Chang has been with Shanghai Media Group since July 2014. The company is a subsidiary of the Radio and Television Station of Shanghai, a large Chinese state-owned media conglomerate. For the prior four years, Chang worked at Phoenix TV.

After getting his bachelors degree in journalism and Arabic at a university in Taiwan, he studied for two years in Saudi Arabia and then got his masters in international relations at New York University. He started his career with internships at the United Nations and NBC News.

The CCP is in the midst of a global propaganda push, trying to shirk responsibility for the CCP virus pandemic that has swept the world, infecting more than 1.4 million and killing more than 90,000.

The CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan around November and was allowed to spread around the world due to the CCPs coverup and mismanagement of the virus.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus because the Partys coverup and mismanagement allowed it to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

From The Epoch Times
New Delhi, April 10 : The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Friday that there is no community transmission of Covid-19 in the country yet and the rate of the infection is still low.

Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, Joint Secretary at the Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal, said, "At least 16,002 samples were tested on Thursday, of which only 320 tested positive for Covid-19. Only 2 per cent cases tested positive. Based on the samples collected, we can say that the infection rate is not high, although it is dynamic." According to Agarwal, India has reported 6,412 Covid-19 positive cases so far.

"At least 503 people have been cured while 199 people died till date. A total of 678 new cases and 33 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours," he informed.

Agarwal also suggested that people need to be alert. "Today, the challenge is not local or community transmission, but whether we are following all the precautionary and containment measures. There is no community transmission in the country yet, but we need to remain aware and alert," he said.

Agarwal also said that initially there was just one laboratory for Covid-19 testing in the country, which has now been increased to 213, meaning the government is opening labs at the rate of 2.5 per day.

"There are 146 government labs and 67 private labs now. Earlier, we conducted 5,000-6,000 tests per day, but on Thursday, 16,002 tests were done. We are making 2.5 labs operational per day," Agarwal said.

Manoj Murhekar, Director, National Institute of Epidemiology, who was also present at the press conference, told the media, "A total of 144,910 samples were tested till 9 p.m. on Thursday from 103,792 suspected patients, of which 5,075 returned positive. We conducted 16,002 tests in single day. It (number of tests per day) has increased substantially."
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Dian Septiari and Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 06:31 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0f14d6 1 World COVID-19,citizen-protection,Indonesian-Embassy,Turkey,diaspora,coronavirus,virus-corona,Consulate-General,Istanbul,Ankara Free

The Indonesian mission in Turkey is holding virtual meetings about COVID-19 to communicate with around 4,500 Indonesian nationals living in the country.

The meetings were scheduled to run from March 5 to April 15, with Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey Lalu Muhammad Iqbal and the consul general in Istanbul, Imam Asari, virtually visiting a different Turkish city each day to communicate with Indonesian nationals.

The President and the foreign minister have asked us to monitor the conditions of our fellow Indonesians in Turkey. These visits are being made to address their concerns, Iqbal said in a press release on Wednesday.

We want to show them that they are not alone in a hard time like this. [Indonesian] missions are there for them.

Read also: Indonesian diaspora in US holds virtual 'kebaya' competition in COVID-19 quarantine

The missions have engaged since Sunday with citizens living in eight provinces in Anadolu Bolgesi (Central Anatolia Region), six provinces in Ege Bolgesi (Aegean Region), 10 provinces in Karadeniz (Black Sea Region) and two provinces in Sakarya Region.

They will continue their virtual visits in 17 provinces in Akdeniz Bolgesi (Mediterranean Region), Istanbul and four provinces in Marmara. The meetings will end with virtual visits to four provinces in Dardanelles.

During the meetings, Iqbal and Imam informed the citizens of the latest developments of COVID-19 in Indonesia and Turkey. They also informed them about measures being taken by the missions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on Indonesian citizens in Turkey.

The missions said that hundreds of Indonesians of various backgrounds, ranging from students to spa workers, showed their enthusiasm in the two-hour meetings. Topics discussed include employment, immigration, finances and supplies. Indonesia is preparing an online portal to address these issues.

The Indonesian Embassy in Ankara established a supplies post for Indonesians living in four cities close to the capital, where most Indonesians in the country dwell.

Read also: Indonesia joins multilateral pursuit of 'practical', coordinated response to COVID-19

The embassy involved its own staff and regular citizens in joint task forces spread across 37 places in Turkey.

We are ready to provide help once the worst occurs, Iqbal said.

Indonesians were ordered to follow the direction of Turkish authorities regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Imam said.

The embassy estimates there are around 4,500 Indonesians across 81 provinces in Turkey, 2,700 of whom are students while 1,500 are spa workers and the rest professionals or spouses of Turkish nationals.
Hamish Blake at the "Ralph Breaks The Internet" Australian premiere at Hoyts Melbourne Central on December 4, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. Blake (Scott Barbour/Getty Images for Disney)

Comedian Hamish Blakes Stunt Zooms in on Critical Cybersecurity Threat

Popular Australian comedian Hamish Blake may have alerted the world to a cybersecurity risk following his Zoom for One More gag. Blake called out to fans to give him Zoom codes to log in to video teleconference meetings for various organisations around Australia.

One of the meetings Blake zoomed his way into was the flight log meeting of the Royal Australian Air Force, much to the horror of a senior member of the meetingand he did so wearing a gold flight jacket.

Zoom has become widely used around the world as countries impose isolation rules to limit the spread of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Zoom Hacking

While Blake was given codes, there have been incidents of hacking as wellindicating a much greater security problem.

In what the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States is terming zoom-bombing, many online classrooms and meetings have been interrupted by unidentified individuals using threatening language or taking over the meetings to distribute disturbing footage.

Each Zoom meeting is assigned a unique ID number that participants use to gain access, with passwords being an optional extra. According to Zoom, meetings on its platform are encrypted and safe, however many governments are now advising caution when using the platform, owing these security issues.

Other concerns have also emerged about Zooms infrastructure being located in China. The Citizen Lab, a research laboratory based at the University of Toronto, found during a test call between the United States and Canada meeting encryption keys were being sent to a Zoom server in China.

Taiwans government has now also banned Zoom for official use.

Google, NASA, and Elon Musks SpaceX have issued bans on employees using the platform. SpaceX cited, in a memo seen by Reuters, that there was significant privacy and security concerns.

This is a point the Australian Defence Force is now aware of thanks to Blakes stunt.

Australia Vulnerable to Cybersecurity Breaches

Cybersecurity is a critical issue for Australia. In 2019, Australia experienced some of its worst cybersecurity breaches.

In October 2019, Australian National University (ANU) released the details of a months-long cyberattack it fought in 2018. In a media release, ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt said the hack shocked even the most experienced Australian security experts.

This wasnt a smash and grab. It was a diamond heist, he said.

The common link between the Zoom security concerns and the cyberattack on ANU is China.

A report released by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ASCS) and the Australian Signals Directorate noted that in 2019, Australian government departments were persistently attacked by cyber hackers who wanted to steal information. Public servants reported daily incidents.

The governments former chief cybersecurity coordinator, Alastair McGibbon, said a cyber catastrophic was on the horizonand was the greatest existential threat we face as a society today, reported The Mandarin in 2018.

ASCS said federal government systems are still open to attack due to using out-of-date systems and security practices that left them open to attack. Another issue is the lack of cybersecurity knowledge among the general public.
Spain's daily death toll from coronavirus fell to its lowest for more than two weeks today while the number of new infections also dropped.

The 605 new fatalities - the lowest figure since March 24 - bring the death toll in Spain from 15,238 to 15,843.

Cases increased by 4,576, far fewer than yesterday's 5,756, and the 3.0 per cent jump is the smallest since the crisis began.

It brings the total number of infections from 152,446 to 157,022, the second-highest tally in the world after the United States.

This graph shows the daily death toll in Spain, which fell to 605 today - the lowest since March 24 - after reaching a high of 950 as recently as April 2

This chart shows the daily number of cases. Today's figure of 4,576 was the lowest since Monday and a sharp drop from yesterday's 5,756

Spain reached a peak of 950 deaths on April 2, which was the biggest daily jump that any country had recorded at that point.

However, the figure has fallen on six of the eight days since, dropping to 605 today - the fewest since 514 deaths were recorded on March 24.

At that point, cases were still surging by a regular 15-20 per cent per day, but that rate of growth has also been falling.

Today's 3.0 per cent increase is the smallest on record, surpassing the previous low of 3.3 per cent which was set on Monday.

Spain's figures also show that more than 55,000 people have recovered from the respiratory disease.

Of the 4,576 new cases, 906 were in the region around Madrid while 781 were in Catalonia, the two worst-affected parts of Spain.

An ambulance worker brings a suspected coronavirus patient to Severo Ochoa Hospital in Madrid yesterday, in the region which has been hardest hit by the epidemic in Spain

Health workers in protective suits and masks move a coronavirus patient to another floor of the intensive care unit at a hospital near Barcelona yesterday

The Madrid region accounts for more than a third of Spain's total deaths, or 5,972 out of 15,843.

Meanwhile, the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands have reported more than 1,500 cases between them, with just below 100 deaths each.

Health chiefs believe the pandemic has peaked, but have urged the population to keep observing lockdown rules which have been in force since March 14.

The restrictions are currently due to expire on April 25, but the government is expected to announce another two-week extension.

'The fire starts to come under control,' prime minister Pedro Sanchez told a nearly empty parliament yesterday.

The lifting of lockdown measures would be gradual and dependent on health data, Sanchez said.

Two medical workers in protective gear use disinfectant on their way out of an intensive care ward in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat near Barcelona yesterday

The PM is proposing a 'great pact for the economic and social reconstruction of Spain' once the standstill is over.

But he warned of a dire aftermath for an economy which the main business lobby thinks could slump up to nine per cent this year.

'The immediate economic horizon that we have is dark and we will have to act with all of our available resources,' Sanchez said.

The government's proposal is inspired by the 1977 'Pacts of Moncloa' which reformed the economy after the end of the Franco dictatorship.

Opposition People's Party leader Pablo Casado played down talk of a pact, but said he supported extending the lockdown.

The confinement measures have led to the cancellation of all Easter processions in a Catholic country of nearly 47million people.

Police said yesterday that nine people had been arrested after filming themselves on a fake procession at Merida in the southwest.
British Airways has flown 50 dogs and cats from Cyprus to the UK after they were abandoned amid the coronavirus crisis.

The animals were cared for by highly-trained staff and animal handlers while on board the British Airways 747 cargo flight from Larnaca to London Heathrow.

They received specialist care and attention while in the air and many have since been re-homed across the UK.

The animals were cared for by highly-trained staff and animal handlers while on board the British Airways 747 cargo flight from Larnaca to London Heathrow

The 36 dogs and 14 cats had been abandoned on the streets or taken to pounds in Cyprus amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Charities across the country helped rescue the animals before giving them essential medial checks and finding new homes for them in the UK.

On arrival at Heathrow they were driven to Gatwick's Animal Reception Centre before being safely collected by their new owners  both by private households as well as rescue centres.

The 36 dogs and 14 cats had been abandoned on the streets or taken to pounds in Cyprus amid the coronavirus outbreak

They received specialist care and attention while in the air and have since been re-homed across the UK

The aircraft was also carrying goods including food, perishables and essential medical supplies.





British Airways Captain, Paul Walker-Northwood, who was a member of the flight crew operating the flight said: 'In these difficult times, our teams are working around the clock to help bring customers home and fly essential supplies into the UK and to communities around the world most in need.

'As well as bringing in those supplies on this flight, we were pleased to support this mission to bring these new four-legged family members to the UK to give them the chance of better, more comfortable lives here with their new owners.

The aircraft (pictured) was also carrying goods including food, perishables and essential medical supplies

'At British Airways, animal welfare is important to us and we know how important it is to our customers.

'We are sure their arrival will bring real much-needed pleasure to their new families during a challenging period.'

Airbridge International Agencies (AIA Pets) C.E.O, Mark Andrew, said: 'We'd like to offer a special thank you to all of those involved in arranging this special flight and are proud to play our part in delivering these pets to their new home.'
North Carolina groceries and other retailers must meet capacity restrictions and cleanliness standards if they want to keep operating next week under expanding social distance directives to blunt COVID-19 , Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Thursday.

Under a new executive order Cooper signed, retailers, pharmacies and other businesses will have to limit entry so that occupancy cant be more than 20% of their fire-code capacity, or above 5 customers per 1,000 square feet. Retailers also will have to mark out 6 feet of spacing in cashier lines and high-traffic areas.

This should make shopping safer for customers and retail employees and help prevent stores from becoming flash points for virus transmission, he said at a news conference. We want to ensure that retail stores are as safe as possible for everyone, so that no one is afraid to go out for basic necessities.

The retail rules, which take effect Monday afternoon and last for 30 days, also require frequent and routine cleaning of high-touch areas. Cooper signaled earlier this week that the restrictions were coming.

While a statewide stay-at-home order began 10 days ago, residents can still go to the grocery stores, access medical care or get exercise. A ban on gatherings of more than 10 people, however, contrasted with crowds at groceries and big box retailers.

Coopers latest order also gives more strength to directives announced Wednesday by state health officials to boost patient and staff protections at nursing homes, where outbreaks are ongoing at 16 locations statewide. They include daily staff and patient checks for symptoms and employees wearing face masks at all times.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, and the vast majority survive. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause pneumonia or death.

The Cooper administration and legislative leaders have been talking about law changes to respond to the new coronavirus that will be needed when lawmakers next meet. The session is set to begin April 28. Cooper and lawmakers already are committed to waiving interest on certain unpaid taxes.

On Thursday, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger said they were prepared to delay Division of Motor Vehicles inspection deadlines retroactively.

The State Board of Education on Thursday also voted to ask legislators to waive state student testing and accountability mandates this school year. K-12 public schools are currently closed through May 15. And board action means some new and early-career teachers will now have one more year to meet licensing requirements.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday he will sign an executive order to expedite the release of some elderly or sick state prison inmates in New Jersey because of the coronavirus pandemic.

No one convicted of murder, sexual assault or other serious crimes would be eligible, Murphy said at his daily coronavirus press briefing in Trenton.

Eligible inmates who are released will be confined at home, he said, and the review process would begin within days.

The needs of public safety and public health have to be balanced, Murphy said.

State Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks said people older than 60, those with high-risk medical conditions, anyone finishing their sentences within three months and anyone recently considered for parole would be eligible.

Although inmates, their families, corrections officers, unions and lawyers have raised the alarm for weeks about a lack of information, protection and testing behind bars, state leaders on Friday said they have been forthcoming.

Weve been very transparent, Hicks said. I dont believe that, really, anyone can make the point that they dont have access to health care if they have symptoms.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

It was not immediately clear how many people Murphys order could affect. About 1,000 of the states 18,000 inmates are 60 or older.

One inmate and one officer  Nelson Perdomo, 44  have died because of the coronavirus, according to state data, but that may be an undercount because few inmates have been tested. At least 129 officers and 20 inmates have tested positive, Hicks said, a higher number than listed online.

An additional 400 inmates and more than 1,000 staff are quarantined, Hicks added.

He said the department was cleaning facilities, screening people for symptoms, automatically separating new inmates from others for two weeks and had suspended transfers from county jails, among other changes.

When asked later if hed consider largely keeping all inmates in their cells, as some union officials have called for, Hicks said restricting communal dining, adjusting recreational time and other movement restrictions were enough for now.

We feel that weve put enough protective measures in that we dont have to go into a full lockdown, he said.

Earlier this week, New Jerseys public defender said some elderly and sick inmates should be released. The states top court told public defenders to negotiate a possible release with corrections officials and other parties Monday, but its unclear if that meeting will still happen because of Murphys order.

Public Defender Joseph Krakora said Friday the governors executive order was definitely a good first step but his office was not dropping its effort negotiate with corrections and parole officials over who, exactly, would be released.

So far, neither agency has indicated whether or not theyll come to the table.

Amol Sinha, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, was cautiously optimistic about the governors announcement.

Governor Murphy has recognized that were facing incalculable tragedy if we dont act, he said. We sincerely hope the details and implementation of this executive order match its potential for good.

The state previously released hundreds of low-level offenders from county jails.

New Jersey now has at least 54,588 cases of COVID-19, with at least 1,932 deaths, officials said Friday. Only New York has more of either among U.S. states.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.
Update on FPSO Umuroa

With reference to stock exchange releases dated 14 September 2019 and 31 October 2019 related to the termination notice from Tamarind Taranaki Limited (TTL) for the FPSO Umuroa operating on the Tui field offshore New Zealand.

BW Offshore has as of 9 April 2020 not been able to disconnect the FPSO Umuroa from the Tui field. The Company has previously communicated it expected to disconnect from the field and sail away to Singapore by the end of March.

Following the termination of the FPSO lease and operate contract, BW Offshore began preparatory work to start demobilisation. In October 2019, BW Offshore commenced discussions with regulatory agencies regarding disconnection in accordance with a 2017 ruling (2017 Ruling) of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of New Zealand. The 2017 Ruling allows lay down of risers on the seabed for the FPSO to safely disconnect and sail away. The risers are the responsibility and property of TTL. BW Offshore have no responsibility related to this equipment. TTL is insolvent and in liquidation and is currently not able to execute disconnection activities as per the Charter Contract.

The Company considers that the best and safest approach for disconnection is to follow the procedure in the 2017 Ruling and cap and lay down the risers on the seabed pending removal of the risers as part of full field decommissioning (which is not a BW Offshore responsibility). In March 2020, the EPA imposed abatement notices to prevent BW Offshore from disconnecting the risers in accordance with the 2017 Ruling on the basis that circumstances have changed since the 2017 Ruling was granted. BW Offshore challenged the imposition of the abatement notices in the Environment Court and the court lifted these notices. The EPA appealed this decision and on 6 April the High Court of New Zealand decided that the abatement notices should remain in place.

The Company is taking advice on whether to appeal the recent High Court decision which contains certain inaccurate statements and gives the impression that BW Offshore was in a partnership or joint venture with TTL. This is not the case. BW Offshore was a service contractor to TTL and has no ownership interest in the field.

Due to uncertainty whether BW Offshore may disconnect using the 2017 Ruling, combined with the COVID-19 situation and the onset of the southern hemisphere winter, the Company has decided to plan a for lay-up of the unit on the field until further clarification can be received from authorities.

BW Offshore will continue to work with the New Zealand authorities to develop a new plan for demobilisation.

A significant portion of the estimated USD 20 million demobilisation cost has been incurred to date as preparatory work has been done and support vessels for demobilisation had been mobilised prior to abatement notices being imposed by the EPA.

For further information, please contact:

Stale Andreassen, CFO, +65 97 27 86 47

Anders S. Platou, Head of Corporate Finance, +47 99 50 47 40

IR@bwoffshore.com or www.bwoffshore.com

About BW Offshore:

BW Offshore is a leading provider of floating production services to the oil and gas industry. The company also participates in developing proven offshore hydrocarbon reservoirs. BW Offshore is represented in all major oil and gas regions world-wide with a fleet of 15 owned FPSOs. The company has more than 30 years of production track record, having executed 40 FPSO and FSO projects. BW Offshore is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.




Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that a detainee exchange, which had been previously agreed upon, is a top priority for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the main focus of the government's attention.

He said this during a TV linkup on April 9 organized by U.S. think tank Atlantic Council, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The liberation of our people, the exchange is a top priority for us," Kuleba said.

He stressed that this issue "remains the absolute focus of attention for the government." Kuleba recalled that agreements on the prisoner swap between Russia and Ukraine were reached on April 8.

"We aim to greet our people at home for the Easter holidays according to the Orthodox calendar, i.e. next week," the minister said.

He also said: "We know the number [of people to be exchanged] from both sides."

He said he would refrain from making more detailed comments in order not to jeopardize the agreements reached.

Kuleba expressed hope that agreements on the detainee exchange would also create conditions for "unblocking other issues on the agenda."

Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Heidi Grau, said in a press statement on April 9 that during the regular meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group through video conferencing from April 6 to April 8, the sides had agreed in principle on the next phase of the exchange with a view to its completion in the near future.

op
The "M4" brand represents the family of four in Mentryville: Alton and Pat Manzer and two of their children, Alyce and Darryl. (Daughter Karen was married and living in Texas.)

* * *

I have a few items of family memorabilia I've carried around from place to place as I transferred and moved for the Navy and in retirement. Mostly it's pictures and some old watches, and some belts my father made when he was in the Navy. I also have some items that were my mother's.

All of these things denote a special time or event I had with my folks. They mark times that were happy and sad. They measure the love my parents and I shared.

There is one item maybe I shouldn't have carried from California to Washington and back to California, on to Virginia and Kentucky, then back to California, and now it is in Arizona with me.

I suppose this heavy steel item maybe shouldn't have been moved from place to place. But this item, above all, is a memory I can't seem to let go. It was such a happy time when it came into my life, and when it became mine, it was a very sad time.

* * *

When we lived in Pico Canyon, or "Mentryville," we raised cattle. We started with some "drop calves" from the local dairies like the one in Placerita Canyon and the one in Saugus where Saugus High is now located. May father had a dream of building a herd of cattle and supplementing our family income.

This started in 1960. By 1962, he had bought a Hereford bull named "Buddy" and even registered a family brand with the state of California. The herd was growing.

Most of the cattle we sold to feedlots when they were under a year old. We always kept four each year that we would put in the fattening pen that was constructed between the house and the schoolhouse. It was heavy steel pipe welded together, and those steers couldn't get out of it.

Being next to a huge eucalyptus tree, we had a place we could butcher them and hoist them to cut the hide off and take the entrails out. Once that was done, we put some fresh-washed clean sheets on the bed of the pickup (which had been washed with bleach and lots of water) and took them to the butcher next to the Newhall Ice Company. There, they were cut up and wrapped to the specifications of what the folks who bought it wanted. Thick steaks and big roasts. Our meat was well marbled and always of the best quality.

* * *

Not long after we got the bull, my dad went to T.M. Frew's welding shop in downtown Newhall. He wanted something designed and manufactured to an exacting specification.

Frew's was the place to get that done. My dad ordered a branding iron. What was different was that it was one to be used with an acid paste that would make the brand on the side of the steer.

Now, those of you who might think using an acid-paste brand instead of a fire-heated branding iron isn't as effective or somehow hurts the animal more, are not ranchers. We couldn't use a fire in Pico Canyon. Something about those hills starting to burn from flying embers was just a little scarier.

So, my dad had his branding iron. It was kept in a special spot on the back porch of the house near the milk separator. I think he checked that it was there every day. You see, my dad had dreamed of a ranch with his brand on the herd. He was a Nebraska farm boy who grew up to be a rancher who had his own brand, a real registered brand, approved by the state of California. He had achieved his dream.

I remember the day he brought the branding iron home. He was grinning ear-to-ear. I know it sat on the kitchen table for a few days as a centerpiece to announce to all visitors: WE HAVE A BRAND! I heard the whole story of how he'd get it many times as folks came to see it and have a cup of coffee. (My mother always had coffee ready for visitors).

* * *

On April 5, 1966, I had to go into Newhall and visit the California Highway Patrol office, which was then located east of Highway 99 just south of Lyons Avenue. I had an equipment violation to be signed off on my little motorcycle. So, that morning it was Easter vacation. (Yes, we still called it "Easter" and not "Spring" vacation or break back then.)

I rode the motorcycle to town and, of course, had to cross Highway 99 and the intersection of Lyons Avenue-Pico Canyon Road and the main highway. (Interstate 5 was someplace in the future, as was the overpass that sure would have been handy that day.) I had to cross that highway. A four-lane, divided road, with two lanes going south and two going north.

I did succeed getting over the southbound lanes. I did not have the same success crossing the lanes headed north. I found a car in those lanes and managed to hit its left front fender. My cycle and I bounced around. The bike was totaled. Both of my legs were broken.

I was taken to Golden State Hospital down the hill on Lyons. The hospital bills mounted up.

I know it broke my father's heart to sell his herd, including "Buddy" the bull. I wasn't there when they were trucked away, but his dream was dashed  and my accident had caused that. He said at the time, thank God we had those cows to pay the bills, and we could always get more cows. He said he was happy to do it to get me healed.

* * *

By the start of school in the fall of 1966, we had moved out of Pico Canyon to a new house in Carpinteria. My dad transferred to work on the offshore oil platforms there. On November 7 of that year, the helicopter he was in crashed into the ocean. He was killed along with three other men.

I made sure the branding iron moved with us back to the SCV. Later it moved to Vallejo, California; Washington, Virginia and Kentucky. I even took it back to the SCV before I moved to Arizona.

In just about every place I lived, I had to, at some point, pour a cement slab or steps. Into each one of those concrete constructions is an imprint of the branding iron. My dad's brand is now in each of those places. It has spread far and wide in this country.

He kept telling me that those cows, his herd he dreamed of, made it possible for my legs to heal. I still feel responsible. So, the branding iron stays with me, ready for another place to leave its mark.

I think he would like that. I do know that each time I left that brand in some wet cement, it said to me that he was still in my heart. It still does. That little bit of steel is a part of me and my family.

I hope my sons can keep it in use. I pray they will want to.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley for a spell. Darryl has traveled far and finally landed near the town "too tough to die," Tombstone, Arizona, calling it home for the past two years with the exception of summers camp-hosting at Refugio State Beach near Goleta. His older commentaries are archived at DManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].
While there loom sadness and hopelessness all around in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the intensive care unit staff of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centers gesture has brought in some hope.

The healthcare workers here celebrated the fact that two patients were stabilised and were able to breathe without any ventilator support.

Sharing the clip on Twitter, Dr Nida Qadir wrote, Yes, patients do recover from #COVID19 #ARDS. And yes, my #ICU team does do an #extubation dance every time we liberate someone from a #Ventilator.

Twitterati too showered their love and praise for the team.

A user said, Awesome to see & a well earned mini-break from all the hard work you do! Will pass it onto Dutch health staff. Once this is over, would happenly org0anize something with Tesla clubs like @teslaownersSV for you w. X-mas dance. Dutch Tesla club already had a charity event planned(sic)".

Another user said, Effective today, I will add the following to our #ICU policies and procedures: extubation dance is mandatory. Thank you. is good

Beautiful. Thank you. OkiePatriot (@patriot_okie) April 9, 2020

Love this  a life saved is worth celebrating Jennie McBunnyFace (@Jennie_Agent99) April 6, 2020

Way to go!  Carlos Nava (@cnavadr) April 6, 2020

Love it, congratulations Felipe Reyes C. (@felipea_rc) April 6, 2020

One of the healthcare workers, who was a part of the ICU team, also shared a picture in which all of them can be seen goofily posing for the camera. She wrote, In our fight against #COVID19 remember its OK for our frontline workers to celebrate the small wins. Yesterday we had 2 patients come off #ventilators & breath on their own! So, we smiled, we danced & took a moment for ourselves. #HealthcareHeroes #AllInThisTogether #ARDS".
The coronavirus pandemics impact is starkly evident along Albuquerques restaurant row on Interstate 25. Even during the weekday rush hour, the lineup of eateries looks out over empty parking lots. A few small clusters of people loiter uncertainly outside the entrances, presumably waiting for takeout orders.

Dispiriting scenes aside, I was excited to be at Mtuccis Twenty-Five, the newest arrival to the I-25 corridor, recently for a takeout order. Memories of a superb lunch last year at the since-closed Mtuccis Italian Cafe and Market at Coors and Montano informed me. Its Artisan Pizza, topped with pancetta, capocollo and prosciutto, was particularly outstanding.

Mtuccis homespun approach  it makes its own pasta and bread and cures its own meat  has helped it grow from a single restaurant in 2013 to todays roster of three locations. It also has an outlet at Lava Rock Brewing Co. on the West Side.

Mtuccis Twenty-Five, the companys first venture east of the river, opened in February, when coronavirus still seemed like a distant threat. What a difference a few weeks makes.

The restaurant occupies the old home of the Chama River Brewing Co. The new owners have dressed the space in warm Tuscan colors of sunflower yellow and cayenne red. Peering into the darkened space, I could see tables and chairs stacked against the walls and an expansive three-sided bar sitting idle in the middle of the dining room. Loaves of bread were piled on a cart by the entrance, part of the free meals Mtuccis owners have been giving to furloughed workers. Set against this backdrop, the song playing from speakers above the entrance  You Only Get What You Give, a keep-plugging-along anthem from the New Radicals  seemed fitting.

Mtuccis Twenty-Five is offering a pared-down menu for takeout. Among the six appetizers is a spicy feta dip ($7) served with grilled flatbread and a small cup of marinated cucumbers. The dip, flecked with pepperoncini and fire-roasted peppers, is as thick as spackling compound. A quick trip in the microwave helped loosen it up. Its assertive flavor  sharp and tangy, with modest heat  makes it a terrific accompaniment to bread or crackers.

An appetizer of three prosciutto wraps ($5) serves as a showcase for thin, buttery slices of dry-cured ham. The prosciutto is wrapped around shaved parmesan and baby greens tossed in lemon citronette, a citrus vinaigrette, for a nice contrast of textures and flavors.

There are three pizzas on the takeout menu; alas, none of the aforementioned artisan variety. The margherita pizza ($13) is a hefty, rectangle-shaped pie with splotches of mozzarella and leaves of fresh basil. The blistered crust, crisp on the bottom and soft in the middle, was the star, aided and abetted by the strong tomato flavor in the marinara. Its a reasonable value, a few bucks more than youd pay at Il Vicino or Scarpas, but a shade cheaper than a similar offering at Farina.

Pasta shows up in various forms, including spaghetti, tortellini and campanelle, a cone-shaped variety with a ruffled edge. Five pork Bolognese ($17) is described as slow-braised pork ragu, but the dish I got consisted mostly of cut-up, fatty pieces of sausage entangled in a nest of broad, flat pappardelle noodles. The pasta was exceptional, the marinara flavorful. A good ragu would have put it over the top.

The four desserts on the menu include a Twinkie dItalia ($7) inspired by the iconic Hostess treat. Mtuccis version pairs an airy vanilla spongecake with a dense, mildly sweet white chocolate mousse filling. Its a worthy finish to the meal, not too heavy and with some candied pecans on board for crunch.

With Twenty-Five, Mtuccis has established a beachhead on the hypercompetitive I-25 corridor. Based on the companys history, theres every reason to believe it will succeed. For now, takeout will have to suffice. That Mtuccis is donating carryout tips to furloughed workers provides an added incentive to try the new restaurant.

Mtuccis Twenty-Five

3 stars

LOCATION: 4939 Pan American NE, 554-2660, mtuccis.com

HOURS: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily (Call to confirm)

TAKEOUT AND DELIVERY ONLY
LIVE updates of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decisions

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

After the collapse of IL&FS and DHFL, the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) have had a tough time to convince their investors and customers to regain the lost trust. The liquidity scenario had turned much worse for these companies for several months, before easing up a bit in recent months.

Once again, these companies are finding themselves in a tough spot. COVID-19 has thrown them an impossible challenge to solve. Under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) loan moratorium/ EMI deferral rules (part of the COVID-19 relief measures by the central bank), the NBFCs come under the lending institutions category, hence supposed to offer loan EMI moratorium to their borrowers.

But, at the same time, NBFCs themselves are borrowers of banks. These entities rely heavily on bank loans to survive (besides raising money from the market). But, under RBI rules, the NBFCs are not eligible to avail the three-month loan moratorium offer from banks. This is clear from the RBI circular on loan moratorium as well as from a questionnaire prepared by the Indian Banks Association, an industry lobby group of banks. This scenario has put the NBFCs in a problematic position. The EMI deferrals to borrowers will mean that a short-term liquidity shortage even when they need to keep repaying banks.

According to RBI data, outstanding loans to NBFCs from banks stand at Rs 7 lakh crore. On a year-on-year basis, this exposure has grown by 22 percent. That is a significant exposure.

Also read: RBI moratorium: A mere deferment inspires no confidence

Raters flag caution

In a report on Thursday, rating agency Crisil said non-availability of moratorium facility will be a double whammy to NBFCs. The liquidity cover available with Crisil-rated NBFCs will decline sharply if they cannot avail on their own bank borrowings the moratorium announced by the RBI in its 'COVID-19 Regulatory Package', the agency said.

NBFCs face a double whammy because they are offering moratorium to customers despite not getting one themselves from their lender-banks. That will put significant pressure on liquidity profiles of many NBFCs, it said. According to the rater, liquidity pressure will increase for nearly a quarter of them if collections do not pick up by June 2020. These NBFCs have Rs 1.75 lakh crore of debt obligations maturing by then.

With collections minimal and the moratorium only for their borrowers, raising fresh funds is critical, especially because NBFCs, unlike banks, do not have access to systemic sources of liquidity and depend significantly on wholesale funding, Crisil said. Recently, NBFC-MFIs had written to the RBI seeking to clarify the position on EMI moratorium. These companies are mainly in the business of lending small loans to low-income groups, including daily-wage earners whose incomes are likely to get affected during the lock-down. These NBFCs are also likely to see a spike in their bad loans as repayments may suffer in the wake of economic slowdown and COVID-19.

For NBFCs, the RBI has given a liquidity window for corporates through the targeted long-term repo operations (TLTRO) route. Banks can also invest in the commercial papers and non-convertible debentures of top-rated companies. But, smaller, low-rated companies do not benefit from this much. On Thursday, the RBI said it had received Rs 1.13 lakh crore worth of bids in the TLTRO conducted for an amount of Rs 25,000 crore with a three-year tenor. The central bank said liquidity availed under TLTRO by banks has to be deployed in investment-grade corporate bonds, commercial paper, and non-convertible debentures over and above the outstanding level of their investments in these bonds as on March 27, 2020.

Banks have to acquire up to 50 percent of their incremental holdings of eligible instruments from primary market issuances and the remaining 50 percent from the secondary market, including from mutual funds and non-banking finance companies, the RBI had said. The NBFCs have approached the RBI for relief in the moratorium rules so that these firms wont fall into a liquidity trap. Will RBI pay heed?
Darran Simon, a journalist who developed an expertise reporting on trauma during a wide-ranging career that had recently brought him to The Washington Post, where he covered District of Columbia politics and government, was found dead April 9 at his home in Washington. He was 43.

A spokeswoman for the D.C. medical examiner's office said a determination of the cause of death is pending further tests.

Simon was born in England and spent his childhood in the South American nation of Guyana and in New Jersey. In his professional life, he displayed restless curiosity as well as deep compassion for people who had endured natural catastrophe and man-made violence.

"I am drawn to writing about suffering and trauma," he once noted, "because I am in awe of the human spirit's ability to persevere."

After two years as the Miami Herald's minority affairs reporter, he moved to New Orleans in 2007 as an education reporter for the Times-Picayune, compelled to document the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "Down the road, 35 years from now, when memories are all I have," he told the University of Rhode Island alumni magazine, "I'll be able to look back at this time and remember this experience."

He wrote about school reconstruction and covered accountability issues as well as the upending of students' lives in a city of dramatic inequities even before the storm. "History often depends on who is telling it," he said. "My role is to try to understand it and paint a full picture."

A reserved and conscientious reporter, he went on to cover crime for the Philadelphia Inquirer, was a general assignment reporter for Newsday, and was a senior writer with CNN Digital in Atlanta focusing on national and international breaking news before starting March 2 on The Post's Metro staff.

In covering the city government's preparations for handling the coronavirus outbreak, he reported on official pronouncements as well as delivering humane accounts of local victims of the disease, including a former "Jeopardy" contestant.

"Darran had an immediate impact at The Post with his talent, grace and earnest devotion to his work," said Mike Semel, The Post's top Metro editor. "He was here barely a week when the city he was covering shut down because of coronavirus. But he forged ahead and found great stories to tell.

"Despite his short tenure," Semel continued, "we entrusted him to write the main coronavirus news story several times over the past couple of weeks - taking feeds from his colleagues and weaving those into a coherent story. He worked so well with everyone and was a graceful, fluid writer. But beyond that, he was just a nice guy with an electric smile."

Darran Anthony Simon was born in London to Guyanese students on March 18, 1977. He lived in Guyana until he was 9 before the family settled in Iselin, New Jersey. His mother is a middle-school teacher and his father, an accountant, is a securities regulator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

At the University of Rhode Island, Simon was on the men's track and field team, won awards for student leadership and shared a top prize from the Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists for a comparative study on black student activism in the 1970s and the 1990s. He graduated in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in English and, energized by his work on the campus newspaper, received a master's degree in 2004 from Northwestern University's journalism school.

His marriage to Karin Pryce ended in divorce. Survivors include his parents, Stephen Simon and Jacqueline Simon, both of Iselin; a brother; a sister; and a grandmother.

Simon brought particular sensitivity to follow-up interviews after a tragedy that served to humanize statistics. One example, for CNN, was a profile of the spiritual leader who took over the flock of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, after a white supremacist killed nine members, including its pastor, in 2015.

In July 2019, Simon was among 15 journalists chosen from about 300 applicants for the week-long Ochberg Fellowship at Columbia University journalism school's Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.

Dart Center Executive Director Bruce Shapiro called him a "quiet, curious and very deeply engaged journalist" who had spent years writing about survivors of violence in some of the toughest cities in the United States, from New Orleans to Camden, New Jersey, and how they cope with those experiences.

For all his drive to make loss more intimate, or perhaps because of it, Simon was also known as a roving epicure with a sharp understated cool to his wardrobe and an ear for sumptuous music. On his website, Simon described himself as a a foodie and a jazz lover who will travel anywhere for a good meal and a horn section.
The matter remains tied up in a zoning process that has been put on hold during the pandemic. But Haymarket closed on its purchase of the building Monday, and that day, Itasca Mayor Jeff Pruyn sent a letter to the nonprofits CEO, Dan Lustig, asking whether the building would be used as a temporary medical facility during this pandemic.
Ukraine suspends electricity imports from, exports to Russia, Belarus

20:40, 10.04.20 2648

Ukraine's energy watchdog earlier canceled biddings on distributing interstate intersection capacities with Russia and Belarus for 2020.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Bitterly cold. Sunny to partly cloudy. High --19C. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Bitterly cold. Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low --23C. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Editors Note: Longtime readers of the Free Press might remember a regular feature called Answers, where, in a time before Google, we answered readers questions. Since even Google does not have all the answers regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, reporter Kevin Rollason will attempt to answer your coronavirus queries. Send your questions to coronavirusquestions@freepress.mb.ca.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Editors Note: Longtime readers of the Free Press might remember a regular feature called Answers, where, in a time before Google, we answered readers questions. Since even Google does not have all the answers regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, reporter Kevin Rollason will attempt to answer your coronavirus queries. Send your questions to coronavirusquestions@freepress.mb.ca.

Question: Is it safe to bring mail into my home as well as my newspaper?

Answer: As someone whose job depends in large part on a physical newspaper getting to your door, I'm pleased to say that Manitoba Public Health officials are indicating it is safe to do this -- and they add that mail is okay too. But they say there are still some precautions you should take which people haven't had to do before the spread of COVID-19. The main one is to practice good handwashing after you are done reading and handling the mail and newspaper. They also say don't forget not to touch your face while you are reading the paper.

Q: Is there anything Canada Post has done to keep Canadians and their employees safe while handling mail?

A: A Canada Post official says the Crown corporation has "dramatically changed the way we work, the way we deliver, the way we operate our post offices, and how we clean our facilities across the country, to keep our employees and customers safe and healthy." Canada Post has told Canadians not to open doors when mail is being delivered and to stand two metres away from employees filling community mailboxes. But they have also made changes to staff, staff scheduling, work layouts and work practices so employees can be two metres apart, as well as giving them gloves, personal protective equipment, and disinfectant. And they've begun cleaning their facilities more often and, where needed, added sanitizing to workstations.

Q: I've always been able to order a three-month supply of prescription drugs, but now I'm being limited to a single month and that costs me more in prescription fees. Why is this being done and can the province have pharmacists waive or reduce this fee?

The entire country is limiting prescription drugs to a single month to help reduce the effects of a global drug shortage. (Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian Press files)

A: Manitoba Public Health officials say pharmacies have been told to restrict individuals to a single month supply of drugs in order to ensure a consistent supply of medications for everyone. And Manitobans are not alone in this: the entire country is limiting prescription drugs to a single month to help reduce the effects of a global drug shortage. People are being advised to speak to their pharmacist about options for dispensing fees.

Q: I'm wondering whether the travellers who came back and tested negative for COVID-19, did they still have to self-isolate for 14 days?

A: Manitoba Public Health officials say, yes, they still had to isolate. That's because the coronavirus is known to take up to 14 days to cause illness and, especially if they had symptoms, the test result could have been a false negative.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Q: I was in an elevator, the doors opened, and a person got on. Once the doors closed the person began coughing and looked sick. How do I know whether the person just had a cold or the coronavirus?

A: Manitoba Public Health officials say there's really no way you would know the difference, but there are things you can do to reduce your risk of getting in that situation. One way would be to take the stairs instead of an elevator. Another would be not to get into a crowded elevator, but to wait for another one. One of the best ways, though, would have been for that person to not go out. Manitobans should know by now that if you are experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms you need to be self-isolating for 14 days from when you first experienced the symptoms. Unfortunately, now you'll have to self-monitor yourself for symptoms including fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties and runny nose for 14 days and, if you do start getting those symptoms, you need to immediately self-isolate and call Health Links  Info Sante to find out what to do next.

Q: I heard through social media hospitals are looking for donations of baby monitors to help look after babies and children in hospital. Is that true?

A: Winnipeg Regional Health Authority officials say none of their hospitals is looking for baby monitors. But, hey, if you want to help out during these trying times there are things they are looking for, including industrial grade N-95 respirators or accelerated hydrogen peroxide cleaner disinfectant. You can also volunteer to help others. Check these two websites for more information: https://manitoba.ca/covid19/business/index.html#call and https://helpnextdoormb.ca.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

Muni cut service to just 17 lines Wednesday, reducing the number of ways San Franciscans can get around the city.

While this was intended to allow for more social distancing, locals are reporting increased ridership on those lines and thus, overcrowding that makes social distancing almost impossible.

With our core network for essential trips that started yesterday, we are focusing our limited resources on the lines people need most for essential trips, SFMTA spokesperson Erica Kato said. The point is to allow for more space and shorter headways (time between each bus) with this new network.

KTVU collected reader photos showing people sitting side by side on crowded buses, some wearing masks, some without any protective gear at all.

Some operators told KTVU that despite being provided gloves, surgical masks, wipes and sanitizer by SFMTA, they still dont feel safe doing their jobs. Many have even taken precautions into their own hands with homemade signs and barriers. Five Muni employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

They should have shut down all transit, one operator told KTVU anonymously. Youre really playing Russian roulette with your life.

Other operators said theres been an increase in homeless and mentally ill riders on their routes, making them fear for the safety of their passengers.

Mission resident Linda Rothfields closest Muni line, the J Church, isnt included in the 17 lines still running, and shes worried about how shell get groceries. She has asthma and going up the hills with bags of groceries is difficult for her. I can get up the hills if I absolutely need to, but I know plenty of people, especially elderly, who cant, Rothfield said.

She added that after seeing the photos of crowded buses on Wednesday, shes not too keen on riding them anyway.

While ridership has fallen significantly, Muni said it still serves approximately 100,000 passengers a day.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Tessa McLean is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her at tessa.mclean@sfgate.com or follow her on Twitter @mcleantessa.
WASHINGTON  As he faces a litany of questions over how to ease social distancing guidelines without sparking a reemergence of coronavirus, President Donald Trump said Friday he is creating a second task force to focus solely on how to "reopen" the country.

The president, whose senior aides have sent conflicting signals about whether or how federal guidelines should be changed when they expire at the end of April, said the second task force would be made up of "very great doctors" as well as business people and potentially members of Congress and state governors.

"This is beyond economic," Trump said at the White House on Friday as he explained the group's focus. "I call it the 'opening our country task force' or 'opening our country council,' so we don't get it confused with" the primary White House task force.

"I don't know that I've had a bigger decision," Trump said.

"I'm going to have to make a decision," he said, "and I only hope to God it's the right decision."

More: Surgeon General says 'most of the country' will not be able to open by May 1

More: Pelosi says Trump will 'make matters worse' if he reopens the country too soon

Trump has acknowledged an eagerness to ease social distancing guidelines that has at times run counter to the advice of public health officials. The makeup of the second group, which Trump said he would announce Tuesday, could signal which direction he is heading.

The president created a coronavirus task force led by Vice President Mike Pence in late January, a group that includes some of the nation's best-known public experts such as Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Deborah Birx, who is the White House coronavirus response coordinator.

President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House.

Members of the group were instrumental in convincing the president to extend distancing guidelines, which were initially set to expire in early April. Presented with projections that at least 100,000 Americans could succumb to the virus, Trump also abandoned what he later described as an "aspirational" goal to reopen the country by Easter.

Story continues

As new models have predicted a lower mortality rate, some members of Trump's administration have said it's time to ease guidelines that Americans work from home if possible, avoid groups of more than 10 people and abandon unnecessary travel. Most of those guidelines have been embraced by states as enforceable orders.

Trump's rhetoric on when to reopen the nation shifts considerably from day to day. Facing questions about how he will decide when to reopen the country despite the risk of a second wave of coronavirus cases, Trump has floated the idea of opening parts of the country that are less hard hit. At times he has stressed the importance of people hunkering down at home and praised Americans for doing so.

At other times he has raised concerns that the "cure" could be worse than the virus.

"Staying at home leads to death also," the president said Friday.

Attorney General William Barr this week called the restrictions in effect in many states "draconian" and said they should be revisited next month.

State Officials, Barr told Fox News on Wednesday, should be "very careful to make sure ... that the draconian measures that are being adopted are fully justified, and there are not alternative ways of protecting people."

But Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Friday that "most of the country" will not be able to reopen by May 1, despite suggestions from some Trump administration officials that next month may be a time to revisit strict social distancing guidelines.

"Once we get past this thirty days, some places around the country can think about reopening," Adams said on Fox News, referring to the 30-day period for the White House social distancing guidelines.

Contributing: Nicholas Wu

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump to create second coronavirus taskforce to study reopening nation
Police in Kobe, western Japan, say officers who tested positive for the coronavirus were apparently infected at a welcome party for their new station chief.

Seven officers at Kobe Nishi Police Station are infected. Three of them attended the party on March 27 to welcome the chief and others at a pub.

About 120 officers, including the chief and a deputy chief, have been self-isolating at home.

Officers from the prefectural police headquarters have been sent to the station to support its operations.
As the European Union hammered out an emergency economic package this week for countries reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dutch held true to their reputation for thriftiness by refusing to support a plea by southern members to take on collective debt.

And while the bloc's 27 finance ministers agreed to half-a-trillion euros in relief on Thursday, the contentious issue of "eurobonds" - jointly issued debt - was left unresolved. A reference to "innovative financial instruments" enabled both sides to declare having won political concessions.

EU powerhouse Germany, Austria, Finland and others had also expressed objections to debt mutualisation, but Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra was ultimately the sole holdout in 16 hours of talks that failed to work out a deal on Wednesday.

When the EU finance ministers returned to talk in a Thursday evening video conference, The Hague agreed to ease terms for accessing financing from the euro zone's EMS bailout fund to help with healthcare costs, but held firm against shared debt.

A smiling Hoekstra said he was "very satisfied" with the outcome on euro bonds, tweeting that "there won't be any" and telling Dutch TV stations "sometimes you have to put your foot down."

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire countered that the agreement had paved the way for mutual debt.

GOING DUTCH

The Dutch minister's stance was no surprise, however.

Only days earlier a top TV satirist took Hoekstra's side in explaining why the Dutch should not pour money into Italy.

With a record two million viewers of his "Lubach on Sunday" show, Arjen Lubach said the Dutch wanted to help, but have legitimate concerns about the bloc's long-term finances and preserving their own hard-fought financial health. He compared the situation to putting out a neighbour's house fire.

"I am willing to help you put out the fire, but I don't want to take over your mortgage," Lubach said, adding that while Hoekstra might be irritating, he had a "fair point".

The Netherlands, a wealthy nation of 17.2 million, emerged only recently from years of belt-tightening under an austerity program since the 2008 financial crisis that made deep cuts into social security, pensions, education and healthcare.

While the Dutch cut back their national debt to 50% of GDP, Italy's rose to nearly 135%, or 2.4 trillion euros, Lubach pointed out.

The Hague had drawn a red line with southern European nations over joint debt and conditions for access to the emergency European Stability Mechanism (ESM) credit lines, drawing anger from hard-hit Spain and Italy.

Dutch thriftiness is deeply rooted in the culture and history of the trading nation that adopted the Calvinist branch of Protestantism more than four centuries ago.

In the 17th century, the English coined the phrase "Going Dutch", which refers to the splitting of a bill so that one party does not end up indebted to the other.

The country's neighbours still like to poke fun at the Dutch splitting of dinner bills, taking groceries on holiday, and always looking for a bargain.

'BAD COP'

The fact that the issue is prime TV fodder goes a long way to explaining how the Netherlands has become the bloc's "bad cop" opposing the kind of financial burden-sharing that its neighbours to the south say is needed to stave off an economic meltdown.

While the tough stance of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government has the backing of parliament at home, in Rome eurosceptic challenger Matteo Salvini denounced the bloc as failing to show enough solidarity.

"The European debate is embarrassing not to say sickening," said governor Luca Zaia, a member of Salvini's Northern League in the Veneto region, one of the hardest hit in Italy.

Joris Luyendijk, a Dutch author and political commentator, said Hoekstra's hard line tactics could cause long-term damage to the Netherlands' diplomatic relationships within the union.

"It's horrible PR and horrible politics; at a time of unprecedented crisis Wopke offers southern Europeans an ideal hate figure. We will pay for this down the line, as a country."

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Advertisement

Harrowing new photographs from New York City show rows of refrigerated trucks that will function as mobile morgues waiting to be loaded with body bags on Thursday as the city's coronavirus death toll hits 4,778.

The Big Apple's coronavirus outbreak continues to stagger with 87,725 cases - a rise in 7,521 infections and 518 deaths from Wednesday.

Devastating photographs show workers prepare dozens of refrigerated tractor trailers which hold the mounting number of dead bodies leaving New York hospitals amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Lines of trailers were seen outside Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island in New York City on Thursday afternoon. The mobile morgues will serve as a temporary solution to the rising number of coronavirus victims and lack of space in funeral homes and morgues across the city.

Harrowing new photographs show rows of body bags being placed into refrigerated trucks that will serve as mobile morgues, meanwhile workers on New York's Hart Island dressed in hazmat suits to bury caskets in mass graves on Thursday as the city's death toll hits 4,778

Lines of trucks were seen outside Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island in New York City on Thursday afternoon

Hearses were parked next to the refrigerated tractor trailers for body transfers on Thursday on Randall's Island. A brown body bag pictured being loaded onto the truck

Workers pictured preparing the refrigerated tractor trailers that will be used as morgues and have wooden shelves to hold caskets inside as the coronavirus pandemic continues to claim the lives of New Yorkers

The trucks are outfitted with shelves to hold rows of caskets and body bags to alleviate the burden in hospitals and morgues

Inside the massive tractor trailers there are wooden shelves designed to hold stacks of caskets and body bags.

Staffers were seen walking among the trucks to make sure they were ready when hearses came by to deliver bodies to be placed inside.

Some body bags were seen taken out on stretchers and loaded into the massive trucks Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, on Hart Island the number of burials has quadrupled amid the pandemic. On Thursday dozens of contracted laborers were seen digging and burying the caskets, some of which had names carved on them.

The city has used Hart Island to bury New Yorkers with no known next of kin or whose family are unable to arrange a funeral since the 19th century.

Typically, about 25 bodies are buried there once a week by low-paid Rikers Island jail inmates. That number began increasing last month as the new coronavirus spread rapidly and New York became the epicenter of the pandemic.

They are now burying about two dozen bodies a day, five days a week, DailyMail.com has been told.

Workers pictured after removing a body from a hearse and into the tractor trailer on Thursday

Several hearses were seen parked outside Icahn Stadium awaiting body transfers into the mobile morgues on Thursday

Workers were seen with ladders outside the tractor trailer as they stacked bodies into the mobile morgues

A worker pictured shutting a truck door following body transfers into the mobile morgues on Thursday

The tractor trailer trucks were parked outside Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island in New York City

Scenes of the dead are unfolding across the Big Apple: In Brooklyn a pallbearer and medical staff placed the body of a deceased family member into a hearse at a funeral at Jurek-Park Slope Funeral Home during the coronavirus outbreak Thursday

Mourners attend a funeral at The Green-Wood Cemetery, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in the Brooklyn on Thursday

Until now, officials have remained tight-lipped on whether coronavirus victims were being buried on Hart Island.

On Thursday, officials said they had no choice but to bury COVID-19 patients at the city's cemetery as it deals with the mounting coronavirus death toll and dwindling morgue space.

Under a new policy, the medical examiner's office will keep bodies in storage for just 14 days before they're buried in the city's potter's field on Hart Island.

City officials haven't explained whether the increase in burials at Hart Island is due to pressure on mortuaries to dispose of bodies more quickly.

Prisoners from Rikers Island are usually brought in to dig graves on Hart Island but the Department of Corrections has since hired contracted laborers to carry out the work due to the outbreak.

'For social distancing and safety reasons, city-sentenced people in custody are not assisting in burials for the duration of the pandemic,' DOC Press Secretary Jason Kersten told DailyMail.com. 'Contracted laborers are performing this important work under DOC supervision.

Workers wearing hazmat suits and other protective gear were spotted burying caskets in a mass grave on New York's Hart Island on Thursday amid speculation coronavirus victims are now being buried there

About a dozen workers were seen digging and burying the caskets - some of which had names carved into them - on Thursday as at least one refrigerated truck was brought onto the island

Those dressed in hazmat suits had to use a ladder to get down into the mass grave on Thursday as the new caskets were buried. They were watched by a corrections officer (far right)

'Burial operations at the city cemetery remain uninterrupted and they continue to be supervised by DOC, which has been performing this solemn duty on Hart Island for over 150 years and will continue to do so until the jurisdiction of Hart Island moves to Parks in 2021.'

For burial on the island, the dead are wrapped in body bags and placed inside pine caskets. The deceased's name is scrawled in large letters on each casket, which helps if any body needs to be exhumed later. The caskets are buried in long narrow trenches excavated by digging machines.

Earlier on Thursday, the department referred questions about causes of death to the city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Aja Worthy-Davis, an OCME spokeswoman, said it would take time to collate individual causes of death from the office's records, but that it was probable some of the recent burials include those felled by the coronavirus.

The island may also be used as a site for temporary interments should deaths surge past the city's morgue capacity - a point that has not yet been reached, according to the DOC and OCME.

'We're all hoping it's not coming to this,' Kersten said. 'At the same time, we're prepared if it does.'

OCME can store about 800 to 900 bodies in its buildings and also has room to store about 4,000 bodies in some 40 refrigerated trucks it can dispatch around the city to hospitals that typically have only small morgues.

At least 45 caskets - some of which had names carved into them - appeared to be buried in the mass grave on Thursday morning alone

The caskets were stacked three on top of each other in the mass grave as inmates used a digger to help transport the bodies

The inmates wearing personal protective equipment stacked the caskets after unloading them from the digger

Mayor Bill DeBlasio said earlier in the week that officials have explored the possibility of temporary burials on Hart Island, a strip of land in Long Island Sound that has long served as the city's potter's field

The city's 2008 Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan states that Hart Island would be used as a temporary burial site in the event the death toll reaches the tens of thousands and if other storage, such as the refrigerator trucks parked outside hospitals, is full

Normally, about 25 bodies bodies are buried each Thursday on Hart Island. That number increased to 72 since the end of March when coronavirus fatalities increased drastically in the city, according to the Department of Corrections

The mass grave was dug last week and stretches along a lengthy portion of the island

Mayor Bill de Blasio has so far not confirmed whether burials for coronavirus victims had been or would take place there but indicated this week the city might resort to using the island for temporary burials during the pandemic.

'We may well be dealing with temporary burials so we can then deal with each family later,' he said.

'Obviously the place we have used historically is Hart Island.'

Those currently buried on Hart Island include people who haven't been identified, unclaimed bodies and people whose families could not afford burial costs.

In the past, the island has been used as a burial ground for victims of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic and the thousands of people who died of AIDS in the 1980s.

The first AIDS victims were buried away from other graves on the island in 1985 over fears they would infect the other bodies.

The city's 2008 Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan states that Hart Island would be used as a temporary burial site in the event the death toll reaches the tens of thousands and if other storage, such as the refrigerator trucks parked outside hospitals, are full.

It comes after public officials sparked panic and disgust last week after claiming some of the dead would be temporarily buried in public parks across the city.

'Trenches will be dug for 10 caskets in a line. It will be done in a dignified, orderly and temporary manner. But it will be tough for NYers to take,' Mark Levine, a Manhattan council representative, tweeted.

The comments caused a stir, prompting Levine to clarify his remarks, saying he understood any temporary burials would be carried out on Hart Island rather than public parks.

'I have spoken to many folks in City gov't today, and received unequivocal assurance that there will be *no* burials in NYC Parks,' he said.

'All have stated clearly that if temporary interment should be needed it will be done on Hart Island.'

While the suggestion of park burials has been dismissed, the question of what to do with the escalating body count remains pertinent.

In video footage from 2017, above inmates are seen burying the dead in prison uniform rather than the hazmat suits they are now dressed it

About a dozen workers were seen digging the graves on Thursday as at least one refrigerated truck was brought onto New York City's Hart Island

Prisoners from Rikers Island are usually brought over to dig graves on Hart Island. The DOC says it has stopped inmates from digging due to the ongoing pandemic

The refrigerated truck that was brought onto the island is the same as those currently parked outside hospitals across Manhattan as part of makeshift morgues set up to deal with the number of people dying from the coronavirus outbreak

Authorities have not officially confirmed if coronavirus patients are currently being buried on Hart Island despite morgues overflowing across the city and the death toll continuing to rise

The Mayor's spokeswoman, Freddi Goldstein, has stressed that the city government was not considering using local parks as cemeteries.

But she added that Hart Island, where around one million New Yorkers are already buried in mass graves, may be used 'for temporary burials, if the need grows'.

Melinda Hunt, the founder of the Hart Island Project who produced the drone video footage, said it appeared to show burials of COVID-19 victims.

She said the number of burials had increased and the process had become more systematic in recent weeks.

A former Rikers Island inmate who spent five months working on the island until February this year has also told of the grim operation that goes on there.

Vincent Mingalone said in a voiceover of the video that he worked as a team of around seven men who formed a supply chain to move the bodies from a truck to the mass grave every Thursday.

The bodies were stacked three deep and then covered with sand and soil.

Mingalone said he is now worried about whether there will actually be enough inmates willing to do the job.

When he was incarcerated, he said no one else volunteered to do the work because they viewed it as 'ghoulish' or 'dirty' and because it was low paid compared to other prison jobs.

'A lot of people didn't want that job,' he said.

'Now it's going to be slim pickings because a lot of inmates have all been released because of this pandemic.'

About 1,000 inmates have been released from Rikers Island since the pandemic broke out.

The majority of those digging on Thursday were dressed in white, head-to-toe hazmat suits amid the coronavirus pandemic

Normally, about 25 bodies bodies are buried each Thursday on Hart Island. That number increased to 72 since the end of March when coronavirus fatalities increased drastically in the city, according to the Department of Corrections

Those currently buried on Hart Island include people who haven't been identified, unclaimed bodies and people whose families could not afford burial costs

THE GRISLY HISTORY OF HART ISLAND: THE FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR OVER ONE MILLION BODIES Hart Island, sometimes referred to as Hart's Island, has a grisly history and started being used as a cemetery during the civil war in 1868 and there are now more than a million bodies buried there. Since then it has been used as a women's psychiatric institution, a tuberculosis sanatorium, a potter's field burial site and storage for Cold War anti-aircraft missiles. After its first use as a cemetery in 1868, the island started to be used as a potter's field for unmarked graves and accounts from the time describe bodies piling up on the island after being transported from hospitals in the city. By 1958, burials there exceeded 500,000 and it has been used to house the bodies of victims of the 1870 yellow fever epidemic and the 1919 Spanish Flu outbreak. During the Spanish Flu, when more than 500,000 Americans died, thousands were buried at Hart Island as city burial sites were overwhelmed. It is estimated they would be asked to remove between 50 and 5,000 victims a day during the epidemic. In more recent times, thousands of unclaimed AIDs victims have been buried on the island. The first were buried in 1985 away from other graves, in the belief that AIDs could infect dead bodies. In one 200-foot trench the remains of 8,904 babies were buried between 1988 and 1999. The island in Long Island Sound has also been the site of a homeless shelter, a boys' reformatory, a jail and a drug rehabilitation center. It returned to being used as a common grave in the 1980s and is still used to bury unknown or unclaimed people with bodies from across New York taken to the site twice a week and laid to rest by inmates at Rikers Island. Due to a New York State law from the 1850s and last amended in 2007, a dead person's next of kin on have 48 hours after death to claim a body for burial. If the body is unclaimed it becomes legally available as a medical cadavar to be used for training at medical schools or mortuary classes. The island, which can only be accessed by ferryboat, was sold to the city in 1868 and became a final resting place for unclaimed bodies and those used by medical schools. In the 19th century slave owners in the South 'donated' or sold bodies of dead slaves to medical schools. Advertisement

New York is the coronavirus epicenter of the world with more infections than any other country outside the U.S. - and a third of global cases are now in America - as the state tops 159,000 cases

New York state is now the coronavirus epicenter of the world with more infections than any other country outside of the United States.

The number of confirmed cases in New York state increased to 159,937 on Thursday after the number of infections went up by 10,000 in 24 hours.

In comparison, Spain has now recorded just over 152,000 cases and Italy's infections increased to more than 142,000.

China, which is where the coronavirus first broke out late last year, currently has nearly 83,000 infections.

The United States has just over 465,000 cases and accounts for a third of the world's total infections.

In terms of fatalities, Italy's death toll is the highest across with the globe with more than 18,000 cases. The US follows with 16,500 and then Spain with 15,300.

New York state's death toll as of Thursday was just over 7,000.
Pennsylvania's state-run liquor stores have been closed for more than three weeks. Republicans in the state legislature see that as an opening to push for privatization. Read more

Republicans in Pennsylvanias House of Representatives spent the last decade pushing to privatize the states liquor stores. So far theyve succeeded only in allowing grocery and convenience stores to sell wine and beer and expanding hours at the State Stores.

Now the political math could change in favor of privatization after the states coronavirus lockdown left hundreds of thousands of people angry they couldnt buy booze. By order of the governor, 600 stores have been closed statewide for more than three weeks, and an online sales effort has satisfied few customers.

Speaker Mike Turzai, an Allegheny County Republican who led the privatization charge, thinks the consumer experience from the 2016 legislation that expanded beer and wine sales demonstrates that state-run liquor stores are really irrelevant in the 21st century.

Sometimes incremental [change] in Pennsylvania is revolutionary, Turzai said. And in that regard, it changed the chessboard.

While grocery stores, bars, and beer distributors can sell wine and beer to go, the Liquor Control Boards own statistics show just how thirsty Pennsylvanians are for the hard stuff.

More than two million people tried nearly 13 million times to access the states website for online sales for the week ending Wednesday. Just 9,590 orders were successfully placed, shipped from three locations in Montgomery, Allegheny, and Luzerne Counties.

Like all state-run lotteries, there are way more losers than winners here.

Pennsylvanians have been driving to New Jersey and Delaware, where privately run liquor stores are still open. But Delaware is now turning back those customers. And Pennsylvania state troopers can cite someone bringing in out-of-state liquor purchases.

Wendell Young IV, president of the union that represents Pennsylvania liquor store workers, sees a looming threat of re-energized privatization efforts. The state is paying those union workers through Friday. After that, they must use vacation, enjoy unpaid leave, or file for unemployment benefits.

Our members are eager to get back to work, Young said. They, more than anyone, understand this target of privatization is always on their backs.

Young, who praises Gov. Tom Wolf and the LCB for efforts to protect liquor store workers and customers, is pushing a proposal to expand sales by allowing customers to order online from about a third of the stores, with curbside pickup.

Turzai has a plan, too. And he knows the field. The House voted in favor of full privatization four times from 2013 to 2015. Wolf in 2015 vetoed the only privatization bill that reached his desk.

Turzai predicts the House will start with full privatization, pushing to phase out State Stores over two to four years while allowing grocery, convenience and specialty stores to start selling liquor. If that falters, a compromise bill would allow those private sales while keeping State Stores open.

I think Gov. Wolf would have significant public pressure to sign the bill or let the bill become law, Turzai said, citing what he sees as growing frustration from customers.

Turzai faces some pressure on accomplishing this goal. He is leaving the legislature for the private sector at the end of this year.

Sheriffs Office presses on, for now, with controversial practice

Its expensive. Its controversial. And Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, who ran as a reformer last year, is keeping the practice in place. At least for a while.

Her office on Monday hired an outside firm to handle advertising for sheriffs sales for at least three months. That firm is run by political consultant Teresa Lundy, who ran Bilals campaign last year. Lundy will also handle media inquires for the office.

The last contract, held by Barbara Grant and Luz Cardenas, expired March 31. They collected $719,320 in commissions on $6.3 million in advertising in fiscal year 2019, while Sheriff Jewell Williams was in charge. Bilal defeated Williams in the 2019 Democratic primary.

Brett Mandel, Bilals first chief financial officer, lasted just five weeks. He was fired five days after he criticized the practice in a memo, noting staffers could do the work for less money, with some of the savings going back to people whose homes were sold in foreclosure.

The Sheriffs Office wont comment on Mandels dismissal. But maybe some of his ideas survived?

Bilal says she will put the contract out to bid and is mulling changes, looking at areas which we can bring in house and do ourselves in the Sheriffs Office.

Senator learns the perils of talking trash while Zooming

State Sen. Bob Mensch marveled Tuesday at an unexpected benefit of virtual sessions on Zoom.

The Berks County Republican told someone in his office he could stare daggers at State Sen. Katie Muth, a Democrat from Montgomery County. And she doesnt even know it, the person replied.

One big problem: Menschs microphone was hot.

So Muth knew it. As did everyone else paying attention.

Senators had been warned that their microphones remain active when they gather in a Zoom Room, as the temporary virtual chamber has been dubbed.

Mensch later apologized without mentioning Muth by name, dubbing it an off-handed comment and a personal observation.

Muth, an outspoken freshman who has clashed with colleagues on personal and policy issues, said she wanted the focus to be on meaningful legislation rather than personal barbs.

Its unfortunate that misogyny seems to be able to beam through even a virtual workplace, even in a pandemic, Muth said.

Gillian McGoldrick of LNP | Lancaster Online contributed to this article.
Air India chief Rajiv Bansal said that the "crippling effect" of the novel coronavirus has further plummeted the airline's finances to a "precarious" position but despite that, it has managed to keep afloat.

Bansal, in a message on Thursday, also assured the employees of providing all the "essential armoury" in carrying out evacuation and chartered flights amid the pandemic.

"Air India has been passing through a critical financial condition much before the Covid19 onslaught. The crippling effect of the pandemic, especially in the aviation sector, has further plummeted our finances to a precarious position. In spite of this, your airline has left no stone unturned to continue to remain afloat," Bansal said in a message to Air India employees on Thursday.

Reminding the employees that the organisation is always with them during these trying times, he said, their safety and health are as important to the company as of its passengers.

"We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure you get all the essential armoury to fight this war. Our dedicated medical services team members are available round the clock for any consultation, advice or emergency. We are doing everything possible to minimise risk factors," Bansal said.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Besides taking all the precautionary measures and providing PPE to ensure your safety, Air India was amongst the very few airlines in the world, who are providing hazmat suits and other protective equipment for its crew to equip them to face any COVID-related safety concern onboard, he said.

It was the first carrier to evacuate stranded Indian nationals from Coronvirus-hit Wuhan in China in January.

It is due to these precautionary measures that so far, only one of the airline's crew members amongst so many, who have been flying our charter flights all over the world, has tested COVID positive, he added.

"I am relieved to inform you that she has also been discharged after full recovery under the watchful eyes of our medical department," Bansal said.

In recent weeks, Air India has operated flights to Israel, Germany and London, using its wide-body Boeing 777s and B787s. These services were mainly to carry foreign nationals stranded in the country due to the lockdown, which began on March 25.

Stating that all of us in Air India, no doubt, are in this war together, Bansal said, "Adversity brings the best out of us and is a litmus test of our courage and strength of character. This is also the time to show how much we care for one another.
Interethnic marriages are considered one of the foundations of multinational Russia. The interlocutor of Vestnik Kavkaza - lawyer Irina, who lives in the city of Nakhodka with her Avar husband Islam Ramazanov and two sons. Islam - the international judo and sambo master - is now engaged in cattle breeding. Her eldest son is the world taekwondo champion.

- How did your family history begin?

- My friend and I went to the Vladivostok airport to meet her boyfriend, who was returning from the army. He arrived with a friend who asked me to marry him 72 hours after we met and flew to Makhachkala. We got married two years later. We had a magnificent Caucasian wedding in Dagestan. The imam arrived with his retinue to perform a religious ceremony, I met his relatives and my beloved mother-in-law - a woman whose role in our family cannot be overestimated.

- What responsibilities are considered female and which are male in your house?

- In our family, household duties are divided according to the classical German formula "Kinder, Kuche, Kirche", but as for meat dishes, it's up to my husband. He is a passionate hunter, in the best Avar traditions.



- How long did it take for you to get used to wearing a scarf in Dagestan?



- Having become part of the Avar family, I learned many details of Caucasian etiquette, based on respect for elders. A scarf that Caucasian women wear is also an element of respect for both oneself and others. The significance of traditions for the Avars is great, and they take it seriously.

- Where is it better to have a baby in Dagestan or the Far East?

- Children in the Avar family, especially boys, are the center of everyone's attention. They look at boys as continuers of the family name, clan, traditions and life itself. The Avar education forms the childs personality, self-determination, as well as such qualities as honesty and resilience to any problems. I don't worry about my sons, since living by strict Caucasian principles makes them real men.

- What are the most significant traits of the Avars?



- A strong sense of justice, which is inherent in all the Caucasian peoples, and I think, especially to the Avars. My husband, by right of the eldest of men, is part of the Dagestan community's court of honor in Vladivostok, which plays an important educational role in the life of young people.



Avars are beautiful, generous and honest people, open in their emotions, in the expression of both love and hate. The most difficult thing for them is, perhaps, being restrained.



For the Avars, living by the principles of justice is not a fiction, not a line from a film. It is a way of life, the hard way of a man, a warrior, an athlete. There are three of such persons in my family - a husband and two sons - champions.
In Kashmir, public transporters and daily wagers who lost their livelihood in the lockdown and also post Article 370 abrogation on August 5, 2019 have been worst hit. (File Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Srinagar, April 10 (IANS) In Kashmir, public transporters and daily wagers who lost their livelihood in the lockdown and also post Article 370 abrogation on August 5, 2019 have been worst hit. Image Source: IANS News

Srinagar, April 10 : In Kashmir, public transporters and daily wagers who lost their livelihood in the lockdown and also post Article 370 abrogation on August 5, 2019 have been worst hit.

"We have stocks for 10-15 days now. We appeal to the government to help us," said an auto rickshaw driver in Srinagar.

"Things are getting really difficult for us. We want the government to announce a package for transporters and daily wageers on the lines of Delhi," said a taxi driver in Srinagar.

"We will be happy to transfer money directly into the bank accounts of transporters and daily wage labourers when such a scheme is announced. So far no such scheme has been announced," said Haneef Balkhi, ADC Srinagar.
(JNS)Israelis have been accustomed to national emergencies and tend to accommodate well to stressful changes in their daily routines. However, in contrast to past crises, the current predicament is exceptional. People across the world are experiencing an identical threat and creating a sense of shared global destiny. This sustained worldwide threat generates unprecedented situations that are of interest to psychologists.

The prolonged involuntary home confinement offers opportunities to many, stress and risks to some, and a relief to others. For example, the government decree to stay home does not bode well for the vulnerable among us. After all, self-confinement is not an option for the homeless and does not provide social distancing for the poor, who need to share small spaces with large families. The imposed intimacy of the lockdown can increase interpersonal friction and tension. Relationships that were characterized by conflict prior to the pandemic outbreak may deteriorate further because of increased tensions.

Indeed, as corona lockdowns grow, so does the surge of phone calls made to domestic-violence hotlines. Self-isolation traps many women and children in abusive and coercive situations. Cooped up with their perpetrators, they now have less opportunity to access vital welfare services.

Curfews prevent social workers from reaching out to victims of family violence and discourage referral to overcrowded emergency shelters, abandoning the vulnerable to their fate. While self-isolation is an important step to protect children from contagion, it renders young victims of physical and sexual child abuse easy prey, leaving them at the mercy of their predators.

For the more fortunate among us, the mental pollution created by our daily rat race is lifting. Without distracting tasks, many of us can now experience our most intimate relationships more lucidly. An opportunity has emerged that allows us to appreciate and savor an unmitigated encounter with our loved ones and to do so without guilt. It is also an occasion to reflect on our relationships with our elders. Their forced isolation and dependence on us uncover their role in our lives and their value to us. It gives us allold and younga magnanimous chance to sweep out past grudges, bridge old rifts and mend broken ties.

The coronavirus pandemic has also provided halachic and spiritual challenges. The instruction to avoid gatherings posed a dramatic dilemma for observant Jews and yeshivah students who gather daily for prayer and study. Long after the Israeli Ministry of Health prohibited gatherings, many synagogue and yeshivah activities continued as normal, believing that Torah learning saves from death. Some anti-Zionist haredi rabbis were initially furious at the decrees, believing they were part of premeditated secular conspiracies to eradicate Torah learning and prayer. It seems that the ultra-Orthodox community has now accepted the gravity of the COVID-19 threat. The importance of human life (pikuach nefesh) is now cited as an important obligation that justifies the temporary disbanding of synagogue and yeshivah activities.

Sadly, for some haredi communities in New York and Israel, this was a late reaction and a rude awakening to a frightening reality. One of every three tested citizens of Bnai Brak and other religious communities in Israel is now positive for COVID-19, and haredi patients comprise 50 percent to 60 percent of the ICU beds in Israels major hospitals. Tragically, many discovered that pious life and Torah learning were not sufficient in protection from contagion. The magnitude of the calamity developed for some into a crisis of faith as well.

This unprecedented pandemic also provides us all with several wake-up calls and opportunities. Albert Einstein once said, In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity. Case in point: We are learning that many of us can work effectively from home, thus slashing our carbon footprint. This largest-scale climate experiment ever shows that through significant global human behavior change, we can lower drastically air-pollution levels and global nitrogen-dioxide emissions. The slowdown imposed by the current crisis provides us with an opportunity to become mindful of what we value most in life, to re-examine our values and priorities, and give higher priority to that which is most precious.

What is the opportunity presented to us as a people? In the shadow of a mortal pandemic, a life-saving dialogue takes place between the institutions of the secular State of Israel and the ultra-Orthodox community. In this crisis also lies the chance for better integration of the two communities. My hope is that the mutual fear and suspicion between the haredim and modern Israelis will be substituted by a recognition that we are mutually dependent on each other. The life-saving encounter with science and science-based medicine might chip away at the ghetto walls haredi leaders have erected to protect against what they see as the dangers of secularism.

Finally, I see another wonderful opportunity in this crisis. Years of bloody conflict with the Palestinian people has turned Jewish public opinion in Israel against political and cultural coexistence with Israeli Arabs. Nonetheless, our countrys public health-care system is a model of genuine commonality between Arabs and Jews. While Arabs constitute some 20 percent of the population of Israel, 42 percent of nursing students and 38 percent of pharmacists in Israel are Arab; at the Super-Pharm drugstore chain, 62 percent of the pharmacists are Arabs. At the TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology and the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev medical schools, Arabs comprise more than a third of the student body.

These days, as always, Arab medical personnel are fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with their Jewish Israeli colleagues against a formidable common enemy: COVID-19. My prediction is that this biblical-scale calamity will foster a significant new bond between the two Israeli communities.

As with most radical changes, we must take the good with the bad. The novel coronavirus provides many reasons for frustration, but from a psychological standpoint, it behooves us to focus on what we currently have and what we can do to optimize this situation for our own peace of mind and for a better post-pandemic world.

Dr. Eli Somer is a clinical psychologist and Professor Emeritus of Psychology at University of Haifas School of Social Work.
Somali freelance journalist Abdalle Ahmed Mumin has covered the news for 17 years, spending much of that time in one of the most dangerous places in the world to work as a journalist. Since CPJ started keeping records in 1992, at least 69 journalists have been killed in Somalia for their work.

After reporting on the killing of an Al-Shabaab commander for the Wall Street Journal in late 2014, Abdalle received anonymous death threats, and later survived a shooting attempt in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

Since 2018, he has worked between Somalia and Kenya as a reporter and an advocate for the Somali Journalists Syndicate, a press freedom group that he co-founded.

Since Somalia reported its first case of COVID-19 infection on March 16, Abdalle has been covering the pandemic for international outlets such as Al-Jazeera and The Guardian .

Abdalle spoke with CPJ via email and phone calls last week. His replies have been combined and edited for length and clarity.

How has the pandemic affected your reporting?

COVID-19 has hugely impacted my routines. First, I had to force myself to accept staying at home. I had to adopt social distancing whenever going out for important interviews or opt only for phone interviews.

It is not easy social distancing when youre reporting. In one instance, I remember an old woman at the IDP [internally displaced persons] camp, who was angry with me when I met her and I distanced myself by like two meters. She asked me: do you think we have corona? Do you think we are sick? And I had to take 10 minutes to explain why I was doing this. People can get offended easily.

It has also had a psychological impact, as you start to distance yourself from friends and colleagues, and stopping all the good things we previously had such as handshaking, hugging, or going out for a coffee with friends. The internet, the laptop, and the phone are my best friends these days.

Did you plan to stay in Mogadishu to cover the outbreak?

The coronavirus outbreak made the decision for me. I travelled back to Mogadishu on February 25. I wasnt planning to stay long. I had numerous plans to travel on assignments during this month, but had to cancel due to border closures.

As a freelancer, my job is to go out to report and to earn a living. Now that local travel is restricted within the country, it has affected my job. Also, the travel restrictions had affected our [the Somali Journalists Syndicates] planned journalists trainings, which are now postponed due to the outbreak.

It is like we are jailed by the coronavirus. This is the longest continuous time I have been in Mogadishu without travelling to somewhere else since 2015. Even if something happens today, I cannot travel out. Meaning, I have to alternate my locations within Mogadishu, to change locations to stay safe.

What risks and challenges do Somali journalists face while covering the outbreak?

So far, we have seen cases where journalists who reported on the spread of the virus or wrote stories about the impact of the virus---such as a shortage of masks and sanitizers in the local markets---were either blocked or threatened. At least two others were pressured to retract their reporting because authorities were not happy with the way the journalists reported.

My biggest concern is that we dont have adequate protection measures to keep our journalists safe from this virus. There is no training about reporters safety during the outbreak for the local journalists. I have seen reporters going out to the field without personal protective equipment. Yesterday [April 2], I saw journalists reporting from the isolation center and they didnt have anything [protective equipment] at all.

Having said that, Somali journalists do not have health [insurance] coverage at all, and are among the least paid people in the country. An average [monthly] salary of a TV journalist in Somalia is between $100 to $200, while a radio reporter is far less than that. Most of these journalists are the only breadwinners in their families. This means that they have to prioritize putting food on the table of their families while [they are] unable to meet their health needs.

Are you satisfied with the level of openness from local authorities regarding the outbreak?

Not at all. There is an ongoing information blackout since the outbreak began. Health officials are not giving information sought by journalists. I was not able to interview the Health Minister in my recent article about the concerns of the refugees and displaced families over the coronavirus outbreak.

We asked the Somali Federal Government to set up a special information desk for the reporters covering the outbreak, but they are yet to do so.

Are you concerned about misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19?

Yes, there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation regarding the coronavirus outbreak. Journalists are struggling to tackle these, but the main challenge is the lack of flow of information from the Health Ministry and the reluctance of the authorities to tell the media what is happening. It is unfortunate that the misinformation is also creating panic in the public. It is like there is nobody to trust.

In our journalist union, we have set up a WhatsApp group where we share updated information whenever it is released, including contacts of key people such as doctors and health professionals for verifying certain bits of information. Journalists and editors are finding this initiative useful. We are also using this WhatsApp group to give advice to journalists going into the field.

How do the risks of covering the coronavirus compare with the daily risks of reporting in Somalia?

Speaking frankly, it is like a double burden. Journalists are already facing a bad security situation in Somalia, and now there is the coronavirus. The coronavirus has not stopped the threats we had against the lives and safety of journalists. It is like we are caught between two enemiesthe existing threats that we already had, and the new one of this disease.

One of the few solutions we had previously was to move from place to place. But now we cannot move from Mogadishu or from Somalia to another country. A few days ago, I had to accommodate three journalists to stay in my house. They had travelled to Mogadishu to report, but now they were stuck.

It made me think we should have a safe house where journalists can go to stay for a few days or weeks if they face threats during the outbreak. Something simple with running water, a place to sleep, and the Internet. But this is expensive and needs funds.

CPJ emailed Somali presidential spokesperson Abdinur Mohamed for comment regarding Abdalles allegations in this interview, but did not receive any reply. CPJ called and texted Fawziya Abikar, the countrys health minister, but also did not receive any replies.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 10

Trend:

Turkmenistan and Georgia have discussed the possibility of delivering goods to European ports, Trend reports with reference to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

The discussions were held online on April 9, 2020 at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

The participants said that the transport sector is the key vector of bilateral cooperation between Turkmenistan and Georgia, because both countries aim to create transport and transit corridors between Asia and Europe.

The work that Turkmenistan and Georgia have done to date the sphere of cooperation was also discussed.

The representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, teachers and students of the Institute of International Relations, representatives of the Turkmen Logistics Association of Turkmendemiryollary, Turkmenawtoulaglary, Turkmenhowayollary, Turkmendenizderyayollary government agencies participated in this discussion from Turkmenistans side.

The Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Akaki Sagirashvili and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Turkmenistan Mamuka Murdzhikneli represented Georgia at the meeting.

The diplomatic relations between Georgia and Turkmenistan were established on July 16, 1992. Both countries are the members of UN and of OSCE.
Meghan Markle's wedding dress designer Clare Waight Keller has announced she is leaving Givenchy after three years as artistic director.

The 49-year-old, who was the first ever woman to head up the couture designer label, has risen to even greater prominence outside of the fashion industry over the past few years, during which she has become one of Meghan's most-worn designers.

But it was the former actress's wedding dress that truly made Clare a household name, after Meghan tied the knot with Prince Harry in May 2018 in front of the world while wearing one of the British designer's creations.

The end of an era: Clare Waight Keller, the woman who designed Meghan Markle's wedding dress, has announced that she is leaving her role at the head of Givenchy after three years

Moving on: The 49-year-old, who became the first woman to helm the couture French fashion label in 2017, confirmed the news of her departure on Friday

Since then, 38-year-old Meghan has worn a number of Clare's Givenchy designs - turning to the label to dress her for many prominent engagements, including her June 2018 outing at Ascot alongside the Queen.

In December 2018, Meghan made clear how close the two women had become when she made a surprise appearance at the British Fashion Awards, where she presented Clare with the prestigious British Womenswear Designer of the Year award.

The Duchess of Sussex, who was pregnant with her son Archie at the time, looked stunning in a one-shoulder Givenchy gown, which showed off her bump to full effect.

While on stage, Meghan opened up about her very personal connection to fashion, noting 'we have a deep connection to what we wear'.

'Sometimes it's deeply personal, sometimes it's emotional,' she went on, before praising Clare's 'kindness' and the 'values'.

Once on stage, the designer was just as complimentary about the former royal, saying: 'This woman is so amazing. I got to know Meghan on such a personal level.

'To have someone like that trust you on such a personal moment in their life... I can't thank you enough because it was the most beautiful moment.'

Global fame: Clare and Meghan are close friends, and in December 2018, a pregnant Meghan made a surprise appearance at the British Fashion Awards to give the designer an award

Bond: The two women spoke very highly of one another during the star-studded event, with Meghan praising Clare's 'kindness' and the 'values'

Firm favorite: Meghan has worn Clare's Givenchy designs many times, including during an official engagement at Ascot in June 2018, when she and Prince Harry joined the Queen

According to WWD, which broke the news of Clare's departure, her decision to step down comes at the end of her initial three-year contract, and follows the recent debut of her final collection for the brand, which was shown on the runways at Paris Fashion Week on March 1, shortly before the coronavirus outbreak shut down much of Europe.

The show, which featured superstar model Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, received much positive feedback from critics - although she faced some mixed public reviews in January when she debuted a new wedding dress design at Paris Couture Week.

The majority of style lovers were blown away with the design, which was modeled by Kaia, with one gushing: 'Such a beautiful moment but I don't know what to say.'

Others dubbed it 'perfection' and stunning'.

However other style fans were less impressed and complained it made even lithe Kaia look 'huge'.

Clare did not address her reasons for exiting the brand while making a statement about her departure, which was given to WWD, instead simply saying that her time at Givenchy has been 'one of the highlights' of her career.

'Focusing on a world based on haute couture has been one of the highlights of my professional journey,' Clare, who was born in Birmingham, said.

Special: Meghan's dress is said to have cost around $250,000, and featured a stunning 15ft veil that was embroidered with 53 flowers of the Commonwealth

'I have shared so many incredible moments with the brilliant Givenchy ateliers and design teams: Your exceptional talent and dedication will forever remain in my memories.

'My heartfelt thanks go out to each of the unsung heroes and heroines behind the scenes, for their contribution from product to communications and retail, and every global team member, partner and supplier in between.'

Clare, who did not give any hints as to what her next steps will be, began her career as a stylist for Calvin Klein in New York City, before joining Ralph Lauren.

In 2000, she was hired by Tom Ford for a role at Gucci, where she was responsible for women's ready-to-wear and accessories, a position that she held for four years.

A year later, she moved to Pringle of Scotland, where - her Givenchy bio notes - she 'redefined the Houses style and knitwear heritage', earning the title of Designer of the Year at the Scottish Fashion Awards in 2007.

In 2011, she moved to Paris in order to take on the position of creative director at Chloe, a role that truly helped to define her career, while cementing her status as one of the world's most sought-after designers.

Take a bow: Clare's final collection for the brand was the fall/winter 2020 line, which was debuted on the runway at Paris Fashion Week in March, when Kaia Gerber stole the show

Awkward: Two months earlier, Clare debuted this wedding dress design at Paris Couture Fashion Week. The design received mixed reviews from the public

Controversial: Some people praised the 'stunning' design, while others were less complimentary about Clare's creation

She moved to Givenchy in 2017, and since then she has amassed a legion of celebrity fans, including Ariana Grande and Gal Gadot.

One year after joining the brand, Clare was chosen by Meghan to design her wedding dress - in what many saw as a rather surprising decision on the part of the Duchess of Sussex.

The designer behind the dress remained a closely-guarded secret until the day of the ceremony, when royal fans around the world were treated to their first glimpse at the beautiful bride - and her stunning silk gown, which left Prince Harry in tears when he first saw his future wife.

An emotional Harry told his bride 'you look amazing' after she wafted down the aisle in the classic silk gown in pure white, with a 15ft veil embroidered with flowers of the Commonwealth.

The bespoke creation is estimated to have cost $250,000, including $97,000 for custom-made fabric and $5,000 for fittings.

The veil was made from silk tulle with a trim of hand-embroidered flowers in silk threads and organza, while the look was completed by a Cartier bracelet and earrings and a Queen Mary diamond bandeau tiara, loaned to her by the Queen.
A fortnight of forced quarantine has ended for Vasco da Gama passengers after the cruise ship docked at Fremantle on March 30 but a new battle to get interstate travellers home has begun.

The 500-odd interstate contingent in isolation at Crown Perths Metropol and Promenade hotels will be free from 4.30pm on Friday but remain stranded in WA until the McGowan government can broker flights home to their state of origin.

The Vasco da Gama cruise ship is seen arriving in Fremantle harbour in Fremantle on March 28.

About 200 WA passengers from the cruise ship in quarantine on Rottnest Island and at two Perth CBD hotels would also be freed at the same time on Friday, with those on the tourist island to depart by ferry and collected by family once they return.

Health Minister Roger Cook on Friday said the WA government would work with airlines, other states and the stranded passengers to get them home as soon as possible.
'Those who were not co-operating are co-operating now.'

'Now, our facilities are fit, our doctors are fit and we have a better protocol of how to do isolation, how to do the collection.'

IMAGE: Hospital staff and others applaud a COVID-19 patient, who recovered from the virus, as he is discharged from the Kasaragod Hospital, April 4, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo

When 47-year-old Dr D Sajith Babu was appointed the district collector of Kasargod 19 months ago, the enormity of the challenge he is facing today was not something he expected.

"No one could have," he says.

On February 3, Kasargod registered the third COVID-19 positive case in the country. It was the third district in Kerala, after Thrissur and Alappuzha, to register a COVID-19 positive case.

Now, with 156 cases, Kasargod has been declared a COVID-19 hotspot.

Only South Delhi with 320 cases and Mumbai with 298 cases precede it (data sourced from the ministry of heath Web site).

Unlike South Delhi (population: 27.3 lakhs according to the 2011 census) and Mumbai (1.84 crores according to the 2011 Census), the sleepy district of Kasargod has a population of just 13.5 lakhs.

But Dr Sajith Babu is not worried, nor does he think that his district should be tagged as a COVID-19 hotspot.

He explains why to Savera R Someshwar/Rediff.com.

Why do you think Kasargod has become a COVID-19 hostspot?

I don't know why it is being called as a hotspot. We have it under control.

Unlike people who are outside Kasargod, we don't feel there is anything peculiar here for it to be called as a hotspot.

I don't think there is a reason to attach that word.

We don't feel like that.

But you have the highest number of COVID-19 positive cases in Kerala, and the third highest number of cases in the country.

Let me explain.

As of now, we have 156 COVID-19 positive cases.

91 of these cases came directly from the Gulf.

Then there is one person who came from Wuhan, one person who came from the UK and one person who attended the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in Nizamuddin, Delhi.

This means the problem did not originate in Kasargod.

The remaining people who are infected are contact cases. And even in these cases, the contacts are very closely related; by that I mean that they are immediate family members.

It has not spread to any other person.

Of these 156 people, four have been cured and discharged. There have been no deaths here because of the virus.

So we are pretty confident we won't have a major problem.

It is not right to say that the coronavirus is spreading rapidly here.

IMAGE: A special fever desk at the Ernakulam General Hospital in Kochi, April 8, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo

How has Kasargod's strong links with the Gulf impacted you?

Of the 13.5 lakh population here, nearly 2 lakh work in the Gulf.

Even during the early stages, we had expected that if there were a lot of COVID-19 positive cases in the Gulf, there would be maximum impact here.

We were prepared for that.

From the beginning, we issued advisories that people who came into Kasargod from outside -- be it the Gulf or anywhere else after the cut-off date, February 20 -- should strictly remain in room quarantine.

Our message was very specific -- while they are at home, they should not step out of their rooms unnecessarily.

If someone shows symptoms of the virus, they are told to report to the doctor at the primary health centre.

If the doctor feels the person is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, we take them to the hospital in an ambulance.

At the hospital, they are stamped and kept in isolation.

That is a protocol we are following.

How many people do you have under observation?

Over 10,000.

Under observation means that they are under home quarantine.

We are not doing this because they have been diagnosed with COVID-19. It is just as a preventive measure.

IMAGE: Social workers provide food packets to the transgender community in Kochi, April 5, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo

How are you ensuring home quarantine for such a large number of people?

From the very beginning, we put together a Jan Jagratha Samithi at the ward level.

The JJS is headed by a ward member and includes a junior health inspector, an ASHA worker and a community policeman.

They regularly visit all those persons who are quarantined at home.

Then, from my control room, we randomly call 10 per cent of the people and ask if the JJS has visited them.

The District Medical Officer's office too makes similar calls to another 10 per cent through random selection.

We have been raising awareness among the people as well, so there is social pressure too on someone who is quarantined to not step out of the house.

Despite quarantine instructions, people were still moving about, attending family functions and mixing with the community. How do you deal with cases like that?

There are some people who will just not listen.

If a person tests positive and has not maintained home quarantine, we trace their movements and see who they have come in touch with to find out if they too have become infected.

The police have developed a mechanism of knowing where they are by tracking their cell phones.

Those who are breaching the quarantine are then kept in lodges for the period of the quarantine.

We have nearly 100 rooms in four lodges ready for this.

Staying with the family during the quarantine period is a privilege. But if you cannot follow the government's instruction, then you will have to stay as our guest.

How many people have returned to the state since January 30?

I don't have those figures right now, but I was just going through a report that said between from March 18 to March 22 (from March 23, India banned international flights; a day later it banned domestic flights) 1,450 persons returned from Gulf.

That's a huge number.

IMAGE: A boatman sells food items to families on an island in Alappuzha, April 3, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo

How difficult was the process of getting cooperation from the people of the district and making them understand how infectious coronavirus is?

Initially, there were some problems.

After the lockdown was announced, we implemented Section 144 here.

We also said people can step out to buy essentials only between 11 am and 5 pm.

We have strictly enforced this.

Does Karsargod have adequate medical facilities to handle such a pandemic?

Initially, we didn't know how to handle this situation.

But we planned well and were ready by mid-March. Now, everything is under control.

We did not have the relevant data about our facilities in the private sector and the government sector. So we did our homework and now have the information we need.

We have up to 903 beds ready so even if 903 cases come, we can manage.

We have not taken the help of private hospitals to do this.

The beds are in different locations.

We have a 300 bed facility in our general hospital. There are beds at the central university.

We have put up 120 beds in a newly constructed ladies' hostel.

Have all Kasargod patients have been accommodated in Kasargod only?

No. We don't have a medical college here so we refer the very vulnerable cases to the Pariyaram Medical College, which is in the next district, Kannur.

For example, we had a case of a pregnant lady.

There was another lady who was over 60 years old and had heart-related issues.

In such cases, we cannot take a risk.

Kasargod residents generally to Mangaluru, which is about 50 km away, for their medical needs. They have invested financially in hospitals there.

Did the fact that the borders between Kasargod and Mangaluru closed from March 24 and only opened on April 7 affect your fight against the coronavirus?

There are many hospitals run by Kasargodians in Mangalore.

It would have been better if they have invested here.

Other than that, it is a political matter. I cannot comment on it.

Why did you not ask for help from private doctors?

We have when need.

For example, we were running short of technicians for dialysis. So I made a public appeal and 14 of them volunteered.

Now, we have started doing dialysis in all our three major hospitals on a three shift basis.

Earlier, we could only run one or two shifts, so we were not able to serve the people.

That's why the people were running after the doctors in Mangaluru.

Now it is okay.

By when do you expect to see the COVID positive cases numbers falling?

It has fallen. On April 6, we had only four cases. Last week, on one day, we recorded 34 cases.

Now that your numbers are dropping, what is the next step for Kasargod?

We are not creating panic among the people. We assured them that things are under control.

Those who were not co-operating are co-operating now.

People are not moving out; they know how serious the situation is.

Now, our facilities are fit, our doctors are fit and we have a better protocol of how to do isolation, how to do the collection.

What is your average day like these days?

It begins around 7 am and can end anywhere between 10 pm to 11 pm

There are so many things that come up, so many problems to solve.

I take more than 500 calls in a day between 7 am and 7 pm.

Unlike in other places, in Kerala, the district collectors are very attached to the people. We are very accessible.

My phone number is easily available in the public domain.

Everyone calls and we attend all the calls.

What are some of the strangest requests or phone calls you have got from the common people?

(laughs heartily) So many funny calls come.

Here the custom is that there are two houses.

The men usually spend most of the day at their parents's house.

They go to their wife's house only at night.

When the lockdown happened, some of the men were still at their parents's house. I got a lot of SOS calls asking me for help so that they could go to their wives's house.

Some of the men had taken their kids with them and they were not able to manage them.

So they called to say, sir please send an ambulance, please find a way to at least send my kids to my wife's house.

What about your family?

They live in Trivandrum (about 555 km away).

My wife and two kids are there.

We catch up on video chats.

They know I am here doing my duty.

What is the average age of the populaton in Kasargod?

We have a very young population here.

The number of people in the 60 plus age group is very less.

What are the lessons that the rest of the country can learn from how you have handled the crisis?

Don't be under tension. Be cool.

If you plan properly, this can be easily managed.

Planning is the most important aspect.

You should know what you have. If you know what you have, then it is really easy to easy to manage.

What are the biggest challenges you are facing in handling the COVID-19 pandemic?

We don't feel like it is a challenge.

Everything is on track.

We are prepared.

What are the biggest needs that Kasargod has at this moment?

We hope to have more hospitals, more educational institutions.

We want to be self-sufficient.

We should reduce our dependency on the neighbouring districts.
For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.




(CNN)  People in the northern Indian state of Punjab are reacting with awe at the sight of the Himalayan mountain range, which is now visible from more than 100 miles away due to the reduction in air pollution caused by the country's coronavirus lockdown.

Indians in the city of Jalandhar and the surrounding area have posted photos online of the views from their homes, with some saying they haven't seen the peaks of the Himalayas for decades.

"For the first time in almost 30 years (I) could clearly see the Himalayas due to India's lockdown clearing air pollution. Just amazing," Manjit Kang wrote.

The phenomenon is made possible by a dramatic improvement in air quality in recent weeks, after industries shut down, cars came off the road and airlines canceled flights in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Delhi saw up to a 44% reduction in PM10 air pollution levels on the first day of its restrictions, India's Central Pollution Control Board found. The PM10 standard measures airborne particulates 10 micrometers or smaller in diameter.

The report said that, in total, 85 cities across India saw less air pollution in the first week of the nationwide lockdown.

Meanwhile the air quality in Jalandhar, which sits more than 100 miles from the Himalayas, has been measured as "good" on the country's national index for 16 of the 17 days since the nationwide lockdown was announced.

By contrast, the same 17-day period last year failed to register a single day of "good" air quality -- and in the first 17 days of March this year, only three days saw "good" air quality.

The period has therefore marked an unintended but welcome breath of fresh air for the country's crowded and polluted cities. India is home to 21 of the 30 worst polluted urban areas in the world, according to data compiled in IQAir AirVisual's 2019 World Air Quality Report, with six in the top ten.

The nation has been in lockdown for more than two weeks, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordering "a total ban on venturing out of your homes."

Only essential services have been operational, including water, electricity, health and fire services, groceries stores and municipal services. All other shops, commercial establishments, factories, workshops, offices, markets and places of worship have been closed and interstate buses and metros were be suspended.

The country has reported nearly 6,000 cases of Covid-19, and 178 deaths, according to figures from the Johns Hopkins University.

While the famous mountain range is more visible than in recent memory, it is also more deserted.

Many of its mountains have been closed to climbers for nearly a month, with both the Nepalese and Chinese sides of Mount Everest shutting down in early March.

This story was first published on CNN.com. "People in India can see the Himalayas for the first time in 'decades,' as the lockdown eases air pollution."
New Delhi, April 10 : In what can spark off further speculation about exemptions during probable extension of the ongoing nationwide shutdown, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Friday that he has asked all states to keep a plan ready to start MNREGA work from April 15, if the situation allows.

"All states have been asked to keep a work plan ready, so that MNREGA work can be started in all districts, from April 15, if the situation allows us to," said Tomar during a video interaction with reporters.

India's current shutdown ends on April 14 and it was speculated that PM Modi may extend it further. But Tomar's statement adds a new dimension to it.

He also conceded that a fair share of perishable goods like flowers and fruits have been damaged due to shutdown announcements. However, he added that only respective state governments can quantify the loss.

The farm minister added that harvesting has not been hit due to the shutdown. He argued that keeping in view the harvesting and sowing season, the Centre exempted farming operations by farmers and farm workers in the field, 'Mandis' to operate by the Agriculture Produce Market Committee, shops for seeds, fertilisers and pesticides among others.

However, the lockdown has affected the sector deeply. Procurement of wheat has been delayed in most of the wheat procuring states. Now, it is likely to commence from April 15-20. The horticulture industry too has taken a bad hit.

Though Tomar, during the video conference, highlighted the relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana for the poor in this hour of crisis, but the fact remains the financial assistance proved to be too little for them.

The current nationwide shutdown was enforced to contain the spread of the coronavirus in India which has so far infected 6,761 people here.

Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston
Workers bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island in the Bronx, N.Y. (John Minchillo / Associated Press)

In a grim global milestone, the worldwide death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic passed the 100,000 mark on Friday, with the United States on the brink of surpassing Italy as the nation with the highest number of fatalities.

Worldwide, the number of confirmed deaths hit nearly 103,000 by Friday afternoon, according to a count maintained by Johns Hopkins University. The true death toll, however, is probably much higher, considering the handicaps of limited testing, different rules for counting the dead and incomplete reporting by some governments.

The coronavirus has laid siege to healthcare systems, battered economies, emboldened nationalist leaders, exposed the intricacies and potential perils of an interconnected world and served as a reminder, like the plagues and natural disasters of past ages, of how vulnerable the planet is to mercurial unseen dangers.

Since December, when health officials first identified the virus in Wuhan, the sprawling capital of China's Hubei province, the deadly virus has quickly skipped to other Asian countries, where governments sought to limit its impact by imposing strict testing requirements, frequent temperature checks and social distancing measures. The efforts were successful in slowing the spread locally, but the virus had also begun stealthily hopscotching around the globe, with particularly devastating consequences in Italy, Spain and Iran.

In Iran, so many victims died suddenly that Islamic end-of-life rituals were sometimes abandoned in place of mass burial pits, and in northern Italy doctors said they were making life-and-death rationing decisions unheard of outside of times of war.

In the U.S., leaders in some states, including Washington and California, took early, strong steps to implement social distancing even as President Trump continued to downplay concerns about the deadliness of the virus. Limited supplies and coordination on the federal level have since left hospitals to scramble for ventilators, test kits, masks and other vital supplies, and in New York, the epicenter of the nation's outbreak, emergency rooms have quickly filled toward surge capacity.

Story continues

Meanwhile, the hardest days, experts warn, appear to remain ahead.

"This virus is moving with speed and velocity across the globe and it's not going to let up for some time," said Michael Mina, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard University, who emphasized that, given the nearly certain undercount, the 100,000-death threshold was actually met several days ago.

"There will be darker days," he predicted, "especially in underdeveloped parts of the world."

On Friday, the U.S. death toll stood at about 18,600, just behind Italys roughly 18,900, according to Johns Hopkins University. It was new deaths in the United States that pushed the worldwide death toll above the 100,000 mark.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported 777 more deaths over the previous 24 hours, bringing the total there to 7,844, far exceeding any other states death toll. California's number of fatalities hovered near 580. Black communities, nursing homes and prisons across the country have been especially devastated by the outbreak.

Trump said Friday he would not move to reopen the country until it's safe, but announced he's forming an Opening our Country task force focused on the economy.

"I want to get it open as soon as possible," Trump said during Friday's daily news briefing at the White House.The facts are going to determine what I do.

As the startling scope of the economic devastation comes into sharper focus, the chief of the International Monetary Fund warned that the disease was steering the global economy toward what is sure to be the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

The projection by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva came amid mounting concerns that the virus would soon explode across the world's poorest nations  where frequent hand-washing and social distancing are often all but impossible  and inevitably return to countries recovering from outbreaks.

A few European and Asian countries have started easing up on stay-at-home orders, which experts say risks a second wave of coronavirus infections that could prolong the global economic meltdown.

The threat of contagion at Good Friday and Easter observances left public health authorities on edge.

Franciscan monks retrace the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem's Old City after the traditional Good Friday procession was called off amid coronavirus fears. (Associated Press)

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, petitioned the state Supreme Court to stop Republican lawmakers from rescinding her ban on religious gatherings. In Los Angeles, parks that have been partially open for walking and jogging will shut down entirely on Sunday to discourage Easter outings where the virus could spread.

In Italy, helicopters, drones and police patrols have been deployed to keep people in their homes over the holiday weekend. Police issued summonses Thursday to 10,000 people traveling for nonessential reasons. And in Paris, the fire-scarred Notre Dame Cathedral, normally packed on Good Friday, was nearly empty as a French archbishop led a televised Good Friday service.

In Jerusalem, the chanting of a small group of clerics inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher echoed faintly through the heavy wooden doors as a few people stopped and knelt outside to pray. The centuries-old church, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead, is usually packed.

Later, four monks in brown robes and blue surgical masks prayed at the Stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa, the ancient route through the Old City where Jesus is believed to have carried the cross before his execution at the hands of the Romans. It runs past dozens of souvenir shops, cafes and hostels, nearly all of which were closed.

During ordinary times, tens of thousands of pilgrims from around the world retrace Jesus' steps in the Holy Week leading up to Easter. But this year, flights are grounded and religious sites in the Holy Land are closed as authorities try to prevent the spread of the virus, which has already infected about 1.7 million people worldwide.

The shortage of testing for the virus means that, as with the death toll attributed to COVID-19, there is no doubt about a severe undercount of the total number of cases.

While Latin America has thus far been spared the brunt of the pandemic, there is a widespread expectation throughout the region that the worse is yet to come. Governments from Mexico to Brazil are anticipating virus cases to peak later in April or May.

Slightly fewer than 50,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus had been recorded in Mexico, Central America and South America, with about 1,900 fatalities  all much lower than in the United States.

China , meanwhile, has reported about 3,300 deaths and South Korea just over 200, according the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

An increase in new confirmed cases in the last few weeks, however, has shown that the fight against COVID-19 will take much longer than anticipated. Singapore, Vietnam and Japan are among many Asian countries that have had to step up distancing measures, close schools and impose more quarantines.

Theres also growing concern that poorer countries with threadbare health systems such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar could be hiding the extent of their outbreaks. Lack of testing in the Philippines and Indonesia are also fueling fears that the death toll is set to rise exponentially.

In Spain, more that 16,000 people have died, and in nearby France the number of dead reached about 13,200. In the United Kingdom, where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently left the intensive care unit of a London hospital after being treated for COVID-19, about 9,000 people have died.

Meanwhile, Americans prepared for another weekend of isolation. States including Michigan, with about 1,300 dead, and Louisiana, with more than 750 dead, are bracing to see increased deaths in the weeks ahead.

Back in New York, Gov. Cuomo on Friday called on Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act to take control of production by private laboratories of tests for virus antibodies, saying widespread testing is the key to reopening the economy.

Without federal money and supervision, he said, the private laboratories developing tests in New York dont have the capacity to produce enough for the millions of people who need them.

We need a tremendous, mind-boggling increase in volume quickly, he said. And I dont believe just waiting for the private sector companies to come up to scale youre going to see it in the time frame that you need to get it done.

Times staff writers Patrick J. McDonnell in Mexico City and David Pierson in Singapore contributed to this report.
New Jersey Army National Guard Combat Medics at the entrance of the New Jersey Veterans Home at Paramus, in Bergen County, N.J., on April 9, 2020. (New Jersey National Guard/Mark C. Olsen)

New Jersey Deploys National Guard to Veterans Home After at Least 10 CCP Virus Deaths

Members of The National Guard have been deployed to a veteran care home in New Jersey after an outbreak of the CCP virus has killed at least 10 residents at the facility over the past two weeks.

The New Jersey Army National Guard combat medics will assist the staff at the Paramus Veterans Memorial Home during the COVID-19 crisis, the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which runs the home, said late Thursday.

These medics are not nurses, but are fully trained similar to a civilian EMT, the department announced. The 40 citizen-soldiers will be invaluable in providing the best care for our veterans.

News outlet NorthJersey.com reported that 10 people who recently died at the home tested positive for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus.

New Jersey Army National Guard combat medics enter the New Jersey Veterans Home at Paramus, N.J., on April 9, 2020. (New Jersey National Guard/Mark C. Olsen)

Another 27 people are reported dead at the facility in the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, six residents have been hospitalized and 70 are ill, while dozens more are awaiting test results or have been diagnosed.

Our population is old. Many have respiratory conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Kryn Westhoven, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, told the outlet. There could be many reasons [the residents] died.

He added that the nursing home stopped admitting new residents from March 23 so that rooms are free for residents with COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus, to take up isolation. There are currently 285 residents at the home, which has 336 beds in total.

Families of our residents at the homes should know were doing everything we possibly can to keep the residents safe, Westhoven said.

The New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs runs two other facilities in the stateMenlo Park and Vineland veterans memorial homes. The National Guard has also sent 35 soldiers to the Menlo Park home to help relieve staff shortages amid the pandemic.

New Jersey has reported at least 51,027 cases of the CCP virus and 1,700 deaths attributable to the virus.

Read More Documentary Explores the Origins of the CCP Virus
Dulles International Airport is a big place, but not so big that folks who work there don't know one another - like family, one worker said.

And these days, much of that family is missing.

Air travel has slowed to a trickle, which means fewer workers are needed to sell magazines or lattes or to help ferry passengers in wheelchairs from the ticket counter to the gates. Hundreds have been furloughed or simply let go - many without severance.

Transportation Security Administration officers realized that many might need help, so earlier this month, they opened a food pantry and stocked it with donations from their own cabinets.

"The airport is a really tightknit community," said Eric Chin, assistant federal security director for screening at Dulles Airport. "Everyone really pulls for each other. It's like a family."

TSA employees remembered that just over a year ago, during the government shutdown, many of the same workers affected by the outbreak donated food for a similar pantry to help TSA officers, who were working but not getting paid.

In this case, Chin said, things are tougher because many of the workers affected by the novel coronavirus no longer have jobs.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which manages Dulles and Reagan National Airport, donated space for the pantry, which is set up in a room near baggage claim No. 6 on the arrivals level. It's stocked with nonperishable foods, including canned goods, oatmeal, peanut butter and pasta. It's staffed by a TSA officer and is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to noon and then from 1 to 5 p.m.

Hand sanitizer stations are set up inside and outside the entry to the pantry, and up to four people are permitted to enter at a time to ensure social distancing. Pantry visitors are encouraged to wear masks.

Chin said they've distributed food to several hundred workers who've been laid off or had their hours severely cut, and more people are still coming.

TSA officers provided much of what's available, but donations of nonperishable food from the public also are welcome, Chin said. The other day, he said, a woman pulled up with 10 bags of groceries.

"It's heartbreaking for us to see, so we're doing whatever we can," he said.
Stranded at his ancestral village in Uttar Pradesh due to the nationwide lockdown, ICC international panel umpire Anil Choudhury is grappling with a communication nightmare and says he has to climb up trees in search of mobile network.

Chaudhary, who has officiated in 20 ODIs and and 27 T20s, was supposed to officiate in the India-South Africa ODI series which was called off due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The 55-year-old then decided to visit his village, Dangrol in UP's Shamli district, with his two sons.

"I'm here with my two sons since March 16. I was visiting the village after quite some time so I planned to stay for a week but then the lockdown was announced and now I'm following the directives, while my mother and wife are in Delhi," Chaudhary told 'PTI-Bhasha'.

"The biggest problem is the network here. I can't talk to anyone or use the internet. To be able to do that I have to go outside the village, climb up a tree or go to the rooftop. Then also the network is not available all the time," he said.

The umpire has also posted a few pictures of himself, trying to make a phone call while atop a tree, on social media.

Chaudhary said he needs internet to access ICC's online programmes for umpires.

The absence of mobile and internet services in the village is also affecting his son's studies as several educational institutes have resorted to online classes to finish the curriculum.

"One of my son studies in the Hindu College, his classes are going on but he is unable to attend them."



Chaudhary says the mobile network problem is not a new issue. The village has been battling the issue for the past one year despite being less than 100km from Delhi.

"This network problem has been there for the past one year but because of the lockdown it is affecting studies. This village is only 85km away from Delhi," he said.

According to Chaudhary, the village chief has written a letter to the district in-charge to complain about the matter.

"We sent a letter 10 days ago but we are yet to receive an answer," he said.

Meanwhile, Chaudhary has taken the opportunity to educate people around him, explaining the concept of social-distancing and spreading awareness regarding the disease.

"I have asked people here not to gather around, avoid playing cards together, continuously wash their hands with soap.

"I have also distributed some masks to them and all of them are maintaining social distancing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Alameda County has housed some 70 homeless residents in local hotel rooms during the novel coronavirus pandemic with plans for hundreds more, a spokeswoman for the county said Thursday.

The county is operating about 400 rooms at the Radisson Hotel and the Comfort Inn and Suites, both on Edes Avenue in Oakland, to house homeless residents during the pandemic, including those who have already tested positive for the virus or who may be at a higher risk of being exposed.

The state's Department of Social Services secured contracts with the two hotels on behalf of Alameda County. The state has also provided 91 trailers to the city of Oakland to house homeless residents.

The Comfort Inn and Suites, dubbed Operation Comfort, will house homeless residents who have tested positive for the coronavirus and those who are showing symptoms or who have been exposed to someone who has the virus. Ailing residents sheltered at the hotel will also receive medical treatment.

"Alameda County began referrals with the first population, so that anyone with a potential infection could quickly be moved away from others into supportive isolation," county spokeswoman Jerri Randrup said in an email.

The county will accept referrals at the hotel from official partner organizations and entities such as hospitals and clinics, homeless shelters, street outreach teams and Santa Rita Jail. County officials have already distributed referral information to more than 100 local service providers.

The Radisson Hotel, part of what county officials are calling Operation Safer Ground, will house homeless residents who are older than 65 or have an underlying health disorder that may put them at higher risk to contract the virus.

County officials have been able to intake about 10-to-15 people each day since the two sites launched last week, said Kerry Abbott, director of the county's Office of Homeless Care and Coordination.

Homeless advocates have argued that the county's efforts are moving at a glacial pace considering the county has some 8,000 homeless residents, more than 6,000 of whom are unsheltered.

"As we are seeing played out in tragic ways, the pandemic has exposed the injustice fault lines in our society," said Needa Bee, founder of homeless advocacy group The Village in Oakland. "The response, or lack of response, will make this clear."

Abbott countered that the units are "filling up quickly by any normal standards," considering the two sites opened roughly one week ago.

Abbott also said the county expects intake to increase "once we're playing on multiple fronts" as hotel room procurement expands to other parts of the county, some of which could be folded in under the Operation Safer Ground banner.

"I'm so amazingly proud of our staff and ... all of our service providers for banding together to find these folks and bring them to a place of safety," Abbott said.

The county's Health Care Services Agency has identified eligible residents for Operation Safer Ground with help from a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development database.

The county is operating the hotels in coordination with the state's Project Roomkey, an initiative to procure thousands of hotel rooms and trailers to house homeless residents during the pandemic.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that the state received the Federal Emergency Management Agency's approval to launch the program. Newsom said the state aims to procure some 15,000 rooms for the initiative's first phase and had acquired nearly 7,000 as of Friday.

FEMA will subsidize up to 75 percent of the state and local government expenses required to procure the unused rooms as well as supporting meal, custodial and security services.

Alameda County is participating in the initiative and will seek FEMA reimbursement for its expenses procuring contracts with subsequent hotels and motels.

Homeless advocates have also called for the seizure of empty housing units and homes in Oakland for use to shelter homeless residents during the pandemic, a step county and local governments have yet to take in the Bay Area.

Alameda County officials are still seeking contracts for an additional 300 units, according to Randrup. The county has identified a preliminary total of roughly 4,000 units at some 50 hotels and motels that could potentially be used to house homeless residents.

County officials are also participating in twice-weekly teleconferences with officials from other counties to coordinate the regional response to homelessness during the pandemic.

"Our goal is to secure rooms quickly at a competitive price, and we hope to have geographic diversity for our residents across the county in need of assistance," Randrup said.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
When the tragedy struck, many thought it could unite Poles, but 10 years on, Polish politics remain polarised.

Warsaw, Poland  Fridays commemorations of the 10th anniversary of the Smolensk presidential plane crash are muted in Poland.

The annual delegation to Russia has been called off, and public gatherings in Warsaw are limited to a discreet laying of wreaths, as the national coronavirus lockdown continues.

As one of a few symbolic measures, Polish Radio has released two albums to mark the anniversary. The first, Lech Kaczynski  A Testimony, comprises five CDs of the presidents key speeches, while the second has homilies and concerts which followed the disaster.

Yet even before the pandemic, the plane crash that came to define a decade of Polish politics had been losing some of its potency.

Monthly vigils outside the presidential palace have ceased. Calls to uncover hidden truths about the causes of the crash were left out of the 2019 parliamentary election campaigns, and are again absent in campaigning for the upcoming presidential elections on May 10.

National disaster

On April 10, 2010, a plane carrying Polish president Lech Kaczynski and 95 others crashed in the Smolensk military airfield in Western Russia, killing all on board.

In what was described as the worst national disaster since the second world war, Poland lost its presidential couple, commanders of its ground, sea, air and special forces, the head of its central bank and several other dignitaries.

The officials had been on their way to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, in which some 22,000 Polish intellectuals and prisoners of war were murdered on Soviet orders in 1940.

The shock of the crash brought Poles together. Every moment of national grief was televised: the coffins being repatriated, the spontaneous expressions of mourning, the state funerals, the long queue of people waiting to pay their respects at the presidential palace.

Social unity followed, reminiscent of that following the death of Pope John Paul II [who was Polish], said Michal Luczewski, a sociologist at the University of Warsaw.

Professor Pawel Machcewicz, historian and former director of the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk, agrees.

For the first few days after the disaster it seemed that the event could provoke a wave of national solidarity in mourning, a calming of conflicts, he said. But soon things went in the opposite direction.

Polish and Russian official investigations concluded that the crash was an accident caused by human error and thick fog over Smolensk. The plane diverted from its correct approach path, hit a tree with its left wing and hurtled into scrubland, according to the reports.

Yet the Law and Justice (PiS) party  led by the late presidents twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski  never accepted this explanation. Rather, they insisted that it had been an assassination, with causes of the crash ranging from an on-board explosion to faulty information from Russian air traffic controllers. However, no conclusive evidence to back up the alternative theories has yet materialised.

Many thus consider the matter open. We want to be given a single, honest version of events, said Malgorzata Wassermann, a PiS MP who lost her father in the crash. Up to this day, I still do not know what happened.

She added: In the case of the Smolensk disaster, all procedures were breached. Prosecutors and members of the official investigation did not secure any of the evidence, did not take samples, did not take photos.

Several PiS legislators and the partys spokesperson declined to comment for this report.

In 2012, then-PiS spokesman Adam Hofman said: The disaster needs to be clarified through politics, as it happened because of politics. Denying that the crash was an accident, he told the TVN24 television station: We say clearly: we need to win elections to explain the case of Smolensk. And to win elections, we must conduct politics.

Today, 26 percent of Poles believe the crash was an assassination  a figure that has barely changed since 2016, while 59 percent believe it was an accident, according to an Ipsos survey in February 2020.

The coffin of Polish First Lady Maria Kaczynska brought crowds of mourners to the streets of Warsaw [File photo: April 13, 2010/Michal Zagumny/Reuters]

The issue quickly became radicalised. [Then Prime Minister] Donald Tusk and the Civic Platform [party] were no longer accused of just ineptness. They were now being accused of felony and treason. That made any form of cooperation between government and opposition impossible, Machcewicz told Al Jazeera.

Smolensk put an end to any possibility of Polish unity. What happened during and after the catastrophe was a failed coming-together, Luczewski added.

The coronavirus could also be such a common enemy. Yet, the inability [of government and opposition] to unite against the virus represents another failed coming-together.

Smolensk martyrology

In 2010, Polish politics were already polarised, the government led by Donald Tusk and his pro-European centrist Civic Platform party, with the presidency held by Lech Kaczynski, co-founder of the right-wing populist PiS party. As PiS waited in parliamentary opposition, the air disaster became a touchstone of its political identity.

Any glitches in the fast-spun official reports quickly evolved into conspiracy theories about the causes of the accident, including alleged artificial fog, a thermobaric bomb, and on-scene Russians executing survivors.

Smolensk martyrology was, analysts say, nurtured by monthly vigils  initially spontaneous crowds that morphed into organised political gatherings. Jaroslaw Kaczynski led a charge to build a monument to his late twin brother, and another to the victims of the crash, both unveiled in 2018 on Warsaws largest square.

This was not about spreading rumours in the corners of the internet or in niche magazines, but rather about building a narrative at the very centre of public life, said Grzegorz Makowski of ideasForum, a think-tank linked to the Stefan Batory Foundation in Poland.

When PiS returned to power in 2015, it took down the website showing the findings of the 2011 official report and launched a long-promised investigation of its own. It also controversially dug up bodies of those who died in the crash  at times against the express wishes of families  and charged a number of officials with negligence in arranging the flight.

The rhetoric was very useful in shaping the [PiS] electorate and social movement, which gradually became increasingly radical and anti-democratic. After all, if you are accusing the other side in a political dispute of treason, you no longer stick to political procedures, said Machcewicz.

By far the largest share of people who believe that the crash was an assassination support incumbent president Andrzej Duda of the PiS. Half of his supporters say it was no accident, compared with 3 percent of voters for the main opposition candidate, Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska of the Civic Platform party.

Yet now the political potency of tragedy seems to have run its course. You cannot maintain [the same] level of mobilisation for 10 years, Luczewski told Al Jazeera.

The outcome of the PiS-led investigation has not yet been released. Its lead, former defence minister and PiS hardliner Antoni Macierewicz, this week announced that the report was ready. So far, his work has been allotted an annual budget of up to 6 million zloty ($1.4m), and 2.75 million zloty ($700,000) in 2020.

The wreckage of the Tu-154, which PiS pledged to bring back to Poland, remains in Russia.

If a party is in government for four years, with all instruments of power at its disposal, and is still unable to present the faintest bit of evidence or clues pointing to an assassination, then the effectiveness of that rhetoric begins to fade, said Machcewicz.

[PiS leader] Jaroslaw Kaczynski must have understood that quietening down the topic is now in his best interest.
Startups, empowered by UB programs and students, doing their part in coronavirus crisis

I dont think we would even be in business right now without UB TCIE and SPIR, a program that provides student engineering assistance to companies in need.

BUFFALO, N.Y.  About two and a half years ago, startups Innosek and Tresca Design each signed a contract to receive University at Buffalo student engineering assistance at a subsidized rate. The investments would prove crucial in building each companys ground floor, according to the founders.

Now, both are deemed essential companies and have shifted some energies toward the countrys scramble to produce and deliver personal protective equipment in the fight against COVID-19.

If not for the Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence (SPIR) grant administered by UBs Center for Industrial Effectiveness (TCIE), they might be playing a diminished role in supporting the effort  or none at all.

I dont think we would even be in business right now without TCIE and SPIR, admits Brian Bischoff, co-founder and COO of Innosek, a Tonawanda-based company that specializes in rapid prototyping, low volume manufacturing, project management and product development.

Bischoff approached UB TCIE after hearing about SPIR, which is a program of the State University of New York that supports development of new technologies. He and his two co-founders were ready to add bodies to their operation, but inexperienced in payroll and recruitment.

The program provided help in supplying two undergraduates from the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, managed administratively by UB TCIE, who contributed technical knowledge. Their presence enabled Bischoff to focus on Innoseks business side. The company has since grown to eight employees and continues to lean on UB students via SPIR.

The students, in general, have been top notch, Bischoff says. In fact, one of the first student assistants who is still part of the team today is responsible for calibrating, repairing and maintaining the 3D printers. Advancements and improvements they have made to the business are directly related to our growth.

Approximately 80% of the companys clientele  typically inventors or companies launching hardware products, and smaller manufacturers in need of jigs  is based in Western New York. The coronavirus epidemic has upended the company by stalling some work while creating other opportunities.

We had to make a big pivot fast, Bischoff explains, saying the pandemics impact on business is complicated.

Innosek is working on a contract job to make a couple thousand face shields with its 3D printers, and is the manufacturing partner involved in Rapid Medical Parts work to convert sleep apnea machines to emergency ventilators under a preliminary U.S. Defense Department contract.

The company also received a grant from FuzeHub, the New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership state center, to help scale up for the COVID-19 response and produce face shields for New Yorks first responders at no cost.

Sourcing materials has been a struggle, but Innosek has managed to manufacture its first bunch and began donating them this week.

At engineering design and prototyping firm Tresca Design, owner Dan Buckmaster decided to divert some resources to the cause a few weeks ago after a conversation with Ben Swart, owner of local startup Blank Slate Enterprises. Buckmaster shuttered most of his prototyping services  about one quarter of the companys business  after connecting with like-minded Buffalo companies to create 3D printable face shields.

Buckmaster worked to secure monetary and material donations from ACV Auctions, Niagara Specialty Metals and The Crosby Company. PostProcess Technologies is donating expertise in chemical engineering and legal services, courtesy of Process Development Engineer John Boorady. UBs Baird Research Park  the home base of Tresca  donated administrative services for printing documentation and waiver forms.

Between Tresca, Blank Slate Enterprises and PostProcess Technologies, 12 additive manufacturing machines are in the midst of manufacturing 1,000 shields. The group seeks to procure enough supplies for another 1,000. All shields are being given away for free.

Batches have been sent to the Town of Amhersts Emergency Services & Safety Department and several local fire departments, and have also been shipped at no cost to health care workers in a number of states, including Vermont and Florida.

This is something I could do a little by myself, but because of the team I have at Tresca and the companies that we are working with, were able to make the quantity that we are, says Buckmaster.

He correlates existence of the Tresca team  which now includes UB graduates and engineers Nick Phillips and Zack Carey  with UB TCIEs help. Cost savings afforded by SPIR were vital to building his employment base.

I wouldnt have been able to make these full-time hires if I wasnt able to get the assistance, Buckmaster explains.

He began his company in July 2017, the summer after his junior year at UB. He lacked capital to offer employment opportunities. Even the prospect of independently funding interns was staggering and therefore unachievable. Grant funds lowered the cost enough to make the risk worthwhile.

It paid off. Tresca now serves a wide range of customers, from startups to established companies, from Buffalo to Germany. Despite the health pandemic, the company has enough work to keep busy.

Were running our printers around the clock, through the night, and my team is independently donating their time and efforts to this cause, Buckmaster says, explaining time is spent after work hours to assemble, package and ship the shields. In between, he is finishing up his masters degree in mechanical engineering from UB this spring.

He encourages anyone to help the cause in whatever way possible.

The people were talking with say every little bit makes a difference, no matter how small it may seem, he says. Thank you to the people doing the real work. We may be staying up a little later to help, but were not the ones on the front lines.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 09:24:45|Editor: zyl

Video Player Close

TRIPOLI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- More than 200 illegal immigrants were rescued off the Libyan coast on Thursday, said the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

"200+ migrants were just returned to Libya. In the past few days, six boats carrying 500+ migrants departed from Libya. Most of them were returned by the coast guard," IOM tweeted.

The rescued immigrants, including women and children, were still on the Libyan coast guard's vessel and have not disembarked yet due to fighting in the area, IOM said.

"IOM reiterates its call to end returns to Libya. A safe disembarkation mechanism is needed," IOM demanded.

Libya has become a preferred departure point for migrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea toward European shores.

IOM has repeatedly said that Libya is not a safe port for immigrants' disembarkation due to the deteriorating security condition in the country.

IOM estimates that there are currently 650,000 illegal immigrants in Libya, many of whom lack medical care and basic needs.
Spain saw 605 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, according to official figures from the Health Ministry. The figure marks the lowest daily number of fatalities since March 24.

The total of coronavirus-related deaths came in at 683 on Thursday, 757 on Wednesday and 743 on Tuesday. April 2 saw the peak of fatalities in Spain, with 950 reported by the Spanish health authorities.

According to Fridays figures, Spain has now registered a total of 15,843 Covid-19 deaths since the outbreak began in the country.

These latest figures should be taken with caution, given that data has been underreported at weekends and on public holidays

Total confirmed infections now stand at 157,022, with an extra 4,576 in the last 24 hours. This puts the growth rate in Spain compared to the total as 3% for the last day, which is the lowest rise since the official data started to be collected by the Health Ministry nearly a month ago.

The number of patients who have recovered from the coronavirus and have been discharged from hospital now stands at 55,668, which is 35% of total registered cases.

Speaking at the daily press briefing on the coronavirus crisis, Dr Maria Jose Sierra from the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts said that the descending trend is continuing.

However, these latest figures should be taken with caution, given that since the start of the crisis, data has been underreported on weekends and on public holidays. Today is a national holiday across Spain for Easter Friday, and Thursday was also a holiday in many parts of the country.

By region, Madrid remains the hardest hit by the crisis, wth a total of 5,972 victims

Whats more, the official figures from the Health Ministry are not supplying a complete picture of the reach of the epidemic, with 90% of total cases thought to be undetected given that testing is only carried out on the most serious patients. A large number of deaths are being left out of the official statistics too, such as those who have passed away in senior residences or their own homes and who were not tested for the Covid-19 disease.

By region, Madrid remains the hardest hit by the crisis, wth a total of 5,972 victims. Catalonia comes next, with 3,231 confirmed deaths, and then Castilla-La Mancha, with 1,431.

For three days now, the Health Ministry has not been offering the numbers of patients in intensive care units (ICUs), given that Spains regions have been using different methods to track these figures.

Madrid, however, has supplied these numbers, reporting on Friday that there were 1,399 patients currently in the regions ICUs, 34 down on the previous day. There are also falls in the total number of coronavirus patients in Madrid hospitals, with 12,432 on Friday, 421 down on the day before.

Back to work

Maria Jose Sierra also referred on Friday to the return to work for many employees across Spain on Monday. On March 30, the government put the Spanish economy into hibernation, obliging all non-essential workers to stay at home on paid leave. These restrictions ended on Thursday, but the effect will not be noted in most parts given the Easter national holidays.

Dr Maria Jose Sierra from the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts during Fridays press conference. EFE

We are returning to the situation of two weeks ago, she said about the return to work on Monday. The Health Ministry will be issuing recommendations. If someone has symptoms it is important that they stay at home and isolate, and that they get in touch with the health system. But more specific instructions are on their way. We are returning to a situation with a lot of social distancing, which we believe is going to reduce transmission. We do not think that infections are going to rise.

Maria Jose Rallo del Olmo, the general secretary for transportation, also referred to returning workers. We are asking companies to be flexible when it comes to start times, she said. Rush hours should be stretched out so that the number of workers on public transportation is reduced.

Use of masks

Speaking at a second press conference on Friday, after a meeting of the Spanish Cabinet, Health Minister Salvador Illa explained that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control had recommended that a particular kind of reusable hygienic mask be used by the public. The Spanish government, he explained, is recommending the complementary use of such masks, above all on journeys via public transit to work. Illa explained that this product would be distributed in places where usage is recommendable, such as Metro stations, from Monday.

This marks a U-turn on the use of masks by the Spanish government, which up until now had not recommended their widespread use. They will not be obligatory, according to the government, but advisable both on public transportation and in workplaces where safe distances cannot be maintained.

The type of mask the government is talking about is not the surgical mask typically used by health staff, nor the filter mask, which is necessary for those who deal with the sick. Rather, it is a new kind of hygienic or barrier mask, classed by the Spanish Standardization Association with the code UNE 0064-1 for adults, and UNE 0064-2 for children. Illa said on Saturday that national production of these masks is underway in order to guarantee their supply.

The minister said that the government considered the measures that have been adopted to be sufficient so that those who are returning to work on Monday can do so safely, and guarantee that the curve of the epidemic continues to fall. I would like to remind everyone that we are still in a phase of very tough measures, the minister said. What finished yesterday was an exceptional measure that was aimed at alleviating the pressure on ICUs.

Illa added that between today and tomorrow, a million more rapid coronavirus tests will be distributed to Spains regions. We are seeing the fruits of this impressive collective effort by Spanish society, he stated. in reference to the effect of the ongoing lockdown.

Illa also referred to the fact that children have been confined to their homes for nearly four weeks now. We are very aware of the efforts that are being required from children, but the government is acting with maximum caution, he said about the lockdown measures. Theres nothing we would like more than to introduce more permissive measures, he added.

The health minister explained that the three key measures to prevent new infections were interpersonal distancing, handwashing, and hygiene in public and private spaces.

Political debate

The latest coronavirus figures come the day after Spains lower house of parliament, the Congress of Deputies, voted to extend the state of alarm and current confinement measures for another two weeks, up to April 26. During the debate ahead of the vote on Thursday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the Socialist Party (PSOE) warned that a further extension, to May 10, is highly likely, although it is as yet unclear as to what the conditions would be. The Spanish government has been hinting at a gradual deescalation of confinement measures based on the data from the pandemic.

Humble response from Podemos

The coalition government, led by the PSOE and backed by junior partner Unidas Podemos, came in for harsh criticism for its handling of the crisis from opposition parties at the debate ahead of the vote on Thursday.

Speaking this morning on state broadcaster TVE, Unidas Podemos leader and Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias responded to that criticism saying that we have to be extremely humble and recognize that neither us nor other governments were ready for this pandemic. The first [thing that must be done] is to strengthen the public health system. A country must be autonomously producing personal protective equipment, and not have to resort to a speculative international market.

Pablo Iglesias in Spains Congress of Deputies on Thursday. Mariscal (Europa Press)

Iglesias added that unity is essential to face an emergency like this one. Referring to the relationship between his party and the PSOE, he said that of course we have debates, we speak about many things, but when we reach an agreement we are united. And we are offering our hand to other political forces, business leaders, unions, civil society in defense of the general interest.

Support for small businesses

The Spanish government is due on Friday to facilitate a second wave of public backing for loans, with another 20 billion to be made available. The objective is to guarantee liquidity for production, and will be reserved for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and the self-employed. Half of the first wave of backing, which also amounted to 20 billion, was destined for SMEs and the self-employed.

According to data released on Thursday, in just four days there have been 33,000 requests for loan guarantees worth more than 2.8 billion, of which practically all is destined for SMEs and the self-employed.

English version by Simon Hunter.
The United Nations Security Council was warned that the coronavirus pandemic could trigger violent unrest, undermining efforts to fight the disease that has killed close to 100,000 worldwide.

Meanwhile, New York, the epicenter of the American crisis, saw a record number of deaths for the third consecutive day Thursday with 799 people killed. Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order to bring in more funeral directors to the state to help with the high number of deaths.

The Security Council, the U.N.'s most powerful body, met virtually for the first time to discuss the pandemic with an appeal from Secretary General Antonio Guterres for international unity amid "the fight of a generation."

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

He described the challenge the world faced in stark terms.

"We are all struggling to absorb the unfolding shock," he said. "The jobs that have disappeared and businesses that have suffered; the fundamental and drastic shift to our daily lives, and the fear that the worst is still yet to come, especially in the developing world and countries already battered by armed conflict.

The council issued a statement of support for all efforts of the secretary-general concerning the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to conflict-affected countries and recalled the need for unity and solidarity with all those affected.

The number of people infected with COVIC-19 worldwide has surpassed 1.6 million, claiming 95,745 lives as of 4:30 am ET, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In the U.S., the death toll reached 16,657 as of 3:30 am ET Friday, second only to Italy, according to NBC News' tracking. At least 467,277 cases have been reported.

Gov. Cuomo, meanwhile, offered a glimmer of hope as hospitalization rates appear to be stabilizing

"Our efforts to reduce the spread of the virus through social distancing are working better than we expected," he said.

New York City Department of Correction said the number of burials at the Hart Island cemetery has increased to an average of 24 per day from 25 per week as a result of the pandemic.

Story continues

Across the country, the pandemic has cost another 6.6 million American their jobs, leading to a flood of unemployment claims.

European nations attempting to mitigate the economic downturn agreed on a relief package that could provide $550 billion for companies, workers and health systems in the eurozone.

Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Mario Centeno, who heads the finance ministers group from euro countries, on Thursday called the package "totally unprecedented," adding that it shows the union of nations can support each other.

The funds will quickly be made available to Italy and Spain that have been the hardest hit by the virus.

Image: Faithful attend a Holy Thursday Mass held by Father Fabio Vassallo in a nearly empty church in Catania, Italy. (ANTONIO PARRINELLO / Reuters)

Italy's death toll has reached 18,279, including 105 doctors. Its nationwide lockdown in place since March 9 is likely to be extended to May 3 as the country continues to grapple with the virus.

At the Vatican, the lockdown has meant all services related to Holy Week, including Good Friday and Easter, will take place in an empty basilica. On Palm Sunday, Pope Francis encouraged Catholic followers in a broadcasted sermon to turn to god in the tragedy of the pandemic and support those who are suffering.

Spain, which has seen at least 15,447 lives lost, is also extending its lockdown until April 26 as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez the country was "getting the fire under control."
Welcome to Good Weekend Talks, a weekly chance for our audience to luxuriate in a long-form story from the magazine, read by an actor and followed by a discussion with an editor, a writer and an expert.

This week, Nic English will bring to life Good Weekend senior writer Konrad Marshall's cover story about how the coronavirus crisis is sweetening our collective tune, from toilet roll donations to footpath concerts and online choirs.

Konrad will then be joined by Good Weekend editor Katrina Strickland, along with Age reporter Tom Cowie, to discuss how COVID-19 has brought out inspiring random acts of kindness around the globe.
Dear Doctor: I take a short nap at my desk a couple of times a week (I use earplugs and a mask), which my podmates love to tease me about. I just read that napping is good for your heart, but they say if you take a nap during the day, you won't sleep as well at night. Who's right?

Dear Reader: While it's certainly possible that for some people, a midday nap may interfere with the quality of nighttime sleep, it's not a given. In fact, a robust body of research has found numerous benefits of napping, both to physical and mental health. Napping has been shown to improve mood, increase alertness, improve performance and stave off late-afternoon fatigue. In many cultures, such as with the Spanish "siesta," the Italian "riposo" and the Japanese "inemuri," it's an integral part of daily life. Here in the United States, the benefits of napping have led a growing number of employers to encourage their workers to take advantage of a lunchtime recharge. Some of the larger tech companies have even installed specially designed recliners, called nap pods, which weave the idea of napping into their corporate culture.

Most recently, a study published in the journal Heart has linked the practice of occasional napping to a decreased risk of heart disease and stroke. Researchers in Switzerland analyzed the nighttime sleep, daytime napping and general lifestyle habits of 3,462 adults between the ages of 35 and 75. About 20% of the study participants reported napping once or twice a week. At the end of eight years, the data suggested that those individuals had a lower risk of heart problems than the non-nappers. Interestingly, the same health benefits didn't extend to the most frequent nappers in the study, who researchers said tended to be older men who smoked and were overweight.

The exact reason for the better health outcomes of the occasional nappers aren't known. But inadequate sleep has been linked to a number of health problems, including high blood pressure, depression and heart disease, and the researchers suggested it's possible that occasional napping helps to make up for sleep deficit.

That said, there's an important distinction between a 10-to-20-minute nap in the middle of the day and dropping into deeper sleep for an hour or longer, particularly in the later afternoon. In those cases, not only do you run the risk of waking up thickheaded and groggy, which can take hours to shake off, it's possible for a late-day dive into sleep to interfere with nighttime sleep. The goal of a nap is to wake up feeling refreshed. To achieve that, you want to limit your nap to less than 20 minutes. That lets you get the rejuvenating benefits of the early stages of non-REM sleep. If you stay asleep much longer, you run the risk of diving into the deeper stages of the 90-minute sleep cycle. Waking up from deeper sleep often leaves you feeling dazed and disoriented, and it can take hours to fully recover.

Thank you! You've reported this item as a violation of our terms of use. Error! There was a problem with reporting this article. This content was contributed by a user of the site. If you believe this content may be in violation of the terms of use, you may report it. Report Abuse Log In to report

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The Minister of Information and Culture, featuring on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme Good Morning Nigeria Today, April 10, appealed to Governors in Nigeria to stop playing politics with Coronavirus directives.

The Minister, when Commenting on the arrest and prosecution of Caverton pilots by Governor Nyesom Wike, he affirmed that the counter directives between some states and the federal government in a bid to stop the spread of Coronavirus were uncalled for and unnecessary. He told Governors to stop politicizing the fight against Coronavirus.

The Minister Stated:

The federal government has responsibility to all Nigerians irrespective of the state they reside.

A situation where the federal government needs exemption for certain category of people but the state government will not cooperate is not helpful.

We will not succeed if there is no cooperation with the state governments.

Speaking on the lockdown vacation order by the Governors of some state for Jumat and Easter celebration, the Minister said:

We have a very little window, and as of today, there is no known cure or vaccine for this disease all we have is Non Medicinal Intervention basically on prevention and management.

We need the cooperation of the populace as a whole and they need to listen to what the federal government is saying.

The whole essence of the lockdown is that by the time we lockdown for 14 days it is a presumption that whoever is incubating the virus must have manifested.

However, people can contact the disease by not staying at home or not adhering to the hygiene instructions like washing of hands regularly, using hand sanitiser and social distancing.
Professional institutes representing chartered accountants, company secretaries and cost accountants will donate nearly Rs 29 crore to the government in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

"The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Company Secretaries of India and Institute of Cost Accountants of India... have come forward to donate an amount of Rs 28.80 crore to PM-CARES Fund for providing assistance to those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic," an official release said on Friday.

The three institutes come under the corporate affairs ministry.

While the chartered accountants' institute would be contributing Rs 21 crore, the company secretaries' institute would donate Rs 5.25 crore.

The cost accountants' institute would provide Rs 2.55 crore.

The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES Fund) has been set up with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation as posed by the pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Five masked men stood a few feet from each other around a pyre while a weeping teenager walked around it as part of a funeral ritual. Every now and then, he pulled down his mask to wipe his nose. A short distance away, a girl recorded the rituals on her phone while two other women held her and wept even as the priest repeatedly asked them to stand apart.

I have been cremating bodies for a decade. Never before did we have to interrupt relatives grieving over a dead body, said another priest Arun Sharma, while he watched the proceedings at the Shiv Shamshan Ghat in east Delhis Geeta Colony.

Several kilometres away, at the Shaheen Bagh cemetery in south Delhi, Habib Ahmed is resting after three hours of digging a grave with his colleague on being intimated about a death in the neighbourhood.

Often, the relatives of the dead choose to dig the pits. But we have disallowed that for now. We have to hurry up the burial process for social distancing, said Ahmed, adding that residents here were told to ensure that the cot carrying the body is shouldered by only four persons.

Amidst the spread of the Covid-19, the nationwide lockdown has led to unusual scenes at the crematoriums and burial grounds.

The funeral rites are done quickly, the mourning is subdued, the attendance at crematoriums is unusually thin, close relatives are deprived of a chance to say their final goodbyes and the last rites have a changed format.

My uncle Amrit Lal wanted his last remains to be submerged at Haridwar. But we beg his forgiveness and will submerge it in the Yamuna near our home, said Amir Chand, a resident of Karawal Nagar at north Delhis Nigam Bodh Ghat  one of the biggest crematoriums in the national capital region.

A dozen relatives and friends of Lal -- who died of old age -- turned up at the Nigam Bodh Ghat in north Delhi. Only four of them were allowed to board the hearse van while others followed on motorcycles.

Lals daughter couldnt visit Delhi from Mau in Uttar Pradesh due to the lockdown. She tried to make it to Delhi, but couldnt get beyond a couple of police checkpoints. We will share a live video of the funeral with her, said Chand.

Behind them, another family walked in with a body on a bier. My grandfather was loved by all and every relative wants to shoulder his bier. It has been painful for me to deny them the chance, said Gautam Singh.

Singhs family will keep his ashes at their home for how long it may take, but they will submerge it in Haridwar.

At the same crematorium, four pyres burnt adjacent to each other without anyone in attendance. We are requesting the kin of the dead to leave immediately after hitting the pyres with sticks (as part of the rituals), said Vishal Mishra, the supervisor at this crematorium.

The supply of wood at the crematoriums has been hampered and the staffers are asking the kin of the dead to opt for the CNG cremation. But we dont want to add to the pains of a grieving family, so we dont insist on it, said Mishra.

He said that there are many who have put off or even cancelled their immediate plans to carry out the last rites  which mostly involve submerging the ashes of the dead in the Ganges at Haridwar. They are either submerging it in the Yamuna or leaving them in earthen pots in our lockers, said Mishra.

The 228 lockers at the crematorium here are fast filling up, but Mishra said that they have relaxed the rule of collecting the last remains within 15 days.

Suman Kumar Gupta, the chief manager of the Nigam Bodh Ghat, said that while he expects the kin of the dead to collect the last remains after the lockdown ends, those that still get left behind will be submerged in the Ganges by his staff who will take the ashes to Haridwar.

At the Shaheen Bagh cemetery, caretaker Abdur Raziq, said that when the kin of the dead alert them about a burial, they are in turn told to ensure not more than 20 people visit the cemetery  as per government orders for the lockdown.

During the burial, they are required to stand around the grave and not in a huddle. We keep a watch on them when they take turns to throw mud at the grave as part of the last rites, said Raziq, adding that having the local police station right next door has helped with enforcing social distancing.

Fewer unnatural deaths

Delhi has about 50 crematoriums and 10 cemeteries which are run by the civic agencies, apart from a few which are privately managed.

Not only has the attendance of people visiting the major crematoriums have dipped, the number of bodies being cremated here too have reduced.

There are much fewer unnatural deaths, almost no accidental deaths in the city. Earlier, we would cremate 60 bodies a day on an average. During winters, when homeless people died, I remember two bodies being cremated on one pyre on multiple occasions. After the lockdown, the number has dipped to 30-40, said Gupta.

The dip in funerals at Delhis crematoriums is also because hardly any bodies are brought from the neighbouring cities. Many from Noida, Ghaziabad and other parts of Delhi preferred crematoriums like Shiv Shamshan Ghat and Nigam Bodh Ghat due to their proximity to the Yamuna. But now they are cremating them at the nearest crematorium, said priest Sharma.

From 10-12 bodies a day, now only about five-six bodies are brought to the Shiv Shamshan Ghat, he added.

While a few are able to arrange vehicles for bringing the bodies for cremation, during the lockdown most others are relying on hearse vans run by crematoriums and hospitals. RWAs and people in residential neighbourhoods usually have the contact numbers of our hearse vans. The numbers are also mentioned at hospitals, at the crematoriums and other such places, said Gupta.

The people venturing out of their homes for cremations do not require a special permission, said the police.

They are not stopped at the checkpoints. Our only focus is to ensure social distancing everywhere, be it in the hearse van and other vehicles accompanying the bodies. Our PCR teams are also helping move bodies and arrange for hearse vans if needed, said Anil Mittal, Delhi Polices additional spokesperson.

The crematorium staffers said most kin of the dead have behaved responsibly because of which social distancing has been possible during the funerals. At the Shiv Shamsham Ghat, about 10 relatives accompanying the body of an 85-year-old woman repeatedly reminded each other to stay apart.

On another day, there would be 300 people attending my mother-in-laws funeral. But we didnt allow relatives from even other parts of Delhi to visit us, said a woman, Mridula.

The last rites, which as per the Hindu customs are performed after 10 days of the death, too have witnessed a change.

Ram Singh, whose mother Chameli succumbed to tuberculosis a day after the lockdown was announced, said that he not only regrets not being able to throw a feast for his mothers death, even the prayers and rituals 13 days later were curtailed. Upon much insistence, a priest visited his home to perform the hour-long prayers in just 10 minutes.

Well ask other priests if we can hold another prayer and feast maybe a year later, said Singh.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
(CNN)  The "essential workers" charged with keeping America afloat during the coronavirus pandemic risk their lives daily. Now, the health care workers, grocery store employees and everyday people we depend on are telling their own stories on the cover of Time magazine this week.

Time's latest edition has five different covers - each spotlighting a worker on the front lines of the coronavirus fight: paramedics, an anesthesiologist and a cafeteria employee.

Their stories and more are featured in print and online, told through photos or videos they took of themselves on the job or interviews with Time correspondents who spent shifts with them.

There are tales from a coroner in Albany, Georgia, a small town that's become a coronavirus hot spot. The wife of a bus driver who died protecting his passengers from the virus speaks about his illness. And an Asian-American doctor treating coronavirus patients struggles with being celebrated for his work and stereotyped for his ethnicity.

Media organizations have had to get creative to cover the coronavirus crisis while working remotely. Some reporters, including CNN's Lauren del Valle and Miguel Marquez and Time's Charlotte Alter, have been granted access inside hospitals to cover the crisis from the ground, though their time there is limited and they must follow strict safety precautions.

More often, news organizations are depending on front line workers to take them into their routines with self-shot videos and images. Several of them have already shared snapshots of their days, with the horrors and small victories, with CNN.

This story was first published on CNN.com. "This week's Time magazine cover spotlights coronavirus front line workers, from cafeteria employees to paramedics."
Bishop Richard Umbers is seen live-streaming via a mobile phone during 'The Celebration of the Passion of The Lord' service at St Paul of the Cross Church in Dulwich Hill, Australia, April 10, 2020. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Easter Adapts to COVID-19 Across Canada

It took a global pandemic to change Deb Scimes Easter plans.

Each year, about 50 relatives spanning four generations gather for a boisterous, pot luck brunch to celebrate a Christian holiday that has been an integral part of her family life since childhood.

But as physical distancing measures take hold across the country in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19, Scime said she and her loved ones are adapting their festivities to suit the times. The clan will convene via Zoom, with participants logging in from British Columbia to Ontario to mark one of Christianitys most important holidays.

Scime said shes grateful for the technology that will allow a cherished tradition to carry on, saying the virtual format may even enhance the experience.

Usually those of us that are involved in hosting or preparing food are wildly busy at times like this, so it might give us an opportunity to visit a little bit more and spend a bit more time interacting with each other versus trying to get a meal on the table, Scime said from her home in Burlington, Ont.

With gatherings banned and public health officials urging everyone to stay home, families, faith communities and congregations across Canada are finding ways to mark what are considered key religious and cultural events togetherfrom a distance.

A new online survey conducted this week by the Angus Reid Institute found 25 percent of respondents who identified as Christian, Jewish or Muslim planned to follow a religious service online. Nine per cent said they would pray with family or others over a video chat.

Another seven per cent of participants said they would use an app for prayer or meditation, and two per cent said they would talk to a religious leader on the phone.

More than a quarter of respondents, however, said they would pray on their own at home using a holy text or scripture.

The polling industrys professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error as they are not a random sample and therefore are not necessarily representative of the whole population.

In Montreal, the citys Roman Catholic archdiocese has set up a phone line for those wishing to speak with a priest, operating daily in the afternoons in both official languages.

Father Peter Turrone pauses as he leads a Palm Sunday mass to an empty church at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Toronto, Canada, on April 5, 2020. (Cole Burston/Getty Images)

Liturgies, masses and a vigil will be livestreamed during Holy Week, though the commemoration of the Last Supper did not include the customary foot-washing ceremony.

Worshippers can follow the traditional Way of the Cross procession remotely on April 10 morning as its broadcast on the archdioceses YouTube page.

Whatever we can do to reach out to others is absolutely important, Montreal Archbishop Christian Lepine said in a statement.

Although we are asked to keep physical distance from one another, and public gathering places [including our churches] are closed for the most part, our hearts and our Church community remain radically open to faith, compassion and loving solidarity.

Rev. Nick Coates, minister at the Red Deer Lake United Church in Calgary, said Easter services will be pre-recorded and posted on Facebook and YouTube, just as the weekly Sunday services have been since the restrictions were put in place.

The minister and other staff members usually stick around online for a while after videos are posted, checking in with viewers to try as much as possible to recreate that feeling of togetherness, he said.

Coates said many of the churchs members are struggling to feel the growing hope that Easter represents.

Theyre so distracted by the stress and anxiety and struggle that this pandemic has brought, where they dont feel like were moving towards a moment of celebration, he said.

During the countrys lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus, Parish priest of the Santa Maria Assunta church in Pontoglio, Don Giovanni Cominardi (C), wearing a face mask, escorted by Pontoglio mayor Alessandro Seghezzi (L), walks during a Via Crucis procession (Way of the Cross) as part of Good Friday celebrations in Pontoglio on April 10, 2020. (Miguel Medina /AFP via Getty Images)

Theological meanings aside, Easter is an important time of community and often sees people reuniting with friends they havent seen in a long time, he said, which makes the current situation particularly difficult.

As we try to salvage what Easter can be, and make the most of it, our main goal is to say, lets name all the stuff were feeling right now. Lets not hide it. Lets not run away from it. Lets name that this sucks, this is really hard, and this is changing everything, he said.

But even in those moments, lets remember those truths that Easter tells usthat the worst thing is not the last thing, that love is better than fear, that life does go on and were not alone.

Easter services in the Archdiocese of Toronto are being livestreamed from a virtually empty cathedral where only a handful of priests are on-hand to say mass, said Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop of Toronto and a highranking member of the Roman Catholic Church.

The online prayers have been widely embraced and attracted participants as far away as Africa, but Collins said the inability to take communion to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ represents a significant loss for practising Catholics.

You cant do it virtually, he said. Any sacrament is meant to be physical. Personal. Present. But its the best we can do.

Collins also said the novel approach to Easter represents a time for more meaningful engagement with faith and the world at large.

Its a time to grow in a deep understanding of what life is really about so that when we do come out of this, whenever it is, well cherish every day more than we did in the days of our distractions in the past.

By Michelle McQuigge and Paola Loriggio
Updates related to COVID-19 and its effects on Albuquerque and the rest of NM.

PICTURES





UPDATES

7:24 p.m.

SF allowing reusable bags in grocery stores

Santa Fe city government is allowing people to bring their own reusable bags to grocery stores after banning them on Monday.

A news release sent out Friday morning said store employees should require customers to pack their own groceries in their reusable bags and disinfect any surfaces the from-home bags touch.

This exception is consistent with the Citys goal of waste reduction while providing protections for store staff, the release says.

On Monday the city also temporarily lifted its plastic bag ban, which has been in effect since 2014.

 Edmundo Carrillo

6:38 p.m.

Navajo COVID-19 cases reach 597

The Navajo Department of Health reported 39 new COVID-19 cases Friday, for a total of 597 on the Navajo Nation. There were no new COVID-19 deaths reported; there are a total of 22 confirmed COVID-19 deaths on the Navajo Nation. There are 2,705 negative test results.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer are in self-quarantine after exposure to a first responder who later tested positive for COVID-19. The leaders said they feel healthy and will conduct business remotely. The Navajo Nation has a 57-hour curfew this weekend. Citations for breaking the curfew may include a fine of up to $1,000 and/or 30 days in jail.

The Navajo Department of Healths COVID-19 website is www.ndoh.navajo-nsn.gov/COVID-19. The Navajo Health Command Operations Center number is (928) 871-7014.

The 597 confirmed COVID-19 cases are in the following counties:

Navajo County, Ariz.: 234

Apache County, Ariz.: 61

Coconino County, Ariz.: 134

McKinley County, N.M.: 63

San Juan County, N.M.: 82

Cibola County, N.M.: 11

San Juan County, Utah: 10

Socorro County, N.M.: 2

 Theresa Davis

5:28 p.m.

Tribal Response Plan addresses lockdowns, funerals

New Mexicos Indian Affairs Department released a Tribal Response Plan this week to help the states tribes, nations and pueblos address COVID-19.

In a letter sent to leaders this week, Indian Affairs Secretary Lynn Trujillo, a member of Sandia Pueblo, said the plan was created to offer resources and guidance to indigenous communities while respecting tribal sovereignty. It was developed with input from tribal leaders and public health experts.

In the Pueblos there is a saying: Respect is never severed. Like respect, the values of commitment, love and compassion must also never be severed, Trujillo wrote. By holding true to these values and not allowing the crisis to divide us, our communities will endure and thrive.

Among the mitigation strategies in the plan are stay-at-home orders, limiting entry and exit points on tribal land, a curfew and suspension of gatherings of more than five people.

Read more >>

 Theresa Davis

4:16 p.m.

106 new cases bring NM total to 1,091; 2 additional deaths reported

Top state health officials announced two additional deaths due to the coronavirus on Friday, bringing the states death tally to 19.

The two deaths  one in Bernalillo County and one in Sandoval County  were both elderly men with underlying health issues.

Meanwhile, New Mexicos total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases surged past 1,000, as 106 new positive cases were announced. That brings the states total number of coronavirus cases to 1,091.

Health officials also said that confirmed coronavirus cases have now been identified in nine different group homes statewide, including an Albuquerque retirement community that has seen a cluster of cases  among both residents and staffers  and at least two deaths.

There are currently 75 individuals hospitalized due to coronavirus symptoms statewide, health officials said, while the Department of Health has designated 235 people as having recovered.

 Dan Boyd

3:45 p.m.

City offering childcare for essential workers with young kids

Starting Monday, essential workers with children who are three years old to five years old will have a new childcare option.

The city of Albuquerque will open Herman Sanchez Child Development Center to offer free daycare for this age group. Parents who are eligible to take advantage of the services include first responders, healthcare providers and government workers.

Call 505-767-6504 to register.

Each classroom will be limited to five children and four teachers to allow for social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city has already been offering programs for older children.

-Shelby Perea

3:34 p.m.

City: Smoke shops biggest issue

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said smoke shops have been the biggest issue by far when it comes to noncompliance with coronavirus-related business regulations.

All nonessential businesses have been ordered to close by the governor to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Keller said the city will work with New Mexico State Police over the weekend to enforce that order on smoke shops that shouldnt be operating, adding that there have been 23 smoke-shop complaints.

Keller said there have been complaints about massage parlors, car washes and furniture stores, too.

The mayor also reported that 171 businesses have been issued their first noncompliance notice for failing to adhere to rules. A few businesses have gotten a second noncompliance notice and one business has been cited, according to Keller.

 Shelby Perea

3:28 p.m.

Delegation demands answers after COVID-19 cases reported at ICE facility

The New Mexico congressional delegation is raising questions about concerns that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in the state are not fully prepared to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Reps. Ben Ray Lujan, Deb Haaland, and Xochitl Torres Small sent a letter to Acting ICE Director Matthew T. Albence about their concerns.

The letter comes after reports that both an employee and migrant have confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Otero County Processing Center.

We are deeply troubled that an employee and migrant have both contracted COVID-19 at the Otero County Processing Center, and we believe this demands a thorough review, the delegation wrote.  In order to evaluate ICEs ability to protect staff and detainees from coronavirus infection, we request that you immediately provide a clear description of the monitoring of detainee medical conditions as well as their access to essential personal hygiene products.

The lawmakers provided Albence a list of 11 questions they want answered by April 17.

 Scott Turner

2:07 p.m.

New Mexico health centers to receive $15 million in emergency grants

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released over $15 million in emergency grants to 16 community health centers, Pueblo health centers and Urban Indian Organizations in New Mexico in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the congressional delegation announced Friday

The funding, will provide money for emergency preparedness in order to respond to COVID-19 while continuing to support essential primary care services to underserved populations. The funding was included in the $2 trillion CARES Act passed by Congress on March 29.

I am glad to see funding go directly to health centers and health care workers on the front lines of this pandemic  we must support them fully during this challenging time, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said.

The full breakdown of the $15,473,075 in grant funding is below:

Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless, Inc., Albuquerque, $613,700

Ben Archer Health Center, Inc., Hatch, $1,752,905

La Clinica De Familia Inc, Las Cruces, $1,152,290

Debaca Family Practice Clinic, Fort Sumner, $547,970

El Centro Family Health, Espanola, $872,435

First Choice Community Healthcare, Inc., Albuquerque, $1,644,425

First Nations Community Health Source Inc., Albuquerque, $1,297,805

Hidalgo Medical Services, Lordsburg, $780,935

Pueblo Of Jemez, Jemez Pueblo, $562,085

La Casa De Buena Salud Inc., Portales, $935,225

La Clinica Del Pueblo, Tierra Amarilla, $550,610

La Familia Medical Center, Santa Fe, $971,675

Las Clinicas Del Norte, Incorporated, El Rito,$670,985

Mora Valley Community Health Services, Incorporated, Mora, $545,750

Presbyterian Medical Services, Inc., Santa Fe, $2,045,135

Lukes Health Care Clinic, Inc., Las Cruces, $529,145

 Scott Turner

11:54 a.m.

Pictures: Good Friday in NM  2018 and 2020

 Eddie Moore

10:33 a.m.

Agencies, attorneys preparing isolation orders if necessary

The Judicial branch of government, the Department of Health and attorneys across New Mexico are working collaboratively to prepare for the possibility that state authorities may request court orders to isolate or quarantine individuals posing a public health threat during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The state Supreme Court organized online training for judges and attorneys this week on provisions of state law allowing the DOH to petition a district court for orders to isolate or quarantine people during a public health emergency.

A training session will be held Friday for nearly 90 volunteer attorneys to represent people who become the subject of a public health isolation or quarantine order. Additionally, two judges in each judicial district have been designated by the Supreme Court to hear public health emergency cases and they received training earlier this week.

This is a good example of partners in our justice system coming together in this public health emergency and preparing for rarely used legal actions that state health officials could take to protect New Mexicans from exposure to people infected with COVID-19, said Justice C. Shannon Bacon.

Justice David Thomson said, By having a trained group of judges and lawyers on call to handle public health cases, New Mexicos court system can respond quickly if state authorities seek a quarantine or isolation order to help control the spread of coronavirus.

 Rick Nathanson

7:23 a.m.

State begins to craft economic recovery plan

With coronavirus infection rates still on the rise across New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Thursday its too soon to start talking about when the states increasingly beleaguered economy might be reopened.

But the governor said during a news briefing that her administration would start crafting a recovery plan within the next week that would, at an unknown date, allow some shuttered businesses to resume operations.

Its not as easy as it sounds, Lujan Grisham said during the briefing, which was streamed live on Facebook from the state Capitol.

When you open up again, you expose yourself to a virus that is waiting for us, the governor added.

Read more >>

 Dan Boyd, Dan McKay

6:05 a.m.

Navajo COVID-19 cases increase by 70, death toll rises to 22

The Navajo Nation Health Command Operations Center reported 558 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, an increase in 70 cases from the day before. The Navajo Nation reported two more COVID-19 deaths, for a total of 22 Navajo deaths from the disease. There have been 2,381 negative COVID-19 test results.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Myron Lizer are both in self-quarantine after being in close proximity earlier this week with a first responder who later tested positive for COVID-19.

The Navajo Nation will have a curfew from 8 p.m. Friday, April 10, to 5 a.m. on Monday, April 13. Essential employees must have documentation from their employer. Navajo Police will be enforcing the curfew and the stay-at-home order.

Navajo COVID-19 cases by county:

 Navajo County (AZ): 222

 Apache County (AZ): 59

 Coconino County (AZ): 124

 McKinley County (NM): 53

 San Juan County (NM): 79

 Cibola County (NM): 9

 San Juan County (UT): 10

 Socorro County (NM): 2

Heres how to help.

 Theresa Davis

6:05 a.m.

Haaland to host telephone town hall

Congresswoman Deb Haaland will host a telephone town hall with economic experts on Monday to update New Mexicans on the resources to help New Mexico families and small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Haaland will provide information on congressional legislation to keep families, workers, and small businesses afloat.

Residents will have the opportunity to ask questions about unemployment, small business loans, and other resources. N.M. Department of Workforce Solutions Secretary Bill McCamley and Regional Small Business Administration Director John Garcia will be on hand to answer questions.

People may dial in at 877-229-8493 with a dial-in code of 118783. Live audio can be found on Haalands website at https://haaland.house.gov/live

 Scott Turner
Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial.

The first thing Damiano Rizzi told me was the story of a woman who was about to die. It wasnt Rizzis own storyit was a story that another doctor had shared during a staff meeting. That doctor had been standing beside her patients bed. Before the patient closed her eyes, she stretched out her hand and placed it on the plastic visor that shielded her doctors face, as if looking for a last, desperate human touch.

Advertisement

Rizzi is the president of the health care NGO Soleterre, which works on human rights issues around health care. Hes also a psychologist at the San Matteo hospital in Pavia, one of the first cities affected by the COVID-19 emergency in Italy. He uses that doctors story as a portrait of what is happening in the wards of thousands of hospitals around the world. This virus has created a very strong sense of loneliness, he says. Doctors covered from head to toe in synthetic suits are the only link to real life for intubated patients, or imprisoned ones in oxygen helmets, often unable to say a word. For this reason, he and his team are on the front line, alongside the health personnel in the COVID-19 and intensive care units of the San Matteo hospital, to try to bring psychological support to this hell. We have been on the war front, in the Balkans, in the Donbass in Ukraine, in the refugee camps in northern Uganda. When the coronavirus emergency broke out, I felt it was important to be here.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

There are many associations of psychologists who offer telephone consultations to health professionals, but almost no one is in the ward by their side because of the risk of infection. Right now, in Lombardy, the Italian region most affected by COVID-19, the mental well-being of the patient and the caregiver is being treated equally. This emergency has kept health care workers in a state of continuous trauma for over a month. They are confused. Many find themselves doing a job they have never done, far from their departments, Rizzi says. Some experience survivors guilt, a classic for those who live through tragedies. They say they feel helpless, they are seeing many more people dying than they are used to seeing, they still dont have the medicine to cure the disease, and sometimes they dont even have the right protection. They are afraid of getting sick or infecting their loved ones.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Often, COVID-19 leads us to the metaphors of war and trenches. According to Rizzi, that is because we have no other words to explain this situation that has blown up our certainties. But he says that in some cases it is even worse than armed conflict. During a war there are the battles that require a maximum state of mental alert, but then there is time to relax, or times when someone else goes to the front line. Here, on the other hand, there is a constant stress: during the battle in the wards, but also at home, where they are afraid of bringing the virus into the family.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Many doctors and nurses have decided to move away from loved ones, such as Pierluigi Viale, the director of infectious diseases at SantOrsola-Malpighi Polyclinic in Bologna: I have been living alone at my mother-in-laws house for several weeks. She moved in with my wife and our 4-year-old son. I come back late from work. Sometimes I stop by under their balcony and blow a kiss from the car. My son yells, Daddy, be careful! And I go away with my heart in pieces. It is not easy to live this moment without them, without a hug. But its for our own good.

While in America and other countries, the virus still on the rise, the advance of the pandemic in Italy appears to be slightly slowing down. The cases of the total infected are more than 140,000, and new infections are decreasing. Of these 140,000 cases, 10,000 are health care workers, twice as many as those in China. One figure is particularly worrisome: 100 doctors have died since the outbreak. One hundred doctors in just a month. They died from working on the front line; they died because without the right protective devices its easier to get sick. And the problem is not solely Italian. In Spain, 14 percent of the infections are among health workers. In a major hospital in New York City, more than 200 workers have fallen sick. Two nurses have already died there.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Isabel Fernandez is a psychotherapist who specializes in emergencies. She is at the forefront of listening to health personnel. Knowing that a colleague from another department or from another hospital is infected, or seeing a colleague die, creates a great trauma in health workers, she says: It becomes an image that creeps into your head and reminds you that the next one could be you. COVID-19 has mixed the working dimension with the private one: As a doctor, you can easily become a patient.

Advertisement

Advertisement

This virus fatigues and scratches the souls of everyone, but those on the front line experience this more than anyone. Two Italian nurses have died by suicide in the past few weeks. Fernandez says that not only could there be extensive cases of PTSD, but there will also likely be episodes of depression, anxiety, and irritability, as well as difficulty returning to life as before: We are trying to give immediate support to relieve and preventwe want to be the place to decompress. But the big call for help will come only at the end of the emergency. Now doctors are very focused on doing and have little time to listen to their feelings, she says.

Advertisement

Rizzi and his team meet the health care staff during group meetings. Any individual sessions they are able to do tend to happen in the hallways of the hospitals, between one visit and another, whenever the doctors have time. This is why our [physical] presence is important. We try to be there when they need it, he says. Some doctors cry because they feel listened to and less lonely; others cry because they could not save their last patient. But they all tell us that the most difficult thing is not being able to have human contact. People are intubated, or under large oxygen helmets. Those who do well have a mask, says Rizzi. Doctors have the feeling that they are only dealing with bodies. They lack the history of these patients. At our hospital, we try to reconstruct their history, we speak with the families, the local parish, even with the mayors. And we help doctors communicate with loved ones, even the most painful news, Rizzi tells me.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

There is another aspect of COVID-19 that leaves doctors speechlessthe speed with which everything changes, how quickly vital parameters plummet and the person dies. A patient you thought was getting better gets worse unexpectedly in five minutes, This creates a sense of helplessness, says Alberto Pesci, the head of pneumology of San Gerardo Hospital in Monza, which currently has about 500 COVID-19 patients. This speed creates the sensation of chasing the virus, with no hope in sight.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

There are times when it seems that I cannot do enough. There are patients that, when I leave for the evening, are gone in the morning, says S., a nurse from Monza. S., who asked for anonymity, has just returned to work after being infected with COVID-19 herself: I was looking forward to going back to the wards, despite the fear of getting sick again. Hospital management sent an email to all staff saying that those who didnt feel up to it could step down. But none of us did, S. says. There are times when we cry or feel bad, like when in one shift we lost five people, but then we get up and go on, one day at a time.

This is probably the sense of strength and love that Rizzi speaks of. He tells us that on one side there is the horror of death, but on the other we are experiencing a moment of great humanity. In the middle of all of it, hes also witnessed something rare: Ive never seen such immediate actuation, a symbiosis toward a single goal: saving lives.
Mid Michigan College is eager to recognize the many alumni, employees, and friends of the college who are going above and beyond by giving back to their communities during this challenging time.

"All of us at Mid Michigan College are proud of all the difference makers and community heroes that are part of the Mid Michigan College family," said Scott Mertes, vice president of community outreach and advancement.

Here a few stories gathered so far:

Mid graduates Patrick and Daina Barz, of Gladwin, recently donated over 80 handmade masks (made in a single night!) to the Gladwin County Council on Aging. Bonnie Klein, Becky Mansfield, and others have also donated handmade masks. The masks will be used by Council on Aging in-home care workers and meal delivery drivers, as well as Gladwin City County Transit drivers.

Jan Noteboom, Gladwin resident and Allied Health Coordinator and Medical Assistant Program Director at Mid, recently provided a lunch prepared by the Peppermill restaurant to the Gladwin EMS team. Her son, Zach, is a paramedic for MidMichigan Health Gladwin EMS, and she wanted to let them all know how much we appreciate all they do.

"From the crew at EMS, thank you Jan Noteboom and thanks to the Peppermill for the great food," said Mark Sommers. "We sure are thankful for the community support we receive!"

Mid's Health Sciences Programs have delivered all gloves and masks to local first-responders at MMR, and the beds from the college's simulation labs will soon be delivered to MidMichigan Health in Gladwin along with a few remaining supplies.

The college has offered facility space to both FEMA and the Regional Hospital Coalition, and Mid's Health Sciences faculty are actively volunteering in local medical centers.

Everyone is encouraged to share more inspiring stories with using the hashtag #midheroes or at midmich.edu/share.
The plant's upgraded CCPP technology allows for reduced emissions while ensuring higher thermal efficiency. Featuring a 100MW GVPI air-cooled generator, the plant is designed to operate for its entire life without the need for rewedding or retightening its laminated core: This is a significant achievement, given the plant's capacity has been increased by 90MW with less maintenance requirements. In the eight years prior to the upgrade, the plant has provided 8.19 billion kWh electricity to the national grid, and this figure is estimated to increase by 640 million kWh an annual basis.

By leveraging its patented GVPI (Global Vacuum Pressure Impregnation) technology on the 100 MW air-cooled generator, Shanghai Electric has substantially improved on the efficiency of the original plant's simple, open-cycle application from 33% to 55%. This notable increase in efficiency demonstrates the depth of Shanghai Electric's product portfolio and the strength of its research and development (R&D) program.

Partnership with The Power Development Board (PDB)

The upgrade project was undertaken through a partnership between the region's Power Development Board (PDB) and Shanghai Electric. It was the Company's fourth EPC project in Bangladesh, initiated under the "One Belt One Road" Initiative. In 2010, following Barapukuria thermal power plant, the initial simple cycle power plant of Sylhet was the second EPC project designed and constructed by Shanghai Electric in the country.

The Middle and Affluent (MAC) population in Bangladesh is set to increase to 34 million in 33 cities by 2025, according to estimates by Boston Consulting Group. Influenced by rapid economic growth along with a growing MAC population, demand for electricity has been growing at a fast pace, predicted to reach 80,000MW by 2040. The new excess generation capacity is expected to facilitate economic development and industry.

The project will also play an essential role in the social development of the region. Shanghai Electric is committed to investing in the region and hiring personnel from the local community. Half of the project team were hired locally, employing almost 500 local workers and is set to increase during its peak construction period.

"Retrofitting the gas turbine generator technology to convert from simple, open-cycle systems to combined-cycle operation requires skill and dedicated service, and we have built solid experience through overall 5 projects in Bangladesh so far since 2002," said Wang Yi, the chief engineer of Sylhet project. "We are always looking ahead to anticipate client's needs and improve the availability, reliability and efficiency through customized solution designed for different regional markets."

About Shanghai Electric

Shanghai Electric Group Company Limited (SEHK: 2727, SSE: 601727) is principally engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of power equipment and industrial equipment. It focuses on new energy business, including the manufacture and sale of wind turbine and components as well as nuclear power equipment; clean energy business, including the manufacture and sale of thermal power equipment, power transmission and distribution equipment; industrial equipment, including the production and sale of elevators and electric motors; and modern service industry, including the contracting of construction of power generation plants, power transmission and distribution projects as well as other businesses.

Related Links

www.shanghai-electric.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1153915/Shanghai_Electric.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1137532/Shanghai_Electric_Logo.jpg

Related Links

www.shanghai-electric.com



SOURCE Shanghai Electric
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in San Bernardino in November 2016. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Workers at Amazon's Eastvale fulfillment center in Riverside County filed complaints with state and county regulators Wednesday, asking for investigations into what they say are dangerous working conditions that pose a threat to public health during the coronavirus pandemic.

The fulfillment center was the second in Southern California to report an employee testing positive for COVID-19 in late March. Workers were informed of a second case at the same facility shortly after. On April 2, The Times confirmed that a third worker at the facility, which Amazon refers to as LGB3 for short, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and that cases had also occurred at five other Amazon facilities in the region.

But it wasn't until Tuesday night that Amazon sent a mass text to all workers at the facility informing them of the third case  five days after it was reported in The Times. According to screenshots of the text obtained by The Times, the third worker last reported for a shift March 31.

That delay put the more than 3,000 workers at the facility at risk, the complaints argue, and is representative of what they characterize as Amazon's slipshod response to the COVID-19 pandemic within its operations.

The filings, compiled by the Warehouse Worker Resource Center on behalf of LGB3 employees, allege that Amazon never stopped operations to clean and disinfect the parts of the facility where the infected workers had spent their shifts and that the company has failed to adapt its operations to promote social distancing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that employers close off areas that people with COVID-19 have visited and "wait 24 hours or as long as practical before beginning cleaning and disinfection," as a precaution to ensure that cleaning crews encounter minimal levels of active virus.

Despite Amazon's official recommendation that employees wash their hands often, the complaints allege workers must walk several minutes each way to the restroom to access hand sanitizer or soap and water, and that hand sanitizer dispensers are often empty. A typical employee is allowed only 30 minutes total for bathroom breaks during a 10-hour shift, in addition to a 30-minute lunch break and two 15-minute breaks, though Amazon says it is relaxing those strict standards during the pandemic.

Story continues

In a statement, Amazon spokesman Timothy Carter said accusations that workers were being put at risk are "simply not true."

"We are supporting the individuals who are recovering," he said. "We are following guidelines from health officials and medical experts, and are taking extreme measures to ensure the safety of employees at our site.

"Like all businesses grappling with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we are evaluating and making changes in real time, and encourage anyone to compare our overall pay, benefits and speed in which were managing this crisis to other retailers and major employers across the country."

According to interviews with workers at the facility, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid retaliation, only some employees and managers are wearing masks, even after Amazon pledged to provide masks to all workers by this week in response to worker activism at Amazon warehouses in New York City and after Riverside County officials ordered all residents to cover their faces when leaving home.

"Every time I come into work ever since the pandemic started, Im coming into work with anxiety. I'm on edge all the time," one worker said. "There's a big question mark: Who has it? Why isn't everybody wearing a mask?"

Hundreds of workers at LGB3 signed and submitted a petition to managers after the first two reported cases in late March, asking Amazon to close the warehouse for two weeks, give all workers full pay during the closure, provide free testing for COVID-19, and offer time-and-a-half hazard pay, child-care subsidies, permanent paid sick leave, and an end to write-ups based on productivity rates.

Amazon has not responded directly to the petition but has implemented a number of new procedures in the last few weeks in response to the pandemic.

On March 30, Amazon warehouse workers in New York staged a walkout over the lack of protective gear and other safeguards. After the walkout, Amazon said it would provide masks to all warehouse workers and perform daily temperature checks on all arriving employees. (It also fired an employee who helped organize the walkout, saying he disregarded an instruction to self-quarantine in attending.)

The company is taking the temperature of employees at the beginning of their shifts, turning away anyone who has a fever over 100.4 degrees and requiring them to stay home for at least three days. After public pushback, the company said that workers who are turned away will be paid for up to five hours of their shift that day.

The company is also offering unpaid sick leave to all employees who wish to stay home and two weeks' paid leave to any who test positive for COVID-19.

To increase social distancing at its logistics facilities, the company has also canceled the stand-up meetings that typically begin each shift, staggered shift times, spread out tables and chairs in break rooms, asked employees to remain six feet apart, and suspended exit screenings, which the company performs to check if employees are stealing merchandise, to reduce crowding at exits and entrances.

Amazon also says that it has increased the frequency and intensity of cleaning and sanitizing of surfaces, such as door handles and screens, that employees touch during a workday, and that workers are being asked to clean their workstations with sanitizing wipes at the beginning of their shifts. The company also announced Wednesday that it was testing the use of disinfectant fog, a cleaning method often used at hospitals and on airplanes, at the Staten Island warehouse where workers staged a walkout.

As we continue to explore even more preventative measures to support the health and safety of employees, we are piloting disinfectant fogging, a practice commonly used by hospitals and airlines to supplement the enhanced cleaning measures that are already in place. pic.twitter.com/eC2J12R74t  Amazon News (@amazonnews) April 7, 2020

But workers say these measures are failing in practice. The LGB3 facility has only three break rooms, and even with staggered break schedules, people inevitably crowd around sinks, refrigerators and microwaves, with pressure to get back to their workstations on time making it difficult to wait for traffic to clear.

The complaints ask the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health to conduct an immediate on-site inspection of the facility and the Riverside County Department of Public Health to "use the full extent of [its] unique emergency authority" to address the issues raised by workers.

Neither department could be reached for comment by the time of publication.

Riverside has become one of the counties in the state that are most heavily affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, with 1,280 confirmed cases and 33 deaths as of Thursday afternoon.

Updates:

8:35 AM, Apr. 09, 2020:



For the record:

8:35 AM, Apr. 09, 2020: An earlier version of this story stated the LGB3 fulfillment center was the first Amazon facility in Southern California to report an employee testing positive for COVID-19. It was the second.


Hyderabad, April 10 : The Telangana Cabinet will meet here on Saturday afternoon to likely decide on extending the nationwide lockdown in the state beyond April 14.

The meeting presided over by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao will be held at 3 pm at Pragati Bhavan, Rao's official residence.

It will discuss at length the situation arising out of the spread of coronavirus.

The Cabinet may also discuss the need to extend the lockdown, the Chief Minister's Office said.

The meeting is also likely to discuss the state's economic situation, future course of action, assistance given to the poor in the state and others who have migrated to Telangana, procurement of agricultural produce, crop losses due to hailstorm, and other issues.
Discussions among top global energy ministers will resume on Friday.

OPEC, Russia and other allies outlined plans on Thursday to cut their oil output by more than a fifth and said they expected the United States and other producers to join in their effort to prop up prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis.

But the group, known as OPEC+, said a final agreement was dependent on Mexico signing up to the pact after it balked at the production cuts it was asked to make, Reuters said.

Discussions among top global energy ministers will resume on Friday.

The planned output curbs by OPEC+ amount to 10 million barrels per day (bpd) or 10% of global supplies, with another 5 million bpd expected to come from other nations to help deal with the deepest oil crisis in decades.

Global fuel demand has plunged by around 30 million bpd, or 30% of global supplies, as steps to fight the virus have grounded planes, cut vehicle usage and curbed economic activity.

Read alsoCrude oil prices in Ukraine fall by almost 40% in March

An unprecedented 15 million bpd cut still won't remove enough crude to stop the world's storage facilities quickly filling up. And far from signalling any readiness to offer support, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Saudi Arabia if it did not fix the oil market's problem of oversupply.

Trump, who has said U.S. output was already falling due to low prices, warned Riyadh it could face sanctions and tariffs on its oil if it did not cut enough to help the U.S. oil industry, whose higher costs have left it struggling with low prices.

A White House aide said Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Salman of Saudi Arabia about the talks, after a U.S. official said the OPEC+ move towards cuts sent an important signal to the market.

Officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia have said the scale of the crisis required involvement of all producers.

OPEC+ would cut output by 10 million bpd in May to June, OPEC+ documents showed. All members would reduce output by 23%, with Saudi Arabia and Russia each cutting 2.5 million bpd and Iraq cutting over 1 million bpd.

Under the plans, OPEC+ would then ease cuts to 8 million bpd from July to December and relax them further to 6 million bpd from January 2021 to April 2022, the documents showed.
By Olivia Rose

THE GOVERNMENT is yet to decide whether its three-week nationwide lockdown due to the global Covid-19 pandemic will be extended or lifted on April 14.





As thousands of residents across the territory adjust to life indoors with restricted privileges, any semblance of normalcy hangs in the balance.





Last month, shortly after the territory recorded its first case of the virus, the Government imposed a strict 21-day curfew for everyone except essential workers.





It saw airports, businesses, schools, churches and even beaches closed to public use.





Since then, the territory has recorded seven additional cases  all as a result of local transmission.





During a national address on Tuesday (April 7), Governor Nigel Dakin said a decision to extend or lift the curfew is yet to be made





"Given that almost every other country in the world has extended its lockdown period, its not unreasonable for many to ask what the Cabinets view will be on this, when ours expires in the middle of next week.





"The answer is that the decision has not been taken, the more data we have in making this decision the better.





The governor emphasised that a decision will be made soon in order to ensure the populace is given adequate time to prepare.





"It will though be taken this week or weekend by Cabinet and communicated early to you, he said, "so again if preparations are needed they can be done in a sensible, measured way.





He explained that the Cabinet will be strongly guided by the Ministry of Health on this and "we have asked for a very detailed paper laying out the case, for and against, systematically.





Dakin said that citizens have been compliant for the most part with the current lockdown rules.





"All in all, though I do want to say that myself, the premier, the commissioner of police and minister of health judge overall compliance has been extraordinarily good.





"We are up at around 90 percent or above and that does give us the very best chance of defeating this.





"TCI, you are at the moment the envy of many others in the region for the way we are all holding together on this.




A surgical team was converted into a pandemic response team to offer care to an isolated population during the COVID-19 pandemic

CHICAGO (April 10, 2020): As the number of people infected with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) rises in the U.S. and around the world, hospitals are faced with difficult decisions for how to best provide care for a growing number of patients. The lessons learned by a small military surgical team who had to transition into a pandemic response team during the COVID-19 pandemic can offer insights for medical centers around the U.S. that are adapting in a rapidly changing environment. The medical team's recommendations are published as the "article in press" on the website of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons ahead of print.



The surgical team is based in a remote region of Africa. They provide care for the active duty military population stationed there, which the authors describe as young and healthy, but supported by civilian personnel of various ages.



"The team members were trained and equipped for damage control resuscitation and surgery. No one had hands on experience with pandemics at home, so rifling through information for truths to familiarize ourselves was time consuming," said lead author MAJ Andrew Hall, MD, FACS, Special Operations Command Africa, speaking for the team. "We cannot do many proposed cutting-edge therapies but have to rely on tried medical principles. We have many supply chain challenges that need to be factored in when planning a response."



Military medical teams are typically focused on treating traumatic injuries and performing damage control surgery. As the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic grew, the team--consisting of a surgeon, an emergency medicine physician, a certified nurse anesthetist, an intensive care nurse, a scrub technician, and a medical planner--transitioned into an infectious disease containment and treatment team.



"This transition to a new primary medical mission in the face of a pandemic is applicable to any small medical team tasked with taking care of isolated populations," the authors write.



The COVID-19 pandemic has created a situation where even in places where health care resources are typically abundant, hospitals are being forced to come up with creative solutions to provide care for the increasing number of critically ill patients with COVID-19 requiring medical treatment. Medical teams providing care around the world in regions that do not have abundant resources are used to adapting in innovative ways.



"It is essential to evaluate everyone's skillsets and experience. It is not just the doctors. Everyone can have valuable skills to rely on," Dr. Hall said.



Dr. Hall's team was working with an isolated population, which presents its own unique set of challenges. During times of crisis, he said it's important to learn to rely on non-medical labor to provide medical interventions. Specifically, he said things like refilling oxygen tanks can be done by non-medical providers. The tanks can be moved out of contaminated areas to be picked up and refilled, then brought back by non-medical personnel. He also said checks to ensure adequate lighting, temperature controls, and electrical outlets in the tents should be done. "Consider alternate sources for materials. For example, our metal fabricators made ICU beds out of spare materials," he said.



However, he did say, "Thankfully, odds are in a small population's favor in that not many people are going to get deathly ill. You must limit the spread, so those relatively rare events don't statistically become likely. There are definite limitations to our capabilities, and we had to come to grips with those limitations and try to mitigate them as best as possible."



"If possible, exercise plans and processes before they arrive," Dr. Hall said. "If other small teams are dealing with this, the best is all you can do."



###

Dr. Hall's coauthors are MAJ Lindsay Morrow, DO; MAJ Kelsey Monsaert, MBA; COL Ramey L. Wilson, MD, MPH; and LTCOL Michael Dixon, BSN, CRNA, MSN.



"FACS" designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.



The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.



Citation: Converting a Small Surgical Team into a Pandemic Response Team for an Isolated Population. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2020.04.001.



About the American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 82,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit http://www.facs.org.
It is so important that the public play their part by staying home & also encourage their friends and family to do the same

This article is old - Published: Friday, Apr 10th, 2020

North Wales Police and the NHS have teamed up ahead of the Easter weekend to urge the public to stay at home to save lives and help protect the NHS.

The Easter holiday would normally signify seeing family and friends and spending time outside in the many open spaces available across North Wales.

However, in these unprecedented times, the public are being urged to continue to follow the new measures put in by place the government due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Traditionally during the Easter period it is a very busy time in North Wales and we normally welcome many visitors to the area, said North Wales Police Chief Constable, Carl Foulkes.

However, due to the challenge we are facing during this COVID-19 pandemic our message to the public is to stay home and help protect our NHS during this difficult time.

We all want to stop the spread of the Coronavirus but we need everyone to play their part in making this happen.

Our police officers will be out patrolling across the Easter period, both on our roads and in our busy communities, both engaging and spreading that message with the public.

However, where people do not comply, then we will direct people to go home, and, if necessary, we will issue a fine.

Despite the government guidelines being in place for almost three weeks there is still a small minority who are ignoring these rules.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, Arfon Jones said: My message is for everyone to stay at home to help save lives, the majority of people are sticking to these rules but sadly there is still a minority who are ignoring the government guidelines.

It is so important that the public play their part by staying home and also encourage their friends and family to do the same.

Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Dr Richard Griffiths from Ysbyty Gwynedd, added: We appreciate that everyone wants to take advantage of the recent warmer weather and visit the beaches and mountains of North Wales.

But right now everyone needs to follow the government advice, which has been put in place to protect the NHS and ultimately save lives.

This is the best thing you can do for your own health, the health of your family and the more fragile members of our community.

The beaches and mountains in North Wales will still be here once this is over, and we want as many of us to still be here to enjoy it all together, so I would urge everyone to listen to the government guidelines and stay at home.
The total number of people infected by Sars-CoV-2, the virus which causes the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has crossed 1.6 million. Of these, at least 100,000 have died. And at last count, 177 of the 195 countries in the world had confirmed cases. In India, the number of cases on Friday night was 7,556, and there have been 250 deaths attributed to Covid-19. Like many parts of the world, India is in the midst of a nationwide lockdown. Most people who can work from home are working from home; many factories are shut; all recreational facilities are closed; and theres no work happening in construction, and very little in agriculture, the most employment-intensive sectors of the economy.

Across 32 states and Union territories affected by the disease, local administrations have declared containment zones, and almost completely sealed these off from the rest of the neighbourhood, or city, or district, or state as the case may be.

Apart from affecting lives and livelihoods, Covid-19 has affected our very way of life. And it has changed the way we work. Many believe that things will never be the same again  even when we have vanquished the virus.

What little we know of Sars-CoV-2 tells us that it is highly infectious. That it can live on metallic surfaces for days. That it can be transmitted through mere exhalations. And that apart from social distancing, self-isolation, simply not going out and interacting with as few people as possible is the best way to prevent infections (and also break the chain of infections).

Yet, there are people who are out and about, doing what they usually do.

The newspaper vendor delivering papers.

The municipality worker sweeping the streets.

The sanitation worker disinfecting a neighbourhood.

The grocer and the pharmacist who remain open for business.

The delivery people who drop off food or other purchases.

The police who man pickets and maintain order.

The health care workers who care for the ill.

The volunteers who feed the poor (and, lest we forget, those who feed stray dogs and cows).

There are more  from the researcher experimenting with cures, to the worker in a factory making protective overalls  but you get the picture.

All of them go on about their work as if nothing has happened. But what may have been the ordinary in the past is now the heroic. Mundane acts of drudgery are now selfless acts of courage. These people, and what they do isnt just our link with the past  but makes the present bearable.

Most of these people go on about their work as if it is business as usual  either the significance of what they do is lost on them, or they do not want to make much of it. Id like to think it is the latter. These are ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things without making a big deal of it.

Yet, at a time when staying in is the surest way to stay safe, the mere act of venturing out to perform what the law calls an essential service is a display of selflessness. Of courage in the face of adversity. Of resilience. When (not if, but when) we defeat the virus, it will be because of these people.

And so, starting today, Hindustan Times will feature as many of such people as it can on its pages in a series branded HT Salutes. They may not need the recognition (and probably dont want it), but a country in want of positivity and heroes desperately needs their stories.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

When it comes to trying to pinpoint where we are on the "curve" of the coronavirus pandemic at any given moment, experts agree that hospitalization numbers are a much better metric to use than raw number of cases.

"Cases are a function of testing," UCSF epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford told SFGATE. "Hospitalizations are hard numbers."

The State of California began providing data on the number of patients requiring hospitalization and intensive care at the county level at the beginning of April, which means it's now possible to track Bay Area hospitalizations over time. The bulk of the hospitalizations are being reported in Santa Clara, San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo and Contra Costa counties, with none showing trends dramatically out of line with the others.

The state reports both the number of patients confirmed to have COVID-19 as well as "suspected COVID-19" cases, which the state defines as hospitalized patients presenting typical coronavirus symptoms awaiting test results.

On April 1  the first day the state reported data for the nine counties that make up the Bay Area  there were 758 patients hospitalized and 241 in intensive care units. Those numbers then rose for two additional days before steadily dropping for the next three days.

Then on April 7, the number of hospitalizations jumped from 759 to 831, a 9.5 percent increase from the previous day, and the number of ICU patients rose from 276 to 283, a 2.5 percent increase. Both metrics then posted back-to-back decreases on April 8 and 9.

Blair Heagerty/SFGATE

What, if anything, can we infer from this data?

Rutherford is encouraged that the Bay Area has not recorded a double-digit percent increase thus far, calling the April 7 data point to a "potential peak" while cautioning not to take that to the bank  yet.

I think its flat," he said. You dont know whats gong to happen next week, as this thing could still go up. But as of now, this is flat, flat, flat, flat. You expect some fluctuation but the overall trend is flat.

As for where we are on the curve? Rutherford believes it's possible the Bay Area could perhaps be at or nearing its "peak," since the region started sheltering in place before the rest of the state and country. He also stressed it's worth being mindful of the regional differences whenever state officials cite statewide hospitalization figures, or when models project statewide peaks.

Los Angeles cases are way higher, like ten-fold higher than San Francisco, and Southern California is eight-fold higher than Northern California, he said. It went up very rapidly in Southern California largely driven by L.A. a week after statewide shelter in place, but this was a rapid rise that was not seen in the Bay Area since we went into shelter in place three days earlier.

However, the statewide hospitalization figures have also been relatively flat in recent days, with Governor Gavin Newsom expressing guarded optimism after the number of individuals in intensive care units decreased Thursday.

"One data point is not a headline, so I caution anybody to read too much into that one point of data, he said. But nonetheless, it is encouraging. It reinforces the incredible work all of you are doing."

There are only nine days worth of data to this point, and with the influential IHME model projecting the state's hospitals will reach "peak resource use" at the beginning of next week, it will be worth keeping an eye on these numbers over the next few days.

You can view the Bay Area's hospitalization and ICU data in the graphs above, and click here to see the state's records for each county's data by day.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting
Every week the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is compiling a list of the top news articles from across the world in which it is mentioned. Check all the international media coverage of IFJ, divided by language, in the period between 3 and 10 April, 2020
North Carolinas job losses passed a symbolic point Thursday, with more than half a million people now filing for unemployment in the three weeks since businesses starting closing down due to coronavirus.

The jobless claims are equivalent to 10% of the states entire workforce.

As of February North Carolina had 5.1 million people in the labor force, which counts people who are working or looking for work. And the 510,000 new jobless claims since mid-March dont even reflect all the states job losses  just the number of people who have filed for unemployment.

Numerous readers have told The News & Observer that they have spent days trying unsuccessfully to file for the benefits, thwarted by website glitches, hours-long phone wait times or, in some cases, a phone system thats so backlogged their calls simply get hung up on instead of being put on hold.

Were trying to get that system better, and that has certainly been very frustrating on our behalf, Lockhart Taylor, the head of the states unemployment office, told state lawmakers earlier this week at a coronavirus committee hearing.

He said theyve already made some improvements to the website and have hired more call center staff, and are working on doing even more.

On Thursday, Gov. Roy Cooper issued a wide-ranging executive order that, among other goals, had a section aimed at speeding up the unemployment system. Coopers new order allows the unemployment office to ignore several regulations it normally has to follow if officials decide it would significantly speed the processing of claims and expedite the distribution of benefit payments.

A daily graph of North Carolinas record breaking losses from coronavirus, which started March 16 and passed 500,000 unemployment claims on April 9.

Slow on payments

Before coronavirus hit, the states unemployment system ranked last nationally in making timely payments, the Carolina Journal reported this week.

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that on average, states paid benefits on time in nearly 9 out of 10 cases. But in North Carolina, a third of claims werent paid on time. Those figures are for the first quarter of the year, a time period that includes the first two weeks of the surge in coronavirus-related unemployment. One state, Alabama, did not submit information.

Story continues

North Carolinas unemployment division is the worst in the nation at getting timely payments to its applicants, and has been for several years, reported the Carolina Journal, a conservative-leaning news publication.

North Carolina has also had among the nations lowest-paying unemployment benefits for years, after the state legislature approved large-scale cuts in 2013, The News & Observer has reported.

Those reduced payments have led to $4 billion in savings for the unemployment fund. Some state lawmakers in both parties have talked about wanting to dip into that surplus now to help people out, although details are few and far between.

The legislature isnt planning to come back to work on potential relief plans for close to three more weeks, on April 28.

Federal unemployment benefits

Congress approved extra unemployment benefits for people in a recent federal stimulus package.

For people who have already qualified for state benefits, officials here hope to be able to start sending the federal payments  which are more than double what North Carolina pays the average unemployed person  on April 17.

And for people who dont qualify for state benefits, there could still be a chance of getting federal benefits. That includes many self-employed people like independent contractors, freelancers and those in the gig economy.

The federal government told states the rules for those benefits only a few days ago, however. North Carolina officials are now saying they expect to be able to start taking those applications two weeks from now, on April 25.

They dont understand that everythings accelerated, Mark Barroso, a freelance TV crew member from Pittsboro told the N&O recently, questioning why the federal benefits were taking so many weeks. They need to speed up everything.

Even without the extra applications yet from people like Barroso who expect to apply only for the federal benefits, Taylor has said the massive volume of unemployment claims is already like nothing North Carolina has ever seen before.

The News & Observer wants to feature stories about NC people on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19. Tell us about your healthcare heroes here.

Record-breaking job losses

The office got around 11,000 new claims in all of February combined, but in the last three weeks has been getting an average of 21,000 each day. It even dwarfs the job losses North Carolina saw during the Great Recession.

Thats the case in most of the rest of the country, too, as millions of people are suddenly out of work and seeking benefits  although some recent reports have said that North Carolina has been among the states hardest-hit by job losses.

State officials have previously said that at the height of the Great Recession a decade ago, the unemployment office was seeing 100,000 new claims a month. But just between March 16 and April 9, North Carolina saw 509,693 new unemployment claims.

The state allows people to indicate whether their job loss was caused in some way by COVID-19.

Close to 90% of the people filing for unemployment benefits said that the pandemic was the reason they lost their job, and state officials have previously said they think there are probably even more people who should have checked that box but didnt.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Introduction

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is derived from boiling cereals or legumes in hydrochloric acid and then neutralizing the solution with sodium hydroxide. The acid breaks down, the protein present in vegetables into their component amino acids. The resulting liquid is further known as hydrolyzed vegetable protein. Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is widely used as a flavor enhancer in many processed foods such as soups, sauces, stews, seasoned snack foods, gravies, hot dogs, dips and dressings. It is also blended with other spices to make seasonings that are used in or on foods.

To Get Free Sample Request Visit @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/10975

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein Market Segmentation

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein market has been segmented on the basis of raw-material, application and form. The raw material segment can be divided in view of the kind of raw material i.e. soy, rapeseed, corn, rice, pea and wheat utilized for producing hydrolyzed vegetable protein. Among all these segments hydrolyzed soy protein is relied upon to possess biggest offer regarding revenue contribution.

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is further segmented on the basis of application, includes food industry where in hydrolyzed vegetable is used as flavor enhancer. Furthermore food industry can be sub-segmented into noodles, pastas, prepared soups, sauces, ready meals, dips and dressings, meat, fish, seasoning mixes and others. Application can also segmented based on the beverages where hydrolyzed protein is used to complement the amino acid and enhance the flavor in functional beverages. Wide application and increased usage as a flavor enhancer in food and beverages industry is expected to drive the market demand. Moreover, Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is widely accepted by the various nations regarding its usage in various industry which is further expected to fuel the market growth during the forecast period. Hydrolyzed vegetable protein application segment can also be divided into cosmetics where it is used as film-forming agents in face cream and hair care products.

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is further segmented on the basis of form which includes dry powder, paste and liquid. Among both of these segments powder segment is expected to contribute major share in terms of revenue. Easy water solubility coupled with wide applications in various food product is expected to support the segment growth during the forecast period.

Geographically Asia Pacific is the largest market in terms of consumption of Hydrolyzed vegetable protein followed by North America and is expected to account for the major market share in the forecast period. Among North American region U.S. is expected to be the major contributor in terms of revenue followed by Canada. In Asia pacific region China and India is expected to account for the substantial growth due to increased demand for nutritional food among the consumers. Moreover in Latin America Brazil is expected to be the major contributor in terms of revenue followed by Mexico.

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein Market Drivers & Restraints

Factors such as increase in demand of clean-label and natural ingredients, increasing consumer awareness pertaining to the ill effects related to savory ingredients, and demand for healthy and nutrition products are acting as major restraints for the market. Increasing demand for convenience food, changing lifestyle, and untapped potential in the developing Asia-Pacific countries act as major drivers for the market.

As it is helpful in enhancing flavor of the processed food, so it is also considered as the most sustainable protein ingredients which is favoring its growth in alternate way. However, availability of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) in Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is expected to restrain the market growth over the forecast period.

For More Details and Order Copy of this Report Visit @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/10975

Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein Market: Key Players

Some of the major key players operating in flavonoid market includes Ajinomoto, Kerry Group, Tate & Lyle, Jones-Hamilton Co., DSM, Diana Group, Givaudan, Brolite Products Co. Inc., Kerry Group, Caremoli Group, Astron Chemicals S.A., McRitz International Corporation, Good Food, Inc., Michimoto Foods Products Co., Ltd, Dien Inc., Innova Flavors, Unitechem Co., Ltd. among others.
In April last year, one day after they launched their new Instagram account, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have already gained quite an impressive 2.4 million followers, and the number didn't stop there.

Instead, it continued to soar. Relatively, the account's debut turned out to be a sign that the couple's then-new press team was hard at work already, not to mention, coming up with a strategy for the pair's public image from that day onwards.

Unlike Prince William and Kate Middleton, who are officially using their Kensington Palace Twitter account to post and share news updates every day, Meghan and Prince Harry would be using their Instagram account to post updates.

More so, the couple even helped in choosing the photos that went with their first post on the said social media platform.

Even though the couple acquired over 2 million in just one day from the official launch of their Instagram account, they seem to have a long way to go before their account reaches the "main Kensington Royal account," which at that time had over seven million followers.

The Difference

While Middleton has three children, Princes George and Louis, and Princess Charlotte as her favorite subjects in terms of photography, Markle is more private and would want someone else taking photos of her from afar, be it openly or secretly.

On the contrary, one of Middleton's passions, which is photography is making a difference in terms of social media posting.

Reportedly Markle doesn't want to post too many photos of her child. That's why she consistently updates the public as much as she can, especially during the three kids' special milestones. Because of this, Angela Mollard, a Royal expert even complimented her and Prince William for this social media-sharing tactic.

No Royal Celebrations for Now

The Royal Expert also said, "As we now, each year on their birthdays," Middleton tends to share photographs in public. And the ones released, Mollard elaborates, "have recently been uplifting" not just for the British people but everyone in the world.

Meanwhile, with the birthdays of Prince Charlotte, who is turning seven on May 2, and Prince Louis, who is turning two on April 23, Mollard said, Middleton and Prince William may have planned the celebrations already. Nevertheless, the said celebrants may not be able to spend their respective special days with friends and loved ones because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, it is worth noting, too, that Middleton was already running a family business even before she and Prince William got married.

The business, Party Pieces, which Middleton has had for quite some time now, provides party supplies, specializes in children's birthdays.

Her mom, the co-founder of the business, may have helped the Duchess of Cambridge with all of the birthday celebrations of Princes George and Louis, and Princess Charlotte.

However, unless this lockdown ends, Middleton may have to cancel all the plans for the party.

Check these out!
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese EV startup Xpeng Motors set up on April 1 a new mobility service subsidiary through its Guangzhou-based smart travel technology branch.

Dubbed Chuxiong Xiaopeng Smart Mobility Technology Co.,Ltd., the new company is registered in Chuxiong, Yunnan Province and involves a registered capital of RMB2 million, which is wholly subscribed by Guangzhou Xiaopeng Smart Mobility Technology Co.,Ltd., according to the business data platform Tianyancha.

Its line of business includes ride-hailing services, installation of automobile navigation system, research of automobile manufacturing technologies, sale of new cars, used cars and charging piles, and car leasing service.

The latest move is regarded as part of Xpeng Motors' ongoing building of its smart mobility ecosystem. In May 2019, the startup kicked off the trial operation of Pengster, its chauffeur-driven ride-hailing service in Guangzhou, after receiving the relevant operational licenses from local authorities.



Utilizing a fleet of Xpeng G3 all-electric SUVs with uniformly designed body paint, Pengster aims to gain for Xpeng Motors more operational experience from a diversified range of driving scenarios and deeper understanding of consumers' behaviors and preferences. It also intends to target more prospective consumers by offering the public the mobility service using its own products.

Lu Xianwen, director of Pengster, revealed at an interview that the company is ambitious to serve as an operator of intelligent driving and autonomous driving mobility platform focusing on future urban scenarios. Through ride-hailing service, it can collect a vast amount of valuable data and receive users' feedbacks so as to promote upgrading and iteration of autonomous driving technologies and in-car intelligent features.

Xpeng Motor also strengthened its mobility onslaught by forming partnership with Xiaoju Car Service, the one-stop car rental and maintenance service platform backed by Didi Chuxing. Under the framework built in early Jan., both parties would team up on such services as car-hailing, long-term car leasing, charging and automobile maintenance by leveraging their respective merits in products, marketing channels, branding and data management (Photo source: Xpeng Motors).
WASHINGTON - The coronavirus pandemic will push the global economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression, with the world's poorest countries suffering the most, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2020 file photo, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, attends a session on the first day of the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany. Georgieva said Friday, March 27, it is clear that the global economy has now entered a recession that could be as bad or worse than the 2009 downturn. She said the 189-nation lending agency was forecasting a recovery in 2021, saying it could be a Ausizable rebound.Au But she said this would only occur if nations succeed in containing the coronavirus and limiting the economic damage(AP Photo/Jens Meyer, File)

WASHINGTON - The coronavirus pandemic will push the global economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression, with the world's poorest countries suffering the most, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.

"We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday in remarks previewing next weeks virtual meetings of the 189-nation IMF and its sister lending organization, the World Bank.

She said that the IMF will release an updated world economic forecast on Tuesday that will show just how quickly the coronavirus outbreak has turned what had been expected to be a solid year of growth into a deep downturn.

Just three months ago, the IMF was forecasting that 160 nations would enjoy positive income growth on a per capita basis. Now the expectation is that over 170 nations will have negative per capita income growth this yea.

Emerging markets and low-income nations across Africa, Latin America and much of Asia are at high risk, she said.

"With weak health systems to begin with, many face the dreadful challenge of fighting the virus in densely populated cities and poverty-stricken slums, where social distancing is hardly an option," Georgieva said.

Investors have grown fearful of leaving their money in emerging economies that could be hit hard by a global recession. As a result, capital outflows from emerging-market countries have totalled more than $100 billion over the last two months, more than three times larger than the same period at the start of the global financial crisis, Georgieva noted.

In addition, countries that depend on exporting commodities have taken a double blow because of the steep fall in commodity prices.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Georgieva said there was no question that 2020 will be an "exceptionally difficult" year. She said if the pandemic fades in the second half of the year, allowing the gradual lifting of containment measures and the reopening of the global economy, the IMF is forecasting a partial recovery in 2021.

"I stress there is tremendous uncertainty around the outlook," she said. "It could get worse depending on many variable factors, including the duration of the pandemic."

She said that she and World Bank President David Malpass will pursue at next weeks virtual meetings an agreement to adopt a standstill on debt payments over the next year by the worlds poorest nations, freeing up money they can use for critical health needs.

She also said that the IMF is prepared to commit its $1 trillion in lending capacity to providing support to nations that need help dealing with the pandemic.

"We are responding to an unprecedented number of calls for emergency financing from over 90 countries so far," she said.

The IMFs executive board has agreed to double the loan levels it will provide from its emergency facilities that she said should allow the IMF to provide around $100 billion in financing to low-income countries.
'It is hard to imagine a sector which will not be violently affected by the health crisis, the lockdown and what will come after,' notes Aakar Patel.

IMAGE: Vegetable market, Lucknow, April 7, 2020. Photograph: Nand Kumar/PTI

I was speaking yesterday to a friend from Bangalore who has lived in the United States for most of his life.

He is employed by a software firm and his work requires him to travel to India three times a year.

I have known him for about a quarter century and he has been coming with regularity.

It has been his routine and he spends at least 60 days each year in India on work.

However he will not be coming to Bangalore next month, as he was supposed to do, and he does not know when he would next be sent.

Companies and businesses will not put their employees at risk any time soon, especially those firms based in America and Europe.

They have laws which individuals can use if they feel they have been endangered and their safety jeopardised by their employer.

Till there is a vaccine for COVID-19, this situation will remain uncertain.

Of course this will have a impact on the airlines.

Already, there is a ban on international travel pretty much across the world.

Europeans cannot go to America and vice versa.

No passenger flights are operating in India.

Even when the lockdown is opened in mid April, the number of people flying on work internally will be low and after an initial couple of days when those who are stuck go immediately to where they need to be, the traffic will be lower each month than it was last year.

How will airlines, which operate on very thin margins and sometimes operate at a loss as we have seen in India, manage? They will not be able to and the State will need to decide whether to bail them out (meaning tax payer money to be used on airplane leases and pilot and crew salaries) or let them die.

From a position where India was about to sell its national carrier, Air India, we are faced with the possibility that the government buys stakes in a few more and possibly all airlines.

Tourism employs something like 10% of the world's population.

My friend stays in a hotel in Bangalore and that place will also lose income from business travellers for the foreseeable future.

Restaurants will be hit for the new few months as people will continue remaining home unless absolutely required to be in public spaces.

Similarly, malls and cinema halls and all those sorts of places which have high levels of mingling and crowds will suffer crushing losses of revenue.

How will we cope and what will our new economy look like? We do not know at this point and we will need to learn as we go along.

The chief economist of HDFC bank has written that the cost of COVID-19 to the Indian economy will be $100 billion, or Rs 7.5 lakh crore.

That is the equal to what India spends on defence plus all central government schemes (MNREGA, education, health, PM Awas, Smart Cities, Swachch Bharat, Mid Day meals, drinking water, irrigation etc) combined.

Meaning that either we do not spend on all these things, which is not possible, or we borrow or print the money required to do all this.

It is hard to imagine a sector which will not be violently affected by the health crisis, the lockdown and what will come after.

The sales for cars and automobiles in March were 50% lower in India than they were in March 2019.

This is despite the fact that we lost only about 8 days due to the lockdown that month.

In April the hit will be bigger because half the month is part of the lockdown.

Power consumption was 25% lower this week than in April 2019.

This is entirely because factories are shut down and will lose three weeks of output at least.

After that, they will hope that their workers return from villages and that is not going to happen soon.

There are three or four estimates on what the cost to the Gross Domestic Product of India will be.

The most positive one says that we will lose 2% points of GDP growth.

The most negative says we will lose 4%.

The truth is that nobody knows at the moment what will come in April and May, just as nobody anticipated in February that March would turn out the way that it did though the coronavirus story was already in the headlines then.

It will occupy the world for the rest of 2020 and perhaps even beyond that and will have medium and long term ramifications.

The short term ones, the ones that we have described above, are immediate and visible.

But there will be others, especially on the future of the global economy, that may impact us for an entire generation.

Because we are currently in the middle of the immediate health crisis, there has not been much discussion of this so far but it will start soon.

It is a very difficult task ahead for the prime minister and for the nation, even after the lockdown ends.

Aakar Patel is a columnist and writer.

You can read Aakar's columns here.
(Bloomberg) --

Italy and Spain are preparing for several more weeks under lockdown as volatile coronavirus infection rates prevent Europes governments from easing curbs on public life.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, whose country has reported the most virus-linked deaths worldwide, is leaning toward an extension to early May, though a small number of businesses may be allowed to reopen. Spain prolonged a state of emergency until April 25 and the U.K. also is likely to extend restrictions.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined Spain and Italy on Thursday in upholding curbs on peoples movement and face-to-face contacts, saying progress in defeating the pandemic is fragile and its too early to relent. In a plea echoed elsewhere in Europe, she called on Germans to abide by the measures over the long Easter weekend.

We must stay focused, she said after a cabinet meeting.

As the pandemic maintains its grip on Europe, policy makers are caught between the urgent need to restart battered economies and calls by health officials to maintain lockdowns. Political uncertainty in the U.K. eased after Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from intensive care, though he remained hospitalized to recover from a coronavirus infection.

Merkels cautious words echo the approach in other European countries faced with major outbreaks. Italy reported a rise in deaths and infections, while Frances death toll increased with a backlog of data from nursing homes. U.K. deaths, though lower than in Europes worst-hit countries, rose by 881 to almost 8,000.

Were not done yet, we must keep going, Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, who is deputizing for Johnson, said in London. Deaths are still rising, and we still havent seen the peak of the virus.

Contes Dilemma

Italys containment measures run until Monday. Conte is inclined to keep those restrictions fundamentally unchanged, according to three trade union and business representatives who met with him on Thursday. The Italian premier is expected to announce an extension as early as Friday, according to two officials.

Story continues

Any slight easing will be gradual and on a regional basis, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified by name in line with policy. Businesses that could be allowed to open include bookshops and stationary stores, agricultural machinery makers, forestry companies and perhaps sellers of baby clothes, according to newspaper Corriere della Sera.

With expanded testing under way, Italy recorded Thursday a second straight increase in the number of daily new coronavirus cases, counting 4,204 confirmed infections compared with 3,836 on Wednesday. Another 610 patients died, bringing the death toll to 18,279, according to civil protection authorities.

Infections in Spain rose to more than 157,000 and deaths surpassed 15,800 on Friday, underscoring the severity of Europes most-extensive outbreak, even as daily fatalities slowed to the lowest since March 24.

Spanish lawmakers extended a national state of emergency for a second time on Thursday as the opposition Peoples Party joined Prime Minister Pedro Sanchezs coalition government in supporting the measure. His governments poll ratings have declined as the virus ravaged Spains health system.

Get Going Again

France reported 1,341 new deaths from the coronavirus on Thursday after including two days of data from nursing homes, while the number of intensive-care patients declined for the first time since the outbreak began.

So we can hope for a leveling off, but its a very high leveling off, Jerome Salomon, head Frances public health agency, said at a briefing. It remains to be confirmed in the days ahead.

New cases in Germany climbed the most in five days, according to figures Thursday from Johns Hopkins University. Merkel and the premiers of Germanys 16 states plan to meet on Wednesday to consider the next steps.

I would really love to be the first one to say to you that everything is how it was and we can get things going again, Merkel said Thursday. But thats not the case. My job right now is to say what is happening now.

(Updates with Spanish data from Friday in 11th paragraph)

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
India asserts that the union territory 'has been, is and shall continue' to be its integral part

New Delhi: India on Thursday strongly rejected remarks on Jammu and Kashmir by a spokesperson of China's permanent mission to the United Nations, asserting that the union territory "has been, is and shall continue" to be its integral part.

Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said India expects China to refrain from commenting on the country's internal affairs and respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He said India also expects China to recognise and condemn the scourge of cross-border terrorism that affects the lives of the people of India, including in Jammu and Kashmir.

The spokesperson of China's permanent mission in the UN said the Kashmir issue remained high on the UN Security Council's agenda and China is very closely monitoring the current situation in Kashmir. At present, China is holding presidency of the UNSC.

The official also reportedly said that the Kashmir issue is a dispute left from history and should be properly and peacefully resolved.

"We reject the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in a statement made by the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations," Srivastava said.

He was responding to a query on the remarks by the Chinese spokesperson.

"China is well aware of India's consistent position on this issue. The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India. Issues related to Jammu and Kashmir are internal matter to India," he said.

"It is, therefore, our expectation that other countries, including China, would refrain from commenting on matters that are internal affairs of India and respect India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.

China has been critical of India's reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir, and has particularly criticised New Delhi for making Ladakh a union territory. China lays claim over several parts of Ladakh.

China has unsuccessfully attempted to raise the issue in the UN after India announced its decision in August last year to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcate the state into two union territories.

In August, China pushed for a UNSC meeting on Kashmir after India's decision. However, the attempt was foiled by other member-states of the powerful body.

India's decisions on Kashmir had also cast a shadow over Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India in October last year for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, notwithstanding the acrimony over the issue between the two countries, Modi and Xi held "successful" talks in Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu.
 Flash

A total of 462,135 COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States as of 9 p.m. EST on Thursday (0100 GMT on Friday) with a death toll of 16,513, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The number of daily deaths in New York state broke record for the third straight day, with 799 people passing away from the pandemic on Wednesday.

"It's gotten to the point, frankly, that we're going to go into bringing additional funeral directors to deal with the number of people who have passed," said Governor Andrew Cuomo at his daily briefing on Thursday.

"I lived through 9/11. 9/11 was supposed to be the darkest day in New York for a generation," he continued. "We lose 2,753 lives on 9/11. We've lost over 7,000 lives to this crisis."

The governor said he would address the problem of racial disparities found in COVID-19 infection and deaths, starting with setting up five new testing sites in minority communities to collect information needed to come up with policies to fix it.

"Where do people live? Where do people work? What's the socioeconomic status? Where do they socialize? What are their previous health conditions? ... Let's understand it, but let's also address it," he said.

The governor also asked people in the state who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate blood, which may contain convalescent plasma with antibodies that could help with the development of a treatment for the virus.

In New York City, where death toll surged above 5,000, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday that current guidelines on working-from-home, school closures and social distancing may well be extended into May or even June.

The mayor said he would not loosen up restrictions unless there's sustained evidence of improvement, which requires continuing decreases of hospital admissions, ICU admissions and the percentage of people testing positive for at least ten days.

The pandemic continues to take a toll on the U.S. economy as newly released data showed that 6.6 million Americans filed initial jobless claims last week, bringing the three-week total to staggering 16.8 million.

In the week ending April 4, the number of people filing for U.S. unemployment benefits slightly decreased by 261,000 to 6,606,000, after setting a second straight record in the previous week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday.

"The very large spikes in weekly jobless claims, which were over 6 million for two consecutive months, suggests a much broader set of job closures in the short run," Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Indiana, told Xinhua via email.

"The very rapid adoption of shelter-in-place orders by U.S. governors is clearly causing a significant reduction in employment across the states implementing it," Hicks said.

Meanwhile, a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug, for the treatment of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 has begun in the country.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Thursday that the first participants have enrolled in the trial at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Tennessee.

The blinded, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial aims to enroll more than 500 adults who are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 or in an emergency department with anticipated hospitalization.

All participants in the study will continue to receive clinical care as indicated for their condition. Those randomized to the experimental intervention will also receive hydroxychloroquine, according to the NIH.

"Effective therapies for COVID-19 are urgently needed," said James Kiley, director of the Division of Lung Diseases of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

"Hydroxychloroquine has showed promise in a lab setting against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 and preliminary reports suggest potential efficacy in small studies with patients. However, we really need clinical trial data to determine whether hydroxychloroquine is effective and safe in treating COVID-19," he said.




By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department and other federal agencies on Thursday called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke China Telecom (Americas) Corp's authorization to provide international telecommunications services to and from the United States.

China Telecom is the U.S. subsidiary of a Peoples Republic of China (PRC) state-owned telecommunications company. Last year, two U.S. senators asked the FCC to review approvals of China Telecom and China Unicom to operate in the United States.

The FCC last May voted unanimously to deny another state-owned Chinese telecommunications company, China Mobile Ltd, the right to provide services in the United States, citing risks that the Chinese government could use the approval to conduct espionage against the U.S. government, It said then that it was "looking" at the licenses of China Telecom and China Unicom.

China Telecom (Americas) rejected the allegations and said it has "been extremely cooperative and transparent with regulators."

"In many instances, we have gone beyond what has been requested to demonstrate how our business operates and serves our customers following the highest international standards," the company said in a statement. "We look forward to sharing additional details to support our position and addressing any concerns."

China's foreign ministry said on Friday that Beijing is "firmly opposed" to any action by the United States against China Telecom.

"We urge the United States to respect market economy principles, to cease its mistaken practices of generalizing national security and politicizing economic issues, and to cease unjustifiable oppression of Chinese companies," Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters during a daily briefing.

China's telecommunications networks and companies have come under heightened scrutiny by U.S. agencies. An FCC spokeswoman said the agency "has been looking at this issue. We welcome the input of the executive branch agencies and will review it carefully."

Story continues

The agencies, including Homeland Security, Defense, State, Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, cited "substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecoms operations."

Those included concerns that China Telecom could be controlled or influenced by China's government. The agencies also said China Telecoms U.S. operations might allow Chinese government entities "to engage in malicious cyber activity enabling economic espionage and disruption and misrouting of U.S. communications."

In September, U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer and Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican, raised concerns that China Telecom and China Unicom "have access to our telephone lines, fiber optic cables, cellular networks and satellites in ways that could give it (China) the ability to target the content of communications of Americans or their businesses and the U.S. government."

On Wednesday, the FCC agreed to allow Alphabet Inc unit Google to use part of an U.S.-Asia undersea telecommunications cable.

Google agreed to operate only a portion of the 8,000-mile Pacific Light Cable Network System between the United States and Taiwan, but not Hong Kong. Google and Facebook Inc helped pay for construction of the now completed telecommunications link but U.S. regulators have blocked its use.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department said U.S. agencies believe "there is a significant risk that the grant of a direct cable connection between the United States and Hong Kong would seriously jeopardize the national security and law enforcement interests of the United States."

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
Eighteen-year-olds can vote for the first time in Korean history in the general election next week as the country falls in line with international practice.

The vote for those born on or before April 16, 2002 is expected to boost the younger generation's political clout in their communities.

To prevent the politicization of classrooms and better guide young voters, the National Election Commission initially planned to visit high schools to educate voters ahead of the election.

But the plan had to be shelved due to the coronavirus epidemic. Instead, they made videos on the voting process to provide students with needed information. The Education Ministry also shares election guidelines on the NEC's website.


On March 16, Dr. Vaggelis Sakkas and his small team of IVF specialists made the decision to temporarily close their practice, the Gyn Care IVF center at REA Maternity Hospital in central Athens, citing coronavirus fears. Unfortunately, we have stopped everything, Sakkas explained in a phone interview. The IVF unit, given that its not an emergency serviceits not a matter of life and deathcan wait. But for how long, nobody yet knows.

Around the world, medical teams and professionals are pivoting to the essential care of treating Covid-19 patients. In some places, physicians who recently retired are being called back to work to help ease overburdened healthcare systems. Medical students are being encouraged to graduate early and start treating Covid-19 patients. And non-essential procedures and therapies are being placed on hold while hospitals and medical centers allocate as many resources as possible to getting a hold on the outbreaks.

This makes perfect sense when you consider the potential difference between life and death. But in the case of IVF, it complicates the definition of an essential versus a non-essential treatment, even given the potential risks. For one, IVF is often a time-sensitive treatment. Without a clear timeframe, stopping or postponing treatment can be a devastating loss.

The coronavirus just underlines the nature of the problem, which [existed] before and is going to continue. When Sakkas had to tell his patients he was halting treatments, it was difficult, he said. But it could prove lifesaving. There are no studies, there is no evidence about what happens if you get [Covid-19] in the beginning of a pregnancy, he explained. Research so far on prenatal risk of coronavirus is murky. What we do have shows that there are no known negative effects on the baby if the mother is infected during the second or third trimester, but for women seeking to get pregnant now, theres no guaranteed protection for baby or mother in the case of an infection. Sakkas doesnt want to take unnecessary risks.

Story continues

Days after closing the center, he received the first sign that coronavirus might have a more lasting effect on IVF than he had initially thought. In a conversation with a patient whose pregnancy results came back negative, Sakkas said he urged her to keep trying once coronavirus risks subside. But her response left him wondering what the future of IVF will look like.

I tried to encourage her and [to] tell her, You do not have to surrender, and you have to continue in any case, Sakkas explained. His patient told him that although she would like to attempt another round, she wasnt sure she would be able to by the time the global pandemic cleared. So, its something that frightens everybody, he said.

Another type of crisis

In August 2018, Greece officially exited its almost decade-long financial crisis that ravaged the nation. Many people had put off child-bearing for a decade, causing birthrates in Greece to plummet. As a result, Greece saw a surge in patients seeking IVF treatment who experienced fertility issues related to conceiving in older age.

Today, the average age is really high just because many women said, Okay, lets wait to have another job, lets wait until the situation is more stable. So they waited and waited and waited and they arrived at 40, and they are having other problems, Sakkas said.

That was the fertility landscape prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. With this new global health threat, and another potential economic crisis looming, Sakkas and his colleagues wonder what this will mean for those who want to have children now, and how it will affect the IVF industry in the years to come.

According to Seraphim Seferiades, a professor of political science at the Panteion University in Athens, this new insecurity patients wishing to conceive in Greece face doesnt only come from the recent outbreak of coronavirus. Its an additional element in this situation, which makes it even worse than it otherwise would be, because the crisis has never really ended [here], he said. The coronavirus just underlines the nature of the problem, which [existed] before and is going to continue.

A new fertility frontier

Prior to the current global pandemic, medical tourism in Greece, which includes reproductive tourism, had been steadily on the rise. Over the past few years its seen a surge of business from foreign patientsmostly from neighboring European countries, but as far off as the US and Canada as wellseeking fertility service like egg freezing and IVF.

Several factors have led to this increase: low costs, highly skilled medical staff trained in cutting-edge technologies, complete donor anonymity, and high success rates.

For Zoe, who prefered to only use her first name, the choice to freeze her eggs in Greece came down to two things: The ease in accessing the service and the price tag. Originally from New York City, Zoe hadnt been considering freezing her eggs until a friend of hers decided to travel to Italy for the procedure, drawn by the lower costs there. Zoe, 35 at the time, was in Greece, and was curious, so she started researching prices in Athens.

It was a wake-up call for me, actually. Hearing a friend who was my age, considering her fertility [] it wasnt something that I had given much consideration in the past, she said. But then my friend was essentially an advertisement for just doing this thing as an insurance policy.

Another draw is Greeces liberal fertility legislation governing who can receive IVF treatmentthe country does not restrict IVF to couples, like several other European states doand what services are provided. The law in Greece, fortunately or unfortunately, allows us to do many things. The only limit for the time being is 50 years old, Sakkas explained. This provides more time to receive IFV treatment than some other European countries; the cut-off age for medical coverage of IVF in France is 42, for example. Another advantage to seeking IVF treatment in Greece is that by law two embryos can be implanted into the uterus of a patient under the age of 40, compared to a single embryo that most other countries allow in that age group, potentially increasing the likelihood of conception.

All of this progress, however, has come to a grinding halt, as countries continue to close their borders and strict social distancing protocols have been implemented across the globe due to coronavirus fears. These measures, along with the unknown risk factor, has ultimately affected both local residents and foreigners seeking IVF treatment in Greece.

Maybe someone will not invest now in [having children] if everything continues, so I think the problem is going to be worse, much worse, Sakkas said, referring to the uncertainty of how the Covid-19 pandemic will play out. A typical couple will keep their money in case one day they have a serious disease. I dont think they are going to spend or invest in IVF treatments now, if this continues.

Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief, our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news.

More stories from Quartz:
Glorious weather over Easter weekend has prompted officials in Sydney to erect a 'Great Wall of Bondi', with metal barriers put up across a popular coastal path.

Fearing thousands will descend on the area this weekend and try to access the closed beaches, the Bondi to Bronte walk is now covered in red tape and barriers.

But it didn't stop a thoughtless swimmer defying strict coronavirus lockdown laws, risking a $1,000 fine, as he crept behind Bondi Beach's closed barriers to take a morning dip.

His flagrant disregard for the rules came after health officials warned the long Easter weekend could be the make or break moment for Australia's COVID-19 success.

This was of little concern to the man, who was seen darting behind gates which read 'beach closed' to enjoy a swim in the sea all by himself.

Officials in Sydney have tried to erect a 'Great Wall of Bondi' (pictured on Friday) to stop people trying to access the closed beaches during the long Easter weekend

A swimmer is seen sneaking out of Bondi Beach on Friday morning (pictured) after enjoying a dip, despite the beach being strictly closed because of the coronavirus outbreak

Even coming armed with a towel, he then dried off before putting his running gear back on, all without being detected by police.

Temperatures over the weekend are set to reach 25C in Sydney, with sunshine and blue skies, leading authorities to fear even more people will defy the restrictions.

They are designed to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has killed more than 94,000 people worldwide.

In Brisbane, temperatures will hit a scorching 31C on Saturday, and 27C on Sunday, with its beaches also shut down because of COVID-19.

Cairns will hit 31C, while Perth will swelter in 36C heat on Saturday - which may prove too tempting for some beach-lovers.

The man was seen leaving the beach with a towel (pictured) on Friday morning and slipping around the barriers - which clearly state there is 'no access to beach or water'

The man (pictured) went to great lengths to go for a morning swim, despite Bondi Beach and its waters being closed to the public

Health Minister Greg Hunt said this weekend will be the ultimate test of Australia's strength against the virus.

'The virus does not take a holiday - therefore none of us can relax what we do,' he said on Thursday.

'This in many ways is the most important weekend we may face in the whole course of the virus.'

He told Australians to stay home and lock in 'the gains we've made as a nation' in the fight against coronavirus.

Bondi Beach has been closed indefinitely on March 28 for the first time since the Second World War, along with a dozen of Australia's most popular beaches.

A council worker is seen putting up red tape to try and stop swimmers and beachgoers defying COVID-19 restrictions on the popular Bondi to Bronte walk (pictured on Friday)

The man at Bondi Beach on Friday morning (pictured) was then seen putting his trainers back on after his morning dip

Officials were forced to take the unprecedented step after crowds of sun-seekers continued to flout social distancing rules designed to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Port Phillip Council in Melbourne has also shut all of its beaches indefinitely, including St Kilda and Brighton Beach.

A post on Surf Life Saving NSW's Facebook page explained all Randwick and Waverley beaches in Sydney's east would be closed.

This would include every beach from Bondi down to Coogee.

Public gatherings of more than two people have been banned under coronavirus restrictions, meaning Easter traditions such as egg hunts, Easter mass and family parties cannot go ahead.

But the new barriers were of little concern to some, with surfers spotted still finding a way to get to the waves (pictured on Friday)

The man (pictured) even went to the closed Bondi Beach armed with a towel so he could enjoy a swim - while millions have been ordered to stay at home

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

Holidaymakers have also been urged to cancel their travel plans and spend the weekend at home.

In Victoria, all beaches in Port Phillip are shut - with Mayor Bernadene Voss saying the difficult decision was taken after hundreds flouted social distancing rules.

Startling pictures showed groups of young people flouting social distancing guidelines to work on their tans, despite repeated calls for people to stay at home or maintain a 1.5m distance from one another.

It comes as the state's chief medical officer issued a stark warning that thousands of Australians could die if people continue to ignore the advice on social distancing.

Officials say that staying at home and avoiding spending time with people from outside of your household is the best way to stop COVID-19 spreading.

This means not going to the beach, not playing sport or even going round to a friend's house.

Surf Life Saving NSW said that it was taking the step in response to the government's social distancing orders.

Barriers have been erected all along the Bondi to Bronte walk, to try and stop people accessing the beaches with temperatures set to soar this weekend (pictured on Friday)

A worker is seen setting up the barriers at Gaerloch Reserve (pictured on Friday) which is along the popular Bondi to Bronte walk

Beachgoers are seen at Bondi Beach despite the threat of coronavirus on March 20. The beach has now been shut down indefinitely

NSW officials confirmed that the beaches were being closed 'until further notice'.

There are now no patrols of volunteer lifesavers on beaches across the state, as they try to protect their staff and the public from COVID-19.

Jet skis and rescue boats will continue to have a 'roving presence', with emergency callout teams on standby.

It comes as Australia's coronavirus death toll reached 51, with 6,109 recorded cases of the deadly respiratory disease.

Speaking about those who chose to defy coronavirus lockdown rules, Victoria's chief medical officer Dr Brett Sutton said their behaviour was 'really c**p'.

A cyclist is seen whizzing past the barriers erected on Sydney's popular east coast walking path (pictured on Friday)

Barriers were erected overnight to ensure the Easter long weekend doesn't see a spike in people defying laws and heading to the beach (pictured on Friday)

'Some of the behaviour today - when were asking people to stay home - has been really crap,' Dr Sutton wrote on March 28.

'Its hard to change habits and its hard to see dangers that arent apparent yet.

'But [it could mean] thousands of deaths. Overwhelmed health services. Medical staff at unacceptable risk. Unstoppable spread.

'Do the right thing now and stay at home. Today. Tomorrow. Until were through this, please.'
A New Jersey EMT has become the latest frontline healthcare worker to die of coronavirus.

Kevin Leiva, 24, passed away from complications caused by COVID-19 Tuesday - exactly a week after his 33-year-old co-worker Israel Tolentino Jr. also succumbed to the contagious virus.

Both Leiva and Tolentino Jr. worked at Saint Clare's Dover Hospital, where they risked exposing themselves to the coronavirus in order to care for others.

EMTs and other healthcare professionals have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with thousands of the frontline workers testing positive across the United States.

A recent Newsweek report claimed that over 100 doctors and nurses have died from virus worldwide since the outbreak began in China late last year.

New Jersey EMT Kevin Leiva, 24, passed away from complications caused by COVID-19 Tuesday

On Thursday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy paid tribute to Leiva, who leaves behind his devastated wife, Marina.

'Kevin was only 24 years old. We thank him for his service to our state and our families. We will not forget him,' Murphy wrote on Twitter.

The dutiful EMT had been working at Saint Clare's Dover Hospital for more than two years.

His work partner, Kara Connolly, told NewJersey.com that Leiva was 'selfless' and 'did everything for everybody'.

'He was always known as super funny and positive and hard-working,' she added.

Leiva will be honored with a candlelight vigil at the EMS headquarters in Passaic Friday evening.

Leiva's death comes just a week after fellow EMT Israel Tolentino Jr. (pictured) also succumbed to the virus

Meanwhile, Israel Tolentino Jr. has also been given a rousing sendoff in Passaic following his death last Tuesday.

A day after his death, Passaic EMS held a candlelight vigil for Tolentino outside the home he shared with his wife Maria, and their two young children.

Passaic Mayor Hector Lora paid tribute to Tolentino, who also worked as a local firefighter.

'Tolentino courageously fought this illness but succumbed to complications from the COVID-19,' Lora stated.

'He was very dedicated to this city. Israel was a great firefighter, person, husband, son and father.

New Jersey is currently struggling in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and is second only to New York in the number of cases and deaths.

As of Thursday evening, more than 51,000 New Jersey residents have tested positive to COVID-19, and 1,700 have died.

New Jersey is currently struggling in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and is only second only to New York in the number of cases and deaths. A testing site in the state is seen last week
The coronavirus pandemic has largely shut down non-essential businesses and travel across most of the United States, and Americans are staying at home to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Sports events, concerts, festivals, museums, theme parks, and other attractions are on hold or closed; airports are turning into ghost towns; some hotels are being turned into temporary hospitals for cities hit the hardest; and some schools, including in New York state, canceled April break to continue at-home learning. Many families have had to cancel or postpone trips, and its not entirely clear when they may get to reschedule them, especially as unemployment skyrockets and stimulus packages attempt to provide economic support.

But that doesnt mean we still cant have fun. Lets take a virtual vacation -- for free!

Here are 11 fun things you can do while staying at home:

1. Disney World rides on YouTube

The YouTube channel Virtual Disney World shows interactive videos of rides at Disney World, Disney Land and Universal Studios, which are all currently closed. You can get a 360-degree view of what its like to be on the Toy Story Slinky Dog Dash, the Star Wars Millenium Falcon Smugglers Run, Space Mountain and others -- bonus points if you can have someone spray you with a water bottle during Splash Mountain for a 4-D experience.

2. Museum tours

Add a little culture to your staycation by touring some of the 2500 museums and galleries available from Google Arts & Culture. Browse the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Guggenheim in New York City or the Musee dOrsay in Paris, all from your couch. Visit https://artsandculture.google.com/partner for the list.

Other museums have their own virtual tours, like the gorgeous walk-through at the Sistine Chapel in Italy, a chance to meet Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, and the educational Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

3. Visit a state or national park

Sure, you may be able to safely visit some New York state parks while social distancing, but the safest way is to take a 360-degree virtual tour at nystateparkstours.com. Or check out national parks like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Virgin Islands and more through interactive photos and webcams at https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/take-virtual-visit-national-park.

4. See a show

Many musicians are doing livestreams from their homes, so check out your favorite artists social media channels. You can also check out performances of Broadway shows (free seven-day trial); dance in Club Quarantine with DJ D-Nice or on Twitch with Diplo; or watch free The Met performances at The Metropolitan Opera. If you want to feel like youre experiencing it with your friends, try searching for 360 degree festival or 360 degree concert on YouTube, and walk around the crowds.

5. Look at art up close

CNN recommends getting a more immersive art experience online, such as Kusamas hypnotic Infinity mirrors, close-ups of Van Goghs Starry Starry Night, or a Google Street View look at Banksy murals.

6. Go to the zoo

Yes, animals can catch coronavirus, so its best to continue social distancing by seeing your favorite animals from home. Check out live web cams of the panda exhibit at the Edinburgh Zoo, elephants at the Houston Zoo, sea lions at the Bronx Zoo, penguins at the San Diego Zoo, piranhas at the Georgia Aquarium, and snow leopards at Zoos Victoria in Australia.

7. Breathtaking views

See what the world looks like from some amazing vantage points, such as the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal in India, Machu Picchu in Peru, the top of the Empire State Building in New York, and Lake Tahoe in Nevada/California.

8. Statue of Liberty

Scholastic offers an interactive tour of Ellis Island with photos, audio and more. You can also take a virtual tour of the National Museum of Immigration, where more than 40 percent of Americans can trace their family history, or go inside the Statue of Liberty on nearby Liberty Island.

9. Go scuba diving

Put on a swimsuit and surf the 'net with a 360-degree scuba diving experience on YouTube. Check out Palaus vibrant corals and colorful fish, no snorkel needed.

10. Guided city tours

Lifehacker recommends guided city tours of places around the world. Search for 360 video city tour on YouTube, and youll get to see Big Ben in London, England; Buddhist temples in Bangkok, Thailand; and the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, Italy. (If you have virtual reality goggles, you can also search VR video city tour for an immersive experience.)

11. Virtual field trips

Since schools are closed and parents are teaching their children at home, Kids Activities Blog has put together a great list of virtual field trips to add some fun to the educational experience. Take the whole family on a digital ride to learn about Ancient Greece, Easter Island, Antarctica, and the Amazon Rainforest. Heck, you can even see the Mount St. Helens volcano, go on an African safari, walk through Egyptian pyramids, or visit Mars.

* * * * *

Notes: Like a real vacation, dont try and do everything in one day. Spread it out. Add to the experience by dressing up like a tourist -- put on sunglasses and a beach hat -- and take a selfie. Try cooking something unique at home to add to the experience. Make some crafts for a souvenir.
Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh (Photo: moit.gov.vn)

On the agreement, the EU official said the European Council on March 30 passed the EVFTA and by so doing, the EU officially completed its internal procedures for the deal to take effect.

Minister Anh said the dossiers for the ratification of the deal have been submitted by the government to the state President to consider submitting it to the National Assembly for discussion and ratification right in its session in May. With this pace, both sides hope the EVFTA will officially take effect in July.

The minister further added that the Vietnamese government has drafted a plan on the implementation of the deal. After the ratification of the agreement by the National Assembly, the draft plan will be amended and perfected so that the Prime Minister can officially sign it for circulation.

The two also exchanged views on bilateral trade and cooperation within the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

They agreed to exert further efforts to boost trade in the context of the complicated development of the COVID-19. On the cooperation within the framework of the WTO, the two sides agreed to closely coordinate with each other to boost ideas on the reforms of the WTO, especially the improvement of the efficiency of the mechanism on dispute settlement which is a focus of attention of all the WTO members.
Baker Hughes reported on Thursday that the number of oil and gas rigs in the US fell again this week by 62, falling to 602, with the total oil and gas rigs clocking in at 420 fewer than this time last year.

Over the last four weeks, oil and gas rigs combined have shed a total of 190 rigs.

The number of oil rigs decreased for the week by 58 rigs, according to Baker Hughes data, bringing the total to 504a 329-rig loss year over year. It is the fewest number of active oil rigs since December 2016.

The total number of active gas rigs in the United States fell by 4 according to the report, to 96. This compares to 189 a year ago.

After holding steady for the better part of this year so far, the steep downward trajectory of the active rig count over the last four weeks indicates that the widespread stay-at-home orders that have decimated oil demand has finally spilled over into the number of rigs.

The EIAs estimate for the week is that oil production in the United States fell to 12.4 million barrels of oil per day on average this week, which is 600,000 bpd off the all-time high. It is the lowest production level since September last year.

The number of rigs in the most prolific basin, the Permian, fell by 35 this week to 316, compared to 464 rigs one year ago. This is the fewest number of active oil rigs in the basin since March 2017.

The WTI benchmark at 10:35 am was trading at $22.76 (-9.9%) per barrelroughly $4 less than last week levels despite OPEC reaching a deal to cut oil production by 10 million bpd.

The Brent benchmark was trading at $32.48 (-4.14%)down by just over $1 per barrel from last weeks levels.

Canadas overall rig count decreased by 6 rigs as well this week, to a total of just 35 rigs. Oil and gas rigs in Canada are now down 31 year on year.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Everyone has three extra months to pay federal income taxes because of the financial pain caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But what about the real estate taxes on your home? Any flexibility on paying those?

Maybe. It depends on where you live, since property tax payments are governed by a patchwork of state and local rules.

Extra time to pay could help people struggling with furloughs or layoffs. The average property tax bill on a single-family home in 2019 was about $3,600, but average bills are three to five times higher in some areas of the country, including parts of New York, New Jersey and California, according to Attom Data Solutions, which tracks property trends.

Its generally harder for local governments to postpone tax payments because they rely on the money  usually paid in lump sums once or twice a year  to finance essential services. And while the federal government has vast financing power, counties, cities and towns have limited reserves of cash and credit to fill budget gaps.
Second, leaders probably worried that canceling the port call could damage relations with Vietnam. Approval for the aircraft carrier's visit required a consensus among Vietnam's 19-member Politburo. Vietnamese officials had reported that there were only 16 coronavirus cases in the country, all well north of the port. Keeping the port call on the roster signaled U.S. officials' trust in their Vietnamese counterparts.

Canceling the port call would also be an economic loss for Vietnam and cause potential damage to the bilateral relationship. Port calls often bring in millions of dollars to the host country, as sailors disembark and support the local economy.

A third factor may have been morale on the Roosevelt. Port visits - perhaps once a month - are one of the few bright spots for sailors deployed at sea for eight or nine months. Seven days a week, sailors work eight- to 10-hour shifts fixing engines and computers, tracking aircraft and ships, or making meals. After about 30 days at sea, an aircraft carrier will pull into port for four days. Of those four days, a sailor is free for three. The loss of a port visit and another 30 days at sea without respite can be tough on a ship's crew.

3.This was U.S.-Indo Pacific Command's decision, not Crozier's.
The agency had received information on Thursday about the location of Wadhawans at a government quarantine centre in Panchgani.

New Delhi: The CBI has asked the Satara district authorities not to release DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan and RKW Developers promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan, both facing non-bailable warrants in a case against former Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor, from a government COVID-19 quarantine facility without an NOC from the agency, officials said on Friday.

The two Wadhawan brothers are named as accused in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR pertaining to swindling of money by Kapoor and others, the officials said.

Both Kapil and Dheeraj were absconding since the case was registered against them on 7 March, prompting the CBI to get non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against them from a special court, they added.

The CBI had received information on Thursday about their location at a government quarantine centre in Panchgani in Maharashtra''s Satara district, following which it sent an e-mail to the district magistrate, asking him to not release the brothers without a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the agency, the officials said.

The Wadhawans were detained at Mahabaleshwar in Satara district on Thursday for violating prohibitory orders amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown, police said.

Their travel was allegedly facilitated by Maharashtra''s Principal Secretary (Special) Amitabh Gupta, who had issued a letter exempting them from the lockdown norms, citing a family emergency.

Gupta was sent on compulsory leave by the Maharashtra government after the letter became public.

According to local police officials, the Wadhawan family, along with others, travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday evening in their cars, even though both the districts of Pune and Satara have been sealed in view of the lockdown imposed to check the spread of the coronavirus.

The Wadhawans were spotted at their "Diwan farmhouse" by civic authorities, officials said.

The police had found 23 people, including members of the Wadhawan family, at the farmhouse, an official said.

The CBI had carried out searches at the premises of the accused on 9 March, but both were not there.

Subsequently, the agency had issued a summons, asking them to be present before the investigation officer, but they did not join the probe.

On 17 March, the NBWs were issued by the special CBI judge, Mumbai against Kapil and Dheeraj.

"Even after the issuance of the NBWs, they have not appeared before the CBI or the court," an official said.

The CBI has alleged that Kapoor (62) entered into a criminal conspiracy with the Wadhawans for extending financial assistance to DHFL through Yes Bank in return for substantial undue benefits to himself and his family members through companies held by them, officials said.

According to the CBI FIR, the alleged scam started taking shape between April and June, 2018, when Yes Bank invested Rs 3,700 crore in short-term debentures of the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL).

In return, the Wadhawans allegedly paid kickbacks of Rs 600 crore to Kapoor and his family members in the form of a loan to DoIT Urban Ventures (India) Pvt Ltd, held by Kapoor''s wife and daughters, officials said.

DHFL is already facing a separate probe for allegedly siphoning off Rs 31,000 crore out of total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore, using shell companies.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 20:36:34|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Customs officers ask and record information of inbound passengers at the Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, March 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

The decision was made as Beijing is now under pressure to guard against a rebound of locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases as well as imported cases.



BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- All arrivals to Beijing who need to stay at hotels must provide a nucleic acid test certificate from April 12, local authorities said Friday.

People entering the capital city who need to stay at hotels should hold a health certificate verifying a negative local nucleic acid test within seven days, as well as a health code to prove they are free of COVID-19, Zhou Weiming, an official with Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, told a press briefing on epidemic prevention and control.

Hotels should also strictly follow epidemic prevention and control rules, including checking the health certificate provided by guests, supervising the check-in information, conducting morning and evening temperature tests on guests, and paying close attention to their health status.

The decision was made as Beijing is now under pressure to guard against a rebound of locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases as well as imported cases, Zhou said.

Beijing reported no new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. As of Thursday, 172 imported cases had been reported in the city, of which 66 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery. 
I was having trouble getting into my phone. I kept having to punch in the code, which I seldom do. What the . . .? Oh, yeah: I was wearing a mask. And my phone is set up for face recognition.

I guess the masks are working. And the smartphones, too.

 Now and then, you witness someones psychotic moment. In public. It can be very embarrassing  even for you, the witness, I mean. In a park, a man rode by me very fast, on a bike. He was screaming at Siri. I mean, screaming, psychotically, and calling her the worst names in the book. One, in particular: the C-word.

That is the worst word in the English language  although you could argue that the N-word is (at least in America, given our history).

A few months ago, I read about a father who encouraged politeness in his children. Who, in fact, demanded it. This extended to saying please and thank you to Siri, which I loved.

 You have read about Captain Brett Crozier, who was relieved of his command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier. Everyone is talking about him, including officials. Bad-mouthing him. I would like to hear his side of the story.

Did he sacrifice his career in order to get help to his crew? To sailors who were under attack from the coronavirus?

I have heard Crozier talked about. I would like to hear from the officer himself, as soon as he is free to talk, which may not be soon.

Defenders of the administration tend to be very tough on him. These are the same people, by and large, who defend Eddie Gallagher, the exNavy SEAL (who has hit the #MAGA circuit, to rapturous applause).

These are all signs of our times.

 Paul Broun is a Republican from Georgia who once served in Congress. He is running again. To that end, he is giving away an AR-15. Whether its looting hordes from Atlanta or a tyrannical government in Washington, says Broun, there are few better liberty machines than an AR-15. And he is giving away such a liberty machine to one lucky person who signs up for e-mail updates from the candidates website.

Story continues

I think back to the early 2000s, when liberty fries replaced French fries in the mouths of some. (Liberty kissing, instead of French kissing?) (Sounds pretty good, actually.)

What do you think of looting hordes from Atlanta? Legitimate concern? Or . . . something else?

 It is in the interest of various parties to sweep the Khashoggi murder under the rug. President Trump recently referred to the Saudi boss as my friend MBS. One person who is not having it is Fred Hiatt, who edited Jamal Khashoggi at the Washington Post. Good for Hiatt. To see his column on the matter, go here.

Here, incidentally, is a podcast I did with Ben Hubbard, the Beirut bureau chief of the New York Times. He is the author of the new book MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman.

 I have talked about veepstakes before and dont mean to bore you, but . . . A lot of people are bullish on Senator Kamala Harris as a running mate for Biden. This article in the Post is headed The 11 most logical picks for Joe Bidens vice president, ranked. The No. 1 pick is Harris.

She has political assets, to be sure. But I also think of this: How did she fare in her presidential campaign? Not very well, despite big expectations for her campaign at the outset. She did not even make it to Iowa. She could not even limp to the starting gate.

So, what does that say about her appeal on the campaign trail?

(True, running mates seldom make a difference anyway. The year 1960  Kennedy-Johnson  is the exception that proves the rule.)

 I have been reading about Covid-19 truthers. I suppose there will always be truthers, for every big and bad thing: the Kennedy assassination, 9/11. Have truthers always been with us? In antiquity, lets say? I should consult Gibbon et al.

 Speaking of which, or speaking of whom: On Tuesday, I published a piece called Staggering Cornucopias: On books to read and music to listen to  or not. Let me quote a quick bit, then quote you something else:

Moving to non-fiction, have you ever read the Decline and Fall? By acclamation, one of the greatest works of history ever written? For decades, I have owned an abridged, one-volume edition. I have read in it, but not through it. Someday?

George Will says that we should not miss Gibbon. Read his history, including the footnotes, where his wit shines. Exhibit A: the footnote on giraffes.

So, I looked it up:

Commodus killed a camelopardalis or Giraffe, the tallest, the most gentle, and the most useless of the large quadrupeds. This singular animal, a native only of the interior parts of Africa, has not been seen in Europe since the revival of letters; and though M. de Buffon (Hist. Naturelle, tom. xiii.) has endeavored to describe, he has not ventured to delineate, the Giraffe.

Ha, that is good.

 A phrase occurs to me: heroic philanthropy. Did you see this news about Bill Gates? Ill do a little quoting:

Bill Gates said his foundation will spend billions of dollars to fund the construction of factories for the most promising efforts to develop a vaccine to combat the novel coronavirus. Mr. Gates . . . said [the foundation] will work with seven makers of a possible vaccine to build these factories. Mr. Gates . . . acknowledged that billions of dollars would be wasted on vaccines that wont pan out. Our early money can accelerate things, Mr. Gates said. Even though well end up picking at most two of them, were going to fund factories for all seven, just so that we dont waste time in serially saying which vaccine works and then building the factory.

I was thinking Presidential Medal of Freedom. But Gates has already received it  from Obama. And yet a person can receive more than one Presidential Medal of Freedom. Colin Powell has, and so did Ellsworth Bunker.

Maybe Gates needs, or deserves, another one.

 This obit is headed E. Margaret Burbidge, Astronomer Who Blazed Trails on Earth, Dies at 100. (Excellent title, right?) The subheading is, She was denied access to a telescope because of her sex, but Dr. Burbidge forged ahead anyway, going on to make pathbreaking discoveries about the cosmos.

The whole obit is highly interesting, but let me excerpt a single part:

Dr. Burbidge made headlines in the early 1970s when she refused a prize, the Annie Jump Cannon Award. Presented by the American Astronomical Society, it is earmarked for women. If my strong feeling is against any kind of discrimination, she told Science magazine in 1991, I have to stretch that to include discrimination for women too.

I think of Edward MacDowell from time to time. He was an American composer of the late 19th century  when classical music in our country was first getting going. His most famous piece, probably, is To a Wild Rose. (Played at my first piano teachers wedding!)

Once, MacDowell was invited to participate in a concert of American music. In other words, the organizers wanted to have a piece or two by him performed. He said no. He was happy to have his music performed, of course. What composer wouldnt be? But he did not want it to be performed on the basis of its composers nationality. That made him uncomfortable.

(I have written about this issue at slightly greater length at The New Criterion, here.)

 I learned something last year, and have relearned it in recent days. It kind of shocks me. The name Karen has become a terrible putdown. Karen stands for a middle-aged lady, I guess, who is judgmental and altogether dislikable.

What the [rhymes with luck]? Why pick on the name Karen? I have known wonderful Karens and feel defensive of them. To turn someones name into a slur is pretty rotten.

 Tell you something funny  or possibly funny. The other day, I looked up someone on Twitter. Wanted to cite him, or tag him. Found that I had blocked him. Could not remember why. Went to unblock him. But then I thought of Chestertons fence . . .

(Men come across a fence, erected long ago. Theyre about to knock it down. But then they realize that their predecessors must have put it up for a reason. Think twice, before knocking it down!)

 Walked past a man who was talking on his phone. Must have been talking to a high-school senior, or perhaps a seniors parent. The man was saying, What you dont want to do is go to MIT and get a C average.

I thought this was flat wrong (not that anyone asked me). (Yes, go to a great and exacting institution and get a C average.) (Id do it myself, if MIT let me in, which they shouldnt.)

 End with a little music? I dont know a more wonderful video  not at the moment  than this one. A very small boy grooves to the music, big-time. Thank you for joining me, everyone, and talk to you soon.

If youd like to receive Impromptus by e-mail  links to new columns  write to jnordlinger@nationalreview.com.

More from National Review
Bangladeshi officials have imposed a lockdown in a southeastern district where more than a million Rohingya refugees live in cramped camps, in a move to contain the coronavirus pandemic, as the nation recorded its highest daily spike in confirmed cases.

Bangladeshi authorities meanwhile on Thursday confirmed 112 new cases of the pneumonia-like disease and one death from it. That took the national tally to 330 cases and 21 deaths since the first case was detected in the country of 165 million people early last month.

For the public interest, Coxs Bazar has been declared on lockdown, Md. Kamal Hossain, the districts deputy commissioner, announced on his Facebook page, referring to the district that borders Myanmars Rakhine state, home of the stateless Rohingya.

He said his office had decided to also seal off the refugee camps in Ukhia and Teknaf sub-districts a day after authorities announced the lockdown, which restricts movements.

No one, other than the designated persons, will be allowed to enter or come out of the 34 camps, Hossain told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. We have taken this decision to stop the spread of coronavirus infections at the camps.

Authorities made the move a day after officials sealed off the industrial city of Narayanganj and more than 50 neighborhoods in nearby Dhaka, the capital, to contain the pandemic.

About 740,000 Rohingya from Rakhine state fled their homes, beginning in August 2017, after Myanmars military launched a brutal offensive in response to deadly attacks by a rebel group on government security posts. The Rohingya who crossed the border into Bangladesh joined hundreds of thousands of other Rohingya at camps in Coxs Bazar who had previously fled Myanmar.

We have been trying to make the Rohingya understand that the coronavirus is fatal, Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya leader living at the no-mans land in Konarpara along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, told BenarNews.

This can cause death. So, let us stay at home.

Md. Iqbal Hossain, an additional superintendent of police in Coxs Bazar district, said they police had established more checkpoints after the lockdown.

We have intensified patrols and vigils around the camp, so that no Rohingya can get out of the camps or no foreigner or aid workers can enter without permission, he said.

We have reports that a section of the Rohingya refugees, especially those who live closer to the border, maintain back and forth clandestine movement between the camps and Myanmar, Hossain told BenarNews. They can bring in infection, too.

He said about 1.2 million Rohingya were housed in makeshift homes in Ukhia and Teknaf refugee camps.

As of Thursday, only one coronavirus infection had been detected in Coxs Bazar, Kamal Hossain, the deputy commissioner, told BenarNews, without elaborating.

The Rohingya people live in close contact [among each other]. They are very vulnerable to coronavirus infections. They can easily get contracted with the virus if any of the aid workers serving the camps carried the virus. So lockdown is the best solution, he said. We want to keep them safe.

Hossain did not reveal the duration of the lockdown, but said anyone caught violating the order would be prosecuted.

Mohammad Shamsu Douza, an additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told BenarNews on Thursday that health authorities had placed 42 Rohingya refugees under quarantine, but 12 of them had been cleared after showing no symptoms within the observation period.

Rights groups had earlier expressed concern about the possible outbreak of COVID-19 in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

In an April 6 statement, Amnesty International warned that the overcrowded camps were being left behind in the humanitarian response to the pandemic, which could have devastating consequences for the Rohingya refugees, whose extended families jam into tarpaulin shelters with mud floors.

Basic, accurate information about the illness and measures to prevent its spread is failing to reach many people in the camps, Amnesty said, underscoring poor access to information since Dhaka authorities restricted access to telecommunications in the camps in September last year.

Local reports said limited mobile internet access had elevated the sense of panic among the refugees, allowing rumors to flourish.

Saikat Biswas, spokesman for the Inter-Sector Coordination Group, which coordinates the humanitarian agencies serving Rohingya refugees in Coxs Bazar, said that only emergency activities, including deliveries of food, water and medical services, were allowed as a result of the lockdown.

Only the foreigners involved in the emergency services are allowed to go inside the camp, he told BenarNews. The number of both local and foreign workers, serving the U.N. and other agencies, for entry into the camp has been reduced.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.
The Lost Art Of Listening: The Song Sommelier Manifesto [Volume 5]

In this fifth and final segment of the Lost Art of Listening, The Song Sommelier share their music manifesto for discovering and experiencing recorded music.

Guest post by The Song Sommelier of dlmdd

I was inspired to write something about modern day music listening and how the streaming era has changed it for good. But others have already written it better. Rachel Aments recent piece in the Paris Review How To Really Listen To Music (not anything as preachy as the title suggests) was a first rate digest on the scholarly works of others, that have focused on how to broaden the mind to new genres, and focus on specific aspects of the music (rhythm, lyrics, melody). Its an excellent summary that will make you think about what a pleasure music is, if only wed stop for a moment to really enjoy it.

Ive also been working my way through Dave Hepworths books  but in particular A Fabulous Creation, which is a thrilling journey through the L.P.s golden years  beginning with The Beatles Sgt. Pepper and ending with Thriller. But the book is steeped in wisdom and appreciation of just how cultural trends shift  nudged or rammed by changes in product technology that can unlock latent demand and give us new ways to consume. In the case of the L.P. the technology enabled consumers to identify with the artist as creators of true bodies of work. What had gone before was all about the single song.

In the music industry, there is a lot of rumination on streamings disruptive effects, yet In so many ways, streaming has done little but bring us full circle.

The song is once again all dominant

 as it was in the years before Columbia Records first created the L.P. in 1948. What streaming has done, is scaled the volume of recordings into infinity. With access to everything we are both spoiled and punch drunk. Thats the challenge for artists and those that work with them and on their behalf. In all the abundance, how can my work really matter? And for us fans, who can we really get behind?

Dont get me wrong, this is the best time to be a music fan in many, many ways. Yet, almost everyone I speak with about this has some issues with their current relationship with music. Some feel they are not discovering enough thats new, even in these days of personalised algorithmic recommendations. Others feel like they are missing out on the familiarity needed to deeply enjoy music, which after all requires repetition as a critical part of the process. Mostly, we want context and we want connection  we need the reason to listen.

These are both good and bad times for music  a pivotal point in its history, no less. There is borderless entry into the music industry for artists. Unprecedented access to all music for listeners. Money back in the bank for labels and publishers. Huge valuations for music distributors. But contrast that with low remuneration for the vast majority of artists. Disproportionately so for songwriters. A crisis for music journalism. A crisis of mental health for musicians even in the highest echelons. At best a contradictory, at worst dysfunctional, ecosystem. There is a looming crisis when it comes to musics value. The COVID-19 outbreak this year has exposed this  abruptly halting the artists number one revenue source  live performance.

We think a manifesto is whats needed for the music industry. Thats what music artists do when they create at their best  they work to a manifesto. Take Harry Styles. It seems to us he has a manifesto. Hatching from the worlds biggest ever boy band, he is meticulously crafting pop music inspired from a hay day when hits and albums mattered and music could appeal to every member of the household. When pop music actually popped. Angel Olsen has a manifesto. She is refashioning the role of the troubadour. Sam Fender has a manifesto. He is bringing back classic blue collar rock music, all the way from South Shields via New Jersey. Charli XCX has a manifesto. She is taking pop music back to the future (specifically 1999). The 1975 has a manifesto. They are tapping into the 80s when pop mashed up tunes with experiments, but packing the music into messages relevant to right now.

You get the idea. The most successful creatives work to a manifesto.

We think labels should have a manifesto. And streaming services. And radio stations. And music magazines. We think listeners should too. We each need our own way of dealing with the assault on our senses, the tyranny of choice and the endless variety, without defaulting to 1000 albums to hear before we die or Songs To Sing In The Shower. Well never get through them all anyhow! And besides, you should take cold showers!

So, weve written our own manifesto for The Song Sommelier. You can read it below. Not to be too grandstanding or anything like that. We base it on some modest principles: The laws of the universe, basically. All three of them.

Order. Exchange, and Place.

In terms of order, we want to explore musics lineage better. We eschew the notion of new music vs. catalogue. Our playlists feature the apprentices  some of them prodigious, others just rookies with the potential to become great. And the masters  some still with us, some gone. Some retired and some experiencing yet another creative peak.

When it comes to exchange, we want to encourage a dialogue of equals between artists with legacy and those starting out in life. What can they learn from each other, and what can they generate thats new and exciting from this dialogue. How should we, the fans interpret and enjoy it?

For a sense of place, we want to bring context. The stories behind the songs, albums and playlists from the point of view of the listener. And from the point of view of the creators, where do they see their own place? What is guitar music is todays music landscape? Where did a scene come from, emerge, blossom and then fade  only to always be revived in some form? We want to bring out these stories to contextualise the music wherever possible. To quote Zane Lowe: Its not so much about when you listen but how you listen.

OUR MANIFESTO IS THAT MUSIC IS LIKE FINE WINE. ITS ALMOST ALWAYS BETTER WHEN DISCOVERED THROUGH PERSONAL RECOMMENDATION OR VIA A FASCINATING STORY WELL TOLD. WE MISS STARING AT THE COVER WHILE THE SONGS PLAY, AND READING ABOUT HOW THE MUSIC WAS MADE. SO, WE BRING IT ALL TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE UNDER OUR CURATION BRAND THE SONG SOMMELIER. ORIGINAL ARTWORK, PERSONAL SLEEVE NOTES BY THE CURATOR, AND PLAYLISTS THAT TAKE TIME, THOUGHT AND PASSION TO PUT TOGETHER (THOUGH NOT AS LONG AS IT TAKES THE ARTISTS TO MAKE THE SONGS!). OUR EVENTS AND PODCASTS WILL BRING NEW DIALOGUE TO THE TABLE. BUT IT WILL BE ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC. WE LEAVE THE ALGORITHMS TO THE ROBOTS AND FOCUS ON THE ART. WE JUST WANNA BRING VINYL VALUES TO PLAYLISTS.

Share on:
Adult Use/Recreational Marihuana Town Hall Adult Use/Recreational Marihuana Town Hall Multistreaming with https://restream.io/?ref=1vNBG Posted by The City of Kalamazoo, Michigan on Thursday, April 9, 2020

KALAMAZOO, MI  The city of Kalamazoo is taking some time to consider how to best move forward on the issue of recreational marijuana businesses, while working to craft regulations to help people previously hurt by the war on drugs, and remove barriers for people impacted in the past to enter the industry.

Three members of the Kalamazoo City Commission and other city officials sat on a panel to discuss the citys draft regulations for recreational marijuana businesses with members of the public during a virtual town hall meeting on April 9, held on the Zoom platform.

Mayor David Anderson said the commission previously set a deadline in June to approve a recreational marijuana business ordinance, and is still working to meet it, despite changes to the process brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

Were actually trying to the best of our ability to meet that deadline, but things can change, Anderson said at the virtual meeting, held on the Zoom platform. A delay could happen if the city receives a lot of community input and decide they need to change things, he said.

Related: Kalamazoo delays option to allow recreational marijuana businesses until June

The discussion focused on two separate parts of the draft regulations, a zoning ordinance and a social equity policy to coincides with it.

The Kalamazoo City Commission is still talking about its options months after other Michigan communities allowed marijuana businesses to open.

We wanted to be as thoughtful as we could on social equity, Anderson said. In addition, this is a brand new thing."

Commissioner Eric Cunningham said he wants to ensure the people who get into the industry have been disproportionately impacted in the past, he said.

If there are so many applications coming in, how do we get to those who have been arrested, or who have had these negative impacts on the industry against them? How do we ensure they are at the table? Cunningham said.

The draft social equity plan includes reductions in the cost of city licensing fees for certain businesses, with discounts in licensing fees for businesses owned by residents in Eastside, Edison, and Northside neighborhoods, and residents with a marijuana conviction not involving distribution to a minor.

A slide from the city of Kalamazoo's presentation about the draft version of a social equity policy for recreational marijuana businesses.

The draft social equity policy also states the city will use a minimum of 25% of fees and tax generated revenue to support programs including a business incubator to help people of color prepare for ownership/operations of marijuana establishments, down payment assistance for those negatively impacted by the war on drugs, community outreach and education on marijuana related topics, and blight elimination.

Cunningham called the social equity piece important and vital, and said the city has been taking time to study what others are doing that works to put together the best plan for Kalamazoo.

He talked about the opportunity to bring in a completely new industry.

In 100 years when we look back, well be able to see what worked and what didnt. I think its very vital we dont take the shotgun approach on this and just rush into this opportunity, Cunningham said.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director Dorla Bonner asked people to email questions to townhall@kalamazoo.org.

We want to make sure we have a good dialog and we all leave here with a good understanding, Bonner said.

Zoning ordinance

Kalamazoo City Planner Christina Anderson said marijuana businesses need to be incorporated into the citys zoning ordinances in order for the businesses to be opened.

The city is considering allowing several categories of recreational marijuana businesses that align with other categories already allowed under medial marijuana rules, she said. Those categories include: grower, processor, safety compliance facility, secure transporter, and retailers.

The draft zoning ordinance also includes three categories that arent like medical businesses currently allowed in Kalamazoo:

Microbusiness - A one-stop shop establishment, Christina Anderson said, that allow growing of up to 150 plants, processing at the site, and sale at the site.

Excess grower - A license that slows a grower to increase capacity.

Designated consumption lounge - A commercial business that allows for consumption on site but does not allow sale on site, Christina Anderson said.

The draft zoning standards were created using feedback and an exhaustive review of other city codes, Commissioner Chris Praedel said.

The amount of interest has been impressive, he said. He thanked business owners who want to enter the recreational marijuana space, as well as users, for their patience.

City Attorney Clyde Robinson also attended the virtual town hall and answered legal questions about the process.

The meeting did not have a quorum of officials, and officials did not take verbal questions. Instead, comments came in under the live video, in the Facebook comments section, and via phone messages and emails to the city. Deputy City Manager Jeff Chamberlain read comments coming in during the meeting, though he said he did not get to every question.

For more details on the draft plans, visit kalamazoocity.org/adultusemarihuana. Watch the video below for more information about the draft plans:

The city gathered public feedback through two meetings held in February before creating draft zoning, licensing, and social equity elements currently under review, the city said. The coronavirus pandemic caused the city to shift the process for the recreational marijuana issue.

Citizens can continue to give input on the ordinance, city officials said.

We need active community participation, David Anderson said.

The meeting ended at 7:37 p.m.

The zoning ordinance related to adult use marijuana is scheduled to be presented for first reading by the Planning Commission at a virtual meeting at 7 p.m. on April 15. Details on how to participate will be shared before the meeting, officials said.

Product at Pharmhouse Wellness, a medical marijuana dispensary, is photographed in Grand Rapids on Friday, March 20, 2020. (Anntaninna Biondo | MLive.com)Anntaninna Biondo | MLive.com

Read more:

Cannabis lounges, retail stores allowed in proposed Kalamazoo zoning

Coronavirus outbreak could delay city action on marijuana sales in Kalamazoo

Internet trolls spew profanity, racial slurs during first virtual Kalamazoo city meeting

Kalamazoo Townships first recreational marijuana shop opens despite coronavirus

Coronavirus cases are growing outside metro Detroit and rural Michigan isnt ready
BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Health officials and experts from the Chinese military shared their experience in COVID-19 response with their Singaporean peers via a videoconference Wednesday.

Altogether 17 health officials and experts in Beijing, Wuhan and Singapore attended the videoconference and introduced the general situation and experience of the military participating in each country's control and prevention of the epidemic.

Experts exchanged views on the response, testing, clinical treatment and trend of the epidemic.

They also analyzed and discussed the treatment of severe cases, nosocomial infection control, psychological intervention and imported infection response with detailed cases.

Speaking highly of the Chinese military's efforts and China's achievement in the fight against the disease, the Singaporean side praised China for sharing the epidemic situation and its experience in a timely way.

The Singaporean military said it was willing to continue sharing anti-epidemic experience and work together with its Chinese counterpart to fight against the pandemic.
'Boom Town': Bet Your Bottom Dollar You'll Lose the Blues

I wish that I were reviewing one of the half dozen movies certain to be made when this pox upon our house is no more. But until that glorious return to normality has us resuming all the simple joys of life we take for granted, like going to the movies, I'll be retro-reviewing and thereby sharing with you the films that I've come to treasure over the years, most of which can probably be retrieved from one of the movie streaming services. It is my fondest hope that I've barely put a dent into this trove when they let the likes of me back into the Bijou.

.

"Boom Town" (1940), a romantic adventure yarn about oil wildcatters starring Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr, passes with flying colors the GTWMOVF. In case you're unfamiliar with the designation, that's the Goldberger Test for Whether a Movie is One of your Very Favorites. It's foolproof. Just replace Goldberger with

your own name. Here's how it works:

It's late, just past your bedtime, big day tomorrow. But, whilst you tend to your nightly ablutions, being sure to floss and brush for two minutes like the ADA, says, you flip on the TV to keep you company during that final approach to Sleepy Land. And there it is, just beginning  one of your favorite movies. You have that important meeting in the morning, and

heck, you not only have the movie on disc, but have saved it on your DVR. You could watch it anytime. But there they are, the characters you've become enamored of, old friends beckoning to join them. What's more important? Gloriously delving into the dreamscape once again or being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed enough to land the stupid Larrabee account?

You watch.

If you either have, had or someday hope to have that blessed relationship known as a best friend, you'll find the perceptive gist of the lucky circumstance rolled out in spades in director Jack Conway's "Boom Town," a virtual, iconic template for the buddy film. A notable precursor to the male bonding celebrated by the likes of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), "The Sting" (1973), "Silver Streak" (1976), and excuse me if I've left out your favorite one, the ironic commonality of the genre is that, ultimately, these manly men share their vulnerability.

I won't go so far as to say they explore their feminine side, lest I incur the antagonism of the homophobic contingent, which does, however, bring to mind a hilariously telling scene in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987), another great example I might lionize at a later date.

Naturally, depending on your specific worldview, or what the Germans call the weltanschauung, male viewers will identify with either Clark Gable's Big John McMasters or Spencer Tracy's Square John Sands, their sobriquets appropriately bestowed by favorite bar matron, Spanish Eva.

Whereas women, especially those who've been in the anguishing position of having to choose between two very worthy but vastly different suitors, will relate to Claudette Colbert's Betsy Bartlett, a damsel who, discontented with teaching in Boston, goes west at Sands' entreaty.

Perhaps borrowing from the famous bridge confrontation between Errol Flynn's Robin Hood and Alan Hale's Little John in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938), the friendship between the two Johns germinates when they take their measure of each other in combat. But be aware, the key here is not who is tougher, stronger or more artful, as is the case among bullies and gang leaders, but rather, it is the qualities of fair play and integrity they recognize in each other that prompt their bond.

So, it's settled. Through a bit of chicanery to wrest the necessary oil drilling tools from Luther Aldrich, played by Frank Morgan in a delightful supporting performance that'll serve as a running gag throughout the film, the newly minted buddies set out to seek their fortunes. All is well, for the moment. But fate, being the relentlessly upstaging plot motivator that it is, decrees that Big John just happens to be on hand to save the just recently disembarked Miss Bartlett from the ill-intentioned grasp of the pernicious Deacon (Frank McGlynn Sr.), the local white slaver.

Of course, the big fella, as he'll come to be referred to by Chill Wills' Harmony Jones, part shotgun-toting enforcer and part backwoods chef who extolls his rabbit a la mode (pronounced modey), doesn't know that she's the gal his new partner has been talking about. As Great-Grandma Goldberger might exclaim following the development of the inevitable love triangle, "Oh, boy."

So that's the romantic angle. It'll intertwine with the boom and bust, entrepreneurial hijinks that test and example the mettle of the two pals, which is further complicated when, venturing into the NYC distribution end, Big John falls under the spell of corporate go-between/vamp, Karen Vanmeer, enticingly played by Hedy Lamarr. Among the numerous perplexions of love, friendship, honor and duty set in motion by the penthouse Mata Hari, is Square John's resultant indignation. Permanent case of unrequited love be damned, Betsy's happiness is his No. 1 priority.

Amidst these seemingly irresolvable challenges, whimsical interjection by Morgan's forever confounded capitalist and Wills' portrait in wacky contradiction adds just the comic note to keep matters jauntily hopeful. Add a great big, majestic sky, albeit courtesy of MGM movie magic, and a soulful look at the goodness humankind is capable of when it dedicates itself to truth and honesty. All of which makes "Boom Town" an uplifting paean to the city upon a hill we Americans who refuse to drink the Kool-Aid are committed to realizing.

"Boom Town," an MGM release directed by Jack Conway, stars Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Claudette Colbert. Running time: 119 minutes
The morticians at a San Francisco funeral home are waiting three days or more before they open a body bag, hoping the delay will diminish the potency of the novel coronavirus. In Detroit, mortuary staffers are sleeping in separate rooms from their spouses. And in Brooklyn, a funeral director sent his office staffers home to keep them from getting exposed.

With the death toll from the coronavirus growing each day, funeral directors and their employees are scrambling to confront the grim aftermath, as the pandemic reshaping how we live has also transformed what happens after we die.

Afraid of contracting and spreading the virus, funeral homes are replacing face-to-face conversations with phone calls, handing urns containing cremated remains from gloved hands to gloved hands through the windows of parked cars and dousing death certificates left on funeral home driveways with disinfectant.

They are meeting the challenge with a combination of anxiety and resolve. Funeral directors describe operating with fewer employees, avoiding older relatives and donning protective equipment, rather than the traditional suits and ties, when they retrieve bodies from homes and nursing facilities.

"Any of our staff over 60, we pretty much told them to take some time off," said Dan Duggan, a co-owner of Sullivan's and Duggan's Serra Funeral Services, a San Francisco firm that has so far handled 11 known coronavirus deaths. Normally, between 300 and 500 people walk through the doors each day; now, he said, 95 percent are doing arrangements by phone or email.

The virus is pushing some funeral homes over capacity. The waits for some crematoriums in hard-hit states such as New York and New Jersey now measure in weeks, not days, and funeral directors nationwide have ordered more freezer storage to accommodate additional bodies.

"It's really horrendous," said Richard J. Moylan, president of Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. "As far as magnitude goes, this - never seen anything like this, never."

The fear is one that, for some longtime funeral directors, harks back to an earlier epidemic.

"When AIDS first came out, it was the same thing. It was huge - everyone was terrified of everything," said Scott McAulay, the owner of Scott McAulay Family New Options Funeral Services in Fullerton, Calif.

Duggan remembers the embalmers' union in San Francisco pushing for a contract provision that would allow them to refuse to embalm bodies known to have been infected with HIV, which causes AIDS like the coronavirus causes covid-19.

"Now that we know more about AIDS and HIV, the fear is not there anymore," Duggan added. "But we don't quite know enough about the coronavirus yet."

Many funeral directors now act as though all bodies could be infected.

"From white gloves to latex gloves," said Major Clora Jr., president and founder of Clora Funeral Home, which has three locations in the Detroit area and has handled dozens of confirmed and suspected coronavirus cases.

Some of his staffers, recognizing they might be exposed in the course of their work, have started sleeping in their basements while their spouses sleep upstairs, Clora said.

"It's just presumed right now," said Patrick Schoen, managing partner of Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Directors, a New Orleans funeral home founded in 1874 in response to a local outbreak of yellow fever.

"Either [the bodies] weren't tested, or the test hasn't come back yet. And the family doesn't know, and we don't know either," Schoen said. "So we just treat everyone like it's covid."

He added: "It's very, very stressful for all of our employees to be working right now."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that funeral homes can continue to embalm bodies, but it has advised morticians to wear protective gear, a commodity that some are struggling to obtain.

Keila Crucet, the funeral director in charge at Serenity Funeral Home in North Lauderdale, Fla., said her facility's orders of protective equipment have been canceled.

"We're not doctors and nurses . . . we're not front lines," Crucet said. "But we're also working on these cases."

Duggan said he acted quickly to obtain protective gear after the virus reached the United States. The desks and doorways at his Bay Area facilities are now furnished with industrial hand sanitizer dispensers. Staffers wear masks at all times. And bodies are double-bagged at the hospital.

Despite the precautions, Duggan decided that any bodies destined for embalming must be left in their bags for at least a few days.

"That's just an internal decision we made here, just hoping the virus starts to be less vibrant after three to four days," he said.

In New York and New Jersey, the stress of exposure has been compounded by a crisis of space.

"Every funeral home that I know of in New York City is operating at peak capacity," said John O. D'Arienzo, who runs a funeral home in Brooklyn and is president of the Metropolitan Funeral Directors Association, a trade group in the New York metro area.

Authorities in New York have dispatched dozens of refrigerator trucks to store bodies and said they still have enough space in the five boroughs for these remains. If they run out of space elsewhere, officials said, they have a contingency plan to "temporarily" bury some victims on Hart Island, which has operated as New York City's public cemetery and has long been used to bury people whose families and estates could not pay for their internment. Unclaimed bodies of AIDS patients were buried in a remote area of the island in the 1980s.

On Thursday, with New York state recording 799 deaths - its highest single-day total - Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D, said officials would bring in additional funeral home directors to handle the workload.

Moylan, in Brooklyn, said use of his crematory is "up 100 percent." People who may have had to wait at most a day in the past are now being told it will be more than two weeks to cremate a body.

His facility has five cremation chambers, but one is not working, and Moylan said he can't get anyone to come repair it.

Mike Forshay, the manager and president of Browning-Forshay Funeral Home in Hawthorne, N.J., said he called six different crematories last week before finding one that could quickly cremate a body. It was 40 minutes away, he said.

There are also bureaucratic delays.

Overburdened hospitals and reduced staffs at local health departments have slowed the processing of death certificates and burial paperwork in some places, and concerns about transmission of the virus have made it more difficult to obtain signatures.

The delays have meant that certain religious practices - such as stipulations in Judaism and Islam for a prompt burial - must now sometimes be forgone. Families that under normal circumstances would have preferred to hold large, multiday funerals or to send the body of a loved one back to their native country are also being forced to amend those plans.

"The normal time frame would be seven to 14 days to get the paperwork to be able to ship a body overseas," McAulay said. "Now it's taking 10 days on top of that."

"We had one family that was going to go to Guatemala," he said. But the Guatemalan consulate, like others, was functioning at minimum capacity, and the delay took too long. Ultimately, "they decided not to," McAulay said.

Louisiana last week amended its requirements for the certification of deaths and burials, allowing processes to move online, rather than requiring in-person signatures and hard copies, which funeral directors say has significantly eased the stress of disinfection.

"That was a big deal because we were all panicking," Schoen said in New Orleans. "We'd have families drive up and just put the paperwork on the ground, and we'd have to go out there and spray it with Lysol before bringing it into the building."

In many places, the size of public gatherings, including funerals, is now limited by edicts issued by local and state leaders. Live-streamed ceremonies - or memorials delayed until an as-yet-undetermined date - have taken the place of intimate gatherings, eulogies delivered to packed church pews, and condolences delivered with hugs and food.

"It's the families who are really bearing the brunt of this," said Steve Barton of Barton Family Funeral Service, which has a funeral home in Kirkland, Wash., the site of the first confirmed coronavirus deaths in the United States.

It has made a deeply personal business feel impersonal.

"One of the saddest experiences I had was just the other day, where the family chose just to come view the person," Schoen said. "It was just two people, so they took their cellphone and put it on FaceTime. And they put it on the deceased, and you could hear their loved one, over speakerphone, telling the deceased goodbye."

Moylan described a similar scene that he witnessed last week at his cemetery in Brooklyn. Mourners had parked their cars on the edge of a gravesite, and several stood at a distance and watched while someone uttered prayers. Moylan's staff, in protective gear, waited to lower the casket into the earth.

"Then they all got back in their cars, drove away," he said. "And I realized there were a lot more cars but people didn't get out. They stayed in their cars. They just drove by the graveside, the casket," he said. "It was the saddest thing."

- - -

The Washington Post's Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.
The West Bengal government headed by Mamata Banerjee is perhaps the only state government which is displaying a peculiarly negative attitude in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic

The Trinamool Congress government headed by Mamata Banerjee is perhaps the only state government which is displaying a peculiarly negative attitude in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken of the Team India spirit, Banerjee is the only one, holding daily press conferences in order to tell people  not so much of the steps she and her administration are taking to tackle the coronavirus threat, but to make claims on how she and her state are being discriminated against.

It is therefore necessary to set the record straight on some issues and remind the West Bengal chief minister of her duties too:

I. The Government of India allowed states to borrow an additional Rs 58,000 crore in March last year as a special dispensation, to compensate them for lower tax receipts.

During the borrowing year 2020-21, which began in April, states are allowed to borrow Rs 7,00,000 crore. The borrowing limit is set at 3 percent of GSDP of states, as per Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.

Considering the emergency due to COVID-19 outbreak, states are allowed to raise half of the approved amount, equivalent to 1.5 percent of GSDP, immediately.

Future decisions will be taken at an appropriate time.

Having said that it is pertinent to point out that West Bengal is one of the most indebted states of the country with per capita borrowing increased from Rs 21,000 in 2011-12 to Rs 47,000 in 2019-20.

The state's finances are precarious and it is advisable that the Mamata Banerjee government remains cautious about the pitfalls of unrestricted borrowings and limits unnecessary expenditures like donation to clubs across every locality in every district across the state.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus

II. Under GST law, states were guaranteed to be compensated for any loss of revenue in the first five years of GST implementation, beginning 1 July, 2017. The compensation is paid based on an agreed formula. The Modi government didnt deny its responsibility despite such a global catastrophe.

The Government of India is working on a war footing to save Indian citizens from COVID-19 outbreak and restart/revive the economy in the face of looming global recession.

Mamata is ought to realise that India is an inspiration to the world economy in this COVID-19 fight and should, therefore, cooperate with the central efforts to safeguard national interests.

III. The government is putting up an all-round effort to reduce the plight of Indian citizens in the face of an unprecedented global crisis. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 1,70,000 crore package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana on 27 March  within two days of the lockdown  as an immediate measure to save migrant workers, farmers, urban and rural poor and women. This is a direct benefit package and is 1 percent of the national GDP.

IV. Isolation in government facilities is free.

The Government of India has ensured that COVID-19 patients get free treatment under the Ayushman Bharat scheme; floated by the prime minister in September 2018 for the bottom 40 percent of Indias population. Approximately 50 crore Indians benefit from the scheme.

It is unfortunate that the Mamata Banerjee government did not participate in the scheme causing hardship to the people of Bengal. It may be immensely useful, if her global advisers can ask the chief minister to amend her decision and let the poor people of West Bengal enjoy the benefits of Ayushman Bharat.

This apart, the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI) mandated (4 March) that all health insurance policies will cover COVID-19. The government has also restricted the price of COVID-19 test to a maximum of Rs 4,500 for private hospitals.

Besides, all central PSUs and Central Government agencies are contributing generously in creating COVID-19 Hospitals across India. Together with the government hospital network run by the Centre and states, Indians are duly covered for the treatment of COVID-19.

V. The government is supplying PPE kits of international standard and as per benchmarks set by international agencies.

But the reported misuse of such kits is of concern. As per media reports, a West Bengal minister was recently seen parading down the streets wearing an expensive PPE, which was meant specifically for the core health staff coming in direct contact with COVID-19 patients. Such misuse should be avoided.

Also, international standard PPE kits come in colour schemes set as per international standards. It was unfortunate to see Mamata Banerjee kicking up a storm on the colour scheme of such protective gears.

VI. The Government of India and RBI have already announced a number of measures, including moratorium, on installment payments to help businesses tide over the crisis without resorting to layoffs.

Under PM Garib Kalyan, the government undertook the responsibility of PF contribution of both the employees and employers for smaller businesses. The scheme will safeguard interests of 4.8 crore employees.

The government is also working to minimise the impact of this global crisis and is directly talking to all stakeholders including chief ministers, MPs and leaders of all political parties.

Banerjee should participate in such discussions. It was unfortunate to see her skipping tele-conferences with the prime minister last week.

VII. India witnessed good Kharif production and is now harvesting summer crops. There is no shortage of food grains in the country. So, the question of opening buffer stock does not arise. The country is well-stocked to meet emergencies, as and when it arises.

Banerjee would do well to take steps against reported misuse of the food grains channeled through the public distribution system (PDS).

Reports indicate that there is gross misuse of PDS depriving the poor of their quota of food.

TMC members and local bodies representatives have been pilfering provisions from fair price shops only to distribute them in their partys name. Token crackdown is insufficient.

VIII. The government is also working to minimise the hardships created by this global health emergency-led economic crisis. It is an evolving situation both globally and nationally and decisions will be taken at the right time.

IX. It is high time that the West Bengal government adopts a cooperative approach and shares responsibilities with the Centre. The first national priority today is to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is time to manage the health situation better in the state.

Recent reports of mismanagement of COVID-19 patients in at least two state hospitals in West Bengal, leading to quarantine of over 100 health staff including doctors, nurses, etc, is worrying. It will only increase the pressure on the entire system in this trying time.

These are crucial points that require and demand action, not politics in the time of Corona.

The author is Director, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, New Delhi, and a member of the BJPs policy research department
DUBLIN, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Public Safety Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global public safety market was valued at USD 11.15 billion in 2019, and it is expected to reach USD 50.64 billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 29.9.%, during the forecast period of (2020-2025).

Increasing awareness about the importance of security, replacement of obsolete architecture, rise in hazardous industrial explorations, among other factors is expected to drive the demand for public safety software.

Governments are increasingly trying to develop intelligent mitigation plans to minimize the response time and damage caused by both natural and man-made disasters, which is expected to drive the market.

Factors, such as high installation cost and lack of interoperability between legacy and advanced security systems are hindering the market growth. In addition, data security concerns due to the evident threat of cyber-attacks on public safety and security systems also persist. The concerns over privacy and surveillance have also been recognized as major challenges for public safety companies to adopt software solutions.

Governments across regions are investing in enhancing their surveillance and communication systems. For instance, in 2018, the Boston Police Department (BPD) invested in the full spectrum of public safety which accounts to almost 3.8% or USD 14.6 million increase over the previous fiscal year.

As part of their mission to safeguard the citizens, BPD was reported to be focusing on new technological improvements, including the rollout of additional mobile devices, security upgrades at the evidence storage facility, additional automatic license plate recognition cameras, and also the department-wide USD 56 million radio replacement project. Such investments are evident across regions and are indicative of the increasing reliance on technology solutions.

Key Market Trends



Cloud Deployment to Witness the Largest Growth

Considering the lean budgets, public service organizations have been increasingly opting for cloud-based applications rather than on-premises. Also, as cloud deployment would eliminate the need for agencies to acquire infrastructure and also reduce the expense of software infrastructure, such as SQL licenses, the cloud-based deployments are being preferred.

Vendors in the market offering new software delivery models, such as Public Safety as a Service, PSaaS, are providing the public safety organizations with hosted and cloud deployment options, which allows agencies to focus on keeping people and property safe and not on managing complex hardware and software infrastructure.

Public safety organizations also find that these deployment options streamline the maintenance and upgrade process, which happen to be significant factors for agencies with on-premises software.

Moreover, factors, such as advancement of cloud security and cost benefits of utilizing SaaS model, are expected to benefit not only the law enforcement agencies but also other end users of the market (firefighting, medical, and transportation), thus enabling them to serve and protect the public in an efficient way.

United States Presently has the Largest Share

The stringent governmental regulations for industrial safety is one of the factors driving the demand for public safety in the United States . The Patriot Act of 2001 identified a number of locations and areas that require security, such as agriculture and food, emergency services, defense, IT, energy and power, transportation and shipping, banking, chemical and hazardous manufacturing industry, and national monuments, among others.

. The Patriot Act of 2001 identified a number of locations and areas that require security, such as agriculture and food, emergency services, defense, IT, energy and power, transportation and shipping, banking, chemical and hazardous manufacturing industry, and national monuments, among others. The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) has been revised to identify 16 critical sectors susceptible to attacks. Implementation of this plan has increased the demand for public safety solutions in those 16 sectors.

Moreover, the crime rate in the United States is a more serious issue, which the government is trying to address through public safety. Traditionally, the crime rate decreased drastically since 1992, when the government first introduced digital initiatives in law and order. However, there has been a slight increase in the crimes committed in recent years, since 2014.

is a more serious issue, which the government is trying to address through public safety. Traditionally, the crime rate decreased drastically since 1992, when the government first introduced digital initiatives in law and order. However, there has been a slight increase in the crimes committed in recent years, since 2014. There has been a significant increase in the number of mass shootings in the United States . In 2018 alone, the United States faced 12 mass shootings in a school. Apart from that, the US prison is overflowing, with almost 2.6 million prisoners, as of 2018.

. In 2018 alone, faced 12 mass shootings in a school. Apart from that, the US prison is overflowing, with almost 2.6 million prisoners, as of 2018. The United States represented about 4.4% of the total world's population in prison in 2018, according to the data by the US Bureau of Justice Statistics. This has posed new challenges for law enforcement and due to the lack of police officials, the country is dependent on digital public safety measure to manage law and order related activities.

represented about 4.4% of the total world's population in prison in 2018, according to the data by the US Bureau of Justice Statistics. This has posed new challenges for law enforcement and due to the lack of police officials, the country is dependent on digital public safety measure to manage law and order related activities. Public safety and disaster management integration is being used to reduce those losses.

Competitive Landscape



In the public safety market, the competitive rivalry among the existing players lies between moderate and high and is expected to increase, considering the inflow of new entrants into the market. Acquisitions, partnerships with industry participants, and new product/service rollouts have been key competitive strategies exhibited by vendors in the market. As a software service, companies are involved in continuously updating their solutions and offering them within their service period. New product developments also offer an edge over the others.



Some key developments in the market include:

March 2019 - General Dynamics Information Technology announced to support the Defense Threat Reduction Agency through its new information technology support services contract vehicle. The award will allow GDIT to compete on individual task orders in support of DTRA's mission and technology domains. The multiple-award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract holds a total estimated value of USD 535 million . It includes a five-year base period with one five-year option.

- General Dynamics Information Technology announced to support the Defense Threat Reduction Agency through its new information technology support services contract vehicle. The award will allow GDIT to compete on individual task orders in support of DTRA's mission and technology domains. The multiple-award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract holds a total estimated value of . It includes a five-year base period with one five-year option. March 2019 - Harris Corp. in Rochester delivered 9,000 state-of-the-art public safety radios to the United States Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) the first order of a USD 25.7 million contract Harris received to produce 17,000 radios for CBP. Specifically, CBP's order is for Harris Corp.'s XL-200P radio that was designed in cooperation with public safety experts to best suit their operational needs.

Key Topics Covered



1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Deliverables

1.2 Study Assumptions

1.3 Scope of the Study



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Introduction to Market Drivers and Restraints

4.3 Market Drivers

4.3.1 Growing Number of Global Catastrophic Accidents, Crime Rates, and Terrorist Activities

4.3.2 Rising Adoption of IoT and Growth in Smart Cities

4.4 Market Restraints

4.4.1 Costs, Lack of Inter-Operability, and Security Concerns

4.5 Value Chain Analysis

4.6 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Forces Analysis



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 By Component

5.1.1 Software

5.1.1.1 Record Management

5.1.1.2 Investigation Management

5.1.1.3 Location Management

5.1.1.4 Criminal Intelligence

5.1.1.5 Crime Analysis

5.1.1.6 Other Software

5.1.2 Services

5.2 By Deployment Type

5.2.1 On-premise

5.2.2 Cloud

5.3 By End-user Vertical

5.3.1 Law Enforcement

5.3.2 Medical

5.3.3 Firefighting

5.3.4 Transportation

5.3.5 Other End-user Verticals

5.4 Geography

5.4.1 North America

5.4.1.1 US

5.4.1.2 Canada

5.4.2 Europe

5.4.2.1 Germany

5.4.2.2 UK

5.4.2.3 Rest of Europe

5.4.3 Asia-Pacific

5.4.3.1 China

5.4.3.2 India

5.4.3.3 Rest of Asia-Pacific

5.4.4 Latin America

5.4.5 Middle East & Africa



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Company Profiles

6.1.1 Cisco Systems Inc.

6.1.2 General Dynamics Corporation

6.1.3 IBM Corporation

6.1.4 Ericsson Inc.

6.1.5 Harris Corporation

6.1.6 NEC Corporation

6.1.7 Atos SE

6.1.8 Motorola Solutions Inc.

6.1.9 Aptean Corporation (Vista Equity Partners)

6.1.10 Hexagon AB

6.1.11 Esri Inc.

6.1.12 Sun Ridge Systems Inc.

6.1.13 Telstra Corporation Limited



7 INVESTMENT ANALYSIS



8 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/px6rt7

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


The Ministry of High-Tech Industry of Armenia has issued a statement stating that it hasnt given its consent to the Beeline-Ucom transaction.

The statement reads as follows:

During the state of emergency, the Ministry of High-Tech Industry urges the communication and telecommunication operators of Armenia, as well as their employees to show responsibility and be guided by the obligations reserved to them by the Law of the Republic of Armenia on the Legal Regime of State of Emergency and the decisions of the Commandant, placing the uninterrupted operation of the communication and telecommunication services in the Republic of Armenia at a high level.

In response to the news about Ucom CJSC acquiring the stocks of Veon Armenia CJSC, the Ministry of High-Tech Industry informs that it has not given consent to the procedure and that the issue is under consideration.

The Ministry of High-Tech Industry calls on the mass media to not speculate the situation for no reason, taking into consideration the importance of uninterrupted work of communication and telecommunication services during the state of emergency.

As reported earlier, yesterday the presses reported that the administration of Ucom, that is, the chief specialists for technical maintenance, under the leadership of the directors, have submitted letters for resignation, and among them are brothers Alexander and Hayk Yesayan, who are among the founders of Ucom.

It is stated that the reason is that the owners of Ucom want to appoint head of Beeline Andrey Pyatakhin director of Ucom.
White House CCP virus response coordinator Deborah Birx listens during a daily briefing at the White House in Washington on April 9, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

White House Names Next Likely CCP Virus Hot Spots

Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia are three of the next likely hot spots for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, according to White House task force officials.

The three cities are seeing an increasing number of cases, as are counties around Philadelphia; Camden, New Jersey; and Wilmington, Delaware.

While cases are building up in the areas, officials are seeing lower attack rates compared to New York, which has the most cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the country. Attack rates refer to the total number of new cases divided by the total population.

The data has been encouraging, task force response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx told reporters, adding the numbers show that when you start mitigation early it has a very different impact.

It really shows us that the original outbreaks were very large, but the newer ones that we talk about in Washington, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, it looks like their attack ratesand attack rates in Denver and some of these other states that we have been talking aboutare much lower than New York and New Jersey.

A man runs through a normally busy area of Baltimores Inner Harbor in Maryland on April 6, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the task force, said Wednesday that an area of particular concern is Philadelphia. He spoke with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf about the situation and urged city residents to practice social distancing.

Philadelphia County has over 5,000 confirmed cases and 86 deaths, according to state figures. Nearby Delaware and Montgomery counties also have over 1,200 cases each, along with dozens of deaths.

While its not good news that Philadelphia and the southeastern part of the state is seen as a hot spot, it is going to be helpful in getting more resources, Wolf told reporters on Wednesday.

Maryland and Pennsylvania are both under lockdown as authorities try to stem the spread of the CCP virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said this week that the state is going to be the next hot spot, along with nearby Washington and Virginia.

Hogan believes Maryland is about two weeks behind New York.

Montgomery and Prince Georges counties have seen the most cases in the state, which has 6,185 confirmed cases and 138 deaths. Washington, meanwhile, has 1,523 positives and 32 deaths.
President Rouhani: IMF must fulfill its duties without bias against Iran

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 4:57 PM

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must fulfill its duties toward all member countries, including Iran, without any bias.

Rouhani made the remarks in a phone conversation with Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdolnasser Hemmati on Thursday, during which the CBI official briefed the president on the measures taken to secure a requested loan from the world body.

"Under these tough circumstances, the IMF should perform its duty with regard to its international commitments and avoid being swayed by mischievous acts of the enemies of the Iranian nation," Rouhani said.

Hemmati, for his part, said Iran's request was being presented to the IMF's executive board, and that Tehran was intent to pursue the demand.

Iran has submitted a request for a $5-billion emergency loan, which it requires to fight the new coronavirus outbreak that has so far killed 4,110 people in the country. Tehran has asked that the loan be provided under the Fund's Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), a mechanism which is available to all member countries facing an urgent balance of payment need.

"We expect the IMF to immediately respond to the request of Iran which itself is a founding member of the Fund," the CBI chief said in a post on his Instagram page earlier in the day.

Media reports have suggested over the past weeks that the United States government, which, itself, is refusing to lift its sanctions against the Islamic Republic despite the outbreak, is also trying to hamper Iran's efforts to get the emergency funding. Washington has allegedly claimed that Tehran might use the funds to compensate the losses that are brought about by the bans.

Unblocking assets

Speaking to Rouhani, Hemmati also reported on the measures taken by the CBI to gain access to its resources that are deposited in overseas banks, so that it can meet the nation's needs, especially concerning the items that are required for the fight against the new coronavirus.

According to Hemmati, the process has most recently led to the unblocking of $1.6 billion of Iran's assets that were held by the Luxembourg-based Clearstream, a post-trade service provider.

On Wednesday, Hemmati had said that the funds were made available after the CBI won a legal battle in Europe against a US attempt to have Iranian funds blocked and handed over to Washington for compensating what Washington calls "victims of terror."

Other courts in Europe have previously dismissed claims brought up by American plaintiffs to seize CBI assets to pay for damages suffered over the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Iran totally denies charges related to any involvement in the 9/11 attacks.

Iran says any attempts to implicate it in the incidents are a politically-motivated drive by Washington that has conversely been trying to shield Saudi Arabia against any repercussion from the tragedy.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






An ICU nurse working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic broke down in tears while sharing her heartache at seeing so many of her patients die.

D'neil Schmall, a 35-year-old ER ICU nurse, moved to New York, the global epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, on March 30th in order to help fight the deadly illness, and has since been working on a rapid response team that is dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients.

And in a gut-wrenching video, D'neil opened up about the devastating reality of her job, sobbing uncontrollably as she admitted she is 'tired' of walking into a room to find her patient has died.

Heartbreaking: New York ICU nurse D'neil Schmall sobbed uncontrollably as she opened up about the horrifying realities of battling coronavirus on the frontlines

Speaking out: The 35-year-old only move to New York on March 30th in order to help in the fight against the deadly illness

'I just feel there is so much anyone can take,' she says, while wiping away her tears.

'I'm tired of walking into rooms, and your patients are dead. You just walk into a room, and there's a dead body there. I'm tired of calling families and telling them that news.'

D'neil, who explained at the start of the video that she had just worked her 'worst day' yet, also expressed her heartache over the number of her fellow nurses who have lost their lives while fighting COVID-19, paying tribute to her 'sisters and brothers' who died while taking care of others.

The former bodybuilder went on to beg for more compassion and understanding from the public, admitting that she feels as though so many people assume medical staff are 'immune' to both the illness - and the heartache that they have to face each and every day.

'I cried the whole way home, I mean the driver was like, "Ma'am are you okay?"' D'neil shared. 'I don't think people understand how stressful this job is. I was trained for anything in the world but this is so stressful.

'Everyone is trying hard, everyone is trying so hard. But we got so much to do. We are humans too.

'If you have ever felt any time would be appropriate to have compassion for each other, right now is the time when we should all have compassion for each other, and try to at least acknowledge what the other person is going through. I just have so much sadness.'

D'neil confessed that she is dealing with much of her stress and upset alone, explaining that she doesn't feel she can call her mother or her sister, because she doesn't want to worry them or upset them, adding: '[My mom] never wanted me to come [to New York].'

Tragedy: She said in the Facebook video that she is 'tired' of walking into a patient room, only to find that the person has passed away

Painful: D'neil is also the person who has had to call patients' families to share the heartbreaking news that they have passed away

Speaking out: She begged members of the public to show more compassion and understanding towards healthcare workers

'I have friends that are nurses and I'm pretty sure that they understand but they are going through the same thing,' she said. 'So the end result is you end up crying in your hotel room. Or in the bathroom. There is no one to talk to.'

D'neil also offered a warning to hospitals about the mental health of their workers, urging them to consider bringing in counselors for medical staff to speak to about all that they are dealing with.

'Everyone is really concerned about the patients and I understand, I completely understand, but if your staff is not doing well, then who is going to take care of your patients?' she said.

Fighter: D'neil, a former bodybuilder, trained at UCLA

The RN then tried to explain the Herculean task that she and her fellow nurses are expected to overcome, revealing that she has 14 patient assignments every day - a number that she says is impossible to deal with.

'Some of them, bless their souls, can't do anything for themselves,' she explains. 'How can I take care of 14 people when I have one tech and they have 30 patients. It's so bad here you guys.'

D'neil hopes that her video - which she posted without any editing - helps people to understand the truly devastating reality of the fight against COVID-19, and the toll that it is taking on so many healthcare workers.

'The sad part is, I truly feel like nobody cares... nobody cares about how we feel, because this is our job, this is what you signed up for, right?' she admitted.

'I wish everyone the best of luck. I think we can all make through this if we stick together.'

Posting a caption to the video she offered more information about her day-to-day schedule, detailing the grueling hours that many healthcare workers are currently dealing with.

'After 4-5hrs sleep, we're walking 8-11 miles in a 13-15hrs shift. 57 days a week. Only 2 water breaks. The majority of our PPE is made out of plastic - [it's] like wearing a sweat suit all day. Assignments of 10-16 patients per nurse.'

She said the video was completely unedited and posted after the worst shift that she had ever had and that posting it had made her feel a lot better saying: 'Venting was actually cathartic for me.'

She added: 'I only posted it because I feel like people should know what we're going through here. I love my job I LOVE what I do! I'm not LEAVING! But that doesn't mean front liners aren't human and won't be emotions about this experience as well.'

New York, where D'neil - who trained at UCLA - is currently working, has become the global epicenter for the coronavirus outbreak, with more than 159,000 confirmed cases in the state, and more than 7,000 deaths.

The US now has more than 469,000 cases.

The candid video sparked an outpouring of emotion from commenters, many of whom applauded D'neil's bravery and strength.

'D'Neil, I'm so sorry that you are experiencing this horror, but as a fellow nurse that has worked with you... You are amazing!' one person wrote.

Another added: 'D'neil... I wish I could give you a hug and tell you how much I admire you. You are an amazing human and you are dealing with the worst of the worst. I am so thankful for people like you, who are there and who are capable.

'Thank you for sharing... we all need reminders of what strength looks like. What vulnerability looks like. What compassion AND unity look like. These are ALL in your message.'

'God bless you and all the people on the front lines with strength,' one person wrote.

'We all love and appreciate what you do. I wish I could comfort you and people with you more. I can send you words of hope. All of us are with you. God bless you and all fighting the battle for us!'

One Facebook user then commented: 'Dear D'Neil, We do care and I am so sorry. It's horrible. I so clearly remember when we met on this train in Denmark that you exuded such incredible kindness. I am sure that stands true today as well. You D'neil are SO KIND..so STRONG and SO LOVED.'
New Delhi, April 10 : Two days after the Delhi government declared the Bengali Market in Todermal Road as one the Covid-19 hotspots and sealed the area, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Friday issued a showcause notice to the Bangla Pastry Shop in the market for violation of the health licence issued by it.

The notice was issued after the civic body found 35 workers of the Bangla Pastry Shop living under unhygienic conditions in a congested space, violating the social distancing norms in place to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The civic body had surveyed the area after three persons were found Covid-19 positive from the neighbourhood area between April 4 and April 6.

The Delhi Police had then said that the three persons testing positive were the owner of Bangla Pastry Shop, his son and a cook at the confectionary.

"NDMC has mentioned in the notice that the act of negligence on the part of the vendor not only violated the primary conditions of the health licence, but also put the lives of many people in danger," a senior NDMC official said.

As per the provisions of Section 339 of the NDMC Act, 1994, NDMC has directed the vendor to explain why the shop's health licence should not be revoked within 10 days of the issuance of the notice, otherwise the civic body could seal the shop without further notice.

"NDMC will also take similar action against other defaulters if they are found violating the guidelines laid down by the District Administration for containment of Covid -19," the official added.

The surveillance team, which comprised officials of the District Administration and those from the NDMC, had on Wednesday screened 325 houses, two markets and about 2,000 people in the Bengali Market area.
'Instead of fighting over whatever will be left of the present world, the permanent members of the UN security council should have raised a little finger to arrest the death and devastation around us,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.

IMAGE: A scene from Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow as medical personnel await passengers arriving on a flight from New York, April 8, 2020. Photograph: Alexander Avilov/Moscow News Agency/Reuters

'This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper.'

There are not many lines of poetry that have become embedded so deeply in the public consciousness to the extent that this one by T S Eliot has.

This line may be coming to every one's consciousness these days together with Richard Haas's assertion that the pandemic will accelerate history rather than reshape it.

When the only international body entrusted with the task of maintaining international peace and security washed its hands off the biggest threat to international peace and security on Thursday without even voicing unanimous concern over the pandemic, the whimper appeared to come closer.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres characterised the long awaited, long delayed meeting, forced into virtual reality by the very crisis, as the 'fight of a generation and the raison d'etre of the United Nations', but the five permanent members of the UN security council gave up the fight without firing a bullet.

They did not agree even to discuss the 'impact of COVID-19 on international peace and security', as the non-permanent members unanimously demanded.

At least two of the permanent members, Russia and China, even argued that the security council had no mandate even to discuss the issue.

Which other threat to peace and breach of the peace are they waiting for?

Do they think that the world will trust them with the future of the world anymore?

The world has long written off the UN as a watchdog of the world.

But there was hope that the great minds which created the structure of the UN might be vindicated by an occasion of the gravest crisis that would unite the world and save it by collective action.

The scheme of collective action outlined in Chapter VI and Chapter VII were carefully created to enable the UN to rise to the challenges of the future, while protecting the sovereignty of nations.

From preventive diplomacy to peace enforcement, there are a wide range of options.

The UN has even gone to war on a couple of occasions when the permanent members so wished.

But to fail to see the extreme gravity of the pandemic as a threat to peace is an unforgivable and disgraceful dereliction of duty.

The UN has lost its raison d'etre.

IMAGE: A woman and child in protective suits check a mobile phone at Wuhan Tianhe airport after the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan, April 10, 2020. Photograph: Aly Song/Reuters

The World Health Organisation, which stood discredited by its failure, partly because of its partisan approach had already proved inadequate to fight a pandemic of the proportions of COVID-19.

The fight against COVID-19 had to be on a war footing with a composite force, consisting of capabilities of massive sanitisation, testing, hospitalisation and providing support systems.

Even the world's most powerful nations are not able to cope with the effort and there are signs of conflict on account of shortages of equipment and trained personnel.

The UN security council, on the other hand, had the capability of assembling fighting forces for emergencies through its department of peace operations.

Instead of being paralysed because of petty battles in the name of the pandemic, its origin and the need for transparency, It should have authorised the UN secretary-general to put together a force under Chapter VII of the UN Charter by establishing that this was the time to step in with all its might to save lives and human civilisation itself.

Apart from assisting requesting nations to launch a health and humanitarian offensive, it should also be prepared to deal with conflicts on account of the fragility of the international system.

Member States should be requested to send not only troops, but also police, health workers and equipment.

Only a UN force which could enforce social distancing and lockdowns could prevent a catastrophe.

IMAGE: Workers unload personal protection equipment from a plane in Riga, Latvia, April 10, 2020. Photograph: Ints Kalnins/Reuters

So far COVID-19 has spread in relatively prosperous regions of the world, which have stable infrastructure and health systems.

We cannot trust that it will not spread to less equipped States, in which the devastation will be much more.

Chapter VII of the UN Charter allows the security council to 'determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression' and to take military and non-military action to 'restore international peace and security'.

Thursday's security council meeting will go down in history as the saddest moment in history, a collective failure of humanity to save itself.

The mounting number of deaths are mere figures of 'body bags', as WHO's director-general characterised them.

We have forgotten that each of them had a throbbing life, full of dreams, thoughts, compassion and hard work.

Instead of fighting over whatever will be left of the present world, the permanent members of the UN security council should have raised a little finger to arrest the death and devastation around us.

By failing to do so, the United Nations has lost even the last modicum of faith the world had in it.

T P Sreenivasan, (IFS 1967), is a former Ambassador of India and Governor for India of the IAEA.

Ambassador Sreenivasan is a frequent contributor to Rediff.com and his earlier columns can be read here.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- As the coronavirus (COVID-19) rolls through New York City, quarantining people in homes across the five boroughs, some victims of domestic violence are being faced with a reality that forces them to be confined with their abusers.

I think that everyone is stressed and while stress doesnt cause domestic violence, it could certainly increase the frequency and severity, said Kimberlina Kavern, the senior director of the Crime Victim Assistance Program at Safe Horizon  which operates within the boroughs Family Justice Center.

While social distancing measures are showing promising results across New York, the unintended consequence of Gov. Andrew Cuomo extending the states pause through April 29 is that victims of domestic abuse are being mandated to stay within homes that are potentially unsafe.

The new reality is causing a shift in the way domestic violence advocates support victims.

We are sort of all-hands on deck to be prepared to serve victims in what comes next, said Kavern, adding that Safe Horizion is anticipating that we are in this for the long haul and that its likely to get worse.

In mid-March, Family Justice Centers closed across New York City, as well as the facility in St. George, in response to the coronavirus pandemic and moved to serving victims  including those suffering from domestic violence  via phone and online.

Many Safe Horizon staff are currently working remotely, said Kavern, and all of its programs are still open and accepting new clients.

A main element in the transition of supporting domestic violence victims is the use of Safe Horizons 24-hour hotline, though Kavern said hotline calls declined slightly in the beginning of March  something that she said was to be expected as people transitioned into this new normal of social distancing."

Recently, however, Safe Horizons safe chat feature, which allows victims to chat with advocates on their phone or computer, has seen an increase in victims through early April. The increase in the use of the chat, according to Kavern, could be attributed to victims being in close quarters with others and not being able to verbally interact with Safe Horizon staff.

CITYWIDE DATA

Citywide data from the NYPD from Jan. 1 through March 31 shows that domestic crime is down .6% compared to the same span last year, and that domestic violence crime is down 15.3% during the entire month of March 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.

Kavern said that she does not think the dip in crime rate indicates a decrease in domestic violence, but rather indicates a decease in [the] victims ability to access services or call 911.

You may not be able to call someone for help when you are in a home with your abuser, Kavern said.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

While Staten Island-specific domestic violence data was not available from the NYPD, the Island has had a unique issue with domestic violence in recent years.

The NYPDs 120th Precinct, which is on the Islands North Shore, had the ninth-highest amount of domestic violence complaints by precinct in New York City in 2018, and had the seventh-highest amount of domestic violence offenders citywide, according to department data.

In response to the challenges quarantine offers domestic violence victims, the NYPDs domestic violence officers have begun using phone calls to supplant face-to-face visits with victims, said department spokeswoman Sophia Mason, while also sharing safety plans and cell phone access with them and carefully setting code words for them to use as they survive in close quarters.

The NYPD remains committed to working with all of the NYPDs government partners to ensure that no one feels disconnected or vulnerable during this period of emergency physical isolation, Mason said.

Safe Horizon has long-partnered with the NYPD through the Crime Victim Assistance Program, and Kavern, who began her career in the Domestic Violence Police Program within the 120th Precinct, said she has seen the department move personnel around to make sure that there are officers to respond to everyone who needs a response as the coronavirus affects approximately one in five uniformed officers.

Advocates within each police precinct are helping guide the departments practices, Kavern said. We want to make sure that theyre mindful that when they respond to these cases its likely that both partners are going to be home.

Kavern said there is specific importance in separating both people and making sure theyre questioning both separately in an effort to be mindful of the safety risks that were all thinking about.

However, the reality of the coronavirus means that When either the police leave or when a victim hangs up the phone ... that person is still most likely in the home with their abuser.

MCMAHON WORKING TIRELESSLY

District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said his offices Domestic Violence Bureau and team of advocates have been working tirelessly to ensure victims are still afforded the justice and protection they deserve in this ever-changing world.

Domestic violence arrests are continuing to be prosecuted, according to Ryan Lavis, a spokesman for McMahons office, which has increased its communication tenfold with partner agencies, including the NYPD, Safe Horizon, the Family Justice Center, the Mayors Office and other DAs offices in order to communicate, pool, and discuss resources, and to develop new initiatives so that we are best serving our victims.

Much like the NYPD and Safe Horizon, the coronavirus crisis has caused McMahons office to develop new innovative ideas to continue to engage survivors and keep them connected to resources through a variety of socially engaging methods, Lavis said.

Above all, we want victims to know that this current crisis will not deter the Staten Island DAs office from vigorously prosecuting domestic violence crimes, and we will continue to always provide a safe haven for survivors to turn to, especially during these challenging times," McMahons statement read.

In other aspects, some resources for domestic violence victims remain relatively unchanged.

In situations where it is warranted, domestic violence shelters across New York City are still open with space available, Kavern said. The shelters have recently added an additional step in screening that asks individuals if theyre feeling physically unwell in any way" with the ability to connect them with medical services to get checked out before they enter a shelter."

The additional measures are evidence that shelters are trying as best as possible to be mindful of as much social distancing in the shelter as they can.

Despite the available resources, victims could still be in immediate risk, which is causing some really creative safety planning, Kavern said.

In at least one instance, Kavern said Safe Horizon has heard of victims using non-verbal forms of communication to indicate that they are in danger.

Weve heard of victims doing something like putting a plant in a window to indicate they are unsafe, she said, potentially notifying a neighbor who is aware of abuse.

While domestic violence incidents are currently down, it is possible that an influx of reports occur as New York slowly moves out of its current quarantine protocol, according to Kavern. I think that that is definitely possible and something that were preparing for, she said.

Antonio Guterres, the secretary general for the United Nations on Sunday urged for governments to do their part in preparing as well.

Peace is not just the absence of war. Many women under lockdown for #COVID19 face violence where they should be safest: in their own homes, Guterres wrote on Twitter. I urge all governments to put womens safety first as they respond to the pandemic.

Victims can call the NYC domestic violence hotline, which is 1-800-621-HOPE and is staffed by Safe Horizon advocates, the district attorneys info line at 718-697-8315, or the Family Justice Center main line at 718-697-4300. And of course 911 for emergencies.

70 Coronavirus in NYC: Photos show the fight against the pandemic

RELATED COVERAGE

Coronavirus: Lives lost during the pandemic

Exclusive look inside Staten Islands emergency hospital at the South Beach Psychiatric Center

Coronavirus concerns: Why cant I get tested?

USNS Comfort crew member tests positive for coronavirus

Tunnel to towers foundation: $3m to aid healthcare workers

Coughs, sneezes, surfaces: Heres how coronavirus is and isnt spread
Grade 10 students this week started experimental online exams lasting two weeks. A total of 589,000 students took the exams at home following the closure of schools because of the coronavirus.



Students nationwide have logged onto the exams platform via their smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops and some used their playstations, Minister of Education and Technical Education Tarek Shawki told reporters in a video press conference.



Shawki said the aim of the exam was to test the platform and computer tablets. Students received their tablets at the beginning of the second term, on 9 February, but did not have time to practice using them or test them because the academic year was suspended on 15 March following the coronavirus. Thats why the experimental exams will not be graded, Shawki said.



Grade 10 students did not sit for the exams all at once but in groups in order to lessen pressure on the exam platform and to guarantee that students would be given equal opportunities, according to Reda Hegazi, deputy to the minister of education.



As part of a new education system introduced last year by Shawki, grade 10 students are studying an overhauled curriculum that places greater emphasis on understanding rather than memorising and includes an electronic exam system which depends on tablets and the Internet.



Test results are displayed immediately after the students submit their answers, said Hegazi who added exams are divided into two sections: multiple choice questions and essays. Each student should log on to the exam platform with the exam starting as soon as students log on.



Mher Keuhnelian, 16, in grade 10, said he did not face any difficulty while logging onto the Arabic exam platform. It was a simple and easy process, although a few of my friends faced some technical problems.



Keuhnelian said that because students log in at different times, a friend of his had enough time to solve the exam and pass on the answers to his friends. Moreover, Keuhnelian asked the help of his Arabic teacher to solve some of the test questions.



There were several questions in the test especially in pre-Islamic poetry which I could not answer so I called my Arabic teacher over the phone and he helped me with it, said Keuhnelian who believes that most students will do the same in the finals.



Mark Rimon, 16, another grade 10 student, said the exam included many questions that he couldnt answer because they were on topics not included in the curriculum, especially in poetry. There was a pre-Islamic poetry piece which I did not study throughout the year, and my teachers did not even mention it during the online classes. I didnt understand what it said, Rimon said.



Hegazi said the ministry was aware that most students will cheat from various sources. Therefore, the ministry will take this into consideration during the final term exam. There are different measures it will adopt in an attempt to limit this. Also, teachers will put this into consideration when grading, Hegazi said.



Ahmed Ibrahim, a Grade 10 student who sat for the Ordinary Level English exam, called the online exam a failure. After I finished almost half the exam I refreshed the page, the system logged me out and I could not re-log in until the end of the exam, Ibrahim said. I dont know what to do if this happens during the final year exams.



Hegazi stressed that around 11,000 students have faced only minor technical problems that were solved by the ministrys technical support teams. Students will not have these problems in the next exams, he said.



While thousands of grade 10 students are asking why their year-end assessment is not based on a project like students in other grades, Hegazi told Al-Ahram Weekly that grade 10 online exams are essential for the ministry to see whether students can use tablets since they have not been introduced to them before.



As for projects for students from grades four to nine, the ministry this week said students must prepare only one multi-disciplinary research project to move on to the following year. The student can prepare the project individually or in a group of five maximum. Submission deadline is 15 May. A research paper should include a headline, introduction, body, results or notes of the research, references, student names and codes, Hegazi said.



Hegazi said students who do not have easy access to the Internet can depend on textbooks or any other book related to the topic of the research project. Students are expected to submit a hard copy of their research to their school administration which will be sent to the ministry via the platform.



The teachers role is to guide and help students in preparing their research whereas the ministry will be responsible for reviewing and evaluating them. The research project aims to teach students new skills such as teamwork, self-reliance, research, analysis, and linking topics together, as well as formulating ideas to further skills necessary for students, Hegazi said.



Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said last week there was a possibility of postponing final term exams until September or until the end of this year, stressing that there was no intention to cancel universitys second-term final exams. Mid-term exams have been annulled and their grades would be added to the finals.



Students have no option other than to sit for the final exams to pass this academic year. There is no need to take an immediate decision for what may happen in the next few months, but the ministry has taken into account all possibilities and scenarios, said Abdel-Ghaffar, adding that more than 85 per cent of university students have access to online lectures.



We heard that the exams might be postponed until September but none of our professors told us anything, she added.



Last month Abdel-Ghaffar said the final term exams will start on 30 May.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Search Keywords:

Short link:


YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Armenias ministry of healthcare will propose the government to extend the current state of emergency over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan said at a press conference.

Our proposal to the government will be to extend the state of emergency. Of course, the decision will be adopted taking into account many factors, however, in my view, in order to ensure the continuation of our actions, the state of emergency is important, the minister said.

On March 16 Armenia declared a 30-day state of emergency to battle the spread of COVID-19. The state of emergency is effective until April 14, 17:00.

According to the latest data, the total number of people infected with coronavirus in Armenia is 937. The death toll is 12. 5,144 people tested negative so far. The number of recovered patients has reached 149.

Reported by Anna Grigoryan

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Emirates SkyCargo has scaled up its cargo services to connect an increasing number of global destinations to deliver food, medical supplies and other essential commodities to markets across the world during the Covid-19 pandemic.



The air cargo carrier currently operates flights to 51 destinations globally, out of which 19 cities are served by the Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777 freighter aircraft offering up to 100 tonnes of capacity per flight and 38 destinations are served by dedicated cargo flights on Emirates Boeing 777 passenger aircraft offering up to 50 tonnes belly capacity.



Nabil Sultan, Emirates divisional senior vice president, Cargo, said: We have particularly ramped up operations for transporting cargo in the bellyhold of our passenger aircraft in the last two weeks. Emirates SkyCargo has been expanding its network on a daily basis and some of the latest destinations for our cargo flights on passenger aircraft include Bangkok, Casablanca, Johannesburg, Singapore and Taipei.



Air cargo remains the fastest means of connecting essential supplies to those that need them and our expanded network allows for increased connectivity across different global origins and destinations.



During the week ending April 4, Emirates SkyCargo had operated more than 160 flights on its freighter aircraft and close to 90 flights on its passenger aircraft. The following week, the air cargo carrier had operated close to 160 flights on its passenger aircraft alone.



In order to streamline operations and cut costs under rapidly changing global conditions, Emirates SkyCargo has also transferred all its cargo handling operations in Dubai to Dubai International Airport.



Charter operations



Over and above scheduled operations, Emirates SkyCargo has also operated an increasing number of special charter flights for cargo both on its freighter and passenger aircraft. Since the start of April, the carrier has executed more than 30 charter flights connecting over 20 global destinations. The main commodities transported on the charter flights are medical supplies including face masks, protective covers, sanitisers, equipment for hospitals in addition to pharmaceuticals, raw materials and spare parts.



Under these unprecedented conditions, our staff are fully committed to making sure that that medicines, medical equipment, food and other necessary commodities for people and businesses around the world are being transported without any compromise of the high service levels that differentiate Emirates SkyCargo from other players in the market. We are truly grateful to the non-stop efforts of our team that contribute to our successful operations, added Sultan.



From across its global network, Emirates SkyCargo has helped import more than 33,000 tonnes of perishable items and more than 1,700 tonnes of pharmaceuticals into the UAE since the start of the year. Food items are brought in from several markets including Australia, India, Kenya and Pakistan.



With our expanded network now covering more than 50 global destinations, we are able to ensure a constant supply of food and medicines from across the world into the UAE. Emirates SkyCargo remains committed to maintaining and constantly replenishing vital food and medical supplies in the country, emphasized Sultan.



Globally, the air cargo carrier has transported more than 93,000 tonnes of perishables and more than 20,000 tonnes of pharmaceuticals. The carrier has also transported more than 3000 tonnes of medical supplies for combating Covid-19 across the world.  TradeArabia News Service
Universal City police arrested the general manager of a Northeast Side Wingstop and an accomplice in connection with a staged robbery at the store last month, according to an arrest affidavit.

On March 30, officers were called to the restaurant after Christopher Casas called 911 ,saying he had been hit from behind and robbed. He told police that he was walking to his vehicle with the store's deposit bag containing $1,700 in cash when an unknown man knocked him to the ground from behind and took the money bag, the affidavit said.

Police said they were suspicious of Casas' story because it had been raining and the ground was still wet but his clothes was dry, the affidavit continued.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

Casas eventually admitted that the robbery was an inside job between him, a Wingstop cook and a third man named Deaven Watson, the affidavit said.

He told police that Watson had struck him from behind and fled with the money and was at a nearby apartment complex that Casas shared with the Wingstop cook. Police searched the apartment and found the stolen money along with clothes witnesses said Watson was wearing at the time of the incident, the affidavit said.

All three men were placed under arrest.

Watson was charged with engaging in criminal activity, but initially the case was rejected by the assistant district attorney because Casas was the only one who placed Watson at the scene. Later, he was recharged after additional witnesses and surveillance footage placed him at the scene, the affidavit said.

Watson was also charged with two additional counts of engaging in criminal activity for a separate case in which he is accused of attempting to break into a Chase Bank ATM.

Casas was charged with engaging in criminal activity. The third man was not charged in the incident.
Authorities arrested a woman after she licked merchandise totaling $1,800 at a California grocery store located close to the Nevada border.

According to a city of South Lake Tahoe emergency alert, on April 7, police responded to a report from a Safeway supermarket of a customer licking groceries inside the store.

CNN reported that a Safeway employee told officers that Jennifer Walker, 53, put numerous pieces of jewelry from the store on her hands and licked them, and then began loading her shopping cart with other store merchandise.

According the South Lake Tahoe announcement, an investigation revealed that Walker had no means to purchase any of the items, valued at approximately $1,800.

The employee said all items in the customers cart were deemed unsellable by the store, due to the risk of cross-contamination, reported CNN.

Walker was booked into the El Dorado County Jail on a charge of felony vandalism, with bail set for $10,000. The date for arraignment was to be Thursday afternoon, the South Lake Tahoe Jail told CNN.

Similar incidents have occurred across the country. With grocery stores deemed essential businesses, they continue to operate during the coronavirus pandemic.

CNN cites several incidents where the public was put at risk due to irresponsible intentional actions by others.

A March 26 post on PennLive reported a Hanover Township grocer had to dispose of $35,000 worth of food after a woman intentionally coughed on it. She was subsequently arrested and charged with terroristic threats.

Also in March, CNN reports a New Jersey man was charged with making terroristic threats when police said he purposely coughed on a grocery store employee and said he had coronavirus.

CNN cites a story reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in Missouri, where a 26-year-old man was charged this week with making a terrorist threat. In early March, the man was filmed licking sticks of deodorant at a Walmart. In a video, the man asks, Whos scared of coronavirus? the newspaper reported.

Federal officials have indicated that they would take threats of spreading coronavirus seriously. The Department of Justice said last month that people who intentionally spread the virus could be charged with terrorism, reports CNN.

READ MORE:

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Amid the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the country, Mumbai and Delhi have become the latest cities in the country to make the wearing of facemask mandatory for people stepping out of their homes.

On Wednesday, the Maharashtra government issued an order by which facemask has been made mandatory.

BCCL

According to Mumbai municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi, masks should be worn compulsorily by all citizens including government staff if they step out of their homes.

Masks are to be put on even while working in those offices, such as those related to essential services and government offices, which are currently allowed to function.

AP

He also made it clear that those found violating the order would be booked under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and also arrested or fined.



The order was issued under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

The government also stated that people can wear masks at stores or even can use homemade ones.

BCCL

On the same day, the Delhi government also made it compulsory for people to wear face masks when stepping outdoors.



"Wearing of facial masks can reduce the spread of coronavirus substantially," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said

"Therefore, it has been decided that facial masks will be compulsory for anyone stepping out of their house. Cloth mask shall be eligible too," he said.

Earlier Chandigarh, Nagaland and Odisha issued similar directions to make the wearing of masks mandatory.

BCCL

Recently the Union government had asked healthy people to use face masks when stepping out.



"It is suggested that such people who are not suffering from medical conditions or having breathing difficulties may use the handmade reusable face cover, particularly when they step out of their house. This will help in protecting the community at large," the Union health ministry had said.

While it is not that easy to find a maks in the current scenario, a homemade face protector will also get the job done. Here is how you can make a face mask yourself.





In case youre someone who has made a mask at home, either by watching videos on YouTube or making your very own creation, share it with the world, by clicking a selfie or video and tag it under hashtag #MaskIndia. The Times Of India will feature the best and most innovative creations online.

Indiatimes proudly supports The Times of Indias #MaskIndia initiative, because prevention is better than cure. Were committed to helping our readers and our community stay safe from COVID-19 and this is a small step in that direction.
UN envoy to Yemen welcomes announcement by Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen on ceasefire in Yemen

Saudi Press Agency

Thursday 1441/8/16 - 2020/04/09

United Nations, April 08, 2020, SPA -- The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, welcomed the announcement by the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen of a two-week unilateral ceasefire covering all ground, maritime and air operations in Yemen starting on Thursday, April 9, 2020 AD.

A statement published by Griffiths office, this evening, said that the announcement comes in support of the UN's peace process and the UN Secretary-General's call for a nationwide ceasefire in order to avert the grave risks of a COVID-19 outbreak in Yemen.

"I am grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Coalition for recognizing and acting on this critical moment for Yemen. The parties must now utilize this opportunity and cease immediately all hostilities with the utmost urgency, and make progress towards a comprehensive and sustainable peace" said Griffiths.

According to the statement, the Special Envoy has been mediating between the parties to reach agreements on a nation-wide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic measures that will bring tangible relief to the people of Yemen, and the resumption of the political process to comprehensively end the war. The Special Envoy hopes and expects that the Coalition's ceasefire announcement will create a conducive environment for the parties to conclude these agreements in the very near future, the statement said.

--SPA

01:52 LOCAL TIME 22:52 GMT

0029

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






There's been a lot of discussion by armchair analysts about various models being used to predict outcomes of COVID-19. The armchair analysts I've seen include a philosophy major and a Ph.D. candidate with little experience in statistics, much less in modeling complex systems. In fact, the discussion coming from academia and its sycophants in the media further demonstrates just how deep the "Deep State" runs. For those of us who have built statistical models, all of this discussion brings to mind George Box's dictum: "all models are wrong, but some are useful"...or useless, as the case may be.

The problem with data-driven models, especially when data are lacking, can be easily explained. I'll start with a brief background on statistical analysis (AKA hypothesis testing). First of all, in terms of helping decision-makers make quality decisions, statistical hypothesis testing and data analysis make for just one tool in a large toolbox, and it's based on what we often call reductionist theory. In short, the tool examines parts of a system and then makes inferences as to the whole system.

The tool is usually quite good at testing hypotheses under carefully controlled experimental conditions. For example, the success of the pharmaceutical industry is, in part, due to the fact that it can design and implement controlled experiments in a laboratory. However, even under controlled experimental procedures, the tool has limitations. Simple confidence intervals (C.I.) provide good insight into the accuracy (usefulness) of such models. For the COVID-19 models that we have seen on the so-called "news," the C.I. is often reported as a range of the predicted number of people who will contract or die from the disease (e.g., 60,000 to 2 million). These C.I.s are quite large and quite useless, at least in terms of helping decision-makers make such dire decisions about our health, economy, and civil liberties.

The armchair analysts' descriptions of these C.I.s show how clueless they are of even the simplest of statistical interpretation. Assuming they are using a 95% C.I., reductionist tools cannot say there is a 95% chance that the true mean is in the interval. They can only say 95% of similar intervals would contain the mean if constructed from a similar, but different sample.

Thus far, most of the data appear to come from large population centers like N.Y. This means the data are biased, which makes the entire analysis invalid for making any decisions outside N.Y. or similar geographical areas. It would be antithetical to the scientific method if such data were used to make decisions in, for example, Wyoming. While these models can sometimes provide decision-makers with useful information, the actual decisions being made are far too important and complex to be based on such inaccurate data. There are volumes of scientific literature that explains the limitations of reductionist methods should the reader wish to investigate this further.

Considering the limitations of this tool under controlled laboratory conditions, imagine what happens within more complex systems that encompass large areas, contain millions of people, and vary with time (e.g., seasonal or annual changes). In fact, when it comes to predicting outcomes within complex and adaptive and dynamic systems, where controlled experiments are not possible and where data are lacking and large amounts of uncertainty exist, the reductionists' tool is not useful. This is why climate change modeling has little credibility among real scientists and modelers (other than to those pseudo-scientists who feather their nest with taxpayers' money by making up these models). The many flaws of the approach used by the climate change (and certain COVID-19) modelers are too extensive to be covered in this article, but again, there are volumes of scientific literature that describe these flaws and support what I am saying. Instead, I will briefly describe a solution to modeling complex systems.

The solution and the type of modeling needed to make quality decisions (not just predict numbers) are what we modelers call participatory scenario modeling. The key to this method is to use Decision Science tools that explicitly link data with the knowledge and opinions of a diverse mix of subject matter experts (SME). The method uses a systems approach (not a reductionist one) and seeks to help the decision-maker weigh the available options. A good scientist should recognize that modeling complex adaptive systems requires a diversity of thought and experience. Nobody should trust a model of this nature if it's developed by a few people in an ivory tower. Anybody with any street smarts at all knows that if you go to a surgeon (or invite only surgeons to the table), you already know the answer you will get: they will undoubtedly recommend surgery. Again, the key is participation from a diverse set of SMEs from interdisciplinary backgrounds working together to build models that assess the decision options in terms of a probability of the possible outcomes.

For the COVID-19 issue, we likely need a set of models for health and medical and economic decisions that augment final decision support models that help the decision-makers weigh their options. This can all be accomplished with currently available Decision Science methods. No experienced decision-maker would (or should) rely on any one model or any one SME (especially if they come from the Deep State) when making complex decisions with so much uncertainty and so much at stake. There are volumes of scientific literature that show that individual experts are no better than laymen at making quality decision under systems characterized by complexity and uncertainty, unless they use a structured decision-making process supported by tools like participatory scenario modeling.

The problem is that the pseudo-scientists of academia, many so called "non-profits," and the government agencies that fund them often allow only SMEs who drink the Kool-Aid and agree with their agenda to participate. In short, they often rig the participatory models. I'm not saying this is occurring with COVID-19, but it is happening with climate change and land use models. There is a danger of cherry-picking the SMEs. Let's hope that doesn't happen for the COVID-19 crisis.

Science is a quest for truth, not consensus. The scientific method, if carried out with honor and integrity, seeks only to estimate and interpret God's truth as best we can so that we may make wise choices for ourselves, our families, our community, and our country. In fact, the great scientists of the past who created and developed the scientific method 400 years ago  who, by the way, were deeply religious men  required the use of multiple working hypotheses. To the layman, this simply means we include different perspectives, ideas, and experiences in our quest for the truth. Some scientists, like me, have even called for making science itself more democratic, which is why I am no longer welcome in the halls of academia.

For those dogmatic Deep-State pseudo-scientists in academia (and their lackeys in the "media" and Congress), I will end with a history lesson from Francis Bacon, the founder of the scientific method. Bacon himself intended the scientific method ("the interpretation of nature", as he called it) to be not the whole truth, but rather only one part of it:
Nigerias confirmed COVID-19 cases, since the first record on February 27, are 288, including 51 recoveries and seven fatalities, as of April 9. There are optimistic views that COVID-19 is not yet a community disease in Nigeria and the comparatively low statistics correctly reflect the countrys true situation.

Some, on the other hand, believe limited testing capacity may be covering Nigerias true reality and that the virus may be spreading at the community level with much more cases existing without detection. In this email interview with PREMIUM TIMES Taiwo-Hassan Adebayo, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the frontline agency against coronavirus, Chikwe Ihekweazu, discusses efforts to stem the spread of the virus and says that most of Nigerias confirmed cases are returnees and their direct contacts, allaying concerns about community transmission. He hints at how Nigeria will handle the arrival of expected evacuees from abroad. He also says Nigeria could flatten the curve but warns of a worst-case scenario should preventive measures not be adhered to.

Excerpts:

PT: Has COVID-19 become a community disease yet in Nigeria? If the country does not have community-level transmissions yet by official records, is this not because we are not doing enough tests as some have suggested?

Ihekweazu: We have ramped up testing capacity as quickly as we can, to enable testing for COVID-19. By leveraging on investments in diagnostics for Lassa fever and polio, we have activated nine laboratories for the testing of COVID-19 in less than three months. This has enabled us to increase the national daily testing capacity from 500 to 1500. We may not be where we want to be with testing but given the current situation, we have come a long way and continue to improve. In the next one month, we intend to expand further and have 14 labs with the capacity to test for COVID-19. The validation and production of new testing technology will also determine how quickly we can scale up on testing.

In addition, our response to COVID-19 continues to be driven by science and evidence. In the last one week, we have reviewed our case definition to ensure we can detect cases that are not in returning travellers or contacts of confirmed cases. This will enable us to make informed decisions to mitigate the impact of the disease.

PT: How easy or hard does it become to track the thousands of suspected cases? How many persons have Nigeria tested as of this moment?

Ihekweazu: Till date, we have tested nearly 4,000 people for COVID-19. Surveillance in terms of contact tracing and monitoring is one of the most important yet resource-intensive and rigorous aspects of our response to COVID-19. For every confirmed case, intense contact tracing is carried out to promptly detect and treat contacts who may be infected. As at the 3rd of April, 7,868 passengers of interest have been identified and monitored. Over 70 per cent have completed their follow-up period without showing symptoms of COVID-19.

We have been able to achieve this through combined efforts with State Ministries of Health, Port Health Services, colleagues from our Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (NFELTP) and other partners. We are also using our digital surveillance tool, SORMAS, which has been rolled-out across states. We continue to explore ways to enhance this process. Currently, we are in conversation with the states and the private sector to provide more resources for contact tracing in all LGAs in the country.

PT: Both by the speed of spread and fatality rate, Nigeria comes better than most countries, including the advanced economies of the Global North. Do you want to say we have a better response? Whats responsible for our performance?

Ihekweazu: It is too early to conclude that our response is better than that of most countries. We are still learning and continue to do so on a daily basis. Ultimately, our aim is to protect the health of Nigerians and we remain committed to this mandate. We are learning from the response in other countries and guidance from expert bodies such as the World Health Organisation and Africa Centres for Disease Control.

PT: Do we have hypothetical scenarios that predict the highest number of cases the country could reach? What are these numbers?

Ihekweazu: We do have scenarios that help us understand what may or may not happen if certain measures are not put in place in a timely manner. Accordingly, through the Federal Ministry of Health, we have been working collaboratively with the Presidential Task Force for COVID-19 to ensure that measures being implemented are thoroughly thought through and driven by current epidemiological information and projections.

In the absence of a vaccine for this disease, we have to depend on non-pharmaceutical interventions such as closure of large gatherings and cessation of movements. There is a strong chance that if these interventions are properly implemented and adhered to, we can flatten the curve and control this outbreak. By limiting movements, we are reducing the possibility of spread of the virus causing COVID-19, which is highly transmissible. This requires a whole-of-society approach to ensure we do not gravitate towards the worst-case scenario.

PT: There is a plan to evacuate Nigerians abroad. What measures are being put in place to check further importation of the virus? Asking people to go self-isolate in their own homes may not work. Do you agree? Will the authourities have the returnees in a government monitored facility for at least 14 days before allowing them to go home  if they are without the virus?

Ihekweazu: Our decisions continue to be reviewed, based on the epidemiology of the disease and also on resource availability. Keeping people under compulsory quarantine in a facility requires manpower and resources. With increasing awareness on the disease and associated risks, people have a better understanding of the need to self-isolate on return to Nigeria. This is not only to protect themselves but also to protect their loved ones.

The Federal Ministry of Health is working closely with other agencies coordinated by the Presidential Task Force, to ensure that we fully mitigate the possibility of having more infected people come into the country. We also continue to follow up closely with returning passengers who are expected to remain in self-isolation for 14 days after arrival.
A clip of Dr. Frank Gabrin speaking about empathy was aired by NBC New York after his death on March 31.

NBC New York

Frank Gabrin, the first emergency-room doctor to die from the coronavirus in the US, said he faced a lack of personal protective equipment, forcing him to reuse what he could.

After developing symptoms, he messaged a friend, "It was me using the same mask for four days in a row that infected me," The Guardian reported on Thursday .

Masks are not supposed to be reused, but doctors are doing so as they face shortages.

The two New York-area hospitals where Gabrin worked said they were not short on equipment.

Gabrin died in his husband's arms on March 31.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Frank Gabrin, the first emergency-room doctor to die from the coronavirus in the US, had told friends before his death last week that he was worried about the lack of personal protective equipment in the hospitals he worked at and that he was ultimately infected after having to wear the same mask four days in a row.

Gabrin's friends and family shared their text messages and conversations with Gabrin before his death with The Guardian on Thursday.

Related Video: How to Help Healthcare Workers Fighting the Coronavirus

In text messages to a friend, Eddy Soffer, on March 19, Gabrin wrote, "Don't have any PPE that has not been used."

He added, "No N95 masks  my own goggles  my own face shield."

Gabrin, 60, a two-time cancer survivor, died in his husband's arms on March 31.

At the time of his death, Gabrin had symptoms consistent with those of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, but he had not been tested. The American College of Emergency Physicians has described Gabrin as the first ER doctor to die of the virus.

He had texted his friend Debra Lyons on March 26, after waking up with symptoms, "It was me using the same mask for four days in a row that infected me," The Guardian reported.

Debra Vasalech Lyons (@DebVasalech) March 31, 2020

Gabrin's husband, Arnold Vargas, had also developed symptoms of COVID-19.

Story continues

Gabrin woke up five days later struggling to breathe, saying, "Baby, I can't breathe, help me."

Vargas said he called 911, but Gabrin died in his arms.

Medical masks aren't supposed to be reused, but healthcare workers are facing a dire shortage

The Food and Drug Administration says N95 respirator masks "should not be shared or reused."

But shortages of medical equipment around the US have forced doctors to reuse them, use lower-grade masks, make their own, or work without masks entirely.

Gabrin told friends in text messages that he was reusing PPE, and he told Lyons that he was trying to wash his N95 respirator so he could use it several times, The Guardian reported.

He also said the only gloves he could get were too small and were ripped, so Lyons sent him bigger gloves from Florida and ordered him hand sanitizer, the newspaper said.

Gabrin worked in two New York-area emergency rooms: at St. John's Episcopal Hospital in Queens, and at East Orange General Hospital in New Jersey.

Screenshot_2020 04 01 Cuomo Prime Time on Twitter Dr Frank Gabrin had been treating coronavirus patients on the front lines[...]

Officials in both hospitals told The Guardian they didn't have PPE shortages.

Dr. Teddy Lee, the ER chairman at St. John's, said, "I know for one thing he wasn't speaking about a lack of PPE at St. John's."

Alvaro Alban, East Orange's ER chairman, said, "If for a second I thought that was our problem at East Orange I would tell you otherwise."

Lyons told CNN earlier in April that Gabrin "lost his life needlessly" because of a lack of PPE.

An N95 respirator.

Nicholas Pfosi/Reuters

"It's a big thing we're asking them to face with no tools," Lyons said.

"Being on the front lines is what each one of these healthcare workers prepared themselves for," she added. "They did not expect to have to go it with nothing."

Gabrin had also shared his reaction to the outbreak on social media. He wrote on Facebook after cases started to climb in March, "I have to admit, I am having some anxiety," The Guardian reported.

Vargas said he was told that Gabrin's funeral on Tuesday could have only 10 people because of the continued need for social distancing.

Business Insider
Screen grab of Health Secretary Matt Hancock during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on coronavirus (COVID-19).

The government has asked to make more, use less personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus outbreak, and announced a new online portal for NHS workers to order items.

During a press briefing on Friday, health secretary Matt Hancock said there was now enough PPE if supplies are used correctly - but said there was clearly a huge task ahead to keep it flowing.

Since the start of the outbreak more than 742 million pieces of PPE have been delivered to the frontline, including 161 million masks, 127 million aprons, a million gowns and 345 million pairs of gloves".

The health secretary announced a new centralised online system will enable the Government to track PPE demand in real time and will be rolled out in the next three weeks.

Screen grab of Chief Nursing Officer for England Ruth May speaking during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by PA Video/PA Images via Getty Images)

Hancock said every NHS hospital has received a delivery of critical PPE once every 72 hours, which will be made daily over the next week.

He said: Over the next three weeks were rolling out an online portal, allowing primary care and social care a system so that they can request from a central inventory, and this will mean that we can track demand in real time, and deliver according to need.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading

This Herculean effort of enormous operational complexity, to get the right piece of equipment to the right person at the right moment  I pay tribute to the enormous efforts of all those who are making it happen."

Hancock also thanked companies who had helped with the manufacturing of PPE - and asked for more to pledge their support.

He continued: Many businesses have generously come forward to turn over production lines as part of this national effort.

In particular, I want to thank Burberry with their offers of gowns, Rolls Royce and McLaren who are creating visors. We are talking to many others and we want more to step up to the plate.

Story continues

So if you have production facilities and you can meet our published technical specifications, we want to hear from you, so we can make this kit here in Britain.

Mr Hancock said his goal is that everyone working in a critical role must get the personal protective equipment that they need.

He said there is a huge international demand for PPE and a global squeeze on supply.

Coronavirus: what happened today

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo News
Tentative signs of hope emerged Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic was peaking, as the European Union negotiated a rescue package to help the hard-hit continent.

With the death toll passing 93,000, there remained plenty of grim news, with the IMF warning that the world was dipping into a new Great Depression and new data showing the United States has shed a massive 17 million jobs in a matter of weeks.

But hospitalizations dropped in several countries and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the highest profile of the 1.5 million people infected by the virus, exited three days of intensive care.

Medical personnel move a deceased patient to a refrigerated truck serving as a makeshift morgues at Brooklyn Hospital Center. By Angela Weiss (AFP)

"The fire started by the pandemic is starting to come under control," said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain, where fatalities inched down to 683 from 757 a day before, pushing the total above 15,000.

"Our priority now is not to turn back, especially not to return to our starting point, not to lower our guard," Sanchez told parliament.

France reported that 82 fewer people were in intensive care for COVID-19 -- the first fall since the pandemic broke out.

And in New York, the epicenter of the virus in the United States, only 200 more people entered hospitals, the lowest number since the pandemic struck, even though 799 people died over the last day, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

"We are flattening the curve by what we are doing," Cuomo said Thursday, adding, "We have to keep the curve flat."

But he declined to predict how New York would be faring in the next few weeks, telling reporters bluntly: "I have no idea."

'A Europe that protects'

A Belgian firefighter wearing a full protective equipment disinfects a stretcher. By Aris Oikonomou (AFP)

EU finance ministers agreed in late-night talks to a 500 billion-euro ($550 billion) rescue package aimed at reducing pain across the 27-nation bloc, especially hardest-hit Italy and Spain.

"Europe has decided and is ready to meet the gravity of the crisis," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted after the talks.

He warned earlier in the day that France's economy is expected to shrink six percent this year, even with the country's own 100-billion-euro relief plan.

Sister Angel Bipendu, right, a nun and a doctor who distributes medical care alongside spiritual succour in Italy. By Miguel MEDINA (AFP)

EU finance ministers put aside proposals by France and Italy for pooled borrowing. The Netherlands relented and let the deal come through after pushing hard for Italy and other affected countries to undertake economic reforms.

"Today we answered our citizens' call for a Europe that protects," Eurogroup chief Mario Centeno said after the talks.

"This response contains bold and ambitious proposals that didn't seem possible just weeks ago," added Centeno, who is also Portuguese finance minister.

Both workers and companies are suffering as half the planet is being told to stay at home.

Worst 'since Great Depression'

Karate training in the Palestinian territories -- with masks. By HAZEM BADER (AFP)

The International Monetary Fund said that 170 of its 180 members would see declines in per capita income this year -- just a few months after predictions that nearly all would enjoy growth.

"We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, urging governments to provide lifelines to businesses and households alike.

And even in the best-case scenario, the IMF expects only a "partial recovery" in 2021, assuming the virus that has infected more than 1.5 million people subsides this year.

"It could get worse," Georgieva warned.

The US Federal Reserve threw out its own fresh lifeline to Americans, with chairman Jerome Powell announcing financing facilities of $2.3 trillion "to provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity."

The latest stimulus helped Wall Street's benchmark Dow index rise 1.2 percent, recouping a sliver of this year's massive losses, despite the gloomy job figures.

But Powell also warned that the US economy is moving "with alarming speed" towards "very high unemployment."

People wait in their cars as they line up outside John F. Kennedy Library to collect unemployment forms in Hialeah, Florida. By CHANDAN KHANNA (AFP)

Anthony Fauci, the US government's top pandemic expert, voiced guarded hope for a return to normal by summer thanks to the effects of social distancing, the recommendations for virtually all 300 million Americans to keep their space from one another.

"It is very likely that we will progress towards the steps towards normalization as we get to the end of this 30 days," Fauci told CBS television.

"Hopefully, by the time we get to the summer we will have taken many steps in that direction," he said.

Boris Johnson improving

Global spread of coronavirus. By Simon MALFATTO (AFP)

In London, the prime minister's office said Johnson was in "extremely good spirits" after leaving intensive care.

The 55-year-old Conservative leader had received "standard oxygen treatment" after he was transferred to the intensive care unit at London's St Thomas' hospital on Monday, his spokesman said earlier.

Johnson had been an initial skeptic of rigorously emptying out public spaces to fight the virus before heeding expert advice.

His government, with Foreign Minister Dominic Raab temporarily in charge, is now debating whether to extend the lockdown implemented on March 23.

Britain announced another 881 deaths on Thursday, taking the total to 7,978.

Despite hopeful signs in Western nations, the pandemic is marching into areas previously only lightly affected. Africa faces vast consequences, with the World Bank warning that sub-Saharan Africa could slip into its first recession in a quarter.

In a move to build international solidarity over the crisis, Germany on Thursday led a videoconference session of the UN Security Council on the pandemic.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the session by calling the pandemic "the fight of a generation -- and the raison d'etre of the United Nations itself."

burs-sct/ec
(Photo : Benjamin Dada on Unsplash) Google Bans Zoom App Over Security Vulnerabilities: Why Is It Not Safe To Use Zoom?

Google banned its employees from using the popular video chat software, Zoom, according to Buzzfeed News. The decision was made after a series of reports about the platform's weak security and privacy measures such as sharing users' information to third parties, and incidents of "zoom-bombing" in the middle of what has arguably become the largest work-from-home initiative in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Google reportedly sent an email to all employees, saying that Zoom is banned because of "security vulnerabilities."

The tech company mentioned that the videoconferencing software installed by their employees on their laptops would stop working starting this week. "We have long had a policy of not allowing employees to use unapproved apps for work that are outside of our corporate network," said Google's Spokesperson, Jose Castaneda, on BuzzFeed News.

Zoom was launched in 2019, which became popular today, making its CEO Eric Yuan, a billionaire. The video chat software was developed to be used by different enterprises for their meetings and webinars, which is currently used by people around the globe for classes, gym sessions, cocktails parties and other conferences during the ongoing pandemic. However, Zoom's growth has been criticized around the application's weak security features and lack of concern for users' privacy.





Read Also: Zoom CEO Eric Yuan Apologizes For Security Problems in Live YouTube Stream





Why is it no longer safe to use Zoom for the user's video conferences?

According to an investigation of "Motherboard" last month, Zoom apps downloaded on iPhone and iPads are sending users' device data to Facebook -- even from people who don't have an account.

The app notifies Facebook whenever the user launches the app and shares device details such as the model, the phone carrier, the time zone, the city in which the user is currently located, and also device's unique advertiser identifier that different companies use to target the user with advertisements.

Zoom addressed the issue a day later, however, more problems have since surfaced. A new security issue was found by a former NSA hacker saying that security feature allows other people to control the user's Apple iMac by accessing the device's microphone and webcam.

According to a report of The Intercept, the conferences conducted using Zoom weren't encrypted. However, the company that launched the application clarified that some video calls were mistakenly delivered or routed through Chinese servers.

Google isn't the first company to restrict employees from using Zoom because of its security and privacy issues. According to a report on Reuters' website, the rocket company of Elon Musk known as Space X, also banned their employees from using the video chat software. In addiiton, the New York City's Department of Education also forbade schools from using Zoom and urged them to switch their service to Microsoft.



Also Read: China Uses Zoom To Spy on Americans, US Officials Say

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Mike Segar/Reuters

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday he is cautiously optimistic that the state has seen the worst of the coronavirus pandemic as the rate of hospitalizations appeared to plateau and the number of patients on ventilators dropped for the first time since the outbreak began last month.

However, New York is still weeks away from returning to normal life, Cuomo said, as re-opening the state will rely on the development of millions and millions of antibody tests that dont exist.

We are cautiously optimistic we are slowing the rate of infections, Cuomo said during a Friday press conference in Albany, stressing that residents need to continue to be vigilant about social distancing because what we do today will determine the infection rate two or three days from now.

Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force response coordinator, said on Friday that other metro areas across the U.S.including New Orleans, Denver and much of New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Islandare also starting to flatten the curve.

Despite the uplifting news, the Empire State continues to see a high death tollalthough the 777 deaths overnight was slightly lower than the previous day. To date, more than 7,844 people have died and 161,807 more are infected. As someone who searches for solace in all this grief, the leveling off in lives lost is a somewhat hopeful sign, Cuomo said.

The rate of hospitalizations is decreasing and the rate of ICU admissions was a negative number on Friday for the first time since the pandemic began, Cuomo said.

NYC Is Taking Hundreds of Body Bags Out of Housesand Soon They Will Be Counted

That means there are fewer people in the intensive care units statewide than there were, Cuomo said, adding that the high death toll is a result of patients succumbing to the virus after falling sick weeks ago. The number of lives that have been lost is staggering. The number of lives that have been saved is also staggering, he said.

Story continues

New Yorks actual curve of the pandemic is much, much lower than past projections, partly as a result of the states quick action to enforce social distancing guidelines and lock down non-essential business, he added.

Nobodys been here before, Cuomo said about the earlier projections that indicated 136,000 New Yorkers would be hospitalized. In reality, he said, over the last 19 days, the number was 18,569. There is no natural trajectory. The trajectory is the trajectory that we create by our actions.

Cuomo said state officials are already preparing a graduate phased process to re-open the state but it will rely on widespread and aggressive antibody testing and diagnostic testing. Its not going to be a light switch where you flip this economy like you flip a light switch, he said.

New York is pushing for testing that will ultimately allow residents who have already had the virusor are immune to itto return to public life sooner. Cuomo said, ideally, that every New Yorker would take an antibody or diagnostic test before returning to work, or entering a nursing home or hospital.

The New York State Department of Health has developed a COVID-19 antibody test, and state officials are working with the FDA to get it approved, however New York currently has capacity to do only 300 tests per day.

New York needs millions and millions of [tests] and we need them in a matter of weeks, not months, Cuomo said. He called on the Trump administration to use the Defense Production Act to compel companies to make tests because he didnt think the private sector could do it on their own.

We need a tremendous, mind-boggling increase in volume quickly, he said, adding that he wanted enough tests for New Yorks 19 million residents. We need an unprecedented production where the government can produce these tests in the millions.

William Haseltine, president of the global health think tank ACCESS Health International, who recently chaired the U.S.-China Health Summit in Wuhan, explained to The Daily Beast that, although an antibody test has been approved by the FDA, it only tests patients to see if they have any strand of the coronavirus, not the specific one currently surging across the world.

That means that even if most people whove survived the virus are able to develop an effective immune response to itwhich is still uncertainthe current antibody tests being rolled out in the U.S. might not be able to tell if youve recently had COVID-19 or had an unrelated cold, said Haseltine.

One third of colds are coronavirus, he added. This test isnt going to be foolproof.

Cuomo: New York Saw Deadliest Day in Coronavirus Pandemic But Were Flattening the Curve

Ultimately, he said, antibody testing should be paired with widespread and affordable diagnostic teststhe ones used to determine if someone currently has the virusfor which access has steadily improved in the past several weeks.

The key to safely reopening any city will require ready accessfor allto diagnostic tests, antibody tests, and contact tracing when infections inevitably pop up.

But before officials can devote their attention to testing, New York still needs to combat the latest overnight surge and relieve hospitals, makeshift morgues, and funeral homes that continue to be overwhelmed by the pandemics effects. On Thursday, Cuomo signed an executive order adding additional funeral directors, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency said last week that New York will also receive 250 ambulances, about 500 EMTs and paramedics, and 85 more refrigerated trucks to help with the overload.

So far, 45 refrigerated trucks have been set up across the five boroughs, some of which are already full. A temporary morgue has been erected outside Bellevue Hospital in Midtown Manhattan.

The surge has also forced New York City officials to consider a devastating contingency plan: temporary mass burials of coronavirus patients on Hart Island, the location of the city's potter's field.

Drone pictures show bodies being buried on New York's Hart Island on Thursday. Lucas Jackson/Reuters

For decades, Hart Island has been used to lay to rest decedents who have not been claimed by family members, a city hall spokesperson told The Daily Beast on Thursday. We will continue using the Island in that fashion during this crisis and it is likely that people who have passed away from COVID who fit this description will be buried on the island in the coming days.

Drone photos taken by Reuters show several workers clad in hazmat suits placing wooden caskets into mass burial plots in the potters field, which has been used by the city for the past 150 years.

On average, about 25 bodies are buried at Hart Island every week by Rikers Island jail inmates, according to the Hart Island Project. Over the last month, the number of bodies that have not been claimed has spikedprompting an average of 24 burials a day, the New York Department of Corrections said.

The Department of Corrections is dealing with more burials overall, amid the coronavirus disease. Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Burial operations, a task that typically occurred once a week, have now increased to five days a week. Due to social distancing and safety concerns, city officials have hired contract workers to perform this important work instead of inmates, DOC Press Secretary Jason Kersten told The Daily Beast.

Meanwhile, the citys Office of the Chief Medical Examiner made a policy change to its website on Thursday, stating that the city will only provide temporary storage of a decedent for up to 14 days. The website also stated that bodies that are not claimed within the new time frame would be sent to Hart Island.

As we aim to accommodate the many New Yorkers who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the [OCME] will provide temporary storage of a decedent for up to 14 days, the website states. We continue to work with families to accommodate their needs during this difficult time.

A spokesperson for the OCME confirmed that the city burial policy changed on Thursday, adding that the office is adhering to our standard 14-day OCME storage policy for all cases.

New York Citys law enforcement is also bouncing back from the pandemic, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said Friday. While the virus has hit the citys law enforcement hard, 600 uniformed officers are returning back to work after testing positive. While the coronavirus at one time sidelined approximately 20 percent of the 37,000-member force, the NYPD has not yet implemented 12-hour shifts to make up for the lack of personnel.

We have the reserves, we have the contingency plans, Shea previously said. To date, the NYPD has lost 12 uniformed members of the force to the virus, and about 1,935 have been infected, according to CNN.

-Reporter Olivia Messer contributed to this report.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!

Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
A case has been registered



against 16 people for allegedly violating the lockdown orders, by gathering for a religious event at a town in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Friday.

Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal said that at least 16 people had gathered at a Dargah in Ratanpur town for Shab-e-Barat on Thursday night.

"On getting information about it, a police team rushed to the spot and later an FIR was lodged against them at Ratanpur police station," he said.

They were booked under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 147 (rioting) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, he said.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had on April 8 appealed to the members of the Muslim community to pray at home on Shab-e-Barat and follow the social distancing protocol to prevent the spread coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Natural News) Australias swift response to the global coronavirus pandemic could end up extending the countrys lockdown until 2021. While the quick action greatly slowed the spread of the coronavirus in the country, experts are now saying that it could be denying a large portion of the populace immunity from the disease. Ending the lockdowns early could then result in a large surge of infections.

When the coronavirus first reared its head, the Australian federal government moved quickly to implement lockdowns, restricting peoples movement. As a result, the country only has 6,109 cases and 51 deaths as of reporting time. Other countries, such as the U.K. and the United States, missed the opportunity to lock down and stop the spread of the virus early.

Scientists are now saying that thanks to its governments quick response, Australia will have to end its lockdown much later than those other countries  ending it at the same time as them would only result in a surge of new cases.

Responsible approach a mixed blessing

According to Paul Komesaroff, a professor of medicine at Monash University, the Australian federal governments responsible approach to the coronavirus pandemic may be a mixed blessing.

They missed the opportunity to impose restrictions early and huge numbers of people are getting the disease, stated Komesaroff, talking about coronavirus response in countries such as the U.K. and America.

But it does mean that the peak is very, very sharp, and it may well be that the timeline for them is shorter than it will be for us. Ironically, he continued.

Komesaroff, a leading expert on epidemic response, explained that the strategy means that Australia will likely avoid all the terrible suffering seen in other countries and be able to provide proper treatment to all patients in hospitals.

However, this slow and steady process could continue for a significant amount of time. Komesaroff said it could take longer than the six months predicted by the Australian federal government.

Well have a relatively small number of deaths, which is the situation we have at the moment, that well be able to deal with anyone whos in need, stated Komesaroff.

But that might continue for many, many months. Even if were passed the peak and the numbers come down, most of the community  because of the strategy thats been adopted  wont acquire immunity, he adds.

Komesaroff isnt the only one saying that Australias lockdown could be extended. Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert at the Australian National University, has also said that the pandemic would not be ending soon for Australia.

This problem is going to continue until a lot of us are either immune, which means weve caught the infection, which is not a good idea, he explained.

Collignon, who has worked for the World Health Organization (WHO) in the past, went on to say that Australians will need to get used to some form of pandemic-affected life for a while.

I dont think life is going to be normal in three months, he said. It would be nice if life was reasonably normal in six months, but thats the earliest horizon.

My honest view is this will go on for 18 months to some degree, he added.

Partial lifting of restrictions possible

With mass immunity not yet reached, restrictions could instead be partially lifted for Australians. Komesaroff states that healthy people and those presumably immune to the disease would be able to go out and return to their lives. However, this method would still leave vulnerable and elderly people stuck inside their homes. (Related: A preppers guide to surviving a coronavirus lockdown.)

The issue here is the availability of tests to find out if a person is immune to the coronavirus or not. While no such tests have been approved, some experts have stated that they will be imminently available.

People develop immunity to the coronavirus by being exposed to it but then developing the antibodies to fight it off and recover. An immunity test would be one that searches for the presence of these antibodies in a persons body.

They are serological antibody tests, which test whether people have been exposed to the disease and have developed antibodies against it, and therefore are presumably immune, Komesaroff explained.

Once we have access to these tests, and they are in a high state of development and even being used in a limited way in the UK and elsewhere, then that may enable us to identify people who are safe to go back into the community and to resume their normal activities, he continued.

Komesaroff went on to state that being able to do so will be important to get the Australian economy going again. However, he also warned that it could lead to the creation of a two-tiered society where the immune do as they please while the vulnerable are forced to stay at home. According to Komesaroff, this could present some social problems and is a complicating factor that will need to be thought through.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

SBS.com.au
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu may enter Stage-III of COVID-19 outbreak, and the State government is taking all possible measures to prevent that from happening, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said on Thursday. However, as there are many cases being reported every day across the State, the government will consult with a 19-member panel of senior doctors and 12 committees headed by IAS officers on extending the lockdown.

Our first batch of rapid test kits, containing 50,000 units, will arrive on Thursday night and 20,000 kits promised by the Centre are expected to come on Friday, Palaniswami said after a meeting at the Secretariat. The State has placed orders for a total of 4 lakh kits.

Meanwhile, the number of fresh cases in the State jumped by 96, taking the tally to 834. Of these, 84 have links with the Delhi event.

Of the 12 persons who are not connected to the Delhi event, three have inter-State travel history and nine are contacts of persons who earlier tested positive, including a private doctor who contracted the infection from a patient, said Health Secretary Beela Rajesh. She further said that 1, 480 people who attended the Delhi event from TN have reported to the authorities.

Earlier, the CM clarified how the rapid tests would be conducted.

First, family members of those who tested positive would be checked. Later, tests will be conducted on those who have come in contact with positive patients. Then, the entire area where the patient resides will be tested.

Palaniswami assured that Tamil Nadu was well-equipped to handle the situation.

We have 3,371 ventilators and orders have been placed to procure another 2,500. As many as 32,371 beds have been kept ready in government and private hospitals for treating patients.

Responding to the criticism that the Centre had allocated just Rs 510 crore for Tamil Nadu, much less than what has been given to other States, Palaniswami said his government had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Let us wait for their response, he said.

When asked if the State was going to offer more relief to those affected, Palaniswami said it was already under process. Assistance is being offered to 15 welfare boards and 8.2 lakh workers who come under it. This includes cleanliness workers, khadi and village industries workers, fishermen, transpersons, small vendors, village priests, ulemas, folk artists, denotified communities, narikoravas, film artists, and workers in cracker manufacturing industries, he said.

Palaniswami said that so far, Rs 101 crore has been received as a contribution to the CMs Public Relief Fund.

Even a small amount like Rs 100 will be utilised to save people, he said.
TDT | Manama

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa approved yesterday the law to pay the salaries of Bahrainis in the private sector for three months from April to June. It was announced that His Majesty the King ratified and issued law 8 of 2020, adding provision (3) to paragraph (C) of clause (8) of decree (78) of 2004 on Insurance Against Unemployment.

The amended law stipulates the below.

Article One  the new provision shall read: Pay the wages of Bahraini workers insured under the Social Insurance Law promulgated by Decree Law No. (24) for the year 1976 for a period of three months, starting in the month of April 2020, and for a maximum of the insured wage accordingly, subject to paragraph (e) of this article.

Article 2  The Premier and ministers, each in his own jurisdiction, shall implement the provisions of this law, which shall come into force from the day following the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.
As some leaders weigh pursuit of herd immunity from coronavirus, experts warn risks are too high

When will the United States reach the point where the novel coronavirus cannot easily spread? As public health officials battle an ever-expanding crisis, epidemiologists suggest we still have a long way to go.

The threshold for achieving herd immunity  the fraction of the population that needs to be immune to a disease to make person-to-person transmission extremely unlikely or even impossible  varies virus by virus. With measles, for example, that threshold is high: 93% to 95%.

For the novel coronavirus, however, that estimate is much lower. Thats the good news.

PHOTO: Riders, some wearing masks and gloves as a protective measure over coronavirus concerns, enter a New York City subway train, April 7, 2020, in New York City. (John Minchillo/AP)

Based on what experts know about the diseases contagiousness, "the critical threshold for achieving that herd protection for COVID-19 is between 50% and 66%," according to Dr. Justin Lessler, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University.

The bad news? That means that at least half of Americans need to become infected or vaccinated before the population reaches herd immunity  and even then, concerns over reinfection could alter the math.

MORE: Why coronavirus antibody testing in one Colorado town could provide a way forward

According to a study by infectious disease experts at Imperial College in London, even the hardest hit countries remain far below that threshold. In Italy, for example, the Imperial study suggests only 9.8% of the population has been infected. In Spain, the number is 15%.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, tweeted this week that his "informal survey of thought leaders in this area puts [the] estimate [of the infected population in the United States] anywhere from 1-5 [percent]," a figure that falls well short of Lesslers herd immunity threshold.

PHOTO: Mirimus lab scientists prepare to test COVID-19 samples from recovered patients, on April 8, 2020, in Brooklyn, New York. (Misha Friedman/Getty Images)

Even so, some European leaders have suggested that a rapid pursuit of herd immunity could help slow the spread of the virus. In Sweden, for example, the countrys chief epidemiologist proposed "herd immunity or a combination of immunity and vaccine" this week as a means to move quickly past the disease.

Story continues

But without a vaccine to supercharge immunization, infectious disease experts are quick to point out that any pursuit of herd immunity could come at a tremendous cost. Allowing many people to get sick quickly -- and then, in theory, develop immunity quickly  could cause a spike in infections that places enormous stress on the healthcare system, leading to a substantial loss of life.

"What really matters is how you get to herd immunity," said Dr. William Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard University. "And it will be impossible to get there without a large number of deaths."

MORE: Could a simple blood test for COVID-19 antibodies help reopen the economy?

It is also unclear whether and how recovered patients develop immunity to future infection, though Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, has said he would be "willing to bet anything that people who recover are really protected against reinfection."

Faucis assurance aside, experts say it is still too early to know for sure.

MORE: Fauci: 'In a perfect world' Americans would stop shaking hands

"The thing which is really, really important here -- and which we dont know the answer to -- is how many people are immune," Hanage said. "We dont even know how much immunity the disease generates and how long it lasts."

To help answer those questions, U.S. public health officials are setting lofty goals for the rollout of widespread serologic testing that can detect blood antibodies. Dr. Deborah Birx, the chair of the White House coronavirus task force, said Wednesday on Good Morning America that the government hoped to be "rolling out and hopefully having soon -- within the next ten or 14 days -- an antibody test so we can really tell how many Americans were infected and asymptomatic."

PHOTO: Response coordinator for White House Coronavirus Task Force Deborah Birx speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on April 8, 2020, in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The data from those tests will enable researchers to identify the percentage of the population who might have already been infected and built up an immunity to the disease. At Stanford, researchers have already begun testing thousands for antibodies as part of an effort to understand how many people in their communities have been infected.

"I think this [study] has very important implications for how we understand the epidemic, for how we move it forward," Stanfords Dr. Eran Bendavid told ABC News Diane Sawyer. "From our survey really the most important piece of information is, how many people in our country have been infected?"

Fauci, for his part, isn't waiting for herd immunity to slow the spread in the United States. His strategy is clear.

"Ultimately, the showstopper," Fauci said, "will be obviously a vaccine."

ABC News Dr. Mark Abdelmalek and Christina Ng contributed to this report.

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the US and Worldwide: coronavirus map

Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.

As some leaders weigh pursuit of herd immunity from coronavirus, experts warn risks are too high originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Mt. Sinai nixes field hospital at cathedral as Samaritans Purse steps back amid LGBT tensions

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

NEW YORK CITY  A day after the Franklin Graham-led Samaritans Purse revealed they were stepping back from work on a second field hospital to be housed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Mount Sinai Hospital, which was leading the effort, informed the cathedral Thursday that they will no longer be using the churchs space.

"We were notified this morning that Mount Sinai will not be pursuing its plans to build a field hospital at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine at this moment. Our commitment to Mount Sinai and to the city, our longtime partners, stands firm, and we will do whatever is in our power to aid the medical workers heroically putting themselves on the front line to help the sick, a statement from the cathedral to The Christian Post said Thursday.

As we continue to stand ready to support all in this crisis, we reaffirm our core mission and staunch belief in the worth and dignity of all people, and open our virtual doors to all those who want to participate in Holy Week services, the church added.

The decision comes as Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that New York state was continuing to see a slowdown in the rate of hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions as social distancing efforts being taken to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus continued to work. Thursday saw the states lowest hospitalization rate yet with a 200-patient net increase in hospitalizations and 64-patient net increase in ICU admissions.

The state, however, also saw its highest number of deaths in a single day. A total of 799 people died of complications from the coronavirus in 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 7,067. More than 149,000 infections have been confirmed in the state and nearly half of those are in New York City.

In an interview with CP on Wednesday, Melissa Strickland, Samaritans Purses senior director of communications, said they would be pausing work on the field hospital as they were not sure if it would be needed.

At this point we have taken a pause on the work as we assess whether this is a needed site or not, Strickland said. We are looking at very large tents that we would be putting up and so that would be a lot of manpower and a lot of work if we have to take it back down. And so weve taken a pause at this point in doing that. And thats not for any reason except that were wanting to make sure this is even a needed expansion before we move forward.

Prior to this development, there had been concerns about possible tensions in the proposed partnership between Mount Sinai and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine stemming from Samaritans Purse being introduced as a partner on the project.

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, which is located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. The Episcopal Church, which has about 1.6 million members nationwide, is an LGBT inclusive denomination. Samaritans Purse is an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization whose staff adhere to biblically based Christian beliefs and values.

While none of the parties publicly acknowledged any tensions about the arrangement prior to the nixing of the project, officials connected to the cathedral privately told CP that there were concerns over the hiring practices of Samaritans Purse, which is limited to practicing Christians who agree with the organizations statement of faith.

ABC News reported that a cathedral spokeswoman said "staff had 'a really hard time' dealing with past comments from the organization about LGBTQ people and decided not to move forward."

In a statement to CP on Wednesday, Mount Sinai said while the three parties did not share the same worldview, they were committed to saving lives. And all workers at the field hospital would adhere to Mount Sinai principles and guidelines when it comes to not discriminating against patients or staff based on actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, disability, marital, partnership or parental status, sexual orientation, alien or citizenship status, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

"In short, while our organizations may have differences of opinions, when it comes to COVID-19 we are fully united: we will care for everyone and no patients or staff will be discriminated against, Mount Sinai said. "Ultimately, this virus kills people of every religious beliefs, ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation. New York has lost over 5,000 people already, and more are dying every day. Mount Sinai, St. John the Divine and Samaritan's Purse are unified in our mission to provide the same world-class care to anyone and everyone who needs it. No questions asked. We are all focused on one thing  saving lives.

When asked if Samaritans Purse staff would be operating under the guidelines of the hospital as stated, Strickland, who said she was on site at the cathedral when she did the interview, told CP that was not the case.

What they are referring to in their statement is their staff. There will be Samaritans Purse staff if we decide to expand anywhere including the cathedral. Our Samaritans Purse staff would be our staff and it would be the same as Central Park. If they would be staff, they would be onboarded by Samaritans Purse. They would be paid by Samaritans Purse, and so they would go through the human resources procedures of Samaritans Purse so that there would be no difference between Samaritans Purse staff here and Samaritans Purse staff at Central Park as far as our HR policies and procedures go.

"Now Mt. Sinai staff, we would not have any authority over them or speak into their hiring process for their staff that they would have on site, she said, while noting that Samaritans Purse was focused on saving lives and not theological or political differences.

The thing is, right now in New York City, we are all fighting for the same cause. Were all fighting to save lives and reduce suffering. We may not agree on every single issue but we do agree that there is a critical need for the Samaritans Purse field hospital in New York City to save lives.

"I think the good news story in this is that organizations that may not always see eye-to-eye on political issues, on theological issues completely, the cause is greater than those issues. We are coming together to save lives. Mount Sinai and Samaritans Purse are coming together to save lives and setting that aside and focusing on what holds us together, she emphasized.

Strickland also noted that as far as she was aware, there were no tensions with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

What I can tell you is that Ive personally met with Dean Daniels and other staff. We are so thankful that they are wanting to jump into the fight against COVID-19. And the discussions we have had with them about this possible location has been warm and friendly and cordial. We understand from the Samaritans Purse perspective just as we understand with Mount Sinai that we may have different worldviews in some areas but the same as Mount Sinai, we have been able to have friendly conversations, discussions, she said.

Were just very thankful to them.  I personally have not had anyone be rude or unkind. Its about being able to see where the differences lie  and focus on saving lives. I believe the leadership of the cathedral understands that. Everyone that I have met here at the cathedral understands that. They have been gracious and warm and good candid discussions. No one is trying to pretend that there is not some disagreement on certain issues, but at the same time those conversations have been warm and friendly and gracious, Strickland said.

On Tuesday, The Washington Post cited a statement from Franklin Graham that he was expected to fly to New York City that day and meet with officials at the cathedral.

Strickland confirmed that Graham did indeed visit New York City on Tuesday but did not meet with St. John the Divine officials because he had traveled to the city for a specific purpose then had to leave again.

When CP asked about The Washington Post's report that Graham reportedly confirmed he would meet with officials at the cathedral, Strickland said his plans changed.

That was prior to his arrival. He was thinking that was something he might do but because of his schedule on the ground being a little tighter than he had anticipated, it just didnt happen, she said.

Weve been very transparent about who we are and theyve been very transparent about who they are. But we all have this common cause to save lives At the end of the day, thats what matters.

The Mount Sinai hospital network and Samaritans Purse have already successfully established a 68-bed field hospital on the East Lawn of Central Park.
The Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala A. Mohammed has been discharged from isolation after tested negative to coronavirus.

Addressing journalists shortly after he was discharged, Senator Bala Mohammed pledged to work assiduously to meet the expectations of the citizens because of their sympathy to him while in isolation.

The governor expressed gratitude to leaders in Nigeria and people of the state especially, the Emirs, Ulamas, Clergymen and his supporters for their love and support shown to him.

He pointed out that, the period of his isolation has shown him the enormous love, respect and regard of the citizens to him and his family.

 All praise be to Allah, we thank Allah for this moment and for this trial. I must thank Him for testing me with this virus, I will work in a better, come, reflect and think in a very perspective, I thank you most sincerely.

 This disease that I was infected, is a terrible experience, I thank Allah that I was free from the virus. I am sorry for the inconveniences I might have caused to any body in Bauchi and Nigeria, it has never been my wishes to be infected.

Senator Bala Mohammed enjoined his supporters and other well wishers not to be worry for coming to see him at the Government House as he has already acknowledged their prayers.

 I urge my people not to worry to come to Bauchi or Government House to see me, I have already acknowledged your prayers, because of the protocols, lets maintain the directive of social distancing.

The governor used the medium to applaud the state Task Force on coronavirus for the outstanding performance and pledged his support to achieve the set objectives.

The state Deputy Governor, Senator Baba Tela, who is the Chairman of the State Task Force on COVID-19, expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah that the governor is now free from coronavirus.

Alhamdulillah, our governor is discharged now and he is now COVID-19 free.

The State Commissioner of Health, Dr Aliyu Maigoro had earlier said the governor has been discharged after 2 of his samples tested negative.

 Today we are discharging our first index case, you can recall that, our first case was in isolation for more than 2 weeks and today having satisfied with the requirements to be discharged, we are here discharging His Excellency as a patient who recovered from COVID-19.

With this development, we have only 3 active cases with zero death in Bauchi State.
European Union finance ministers have agreed on a 500 billion euro ($550 billion) stimulus plan to shore up paralyzed economies affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

After weeks of bickering, which exposed deep divisions within the eurozone, ministers on April 9 settled on a trio of measures to support workers, businesses, and states in their response to the outbreak.

EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni described the agreement in a tweet as "a package of unprecedented size to support the health system, redundancy funds, liquidity for businesses and the fund for a revival plan."

The main component of the package is 240 billion euros of emergency cheap credit from the eurozone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), to provide funding to indebted countries, particularly Italy and Spain.

The package also provides more guarantees from the European Investment Bank to increase lending to companies, and a scheme to subsidize wages so that firms cut hours and not jobs.

But the agreement does not mention the issuance of joint European debt -- so-called coronabonds -- something heavily indebted Italy, Spain, and France demanded but which wealthier countries led by Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and Austria strongly opposed.

Earlier on April 9, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated that issuing joint debt was not on the table, even as Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that the European project would be put in jeopardy if countries did not share the burden of countering the fallout from the pandemic.

Instead, the compromise agreement says the bloc's 27 national leaders can determine whether "innovative financial instruments" should be used.

Resistance from the Netherlands over the use of the ESM nearly torpedoed the package. The Hague insisted on tough reform conditions, a proposal that was a nonstarter for highly indebted Italy and Spain. This resistance was overcome as Germany and France applied pressure to ensure conditions for tapping the bailout fund were kept to a minimum.

The stimulus plan comes on top of hundreds of billions of euros EU member states and the European Commission have devoted to responding to coronavirus-battered economies.

Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters
A Condition Orange - High Fire Risk Warning has been issued by the Department of Agriculture for the Easter Weekend.

The Department states that, arising from current conditions associated with Atlantic high pressure systems, a high fire risk is deemed to exist in all areas where hazardous fuels such as dead grasses and shrub fuels such as heather and gorse exist.

It adds that based on recent fire incidents, most ignitions risks appear to be associated with illegal burning of upland vegetation. Additional caution is also required in areas where active turf cutting is taking place.

There may be increased ignitions risks on sites with public access arising from the forthcoming Easter Bank Holiday Weekend, depending on levels of usage under current movement restrictions.

Members of the public intending to visit forests and other recreational sites are reminded of the requirement to remain within 2km of their homes, and to adhere to Regulations introduced to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Vehicles should not be parked at site entrances or impede emergency service access to forest roads.

Fire behaviour is likely to be influenced by light to moderate wind speeds and may be further moderated by intermittent light rainfall in some areas during the lifespan of this warning.
As the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic, governments around the world are making efforts to check the spread of the disease. Among the measures taken is the lockdown of many cities in the world.

Here, PREMIUM TIMES brings you a round-up on the coronavirus situation across the globe as at Thursday.

Nigeria decongests prisons nationwide

As part of efforts to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigerian government on Thursday decongested prisons across the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari granted presidential pardon to 2,600 inmates nationwide.

On behalf of the president, the minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, made the announcement at a press conference on Abuja, saying a committee set up would determine those deemed fit for the benefit.

U.S repatriates 997 Americans From Nigeria

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria says it has helped 997 Americans return home to reunite with family and friends during this time of unprecedented challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

From April 6-8, three U.S. Consulate-organised chartered flights operated by Delta Air Lines and Ethiopian Airlines repatriated 850 American citizens from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos to the United States.

This is in addition to the 147 U.S. citizens who departed Abuja on April 4.

British PM Boris Johnson out of ICU

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Thursday evening moved out of the intensive care unit (ICU) four days after being admitted to hospital for treatment on COVID-19, his spokesperson said.

He is now stable, his spokesperson said.

Mr Johnson, 55, was admitted to St Thomas Hospital on Sunday evening with a persistent high temperature and cough and was rushed to intensive care on Monday where he has since spent three nights receiving treatment.

Italy reports new cases, deaths

Formerly the worlds epicentre of the pandemic, Italy, on Thursday, recorded new cases and the total number of confirmed cases rose to 143,626, while the death toll rose by 610 to a total of 18,279.

Turkey to track patients via smartphone app

Turkey will introduce a smartphone application to track coronavirus patients and those they have been in contact with to ensure they remain at home in self-isolation, the presidency said.

The app, named the Pandemic Isolation Tracking Project, is being developed by the health ministry to stem the spread of the virus.

The move is to monitor the mobile phones of those diagnosed with the new coronavirus to ensure they do not break quarantine, marking the latest measure to stem an outbreak that has surged over the last month.

China tackles new coronavirus cases imported from Russia

The Chinese city of Suifenhe in northeastern Heilongjiang province has seen an influx of imported coronavirus cases from Russia in recent days.

The Chinese government says it is now building a temporary hospital to treat those who have been infected.

Advertisements



The hospital will have more than 600 beds and is expected to be completed by April 11.

The city, on the Russian border, has already placed residents under lockdown and closed the land border.

India seals coronavirus hotspots

The Indian government says it has identified and sealed dozens of hotspots in the countrys capitalNew Delhi and the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state comprising residential districts to check the rising trajectory of new coronavirus infections.

In a statement seen on Thursday, the Indian government said people would be supplied food, medicines and other supplies at their doorsteps, as palliative measures to enforce the lockdown order, barring them from leaving their homes.

Taiwan tackles WHOs accusations

Taiwanese government has strongly protested accusations from the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) that it condoned racist personal attacks on him. He alleged the attacks were coming from the self-governing island democracy.

The WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, had accused Taiwans foreign ministry of being linked to a month-long campaign against him during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a press briefing, he said he had been personally attacked, including receiving death threats and racist abuse.

But the Taiwanese government described the accusations as baseless.

Coronavirus reaches Brazils isolated Yanomami tribe

As the coronavirus pandemic keeps escalating to the corners of the world, it has now reached the Yanomami tribe of Brazil, in the Amazon rainforest,

Brazil announced, on Thursday, the first coronavirus case among the Yanomami people, an Amazon indigenous group known for its remoteness and vulnerability to foreign diseases.

The patient, a 15-year-old boy, was being treated in an intensive care unit at a hospital in Boa Vista, the capital of the northern state of Roraima, officials said.

UN delivers COVID-19 aid to Venezuela

As part of global efforts to flatten the curve of the spread of COVID-19, the United Nations has extended its hands of support to Venezuela.

A plane carrying 90 tons of UN health, water and sanitation aid arrived in Venezuela to help the cash-strapped country fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The shipment includes 28,000 Personal Protective Equipment kits for health workers, oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, water quality control products and hygiene kits, the UN said.

Vietnam approves $7.6bn tax holiday

Vietnam has approved a plan to delay the collection of 180 trillion dong ($7.6 billion) in taxes and land rent to help businesses hit by the new coronavirus, which has infected 251 people in the country, the government said.

The government will delay the collection of value-added tax, corporate income tax, personal income tax and land rent for five months for various businesses and households, it said in a statement.
Developing a vaccine for the novel coronavirus is a meticulously detailed endeavor. First you must find a promising vaccine, test its impact upon animals, then roll it out to clinical trials to see the efficacy in humans. This process can take years.

For one Houston Methodist team though, the novel coronavirus has dramatically changed this game plan. Researchers dont have years. The world needs the vaccine now.

MASK INNOVATION: UH professor develops innovative water-proofing for N95 masks to combat spread of COVID19

Houston Methodist Hospital has been at the forefront of the nation in treating COVID-19 patients with experimental therapies. On March 28, the hospital became the first in the nation to try blood transfusion therapy. Doctors successfully transfused the blood plasma of patient who recovered from COVID-19 into a critically ill patient.

Now, there's a new milestone that's in progress at Houston Methodist -- the race for a vaccine. Heading the RNA therapeutics research program at Houston Methodist, Dr. John Cooke is now collaborating with Woodlands-based VGXI to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. VGXI is a subsidiary of GeneOne Life Science, a South Korean-based DNA vaccine company.

VGXI was awarded a $9 million grant in January by Inovio Pharmaceuticals to produce the vaccine to combat COVID-19 on a "very rapid timeline." This Woodlands-based company had helped produce vaccines for Zika, Ebola and MERS.

"When this novel coronavirus hit, we started getting very concerned," Cooke said. "Our partner, GeneOne, has experience in making a vaccine, and it worked. It provided people with immunity. They've already had success with coronavirus. They made a vaccine against MERS, which is another coronavirus. We're very fortunate to have this partnership with GeneOne."

Cooke explained that there are two major types of therapies for COVID-19 -- anti-viral therapies and anti-inflammatory therapies.

NEW COVID-19 THERAPIES: Blood plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients coming to more Houston hospitals

"We're testing several different types of anti-viral drugs. Ultimately we are going to need a vaccine," Cooke said. "The virus is so contagious. It will continue to surge and infect. Once you have about 70% of the population that's been vaccinated, then there will be herd immunity and the virus just dies out."

Cooke says the Methodist team plans the development phase of the new COVID-19 RNA vaccine next week.

"Our first step is to complete the synthesis of the RNA vaccine and test its integrity," Cooke said. "We are starting on it next week. Basically, we're giving the biological software to human cells to fight COVID-19. We'll start animal testing in a few weeks. Then we will see if that vaccine will generate an immune response. There will be human trials after that."

The most critical feature about the RNA vaccine is that it should be adequately tested, rolled out as quickly as possible and provide immunity for the majority of the population.

"When you inject the vaccine into human cells, we are giving the body the biological software to fight the virus," Cooke said. "Giving the cells the direction to make the proteins. That's how the immune response gets going."

Cooke explained that it was an exhilarating moment to see the Houston-area teams collaborating together in the race for a vaccine.

"This, for me, is so exciting and so energizing," Cooke said. "I get to work with great people everyday. They are working dawn to dusk. They are working through the weekend. They are excited about being able to help. Im so proud of them. Weve got great leadership, too. We want to do what we can to get rid of this scourge."

alison.medley@chron.com
Married At First Sight's Michael Goonan isn't wasting any time cashing in on his newfound reality TV fame.

On Friday, the 29-year-old and his new girlfriend KC Osborne took to social media to spruik his new wine business.

In a series of photos, the MAFS lovebirds canoodled and posed with the shiraz.

Bottoms up! Married At First Sight's Michael Goonan his new girlfriend KC Osborne took to social media to spruik his new wine business on Friday

'When bae brings his work home,' KC captioned one image, which showed her flaunting a bottle of the fruity, woody red.

'Guys this wine is actually amazing get amongst it,' she added, before providing a link to purchase it.

In a wine-drinking selfie over on Michael's page, the businessman wrote: 'Haha knew it was a winner.

'Guys this wine is actually amazing!' The 31-year-old dancer posed with the red wine

'This is a new venture I started just before MAFS... would love to know if KC is just being supportive or if you enjoy it as much as I do.'

The happy couple also shared a video of KC tasting the wine for the first time ever, which of course ended with a glowing review from the dancer.

An official website for the wine states that 50% of the proceeds from sales will go to help victims of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Giving back: An official website for the wine states that 50% of the proceeds from sales will go to help victims of the COVID-19 epidemic

KC and Michael started dating about five weeks ago, after Michael's split from Stacey Hampton which happened on January 16 in between filming the reunion dinner party and the finale.

KC amicably split from her ex-'husband', Drew Brauer, shortly after their final vows in December.

The couple have already discussed plans for KC to move in with Michael in Melbourne.
For the first time in the history of the Federal Reserve, it has signed on to a plan with Congress to nationalize the unmanageable debts of global banks and other multinational corporations and put the U.S. taxpayer on the hook for the losses. Conducting the bulk of these programs will be the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, known as the New York Fed, which is a private institution owned by (wait for it) multinational banks.

Because the New York Fed is owned by multinational banks and is allowed to create trillions of dollars out of thin air to conduct bailouts of global banks and multinational corporations since it created this precedent in 2008, it is effectively functioning as a multinational central bank with the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell little more than titular props for whats really going on.

According to the language in the recent stimulus bill (CARES Act) passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump, together with an interview Fed Chairman Jerome Powell gave to the Today show on March 26, the nationalization of bad debts will work like this: the U.S. Treasury will hand $454 billion of taxpayers money to the Federal Reserve. The Fed will, in turn, hand the bulk of this money to the New York Fed. The New York Fed will then create Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) using the $454 billion as loss absorbing capital (equity) to leverage its purchases of bad debts to $4.54 trillion. Ostensibly, if debt markets keep sinking and the New York Fed needs to buy up more bad debts from the global banks and multinational corporations, Congress and the U.S. Treasury will put the U.S. into ever deeper debt to oblige our multinational overlords. (Before the last financial crisis, U.S. national debt stood at $11 trillion. It has more than doubled in a dozen years to the current $24 trillion. Much of that growth resulted from fiscal stimulus measures to shore up the U.S. economy that multinational banks on Wall Street destroyed in 2008.)

So far, the Fed has newly announced it will be engaging in outright purchases of corporate bonds in both the primary and secondary markets, exchange traded funds, asset-backed commercial paper along with its ongoing purchases of Treasury securities and agency mortgage-backed securities. It is also making trillions of dollars in revolving loans to multinational trading houses against collateral that includes stocks. (Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen was on CNBC recently advocating for the Fed to consider outright purchases of stocks and junk bonds, effectively nationalizing those markets as well.)

Powell explained the newly hatched plan as follows on the Today show:

In certain circumstances like the present, we do have the ability to essentially use our emergency lending authorities and the only limit on that will be how much backstop we get from the Treasury Department. Were required to get full security for our loans so that we dont lose money. So the Treasury puts up money as we estimate what the losses might beEffectively $1 of loss absorption of backstop from Treasury is enough to support $10 of loans.

Some writers have suggested that this amounts to the U.S. Treasury taking over the Fed. But according to the text of the stimulus bill, the Treasury is simply the provider of the taxpayer cash to the Fed. And as we can see by the contracts now being drawn up by the New York Fed to hire Wall Street firms to manage these programs, the contracts are being signed solely by the New York Fed and the Wall Street firms. (See Icahn Called BlackRock An Extremely Dangerous Company; the Fed Has Chosen It to Manage Its Corporate Bond Bailout Programs.)
ATLANTA, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power remains committed to providing its 2.6 million customers safe and reliable service during the COVID-19 pandemic, while offering important safety tips and storm resources as storms are predicted to impact the state over the weekend. Spring is one of the most active seasons for severe thunderstorms with lightning, hail and tornadoes, though severe weather can happen at any time.

Storm Response Pandemic Preparations

Georgia Power constantly monitors changing weather conditions and is prepared to respond to service interruptions that might occur because of severe weather while taking proactive actions including special "distancing" and other precautions to help protect customers and employees from the spread of the virus.

The company's investments in Smart Grid technology and increased automation in recent years mean an increased ability to more quickly to isolate outages to smaller numbers of customers and reroute power remotely for improved reliability. In addition, the company's comprehensive pandemic plans help ensure readiness of the critical personnel and facilities necessary to continue providing the safe and reliable energy customers expect and deserve.

In the field, the power restoration process includes these key steps:

Assessing Conditions  Responding crews  or in major storms, damage assessment teams  work to identify trouble spots and the resources needed to fix them, which could involve coming onto customers' property. Crews will employ appropriate distancing efforts and customers are asked to keep children and pets indoors and maintain safe distances from crew members as well.

 Responding crews  or in major storms, damage assessment teams  work to identify trouble spots and the resources needed to fix them, which could involve coming onto customers' property. Crews will employ appropriate distancing efforts and customers are asked to keep children and pets indoors and maintain safe distances from crew members as well. Making Repairs  Georgia Power crews focus on repairs that return power to the greatest number of customers in the least amount of time.

Ways you can help keep workers safe while they work in the field:

If you see utility crews, please stay back a minimum of six feet  much more if they are working.

Please, no cookies or treats for workers during this time. Give a wave or thumbs up to workers you see. They'll understand your gratitude as they work to keep the lights on.

Don't touch utility trucks or equipment. Electric providers are operating under modified conditions to keep workers safe, which includes additional cleaning and sanitation of tools and equipment.

Post your appreciation for lineworkers on social media using the hashtag #ThankaLineman. April is lineworkers appreciation month.

Storm Safety

Georgia Power reminds customers to keep safety first during severe weather and offers the following storm tips:

Before a Storm: Stay aware and check the weather forecast before heading outdoors. Check your emergency kit, unplug major appliances and charge cell phones in case you lose power.

Stay aware and check the weather forecast before heading outdoors. Check your emergency kit, unplug major appliances and charge cell phones in case you lose power. During a Storm: Take safe shelter inside a sturdy building away from windows and doors. Avoid contact with conductors of electricity - appliances, metal objects and water.

Take safe shelter inside a sturdy building away from windows and doors. Avoid contact with conductors of electricity - appliances, metal objects and water. After a Storm: Never touch any downed or low-hanging wire, including telephone or TV wires that touch a power line. Never pull tree limbs off power lines or enter areas with debris or downed trees as downed power lines may be buried in wreckage.

Remote Customer Resources

Customers can subscribe to Georgia Power's YouTube Storm Channel for the latest safety videos and can connect with Georgia Power on Facebook and Twitter for helpful information every day, and restoration updates during severe weather. Georgia Power offers the following videos, tools and tips to help customers prepare for severe weather:

Outage Alerts  Subscribe to the free Georgia Power Outage Alert service to receive personalized notifications and updates via text message.

Subscribe to the free Georgia Power Outage Alert service to receive personalized notifications and updates via text message. Outage Maps - Customers can follow progress on outages in their town or across the state on the company's outage map available at www.georgiapower.com/storm online or on the Georgia Power mobile app on your smartphone.

- Customers can follow progress on outages in their town or across the state on the company's outage map available at www.georgiapower.com/storm online or on the Georgia Power mobile app on your smartphone. Build an Emergency Kit  A well-built kit should contain enough supplies to get you and your family through three days without electricity or running water.

About Georgia Power

Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.6 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the company is consistently recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power).

SOURCE Georgia Power

Related Links

https://www.georgiapower.com


Sowore, who recently spent months in detention after he organised a nationwide revolution protest which never held, tweeted, We should be fighting differently, good people are losing out while bad political actors are getting rewarded for their bad behaviours! Imagine the regime of @MBuhari pardoning Ambrose Ali a democratically elected governor he illegally overthrew in 1983?
UN supports frontline COVID-19 response

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

WHO and public health experts conclude COVID-19 mission to Islamic Republic of Iran.

Tehran, April 9, IRNA - As the coronavirus pandemic spreads to more than 200 countries and territories, killing more than 20,000 people, the United Nations is redoubling its support for frontline responders who are working around the clock to save lives.

"Healthcare workers are essentially the main response pillars that we have," said Jan-Eric Larsen, from Operations Support and Logistics at the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Western Pacific in a video tweet. "Without the healthcare workers, we won't be able to stop this transmission in time."

"The problem we're facing now is a very stretched market with limited supplies," he said, explaining that when people use those supplies irrationally, it will create a strain on the healthcare system.

Larsen said that WHO, together with partners, is working to ensure that vital supplies, including protective equipment, such as aprons, gowns, and masks, reach healthcare workers treating patients in wards.

WHO has published operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak and a handbook for public health capacity-building at ground crossings and cross-border collaboration. (All guidance documents can be found here.)

With the pandemic wreaking havoc on even wealthy countries' healthcare capacity, the question remains whether the world's poorest countries with weaker healthcare infrastructure can handle a massive outbreak.

The pandemic is quickly moving to the global South, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday at the joint briefing to the Member States by United Nations principal organs, including the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the UN Secretariat, in which he called for "massive global solidarity".

COVID-19 poses serious challenges to the capacity of health systems around the world. Medical personnel are under pressure. Supplies and equipment are in urgent demand. And in many instances, temporary health infrastructure is needed to cope with the influx of patients requiring specialized treatment.

UN Country Teams

United Nations country teams are stepping up their support for national authorities. In Timor Leste, where one case has been confirmed, the United Nations is supporting Government measures to prevent a potential COVID-19 outbreak. Advised by the Resident Coordinator and WHO, the Prime Minister recently ordered to establish an Inter-Ministerial Task Force for coordinated activities to fight COVID-19. The UN team is also siding with a range of partners, including news outlets, civil society organizations, businesses, youth representatives, and women leaders for a whole-of-society approach to prevention, preparedness, and response against COVID-19.

In South Sudan, while there are no confirmed COVID-19 cases according to WHO figures, the UN team is working with authorities to support national preparedness and response plan for COVID-19. A laboratory with the capacity to test COVID-19 has just been set up. The UN has also supported the construction of a multi-purpose infectious disease unit to isolate and treat suspected cases. Also, health workers have been trained to enhance surveillance and early detection, investigate suspected cases and manage patients with COVID-19 related symptoms.

In Argentina, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is supporting COVID-19 response efforts by helping to urgently procure 10 fully-equipped emergency modular units, which will provide 824 extra inpatient therapy beds. One-third of the space will be dedicated to intensive care units.

"Our team of qualified advisors, architects, engineers, project managers, and specialists is eager to help countries, where needed, to address their health-related infrastructure needs during this crisis," said UNOPS Director of Implementation Practices and Standards, Nick O'Regan.

UNOPS also stands ready to support partners' emergency procurement needs through its global e-commerce solution, UN Web Buy Plus. This includes the supply of ambulances, transportable biosafety labs, mobile health clinics and prefabricated buildings that can be used as temporary health posts.

In Guatemala, UNOPS is assisting with the procurement of urgent medical items to diagnose, treat and monitor patients infected with COVID-19. It is also advising on mitigation actions that will help to ensure that the provision of existing healthcare services continues as planned  including the purchase of essential medicines and equipment.

In Afghanistan, UNOPS is working with the WHO to raise awareness and provide information on COVID-19 through a call center. In February the center received 144 calls from 22 provinces enquiring about COVID-19. From 1 March to 14 March, it registered 185 inquiries about COVID-19 from 28 different provinces.

UN Donates Face Masks to New York City

The United Nations is donating 250,000 protective face masks to the medical professionals in New York City who have been working courageously, selflessly, and tirelessly in response to the spread of COVID-19. "To us, New York is not just our home or the headquarters of the United Nations," Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. "It is a vibrant international capital through which the world communicates, debates, trades, and prospers."

Research and Development

WHO is also assisting COVID-19 research, bringing together 300 scientists, researchers, national public health experts across the world on COVID-19 in February to assess the current level of knowledge about the new virus, agree on critical research questions that need to be answered urgently and ways to work together to accelerate and fund priority research that can contribute to curtail this outbreak and prepare for future outbreaks.

Experts identified key knowledge gaps, and research priorities and shared scientific data on ongoing research, thereby accelerating the generation of critical scientific information to contribute to the control of the COVID 19 emergency.

WHO is gathering the latest scientific findings and knowledge on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and compiling it in a database.

9376**2050

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






By contrast, Northam announced a proposal Friday to begin expediting the release of as many as 2,000 prison inmates who have less than a year remaining in their sentences to reduce the possibility of an outbreak, a measure likely to be approved by the Democrats who control the General Assembly when it meets for a veto session on April 22.
When many businesses did not have sufficient reserves to pay the next months rent after less than a month of slowdown, and when many more furloughed or laid off thousands of workers for the same reason, it will be tempting to single out examples for shaming. But the finger-pointing will obscure a central question that must be answered if we want our economy to better endure unexpected shocks in the future: Are Americans well served by a corporate governance system that has encouraged all sectors of the economy to run their businesses on fumes?

What we mean by that is simple. Families are encouraged to put aside a reserve to pay their mortgages and bills and to feed themselves in case of an emergency. Why dont corporations do the same? After a 10-year economic expansion that led to record increases in earnings, plus huge corporate tax relief, American corporations should have had substantial cash reserves to sustain them during a short period without revenue. But many did not, and instead were highly leveraged, lacked adequate reserves and lived paycheck to paycheck, so to speak. What happened to that cash? Much of it was returned to shareholders in dividends and stock buybacks.

At the same time, American corporations weakened the traditional gain-sharing between the workforce and stockholders that characterized the post-World War II era. During that period, when corporate profits went up, workers shared equitably in the gains. Not any more.

There are many reasons for this, including diminished legal protection for workers seeking to unionize. But our corporate governance system must accept substantial responsibility for the slant against workers and in favor of stockholders. Powerful institutional investors have arisen to pressure companies to reduce the share of corporate profits that goes into workers paychecks and tilt companies toward riskier balance sheets. Making this more piquant is that these institutional investors wield the power that flows from the 401(k) retirement savings of American workers, worker-investors who derive almost all of their wealth and savings from their continued access to a job and fair pay raises.

Recently, the Business Roundtable and leading institutional investors have responded to growing inequality and economic insecurity by calling for greater respect toward all corporate stakeholders, not just stockholders. But what does it say about whether rhetoric is enough that, in the national emergency we are facing, American workers and taxpayers, not institutional investors or top corporate managers, are bearing the brunt of the harm? We are again paying the price for a corporate governance system that lacks focus on financial soundness, sustainable wealth creation and the fair treatment of workers.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 10 : After successfully producing the masks, the Central Prison here has now entered into the production of gowns and uniforms for medical professionals, who are in the forefront of fighting the spread of coronavirus.

B. Sunil Kumar, superintendent, of the prison, said they have received an order from the Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) for making 500 gowns for their staff.

"Since they have to treat emergency COVID-19 cases, there is a rise in demand for the gowns," said Kumar.

"The material for uniforms are provided by the SCTIMST. So, we will be charging only for stitching, that too nominally. We have already supplied a set of 25 uniforms to them, and more are in the making," said Kumar.

Sanitiser, which has a huge demand at present, is also being produced at the Central Prison.

"We have got 7,000 litre of spirit from the Excise Department for producing sanitizers, for which pure spirit has been used. We charge Rs 50 for 100 ml bottle and most of them were purchased by the departments," added Kumar.
HOUSTON, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alex Bregman, famed third baseman for the Houston Astros, has launched FEEDHOU, a $1M fundraising campaign to help feed Houston-area residents experiencing food insecurity during the COVID-19 crisis. Proceeds from the campaign directly benefit the Houston Food Bank, a nonprofit committed to feeding the hungry in the Houston area.

"While the Astros are off the field, I want to create a new team to help Houston's hungry. Houston is my home, and right now my home is in need," said Mr. Bregman. "By partnering with a great organization such as the Houston Food Bank, we can all do our part to ensure Houston's underserved children and families continue to get the support they need during these difficult times."

To help kickstart the initiative, Mr. Bregman along with local entrepreneur Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale are each committing $100,000 for the cause.

"I am thrilled to support the Houston Food Bank, a leading organization dedicated to helping Texans during this pandemic," said Mr. McIngvale. "The Houston Food Bank has been a force for good for decades and I could not be more excited to partner with Alex Bregman, Paul Wall and Houston Food Bank."

Rallying the community spirit behind the "Houston Strong" campaign that grew in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Mr. Bregman is now calling on Houstonians to step to the plate and contribute. Donations can be made by typing "FEEDHOU" in a text message to the number 41444 or by visiting the FEEDHOU Alex's Army donation page online at https://bit.ly/2y1eB96.

"I am asking everyone to consider being a member of this army of donors," Mr. Bregman adds. "Together, we can show the world the sense of community and resiliency that has come to define just who we are as a city."

Houston rapper Paul Wall is showing his support for FEEDHOU by creating a special album entitled "Frozen Face  Vol. 3  FEEDHOU edition," which includes songs and lyrics inspired by the mission of FEEDHOU and will be available on music platforms such as Spotify. To amplify his support, the prominent musician also developed artwork that prominently displays "FEEDHOU" on his new album cover.

"Any opportunity to bridge the gap between those who need help and those who want to provide help, I am down with," said Mr. Wall. "I am the people's champ of hip hop, and Alex and Mac are the champs of their worlds. I feel very lucky to be part of what they are doing for the Houston Food Bank and am excited to give back to a city that has given me so much."

About the Houston Food Bank:

Houston Food Bank's mission is to provide food for better lives. Last year it provided access to 104 million nutritious meals in 18 counties in southeast Texas through our 1,500 community partners which includes food pantries, soup kitchens, social service providers, and schools. The Houston Food Bank has a strong focus on healthy foods and fresh produce. In addition to distributing food, the Food Bank provides services and connections to programs that address the root causes of hunger and are aimed at helping families achieve long-term stability, including nutrition education, job training, health management, and help with securing state-funded assistance. It also works alongside partner food banks in Montgomery County, Galveston Country, and Brazos Valley. The Houston Food Bank is a certified member of Feeding America, the nation's food bank network, with a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.

Media Contact:

Jennie Bui-McCoy

832-567-3899 (mobile)

[email protected]

SOURCE Alex Bregman
LEWISBURG  The Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary beginning the week of April 20 could become the holdover quarantine facility for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Northeast Region.

The BOP would not confirm that but Andrew Kline, president of Local 148 of the American Federation of Government Employees at Lewisburg, on Thursday said officials at the prison have been so notified.

Inmates being moved to other prisons in the region first will be sent to Lewisburg where they will be quarantined for 14 days to prevent the possible spread of the coronavirus, he explained.

Lewisburg was directed Wednesday to send personnel to prisons that are short short-staffed due to illness, he said.

The BOP also did not respond to queries about that. Kline said about 20 went to the New York City coronavirus hot zone and 10 to Elkton penitentiary in Ohio, where there have been three inmate deaths attributed to COVID-19.

The possibility of Lewisburg becoming a holdover quarantine facility was blasted by U.S. Rep. Fred Keller who has been battling with the BOP to stop all inmate movements during the pandemic and has introduced legislation to do so.

Without logic, reason, or adequate explanation, the federal Bureau of Prisons  despite having more COVID-19 cases than Alaska, Wyoming, and North Dakota  continues to move inmates across the country while everyone else is doing their part to stop the mitigation of COVID-19, the Snyder County Republican said.

He accused the BOP of endangering the community and putting at risk staff members by housing inmates at Lewisburg set to be moved to other prisons in the northeast region.

Our local hospitals and the community surrounding USP Lewisburg have made it clear they do not have the capacity to deal with a large-scale COVID-19 outbreak at a federal prison the likes of which have already been seen at FCI Oakdale [Louisiana] and FCI Elkton, Keller said.

Continued movement of inmates is unbelievably irresponsible behavior by an organization devoid of competent leadership," he continued. "To move them into a rural community that cannot deal with a large COVID-19 outbreak defies the entire thought process behind virus mitigation.

Keller again called on BOP Director Michael Carvajal to halt inmate movements and reverse consideration of Lewisburgs designation as a quarantine holdover center.

Kline pointed out since 2017 Lewisburg has lost more than 100 staff positions and is almost 100 below its current allotted number. Nearly 80 of those are corrections officers, he said.

Given the current COVID-19 situation, lack of proper staffing, sick inmates starting to fill hospitals in small communities and numerous staff eligible to retire, the perfect storm the union predicted is now here, he said.

Kline attributes the staffing issues to decisions made by Carvajal when he was director of the Northeast Region. Thousands of positions were cut in the region in the past three years, he said.

Many of the 19 federal prisons in the region where there have been staff cuts have been hit by the coronavirus, he said.

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Lewisburg was being transitioned from a high-security to medium-security prison.
Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

LinkedIn

Email

Telegram



Washington D.C., April 10, 2020The Committee to Protect Journalists today said it is appalled by an official White House statement yesterday accusing Voice of America (VOA), the U.S. Congress-funded international broadcaster, of speak[ing] for Americas adversaries and promoting Chinese propaganda on the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is outrageous that the White House is attacking Voice of America, which has a tradition of reporting stories that challenge the narratives of authoritarian regimes around the world, said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon in New York. At this moment, citizens in some highly censored countries are depending for their health and safety on VOA news of the coronavirus, and President Trump should absolutely not undermine the news outlets efforts to do its job.

CPJs research shows that journalists for Voice of America often put themselves at risk by reporting in highly censored or dangerous countries. For example, they have been harassed and detained in China, charged with treason in Ethiopia, imprisoned in Eritrea and Vietnam, and killed on assignment in Somalia.

VOA Director Amanda Bennett is a member of CPJs board of directors.
Chron.com is compiling the latest headlines on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Houston area.

LATEST:

A state judge in Austin has temporarily halted Gov. Greg Abbotts executive order prohibiting judges from releasing inmates during the pandemic on personal bonds if theyve been accused or convicted of a violent crime, saying that to keep the order in place would cause irreparable harm.

Judge Lora Livingston said her late Friday night order restrains the governor and his lawyers from enforcing any such restraints on judges bond rulings and automatically sets bonds at $0.

***

If you're planning a trip to a Houston park this weekend despite the city-mandated closure, you could be cited or arrested, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo tweeted Friday afternoon.

"We will have officers patrolling area parks to ensure compliance," Acevedo said.

***

Some Democrats in the Senate are proposing a "COVID-19 Heroes Fund," a hazard pay program for essential workers. Under Michigan Sen. Gary Peters' proposal, essential workers in would receive a $25,000 premium pay increase from the start of the public health crisis until Dec. 31, the Benzie Record Patriot reports.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer has also called for a "Heroes Fund." Schumer tweeted: "No proposal would be complete without addressing the needs of our doctors, nurses, medical workers, truck drivers, grocers, transit workers, and more."

***

Every park in Houston and Harris County is now closed for Easter amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier in the week, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo ordered the county's parks close Friday ahead of the much-anticipated weekend, in which people typically flock to outdoor spaces like parks to celebrate the Christian holiday. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who initially said parks would remain open, reversed course and closed parks.

How do you plan to celebrate the holiday while social distancing? Let us know at newstips@chron.com.

Check back for updates as they come in.
Turkey sends medical aid to UK amid coronavirus fight

The aid package carried to the UK by Turkey includes protective masks and overalls.

A Turkish military cargo plane carrying medical supplies for use against the coronavirus pandemic departed on Friday for the UK.

"AFTER DARKNESS, THERE IS THE MUCH BRIGHTER SUN"

"At the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Armed Forces aircraft that will transport to United Kingdom the medical aid supplies prepared by Turkeys Health Ministry to be used in the fight against coronavirus has departed Etimesgut/Ankara," the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Twitter.

The medical aid supplies also carried on a message for the people of the UK, saying: "After hopelessness, there is so much hope and after darkness, there is the much brighter sun. Rumi."





On Wednesday, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab thanked Turkey in a phone conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for sending medical supplies to help the country deal with the coronavirus pandemic, according to diplomatic sources.

Raab said the move is an "indication of strong friendship between the two countries."
The Washington Post is providing this news free to all readers as a public service.

Follow this story and more by signing up for national breaking news email alerts.
 This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on March 27, 2020, Friday.

In an interview with CNBC, U.S. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said he does not think the labor department data was of much significance for future employment trends because the U.S. stimulus package would soon help the job market.

Steven Mnuchin

U.S. Treasury secretary

You know, to be honest with you, I just think these numbers right now are not relevant and you know, whether they're bigger or smaller in the short term. You know, I mean, obviously, there are people who have jobless claims. And again, the good thing about this bill is the president is protecting those people. So, you know, now with these plans, small businesses hopefully will be able to hire back a lot of those people.

But apparently many people don't think so

GREGORY DACO

OXFORD ECONOMICS, CHIEF US ECONOMIST

I think these are dramatic numbers, we are seeing numbers that we've never seen in the past, the increase of jobless claim in the twelve folds the previous week, the increase of from the week prior, and just to give a little bit of context in terms of the 3.3 million jobless claims, that's five times as much as the peak during the great recession

Now, Oxford economics is forecasting 15 million to 20 million U.S. job losses in the coming weeks, with the unemployment rate hitting 10 percent in April. For the unemployment rate, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said it could reach 30%. Although former federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told us this data may not be that great, but it's still going to reach a high level in a short period of time. But some signs saying it is only just the beginning. Following the release of the labor department data, New York's mayor said the first estimate was that at least half a million New Yorkers would lose their jobs during the outbreak.

Much of the $2 trillion stimulus passed by the U.S. senate is directly or indirectly supporting the job market, including financial support for large and small businesses and $250 billion in unemployment benefits.

It is important to note that, despite some criticism before the vote, $600 a week in new unemployment benefits was retained in the current stimulus package, some people think too much benefits may actually increase unemployment.

Beyond the numbers on unemployment claims, there are two issues to watch, one, how's the capacity of states to handle the record number of applications that have clearly exceeded the normal level. There is a view that the current data is likely to be understated; two, how long firms that have not yet laid off workers can hold out?

General motors just announced that it will cut the wages of 69,000 workers by 20 percent, Ford has warned of job cuts in recent days, this issue is highly relied on how broadly and how quickly the stimulus can help.

It is hard to say for sure whether the monetary and fiscal support, which are around $6 trillion, offered by the US government is enough, beyond those two factors, many economists believe, the most fundamental factor in determining how deep the recession will be and how long Americans will lose their jobs remains the epidemic itself.

GREGORY DACO

OXFORD ECONOMICS, CHIEF US ECONOMIST

The real issue is the health crisis. It's the coronavirus crisis and that needs to be addressed by the administration, uh, and by proper measures that are taken in terms of testing quarantine people and putting effective lockdown in place across the US. Barring that, the situation is only going to get worse. And you're going to need a lot more stimulus to prevent an even deeper recession in the US economy.

We will keep an eye on this issue.
Five Oakland police officers are one step closer to termination after a disciplinary hearing officer determined that improper force was used in the fatal 2018 shooting of a homeless man.

The decision  released this week in a report by Skelly Officer Michael Gennaco  sustained the findings of the Oakland Police Commission and opens the door for city officials to take the officers off payroll after their role in the fatal shooting of Joshua Pawlik, a 32-year-old homeless man. The officers have spent more than a year on paid administrative leave.

Each member of the team who used force had an individual responsibility to ensure that their own use of force was reasonable, Gennaco said in his report. Because each member allowed a flawed deployment to move forward ... each should be held accountable for the unreasonable use of force that resulted.

Gennacos findings complete a crucial stage in disciplinary proceedings for Officers Brandon Hraiz, Craig Tanaka, William Berger and Sgt. Francisco Negrete, all of whom shot Pawlik, as well as Officer Josef Phillips, who discharged a beanbag gun. The decision, however, is not yet final.

Harry Stern, an attorney for the five officers, questioned Gennacos political motives and said the officers will continue to fight for their jobs.

Were going to pursue every legal remedy possible to keep these guys on the street, particularly in these very challenging times, Stern said.

Oakland Police Commission Chairwoman Regina Jackson said the panel will meet Monday to discuss the report and lay out directives on termination steps to Oaklands interim police chief, Susan Manheimer.

I really appreciate the thorough analysis and the findings of the Skelly officer, Jackson said.

In California, police and other civil servants are afforded whats known as a Skelly hearing to rebut allegations against them before recommended discipline is imposed. Skelly hearings apply to employees facing termination, a demotion, suspension or reduction in pay.

The officers can now argue their case through arbitration, and they have already filed a lawsuit claiming the city violated city code in deciding to fire them.

Gennacos report is the latest chapter in a contentious series of investigations with conflicting findings about the shooting of Pawlik on March 11, 2018.

Pawlik was discovered unconscious and armed in a yard between two homes in West Oakland. Police deployed a Bearcat armored vehicle for cover and yelled orders at Pawlik before unloading a torrent of gunfire just after he began to stir.

At the heart of the debate is whether Pawlik pointed his gun at officers before they opened fire. The officers involved said Pawliks arm movements showed he was pointing the weapon in their direction and posed an immediate threat to their safety. Critics, however, say video footage of the incident shows otherwise.

Internal investigators, former Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, the district attorneys office and the Community Police Review Agency all issued findings that essentially exonerated the officers involved. However, Oaklands federal police monitor, Robert Warshaw, found some of these investigations incomplete, and he argued that the video told a different story than the one given by officers.

Warshaws decision overrode Kirkpatricks, leaving the findings of the Community Police Review Agency, which is the investigative arm of the Oakland Police Commission, at odds with the department. The dispute allowed the commissions disciplinary panel to act as the the citys final word on the case, and in July the board recommended the firing of the five officers.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The committee also recommended the demotion of Lt. Alan Yu for failing to properly perform his duties as the Incident Commander.

Gennaco, the Skelly officer, disagreed with the discipline committee on this final point, and he instead recommended a five-day suspension for Yu.

In his report, Gennaco said the officers should have never found themselves in a position of vulnerability after deploying their armored vehicle.

The Bearcat is one of the few devices where a safely positioned law enforcement officer could virtually negate the threat of an armed subject  and even receive a firearm round  before needing to respond with deadly force, he wrote.

The Pawlik case widened a rift between the Police Commission and the department, and Kirkpatricks handling of the case was ultimately cited as one reason for her firing in February.

Stern suggested that Gennaco was specifically chosen by the city attorneys office to uphold the firings of the officers involved in the shooting.

Gennaco is a paid consultant who was hand-selected to rubber stamp the monitors incorrect decisions, he said.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
Ms. Brennan told lawmakers on Thursday that the agency was already in talks with the Treasury about the potential loan, but its revenue predictions suggest that the money would not be enough if the crisis continues.

Even with an increase in online shopping and package delivery to Americans cooped up at home, the agency could see a 50 percent reduction in total mail volume by the end of June, compared with the same period last year, Ms. Brennan told the lawmakers.

She said the projected shortfall this fall could throw regular mail delivery into doubt.

They are chilling numbers, said Representative Gerald E. Connolly, Democrat of Virginia, who leads the House subcommittee responsible for the Postal Service. The reaction of a lot of my colleagues  their jaws were dropping. It is one thing to say the Postal Service is suffering. It is another to hear these specifics.

For now, the mail service, which operates under government-mandated service requirements, has continued uninterrupted during the pandemic. Even as scores of its more than 600,000-person work force have fallen ill and some have died, mail sorters and carriers have continued to walk their routes in every corner of the country, in many cases the only physical lifeline Americans now have to the outside world. They deliver medicines, coronavirus test kits and packages ordered online, and could play a crucial role in Novembers presidential election, in which voting by mail is expected to surge.

But the debate over whether to shore up the Postal Service has been politically fraught.

Negotiators on Capitol Hill had reached a tentative deal last month to provide the Postal Service around $13 billion in direct relief as part of the $2 trillion stimulus law. That was far less than House Democrats had proposed, but it had the buy-in of a crucial Republican negotiator: Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, according to the officials familiar with the talks.

But Mr. Mnuchin said the administration would not have it.

Mr. Connolly said on Thursday that he would recommend that House leaders promptly back the new, higher figures presented by the Postal Service, and Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and the chairwoman of the oversight panel, indicated that she saw doing so as a matter of life and death for the agency.

Unless Congress and the White House provide meaningful relief in the next stimulus bill, the Postal Service could cease to exist, she said.
Its 6:00 on an icy morning in mid-January, and I wipe the sleep out of my eyes as I open our teams patient list. My heart sinks when I see a familiar name has reappeared on the screen. One patient I took care of just days before has already made his way back to the hospital with a new lung infection. His previous infection? Coronavirus.

But that was when coronavirus was still a distant whisper on media outlets. When I would never consider saying coronavirus to my nonmedical friends for fear of lapsing into unintelligible jargon. In those few days my patient had spent at home, the small family of viruses responsible for his hospital stay had surged into the realm of common household knowledge worldwide.

My medical school, like others around the nation, withdrew students from all clinical activities the week of March 15. My peers anticipated the event for days in advance. When it finally came, the frustrations of students mounted. Some were stressed about whether or not we would graduate and how the decision would affect our job applications. Even more were frustrated by our inability to help in this time of crisis.

Students formed a response team that, among several other ideas, made an earnest request for involvement on the front lines. The deans firmly rejected this notion, stating that our primary duty was to continue our education virtually to ensure we would be ready to care for patients as physicians in 2021. The U.S. medical system relies on a fresh batch of doctors every year to run hospitals around the country.

It is certainly an odd predicament to be a third-year medical student right now. This pandemic requires profound efforts from our health care community, yet we are told to stay at home. Even our fourth-year peers are poised to join the front lines, with a plan for expedited graduation in some states.

Nonetheless, I was not alone in feeling a sense of relief at being removed from clinical duties. As younger individuals, we were at low risk of serious illness  but the risk posed by potentially spreading the disease asymptomatically within our hospital outweighed any contribution we could offer. Our education and need for oversight would also have the potential to distract faculty from their critical roles.

This is not to say that we cannot contribute. I remain in awe of my peers persistent efforts to help our community in this time of need, from checking in with patients on the phone to raising awareness about critical issues surrounding the pandemic. Student involvement in telemedicine seems particularly vital as physicians are stretched increasingly thin. I am currently in training to make daily telehealth assessments of patients with COVID-19 who were not deemed ill enough for hospital admission. But I pray the situation does not become so dire that the benefit we could provide in the hospital would outweigh the harm.

My patient did not have the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19. No, he had a much less harmful relative  one of the many causes of the common cold. Unfortunately, he also had several lung diseases. This meant that even a feeble virus could tip his balance from health to critical illness.

Now, as I find myself sidelined with empty time that I have not known for years, I think often about my patients like him. It requires little imagination to consider what COVID-19 could do to such vulnerable individuals.

Thats crazy that you had coronavirus, I said to him that morning. We chuckled slightly with the mutual understanding that his disease had not been the novel coronavirus brewing in Wuhan. The far-off disease that could still warrant a light-hearted chuckle because, surely, it would never be of great concern to either of us.
Come August 2020, Gurugram will get a new academic institution in the form of Masters' Union School of Business. The business school, set up with an investment of Rs 300 crore, is funded by corporate industry veterans and former bureaucrats.

In a media statement, the institute said it will have classes in an internship-style format and led by practitioners rather than only by academic professors. The campus will be located in Cyber City.

Some of the investors include Arun Maira (former Chairman, Boston Consulting Group), Mukund Rajan (former MD, Tata Teleservices), Karthik Ramanna (Director, University of Oxford), Narendra Jadhav (Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and former chief economist, RBI), Tathagata Dasgupta (Chief Data Scientist, Viacom) and Bhaskar Chakravorti (former professor, Harvard Business School and former partner, McKinsey & Company).

As per the institute website, the total fee for the postgraduate programme in technology and business management (PGP-TBM) programme is Rs 17 lakh (plus Rs 3.06 lakh goods and services tax). Candidates will also be eligible for 100 percent scholarship based on merit and for exceptional candidates from marginalised and underserved communities from Northeast India, Ladakh, Bhutan, and the tribal belts of the hinterland.

Applications to the business school are open till May 7 for round one. Shortlisted candidates will be called for a personal interview. As a part of the interview process, you will also be given a case study to solve.

"The flagship, 16-month intensive programme, PGP-TGM is designed to keep hands-on learning at its core, delivering the courses using live consulting projects, field tours and internships, to offer students industry-immersive learning at every step," the institute said.

The business school will also conduct technology boot camps in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, SAAS and cybersecurity.

Further, the institute will establish a student-run venture fund with a corpus of Rs 5 crore that will invest in areas like real estate and capital markets. It will also have a Centre for New Business Models, a research-based forum that will formulate business opportunities in newer technologies like blockchain, bio-tech, and machine learning.

It will run a CXO shadow programme to enable students to have a first-hand look into a day of a CXO to experience how organisations are run and business decisions are made.

"In medical schools, doctors teach students, practising lawyers teach in law schools, but in business schools, faculty may not have experience with hands-on leadership in the industry. Thats a gap Masters Union addresses by getting CXOs, MDs and business leaders to teach and train students," said Tathagata Dasgupta, the founding master of the business school.

Here's a list of the founding members and their teaching areas:

--Arun Maira (Former Chairman, Boston Consulting Group)- Management Consulting

--Mukund Rajan (Former MD, Tata Teleservices Limited)- How to be a Successful Brand Custodian

--Narendra Jadhav (Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Former Chief Economist, RBI)- How Does the Economy Work

--Satish Krishnan (Former MD, Financial Markets, Standard Chartered Bank)- How Financial Markets and Fintech Work?

--Harsh Mishra (Former Group President, Adani Group)- Deal Making and Negotiations in the Global Economy

--Rajiv Gulati (Former MD, Eli Lilly and Company)- The Business of Pharmaceuticals

--M V Rajeev Gowda (Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Former Professor, IIM Bangalore)- Business Decision Making

--Tathagata Dasgupta (Former Chief Data Scientist, Viacom)- AI, ML, Blockchain in Business

--Elkana Ezekiel (Former CMO, Samsung Electronics)- How To Build a Successful Brand

--Siddhartha Rastogi (MD, Ambit Capital, Asset Management)- How to Raise Capital

--Malavika R Harita (Former CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi Focus Network India)- Integrated Marketing Communications

--Karthik Ramanna (Director, University of Oxford and Former Professor, Harvard Business School)- Business and Public Policy

--Bhaskar Chakravorti (Former Professor, Harvard Business School and Former Partner, McKinsey & Company)- International Business

--Raghu Raman (Former President, Reliance Industries Limited and Former CEO, Mahindra Defence Systems)- Leading in a VUCA World

--Mihir Mankad (Former Professor, Harvard University)- The Arts of Communication

--Shailaja Chandra (Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Delhi)- Influence of government on Business

--Prem Das Rai (Former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha)- Influence of Politics on Business

--K Sujatha Rao (Former Health Secretary, Govt. of India)- How to Create Value in Health

--Baba Prasad (CEO, Vivekin Group)- Business Strategy for Managers
G ermany has said it will donate 60 ventilators to the NHS as officials scramble to get enough life-saving equipment to meet the expected forthcoming peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

The German embassy confirmed a report in newspaper Der Spiegel that the country's armed forces would be sending the kit to the UK as soon as possible.

A statement on the embassys Twitter feed said: "Support for our friends in the UK  the Bundeswehr is donating 60 mobile ventilators to the UK."

The NHS is currently reported to have around 10,000 ventilators - a critical piece of equipment in the fight to prevent Covid-19 deaths.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said about 18,000 of the machines will be required to ensure there will be ample capacity in the next week or so - when it is believed coronavirus case numbers will peak.

The Government has meanwhile appealed to British manufacturers to help fill the gap.

But, while a number of firms have come forward, including defence firm Babcock and engineering company Dyson, it is taking time to gear up production and ensure essential regulatory approvals are in place.

Stanley Johnson Says Boris Johnson's coronavirus diagnosis has helped the country understand the pandemic is a 'serious event'

In the meantime, the NHS has been scrambling to source supplies from overseas.

On Wednesday, Downing Street confirmed that the UK had asked the US to deliver 200 ventilators already ordered from US companies.

US President Donald Trump had earlier said UK officials had called the US with an urgent plea for the devices

"They wanted 200, they need them desperately," he said.

The developments came after medics were warned last week they may need to make "grave decisions" about which patients are given use of vital healthcare equipment as the coronavirus pandemic intensifies.
The largest price electricity generating company and coal producer in Ukraine, DTEK Energy, is mulling the possibility of suspending operation of DTEK Pavlohradvuhillia due to the crisis in the energy sector, DTEK Energy CEO Dmytro Sakharuk has said.

"We are currently considering [if possible] the stop of the country's largest coal union, which employs 30,000 people,  Pavlohradvuhillia. The reason is banal: the inability to pay wages. The second reason is the inability to pay for coal transportation to stations, and also provide everything we need," he said during an online discussion devoted to the consequences of the global energy crisis for Ukraine held on Friday.
Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday called on all peace officers of the state to help her keep residents in their homes by enforcing orders regarding public gatherings.

The attorney general's office has consulted with police departments on tools they can use to enforce the proclamation, but local agencies see those tools as a last resort.

For law enforcement in Cerro Gordo County, their primary approach to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 remains one of education.

Mason City Police Chief Jeff Brinkley says his officers have seen or have responded to calls regarding large crowds, but have had luck with compliance and groups dispersing when approached.

"We're doing the same thing that we've been doing and that's talking to people in the community that we get complaints about and explain to them what's going on, try to hammer home the importance of needing to isolate and distance ourselves from one another," he said. "We expect to do more of the same."

Brinkley said that his department has responded to about 18 social distancing complaints since those restrictions have been put into place. While several of those complaints were not determined to be violations, an organized car cruise held on Saturday garnered three calls regarding large crowds.

Clear Lake Police Chief Pete Roth hopes his community will practice voluntary compliance to help officers and residents remain safe. His department has responded to about five calls to address concerns about social distancing, but Roth says people have been adhering to those guidelines.

"We are trying to limit our public contact as much as possible," he said. "We would really like to avoid having to come into contact with people to tell them to social distance or "please move six feet away from each other."

Roth says that although residents can be charged with a simple misdemeanor for violating public heath code, he wants to avoid giving citations or making arrests.

"The last thing that we want to do in this situation is to create more of a hardship to someone that's already dealing with restrictions and the uncertainty right now in our in our society," he said. "We just ask for everyone to be responsible and take this seriously and to help us not have to contact you so we continue providing patrol and answering the emergency calls that we still need to respond to."

Cerro Gordo County Sheriff Kevin Pals said service calls through his office, including all normal calls like traffic stops and welfare checks, have dropped to less than half the normal call traffic since social distancing efforts began.

However, Pals said social distancing has caused people to go "a little stir crazy."

"The human mind can only take so much and I think our economy locally can only take so much." He said closing things like playgrounds will help flatten the curve.

"I think we're gonna do all the right things and hopefully we're gonna see this ease up as the weeks go by."

In her proclamation, Gov. Reynolds also announced additional closures, including campgrounds, malls, social clubs, libraries and amusement parks, further limiting options for residents to get out of the house and be active.

Amid growing frustration, Brinkley, Roth, and Pals, as they have since mid-February, continue to find a consistent message that encourages people to socially isolate and distance themselves from one another.

"The long term goal is obviously to flatten the curve and have COVID-19 pass through our area efficiently and without as much damage as we can avoid inflicting on ourselves," Brinkley said.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Uttar Pradesh had no laboratory to test the Sars-Cov-2 pathogen when the first coronavirus positive case was reported in the state on March 3. The state now has 10 such laboratories.

When UP reported its first coronavirus positive case, we had no testing laboratory. We now have 10 laboratories. We are setting up a lab at each of the 18 divisional headquarters, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said, while recently speaking about capacity building for laboratories, setting up of new hospitals, quarantine and isolation wards and ensuring the supply of medicines.

The challenges are, however, manifold for the most populous state. Besides threatening human lives, the lockdown is adversely affecting the economy.

In order to meet these challenges, chief minister Yogi Adityanath constituted 11 committees, called Team-11, for expeditious action.

Yogis Team-11 is now coming in handy as the state begins acting tough to fight the coronavirus. It was after a review with officers of Team-11 that Yogi Adityanath decided to intensify the lockdown in nearly 105 hot spots of 15 districts that have reported six or more coronavirus positive cases.

Yes, the chief minister decided to intensify the lockdown and seal the hotspots after a review meeting on Wednesday, said additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, who is part of Team-11 and has been monitoring enforcement of the lockdown.

The chief minister decided to set up 11 committees soon after the lockdown. We have regular meetings and the progress made by the 11 committees is reviewed at the chief ministers level every day. Although the agenda for the committees is already set, the points for action are worked out for any new issues and the action taken is reported, said chief secretary RK Tiwari, who heads the committee set up for coordination with the union government and other states, and oversees the functioning of 11 committees.

Adityanath and his Team 11 worked almost round the clock to set up shelter homes, arrange transportation, establish quarantine centres and isolation wards after a flood of migrants was reported soon after the lockdown.

A decision to disburse financial relief, give free food to the poor, run community kitchens and ensure supply of essential commodities and doorstep delivery are some other major steps taken after the setting up of the 11 committees.

We got three bank holidays on April 2, 6 and 10 cancelled to ensure that funds being transferred to beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana, the state governments pension for aged persons, widows, disabled and leprosy patients reach the people. We are also overseeing implementation of other schemes as asked by chief minister, said additional chief secretary, Finance, Sanjiv Mittal, who heads the committee set up to monitor the availability of funds, study the impact of the lockdown on the states economy and recommend the future course of action.

Director general of police HC Awasthi heads the committee that has been asked to ensure that all the coronavirus positive cases linked to Tablighi Jamaat are quarantined.

Another major task for the committee was to protect the police force and jails from infection, he said.

UP produces 30 to 40 million litres of milk every day. As the demand for milk has gone down due to the lockdown, its transportation to cities and maintaining the supply chain is also proving to be a major task.

Besides maintaining the supply chain of milk in urban areas, we have ensured that 22 private companies make milk powder out of excess milk. These units used to run in winter to make milk powder and meet the rising demand during summer. They are now making milk powder. To a large extent, this is ensuring that the milk producers get the price for their produce, said principal secretary, animal husbandry Bhuvnesh Kumar, who, as head of one of the 11 committees, is ensuring the supply of fodder to animals. We are also working with the Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA) so that stray animals and monkeys also get regular food, said Kumar.

THE COMMITTEES

The chief secretary heads the committee set up to coordinate with the union government and other states and oversees the functioning of all committees.

The infrastructure and industrial development commissioner (IIDC) heads the committee set up to ensure implementation of various schemes launched by the Centre and the state government for welfare of workers and ensure payment of wages.

The agriculture production commissioner heads the committee to monitor the supply chain and ensure doorstep delivery of food grains, milk and vegetables.

The additional chief secretary, home, heads the committee set up to check blackmarketeering of essential commodities. The additional chief secretary revenues committee oversees the setting up of community kitchens.

The principal secretary, rural development and panchayati raj, leads the committee set up to take care of cleanliness, sanitisation and supply of clean drinking water in rural areas.

The principal secretary, medical and health, heads the committee working on strengthening surveillance setting up of level 1, level2 and level 3 hospitals, testing labs and provides other facilities.

The principal secretary, animal husbandry, heads the committee set up to take care of the welfare of stray cattle, birds and ensures the supply of fodder.

The DGPs committee is working on protection of the police force and jails from infection.

The ACS finance heads the committee set up to monitor implementation of schemes for the peoples welfare, provide finance and recommend follow- up action after studying the economic impact of the lockdown. The principal secretary, agriculture, heads the committee set up to look into the problems of farmers.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
New Delhi: Amid the rising cases of coronavirus in the country, different departments of the Ministry of Science and Technology have developed products like digital infrared thermometers and oxygen enrichment units for battling the pandemic, a statement said on Thursday.

BMEK, a CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (NCL)'s incubate, has developed the infrared thermometer and its design is available open source with complete know-how of the hardware as well as the software design. The NCL of the CSIR and Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL) will scale up the production of digital infrared thermometers, an important tool in battling coronavirus, it said.

"This is an effort to enable a large number of manufacturers to produce the thermometers and cater to their local demands. Now it is being scaled up in partnership with BEL (Bharat Electronics Ltd, Pune). "About 100 prototype units will be made for pilot distribution and testing at TUV Rheinland India Pvt Ltd Bangalore," a statement said.

The NCL is a laboratory under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) which comes under the Ministry of Science and Technology. The NCL and Genrich Membranes, a start-up innovation venture founded by Ulhas Kharul, the head of the Polymer Science and Engineering Division at NCL, have prepared an Oxygen Enrichment Unit (OEU).

The OEUs increase the oxygen concentration from the ambient air of 21-22 per cent to 38-40 per cent. It is a hollow fibre membrane bundles for separation and filtration of ambient air to produce enriched oxygen for patients in home and hospital settings.

"The prototype units are ready at Pune and will be sent to TUV Rheinland India Pvt Ltd Bangalore for testing/validation. About 10 OEU machines will be assembled by NCL BEL in Pune and after the trials, scale up will be done," it added.

Separately, scientists at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) have designed and developed a highly efficient superabsorbent material for liquid respiratory and other body fluid solidification and disinfection for the safe management of infected respiratory secretions.

The SCTIMST is an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST). Generally, in the ICU, the secretions are sucked by a machine into bottles or canisters, which have to be emptied when full, subjected to a decontamination process in a sluice room and discarded through the waste fluid disposal systems.

Apart from the re-contamination risk during the handling involved in these processes, there is a need for well-equipped sluice rooms with disinfection facilities, which can be an issue in less well-equipped hospitals or makeshift isolation wards during epidemics.

"The material titled Chitra Acrylosorb Secretion Solidification System', developed by Manju S and Manoj Komath of the department of Biomaterial Science and Technology of the Biomedical Technology wing of SCTIMST is a highly efficient superabsorbent material for liquid respiratory and other body fluid solidification and disinfection," a statement said.

AcryloSorb can absorb liquids at least 20 times more than its dry weight and also contains a decontaminant for in situ disinfection. The superabsorbent material can be effective in the safe management of infected respiratory secretions, the statement said.

In the developed system, suction canisters, disposable spit bags have been designed with "AcryloSorb" technology. They are lined inside with the AcryloSorb material. The AcryloSorb suction canisters collect the liquid respiratory secretions from ICU patients or those with copious secretions treated in the wards.

"Containers filled with this material will immobilise the contaminated fluid by solidifying it (gel-like), thus avoiding spillage and will also disinfect it. The canister containing the solidified waste canister can then be decomposed as all other biomedical waste by incineration," the statement added.

The containers are spill-proof and can be sealed after use, making it safe and fit for disposal through the usual incineration system for biomedical wastes. Sealable and disposable AcryloSorb spit bags are provided for solidifying the sputum and saliva of ambulant patients with respiratory infections, which can then be incinerated.

Disposal of infected secretions from patients poses a great challenge to every hospital. This is particularly so in the case of secretions of patients with highly contagious diseases such as COVID-19. The collection and disposal of such wastes put the nursing and cleaning staff at high risk.

This technology reduces the risk for the hospital staff, the need for personnel for disinfecting and cleaning the bottles and canisters for reusing them and makes the disposal safer and easier, it added.

Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST, said, "Safe disposal of infected secretions from the patients in a variety of infectious conditions is of paramount significance. A super-absorbent gel with embedded disinfecting material is thus an attractive proposition for the safe collection, consolidation, and quarantine of secretions before their incineration."
New Delhi: Amid coronavirus COVID-19 spread, India has cleared the first list of 13 countries who will get anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), with neighbourhood getting the priority. Overall India will be giving hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol to 25 countries and India has given approval for export of 14 million tablets of hydroxychloroquine.

The 13 countries to whom India will be giving HCQ, termed as game-changer drug, are--US, Spain, Germany, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Bahrain, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives and Bangladesh.

Speaking at the daily press briefing, Ministry of External Affairs' (MEA) nodal person for COVID-19 Dammu Ravi said, "HCQ is in high demand globally. Lot of request for HCQ already there, several countries have made the request, taking in the view domestic requirements, domestic stock availability.. the decision was taken by a group of the minister to release surplus medicine for export purposes. The first list of countries have been approved and products have started to leave, working on the second list and then the third list."

India is providing humanitarian aid like Pharma (HCQ & paracetamol) to SAARC, Mauritius and Seychelles along with Africa and Latin America. Outside these regions, New Delhi is currently processing requests for medicines (HCQ/Paracetamol) from countries based on availability and would be supplying them on a commercial basis.

Asked about the criteria India is following for countries, Dammu Revi said, "Request for countries existed, for HCQ, we analysed the request. Sometimes demand can be very high, we need to rationalise. This drug is under high demand and all countries impacted by COVID are asking for it. So it was internal discuss and in consultation with pharma dept, health and various others in the empowered committee."

Explaining, "It is first-come, first-serve basis, but the neighbourhood is very important, countries very vulnerable. So went through the process of making the assessment, who would need first..it is an ongoing process. Doing it in a balanced and rationalizing demand of various countries."

While HCQ remains on the banned list of export products, India is giving the drug only on licence both for export and aid. India needs one crore HCQ tablets, and currently has 3.28 crore tablets and one to two crore tablets can be produced. Authorities have allowed the use of HCQ for front line workers only and under the prescription of a medical physician.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been personally approached by world leaders for HCQ. On Friday, PM Modi spoke to Japan PM Shinzo Abe and Nepali PM KP Sharma Oli. Three world leaders, US President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Jair M Bolsonaro and Israeli's PM Benjamin Netanyahu have personally thanked PM Modi and Indians on micro-blogging site, Twitter.
Syracuse, N.Y.  Kaylee Hartley was preparing for her journey to Long Island Wednesday night, when a colleague came to her, took off her surgical cap and handed it over.

She literally gave me the scrub cap off her head last night and told me I needed it more than her, Hartley said.

Hartley is one of 22 nurses at Upstate University Hospital who volunteered to help fight an outbreak of the novel coronavirus on Long Island. They exited Syracuse Thursday morning in a triumphant caravan, cheered on by scores of their colleagues, supporters and fellow essential workers.

The downstate region has become the national epicenter for the virus. More than 5,200 people have died statewide, most of them in the New York City area. A surge in virus cases has overwhelmed hospitals, leading to a shortage of healthcare workers and resources. State and federal governments have mobilized to set up makeshift hospitals and import critical supplies.

That includes a shipment of nurses from Central New York.

Thursday morning around 8 a.m., Hartley and Emery House, a fellow nurse, piled into Houses white Mazda CX-3 to make the drive to Long Island. Theyll spend the next two weeks, at least, treating COVID-19 patients at at a makeshift hospital at SUNY Stony Brook.

The two nurses spoke with syracuse.com from the road Thursday morning, on the highway somewhere in Pennsylvania.

Nurses Kaylee Hartley, left, and Emery House, right, head to Long Island to help fight the coronavirus outbreak, Thursday, April 9, 2020.

As they left Syracuse, doctors, nurses and other staff at Upstate lined streets to wish them farewell. A police escort led them out of the city.

The support was overwhelming, House said.

They arrived in Long Island early Thursday afternoon, and gathered at a staging center at a local fire station. From there, they would get a brief orientation, then be set up in a hotel where theyll live while they staff the hospital for the next two weeks.

Why would they go to the epicenter of a worldwide pandemic?

Why not, I guess," House said. "We know that the nurses are in need down there. And were capable of helping. So why not? If the roles were reversed we would want the same assistance.

Staff at Upstate University Hospital say farewell to a group of 22 nurses headed downstate to fight COVID-19, Thursday, April 9, 2020.

As they readied to leave Thursday morning, their colleagues stuffed the backseat of the car with supplies for downstate: everything from snacks and coloring books to boxes of precious N95 masks and gloves. Even as they drove off, people tossed things into the car.

People were just throwing things in our car, Hartley said.

Both have experience treating COVID patients at Upstate. And they see the downstate mission as an educational opportunity. Theyll bring back lessons and tips from their experience there.

This is a mutually beneficial situation, House said. They need helping hands right now...we dont have the volume they have, and I hope that we dont, but if we do, well be that much more prepared.

Lots of people have thanked them, and lauded their courage. But they dont think its necessary.

Everybody keeps saying that, but were just doing our job," Hartley said.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS
CHICAGO, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The ongoing COVID-19 pandemicand the worldwide reaction to ithas compelled companies to radically rethink their strategies and the way they operate. We salute the industry experts helping companies survive and sustain in this pandemic.

At MarketsandMarkets, analysts are undertaking continuous efforts to provide analysis of the COVID-19 impact on the Industrial Filtration Market. We are working diligently to help companies take rapid decisions by studying:

The impact of COVID-19 on the Industrial Filtration Market, including growth/decline in product type/use cases due to the cascaded impact of COVID-19 on the extended ecosystem of the market

The rapid shifts in the strategies of the Top 50 companies in the Industrial Filtration Market

The shifting short-term priorities of the top 50 companies' clients and their client's clients

You can request an in-depth analysis detailing the impact of COVID-19 on the Industrial Filtration Market:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=81304454

According to the recent report "Industrial Filtration Market by Type (Air and Liquid), Filter Media, Product, Industry (Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Power Generation, Pharmaceutical, Metal & Mining, Process Industry), and Region - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the global Industrial Filtration Market size is expected to grow from an estimated value of USD 29.5 billion in 2020 to USD 41.1 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2020 to 2025. The growth of this market is driven by strict government regulations to eliminate air and water pollution. The demand for the treatment of industrial waste and the requirement of a safe working environment in industrial facilities also expected to increase the demand for industrial filtration.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Industrial Filtration Market"

101  Tables

33  Figures

196  Pages

Download PDF Brochure:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=81304454

The Filter Press segment is expected to be the fastest-growing market of the Industrial Filtration Market, by product, during the forecast period

Filter Press are used for filtering liquid using pressurized air. This segment is expected to hold a significant share in 2020 owing to the increasing need for liquid filtration for various industries. Filter Press is used to remove impurities from solid-liquid slurry in the chemical industry to make chemical reusable, which in turn drives the market of filter press in industrial filtration. North America is expected to be the largest market during the forecast period due to the advanced technologies used in this region.

Pharmaceuticals is expected to be the fastest-growing market, by industry, during the forecast period

Pharmaceuticals are expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This industry uses filtration for the removal of suspended particles and to reduce bacteria in-process components. Filtration helps in protecting process solutions from contamination when stored in tanks. Removal of suspended particles and bacteria from water and air is expected to drive the pharmaceutical industry.

North America is expected to dominate the global industrial market

North America is the largest market for industrial filtration. The region has been segmented by country into the US, Canada, and Mexico. The demand for industrial filtration in this region is driven mostly by the manufacturing, oil & gas, power generation, pharmaceutical, metal & mining and process industries. It is the largest market for industrial filtration during the forecast as it is the second-largest producer of crude oil which generates waste, which is needed to be treated. Manufacturing is the largest sector globally as they increase the operational life of machines and equipments. Moreover, this region also houses some of the major manufacturers who continuously focus on R&D to innovate new technologies.

Request Sample Pages:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=81304454

To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes the profiles of some of the top players in the Industrial Filtration Market. These include Alfa Laval(Sweden), Donaldson(US), Danaher(US), Parker Hannifin(US), Eaton(Ireland), Ahlstrom-Munksjo(Finland). The leading players are trying to establish themselves in the markets in developing economies and are adopting various strategies to increase their respective market share.

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Sanjay Gupta

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]

Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com

SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
WASHINGTON - New air defence systems are now protecting American and allied forces at military bases in Iraq where troops have been attacked by Iranian-backed insurgents in recent months, according to U.S. officials.

Patriot missile launchers and two other short-range systems are now in place at al-Asad Air Base, where Iran carried out a massive ballistic missile attack against U.S. and coalition troops in January, and at the military base in Irbil, said officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive weapons movement. A short-range rocket defence system was installed at Camp Taji.

The military has been gradually moving the defensive systems into Iraq over the last few months to provide more protection for troops that have seen a series of rocket and missile attacks.

Soon after Iran launched a massive ballistic missile assault against troops at al-Asad in January, questions were raised about the lack of air defence systems at the bases. But it has taken time to overcome tensions and negotiate with Iraqi leaders, and to also locate defence systems that could be shifted into Iraq. Prior to the missile attacks, U.S. military leaders did not believe the systems were needed there, more than in other locations around the world where such strikes are more frequent.

The systems are now operational, as top U.S. officials warn that threats from Iranian proxy groups continue.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday. that because of that threat, hundreds of soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, remain in Iraq.

He said only one battalion was allowed to return to Fort Bragg, N.C., in part because the situation with the Shia militia groups and Iran has not 100 per cent settled down. He added that they will continue their mission until such time that we think the threat has subsided.

Several rockets hit near the site of an American oilfield service company in southern Iraq this week. It was the first such attack in recent months to target U.S. energy interests. Americans had already left the location.

President Donald Trump early last week said his administration has received intelligence that Iran is planning a strike. He provided no details, but he warned Iran in a tweet that if U.S. troops are attacked by Iran or its proxies, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!

Other officials in recent weeks said there had been an increase in intelligence pointing to a possible large attack. But they said this week that the threat appears to have tapered off, as countries grapple with the rapidly spreading coronavirus.

Still, military leaders have argued that U.S. and coalition troops needed the extra protection because threats from the Iranian proxies continue and its unclear how much control Tehran may have over them, particularly now as the virus hits Iran hard.

In early January, the U.S. launched an airstrike in Baghdad that killed Irans most powerful military officer, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a leader of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Kataib Hezbollah, one of those militias, has been responsible for a number of attacks on U.S., Iraqi and coalition forces.

The Soleimani killing triggered the Iran ballistic missile attack, which resulted in traumatic brain injuries to more than 100 American troops.

Iraqi leaders, however, were angry over the al-Muhandis killing, and protests around the county had been calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Those conditions made negotiations over the Patriot systems very sensitive.

In addition, Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East, told reporters that moving Patriots and other systems to Iraq was tricky because it meant he would have to take the systems from another location where they were also needed. Officials have not said where the systems in Iraq were taken from.

It also has taken time to move the large systems, piece by piece, into Iraq, assemble them and and link them together.

The Patriot batteries, which are designed to protect against missiles are at al-Asad and Iribil. In addition, the so-called Army C-RAM system is being used and is able to take out rockets and mortars. And the more sophisticated Avenger air defence system can counter low-flying missiles and aircraft, including drones and helicopters.

Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and has steadily reimposed U.S. sanctions on Iran that had been eased or lifted under the terms of the deal. Late last month, the administration slapped sanctions on 20 Iranian people and companies for supporting Shia militia responsible for attacks on U.S. forces.

Currently, there are more than 6,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. While some forces have been withdrawn over the past few months, others have flowed in to set up and operate the new air defence systems.
At a base down the road from Niagara Falls, a specialized unit from the New York Air National Guard had spent years preparing for one of the military's grimmest missions: find and recover the bodies of those killed in a chemical attack, natural disaster or other mass tragedy.

But when their deployment orders arrived March 21, they were sent to do a job their practice sessions didn't foresee.

New York City was facing a mounting emergency owing to the spread of covid-19, and it wasn't just hospital emergency rooms and intensive care units facing a crisis. The city's medical examiners, who pick up the bodies of those who die unattended by a physician or in unexplained circumstances, were on the verge of being overwhelmed.

"When we train, we never really think that it's going to be more like real life, like a virus," said Staff Sgt. Gabrielle Bellina, a 24-year-old member of the Niagara Falls unit who normally works as a nurse at an eldercare facility. "When we go out and train, it's more like chemical warfare . . . so this was a real eye-opener."

Bellina and her fellow guardsmen have been carrying body after body out of New York City homes and apartment buildings, in some cases winding 200 pounds down the narrow staircases of walk-ups without an elevator.

For more than two weeks, they have been at it, pulling 12-hour shifts that run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and heading out in teams composed of two guardsmen and one New York medical examiner.

More than 28,400 members of the National Guard are deployed across the United States as part of the pandemic response, helping build makeshift hospitals, swabbing people at test sites and delivering masks, medical supplies and food. But few are undertaking a more difficult task than the airmen from Niagara Falls.

They are aiding the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, known as the OCME, which typically collects about 25 bodies for investigation in New York City on a normal day and now is retrieving as many as 150, said Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau. The OCME has posted dozens of job advertisements in recent days in a scramble to further augment its staff.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, in a CNN interview on Wednesday, described what it meant for New York City to be retrieving 100 to 200 people who have died in their homes and other non-hospital locations. "I mean, think of what this means for the families, think of the pain they're going through," de Blasio said. "There's no question that coronavirus is driving it. We never saw anything like this in normal times."

The city's funeral homes are overwhelmed.

"We've trained for the bird flu. We've trained for Ebola. Those nightmares never materialized. This nightmare materialized, and nobody was ready for it," said John D'Arienzo, who runs a funeral home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and is president of the Metropolitan Funeral Directors Association. "Nobody was aware of the magnitude and the sheer volume."

- - -

Home to more than 8.5 million people, New York City is the worst hit area of the United States. As of Thursday, the city had seen 87,725 confirmed cases of covid-19, including 21,571 hospitalizations, and 4,778 deaths, according to the city's health department.

Those statistics may not fully capture the number of New Yorkers dying at home.

Michael Lanza, a spokesman for the New York City Health Department, said every person with a lab-confirmed covid-19 diagnosis is being counted in the fatality numbers the city tabulates. The health department is working with medical examiners to include in their reports people whose deaths may have been related to covid-19 but didn't received a lab-confirmed diagnosis, Lanza said.

Of all the military units that have shown up to help New York City's medical examiners handle the dead, the group from Niagara Falls arrived first. They had been scheduled to travel to New York City anyway this spring for a training session with the medical examiner's office. Instead, the guardsmen ended up rescuing the office as it faced one of its biggest crises since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Bellina, who joined the guard because her grandfather was in the military, was at her mother's house having breakfast when she got the call to deploy. Days later, her team arrived in a midtown Manhattan that was eerily empty, where a few scattered people walked around in masks.

The team set to work the next day at a makeshift command center that the medical examiner's office had set up near Bellevue Hospital and equipped with refrigerated trailers to store recovered bodies.

The Niagara Falls group quickly realized that without serious reinforcements, they and the medical examiner's office were about to be overwhelmed.

"I think the biggest challenge is just seeing all of these numbers skyrocket and just trying to work together as a team and go out and get all of these deceased people," Bellina said. "Now we have more teams, which has really helped take the load off."

As of Wednesday, the U.S. military had assigned a total of 220 personnel to assist New York City in the collection of bodies, including 49 active-duty Army soldiers trained in mortuary affairs and 171 members of the New York Army and Air National Guard. In addition to a day shift, service members have begun helping man a night shift as well.

The house calls aren't necessarily always for those who have died of complications of covid-19. Guardsmen like Bellina are also helping recover those who die in other circumstances, such as an apparent suicide where she helped retrieve a man's remains on one of her most difficult days.

"That was very hard to see," she said.

The Niagara Falls unit, which the military calls a fatality search-and-recovery team, wears its uniforms under personal protective equipment and treats every case as if it could be covid-19.

The appearance of uniformed military personnel handling body bags on the streets of the city has unnerved some New Yorkers, a number of whom began taking pictures when members of the unit showed up at buildings in fatigues with the medical examiner.

"I think they see us come in with uniforms on and their initial thought is we're here to take over and it's really bad," Bellina said. "We just say we're here to help."

- - -

To carry out the work, she and her fellow guardsmen have formed pairs based on their strengths.

Senior Airman Anita Walker, a 26-year-old member of the unit from North Tonawanda, New York, said she is 5-foot-2, so she is paired up with a larger guy in the group.

"He's a big guy, but I have a stronger stomach," Walker said.

"We train on this stuff, but it's nothing like when you get thrown into it. I work out, but I'm no macho, I'm only 115 pounds," she said, noting that so far the physical labor has been fine. "We practice all our safe lifting techniques, so I'm good on that end."

Walker said the unit had trained extensively in search and recovery, but going into people's homes and interacting with family members who have lost loved ones is incredibly sad. The smells and the places, she said, "something about seeing the real thing just hits you a little different."

The guardsmen have been doing runs with long-standing medical examiners who Walker said have seen "everything in the book," and mentally prepare them and assess the scene.

The officer in charge of the Niagara Falls unit, 39-year-old 1st Lt. Shawn Lavin, left behind his children, ages six months and 2 1/2, to oversee the mission. Lavin, who normally works as an Erie County personnel official and serves as a Democratic member of the Amherst, New York, town board, keeps tabs on the health and the spirits of the unit, which he said faced a steep learning curve.

"You take someone who has passed away with their loved one off a couch, off a chair, into a human remains bag and transport them here, it's a very challenging situation, but I think my team has answered that call incredibly," Lavin said in an interview from the makeshift command center.

"This situation, as sad as it is, this job is necessary - and everybody here is part of the solution, there is now a camaraderie building with the team that got here," he said. "We can help them and we can really make a difference."

The group gets together each day and talks about what they have experienced, sharing the more difficult stories to help one another get through a mission that is necessary but often overlooked.

Bellina said they've become like a big family, and the negative aspects of the situation have reminded her of the importance of her own relationships, on the team and elsewhere.

"It helps to remember to cherish the people that you love and cherish moments with your friends and family," she said. "That's my big takeaway from this whole thing."
Anyone still harbouring hopes of playing Princess Anna in the new West End production of Frozen might want to let it go, because I can reveal that Irish actress Stephanie McKeon has been chosen to play the klutzy but kind-hearted redhead who comes to the aid of her big sister Elsa in the musical.

Samantha Barks had already been cast to play Elsa, the princess (and heir to the throne of fictional Scandinavian country Arendelle) who's frightened by the strength of her magical powers.

But Dublin-born McKeon was picked to play Anna after sending in an audition video to director Michael Grandage and his casting chief.

Casting news: Stephanie McKeon will play Anna alongside Samantha Barks as Elsa in the new West End production of Disney animated film Frozen

The pair had spent the better part of a year searching for the right one to play the gung-ho sibling in the musical based on the phenomenally successful Oscar-winning Disney animated film.

But McKeon had been working in Los Angeles, and so was off their radar.

When she returned to London, she made a tape of herself singing one of the show's hit songs, For The First Time In Forever, and sent it in.

'That tape absolutely got her the job,' Grandage told me this week.

'I think there are a few people out there who are sceptical of self-tapes, but hers was wonderful.'

And, alluding to our present quarantine state, he added: 'Self-taping is going to be the way of the future, anyway.'

Thomas Schumacher, president of Disney Theatrical Group, who manages an empire that encompasses every Disney stage show worldwide, was just as enthusiastic.

He flew McKeon to New York so Grandage could introduce her to his creative team  song - writers Kristen AndersonLopez and Robert Lopez; book writer Jennifer Lee and choreographer Rob Ashford.

Popular characters: Elsa (right), the princess and heir to the throne of fictional Scandinavian country Arendelle) is joined by sister Anna (second from right) in the film franchise

'The minute Steph started singing, Tom said: 'We've found our Anna for London!' Grandage recalled.

McKeon studied at Trinity College, Dublin. She was a stand-out in director Jamie Lloyd's The Commitments at the Palace Theatre and later appeared in the Carole King musical Beautiful at the Aldwych.

Frozen is set to begin performances at Andrew Lloyd Webber's stunningly refur - bished Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, from October 30.

Grandage said that Disney has a 'department of future-planning for everything', should dates need to change because of the virus.

Just before we were ordered to stay in our homes, I had lunch with Barks (whose credits include playing Eponine in the film of Les Miserables) and McKeon at Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham.

Henry Walpole's white Gothic revival villa  more like a castle to my eyes  seemed an appropriate stand-in for Elsa's ice palace in faraway Arendelle.

Inside, a state room had been filled with fake snow for a photo shoot of the two stars (images from the session can be seen above).

Talented: Dublin-born McKeon was picked to play Anna after sending in an audition video to director Michael Grandage and his casting chief

Turns out the women had already met, a few days before, for what was meant to be a brief cup of tea.

'Seven hours later!' Barks exclaimed. 'If it had been a first date it would have been very promising.'

McKeon sighed dramatically and said: 'If only first dates were like that.' 'We both had a good feeling about each other after that,' she said, more seriously.

'We knew it was going to be just fine.' Usually, in fairytales, there's a prince who comes to save the damsel in distress.

In Frozen, though, it's a sister who comes to the rescue. Which makes it fitting  if corny  that I'm revealing McKeon's casting on National Sibling Day (promise I am not making it up).

'That's what's so special,' McKeon agreed. 'I think that's why little girls, especially, love Frozen.

'They see these two princesses who can pack a punch. That's what makes them interesting.' Barks felt the same.

Let It Go: Barks will get to sing the Oscar-winning song, which she sees as the turning point, when Elsa begins to accept her strength

'They're young women with the strength to say: 'It's OK to show your vulnerabilities.' ' McKeon nodded.

'They're not your average Disney princesses.

Anna trips over her own feet and says the wrong thing all the time, but she's driven by love.

She watches Elsa, who can't control her powers, and simply wants to help her.' The power ballad Let It Go is the show's stellar signature number.

Barks will get to sing the Oscar-winning song, which she sees as the turning point, when Elsa begins to accept her strength.

The show also taps into the unconditional love that sisters share.

'We both have older sisters, so we get it,' said McKeon, whose sister Sarah was the first person (after her husband) that she told she'd won the part.

('She's protective of me but she also knows that I'm quite independent. But she'll be there if she senses something's wrong,' she said of Sarah.)

Barks agreed that there's 'a bond between sisters that will be there for life, if you allow it to be'.

She said her sister Kim was her 'best friend in the world. You are each other's protector. My sister's seen all the tricks I've pulled. Sisters know everything.'
Columbia-Greene Media has recently teamed up with the US Postal Service to provide same-day delivery of your local newspaper with your mail. Our expanded daily delivery of your local news reaches into the following areas:
San Antonio police are looking for those connected to a shooting outside an East Side residence that left three people hospitalized.

Just after midnight on Friday, SAPD patrol officers radioed in that they heard multiple shots fired near the intersection of Houston and Walters streets. Shortly after, a Department of Public Safety helicopter started following a vehicle leaving the area at a high rate of speed, SAPD said.

The helicopter followed the vehicle to the San Antonio Military Medical Center, where police found a 28-year-old woman inside suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the arm and chest. Police then received reports that another shooting victim, a 28-year-old man, showed up at Santa Rosa Children's Hospital with gunshot wounds to his right arm and chest. He was later flown to University Hospital in critical condition. A third victim, a 35-year-old man, was taken to Metro Hospital in stable condition with a gunshot wound to his armpit.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

Officers located a crime scene near the 1900 block of Crockett Street, where they found numerous shell casings and pools of blood on the sidewalk. There was also a van parked on the street nearby with a bullet hole, and a black Chevy Impala  that was still running  was located on the next street over on Center Street with multiple bullet holes.

A witness said about three hours prior to the shooting, there was an argument outside a residence on Crockett Street that had occurred with an unknown group of people that had left the location in a white SUV.

Police are searching for anyone who may have been involved in the incident.
Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has moved nearly twice as many liquor sales through its much-maligned e-commerce site in the second week of its pandemic operation, processing about 1,800 orders per day.

Thats still a far cry from meeting demand, however.

On Thursday, April 9, for example, 1,807 orders were completed. Thats nearly double the 907 sales made on April 2, the systems first full day in operation.

But that growth still hasnt made a dent in the nearly 2 million requests for service the system is seeing each day.

Also on April 9, the executed sales amounted to just less than one-tenth of one percent of all site visits. And since the site is literally the store, its not a stretch to say that means that PLCB is still turning away about 1,000 customers for every one that cracks the random entry algorithm.

The online service was offered by PLCB as an option to Pennsylvanians after Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the closure of the agencys Fine Wine & Good Spirits retail stores on March 17. Wolf shut the liquor store system down as part of his steadily escalating plan to control the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.

While wine-to-go and beer sales have continued through private licensees, the state stores are the main retail outlet for distilled spirits in Pennsylvania. PLCB had hoped the online alternative would be seen as a welcome option, but the anticipated crush of buyers has seemed, at times, to generate more antipathy than anything else.

And - even as more than one million workers have been temporarily laid off and the governor has closed schools and made a rare decision to authorize the early release of some state prison inmates - the decision to close the state stores stands as one of the administrations most-questioned moves throughout the public health emergency.

Agency spokeswoman Elizabeth Brassell held out possibility Friday that the online system may continue to grow in the days and weeks ahead.

Asked whether maximum capacity has been reached this week, she said: As fulfillment operations stabilize in this new environment, were also looking at setting up other facilities for e-comm fulfillment as early as next week. We anticipate further growth of fulfillment capacity as those facilities come on board.

There are no plans to reopen the state stores in the immediate future.
I require a TV licence refund, as I have sold my flat and moved in with someone who already has one.

When I logged in and went to the TV Licensing web page it says that it isn't possible to request a refund at the moment due to coronavirus and so you cannot cancel TV licences, even online.

I could cancel my direct debit with the bank though, but will that cause me problems?

The TV Licensing company are currently not letting any customers cancel their licences

Grace Gausden, This is Money, replies: The coronavirus outbreak means many companies are no longer operating as normal with a large number having to shut completely, in order to protect staff and keep in line with Government advice.

This includes the TV Licensing company who have completely changed their procedures, meaning customers can no longer contact the firm at all.

On its website, the company said: 'We're sorry but due to the impact of Coronavirus our contact centres are currently closed. Unfortunately, this means we can't respond to your calls or emails.'

Whilst it is understandable that changes had to be made, it has made it difficult for those who are looking to cancel their TV licence, like you are.

When you went on their website to try and cancel your existing licence, as you no longer need it, you found that it is no longer offering that as an option.

Instead, the website claims the TV licensing company will be able to help when they re-open, whenever that might be.

In the meantime, it says customers who currently cannot cancel will be given a refund for the months they have not needed the licence, backdated to the day they requested to cancel.

Closure: The TV licensing company said it will be able to help customers when it re-opens

However, as customers cannot contact the company, it seems there is no way to prove when a customer initially wanted to cancel their licence.

The website goes on to say that those who 'urgently' need to stop their direct debit can do so by cancelling this with their bank. This likely refers to those who will be in a financially vulnerable situation, thanks to coronavirus.

The firm adds it will be in contact with customers to reset up the direct debit after they reopen.

Understandably, you are concerned about cancelling a direct debit as this is often viewed as a breach of contract.

A TV Licensing spokesperson replies: Following the advice of the Government we have temporarily closed the TV Licensing contact centre to protect staff and help prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

Any customer who urgently needs to stop a direct debit payment can cancel directly with their bank and this can usually be done using their online banking service.

Customers who no longer need a licence, such as when they move to an address where there is already another licence, will be able to cancel their licence when our contact centre re-opens and the cancellation and refund (if applicable) will be backdated.

We appreciate that this comes at a very challenging time for many people, and customers can find out the latest information by clicking here.

Grace Gausden, This is Money, adds: From what the TV Licensing firm have said, you can simply cancel your direct debit and inform the company, when it reopens, that you no longer need one as you have moved in with someone who already has a licence.

A TV licence is needed to watch live television. The over 75s don't have to pay for one, but this won't be the case from later in the year.

The new rule was due to kick in on 1 June but due to the ongoing pandemic, this has been pushed back to 1 August with the BBC confirming it will foot the cost of the two-month delay.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  A website and mobile application was launched this week for a more real-time tracking of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines.

Those with Internet access can create an account on "StaySafe.PH" to help the national and local government units keep track of the health status of the public.

During the online registration process, users will be asked if they are feeling any of the COVID-19 symptoms, such as fever, cough, fatigue, muscle pain, runny nose, sore throat, shortness of breath, and diarrhea. The user also has to record the medical status of the other members of the household.

After filling it up, the Staysafe.ph platform will generate a result indicating good health, mild symptoms, moderate, or severe depending on the number of symptoms he or she is experiencing.

The data will then be sent to a "heat map" in the platforms admin dashboard which will then show the areas and the number of people exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms.

The government's National Task Force Against COVID-19 partnered with software solutions company MultiSys to create the online tracker.

The online platform was designed to help medical frontliners, local government units, private companies, as well as the national government, to monitor the health condition of residents and conduct more efficient contact tracing.

Medical frontliners will receive alerts from the system, allowing them to immediately respond to severe COVID-19 cases and provide direct online consultations to patients.

It will also allow private companies to identify employees who need help and provide them with assistance.

This move is seen to decongest hospitals that are reaching full capacity due to the surge in suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases.

MultiSys assured the privacy of the users, saying the company made sure to comply with the Data Privacy Act when it was developing the online platform.

"We are not asking for the birthdate because if you capture the birthdate, you are [violating] the data privacy, but we capture the age so we are not violating the data privacy," MultiSys Chief Executive Officer David Almirol Jr. said in a statement on Thursday.

It added the online tool was developed at no cost to the national government.

Philippines has recorded 4,076 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 203 deaths, and 124 recoveries.
Oil prices dropped despite Russia and Saudi Arabia edging closer to completing a landmark deal to cut global production.

The pair were part of a coalition of nations that agreed on Thursday to reduce output by 10million barrels a day in an attempt to stabilise prices, after crude dived to 18-year lows.

But the deal came close to collapse when Mexico initially refused to sign up to the pact.

Mexico refused to sign up to the pact agreed by a coalition of nations to reduce crude oil output by 10m barrels a day

Last night it said it had struck an agreement with President Donald Trump, under which the US would cut extra production on Mexico's behalf.

The terms of the wider oil deal mean it hinges on getting support from Mexico - and any separate negotiations will need to get signed off from the wider group, which is known as Opec+.

But prices fell yesterday by 4 per cent to $32 a barrel yesterday as traders worried the cuts wouldn't be enough to offset the huge plunge in demand triggered by the coronavirus travel restrictions.
RIDGEFIELD, N.J., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Toufayan Bakeries, one of the oldest family run bakeries in the US, is supporting their employees and communities during this challenging time.

The Toufayan family continues to come to work each day to fill in for employees not able to come to work to perform what is truly an essential business, making sure American families can put bread on their tables. With a bakery in New Jersey just 2 miles from NYC, and two bakeries in Florida, the Toufayans take pride in helping dedicated employees to bake and ship the bread but also by increasing everyone's pay.

In addition to enhanced pay for front line employees, the Toufayans are making meaningful donations to the organizations doing the hard work of supporting families hit hardest. Hundreds of cases of product have been sent in the last few weeks to food banks and hospitals in Paterson, NJ, New York, and Massachusetts. And Toufayan is donating to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and nourish.NJ with a $200,000 donation to support their increasingly difficult task of feeding families in need during this time.

"For generations the Toufayan family has prided itself on giving back," said Karen Toufayan, VP of marketing and sales for Toufayan. "The communities where we operate are like our extended families, and it's never been more important to support them than during these uncertain times."

About Toufayan Bakeries

Since 1926, families have been relyin' on the fresh taste of Toufayan. Toufayan is one of the oldest and largest privately held specialty bread bakeries in the US. Making the best bread has always been a passion for the Toufayan family. For almost 90 years, the Toufayans have been filling lunch boxes, toasters, and tummies with fresh lines of pitas, flatbreads, bagels, wraps, lavash, and breadsticks. Based in Ridgefield, N.J. with bakeries in Orlando and Plant City, Florida, the third generation of Toufayans oversees the entire process from ingredient sourcing and production to distribution. While trends come and go, high quality, fresh and authentic products are always in demand. The Toufayan family is committed to quality you can taste. Find Toufayan at www.toufayan.com and www.facebook.com/toufayan .

SOURCE Toufayan Bakeries
The Delhi Police received over 850 calls on its 24x7 helpline number from 2 pm on Thursday and the same time on Friday, seeking assistance on issues faced during the lockdown, officials said.

A total of 16,621 calls were received by the police on its helpline (011-23469526) regarding the lockdown till date.

The police received 857 calls from Thursday 2 pm to Friday 2 pm.

Out of 857, 49 calls were related to areas outside Delhi, which were referred to respective state helpline numbers.

Three calls were related to no food or money, which were forwarded to NGOs.

A total of 25 calls were received regarding medical issues which were resolved through proper guidance, the police said, adding that 567 calls were related to movement passes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Afghanistan frees 100 more militants after Taliban leave talks with govt.

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 2:35 PM

The Afghan government says it will release another 100 Taliban inmates after the militant group accused Kabul of foot-dragging and recalled its team from week-long meetings on a much-awaited prisoner swap between the two sides.

Javid Faisal, the spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council (NSC), announced in a Twitter post that the prisoners would be set free on Thursday.

Kabul "will release 100 Taliban prisoners today based on their health condition, age and length of remaining sentence as part of our efforts for peace and containment of COVID-19," Faisal said, adding, "We need to push the peace process forward."

This came after on Wednesday, the administration of President Ashraf Ghani released 100 low-risk Taliban prisoners who had vowed never to return to the battlefield.

But the Taliban swiftly rejected Kabul's piecemeal freeing of captives as "unacceptable." Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement on Thursday that the step was inadequate.

"Our stance has been very clear on prisoners swap," Mujahid said, noting, "Now, hundreds hundreds prisoners are released on a daily basis. This is not part of our process and it is unacceptable to us."

The Taliban had accused the Afghan government of delaying the prisoner swap that was part of a deal signed with the United States last Februaryin the Qatari capital, Doha.

The United States signed a withdrawal deal with the Taliban that required the Afghan government -- which was not a signatory to the accord -- to participate in the prisoner exchange.

The Afghan government and the militants have been negotiating since last week to try to finalize the prisoner swap that was originally supposed to have happened by March 10 and pave the way for "intra-Afghan" peace talks.

A small Taliban team came to Kabul last week to meet the government to discuss a comprehensive prisoner swap. But they abandoned the "fruitless" meetings on Tuesday and returned to the southern province of Kandahar.

Under the agreement involving the US, the Afghan government was required to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, and the militant group to free 1,000 government captives. The deal also aimed to pave the way for a complete withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

About 14,000 US troops and approximately 17,000 troops from NATO allies and partner countries are stationed in Afghanistan.

US President Donald Trump has long expressed eagerness to bring US soldiers home and to end the country's longest war as he seeks re-election in 2020.

Since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States has reportedly spent more than $1 trillion in its war in Afghanistan.

About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with unknown tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban militants and Afghan civilians.

Over 100,000 Afghans have been killed or injured since 2009 when the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began documenting casualties.

The Taliban now control or hold influence over more Afghan territory than at any point since 2001 and have carried out near-daily attacks against US-led foreign forces and Afghan military outposts throughout the war-ravaged country.

The militants have long demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops, calling them an "occupation" force, and blaming them for the almost two decades of war.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles addresses the Economic Club of New York in New York City, October 18, 2018.

The Federal Reserve Main Street lending program targeting mid-size businesses should be up and running in a few weeks, a senior central bank official said Friday.

Vice Chairman Randal Quarles, the Fed's chief banking supervisor, said the facility should be available shortly as officials continue to work out operational details.

"We are putting together the mechanisms for that credit to be distributed through the banks," Quarles said during a webinar hosted by the University of Utah. "That's probably two to three weeks away."

The Fed announced details of the program Thursday, with the expectations that it can provide up to $600 billion in loans for companies with up to 10,000 employees. The minimum loan size is $1 million and the term of the loans will be four years, with no prepayment penalty.

Since the coronavirus crisis began, the Fed has partnered with the Treasury on multiple liquidity programs, more recently expanding the moves to initiatives that directly target smaller and mid-size businesses.

Despite the likelihood of a severe economic downturn as the government has shut down much of the economy to control the coronavirus spread, Quarles joined forecasts from other Fed officials past and present in saying he thinks the U.S. will recover in fairly short order.

"Given the nature of this shock, there is every reason to believe that we come out on the other side of this with an economy that is essentially unharmed," he said.

The Fed is working closely on the programs with a banking system that it had to bail out during the last crisis.

While the said the system is "much stronger" than it was during the turmoil that exploded in 2008, Quarles said the Fed is going ahead with its bank stress testing later this year. He said the current conditions will be incorporated into those tests which normally use a series of extreme hypothetical conditions to determine the financial system's health.
His Excellency Judge Thomas A.Mensah, President of International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), Former Assistant Secretary-General at the International Maritime Organization, and Ghana High Commissioner to South Africa has passed on on April 7, 2020.



Judge Mensah was the former Assistant Secretary-General at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations specialist agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.



Following his appointment as the first High Commissioner of Ghana to the Republic of South Africa in 1995, presenting his credentials to His Excellency Mr. Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, Judge Mensah was appointed to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). In 1996 he was elected as the first President of ITLOS and continued to serve as an ITLOS Judge from 1999 to 2005.



H.E. Judge Mensah was born and raised in Ghana. He graduated from the University of Ghana and then studied abroad, first taking Law at the University of London, graduating with a First Class degree in 1959.



In 1961, he joined Yale University Law School, United States, obtaining a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in 1962 and a Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.) title in 1964.



Judge Mensahs career included his tenure as Lecturer and Dean at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana and the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria, as well as work with The UN Environment Programme (World Maritime University, Malmo, Sweden), Leiden University, Leiden.



He was appointed Professor of Law at the William Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii in 1992, and Director of the Law of the Sea Institute, University of Hawaii, in 1993.



Judge Mensah has published numerous articles, monographs and papers in the field of Public International Law, Law of the Sea, Maritime Law and International Environmental Law. His list of appointments include that of Member of the Institut de Droit International, a Titular Member of the Comite Maritime International, a Member of the Advisory Council of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and a Member of the Standing Committee on Maritime Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.



He was an Advisory Board Member of Seafarers Rights International (SRI), the global organisation dedicated to advancing seafarers interests through research, education and legal training on seafarers issues.



H.E. Judge Mensah was the recipient of many honorary degrees and awards including induction into the Maritime Hall of Fame in New York in 1998, where his nomination was presented by Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations.



In 1998, he was invited to present a paper to the Pontifical Academy, which he duly presented to His Holiness Pope John Paul II.



H.E. Judge Mensah was nominated by the Government of Ghana and awarded the prestigious International Maritime Prize 2012 for his significant contribution to the work of IMO throughout a distinguished career in international maritime affairs and as a specialist in Public International Law, the Law of Treaties, Shipping Law, the International Law of the Sea and International Environmental Law.



As an international dispute resolution specialist, H.E. Judge Mensah was an arbitrator on many high-profile international cases. He was the President of a five-member tribunal in the Permanent Court of Arbitration that ruled on the case filed by the Philippines against China on the disputed territories in the South China Sea.



Most recently, Judge Mensah was a Judge ad hoc on the dispute concerning the delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire in 2017, before officially retiring from public service.



Following a period of ill-health, H.E. Judge Mensah passed away peacefully at his family home in London.



He is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and his great-grandson.

Source: Judge Mensah family









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The housing market will slow sharply soon, but here are the stats from March. Note that March sales are for contracts typically signed in January and February - before the COVID crisis.



From SacRealtor.org: March 2020 Statistics  Sacramento Housing Market  Single Family Homes



March closed with 1,170 sales, up 15.4% from the 1,014 sales in February. Compared to one year ago (1,320), the current figure is an 11.4% drop.

...

The Active Listing Inventory increased 16.6% from February to March, from 1,422 units to 1,658 units. Compared with March 2019 (1,883), inventory is down 11.9%. The Months of Inventory remained at 1.4 Months. This figure represents the amount of time (in months) it would take for the current rate of sales to deplete the total active listing inventory.

...

The Median DOM (days on market) decreased from 10 to 8 and the Average DOM decreased from 29 to 26. Days on market represents the days between the initial listing of the home as active and the day it goes pending.

emphasis added

1) Overall sales decreased to 1,170 in March, down 11.4% from 1,320 in March 2019. Sales were up from February 2020 (previous month).2) Active inventory was at 1,658, down from 1,883 in March 2019. That is down 11.9% year-over-year. This is the eleventh consecutive month with a YoY decline in inventory.
Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Friday agreed to enhance cooperation to further intensify the fight against the coronavirus and underlined the need of taking care of the citizens left stranded in each other's country due to the lockdown to contain the spread of the pandemic.

Oli and Modi held a telephone conversation to discuss the situation due to coronavirus pandemic.

"We have agreed to enhance cooperation to further intensify the fight against corona virus," Prime Minister Oli tweeted after the conversation.

"We stressed the need on taking care of each other's citizens that are left stranded along the bordering areas due to the lockdown imposed in both the countries," Oli said.

Hundreds of Nepalese, mostly migrant workers, are stranded along Nepal's border with India due to the lockdown over coronavirus.

The workers, mostly from western Nepal, were employed in various sectors across India and were trying to return home. As the government imposed nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, they have been left stranded along the border.

The two leaders also discussed continuing the supplies of goods and making it further smooth.

"I expressed gratitude to the Indian government for providing various helps including medicines," Oli added.

Prime Minister Modi in a tweet said that he discussed the prevailing situation arising due to COVID-19 with Nepali Prime Minister.

"I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19," he said.

In a press statement, Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the two prime ministers discussed the present situation in the fight against COVID-19 and agreed to further intensify the ongoing efforts.

In the context of present state of lockdown in both the countries, "the two prime ministers agreed to look after the welfare and medical care of the people of two countries currently living in each other's territory," according to the foreign ministry.

"The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction on the smooth supply of essential goods across the border and underlined the need for ensuring its continuity in the present situation," it said.

Prime Minister Oli extended sincere condolences to the government and people of India as well as to the bereaved family members of those who lost lives due to the coronavirus in India, reads the press statement.

"During the conversation, the two prime ministers also touched upon the multi-dimensional friendly relations existing between the two countries and stressed on further consolidating and strengthening the relations for mutual benefit," the statement said.

The death toll in India due to the novel coronavirus rose to 199 and the number of cases climbed to 6,412 in the country on Friday, according to the Union Health Ministry in New Delhi.

Nepal has till now has reported only nine positive cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As an Easterner, is it possible to vote for Wexit? The typically Regressive Conservative government of Alberta wants to return to yesterday and make Alberta great again.

Well folks, the year is 2020 and those good old days aint coming back. The world is changing, making your filthy and expensive oil product uneconomical to produce, as well as simply not preferred by consumers.

Unless Albertans learn to see the bigger picture, they, like Americans, will be out of touch with future realities and eventually suffer the consequences. Like U.S. President Donald Trump, when you got nuthin, blame the other guy to deflect. Donald Kenney knows his base and sings their favourite song.

I predict Alberta, kicking and screaming, will become know as yesterdays province.
An amusement park in Tennessee lit up its Ferris wheel with a beating heart in honor of health care staff working amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Great Smoky Mountain Wheel at the Island in Pigeon Forge was turned into a touching tribute, and footage shared by the park on April 8 shows the light display in all its glory.

Honoring our amazing first responders and health care workers on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19, the park said in the caption. Credit: The Island in Pigeon Forge via Storyful
LOS ANGELESPorn is technically against the rules on the social media app Snapchat, but the sites own focus on user privacy has made policing for adult content extremely difficult  though Snapchat bosses occasionally try.

As a result, the platform has developed an underground cottage industry of adult performers, both professional and amateur, who have turned the Premium Snapchat service into a significant source of revenue, as Wired Magazine detailed in a lengthy report last year.

But the opportunity to turn Premium Snapchat into a lucrative side hustle has also created a new genre of porn scam artist. Unlike more elaborate porn scams, which rely on tricking users with phishing emails then roping them into what amounts to a blackmail scheme, the Snapchat scam is relatively simple, according to one scammer who spelled out her method to The Daily Tar Heel newspaper.

Vanessa, a 20-year-old University of North Carolina student, told the school paper that her scam is simple  and pays her up to $1,000 per day. She posts a picture of herself in a lacy, $15 lingerie pair, along with the caption hmu for my Premium.

She advertises subscriptions in price ranging from $55 to $100 per day, with increasing levels of explicit content, starting with straightforward news, up to hardcore images of herself having sex. She then sits back and waits at as many as 100 mostly teen and 20something males message her to say they are down for subscribing to her content.

But there is no content. As soon as Vanessa secures a users subscription payment in her PayPal, CashApp or similar account, she blocks him. And she is careful to block each victim not only on Snapchat, but on all social media, just in case.

Free Speech Coalition spokesperson Mike Stabile, however, cautioned that accounts like the phony operated by Vanessa are the exception.

I think that there often is this idea that this is the way the industry operates, as opposed to sort of these rogue people who come in and do it, Stabile told The Daily Tar Heel.

I just decided to do an experiment one day and I didnt post about Premium, but I got a Venmo and a Cash App and I said, Cash App me for a surprise, she told the paper, describing her original idea for the scam.

The Daily Tar Heel reporters wrote that they examined a slew of PayPal and Cash App transactions that she has received in recent months, to verify that her tale was actually true.

Many of her victims have reported her to the various tech companies whose software she exploiys, and the cash payment app Venmo has suspended her from the service  but Vanessa says she has cycled through 50 accounts on PayPal and CashApp.

Vanessa rationalized her scam, which amounts to felony fraud according to legal experts who spoke to the student paper, by telling herself that it allowed her to attend college without also needing to work a full-time job.

I hate how people paint it in a bad light, but its always the people who have always had everything so they dont really understand how much I need it, she told the paper. When you dont have it, anyway you can think of, youre gonna do it. No matter what the consequences might be.

Photo By Santeri Viinamaki / Wikimedia Commons
"This morning, 450,000 protective suits landed in Dallas, Texas. This was made possible because of the partnership of two great American companiesDuPont and FedExand our friends in Vietnam. Thank you," Trump tweeted on Thursday morning (GMT+7).

Vietnam sent the first shipment from Hanoi Wednesday, according to the government portal.

The U.S. is expected to receive a total of 4.5 million such suits, made by DuPont in the northern city of Hai Phong, in over a month, said the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam.

The second shipment of 450,000 suits will be sent on Friday, it said.

U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Dan Kritenbrink said in a public statement Wednesday: "This shipment will help protect healthcare professionals working on the frontlines against Covid-19 in the United States and demonstrates the strength of the U.S.-Vietnam partnership."

Since the onset of the national epidemic, Vietnam has been working closely with the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to monitor and respond to the escalating disease.

The United States, now the worst hit nation with more than 435,000 infections including almost 14,800 deaths, is among countries that have received support from Vietnam in the ongoing global health crisis.

On Tuesday, Vietnam handed over 550,000 antibacterial cloth masks to France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. to support their Covid-19 fight.

In early April, Vietnam sent Germany 6,000 test tubes to aid the country in finding a cure for the Covid-19 disease.

Vietnam has also given medical equipment, including specialized protective clothing, medical masks and Covid-19 test kits worth over VND7 billion ($296,000) as gifts to Laos and Cambodia.

In early February, Vietnam donated $500,000 worth of goods and medical supplies to help China deal with the fast-spreading novel coronavirus outbreak.

As of Thursday morning, Vietnam had not recorded any new infection for 24 hours, the first time in over a month. The country's Covid-19 tally stands at 251. Half the number of patients, 126, have been discharged from hospitals.

The pandemic has affected 209 countries and territories, killing more than 88,500 people.
The speech-to-speech (S2S) translation breaks down communication barriers among people that typically dont speak a common language. The basic purpose that such technology used to serve at its inception stages was to enable an instant oral cross-lingual communication.

New York, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Speech to Speech Translation Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05881452/?utm_source=GNW





- With globalization and frequent international travel, language difference has been acting as a serious barrier. With S2S, the expectations are to break such barrier to foster international business, international tourism, and equalize communication ability. As of 2020, the language with a high demand around the world is Chinese (Mandarin). Ethnologue further estimates that the number of native speakers being 1.2 billion and a billion among them speak Mandarin. This is suggestive that Chinese is the most spoken globally and the second-most preferred for online applications after English.

- The recent technological advances and innovations to increase computational power whilst building smaller and smaller devices with higher performance has led to a strong demand for information retrieving and communication enabled technologies in the market. Further, as machine translation investments rise, the resultant is a more accurate translation.

- Since the growth of the tourism industry is fueling the demand for speech to speech translation solutions, vendors such as, Raytheon, Lingmo, LogBar Inc., among others, in the market are actively positioning their products on similar lines. For instance, Raytheon BBN Technologies TransTalk serves a portable, two-way translation device facilitating exchange of information across language barriers. The speech is capable of automatic translation and spoken back in the foreign language.



Key Market Trends

Software Segment to Witness Significantly High Growth Rate



- Mobile and web applications that are capable of takingvoice inputs in one language and generate voice outputs in another language are considered as a part of the study. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is using cases on tourism, medical exchanges, broadcast news with their software application. Speech logger is using their application in the communication markets majorly in Call center. All these use cases are affluence the software segment towards the growth with innovation in a speech to speech translation market.

- Amazon is one of the key pllayer offering speech to speech translation service, among Google and Microsoft. The company is the services with its AWS lambda function that connects with three AI language services, such as Amazon Transcribe, Amazon Translate, and Amazon Polly. Moreover, Amazon Alexa also provides voice translation services that can translate one way from English to another language up to 48 languages.

- According to a study conducted by One Hour Translation (OHT), an online translations platform, on major voice assistants capable of real-time voice translation, and found that google assistant is one of the top-performing real-time voice translators ahead of other virtual assistants such as Siri and skype.



Asia-Pacific Region is Expected to Witness the Fastest Growth Geographically



- After Europe, Asia-pacific is the major attraction center of tourism, as countries, such as Thailand, Singapore, India, Malaysia, and China, attract a significant number of tourists annually. According to UNWTO, in 2018, the number of international tourist arrivals in Asia-Pacific was at 347.7 million.

- In addition, the region is one of the major markets for smartphones, in terms of volume, and with the advent of 5G, the number of devices is expected to increase even further. According to Ericsson, in 2019, the smartphone subscription rate in China alone reached 1,440 million, while that of Northeast Asia was at 1,820 and India, Nepal, and Bhutan together accounted for 670 million.

- Apart from this, Asia-Pacific is also one of the prominent markets for consumer electronics and software development, wherein various vendors are increasingly developing solutions for businesses. For instance, Chinas Baidu developed an API for speech to speech translation in August 2019.



Competitive Landscape

The market is considerably fragmented with very few major players, the software segment of the market is where major players are competing to gain market share. The companies are including AI and machine learning to enhance their offerings, major companies include Microsoft Corporation, Google (Alphabet Inc.), APALON (IAC Search & Media Technologies Limited.), Langogo, Shenzhen Timekettle Technologies.,Ltd, and many more.



- January 2020 - Google planned to add a real-time transcription feature to its Google Translate app for Android in the coming years. The feature is expected to allow users to record audio in one language and have it extracted in another in real-time. This feature is still in the prototype stage, but the company gave a demonstration of the technology during the Artificial Intelligence Demos at its San Francisco office.

- July 2019 - iFlytek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company specializing in speech recognition, successfully raised USD 407 million from a state-backed industry fund and several provincial government funds via a private placement and would use it to improve technology in open platforms for smart speech, next-generation cognitive technology and service robots.



Reasons to Purchase this report:

- The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

- 3 months of analyst support

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05881452/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001
The Trump administration on Thursday announced it expelled more than 6,300 migrants along the U.S. southern border in March, sending them to Mexico or their home countries under a public health directive that officials say allows them to override immigration and asylum laws to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Under an order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on March 21, U.S. border officials have moved to rapidly process migrants encountered along both land borders. During a conference call with reporters, Acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan said more than 80% of migrants now encountered at the southern border are being removed from U.S. soil within hours.

Those expelled by Border Patrol under the public health order include 5,614 adults, 393 members of families and 299 unaccompanied migrant children, CBP officials said.

In the last three weeks, border crossings have decreased by 50% and CBP is currently holding about 100 migrants  a 97% drop, according to Morgan. Since the implementation of the CDC order, officials have been encountering about 4,200 migrants per week, a sharp drop from the weekly average of 10,000 before the directive was issued, according to CBP officials.

Had the CDC order not been issued, Morgan said immigration detention centers and migrant shelters would be overwhelmed, creating a fertile ground for the coronavirus to spread among his officers and the people they apprehend.

"This has to be a wake-up call that border security matters," Morgan told reporters.

In total, U.S. border officials apprehended or turned back nearly 34,000 migrants at the southern border in March, including those they expelled under the CDC order. Mexico is not tracking how many migrants the U.S. has expelled to its territory under the public health directive, a Mexican official told CBS News.

MEXICO-US-HEALTH-VIRUS

Mauricio, 66, from Honduras looks at a brochure with information about COVID-19 on April 6, 2020 at the Paso del Norte International Bridge in Ciudad Juarez in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. PAUL RATJE/Agence France-Presse/AFP via Getty Images

Story continues

During the press briefing, Morgan repeatedly stressed that the new measures were not an extension of the administration's stringent immigration policies, portraying them instead as emergency efforts to safeguard public health. He said his agents are helping to curtail the deadly pandemic by rapidly removing "unvetted" and "potentially contagious" migrants.

But the new measures have garnered strong criticism from human rights groups and advocates for migrants because they further limit access to an asylum system that the administration had already severely restricted. Morgan on Tuesday confirmed that border officials are no longer processing unauthorized migrants at official border crossings, including those who ask for asylum.

Immigration officials are also using the CDC order to swiftly remove migrant children who come to the border alone, instead of transferring them to the U.S. refugee agency, a practice required under a law designed to protect minors from violence and exploitation. CBP is also now classifying minors who come to the border with family members who are not their parents or legal guardians as accompanied, departing from the "unaccompanied" minor definition in U.S. law, according to a letter from top Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.

"Even in light of our current crisis, the United States continues to have a legal obligation to protect vulnerable children and prevent those arriving at our borders from being returned to places where they may face torture and persecution," Representatives Bennie Thompson and Kathleen Rice wrote in Thursday's letter.

But Morgan said migrant children could also carry the coronavirus and "pose an absolute public health risk" to the U.S. "The disease doesn't know age," he added.

An internal CBP document leaked to ProPublica shows that access to humanitarian protections like asylum has been effectively shut off with the new coronavirus measures. The sole avenue migrants have to try to seek protection, according to the document, is for them to "spontaneously" tell U.S. border officials they fear being tortured. But even then, officials must determine the claim is "reasonably believable."

Asked by CBS News if humanitarian protections are still available at the southern border, Morgan said they were, but added that public health is currently the priority and "does trump other entities." His deputy, Robert Perez, said rank-and-file officers still have some discretion to process migrants under immigration and asylum laws. But he echoed Morgan's assessment that the public health order is the dominant legal authority at the moment.

"This is about public health folks. That overrides everything right now," Perez said. "It has to."

Michael Knowles, a spokesperson for National CIS Council 119, the union that represents thousands of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employees, said the asylum officer corps supports "a vigorous (but humane) temporary response to the pandemic, including stricter control of mass migration." But he said those applying for asylum should be afforded due process.

"We are concerned that the Administration may be exploiting the pandemic as a pretext to further curtail and deter asylum seekers  with possibly long lasting adverse consequences for our fractured asylum and refugee protection system," Knowles told CBS News.

Trump facing scrutiny over ouster of government watchdogs

Asia tackling coronavirus pandemic

U.S. stocks rally on hopes of new coronavirus aid package
All I have heard lately is, Have you seen Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness? So, I decided to watch the mini-docuseries on Netflix.

OMG! First, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is a documentary, based on a feud between Carole Baskin, an animal rights activist and owner of Big Cat Rescue, a nonprofit animal sanctuary, based near Tampa, Florida; Joe Exotic, owner of G.W. Zoo (a k a Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park), in Wynnewood, Oklahoma; and, Mahamayavi Bhagavan Doc Antle, founder/director of The Institute for Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.)/Myrtle Beach Safari, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

According to the docuseries, Doc and Joe have created cults of misfits around breeding big cats and wild animals. Both Joe and Doc reminded me so much of Charles Manson.

Joe, a gun-toting country western magician, has a menage of men, ex-cons, drug dealers and two husbands. Doc, on the other hand, has a harem of women, who have lived with him for years. Subjected to long hours, little pay and the whims of their eccentric bosses, both mens respective employees are victims of the personality cults.

The pair say they have a passion for big cats, especially tigers, and breed them. They say they feel they are doing the world a favor because most big cats are endangered. Baskin strongly disagrees and targeted both men via a social media platform. She tried to run them out of business. The feud gets out of hand and eventually Joe Exotic is arrested for what is described as a murder-for-hire plot. Tiger King reveals a twisted tale, in which the only thing more dangerous than a big wild animal is its owners who hold them in captivity.

Baskins second husband, Don Lewis, disappeared in 1997 and eventually declared dead in 2002. Lewis first wife, his children and his ex-secretary all think that Baskin killed her husband and fed his body to the tigers. Joe Exotic uses this to turn the heat on Baskin.

From what I could see and discern from this docuseries, Baskins Big Cat Rescue is no different than the zoos of Doc and Joe. The difference between the men and Baskin is that instead of paying her staff, Baskin gets them to volunteer.

At first, I loved looking at the big cats; they were beautiful and seemed to be well cared for and loved.

As the series progressed, the crazy group of oddballs at G.W. Zoo, Big Cat Rescue and Myrtle Beach Safari, along with their leaders, are not only mental, they were immoral and dangerous.

When they chopped up a cow and fed it to the cats, my stomach turned. This is not a docuseries for the faint of heart.

I found this series and its human subjects sad and depraved. Dont waste your time watching this docuseries. It will not make you happy  and at this time we all need to watch television and Netflix shows, series and movies that will make us happy. I cant give this any stars.

Movie critic Mary Cox lives in Wood River and studied film at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has worked in L.A. with various directors and industry professionals. Contact Mary at mlcwriter1@gmail.com.
Evening Standard

Wine subscriptions are a smart way to discover something new to drink, and having boxes delivered to your door saves the heavy trek home from the supermarket - and means youll stay reassuringly stocked up. From natural wine subscriptions to at-home wine tastings to gift your dad, here are 13 of the best wine subscription boxes to add to your cart. Subscribers can choose from a 12-bottle case of mixed wines, delivered every 12 weeks (or less often, its up to you).
Linda Tripp speaks to reporters outside the Courthouse in Washington, in this July 29, 1998. Photo: Reuters file photo

Linda Tripp, a key figure in the presidential sex scandal that nearly brought down the administration of Bill Clinton over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, has died. She was 70.

Family members said she was being treated for pancreatic cancer.

Ms Tripp was praised as a whistleblower by some for calling out presidential misbehaviour with an intern in the Oval Office, and was vilified by others as a snitch who betrayed her friendship with Ms Lewinsky in an effort to bring down a president by impeachment.

She had worked as a White House secretary during the administration of President George HW Bush and stayed on for the first two years of the Clinton presidency, in 1993 and 1994. She later told a grand jury she was troubled by the president's behaviour toward women.

"I had a vast font of knowledge and exposure to things that went on in this White House that I found appalling," she testified.

Ms Tripp had worked in the office of White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum. She was reportedly the last person to see deputy counsel Vincent W Foster alive before his suicide in 1993.

When Mr Nussbaum left the White House in 1994, Ms Tripp lobbied to stay on the job, but she was transferred to the Pentagon instead and given a $20,000 pay raise.

She began to chafe at what she considered unseemly behaviour in the White House and began to explore the idea of a book about "the president's women" with literary agent Lucianne Goldberg, who had connections with Republican writers.

In 1997, Ms Tripp spoke to 'Newsweek' about observing a White House volunteer, Kathleen Willey, emerging "dishevelled" after an Oval Office meeting with Mr Clinton. When asked about the encounter, his lawyer Robert Bennett said: "I smell a rat. Linda Tripp is not to be believed."

Ms Lewinsky also began to work at the Pentagon. She and Ms Tripp, 24 years apart in age, sometimes spoke to each other a dozen or more times a day. Ms Lewinsky confided she had a sexual relationship with Mr Clinton and was emotionally torn over the affair.

Ms Lewinsky has maintained the relationship with Mr Clinton was consensual, but Ms Tripp saw it as her mission to protect her younger friend.
As Covid-19 throws the global economy into havoc, international financial institutions have warned of a sharp decline in economic growth rates and a possible recession that could take years to recover from. At the same time, UN officials have voiced their concern that the focus on the fight to contain coronavirus could derail developing countries pursuit of sustainable development goals, which could have detrimental repercussions lasting beyond the current crisis.

Egypts Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat held a videoconference Sunday with more than 100 representatives of international and regional development organisations in Egypt to discuss available funding, strengthening cooperation with development partners and the repercussions of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

During the meeting, Al-Mashat unveiled a new strategy for partnering with international financial institutions. The three-pronged strategy outlines frameworks for future cooperation between Egypt and its partners in development beneath the headings Focus on the citizen, Ongoing projects and The aim is momentum. Together they highlight essential facets of a development partnership that promotes sustained development.

Egypt has long given high priority to investing in the individual citizen, the essential focus of any development strategy. As human capital is an integral component of the comprehensive development process, Egypt has been keen to foster private-public sector partnerships that work to identify gaps and disparities, furnish support through diverse sectors to millions of beneficiaries, raise standards of living and help people unleash their full potentials.

Education, transportation, water desalination, renewable energy, entrepreneurship and womens empowerment are among the key sectors covered by the ongoing projects, many of which are already in progress. The Ministry of International Cooperation has been as transparent as possible in its efforts to demonstrate how the impacts of these projects on society have served and continue to serve the aim of achieving the UNs 17 sustainable development goals.

The new strategy highlights the concept of targeted partnerships as a means to give momentum to the drive to realise comprehensive growth and sustained development and to keep pace with rapid global changes. They will also bolster ties with our development partners since the projects undertaken by these partnerships will achieve important strategic functions that will boost the efficacy of cooperation in the framework of multilateral and bilateral partnerships, thereby stimulating greater potential and facilitating more diverse means for growth and development.

Al-Mashat also explained to attendees of the videoconference how the Egyptian governments financial and fiscal policies sought to mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19 on the most vulnerable households and to help the private sector offset the slowdown in economic activities. Among these are the actions the government has taken to alleviate the viruss impact on irregular workforces, such as worker safety net legislation and LE 500 an unemployment benefit to workers registered with the Ministry of Manpower. Already more than a million persons working in construction, agriculture, fishing, plumbing and other fields have been registered with the ministrys database.

As Al-Mashat pointed out, one impact of the virus has been to accelerate structural reforms related to social protection, informal labour and financial inclusion, as recent Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) directives indicate. Another 60,000 households were added to the beneficiaries of the Takaful and Karama programmes, which offer immediate cash benefits based on certain conditions, she said. Another 100,000 beneficiaries will be added soon while the budgetary allocation to the programme has risen to LE 19.3 billion from LE 18.5 billion last year. The government has also raised allowances to women community leaders in rural areas from LE 350 to LE 900 per month.

With the onset of the coronavirus crisis, the CBE has taken major steps to facilitate financial inclusion and digitalisation. It has exempted all domestic money transfers from fees and commissions in order to reduce the use of cash, raised the ceiling of mobile phone wallet transactions to LE 30,000, issued pre-paid phone cards free-of-charge for six months, promoted the wider use of QR codes and promoted automated customer enrolment for internet banking services.

All such measures taken to mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19 help to keep development efforts on track towards the realisation of sustainable development goals.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

Search Keywords:

Short link:


When the COVID-19 pandemic was still building momentum, experts stressed repeatedly the public should not buy face masks. Not only was it not necessary to prevent infection, but since there was a mask shortage, hoarding masks would put healthcare workers in danger.

But then, about a week ago, the advice changed: Suddenly the CDC recommended that we do wear masks, which raises questions about where this advice is coming, and how it might change in the future. Questions that, for the most part, the CDC was happy to answer.

Why did the recommendation change?

The original message, Dont go randomly around wearing a mask, that was focused on protection, explained Dr. Mike Bell, Deputy Director of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the CDC. Randomly wearing masks to protect yourself -- it was not well reported, it didnt make sense," he said.

What weve found since is that a good portion of individuals who have COVID-19 actually have a window of infectiveness, theyre shedding the virus and can infect other people, before they show any symptoms. We also found that some people never show symptoms at all. That means some people who arent coughing or sneezing can still be a source of infection for other people.

Aside from being lethal, the coronavirus is incredibly infectious. Dr. Bell referenced an incident in Washington State, where a 45 members of a 52-person choir group were diagnosed with COVID-19 days after a rehearsal.

In short: Youre not wearing your mask to protect yourself; youre wearing it to protect others from you.

If I cant find a mask specifically designed for this, what can I use?

What youre trying to do is catch spray from your mouth before it gets out there, Dr. Bell said. Theres research that shows if you catch that spray up close, theyre still big and bulky and easy to contain. Once that spray gets out, they shrink, they dry out, and they get a lot tougher to contain.

In other words, youre spitting all the time (dont take offense; everyone is a disgusting spit-monster), but the fabric of a mask catches the spit before it gets airborne.

Counter-intuitively, its important that your mask be breathable rather than stifling.

With a filter, to be effective, you have to breathe through it, Bell said. If theres a dense fabric in front of you, youre going to suck in air from the side.

The CDC website currently recommends placing a coffee filter inside a mask, though Dr. Bell clarified that that is an error and will be corrected.

So if you cant get a mask, dont worry. An ordinary bandana is perfectly acceptable -- though Bell cautioned to avoid looking like a bank robber.

Don't ignore common sense for the sake of a mask

"Dont do anything dangerous," Bell said. "Ive seen people using plastic bags, vinyl containers strapped to their faces. Dont do that. God forbid something happens that makes you pass out or asphyxiate."

Also, be mindful of who wears a mask.

"Dont strap things to people who wont be able to take them off if they have trouble breathing, like little kids or people who cant move freely. They shouldn't be out anyway."

The mask is an extra precaution for people who have to go outside, but keep your eye on the big picture when you're deciding whether you need to use one.

Remember that masks are only one part of prevention

Masks are not a replacement for social distancing, theyre not a magic barrier to prevent COVID-19 infection, and they dont negate other pieces of important advice, like not touching your face.

While many are worried about contracting the virus simply by touching something, the truth is your eyes, nose and mouth are the places you need to protect most. People think the virus will somehow drill through the skin on their hand -- it cant, Bell said.

Thats why hand-washing is (and always has been) so important.

Its not just this virus. Everything you touch out there has plenty of organisms on it. Theres the question, Oh my gosh, do I need to sterilize my mail? Your mail has always had organisms on it. No matter what you touch, you should wash your hands before you touch your eye or face."

As for how important wearing a mask is, Bell explained that it's one part of staying safe.

I want to make sure people arent missing the forest for the trees and focusing too much on a mask, when there are other elements that are important to their health.

Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.



Joshua Sargent is an editor for Hearst Newspapers. Email him at josh.sargent@hearst.com.
The BBC has donated fully working ventilators from the set of medical drama Holby City to the new Nightingale Hospital (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

The BBC has donated fully working ventilators from the set of medical drama Holby City to the new Nightingale Hospital in London

The corporation shared the news in a tweet, showing workers loading equipment into a van.

Holby City executive producer Simon Harper said: We are only too happy to help out and do what we can for the courageous and selfless real-life medics.

Fully operational ventilators from the Holby City set arrived at the new Nightingale Hospital yesterday. @BBCCasualty & @BBCHolbyCity Exec Producer Simon Harper said: "We are only too happy to help out and do what we can for the courageous and selfless real life medics." pic.twitter.com/oUFaRPVhyn  BBC Studios (@bbcstudios) April 10, 2020

It was not immediately clear how many ventilators had been donated, or why working medical equipment was used on set.

The first new NHS Nightingale hospital was created in just nine days to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

It has the potential to offer 4,000 beds at the ExCeL Centre site in the capitals Docklands, in Newham, east London.

The BBC ventilators were donated there as the drama is made in the South East, even though it is set in a fictional West Country city.

There are also Nightingale hospitals in Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Harrogate, with two more announced on Friday on Wearside and in Exeter.

The BBCs gesture is the latest in a national outpouring of gratitude to NHS staff risking their lives to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Video of the Day

On Thursday, the nation once again united for a country-wide round of applause for workers on the front line.

It came as the UK recorded its highest daily death toll since the outbreak began.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the daily No 10 news conference that as of Thursday there had been 8,958 hospital deaths from the disease, an increase of 980 on the previous day.
Like the rest of the nation, the I'm A Celebrity star is in lockdown.

And Georgia Toffolo enjoyed her daily walk as she took her new puppy Monty for a walk in Chelsea, London, on Friday.

The former Made In Chelsea star, 25, looked summery as she soaked up the spring sunshine in a white cropped crochet cardigan.

Stepping out: Georgia Toffolo enjoyed her daily walk as she took her new puppy Monty for a walk in Chelsea, London, on Friday

Showcasing her toned figure, Georgia teamed the item of clothing with a pair of khaki green shorts.

Following her summer theme, the reality star finished her look with a pair of beige espadrilles.

Georgia styled her blonde locks into a relaxed loose wavy hairdo, she added a slick of make-up.

Yet despite her relaxing walk, new puppy Monty, who she introduced to fans in March, appeared to be in a mischievous mood as he decided to randomly sit down on the floor.

Cheeky! The former Made In Chelsea star, 25, looked summery as she soaked up the spring sunshine although her pet pooch appeared to be in a mischievous mood

Earlier this week, Georgia announced that her grandfather had died.

The reality star shared a tribute to her grandad Bertie on Instagram revealing he had passed away over the weekend.

Georgia, also known as Toff, also explained her sadness at not being able to grieve with her family amid the coronavorus lockdown, writing: 'There's too much sadness at the moment.'

Toff shared a video of herself and her grandfather singing together at her 25th birthday party in October, and wrote in a lengthy post:

Memories: Earlier this week, Georgia announced that her grandfather Bertie had died and she shared a video of them singing together at her 25th birthday party in October

'I've been a little bit quiet as we lost my Grandad over the weekend. I'm trying not to feel so sad because there's too much sadness at the moment.'

Referring to the sweet video, she continued: 'I already miss him terribly, and someone sent me this. We had no idea we were being filmed it was my 25th birthday last year. We were the stragglers at the table not wanting to leave when everyone else had!'

'I will forever miss listening to Sinatra with you. I'm going to keep myself busy and keep smiling (no more crying - he would hate that) and hopefully the time will go quickly so I can see the rest of the family.'

Proud: Toff's grandfather flew out to Australia in 2017 to surprise the star after she was crowned the winner of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

'I'd also like to thank every person who has been kind to us as a family, particularly anyone who cared for him it gave us and him such comfort. I love you Grandy x

The star did not post any further information on his death to her 1.9m Instagram followers.

Toff's grandfather flew out to Australia in 2017 to surprise the star after she was crowned the winner of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

Last month, the star was forced to walk puppy Monty in a dog pushchair as she was unable to take him to the vets for his jabs due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Congress then stepped in, and in one of its economic stabilization packages, waived the work requirement for the duration of the national emergency, in addition to another month. Now the administration has reached agreement with the states that had sued it on a schedule for the remaining events in the case. The agreement is contingent on the department not appealing the temporary injunction, and a final ruling is likely to be issued in the fall.

Asked about the departments plan to appeal the court ruling, Mr. Perdue said the department would comply with the legislation which really pauses that during this public health emergency.

While we, in a normal situation, were moving in a way to enforce what the common thinking was regarding food supply, we are going to be as flexible as we can, he said.

The food stamps program stimulates the economy when it needs it most, by expanding when people need help the most, said Lauren Bauer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and contributor to a new report that looks at the Trump administrations food stamp rule.

The one thing many Americans are leaving their houses to do right now is buy groceries, she said. The money is put directly back into the economy. And because Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits can be used for food, people can use their cash for something else such as rent or medical expenses.
Violently imposed lockdowns will not be effective and will do more damage than good.

April 10 marked two weeks since Kenyas COVID-19 curfew began, and so far the police have already killed more people than the illness.

The youngest victim, a 13-year-old boy, was shot dead while watching the police enforce the curfew from the balcony of his own family home in the Mathare informal settlement of Nairobi.

On the first night of curfew, social media in Kenya was full of videos of police officers using tear gas on ferry passengers, beating traders at market places, harassing drivers, and generally menacing the public in the name of public order. When challenged, the Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe equivocated on condemning the police action, and instead urged civilians to make it difficult if not impossible for the police to come into contact with you.

Regardless of the nature of the threat and its significance, it seems that Kenyas government has already resorted to the most unsophisticated tool in its arsenal  police violence.

Policing and public order are going to be significant secondary risks to the public created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Kenya is one example, but across the developing world  in India, Uganda, South Africa, Egypt and many other countries  states have collapsed to arbitrary violence against civilians under the guise of enforcing curfews and stay-at-home orders.

Yet, consent is crucial to fostering compliance with open-ended and strict physical distancing measures. Much like the racist policing of the past, violence may deliver short-term compliance but it cannot hold once the public realises that they vastly outnumber the police. What will we do with the people if they do not understand why they must stay home?

One remarkable feature of the politics of this novel coronavirus is how starkly it seems to exacerbate whatever structural inequalities it finds in the society it enters. In Kenya, police violence has been a constant feature of public life, particularly in informal settlements, where young men especially are targets.

According to media reports, between October 2018 and September 2019, the Kenyan police killed 189 people. The average age of those killed was 28, and in 75 percent of these cases, the police allege that the victims were criminals and thugs, even where there is compelling evidence to the contrary. And as most of the victims were in informal settlements and away from the middle-and-upper-class gaze, the crime narrative is rarely challenged.

This first week of curfew therefore already has individuals in informal settlements on edge, not least because of the loss of income due to the lockdown. Residents are also worried that public order measures will lead to even more arbitrary police violence, particularly against a population that is facing the choice between death by illness and death by starvation.

Like many other countries, Kenya has given the police force heightened public order powers to implement restrictions for the management of COVID-19. These rules are contained in the Public Order Act and give police unprecedented powers of detention, arrest and fining. But aside from these formal systems, the police have also been filmed using arbitrary corporal punishment and tear gas without any perceptible threat, which is of course illegal.

Historically, public order restrictions are applied wherever there is a threat to state security, like during an attempted coup in 1982 or where there is a threat of an insurgency as in the Mount Elgon region. This is the first time that the laws have been invoked to manage a public health crisis, but the government does not seem to have internally unpacked the qualitative difference between suppressing a rebellion and reducing the risk of an outbreak because the pattern of behaviour is exactly the same.

Aside from the clear ethical issues with abusing police power in this way, the risk is that if these extreme policing measures are applied without due caution and consideration, they will eventually be resisted. Experts warn that because so many countries failed to act decisively in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, these lockdowns and curfews might be with us for a long time.

Widespread rejection of containment measures could lead to wholesale social and economic collapse in countries that certainly do not have the public health capacity to deal with a widespread outbreak of a highly infectious disease. We need the public to comply and modify their behaviour, whether or not Big Brother is watching.

Policing in many parts of the world is already broken, and much like other urgent questions about governance and public priorities, COVID-19 is a key moment for many countries to reflect on what the purpose of the practice is. Ideally, the police should be the last line of defence against a virus.

The objective of the movement restrictions in place around the world is for people to modify their behaviour quickly, and to stop situations that heighten the risk of contracting COVID-19. The public is not the enemy here  the virus is, and we need informed consent to get the kind of wholesale compliance that can turn the situation around.

Using the police as a substitute for effective public health communication and awareness not only makes this work more difficult, it undermines it completely.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
The body of missing Amy Harding-Permann was found in the Missouri River south of Great Falls near Big Bend Estates, according to a Thursday news conference with Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter.

The 34-year-old operating nurse her body was found by a local homeowner just before 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, close to the area in Montana she was reported missing earlier this year on Jan. 26.

Following her autopsy in the state crime lab of Missoula, officials concluded that she died of accidental drowning.

Harding-Permann was reported missing after an altercation with her boyfriend, who reported her missing and told authorities she had walked away toward the river.

At the time of the missing person report, search and rescue teams used helicopters, drones, and search dogs to cover the area where she was last seen. Approximately 170 volunteers helped to search the area on Jan. 29, but they found nothing.

The volunteers that showed up to help in the search were area volunteer firefighters, along with volunteers from the Gallatin County Sheriffs Office, the Lewis and Clark County Sheriffs Office, Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials, and the Montana Highway Patrol, The Associated Press reported.

Slaughter, at the time, said it was the first time he asked the public to help in a missing person report.

Previously, Slaughter said he treats all missing person cases as criminal investigations until all the evidence has been obtained.

Missing persons cases are taken extremely seriously and oftentimes do end in a foul-play situation, Slaughter told the Great Falls Tribune. So we wanted to make sure that we were being diligent in our investigation and not releasing information that we believed at the time was criminal justice information.

Now that officials found Harding-Permanns body, Slaughter said the investigation is completed and the case is closed.

A GoFundMe page was created for financial support to Harding-Permanns two sons, 16-year-old Ashton and 9-year-old Brodie, and their father, Matt.

Due to these unforeseen circumstances Matt, their father, has been left to care for the two boys on his own, the page read. He will be financial responsible for their extra curricular activities, caring for their health, and basic needs.

Tammy Goff, a 59-year-old woman who vanished last year on July 12 from the same general area as Harding-Permann has still not been found.

Goffs family members have since offered a $40,000 reward for any information that will lead to finding her.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The most recent Covid-19 figures show that the number of cases of coronavirus in Louth has hit 116 - up ten from yesterday's figures.

Meanwhile, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been informed that 25 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ireland have died.

 23 deaths located in the east, 2 in the west of the country

 the people included 11 females and 14 males

 the median age of todays reported deaths is 85

 16 people were reported as having underlying health conditions

There have now been 288 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has been informed of 480 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland, as at 1pm, Friday 10 April.

To date, there has been c.14,000 samples returned from German labs, of which 1,035 were positive.

With the latest German figures included, there are now 8,089 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

The HSE is now working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

Todays data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Wednesday 8th April (7,071 cases)  and including German results received to that date-, reveals:

 45% are male and 54% are female, with 339 clusters involving 1,512 cases

 the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years

 1,631 cases (23%) have been hospitalised

 Of those hospitalised, 244 cases have been admitted to ICU

 1,949 cases are associated with healthcare workers

 Dublin has the highest number of cases at 3,873, (55% of all cases) followed by Cork with 503 cases (7%)

 Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 66%, close contact accounts for 26%, travel abroad accounts for 8%

The National Public Health Emergency Team met today (Friday 10th April) and made the following recommendations, which Government has since accepted;

 Extension of current public health measures effective until midnight, Monday 4th May 2020, pending further review by the National Public Health Emergency Team.
US Fighter Jets Intercept Russian Antisubmarine Aircraft Off Alaska Coast - NORAD

Sputnik News

18:22 GMT 09.04.2020

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US F-22 fighter jets intercepted two Russian antisubmarine airplanes in international airspace near the Alaska coast, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement on Thursday.

"F-22 fighters, supported by KC-135 Stratotanker and E-3 AWACS aircraft from the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted two Russian IL-38 aircraft entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on April 8th, 2020," NORAD said via Twitter.

NORAD explained the Russian airplanes did not enter US or Canadian airspace and remained north of the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea.

The Russian military announced earlier that the IL-38 of the Pacific Fleet performed a flight to a maximum range as part of a tactical exercise and practised detection and destruction of submarines.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Like many restaurants across the country, Smashin Crab went into "survival mode," looking for a way to stay afloat after the city and county ordered dinning rooms to temporarily close in March to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Smashin Crab, which had to lay off 50 employees, added a food truck this week to its revenue cycle.

CURBSIDE: An updated list of San Antonio restaurants offering takeout and delivery

"I wasn't interested in letting the company die or having to depend on someone to come save us," said Paul Griffith, the restaurant's CEO. "We are kind of in a bad situation ... I see the food truck as kind of a lifeline for the company. We are in survival mode."

The Cajun-style seafood restaurant opened in Leon Valley in 2017 and then opened a second location in the Stone Oak area last year. Smashin Crab halted the construction of a third location in the Alamo Ranch area because of the pandemic, Griffith said.

What the restaurant couldn't put on hold was a revenue stream, so the idea of a food truck was born. It typically takes up to 10 weeks to assemble the type of food truck the restaurant needed, Griffith said. However, Cruising Kitchens, a local company that builds custom food trucks, built Smashin Crab's mobile restaurant in less than two weeks.

The food truck opened for business on Thursday with a full menu that includes poboys, shrimp, crab legs and crawfish, Griffith said.

READ ALSO: 'We are struggling': Local staple pleads for public support in order to avoid permanent closure

Customers can order via Smashin Crab's website and will be sent a text message letting them know when their order is ready. The food truck operates daily until the food is sold out.

Griffith said he hopes the food truck will generate enough revenue so that he can re-hire the employees who were laid off.

"We are San Antonio homegrown and we appreciate the community for everything they have done for us," he said. "Their continued support will help sustain Smashin Crab not only through our existing restaurants but through this new food truck."

Times and location for the food truck can found on the Smashin Crab's Facebook page. It is also offering pickup and delivery at its two restaurants.

Smashin Crab: Full menu available, $5 delivery within a 5-mile radius. Leon Valley: 8910 Bandera Road, Suite 305, 210-509-7702; Stone Oak: 700 E. Sonterra, Suite 1117, 210-402-3337, smashincrab.com

Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre
Bobby Norris has revealed his grandmother has lost her partner to coronavirus.

The TOWIE star, 33, shared the sad news on his Instagram account on Thursday evening, admitting he had a 'heavy heart' thinking about his beloved stepgrandad Ron.

Sharing a picture of his Nanny Norris with Ron, Bobby paid tribute to his 'biggest and kindest heart'.

Sad news: Bobby Norris revealed his grandmother has lost her beloved partner Ron to coronavirus in a message on Instagram on Thursday night

The TV personality wrote: 'It is with a heavy heart that I write this message..

'Heartbreakingly today my Nanny Norris lost her partner Ron to the Coronavirus disease.

'He was such a lovely man and had the biggest and kindest heart and I can't quite believe we have all lost him.

'It's so important that we all follow the government's guidelines and all stay at home during this pandemic..

'It's crucial that we all do our bit to help stop the spread of this evil virus. RIP Ron, see you on the other side mate..'

Tragic: Sharing a picture of his Nanny Norris with her partner, Bobby paid tribute to his 'biggest and kindest heart' and urged people to take the government's guidelines seriously

Bobby's heartbreaking tribute was met with messages of support from his followers.

Vicky Pattison shared, 'I'm so so sorry bobby', while Jessica Wright wrote, 'Bob I'm so so sorry love you x x x x'.

Martine McCutcheon commented: 'So sorry for you and your family Bobby RIP Ron. .

'Sorry for your loss mate, big love', former Strictly dancer James Jordan posted.

Bobby has been in isolation since returning from Tenerife with his boyfriend Matt, returning just in time before the government started restricting travel.

Show of support: Bobby's heartbreaking tribute was met with messages of support from his followers, including his celebrity pals

Close bond: Bobby was able to spend quality time with his grandmother and Ron before the COVID-19 pandemic began to gain momentum

The star was left flabbergasted by the selfish stockpiling and empty supermarket shelves he encountered upon his return, urging his followers to think of the elderly and the vulnerable before pillaging the shelves.

He posted: 'So today I went shopping for the first time since returning back to the UK and was absolutely shocked at how empty some supermarkets shelfs are..

'The more people stock pile the less there is for others who actually need it. Please be considerate to others and think before filling your trollies up with stuff that you dont really need..

'As a fit and healthy person I am able to get to a shop relatively easily, some people unfortunately arent as lucky.

'So next time you go shopping, think of the vulnerable and elderly that are really struggling during this scary time and only buy what you need.. '
[April 10, 2020] Analysis on Impact of COVID-19-Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023 | High Patient Influx to Boost Growth | Technavio

Technavio has been monitoring the telerehabilitation systems market and it is poised to grow by USD 199.03 million during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of almost 18% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005103/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Cisco Systems, GESTURETEK, Honeywell (News - Alert) International Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., and Rehametrics are some of the major market participants. The high patient influx will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. High patient influx has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023: Segmentation Telerehabilitation Systems Market is segmented as below: Product Hardware Software

Geographic Landscape APAC Europe MEA North America South America

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-usreport=IRTNTR30799



Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023: Scope Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our telerehabilitation systems market report covers the following areas:

Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size

Telerehabilitation Systems Market Trends

Telerehabilitation Systems Market Industry Analysis This study identifies advent of advanced technologies as one of the prime reasons driving the telerehabilitation systems market growth during the next few years. Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the telerehabilitation systems market, including some of the vendors such as Cisco Systems (News - Alert), GESTURETEK, Honeywell International Inc., Koninklijke Philips N.V., and Rehametrics. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the telerehabilitation systems market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Telerehabilitation Systems Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist telerehabilitation systems market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the telerehabilitation systems market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the telerehabilitation systems market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of telerehabilitation systems market vendors Table Of Contents: PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT 2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$ PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis PART 04: MARKET SIZING Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023 PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Hardware - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Software - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by product PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Europe - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

APAC - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

South America - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

MEA - Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES Market drivers

Market challenges PART 11: MARKET TRENDS Advent of advanced technologies

Strategic alliances

Increasing adoption of data-based decision-making PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE Overview

Landscape disruption PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Cisco Systems

GESTURETEK

Honeywell International Inc.

Koninklijke Philips (News - Alert) N.V.

Rehametrics PART 14: APPENDIX Research methodology

List of abbreviations PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005103/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
The French cookware maker Le Creuset is well-known for making high-quality products, particularly its colorful dutch ovens, but it isnt known for its sales.

But now the French brands website says that customers can get 20 percent off for the first time ever.

If youre taking up cooking and baking in quarantine, it might be worth taking a look at what Le Creuset has to offer. We rounded up a selection of items on sale below.

Price: $124 (reg. $155)

One of Le Creusets most popular products, the Round Dutch Oven, has a 1-quart capacity. The Dutch Oven is perfect for braising, slow-cooking and roasting. Its known for cooking food evenly. Le Creuset pioneered enameled cast-iron nearly a century ago.

Price: $96 (reg. $120)

This cast-iron skillet has a special matte black enamel coating, unlike traditional skillets. Its made for frying, sauteing and searing food. This skillet doesnt need seasoning or much maintenance.

Price: $525 (reg. $700)

If youre looking to overhaul your cookware, you might want to consider investing in this Signature Set. The set comes in nine different colors and comes with 5  qt. round Dutch oven, 1  qt. signature saucepan and 9-inch signature skillet.

Price: $210 (reg. $252)

Le Creuset doesnt only make cookware, they make elegant dining sets as well. This set comes with Four 10 -inch dinner plates, four salad plates, four soup bowls and four mugs.

Price: $88 (reg. $110)

Le Creuset claims that this non-stick frying pan will never chip or flake. Plus, you wont have to use so much oil when you cook due to the way the frying pans surface was made. The pans aluminum core will ensure that the pan will adjust quickly to changes in heat for better control while cooking.

Price: $25.50 (reg. $32)

All across the country, people have decided to bake bread in quarantine. If you want to start baking, think about investing in this loaf pan. Made out of heavy-gauge carbon, the pan heats evenly. Its also equipped with a wide rim made out of silicone, which makes the pan easier to grab.

Price: $28.80 (reg. $36)

Make pizza from scratch, make your frozen pizza or simply reheat your leftover pizza with the help of this pizza pan. The small holes will ensure that the dough cooks evenly. This pan also has heat-resistant silicon tabs, so it makes it easier to take pizza out of the oven.
Faculty of Medicine holds its first online final exams, while medical staff in Bojnice wear gas masks to protect themselves. Your overview of news from Slovakia on April 8, 2020.

One of the Roma settlements closed due to the coronavirus is Bystrany. (Source: TASR)

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled

This is your overview of news from April 9.

For all news about the coronavirus in Slovakia click here.

Read more about the measures currently in place in Slovakia. Stricter rules apply for Easter holidays, starting as of midnight April 8.

Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement

Coronavirus in Slovakia (updates)

- There are 19 more people positively diagnosed with the coronavirus, while 1,671 tests were negative. In the meantime, seven more people have recovered from the illness. See the more detained statistics for Slovakia.

- As many as 251 people will die of the coronavirus in Slovakia, with the death toll increasing by seven to 10 deaths a day between April 17 and May 8, according to the team of scientists from The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) based in the city of Seattle, USA. They have designed a detailed model of the development of coronavirus in individual countries. As it is only an estimate, the numbers could change. (SITA)

- Google has published the search trends in Slovakia before Easter. In late March, people searched mostly for Easter in masks, while in the first week of April, they inquired about the restrictions of movement. Slovaks are also searching for recipes without yeast and with mother dough. (Dennik N)

- Roma organisations have called the testing in marginalised communities absurd and expressed concern that it will only incite hatred against them. However, the Governments Proxy for Roma Communities, Andrea Buckova, said that the risk is not in ethnicity, but rather the conditions to which people with a history of travel had returned. (SITA)

- This Easter will be about hope, said President Zuzana Caputova during a special address broadcast by the public-service RTVS on April 9. She called on everyone to observe the coronavirus measures which will help us return to the way things were before March.

 This holiday will be about hope. About hoping for good development, a safe world around us where human contact will bring us closer, not divide us. Were thirsty for hope and need to quench this thirst.  President Zuzana Caputova in a special address

Coronavirus measures in Slovakia

- The Banska Bystrica Region opened a quarantine centre for people working in the front line, i.e. medical staff, paramedics, the employees of social care facilities and other professions, in Zvolen.

- The Faculty Hospital with Policlinic in Zilina has opened a pandemic pavilion where the first two patients suspected of being infected with the coronavirus have been hospitalised. The hospital re-profiled 46 beds in the first phase. Six beds can be connected to artificial lung ventilators. (MY Zilina)

- The hospital in Bojnice (Trencin Region) is struggling with a lack of protective equipment. Instead, they are using gasmasks from the local warehouse.

- Comenius Universitys Faculty of Medicine launched the very first online final exams. The committee is sitting in the rooms at the faculty, following strict hygiene rules, while students are at home.

Coronavirus in business

- The ministers of finance, economy and labour announced state aid for large companies. We have agreed in government that if there are support schemes for small and medium-sized companies, there will also be some for large companies, said Economy Minister Richard Sulik (SaS).

- Embraco Slovakia, the largest employer in the Spis Region, will suspend production for 10 days, starting on April 10. The reason is the lack of components from Italian suppliers. (SITA)

- Foxconn Slovakia will resume production after Easter, on April 14. The company suspended production due to the coronavirus crisis on March 23. (SITA)

- Business service centres have addressed the government in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. They demand higher flexibility in employment through amending the Labour Code, changes in conditions for home office workers, the concurrence of salary and a payment for the care of a family member (OCR) by Socialna Poistovna or the three-month delay of payroll tax payment. (TASR)

News updates from Slovakia

- Ingrid Brockova has been appointed new state secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The long-time diplomat has been serving as the ambassador and permanent representative of Slovakia to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

- President Zuzana Caputova granted amnesty to 20-year-old David Bako, sentenced to two years for murdering his father. He committed the crime at the age of 17, after many years of cruelty to both him and his mother. (TASR)

- The trial of Marian Kocner, Tomas Szabo and Alena Zsuzsova who face charges in the case of the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, and other crimes, will be held with limited presence of the public and the media. It will be possible to make a voice recording of the proceedings. The trial continues on April 15 and 16.

- NAKA have detained a man who held a weapon and threatened PM Igor Matovic in a video. They also seized the gun. (Facebook)

- The Government Office has cancelled the accreditation of a reporter of the Hlavne Spravy website, known for spreading fake news and conspiracy theories, for damaging its property. Shortly before the start of the press conference, he came to the speakers table and damaged the inscription there. (Omediach.com)

Business updates from Slovakia

- Unlike the previous month, industrial production in Slovakia decreased by 1.5 percent year-on-year in February 2020. After seasonal adjustment, it dropped by 0.7 percent in monthly terms. Conversely, construction output rose for the second month in a row in February. It increased by 7.6 percent year-on-year to 352.4 million. After seasonal adjustment, it rose by 1.3 percent compared with January 2020. (Statistics Office)

- The total export of goods amounted to 6.6 billion in February 2020, down by 1.1 percent year-on-year. The total import of goods rose by 2.1 percent year-on-year to 6.5 billion. The foreign trade balance was in surplus, amounting to 73 million, down by 208.6 million compared with the corresponding period last year. (Statistics Office)

Also on Spectator.sk today:

Related article

Related article Shops closed during Easter Read more

Related article

Related article From abroad to Slovakia: What repatriations look like Read more

Related article

Related article American historian: Our enormous wealth means little without a public health system Read more

Related article

Related article How to record a choir song during the quarantine Read more

Related article
In times of social stability, which is to say the kind of world most of us have lived in our entire lives, human institutions allow for and in many cases reward a certain amount of selfishness and egoism. Modern American society, for example, celebrates individuals who are able to single-mindedly pursue their desires, even if they disregard the interests of others or of the community as a whole: at least, as long they do so successfully. We label such people winners. Sometimes we put them on reality TV. Sometimes we elect them president. They are models for the rest of us to emulate, embodiments of a narrative of self-fulfillment who, by dint of hard work and smarts and a healthy disregard for what other people think of their actions, have achieved their dream.

The individualist worldview that undergirds this narrative is fictional, not in the subtle postmodern sense of a clever story well-told, but in the older, unsubtle sense of an utter falsehood. Humans are at their core social animals  or as Aristotle might put it, political animals. The very act of using language and symbols requires a community prior to individual speaker or user. We are in fact at our most human when we act with an eye toward someone or something else  when we sacrifice our own interests for a larger, and more profound, common good.
WASHINGTON  In his daily briefings on the coronavirus, President Trump has brandished all the familiar tools in his rhetorical arsenal: belittling Democratic governors, demonizing the media, trading in innuendo and bulldozing over the guidance of experts.

Its the kind of performance the president relishes, but one that has his advisers and Republican allies worried.

As unemployment soars and the death toll skyrockets, and new polls show support for the presidents handling of the crisis sagging, White House allies and Republican lawmakers increasingly believe the briefings are hurting the president more than helping him. Many view the sessions as a kind of original sin from which all of his missteps flow, once he gets through his prepared script and turns to his preferred style of extemporaneous bluster and invective.

Mr. Trump sometimes drowns out his own message, said Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has become one of the presidents informal counselors and told him a once-a-week show could be more effective. Representative Susan Brooks of Indiana said theyre going on too long. Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said the briefings were going off the rails a little bit and suggested that he should let the health professionals guide where were going to go.
Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SGX:T39) just released its latest quarterly report and things are not looking great. Results showed a clear earnings miss, with S$227m revenue coming in 7.6% lower than what the analystsexpected. Statutory earnings per share (EPS) of S$0.02 missed the mark badly, arriving some 29% below what was expected. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there's been a change in sentiment towards the company. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Singapore Press Holdings

SGX:T39 Past and Future Earnings April 9th 2020

Taking into account the latest results, the four analysts covering Singapore Press Holdings provided consensus estimates of S$896.6m revenue in 2020, which would reflect a discernible 5.9% decline on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are forecast to tumble 29% to S$0.085 in the same period. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of S$962.7m and earnings per share (EPS) of S$0.096 in 2020. From this we can that sentiment has definitely become more bearish after the latest results, leading to lower revenue forecasts and a real cut to earnings per share estimates.

The consensus price target fell 19% to S$1.67, with the weaker earnings outlook clearly leading valuation estimates. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. There are some variant perceptions on Singapore Press Holdings, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at S$2.28 and the most bearish at S$1.39 per share. These price targets show that analysts do have some differing views on the business, but the estimates do not vary enough to suggest to us that some are betting on wild success or utter failure.

Story continues

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. One thing that stands out from these estimates is that revenues are expected to keep falling, roughly in line with the historical decline of 5.4% per annum over the past five years. Yet our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are expected, in aggregate, to see their revenues rise 8.9% over the coming year. So it looks like Singapore Press Holdings' revenues are expected to decline at a slower rate than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. On the negative side, they also downgraded their revenue estimates, and forecasts imply revenues will perform worse than the wider industry. Furthermore, the analysts also cut their price targets, suggesting that the latest news has led to greater pessimism about the intrinsic value of the business.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Singapore Press Holdings. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have estimates - from multiple Singapore Press Holdings analysts - going out to 2022, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You still need to take note of risks, for example - Singapore Press Holdings has 5 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Three rural Oregon counties will eventually begin offering a limited supply of rapid coronavirus tests to residents, Gov. Kate Brown announced Thursday.

Oregon received 15 rapid testing machines from the federal government and has directed three of those to Curry General Hospital in Curry County, Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Morrow County and Lake District Hospital in Lake County.

The machines are a boon. But the accompanying tests are scarce, with Oregon receiving only 120 from the feds.

For now, the Curry and Morrow hospitals are getting 48 tests each, while the Lake hospital is receiving 24.

I want to be very clear: the number of testing kits we have received from the federal government for these new machines does not even come close to approaching the need we have in Oregon right now," Brown said in a statement announcing the new testing options.

State officials say theyre prioritizing the new Abbott ID NOW machines for communities that have little testing access. Abbott boasts that its machines can detect a positive result in as little as five minutes.

Each of the three rural hospitals to receive the machines will begin validation testing this week to ensure the results are accurate.

Testing still isnt open to the general public in Oregon and most locations require a doctors order, based on symptoms.

Oregons governor is bullish on the importance of rapid coronavirus testing, which has proven popular in the Portland area, including Vancouver. Legacy-GoHealth Urgent Care obtained its own machines and began offering tests April 1, spokeswoman Sarah Ericksen said in an email, with about 700 tests completed.

Expanding rapid testing in Oregon is key to ensuring we have the capacity to track and contain new cases, keep Oregonians healthy and safe, and prevent future outbreaks, Brown said in her statement.

Oregon hopes to eventually deploy its remaining 12 machines elsewhere when more tests arrive. The Oregon State Public Health Lab has placed an order for 5,000 test kits from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and officials are awaiting confirmation of the order.

After that step well learn how many they will fulfill and then when we will receive them, Philip Schmidt, a state spokesman, said in an email.

Through Thursday, more than 25,000 Oregonians have been screened for coronavirus using some form of testing. Rural areas have low raw totals, if not per-capita rates.

Lake County has fewer than 8,000 residents and 39 people have been tested; Morrow County has fewer than 12,000 residents and 40 people have been tested; Curry County has fewer than 23,000 residents and 84 people have been tested.

Rather than taking hours or days to return a test result, these instruments are capable of returning positive or negative test results in minutes, Brown said in the statement. This capability is especially crucial in our more remote communities, where rapid testing will help minimize the amount of travel needed for trips to the doctors office.

-- Brad Schmidt; bschmidt@oregonian.com; 503-294-7628; @_brad_schmidt

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Curious just how far your dollar goes in Houston?

We've rounded up the latest places for rent via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide to get a sense of what to expect when it comes to hunting down apartment rentals in Houston if you've got a budget of up to $700/month.

Read on for the listings. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.)

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

6233 Gulfton St. (Gulfton)

Listed at $605/month, this 615-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is located at 6233 Gulfton St.

In the apartment, you can anticipate a dishwasher, carpeted floors and a walk-in closet. The building offers on-site laundry. Pet lovers are in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly.

(See the complete listing here.)

6200 Marinette Drive (Sharpstown)

Next, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment over at 6200 Marinette Drive. It's listed for $640/month for its 680 square feet.

The building offers assigned parking and on-site laundry. You can also expect to find a walk-in closet, hardwood flooring and a dishwasher in the unit. Pet lovers are in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly.

(Check out the complete listing here.)

9475 W. Sam Houston Parkway (Westwood)

Here's a 550-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit at 9475 W. Sam Houston Parkway that's also going for $640/month.

The unit includes hardwood flooring, a balcony and a walk-in closet. The building offers a swimming pool. Pet lovers are in luck: The rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(Check out the complete listing here.)

Bissonnet Street and Renwick Drive (Gulfton)

Next, check out this 721-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment that's located at Bissonnet Street and Renwick Drive. It's listed for $644/month.

Building amenities include a swimming pool and on-site laundry. You can also expect to find hardwood flooring and a walk-in closet in the apartment. For those with furry friends in tow, this property is pet-friendly.

(Check out the complete listing here.)

5918 Schroeder Road (Ost / South Union)

Listed at $645/month, this 800-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is located at 5918 Schroeder Road.

The building features secured entry. The apartment also has a balcony, hardwood flooring and central heating and air conditioning. Pets are not welcome.

(Check out the complete listing here.)

Working with a tight budget? Here are the cheapest rentals recently listed in Houston.

This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Additionally, if youre an agent or a broker, read on for real estate marketing ideas to promote your local listing.

Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
With the world's major medicine producers in lockdown, dangerous counterfeit drugs are on the rise.

Growing numbers of fake medicines linked to coronavirus are on sale in developing countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

A BBC News investigation found fake drugs for sale in Africa, with counterfeiters exploiting growing gaps in the market.

The WHO said taking these drugs could have "serious side effects".

One expert warned of "a parallel pandemic, of substandard and falsified products".

Around the world, people are stockpiling basic medicines. However, with the world's two largest producers of medical supplies - China and India - in lockdown, demand now outstrips the supply and the circulation of dangerous counterfeit drugs is soaring.

In the same week the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a pandemic last month, Operation Pangea, Interpol's global pharmaceutical crime fighting unit, made 121 arrests across 90 countries in just seven days, resulting in the seizure of dangerous pharmaceuticals worth over $14m (11m).

From Malaysia to Mozambique, police officers confiscated tens of thousands of counterfeit face masks and fake medicines, many of which claimed to be able to cure coronavirus.

"The illicit trade in such counterfeit medical items during a public health crisis, shows a total disregard for people's lives," said Interpol's Secretary General Jurgen Stock.

According to the WHO, the broader falsified medicines trade, which includes medicines which may be contaminated, contain the wrong or no active ingredient, or may be out-of-date, is worth more than $30bn in low and middle-income countries.

"Best case scenario they [fake medicines] probably won't treat the disease for which they were intended", said Pernette Bourdillion Esteve, from the WHO team dealing with falsified medical products.

"But worst-case scenario they'll actively cause harm, because they might be contaminated with something toxic."

The supply chain

The global pharmaceutical industry is worth more than $1 trillion. Vast supply chains stretch all the way from key manufacturers in places such as China and India, to packaging warehouses in Europe, South America or Asia, to distributors sending medicines to every country in the world.

There is "probably nothing more globalised than medicine" said Esteve. However, as the world goes into lockdown, the supply chain has already begun to uncouple.

Several pharmaceutical companies in India told the BBC they are now operating at 50-60% of their normal capacity. As Indian companies supply 20% of all basic medicines to Africa, nations there are being disproportionately affected.

Ephraim Phiri, a pharmacist in Zambia's capital Lusaka, said he was already feeling the strain.

"Medicines are already running out and we are not replenishing them. There is nothing we can do. It's been really hard to get supplies... especially essential medicines like antibiotics and antimalarials."

Producers and suppliers are also struggling as the raw ingredients to manufacture tablets are now so expensive, some companies can simply not afford to keep going.

One producer in Pakistan said he used to buy the raw ingredients for an antimalarial drug called hydrochloroquine for about $100 a kilo. But today, the cost has increased to $1,150 a kilo.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption President Trump has touted the efficacy of hydrochloroquine - but there's no clear evidence it can help fight Covid-19

With an increasing number of countries going into lockdown, it's not only the reduction in production that's problematic, it's also the increase in demand, as people around the world anxiously stockpile basic medicines.

It's this unstable combination of reduced supply and increased demand that has led the WHO to warn of a dangerous spike in the production and sales of fake drugs.

"When the supply does not meet the demand," said Esteve, from the WHO, "it creates an environment where poorer quality or fake medicines will try to meet that demand."

Fake medicine

Speaking to pharmacists and drug companies around the world, the global supply of antimalarials is now under threat.

Ever since US President Donald Trump began referring to the potential of chloroquine and a related derivative, hydroxychloroquine, in White House briefings, there has been a global surge in the demand for these drugs, which are normally used to tackle malaria.

Coronavirus and chloroquine: Is there evidence it works?

The WHO has repeatedly said there is no definitive evidence that chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine can be used against the virus that causes Covid-19. However, at a recent news conference, whilst referring to these antimalarials, President Trump said: "What do you have to lose? Take it."

As the demand has soared, the BBC has discovered large quantities of fake chloroquine in circulation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. The WHO has also found the fake medicines for sale in Niger.

The antimalarial chloroquine is normally sold for about $40 for a pot of 1,000 tablets. But pharmacists in the DRC were found to be selling them for up to $250.

The medicine being sold was allegedly manufactured in Belgium, by "Brown and Burk Pharmaceutical limited". However, Brown and Burk, a pharmaceutical company registered in the UK, said they had "nothing to do with this medicine. We don't manufacture this drug, it's fake."

Image caption Counterfeit antimalarial drugs discovered in circulation in the DRC

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, Professor Paul Newton, an expert in fake medicines at the University of Oxford, warned the circulation of fake and dangerous medicines would only increase unless governments around the world present a united front.

"We risk a parallel pandemic, of substandard and falsified products unless we all ensure that there is a global co-ordinated plan for co-ordinated production, equitable distribution and the surveillance of the quality of the tests, medicines and vaccines. Otherwise the benefits of modern medicine... will be lost." BBC
President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook cast ballots at the Samcheong-dong Community Service Center in Seoul near Cheong Wa Dae, Friday, the first day of early voting for the April 15 general election. They wore face masks and protective gloves as part of measures taken at polling stations to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. / Yonhap



By Kang Seung-woo



The nation started its two-day early voting, Friday, for next week's general election, with more people than expected casting their ballots despite the COVID-19 pandemic that is restricting outdoor gatherings.



According to the National Election Commission (NEC), 3,508 polling stations across the nation opened at 6 a.m. for a 12-hour stretch on the first day of advance voting. Those unable to vote on April 15 can cast their votes until 6 p.m. Saturday. Voters must bring their resident ID card, driver's license or passport.



As part of efforts to encourage voters to take part in the election, President Moon Jae-in, along with first lady Kim Jung-sook, voted at the Samcheong-dong Community Service Center near Cheong Wa Dae at around 9 a.m. In 2018, Moon also cast his ballot for the local elections through early voting, becoming the first incumbent head of state to do so since the pre-election polling system was introduced in 2013.



In accordance with the NEC guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Moon and Kim showed up at the polling station wearing face masks, and they put on protective gloves before receiving ballots. They also had their temperatures checked and their hands disinfected with sanitizer.



"I hope early voting will help disperse gatherings of people on Election Day," Moon said.



One hour later, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun also voted at the same polling station and he assured voters that they would be safe.



"Seeing people keeping a safe distance from each other while waiting to vote, I believe voters can go to polling stations without concerns (over the coronavirus infection)," he said.





Parties in last-ditch election campaigning 'King Maker,' liberal commentator turn back on their allies Parties recycling election pledges on public health Voters disinfect their hands with sanitizer before casting ballots, with a thermal camera checking their temperatures, at a polling site in Seoul Station, Friday, the first day of early voting for the April 15 general election. Voters are strongly recommended to wear a face mask and protective gloves as part of measures taken at polling stations to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Along with them, other politicians, including Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Rep. Lee Hae-chan and former presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok, also participated in early voting, urging people to come to polling sites.



The quadrennial election to make up the 300-strong National Assembly comes as the government is still fighting the coronavirus pandemic, raising concerns that many people may not show up to the polls due to concerns over possible infection at polling places.



In fact, overseas voting, held on April 1 to 6 at only 85 diplomatic missions due to virus-caused lockdowns and movement restrictions in other countries, recorded the lowest-ever voter turnout of 23.8 percent, according to the NEC, as only 40,858 of 171,959 eligible voters could cast their ballots. The figure was 45.7 percent in 2012's general election and 41.4 in 2016.



Later in the day, the NEC said 18 missions in 17 countries, including Brazil, Poland, Uzbekistan and Nigeria, will count ballots on their own but they cannot send ballots home due to border controls prompted by the coronavirus. It is the first time that votes will be tallied in overseas missions since the system was introduced in 2012.



Turnout on the first day of early voting here, however, far exceeded expectations, hitting a record high.



It stood at 12.14 percent as 5.34 million out of 43.99 million eligible voters went to the polls, according to the NEC. For the 2016 general election, the turnout on the first day was 5.45 percent. It also outnumbered the 2017 presidential election's 11.7 percent and the 2018 local election's 8.77 percent.



Political analysts say the turnout was higher than expected as people may prefer the less-crowded early voting out of virus fears. They say increased early voting can lower the election-day turnout.



Meanwhile, those who are in self-quarantine at home cannot vote during the early voting period after the government failed to come up with a measure for them.



"Relevant government ministries are in negotiations to allow them to vote on Election Day while preventing other voters from being exposed to the risk of infection," Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said during a briefing, Friday. "The government plans to announce its measure on Sunday."




Guideto Japan

Visit a hot spring in Japans northern Tohoku region and you will see kokeshi dolls everywhere. These cylindrical wooden toys appeal to people of all ages and have won increasing favor with foreign visitors too. While their popularity has waxed and waned over the years, kokeshi are now enjoying a renewed surge of interest. A look at the history of kokeshi and the styles produced in various parts of Tohoku.

Kokeshi Both Traditional and Novel

Kokeshi, produced in many hot spring towns of the Tohoku region, originated in the latter part of the Edo period (16031868) when artisans making wooden bowls and trays on horizontal lathes similar to potters wheels began using leftover wood to make childrens toys. Kokeshi were originally quite small, to make them easy for young children to grasp. But as kokeshi began to be sold as souvenirs to visitors taking a hot spring cure, they became quite popular, and onsen towns started producing them in various sizes and shapes and decorating them with distinctive touches.



Jumbo dolls line a street in Naruko Onsen, a kokeshi production center.





Japans first magazine dedicated to kokeshi, published in the early Showa (19261989) years, lauded the dolls both as a traditional craft and as works of art, and they enjoyed a wave of popularity. A further kokeshi boom ensued during the years of red-hot economic growth in the late 1960s, when people flocked to Tohoku area onsen and came away with kokeshi as souvenirs.

Nowadays, kokeshi are enjoying another wave of popularity, driven mainly by young women. These womenwho call themselves kokeshi joshiavidly search out not just traditional dolls but also collect new, creative forms of the art. The most popular new variety features kokeshi with a three-dimensional o-kappa, or bob-cut hairstyle, but kokeshi in the form of animals or anime characters are also common.









Easily the most striking version these days is the kokeshi airplane, created in 2015. Described as weird but cute, this kokeshi has been officially recognized by the Miyagi Prefectural Tourism Department and has featured several times on posters advertising domestic airlines.

The influx of visitors from abroad has also made kokeshi quite popular outside Japan, particularly in Europe, where growing numbers of people with an appreciation of their simple lines and Japanese motifs collect kokeshi.





A Dozen Distinctive Styles

In the late Edo period, the onsen of Tohoku were popular among farmers, who visited in the off season to rest their weary bones. Artisans producing kokeshi learned that there was demand for their wares among these visitors and began coloring their creations, which until then had been plain wood. Red was the predominant color, used in the belief that it had the power to ward off evil and counteract smallpox and other maladies prevalent at the time. Reenergized by the healing onsen waters, farmers took these traditional kokeshi back to their villages as talismans and as lucky charms to ensure a bountiful harvest. Kokeshi given to children as toys carried with them the hope that the children would grow up strong and healthy.

There are various theories as to the origin of the word kokeshi, which were also called kogesu, kiboko or deko, depending on their place of origin. At a 1940 gathering of artisans and collectors, participants agreed to standardize on the name kokeshi, which is what the dolls have been called since then.





Kokeshi are made all over Tohoku, but the three main production centers are Naruko and Togatta, in Miyagi Prefecture, and Tsuchiyu in Fukushima Prefecture. Kokeshi are grouped into 10 to 12 varieties, each with distinctive featuresshape, decoration, or production techniquehanded down in each region.

1. Tsugaru Style (Aomori)

Tsugaru-style kokeshi are made mainly in Nuruyu Onsen and Owani Onsen, in the Tsugaru district of Aomori Prefecture. The head and trunk are carved from a single piece of wood. Many of these kokeshi feature bobbed hair, a cinched waist, and a flared foot similar to a skirt. Painted designs are often daruma, a representation of Bodhidharma, or peonies, the flower on the family crest of the Tsugaru clan.

2. Nanbu Style (Iwate)

This style of kokeshi has a loosely attached head that makes a knocking sound when the doll is moved. The wood on these kokeshi was originally left plain to heighten appreciation of the grain, but painted designs were adopted later, influenced by the Naruko and Togatta styles. Produced mainly in the cities of Hanamaki and Morioka in Iwate Prefecture.

3. Kijiyama Style (Akita)

Made from a single piece of wood, this kokeshi has a small, somewhat elongated head with a bobbed hairstyle often topped by a red, ribbonlike decoration. The Kijiyama-style kawatsura varietys distinctive feature is the striped kimono design on the trunk, although some carry a chrysanthemum or plum blossom design.





4. Naruko Style (Miyagi)

In this style of kokeshi, the head is attached by a peg fitted into the body and makes a squeaking sound when turned. The slightly cinched trunk is decorated with colorful chrysanthemum or momiji maple designs that enhance the dolls endearing facial expression.

5. Sakunami Style (Miyagi)

This slim variety echoes the items original function as an easy-to-grasp childrens toy. The shoulders and foot are turned on a potters wheel and the center of the trunk is often decorated with a motif of chrysanthemum with long, thin petals. The only remaining producer of this style in modern-day Sakunami is the Hiraga Kokeshi Shop.

6. Togatta Style (Miyagi)

In this style of kokeshi, the head is proportionally larger than the body, and the top of the head is crowned with a red radiating pattern. This showy variety is gaily decorated with either chrysanthemum, plum blossom, or cherry blossom designs. Crescent-moon or almond-shaped eyes give this doll a gently smiling expression.





7. Yajiro Style, Miyagi

In this style of kokeshi, the head is slightly larger than the trunk and carving tracks overlap on the head, giving it a beretlike appearance. This variety has a slightly concave trunk and the lines depicting the neckline and bottom edge of the bright kimono design are a distinctive feature.

8. Hijiori Style, Yamagata

While they echo the Naruko and Togatta styles, Hijiori-style dolls have a distinctive flavor, their crescent moon-shaped eyes projecting a benign expression. The trunk painted yellow, with squared-off shoulders, is usually decorated with chrysanthemum motifs. Some larger dolls of this type have heads filled with adzuki beans that create a rattling sound.

9. Yamagata Style (Yamagata)

Reputedly created by artisans who had trained in Sakunami, this style of kokeshi is unusual in that the dolls are made in the heart of the city of Yamagata rather than in a hot spring town. With a small head and a slim trunk, they are decorated with plum, cherry blossom, or chrysanthemum motifs and also occasionally with the safflower, the official flower of Yamagata Prefecture.





10. Zao Takayu Style (Yamagata)

Developed under the influence of the Togatta style, this kokeshi is produced in the Yamagata Prefecture cities of Yamagata, Yonezawa, and Tendo in addition to its birthplace of Zao Onsen. The thick, heavy trunk is slightly cinched toward the bottom and decorated with designs either of overlapping chrysanthemums or cherry blossoms or peonies. A tegara hair ornament represented by red radiating lines adorns the top of the head.

11. Tsuchiyu Style (Fukushima)

This style has a small head and slim trunk. A bulls-eye design is carved into the top of the head on a wheel lathe, and the forehead features a red kase hair ornament over the fringe. Tsuchiyu-style kokeshi, with elongated noses and tiny red mouths, make a very charming impression. The thin lines on the trunk are brightly painted, and wavy lines, added for variety, are a distinctive feature of this style.

12. Nakanosawa Style (Fukushima)

This style of kokeshi is produced in Nakanosawa Onsen, in the foothills of Mount Bandai. It is eye-catching for its large red-rimmed eyes and broad nose, and the trunk is decorated with peonies or cherry blossoms. Despite its nickname Tako-bozu, where bozu means boy, this doll is basically female. Unusually for kokeshi dolls, though, there is also Ao-bozu (Blue Kid), a version modeled on a boy.





(Reporting, text, and photos by Shoepress. Banner photo: Yamagata-style kokeshi at the Nishida Memorial Museum in the city of Fukushima. Photo courtesy of Fukushima Prefecture Tourism and Reconstruction Promotion Committee.)
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Over the last 24 hours, more than 800 New York State residents have died of the novel coronavirusthe largest single-day death toll since the first known infection last month, officials said Thursday.

Despite the devastating death count, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the Empire State officially saw a flattening of the curve in the last day, as the rate of hospitalizations continues to plateau.

We are flattening the curve by what were doing and were flattening the curve so far, Cuomo said. This is all a direct result of our actions. If we stop acting the way we are acting, the numbers will go up.

In New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, 4,426 people have died and 84,373 more have been infected, according to the citys Department of Health. Across the state, more than 7,067 have died and 151,079 more have been infected, Cuomo said.

This Is a War: Cuomo Pleads for Help From Doctors Across U.S. as Coronavirus Death Toll Surges

We lost more lives yesterday than we have to date, Cuomo said, adding that 9/11 was supposed to be the darkest dark for a generation. There was no explosion, but it was a silent explosion that just ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9/11.

Cuomo stressed that while Wednesday was the states deadliest day, New York is seeing a decreased rate in the number of hospitalizations and the rate of ICU admissions. The new deaths are a result of lagging hospitalization figures from patients who have succumbed to the virus after falling sick weeks ago, he said.

On Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also urged residents to remain disciplined about social distancing to continue to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. He said that despite the reality that New Yorkers are going to see a long tough April, the future of the promised land of low-level transmission is in sight for the city.

We can say its time to start planning for the next phase, de Blasio said, before warning that letting the foot off the gas could result in even tougher restrictions.

Story continues

NYC Is Taking Hundreds of Body Bags Out of Housesand Soon They Will Be Counted

Cuomo reiterated the mayors plea, stating that over the last 18 days of the states pause 18,000 New Yorkers have been hospitalizeddespite early projections that went as high as 136,000 hospitalizations. But he warned that if we stop acting the way we are acting those numbers will go up.

Even after we get through this battle, we have this war, Cuomo added, stating that projections suggest New York will see additional waves of the virus. We cant handle worst-case scenarios, we cant even handle a moderate-case scenario.

So its essential that we keep flattening that curve because we dont have that option, he said.

Cuomo said the state will continue to push for more testing that will ultimately allow residents who have already had the virus, or are immune to it, to return back to public life. The governor has previously stated that the New York State Department of Health has already developed a COVID-19 antibody test and that state officials are now working with the FDA to get it approved and bring it to scale across the tri-state area.

On Thursday, Cuomo again stressed the need for rapid testing, asking New Yorkers who have recovered from the coronavirus to give blood, a measure that could also help the state continue to develop a plasma treatment for infected patients.

Cuomo Says Coronavirus Is More Dangerous Than We Thought as N.Y. Cases Jump Overnight

On the ground, Cuomo said that he has opened additional testing sites in predominantly black and Latin neighborhoods across the statecommunities that have been hardest hit by the virus.

According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens is the epicenter of the epicenter with more than 7,000 cases in a seven-square-mile stretch in the New York City borough.

The true death-toll number for the area, which is filled with minority communities, is expected to surge in the coming days, however, as officials will begin to include people who have died at home from suspected COVID-19 complications despite not getting an official test. While those at-home deaths were not initially included in the death count, the citys health commissioner said Thursday that officials are committed to ensuring they are counted.

Drone pictures show bodies being buried on New York's Hart Island where the department of corrections is dealing with more burials overall, amid the coronavirus disease. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Officials, however, stressed Thursday that with New Yorks rising death toll, the state needs to focus on how to address the bodies that have already overwhelmed hospitals and morgues.

The surge has forced city officials to consider a devastating contingency plan: temporary mass burials of coronavirus patients on Hart Island.

For decades, Hart Island has been used to lay to rest decedents who have not been claimed by family members, a city hall spokesperson told The Daily Beast. We will continue using the Island in that fashion during this crisis and it is likely that people who have passed away from COVID who fit this description will be buried on the Island in the coming days.

Drone photos taken by Reuters show several workers clad in hazmat suits placing wooden caskets into mass burial plots in potters field, which has been used by the city for the past 150 years.

On average, about 25 bodies are buried at Hart Island every week by Rikers Island jail inmates, according to the Hart Island Project. Over the last month, the number of bodies that have not been claimed has spikedprompting an average of 24 burials a day, the New York Department of Corrections told The Daily Beast.

Burial operations, a task that typically occurred once a week, has now increased to five days a week. Due to social distancing and safety concerns, city officials have hired contract workers to perform this important work instead of inmates, DOC Press Secretary Jason Kersten told The Daily Beast.

Meanwhile, the citys Office of the Chief Medical Examiner made a policy change to its website, stating that the city will only provide temporary storage of a decedent for up to 14 days. The website also stated that bodies that are not claimed within the new time frame would be sent to Hart Island.

As we aim to accommodate the many New Yorkers who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) will provide temporary storage of a decedent for up to 14 days, the website states. We continue to work with families to accommodate their needs during this difficult time.

A spokesperson for the chief medical examiners office confirmed that the city burial policy changed on Thursday, adding that the office is adhering to our standard 14-day OCME storage policy for all cases.

To further combat the increase of deaths related to the coronavirus, Cuomo said Thursday additional funeral directors are now being brought in to relieve hospitals, make-shift morgues, and funeral homes. Additionally, 45 refrigerated trucks have been set up across the five boroughs, some of which are already full, and a temporary morgue has been erected outside Bellevue Hospital in Midtown Manhattan.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said last week that New York will also receive 250 ambulances, about 500 EMTs and paramedics, and 85 more refrigerated trucks to help with the overload.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here

Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!

Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 14:45:19|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Gas prices are displayed at Mobil gas station in the Brooklyn borough of New York, the United States on April 9 , 2020. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+, reached on Thursday a tentative agreement to cut production to stop a market free-fall amid the coronavirus pandemic, pending the consent of Mexico. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

VIENNA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+, reached on Thursday a tentative agreement to cut production to stop a market free-fall amid the coronavirus pandemic, pending the consent of Mexico.

The participating countries, except Mexico, of the emergency online meeting agreed to cut their overall production by 10 million barrels per day (b/d) for two months starting from May 1, according to a statement published on the OPEC website in the early hours of Friday.

The oil producers agreed to cut 8 million b/d for the next six months, followed by a 6-million b/d cut for 16 months from January 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022, it said.

The extension of the agreement will be reviewed during December 2021, it added.

"COVID-19 is an unseen beast that seems to be impacting everything in its path," OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said at the meeting.

"The supply and demand fundamentals are horrifying" and the expected oversupply, particularly in the second quarter, is "beyond anything we have seen before," he added.

Barkindo told the ministers that given the current unprecedented supply and demand imbalance, global oil storage capacity is to be exhausted by May.

The OPEC daily basket price has fallen from 52.7 U.S. dollars a barrel last month to below 20 dollars a barrel early this month, a decline of around 70 percent, he added.

"Our industry is hemorrhaging; no-one has been able to stem the bleeding," he said. "We are already seeing some productions shut-ins, companies filing for bankruptcy and tens of thousands of jobs are being lost."

The secretary general called on oil producers to help the industry survive the crisis with the spirit of togetherness.
As the coronavirus sweeps across the country, nurses and doctors are struggling with a massive shortage of personal protective equipment like masks and gowns.

"We need them now. We have people dying in our hospitals now. We have health-care providers risking their lives now," said Michelle Diaz, a critical care nurse in the San Francisco Bay Area.

To help, Amazon is allowing only hospitals and government agencies to order items like N95 masks and COVID-19 diagnostic kits.

Now, third-party sellers on Amazon are shifting their businesses to meet the need, supplying health-care providers and first responders with everything from masks and gowns from China to hand sanitizer made with leftover ingredients for toy putty.

"Within 72 hours, we were mixing the first batch of hand sanitizer and about an hour after that was finished, we had people lined up at the door to take that to local police departments and ambulance corps," said Aaron Muderick, who owns toy company Crazy Aaron's.

For many sellers, it's a matter of survival.

In March, Amazon prioritized essential goods such as hand sanitizer and household supplies over other products as the coronavirus pandemic accelerated.

When that happened, Kunal Chopra saw more than half the items on his company's Amazon seller page impacted. As the CEO of marketplace growth platform Etailz, he was able to quickly switch to finding masks for over-taxed hospitals.

"Right now, the focus is not on getting supplies. The focus is really on taking care of patients. So that's the reason folks like us who have the expertise in logistics, have the connections, are just stepping up."

"Imagine from selling branded goods to becoming, in essence, a medical supply company in a week," said Leo Friedman, owner of iPromo, which sells custom swag for events -- all of which have been canceled for the foreseeable future. After he initially laid off 15% of his staff, weekly revenue shot up 300% when he started selling medical supplies to hospitals and state agencies.

"I'm up every day until 4 a.m. working with China, talking to customs, figuring out availability, finding jets to put this stuff on. It's backbreaking work, but it has to be done because the availability is there, the stock is there."

He added, "Masks in general are only to be sold to hospital and government agencies. We will not sell them to anyone else. ... And we have taken a hard line against price gouging."

Rabbi Avi Berkowitz, a senior advisor for the fundraising arm of the CDC, made a plea to Amazon sellers to do the right thing when it comes to pricing.

"If it's yours, then give it for nothing. If not, make a penny if you have to make the least amount. But people are dying and it's in your hands to give them something that's worthless to you and worth their life and all of their patients' lives that they're protecting.

Berkowitz said 17 members of his community have died because of COVID-19. He fields hundreds of calls a week, on a volunteer basis, to secure medical supplies for some of the largest hospitals in New York through the Afya Foundation.

"It was groups like that that allowed me to make a clarion call to tens of thousands of sellers, saying to them, we need your donations right now and we'll get it within 24 hours."

Watch the video to find out how some Amazon sellers have become experts at accessing overseas supply chains, and how they're using that to answer this call while also repositioning their businesses to survive the pandemic.
Several MPs in Botswana have been caught breaking their self-isolation instructions and have now been placed in supervised quarantine.



On Thursday, all parliamentarians and President Mokgweetsi Masisi were asked to quarantine for 14 days after a health worker who had been screening them for the coronavirus herself tested positive.



However a government statement said some of the MPs had regrettably been seen shopping in supermarkets.



They have been moved from their homes to a supervised government facility.



The statement did not say how many lawmakers had broken the rules.



Botswana has reported 13 coronavirus cases and one death.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Locke, who is Chinese American and was serving as U.S. ambassador to China at the time, is briefly depicted onstage at a 2013 event in Beijing with Biden, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The clip is interspersed with others of Biden toasting the countrys leader, Xi Jinping, and criticizing Trump as xenophobic for imposing a travel ban on China following the coronavirus outbreak in that country.
Harry Northup, left, and Brett Hadley talk about acting via Zoom on the Motion Picture and Television Fund Home's Channel 22. (MPTF)

Chair yoga had concluded, but before the call-in trivia game show could begin, Bob Beitcher had a critical message for the 227 residents of his retirement community.

Stay the ... home, the generally well-mannered chief executive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund urged over the campus' closed-circuit television station.

The Woodland Hills colony  which has accommodations for both independent living and long-term care  had already been under shelter-in-place orders for nearly a month. Hospitality staff had been delivering meals directly to residents doors, communal gatherings were canceled and essential employees were receiving daily thermal scans.

Still, Beitcher was running into people breaking the rules. Hed just crossed paths with a resident who was picking up a prescription at the CVS across the street and ran into another who had gone to the bank  even though we had told them 20 times: We have someone who can do these things for you.

So during his thrice-weekly live address to the senior citizens  broadcast on MPTF's Channel 22  Beitcher decided it was time to get stern.

I told them I never thought Id say this, and to close their ears if they didnt want to hear the language, he said, referring to his F-bomb. Compliance has been the No. 1 issue here. I dont think its that people are irrationally noncompliant  its 87 years of going to get your mail and talking to your friends, and its not easy to break out of that habit if youve been stuck in your room and run into a bunch of people.

Bob Beitcher, chief executive of MPTF, addresses residents via the closed-circuit television channel on campus. (MPTF)

Following the rules is particularly vital at MPTF, where already 16 residents have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and another three, including actor Allen Garfield and longtime Disney animator Ann Sullivan, have died from it. Elderly citizens with underlying health conditions are at greater risk for contracting the coronavirus, and more than 120 nursing and communal living facilities in Los Angeles County are already dealing with infections. On Tuesday, L.A. County public health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer even suggested it would be perfectly appropriate to move loved ones out of such locations to maintain their health.

Story continues

But beyond maintaining the physical well-being of its inhabitants, MPTF has also been particularly concerned about residents' mental health. Which is why, shortly after the campus went into lockdown, Jennifer Clymer  who runs Channel 22  suggested using the television station as a way to forge ongoing social connections.

Since its inception in 2006, Channel 22 has offered round-the-clock programming to MPTF, and about half of its content is created by those on campus. The offerings include weekly announcements, an interview series highlighting the industry backstories of residents, short films and black-box sketches. Clymer entertains every pitch and does her utmost to say yes to everything, though she frequently has to tell would-be political contributors to start a YouTube channel instead of sharing their issue-driven views on the station. (MPTF is a donation-driven organization, and Clymer is careful to avoid programming that would alienate potential donors.)

When the novel coronavirus began to sweep through Southern California, Clymer suggested that Channel 22 pivot to live streaming three days a week, eight hours a day.

My question was, if we have to make sure people are physically distancing, how do we make sure they are still socially connecting? Clymer recalled. How do we make it so that people are still getting the information that people are getting from Channel 22 and understand their creative voice is still valid even though they cant physically be near one another? Regardless of bingo being canceled and their standard poker game being held off, the people they are usually interacting with are still there.

Clymers first thought was to take normal weekday activities and broadcast them to the residents  things like exercise or meditation classes that would easily translate. She and her co-workers  Channel 22 employs five full-time staffers and one part-time employee  decided to convert a campus screening room into a live studio and broadcast from the theater while maintaining six feet of physical distance. There's no hair and makeup, and a microphone boom is being used in place of lavaliers. Guests arrive by themselves to film, like Beitcher, who uses his time to address residents and answer call-in questions.

What Ive tried to do is to communicate whats going on on campus and be totally transparent, the chief executive said. Theyre staying in their rooms, so most of them arent experiencing the measures were taking to keep everyone safe. And I want them to know whats going on in the world. I describe driving to work and what I see and I dont see on Montana Avenue. I talk about my long walk on the bike path on Saturdays. Im trying to keep them as in touch with the world as they knew it as possible.

Jennifer Clymer, Channel 22's supervisor, tries on a prom dress to amuse MPTF residents - one of the channel's engagement activities. (MPTF)

Because many at MPTF have professional industry experience, Clymer said, a handful of residents have editing software on their computers that allows them to continue to create content from their homes. But she and her staff have also been placing instructional calls to those with phones or laptops and teaching them how to install Zoom. For those who dont have cameras embedded in their personal technology, Channel 22 has six iPads that theyve been lending out encased in a rubberized cover that is easier to disinfect.

Harry Northup, a 79-year-old actor who appeared in films including Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, had been an active participant in Channel 22s programming before the quarantine. In 2018, he put together a Walt Whitman poetry reading and got off-campus friend Robert Forster to participate. So when Clymer suggested he continue contributing in the age of coronavirus, he was quick to adapt, learning Zoom from home.

Whats happened to me  and I think a lot of us  is that this coronavirus has just yanked us into the future, said Northup, who moved to MPTF two years ago with his late wife. Self-isolation and the self-distancing  that gets to me. Before this happened, we would eat three meals together and always talk about shows. Now were told to stay a distance away from people. But Im fine as long as I keep being involved creatively, and I think this does help people communicate and keep in touch.

To keep his mind active, Northup decided to create another poetry segment from home. He selected 15 of Robert Frosts poems, wrote up a quick biography of the poet and teamed with another actor on campus, Brett Hadley, to appear with him on the broadcast.

After it aired, I felt the same as I did as working on a good day. It just lifts me up and exalts me, Northup said. Every time you turn on the TV, there are facts about how to deal with COVID-19. And thats fine. But for me, you still need that creativity that will lift you up through whatever youre going through.

Norman Matlock, left, Peter Boyle, MPTF resident Harry Northup and Robert De Niro in "Taxi Driver." (Harry Northup)

Clymer, meanwhile, has been soliciting Digital Angel Cards  short video messages that outsiders can send in to let the residents know theyre being thought of. So far, shes collected shout-outs from the likes of Steve Guttenberg, Tony Goldwyn and Yvette Nicole Brown.

Dr. Scott Kaiser, MPTFs practicing geriatrician and chief innovation officer, said its important for the public to be mindful of how loneliness and isolation are affecting older community members.

In the long term, we know that people who are chronically isolated have higher stress responses, more inflammation, higher blood pressures and even premature death, Kaiser explained. But when it comes to older people, those particular impacts are just more significant and the stakes are a lot higher.

Sandy Bollinger, 77, has come to rely heavily on MPTF's social community. She moved to the campus because her husband, publicist Henri Bollinger, was then in his 80s and needed more constant care. When he died six months after arriving at MPTF, his widow was urged by her friends to leave.

But I never had to go to a support group because I was surrounded by people here who had gone through what I had gone through, she said. One of her strongest ties to the community has been the Grey Quill Society, a writing group she joined that is currently gathering via Zoom on Channel 22.

That's part of why Clymer feels such an obligation to keep the live broadcast running. She admitted that at times shes been particularly high-strung with her co-workers about disinfecting practices around the studio because she doesn't want anyone to fall ill.

"We are providing a little bit of a life raft for people that feel like theyre on their own, said Clymer, who has been poking fun at herself on TV too, pulling out a wardrobe rack of ridiculous clothing and allowing residents to call in and tell her which item to try on.

Phil Gittelman, 82, hasnt participated in the dress-up game yet. But because of his passion for dining  he normally has a Channel 22 show called The Original Foodie  he has called in to do a live chat with one of the owners of Musso and Frank Grill. Still, he acknowledged: Its been a very challenging time.

Theyve been firm about staying in your room, and thats very difficult for me, said Gittelman, who used to manage actors including Craig T. Nelson and Tony Dow. I find myself sitting outside in the sun and making sure no one is close to me, or walking around the square. Ive got to get out and about, but I wont go across the street  thats foolish. And Im glad Bob is telling people that; I emailed him accordingly. All it takes is one wrong move.
As the number of people infected by COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, worldwide soars past the one million mark, we know the vast majority will make a good recovery.

But now, scientists are looking at the long-term health implications of having had coronavirus and whether or not it can lead to permanent damage to the body.

Lungs

It is clear that people with only mild symptoms (usually a dry cough and fever) will make a full recovery without any long-lasting damage to their bodies, but some scientists believe evidence is mounting to show that those on the moderate to severe end of the spectrum (who experience breathing difficulties and pneumonia) may be left with permanent lung damage.

When coronavirus enters the body, it does so via the respiratory tract. Here it behaves like other coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which the World Health Organization (WHO) reported typically attacked the lungs in three phases: Viral replication, immune hyper-reactivity and pulmonary (lung) destruction.

To explain all that; the virus enters the cells along the respiratory tract and takes them over, forcing them to make more copies of the virus. It then works its way down to the lungs where, for some people, it can prove catastrophic.

At this point, COVID-19 can trigger an exaggerated immune response setting off a chain reaction which causes increased inflammation and fluid to fill the lungs. This affects approximately 14 percent of infected people. When this happens, pneumonia sets in as the fluid attracts bacteria as well as the virus itself. Breathing becomes difficult and patients need to be put on a ventilator.

It is this process of excess inflammation brought on by an overreacting immune system that is the biggest danger to the lungs. It can cause irreversible damage to the air sacs on the periphery of the lungs known as alveoli. These are delicate balloon-like structures which fill with air when we take a breath in and allow the oxygen to pass from the lungs into the blood for transportation to the rest of the body. They also help take carbon dioxide away.

The inflammation caused by the bodys immune response to the virus can cause the alveoli to pop, giving the lungs a honeycomb-type appearance, or to harden so they are no longer able to do their job. When this happens, a condition similar to fibrosis or hardening of the lungs occurs.

According to WHO, SARS, a type of coronavirus that behaves similarly to COVID-19, did the same thing to the lungs of those affected by it and led to permanent damage to these peoples ability to breathe normally.

All this would suggest that for a small number of people who are severely affected by the disease, breathing normally may never be the same again and getting short of breath on minimal exertion or requiring medication to help you breathe may become the norm.

Kidneys

It is not just the lungs that healthcare staff need to be vigilant about when treating people with severe cases of COVID-19.

As the infection worsens, a condition known as sepsis or overwhelming infection sets in. This means that lots of organs become affected by the one infection  the kidneys being one example.

The kidneys rely on a balanced blood pressure to maintain the ideal conditions they need to filter a persons blood.

When sepsis takes hold, there is a danger that blood vessels throughout the body will dilate (get wider) in response to the infection and pressure within them will fall.

This sudden drop in pressure stops the kidneys from receiving the flow of blood at the right pressure they need to do their complex set of jobs. Their sensitive cells can die off very quickly, leading to permanent kidney damage.

It is vital that doctors maintain a careful balance of fluid and pressure to the kidneys while not overloading the lungs with even more fluid at the same time. People who are lucky enough to survive a severe case of COVID-19 will need to have their kidney function monitored carefully through blood and urine tests to check for permanent damage.

COVID-19 is still a new disease and scientists are learning new things about it every day.

Only time will tell whether there may be even more widespread damage to the body after it has shed the virus as infections rarely show their full hand of cards immediately.
On March 15, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology posted on their official Facebook page, to encourage students studying abroad to go back to Norway, if they were staying in a country with poorly developed health services and infrastructure and/or collective infrastructure, such as the U.S.

The post, which has since been edited, was turned into a meme that was passed around the internet for laughs. Though the message was turned into a joke, it did bring up relevant points and questions about the American healthcare system in a time of crisis.

US Healthcare System

In the U.S., the health insurance industry is privatized. American citizens are not guaranteed healthcare through the government. Instead, they can purchase health insurance coverage from an insurance company, or it can be awarded to them through their employment. If they qualify for Medicare (assistance for senior citizens) or Medicaid (assistance for low income individuals and families), which are funded by taxes, they are given a healthcare package, but they may have to pay for partial coverage. Members of the military are also guaranteed healthcare. The U.S. is the only developed country where an individual is legally allowed to be uninsured.

About one half of insured Americans are insured through their employer. In this case, the employer generally pays for a large portion of the coverage. If a tourist or visitor in the U.S. requires medical assistance, they will likely pay for their treatment out of pocket, unless they have travel insurance that covers them. Because the industry is private, medical care in the U.S. is notorious for being expensive.

Italian Healthcare System

Italy, like every developed country in the world except the U.S., offers universal healthcare for all citizens. Italys Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (the Italian National Service for Health) considers healthcare a human right. Hospitals are funded with tax revenue, and each region is responsible for fund distribution. While healthcare systems are organized differently in each region, every citizen is guaranteed basic healthcare to cover livelli essenziali di assistenza (essential levels of care). Many treatments require a small co-payment from the patient, but the cost is low.

Also read:

Legal foreign residents and undocumented immigrants also qualify for these benefits. Tourists are generally required to pay for their medical services (although emergency medical services in hospitals are universally free), but the cost is much lower than in the U.S.

Private healthcare services exist, but they are supplementary to the automatic national coverage. According to the Commonwealth Fund, in 2010, only around 5.5% of the Italian population paid for private healthcare services.

U.S. and Italian Treatments of Coronavirus

As devastating as the coronavirus has been on Italians and the Italian economy, the Italian healthcare system has allowed sick individuals to receive the care they need without costing them financially.

In the U.S., on the other hand, many citizens have expressed concerns about paying for COVID-19 testing and treatment. According to Human Rights Watch, Covid-19 treatment can cost over $20,000 for each individual. While insured US citizens will not have to pay for the entirety of their treatment, uninsured individuals have no choice. The crisis has already taken an enormous economic toll, but many U.S. citizens face personal debt and further financial hardship from treatment costs, if the situation continues without large-scale intervention.

Ph: George Sheldon / Shutterstock.com
Democratic Congressman Don Beyer donned a brown scarf as a face mask and wore a pair of gloves Friday when he gaveled the House of Representatives into session.

'The House will be in order,' the Democrat from Virginia said as he bagged the gavel, signaling the chamber was open for business.

Beyer said his daughter made him the mask.

'My daughter made this for me. It's not my normal look but we are not living in normal times,' he wrote on Twitter. 'Those who would lead must do first by example.'

Beyer was following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control to wear a face mask in public settings. The mask prevents those who may have been exposed to the coronavirus but are asymptomatic from passing along the disease.

Democratic Congressman Don Beyer donned a brown scarf as a face mask and wore a pair of gloves Friday when he gaveled the House of Representatives into session

House Chaplain Father Patrick Conroy offered his prayer wearing a pair of white plastic gloves

President Donald Trump has called this advice was voluntary and said he would not wear a face mask even as first lady Melania Trump encouraged people to do so and was photographed wearing one.

In early March, Congressman Beyer and his wife underwent a voluntary self-quarantine after attending a dinner party with a person who later tested positive for the coronavirus. Beyer was never tested.

After he opened the House session on Friday morning, House Chaplain Father Patrick Conroy offered his prayer, wearing a pair of white plastic gloves while he offered blessings in honor of Good Friday and Passover.

'God of mercy thank you for giving us another day,' Conroy said.

'Good Friday, a day when millions of Americans recall and morn the death of the suffering servant. Good Friday, today, when thousands of Americans are servants, suffering through the care of those stricken by #COVID19 with inadequate safety supplies,' he added. 'Passover when millions American experience the lack of freedom to gather with family, to celebrate the passages of life together.'

Conroy concluded with a prayer for protection from the coronavirus, which infected more than 469,000 and killed more than 16,000 Americans.

'Lord, these are days of suffering and turmoil not only for millions of Americans but for all your children throughout the world. Help us, heal us, have mercy on us. Protect those who daily place themselves in harms way in serve to those suffering from the coronavirus,' he said.

Friday morning's pro forma session was less than five minutes long and there appeared to be about a dozen people on the House floor  all standing at least six feet a part as part of social distancing guidelines.

Less than a dozen people were on the House floor for Friday morning's short pro forma session and all spread several feet apart in accordance with social distancing guidelines

In early March, Congressman Don Beyer and his wife underwent a voluntary self-quarantine after attending a dinner party with a person who later tested positive for the coronavirus

During long recesses, both the House and Senate will gavel into short pro forma sessions from time-to-time.

These sessions have no legislative purpose - as no bills are passed and no votes are taken - but have been used politically in the past to thwart a president who may try to push a recess appointment that would avoid a confirmation vote.

The sessions are usually gaveled in and out by a local lawmaker. In this case, Beyer represents Northern Virginia, which is just across the Potomac River from Washington D.C. and a short drive to the Capitol building.

When Beyer banged the House out, he noted it would be back in session onTuesday April 24.

But that date is in doubt after Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not commit to bringing back Congress this month even as officials debate a fourth rescue package for the economy, which has been devastated by the virus.

Congressional leaders had told lawmakers they could return to Washington D.C. after April 20th to get back to legislating but Pelosi would not commit to that.

'Nobody can really tell you that and I would never venture a guess. I certainly don't think we should do it sooner than we should,' she told Politico in an interview.

The speaker has been critical of President Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

'As the president fiddles, people are dying,' she told CNN's Jake Tapper on 'State of the Union' at the end of March.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not commit to lawmakers returning the Capitol Hill this month; she and other members practice safe social distancing in late March when she signed the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package

The House ceremony was in contrast to President Donald Trump signing the coronavirus package where aides and lawmakers crowded around him in the Oval Office

Pelosi also said she would not be tested for the coronavirus even after she was in close proximity to Representative Nydia Velazquez, a Democrat from New York, who was presumed to have the disease.

'In terms of my situation, I kept my distance. I said to them we all have to be six feet apart and I kept my distance from all the members,' Pelosi told MSNBC last month.

She said her doctor told her that her situation was low-risk and she had no reason to take any measures.

Velazquez attended the ceremony last month where Pelosi signed the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus plan.

Lawmakers at that event stood several feet a part in accordance with social distancing recommendations.

It was a notable contrast to the Oval Office when President Trump formally signed the package into law. He was surrounded - in close quarters - by Republican lawmakers, members of his cabinet, and members of the coronavirus task force.

Capitol Hill essentially shut down after lawmakers passed the $2.2 trillion coronavirus economic stimulus package in late March. Several House members returned to Washington D.C. to vote on the measure but promptly departed again.

The building itself is closed to visitors until May 1.

All the food services in House Office Buildings - including the main cafeteria in the Longworth House Office Building and the ever popular Dunkin Donuts - are closed.

The small Capitol Market take out in the basement of the Capitol is only open half a day.

The dry cleaner is closed, as is the House barber shop and the shoe shine, according to a notice sent out jointly by the House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and the Chief Administrative Officer of the House Philip Kiko to all staff in late March.

The U.S. Capitol building is closed to tourists until May 1

Food services are shut down in the House Office Buildings, including the popular Dunkin Donuts

Most congressional staff live in Washington D.C. or the Maryland or Virginia suburbs - all areas that have issued stay at home orders.

Many Capitol Hill staff are teleworking but have been told they are considered 'essential' employees if they need to come to the Capitol.

U.S. Capitol Police have told local authorities travel to the Capitol is permitted, Irving told staff in a note last month.

'In the event a Member or staff member cannot telework and finds it necessary to have to travel to the Capitol Complex, the United States Capitol Police has already communicated to all local law enforcement agencies the essential nature and responsibility of the legislative branch under Article I of the U.S. Constitution,' he said.

'For your health and safety, and for the health and safety of those around you, I encourage you to stay at home and telework where possible. However, if you must access your office or place of work, the United States Capitol Police advisory in conjunction with the text of the Governors and Mayors orders will permit everyone who is required to travel or commute for work to be able to do so,' Irving said.
The Trump re-election campaigns latest 2020 election attack ad against Vice President Joe Biden portrays him as soft on China, and falsely suggests that an Asian-American former governor is Chinese.

In a montage that begins with the presumptive Democratic nominee for president raising a toast with Chinese premier Xi Jinping, an image flashes up of Mr Biden sharing a stage with Gary Locke, former governor of Washington, President Barack Obamas commerce secretary, and former Ambassador to China.

Mr Locke is Chinese-American.

The release of the ad is especially poorly-timed as Asian Americans are forced to deal with xenophobic attacks, and in some cases violence, from racists blaming them for the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The montage also includes a news clip that says Mr Biden helped his son Hunter Biden profit from investments in China.

Tim Murtagh, director of communications for the Trump campaign, tweeted that the footage of Mr Locke was chosen as it places Mr Biden in Beijing in 2013  the trip on which Hunter accompanied him.

Given the complete lack of context to the clip in a fast-paced montage, people were quick to accuse the campaign of using it purely as it shows Mr Biden with an ethnically-Chinese man in front of Chinese and US flags.

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang tweeted: Goddamn this s*** is infuriating. Gary Locke is as American as the day is long.

Mr Yang also criticised another element of the ad that refers to the administrations initial response to the coronavirus pandemic: Trump rewriting history as if he effectively responded to the virus is utter garbage. We lost 70 days and thousands of lives due to his incompetence and disregard for what was happening overseas.

The ad accuses China of hoarding supplies and infers that Mr Biden is somehow to blame. An accusation that is branded as incoherent by Tommy Vietor, former National Security Council spokesperson for President Obama.

Mr Vietor points to a 4 February tweet from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, lauding the US donation of supplies to China: Proud of our rapid facilitation of the delivery of donated life-saving personal protection equipment and medical and humanitarian relief supplies to the people affected by the #coronavirus in #China. Grateful to the generous US organisations donating to the relief efforts.
Unnao : , April 10 (IANS) Two persons were arrested from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh on Friday on charge of circulating an audio clip that claimed that those quarantined for suspected coronavirus infection were given injections to kill them, an official said.

The audio clip claimed that the medicine had come from the USA and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of targeting a particular community.

District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said that the message went viral on April 5, following which police began a manhunt for the culprits.

He said one of the accused Mukesh was arrested first, who claimed to have received the clip from his friend Shakeel, who was also arrested later. Both accused are rickshaw- pullers.

"The police Cyber Cell is trying to trace the links and identify the person who put this message in circulation," the official said.
FILE PHOTO: A Virgin Australia Airlines plane is seen at Kingsford Smith International Airport after Australia implemented an entry ban on non-citizens and non-residents due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Sydney

By Jamie Freed

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd <VAH.AX> said on Thursday it would ground all domestic flights, except a single daily Sydney-Melbourne service through June 15, as it continues to seek government aid to weather the coronavirus crisis.

Rival Qantas Airways Ltd <QAN.AX>, which is in a stronger financial position, said on Thursday it had also made more cuts to its domestic network but for the time being it was still flying to every capital city and over 25 regional destinations.

Virgin has asked the government for a A$1.4 billion ($862.68 million) loan that could be converted to equity in certain circumstances.

Government ministers have indicated that any help is likely to be on an industry-wide basis rather than specific to Virgin.

"We continue to talk to airline executives on a regular basis as we navigate this unprecedented situation," Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said on Thursday.

"All levels of government, airports, airlines and the whole sector will need to work together to ensure Australia's aviation industry emerges from this crisis in the best position possible."

Virgin said its latest capacity cuts were due to government restrictions that had lowered travel demand.

Qantas said it expected to carry 95% fewer passengers over the Easter holiday weekend than last year. It is flying five flights per week from Sydney to Melbourne, down from almost 50 a day before the virus struck.

Virgin had already cut all international flights except government rescue charters, put most of its workforce on leave and permanently cut all pilots at low-cost arm Tigerair Australia and all crew based in New Zealand.

It will continue local and international cargo flights, the airline said.

Virgin's shares are tightly controlled by a group of foreign airlines including Singapore Airlines Ltd <SIAL.SI>, Etihad Airways and Chinese conglomerate HNA Group that have also seen a sharp deterioration in revenues due to the coronavirus crisis.

Story continues

The Australian government has already announced some aid to the broader airline industry, including refunding and waiving charges such as domestic air traffic control fees worth A$715 million and A$198 million in support for regional aviation.

The coronavirus has infected about 1.5 million people globally, while over 87,000 have died, disrupting lives and businesses as governments impose lockdowns to curb the outbreak.

For an interactive graphic tracking the global spread of the virus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Cara Santana and Jesse Metcalfe surprised fans when they were spotted together earlier this week, after their January split.

But the couple is not reconciling according to multiple reports and during COVID-19 isolation Jesse, 41, is living in the guesthouse on the property they used to share.

A source told E! News that the couple is 'absolutely not' back together and their reunion is only out of necessity.

Not back together: Cara Santana and Jesse Metcalfe were seen together at a gas station in LA during the COVID-19 lockdown on Wednesday, but the two are NOT back together

A source told E!: 'They are absolutely not back together. They were together for 14 years, own a home together, and have made the mature decision to self-isolate together with Jesse living in the guest house,'

Sources echoed the same sentiment to Us Weekly on Thursday: 'They are definitely not back together. They own a home together and they are quarantined together.

'Jesse lives in the guest house. They had to make the mature decision to deal with this situation together like many people going through a breakup right now.'

Despite Metcalfe previously being seen cozying up to multiple women months ago leading to their break-up, things seem to be cordial between the two as a second insider said they are 'making things work' amid the global pandemic but are not back together.

They explained: 'They are cohabitating and quarantining together.'

Not a happy reunion: Cara and Jesse are seen in January prior to their split

Cara and Jesse split in January after more than a decade together but were seen together as he filled up his Mercedes G-Wagon at a gas station in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The sighting led to speculation that the exes may have reunited.

Jesse, who is best known for his roles on ABC's Desperate Housewives and TNT's reboot of Dallas, wore a face mask and disposable gloves as he gassed up his SUV.

On Tuesday, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered all residents to wear a mask when visiting essential businesses or be prepared to be denied service.

Flaunting it: The Instagram influencer has been keeping busy in self-isolation by sharing selfies and giving beauty tips via social media

She was dressed in a camel-colored coat over blue jeans and left her long hair loose.

The couple broke up after the actor was spotted getting cozy with two other women in one day.

A source close to the couple told People at the time: 'She was wearing her ring yesterday. She had no idea things weren't fine until she saw the photos online today.'

They dated for 10 years before getting engaged in 2016, with Jesse popping the question on a sailboat in New York's Hudson River.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 10, 2020 - 20:23 | Sports, Olympics, All, Coronavirus

Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Organizing Committee CEO Toshiro Muto said Friday that International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach's scheduled visit to Japan in May has been canceled due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

Bach was to check on preparations for the now-postponed Tokyo Olympics. His trip was to include a visit to Hiroshima, the target of the world's first atomic bombing, at the same time as the Olympic torch relay's leg in that city. The torch relay was to have begun on March 26 but was suspended following the official decision to postpone the Summer Games.

It is not yet known when Bach will schedule his next visit to Japan. The Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled to start on July 24, 2020, are now set to open on July 23, 2021.

In addition to Bach's cancellation, a meeting between the IOC Coordinating Committee and the organizing committee, originally set to start Wednesday and run for three days, will instead be conducted as a video conference on Thursday.

Muto, who spoke to the media online, said he "strongly hopes" the competition venue and detailed competition schedule for next year's Olympics will follow the old plan through talks with the various stakeholders.

Related coverage:

Japan firework displays, other summer events canceled due to coronavirus

FOCUS: Emergency declaration tests conformity as coronavirus strains health care

Olympic saga reveals Japanese sports world's lack of influence
Indore District Collector Manish Singh has instructed seven hospitals in the city dealing with COVID-19 patients to cancel leaves of their staff members and ensure that both paramedical and other staff provide their services at the time when the country is battling with coronavirus crisis.

In a letter issued to the seven city hospitals, the District Collector directed them to cancel leaves of their staff, stating that "no leaves" will be allowed to them without taking prior permission from him.

"No leaves will be allowed to any staff member without informing the District officer. The hospital authorities must ensure the presence of all its paramedical and outforce staff. The authorities have to ensure that the hospital has all medical equipment and in case any problem arises then they are required to inform the DC immediately," the letter read.

Singh has directed the hospitals to inform their staff "who were on leave or not giving their services" due to any reason to be in the hospital within two days. Else, action will be taken against them if they remain absent. A case under valid sections of Disaster Management Act and CRPC will be filed against them, he added.The District Collector said that personal protective equipment (PPE) kits are being provided to hospitals, which are necessary to be used by paramedical staff involved in treating COVID-19 patients. In case, the COVID-19 precautionary measures and procedures are unfollowed by the medical staff then they will be booked under Section 27 of the Medical Commission Act 2018 for "professional and ethical misconduct".

On Thursday, a 44-year-old man, who was tested positive for COVID-19, lost his life in Indore, taking the total of coronavirus related deaths in the city to 23, MGM Medical College Indore had informed.The number of COVID-19 cases reached 397 including 24 deaths in Madhya Pradesh, with a maximum of 221 cases being reported in Indore, followed by Bhopal at 98, State Principal Health Secretary said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At multiple White House briefings, President Trump has touted the number of coronavirus tests being performed in the United States, repeatedly making the false claim that the U.S. has performed more tests per capita than any other country. And while the total number of tests being performed on a daily basis has increased, reaching over 2.5 million completed tests by April 10 according to the COVID Tracking Project, that number is far less than the White House had promised in early March  and far fewer than the number needed to safely lift lockdowns across the U.S., according to experts.

Its not necessary, but it would be a good thing to have, Trump said at a press conference on April 9 when asked about having a nationwide testing system. Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes. Were talking about 325 million people, and thats not going to happen, as you can imagine.

But many disagree  including Dr. David Kessler, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and author of Fast Carbs, Slow Carbs: The Simple Truth about Food, Weight, and Disease.

We underestimated the virus at the beginning. We underestimated the extent of the virus. We cant underestimate the extent of the testing we need, Kessler told Yahoo News. He is a member of the team advising presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on the coronavirus pandemic. But Kessler, who has served as FDA commissioner in both Republican and Democratic administrations, insists that this is not a partisan issue.

The answer is  in the absence of a vaccine and a therapeutic  testing, testing, testing. Its our only tool against this virus, Kessler said.

Kessler argues that the level of mobilization of efforts to produce and distribute more tests needs to be on par with a wartime effort, and that one person needs to be responsible for orchestrating that effort  though Kessler says he has yet to see that role adequately filled.

Right now, we need one person who reports directly to the president who can ensure that all resources  from that swab, that specimen kit, to that big machine sitting somewhere in a laboratory somewhere in the United States  that that entire spectrum of whats necessary can be mustered with an efficiency that you need to basically scale up in a wartime effort, Kessler said. There are a lot of well-intentioned people trying to do pieces of this puzzle, pieces of this effort. But no one really understands, regrettably, what it takes from beginning to end, who is leading this effort, this real expertise.

Story continues

The administration will say they have Admiral Giroir. Hes doing that. But hes not commandeered the resources as in a wartime effort, Kessler continued. When I see all the large laboratory machines running 24/7, where were getting all the specimens collected and have enough swabs, then were going to be able to open up this country.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 06: (2nd L-R) U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump, Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir and Dr. Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator, speak to reporters following a meeting of his coronavirus task force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 06, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Adm. Brett P. Giroir, a medical doctor and assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is a member of Trumps coronavirus task force and was appointed testing czar on March 12, which put him in charge of coordinating testing efforts among public health service agencies. His area of responsibility encompasses the complete set of diagnostic testing activities, including the customer and patient experience, specimen collection, logistics, testing, result return and supply chain.

A key priority is to ensure that patients, doctors and hospitals can access tests seamlessly and with maximum ease, and Dr. Giroir will lead efforts to execute on that goal, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.

I have a lot of respect for Admiral Giroir, Kessler added. And I think they are trying. But at this point, there has to be a plan to reopen this country, and that requires putting into place the specifics of how were going to get literally millions of tests done a week. Thats not been solved. They have increased the testing. I applaud that. But theyre off so far by an order of magnitude. They have to scale up the efforts. And theyre going to have to take a more assertive role faster, bringing to bear the kind of resources, these big machines, running them 24/7, pushing these companies to do what theyve never done before but theyre willing to do.

A report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, which surveyed 323 hospitals across 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico from March 23 to 27, found that hospitals reported severe shortages of testing supplies and extended waits for test results. Hospitals said that they were unable to keep up with COVID-19 testing demands because they lacked complete kits or the individual components and supplies needed to complete tests.

I dont know the inspector general, I dont know that person, Giroir said at a White House briefing on April 6 when asked about the report. I tell you one thing I have a problem with. If there was such a problem that she knew about or he knew about on March 23rd and 24th, why did I find out about the test from them on the news media at 8 oclock this morning? If there was a problem, I think youre ethically obliged to tell me where that is so we can interact with it like I do every single day. But thats a discussion for the future. I think testing is really in a good position right now.

Earlier that same day, Giroir was asked on the Today show about the report and why the U.S. has been lagging behind other countries in testing.

We are really going hospital to hospital to try to assure that the tests are available and Im meeting with hospital associations from all the metroplex areas and theres no question that testing is tight. But there are enough tests out there for people who need the test to get the test, Giroir said.

Widespread testing is considered by public health experts to be a crucial precursor to lifting lockdowns. By determining which individuals are infected and need to self-isolate, those who are tested and found to be uninfected can return to everyday public activities without forcing the entire population to stay home.

Were going to need, obviously, to test anyone whos symptomatic. But that alone is not going to be enough. Were going to need very strong surveillance testing in this country, Kessler said.

Currently, testing is being prioritized for those exhibiting symptoms, with hospitals reporting confusing guidance on who qualifies for testing that varies by state. But the need for more testing is underlined by the number of asymptomatic cases. At a press conference on April 5, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, estimated that between 25 percent and 50 percent of all coronavirus carriers exhibit no symptoms and may be unwittingly spreading the disease. But Fauci conceded that there is no way to know for certain how many silent carriers exist until widespread testing is performed.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, attends a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, April 10, 2020. President Donald Trump said he'll introduce on Tuesday a council of doctors and business people who will advise his government on how to reopen the economy following the coronavirus outbreak. Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg

I dont have any scientific data to say that, Fauci said. You know when well get the scientific data? When we get those antibody tests out there and we really know what the penetrance is. Then we can answer the questions in a scientifically sound way.

Fauci has also said that a different kind of test, for the presence of antibodies in the blood, signifying a previous exposure to the virus, is an important step towards being able to lift lockdowns. People who test positive for antibodies are presumed to be protected from re-infection with the virus, although questions remain about the degree and persistence of that immunity.

As we look forward, as we get to the point of at least considering opening up the country as it were, its very important to appreciate and to understand how much that virus has penetrated this society," Fauci told CNN on April 10. Because its very likely that there are a large number of people out there that have been infected, have been asymptomatic and did not know they were infected."

Fauci says antibody tests could be available within a week or so.

There are approved tests for the presence of active infection, although the U.S. got off to a slow start and the promise by President Trump on March 6 that anybody who wants a test gets a test isnt close to being fulfilled. A test introduced by Abbott in late March is able to deliver positive or negative results within minutes, and can be performed in a doctors office or emergency room without waiting for tests to be sent out to a lab.

But deploying tests has been delayed by a lack of testing supplies, like the swabs needed to collect testing samples. The HHS inspector general report found that many hospitals said they were competing with other providers for limited supplies. National coordination could help ease that problem.

The new Abbott test is terrific, but its not going to be available in enough quantity to test the millions and millions of people that are going to be surveyed to make sure we can open up this country, Kessler told Yahoo News. I am sure that Abbott is ready to put an additional assembly line, it wants to make as many machines as it can. But that machine has certain limitations. The parts are custom designed. They come from all around the world.

Medical workers test patients at a drive-through Covid-19 testing center at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus, New Jersey, U.S., on Friday, April 10, 2020. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Drive-through testing centers have also been touted by the White House, but they exist on only a limited scale. This is partially a consequence of the shortage of personal protective equipment for health care workers who administer those tests, with hospitals reluctant to send their employees into a test line unprotected. Now, with the creation of swab testing that can be self-administered, the risk for health care workers at these locations is lower.

Kessler says the testing availability will be important even as the U.S. eases back into normal life.

Were going to be playing whack-a-mole for some time, Kessler said. But the real question is, can we act quick enough before those little outbreaks become a major epidemic?

We cant make the same mistake twice.

This is what testing for COVID-19 is like.

_____

Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

Read more:
Bangkok alcohol ban set to last 10 days

THAILAND: City Hall has banned the sale of alcohol in the capital for 10 days starting today (Apr 10) in the latest bid to prevent social gatherings that could spread the highly-contagious coronavirus.

alcoholCoronavirusCOVID-19healthSafety

By Bangkok Post

Friday 10 April 2020, 08:37AM

Shoppers throng the liquor section of a superstore after City Hall banned the sale of alcohol in the capital for 10 days starting today (Apr 10) in the latest bid to prevent social gatherings. Photo: Arnun Chonmahatrakool.

Bangkok governor Pol Gen Aswin Kwanmuang issued an announcement ordering the temporary closure of shops or places selling alcoholic beverages effective from today until April 20. However, they are still allowed to sell other goods.

The announcement also says that shops and street vendors selling food and beverages are allowed to provide takeaways only from 4.01am to 10pm except for restaurants in hotels which serve only in-house guests and food shops in airports and hospitals.

Supermarkets, convenience stores, and other similar stores are still allowed to open from 4am to 10pm, according to the announcement.

The announcement forced many people to flock to supermarkets last night to hoard alcoholic beverages.

Ten other provinces have already imposed curbs on alcohol sales, such as Sakon Nakhon (from March 31-April 16), Chiang Mai (April 10-20), Rayong (April 3-15), Buri Ram (April 2-30), and Mukdahan (April 6-30).

Meanwhile, the government has also come up with measures to deal with the 14,000 Thais stranded overseas who are waiting to return to the country amid the global pandemic.

Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), said yesterday that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had discussed the fate of Thais stranded in other countries with senior officials, especially after the government banned inbound flights.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has banned inbound flights until April 18 because many previous returnees were infected with COVID-19 and posed a risk of spreading the disease to local residents.

Some 12,771 Thais have returned and 14,664 others are registered to return. He said 5,453 were waiting for return flights and about 10,000 Thai citizens in Malaysia were waiting to cross the border which has been closed, said Dr Taweesilp.

Dr Taweesilp added the government would have to quarantine all returnees and they would have to take turns because the facilities can accommodate only 200 returnees a day.

Everyone will be welcome, but the queue may be long. For those who can stay abroad without any trouble, please stay there longer. For those who have trouble, the government will offer financial assistance, he said.

The government is figuring out how much financial aid to provide as there are Thais stranded overseas while others are stranded near the border.

Those who have accommodation and insurance should stay there longer because otherwise they would risk contracting the disease while queuing up at border checkpoints or while boarding planes, he said.

He said returnees must have a fit-to-fly health certificate and may have to undergo rapid tests before boarding planes, like the tests conducted in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry has prepared 2,037 rooms for state quarantine and is searching for an additional 3,500 rooms.

The Interior Ministry has also prepared 460 facilities for local quarantine for over 13,000 people.

Bangkok and its adjacent provinces have 98 field hospitals ready but they still require 80 additional beds for intensive care to cope with the worst-case scenario, said the spokesman.

Meanwhile, about 180,000 favipiravir tablets have been imported and about 200,000 N95 masks have been bought for medical personnel.

Dr Taweesilp said Gen Prayut insisted that the nationwide curfew between 10pm-4am will remain unchanged.

Meanwhile, The CCSA yesterday reported 54 new local cases of COVID-19, raising the total to 2,423 in 67 provinces, and two more deaths, a Thai man, 82, and a Frenchman, 74, increasing the toll to 32.

Dr Taweesilp said the Frenchman had no chronic disease. He fell sick on March 27 with a fever, cough, exhaustion and abdominal pain.

He was treated at a hospital in Chon Buri province after initially being diagnosed with pneumonia but later tested positive for COVID-19. On Tuesday, he had trouble breathing and needed a ventilator, however, he died later the same day.

Meanwhile, the dead Thai man fell sick on March 25 with a fever of 38.5C and was treated at a hospital in Samut Prakan province.

On March 30 he became exhausted and required a ventilator but he later fell unconscious and died on Wednesday.

Dr Taweesilp said the 54 new cases included 22 people in close contact with previous patients, 11 of them in Bangkok.
Its silly, but she calls me Mommy and she just said, They are going to put me to sleep,  Brown said in an interview. And she wanted to say that she loved us. You could hear the struggle for breath in her voice.
Posted on: April 10, 2020 3:30 PM

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. 4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you KJV Isaiah 35: 3-4

1. PREAMBLE

Fellow Kenyans, We send you Easter greetings, Year 2019, as we celebrate the victory of our Lord Jesus, earned through his sacrificial giving of his life for the fallen worldly systems. The world is in a state of uncertainty and anxiety over the COVID 19 Pandemic, with major disruption of our lives. We are not able to congregate in our Churches to celebrate the risen Christ, as we have done over the years. This Easter period however, provides with us with opportunity to reflect on the challenges facing our Nation, our Continent, and the World as a whole.

Please join me in appreciating the ongoing efforts by National and County governments to contain the spread of corona virus crisis in the country. The COVID-19 outbreak in Kenya is gradually getting out of control, spreading quickly- according to the reported increase of daily caseloads. We appreciate the continued effort by the Government in controlling the spread of the virus. We urge every person resident in Kenya to support these Government efforts, through personal initiative as instructed by the health authorities.

We also urge all organizations throughout Kenya, to support these Government initiatives. Churches and other Faith-based agencies, have a special responsibility at this challenging time, in caring for those affected by this pandemic in various ways (Matt. 25: 35-40).

2. OUR FAITH

Faith is tested when we are in crisis. As believers, when you are sinking the best question to ask is where is your faith? This COVID-19 pandemic has tested our faith uniquely. The world is in a major crisis never witnessed before. This pandemic reminds us that ultimately the world is not our home. Ultimately, we are not in charge but we can boldly and gladly say that God is. We are simply agents of Gods authority and power. There is always temptation to give up hope and abandon our faith. But we encourage you to remain hopeful- though it is not easy for all of us. There is hope for a better future, as we learn from the lessons and the teachings from this pandemic. We are reminded and encouraged to ultimately trust in God rather than in any other power or authority (Proverbs 3: 5-6).

3. THE ROLE OF CHURCH HEALTH FACILITIES

Do join me in appreciating the quiet role being played by the majority of our service providers in our Church health facilities - who operate in very challenging situations. They have remained faithful in keenly observing and complying with what the government is doing in this very specialized work of responding to the pandemic. Indeed, many of our health workers are serving among communities where access to health care is limited, and COVID-19 testing kits have so far remained limited. In crowded areas social distancing is hardly achievable.

We now call upon the Government, at the National and County levels; Private and Mission Hospitals to heed the plight of the health workers who are in the core of response to this Pandemic. Additional Government support should include better equipment, supplies and risk allowances among others.

We are keenly aware of the fact that the Private sector health units are consulting with government authorities to work out a joint strategy for controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In addition, we believe there is room for the relevant government authorities to undertake a rapid mapping process of the existing facilities managed by faith based Institutions in each county, in view of the high chances of wider spread of the COVID-19 virus into the rural communities. Home care is an option that we should start preparing particularly by church institutions.

Such mapping should establish current capacity and resource gaps of these heath facilities in terms of staff, equipment, materials, services and facilities. In addition, the mapping should include local public institutions adjacent to these heath facilities, which could be temporarily converted into Quarantine centres. Access to identified institutions should be improved, in addition to requisite resources.

4. STRENGTHEN BORDER CONTROLS

In view of many border control points, we can be very vulnerable - even with our own strict discipline within the Country. In order to minimise the Impact of possible spread from illegal visitors, it is to strengthen Border controls to stop any illegal entries.

5. FOOD SECURITY

We appreciate the efforts by both National and County Governments to ensure that the vulnerable are supported with adequate food supplies. It is essential that we take care to ensure strategic food stocks in food insecure Counties. In view of the on going restriction of movement in and out of some of the cities/ regions, this should be done selectively, taking account of the unique context of Kenya. Specifically, it is to ensure availability of adequate quantities of Maize and other cereals in NCB stores located in food insecure Counties like Turkana, Mandera, Marsabit, Wajir among others.

6. CHECK ON PRICING

In order to protect many of our people who are yet to access the basic sanitation materials, we urge the Government to intensify the implementation of clear guidelines.

7. VERIFY SOURCE OF INFORMATION:

Please seek information only from trusted sources so that you can take practical steps to prepare your plans and protect yourself and loved ones. Seek information updates at specific times during the day, once or twice. The sudden and near-constant stream of news reports about an outbreak can cause panic and worry. Get the facts; not rumours

8. FAMILY SUPPORT:

As advised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and if possible, stay connected with your loved ones, including through digital methods, is one way to maintain contact. Check on your colleagues, your manager or other trusted persons for social support  your colleagues may be having similar experiences to you.

We encourage counselling support for each other.

9. USE CIVIL LANGUAGE:

As already envisaged by the WHO, many of us are already stressed by having been forced to stay home for long. The curfew and lock down in some of our counties, though necessary is already taking its toll on many. It is important that we check our language and exercise civility in in social media. We wish to remind you not to refer to people with the disease as COVID-19 cases, victims COVID-19 families or the diseased. They are people who have COVID-19, people who are being treated for COVID-19, or people who are recovering from COVID-19, and after recovering from COVID-19 their life will go on with their jobs, families and loved ones.



10. SOCIAL SAFETY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

We commend the efforts by both National and County governments to reach the very needy in our country. The allocation of recovery from corrupt money, the voluntary reduction of salary as led by the President, the foregoing of travel allowance by the civil service, among other already agreed actions, will indeed release the needed funding for the envisaged social support. However, a lot more can still be done. There is need for bottom up approach to involve the citizens in suggesting how they could be supported. The worrisome economic implications of lost jobs -especially amongst the non-skilled and slum workers - is leaving many Kenyans hungry every day.

The World Bank and EACC have donated funds to support the poor. A credible identification of beneficiaries and reporting procedure is essential.

11. ACCESS TO PREVENTIVE EQUIPMENT

Availability of the equipment and tools to prevent the spread of the virus should be at the lowest cost possible. We recommend speeding up the process of availing face masks to the public, and avoid of cheap substandard ones that will not be helpful The government promised face masks; its time the government fulfilled its promise toward prevention of the spread of the virus.

12. THE QUARANTINE, CURFEW AND LOCK-IN

We commend the government for the quick decision to restrict Nairobi Metropolitan Area with great wisdom and tact. The Police brutality was quite unfortunate and we do appreciate the Presidents apologies for the mishandling of Kenyans by the police at the beginning of the curfew in various parts of the country. We now urge Kenyans to seriously adhere to the measures as instructed by the government, so that we do our best to reduce the rate of infection. At the same time we pray that God get us out of this pandemic quickly, so that we get back to normalcy.

13. EDUCATION SYSTEM AND EXAMINATION

We do appreciate the innovative manner in which the Ministry of Education has encouraged virtual learning even during this time of great uncertainty. Following the closure of all education institutions three weeks ago, there is growing anxiety among leaners, parents and stakeholders, wondering when these institutions will re-open. We do appreciate the difficulty, at the moment, for the government to specify when the institutions will re-open and when examinations will begin.

Finally, we emphasize what we are learning from those who have been through this COVID-19 battle. Indeed we can only ignore history at our own peril. We shall succeed if we operate on the principle of shoring up confidence, strengthening unity, ensuring science-based control and treatment and imposing targeted measures. We have mobilized the whole nation, set up collective control and treatment mechanisms and acted with openness and transparency. What we fought was a peoples war against the outbreak. We have put up a strenuous struggle and made tremendous sacrifices

In conclusion, we pray for those infected and affected by COVID 19. We send condolences to the families who have lost their dear ones to the virus. We urge all to adhere to guidelines and directives given towards prevention of the pandemic. Let us support those who are currently facing food shortages across the country. We urge Kenyans to remember Christ died for us as sign of sacrifice. As a Nation we should not lose hope. Rather, we should continue to pray that this pandemic will come to pass.

May God bless you, God bless Kenya,

Signed on this date 10th April 2020,

Bishop borne

The Most Rev. Dr. Jackson Ole Sapit

The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, Bishop of All Saints Cathedral Diocese and Bishop in Ordinary of the Defence Forces
Nature Magazine published an editorial titled "Stop the coronavirus stigma now" on April 7, not only apologizing for previous news reports that linked the coronavirus to China's Wuhan but also sending a reminder to those who had erroneously been associating the virus with China's Wuhan and with China in their news coverage.

The apology is very meaningful, as the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has spurred global racism and discrimination, especially towards the Asians.

For years, it was common for viral diseases to be linked with the landscapes, places or regions where the first virus outbreak occurred  the Middle East respiratory syndrome and the Zika virus, which is named after a forest in Uganda, to name a few.

President Donald Trump calls on a reporter for a question as he speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, April 7, 2020. /AP

But in 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced guidelines to stop this practice and thereby reduce stigma and negative impacts. The guidelines also highlighted that when an outbreak happens, everyone will be at risk no matter who they are or where they come from.

However, as countries across the globe struggle to curb the spread of COVID-19, a few politicians, including U.S. President Donald Trump, have ignored the guidelines, choosing instead to stick to their own narrow and wrong viewpoints.

Continuing to associate a virus and its disease with a particular area is irresponsible and needs to stop immediately. As infectious disease epidemiologist Adam Kucharski advises in his timely book "The Rules of Contagion." Published in February, the book shows how pandemics can stigmatize some groups, which is why we all need to be very careful about what we do or say.

Racist attacks may cost universities

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, many Asians around the world have been subjected to racist attacks, and various news outlets have reported about how Chinese people are facing discrimination and racist comments. Moreover, the racist chorus is being amplified by some Western media like the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Such kind of racist attacks could harm people's health and livelihood. For instance, Chinese visitors are being verbally abused, harassed and pelted with eggs on the street amid the virus outbreak. Meanwhile, Chinese restaurants and Chinatowns have been avoided by locals in the U.S. and Europe.

In addition, Chinese overseas students are facing a dilemma, questioning whether they should return to China due to fears of racism, uncertainty over the future of their courses and not knowing when international travel will resume. On the other hand, the loss of students from China and other Asian countries will also have an impact on colleges and universities worldwide.

VCG

For decades, campuses have striven to boost diversity, and countries from around the world have enacted policies to encourage international academic mobility. Diversity is valuable for its own sake, as it encourages understanding and dialogue between cultures as well as sharing different points of view. Thus, it has always been a fuel for research and innovation.

If the pandemic stigma results in many Asian students leaving international campuses, the impact on scientific research could be massive.

As the editorial suggests, people all over the world must do everything they can to avoid and reduce stigma, stop associating COVID-19 with particular groups of people or places and emphasize that viruses do not discriminate. We are all at risk, and the coronavirus stigma must stop now.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), in a CNN interview on Wednesday, described what it meant for New York City to be retrieving 100 to 200 people who have died in their homes and other non-hospital locations. I mean, think of what this means for the families, think of the pain theyre going through, de Blasio said. Theres no question that coronavirus is driving it. We never saw anything like this in normal times.
Vending machines selling face masks, gloves and sanitisers have appeared on the streets of Polands two biggest cities as the country stepped up its social distancing rules to slow the spread of coronavirus this week.

Two vending machines in the capital of Warsaw and five in Krakow have been installed so far, and there are plans to potentially install hundreds more in the next two weeks, according to the Polish Vending Association, which launched the initiative.

The masks in the vending machines cost 8.8 zlotys (1.69) each.

All Polish people will be required to cover their mouth and nose in public spaces from 16 April, health minister Lukasz Szumowski said on Thursday as the government extended its lockdown measures.

The Polish government has said businesses will remain shut until 19 April and restrictions on schools, as well as rail and air transport, will be extended for another two weeks.

Aleksander Wasik, head of the Polish Vending Association, said he wanted to ensure the employees he represents in the vending machine industry could keep their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic.

What happened just now is a massive blow to everyone. Many [vending machine] operators became depressed because they were already seeing the possibility of bankruptcies, he said.

His solution to the outbreak was to work on converting the machines to sell protective equipment  a move which has been applauded by local residents.

I think if it lasts any longer, this whole state of the epidemic, it would come in handy, I see a lot of people coming, theres interest, said Pawel Kasprzycki, a 67-year-old man who bought a mask at one of the vending machines in Warsaw.

Additional reporting by Reuters
People around the world began observing Good Friday from the safety of their homes, as rare divisions surfaced in Japan over how to tackle the growing coronavirus outbreak there.

Politicians and public health officials have warned that the hard-won gains against the pandemic must not be jeopardized by relaxing social distancing over the Easter holiday weekend. Across Europe, where Easter is one of the busiest travel times, authorities set up roadblocks and otherwise discouraged family gatherings.

In Japan, many have criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for being slow to act. On Friday, the Japanese prefecture of Aichi, home to the Toyoto car company, declared its own state of emergency, saying it cannot wait for the government to add it to its list.

The situation is critical, said Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura. We decided to do everything we can to protect Aichi residents' lives and health. Japan reported 579 new cases, for a total of about 5,000 and 100 deaths. The country has the world's oldest population, and COVID-19 can be especially serious for the elderly.

In a measure of how fast the coronavirus has brought world economies to their knees, a staggering 16.8 million Americans lost their jobs in just three weeks. And still more job cuts are expected. The U.S. unemployment rate in April could hit 15% a number not seen since the end of the Great Depression.

There was some measure of relief in Britain as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care at the London hospital where he is being treated for the virus. The 55-year-old had taken a turn for the worse earlier in the week as his country descended into its biggest crisis since World War II.

Worldwide, the number of dead topped 95,000 and confirmed infections reached 1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, though the true numbers are believed much higher, in part because of different rules for counting the dead and cover-ups by some governments.

The U.S. appeared on course to overtake Italy within days as the country with the highest number of fatalities. However, virus deaths as a proportion of the population in the U.S. remains about one-sixth of those in hard-hit Italy and Spain.

There have been some positive signs. South Korea reported just 27 new cases, its ninth day in a row below 100. California saw its first daily decrease in intensive care hospitalizations since the outbreak began. Australia and New Zealand have this week recorded steady declines in infection rates.

But a spike in deaths in Britain and New York indicated the battle is far from over.

New York state reported a record-breaking number of dead for a third straight day, 799. More than 7,000 people have died in the state, accounting for almost half the U.S. death toll of more than 16,000.

That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking, I don't even have the words for it, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

He added that there are hopeful signs, including slowdowns in the number of people being hospitalized, admitted to intensive care and placed on ventilators.

The pandemic is a threat to international peace and security, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the U.N. Security Council at a closed meeting, saying it could hinder efforts to resolve conflicts, embolden militants or even provide a blueprint for a bioterrorist attack.

He said the outbreak could lead to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease. He asked for a signal of unity and resolve from the Security Council but diplomats said the 15 council members could not immediately agree on a statement to the media.

President Donald Trump brushed off fears the economy won't quickly rebound after the crisis, as he has predicted, saying he had a strong feeling that the economy is going to do very well.

I think that what's going to happen is we're going to have a big bounce, rather than a small bounce, he told reporters. I think we're going to open up strong.

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced it will provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans targeted toward both households and businesses.

In many European countries, where social safety nets tend to be stronger than in the U.S., government programs that subsidize workers' pay are keeping millions of people on payrolls, though typically with fewer hours and at lower wages.

Governments from the 19 countries that use the euro agreed Thursday on a package of measures that could provide more than a half-trillion euros ($550 billion) for companies, workers and health systems to cushion the economic impact of the outbreak.

The head of the International Monetary Fund warned that the global economy is headed for the worst recession since the Depression. The U.N. labor organization said the equivalent of 195 million full-time jobs could be lost in the second quarter, while aid group Oxfam International estimated half a billion people worldwide could be pushed into poverty.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The latest mortality data shows deaths reaching six times normal levels, exceeding the official coronavirus death count by more than 4,000.

Over the 31 days ending April 4, more than twice the typical number of New Yorkers died.

That total for the city includes deaths directly linked to the novel coronavirus as well as those from other causes, like heart attacks and cancer. Even this is only a partial count; we expect this number to rise as more deaths are counted.

These numbers contradict the notion that many people who are dying from the new virus would have died shortly anyway. And they suggest that the current coronavirus death figures understate the real toll of the virus, either because of undercounting of coronavirus deaths, increases in deaths that are normally preventable, or both.

Deaths in New York City by month Observed Expected Notes: Counted deaths for the month ending April 4 include an additional 1,396 coronavirus deaths reported by the city that have not yet been added to the C.D.C. data.  Source: New York Times analysis of provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Detailed data about deaths are hard to collect in real time, and the best available numbers, still incomplete, can lag by up to two weeks. That also means that they do not include the last few days, when the highest number of coronavirus deaths so far have been recorded in the city.

Death from some causes, like car accidents, may be down at a time when many people are staying at home to prevent the spread of the virus. But any such reductions appear to be outweighed by increases in other causes of deaths.

The extent of damage from the virus may be greater than we anticipated, and the indirect effects of the virus may be greater than we anticipated, said Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist and professor at Yale Medical School, who is particularly concerned that patients with cardiac conditions are not seeking care because of the fear of being infected with coronavirus. Meaning that the overall toll is much greater.

The overall rise in deaths suggests that the combination of crowded hospitals, an overtaxed ambulance system and a fearful population could have resulted in more deaths among people with heart attacks, strokes or other ailments who might have survived in normal circumstances.

Deaths in New York City above or below normal Notes: Counted deaths for the month ending April 4 include an additional 1,396 coronavirus deaths reported by the city that have not yet been added to the C.D.C. data.  Source: New York Times analysis of provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The measurements in our chart rely on a New York Times analysis of provisional data from the National Center for Health Statistics, along with historical data from the C.D.C. and the citys Department of Health. They capture the number of people who died within the city limits in each month since January 2000. The historical numbers include some small adjustments because of differences in how the two public health organizations measure deaths in the city.

The recent numbers are most likely an undercount. Even in normal times, death certificates take time to be processed and collected, and complete death tallies can take weeks to become final. This is especially true for cases involving coronavirus. Covid deaths all have to be manually coded, said Bob Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at the C.D.C.s National Center for Health Statistics, adding that death counts from New York City typically lag actual deaths by 10 or 11 days.

But even if the current count is perfect, roughly 9,780 people have died of all causes over the past month in New York City, about 5,000 more than is typical.

The numbers for the last two weeks of the period are even more stark: nearly 7,000 dead, more than three times as many deaths as would normally be expected this time of year.

As our charts show, deaths are strongly seasonal: On average, more people die in winter and fewer in summer. These fluctuations arent just related to the flu. In a typical year, the vast majority of the variation in mortality is driven by seasonal variation in the number of heart disease deaths.

But the deaths over the last month dwarf what would be expected from seasonal variations, and look more like a mass casualty event. The citys medical examiners office is holding bodies in refrigerated trailers outside of hospitals. City emergency medical technicians are declaring deaths in homes and on the streets instead of bringing people to hospitals.

Robert A. Jensen, the chairman of Kenyon International, a firm that helps communities respond to major disasters and attacks, said the scale of the event would leave a lasting mark on the city.

The reminders will be cemeteries, he said, describing European burial areas devoted to victims of the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic. There will be whole sections that have March, April and May 2020.
The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. Sign up to get it by email. This weeks issue is written by Besha Rodell, a columnist with the Australia bureau.

When I was 13, my father, brother and I took the long trip from Melbourne to visit my aunt Pat and her family in the Northern Territory. We traveled by car and train, allowing us to truly grasp the size of Australia. And yet, nothing prepared me for the vastness of the cattle station where my aunt and her family lived.

At around a million and a quarter acres, their farm was larger than Rhode Island. They were a three-hour drive from the nearest town and a seven hour drive from Darwin, the nearest major city.

Pat raised eight children on the station. Their schooling  from kindergarten through high school  was done remotely, at first via correspondence with a school in Adelaide, and then via two way radio when the School of the Air became available to them.

(The New York Times wrote a story about these types of schools in the Northern Territory in 1997, well after Pats youngest child graduated.)
Iraq's Saleh tasks PM-designate Kadhimi with forming new government

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 2:48 PM

Iraqi President Barham Saleh has officially tasked prime minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi with forming a government after the intelligence chief received the endorsement of the majority of the country's top political figures.

The announcement came shortly after predecessor Adnan al-Zurfi announced he was withdrawing his bid in a statement on Thursday after failed to secure enough support to form a government.

The nomination ceremony was attended by distinguished political figures and dignitaries, indicating widespread support for the 53-year-old Kadhimi, which was unprecedented as neither of the two previous prime minister-designates this year had enjoyed such backing.

"I will work tirelessly to present Iraqis with a program and cabinet that will work to serve them, protect their rights and take Iraq towards a prosperous future," Kadhimi wrote on his official Twitter page.

Kadhimi has 30 days to form his cabinet, which he must then put to a vote of confidence in Iraq's parliament.

He would replace caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who stepped down last November following demonstrations against corruption, staggering youth unemployment and poor public services, which erupted in the capital Baghdad and then quickly spread to other cities.

UNAMI welcomes Kadhimi's nomination, stresses unified leadership

Meanwhile, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has welcomed the nomination of Kadhimi as the country's new prime minister-designate.

"We appreciate and value the tireless work done by Adnan al-Zurfi in the past weeks, and we welcome the appointment of Mustafa al-Kadhimi to form a new government," the mission said in a statement.

It added, "The scale of the challenges facing Iraq today requires a unified leadership operating with sheer determination."

KRG supports Kadhimi's appointment as new Iraqi PM-designate

Separately, the prime minister of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region has expressed support for nomination of Kadhimi as Iraq's new prime minister-designate.

"Masrour Barzani made a phone call to Iraqi prime minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi, during which, Barzani voiced his willingness to work with Kadhimi towards resolving all outstanding issues between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government [in Baghdad] in accordance with the Constitution," Barzani's office said in a statement.

Additionally, a leading and highly influential Iraqi parliamentary faction says the new government should be independent and supported by all political currents, emphasizing that Kadhimi enjoys the support of Shia, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

Hassan al-Kaabi, the head of the Badr Organization's parliamentary bloc, said the PM-designate should form a government that would revive its ultimate authority, and pave the ground for early elections.

Jassim al-Bakhati, a member of the parliamentary faction of the National Wisdom Movement led by the Iraqi cleric Ammar al-Hakim, also said the political process in Iraq witnessed for the first time a great deal of harmony and contentment among the country's top political figures during the nomination ceremony.

"There are great challenges facing Kadhimi as regards public healthcare, economy and financial deficit. It requires the support of all political blocs for him to overcome such crises," Bakhati pointed out.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A police vehicle screeches to a halt in a deserted locality in Kasaragod town, which was earlier a busy intersection, and makes a public announcement that those who need essentials can dial the number given to every household and these things will be distributed in the evening. Fire department personnel are busy spraying disinfectants at the bus stand and other areas.

In Keralas hotspot Kasaragod district in north Kerala which reported 156 of the states 345 Sars-CoV-2 virus cases, people are living under a curfew.

Initially it was difficult for the people to follow stricter norms, but they were forced to fall in line after police started implementing them ruthlessly. Strict action forced many to remain indoors. We have made the turnaround. We did it ruthlessly and told people it is life and death situation. Results are there to see, said Vijay Sakhare, Inspector General of Police (Kochi range) who was specially assigned in north Kerala when situation turned alarming.

First we cut off all villages and all roads were blocked and started observing people on home quarantine strictly. Those who jumped home quarantine were shifted to government quarantine, which have minimum facilities, immediately. Every day a sub-inspector and his team visits people on quarantine and monitor their health condition and shows a video on social distancing and other measures, he said.

Kasaragod is one of the early 10 Covid-19 hotspots declared by the Union Health Ministry. When Pathanamthitta in central Kerala came out of the list, Kasaragod struggled with cases. High number of expatriates, poor surveillance in initial days and lack of proper medical infrastructure pushed the costal district neighbouring Karnataka to infamy. Senior IAS officer Alkesh Kumar Sharma and Inspector General of Police Vijay Sakhre were rushed to the district when Kasargod reported at least half of the total cases.

It is worse than a curfew. Though we faced many difficulties we realised it is for our good. Mobile and socialising lot, we never spent so many days behind doors like this. But we are happy that these restrictions helped contain the virus otherwise Kasaragod would have been another Dharavi, said Usman Koya, a native of Kananhad, who returned from Bahrain last year.

Earlier, the district had reported many glaring cases of apathy, including that of an alleged smuggler jumping quarantine and transmitting the disease to many. After his case came to light, customs officials found that he had made 14 trips to the Middle East in last three months. Later, the district collector had impounded his passport and registered a case against him.

Things are under control now. Among 156 cases, 101 are those who returned from the Middle East. Rest are their immediate contacts. There is no community spread in the district but we are keeping a strict vigil, said district collector D Sajith Babu.

According to the district administration, at least 5,000 people came from the Gulf since February 15 in the district and they were put on home quarantine but many later slipped out aggravating the situation. At least 60 per cent of the returned from Dubai are from Naif, a crowded commercial and residential area in Dubai, one of the hotspots in the Middle East.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Eastern Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has confirmed 15 new cases of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the region.



The 15 new cases were confirmed on Thursday, April 9th, 2020, according to a document seen by Graphic Onlines Eastern Regional correspondent, George Folley.



This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Eastern Region to 16.



They are all Indian nationals and have been quarantined.The first case was confirmed on March 31, 2020 and it was recorded at AFCON camp B, a site for workers of the railway company constructing the Tema -Akosombo railway line.



According to the document, all the 16 affected patients have been quarantined.In addition to that, suspected cases in the Eastern Region have increased to 73. A total number of 257 people have been identified through contact tracing.



The document seen by Graphic Online was authorised by Dr Mrs Alberta Biritwum-Nyarko, the Eastern Regional Director of Health Services, her deputy, Dr Albert Antobre-Boateng and Richard Essien.



It explained that the 15 new cases were among the 244 quarantined workers of AfCON B in the lower Manya Krobo Municipality.



As of now, (April 9, 2020), there is no report of infection outside the camp.



The document said the first case was confirmed on March 31, 2020 and it involved an Indian national and a worker of the railway company who had just returned to Ghana after spending holidays outside Ghana.



The new 15 cases were confirmed on April 9, 2020.



The document said the cases were recorded in New Juaben South, Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Ayensuano, Atiwa West, Suhum, and Lower Manya Krobo.



The samples from the suspected cases have been submitted to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research for testing.



Challenges



The document stated that the Ghana Health Service will continue with steps initiated for the containment of the disease in the AFCON camp B.



Efforts



Efforts by Graphic Online to contact the Eastern Regional Director of GHS proved futile.



However, her deputy, according to our correspondent rudely refused to talk and said, "I'm on field".



Regional Minister



The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Eric Kwakye Darfour however confirmed the cases to Graphic Online and said Ghanaian workers of the company were also being examined.



MCE



The Municipal Chief Executive of Lower Manya, Mr Simon Kweku Tetteh, allayed the fears of the people in the area and urged them to follow the protocols as directed by the government.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus hit 100,000 on Friday as Christians around the globe marked a Good Friday unlike any other  in front of computer screens instead of in church pews. The U.S. had over 18,000 dead, putting it on track to overtake Italy for the country with the highest death toll.

Public health officials and religious leaders alike warned people against violating lockdowns and social distancing rules over Easter and allowing the virus to come storming back. Authorities resorted to roadblocks and other means to discourage travel.

With economies hit hard by the pandemic, some governments faced mounting pressure to restart some industries and fend off further economic devastation from the coronavirus.

Here are some of APs top stories Friday on the worlds coronavirus pandemic. Follow APNews.com/VirusOutbreak for updates through the day and APNews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak for stories explaining some of its complexities.

___

THE FIGHT FOR NEW YORK: Listen to APs coronavirus podcast, Ground Game: Inside the Outbreak, for an interview with three AP reporters who worked on 24 Hours: The Fight for New York, a multiformat package following 10 New Yorkers as they negotiate life in a city transformed by the virus.

___

WHATS HAPPENING TODAY:

Pope Francis presided over a torch-lit Good Friday procession in an otherwise empty St. Peters Square, with nurses and doctors among those holding a cross as the COVID-19 pandemic upended the traditional ceremony at Romes Colosseum.

More than half of a group of severely ill coronavirus patients improved after receiving an experimental antiviral drug, although theres no way to know the odds of that happening without the drug because there was no comparison group. Doctors say more testing is needed for remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug that has shown promise against other coronaviruses in the past.

The Trump administration and congressional leaders appear poised to launch bipartisan talks on a new coronavirus aid package with hopes for action as soon as next week. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer says the goal is to replenish a $350 billion paycheck protection program for businesses thats being depleted.

Inmates at a Kansas prison where at least 28 people are sickened by the coronavirus rampaged through offices, breaking windows and setting small fires for several hours before the facility was secured. Two inmates were injured in the disturbance involving about 20 men at the Lansing Correctional Facility.

New York COVID-19-related deaths jumped yet again by more than 700 in a day, but hospitals battling the outbreak reported encouraging news as the number of people hospitalized stayed relatively flat. Still, the New York metropolitan area accounted for more than half the nations over 18,000 deaths.

___

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.

Here are the symptoms of the virus compared with the common flu.

One of the best ways to prevent spread of the virus is washing your hands with soap and water. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends first washing with warm or cold water and then lathering soap for 20 seconds to get it on the backs of hands, between fingers and under fingernails before rinsing off.

You should wash your phone, too. Heres how.

TRACKING THE VIRUS: Drill down and zoom in at the individual county level, and you can access numbers that will show you the situation where you are, and where loved ones or people youre worried about live.

___

ONE NUMBER:

$550 BILLION: Governments from the 19 countries that use the euro have agreed on measures that could provide more than a half-trillion euros ($550 billion) for companies, workers and health systems to cushion the economic impact of the virus outbreak.

___

IN OTHER NEWS:

NURSES QUESTIONS: U.S. nurses are facing a fundamental question that pits their professional principles against their personal welfare: Did they sign up to become heroes?

 SOCIAL DISTANCE POWWOWS: With the largest powwows in the country canceled and postponed amid the spread of the coronavirus, tribal members have found a new outlet online with the Social Distance Powwow.

 THE HOWLING: From California to New York, some Americans are taking a moment each night to howl as a way of thanking the health care workers and first responders. Its an American twist on the applause and singing for besieged health care workers in Europe.

 VIRTUAL SEDER: Rabbi Shlomo Segal is among the spiritual leaders adapting to a Passover in the shadow of COVID-19. The 40-year-old self-described liberal Orthodox rabbi has brought his Seder to YouTube.

___

Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Elaine Placido, Cowlitz County community services director, will leave the county this summer for a new position as the executive director of the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership.

The Estuary Partnership is a Portland-based nonprofit that protects and advocates for the lower Columbia River, from Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean.

Placido has been a member of the organizations board of directors since 2014 and is currently the board chair. She said she is very interested in the Estuary Partnerships work.

The opportunity to be directly involved with science, education and policy on the Lower Columbia was an opportunity that I couldnt pass up, she said.

Placido, who heads the county Building and Planning and Health and Human Services departments, said she will be leaving the county on June 1.

Prior to starting her current position in January 2019, Placido was Building and Planning director for six years and operations manager for two years. Placido was an active duty member of the Coast Guard, led non-profit organizations and served in local government in other states.

Placido and her family have a farm in Rainier. She holds a doctorate degree in public administration from Valdosta State University, a masters degree in public administration from the University of Nebraska and a bachelors degree in criminal justice from Park University. She also holds certificates from the Grantsmanship Institute and FEMA Emergency Management Institute.

Elaine stands out as the absolute right person at the right time, Susan Holveck, Estuary Partnership Board vice chair, said in a statement. She has a deep understanding of natural resources, land use and watershed issues, as well as the connection of natural resources and public health.

Debrah Marriott, current Estuary Partnership executive director, will step down June 30. Placido will officially begin her duties August 1, and will spend some time with Marriott and the managers and staff in June and July.

Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
By Jeff Tittel

We are facing trying, unprecedented times. The people of New Jersey are working together to practice social distancing in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The Plastics Industry and the Food Council, however, are shamefully trying to use the public health emergency as a campaign to block bans on single-use plastics. This is a time we need to be working together, not playing politics with the environment. Even in the midst of a public health emergency, it is important to be careful of the planet.

In March, the New Jersey Food Council sent a letter to many municipalities with plastic bag bans asking them to suspend their bans until after the public health emergency is over. They are spreading misinformation to push their pro-plastic anti-environment agenda. Even though the Food Council is trying to play games, 55 towns in New Jersey are still moving forward with plastic bag bans. Gov. Phil Murphy needs to block the Food Councils effort of undermining plastic bans. It is too important for the safety of our health and our communities.

The Plastics Association has stated that single-use plastic bags are the most sanitary choice to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. However, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the virus can live on plastic for up to three days. They are concerned about reusable bags, but people can bag their own groceries.

Medical experts have explained that soap and hot water are effective at killing the coronavirus on reusable items, so people can wash their bags regularly to avoid transmission. The Plastics Industry and their allies are making claims that are not based on sound science, and instead are taking advantage of the public health crisis. If they were really concerned, they would provide paper bags as an alternative to reusable bags - especially in towns that have already banned plastic bags.

Instead of blaming reusable bags, we should be more concerned about workers handling products and transferring the coronavirus onto boxes and cans. There are so many surfaces the virus can be transmitted on, whether it is a steel can of soup that a customer put in their cart, the cart handles, or change from the cash register. In order to prevent any type of transmission, workers need to wear gloves, canned items need to be disinfected, and workers and customers with symptoms should not be working or shopping.

The NJ Food Council should not be allowed to get away with using the coronavirus pandemic to block plastic bag bans because these bans are critical. Plastic is an existential threat to the environment, wildlife and public health. Microplastics have already been found near our drinking water supply, so we could literally be drinking plastic. Plastic bags have been known to clog storm drains and fill up detention basins, affecting our water quality. Animals, especially birds, get strangled and suffocated by plastic bags.

In New Jersey, Rutgers scientists found densities of about 28,000 to over 3 million plastic particles per square mile in the Passaic and Raritan Rivers. Beach sweeps in New Jersey found microplastics in the ocean and on the beach from Monmouth County down to Cape May County. Reducing plastic use also helps to reduce the amount of fracking and fossil fuel use because plastics are made from the byproducts of natural gas. Using more plastic products means more fossil fuel use, more pipelines, and more fracking.

The Plastic Industry Association and their allies, including the New Jersey Food Council, have fought these plastic bag bans and opposed real reusable bags from the outset. Now, they are deliberately using our health crisis as cover to undo the progress that towns and states have made. By trying to stop plastic ban ordinances, they are ignoring the voices of the towns that have passed them. Like Rahm Emanuel said, Never allow a crisis to go to waste. That is what the Plastics Industry and NJFC are doing.

Governor Murphy must stand up to the agenda of the Food Council and Plastics Association. A healthy environment goes hand-in-hand with a healthy population. People in New Jersey are fed up with plastic pollution filling up their storm drains and threatening their drinking water. We will get through this crisis, but plastics in our environment are forever.

Jeff Tittel is the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Boeing is using its engineering prowess to create personal protective gear for healthcare workers as the dominant aerospace and defense companys troubled production lines remain dormant and a majority of its workforce remains at home.

On Friday, Boeing (BA) announced it had delivered its first set of reusable 3D-printed face shields to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

Boeing PPE face shield for healthcare workers fighting COVID-19. (Source: Boeing)

The Department of Health and Human Services accepted the initial shipment of 2,300 face shields this morning, the company said in a press release. The shields are slated to aid workers at Dallas Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, which has been converted to treat patients with COVID-19.

Boeing also said it has donated tens of thousands of units of its own supplies of face masks, goggles, gloves, safety glasses, and protective bodysuits to support healthcare professionals battling COVID-19.

"Boeing is proud to stand alongside many other great American companies in the fight against COVID-19, and we are dedicated to supporting our local communities, especially our frontline healthcare professionals, during this unprecedented time," Boeing President and CEO David Calhoun said in the press release. "History has proven that Boeing is a company that rises to the toughest challenges with people who are second to none. Today, we continue that tradition, and we stand ready to assist the federal government's response to this global pandemic."

Coronavirus cases are still on the rise, though the rate of infection seems to be slowing amid social distancing measures. (David Foster/Yahoo Finance)

We will take this time to... assess applicable government direction

Boeing said the face shields were produced with additive manufacturing machines at various of its manufacturing sites in Washington state, Missouri, California, Arizona, Alabama, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Oregon, and subsidiary sites in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In addition, the company utilized suppliers Solvay and Trelleborg Sealing Solutions to fabricate clear film and elastic adjustable headbands.

Story continues

On April 5, Boeing extended a temporary suspension of its production operations in the Puget Sound area and at its Moses Lake sites in Washington state. The suspensions impact efforts to continue work mandated by the FAA before its grounded 737 Max returns to service. On Tuesday, the aerospace giant said it planned to make two new software updates to the planes flight control computer.

Boeing employee works to create PPE face shield for healthcare workers fighting COVID-19. (Source: Boeing)

A limited number of employees who continue to work at its facilities adopted new visual cues to encourage physical distancing and have been placed on staggered shifts.

The health and safety of our employees, their families and our communities is our shared priority, Boeings Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Stan Deal said in an earlier statement. We will take this time to continue to listen to our incredible team and assess applicable government direction, the spread of the coronavirus in the community and the reliability of our suppliers to ensure we are ready for a safe and orderly return to operations.

Alexis Keenan is a reporter for Yahoo Finance and former litigation attorney.

Follow Alexis Keenan on Twitter @alexiskweed.

Read more: 'Walking a very thin line': Why coronavirus could hit small businesses the hardest

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn,YouTube, and reddit.
LONDON

Germany

SALT LAKE CITY

April 9, 2020

, WALLDORF,and/PRNewswire/ -- EY, SAP, and Qualtrics today announced a collaboration to provide resources to governments around the world as they battle the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic. These Qualtrics and SAP solutions will be implemented by EY and include tools to help governments pre-screen and route potential COVID-19 patients, support healthcare workers, and manage the flow of information and resources to their citizens.To help manage the impact of the pandemic, EY, SAP, and Qualtrics have collaborated on providing agencies with a comprehensive set of services and solutions to meet the initial urgent and critical needs of governments, globally. These offerings are helping organizations take immediate action in the fight against COVID-19 and are available to all 50 U.S. states and more than 90 countries worldwide. In addition, the services and solutions are provided in eight languages  English, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, French, German, and Greek  through EY implementation and enablement services. Specifically, the solutions available to governments include:

Qualtrics COVID-19 Pre-Screening and Routing: This online, guided pre-screening questionnaire allows citizens concerned about COVID-19 to enter their symptoms, and automatically routes them to appropriate online resources or advises them to contact their doctor. It provides instant access to relevant health and safety resources and produces automatic reports that identify any gaps in information availability.





Qualtrics COVID-19 Dynamic Call Center Script: Local governments are standing up call centers (often for the first time) to respond to the crisis. To reduce call volume, and provide accurate, up-to-date information to callers, this solution directs citizens to the right resources based on their interests/questions. It also includes automatic reporting showing caller trends, patterns, and gaps in information requests.





Qualtrics Healthcare Workforce Pulse: Governments need to monitor healthcare providers and their frontline healthcare workers within healthcare systems, hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics. This Healthcare Workforce Pulse is designed to capture feedback on the resources, safety, resilience, and communication needs of those treating patients with the disease.





Critical care protocol solution: This is a customized solution for governments and ministries of health directed at early identification for critical care/high-risk patients. This solution utilizes guidelines from the World Health Organization and the Edmonton Frailty Scale and is powered by a critical care protocol algorithm. The solution assists in early flagging of high-risk patients by sharing and analyzing results in real time, allowing for more targeted allocation of critical care services that are already in short supply.



EY, SAP, and Qualtrics released the following statement regarding these solutions: "Governments around the world are having to act quickly and decisively as they lead their citizens through uncertain times. These solutions and services help governments quickly interact with their citizens at scale by providing a means of collecting and analyzing data in real time. This allows them to take immediate action amid an ever-changing situation and bring immense benefit to their citizens during the current crisis. We are proud to stand together to help governments use the power of experience management to navigate this difficult and unsettling situation as we all work to keep our communities and loved ones healthy and safe."



Public entities around the world are rapidly deploying these solutions and seeing immediate results. In the U.S., Africa, Europe, and APAC, state and country governments and agencies are running health assessments for citizens, identifying testing centers for those in need, and triaging screening and treatment follow-up. On a national level, countries around the world are asking what information citizens need and how they could work together to provide essential services during this worldwide pandemic.



Qualtrics technology is GDPR, HIPAA, HITRUST, and FedRamp compliant  maintaining the highest levels of security and privacy protection available.



To learn more about these solutions and other resources available to governments worldwide, please visit: qualtrics.com/here-to-help.



About QualtricsQualtrics (an SAP company), the leader in customer experience and creator of the Experience Management (XM) category, is changing the way organizations manage and improve the four core experiences of businesscustomer, employee, product, and brand. Over 11,000 organizations around the world are using Qualtrics to listen, understand, and take action on experience data (X-data)the beliefs, emotions, and intentions that tell you why things are happening, and what to do about it. The Qualtrics XM Platform is a system of action that helps businesses attract customers who stay longer and buy more, engage employees who build a positive culture, develop breakthrough products people love, and build a brand people are passionate about. To learn more, please visit qualtrics.com.



About EYEY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.



EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation is available via ey.com/privacy . For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com .



This news release has been issued by EYGM Limited, a member of the global EY organization that also does not provide any services to clients.



About SAPAs the Experience Company powered by the Intelligent Enterprise, SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software, helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world's transaction revenue touches an SAP system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers' businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want  without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables more than 440,000 business and public customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people's lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com .



Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.



 2020 SAP SE. All rights reserved.



SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.



Contact: press@qualtrics.com





View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ey-sap-and-qualtrics-collaborate-to-bring-resources-to-governments-around-the-world-to-help-in-the-fight-against-covid-19-301038363.html



SOURCE Qualtrics




CLEVELAND, Ohio  Leaders of Clevelands Say Yes to Education college scholarship program worry that disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic will keep students from succeeding in their first year college or keep new high school graduates from starting classes in the fall.

They are pressing high school seniors in the Cleveland school district to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the Say Yes scholarship applications while schools are not in session.

And they have adult mentors talking to students that started college using the scholarships this school year to make sure they can complete classes and return to college in the fall. Because colleges shut down last month and moved classes online, Say Yes leaders dont want students to give up and drop out.

Instructions for mentors changed when colleges closed, so that the mentors could help students find food, shelter and Internet access to do online college classes, if they do not have it.

Our biggest concern is persistence. All of a sudden kids had to leave school in the middle of a semester. Thats a long time when youre a freshman,'' said Lee Friedman, CEO of CollegeNow Cleveland, the college advising group working with students.

The New York-based Say Yes to Education program officially launched in Cleveland last January when city, school and charitable foundation leaders raised enough money to start offering scholarships to last years high school graduates.

The program also provides academic and social service supports to students while they are in school, so that they can graduate and move on to college.

In previous cities that partnered with Say Yes, keeping kids in college after their freshman year has been a challenge, as has encouraging high school students to apply to colleges, particularly when their parents never attended college.

Friedman said FAFSA applications are about on pace with Clevelands applications last year and CollegeNow advisors are calling students to remind them. She said a student can fill out the form online and can have help from an advisor.

The longer kids arent in school, weve got to work to get them to focus on it, she said. Were just going to have to keep our foot to the pedal on this.

Click here for details on filling out the FAFSA and applying for Say Yes scholarships.

Scholarships are available to Cleveland school district residents who graduate from a district high school and have attended district schools since last January. In the future, they will be available to students who graduate from a district or partnering charter high school and have attended one of those schools continuously since 9th grade.

Scholarships cover tuition costs left after using all available federal and state aid at state colleges and several partnering private colleges.
Mumbais coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases crossed 1,000 on Friday, taking just 10 days to multiply tenfold, as health workers in Indias commercial capital ramp up testing for the infection, which has so far left 64 people dead in the city.

The city recorded 132 cases on Friday, including two nurses at a hospital that was ordered to stop admitting new patients and two Tablighi Jamaat followers, taking the number of people confirmed to have been infected by the virus to 1,008. Ten more deaths took the count of fatalities to 64 in the Maharashtra capital, the Indian city worst hit by the pandemic.

It took Mumbai 20 days to breach the 100-case mark after the first two patients, an Andheri-based couple, were identified on March 11. On March 31, the city crossed the 100-patient mark, taking the number to 151. Since then, the number of coronavirus disease cases has been multiplying faster.

The city crossed the 200-patient mark (235 cases) on April 2, the number doubling in two days. The number of Covid-19 cases tripled in the next six days.

Similarly, the death count due to the virus has increased at a faster pace.By April 9, the city had registered 54 deaths, which rose to 64 on Friday.

Mumbais first death linked to the virus was reported on March 17 when a 64-year-old man died in Kasturba Hospital. It then took 13 days to register 10 deaths. The death count tripled to 30 on April 5, and more than doubled to 64 on Friday, April 10 .

Mumbai municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said the rise in the number of coronavirus cases and the death count was directly proportional to the higher level of testing for the disease in the city.

High-level testing is our weapon through which we have identified many positive cases at an early stage, thereby, reducing the chances of community transmission. We are extracting more and more cases before the 14-day cycle of the virus so that these numbers dont burst and emerge as community spread, Pardeshi added.

Mumbais G south ward that spans areas like Worli and Prabhdevi has reported the maximum number of positive cases at 199. The E ward, which covers Byculla, Mazgaon and Central Mumbai, ranks second with 69 positive cases, followed by the D ward that includes areas like Malabar Hill and Grant Road with 61 positive cases.

Medical experts said the government should opt for random community testing to for a true picture of the viruss spread.

Yes it is necessary to do testing on large scale, but it is not enough. In addition to that the government should go for random testing in areas like Dharavi and Worli to get information about the community spread of the virus, Dr Shashikant Ahankari, a community health specialist and president of the Halo Medical Foundation, said.

To deal with the challenge of testing people in densely populated areas like Dharavi, Asias largest slum, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to procure 50,000 rapid testing kits. This antibody test kits will be made available within next three-four days (Wednesday-Thursday ), said a senior official from the civic health department.

On Friday, six more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Dharavi, taking the total in the slum to 28, a BMC official said. These included two persons who returned from the Tablighi Jamaat religious event held in mid-March in the groups Markaz headquarters in Delhis Nizamuddin basti, which has emerged as Indias biggest coronavirus hotspot.

Among those identified as Tabligi attendees in our search operation, two tested positive on Friday. One of them is from Dr Baliga Nagar and another from the PMGP Colony. We have already started tracing their high-risk contacts, Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of the G/North Ward, said.

Two nurses, aged 27 years and 42 years, of Dadars Shushrusha Hospital also tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday following which authorities asked the hospital to stop taking in any new patients. The BMC has asked the hospital to quarantine nearly 28 nurses who are employed there.

The civic body has given 48 hours to the hospital to discharge all existing patients after proper screening.

(With inputs from Sagar Pillai)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Three weeks is a lifetime during a global pandemic, and a lifetime ago I would joke with my two older brothers and a few close friends about unfounded rumors that we, as black people, were somehow immune to the coronavirus.

Early reports from government agencies about new cases across the globe didnt elaborate on the race of sick patients at the time, so in that vacuum of information, we applied humor. We arent laughing much these days, because now we know the startling truth: Black people are contracting and dying from this virus at alarming rates.

Im seeing the data reflected in real time on social media. More and more of my black friends are posting on Facebook about how their uncle or cousin or grandmother has tested positive for the virus and has been hospitalized.

Processing this new normal isnt easy. Sometimes while scrolling through my timeline, or as Im reporting a story, it feels as though my chest is tightening. I also rarely sleep through the night anymore. One of my brothers, Blair, called me Sunday and told me he broke out in a cold sweat, for the first time in his life, while standing in line at a grocery store. On the way home, he had to pull over to the side of the road to throw up.

Whats going on with us, I asked him.

I think this is anxiety, he said.

Black Americans are not a monolithic group. We come from varying socioeconomic backgrounds, and the plight of one person does not represent that of another. Still, the black community I grew up around didnt prioritize mental health. Depression was written off as just feeling down. Anxiety was just a sign you needed to sleep more.

What this pandemic has done is shown me the importance of self-care, something I didnt know much about, or have a vested interest in, before now. Im not alone in this realization.

While recently reporting on what some Bay Area chefs were doing in the community to help people who may be struggling with access to food, I spoke with Oakland pit master Matt Horn about a few of his recent barbecue pop-ups where he gives away food for free. As of Wednesday, Horn had given away more than 2,700 free meals in West Oakland.

The work has been constant and stressful. Horn, who is black, has a young family. He texted me Monday saying he was thinking about eventually taking some time off  but only after he delivers food to the UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland on Friday.

When it comes to thinking about self-care during trying times, he said: Thats something I neglected.

Theres no break from hearing about the plight of black Americans. Weve now become the face of this virus. The issue was addressed at the White House on Tuesday by President Trump, who said officials were trying to find a reason for the high death rates among black people. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, described the predicament as sad, but added there is nothing to be done right now.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Back in Louisiana, where my family lives, 70% of the states more than 650 coronavirus-related deaths were African American patients. Black people constitute only one-third of Louisianas population.

The situation doesnt appear as disheartening in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom released limited data breaking down coronavirus patients and deaths by race in the state. Black people in California account for 6% of reported cases and 3% of overall deaths. Newsom also said the data are based on looking at fewer than 40% of the overall cases.

In a way, this may be good news. But as someone whose close friends and loved ones mostly live in other states where the numbers are bleak, Californias numbers dont give me much comfort.

The jokes about coronavirus immunity among black people may be gone from group texts and the phone calls I have with folks back home. I think weve discovered something better to speak about: admitting that mental health matters.

Addressing out loud with others how this virus is reshaping my world is as important as wearing masks and gloves or washing my hands. And though the pandemic is stripping many of us of our physical freedoms, due to sheltering in place and social distancing, Im hoping that the young black people I know can walk away with much-needed life skills, including coping with tragedy. As much as the pandemic takes, perhaps this can be something it gives.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 23:23:21|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China has released a plan on promoting the transformation of enterprises toward digitalization and intelligence by further expanding the application of cloud and data technologies.

Efforts will be made to nurture new business models of the digital economy, foster supply chains of data and forge a digitalized whole-industrial-chain ecosystem, said the document posted on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Friday.

Vowing to equip enterprises with cloud technology, the plan, jointly issued by the NDRC and the Cyberspace Administration of China, said the country will prompt digital transformation of enterprises in aspects including research and development, design, production, processing, management and sales services.

In addition, China supports platform enterprises to provide diversified services and lower costs of goods for small and medium-sized firms to help them tide over difficulties, it said.
WASHINGTON D.C.  Michigan Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow announced this week the state and many different organizations will receive federal funding to help with coronavirus response efforts.

Locally, $1.7 million from the CARES Act would go toward funding the Great Lakes Bay Health Centers, which has a location in Bad Axe and many more in the Saginaw Bay region.

The nurses, doctors and health care providers in these centers are on the front lines of this public health crisis and have been challenged like never before, Stabenow said in a statement. This funding will help meet the urgent need for personal protective equipment, test kits, and staffing in these centers.

The state of Michigan itself will receive $6.3 million from the Centers for Disease Control that will fund a wide range of activities like lab equipment, supplies, staffing, shipping, infection control, surge staffing, monitoring of individuals, and data management.

This funding will support a range of activities critical to coronavirus response efforts in Michigan, including purchasing vital medical equipment and helping hospitals with staffing needs, Peters said in a statement.

Other places in Michigan set to receive some federal funding include $10 million to centers in Southeastern Michigan, $8.7 million for centers across Western Michigan, about $2 million for centers in Mid-Michigan, and a little less than $1 million for a center in the Upper Peninsula.

While all these funding announcements have taken place, Peters was one of more than a dozen senators urging the CDC to make data on who has access to COVID-19 testing available to the public.

The senators want the data broken down by sex, ethnicity, whether a patient is a health care provider, and any other available demographic information.

Currently, the only data the CDC is making public are age groups of those testing positive, hospitalizations, and fatalities.

While we know that Michigan is a hot spot for coronavirus and that this pandemic is disproportionally impacting the African-American community, there is a lot more data we need the CDC to provide so that we can effectively address this pandemic, Peters said in a statement.

The two Michigan senators have also called for the Trump administration to prevent counterfeiting and price gouging on medical supplies and to address drug shortages and for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to waive the cost sharing burden for local communities that depend on FEMA grants.
Heres just an early heads-up on a possibly impactful storm system slated for Sunday night and Monday.

All of the weather model data I look at shows a very consistent big picture. Two storm systems will merge into one storm as those two storms move into the Great Lakes region. Once the weather scenario becomes one storm, the storm system is expected to strengthen. Remember, when a meteorologist talks about a strong storm I mean the lowering of the central air pressure. This all means a strong storm system produces a lot of wind. At the same time, this strengthening storm will bring heavy precipitation.

Radar forecast from 2 p.m. Sunday to 8 p.m. Monday, April 12-13, 2020

The animation above shows the storm system moving across Michigan Sunday night into Monday.

Also a word of caution- the track and strength forecast will likely change slightly over the next day.

Three notable weather features will be found with this weather-maker. Strong winds, heavy rain and heavy snow will be found somewhere in this storm.

The heaviest snow will likely fall in the Upper Peninsula, with possible heavy accumulations by April standards. Northwest Lower Michigan may also have several inches of accumulation. The rest of Lower Michigan probably will just have some spurts of snow that would melt quickly. I think most would agree any snow is too much right now.

Heres the forecast map in the heart of the storm.

Surface map for 2 p.m. Monday, April 13, 2020

All of the black squiggly lines first off show winds will be strong. I would say this pressure pattern would easily bring at least 40 mph wind gusts on Monday.

You can also see where heavy snow could be falling in the dark blue.

Snow should also be falling across northwest Lower Michigan.

Southern Lower Michigan would be in wind-driven rain showers changing to snow showers.

The exact track of the storm center will determine who gets how much snow.

So lets keep an eye on the track of this storm. Ill keep you updated this weekend. A good way to get quick updates on weather is to join the Michigan Weather Facebook group.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 03:17:16|Editor: zyl

Video Player Close

Medical workers work at Sant'Orsola-Malpighi hospital in Bologna, Italy, on April 9, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed 18,279 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries to 143,626 by Thursday, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department. (Photo by Gianni Schicchi/Xinhua)

ROME, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 18,279 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries to 143,626 by Thursday, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department.

Thursday saw 610 new fatalities and 1,979 new recoveries, raising the total recoveries to 28,470.

Addressing a televised press conference, Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli said 1,615 new active infections were registered compared to Wednesday, bringing the nationwide total to 96,877 infections.

Of those infected, 28,399 are hospitalized, 86 fewer from the previous day; 3,605 are in intensive care, 88 fewer; and 64,873 are isolated at home, said Borrelli who also serves as extraordinary commissioner for the coronavirus emergency.

According to Borrelli, the numbers in the last days confirmed that pressure on the national health system, and especially on hospitals in the most affected regions -- some northern and central areas of the country -- was decreasing.

"The past five days, four -- including today -- have ended with fewer patients hospitalized compared to the previous day," Franco Locatelli, president of Italy's Higher Health Council, told reporters at the same press conference.

"As for the number of patients admitted to intensive care, five days out of last five ended up with a drop compared to the previous day, and this proves the reduction in the pressure on hospitals mentioned by the commissioner," the expert stressed.

As of Thursday, some 105 doctors were among the victims of the pandemic, according to fresh data provided by Italy's National Federation of Orders of Surgeons and Dentists (FNOMCeO). That is in addition to more than 30 nurses and other medical staff who have died.

According to information from the High Institute of Health, more than 13,500 health workers have been infected with the coronavirus.

According to FNOMCeO President Filippo Anelli, the list of deceased doctors includes several who came out of retirement to help fight the spread of the virus.

"A doctor never stops being a doctor," Anelli said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's cabinet was considering whether to extend by 14 more days the current nationwide lockdown which expires on April 13, according to Ansa news agency, citing qualified sources.

However, no official announcement was made by authorities, and the decision would, as always, be up to the central government only, on the base of recommendations from the Technical and Scientific Committee.

Speaking to media lately, Conte has explained several times on a possible relaxation of current measures -- the shift to a so-called "phase two" of the emergency -- would eventually be decided gradually, and starting with some business activities only.

In order to orderly planning such step, Conte on Thursday discussed via video conference with representatives of the country's main workers unions CGIL, CISL, and UIL and the largest industrial association Confindustria.

In related news, after accompanying to northern Milan city 86 volunteer doctors from the southern regions, Minister of Regional Affairs Francesco Boccia said that the "phase two" would be implemented only after all hospitals and the whole country are secured.

"No region has asked me to reopen (business activities) ahead of others," Boccia told local media in a press conference in Milan.

"When it will be decided to turn switches back on, the path will be slow and gradual ... and I think it is safe to say this will be done differently from territory to territory," he added.
Suzies due date was March 25. But on the 13th of March, her kids school canceled class due to COVID-19. It also became more apparent that her parents, high-risk, would not be able to travel to her for the birth. When her two children got sick (not with COVID), she and her husband couldnt take the chance of anyone caring for them getting sick themselves in this heightened environment. Plus, Suzie, a nurse, knew being in a hospital meant she could come in contact with coronavirus. So, even though Massachusetts was still allowing birth partners, Suzie decided she had to deliver her baby in the hospital alone, which is what happened when she was induced on the 26th.

We asked her a few questions about her experience. Spoiler alert: Suzie and baby are doing great, and, after two weeks in quarantine, were able to go home and reunite with her family.

After you made the decision to deliver alone, how did you feel?

I felt sad, stressed and helpless. I was especially sad telling my parents not to fly to meet their grandchild. But our families understood, agreed with, and supported our decisions, which helped a lot. For the week or two before I gave birth, everything just came at me fast. First it was the schools closing. Then it was my kids getting sick. Then it was being scared I (or anyone I loved) would get sick. Then it was realizing that we wouldn't get any help from family after the birth and that even my OB was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Things were chaotic. It felt like we were inside a pressure cooker.

In addition to going it alone, how else did your new birth plan change?

I had to prep my kids, well, at least my 4-year-old, that I was going to the hospital to have the baby and then to Grandma and Grandpa's house with the baby after (my 2-year-old didn't understand). As for the actual labor and delivery, I went into the hospital by myself with hand sanitizer, a mask, gloves, wipes, etc. I knew I wanted to wear my mask the entire time, including labor, which I did. My husband and I chose to FaceTime right after the birth. I knew I wanted to leave the hospital as soon as possible, so I discharged myself a day early, as soon as the baby and I were cleared to go home we did.

Story continues

You've had two other kidshow did this labor and delivery differ?

Thankfully, just like my last two babies, it was a standard vaginal birth with an epidural with no complications. I am extremely fortunate. The main difference was that I just wanted to get in and out of the hospital and keep contact with others to minimal. During my first labor, there were a ton of people in the room during the birth (it was a big teaching hospital, so there were residents and students) and many people coming in and out during my hospital stay (visitors, staff, etc.). This time, I only allowed the necessary people in the room. I didn't leave my L&D or my post-partum room at all. Last time, I put my baby in the nursery. This time, she stayed with me the entire time.

How did your husband not being there impact things?

Of course, my husband being gone was upsetting. We didnt know the gender for all three kids, and it was so fun was when my husband got to announce it to the room the last two times. This time, the doctor told me, and I had to tell my husband on the phonewhich was weird.

What was the hospital staff like?

I mostly was in contact with the nurses, who were incredible. They were empathetic to my situation and really respected my needs. I told them I didn't want anyone in the room unless they needed to be, and I didn't want anyone touching the baby unless they absolutely had to. I can't imagine what they were going through. Many of the staff were parents, too, who also just found out school was cancelled indefinitely and yet here they are working at a hospital in a pandemic. It's scary for everyone, and they were very brave and kind.

What were the logistics of isolating with your newborn from your husband and kids?

I stayed at my in-laws, who live locally. We agreed on a plan a few days before the birth, so I was able to pack up my stuff, and they put it in a room for me. They brought up my food and did my laundry wearing gloves. I did eventually have to go to the pediatrician and do labs at the hospital, so if I went in and out of the house to drive or go for a walk, I wore gloves and a mask. They did, too, for everything. In the room, I was in constant contact with friends and family, exchanging pictures and FaceTiming my kids. I had a lot of support. It was nice to have alone time with the baby and recover physicallyespecially since I went home from the hospital a day early. My husband and kids remained home, doing the recommended social distancing, taking walks, watching tv, playing game, etc.

What type of temporary nursery did you set up in your in-laws house? Did you have everything you needed?

I was superstitious with all three kids and tried not to bring anything into the house before they were born. However, when I was finding that basic baby items like diapers and wipes were selling out online and we couldn't easily go to the store, I began to send these things to my in-laws' house to hold for me. When we decided I would quarantine there, I brought over what I already hada bassinet, nursing pillow, bottles, etc. They set this up in a bedroom for me upstairs with a mini-fridge and a table for meals.

I'm kinda just grasping that you had no help for two weeks with your infant...was that...INSANE???

Yes! It was tough to physically recover while also tending to the baby's needs. But I did have a lot of help from friends and family: my husband took care of the kids, my in-laws took care of food and laundry, my friends sent a meal-train from a local restaurant to both houses and helped with groceries, my parents sent care packages, etc. What was more difficult for me was the transition home. Suddenly, I was taking care of three kids all day with nowhere to go and no one to help. Then, staying up late with my husband finishing chores and doing feedings at night. But, talking to friends and family constantly and reading the news put everything in perspective. Although it's really hard, we are lucky that everyone is healthy and we have a lot to exciting things to look forward to.

After 14 days, you reunited with your family. What was that like?

My sons were so excited to meet their little sister, and of course, I was so happy to see them and be together as a family. At first, it didn't seem like any time had passed or that they were affected by my absence. But, when I had to run out quickly to get the rest of my stuff at my in-laws house, my 4-year-old cried and cried, thinking I was leaving him again. I sadly couldn't take him to his grandparents house, as we are following all of the social distancing guidelines, and I knew he would be upset if he couldn't see them.

What is your advice for the countless women who may experience the same thing?

Well, first I want to note that this is what worked for my family. I was lucky I was low-risk and on my third child, so I knew what to expect. That said, if I were to give any advice, it would be to stay in contact with your provider or the hospital and keep up with policy changes that may be changing daily. Don't ignore what's going on. It was easier for me to digest all the information over time.

RELATED: The Best Baby Workouts to Do with Your Little One
Corporate America is taking steps to protect its workforce from coronavirus as retail giant Walmart announced it will take the temperatures of its workers while Amazon said it is developing a lab that will screen employees for the pathogen.

Millions of Americans have been made jobless as a result of the pandemic while those who continue to work are vulnerable to contracting the virus.

That has forced large-scale companies to allay worker concerns by implementing measures that are designed to reduce the risk for employees while allowing business to continue operating in this new environment.

Doug McMillon, the president and CEO of Walmart, said on Friday that his company is adapting to the new reality.

Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said on Friday that his company has taken steps to protect employees from coronavirus, including plexiglass barriers at cash registers, enforced social distancing among customers, and temperature checks

In Walmart, weve made a number of operating adjustments, McMillon told NBCs TODAY Show on Friday.

Weve reduced our hours, were cleaning the stores overnight, weve got masks and gloves for our associates so that they can use those.

Weve put up plexiglass [barriers] at our cash registers and the pharmacy. Were taking the temperature of our associates starting today before they start in our stores, clubs, and distribution centers.

McMillon said that Walmart has also started to meter the number of customers that can enter any store at one time in order to create more social distance.

I think those are examples of how each business is going to prepare and respond, the CEO said.

Walmart employs 2.2 million people worldwide and 1.5 million in the United States alone.

Earlier this week, the family of a Walmart employee from Illinois who died after contracting coronavirus filed a lawsuit against the company saying it did not do enough to screen and protect workers.

The estate of Wando Evans filed the suit in Illinois on Monday, saying the Walmart store south of Chicago was not properly cleaned and employees were not given masks, gloves, antibacterial wipes or other protective equipment.

Meanwhile, Amazon says it has started building its own labs that will screen employees for COVID-19. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is seen above in September 2019

Dozens of Amazon employees at warehouses and fulfillment centers have tested positive for COVID-19, sparking anger among the workforce who say the company is not doing enough to protect them

Amazon on Thursday released images showing employees setting up a testing lab for coronavirus

Evans, 51 died on March 25, and another employee at the same store died four days later from complications due to coronavirus, according to the complaint.

The outbreak has now infected more than 470,000 nationwide and killed at least 16,700.

Arkansas-based Walmart said it had conducted 'a deep-cleaning of key areas' in the Illinois store, which has passed a health department inspection and a separate third-party review over the last week, according to a statement provided by a spokesman.

'We have taken steps across the country to protect our associates and customers, including additional cleaning measures, installing sneeze guards at registers, placing social distancing decals on the floors and limiting the number of customers in a store at a given time,' the company said.

The lawsuit filed by Evans' estate accuses Walmart of negligence and wrongful death in violation of Illinois law.

According to the complaint, Walmart did not follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Labor for maintaining safe workplaces, such as implementing social distancing.

Walmart also hired new workers in an expedited process without properly screening them for symptoms of COVID-19, Evans' estate says.

Tony Kalogerakos, a lawyer for the estate, said in a statement the lawsuit was the first wrongful death case filed in Illinois on behalf of a person who has died from COVID-19.

On Wednesday, Bezos paid a surprise visit to an Amazon warehouse in Dallas, where he received a temperature check from an employee

'The Centers for Disease Control has designated Walmart stores as 'high-volume retailers,' making them responsible for taking additional precautions to protect employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19,' he said.

Meanwhile, Walmarts competitor, Amazon, is working on building its own lab to test workers for the coronavirus.

In a blog post, the worlds largest retailer said that it, too, has taken steps to protect its workforce.

The company said it has begun distributing masks to employees. It has also started to take temperature checks of workers at company-owned warehouses, fulfillment centers, and grocery stores.

Jeff Bezos, the company founder and CEO, was filmed on Wednesday taking a temperature check and wearing a mask on a surprise visit to a Dallas-area warehouse and Whole Foods.

To get the economy back up and running, Amazon said that it would require regular testing on a global scale across all industries.

But in the absence of readily available testing, the company said it has begun the work of building incremental testing capacity.

A team of Amazonians with a variety of skills  from research scientists and program managers to procurement specialists and software engineers  have moved from their normal day jobs onto a dedicated team to work on this initiative, the company said.

The family of Wando Evans, 51, a Walmart employee from Illinois who died after contracting COVID-19, is suing the company for wrongful death

We have begun assembling the equipment we need to build our first lab and hope to start testing small numbers of our front line employees soon.

We are not sure how far we will get in the relevant timeframe, but we think its worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn with others.

Amazon employees have staged walkouts and work stoppages in recent weeks to protest what they believe to be the companys failure to provide adequate protection from coronavirus.

Grocery and warehouse workers - many in low-wage jobs - are manning the frontlines amid worldwide lockdowns, their work deemed essential to keep food and critical goods flowing.

They are insisting employers pay them more and provide masks, gloves, gowns and access to testing.

Arkansas-based Walmart said it had conducted 'a deep-cleaning of key areas' in the Illinois store, which has passed a health department inspection and a separate third-party review over the last week, according to a statement provided by a spokesman

Earlier this week, the company announced that it would be tracking its warehouse staff closely to make sure they are adhering to social distancing guidelines.

Amazon has pledged to fire any employee who fails to socially distance themselves from their co-workers.

Staff at an Amazon delivery facility in Chicago protested last Saturday, looking for more protections as they work.

Major grocery stores across the US report first employee deaths Top supermarket chains across the United States are reporting their first COVID-19 employee deaths after at least four staffers at retailers like Walmart and Trader Joe's died. Uncertainty amid the coronavirus pandemic has fueled stress among workers afraid of contracting the disease from customers and unexpected store closures. Two Walmart employees at the same Chicago-area store, a Trader Joe's worker in New York, and a greeter at a Maryland Giant grocery store passed away in the last two weeks. The Washington Post reports that thousands at grocery store staffers nationwide continue to work as the nationwide death toll continues to rise. Those numbers include grocery store employees who have complained of not having protective gear - like face masks and gloves - during shifts. Dozens have tested positive for the coronavirus. Experts said the influx of employee infections and deaths could likely affect grocers' ability to both maintain and add new staff. At the moment, Walmart, the largest private employer in the United States, announced they would hire 150,000 workers, while Kroger will boost staff by 10,000. Several grocers' are incentivizing potential workers with promises of masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and an extra $2 an hour. Advertisement

Police who broke up the vehicular picket were told they should be 'ashamed' of themselves, Patch.com reports.

Their colleagues in New York City also walked out last week and one worker was fired after protesting at the Staten Island facility.

Five senators have written to Amazon founder Bezos after the worker, Chris Smalls, was fired from his job following a protest at the company's Staten Island plant.

In the letter they express 'continued concern about working conditions at Amazon'.

An internal document leaked in which Amazon's general counsel described Smalls as 'not smart, or articulate.'

The company has since said it testing the use of disinfectant fog at the warehouse in Staten Island.

In a handful of states - Minnesota and Vermont were the first - have given grocery workers a special classification that allows them to put their children in state-paid child care while they work.

Unions in Colorado, Alaska, Texas and many other states are pressing governors to elevate grocery workers to the status of first responders.

To alleviate the concerns of some their workers Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, said it is rolling out face masks and temperature checks at all its U.S. and European warehouses by next week.

The company has also been in contact with the CEOs of two coronavirus test makers as it considers how to screen its staff and reduce the risk of infection at its warehouses, according to internal meeting notes seen by Reuters.

Workers at the Chicago facility who went on strike over the weekend said they were concerned about a lack of communication when one of their colleagues tested positive for the virus.

One driver said: Two people got confirmed with coronavirus and they never told us it was in the warehouse. The drivers also, we've got to go in the warehouse, load our vans and everything.

'There is no such thing as social distancing [in there] because you're all up close on each other.'

Amazon said they have made 'several changes to align with social distancing guidance' including increased cleaning and disinfecting at sites, no longer holding stand-up meetings during shifts, and a new cell phone process for those who need to be in contact with their families or childcare providers'.

A spokesman told the DailyMail.com: 'Our employees are heroes fighting for their communities and helping people get critical items they need in this crisis.

Like all businesses grappling with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we are working hard to keep employees safe while serving communities and the most vulnerable.

'We have taken extreme measures to keep people safe, tripling down on deep cleaning, procuring safety supplies that are available and changing processes to ensure those in our buildings are keeping safe distances.

We are committed to protecting our employees through our preventative health measures, enhanced cleaning and sanitation, and a broad suite of new benefits, including extended paid leave options for fulltime employees, additional $2 per hour, double time for overtime, and paid time off (PTO) benefits for regular part-time and seasonal employees.

We enforce strict 6 social distancing on our property and throughout our facilities.

'We also communicate when a COVID-19 case is confirmed in one of our buildings to all individuals who work at that site - not just to those whove come in close contact with the diagnosed individual.'

Grocery store death told rises to at least six as workers nationwide demand hazard pay and better protection

At least six grocery store employees have died across the country after showing up to their essential jobs in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. They are:

An employee at a FoodMaxx in San Jose died in late March

Walmart employee Wando Evans, 51, died on March 25 in Evergreen Park, Illinois

Phillip Thomas, 48, died on March 29 after working at same Illinois Walmart

Leilani Jordan, 27, died on April 1 after working at Giant in Largo, Maryland

Vitalina Williams, 59, died on April 5 after working at Market Basket in Salem, MA

A Trader Joe's employee in Scarsdale, New York died on April 6

The high risk and low pay has inspired protests around the country from irate workers demanding better conditions.

On Tuesday, workers at Stop & Shop , Whole Foods , and Trader Joe's in Boston united to protest against working conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The grocery store employees joined forces with customers to demand 'adequate protections', NBC Boston reports.

Leilani Jordan, 27, (left) died on April 1 after working at Giant in Largo, Maryland, and Phillip Thomas, 48, (right) died on March 29 after working at an Illinois Walmart

The group met in a Whole Foods parking lot where they stood apart to protest.

One worker at Shaw's grocery story, Lisa Wilson, told the network: 'I think grocery stores like to look like they're doing things...but as far as actually enforcing it...that's not really happening.'

Vitalina Williams, 59, died on April 5 after working at Market Basket in Salem, MA

Around 30 protesters met on Tuesday morning after several of their colleagues from across the state tested positive for the virus.

Other frontline workers have also gone on strike as a result of working conditions, including those as Amazon facilities, with Bezos being accused of 'valuing profit over safety'.

The online retail giant is tracking its warehouse staff and will fire them for failing to socially distance themselves from their co-workers.

Workers at facilities across the United States are said to have received letters from their employer explaining they could be sacked after just one warning.

A number of Amazon employees have walked out in recent days over conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

One worker told CNBC it is understood cameras would be used to watch and review staff for any potential violations.

One Amazon worker in Easton, Pennsylvania told The Guardian that Bezos 'clearly values profits above employee safety or health'.

Amazon says they have deployed an additional 450,000 canisters of disinfectant wipes, 50,000 hand sanitizers and 20,000 wall mounted sanitizer refill containers to sites in addition to other cleaning materials that were on-hand.

Employee Tonya Ramsay, right, holds a sign outside the Amazon DTW1 fulfillment center in Romulus, Michigan on Wednesday, April 1

Workers at Amazon's fulfillment center in Staten Island, NY, protest work conditions in the company's warehouse on March 30

Those delivering the food are also worried for their safety. The Truckers Independent Drivers Association wrote to Donald Trump asking for their health to be protected.

Todd Spencer, president and CEO of Kansas based organization, said: 'Right now professional drivers are busting their butts to care for the nation.

'Their hard work and personal sacrifice should not include their health or even their lives if at all possible or preventable.'
Bihar on Thursday evening reported 19 new Coronavirus cases, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 58. As number went up, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday evening urged citizens not to hide their travel history. At a meeting where he reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the state, CM Kumar appealed to the people of the state -- "Do not hide your travel history, whether outside Bihar or abroad".

He also called for intensive screening of the places coronavirus patients might have come in contact with, and following of "full medical protocol in the areas that have been identified as hotspots". The chief minister instructed officials to speed up the process of tracing and testing contacts of COVID-19 patients. He reiterated the need for maintaining social distancing under all circumstances and hoped that people would stay at their homes as far as possible and take necessary precautions.

READ | Bihari diaspora reaching out to stranded migrants

Siwan - the hotspot

Siwan district emerged as a hotspot, accounting for 17 of the fresh cases. All belong to Raghunathpur block, which has been sealed by the local administration and from where close to 100 samples were collected and have been sent for testing. The 16 COVID-19 patients from Raghunathpur include a 10-year-old boy, three girls aged between 11 and 12, nine women in the age group of 19 and 50 and two men, aged 19 and 60.

According to Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar, all of them had caught the contagion from a coronavirus patient who had travelled to Oman. Besides, another 36-year-old male from the district, with a travel history to Dubai, tested positive for the virus. The total number of cases from Siwan has now reached 27 - close to half of the statewide aggregate of 58.

READ | Amidst lockdown, Leopard wanders 300 km from Valmiki Nagar Jungles to Bihar's Vaishali

Cases from Begusarai

The remaining two cases, both boys in their teens, have been reported from Begusarai. They are residents of a village in the Teghra block and are believed to have got infected by two youths of the same age group, who had tested positive on Tuesday. According to Begusarai District Magistrate Arvind Kumar Verma, none of the four boys was known to have any recent travel history, but they were said to have been interacting with clerics at a local mosque and samples were collected after the village head informed the police a few days ago that the two had developed symptoms. Verma did not rule out the possibility of a connection with the Tablighi Jamaat congregation.

In Nawada, where a man with a travel history to Delhi had tested positive for the infection on Wednesday, District Magistrate Yashpal Meena said information has been sought from the national capital as to whether the 38-year-old had taken part in the religious congregation last month.

READ | Paramedic attached to isolation ward in Bihar hospital assaulted by neighbours

Coronavirus cases in Bihar

According to the state health department, of the cases confirmed in Bihar so far, 17 have recovered while one patient has died. The recovered patients include six from Munger and five from Patna, leaving the two districts with zero active cases as of now. All cases from Munger were traced to the sole deceased patient of the state who passed away on March 21, suffering from renal failure, a day before test results showed he was also COVID-19 positive. Three hospitals in the state, one each at Patna, Bhagalpur and Gaya, have been dedicated to the treatment of coronavirus patients.

(with PTI inputs)

READ | Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to extend Lockdown in Bihar beyond 14th April; may exempt villages
Florida governor Ron DeSantis has claimed coronavirus 'doesn't seem to threaten' children.

DeSantis, 41, also falsely claimed that nobody under the age of 25 had been killed by the virus in the US, in comments made at an educational roundtable on Thursday.

The governor was discussing distance learning with teachers, parents and government leaders and said: 'This particular pandemic is one where I don't think nationwide there's been a single fatality under 25.

'For whatever reason it just doesn't seem to threaten, you know, kids,' CNN reported.

But in reality four patients under the age of 25 are known to have died from Covid-19 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, above, speaks at the Miami Beach Convention Center to discuss the U.S. Army Corps' building a coronavirus field hospital inside the facility

DeSantis imposed a month-long state lockdown on April 1 after facing increasing calls to implement measures and halt the spread of the virus.

At the time he said: 'At this point, even though I think there's a lot of places in Florida that have very low infection rates, it makes sense to make this move now.

'I did consult with folks in the White House. I did speak to the president.'

Florida's Department of Education had already ordered all public schools to close between March 16 and March 30, though this was later extended.

Healthcare workers wearing personal protection equipment administer coronavirus tests at a a drive-thru Covid-19 test collection facility in Melbourne, Florida. The facility will test at least 500 people every day of the week

Despite DeSantis claims nobody under the age of 25 had died from Corinavirus in the US, the CDC reports a total of four such deaths

Now DeSantis has left open the possibility of schools reopening in May, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

When asked if he planned to keep schools closed for the remainder of the academic year DeSantis said: 'We're going to look at the evidence and make a decision. If it's safe we want kids to be in school. Even if its for a couple of weeks, we think there would be value in that.'

Although adults do account for the majority of confirmed cases, there are known cases of children infected with the virus.

Infants with the bug have generally shown milder symptoms than adults, federal health officials say, but can still act as carriers of the virus and spread it to others.

Ron DeSantis's office was contacted by MailOnline for comment.

Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stand outside the Miami Beach Convention Center as they prepare to build a coronavirus field hospital inside the facility

Above, Army Corp Administrative Contracting Officer Nestor Rivera shows what an ICU unit will look like at the Miami Beach Convention Center

While there are no reported deaths of victims under the age of 25 in Florida, the state has been hit hard by the virus.

More than 16,600 people in the state have tested positive for the virus, with 371 known deaths from Covid-19.

Earlier this week DeSantis announced at a press conference that the Miami Beach Convention Center will be converted into a field hospital with 400 regular beds and 50 ICU beds.

He said there was the ability to scale up to 1,000 beds if needed, as the region anticipates a surge of coronavirus patients.
Lithuanian English

Invalda INVL, one of the leading asset management groups in the Baltics, will manage MD Partners, a company that has invested in Moldova-Agroindbank (MAIB), the largest commercial bank in Moldova, together with an investment fund INVL Special Opportunities Fund which is managed by INVL Asset Management.

After the permission was received from the central bank of Moldova and MD Partners bonds, issued in 2018, were converted into shares, Invalda INVL holds 51.37% and INVL Special Opportunities Fund 48.63% of MD Partners shares.

"We are asset managers who invest alongside our clients. That is why we invited private investors, who in 2018 invested EUR 4.5 million in INVL Special Opportunities Fund, to join the transaction in Moldova. The fund held MD Partners bonds, so investors had both the interest and the opportunity to monitor closely the story of MAIB after the international consortium had acquired its shares, said Vytautas Plunksnis, Head of the Private Equity at INVL Asset Management, who is also a member of the Supervisory Board of MAIB.

According to him, the funds beneficial owners are Lithuanian companies and high net worth individuals who meet the criteria of informed investors.

An international consortium consisting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Invalda INVL and Horizon Capital, operating through an England based company HEIM Partners, holds 41.09% of the banks shares since winning the auction to acquire MAIB shares in October 2018.

MD Partners owns 37.5% of the shares of HEIM Partners. Other shareholders of HEIM Partners are EBRD (37.5%) and US based Emerging Europe Growth Fund III, managed by Horizon Capital (25%).

"We are pleased with the cooperation with the EBRD and Horizon Capital in jointly managing the bank and implementing corporate and risk management principles in line with Western standards, which contributes to the development of the Moldovan banking system," Vytautas Plunksnis said.

We launched the transformation of MAIB from corporate to retail banking, focusing on improving and expanding security systems and internet banking infrastructure. Together with the team, we aim not only to consolidate MAIBs position as the undisputed #1 bank in the market, but also as the most customer-friendly and technologically advanced commercial bank in Moldova, noted V. Plunksnis.

Last year, MAIB's assets grew by 10% up to MDL 25.9 billion (EUR 1.3 billion). According to this indicator, the bank accounted for 29% of the Moldovan banking market. MAIB's loan portfolio increased by 15% up to MDL 14.3 billion (EUR 740 million) and deposits by 9% up to MDL 20.3 billion (EUR 1.1 billion). According to these indicators, MAIB accounted for respectively 35% and 30% of the market. Meanwhile, the bank's net profit jumped 33% last year as MAIB earned MDL 704 million (EUR 37 million).

The remaining shares of MAIB are owned by more than 3 thousand local shareholders, including current and former management of the bank.

INVL Special Opportunities Fund, an investment fund for informed investors, is managed by INVL Asset Management, one of the leading asset management companies in Lithuania, which belongs to Invalda INVL asset management group. The companies in the group manage pension and investment funds, alternative investments, individual portfolios and other financial instruments.

The person authorized to provide additional information is:

Vytautas Plunksnis

Head of the Private Equity at INVL Asset Management

e-mail Vytautas.Plunksnis@invl.com
Without a doubt, one of the strangest constellations in the Rochester sky is Auriga, the retired chariot driver schlepping goats on his shoulder. I would have liked to have been at the party when they dreamed up that constellation. Auriga is part of my favorite group of constellations that I call "Orion and his Gang." Early in the evening Auriga is perched to the upper right of Orions head in the western sky. It resembles a giant pentagon with the bright star Capella at one of the corners.

How you make a giant lopsided pentagon into a chariot driver hauling a family of goats takes one heck of an imagination, and perhaps a few libations. Most constellations dont look like what they are supposed to be, thats because they were just visual tools to pass on stories and legends from generation to generation. Way back in the day, without endless strip malls, shopping centers, and office towers, people were very much in touch with the night sky. Folks would see a formation or group of stars that approximately matched the character of a particular story and then named that constellation after that character. Different civilizations would have different characters and constellations. The Greeks were responsible for naming Auriga, but I think they went to extremes here!

According to one of the Greek legends, there once was a mighty king named Oenomaus, who ruled a vast kingdom. He had a beautiful daughter, Hippodameia, who had many suitors who wished to marry her. King Oenomaus didnt wish for his daughter to be married to any of them. He wanted them all killed. Nice guy! The king happened to be an excellent chariot racer and arranged races with all of Hippodameias suitors. The first suitor to beat the king in a race would win the hand of his daughter, but if he lost, he would be killed. Since Oenomaus had the fastest horses in the land and the best chariot mechanics, he easily trounced all the challengers and had them meet their death. Pelops, son of Hermes, the messenger of the gods, watched this carnage. He then decided to take a shot at it for the hand of Hippodameia. Being the son of a big-shot Greek god, he got a little divine help from his fathers fellow gods. They crafted up a chariot that would sprout golden wings to ensure victory. Pelops didnt stop there though; he made a deal with Oenomauss chariot driver Myrtilus to betray the king. He wanted Myrtilus to replace the metal lynchpins of the kings chariot with ones made of wax. Pelops promised half of the kingdom to Myrtilus if the king lost the race and was killed. Myrtilus agreed and the fix was on.

When the race began Oenomaus was able to keep up with Pelops, but as soon as the golden wings popped out of the crooked suitors chariot, the king was left in a cloud of dust. Oenomaus demanded that Myrtilus make his horses go faster, but instead of heeding his kings command Myrtilus leaped from the chariot just before the wax lynchpins gave way and the chariot fell apart. Oenomaus was dragged to his death, cursing the name of Myrtilus.

Pelops proceeded to marry Hippodameia and lived happily ever after with the queen of his stolen kingdom. Myrtilus was happy for the young couple but wanted his half of the kingdom. After all, a deal was a deal! He went after Pelops and demanded his share. Pelops, crook that he was, told him that his lawyers were drawing up the owpapers and they would be ready in a few days. Myrtilus was happy with that and turned away to walk off. Just as he did, Pelops, with his inherited godly pers, kicked Myrtilus so hard that he flew into the sky and magically became the constellation we know as Auriga.

ADVERTISEMENT

No one knows exactly how the betraying chariot driver got the mama goat and her baby goats on his shoulder, but the leading theory is that shepherds added them as they watched their flocks at night and gazed upon the stars.

Again, look for Auriga in the western sky to the upper right of the constellation Orion. The bright star Capella is where the mama goat is on Myrtiluss shoulder. See if you can spot the dim triangle of three stars that make up the baby goats a little below Capella.

A Comet is Coming!

A very special celestial visitor on the way to our part of the solar system. Its formally known as Comet C/2019 Y4 ATLAS. Most folks though just call it Comet ATLAS. It wasnt named after a Greek god, but rather ATLAS is an acronym for Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System in Hawaii where astronomers discovered it late last December. Since then the comet has brightened considerably. You should be able to spot Atlas as "fuzzy" star with just a bit of a tail visible with binoculars and small telescopes. In areas away from heavy light pollution you may spot it with the naked eye. Currently it can be found in the early evening northwest sky about halfway from the bright star Capella in Arcturus the pot section of the Big Dipper.

Some astronomers are even predicting it could become visible in the daytime in May as it passes within 73 million miles of Earth. I certainly wouldn't bet the farm on that though. Predicting the behavior and brightness of comets is extremely difficult. Between now and the end of May Atlas could easily break up as it draws closer to the sun. Stay tuned!
In picture books and pamphlets, in the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera, Jesus was depicted as a skinny white guy with long golden hair, a wispy beard and watery blue eyes. His face was kind and benign even as his palms bled and his friends looked the other way. I loved him like I loved Milo bars and BMX and Hanna-Barbara cartoons.

'At church I'd sit on the hard pews and read the stations of the cross laid out in panels on the walls while the priest droned.' Credit:Getty Images

The actual building was at the end of the long block; if you tried to escape you wouldn't get far. Maybe to the recycle cage where you could look for Dollys (and find Playboys). Or the new-build priest's house  it had brass fixtures. I couldn't believe he got to live there for free, but he'd given his life to God so it was fair.

I was born to love something bigger than myself. At first I thought that something was Jesus. At church I'd sit on the hard pews and read the stations of the cross laid out in panels on the walls while the priest droned and people stood up and sat down and sang Make Me A Channel of Your Peace. We went every Sunday, and sometimes on Saturdays for fetes or working bees. Church was bricks and wood and glass and dust motes.

I kept the bible by my bedside and challenged myself to read every story, even the grisly ones  the butchering of firstborn boys, Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt. I loved Jesus and he loved me and I thought that was how it would be forever  until one of the Sunday School teachers started talking about his high standards. Jesus, she said, will love you but you have to be good.

I was not always good. I talked back to my parents, and to teachers; I believed in horoscopes and telepathy and Dynasty; I coveted the contents of other people's lunchboxes (JS at school called me her garbage disposal unit. She kept giving me Wagon Wheels  as if I'd say no!); I was greedy, and selfish. I lied and I stole. One of the few things that got me through mass was knowing that at the end ladies would bring out morning tea. I, fast and small, could weave through the maze of polyester crotches to grab handfuls of Arnott's Assorted.

Simmone Howell: ''I loved Jesus like I loved Milo bars and BMX and Hanna-Barbara cartoons.''

I knew stealing was wrong. I'd devoured Second Form at Malory Towers and found the storyline about new girl Daphne wholly compelling. She was supposedly rich but secretly stealing all the other girls' purses. She tried to hide the evidence by sending them home to herself in a parcel. But it all came out after Miss Grayling gave her the choice to either leave school or 'fess up. Daphne redeemed herself in the end by saving Mary-Lou from certain death. And the girls all agreed a good deed cancelled out a bad one.

I knew stealing was wrong, but it was also tempting. It satisfied some hollow feeling in me, or maybe the hollow feeling was just boredom. It wasn't easy to stay in the one place for an hour. I never got used to the kneeling. Church was too hot in summer and too cold in winter. There was always shuffling and coughing and sometimes, farts. I'd fix on certain faces, wonder about certain families, wonder about the way grown-ups could live with themselves for singing so confidently, and yet so off-key.
Update: On April 13, Sight & Sound announced its production of Jesus is now available for purchase

Update: Sight & Sounds production of Jesus will return to TV on May 13

Lancaster Countys Sight & Sound Theatres is bringing its stage production of Jesus to television for Easter weekend.

The production can be seen on the Trinity Broadcasting Network also known as TBN this weekend at 1 p.m. Saturday; and at 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Sunday. In the Harrisburg area, TBN is channel 290 on Comcast; 295 on Verizon; 372 on DirecTV and 260 on Dish. You can also watch the production on TBNs website or on TBNs app free Easter weekend, Friday through Sunday.

READ MORE:

Heres how TBN describes the production:

Filmed in front of a live audience, Jesus is a state-of-the-art theatrical stage production that has been seen by more than one million people. Witness some of the most awe-inspiring, miraculous events in the gospels as Jesus sets sail with fishermen, challenges the Pharisees, and heals the hurting. From the bustling streets of Jerusalem to the raging Sea of Galilee, experience the greatest rescue story of all time as Sight & Sounds spectacular original production comes to life in this special worldwide television debutexclusively on TBN.

READ MORE:

Sight and Sound said that its production of Jesus had the highest-attended premiere year in its 43-year history. The show has a 45-member cast. The theaters LED screen was 113 feet wide and almost 30 feet tall and weighing 12 tons. The show features 368 costume designs for 882 costumes and 2,400 costume pieces. Sight & Sounds seamstresses sewed 14,000 snaps on by hand and used 7,644 yards of fabric. The show features 288 wigs. The show includes live animals such as horses, dogs, pigs, goats, sheep, camels, alpacas and more.

Originally, the theater was going to bring the production to movie theaters this month, according to LancasterOnline but, all movie theaters in the state are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the related government shutdown of all non-life sustaining businesses. The last three years it brought its shows of Jonah, Moses and Noah to movie screens.

Sight & Sound Theatres has theaters in East Lampeter Township, Lancaster County and Branson, Missouri and brings stories from the Bible to stage.

--Sign up for PennLives newsletters

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

You can follow Daniel Urie on twitter @DanielUrie2018 and you can like PennLives business page on Facebook at @PennLiveBusiness
[April 10, 2020] RISE Robotics Raises $3 Million in Additional Funding to Drive Forward the Electrification and Sustainability of Heavy Machinery

RISE Robotics, a leader in high-performance and cost effective electric linear actuation solutions, today announced it has raised $3 million in additional funding. The funding round was led by The Engine, the venture firm spun out of MIT (News - Alert) that invests in early-stage Tough Tech companies that are solving the world's most urgent problems, such as climate change, through the convergence of breakthrough science, engineering, and leadership. RISE Robotics' technology disrupts how linear actuators are engineered and makes the shift from diesel to electric systems possible, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible. Linear actuators create the push-and-pull movements in the mechanisms of heavy machinery which are essential for lifting and loading materials across many industries, including: construction, agriculture, and waste management. Without linear actuators excavators couldn't dig, garbage trucks couldn't crush, and forklifts couldn't lift. The majority of heavy machines today rely on hydraulic systems, powered by diesel, to enable motion. It is the most essential, but also the most wasteful component in the overall motion system, producing an estimated 55 million ton of CO2 annually in the U.S. alone according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. As OEMs are forced to adapt their products to comply with imminent emissions regulations, the industry has struggled with the slow pace of innovation and high cost of using electricity as a power source for heavy machinery.



"Hybrid and electric retrofits to existing hydraulic systems are more expensive than the existing diesel systems and are much harder to control. Hydraulics are slowing and literally weighing down the adoption of electrically powered heavy machines," said Arron Acosta, CEO and Co-founder of RISE Robotics. "The RISE platform offers a completely new mechanical motion technology that makes electric-powered motor-to-movement solutions possible. It's a game changer for any manufacturer trying to electrify its heavy machinery." The additional funding will support RISE Robotics' work with a leading forklift manufacturer to accelerate the electrification of its machinery, increasing the performance of the manufacturer's existing electric forklifts and enabling the electrification of its larger scale machinery, which is currently diesel-fueled.

Reed Sturtevant, a General Partner of The Engine, and angel investor Walter A. Winshall will join RISE Robotics' Board of Directors. "It takes a lot to make a machine move. Displacing hydraulics is just the first application of RISE Robotics' IP for improving motion and electrifying heavy machinery. Their research, approach and systems will be crucial in evolving how other key mechanical components work, but most importantly these innovations to the fundamentals of how machinery moves will lead the industry toward not just compliance with emissions standards but helping heavy machinery become an oil-free, zero emissions industry in the future," said Sturtevant. RISE Robotics' co-founders Arron Acosta and Blake Sessions met while at MIT and formed the company with Toomas Sepp and Kyle Dell' (News - Alert)Aquila. The company was part of the Techstars accelerator and has received angel funding from notable Boston investors and advisors including John P. Strauss, William J. Warner, and Walter A. Winshall. RISE Robotics has two commercial agreements, one with a major manufacturer of lifting machinery, and another with the U.S. Air Force. ABOUT RISE ROBOTICS RISE Robotics is the leader in high-performance and cost effective electric linear actuation solutions. RISE helps designers embrace high-efficiency, fuel saving actuation solutions that compete with hydraulic cylinders. Designed for medium and heavy duty applications, the RISE Cylinder provides fuel and emissions reductions, improves productivity and extends machine life. Find RISE online: https://www.riserobotics.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005033/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
,



We're sorry, this article is not currently available
As the Long Beach Unified School District commits to keeping classes in-person, the city a new testing site opens for LBUSD employees and students only. The city is also ramping up its own testing efforts with a new 3,000-person per...
(Natural News) A scientific adviser to the U.K. government intensified the row over Britains coronavirus lockdown by saying that people should go back to work despite the pandemic. As part of this, the adviser stated that the country couldnt keep hiding from the coronavirus.

Rupert Shute, the deputy scientific adviser at the Home Office, made the statements while on a conference call with Passport Office officials, urging them to return to work. He said that while staying home was important, people also needed to keep functioning our lives.

You are no more at risk at the workplace as you would be in your home or at the supermarket, stated Schute. It is about minimizing it. We are working on the assessment that 80 percent of us if we havent already, will get the virus. We cannot hide away from it forever.

Schute blasted for cavalier approach to the coronavirus

The Public and Commercial Services union, which represents passport workers, has called out Schute and the Passport Offices move to send its workers back to the office.

The cavalier approach to our members health and safety is shameful and ultimately puts them in greater danger of contracting COVID-19, stated Mark Serwotka, the unions general secretary. We have already had members die as a result of contracting coronavirus, and pressured civil service managers in other departments to shut offices so staff can work from home.

For the deputy chief scientific adviser at the Home Office to suggest that going into work does not put you at greater risk of contracting corona is extremely irresponsible and totally contradicts current government guidance. Processing passports is not critical work while we are in lockdown and international travel is practically non-existent due to the corona pandemic, he added.

The office of the Prime Minister sent out a response supporting the Passport Office, stating that the latter was adhering to public health advice. However, it appeared to contradict the view of its deputy scientific adviser Schute.

The governments focus is on stopping the spread of the disease to protect the health service, stated the Prime Ministers official spokesperson. I think youve heard on a daily basis from the chief scientific and medical officers they have been very, very clear on the need for people to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

The contradictions between this and Schutes comments look to be another indicator of the row within the British government on whether it should have followed a herd immunity strategy.

Fighting over whether the U.K. should promote herd immunity

Back in March, the U.K. government initially presented a herd immunity plan to address the coronavirus. The plan, as explained by governments chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance to BBC Radio 4, was to build this herd immunity by allowing up to 60 percent of the population  mostly young people who were more likely to recover from the disease  to catch the virus and develop immunity from it. The idea is that this would prevent the virus from spreading to the rest of the population.

However, the U.K. backed away from this idea after it received backlash from the British public. A few days following Vallances announcement, Matt Hancock, the U.K.s secretary of state for health and social care, said that achieving herd immunity was not a stated policy. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has since issued a stay-at-home order that has imposed the most stringent restrictions on the British people since the Second World War. Johnson has since been incapacitated by the coronavirus. (Related: Because the lockdowns are saving lives, ignorant experts claim the coronavirus is a hoax.)

On Thursday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab stated that the lockdown measures would be rolled over next week. Raab said that it was too early to lift them, but that scientists and ministers hoped to have enough information by the end of next week to assess how long the lockdowns needs to last.

Its been almost three weeks and were starting to see the impact of the sacrifices weve all made, said Raab. But the deaths are still rising and we havent yet reached the peak of the virus. So its still too early to lift the measures that we put in place. We must stick to the plan and we must continue to be guided by the science.

Despite Raabs statement, however, the statements of Schute in regards to the Passport Offices workers show that not everyone is on board with that.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

TheGuardian.co.uk

Vox.com

Edition.CNN.com
BUTTE, Mont., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NorthWestern Energy notified the Montana Public Service Commission today that Talen Energy has purported to exercise its right under the Colstrip Ownership and Operation agreement to acquire a portion of the transaction that was negotiated between Puget Sound Energy and NWE. This concerns Puget's proposed sale of its 185 megawatt interest in Colstrip Unit 4.

If Talen Energy is able to purchase a portion of Puget's Unit 4 interest, it means NorthWestern Energy would acquire at a minimum half of Puget Sound Energy's interest in Colstrip Unit 4, 92.5 megawatts instead of 185 megawatts, half of all the costs, and the purchase price is now $0.50. The Power Purchase Agreement with Puget Sound Energy would be for 45 megawatts of energy, not 90 megawatts, for about five years.

NorthWestern Energy will file a supplement to our original application for approval of the acquisition with the Montana Public Service Commission by the end of April, with a supplement to the revenue requirement and analyses of the costs of alternatives, power purchase agreement revenue, and the offset in the Power Costs and Credits Adjustment Mechanism. The benefits for NorthWestern Energy and its customers are still very compelling.

This development does not change the general structure of NorthWestern Energy's proposal and we expect the Montana Public Service Commission to proceed with the application docket schedule. The acquisition must be complete by the end of December because if it is not, either party can withdraw from the agreement.

Purchasing more of Colstrip Unit 4 for one dollar or less is by far the most affordable way to help close the gap in the capacity shortage facing our Montana customers. No other option  buying additional energy from the market or building a plant that would generate more than 90 megawatts of energy over multiple days when it is needed the most - can achieve the same results.

"NorthWestern Energy and Puget Sound Energy negotiated and reached an agreement with good outcomes for both companies' customers," said NorthWestern Energy Vice President Energy Supply and Montana Government Relations John Hines. "Unfortunately at the end of all that hard work by NorthWestern Energy and Puget Sound Energy half of the value that would have gone to Montanans may be taken by an independent power producer.

"Obviously this transaction has tremendous benefit to Puget and NWE and Talen Energy is insisting on being part of this value."

The revenue for a reserve fund to be used for environmental compliance, remediation and decommissioning costs of NorthWestern Energy's existing share of Colstrip Unit 4 would also be cut in half. NorthWestern Energy is asking the Montana Public Service commission to approve a tariff change that will earmark proceeds from the power purchase agreement with Puget Sound Energy and savings from avoided market purchases of energy for that reserve fund.

"Colstrip Unit 4 provides critically needed capacity at the most affordable rate for NorthWestern Energy's customers," Hines said. "This acquisition, which does not result in a rate increase, is an effort by NorthWestern Energy to continue this generation asset's viability as we pursue a reasonable transition to different energy portfolio, a transition that preserves energy reliability at affordable prices for all of our customers.

"With Talen Energy asserting its right of first refusal to enter this agreement, we expect them to be our long-term partner in Colstrip Unit 4. That is what is right for Montanans and anything less would be a disservice."

Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter (@NWEinfo).

About NorthWestern Energy (NYSE: NWE)

NorthWestern provides electricity and / or natural gas to approximately 734,800 customers in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. We have generated and distributed electricity in South Dakota and distributed natural gas in South Dakota and Nebraska since 1923 and have generated and distributed electricity and distributed natural gas in Montana since 2002. More information on NorthWestern is available on the company's website at www.northwesternenergy.com.

SOURCE NorthWestern Energy

Related Links

www.northwesternenergy.com


Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Friday said the nationwide lockdown should be extended to end the spread of coronavirus.

"Considering the number of states affected by coronavirus in India, I believe that the lockdown should not be lifted on April 14, but extended further so that we end the spread of the Coronavirus," Rawat told ANI.

With regards to the COVID-19 situation in the Uttarakhand, he informed that the state is in stage one. "The situation is currently in stage one--it is not even in stage two. Wherever COVID-19 cases have been found or chances of where COVID-19 cases can emerge have been locked down," he added.

On the issue of Tablighi Jamaat returnees having to surrender themselves, he said that the state has been very stringent pertaining to the matter. "We had a very small list initially, but when we tightened our grip on the matter, where we said if any Tablighi who does not come forward and surrender them, then they would have a case registered for attempted murder would be registered."

While many have come forward, he further appealed that returnees must report to authorities and get tested. "I appeal to you all to come forward and get tested. It is not a defect but it is a disease that needs to be treated," he said.

With regards to the testing facilities in the state, he said that at the present moment, there are two testing facilities functional and close to 120 tests are being conducted on a daily basis.

"We have around 10,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, 30,000 masks, and 257 ventilators. We do not need a lot of N-95 masks at the current moment. But thankfully, we did not need to use the ventilator," he stated.

At least 35 cases have been reported in the state so far and 5 people have also recovered from the disease. No deaths have been reported so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On track to graduate in May from Illinois State, Alina Simkina thought she was set.

She had accepted a job offer with an executive search firm in Chicago and planned to start work as a recruiter no later than June. But on March 24, she got a phone call.

It was the executive director, Simkina said, letting me know my offer was being withdrawn due to the economy and the unknowningness of whats going to happen over the next couple of months.

Like tens of thousands of college students set to graduate this spring, Simkina, 22, is still looking for employment. She has applied for positions as a sales rep and a financial analyst and is interested in the Chicago-area trucking industry that needs Russian-speaking dispatchers.

My skills are transferable skills, Simkina told USA TODAY. Ive basically been open to anything.

In whats now considered the worst job market since the 2008-09 recession, 22% of companies recently polled by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) are considering rescinding job offers.

"It feels pretty dire,'' said Andy Challenger, vice president of the employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "There are a lot of unknowns right now and I think it's going to be a tough time for new graduates coming into this market.'

Job interviews and recruiting continue thanks to Zoom and other video conferencing software as the process has shifted from in-person to virtual, experts say. But optimism has dimmed since college campuses shut down in March and the coronavirus rocked the U.S. economy.

Its difficult to know how many students had job offers in hand before the coronavirus decimated the job market, said Phillip Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State. But whats worrisome is that about 60% of all new graduates obtain employment with firms and establishments with 500 or fewer employers  the smaller businesses that have been the hardest hit in the coronavirus crisis.

Story continues

'You're laid off. Sorry':When coronavirus closed colleges, student workers lost jobs

College consultant: This Harvard grad has made millions on U.S. college admissions for international students

These are the firms being crushed in the shutdown of the economy, Gardner said. We will just have to see how they recover.

JaNet Glover, senior director for career services at the University of Florida, said many companies still are hiring.

So that produces hope and promise for our students, she said. But some of the companies that are hiring might not be hiring for positions that students are looking for. Or, as Andy Chan, vice president for personal and career development at Wake Forest University, put it: Be OK with Plan B.

There will be time to find that beautiful job down the road, he said.

Alina Simkina's job offer was withdrawn as the economy took a dive because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marie Chailosky, a senior at Ohio University majoring in journalism, said she secured an internship with Warner Music Groups radio streaming department on March 6. But just 20 days later she got an email informing her the internship program had been canceled.

When I opened the email, I just burst out into tears, Chailosky said. It was my dream job. Its the company Ive been wanting to work for years.

Since then, shes been applying for three to four jobs a day, either in the music industry or in journalism.

Marie Chailosky "just burst out into tears" when she found out her internship had been canceled.

Just pretty much anything that aligns with any of the skills I have, she said. Im not being picky even in the slightest.

NACE reports that 15% of companies it polled are canceling summer internships. Hassan Akmal, executive director of UCLAs Career Center, said many companies are continuing with their internship programs and reassigning projects remotely.

The bright side

Its not all doom and gloom for the Class of 2020.

While job openings are scarce in industries like travel, leisure and hospitality, opportunities are more plentiful in health care, technology and manufacturing.

We're not on campus anymore: A rapping professor. A cat in class. Pornography on Zoom. How online classes work at colleges during coronavirus

Demand for doctors and nurses is off the charts. New York Medical College even moved up its graduation to April 8, releasing 75 newly minted doctors in the midst of the pandemic.

"Many hospitals want anyone they can get in this crisis," said Dr. Alan Kadish, the president of NYMC. "There's talk of doctors working in hospitals other than where they'll do their residency. They're just filling in where needed."

Humana, the Kentucky-based health insurance giant, has more than 2,000 open positions across the company, and roughly a third of those are applicable for new graduates, according to Nancy Hanewinckel, a company spokeswoman.

"The current environment amplifies the need to provide real-world opportunities for college graduates to build their skills and capabilities in the health care space," Hanewinckel said. She added that Humana is moving forward with its summer internship programs for both undergraduate and graduate-level students, making the positions virtual experiences.

Genentech, a biotechnology corporation based in south San Francisco, is also hiring research and development, manufacturing, sales and marketing and IT workers. But even though the company specializes in developing medicines to treat serious illnesses, company spokeswoman Heather Gloe said Genentech has not increased its hiring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We do hire a select number of recent college graduates for internships, full-time rotational programs and postdoc opportunities," she said.

Margo Jenkins, director of the career center at Clarkson University, said STEM majors are landing jobs with utility companies and the nuclear power industry along with openings in the manufacturing industry.

Everything thats still keeping us going right now, she said, referring to positions deemed essential during the COVID-19 crisis.

Based on job listings on LinkedIn from March 15 to March 21, the jobs most in demand in the U.S. are: store associate, systems operator, certified public accountant, health care specialist, construction worker, warehouse manager, psychologist, vehicle mechanic, academic adviser and delivery driver.

Companies with a big e-commerce component are a good place to look for jobs, said Challenger.

What were hearing from recruiters is theyre still getting requests to fill jobs in the supply chain, he said. People who are logistics coordinators work on the supply chain inside companies to make sure these complicated e-commerce machines can keep running during this time. Thats a really good place to look.' He said those specific companies include Amazon, Walmart and Target.

Challenger found Chicago-area Amazon job listings on Glassdoor.com for "area manager, logistics'' that pay up to $65,000 a year and for "procurement operations analyst'' that pay up to $68,000 a year.'' He said students majoring in supply chain, engineering or business administration are best positioned for the jobs.

Companies that are putting emergency plans together to increase their output of medical supplies need extra help right now, he said. Theyre hiring.

'A war for talent'

Another company hiring is Lockheed Martin, the defense giant which on April 3 announced it is advertising for 5,000 open positions and hired 1,000 new employees during the previous two weeks. Approximately 70% of new hires and open positions are classified as STEM/Technical and the others nontechnical, said Trent Perrotto, director of media relations for Lockheed Martin.

Were still in a war for talent out there, said Jean Wallace, vice president for Workforce Solutions and Intelligence for Lockheed Martin.

On Tuesday, more than 200 open positions were designated for candidates with at least four years of college and available in different areas around the country, according to Perrotto. He said the company also has 165 intern or work-study roles currently advertised on its careers site and Lockheed Martin's talent acquisition team reports it is continuing to see a healthy flow of candidates.

Perrotto declined to provide information about salaries, other than to say, "The ranges would be dependent on the role, geography, etc. I don't think we'll be able to provide specificity beyond that."

Then there's Amazon, which in May announced it was opening 100,000 new full-time and part-time positions across the United States.

We plan to continue hiring undergraduate and graduate students for internship and full-time opportunities in 2020 and beyond," said Brett Saks, Amazon's director of student programs. "Global challenges resulting from COVID-19 have made resourcefulness, speed, and creativity even more valuable assets in any candidate  and students have not only the skills but the drive to come build the future with us.

Theres also been a spike in software industry job postings on LinkedIn, said Blair Heitmann, a career expert for the professional networking site. She added that KPMG, the professional services network, is listing more jobs than any other company.

"I can confirm that KPMG is honoring offer letters for full-time employment extended to graduates from the class of 2020," said a KPMG spokesman. "Most of these hires will serve as entry-level professionals in KPMGs audit, tax and advisory practices."

For those who miss out on internships, resumes can be strengthened by participating in research and volunteer work, said Jenkins, the director of the career center at Clarkson University in New York. And for those who are dead set on finding internships, networking remains a viable way to find them.

I'm hoping students will take advantage of some of these unique skill-building community service opportunities while the employment landscape is uncertain, Jenkins said. If anything positive has come of this, it's an increased desire to pitch in and help one another.

The Peace Corps announced it is still recruiting volunteers, Jenkins noted.

Steven Deller, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin, said the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 serves as a comparison to the coronavirus pandemic. He said a handful of studies show the U.S. economy bounced back pretty quickly after the Spanish flu, which affected about 500 million people.

Karin Kimbrough, chief economist at LinkedIn, said she found a glimpse of hope when examining how the economy has performed in China since the coronavirus first surfaced there.

"Thus far, the decline in our U.S. hiring rate has not been as severe as what we've seen in Italy, France, and China which have instituted full nationwide lockdowns, she wrote in a recent report. While we strongly suspect there are more challenging days ahead, there is a glimpse of hope: our hiring data in China continues to trend upward, giving us reason to believe that a hiring recovery can begin once public health restrictions start to lift.

Hailey Eilers, whos majoring in an elementary education major at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and wants to be a teacher, said she submitted applications in February. She has heard nothing back.

I don't expect any progress until society returns to normal, she said, adding: Im going into a very needed profession. Just about every district in the country needs teachers.

Wake Forests Chan expressed similar optimism about the Class of 2020.

Depending on how long this crisis, he said, companies actually do, I believe, want to hire young talent who are the future leaders of their organizations.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus job market college grads face uncertainty offers rescinded
Albany, N.Y.  Warning signs that the coronavirus pandemic could hit hard were all there in the months before it arrived in the U.S., Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.

But the alarm did not sound strongly enough. Early warnings were uneven, Cuomo said. Even in January and February, some U.S. sources were saying there wasn't much to worry about, he added.

Ultimately the U.S. ended up with the highest number of cases in the world by far at over 486,000, eclipsing nations where the virus arrived earlier like China and Italy. New York alone now has over 170,000 confirmed cases, more than any entire country outside the U.S.

"I still want to know how this happened," Cuomo said during a press briefing in Albany. "Before we move forward, let's make sure we're not repeating the same mistake that we made. I don't want to repeat what we just went through over this month."

Coronavirus in NY: 4th day in a row over 700 new deaths, positive trends remain

Growth rate in Upstate New York coronavirus infections stabilized and flat,' Cuomo says

NY projections on beds, ventilators were off: Couldnt model love, spirit, Cuomo says

NY needs millions of new coronavirus tests to restart economy. It doesnt have them

Cuomo noted that President Donald Trump has said the World Health Organization should have acted more decisively.

When asked whether the federal government should have done more, Cuomo said he wasn't interested in pointing fingers.

"We're still in the midst of this," he said. "We're learning."

He said theories on what happened will abound. Right now, asking the questions matters more than the answers, he added.

Cuomo has at times criticized Trump and the federal response harshly, but has also been complimentary as he seeks to secure more aid for New York.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

Onondaga Co. coronavirus: Recoveries outpace new infections; ICUs continue climb; 456 total cases

Coronavirus: Model shows dire scenarios in CNY if we dont stay farther apart for months

From Syracuse, with love: Nurses bring supplies, expertise, hope to Long Island outbreak

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598
The man allegedly posted a threat on social media, claiming to have paid somebody to spread coronavirus at nearby supermarkets. His post, which was deleted, lead to his arrest.

In San Antonio, Christopher Charles Perez, 39, was captured Tuesday afternoon at a home on Chateau Drive, where he lived, after authorities with the FBI said he dishonestly claimed to have paid somebody to spread the coronavirus at local grocery stores in San Antonio.

U.S. Attorney John F. Bash posted on a social media "We just charged a man for allegedly perpetrating a COVID-19 hoax. He falsely claimed on Facebook that he had paid someone to spread the virus at San Antonio area grocery stores. No one actually spread the virus. He was arrested yesterday."

According to an authority with the Department of Justice, Perez, a San Antonio resident, a government criminal complaint unsealed today accuses Perez of one count of violating 18 U.S.C. 1038, which condemns false information and scams related to weapons of mass destruction.

Read Also: Prince Philip Dead: Hoax Stories Circulating Online After Duke Allegedly Made Funeral Requests

Court archives state that Perez allegedly posted a threat on social media in which he professed to have paid somebody to spread coronavirus at local grocery stores in the San Antonio area since he was attempting to discourage individuals from visiting the stores, purportedly to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Southwest Texas Fusion Center (SWTFC) got an online tip with a screenshot of the said posted threat on Sunday. The SWTFC reached the FBI office in San Antonio for further examination. All things considered, the alleged threat was not true; nobody spread the coronavirus at the local grocery stores, as per the investigators.

Perez, whom FBI agents captured late yesterday afternoon without incident, faces as long as five years in government jail upon conviction. He stays in government custody right now.

The FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Squad and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are exploring this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Roomberg is indicting the case on behalf of the administration.

The San Antonio local grocery stores were not mentioned in the criminal filings.

A representative for the Department of Justice stated: "To be clear, the alleged threat was false; no one spread coronavirus at grocery stores, according to investigators."

Updates of the capture come after government organizations focused on a no-nonsense approach would be taken in regard to threats connected to the novel coronavirus which is currently tied to more than 432,000 U.S. infections.

U.S. Appointee Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said in a notice to law implementation chiefs in March that misusing the health crisis is unforgivable and will not be tolerated without serious consequences. The notice, first acquired by Politico, said that crimes could potentially violate terrorism-related statutes.

The novel coronavirus, which is believed to have killed more than 88,500 individuals worldwide, appeared to meet the statutory meaning of a biological agent, Rosen wrote.

As of this writing, 177 individuals had died from the coronavirus in Texas, where there are 9,353 affirmed cases.

Related Article: Vanessa Bryant Suicide Hoax Circulates, Earns Ire from Social Media

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Of the 96 fresh cases reported on Thursday, a big chunk came from Erode (26) and Tirunelveli (16). Of the total 834 cases in the State, 290 are from the northern districts of which 163 are in Chennai. Ranipet and Chengalpettu have a high number of cases in the region. Days after a Vellore man died of COVID-19, five more persons tested positive in the region, including a seven-year-old boy.

Officials say all of them are contacts of a man, who earlier tested positive, with travel history to Delhi. Meanwhile, relatives of the 45-year-old man who died at the CMC Hospital, have alleged medical negligence.

A total of 55 contacts of the deceased man have been identified and quarantined.

This includes his relatives, neighbours, and friends. Three doctors and nurses who treated him at CMC as an outpatient last month are also placed under isolation.

Meanwhile, in Villupuram, the police have increased the number of teams on trail of a missing COVID-19 positive man.

While initial reports claimed he was among four persons discharged by the health workers by mistake, now officials claim he had in fact escaped from the hospital before his second test results arrived.

Three others were traced because they are local residents. The missing man is a Delhi native who came down to Puducherry for a job interview. He was last seen around a few truck drivers, asking for a ride back home. He is missing since then, said a policeman.

The missing man was arrested earlier for issuing a fake bomb threat to the Raj Bhavan in Chennai, added the police.

The source alleged that on Thursday, Puducherry police caught a person on doubt. Later, the police team from Villupuram went there and confirmed that he is not the missing person.

There is considerable panic among the public in the district that the positive man on loose could spread infection in the neighbourhood. Both the police and the district administration have circulated his pictures, seeking information.

A sliver of good news came from Tirupathur and Ranipet where 88 persons who were put in isolation were discharged over the last two days.

Meanwhile, 33 persons including six minors tested positive in the southern districts, including Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi Madurai and Sivaganga. A sexagenarian, who attended the Delhi event, died at the Sivaganga GH on Thursday.

Hospital sources say he was screened and tested negative in the last week of March. However, he died of chronic lung disease on Thursday, according to the doctors.

Doctor tests positive

A 73-year-old private physician based in Nagapattinam tested positive on Thursday. Officials suspect he could have contracted the infection from a patient. The doctor consults at a clinic and his house, and authorities are now worried about community transmission in the area.

The man retired as a government doctor about 14 years ago and has been practising privately ever since then. He closed his clinic on March 26, four days after the lockdown was announced, but was seeing patients at home. The doctor has given the list of people who had met him in the past two weeks. One or more of the patients who met him are clearly suspected to be positive. Officials are now tracing his contacts.

(With inputs from Vellore, Villupuram, Ranipet, Erode, and Nagapattinam)
Meridian Public Schools Superintendent Craig Carmoney said in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Meridian High School's commencement ceremonies could be held as late as the fall of 2020.

"Perhaps we might even go into the fall (to reschedule commencement)," Carmoney said on Thursday.

Graduation originally was scheduled for Thursday, June 4, at Meridian High School.

"We're keeping our options open, whether it could be done in the summer or in the fall," Carmoney said.

All school buildings in Michigan have been ordered to be closed through the rest of this school year.

Carmoney indicated he hopes that Meridian's prom, originally scheduled for April 18 at Forest Edge, can be rescheduled for July or August.

In terms of the Meridian district's state-mandated Continuity of Learning Plan, Carmoney said it will go into effect this coming Monday, April 13, even though it won't be submitted for approval to the Midland County Educational Service Agency until next week. He is still awaiting some guidance documents from the state in order to finalize the written plan.

"We've been working on what this (learning plan) was going to look like even prior to the final announcement about school closures," he explained. "We had been surveying our families in terms of what their needs were  (in terms of) mental health, technology, food, what overarching areas of support were needed by families and students in the community."

Carmoney said many teachers in the Meridian district have already been doing some online instruction over the four weeks since schools were first closed on March 16.

"What was more informal before, has been formalized into a more clear process (under the learning plan)," Carmoney said, noting the higher the grade level, the more learning will be expected to take place each day.

The superintendent knows changes will be made to the plan once it gets rolling.

"Things may not look perfect. We will get better as time goes on. This is going to be a work in progress, for sure," he said.

"Some college students have told me that when their face-to-face learning ended (this spring), they felt like their learning stopped as soon as they went to the online portion," Carmoney added. "What happens with face-to-face (learning) can't be replicated. But we're going to focus on the things we can do, versus the things we can't do."

In terms of the school year, Carmoney said the plan is for it to end as scheduled on Thursday, June 11.

And in terms of the 2020-21 school year, he said it will start as scheduled on Aug. 31. Ongoing school construction projects, which have been temporarily halted as part of another governor's order, would make it difficult to move the school starting date earlier, Carmoney said.

Just like with any school district, Carmoney said his staff members are anxious for the day when they can see their students in person again.

"As educators, we miss our students and we're anxious to get back to communicating with our students and being able to educate them again on a regular basis. We'll do our best to maintain as much normalcy for our students as possible during these (challenging) times," Carmoney said.
Last week, Elahe Izadi and Sarah Ellison wrote, for the Washington Post, on the difficulties reporters face getting access to, and information from, hospitals. The coronavirus pandemic has been likened to a war, they observed. But journalists are largely absent from the harrowing, heartbreaking front line of this crisis. Plenty of healthcare workers and first responders have given interviews, but we dont often get to see them at workphotos and videos from inside hospitals are rare, and those weve seen have frequently been shot on healthcare workers smartphones. COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, is often described as an invisible enemy, which makes it hard to conceptualize. The lack of richly visual depictions of the diseases impact, Izadi and Ellison wrote, may be a key reason some members of the public doubt its seriousness.

Press access to hospitals is limited by two principal concerns: health, including that of journalists, and patient privacy. The first consideration, in particular, has given many news organizations pause. Network bosses told Izadi and Ellison that theyre also concerned about their reporters impeding the provision of care and using protective equipment that could have gone to a healthcare worker. Noah Oppenheim, the president of NBC News, said that theres unequivocal news value in whats happening in hospitals right now, but that the editorial bar for such stories is extremely high. Michael Dowling, who leads a large New York state hospital network, told the Post, of journalistic access to his facilities, Weve offered people to come in, and theyve refused.

ICYMI: Washington Post public editor: Bezos billions reveal the systemic flaws in journalism

Not that hospitals are all working to accommodate journalistsfar from it. Photographers have reported being shooed away by security guards, even if theyre just snapping pictures of hospitals exteriors. Many hospitals have told their employees not to talk; some rule violators have been punished. In March, Ming Lin, an ER doctor in Bellingham, Washington, was fired after speaking out in interviews and on social media about the need for better protections in his hospital; Lin told the Seattle Times that management ordered him to remove his critical posts, and he refused. Around the same time, Samantha Houston, a doctor in Oxford, Mississippi, was fired for disruptive conduct. She was one of at least two healthcare workers in the state to lose their jobs after publicly expressing safety concerns about their workplace.

Hospitals in Chicago and Detroit fired nurses who broadcast similar criticisms. Lauri Mazurkiewicz, in Chicago, has asthma and cares for a parent with a respiratory condition; she is suing her former employer for wrongful dismissal. According to Bloomberg, a communications executive at New York Universitys Langone Health system warned staff that they would be subject to disciplinary action, including termination should they give unauthorized media interviews. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Adam Witt, an ER nurse and union official at the Jersey Shore University Medical Center, was suspended after he took time off work to represent a colleague being disciplined for his Facebook posts. Witt has also criticized the hospital on social media. Since his suspension, the Jersey Shore University Medical Center has put up Wanted-style posters with Witts name and face on them. They read, If he is seen on property please contact your supervisor immediately.

To justify a lack of transparency, some healthcare providers and politicians have invoked the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAAa law whose attendant privacy provisions have, as Poynters Al Tompkins wrote yesterday, been used for years as a foil to journalists seeking even basic information from hospitals, nursing homes, health departments, medical examiners and police. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials have cited HIPAA as grounds to withhold general information; some jurisdictions in Iowa, for instance, withheld data about the availability of COVID-19 tests, and Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, refused to name nursing homes with confirmed cases, even though those establishments were willing to name themselves. These are misuses of HIPAA, which is concerned with individualized information. In any case, Tompkins writes, when it comes to journalists, HIPAA has ethical implications, but its not legally binding.

Sign up for CJR 's daily email

Scenes from inside hospital wards can reveal the human tragedy of the coronavirus in a way numbers and phone characterizations simply cannot. Respecting the wishes of patients and their families is vitally important, of course, but many of them want, desperately, to have their stories told. The reporting that has managed to show the pain of the illness, and the challenges of treating itsuch as Sheri Finks recent work for the New York Timeshas been essential, and we need more. This is a slow-motion disaster and, as it goes on, the risk of news fatigue is high. We cant rely on abstractions and press releases to describe the urgent stakes of the coronavirus.

Below, more on the coronavirus:



Other notable stories:

ICYMI: Why did Matt Drudge turn on Donald Trump?

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
More than half the nearly 8,000 ventilators the federal stockpile sent to states to fight the coronavirus pandemic went to New York, while the rest were split among 14 other states and territories, a report from the federal government shows.

The report was released Wednesday by the U.S. House Oversight Committee amid criticism from its chairwoman that states with the biggest COVID-19 problems didnt get enough supplies.

It gives the nation its closest look yet at how the Strategic National Stockpile distributed much-needed ventilators, N95 respirators, surgical masks and other protective equipment across the country since the pandemic began.

The stockpile, which is operated within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, distributed the ventilators based on requests from areas with high case counts.

New York received 4,400 ventilators. The remaining 3,520 went to places like New Jersey, Washington, Michigan, Illinois and Florida.

Shipments of other personal protective equipment  like masks, gloves, face shields and gowns  were allocated on a per capita basis after hospitals reported critical shortages. States with the fewest cases of coronavirus got the biggest per capita distributions of supplies, a USA TODAY Network analysis found.

Alaska and Wyoming, for example, each received more than 70,000 of the N95 respirator masks thought to be the best protection for medical workers, the report shows. Neither state had more than 230 cases by Thursday, according to the latest figures by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thats more than 300 respirators for each COVID-19 patient.

Meanwhile, the state of New York  with upwards of 150,000 people testing positive and hospitals desperate for supplies  received just seven N95 masks per coronavirus patient.

New York had more cases than 40 other states combined, Thursdays CDC data showed. Those states got a total of more than 7.6 million N95 masks, while New York received around 1.1 million. New York City alone had requested double that number from the stockpile.

Story continues

Maria Leta, who works in kitchen services at Westchester County Medical Center in Valhalla, was among nurses and staff members who called for adequate protective equipment during a protest outside Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla April 9, 2020. Nurses also called for more ventilators, adequate staffing, and better ventilation and HEPA filters for all COVID-19 areas in the hospital.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly begged the federal government for more supplies, estimating his state would need 30,000 ventilators. U.S. President Trump has questioned that number.

"Well need what we need," Cuomo said at a briefing last week. "I have no desire to acquire more ventilators than we need."

Although the pandemic sparked the demand for medical supplies, hospitals can use them to treat all patients, not just those infected with the coronavirus.

In total, the federal government sent the following supplies to U.S. states and territories between mid-March and early April:

11.7 million N95 masks

26.5 million surgical masks

5.3 million face shields

4.4 million surgical gowns

22.6 million gloves

7,920 ventilators

The numbers of what was actually distributed have raised fears among stakeholders that states and medical providers will continue to face shortages of critical equipment to keep patients and medical workers alive.

The distributions depleted about 90% of the stockpiles supplies of personal protective equipment. The remaining 10% is reserved for the protection of federal workers.

It appears that the administration is leaving states to fend for themselves, to scour the open market for these scarce supplies, and to compete with each other and federal agencies in a chaotic, free-for-all bidding war, New York Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, said in a statement Wednesday.

Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency distributed supplies in the most equitable way possible for a nationwide response taking into account population and need for areas of high transmission, said a department official who declined to be identified without authorization.

Efforts to procure additional supplies are underway, according to Health and Human Services, which received $16 billion in the federal coronavirus relief plan to restock critical supplies including masks, respirators and pharmaceuticals.

The department has awarded contracts to buy another 600 million N95 respirators over the next 18 months and has ordered additional ventilators and protective suits.

First-of-its-kind peek at stockpile

This is the first time such an accounting of the stockpile has been made publicly available. Even members of Congress have struggled to obtain such a list.

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who chairs a House appropriations committee subcommittee overseeing the stockpiles annual budget, said she tried for weeks to get a list of supplies available from and distributed by the stockpile.

Instead she learned about the list from a USA TODAY Network reporter on Wednesday.

It has been an unending series of stonewalling, obfuscation and essentially not a willingness to give us any report about whats happening, said DeLauro, a Democrat.

Whats in the stockpile and where its going should be very simple questions, DeLauro said. I dont want you to give me proprietary information. Tell us what you have and what you needed and where its going. These are very simple questions.

In late-March, hospitals across the country were running out of the crucial respirators and other supplies they needed not only to protect staff while treating coronavirus patients, but also to protect other patients with infectious diseases, immune disorders, undergoing chemotherapy or being treated in an emergency room.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo shows how bag valve masks can help patients suffering from respiratory problems due to coronavirus, but they are less effective than ventilators. He spoke during a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany on Saturday, March 28, 2020.

Supplies had plummeted nationwide, in part because companies had shipped supplies to other countries hit first by coronavirus and in part because imports dropped as manufacturers in China were hit by the coronavirus. Meanwhile demand skyrocketed as countries across the globe scrambled to stock up.

Thats when the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology surveyed more than 1,100 health care facilities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than 20% reported having no N95 respirators and another 28% said they were almost out. The survey also noted shortages of face shields and other masks.

Ann Marie Pettis, the associations president elect, said the flow of supplies had not functioned how one would expect and how it needed to function.

When this is over, its going to be a huge focus, she said. We really need to get to the bottom of how we could have improved that."

Funding woes

In addition to DeLauro, Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, a Republican, also expressed concern this week about the stockpiles available supplies and distribution. Both serve on the subcommittee on labor, health and human services, education and related services.

We need to have a rational way to distribute limited resources in times of crisis, Cole said. Americans are actually pretty good in a crisis but it would help to have more of a system in place.

The pandemic has raised the question of whats in the stockpile and whether it was enough, Cole said, adding that the issue needs to get more attention at all levels.

Consistent increases to the stockpiles budget over the past five years have been completely bi-partisan, he said.

The stockpiles budget reached a high of $596 million in 2010, then dropped year after year until reaching a low of $477 million in 2013. Much of the funding was restored the following year, but the budget stayed flat at about $575 million through 2018  the same year it was transferred from the CDC to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

The 2020 budget appropriation was $705 million.

There is never enough money there for everything, said Deborah Levy, chair of epidemiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, who oversaw the stockpile as acting division director under the CDC in 2013-2014, in an interview with the USA TODAY Network last week.

You need to decide what the threat is, what the cost is, what can be negotiated with companies, Levy said at the time.

Both Cole and DeLauro said they have questions about the distributions to the states.

DeLauro said one of her constituents had called her Wednesday  one of the many expressing fear about the inadequate supply of personal protective equipment. This time it was a local fire chief asking if he could just vent, she said.

He said I cant get any of this protective equipment, and my people are going in and out of facilities, DeLauro said. He told her he was at his wits end.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rare look at stockpile shows which states got supplies amid COVID
US Lawmaker Calls for International Court Trial Against China for Failing to Contain Virus

U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) is calling on the State Department to bring a legal case against China at the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the regimes mishandling of the pandemic.

If Chinas leaders hadnt become embarrassed by the outbreak and tried to cover up its spread, the world may have had a better chance to prepare for this or even contain it in Wuhan or China. Instead, we have a pandemic, said Banks in an April 8 statement.

Banks pointed to examples of Chinese authorities silencing doctors and journalists in late December when they tried to warn the public about a new form of pneumonia.

Chinese ophthalmologist Li Wenliang is the most high-profile example. After posting about the new pneumonia on Chinese social media, Li was summoned to a local police station for rumor-mongering and forced to sign a confession statement in early January.

Li died the following month after contracting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, from an infected patient.

Another misstep happened on Dec. 31 last year, when the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission falsely said that the disease was a seasonable flu with no risk of human-to-human transmission. Authorities claimed the virus was preventable and controllable.

On Jan. 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) repeated Beijings claim that there was no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission for the virus.

China shoulders most of that blame. Rather than succumb to the propaganda and spin of Chinese officials, the world must hold them accountable for mishandling this outbreak. If the United Nations cannot even do that, it has completely lost its purpose, Banks said.

The United Nations established ICJ in 1945 to settle legal disputes between member states. However, in the past, states have refused to submit to ICJs jurisdiction or comply with its judgments.

Banks will pass a letter addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Attorney General Bill Barr to his fellow lawmakers to show congressional backing for bringing an international case against China, according to the statement.

He added that if China fails to participate in the ICJ trial, U.N. member states could suspend their obligations to China as means to induce Beijing to fulfill its responsibility, in accordance with Articles 49-51 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Options include Chinas removal from international organizations, reversing Chinas entry into the World Trade Organization, suspending air travel to China, and broadcasting Western or Taiwanese media into China, according to the statement.

On March 24, Banks also introduced a bipartisan resolution with 49 co-sponsors, condemning the Chinese regime for its culpability in causing the global pandemic.

On April 9, 14 GOP lawmakers of the House Oversight Committee also sent a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, asking for more information about its relationship with China, including documents and communications between the WHO and the Chinese regime between August 2019 and the present, regarding public health and the CCP virus, according to a press release.

Given the actions and statements of WHO officials during the past few months, we are concerned that the WHO is no longer serving the needs of the world and is instead taking its cues from China, the letter explained.

Rep. Fred Keller (R-Penn.), one of the cosigners of the letter, stated: With the American taxpayer being the single largest contributor to the World Health Organizations annual budget, it is imperative the House Oversight and Reform Committee exercise its critical role in finding out why the WHO used that money to further Chinas propaganda campaign.

According to State Department statistics, U.S. contributions exceeded $400 million to the WHO in 2019, making the United States the largest funder.
For nearly four decades, Seaboard Marine has played a pivotal role in facilitating trade between Latin America and the United States. As the year-round demand for fresh produce in the U.S. has steadily risen, we have continually upgraded, expanded, and reinvested in services, equipment, and infrastructure. These investments have allowed our most loyal customers, such as J&C Tropicals, to also expand their offerings as demand adjusts due to the COVID-19 situation.

Headquartered in Homestead, Florida, J&C Tropicals is a major importer and distributor of quality tropical roots, fruits, and vegetables throughout the United States. Luis Cintron, Director of Sales and Procurement at J&C Tropicals, said, "A key part of our supply chain is supported by refrigerated containerized shipping. We rely heavily on Seaboard Marine's direct, weekly services throughout Latin America to provide a steady supply of quality produce. They have continued with reliable sailings and available equipment. Amid this crisis and from a public health perspective, the increasing availability of nutritional year-round fruits and vegetables is of great benefit to consumers in these stressful times."

Jose Concepcion, Seaboard Marine's Vice President of Central America, said, "The reality that we expanded the size of our container fleet and continually reinvested in our services really registers in times like these where perishables must be quickly delivered. At our PortMiami terminal alone, we have increased our refrigerated power capacity to 430 container plugs while adding a cold chamber for inspections and transfers. These improvements, along with the commitment of the dedicated staff at CBP, help fresh produce reach consumers faster."

Mike Stamatis, President of Red Hook Container Terminals, said, "The situation locally here in New York is tragic, but we are determined to keep moving cargo to supply stores in the region with bananas, pineapples, and other fruits and vegetables. Walking into a supermarket can be a bit nerve-wracking for folks these days, but it comforts people to always see ample fresh produce on the shelves. Seaboard Marine continues to deliver on its commitment to maintaining reliable services. Their vessels consistently arrive on-time with essential cargoes. Our team at Red Hook is proud to unload them and safely work with the local truckers to get food where it is needed promptly."

One benefit of difficult times is the deepening of partnerships. We've partnered with our customers on schedule adjustments, strategy, even the development of new standard operating procedures, which, in the end, helps customers, such as Exp. Group LLC, keep stores throughout the U.S. stocked with healthy produce.

Exp. Group LLC is a multinational group of importers and distributors of tropical fruits and vegetables from Central and South America. Anthony Serafino, Vice President of Exp. Group LLC, said, "Seaboard Marine has shown to be a great partner. Over the years, and never truer than in these past few weeks, we've really seen a difference in the increased importance of our supply chain, starting at the farms in the Caribbean and Latin America through delivery to stores in the U.S. These are unfortunate times for so many people, but along with Seaboard Marine we are proudly doing our part to distribute fresh fruits and vegetables to U.S. consumers reliably."

Concepcion added, "We're an essential business; however, the term essential has provided some new perspective for us in this difficult time. Yes, we provide transportation, but we're humbled to be working with all of our dedicated partners -- even those we don't work with directly. From the farms, exporters, and overseas governments, to customs brokers, customers, U.S. government agencies, and grocery stores, both large and small. Thank you for continuing to do your part so that we can do ours."

Contact:

Chris Concepcion

786-660-8684

[email protected]

SOURCE Seaboard Marine Ltd. Inc.

Related Links

http://www.seaboardmarine.com


Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan urged all the states to ensure that the lockdown measures imposed in the wake of coronavirus disease Covid-19 are fully followed. If this is not done, said the health minister, then it will be very difficult for India to win against the coronavirus disease.

I request health ministers of all states to ensure that lockdown is followed 100 per cent in your respective states. If we lag behind in this, it will be difficult for us to win this fight against Covid-19, Vardhan said on Friday.

He also chaired a meeting today with state health ministers via video conferencing to review actions on Covid-19 management.

On Thursday, Harsh Vardhan had addressed the global online conference on Covid-19 and said that India is thoroughly equipped and is putting its best foot forward. We have planned everything possible and are in constant touch with the World Health Organisation (WHO), he had said.

With a rise of 547 new Covid-19 cases over the latest 12 hours, Indias total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 6,412 on Friday. Out of the total cases, 5,709 are active cases and 503 of them have been cured or discharged, as per the health ministry.

Thirty more people died of the disease in the last 12 hours, taking the toll up to 199.

According to government, Maharashtra leads among the states with 1,360 Covid-19 positive cases. Tamil Nadu comes next with 834 cases. The complete number of cases reported in Delhi so far is 720.
(TNS)  The unprecedented global coronavirus crisis and its economic fallout is shining a light on New Jerseys ability to process a soaring number of unemployment claims. And the state is being forced to handle the huge demand while relying on a 40-year-old computer system.The coronavirus outbreak has forced businesses to close, with more than 300,000 residents putting in for unemployment benefits in recent weeks, eclipsing all previous records for claims.And as claims surging more than 1,600 percent, bumps in the road are leaving thousands of residents being laid off  some filing for unemployment for the first time  angry, confused and frustrated. Phone lines are constantly jammed, 404 errors pop up when creating an account or the website is stuck buffering for people who are in dire need of income.One of those hurdles, experts say, could be largely in part due to New Jerseys dependence on an outdated, legacy programming language and crumbling infrastructure not equipped with contingency plans for a crisis of these proportions.Literally, we have systems that are 40 years-plus old, and therell be lots of postmortems. And one of them on our list will be, How did we get here where we literally needed COBOL programmers? Gov. Phil Murphy said during his daily press briefing Saturday.The unemployment system runs on a legacy mainframe, using old programming language COBOL, or Common Business-Oriented Language, which was created in the 1950s in conjunction with the Department of Defense. COBOL is still used today by some financial companies, government agencies and ATMs, but most universities havent offered it in their curriculum since before Y2K.But as the saying goes, If it aint broke, dont fix it," said cybersecurity expert Joseph Steinberg, noting that up until a month ago, everything had been running fine for the last 40 years. Why make an extremely expensive and time-consuming change when unemployment was at record-low levels?Thats the problem with COBOL and a mainframe: they can be reliable for an extended period of time, but if something major changes, the reaction time to change it is going to be substantially more ... due to technology and human resource limitations, Steinberg said.State officials maintain there were no computer-related delays in processing claims, and pointed to the high volume of calls and low staffing issues.The system, although stressed, performed well. And the Labor IT staff performed even better to keep the system up, running, and adding capacity, said Julie Garland Veffer, director of digital service at the state IT office. We are always looking for ways to improve efficiency and modernize our systems.Its unclear how often the main frame is maintained or how many engineers and tech workers are on staff. The state Department of Labor declined to comment further.Now, its led to a call out for volunteers knowledgable in COBOL  similar to the states call out for nurses and medical professionals. An intake form on the states Covid-19 website is asking for those who know COBOL and have other tech skills.For all of you COBOL programmers in particular, now is your chance," Murphy said Wednesday when mentioning the volunteer website during his daily briefing.Rutgers University computer science professor Ulrich Kremer said the requests for volunteers indicates experts are scarce. Coders proficient in COBOL are also probably older and retired folks, who doctors say are the most vulnerable to coronavirus. They may not have practiced in years, either.Theres no such thing as like, a brain surgeon as a hobby. This is complex stuff. And if you mess up in this, you have other problems  security, peoples information  its a big risk, he said. They may not have an option there."Kremer compared maintaining a 40-year-old system to keeping up with an old car. It might work to take you to the grocery store a mile away, but once you have to drive 200 miles, the engine is overloaded and spare parts are hard to find.It worked, it did the job, but its an old car. Sometimes the only reasonable thing to do is throw it out and start from scratch, Kremer said. But thats not as easy as it sounds.Upgrading isnt like as going to the app store and hitting update or buying a new computer at BestBuy. An upgrade cant be done until after the crisis slows down, and will be very expensive. For now, Steinberg predicts, the problems will be ongoing.And during a global pandemic where hospitals are overloaded, theres a shortage of PPE, and people are getting sicker by the minute, its the worst timing.(Murphy) is dealing with people in the state dying from a pandemic. If at this time he mentions we need COBOL, that means it was escalated to the governor. That illustrates how serious it is, Steinberg said. Thats the last thing he wants to be thinking about, is why the computers arent doing what they need to be doing."The governor on Wednesday said he would welcome federal dollars for computer system upgrades if it is sent to New Jersey as part of the federal stimulus package. Weve got an overwhelming demand, he said.The unemployment site isnt the only one running on old equipment, and New Jersey is far from the only state depending on these outdated systems.Migrating a system can be risky in itself  especially one with so much vulnerable information  but something that should be analyzed, Steinberg said. And it shouldve also been analyzed a long time ago, before it was left to age, he said.Its like how people get home alarm systems after theyve been robbed, he said. At what point do we say, now its a big risk to have these technologies? And this incident highlights it.
American Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian became suspicious of her mom Kris Jenner's boyfriend after he was spotted with another woman on Thursday's episode of 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians.'

According to People Magazine, Kardashian's friend Malika Haqq told her after getting a phone call from a friend. "Someone just saw Corey Gamble at the [Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel] with a redhead. They rode the elevator together to the 14th floor."

The 35-year-old star sprung into action and decided she has no choice but to go to the hotel to confront Gamble.

Khloe and Malika who are determined to find out the truth, admit they never expected Gamble to cheat on Jenner.

Haqq said, "I think what's shocking for me, I look at Corey and Kris and I'm like, they're in a great spot. I feel like your mom is so happy now."

Kris and Corey began dating in the fall of 2014, just a year after Kris and then-husband Caitlyn Jenner announced their split after more than 20 years of marriage.

The 'Good American' founder said in a confession, "If this is true, I would be really sad for my mom, but I think everyone should know what's happening sooner than later."

When they get to the hotel, they head straight to Gamble's room, clearly catching him off-guard.

Kardashian said, as she tried to push past Gamble into the room, "We had a meeting down here we wanted to say hi."

Gamble, reluctantly letting them in said, "This ain't the time. Ya'll don't want to be filming."

Only to discover that the mystery woman is her mom Kris Jenner who is seen wearing a red wig and lingerie.

In shock, Kardashian replies to her mom, "I actually am so grossed out. I don't want to know what you're doing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ramakrishnan Laxman has joined ErosNow.com as Senior Vice-President, Marketing. Prior to this Ramakrishnan headed digital business for ABPLive.in for more than 11 years.

In the past, Ramakrishnan has also worked with Publicistas Digital as the VP Business Development and Media asset for almost 2 years. His previous stints also include Anand Bazar Patrika Group, Microland, Blue Haze Markerting Services,Singapore and Mid-Day.
I thought: could I possibly sit still enough in my workroom, where she of her grace would tell her own story. I thought that was a sort of imperative for me. Also because I thought: having found her, what am I to do? I cant ask her to leave the house, cant ask her to get out of the workroom. Credit: Winona is living with Thomas and John at their friend Liege Magans Tennessee farm in the 1870s. The civil war is over but there are still forces around, determined to shatter their precarious tranquility. Winona is raped but she cant for certain identify the perpetrator; it is, as one character says, a time when it is so dangerous that the law is barely possible. Winona tells the reader she is a small person seeking justice, and along the way she falls in with Peg, a girl who becomes to her what John is to Thomas. Barrys imagined world is as real to him as any other possible world. And his characters are absurdly real. He says he was looking for people in his imagination whom he could claim as family and admire, and to put between himself and the ordinary dangers of life. This sounds almost unwise to say it, but it seems to me they engender for me my own personal safety. Observing the quality of Thomas love for John, of Winonas love for Peg, somehow it creates a magic atmosphere of protection for the person who is writing them. Its true.

It is Winonas courage that motivates Barry: courage in dealing with her significant trauma. It engulfs people and destroys them and they never walk free of it, but if you can, find an instance of somebody who is vigorously trying to do that thing and sort of inspire you  me as a 64-year-old puzzled, confused individual  to have some tincture of the same thing. In conversation he doesnt dwell on the trauma of his own childhood but says, as a parent, he wanted to stun his children with happiness. Along the way he realised there was a fund of teaching in them and he was learning from them. Its supposed to be the other way round. I knew nothing about that because my childhood was so complicated. One of the things left out a little bit was parenting. His mother acted at Dublins Abbey Theatre, which left little spare time between daytime rehearsals and night-time performances. She was very marvellous in some ways, but in others ... you have to put in the time. Thomas tries and John tries to give to Winona that forensic attention to the growing up of a person. We didnt all have that. So, in a way, you have to make that up as well. I suppose I have made myself up; thats the horrible truth. Ive just said that, for the first time ... I am my own made-up character.

I wondered, in terms of dispossession, to what extent Barry also thought of Winona as Irish? Her experience is not the same, but he agrees there is an objective correlative in that Thomas has fled the utter destruction of everything he knows in Ireland. He has made that journey to America, where he is not welcome and where he had to invent his own shoes, as it were, and invent himself. Credit: And there are unintended resonances for readers here to the experience of Indigenous Australians. When Winona talks about the destruction of Native American life and culture it cannot help but make you think. I come from the saddest people that ever were on the earth, she says. Were not sad in our very hearts but our story is sad. Im one of the last to know what was taken and what was there before it was taken. Thats a weight of sadness has crushed many a head ... Just the touch of a whiteman, just the very approach, was the herald of death ... We were nothing so to kill us all was just the killing of nothing so it meant nothing. Now Barry is hunkered down at home in Wicklow, sitting out COVID-19 restrictions. His daughters are in London, his son Toby  the inspiration for Days without End  had mild symptoms for a while and kept his distance; his other son, in the west of Ireland, has been tested. It swirls close, he says, but we are blessed to have the mountains. But he did manage to get to the opening night of his play On Blueberry Hill in Londons West End. Unfortunately, it had to close four days later: I will never forget how the audience rose, not so much in posh applause, but a gesture of exuberant love thrown towards the two actors/characters.
The oil and gas drilling automation market is poised to grow by USD 66.82 million during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of almost 1% during the forecast period. Request free sample page

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005644/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Oil and Gas Drilling Automation Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Read the 145-page report with TOC on "Oil and Gas Drilling Automation Market Analysis Report by Application (Onshore and Offshore) and Geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America), and the Segment Forecasts, 2020-2024".

https://www.technavio.com/report/global-oil-and-gas-drilling-automation-market-industry-analysis

The market is driven by the growth in shale oil production. In addition, the adoption of IoT technology is anticipated to boost the growth of the oil and gas drilling automation market.

The oil and gas industry has been witnessing an increase in the production of shale oil and gas over recent years. The drilling and extraction of shale oil and gas involve various steps such as adherence to stringent compliance requirements, preparing wells, equipment installation and operations, and scheduling the development and deployment of oilwell pads. Automated drilling solutions reduce the time spent on developing, installing, integrating, and initiating the drilling and extraction process. The growth in the production of shale oil is encouraging vendors to offer innovative automated drilling solutions specifically for shale oil and gas extraction projects. Thus, the rapid growth in shale oil production is expected to influence market growth positively during the forecast period.

Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free.

View market snapshot before purchasing

Major Five Oil and Gas Drilling Automation Companies:

ABB Ltd.

ABB Ltd. operates the business across various segments such as Electrification Products, Industrial Automation, and Robotics and Motion. The company offers a wide range of drilling automation solutions. Some of the key offerings of the company include packaged E-House solutions for drilling rigs and SCADAvantage for oil and gas operations.

Akastor ASA

Akastor ASA operates the business across various segments such as MHWirth, AKOFS Offshore, and Other Holdings. The company offers a wide range of drilling automation solutions for both onshore and offshore applications. Some of the key offerings of the company include Driller's assist, CADS 2.0, and eTally.

Ensign Energy Services Inc.

Ensign Energy Services Inc. operates the business across various segments such as Canada, the United States, and International. The company offers a wide range of drilling automation solutions for both onshore and offshore applications. Some of the offerings of the company include ADR 850, ADR 1000, and ADR 2000.

Honeywell International Inc.

Honeywell International Inc. operates the business across various segments such as Aerospace, Honeywell Building Technologies, Performance Materials and Technologies, and Safety and Productivity Solutions. The company offers a wide range of drilling automation solutions for onshore and offshore oil and gas applications. Some of its key offerings include the Experion Process Knowledge System and Limitless Wireless Solutions.

Kongsberg Gruppen ASA

Kongsberg Gruppen ASA operates the business across various segments such as Kongsberg Maritime, Kongsberg Defence Aerospace, and Other. The company offers a wide range of automated solutions for oil and gas drilling applications. Some of the offerings include SiteCom Well Advisor and Rig Manager.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Oil And Gas Drilling Automation Market Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2020-2024)

Onshore

Offshore

Oil And Gas Drilling Automation Market Geographic Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2020-2024)

APAC

Europe

MEA

North America

South America

Key leading countries

Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005644/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
TUNIS (Reuters) - The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Libya on Friday condemned the cutting off of water supply to the capital Tripoli over the past week as "particularly reprehensible" and said it must stop immediately.

An armed group on Monday stormed a control station at Shwerif, stopping water from being pumped and threatening workers, the Great Man Made River Project, which supplies water to much of Libya, said in a statement.

The armed group is seeking to use the water cut-off as pressure to force the release of detained family members, U.N. humanitarian coordinator Yacoub El Hillo said in a statement.

The supply has been cut to more than 2 million people in Tripoli and nearby towns and cities.

Tripoli, seat of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), has been under assault for a year by the eastern-based Libyan National Army of Khalifa Haftar.

An escalation in fighting since mid-March has involved intense bombardment, particularly in the south of the city near the front lines, with projectiles hitting a hospital.

The warfare has hindered efforts to prepare Libya's already tattered health system for an outbreak of the coronavirus, with 24 cases confirmed in the country. State efforts to slow the spread of the disease have included a curfew.

Electricity supply has also been repeatedly cut in Tripoli and some other areas over the past week.

"At this moment when Libya is fighting the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to water and electricity is more than ever life saving, and such individual acts to collectively punish millions of innocent people are abhorrent and must stop immediately," Hillo said.

(Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein has been hit with another sexual assault charge, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced today.

The disgraced movie producer was charged with sexual battery by restraint, stemming from an allegation that he assaulted a woman at the Beverly Hills hotel on May 11, 2010.

The felony charge has been added to a Los Angeles case that alleges Weinstein sexually assaulted two women in separate incidents in 2013.

Weinstein, 68, was convicted in February of rape and sexual assault in New York and is serving a 23-year prison sentence. It is unknown when he will be transported to face the charges in Los Angeles.

The latest charge comes a day after DailyMail.com revealed Weinstein had beaten coronavirus after testing positive for Covid-19 in mid-March at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison east of Buffalo, New York.

Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein was hit today with another sexual assault charge. The disgraced movie producer was charged with sexual battery by restraint, stemming from an allegation that he assaulted a woman at the Beverly Hills hotel on May 11, 2010. Pictured: Weinstein a few days after the alleged assault on May 15, 2010 in Cannes, France

The charge has been added to a Los Angeles case that alleges Weinstein sexually assaulted two women in separate incidents in 2013. Pictured: The most recent allegation against Weinstein allegedly took place at the Beverly Hills hotel

The most recent victim was initially interviewed by detectives as a corroborating witness but recently provided details showing her alleged assault occurred within the 10-year statute of limitations.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement: 'We are continuing to build and strengthen our case.

'As we gather corroborating evidence, we have reached out to other possible sexual assault victims.

'If we find new evidence of a previously unreported crime, as we did here, we will investigate and determine whether additional criminal charges should be filed.'

Los Angeles prosecutors said they are declining to prosecute two other cases involving Weinstein because the women did not want to testify against him.

A spokesman for Weinstein did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment. He has continually stated his innocence.

In January, Weinstein was charged in LA with one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint concerning two separate incidents over a two-day period in 2013.

Weinstein and his then wife Georgina Chapman arriving at the Oscars on February 24, 2013. Weinstein allegedly went to a hotel on February 18, 2013 and raped a woman after pushing his way inside her room. The next evening, he is accused of sexually assaulting another woman at a hotel suite in Beverly Hills

Weinstein was convicted of raping ex-actress Jessica Mann (left) in 2013 and of forcibly performing oral sex on former production assistant Mimi Haleyi (right) in 2006

Weinstein allegedly went to a hotel on February 18, 2013 and raped a woman after pushing his way inside her room.

The next evening, he is accused of sexually assaulting another woman at a hotel suite in Beverly Hills.

The alleged attacks in Los Angeles County came days before the Hollywood studio boss was photographed on the Oscars red carpet on February 24 with his fashion designer wife, Georgina Chapman, who was pregnant at the time.

At the 2013 Academy Awards, Weinstein had several major contenders, including Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained and The Master.

It is unknown when Weinstein will be transported to face the charges in Los Angeles.

Last month, he was carted off to prison after he was sentenced to 23 years in the landmark #MeToo case.

He received 20 years on the criminal sex act charge for forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006. He was sentenced to three years for third degree rape for a 2013 attack on Jessica Mann.

DailyMail.com exclusively revealed on Thursday that Weinstein survived his bout with coronavirus, overcoming a fever and cough, and had been released from his 14-day quarantine

He had been placed in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 in mid-March at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison east of Buffalo (pictured). He's being held in the prison's residential mental health unit, where he remains on suicide watch, a prison official said

HARVEY WEINSTEIN'S AILING HEALTH From the start, Weinstein's use of a walker to get in and out of court each day at his trial raised questions about his health. He left court in an ambulance after the guilty verdict and detoured to Bellevue Hospital, complaining of chest pains and high blood pressure. Weinstein later had a stent inserted to unblock an artery. After his sentencing, he returned with more chest pains. In addition to the heart issues, Weinstein's lawyers have said he was also dealing with the ramifications of unsuccessful back surgery stemming from a car crash last summer and a condition that requires shots in his eyes so he does not go blind. Advertisement

DailyMail.com exclusively revealed on Thursday that Weinstein survived his bout with coronavirus, overcoming a fever and cough, and had been released from his 14-day quarantine.

He had been placed in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 in mid-March at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison east of Buffalo, New York.

He's being held in the prison's residential mental health unit, where he remains on suicide watch, a prison official said on Thursday.

A source close to the disgraced movie mogul said he's surprised Weinstein survived, given his age and poor health. The 68-year old suffers from high blood pressure, heart problems, severe diabetes and a spine condition.

'We lost contact with him and were unable to get in touch with him after he tested positive because he was placed in isolation and under quarantine,' the source told DailyMail.com.

'He had a fever and cough. The man is in poor health normally speaking, and has multiple pre-existing conditions. Honestly, I was very concerned.

'I can't believe he made it through this. I was definitely thinking this would be the end of him.'

Weinstein's attorney Donna Rotunno has suggested that he will now die in prison, saying after his sentencing that he 'won't see the light of day.'

Twitter users reacted to Weinstein's coronavirus result, questioning how he was able to get the test so quickly.
But really, I kind of think of myself as a bridge between the reader and our hard-working editors and reporters. And that bridge has two-way traffic. I bring the journalism to you, wherever you might be receiving it. I also listen  to your criticism, your praise, your questions  and that feeds our journalism, too. And sometimes, when we need it, your voice is the journalism.

By mid-March, it was becoming clear that Travels bread-and-butter  pleasure itineraries in the Swiss Alps and adventurous dispatches from Indonesian jungles  was looking more like a ridiculous dessert.

By then, our recommendation to work from home had become a companywide order. I had moved across the world for the privilege of strolling into The New York Times building every day. I craved being there in person after nearly three years working in The Timess Australia bureau, which, while wonderful, felt so distant from the beating heart of the New York newsroom.

Yet here I was in New York, but remote again, confined to my bedroom next to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway with our roommates unblinking Pomeranian for company.

But back to our problem: Travels weekly 36 Hours feature, a longtime staple, was a clear example of business that could not go on as usual. For nearly 20 years, the column has helped readers plan weekends in cities around the world. The #36Hours hashtag has nearly 20,000 posts on Instagram. The itineraries have been collected in a series of books  one of my eagle-eyed colleagues even spotted a stack of them on Larry Davids coffee table in the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Latin America's biggest airline, the Brazilian-Chilean group LATAM, is suspending all international flights until May because of the coronavirus pandemic

Latin America's biggest airline, the Brazilian-Chilean group LATAM, is suspending all international flights until May because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Because of the health restrictions imposed by various countries, as well as the continuing fall in demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, regular international passenger operations will be suspended from April 13 to 30," the company said in a statement.

It said it would continue operating domestic flights in Brazil and Chile "to the extent that there is demand."

The airline had previously announced it was scaling back its operations this month by 95 percent in response to the global health crisis.

LATAM normally flies to 145 destinations in 26 countries, with around 1,400 flights a day.
Polarized is a weekly series featuring Americans from all 50 states sharing their views on the 2020 elections. Click here if you would like to be a part of this project

The news hit hard and slow for Caroline Gomez Lassalle.

It felt like I swallowed an anvil and it dropped to my stomach in slow motion, she says. It was  or has been  an intense combination of fear and loathing.

Lassalle sat quarantined in Brooklyn, New York, watching Bernie Sanders announce the suspension of his presidential campaign in real time on Wednesday.

A legal professional and writer who originally hails from Puerto Rico, Lassalle became interested in the Vermont senators platform following the 2016 election.

In a recent interview, she says she was inspired to support Sanders in the 2020 race after he held a rally in the nearby community of Queens, New York, where local Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  the youngest woman ever elected to the House of Representatives  officially endorsed him for the Democratic nomination.

(Photo courtesy Caroline Gomez Lassalle (Photo courtesy Caroline Gomez Lassalle)

That was a very special day, she says. Seeing the huge crowd full of hopeful faces of the young, old and different demographics really showed me how big this movement could be. For the first time in a while, I felt real and actual hope.

Lasalle says she hopes for a country which values the people that have been instrumental in its development  exactly the reason she was drawn to Sanders campaign in the first place. Her advocacy for the working class, Latinx and immigrant communities across the country, as well as her support for things like universal healthcare, a pathway to citizenship and more are what sealed the deal.

I can confirm how much Sanders campaign meant to Lassalle, because I happen to know her well: We lived together as roommates in New York City during the 2016 election. Over the last 22 weeks, Polarized has featured unique voters across 22 states  most of whom Ive never met or spoken to before in my life  but when it comes to my own hometown of New York, I wanted to highlight a voter who is also my friend.

In my view, Lasalle, who genuinely embodies the spirit of Sanders campaign, is the perfect person to hear from on the week Sanders pulled out the race.

My priorities as a voter have always emanated from a place of empathy, she says. I believe in the protection of the working class, a criminal system that is reinvented with rehabilitation at the forefront of its policies and a pathway to citizenship for those that risk their lives and place in the world for the opportunity of living a life with dignity in this country.

Now, Lassalle must grapple with the same decision Sanders supporters are mulling across the country: whether or not to cast a ballot for former Vice President Joe Biden, who seemingly became the presumptive Democratic nominee this week.

Unlike some, she says her mind has already been firmly made up.

Click here to read more of The Independent's series, Polarized: Voices From Across America

Look, for me the one true fact that we can all agree to is that this current administration is one of the biggest existential threats to ever plague this country, she says. The mishandling of this current crisis by the Trump administration has already cost us thousands of lives and the numbers will continue rising. So we have to vote for the Democratic nominee and continue to put pressure on them so that they can move forward with an agenda that works for the people and not the corporate powers that have controlled our democracy for far too long.

In announcing the end of his second presidential campaign, Sanders said the struggle continues for the revolution he and his supporters have long called for.

The greatest obstacle to real social change has everything to do with the power of the corporate and a political establishment to limit our vision as to what is possible and what we are entitled to as human beings, he said.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorses Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally in Queensbridge Park on October 19, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Getty Images)

Lassalle agrees that the struggles continues for a better world, and though shes heartbroken over the close of this chapter, she says she remains hopeful for the future.

This movement is just beginning, she says. It will continue beating loud in all of us. I hope it will inspire new generations of political voices.

A large part of Sanders platform focused on his core motto: Not me, us. And yet, as Lassalle notes, the senator is responsible for spearheading a grassroots campaign, while building a community of millions of donors and volunteers, all with a similar vision for the country. Thats a rare feat for a presidential candidate.

At 78 years old, its unlikely Sanders would launch a third presidential bid  nor is it clear he would be able to surmount a victory in the Democratic primaries, despite his deep and loyal base. As one of those ardent supporters, Lassalle shared a note thanking the senator for giving it his all:

Because of this movement so many voices have been uplifted and he and his team have created ripples extending to what I hope will be a brighter future for all of us. Thank you for leading with kindness, for asking empathy from voters, for asking us to fight for our neighbors so that they in turn will fight for us. Thank you for sharing your spotlight with incredible women of color so that we can all gain confidence from watching them speak so passionately about what we could be as a great country. Thank you for consistently working to protect our civil liberties, for having enough faith in the people of this country, taking all of our stories and highlighting them to create a political mosaic showing what this country is really all about.

After Sanders announced the suspension of his campaign, Biden rolled out new campaign initiatives designed to provide immediate and long-term relief for Americans impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The policies appear to be somewhat of a progressive olive branch to Sanders supporters, including $10,000 in student loan relief and a new plan that would forgive all remaining debt for student borrowers after 20 years, as well as lowering the age of Medicare eligibility to 60.

It remains to be seen whether the former VP can successfully woo all of Sanders' supporters. But Lassalle says there's just too much on the line.

She concludes: "There is so much at risk with this presidency that it makes it an unconscionable act to vote against removing this president from office."
Hyderabad: There is difference of opinion between the two Telugu states on continuation of lockdown beyond April 14.

Chief Ministers K. Chandrasekhar Rao of Telangana state and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh had conveyed their respective opinions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Wednesdays video conference with CMs of various states.

Rao is firm on a complete lockdown for two weeks from April 14. The CMs of certain other states too expressed a similar opinion during their interaction with the Prime Minister.

But Mr Reddy wants continuation of lockdown only in areas where the threat of coronavirus is continuing.

In a video conference held by Mr Modi with leaders of various parties in Parliament, YSRC MP Vijayasai Reddy, a close associate of the chief minister, maintained that for the convenience of people, the lockdown should be lifted from those areas where coronavirus cases have not been registered. The MP maintained that lockdown should continue only in the coronavirus hotspots.

TRS Parliamentary Party leader K. Keshava Rao reiterated Mr Chandrasekhar Raos opinion that the lockdown should continue for another two weeks.

In support of his stand, the YSRC MP pointed out that due to lockdown; all states in the country are losing huge revenues. Compared to other states, the situation in Andhra Pradesh is acute as at the time of bifurcation itself it had inherited a financial crisis. It will thus be very difficult for the state to manage if it continues to lose further revenues.

In normal conditions, Andhra Pradesh government earns Rs 165 crore as revenue per day. After the lockdown, the state has not been getting even a single rupee. Though the Centre released around Rs 3,000 crore for three weeks, the Jagan government had to borrow Rs 1,000 crore from the Reserve Bank of India two days ago.

Meanwhile, APSRTC has started advance reservations for travel after April 14 in anticipation that lockout could be lifted.
As many as 338 companies



manufacturing essential commodities in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district received permission to resume their operations during the COVID-19 lockdown, an official said on Friday.

A committee constituted by the district collector granted these permits to ensure smooth supply of essential commodities during the lockdown, he said.

Several companies in Aurangabad's industrial belt were forced to shut their operations when the lockdown was announced last month and some of them included manufacturers of essential commodities.

The committee, under the chairmanship of regional officer Rajendra Joshi, granted permission to 338 companies to resume their operations.

"So far, we have received applications from 407 companies, of which 56 are under scrutiny," executive engineer Bhushan Harshe said.

Passes have been allotted to limited number of employees from these 338 companies, he added.

Meanwhile, speaking about a new water line for Aurangabad and Jalna industrial areas, Harshe said, necessary permission will be sought from the collector to complete the work.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The financial capital of the country, Mumbai, is emerging as a major hub for the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 with 993 cases and 64 deaths as of 7 pm (IST) on Friday. With a rise in cases nearly every day, a total of four coronavirus hotspots in Mumbai has been identified and 341 areas sealed.

The hotspots that have been identified where most patients have been admitted are--G south ward (Worli area): 199 cases, Byculla of E. Ward, Mazgaon area: 69 cases, Malabar Hill of D Ward, Girgaon area: 61 cases, and Andheri West region: 51 cases. The sealing of over 340 areas took place as positive cases were found in these places. The movement of people in these areas has been completely stopped.

On Friday, prayers were not offered in the Mumbai mosques. The police were engaged in the strict implementation of the lockdown. There was call for prayer (azaan) in the mosques but due to the lockdown and ban on religious events, people did not reach the mosques.

In the meantime, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced to seal the Dadar-located Shushrusha Hospital and asked the private hospital to quarantine all its nurses and stop new admissions. It also said that all patients admitted to the hospital will be discharged in the next hours. The direction from the BMC came after two nurses at the hospital tested positive for coronavirus."Forty-eight hours have been given to the hospital to discharge the patients undergoing treatment there," a senior BMC official said.

So far, the BMC has detected six COVID-19 patients in the Dadar area, including the two nurses.

The BMC has already sealed a few private hospitals, including Jaslok Hospital at Pedder Road and Wockhardt Hospital at Mumbai Central, and quarantined their staffers after coronavirus cases were found in their premises.

The Kalyan-Dombivali area in Mumbai has reported six new positive cases of coronavirus while the Dombivali-east has reported five new cases. The total number of coronavirus patients in Kalyan-Dombivali now stands at 49.

The Mumbai Police has issued a prohibitory order for 14 days against spreading wrong information. The police warned against spreading of fake news, incorrect information, misinformation, and other such objectionable content in the form of messages, videos (both edited and self-created), images or memes (both edited and self-created), audio clips and other such forms of communication. It also warned on spreading rumours on internet messaging and social media platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram etc.

"If such type of content has been found to have caused panic, confusion among the general public, inciting mistrust towards government functionaries, communities and their actions taken to control the COVID-19 pandemic and also to have created animosity towards various communities, it can lead to a law and order situation and there is a danger to human health or safety or a disturbance of the public tranquillity," said the order.

The police issued issue prohibitory order for restricting any dissemination of information through various messaging and social media platforms which is found to be incorrect, derogatory and discriminatory towards a particular community, distortion of facts, causing panic and confusion among the general public, inciting mistrust towards government functionaries and their actions are taken in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

All persons designated as admin on messaging and social media platforms, either by self or by allowing any member of the group, shall be personally responsible and action will be taken against them.
FP Trending

To make typing on computers and smartphones more convenient for the visually impaired, Google has launched a Braille keyboard named TalkBack.

The virtual Braille keyboard can be integrated directly into Android, according to a blog entry posted by Brian Kemler, Product Manager, Android Accessibility.

Its a fast, convenient way to type on your phone without any additional hardware, whether youre posting on social media, responding to a text, or writing a brief email, Kemler said.

He said that the TalkBack keyboard uses a standard 6-key layout and each key represents one of six Braille dots which, when tapped, make any letter or symbol. To type an A you would press dot 1 and to type a B, dots 1 and 2 together, Kemler added.

Apart from normal typing, the keyboard also lets users delete letters and words, add lines, and submit text. It can be turned on and off as simply as switching between international keyboards, the blog mentioned.

Googles TalkBack gestures, however, are not supported when the keyboard is on.

To set up TalkBack on Googles Braille keyboard, users will have to follow these steps:

Go to the Accessibility section under the Settings option

Choose Braille keyboard

Select Tap to set up

In the dialogue, select Settings

Turn on TalkBack Braille keyboard.

Google has begun to roll out the keyboard to Android devices running on version 5.0 or later. It works across all apps on Android device, supports Braille grade 1 and grade 2, and is currently available in English.

via GIPHY

Google said the keyboard is part of its mission to make the worlds information universally accessible. The tech giant hopes that the device can broadly expand Braille literacy and exposure among visually impaired and people with poor or low vision.

Our team collaborated with Braille developers and users throughout the development of this feature, so itll be familiar to anyone who has typed using Braille before, Kemler said.
NAIROBI, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday sounded alarm over the rapid spread of COVID-19 to rural parts of Africa hence threatening to put a strain on an already fragile health care infrastructure.

Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said the spread of the viral disease from capital cities to rural areas in the continent should be addressed as a matter of urgency to prevent a public health crisis.

"Tackling cases in rural areas that often lack the resources of urban centers will pose an immense challenge for the already strained health systems in Africa," Moeti said in a statement.

"There is a critical shortage of treatment facilities for critical cases of COVID-19 in Africa," she added.

The African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in its latest update said the continent had more than 10,000 COVID-19 cases and over 500 deaths arising from the disease.

"As COVID-19 cases move out of urban areas, there is a need to decentralize the response and increase coordination with regional administrations as well as reinforce sub-national health emergency response systems," WHO said.

"Provincial and regional governments and administrations need to be able to coordinate, trace contacts, contain cases, and treat patients locally," it added.

The global health agency said that African countries were still well-placed to win the battle against COVID-19 if they invested in additional intensive care unit beds and personal protective equipment for health workers and civilians.

It commended Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria for establishing multiple laboratories to expand testing, adding that Tanzania and Ethiopia have also taken proactive measures to boost diagnosis of the viral respiratory disease.
A super-lab for coronavirus testing has finally opened in Milton Keynes after ministers admitted they had no idea when it would be operational.

The National Biosample Centre has been shrouded in mystery for weeks and was discreetly opened last night by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

There was skepticism the facility would get going in time to meet Number 10's ambitious plan to test 100,000 people a day.

Despite officially operating for less than 24 hours, officials claim the Milton Keynes lab is 'already able to test thousands of patient samples each day'.

Mr Hancock emphasised the opening as a key point in British history as the Government grapples with the pandemic at hand.

The National Biosample Centre for coronavirus testing has finally opened in Milton Keynes after ministers admitted they had no idea when it would be operational

At today's press briefing, he said that two more 'Lighthouse mega-labs' in Cheshire and Glasgow were already open - despite not being officially launched.

Suspicions The National Biosample Centre had been earmarked as a COVID-19 testing lab rose in mid-March.

Locals in Tilbrook, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, had noticed an abnormal level of activity taking place at the building, which is tucked away in a quiet industrial site between Browns Woods and Caldecote.

But Department of Health officials refused to comment on what was happening. Plans seemed to be veiled in secrecy amid ongoing criticism of the Government for failing to scale up testing with speed.

Last week sources claimed no testing has actually taken place, even though Mr Hancock claimed the facility had opened on March 24.

At the daily press briefing, Mr Hancock said: 'On testing, we are ramping up, those will come online very soon.

'In fact, our new testing facility in Milton Keynes opens today and we are therefore on the ramp up of the testing numbers.'

There was skepticism the super-lab would ever get going because the Government refused to comment on plans. The warehouse is pictured

To add further confusion, government ministers admitted on April 2 they still did not know when it would be fully operational.

Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government contradicted what Mr Hancock said on Radio 4s Today programme: I don't know precisely when that's going to be coming on board but obviously everything is coming as quickly as it possibly can.'

Now it can be revealed Mr Hancock quietly visited the building on Thursday before the Cobra meeting to formally launch it.

Matt Hancock said last night: 'We have set the challenge of achieving a 100,000 coronavirus tests a day by the end of the month.

'A stream of new testing and diagnostic facilities are being brought online, and the opening of the first of our new Lighthouse Labs is an historic moment.'

The opening of Milton Keynes lab for the purpose of coronavirus testing was a 'crucial step' taken in tackling this virus, Mr Hancock said.

Built for 24million in 2015, the facility is the largest in the UK for storing and processing swabs. It has capacity to store more than 20million samples at temperatures as low as -196C.

Officials say swab samples will be sent in from all over the country by Royal Mail and Amazon.

The labs are part of the Governments plan to 'dramatically increase the number of coronavirus tests that can take place each day'.

According to a Government spokesperson the will help process 'tens of thousands of tests' in the coming weeks and is 'already able to test thousands of patient samples each day'.

But despite the governments boast, vacancies for experienced laboratory staff to work at the Milton Keynes site were still circulating on April 2.

The Microbiology Society sent an urgent appeal to its members on behalf of the Government, asking for specialists to work at the Milton Keynes site.

It suggested staff shortages were the reason for the faltered start of the laboratory, but the DHSC refused to reveal how many lab technicians and other staff had been employed.

Insiders told MailOnline that the government has not been able to recruit enough lab technicians who have expertise in operating PCR machines, that are able to locate the coronavirus gene and establish if somebody is infected or not.

One scientific researcher who did not want to be named, told MailOnline: There are some fantastic, experienced laboratory staff all over the country, but the government wants most of the testing done centrally in Milton Keynes and two other locations and this is causing the problem.

From what Ive been told, no testing at all has taken place at Milton Keynes. It can take two weeks to train somebody to operate a PCR machine, but this is time that the country doesnt have. They need to get the site fully operational as quickly as possible but thats not happening and its costing people their lives.

Currently almost 20,000 tests are being processed a day. This needs to reach 100,000 by the end of April to meet Mr Hancock's goal.

The 'Lighthouse Labs' have taken their name from the PCR testing technology, which uses fluorescent light to detect the virus.

Mr Hancock said today two further Lighthouse Labs have been opened in Alderley Park and Glasgow to add further capacity to test swabs for the virus.

A fourth lab at Cambridge University's Anne McLaren Laboratory aims to process 30,000 tests per day, which would go a long way to meeting the Government's 100,000 a day April target.

But it won't be 'fully up and running' until May, the university's Vice-Chancellor, Stephen Toope, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday.

A Government spokesman said: 'The site in Milton Keynes is the first of three mega-labs that will be integrated into the new national testing infrastructure.

'The platform will automate the country's collection of patient samples, supported by world-class, cross-sector British logistics experts, supported by military planners.'

There have now been a total of 65,077 positive results in the UK. Today was the largest jump in coronavirus deaths. A further 953 people have died, bringing the total to 8,931.

Currently only people seriously ill in hospital are able to access a coronavirus test, leaving the full scale of the UK epidemic unknown.

Efforts to get the thousands of NHS frontline workers are underway but a small minority have been able to access a test.

The Government spokesperson said: 'The testing of NHS staff and their families currently in isolation will continue to be prioritised, allowing those testing negative, or with family members who test negative, to return to work.'

Since rollout began on March 24, there are now 13 drive-through sites for NHS frontline staff and their families in operation across the UK, helping to provide the labs with patient samples.

Lighthouse Labs have been constructed through a partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care, Medicines Discovery Catapult, UK Biocentre and the University of Glasgow.
When thinking about all of the issues we are having in the world, it is great to know that we as a community are trying our best to help local businesses.

There is no other organization working harder than Elevate Rapid City under the leadership of Tom Johnson.

I cannot tell you how great it is to see the list of essential businesses that are open in the Black Hills in the paper every day, thanks in part to Elevate Rapid City. The Rapid City Journal is taking its place as the leader in local reporting. The television stations are also doing a remarkable job.

With that said, I am proud to announce another way we are going to help our local businesses. In this trying time, customers are eager to find ways to offer their support.

Elevate Rapid City and the Rapid City Journal are wanting to help as much as we can.

One of the most popular ways people are doing this is buying gift cards  both for businesses that are temporarily closed, to use later  and for businesses open now.

We'd like to help.

Our new Buy Local Platform is a reliable, one-stop shop that will help customers buy gift cards to keep their favorite local businesses afloat.

As a business, you are able to be added to the list absolutely free of charge for now. Simply go to https://bit.ly/rapidcitygiftcard and fill out the form. Be sure to list Rapid City Journal as the publication to ensure you are on the Rapid City list.

Well take care of the rest!

If you dont have a gift card page for the form to link to, it will direct the customer to call your business to purchase.

Well work to drive our readers of the Journal to the site with the full force of our marketing capabilities  print and digital ads, emails to our readers, and promotion by Elevate on social media.

Help us help you. Please join us by filling out the form today.

Please go to https://bit.ly/shoprapidcitycards to see what our community has to offer. The site is live today, but many more businesses will be added in the coming days.

Matt Tranquill is the Publisher of the Rapid City Journal and a board member of Elevate Rapid City. He can be reached at matthew.tranquill@rapidcityjournal.com.
Vehicles on the Hanoi - Hai Phong Expressway. Photo by VnExpress.

Toll booth operators are reporting plummeting revenues amid the coronavirus pandemic that could slow plans to recoup investment on roads.

The Phap Van  Cau Gie Expressway in Hanoi has seen traffic drop 70 percent from before the outbreak to 20,000 vehicles a day.

Falling traffic numbers along the expressway, which runs from Hoang Mai District southward, has been steeper in recent days as the government imposed a social distancing campaign starting April 1.

Pham Van Khoa, CEO of BOT Phap Van  Cau Gie Jsc, said this has resulted in its revenue falling by half from March and the company would have to extend its tolling time to recover its VND6.7 trillion ($284 million) expressway investment.

Another expressway connecting Hanoi with northern Bac Giang Province recorded revenue of VND1.1 billion ($46,600) a day in the last two months, 35 percent lower than target.

The figure dropped to VND710 million ($30,100) this month, according to BOT Hanoi  Bac Giang Investment Jsc.

National Highway 5 that connects Hanoi with Hai Phong City, and Hanoi-Hai Phong Expressway, saw traffic down 40-50 percent starting April 1, as buses have been banned and personal vehicles are few.

Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), which operates the nations expressways, estimates a loss of VND140 billion ($6 million) this year as revenue from tolls fall.

Most operators are in a dilemma as they are not allowed to increase toll fees according to build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts, while lowering tolls will only result in longer periods spent recoup investments.
The country-wide lockdown has forced shut doors of temples in the pilgrim destination of Neemsar in UP's Sitapur district but on Tuesdays and Saturdays hundreds of needy line up to take packets of essentials being distributed by temple authorities.

Though authorities at temples like the Hanuman Garhi are doing their bit to reach out to the poor in Neemsar also known as Naimisharnaya, about 90 km from here, the priests are themselves unsure of how to sustain themselves if the lockdown is not lifted on April 14.

With a motto "Saksham hain to Seva karein" (Serve, if you have resources), the Mahant of the Hanuman temple Bajrang Das said the temple with its own resources is giving two kgs of wheat, lentils, mustard oil, spices in a packet to the needy.

"We are also giving Rs 50 in cash to those coming for their daily expenses. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, people line up here and we distribute packets. With a word of mouth publicity 400-500 needy persons come here," the Mahant said.

"We have arrangements till April 14 but after this period if the lockdown is not lifted we will see how we can continue with this. We pray to Lord Hanuman that situation due to coronavirus comes under control and the lockdown is lifted," he added.

At Neemsar's Lalita Ashram also its head Lal Bihari Shastri is ensuring distribution of food packets to the needy.

"We are hopeful the situation will come under control and the lockdown is lifted on April 14. Till then we are trying to provide whatever help we can to the people," he said.

Rajnarain Pandey, Head Priest, Chakrateerth, which is the place in Neemsar where Lord Brahma's 'Chakra' cracked through the earth forming a large source of water (Chakra Kund) said, "This is for the first time such a silence is prevailing here. We are sure that the lockdown will be lifted next week. If not, the administration here will have to make arrangements for pandits and pandas here as they will be financially hit."



"We are praying and God..that's what we know...He will certainly help us all," he added.

Pradhan Acharya of Ashtkon temple Aarti Sumit Kumar, who is helping people with medicines and food, is also hopeful that the lockdown will be lifted.

"We all are mentally prepared till April 14 but if the situation does not improve it will make life of priests here more difficult," he said.

"Naimisharanya is the place wherever several sages have performed penance. It is believed that on visiting this sacred place, people obviate their sins. Our prayers from here will certainly work," Sumit said.

For Aaveg Mehrotra, who owns a hotel here, it is time to reach out to the needy.

"We and others in the business are following whatever instructions are coming from our PM and CM. Though my hotel is not running and like others I am suffering losses, I am ensuring payment to my staff and utilising them for cooking for the needy. We are trying to reach out to maximum people and give food packets to 300-400 people per day."



"This is time to contribute to society. With God's grace, we hope all this will normalise and we will be back in business soon with return of devotees to Neemsar," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is pushing to reopen much of the country next month, raising concerns among medical experts and economists of a possible covid-19 resurgence if Americans return to their normal lives before the virus is truly stamped out.

Behind closed doors, President Donald Trump - concerned with the sagging economy - has sought a strategy for resuming business activity by May 1, according to people familiar with the discussions.

In phone calls with outside advisers, Trump has even floated trying to reopen much of the country before the end of this month, when the current federal recommendations to avoid social gatherings and work from home expire, the people said. Trump regularly looks at unemployment and stock market numbers, complaining that they are hurting his presidency and reelection prospects, the people said.

Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions.

Trump said at his daily briefing Thursday that the United States was at the "top of the hill" and added, "Hopefully, we're going to be opening up - you could call it opening - very, very, very, very soon, I hope."

Multiple Cabinet secretaries in recent days have publicly expressed hope that the various government orders directing residents to stay at home and forcing nonessential businesses to close could be eased at least partially next month.

Asked Thursday during an appearance on CNBC whether he thought it was possible that the country could be open for business next month, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, "I do." A day earlier, Attorney General William Barr had called some of the stay-at-home orders and other restrictions "draconian" and suggested they needed to be reevaluated next month.

"When this period of time, at the end of April, expires, I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have, and not just tell people to go home and hide under their bed, but allow them to use other ways - social distancing and other means - to protect themselves," Barr said on Fox News.

The White House cannot unilaterally reopen the country. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued federal guidance advising people to avoid social gatherings, work from home and use pickup and delivery options for food, it is state officials who have put the force of law behind those suggestions.

The CDC guidance is set to expire April 30, but the states are free to choose their own paths. Already, the state directives have varied in timing and in severity, and that is certain to continue as they are rolled back.

White House advisers have contemplated scenarios in which some "hot spot" states will not be ready to reopen as quickly, the people familiar with the matter said. There have already been vigorous debates, with public-health experts and some presidential advisers warning against reopening too soon, while key members of the president's economic team - and some conservatives in the vice president's orbit - push for a quicker return to normality.

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious diseases, said Thursday that some places might reopen sooner than others, and that hard-hit New York, for example, shouldn't loosen its restrictions until there was a "very steep decline" in infections.

"It's not going to be one-size-fits-all," he said.

The president, said one senior administration official with direct knowledge of the conversations, asks regularly: "When can we reopen?"

Health experts say ending the shutdown prematurely would be disastrous because the restrictions have barely had time to work, and because U.S. leaders have not built up the capacity for alternatives to stay-at-home orders - such as the mass testing, large-scale contact tracing and targeted quarantines that have been used in other countries to suppress the virus.

Even one of the most optimistic models, which has been used by the White House and governors, predicts a death toll of 60,400, but only if current drastic restrictions are kept in place until the end of May.

There have been nascent signs that the aggressive social-distancing measures imposed by state and city governments have slowed the spread of the infection, which has killed more than 16,000 Americans. Federal officials have noted that Washington state and California were among the first states to see cases of the virus but have not experienced the high levels of infection and death that others, such as New York and New Jersey, are enduring. Pence said Thursday that officials were beginning to see "stabilization" in some of the hardest-hit areas.

"It's working, America," Pence said.

More for you Europe is looking at several more weeks of virus lockdowns

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said Thursday that hospitalizations and intensive-care admissions in the state have fallen, suggesting progress. But he stressed that he did not know when New Yorkers would be able to begin a return to normal life.

"We're not going to go from red to green; we're going to go from red to yellow," Cuomo said.

Trump aides internally have taken note of New York's stabilizing hospital numbers, and some believe that the modeling projections are excessively high.

The comments from Barr, who is not a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, and Mnuchin, who is, seem to indicate the growing recognition in the administration that the steps meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus have inflicted economic pain that is likely to last for many months.

On Thursday - as the Labor Department tallied another 6.6 million Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy was deteriorating "with alarming speed" and called for a national discussion about what will be required to reopen it.

Trump is preparing to announce this week the creation of a second, smaller coronavirus task force aimed specifically at combating the economic ramifications of the pandemic, according to people familiar with the plans.

The task force is expected to be led by Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, and include Larry Kudlow, the president's chief economic adviser, and Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, along with outside business leaders. Others expected to play a role are Kevin Hassett, who has been advising Trump on economic models in recent weeks, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, administration officials say.

Stephen Moore, a conservative economist who advises the administration informally and has pushed for the country to reopen more quickly, said he believed the task force was a good idea to help expedite that process.

"You have to figure out: How do you do it? Where do you it? When do you it? What areas of the country? What industry?" Moore said. "His presidency depends on getting that right."

Barr, the nation's top law enforcement official, noted that the economics of the shutdown could cost lives. For example, he said, cancer researchers were probably at home, not doing their critical work.

"We will have a weaker health-care system if we go into a deep depression," Barr said. "So, just measured in lives, the cure cannot be worse than the disease."

Barr's comments came in response to repeated questions from Fox News's Laura Ingraham about the civil liberties problems created by government-imposed shutdowns.

Barr, a person familiar with his thinking said, has known Ingraham for many years and agreed to the interview some time ago.

The attorney general repeatedly lauded Trump and said states were, at least for now, within their rights to impose such measures. The person familiar with his thinking said he was focused on what happens after the CDC's guidelines on social distancing expire this month.

The person said Barr has been informally talking with associates about how businesses could reopen, including having more equipped with personal protective equipment or on-site testing.

"He was trying to say once we're through this period, it's not sustainable to live in fear," the person said.

Health experts and economists have said that reopening prematurely could backfire and lead to another shutdown if coronavirus cases begin surging again and a long-term solution is not found. Past pandemics have offered clear warnings of what can happen.

A 2007 study funded by the CDC examined the fate of several U.S. cities when they eased restrictions too soon during the 1918 flu pandemic. Those cities believed they were on the other side of the peak, and, like the United States today, had residents agitating about the economy and for relaxing restrictions.

Once they lifted the restrictions, however, the trajectory of those cities soon turned into a double-humped curve with two peaks instead of one. Two peaks means overwhelmed hospitals and many deaths, without the flattening benefit authorities were trying to achieve with arduous restrictions.

Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, notably did not advocate a May reopening, saying such steps were more likely after July. And even some close to Trump seemed wary of supporting an early date.

Pence on Thursday did not put a firm date on a possible reopening but said the decision would be guided by medical experts and that Trump wanted it to be done "responsibly."

"No one wants to reopen America more than Donald Trump," Pence said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally, said an early reopening was "an aspirational goal."

"The real fear is that you do it too quickly and you create a spike in the disease, which is likely to come back in the fall," Graham said. "It has to be a science-based assessment, and I don't see a mass reopening of the economy coming anytime soon."

Even some of those most affected by the economic downturn expressed fear of a premature return to work.

"If restoring the economy means restoring transit systems back to full-throttle schedules, before covid-19 is defeated, it's just going to expose more transit workers to harm's way, and it's something we would not be in favor of," said John Samuelsen, the international president of the Transport Workers Union. "Public transit systems are the most effective disperser of the virus. An evil-genius engineer could not have engineered a better system than the New York City transit system to spread covid-19."

Zack Hershman, 27, has been out of work since mid-March, when he was laid off as a server at Suraya, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood. The layoff was profoundly unsettling, he said, but he nonetheless commended his employers for leveling with the staff early on about why the closures were necessary.

"As much as I would love to get back to work," he said, "it's not the right thing to do long-term in terms of the safety of people working and eating at restaurants."

- - -

The Washington Post's Devlin Barrett, Heather Long, Brittany Shammas and John Wagner contributed to this report.
As coronavirus sweeps through New Jersey nursing homes, healthcare workers at a facility in Jersey City say administrators negligence and misconduct have put staff and patients in danger.

In interviews with The Jersey Journal, three staff members at the Alaris at Hamilton Park nursing home described a dangerous environment in which administrators pressured employees to work despite exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms and kept sick patients in the same rooms as healthy patients.

Administrators actions, which allegedly included failures to test widely or reveal positive coronavirus tests until weeks later, likely caused COVID-19 to spread more quickly and infect more people, the healthcare workers said.

Matt Stanton, a spokesman for Alaris, declined to say how many Hamilton Park patients had been tested for COVID-19, saying only that a total of 17 had tested positive  12 of whom remain at the facility.

The fact of the matter is there is not enough testing available, he said.

The Monmouth Street facility offers rehabilitation and long-term care for residents. Normally, it has an occupancy of around 200 residents, but currently houses 151.

In an email, Stanton wrote that Alaris was being as proactive as possible on communicating with our residents, their families and our employees as it relates to the status of COVID-19 for their loved ones.

The facility has recorded 11 deaths over the past month, but only five were likely a result of the coronavirus, according to the Jersey City department of health and human services.

Jersey Citys director of health and human services Stacy Flanagan said her office made two visits to the nursing home to investigate the allegations and planned a third visit on Monday.

On Tuesday, the city ordered the facility to establish an isolation section for coronavirus patients and to supply all staff with personal protective gear. The agency has ramped up testing of healthcare staff and made recommendations for patients to be further separated, Flanagan said.

Her department was being extremely proactive, she said, adding that nursing homes technically fall under the jurisdiction of the state department of health, which licenses them.

Weve been testing their nurses, weve asked them to make some adjustments, weve asked them to discharge short term healthy residents, she said.

According to interviews with the three Alaris staff members, all of whom asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, healthcare workers were prohibited from wearing masks before March 26, with management saying that it would scare patients.

Although the virus had already begun spreading in the nursing home, supervisors did not test patients widely and did not inform the staff or patients loved ones when tests came back positive, the employees said. Some sick patients were housed in rooms with healthy patients, causing the virus to spread even faster, they added.

When healthcare workers began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and asked for time off, administrators pressured them to keep working or to quit, the employees said. Some were offered incentives, such as dinner at a restaurant, to keep working despite symptoms, text messages show.

Stanton denied the allegations in an email.

Alaris Health facilities, including Hamilton, have exceeded state and federal guidelines/requirements throughout this crisis, Stanton wrote, saying the facility was adhering strictly to federal and state guidelines for housing infectious patients.

And Stanton called it false that employees were forced to work if they had symptoms, saying the facility mandated that sick employees had to stay out of work for two weeks, or show no symptoms for three days before returning to work.

We understand theyre stressed, they say things, he said, adding that the company values its healthcare employees. We understand theyre upset about things, but they are really, really important.

He also noted that Alaris increased all staff wages by 25 percent several weeks ago and nurses wages by 100 percent last week.

The allegations against Hamilton Park come as nursing homes across the country are struggling to contain outbreaks of coronavirus and are grappling with shortages of staff and protective gear.

On Wednesday, state health commissioner Judith Persichilli said that 231 nursing homes in New Jersey have at least one case of the virus while roughly 150 nursing home residents have died.

Deaths at nursing homes have prompted action by state agencies, with Persichilli saying that some patients might be moved out of hard-hit facilities. The deaths of 22 patients at a nursing home in Elizabeth prompted the mayor to ask the state attorney general for an investigation.

Jersey City councilman James Solomon said the allegations of negligence at the Hamilton Park facility were troubling.

It is infuriating that our most vulnerable residents have been so poorly treated," Solomon said, and I am glad that measures are being put in place today to ensure their safety.
Editor in chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, has lambasted former deputy Minister of Finance Cassiel Ato Forson, for saying The Bank Hospital, owned by Bank of Ghana, remains an undeniable legacy of former President John Mahama.

Mr Forson, MP for Ejumako Enyan Essiam and Ranking Member, Finance Committee of Parliament, had in a statement said: as a former deputy Minister responsible for Finance and one who served on the Board of the Bank of Ghana from 2013 to 2017, I can confirm without equivocation that the Bank Hospital is a President John Mahama legacy.

He says The Bank Hospital was built using public funds at the time H.E. John Mahama was President of the Republic.

He added that President Mahama provided the leadership and vision that was needed at the time to conceptualize and establish the hospital.

Mr. Kwaku Baako needs to understand that the central Bank has functional autonomy and that autonomy does not apply when it comes to the use of public funds, he added.

It must be made clear that the Central Bank makes profit through its operations.

The profit of the Bank of Ghana is a public fund, hence the use of the funds are subject to the directives of the Government of the day under the laws of Ghana thereof, he stated.

Hit Back

But Mr. Baako hit back, challenging Mr Forson to produce evidence to back his claim.

In a Facebook post Mr Baako says I was thinking that as a former Deputy Minister for Finance and a member of the previous Board/Authority of BoG, Mr. Ato Forson would have produced something of evidential value to back up his/their case.

He states He (Forson) produces no minutes of Board meetings which may illustrate either Ministerial or Presidential directives to the Management and Board of BoG relative to the conception and execution of TBH; he produces no Cabinet or Ministerial records or documentation to underscore any governmental involvement or directives in the project under reference.

All Mr. Forson sought to do, according to him, was to recollect the fact that he was a member of the previous Board/Authority of BoG and a former Deputy Minister for Finance.

Recollection

How does that recollection sustain his/their case that TBH was inspired by the vision and leadership of President Mahama? he quizzed.

He wondered Mr. Forson included the construction of the International Maritime Hospital (IMaH) as part of President Mahamas Health Infrastructural legacy, knowing that the project was solely financed Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the conception started during the Kufuor presidency.

The conception and construction history of IMaH does not support his assertion, he added.

The conception of IMaH crystallized in 2008. The plot for a new medical facility for GPHA was purchased in 2008, he said.

And there are official GPHA records to support that fact. Initial designs were done in 2009/10. Actual construction commenced in April 2012 and completed in October 2016.

The project was fully funded by the GPHA. His reference to the upgrading and rehabilitation of the Ridge Hospital and the construction of the University of Ghana Medical Centre(UGMC) were irrelevant in the context of my submissions relative to TBH and IMaH, he says.

Indeed, I am on record as indicating that the conception and execution of those two projects (Ridge and UGMC) can and should be credited to the Mills and Mahama Administrations!

Public Record

He added that This is public record! There is abundant official/public record to show that both Cabinet (including Ministerial) and Parliamentary Approvals for the construction of the two medical facilities, transpired during the tenure of the two Administrations.

In the case of the Upper West Regional Hospital (Wa), I want to believe Mr. Forson knows that Cabinet and Parliamentary approvals for the loan agreements were effected in, April, August, October and November 2008 respectively (Kufuor presidency).

Interestingly, when President Akufo-Addo was commissioning that hospital in November 2019, he underscored the fact that the construction trajectory and history of that hospital had travelled through the reigns of 4 Presidents; starting with Kufuor through to Mills, Mahama and himself (Akufo-Addo), he recounted.

How that project becomes the exclusive achievement of President Mahama is rather puzzling! he wondered.

The records do not support his point. Somebody should call the former Deputy Minister for Finances attention to the fact the Bank of Ghana Act is clear on how BoG profits are distributed, says Mr. Baako.

Banks Failure

The retained profits after distribution to the Consolidated Funds, if any, are used for operational purposes, for which the Bank of Ghana has operational independence.

He was at a loss why Mr Mahama would instruct the BoG on how to apply its resources in view of its autonomy, wondering why the central bank lost focused on its core mandate leading to the banking crisis.

That said, it is very clear if Mr. Forson insists the President directed the use of operational resources at BoG, then it shows the degree of interference the President had at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), which then shows why Ghana had so many bank failures and macro-economic instability during the times Mr. Forson was a member of the Board/Authority of BoG and a Deputy Minister for Finance!

---Daily Guide
While other states have moved to all-mail elections, Bell said she would be asking for a big behavioral change from voters. Fewer than 5% of North Carolina voters mail in their ballots. Bell said based on that, she would expect a 30-40% voter participation in November.

Then were looking at, is that enough to shift from an in-person vote to mail-in voting, Bell said. And the states that are already doing this said it took them not months but years to be prepared.

Requests from precincts are already coming in to move to other sites if there is in-person voiting, she said. Shes looking at ways to decontaminate voting sites or find former retail spaces like grocery stores where people can walk inside with a motion sensor instead of touching doors. No matter what she decides to do, it will cost the board a lot of money.

The board expects to get nearly $14 million from a Help America Vote Act grant and just over $13 million from the CARES Act grant.

The first grant deals with the technological side of voting but can be used to help in dealing with COVID-19 during the election. The latter has more stipulations on how it can be used, and Bell said she hopes to funnel that money to county boards.
Cazenovia, N.Y. -- Ventilators that Ford Motor Co. will make for the fight against the coronavirus will contain a key part from Marquardt Switches in Cazenovia.

Marquardt said it will supply the on/off switch for the ventilators that Ford plans to make to address a worldwide shortage caused by COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Ford plans to make 50,000 ventilators for coronavirus patients in 100 days and up to 30,000 a month after that through a partnership with GE Healthcare. The automaker has said it will start assembling the ventilators the week of April 20 at its components plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Marquardt manufactures electro-mechanical switches, controls and wireless communications systems for major industries. One of its major customers is the automotive industry. It also makes switches and controls for life-saving medical equipment.

The company previously announced it will make and donate hose connectors for personal protection suits worn by healthcare workers at Central New York hospitals. The connectors will provide clean air to workers wearing the suits while treating patients.

Marquardt said it is exploring other ways to help during the coronavirus pandemic. It said hospitals or healthcare providers who need supplies and think the company can help should email Kirk Wardell at Kirk.Wardell@marquardt.com.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

Onondaga Co. coronavirus: Recoveries outpace new infections; ICUs continue climb; 456 total cases

Coronavirus: Model shows dire scenarios in CNY if we dont stay farther apart for months

From Syracuse, with love: Nurses bring supplies, expertise, hope to Long Island outbreak

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
XUZHOU, China, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- XCMG (SHE:000425) has delivered an order of multi-functional dust suppression vehicles to the Middle East on March 30, marking a new milestone as the company's first bulk export of the product. The deal was completed on XCMG's Machmall.com platform and is also the first time Chinese special epidemic prevention equipment was exported through an international e-commerce platform.

As the world continues to fight COVID-19, special epidemic prevention equipment is now in high demand. To promote the products, XCMG has created a special section on Machmall.com, which was launched in 2018 as a global one-stop marketing and sales platform for construction machinery and spare parts.

A company in Middle East was in urgent need to purchase dust suppression vehicles amid the COVID-19 outbreak and reached out to XCMG on Machmall.com, it eventually chose XCMG products for their excellent functionality, after-sales services, delivery time and price.

"The global economy is faced by unprecedented pressure and challenges, added to this; we are now fighting COVID-19. XCMG hopes to offer support to global partners, bearing the responsibility of 'making the world a better place, and has designed these vehicles to improve disinfection efficiency, " said Wang Min, Chairman of XCMG.

Meanwhile, XCMG has shipped four million masks and 700,000 surgical gowns purchased by Vale in Brazil on April 4. Working around the clock, XCMG led teams to procure medical supplies and help partners solve raw material, production and logistics issues; XCMG completed the task in two weeks.

Wang Min commented that when the epidemic situation escalated in China, XCMG purchased and donated more than RMB 5 million in supplies, with emergency assistance from global partners. XCMG is committed to integrating global resources to help more countries fight against the pandemic.

At present, XCMG has provided assistance and medical supplies to over 40 countries. On April 4, XCMG also donated more than 100,00 masks and epidemic prevention supplies to 10 countries including the Philippines, UAE and Nigeria.

About XCMG

XCMG is a multinational heavy machinery manufacturing company with a history of 77 years. It currently ranks sixth in the world's construction machinery industry. The company exports to more than 183 countries and regions around the world.

For more information, please visit: www.xcmg.com , or XCMG pages on Facebook , Twitter , YouTube , LinkedIn and Instagram .

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1153841/XCMG.jpg
The technology brainchild of a Tullamore man is keeping Ireland's livestock trading business operational during the current Covid-19 crisis.

As one of the most important cogs in the food supply chain, it was imperative marts were maintained during the lockdown. Stepping into the virtual breach was Tullamore's Brendan Hannigan, whose Livestock Live app is now being used across the country.

Livestock Live Limited was established in 2014 to develop a technology-based platform to facilitate the farming, livestock and agricultural industry. It has become popular but has really come into its own during the current health emergency.

The app has been used in Ireland in recent days and works very much like a conventional mart without the human interaction. Farmers tune in to watch the animals and when taking stock of their information and getting that all-important look at the animal, farmers can make bids through the technology.

The software allows for livestock marts and auction houses, video streaming, online bidding, farm management including pharmaceutical drug control and reporting. It also incorporates government animal movement synchronisation, new born registration, a livestock Transport Hub, online shop and up to date trading prices for marts and factories - all enveloped in a user friendly mobile App for Android and iPhone.

The idea came to life in 2016 as an online trading platform followed by mart software solutions in 2018 farm management software was introduced along with the launch of the LSL App.

Founder and CEO Brendan Hannigan is the inspiration behind the companys ongoing push for a seamless platform which supports continuity for users across the agriculture industry. He has 25 years experience as a business entrepreneur across multiple business sectors and operates between offices in Ireland and the UK with a team of developers.
By Jan Strupczewski and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union finance ministers agreed on Thursday on half-a-trillion euros worth of support for their coronavirus-battered economies but left open the question of how to finance recovery in the bloc headed for a steep recession.

The agreement was reached after EU powerhouse Germany, as well as France, put their feet down to end opposition from the Netherlands over attaching economic conditions to emergency credit for governments weathering the impacts of the pandemic, and offered Italy assurances that the bloc would show solidarity.

But the deal does not mention using joint debt to finance recovery - something Italy, France and Spain pushed strongly for but which is a red line for Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria.

It only defers to the bloc's 27 national leaders whether "innovative financial instruments" should be applied, meaning many more fraught discussions on the matter were still ahead.

"Europe has shown that it can rise to the occasion of this crisis," said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, praising what he said was the most important economic plan in EU history.

Earlier on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that the EU's very existence would be under threat if it could not come together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus.

For weeks, EU member states have struggled to present a united front in the face of the pandemic, squabbling over money, medical equipment and drugs, border restrictions and trade curbs, amid fraught talks laying bare their bitter divisions.

While Le Maire said the Thursday agreement paved the way for debt mutualisation, his Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, stressed the opposite.

"We are and will remain opposed to eurobonds. We think this concept will not help Europa or the Netherlands in the long-term," Hoekstra said after talks ended.

Story continues

STRAINED SOLIDARITY

Mario Centeno, who chaired the Thursday talks after sixteen hours of all-night discussions earlier this week failed to yield a deal, said 100 billion euros would go to a scheme to subsidise wages so that firms can cut working hours, not jobs.

The European Investment Bank would step up lending to companies with 200 billion euros and the euro zone's European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund would make 240 billion euros of cheap credit available to governments, he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier in the day talked on the phone with Conte and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, paving the way for the eventual agreement, which now awaits approval from the bloc's 27 national leaders in the coming days.

She said she agreed with Conte on the "urgent need for solidarity in Europe, which is going through one of its most difficult hours, if not the most difficult".

Merkel also made clear Berlin would not agree to jointly issued debt, but said other financial avenues were available.

Discussions on that have so far been fraught between the more fiscally conservative north and the indebted south, which has been hit hardest by the pandemic.

The package would bring the EU's total fiscal response to the epidemic to 3.2 trillion euros ($3.5 trillion), the biggest in the world.

But controversy remained over how to kickstart economic growth, with European Economics Commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni, saying the money for that could be raised against the bloc's next joint budget for 2021-27.($1 = 0.9205 euros)

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Gabriela Baczynska, Michelle Martin, Toby Sterling, Joseph Nasr, Francois Murphy, Robin Emmott, Francesco Guarascio, Joan Faus, Gwenaelle Barzic and Leigh Thomas; Editing by Grant McCool and Diane Craft)
Doctors and nurses are the real superstars right now. They are backbone of fight against COVID-19. Some are even calling them soldier. They, all over the world, are at the forefront battling the pandemic.

While we are all in this together and we are all doing our bit by staying at home in such grave times of crisis, even celebrities are taking part in this.



Twitter

While most of the Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities have donated for the cause, others including Jennifer Stone have become nurses.

Instagram

Known for her role as Harper Finkle opposite Selena Gomez on Wizards of Waverly Place, 27-year-old is serving as a nurse now.

"A very good friend of mine...pointed out to me that today is #worldhealthday. It is also the day I went from a volunteer, then a student nurse, and now an RN resident," she wrote.

Twitter

"I just hope to live up to all of the amazing healthcare providers on the front lines now as I get ready to join them," she wrote.

Earlier, Fan actress Shikha Malhotra, who has also worked with Sanjay Mishra in Kanchli, also volunteered as nurse to work with BMC-run trauma hospital in Jogeshwari, Mumbai.






WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI  The University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University canceled their respective 2020 commencement ceremonies due to the coronavirus pandemic, and while they expect to have a celebration for graduates at some point, both universities have planned alternate ways to more immediately congratulate this years graduates.

UM is developing plans for an online celebrations, and EMU is assembling a selfie video montage of congratulatory messages to graduating students.

Eastern Michigan University postpones commencement, encourages students to go home

University of Michigan cancels spring commencements amid fight against coronavirus spread

UM President Mark Schlissel sent an email to Ann Arbor campus students April 9 saying the university may hold an in-person ceremony some time next spring.

Commencement is a very special time for all of us at UM, Schlissel said. We all recognize how great an accomplishment this is and share the goal of making a commencement ceremony as meaningful as possible when we are able.

Students with suggestions can email springcommencement@umich.edu.

This spring, in the days leading up to May 2, when commencement ceremonies were originally supposed to take place, Schlissel said there will be a variety of online performances and gatherings. Graduates are invited to submit photos, videos, and quotes capturing their experiences at UM.

Schlissel will also post his address to graduates on the morning of May 2.

This wont be an online commencement ceremony and will not follow any strict schedule. Rather, its a way to mark the day while allowing you to enjoy this content on your own schedule, Schlissel said.

Plans are also underway at UM-Dearborn and UM-Flint for alternate activities, the university says. UM-Dearborn spring and summer graduates are invited to participate in the winter ceremony Dec. 19, and UM-Flint has tentatively set Aug. 16 as an alternate date for the spring ceremony.

EMU President James Smith said in a statement that plans are being finalized for an online and virtual celebration for the universitys more than 2,200 graduates, including a selfie video montage put together by the university. The university is hoping to include current students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Even though we are apart  learning, teaching and working remotely  we can come together virtually to cheer on our graduates and acknowledge all they have achieved, Smith said in the statement.

Each selfie video should be five to 15 seconds long and submitted by Wednesday, April 15. Videos can be sent to grad_2020@emich.edu, and the email should include the senders name and connection to the EMU community.

More information on EMUs commencement ceremony updates can be found here.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

READ MORE:

Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here

Friday, April 10: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

How many Michiganders have recovered from coronavirus? Why state, local leaders have different answers

Vice President Pence praises Michigan hydroxychloroquine trial to fight coronavirus

With Michigans coronavirus stay-at-home order extended, frustration builds over whats been deemed non-essential
COVID-19 is known to be a matter of life and death, and due to how contagious the virus is to human health, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo directed for all borders and entry points to Ghana to be closed.



The President further ordered that any persons who enter the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) from countries where COVID-19 is prevalent should be placed under compulsory quarantine.



Renowned Television Personality, Oheneyere Gifty Anti was one of the thousands of people who were bused to the quarantine centers following President Akufo-Addo's directives.



Oheneyere Gifty Anti was in the studios of Peace FM on Thursday, April 9, 2020 to share her emotional story with host Kwami Sefa Kayi on the station's flagship programme.



She noted that the Ghanaian passport cannot be undermined as these trying times have proven to her how powerful the passport is.



She revealed that, returning to Ghana from the UK, she witnessed a number of people not in possession of the Ghanaian passport turned away by British Airways officials.



She told the host that she and all the passengers aboard British Airways to Ghana were given prior notice of the President's directive for compulsory quarantine but no matter a person's portfolio, position, race or color; no one was allowed to board the flight without a Ghanaian passport.



"Before I checked in at the airport, I was told that 'do you know your President says when you get there, there will be mandatory? I said yes'. Before I boarded the plane, I was told...In fact it was when we were boarding that I saw the real importance of Ghana passport. It is powerful. If you don't hold one, you won't be allowed to board. Oh no no no no way! If you don't have it, you won't board. No way! No way! Even if you're a Ghanaian and you don't have dual citizenship, you won't be permitted to board. I saw people being turned away. Nigerians, the whites, whatever; they were turned away. They were not allowed to get on the plane. That is British Airways.''





She also added that she was upset about the agitations from the people under quarantine because they all knew beforehand that the government would convey them from the airport to quarantine centers.''That's why I was pretty upset when people were agitating. I was just wondering. That was the reason for my first video because they told us. Kwami, in the plane...They kept announcing. The Pilot announced. Flight attendant announced. Upon reaching Ghana, the Customs officials and the security personnel came inside the plane to announce it...So, they kept announcing it and we all knew that this is going to happen''.However, though she knew there would be mandatory quarantine, it didn't come as a smooth ride as ''there were security personnel around. The Minister and National Security Minister was there including the Deputy, Hon. Henry Quartey was there. BNI Director was there. Top Military officials were there...Health Professionals were there and they were not favouring anybody. I came with some big boys. I mean high-profile personalities including Chiefs, great men of God but everybody was subjected to the same treatment. We were all nobodies.''Describing the situation as uncomfortable but a necessary intervention by the government, Gifty Anti recounted moments that she was taken to the hotel and asked by the authorities to remain in her room and not dare step outside not to even gasp for breath; all in an attempt to contain the situation."You can't compare it to a prison. Kwami, at least, for prison; they have each other to talk to. This one, you have nobody to talk to. It's just you.''She said there wasn't any opportunity for those under compulsory quarantine to be wandering about but rather every individual was confined in his or her room with no contact with one another.She revealed that security operatives comprising the Police and Military as health professionals were present at the quarantine centers to ensure no one escaped.She narrated an incident where she decided to stick her neck out of her room but only to meet a Military officer stationed on her door who said "Madam, please go inside''.''This time everybody is at a distance. All I received was 'Hi, Aunty Gifty'. They bring you forms to fill but willl be at a distance from you and when you finish filling it, then the person will sanitize him/herself and come for it. I mean I don't want to say it was demeaning but it just killed your spirit. It looked like you're a contagious something."We're sorry you can't come out. The only time you can open your door is when the Health Professionals are in and taking your temperature or food is being delivered to you among other things'' she stated, adding that ''it was so heartbreaking and if you're not careful, you'll get angry but you must, I mean it always occurred to me that these people are equally scared. They have families...''Gifty Anti was permitted to join her family after spending 14 days under mandatory quarantine.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
In addition to steering Virginia through the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Ralph Northam is reviewing numerous bills before a Saturday night deadline.

Northam is making tough decisions about some bills, especially those related to workers and businesses, as he seeks to balance the major priorities Democrats promised to deliver with how to emerge from the coronavirus on strong economic footing.

I know there are some pieces of legislation that affect the business community, Northam told the Roanoke Regional Chamber this week during a video chat. Were looking at those very closely. I would remind people that we are in the best state in which to do business. We came into this virus in a very strong position, and I intend to come out of this in a strong position.

Northam has until 11:59 p.m. Saturday to decide whether to sign, veto or change any of the bills. The General Assembly will reconvene in Richmond on April 22 to take up any bills that he changes or vetoes.

Northam has already signed more than 800 bills, including rolling back numerous abortion restrictions, barring people from using handheld cellphones while driving, and scrapping Lee-Jackson Day and making Election Day a state holiday instead. For certain bills, its typically an occasion for people to gather with the governor and celebrate as he signs them. But the coronavirus crisis has meant its been a quieter activity.

He approved a bill from Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, to allow the continued operation of needle exchange programs to help those struggling with addiction minimize their risk of contracting diseases. He also signed legislation that Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, has been pushing for years: raising the threshold for reckless driving from 80 to 85 mph in areas of Virginia where a 70 mph speed limit is posted.

Northam still has about a few dozen bills left, including one that would allow no-excuse absentee voting and a transportation package that calls for increasing the gas tax.

He also needs to make decisions about proposals that have invited criticism for bringing increased costs to Virginians as well as businesses. He hasnt signed a bill that would end the states outright ban on public sector collective bargaining. Other bills would impose penalties on businesses for engaging in prohibited actions, such as punishing workers who share salary information with colleagues or who report that the employer has violated the law.

Northam has said hell announce Sunday what he has decided.

The proposal that has attracted the most interest is the minimum wage increase. Under legislation passed by the House and Senate, the minimum wage would increase from $7.25 to $9.50 on Jan. 1, to $11 in 2022 and to $12 in 2023.

Republican leaders, business groups and the Virginia Municipal League, which is a coalition of local governments, have all asked Northam to delay the increase. Theyve expressed worry that as Virginia moves past the public health crisis and tries to kickstart the economy, small businesses wont be able to bear increased operating costs.

Northam was asked about the legislation during his video chat with the Roanoke Regional Chamber. He said he was reviewing all the bills related to business.

While I want to make sure were taking care of our workers across Virginia, I also want to make sure we come out of this economic crisis in as strong a position as I can, he said.

Democrats and labor groups have launched their own campaigns to urge Northam not to delay the minimum wage increase, arguing that the economic hardship on low-wage workers has only been amplified by the pandemic.

Without being able to have the money to buy those extras, families suffer, said Kristy Lee Vance, a Kroger worker who lives in Blacksburg. With that extra money, as the saying goes, You give a rich man a dollar, he saves it because he can, you give a poor man a dollar, he spends it because he has to. By doing that were going to build the economy back up.

The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus wrote a letter to Northam this week asking him to not delay the increase.

It would be inhumane to tell these people that, while the federal government is offering businesses expanded loan and grant money, and while the Virginia government retains tax cuts and subsidies for these businesses, these essential workers will be left to struggle under less than a livable wage with minimal labor protections and labor rights during a global health crisis and an impeding economic crisis, the caucus wrote.

Northam has said the state is hitting the pause button on new spending, which includes holding off on pay increases for teachers and a program to boost funding to community colleges to enable low- and moderate-income Virginians to enroll without cost in targeted programs. Legislation that includes a new spending requirement will be put on hold as well.

Northam said he will call a special session this summer to pass a different budget.

We are expecting a recession with a drastic reduction in our revenues paired with large increases in spending to fight this epidemic, Northam said Wednesday.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Doctor Hu Weiling lived and worked right through the 76 days of what became a nightmare of disease, death and fear in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

As a doctor at a community hospital, she said she treated hundreds of patients from toddlers to grandmothers as she battled with colleagues against the Covid-19 disease that first surfaced in the city at the end of last year before spreading around the world.

Wuhan faced one of the strictest quarantine lockdowns ever attempted for a contemporary city to try to contain the new virus that caused the disease. All road, rail and air services were severed, and police patrols and community watchdog checkpoints kept people indoors unless they had permission to go out.

As the numbers of the sick and dying in Wuhan surged, Hu recalled a moment of watching rain patter on a hospital window and wondering whether the centuries-old city and its 11 million residents would come out the other side of the nightmare.

It felt like they had on Wednesday when Wuhans lockdown formally ended after a staggered resumption of work and public transport. Hu said it was a hard-won reward for Wuhan, as well as for her and about 90 colleagues who had spent sleepless nights in quarantine wards, often short of supplies and protection against the coronavirus.

Im glad I survived the battle and we have won a victory, she said. I think the city is ready for it  and I hope life could return to normal.

But she said she well understood that life will not simply snap back to how it was, because too much has been lost. Besides those who have died, many have been traumatised by the experience, and not just through illness. Businesses shuddered to a halt and some may never reopen. Hu said two of her sisters had lost their jobs in the hotel industry. She saw some patients suffer mental disorders during the ordeal, she said.

By mid-March, Hus hospital had dealt with hundreds of Covid-19 patients. They eventually brought their number of remaining cases to zero, which Hu said she and other doctors celebrated while still strapped up in protective equipment. Citywide, the number of patients now numbers about 400, according to official data. Hu did 14 days of quarantine and returned to the hospital, which only recently opened for consultations for non-Covid-19 patients.

Story continues

Elsewhere in Wuhan, a number of automobile plants that form the backbone of the citys economy have been getting back to work, including factories run by Honda, General Motors and Renault. Before the lockdown, the city produced close to 2 million vehicles a year, making it Wuhans largest industry and earning the city a reputation as Chinas car capital.

Unfortunately, Wuhan is now known around the world not for car production, its local cuisine of spiced duck, its central role in the countrys revolution in 1911 that ended thousands of years of imperial rule, or its highly regarded universities. It is known as the first epicentre where Covid-19 broke out.

Just as the cities of Chernobyl, in what is now Ukraine, and Japans Fukushima became associated with the nuclear disasters that happened there, the concern in Wuhan is that it will be similarly tarred by a pandemic that has infected 1.4 million, while claiming 82,000 lives around the world in a little over three months.

Hu, the doctor, said she did not have any immediate plans for a holiday.

I dont have enough leave to do that, and more importantly I think I might be discriminated against in other cities, she said. That might be true until the pandemic is under control globally.

As Wuhans lockdown ended on Wednesday, residents were allowed to leave the city and taxis were back on the streets. But travelling almost anywhere within the city still required people to show a government-issued QR code on their phone to verify they were healthy, and proof of their job  including at supermarkets and when boarding buses or the subway. Those unable to provide both could not leave their community. Malls opened but few customers were visible. A number of office buildings remained closed.

While the overall sense from talking to the citys residents was one of relief, the mood at Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market was bleak. The wet market was linked to one of the earliest clusters of coronavirus cases and some medical researchers have said that the virus may have jumped to a human from one of the variety of wild animals sold there.

It was shut down by the authorities on January 1, after unexplained pneumonia cases were reported in the city  the work of the new coronavirus.

On Wednesday, it stood empty and silent. The stalls were shielded by barriers and plastic sheets. The names of seafood stalls were covered by black cloth. Although it had been closed for months, the smell of rotten seafood still lingered.

A banner hanging on a fence in a nearby neighbourhood read: Resolutely win the battle against Covid-19 by closely relying on the public.

Wuhan residents say the name of the market conjures up a bad dream. They and owners of stores in the area are worried about their health and their businesses.

Liu Miao, 36, runs a shop not far from the market selling mobile phones, and he said he planned to close and open elsewhere.

The name Huanan Seafood Market is like a nightmare for many Wuhanese, he said. Its the location that everybody is afraid of.

For others in Wuhan, the lifting of the lockdown was a moment to look back at what happened and the decisions that were made.

Zhang Xiaochun, a doctor and deputy director of the radiology department at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, was the first to openly suggest the government allow diagnosis of the virus by using CT scans to show lung tissue damage, rather than confirming it only with test kits, which were in short supply.

As she put it at the time, the change could help press the brake on the Covid-19 outbreak.

Looking back two months later, Zhang recalled being unable to sleep, because she was worried about getting hospital bosses into trouble by giving her medical opinion. It was like awaiting execution, she said of the stress.

But China changed its policy and the new diagnosis standard allowed another 20,000 patients to be admitted to hospitals.

Doctors involvement went beyond just doing their jobs. As infections in Wuhan fell but cases globally skyrocketed, Zhang began to donate medical supplies overseas, as well as holding online consultations and lectures on prevention and control of Covid-19.

Others in the city, too, speak of the community spirit that developed. Yu Xiuzhu, a restaurant owner, started to deliver hot meals to doctors at a time when many residents were afraid to go near hospitals. He persuaded his parents and wife to help him deliver meals at cost prices.

At times, he said, they worked from 2am until 7pm to prepare the food and deliver it to a nearby community hospital.

I just felt like I had to go; the doctors inside were risking their lives, he said. If I didnt go, they would be starving and well all be finished.

Zhi Hua, who owns a supply chain management company in the city, also got involved in delivering meals to hospitals as a volunteer.

He recalls driving down empty roads in downtown Wuhan, wondering if the epidemic would ever end, when he realised it was February 24, his birthday. He said he just broke down and cried at the wheel.

Like many, Zhi is grateful for the lifting of the citys travel ban. He said he believed the worst had passed, but saw it as no time to celebrate.

You might see more cars and more people on the streets now, but there are wounds inside people that might take much longer to heal, he said.

Revenues at Zhis logistics business dropped 40 per cent, and 25 per cent may never be recovered, Zhi said. Wuhan is a transport hub, thanks to its central location, train and road networks, and the Yangtze River, which flows through it and on to Shanghai. But Zhi thinks clients will have rearranged their supply chains to avoid the city.

The company also serviced retail stores in Wuhan, most of which remain closed or have suffered a slump in business.

We have a surplus of labour because orders fell, Zhi, who employs about 60 people, said. But I will not willingly make anyone redundant. Theres a family behind each of them.

Meanwhile, bigger businesses are coming back to life in Wuhan, offering hope to smaller firms that serve them. The citys economic growth engine remains its automobile industry, and Hondas Wuhan plant is back up to pre-virus production levels, with 98 per cent of its 12,000 workers working overtime to make up for lost production, according to Reuters.

State-owned Dongfeng Automobile is also ramping up production at a plant in the city. An employee, who gave only his surname Wu, said 60 per cent of staff were back at work, while others would return following the weeks self-isolation required by the company after travelling from other cities.

All employees have been tested for Covid-19, and temperatures are taken twice a day, he said. Shoes and clothes are also disinfected.

Smaller companies in the industry are waiting for the benefits to trickle down, but have noticed other obstacles.

Yu Kun, who supplies automobile repair shops around the country, reopened his business two weeks ago.

My client in Guangzhou asked me not to go there to sign the contract, said Yu, who employs about two dozen people. And I was asked whether I had been tested for the virus.

Other members of his company did not want to travel, because of a fear of infection.

My colleagues are not making jokes any more and its unusually quiet in the office, Yu said. I guess some people find it hard to bear the trauma.

Sign up now and get a 10% discount (original price US$400) off the China AI Report 2020 by SCMP Research. Learn about the AI ambitions of Alibaba, Baidu & JD.com through our in-depth case studies, and explore new applications of AI across industries. The report also includes exclusive access to webinars to interact with C-level executives from leading China AI companies (via live Q&A sessions). Offer valid until 31 May 2020.

More from South China Morning Post:

This article On the other side of a coronavirus nightmare, Wuhan wakes up to start again first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
LIMERICK city councillor Cian Prendiville has this week called on third level institutions and Limerick City and County Council officials to discuss provisions for more affordable, quality student accommodation.

At this weeks metropolitan district meeting, the Anti-Austerity Alliance councillor said that the current accommodation crisis has let students with no homes in the first few weeks of college.

In the first week, there were some students who were, effectively, homeless. One student, whom I was speaking to, had to travel all the way from Galway to University of Limerick. That is madness, he said.

He said that houses that were once 65 are now 150 per week. He added that a number of landlords are demanding advanced yearly payments, which often add up to 5,000.

The councils senior project manager, Seamus Hanrahan said that it is supportive of establishing a forum to afford an opportunity for the different sectors to exchange views on the challenges and opportunities relating to student accommodation in the city.

As part of the Rebuilding Ireland action plan for housing and homelessness, the council will work with organisations to prioritise and progress viable projects in key urban areas, at the end of this year.

By the end of the year, a funding mechanism will be established for Limerick Institute of Technology to support the development of student accommodation.

At the end of 2016, an assessment will be carried for the provision of additional student accommodation on local authority- and publicly-owned lands.
An Indian-American university teacher is designing systems capable of supporting 5G infrastructure in the US as part of a project funded by the country's Department of Defense.

Harish Krishnamoorthy, assistant professor in the University of Houston's electrical and computer engineering department, has been given a grant of USD 1.7 million for the project.

Krishnamoorthy has partnered with New Edge Signal Solutions, a Massachusetts company which builds high-speed broadband radio frequency systems, to execute the project.

5G is the fifth generation of wireless communication technologies. In addition to faster speeds, 5G offers greater bandwidth and network capacity, paving the way for a future of driverless cars, more connected devices and high-definition connections for virtual meetings and telemedicine.

However, the rollout in the United States and elsewhere has been stymied by gaps in available technology that could operate at the high frequencies required by 5G.

Krishnamoorthy, whose lab focuses on power electronics, said successful adoption of 5G networks will require adapting software to support the demands.

"But first, we need hardware that is fast enough and capable of supporting 5G," Krishnamoorthy said, as he explains his role in developing a higher power 5G envelope tracking power supply that can operate with a bandwidth of 100 megahertz (MHz) or higher.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Press Release

10 April 2020

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) today expressed support for plans by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to provide an additional $250 billion in loans for small businesses. In a letter sent to Congressional leadership today, AHLA urged Congress to make several updates to the CARES Act in addition to increasing the funding. AHLA also sent an urgent letter to the Federal Reserve and Treasury seeking action to prevent thousands of hotel properties from going into foreclosure.

Advertisements

The following statement is attributable to Chip Rogers, President and CEO of AHLA:

"The hotel industry applauds the Administration and Congress for their efforts during this unprecedented public health crisis. We support the underlying foundation of the CARES Act, which is an important step toward getting our country up and running again. With the majority of the hotel industry made up of small businesses around the country, the urgency to act is more critical than ever.

"Unfortunately, as this crisis progresses beyond what anyone could have projected, we are now at a critical juncture and are calling on Congress to do more to protect businesses and workers survive this unprecedented time. As a starting point, we strongly support legislation proposed by President Trump, Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Speaker Pelosi to provide additional funding for small business loans. This funding is vital to small business owners across America, including tens of thousands of small business hoteliers, to help them keep their doors open and save millions of jobs.

"As outlined in a letter we sent Congress today, we need immediate action to update the CARES Act and increase the limit on SBA loans. The current limit will not allow a business owner to meet both payroll and debt service obligations beyond an estimated 4 to 8 weeks. Consequently, it will result in continued layoffs of the very workers the bill seeks to protect.

"Finally, AHLA has also requested swift action by the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve and SEC to help thousands of small business hotel owners who will be unable to make debt service payments on their mortgages, including commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) debt to keep their doors open and avoid foreclosure. Without action to shore up debt servicing, including in the CMBS market, this crisis will lead to widespread foreclosures, snowballing into mass disruption and a critical lack of liquidity in the commercial real estate market.

"With the additional actions we are recommending, the hotel industry will be in a stronger position to make it through this unprecedented crisis, while building a foundation for a stronger tomorrow."
Guwahati/Silchar, April 10 : Assam reported its first death due to novel coronavirus on Friday even as the five samples of state's existing 28 positive cases tested negative in the last checks, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The first corona death of Assam, also the first in the northeastern region, was reported from Hailakandi district in its southern part.

"Faijul Haque Barbhyan, 65, from Hailakandi district died at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) early on Friday due to COVID-19. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family," Sarma said in a tweet.

Barbhyan's swab sample had tested positive on Tuesday and he was immediately admitted to the SMCH. He had travel history to Saudi Arabia. He returned to his home recently via Delhi.

According to Silchar hospital's officials, the condition of the patient, a former employee of Madrassa Education, had turned critical on Thursday and was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit.

Hailakandi district's Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli told the media that after the performance of "namaz-e-janaza" (Muslim ritual before burial) Barbhyan's body with an airtight three-layered plastic bag was disinfected and taken to a burial ground 10 km from the Hailakandi city and buried there in the presence of his close relatives and a Muslim Imam.

After one death, of the total 33 positive cases in five northeastern states -- Assam (28), Manipur (2), Mizoram (1), Arunachal Pradesh (1) and Tripura (1) -- 28 took part in a Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi last month.

A Manipuri woman and a Mizoram man tested positive last month after they returned from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands respectively.

A 52-year-old trader in Assam's Kamrup (Metro) district has also tested positive for coronavirus.

Assam Health Minister Himanta Sarma while addressing media in Guwahati on Friday said that as a public health safety measure, the state government has declared Athgaon Kabristhan Masjid in Guwahati as "self containment zone" and sealed it for 14 days.

After returning from Nizamuddin Markaz event in Delhi, eight people stayed there and on March 12 held a congregation in the presence of at lease 100 people. Three of them have so far tested positive for COVID-19.
A herd of eight elephants have been seen in the central province of Quang Nam.

According to Le Minh Hung, deputy director of the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development, local authorities and experts of US Agency for International Development (USAID)s Green Annamites Project (Truong Son Xanh) carried out a biodiversity survey in Quang Nam between February and March 11.

The elephants detected in Quang Nam



During the survey, experts spotted a herd of eight elephants at the elephant conservation area in Nong Son District, including an elephant which is around one-year-old.



Elephants have appeared in Quang Nam for many years; but this survey showed one little elephant. This is a positive sign for elephant development. The province will intensify measures to help raise local awareness about wild animal protection, Hung added.



Tu Van Khanh, deputy head of Quang Nam Provinces Department of Forest Protection, said the elephant conservation area in Nong Son District has welcomed four more elephants two years after being set up.



The elephant sanctuary in Nong Son District covers nearly 19,000 hectares in Phuoc Ninh and Que Lam communes. It is part of the Green Annamites Project, aiming to support Vietnams transition to climate-smart, low emission, and resilient development that targets people, landscapes, and biodiversity in the central region, with a focus on Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue provinces. Dtinews

Dak Lak elephants need better protection Dak Lak is considered the countrys elephant metropolis with 140 elephants, both wild and domestic. However, the number of nanny elephants there is alarmingly low, which has affected the conservation of the local herd of elephants.

Dong Nai villagers threatened by elephant rampages Farmers in Dong Nai Province are worried about their crops being destroyed by reoccurring elephant rampages.
When I was a young girl, my grandmother would nudge my introverted self in the direction of a relative or a neighbor who was visiting our house for a kiss on the cheek or a hug.

"Dale un abrazo," my abuela would whisper in my ear. "Go give them a hug."

Shaken by fears over the coronavirus, close-knit Latinx families like mine have been forced to hold back one of the fundamental ways we interact with each other. Physical displays of affection are our love language. But what happens when you have to show your love from six feet away?

For me, not being allowed to have that physical contact - along with the fact I live in Washington, D.C., and my family is in Miami - makes the desire to touch them more pronounced. I'm grateful to still have my abuela with us, but I don't know when I'll be able to hug or kiss her again. I last saw her over Christmas. She has asthma, and it's not clear when it will be safe for me to fly home to see her. Checking on her over the phone is just not the same.

I'm somewhat comforted by the fact that she has family nearby. In addition to my mom and uncles, my grandmother has neighbors who, before the coronavirus outbreak, would stop by regularly for a cafecito. They now knock on her door, checking to make sure she stays indoors.

Latino cultural values center on affection and establishing warm interpersonal relationships, said Cristalis Capielo Rosario, an assistant professor in counseling and psychology at Arizona State University who focuses on the Latinx community. Although Latinx people aren't the only culture to say hello with a peck on the cheek or hug, it's not a custom as widely seen between acquaintances in the United States as it is in Latin American countries.

"Two Latinx people kiss on the cheek as a way to express that value of wanting to establish a more personal relationship and connection," Capielo Rosario said.

To not hug or kiss someone on the cheek on greeting would be considered rude at best or frio, cold, at worst. Where some Anglo Americans might see value in a stiff upper lip and stoicism, Latinos tend to put value in expressions of affection.

Since moving to Washington, where I don't know many Latinx people, it's rare that I get that physical contact with people outside of my husband and close friends. I value the peck on the cheek now because it reminds me of home.

For family oriented Latinos, being told you have to be apart from relatives is especially hard because they tend to be the main support system. While feelings of isolation, depression and anxiety have been seen across racial and ethnic groups during these times, Latinx communities approach dealing with those issues differently.

Capielo Rosario said that, normally, therapists might advise Latinos struggling with mental health issues to spend more time with family. Right now that is not possible.

Social distancing is a challenge even for some public health experts. Mariana Sanchez, an assistant professor in the college of public health at Florida International University, is well aware of the importance of social distancing, but she said it's difficult to not socialize in the way that she is used to. She's made up for it by having an occasional virtual cafecito happy hour and multiple calls a day with family.

While keeping separated is painful, experts have reason to believe that Latinos are taking the dangers of the virus seriously. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 39% of Hispanics see the coronavirus as a major threat to their health, compared to 21% of white Americans.

"While [kissing] is a cultural norm under regular circumstances, I think that Latinos are taking the proper precautions, particularly since they have an elevated concern about it," Sanchez said.

I have made sure to call home more often since the outbreak began, and some Latinos are coming up with more creative ways to keep in touch.

Nury Castillo Crawford, 49, now finds herself having to push away instead of hugging and kissing her 5-year-old grandson, who doesn't quite understand why they have to be apart.

"It's heartbreaking to have to look at him," Castillo Crawford said. "He understands, but he doesn't understand. His little face was sad ... but it's for his own protection because I don't want to get him sick."

Castillo Crawford has turned to creating a kind of secret handshake greeting with her grandson, a gesture that involves waving with your index finger based on a catchphrase from an old show, "El Chavo del Ocho."

"It's our little secret," Castillo Crawford said. "But I think it's important to make sure we have something special and they feel special so that we feel connected."
VALPARAISO  With federal supplies of masks, gloves, gowns and other protective equipment being diverted to COVID-19 hotspots elsewhere around the country, local health care providers and first responders are looking to donations to help them stay safe on the frontlines.

"What FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is looking at is who's got it the worst," said Lance Bella, director of the Porter County Emergency Management Agency.

The local EMA, which feeds government supplied personal protective equipment to area police, fire and emergency medical services personnel, has learned its supplier at the state level is out and has a request for more pending with FEMA.

As a result, local first responders have been told to proceed as though they won't be getting more government supplies, Bella said. If his agency receives more supplies down the road, they will be passed along.

The situation is as dire at the Porter County Health Department, which has been informed it will receive no more masks, gloves or gowns in the foreseeable future from the state to distribute to area clinics, hospices, home care providers, nursing homes and other long-term facilities, said John Pisowicz, the department's director of emergency preparedness.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-11 01:58:03|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

NICOSIA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of Cyprus decided on Friday that salary and pension cuts imposed by the government on civil servants during the 2013 economic crisis were legal.

The government reacted with a sigh of relief. Otherwise it would have had to pay over one billion euros (1.01 billion U.S. dollars), or about 4.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), to restore lost income to hundreds of applicants, all public sector employees, who had challenged the move.

Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides, seemingly relieved, said that the state would not have been in a position to reimburse the applicants had the court decided otherwise. He cited the state of public finances as a reason.

The government's fiscal position has been stretched to limit by an assistance package offered to companies and workers who have become idle as a result of the complete coronavirus lockdown.

The applicants had twice won their case against the government already for the salary and pension cuts, which were introduced as part of the austerity measures imposed by the Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for pulling the eastern Mediterranean island back from bankruptcy in a ten-billion-euro bailout.

A lower court and then an appeals court had accepted their argument that their salary was part of their property, which under the Constitution cannot be touched.

However, on Friday Attorney General Costas Clerides argued before the full panel of 13 Supreme Court judges that cuts to the salaries of the applicants had left untouched the core of their property.

In a majority decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the cuts had been imposed for the public good and accepted the argument that they did not have a negative effect on the dignified living standards of those who brought the case to court.

"This sets a precedent so that the state can, under similar circumstances, do the same," Clerides said.

"The main message sent out is that individual rights provided for by Article 23 (of the Constitution) are respected and ensured, but as long as the core of exercising this right is not affected, the state can impose cuts on salaries and pensions," he said.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades congratulated the attorney general for the successful outcome of the state's case.
Before the novel coronavirus struck, 300,000 evictions were filed in the United States in a typical month. With nearly 10 million people filing unemployment claims last month, evictions would clearly skyrocket, absent intervention from the government. In one hint of the trouble to come, researchers at the City University of New York found at the end of March that 44 percent of New Yorkers expected to have trouble making their April rent.

REAL ESTATE: Redfin furloughs 41 percent of realtors amid pandemic

Fortunately, Congress, states, municipalities and the Department of Housing and Urban Development all have stepped up to issue temporary bans on eviction. That's good news, but there are significant limits to many of these bans - and even the best of them are temporary. In many places, for instance, landlords are still filing eviction papers, even when there is a freeze on ejecting people from their homes - and not every state has imposed such a freeze. Without a stronger state and federal response, the United States appears headed toward an unprecedented housing crisis.

We at the Eviction Lab, based at Princeton University, in partnership with Columbia visiting law professor Emily Benfer, have been tracking when and how state and federal eviction policies are changing. We've found clear fault lines in current policies to prevent people from becoming homeless during this crisis.

The coronavirus-relief bill passed last month by Congress prohibits foreclosure on federally backed mortgage loans for 60 days, covering some 30 million homeowners. The bill also prohibits rental evictions for 120 days for properties secured by a government-backed mortgage. That covers about half of all multifamily homes. Beyond that, however, protections for renters tends to be haphazard, varying widely by state. As of this past weekend (policies are changing quickly), only 14 states have barred landlords from formally beginning the process of eviction, according to our data; 36 - plus the District of Columbia - still permit evictions to be filed.

STILL LIFE: Drone photos show an empty Houston from the sky during stay-at-home order

Many of these states are in effect simply delaying hearings, typically for 60 or 90 days or until the state's emergency declaration lifts. What's more, only 21 states and D.C. have halted the execution of an eviction order issued before the coronavirus outbreak turned into a major health crisis.

In the remaining states, a family legally evicted in February could be physically evicted today.

Thirteen states - including Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, Ohio, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming - allow cities and towns to set their own eviction policies. Some cities (Miami is a notable example) have responded by issuing moratoriums, but suburban and rural communities have been much slower to act. The problem is that housing insecurity affects communities large and small across the country. In fact, some rural towns have eviction rates that rival the highest-evicting cities.

In some cases, states have placed bureaucratic hurdles between renters and the protections that have been passed. Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, New Mexico, Nebraska and Utah all require tenants to demonstrate they've been affected by virus outbreak - either the disease itself or the mandatory business closures - before they are shielded from eviction. While there is little guidance on how to prove you've been affected by the outbreak, states could require tenants to contest an eviction order in court by demonstrating job termination or presenting unemployment filings (which are backlogged as is). But since most courts are closed to in-person hearings the path forward is murky.

PARKS CLOSING: Fearing crowds, Harris County to close parks for Easter weekend while Houston leaves them open

This crisis has struck the United States at a moment when millions of people were already living perilously close to eviction. Because of stagnant wages and rising rents, one out of four renters spent over half of their income on housing. Among rent burdened households - defined as those that spend more than one third of their income on housing - half have less than $10 in savings.

Nearly a third of the American workforce - some 41.7 million people - earns less than $12 per hour and has limited access to health care, paid sick days and paid family and medical leave. The mandatory stay-at-home orders and forced closing of business will force much of this population, even with the help of unemployment insurance, to choose between paying rent or buying groceries.

Some landlords have delayed eviction and even canceled rent for their tenants. Others, however, have been less sympathetic. The Daily Beast recently reported on the case of a Las Vegas nurse who was evicted because her landlord worried she might potentially spread covid-19.

The problem is simply too consequential to be left up to landlord discretion. And if evictions are merely delayed, not permanently stopped, that could lead to a resurgence of the virus, after stay-at-home measures "bend the curve" of infection. Evicted families end up in homeless shelters, where people eat and sleep next to each other - the opposite of social distancing.

People experiencing homelessness are particularly vulnerable to upper respiratory illness including to covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Well before the pandemic, sprawling tent encampments had experienced outbreaks of medieval diseases like typhus and trench fever.

Evictions harm families in ways that will last long after the coronavirus emergency has passed. Being forced from your home has been linked to a range of negative consequences, from job loss to depression and suicide. Some harms will persist even in cases where eviction papers have been filed but eviction does not occur. An eviction record - the "scarlet E" - limits your housing options, sullies your credit and can prevent you from accessing federal housing assistance.

Governors, state legislators and state supreme courts have a number of tools to prevent mass evictions and homelessness: They can freeze all evictions during the state of emergency, including orders already given by the court; eliminate late fees for renters; and create a time frame to pay back rent and mortgage arrears, as California has done, so families aren't immediately evicted once the state of emergency is lifted. More sweepingly, they could also issue a rent and mortgage freeze until the pandemic is over.

Congress has less leverage over landlords than it does over banks that sell mortgages, but there are several things it could do to ameliorate the present and future housing crisis. Only one in four families who are eligible for rental assistance currently receives it. Congress could fully fund that strapped program and ensure that every family that qualifies for housing aid gets the help they desperately need. The federal government should massively bolster rental assistance, since a $1,200 check will hardly cover rent, food and other needs for the duration of the pandemic.

If federal and state leaders do not act swiftly to patch all the holes in their eviction policies, the nation's biggest public health crisis in a century could easily cause a full-blown outbreak of homelessness. In these trying times, eviction will not help landlords get paid. It will only spread yet more poverty, sickness and death.

- - -

Durana is a journalist and writer for Princeton's Eviction Lab. Desmond is a professor of sociology at Princeton University and a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine.
Irish life has changed dramatically. The clearest representation of this, to me, has been the number of contacts that people have been reporting once they have been diagnosed as being positive for Coronavirus. At the start of this pandemic, the average number of contacts for an Irish person was twenty; within a week of the strict rules about staying at home, that number had come down to just three.

Irish people love socialising, and this forced confinement has seriously restricted how many people we are allowed to meet. It doesn't feel natural or normal at all.

There has been an unexpected consequence of this: many people have decided that they would like to take this opportunity of being at home to take on their first dog. New human friends are hard to find just now, but why not get a new animal friend?

This has led to an unexpected demand for dogs similar to the traditional pre-Christmas boom in puppy sales.

I have seen the effect of this in my own vet clinic: people with puppies that they've bought through unreliable online sources that have led them, unwittingly, to puppy farmers. We had two pups from the same litter: they were seriously ill, riddled with worms and lice, they were underweight, and they were anxious, frightened animals. They have been treated and will now be fine in the long term, but it would have been far better if their owner had taken on pups from a different, more reliable source.

At this stage of the crisis, it is unlikely that people will be buying puppies any more anyway, since we have all been confined to our own homes. But it is worth remembering that once society does open up again, you need to be very cautious if you are considering getting a new dog. Some puppy farmers have learned how to trick people into buying poor quality puppies for high sums of money. There are safe ways of getting a new animal, and by following simple guidelines, you can make sure that you and your family don't get into trouble.

The best summary is on a website run by the Irish Pet Animal Advertising Group (www.ipaag.ie ) This is a coalition of animal welfare organisations and vets who have worked together to combine the best advice. You can also consider going to another new website: www.petbond.ie. Petbond is like a classified adverts site for pets, but it goes the extra mile, checking for high standards of the sources for its animals. Petbond directs people to animal rescues as well as to ethical commercial breeders, so it caters for all needs and wishes.

You really do not need to spend hundreds of euro on a pedigree puppy.If you sure you want a new pet; there are so many wonderful animals in rescue groups that need a new home. But now there is a new problem to deal with: many of these rescue groups are struggling in this crisis.

There are some particular issues that deserve to be highlighted.

First, while rescue groups are always grateful for help from the public, too many people have been wanting to provide temporary homes by fostering a pet from a rescue group. As a result, some animal rescue groups have been overloaded with offers of fosterers.

One animal rescue group had nearly a hundred offers in one day; each of these needed to be processed, with interviews carried out and arrangements made. And most of them were inexperienced wanabee dog owners who only wanted to foster for 2 weeks. This in turn led to complications, as the dogs would all have come back at the same time, needing another large batch of fosterers to take them to the next stage..

That said, experienced help is always valued by rescue groups.

Second, many animal charities have already fallen into financial distress due to the cancellation of fundraising events, the closure of charity shops and the impact of reduced donations from a worried public. So spare a thought for your local animal rescue, and if you can afford a few euros, please donate them to help your local animals in trouble.

In the UK, pet shop chains and other animal organisations like the Kennel Club have stepped up to help out financially. Perhaps similar groups will also step up to do the same here in Ireland.

The third concern is that when life returns to normal, there will be a bunch of new problems facing the rescues. In particular, the export of excess numbers of dogs to the UK is likely to be under pressure. This has always been an escape valve for Irish rescue groups: the larger UK population is a useful market for dogs that can't find a home in Ireland. The combination of travel restrictions due to COVID-19 along with anticipated tougher border controls due to Brexit is likely to make it harder to carry on taking dogs to the UK in the same numbers. We will need to refocus on reducing puppy production (more spays and neuters) and working hard to find good homes for dogs in Ireland.

Animals are fortunate that they do not suffer from COVID-19, and we are fortunate to have pets in our lives at this time. They live in the moment, and provide a useful reminder to us to do the same. Let's thank them by making sure that we care for them properly during, and after, this crisis.
At least three-quarters of Nigerias total prison population are inmates serving time without being sentenced, the Nigerian Correctional Service said this on Thursday.

The head of the agency, Jaafaru Ahmed, 51,983 inmates are awaiting trial out of the prisons total population of 73, 726 inmates. That is about 70 per cent of the total.

Only 22, 773 inmates have been convicted, he said.

He gave the figures during the announcement of the 2020 Presidential Pardon and Clemency to inmates and ex-convicts.

The government has announced pardons aimed at decongesting correctional centres across the country amidst a coronavirus pandemic.

The latest statistics builds on previous ones that suggests that Nigerian prisons may hold more innocent people than criminals.

A report by Nigerias National Bureau of Statistics covering data from 2011 to 2015, said that 72.5% of Nigerias total prison population are inmates serving time without being sentenced, spotting flaws in Nigerias criminal justice system with proceedings often going on for years without conclusion.

While lengthy court proceedings are an obvious problem, the figures in the NBS report also highlighted a worrying culture of arbitrary arrests by Nigerian law enforcement agencies.

A PREMIUM TIMES investigation in 2019 revealed how many inmates detained for what should pass as petty crimes have been forgotten in prison.

Some inmates found themselves in prisons only due to the suspicion of having committed a crime, and not an actual conviction. Arrests over petty crime such as shoplifting and traffic offenses also often see people land in maximum security prisons without being charged.

The case of Abdullahi Mohammed, a 49-year-old man arrested in May 2013 for stealing a handset, stands out, according to the report published last June.

The offence is regarded as theft under Nigerian laws, and it attracts a prison term not exceeding five years, according to section 287 of the penal code.

Decongestion

Mr Ahmed alluded that the countrys prisons were overcrowded hence the need for decongestion especially to avert the spread of disease outbreaks such as COVID-19.

The decongestion process began shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Nigerian Correctional Service Bill last August.

It birthed the prisons reform programmes which includes speedy trial processes and pardons and amnesty to inmates.

In a slew of pardons and commutations, 70 inmates, including 39 federal offenders were freed from incarceration on Thursday as part of the Buhari administrations plan to decongest the Correctional Centres.

The Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola who announced the pardon at a press conference in Abuja, explained that the president had also approved the release of 2,600 inmates across various custodial centres in the 36 states of the federation.

Only inmates that are 60 years old and above, those suffering from ill-health that are likely to terminate in death, convicts serving three years and above and have less than six months to serve, inmates with mental health issues, and inmates with options of fines not exceeding N50,000 and have no pending case are eligible for the pardon.
UW Plays Key Role in Wyoming COVID-19 Testing Effort

Some of the UW-affiliated workers at the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory pause for a photo Friday. From left are Noah Hull, Chayse Rowley, Taylor Fearing (Cortez), Chris Anderson, Meagan Soehn, Callie Klinghagen, Coleman Young and Matios Lakew. (Noah Hull Photo)

The University of Wyoming -- in particular, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources -- is playing a key role in the states COVID-19 testing program. This includes providing personnel and supplies to the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory (WPHL).

WPHL Microbiology Laboratories Manager Noah Hull is himself a UW graduate.

Currently, the WPHL has one of the faster turnaround times in the country for COVID-19 testing, averaging seven hours from receipt to result, he says. In fact, we have been able to test all samples that have been received each day without creating a backlog. Much of this success is because we have been able to make 15 emergency hires at our lab. The vast majority of these hires are either current UW undergraduate students, graduate students or recent graduates of UW, almost exclusively from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (veterinary sciences and molecular biology).

Right now, the major limiting factor in testing is not staff, but rather the availability of sample preparation kits, Hull says. There is a nationwide shortage of these kits.

WPHL has been working with UW faculty members Brant Schumaker, Will Laegreid and Mark Gomelsky to gather consumable supplies such as plastic tubes that are back-ordered and creating a bottleneck for the sampling of patients.

Over the past week, there has been an amazing outpouring from the UW community to source these consumables and get them to us in Cheyenne, Hull says. This will have a direct effect on being able to test more patients in our state.

Gomelsky, a professor of molecular biology, has known Hull since he was an undergraduate at UW and reached out to department heads at UW for the supply drive.

In response, the departments of Molecular Biology, Microbiology Program, Botany, Kinesiology and Health, as well as the biotech company, GlycoBac, generously donated plastic consumables. With the help of my son, Leo, we collected these supplies at the designated sites, packed them up and brought them to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, Gomelsky says.

From there, Ashley Smith, also a UW alumna, current staff member at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory and Hulls fiancee, delivered them to the WPHL.

The biggest issue was a lack of 15-milliliter conical tubes, which were back-ordered for over a month. UW donated close to 4,000 of these conical tubes.

The most significant UW contribution has been in training an expert who supervises coronavirus testing, Gomelsky says. In times of great uncertainty that we are experiencing, Wyoming citizens can be assured that coronavirus testing in our state is in reliable hands.

Not only did UW train Hull, but also many of the other WPHL personnel and emergency hires (see complete list below). Hull says UWs training allowed the new hires to get going quickly, in large part due to the fact they experienced undergraduate research at UW.

This is why the students were qualified, he says. With the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources putting undergraduate research at the forefront of its program, it lessens a major barrier to finding good candidates. With facilities like the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, it is analogous to the WPHL and was an easy transition of student help.

We have a long-standing relationship with the public health lab, Laegreid, director of the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory at UW, says. We do certain things for them, and they certainly help us out. This kind of comes under the heading of one health, one medicine, which really refers to seamless interaction between human and animal health.

In this case, WPHL needed trained hands. And vet lab personnel -- professors and students -- stepped up to help, including Schumaker, a veterinary epidemiologist and UW associate professor. Schumaker and four current UW students began working in the WPHL during spring break to help process COVID-19 tests.

It speaks well of this state, Laegreid says. We have an ongoing, very close relationship between a number of the state agencies -- human and animal health -- and they work very well together. Its at times like this that that becomes very important.

This is quintessential Wyoming behavior and displaying that cowboy up mentality, Hull says. Without hesitation, the folks at UW, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, Department of Molecular Biology and other departments, as well as Wyoming Game and Fish Department Wildlife Health Laboratory, jumped into action to allow us to serve the citizens of the state. We are very appreciative to be in a state that cares this much.

UW faculty, staff and students are helping the states COVID-19 response in many other ways, including providing masks, hand sanitizer and other supplies to health care workers; and helping connect providers with patients via the UW-based Wyoming Telehealth Network.

I am very proud that members of the college community are stepping up to support our neighbors across the state at this difficult time, says College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Dean Barbara Rasco, who notes that the college is helping in a number of other ways.

As you may see, Wyoming is truly one town with long streets, Gomelsky says. We all are connected and part of the same community.

WPHL temporary emergency hires, listed by hometown or country, include:

Becker, Minn. -- Chris Anderson, UW veterinary sciences graduate student.

Casper -- Meagan Soehn, UW microbiology undergraduate.

Cheyenne -- Kelsie Bowcutt, UW microbiology undergraduate; Taylor Fearing (Cortez), recent UW microbiology graduate; Chayse Rowley, UW family and consumer sciences recent graduate; and Bryce Snow, UW zoology and physiology graduate student.

Ethiopia -- Matios Lakew, USDA Borlaug Fellow being trained at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory.

Laramie -- Brant Schumaker, UW faculty member in the Department of Veterinary Sciences; and Samyr Wissar, UW molecular biology undergraduate.

Rawlins -- Coleman Young, UW zoology and physiology graduate student.

Worland -- Callie Klinghagen, UW veterinary sciences undergraduate.
New Delhi: The crisis of coronavirus is currently prevailing around the world. In the midst of this catastrophe, PM Narendra Modi is playing the role of a global leader and is constantly talking to the heads of many nations. On Friday, PM Narendra Modi spoke to the Prime Ministers of Nepal and Japan.

petition seeking corona test at doorstep filed in SC

Giving information on Twitter, PM Modi said that today he spoke to Nepal's PM KP Sharma Oli, during which there was a discussion on the coronavirus. The courage shown by Nepal during this crisis, he praises it. India is standing with Nepal in this difficult time. Apart from this, PM Modi also tweeted about talking to PM Shinzo Abe of Japan. PM Modi wrote that the Japanese PM and my friend Shinzo Abe talked about the Coronavirus. India and Japan can work together to design techniques to fight the coronavirus.

PM Modi says this on Good Friday regarding Jesus Christ

Even before this, PM Narendra Modi has talked to the heads of many nations regarding this. Then whether it is America, Brazil or Israel and almost every country is being given medicines help from India.

"Making Muslims scapegoat is no cure for Corona" Owaisi taunts BJP
As the world continues to fight COVID-19, special epidemic prevention equipment is now in high demand. To promote the products, XCMG has created a special section on Machmall.com , which was launched in 2018 as a global one-stop marketing and sales platform for construction machinery and spare parts.

A company in Middle East was in urgent need to purchase dust suppression vehicles amid the COVID-19 outbreak and reached out to XCMG on Machmall.com, it eventually chose XCMG products for their excellent functionality, after-sales services, delivery time and price.

"The global economy is faced by unprecedented pressure and challenges, added to this; we are now fighting COVID-19. XCMG hopes to offer support to global partners, bearing the responsibility of 'making the world a better place, and has designed these vehicles to improve disinfection efficiency, " said Wang Min, Chairman of XCMG.

Meanwhile, XCMG has shipped four million masks and 700,000 surgical gowns purchased by Vale in Brazil on April 4. Working around the clock, XCMG led teams to procure medical supplies and help partners solve raw material, production and logistics issues; XCMG completed the task in two weeks.

Wang Min commented that when the epidemic situation escalated in China, XCMG purchased and donated more than RMB 5 million in supplies, with emergency assistance from global partners. XCMG is committed to integrating global resources to help more countries fight against the pandemic.

At present, XCMG has provided assistance and medical supplies to over 40 countries. On April 4, XCMG also donated more than 100,00 masks and epidemic prevention supplies to 10 countries including the Philippines, UAE and Nigeria.

About XCMG

XCMG is a multinational heavy machinery manufacturing company with a history of 77 years. It currently ranks sixth in the world's construction machinery industry. The company exports to more than 183 countries and regions around the world.

For more information, please visit: www.xcmg.com , or XCMG pages on Facebook , Twitter , YouTube , LinkedIn and Instagram .



SOURCE XCMG

Related Links

www.xcmg.com


As the coronavirus forces people to stay away from social gatherings, more and more folks have found a creative way to celebrate birthdays or mourn deaths: holding drive-by parades, with participants staying inside their cars.

Thats certainly touching, Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday. But New Jerseyans  who live in the state with the second-most number of cases in the U.S.  should be careful and keep them to a minimum, Murphy warned.

I think weve got to be very careful, the governor said during his daily coronavirus press briefing in Trenton.

I think theyre incredibly emotional, Murphy added. And it allows folks to express their appreciation or acknowledgement in the case of someone whos passed. I dont think theres one quick answer on that. But I think weve have to be very careful because we want people to stay at home.

Even if youre in a car by yourself, you are going out, he continued. And I think we have to do this in moderation.

In one New Jersey town, police have taken the message further. Sparta Police Chief Neil Spidaletto has asked residents for the immediate cease and desist of individual celebratory processions, according to an announcement on the departments Facebook page.

The chief cited Murphys orders for New Jerseyans to stay at home except for necessary reasons to help halt the spread of COVID-19.

New Jersey, a state of 9 million residents, has at least 54,588 cases and 1,932 deaths from the virus, officials announced Friday. Only New York has more cases and deaths among U.S. states.

Murphy has said in recent days the state is starting to see signs the rate of infection is slowing, but he stressed that cases and deaths are continuing to rise and people need to continue to practice social distancing.

Officials say the state could see the peak number of hospitalizations over the next few days  with about 14,400 people with the virus projected to be hospitalized, including 2,880 in critical care.

Separately, officials say the peak number of cases in the state is predicted to come between April 19 and May 11, and it could be between 86,000 and 509,000 cases.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Murphy has ordered residents to stay at home, banned social gatherings, closed schools, and mandated non-essential retail businesses close until further notice. He has also limited the number of people can be in businesses allowed to remain open and required employees and shoppers to wear face coverings.

The governor has said the virus effect on New Jersey could last into the summer. And he has said he is not close to lifting the restrictions to help prevent the virus from boomeranging.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Rob Jennings contributed to this report.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Lucknow, April 10 : BSP president Mayawati has demanded stern action against Subrat Pathak, the BJP MP from Kannauj, for his involvement in a case of assault against a Dalit tehsildar.

In a statement, Mayawati has urged UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath to intervene in the matter and ensure action against the accused MP.

The BJP MP Subrat Pathak, accompanied by 20 to 25 men, had allegedly broken into the house of the tehsildar, Arvind Kumar, on Monday and had assaulted him over the distribution of ration to people mentioned in a list sent by him.

Mayawati said, "The incident from Kannauj where an honest Dalit tehsildar was beaten by a BJP MP is shameful. What is more concerning is that he is still roaming scot-free instead of going to jail." Demanding that Adityanath look into the matter, she wrote that recurrence of such incidents must be stopped and Dalits should not be attacked in this manner.

"Stern action is needed against the MP. This is what the BSP demands," she stated.

A case has been registered against Pathak and 25 unidentified men, and around 10 vehicles have been seized from the site of the assault.

The tehsildar had earlier said that he had explained to the MP over the phone that other senior officials were looking into the distribution of ration to people mentioned in his list. However, despite the explanation, the lawmaker abused and threatened him.

Pathak's supporters have denied the incident, saying that they had gone only to discuss some development projects with Kumar.

A report in the matter has been filed with the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police.
Package offers free food for 800 million, but activists say few of them are registered with scheme or have documents.

Tens of millions of Indians stand to see few benefits from a coronavirus relief package worth $22.6bn, economists and food rights activists say.

Although Indias relief package promises free food for roughly 800 million beneficiaries, economists and activists say few of those in need are registered with the federal food welfare scheme, or have the documents needed to secure benefits.

I would argue for universal [food] coverage of rural areas and urban slums in most states for the duration of the crisis, said economist Jean Dreze, who has co-authored books on hunger with Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.

Indias lockdown will push many more people into poverty, and the government must ensure free food reaches everyone in need, Dreze told Reuters news agency, estimating that a tenth of a population of more than 1.3 billion lacks food security now.

The scenario spells catastrophe for 32-year-old Karan Kumar, a struggling day labourer in the capital.

Living in cramped quarters at a construction site where activity has been halted by a harsh three-week lockdown to stem the spread of the virus, Kumar has been without work for days, unable to earn his daily wage of about $4.

Im not suffering alone, my family is suffering with me, said Kumar, who relies on his earnings to support his wife, five children and ageing parents in his home state of Bihar, one of Indias poorest.

My wife calls up and urges me to get home anyhow, said Kumar, one of 1,500 workers at the site. She says that even if we are hungry, we will be hungry together.

Humanitarian crisis

Without provisions for the poor, India could be facing a full-blown humanitarian crisis, especially if the government decides to extend the lockdown, experts say.

Massive numbers of people will be pushed back into poverty, warned Nikhil Dey, who runs farm rights group Mazdoor Kisan Sangathan (Association of Workers and Farmers).

The Indian government is monitoring the situation very closely and will ensure no one goes without food, said a top government official involved in the government food welfare scheme, who sought anonymity in line with government policy.

While millions of migrant workers fled cities on foot for their homes in villages after Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a lockdown from March 25, others with homes hundreds of miles away, like Kumar, could not return.

Modi, who has said stringent measures were necessary to tackle the virus that has killed almost 200 people and infected nearly 6,500, apologised last week for the hardship caused to the poor.

The International Labour Organization says welfare measures such as food aid are critical for the roughly 380 million people who work in the informal economy, which includes everyone from vegetable sellers to cobblers.

Activists say India is in a comfortable position to give handouts to the needy as mounds of rice, wheat and sugar in brimming granaries leave little space for new season harvests.

At the New Delhi construction site, Kumar and other labourers sleep on narrow bunks in small, fly-ridden rooms, depending on erratic supplies of food from a nonprofit.

We eat the food here because we have no other choice, said Kumar. But what about my children? Who will support them?
President Nana Akufo-Addo has revealed that about 79 percent of the 313 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ghana are imported cases.

He says his decision to close Ghana's borders has been justified having recorded remarkable success with discovery of people with the virus.

He made this known in his 6th address to the nation.

According to him, 105 of the confirmed cases came from those who were mandatorily quarantined upon arrival in the country between March 21 and 22, 2020.

As a result, he stated that until the situation is under control, the borders cannot be opened.

---Daily Guide
Australia now has the foundations to withstand a long shock to its health and economy, but the road out of the crisis is easier to describe than navigate. Parliament has set a legislated deadline in the fight against the coronavirus by approving a six-month sunset clause for the new $130 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy.

Illustration: Jim Pavlidis Credit:

The boost to confidence is significant when the economic support is combined with the sharp fall in new infections. But this virus sets its own timetable. While the politicians offer reassurance, the scientists urge vigilance. And it is worth heeding the science. The medical experts who advise the government expect this threat to continue in waves for years.

Even if we eradicate the disease in Australia, says James McCaw of the Doherty Institute and the University of Melbourne, the virus will spread around the world and easily return.

That epidemic in some places may also go locally extinct after a small or a large wave, he says. But its almost implausible to imagine this virus going extinct globally, which means that it will be here to stay. It will become a part of our everyday life and the transition to it not being a huge driver of complete societal change is a very difficult thing to work through.
The most expensive petrol is still sold in Luhansk region

Open source

In Ukraine, the retail value of petrol of various brands, diesel fuel and autogas has reduced as analytics of A-95 consulting group reported.

According to the experts, on April 10, in comparison to the previous day, the prices for petrol and diesel fuel reduced insignificantly in nine regions, while in other regions they remained at the same level. Besides, autogas fell in price in all regions, except Vinnytsia, Lviv, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv regions.

The cheapest A-92 petrol is sold in Kharkiv region  22.54 hryvnia ($0.83), the cheapest A-95 petrol is in Sumy region  23.61 hryvnia ($0.87) and A-95+ in Kyiv region  25.23 hryvnia ($0.93).

The cheap diesel fuel, as A-92 petrol, is sold in Kharkiv region  23.02 hryvnia ($0.85) and the cheapest autogas can be found in Chernihiv region  9.45 hryvnia ($0.35) per liter.

The most expensive petrol of all brands and diesel fuel are found in Luhansk region and the most expensive autogas  in Ternopil region.

Earlier, the experts came to the conclusion that the fuel consumption in Ukraine will fall by 20-30% due to the introduction of quarantine measures.

As we reported, Ukrainian wheat exports from seaports almost fell by half to 138,000 tonnes in the week of March 28 - April 3 from 277,000 tonnes a week earlier.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine earlier reported that background radiation levels continue to be within the normal range around Kyiv.

In early April 2020, satellites observed several wildfires in northern Ukraine around the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.

Hundreds of firefighters and at least eight airborne units were working to extinguish fires in the Denysovets, Kotovsky, and Korogodsky forests, NASA's Earth Observatory reports.

Forecasts called for winds to blow the plumes of smoke toward Chernihiv region and the border with Belarus. On April 8, smoke spread toward Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the south.

Officials have been fighting fires in the exclusion zone since April 4, 2020. As of April 9, police evacuated residents from the village of Poliske, which is located within the zone.

Read alsoRFE/RL: Police say they have identified man suspected of starting Chornobyl fire

The soils and forests of the exclusion zone, which spans about 2,600 square kilometers (1,000 square miles), were contaminated in 1986 by radioactive fallout from the Chornobyl nuclear accident. Fires in the exclusion zone are not uncommon, but the severity and intensity of the fires has grown over the years as more forests and grasslands have recovered. Research has also shown that fires in heavily contaminated areas can resuspend radioactive elements in smoke plumes that then get carried across long distances.

On April 5, officials tested the air in Kyiv and nearby suburbs for radioactivity, but they did not report finding any man-made contamination.

As of April 9, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that background radiation levels continue to be within the normal range around Kyiv. Additionally, no spikes in radiation have been reported in Belarus.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday said that India has been wrongly represented at the stage of community transmission in its 'situation report' and the error has been corrected. India has a 'cluster of cases' as against 'community transmission', WHO told NDTV. The report earlier said that India had community transmission, while China -- the epicenter of coronavirus -- showed a cluster of cases. The WHO releases a coronavirus situation report for all countries on a daily basis. India has 6,039 coronavirus positive cases, while 515 are cured or discharged. A total of 206 deaths have been reported so far, the latest data by the Ministry of Health shows.

India is under a 21-day lockdown currently to fight against the spread of coronavirus. Earlier today, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told a set of diplomats that there is no community transmission in India. He also said that 400 out of nearly 600 districts have remained unaffected so far. Meanwhile, Punjab has extended lockdown till April 30. It has become the second state to extend lockdown after Odisha announced a similar move on Thursday. The Odisha state cabinet also decided to request the Centre to extend the 21-day nationwide lockdown, ending on April 14, to April 30.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reportedly said that lifting of lockdown looks unlikely on April 14. However, he also said that the chief ministers of various states would be consulted on the decision. Narendra Modi interacted with leaders of opposition today via video conference and discussed the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday. Narendra Modi has already interacted with the chief ministers of various states to discuss the rising spread of COVID-19. Another meeting is scheduled for the coming Saturday.

Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: PMO reviews preparedness, relief measures for days ahead

Also Read: Cognizant withdraws full-year guidance for 2020 amid coronavirus uncertainty
In a bid to filter false information and derogatory messages on social media amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mumbai police on Friday issued an order warning action against administrators of groups who allow posting of such contents.

The police have been keeping constant tabs on social media activities in light of the pandemic and the ongoing lockdown, an official said.

A lot of incorrect and derogatory content about certain communities in the form of messages, videos, images or memes were being circulated on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik-Tok and other social media platforms, he said.

Such social media posts cause panic, confusion in minds of people and create mistrust towards government functionaries and actions that are being taken to contain the spread of COVID-19, the official said.

Taking cognisance of such incidents, the Mumbai Police issued an order, restricting the use of social media and messaging platforms under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) he said.

This step was taken to ensure there is no danger to human health or safety or threat to public order, he added.

All persons designated as 'administrators' on messaging and social media platforms will be held responsible for any such information on a group administered by them, he said.

As per the order, it is mandatory for administrators on social media to report to the police any derogatory, malicious, incorrect content posted on their group, he added.
Only a limited percentage of coronavirus cases need ICU beds and ventilators, Egypt's health minister said

The number of operational isolation hospitals in Egypt has reached 12 nationwide, and they are equipped with 2,241 beds, 407 intensive care beds, and 346 ventilators, according to the health minister.

Up to 47 fever hospitals and 35 pulmonology hospitals have also been allocated for triage and referral of coronavirus patients, Health Minister Hala Zayed told Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly at a meeting on Friday.

Zayed met with Madbouly to update him on the coronavirus situation, according to a cabinet statement.

Egyptian authorities this week extended a two-week night-time curfew for another fortnight.

The country has logged 1,699 positive coronavirus cases so far, of whom 118 have died.

Only a limited percentage of the cases need ICU beds and ventilators, Zayed noted.

All outpatient clinics at the hospitals have been closed and redistributed to primary health care centres, she noted, adding that the reception departments have been restricted to emergency cases only.

The ministry has also trained 150 mental health specialists to provide psychological support to health care workers, patients or members of the public.

Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said during the meeting that the university hospitals that have been dedicated to coronavirus isolation contain 2,056 beds, 297 intensive care beds, 35 medium-care beds, and 266 ventilators.

The capacity of university student accommodation nationwide is 38,589 rooms with 69,070 beds, he also said.

The country decided on Tuesday to transfer mild coronavirus cases, especially patients under 50, to university campuses and student accommodation, under the medical supervision of the health ministry.

The decision to use student accommodation has gone into effect in Cairo, Alexandria, Ain Shams, Assiut, Mansoura, Minya, and Helwan as a first stage, Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar added.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Click here to read the full article.

Just a few hours before my interview with Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey, he sent out a tweet so dystopian that I had to take a moment to breathe: Wawa sent a 53-foot refrigerated truck to Bergen County after hearing about our need for refrigerated trucks to help take the pressure off our morgues and funeral homes in protecting the bodies of those we have lost.

I texted my husband, who had braved the outside world to get a prescription, Please put me in the fridge before the Wawa truck. It was a sad show of humor that I regretted almost immediately  especially since his response was a grim, Jesus Christ

More from Rolling Stone

Like many Jersey residents, I tune into Murphys daily COVID-19 updates, a medley of death tolls, encouraging messages, and news about the governors pandemic relief efforts  plus an occasional shoutout to President Trump for sending resources our way. So, when I got 15 minutes on the phone with Murphy, I was eager to find out just how long he thought this daily phantasmagoria would continue.

New Jersey is currently a hotspot for the virus, behind New York. According to the governor, we have 47,437 cases and 1,504 total deaths as of Wednesday. My county, Bergen, is the hotspot in the hotspot, with 7,874 cases.

.@Wawa sent a 53-foot refrigerated truck to Bergen County after hearing about our need for refrigerated trucks to help take the pressure off our morgues and funeral homes in protecting the bodies of those we have lost. Their help is invaluable. Were so thankful.  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 8, 2020

Before calling in, I thought back to when I interviewed Murphy late last year about Jerseys hilarious Twitter account, @NJGov, and the massive American Dream retail center that was then months from fully opening. Now, the Twitter account that mostly posted sassy tweets about the supremacy of New Jersey pizza is dedicated to urging citizens to stay at home. And the three-million square foot mega mall featuring an indoor ski mountain, waterpark and theme park? Its opening has been delayed indefinitely.

Story continues

During our discussion, Murphy didnt pull any punches; he couldnt promise when life would return to normal. Still, his relentless cheerleading about breaking the back of the virus was enough to convince me that my final resting place likely wouldnt be the back of a Wawa truck.

I feel like a lot of people are confused about what theyre supposed to be doing in terms of sheltering at home. What does an ideal week look like for a Jersey resident who is successfully flattening the curve?

They should stay at home. They should limit any travel outside of home to literally the supermarket, pharmacy  something that might be unexpected like a doctors visit. You can walk or jog outside your home  although weve shut the county and state parks, so you need to do that in your neighborhood. And I would say to everybody, if youre doing that on the streets, obviously be careful, because we dont want any unintended consequences from that.

Youve got to be even careful at home. I wouldnt be doing a whole lot of kissing and hugging even with your family members.

We just dont want you out. Are you going to get pulled over if youre out? Unlikely, but you shouldnt be out. No gatherings. If you go to the supermarket, were now saying we want you to wear a cloth mask. If you are in a pharmacy or a supermarket, there are new protocols for how you need to behave  as well as the folks who run those supermarkets and pharmacies, and the workers there, what they need to do.

We really dont want you out  again, you can go out if you have to and youve got to get food obviously, but even then, social distance. Im literally going to try to run tonight for the first time since I had surgery. Ill probably end up running on a running machine, but my wife and I were taught that if we ran, wed have to run ourselves, even the two of us, six feet apart.

I hate to be a killjoy, and again, not to go off, were going to get through this. But heres the problem, people start talking about, The curve is beginning to flatten. Thats what you hear a lot. It looks like its true in terms of positive tests  it certainly doesnt look true of fatalities, and we were prepared for that.

Tony Fauci told me to be prepared for the paradox; it could be several weeks of flattening test numbers, positive test numbers, and at the same time, spiking mortalities, which are really from folks who may have gotten infected several weeks ago. I again, dont want to be a killjoy, but we have not scaled the mountain yet.

I see you mentioning or tweeting at the president, thanking him for his help. Could you describe your relationship with President Trump?

Listen, Ive said this and its true, job number one for me is the safety and security of all nine million folks [in New Jersey], and to keep the sicknesses and fatalities at as low a number as humanly possible. Its already too big a number.

So I wake up every morning with that as my number one job, and I wake up every morning without the luxury of picking administration-X or president-Y. So, Donald Trump is the president, Mike Pence is the vice president; I need the federal government. That doesnt mean were rolling over and just playing nice all the time, we have very specific asks.

I just got off the phone with @realDonaldTrump  he granted our request for access to some of the beds on the USNS Comfort. This is a big step for us. I thank both the President and @VP.  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 6, 2020

To their credit, they have delivered on at least pieces of our asks, and some significant ones. So we still need a lot more ventilators, thats for sure. We still need a lot more personal protective equipment. Were trying to source all of the above from as many places in the world as possible, but theres no substitute for the federal government.

We needed hospital beds, so the Army Corps have been helping us build out field medical stations. I toured one today; thats deeply appreciated. We have access to the USNS Comfort, which is a big deal. FEMA has co-sponsored two drive-through testing sites for us, big deal.

So, Ive said if I dont disagree, Im not going to pull my punches  and I know the president wont pull his  but weve been able to find common ground under the theory that were all in this, whether we like the situation or not, were all in this together.

Im wondering also about the information that you choose to share with the public. I saw some fear today in reaction to the Wawa truck that was sent to the morgues. How do you decide what to tell people?

We dont hold a lot back.  So when you talk about a refrigerator truck, which is basically a morgue, weve had a lot of corporations step up  thats a pretty unique one. So Wawa, to their credit  Its uncomfortable, its not something that you feel very good even talking about. But I also think at the same time, we need to shoot straight with each other. I feel strongly that we need to tell folks the truth.

Ive said this several times in public; Ive looked at what Churchill was doing in the early stages of World War II when there was real desperation and anxiety and Germany was overwhelmingly powerful. I think its a good model of getting the balance right between being honest with people like, Were up against it, folks. And this is what youre going to have to do, even though its really uncomfortable. This is a fact, whether its a refrigerated morgue trailer truck or whatever it might be.

But on the other hand, being genuine and saying, You know what? This is the path in how we win this thing. This is how were going to get through this. Getting that balance right, I think, is really important.

To that point, I know New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has talked about this  but is New Jersey considering temporary burials on public land or anything in that nature?

Not that Im aware of. When I say not that Im aware of, Ive not been a party to any conversations. I have looked at the New York City discussions, and thats pretty shocking. When you see something like that, like a refrigerator morgue unit, its possible that theres some discussion in a certain county, but Im not aware of any discussions with that at the state level.

Im also wondering about some of these bigger complexes, like the American Dream, which we talked about before. Have any of those big complexes stepped forward to offer hospital space or anything of that nature?

I dont think they have, but I wouldnt necessarily hold that against them. We have an unusual amount of authority, and were prepared to use it if we have to use it. But the good news is folks have willingly come forward, so [we have] the field medical station at the Meadowlands Exposition Center. Same with the Edison Exposition Center space today, Atlantic City next week. So weve also got a lot of hotels and dormitories that are being either surveyed, reviewed or actually contracted.

The American Dream [isnt a] hospital or a dorm and its still obviously a construction site for a big piece of it, at least so far we havent needed that. Who knows when we go forward?

You recently called for volunteers who know COBOL, a Fifties coding language. Why? What other niche skills do you think we need to break the back of the virus?

Im probably not the right guy to ask about the COBOL, because I was never the head of the class in COBOL. But Id say technology generally, we could use help. [We need help with the] legacy computers and phone lines [that] allow people to sign up for unemployment insurance. Thats where weve got a big exposure, which led to the COBOL discussion.

Id say most of the niche requirements, Brenna, are going to be right now in healthcare. I was out specifically today talking through the sort of folks we need to staff and lead the Edison field medical station. I know respiratory therapists were on the list and a couple of other specific skills.

Today, Dr. Fauci said we shouldnt shake hands anymore after this is over. What fundamental changes do you think this will bring to New Jersey?

That ones a bummer for me because I like to shake hands. I think its pretty profound. I think its dramatically different. That doesnt mean it wont be a good, ultimately a good normal, but its a different normal, and particularly the early stages.

So physical contact, giving people handshakes, hugs, high-fives, I dont see it. [I could see] restaurants where someones at the front door with a thermometer, one of those instant thermometers checking you before you come in, and if youve got a temperature, you cant. Youre inside, servers are masked and gloved, surfaces are wiped down with much hyper regularity. At most, youre allowed 50% capacity in the restaurant, minimum of X-feet between tables. Im making this up, but I could see that. I could see businesses going back with different shift expectations. I think were going to need significantly more healthcare infrastructure to allow us to really test much more universally, contact trace effectively.

Im worried like heck we go through hell, we begin to open the place back up again, and even on its own, the virus comes back. Or some other lower common denominator state that didnt shut as tightly as we did, or didnt shut as early as we did, [allows people into New Jersey], and you have a backdoor re-ignition of it.

Weve got to do everything we can to prevent that, and I think a lot of that has to do with health infrastructure. I dont know what theaters, gyms, stadiums look like in protocols. I think were going to be  at least for a period of time  my guess is that were going to be in a different place.

I see a lot of people talking about how theyre going to have block parties when this is over. What season do you see those parties taking place?

Boy, Ill tell you, even the block parties, again, I hate to be New Jerseys killjoy here, but I believe this with all my heart, we have got to kill this virus first and then we can reopen to some extent. I hope even that the block party people are being smart. I hope its warm weather, that would be my hope.

I know Aprils going to be hell, May feels like its going to be very  depends on the model you look at  Mays going to be I think challenging, maybe not as challenging as April. June is a little gray for me, Im hoping July and August are good months. God knows we could use it on the Shore, the state could use it, our mental health could use it. Im hoping that warm weather is good to us.

Best of Rolling Stone

See where your favorite artists and songs rank on the Rolling Stone Charts.



Sign up for Rolling Stones Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
We invented the concept of modern river cruising when we got our start 23 years ago  first on the rivers of Russia and then in Europe, he said. Since then, many people have come to appreciate the unique exploration that comes with river cruising  but currently there are very few options to do so on American rivers.
A Coles manager has been spat on and had her eyes gouged by a customer after she confronted her for ignoring social distancing rules in the store.

Disgusting footage shows the moment customer service boss Sharon Herringe, 49, was attacked in Coles in Vincentia, on the NSW south coast, on Wednesday when she stopped a customer from entering the store through the exit.

The incident is the latest in a string of violent attacks on supermarket workers during the COVID-19 lockdown and the subsequent increase in demand for groceries sparked by panic-buying from consumers worried shops would close down.

There were $5000 on-the-spot fines introduced in NSW on Thursday for anyone who spits or coughs on front line workers to try and end the abuse.

Coles customer service manager Shannon Herringe (pictured left), 49, was spat on and assaulted by an aggressive customer on Wednesday. Police have arrested Gabrielle O'Sullivan, 35 (right)

Ms Herringe, who has worked for Coles for 15 years, told Daily Mail Australia: 'It was disgusting what she did. It's a disgrace.'

Ms Herringe told 7NEWS the customer tried to enter the Coles store through an exit that was set up for social distancing and it was as she was asked to leave that she became aggressive.

She said she was spat on and was left with scratches and a gouged eye.

The Coles worker said the violence being shown towards retail workers was unexpected and disappointing.

She said: 'I'm just shattered I guess. You're not expecting that kind of thing going to work and helping people put food on the table, the violence.'

Ms Herringe called for more respect and compassion to be shown to retail workers during the coronavirus crisis.

She said: 'We are doing our best and we are just everyone's sisters, mums, friends, dads, sons and daughters and you. We could be you.'

The 35-year-old customer became aggressive (pictured) after she was refused entry to the South Coast store and proceeded to attack Ms Herringe and gouge at her eyes

Police arrested Gabrielle O'Sullivan, 35, at a Sanctuary Point home and charged her with common assault, assault occasioning bodily harm and damaging property.

She's due to appear in Nowra Local Court on June 15.

A police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: 'A 35-year-old woman was arrested after an incident in Vincentia and was charged with common assault, assault occasioning bodily harm and damaging property.'

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller labelled the widespread abusive behaviour shown throughout the crisis as a 'disgrace'.

'I just can't believe that with everything going on people are coughing and spitting on people,' he said.

New fines were introduced on Thursday to put an end to the abuse of coronavirus frontline workers.

There is now a $5,000 on the spot fine for anyone caught endangering a frontline health worker, police officer or border force official in NSW.

The extreme measures were announced in response to the 'abhorrent' incidents in the last few weeks which saw nurses and police coughed or spat on during the coronavirus pandemic.

Supermarket workers have also reported being physically and verbally abused by customers during the COVID-19 crisis as panicked customers rush to the shops to stock up on goods.

Hayley Evans (pictured) was working at Manly Corso Coles, in Sydney's northern beaches, at lunchtime on Saturday when a man three times her age called the police on her

Jordyn Nydrle (pictured) works at a Woolworths in Townsville, and came home after an exhausting shift and cried

A 16-year-old checkout worker at the Manly Corso Coles, Hayley Evans, had a man three times her age berate her and call the police on Saturday.

He complained she was using hand sanitiser to protect against the virus instead of gloves and 'started to raise his voice and get aggravated'

Hayley said the confrontation had left her feeling left her feeling 'anxious and scared'.

Her mother, Kate Munn, told Daily Mail Australia: 'He was aggressive in his demeanour.'

She urged shoppers to 'treat everyone with respect.'

'All front-line, essential workers are exposing themselves to a higher risk than others to ensure that the world keeps turning during this period,' Ms Munn said.

An 18-year-old Woolworths worker was also at the receiving end of customer abuse.

Jordyn Nydrle's mother took a photo of her daughter in tears after being she returned from a shift at her Woolworths job.

The teenager reached breaking point after an exhausting day last week when she was abused by irate shoppers who couldn't buy everything they wanted due to sold-out items or product restrictions.

Jordyn's mother Debara Nydrle said her daughter and colleagues often have 'products thrown at them because they can't have the third tins of beans... or if there isn't any toilet paper'.

Ms Nydrle shared a photo of red-faced and teary-eyed Jordyn in a heartbreaking Facebook post after the abuse on Monday proved too much.

While the teenager felt better 'after a good cry and a good sleep', Ms Nydrlen urged people to be kinder to those in customer service roles.

'These people are like our doctors and nurses and essential workers, providing a service on the frontline. While everyone is in self-isolation they are put at risk.'
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik urged educational institutions to be sympathetic to students and their families amid the Covid-19 pandemic

Following its declaration of extending the coronavirus lockdown, the Odisha government has now asked private schools to reduce or defer fees from April to June 2020.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik urged educational institutions to be sympathetic to students and their families amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He said this will help parents whose incomes have been deeply affected by the coronavirus lockdown.

Odisha, on Thursday, became the first state to extend the lockdown period to 30 April. The government has already asked educational institutions to remain shut till 17 June.

Earlier, Punjab education minister Vijay Inder Sangla had in a social media post informed that the state government has issued show-cause notices to 23 schools for demanding fees during the lockdown.

Several other state governments too have asked educational institutions to not put pressure on parents to deposit fees until the lockdown period is over.

Schools, colleges and other educational institutions have been asked to remain closed and state governments have urged offices to allow employees work from home to restrict the spread of coronavirus.

Odisha has seen 44 confirmed cases of coronavirus with one death. The total number of Covid-19 cases in India is over 6,000 with around 200 deaths.
A Labour councillor has apologised after saying that Boris Johnson being taken into intensive care was a publicity stunt.

Julie Heselwood came under fire for comments she made about the Prime Minister's health after he was admitted into ICU at St Thomas's Hospital in London on Monday.

She has since written a letter expressing her regret and extended her well-wishes to Mr Johnson.

It is understood that the Labour Party is now investigating Ms Heselwood over the comments.

Julie Heselwood (pictured) came under fire for comments she made about the Prime Minister's health after he was admitted into ICU at St Thomas' Hospital in London on Monday

Mrs Heselwood, a Labour councillor in Leeds, originally made the comments on Facebook while replying to a post by radio host Ryan Swain.

She wrote: 'It's a publicity stunt - they we're [sic] doing badly being criticised for their handling of this, next thing he's in hospital in ICU - a publicity stunt fir [sic] sympathy and to change the narrative. Don't fall for it'

But the post sparked severe backlash.

One social media user wrote: 'With a comment like that, you're not fit to be a councillor for any party!'

Mrs Heselwood has since removed her post and has issued an apology.

Mrs Heselwood, a Labour councillor in Leeds, originally made the comments on Facebook while replying to a post by radio host Ryan Swain

She wrote to the leader of Leeds City Council and said: 'I am deeply sorry for my crass and offensive comments about Boris Johnson's hospital treatment.

'I was wrong, I should never have made that claim and I apologise unreservedly.

'I wish the Prime Minister a speedy recovery and my thoughts are with him and his family at what I know is a very difficult time for them.'

Mr Johnson (pictured last week) has since left the high-dependency unit with a spokesman from No 10 saying: 'He is in extremely good spirits'

A Labour party spokesperson said: 'Leeds City Council is working round the clock in one of the country's largest districts to respond to this global public health crisis.

'All Labour councillors are doing what they can to keep services running, keep people safe and support their communities.

'Julie Heselwood fully accepts her post was wrong and has apologised unreservedly for it.'

Mr Johnson has since left the high-dependency unit with a spokesman from No 10 saying: 'The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.

'He is in extremely good spirits.'

It comes as the latest figures show there are currently 65,077 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK with a death toll of 7,978.
BETHESDA, Md., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) recognize that medical genetics and genomics trainees and genetic counseling students are experiencing unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many are unable to engage in planned educational activities necessary to meet training program requirements.

In an effort to help lighten this burden and to provide top-quality online educational opportunities to those who may be either quarantined or must work from home, the ACMG and the ABMGG are collaborating to provide complimentary access to educational programming for clinical genetics residents, laboratory genetics fellows and genetic counseling students.

ACMG President Anthony R. Gregg, MD, MBA, FACOG, FACMG said, "As the COVID-19 pandemic challenges each of us to adapt, ACMG looks forward to providing high-quality educational materials at no charge to trainees and genetic counseling students. At ACMG we value education. It is a core member service. If you are a trainee whose education is threatened by COVID-19, we will help you beat that threat. This makes perfect sense - if you are a trainee or student - you are us!"

"Optimal patient care begins with optimal education of trainees in medical genetics and genomics in training programs across the country," said Max Muenke, MD, FACMG, chief executive officer of the ACMG. "We at the College have a passion for education. At a time of COVID-19 where most trainees are working from home, we are happy to offerfree of chargea number of online courses and lectures to genetic counseling graduate students, residents in clinical genetics and genomics, and fellows in all laboratory specialties of genetics and genomics."

Medical genetics and genomics residents and lab fellows, as well as genetic counseling students, will be able to access an extensive, curated collection of educational content online at the ACMG Genetics Academy at www.acmgeducation.net Individuals must attest that they are current trainees in an ACGC-, ACGME- or ABMGG-accredited training program.

Miriam Blitzer, PhD, FACMG, CEO of the ABMGG, commented, "The ABMGG recognizes that current circumstances surrounding COVID-19 are impacting trainees and have disrupted required training. We are excited that ACMG is offering access to excellent educational activities to allow for continued learning during this time."

ACMG's "Curated Collection of Educational Resources for Genetics and Genomics Residents, Trainees and Genetic Counseling Students" will include:

10 Genomic Case Conferences such as Telegenetics Consults and Resources at Your Fingertips, Spectrum of Positive Findings Encountered During Expanded Carrier Screening, and Nuances of Mitochondrial Testing

Six Short Courses, including

Variant Interpretation from the Clinician Perspective





Bringing Personalized Genomic Medicine to Prenatal Care





Authorization for Genetic Testing: A Primer for Genetics Professionals





Somatic Mutation Testing in Cancer: Implications for the Oncologist and Geneticist

11 Scientific Sessions from the 2018 and 2019 ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meetings

March of Dimes Clinical Genetics Conferences



Cardinal Signs of Selected Genetic Conditions



Laboratory Diagnostic Challenges (Constitutional and Neoplastic Cases in Molecular, Cytogenomic, and Biochemical Genetics Specialties)



Prenatal Diagnostic Challenges



Hot Topics: Genome Editing: Genetic Therapy for Genetic Diseases - Promises and Challenges; and Emerging Fetal Stem Cell and Molecular Therapies



Complexities in Cancer Risk Assessment and Management

Individuals who complete coursework through the ACMG Genetics Academy will obtain a certificate of completion. ACMG and ABMGG both commit to providing these free educational resources until September 1, 2020.

Staying current on advances in medical genetics and genomics is more important than ever. ACMG and ABMGG wish the next generation of the medical genetics healthcare team strength, resilience and good health as we work together to fight the pandemic and to care for patients and families. We appreciate your commitment to caring for patients whether you are in the lab, the clinic, providing telegenetics services, or serving your patients and communities in other ways. Our primary concern, now and always, is for the health, safety and well-being of healthcare providers, patients, students and the communities we serve.

About the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and ACMG Foundation

Founded in 1991, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) is the only nationally recognized medical society dedicated to improving health through the clinical practice of medical genetics and genomics and the only medical specialty society in the US that represents the full spectrum of medical genetics disciplines in a single organization. The ACMG is the largest membership organization specifically for medical geneticists, providing education, resources and a voice for more than 2,400 clinical and laboratory geneticists, genetic counselors and other healthcare professionals, nearly 80% of whom are board certified in the medical genetics specialties. ACMG's mission is to improve health through the clinical and laboratory practice of medical genetics as well as through advocacy, education and clinical research, and to guide the safe and effective integration of genetics and genomics into all of medicine and healthcare, resulting in improved personal and public health. Four overarching strategies guide ACMG's work: 1) to reinforce and expand ACMG's position as the leader and prominent authority in the field of medical genetics and genomics, including clinical research, while educating the medical community on the significant role that genetics and genomics will continue to play in understanding, preventing, treating and curing disease; 2) to secure and expand the professional workforce for medical genetics and genomics; 3) to advocate for the specialty; and 4) to provide best-in-class education to members and nonmembers. Genetics in Medicine, published monthly, is the official ACMG journal. ACMG's website (www.acmg.net) offers resources including policy statements, practice guidelines, educational programs and a 'Find a Genetic Service' tool. The educational and public health programs of the ACMG are dependent upon charitable gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals through the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine.

About the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics

The American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to serve the public and medical profession by establishing professional certification standards and promoting lifelong learning, as well as excellence in medical genetics and genomics. Established in 1980, the ABMGG is one of the 24 certifying boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). For more information, visit www.abmgg.org.

Kathy Moran, MBA

[email protected]

SOURCE American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

Related Links

www.acmg.net


The latest:

Fauci: US should not "be pulling back at all"

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, commended the steps Americans are taking to socially distance but warned that the country as a whole should not "be pulling back."

"This is the end of the week  that famous week that we spoke about last weekend," Fauci said during a White House coronavirus task force briefing Friday. "It's important to remember that this is not the time to feel that since we have made such important advance in the sense of success of the mitigation that we need to be pulling back at all."

Dr. Deborah Birx, an HIV researcher and the White House coronavirus response coordinator, struck a similar tone. She commended the Washington and Baltimore areas for their adherence to social distancing guidelines, while cautioning that the U.S. has "not reached the peak" of coronavirus infections.

"I know last week, we asked a lot of people in the Washington and Baltimore area to consolidate, not go out frequently to grocery stores or pharmacies. You can see that's having a huge impact, so it's really about the encouraging signs that we see. But as encouraging as they are, we have not reached the peak, and so every day, we need to continue to do what we did yesterday and the week before and the week before that. So in the end, that will take us across the peak and down the other side," Birx said.

PGlmcmFtZSBpZD0iaHR2LWNvdmlkLW1hcCIgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL2NvdmlkLTE5LWFzc2V0cy5odHZ0b29scy51cy9pbmRleC5odG1sIiBzY3JvbGw9Im5vIiBzdHlsZT0iYm9yZGVyOm5vbmU7Ij48L2lmcmFtZT4=

Antibody tests for the coronavirus could soon be available

Antibody tests that would verify whether a person recently had the novel coronavirus could be available within a week, the nation's top infectious disease expert said as the worldwide death toll surpassed 100,000.

"Within a period of a week or so, we're going to have a rather large number of tests that are available," Fauci said on CNN's "New Day" Friday morning.

Having antibodies to the coronavirus could mean someone is protected from getting re-infected, making such tests important for medical workers and others on the front lines fighting the pandemic.

"If their antibody test is positive, one can formulate strategies about whether or not they would be at risk or vulnerable to getting re-infected," Fauci explained.

Tests that would identify a current infection would still be important, he said, and used in parallel with antibody tests, which still need to be validated.

"But as we look forward, as we get to the point of at least considering opening up the country as it were, it's very important to appreciate and to understand how much that virus has penetrated this society," Fauci said. "Because it's very likely that there are a large number of people out there that have been infected, have been asymptomatic and did not know they were infected."

At least 18,000 people have died of coronavirus in the United States  nearly half of them in New York state. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, of the more than 500,000 total confirmed cases nationwide, about 174,000 have been in New York state. That means the Empire State alone has documented more cases than any country in the world besides the U.S.

The U.S. is set to reach its highest daily number of deaths on or around Sunday, according to models by the prominent Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.

US model is now showing fewer projected deaths

It estimated that 60,415 in the U.S. would die of coronavirus by August, assuming social distancing policies continue through May. That projection is down from the 82,000 it predicted earlier this week.

Antibody tests are used in other clinical scenarios, said Dr. Colleen Kraft, associate chief medical officer of Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Soon, she said, we'll learn whether a coronavirus antibody test "tells us that somebody can go back to work, for instance, tells us that somebody is no longer infectious, and tells us that somebody cannot get the virus again."

As officials begin discussing what it would take for the U.S. to reopen, there could be "merit" to the idea of Americans carrying certificates of immunity that prove they have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, Fauci said.

Fauci told CNN, "It's one of those things that we talk about when we want to make sure that we know who the vulnerable people are and not."





Social distancing appears to be working, officials say

While states prepare for the peak period, experts say it appears social distancing is working.

In New York, Cuomo said Thursday that the number of people hospitalized in the state is going down but deaths have gone up, citing the possibility of lag times. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, echoed a similar sentiment.

"At the same time as we're seeing the increase in deaths, we're seeing a rather dramatic decrease in the need for hospitalizations," Fauci said. "That means that what we are doing is working and therefore we need to continue to do it."

Social distancing is playing a crucial role in the fight against coronavirus, said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We're not defenseless. This virus has a very significant weakness: It can't swim 7 feet," he said.

Some states remain cautiously optimistic with the latest developments. In Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont said new hospitalizations are dropping while Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced that the state has the lowest number of hospitalizations per 100,000 people compared to other neighboring states.

In Ohio, while the number of coronavirus-related deaths continues to increase, the number of people impacted by the virus is lower than previously projected, Gov. Mike DeWine said.



California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state has seen a 1.9% drop of people in ICU, and the stay-at-home order appears to be working.

"I think we're seeing the consequences of that when we see that our mortality rate is really a lot lower than what have been predicted, and it really shows that this mitigation works," Redfield said. "I think we're coming to the peak, as we sit here today, where we're able to see the other side of the curve, and we'll see this outbreak continue to decline over the weeks ahead."



While maintaining social distancing measures appears to be holding down the spread in some areas, reopening the country will require a strategy and understanding the extent of the transmission, experts say.

"It's not going to be one size fits all. It's going to be using the data that we have from surveillance to really understand where it is the most important places for us to begin to reopen," Redfield said.

Americans have the potential to take summer vacations this year  as long as they continue aggressive mitigation efforts now and get to a place where they can be modified, Fauci said.

CDC won't recommend hydroxychloroquine, director says

President Donald Trump on Thursday said more than 2 million coronavirus tests have been completed in the U.S. But he also suggested mass testing would not happen.

"We want to have it and we're going to see if we have it. Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes," the president said. "We're talking about 325 million people and that's not gonna happen, as you can imagine, and it would never happen with anyone else, either."

States are also rushing to get hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that President Trump has touted as potential treatment and a "game changer."

The drug has not been fully tested but some states are gathering doses for their patients. The CDC's Redfield said he does not recommend the drug.

"At this stage, at this moment in time, we're not recommending it, but we're not, not recommending that," Redfield said. "We're recommending for the physician and the patient to have that discussion."

The CDC removed its website guidelines for doctors on how to prescribe hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. Trump has pressed federal health officials to make the drugs more widely available despite little reliable evidence that they are effective at treating the virus.

"We're very comfortable in responding when we have data that is compelling," Redfield said Thursday on CNN's Global Town Hall. "CDC, as an organization ... we're not an opinion organization. We're a science-based data-driven organization. So I do think this is going to be an independent decision of these health care providers and patients."

Despite the lack of a vaccine, the CDC is preparing for what could happen next year, which is expected to be challenging as well, Redfield said, adding that proactive steps will change the way the country deals with another outbreak.

"That includes early case identification, isolating people who are sick and tracing those that the person has come into contact with while they were contagious," he said. "We don't have to go through the serious mitigation steps that we're taking to get us under control."

W2lmcmFtZSBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vZDJjbXZicTdzeHgzM2ouY2xvdWRmcm9udC5uZXQvZW1haWwvcHJvZF9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1c19pZnJhbWVfYXJ0aWNsZS5odG1sIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjQxNCIgc3R5bGU9IndpZHRoOjEwMCU7Ym9yZGVyOm5vbmU7b3ZlcmZsb3c6aGlkZGVuIiBzY3JvbGxpbmc9Im5vIiBmcmFtZWJvcmRlcj0iMCIgYWxsb3dUcmFuc3BhcmVuY3k9InRydWUiXVsvaWZyYW1lXQo=

CNN contributed to this report.
Sky News

Property developers and those who missold dangerous building products have been warned they will have to "pay to put things right" as the government announced fresh action to solve the cladding scandal. Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, warned those responsible for the crisis that they are being "put on notice" as he pledged that leaseholders living in a development above 11 metres would no longer have to pay to fix safety problems. Since then, the cladding scandal has trapped leaseholders in unsafe and unsellable homes.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 10:27 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0fda8c 1 City COVID-19,novel-coronavirus,coronavirus,anies-baswedan,Jakarta-administration Free

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has urged all residents to stay at home for the next 14 days as the capital city imposed large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) on Friday to cut the chain of COVID-19 spread. Jakarta is the first province in the country to enforce a partial lockdown after its request was approved by the Health Ministry.

Gubernatorial Decree No. 22/2020, which serves as the legal bases for the restrictions, stipulates rules to follow up the Health Ministry regulation on the matter.

All residents are expected to stay at home for the next two weeks, Anies said at a press conference on Thursday evening.

He also urged everyone to abandon any outside activities in order to prevent COVID-19 transmission in the capital city, which is the epicenter of the outbreak in Indonesia.

Our purpose is not to ask everyone to stay at home, but to save our lives, save our families, our neighbors and colleagues, and to check the spread of the virus, Anies added.

He further explained that, with the policy in place starting Friday, all companies must stop activities in their offices and send their employees to work from home. All offices must follow through, except government offices, diplomatic and international organizations and state-owned as well as city-owned enterprises. Businesses spared in the policy include those in the sectors of health, food supply, energy, communication and information technology, finance, logistics, construction, strategic industries, and basic services that serve everyday needs.

He said food vendors were allowed to remain open, but only to serve takeouts.

The point is not to stop restaurant activity but the interaction of people [in restaurants], Anies said.

The decree also restricts peoples mobility by limiting operational hours of public transportation and the capacity of vehicles within the Jakarta area.

People are barred from using vehicles except to meet their basic needs, he said, adding that everyone going outside was obliged to wear a mask.

The decree also allows for criminal charges for violations of the PSBB. Violators face up to one year of imprisonment and a fine of up to Rp 100 million (US$6,342), as stipulated in the 2018 Health Quarantine Law.

Let us make this [14-day period] a point of reference. We can send a message across Indonesia and to the world that we can limit activities outside with discipline. Hopefully, we dont have to extend [the period], he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 03:14:21|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Workers unload Chinese-donated medical supplies at the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, April 9, 2020. A Chinese medical team arrived in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan on Thursday to assist Kazakhstan's ongoing efforts in fight against COVID-19. The 10-member team also brought medical assistance including 4,800 N95 respirators, 49,600 disposable surgical masks, 2,000 protection suits, 2 ventilators and other medicines. (Photo by Kalizhan Ospanov/Xinhua)

NUR-SULTAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese medical team arrived in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan on Thursday to assist Kazakhstan's ongoing efforts in fight against COVID-19.

The 10-member team also brought medical assistance including 4,800 N95 respirators, 49,600 disposable surgical masks, 2,000 protection suits, 2 ventilators and other medicines.

The team includes experts from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the fields of infectious control and prevention of respiratory and severe diseases as well as clinic treatment.

"All the team members are with firsthand experiences in treating COVID-19 patients or controlling the epidemic," said deputy team leader Lu Chen, who is also vice president of People's Hospital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

"The major experience from China's battle against the COVID-19 can be referred as 'four concentrations,' namely the concentration of patients, hospitals, experts and treatment. We will unreservedly share our experience with Kazakh counterparts," said Lu Chen.

Kazakh Deputy Health Minister Kamalian Nadyrov said that China's experience in treating COVID-19 patients and conducting epidemiological investigation is very important. "We are carefully studying experience of our international colleagues. I am sure that the discussion (with Chinese experts) will be very useful," said Nadyrov.

"This is the first Chinese medical team dispatched to Central Asia to fight against COVID-19," said Zhang Xiao, Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan who greeted the Chinese experts in the airport. "A true friend is known in the day of adversity. China will never forget about the Kazakh aid which was sent two months ago when China was badly hit by the virus. The mutual support shines the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Kazakhstan."

Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev said the dispatch of Chinese medical team is a part of efforts to implement the consensus reached between leaders of the two countries. "Kazakhstan is supported not only by the central Chinese government, but also by the regional authorities. Many Chinese companies, large or small, are contacting our diplomats in China and show their goodwill to provide assistance," said Ashikbayev.

The Chinese medical team will stay in Kazakhstan for 15 days, in the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Karaganda.

Kazakhstan reported 781 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 8 deaths as of Thursday.
Vietnamese wood processing firms have reduced production or suspended operations as most of the major importing countries for their products face hardships because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a wood processing factory in Dong Nai. The wood processing industry has encountered difficulties due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Photo Dong Nai newspaper

A new study conducted by the Viet Nam Timber and Forest Product Association, the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City, the Binh Duong Furniture Association, the Forest Products Association of Binh Dinh, and Forest Trends pointed out the negative impact of Covid-19 on production and trading of wooden products.

The report said that 76 per cent out of 124 polled Vietnamese firms in the wood processing sector reported total initial damage of VND 3.066 trillion (US$129.86 million) due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with most firms reducing production scale and some of them stopping operation.

About 24 per cent of enterprises had not yet calculated their losses.

In addition, over half (51 per cent) of surveyed firms said they had to shrink their production scale due to the pandemic, while 35 per cent were operating normally but will have to suspend production in the near future.

Seven per cent have ceased operations, and only seven per cent of them were still operating normally as of the end of March.

According to wood processing firms, the US and EU markets account for about 50 per cent and 10 per cent of Viet Nams total wooden product exports, respectively. But since mid-March, these markets have been seriously affected by the pandemic.

To reduce the spread of COVID-19, the Governments of these countries are applying strong policies such as border closures and closing all non-essential stores. This has led to serious disruptions in the global supply chain, with many commercial transactions delayed or cancelled, they said.

Since mid-March, many Vietnamese firms have received notices from the US and the EU to delay or stop delivery, even for products that were already produced or are in the production process, according to the survey.

Many importers have cut their orders, delayed payments, or cancelled orders.

Some Vietnamese firms have also received notices that their large customers are on the verge of bankruptcy.

The wood processing industry is an export-driven sector, so the current pandemic situation has seriously affected exports, analysts said.

Stagnant production has also led to a significant reduction in the size of the labour force.

According to the survey, 105 enterprises who provided labour information to the survey had a total of 47,506 employees before the COVID-19 outbreak, but 21,410 of that number have stopped working.

Due to the large number of unemployed workers, businesses have asked the Government to offer financial support to help labourers who have lost their jobs.

In addition, some enterprises have also petitioned the Government to suspend the payment of value-added tax on imported input goods.

The Government should put in place mechanisms and policies to support businesses to help restore production and export when the pandemic is contained in the near future.

According to Vietnam Customs, Viet Nams wood and wooden exports reached $1.6 billion in the first two months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 18 per cent.

However, with the outbreak of COVID-19 occurring in Viet Nams key export markets, the sectors export turnover is expected to decrease sharply in the coming time.  VNS

VN wood industry facing losses due to COVID-19 The wood industry was facing a disaster with many businesses left without orders from now until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VTFPA).
Facebook recognizes that its important to take a break from social media not only for spending time with family or productivity, but also for mental health. Because of this, its added a new Quiet Mode timer to help curb your time on the Facebook app. Enabling Quiet Mode will mute notifications for the time you specify.

If you try to open the app during Quiet Mode, youll be reminded that youre still in Quiet Mode with a shortcut to manage its settings. We couldnt find the new option anywhere on Android, but it may perhaps be available on the iOS version of the app already.

Theres no doubt that many online services are seeing their capacities stretched to their limits. Netflix, TikTok, and even YouTube have already decreased their default stream quality in an effort to compensate for additional traffic. In addition, Facebook has indeed struggled with keeping its lights on. Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp (all owned by Facebook) have also seen increased usage as people use their communications features to stay in touch with loved ones.

As a reminder, you can always use Digital Wellbeing on Android or Screentime on iOS to set daily time limits for apps you spend a lot of time on. With more of us working from home, its easy to get distracted if we dont keep tabs on ourselves.

Source
Earl G. Graves Sr., an entrepreneur who fostered success in the African-American business community by founding the magazine Black Enterprise and writing the book How to Succeed in Business Without Being White, died on Monday at a care facility in White Plains, N.Y. He was 85.

His son, Earl G. Graves Jr., Black Enterprises current chief executive, said the cause was complications of Alzheimers disease.

Mr. Graves created Black Enterprise in 1970 with a $175,000 loan and the backing of advertisers he courted himself. The magazine was designed to appeal to newly ascendant African-American professionals, to encourage young people to become entrepreneurs in their own right, and to make black executives a more recognizable part of American corporate culture.

The idea of targeting the black business community was novel, but Mr. Graves pitched it with confidence befitting the multimillionaire publisher and businessman he would become.
Dozens of small shop owners protested outside one of Wuhans biggest shopping malls to demand a cut in rent, in one of the first signs of unrest since authorities lifted a lockdown at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sitting down about one meter apart, the shop owners on Friday sat or kneeled outside the Grand Ocean Department Store, wearing masks and holding placards as police monitored. A day earlier they chanted Exempt rental for a year, or refund the lease in videos uploaded on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo that were quickly censored.

Cant survive said a sign held by one woman who rented a stall at Grand Ocean, which also called on the landlord to return the rent and security deposit during the period of the lockdown.

The woman said the property developer in charge of the mall, which translates to World City, should exempt rent for them because 99% of protesters are small shop owners and they havent had any business since the virus outbreak. Most neighborhoods in the city are still facing string restrictions on movement and theres little business traffic.

Another protester said the government didnt respond after their protest yesterday, and said the police had assaulted people on Wednesday. None of the protesters Bloomberg spoke with revealed their names due to concern of retribution.

A woman who answered the phone at World City said they havent restarted work and couldnt answer questions. A call to Grand Oceans general office was not answered.

Hubei Clashes

Wuhan officially emerged on Wednesday from a mass quarantine put in place on Jan. 23. The strict restrictions helped China stem the outbreak of the deadly disease known as Covid-19, but it also led to a deep slump in investment and consumption that pushed the economy into its most dire situation in decades.

The demonstration, however small, shows the challenges President Xi Jinping now faces in getting millions of people back to work all while preventing a second wave of infections. Early in the crisis, Xi warned the virus posed a threat to social stability in China, and since then hes seen tensions flare both within the country and with the U.S., its main export market.

The protest in Wuhan this week comes after earlier violent clashes on the border of surrounding Hubei province and neighboring Jiangxi province in late March. Scenes captured on videos posted on social media showed Hubei police clashing with officers from Jiangxi who wanted to keep the border closed.

China has recently signaled its desire to deal with any signs of dissent harshly. Earlier this week, Chinese authorities placed outspoken property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang under investigation after a copy of an essay widely attributed to him criticizing the governments virus response was circulated on social media.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
'Bikini barmaids' have launched a food delivery service called 'Boober Eats' to keep them employed during the coronavirus pandemic.

'Boober Eats' sees 'skimpies' - a barmaid who wears a bikini or lingerie while she works - deliver food to a lonely customer's door.

And despite the $30 delivery fee being at least six times the average price for a food delivery, business is booming.

Nat Poole, who owns La Femme Fatale Agency in Kalgoorie, came up with the idea while trying to figure out a way to keep her girls employed during the lockdown.

Pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes were forced to close or offer takeaway only on March 23 as part of government measures which was implemented to slow the spread of the deadly virus.

'Boober Eats' sees 'skimpies' - a barmaid who wears a bikini or lingerie while she works - deliver food to a customers door

'I hated seeing all my girls go from working five days a week and making really good money to nothing,' Ms Poole told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Ms Poole said the idea had started as a joke but within the first night they were struggling to keep up with demand.

'I'm getting a lot of calls for it across Australia. For the rest of this week, I will focus on Kal then start sending out girls in the rest of Australia.'

She has already put the call out to recruit more staff across the country.

Pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes were forced to close or offer takeaway only on March 23 as part of government measures which was implemented to slow the spread of the deadly virus

When a customer orders the food online a 'skimpy' and a driver then go to pick it up and deliver it to the customer's door.

Health and safety is the first priority for the girls, Ms Poole said.

She said they are ensuring they regularly use hand sanitiser and remain a safe distance from customers.

'1.5 metres - stay alive - that's what I tell the girls,' Ms Poole said.
European natural gas prices continue to go nuts, as the market has become a theater in the growing conflict between Russia and the West.

Why it matters: Russia is increasingly seen as treating its energy assets as political tools, rather than mere sources of revenue, upending a market once driven largely by basic questions of supply and demand. For now, that geopolitical game of chess is squeezing the balance sheets of Europe's energy companies and ordinary consumers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 80,000 lives and more than 14,00,000 people have been affected by it. While many of us are locked in the comfort of our homes, as a measure to curb the spread of coronavirus, millions of healthcare workers around the world on the frontlines are doing their best to take care of the patients during the coronavirus pandemic. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how tough they have it.


Photo: JASON SZENES/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Harvey Weinstein was charged with another sexual assault count for allegedly attacking a woman at a Beverly Hills hotel in May 2010, Los Angeles prosecutors said Friday. L.A. prosecutors had previously charged Weinstein in early 2020 for alleged attacks on two women seven years ago.

We are continuing to build and strengthen our case, L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement. As we gather corroborating evidence, we have reached out to other possible sexual assault victims. If we find new evidence of a previously unreported crime, as we did here, we will investigate and determine whether additional criminal charges should be filed.

According to prosecutors, this accuser was first interviewed by law enforcement in October 2019 as a potential corroborating witness against Weinstein. Last month, prosecutors said, this woman gave detectives information confirming that the assault took place within the 10-year-statute of limitation.

The criminal complaint states that Weinstein willfully and unlawfully touch[ed] an intimate part of Jane Doe #3, while said person was unlawfully restrained by said defendant(s), Harvey Weinstein, and an accomplice, against the will of said person and for the purpose of sexual arousal, sexual gratification, and sexual abuse.

Weinstein was convicted on February 24 in Manhattan of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act for attacks on two women. Weinstein, who on March 11 was sentenced to 23 years, is now in a maximum-security state prison near Buffalo.

Los Angeles prosecutors announced charges against him on January 6  one day before jury selection began in his New York City trial.

He was hit with one count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, and sexual penetration by use of force for allegedly shoving his way into a womans hotel room on February 18, 2013, and then raping her.

He was also charged with one count of sexual battery by restraint for allegedly assaulting actress Lauren Young on February 19, 2013. Young said Weinstein trapped her in his hotel suites bathroom and then groped her breast. She was among the three women who testified in Weinsteins New York trial about prior, uncharged bad acts.

Prosecutors in L.A. had previously said that they were exploring eight accusations against Weinstein. Three of those allegations were beyond the statute of limitations and couldnt be pursued, but prosecutors explained at the time that they were still investigating the other three.

The L.A. County District Attorneys Office also said in todays announcement that two potential Weinstein cases were declined for prosecution because the victims did not want to testify against the defendant in this case.

One of these allegations involves an actress who told police that Weinstein sexually assaulted her during a business meeting, according to an L.A. District Attorneys Office document. The other allegation that wont be prosecuted appears to refer to Jessica Mann; Weinstein was convicted of raping the actress at a Midtown East hotel in 2013. When Mann testified, she also claimed that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in Los Angeles. Mann was not named in the L.A. paperwork, but it states that the victim testified in trial in New York accusing the suspect of criminal sexual misconduct in 2013; the defendant was convicted of sexually assaulting the victim there.

On March 31, 2020 she said she does not want to participate in additional testimony in Los Angeles due to the risk that it will re-traumatize her, the prosecutors document states.

If convicted of the California charges, Weinstein faces up to 29 years in prison.

Prosecutors in L.A. said on March 23 that they initiated its request to New York for the temporary custody of defendant Weinstein  to bring him to Los Angeles County to face rape and sexual-assault charges.

Its unclear, however, when Weinstein will be brought to L.A.

This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.
OPELIKA, Ala. - The Alabama Supreme Court upheld six ethics convictions Friday against former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard.

The court reversed conviction on five other charges.

Hubbard was convicted in 2016 on 12 felony ethics charges of using his public office for personal gain. In August 2018, the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed 11 of the 12 convictions.

In July 2016, a Lee County judge sentenced Hubbard to four years in state prison and eight years on probation.

Hubbard appealed his charges to the Alabama Supreme Court. His appeal was heard by the court in June 2019.

He has yet to report to prison and remained free on bond as he awaited the Supreme Courts decision.

Check back later for more information.
PARIS (Reuters) - Working groups at car makers Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and Peugeot's owner PSA are speeding up work on closing their alliance deal despite the coronavirus crisis, PSA chief executive officer Carlos Tavares said in an internal note seen by Reuters. Tavares also said in the note the working groups were also speeding up work on synergies. The crisis triggered by the new coronavirus has virtually wiped out demand for new vehicles, pushing automakers to temporarily halt most production and leaving them needing cash

PARIS (Reuters) - Working groups at car makers Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and Peugeot's owner PSA are speeding up work on closing their alliance deal despite the coronavirus crisis, PSA chief executive officer Carlos Tavares said in an internal note seen by Reuters.

Tavares also said in the note the working groups were also speeding up work on synergies.

The crisis triggered by the new coronavirus has virtually wiped out demand for new vehicles, pushing automakers to temporarily halt most production and leaving them needing cash.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Writing by Matthieu Protard; editing by David Evans)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Oregon safety regulators have fielded more than 2,700 complaints in the past few weeks over working conditions in offices, factories, construction sites, grocery stores and restaurants.

Workers say theyre terrified about going to work during the coronavirus pandemic and complain their employers arent doing enough to ensure people have enough distance from one another or are doing jobs that are inherently unsafe.

The states Occupational Safety & Health division (Oregon OSHA) began surprise inspections last month but has yet to issue citations. It has enlisted 75 compliance officers to work on the issue and have a dozen other managers and staff screening complaints.

Oregon OSHA has completed fewer than 10 inspections thus far but expects that number to increase markedly beginning next week.

When Gov. Kate Brown ordered Oregonians to stay home, last month, she made an exception for construction and manufacturing  two industries vital to the states economy  and said other sectors could continue operating, too, so long as they ensured workers were keeping distance from one another and taking other safety measures.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is potentially deadly -- especially for older people and those with preexisting medical conditions. Most others report mild symptoms or experience none at all.

By restricting all activity, though, health officials hope to snuff out the virus and contain the damage. That state has reported 44 deaths thus far and has identified 1,300 cases.

Individuals violating the governors order could be jailed for up to 30 days and fined $1,250, but businesses could be sanctioned under existing Oregon workplace safety rules. OSHA could penalize employers $12,750 for a non-willful violation and up to $126,750 for a willful violation.

Our normal citation processing takes at least two weeks, said OSHA spokesman Aaron Corvin. We plan to accelerate that process, but we still need to process the citation and verify that the employer has received it before we can talk about the results.

(OSHA is taking complaints online here.)

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway |

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
The Congress on Friday reacted



strongly to Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's claim that Ayurveda would be used to treat COVID-19 patients in the state.

Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat warned the state government that Goans should not be used as "guinea pigs".

Taking to Twitter, Kamat said, "Use of Ayurveda for #Covid19. Has GOI Health Ministry and IEC approved the medicines? Has @moayush got approval from @WHO for such treatment? Will @goacm reveal details of claims made by him? Let us not use Goans as Guinea Pigs."



Sawant had claimed COVID-19 patients and suspects who are quarantined are being treated with Ayurveda and allopathy.

The Goa Forward Party contested the Chief Minister's claim on Thursday.

GFP chief Vijai Sardesai had tweeted, saying, "While I do acknowledge the benefits of #Ayurveda, I'm forced to ask what treatment @goacm gave to #covid19 patients."



"What scientific basis does this have? What medical study supports this? Is some kind of experiment being done on #goemkars (Goans)?"



Goa has six active COVID-19 patients who are undergoing treatment at a special hospital near here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
THE Embassy of Canada in the Philippines has partnered with airline carrier Philippine Airlines to conduct dedicated commercial flights for Canadian citizens and eligible permanent residents to Vancouver and Toronto on Tuesday, April 14, 2020.

The embassy said sweeper flights are mounted due to the "extremely high demand" of those stranded in the country.

"Philippine Airlines is continuing to process hundreds of expressions of interest from stranded Canadians throughout the Philippines. If both April 14 flights sell out, we will explore mounting additional flights to Canada," the embassy said in a statement.

Sweeper flights to Manila are planned for the morning of April 14 from Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, and Puerto Princesa to connect with dedicated Toronto and Vancouver flights.

One can book their tickets directly with PAL.

The embassy added that those with confirmed tickets on cancelled or future Philippine Airlines flights to Canada will be allowed to use the value towards the cost of ticket on dedicated flights. Traveller will pay fare difference.

This credit is applicable only to tickets purchased directly from PAL. If one bought tickets from a travel agent, they must contact their agent for a refund and book a new ticket through the PAL call center.

For stranded Canadians in Bohol, there were also possible seats to Manila on April 11 aboard Swedish sweeper flights.

One must have confirmed onward flight departing Philippines.

The Visa Application Centers (VAC) in Cebu and Manila are also planning to open on Monday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to release passports and decisions only.

Applicants whose decision envelopes and passports were released to the VAC will receive an SMS and/or email message with instructions on how to claim these on Monday. (JOB)
BAKERSFIELD, Calif., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Valley Republic Bancorp (the "Company") (OTCQX: VLLX), the parent company of Valley Republic Bank (the "Bank"), today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.

1st Quarter Ended March 31, 2020 Compared to 1st Quarter Ended March 31, 2019 :

Net income before taxes increased 29.3%

Total assets increased 16.4% to $955.5 million

Deposits increased 17.1% to $841.1 million

Loans increased 16.7% to $633.6 million

Shareholder equity increased 17.1% to $82.2 million

Book value increased 15.2% to $19.67

These results generated a strong return on average equity and assets of 11% and 1%, respectively.

Overview:

The Company generated strong results despite the very challenging business environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The significant investments in additional credit and compliance staff made in 2019 and our historically strong credit underwriting, combined with our successful capital raise, have put the Bank in an excellent position to support our customers and community as we navigate these uncertain times. As of March 31, 2020 the Company had $124.9 million of liquidity.

The Valley Republic Team has responded to the current situation with a determination to act as quickly and accurately as possible, in spite of the constant changes and lack of clarity about the new government programs. Even though our business has had to adapt to the "shelter in place" mandate by the state of California, we continue to serve our customers and grow our business. We recognize how important our organization is to the communities we serve and are prepared to work with our customers as they experience challenges. We are thankful to our customers and shareholders for their continued support and confidence in the Bank.

Balance Sheet Composition:

The shelter in place mandate by the state of California has put significant pressure on the local business community. Three sectors which have been materially impacted include: hospitality, restaurant and food service, and oil and gas. The following table provides some insight into the composition of the Bank's loan portfolio:

Portfolio Component Total Commitments Agriculture: 21% Mining, Oil & Gas: 6% Real Estate Rental & Leasing: 26% Hospitality: 9% Restaurant & Food Service: 1% Health Care & Social Assistance: 4% Transportation & Warehousing: 1% Construction: 9% Other: 23%

Although the Bank's loan portfolio contains all three impacted sectors, the concentration limits remain acceptable, with no sector representing more than 100% of the Bank's capital. The following are general comments about the Bank's loan commitments to these sectors:

Hospitality : The Bank's hospitality portfolio consists primarily of select service, nationally branded flags that were modestly leveraged prior to the pandemic (less than 60% LTVs). The properties are owner operated by families with extensive hospitality experience. The portfolio is secured by 1 st Deeds of Trust with full guaranty recourse to the principals.

: The Bank's hospitality portfolio consists primarily of select service, nationally branded flags that were modestly leveraged prior to the pandemic (less than 60% LTVs). The properties are owner operated by families with extensive hospitality experience. The portfolio is secured by 1 Deeds of Trust with full guaranty recourse to the principals. Restaurant and Food Service : The Bank's exposure in this category is less than $6.5 million and consists of national franchises and locally owned and operated independent restaurants. The majority of customers in this category have remained open by providing delivery, curbside and drive-up services.

: The Bank's exposure in this category is less than and consists of national franchises and locally owned and operated independent restaurants. The majority of customers in this category have remained open by providing delivery, curbside and drive-up services. Oil & Gas: The Oil & Gas portfolio is concentrated in service companies that focus on maintaining production, transportation, and construction. While there has been a significant slowdown in new well development because of low oil prices, the service companies focused on maintaining production and transportation continue to see demand for their services. The construction-focused companies had solid backlogs prior to the pandemic and are able to continue working on this backlog.

Financial Performance

The Company reported net income before taxes of $3.07 million for the 1st quarter ended March 31, 2020 compared to $2.38 million for the same period last year. The Company reported net income after tax for the 1st quarter ended March 31, 2020 of $2.49 million compared to $2.97 million for the 1st quarter ended March 31, 2019. This negative variance is solely the result of a $1.14 million tax benefit associated with stock options which were exercised during the 1st quarter ended March 31, 2019. Removing this tax benefit would result in a 25% period over period increase of $451,000. The 1st quarter ended March 31, 2020 results represented basic earnings per share of $.54.

Geraud Smith, President and CEO stated, "I am very proud of our 1st quarter numbers and how our team has responded to these unprecedented times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These last few weeks have been very challenging, but the Valley Republic Team remains steadfast in our commitment to our customers and to our organization. Our balance sheet has never been stronger, which provides us the ability to serve our customers and our community in this time of need."

Growth

Total assets for the 1st quarter ended March 31, 2020 were $955.5 million, which represents a year over year increase of $134.9 million, or 16.4%. Total deposits increased $123 million, or 17.1%, ending the quarter at $841.1 million. Total net loans were $633.6 million, which represents a year over year increase of $90.7 million, or 16.7%. At March 31, 2020, the Bank's loan portfolio remained exceptionally strong with no non-performing loans.

Eugene Voiland, Chairman of the Board of Directors added, "VRB has had an amazing run since we opened the Bank in 2009 and this continues. We are committed to responsibly implementing the new government assistance programs to the best of our ability. Hopefully, the current crisis will peak soon and we can focus on how to assist the community in recovering and rebuilding the area's economy."

Capital

Total shareholders' equity at March 31, 2020 was $82.2 million. Total shareholders' equity increased by $12.0 million, or 17.1%, over the last 12 months. Book value per share for the same time period was $19.67.

About Valley Republic Bancorp and Valley Republic Bank

Valley Republic Bancorp is a bank holding company formed in 2016. Valley Republic Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Valley Republic Bancorp, headquartered in Bakersfield, California. The Bancorp is subject to the regulatory oversight of the Federal Reserve Bank, and the Bank is subject to the regulatory oversight of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the California Department of Business Oversight. Valley Republic Bank is an insured, state-chartered, non-member bank of the Federal Reserve System. The Bank is in its twelfth year of operation, having been established in 2009. Valley Republic Bank is a full-service, community bank with three full-service banking offices in Bakersfield, one full-service banking office in Delano, and a loan production office in Fresno. Valley Republic Bank emphasizes professional, high quality banking services provided to a wide range of businesses and professionals. The Bank also provides a full complement of banking services that are available to individuals and non-profit organizations.

Valley Republic Bancorp and Subsidiary Balance Sheet

(Unaudited. Dollars in thousands, except per share data.) March 31, 2020

December 31, 2019







ASSETS













Cash and Due From Banks $ 11,787

$ 15,776 Federal Funds Sold & Interest-Bearing Deposits in Banks 113,179

90,533 Total Cash and Equivalents 124,966

106,309







Debt Securities 157,323

174,461







Loans, Net of Deferred Fees and Costs 642,323

624,768 Allowance for Loan losses (8,724)

(8,348) Net Loans 633,599

616,420







Premises and Equipment 7,591

7,839 Bank Owned Life Insurance 10,771

10,714 Interest Receivable and Other Assets 21,298

23,342







TOTAL ASSETS $ 955,548

$ 939,085















LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY













Liabilities













Deposits





Noninterest-Bearing $ 299,698

$ 288,387 Interest-Bearing 541,403

540,407 Total Deposits 841,101

828,794 Long-Term Debt 20,000

20,000 Accrued Interest Payable and Other Liabilities 12,249

12,707 Total Liabilities 873,350

861,501







Shareholders' Equity













Common Stock, no Par Value 46,639

46,639 Additional Paid-in Capital 971

726 Retained Earnings 32,873

30,618 Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) 1,715

(399) Total Shareholders' Equity 82,198

77,584







TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY $ 955,548

$ 939,085







Book Value per Share $ 19.67

$ 18.59

Valley Republic Bancorp and Subsidiary Income Statement

(Unaudited. Dollars in thousands, except per share data.) Quarters Ended March 31,

2020

2019 INTEREST INCOME





Loans (Including Fees and Costs) $ 7,385

$ 6,553 Debt Securities 1,004

744 Other 261

435 Total Interest Income 8,650

7,732







INTEREST EXPENSE





Deposits 1,102

1,379 Other 300

10 Total Interest Expense 1,402

1,389







Net Interest Income 7,248

6,343 Provision For Loan Losses 375

297 Net Interest Income After Provision for Loan Losses 6,873

6,046







NON-INTEREST INCOME





Service Charges and Fees on Deposits 150

104 Other Non-Interest Income 210

213 Gain (Loss) on Sale of Securities -

22 Total Non-Interest Income 360

339







NON-INTEREST EXPENSE





Salaries and Employee Benefits 2,620

2,634 Occupancy & Equipment 469

398 Other 1,071

976 Total Non-Interest Expense 4,160

4,008







Income Before Taxes 3,073

2,377 Income Taxes 818

(562)







NET INCOME $ 2,255

$ 2,939







Basic Earnings per Share $ 0.54

$ 0.72









SOURCE Valley Republic Bancorp
Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have so far booked nearly 2,500 cases of failure to wear face masks in public and imposed fines worth over US$21,200, in accordance with regulations on the prevention of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

A total of 2,482 cases of the violation have been recorded in the southern metropolis since March 28, Le Thanh Liem, vice-chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee, reported during a teleconference held on Thursday to discuss anti-epidemic efforts with the central government.

The offenders were slapped with fines totaling VND496 million ($21,264), Liem added.

Vietnam has issued regulations making it mandatory for all citizens to wear face masks while outdoors and has warned of fines for those who disobey.

Ho Chi Minh City began penalizing people for failing to wear face masks in public on March 28, doling out fines ranging from VND200,000 ($8.50) to VND300,000 ($12.80).

City authorities are also continuing their inspections of local enterprises in order to evaluate the risk of COVID-19 infection at business facilities.

Ward and commune administrations have been tasked with ensuring safety at businesses with less than 1,000 workers, while district-level Peoples Committees are responsible for inspecting firms hiring 1,000-3,000 employees.

Enterprises with more than 3,000 workers will be inspected by the municipal Department of Health, in coordination with the Department of Industry and Trade and the citys labor federation.

According to vice-chairman Liem, Ho Chi Minh City has been doing a good job at controlling the epidemic.

The city has recorded 54 cases so far and successfully treated 37 patients.

About 12,000 people have been brought to local quarantine camps, of whom 11,400 have already finished their 14-day mandatory isolation.

The citys largest infection cluster  the Buddha bar in District 2  is now under control, Liem said.

At least 18 COVID-19 cases have been linked to the cluster, while authorities have sampled 4,211 people traced to this venue.

Most of them have tested negative for COVID-19 so far, Liem stated, adding that only 32 are still waiting for their test results.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 1.6 million people and killed more than 95,600 globally as of Friday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has confirmed 255 total COVID-19 cases, with 128 having recovered.

The country has yet to record a death from the disease.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Few generals would choose to fight a war on two fronts, against a foe that is nearly invisible and at times seems to have the terrifying ability to surface anywhere.

Yet this is exactly the mission that Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe has taken upon himself, and at the age of 78.

One of the world's most celebrated virologists, Muyembe is hoping to see victory on Monday after a 20-month campaign against Ebola -- a disease he helped discover 44 years ago -- as he steers DR Congo's fight against coronavirus.

Muyembe is a "great expert in managing epidemics," says Denis Mukwege, the gynaecologist who co-won the 2018 Nobel Peace for his work in helping women raped in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2019, Muyembe took on the job of coordinating operations to quell an outbreak of Ebola in eastern DRC -- the 10th in the country's history.

And when the coronavirus outbreak loomed last month, he was named by President Felix Tshisekedi as pointman on that crisis, too.

The tasks are daunting in a sprawling country the size of continental western Europe, two-thirds of whose population of 80 million live below the threshold of poverty.

If no more cases of Ebola surface, World Health Organization (WHO) will on Monday declare an official end to an epidemic that will have claimed 2,273 lives, the second highest in the history of the much-feared disease.

"I have devoted all my life and all my career to fighting Ebola," said Muyembe.

Grassroots work

His victory this time -- as before -- will have come thanks to relentless hard work on the ground.

As the world is discovering with coronavirus, combatting an incurable contagious disease is all about dogged routine: of tracing, isolating and quarantining, and trying to protect those on the front line.

A modest, smiling man whose low-key outfits invariably include a checked shirt, Muyembe has known Ebola ever since the notorious haemorrhagic fever first surfaced.

That was in 1976, back when the DRC was called Zaire.

A a young virologist, educated at the University of Louvain in Belgium, he went to the northern region of Yambuku, near the Ebola River, to investigate a cluster of mysterious sicknesses and deaths.

"We worked with our bare hands, without protective clothing," he recalled.

"I took liver samples from two corpses, using a metal probe. If I hadn't washed my hands, I would have been dead."

Muyembe took an especial interest in one of the patients, a Belgian nun, whose blood was sent to the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp for testing.

Peter Piot, who co-discovered Ebola in 1976 and went on to become a leading figure in the fight against AIDS. By LEON NEAL (AFP)

Two samples were sent in test tubes in an ice-packed Thermos flask -- the only equipment available at the time. One test tube broke, but the other survived, and delivered its precious sample intact.

"It was from the sample taken from this nun, that Dr. Peter Piot isolated the Ebola virus for the first time," says Muyembe.

Piot, a Belgian microbiologist who went on to become a titan in the fight against AIDS, later heaped praise on Muyembe, "a sleek and brilliant young Zairean professor of microbiology," for his part in the discovery.

Controversy

Muyembe's dual combat these days has had moments of tension.

Muyembe himself was inoculated with an experimental Ebola vaccine last November.. By PAMELA TULIZO (AFP)

At the peak of the Ebola crisis, he fell out with the then health minister, Dr. Oly Ilunga, for pushing for the use of a second experimental vaccine against the disease.

In the coronavirus pandemic, he has quickly sidelined Ilunga's successor, Eteni Longondo, as the country's front man.

Last week, he stepped into a media storm over the quest for a coronavirus vaccine.

"The vaccine will be produced either in the United States, Canada or China," said Muyembe. "As for us, we are putting ourselves forward for carrying out trials here, in this country."

His words fed a controversy that arose in France, where two French doctors discussed on TV whether to test a vaccine in Africa -- a debate that unleashed accusations that Africans were being used as lab animals.

Muyembe swiftly rowed back, insisting: "I am Congolese myself, and I would never let Congolese be used as guinea pigs."
Newarks mayor is asking some essential businesses to close once a week to keep more people home as the rate of coronavirus cases rises in the states most populated city.

On Mondays, Mayor Ras Baraka hopes to effectively shut the entire city down in an effort he called Be still Mondays. He is asking essential businesses like grocery stores to voluntarily close once a week until May 17, a city spokesman confirmed.

The initiative is just an ask from the mayor and there is no local executive order. The voluntary closures would go beyond Gov. Phil Murphys executive orders, which only allow residents to go out for essential purposes or necessary work.

If youre not essential, if youre not a cop, a fireman or working in a hospital, we want you to stay home, Baraka said in a virtual town hall on Facebook Thursday evening. We want all the stores to close, we want everything to close.

Baraka said the city is sending out letters to essential businesses that still remain open to ask them to participate in Be Still Mondays.

There were 2,341 cases of COVID-19 and 106 deaths in Newark as of Friday evening, according to the citys health department. Essex County, meanwhile, has the second-highest rate of coronavirus cases in the state, with only Bergen County having more.

Baraka warned that residents in black and brown communities like Newark are at an increased risk of catching the virus since people in cities live closer together. And, African Americans are more likely to suffer adverse effects from COVID-19 if they contract it since they have higher rates of underlying conditions like diabetes.

"We're contracting the illness quicker than other people and dying faster, said Baraka. We live on top of each other. If we continue business as usual, those numbers will continue to grow."

State officials have started releasing statistics about the impact of the coronavirus by race. Of all coronavirus deaths in New Jersey, 64% were white (including 17% Latino), 20% were black, 6% Asian and less than 1% Pacific Islanders.

Newark police on Friday distributed free masks to residents from their cars for protection against the virus.

The mayor suggested residents do yoga, spend time with their families or practice meditation instead of going out on Mondays. The city already initiated a day of virtual prayer and fasting every Tuesday, where residents could participate in a conference call to pray together.

Experts say staying at home is necessary to flatten the curve of the virus, or lower the rate of infection within a short period of time. Flattening the curve would reduce the strain on hospitals.

The citys police have been enforcing the governors statewide orders. Newark police have already handed out hundreds of summonses to residents and businesses violating the statewide mandates.

Mayors from Newark, Irvington, East Orange and Orange also had police patrolling their borders to make sure residents werent violating the governors executive orders. The four cities also mandated that senior citizen buildings should be wiped down daily, or citations would be handed out.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.
Albany, N.Y.  New Yorks mix of crushing daily coronavirus deaths mixed with more hopeful signs in other figures continued on Friday.

A total of 7,844 New Yorkers have now died due to the virus, including 777 more on Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday during a press briefing in Albany.

We hope that we have seen the worst, Cuomo said. We dont know because the infection rate is purely in our control. We are in control of how many people die. It is a consequence of the actions that we take. We will determine how many people live and die."

Its the fourth day in a row new deaths have been over 700, but its also the first day deaths have dipped since Saturday. The state had been setting new high points for single-day deaths much of the week, including a record 799 on Wednesday.

Just over a week ago, single-day coronavirus deaths totaled 253 and just two weeks ago, the statewide total death toll was 157.

As someone who searches for solace in all this grief, the leveling off of the number of lives lost is a somewhat hopeful sign, Cuomo said.

New York now has 170,512 confirmed cases of the virus. Thats more than any entire country outside the U.S.

But the better news Cuomo has been sharing lately remains. Net new hospitalizations, new intubations and intensive care unit admissions have all fallen since a peak last week.

The running three-day average of net new hospitalizations was 359 on Thursday, down from 481 the day before. The average has also been declining sharply in recent days.

Net ICU admissions were actually negative on Thursday, Cuomo said, with 17 more people leaving those units than entering. Its the first time those admissions have been negative since the crisis began, he said.

Is New Yorks coronavirus peak here? What happens next?

When does NY coronavirus shutdown end? I have no idea, Cuomo says

The more positive trends in recent days are the result of the states social distancing measures, Cuomo said. The good news shows the restrictions are working and must remain in place for now.

Thats why we have to stay the course, he said. What we do today will determine the infection rate two or three days from now. Even though it is a grind. Even though it is difficult. We have to stay with it."

Cuomo extended the closures of schools and nonessential businesses until at least April 29 on Monday.

All New Yorkers should only go out for exercise or needed errands like grocery shopping or medical care.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

NY clarifies essential rules on physical therapy, retail, fitness by video, chiropractors, lawyers, defense work

From Syracuse, with love: Nurses bring supplies, expertise, hope to Long Island outbreak

NY order closes golf courses, boat launches, marinas, playgrounds in coronavirus shutdown

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598
The senator representing Rivers South-east Senatorial District, Barinada Mpigi, has said the defence of the aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, over the Caverton Helicopter imbroglio is unacceptable and unfortunate.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how two pilots working with Caverton Helicopters Ltd, were arrested after they flew a helicopter into Rivers State in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown.

The state government had earlier barred vehicles and flights from entering as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus.

The pilots were subsequently arraigned at a magistrate court and remanded in prison until May.

On Wednesday evening, Nyesom Wike, the state governor, ordered Caverton to leave the state.

Caverton, a logistics company which provides support services for oil and gas companies in Nigeria, had kicked against the action, saying aviation authorities granted it the permission to fly into Rivers. This was confirmed by the minster.

An angry minister, while reacting, said the state governor acted illegally adding that besides the federal government no other person had the legal rights to legislate on civil aviation.

Senators reaction

But in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Mpigi noted that the minister was aware of the fact that state governments all over the country, including Rivers State, have put in place stringent measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 in their respective states.

So we see the attempt by the Minister of Aviation to single out Rivers State for a contest of rights, without recourse to the states constitutional right to issue regulations towards combating the COVID-19 pandemic as an attempt by the federal government to sacrifice the lives and wellbeing of Rivers people on the altar of economic considerations. This is unacceptable, unfortunate and a detestable of dangerous politics.

The Minister is in position to know that Whereas the federal government may be right in giving approval to Carveton helicopters fly in to Rivers State in pursuit of revenue, they also have the responsibility to protect the lives of Rivers people and those doing business in the state by considering the health implications of such approvals in the face of a raging COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

The lawmaker also wondered why Mr Sirika did not consider it necessary to put Rivers State Government into confidence as to their intentions in the interest of the public and if the minister is affirming the fear of Rivers people that the federal government values the revenues from Rivers State over and above their lives.

Mr Mpigi reminded the minister that the same way the federal government reserves the right to approve flights for revenue purposes, the state governor also reserves the constitutional right to protect the lives of Rivers people.

It is on record that Carveton Helicopters has the unenviable reputation of repudiating the policies and positions of the Rivers State government. We, therefore, see any legal and logical step of the Governor to stop their current deliberate moves aimed at endangering the lives of Rivers people as appropriate and commendable.

We in the Rivers South-East Senatorial District and indeed all Rivers people are strongly in support of the proactive and decisive efforts Mr Wike in the fight against COVID-19, including his ban of the activities of Carveton Helicopters in the State. We have explicit confidence in his quality leadership and uncommon capacity in the management of the affairs of Rivers especially, his patriotic desire to protect Rivers people from the deadly covid-19 pandemic, he added.
Panchshil Realty on Friday said it will provide 10,000 personal protection equipment (PPE) kits to medical personnel handling coronavirus cases in hospitals across Pune.

Panchshil Foundation is also providing food hampers containing basic essential rations like rice, dal, cooking oil and eggs to daily wage earners who have been affected because of lockdown to control this disease.

The foundation will provide 10,000 PPE kits over the next few weeks to medical personnel handling COVID-19 cases in hospitals in Pune, the company said in a statement.

...Medical personnel treating Covid-19 patients need more PPE kits and, the foundation will start providing them with these kits soon," said Atul Chordia, Chairman, Panchshil Realty.

To provide relief to workers, the foundation has provided over 12,000 food hampers in the last 12 days across various areas in Pune in coordination with local administration.

The target is to continue to distribute 8,000 hampers per week for the next six weeks. These food hampers are being coordinated through its four hotels.

The foundation has partnered with 5th battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to raise awareness about Covid-19. A team of seven experts from NDRF has already carried out a community education drive at two labour camps in Wagholi.

Panchshil Realty's main business verticals are commercial office space, hospitality and residential real estate. A significant chunk of Panchshil Realty's office portfolio is anchored by global investment fund Blackstone Group.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 9)  Finance Secretary Carlos 'Sonny' Dominguez III said Thursday that although the economy is "well-prepared" for economic shocks, the COVID-19 impact could still lead to a stagnant national output, or even a contraction, this year.

Around 1.2 million workers will suffer unemployment, Dominguez predicted, adding this number remains at par with lowest unemployment rate ever recorded.

He said the economic team and the central bank are working on a recovery program and that there are available funds to aid low income families, workers in small and medium enterprises and the healthcare sector.

Itong [This] COVID-19 has hit us in a very hard way  Ang estimate natin [Our estimate is], our GDP growth will be zero or minus 1 percent, Dominguez said in a briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte other Cabinet secretaries aired in the wee hours of Thursday.

Dominguez also noted that government expenditures will further exceed revenues. The national debt might also grow from 41 percent to 47 percent of what the economy produces.

The increase in government spendings and borrowings is "to make sure [people] have food in the table during this time," he said.

For the economists po, tignan po natin yung budget deficit natin from 3.2 percent, lalaki ng 5.3 percent, Dominguez said.

[Translation: For the economists, take note of the budget deficit which will increase from 3.2 percent to 5.3 percent.]

In other words, we will be spending more than we will be collecting [taxes and other revenues], he explained.

Well-prepared for economic shocks

Dominguez said that although the COVID-19 slapped Philippines with "a bad luck," the country remained "well-prepared" for economic shocks.

He said this is the result of "conservative spending and efficient collection" of taxes. The Philippines economy expanded 6.4 percent in 2019, he noted.

He said the government economic team and the central bank are working on a recovery program and that there are available funds to aid affected households and soften the economic impact of COVID-19.

But if the budget for the governments response to COVID-19 is still not sufficient, they will seek help -- in the form of new borrowings -- from the commercial financial market.

He also raised the possibility of borrowing around US$5.6 billion (worth more than P283 billion) from the Asian Development Bank, which has earlier extended grant, which is a financial assistance that doesn't have to be paid back, to help the Philippines respond to the coronavirus outbreak.

CNN Philippines' Catherine A. Modesto contributed to this report
FLINT, MI-- Nikhil Mukkamala has transformed his familys dining room into a 3D printing station that churns out masks for healthcare workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Alongside his father, Flint-based doctor Bobby Mukkamala, Nikhil was inspired to produce masks by the maker communitys generosity. Nationwide, people are using their resources, like 3D printers or laser cutters, to provide personal protective equipment for first responders.

I started researching what other makers around the country were doing and found a trend of people posting a design for masks online, Nikhil said. If were able to give someone a mask we made at home, it may stop them from bulk ordering N95 masks, which would deprive a hospital of that needed PPE.

The masks are made using a design from the University of Montana. The design can be found here.

This mask that were making is probably better than a standard surgical mask and not quite as good as an N95 mask, but it can be as good if its sealed properly, Bobby Mukkamala said.

They are able to make about 100 masks a day.

Home from studying biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, Nikhil approached his father with the idea. Bobby Mukkamala said the project was right up his alley because he just bought 20 3D printers he was planning to distribute to Flint Community Schools before the state closed everything down.

Bobby Makkamala and his son have always tinkered and built things together. Slowly, they began assembling all of the printers and started churning out masks.

We had them assembled all throughout the house making masks as quickly as we can, he said. Luckily other people have stepped up in the maker community. Now we have Kettering students using printers and a few other people in town, like Jon Hardman, and are printing masks and bringing them to our house.

Raj Mehta is a graduate engineering student at Kettering University. He also noticed the maker communitys effort to provide PPE and wanted to help.

Initially, Mehta wanted to use Ketterings 3D printing lab, where hes a lab assistant, to make the masks. The school couldnt provide Mehta with space because the state mandated campuses stay closed.

After reaching out to a few people in Flints maker community, Mehta was introduced to Bobby Mukkamala. The engineering student was provided with one printer to start off.

I was pretty comfortable with it so I told him I could handle more than one printer, Mehta said. My roommates and classmates were also willing to help.

There are now five printers running in Mehtas apartment. Hes able to make 25 masks a day.

This is a good sign of how all of us are able to come together in a time of such difficulty, Mehta said. This is the least we can do from our end.

Jon Hardman, a co-founder of Factory Two, joined the effort using his own printers as well as some of Bobby Mukkamalas printers. Hes also helping deploy the printers to Flint Community Schools.

He makes around 18 masks a day that he delivers to Bobby Mukkamalas house for assembly.

We have a growing chain of people in the area that have printers and are willing to help, Hardman said. Were able to ... actually make an impact because every mask has an exponential return of flattening the curve.

Bobby Mukkamala has been sending the masks out to people who are concerned about their own exposure to COVID-19, like a friend of his who is a physician in Seattle, Washington.

Pretty much everyone who has requested a mask is a healthcare worker, Bobby Mukkamala said.

People should be using masks, even if theyre cloth-based, regardless, Bobby Mukkamala said.

If youre going to get groceries, there is no downside to wearing a mask. I would recommend they do wear something to reduce the risk. They themselves may be an asymptomatic carrier and wearing a mask would protect others from them, Bobby Mukkamala said.

Nikhil Mukkamala said its nice to be reassured there is a community of people willing to help.

There is no shortage of people who are willing to help in Flint. Thats something that is very near and dear to my heart about the city, Nikhil Mukkamala said.

Bobby Mukkamala considers himself to be an optimist and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

By scientific analysis, were halfway to getting through that tunnel. Im hoping those numbers peak sometime this week and start to go down, Bobby Mukkamala said. It doesnt mean at that point we can let down our guard down... otherwise well see another peak before we reach the bottom of the valley. I would encourage people to stay at home.

People seeking mask can reach out to Bobby Makkamala on Facebook. He expects demand to go up and will set up space at Factory Two to distribute the masks beginning next week.

READ MORE

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends coronavirus stay-at-home order through April 30

Michigans updated coronavirus stay-at-home order will close garden centers and other parts of grocery stores

Thursday, April 9: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.
Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial.

When the bar where she worked closed three weeks ago, Maria found herself out of a job. Her 17-year-old son has been home all day playing cellphone games since schools closed in the middle of March. The family has no computer, which makes it hard for her son to keep up with his classes, and hard for her to find work. Her oldest son lost his job too, in a pizzeria on the campus of a local university, which, like everything, is closed.

Advertisement

In many respects Marias story is typical of low-income Americans, laid off by their employers, turned away from shuttered institutions, and cut off from typical support networks due to social distancing. Except that Maria is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. (Her name, like others in this story, has been changed at her request.) So while her neighbors file for unemployment insurance and await $1,200 checks from the government, Maria dips into her meager savings account to keep the heat on. She does not know how she will pay the rent, due on April 15or even how to communicate to her landlord that she cant pay, because she doesnt speak English. And theres no sign shell need to clean the bar anytime soon.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

As the coronavirus lockdowns deepen, no group finds itself in a more difficult situation than Americas 12 million undocumented immigrants. Certainly, none is less likely to get the help it needs.

Erendira Rendon, a DACA recipient who runs immigration work at the Chicago-based Resurrection Project, says immigrants need the same thing native-born Americans do: cash. Boosts to programs like SNAP, unemployment insurance, or Medicaid wont help Rendons undocumented parents, who have lost their income since her mom came down with a possible, untested COVID-19 case in mid-March. Her father, who is diabetic, is stocking up on insulin at the advice of his doctor. Her brothers handyman business has dried up. No one in my family is making any money, she said.

Advertisement

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said it will temporarily adjust its enforcement posture away from the workplace raids that have characterized its Trump-era conduct. The Department of Homeland Security has declared farmworkers essential, offering rare (and extremely self-interested) recognition of one of the many vital roles that Americas shadow workforce plays. (Meanwhile, the administration has used the crisis to turn away thousands of migrants at the Southern border, including children and asylum-seekers.)

Advertisement

But for the likely hundreds of thousands of undocumented service-sector, manufacturing, and construction workers who have lost their jobs, there is no safety net, and no effort from the U.S. Congress to address their plight. Asked how undocumented Americans will survive the shutdown, Donald Trump delivered a typical stammering nonanswer.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Its not just legal uncertainty that puts undocumented residents in a tough place right now. About half of undocumented Americans dont have insurance and may be reluctant to seek treatment for COVID-19. And nearly half of all U.S. Hispanics, who make up a large share of the undocumented population, have been laid off or have taken a pay cut as a result of the coronavirus, according to Pew. Thats compared with one-third of all U.S. adults. Many who do still have work worry their jobs, in dangerous industries like construction and meatpacking, put them at risk of getting sick.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The main thing right now is paying rent, says Anel Sancen, a census organizer with Mujeres Latinas en Accion, a Chicago-based nonprofit. Theres no money, and they cant get no money. Mujeres is one of several Chicagoland nonprofits distributing some of the $9 million disbursed by United Ways Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund, in the form of $500 grants.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

But, Sancen said, its clear this money is not enough. There are about 200,000 undocumented immigrants living in Chicago, and about twice that many in the metro area. Her organization, like others distributing charity, has been forced to determine who among many needy applicants is at the greatest risk.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot signed an order on Tuesday that allowed undocumented residents to access the citys relief programs, including resources for small businesses and $1,000 housing grants from the citys affordable housing fund. But here too, the supply is far outmatched by demand. In seven days, more than 83,000 people applied for just 2,000 housing grants. While Cook County, like many jurisdictions, has suspended evictions, there has been no policy preparation for what happens when housing courts reopen.

Advertisement

Chicago is typical. The same crisis is playing out across U.S. cities, like Los Angeles and Houston, where the countrys immigrant workforce is concentrated, and in rural America, where big demographic changes have occurred in the past decade. Some lawmakers, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan, have proposed policies to help undocumented Americans pay the bills. But so far, most of the load has fallen to churches and charities.

Advertisement

Nationally, almost one-third of U.S. apartment tenants didnt pay rent at the start of April, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council. Rafael Leon, the director of the Chicago Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation, a nonprofit that owns 750 affordable units in and around the city, typically receives $700,000 in rent rolls a month. My expectation is we lose half of that, he said.

Advertisement

Advertisement

But if the lockdown goes on, the savings accounts of undocumented families will begin to run dry. Its a cruel turn for workers who have paid so much in taxes, in some cases for decades, to be hung out to dry during a pandemic. For once, the willingness to work as much as it takes, at the jobs Americans wont do, for little money, in dangerous conditions, isnt much help.

On Chicagos West Side, the clock is ticking for Carmen, an undocumented Mexican immigrant and mother of three whose income vanished when she lost her job cleaning offices last month. Her husband, who works in a bread factory, has had his working hours cut from five days a week to three. Like many parents, shes become a de facto teacher, helping her young children through their workbooks, but doesnt know how the family will pay next months rent if the shutdown continues.

She has applied for a job at the local grocery store, which seems to the only thing open in her neighborhood, but she hasnt heard back.
A crew member who was hospitalized for days after two ill-fated cruise ships with coronavirus patients were finally allowed to dock in Florida has died.

Wiwit Widarto, 50, of Indonesia, died on Wednesday, Broward County Medical Examiner Craig Mallak said, raising the Zaandam ship's COVID-19 death toll to four.

Widarto was taken to a Florida hospital on April 2 after the Zaandam and a sister ship docked in the Fort Lauderdale port after spending two weeks at sea rejected by South American ports.

Four elderly passengers had already died before the Holland America Line cruise ships arrived, and the medical examiner said earlier this week that three of those men tested positive for COVID-19.

The fourth man's death was caused by a viral infection. Mallak said he tested negative for the new virus but had been dead for 12 days before he was examined.

About 1,200 passengers disembarked the Zaandam and sister ship the Rotterdam, which was sent to replenish the first with supplies and crew members who were falling ill.

The cruise company and federal and Florida officials negotiated for days before allowing disembarkation.

The cruise line says 29 passengers who were kept aboard because they were mildly ill were scheduled to finally travel home Thursday on charter flights, a week after arriving in Florida.

Wiwit Widarto, a crew member on the Zaandam cruise ship, died from coronavirus on Wednesday, six days after the vessel docked in Fort Lauderdale

Widarto was hospitalized on April 2 after the Zaandam and a sister ship docked in Fort Lauderdale. Rescue workers are seen waiting to evacuate passengers and crew from the ship

The Zaandam departed from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7, a day before the US State Department advised to avoid cruise travel and a week before most cruise lines halted their sailings.

Meanwhile, about a dozen international guests will remain in quarantine aboard the Coral Princess, which docked last weekend in Miami with coronavirus cases, according to a Princess Cruises statement.

Many former Coral Princess passengers left South Florida on five charter flights Thursday, the company said.

One flight was domestic while the others were heading to South America and Europe.

Despite continued efforts through diplomatic channels, the company said current travel restrictions by home countries are preventing homeward travel for 13 international guests, and local authorities won't authorize the use of local hotels.

The guests will remain with Coral Princess crew members for a self-imposed 14-day quarantine. The ship was set to leave Port Miami Thursday evening.

Two passengers died before the Coral Princess docked in Miami and a third died later at a hospital.

It is not clear if the deaths were caused by COVID-19. The ship originally left Chile on March 5.

Passengers were supposed to disembark in Argentina on March 19.

The Zaandam is seen arriving in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 2. Holland America said that 29 passengers who were kept on board the ship because they were mildly ill were finally scheduled to return home a week later on Thursday

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday announced the extension of a 'no sail order' for all cruise ships.

Officials did not say when they expected the order to end.

'We are working with the cruise line industry to address the health and safety of crew at sea as well as communities surrounding U.S. cruise ship points of entry,' CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement.

'The measures we are taking today to stop the spread of COVID-19 are necessary to protect Americans, and we will continue to provide critical public health guidance to the industry to limit the impacts of COVID-19 on its workforce throughout the remainder of this pandemic.'
Struggling restaurants claim Deliveroo has undercut them after launching an 'essentials' store during the coronavirus pandemic.

The food delivery giant opened the store off Chapel Street in Windsor, Melbourne, to provide for residents who can't leave their homes during the health crisis.

'We at Deliveroo are doing our bit to help customers who are unable to leave their homes during the spread of COVID-19,' the Deliveroo website says.

'We have created an Essentials store where you can order the products you really need straight to your door.'

But restaurateurs on the Chapel Street precinct claim they are struggling to compete with the new essential store.

Struggling restaurants claim Deliveroo has robbed them from business after launching an 'essentials' store during the coronavirus pandemic (stock image)

Paul Kasteel, owner of Hoo Haa bar and Miss Kuku restaurant, told news.com.au Deliveroo Essentials 'is the final nail in the coffin'.

'I don't know how we're going to survive now.'

Restaurants and cafes have only been allowed to serve takeaway food and drink since March 24, after the Australian Government introduced strict social distancing measures to combat the spread of coronavirus.

Mr Kasteel, who has owned Miss Kuku for 15 years, said he tried to make some money through selling basic grocery items.

The website says: 'Hoo haa may be closed but Miss Kuku is still cooking! Some of our staff have no access to government support.'

'By ordering pickup from us, or purchasing a gift certificate to pay it forward, your money goes back into our business and helps us keep our staff employed.

'Miss Kuku's delicious food is available for takeaway and pickup from Hoo haa Tue - Sat 12-9pm. We also have a range of alcohol and grocery essentials available.'

Other eateries - including Ladro Italian, Lucky Penny Cafe, LaManna & Sons Delivery and Alison's Corner Shop - have also begun to sell grocery items.

The food delivery giant opened the store off Chapel Street in Windsor, Melbourne, to provide for residents who can't leave their homes during the health crisis. Pictured: Chapel Street

Chrissie Maus, general manager of the Chapel Street Precinct Association, slammed Deliveroo's latest business move.

'Deliveroo's action is shortsighted and a simple money grab at the expense of the Chapel Street Precinct cafes and restaurants,' she said.

The Chapel Street Precinct website encourages shoppers to support local business during the coronavirus pandemic.

'The best way you can support your favourite locals is to call them direct and collect,' the website says.

'Our great restaurants and cafe's have followed Government health guidelines around sanitisation and social distancing measures to make picking up your order safe and many would be happy to bring your order to your car if you are parked nearby.

'By ordering direct you will be helping these businesses make it through and retain as many of the wonderful staff you've come to know and love.'

Deliveroo told Daily Mail Australia they wanted to ensure people could access food during this 'worrying' period.

'We hope we can play a role in supporting people who have to isolate to get the food they need, whether that's household items or restaurant food,' a spokeswoman said.

'In response to customer demand, we have launched 'Essentials by Deliveroo', a selected range of household items available for delivery in parts of metro Melbourne via the Deliveroo app. Our aim is to support those in isolation during this period.

'Deliveroo is working tirelessly to help record numbers of restaurants, cafes and catering groups who are joining the platform and to help ensure Australians are aware that their local restaurants are open for business.'
In the past two weeks,at least 90 doctors and medical workers have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19 ) in Mumbai hospitals, raising questions about the preparedness of hospitals to tackle the pandemic. In all, eight private super speciality hospitals, having 1,500 beds, have been sealed in Mumbai.

Across the country, the total number of health workers who have tested positive for Covid-19 has increased to 200 and as many as 12 private hospitals have been sealed.

On Thursday, a doctor died in Indore, Madhya Pradeshs Covid-19 hotspot, but he was not on Covid-19 duty, the government clarified.

Still, in both Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, health workers associations have complained of inadequate masks, gloves and personal protection equipment (PPE). Globally, many health workers have died after getting infected.

The list of hospitals and clinics in Mumbai that have been restricted from taking new admissions include major medical centres such as Saifee, Jaslok, Breach Candy and Wockhardt. On Friday, another new hospital, Shushrusha Hospital in Dadar, was sealed after two nurses were diagnosed with Covid-19.

Apart from the medical staff, which includes at least 50 doctors who are being treated for Covid-19, another 200 health workers, including doctors and nurses, have been quarantined for 14 days at these hospitals.

It is essential to keep the hospital closed for a period of 14 days for the safety of other patients. We disinfect the wards and take samples of the close contacts. This is as per the protocols set by the Union Health Ministry, said Dr Daksha Shah, deputy health officer, BMC.

Sealing off hospitals for 14 days during an epidemic is not a good idea, said doctors.

A rescue plan to isolate infected workers and the sanitisation of premises should be formulated to reopen these institutions within 24-48 hours instead of a prolonged shutdown of 14 days or more, said Dr Ramen Goel, President, Indian Association of Gastro-intestinal Endo-Surgeons (IAGES).

In Rajasthan, a small private hospital in Jaipurs Surajpole area was sealed on Thursday, after the health workers there tested positive for Covid-19, officials said, as the total number of health workers infected with the deadly virus increased to around 50 in the state. Some of them have recovered. Earlier, a private hospital in Bhilwara, where three doctors and 14 health care staff tested positive, was sealed.

In Haryana, a nurse at the general hospital, Panchkula, a microbiologist at the civil hospital, Gurugram, and a malaria worker at Faridabad, tested positive , leading to the closure of some wings of these hospitals.

While the microbiologist has been completely cured, the nurse and malaria worker have also been responding well to the treatment, said Haryana director general, health services, Dr SB Kamboj .

In Uttar Pradesh, one resident doctor at King Georges Medical University in Lucknow was infected.

In West Bengal, the superintendent of Howrah district hospital, where two persons who tested positive for Covid-19 died over the past 10 days, tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday night, following which he was admitted at a Covid-care hospital on Thursday morning. A health worker at the hospital has also tested positive.

All health workers are now covered under the national health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat. Some state governments have also provided them additional health insurance cover. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced compensation for any health worker dying because of the coronavirus disease. Several other state governments have announced similar compensation packages.

(with inputs from state bureaus)
A family has been left devastated after a mother and her son died within hours of each other after contracting the coronavirus.

Eamon Burt, 62, and Kathleen Burt, 80, died in separate Greater Manchester hospitals.

Their loved ones said the pain feels 'unreal' but take comfort that they are now together.

Eamon Burt (right), 62, and Kathleen Burt (left), 80, died in separate Greater Manchester hospitals

Eamon, from Failsworth, died at The Royal Oldham Hospital, while Kathleen, from Longsight, passed away at Manchester Royal Infirmary on April 1.

Their heartbroken relatives said the grandfather and great-grandmother were both caring characters with big hearts and were seen as the 'glue' of the family.

Paul Burt, Kathleen's son and Eamon's brother, said: 'They were the glue of the family. My brother looked after us all. My mum looked after us all her life. They were both lovable characters.'

He continued: 'I got a phone call from the hospital saying Eamon had gone. I thought ''this can't be happening''.

'I'd had a phone call two hours before to say my mum had died. It just wobbled us as a unit.'

Paul, from Gorton, said the tight restrictions in place around social distancing during the nationwide lockdown meant the family cannot grieve together.

He said: 'There will be no chapel of rest, no home visits to hug it all out. You can't all cry together. I can't see my dad, I have got him crying on the phone, and my brothers and sisters.'

Kathleen, known as Kitty to her friends and family, had been self-isolating for weeks before she fell ill.

Eamon (centre left, with his sons), from Failsworth, died at The Royal Oldham Hospital, while Kathleen, from Longsight, passed away at Manchester Royal Infirmary on April 1

The retired dinner lady and cleaner began feeling unwell and passed away on the day she was admitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Paul said: 'A few days before she died she was feeling a bit ropey. Her partner Ashley had been at the house with her.

'She is not one for calling an ambulance, but she went into hospital. She went in on the Wednesday morning - she passed away at 3pm.'

Eamon, who suffered from heart problems, was in hospital for several days before he passed away.

He had been taken to The Royal Oldham Hospital as he had trouble with his breathing.

Paul said: 'He said he had a bit of a temperature. He was up and down and I was chatting to him on the phone [at some stages]. It can just get a grip of you and change you.'

He added: 'He was the best brother - he was like my legend. He loved all of his sons. I feel like he was robbed.'

Eamon's son, Darren Bowles, said: 'When my dad was in hospital, we were told he was making good progress. I was feeling quite positive.

'Then the WhatsApp messages started to stop. He deteriorated so rapidly. He wasn't put on a ventilator, just oxygen.

'If you have underlying health conditions you're not a priority.

'The chances of survival are so much lower. I know the NHS are making some tough decisions.'

Kathleen, who had seven children, 21 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and Eamon were born in Ireland but moved over to Manchester in the late 1950s.

Paul said: 'My mum loved her kids, she took us to Belle Vue, and we celebrated Jubilee parties. Our dad took us to Blackpool. We didn't have a lot of money, but we had big hearts.'

Darren added: 'It doesn't seem real, it really doesn't. What compounds it is that you feel like the whole world is grieving with you.

'My dad was my hero. He looked after me so well in my life. He encouraged me to study and supported me.

He took me and my brothers and my mum on some beautiful holidays. I have so many fond memories of visiting my gran (Kathleen).

'She was fantastic at cooking. Nothing was too much trouble for her. The only peace I have got is that they are not alone, but they are together. They will both look after each other.'
The number of homeless people in the US will see a staggering and unprecedented increase because of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the economy, experts have warned. Some say without an astronomical response by the government, the numbers could double.

As more people lose their jobs and are unable to pay their rent  on Friday it was reported almost 17 million people had filed for unemployment benefits in the last three weeks  so pressure will be placed on a sector already at capacity.

The people most likely to join the ranks of the homeless are those who are not part of the digital economy. People of colour are also likely to be disproportionately represented, they said.

I think theres no question theres going to be a phenomenal increase, Sara Rankin, an expert on housing and homelessness, and an associate professor at Seattle University, told The Independent. It is going to be staggering and unprecedented. Anytime youre putting that much of a strain on what is already a completely starved infrastructure  Its going to come home to roost in a way we cant even comprehend right now.

The way in which the country counts homeless individuals and the language it uses for them, is imprecise and sometimes misleading.

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, a federal agency within the executive branch, estimates the total number of homeless people to be around 570,000. This includes people sleeping in shelters, in their cars, or families being forced to squeeze into a spare room of relatives home.

Around 25 per cent of the homeless are defined as chronically homeless, that is people who have been homeless for a year or more, and are struggling with a disabling condition such as a serious mental illness or substance use disorder. More than a third are unsheltered, and live on the streets or abandoned buildings, according to figures for 2019 collated in the annual report published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Across the US, and especially on the west coast, homelessness has been on the increase for a number of years. The reasons are multiple, but economics and a failure to build affordable housing is at the root.

In places such as San Francisco and Seattle, specific sectors, such as the well-paid technology industry, have had the impact of pushing up property prices, and making affordable housing all the more scarce.

One erroneous belief is that people become homeless because they have mental illness and substance abuse, and thats just not the case, said Nicholas Barr, a social scientist at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. People become homeless or are unstably housed, because they can no longer afford housing or cannot find affordable housing. Thats the reason people become homeless.

He said that with 17 million people being added to the unemployment rolls and more businesses closing all the time, if only small proportion of those who lost their jobs become homeless, it would result in an an enormous increase.

Many states and cities have enacted rent or mortgage relief, or moved to prevent evictions while the crisis is ongoing. But nobody knows how long that will last or whether people will be asked to repay their rent, or if the government will step in.

The response to the problem has varied from city to city, and state to state.

In Las Vegas, homeless people were initially housed on a parking lot after a shelter was closed because a person tested positive or Covid-19.

Critics called on the authorities to house people in hotels, which have many vacant rooms.

 Coronavirus: Most affected countries around the world

After criminalising homelessness this year, Las Vegas is now packing people into concrete grids out of sight, tweeted Julian Castro, the former presidential hopeful and mayor of San Antonio.

In Los Angeles, authorities made a more serious effort to use unoccupied hotels. In Washington state, which has more than 20,000 homeless people, authorities expanded shelter capacity.

In Seattle, officials opened the Seattle Centre Exhibition Hall to help relieve capacity at its most highly used shelter.

Dr Ashwin Vasan, a professor of family health at Columbia University, also heads Fountain House, an organisation that advocates for people with mental illness. He said predicting how many additional people would become homeless would depend to an overwhelming extent on the willingness or readiness of the government to support businesses and people who lose their jobs  especially those who already operate on the lower rung of the economic ladder.

Just as evidence has been emerging that a disproportionate number of those being infected by the virus are African American, a similar disparity exists among the homeless, he said.

Were going to see significant numbers of additional homeless and people at risk of homelessness, or people moving in and out of homelessness as a result of the tenuous economic situation, he said.

Asked if he thought it could be hundreds of thousands or even a doubling of the current total, he said: I mean, it could be doubling. I dont know. Its so hard to make a guesstimate without knowing what economic buttressing the government will do.

Dr Margot Kushel, professor of medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and director of the University of California San Franciscos Centre for Vulnerable Populations, said she could not think of a time when so many people were at risk of becoming homeless.

It would be very easy to imagine that we could have a doubling. And if we do nothing, that is what we will see, I think a doubling would be easy to see, she said.

She added: The interventions are going to need to be astronomical.
Its been 70 years since Jose Prieto Cerrudo got on a mule at the Valdelageve fiestas in Salamanca, in northwestern Spain. He and his brother had come to the village from Bejar, 30 kilometers away, to earn some money busking  he played the clarinet; his brother the cymbals. When Jose saw the mule, he got on it to impress Guadalupe Matas Hernandez, who was at the fair with a friend. The mule is called Cana, and its mine, she told him. The mule then ran forward and ducked its head so that Jose sailed over the top and landed in a heap.

That was how Guadalupe and Jose first met. This led to walks together, followed by letters when Guadalupe, like many women in her village, went to work for a family in Madrid. Finally, in 1955, the pair married and had their first daughter, then a second and a third and so on as they tried for a boy. Look at what youve got us into, all for the sake of a boy, said Guadalupe in 1971, after giving birth to seven girls.

They missed each other; they dont know how to be apart Couples daughter, Rosi

Last month, Jose and Guadalupe gave these daughters  Maite, Rosi, Irene, Maria Jose, Pilar, Maika and Bea  a shock when they were both hospitalized for Covid-19. But on March 30, they returned home to ViIlanueva de la Torre in the province of Guadalajara, having defeated the illness together, despite the fact that, at 88, they are in an age bracket with a 22.2% mortality rate, and that Jose had suffered a stroke in 2012, which put him at greater risk.

It was Jose who raised the alarm on March 4 after suffering an unusually persistent cough. The next day I took him to the doctor and he was prescribed antibiotics, says the couples daughter, Rosi.

On March 8, there was a big family party in the Prieto-Matas household as Guadalupe and Jose celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. But several days later, Jose had developed a fever and headache. He was admitted to the Red Cross hospital in Madrid on March 14. Jose had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Not wanting to be alone, Guadalupe moved in with one of her daughters in Madrid, where she began to show the same symptoms as her husband. She tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to the same Red Cross hospital, though on a separate floor. They missed each other; they dont know how to be apart, says Rosi. Especially my father. He is very affectionate. He needs her with him.

This is a very hardy generation which has overcome everything from a civil war to hunger, misery and the death of brothers and sisters Javier Gomez Pavon, the head of geriatrics department at the Red Cross hospital in Madrid

Jose asked if Guadalupe could be moved to his room and his doctor, Jesus Lacasa, agreed. If both or one of the patients is critical, it is better to keep them apart as it can be devastating if they eventually have to be separated. But this was not the case. When they are in different rooms, they are thinking about their partner all the time, says Lacasa. These are couples who have been together all their lives. They are aware that the other is unwell. They dont even care about themselves, just about the other, and not knowing how they are makes them desperate. Our policy is to bring them together as long as it is not a risk to their state of health. In this case, Guadalupe was better and more active than Jose. So much so that when she was ready to be discharged, she said she would only go if she could go with him.

Most elderly patients can recover, but to what extent? If the person is returning to a family environment, or to their partner, where nothing has changed, they will bounce back stronger and happier because they are back where they belong, says Javier Gomez Pavon, the head of geriatrics department at the Red Cross hospital. This is a very hardy generation which has overcome everything from a civil war to hunger, misery and the death of brothers and sisters.

Over the last few days, the Red Cross hospital has discharged dozens of seniors, including Maria Milagros Martin Diez, 78, Joaquina Canela Garcia, 80, Rufina Garcia Bardera, 90, Felipe Mata Garcia, 87, and Manuel Monguell Rivas, 80.

Also on the list is Adoracion Gonzalez Garcia, a 96 year old from Sisterna in the northwestern region of Asturias. The widow of Manuel Gavela and mother of Ramon, Antonio and Mari Carmen, Adoracion was a healthy, active woman before catching the virus, and was still going to the gym until a few years ago. A few weeks ago, she fell from her bed at the senior home where she lives and was taken to the emergency room, where she tested positive for Covid-19.

Over the last few days, the Red Cross hospital has discharged dozens of seniors

The coronavirus mortality rate for people over the age of 90 is 26.7%. But Adoracion is made of stern stuff. In 1948, she and her husband came without a cent to Madrid, where she raised her three children and set up her own hairdressing salon on Extremadura Avenue, called Peluqueria Dora. They prepared us for the worst, says her son Ramon. There was a big chance that she wouldnt make it. But she has always been healthy. Our father also died very old  the age she is now. Adoracion is now back in the senior care home and in quarantine waiting to see her family.

Meanwhile, Jose and Guadalupe are self-isolating on the top floor of their home, though they managed to get to the window to pose for a photo for EL PAIS. We also thought that things might not go well, especially because my father was already in a bad way. But they can do it [defeat the virus], of course they can: most of them can, says Rosi.

When Jose married Guadalupe, they went to live with his parents and eight siblings. Then he went to Madrid where he found work at the Madrid-Barajas airport as a signalman and baggage handler on the recommendation of an uncle. He also sold clothes and gold. He worked all his life at whatever it took to get us ahead. He went out and she stayed in because Mom had to take care of all seven of us, says Rosi, who would remind her parents at family dinners that they should have stopped at daughter number two. That happens to be me, she says. The third one says that three would have been the perfect number. And the fourth one thinks four would have been enough

English version by Heather Galloway.
Tenant Screening USA In these times landlords should work with tenants regarding income challenges as well as work with a well-qualified third-party tenant screening agency.

As COVID 19 becomes wide spread across the world more and more people are being laid off from non-essential employment and that loss in income has the potential to create challenges in the rental housing market. Adam Almeida, President and CEO of TenantScreeningUSA.com states: As income becomes a challenge, the prospect of eviction could become viable yet landlords and property managers should take pause and work with a third-party tenant screening agency in order to remain compliant with any recent executive orders protecting renters from COVID19 related evictions.

COVID 19 has brought the global economy to a virtual standstill and in doing such millions of people are being laid off. Even with the recent stimulus package as well as unemployment, the prospect of paying monthly rent may become daunting.

Across the country some governors have taken action to try and protect victims of the COVID 19 crisis from eviction.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsome recently decreed by executive order that local governments can protect renters.

From California Apartment Association (Mar. 25, 2020):

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order making it clear that local governments can impose eviction protections for tenants who are unable to pay their rent because of the coronavirus or loss of income as a result of the outbreakAccording to Newsoms order, such ordinances should spell out that if a tenant cannot pay the rent because of COVID-19, that tenants rental payment is deferred for a reasonable period but not waived. (1)

But every state may have their own policy in place regarding COVID 19 related evictions, which could cause greater confusion.

From Forbes.com (Apr. 01, 2020):

As every business, industry, and practice tries to keep pace with almost hourly changes in news about the spread of COVID-19 and the impact of the response to the epidemic has been mixed across the country and at levels of government. So called tenant advocates have even called for rent strikes, rent control, or rent holidays. The COVID-19 response is creating an income problem for residents and housing providers. Bans dont help. Getting the response right means bringing providers, residents, and lenders to the table to develop loans and forbearance to get through the next 90 days. (2)

Almeida adds: Staying focused on getting through the near-term effects of COVID 19 is very important as everyone hopes this will not continue as a long-term threat. Working with tenants regarding income challenges should be a best practice and working with a well-qualified third-party tenant screening agency should also remain a best practice for landlords and property managers.

TenantScreeningUSA.com provides full-service tenant screening for landlords and property managers of any size and can greatly assist in remaining fully compliant with all existing law governing tenant screening. With a highly trained and experienced staff, TenantScreeningUSA.com can provide help to landlords and property managers with all their tenant screening needs.

Notes:

(1) caanet.org/governor-issues-executive-order-on-covid-19-and-evictions/

(2) forbes.com/sites/rogervaldez/2020/04/01/covid-19-and-eviction-uneven-actions-across-the-country/#191ffac83d05


Ryanair's Irish pilots will receive only half of their salaries for the next two months, including government subsidies.

It also says it cannot rule out extended lay-offs or job losses beyond May as most of its fleet remains grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Alexis de Tocqueville is a timely read now more than ever before. Tocqueville's most famous writing is probably Democracy in America, although his The Old Regime and the Revolution is as insightful  in some ways, a helpful and profound compliment to his analysis of American democracy.

In Democracy in America, Tocqueville marvels at the near anarchic reality of American life: "[n]othing is more striking to an European traveller in the United States than the absence of what we term the Government, or the Administration." Tocqueville went on to explain that this didn't mean the absence of legal authority, but the method that predominated in America was diminutive authority placed in the hands of localities and their associates as extensively as possible. "The second manner of diminishing the influence of authority does not consist in stripping society of any of its rights, nor in paralyzing its efforts [as is the first manner], but in distributing the exercise of its privileges in various hands, and in multiplying functionaries, to each of whom the degree of power necessary for him to perform his duty is entrusted."

The constitutional order that had been erected in America was a confederated union and not a unipolar or unitary nation-state of the like that began construction in the aftermath of the Civil War and the Great Depression. As Tocqueville noted, the rule of the federal government "is ... the exception; the Government of the States is the rule." The energy and spirit of American democracy and public life were centered on the townships, counties, and the state governments.

The diffused and diminutive form of governance that Tocqueville experienced in America was vastly different from the centralized apparatus he was accustomed to back in Europe. Europe, Tocqueville reminds us, was centralized not because of the conquest of the revolution and spread of the Napoleonic Empire, but from the old monarchies and the old regime itself.

I once heard an orator, in the days when we had political assemblies, call administrative centralization 'that noble conquest of the Revolution which Europe envies us.' I am willing to admit that centralization was a noble conquest, and that Europe envies us its possession; but I deny that it was a conquest of the Revolution. It was, on the contrary, a feature of the old regime, and, I may add, the only one which outlived the Revolution, because it was the only one that was suited to the new condition of society created by the Revolution.

According to Tocqueville, the authoritarian and centralizing pivot of the French Revolution shouldn't have been a surprise. The DNA of depending on central power for guidance and structure in life was what the French were always accustomed to. The difference between the revolutionaries and the old regime was how the revolutionaries used force and murder to displace the central institutions of the old regime and quickly replace them with their own.

I reply that centralization was not abolished by the Revolution, because it was, in fact, its preliminary and precursor; and I may add, that when a nation abolishes aristocracy, centralization follows as a matter of course. It is much harder to prevent its establishment than to hasten it. Every thing tends toward unity of power, and it requires no small contrivance to maintain divisions of authority.

Although there was, at first glance, a sharp difference between the diffused and diminutive spirit of democracy in America and the centralizing and militant spirit of democracy in France, Tocqueville also saw the seeds of centralizing "royal prerogatives" in the American system.

First and foremost, while it is true that "[t]he attributes of the Federal Government were therefore carefully enumerated and all that was not included amongst them was declared to constitute a part of the privileges of the several Governments of the States," Tocqueville nevertheless saw the few enumerated and delegated powers given to the federal government as totalizing and supreme when, and if, enforced. Moreover, as he noted about the presidency, "[i]f the existence of the Union were perpetually threatened, and if the chief interests were in daily connection with those of other powerful nations, the executive government would assume an increased importance in proportion to the measures expected of it, and those which it would carry into effect." How prophetic, all things considered.

With the coronavirus pandemic upon us, we are now repeatedly told "we are at war." Not only have a litany of journalists and commentators said as much, but the president himself declared it so. The panic of the coronavirus has startled people into searching for the Caesar who will preside over the Leviathan to provide comfort, peace, and security. The Union itself, we are constantly nagged, is threatened. Here it is important to remember the prescient foresight of Michael Oakeshott: "the real spring of collectivism is not a love of liberty, but war. The anticipation of war is the great incentive, and the conduct of war is the great collectivizing process."

Thomas Hobbes, the great political theorist of the modern state, said the movement toward a centralized government is the result of fear. "Fear of oppression, disposes a man to anticipate, or to seek aid by society: for there is no other way by which a man can secure his life and liberty." Even John Locke agreed with this sentiment in the Second Treatise: "[t]his [fear] makes him willing to quit a condition, which, however free, is full of fears and continual dangers." Beyond there now being flagrant violations of basic constitutional rights, which are suspended in the name of a public health crisis, we ought to be reminded of the wisdom of Tocqueville: "when a nation abolishes aristocracy, centralization follows as a matter of course. It is much harder to prevent its establishment than to hasten it. Every thing tends toward unity of power, and it requires no small contrivance to maintain divisions of authority."

In the American case, we might substitute "aristocracy" with civil society. In abolishing civil society, or at least what is left of it after nearly a century of assault and encroachment, absolute "centralization follows as a matter of course." Civil society, in the United States, is the great buttress against the forces of collectivism.

We do not live in a failed state as some have suggested in response to America's handling of the virus. We live in a rare country where the remnant of civil society still exerts some power, and because of this, the collectivists  whatever veil they wear  call for the ascendency and supremacy of a centralized administrative state to crush it once and for all. What the American experience has shown is that we have not yet achieved the manifestation of this totalizing centralized administrative state despite nearly a century of slow growth toward this reality. We lose the joy of civil society, the first and foremost manifestation of a free society, at our peril and submissive docility.

This centralized and administrative state now dreamt of is tasked with management and distribution of all goods and services. The constitutional order and the rule of law are abrogated for the collectivist bureaucracy providing comfort, peace, and security in perpetuity for a now idle and hedonistic people. The ultimate manifestation of such a state is, as Michael Oakeshott said, "a state [that is] a rationally regulated co-operative engagement, perhaps a solidarite commune of some sort, not devoid of law, but ruled by a sumptuary policy devised and enforced by administrators, agencies and regulatory commissions." In other words, it is a bureaucratic and managerial  socialist  state.

The spirit of civil society and reliant township communitarianism and individualism still stand to avert the centralizing administration, which feeds and feeds and feeds on the energy of civil society and individual labor. The "intermediate associations" that constitute the real heart of community and the American  indeed, human  spirit would be buried by the totalizing control of centralism, which always comes in the wake of collectivism. If the Second World War or the Cold War, even the War on Terror, didn't reveal the spirit of collectivism, the coronavirus pandemic and resulting panic irrevocably have. Americans have much soul-searching if this is what they truly want and forever break themselves off from the spirit of their forebears.
Lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea hold a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Jan. 1, urging Korea's antitrust regulator to carry out an impartial evaluation of Delivery Hero and Woowa Brothers' $4 billion M&A deal. / Yonhap



By Kim Jae-heun



Woowa Brothers, the operator of the country's top online food delivery player Baedal Minjok (Baemin), said Friday it will drop its recent new fee system that provoked backlash from both restaurant owners and customers.



In a statement released through email, Woowa Brothers founder Kim Bong-jin and CEO Kim Bom-jun said the company will nullify the fixed rate system and go back to the flat rate.



"We are sorry for the difficulties and confusion we created with the new fee system. It was a decision that did not thoughtfully consider the hardships that restaurant owners would possibly face. We have received advice and opinions from various sectors and they all said we should re-examine our new commission fee rate. We have accepted the advice and decided to cancel our new fee system," Woowa Brothers wrote in the statement. "From now on, we will communicate with restaurant owners before we make changes to our policy. We will discuss the matter with government officials too."



Prior to the announcement, Woowa Brothers had been sticking to its "firm stance" that there would be no changes made to its "rational" new fee system as it would have charged a higher commission to those making more money with its delivery service platform.



However, as controversy grew over the issue, turning public sentiment cold against Baemin, CEO Kim was quick to issue a written public apology admitting the company had failed to consider the increased advertising expenses for restaurant owners. Kim promised to come up with corrective measures.



The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) also announced it would scrutinize the matter after expressing deep concern over Woowa Brothers' unilateral decision to change the commission fee system. The top antitrust regulator said it will also visit the firm to check if Woowa Brothers is taking care of private customer data collected through the delivery service application.



This is likely to affect the KFTC's decision on whether or not to approve the $4 billion deal of Delivery Hero and Woowa Brothers.



The antitrust regulator initially planned to conditionally approve the German firm's planned acquisition of Woowa Brothers. However, given the ongoing controversies and calls by lawmakers defending the interests of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under President Moon Jae-in and his economic team's policy to protect them, chances have increased that the KFTC may block the suggested acquisition proposal or delay the approval indefinitely.



At least 13 politicians here have made a pledge to develop a public online delivery application as part of their general election campaigns. Eight local governments including North and South Gyeongsang provinces have already started developing applications related to online food delivery services that charge zero-level commission fees.



It is uncertain how many of these applications will actually be developed for customer use in reality, but they are causing a headache for Woowa Brothers.



People have become aware that Baemin will no longer be a domestic mobile service. Also, the German company Delivery Hero already owns the No.2 and No.3 online food delivery players Yogiyo and Baedaltong, so if it also acquires the No.1 delivery service, it could dominate the market and increase commission fees at its own leisure.


For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Friday there are 70 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus at the St. Vincent De Paul Society's Multi-Service Center South, the city's largest homeless shelter.

"One of the real challenging situations could have been worse will be a little bit better [because] we were preparing to ensure we were able to respond quickly," she stated. "We have identified 70 people  68 members of shelter, 2 staff members  who have tested positive for COVID-19. This is one of the largest shelters in San Francisco with anywhere on any given night 340 people that are located in that shelter."

City public health chief Grant Colfax stated that MSC-South will now be converted into a medical facility while other occupants will be moved to hotels.

"It will reduce transports and collate patients with a dedicated staff of healthcare professionals who can attend their needs," he said.

The St. Vincent De Paul Society describes MSC-South as "San Franciscos largest and most extensive homeless shelter," and offers beds, meals and educational services at the facility.

In a letter to the community at the beginning of the outbreak, the society stated that staff members were stretched thin and asked for community assistance.

"During public health crises like the COVID-19 outbreak, those living in poverty are disproportionately impacted," the society's website states. "When schools are closed and people cant work, the services we provideshelter, food and safety-net services for homeless individuals and survivors of domestic violenceare even more in demand. Yet were facing unprecedented challenges ourselves. Staff are working around the clock, sometimes without access to basic supplies, like toilet paper and masks, but remain determined to keep our doors open for those who are severely impacted. Now more than ever St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco needs your support to make sure our programs remain operational."

Preventive measures MSC-South is taking to curb the spread of the virus include frequent cleanings and requiring that occupants remain in the shelter unless they have essential business to conduct.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Galih Gumelar (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 07:54 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0f4828 1 National #COVID19,COVID-19,Idul-Fitri,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,#coronavirus,coronavirus,#IdulFitri,#bonus,bonus,civil-servants,ASN,#ASN,#CivilServants,THR,#THR Free

After introducing a contentious omnibus bill that seeks to cut through red tape, the administration of President Joko Jokowi Widodo has found itself under scrutiny again as it carries out several new strategies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic that might overstep prevailing regulations.

Critics have said that two of the latest government moves  a plan to cancel this years Idul Fitri holiday bonus (THR) and yearly bonus for civil servants, as well as a policy criminalizing those who are deemed to have defamed the government in relation to COVID-19 response  will undermine the rule of law.

The government must respect the prevailing laws when making new policies during the pandemic, given that the Constitution says that Indonesia is 'a state governed by laws', Trubus Rahadiansyah, a public policy and legal expert at Trisakti University, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

But the governments moves in recent days have raised eyebrows since they might overstep some of the current laws, including a plan to cancel civil servants holiday and annual bonuses this year."

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati mulled the possibility of cutting bonuses for state officials, as well as echelon I and II officials, as she is prioritizing the state budget for combating the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

The remaining lower- and middle- level civil servants, including also police and military personnel, will still receive the bonuses.

Trubus said the bonus cut would be illegitimate, given that Government Regulation (PP) No. 35/2019 on civil servant allowances stipulates that those bonuses cannot be cut even when the state budget is under pressure.

He also said it would probably contradict Article 21 of the 2014 State Civil Apparatus (ASN) Law that protects civil servants' right to receive allowances and bonuses from the government, with the law itself having failed to mention conditions under which bonus cuts are legitimate.

It remains unclear whether such a policy will take shape, but Sri Mulyani said on Wednesday that it would be discussed further in a Cabinet meeting in the coming weeks.

Read also: Industry Ministry allocates $7 million, proposes stimulus package to help affected industries

The Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministrys spokesperson Andi Rahadian did not respond to the Posts request for comment as of Wednesday evening.

If the government insists on canceling this years bonuses, Trubus urged the government to prepare another legal guideline to specifically regulate bonus cancellation under extraordinary circumstances, including in times of emergency.

If the government keeps on with the plan without any strong legal basis, slashing bonuses for civil servants would be illegitimate, Trubus said.

Another way is to revise the 2019 PP to accommodate the plan. But the amendment should also be discussed with the House of Representatives, since it will stipulate new conditions that are not regulated in the ASN law.

Jokowi's administration also finds itself in the hot seat after the National Police moved to criminalize those who publicly insult the President and government officials in relation to their handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

Read also: Criticism 'not an insult': Police's plan to nab slanderers of govt over COVID-19 questioned

National Police chief Gen. Idham Azis, in a classified police telegram dated April 4, ordered his personnel to start cyber patrols to monitor the "development of the situation and opinion in cyberspace" during the pandemic.

The telegram says offenders can be charged with defamation under Article 207 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 1.5 years in prison.

Meanwhile those who spread false information relating to government policies in handling the contagious disease will be subject to Articles 14 and/or 15 of the Criminal Code, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars.

Erasmus Napitupulu of the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) said the Indonesian legal system no longer categorized insults against the President as a crime after the Constitutional Court scrapped such provisions in a ruling in 2006.

He said that charging offenders under Article 207 was inappropriate since it failed to cite insulting the President as an offense.

This policy aims at restricting freedom of expression. The police are not only violating the Constitutional Court ruling, but also contravening the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, Erasmus said.

Read also: Activists warn government not to repeat mistakes of past economic bailouts

Idham acknowledged that his decision had fueled public anger, but he brushed off those criticisms by saying that upholding law enforcement measures would not always satisfy all people.

There are always pros and cons regarding our law enforcement measures. But those who have been named suspects due to the crime [insulting the President and state officials] can file pretrial suits to defend themselves, Idham said in a recent statement.
Its one thing to watch medical professionals being celebrated nightly in cities around the world, which consists of people cheering and whistling from their balconies, to people forming car parades, to appreciative fans who line the walkways of hospitals and medical facilities to cheer their hometown team as they enter or exit the stadium to do battle. Its quite another to have the unfortunate luck of breaking an ankle and spending a full day receiving their hands-on, and heartfelt, care.

Such was the case Sunday. With a beautiful weather forecast, my wife and I planned a 15-20-mile ride on our tandem. Having a few minutes to kill, I grabbed a shovel with the intention of clearing a 3-4-foot-wide band of ice and snow that still crossed our driveway. As I made a pass with my shovel, I removed the snow that still covered a thin sheet of ice. My left foot slid on the ice while my right foot remained firmly planted on clean concrete. As my feet became farther apart and I naturally leaned back to shift weight to the leg firmly planted, I heard a distinct snap and I was on the ground in an instant.

I looked down at my right foot and it was shooting off at a 90-degree angle from my leg, and my ankle appeared to be facing forward. It was clearly broken. I stood on my left leg and thought Id hop into the garage but in one or two hops was back on ice and back on the ground.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to call my wife, and like any serious news guy I took a couple of pics to make a record of the event. I soon reached Glenda, and she came out to assist. Being an RN, she quickly recognized that I needed to visit the emergency room. So off we went.

At the door we realized the reality of our COVID-19 world. We were both handed masks. I hopped in a wheelchair, and Glenda was advised to go home and keep the phone handy. In a normal world, people accompany loved ones into the ER and then go to the waiting room to await word from their loved one or from the medical staff. In a normal world, patients are comforted by the fact that their family and perhaps friends are just down the hall notifying loved ones and saying a prayer for comfort.

Knowing, and actually experiencing this new normal, are two different things.

Inside the ER, I met a young doctor named Kadon Hintz. While I had not met him, I know his wife Michelle and his father-in-law, Mike LaLonde, through the Rotary club. I know he and Michelle have three young children at home, and that each day Dr. Hintz must take extra precautions to insure that he doesnt inadvertently expose his beautiful young family to this virus that is sweeping our nation.

As I watched him and his team of nurses, technicians, and medical assistants attend to me, I was grateful and appreciative for these warriors who put themselves in harm's way to care for us; to care for me. My son and daughter-in-law in New York have a nurse friend whose husband and children are now sick. It can and does happen.

By Sunday evening, I was sent home to recover, and in the days since I realized that my personal world and professional world had collided in a way that allowed me to better appreciate a new way to honor local medical professionals.

As it turns out, I have spent a lot of time over the past few weeks planning out our (The Bismarck Tribune's) new strategy for our May 5 Celebration of Nurses event, where we will honor 10 local nurses who were chosen from among 82 nominees.

We had planned to honor the nurses at a lunch event with 350 attendees including representatives of our sponsors, Sanford Medical Center, CHI St. Alexis Health, Bismarck State College, University of Mary, North Dakota State University School of Nursing in Bismarck, Dvorak Motor, and City Brew. We had planned to bring the honored nurses on stage and salute them. We had planned to have presentations by Melanie Carvell and Dr. Tara Feil. But in a COVID-19 world, such gatherings are unthinkable, especially given that the majority of those attending are health care administrators, doctors, nurses and their families.

What began as a way to honor these individuals without endangering anyones health has actually turned into an event that will be far more impactful as a virtual event rather than as an actual luncheon.

For starters, all of the lunches that would have been served that day will still be prepared and served, but at Heavens Helpers Soup Cafe instead of at our event. All of the nurses who would have been recognized by 350 people at our event will now be recognized in a video presentation that will be hosted on our website, which had well over 7 million page views in March, and pushed out on our Facebook page, which has more than 50,000 followers. We expect thousands will now be able to honor those being recognized, instead of 350.

Adding additional value to our program is that through Melanie Carvells creativity and determination, her presentation has been approved for a continuing education credit by the North Dakota Board of Nursing. We are hopeful that Taras will be approved, also. Wendy Kopp, administrator of Bismarcks NDSU School of Nursing, has agreed to host the presentations on their site, as they are already technologically equipped for such programs.

D&N Cinematics is partnering with us to film the various pieces of the program and to put it together to make this year's program a seamless success.

Ill be honest with you, I was pretty disappointed when we realized that our Celebration of Nurses lunch would have to change in order to be celebrated during National Nurses Week. But the silver lining is that thousands, not hundreds, will now be able to join us in the celebration.

Id have preferred not breaking an ankle this week, but the truth is that had I not had my own encounter with the current reality of our health systems and our health professionals, I would not have appreciated that out of a bad situation the new normal that arises can present new opportunities that may be better than the old normal.

Gary Adkisson is publisher of The Bismarck Tribune.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By

Express News Service

PATNA: On the request of Bihar State Disaster Management Department, 15 sub-teams rescuers, from Bihta (Patna) based 9 Battalion NDRF have been deployed at Siwan, Munger, Patna, Gaya, Begusarai, Nalanda and Nawada districts of the state to assist in the fight against COVID-19.

According to Commandant Vijay Sinha, 9 Battalion NDRF, each of these 15 sub-teams consists of 6 rescuers.

'Rescuers of 9 Battalion NDRF are equipped with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including biological suit, N-95 face mask, gloves, eye protection, shoes cover as well as Medical First Responder kits to assist district authority and state medical teams,' he said.



CLICK HERE FOR CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES



In Siwan, Munger, Gaya and Nalanda districts, NDRF-rescuers have trained the Quick Medical Response Teams (QMRT) on the management of COVID-19.

On the direction of SN Pradhan, Director General NDRF, awareness-cum-training program on COVID-19 has been imparted by 9 Battalion NDRF at Patna, Gaya and Ranchi airports.

The training was also given to community people, students and other stakeholders in various districts of Bihar and Jharkhand.

'During the training session, participants have imparted training on safety precautions of COVID-19, its sign and symptoms, proper use of PPE and donning and doffing procedure', he said.



At present, NDRF rescuers are also engaged in area sanitization work using Sodium Hypochlorite chemical solution in Siwan, Begusarai, Nawada and Patna with the consent of district authority.

As a goodwill gesture,9 -Battalion of NDRF has also distributed food to the needy people especially kids, old age and ladies at Bihta and nearby area in Patna district. NDRF rescuers also distributed face mask and sanitizer to helping hand of our society in from Koilwar to Patna city.

Regarding personal safety of NDRF rescuers, Commandant Vijay Sinha said that our rescuers are strictly following all safety protocols. NDRF rescuers are undergoing special cleaning and disinfectant exercise in routine.
Tegan Martin is known for her flawless model figure.

But on Friday, the 27-year-old revealed her imperfections in unedited photos shared on Instagram.

The blonde beauty posted throwback photos of herself posing during a previous trip to Bali while flaunting her trim and toned body in a tiny bikini.

Real: On Friday, former beauty queen Tegan Martin revealed her imperfections in unedited photos shared on Instagram

The photo also showed a belly button scar and chipped nails.

In her second photo of her post, the former Miss Universe Australia's stretch marks on her chest were slightly visible.

In the accompanying caption, the blonde beauty confessed that she wanted to edit the images due to her 'chipped nails, belly button scar and stretch marks'.

Unedited: In her second photo of her post, the former Miss Universe Australia's stretch marks on her chest were visible. The model added that she wanted to edit and fix the photos because of chipped nails, belly button scar and stretch marks

'But I stopped, smiled at remembering how happy I was on this holiday, chucked my fave filter on and pushed post instead,' she added.

Tegan previously revealed that she missed out on modelling opportunities for having too lean of a physique.

She told The Daily Telegraph last month: 'I've even had experiences where the reason that I missed out on a job was because I wasn't curvy enough.

'I missed out on a job was because I wasn't curvy enough': This comes after Tegan revealed that she missed out on job opportunities for having too lean a physique

'But I love these moments because they teach you that you will never be everyone's cup of tea and that is okay,' she added.

Tegan said that while she has 'felt pressure to be a certain size', there is now a body positivity movement in the once notoriously stick-thin fashion industry.

'The industry has changed a lot since I started 10 years ago. The days of needing to be waif-thin are well and truly over'.
Saudi, Russia outline record oil cut under U.S. pressure as demand crashes FILE PHOTO: A view shows branded oil tanks at Saudi Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq

By Rania El Gamal, Olesya Astakhova and Ahmad Ghaddar

DUBAI/MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC, Russia and other allies outlined plans on Thursday to cut their oil output by more than a fifth and said they expected the United States and other producers to join in their effort to prop up prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis.

But the group, known as OPEC+, said a final agreement was dependent on Mexico signing up to the pact after it balked at the production cuts it was asked to make. Discussions among top global energy ministers will resume on Friday.

The planned output curbs by OPEC+ amount to 10 million barrels per day (bpd) or 10% of global supplies, with another 5 million bpd expected to come from other nations to help deal with the deepest oil crisis in decades.

Global fuel demand has plunged by around 30 million bpd, or 30% of global supplies, as steps to fight the virus have grounded planes, cut vehicle usage and curbed economic activity.

An unprecedented 15 million bpd cut still won't remove enough crude to stop the world's storage facilities quickly filling up. And far from signalling any readiness to offer support, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Saudi Arabia if it did not fix the oil market's problem of oversupply.

Trump, who has said U.S. output was already falling due to low prices, warned Riyadh it could face sanctions and tariffs on its oil if it did not cut enough to help the U.S. oil industry, whose higher costs have left it struggling with low prices.

A White House aide said Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Salman of Saudi Arabia about the talks, after a U.S. official said the OPEC+ move towards cuts sent an "important signal" to the market.

Officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia have said the scale of the crisis required involvement of all producers.

"We are expecting other producers outside the OPEC+ club to join the measures, which might happen tomorrow during G20," the head of Russia's wealth fund and one of Moscow's top oil negotiators, Kirill Dmitriev, told Reuters.

Story continues

Thursday's OPEC+ talks will be followed by a call on Friday between energy ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, hosted by Saudi Arabia.

OPEC and Russian sources said they expected other producers to add 5 million bpd to cuts, although an OPEC+ statement on Thursday made no mention of any such condition.

Brent oil prices, which hit an 18-year low last month, were trading around $32 a barrel on Thursday, half their level at the end of 2019.

U.S. DILEMMA

OPEC+ would cut output by 10 million bpd in May to June, OPEC+ documents showed. All members would reduce output by 23%, with Saudi Arabia and Russia each cutting 2.5 million bpd and Iraq cutting over 1 million bpd.

Under the plans, OPEC+ would then ease cuts to 8 million bpd from July to December and relax them further to 6 million bpd from January 2021 to April 2022, the documents showed.

The United States, whose output has surged to surpass Saudi and Russian production, was invited to Thursday's OPEC+ talks but it was not clear if it had joined the video conference. Brazil, Norway and Canada were also invited.

U.S. officials have already said U.S. output would fall naturally over two years but have not committed to any cuts.

In a sign OPEC+ was struggling to win broader support, Canada's main oil province of Alberta said output had already dropped and that it had not been asked by OPEC for more cuts. The province said it backed a U.S. idea for tariffs on imported crude.

Before the talks, Moscow and Riyadh had been at odds over what level of production to use to calculate reductions, after Saudi Arabia hiked its supply in April to a record 12.3 million bpd, up from below 10 million bpd in March. Russian output, meanwhile, has been running about 11.3 million bpd.

The two nations fell out during an acrimonious meeting in Vienna in March, when a previous production deal collapsed.

The two sides agreed on Thursday that cuts would be made from an 11 million bpd baseline for both countries, OPEC+ documents showed.

"We have managed to overcome differences. It will be a very important deal. It will allow the oil market to start on a path to recovery," said Dmitriev, who last month was the first official to propose a deal involving members other than OPEC+.

Several U.S. states could order private companies to limit production under rarely used powers. The oil regulator in Texas, the largest producer among U.S. states with output of about 5 million bpd, meets on April 14 to discuss possible curbs.

(Additional reporting by Alex Lawler, Shadia Nasralla, Vladimir Soldatkin, Sonali Paul; Writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Jason Neely and Edmund Blair)
Universities are asking for a 2billion bailout due to the loss of high tuition fees from overseas students - with less than 40 per cent of the 120,000 from China expected to return after lockdown.

Institutions across the country are asking the Government to step in to save their research programmes which they say are threatened due to people no longer paying the high tuition fees.

Education chiefs reckon they face a loss of up to 7billion if all international students steer clear, The Times reports.

It comes after last year the number of Chinese students at UK universities was reported to have soared by 34 per cent in a five-year period, with 120,000 enrolled.

The bailout would benefit research-heavy institutions such as the London School of Economics (pictured)

Most overseas students come from China and pay up to three times the 9,250 a year that Britons pay.

A British Council survey of 10,000 Chinese students who had places at UK universities this year revealed that just 39 per cent are still 'very likely' to go ahead with the studies.

Universities UK wants the government to double its research funding to 4billion in the coming educational year.

The bailout would benefit research-heavy institutions such as the London School of Economics, University College London, Imperial College London and others in the Russell Group.

Specialist universities such as the Royal College of Art and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine are also part of the bailout request.

The group also wants assistance for newer universities which have failed to recruit enough students in the last few years. The bailout request suggests they be helped to merge with local colleges.

Meanwhile, popular universities are capping the number of British students they take this autumn in order to prevent the luring away of students from weaker institutions.

The Department for Education said: 'We recognise the outbreak poses significant challenges to the sector, and the government is working closely with universities to understand the financial risks and implications they might face at this uncertain time.'
The government has disbursed the first instalment of Rs 15,841 crore to 7.92 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme, since 24 March, the day lockdown was announced to curb COVID-19

New Delhi: The government has disbursed the first instalment of Rs 15,841 crore to 7.92 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme, since 24 March, the day lockdown was announced to curb COVID-19.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme, the Centre transfers an amount of Rs 6,000 per year, in three equal instalments, directly into the bank accounts of farmers, subject to certain exclusion criteria relating to higher income status.

"During the lockdown period from 24 March, about 7.92 crore farmer families have been benefited (under PM-KISAN) and an amount of Rs 15,841 crore has been released so far," the agriculture ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

In order to give immediate relief to farmers affected by the nationwide lockdown, the government had on 27 March promised to transfer the first installment of Rs 2,000 to each of 8.69 crore beneficiaries under the scheme, in the first week of April.

The country is under a lockdown till 14 April to prevent the spread of coronavirus that has impacted more than 190 countries in the world.
Last week, the Trump administration cited a Korean War-era law to justify banning exports of protective masks made in the United States, while ordering American companies that produce such wares overseas to redirect orders to their home market. One American company, 3M, said halting planned shipments of masks overseas would imperil health workers in Canada and Latin America. On Monday, 3M said it struck a compromise with the government that will send some masks to the United States and some overseas.

In recent weeks, Turkey, Ukraine, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa and Ecuador have all banned the export of protective masks. France and Germany imposed bans on masks and other protective gear, lifting them only after the European Union barred exports outside the bloc. India banned exports of respirators and disinfectants.

Britain has prohibited exports of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug now being tested for potential benefits against the virus. Hungary has banned exports of the raw material for that drug and medicines that contain it.

The export bans are not helpful, said Mariangela Simao, assistant director general for medicines and health products at the World Health Organization in Geneva. It can disrupt supply chains of some products that are actually needed everywhere.

President Trump has been especially aggressive in securing an American stockpile of hydroxychloroquine, disregarding the counsel of federal scientists who have warned that testing remains minimal, with scant evidence of benefits.

India is the worlds largest producer of hydroxychloroquine. Last month, the government banned exports of the drug, though it stipulated that shipments could continue under limited circumstances.

In this situation, each country has to take care of itself, said Satish Kumar, an adjunct professor at the International Institute of Health Management Research in New Delhi. If we are not able to take care of our population, it will be a very critical situation.
Joe Biden faces the most important decision of his five-decade political career: choosing a vice president.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee expects to name a committee to vet potential running mates next week, according to three Democrats with knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans.

Biden, a former vice president himself, has committed to picking a woman and told donors this week that his team has discussed naming a choice well ahead of the Democratic convention in August.

Selecting a running mate is always critical for a presidential candidate. But it's an especially urgent calculation for the 77-year-old Biden, who, if he wins, would be the oldest American president in history. The decision carries added weight amid the coronavirus pandemic that, beyond its death toll, threatens to devastate the world economy and define a prospective Biden administration.

We're still going to be in crisis or recovery, and you want a vice president who can manage that, said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist who worked for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. This seems like a much more important decision than usual.

Biden faces pressure on multiple fronts. He must consider the demands of his racially, ethnically and ideologically diverse party, especially the black women who propelled his nomination.

He must balance those concerns with his stated desire for a governing partner who is simpatico and ready to be president on a moment's notice.

The campaign's general counsel, Dana Remus, and former White House counsel Bob Bauer are managing the early process, gathering information about prospects.

Democrats close to several presumed contenders say they've not yet been contacted.

Biden has offered plenty of hints about his thinking. He's said he can easily name 12 to 15 women who meet his criteria, but would likely seriously consider anywhere from six to 11 candidates. He's given no indication of whether he'll look to the Senate, where he spent six terms, to governors or elsewhere.

Some Biden advisers said the campaign has heard from many Democrats who want a woman of color. Black women helped rescue Biden's campaign after an embarrassing start in predominately white Iowa and New Hampshire. Yet there's no firm agreement within the campaign that Biden must go that route.

The best thing you can do for all segments of the population is to win, said Biden's campaign co-chairman Cedric Richmond, a Louisiana congressman and former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

He has shown a commitment to diversity from the beginning. But this has to be based on, like the VP says, who he trusts.

Biden has regularly praised California Sen. Kamala Harris, a former rival who endorsed him in March and campaigned for him. When she introduced him at a fundraiser this week, Biden did little to tamp down speculation about her prospects.

I'm coming for you, kid, he said.

He's also spoken positively of Stacey Abrams, who narrowly missed becoming the first African American female governor in U.S. history when she lost the 2018 Georgia governor's race.

Yet those two women highlight Biden's tightrope. At 55, Harris is talented and popular with Democratic donors, a valuable commodity for a nominee with a fundraising weakness.

But she's also a former prosecutor who faces the same skepticism among progressives as Biden. Meanwhile, her home state is already firmly in the Democratic column and could make her an easy target for Republicans eager to blast the party as too liberal.

Abrams, 46, is a star for many younger Democrats, a group Biden struggled to win over in the primary. And she could help turn Georgia into a genuine swing state. But the highest post she's ever held is minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, a possible vulnerability in a time of crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) is routing the health systems and economies of technologically advanced countries generally considered to have robust health systems with universal health care access. Indeed, the WHO has expressed justifiable concern over the [inadequate] preparedness of African countries to handle any explosion of Covid-19 cases if the crisis that has beset countries like Italy and the US are any indication of what is to come. The WHOs fears are not trivial.



They are aware that the patient /doctor ratio is about 1 per 8000 Ghanaians (in the UER it is 1 per 25,000). By contrast, Italy has 3.6 doctors per 1000 people and 6.4 nurses per 1000. The WHO standard is 1 to 1320. While the global north is well-resourced in infrastructure for health research and health delivery, Africa particularly suffers a chronic shortage on both counts. There are only few laboratories in Ghana currently conducting the tests to confirm COVID-19 cases.



It is instructive that we owe the two top-tier laboratories to Japan and Germany. In this crisis, early and mass testing have been critical to success in fighting the virus. The South Koreans credit their ability to quell Covid-19 to the decision to begin mass testing for the virus, which enabled them to get ahead of the pandemic.



Their success is brought into sharp relief by the results in the US which recorded their first case on the same day as South Korea but did not start testing early enough and now lead the world in total number of infections.



While the request for ventilators is being expressed in tens of thousands in the developed world, we are assured that we have 200 to 400 spanking new ones for a population of 30 million. Field

experts maintain that these ventilators are the ones fitted in the ambulances recently acquired

by government and are reported to run on batteries. They cannot therefore be used for prolonged

periods.





SDD will like to commend government and stakeholder efforts thus far even with the knowledge

that much more work is required. We may very well be headed for a humanitarian crisis if we do

not adhere to social distancing strictures, which in the absence of a vaccine, is our best hope of

tapering the steep rise in cases, allowing health systems and personnel some breathing room to

catch up.



While lockdowns in the developed world have been instituted and enforced with ease (with notable exceptions in the US), already, it is becoming clear that lockdowns in the 3rd world are not such a practical matter.



There is no one size fit all strategy for dealing with this pandemic. Each country ought to adopt measures based on their unique context realities. For example given the polarised nature of our space economy, a total lockdown of Accra, Tema and Kumasi, which hold the highest concentration of economic and governmental power, will only take a few days to manifest in a complete lockdown of Ghana. This is the spatial structure we have collectively built and nurtured for over 6 decades now and it is for the same socio-spatial realities that our approach to a lockdown thus far, may not have resembled the experiences of China or Italy. Mass education systems must therefore be deployed to adequately inform citizens of the uniqueness of this monster that confronts us. The world will recover from this pandemic, with near certainty of another pandemic within a few years or decades from now.



We can be better prepared next time with investment in our health evidence for change systems when that time comes. There has never been a more opportune time for the aggressive pursuit of ONE HEALTH, a concept that anticipates the need for a holistic approach to global health which rightly recognizes that humans, animals and the environment are intertwined and need to be considered together in any attempt to address health.



That means the collaborative work of human and veterinary health professionals conducting the necessary research and surveillance to prepare us for future outbreaks. An increase in investment in the health system should be considered non-negotiable now, and not just to fight Covid-19. As of March 2020, more than 30 deaths of Meningitis had been reported in the Upper West region of Ghana, with another 200 cases suspected. This should not be downplayed because coronavirus is what grabs attention now. A robust health system pays for itself in the long run when the greatest resource of the state, the people, are kept healthy

enough to pursue their full potential. SDD will like to remind government and other stakeholders that post COVID-19, there is the urgent need to prioritise social protection safety nets including leveraging on informal social protection systems to reduce protection risks for the vast majority of our people who are rarely captured by formal systems even in normal times. In conclusion, SDD urges all to strictly adhere to the safety protocols and preventive measures and to cooperate with the health and other lawful authorities to stem the tide. We will also use this opportunity to call on corporate bodies, civil society, traditional authorities and the media to enter into strategic partnerships with Government since public health is a collaborative endeavour.



Signed



Chentiba Ahmed Taufique







Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
JOHANNESBURG, April 10 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Executive Board has approved a disbursement of $147 million under its Rapid Financing Instrument to help Gabon confront the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fund said in a statement.

"In the short term, a temporary widening of the budget deficit is warranted to contain the virus outbreak and offset the social and economic impact of the pandemic," IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa said. (Reporting by Joe Bavier. Editing by Jane Merriman)
Shortcomings of the Conservatives plan for points-based immigration system exposed by COVID-19 crisis, opponents say.

London, United Kingdom  A move by the UK government to press ahead with its plan for a new post-Brexit points-based immigration system has been slammed by critics as out of date with the economic realities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

New guidance issued by the Home Office on Thursday clarifies officials plans  first revealed in February  for transforming the rules governing who can enter the country to work from the beginning of 2021.

The guidance for employers document reiterates that, under the new system, visas will be awarded to individuals on the basis of their specific skills, qualifications, salaries and shortage occupations.

This represents a significant change for employers in the UK, who will need to adapt, the Home Office document says.





The new system will treat EU and non-EU citizens equally and transform the way in which all migrants come to the UK to work, it adds.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has previously said the new immigration policy was aimed at attracting the brightest and the best to the UK.

However, under the plan, there will be no specific entry route into the country for so-called low-skilled workers  the likes of whom have been thrust to the front line of the coronavirus outbreak in recent weeks as delivery drivers, farm and supermarket workers, home-care assistants, hospital porters and cleaners.

The Home Office document says specific initiatives for National Health Service (NHS) workers are in the pipeline  as well as for scientists and graduates  with foreign nationals making up more than 13 percent of the NHS workforce.

But critics of the points-based scheme say it fails to account for the need for workers from abroad to fill essential jobs in an array of other sectors, and threatens to result in widespread staff shortages.

Moreover, they argue, the impact of coronavirus in revealing the critical importance of so-called low-skilled workers throughout the UK is reason enough for the entire plan to be scrapped.

200220051444757

It is becoming more and more apparent that the immigration system as it was designed and published weeks ago is just not fit for this economy, said Sophia Wolpers, a Brexit and immigration policy specialist at the not-for-profit business advocacy group London First.

The coronavirus crisis has shown how many of the roles deemed to be lower-skilled are vitally important to the UK economy as a whole, she added.

Citing the example of workers in the food processing and logistics industry, as well as the home-care sector, Wolpers said the deadly COVID-19 pandemic had put such positions value into the spotlight.

Foreign nationals currently make up about a sixth of Englands 840,000-strong care sector workforce, while some 20 percent of workers in the UKs agriculture sector come from overseas.

Right now they are the some of the ones working hardest to make sure we stay alive, Wolpers said.

So the Home Office publishing the guidelines for employers today is really putting the emphasis on how out of date their thinking is regarding what the economy really needs.

Tom Hadley, director of policy and campaigns at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, meanwhile, called for officials to rethink their plans and review what jobs are the most important in British society.

Its a good time to refresh the underlying assumptions that actually underpin a lot of the governments plan on immigration, Hadley said.

Its a blunt instrument to talk about the brightest and the best, he added.

From carers and cleaners to retail workers and drivers, the current crisis is showing us how much we depend on people at all skill levels.
Rajasthan reported 57 new Covid-19 positive cases on Friday  the maximum on a single day  as the overall count in the desert state rose to 520.

The states Covid-19 cases have been doubling rapidly. They first doubled from 100 to 200 cases in three days between April 1 and April 4. Later, they doubled again from 200 to 400 cases between April 4 and April 9.

Ramganj, a neighbourhood in Jaipur, has emerged as the Covid-19 hotspot in the state, as 15 cases have been reported over the past two weeks. Health workers have been collecting the swab samples of Ramganj residents during a door-to-door survey, said Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary, health department, Rajasthan. At least 50% of the infected people in Ramganj had attended Tablighi Jamaats international congregation held at Nizamuddin in Delhi between March 13 and 15, Singh said.

While 16 cases have been reported from Jaisalmer, which has seen a spike in Covid-19 positive cases since last week. Another eight cases have been reported from Pokhran  all of them had come in contact with Covid-19 positive patients. Also, eight evacuees from Iran, housed in the Army Wellness Centre in Jaisalmer, have tested Covid-19 positive.

Banswara, too, has seen a rapid rise in cases, as it has reported 12 new Covid-19 positive cases, who contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease, from other infected people, said Singh.

Jodhpur, which has reported eight Covid-19 positive cases, has emerged as another hotspot and all of them contracted the virus from previously infected people, Singh added. Jhalawar has reported three Covid-19 cases, whose infection pattern is also similar.

In Alwar, a man, who returned from Delhi, has tested Covid-19 positive.

In Bharatpur, a person got infected after coming in contact with an attendee of the Jamaat meet. Another person tested Covid-19 positive in Kota.

Rajasthan has tested 22,324 swab samples to date, of which 20,673 have tested negative and the reports of another 1,131 are pending. The state has reported seven Covid-19 related deaths until Thursday.
Antonio Guterres says unity and resolve from the UN Security Council would count for a lot.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned the UN Security Council that the coronavirus pandemic threatens international peace and security  potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease.

Guterres, who called for a ceasefire in all global conflicts on March 23, said the coronavirus pandemic had hindered all regional, national and international conflict resolution efforts exactly when they are needed most.

A signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for a lot at this anxious time, Guterres told the divided body holding its first meeting on the crisis.

The engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guterres added.

He cited other pressing risks to global security from the pandemic: armed groups seeing an opportunity to strike, potentially with a biological attack; the erosion of trust in public institutions; economic instability; political tensions from postponing elections; uncertainty sparking further division and turmoil in some countries; and COVID-19 triggering or exacerbating various human rights challenges.

The meeting of the 15-member Security Council was held behind closed doors by video conference, but the UN released a copy of the secretary-generals remarks.

Not time for contests

Belgiums UN Ambassador Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve said even though the press statement from the council was very minimal, it was an expression of support for the secretary-general and his call for peace. And thats the most important thing at this stage.

He and other council members stressed the importance of unity, but differences were still evident.

Russias UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the fight against COVID-19 is warfare against an invisible enemy.

To win against it and to overcome its consequences we need also to overcome our prejudices, phobias, hatreds, distrust, suspicions, he said.

Its not the time for contests  who did what and who was more successful than others. Its not the time for blaming and finger-pointing. Its time to help, to share experiences, and to listen to each other and find ways to work together.

200402164218402

US Ambassador Kelly Craft also stressed the challenge of COVID-19 requires global action, international solidarity, and unity of purpose.

She made no mention of China, although she did implicitly address US concerns about the information it has provided about the coronavirus, saying: The United States reiterates today the need for complete transparency and the timely sharing of public health data and information within the international community.

Chinas UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said the pandemic shows that people of the world live in a global village and have a shared future.

He said even though China faces risks of rebound and imported cases, it has provided support in various forms to more than 100 nations.

Zhang didnt mention the US but was clearly referring to the Trump administration when he said: To overcome this global challenge, solidarity, cooperation, mutual support and assistance is what we need, while beggar-thy-neighbour or scapegoating will lead us nowhere.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has assured India of $2.2 billion (Rs 16,500 crore) in support to fight the coronavirus pandemic. ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa on Friday spoke to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and assured her of the assistance.

Asakawa also applauded India's response to the pandemic, including the tax and other relief measures undertaken by the government.

"ADB is committed to supporting India's emergency needs. We are now preparing $2.2 billion in immediate assistance to the health sector and to help alleviate the economic impact of the pandemic on the poor; informal workers; micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; and the financial sector," Asakawa said as mentioned in a report in PTI.

Also read: India Coronavirus live updates: PM Modi to hold virtual meet with CMs on April 11; country's death toll at 199

Asakawa said that the bank is engaged with the private sector to meet the financing needs during the coronavirus outbreak.

He said that ADB's assistance to India will be increased if required. "We will consider all financing options available with us to meet India's needs, including emergency assistance, policy-based loans, and budget support to facilitate swift disbursement of ADB funds," he added.

Asakawa believes that the government's policy measures will provide much-needed relief to the vulnerable as well as the businesses and pave the way to recover faster.

ADB had announced a $6.5 billion package for developing member countries, including India, last month. ADB said that it is ready to provide further financial assistance as well as offer policy advice.

Also read: Coronavirus: ICMR urges containment in 36 districts, hints community transmission

Also read: Coronavirus impact: Can India afford to export Hydroxychloroquine?

INDIA CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: BusinessToday.In brings you a daily tracker as coronavirus cases continue to spread. Here is the state-wise data on total cases, fatalities and recoveries in one comprehensive graphic.
State police arrested and charged three teenagers with throwing a cinderblock off an overpass that injured a truck driver on the New Jersey Turnpike last month.

State Police charged a 17-year-old male from Elmer, a 16-year-old male from Penns Grove, and a 16-year-old male from Pittsgrove with aggravated assault, criminal mischief, and disorderly conduct on Friday, police said.

The incident happened on March 26, when a 18-wheeler driven by Dennis Gilbert, 37, of Piscataway, was traveling north on the Turnpike and was struck by a cinderblock at an overpass in Carneys Point.

Im glad to know theyve been caught, Gilbert said Friday. Im grateful and appreciate the State Police and local police doing their due diligence.

Gilbert told NJ Advance Media that he originally thought he hit a car after the cinderblock hit his truck.

I thought I hit a car in the slow lane, because I was looking up at the people on the overpass, he recalled. I got a face full of glass. I couldnt see anything. My whole face was bleeding.

After the block hit Gilberts truck, it bounced off and smashed another truckers windshield. That driver, who was not injured, pulled over to help Gilbert, who was disoriented.

He blocked traffic so that I didnt get hit, Gilbert said.

Emergency responders told Gilbert they could see the glass in his eyes and took him to Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pennsylvania. Gilbert credits an exterior metal sun visor over the top portion of the windshield with preventing more serious injury.

If not for that visor, it would have been a different outcome, he said. Im lucky I didnt have another driver with me.

Two abrasions on his eye are still healing. Gilbert said his vision was blurry for about 2 weeks and his eye hurt at night. He is still under treatment.

Gilbert has returned to driving, but said he still feels some anxiety because of the incident.

Ive been in the truck one time since, doing same run, he said. When I got to the overpass, I took it easy, I almost came to a stop.

Detectives from State Police Troop D Criminal Investigation Office discovered a truck with blue roof lights was seen on the overpass before the incident. After a two-week investigation, State Police detectives and Carneys Point Police officers identified the owner of the truck and two other juvenile suspects.

Im worried they may get a slap on wrist - these are the two times they caught... other truckers said they had similar incidents where it didnt break a window," Gilbert said.

So far, medical and repair bills have cost him $6,000, repairs to the truck were $5,500 alone and other medical bills are on the way, he said.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the juveniles will be processed at a later date, State Police said.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Iraqi President Barham Saleh nominated spy chief Mustafa Kadhemi on Thursday as the country's third prime minister-designate this year, moments after his predecessor ended his bid to form a government. Kadhemi, the 53-year-old head of the National Intelligence Service, has ascended to the role as Iraq faces a budget crisis brought on by the collapse in world oil prices and the spread of the novel coronavirus. "This is a huge responsibility, and a difficult task," Saleh said in his nominating speech, describing Kadhemi as someone with integrity and reason. His nomination was attended by ministers, political rivals and even the United Nations' representative in Iraq, indicating widespread support for Kadhemi that neither of the previous PM-designates had enjoyed. Moments before the ceremony, his predecessor Adnan Zurfi announced he was withdrawing his candidacy due to "internal and external reasons," without elaborating. Zurfi had been staunchly opposed by hardline Shiite factions with close ties to Iran, which enjoys vast political and military influence in Baghdad. Any candidate for the premiership, observers say, must have approval from Iraq's Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni communities -- as well as Iran and its rival, the US. - Balancing Iran, US support - Kadhemi was able to secure that support after weeks of lobbying that peaked in a flurry of meetings in Baghdad over the last week, sources close to him told AFP. Among them were gatherings attended by Iranian General Ismail Qaani, who has headed Iran's powerful Quds Force foreign operations unit since a US drone strike in Baghdad killed his predecessor Qasem Soleimani in January. One hardline Iraqi faction accused Kadhemi of conspiring with Washington to carry out the strike, but the spy chief was able to repair his ties to Iran, several political sources close to the talks told AFP. "Kadhemi recently travelled to Beirut to overcome this obstacle," said one source close to Lebanon's pro-Iran movement Hezbollah. That paved the way for Qaani to endorse Kadhemi in his meetings with top Iraqi Shiite leaders in Baghdad last week, a second source confirmed. Iraq has long feared being caught in spiralling tensions between Iran and the United States, which has blamed the Islamic republic and its allies for dozens of rocket attacks on American troops and citizens in Iraq in recent months. Washington has also imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, granting Iraq a series of temporary waivers to allow it to keep importing vital Iranian gas to feed its dilapidated power grid. The latest waiver will expire in late April. David Schenker, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, accused Iran of still "trying to influence and interfere in the Iraqi political process" and called Zurfi's failure "a sad defeat." He signalled support for Kadhemi, calling him "competent" and an "Iraqi patriot." "If Kadhemi is an Iraqi nationalist dedicated to pursuing a sovereign Iraq, if he is committed to fighting corruption, this will be great for Iraq and this will be great for our bilateral relations," Schenker told reporters in Washington. - Third time's the charm? - With ties to both Washington and Tehran, and particularly close links to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Kadhemi may be best equipped to steer Iraq through the brewing political storm, observers say. "It's a win for Iraq, especially in this difficult economic phase, as he could ensure the renewal of Baghdad's waiver to the US sanctions imposed on Iran," a senior political figure in the Iraqi capital told AFP. But first, he must submit a cabinet lineup to Iraq's 329-member parliament for a vote of confidence by May 9. That will require a long process of consultations with various political parties, as top positions in Iraq's sectarian power-sharing system are typically doled out through horsetrading and consensus. Neither of the previous candidates for prime minister -- Zurfi or former communications minister Mohammad Allawi -- had been able to reach that step. If he succeeds, Kadhemi would replace Iraq's caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi, who came into power in 2018 when political blocs opted for him over Kadhemi. Abdel Mahdi resigned in December following months of anti-government protests, becoming the first prime minister in the country's post-2003 order to step down. But if the intel leader fails, political sources close to the talks told AFP, Shiite blocs would struggle to find another consensus candidate -- leaving Abdel Mahdi in place for the foreseeable future.
According to the Union Health Ministry, a total of 6,761 cases have been reported from India so far. These include 6,039 active cases, 516 cured/discharged/migrated and 206 deaths.

Globally, the number of confirmed cases has crossed 1.6 million and the death toll is nearing the 98,000 mark, as per the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.

The United States continues to report the largest number of cases, accounting for nearly 30 percent of all COVID-19 positive cases across the globe.

Here are the top developments from today:

# Punjab extended the current lockdown for another 21 days till May 1. It became the second state after Odisha to have done so. The Punjab government also made it mandatory to wear masks in public places.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

# The number of cases in Mumbai continued to soar and is close to breaching the 1000-mark. The death toll in the financial capital of India stands at 64.

Read Also | Trace, test, seal, repeat: As cases rise, here's how India is dealing with coronavirus hotspots

# Rajasthan banned spitting in public places after chewing pan, tobacco and other products, under Section 2 of Rajasthan Epidemic Diseases Act, 1957. "Penal action will be taken against the violator under Section 188 of IPC," the order said.

# Union Health Ministry said that based on the samples collected and tested, the infection rate is not high, and that community transmission has yet not begun in India. But, it reiterated that all must remain alert and aware.

# Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers of all states on via video conference, where a call would be taken on whether the 21-day lockdown, ending next week, should be extended.

# British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was reported to be in very good spirits after he returned to a hospital ward from intensive care but his recovery is at an early stage, his spokesman said.

# New York reported a record death toll at 799.
Senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Friday alleged that the Wadhawan family, whose members were granted permission to travel to Mahabaleshwar despite the lockdown, has close ties with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and other leaders of the party.

DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, accused in Yes Bank and DHFL fraud cases, were given permission to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar along with others even when both Pune and Satara districts are sealed amid the ongoing lockdown for containing coronavirus.

Somaiya said there has to be "some political influence" behind IPS officer Amitabh Gupta's letter exempting the Wadhawans from the lockdown norms citing a family emergency.

He also demanded state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh's resignation over the issue.

However, the NCP trashed Somaiya's charges against the party leaders and derided him for being known for making "irresponsible" statements.

Talking to PTI, Somaiya said, "The closeness of Sharad Pawar and NCP leaders with Wadhawans is well-known. Anil Deshmukh should own up the responsibility and quit."



"There has to be some political influence behind Gupta's letter to allow passage of the Wadhawans to Mahableshwar during the lockdown," he added.

He also said that the government's action against Gupta, who has been sent on compulsory leave following the incident, was mere "window dressing".

Earlier in the day, Deshmukh announced that Gupta, who gave permission to the Wadhawans to travel to Mahabaleshwar, a popular hill station in Satara district, has been sent on compulsory leave. He said the decision has been taken after discussion with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Somaiya said that he has written to Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba demanding immediate dismissal of Gupta, "who described the Wadhawans as his friends" even as they have ignored the ED summons and against whom the CBI has issued non bailable warrant.

Somaiya said he has filed a criminal complaint against Gupta at Mulund Police Station against Gupta for protecting the Wadhwan brothers.

He demanded that the police file an FIR and arrest Gupta.

Maharashtra minister and NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik hit back at Somaiya over his remarks targeted at the party leaders.

"Somaiya has been talking a lot about the Wadhawan issue...we must all remember that Somaiya is known for his frivolous statements and was denied a candidature of his party for the same. One must not pay attention to his irresponsible, unsubstantiated talks," Malik said.

Malik praised Anil Deshmukh for promptly setting up an inquiry into the matter against Gupta for allowing the Wadhawans to travel.

Malik also said the BJP-led central government can probe into the matter as the IAS and IPS officers come under the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Maharashtra Housing Minister and NCP leader Jitendra Awhad said that Gupta had indeed issued the letter, but wondered how come party president Sharad Pawar's name was linked to the episode by the BJP.

"The BJP leadership knows they cannot do without taking Pawar Saheb's name. How is Pawar Saheb related to this? You (BJP leaders) have been doing this for the past 50 years," Awhad said.

The minister said the BJP should rather praise the Maha Vikas Aghadi government for taking quick steps to send Gupta on compulsory leave at 12 am "when the BJP leaders were fast asleep".

"This is such a strong government. He (Uddhav Thackeray) is our chief minister, while Pawar Saheb is our Bhishmacharya," Awhad said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.On March 5, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry signed into law a new bill that had two major effects: 1) It required all dancers at the city's various bikini and nude clubs to obtain official work identification cards before they would be allowed to dance, and 2) It raised the age at which women could get the dancer identification cards from 18 to 21. Both requirements were touted as necessary to make human trafficking at the clubs more difficult, and the new law, in its preamble, charged that "strip clubs are widely recognized as being a significant part of the sex trafficking network" and that trafficked women are often recruited to work in the clubsexcept that thus far, no dancers have been identified by police as having been trafficked, though two local women's organizations in the area claimed to have aided two allegedly trafficked dancers.

"This legislation is important because girls are being transported to Jacksonville because our city has had fewer restrictions," said Vicky Basra, president and CEO of the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center in Jacksonville, which advocates for young women and girls. "The legislation helps create some monitoring of underage trafficking that is rampant in strip clubs," Basra claimed.

But even before the businesses shut down in compliance with social distancing recommendations in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the new law made doing business much more difficult for the clubsand so a group of 12 clubs plus four dancers and would-be dancers hired prominent Florida-based First Amendment attorneys Gary Edinger and Jamie Benjamin to sueand what a lawsuit it is, running over 140 pages in length, not counting exhibits.

"The complaint is actually a couple of grievances rolled into one," Edinger told AVN. "It's against Jacksonville, Florida, which is a fairly unique jurisdiction for a couple of reasons. One is because it directly regulates and licenses bikini bars, and bikini bars themselves are not super common around the country. Nudity and alcohol in a lot of places is the norm, but Jacksonville specifically regulates them, so it's unique in that wayand while not quite unique in the state, Jacksonville really does pick on its adult clubs much more than the average jurisdiction."

Edinger's problems with Duval County, of which Jacksonville is the county seat, go back for at least 25 years, and he recalled a time about 16 years ago when police, in an unconstitutional abuse of their power, would come into the clubs and arrest every dancer in the placeeven women who had just arrived and were still in street clothes; they too would be taken to jail.

"So we sued on the theory that they were arrested for municipal violations, the lowest possible criminal charge, and no one ever went to jail; they just paid fines and went home," Edinger explained. "But every other person who was arrested or at least charged with a municipal violation had the opportunity to be ticketed; we call that 'notices to appear,' and so Jacksonville wasn't doing that, and so we sued and settled on a consent order that said dancers would be subject to getting ticketed like anyone else for a municipal violation.

"That changed last year, for some reason; we're not sure why," he continued. "So part of our complaint says, 'Wait a minute; we litigated this almost a generation ago; we actually have a federal consent order requiring the city to ticket instead of doing custodial arrests, and they just ignored the order, so that's part of the complaint. Another part has to do with the treatment of dancers during these most recent raids last year, and the two things that we're particularly complaining about are that the dancers that were arrested were not just taken downtown but they were put in leg chains, they were shackled, and that just doesn't happen. Every girl that got arrested was put in leg chains and led out that way, so that is unacceptable."

Another part of the complaint deals with the fact that the police entered the clubs without warrants to make arrestsanother constitutional violation.

"At one of the raids where they were arresting some of the performers, the dancers who were not suspected of having committed a crime were let into their locker room and not allowed to leave; they were detained for about two hours. You know, ladies detained for two hours eventually have to use the restroom, and they were not permitted to leave, and instead were forced to urinate in buckets and server basins in front of their fellow dancers and in front of the cops, so I'm told. One of the dancers who's a plaintiff in our case says that about 15 dancers were forced to urinate in public, so that's not acceptable."

But the major allegation in the lawsuit is a constitutional challenge to the ID card regimen. Edinger notes that as a rule, even though the dancers are considered independent contractors rather than employees, the clubs themselves maintain records as to each dancer's stage name and real name, as well as how to reach them if necessary: Addresses and phone numbers. But the lawsuit specifically attacks the fact that the police don't have the necessary procedures in place to make sure the dancers get licensed properly and quickly.

"With a typical fairly standard licensing provision, you know, a dancer will go in, make an application and immediately get a temporary or provisional license. That's the way it's done, and probably the way it would have to be done constitutionally," Edinger said. "That's not done in Jacksonville. It takes a while to process them; we don't know how long it's gonna take. The dancer ID card fee is very high: $150."

Part of the problems the Jacksonville clubs and dancers face is likely due to the fact that the city is both very religious and very conservative.

"The Baptist Church has an inordinate political influence there," Edinger noted, "and while this is north Florida, we call it 'south Georgia' basically; it's a very conservative community. But you know, there are conservative communities up in the panhandle and they don't treat adult businesses like that. Jacksonville is really its own thing. It's like they took it as a personal challenge to make as many constitutional errors as possible in as few words as possible, which explains why the complaint is so long: Because they just did everything wrong."

Possible evidence that the city has a (pardon the expression) hard-on for the clubs and dancers is the fact that Edinger won a similar case against the city back in 1999, in a case called Lady J Lingerie v. Jacksonville, where the city tried to zone out adult establishments by leaving just one area in which they could locate, and that only had room for two businesses. The city argued that another zone had space for more, but in order to locate there, a club would need an "an exception", which the court saw an the equivalent of a license to operate which had two major defects: the city had discretion whether to issue the exception, and had the power to sit on the application for an inordinate period of time. Edinger prevailed in that case, but sees echoes of it in the current dispute.

"I litigated Lady J Lingerie around the turn of the century, and so the city has apparently not learned its lesson and passed just a really bad law," he said. "So we're going after that, and the thinking was, as long as we're challenging the amendments they made to their Code, we should also go after a couple of portions of their Code that would not have merited an independent lawsuit but have been very annoying over the years. Examples would be, they used to cite managers fairly often, whenever a dancer was arrested. They'd say, well, the manager is responsible for the dancer's actions. It would be a vicarious criminal liability theory, which again we don't allow, and the cases say you're not supposed to charge managers just because they're in that role, hold that title.

"There were a number of things having to do with vicarious liability that are problematic, and then they have just a whole host of interesting little defects that we picked on in the complaint. One of the requirements, for instance, in the new dancer licensing is that the sheriff would have to evaluate citizenship, and for those who are not U.S. citizens, they'd have to prove they had a right to work in the states, and then if you employed a dancer who didn't have the right work papers, that's a second degree misdemeanor under this ordinance. That actually is preempted by federal immigration law, which says that you can require work papers because you're supposed to file I-9s for employees, but that's limited to employees, and that requirement can't be imposed on contractors, which the dancers all are. Also, the federal government says that you can have local licensing laws that punish on the basis of immigration status, but it can only be a suspension or revocation of the license; you can't impose a fine or criminal penalty."

What with the court system postponing much of its business in response to the pandemic lockdown, Edinger has no idea when the club/dancer lawsuit will go to trial, but he and his partner have filed for a temporary injunction to the new requirements, which he expects will be heard fairly quickly.

"We narrowed our challenges on the injunction just to the things that really made a difference and were time-sensitive," he explained, "so those mostly have to do with the new licensing requirement and also the arrest of dancers, so those are both really easy to present; they don't require much in the way of factsand with the dancer arrests, it's just plain in violation of the old consent order; that one's easy. And then the licensing issues are all facial constitutional challenges so they're easily presented by preliminary injunction, so I think we'll do well with that."

In the meanwhile, with all of the clubs closed due to the pandemic, even if the courts take a couple of weeks to consider the application for the preliminary injunction, they won't suffer much harm from the delay, though Edinger said he'd like to get the injunction in place as soon as possible for when the clubs can reopen and the dancers can once again legally ply their trade.

Pictured: Sinsations is one of the plaintiff clubs to this lawsuit
Australian MP Calls For Greater Protection Against Foreign Take Overs

We need to be constantly vigilant against threats to our sovereignty

An Australian MP is calling for greater protection of Australias assets and industries as concerns over foreign takeovers loom.

Andrew Hastie, Liberal MP and Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security told 2GB host Alan Jones that the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), who approves the sale of national assets to foreign investors, is well aware of the risk of predatory behaviour from Chinese companies that seek to purchase distressed Australian businesses and assets that have been impacted by the CCP virus, commonly known as the coronavirus, pandemic.

[T]hey often use activities that we consider benign, like foreign investment to advance their strategic aims and undermine our national interests. So we have to be on guard, Hastie said.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is reported to have expressed concern that Australian assets will end up in the hands of opportunistic foreign interests as more companies are expected to fold over the coming months, reported the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).

On March 27, Senator Pauline Hanson, who leads the nationalist One Nation Party, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison warning against international vultures and asked that he immediately suspend any sale approvals by FIRB.

The move came after Chinese-Australian companies were reported to have sent back bulk medical supplies to China. Concerns were raised on whether foreign companies will act in Australias national interest during the pandemic, reported SMH.

On March 29, Frydenberg announced changes to the foreign investment review framework by reducing the monetary screening thresholdstakeover thresholdfrom $1.2 billion to $ zero. Case processing times will also increase from 1 month to six months. The change will ensure that any overseas bid could be blocked after scrutiny by federal officials.

Without these changes, it is possible many normally viable Australian businesses would be sold to foreign interests without any government oversight, presenting risks to the national interest, the FIRB website states.

Previously, countries with free trade agreements would not trigger a FIRB review if the acquisition amount was below $1.2 billion.

Hastie commended Frydenbergs announcement.

[I]t means that were circling the wagons around Australian assets and industries, he said.

Weve been pivoting against China for the last three or four years; we introduced the Espionage foreign interference legislation, we banned Huawei from our future 5G network, weve closed our borders now, and these further changes are part of that pivot.

[W]e are recovering our sovereignty. And I think were doing things now from a position of strength.

Hastie, who has been an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said he is concerned that Australia has been too reliant on foreign countries for pharmaceuticals, fuel, and manufacturing.

We need to have a good conversation about strategic resilience  we need to look and think about how we make sure that were never so vulnerable again.

According to the FIRBs annual report (pdf), a total of 1,024 business applications worth $150.6 billion were approved in 201718. China was the second largest source country with an approved proposed investment worth $23.7 billion.

Epoch Times reporter Mimi Nguyen-Ly contributed to this report.
On April 9, the armed formations of the Russian Federation violated ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas 21 times.

The enemy used 120mm and 82mm mortars banned under the Minsk agreements, antitank missile system, weapons on infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers of different systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms to shell Ukrainian positions. Ukrainian soldiers used alert fire weapon firearms actively to stop enemy provocations and stabilize the situation, the press center of the JFO Headquarters reports.

Russian-occupation troops launched 11 attacks in the zone of action of tactical force East, firing 82mm mortars, automatic mounted grenade launchers and heavy machine guns on Ukrainian positions near Vodiane (94km south of Donetsk); mounted antitank grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and small arms  outside Krasnohorivka (21km west of Donetsk) and Novomykhailivka (28km south-west of Donetsk); grenade launchers of different systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms  near Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk); grenade launchers of different systems and heavy machine guns  in the area of Pyshchevyk (25km north-east of Mariupol); hand-held antitank grenade launchers and small arms  outside Starohnativka (51km south of Donetsk); small arms  near Bohdanivka (41km south-west of Donetsk).

In the zone of action of tactical force North, the armed formations of the Russian Federation launched ten attacks, using 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of different systems, and small arms to shell Ukrainian troops near Orikhove (57km north-west of Luhansk); 82mm mortars and automatic mounted grenade launchers  outside Khutir Vilnyi, Novoluhanske (53km north-east of Donetsk), Novooleksandrivka (65km west of Luhansk) and Popasna (69km west of Luhansk); weapons on infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers of different systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms  in the area of Krymske (42km north-west of Luhansk); antitank missile system  near Novhorodske (35km north of Donetsk).

One serviceman of the Joint Forces was killed and two more soldiers were wounded in the enemy shelling.

According to the preliminary data of the Joint Forces intelligence, one Russian invader was killed and another one was wounded on April 9.

Today, the armed formations of the Russian Federation have already launched two attacks on Ukrainian positions. No casualties among Ukrainian troops have been reported.

The situation in the JFO area remains controlled.

ol
"Long before COVID-19 ravaged the earth, there had already been a precipitous decline in the appeal of the American model," Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in Foreign Affairs this week. "The federal governments slow, incoherent, and all too often ineffective response to the pandemic will reinforce the already widespread view that the United States has lost its way." Unheeded warnings On January 30, Peter Navarro, Donald Trump's top trade adviser, wrote a memo warning that the coronavirus could create a pandemic. In late February, he wrote a second memo saying the virus could kill up to 2 million Americans.

Loading On the day Navarro sent his first memo, Trump was assuring Americans that everything would be fine. "We think we have it very well under control," the President said. A few days later Trump said the number of cases in the US would soon be "down to zero". As late as March 6, he was favourably comparing the coronavirus to the regular flu. Trump's relaxed rhetoric set the tone for Republican politicians and prominent media figures. It was not until March 17 that the President publicly grasped the seriousness of the virus, describing it as a highly contagious "invisible enemy" and announcing tough social distancing guidelines.

Loading At the state and local level, some leaders have been more proactive than others. San Francisco implemented a stay-at-home order on March 16. Despite being the country's second most densely-populated city, it has only recorded 10 deaths from the virus. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo didn't issue a similar order until a week later. The virus was already running rampant in his state, but that was only beginning to become clear. Testing failures The signature failure of the US response to the coronavirus was the slow rollout of mass testing. Because of technical glitches and bureaucratic bungling, the US was flying blind as the virus spread through the country in February and early March.

Instead of using a test developed by the World Health Organisation, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) opted to develop its own test. This wasn't particularly unusual. Its common for nations with strong scientific expertise to develop their own diagnostics. The CDC was indeed able to quickly develop a viable coronavirus test, but struggled to ramp up production. When it started sending out test kits to public health laboratories in early February, problems emerged immediately. Trial runs produced inconclusive results in more than half the labs, meaning the tests couldnt be relied upon. The CDC implemented a workaround solution, which required the labs to send tests back to the organisation's headquarters in Atlanta. This resulted in days-long delays. By mid-February, the nation was testing only about 100 samples per day. Top researchers at prestigious universities were also hindered in their efforts to roll out their own COVID-19 tests. On January 31 Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared the coronavirus a public health emergency. It was an important declaration but had unintended consequences.

Hospitals and private laboratories that usually face minimal federal regulation were now subject to new rules that required them to obtain permission from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before using their own tests. It wasn't until late February that the FDA relaxed its rules and allowed certain laboratories to develop and use their own tests before authorisation. A tale of two countries Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, right, helped make the case for a longer shutdown to US President Donald Trump. Credit:Bloomberg The testing failures in the US can be vividly seen by comparing it to South Korea. Both countries recorded their first case of COVID-19 on January 20.

By the middle of March, South Korea had conducted 290,000 coronavirus tests. At that time the US had only performed an estimated 60,000. The difference is even more damning when you take into account that the US population is seven times larger than South Korea's. Loading Asked about the testing shortage at a congressional hearing in March, Dr Anthony Fauci, the federal government's top infectious disease expert, said: "It is a failing, let's admit it." The pace of testing has increased dramatically over recent weeks. Around 100,000 people are now being tested each day. But the surge came too late to identify emerging hotspots such as New York. The Wild West

For frontline health workers in the US, the biggest concern during the pandemic has been the dire lack of personal protective equipment and ventilators. Hospital staff have held protests outside hospitals pleading for more protective gear. In New York, Broadway costume designers have been sewing masks to donate to hospital workers. Some nurses have been wearing bin bags over their scrubs, while doctors have resorted to wearing ski goggles. Skiers and snowboarders are asked to donate goggles for medical use outside a ski shop in Vermont. Credit:GogglesForDocs Countries around the world have struggled to secure medical supplies, but in the US the problem has been exacerbated by government failures. Trump was slow to invoke the Defence Production Act, a law that allows him to order private companies to manufacture supplies necessary for a national emergency.

An official jumped into her car and hit the highway carrying a cheque for $US3.5 million ($5.6 million). She and the ventilator supplier met in a McDonalds carpark and he was able to bank the cheque with 20 minutes to spare. And the lack of planning and co-ordination from the federal government has forced states to compete for vital supplies. This has driven up prices and led to what has been dubbed a "Wild West" environment for procurement. The Chicago Sun-Times reported on the remarkable example of officials in Illinois who tracked down a supply of 1.5 million N95 respirator masks in China through a middleman. One day before they expected to complete the purchase, the officials got a call from the supplier saying he had to get a cheque to the bank by 2pm that day or the deal was cancelled.

In order to meet the deadline, an official jumped into her car and hit the highway carrying a cheque for $US3.5 million ($5.6 million). She and the supplier met in a McDonalds carpark and he was able to bank the cheque with 20 minutes to spare. Never again Republican and Democratic politicians, who agree on little else, believe the pandemic has exposed America's over-reliance on foreign manufacturers for essential medical supplies. The US now imports half of its personal protective equipment from China and the figure for many vital pharmaceuticals is even higher. 'Never again should we rely on the rest of the world for our essential medicines and countermeasures.' Peter Navarro, Trump's trade adviser Chinese pharmaceutical companies supply an estimated 90 per cent of US antibiotics, vitamin C, ibuprofen and hydrocortisone.

"Never again should we rely on the rest of the world for our essential medicines and countermeasures," Navarro said last week. He has been pushing Trump to force government agencies to procure all of their medical supplies from US manufacturers. Last month Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democrat Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill that, if passed, will direct the Department of Defence to determine whether America's reliance on China for pharmaceuticals is a national security concern. A patient is transferred to a waiting ambulance in New York. Credit:AP Glimmers of hope Last week the White House projected that between 100,000 to 240,000 people could die from the virus in the US - a figure that stunned Americans.
(Corrects days in first and second paragraphs to Friday and Thursday respectively, not Saturday and Friday)

LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been able walk short distances as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery, his office said on Friday.

Johnson came out of intensive care on Thursday after three nights and is recovering on a hospital ward.

"The prime minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving," a Downing Street spokesman said.

"He has spoken to his doctors and thanks the whole clinical team for the incredible care he has received." (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
REDDING, Calif.  Its week four of Californias stay at home orders. During this time, the Redding Police Department says its seen a decrease in crime.

Chief Bill Schueller says from Marcg 19th to April 6th, crime has gone down by 17% and arrests dropped by 38% percent.

Our officers are exposed to a lot of different people and we just want to minimize that as much as possible, said Schueller. More people are staying at home so there's less people out and about and moving about.

But even though crime dropped here in Redding, Chief Schueller says there is a slight uptick in domestic violence calls. Schueller anticipates, the longer the stay at home order goes on the more calls they will receive.

Action News Now reached out to both Anderson Police and the Red Bluff Police Department to see they've seen a drop in crime, but have not yet heard back
WASHINGTON - The District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia on Thursday reported 53 additional coronavirus fatalities combined, another single-day record, as the region's leaders braced for the death toll to continue rising and confronted the disproportionate impact the pandemic was having on the area's black residents.

Officials again raised alarms that the worst has yet to come across the greater Washington region, making it more important for residents to practice social distancing to stave off a surge in infections that could overwhelm hospitals.

The region also saw jobless claims surge as the federal government reported that 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4.

The number of claims filed in D.C., Maryland and Virginia reached 272,559 during that time. Nonessential businesses have been closed in all three jurisdictions for three weeks as leaders scrambled to contain the spread of the virus.

Maryland, Virginia and D.C. now have 11,766 confirmed cases if covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and 280 deaths.

Experts say official tallies do not show a current snapshot of the virus's toll on communities. People infected today may not show symptoms for days and may take weeks to receive positive test results. Many will not be tested at all as health authorities and doctors prioritize tests for high-risk groups and first responders.

Authorities are monitoring the death counts to see if the region will turn into a hot spot like New York City or succeed in slowing the spread of the disease.

Virginia reported 34 fatalities Thursday morning - more than the previous six days combined. Officials said the single-day jump is partially because of delays in adding deaths at a Richmond-area long-term care facility.

Officials on Thursday reported the deaths of six more residents at the Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, the site of one of the deadliest outbreaks in the country, with 39 dead. Those victims are make up a large share of Virginia's 109 fatalities.

D.C. reported five new deaths, and Maryland reported 14. Neither marked a significant increase.

In a court filling Thursday, D.C. health officials announced a covid-19-related death of a 69-year-old patient at St. Elizabeths public psychiatric hospital. It is the first known death of a person at a city facility for the vulnerable.

Kenneth Ellison, who was admitted to the hospital in 1975 after being found not guilty by reason of insanity on rape and burglary charges, was found dead Thursday morning, a letter signed by a clinical administrator at the hospital said.

Ellison had been admitted to George Washington University Hospital on April 2 and tested positive for coronavirus, according to the letter. He was discharged to St. Elizabeths on April 3.

As of Wednesday, 29 St. Elizatbeths employees had tested positive and 73 were under quarantine, while 14 patients had tested positive and 142 were in isolation, according to city statistics.

District officials also reported that 22 residents of homeless shelters had tested positive for the novel coronavirus as of Wednesday. City officials said they were using three hotels as remote quarantine sites for nearly 150 people who lived at shelters.

Maryland on Thursday for the first time released racial demographics of its covid-19 cases and fatalities, confirming that black residents are disproportionately affected in all three jurisdictions.

Maryland is about 30% black, but African Americans made up half of the deaths and cases where race is known. That includes 55 of 103 fatalities where officials have demographic information.

Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, said the "data shows troubling disparities and points to a persistent public health challenge that we must address."

He did not directly answer a question during a virtual town hall on WJLA about how he would use the data to help African Americans.

States and localities across the country have seen similar racial disparities. Experts say it is a reflection of how generations of discrimination and income inequality have left African Americans more likely to have chronic medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to covid-19 and less likely to have access to health care.

Prince George's County, Maryland, Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat, said she was not surprised to learn that the novel coronavirus was disproportionately affecting African Americans, saying that health disparities are a reality that residents in the majority-black county experience every day.

"When we heard that the aggravating factors for the coronavirus included those with diabetes and high blood pressure and lung disease and kidney disease, I can tell you that our first reaction was, 'Oh my God, that is us,' " Alsobrooks, who is black, said at a Thursday news conference.

Prince George's leads Maryland in reported cases and fatalities, with the state Health Department reporting 1,476 cases and 35 deaths in the county as of Thursday morning.

In the cases where the race of the victim is known, 13 have been black and five white.

Rep. Anthony Brow, D-Md., whose district includes parts of Prince George's, said the data shows the need to steer more resources into black communities.

"Marginalized and vulnerable populations need more testing and doctors in these communities need more resources," Brown said in a statement. "We need to act now to ensure these disparities don't become worse during this public health crisis, and work to close these gaps moving forward."

In D.C., all five of the new victims disclosed Thursday are black. In a city that is less than 50% black, more than 60% of the 33 fatalities are African American.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said the disparities exposed by the pandemic show the urgent need to address inequality embedded in all aspects of American society.

"This is a question not just for the coronavirus, but this is a question that has plagued African Americans for decades if not centuries," Bowser said at a Thursday morning news conference.

"I think the larger question and the most important question is how do we look at the spotlight that this virus has put on these poor conditions and change our systems - our health-care systems, our food access systems, our housing systems, our education systems - to change the trajectory of African American health in our country," Bowser said.

In Virginia, officials know the race of about half of coronavirus cases and fatalities. In a state where about one-fifth of residents are black, African Americans make up 31% of coronavirus infections for which demographic data is available. Officials have not seen a similar disparity in deaths.

Fairfax County - Virginia's largest jurisdiction, with more than 1 million residents - has not reported covid-19 data by race.

Fairfax also reported 120 new infections Thursday, the highest single-day increase - which officials attributed to increased testing capacity. Virginia also disclosed the deaths of seven Fairfax residents, mostly elderly.

Officials in D.C., Maryland and Virginia said they are taking steps to gather more complete demographic data, including by requiring commercial labs and doctors to collect the information.

Some have invoked racial equity in calls to free inmates from incarceration.

Maryland Del. Jazz Lewis, D-Prince George's, said the coronavirus racial data provides further evidence for Hogan to release inmates from the state's prisons, where the inmate population is 70% black and at least 57 have tested positive for the virus.

"We cannot afford to overlook how densely populated our prisons are and how overwhelmingly black they are, to put it bluntly," Lewis said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and more than 40 other groups called Thursday for the swift release of any nonviolent inmates in the state's prisons and jails, and greater transparency from officials as the coronavirus spreads among incarcerated populations.

To date, 42 inmates and staff have tested positive for the coronavirus at Virginia prisons, according to the state Department of Corrections. Five inmates have been hospitalized.

Racial disparities are also apparent in unemployment claims.

A breakdown of census data and claims filed by county shows that at least 7% of Maryland's African American and 5% of its white workforce have filed for unemployment insurance.

In the Washington suburbs, at least 5% of the workforces in Prince George's and Montgomery counties filed for unemployment. Additional data obtained and analyzed by The Washington Post shows that while African Americans make up about 26% of Maryland's workforce, they filed 32% of unemployment claims.

In Montgomery, black residents make up at least 16% of the workforce and a quarter of unemployment claims.

- - -

The Washington Post's Gregory S. Schneider, Erin Cox, Rebecca Tan, Rachel Chason, Justin Moyer and Laura Vozzella contributed to this report.
Taiwan Hits Back at WHO Chief for Saying He Received 'Racist' Comments

Sputnik News

14:16 GMT 09.04.2020

Earlier, the World Health Organisation's chief claimed that he has been subject to racial abuse from Taiwanese officials.

Taiwan has rejected accusations made by the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in which he claimed that he had become a target of racial abuse from Taiwanese officials.

The country's foreign ministry has demanded an apology from Mr Tedros.

"Without having checked the facts, Tedros's unprovoked and untrue accusations not only differ from reality, they have also seriously harmed our government and our people... This kind of slander is extremely irresponsible," the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Earlier this week, the WHO chief, who is a former Ethiopian health and foreign minister, said that since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, he has been receiving death threats and was called a "negro".

"Abuses, or racist comments, giving me names, black or Negro. I'm proud of being black, proud of being Negro...I don't care, to be honest ... even death threats. I don't give a damn," Tedros said.

He added that the first attack came from Taiwan three months ago.

"We need to be honest. I will be straight today. From Taiwan," he said. "And Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry also, they know the campaign. They didn't disassociate themselves. They even started criticising me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didn't care," the WHO chief said.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen expressed "strong protest" against the allegation that Taiwan was behind the campaign of abuse.

Relations between Taiwan and the WHO have been tense since the coronavirus pandemic began, with Taipei complaining that the global health watchdog allegedly did not pass its data on the number of COVID-19 cases to other member states. The WHO responded by saying that it did not overlook Taiwan's contribution to the global fight against the disease.

Although the government of Taiwan was a founding member of the United Nations Organisation, in 1971 China took its seat in the body as well as in all subordinate organisations such as the WHO.

A Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A young art teacher from Chinas Shanxi Province was recently praised online for spending three months working on a detailed chalk rendition of a traditional masterpiece.

When Zhao Wenrui, an art teacher in Fanzhi County, decided to draw a chalk version of Along the River during the Qingming Festival he just wanted to do something interesting for his students, to surprise them when they cam e back from the coronavirus quarantine. He certainly didnt set out to use eight chalkboards side by side, five buckets of chalk and work on it for no less than three months, but then he found himself unable to ignore any of the details depicted in the treasured panoramic artwork.

Along the River during the Qingming Festival, a five-meter-long scroll depicting the Song Dynasty capital of Haifeng during the festival of Qingming, is sometimes referred to as Chinas Mona Lisa, and considered by many the most important artwork in the countrys history. The work has been copied several times, but the original is rarely displayed because it is extremely fragile, dating back to the 12th century.

Just like the original scroll, Zhao Wenruis 32-meter-long chalk replica features around 550 people (farmers from the countryside, boatmen, vendors, priests with long beards, etc), as well as dozens of animals, buildings, bridges, and the environment itself.

Zhao started off by outlining all the elements in the traditional painting with white chalk, and then using colored chalk to fill in the content and all the details. It was a laborious project that took him the better part of three months to complete, but his achievement has won him praises from all over China.



Unfortunately, unlike the real Along the River during the Qingming Festival, this chalk version will not be around for a thousand years, as the chalkboards will be cleaned as soon as the children come back to school and see their teachers artwork in person.
One key lesson is that government takes on a legal and ethical duty of care when it assumes responsibility for keeping child victims of abuse or neglect safe from harm. Simply stated, when an agency such as DCFS assumes custody of children, the state cannot later subject such children to further abuse or neglect within a deficient system of care, placing them at risk of harm in substandard foster care or institutional settings that cannot or will not meet their treatment and safety needs. Countless articles by Tribune reporters over the years have underscored the systemic failures to uphold this basic duty of care.
My husband and I have lived in Dearborn Heights for almost 30 years. I am the training officer with the James M. Hannan Division of the Sea Cadets.

My Husband is the executive officer and our son in-law is the Operations officer. We have kids ages 10-18 and from all over Dearborn Heights, Northville, Livonia, Plymouth and as far as Clawson and other groups such as the FC Sherman Division and the Great Lakes Division. They wanted to thank all the first responders for all that they are doing.

My son in-law put a short video together to say thank you.

Doreen Beagle
Under guidance from the citys mayor and board of health, the city of Salem announced an order Thursday night that requires the public to wear face coverings when entering essential businesses and housing and commercial residences with more than one unit.

The order is a step up from the state guidelines issued Friday, which recommend but do not mandate people in Massachusetts wear a face covering.

Mayor Kim Driscoll on Thursday night made the announcement, which will go into effect Sunday and is aimed at combating the spread of the coronavirus.

NEW RULES IN SALEM: Effective Sun, April 12th ALL members of the public entering grocery stores, pharmacies+other essential businesses must wear a cloth face covering, such as a fabric mask, scarf or bandana, over his or her nose and mouth. More info here: https://t.co/wLZUpGe0U2 pic.twitter.com/I4ABSDKUAM  Kim Driscoll (@MayorDriscoll) April 10, 2020

The order follows new guidelines from the Centers on Disease Control and Prevention and includes but is not limited to grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants and home improvement stores. The CDC originally said masks and face coverings were only required for people who were sick. Last week it expanded those guidelines to include anyone attending public gatherings such as shopping at an essential business.

The order in Salem says masks should be a cloth face covering, such as a fabric mask, scarf or bandana, asking residents to level medical-grade equipment for health care workers.

All customers entering an essential business must wear masks covering their mouth and nose. The order requires employees of essential businesses to wear masks covering their mouth and nose when interacting with the public at less than six feet of distance.

The order also requires essential businesses to designate an employee to ensure social distancing guidelines are being followed. It also prohibits businesses from using reusable bags and requires them to offer singe-use bags at no extra cost.

The announcement also banned ice cream trucks in the town amid the coronavirus pandemic. Ice cream shops are allowed to remain open, but most follow the other guidelines in the order.

Beyond essential businesses the order requires the public to wear masks covering their mouth and nose when entering both residential and commercial complexes that contain more than one unit.

On Thursday, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced the number of COVID-19 cases in the state increased by 2,151 to 18,941. DPH also announced 70 new deaths pushing the number of fatalities linked to the virus to more than 500 in the state.

Related Content:
The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has registered 50 cases of novel coronavirus among the crew, the armed forces ministry said Friday.

Three sailors had been evacuated from the vessel to hospital in the Mediterranean port of Toulon as a "precaution". However, none of the crew who tested positive for COVID-19 and remained on board have suffered "worsening health" so far, the ministry added in a statement.

The origin of the virus was not yet known but all crew were now wearing face masks.

The defence ministry announced Wednesday that France's aircraft carrier would be brought home early from a deployment in the Atlantic after some crew members showed virus symptoms.

Those with symptoms had been placed in isolation, but none had signs of serious illness, it said.

The ship, which can transport about 2,000 sailors, had been preparing to return to the Mediterranean.

"It was decided to bring forward its return to Toulon, initially scheduled for 23 April," the statement said. In the United States, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned last week after mishandling a coronavirus outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier.

Modly had removed the ship's captain, Brett Crozier, for writing a letter -- leaked to the media -- complaining of an uncontrolled virus outbreak among the Roosevelt's 4,800 crew and alleging the Pentagon was not paying adequate attention to it.

The Roosevelt has been docked for 11 days in Guam so the crew, with well over 100 confirmed coronavirus cases, can be tested and the vessel cleaned.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While the threat of novel coronavirus looms large in many communities, one thing that Perry area government leaders dont have to worry about, at least for the time being, is the closure of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant.

House Bill 6, signed into law on July 23 by Gov. Mike DeWine, provided financial subsidies to keep the Perry and Davis-Besse Nuclear Power plants open.

Perry Nuclear Power Plant, which employs more than 700 people, is located in North Perry Village. Davis-Besse is based in Oak Harbor Village in Ottawa County.

In March 2018, the owner of both plants, known then as FirstEnergy Solutions, announced that it would close both plants if subsidies were not approved. Nuclear plants have struggled in recent years to compete with the cost of inexpensive natural gas in a deregulated marketplace.

In addition, FirstEnergy Solutions filed for bankruptcy.

While H.B. 6 went into effect in October, it was announced on Feb. 27 that the former FirstEnergy Solutions, under the new name of Energy Harbor, emerged from bankruptcy.

With our industry-leading nuclear fleet focused on safe and resilient production of substantial carbon-free electricity, Energy Harbor is in an excellent industry position for a future focused on environmental, social and sustainability goals, Energy Harbor Executive Chairman John Kiani said in that same statement.

Perry area government leaders recently offered their views on how the Perry Nuclear Power Plant staying open will impact the future financial outlook for their respective towns or entities, as well as the community as a whole.

Perry Township

The power plant is the communitys largest employer and taxpayer, and its continued operation is crucial to all of Perry, said Township Trustee Rick Amos.

As important as the tax revenue (from the nuclear power plant) is to the two villages and Perry Township, the loss of revenue to the school district and our fire district would have been devastating to the Perry community, Amos said.

Under terms of House Bill 6, charges paid by residential, commercial and industrial customers on their electric bills will generate an estimated $170 million a year. Of that total, $150 million annually will go to the Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear power plants. The other $20 million is earmarked to support six solar energy projects in Ohio.

The nuclear plants will receive money between 2021 and 2027.

With the Perry Nuclear Power Plant securing added revenue from H.B. 6, Amos said theres hope that the viability and profitability of the plant will be enhanced. If that happens, Amos said it seems likely that the assessed public utility property tax valuation of the plant also should increase. That, in turn, would bolster the tax bases of Perry government entities.

While the Ohio House passed H.B. 6 last year, Perry Township voters in 2019 also approved a 2.9-mill, five-year additional levy that will generate $498,440 a year for township Road Department operations, services, equipment and materials.

If both proposals had been rejected, Amos said it would have created difficult financial conditions for the township.

Without the passage of our road levy and if we had also had ongoing losses to revenues we received from the power plant, essential services provided to township residents would have been significantly scaled back, he said.

Perry Schools

If the power plants assessed property tax valuation increases in the years to come, Perry Schools could see additional tax revenue, Superintendent Jack Thompson said.

Otherwise, local tax revenue from Perry Nuclear Power Plant will stay the same, he said.

House Bill 6, as enacted, states that the owner of a nuclear power plant may not value such a property at less than its taxable value at the effective date of this bill, according to a report by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.

Similarly, if the owner of such a facility petitions for a reassessment of their taxable value below its value as of the bills effective date, H.B. 6 prohibits the Tax Commissioner from granting such a reduction, the commissions report states.

Thompson said Perry Schools five-year financial forecast had the district entering into deficit spending even with the Perry Nuclear Power Plant staying open.

If the plant would have closed, the reduction of our cash balance would have likely been significantly accelerated, Thompson said. We have been making every effort to curb spending and be fiscally responsible for some time.

Perry Village

Over the next six years, House Bill 6 will stabilize property tax revenue that Perry government entities receive from the Perry Nuclear Power Plant, village Mayor James Gessic said.

He was referring to the part of the legislation that says the owners of nuclear plants cannot ask for these businesses to be reassessed at a taxable value lower than it was when H.B. 6 went into effect.

Since the question of whether the Perry Nuclear Power Plant will continue operations has been answered, it could help in attracting more new businesses to the Perry area, Gessic said.

The plant remaining open will have a positive impact on economic development because it lifted the unknown out of the equation, he said. The business world likes stability and the plant remaining open gives them that.

North Perry Village

Mayor Ed Klco did not respond to an emailed list of questions sent to the email address listed for him on the village website. These same questions were emailed to Amos, Thompson and Gessic.
A bipartisan group of the top US lawmakers have urged China to "urgently" shut down all of its operating wet markets, amid the coronavirus pandemic, that have a potential to expose humans to "health risks" through the introduction of zoonotic disease.

A wet market sells fresh meat, fish, produce, and other perishable goods as distinguished from "dry markets". It gets its name from the floors being constantly wet from the spraying of fresh produce and cleaning of meat and seafood stalls.

We write to urgently request that China immediately close all operating wet markets that have a potential to expose humans to health risks through the introduction of zoonotic disease into the human population, wrote the Senators, in a letter to Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai.

A zoonotic disease is an illness that can be passed from an animal to a human.

"It is well documented that wet markets in China have been the source of a number of worldwide health problems, and their operation should cease immediately so as to protect the Chinese people and the international community from additional health risks, they wrote.

"Therefore, we are urging China to shut down all wet markets that allow for interactions between humans and wild animals that pose public health risks," the lawmakers concluded.

Prominent among the group of 11 Senators were Republican Mitt Romney, Republican Lindsey Graham and Democratic Chris Coons.

"We understand and respect that wet markets are an important component to Chinese society and way of life, but we believe the current moment, which has disrupted everyday life around the world, calls for extreme precautions."



Gao Fu, the director of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has acknowledged that the origin of the new coronavirus is the wildlife sold illegally in a Wuhan (China) seafood market, they said.

A wet market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan is believed to be the source of the coronavirus pandemic that began in December last year, crossing from animals to humans.

Last week, China published an official timeline that said that the novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in late December where it was listed as "pneumonia of unknown cause".

The letter of the Senators comes after Dr Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health, called for the closing of these markets.

"They should shut down (wet markets) right away. I mean it boggles my mind when we have so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual human animal interface that we don't just shut it down. I don't know what else has to happen to get us to appreciate that," he said.

"And I think that there are certain countries in which this is very common place. I would like to see the rest of the world really lean with a lot of pressure on those countries that have that because what we are going through right now is a direct result of that," Fauci said.

In the October 2006 issue of Current Opinions in Infectious Diseases, it was found that in Chinese wet-markets, unique epicenters for transmission of potential viral pathogens, new genes may be acquired or existing genes modified through various mechanisms such as genetic reassortment, recombination and mutation.

The wet-markets, at closer proximity to humans, with high viral burden or strains of higher transmission efficiency, facilitate transmission of the viruses to humans.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, D, sued a Republican-controlled legislative council on Thursday after it revoked her executive order that limited church gatherings, marking the latest chapter in an escalating conflict between public health and religion during one of the holiest times of the year.

In a petition to the Kansas Supreme Court, Kelly asked the judges to resurrect her Tuesday executive order that limited religious gatherings and funerals to 10 people amid the covid-19 pandemic. She argued Wednesday's party-line vote revoking her order, by the seven-person Legislative Coordinating Council, was unconstitutional.

In an interview Thursday, Kelly called the vote "mind-blowing."

"This is a purely political move, one that I find incredibly unfortunate," she said. While the legislature as a whole has the authority to check her emergency powers, she argued, the seven-person council does not.

The rift between the governor and GOP legislative leaders caused mixed messages and confusion across the state this week, as thousands prepare to celebrate Easter while sticking to social distancing guidelines. In Kansas, which has more than 1,100 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, Kelly said the vast majority of churches have complied with the guidelines, offering virtual worship services instead. But a few have not, she said.

She made the decision Tuesday to extend a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people to churches after health officials learned that church events are responsible for three clusters pf coronavirus cases across the state. She stressed that the order limited but did not ban worship services.

But immediately, her order was met with stiff resistance from Republican lawmakers and law enforcement, setting up a battle over religious freedoms that has played out nationwide.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, R, advised police not to enforce it, writing in a memo Wednesday that the state Constitution "forbid[s] the governor from criminalizing participation in worship gatherings by executive order."

Meanwhile, Lee Norman, the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, urged residents to disregard the lawmakers after they voted to revoke Kelly's order. Norman - who has been likened to the Kansas equivalent of Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's top infectious-diseases expert - said he was "SO angry!" with the lawmakers.

"Whatever Kansas legislators do doesn't reverse what The Public needs to do," he wrote on Twitter. "Stay home so we can beat this scourge. Despite what the 'leaders' of the Legislature say. We are so close, and they are doing politics. . . . Shame!"

The Legislative Coordinating Council met this week in lieu of the full legislature, which has not been in session since mid-March because of the pandemic. At the heart of the legal case is whether the legislature can delegate its powers to revoke a governor's executive order to just seven people on the council. Kelly argues it's impossible, saying the legislature would need to pass a bill to change the law.

"What the LCC did yesterday in concert with the Kansas attorney general weakened and confused our emergency response efforts, putting every Kansan at risk," she said in announcing the lawsuit Thursday.

Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman, R, the chair of the council, told The Washington Post on Thursday night that no one on the legislative council was encouraging residents to attend church on Easter Sunday, and that he and fellow Republicans want everyone to stay home.

Kelly's order, he argued, is "good public policy - it's just not constitutional."

"We're not willing to have someone's religious beliefs threatened," he said. "I don't think they should be attending group services during this pandemic, but I'm also not willing to have them go to jail for doing so."

Ryckman said he and his Republican colleagues on the council would support Kelly's order if they had assurances that no one would face criminal penalties for violating it. But he said they haven't been able to reach a compromise with the governor.

Although many churches nationwide have embraced live-streaming or drive-in services, some holdouts have wrangled with law enforcement. On Palm Sunday, Georgia state troopers interrupted a church service attended by more than 30 parishioners, issuing citations for reckless conduct to several of them.

But the pastor said that won't stop them from holding services on Easter.

"If they have to write us a citation every Sunday and Wednesday night, we're willing to take it," Pastor Eli Porter Sr. said in a video on Facebook, 11 Alive News reported. "We're taking all citations."

At least two pastors have been criminally charged for continuing to hold large services in defiance of state or local orders, including Rodney Howard-Browne in Florida and Tony Spell in Louisiana. Spell has continued to defy calls to stop church services even after his arrest.

As The Washington Post has reported, public health authorities in other states have also traced clusters of coronavirus cases back to church services. The largest known so far is in Sacramento County, where members of the Bethany Slavic Missionary Church have tested positive for the virus, accounting for 18 percent of the county's cases.

Still, that hasn't been enough to deter some significantly smaller churches from holding services.

"If we stop all churches for this, what will be the next crisis that shuts the churches?" Pastor Dan Ostring of the Rivers of Living Water Church in Sacramento told The Post this month, adding that he would be more cautious if his church were larger. "We don't want anyone here to get sick. But we also do not want to violate our right to the free practice of religion."

In Kelly's lawsuit, the Kansas Supreme Court is expected to make an expedited ruling before Easter Sunday.
In the thick of the Coronavirus outbreak, the United Nations (UN) raised concerns over the far-reaching implications of the health crisis. In a statement, the UN warned of the possible upsurge by terrorists and terror groups. Reminding of the looming threat that terrorism poses, the UN further alerted of the possibility of a bioterrorist attack. In addition, the international body said that the crisis has hindered international, regional and national conflict resolution efforts when it was the most necessary.

"The threat of terrorism remains alive. Terrorist groups may see a window of opportunity to strike while the attention of most governments is turned towards the pandemic. The situation in the Sahel, where people face the double scourge of the virus and escalating terrorism, is of particular concern," the UN said.

READ| Taliban's Health Commission holds Coronavirus session as Afghanistan cases soar to 110

Terrorists group on Coronavirus

Both the Islamic State group and Al-Qaida see the coronavirus as a threat, but some of their fighters also see the upheaval from the pandemic as an opportunity to win over more supporters and strike harder than before. Messages from the Islamic extremist groups show concern about the virus mixed with bravado, asserting that it is punishment for non-Muslims while also urging followers to repent and take care of themselves.

Al Qaeda in a statement asked non-Muslims to use their time in quarantine to learn about Islam. But in a sharp commentary in its Al-Naba newsletter in mid-March, IS urged followers to show no mercy and launch attacks in this time of crisis. Both Al Qaeda and ISIS in their propaganda magazines have claimed that the Coronavirus is a result of god's wrath on the West. The Coronavirus recorded 1,603,428 cases on April 10 morning, 95,714 deaths and 356,440 recoveries.

READ| War-battered Yemen imposes curfew amid Coronavirus outbreak, releases low-risk prisoners

Taliban's advisory

Through its directive, the Taliban urged people to pray, and surprisingly, asked its fighters to follow the safety guidelines issued by health organisations and experts. "Coronavirus is a disease ordained by the almighty perhaps been sent because of the disobedience and sins of mankind or other reasons," the Taliban remarked. Further adding, "As per the directives of scholars- people should recite effective prayers."

ISIS' advisory

Through its weekly, the ISIS asked its fighters to "stay away from the land of the epidemic," with Europe being the epicenter of Coronavirus. Apart from urging its fighters to wash their hands, further elaborating, ISIS asked them to do so even if one wakes up in the middle of the night as one "does not know where his hand spent the night." "Cover their mouths when yawning and sneezing," the ISIS advisory added.

(With AP inputs)
Emerging concerns that common antihypertensive treatment approaches with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)  jointly known as renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors  may exert a negative effect in COVID-19 patients are not grounded in scientific evidence, as reported by researchers in a recent review article published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal.

The worldwide public health crisis due to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is considered the worst pandemic outbreak of modern times. Many health care systems around the world are overwhelmed by high numbers of patients requiring intensive care, especially those with hypertension and other underlying health conditions.

Interplay between the virus, receptors, and drugs

It is known that angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) acts as a homolog of ACE and a functional receptor for coronaviruses  including SARS-CoV-2. Although found in many organ systems throughout the human body, it is densely distributed in the lungs and on lymphocytes; hence, contributing to the prevalent lung involvement in COVID-19 (primary interstitial pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, and lymphopenia).

SARS-CoV-2 virus binding to ACE2 receptors on a human cell, the initial stage of COVID-19 infection, scientifically accurate 3D Illustration Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

Since the aforementioned enzyme converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II, and both ACEIs and ARBs are implicated in this pathway, many health care professionals were worried that these drugs might, in turn, increase susceptibility to the virus and, potentially, the severity of the disease.

However, several notable health organizations have swiftly published position papers stating that there is no appropriate evidence that would endorse changing the use of ACEIs or ARBs for managing elevated blood pressure in the context of COVID-19 treatment or avoidance

Continue without interruption  even with COVID-19

Along those lines, the recent article in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, authored by Dr. Fabian Sanchis-Gomar and his colleagues from the front lines of battling the infection in Italy, Spain and the United States, parses the evidence on the relationship between RAAS inhibitors and COVID-19 infection  and gives several important take-aways in the attempt to disentangle this controversy.

"In agreement with current guidelines, we recommend patients with hypertension should continue taking antihypertensive medications without interruption", says lead and corresponding author of the study Dr. Fabian Sanchis-Gomar from the University of Valencia Faculty of Medicine, INCLIVA Biomedical Research Institute in Valencia, and Stanford University School of Medicine in the United States.

As explained in the article, all the current evidence points to the conclusion that RAAS inhibitors substantially reduce mortality rates in cardiovascular disease and are actually fundamental for dealing not only with hypertension but also heart failure. Therefore, treatment with ACEIs or ARBs should be initiated or maintained in patients, regardless of COVID-19 status.

Moreover, because both ACEIs and ARBs are also given to slow down the progression of chronic kidney disease, study authors suggest that these recommendations can be extended to the use of the aforementioned agents in chronic kidney disease as well.

The early state of evidence

Even though no studies included in this review have demonstrated an increase in circulating levels or expression of ACE2, the authors of this review note that more research and evidence are necessary to elucidate the purported role of RAAS inhibitors for the treatment or disease prevention.

Dr. Carl J. Lavie, the study co-author from the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, Ochsner Clinical School of the University of Queensland School of Medicine in New Orleans (United States), further explains: "Angiotensin II is known to foster inflammation, oxygenation, vasoconstriction, and fibrosis, so it is quite conceivable that a pharmaceutical agent that can inhibit the production of this hormone could actually be very beneficial for preventing lung injury and also for systemic health. Certainly, it is premature right now to start these agents as a preventive measure for COVID-19 in patients with no other indicator for RAAS inhibitors. However, this is an active area for investigation."

"Given the equal efficacy but fewer adverse events, ARBs could potentially be a more favorable treatment option in COVID-19 patients at higher risk of developing severe forms of disease", the authors conclude in the study.

In any case, ongoing evaluation of the influence of ACEIs and ARBs on the course of COVID-19 will necessitate the analysis of larger data sets, linking their use with the acute lung injury/ARDS, as well as survival and mortality rates in patients with hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
Piramal Enterprises on Thursday said its board has accepted the resignation of SBI''s former chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya as an independent director of the company from 16 April, 2020

New Delhi: Piramal Enterprises on Thursday said its board has accepted the resignation of SBI''s former chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya as an independent director of the company from 16 April, 2020.

In her resignation letter, Bhattacharya has indicated that the reason for her resignation is her decision to accept a full-time role as Chairperson and CEO in another company and accordingly, she needs to discontinue her existing non-executive assignments, Piramal Enterprises said in a BSE filing.

" ... the Board accepted the resignation of Arundhati Bhattacharya and noted that she will step down as an independent director from the board of the company as well as its committees, from 16 April, 2020," it added.

She has also confirmed that there is no other reason other than that stated, Piramal Enterprises said.

"I wish to advise that I have decided to accept a full-time executive role as Chairperson & CEO for the India operation of Salesforce, a company headquartered in USA.

Accordingly the said company has asked me to discontinue my existing non-executive assignments. I sincerely regret that I will have to step down as non-executive Independent Director from the Board as well as from the committees of Piramal Board, from 16 April, 2020," Bhattacharya said in her resignation letter.

Shares of Piramal Enterprises closed at Rs 958.15 per scrip on the BSE, up 2.44 percent from its previous close.
As the third week of lockdown comes to an end, families across the UK are starting to suffer from cabin fever after spending so much time at home.

But not so for Earl Spencer, the younger brother of Princess Diana, who is happily wiling away the hours at Althorp House, his family seat in the Northamptonshire countryside.

Charles, 55, is isolating at the 90-room property, with his third wife, Karen, and their seven-year-old daughter Lady Charlotte Diana Spencer.

Earl Spencer, the younger brother of Princess Diana, is happily wiling away the hours at Althorp House, the family seat in Northamptonshire, as seen above in an Instagram snap

Charles, 55, is isolating at the 90-room property, with his third wife, Karen, and their seven-year-old daughter Lady Charlotte. Pictured, the couple at Harry and Meghan's wedding

While the house itself offers plenty of room to roam around, the family also has 550 acres of land to explore.

Earl Spencer's posts on Instagram and Twitter - where he boasts a combined 21,800 followers - show how he has been passing the time with early morning strolls.

One particularly peaceful clip captures the dawn chorus in the arboretum, which contains trees planted by Princess Diana and her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

On many of the walks he is accompanied by his two new cocker spaniel/patterdale terrier mix puppies, Rufus and Forager, who seem to have made themselves at home.

Earl Spencer is a fan of early morning walks on the estate. Last weekend he shared this stunning photo of The Falconry, a grade I-listed building in the Park

One particularly peaceful clip (above) captures the dawn chorus in the arboretum, which contains trees planted by Princess Diana and her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry

On many of the walks he is accompanied by his two new cocker spaniel/patterdale terrier mix puppies, Rufus and Forager, seen above, who seem to have made themselves at home

One photo shows Rufus curled up in Earl Spencer's lap as he edited his latest history book in one of Althorp's plush and inviting living rooms.

It is not just the dogs who are keeping the family company. There is a 350-strong herd of rare black fallow deer that call the Park home and share the land with sheep, which have welcomed lambs in recent weeks.

Posting last week, Earl Spencer wrote: 'New life appeared in the Park at @althorphouse in the past hour - twice over....'

Another video shared by Earl Spencer shows the puppies on their morning walk, pictured

It is not just the dogs who are keeping the family company. There is a 350-strong herd of rare black fallow deer that call the Park home and share the land with sheep, which have welcomed lambs in recent weeks. Above, Earl Spencer shared this Instagram photo of lambs last week

Earl Spencer inherited the family seat in Northamptonshire on the death of his father in 1992.

Althorp boasts 500 years worth of art and family relics and is the final resting place of Princess Diana.

Earl Spencer has previously said that the 20,000 annual visitors to the estate can be divided into two distinct groups - those who are interested in looking at the house, and others who come to pay their respects to his late sister.

Earl Spencer inherited the family seat in Northamptonshire on the death of his father in 1992. Pictured, the view on one of Earl Spencer's morning walks in the arboretum

Rufus and Forager the puppies are seen relaxing after a morning of 'puppy mayhem' at Althorp House. Earl Spencer shared this snap on Instagram earlier this week

The aristocrat made headlines last year when he revealed he is likely to follow the practice of male primogeniture, a custom in which titles, as well as stately homes, are inherited by the eldest son.

It means Althorp will likely be passed on to drama student Viscount Louis Spencer, 25, rather than to any of his three older daughters.

Earl Spencer has four children with his first wife, Lady Kitty Spencer, Lady Eliza Spencer, Lady Amelia Spencer, Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and two children with his second wife, Edmund Spencer and Lady Lara Spencer.
In the war against coronavirus, doctors and nurses do battle not only against the disease  they battle exhaustion, too.

Nurses meticulously take swabs at mobile testing sites and comfort those racked with fear. Doctors consult patients in triage tents via iPads. Emergency room nurses and doctors examine the critically ill patients. Support staff clear hallways and deliver coveted ventilators, tubing, and protective gear. And so it continues, hour after hour, day after day.

Those suffering need comfort. Many are dying  and dying alone. However, one thing is clear: precious lives are being saved by the hospital staff risking their own.

We go inside one Florida hospital to document these medical heroes doing everything they can to save people.

After comforting a woman she swabbed for COVID-19 testing, registered nurse Jenna Puckett takes a momentary rest before resuming testing at a mobile site in Cape Coral, Fla. "She was afraid and overwhelmed," Puckett said of the woman she tested. "She just needed someone to listen."

Above: After comforting a woman she swabbed for COVID-19 testing, registered nurse Jenna Puckett takes a momentary rest before resuming testing at a mobile site in Cape Coral, Fla. "She was afraid and overwhelmed," Puckett said of the woman she tested. "She just needed someone to listen."

Monitoring equipment cords from outside a COVID-19 patient's room are pushed under the door to Registered Nurse Aubry Sander in the intensive care unit at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. This is done to reduce the number of times a patient's door is opened and helps prevent cross-contamination.

Above: Monitoring equipment cords from outside a COVID-19 patient's room are pushed under the door to registered nurse Aubry Sander in the intensive care unit at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. This is done to reduce the number of times a patient's door is opened and helps prevent cross-contamination.

Physician assistant Allison Ridgway reads a COVID-19 patient's X-ray at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Florida. (Note: Portions of this image have been edited to remove patient information)

Above: Physician assistant Allison Ridgway reads a COVID-19 patient's X-ray at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. A portion of the image has been blurred to protect personal patient information.

Advance provider Brittiany Garrett listens intently to a coworkers question about a COVID-19 test sample at a mobile site in Fort Myers, Fla. The increasing number of people being tested requires nurses to pay extreme attention to detail when gathering and transporting test samples.

Above: Advance provider Brittiany Garrett listens intently to a coworkers question about a COVID-19 test sample at a mobile site in Fort Myers, Fla. The increasing number of people being tested requires nurses to pay extreme attention to detail when gathering and transporting test samples.

A patient with COVID-19 symptoms is prepared for admission by emergency room nurses at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla.

Above: A patient with COVID-19 symptoms is prepared for admission by emergency room nurses at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla.

Story continues

Registered Nurse Aubry Sander cares for a COVID-19 patient in a negative pressure room (NPR) at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. NPRs help prevent cross-contamination from room to room. The room's ventilation system generates pressure lower than the surroundings, allowing air to flow in but not out.

Above: Registered nurse Aubry Sander cares for a COVID-19 patient in a negative pressure room (NPR) at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. NPRs help prevent cross-contamination from room to room. The room's ventilation system generates pressure lower than of the surroundings, allowing air to flow in but not out.

"Yes. I will pray for you," Chaplin Michael Schorin tells a COVID-19 patient who requested spiritual comfort at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. Schorin says he's been praying a lot lately. "God hasn't forgotten you," Schorin told the patient before leaving.

Above: "Yes. I will pray for you," Chaplin Michael Schorin tells a COVID-19 patient who requested spiritual comfort at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. Schorin says he's been praying a lot lately. "God hasn't forgotten you," Schorin told the patient before leaving.

Emergency room nurse Tristan Manbevers checks in a woman complaining of COVID-19 symptoms at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla.

Above: Emergency room nurse Tristan Manbevers checks in a woman complaining of COVID-19 symptoms at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla.

Bags containing sterilized N95 masks await pick up by nurses and doctors at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. Masks can be recycled twice before they are thrown away.

Above: Bags containing sterilized N95 masks await pick up by nurses and doctors at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. Masks can be recycled twice before they are thrown away.

A triage tent to examine potential COVID-19 patients is set up outside Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, Fla. The tents help prevent the virus from spreading into the emergency room and main hospital.

Above: A triage tent to examine potential COVID-19 patients is set up outside Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, Fla. The tents help prevent the virus from spreading into the emergency room and main hospital.

Dr. Karen Calkins and Kathy Richards-Bessshare give COVID-19 testing updates on a conference call at a mobile testing site setup in a park in Cape Coral, Fla.

Above: Dr. Karen Calkins and Kathy Richards-Bessshare give COVID-19 testing updates on a conference call at a mobile testing site setup in a park in Cape Coral, Fla.

Nurses at a mobile testing site in Fort Myers, Florida, prepare a COVID-19 swab for testing.

Above: Nurses at a mobile testing site in Fort Myers, Fla., prepare a COVID-19 swab for testing.

Were saving everyone we can

As COVID-19 spreads across Southwest Florida, so does the courage of nurses, doctors and staff at Lee Health, the area's largest healthcare system.

They're fighting for the lives of loved ones, co-workers and friends infected by disease, which attacks the respiratory system without warning. It's like the wind  invisible, far-reaching, uncontrollable.

Inside the COVID intensive care unit it is surprisingly quiet. Only the hopeful whooshes of ventilators sound off in the negative-pressure rooms. Nurses monitor vitals, adjust fluids and carefully reposition patients. Outside the rooms, they turn their protective gear inside out and get back to the fight.

This war is ongoing. More than 15,000 confirmed cases in Florida alone, more than 300 deaths. This week, the U.S. surpassed 10,000 deaths.

How we did this project

In tents, emergency rooms and intensive care units, a war is taking place.

Visual journalist Kinfay Moroti, who photographed the Iraq War, now finds himself on the front lines in Southwest Florida, documenting the doctors, nurses and all who support them as they deploy everything they have against an invisible enemy  the novel coronavirus.

He gowned up, used his own N95 mask and spent several hours in the ICU observing these newfound soldiers to provide these moments exclusively to the USA TODAY NETWORK. They offer rare, unfettered access into one hospital systems battle against the odds.

2020. Photos by Kinfay Moroti/Special to USA TODAY.

Visual journalist Kinfay Moroti is a partner at the Southwest Florida Community Foundation in Fort Myers, Florida. Connect with him at 239-476-2080. Email: hi@hopefulimages.com. Facebook: Kinfay Moroti. Instagram: @Kinfay.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Photos inside a Florida hospital show doctors and nurses at work
She may have turned 50 earlier this year, but Melissa Doyle looks more youthful than ever.

The Channel Seven journalist showed off her age-defying looks in the early hours of Friday morning in a selfie shared to Instagram.

Having just finished filming an episode of Seven news program The Latest, Melissa once again turned the camera on herself.

What's her secret? She may have turned 50 earlier this year, but Channel Seven journalist Melissa Doyle looks more youthful than ever

'Survived the day! Thanks team,' she captioned the glamorous photo.

And fans couldn't help but gush over her ageless appearance, with many commenting how 'beautiful' she looked.

'You are one beautiful person Mel,' wrote one fan, while another added: 'Beautiful photo. You're looking lovely!'

Forever young: Fans couldn't help but gush over Melissa's ageless appearance, with many commenting how 'beautiful' she looked

One person called her 'absolutely stunning and hot', while another simply offered the hashtag, '#HotStuff'.

'Beautiful lady been a crush of mine for years!' gushed one admirer, while a second wrote, 'You're an extremely beautiful woman Mel'.

One person thought the TV stalwart looked slightly different but couldn't work out why, asking: 'You've changed? What is it?'

Making changes: In an interview with AWW in 2018, Melissa said she had realised after leaving Sunrise in 2013 that she needed to make some lifestyle changes. Pictured with David Koch

In an interview with The Australian Women's Weekly in 2018, Melissa said she had realised after leaving Sunrise in 2013 that she needed to make some lifestyle changes.

'I have noticed that I need to be a little kinder to myself, to listen to how I feel more,' she told the publication, adding that she'd recently lost 'a few kilos'.

'When I'm tired and running out of puff, I find I really need to be gentle, because I am all too aware I could fall over in a tired, messy heap and that won't do anyone any good, especially me and my family.'
Professor Jacob Plange-Rhule, the Rector of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in the early hours of Friday succumbed to complications from COVID-19, at the University of Ghana Medical Centre, where he had been on a short admission.



Dr Justice Yankson, the General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), confirming the news of his demise to the Ghana News Agency, however, explained that Prof Plange-Rhule had an underlying medical condition.



Dr Yankson said though Prof Plange-Rhule was diagnosed of Covid-19 in Ghana, it was difficult to tell whether he got infected in the line of duty or not.



The World Health Organisation said at a briefing on Friday that 10 per cent of health workers globally had been infected with the novel Coronavirus; and urged them to endeavour to protect themselves because of the general weaknesses in public healthcare.



Meanwhile, the news of Prof Plange-Rhules demise has been received with shock and sorrow by many Ghanaians, especially, the medical community with the outpouring of tributes honouring his huge contribution to professional development and his dedication to saving the sick.



Dr Ernest Yorke, the Greater Accra Chairman of the GMA sums it up: He was a teacher, who mentored many doctors, a passionate advocate of postgraduate education. Prof treated everyone fairly and was very liked by many. You left when we were in the middle of planning the 10th Anniversary of Fiesta. You will be sorely missed, RIP Prof. Jacob Plange-Rhule.



Prof. Plange-Rhule was a former President of the GMA as well as the Ghana Kidney Association.



He was recently the Head of the Department of Physiology of the School of Medical Sciences, Kumasi and a Consultant Physician in the Department of Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) where he started the Hypertension and Renal Clinic and oversaw its operations for the past 20 years.



He had also been the Head of Nephrology Services at the KATH prior to taking up the rector appointment. He had over two decades of experience in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.



According to the online portal of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, he had his undergraduate medical training at the School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.



Subsequently, he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Renal Physiology from the Victorian University of Manchester, UK. Following that, he undertook his residency training in Internal Medicine.



He was a Fellow West Africa College of Physicians; Fellow Ghana College of Physicians and a Fellow Royal College of Physicians, London.



Prof Plange-Rhule had extensive experience in research, particularly, among populations of African origin, in the fields of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease epidemiology.



He engaged in several internationally funded research projects and published extensively in these areas.



He also contributed chapters to two books.







Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Turkish exports boom in first quarter, but slowdown expected

10 April 2020

Turkeys cement sector exports increased by 54 per cent in the first three months of 2020, according to a statement by the Turkish Cement Manufacturers' Association (TCMB).

The association has released data on the sectors March-end export figures and the production figures from January.

Accordingly, the Turkish cement sectors production increased by 31 per cent in January, reaching 3.6Mt.

In the first month of the year, the domestic sales of the cement sector increased by 16.8 per cent compared with the same period of the previous year and reached 2.5Mt.

Total exports of the sector increased by 54 per cent in the first quarter of the year, while export revenue increased by 33 per cent, to reach USD276m (TL1.85bn).

In the same period, cement exports increased by 57.1 per cent to 3.8Mt while clinker exports increased by 51 per cent to 4.2Mt.

The highest export growth in terms of volume were to the United States and Ghana.

According to TCMB Chairman Tamer Saka, while the Turkish cement industry had started well in 2020 after 2019, when it contracted by about 30 per cent, he expected a decrease in the coming period due to the new coronavirus pandemic that has halted businesses and exports worldwide.

Published under
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 09:30 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0f7d25 1 World COVID-19,aid,Foreign-Minister-Retno-Marsudi,Foreign-Ministry,international-cooperation Free

The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Indonesia had received 58 international aid packages for COVID-19 relief. They came from foreign governments, international organizations, NGOs and the private sector.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said that nine of the aid packages had come from foreign governments, 42 from NGOs and the private sector and seven from international organizations.

The governments of China, Japan, the United States, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates have sent aid, Retno said at a virtual press briefing in Jakarta on Thursday.

The seven international organizations that have given aid packages to Indonesia are the World Health Organization, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Global Fund, and UNICEF.

In addition, Indonesia has received 42 assistance packages from NGOs and private enterprises in nine countries, namely China, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, France, Russia, Germany, Japan and Sweden.

Read also: Public health and Indonesia's foreign policy in time of coronavirus

Most of the aid is in the form of masks, rapid testing kits and personal protective equipment, Retno said.

The Foreign Ministry said it would prioritize seven kinds of medical equipment to be accepted, namely personal protective equipment, N95 and surgical masks, rapid testing kits, virus transfer media (Dacron swabs), ventilators, RT-PCR with reagent and thermometers (infrared and thermal).

Amid this pandemic, Indonesias diplomacy will continue with two main focuses, namely citizen protection and international cooperation facilitation, Retno said.

Although every country, she added, was busy with their domestic affairs, especially in addressing the spread of COVID-19, the spirit of collaboration remained.

It is the spirit that can help us fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Retno said.

According to the WHO, the pandemic has spread to 211 territories around the world. As of Wednesday, more than 1.3 million cases have been confirmed with nearly 80,000 deaths.
Hong Kong: Easter social distancing urged

The Government today strongly urged people to reduce social contact during the four-day Easter holiday to protect their own health and that of their families and others.

It said the COVID-19 pandemic remains severe around the world. As of 10am today, the number of confirmed cases reported globally had exceeded 1.4 million.

Meanwhile, the number of local confirmed cases as at noon today reached 974 including one probable case, a drastic increase from the 454 confirmed cases a fortnight ago. Many of them were locally acquired infections without a travel history.

Hong Kong remains under a public health emergency situation.

To reduce the chance of coming into contact with infected people who may not present any symptoms and minimise the risk of outbreak clusters emerging in the community, people should stay at home as far as possible.

They should also stay away from crowded places, maintain an appropriate social distance from other people and avoid shaking hands in their daily lives. Meal gatherings or banquets should also be avoided.

Any unnecessary meetings should be postponed or held using video conferencing or other remote communication technologies.

With the aim of reducing social contact, the Government has put in place laws to regulate the business and operation of catering businesses and premises with a relatively high risk of spreading the virus, as well as prohibit group gatherings of more than four people in public places.

The enforcement agencies will conduct inspections and take enforcement action at various public places as usual during the public holiday.

As at midnight, the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department and Police had initiated three prosecutions to premises suspected of contravening the directions relating to the catering business.

On group gatherings in public places, Police had issued 25 fixed penalty tickets to people who had violated the regulation.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-09. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Apostle Dr. Ernest N. Adulai, Senior Pastor of the Revival Assemblies of God Church in Hohoe has called on government to support media practitioners in the fight against coronavirus.



It is rather unfortunate that with all that is happening, I have not seen much support for the media from government. They are key frontline workers and must not be sidelined, he stated.



Dr. Adulai said this when he presented a cheque for GH?700.00 to the Heritage FM Limited in Hohoe, a local radio station to support its operations.



He said the media continued to play vital roles as an arm of government in the decentralization of programmes and policies, including education and provision of information on COVID-19 and should be recognized in any plans drawn by government.



The Senior Pastor also called on religious and corporate bodies to help support the media to operate adding that without the media, we will be in hot waters so we should not take them for granted at all.



Mr. Folley Frank, General Manager of Heritage FM Limited expressed gratitude to Dr. Adulai for the support and called for more support for media practitioners from organizations and government.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Kartik Aaryan is one actor who always acknowledges his fans in public and on social media. With the current state of lockdown in our country, the actor is missing his fans extremely but he makes sure he gets the much-needed love and affection virtually. Today the actor looks mighty impressed by an illustration made by a fan of him.

In the illustration, Kartik Aaryan is seen in his side profile and added vibrant colours to it. But what is special about the picture is the fact that a crown is attached to the picture which is almost left flying above his head. Kartik Aaryan soon reposted the click and captioned it saying, Even The Crown cant mess with The Hair. Now thats one hilarious caption to it. The heartthrob seems completely smitten by the picture, as he even made it his profile picture on Instagram.

Its a known fact that Kartik Aaryans signature messy-hairstyle has its separate fan base.

There is a popular hashtag as well on social media called, #HairLikeKartikAaryan, created by his fans. The actor takes pride in his hair which becomes the talk of the town often and has given a witty caption to the post where the fan is calling him the new Prince in tinsel town.

Well rightly so, Kartik Aaryan is unarguably the Prince of hearts and his recent acts in the wake of Coronavirus has further proved the fact. Right from his #CoronaStopKaroNa internet-breaking monologue to him contributing Rs 1 crore to the PM CARES Relief Funds, the hunk has made big moves to fight the pandemic and do his bit. Theres a reason why hes called the national crush and hes proved it time and again to us.


T he son of a doctor who died after contracting coronavirus has said he is proud of his father for warning the Government about shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS workers.

Consultant urologist Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, died on Wednesday night, more than two weeks after being taken to hospital on March 23.

Just five days before being admitted, the father-of-two wrote a Facebook post to Boris Johnson urging the prime minister to address shortages of PPE for health care workers.

Speaking on Friday, his son Intisar Chowdhury said his father was in "such pain" in hospital when he wrote the Facebook post.

He wrote that post while he was in that state, just because of how much he cared about his co-workers and the courage my dad had to point out something wrong that the Government was doing, which Im so proud to say that he was able to do," Mr Chowdhury told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Even in his state, he did that, and Im glad that even though I only found out about it yesterday, Im not surprised, I genuinely am not surprised, because he is a man of the people.

Dr Chowdhury died on Wednesday night, more than two weeks after being taken to hospital on March 23 / PA

Dr Chowdhurys son also cautioned that his father was unfortunately not going to be the last NHS frontline worker to die during the outbreak.

Im glad it is getting the attention now that it needs to protect NHS workers on the front line because it pains me to say that my father is not the first and he is unfortunately not going to be the last NHS frontline worker to die," he said.

If there is anything we can do to minimise that from happening as much as possible, thats all we need to do.

More than a dozen medics have died in the UK after contracting coronavirus while working in hospitals.

Clap For Carers Returns To The UK

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA), said it was so tragic that Dr Chowdhury had died after issuing a warning about a lack of PPE.

This is really tragic when you consider that many of these doctors, almost all of them, have come from overseas, they have given their lives to the NHS, to caring for patients and saving lives themselves, he told BBC Breakfaston Friday.

It is so tragic that this particular doctor warned about the risk of becoming infected through lack of protection and our hearts go out to him and all the other healthcare workers who are providing frontline care, over the past few weeks and over this coming Easter weekend and beyond.

The BMA last month sounded the alarm over gaps in PPE supply for frontline health workers, saying many hospitals and GP practices were facing "life-threatening shortages.

A report published earlier this week by The Guardian alleged medics were being being bullied and shamed into treating patients with Covid-19 despite not having the masks, gowns and eyewear they need to protect themselves from the virus.
On Feb. 28, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to create a new expert advisory committeethe Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threatsto serve as a focal point for discussions on how to integrate science into national preparedness and response decision-making, to explore lessons learned and best practices from previous preparedness and response efforts, and to consider strategies for addressing misinformation.

Advertisement

That new committee was organized quickly, and held its first (virtual) meeting on March 11. It is chaired by Harvey Fineberg, currently president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and president of the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) from 2002 to 2014. Fineberg is accompanied by 19 other experts with deep expertise in medicine and pandemic response, with backgrounds in the public and private sectors.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

So far, the NASEM committee has not come close to fulfilling its potential. In the 40 days since its creation, it has held one public meeting and responded publicly to just eight requests from the White House. The most recent request asked about virus survival in relation to temperature and humidity, and potential for seasonal reduction and resurgence of cases. The committee responded April 7 with a five-page survey of relevant literature that was ultimately equivocal in its conclusions. Other questions sent from the White House focused on survival of the virus on surfaces and possible genetic mutation of the virus.

Advertisement

Advertisement

These rather modest demands on the NASEM committee reflect a huge missed opportunity.

Just this week, a dispute spilled into the public over scientific evidence involving the efficacy of treatments advocated by President Donald Trump. The dispute pitted Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, against Peter Navarro, the White House director of trade and manufacturing policy. Navarro, an economist who is not on the task force, and Fauci, the only member of the task force who is not a political appointee, reportedly argued over the efficacy of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19, a drug that Trump has touted as a game changer.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The dispute quickly became reported as a matter of personalities and palace intrigue, potentially feeding into and amplifying the already highly politicized response to the pandemic. It doesnt have to be this way.

The Coronavirus Task Force is not an expert advisory body and should not be expected to arbitrate complex technical or scientific issues. However, the National Academies committee is just such an advisory body. It would be both straightforward and appropriate for the White House to ask the committee to render its judgment not only on the state of understanding related to hydroxychloroquine, but on every other potential treatment that is currently being researched.

Advertisement

Advertisement

That the White House has not asked for guidance on the hydroxychloroquine dispute is baffling; that it has consulted the expert committee only eight times since it was established even more so. Given how fast the pandemic is evolving, and the absolutely central role of data, models, and the wide range of newly produced medical, social, and policy research, one would think that the administration would view the committee as an essential resource in developing its strategy for fighting the pandemic.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Remarkably, the White House has projected as many as 240,000 deaths from COVID-19, but has not shared the scientific basis for the projection. According to a Washington Post article, Almost the entirety of what the public knows about the death projection was presented on a single slide at a briefing Tuesday from the White House coronavirus task force. A White House representative said the task force has not publicly released the models it drew from out of respect for the confidentiality of the modelers.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The United States presently lacks a centralized agency or advisory body to help policymakers understand the wide range of epidemiological models produced by state agencies, universities, and consultants, domestically and overseas. That means that policy is being made at the federal level and across the states based on a variety of no doubt sophisticated but uncoordinated and often opaque models. As a former official in the Obama administration observed, Its unclear exactly what the White House is doing on this front. As a result, you have every state trying to create their own models to anticipate their needs.

Advertisement

It would be straightforward and appropriate for the White House to ask the National Academies committee to catalog available models and to offer specific guidance on their use, especially on how officials in the federal government and across states might deal with the large uncertainties and areas of ignorance that are evolving every day. Such a shared body of knowledge would facilitate coordinated policy and planning, and also help build public trust through transparency in methods and evidence and openness about the limitations of knowledge.

Advertisement

Making better use of the committee would also help separate advice from decision-making. Currently, it appears that the Coronavirus Task Force presents evidence selectively to justify or defend the proposals of the day. In a democracy, elected officials have every right to pick and choose what evidence they rely on, but democratic accountability always works better when the public can see the evidence base that informs those choices.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The National Academies committee needs to up its game too. On March 21, the committee responded to a White House request about necessary data elements, sources of data, gaps in collection, and suggestions for data system design and integration to improve modeling and decision making for COVID-19 with what were mostly vague generalities rather than specific, policy-relevant guidance. For instance, the committee enumerated eight basic points of perspective such as utilizing existing databases and focusing on accessibility, usability, interoperability and scalability will lead more rapidly to functional data systems than attempting to build systems from scratch. That response is so general as to be useless.

The White House request on data would not have been difficult to answer with greater specificity. The committee should have identified specific data needed for improved modeling, exactly where that data could be found, what steps could be taken to collect missing data, and institutional alternatives for housing and sharing the data. In contrast, a British government pandemic modeling advisory committee in 2018 published a long list of variables for which data would need to be made available for real-time pandemic modeling. The United States also has many well-qualified experts who could assist the NAS committee to ensure that its answers are directly relevant to current policy.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

In the fullness of time, there will no doubt be many evaluations of the use, misuse, and nonuse of scientific expertise during the pandemic. But for now, the White House should immediately better use the experts that it has impaneled who are standing ready to advise policymakers, and when called on the NASEM experts need to provide advice that is directly useful to current policy needs. So far the role of expert advice in the U.S. governments response to the pandemic has fallen far short of its potential.

For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to this weeks episode of What Next: TBD.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Experts worry court closures and delays, necessitated by the coronavirus outbreak, could threaten rights of detainees.

As part of the emergency measures taken in response to the coronavirus outbreak, many courts across the world have been forced to close or to devise alternative ways of working.

In the UK, for example, the number of courts open to the public has been reduced, but courts are still proceeding with the most urgent cases, including certain custody hearings. Frances highest court has suspended most nonessential proceedings but is still hearing urgent criminal matters, including extraditions. Italys court system has shut down, and the Supreme Court suspended its activities under the broader government coronavirus lockdown.

Many countries are mitigating the effects of court closures by using technology, including electronic trials, to replace traditional court hearings.

According to legal commentator Paul Magrath, the Chinese court system, as the first to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak, was quick to adjust to online trials.

In the UK, the Supreme Court is conducting entire cases by video link for the first time in its history, while in India courts have not closed completely, but hearings have gradually shifted to electronic trials.

In the US, the approach adopted varies from state to state. The chief judge of New York state, Judge DiFiore, announced the postponement of all nonessential court functions and adopted a virtual court system.

Electronic trials have their own problems, however.

There is an overriding complication relating to public and press access [to digital trials], explained Jeremy Dein, a lawyer in London. Open justice is a cardinal feature of our system of criminal process, so this will somehow need to be addressed.

Ilias Bantekas, a professor of law at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar, suggested that a possible solution to avoid proceedings taking place behind closed doors, while general entry to the public in the courts may be restricted would be to give the public access through electronic platforms.

Justice ministers and chief justices have recognised the compelling reasons for court closures and changes to normal procedure. At the end of March, the Chief Justice of Singapore Sundaresh Menon explained: This collective challenge demands a collective response, which must begin with our willingness to adapt to change and pursue new solutions. The challenge for the Judiciary is to sustain our justice system while protecting court users, as far as possible, from the risk of transmission.

Soul-destroying waits

But fears still remain about the potential consequences for those awaiting trial, particularly those in pre-trial detention.

Gregoire Mangeat, a lawyer in Switzerland and former chairperson of the Geneva Bar Association, explained that suspending criminal cases could lead to a violation of fundamental rights.

The protection of the rights of accused people is one of the cornerstones of the human rights framework, said Wayne Jordash, an international criminal lawyer based in London, who worries that court closures remove essential protections for the accused, potentially leaving them in pre-trial detention for much longer than would usually be the case.

In Egypt, where all civil and criminal trials have been suspended, there are concerns that proper process is not being followed in terms of the renewal of detention, explained Hussein Baoumi, an Egypt researcher at Amnesty International.

There are widespread concerns about the impact of prolonged pre-trial detentions on the mental health of detainees.

Dr Paula Rothermel, a forensic psychologist practising in the UK, has had a number of clients in the past who have faced the uncertainty of trials being delayed  in some cases, for years. She described the impact on detainees as soul-destroying.

[The] uncertainty in itself is a traumatic event, she explained.

Prisoners have also had to cope with the cancellation of visits as a result of the pandemic. It is a hellish situation for detainees, said Dein.

One of the ways that England and Wales have responded to this is by providing 900 mobile phones to 55 prisons for prisoners to contact loved ones.

Many countries have also considered releasing some pre-trial detainees.

In India, where most courts have closed, the Supreme Court has intervened to release a large number of pre-trial detainees on bail, explained Anubha Rastogi, a lawyer in Mumbai. She described it as a positive move.

Dein believes that bail should be granted more widely in the UK, too.

But, even if it were, with so many people having been laid off as a result of coronavirus, the likelihood of detainees being able to pay it has decreased.

Bantekas suggested that one solution could be allowing those who are not repeat offenders to be subjected to house arrest and electronic tagging and other tracking devices rather than being kept in detention.

For Rothermel, alternative solutions to detention would be preferable for pre-trial detainees who are now experiencing the additional trauma of fear of catching the coronavirus in prison.

According to Baoumi, the principal difference between the circumstances of accused people in Egypt before the coronavirus pandemic and after the outbreak is that there is now considerably less oversight over prison conditions in the country. He believes the unhygienic and overcrowded conditions in Egyptian prisons provide a fertile soil for coronavirus.

Coronavirus in prisons

Fears that coronavirus could spread in prisons are all too real across the world.

Robert Katz, a lawyer in London who specialises in criminal cases, is concerned that a coronavirus outbreakin the countrys overcrowded prisons would be particularly serious because of the impossibility of physical distancing. As of Sunday, there were 88 reported cases of coronavirus across 29 UK prisons, and three deaths.

Efforts to maintain some degree of distancing has meant that many prisoners are being kept in their cells almost 24 hours a day and that, Katz said, is taking a huge psychological toll.

He believes subjecting a detainee to an overcrowded prison during the coronavirus crisis might constitute a breach of Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the articles pertaining to the protection of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or inhuman and degrading treatment.

Legal experts are also worried that the delay in hearing cases will add to an existing backlog in many countries.

In 2019, the UK had a backlog of 37,434 cases  something the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) has attributed to a cost-cutting reduction in court sitting days.

Clara Gerard-Rodriguez, a criminal lawyer in Paris, explains that 21,000 of the 70,000 people in prisons in France are awaiting trial. In France, too, there was a considerable backlog of cases before the coronavirus outbreak. Because of the understaffed and under-resourced courts, some cases were postponed for a year or more, Gerard-Rodriguez explained.

There are other reasons why delaying criminal trials can have adverse consequences for achieving justice. According to Joshua Rozenberg, a legal journalist and commentator, delays, generally, makes criminal trials more difficult. Memories fade over time and witnesses become unavailable, he said.

Then, of course, there is the matter of what delays mean for the victims of crime.

Carla Ferstmann, a senior lecturer at the University of Essex and former director of the victims rights organisation REDRESS, said: From a victims perspective the delay in trials can put victims at risk of further violence, particularly in the context of domestic or family violence where the victim and alleged perpetrator are living under the same roof.

When the world begins to emerge from the coronavirus crisis, it is likely that a legal one will be waiting. But how countries judicial systems will respond remains to be seen.

As for jury trials, an enormously complex scenario awaits once the coronavirus outbreak ends, said Dein. Cases are simply piling up. The courts will have to be used to their maximum once lockdown ends.
At a time when Madhya Pradesh is facing acute shortage of doctors, 50 doctors appointed on contractual basis at Jayarogya Hospital of Government Gajra Raja Medical College here resigned on Thursday.

Their resignations followed an order from state Medical Education Department seeking their consent for renewal of contract beyond three months. Of the 82 doctors on roll, 50 have resigned refusing the offer.



Dr. S.N. Iyenger, Dean Gaja Raja Medical College, said: "The contractual appointment was temporarily given for three months to 82 doctors who had completed MBBS and internship at Jairogya Hospital. A new order from the state government sought the doctors' consent for continuation of contractual appointment. 50 said they did not want to continue working."



Dr. Iyengar said these resignations have nothing to do with the order pertaining to enforcing Essential Services Maintenance Act that was invoked on Thursday.





He said one year's service is mandatory in government hospital as a medical officer after completion of the MBBS course and internship. A three-months temporary contract appointment was given to these doctors. Now while 32 of these doctors are still working. Currently patients suffering from corona are being treated at Jairogya Hospital and most of the doctors have been dedicated to corona cases.



One of the doctors on the condition of anonymity said that once they accepted the new contract, they would not be able to quit. ESMA could be a new deterrent. The scare of corona had forced them to rethink on continuation.
At a time when police are calling on all New Zealanders to be kind, they are starting to see an increase in family harm incidents.

And we know there could be more that arent being reported, says police assistant commissioner Sandra Venables.

Police is urging anyone with concerns or information about family harm in their community to get in touch as soon as they can, as level 4 restrictions bring new pressures to whanau and home environments.

We want everybody to know Police will continue to prioritise family harm incidents and we will come when you call, says Sandra.

Everybody deserves to be safe, and feel safe.

We realise this is a hard time for some families and we want them to know police are there for them.

We know that for some people, home right now may be an uncomfortable or scary place.

It may also be harder for some people to contact police or other agencies as they may not have easy access to a phone.

Let me be clear, if you are in immediate danger and you cannot call us on 111, leave your house and get out of harms way.

Your safety comes first.

Get to a safe distance and then ask a neighbour, or a passer-by, at a 2 metre distance, to call 111 for you.

We also urge neighbours and friends to contact police if they have concerns.

If you think somethings not right, it probably isnt.

Its okay to call police if youre worried about someone as they may not be able to speak up for themselves.

Its everybodys responsibility to help keep each other safe right now through this challenging time.

You could be saving a life.

We know there are also people out there who dont want to harm their loved ones but who are facing an internal struggle.

To them I say: please stay strong, please walk away and take a moment so you dont do something youll regret to someone you love.

You can reach out to us, or you can contact one of many support services listed on the Covid-19 website.

They are there to support every member of your family and whanau.

Polices Integrated Safety Response, Whangaia Nga Pa Harakeke, and Family Violence Inter Agency Responses are continually assessing risk and linking victims, perpetrators, families, and whanau to support services.

Our partners are a crucial part of supporting our communities and ensuring people get the help they need.

As part of the response in the Covid-19 environment police is part of a family harm and sexual violence pandemic working group, which is ensuring the right groups are connected and working together on monitoring and response.

Police has worked closely with Ministry of Social Development to ensure there is temporary accommodation for people under Police Safety Orders.

Police, the Joint Venture Business Unit, and MSD have also worked together to ensure 0800 Hey Bro, a number for men who feel theyre going to harm a loved one, has been able to operate nationally during COVID-19.

We know being around the same people 24/7 can be a challenge, and we know for some people this may make them fearful, at risk, or on the edge of doing harm.

So if you feel fearful or threatened, please reach out.

SunLive spoke to Tauranga Womens Refuge manager Hazel Hape and Julie Sach, from Tautoko Mai Sexual Harm Support who expressed their concerns about the potential rise in domestic violence during lockdown.

It's up to the whole community to have our eyes and ears out. If youre hearing stuff then don't hesitate to call the police if youre really worried about somebody, says Tautoko Mai societal change leader Julie Sach.

Anyone experiencing immediate danger as a result of family violence should dial 111 and ask for the Police.

The following helplines are also available to support people that dont want to call police in the first instance.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala on Friday reported seven new Covid-19 cases, but most importantly, it recorded 27 more recoveries with experts pointing out that the states epidemic curve has started to flatten. The number of patients currently under treatment has come down to 238, while 124 have recovered so far.

Its a very good trend in the short term. But we need to maintain it for the next two weeks to say that weve flattened the curve. Also, we need to be doubly careful when the lockdown relaxed, said Amar Fettle, state nodal officer for COVID-19.

Kasaragod, which has been the hotspot, reported only three new cases on Friday while Kannur and Malappuram added two new patients each. The two fresh cases reported in Malappuram came from Nizamuddin. Two from Kannur and three from Kasaragod contracted the virus through contact.

Of the 27 persons whose results were negative, 17 belonged to Kasaragod. The others were from Kannur (six), Kozhikode (two), Ernakulam and Thrissur (one each).

Kerala reported its first Covid-19 case on January 30. From three Wuhan-returned cases, the number started going up from March 8. A total of 364 people have tested positive so far. Two people died.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
MONTREALThere has been a dramatic shift in the political tectonic plates since the federal Conservatives set out to select a new leader.

With the campaign to succeed Andrew Scheer on pause until at least May 1, should the party consider starting the race all over again?

In a CBC column this week, Conservative insider Kory Teneycke made a tentative case for reopening the candidate field post-pandemic.

The issues facing the country will have completely changed  The type of leadership the country will be looking for could be quite different in that scenario, he argued.

It is hard to take issue with Teneyckes rationale or with the attending assumption that the next CPC leader will or should only be chosen after the dust has settled on the worst of the crisis.

It is not just the public policy environment that has been transformed by the pandemic.

For better or for worse there has also been a sea change in the public perceptions of some leading political figures.

Presumed CPC front-runner Peter MacKay, for instance, has had a hard time finding his place in a locked-down universe.

His insistence on pursuing the leadership campaign come what may on the pandemic front led to pointed questions as to the soundness of his judgment.

But even in the best-case scenario for a leadership candidate, it is hard to sustain momentum at a time like this.

Just ask the man who is poised to officially become president Donald Trumps Democrat rival in the falls U.S. election.

In the wake of Bernie Sanderss decision to pull the plug on his bid, Joe Bidens path to the nomination is wide-open.

But a lot of the momentum Biden earned by coming back from behind in the pre-pandemic primaries has dissipated.

In the U.S., Biden can realistically count on scoring points off Trumps mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis.

But in this country, incumbents are earning high marks for their leadership to date.

Before the pandemic, Ontario Premier Doug Ford  whose provincial campaign Teneycke managed  was one of the countrys most unloved premiers.

But over the past weeks, he has been earning praise from friends and foes alike.

A similar recast has been ongoing in Quebec where former provincial health minister Gaetan Barrette  once the most polarizing figure of Philippe Couillards Liberal government  has become a go-to source for informed and constructive messaging.

As it turns out, it is not just manufacturers who can retool their production lines to respond to more essential needs. So, too, can political animals with a talent for connecting with people.

In the process, Barrette has shored up the CAQ governments efforts  and totally eclipsed the two contenders for the leadership of his provincial party.

As in the case of the federal Conservatives, some Quebec Liberals are privately wondering whether it would not be a good idea to restart the leadership campaign.

The feeling within CPC and Quebec Liberal ranks that the current leadership offerings are underwhelming predates the pandemic crisis.

But it is not a given that rewinding those partys leadership campaigns would result in a very different contest.

With incumbents like Premier Francois Legault and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau riding high, the high-profile personalities who took a pass at running a few months ago may be even less inclined to audition for the roles of opposition leader in Quebec or on Parliament Hill.

And then it would be risky to assume that the political capital earned over the management of the pandemic will turn out to be election or leadership gold.

Take Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freelands much-publicized good rapport with premier Ford.

In this climate, most voters welcome the rapprochement between leading politicians from opposite sides of the partisan aisle.

But whether her improbable political friendship with their biggest Tory foe would serve Freeland well with Ontario Liberal members in a federal leadership vote could be another matter.

Or take Premier Ford himself. His name may be on the dream list of more than a few federal Conservatives these days. But for all the kudos he is earning over this crisis, it is unlikely that French-speaking voters in Quebec and across the country would find a unilingual leader more prime ministerial post-pandemic than they did for the past six or seven decades.

It has often been pointed out that the crisis management style adopted by many of Canadas leading political leaders over the pandemic is largely modelled on Lucien Bouchards hands-on handling of Quebec 1998 ice storm.

At the time, the premiers approval ratings did soar  to the point of obliterating the then-deep post-referendum federalist/sovereigntist divide. But when a provincial election came around less than a year later, Bouchard still lost the popular vote to the Quebec Liberals.

Chantal Hebert is an Ottawa-based freelance contributing columnist covering politics for the Star. Reach her via email: chantalh28@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter: @ChantalHbert

Read more about:
By Melisa Gerecci Meyler

Broad Street, Newarks main thoroughfare, is deserted today. But this time last year, women with Venus symbols on their foreheads mingled with men in fisher hats. A young person in a robe and sandals wore a rainbow headscarf. Another carried a stack of hand-painted signs. Political rally? Fashion show? Almost.

Activists, musicians, attorneys, and a bishop came together on Good Friday to demonstrate their beliefs. They traveled from across New Jersey for an annual gathering to transform an ancient tradition into a call to action. The Way of the Cross of the Immigrant has walked through Newark every year since 2010  until this year.

A year ago, a guitar player sang Esta Tierra Es Tuya (This Land Is Your Land) outside of the Peter Rodino Federal Building in downtown Newark to raise awareness of unfair enforcement of immigration policies. Today, I see empty sidewalks as I think about the sick, those who are job- and housing-insecure, and the immigrants kept in detention during the coronavirus pandemic.

Holy Week processions are nothing new. Marches of lay people and clergy are a common Easter ritual. And North Jersey, with its Catholic heritage, is no stranger to holiday displays or feast day parades.

The Way of the Cross march outside of Saint Lucy's Church in 2015. (Amanda Marzullo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

But I remember how this one was different. It kicked off at the Federal Building at 10 a.m., marched on to Newark City Hall, and culminated  three hours and two-and-a-half miles later  at Saint Lucys Church, near Branch Brook Park. There, marchers tore down a wall of taped-together cardboard boxes in protest of Donald Trumps border wall. The Christian belief in the power of love to overcome injustice is familiar. To apply this belief to one of the presidents most hateful proposals was radical.

The stops and scripture readings on the march were linked to 15 stations of the cross: a processional route believed to be Jesuss path on the way to his crucifixion. The format is 2,000 years old, but the themes addressed the concerns of our world today.

At the Broad Street Station, for example, the theme was gender inequality in employment. The reading recalled the women of Jerusalem meeting Jesus as he dragged his cross through the streets  a good match for the New Jersey Transit stop where thousands normally commute into the city to work. Now, only those with no choice but to risk COVID-19 exposure ride mass transit.

A few blocks later, after a reading on forgiveness, the group protested state laws that created hurdles to obtaining drivers licenses or medical insurance. Over and over again, this traditional procession addressed injustice: Condemning county jails as for-profit incarceration. Comparing families separated by DYFS interventions with migrant families separated at the U.S. border. Understanding addiction as a consequence of bleak working conditions and limited housing options. At the final stop, the group performed the construction of Gods kingdom on Earth by demolishing the cardboard border wall.

I imagine what a protest could have looked like this year. The issues remain critical if not amplified by the coronavirus crisis and the upcoming presidential election. Jesuss ministry centered on love and service to our fellow man, or what Jesuits call a preferential option for the poor. The need to serve others has renewed urgency in light of the federal governments immigration crackdown and ongoing neglect of migrant communities during the pandemic.

Marches like this one call on Christians to apply their principles to current contexts and invite others to revisit the potential of faith. Speak truth to power, proclaimed one crucifix carried by a marcher in Newark last year. Ni una mas (not one more) joined INRI on another cross. Bobbing above the marchers heads, these hand-made signs would not have been out of place in the Black Lives Matter movement or at a Womens March.

A familiar teaching states that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. Today, our countrys institutions should prioritize serving people in need instead of trying to design a larger needle or breed a smaller camel.

Melisa Gerecci Meyler is an artist and attorney who lives in Newark. The opinions expressed in this article are her own.

The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
In Retrospect: News from the Jan. 13, 1922 and Jan. 12, 1972 Souderton Independent
Coronavirus death toll jumps to 4,232 in Iran

The country's health ministry confirmed that the total number of positive cases since the eruption of the outbreak hit 68,000.

Iran reported 122 more deaths due to the novel coronavirus on Friday, pushing the death toll to 4,232, according to the country's state broadcaster.

3,969 PEOPLE WERE REPORTED IN CRITICAL CONDITION

Kianoush Jahanpour, a Health Ministry spokesman, said that 1,972 more people tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total infections to 68,192.

Jahanpour said 35,465 people have so far recovered and were discharged from hospitals, while 3,969 patients are in critical condition.
All amounts expressed in US dollars.

Barrick Gold Corporation (GOLD) (ABX.TO)

DAKAR, Senegal, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Barrick Gold Corporations country manager for Senegal, David Mbaye, today presented a cheque for $972,000 to the Minister of Finance, M Daouda Diallo, in the presence of the Minister of Mines and Geology, Mme Aissatou Sophie Gueladima, to support the country in its campaign against the Covid-19 pandemic. The amount has been contributed jointly by Barrick and its West African logistics partner, CSTTAO.

Mbaye informed the minister that the company was also supporting nine villages in its Bambadji permit area as well as the Saraya and Kedougou hospitals. In addition, he said Barrick would assist with the procurement and supply of personal protection equipment through CSTTAO. Of the amount donated, $850,000 would be allocated at a national level, $10,000 at a regional level, $55,000 would go to district and local communities and $57,000 to the Kedougou hospital.

Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow noted that Barrick, through its legacy company Randgold, had been engaged in Senegal since 1995.

We have made this donation in the hope that it will help strengthen the governments hand in its fight against Covid-19 and also to demonstrate our continuing partnership with and commitment to Senegal and its people, he said.

Barrick last month combined its Massawa project in Senegal with Teranga Gold Corporations nearby Sabodala mine. Barrick has retained an 11% interest in the combined asset and Bristow said the company looked forward to contributing to the value it would create for all stakeholders.

CSTTAO is Barricks long-standing logistics partner in West Africa and held a minority shareholding in Massawa prior to the sale to Teranga.

Barrick Enquiries

Investor and media relations

Kathy du Plessis

+44 20 7557 7738

Email: barrick@dpapr.com

Website: www.barrick.com

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

Story continues

Certain information contained in this press release, including any information as to Barricks strategy or future financial or operating performance, constitutes forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. The words support, assist, hope, will, contribute and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements including, without limitation, with respect to funds and medical supplies to be provided by Barrick and its logistics partner, CSTTAO, to support villages and local hospitals and support the national, regional and local response to Covid-19 in Senegal during the Covid-19 pandemic and the potential for the Massawa project to create value for Teranga Gold Corporation and all of its stakeholders.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions; including material estimates and assumptions related to the factors set forth below that, while considered reasonable by Barrick as at the date of this press release in light of managements experience and perception of current conditions and expected developments, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements and information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the risks associated with Covid-19 and other infectious diseases presenting as major health issues; failure to comply with environmental and health and safety laws and regulations; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities, including geotechnical challenges, and disruptions in the maintenance or provision of required infrastructure and information technology systems; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, or regulations and/or changes in the administration of laws, policies, and practices, expropriation or nationalization of property and political or economic developments in Senegal; lack of certainty with respect to foreign legal systems, corruption and other factors that are inconsistent with the rule of law; risks associated with illegal and artisanal mining; risk of loss due to acts of war, terrorism, sabotage and civil disturbances; timing of receipt of, or failure to comply with, necessary permits and approvals; litigation and legal and administrative proceedings; damage to the Barricks reputation due to the actual or perceived occurrence of any number of events, including negative publicity with respect to the Barricks handling of environmental matters or dealings with community groups, whether true or not; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties, or over access to water, power, and other required infrastructure; employee relations including loss of key employees; increased costs and physical risks, including extreme weather events and resource shortages, related to climate change; and availability and increased costs associated with mining inputs and labor. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development, and mining, including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding, and gold bullion, copper cathode, or gold or copper concentrate losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks).

Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Specific reference is made to the most recent Form 40-F/Annual Information Form on file with the SEC and Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities for a more detailed discussion of some of the factors underlying forward-looking statements, and the risks that may affect Barricks ability to achieve the expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

Barrick disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 07:46:29|Editor: Xiang Bo

Video Player Close

Members of the Chinese anti-epidemic medical expert team demonstrate how to wear protective suit in northern Laos' Luang Prabang on April 8, 2020. The Chinese anti-epidemic medical expert team, divided into two groups, have been cooperating with local governments and medical staff in fighting against the COVID-19, after arriving in Laos' southern and northern hubs of Pakse and Luang Prabang on Tuesday. Laos detected its first two confirmed COVID-19 cases on March 24, and only in five days, the Chinese anti-epidemic medical expert team arrived in capital Vientiane on March 29. The Chinese medical team includes experts in various fields such as infection prevention and control, intensive care, epidemics, and laboratory testing. They also brought along medical treatment, protective supplies and a batch of Chinese and Western medicines. (Chinese anti-epidemic medical expert team/Handout via Xinhua)
Getty

Joe Biden has unveiled two proposals in what he calls a step towards easing the "economic burden on working people" in the wake of Bernie Sanders' exit from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but the moves are far more conservative than the ones at the centre of his progressive rival's campaign and crucial to his supporters.

The former vice president has proposed lowering the age eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 60 and eliminating student debt for some lower-income families, moves that he says "will not only help people right now when they may need the help most, but will also help people find more secure footing in the long term once we have emerged" from the coronavirus crisis.

His plans are likely an effort to court the Vermont senator's legion of supporters, but the proposals barely scratch what Mr Sanders has proposed  extending Medicare to all Americans to replace the private health insurance market and cancelling all college loan debt.

Mr Biden's Medicare proposal also is more conservative than one floated by Hillary Clinton just four years ago. As the then-presidential candidate, she suggested lowering the eligibility to 50. Under her idea, people aged 50 to 55 could to "buy in" to the program.

Instead, Mr Biden has proposed that because older, unemployed Americans will likely face challenges securing jobs with employer-provided health insurance, they should "have access, if they choose, to Medicare when they turn 60, instead of when they turn 65" through his plan.

Analysts estimate that as many as 35 million Americans could lose their health insurance following unprecedented unemployment claims and business closures during the coronavirus pandemic, which already has cut thousands of workers from their health plans tied to their employers.

The latest projection from Health Management Associates shows the number of uninsured people in the US, including workers and their families who rely on employer-backed plans, could skyrocket. The report says enrolment in Medicaid, a government health plan for poor Americans, could increase from 71 million people to as much as 94 million within the next several months.

Story continues

Nearly a tenth of American workers have filed unemployment insurance claims, according to Thursday's job report.

"The economic crisis brought on by this virus is both accelerating and deepening," Mr Biden wrote. "These unemployment numbers today are another flashing warning sign that our country and our people will endure enormous economic pain. It is our responsibility to move quickly and effectively to help them."

Mr Biden's student loan debt plan would eliminate student debt for low-income and middle-class students who attended public colleges and universities and historically black colleges and universities.

The Vermont senator's plan called for cancelling all student debt.

"Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas, and I'm proud to adopt them as part of my campaign at this critical moment in responding to the coronavirus crisis."

Appearing on The Late Show on Wednesday, Mr Sanders conceded that Mr Biden is "not going to adopt my platform, I got that."

He added: "But if he can move in that direction. I think people will say, 'This is a guy that we should support and will support.'"

In a statement on Wednesday, the former vice president asked for support from the senator's backers as he looks likely to seal the nomination to face Donald Trump in the general election

"I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country," Mr Biden wrote. "You are more than welcome. You're needed."

Read more

35 million Americans could be left without health insurance

Obamas to come off sidelines in 2020 presidential race

AOC thanks Bernie Sanders after he suspends 2020 campaign

Biden reaches out to Sanders supporters in bid to unite Democrats

Bernie Sanders ends his campaign for president

Sanders warns 'dangerous' election 'disregards public health experts'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  Three Filipino COVID-19 survivors have donated their blood plasma to the Philippine General Hospital in a bid to help infected patients.

In a Facebook post, PGH spokesperson Jonas Del Rosario said three "brave and healthy" survivors have come forward on Thursday to donate blood for a plasma therapy which could potentially increase the chances of recovery of other patients from the disease.

"On April 9, 2020 (Araw ng Kagitingan), the first three brave and healthy COVID-19 Filipino survivors generously donated their blood for the Convalescent Plasma Therapy vs COVID-19 to the Philipipne General Hospital," Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario lauded the three who "rose above the stigma and showed the world that their plasma is a gift of life.

Salamat (thank you), Ian Frias, Gale Arranz, and Kain Soriano!!" he said.

Last week, the PGH revealed that the blood of patients who have recovered from the disease is rich in antibodies that could fight the infection.

The PGH is one of the government's referral hospitals for COVID-19.

Dr. Edsel Salvana, an infectious disease expert and a COVID-19 frontliner from the PGH, earlier said that the plasma therapy is an old method to treat patients as it "works in a lot of diseases."

President Rodrigo Duterte himself recently called on the recovered patients to participate in the procedure.

Senators Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara and Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri, both survivors of the disease, had already expressed their willingness to donate their plasma. Both public officials have contracted COVID-19 last month.

The country has 4,076 COVID-19 cases so far, with 203 deaths and 124 recoveries.

COVID-19 survivors who wish to donate their blood may contact 155-200 or visit the PGH's Facebook page for more details.
POZZALLO - A 15-year-old Egyptian boy who landed at Lampesusa a few days ago has tested positive for COVID-19 at the migrant hotspot at Pozzallo near Ragusa in Sicily, local Mayor Roberto Ammatuna said after ordering the facility to be quarantined.



The nationalist opposition League party said Italy should stop all migrant landings.
South Korean soldiers wear protective gear as they spray antiseptic solution to guard against the CCP virus along a street in Gangnam district in Seoul, South Korea, on March 9, 2020. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

South Korea Reports More Recovered CCP Virus Patients Testing Positive Again

South Korean health authorities on Friday reported that a total of 91 patients who were said to have been cleared of the CCP virus again tested positive for the virus.

Jeong Eun-kyeong, the head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), said that the virus might have been reactivated rather than the patients being infected again, according to the Yonhap News Agency. Earlier this week, Jeong said that 51 recovered COVID-19 patients tested positive after leaving quarantine.

The countrys top health official said a more extensive viral test is being administered to these individuals. The KCDC added that it is also investigating whether the people who tested positive again have an antibody indicating whether they have recovered from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the disease COVID-19.

We are isolating viral cells from respiratory organs of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 again, Jeong told Yonhap.

A COVID-19 patient is deemed fully recovered after they test negative two times in a row performed within a 24-hour period.

A resident wears a protective mask as she stands near an old residential community blocked by barriers in CCP virus epicenter Wuhan, China, on April 5, 2020. (Reuters/Aly Song)

But the prospect of people being reinfected with the CCP virus is of worldwide concern, as many countries hoping that people who are infected will develop sufficient immunity to prevent the virus from surging again.

In Wuhan, China, where the virus first emerged last year, whistleblower doctors warned that patients could get reinfected, reported the Taiwan News in February.

Its highly possible to get infected a second time, one of the doctors said. That doctor remained anonymous out of fear of retaliation from the Chinese regime after another doctor, Li Wenliang, went on the record to raise warnings about COVID-19 before he was detained and rebuked by the CCP. He reportedly succumbed to the disease in February, although netizens and citizen journalists in China expressed their suspicions.

A few people recovered from the first time by their own immune system, but the meds they use are damaging their heart tissue, and when they get it the second time, the antibody doesnt help but makes it worse, and they die a sudden death from heart failure, the anonymous doctor told the Taiwan News.

Experts outside China said it isnt clear if patients are immune to reinfection from the virus.

We dont know very much, said Matt Frieman, a coronavirus researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, reported NPR. I think theres a very likely scenario where the virus comes through this year, and everyone gets some level of immunity to it, and if it comes back again, we will be protected from iteither completely or if you do get reinfected later, a year from now, then you have much less disease.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10) - "I love you, Dong!"

This endearing caption accompanied the profile photo Army junior officer Vico Magbanua uploaded on his Facebook account on Friday morning.

The photo, showing him together with his twin brother, Vince, during happier times at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City. They are both Army second lieutenants.

The photo was Vico's way to pay tribute to Vince, who died on Wednesday afternoon, April 8, while being rushed to a Bulacan hospital.

Vince had complained of "severe difficulty in breathing". A day before, he was diagnosed with "acute bronchitis" and was told to go on isolation after experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus, including dry cough.

The Army's 48th Infantry Battalion based in Dona Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan, the unit to which Vince is assigned, has been tirelessly helping out in the government's coronavirus response for weeks now.

On its Facebook page, the battalion's officers and personnel, have been carrying out relief operations, as well as manning quarantine checkpoints in different parts of Bulacan and Pampanga, especially far-flung communities.

Two days before he passed away, Vince led his team in hauling several boxes of relief supplies to Calumpit town.

Tributes from friends poured in on Vince's Facebook account a few hours after news broke out of his passing on Wednesday night.

Some of Vince's classmates or mistahs at the PMA ALAB-TALA Class of 2018 changed their profile photos to a lighted candle with the class insigna, with messages offering a snappy salute.

In a message to CNN Philippines, Air Force Second Lieutenant Frances Xandra Aquinde, fondly remembers her "beshy (slang for bestfriend) for life".

"He is very attentive sa details ng buhay mo. Kahit napakaliit na bagay, pag nalaman niya, di niya makakalimutan. A very thoughtful person," Aquinde said.

The PMA said that it "grieves the death of one of our young and promising sons."

"Thank you for your service, Vince. You will be greatly missed," the PMA statement added.

Lt. Magbanua was cremated on Thursday. His ashes were flown to Davao City where his family is based.

As of press time, Armed Forces chief, General Felimon Santos, Jr said, they have yet to receive word from the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) on the late junior officer's laboratory tests.

Also on Facebook, Vico, appealed for compassion and understanding, while awaiting for his brother's test results.

"And our family, especially Vince, will not be selfish para ipaalam po sa inyo ang resulta. Ipapaalam po namin kapag siya ay nagpositive, ngunit sa ngayon po ay kaunting respeto lamang po ang hinihingi namin," Vico wrote.

Even before results could come out, General Santos said, "all soldiers in contact (with Lt. Magbanua) are already in quarantine." and that "contact tracing was already done."

If he tests positive, Lt. Magbanua will be the youngest military officer to contract COVID-19, and the first to succumb to the disease.

At least three other senior AFP officers, including General Santos himself, earlier tested positive for COVID-19. Santos and other officers have recovered since.

Aside from the layers of safety protocols imposed on military units, including the mandatory use of protective equipment such as face masks, and carrying out decontamination procedures, Santos said, vitamins are also being handed out to soldiers.

Military doctors and medical teams are constantly checking on the frontline troops' condition, Santos added.
The Texas Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Harris Countys stay-at-home order, though the legal fight is set to continue in state district court.

The Wednesday ruling came at the request of the suits plaintiffs, including longtime conservative activist Steve Hotze and the pastors of three Houston-area churches.

Earlier this week, Jared Woodfill, the groups attorney, filed a new case in Harris County that similarly claims County Judge Lina Hidalgos stay-at-home order violates the plaintiffs First Amendment rights because it allegedly continues to restrict church services even after Hidalgo revised it to align with Gov. Greg Abbotts executive order deeming churches essential businesses.

The governors March 31 directive, akin to the stay-at-home orders issued by counties across Texas, came one day after Hotze and pastors Juan Bustamante, George Garcia and David Valdez filed a petition arguing that Harris Countys order violates the Constitution by ordering the closure of churches and failing to define gun shops as essential businesses.

The four original plaintiffs remain on the new lawsuit, and they are joined by Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader who represented a district in the Houston area until 2006. The plaintiffs also have challenged Montgomery Countys stay-at-home order in a different state district court.

Under Abbotts executive order, which supersedes local stay-at-home orders, houses of worship may remain open, though they must conduct their activities online or through remote audio or video services when possible. Abbott later issued more detailed guidance in a joint statement with Attorney General Ken Paxton, adding that churches should cancel in-person gatherings or limit the number of congregants, depending on how substantial community spread of COVID-19 has been in their area.

Paxton also issued a separate opinion saying local governments cannot shut down gun stores or otherwise restrict sales or transfers.

The Texas Supreme Court granted Hotze and the pastors motion for a voluntary dismissal of their petition. The court previously had asked both parties to weigh in on whether Abbotts executive order rendered the lawsuit moot.

Last Friday, Hidalgo revised her order to permit in-person religious services that comply with the CDCs guidelines, according to a court filing by the county attorneys office. The plaintiffs are continuing to challenge Hidalgos order in state district court, Woodfill said, in part because it imposes penalties  up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine  that Abbotts does not.

Hidalgos amended order says: Per the Texas Attorney Generals guidance on this topic, if religious services cannot be conducted from home or through remote services, then religious services may be conducted in churches, congregations and houses of worship.

Woodfill said he interprets that language to bar most churches from meeting in person, because most are capable of holding services remotely.

Just about every church has the ability to do that, Woodfill said. Maybe there are some small churches that dont. That doesnt mean your parishioners have internet or the ability to access the service. We think thats clearly government coming into the church and issuing edicts and mandates that are an infringement on religious liberties.

DeLay, who represented a district in the south Houston-area suburbs from 1985 to 2006, lists a homestead exemption in Sugar Land, in Fort Bend County. Woodfill said DeLay has standing to sue the neighboring county because the order infringes upon his right to go to church in Harris County. He cant attend his church if it is closed due to the order, and if it is opened and he attends, he will be fined $1,000 and is looking at 180 days in jail.

City and county officials have said they do not intend to fully enforce the penalties and are first seeking voluntary compliance before resorting to a criminal charge. Most businesses will first receive warnings if they are out of compliance, then could be hit with fines or arrests if their refusal to comply becomes egregious, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriffs Office said last month.

jasper.scherer@chron.com

robert.downen@chron.com
A Derry barber has voiced concerns that people in his profession are still doing house calls, despite the government ban.

The man, who does not wish to be named, urged people to not to ask their barber or hairdresser to call to their home.

"They don't seem to realise that by doing house calls they are potentially spreading the coronavirus from house to house," he said.

"There is a barber in Italy that kept working and he has now been charged with manslaughter because some of his customers caught Covid-19 and died.

"It's that serious."

The man, who has barber shops in Derry and Letterkenny, said he has been inundated with requests for haircuts since closing his two premises in March.

"My inbox is full and it's got to the point where I'm not answering calls.

"Everybody wants their hair done but that should all be forgotten until this is over.

"Coronavirus hasn't spread as fast here as it has in Spain and Italy, we have been lucky so let's not mess it up now."

The man admitted self -employed people across the city were struggling for money, but said there was help available.

"I'm getting it tight and so are most barbers.

"We are supposed to get help from the government but my accountant said it could be the end of June before that comes through.

"But there are food banks and there are charities out there to support people.

"I think people need to stop and take this more seriously.

"Our MLAs have been too quiet about this too.

"When you go to the supermarket it is packed because people are going shopping once a day just for something to do.

"The message needs to get through - there should be no non essential travel and no one should come into your home."

Meanwhile, another barber in County Derry has offered some advice for people who will be cutting their own or members of their family's hair during the ongoing lockdown.

Justin McGrath, owner of Justin McGrath Barbering in Maghera, said: If someone was mad keen on doing it, my best advice would be to just shave it all off. Get a number 1 or 2 and just shave it all off.

Thats nearly foolproof.

Justin added that people cutting their own or their friends' hair was not a new phenonmenon.

I spend most weeks fixing somebodys haircut, he said.

Young boys seem to love cutting their own hair. Mates go round to each others houses, pull out a set of clippers and away they go.

The barbering industry, probably over the last few years, has become quite trendy. There are so many videos on Instagram and people copy that.

Its the same as me looking at a video of someone putting an engine in a car and then trying it myself and making a complete balls of it.
A leading Northern Ireland public health specialist has warned of a looming mental health crisis as medical professionals deal with "war scenes" in the battle against coronavirus.

Dr Gabriel Scally, a former NHS doctor and professor of Public Health at the University of Bristol, said healthcare staff are being faced with traumatic scenes on a daily basis.

He is warning that preparations must be made to help those who will present with mental health issues down the line.

The Belfast-born doctor, who conducted the Scoping Inquiry into the Cervical Check Screening Programme in the Republic, told the Belfast Telegraph: "Of great concern must be the trauma on health and social care staff who are witnessing scenes which perhaps they may never have dealt with before.

"Even if they are very experienced they may never have dealt with this number of deaths under such circumstances.

"Things are going to be very traumatic not just for normal NHS staff in hospitals but also all those care workers in nursing homes as outbreaks take their grip."

Read More

Professor Scally believes there is "a real danger" of people developing post-traumatic stress disorder and needing help in coming to terms with what they have been through.

When asked about the impact on those forced into lockdown in their homes for several months, Professor Scally said: "For those who might have a tendency to some psychological problems like people who are obsessive compulsive (OCD), we are really encouraging people to be obsessive and compulsive about things during this phase of the virus like handwashing, social distancing and staying indoors.

"Staying indoors could lead people into agoraphobia and a fear of going out through those doors again.

"That plus the sheer dislocation of normal life and the problems that have been identified about the potential for an increase in domestic violence or family disputes all indicates that the mental health price we are going to pay for this might be quite high."

He added: "It would be as well to start planning ahead for what we can do to try and help people with those mental health issues.

"We know there is a high incidence of suicide amongst soldiers coming home from war and in a health context these are war scenes that people are having to deal with.

"I'm worried about mental health in particular and hopefully suicide is something that we won't see.

"The potential will be there how ever long the lockdown takes to be lifted and there's certainly a need for some thought to be given to it.

"I know it's difficult when you are in the middle of all this to think about future mental health but we would be as well starting to think about these things now than when we find out about it afterwards."

Professor Scally added that there would also be "a price to be paid" for those patients awaiting cancer detection and treatment.

Last month the professor warned that the fact Northern Ireland and the Republic were adopting different approaches to the coronavirus could cost lives here.

He said he was delighted to see "the great memorandum of understanding" signed by the two departments of health this week to strengthen cooperation.

Professor Scally believes that while there will be pressure on politicians to withdraw the current restrictions once the number of deaths begin to "drop off", this cannot happen unless it is done in harmony.

"It has to be hand in hand. If we don't get it right and there are differences across the border it will be very difficult indeed," he said.

"It will mean Northern Ireland having to put some considerable effort into getting community testing, contact tracing and isolation all sorted out before there can be any talk of lifting restrictions."

Dr Scally also warned that there would have to be different work patterns when businesses reopen in terms of interpersonal contact and people getting to and from work "without having to crowd onto buses and trains".

"We can make progress in terms of getting back to normal but it will take a while," he said.

"The worst thing would be to do it too early without preparations in place and go straight back to the start again where we had the virus spread wildly within communities and then having to reimpose restrictions again.

"People might be less content the next time around to have restrictions placed on them."
Many experts and state governments have urged the Centre for the lockdown period to be extended beyond 14 April in view of the continued rise in confirmed cases in the country. Odisha has already announced a lockdown extension till 30 April.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a meeting with all state heads to take a call on whether there is a need to extend the lockdown or not.

The global coronavirus pandemic, which has disrupted economies and daily life across the globe, has forced many countries to call for a lockdown. Modi had on 24 March announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown as COVID-19 cases in India continued to rise.

After the conclusion of fourth meeting of 15-member informal Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, government sources said a lot of state governments, as well as experts, are requesting the Centre to extend the lockdown.

A senior minister, who is part of the group of GoM told Firstpost that all inputs gathered and the deliberations made by the GoM would be placed before Modi, who will take the final decision.

Officials said that the lockdown and social distancing measures have helped contain the pandemic in a big way in India. Citing an ICMR study, the Health Ministry said just one COVID-19 patient can infect as many as 406 people in 30 days in the absence of preventive measures such as social distancing and the lockdown, reported PTI.

Many experts and state governments have urged the Centre for the lockdown period to be extended beyond 14 April in view of the continued rise in confirmed cases in the country. Odisha has already announced a lockdown extension till 30 April.

Let's take a look at some of the states that have asked for a full or 'phased-out' lockdown extension in the country post 14 April.

Odisha

Odisha became the first state to extend the lockdown imposed to restrict the spread of coronavirus. The announcement to extend the 21-day period (initially scheduled to end on 15 April) till 30 April was made by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday after a meeting of the state Cabinet.

Patnaik also recommended the Union government to extend the national lockdown till 30 April. He requested the Centre to not to start train and air services during the lockdown.

Telangana

Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao earlier this week had made a strong case for the extension of the ongoing lockdown. Rao had advocated for the extension of the current shutdown saying, "The Centre and all other State Governments have lost revenue during the lockdown period. The only positive outcome of this is that we are able to protect our people."

ANI reported that Rao had also cited reports of the Boston Consulting Group survey, which asked for ruthless measures like an extension of the lockdown till at least June.

"I am appealing to the Prime Minister and Government of India to extend lockdown without hesitation. Lockdown is the only weapon we have to control the spread of this disease and avoid a situation which countries like the US, Spain and Italy are facing," he said at a news conference.

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday had indicated that the lockdown can be extended in the state, if needed, PTI reported.

"We will take a decision after analysing the circumstances. Lives of people are more important. We can tolerate lockdown. We can resurrect the economy later on but can't be able to bring back lives of people," Chouhan said in a video statement.

Chouhan also said that looking at the present situation in Bhopal and Indore, "we need to stay more alert and take precautions", reported ANI.

Maharashtra

While Maharashtra has not asked for a total extension of the lockdown period, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, from his Twitter account had declared: "The Prime Minister said that the State Government should not lift the lockdown immediately from April 15 but it should happen in phases. Precautions should be taken that there is no crowding."

Meanwhile, state health minister Rajesh Tope told Reuters, "If people don't obey the rules seriously and cases continue to rise, then there may be no option but to extend the lockdown. It could be extended in Mumbai and urban areas of Maharashtra by two weeks."

Rajasthan

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot favoured a phased withdrawal of restrictions. "We cannot withdraw lockdown immediately, it has to be done in a phased manner," Gehlot was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Assam

The BJP-led Assam government said it would support any proposal by the central government of a "systematic and scientific" withdrawal of the nationwide lockdown, reported NDTV.

"We have consulted within the state on what should be the mode of withdrawal of lockdown. We don't want that everything should be opened on 15 April morning. We want it to be a systematic and scientific withdrawal of lockdown so that the benefits during the lockdown aren't wasted in a single day," said Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while addressing the media earlier this week.

Goa

The Goa cabinet on Wednesday decided to recommend an extension of the COVID-19 lockdown till 30 April in light of the rise in the number of coronavirus cases.

The state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, also decided that section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code should remain in place till the ongoing health crisis abates.

"We have decided to recommend an extension in the current lockdown to the Prime Minister's Office, suggesting that it remain in place till 30 April," state Port Minister Michael Lobo told PTI.

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh may extend the ongoing lockdown beyond 14 April, a senior government official told The Hindu, citing the rising number of COVID-19 positive cases in the State including those linked to the Tablighi Jamaat.

Furthermore, Additional chief secretary home department Awanish Awasthi told the newspaper that there was little possibility of lifting the lockdown on 15 April.

Delhi

Lockdown in Delhi could be extended beyond 14 April if the current situation persists, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday, Hindustan Times reported.

If the situation persists then there could be a need to extend the lockdown since the cases are continuing to rise. It is difficult to say anything about how things may turn out in six to seven days time. Any decision will be taken in the interest of the general public by the chief minister and the prime minister, a quote by Sisodia was put out by AAPs Twitter account.

Punjab

Punjab is will allow district-wise relief from lockdown only for farmers to harvest rabi crop in view of the upcoming harvest season, announced state chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday. He further said that the lockdown "should go on" beyond the stipulated time frame of 14 April and that he iss seriously thinking of lockdown extension but final decision will be taken post cabinet meeting.

"We are now faced with harvesting. Until 14 April there is a lockdown and from 15 April the harvesting of wheat will start. We are getting a bumper harvest, the fourth year in a row," Amarinder Singh said. The state is expecting a bumper wheat crop of around 185 lakh tonnes, he said, making it necessary to ensure adequate harvest arrangements, reported NDTV.

Karnataka

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday said all his cabinet colleagues are of the unanimous opinion to extend the lockdown for about 15 days after 14 April and a final decision in this regard will be taken after consulting the prime minister on Saturday, reported PTI.

Kerala

An expert task force set up by the Kerala government on evolving a strategy on easing the coronavirus lockdown has said the time is not yet ripe for its full withdrawal after 14 April and recommended a phased approach to the removal of the restrictions.

The 17-member committee in its report has suggested a withdrawal strategy that should be gradual, phased and calibrated to ensure that the caseload is always kept below the (surge) capacity of the healthcare system to deal with it. It said restricting large scale movement of people across international and state boundaries was critical and should not be considered unless and until the situation was under control in every state.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami on Thursday asserted that a decision on extending the lockdown will be taken after getting expert advice and taking into account the increase in the number of coronavirus positive cases.

Palaniswami, after a consultative meeting with a dozen government panels set up to tackle COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, cautioned that there is a chance for the infection to progress to community transmission stage and appealed to people to cooperate for effective implementation of curbs considering the gravity of the contagion.

Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat, he said a decision on the extension of lockdown depended on a couple of factors. "A decision will be taken considering the status of the disease...it is contagious and the number of cases is on the rise and as of now 738 people are infected and these aspects will be factored in," he said answering a question.

The chief minister's pointer towards the steady rise in the number of cases is seen as a hint that the government might be considering prolonging lockdown, reported PTI.

Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor, GC Murmu on Friday said that restrictions will remain imposed even after Narendra Modi's call for nationwide lockdown ends at 14 April, in "34 red zones" that have been identified in the Union Territory.

"There will be selective restrictions, movement and social distancing in these zones. Planning for this is underway," said Murmu.

With inputs from agencies
India on Thursday strongly rejected remarks on Jammu and Kashmir by a spokesperson of Chinas permanent mission to the United Nations, asserting that the union territory has been, is and shall continue to be its integral part.

Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said India expects China to refrain from commenting on the countrys internal affairs and respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He said India also expects China to recognise and condemn the scourge of cross-border terrorism that affects the lives of the people of India, including in Jammu and Kashmir.

The spokesperson of Chinas permanent mission in the UN said the Kashmir issue remained high on the UN Security Councils agenda and China is very closely monitoring the current situation in Kashmir. At present, China is holding presidency of the UNSC.

Also read: Pakistan pledges $3 mn to Saarc Covid-19 Fund proposed by PM Modi. Then, a rider

The official also reportedly said that the Kashmir issue is a dispute left from history and should be properly and peacefully resolved.

We reject the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in a statement made by the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of the Peoples Republic of China to the United Nations, Srivastava said.

He was responding to a query on the remarks by the Chinese spokesperson.

China is well aware of Indias consistent position on this issue. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India. Issues related to J and K are internal matter to India, he said.

It is, therefore, our expectation that other countries, including China, would refrain from commenting on matters that are internal affairs of India and respect Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said.

China has been critical of Indias reorganisation of J-K, and has particularly criticised New Delhi for making Ladakh a union territory. China lays claim over several parts of Ladakh.

China has unsuccessfully attempted to raise the issue in the UN after India announced its decision in August last year to withdraw Jammu and Kashmirs special status and bifurcate the state into two union territories.

In August, China pushed for a UNSC meeting on Kashmir after Indias decision. However, the attempt was foiled by other member-states of the powerful body.

Indias decisions on Kashmir had also cast a shadow over Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to India in October last year for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, notwithstanding the acrimony over the issue between the two countries, Modi and Xi held successful talks in Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- California this week declared its independence from the federal governments feeble efforts to fight Covid-19  and perhaps from a bit more. The consequences for the fight against the pandemic are almost certainly positive. The implications for the brewing civil war between Trumpism and Americas budding 21st-century majority, embodied by Californias multiracial liberal electorate, are less clear.

Speaking on MSNBC, Governor Gavin Newsom said that he would use the bulk purchasing power of California as a nation-state to acquire the hospital supplies that the federal government has failed to provide. If all goes according to plan, Newsom said, California might even export some of those supplies to states in need.

Nation-state. Export.

Newsom is accomplishing a few things here, with what can only be a deliberate lack of subtlety. First and foremost, he is trying to relieve the shortage of personal protective equipment  a crisis the White House has proved incapable of remedying. Details are a little fuzzy, but Newsom, according to news reports, has organized multiple suppliers to deliver roughly 200 million masks monthly.

Second, Newsom is kicking sand in the face of President Donald Trump after Newsoms previous flattery  the coin of the White House realm  failed to produce results. If Trump cant manage to deliver supplies, theres no point in Newsom continuing the charade.

Third, and this may be the most enduring effect, Newsom is sending a powerful message to both political parties. So far, the Republican Partys war on democratic values, institutions and laws has been a largely one-sided affair, with the GOP assaulting and the Democratic Party defending. The lethal ruling this week by the U.S. Supreme Courts Republican bloc, which required Wisconsin residents to vote in person during a pandemic that shut down polling stations, is a preview of the fall campaign. The GOP intends to restrict vote-by-mail and other legitimate enfranchisement to suppress turnout amid fear, uncertainty and disease.

Story continues

At some point this civil war by other means, with the goal of enshrining GOP minority rule, will provoke a Democratic counteroffensive. Newsom, leader of the nations largest state, is perhaps accelerating that response, shaking Democrats out of denial and putting Republicans on notice. California, an economic behemoth whose taxpayers account for 15% of individual contributions to the U.S. Treasury, is now toning up at muscle beach.

What that means, of course, is left to the imagination. But not much is required to envision what might evolve.

Newsom, a former lieutenant governor who won the top job in 2018, has used the nation-state phrase before. Its a very odd thing to say. California, like its 49 smaller siblings, qualifies only as the second half. But its obviously no slip of the tongue. Democratic state Senator Scott Wiener, a leader in Californias cumbersome efforts to produce more housing, said soon after Newsom took office in 2019 that reorienting the states relationship to Washington is a necessity, not a choice.

The federal government is no longer a reliable partner in delivering health care, in supporting immigrants, supporting LGBT people, in protecting the environment, so we need to forge our own path, Wiener said. We can do everything in our power to protect our state, but we need a reliable federal partner. And right now we dont have that.

The statement appears prescient in light of the Trump administrations failure to protect against a pandemic. Newsom was the first governor to issue a stay-at-home order, on March 19. Though his state is chock-full of cosmopolitan centers, and rural threats loom as well, California is weathering the virus in far better shape than New York, which has many fewer people and many more deaths.

Federalism has always had rough spots, but conflict is rising and resolutions are not. California is a sanctuary state while the Trump administration is fond of immigration dragnets. Marijuana is grown, marketed and used in abundance in the state while the White House conjures more restrictions. The Trump administration endorses extreme gun rights; California has other ideas. Most of all, Trumps failure to act, or even take responsibility for acting, in the face of pandemic has required California, like other states, to look out for itself.

One conflict, however, encompasses all others, and could galvanize Californians into new ways of thinking about their state and its relationship to Washington. The GOP war on democracy is inspired by a drive for racial and cultural supremacy that jeopardizes the democratic aspirations and human rights of Californias multiracial citizenry.

From Fort Sumter to Little Rock to Montgomery, the blueprint for states opposing federal control has a recurring theme. But there is no reason that states cant adopt a racist playbook for other ends. If California and other 21st-century polities withhold revenue, or otherwise distance themselves from Washingtons control, legal and political battles will escalate. Republicans will have a legitimate constitutional argument  but it will be a morally tainted and politically illegitimate one so long as they continue to subvert majority rule.

The experience of states battling Covid-19 while the White House devotes its energy to winning the news cycle may be instructive. What is the difference, conceptually, between a state deploying its power to protect its populations health and a state using it to protect its populations democratic rights?

John C. Calhoun, who used the theory of states rights to defend the institution of slavery, is not generally a philosophical lodestar for liberal Democrats such as Newsom. But if Republicans (or foreign friends) succeed in sabotaging democracy in November, Calhouns theory of nullification, which posited that states have the power to defy federal law, could be ripe for a comeback on the left coast. With the heirs of the Confederacy now reigning in Washington, turnabout might be very fair play.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Francis Wilkinson writes editorials on politics and U.S. domestic policy for Bloomberg Opinion. He was executive editor of the Week. He was previously a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
It wasnt the adventure I was hoping for.

When my partner survived a horrible cancer operation in January 2019, a world cruise on Queen Mary 2 seemed the perfect recuperation.

After months of support workers coming in and a lack of connection with the outside world, a luxury voyage, (even if it was in the cheapest little state room) seemed a good idea.

The glossy brochure promised Hong Kong, Singapore, Cape Town and Vietnam. How exciting was that?

We left New York on Jan. 3. No one was talking COVID-19 back then.

My worst worry? I couldnt find my expensive Bally shoe. It was red and vintage. How could it have disappeared from my luggage? What was the use of one red shoe? How annoying.

The ship sailed. All seemed well. No talk of virus as we wandered round Southampton, England. Same in Lisbon, Portugal. We ate Nicolas famous custard tarts and thought only of how good two more would taste. In Nazareth, Israel, we walked around the holy sights in pouring rain. No one even whispered COVID-19.

On QM2, it was all about good food, good times and good fun.

Dixieland Jazz blared from the ships prestigious lounges. In the ballroom, the captains cocktail parties were champagne affairs. The shows in The Royal Court Theatre were celebrations of the good life.

Then there were whisperings. What was this about a virus in China? Well, what did it have to do with us?

We soon found out.

Captain Aseem Hashmi announced QM2 would not be stopping in Hong Kong or Singapore. Why not? It wouldnt be safe. Next, all Asian ports were cancelled, from Penang to Phuket.

It had to do with keeping us safe we were told.

No matter, people griped, demanded compensation and worried more about missed ports than safety.

I only took this voyage to see Vietnam, a strident matron shouted. Me too, said a man in a jaunty sun hat.

They complained loudly, but no matter, Vietnam was out.

Our prime concern is keeping you safe, Captain Hashmi said. The grumbling continued. But somewhere around that remark we began to realize something bad was happening.

There were ships that were rumoured to have cases of COVID-19 on board.

Cunard reacted. They changed the itinerary. Forget Bali, we would sail around Australia. It was virus free. Smart move? Yes. But it was a slow, time-wasting sail with long empty days. No new entertainers came aboard. The crew and members of the band cobbled shows together.

Use the sanitizers. Wash your hands. Dont kiss anyone. We had our instructions. Still, life went on pretty calmly.

We were made to feel safe even as the crew swabbed down hallways with killer chemicals.

When disturbing reports surfaced about COVID-19 in Sydney, Australia, people began to worry about getting home. What if Australia joined other countries and shut down its ports to cruise ships?

There wasnt panic on board. Folks still dressed up for dinner. But talk began about how serious the situation could become.

At the spectacular World Tour dinner in Melbourne, a thousand Cunarders came together at the 5-star Crowne Hotel, almost in defiance of the virus. The CEO of Cunard flew in from London to give us an uplifting talk. There was no social distancing. Things must be OK, right?

Wrong. A few days later, on March 14 in Fremantle, it all came to a halt. One thousand passengers were refused boarding for the trip to Cape Town. Then, a day later, Captain Hashmi made a stunning announcement. The ship would likely not put in to any future ports. Those who wanted to go home should see the purser for flight arrangements.

We agonized. A dancer from the ships troupe made the decision for us. Get off. Go home, she said. This ship wont be sailing back to New York. Believe that.

Borders were closing, flights were being cancelled. Several ships with COVID-19 on board were floundering around unable to put in to any port.

We chose to go home. We threw our dress-up clothes in our bags, leaving things behind, but definitely not that one red shoe I still had.

That night we hardly slept. In the early hours of March 15, the captain woke us up with a bleak announcement. The World Tour was over.

Only those with a medical reason not to fly should remain on board. Waivers had to be signed. The ship couldnt put in to any port should someone have a serious emergency. Large areas of the ship would be closed. Still, 265 passengers stayed.

There wasnt a sense of panic after the announcement, just desperation.

That afternoon, we trundled our baggage down QM2s gangway and punched our security cards for the last time.

We took the bus from Fremantle to Perth. We sat eight hours in the airport. We prayed the flight wouldnt be cancelled. We flew on three planes, waited hours between flight. Finally, we made it from Vancouver to Toronto on a plane heavily doused with sanitizer. Our journey took 44 hours altogether.

We remain in touch with friends on QM2, slowly making their way to Southampton. A doctor airlifted onto the ship in Durban, South Africa, determined there was no virus aboard. Cunard had done everything possible to keep that ship virus free. They picked up the tab, too, to fly us home.

We did our 14 day isolation at home in Hamilton.

Will we go on a Cunard World Tour again? Yes, weve already booked a 2022 voyage.

And just so you know, the first thing I did when I got home was to pull everything out of my big closet. There it was my precious red Bally shoe. Now, how good was that?
A little more than an hour after the New Jersey Economic Development Authority opened up applications for a total of $5 million in small business grants, more than 10,000 businesses had applied.

Over the next week, another 22,000 small businesses submitted applications for grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

Thats more than 32,000 businesses, as of Thursday at 5 p.m., with the application window closing 9 a.m. Friday.

Only 1,250 to 2,000 grants will be awarded.

Were way, way, way oversubscribed, Tim Sullivan, CEO of the Economic Development Authority, said Thursday evening. Were on the hunt for more money.

The massive number of applications is evidence of the pain and suffering across the state, as entire industries have been ordered closed to slow the spread of the coronavirus and hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans are out of work, Sullivan said.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Applications have come in from across the state, with some concentration in Bergen and Essex counties, Sullivan said.

These businesses are the smallest of the small. Only those with 10 full-time equivalent employees or fewer are eligible. And of the $5 million available, $3 million has been earmarked for businesses with five or fewer full-time equivalent employees.

Theres a lot of two-, three- or four-employee enterprises out there that are really hard hit and have the least resources, Sullivan said.

Though the grants are small, $1,000 to $5,000 depending on the number of employees, every dollar matters, said Michele Siekerka, president of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.

Every dollar coming in and every dollar not having to be spent means something, she said.

In order to receive money, businesses must attest that they need this money to tide them over and wont lay off any employees or will make every effort to rehire laid off or furloughed staff.

If people get their application in and theyre No. 33,000, the odds arent good, he said, adding the authority tried to create easily accessible programs that can get money out the door quickly and that can be expanded if more funding opens up.

We knew that thered be an over-demand with limited resources, Siekerka said. The key, though, was encouraging people to get int he queue with the hope there will be money coming.

On Thursday, Sullivan announced the first tranche of grants had been awarded and wired. While the EDA is looking for more money to fund more grants, Sullivan said its unlikely theyll be able to satisfy the backlog.

The $5 million in Small Business Emergency Assistance grants is a piece of the roughly $40 million aid package coming out of the EDA, which also includes loans and loan guarantees.

Sullivan said he expects demand for the loans  up to $100,000 for businesses with less than $5 million in revenue  will be high. I dont know if itll be 16 times more applications than were expecting.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips
By Victoria Brodsky, co-founder of Blockchain BTM

Whether your small business or startup has experienced hardship from a crisis or not, its important to understand how you can best prepare yourself and your team to not only survive, but thrive during and after challenging times.

Here are five small business strategy tips to help you not only manage adversity, but come out leading your business with more strength and confidence than before:

1. Remember, it's never too late to prepare.

If youve been affected in any way by a crisis, dont be of the mindset that its too late to do something about it. Not only are there loan options available for small businesses during and after a crisis, but there will continue to be help from both public and private sources for small businesses in economic recovery.

In addition, its important to take note of all the measures you wish you had taken before the crisis and plan ahead for next time. Write down what you wish you had done differently, the resources you wish you had had access to and how you would have better prepared your employees. Use this to develop new crisis protocols and create preventive action items for the future.

2. Ask for help.

Asking for help as a small business owner or entrepreneur can sometimes make you feel vulnerable. However, its amazing what neighbors, friends and strangers on social media will do when you simply and genuinely ask for help.

Whenever youre experiencing change in your business, not just during hard times, but during any sort of change that leaves you with questions, go to the people around you and ask for advice. Reach out to your trusted mentors and advisors to ask legal and financial questions. Post on social media to encourage connections to return to your storefront or online store. You may be surprised by the support you receive when you ask.

3. Provide extra support and encouragement to your staff.

As a business owner, you may feel like youre the one who is most affected by unforeseen challenges. But remember, your employees run your company. During times of economic, social and political turmoil, remind them of the vision and the values of your company and why they chose to be there.

When morale is low, its imperative that you take leadership action, encourage the spirits of others and inspire them to act. Turn what feels like a painful moment into a teachable moment with your staff. These are times when lending an ear, applauding positive behavior and affirming those around you is most impactful both personally and professionally for the individuals you work with.

4. Brainstorm positive and strategic ideas.

In the midst of hardship, it can be difficult for many people to see the positives. The easier path is a spiral of negativity. But business challenges, especially ones relating to a crisis, present a great opportunity to carry out a brainstorming session with your team. After all, when was the last time you did that?

Set time aside with your team to write down how to turn a bad situation into a good business opportunity and help others in need. What products or services does your team have to offer that are different from the norm? A brainstorming exercise is not only great for team-building and morale, but may also result in some outside-the-box ideas for your business to thrive.

5. Share what youve learned.

Every business has its unique challenges, especially during a crisis. These are the times when you will learn a lot, and quickly. But if you dont record everything youve learned, you may forget. Write down all of the lessons, no matter how small or how big. They will serve as tools not only for you and your business, but for others.

Thats why its crucial that you share the lessons you learn in adversity as an entrepreneur. It can be tempting to want to forget the pain you and your business experienced during a hard time, but this is what the young entrepreneurs of the world need to know: how those before them conquered hardship.

Your reactions will define you and your business.

Starting a new business is hard, but how we react to the challenges along the way -- especially the big ones -- is what defines our leadership and our ability to be resilient in business. Challenges remind us to be grateful, to slow down and to remember why we began this entrepreneurial journey in the first place, and they can also be opportunities to thrive.
Phoebe McPherson was already using THC and CBD cannabis products as part of her anxiety management before San Franciscos shelter-in-place order took effect March 17. But the 25-year-old Marina resident says that once coronavirus measures hit San Francisco, her anxiety increased, and so did her cannabis use.

I now use cannabis every day, says McPherson, the head of social and influence strategy at a San Francisco marketing agency. Ive been as anxious as everybody.

As we develop new strategies for coping with the realities of staying in our homes while a virus ravages through our society, people are finding various ways to manage their growing anxieties. In the Bay Area, some are doing what McPherson has done, turning to cannabis products as coping tools.

Johnny Delaplane, president of the San Francisco Cannabis Retailers Alliance, says since the shelter-in-place order and more awareness of the dangers of the coronavirus have presented, sales specifically on THC edibles and other non-inhaled products have been up at the Berners on Haight and Project Cannabis dispensaries where he is a partner. He specifically names CBD-THC combination gummies as recent top sellers at Project Cannabis.

People are definitely using cannabis to keep their head right during this crisis, says Delaplane. Theres people saying, I need value products; Im going through a lot of product because Im stressed. Were all looking for stuff to keep us sane at this time. Cannabis is one of those things.

Delaplane notes that customers at both dispensaries are changing their buying behaviors. For example, for the first time he remembers, cannabis patches have become a top-five seller during shelter in place. Customers in general are looking to non-inhalable sources of cannabis, as COVID is a respiratory virus, he says, alluding to the medical warnings that people who smoke or vape could be at higher risk for coronavirus complications.

Using cannabis to treat anxiety is not a new mechanism for many. Even before the legalization of recreational cannabis in California in 2016, anxiety was one of the conditions that could qualify a person for a medical marijuana card. But because cannabis is not federally legal, the FDA does not have information about the overall effectiveness of cannabis products in treating anxiety or other disorders and has approved only one CBD product, a prescription drug that treats two rare forms of epilepsy.

Yet, within California, that hasnt stopped both cannabis businesses and cannabis users from advocating cannabis as an aid in dealing with anxiety and stress.

Nate Haas, the CEO of Moe Greens dispensary on Market Street, and a co-owner in the Barbary Coast dispensaries group, also reports an increase in sales of edibles, tinctures and capsules since the coronavirus hit, as well as cannabis beverages.

I used edibles sparingly before COVID, but its been several times a week these three weeks, says Zach Clark, a print maker and artist in Oakland who previously had a prescription for Xanax for panic attacks. He found the next-day hangover from the drug to be too heavy. Clark turned to THC and CBD edibles at the recommendation of a friend and says its been useful for managing stress during the shelter order. He uses gummy THC and CBD edible products primarily at the end of the day, unless he needs an additional CBD dose midday.

Theres no hangover remotely with cannabis; it calms me, Clark says. It gets me over the rush of anxiety and back to being a normal person.

But though both Delaplane and Haas report increased business in the edible categories at their dispensaries, they say business overall is down after a major surge in buying when the shutdown was announced. Moe Greens is among the dispensaries that have started offering delivery service in response to the shelter order. Project Cannabis and Berners on Haight are in the process of starting delivery service in the coming weeks.

Sophia West also suffered from anxiety before the shelter order and resisted pharmaceuticals because of the potential side effects. Although she occasionally smoked cannabis before shelter in place, she now uses THC edibles at the end of some days when her husband is home and their children are in bed.

More Information Know your cannabis If you've been considering cannabis products to help deal with anxieties, here are some tips to help you navigate your way into that world : THC vs. CBD THC:THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the chemical responsible for the majority of cannabis' psychological effects, specifically the "high" feeling. If a product has a higher ratio of THC, it will give some people a more intense feeling or high. CBD: CBD, or cannabidiol, is a non-psychoactive chemical found in cannabis that is being marketed as a non-FDA-approved treatment for issues like chronic pain, anxiety, inflammation, depression and other conditions. For most, it does not bring on a feeling of being high. CBD also has become popular in mainstream lifestyle products from skin creams to vitamin supplements. How you can consume cannabis Smoking: Dispensaries offer both cannabis flower and pre-rolled joints with different doses and ratios of THC and CBD. Vaping: Cannabis vapor is a non-combustible consumption option. You can buy cartridges with different doses and ratios of THC and CBD at most dispensaries, as well as vape pens and other vaping devices. Edibles: THC and CBD products run the range from gummy candies, chocolates, cookies and cannabis oil-infused nuts to a variety of foods beyond just the traditional cannabis brownie. Cannabis sodas, seltzers, coffee drinks, teas and nonalcoholic beers are also sold at many dispensaries. Capsules and patches: Cannabis capsules and patches are also available for people uncomfortable with consuming cannabis in more traditional forms. Topical lotions: CBD lotions are marketed primarily to people with skin conditions or pain issues, although some are also touted by makers to treat feelings of anxiety. See More Collapse

Its instead of having a drink at the end of the day when I need it, West says. Plus smoking right now, with corona being a respiratory issue, is a concern.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Thats probably why the sales of patches, teas and honeys products are higher, Delaplane says. He also notes that some people may not be able to smoke during shelter in place because of restrictions in housing or out of consideration to people with whom they are sheltering.

Sabrina Pacheco of Pinole primarily smoked cannabis before sheltering and says that to deal with her increase in anxiety in recent weeks, she has been using a cannabis drop product.

Even though you miss smoking, you have to think about your lungs, Pacheco says. The variety of what you can get at dispensaries makes it easy now. Theres a lot more available than just just smoking and brownies.

And cannabis dispensaries are still open. After reversing an earlier decision, they were considered an essential service in San Francisco, which Haas says has been a relief to both recreational customers and medical patients.

People use cannabis for anxiety anyway, Haas says. Just the fact that you can get these products and get them delivered is a huge thing for peoples peace of mind right now.

Clark says that in recent weeks, he has had friends dealing with their own shelter anxiety ask him questions about his experiences using THC and CBD edibles. McPherson also has talked more with friends in recent weeks about cannabis as part of her anxiety maintenance plan. Even online, she says that dispensaries are making it easier for people to navigate cannabis if they havent tried it before.

Were going to be in this (shelter in place) longer than expected, McPherson says. Having this option in your tool box is great for a lot of people.

Tony Bravo is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tbravo@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TonyBravoSF
President Donald Trump on Friday said he will make an announcement next week on US funding to the World Health Organisation, which he has recently threatened to cut.

"As you know, we have given them approximately USD 500 million a year, and we are going to be talking about that subject next week. We'll have a lot to say about it," Trump told a conference at the White House.

He said he would make the announcement "sometime next week."



Trump has gone on an offensive against the WHO, where Washington is the principal funder, accusing it of pro-China bias during the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, which began in Wuhan, China, last year.

The US State Department has homed in on what it says was the world health body's failure to pursue an early lead on coronavirus out of Taiwan.

Taiwan, which has succeeded in limiting the virus to just five deaths despite the island's proximity and ties with China, warned the WHO on December 31 of human-to-human transmission, Vice President Chen Chien-Jen has said.

China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, which rules itself, and has pressured international organisations like WHO around the world not to allow the island membership.

On Friday, China's foreign ministry said the US comments were "fact-distorting" and politically motivated to shift blame for the pandemic, according to state-run agency Xinhua.

WHO denies that it ever got an early warning from Taiwan about human-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Education & Career Pharmacovigilance Courses are a Guide to a Pharmacovigilance Associate



10.04.2020 14:38:11 - The Pharmacovigilance industry is a booming industry because of several measures taken in drug safety. Pharmacovigilance courses prepare the professional for their career in clinical research.



(live-PR.com) - The Need for Pharmacovigilance



The Pharmacovigilance industry is a booming industry because of several measures taken in drug safety. Pharmacovigilance courses prepare the professional for their career in clinical research. The industry requires professionals to be qualified and experienced in various activities such as the detection, monitoring, assessing, managing and preventing adverse reactions of drugs. One of the job profiles - The Need for PharmacovigilanceThe Pharmacovigilance industry is a booming industry because of several measures taken in drug safety. Pharmacovigilance courses prepare the professional for their career in clinical research. The industry requires professionals to be qualified and experienced in various activities such as the detection, monitoring, assessing, managing and preventing adverse reactions of drugs. One of the job profiles in the pharmacovigilance industry is that of a pharmacovigilance associate. This article would tell you how pharmacovigilance courses help you become a pharmacovigilance associate.



Who is a Pharmacovigilance Associate?



The aim of the pharmacovigilance associate is to identify several adverse effects that are linked to drugs and make available safer medicines to the public. For this reason, pharmacovigilance courses impart knowledge of novel technologies to students. After these courses, they can apply for several jobs that cater to drug safety issues. The role of a pharmacovigilance associate is a unique specialization and can be a promising career. To be eligible for pharmacovigilance courses as well as a career, one needs to possess a degree in medicine, nursing or life-sciences. Furthermore, one usually had advantage if they have a hands-on experience as a pharmacovigilance associate. Pharmacovigilance courses give professionals the adequate qualification and experience.



https://www.technobridge.in/clinical-research-course.html





Roles and Responsibilities of a Pharmacovigilance Associate



There are several roles and responsibilities that a pharmacovigilance associate carries out in the industry. Pharmacovigilance courses prepare professionals for their roles in the industry. They are:

- Making sure that there is compliance in accordance with applicable regulations or standard operating procedures



- They are responsible for overseeing the processes of drug effectiveness and avoiding adverse effects or side effects of pharmaceutical products in clinical trials



- They minimize the risks during the administering and prescribing drugs and improving safety abs treatment outcome in patient care.



https://www.technobridge.in



- Carry out certain activities of an important case report such as writing adverse event programs and being the intermediary between the company, healthcare experts and patients for delivery of relevant information on drug safety.





- Carrying out several pharmacovigilance processes



To summarize, pharmacovigilance courses help prepare a professional for a career in pharmacovigilance. Pharmacovigilance courses ensure successful job prospects in the pharmacovigilance industry.



The Advantages of Clinical Research



Clinical research benefits people in many ways. Firstly, they enable patients to get access to new treatments. In many situations, participation in a clinical trial is the standard of care recommended by practice guidelines depending on the patients stage and response to other therapies. Therefore, oncology clinical research not only has a major impact on future patients, it also plays a significant role in the care of patients who are currently fighting cancer. Clinical Research Training prepare people for the different trials.



How Clinical Research Courses will Train Professionals



One needs to enroll in clinical research courses because these courses will give the adequate training and experience. They also give them the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of clinical research and pharmacovigilance. In addition to this, it also allows companies to show that they have the adequate systems in place. Therefore, one must enroll in the best clinical research courses in Pune to build a successful career in clinical research.

in the pharmacovigilance industry is that of a pharmacovigilance associate. This article would tell you how pharmacovigilance courses help you become a pharmacovigilance associate.Who is a Pharmacovigilance Associate?The aim of the pharmacovigilance associate is to identify several adverse effects that are linked to drugs and make available safer medicines to the public. For this reason, pharmacovigilance courses impart knowledge of novel technologies to students. After these courses, they can apply for several jobs that cater to drug safety issues. The role of a pharmacovigilance associate is a unique specialization and can be a promising career. To be eligible for pharmacovigilance courses as well as a career, one needs to possess a degree in medicine, nursing or life-sciences. Furthermore, one usually had advantage if they have a hands-on experience as a pharmacovigilance associate. Pharmacovigilance courses give professionals the adequate qualification and experience.https://www.technobridge.in/clinical-research-course.htmlRoles and Responsibilities of a Pharmacovigilance AssociateThere are several roles and responsibilities that a pharmacovigilance associate carries out in the industry. Pharmacovigilance courses prepare professionals for their roles in the industry. They are:- Making sure that there is compliance in accordance with applicable regulations or standard operating procedures- They are responsible for overseeing the processes of drug effectiveness and avoiding adverse effects or side effects of pharmaceutical products in clinical trials- They minimize the risks during the administering and prescribing drugs and improving safety abs treatment outcome in patient care.https://www.technobridge.in- Carry out certain activities of an important case report such as writing adverse event programs and being the intermediary between the company, healthcare experts and patients for delivery of relevant information on drug safety.- Carrying out several pharmacovigilance processesTo summarize, pharmacovigilance courses help prepare a professional for a career in pharmacovigilance. Pharmacovigilance courses ensure successful job prospects in the pharmacovigilance industry.The Advantages of Clinical ResearchClinical research benefits people in many ways. Firstly, they enable patients to get access to new treatments. In many situations, participation in a clinical trial is the standard of care recommended by practice guidelines depending on the patients stage and response to other therapies. Therefore, oncology clinical research not only has a major impact on future patients, it also plays a significant role in the care of patients who are currently fighting cancer. Clinical Research Training prepare people for the different trials.How Clinical Research Courses will Train ProfessionalsOne needs to enroll in clinical research courses because these courses will give the adequate training and experience. They also give them the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of clinical research and pharmacovigilance. In addition to this, it also allows companies to show that they have the adequate systems in place. Therefore, one must enroll in the best clinical research courses in Pune to build a successful career in clinical research. Contact information:

Technobridge Systems



TechnoBridge Systems Pvt Ltd

Next To Nexa Showroom Sakalnagar, Aundh, Pune, Maharashtra 411007 Phone: +91 9257035703/9257045704



Contact Person:

Divya Shetty

Assistant Manager

Phone: 09257045704

eMail: eMail



Web: http://www.technobridge.in

Author:

Divya Shetty

e-mail

Web: http://www.technobridge.in

10.04.2020 14:38:11 -

Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this article please contact the author. Please do not contact Live-PR.com. We are not able to assist you. Live-PR.com disclaims content contained in this article. Live-PR.com is not authorized to give any information about content and not responsible for content posted by third party.
The public should be able to go outside in the sunshine as it helps 'destroy' coronavirus, a top immunologist has said.

Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said he thought it was 'fair enough thing' for people to catch some rays, as they damage the genetic material of the deadly pathogen.

He spoke on the BBC's Question Time last night as the Government embarked on a plan to get the public to stay at home over the long Easter weekend.

Police have also warned that they are ready to take action against those who flout the coronavirus lockdown rules.

But discussing the lockdown on live television last night, Prof Openshaw said: 'It mustn't seem irrational or punitive.

'It's very important that people understand when they are following the science and they are doing things which are not going to promote infection.

But I can't personally see what is wrong with sitting down and taking a bit of sun.

'Sun is very bad for this virus, it damages its genetic material, so that seems a fair enough thing for me.'

Brandon Lewis said; 'If people start coming to the beach to take their exercise but actually are relaxing and sunbathing on the beach, suddenly we will end up with the same number of people on the beach as we have in a peak Easter'

Peter Openshaw said he thought it was 'fair enough thing' for people to catch some rays, as they damage the genetic material of the deadly pathogen.

Councils across the UK have warned anyone planning weekend trips that they can expect to be turned away by police.

Tourist hotspots have also said holidaymakers and second homeowners are not welcome during the Easter weekend.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, in reply to Prof Openshaw on Question Time warned the public against making journeys t places like his own Great Yarmouth constituency on the Norfolk coast.

He said: 'I get the logic of what Peter is saying.

'The reason we are saying to people not to go and hang around and go sunbathing and relaxing in places is once one or two people start  I represent a seaside resort, if people start coming to the beach to take their exercise but actually are relaxing and sunbathing on the beach, suddenly we will end up with the same number of people on the beach as we have in a peak Easter.

'We cannot have that.'

Members of the public exercising in the early morning warm weather on the Long Walk at Windsor Castle this morning

But Blackpool beach was deserted amid pleas from politicians and the police for the public to stay at home

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab last night said it was still too soon for ministers to begin lifting the strict social distancing rules introduced last month.

Mr Raab - who has been deputising for Boris Johnson - said they could not begin to start looking again at the measures until the end of next week.

Despite the warnings, police have already caught some making journeys in contravention of the rules.

In Cumbria, police said they caught several people heading to the Lake District from outside the area.

Officers encouraged those caught to go home, including two men from Yorkshire who 'chose to head to Windermere for a spot of canoeing'.

At the other end of the country, John Hart, leader of Devon County Council, said police had been turning around holidaymakers travelling with caravans or motorhomes on the A38.

Further west, Cornwall Council said it had received about 200 reports from residents that holiday lets are defying the Government order to close.
We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell China Boqi Environmental (Holding) Co., Ltd. (HKG:2377), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

Most investors know that it is quite permissible for company leaders, such as directors of the board, to buy and sell stock in the company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.

View our latest analysis for China Boqi Environmental (Holding)

China Boqi Environmental (Holding) Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Vice Chairman & CEO Zhijun Zeng for HK$638k worth of shares, at about HK$1.15 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of HK$1.27. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. We do always like to see insider buying, but it is worth noting if those purchases were made at well below today's share price, as the discount to value may have narrowed with the rising price. The good news for China Boqi Environmental (Holding) share holders is that an insider was buying at near the current price. Zhijun Zeng was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

Zhijun Zeng bought a total of 2.35m shares over the year at an average price of HK$1.25. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Story continues

SEHK:2377 Recent Insider Trading April 10th 2020

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. China Boqi Environmental (Holding) insiders own about HK$680m worth of shares (which is 53% of the company). This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About China Boqi Environmental (Holding) Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Judging from their transactions, and high insider ownership, China Boqi Environmental (Holding) insiders feel good about the company's future. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing China Boqi Environmental (Holding). At Simply Wall St, we found 3 warning signs for China Boqi Environmental (Holding) that deserve your attention before buying any shares.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Dr Anthony Fauci is the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who has been working with President Donald Trump on the White House press briefings for the coronavirus pandemic.

In other words, this doctor is as far away from the glitz of showbiz as anyone could possibly be.

But on Friday the 79-year-old Weill Cornell Medicine graduate had a quick answer when asked which actor he would like to play him on Saturday Night Live: 56-year-old Brad Pitt.

Not a bad choice: Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Friday that he would like Brad Pitt to play him on SNL

Front and center in the US: The doctor has been working with President Donald Trump on the White House press briefings for the coronavirus pandemic; seen on Friday

During an interview with CNN on Friday morning, the doctor was asked by anchor Alisyn Camerota who he would like to play him on SNL.

'What do you think the chances are that someone will portray you?' began Camerota.

Fauci laughed and said, 'I have no idea, I hope not.'

Then she asked if he had a choice between Ben Stiller or Brad Pitt, who would he pick.

'Oh Brad Pitt of course,' said the doctor, laughing.

He liked the lighthearted question: During an interview with CNN on Friday morning, the doctor was asked by anchor Alisyn Camerota who he would like to play him on SNL. 'What do you think the chances are that someone will portray you?' asked Camerota

Brad is the most A list actor in Hollywood at the moment. He just won an Oscar for playing a stunt man in Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood. And he has been wed to two beauties: Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie.

As far as SNL, the NBC show loves to poke fun at the current administration.

Alec Baldwin always plays Trump with Kate McKinnon as Rudy Giuliani, who serves as Trump's lawyer.

On top: Brad is the most A list actor in Hollywood at the moment. He just won an Oscar for Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood; seen with Leonardo DiCaprio

Ladies' man: And he has been wed to two beauties: Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie, seen in 2015 in Hollywood

Saturday Night Live will be coming back this Saturday with new content made remotely.

The sketch comedy show 'will start airing original content' for the first time since the coronavirus shut down most TV production last month, reported Deadline on Thursday.

All the content will be 'produced remotely' as social distancing guidelines are followed around the United States.

Not Trump fans: As far as SNL, the show loves to poke fun at the current administration. Alec Baldwin plays Trump with Kate McKinnon as Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lawyer

The episode 'will include a version of "Weekend Update" and other skits,' reported NBC News.

NBC had previously scrapped their March 28 episode, which was set to star host John Krasinski and musical guest Dua Lipa.

Saturday Night Live is usually recorded in New York City, which has in recent times become the epicenter of the USA's coronavirus pandemic, recording more deaths than anywhere else in the country.

Back in business: Saturday Night Live is set for a surprise return to the air this weekend

Safety first: All the content will be 'produced remotely' as social distancing guidelines are followed around the United States

The death toll hit close to home for SNL this week, when longtime producer Hal Willner passed away due to coronavirus complications.

Willner had worked on the sketch show since 1980.

The show's head writer Michael Che also revealed this week that his grandmother had died from COVID-19.
A boy and a girl roam in a deserted street during the current coronavirus lockdown in New Delhi. (DC Photo: Pritam Bandyopadhyay)

I love to go [to the market] and see all the things I am happy without.

-- Socrates

It was due. Humanity and the Earth were crying for it. A rebirth but it could happen only after a black death.

Global institutions became too big. Gigantism became too large. Full-scale capitalism took charge. Human interaction changed in unbelievable ways. Humans became numbers for outreach, output and scalability in the development sector. Like inmates in a prison.

Between multinational companies and the World Trade Organisation, everything linked to mankind went into a spin  self-generated and manufactured. Increased wealth did not make for happier human beings. Imbalances became the order of the day. Between human beings and with the Planet.

Anything that was economically powerless or voiceless, was devoured with greed and heartlessness. Peaking with the screaming realities staring us in the face today. The Sustainable Development Goals achieved little, the Millennium Development Goals are limping.

Vast tracts of land disappeared, fossil fuels became precious, seas began to rise. Climate Change became the new scare. Even that was not good enough to bring humanity to its senses  voluntarily.

The busy-ness of acquiring wealth, power, fame, remained un-stemmed. It was well-accompanied with avarice, greed, ostentation, display. Backroom parlays ensured consensus for exploitation.

The scenario became as glib as it could get. Instant and Now were the mantras. Wealth and access made it possible.

A party tonight meant a visit to the parlour in a loud car, a swish of a new outfit. Returning home, decking up for perfect display. Again out in the loud car to a destination. A lot of unbelievable consumptive stuff. In between and later. It was enough to just think of London, Bangkok or New York. Within days, instant gratification. Arrival across continents within hours.

People criss-crossed in jets for inane conferences. Stayed in posh hotels, guzzled copious litres of the best wines. Much laughter and stance, little substance. The profiting spirals of the fortunate, connected, well-placed, continued unabated.

The great equaliser

A virus became the great equaliser. Brought it all to a halt. Now, mankind is struggling with questions that have not occurred to most at the turn of the century. The rising questions in themselves are a puzzle for most.

Extraordinary phrases are emerging on the horizon. People on the planet must learn to wait, be kind and patient. This is the time when we must do the best that we can. Lets hope for the best. Germany, it seems, is not immune to the ravages of the epidemic. What could you gift a wife for her birthday in such a lockdown? ALL clubs are CLOSED. People are CANCELLING dinners.

Suddenly, the I is turning into a We. A collective spirit is silently escalating in the desperation to survive the onslaught of an unseeable virus. Arrogance is taking a toss. Rich economies facing a Covid-19 explosion are welcoming help from the less wealthy.

People are deprived of dashing in hectic frenzy for meaningless this or that. Mindless, random ordering in has become a limited option. Grand, expensive displays are turning into simple gestures of affection and love.

Where is this taking us?

Social media posts in Lockdown time are revelatory. A large number are about cooking in the confines of the home. About having to cook  with limitations. There was a time when gathering around the family hearth was the norm. I recall an old Indian tradition, if that is what it should be called. If we went out for a dinner, on return, my mother-in-law would insist on having a hot cup of milk or something equivalent. The concept was: choolaa jalnaa chhahiye (the cooking fire must be lit).

A corona cooking lesson

As cafes, restaurants, takeaways, instant food became the given normal, the concept of food being cooked at home became rare. As recession hits the world, it may not be so easy to mindlessly squander on food  outside or at home. Shopping for exotic, unseasonal ingredients may have to make place for simpler cooking.

A dear elder once gave me a lifelong lesson when I was in my teens. Shopping for a variety of ingredients and then making dishes does not make you a great cook. A great cook is one who checks what is at home and devises beautiful dishes from them. That may yet be the greatest Corona cooking lesson through Lockdown.

Will we sustain that learning? Are we going to learn from history?

Before the European Renaissance, religious and philosophical beliefs spread and inter-mingled across the trade routes. There were conflicts and the Crusades were like a culminating symbol of that era. Across the board, scholars began delving into ancient Greek and Roman texts in search of a new value system. There were innovations in publishing and the arts. The printing press arrived with long-term impact. Increased literacy meant people could read and interpret texts for themselves, not via a priest.

More than anything else, though, it was the Black Death that impacted the rise of the Renaissance. Words like Great Mortality eerily evoke the Covid-19 era. The Great Pestilence spread relentlessly across large tracts of Europe and Asia.

Historians differ on whether 75 or 200 million died of the Great Bubonic Plague in Europe alone. It is nearly agreed that more than half of Europeans died. People were stupefied that they did not know how to stop the spread. People moved away in different directions. The balance of power and wealth in Europe completely changed.

This is what primed society for the Renaissance. Renaissance was about new ideas of humanism and throwing off the shackles of fiendish religious beliefs and feudal traditions. About innovation and new forms of artistic expression.

Are we on the brink of a coronaissance? Maybe. Human beings are unpredictable. They just may rush back into their busy-ness and consumptive patterns after lockdowns and restrictions fade away.

Just suppose if that is not so. Are we primed for a coronaissance? Lets look at the pointers that hark back to history.

There has been an exceptional global exchange of diverse socioeconomic-cultural-anthropological and scientific theories. A wide spectrum of stakeholders have developed one or other form of interconnectedness  both physically, and more importantly now, virtually. Religious thinking has taken various forms, including the fundamentalist, with an equal number of diverse responses to it.

The Internet is an explosion of information like never before. The world is digging into ancient concepts, recipes, spiritual beliefs, etc  with direct access. Creating ripples and groups around each new finding. Then reacting to it in innovative ways with new practices. The Smartphone is ever increasingly making this flow of information available to anyone, anywhere, even across the Digital Divide.

Then comes Covid-19 and the world is dumbstruck. From royalty to ministers to the poor, no one knows where the virus will strike next. Figures of death are what people are looking at, day in and day out. The fear psychosis has reached mob hysteric levels.

Is there a chance that Humanism will make a comeback? Will concepts of spirituality and justice take root? Will Schumachers concepts of Small Is Beautiful be taken seriously? Will human beings once again become a part of human relations  without being just an economic stake? Will human beings once again become a part, not the centre, of the Universe?

A book written in the mid-1970s has re-emerged for relevance time and again. Now maybe the time to give it its due: Small Is Beautiful by E.F. Schumacher. Almost ten years ago, Madeline Bunting revisited the book and the concepts in an article in The Guardian of UK. In the Covid-19 scenario, between the book and the article, there are strong takeaways.

The large scales of big markets and big political entities led to a dehumanisation of people and the economic system. Profit was the only guiding factor, disregarding human need. Down the line, people tried to revive the human / small aspect. Again, voracious expansion of consumer capitalism distorted these initiatives.

Leave it to the millennials

The millennials have a huge role to play for a coronaissance to happen. If they do, it will surely be beautiful.

A recent interview on Indian television was revealing. It was an Italy-returned Indian Covid-19-recovered patient. He was asked how this experience has changed him. He said two things:

a) While I was recovering, friends and relatives were sending me lot of mantras and prayers. I think I have become more spiritual and religious now.

b) Before this, life was all about having a blast  which mall, which restaurant, which movie today. I think now, I will be spending more time with my kids and family at home.

As Schumacher indicated in his book: Human happiness would not be achieved through material wealth. Going back to the human scale is imperative  to focus on human needs and human relationships. From that will spring the ethical response of stewardship to the environment.

Maybe time to take a leaf from Confucius: We are so busy doing the urgent, we do not have time to do the important.

Neelima Mathur is an India-based executive producer-researcher-writer, mentor and trainer for documentary and NGO films. She is also festival director, Lakeside Doc Festival.
Celebrity stylist Jo Ferguson died of suspected liver and kidney failure on Wednesday at the age of 46.

And as tributes pour in for the late socialite, friends and colleagues have offered a rare glimpse into the life of the troubled party girl.

According to those closest to Jo, she 'never lost her wild sense of humour' despite being terribly ill and was 'enthusiastic about life' until the very end.

Tragic: Jo Ferguson 'never lost her wild sense of humour' despite her declining health, according to friends of the late celebrity stylist. Pictured on December 6, 2007 in Sydney

Talent manager Annie Kelly, whose clients include supermodel Miranda Kerr, said that Jo 'could light up a room with her energy and smile'.

'Despite her health battles, she never lost her wild sense of humour and still had me in tears of laughter when we spoke. I have so many wonderful memories that I will cherish,' Annie told The Daily Telegraph.

Media personality Deborah Thomas, who was a colleague of Jo's at Cleo magazine in the late '90s, said her friend was 'always so full of life and fun'.

Devastated: Talent manager Annie Kelly (left), whose clients include supermodel Miranda Kerr (right), said that Jo 'could light up a room with her energy and smile'

Heartbroken: Media personality Deborah Thomas (pictured), who was a colleague of Jo's at Cleo magazine in the late '90s, said her friend was 'always so full of life and fun'

'RIP to one of the best': On Tuesday, publicist Roxy Jacenko reflected on her friendship with Jo, who was a longtime supporter of her company Sweaty Betty PR

Deborah revealed they would regularly catch up for lunch after leaving Cleo.

'It was always a pleasure to spend time with Jo as she bubbled over with enthusiasm about life even though more recently she faced many challenges. I am devastated by the loss of a beautiful soul who has tragically left us way too soon,' she said.

High profile publicist Roxy Jacenko also paid tribute on Thursday, saying: 'Jo, you were so special and you will be missed. Life is short. Take care, all.'

Jo died in the early hours of Wednesday morning of suspected liver and kidney failure after several years of declining health.

Her brother, Scott, told The Daily Telegraph he was devastated by the loss of his 'inspirational' sister.

She had quit the Sydney party scene and moved to Adelaide in recent years, but many still remembered her from her days mingling with actors and models at high-profile social events.

Inside Jo's tumultuous personal life Jo dated longtime Seven presenter and celebrity carpenter Tom Williams for several years before splitting in 2003. It's unclear what caused their break-up. She told a journalist in 2005: 'We broke up two years ago, and I've got a new boyfriend now. It was a time in our lives, and it's not that time now.' She was reluctant to discuss Tom out of fear she would be misquoted. Brief: Jo dated longtime Seven presenter and celebrity carpenter Tom Williams for several years before splitting in 2003. It's unclear what caused their break-up. Pictured in April 2008 from left to right: Jo, David Gyngell, Tom and Kylie Spear '[Reporters] always print something I didn't say, like I am in love with him, which is not true, and not fair,' she said. She then began a relationship with high-flying Sydney banker Angus McGeoch, which lasted for several years. The pair even bought a house together on Sydney's exclusive north shore. But their split in 2007 left her in a bad way. Stylist: Jo had no shortage of A-list clients and friends. Pictured with supermodel Miranda Kerr on September 13, 2007 in Sydney Famous friends: Jo is pictured with model Kristy Hinze on December 14, 2008. Jo was a bridesmaid at Kristy's wedding to American tech billionaire Jim Clark in 2009 Jo took the break-up hard, losing weight and 'crying so much her eyelashes fell out', she was quoted as telling The Daily Telegraph at the time. But it was about this time that Jo started to mingle with Sydney's fashion elite, even being a bridesmaid at model Kristy Hinze's wedding to American tech billionaire Jim Clark in 2009. In 2011, she abruptly quit her job as fashion editor at Woman's Day magazine in a bizarre fashion - allegedly resigning by email at 4:30pm on a Friday, giving her employers zero notice, and leaving with immediate effect. But the decision to leave Woman's Day hardly hurt her career, as she went on to style some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Duffy and Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas. Abrupt exit: In 2011, Jo quit her job as fashion editor at Woman's Day magazine via email at 4:30pm on a Friday afternoon, leaving with immediate effect. Pictured on December 28, 2008 Advertisement

In 2016, Jo had a near-death experience which saw her withdraw completely from the spotlight. The accident was so bad, she had complications for years and was often in and out of hospital.

She described what happened in a Facebook post at the time, writing: 'I slipped and fell down 27 stairs at my apartment at 8:20am on a Sunday and knocked myself out immediately, gashing my temple on the stairs and losing four litres of blood.

'I'd been unconscious for five hours when a friend found me and called the ambulance. I ended up needing three blood transfusions and 38 stitches to the head. I was told I was 20 minutes from death due to the blood loss.'

Too young: Jo died in the early hours of Wednesday morning of suspected liver and kidney failure after several years of declining health. Pictured on December 15, 2010 in Sydney

A fight for life: In 2016, Jo had a near-death experience which saw her withdraw completely from the spotlight. The accident was so bad, she had complications for years and was often in and out of hospital

After this accident, she left Sydney and returned to Adelaide to be closer to her family.

In January, Jo revealed she had been hospitalised with blood poisoning due to a complication from a blood transfusion following the 2016 incident.

She told The Sydney Morning Herald she had been given the wrong blood type, which caused years of nausea and lightheadedness.

'They gave me B-positive and I am A-positive. I had 9.1 litres of poisonous blood drained from my body, I was close to death and said I had six months to live,' she said.

She was placed on life support in March, only to be discharged and then readmitted.

Following her discharge from hospital last month, she wrote on Facebook: 'After being placed on life support a week ago how the body reacts is amazing. Did someone say coronavirus? Wait until you are really sick to cry wolf.'

The life and times of Jo Ferguson 1974: Born in Adelaide

Early 2000s: Makes a name for herself in the Sydney social set working for magazines such as Woman's Day and Cleo

2003: Splits from television host Tom Williams after dating for several years

2007: Left heartbroken after break-up with banker Angus McGeoch

2008: Leaves Cleo magazine to work for Woman's Day and NW

2009: Serves as a bridesmaid at Kristy Hinze's wedding to Jim Clark

2011: Resigns as fashion director of Woman's Day via email

2012: Jo goes on to style the likes of Rihanna and Taylor Swift

2016: Falls down the stairs at home and requires three blood transfusions

2016: Leaves Sydney party scene and returns to Adelaide due to poor health

2019: Suffers from constant nausea and lightheadedness as health worsens

January 2020: Diagnosed with blood poisoning after being given the wrong blood type in an earlier transfusion

March 2020: Discharged from hospital after being put on life support

April 2020: Dies of suspected liver and kidney failure on April 8 Advertisement
T he rise in coronavirus cases is beginning to plateau with the UK's hard work "paying off", the Government's deputy chief medical officer has said.

Speaking at the daily Covid-19 press conference at Downing Street, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said the "curve is beginning to bend".

But Prof Van-Tam was quick to add that it is "premature" to say that the UK has peaked in terms of the number of people with the disease in hospital.

It comes as the number of deaths in the UK rose by 980 on Friday to a total of 8,958 - up from 7,978 on Thursday.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

He said the UKs figures were broadly in line with what was happening in other countries.

Its still a dangerous situation, we have to keep taking measures to bring this under control, he said.

Its premature to say we are at a peak and the push we are making with social distancing just has to continue.

Prof Van-Tam also said the UK was still in a dangerous phase in regard to the number of new coronavirus cases.

Quoting data from March 16 to April 10, he said: You can see the broad trend, that we have been in an increase phase and we are now at a point where we are at a high level and the numbers are varying day by day.

We are in a dangerous phase still. And I need to reinforce that again to you, that this is not over.

In regard to the number of people occupying hospital beds after being diagnosed with Covid-19 between March 20 and April 9, he said: There has been a steady increase, but possibly you can see that the curve is bending.

Its impossible to say we have peaked. London has gone down in the last day, but Yorkshire and the North East has gone up.

Today's press conference led by Matt Hancock / 10 Downing Street/AFP via Getty

Health Secreaty Matt Hancock, who led the news briefing, claimed that the NHS has not yet been overrun and that every person with coronavirus has been able to access care.

He said: Im very pleased, that thus far in this crisis, there is no point where the NHS has been overrun, and every single person with coronavirus has been able to access the best possible care in the NHS, because we have taken the action to expand the NHS.

He said the economical impact of the crisis, and how that will affect the health service, had not yet been established.
Its been weeks since he returned to India, but Suhel Mehta (name changed), still gets anxious when he thinks about his last few days in Italy. Mehta was in Lombardy, at the centre of the Covid-19 outbreak.

He locked himself up, choosing to virtually starve than step out of his room and risk infection. He flew out as soon as he could, abandoning the work he had travelled for. It had become so bad, he had begun to feel that just breathing would make him ill, says Debanjan Banerjee, a psychiatrist at Bengalurus National Institute of Mental Health and ...
A McDonald's customer has been accused of spitting on a woman after he caught her filming his confrontation with staff.

The Sydney man, 42, was trying to use the outdoor dining area at the chain's Kellyville Ridge restaurant on Thursday morning when staff told him to leave.

McDonald's closed its seating areas at restaurants across Australia after the government introduced strict new rules to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

McDonald's have been forced to close its seating areas at restaurants across Australia after the government introduced strict new rules amid the coronavirus pandemic

The man refused to leave and began arguing with staff.

When he noticed a woman in the store filming him on her mobile phone, he allegedly spat on her face and walked off.

Police later caught up with the man and charged him with common assault.

He's due to appear at Blacktown Local Court on July 6.

Since March 23, McDonald's customers have had to get their fast food fix by either drive-thru, takeaway or delivery.

Customers are still able to enter the stores and order using kiosks, on the counter or on the MyMaccas app.
Rotunda Rumblings

One month in: Its been a month since Ohios first confirmed coronavirus cases. Now, over 200 people are dead and at least 5,512 are infected. Cleveland.coms Laura Hancock reviews all the shutdowns and other government orders in the past month.

Jobless claims: For the week ending April 4, 242,000 Ohioans filed for unemployment, cleveland.coms Evan MacDonald reports. The total in the three weeks since Ohio officials began ordering businesses closed: more than 696,000 claims. By comparison, the state received 364,603 claims applications for all of 2019.

Mailing it in: Cleveland.coms Andrew Tobias explored whether Ohio should consider making a vote-by-mail plan for the November election in case coronavirus remains a problem later this year. The story lays out what policy makers have said about the issue, what advocates and elections workers say needs to happen and what issues might come into play. One possibility: House Speaker Larry Householder has said members have discussed developing an official contingency plan for any disrupted election.

Then there were four: The only four counties that dont yet have a confirmed case of the coronavirus - Harrison, Hocking, Putnam and Vinton - are among Ohios least populated. What they have in common is that they are small, with populations ranging from 13,085 to 33,861, cleveland.coms Rich Exner reports in his daily coronavirus map and graphic package. Also from Exner is a new database where you can find the number of confirmed cases for each county, for each day since reporting began on March 9.

Plasma screening: An experimental treatment using plasma from COVID-19 survivors to treat patients fighting the disease has been approved for use in Ohio. As Tobias reports, researchers at the Lindner Research Center at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati developed the protocol, and will oversee a study in its use at hospitals across the state. Officials expect it will be ready within weeks, contingent on finding plasma from eligible donors. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted shared news of the FDA approval at Gov. Mike DeWines coronavirus briefing Thursday.

Back to the future: DeWine said Ohioans have done a better job at social distancing than anticipated by the modelers who have been working to project the peak of the coronavirus crisis, MacDonald writes. But DeWine used one of his favorite movies, Back to the Future, to stress that we cant let up, saying that decisions made in the present could change the outlook. And he promised the state would have a fairly sophisticated plan to ease restrictions when the time is right.

Coro-NO-virus: During DeWines briefing, about 70 demonstrators (most of whom obeyed social-distancing guidelines) could be heard demonstrating outside the Ohio Statehouse against the states stay-at-home" order and closure of businesses. As cleveland.coms Jeremy Pelzer reports, the governor and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton sought to reassure the protesters. Were not going to keep these orders on one day longer than we have to, DeWine said.

Face facts: A group of manufacturers led by Cleveland-based MAGNET will make up to one million face shields for frontline health-care workers battling the coronavirus, cleveland.coms Peter Krouse reports. The project, announced Thursday by DeWine, involves 19 Ohio manufacturing companies and three hospital groups working with JobsOhio, the states economic development arm.

Trump card: Niles-area Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan was a guest on C-SPANs Washington Journal on Thursday, where he decried what he called President Donald Trumps botched response to the coronavirus pandemic and accused him of getting rid of inspectors general to hide his malfeasance. I think the American people, quite frankly, are fed up with this," said Ryan. "We need stability. We need somebody whos going to right the ship.

For the Lakes sake: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced it will use the extra $20 million that Congress allotted for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative this year to address invasive species control and prevention, restore habitats, remediate environmental problems that it previously designated Areas of Concern, and address nutrients that enter the lake and cause harmful algal blooms, cleveland.coms Sabrina Eaton reports.

Buckeye Brain Tease

Question: The 1918 influenza pandemic hit a U.S. Army camp in Ohio particularly hard. What is the name of the camp and which city was it in? Email your response to capitolletter@cleveland.com.

The first correct respondent will be mentioned in next weeks newsletter.

Thanks for responding to last weeks trivia question:

This house was built in 1828 on Liberty Hill, in Brown County, overlooking the Ohio River. Its owners allowed 2,000 enslaved people seeking freedom to stay with them, sometimes 12 at a time. Whats the name of this house?

Answer: The John Rankin House in Ripley, Brown County. Although slavery was illegal in Ohio, enslaved slave people seeking freedom could be arrested, thanks to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, and slaves had to leave the United States for safety, according to the Ohio History Connection.

Capitol Letter reader Sheila Cochran of Cambridge in Guernsey County was the first to send the correct answer.

Birthdays

Friday: Madeleine Castle, legislative aide to state Rep. Jena Powell; Jessica Warner, director of legislative affairs, Ohio Right to Life

Saturday: State Rep. Jay Edwards; Bryan Gray, Ohio House Republicans deputy chief of staff for administration; Jonathon McGee, Ohio House Republicans chief of staff and legal counsel

Sunday: Michael McGovern, communications director, Innovation Ohio; Vanessa McMahon, Ohio Senate Republicans senior policy adviser; Charles Foster, Ohios 35th governor (1828-1904)

Straight from the Source

One of the greatest things we do in our country, we send health care people around the world to help them with problems. We partly do it for our own interest, to keep it out of the country, but we do it for humanitarian reasons. The White House had nobody doing that.

-U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, in a Rolling Stone piece featuring his views on Democratic politics, the Ohio political scene and President Donald Trump and John Bolton disbanding the National Security Councils pandemic team.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 09:18:03|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Staff members transfer medical supplies donated by China at the Cuban Ministry of Public Health's warehouses in Havana, Cuba, April 9, 2020. Cuba started on Thursday to distribute medical supplies donated by China to help stem the spread of COVID-19 nationwide. Some 500 infrared thermometers, 2,000 sets of protective clothing, goggles and shoe covers, 2,000 N95 face masks and 10,000 surgical masks donated by the Chinese government arrived in Cuba on Sunday night. Also on Sunday, 10,000 protective suits and 100,000 face masks, donated by China's Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., reached the country. (Photo by Joaquin Hernandez/Xinhua)

HAVANA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Cuba started on Thursday to distribute medical supplies donated by China to help stem the spread of COVID-19 nationwide.

Some 500 infrared thermometers, 2,000 sets of protective clothing, goggles and shoe covers, 2,000 N95 face masks and 10,000 surgical masks donated by the Chinese government arrived in Cuba on Sunday night.

Also on Sunday, 10,000 protective suits and 100,000 face masks, donated by China's Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., reached the country.

Chinese Ambassador to Cuba Chen Xi said more donations from China are expected to arrive in the Caribbean nation.

"We will continue working together. We hope Cubans can successfully address COVID-19 with unity and discipline," he said during a visit to the Cuban Ministry of Public Health's warehouses on the outskirts of the capital.

Rolando Rederos, director general of Cuban medical supplies company MEDICUBA, highlighted the importance of this donation for the island.

"China has always stood by Cuba. We are working very hard to distribute the Chinese aid across the country," he said.

The Chinese government and companies have been helping Cuba combat the epidemic since first confirmed cases were reported on the island in March.

Cuba has reported 515 cases and 15 deaths from coronavirus so far.
African Americans make up 18.5% of COVID-19 cases and 19.2% of deaths in Indiana.

As has been the case with other states and cities that have released data about race, African Americans make up a disproportionate number of cases and deaths.

African Americans are about 9.8% of the states population.

 CHART: Tracking COVID-19 in Indiana

Dr. Kristina Box, the states top health official, released the data April 10 during Gov. Eric Holcombs daily COVID-19 update.

Its important to note that race is unknown for about 19% of cases and 7% of deaths. Dr. Box said the Indiana State Health Department will continue to work with hospitals to fill in the missing data.

The reason some data is missing is because doctors who order tests fill out a form that includes race and ethnicity, and sometimes they check unknown. The state can go through other records to confirm that information.

Race and ethnicity data will be added to the health departments COVID-19 dashboard starting April 13, Dr. Box said, but that will be statewide data only.

The Marion County Public Health Department could not be reached immediately to see if the county has data about race and ethnicity.

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.

African Americans make up a disproportionate amount of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Indiana.
The UT administration will increase the salaries of the frontline health workers as a token of gratitude for their service amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The move comes a day after the Haryana government announced to pay double salary to doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and others at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus.

Confirming the development, UT adviser Manoj Kumar Parida, said, We will be writing to the central government for considering an increase in the pay of the frontline health workers in the city.

The quantum of the pay increase, Parida said, is yet to be finalised.

Chandigarh has so far recorded 19 positive cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Recently, an insurance cover of 50 lakh was also given to Chandigarhs health workers involved in handling of Covid-19 cases at the PGIMER and GMCH-32, in case of loss of life due to the infection.

APPRAISALS FOR UT EMPLOYEES TO WAIT

Meanwhile, the UT administration extended the last date for filing of appraisal by UT employees by three months. Due to the lockdown imposed in the city in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, the administration has decided to revise the timelines for writing the annual performance appraisal report (APAR) online (through e-HRMS Manav Sampada Portal) of Group A, B and C officials for the year 2019-2020, as a one-time measure.

The cadre controlling authority will generate APAR form online for the reporting officer by June 1 and the official will submit the form online to the reporting officer by June 30. Earlier this date was April 10. The reporting authority will have to submit APAR to the next higher authority by July 31. The reviewing authority will record its remarks and submit it online to the next higher authority by August 31. The accepting authority will have complete the appraisal process by September 30.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
LANSDALE  With one of the holiest days on the calendar just passed, and another fast approaching, local churches are taking things online, and keeping a safe distance, while they make sure the faithful stay connected.

I placed the buckets of palms out early Sunday morning for folks to stop by and pick up throughout the day on Palm Sunday, said Sue Bertolette, senior pastor of St. Johns United Church of Christ in Lansdale.

Three hundred palms were ordered  by the end of the day, only a few were left, she said.

Located at 500 Main Street in Lansdale, St. Johns UCC has been offering chime concerts on Wednesdays at noon since the statewide coronavirus stay-home order was issued last month, in place of what would normally have been time for parishioners to gather for communion during Lent and Holy Week.

These 15-minute concerts of familiar hymns will continue on Wednesdays as long as the stay-at-home order is in place, Bertolette said.

We encourage folks to listen from the safety of their cars when they come, she said.

A week ago, St. Johns UCC leadership recorded their Palm Sunday service for audio download available on the churchs website and Facebook page, and decided to go casual. Instead of their Sunday best, Minister of Music David Furniss wore a blue pullover at his organ, Associate Pastor Addie Stong sported a white Eastern University sweatshirt, and Bertolette went casual in a burgundy Sellersville Theater hoodie, outfits that drew amused comments from the congregation.

I shared these photos with our members, pointing out that most likely, they are also dressed casually as they listen to our recorded services in the comfort of their homes, Bertolette said.

A special service has been recorded and was posted Thursday evening for Maundy Thursday, and the Good Friday service is scheduled for broadcast on WNPV 1440 AM on Friday from 3 to 4 p.m. and available online, while the Sunday message will be meant for younger members.

Our recorded Easter service will include a special message for children, along with the sermon for the morning, and there will be quite a bit of music, including a recording of St. Johns Chancel Choir and Friends singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handels Messiah, Bertolette said, recorded at an earlier concert.

St. Johns UCC members also continue to support local nonprofits including Manna on Main Street, and helps those with emergency financial needs. She and Stong have been staying in touch with anyone who needs them via phone and email so everyone can stay safely distanced, and weekly emails are keeping members posted on church events, while any joys or concerns are shared during the recorded services.

Much of our time these days is spent connecting to folks in our church family via phone, Facebook, text messages and email, she said.

Families adjust

All across Montgomery County, families are grappling with the fact that many long enjoyed holiday traditions will not happen this Easter due to restrictions put in place by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Lansdale resident Barbara Green, that tradition is performing at her church. Green has served as Grace Baptist Churchs organist and choir director for nearly six decades.

Ive been the organist for 59 years for Grace Baptist Church, and its the first year that I have not been at the organ for Palm Sunday and Easter, she said.

Green would have normally spent the holiday with her husband, two daughters and grandchildren. That wont be the case this year as she and her husband live in a retirement community and are not permitted to leave the area.

Our dinner will be brought to our apartment, and we will eat our dinner here alone this time, Green said. That is a big difference.

However, Green said she still plans to virtually watch the Easter service, and spend time with her family by way of a Zoom conversation on Sunday night.

Jill Moynahan of Ambler said she also wants to use the video chat platform to see members of her family who live in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Florida and Washington, D.C.

I have a feeling well have some sort of Zoom Easter conversation time to talk about what we all made in our own separate houses, Moynahan said.

Moynahan, who belongs to St. Pauls United Church of Christ in Ambler, plans to watch her holiday service online. In previous years, Moynahan said her family gathered and enjoyed a feast of ham, sweet potatoes and salad. While her family might be separated this year, she said she feels its important to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus and protect the areas vulnerable populations.

I just feel like we have to do it to keep it safe for all of us, Moynahan said.

Blue Bell resident Janet DeSante agreed. DeSante, a parishioner of St. Helena Church in Blue Bell, would typically attend Mass during Holy Week, and enjoy breakfast with her sisters family in Plymouth Meeting. This year, she said shell be keeping things digital by watching the live stream of the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday evening and Skyping with her family on Sunday.

DeSante stressed the importance of keeping to her faith during this difficult time.

I trust in God, she said.

That is also something that St. John Lutheran Church Bridge Pastor Stephen Godsall-Myers said he intends to do.

Godsall-Myers recorded homilies to post on the churchs website for several services this past week while the facility, located in Blue Bell, remained closed.

Its so very different, Godsall-Myers said.

Godsall-Myers, who resides in Harleysville, said hed still like to make the most of the situation. He debated driving to see his grandchildren, who live in Livitz and Oreland, from the safety of his car. He added that hes grateful for the advent of technology so that he can see his family through Zoom or Facetime, and continue to make memories by virtually dying eggs with his grandchildren on Saturday.

Its not the same, but its Easter, he said.
As the United Kingdom recorded over 65,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, said its too early to think about ending the lockdown. The initial lockdown of UK ends on April 13, however, with nearly 7,978 fatalities and British Prime Minister contracting the deadly disease, the government might announce an extension. Britain is bracing itself for more deaths from the novel virus in the upcoming weeks.

While addressing the daily coronavirus briefing, Raab said, We're not done yet. We must keep going. While the early signs suggest they're [social distancing measures] having the impact, it's too early to say that conclusively.

He added, We mustn't give the coronavirus a second chance to kill more people. Let's not ruin it now. People need to think long and hard about what might happen to people on the front line of the NHS if they are considering going out this weekend.

READ: UK Reports 881 New Coronavirus Fatalities, Death Toll Reaches 7,978

Dominic Raab is currently substituting for Boris Johnson in the cabinet meetings for countrys response to coronavirus outbreak and called it a war cabinet. Furthermore, while outlining the future plans, Raab even said that he chaired a Cobra meeting with senior ministers and representatives from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as the mayor of London so that the authorities could take stock and assess. He also said that the government is continuing to gather all of the relevant data to obtain the fullest picture possible of the effects of the social distancing measures.

He went on to say, While the early signs suggest that they're having the impact that we need to see, it's too early to say that conclusively. SAGE [the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies] will meet next week to discuss the latest evidence and we'll keep the measures we've put in place under review.

READ: UK Joins US, Brazil & Sri Lanka In Thanking India For Key Drug Exports Amid Covid Crisis

He added, As we've said on many occasions now, we'll be guided by the science at all times. We don't expect to be able to say more on this until the end of next week and let me just be very clear about this - the measures will have to stay in place until we've got the evidence that clearly shows we've moved beyond the peak.

Continues to improve

Meanwhile, the British PM had announced that he was tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month, and since then he was in self-isolation and was even chairing digital cabinet meetings over UKs response to the pandemic but was admitted to hospital due to persistent symptoms. While he remains in intensive care, Downing Street reportedly said that his condition continues to improve. British culture secretary Oliver Dowden told an international news broadcaster that hes stable, improving. He also added that Johnson is now able to sit up and even engage with the medical staff at the hospital and said: things are getting better for him.

(Image source: AP)

READ: Patient Describes Recovery On Same Ward As UK PM

READ: UK Records 881 Coronavirus Deaths
A host of privacy concerns related to virtual meetings of top government officials during the Covid-19 pandemic has made them turn to Vidyo, a video conferencing application vetted by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

The app developed by a US-based firm was first used by NIC in 1995 to host studio-based video conferencing. In 2009, the app was used for desktop-based video conferencing. It is the same secure channel that has been extended to officials at home to communicate. NIC data shows that from March 20, four days before the 21-day lockdown began, to April 9, a total of 79,405 calls lasting more than 37,909 hours have been made using the app.

Privacy concerns about government meetings came to the fore on April 1, when defence minister Rajnath Singh posted pictures on Twitter of his video conference with Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat using Zoom.

Also read: Zoom CEO Eric Yuan addresses privacy, security issues in first webinar

Zooms popularity in the government and private sectors surged during lockdowns in many countries. However, numerous security concerns related to the app have emerged. Authorities in Singapore, the US Senate and the German foreign ministry have barred the use of Zoom.

From zoombombing or hackers entering private chat rooms to selling of user data, the app has faced criticism. On April 8, Google asked its employees to stop using Zoom.

Talking about Vidyo, NIC director Neeta Verma said: All the videos are stored on a secure government server and cannot be accessed by anyone else...The app is hosted on our own data centre and is end-to-end encrypted ensuring complete security.

She added that most ministries and departments were using the Vidyo app for official purposes, although officers may have been using others for their personal calls.

Although the software is external, all the videos are stored on our own server and cannot be accessed by anyone else. The app is hosted on our own data centre.

Most ministries, she said, are using Vidyo for official purposes, though officers may have been using other apps for personal calls.

Experts say Zoom could potentially expose the country to security risks.

The main challenge is if parts of the government, like the military and the home ministry, are using the software, it exposes the country to the risk of sensitive information being routed through foreign infrastructure, said Sunil Abraham, former executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society.

Abraham said Zooms lack of end-to-end encryption is the reason for this exposure. The call is only encrypted between the user and Zoom, unlike end-to-end encryption. The company still has access to the information, he said.

Also read: Zooms latest update hides meeting ID numbers from the title bar

Keeping in view security concerns, the ministry of defence has since refrained from using the app for video conference, a person familiar with developments told Hindustan Times.

The department of personnel and training (DoPT) has been using Vidyo since virtual communications began. There were security concerns around Zoom that we too read in media reports, an DoPT official said. We were sent a link by the NIC on WhatsApp for Vidyo and have been using that. They must have vetted it to ensure it stays confidential.

On Tuesday, the official said, DoPT secretary C Chandramouli held a meeting with senior officials on Vidyo to review the present situation and formulate an action plan for the coming week.

According to a second DoPT official, meetings with the minister of personnel, grievances and pensions, Jitendra Singh, are exclusively held on Vidyo.

Work has been carrying forth as usual, but security has been our only concern, the second official said. Vidyo is the only app used for high-level meetings.

According to Abraham, however, even Vidyo is not completely secure.

Also read: Google bans Zoom from employee laptops

The government has eliminated 50% of the risk by hosting it, he said. But at the same time, you dont have complete control over the software. You dont know what the software is doing exactly. It will have to be very closely monitored. Its okay for low-level ministries but not the top level ones. If you use open source software Jitsi, you can avoid that risk too.
Church hasnt been cancelled. Church cant be cancelled. If the gates of hell cant shut the church down, neither will COVID-19.

The Mission Hasnt Changed

In Middle Tennessee, no one can seem to get through a sentence without using the phrase, unprecedented times. Every time a newscaster reads the daily headlines, every time a politician gives a speech, a CEO updates the company, or a pastor prays, they all will come to the moment where they are trying to verbally grasp the magnitude of traumas our area is dealing with. On March 2, Nashville and surrounding counties were hit with a series of tornadoes that wrecked the northern and eastern neighborhoods of Nashville and flattened several communities in nearby counties.

Just as we were mobilizing to help our neighbors get their lives back together after the storms, COVID-19 hits and Nashville, like most of the country, received a shelter in place order. The governor of Tennessee and every mayor of every city were telling people to stay home.

What do you do? There was a lot of debate among our leadership but here is where we came down. Love for neighbor demanded we find another way to do church. I dont know about your church, but when my church is open, the first people to show up are the last people who should be getting out. Our senior adults are some of the most faithful members of our church. If its Sunday, theyre going to come to church. Ice? Snow? Corona Virus? These people lived through Great Depression and World Wars. It will take more than a little bad weather or the threat of an illness to keep them home.

The early reports on the virus was that it was particularly dangerous for our senior adults. More than that, young people were carrying the virus without ever showing symptoms. That means our church could gather and our senior adults (and everyone else for that matter) could be infected without ever knowing they were standing next to someone who was carrying the virus.

I couldnt live with the fact that we might be exposing some of our members to something that would make them sick, if not kill them. That would have been too hard of a burden to carry.

I couldnt live with the fact that we might be exposing some of our members to something that would make them sick, if not kill them. That would have been too hard of a burden to carry.

So, we made the decision to go online. Im fortunate to be at a church with a creative team when it comes to technology. I lovingly call them The Nerds and right now, they are the most important part of our church team. In a matter of hours, they had sets constructed, lights focused, and the online platforms set up. Sunday morning, we were live to several thousand homes.

So far so good.

But that was just one day.

How do you do church in a time when, well, you cant come to church?

I know. Everyone says the church isnt the building, its the people. But no one lives that way.

We go to church. We point to the building and say, thats our church. When we talk about building the church, were usually talking about a building program.

But what happens when you cant go to church. What happens when theres no building to use?

Church happens.

For most Christians in North America, trying to do church without a building is something few have thought of, but for most of the churchs history and for many parts of the world today, church was and is done without a building. The church met in homes. The church met in forests and along riverbanks. Anywhere a group of people could be comfortably seated  or even stood  someone would stand up and teach the Bible, someone would sing and someone else would pray. From there, the Christ followers would leave to change the world.

Now, buildings are nice. You can control the temperature. The rain doesnt hit you and the sun doesnt beat down on you in the summer. You can set up a space for ministry and leave it set up for next week.

Buildings can also be a problem. Instead of supporting the ministry, the building can define the ministry. We can only do certain things certain ways because thats the way the building was designed. Can I do a Bible study? That depends. Can they fit in this room? The question isnt is this ministry effective, but does it fit in our building.

Church hasnt been cancelled. Church cant be cancelled. If the gates of hell cant shut the church down, neither will COVID-19.

Now, were in a time when we cant use our buildings and a lot of us are stumped. We dont know how to do church without the building. How do you sing our hymns and songs of worship? How do we preach? There has been a lot of discussion about what to do when church has been cancelled. Hear me. Church hasnt been cancelled. Church cant be cancelled. If the gates of hell cant shut the church down, neither will COVID-19.

In all of the times Jesus talked to His disciples about their mission to share the gospel with the world, He never tells them how. The command is to go and make disciples, period. The how is up to them.

I think this is because the how is always changing. Sometimes it will be in homes as people prayed together. Sometimes the word will be preached in stadiums with thousands attending the gospel rally. In grand cathedrals with priests in liturgical robes and in small rural churches with a preacher in blue jeans, the word is preached, and the gospel is heard. Disciples are made.

The message never changes. The mission never changes.

The method is always changing. Jesus gave us a mission and left it up to us to figure out how. So, how will we make disciples in this time of pandemic?

The mission hasnt changed. Were still charged by our Lord to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Now, we just have to figure out how.
Nathan Kinsella was the target of the raid.

Heavily armed detectives raided a south Dublin property this week as part of a probe into links between a well-known "businessman" and a notorious criminal who was a close pal of slain Real IRA boss Alan Ryan.

The target of the operation by the Special Detective Unit was Nathan Kinsella (39), who specialist gardai believe has forged a close relationship with the businessman, himself a target for officers for years.

No arrests were made in the dawn raid in Blackrock but Kinsella was present when officers stormed the property.

A large amount of documents, as well as electronic equipment, were seized as part of the search, which will now be forensically examined by gardai.

"This is part of a lengthy ongoing investigation and detailed surveillance on individuals has played a major role in this," a source said last night.

What is clear is that Kinsella was not abiding by the government-imposed travel restrictions on travelling further than two kilometres outside your home as he lives in Athy, Co Kildare, which is an 85km drive from his home address.

Expand Close Slain Alan Ryan / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Slain Alan Ryan

While not arrested in the raid, sources say that officers are in the "evidence-gathering stage" in relation to Kinsella's association with the so-called businessman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Kneecapped

The Dublin-based businessman has been heavily involved with dissident Republicans and burglary gangs for almost two decades. He was not in the Blackrock property when it was raided on Wednesday.

The businessman is a major target for garda units such as the SDU, the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB).

He is long suspected of paying "protection money" to dissident Republicans, including Kinsella and his cronies.

Kinsella was a close associate of Alan Ryan who was murdered in September 2012, by the "Mr Big" drugs mob.

However, he was kicked out of the dissident Republican mob in the aftermath of Ryan's murder because of his criminal activities.

Kinsella was kneecapped in a punishment shooting in Ballyfermot in November 2012, as part of an internal IRA purge that happened in the months after Ryan was shot dead.

He was accused of taking money belonging to the organisation which had been extorted from drug dealers and was shot twice in the legs.

He spent a number of days in hospital but did not make a formal complaint to gardai about the shooting after his release.

Kinsella was charged with membership of an illegal organisation as part of the garda Operation Ambience crackdown which happened after Alan Ryan's paramilitary funeral in September 2012.

He was jailed for two years for this offence in April, 2014, but he served his time in the Midlands Prison rather than in high-security Portlaoise Prison after he was shunned by dissident Republican inmates who refused to let them on their landing - the notorious E Wing.

In November 2014, Kinsella got further jail time for aiding criminals.

He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to driving two other men in a car on Brewery Road, Stillorgan on December 9, 2010, while knowing they possessed stolen property.

Judge Patricia Ryan sentenced Kinsella to four months in prison on that charge.

The court heard that Kinsella has 14 previous convictions, mostly for road traffic offences.

Imelda Kelly BL, defending, said Kinsella has achieved "enhanced prisoner" status while in custody and that he renounced any contact with subversives after pleading guilty to membership of an illegal organisation in the Special Criminal Court.
As the coronavirus storm was making landfall in the USA, prison and jail officials across the country braced for the onslaught.

Thousands of potentially vulnerable inmates were set free or sent to home confinement to reduce the risk of large-scale outbreaks. Visitation was halted, and isolation wards were designated for those who would be exposed.

Detention authorities are deep into managing hundreds of infected and quarantined inmates, whose numbers have been changing by the day.

Chicago's Cook County Jail, one of the largest in the country, reported 251 prisoner infections and one death as of Thursday. After announcing its first infection more than two weeks ago, the federal Bureau of Prisons had 284 infected inmates and eight deaths as of Thursday morning. At least 169 sick inmates were in medical isolation Thursday in Texas, and more than 28,000 have been assigned some form of medical restriction limiting their movements because they may have been exposed to COVID-19.

"Due to the sheer size of our system, when you add one more thing to the equation, it's going to be a challenge," said Jeremy Desel, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which operates the largest state prison system in the country with 140,000 offenders. "But the management of this is going as well as could be expected."

The mission has been increasingly complicated in some systems because of a rising number of workers who have become ill.

Lockdown: Federal officials order systemwide lockdown to limit coronavirus spread

Texas prisons canceled visitation because of the new coronavirus.

'No playbook for something like this'

At least 150 employees in the Cook County jail system have been diagnosed with the virus  up from 29 last week. More than 120 federal prison workers are infected, and the New York Department of Corrections reported Wednesday that 381 staffers had been diagnosed with the virus.

"There is no playbook for something like this," said Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart, who converted a former boot camp facility to accommodate up to 500 sick inmates and others who exhibit symptoms of the virus.

Story continues

"It's like a darn Rubik's Cube," the sheriff said, referring to the handheld puzzle game. "You turn up the pressure one way, and see what you get."

Speeding release: AG Barr speeds release of vulnerable inmates at federal prisons

Amid mounting infections in the federal Bureau of Prisons last week, Attorney General William Barr announced a plan to expedite the release of especially vulnerable prisoners to home confinement from three prisons where authorities scrambled to contain outbreaks.

"We are experiencing significant levels of infection at several of our facilities, including the Federal Correctional Institution Oakdale (Louisiana), Danbury (Connecticut) and Elkton (Ohio)," Barr said. "We have to move with dispatch in using home confinement when appropriate to move vulnerable inmates out of these institutions.

"Given the speed with which this disease has spread through the general public, it is clear that time is of the essence," the attorney general said.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, noting three deaths at the federal prison in Elkton, ordered the temporary deployment of National Guard medics this week to assist with prisoner medical care there.

"Providing state help for this federal prison is the right thing to do," DeWine said.

Outbreak is 'ravaging the facility'

Since March 26, when Barr issued his first memo calling for an expansion of home confinement, federal prison officials said they have moved nearly 800 inmates from across the 122-prison system to serve out the remainder of their terms at home.

"Given the surge in positive cases at select sites and in response to ... Attorney General Barr's directives, the BOP began immediately reviewing all inmates who have COVID-19 risk factors, as described by the CDC, to determine which inmates are suitable for home confinement," the agency said.

The low-security Oakdale compound, where five federal inmates have died, has been hit hardest.

This week, six chronically ill Oakdale inmates sued for their release, claiming in a class-action lawsuit that authorities have been unable to manage an outbreak that is "ravaging the facility."

In court: Prisoners sue for release from prison where coronavirus has killed 5 inmates

The lawsuit, filed Monday on the inmates' behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union, asserted that Justice Department efforts to expedite releases have not moved fast enough to identify medically compromised and other vulnerable inmates.

Louisiana's lawmakers demanded more aggressive action by the federal government.

We recognize these are challenging times for the Bureau of Prisons, but the situation at Oakdale ... is unacceptable," Republican Rep. Mike Johnson said this week. "The BOP must take decisive action to protect the health and safety of the staff, officers, prison population and surrounding community."

Communities could be affected, too

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said the threat inside the prison could expand to the outside community of about 8,000 residents.

What goes on at this federal prison affects inmates, staff and the broader Oakdale community," Kennedy said. "We need answers about what happened in Oakdale and how the Bureau of Prisons is going to mitigate this outbreak."

Some inmates from the federal prison in Oakdale, La., who have tested positive for coronavirus have been sent to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Ronald Morris, president of the union that represents Oakdale prison workers, said four hospitals have been treating the most seriously ill inmates. At least three, Morris said, were on ventilators.

At the Oakdale complex, where officials said 35 prisoners and 13 staffers had tested positive as of Thursday, Morris said 713 had been quarantined.

Morris said tempers flared Wednesday evening when officers sought to return some inmates to a general population unit from quarantine.

"They (general-population inmates) were scared that they could be infected," Morris said, adding that the scuffle lasted about 10 minutes and resulted in no injuries to staffers. He said four inmates from the general population unit were placed in isolation.

"They panicked," Morris said of the inmates. "These have been long days."

Federal prison officials said the inmates being moved from quarantine "were not a health risk," though other prisoners "were confused about their status and began objecting."

"The matter is under review," the agency said in a statement.

In Texas, prison spokesman Desel said an "emergency command center" has been operating since early March to help track the extent of the outbreak within the system.

By last week, Desel said, the turnaround time for virus testing had been cut from up to five days to 12 to 36 hours. He said all of the tests were run through the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

In a further effort to control the spread, the state's prison system stopped accepting inmates from some county jails, including Dallas and Houston counties, where there have been reported cases of the virus.

Still, the virus has proved formidable.

Tuesday, the state system reported what it believed to be its first virus-related inmate death.

Officials said Bartolo Infante, 72, a sex offender, suffered from a number of "preexisting medical conditions" and had been hospitalized for pneumonia when he tested positive for COVID-19 on April 3.

Contributing: Jessie Balmert, Cincinnati Enquirer

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus rips through prisons, striking inmates and workers
Fraudsters are using new tricks and scams to try and defraud people during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

To the surprise of nearly no one, the uptick in potential phishing activity is tied almost exclusively to the stimulus payments from the federal government that are expected to be distributed to millions of Americans via either direct bank deposit or a mailed check starting April 9.

If you have received an unsolicited email or phone call asking for your personal or financial information, the safest response is to delete the email or hang up the phone," Acting Pennsylvania Secretary of Banking and Securities Richard Vague said in a news release.

Consumers must remain vigilant about protecting their finances, especially if they are being pressured to act quickly.

Common sense practices to avoid any type of online or by-phone phishing attempts, such as remembering that the government will not call you for bank and other personally identifying information, is essential.

Similarly, be sure to check an incoming email address before responding: Many scammers will make a letter upper or lowercase or otherwise slightly distort it from an official entitys address.

And, be wary of opening attachments or clicking links from unknown senders. Doing so can give the bad actor access to the information stored on your computer or in a web-based cloud.

Here are some other tips from the IRS via Pa. officials (italicized sections come from a news release:

How to Recognize the Scam

According to the IRS, some of the electronic messages associated with these phishing scams say, In order to receive your stimulus check via direct deposit, you will need to confirm your banking information. These messages are targeting not only individual citizens, but also tax professionals.

Pennsylvanians are encouraged to remember several warning signs from the IRS, which says scammers may:

Emphasize the words Stimulus Check or Stimulus Payment. The official term is economic impact payment.

Ask the taxpayer to sign over their economic impact payment check to them.

Ask by phone, email, text or social media for verification of personal and/or banking information saying that the information is needed to receive or speed up their economic impact payment.

Suggest that they can get a tax refund or economic impact payment faster by working on the taxpayers behalf. This scam could be conducted by social media or even in person.

Mail the taxpayer a bogus check, perhaps in an odd amount, then tell the taxpayer to call a number or verify information online in order to cash it.

Tips to Avoid Scams

Look for imposters : Many times, criminals will pose as a government entity or an official business. If you are targeted by a scam artist through the mail, phone or email, do not provide personal information or money until you are sure you are speaking to a legitimate representative.

Approach unusual attachments and links with caution: Links to a website or attachments to an email could be infected with malware that download malicious software. Spyware can track the recipients keystrokes to obtain passwords, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or other sensitive information.

Conduct research online: Using information included in a potentially fraudulent notice or communication, such as email address domain name, company name, address or telephone number, conduct a search online to see if a scam has been reported by other people or government agencies.

Jason Verdelli, the marketing director at Higher Information Group in Harrisburg, offered some additional guidance about a new phishing scheme (italicized sections come from a news release):

There is a new phishing email attempt that sends an email with information about the Coronavirus and attaches a document that, if opened, will deploy a malicious tool called the Crimson RAT (Remote Administration Tool). This malicious tool allows hackers to:

Capture screenshots

Collect information about the antivirus software the victim's computer or device uses

Make use of TCP protocols for communicating with the command and control server

Steal credentials from the victim's browser

Lists running process, drives and directories on the victim's machine

Retrieves files from its Command and Control (C&C) server which is a computer controlled by an attacker or cybercriminal which is used to send commands to systems compromised by malware and receive stolen data from a target network.

Once the hackers have established a link between the victims network and the C&C server, they can install any kind of software on the victims devices

Zoom, a video conferencing app that has seen its usage skyrocket due to the number of people working from home during the pandemic, also has noted security issues. Verdelli provided information on that, too, writing:

Hackers are accessing live online meetings in the Zoom service and interrupting sessions through a variety of ways - some of which are covered in the following FBI article: https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/boston/news/press-releases/fbi-warns-of-teleconferencing-and-online-classroom-hijacking-during-covid-19-pandemic

As the article describes, the FBI advises users of Zoom not to make their sessions public, turn on the feature that requires users to enter a meeting password, turn on the waiting room feature that controls admittance into an online meeting, and to make screensharing available only to meeting Hosts

Higher Information Group would like to remind Office 365 users to consider using Microsoft Teams as an alternative to free alternatives that pose additional security risks to users.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

NY clarifies essential rules on physical therapy, retail, fitness by video, chiropractors, lawyers, defense work

From Syracuse, with love: Nurses bring supplies, expertise, hope to Long Island outbreak

NY order closes golf courses, boat launches, marinas, playgrounds in coronavirus shutdown

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com
Seven people were arrested in Greater Noida on Friday for allegedly assembling for a group namaaz in violation of the restrictions imposed under CrPC Section 144 due to the coronavirus outbreak, police said.

Around 20-25 people had gathered inside a mosque in Kalonda village in Greater Noida's Jarcha area for the Friday prayers after which the police got a call alerting them about the gathering, they said.

CrPC Section 144 (which bars assembly of four or more people) is in force across Gautam Buddh Nagar to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and authorities have been urging people to stay indoors and avoid gatherings, including those religious or political in nature, according to officials.

There were around 20-25 people inside the mosque preparing for the prayer when the police reached there. Seven of them have been arrested while the remaining, including the cleric who was supposed to lead the prayer, are absconding. The gathering was done in violation of the lockdown imposed due to coronavirus, a police spokesperson said.

The seven arrestees and those absconding have been booked under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (unlawfully or negligently spreading infection of any disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), the official said.

On April 2, the police arrested 10 people who had allegedly gathered on the terrace of a house in Noida's Sector 16 for a group namaaz in violation of lockdown restrictions imposed due to coronavirus, according to officials.

An FIR was lodged against them under provisions of the National Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the Uttar Pradesh Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 after a video surfaced on social media, the officials said.

Gautam Buddh Nagar adjoining Delhi in western Uttar Pradesh has so far recorded 64 positive cases of coronavirus, the highest for any district in the state, according to official figures.

Officials and religious/spiritual scholars have from time to time appealed to people to stay indoors and pray inside their homes during the lockdown period in order to prevent the virus from spreading.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Air India was amongst the very few airlines in the world, who are providing hazmat suits and other protective equipment for its crew to equip them to face any COVID-related safety concern onboard, he said.

Mumbai: Air India chief Rajiv Bansal on Thursday said that the "crippling effect" of coronavirus has further plummeted the airline's finances to a "precarious" position but despite that, it has managed to keep afloat.

Bansal, in a message on Thursday, also assured the employees of providing all the "essential armoury" in carrying out evacuation and chartered flights amid the pandemic.

"Air India has been passing through a critical financial condition much before the COVID-19 onslaught. The crippling effect of the pandemic, especially in the aviation sector, has further plummeted our finances to a precarious position. In spite of this, your airline has left no stone unturned to continue to remain afloat," Bansal said in a message to Air India employees on Thursday.

Reminding the employees that the organisation is always with them during these trying times, he said, their safety and health are as important to the company as of its passengers.

"We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure you get all the essential armoury to fight this war. Our dedicated medical services team members are available round the clock for any consultation, advice or emergency. We are doing everything possible to minimise risk factors," Bansal said.

Besides taking all the precautionary measures and providing PPE to ensure your safety, Air India was amongst the very few airlines in the world, who are providing hazmat suits and other protective equipment for its crew to equip them to face any COVID-related safety concern onboard, he said.

It was the first carrier to evacuate stranded Indian nationals from coronvirus-hit Wuhan in China in January.

It is due to these precautionary measures that so far, only one of the airline's crew members amongst so many, who have been flying our charter flights all over the world, has tested COVID positive, he added.

"I am relieved to inform you that she has also been discharged after full recovery under the watchful eyes of our medical department," Bansal said.

In recent weeks, Air India has operated flights to Israel, Germany and London, using its wide-body Boeing 777s and B787s. These services were mainly to carry foreign nationals stranded in the country due to the lockdown, which began on March 25.

Stating that all of us in Air India, no doubt, are in this war together, Bansal said, "Adversity brings the best out of us and is a litmus test of our courage and strength of character. This is also the time to show how much we care for one another."
With so much down-ness everywhere, I feel its my job, nay my duty, nay my quest, nay my moral obligation, nay my Supreme God-Given Holy Destiny ... sorry, nays get out of hand really fast, actually its just my job ... to share a few of the positive things Ive discovered during this tough, tricky time.

Stage 1: get an expired packet of yeast that you have no memory of buying but you somehow find in your cupboard.

Ive learned how to make pizza dough. Yeah its simple and fun. Stage 1: get an expired packet of yeast that you have no memory of buying but its in your cupboard, its in everyones cupboard, it comes with every house when you move in. Mix the expired yeast with warm water, mix the water with some flour, knead it into a ball and let it rest until it doubles in size, which it wont, then chuck it in the kitchen compost and start again. Stage 2: realise you dont have any more flour, get the failed dough-blob out of the kitchen compost, rinse off the carrot peels and coffee-ground sludge, and now roll it flat into a wonky vaguely-roundish shape, resembling the island-nation of Sri Lanka or a ringworm rash. Stage 3: top it with toppings, bake it for 10 minutes, and youve got an enormous stale inedible coffee-flavoured Arnotts Pizza Shape.

I now know what a pangolin is. Id never heard of the animal before: its not mentioned in Old MacDonald Had a Farm, its not a character in The Lion King  as far as I was concerned, it didnt exist. But turns out its a scaly anteater-like creature. Very placid and shy and gentle and riddled with highly-contagious deadly bat-diseases, and also adorable.

Apparently pangolins were being sold as bushmeat in Chinese markets and thats how this whole thing started, so now pangolin-eating has been banned and these beautiful animals can go back to living happy, peaceful lives, just foraging for termites and having sex with bats.
A Chicago woman has been shot dead while social distancing outside a 7-Eleven store, as a spate of homicides sees the city record its deadliest day of violence in two years.

Alexandria Baute, 27, was gunned down Tuesday night as she lined up outside the convenience store in Chicago's Logan Square area, according to authorities.

Police said the killing took place at around 8pm next to a 7-Eleven store, just blocks from the victim's apartment.

Baute was following coronavirus social distancing rules standing in line with a friend to go into the store to buy cigarettes, officers told the Chicago Tribune.

Alexandria Baute, 27, was gunned down Tuesday night as she lined up outside the convenience store in Chicago's Logan Square area while following social distancing rules, authorities said

The victim's friend, who has not been named, went to lock up his bike and returned to find Baute lying on the ground, the Tribune reported.

'He thought she tripped,' Baute's heartbroken father Jeffrey Baute told the Tribune.

The friend reportedly did not know she had been shot and rolled her over and saw that she was bleeding from the mouth.

Paramedics arrived on the scene and rushed her to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 8:45 pm, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

No arrests have been made in connection with the killing.

'No one is in custody at this time,' Chicago police spokeswoman Kellie Bartoli told the New York Post Thursday afternoon.

'It remains an open and active investigation. No offender description is available.'

Police said the killing took place at around 8pm next to the 7-Eleven store pictured above, just blocks from the victim's apartment

According to police, an individual fired eight rounds of bullets just a few blocks away from where Baute was shot that night.

It is not yet known if the two incidents are related.

Authorities are now tracking down surveillance footage from nearby businesses to try to identify a suspect, the Tribune reported.

Her father said a $6,000 reward was being offered for information leading to the arrest of his daughter's killer.

Jeffery paid tribute to his daughter as a 'little rebel rocker', who he said had been working at a tavern nearby until she lost her job when the city shuttered restaurants and bars mid-March and went into lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Baute was following coronavirus social distancing rules standing in line with a friend to go into the store to buy cigarettes. Her friend found her lying on the ground outside the store after he returned from locking up his bike. The victim had recently lost her job at a tavern when the city went into lockdown and shuttered restaurants amid the coronavirus pandemic

Baute had only just returned to Chicago a couple of days before her murder, after she went to stay with her father in the suburbs for two weeks after the restaurant closed, he said.

'She was awesome,' he told the Tribune. 'She was vibrant and happy. Full of life, independent and stubborn. She wanted to make people happy and to live life and to be happy.'

Baute's brutal murder was one of eight homicides in Chicago on Tuesday, which saw the city record its deadliest day of violence in almost two years.

At least 21 people were shot that day, with eight killed across a series of homicides that ravaged the city - as it also grapples to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.

In one incident, a five-year-old girl was gunned down in a drive-by shooting while she was sitting on a porch with three men in their 20s.

The girl survived after being shot in the left foot.

Two of the men survived but one of the men, aged 27, died in the attack.

In another incident, a 19-year-old man was found dead in a car with a gunshot wound to the head, after police responded to reports of gunfire.

Tuesday marked the most shootings the city has seen in at least a month and the deadliest day for homicides by gunfire since August 2018, when nine were shot dead.

Baute (pictured with her mother Patricia) had only just returned to Chicago a couple of days before her murder, after she went to stay with her father in the suburbs for two weeks after the restaurant she worked in closed

The spate of shootings is not showing signs of letting up, with another nine people shot, including two fatally, during a five-hour window on Wednesday.

Chicago's top police chief condemned the spike in violence as a 'pandemic' that is diverting much-needed healthcare resources away from fighting the city's coronavirus outbreak.

'There are two pandemics in Chicago, and only one is virus induced,' said interim police Superintendent Charlie Beck Wednesday.

'Every one of those beds, everyone of those ER beds, taken up by a gunshot victim could be somebody's grandmother, somebody with preexisting conditions, somebody that is in danger of losing their lives because of the pandemic.'

Beck added: 'Every one of those cops, and there are dozens, who are pulled off the street in order to work one of these crimes cannot enforce social distancing, can't do security at our public safety venues and our health safety venues.

'They can't watch over your home, and they can't watch over your children.'

Mayor Lori Lightfoot also slammed the spike in violence during a press conference Wednesday.

'Violence of any kind is never acceptable,' she said.

Tuesday marked the most shootings Chicago has seen in at least a month and the deadliest day for homicides by gunfire since August 2018, when nine were shot dead, as the coronavirus lockdown is failing to slow violence

Interim police Superintendent Charlie Beck condemned the spike in violence as a 'pandemic' diverting resources from fighting the city's coronavirus outbreak

'But the fact that this is especially urgent now as our ability to treat all Chicagoans is being stretched to the breaking point, we cannot allow this to happen and we will not allow this to happen.

'In the middle of this worldwide pandemic, our precious health resources need to be treating COVID patients and those needing acute care.

'Every day we are measuring our precious heath care resources  the number of beds that we have in hospitals, ICU capacity. To be blunt, if our ICUs are filled with gunshot victims, our ability to respond to this COVID-19 crisis will unnecessarily be compromised.'

Before the surge in shootings, the stay-at-home order had appeared to curb the violence on the streets of the city.

Chicago recorded its lowest number of fatal shootings for the month of March in at least five years, according to the Tribune.

The state of Illinois is desperately trying to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.

At least 528 people have died from the killer virus in the state and confirmed cases have reached 16,422, as of Thursday.
The coronavirus silenced Broadway. It could not silence two of its rising stars.

Samantha Pauly and Brittney Mack, who play two wives of Henry VIII in the musical Six, have turned their disappointment at having their musical on hold by doing what they do best  singing for an audience, this one on social media.

It's partly making sure that I am still vocalizing and singing every day and doing something. But it's also kind of keeping me sane, Pauly says.

The daily songs are just one way that theater folk have passed the time since Broadway went dark. Playwrights like Lauren Gunderson and Young Jean Lee are offering online tutorials, performers are doing fundraisers and choreographers are breaking down dances online.

The cast of Come From Away did a video to say thank you to medical personnel. The cast of Beautiful gathered for an online version of  You've Got a Friend. Andrew Lloyd Webber has serenaded Twitter with tunes on his piano. And the cast of Hamilton" reunited  albeit remotely  to perform  Alexander Hamilton. Some shows have pivoted to becoming audiobooks.
President Nana Akufo-Addo has said the business-as-usual attitude of some civilians who go as far as to confront security personnel who are on duty enforcing the partial lockdown directives he has given, as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 will not be tolerated.

In his sixth address to the nation on the coronavirus situation, in which he announced an extension, by one week, of the lockdown imposed on Accra, Kumasi, Tema and Kasoa, the President said: I appeal to you, let us, in the meantime, continue to comply with the measures, adding: But, above all, please stay at home.

He noted that: There have been unfortunate incidents of some persons, in some parts of the affected areas, where the restrictions are in force, flouting the regulations and continuing with the business-as-usual attitude, even to the extent of confronting members of the security services.

That should not be countenanced. The law must be upheld, and it will be, he stressed.

I take no delight in announcing these restrictions, however, let us all remember that they have been put in place for our collective good, the President said.

Videos have gone viral on social media of some police and military personnel in fisticuffs with civilians in connection with the enforcement of the lockdown directives.

Last week, a soldier shot a civilian to death in Ashaiman during a confrontation while on lockdown duty. The army later described it as an accidental shooting. Also, a police officer allegedly beat a civilian to death in the Ashanti Region while enforcing the directives. On Thursday, a soldier shot a policewoman with whom he was on lockdown duty at Tema, in the leg. It was later described as an accidental incident by the police service. The cop was treated and discharged while the soldier was cautioned and released.

So far, Ghana's COVID-19 cases have risen to 378.

In his address, the President said six persons have lost their lives, two are in critical condition while four have fully recovered.

---classfmonline
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said that the projections by medical experts suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic would peak in India by mid-September, and around 58 per cent of Indians would get infected, with 87 per cent of people likely to be affected in Punjab.

"We have very senior and top-class medical officers who have said they expect it (COVID-19) will peak in mid-September, at the point when 58 per cent of the population will be infected," Singh said at a video conference,

He said that 87 per cent of people are likely to be affected in Punjab, according to an official release.

Singh on Friday indicated that his government was seriously thinking of extending the lockdown as the time did not appear to be right for lifting the restrictions.

"Given the projections for India and the global trend of COVID-19, this is just the start of the war and the situation threatens to get worse over the next few months for India. In the circumstances, no government could afford to ease the restrictions. We have to check the spread of the infections," Singh said according to an official release.

The Chief Minister said that most of the 27 positive cases, the highest daily increase so far reported on Thursday, were cases of "secondary transmission". He described it as an indication of the state moving into the stage of "community transmission".

"The situation could seriously worsen in the coming weeks. The predictions are horrendous, but we are doing our best," he said, adding that while currently the numbers were low in Punjab compared with most other states, it cannot remain isolated as the pandemic spreads further.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of cases in Punjab have climbed to 101 including 4 cured and discharged and 8 deaths.

"The Chief Minister rejected as absolutely insufficient the Rs 15000 crore announced yesterday by the Union Government for the nation's health infrastructure, saying, How can this be enough for the nearly 1.4 billion people of India? No state has the resources needed to fight the battle without the help of the Central Government and they have to come forward to help the states, he said, adding that he will take up the issue of more funds to enable every state to fight the war," the release said.

Reiterating the state government's demand for a special economic package to deal with the crisis, Singh pointed out that the Centre had released part of Punjab's pending GST arrears over the past few days but those would barely meet the normal needs of salaries, etc.

He stressed the need for the Centre to come forward with financial assistance for combatting the COVID-19 crisis, saying it was the responsibility of the Government of India as states had to ensure food, free rations, shelter etc for the poor people. "Punjab was taking care of the basic needs of the lakhs of migrant labourers stuck here but even industry could not continue to pay them indefinitely without assistance," he added.

The Chief Minister said his government was gearing up for every eventuality and had planned for making arrangements in four phases - for 2000 patients, 10000 patients, 30000 patients and 1 lakh patients needing isolation and treatment. "While ventilators, masks etc were sufficient for the present, more had been ordered and would start coming in the next few days," he added.

When asked about Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits, the Chief Minister said with two Ludhiana manufacturers getting approval for making such kits and the state would start getting 5,000 of them from next week. He also said Punjab could provide the excess to other states, with directly or through the Government of India.

With regard to testing, the Chief Minister said that the 2,877 tests conducted so far were simply not enough, given Punjab's population of 2.8 crore.

"Testing was a constraint as only two hospitals in Punjab were given permission to test initially, along with PGI Chandigarh, but one more was now being added along with two private labs," he said.

"With 25000 Rapid Testing Kits also expected to arrive, mass testing in hotpots will also begin from Monday, he said. In the next few days, the health department would get more aggressive with testing and random testing will be done in areas of concentration," he added.

Responding to a question on Tablighi Jamaat (TJ), the Chief Minister said that his government had received a list of 651 who had entered the state, and of these, 636 had so far been traced and 27 found positive (including 10 contacts of these TJ Nizamuddin attendees).

"Among the nearly 1.5 lakh NRIs and foreign returnees, the state had traced and quarantined the majority," Singh said, adding that the quarantine period was over in 33166 cases of foreign travel.

Replying to questions on the harvesting of wheat, scheduled to begin on April 15, the Chief Minister said the state was gearing up to handle another bumper harvest and would be going in for district wise and village wise marketing/procurement.

"The number of Mandis has been increased from 1800 to 3800 this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from police and district officials, Guardians of Governance personnel would also man the Mandis, with NCC volunteers also likely to pitch in," Singh said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We have Ramadan coming, and the usual programs are canceled, he said, but if you break it down, you dont need a brick-and-mortar location to be a good Muslim. A lot of our community is having a hard time without the mosque  we even had backlash from some who felt closing was too extreme. But historically, there is precedent in Islam for these situations. From what we understand, we get more reward praying in mosques, but I think a lot of people start worshipping rituals and not the reasons for those rituals, and the one thing we teach is that preserving life is the most important thing we can do.
A spacecraft bound for Mercury beamed home stunning views of Earth during a crucial flyby conducted early today (April 10).

BepiColombo , a joint mission conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is headed to our solar system's innermost planet. But to reach that destination, the spacecraft, which launched in October 2018, needs to conduct a complex sequence of nine different planetary flybys .

Related: Farewell, Earth! BepiColombo makes successful Earth flyby

An animation of images captured by cameras on the BepiColombo spacecraft shortly before its closest approach to Earth, on April 10, 2020. (Image credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

The first of those passes was close to home, as today (April 10), BepiColombo came within 7,877 miles (12,677 kilometers) of Earth .

Fortunately, the spacecraft was well prepared to make the most of the opportunity since, in addition to its more technical scientific instruments, BepiColombo carries three different cameras. Mission personnel are still processing many of the images snapped by the spacecraft, but ESA and JAXA have released both individual images and animated series produced as BepiColombo headed toward Earth.

An image taken by a camera on the BepiColombo spacecraft shortly before its closest approach to Earth, on April 9, 2020. (Image credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

The cameras are set up to take "selfies," so all the new images show both Earth and bits and pieces of the spacecraft itself. That "spacecraft" is a bit of a misnomer: although BepiColombo is currently traveling as one unit, it consists of three separate units: JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter and ESA's Mercury Transfer Module, which is ferrying the two scientific probes to their destination.

An image taken of the BepiColombo spacecraft flying past Earth on April 10, 2020. (Image credit: Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project)

The flyby was also humans' last chance to spot the spacecraft directly: from now on, ESA and JAXA will be relying on communications only. But skywatchers armed with good binoculars or a small telescope, depending on their location and the weather, had the opportunity to wave goodbye to BepiColombo as a bright dot streaking across the sky.

When BepiColombo arrives at Mercury for flybys beginning in 2021 and begins orbital science operations in 2026, it will be humanity's first delegate to the tiny world since 2015, when NASA's Messenger spacecraft purposely crashed into the planet's surface to end its mission.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
Every day of his life you sensed that Punch considered the lilies of the field, how they grew. He knew they toiled not, neither did they spin. Punch knew God would provide as long as you worked at it 24/7. I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like the humble soul of Punch Woods.

I like to imagine Punch humming the spiritual Amen to himself with every square foot he added to the Community Food Bank.

Singing in the temple, talking with the elders Who marveled at His wisdom.

See Him at the seaside, talking with the fishermen And made them disciples.

Punch brought disciples of all faiths and no faiths to service at his food bank. The man was a gifted fisher of men and women when it came to fishing for favors, blessings, Mitzvahs, good deeds, kindnesses for the Lords children, those in want, the least, those we shall have with us always.

We all have stories of the time we were cajoled, hooked and snared into performing acts of virtue by the Old Pueblos pony-tailed pied piper of altruism.
Bengaluru/Pune:Several academic institutions in the country are reaching out to their students to keep check on their mental health amid the nation-wide lockdown, following the University Grants Commissions (UGC) direction to set up mental helpline numbers for students.

In order to address any kind of panic, anxieties or depression that the students may be undergoing, FLAME (Foundation for Liberal and Management Education) university in Pune has set up a behavioural Health toll-free helpline for students to come forth, open up and share if they observe any mental health issues.

The academic institution has extended support through personal counselling while offering a stress free virtual learning experience.

Students can schedule a session with the concerned professionals on telephone or video conference as per their preference.

In case they want to seek any external intervention, the university will help them with all the relevant information on mental health support facilities that are available in their respective cities.

While LISAA School of Design affiliated to Bangalore University has geared up for semester exams and have resumed the classes via online platforms such as Google Meet and Google Hangout, they are also planning to conduct a Zoom Talk by a psychological counselor.

"Teachers are also guiding the students during these tough times. Extension on submission dates is being given in reasonable amounts ensuring that the quality of the project work isn't compromised. We are also planning to conduct a Zoom Talk by a psychological Counselor to address concerns students might have around the uncertainty that prevails in such times,"said Avi Keswani, Founder & Director, LISAA School of Design.
General Nerdah told the Herald he was furious and disappointed that all the help, time and effort his people gave to Mr Grier, it came to nothing. He feels for investors who lost money but said the biggest losers were the people of Karen. He said the project's failure deprived Karen kids of schools and people of having houses. The money was given to him by people who wanted to help Karen refugees and displaced people." Major General Nerdah Bo Mya in front of one of the huts at Mu Aye Pu. Credit:Karen News/Saw Mort General Nerdah issued an official statement in late 2019 accusing Mr Grier over his behaviour. "Please do not invite him for your conference," the statement from the Karen National Defence Organisation said. American expatriate Guy Harriman, who runs a yoga school in Chang Mai, Thailand, lost $US130,000 on the failed project. While he says he is not personally worried about the loss, he is devastated for the Karen people.

"We're dealing with some of the most underprivileged people on the planet," he said. In March 2019 in the state court of Singapore, a US investor, US company and a Japanese investor filed a claim against Mr Grier and Karen Enterprises. It said Mr Grier "created a false element of urgency to pressure the plaintiff to invest in the sham projects" and alleged misleading conduct, deceit and fraudulent conduct. Mr Grier did not defend himself and a default judgment without any findings on the merits was obtained against him and Karen Enterprises. The court automatically entered judgment in favour of the three investors and on April 10 ordered Karen Enterprises to pay each $US10,000, $US10,000 and $US15,000 respectively, plus court costs of $1000. The Singaporean lawyer for the plaintiff, Gerard Quek, said no money has been forthcoming since. Mr Grier said the legal action was a "vexatious suit ... as such I did not prioritise responding to it."

He said he was taking action to have the decision set aside. A Singaporean legal team has been engaged, Mr Grier said, but courts are not currently hearing civil matters. Mr Grier said in a statement that he had delivered the master plan for Mu Aye Pu as promised by December 2018. This consisted of " a 3D architectural model with the ability to do a fly through of the proposed Mu Aye Pu Free City". But he said the next stage stalled when "a key member of the consortia ... decided to leave. This has impacted the ongoing viability of the project." He also said all funds raised were spent on delivering the master plan. He said investors in another part of the project, Karen Tourism Holdings, could get refunds if they wished.

"I am saddened that individuals are putting personal vendettas ahead of furthering what could be a very successful project for the Karen people," Mr Grier said. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull pictured with businessman Nigel Grier. Mr Grier is a convincing speaker who frequently mentions his connections with consular staff, prominent businesspeople and politicians. He shows investors photos with former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. There is no suggestion Mr Turnbull had any knowledge or involvement in Mr Grier's financial affairs. Another of Mr Grier's plea for funds is a charitable effort to rehouse two Asian black bears being kept in cramped conditions in Karen. "IDPM [Mr Grier's company] have been resourcing this project and we've employed Dr Sabine, otherwise known as the jungle doctor," he tells viewers in an online video posted in 2019.

Nigel Grier with one of the captive bears in Mu Aye Pu. He calls for donors to invest up to a total of $US25,000 to build a bigger and better enclosure for the bears, and also to help with $US500 per month running costs. In the video, Mr Grier says IDPM will pay $US5000 for the enclosure and $US100 per month running costs. However, "Dr Sabine Roper" a German, who looks after the bears, says she has not yet been paid, and both the animals and a group of Karen children she looks after have been left high and dry. "He keeps promising and promising until you have shared your last spaghetti with your hungry bear cubs and lie awake hungry at night!" she said in an online forum. Mr Grier strongly denied this and said he had paid Dr Roper from October 2019 through to April.
1 of 2

COVID19: Akshay Kumar donates Rs 3 crore to Mumbai's municipal corporation for PPE



After donating Rs 25 crore to PM-CARES Fund to help fight the novel coronavirus, Akshay Kumar has now contributed Rs 3 crore to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The actor has donated the money to assist in the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare and municipal workers.



Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted on Friday, "'#Update: After contributing Rs 25 cr to '#PMCares, '#AkshayKumar contributes Rs 3 cr to '#BMC to assist in the making of PPEs, masks and rapid testing kits... '#COVID19Pandemic '#CoronaVirus '#Covid_19 '#COVID19 (sic)."



According to news reports, the actor has been quietly offering help to the local authorities. On Thursday, Akshay shared a picture of himself holding a placard with '#DilSeThankYou written on it. The actor thanked all the essential service providers for working tirelessly in the time of crisis.



Read More...


Pavel and the Moscow Patriarchate said last month that coronavirus was a result of human sin and could be fought with hugs, prayers and fasting.

The head of a 1,000-year-old Orthodox monastery that became a hotspot for coronavirus infections in Kyiv said he had underestimated the gravity of the pandemic and that measures had now been introduced to curb the spread of the disease.

"Yes, I used to think the trouble was not so significant, but it was really different in those days," Metropolitan Pavel, who heads the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, often referred to as the Moscow Patriarchate, told Reuters by phone late on Thursday.

"The fact I said other things is not contrary to the laws of conscience. You too can say one thing first and then another."

Pavel and the Moscow Patriarchate said last month that coronavirus was a result of human sin and could be fought with hugs, prayers and fasting.

But they then threw their support behind the Ukrainian government's lockdown measures, moving church services online, disinfecting buildings and offering to house patients in monasteries.

Read alsoKyiv mayor reports 13 new COVID-19 cases in past day (Video)

According to the Kyiv mayor's office, 26 members of the monastery have become infected. Meanwhile Ukraine's total number of cases has increased by 16% in one day to 2,203, health ministry figures showed on Friday, with 69 deaths.

Asked about the infections at his monastery, which is known in English as the Monastery of the Caves, Pavel, 58, was cryptic: "It's better to read the gospel than the internet."

Despite being shut to the general public, services at the monastery are continuing as normal and people with illnesses are being kept in separate cells, he added. Only one member of the monastery has a serious health condition but not with coronavirus, Pavel said, without elaborating.

In line with government rules, the churches in the complex are shut, services are held without a congregation and icons are being wiped, he said.

"Today we need to do what the doctors say," he said.

The church has not confirmed media reports that Pavel himself has contracted the virus.

Asked about his own health, Pavel said: "I feel good, God has mercy. I'm taking tests, undergoing treatment. Who says that I am in poor condition? Some people probably just expect it."

He did not say what illness he was receiving treatment for.

Ukrainian authorities are anxious to stop the virus spreading in the run-up to Easter and President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Ukrainians not to attend church services.

Easter in the Eastern Orthodox Church falls a week later than in the Western churches. Easter Sunday falls on April 19.

After years of hostility between Moscow and Kyiv, Ukraine now has two main branches of Orthodox Christianity. One recognizes the authority of the Patriarch of Moscow, while the other was recognized last year by other Orthodox denominations as having its own head.
A private jet full of super-rich holidaymakers from London has been sent back to the UK after the group landed in France and tried to get to their Cannes villa by helicopter during the Coronavirus lockdown.



Seven men in their 40s and 50s and three women in their 20s arrived at Marseille-Provence airport last Saturday and were immediately intercepted by local police.



The organiser of the trip  a Croatian national working in banking and estate agency in the UK  had booked the jet and helicopters to take everybody to the rented villa.



The private jet used by the groups was an Embraer Legacy 600  a Brazil made luxury business jet, which costs around 20million.



Read Full Story .... dailymail.co.uk >>> :

















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Seriousness gauged by behaviour: Indias comeback on COVID-19 fund rider by Pak

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 10: Following Pakistan's pledge of 3 million USD for the fund proposed by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, India has said that each SAARC member state can decide on the timing and manner of implementation of the COVID-19 Emergency Fund commitments.

After making a confirmation about its pledge, Pakistan had said that the funds should be administered by the SAARC secretariat in consultation with the member states.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Anurag Srivastava said that it is for each SAARC member state to decide on the timing, manner and implementation of their SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response commitments. Where India is concerned, the commitment made by the Prime Minister is today in an advanced stage of implementation.

He also said that assistance in material and services has been extended to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These nations had already made early commitments to the fund. The degree of seriousness can only be gauged by their behaviour, Srivastava also said.

Fake News Buster

A statement by the Pakistan's Foreign Office had said, "while communicating Pakistan's decision to the Saarc Secretariat, it has been conveyed that all proceeds of the Fund should be administered by the Saarc Secretariat and that the modalities for the Fund's utilisation should be finalised through consultations with the Member States as per the Saarc Charter."

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, April 10, 2020, 12:24 [IST]
On April 10 evening, two more cases of COVID-19 were reported in Vietnam, raising the total in the country to 257, according to the Ministry of Health.

Heath workers take care of COVID-19 patient

The 256th patient is a 52-year-old man residing in Van Lam district, northern Hung Yen province. On March 27, he returned home from Russia on Flight SU290 and was quarantined upon his arrival.

Meanwhile, the 257th is a 15-year-old student from Hanoi's Me Linh suburban district. She just stayed at home. On March 20, Patient 243 visited her father and talked for a while. On April 8, the new patient showed some symptoms like fever and runny nose. One day later, her sample was taken and the result on April 10 turned out to be positive to the SARS-CoV-2. Her father tested negative to the virus.

On April 10, 16 patients were declared fully recovered.

Sixteen COVID-19 patients recover, total reaches 144

browser not support iframe.

Nine patients, including three foreigners, were treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

At Bac Ninh General Hospital, Patient 74 (male, 23, Vietnamese) has also recovered after being admitted on March 18.

At the Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital, Patient 204 (male, 10, Vietnamese) was hospitalised on March 18. During treatment, the patient tested negative three times for SARS-CoV-2.

Patient 135 has also recovered at Da Nang Hospital.

At Binh Thuan General Hospital, Patient 36 (female, 64, Vietnamese) and Patient 44 (male, 11, Vietnamese) were both admitted to the hospital on March 11. During treatment, they tested negative three times for SARS-CoV-2.

At Cu Chi COVID-19 treatment hospital in HCM City, Patient 157 (female, 31, British) and Patient 171 (female, 19, Vietnamese) have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 three times.

All 16 patients will continue to be quarantined and monitored for the next 14 days.

As of April 10 afternoon, Vietnam had confirmed 257 COVID-19 patients and no fatalities.

Hanoi strives to minimise losses to COVID-19: official

Politburo member Vuong Dinh Hue, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee

Hanoi is striving to bring damage caused by COVID-19 to the lowest by taking concerted measures devised by the Government and local authorities, said Politburo member Vuong Dinh Hue, Secretary of the municipal Party Committee, at an online meeting on April 10.

The event aims to seek ease setbacks for bussiness, production and public investment disbursement, and guarantee social order and welfare amid the complicated developments of the pandemic.

Hue said the capital had pleded to the Prime Minister and the Government that it will coordinate with ministries and departments based in the city to drastically implement preventive measures and promptly support people who are subject to the Governments preferential policies.

Regarding the citys socio-economic situation in the first quarter of 2020, the official reported that albeit an array of difficulties caused by the disease, Hanoi recorded year-on-year growth of 3.72 percent and collected about 72.6 trillion VND (3.1 billion USD) to the State budget (26.5 percent of the total estimate).

Earlier this year, Hanoi transferred 650 billion VND to the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to offer loans, create jobs, and boost rural development and other infrastructure works.

Other categories such as food, medical equipment manufacturing, and information technology have also been promoted, especially online public services.

At the meeting, Hue suggested the Government direct the Ministry of Transport to put into use the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urban railway at an early date, as well as other key transport projects.

He proposed the Prime Minister allow the city to apply a specific mechanism of site clearance as in the southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City.

The ASEAN Post: Vietnam is exemplary response to COVID-19

Spraying disinfectant to prevent the spread of coronavirus

Despite limited resources, Vietnam has been taking proactive measures in tackling COVID-19, said an article posted on The ASEAN Post on April 9.

Compared to other ASEAN member states such as Malaysia and Indonesia which have thousands of infections and numerous deaths, Vietnams number of cases is relatively low, according to the article.

The country with a population of over 95 million is one of the three ASEAN countries which have yet to report any fatalities from the disease alongside Laos and Cambodia, the article said.

The article cited Vietnams Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long as assuring the public and media that there is no shortage of test kits to diagnose the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Apart from 200,000 rapid COVID-19 test kits bought from the Repulic of Korea, Vietnam has also successfully produced its own test kits which could help diagnose the virus infection in just an hour, the article said.



Earlier, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada said Vietnam has successfully conducted tracing via the quick identification of infectious contacts based on the Ministry of Healths classifications of infected, suspected, and exposed cases of COVID-19 and the rapid mobilisation of health professionals, public security personnel, the military, and civil servants to implement the tracing.

Other than that, Vietnam has also imposed strict monitoring of suspected infections. The countrys health ministry has worked with tech-firms to develop an online reporting system in which suspected and confirmed cases of COVID-19, as well as people who were in close contact with them, are entered into a database available in real time.

Furthermore, Vietnams Ministry of Information and Communications has introduced a mobile app called NCOVI to allow the public to declare their state of health on a daily basis.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) had also applauded Vietnam for its swift response in handling the new coronavirus.

Italy thanks Vietnam for support in COVID-19 fight

At the event

Italys Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio has sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, expressing his profound gratitude to the Vietnamese Government and people for their support to Italys fight against COVID-19.

Di Maio wrote that the widespread solidarity shown at multiple levels proves the depth of the relationship between the two countries.

The Italian Government is steering all efforts towards containing the spread of the virus, taking care of those affected, and addressing the dire consequences stemming from the global pandemic, he wrote, adding that Vietnams help will undoubtedly contribute to the success in these endeavors and ultimately assist Italy on its road to recovery.

Italys Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese, meanwhile, also sent a letter of thanks to Minister of Public Security, General To Lam.

She expressed her profound thanks to the ministry for its solidarity with Italy in these challenging times, which is evidence of the sustainable cooperation between the two countries.

She wrote she hoped that, when conditions allow, she may meet with General Lam to discuss issues of shared concern in order to further boost bilateral ties.

Earlier, on April 7, Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung handed over the token of 550,000 made-in-Vietnam anti-bacterial masks to various European countries in support of the fight against the pandemic.

$4.3 million USD donated to support COVID -19 fight





At the event

The Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) on April 10 handed over 100 billion VND (4.3 million USD) to support the health sector in the fight against COVID -19 pandemic in Vietnam.

The money is part of a 133 billion VND (5.7 million USD) fund raised from donors via 2.2 million text messages to support a fundraising campaign for COVID-19 prevention and control in Vietnam from March 19 to April 9.

At the handover ceremony, Deputy Health Minister Truong Quoc Cuong thanked organisations, agencies and individuals for their support to the health sector, and said that the money will be used to purchase medical equipment and supplies for medical facilities directly working on epidemic prevention and control across the country.

The campaign was launched by the Central Committee of the VFF, the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Health and the Vietnam Red Cross Society. Each text message sent to 1407 will contribute at least 20,000 (0.86 USD) to the fund.

Vietnamese in France support COVID-19 fight

Health workers treat a COVID-19 patient in Vietnam

The Vietnamese community in France has held a number of activities to support poor people affected by COVID-19 at home.

The association of Vietnamese people in France and the international association for Vietnams education development in France have raised 5,000 EUR (5,473 USD) and 100 million VND (4,292 USD) respectively in response to the call by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc for fighting the pandemic.

The Government leader on March 17 called on every Vietnamese citizen, especially businesspeople and overseas Vietnamese, to make donations to help contain the pandemic and also maintain socio-economic development.

He praised individuals and enterprises for donating money, contributing their time, efforts, experience and practical initiatives.

Such donations help promote unity, safety and humane actions among the community, the PM said.

No matter how old the donors are or what they do, these meaningful actions all start from their hearts I believe that Vietnam will be able to push back the pandemic, bring lives back to normal and recover production, he said.

Dong Thap supports Cambodian province with medical equipment against COVID-19

Dong Thap Military High Command supports Pray Veng with 1,000 medical face masks, one box of hand sanitisers, and 30 cartons of instant noodle.

Chairman of the Dong Thap province Peoples Committee Nguyen Van Duong presented a large volume of medical supplies and necessities to Cambodias Pray Veng province to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, during an event held at Dinh Ba international border gate on April 10.

The Mekong Delta province's People's Committee donated 30,000 medical face masks and 3,000 bars of soap to the Cambodian counterpart.

Meanwhile, the provincial Fatherland Front chapter presented 2,000 medical face masks, 5,000 cloth face masks, and 500 hand sanitisers.

The local Military High Command supported the Cambodian province with 1,000 medical face masks, one box of hand sanitisers, and 30 cartons of instant noodle.

The provincial Border Guard High Command donated 1,000 face masks, 50 hand sanitisers, and 30 cartons of instant noodle.

At a meeting between the two sides leaders, they agreed to strengthen cooperation and share information to prevent the pandemic from spreading in the shared border areas.

Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia work to combat COVID-19

In Jakarta, Indonesia

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on April 10 decided to extend the Movement Control Order by more two weeks till April 28, several days before the Ramadan festival of Muslims.

In a speech telecast live on national television, the PM said the decision is based on feedback from the Health Ministry and medical experts in order to cope with COVID-19 and prevent the risk of its re-emergence.

Malaysia has so far recorded a total of 4,346 infection cases, 1,828 of them have recovered and 68 deaths.

Also on April 10, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen announced several changes to travel limit order, which was issued a day earlier, in order to prevent the epidemic spread.

Accordingly, travel ban between the capital Phnom Penh and its southern Kandal province was lifted.

The Southeast Asian nation has so far posted 119 infection cases, 72 of them have recovered.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's police, soldiers and public order officers took the streets of Jakarta on April 9 midnight to enforce the capital citys tough social distancing measures for an estimated two weeks.

Violators could face hefty fines or one-year jail term.

According to the Indonesian Health Ministry, Indonesia recorded 3,512 infection cases and 306 deaths as of April 10.

Nestle Vietnam supports COVID-19 fight with over 515,000 USD

Nestle Vietnam has provided food, nutrition drinks, and cash of over 5 billion VND to the Fatherland Front chapters in cities and provinces, and the Vietnam Womens Union Central Committee. (Source:VGP)

Nestle Vietnam, a nutrition, health and wellness company, has donated 12 billion VND (515,129 USD) to the COVID-19 fight in the country.

It also launched a programme encouraging people to pursue a healthy lifestyle and join hands to overcome the pandemic.

Over the past time, the firm has coordinated with La Vie company, a subsidiary of Nestle Group, to implement a wide range of activities to support doctors, nurses, public security and military forces, and volunteers who are on the front line of the battle against disease.

So far, Nestle Vietnam has provided food, nutrition drinks, and cash of over 5 billion VND to the Fatherland Front chapters in cities and provinces, and the Vietnam Womens Union Central Committee.

In the coming weeks, the company will donate nearly 7 billion VND to support anti-COVID-19 activities.

Close to 300,000 relief packages and medical face masks will be sent to hospitals, health centres, functional forces and volunteers in some localities nationwide.
By Trend

The number of efforts which are made by Armenia to strengthen relations with Israel has greatly increased recently.

In accordance with the Armenian governments decision made in 2019, a diplomatic mission of Armenia is planned to be opened in Tel Aviv in the first half of 2020.

The opening of an embassy in Tel Aviv will not benefit the regions security in the future, Ex-ambassador of Iran to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pakayeen told Trend.

"Therefore, Iran must delicately express its attitude to the opening of the Armenian embassy in Tel Aviv and carefully evaluate the possible negative impact of this event in the region," Pakayeen said.

Armenia maintains extensive trade and economic ties with Iran - 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas are annually exported through the Tabriz-Meghri pipeline.

Iranian political analyst Tavakkol Lotfi told Trend that the opening of the Armenian embassy in Tel Aviv may create problems in Armenias relations with both Iran and Arab countries.

"Armenias pro-Western policy may also be assessed as a factor disturbing Russia, Lotfi added. If Armenia continues to develop ties with the US and Israel, a number of problems will arise in relations with Russia."

A number of experts said that if Armenia loses Irans support, as well as the aid of the Armenians living in various countries which is delivered through this country, then Armenia may face even more economic and social problems. If Iran reconsiders relations with Armenia and makes adjustments, Armenia will face a deep crisis.

By opening an embassy in Tel Aviv, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wants to strengthen his position as a politician capable of managing Armenia and its foreign policy, Iranian expert Elyas Vahedi said.

"Pashinyan, having no experience in governing the country, came to power with populist statements, Vahedi added. Up till now, he could not prove that he is worthy to rule Armenia, which for many years has faced incredible difficulties.

This casts doubt on the legitimacy of Pashinyans power, Vahedi added. Apparently, he thinks that by strengthening relations with Israel, he will demonstrate success, at least in diplomacy. But this, of course, will ruin relations with Iran."

Hossein Amir Abdollahian, special assistant to the speaker of the Iranian parliament for international affairs, severely criticized Armenia on March 15.

Armenias intention to open a diplomatic mission in Tel Aviv is surprising and this step will negatively affect security in the region, Abdollahian added.

It turns out that Iran is aware of Armenias two-faced and hypocritical policy, with which it traditionally maintains strategic relations. Geopolitical realities and political history testify to the fact that the relations with Iran have always been of strategic importance for Yerevan due to its isolation as a result of aggressive politics and geographical location in the region.

Therefore, Irans assistance is important from the point of view of the existence of Armenia as a state. Relations between the two countries since Armenia's independence have been developing well thanks to Irans good-neighborly policy. Armenia receives huge benefits from these relations, covering many spheres (including trade, energy, etc.).

From a geographical point of view, the neighborhood with Iran is a happy ticket for Armenia. After all, Armenias most influential patron - Russia does not border it directly. Relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan have been destroyed due to the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts by Armenia. Armenias ties with Georgia are also weak. That is, moving away from Iran, Armenia puts itself in a difficult position.

Of course, it is still difficult to talk about Russia's immediate reaction. However, it is obvious that Moscow will not want Yerevans rapprochement with Israel and the US, having left its zone of influence.

The opening of the embassy is the contribution to the expansion of bilateral relations and protection of Armenias interests in the region, Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said.

Armenia, which occupied 20 percent of the Azerbaijani lands and carried out ethnic cleansing on these lands, thinks that the opening of an embassy in Israel will serve to the development of relations with this country and balance Azerbaijans political and economic superiority in the South Caucasus region.

Briefly, the Armenian political elite will approve Pashinyans this step in the short term while in the long term this will lead to Armenias strategic isolation.

The uncertainty reigns in the foreign policy of aggressor country Armenia, Azerbaijani MP Elman Nasirov said. A country with a syndrome of uncertainty will sooner or later put itself into a dead end in the international politics and this is only a matter of time.

All the signs of such a situation are clearly visible in Armenia, Nasirov said. Therefore, trying to maneuver, Pashinyans government rushes in search of new patrons by turning away from old friends. So, the Armenian leadership is zealously trying to bring some warmth into the traditionally cold relations with Israel."

Iran will never forgive Armenia for its treachery, Azerbaijani political expert Bahruz Guliyev said. "If Armenia continues to make efforts to open an embassy in Tel Aviv, it will receive a powerful political and economic blow. So far, Armenia has only been warned. Otherwise, Iran will severely punish Armenia."

Taking into account Irans assistance to Armenia, regional projects between the two countries, including economic and political ones, Armenias desire to get closer to Israel testifies again that Armenia easily sacrifices friends for the sake of its own interests, Ilyas Huseynov, chief consultant of the internal policy analysis department of the Azerbaijani Social Research Center, political analyst, said.

Of course, Armenias intention to strengthen ties with Israel, that is, a state having serious political contradictions with its vital neighbor testifies to the cynical political hypocrisy.

Obviously, Armenia will fail to maintain the relations with its strategic partner - Iran and to develop the relations with Israel as an independent player.

Trend News Agency's political department

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Vietnams submissions of diplomatic notes protesting Chinas illegal claims over East Sea is a normal action to express the countrys standpoint and protect its legitimate rights and interests.

Vietnamese foreign ministry's spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang during the press briefing on Thursday in Hanoi.

The comment was made by foreign ministry affairs spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang during the regular press briefing held online on Thursday, in response to questions over whether the move signifies that Viet Nam might step up its legal actions against Chinas aggression and claims in the East Sea, especially amidst the backdrop of growing tensions over Chinas sinking of Vietnamese fishermens boat with eight crew members onboard on April 4 off the waters of Hoang Sa islands.

The incident not only drew sharp criticismfrom Viet Nam, but also earned condemnation from the US and the Philippines, who is also a territory claimant in the resource-rich seas.

Viet Nam maintains the view that all disputes in the East Sea region (known internationally as the South China Sea) must be resolved by peaceful measures in line with international law  especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982.

The viewpoint of Viet Nam has been stated clearly in the diplomatic note, Hang said.

Viet Nam reaffirms its sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) islands, as well as the countrys sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the waters defined in line with UNCLOS 1982.

Previously in a diplomatic note sent to UN chief Antonio Guterres on March 30, Viet Nams mission to the UN categorically rejected and protested Chinas own submission of two diplomatic notes reiterating its illegal claims over the islands in the East Sea.

Viet Nams note stressed that the basis for legal rights on the seas must be the UNCLOS, not Chinas historical claims.

Regarding reports of Chinas intention of deploying AVIC AG600, which it claimed to be the worlds largest amphibious aircraft whose purpose is for research and survey, to the East Sea, the Vietnamese foreign ministrys official said that the maintenance of peace and security, freedom of navigation  be it air or maritime  in the area is in the interests and responsibilities of all countries in and outside the region.

We hope that all countries would strive to enhance cooperation and have meaningful contributions to peace and order in the region, for the common good, Hang stressed.  VNS

US voices concern over Chinas sinking of Vietnamese fishing vessel in East Sea The US Department of Defence issued a statement on April 9 expressing its deep concern over a Chinese coast guard's collision with and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel near Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago.
The coronavirus pandemic has encroached on every aspect of contemporary life, from daily activities to working life, to even the content of certain beloved '90s pop songs.

Celine Dion posted a re-do of the lyrics to her monstrously successful 1997 hit My Heart Will Go On to her Instagram feed on Thursday, updated to reflect the recommended practice of social distancing.

The 52-year-old French Canadian diva posted a brief video snippet of her music video from the hit, which was the love theme for the Oscar-winning film Titanic, next to which she wrote the slightly altered lyrics in both English and French.

Near, far, stay away: Celine Dion posted a re-do of the lyrics to her monstrously successful 1997 hit My Heart Will Go On to her Instagram feed on Thursday, updated to reflect the recommended practice of social distancing

'Near, far wherever you are... make sure you're practicing social distancing!' the songbird wrote, before repeating the same sentiment in French.

She signed off in the caption with 'Team Celine' and included the hashtags #ThursdayWisdom #restezchezvous #StayAtHome and #throwbackThursday.

Celine's post comes as many celebrities remind fans and followers via their social media channels about the importance of staying home during the spreading pandemic, as less people out and near each other means the disease will have less of a chance to infect more individuals.

Doing her part: Celine's post comes as many celebrities remind fans and followers via their social media channels about the importance of staying home during the spreading pandemic; seen here last September in Quebec City, Canada

Staying at home and social distancing are still the top recommendations from both the World Health Organization and the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, as confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. has reached 427,460 as of Thursday, and claimed almost 14,700 lives.

Another vocally gifted songstress to do something similar was Jojo, who took to TikTok to change the lyrics to her hit Leave (Get Out) to Stay In (Right Now).

And speaking of My Heart Will Go On, it's interesting to note that Celine revealed to Andy Cohen on an episode of Watch What Happens Live last fall that she initially didn't even want to do the perennially sticky radio hit in the first place.

Speaking of My Heart Will Go On: It's interesting to note that Celine revealed to Andy Cohen on an episode of Watch What Happens Live that she initially didn't even want to do the sticky radio hit in the first place

'There was one song that I didn't want to record, and I'm glad they didn't listen to me,' Dion said in response to a question from a fan on the show. 'My Heart Will Go On.'

However it was her late husband Rene Angelil, who was her manager at the time, who convinced her otherwise.

'It didn't appeal to me. I was probably very tired that day  very tired,' Dion confessed. 'My husband said, "Let's hold on." He talked to the writer and he said, 'Let's try to make it, like, a little demo.''

The song, of course, would Go On to win the Oscar for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammys for the Canadian superstar.

'It didn't appeal to me. I was probably very tired that day  very tired,' Dion confessed
Libya rebels claim to have downed two Turkish drones

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 6:47 AM

Rebel militia under the command of Libya's renegade general Khalifa Haftar claim to have shot down two Turkish drones in the skies over the North African country.

Ahmed Mismari, a spokesman for Haftar's self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA), claimed on Wednesday that the forces had downed one of the unmanned aerial vehicles over an airbase in western Libya near the Tunisian border and the other over a district located in the southeastern part of the capital, Tripoli.

"LNA air defense forces have downed two Turkish drones. The first one was downed over the Okba Ibn Nafa airbase, the second one over the southeastern part of the capital, the Ain Zara district," Mismari wrote on his Facebook page.

Fighting has in recent days intensified near Libya's capital, which is the seat of the country's internationally-recognized government. Tripoli receives backing mainly from Turkey.

Since April last year, rebel forces under Haftar's command have been fighting in an offensive to capture Tripoli and unseat the government. They have remained bogged down on the city's outskirts despite receiving support from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

On March 21, Haftar claimed full adherence to a humanitarian truce that focused on efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak in the African country, but his forces continued violating the ceasefire and bombing various locations in the capital.

The breach compelled the Libyan government to launch an operation on March 25 to push the rebels back.

Reports said last week that government forces had downed three Sukhoi fighter jets operated by the rebels.

Libya plunged into chaos in 2011, when a popular uprising and a NATO intervention led to the ouster of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Since 2014, two rival seats of power have emerged in the North African country  the United Nations (UN)-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli, and another group based in the eastern city of Tobruk, supported militarily by Haftar's rebels.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Not only is A.I. a tool for artists, who are employing machine intelligence in fascinating ways, it is also frequently a topic to be examined  sometimes in the same piece. And underlying many of the works is a deep unease. As Lisa Phillips, the director of New Yorks New Museum, put it, the worries come down to the prospect that machines are going to take over. She added, What are we unleashing?'  The New York Times
India must extend its strict confinement measures to combat the coronavirus disease and the benefits of the lockdown should not be frittered away for short-term economic considerations, said one of the militarys topmost doctors, a three-star general who was at the forefront of the countrys fight against Covid-19 until 10 days ago.

Lieutenant General Rajan Grewal, who retired as the head of the armys medical services on April 1, told Hindustan Times on Friday that relaxing the lockdown would allow transmission rates to skyrocket across cities and communities, with horrific consequences of unmanageable disease burden and resultant mortality.

The current 21-day lockdown was enforced on March 25 to break the chain of infection and control the spread of the coronavirus, and the government is expected to take a final call on extending it beyond April 14 soon.

Grewal recommended a longer and calibrated lockdown that would give India an extended window of opportunity to blunt the Covid-19 curve.

He said a prolonged lockdown might be perceived as an extreme step with its economic, vocational and food scarcity-related apprehensions, but it was the most reliable mechanism and perhaps the only means to minimise transmission through effective community containment.

Different studies reveal that even with 50% efficacy of the lockdown, there should be a considerable blunting of the curve. The question therefore is whether to consider a calibrated extension of the lockdown for a few more weeks or not. Despite its deleterious consequences for the economy and livelihoods of the weaker sections of our populace, can the nation afford to surrender these (lockdown) gains, Grewal said.

He stressed that the positive impact of the lockdown in dealing with the calamitous ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic should not be underplayed.

Grewal, however, flagged concerns about the variable implementation of the lockdown across states, pointing to a recent avoidable congregation in New Delhi and its widespread ramifications. As of April 3, a third of the countrys coronavirus positive cases were linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhis Nizamuddin last month.

He said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not ordered the lockdown, the Covid-19 pandemic could have triggered an unmanageable healthcare crisis in the country in the coming months.

As a result of the lockdown, the disease burden will be considerably less and delayed compared with the previous alarming estimates. The spread has been partially checked by the commendable measures planned and executed by the government, he pointed out.

Grewal said steps taken by the government to slow the spread of the disease were yielding results.

But this ought not to lead to complacence and laxity which may have catastrophic consequences. If the lockdown is totally lifted, the sheer magnitude of a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) environment would trigger chaos and devastation, he said.

He said the lockdown, preceded by the mass quarantine of evacuees from hotspots abroad and also those potentially exposed, has slowed down the progress of transmission.

If benefit accrual (from the lockdown) is surrendered, the control of the pandemic may become more challenging, complex and uncertain with each passing day. Things could spin out of control, he said.

Grewal said enhanced testing and contact tracing in and around Covid-19 hotspots across the country where the population was vulnerable to the disease was vital. This may prevent us from basking in the comfort zone that we are doing better than most of the world, he said.

Preventing the spread of infection in pockets with high population densities, including slums and suburbs, was critical in the fight against Covid-19, he said. Lockdown may not have the same success in these settings if it is not augmented by active screening, aggressive testing, rigorously enforced quarantine, zoning cordons and intense medical surveillance, he added.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Fourteen public transport workers in London, including nine bus drivers, have died from coronavirus in the last two weeks. An undisclosed number are fighting for their lives in intensive care.

COVID-19 has claimed almost 2,000 lives in the capital and 8,000 across the UK, with bus drivers demanding urgent safety measures to prevent more deaths.

On Wednesday, Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan appeared on Good Morning Britain (GMB) announcing that nine bus drivers, three London underground workers, one Transport for London (TfL) worker and an employee from a supplier had died from coronavirus. Asked by presenter Susanna Reid, Are we equipping our public transport workers with enough protective equipment? Khan replied that the best possible safety measures were in place.

Management warning to workers for taping off front doors and seats

This is a lie. Anne Nyack, mother of 36-year-old bus driver Meks Nyack Ihenacho from Holloway garage, said her son died of COVID-19 because bus drivers had no adequate protection.

Nyack made a powerful appeal for PPE (personal protective equipment) for all bus workers:

My son put his life at risk to do a job he loved and was devoted to. Im fighting his corner and when all this is over, Im going to fight to make sure that, in the event of anything like this happening again, they [bus drivers] have the right protective clothing.

On GMB, Khan was challenged over the dire safety conditions. Pointing to the death of 46-year-old Nadir Nur, who drove the Islington to Hackney route, Reid told Khan that as far as Nurs widow was concerned, he and his colleagues had no personal protective equipment. Co-presenter Piers Morgan told Khan, You cant just send drivers to their death.

Khans reply made clear this is precisely what is happening. He told GMB, Personal Protective Equipment should only be used in care settings. You know the shortage there is of PPE anyway for the NHS, for our social care staff. Yesterday we re-chased the government on this, and their advice is quite clear: transport workers should not be wearing PPE.

Khans statement makes clear that the Labour Party is collaborating with Boris Johnsons Conservative government to impose unsafe working conditions on thousands of key workers across public transport and beyond.

The joint letter to workers from TfL Metroline and Unite

Meanwhile the trade unions, including Unite, are functioning as a direct appendage of the transport companies. On Tuesday, Unite issued a joint statement with TfL and Metroline, which operates 15 garages and employs 4,500 bus drivers across London. Metroline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Singapore-based ComfortDelGro Group, one of the largest passenger transport companies in the world, with a net profit of $303 million in 2019.

Sent to bus drivers on joint letterhead and signed by Unites John Murphy, Metrolines Steve Harris and TfLs Claire Mann, the letter is headlined, The Bus Industry and its People Supporting London. It lists as its first principle working together to maintain good industrial relations.

Claiming their first priority is to protect and safeguard our workers and their families, the letter show the opposite is true. The safety of bus drivers and the general public is to be subordinated to the dictates of Metroline and the criminal incompetence and negligence of the Johnson government.

Bus drivers from garages across London told the WSWS that none of the safety measures listed in the three-page letterincluding deep cleaning of buses, social distancing measures and the provision of sanitiser and disinfectant wipeshave been implemented.

Moreover, Unite has joined with TfL and Metroline to declare that PPE is not required! Acknowledging the concern of drivers over access to PPE (face masks, gloves and protective clothing), the letter states, Public Health England (PHE) guidance states that PPE should be reserved for those working directly with people with COVID-19 symptoms.

Tweet from the mother of a bus driver showing photos of how much dirt remained just on the steering wheel after a supposed deep clean of buses by the company

Unites joint letter continues, [PPE] is not recommended as required for those working with individuals without symptoms (asymptomatic). This is in line with current World Health Organisation (WHO) guidance, which states that the best way to protect yourself against COVID-19 is by frequently cleaning your hands.

Inappropriate use of PPE can increase the risk of infection, and routine use of PPE is not currently recommended for transport workers. TfL has policy in place that covers staff health and safety and has based its approach to the deployment of PPE during this pandemic on national guidance. We will review the position should guidance change.

Drivers are supposed to take as good coin the recommendations of the Johnson governments minister for health and senior civil servants at Whitehall! The claim that the best protection for bus drivers is to frequently wash their hands is an insult. Where does Unite suggest drivers frequently wash their hands while driving buses in the middle of a lockdown? Washing hands does not offer full protection from the risk of airborne infection from passengers.

According to WHO guidelines published on April 6, 2020, Advice on the use of masks in the context of COVID-19: Any person who is in close contact (within 1 m) with someone who has respiratory symptoms (coughing, sneezing) is at risk of being exposed to potentially infective respiratory droplets. Droplets may also land on surfaces where the virus could remain viable; thus, the immediate environment of an infected individual can serve as a source of transmission (contact transmission).

A London bus driver wears a mask to try and protect him from the coronavirus as he drives on his route in London (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

The above WHO guidance then states, Medical masks should be reserved for health care workers. But this advice is based on rationing the current insufficient supply of PPE, i.e., it accepts that which must be challenged.

Nonetheless, WHO states, Wearing a medical mask is one of the prevention measures that can limit the spread of certain respiratory viral diseases, including COVID-19. However, the use of a mask alone is insufficient to provide an adequate level of protection, and other measures should also be adopted.

In other words, bus drivers need more protection than just masks, not less!

Unites joint statement with TfL and Metroline has confirmed in the eyes of many drivers that their lives count for nothing. Over the past week drivers have taken angrily to social media to expose the unsafe and filthy conditions in which they are being forced to work.

The collaboration of Unite with the companies and the Johnson government makes clear the urgent need for workers to take matters into their own hands and form independent rank-and-file committees to ensure safe working conditions.

The following demands must be raised:

Universal testing for all bus drivers to identify and locate the virus. This will enable health workers to identify those infected, including any potential clusters and take action for the protection of drivers, their families and the public.

PPE, including masks and gloves, provided immediately to all bus drivers! Hand sanitisers and disinfectant wipes supplied on all buses and at bus stops, for the safety of drivers and passengers alike. Proper washing facilities at garages.

Buses must be deep cleaned each night with anti-viral agents to provide safety and peace of mind to drivers.

None of these measures can be entrusted to the Johnson government, the mayor of London, TfL, private bus companies or the unions. Workers must reject their lying claims that urgently needed resources and supplies must be rationed. Rank-and-file committees comprising drivers, cleaners, engineers and other key workers must be formed to ensure the necessary resources are made available.

Metroline, Arriva and the other franchise operators have demonstrated that they are incapable of running a safe and secure service in the public interest. The companies must be taken over without compensation and placed under public ownership and the democratic control of the working class.

The WSWS urges bus drivers and other public transport workers who want to join this fight to contact us.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain on Friday said that its president JP Nadda interacted with party office bearers and reviewed various measures taken with regard to helping people in view of coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Nadda on Thursday reviewed with BJP office-bearers the various campaigns run by the party to help the needy and spread awareness on COVID-19.

"BJP president JP Nadda discussed with party's office-bearers in several states of North Zone, South Zone, West Zone and Central Zone regarding the measures taken to help people during COVID-19 outbreak. The district and mandal-level party office bearers were also present in the meeting held via audio conference and telephones," Hussain told ANI.

"The BJP president also asked party workers to create awareness among the people to download the Aarogya Setu app," he said.

The app enable people to assess their risk of contracting coronavirus.

Hussain said that every possible step is being taken to combat COVID-19 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, every possible step is taken to fight against coronavirus and all the people are with him. In the health sector, Rs 15,000 crore has been announced by the Centre. It is being ensured that there is no shortage of PPE kits, masks and ventilators," he remarked.

"The Prime Minister has made 11 core teams which are monitoring the situation. The whole world is appreciating how the Prime Minister is leading the fight against this disease," he added.

Asked about the rising cases in the country, the BJP spokesperson said, "With the rise in COVID-19 cases, some state governments have called for increasing the lockdown period while some have already increased the period."

"We have fought this disease with courage. Hotspots areas where cases have occurred have been sealed. People should strictly follow lockdown and it is the only way to defeat COVID-19," Hussain said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ahead of Easter Sunday, pastors are struggling to balance the spiritual needs of the faithful with the social-distancing requirements that have been imposed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

In the absence of a federally mandated national shutdown, churches are subject to different regulations as to how they can celebrate the holiday. While governors all over the country have mandated that certain essential businesses  such as grocery stores and pharmacies  are allowed to stay open, restrictions on religious gatherings tend to be more of a toss-up.

Thirty-nine states have instituted stay-at-home orders as of Thursday afternoon. Of these states, 12 have made exceptions for religious gatherings, despite the CDC guidance against gatherings of more than 10 people. The CDC also recommends that if a community is experiencing substantial community spread of COVID-19, then the houses of worship in that community should cancel all in-person gatherings of any size.

Many churches around the country are abiding by these guidelines and have transitioned to online worship services, live-streaming sermons and homilies to parishioners via social media and church websites. Other places of worship have chosen to continue meeting in person. And with Easter fast approaching, the debate around church gatherings continues to heat up.

(Photo by Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The Ohio megachurch Solid Rock, for example, has continued to hold services amid the pandemic despite pleas from the local mayor and health officials to cancel them. Solid Rock officials declined to be interviewed by Yahoo News, but pointed to a statement on its website.

We are taking all necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of anyone who comes to Solid Rock Church, the statement reads. We have scaled back our normal services; and there are not large numbers of worshipers in the facility, but we are open and continuing to practice and sustain our faith.

Critics say those measures dont go far enough. On the churchs official Facebook page thousands of people expressed their disappointment that the church remains open. One user wrote, You are so wrapped up in your beliefs that you cant take a step back and see the bigger picture. Youre putting so many people at risk unnecessarily.

Story continues

Another user wrote, God heals and protects us from so much, however we were also blessed with a God given gift called common sense and I believe we are expected to use it whenever necessary.

But not all the comments were in disagreement with the nondenominational churchs decision to stay open. One user wrote, So thankful for a church like this! I definitely wouldnt want to be a part of any church that this world agrees with!

Another wrote, Thank you for your goal of reaching the lost.

Solid Rock church member Jeff Battles says everyone should be able to decide for themselves whether to attend church services without ridicule. He chooses to attend.

The depression and addictions and broken heart, and suicidal thoughts have not paused during this time, Battles told Yahoo News. These spiritual attacks are hindering millions more lives than COVID-19 is. The greatest pandemic we are and have been dealing with is the brokenness that comes from sin. A hospital is for the sick, not the well. Same goes for the church.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has exempted religious services from his statewide stay-at-home order. There was nothing specific in the executive order about churches because there is freedom of religion here in the United States of America, he said at a virtual town hall last month. Remember this, we really have one simple goal, and thats to make sure you are not going to communicate a disease to somebody else.

(Photo by Peter Steffen/picture alliance via Getty Images)

One church thats chosen to stay open is Book of Acts Now Global Church in Brownwood, Texas. The lead pastor of the church, Jerry Bowers, says he believes people need church now more than ever.

This is one of the worst crises that weve had in America in many years, Bowers said in an interview with Yahoo News. For most people who connect with a church, their church life is a real part of their support system. So during the worst crisis that many people have been through, we want to take away their support system? I dont think thats a good idea.

Bowerss church has seen a 50 percent decrease in attendance since the pandemic began, but he remains steadfast that its doors will remain open. Bowers says he has enacted social-distancing measures and suggested that older parishioners stay home, but he still believes attending services at the church is safer than going to the grocery store.

About two blocks from where I live is a Walmart, Bowers said. They can have, like, 200 cars in the parking lot, people going into that store that are complete strangers and they dont know what theyre being exposed to. In my church, most of the people who come here know each other. Were practicing safeguards.

Im not afraid of being exposed to this virus, Bowers added. Im not going to live in fear, and I encourage those who come to my church, dont live in fear.

In New York, the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he would ban all nonessential gatherings in an executive order back on March 20. Religious gatherings, however, were left off his ban list even though his office urges [churches] to follow the CDCs social-distancing guidance.

Now is not the time for large religious gatherings, Cuomo said on April 7 during his daily coronavirus press conference. Weve paid this price already. Weve learned this lesson.  Now is not the time.

Getty Images

One New York church choosing to follow Cuomos guidelines is Epiphany Church in Brooklyn, where lead pastor Brandon Watts has transitioned his churchs entire worship experience online.

One of my roles and responsibilities is to make sure that Im protecting our members, protecting those who attend our church, Watts told Yahoo News. And the only way we could really do that in a safe environment was to make sure that everybody stayed home.

Watts says that while his church does not hold what he considers large gatherings, he understands that that guideline is open somewhat to interpretation. Even still, he added that pastors need to be mindful of the current situation.

I think there is a danger in ignoring the state and local officials when they have stay-at-home orders, Watts said. I dont look at it as an indictment against religious liberty. I think its a wisdom issue.

Contrary to Pastor Bowerss experience in Texas, the adjustments Watts has made have not taken a toll on the engagement at Epiphany Church. In fact, Watts has seen a 60 percent uptick in Sunday participation since it moved online. Hes encouraged by the numbers because he says church is still taking place.

The church is not a building, Watts said. The church is not plaster and paint. The church is a body which is made up of people and that body is the church wherever youre at.



_____

Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Experts say that the quarantine, which caused the closing of many restaurants and buildings and confining humans indoors, is changing the behavior and eating patterns of rats. (Photo : Pixabay)

Experts say that the quarantine, which caused the closing of many restaurants and buildings, confining humans indoors, is changing the behavior and eating patterns of rats.

The famous streets of New Orleans' French Quarter saw new rat swarms wandering later in March. Rats have come out of hiding in Louisiana shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the government to quarantine people and nearby establishments.

Robert Corrigan, a famous urban rodentologist, said that this is not surprising. He says that when a rat colony has long depended on tourists producing trash and litter on the streets, and these suddenly disappear, rats are suddenly left with nothing to eat. Claudia Riegel of the pest control board of New Orleans confirmed this and told the media that the rats "are hungry."

Worldwide, the pandemic has caused changes in human behavior. In some areas, the sudden disappearance of rubbish from humans forced rats to adapt. Corrigan had received messages from his friends in New York who had started seeing rats in places they have never been known to frequent, as well as appearing at unusual times when they previously only usually went out at night.

In some places, no observable changes in the habits of rats have been seen, possibly because they may only feed on household rubbish instead of restaurant trash. The National Pest Technicians Association in the United Kingdom warned that the closing of public establishments would cause unintended consequences. Pest populations may take over empty buildings in search of food and start being emboldened by the human absence.

Corrigan also shared with BBC that hungry rats can reach considerably long distances; they can turn up in a different area that had previously no rat population. He added that they are "formidable mammals" who are adept in sniffing out food sources, and armed with powerful teeth for gnawing, they can easily penetrate barriers such as walls, plastics, and doors. Rats are everywhere, Corrigan said, and they have colonized the entire globe due to their adaptive survival skills. Corrigan called them "masters of adaptation."

New Orleans city officials are making extra measures for controlling rat colonies. Hungry rats are more likely to accept food in rat traps.

Corrigan says sanitation itself is a pest control measure. If there is no food, then the rats will turn upon themselves, controlling their population. Cannibalism is common, especially in stressed animal populations.

Hungry rats that are wandering in a desperate search for food may invade homes and cause damage. They can easily gnaw on electrical wires and cause house fires. They also spread many diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is yet no evidence that they or other animals spread COVID-19.

Corrigan suggests calling pest control services if rats have been seen in the home. He advises people to leave the job of eliminating rats to professionals. Nonetheless, the house can be made less prone to rats by sealing entry points like holes, cracks, pipes, and other utilities. Clearing up clutter and leaving fewer places to hide is also a good idea. It is also essential to keep food sealed in containers inaccessible to rats.
Washington

Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled plans to expand eligibility for Medicare and forgive college debt for millions of Americans, as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee attempts to unify his party by courting progressives who lost their top choice when Bernie Sanders left the race.

Biden's swift move to shore up his left flank underscores the difficult choice many progressives began facing when Sanders abandoned his presidential bid: Side with the more centrist former vice president or keep up the fight and potentially lose the White House again.

As they weigh their options, activists are already working to persuade Biden on key issues.

Biden announced he'd support expanding federal health insurance through Medicare to people 60 and older who opt out of employee-sponsored coverage  down from the current 65 minimum age requirement. Biden also promised to forgive student debt for many low- and middle-income borrowers.

"Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas," Biden wrote in an online post announcing "two important steps we can take to help ease the economic burden on working people."

Neither proposal goes as far as Sanders promised had he won the presidency. And they may not be enough to convince supporters of the Vermont senator to embrace Biden.

"We can try all we want to use our leverage as a movement but, at the end of the day, I wouldn't expect anything coming from the establishment, the Biden campaign or the Democratic National Committee as a way to bring in the base," said Nomiki Konst, who worked on Democratic Party reforms for Sanders. "I think they want power and I think they want money."

If Biden can't bridge the ideological divide, he risks heading into the fall with the same vulnerabilities as Hillary Clinton in 2016. But if he gives too much to progressives, he could be portrayed as too far left, an argument the Trump campaign is trying to make,

Despite Thursday's moves, Biden has signaled he's not willing to make concessions on the most important issues in the minds of many Sanders' supporters: embracing Medicare for All universal health insurance and the sweeping Green New Deal to combat climate change. He has, however, embraced an overhaul of bankruptcy laws proposed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the other leading progressive, who ended her presidential bid.

RoseAnn DeMoro, a close friend of Sanders and former head of the National Nurses United union, predicted Biden would also move to appease Sanders supporters on labor and environmental issues  but she's unsure it's enough.

"The calculation is, this base has nowhere to go but Biden because of Trump," she said. "But a lot of the base sat it out last time."

Though he's suspended his campaign, Sanders' name will remain on the ballot in states that have not yet weighed in on the primary. He said Wednesday he still wants to collect delegates to influence the party platform.

Sanders and Warren have also notably stopped short of endorsing Biden.

Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, which backed Warren then Sanders when she dropped out, said Biden's goal is to rebuild the Obama coalition, which spanned generations, races and education. Biden can't do that without "young people committed to real, progressive change" enthusiastic about Sanders.

"Progressives have done a very effective job of moving the mainstream of the party in a more progressive direction," said Sean McElwee, founder of Data for Progress, a data and messaging organization. "Many people in the Democratic Party have progressive sensibilities."

Biden aides reached out to Sanders' camp to discuss policy weeks before the senator suspended his campaign.

That included meeting with progressive leaders from at least two groups, the Sunrise Movement and March for Our Lives, who co-signed a letter Wednesday making certain demands of Biden if he hopes to win them over.
New Delhi, April 10 : Arvind Kejriwal has been a "total failure", says BJP's South Delhi MP Member of Parliament from Delhi Ramesh Bidhuri, when asked to evaluate the Delhi Chief Minister's effort during the shutdown in wake of the Covid-19 outbreak. East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhi too found him short of efficiency.

"Look, I am not saying this because I am from the opposition. But Kejriwal's response has been that of a total failure. He introduced an app for giving out rations. One, there is no transparency on that and more importantly, how can you expect a poor person with no Android phone or internet connection to register in an App to get ration during this time of distress?" said Bidhuri, while talking to IANS.

Kejriwal earlier said that ration would also be provided to the people without ration cards. However, such people need to apply online and on that basis, the government will provide them ration. Bidhuri alleges, while the genuinely needy are robbed off their chance to get it, those with ration cards stand to exploit the system.

BJP MLA Ajay Mahawar has levelled allegations of corruption in the ration supply. He has claimed that the quantity of ration meant for Narela has been found to be underweight.

Gambhir, who recently had an exchange with Kejriwal over Twitter blamed Kejriwal for the sudden exodus of migrants from New Delhi, that shook the conscience of the nation and sent the administration into a tizzy.

"Delhi government did not share the exact data of ration distribution and food. And if he could have done accommodation arrangements, then why did daily wagers leave Delhi in thousands?" asks Gambhir.

Earlier, in a ground investigation, IANS had found that accommodation facilities even after the migrant workers left Delhi in hordes weren't enough. Many were spotted sleeping on the banks of Yamuna, at night under the open sky, barely a few kilometers from the Chief Minister's residence.

Bidhuri went a step further than Gambhir to accuse Kejriwal of deliberately creating panic and orchestrating the exodus of migrant workers, mainly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, most of whom left for their homes on foot, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21 days pan-india shutdown.A He even adds that whatever ready to eat food is available in the national capital should be credited to NGOs and not Kejriwal. "We requested Kejriwal to provide us with kitchens so that we can serve food to the poor of Delhi. He didn't," claims Bidhuri.

As on Friday, Delhi has recorded a total 720 cases of Covid-19, out of which 12 have succumbed. As numbers rose, the Delhi government designated many places across the national capital as containment zones and completely sealed them. It includes prominent places like Bengali Market, at the heart of the capital.

With each new spate of cases, the onslaught of the opposition only rises against Delhi's CM who has recently come back to power and has battled two crisis since - the riots and Covid-19 outbreak.

Gambhir alleges, "Till now, the Chief minister has been late in reacting. As a result, Delhi is facing shortage of medical equipment and PPE kits, as well." The Aam Aadmi Party could not be reached for its response, in spite of repeated attempts.
By Devika Krishna Kumar and Laura Sanicola NEW YORK (Reuters) - Railroads are clamping down on rising demand from oil companies to store crude in rail cars due to safety concerns, sources said, even as the number of places available to stockpile oil is rapidly dwindling. Oil demand is expected to drop by roughly 30% this month worldwide due to the worsening coronavirus pandemic, and supplies are increasing even as Saudi Arabia and Russia hammer out an agreement to cut worldwide output. Storage is filling rapidly as refiners reduce processing and U.S.

By Devika Krishna Kumar and Laura Sanicola

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Railroads are clamping down on rising demand from oil companies to store crude in rail cars due to safety concerns, sources said, even as the number of places available to stockpile oil is rapidly dwindling.

Oil demand is expected to drop by roughly 30% this month worldwide due to the worsening coronavirus pandemic, and supplies are increasing even as Saudi Arabia and Russia hammer out an agreement to cut worldwide output. Storage is filling rapidly as refiners reduce processing and U.S. exports fall.

Globally, storage space for crude could run out by mid-2020, according to IHS Markit, and most U.S. onshore storage capacity is expected to fill by May, traders and analysts said.

However, railroads including Union Pacific and BNSF, owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, are telling oil shippers that they do not want them to move loaded crude trains to private rail car storage facilities on their tracks due to safety concerns, three sources in the crude-by-rail industry said.

The railroads are telling clients that tank cars are not a prudent long-term storage mechanism for a hazardous commodity such as crude, and do not want to put a loaded crude oil unit train in a private facility and potentially create a safety hazard, they said.

Federal rules typically only allow crude in rail cars to be stored on private tracks. There is no federal data on how much oil is regularly put in rail storage, but analysts said it is very little.

"Most federal regulations require rail cars loaded with ... crude oil to be moved promptly within 48 hours. Therefore, federal regulations discourage shippers and railroads from leaving crude oil in transportation for an extended time," transportation lawyers at Clark Hill LLC wrote in an article Thursday.

BNSF did not respond to several requests for comment. Union Pacific declined to comment.

Nearly 142 million barrels of crude moved via rail in the U.S. in 2019, representing about 10% of what is transported via pipelines, according to the U.S. Energy Department. Unit trains, made up entirely of tank cars, can carry around 60,000-75,000 barrels.

Even on smaller or mid-sized railroads, known as shortlines, there may be capacity constraints or insurance coverage may not be adequate, the railroads have said, advising rail companies not to store oil.

"It is arbitrary, and is happening at a time when it (storage) is an option being heavily considered by all companies that have access to crude by rail right now," one of the sources said.

As of September, there was enough crude storage capacity in the U.S. for about 391 million barrels of out of about 700 million working capacity, excluding the strategic reserve, according to the U.S. Energy Department. However, U.S. stocks have risen by 32.5 million barrels in just the last 4 weeks, including a 15-million-barrel gain in the latest week, the most ever.

Crude-by-rail shipments were not economic when oil prices were high but are expected to rise as prices have plunged. Loadings out of the Permian basin, the biggest in the country, slumped to about 12,500 barrels per day (bpd) in January, the lowest in at least a year, before rising to about 13,200 bpd in February, according to data from Genscape.

Demand is falling so swiftly that rail cars loaded with crude may not be accepted by the time they reach their destination three-to-five days later, leaving barrels orphaned without a storage option, one trader said.

Rates to lease rail cars have dropped sharply due to the crash in oil prices, making them more attractive for storage. Lease rates for rail cars have fallen from about $800 per month to about $500, said Ernie Barsamian, founder and CEO of The Tank Tiger, a terminal storage clearinghouse.

(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar, Laura Sanicola and Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Local News, Community, Charity & Cause

By Ls Cohen Published: April 10 2020

Medical workers will assist staffing additional 300 hospital beds recently added to the hospital.

More than 20 nurses from SUNY Upstate Medical University heard cheering and saw welcome signs as they arrived on Long Island on Thursday to help staff-up Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) with additional medical workers. They volunteered to work at SBUH, to help treat patients associated with the coronavirus pandemic, according to a statement from the hospital.

The nurses will begin working today to assist with the 300 hospital beds - including 180 additional ICU beds - added to treat coronavirus patients at SBUH.

Photo: Stony Brook University Hospital.

The hospital reported that it is treating more than 300 patients right now who have tested positive for the virus. By April 5, more than 775 patients had been successfully treated and discharged from SBUH since the pandemic began.

We are so grateful for the assistance from our sister hospital in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, said Michael Bernstein, PhD, Interim President of Stony Brook University.

There are three hospitals/healthcare systems in the SUNY system: Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, and Stony Brook Medicine.

Recently, Long Island was identified as a hotspot for the pandemic by New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, as the growth in the total volume of positive patients has shifted from New York City to Long Island.

Watch staff at SBUH give the Upstate nurses a hero's welcome in the video below.

In an interview shared by the hospital, Carolyn Santora, MS, RN, Chief of Regulatory Affairs and Interim Chief Nursing Officer at Stony Brook Medicine expressed her thanks that she and the staff felt for the nurses who traveled to Long Island to help.

Its so hard to express enough how much gratitude we have to these guys to show their support, said Santora. To show their dedication to this mission too. To understand what were going through and support us through it.

Photo: Stony Brook University Hospital.

She also said that the hospital staff is working hard despite the challenges.

I cant say enough for the nursing staff, the physicians, the respiratory therapists, all the support staff that walk in here every day, she said. They come in, they do their job, they drag themselves home. Some of them are sleeping apart from their families because theyre worried about them. But they come because this is their mission and this is their dedication and theyre doing a fabulous job."
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Coronavirus outbreak: How containment zones prevent COVID-19 from spreading among people?

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Apr 10: Several state governments across the country has called for an idea of containment zones to experiment and find a solution to the outbreak of coronavirus.

The reason why the state governments have opted for containment zones is to locate those clusters which have seen a rise in COVID cases in rapid transmission. With this, such areas can be put under observation.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

Movement into these government-identified containment zones will be limited to a small set of officials and health care workers. No public mivement will be witnessed in the site. Also, aggressive screening and enhanced testing will take place in these clusters.

This strategy by the state government is based on the belief that it would help the authorities to identify each person who is infected, offer isolation and treatment, and reduce their interface.

This would also contain the infection from spreading from one to another. It is broadly inspired by what has come to be known as the Bhilwara model of "ruthless containment".

In Rajasthan, the state government took this method to tame the infection after health workers in a hospital first got infected.

Fake News Buster

Though the containment zones cause inconvenience to residents, by making them dependent on state officials and select private vendors for supplies, this would be a temporary curtailment of rights, is worth it to contain the disease.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, April 10, 2020, 13:46 [IST]
Cleanness expands the teachers world across nine segments, or stories: his relationships with students, sexual encounters with strangers, the romance and political upheavals of Bulgaria in the wake of the 2008 global financial crises. The middle section is a tripartite chronicle of his relationship with a Portuguese student and fellow expatriate. Their romance flourishes, bringing the teacher into the world  out, in a way, from his exile  but then fades, delivering him back to zones of risk and abjection.

In the first book, an American teacher embarks on an addictive relationship with a local hustler in Sofia, Bulgaria. The novel is a journey inward, the relationship tearing open the teachers oldest shames.

Those who grumbled that there wasnt enough sex in Garth Greenwells first novel, What Belongs to You, may find what they were looking for in Cleanness.

There are two graphic sadomasochistic stories in Cleanness that are companion pieces of a sort. In Gospodar, the teachers hook-up with a brutal stranger switches unnervingly from the intense pleasure of being used, the exhilaration of being an object to fear. When he plays the dominant partner, in The Little Saint, the language and rituals of domination and submission are more overtly repurposed for pleasure and a kind of tenderness. These scenes are forensic in their sense of how the physical act begets the emotional response.

Another murky territory of social exchange involves the teacher-student relationship. Being a foreigner, an American, and an openly queer teacher in Bulgaria heighten and muddle usual demarcations. When a student confesses his desires in Mentor, the maintenance of certain boundaries leaves the teacher stricken with doubt and perhaps grief. In An Evening Out, something rare promises to emerge when he gets drunk with two former students, albeit with no less anxiety about what loosening those restrictions might have induced.

Greenwell is fearless about getting to the murky bottom of things. A signature skill is his ability to draw out the seemingly opposed impulses of intimate experience. The final line of Gospodar, after the narrator escapes the apartment of his sadistic trick, is an emphatically unsettled statement of both devastation and agency: I wrestled with my thoughts, and then I stood and turned my back to the boulevard, composing as best I could my human face.

Cleanness is a dangerous book, not because it is explicit, but because it lingers in ambivalence  fully stretching and searching for the potential in uncertain pleasures and connections. It offers little resolution, but many moments of intensity, happiness, solidarity, belonging, and the kind of forward momentum that comes from tracking existence in its most honest contradictions.
ISELIN, N.J., April 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Provident Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: PFS) announced that it expects to release financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 on Thursday, April 30, 2020 at approximately 8:00 a.m. (ET). A copy of the earnings release will be immediately available on the Companys website, www.Provident.Bank , by going to Investor Relations and clicking on Press Releases.



Representatives of the Company will hold a conference call for investors on April 30, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. (ET) to discuss the Companys first quarter financial results. Information about the conference call is as follows:

Dial-in (Domestic): 1-888-336-7149 (International): 1-412-902-4175 Canada Dial-in (Toll Free): 1-855-669-9657

Internet access to the call will be available (listen only) at www.Provident.Bank by going to Investor Relations and clicking on Webcast.

A replay of the call will be available beginning at 12:00 noon (ET) on April 30, 2020 until 9:00 a.m. (ET) on May 14, 2020.

Replay (Domestic): 1-877-344-7529 (International): 1-412-317-0088 Canada (Toll Free): 1-855-669-9658 Passcode 10142469

The call will also be archived on the Companys website for a period of one year.

Provident Financial Services, Inc. is the holding company for Provident Bank. As of December 31, 2019, the Company reported assets of $9.8 billion. The Bank currently operates a network of full service branches throughout northern and central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.

SOURCE: Provident Financial Services, Inc.

Web Site: http://www.Provident.Bank
Remote: The monitoring app collects patients data and securely transmits it to their hospital

IRISH hospitals have discharged more than 250 Covid-19 patients armed with a self-isolation health monitoring app developed by a Digital Hub-based company called PatientMpower.

The Enterprise Ireland-backed tech firm develops remote health monitoring technology for lung and kidney patients. Its apps are proving particularly useful now as Irish hospitals seek to keep beds free for the most critical coronavirus victims.

"We are an experienced provider of home monitoring systems for lung disease, so when the first coronavirus cases were reported in Ireland, we put all of our resources behind developing technology to help our healthcare staff cope with this crisis," said chief executive Eamonn Costello.

"With the support of the HSE, and with rapid uptake by hospitals, this technology has already helped save hundreds of hospital beds for those that need them most," Mr Costello said.

The home monitoring programme is operating in most major hospitals, where more than 250 patients suffering from moderate Covid-19 symptoms have been taught how to use the app before their discharge.

Back home they are instructed to remain in isolation and to use PatientMPower's app to provide the hospital with their vital signs, including the oxygen saturation in their blood, their level of breathlessness, temperature and prescription medicine intake.

The app includes HSE guidance on effective self-quarantine practices to safeguard other household members from infection.

The outpatient collects vital signs and other requested health data, then transmits it via the smartphone app to the hospital's secure portal for this information.

"Technology has a massive role to play in this crisis," said Martin Curley, the HSE's head of digital transformation.

"With the use of home monitoring technology for Covid-19, we can save our hospital resources for patients who need them most - but quickly move patients back to hospital if they begin to show more severe symptoms whilst they are in self-isolation at home."

The app-based platforms developed by PatientMpower normally are used to help patients managing pulmonary fibrosis and cystic fibrosis, as well as recovering from lung transplants, to provide their doctors daily detailed updates on their condition remotely from home.

PatientMpower is based in the Digital Hub in Dublin but also has offices in Chicago and in Milton Keynes, England.

The M in the company name is intended to represent the electronic 'sign of life' on a patient's heart monitor.

Another firm in the Digital Hub, MEG Support Tools, is providing a range of services to HSE and other medical staff, including guidance for staff redeployed into infection prevention and control roles.

A third Hub-based firm, Akara Robotics, has developed a remote-controlled robot that emits ultraviolet light able to kill viruses, bacteria and germs. The robot was trialled recently in two Dublin hospitals.
Bakanov is convinced that the extension of the ban on Odnoklassniki and VKontakte will help protect Ukrainians from fake news and manipulation.

Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov submitted to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine proposals to extend for another three years the ban on the use of Russian social networks.

The report published on the SBU website says the agency chief proposed to extend sanctions against Russian social networks Odnoklassniki and VKontakte.

In particular, SBU cyber experts say the number of their users in Ukraine over the ban period dropped by nearly 70%, which significantly narrowed down target audiences of psychological operations implemented by Russian intelligence.

"Fake news in countries with established democracies are equal to weapons of mass destruction. A hybrid war continues against Ukraine, while we continue to repel information attacks coming from the Russian Federation. Therefore, the extension of sanctions does make sense: this will protect our citizens from fake news and manipulation, and accordingly, we will maintain the security of the state in general," Bakanov is convinced.

It is also stated that on average, over 2017-2020, the SBU recorded thousands of cases of destructive content being posted on Odnoklassniki and VKontakte platforms.

Read alsoRussian manipulations to avoid responsibility for aggression in Ukraine harm UN efforts to fight coronavirus  MFA Ukraine

Since sanctions were imposed, the SBU have registered almost 100 criminal proceedings against owners and administrators of anti-Ukrainian communities in these social networks, charged with an encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, actions aimed at forcibly changing the constitutional system or seizing state power, as well as the creation of terrorist groups.

In addition, SBU cyber experts record a surge in the activity of agitators, trolls, and bot farms in Russian social networks. This is due to quarantine measures during the coronavirus pandemic and the approach of Easter and May holidays.

According to cyber experts, approximately 70% of destructive material about Ukraine is being promoted precisely from the Russian information space, including from the said social networks.

Read alsoSBU cyber experts warn of fake news on coronavirus spread over social networks

As UNIAN reported, in the spring of 2017 at that time, a decision of the National Security and Defense Council was enacted on blocking access to Russian social networks VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, as well as Yandex and Mail.ru resources, along with a ban on use accounting software product "1C".

Later, the relevant lists were expanded
Such procedures will have the same legal value as those conducted through other conventional means, the decree states.

It adds that the reception and handling of administrative procedures through electronic means must be conducted in a transparent and secure way, with the cooperation of the agencies concerned.

The processing of procedures must comply with Vietnamese law and the international conventions on electronic transactions that Vietnam has signed.

The decree also highlights the behaviours prohibited for civil servants and requires public service portals to issue receipts for individuals and organisations requests with the time to receive the physical documents.

The decree will come into force on May 22, 2020.
___

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.

Here are the symptoms of the virus compared with the common flu.

One of the best ways to prevent spread of the virus is washing your hands with soap and water. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends first washing with warm or cold water and then lathering soap for 20 seconds to get it on the backs of hands, between fingers and under fingernails before rinsing off.

You should wash your phone, too. Here's how.

TRACKING THE VIRUS: Drill down and zoom in at the individual county level, and you can access numbers that will show you the situation where you are, and where loved ones or people you're worried about live.

___

IN OTHER NEWS:
A vial of the investigational drug remdesivir is visually inspected at a Gilead manufacturing site in March 2020. (Gilead Sciences via AP)

3,000 Participants Added to Trials for Experimental COVID-19 Treatment

Gilead Sciences has increased the number of patients involved in two trials for its experimental COVID-19 treatment remdesivir.

A trial looking at remdesivir in patients with severe cases of COVID-19 upped enrollment from 400 to 2,400 and added some patients on ventilators. Another trial looking at remdesivir in patients with moderate COVID-19 cases increased enrollment from 600 to 1,600.

Both trials, which started in March, are expected to deliver results by May.

Remdesivir was used in the treatment of the first American patient with the virus, according to a case study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The patients condition improved a day after receiving the drug intravenously. Remdesivir has also shown success treating a different coronavirus, MERS, in monkeys, and has shown efficacy against the Ebola and Nipah viruses in monkeys.

Researchers, though, said in the study that randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the safety and efficacy of remdesivir and any other investigational agents for treatment of patients with 2019-nCoV infection.

A woman arrives by ambulance to Wyckoff Hospital in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn in New York on April 5, 2020. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images)

Remdesivir is not currently approved for use anywhere in the world. Several other studies are examining its effectiveness against COVID-19, including a worldwide study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Gilead CEO Daniel ODay said over the weekend that the company was donating 1.5 million doses of remdesivir for use in trials and for patients who cant take part in trials.

The programs enable hospitals or physicians to apply for emergency use of remdesivir for multiple severely ill patients at a time, he wrote in an update posted on the companys website.

Other existing treatments being tested against COVID-19 include hydroxychloroquine, Kevzara, and zithromax.

COVID-19 causes symptoms similar to the flu in some patients. About one in five patients require hospital care, according to early data, and a subset of those are admitted to intensive care units.

The new illness primarily affects the elderly or those with underlying health conditions.
Coronavirus: Some security men were arrested by the Hydebad Police after they stopped students of North East from entering a mall and misbehaved with them because of their looks. Filing a complaint of discrimination on the basis of video proof, Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat ordered strict actions against them.

Two students from Manipur were denied entry into the Star Super Market in Vanasthalipuram of Hyderabad even after they showed their national identity: Aadhar cards. The security guards thought they were foreigners because of their looks. The students accused that it was a clear case of discrimination. The students leveled allegations of discrimination against the security staff of the super market asking that is Manipur not part of India?

A video clip of the incident is doing round the internet and thousands of netizens expressed solidarity with students criticizing the mall security asking the government to look into the matter.

Taking cognizance of the matter, Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat ordered stringent actions and accused have been arrested. Later, the Commissioner of Police personally interacted with students and handed over rice, pulse, and other essential items as a gesture. He assured students that they no need to worry and strict actions will be taken against the people doing so.

The incident attracted the eyes of the Union Ministers Kiran Rijuju and Kishan Reddy backed the students and assured them full protection and no discrimination.

I appreciate such prompt actions by @RachakondaCop police. This kind of humane gesture spreads positive messages and make our country united. https://t.co/qYqjyKnhAK  Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) April 10, 2020

The CP of Rachakonda has personally interacted with both the victim students about their well being and handed over Rice bags & pulse packets to them. CP has started his career in IPS in 1997 at Manipur state so having knowledge of Manipuri language, society & culture.

Police have reassured them to reach in case of any emergency and emergency contact shared with them. CP Rachakonda has warned super market management that any discrimination on basis of caste, religion, race, language etc at public places will not be tolerated.

For all the latest National News, download NewsX App
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) are the viruses that cause a type of cancer called adult T cell leukemia and infectious diseases called HTLV. Two types of HTLV infections are identified which include HTLV I and HTLV II. These are pathogenic viruses that cause hematological and neurological diseases in infected patients which is favoring the growth of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market. Additionally, this test helps in identifying viruses that cause leukemia, lymphoma, pulmonary infections, uveitis, infectious dermatitis and others are influencing the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market growth during the forecast period. Furthermore, these diagnosis of various infectious HTLV-I/II by antibody tests are triggering the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market growth, which include ELISA tests, chemiluminescence assays, western blot assays .Moreover, they have also been approved by FDA as diagnostic tests used to evaluate patients with clinical diagnosis of adult T cell spastic Para paresis which is also anticipated to experience the market growth in near future.

To Understand How Our Report Information Can Bring Difference, Ask for a brochure @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/31140

Rise in urbanization, rise in change of lifestyle, rise in occurrence of infectious diseases are the factors driving the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market growth during the course of period. Moreover, transmission of infections from blood transfusion, organ transplant, breast feeding are the factors that are positively influencing the growth of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market. Furthermore, research and development activities and technological developments in testing procedures such as imaging techniques are expected to emerge as potential opportunities for the growth of Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market. Along with this, rise in various autoimmune conditions such as uveitis, arthritis and pneumonitis are also boosting the growth of the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market during the forecast period. However, lack of skilled professionals, data sharing threats, unavailability of supportive infrastructure are the factors hindering the growth of the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market.

The global Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market is classified on the basis of clinical types, products, technology, indications, end users, and region.

Based on clinical type, Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market is segmented as:

HTLV-I

HTLV-II

HTLV-III

HTLV-IV

Based on products, Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market is segmented as:

Assays and kits ELISA Particle agglutination Chemiluminescence assays

Instruments Western blot ELISA

Reagents and consumables

Based on technology, Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market is segmented as:

Signaling technology

Imaging technology

Western blot

PCR

Request PMR insights on measuring the impact of COVID-19 coronavirus across industries

Based on indications, Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market is segmented as:

Hypercalcemia

Fatigue

Lymphadenopathy

Muscle pain

Bowel disorders

Cerebrospinal fluid studies

Based on end user, Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market is segmented as:

Diagnostic laboratories

Hospitals

Academic and research institutes

CRO

Biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries.

The global market for Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests is anticipated to experience a steady growth during the forecast period. Owing to the increase in prevalence of infectious diseases associated with various other chronic diseases creates a more lucrative opportunity for manufactures present in the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market. Furthermore, increase in new product launches, technological advancement in tests, clinical trials and others are propelling the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market growth over the years. Based on the product type, assays and kits are dominating the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market. Based on technology, imaging technology is emerging the growth of the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market.

Geographically, the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market is segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, South Asia, East Asia, Oceania, Middle East and Africa. North America is dominating the market owing to rise in infections, increase in clinical practices, clinically trained professionals, presence of both HTLV I and II in population, increase in use of intra venous drug users. Europe is second largest contributor in the market due to rise in inflammatory infectious disease, healthcare awareness, and government support. Middle East and Africa are anticipated to experience lucrative market growth for Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests due to lack of availability skilled professionals, lack of technological penetration of healthcare treatments and others.

Some of the key players of the Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market are: Roche diagnostics, Abbott laboratories, Cellular products .Inc. Viracor diagnostics, Bio compare, Zepto Metrix Corporation, Mayo clinical Laboratories, Genesig, and Arup laboratories.

The report on Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market covers exhaustive analysis on:

Market Segments

Market Dynamics

Historical Actual Market Size, 2014 - 2018

Market Size & Forecast 2019 to 2029

Supply & Demand Value Chain

Market Current Trends / Issues / Challenges

Competition & Companies involved

Technology

Value Chain

Market Drivers and Restraints

Regional analysis for Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market includes

North America

Latin America

europe

East Asia

South Asia

Oceania

Middle East & Africa

To Gain More Insights & Stay Ahead Of The Competition, Buy Now @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/31140

Report on Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV) tests market highlights:
Hundreds of educators in San Francisco are pledging to donate part of their stimulus checks to undocumented immigrants who make up a vital part of the U.S. and regional workforce but do not qualify for federal aid under the governments stimulus bill.

United Educators of San Francisco, which represents more than 6,200 San Francisco Unified School District employees, including teachers, nurses, counselors and psychologists, said it had received 300 pledges totaling more than $100,000 as of Friday. Organizers plan to expand the campaign to other unions during the coronavirus outbreak.

An estimated 60 million Americans who filed federal tax returns in 2018 and 2019 are expected to receive one-time cash payments as part of the governments $2 trillion stimulus package. Individuals who make less than $75,000 annually are expected to receive $1,200.

But the countrys roughly 10.5 million undocumented immigrants will not qualify for the federal aid because they do not have Social Security numbers. An estimated 7.6 million undocumented immigrants hold jobs in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. Many of these jobs can be found in the service industry, which has been disrupted by mass closures because of the states shelter-in-place policy, leaving countless families with no income.

The teachers union campaign aims to fill a financial gap that has angered immigration advocates who fear itll push these immigrants into financial instability, particularly low-income workers who may have recently lost their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak.

On a small scale it gives them funding, though it doesnt make up for the complete lack of funding from (losing) their jobs, said Frank Lara, a teacher at Buena Vista Horace Mann who created the campaign. On a larger scale, which I think is the most important one, it gives them dignity and rights that they deserve.

Lara said hes pledging $1,000 of his expected stimulus check.

It is overly apparent that the economic crisis will affect those without any legal and employment rights the most, the union said in a statement on its pledge website. A humanitarian crisis is brewing for our undocumented families. Even as trillions are being graciously handed over to the pockets of banks, corporations and tech companies, little is making its way to the working class and nothing to those with little or no legal status.

Jael Castro, 25, a fourth-grade teacher at Buena Vista, has pledged $500 of her stimulus check. The gesture is personal for Castro, whose father is undocumented.

These folks contribute a lot to the economy, she said. Theyre workers here, too, and they pay taxes, too. But yet theyre not going to be receiving any aid. It doesnt make sense economically, and its also inhumane.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

President Trump has suggested that coronavirus testing should be available to immigrants, but he has not discussed a relief plan for this population.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said hes working with the California Legislature to provide aid for undocumented immigrants and others who did not qualify for the federal stimulus package.

Californians care deeply about undocumented residents in this state, he said.

Lara said the union plans to distribute the funds in collaboration with District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton and the community organization, Jobs with Justice, which manages a donation fund for undocumented immigrants.

Tatiana Sanchez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tatiana.sanchez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TatianaYSanchez
TV tradie Scott Cam will only receive part of his staggering six-figure salary from the government due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The celebrity builder was set to get $350,000 from the Federal Government to be a 'careers ambassador' for 15 months.

The Gold Logie-winner was supposed to demonstrate how practical and technical training can lead to high-paying jobs.

However, Mr Cam's role has changed since the outbreak of COVID-19 forced workplaces and TAFE colleges to close.

Social distancing measures, which were introduced to slow the spread of the disease, mean Mr Cam can no longer take part in face-to-face appearances as those typically involve large crowds.

He has volunteered to forgo his salary payments moving forward, Minister for Employment Michaelia Cash said.

TV tradie Scott Cam (pictured alongside Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business Michaelia Cash and Prime Minister Scott Morrison) will only receive part of his staggering six-figure salary from the government due to the coronavirus pandemic

'Mr Cam will continue to work with the Australian Government and the National Careers Institute to amplify online training opportunities and engage with Australians through digital mediums.'

Mr Cam is believed to have been paid $145,000 for the first five months of his work, which involved one public appearance and a series of social media posts.

Outrage was sparked when it was revealed how much Mr Cam's taxpayer-funded role was worth.

Cash told Daily Mail Australia at the time, Mr Cam was a real-life example of where a trade can take you.

Mr Cam is believed to have been paid $145,000 for the first five months of his work, which involved one public appearance and a series of social media posts

'As Ambassador, Scott Cam will promote careers and the VET system and help direct people to the right career advice at the right time,' she said in an emailed statement

Mr Cam, 58, first appeared on lifestyle show Backyard Blitz in 2000, and popped up regularly on other shows including Renovation Rescue before he began hosting The Block in 2010, a role for which he won a Gold Logie in 2014.

MSN reported in August that the popular TV tradie was looking to new horizons - perhaps a cooking or travelling show - before he inked a deal in October to become the federal government's national careers ambassador in a bid to get more young people on the tools.
Opening in 1950s Taiwan, during the rule of the Kuomintang (the Chinese Nationalist Party), Tigertail introduces us to a young boy named Pin-Jui. He lives with his grandparents in the countryside while his mother looks for a job.

The film, streaming on Netflix, soon jumps to the present day: Pin-Jui, now an old man (Tzi Ma), lives in the United States and clearly has a fraught relationship with his grown-up daughter (Christine Ko); its not hard to discern that from the awkward silences. Spanning more than half a century, Tigertail goes back and forth in time, tracing the events that allowed Pin-Jui to achieve his American dream yet made him so aloof to his loved ones. It does this to mixed results.

The writer and director Alan Yang (co-creator of Master of None) was inspired by the story of his own father, who immigrated to the United States from Taiwan. Hong-Chi Lee portrays Pin-Jui as a young man, who finds work in a factory alongside his mother, just like Yangs father had; they make just enough to scrape by.
447 Shares Share

Ive been telecommuting for two weeks, and I already feel like Bill Murrays character in the film Groundhog Day. A college friend of mine had a term for this feelingdeja movie. I ease into my day with the repetitive normalcy of feeding the dog and sitting with my coffee while I watch the news.

A lead story included pictures taken by Dr. Colleen Smith, a young doctor at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, deemed the epicenter of the epicenter in New York City. Tired and scared, she shared a photo of a refrigerated trailer backed up to the hospital as a makeshift morgue. Suddenly, Im part of a very different movie.

Doctors like me, a few hours away from New York, are still in the early phases of battling this virus. My telehealth schedule now seems not only luxurious but the definition of phoning it in. There is special guilt that comes from sitting on the bench and still complaining about mundane glitches in the technology, keeping me safe at home.

Trauma is the next crisis

Technology developed to bring specialty care to underserved areas is now transforming how we practice nearly every medical specialty overnight; our eyes wide open to the best and worst of health care in a pandemic. With the scope of personal and financial losses and so many changes coming so quickly, the next crisis will be the nations mental health.

What is happening to Dr. Smith and other health care workers across the country is trauma. Health care workers will have little time to process their experience before getting back to business as usual in strained hospital systems.

Prior to this crisis, multiple sources, including Medscapes National Physician Burnout, Depression & Suicide Report, note physician burnout at alarming rates (>40 percent). What would those numbers look like now?

Why doctors will need care

COVID-19 is particularly damaging to physician wellness because the response rocks the core beliefs of our profession. They train us to treat patients, not to decide who will and wont get ventilators. Its devaluing when we cannot provide the care we want to give; its dehumanizing when we are placing ourselves and our families at risk.

We can rationalize that these are imperfect times, but even AT&T Wireless commercials understand that just OK is not OK. We dont have a switch to turn off what makes us talented doctorsour drive for perfection. Health care demands it and constantly reminds us there is little room for error.

Licensed providers cant accept this is the best we can do and tune out years of practice in complex medical decision-making or delicate procedures. We wont be able to unsee COVID-19.

Perfectionism is a hurdle

When the clinical demands settle, an administrator or well-meaning colleague will say, I think you should see somebody. This is when the perfectionism that kept us alive and caring for patients during the pandemic will keep many doctors from seeking mental health care.

Getting over that you are a capable physician but just cant heal yourself is a big mental hurdle. I get it, Im a psychiatrist and couldnt fix my obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). For years I dealt with impostor syndrome, like I cant be a very good psychiatrist and need help with OCD.

There arent enough providers

Doctors who move beyond the unique form of the stigma I described and seek counseling will find it difficult to access care. Even large health systems struggle to recruit and retain enough psychiatrists. The pool is even smaller when you search for providers to treat professionals with the trauma-informed care and confidentiality they have earned.

The system discourages help-seeking behavior

The lucky doctors who find mental health care will live with a new fearthat their treatment will interfere with their ability to practice. Credentialing applications, state medical boards, and malpractice carriers often ask antiquated and illegal questions.

Have you ever seen a psychiatrist? has nothing to do with current functioning or ability to care for patients. Listing a simple antidepressant medication on a pre-employment physical shouldnt trigger a cascade of paperwork to prove you are not a danger to patient care. These questions do not encourage help-seeking behavior or make patients safer.

So as a psychiatrist cocooning in Central Pennsylvania, what can I do to help? I know right now its my job to stay healthy for what is coming and be emotionally available for those who seek my advice. It was still difficult to get to back to my practice after watching the news, so I opted for some retail therapy. I went online and bought a pair of scrubs, a uniform I havent worn for twenty years, just in case.

Candace Good is a psychiatrist who blogs at How to Shrink a Shrink.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Amid spurt in COVID-19



cases, the Odisha government has procured a substantial number of test kits and other materials as part of its measures to ensure speedy detection of coronavirus infections in the state, official sources said on Friday.

Kits for conducting at least 4,000 tests, reagents and virus transportation mediums (VTMs) were airlifted from Mumbai on Thursday as the government stepped up its drive to enhance COVID-19 testing facilities in the state, an official said.

The kits will give a considerable boost to the states preparedness to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak, he said.

"#COVID 19 test kits for 4,000 tests, reagents & VTMs were airlifted from Mumbai through special air cargo. It will strengthen #Odisha Governments efforts to ramp up the #coronavirus testing facilities in the state, the health department tweeted.

The arrival of the kits was significant as Odisha is now all set to start coronavirus testing at three more locations in addition to the four existing test facilities in the state, he said.

The aim is to put in place adequate capacities soon to conduct at least 1,000 tests for COVID-19 daily, the senior official said.

The state government has also decided to start tests for COVID-19 at MKCG Medical College Hospital in Berhampur from April 12, at VIMSAR in Burla from April 15 and at IGH in Rourkela from April 17.

The tests are now being conducted in RMRC, AIIMS and Institute of Life Sciences (ILC) in Bhubaneswar and SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, the official said.

The three new testing facilities will ensure speedy detection in western and southern parts of the state, he said.

The fresh kits were received barely two days after 3,500 kg of medical equipment from ICMR was airlifted by an Indian Air Force aircraft from Tambaram for the establishment of medical labs and other facilities in the state.

Besides, the state government is all set to purchase ICMR recognised COVID-19 rapid testing kits.

One lakh rapid testing kits will be purchased soon so that more COVID-19 tests can be conducted, the official said.

The Odisha government, which has extended the lockdown till April 30 to curb the spread of COVID-19, also aims at setting up around 34 dedicated hospitals exclusively for COVID-19 patients with over 6,000 beds, he said.

So far several COVID-19 hospitals with a capacity of around 1,600 beds have been made operational in the state. The focus at present is on ensuring adequate stock of masks, particularly special N-95 masks, personnel protection equipment (PPE) and testing kits, he said, adding that the state has sufficient stock to meet the requirements.

To meet the manpower requirements, the state government has trained 1,500 persons, including MBBS students, postgraduate students, serving doctors and master trainers, for district hospitals for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, the official said.

It has also been decided to engage 1,620 AYUSH personnel, including doctors, postgraduates and undergraduate students, for combating COVID-19 and its management in the state, he said.

Similarly, 360 districts and 2,264 block-level master trainers have been trained to handle COVID-19 patients.

To meet the expenses required for preventive measures against COVID-19 and treatment of patients, the Odisha government on Thursday increased the corpus of its contingency fund five times from Rs 400 crore to Rs 2,000 crore.

Odisha has so far reported 48 COVID-19 cases.

The disease has claimed one life so far, while two others have been cured and discharged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After the release of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, Saif Ali Khan had received flak for his statement on the film's script when he said, "I don't think this is history. I don't think there was a concept of India till the British gave it one."

In the same interview, Saif had also hinted that he wasn't completely convinced with the script. When asked why he signed the film if he was not convinced, the actor said, "For some reason I didn't take a stand. Maybe next time I would. I was very excited to play the role because it's a delicious role. But when people say this is history, I don't think this is history. I am quite aware of what the history was. I don't think there was a concept of India till perhaps the British gave it one. I don't think there is really any constructive point in arguing about loudly, provided you yourself know why you're doing it."

Saif Ali Khan Reacts To Sara Ali Khan's Love Aaj Kal's Failure!

Saif was slammed brutally by the netizens for the above statements. However, both Ajay Devgn and Kajol, who also starred in Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, had defended their co-star and said that they are not offended with Saif's statement.

Now, Sharad Kelkar, who was also a part of the film, reacted to the entire controversy and told a leading daily, "I think Saif didn't mean it otherwise. The comment was blown out of proportion. A journalist had questioned me the same and I told her that you called Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as Shivaji, but others might not like it because a certain designation is given to him, similarly if Saif said something casually, it has been taken out of context."

Sharad also praised Saif and said that he had interacted with Saif and he found him very cool. "Maybe people shouldn't blow out things as it affects the star majorly when they get trolled on social media," stated Kelkar.
Chandigarh, April 10 : Punjab Police on Friday booked Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and his banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) for seditious automated calls aimed at instigating the people, particularly the youth, against the state government during the COVID-19 curfew.

Cases have been registered against Pannun and US-based SFJ under Section 124 A of IPC, and Sections 10 (A) and 13 (1) of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, at the State Special Operations Cell inMohali, said Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta.

According to Varinder Pal Singh, AIG State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Mohali, preliminary enquiries have revealed that Pannun was involved in the commission of seditious acts of advocating secession of Punjab through automated calls as well as pre-recorded audio messages to various residents and nearby areas in March and April 2020, with the intention to foment trouble.

Since the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, Pannun, his associates and his organization were found incessantly disseminating seditious contents on social media to further frustrate and instigate the already anguished and distressed masses of Punjab.

Disclosing the modus operandi, the AIG said that in one such recorded audio message, sent from an international number of North America region, Pannun instigated the listeners by alleging that the Central government and the Punjab government were torturing the youth in the name of enforcing the ongoing curfew-lockdown in the state due to the pandemic.

The pre-recorded interactive voice response messages through telephone calls as well as audio messages to the people of Punjab belonging to various walks of life from New York are being made for pushing the secessionist agenda of his self-styled organization Sikhs for Justice, said the AIG.
Popular event is held at 'Downton Abbey'

THE 20th annual Highclere Castle Battle Proms, scheduled for July 31 2020, have been postponed until next year.

The event, which is the longest running picnic proms series in the UK, will instead take place on July 31, 2021.

Ticket holders for this years proms will be contacted by the organisers via email.

Tickets will automatically be carried over to next years concert, however full refunds are available to those who would rather cancel their booking.

Alternatively, ticket holders can swap to a different Battle Proms concert venue free of charge, such as Blenheim Palace, Burghley House, Hatfield House and Ragley Hall.

Battle Proms event director Adam Slough said: It is with much sadness that we must announce that the 20th Annual Highclere Castle Battle Proms will be postponed until Saturday, July 21, 2021.

We have a loyal and dedicated audience, many of whom attend our concert annually, and know that this will be as much a disappointment to them as it is to us.

However, the health and well-being of our audience, volunteers, performers and staff are our top priority so we have taken the decision to postpone our Highclere Castle concert until summer 2021.

Ticket holders who roll their booking over will be included in a draw to win a Money-Cant-Buy experience for their party.

The winners will enjoy next years Battle Proms in style from their own private marquee, with delicious fresh picnics with wine, free programmes and flags and a VIP backstage tour with Battle Proms conductor Douglas Coombes MBE.

There will also be 10 runner-up prizes of a free pair of tickets.

Mr Slough said: By carrying their tickets over, our audience will be helping to ensure that the Battle Proms will be here for many more years to come.

As a thank you, we will enter everyone who does so into an exclusive prize draw to win a VIP Battle Proms experience.

Full details of all ticket options can be found at https://www.battleproms.com/postponement-faqs/
Platforms help sell Hubei foodstuffs

From:ChinaDaily | 2020-04-10 10:40

Zhu Guangquan, 41, slumped into his chair after speaking before the camera for about two hours promoting Hubei province's agricultural products through livestreaming. He is better known as an anchor for China Central Television's news shows.

The nonprofit event, co-hosted by top-tier livestreaming e-commerce influencer Li Jiaqi on Taobao Live and a CCTV app on Monday, received more than 127 million views and sold Hubei products valued over 40 million yuan ($5.67 million). The topic garnered about 700 million views on Sina Weibo.

Mushrooms, lotus root, tea, duck necks and rice wine are just a sampling of the 16 products that were nearly sold out within seconds after being introduced by the two hosts.

Since late March, multiple e-commerce and media platforms have launched a nationwide campaign to sell overstocked agricultural and aquacultural products from Hubei caused by the over two-month shutdown of transportation in the region and the suspension of business activity. The goal is to increase farmers' incomes and lift the regional economy.

Phrases began to trend online such as "Though I didn't risk my life to help Hubei, at least I can share the bill for it" and "I'd like to gain another 1.5-kilograms for Hubei." By March 25, 500,000 metric tons of overstocked vegetables in Hubei were sold. The inventory of eggs and fish were decreased from 90,000 to 8,700 tons and from 860,000 to 210,000 tons, respectively, thanks to the promotional campaign, according to the local government.

It showed a desire to help people in need and get through difficult times together, as well as a willingness to engage in consumption for good reasons, experts said.

Zhang Qingqing, 37, a media employee in Beijing, bought lotus roots via online group discounter Pinduoduo recently after being inspired by media posters.

"I want to contribute (in these difficult times). Besides, it's cheap15 yuan for 2 kg, postage free," Zhang said, adding that she saw many platforms selling Hubei products, which, she thinks, adds a human-interest element to business.

Hubei is a major producer of agricultural products. However, the impact of COVID-19 on agriculture has caused a decrease in income for locals and an increase in unemployment, said Xu Qiang, director of the Hubei Province Network Association.

"For example, the breeding period for juvenile lobsters is February when most of farmers could not go out and take care of them this year, so we have reduced production," he said."Half of the picking period for navel oranges was affected, some fruit is still hanging from trees."

Due to reduced consumption, many pigs, chickens, fish and other produce in Hubei remained unsold. By April 2, 5,200 tons of dried tea, 113,500 tons of lobster and 42,000 tons of dried mushrooms were in stock, said Zhang Guihua, an official from the province's agriculture and rural affairs department, at a news conference on April 3.

Chen Haijun, chairman of Tea from Dabie, a major tea brand in Yingshan county, Hubei, said its supplies and sales channels were both affected due to the contagion. Its offline stores in Hubei reopened at the end of March with little passenger flow out of fear of infection. "Tea merchants are afraid to visit. Tea lovers dare not drink," Chen said, adding sales dropped dramatically. Now it has a 40-ton stockpile of unsold tea.

To tackle the challenge, the company cooperated with e-commerce platforms and staged livestreaming events to boost online sales. During a 30-minute livestreaming event on March 30, it sold 500 kg of tea, he said.

Taobao announced it would help sell 1.2 million tons of Hubei agricultural products in 2020. Fifty county or city heads will hold livestreaming events on Taobao Live. E-commerce websites JD, Pinduoduo, Suning.com and livestreaming platforms Douyu and Douyin all joined in the campaign.

George Ren, senior partner and vice-president of consultancy Roland Berger China, said the agricultural products sector was more affected by logistics issues, which will be eased with the resumption of transportation.
Mumbai, April 10 : Budding actor Azhar Khan, who plays Celina Jaitley's boyfriend in the upcoming film "Seasons Greetings", informs that the film deals with a mother-daughter relationship and a transgender character in a sensitive way.

Shree Ghatak plays the transgender in the film. Asked if he has ever closely interacted with people from the LGBTQ+ community, Azhar said: "I had gay friends in school and college but I never had an opportunity to interact with transgenders in my life." "This film is all about hope and happiness. When you see the film, you will realise that every character, in its own way, is trying to bring in certain changes in society. Maybe it's not underlined like a regular commercial film, but the nuances are there. I am sure people like Usmaan and Romita (characters in the film) exists in our society. It's so relatable that you will feel emotionally connected with all of them," he said.

The film is directed by Ram Kamal Mukherjee and it has travelled to several films festival including Cardiff International Film Festival and Rajasthan International Film Festival..

The film is a tribute to the late filmmaker Rituporno Ghosh.

"Season's Greetings" releases on April 15 on the OTT platform ZEE5.
On Thursday, a historic amount of people showed up to the San Antonio Food Bank's distribution of supplies amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The overwhelming moment was captured by San Antonio Express-News photographers in a series of photos that captivated many, including the attention of actor Ryan Reynolds.

The "Deadpool" star shared two Express-News photos, which shows a parking lot full of vehicles, on his official Instagram account Friday afternoon.

READ MORE: Coronavirus live updates: A timeline of COVID-19 in San Antonio

"The way people are stepping up matters," he captioned his post on the platform's story feature. "This is San Antonio Food Bank serving 10,000 households yesterday alone."

The pop-up distribution site at Trader's Village, a flea market on the South Side, allowed the food bank to fill homes of about 10,000 families with food, setting a record for the organization's 40-year history. The day started with 1 million pounds of food on site, but even that wasn't enough to feed the thousands of cars that poured in. The food bank eventually made a call to the warehouse to bring more food to the distribution site by truck. The event lasted from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with staff and volunteers handing out food past the original cut-off time in 90-degree temperatures, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

With grocery stores and restaurants feeling a strain, the food bank's usual donation sources are hurting and officials are expecting the warehouse to be empty in three weeks. The food bank is now having to buy food to give and is seeking $12 million worth of help from the state, filing a State of Texas Assistance Request with the Department of Emergency Management last week, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

The public can also donate funds directly to the food bank here.

The star-studded praise comes on the heels of some from Mark Wahlberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who have both shared applause for San Antonio-based H-E-B recently for the company's response to the pandemic.

Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye
NUTLEY, N.J., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers and clinical experts at Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey's largest and most comprehensive health network, are looking into the blood of COVID-19 survivors, as a potential treatment for current COVID-19 patients.

The work will scrutinize the antibodies within the serum of the surviving patients, in an attempt to discover more about the disease, and perhaps develop new ways to fight it.

"I'm so proud of our robust and innovative response to this unprecedented global challenge, from our front-line care teams to our support staff, and our exceptional researchers," said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. "Our scientists have been at the forefront of the latest innovations, including developing our own test and taking part in clinical trials of antiviral drugs. Now they're taking a leadership role in this advanced antibody work, which could prove to be a breakthrough."

"It really is a race against time," said Michele Donato, M.D., FACP, CPE, chief of stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy at John Theurer Cancer Center, part of Hackensack University Medical Center, and who is leading the potential treatment part of the work. "People are getting sick right now, and we are working night and day to save as many lives as possible."

Convalescent plasma treatments have previously been used to fight other viral outbreaks, including those of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), caused by a virus that's a cousin to the one responsible for COVID-19, and which sickened thousands in 2002-2003.

At Hackensack Meridian Health, the researchers will first seek a small blood sample from those recovered or recovering patients who volunteer for the study, with the goal of finding those who developed the highest levels of targeted antibodies in response to the virus.

Those patients with the highest level of antibodies will be asked to return to provide a larger plasma donation, which may be utilized to infuse into very sick COVID-19 patients.

Taking part in this work will be experts from Hackensack Meridian John Theurer Cancer Center including Donato, who are experts in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy, as well as scientists from Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI), who have developed a high-titer test to assess the presence and levels of the antibodies. The CDI also previously developed a diagnostic test for detecting the virus which has been used to diagnose more than a thousand patients so far in the Hackensack Meridian Heath network.

"This is applied science in 'real-time,' as this pandemic continues to spread," said David S. Perlin, Ph.D., the chief scientific officer and senior vice president of the CDI. "Our scientists at the CDI are responding to needs, and we're hoping to save lives."

"Research at Hackensack Meridian Health is more important than ever, and we are hopeful it will give us the edge against this pandemic," said Ihor Sawczuk, M.D., FACS, president of Hackensack Meridian Health's Northern Market, and the chief research officer of the network.

The patients sought for the studies will be between the ages of 18 and 60, and have a prior laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19. They must also be at least 14 days without symptoms, according to the guidelines.

Potential donors can fill out an online form available here for the initial screening.

ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH

Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care.

Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers  Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals  Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital  Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals - JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.

Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 34,100 team members, and 6,500 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.

The network's notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top 10 in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker's Healthcare's "150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019" list.

The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it.

Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.

For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.

About the Center for Discovery and Innovation

The Center for Discovery and Innovation, a newly established member of Hackensack Meridian Health, seeks to translate current innovations in science to improve clinical outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases and other life-threatening and disabling conditions. The CDI, housed in a fully renovated state-of-the-art facility, offers world-class researchers a support infrastructure and culture of discovery that promotes science innovation and rapid translation to the clinic.

About John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center

John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center is New Jersey's largest and most comprehensive center dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment, management, research, screenings, and preventive care as well as survivorship of patients with all types of cancers. The 14 specialized divisions covering the complete spectrum of cancer care have developed a close-knit team of medical, research, nursing, and support staff with specialized expertise that translates into more advanced, focused care for all patients. Each year, more people in the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area turn to John Theurer Cancer Center for cancer care than to any other facility in New Jersey. John Theurer Cancer Center is a member of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center Consortium, one of just 16 NCI-approved cancer research consortia based at the nation's most prestigious institutions. Housed within a 775-bed not-for-profit teaching, tertiary care, and research hospital, John Theurer Cancer Center provides state-of-the-art technological advances, compassionate care, research innovations, medical expertise, and a full range of aftercare services that distinguish John Theurer Cancer Center from other facilities. For additional information, please visit www.jtcancercenter.org.

SOURCE Hackensack Meridian Health
TORONTO, April 9, 2020 /CNW/ - Unifor, working with a coalition of Ontario health care unions has succeeded in forcing the Ontario government to ensure health care workers within two meters of a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient will have access to the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

"We are only going to flatten the curve and beat the COVID-19 pandemic if health care workers are provided adequate safety tools needed to safely do their jobs," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. "We are relieved the Ford government listened to health care workers but this type of injustice should have never occurred in the first place. I am urging Premiers across the country to immediately implement similar measures."

Today, the Ontario government revised "Directive #5 for Hospitals within the meaning of the Public Hospitals Act" to include all health care workers working at a hospital or long-term care facility to be able to perform a point of care assessment and, where there is a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, determine the appropriate PPE to utilize.

"Today's victory brings a huge sigh of relief to health care workers in Ontario," said Katha Fortier, Assistant to the National President responsible for health care. "Knowing they will be provided appropriate health and safety control measures such as N95 respirators and appropriate isolation gowns means health care workers can focus on providing the best quality of care to Ontarians."

The revised directive will require hospitals and long-term care homes to continually asses their PPE inventory, provide training on correct usage and develop contingency plans in consultation with unions to ensure the safety of health care workers.

The revised directive also stipulates that retirement homes must take all reasonable steps to follow the required precautions outlined in the order.

"We will be closely monitoring retirement home employers to ensure similar protocols are taken to ensure the safety of workers and their elderly residents," said Dias.

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector and represents 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

Information about the union's response to the pandemic, as well as resources for members can be found at unifor.org/COVID19.

SOURCE Unifor

For further information: For media inquiries or to arrange an interview with Jerry Dias via Skype or FaceTime, please contact Hamid Osman, Unifor National Communications Representative at 647-448-2823 (cell) or [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.unifor.org


In pics: PM Modi to inaugurate new campus of Classical Tamil institute in Chennai tomorrow

PM likely to address nation on lockdown extension after meeting with CMs

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Apr 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the nation again to announce his decision on the coronavirus lockdown after his virtual meeting with chief ministers of all states on Saturday.

As the number of COVID-19 cases continued to soar, most states have favoured extension of the lockdown.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

Addressing floor leaders of various parties who have representation in Parliament, on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi had made it clear that the lockdown cannot be lifted in one go on April 14, asserting that the priority of his government is to "save each and every life".

"Prime Minister Modi made it clear that lockdown is not being lifted and also that the life pre-corona and post-corona will not be same," Biju Janata Dal leader Pinaki Misra had told PTI after Wednesday's interaction.

This is for the second time the prime minister will interact with the chief ministers via video link after the lockdown was imposed.

During his April 2 interaction with chief ministers, Modi had pitched for a "staggered" exit from the ongoing lockdown.

Fake News Buster

On Thursday, Odisha became the first state to extend the lockdown till April 30 as pre-emptive measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Thursday was India's worst day of fighting the Covid-19 battle with 809 new cases and 46 deaths being reported across the country. The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in India now stands at 199 and the number of cases has risen to 6,412, according to the Union Health Ministry.
On the midnight of March 24, the Union government invoked the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA) to impose a nationwide lockdown in the struggle against the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown entailed the closure of establishments (apart from those providing essential supplies) and recommendations on social distancing. At this point, a number of state governments had already invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, to impose strict restrictions on the movement of people. A combination of these measures  taken by both the central and the state governments  amounts to what Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech, a nationwide curfew, lasting 21 days. The lockdown may get extended.

The imposition of a nationwide curfew raises a set of crucial questions, involving the fundamental rights of the people. The first important point is that although the regulations are neutrally worded  that is, they apply to all individuals, without discrimination  in effect, their impact on the ground is differential. For the section of the population that is willing and able to work from home (WFH), the curfew may not be too disruptive in terms of employment and livelihood. However, a large part of the country is not in a position to work remotely. Indeed, as a recent study showed, the ability to WFH is directly linked to a persons socio-economic class.

A nationwide curfew, therefore, disproportionately affects the most vulnerable segment of society, witnessed during the exodus of migrants from the cities. According to the equality clauses of the Constitution, placing a disproportionate burden upon one set of people creates a constitutional problem that the State must address. In addition, as the Supreme Court (SC) has noted on multiple occasions, the right to life under the Constitution is not limited to a bare animal existence, but also includes the right to a dignified livelihood. There can be little doubt that an imposed curfew adversely affects the livelihoods of vast numbers of people, especially daily-wage workers. Indeed, the distress suffered by this class has already been visible in reports from across the country. Consequently, it is the obligation of the State authorities to mitigate the effects of the lockdown.

As I have argued above, this is not a question of policy, which the State may frame at its discretion, but a question of the enforceable rights of the people, which the State must respect.

What might such measures look like? There have been a number of suggestions, and indeed, measures have been put in place in other countries. For example, in Britain, the government has guaranteed that all employees will be paid 80% of their regular wages for the period that they are off work due to the coronavirus. This is an important start, but it is also crucial to note that this policy has been strongly criticised for leaving out the self-employed, and the precariously positioned workers in the gig economy. The fears of this class of workers are very real: For example, the ban on transport has resulted in Uber suspending its services, putting drivers (many of whom owe regular EMI payments for their vehicles) out of work. What is, therefore, required is a comprehensive relief package that compensates for the loss of livelihood during this time. In the interests of leaving no person behind, it may even be necessary to universalise this  in the form of a universal basic income  that reaches every individual (the cost of which can be recouped through a progressive taxation system). To be sure, India has introduced a set of relief measures, but it will need to do a lot more.

The loss of livelihood and income also directly impacts the ability to pay rent, and to secure accommodation. Consequently, a temporary freeze on evictions and demolitions has been mooted in several countries, and implemented in some. In India, the high courts of Kerala and Allahabad recently passed orders to this effect; these orders were, however, stayed by the SC, on the central governments assurance that it was working on a comprehensive relief package. When it is ready, it is to be hoped that these issues will be addressed.

There is one, final point to be considered. As many people have noted, a lockdown forces people to remain within their homes. This directly impacts individuals  and, specifically women  who are in abusive relationships, or subject to domestic violence. It has a detrimental impact upon these peoples right to physical safety and security; consequently, the State is obligated to put into place immediate institutional mechanisms to respond swiftly and directly to cases of domestic violence. The measures taken by the central and the state governments will, it is hoped, check and contain the spread of the pandemic. In doing so, however, vital fundamental rights should not be sacrificed, and it should not be the case that the cure becomes worse than the disease.

Gautam Bhatia is a Delhi-based advocate

The views expressed are personal
Russian Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant (NCCP), an enterprise of ROSATOMs TVEL Fuel Company, and the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority have signed a 10-year contract for supply of low-enriched nuclear fuel components, such as uranium and aluminum items, for ETRR-2 research reactor.

ETRR-2, a research reactor of Argentinian design, is based at the Nuclear Research Center in Inshas, Egypt. It is used for research in particle physics and material studies, as well as for production of radioisotopes.

The long-term contract is a logical follow-up to a number of several contractual documents for shipments of fuel components to Egypt, successfully fulfilled by NCCP in the past three years, Oleg Grigoriyev, Senior Vice President for Commerce and International Business at TVEL, commented.

This is an evidence of high level of trust in relations between TVEL Fuel Company and our Egyptian partners. Our facilities have more than 40 years of expertise in batch production of nuclear fuel for research reactors, we are capable of fuel components fabrication for all major types of existing nuclear reactors, Oleg Grigoriyev said.

The prospects of TVELs business development in Egypt also embrace supply of nuclear fuel to all four power units of the 4800 MWe El Dabaa NPP for the entire operation period, the fuel contract came into force in 2017. Furthermore, the Central Design and Technological Institute, another TVELs subsidiary, is involved in the project of construction of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel from El Dabaa NPP as a design subcontractor.

NCCP is the Russian manufacturer of lithium metal and lithium salts.
Africa is set to witness one of the hottest battles in the last 20 years in the form of a contest between Ghana and Nigeria.

The moment is here as Ghana's Highest rapper Sarkodie will be going head to head with Nigeria's best, M.I Abaga.

Sarkodie and M.I Abaga have made their intentions clear and they will be defending their pride when they meet.

Sarkodie set to clash with M.I Abaga in rap battle for $200,000

Source: Original

READ ALSO: Tracy Sarkcess: Sarkodie's wife drops new photo after childbirth rumours

In an Instagram live video seen by YEN.com.gh, Sarkodie and Ubi Franklin, a Nigerian artist manager and founder of Made Men Music group, discussed matters concerning their glowing careers.

In the course of the discussion, Ubi then asked Sarkodie if he would be interested in engaging in a $200,000 prize rap battle with Nigerias M.I Abaga.

In response, Sarkodie gleefully accepted the challenge without hesitation.

READ ALSO: Daddy Im with you - Titi tells Sarkodie while on video call with friend (Video)

Upon hearing this, M.I couldnt resist as he zoomed into the conversation and embraced the challenge.

However, a date is yet to be fixed for the much-anticipated battle.

Meanwhile, Sarkodie has shot up in numbers on social media platform Twitter, becoming the second African rapper behind South African rapper AKA.

READ ALSO: Sarkodie reacts to Shatta Wale's threat that he will beat him

The 'Saara' hitmaker has currently recorded 3 million followers with 1.8 million on Facebook and 3.2 million followers on Instagram.

Perhaps Sarkodie is taking his social media following serious and working hard to get his fan base strengthened.

New contactless washing tap invention to fight COVID-19 in Ghana | #Yencomgh

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

Source: YEN.com.gh
By Associated Press

MADRID: Christians around the world observed a Good Friday like no other, at home watching livestreams instead of at church, as pressure mounted on governments to restart some industries and fend off further economic devastation from the coronavirus.

Worldwide, the death toll closed in on 100,000, with the confirmed number of infected topping 1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. The true numbers are believed to be much higher because of limited testing, different rules for counting the dead and cover-ups by some governments.

In addition to the lives lost, the pandemic has slammed economies around the world. The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the global economy is headed for the worst recession since the Depression. The UN labor organization said 195 million full-time jobs could be lost in the second quarter alone.

In Europe, the 19 countries that use the euro currency overcame weeks of bitter divisions to agree on spending $550 billion to cushion the recession caused by the virus. Mario Centeno, who heads the eurozone finance ministers' group, called the package "totally unprecedented. ... Tonight Europe has shown it can deliver when the will is there."

As weeks of lockdowns were extended in nation after nation, governments were pressed to ease restrictions on key businesses and industries.

The Spanish government worked to establish a 20 billion-euro fund to help small businesses and the self-employed cope with the economic fallout. After a two-week freeze on all nonessential economic activity, factories and construction sites in Spain can resume work Monday, while schools, most shops and offices will remain closed.

Spanish authorities said they trust that plans to allow nonessential workers back into factories and construction sites won't cause a significant surge in infections.

"We wouldn't be adopting them otherwise," said Maria Jose Sierra of Spain's health emergency center.

Yet some experts warned that relaxing the two-week "hibernation" of economic activity comes too early.

In Italy, the industrial lobbies in regions representing 45% of the country's GDP urged the government to ease its lockdown on all nonessential manufacturing imposed two weeks ago.

The lobbies in Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Piedmont and Veneto regions said that if their industries don't relaunch soon, "the country risks definitively shutting down its own motor, and every day that passes the risk grows not to be able to restart it.''

Malaysia's prime minister announced a two-week extension to the country's lockdown until April 28 but said selected economic sectors can reopen in phases while following strict hygiene rules.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations endorsed several steps to fight the pandemic, including creating a COVID-19 response fund, sharing information and strategies to ease impact of the crisis that aid group Oxfam International estimates could push half a billion people worldwide into poverty.

In the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, people desperate for a planned food distribution stampeded, pushing through a gate at a district office in the Kibera slum. Police fired tear gas, injuring several people.

Travel restrictions in many African countries are creating widespread pain for low-income workers who often have little or no savings.

In a measure of just how fast the coronavirus is bringing world economies to their knees, a staggering 16.8 million Americans have lost their jobs in three weeks, with more expected to follow. The U.S. unemployment rate in April could hit 15%  a number not seen since the end of the Great Depression.

President Donald Trump brushed off fears the U.S. economy won't quickly rebound, saying he had a "strong feeling" that "the economy is going to do very well."

The US Federal Reserve announced it will provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans for households and businesses.

In Japan, the world's third-largest economy, many have criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for being too slow to action against the pandemic. In a rare rebuke, the Japanese prefecture of Aichi, home to the Toyota car company, declared its own state of emergency Friday, saying it cannot wait for the government.

"The situation is critical," said Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura. "We decided to do everything we can to protect Aichi residents' lives and health."

Japan has the world's oldest population and COVID-19 can be especially serious for the elderly.

Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda said he is worried the Japanese economy might be destroyed before the world can win the fight against the virus.

In some of the worst-hit countries, Italy and Spain, new infections, hospitalizations and deaths have been leveling off. But the daily tolls remain shocking.

The 605 new deaths announced Friday in Spain were the lowest increase since March 24. The coronavirus has claimed at least 15,843 lives there and has officially infected 152,446 people, although both the rate of contagion and mortality are dropping.

Another sign of hope appeared in locked-down Paris, where fire-scarred Notre Dame Cathedral came back to life briefly days before the first anniversary of the April 15 inferno that ravaged the church. Good Friday observances led by the French capital's archbishop were broadcast live.

Politicians and public health officials have warned against jeopardizing hard-won gains against the pandemic by relaxing social distancing over the Easter holiday weekend. Some churches held virtual services online, while others arranged prayers at drive-in theaters.

Britain on Thursday recorded 881 new deaths, for close to 8,000 in all.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care after spending three nights there being treated for the virus. The 55-year-old remained hospitalized in London. His father, Stanley Johnson, said the prime minister needed to "rest up" and was unlikely to be back at work imminently.

A spike in deaths in Britain and New York show the battle is far from over.

New York state reported a record-breaking number of dead for a third straight day Thursday, 799. More than 7,000 people have died there, accounting for almost half the U.S. death toll of more than 16,500.

"That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking, I don't even have the words for it," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.


Ukraine should raise this issue at the diplomatic level, one of the legislator suggests.

The Russian Federation is responsible for the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the occupied territories, while the invaders' inaction should become the subject of proceedings in international instances.

That's according to a number of deputies with the Servant of the People mono-majority faction in Ukraine's Parliament, who spoke with Guildhall.

MP Oleksandr Kachura, blaming Russia for the coronavirus spread in the occupied territories, considers it necessary to raise this issue at the diplomatic level.

"According to international law and decisions passed at international platforms, including the PACE, Russia is a party to the conflict and responsible for everything that is happening in the occupied territories, in particular for the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ukraine has to raise this issue at the diplomatic level and in the negotiation process. The consequences of the epidemic in the occupied territories and Russia's responsibility for them may become one of the grounds for bringing the aggressor to justice through international instances," said Kachura.

Leader of the Servant of the People faction David Arakhamia says he is not aware of the exact situation with COVID-19 in the occupied territories, while also blaming the Russian Federation for the ongoing processes.

Read alsoPutin has "no other choice but to withdraw from eastern Ukraine and Crimea"  Ukraine's foreign minister

"The Russian Federation is responsible for everything that's now happening in the occupied territories," said the head of the faction.

Another MP with the ruling party, Vasyl Mokan, believes that Ukraine's appeal to the international community to exert diplomatic pressure on Russia, taking into account Moscow's responsibility for the pandemic spread across the occupied territories, would fit into the general logic of national policy on de-occupation.

"According to the Geneva Convention, the occupying state is responsible for the occupied territories, and today, Russia is responsible for both social protection and people's health in these territories. For example, the coronavirus has gotten into the occupied territories of Donbas, and we know that there are issues there, both with tests and with medical support, while Russia, is not contributing in any way to improving the situation. In the future, Russia's irresponsibility and inaction will be the subject of consideration in international courts. The appeal on the part of Ukraine to international partners regarding Russia's responsibility for the spread of the pandemic in the occupied territories would fit into the general logic of our de-occupation policy," the MP says.

Another MP, Iryna Vereshchuk, said that the Russian Federation did not intend to help the inhabitants of occupied Donbas, including because of the latest developments with the spread of coronavirus within Russia itself and because of the difficult economic situation there.

Read alsoRussian COVID-19 numbers as dangerous propaganda  think tank

"Russia should be held responsible before both the international community and the population of certain areas of Donbas for the occupation and for what's happening there today. We see what the situation is like within the Russian Federation, their economic problems  the issue of any assistance to the occupied Donbas is off the table there. Ukraine, in turn, suspended crossing in and out of the territory it controls and, as much as it can, helps people receive pensions remotely," said Iryna Vereshchuk.
The Tripura government has invoked the Essential Services Management Act (ESMA) after a few nurses at a state-run hospital here complained about shortage of masks and other protective equipment in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Tripura is the second state after Madhya Pradesh to have enforced the Act of 1986, which gives the police the right to arrest without a warrant anybody violating the ESMA's provisions.

Under it, employees in a long list of "essential services" like post and telegraph, railway, airport and port operations are prohibited from going on strike.

The decision to invoke the Act came shortly after Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb warned that strict action would be taken against the nurses who complained to the media about a shortage of masks and other protective equipment at the state-run GB Pant Hospital here.

"In order to better manage the COVID-19 outbreak in the interest of citizens, from today the government has implemented the Essential Services Management Act with immediate effect in Tripura," Deb said late on Thursday night.

The Act mandates imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or fine which may extend to Rs 1,000, or with both, to any person who instigates a strike which is illegal under this Act.

Health Secretary Debashish Basu told reporters that show-cause notices were issued against the 18 nurses who levelled the allegations of shortage.

He said their attitude was condemnable during a tough times like this.

The chief minister said the state government has decided that officials of secretary level and above would only be allowed to interact with the media to check misinformation.

Deb said the states lone patient is recovering and he hoped she would recuperate soon.

According to official data, 985 persons are now in isolation in Tripura and of them, 829 are in home quarantine and 156 in state-run facilities. A total of 1,0467 persons were kept under surveillance since the outbreak.

Among them, 274 were tested for the disease and only one person's report came back as positive.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A notice at St. Pauls Cathedral in Melbourne, Australia, on Easter Friday informs patrons of a March 23, 2020, directive by the Australian Government that places of worship must remain closed over the Easter Holidays. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Australian Churches, PM Deliver Messages of Hope Amid CCP Virus Easter Disruptions

Despite the shackles of social distancing rules that are denying the community attendance to churches and places of worship this Easter, Australian Christian leaders and the countrys prime minister have delivered messages of hope and the resources to pray from home amid the CCP virus pandemic.

On April 9, Prime Minister Scott Morrison released an Easter message (pdf) in which he shared that Easter is a time of reflection and renewal. He also took the opportunity to remind the Christian community to stay home over the long-weekend holiday period.

Though we are separate from one another, faith teaches us we can be together in spirit, even if we are physically apart, he said.

Morrison called the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus pandemic, commonly known as the novel coronavirus pandemic, a once in one hundred year event.

At a time like this, when so much is being asked of us, the story of Christs sacrifice and resurrection serves as a source of strength and hope, he said.

Praying at Home

Signs on the main doors of the St Pauls Cathedral advising patrons that the Church is closed, on March 23, 2020. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

The Catholic church has used Facebook to distribute resources to the community (pdf) about how to pray at home across the Easter period and beyond. It encouraged parishioners to pray together, at the same time they would normally attend mass.

Australias free-to-air network Channel 7 said it will air a live broadcast of Easter masses on Good Friday at 3 p.m., and Easter Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation will broadcast coverage of the Popes Easter vigil.

In an April 7 newsletter, the Lutheran Church of Australia asked for the holy weekamid the infection, disease, social isolation, and its various impactsCan we take time to sit with the Bible texts a little longer than usual? Will we allow God to speak to us in these days?

Lutheran services in South Australia and Victoria will be broadcasting Easter Sunday services live on free-to-air television channels on April 12. They have also provided the community with downloadable daily devotions for the Holy season.

On April 9, the National Council of Churches in Australia released a music video with an Easter message.

Now is the time to be loved, and to give love  to all, Bishop Huggins said in a statement.

Easter consists of three days and is marked by services on Monday, Thursday, Good Friday, closing on Easter Sunday.

Easter recalls the passionthe final period of Jesus life which includes his crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection, as taught in the Bible.
Fearing that the Google-Apple team-up to develop an easy contact-tracing technology to curb coronavirus spread may impact citizens' various freedoms, US President Donald Trump on Friday said his administration will have to closely examine it.

That (Google and Apple partnership on COVID-19 contact-tracing) could lead to freedoms problems and a lot of other things. This is something we're going to look at. Certainly, and we know they've done that, Trump told reporters during his daily White House conference on the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

To help public health officials slow the spread of COVID19, Google and Apple are working on a contact-tracing approach designed with strong controls and protections for users' privacy, Google head Sundar Pichai said in a tweet.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, in another tweet, said the contact-tracing can help slow the spread of COVID-19 and can be done without compromising users' privacy.

We're working with Google to help health officials harness Bluetooth technology in a way that also respects transparency & consent, he said.

Responding to a question on this, Trump said it's "very new technology" but it may worry people.

It's very interesting but a lot of people worry about it in terms of a person's freedom. We're going to take a look at that, a very strong look at it. We'll let you know pretty soon, he said.

In a joint statement, Google and Apple said since COVID-19 can be transmitted through close proximity to affected individuals, public health organizations have identified contact-tracing as a valuable tool to help contain its spread.

A number of leading public health authorities, universities, and NGOs around the world have been doing important work to develop opt-in contact tracing technology, the two companies said.

To further this cause, Apple and Google will be launching a comprehensive solution that includes application programming interfaces (APIs) and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing, they added.

Given the urgent need, the plan is to implement this solution in two steps while maintaining strong protection around users' privacy, they said.

Firstly, in May, both companies will release APIs that enable inter-operability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities. These official apps will be available for users to download via their respective app stores.

Secondly, in coming months, Apple and Google will work to enable a broader Bluetooth-based contact-tracing platform by building this functionality into the underlying platforms.

This is a more robust solution than an API and would allow more individuals to participate, if they choose to opt in, as well as enable interaction with a broader ecosystem of apps and government health authorities, the joint statement said.

Privacy, transparency and consent are of utmost importance in this effort, and we look forward to building this functionality in consultation with interested stakeholders. We will openly publish information about our work for others to analyze, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 19:56:20|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A volunteer prepares packs containing food and detergents in Damascus, capital of Syria, on April 9, 2020. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)

DAMASCUS, April 10 (Xinhua) -- As Syria is observing a partial curfew and suspension of most daily jobs, a volunteer group started helping the day laborers with food parcels and detergents during the curfew time.

The team, called Ammerha, or Build It, opted to help the day laborers who have lost their jobs, during the curfew time and the shuttering of most daily jobs in the capital.

With the help of local communities and businessmen, the volunteer group distributes food parcels and detergents to the most affected families.

They get the names of the beneficiaries from old data they have collected and add new names to make sure that the help can go to the right people.

In a storehouse in Damascus, the volunteers, mostly university students, prepare the food parcels and detergents in bags and load them in cars to be distributed in several areas in the capital and its countryside.

Muhammad Jaddou, a supervisor, told Xinhua that the group has started with the goal of distributing 1,000 parcels, adding that they have exceeded with 1,500 so far and will continue their work until the end of the COVID-19 crisis.

He said that the group will continue to provide help during the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"Our goal is to continue to help until after Ramadan or the end of this crisis and then we go back to our main duties such as developmental projects and social awareness, but now, we are working on relief aid during this crisis," he said.

The volunteers all wear surgical masks, gloves, and medical suits to ensure safety during their work.

Marah al-Zain, a volunteer, told Xinhua that she loves her volunteering job as helping people without anything in return makes her happy.

"When I do my work here, all I think about is the happiness or the smile that those in need would feel and this is the thing that makes me happy," she said.

Al-Zain added that she thinks any person can be a volunteer and do something for his community without waiting for something in return.

She said that the volunteers are cautious during these days so that they can deliver clean baskets to the families in need.

"The difference now is that we should be extra cautious as we are trying our best to be clean so that we don't transmit any disease to other people," she stressed.

As of Thursday, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Syria has reached 19, of whom two have died and four others have recovered, said the Health Ministry.

The Syrian government has undertaken several measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country, including a partial curfew, suspending schools, and shutting marketplaces and inter-province travel.
A group named All Atiku Support Group (AASG) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of implementing some policies which Atiku Abubakar...





A group named All Atiku Support Group (AASG) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of implementing some policies which Atiku Abubakar proposed while contesting for president in 2019.





The group said the policies in question were contained in the campaign document of Abubakar, who challenged Buhari in the election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).





Oladimeji Fabiyi, AASG chairman, added via a statement on Thursday that while some of the plans have been adopted, the government has indicated interest to implement others.





Fabiyi said examples of such is the governments decision to devalue the Naira and privatise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.





It will be recalled that during the 2019 presidential campaign, one of the prime policy proposals by Atiku Abubakar was to reset the Naira in order to market the national currency to be more competitive and to create more traffic for direct foreign investments in Nigeria, he said.





The APC and supporters of President Buhari called Atiku all manner of names at that time. But today, they have stealthily embraced that same policy, although giving it a different nomenclature.





The group further said Abubakar, a former vice-president, had also proposed to privatise the NNPC and use the revenue generated from its sale to provide key infrastructure in the country.





When Atiku suggested that the federal government had no need to keep on holding exclusive equity stakes in the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC), he was derided for it, it added.





They did not bother to take time to ponder over the logic of that suggestion. They instantly threw away the baby with the bath water.





Today, after running the economy aground in five years, the harsh reality has dawned on them to uphold the truth they once made a mockery of.





It listed other measures proposed by Abubakar to include closure of Nigerias borders, provision of palliative to the poor and vulnerable, and reduction of the national budget.





We wish to appeal to the APC and the Buhari administration to take full advantage of the suggestions in the Atiku policy document which was not made public but submitted to the administration, it added.
New Delhi/IBNS: India once again slammed China's effort to raise the Jammu and Kashmir issue in the United Nations by calling any issue related to the disputed territory "internal".

India responded after the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN has recently said, "The Kashmir issue is a dispute left from history, and should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the Charter of the United Nations, Security Council Resolutions and bilateral agreements. China opposes any unilateral actions that complicate the situation."

In response, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "We reject the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in a statement made by the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations.

China is well aware of Indias consistent position on this issue. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India. Issues related to J&K are internal matter to India."

Urging China to stay away from issue, Srivastava said, "It is, therefore, our expectation that other countries, including China, would refrain from commenting on matters that are internal affairs of India and respect Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"We also expect China to recognise and condemn the scourge of cross-border terrorism that affect the lives of the people of India, including in J&K," the MEA spokesperson said slamming Pakistan's cross-border terrorism.

Jammu and Kashmir, the former Indian state which was turned into an union territory in August last year after the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, is a bone of contention between the two nuclear armed nations- India and Pakistan.

As Jammu and Kashmir was a princely state before India's Independence, the then Hindu ruler Maharaja Hari Singh opted to merge his state with India in October, 1947 signing the Instrument of Accession. Though he initially wanted to be independent, he decided to merge with India when the armed Pakistan tribesmen raided his territory and killed his soldiers and marched towards Srinagar.





India refers to the territories under Pakistan as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir or POK.

The bilateral relation between New Delhi and Islamabad remained on the boil over the terror attacks in Indian Kashmir with India making its stand clear that there cannot be any talks over Kashmir till Pakistan-sponsored terrorism ends.

Pakistan is going all out to raise the Kashmir issue internationally since India's abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A (special powers to former Jammu and Kashmir state), often seeking the help of its all-weather ally China.
Governor says worst is yet to come as state records more positive cases

Chetumal, Q.R.  Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquin warned that the most dangerous part of the epidemic is yet to come, urging the entire population to quarantine.

He says over the next few days, the hardest phase of the pandemic will come, which is serious, he said adding that people need to be quarantined. If there is any need to get out of the house, keep a healthy distance, wash your hands, do not touch your face, do not take the virus home, he said in a televised message.

I encourage everyone to take measures to protect the life, health and economy of our state, he stressed adding that as 6:00 p.m. April 9, the state of Quintana Roo has 159 positive cases of COVID-19 with 111 confirmed cases in Cancun and 32 in Solidaridad. Across the country, Mexico has more than 3,440 positive cases and 194 deaths.
County Louth Libraries have for many years been associated with more than books and newspapers.

The Library service is a much-expanded community resource providing access to the public to education spaces, alternative learning environments for children and is committed to serving the needs of the ever more digitally aware membership.

It was probably no surprise that the innovative and creative staff of Louth County Libraries were one of the first to step forward and offer the Library services 3D printer resources to the company Surfbox who have undertaken to use the printers to produce medical face mask components.

This is a non-profit venture aimed at supporting Irelands Call in a unique way and so provide the much-needed mask supplies to a number of service providers in the health sector.

Surfbox whose initiative would not have been realised without the support of the Library Services has already fulfilled its first request and are currently planning to assist a number of organisations including Nursing Homes, Pharmacies, GP Practices, a large Cleaning Company as well as Hospitals. They are also in discussion with the Irish Red Cross to supply their volunteers nationwide.

Co-operating with Engineers Ireland the project leaders are examining the potential to supply the HSE on a large scale. This would, of course, require significant up-scaling of the project  so if you have a 3D printer capacity contact Engineers Ireland to see how you can contribute to Irelands Call.
Amid the lockdown due to the deadly coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, several national carriers on Friday engaged in repartee on micro-blogging site Twitter as a diversion from the ongoing gloom. The aviation sector has taken a hit with airlines halting its operations and grounding aircrafts.

The humorous exchanges were initiated by Indigo and were soon joined by Vistara, GoAir, AirAsia, Spicejet and Delhi airport on Twitter. They shared a message of staying parked, staying safe'.

"Hey Air Vistara, not flying higher these days we heard?" asked Indigo. Pat came the response from Vistara, "No Relieved IndiGo, these days being on-ground is a wonderful thing. Flying would not be the smart choice, what say GoAir?"

To this GoAir joined in saying, "Totally, AirVistara! Staying home is the safe feeling! We can hardly wait till everyone takes to the skies, coz at the moment it's not like Now Everyone Can Fly right, Air Asia?"

"Absolutely GoAair, for now though, staying at home is the Red. Hot. Spicy thing to do! Isn't that right Spicejet?" said Air Asia continuing the chain of reactions. SpiceJet replied, "Good to know our thoughts match, like our colours! Been a while since this bird flew out of her cage. But were happy creating a safer tomorrow, today! Right Delhi Airport?"

No @IndiGo6E, these days being on-ground is a wonderful thing. Flying would not be the smart choice, what say @goairlinesindia? #StayingParkedStayingSafe  Vistara (@airvistara) April 10, 2020

"Agree with you IndiGo, Vistara, GoAir, AirAsia, Spicejet, the Indian skies will be coloured with you soon but for now thanks for giving us a reason to smile! Together in the skies, and together on ground too!" added Delhi Airport.

Totally, @airvistara! Staying home is the safe feeling! We can hardly wait till everyone takes to the skies, coz at the moment it's not like #NowEveryoneCanFly right, @AirAsiaIndian? #StayingParkedStayingSafe  GoAir (@goairlinesindia) April 10, 2020

Absolutely @goairlinesindia, for now though, staying at home is the Red. Hot. Spicy thing to do! Isn't that right @flyspicejet?! #StayingParkedStayingSafe  AirAsia India (@AirAsiaIndian) April 10, 2020

@AirAsiaIndian, good to know our thoughts match, like our colours! Been a while since this bird flew out of her cage. But were happy creating a safer tomorrow, today! Right @DelhiAirport?#StayingParkedStayingSafe  SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) April 10, 2020

Agree with you @IndiGo6E @airvistara @goairlinesindia @AirAsiaIndian @flyspicejet, the Indian skies will be coloured with you soon but for now thanks for giving us a reason to smile! Together in the skies, and together on ground too! #WorkFromHub #StayingParkedStayingSafe  Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) April 10, 2020

Later, Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru too joined saying, "True to your spirit, AirAsia, we are sure you will get everyone to fly again!" AirAsia replied, "Absolutely Bengaluru Airport! We are all In This Together and well be soaring above the clouds very soon!"

Commercial flights are suspended till April 14 amid the 21-day nationwide lockdown to curb spreading of coronavirus infections.
[April 10, 2020] Toronto Co-Founder Couple Helping Unite Canadian Influencers for Clout Jam #CloutForGood Charity Initiative

Clout Jam co-founders, Trevor Mengel and Samantha Cutler (aka @TheFitFatale), are using their recently launched creator management startup to help influencers around the world connect to charitable causes on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19. TORONTO, April 10, 2020 /CNW/ - CLOUT JAM announced the launch of #CloutForGood. Both influencers and tech companies are struggling to find ways to make a positive impact in their communities and take meaningful action during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Toronto-based couple and co-founders of Clout Jam, Trevor Mengel and Samantha Cutler (@TheFitFatale), are using their recently launched campaign management tool for creators to jumpstart the initiative, #CloutForGood. #CloutForGood connects influencers with pro-bono opportunities to help raise awareness of charitable organizations on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. "We started Clout Jam to help influencers grow and scale their social content businesses more effectively. It didn't take long for us to recognize that 'success' to the influencer community isn't just measured in revenue - it's about making an impact, sharing positivity, and empowering people," said Trevor Mengel, co-founder and CEO of Clout Jam. "The #CloutForGood initiative is about helping influencers discover and support the causes they are the most passionate about." So far, Clout Jam has partnered with a handful of non-profit organizations including Second Harvest, Food Banks Canada, and Food4Kids, with new causes joining daily. Recognizing the potential power of this movement, The Government of Canada has also partnered with influencers on Clout Jam to launch their #StayHome campaign during the COVID-19 crisis.



Within 1 week of launching, #CloutForGood, more than 150 professional influencers have committed to participating in over 200 pro-bono campaigns - collectively reaching over 1.5 million people in North America. Key influencers participating in #CloutForGood include:@drea_wheeler, @sashaexeter, @caleighfit, @carlingliski, @haylesbeth, @bylaurenp, @alessiasculpt and (of course) @thefitfatale In a blog post on the #CloutForGood initiative Clout Jam co-founder and professional influencer, Samantha Cutler (@TheFitFatale) issued a rallying call to influencers around the world: "This is an opportunity for influencers to unite with their community, rise up as leaders on social media through content and actions. This is the time where we can define who we choose to be as influencers in the next chapter."

Influencers and registered non-profit organizations can participate in #CloutForGood by signing up at cloutjam.com/cloutforgood About Clout Jam: Clout Jam is the first campaign management and productivity tool that helps influencers effortlessly track deal flow, manage client campaigns, and get paid so they can focus on what they love - making great content that uplifts and inspires their audiences. SOURCE Clout Jam

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
President Donald Trump has formed a task force to look at reopening parts of the American economy amid the coronavirus outbreak. But he also said this week that he will "rely very heavily" on medical experts, and he declined to publicly set a new target date, after his previous target of Easter didn't pan out. "I can't tell you in terms of the date," Trump said Wednesday.

That wasn't sufficient for a reporter from Newsmax, though, who pressed him just 10 minutes later on whether he might reopen the economy by April 30 or May 1.

Trump again demurred on setting a date, saying, "I don't want to do that. ... I was criticized for that, so I don't like giving dates."

Apparently, though, that's exactly what he's doing privately. And as the question from the conservative outlet showed, he's still getting plenty of pressure on this.

The Washington Post reported late Thursday that Trump has, in fact, set the end of the month as his target. As The Post's Matt Zapotosky, Josh Dawsey, Jose A. Del Real and William Wan report:

"Behind closed doors, President Trump - concerned with the sagging economy - has sought a strategy for resuming business activity by May 1, according to people familiar with the discussions.

"In phone calls with outside advisers, Trump has even floated trying to reopen much of the country before the end of this month, when the current federal recommendations to avoid social gatherings and work from home expire, the people said. Trump regularly looks at unemployment and stock market numbers, complaining that they are hurting his presidency and re-election prospects, the people said."

Some of the pressure is coming from Trump's conservative media allies, but as we're increasingly learning, it's also coming from within his administration. In the same story, The Post's team reported that Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff Marc Short is arguing that models oversell the number of potential coronavirus deaths and that the country has thus far overreacted.

Attorney General William Barr also indicated this week that he wanted to loosen the reins, saying we should be careful about taking such "draconian" measures.

"When this period of time, at the end of April, expires, I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have, and not just tell people to go home and hide under their bed, but allow them to use other ways - social distancing and other means - to protect themselves," Barr told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

Ingraham, too, has consistently played up the idea of reopening the economy even as Trump and the White House have publicly backed off and now again eased toward it.

"At some point, the president is going to have to look at Drs. Fauci and Birx and say, we're opening on May 1," Ingraham said Wednesday on Twitter.

The Washington Post reported recently that Trump had met April 3 with Ingraham and a couple of doctors who appear on her show who pushed the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus patients.

Fellow prime time Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who unlike many of his Fox colleagues took the virus seriously early on, has also leaned in on the idea of reopening, even urging Trump and other leaders not to listen to Anthony Fauci.

"For all his credentials, experience and apparent decency, Dr. Fauci doesn't seem to understand" the economic pain the country is facing, Carlson said this week. "We should never let someone like that run the country."

"Fox and Friends" morning show host Brian Kilmeade has also called the restrictions "a self-inflicted wound" and "a slow-motion car wreck that we brought on ourselves."

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., like Ingraham, was an at-times-lonely voice on this, writing a USA Today column on March 31, even as cases were spiking in New York, that argued, "Every premature death is a tragedy, but death is an unavoidable part of life."

Other members of Trump's inner circle are also floating dates that are sooner than health officials have urged, with chief White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow saying he hopes "in the next four to eight weeks, we will be able to open the economy." Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also agreed this week that some businesses could start reopening in May, saying when asked whether he thinks that's reasonable, "I do."

Offering an optimistic timeline, though, and pressuring Trump to actually take these steps are two different things. But what's clear is that there are plenty of people who have influence over Trump who are actually pushing him in this direction - either because they truly think it's the right thing to do or because Trump has made it obvious it's a message he wants to hear and see broadcast.

The problem with setting such target dates, though, as we've already seen with Trump's Easter goal, is that they may wind up being wholly impractical. And health officials both around Trump and elsewhere are still casting doubt on these types of goals.

Trump has been bitten by this once already, and he seems to want to avoid a repeat. But nobody should take that as evidence that he has completely kicked the notion. At this point, this still appears headed for something of a clash between health officials and the people Trump listens to most.
Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov has described a search of the dwelling of Member of Parliament of the eighth convocation (2014-2019) Tetiana Chornovol by the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) on Friday morning and the suspicion notice served to her as abnormal and shameful. The minister said that First Deputy Head of the SBI Oleksandr Babikov should resign.

"Tania was on Maidan, just as thousands of Ukrainians, to participate in civil protests Mr. Babikov, I also was on Maidan on February 18, 2014  I am the same as Tania  come to my place, I'm waiting for you. Give it a try. Although you should better go to hell from public service, or come back to [ex-President of Ukraine Viktor] Yanukovych. Stop hindering the president from restoring the state. It's not that easy!" Avakov said on his Facebook page on Friday.

The minister also said that by initiating a case against Chornovol Babikov, who was Yanukovych's lawyer, violated the conflict of interests.

"You spit on the conflict of interests as a head of the SBI and inspired a case against Tetiana Chornovol, who is a personal enemy of Yanukovych. There is no case, there is only your will for revenge. This is unacceptable!" Avakov said.

He also described the situation with Chornovol as abnormal and shameful.

As reported, Babikov worked in the law firm Aver Lex, engaged in the defense of Yanukovych.

On April 10, the SBI searched Chornovol's dwelling, where she lives with two children. Later, the SBI reported that Chornovol was notified of suspicion of having been involved in setting the office of a political part on fire in February 2014, as a result of which a person was killed.

According to preliminary information, on February 18, 2014, the suspect led a group of people and was personally involved in setting the office on fire. As a result, an employee of the party office, born in 1948, was killed, the SBI said.

Chornovol, in turn, said that the suspicion against her was a political persecution of her as an activist of the Revolution of Dignity.

"Did I set the building on fire? Yes, I did I considered it a tactical step At that moment we received information about murdered Maidan activists in the Mariyinsky Park I thought that we should distract the death squads I think this [the arson] saved many lives. Was I involved in a murder? No, my hands are not covered in blood," she said.
More people visited parks last weekend compared with two weeks ago, new data from Google shows.

While the country has largely abided by lockdown  with visits to places such as shops and transport hubs falling  last weekend saw a rise in the number of people heading out to the park.

Google is sharing location data gathered from people's phones in an attempt to understand how people respond to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting lockdown. It has committed to make the data public as well as giving it to authorities, in the interest of transparency.

In its second report for the UK, covering the period between February 23 and April 5, the data shows that trips to the park dropped 29% in comparison with the period before the lockdown was introduced.

Google's first report, which looked at activity between February 16 and March 29, found park usage was down 52%.

Latest figures suggest that, in Greater London, park visits are down just 15%.

Police forces across the country have warned the public to stay at home over Easter, amid fears that a warm start to the weekend could see lockdown rules broken.

Google's second report also found that visits to grocery stores and pharmacies across the UK were down 41%, while trips to public transport hubs, like bus and railway stations, fell 75%.

The tech giant said it is using aggregated, anonymised data from products such as Google Maps for the analysis.

The scheme protects people's privacy and will not include any personally identifiable information at any point, Google said.

The data is traditionally used by Google for apps such as Maps to reveal when specific places of interest are busiest, as well as to revise driving routes when being used for navigation.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

It comes from Google users who have Location History turned on in their Google account settings.

The setting is off by default but can also be turned off at any time from within the Location History setting, and data can also be directly deleted from a user's Google Maps timeline.

Additional reporting by agencies
LONDON - He's 55, a little plump and likes cheese. He used to jog but had to give it up. The knees. The prime minister was never super fit, but he was vigorous - and he's now the best-known coronavirus patient in the world.

Just weeks ago, an exuberant, healthy Boris Johnson was rocking his world. Now he's at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, out of the intensive care unit Thursday but still on oxygen support. The suddenness of it, the indiscriminate way he was felled, has stunned Britons.

Unseen in his hospital bed, Johnson dominates the news. He's the absent leader at Britain's darkest hour. He is the master orator, silenced.

And yet at this moment, the prime minister is somehow at his most human. He's a middle-aged everyman bloke struggling to get out of the virus ward alive. And the people are pulling for him.

"How is Boris? For millions of people, that was our first thought upon waking yesterday. And our last thought before we fell asleep the night before. The prospect of losing our prime minister was profoundly shocking. 'He won't die, will he?' a friend texted at 11:18 p.m. 'My heart will break.' "

That was columnist Allison Pearson, writing this week in the Telegraph, the newspaper where Johnson once toiled as a hack, under the headline "We need you, Boris - your health is the health of the nation."

The prime minister's disappearance into the twilight of the ICU this week elicited sympathy even from among those who candidly say they can't stand his Tory politics.

"I hate him. But I would be devastated if that clown died," said Vicki Cullen, 40, who had stopped for a takeout coffee at London's Exmouth Market. "I mean, two days ago, I found myself in tears talking to my family about it."

Like few other British politicians, Johnson is intimately known to the public, thanks to the serial scandals and comebacks that make up the tabloid dramedy of his life.

But this episode is the worst by far.

Johnson and his 32-year-old fiancee, Carrie Symonds, were beaming in photographs as recently as the end of February, when they announced their engagement days after his divorce was settled - while the virus was already spreading in Britain after running rampant in China and Italy.

The two broke all protocol, all norms, when they moved into 10 Downing Street as an unwed couple after Johnson's election.

Nobody complained. Rather, people applauded - or shrugged.

Two weeks ago, Symonds began to suffer from the same symptoms of the virus as her husband-to-be and hasn't seen Johnson in days, as the two self-isolated.

Rachel Johnson, Boris's sister, retweeted a picture of hospital staff wearing face masks and holding up letters that read: "Get Well Soon Boris."

Stanley Johnson, Boris's 79-year-old father, who is in self-isolation, told the Daily Mail, "I am not being told how Boris is getting on. But he is optimistic, determined and resilient."

Guto Harri, Johnson's communications director when he was mayor of London, said people feel as if they know Johnson personally. In addition to serving two terms as mayor, Johnson worked as a newspaper journalist, appeared on television shows and wrote books - including one about his hero Winston Churchill and a widely panned comic political novel titled "Seventy Two Virgins."

His fans like him, Harri said, because Johnson comes across as authentic. He's an Eton-educated politician who speaks fluent French, drops Latin into sentences and has had a colorful personal life (and been accused of groping journalists). But, Harri said, "ordinary people will relate to anyone as long as you're not pretending to be someone you're not."

He added: "He's flawed, he's had affairs, his wife kicked him out, took him back, then he's with a young woman who is pregnant. But there is very little resentment - for most human beings are flawed themselves. He's not trying to portray himself as someone who is better than you."

So when Johnson tested positive for coronavirus but posted videos that suggested he would soldier through, "he became a metaphor for how the country and economy will get through this, too," Harri said. "But when he got it bad, the country thought, damn, it will hit us harder than we thought."

Andrew Gimson, a political journalist who is a contemporary and biographer of Johnson's, said, "Some people are surprised by how concerned they feel about him."

He said, "It's just a natural human thing; people feel for his pregnant fiancee and children and his whole rather complicated and extensive family. Human sympathy takes over from partisan sniping."

Royal Post worker Tony Hudson said he has been tracking Johnson's plight via TV and radio reports. Johnson's old home is around the corner in Islington in north London, and Hudson said it felt as if a neighbor, as much as a leader, was in trouble.

"It shows you, it could affect anyone, couldn't it?" said Hudson, who was waiting in a line - each person six feet from the next - outside a pharmacy. Hudson, 52, noted that he is about the same age as the prime minister but that his life amid the pandemic is much different.

Every day Hudson has to work, with mail and packages, without protective gear. "I wouldn't say we are scared. But of course, we are worried," he said. And a prime minister in the ICU, he said, "has made everyone think."

Johnson's early handling of the coronavirus crisis has been criticized. Britain was slower than most European nations to roll out strict stay-at-home measures. But few have questioned his work ethic. If anything, perhaps the prime minister was working too hard. Aides complained it might have undercut his immune response.

As the epidemic grew more serious, Johnson appeared to adapt his tone. He was no longer goofing around in his usual way. Instead, he was flanked by senior medical and scientific advisers at the daily 10 Downing Street news conference, where he encouraged them to weigh in on questions.

For most of Johnson's political life, Gimson said, Johnson's critics have maintained that he's a "clown and not trustworthy, and they are very attached to that view." But now, he said, "most fair-minded people recognize he's not some mere buffoon but a person of considerable abilities, and everyone genuinely hopes he gets better."

Politicians across the political spectrum have declared their support. Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, who has clashed with Johnson over the issue of Scottish independence, said that many, including herself, felt "really shaken" at the news of his ICU admission.

"We are all willing you on, Boris. Get well soon," she said.

Johnson's critics have not turned into fans. Some people on social media responded to the calls to #ClapForBoris on his second night in the ICU by posting videos showing scenes of complete silence from their windowsills.

"He isn't the queen. He is still a politician," said Ben Page, chief executive of the polling group Ipsos Mori. But he noted that just before Johnson went into the hospital, his personal ratings were up 16 percentage points from where they were before Christmas. "People rally around their leader in a crisis."

That was also true of Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female leader, who was very unpopular in the early 1980s, when there were waves of strikes across the country. But she saw a huge uptick in support after the 1982 Falklands War. In 1983, she won a landslide victory in the general election.

Johnson's current approval rating is 52% - sky-high for Britain, where voters are known to elect and then immediately begin trashing their leaders.
Curious just how far your dollar goes in San Antonio?

We've rounded up the latest places for rent via rental sites Zumper and Apartment Guide to get a sense of what to expect when it comes to hunting down apartment rentals in San Antonio if you've got a budget of up to $1,300/month.

Take a look at the listings, below. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.)

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

7714 Louis Pasteur Drive

Listed at $1,201/month, this 725-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is located at 7714 Louis Pasteur Drive.

In the unit, you can anticipate a walk-in closet, a dishwasher and a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting. For those with furry friends in tow, this property is pet-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(Take a look at the complete listing here.)

Bulverde Road and Oaklyn Pass

Next, there's this two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment located at Bulverde Road and Oaklyn Pass. It's listed for $1,210/month.

The building has additional storage space. You can also expect hardwood flooring, a ceiling fan and a balcony in the unit. Pets are not welcome.

(See the complete listing here.)

5511 Pecan Springs Road

Here's a 1,049-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at 5511 Pecan Springs Road that's also going for $1,210/month.

Look for a dishwasher, hardwood flooring and a walk-in closet in the apartment. The building has a swimming pool. Pet owners, take heed: This property is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. There isn't a leasing fee associated with this rental.

(Take a look at the full listing here.)

2810 Babcock Road

Next, check out this 672-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment that's located at 2810 Babcock Road. It's listed for $1,211/month.

When it comes to building amenities, expect secured entry, garage parking and a swimming pool. In the unit, you can expect a dishwasher, a balcony and hardwood flooring. Neither cats nor dogs are allowed.

(Take a look at the complete listing here.)

5600 Babcook Road

Listed at $1,215/month, this 1,138-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment is located at 5600 Babcook Road.

When it comes to building amenities, anticipate a swimming pool. In the apartment, you can expect a dishwasher, central heating and a balcony. Pet owners, take heed: The property is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee.

(Take a look at the complete listing here.)

Working with a tight budget? Here are the cheapest rentals recently listed in San Antonio.

This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Additionally, if youre in the real estate business learn how to do local real estate advertising in your ZIP codes.

Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
What just happened? Covid-19 is disrupting daily life as we know it on Earth, but just above our home planet aboard the International Space Station, the show must go on. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and two Russian cosmonauts, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, docked on the space station on Thursday following a six-hour flight that originated from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

This launch was a bit different than previous efforts due to Covid-19. Travel restrictions prevented friends and family of the crew from being in attendance at the launch. A ban on media kept others at bay, resulting in a very quiet affair. An extended quarantine period was also enacted to help ensure that the Coronavirus and any other bugs stay out of the ISS.

For nearly 20 years, humans have continuously lived and worked aboard the International Space Station. The global effort has seen 239 people from 19 countries visit the ISS over the years, collectively conducting more than 2,800 research investigations courtesy of scientists from 108 countries.

The fresh crew members will be taking over for NASA flight engineers Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir and Expedition 62 Commander Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, all scheduled to return to Earth on April 17 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft.

Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner will remain on the space station for more than six months, conducting around 160 science investigations across fields like physical sciences, technology development, human research, biology and Earth science. The tentative plan is for them to return home in October.

Masthead credit: Dima Zel
NASA says it could send tiny rovers to the Moon one day in addition to its water ice-hunting VIPER robot thats scheduled for launch in 2022. Before the agency can do so, though, it has to develop tiny scientific payloads for its tiny rovers  and it needs your help to make that happen. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory has launched a crowdsourcing project on HeroX aptly entitled Honey, I Shrunk the NASA Payload. In particular, its seeking instrument designs that can provide support for sustained human presence on the Moon and can help us use the resources we find on it.

The instrument ideas must be similar in size to a bar of soap. They must weigh no more than 0.8 pounds and must have max dimensions of 3.9 inches by 3.9 inches by 1.9 inches. These smaller payloads wont just be more affordable than their bigger counterparts, theyll also require less energy. JPL technologist Sabah Bux explained:

Smaller payloads are game changing. They will allow us to develop technologies to do more prospecting and science on smaller, more mobile platforms.

NASA will give out $160,000 in prizes across several categories and will accept submissions until June 1st. After this competitions done, the agency expects to run new ones to prototype, test and finally deliver the tiny payloads. The hope is to develop a series of miniaturized instruments and sensors that can be used for lunar exploration in the near future.
Hyderabad, April 10 : A total of 168 US nationals stranded in Hyderabad were flown out to Mumbai on two special Air India flights from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here.

According to GMR-led Airport, an Airbus A 320 aircraft landed at 1.52 p.m. from Mumbai and departed with 70 US-bound passengers (69 adults and one infant) at 3.03 p.m. to Mumbai.

The second special flight, also an Airbus A 320 aircraft, landed at at 3.12 p.m. from Mumbai and departed with 98 US-bound passengers (96 adults and 2 infants) at 4.24 p.m. to Mumbai.

As per the flight itinerary, the passengers were to be further connected with Delta Airlines from Mumbai to their final destinations in the US.

Both the flights were purely domestic and operated from the main Passenger Terminal Building of the Hyderabad International Airport.

In coordination with the US Consulate and the Telangana government, the US-bound passengers reached the airport from various part of Hyderabad. All these passengers were serviced through the fully-sanitised main passenger terminal building, which has been kept ready for evacuation operations, an airport spokesman said.

With the two flights on Friday, a total of 267 US nationals have been airlifted from Hyderabad.

On April 7, Hyderabad Airport had served 99 US bound passengers who flew to Mumbai and from there to the US by Delta Airlines.

Earlier, on March 31, a group of 38 German nationals flew from Hyderabad by a special flight of Air India which ferried the passengers from Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai to Frankfurt.

The Hyderabad Airport also serviced a special medical evacuation flight of IndiGo, which dropped its 8 crew members bound for Hyderabad and departed to Chennai with 5 stranded IndiGo crew members.

While the RGIA is handling the seamless operations of evacuation flights as per requirements, its cargo terminal is also fully operational to keep the vital link of essential supplies completely alive.


By Cho Kyung-jin





The first COVID-19 case was reported in Korea, Jan. 20, so it has now been about 12 weeks since the novel coronavirus officially began to spread throughout the nation.







If I had to use a metaphor for our country's experience with COVID-19, I would call it a rollercoaster ride: anxieties mounting with expectations of an uncontrollable national outbreak, followed by a brief period of relief with hopes that the virus might be contained after all, only to have such expectations crushed with news of community transmission.







And just when these smaller outbreaks seemed to be under control, we are now bracing ourselves for a second wave of infections from incoming travelers from the U.S. and Europe.







Also, the fear now goes beyond physical preoccupations of health. The virus has also infiltrated our economy. Despite the uncertainties that we are facing, one thing is clear: It will take a long time for our society, and the world, to recover from this highly contagious virus.







It is very easy to fall into a helpless, if not cynical, state, given these circumstances. There is too much information, and the relentless news cycle, for one, is exhausting.









Nevertheless, there is a bright side: Imagine what it would have been like not to have the internet (or Netflix!) at the tip of your fingers during this scare! Several times, every day, I visit the Korean government's official coronavirus information site (

) for the latest updates.







As an academic, I feel secure in knowing that this data is at our disposal in the pursuit of the means to terminate this virus and its nefarious effects.







All research shows that in times of crisis, truthful and accurate information sharing reduces panic among the people and is conducive to rational collective action. How we gather, present, and share information is vital to overcoming a crisis.







A sense of overwhelming shock and sadness over the rising number of infected cases and deaths in Italy, that venerable cradle of civilization, somehow led me to search for the official Italian coronavirus homepage.







The homepage was a sober page, with the necessary information for taking precautions, with numbers to call and links to government briefings. It had daily updates for the number of confirmed cases, deaths, and recovered patients.







A click led to maps and graphs summarizing the present state and trends since the first diagnosis. One thing that caught my attention was a government service for psychological counseling. The government understood that the Italian people were going through a very traumatic experience.







The people will need to come to terms with the unexpected deaths and fears, and although counseling is no miracle medicine, I appreciated this kind of approach by the government.







Official websites, it turns out, can tell us a lot about how governments disseminate information about and approach to the coronavirus outbreak.







The French, for one, are to the point, with precaution measure graphics in blue (and the occasional red), numbers to call, forms to download for access to movement, and links to daily briefings.







The French have a separate page for a tally of confirmed cases, deaths, recoveries, and regional outbreaks. Spain has a similar format. These countries have chosen to separate the information vital for their citizens to prepare and deal with the outbreak (such as sanitization measures), from the cold statistics of diagnosed cases and deaths.







Is it more reassuring to process these pieces of information separately? It very well could be, as the former refers to preventive guidelines, while the latter is a blunt reality check.







The American official coronavirus site at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an eye-catching yellow banner: "The President's Coronavirus Guidelines for America  15 Days to Slow the Spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). More at Whitehouse.gov."







There is something tragic-comic about having a president as the purveyor of these guidelines in a country whose medical science is one of the world's best. A click on "The President's Guidelines" leads to a two-page PDF with guidelines on how to slow the spread, including things like hand washing.







Although this is indeed a vital piece of information, there is something anti-climactic in having this president "guiding" you to wash your hands! There is another site, coronavirus.gov, but they all seem to loop into one another.







No visual maps upfront here with confirmed cases and deaths. It is sad to note that the New York Times or NGOs such as Worldometer seem to have better, more visually accessible and reliable information than the U.S. government.







Going through the New York Times, I note that there have been many op-eds written by people directly affected by the pandemic. These harrowing and sometimes inspirational first-hand narratives offer a glimpse into the harsh reality of the disease and humanize the diverse responses behind the statistics.







I find that for all the information dispensed to us, this is exactly what Korea has been missing: stories of people in the trenches, medical personnel and patients, their loved ones going through testing, quarantine, and their fears, grief, and agonies.







I find it sad that there are no obituaries for those who died due to complications from the virus, and why their loved ones are not being heard. When this pandemic is over, we will have the numbers, but will we have the stories?







The stories, too, are vital pieces of information defining this pandemic. I am all for the sharing the statistics, but the stories can restore our humanity amid this devastation. These real stories will help us go beyond the "new normal" of corona ennui and see a face behind the number.







Cho Kyung-jin (azinku@cuk.edu) is professor of the Division of Human Services at the Cyber University of Korea and concurrently dean of the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Studies.
London, April 10 : Two of England's well-known cathedrals will broadcast Easter services online amid a lockdown in the UK due to the coronavirus pandemic, the media reported on Friday.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will lead the first national digital Easter Sunday service from his kitchen, the BBC reported.

Prince Charles, who had tested positive for coronavirus last month, will also feature in the service which will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and on the Church of England's website and Facebook page from 9 a.m. on Sunday.

The Archbishop normally preaches to a congregation of about 1,500 people at Canterbury Cathedral on Easter morning.

The oldest bell at the cathedral will also toll every evening in remembrance of those who have died from coronavirus, and celebrate those working on the front line.

The 17th Century bell, named Harry, will ring out over Canterbury at 8 p.m. every day.

Meanwhile, the Dean of York, Rt Revd Jonathan Frost, will also host a special video service at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

This comes as a total of 7,978 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, up by 881 on Wednesday.

There were now a total of 65,872 confirmed cases in the country.

On Thursday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the ongoing lockdown restrictions will stay in place until evidence showed the UK had moved beyond the peak of the virus, the BBC reported.

He acknowledged it was hard for people hoping to go out and be with their families over Easter, but urged restraint.
: Seven more people,



including two Tablighi Jamaat returnees, tested positive for COVID-19 in Kerala on Friday, taking the total number of active cases in the state to 238.

Kerala Health minister K K Shailaja said 124 people have so far been cured of the infection, including 27 on Friday.

Of the seven cases, three are from the worst affected Kasaragod and two each from Kannur and Malappuram districts, a press release quoting the minister said.

The two who tested positive from Malappuram had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi recently.

Five people had contracted the infection through contacts, of which two are from Kannur and three from Kasaragod.

In a relief to the state, the test results of 27 people, including 17 from the worst affected Kasaragod had turned negative on Friday, the minister said.

Since the detection of the first case in the state on January 30, samples of 124, of whom 37 were from Kannur, 24 from Kasaragod and eight foreigners, have turned negative so far and have been discharged, the release said.

In the first phase, India's first three coronavirus positive cases, all students from Wuhan, had tested positive for the virus.

They have been treated and discharged.

The number of virus cases has increased in the state since March 8, with 364 people having tested positive so far.

Presently, 238 people, including 130 in Kasaragod, are under treatment in various hospitals and there have been two fatalities.

At least 1,29,751 people are under observation in various hospitals, including 730 in hospitals.

On Friday, 126 people were admitted to hospitals.

Samples of 13,339 people with virus symptoms had been sent for testing, of which 12,335 have returned negative, the release added.

Meanwhile, Opposition Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Friday slammed the Left government for allegedly entrusting a US company with the task of collecting the data regarding COVID-19 patients and said it was a violation of the fundamental rights of the affected people.

The data, collected using government machinery, was being uploaded not in the government server, but that of the foreign company, he told reporters here during a press conference.

Such secret data is considered as 'protected health information' by countries and handing it over to a foreign private agency was a "serious" issue, the Congress veteran said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mental health providers available at BasinMD

Healthy Minds is working in collaboration with Midland Health to expand the current BasinMD tele-health platform to include behavioral health services, according to a press release.

BasinMD can be accessed as an app or online 24/7 for medical care from anywhere using a smartphone, tablet or computer.

With the addition of tele-behavioral health services, a virtual visit can be scheduled with a behavioral health provider to receive assessment, counseling, diagnosis, treatment and medication if appropriate.

Behavioral health providers available on BasinMD are licensed professional counselor, licensed clinical social worker, psychologist and therapist.

BasinMD app may be downloaded from the Apple or Google Play store, or sign up at BasinMD.com.

EZ-Rider: Passengers must wear masks

In its continuing efforts to provide public transportation in the safest manner possible during the COVID-19 outbreak, EZ-Rider has implemented a temporary policy that riders must wear mask covering their nose and mouth and must have a definite destination in order to board the bus, according to a press release. Also, no more than 10 people may be on the bus at any given time.

For more information, contact EZ-Rider at 561-9990 or questions@ez-rider.org

MMH seeks donations for iPad cases

Midland Memorial Hospital is seeking donations to purchase cases for iPads that are being used to connect patients with their families and friends while at the hospital. MMH has stopped allowing visitors during the coronavirus pandemic.

Malorie Elliott, an ICU nurse, told the Reporter-Telegram a local business is planning to donate iPads, and the hospital needs funds to purchase cases for the devices.

Elliott said she is working with hospital IT staff to figure out which cases can be cleaned appropriately without damaging them.

She said any business that would like to donate can call her at 254-352-0294.

Frost donates $2M to Texas nonprofits

Frost is donating $2 million to nonprofits across Texas to help alleviate the effects of coronavirus, according to a press release from the financial institution.

Of that total, $125,000 is being divided among nonprofits in Frosts Permian Basin region, according to the release. These agencies include Family Promise, Senior Life Midland, Casa de Amigos, Salvation Army in Midland and Odessa, Centers, Samaritan Counseling Center, Meals on Wheels Odessa and Catholic Charities, according to the community development officer for Frost in Midland.

Correction

A column this week about reaction to an op-ed from the mayor misrepresented the feelings of Midland's Sara Spector, who is a supporter of the mayor and his op-ed in the Reporter-Telegram this week. Editor Stewart Doreen apologizes for the error.

Grocery store hours during coronavirus

--Albertsons Market

7 a.m.-9 p.m.

1002 Andrews Highway

For shoppers 60+

7-9 a.m. Monday and Thursday

3317 N. Midland Drive

For shoppers 60+

7-9 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday

--H-E-B

8 a.m.-8 p.m.

Customers 60+

Orders can be called in 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at 833-397-0080. Groceries will be delivered by Favor Delivery.

For more information, go to newsroom.heb.com

--Market Street:

7 a.m.-9 p.m.

For shoppers 60+

7-9 a.m. Monday and Thursday

--Walmart:

7 a.m.-8:30 p.m.
Update: Some callers have said when they called unemployment Friday, they received an automated message saying the unemployment offices are closed for the holiday, but the Department of Labor said people are working.

The phone message is automatic; it is programmed in, said spokeswoman Angela Delli-Santi. We do have staff working, both in the office and remotely, mostly playing catch up on claims that require an agent to review.

Good Friday is a state holiday.

That means state offices  even in the time of coronavirus  are supposed to be closed.

But in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, workers across New Jersey are struggling to file their unemployment claims.

Will people be working at the unemployment office to process claims?

Yes, according to the Department of Labor.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

There will be agents working Friday and Saturday, Department of Labor spokeswoman Angela Delli-Santi said.

The agency said it had no exact figures about how many people would be manning the phones and processing claims.

Our agents are working long and hard, but we realize thats of little consolation for those whose claims we havent gotten to yet, Delli-Santi said. Thats why many will not be taking a long weekend, or really any weekend at all.

On Thursday, the state announced there were more than 576,000 New Jerseyans who filed for unemployment benefits in the past three weeks. There were nearly 215,000 new claims for unemployment last week alone, the labor department said.

While some unemployment applicants have complained they havent been able to get through on busy phone lines or are confused about unusual notifications they have received from the system, New Jersey is still processing a record number of claims.

The state said workers who are unable to get through will have retroactive benefits, and they recommend everyone who may qualify, including gig workers, should apply.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Have you been Bamboozled? Reach Karin Price Mueller at Bamboozled@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KPMueller. Find Bamboozled on Facebook. Mueller is also the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Stay informed and sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.
The global coronavirus death toll topped 100,000 Friday as Easter celebrations around the world kicked off in near-empty churches with billions of people stuck indoors to halt the pandemic's deadly worldwide march.

The grim milestone came as the World Health Organization issued a dire warning that prematurely lifting lockdown restrictions -- which have kept more than half the world's population in lockdown -- could spark a "deadly resurgence" of the disease.

The extraordinary measures from New York to New Delhi to Naples have seen businesses and schools closed in a desperate bid to halt the virus's relentless spread and the International Monetary Fund said the world now faces the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

More than 1.6 million people have been infected around the world and the death toll hit 100,661 on Friday -- nearly 70 percent in hard-hit Europe.

The United States, which has quickly emerged as a virus hotspot, clocked more than 1,700 new deaths on Thursday -- bringing its toll to second highest after



Italy -- with more than 500,000 infections, by far the most of any country. But even as deaths and infections continued their upward climb, officials in the United States and Europe expressed some hope the curve could be starting to flatten.

Weekend Easter celebrations that would normally see churches around the world packed with parishioners were replaced by an eerie emptiness Friday as lockdown orders kept millions from leaving their homes.

Even such hallowed traditions as the pope's Easter message are being revamped -- Pope Francis will live-stream from the seclusion of his private library.

"We have to respond to our confinement with all our creativity," the pontiff said. "We can either get depressed and alienated... or we can get creative."



Worshippers in Germany embraced social distancing orders to celebrate Good Friday -- at a drive-in service held in the western city of Duesseldorf.

"It was a sad feeling at first because I would have liked to be in my church," Catholic priest Frank Heidkamp told AFP, as hundreds of congregation members gathered in a parking lot for the service.

"With this car service we're trying to create a little bit of community," he added.

More than four billion people are confined to their homes across swathes of the globe as governments imposed never-before-seen measures to halt the virus's deadly global march.

This week, China started to ease months-old lockdown orders in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December.

Governments in Europe are facing pressure to strike a balancing act between keeping their populations safe without battering economies already bruised by widespread shutdowns.

The World Health Organization on Friday issued a stern warning about lifting lockdown measures.

"I know that some countries are already planning the transition out of stay-at-home restrictions. WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

"At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly."



In some countries, glimmers of hope may be emerging.

Spain, the third hardest-hit country, saw its lowest day toll in 17 days, after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the "fire started by the pandemic is starting to come under control".

France reported close to 1,000 new deaths Friday -- but said the number of patients in intensive care fell for the second day in a row.

Italy's toll stood at more than 18,000 Friday, the highest in the world, but daily rises in new infections have slowed dramatically.

Still, the government said Friday it would extend lockdown orders until May 3.

Britain's toll climbed too, with 980 new deaths, and the government resisted calls to lift lockdown measures.

But spirits were lifted there Friday when virus-stricken Prime Minister Boris Johnson showed signs of recovery after a three-day stay in intensive care following his COVID-19 diagnosis at the end of March.

The fallout is shaking every corner of the financial world, and the IMF, which has $1 trillion in lending capacity, said it was responding to calls from 90 countries for emergency financing.

"We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, urging governments to provide lifelines to businesses and households.

EU finance ministers agreed the 500-billion-euro rescue package after late-night talks Thursday, aiming to reduce the pain across the 27-nation bloc, especially in Italy and Spain.

The US Federal Reserve also threw a lifeline to Americans -- some 17 million people there have already lost their jobs -- and chairman Jerome Powell announced a $2.3-trillion financing measure "to provide as much relief and stability as we can".

And major oil producers except Mexico agreed to cut output after a dramatic slump in demand caused by the virus, exacerbated by a Saudi-Russia price war, sent prices crashing to a near two-decade low.

Despite hopeful signs in Western nations and China, there are fears the worst is still to come in much of the developing world.

War-torn Yemen, which has been experiencing one of the world's most acute humanitarian crises, on Friday reported its first case.

Brazilian authorities confirmed the first deaths in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, where overcrowding and poor sanitation have raised fears of a catastrophe.

There are similar fears in India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
DALLASCarlos Irula trained well for disaster relief. As an 18-year-old New Orleans native, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 he hurled himself into volunteer work, stripping out drywall, clearing out mould and disinfecting home after home.

Now, Irula is the 33-year-old lead pharmacist at an unusual free Dallas pharmacy, leading a team that has doubled the number of prescriptions it fills since COVID-19 began to trigger job losses and make people ill around North Texas and the globe.

This is going to be enormous, Irula said through an orange mask at the St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy. But, I can breathe and one should be grateful for that.

The St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy serves the low-income uninsured in a state that leads the nation in uninsured residents. The free pharmacy is believed to be the only one of its kind in Texas. The pharmacy and its supply network will be tested further by the coronavirus as more people lose jobs during the economys near shutdown.

The pharmacy sits in the Vickery Meadow neighbourhood in Northeast Dallas, where the man with the first U.S. case of Ebola lived briefly and died six years ago. Here non-profit work together to assist a working class global village of immigrant and refugee families who speak about two dozen languages.

Four years ago, Northwest Bible Church opened a two-story community centre in Vickery Meadow. The two-year-old pharmacy is housed there, as are busy clinics run by the non-profit Healing Hands Ministries.

The Ebola crisis galvanized non-profit groups in Vickery Meadow into an organized collective. Dozens of reporters and camera vans descended into the neighborhoods warren of apartment buildings when it was discovered that Thomas Erin Duncan, the first U.S. Ebola patient, lived there. The Liberian native died eight days after his diagnosis. Two nurses who cared for him were infected and recovered in what was then a hellishly frightening scenario in Dallas.

But Ebola did prepare the non-profit for todays COVID-19 pandemic.

We are more organized and we work collaboratively, said Martha Stowe, who runs the Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation and is the chairperson of a group that calls itself the Vickery Meadow brain trust.

Today, the groups are in constant communication, troubleshooting top issues from eviction education to what food pantries are stocked. We didnt have any of that in place when Ebola happened, Stowe said.

Potential evictions stress residents, Stowe said, though evictions are on hold until May 18 in Dallas County. And thats why the pharmacy is invaluable, Stowe said.

Too many times, someone can go to the doctor and get care reasonably. But if you get a prescription that is so big, they dont fill it, she said. The pharmacy is really a lifeline for a lot of people.

Jocelyn Reyes arrived at the centres glass doors, got her temperature taken and was good to go to her next stop at the pharmacy. A Safety First sign greeted her and told her to knock. The door handle was tagged with a do-not-touch advisory. As she stepped forward, paper crunched under her feet. It was a sign taped to the striped carpet that commanded: Please stand here for Pharmacy Services.

For the last few weeks, nurses clad in yellow gowns, blue gloves and white masks from the Healing Hands clinic have greeted visitors seeking health care services at the door of the cheery lime-green and turquoise lobby of the community centre. The nurses check for COVID symptoms and take temperatures by positioning a thermometer near the patients forehead. The community centre is shuttered to other activities due to social distancing precautions.

Reyes arrived with worries. Shed just been laid off from her restaurant job. Floor remodelling jobs shrivelled up for her mother. She, the good daughter, was there to pick up medications for her mother on a rainy day.

My mom is on a tight income and this really helps, Reyes said. An added plus: Its more one-on-one here and intimate.

Her mother has thyroid and high cholesterol problems, she said, clutching prescriptions that were handed to her at the door. Reyes also left with a goody bag, a gift of over-the-counter medications that included prized orange syrup for the flu.

Inside, Irula, a pharmacist who is bilingual, called the flu medication liquid gold that is in short supply.

The pharmacy delivers prescriptions to people who fill out questionnaires asking about income levels. Pharmacy users can qualify with an income 200 per cent above the federal poverty rate.

For example, a family of two adults with four children can have a household income of $70,000 and still obtain medicines for free under St. Vincent de Paul rules.

The undocumented are served here, too  an important plus because they arent eligible for unemployment benefits or for the coming federal stimulus checks.

The bulk of prescriptions cover medicines for diabetes, asthma, hypertension, high blood pressure and depression, the pharmacist said. But no prescriptions classified as narcotics are given out.

In the last week of March, prescription volume doubled that of the first week of January to about 400 medications. The pharmacy is on target to close the year with about 17,000 prescriptions filled, nearly a doubling of the previous year, its founder said.

The pharmacy was founded by Hank Hermann, a retired investment counsellor who volunteers with the veteran Catholic non-profit St. Vincent de Paul.

Hermann was always fascinated by what makes companies tick, he said. So he studied the supply chains of the pharmaceutical giants and how they assist the vulnerable with free medications passed through to licensed pharmacy groups and clinics.

A big contributor to the Dallas pharmacy is a Nashville-based, not-for-profit pharmaceutical distributor called the Dispensary of Hope. Another is Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid group that works globally and was founded by war refugees during World War II. Some pharmaceutical companies contribute directly, such as Merck and Pfizer.

Hermann worked for years trying to get the Dallas pharmacy off the ground and find a way to stop people from rationing medicine or skipping medicines to pay other bills.

If you cant afford your prescription medications and you really need them you are not going to be top notch and healthy, and that may cause you to miss days of work, said Hermann, who is the pharmacys managing director. For a lot of people, if they dont go to work, they have no sick pay ... We think the free pharmacy is an opportunity to lift people up in a significant way. 

Locating in Vickery Meadow was natural, Hermann said. The demographics of Vickery Meadow, with the highest per capita poverty in the entire county of Dallas, just made it seem to be a very logical place to situate our pharmacy.

Hermann is determined to grow his pharmacy. His next mission is to expand to mail-order pharmacy services statewide, with Dallas as its base. Similar operations exist in South Carolina, North Carolina and West Virginia, he noted.

In the interim, as the weeks blend into each other in B.C. and A.C. time  before coronavirus and after coronavirus  the pharmacys intake specialist, Rosy Chavez, greets people at the door like theyre cousins. Chavez is seeing clients who look more anxious, trying to squirrel away a larger prescription supply because of la cuarentena, the quarantine.

They are also afraid we will be closed, Chavez said. I tell them, as of right now, we are here to help.

They tell me their stories and they are so gracious, Chavez said. They say without us they couldnt get their meds.

When expensive insulin medication arrived for a teenager with Type 1 diabetes, her Brazilian immigrant family called the pharmacy crew into communal prayer on the pharmacy carpet. Thankfully, we were all there to give her health, said Irula, the son of Honduran immigrants.

Signs around them read: God is love and Celebrate everything.

And so they did, with bowed heads.
When we envisioned our first publication for this blog, we never dreamed we would be interviewing one of our own founders for it. Or, that the topic would be her diagnosis and recovery of COVID-19. Despite the initial anxiety and concern over her positive test, she chose joy. Every day.

Samantha Gomolka is a Physician Assistant for a dermatology office in Buffalo, New York. Her state is arguably the hardest hit with COVID-19 and although schools and businesses were shut down, she continued to work and treat patients. It was my biggest fearThat if my family got sick, it would be because I brought it home. It was a heavy weight to carry, she said.

Gomolka shared that she researched the signs and symptoms heavily, watching closely for fever or any shortness of breath. When she started with a cough and headache, she didnt initially think it could be COVID-19. A few days later, the fever and body aches came. In that moment, you are kind of stuck between the place of fear and disbelief, she said. Gomolka said she just knew she had it. She quarantined herself in a guest bedroom, praying she wouldnt pass it to anyone else in her family. A call to the public health department gave her the verbal instructions of self quarantine and presumption of COVID-19 based on symptoms, but there was no test available to her due to being considered low risk, and lack of other comorbid conditions.

Gomolka wouldnt get one, until she ended up in the emergency room.

Samantha Gomolka in the hospital. (Courtesy of Inspired Up Foundation)

Getting up from the bed to walk into the kitchen is not usually challenging. With this, there was an air hunger. It became a conscious effort to breathe in and out all day long. The feeling that I could never get enough air was making me live right under the threshold of panic, she shared. Gomolka finally went to the emergency room when breathing became even more difficult and was placed on oxygen for hours. It was there she received her Chest X-ray, CT scan and COVID test, which revealed she did in fact have the virus. Then her husband, who had just returned from a long deployment overseas, started getting sick too.

Their family was quickly and officially served with mandated home quarantine paperwork by their local sheriffs office, unable to leave their home at all. Contracting this virus and bringing it home to her family -- her biggest fear -- could have caused despair. Instead, she found the beauty in it.

It comes down to perspective... to find the opportunities for beauty. You have to choose joy, she shared. Gomolka shared that having time slow down for her family was a blessing. Relationships were strengthened and hearts were lifted. What could have been a time of anxiousness was an opportunity to reconnect and spend time in a space of gratefulness.

Gomolka also shared that initially she hesitated in going public with their diagnosis, wondering if people would respond in a negative way. The result was completely opposite of that. We had an entire community, local and virtual of people who just rallied around us and lifted my family up, she said.

She shared stories of receiving aid from the Green Beret Foundation, needed medications on her doorstep, warm meals and groceries were provided, gift cards for expenses, activities for her children and even coffee creamer. All of this during a time that could have easily slipped their family into a dark space, was nothing but light. Gomolka shared that her family feels like they could never repay the true value of these gifts. Instead, they plan to pay it forward.

We are trying to figure out how we make that kind of difference in someone elses life and come to their aid in a way that makes impactful change, she said. One of the ways shes going to do this, is to immediately go back to work treating patients with emergent conditions and skin cancer. She and her husband also signed up with the New York Blood Center, the American Red Cross and Upstate University Hospital with the National Plasma Antibody project, hoping they can give their plasma for use in critically ill COVID19 patients. They also plan to try to complete errands and shopping for members of their community who are immunocompromised or elderly.

Samantha Gomolka finds the positive in her recent diagnosis of COVID-19. (Courtesy of Inspire Up Foundation)

We are always going to encounter challenges, but how do you respond to them? Find the good, she said. She continued on saying that this experience has broadened her definition of what a hero is. As a military family we tend to think of heroes as someone in a camouflage uniform, but that has changed for me, she said. Gomolka explained that now, her version of a hero are the people who run towards danger while the rest of us hunker down. The grocery store workers, health care professionals and deliverymen -- to name a few.

When asked what she would tell those reading this article, she smiled and shared that although she knows her diagnosis and experience is not the same as others, she wants people to know that together we can make it through anything. She implored people to pause, and take it all in and find the beauty.

Keep Up with the Ins and Outs of Military Life

For the latest military news and tips on military family benefits and more, subscribe to Military.com and have the information you need delivered directly to your inbox.
Thousands of Australians could be in for a windfall after applying to withdraw up to $20,000 from their superannuation accounts early under new laws.

As part of the government's coronavirus rescue package, workers are able to access their supers to help them stay afloat during the economic downturn.

Experts fear the total drawn from the nest egg pots could eventually top $50 billion, while the government estimated a more modest $27 billion.

It could be good news for savers, particularly those who have lost work due to the restrictions imposed to protect the public from the COVID-19 pandemic.

But it may also put pressure on small funds with limited cash, forcing them to sale assets.

People are seen waiting in line at the Centrelink office in Palm Beach on March 23 (pictured) as many Australians feel the pinch of the COVID-19 economic downturn

In the first week of the new scheme, around 600,000 people expressed their interest in drawing thousands from their accounts.

Ordinarily, strict rules block people from accessing their superannuation until they hit retirement age of between 55 and 60.

However, people who withdraw now would not only lose this money from their retirement funds, they would redeem it at a time when share markets have plunged, forcing them to sell at a loss.

According to an industry memo seen by The Australian, the Australian Taxation office was contacted by 617,800 workers who registered interest to withdraw up to $10,000 before July.

WHO CAN ACCESS THEIR SUPER EARLY? If you choose to withdraw from your superannuation early, you must meet certain criteria. If successful, you can access up to $10,000 of your superannuation in 2019-20 and a further $10,000 in 2020-21. You must meet one of these requirements: - You are unemployed - You are eligible to receive a job seeker payment, youth allowance for jobseekers, parenting payment, special benefit or farm household allowance - If on or after January 1 2020: you were made redundant - If on or after January 1 2020 your working hours were reduced by 20 per cent or more - If you are a sole trader, your business was suspended or there was a reduction in your turnover of 20 per cent or more Advertisement

They would then look to withdraw up to a further $10,000 between July and October.

The government predicted that 1.3 million people would ask for early access to their pots, but this could easily be eclipsed - as the scheme has already been inundated.

Known as an early drawdown scheme, it will be running from April 20, but people are allowed to express an interest now.

'In terms of the number of people registering, this should be used as a high level indicator of volumes of those who may eventually apply for early release of their super only,' the ATO said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the measures as part of a second stimulus package on March 22, surprising the superannuation industry by allowing people to access their super early.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said workers and sole traders could withdraw the money if the number of hours worked or their income fell by 20 per cent or more due to the coronavirus.

The early release also applies to welfare recipients who qualify for the coronavirus supplement.

Details of the requirements you must meet to access your superannuation early are at the Treasury website here.

French nationals queue to enter Sydney airport to be repatriated back to France on April 2 (pictured) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Known as an early drawdown scheme, it will be running from April 20, but people are allowed to express an interest now, giving them access to up to $20,000 from their super accounts

HOW DO I DO IT? If you are eligible, you can apply directly to the ATO through the myGov website: www.my.gov.au. You will need to certify that you meet the above eligibility criteria. After the ATO has processed your application, they will issue you with a determination. The ATO will also provide a copy of this determination to your superannuation fund, which will advise them to release your superannuation payment. Your fund will then make the payment to you, without you needing to apply to them directly. However, to ensure you receive your payment as soon as possible, you should contact your fund to check that they have your correct details, including your current bank account details and proof of identity documents. Advertisement

This initiative builds on existing provisions that allow early access to super in the event of hardship or on compassionate grounds, and it is estimated to put up to $27 billion dollars of superannuation back into the pockets of hardworking Australians,' the Treasurer.

But it may not be the best time for all Australians, as the accounts are likely to have dropped in value.

Share markets have dropped more than 30 per cent since February and destroyed trillions of dollars worth of value worldwide.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese told Sky News it wasn't the best time to withdraw money from superannuation.

'Superannuation is one of the things that's a ballast for our economy, it provides us stability, and what I wouldn't want us to see is either people essentially missing out on a large part of their retirement incomes or for the super industry as well,' Mr Albanese said.

'Now's not the time to be selling those assets.'

Mr Albanese warned of potential fire-sales if the big super funds started selling assets.

Australians had $3 trillion in superannuation as of December of which $1.9 trillion had been invested in various instruments, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia said on its website.

Of that $1.9 trillion, 51.4 per cent was invested in equities both Australian, international and unlisted.

The remainder was in fixed income, cash, property and infrastructure.
A ventilator is displayed during a news conference at the New York City Emergency Management Warehouse in March. Read more

NEW YORK  As hospitals scour the country for scarce ventilators to treat critically ill patients stricken by the new coronavirus, pharmacists are beginning to sound an alarm that could become just as urgent: Drugs that go hand in hand with ventilators are running low even as demand is surging.

Michael Ganio, of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, said demand for the drugs at greater New York hospitals has spiked as much as 600% over the last month, even though hospitals have stopped using them for elective surgery.

These ventilators will be rendered useless without an adequate supply of the medications, Society CEO Paul Abramowitz said in an April 1 letter to Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading President Donald Trumps coronavirus task force.

Nationwide, demand for the drugs surged 73% in March, according Dan Kistner, a pharmaceuticals expert at Vizient, Inc., which negotiates drug prices for hospitals throughout the country. Supplies, according to Vizient data, have not kept pace.

Trying to run the ventilators without these drugs will be like trying to operate a fleet of cars without gasoline, Kistner said.

To date, no hospital has reported being unable to put a patient on a ventilator due to a lack of those drugs, said Soumi Saha, a pharmaceuticals expert at Premiere, Inc., which also negotiates drug prices for hospitals.

When clinicians put critically-ill patients on ventilators, they generally rely on three categories of drugs: sedatives, pain killers and, at times, paralytics.

You have a tube basically down your throat to help you breathe, explained Chris Fortier, the chief pharmacy officer at Massachusetts General Hospital. We need medications to sedate you and treat your pain, and sometimes to even give you some paralysis so that youre not pulling on that ventilator and damaging your lungs.

The demand is surging because hospitals across the country are trying to stock up at the same time, said Erin Fox, director of the drug-information service at University of Utah Health, which runs five hospitals.

Im just terrified that were not going to have the medicines we need, Fox said. It keeps me up at night.

Fortier said adequate supplies of the drugs are also being stretched because COVID-19 patients typically stay on ventilators from 10 to 14 days, which is longer than typical patients.

At the moment, supplies are not critically low at Mass General, Fortier said, but the concern is so great that hospital staffers are monitoring supplies around the clock. We have a team looking at it, hour-by-hour, seven days a week, he said.

If supplies run out, specialists said, doctors have other options  drugs that may not be their first choice, or drugs unavailable in doses they prefer. Using them could increase the risk of medication error or take more time to administer at a time when clinicians are racing to treat as many patients as possible.

Fentanyl comes in different sizes, Kistner said, describing a situation where clinicians might have to use several smaller doses for a single patient if larger doses are not at hand. That would be a lot of work and very inefficient."

The specific drugs running low include the opioid painkillers fentanyl, morphine, and hydromorphone; the sedatives midazolam and propofol; and the paralytics pancuronium, rocuronium, and succinylcholine, according to the letter the ASHP sent to Pence.

Already, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has announced it is raising its 2020 ceiling for opioid production by 15% and is approving drugmaker requests for higher limits, often within a day.

Pfizer, a top maker of injectable drugs, is one of several U.S. drugmakers covered by the new quotas, and is ramping up production of fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone and other medicines for ventilator patients, according to company spokeswoman Kimberly Bencker.

For many of these critical medicines, we have ample supply. For some, the unprecedented surge in demand for these products is limiting our ability to fully satisfy customer orders in the short-term, Bencker said.

QuVa Pharma, a drug compounding business that makes drugs for hospitals nationwide, also received a higher ceiling for making fentanyl and hydromorphone and expects to begin shipping more of those drugs directly to hospitals starting April 20, said co-founder Peter Jenkins.

The Houston-based company aims to make two to three times its normal volume of those drugs while manufacturing extra sedatives and paralytic drugs, plus one to boost blood pressure in COVID-19 patients, said Jenkins.

 FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, some of the drugs were already in short supply because profit margins for generics are relatively low and, consequently, some manufacturers have stopped producing them.

Whats more, because the drugs are injectables, they must undergo sterility tests, a process that can take weeks. You cant say, Hey, were going to make more of these drugs and have them here tomorrow, Kistner said.

Thats why some pharmacists fear the shortages may get worse before they get better. Said Fortier: This is going to get bigger as we move forward over the next couple of weeks.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday said India should immediately repeal the amended Citizenship Act and ensure that any future asylum and refugee policy doesn't discriminate on any grounds, including religion, and complies with international legal standards.

Releasing a 82-page report, 'Shoot the Traitors: Discrimination Against Muslims Under India's New Citizenship Policy,' the human rights body's South Asia Director Meenakhshi Ganguly said the newly amended law violates India's international obligations to prevent deprivation of citizenship on the basis of race, colour, descent, nation or ethnicity.

"India should also discard any plan for a nationwide citizenship verification project until there are public consultations to establish standardised procedures and due process protection to ensure that it does not impose undue hardship on the poor, minority communities, migrant or internally displaced populations, and women," the HRW stated.

The New York-based organisation also said, "India has tried to delink the citizenship (Amendment) Act from citizenship verification processes, but failed to reassure minority communities because of contradictory, discriminatory, and hate-filled claims by BJP leaders."



The government should immediately reverse policies that violate India's international legal obligations, investigate alleged police abuses and protect freedom of speech and assembly. The discriminatory legislation and policies have spurred violence against Muslims, Ganguly said.

"India's prime minister (Narendra Modi) has appealed for a united fight against COVID-19, but is yet to call for unity in the fight against anti-Muslim violence and discrimination," she said.

In its report, the HRW alleged that government policies have "opened the door for mob violence and police inaction that have instilled fear among Muslims and other minority communities throughout the country".

The report is based on more than 100 interviews with victims of abuse and their families from Delhi and the states of Assam and Uttar Pradesh, as well as with legal experts, academics, activists, and police officials, the international rights body said.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was notified on January 10, grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities migrated to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014, following persecution over their faith.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TAMPA, Fla., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- USF Federal Credit Union (USF FCU) donated meals to Tampa General Hospital's (TGH) frontline staff as a thank you for their tireless dedication to keeping the Tampa Bay area safe by battling the spread of coronavirus. Three hundred healthy meals were prepared and delivered by Harvest Bowl Eatery & Market of Seminole Heights.

USF Federal Credit Union Donates 300 meals to Tampa General Hospital Frontline Workers

"It is our privilege to be able to provide a comforting meal to the doctors, nurses and staff who are working around the clock amidst this COVID-19 outbreak," USF FCU president and CEO Richard J. Skaggs said. "The work they're doing is vitally important and we appreciate all those who are our frontline defense during this pandemic."

TGH is a Select Employee Group for the credit union and TGH employees and their families are eligible to join USF FCU.

About USF Federal Credit Union

USF Federal Credit Union offers a full range of financial services to the faculty, staff, students, alumni association members, and families of the University of South Florida. USF FCU divisions include Darden Credit Union serving employees of Darden Restaurants, Inc., and Red Lobster Credit Union for employees of Red Lobster restaurants. USF FCU serves more than 60,000 members with membership available through more than 35 Select Employee Groups. Please visit: www.usffcu.com for more information.

Media Contact

Bill Steiger / 813.569.2151 / [email protected]

SOURCE USF Federal Credit Union
"Serving in the military changes you. The shades and degrees of change vary for everyone, but no one is ever the same as...
A doctor who warned the United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, that health workers on the front line did not have enough personal protection equipment (PPE) has died of COVID-19, Al Jazeera reports.

The doctor, Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, died on Wednesday aged 53 after spending 15 days in hospital.

He was a consultant in the urology department at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Romford, UK and had worked for the NHS for more than 20 years after migrating from Bangladesh.

Mr Chowdhurys death came amid mounting concerns that medical workers are not receiving adequate PPE as a result of global shortage caused by the pandemic.

The 53-year-old doctor, in a Facebook post on March 18, had called on the prime minister to provide PPE for each and every NHS health worker in the UK for him to fast-track testing for medical staff.

In his direct address to Mr Johnson, Mr Chowdhury said doctors, nurses and other workers who are in direct contact with patients were trying to help but we are also human beings [with] human rights like others (trying) to live in this world disease free with our family and children.

READ ALSO:

While he appreciated moral support being given to NHS workers, we have to protect ourselves and our families and kids in this global disaster crisis by using appropriate PPE and remedies, he said.

I hope we are by default entitled to get this minimal support for our safe medical practice.

Adnan Pavel, Mr Chowdhurys friend, who spoke with Al Jazeera described him as an enthusiastic mentor to young British Bangladeshi men in the UK and a selfless philanthropist to vulnerable people in Bangladesh.

He was such a good man. He was always very helpful to everyone. He was a man with life, Mr Pavel said.
In an internal message to Bureau of Prisons staff about coronavirus over the weekend, BOP director Michael Carvajal asked employees to "have faith" that they are doing the right thing, that they will protect inmates and staff and that staff must not let fear of the virus, "distract us from our daily tasks."

However, inmates and BOP staff from facilities hit hard by the virus paint a very different picture. Prison employees spoke to ABC News about what they said was BOP's lack of preparedness which they believe jeopardizes the safety of officers on the ground and inmates in facilities.

MORE: Victim's family says they weren't told of violent offender's release amid COVID-19

There are over 200 inmates across the country who have tested positive, the BOP posted on its COVID-19 website.

At least two officials described to ABC News a lack of communication between the central office in Washington, D.C., and the boots on the ground -- especially when it came to combating the spread of the virus at facilities.

PHOTO: The seal of the Federal Bureau of Prisons is shown. (U.S. Department Of Justice)

BOP rolled out the last stage of a five-phase strategic plan on March 31, which took the most restrictive measures, including keeping inmates in their "assigned cells or quarters" for 14 days and stopping all inmate transfers between facilities.

In a statement to ABC News, the Bureau of Prisons said it has "taken, and will continue to take, aggressive steps to protect the safety and security of all staff and inmates as well as visitors and members of the public."

The Bureau pointed to that five-phase plan, which in addition to the last phase, included a task force to "begin strategic planning and building on our already existing procedures for managing pandemics."

Some of the other measures, the Bureau said it took in that plan are suspending social and legal visits, limited access for contractors and volunteers, and " inventorying sanitation, cleaning, and medical supplies and procuring additional supplies of these items."

Story continues

"I think that there's much more that they could have done prior to now. They could have followed the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines," Congressman Fred Keller, a Pennsylvania Republican with two federal prisons in his district, told ABC News.

Keller has introduced the PANDEMIC Act, a bill that calls for putting a halt to all inmate transfers during the coronavirus outbreak.

The CDC recommends social distancing, a practice of staying 6 feet apart and avoiding mass crowds or gatherings.

"I think they've done things as business as usual and haven't followed the guidelines that have been set forth by the coronavirus task force to flatten the curve and the results of them not doing that are evident because they now have more cases than do three states," Keller said. "And that to me, shows that they need to be more proactive."

The BOP told ABC News that it is "constantly updating our nationwide guidance in accordance with the CDC's updates."

PHOTO: In this July 16, 2015, file photo, a prison cell block is seen at the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Okla. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Elkton in Ohio, houses 2,500 inmates. Three inmates have died from coronavirus and more are being placed on ventilators by the day.

In early March, staff at the facility were already being screened for COVID-19, but according to local union president Joseph Mayle, staff screening was shut down, not by FCI Elktons warden, but by someone above the warden who Mayle stressed, has been working together with him to be proactive.

The local BOP Officer union president, explained that the worry is always the virus coming into the facility from the outside through a staff member, new inmate or visitor.

Mayle said though precautions were taken to keep the virus out of the facility, he told ABC News he received word from BOP headquarters that there needed to be inmates showing symptoms of COVID-19 to begin staff screening.

Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.

"They are always and always have been reactive instead of proactive," Mayle said.

Mayle said that BOP gave the facility five testing kits and then received 80 from Columbiana County, Ohio, -- where the prison is located.

According to a memo obtained by ABC News, dated March 31, the Columbiana County Health Department instructed officers to only go to and from the facility, wear a mask and not allow visitors in their homes.

The prisons medical team has been stretched so thin, according to Gov. Mike Dewine, that the Ohio National Guard has been called into the facility to assist with medical care.

One inmate housed at FCI Danbury in Connecticut, who says she was sick with the virus, spoke to ABC News on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.

PHOTO: In this Nov. 19, 2019, file photo, the Metropolitan Correctional Center, which is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, is shown in New York. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images, FILE)

She said she had to beg for an ambulance and when she was at the hospital, was monitored by officers 24 hours a day.

MORE: Despite coronavirus warnings, federal Bureau of Prisons still transporting inmates: Sources

According to the inmate, an inadequate thermometer misread her temperature as normal but she claims she had a fever. She also said that she was treated "like an animal" with no access to clean clothes.

There are 28 inmates and 12 staff whove tested positive for the virus at the female facility, according to BOP's website.

A pregnant correctional officer at FCI Jessup, outside of Atlanta, returned from an overseas trip and was told she needed to quarantine. However, about seven days later, she says she was called back into work -- unable to refuse or forced to use her own personal time to take off.

FCI Jessup Union President Pamela Millwood told ABC News that officers in the facility do not have access to hand sanitizer and were just given N95 protection masks this week.

"The institution is not concerned with our staff being exposed to COVID-19. When staff have reported exposure, the agency's doctor, Sylvie Cohen has directed that so long as staff are not symptomatic they immediately return to work or use their own leave," Milwood told ABC News by e-mail.

"All it will take is one diagnosis and we will be the new Oakdale," Millwood said.

FCI Oakdale in Louisiana -- the scene of the first major outbreak inside the Bureau of Prisons, has been hit hard with the coronavirus according to data on BOP's website.

In the internal message to staff, Carajval praised the agency for its fight against the disease.

"Even as I speak, our numbers of infection are increasing, however, we are doing a good job working against an unseen threat and I am proud of the fight we are waging daily. We are continuing to revise and update our Action Plans in response to the fluid nature of the pandemic, and in response to changing guidance from experts at the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Justice, White House COVID Task Force and the Office of Personnel Management, BOP director Carajval said in the message.

We are doing everything possible to mitigate all risks, seen and unseen, so we can complete our mission with minimal impact, he continued.

Ronald Morris, the local union president told ABC News that he thinks the BOP "messed up."

PHOTO: The United States Penitentiary, Victorville (USP Victorville) is shown amid the global coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic, on April 4, 2020, in Victorville, Calif. (Kirby Lee/AP)

"Make them show their internal memos that they had a plan. I don't believe that they had a plan. I don't think they were thinking, or it was even on the radar, or they had the foresight to see the devastation that this causes and thought about what it did to any federal prison systems after it got in the federal prison system," Morris said.

The BOP told ABC News that epidemiologists from the CDC and Louisiana Department of Health "commended" Oakdale staff and "confirmed" their compliance with CDC guidelines. The agency also said that they are sending other scientists to another facility.

"The BOP is working with CDC epidemiologists to review and address the BOPs response to COVID and the CDC will send personnel to two of our prisons that are sites of sustained transmission in Forrest City, Arkansas, and Oakdale, Louisiana," the agency said in a statement.

On March 28, the first federal inmate died from COVID-19 at FCI Oakdale. Last week, the ACLU sued BOP on behalf of the inmates at FCI Oakdale, claiming they are not receiving adequate care.

MORE: 1st federal inmate dies in prison hit hard by coronavirus after heartbreaking plea to judge

BOP told ABC News last week that it doesn't comment on pending ligation.

The Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC), in New York City, where convicted sex offender, Jeffery Epstein died by suicide, does not have a plan to deal with a potential outbreak, sources told ABC News.

Two sources also told ABC News that at MCC and at other facilities across the country, officers are being stretched to the limit, forced to work 12-hour shifts.

MCC is a BOP facility and has not directly respond to ABC News request for comment about MCC, but did highlight the five phase plan.

In a Friday night memo to the Bureau of Prisons director, Attorney General William Barr called for the "appropriate transfers to home confinement of all appropriate inmates held at FCI Oakdale, LA, FCI Danbury, CT, FCI Elkton, OH and other similarly situated BOP facilities where COVID-19 is materially affecting operations."

At FCI Aliceville, in Alabama, prison sources told ABC News that inmates who are supposed to be under quarantine because they are symptomatic, are being housed with uninfected inmates.

BOP previously told ABC News, that because of the shortage in tests anyone who is exhibiting symptoms, is automatically assumed to have COVID-19 and confirmed in a statement to ABC News that they are following CDC guidelines.

Officials say one potential source of contamination is the transfer of inmates from facility to facility.

One source, who described conversations with Bureau of Prisons director Carvajal, told ABC News that BOP started to "play word games and pass the buck," regarding inmate transfers between facilities.

Multiple sources told ABC News that inmate transfers are still occurring, although BOP notes that transfers are down 81% from when they started.

The source who spoke of weaving through BOP bureaucracy, said that one after another, up-the-chain management kept saying they needed an act of Congress to stop transfers, after initially placing the blame on the court system and U.S. Marshals.

"We are deeply concerned for the health and welfare of those inmates who are entrusted to our care, and for our staff, their families, and the communities we live and work in. It is our highest priority to continue to do everything we can to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our facilities," the agency said in a statement to ABC News.

Mayle expressed what staff at his facility are feeling at the moment: anxious and scared to take the virus home to their loved ones.

He said right now there is a lot of "angst, anxiety and anger," among staff.

"We believe that the Bureau of Prisons isn't taking proper precautions to take care of staff."

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map

Bureau of Prisons coronavirus response under fire: 'Reactive,' not 'proactive,' inmates, staff say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
President Donald Trump on Friday said he will make an announcement next week on US funding to the World Health Organization, which he has recently threatened to cut. "As you know, we have given them approximately $500 million a year, and we are going to be talking about that subject next week. We'll have a lot to say about it," Trump told a news conference at the White House. He said he would make the announcement "sometime next week." Trump has gone on an offensive against the WHO, where Washington is the principal funder, accusing it of pro-China bias during the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, which began in Wuhan, China, last year. The US State Department has homed in on what it says was the world health body's failure to pursue an early lead on coronavirus out of Taiwan. Taiwan, which has succeeded in limiting the virus to just five deaths despite the island's proximity and ties with China, warned the WHO on December 31 of human-to-human transmission, Vice President Chen Chien-Jen has said. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, which rules itself, and has pressured international organizations like WHO around the world not to allow the island membership. On Friday, China's foreign ministry said the US comments were "fact-distorting" and politically motivated to shift blame for the pandemic, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. WHO denies that it ever got an early warning from Taiwan about human-to-human transmission of the COVID-19 virus. US President Donald Trump addresses a daily briefing of the White House task force on the coronavirus pandemic
5G Networks Do Not Spread COVID-19/Coronavirus News oi-Vivek

We are living in a dangerous time and now might be the right time to stop believing in everything you read online or see in WhatsApp groups. One of the conspiracy theories suggests that the 5G network is being used to spread COVID-19 and it is absolutely bogus.

According to posts on Facebook, multiple 5G towers in London have been set on fire as some believed that these towers are used to spread COVID-19. Scientifically, there is no evidence to prove that these towers can be used to transmit the virus or even weaken the Human immune system.

Two Major Conspiracies

There are two major conspiracies related to the coronavirus outbreak with respect to the 5G network. According to theories, 5G towers are being used to transmit the COVID-19 virus and some even suggest that these towers will transmit some sort of radiation, which will weaken the human immunity system, which will make us more susceptible to the viral infection.

These allegations are absolutely fake, as just like 3G and 4G technology, 5G uses non-ionizing radiation, which cannot cause any harm to humans or any other living being. In fact, radiation sources like X-rays and UV rays will cause more damage to our cells in comparison to 5G/4G/3G waves.

COVID-19 Is Also Spreading In Countries With No 5G Network

Another aspect that disproves the theory of 5G network spreading COVID-19 is here. Countries like India, Iraq, and Pakistan have also had a number of COVID-19 infections and these countries are well far away from getting 5G networks. This just proves that the 5G network has nothing to do with the 5G network.

It is almost unbelievable that people in London have set 5G network antennas on fire, which is nothing but a financial loss. As of now, maintaining social distancing is the only way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and nothing else.

Via

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications
The United States Postal Service says that domestic deliveries of mail usually arrive in 1-3 business days. Thats not always the case, as is becoming clear to many of Wisconsins registered voters who requested absentee ballots that never arrived.

The majority of voters who requested ballots still received them, some as quickly as within two days of being requested across the county. Others requested their ballots during the third week of March or earlier, and municipal clerks had them in the mail before the end of the month, but they never arrived.

Fabi Maldonado, a Racine County Board supervisor, posted on Facebook Thursday that My dad received his absentee ballot yesterday, the day after the deadline. The posting included an angry-face emoji.

On Election Day, Mount Pleasant Village Clerk Stephanie Kohlhagen told The Journal Times: Its out of our hands and up to the postmaster, to deliver the mail. I dont know what else I could do, she continued, saying that few requested ballots took more than a day to be mailed, and the last requests came in on Friday, April 3  four days before polls opened.

Racine City Clerk Tara Coolidge said on Thursday that all ballots requested the week before the election were in the mail the next day. And in mid-March, city staff was at most three days behind on requests, in part because they were receiving an unprecedented 1,500 requests per day, Coolidge said.

That left potentially hundreds of registered voters in Racine County and thousands statewide  no one is sure of the true total  who never got their ballots.

Some voters took the risk and went to the polls on Tuesday while others stayed at home and gave up their constitutional right to vote.

Now state authorities and national leaders are investigating what went wrong.

The Milwaukee Election Commission said Wednesday that it is requesting an investigation into the USPSs failure to deliver ballots, and the Wisconsin Elections Commission soon followed suit.

Like the Milwaukee Elections Commission, the Wisconsin Elections Commission is gathering information about absentee ballot delivery issues, Reid Magney, public relations officer for the WEC, said in an email Wednesday afternoon. We want to learn from what happened so we can make sure everyone who requests an absentee ballot from their municipal clerks office gets it and is able to vote.

Then Thursday afternoon, in a bipartisan co-written letter Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service Tammy Whitcomb, Wisconsins senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson wrote: Unfortunately, there have been numerous accounts from the state that USPS failed to fulfill that critical function for some voters, according to reporting from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

A spokesman for the Postal Service said it still doesnt know what happened.

I dont have an answer for you at this moment. We are looking into this issue, USPS Communications Specialist Robert Sheehan said in an email Wednesday.

A progressive Madison-based research and communications group founded in January, A Better Wisconsin Together, has launched a website, WheresMyBallotWI.org, where people who requested a ballot that never arrived can share what happened in an online form as the nonprofit tries to figure out the scope of the problem.

Misplaced tubs and more questions

44,181 Racine County residents requested ballots for Tuesdays election, but only 28,231 of those ballots had been returned before Election Day. Ballots were still being processed Wednesday, with the total returned in Racine County rising to 33,407 by Wednesday morning, and processing is expected to continue throughout the week before results of the election are released after 4 p.m. on Monday, but many didnt arrive in mailboxes statewide.

It appears to be a statewide problem. But what happened to all the ballots that werent delivered is still unclear.

At this point, no one knows if that problem widespread or narrow, Jerry Deschane, executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, said in an email.

Three large tubs of absentee ballots intended for voters in Oshkosh and Appleton were found the day after the election at a mail processing center in Milwaukee, state Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, said Wednesday via Twitter.

State Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, who represents Oshkosh, said in a statement Wednesday: Its not surprising there would be absentee ballot issues given the surge in demand and chaos of having an election that did not need to, and should not have been held during this public health emergency.

Hintz continued by saying that Wisconsin should implement a mail-only election throughout the duration of the pandemic. Im disappointed that I, and hundreds of my constituents, were unable to vote or were forced to risk their health and the health of others. It will be important to get answers on why and how this happened. The Wisconsin Elections Commission and the Department of Justice should investigate this and any other irregularities reported from Tuesdays elections.

Had voters been allowed to submit their ballots until April 13, as had been ordered by U.S. District Court Judge William Conley on April 2 but overruled by a 5-4 vote by the Supreme Court of the United States, there still might have been time to get those ballots delivered and counted. Up until the day before the election, municipal clerks had been telling voters they would have an extra week to submit their votes because of COVID-19, a promise retroactively rendered inaccurate by the Supreme Court.

Generally speaking, ANY last-minute changes will create confusion and confusion will lead to mistakes. Yes, its likely that the legal changes that occurred resulted in at least one voter out there missing his or her opportunity to vote, Deschane said.

Other problems with USPS appeared in Fox Point in Milwaukee County, where absentee ballots were reportedly sent back to Fox Point Village Hall repeatedly without explanation, according to published reports.

Deschane added: Local election clerks across the state were faced with an unprecedented surge of absentee ballot requests. Their response and ability to process those ballots was nothing short of heroic. To have that work go to waste because of mailing errors is almost as great a tragedy as the votes will not be counted due to the errors.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday said that the State is moving into the stage of community transmission as 27 people, who were tested positive for coronavirus in the State, have no travel history.

At the community transmission stage, also known as Stage 3, a disease spreads in the population in such a way that the people don't know how they were exposed to the disease.

"In Punjab, 27 cases are there with no travel history. Yes, it can be said that most of them are cases of community transmission," Chief Minister Singh said during the video conference with the media.

Singh said that most of the 27 positive cases reported on Thursday, the maximum daily increase for the state, were the cases of secondary transmission. "It is an indication of the State moving into the stage of community transmission," Chief Minister Singh was quoted in an official statement issued after the video conference.

Singh said that there are 132 confirmed coronavirus cases in Punjab and the toll in the State stands at 11. He further said that one patient is on the ventilator and two are in the pre-ventilator stage.

"As of today, we have 132 confirmed COVID19 cases in Punjab, out of which 11 people have died. Currently, only one patient is on ventilator support, and two in the pre-ventilator stage where they only require oxygen," said Singh.

Punjab has in total of 434 operational ventilators. Out of which, 76 operational ventilators are in government hospitals and 358 in private hospitals.

Singh expressed concern that the government has so far collected only 2,877 samples for testing for a state, which has 28 million people, saying that "this is not much."

The Chief Minister said the projections by scientists and medical experts suggest the pandemic would peak in India by July-August, and around 58 per cent of Indians would get infected, with 87 per cent of people likely to get affected in Punjab.

In the circumstances, no government could afford to ease the restrictions, he said, asserting that "we have to check the spread of the infections." The state's preparations would be aligned to these projections, added Singh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on April 10, 2020

2020/04/10

CCTV: At present, the pandemic is fast spreading and the world is short of medical supplies. Many countries are seeking help from China. Could you tell us what help China has provided?

Zhao Lijian: With the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, China has provided support and assistance to the international community within its capacity while continuing to do a good job in epidemic control at home.

So far, the Chinese government has provided or is providing supplies to 127 countries and four international organizations, including surgical masks, protective gears and testing reagents. China donated $20 million to the WHO, sent 13 medical teams to 11 countries and held over 70 video conferences with experts from more than 150 countries and international organizations. Localities, enterprises and civil groups in China also donated medical supplies to more than 100 countries, regions and international organizations.

Some countries asked China for assistance in commercial procurement through diplomatic channels, and we recommended exporters to them. China's Ministry of Commerce also published a list of manufacturers certified by regulatory authorities and facilitated the customs clearance of supplies in compliance with regulations.

As of April 8, 58 countries and regions as well as four international organizations have signed contracts on commercial procurement of medical supplies with Chinese businesses, and another 71 countries and ten international organizations are in talks for such purchase. There are other foreign buyers cooperating with Chinese companies, too.

I'd like to share some more details with you. According to statistics from Chinese customs, from March 1 to April 4, China exported RMB 10.2 billion worth of anti-epidemic supplies, including 3.86 billion masks, 37.52 million protective gears, 2.41 million infrared thermometers, 16,000 ventilators, 2.84 million testing kits and 8.41 million protective goggles.

China will continue to work with other countries and overcome difficulties with mutual assistance to safeguard international public health security.

China Daily: The US State Department spokesperson said on April 9 that the US is "deeply disturbed that Taiwan's information was withheld from the global health community, as reflected in the WHO's January 14 statement that there was no indication of human-to-human transmission." She also claimed that "the WHO once again chose politics over public health," and the WHO's actions "cost time and lives." What is your comment?

Zhao Lijian: I responded to a similar question yesterday. Since the US has refused to let go of this issue and kept trying to confuse public opinion on it, I would like to make a few more comments.

First, the novel coronavirus is a novel virus, which means it takes time for us to research it, know it and draw conclusions accordingly. This is a science-based process. On January 20, a high-level expert group of the National Health Commission of China announced the confirmation of human-to-human transmission. The WHO sent a team on a field trip to Wuhan from January 20 to 21. Dr. Gauden Galea, WHO Representative in China, said on January 21 that the latest information showed that the virus has been passed to some extent from person to person. We can see that at the earliest time possible, the WHO released authoritative information based on China's confirmation of "human-to-human transmission" and its field visits. In fact, no responsible countries or organizations will jump to conclusions without sufficient and valid evidence.

Second, the US claims that the international community failed to get information from the Taiwan region. This is not true. As people in the Taiwan region share a bond of kinship with us, no one cares more about their health and well-being than the Chinese central government. After the epidemic broke out, the National Health Commission of China promptly informed the Taiwan region of the situation. In mid-January, at the request of the relevant departments in the Taiwan region, experts from the Taiwan region paid a field visit to Wuhan and had discussions with mainland experts. Taiwan medical experts expressed sincere thanks to the mainland for the reception.

WHO is a specialized UN agency composed of sovereign states. Taiwan's participation in the activities of WHO and other international organizations needs to be arranged in a reasonable and appropriate manner after cross-straits consultations under the one-China principle. According to the agreement reached between China and the WHO, there is an International Health Regulations Contact Point in the Taiwan region, so it can obtain timely information on global public health emergencies released by the WHO, and report its public health emergency information to the WHO in a timely manner as well. Health experts from the Taiwan region can attend WHO technical meetings, and WHO experts can visit the Taiwan region if necessary for field trips or to provide assistance. These arrangements ensure that the Taiwan region can respond to public health emergencies in a timely and effective manner wherever these emergencies occur.

Third, since the outbreak of COVID-19, the WHO has been holding an objective, scientific and impartial position, performing its duties, and making enormous efforts to assist countries in response to the pandemic and to promote international cooperation, which has been widely recognized and highly praised by the international community. The US State Department Spokesperson made fact-distorting comments to shift the blame, which won't be helpful to ease the current situation in the US or to facilitate international anti-epidemic cooperation. Her words will only damage the credibility, image and interests of the US. We urge the US side to respect the facts and international public opinion, and focus on containing the epidemics at home. China will, as always, firmly support the WHO in fulfilling its duties and leading global anti-epidemic cooperation.

AFP: The US has threatened to cut off China Telecom from serving the US market because of legal and security risks. What's China's response?

Zhao Lijian: We noted relevant reports and are firmly opposed to it. The Chinese government asks Chinese enterprises to abide by local laws and regulations and follow market principles when carrying out economic cooperation. We urge the US side to keep to the principles of market economy, stop abusing the concept of national security and politicizing economic issues, and stop wantonly oppressing Chinese companies. It should foster a fair, unbiased and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies investing and operating in the US.

Beijing Youth Daily: The Saudi-led coalition announced late April 8 a two-week ceasefire which is set to begin at 12 am April 9 local time and could be extended. The move was prompted by the call of the United Nations Secretary-General and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen for a pause of hostilities in the country in order to counter the spread of the COVID-19. The temporary ceasefire would pave the way for talks between the Yemeni government and the Houthis. What is your comment?

Zhao Lijian: We welcome and support the Saudi-led coalition's announcement of a ceasefire which we believe will enable Yemen and other regional countries to better cope with the COVID-19 and facilitate Yemen's peace process. The Chinese side hopes that relevant parties will prioritize the national interests of Yemen and the interests of the Yemeni people, engage in dialogues and negotiations to alleviate the situation as soon as possible, move forward the political settlement process, and restore peace, stability and normalcy in Yemen at an early date.

The Paper: The Red Cross Society of China donated masks and other medical supplies to the Vatican in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. What is China's comment?

Zhao Lijian: Since the outbreak of COVID 19, the Vatican side has indicated through different channels that medical institutions with links to the Vatican authorities face a shortage of medical supplies. The Red Cross Society of China donated medical supplies to the Vatican Pharmacy in a humanitarian spirit to support the Vatican's efforts to fight the pandemic and treat the affected. The first batch of medical supplies has arrived in the Vatican and we will continue to provide assistance within our capacity. China thinks highly of the Vatican's long dedication to helping poor areas improve medical and health conditions and contributing to addressing global health emergencies. The virus, a common enemy to mankind, sees no difference in nationality, race or religion. China stands ready to work with the international community, including the Vatican, to jointly fight the pandemic and uphold global public health security.

Shenzhen TV: A 15-member medical team organized by a Chinese company arrived in the Nigerian capital of Abuja yesterday with medical supplies. They were greeted at the airport by senior officials from the Nigerian government. However, there are reports that some groups in Nigeria, such as the Nigerian Medical Association, do not welcome the Chinese medical team. What is China's comment?

Zhao Lijian: We noted relevant reports. First of all, at the request of the Nigerian government, a Chinese company collected a batch of medical supplies in China for the Nigerian side. Some medical personnel working for the company were also dispatched on the same plane. Just as the Nigerian Health Minister said, the support and help from the Chinese government and companies was timely, which has effectively relieved Nigeria's urgent need and greatly enhanced its confidence in dealing with the pandemic.

The virus knows no borders and is a common challenge to all mankind. China and Africa are members of a community with a shared future. For China, it is only natural to help African countries fight the pandemic in light of our friendship and cooperation. In addition to the assistance from the Chinese government, our localities, enterprises and overseas Chinese communities also extended a helping hand and contributed to Africa's fight against the pandemic in various forms and through different channels, which have been warmly welcomed and appreciated by the African side. With mutual support and assistance, China is ready to work with African countries including Nigeria for the final victory.

China National Radio: You announced yesterday that a team of medical experts the Chinese government sent to Kazakhstan had left for the country. Do you have more details on their work in Kazakhstan?

Zhao Lijian: A team of 10 medical experts sent by the Chinese government arrived in Kazakhstan yesterday. The Kazakh government attached great importance to this and sent two military planes to China to take the team to Kazakhstan. Upon their arrival, the team was warmly welcomed by the Kazakh government and people. The Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan, Kazakh Vice Foreign Minister and Vice Minister of Health greeted the team at the airport. Kazakhstan said that China's dispatch of medical experts to Kazakhstan is a practical measure to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state on strengthening anti-epidemic cooperation. Chinese experts have rich experience in prevention and control and diagnosis and treatment, which is of great significance to Kazakhstan's fight against the pandemic. In a recent article written by the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev, he spoke highly of China's effective practice in fighting the pandemic, saying that "thanks to strict organization and discipline, China has succeeded in stopping the spread of the epidemic."

The Chinese team of experts plans to work in Kazakhstan for 15 days. The two sides will exchange views on screening, prevention and control of infectious diseases, case management, clinical treatment, community-based health management and laboratory, and the Chinese experts will provide training and guidance to the Kazakh side. China also donated anti-epidemic supplies to Kazakhstan, including surgical masks, N95 respirators, protective suits, non-invasive ventilators and medicine.

Our cooperation on COVID-19 is valued by the Chinese and Kazakh governments with actions from people in the two countries. The two sides have lent firm political, material and spiritual support to each other. It demonstrates our high level and unique permanent comprehensive strategic partnership, as well as the good-neighborliness and friendship from generation to generation between China and Kazakhstan. China is ready to work with Kazakhstan to jointly combat the pandemic and advance bilateral relations based on mutual assistance in times of adversity.

Beijing Daily: China and the Arab League recently held a video conference for health experts. Do you have more details on the conference?

Zhao Lijian: On April 9, the Foreign Ministry, the National Health Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology held a China-Arab video conference to share experience on COVID-19 with health officials and experts from Arab states and the Secretariat General of the Arab League. Representative that attended the conference include AL Assistant Secretary General for Social Affairs, heads of health department and experts from 12 Arab countries and WHO representatives. In response to the concerns of the Arab side, Chinese experts shared their expertise on COVID-19's epidemiological features, developing trend, prevention and control, clinical diagnosis and treatment, and related scientific research. They took over 50 questions. The meeting lasted nearly three hours with over 100 representatives in attendance and achieved good results.

The Arab side spoke highly of China's progress in fighting the epidemic and its important contribution to the world's fight against the pandemic and thanked China for hosting another video conference for Arab countries. They believed such in-depth, informative and practical exchange with the Chinese experts is of great significance for Arab countries to do a good job in pandemic response. The Arab side is ready to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with China to jointly combat the pandemic.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Arab states and the Secretariat General of the Arab League have given China firm support and assistance, which fully demonstrates the friendship between China and Arab states featuring mutual assistance and solidarity. At present, the pandemic is spreading across the world, and no country is immune from it. With the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, China will continue to strengthen information-sharing and deepen cooperation with Arab states. While maintaining prevention and control efforts at home, China will provide support and assistance within its capacity to Arab states in light of their needs and move forward the China-Arab strategic partnership.
Over the past 40 years, the government was like our mother, said Mohammed al-Salmi, a financial analyst at the Central Bank of Oman.

Like other Gulf states, Oman does not grant citizens freedom of expression or the right to choose their leader, but it does provide citizens a range of material advantages: public sector jobs, subsidies, free health care and education, a free plot of land, a pension and no income tax.

However, Omans public debt has skyrocketed since oil prices declined in 2014, going from less than 5% of Oman's gross domestic product to nearly 60% last year. Until 2023, annual budgets were already expected to be in the red. But the 2020 fiscal deficit is expected to be four times higher than previously forecasted because of the double shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and plunging oil prices, credit rating agency Fitch estimated.

To reverse the trend, the cash-strapped Omani government is expected to cut down on public expenditures and impose austerity measures. But such a move would revamp the model of governance that has prevailed since the late Qaboos bin Said ascended to the throne in 1970.

'Make the public sector unattractive'

Public policy analyst Ahmed al-Mukhaini believes the era of "total dependence" on the government is about to end. There will be more and more participation from the population, as the government will use the limited resources available more wisely, he said.

In March 2020, the Ministry of Finance cut budgetary allocations to government agencies by 5%, as a global oil price war sparked by Saudi Arabia is expected to disrupt Omans finances (72% of Oman's revenues come from the hydrocarbon sector).

Public taxation is also increasing. A sin tax was implemented in June 2019 on products like sugary carbonated drinks and tobacco, and a serially delayed 5% value-added tax is expected in 2021. According to Salmi, electricity and water subsidies could soon be slashed and, in the long term, Omanis could see an income tax.

Issam Abousleiman, the World Bank's country director for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, told Al-Monitor that several complementary policies "should happen at the same time," including "targeting of social protection, where possible."

Abousleiman said the pension system is not at risk of revision, and he called for high-quality government services, "notably in education and health."

Above all, reforming the labor market  an unpopular move  would be the cornerstone of a post-Qaboos welfare state. About 43% of Omanis work for public entities. Abousleiman recommended economic diversification to foster private sector job creation and to further "relieve the expectations on the government to provide employment."

The government would have to work very hard on how to make the public sector unattractive, Mukhaini said. Following a field visit to Oman in 2019, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested that the wages and benefits of the private sector need to align more closely with the public sector to make employment in the former more appealing.

Salmi believes Omanis should be "compensated" for any losses following a decrease in benefits and foresees an increase in public participation in politics via the country's legislative body, the Majlis al-Shura.

Cutting royal expenditures

Omanis who talked to Al-Monitor, as well as Mukhaini, believe any upcoming austerity measures "should not make the poor poorer and the rich richer," Mukhaini said.

"People would only accept fair reforms, or else will unite and come [together] to do strikes, an Omani professor said.

According to rating firm S&P, the new ruler will face a difficult trade-off in the coming months to address high unemployment among youths, weak growth, and fiscal and funding pressures.

Omans Ministry of Finance did not reply to Al-Monitors request for comment.

Sultan Haitham bin Tariq "is already planting the seeds by cutting the royal expenditures tremendously," Mukhaini said. "The new ruler recently laid off 51 advisers who served his predecessor. The previous sultan had a lavish lifestyle, palaces and entourage.

Beyond reducing public spending, Oman  rated junk by the three major rating agencies  has several other options to fund its short-term ballooning deficit: Go further into debt; deplete its sovereign wealth fund; sell state assets; devalue its currency; and seek assistance from neighboring countries or international organizations.

'Put the house in order'

In the long term, heavy reliance on hydrocarbon revenues is unsustainable, as the world is gradually moving away from oil, the IMF said in a February 2020 report.

Analysts believe Oman should build a model of governance tailored to the post-oil era. Along with a more stringent budget environment, the new leadership pledged to implement structural reforms to diversify the rentier economy and foster private sector-led growth.

Why didn't these structural reforms take place sooner? To ensure political and social stability, Sultan Qaboos avoided controversial measures that could have triggered short-term political unrest and instead relied on the countrys long-term road map.

In 2011, at the height of the Arab uprisings, Sultan Qaboos promised to create 50,000 jobs and institute unemployment benefits in an attempt to defuse unprecedented nationwide protests.

The sense of urgency was not there, Mukhaini said, in reference to the former leadership. Either Sultan Qaboos immediate circle was not transparent enough with him or they did not realize the degree of the severity [of the economic situation].

Yet the lack of economic reforms did not stop Omanis from loving the monarch, who built a modern state out of a medieval-like society he inherited in the early 1970s. Mukhaini said that Omanis found an excuse for Sultan Qaboos since the ruler "focused on the stability of the region and foreign affairs issues before he died, more than internal ones."

Defense and security expenses account for over a quarter of Oman's annual budget.

When Qaboos  the longest serving Arab leader  died in January 2020, economic rationalism became the keyword as the coronavirus pandemic and declining oil prices weaken Oman's precarious fiscal situation, with large debt maturities scheduled for 2021 and 2022.

The relationship between state and society that Omanis have known for decades will likely never be the same. Now, Sultan Haithams instructions are really to put the house in order, Mukhaini said.
Companies around the world have stepped up and gotten creative to help the global population fight the novel coronavirus, all while aiming to protect doctors and nurses on the front lines.

This article was first published on theStacker.com
Ive become noticeably forgetful, and Im not sleeping well.

 Mignon Fogarty, author and podcast host

[In Her Words is available as a newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox.]

Mignon Fogarty was a few weeks into quarantine when she got into the shower with her glasses on. The author and host of the podcast Grammar Girl shared the experience on Twitter, where dozens of people replied with their own stress-induced scatterbrained moments: forgetting their own phone numbers, washing faces with hair conditioner, spooning powdered baby formula into the coffee maker instead of coffee.

Ive become noticeably forgetful, and Im not sleeping well, Fogarty said of life in self-isolation from her home in Reno, Nev. In last nights dream, I was responsible for taking care of a child who kept touching dirty things in public and rubbing his hands on my face while I sat there thinking about how our whole family was going to die.

Fogarty is hardly alone. As the coronavirus crisis spreads across the U.S., many states and cities have ordered residents to self-isolate in order to slow the virus. As a result, millions of people now find themselves cut off from their normal routines and support networks  while also home schooling children, managing households in lockdown, caring for loved ones and grappling with serious fears about the health and safety of their community. Stress is high, and healthy outlets for it are few. Its a situation that seems practically made to undermine mental health.
When was the last time you sent a thank you card? Or, for that matter, got one? It's always a special gesture, whether you're giving or receiving, but getting one from an actual royal? That's taking things to a different level. People reports that a thank-you note from Princess Diana is hitting the auction block at William George & Co  and it shows just how polite and proper she was.

The letter goes back to 1989 and was sent to Sergeant George Plumb of Scotland Yards elite Close Protection Group. In the note, which is posted at People's website, she thanked him for helping with Prince William's seventh birthday. The letter includes a heartfelt message, which is on official Kensington Palace stationery, includes Diana's signature as well as William and Harry's.

Georges De Keerle/Getty Images

RELATED: See Inside the $12.5 Million Beach House Princess Diana Stayed in When She Visited The Bahamas

"Dear Sgt Plumb, It was so very kind of you and your team to have come here today on Williams birthday. I cannot begin to tell you what pleasure the display gave to all those little people and their mothers! I know how particularly busy you all are at the moment," the letter reads. "So it meant even more to us that you and the motorbike boys were able to take part in the birthday celebrations! This comes with our warmest possible thanks.

It finishes, Yours sincerely Diana, William, Harry.

The auction lot includes a second letter from Ann Beckwith-Smith, Diana's lady-in-waiting, and a Buckingham Palace envelope that's addressed to "Sgt George Plumb Special Escort Group." There's still time for interested parties to bid on the letters. Running through April 23, the next minimum bid is $10,000.

RELATED: Princess Diana's Former Butler Shared a Touching Never-Before-Seen Letter From Her

"We are delighted to bring this rare item, signed not just by Diana, Princess of Wales, but also by her children, to market," Robin Gray, managing director of William George, said. "Authentic, personal pieces such as this are much sought after and we have experienced a lot of interest in this sale already."
Pakistan Calls On Kabul To Hand Over Jailed Head Of IS-Linked Group

By RFE/RL April 09, 2020

The Pakistani government has called on Afghanistan to hand over the captured leader of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), an affiliate of the extremist group Islamic State (IS).

"The Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conveyed Pakistan's views" regarding the arrest of Aslam Farooqi, the ministry said in a statement on April 9.

During the meeting, the Afghan envoy was told that Farooqi "should be handed over to Pakistan for further investigations" because he was involved in "anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan," it said.

The statement said that the two countries "should coordinate actions against the menace of terrorism."

Afghan officials say Farooqi, whose real name is Abdullah Orakzai, was arrested in the Kandahar Province on April 4. He became the ISKP leader in July 2019.

The group has claimed responsibility for attacks in both Afghanistan and Pakistan that have killed scores of civilians.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-calls-on- kabul-to-hand-over-jailed-head-of- is-linked-group/30544226.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The film week is scheduled to be held in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City with the aim of promoting the fine values of people in the ASEAN Community.

Each ASEAN country will be invited to send a film to the event.

The selected films will be translated into Vietnamese and submitted to an evaluation council.

Themed For an ASEAN of cohesion and proactive adaptation, the film week is expected to enhance the role and position of Vietnam as the ASEAN Chair in 2020.
Our Divisions

Copyright  2021-22 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved

This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics.
Posted on Thursday, April 09, 2020

Kingsville, Texas  President Mark A. Hussey announced today that Texas A&M University-Kingsville presented COVID-19 testing kits to Kleberg County.

Texas A&M University-Kingsville is pleased to be able to provide these much-needed test kits to our community during these challenging times, said University President Dr. Mark A. Hussey. As a member of a land grant university system, the ability to provide this type of support is at the heart of our mission, and we remain committed to placing the needs of the community and state at the forefront.

The viral sampling kits were rushed to Texas A&M University-Kingsville by the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in College Station. The kits were assembled from lab supplies usually reserved for pigs, cows and chickens at A&Ms four diagnostic labs across the state.

"The partnership and support from Dr. Hussey and the Texas A&M University-Kingsville team continues to play a vital role in keeping our county and area residents safe, said Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid. We humbly accept their donation which will help ensure the stability of our Regional Remote COVID-19 Testing Center in Kleberg County. Our community thanks them for their leadership.

Texas A&M University-Kingsville also provided test kits to two Kingsville area healthcare clinics that often serve the Kingsville community and the University student populationCastaneda Quick Care and StatCare Urgent Care.

Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp said the veterinary experts who track disease outbreaks in animals were ready to assist with the current human pandemic.

No one has ever done this before, but tough times call for creative measures, said John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.

Dr. Bruce Akey, director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, said he sent out a plea for supplies to his labs in Amarillo, Center and Gonzales and they began overnighting the supplies late last week.

We assembled the supplies into sampling kits here in our College Station lab, Akey said. We know that the 2,000 we came up with may not seem like much when there are 20-plus million Texans at risk that may need testing, but if you need to be tested and you cant right now because they dont have this kit then its a pretty big deal to you and your family. So we are doing what we can right now.

The kits consist of a swab, a vial with transport media to preserve the sample in the vial, and a bag. They usually cost about $4 to $5 if you were to order them in bulk before the pandemic swept through the existing stock. Now, these simple supplies are back-ordered for months, crippling efforts to test humans for COVID-19.

We hope to get these sampling kits in the hospitals or clinics where they are most needed as soon as possible, Akey said. We are pulling out all the stops.

About The Texas A&M University System

The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation with a budget of $6.3 billion. The System is a statewide network of 11 universities; a comprehensive health science center; eight state agencies, including the Texas Division of Emergency Management; and the RELLIS Campus. The Texas A&M System educates more than 151,000 students and makes more than 22 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceeded $1 billion in FY 2019 and helped drive the states economy.

-TAMUK-
This is an opinion column.

Several years ago, ahead of the Dalai Lamas visit to Birmingham, I walked to Railroad Park where I watched Tibetan monks painting a mandala.

Painting might not be the right word. Taking turns with tiny instruments, they sifted colored sand, grain by deliberate grain, onto a tabletop, building geometric designs that meant more to them than to the spectators like me. But it was beautiful.

And then they destroyed it.

After a week of work, they swept the sand into a pile before dumping it into an urn. Thats what makes the mandala more than a pretty thing for people to gawk at. It represents the impermanence of life and the futility of attachment.

I think of this often now while cleaning my childrens playroom.

For three weeks my family has been sequestered in our home. Early on, we tried to get out as we could, but this world has been a shrinking circle and at the center of it  all that seems left  is our home.

And this playroom.

Over there is a Fisher-Price Little Farm, its barnyard animals scattered on the ground as if some sudden pestilence laid them flat. Over here is a baby doll, naked. In a moment of pity, I dress her again. In the corner sits a plastic Jack-o-Lantern bucket for collecting Halloween candy. What the heck is that doing out here now? And the carpet. My toddler daughter has invented a game: What Did You Just Put in Your Mouth? Its fuzz and dirt and sticks and crud, and I have no idea how any of it got into our home. Do you know how many bits of Play-Doh Ive picked out of this rug?

I reach a breaking point.

Son, youre old enough to do chores, I tell the four-year-old.

I explain to my eldest that he must take responsibility for his things. Hes going to help me clean this room. He nods. He signals agreement and understanding. A few minutes go by.

Son! what are you doing?

Theres a toy Ive told him to put in a specific box on the playroom shelf. Five minutes ago, this thing was litter by the roadside. Now he stares at it as if the cure to the coronavirus is inscribed on its side.

A half an hour goes by. We finish. The playroom is clean and I reward him with a snack.

I turn away.

I hear a sweeping sound behind me.

I turn back.

Its a mess again.

Its frustrating, but in the midst of it, Ive found peace with whats happening out there.

The anxiety of whats around us right now, what we try to keep from our children  its a truth we all must face sooner or later. Were here one moment, and one day well be swept away. And theres not a thing we can do but enjoy what we have in between.

Kids! Whos ready for a picnic?!

Last week, I ordered a fancy picnic blanket online, and last evening it arrived on our doorstep. Its big and soft and white and blue on one side and waterproof on the other. My son has been waiting for this all day. He totes it into the backyard. We smooth the new blanket onto the ground. I set our daughter on the blanket. Immediately, she crawls to the edge and tries to eat grass. I extract it, and then I lie on my back, looking skyward. I coerce my son into doing the same.

Theres a hawk! I say. Do you see it?

He sees it. He watches it for a moment as it circles. Hes not impressed.

Theres a plane! I say.

Hes much more interested this time and wants to know whos riding inside. I do, too.

Look at those clouds!

He looks at those clouds. No spark there, either. Admittedly, theyre not especially interesting, but Im not ready to give up.

You see those clouds? Those clouds are here now, but in just a few minutes, theyll be gone. Theyll be swept away and what youre seeing will never be here again.

He doesnt get it. Not yet, anyway. But one day he will.

If only when he cleans his own kids playroom for the thousandth freaking time.

Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group.

You can follow his work on his Facebook page, The War on Dumb. And on Twitter. And on Instagram.

More columns by Kyle Whitmire

This is the most dangerous election. And the most important.

Alabamas governor went on Twitter for a coronavirus Q&A. It was a disaster.

Alabama is stuck on autopilot

What Ill take from the quarantine: My daughters first steps

Stop with the California comparisons, Kay Ivey

Lieutenant governor demands Alabama coronavirus task force do its job

If Alabama has to go back to work, so should the Legislature

In grief for normal life

The truth will tell itself
All U.S. and Michigan flags will be lowered to half-staff indefinitely in honor of those who have lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered Friday.

The order is effective as of April 10 and remains in effect indefinitely. The order applies to state of Michigan buildings and properties, but residents, businesses, schools, local governments and other organizations are also encouraged to display the flag at half-staff.

In a statement announcing the decision, Whitmer offered condolences to families of the more than 1,200 people whose lives were cut short by the disease.

The coronavirus pandemic has had devastating impacts on families across our state, Whitmer said. The flags lowered will serve to remind us all that every life lost is a story and legacy of a loved one gone too soon."

State Sen. Pete Lucido, R-Shelby Township, had requested the governor to lower the flags Thursday evening.

This is a global fight the likes of which we have never seen in our lifetimes, he said Thursday. We are all joined together in this fight and it only makes sense that we formally honor the lives of those who have been lost in battle and their families.

The latest statewide numbers released Friday show 22,783 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,281 deaths in Michigan.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home ( door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

More from MLive:

Michigan reports 206 new coronavirus deaths, nearly double previous daily peak

Michigans first alternate care facility begins accepting coronavirus patients

With Michigans coronavirus stay-at-home order extended, frustration builds over whats been deemed non-essential

Read Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmers revised coronavirus stay-at-home order

Michigan unemployment questions answered: When to expect it, if its taxable and more
KAMPALA The first batch of three patients infected with the novel coronavirus are set to be discharged from hospital after recovery, Dr. Henry G. Mwebesa, the Director General Health Services at Ministry of Health announced on Thursday night.

Without giving details, Dr. Mwebesa the tree cases had undergone treatment and they have since tested Negative twice for the virus.

Three cases have tested Negative twice after treatment and are being considered for discharge by clinicians, he said in a statement.

According to the health ministry, a cumulative total of 3,862 samples have been tested for COVID-19.

The number of individuals under institutional quarantine has reduced from the original 1,040 to 613 as of Thursday.

A total of 427 individuals have been discharged from institutional quarantine. In addition, 571 contacts of the confirmed cases are under follow-up.

All the 53 people confirmed to have coronavirus are said to be in stable condition at Mulago National Specialized Hospital (21), Entebbe Grade B Hospital (30), Adjumani (1) and Hoima (1) hospital

Uganda has confirmed 53 cases of novel coronavirus infections but no deaths were reported.

Uganda first reported one case of novel coronavirus on March 21.

President Museveni on Wednesday April 08 tightened restrictions to prevent further spread of coronavirus in the country.

The president announced that he had banned jogging on public roads and further limited operations of boda bodas.

The new restrictions come as Ugandans count down towards the end of the 14-day total lockdown announced on March 30.

President Museveni, however, said that the lockdown would be reviewed depending on progress in tracing persons who have been in contact with coronavirus patients.

Of the 53 cases, 13 are local infections according to Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, while the others are of people who had travelled from countries reporting Covid-19.

Related

Continue Reading
A minister who broke coronavirus restrictions when he left his Sydney apartment to stay at his holiday home has resigned.

New South Wales Arts Minister Don Harwin was fined $1,000 on Thursday after he was found to have breached COVID-19 restrictions by travelling to his Central Coast holiday home.

The coalition frontbencher was spotted at his million-dollar Pearl Beach house earlier in the week, which is more than an hour's drive from his east Sydney primary residence.

Mr Harwin offered his resignation to Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Friday.

The Premier - who accepted the offer - said the strict social distancing rules introduced to combat the spread COVID-19 apply equally to everyone.

'Whilst Minister Harwin has served the people of NSW well, and he continues to assure me that he did not break the rules, the orders in place apply equally to everyone,' she said.

'Accordingly, Minister Harwin has appropriately resigned from cabinet.'

NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin has resigned after he was found to stay at his holiday home during the coronavirus crisis

PREMIER GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN STATEMENT IN FULL During this health crisis my government has asked the community to make greater sacrifices than all of us have ever had to make before. These sacrifices are saving lives, and I am proud of the people of NSW for continuing to uphold the law in the interest of the public health. Late last night I was advised Minister Don Harwin had been fined $1000 for breaching a public health order. The Police, who have been tasked by my Government with enforcing these health orders, came to the conclusion that Minister Harwin breached the order. Whilst Minister Harwin has served the people of NSW well, and he continues to assure me that he did not break the rules, the orders in place apply equally to everybody. Accordingly, Minister Harwin has appropriately resigned from cabinet. Advertisement

In a statement on Friday, Mr Harwin said there was nothing more important than the work of the government while fighting the coronavirus crisis.

'I will not allow my circumstances to be a distraction from that work and I very much regret that my residential arrangements have become an issue during this time,' he said.

'At all times I have sought to act in accordance with public health orders and I sought advice that my living arrangements complied with those orders.'

Mr Harwin said he was confident he followed the public health orders but added that 'perception is just as important' during the health crisis.

'The premier and her team are doing an outstanding job during the biggest crisis our state and nation have faced during our lifetimes,'

'It is absolutely vital they should be able to focus entirely on the health and economic issues facing our community.'

Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) accepted Mr Harwin's offer and said the strict coronavirus rules applied to everyone

Officers spoke with the 55-year-old on Thursday and he was issued with a $1,000 fine via email just before 9pm, NSW Police later said in a statement.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian defied calls to sack the MP but on Thursday told him to return to his Sydney apartment - acknowledging the 'perception is horrible'.

'It's not just about sticking to the rules, it's about making sure there's a perception that everybody is sticking to the rules including members of parliament,' the premier told reporters.

She said she became aware of his change of residence a few days ago, despite Mr Harwin travelling back to Sydney for a medical consultation and parliamentary sitting on March 24.

But Ms Berejiklian is adamant Mr Harwin didn't break the rules because he relocated on March 13 before state COVID-19 regulations came into effect on March 17.

Not wanting to 'cause a distraction', Mr Harwin confirmed he'd arrived back in Sydney in a statement on Thursday.

He apologised to the premier and the NSW community but insisted he had sought official advice to adhere to the public health order.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said the restrictions are in place to protect the lives of people in NSW.

'No one individual or corporation is above these laws - anyone suspected of breaching the orders will be investigated and if a breach is detected, they will be dealt with in accordance with the act,' he said in a statement.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Harwin rejected he was a 'tourist' and claimed he had spent most of the past four months at Pearl Beach.

Pearl Beach (pictured) is a popular tourist spot on the New South Wales Central Coast

The 55-year-old said he had chosen to move out of Sydney for health reasons as someone with a history of respiratory problems.

But The Daily Telegraph reported Mr Harwin strongly argued against government plans to ban holidays during a Cabinet meeting.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro excused himself from the meeting after declaring he had a conflict of interest because he owned an Airbnb property.

Five ministers claimed Mr Harwin did not say he had a conflict of interest during the meeting, despite advertising his 1.3million property for $515 per night online.

'There was a heated exchange between (Planning Minister Rob) Stokes and Harwin when Stokes was pushing a crackdown,' someone in the meeting said.

'It really surprised me, I couldn't understand why. Now I understand why he was so strident.'

Police checkpoints are set up at the New South Wales/Queensland border to prevent non essential travel between the two states

Mr Harwin said he normally rented the property out but couldn't due to the bushfires and COVID-19.

His spokesperson declined to comment on why the minister didn't speak up about his conflict of interest during the meeting.

NSW Labor called for Mr Harwin to resign or for the premier to step in and relieve him of his ministerial duties.

'He's been selfish and he should be brought to account,' Shadow Arts Minister Walt Secord told reporters before the resignation.

Mr Secord believes Mr Harwin - the head of the NSW Liberals' left faction - is being protected as a 'factional ally' of Ms Berejiklian.

New South Wales police is urging residents to stay home this Easter Long Weekend

'Anyone else would have been shown the door,' he said.

'She should do the right thing, show leadership and toss him out.'

Ms Berejiklian, however, said she wasn't inclined to sack a minister on the basis of a potential fine but would wait for police to first establish the facts.

'If someone is shown to act in a way which is against the ministerial code or against the laws of this state, of course I'll take action,' Ms Berejiklian said.

It comes as the state government continues to urge the public against all non-essential travel to regional NSW towns, especially over the Easter long weekend.

Breaching social distancing guidelines in NSW could result in fines up to $11,000, six months in jail or a hefty $1,000 on-the-spot fine.
These arent the best of times for graduating students seeking their first jobs. Ankur Gupta, a second-year management student from Delhi, was eagerly waiting for the final round of the campus placement season to start from April 1. But the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown derailed his plans, as his college had to close indefinitely. The placement process too was suspended. Ankur is worried. I wonder if companies will now turn up at a later date. I might just not get a job offer in these tough market conditions, he says. His attempts at getting help from recruitment consultants and through his college alumni network on LinkedIn to find a job hasnt helped either. Worse, he has an education loan of Rs 10 lakh to repay.

Several job offers made to engineering and management college graduates are being revoked by companies or are getting postponed. Some companies are re-negotiating the job offers with students and reducing the remuneration package, considering the weak state of the economy.

Rohit Sethi, Director, ESS Global, Study Abroad Consultants says, Due to the rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and talks of extending the lockdown period, it is unlikely that placements would resume in April 2020 at Indian colleges and foreign universities. For graduating students in India and abroad, this is going to be tough time.

In December 2019, a final-year engineering student from Mumbai, Shilpa Dave, got an international job offer in Europe via her campus placement. Her joining date was May 4. But, on March 16, she got an email from the company that the job offer was being revoked due to the slowdown in their global business and uncertainty of recovery anytime soon due to Covid-19.

Far from earning big bucks, students graduating this year need to manage their money box in a deft way. Taking a few important steps could help you tide over this crisis.

Take care of your education loan

Education loans taken from banks come with a moratorium period of up to one year after the completion of the course or six months after securing a job, whichever is earlier. This is a regular feature and is different from the moratorium that the Reserve Bank of India allowed recently. For instance, if you graduate in June 2020, then the moratorium period will end in June 2021 or six months after securing a job, whichever is earlier.

The objective of this moratorium is to provide relief to students who cannot service their loan as soon as they start working, owing to lack of jobs or in case they are not getting adequate pay to service their education loan right away, says Gaurav Aggarwal, Director and Head of Unsecured Loans, Paisabazaar.com. This moratorium period helps cash-starved graduates to defer equated monthly instalments (EMIs). But, the loan will continue to accrue interest during the moratorium period. This will be added to the principal component and the EMI is calculated accordingly once you start repaying the education loan.

Talk to your bank. Discuss your financial situation with your bank manager if youve not yet got a job or have had to settle for low-paying employment because of the depressed job market. Prashant Bhonsle, CEO, Student loans and Head Marketing of financial services platform, Incred says, If the bank finds your application legitimate and claim to be genuine, it may extend your loan tenor. This will reduce the EMI burden immediately.

Mrin Agarwal, financial educator and founder of Finsafe India says, Though this is not the ideal solution, talk to your parents or siblings and see if there is a possibility of their helping you in prepaying a part of your loan. Promise them you will repay it in future. There are no-prepayment charges in education loan. The EMI for the remaining part will be lower and may just be manageable.

Invest in yourself

If you have already got the job offer you had wanted, but the company wants to re-negotiate, consider it. Its better than having nothing on your plate.

But if you havent yet got a job or if your offer has been taken back, use this time to upskill yourself. There are plenty of online courses available from portals such as Coursera, Udemy and edx. Additional certification will help you gain an edge later when the economic situation improves and the job market looks up again. It also helps your prospects when you demonstrate that you werent idle in this lean period and instead chose to do something about it. Read up on websites such as Investopedia.com and brush up on your finance skills if you wish to have a career in finance.

Pursue opportunities where you can add value through projects or short-term contracts with an organisation; the aim is to be productive during these so called trying times and take experiences, says Saurav Basu, Head of Wealth Management, Tata Capital.

Use this time to identify your weakness and work on it. Many of us are weak in communication, for instance, and we may not even realise this. A HR professional states that he often receives 6-7-pages long resumes! Use this time to work on your resume and try to shorten it. These are skills that experts say fresh graduates often take for granted and hurt their chances of getting the right job.

Dont overspend

In an economic downturn, graduates often lose control of their finances. Avoid making impulsive purchases. Keep an eye on your discretionary expenses and avoid taking any loans till you secure a good job. Taking loans when you do not have a secure job and then defaulting will seriously affect your credit score.

Build a second stream of income

Try and supplement your income, by taking up assignments over the weekends. Of course, these shouldnt conflict with your main job; moonlighting is always frowned upon in professional circles and is rightly deemed unprofessional. Instead, tap into your hobbies or some talent that can earn you an extra buck. Use your weekends to harness a different side of yourself than your week-long work-office personality. This supplementary income may be minimal, but if youre good at what you do and are creative, who knows, your hobby might even become your profession in the future. Thats one way to invest in yourself in these times.

Says Basu, Working part-time in creative fields will offer a reasonably good remuneration and you can build valuable experience. Also, you may able to increase your savings and prepay your education loan. There is a demand for educated professionals to serve as teachers, freelance writers, photographers and researchers. At a young age, when have just graduated and have lots of weekend time at your disposal, try and use some of it creatively.

Finally, dont lose hope. Remain calm and dont get anxious, as these are extraordinary times. You should use your time wisely as well and prepare yourself for a better tomorrow.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-08 09:46:06|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MEXICO CITY, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Latin American countries are urging, and sometimes mandating, people to use face masks to contain the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, even as global experts debate its efficacy in warding off infection.

In Chile, where 5,116 people have tested positive for COVID-19, and 43 have died from the disease, the government has made it mandatory to use a face mask on all public transit and paid private transportation.

In Ecuador, the Emergency Operations Committee (COE) decided to make face masks obligatory in public spaces, according to Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo.

Local officials will be in charge of enforcing the new measure, Romo said via Twitter.

Ecuador is among Latin America's three worst-hit countries, along with Brazil and Chile, having reported 3,747 cases with 191 deaths.

Brazil has acknowledged a lack of sufficient face masks for such a move, leading the country's three largest private banks -- Itau, Bradesco and Santander -- to join forces to try to supply the protective items.

The banks announced they were earmarking 50 million reals (10 million US dollars) to purchase 15 million masks from small manufacturers in Brazil.

Brazil has reported 13,717 cases with 667 deaths, and the mortality stood at 4.9 percent, according to the Health Ministry.

The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines basically recommend wearing "a mask if you are coughing or sneezing" to prevent others from being infected.

Healthy people should wear a mask if they are taking care of a person who may have the virus, the WHO says, adding "masks are effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water."
S ocial networks are providing a lifeline to people stuck at home all day, particularly for mums who are now juggling work, home school, housework and fears about their familys health.

A new social network for mums named Tinto has recently launched to provide an extra helping hand during Covid-19 and beyond. The app, created by former lawyer Idia Elsmore Dodsworth and GP and former Babylon staff Hannah Allen, uses a personalisation algorithm to match up similarly-minded mums who can provide support and help to one another, whether that's help on how to get started breastfeeding or what to do if you feel you have postnatal depression.

I found motherhood exceptionally challenging, explains Elsmore Dodsworth. Theres no personalisation when you become a mother, youre put into NCT groups, theres lots of generic forums and its hard to get personalised, accessible information. I thought, wouldnt it be great if I could connect with someone who is just like me in this moment who could tell me and guide me that life is going to get better.

When Elsmore Dodsworth mentioned this to Allen the two met years before as their husbands went to school together, Allen says her creative juices just started flowing. As a GP that specialises in womens health, she was used to treating women with postnatal and antenatal depression in her clinic and was aware of how big the issue was.

The stats blew me away, that for 30 per cent of women who suffer postnatal depression suicide was the leading cause of death. Its an absolute travesty and its been a passion project for me to try and work out a scalable solution to provide a support network for these women that theyre lacking in their modern-day lives, she explains.

They decided to find a real solution and started working on what would become Tinto just under a year ago, holding focus groups with women, as well as liaising with academics, scientists and engineers. At the core of Tinto is its recommendation engine which uses artificial intelligence to match up mums who have been through similar scenarios.

From the get-go we wanted to really understand how do you validate these types of concepts and build in AI that is academically backed and scientifically validated rather than just a gimmicky product, says Allen.

So how does Tinto work?

The name comes from the Italian word for instinct  instinto. We found that when speaking to women in the focus groups, when they had conflicting advice on a forum or from their mum, they all said they would try and follow their instincts. So this is everyone tapping into their own Tinto and connecting with women with aligned Tintos, say Elsmore Dodsworth.

New mums log into the app and input their different experiences and philosophies on parenting, such as did they have a water birth, and what life stage theyre at. The answers to this scientific personality questionnaire go into Tintos recommendation engine on the backend and which is employed when matching up with other mums.

Then you can use the app to find support. Say you log in and say youre having low mood symptoms and want to talk someone. The app will match you up with a mum who is a few life stages ahead so they can empathise and offer solutions that they used. In particular, the founders hope that this helps women deal with loneliness which is a key symptom of postnatal depression.

Loneliness is one of the most challenging and important problems we have in society, particularly amongst the vulnerable cohort of pregnant and postnatal women because that not only impacts them but their entire families, says Allen. We want to tackle this head-on by enabling people to feel connected and like they belong somewhere.

Down the line, Tinto hopes to add the opportunity to chat with specialists on the platform, such as therapists, midwives, sleep consultants and doulas, to democratise access to the specialist help you need with a young child but cant access through the NHS.

A chance meeting with someone from Founders Factory, the start-up studio and accelerator, led them to apply to one of its programmes. They secured a spot and started working there in February around six weeks before the lockdown. Theyve been hugely helpful, says Elsmore Dodsworth. As they take equity in your business, we had to think about the equity road map of our business if they take this much at this early stage. But as soon as we got in, we thought, Best decision ever.

Instead of working at Founders Factorys office in Kensington, the duo is now managing everything at home, using platforms such as Zoom and Slack to communicate with the team, whilst balancing childcare and Allens work on the Covid-19 frontline.

With all the technologies we have, theres no reason we all have to be in the same room, says Allen. We have four kids under the age of five between us; we have to be flexible and it has to work for our families and us as well. Remote working is the new way of working, particularly after this I think a lot of people are going to be having revelations with regards to how they set things up.

Tinto will be incorporating coronavirus-specific content for mums on the platform, incorporating the advice from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, as well as new product features to help people who are stuck at home in social isolation. The lockdown has forced them to re-think their product roadmap too. We were really excited to push this amazing product out and have all of the bells and whistles but we have to be realistic. Its about staying lean and agile, and looking at how we can build a viable business in the world of corona, says Elsmore Dodsworth.

This hasnt put them off their ultimate goal though, which is to create an app that helps women thrive during all life stages, from being a teenager to the menopause. So many women and men around the world are doing brilliant jobs at creating platforms and spaces for people to feel heard and validated, thats bringing value to their lives. I hope we can all come together and work to improve the lives of women overall, adds Allen.
They are Chairman of private conglomerate Vingroup Pham Nhat Vuong, ranked 286th; CEO of budget carrier Vietjet Air Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, 1,001st; Chairman of Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco) Tran Ba Duong, 1,415th; and Chairman of Techcombank Ho Hung Anh, 1,990th.

Fish sauce magnet Nguyen Dang Quang, who entered the Forbes billionaire list last year for the first time, did not appear this time.

Centi-billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos maintains the top spot in this years ranking, for the third consecutive year, despite his net worth hitting US$113 billion, down US$8 billion from last year.

This is the 34th year Forbes magazine has compiled its list of the world's billionaires. This year's list sees a total of 2,095 billionaires with a combined wealth of US$8 trillion, down from US$8.7 trillion in 2019.

In addition, three Vietnamese businesspeople have been also honoured in the magazines annual 30 Under 30 Asia list.

They are among six entrepreneurs receiving support from the Ministry of Science and Technology via a start-up support scheme called Project 844 till 2025.

The Vietnamese honourees include Nghiem Xuan Huy, co-founder and CEO of Finhay, one of the top 10 potential start-ups in the national start-ups and innovation competition Techfest 2017.

The second is Han Ngoc Tuan Linh, co-founder and CEO of Vietnam Silicon Valley Capital, a US$7-million accelerator that invests in world-class early-stage start-ups in Vietnam.

The last honouree is Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen, founder of the medical technology start-up Medlink Asia, which connects producers, distributors and consumers together in the eco-system of pharmaceuticals sector.
10.04.2020 LISTEN

Members of the inky fraternity, we the undersigned are writing to seek your quick intervention in dealing with recalcitrant manner one Clement Gyato, a known NDC devotee and business associate of former president John Dramani Mahamas brother, Ibrahim Mahama is lording over the governed, intimidating and expropriating lands bequeathed to us by our ancestors and selling them at will.

The previous government under former president John Dramani Mahama, signed agreement with Clement Gyato to safeguard all state lands against encroachment but unfortunately it turns out to be rather a hatched plan to divert states lands to private individuals for their personal use to the detriment of we the real owners of such properties, even though compensations were not paid to us in many instances.

We also wish to share with you the mouthpiece of the defenseless in society, our thoughts and displeasure regarding the covert manner some of the President Nana Addos appointees hurriedly renewed Clement Gyatos contract to resource him to enable him fund John Mahamas campaign to fulfill promises made to Ibrahim Mahama for securing the contract for him during the tenure of his brother, former president John Mahama.

Clement Gyato has been assigned to safeguard state lands against encroachment is rather encroaching on states lands with the connivance of some government appointees who doesnt have the interest of the president at heart except their self-gratification.

We have applied wisdom by writing series of petitions to the successive governments for the return of our ancestral lands that are being shared by politicians without success.

Since the lands in question were our only source of livelihood prior to the compulsory acquisition, we feel cheated as we have endured abject poverty for far too long and can no longer sit back, wait and watch Clement Gyato and his cohorts to take over our ancestral property as we dont have other natural resources like other regions.

By our grievances stipulated above; we the undersigned leaders of the Ga state are saying that;

(a) We see President Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo as a fine gentleman who doesnt condone wrongdoing and can never supervise expropriation of lands from the poor.

(b) We voted for Nana Addo because we see his wife, the first lady, Rebecca Akuffo Addo as a mother and one of our own, who can intervene and do our bidding so far as our lands are concerned.

(c) If we fail to get our ancestral lands back, we will have no alternative than to advice our subjects to turn against NPP.

(d) As we write, Clement Gyato has covertly moved excavators and other equipment onto parts our of lands under the cover of coronavirus chaos to embark on his personal projects, with the connivance of the presidents trusted appointees, especially minister for lands and natural resources. He is presently clearing our lands at Dairy farm belonging to Danfa, Kweiman, Amrahia as well as Prampram. We the Chiefs and elders of these communities are respecting Presidents directives of isolation and confinement as a result of COVID 19 but if Clement Gyato is allowed to go ahead with what he is doing, we shall also defy the directives of President and marshal forces and face him squarely without considering the aftermath.

(e) Land is central to livelihoods, culture and identity for millions of people across the developing world. But there is growing concern that people's connection to their lands is being undermined, due to large-scale land deals by the state, a situation we are stringently against.

(f) The strange behavior of Clement Gyato if not stopped, will soon dent the image of the present government, as well as demean the integrity of the NPP as a party, which will eventually affect the electoral fortunes of President Nana Addo.

(g) As law abiding citizens, we are taking this step to channel our complaints to the right thinking members of the public, while calling for the quicker intervention of the president by terminating Clement Gyatos Contract before his actions bury the electoral fortunes of the NPP government.

(h) Lest we forget: Clement Gyato exhibited similar behavior at Adenta over Ghana Civil Aviation land in 2017 where he masterminded the killing of an indigene identified as Adjei Akpor aka Brother who was part of the family that owns the aviation land. He claimed to have been protecting the land for government then. He knows the then government was going to release a portion of the land to the rightful owners but he covertly and overtly grabbed the land from the owners, allegedly using Ibrahim Mahama as a conduit. Today, he is developing the land together with his business partners.

(i) We are ready for him. We shall fight him anyway anyhow, even if it means shedding blood to reclaim our ancestral lands.

(j) The most annoying part of our predicament is the way and a manner Clement Gyato hovering around all the places claiming that he has the backing of the first lady to do what he is presently doing. We voted for Nana Addo because of the first lady, his wife. Unfortunately, the very person that earns our vote for the NPP has swiftly turned against us and now supporting an NDC activist that has interminably terrorized us.

(k) We also have it on record that this very same Clement Gyato insulted Ga chiefs when Pokuase chief, Nii Otto Kwami V questioned Gyatos resolve to embark on his personal project on their lands to the detriment of the real owners of those lands. Gyato in his response stated that, if Ga chiefs were intelligent enough, they wouldnt have sat down and allow those from other jurisdictions to arrogate Ga lands for their personal use.

It is rather unfortunate that at this material moment that Ghana touts itself of basking in the rule of law and good governance, we have to get to a point where government, and its appointees rather disregard law and order and natural justice.

Members of the inky fraternity, we thank you very much for your attention. We look forward to your swift action.

Signed:

Nana Bram Okae II  Chief Of Menpemehoasem

Nii Otto Kwami V  Chief Of Pokuase

Naa Densua  IV  Queen Mother Of Pokuase

Naa Santrofi Atswei Okpoti I  Queen Mother Of Frafraha

The Entire Denkyera Family Of Ningo

Nii Afia III- Chief Of Afiaman

La Kpan  Wulome

Nene Doryumu  Shai Hills chief

Nene Odoi Ansah Sordjie  Doryumu chief

Nii Ashong Kojo III - Chief Of Amrahia

Nii Djanie Afutu Brempong IV  Chief Of Danfa

Nii Kweitia  Chief Of Kweiman

Nii Boi- Okansha  Chief Of Oyibi

Nii Ako Toaboase  Chief Of Okponglo

Nii Kotei Amli family  Bawaleshie

SPOKEPERSON: NII DJANIE KLU
Multnomah County commissioners voted Thursday to extend a state of emergency declaration by three months, with an end date now set for July 9. The declaration, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, was previously scheduled to end Friday.

The county state of emergency, which has been in effect since March 11, allows the county to request state aid, authorizes county officials to perform emergency services and other actions.

County actions taken during the declaration so far have included temporarily banning residential landlords from evicting tenants who cant afford rent due to COVID-19-related impacts and opening almost 400 beds in community centers and the Oregon Convention Center for people experiencing homelessness.

County officials said Thursday that they also have provided $100,000 in vouchers to shelter domestic violence victims and their families in motels. Julie Sullivan-Springhetti, a county spokesperson, said she didnt immediately know how many families have been helped.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

The county eviction moratorium allows eligible renters up to six months from the end of the state of emergency to repay all the accrued rent they owe. The county rule calls for renters to inform their landlords on or before the day rent is due that they need to have their payment deferred.

Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the county is considering modifying the moratorium to instead require tenants to notify landlords as soon as reasonably possible, mirroring language in the statewide moratorium.

She said the proposed change may come before the county board of commissioners for approval next week.

Portland has also extended its state of emergency declaration to April 23. The citys declaration has been in effect since March 12.

As of Thursday, Oregon has more than 1,300 confirmed cases of people infected with coronavirus and 44 people have died.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBailey

Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox.
Update: April 11, Police have begun investigation into allegations of sexual assault inside the isolation ward of ANMMCH. A formal complaint has been filed against an unknown person.

In a shocking case reported from Gaya in Bihar, a woman admitted to the coronavirus isolation ward at a medical college, was allegedly sexually assaulted by a healthcare worker for two days. The matter came to light on Tuesday.

The woman was admitted to an isolation ward at Anugrah Narain Magadh Medical College and Hospital (ANMMCH). Her family has accused a healthcare worker of raping the woman for two days. She died of excessive bleeding at home after being discharged from the hospital.

"The 25-year-old victim had returned to Bihars Gaya district from Ludhiana (in Punjab) along with her husband on March 25. Before returning to her in-laws place, she had undergone abortion at Ludhiana just when she was two months pregnant," said a report by Deccan Herald.

EPA/Representational Image

She complained of excessive bleeding after reaching Gaya. Her husband admitted her to Anugrah Narain Magadh Medical College on March 27 where she was admitted to the emergency ward.

After doctors suspected that she could be coronavirus positive, she was kept in an isolation ward. Her family members have alleged that a doctor attending her in the isolation ward outraged her modesty for two successive nights on April 2 and 3.

The following day, she was discharged from the hospital after her coronavirus test report was found to be negative. However, after returning home, she remained aloof and struck by fear. On questioning, she revealed how a doctor had sexually abused her in the isolation ward," her mother-in-law told Deccan Herald.

She passed away on April 6.

BCCL

The police asked the mother-in-law to come to the hospital and identify the doctor. However, the accused was not identified.

Dr VK Prasad, the hospital superintendent said that prima facie this is a serious matter. He said the CCTV footage will be dug out and strict action will be taken against the culprit.

Meanwhile, the National Commission of Women (NCW) has taken a cognisance of the matter.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Vienna, Austria  Fri, April 10, 2020 08:07 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0f4b4b 2 Lifestyle Vienna,Austria,horse,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic,food,charity,tourism Free

Vienna's horse-drawn carriages, a staple of street life in the Austrian capital and a popular tourist attraction, have been sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic -- so they are now helping deliver food to the elderly.

The carriages, or "Fiaker" as they are called in Vienna, are taking part in a food delivery scheme in one of the city's central districts set up by the InterContinental Hotel, itself severely hit by lockdown measures taken to halt the spread of the virus.

Instead of catering to guests, the hotel's kitchens have been turning out 200-300 meals a day for senior citizens in the area.

Deliveries are made by volunteers using all manner of vehicles -- including by part-time "Fiaker" driver Christian Gerzabek.

Despite business coming to a standstill, "the horses still have to be moved, they want to get out after the winter," he says.

"I thought that we should combine that.. with doing something good for people who need it," he told AFP.

Read also: Cone-a-virus: Ice cream van delivers for Belfast's vulnerable

The scheme has been a lifeline for its elderly beneficiaries.

One of them, Anneliese Nebenfuehr, said she thought the deliveries were "wonderful".

"I told the gentleman on the phone to give a kiss to the whole team," she said.

InterContinental general director Brigitte Trattner said carriage drivers were the first to respond to a call for delivery volunteers, with car drivers and cyclists also signing up.

Describing the InterContinental Vienna as an intrinsic part of Vienna's third district, Trattner said that when the coronavirus crisis broke "we naturally thought: Is there anyway we can help?"

The hotel plans to run the project until Monday, and after that Trattner says meals would be distributed to staff at the Rudolfstiftung hospital, which is also nearby.
Potsdam, NY, April 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Faculty and staff at Clarkson University have begun putting their expertise to the test by working on projects that can help local health care providers battle COVID-19.

Dr. Andrew Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Community Health Center of the North Country, Associate Chief Medical Officer of St. Lawrence Health System, and President of the St. Lawrence County Board of Health, addressed Clarkson faculty and staff during a video conferencing open forum last Friday.

One of the top priority projects that emerged from the discussion was an initiative to help St.Lawrence Health System better utilize their supply of Positive Air Pressure Respirators (PAPRs).

A PAPR is an important personal protective equipment (PPE) device that helps protect health care providers from COVID-19 while interacting with patients.

While St. Lawrence Health System (SLHS) has a supply of PAPRs, they do not have enough batteries or battery chargers to operate their PAPRs around the clock. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, purchasing more batteries or chargers is not currently an option.

Bill Jemison, Dean of the Coulter School of Engineering and Tony Collins Professor of Innovative Engineering Culture and an electrical engineer, suggested modifying the PAPRs to operate from batteries that are readily available. Information was provided on the PAPRs on Saturday, March 28, and a physical PAPR unit was provided to Clarkson on Monday, March 30.

By Monday night, Jemison had a working prototype of the modified PAPR unit in his basement. On Tuesday morning, Jemison and Jacob Weller, engineering shop supervisor at Clarkson, demonstrated the working prototype to Kylie Broughal, a physician's assistant with expertise in infectious disease at St. Lawrence Health System who received her graduate degree from Clarkson. Broughal showed the Clarkson team how to test the units for proper airflow.

A 13-hour test was started Tuesday afternoon to ensure that the flow rate could be maintained over a full 12-hour shift. At 3:15 a.m. on April 1, Jemison verified that units could be operated for an entire shift and a few hours later, the prototype was turned over to St. Lawrence Health System to be tested in a clinical environment.

On the evening of April 1, St. Lawrence Health System made a request for Clarkson to modify an additional five PAPR units. The units were turned over to Clarkson the following morning, April 2, and five hours later they were returned to CPH under a formal Memorandum of Understanding between St. Lawrence Health System and Canton-Potsdam Hospital CEO David Acker and Clarkson President Tony Collins.

Jemison and Weller have since modified seven more units for St. Lawrence Health System.

The video conferencing open forum was hosted by Jemison and Erin Draper, Managing Director of Clarkson Ignite, to discuss how Clarkson could support local efforts against COVID-19.

There has been a tremendous outpouring of goodwill by people who want to help, but Erin (Draper) and I felt it was important to address the specific needs of our health care providers, Jemison said. Dr. Williams did a great job helping us to understand the needs at SLHS & CPH and his input was critical to get our energy focused in high-impact directions.

Weller is proud of the work he and his colleagues are doing to support those on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The healthcare professionals are the real heroes of this pandemic, Weller said. It is nice to be able to help them stay safe. The units we modified will allow two shifts of 13 people to stay protected for their entire shifts if SLHS & CPH enacts a protocol that requires the continuous use of the PAPR."

Attachments
THE University of Dodoma (UDOM) has begun producing instant hand sanitizers, heeding the government call that requires local manufacturers to produce the product, an important tool in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.

UDOM Vice Chancellor, Prof Faustine Bee said hand sanitizers are produced through its pharmaceutical Scientists-College of Health Sciences and UDOM hospital as well as Laboratory Technicians- College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences.

Prof Bee said they decided to take decisive and commensurate response to ensure protection of its staff by providing one free hand sanitizer to each staff member.

He added that as a university, they are finalizing compliance procedures directed by the Tanzania Medicine and Medical Devices Authority (TMDA) so that it can avail them to the public at a reasonable price as the country fights against coronavirus.

We will ensure availability of affordable sanitizers to the general public by selling them at affordable prices of between 5,000/- to 10,000/-, as compared to 10,000/- and 25,000/- respectively which is the current market price he said.

He said UDOM was currently undertaking research towards production of quality face masks that will suit the needs of majority Tanzanians.

Earlier, the Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Prof Joyce Ndalichako commended UDOM for the efforts in the production of affordable instant sanitizers to help the country in the fight against Covid-19.

I appreciate your efforts, and I urge all institutions and agencies under my ministry to purchase affordable sanitizers from UDOM."

Industries and Trade Minister, Innocent Bashungwa recently met with manufacturers and distributors of sanitizers to see their availability and increased production.

Mr Bashungwa tasked The Fair Competition Commission (FCC) to ensure that there is unbiased competition in the business, and Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) to carry out a countrywide inspection and ensure that only quality and reasonable price(s) of sanitizers, masks and disinfectant are availed.

He asked the manufacturers to exploit the glitch by increasing production that meets local demand and export to neighbouring countries.

The minister said the meeting followed a number of tours in Dar es Salaam to see production at the industries, where availability of raw materials could pose a challenge for massive production.

There was a huge gap in terms of prices for the sanitizers... now that they are highly needed as the country fights coronavirus, thus joint effort is important to address the issue, said Mr Bashungwa.

However, the minister cautioned traders against taking the situation as a loophole to produce substandard sanitizers and make more money, saying that the government will not tolerate the habit at the expense of Tanzanians.

Mr Bashungwa noted that it has come to their attention after the meeting that shortage of ethanol was a problem the manufactures face in order to produce sanitizers to meet current demand.

He said TIRDO is producing enough ethanol, and asked the manufacturing companies to visit them, adding We are in discussions with sugar manufacturing companies on the need to produce more ethanol as a by-product to meet the raw materials demand.
President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed delight over the collective efforts by the government, State authorities and the citizenry to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.



Delivering his 6th address to the nation on the coronavirus pandemic, President Akufo-Addo noted that the decisions taken by government and the imposition of restrictions on Ghanaians, particularly areas under partial lockdown, have proven to be helpful.



He noted that though the decisions appeared to be harsh and inconvenient to Ghanaians, it has however saved several lives from the virus infection.



''It appears that our common efforts have been modestly successful in containing the virus and minimizing the spread. Undoubtedly, the decisions taken from day one to act quickly and decisively, and impose what may have seem like harsh restrictions have now proven to be effective and have saved a lot of lives," he stated.



Restriction of movement in Greater Accra, Kumasi and Kasoa has been extended for one more week.



This was announced by President Akufo-Addo during his 6th address to the nation on the coronavirus pandemic.



If you may recall, a 14-day restriction was imposed with the aim of controlling the spread of the novel Coronavirus and according to the President, "it is important that we stay the course".



He said even though he doesn't take delight in imposing restrictions, the "fight is not yet over; we are by no means out of the woods yet" hence we must stay at home.



Meanwhile, the number of cases recorded in Ghana has climbed up to 378 with 6 deaths.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A doctor who died of coronavirus after warning Boris Johnson about a lack of protective equipment was a kind and compassionate hero, his son has said.

Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, a consultant urologist at Homerton Hospital in east London, urged the prime minister to ensure every NHS worker was protected in a direct plea on Facebook last month.

Following the 53-year-olds death on Wednesday, his son Intisar said he was glad that the issue was now getting the attention it needed.

It pains me to say that my father is not the first and he is unfortunately not going to be the last NHS frontline worker to die, Intisar Chowdhury told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

If there is anything we can do to minimise that from happening as much as possible, thats all we need to do.

Mr Chowdhury added: He was an amazingly compassionate man. I want everyone to remember him for the kind and compassionate hero he was, because he was a hero.

I want him to be remembered as a hero, he genuinely is a hero. He started a conversation that I hope does not end for a while  does not end ever.

Referring to the widespread tributes paid to his father on social media, Mr Chowdhury said: It gave me some hope to know that essentially the whole country is behind him.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA), said it was tragic that Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury had died after issuing a warning about a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).

The government has said there are enough stocks and supplies to protect healthcare workers, so what we need to do as of this moment is rectify that and deliver that equipment to the front line, he told BBC Breakfast.

And make sure that no healthcare worker is knowingly going into a situation caring for an infected patient and putting themselves at risk.

The prime minister, who is currently being treated for Covid-19 at St Thomas Hospital in London, has faced increasing pressure to ensure PPE is made available to all frontline workers tackling the pandemic.

In his Facebook post on 18 March, Mr Chowdhury said: People appreciate us and salute us for our rewarding job which are very inspirational but I would like to say we have to protect ourselves and our families/kids in this global disaster/crisis by using appropriate PPE and remedies.

In late March 3,963 doctors penned an open letter saying that they were putting their lives on the line every day by working without adequate protection.

Additional reporting by agencies
Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

The federal government will continue to support four drive-thru coronavirus testing sites in the Houston area through May 30, an answer to calls from lawmakers and city officials to keep the testing sites going with federal supplies and funding.

The extended transition period applies to four sites, two city-operated facilities at Delmar and Butler Stadium and two county-operated facilities at Stallworth and Legacy Stadium.
Mother-of-two and businesswoman Tammy Hembrow has launched a children's sportswear range.

The social media sensation, whose activewear brand Saski Collection has made her a millionaire, announced the kids' line on Thursday.

She shared a photo to Instagram of herself with her children, Wolf, four, and Saskia, three, who both wore items from the upcoming range.

Scroll down for video

Mini me! Mother-of-two and businesswoman Tammy Hembrow has launched a children's sportswear range. Pictured with her son Wolf, four, and daughter Saskia, three

'Soon. So excited for you to get your hands on these tracksuits and our first ever mini collection,' Tammy wrote in the caption.

She has previously shared sneak peeks of the collection, including a behind-the-scenes video of Saskia posing for a photo shoot in a maroon tracksuit.

In another TikTok video, Wolf wore a muted blue set while his sister donned a pastel pink ensemble as they danced happily with their mother.

Based on these teasers, the children's range appears to consist of cosy tracksuits that match Saski Collection's signature colours.

'Excited for you to get your hands on these tracksuits': She has previously shared sneak peeks of the collection, including this behind-the-scenes video of Saskia posing for a photo shoot

It's hard to fault Tammy's work ethic, as she balances several businesses along with motherhood and her own personal brand.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the launch of the Boohoo x Hembrows collection, the Gold Coast local said she was 'always busy'.

When asked what she thinks of being called an entrepreneur, Tammy said: 'I would say [I'm an] entrepreneur for sure. I have my businesses, and as well as that, I have my personal brand which is my Instagram and YouTube.'

Coming soon! In another TikTok video, Wolf wore a muted blue set while his sister donned a pastel pink ensemble as they danced happily with their mother

'There's always a lot of things going on, but I would definitely say [I'm] an entrepreneur,' she added.

Tammy explained that every day is different when you're running a business and raising children as a single mother.

She said: 'I'll either have a photo shoot or meetings, or I'll just have a day off with my kids. I'm always super busy, but I'll fit in the gym somewhere usually. I just work around whatever I have going on.'
It is necessary to prove the viability of the Eurasian Union during the crisis and be prepared to take advantage of all those economic opportunities that will arise in the post-crisis period, said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

His remarks came on Friday during a video conference of the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

According to him, the Armenian government is taking measures to stimulate the economy and overcome severe crisis phenomena, the occurrence of which is no longer called into question.

Unfortunately, we are directly on the verge of a recession, he said noting that this will no longer be possible to avoid.

He noted that amid the latest developments, it is necessary to ensure the smooth functioning of the free trade regime within the Eurasian Economic Union.

Restriction of movement of goods and services within the Union is unacceptable even in a pandemic, he noted adding that it is extremely important to ensure conditions for the uninterrupted implementation of freight traffic. Uninterrupted transport communication in the Union has become of paramount importance for Armenia.

He noted that the Russian-Georgian border has acquired strategic importance for Armenia, thanking, in this regard, the Russian Government wanted for security.

It is necessary to accelerate measures to increase the share of payments in national currencies in trade within the Union, he added.

Pashinyan expressed his readiness to host the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council session in Armenia this fall.

Let's hope that the pandemic will be over by this time, he concluded.
Sam Halms, who works at the Norfolk & Suffolk Mental Health Foundation Trust, defended herself on social media after she was mistakenly named part of the problem. (Facebook/Sam Halms)

An NHS worker was left shocked after a neighbour left a nasty note on her car calling her selfish for driving to work every day - unaware she is a frontline keyworker.

Sam Halms, who works at the Norfolk & Suffolk Mental Health Foundation Trust, defended herself on social media after she was mistakenly named part of the problem by the anonymous letter writer.

The person claimed to have reported Halms after seeing her leave the house while not in uniform - and accused the health worker of clearly unessential travel.

The note read: To the selfish person, I have been watching you travel every day in your car. You are not in uniform, so this is clearly unessential travel! You are part of the problem!

The NHS worker was branded 'selfish' by an anonymous neighbour. (Facebook/Sam Halms)

"Stay at home and protect our country and NHS. You have been reported."

But the NHS worker hit back on social media with a status addressed to the unknown neighbour.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading

She wrote: "I work for the NHS! I go to work every day supporting our country and have done for many years, while you are clearly spending your days watching me, probably claiming that your employed as a full time mummy.

The health worker took to social media to vent her frustration after bring accused of 'non essential' travel. (Facebook/Sam Halms)

"Why didnt you just approach me and ask me what I was doing, maybe then you would understand why I am getting up every day to work for the NHS?"

She continued: "Why on earth would I wear my uniform to and from work at this current time. Equally not all NHS staff have to wear uniform  food for thought.

"If this has reached you, hopefully now you feel like a complete fool and that you should think twice before sticking your nose into other peoples business."

Her post has since gained over 7,500 likes and 13,000 shares.

Coronavirus: what happened today

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo News
Syracuse, N.Y.  The COVID-19 Community Support Fund in Onondaga County is less than a month old.

But since its creation was announced March 18, the effort has raised $1.33 million, according to the Central New York Community Foundation.

The foundation created the fund in partnership with United Way of Central New York, Allyn Foundation, The Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation, Health Foundation for Western & Central New York, the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County. Its meant to help local non-profits continue to provide food, shelter and services to people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Theres still opportunities to both donate to the fund and to apply for grants. Officials are processing grants as they come in and awarding them as quickly as possible.

Heres the latest list of grants, as of today:

AccessCNY - $28,900

Connect those with disabilities and/or a mental health diagnosis to vital services through remote technology

Assumption Food Pantry & Soup Kitchen - $5,000

Distribute emergency food parcels and to-go meals to families in need

Bellegrove Missionary Baptist Church - $6,500

Stock and maintain a food pantry to assist individuals and families in need of emergency food, toiletries and other basic needs

Catholic Charities - $25,000

Help people in need purchase food, cleaning supplies and hygiene items and assist with unexpected household expenses

Cancer Connects - $6,400

Provide safe transportation for immune-compromised adult cancer patients to access treatment or physician visits

Central New York Diaper Bank - $10,000

Increase distribution of diapers, which are not covered by government safety net programs, to families in need

Chadwick Residence - $1,000

Purchase health and safety supplies for residents of its supportive housing program for women and their children

Clear Path for Veterans - $8,000

Provide emergency food delivery services as well as other critical services such as financial and career counseling to Veterans and their families in Onondaga County

CNY Ronald McDonald House Charities - $2,900

Emergency relief support for its Meals that Heal program, which provides meals to families with sick children

Food Bank of Central New York - $57,420

Increase emergency food response

Home HeadQuarters - $10,000

Assist homeowners without discretionary income in making emergency home repairs

Humanitarian Organization for Multicultural Experiences (H.O.M.E) - $5,000

Provide telehealth habilitation services and purchase health and safety supplies for staff providing face-to-face services

Huntington Family Centers (Syracuse Community Center Collaborative) - $50,000

Provide food pantry and diaper bank services at four neighborhood community centers

Loretto - $36,000

Provide basic needs  food, childcare assistance, family essentials and transportation  to frontline healthcare workers

Meals on Wheels of Eastern Onondaga County - $3,500

Upgrade technology to meet rapid increase in demand for services

Meals on Wheels of Syracuse - $4,840

Assist employees with technology to work from home and rent refrigerated storage to meet increased meal demand

Mercyworks - $20,000

Provide weekend groceries to Southside families that qualify for the school breakfast and lunch program on weekdays

North Side Learning Center - $22,500

Provide basic food items to families staying home and multi-lingual outreach to advise refugee families on current restrictions, social distancing practices and community resources

Refugee and Immigrant Self-Empowerment (RISE) - $7,286

Provide 24/7 hotline assistance and scale up its case management to connect limited English proficient families to accurate public health information and social services

Rescue Mission Alliance - $50,000

House homeless men dealing with physical and mental health challenges at its Crossroads Adult Home

Road to Emmaus Ministry of Syracuse - $7,500

Meet increased demand for meal service and food pantry distribution

St. Lucys Food Pantry - $3,000

Distribute emergency food packages to families in need

Sarahs Guest House - $2,000

Purchase staple food and cleaning supplies for guests who are patients receiving urgent and necessary medical care

Salvation Army-Syracuse Area Services - $40,000

Provide basic needs to homeless teenagers and their babies housed at its Transitional Apartments and Parenting Center as well as deliver food, health and cleaning supplies to high-risk families in the community

Syracuse Jewish Family Service - $5,000

Meet increased demand for Kosher Meals on Wheels and purchase technology to provide audio and video counseling as well as virtual group cognitive and emotional support discussions

Vera House - $11,500

Use remote counseling technology and maintain emergency shelter to meet a higher need due to stay-at- home restrictions, which can lead to being trapped in violent conditions

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

NY clarifies essential rules on physical therapy, retail, fitness by video, chiropractors, lawyers, defense work

From Syracuse, with love: Nurses bring supplies, expertise, hope to Long Island outbreak

NY order closes golf courses, boat launches, marinas, playgrounds in coronavirus shutdown

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said that it is up to every SAARC member to decide on timing, manner and implementation of their SAARC COVID-19 fund. This comes as a response to Pakistan's pledge of USD 3 million to COVID-19 Emergency fund with a condition that it should be used in accordance with the SAARC Secretariat.

"It is for each SAARC member to decide on timing, manner & implementation of their SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund commitments. Where India is concerned, the commitment made by the Prime Minister is in an advanced stage of implementation. Assistance in material and services has been extended to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These SAARC countries have also made early commitments to the COVID19 Fund.The degree of seriousness of each nation can be gauged by their behaviour"

It is for each SAARC member to decide on timing, manner &implementation of their SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund commitments: MEA on Pakistan pledging USD 3 million to SAARC COVID-19 proposed to be used through SAARC Secretariat in accordance with the SAARC Charter (1/2)  ANI (@ANI) April 10, 2020

READ | Pakistan contributes to SAARC Covid fund proposed by PM Modi, skips trade official meet



After skipping SAARC meet chaired by India stating that SAARC Secretariat should lead it, Pakistan on Thursday pledged to contribute $3 million to the Coronavirus Emergency Fund proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Foreign Office of Pakistan in a statement said: "While communicating Pakistan's decision to the SAARC Secretariat, it has been conveyed that all proceeds of the fund should be administered by the SAARC Secretariat and that the modalities for the fund's utilisation should be finalised through consultations with the Member States as per the SAARC Charter."



READ | SAARC health professionals meet to discuss coronavirus measures postponed

SAARC meet initiated by India

Prime Minister Modi on March 15 in a video conference on forming a joint strategy to fight Covid-19 in the SAARC region, proposed the emergency fund and asserted that the best way to deal with the coronavirus pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart. Subsequently, Nepal and Afghanistan pledged $1 million each, Maldives committed $ 200,000, Bhutan $100,000, Bangladesh $1.5 million and Sri Lanka pledged $5 million to the fund. Founded in 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation and geopolitical union of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

READ | SAARC trade officials agree to work on larger framework for boosting intra-region trade

SAARC meet with trade officials

In a video conference skipped by Pakistan, trade officials of the SAARC countries broadly agreed to identify new ways to "sustain and expand" the intra-regional trade to offset the huge economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic. The officials also deliberated on creating a larger framework of trade facilitation and highlighted the need to enhance the quantum of intra SAARC trade as the pandemic is likely to have a considerable impact on the region, the Ministry of External Affairs said. The deliberations took place as a follow up to an India-initiated video conference of SAARC leaders on March 15.

READ | Petty Pakistan skipped India-led SAARC Covid meeting citing 'Secretariat didn't spearhead'
NextSource Materials (TSX:NEXT) said today it has executed a Letter of Intent with its Japanese offtake partner and a leading Chinese processor of graphite anode material to collaborate on the construction of a value-add, battery anode plant in a jurisdiction that is proximal to the companys Molo graphite project in Madagascar.

To protect certain confidential aspects of the LOI, the Japanese Trading Company and the Chinese SPG producer have requested not to be identified at this time.

In 2018 NextSource signed an offtake with the Japanese partner.

NextSource said its Japanese partner is a major supplier of spheronized and purified graphite for anode material in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle applications. Its EV and HEV automotive anode customers are global and currently supply graphite anode material to the majority of Japanese automotive OEMs.
SHENANDOAH  As the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Iowa continues to increase, one Shenandoah company has stepped in to do their part to help during this crisis.

Shenandoah Pella facility engineer Jedidiah Falk said the companys location in Pella began an initiative by making face shields for its hospital. Falk said the Shenandoah and Sioux Center facilities are also producing face shields.

They reached out to us late last week to see what we could do with the 3-D printers weve got down here, said Falk. When I was asked about it, I took it to the plant manager and he jumped on board right away.

Falk said Pella Corporation is asking any of their facilities with 3-D printers to produce the shields to be distributed locally.

The first round is going to go out to (the Shenandoah Medical Center), Falk said. Then there will be a separate facility the second round will go out to. Then were going to start giving them to the local Page and Fremont county health departments as we get them produced.

On April 8, Falk delivered the first 100 shields to the Shenandoah Medical Center.

Falk said shields going to the health departments in Page and Fremont counties would get distributed to medical facilities as needed. He said Pella Corporation is absorbing the cost of making these shields.

Right now, were looking at producing about 400 a day, said Falk. Weve got about five printers down here that were currently running and were trying to get another couple going on this.

Falk said the 3-D printers at the Shenandoah facility are generally used for low volume parts, rapid prototyping, jigs, fixtures, CNC nesting and tool holders for work stations, among other items as they come necessary.

Falk said the design being used for the shields was downloaded from the internet.

So essentially what it was there was a design that was put on the internet by someone that saw the need and designed a face shield and he put it on the internet for free for anybody to download, said Falk.

Falk said the Pella site was initially printing a version of a face shield that took significantly longer to print than the current design being used.

They found this one that cut the print time down from three to four hours to less than an hour, said Falk. Depending on the printer, its varying from about 20 minutes up to an hour per part.

Falk said the shields package better if they are not assembled, so medical facilities receiving the shields will be required to do the minor assembly.

Falk said Pella Corporation hopes to see other companies step in to help produce shields to fill the gaps caused by the coronavirus.
Global steel industry body worldsteel has postponed the release of its Short Range Outlook (SRO), a publication on steel demand scenario, citing disruptions due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Brussels-based World Steel Association (worldsteel) said it now plans to release the outlook for April in the month of June.

"In light of the unprecedented disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldsteel has taken the decision not to publish its April Short Range Outlook (SRO) for steel demand this month.

"The current plan is to release a full SRO in early June when we trust the markets will have stabilised somewhat, as we see they are doing in China," the body said in a statement.

However, worldsteel will share some observations on the market next week.

The body further said the monthly publication of global crude steel production data is unaffected by recent events and the figures for March will be released on April 22.

The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is one of the largest industry associations in the world, with members in every major steel-producing country.

JSW Steel Chairman Sajjan Jindal is its vice chairman, while Tata Steel CEO and MD T V Narendran and ArcelorMittal Chief L N Mittal are member of its Executive Committee.

Members represent around 85 per cent of global steel production.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  In the 10 days following Ohios order that shuttered all non-essential businesses to prevent the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, nearly 200 complaints were logged with the Cleveland Department of Public Health.

The reports are a window into workplace concerns sparked by the sweeping order. State officials have said the order will be interpreted at the local level, aside from a commission created to resolve conflicts if city or county health departments have different views on which businesses are considered essential.

The Cleveland complaints, each assigned to a heath investigator, have involved large manufacturing firms and construction firms, doggy daycares, health care facilities, grocery stores, temporary labor agencies and city, county and federal offices located in the city.

Lodged mostly by employees, complaints included that businesses or organizations:

Forced employees to work while ill or with sick colleagues;

Didnt provide personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer or properly cleaned work spaces;

Were not taking employee temperatures or allowing for physical distancing in workplaces or office spaces; and

Kept non-essential employees working.

Cuyahoga County, which has its own health department covering suburban communities, says it also has received hundreds of questions from businesses that it has answered and complaints that it has deployed health sanitarians to investigate.

In one instance, a county judge ordered a Parma Heights furniture consignment shop closed after finding the business was operating in defiance of the state order and a county board of health warning, according to cleveland.com.

Cuyahoga County Health Commissioner Terry Allan on Friday said the board and local law enforcement have encouraged voluntary compliance and have acknowledged the hardships caused by business closings here and across Ohio.

Please recall that the spirit of the order is not to be punitive, Allan said. The spirit is to help to save lives and create a safe environment.

Gov. Mike DeWine said health departments across the state are making decisions to close some businesses that are not essential and are enforcing physical distancing and sanitation requirements at those that are considered essential.

Frankly, if you cant do that you cant be open, DeWine said about safety protocols.

In Cleveland, most cases handled by health department employees involved calling companies and sharing instructions on the state order or shared sanitation guidelines and social distancing protocols, according to a log of the complaints provided to The Plain Dealer.

In some cases, company representatives told nine city health employees investigating complaints that their business was essential or that they had put protocols in place to keep employees as safe as possible, according to the document. A few reported that they were using a special company to smog their store with a substance to kill 99% of viruses.

Some companies could not be reached by city health investigators.

The log does not indicate any further action, and city officials did not respond to emails Thursday asking if Cleveland had issued any citations or violations.

Five complaints, the most, were filed about Arconic Forging & Extrusions Co. in a two-week period. Workers from the company, formerly known as Alcoa, complained of lack of personal protective gear and proper sanitation practices, as well as symptomatic employees coming to work because they feared being penalized.

A manager listed in the health department records said he could not comment. But the city records show managers said the company hired a pandemic coordinator, was cleaning three times a day, had shut down the plants restaurant and was planning to use a steam gun that kills viruses.

Other complaints on the report were from federal, county or city offices, including the citys public works, water and waste departments.

At the Cuyahoga County Adult Probation Urine Lab, a complaint was made by an employee that proper personal protective equipment was not being provided for those collecting urine samples from people on probation and that there was not a ventilation system in the collection room.

Health investigators tried to contact the lab on four different days before being successful, according to the log. Once contact was made, a health investigator was told that employees had received N95 masks and face shields to wear with their lab coats and gloves, instead of the surgical masks they had worn the week before, according to the log. The lab manager also said the lab had limited the number of people allowed in its waiting room and cut its hours.

Darren Toms, community outreach coordinator for the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, said the lab hadnt received any further communication from the health department after addressing the complaint.

Some companies were the subject of several complaints, including Voss Industries, a manufacturer reported four times in a two-day span.

Complaints there alleged that proper space wasnt being maintained between employees and hand washing wasnt being promoted; that employees were being told to work while sick and were forced to put in overtime; and that an employee continued to work on site after her son, another employee, had tested positive for COVID-19 and the shop wasnt cleaned afterward.

No communication between the health department and the company was recorded. Voss could not immediately be reached for comment by The Plain Dealer.

In another case, an employee complained that Northern Ohio Printing, on Hinckley Parkway, remained open against the state order because the owner, does not want to lose money.

A week later, Jerry Robertson, the companys general manager told the health department that the printing company was an essential business that is producing warning signs, information cards and documents for health care organizations related to the public emergency and state health department orders. The company also is printing black-and-white carryout menus for restaurants. Robertson told the city that the complaint was an isolated incident from an employee scared about the restrictive order. Employees, he said, were offered work from home options, when possible.

Those working are allowed to wear face masks and gloves, but it isnt required, he said, according to the city records, theres a laser thermometer available to take temperatures and the buildings door knobs and other surfaces are disinfected three times a day.

Sometimes the complaints have frustrated business owners, who say they are trying to make conditions as safe as possible.

In one example, a complaint alleged that the owner of Smiths Funeral Home sent a memo to employees informing them that he might have COVID-19. The owner, Thomas Smith, disputed the claim, saying the business had signs up encouraging social distancing and limited number of people at wakes and increased hand washing and hand sanitizer availability, according to the log.

Smith told The Plain Dealer he invited the city to come investigate his business so he could prove the business was adhering to safety standards.

Read more coronavirus coverage:

University Hospitals temporarily closing Andover, North Ridgeville emergency departments in preparation for coronavirus surge

More data, consistency needed to understand racial, ethnic effects of coronavirus

Phone, internet providers extend service yet some still disconnected from lifelines during coronavirus pandemic

Ohioans cut travel nearly in half under stay-at-home order: ODOT

A fair amount of Ohio patients with suspected COVID-19 died before tests returned from private labs, ODH says

Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless calls for city, county action to protect the homeless during coronavirus pandemic

Hospital coronavirus testing order to cut down on simply unacceptable delays in Ohio results

How the Cleveland Clinic is using modeling to respond to the coronavirus pandemic: Q&A
Mantis shrimps have earned fame for their powerful punching limbs, incredibly unusual eyes, and vivid exoskeletons. And, it turns out, they're also really good at finding their way home. Through a series of painstaking experiments with these often-uncooperative creatures, Rickesh Patel has produced new findings on mantis shrimp navigation, published this week in Current Biology.

Patel, a Ph.D. candidate in biological sciences at UMBC, found that the species of mantis shrimp he investigated relies on the sun, patterns in polarized light, and internal cues -- in that order -- to navigate directly back to their non-descript burrows. These straight-line returns often follow forays that meander and zig zag as the shrimp looks for a meal or a mate. The ability to get home quickly comes in handy when seeking shelter in the presence of predators, or a perceived one, as Patel noted on his first research fieldwork expedition.

After his first year at UMBC, Patel traveled with Tom Cronin's lab to Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef to collect mantis shrimp for study. "As soon as they notice you, they'll turn around and zip straight to some sort of shelter," Patel says. Like a true scientist, "That got me wondering how they go about finding their way home."

A crucial starting point

Scientists have written a great deal on navigation in other species -- primarily bees, ants, and mice -- but Patel's is the first work on navigation in mantis shrimp.

First, Patel had to find a behavior he could work with to test ideas about how mantis shrimp navigate. So he created a small arena with an artificial shrimp burrow buried in sand. He placed the shrimp in the arena, and to his delight, the mantis shrimp was happy to occupy the small section of PVC pipe. Then he placed a piece of food at a distance from the burrow. He watched as the shrimp left its burrow, meandered until it found the food, and then returned to its burrow in a fairly straight line.

advertisement

From those initial observations, Patel hypothesized that mantis shrimps use a process called path integration to find their way home. In other words, they are somehow able to track both their distance and direction from their burrow.

"That was probably the most exciting part of the experiments for me, because I knew I had a really robust behavior that I could work with," Patel says. "Everything I did really extended from that initial point."

Sunshine surprise

After that first discovery, the challenging work began, to figure out what cues the animals were using to determine the path home.

Patel built eight much larger arenas, each about 1.5 meters in diameter, to run his experiments. The first question he asked was whether the shrimp were using internal or external cues to go home.

advertisement

To test that, Patel created a setup that rotated the animal 180 degrees as it retrieved the food. If the shrimp was using external cues to remember its distance and direction from home, it would still head in the right direction. If it was using internal cues, based on the orientation of its own body, it would head in the opposite direction. In the first round of trials, the animals consistently headed in the exact opposite direction.

"That was really cool, but it didn't make a lot of sense," Patel says, "because an internal compass is going to be a lot less accurate than something that is tied to the environment." Then it hit him: "We just happened to have a really overcast week when I did these experiments, so I waited until we had a clear day, and then every time, they went right back home."

Putting together the puzzle

Patel realized that his experiment perfectly demonstrated the hierarchy of cues used by the animals. They used external cues first, but when those weren't available, they used internal cues.

That was the beginning of a long series of creative experiments that further teased out how these animals navigate. When Patel used a mirror to trick the animals into thinking the sun was coming from the opposite direction, they went the wrong way. This indicated they use the sun as a primary cue. When it was cloudy but not totally dark, they used polarization patterns in light, which are still detectable when it's overcast. And when the sky was completely covered, they reverted to their internal navigation system.

A varied skill set

For Patel, creating the experimental arenas -- essentially, the shrimp obstacle course -- was almost as fun as getting the results. "That's something I really enjoy -- building things, creating things," he shares. Patel studied art and biology as an undergraduate at California State University, Long Beach. "I think those skills lent me a hand in designing my experiments."

Other skills Patel needed were patience and perseverance. "The animals will only behave maybe once a day, so if you scare the animal, you've lost that day," he says.

For example, one of the experiments involved putting the animals on a track that pulled them to a new position, and seeing where they headed from there. "If the track is too jerky or goes too fast, they get scared and just don't behave," Patel says. "So I had to design the experiment so that it was so gentle they didn't realize they were being moved."

New questions

All of Patel's patience has paid off with new findings that open up an array of future questions to answer. While path integration is well-documented in other species, mantis shrimp are the first to demonstrate the technique underwater. Looking up at the sky through water is a very different view than doing so through air, so Patel is curious how the animals' process is different from other species.

Patel is also ultimately interested in the neural basis of navigation behavior, but "before you can investigate what's happening in the brain, you have to understand what the animal's doing," he says. "So that's why I really focused on the behavior work, to figure out what the animal is doing and what kind of stimuli are appropriate to show the animal that we can use to investigate its neurology."

So far, other work has demonstrated that a brain region called the central complex has uncanny similarities between insects and mantis shrimps. This is especially interesting considering how far apart bees and shrimp are on the tree of life. The central complex is known to contribute to navigation in bees, so Patel is intrigued to learn more about its function in mantis shrimp. Alice Chou, another graduate student in the Cronin lab, is also investigating the brain structures of mantis shrimp.
HAMDEN  Quinnipiac University is reaching out to help support its students in need.

Since students left campus for spring break in mid-March, the grounds of Quinnipiac havent seen them back because the coronavirus pandemic has forced all learning to be moved online, leaving them without the housing, food, employment and learning support they had access to on campus.

To help alleviate the struggle the pandemic has put on its students, Quinnipiac has set up a Student Care Fund.

The fund is meant to help students experiencing financial hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial awards are going to students who may be struggling with unexpected expenses, such as housing, food, online learning resources, emergency and medical, relocation and loss of income from jobs or work-study positions.

Its an extension of our community and it starts with our president (Judy) Olian, Vice President for Development And Alumni Affairs Todd Sloan said. It flows from that and my team and myself will continue to raise money for this because the needs are very real.

Its helping students afford the cost of living in the absence of meal plans, campus housing, on-campus jobs and other emergent needs to help support remote learning.

Quinnipiac has received donations from $25 to more than of $1,000, Sloan said. Donors giving $1,000 are able to sponsor a student in need to cover their expenses up to the maximum they can receive.

In total, the university has raised about $170,000 from more than 269 donors.

Theres no goal limit for the fund so the university will continue to raise money until all student needs are met, where possible, Sloan said.

Ultimately Id love to meet every students needs, but as time goes on, well see even more need, he said.

To date, 807 students from all of Quinnipiacs undergraduate and graduate schools have applied for aid, amounting to more than $700,000 for which students have applied.

The Student Care Fund Committee, which includes student affairs and financial aid offices, assess student eligibility for the grants, ensures the needs are legitimate and the amounts applied for are appropriate to the expense, Sloan said.

The committee also helps students find other assistance opportunities and financial aid ensures that the grants wont adversely affect students financial aid eligibility, Sloan said.

Since the university started distributing awards, its given 186 students grants through the fund, equaling about $83,000.

Looking at long-term impact and uncertainty, were not going to return to normal, but were going to return to a new normal, he said. I anticipate the challenges will continue, so Id always keep this as an option for philanthropy, though hopefully not with the same needed intensity.

Since the fund eventually will exist beyond the coronavirus pandemic, Sloan said the name of the fund is not specific to the emergent situation in which students and the university find themselves.

It was with great intention that this was named the Student Care Fund, he said. Rather than call it an emergency fund, Sloan said they wanted it to reflect Quinnipiacs sense of community.

People can make donations through the universitys website where students can also apply for assistance.

mdignan@hearstmediact.com
OPCW report on Syria chemical attack unreliable: Russia

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 9:59 AM

Russia has censured as "untrustworthy" a recent report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)  tasked with probing a series of suspected "chemical attacks" on a Syrian town in 2017, saying the watchdog has violated the basic principle of its work by conducting a remote investigation without visiting the sites.

In its Wednesday's 82-page report, the OPCW's Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) claimed Syrian government forces had been responsible for the alleged chemical attacks on the militant-held town of Lataminah in the northern Syrian province of Hama during the last week of March 2017.

It alleged that in the span of one week, Syrian fighter jets had twice dropped bombs containing sarin nerve agent on the village and a helicopter had targeted its hospital with a cylinder containing chlorine, affecting scores of people.

According to the report, the team had based its investigation on a range of evidence, including witness testimonies, videos, forensic reports on recovered munitions scraps, medical records and satellite imagery.

"The experts, who accused Syria of incidents that took place in 2017, have depended on judgments released by the Fact-Finding committee which included rough violations of the basic principle of the OPCW work that stipulates the need for a logic succession of events while collecting and keeping material evidence," the press office of Russia's permanent mission at the OPCW said on Wednesday.

It described the IIT's report as unreliable, saying it depends on investigations that were conducted remotely without visiting the places of incidents based on statements of terrorist groups and the so-called civil defense group White Helmets

The Lataminah strikes came days before another alleged sarin assault in nearby town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib Province, which killed more than 80 people on April 4.

The Western countries rushed to blame the incident on Damascus  an allegation rejected by the Syrian government  with the US launching several dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air base, taking the lives of about 20 people including both Syrian soldiers and civilians.

The Syrian government surrendered its stockpiles of chemical weapons in 2014 to a joint mission led by the UN and the OPCW, which oversaw the destruction of the weaponry. However, Western governments and their allies have never stopped pointing the finger at Damascus whenever an apparent chemical attack has taken place.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the state government will provide ration to the families displaced from Pakistan who are now residing in any district of the state.

Gehlot took this decision in view of a letter from the Seemant Lok Sangathan President Hindu Singh Sodha and directed the officials to ensure that the Pak displaced families get ration on time.

Sodha had apprised Chief Minister through his letter that approximately 6,000 Pak displaced families are residing in various districts in the state and many of these needy families had faced scarcity of ration due to lockdown.

According to the reports sent by the collectors, 500 Pak displaced families reside in Jamdoli, Govindpura and Mangyawas of Jaipur. These families are in contact with the district administration and are being distributed ration.

Similarly, in Jodhpur, 618 Pak displaced and needy families are being provided ration. Additional District Collector (II) Mahipal Kumar had been directed to be in touch with Sodha and make sure that needy families were extended all support.

As per the report, there are around 200 Pak displaced families in Sheo and Chauhatan Panchayat Samiti in Barmer district, 92 families in Pali and 93 families residing in Pugal and Bajju tehsil of Bikaner district. All these families were being provided ration items as per the demand.

Besides these districts, Pak displaced families were also residing in Jaisalmer, Jalore and Sirohi districts and are being met with their all food-related requirements and the eligible families are being provided with the financial assistance.

Gehlot further directed that all such needy Pak displaced families, who do not come in the ambit of any social security scheme, should be provided ration.
- President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, has announced that utilities are going to be absorbed by the government

- The president revealed that starting this month (April), access to water and power would be free until June

- He, however, stated clear exemptions to his directive

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, in a bid to ease the economic hardship created by the coronavirus otherwise known as the COVID-19, has announced that utilities are going to be absorbed by the government.

The president revealed that starting this month (April), access to water and power would free until June.

In detail, concerning water, households with a monthly consumption capped at 10m3 would be exempted and with regards to power, the incentive exempts the most vulnerable households.

The measure aims at cushioning the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the economy, and especially on the most vulnerable people.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Local chief promises to pay 50% electricity bills for subjects

On March 6, 2020, Togolese authorities announced the first COVID-19 case, a 42-year-old Togolese woman who travelled between Germany, France, Turkey, and Benin before returning to Togo.

Between March 20-21, 2020 16 cases were confirmed in Togo. In an attempt to control the spread of the virus in Togo, all borders to the country were closed.

President Akufo-Addo, in his fifth address to the nation on the coronavirus measures, announced that the Electricity Company of Ghana would provide uninterrupted power to Ghanaians.

He also announced that the government would absorb water bills of Ghanaians for the next 3 months i.e. April, May, and June.

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh earlier reported that the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama has called on the Akufo-Addo government to learn from Togo as they put measures in place to fight the COVID-19.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Provide Ghanaians free electricity, cancel CST  Mahama suggests Read more:

According to Mahama, just like Togo, Akufo-Addo should include the provision of free electricity for all Ghanaians in these times.

Mahama however, is of the view that the social interventions made by the president are not enough until the Communication Service Tax(CST) is scrapped and electricity is also made free.

He says free electricity is as important as any of the interventions so far.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Government directs waakye, kenkey, koko sellers to feed Ghanaians for free

Accra lockdown: Fire outbreak at Haatso Agbogba | #Yencomgh

Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
Los Angeles, April 10 : Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has survived COVID-19, and has been released from a 14-day quarantine.

"He has been released from medical isolation and has now been "deemed alright," his spokeperson Juda Engelmayer informed about Weinstein, who is out of his 14-day quarantine at Wende Correctional Facility, the New York facility where he was housed as per a report by foxnews.com.

The spkesperson however denied knowledge of what symptoms of the novel coronavirus Weinstein, 68, may have had.

As per the disgraced movie mogul's prison consultant Craig Rothfeld, they "cannot comment on Mr. Weinstein's health condition due to HIPPA Laws in addition to wanting to maintain his privacy which he deserves".

Rothfield did say that Weinstein "is still in the Regional Medical Unit (RMU) at Wende CF and being monitored for his various medical conditions".

His team pointed out that he is "in a super-maximum prison with no special treatment. He doesn't have his own phone, TV or any other things people are speculating about".

On March 11, the producer was sentenced to 23 years in prison for third-degree rape and a criminal sex act. He, however, maintained that he had consensual "extramarital affairs" with the victims. A week later, he was transferred from the city prison Rikers Island to Wende and it was then when he was tested positive for COVID-19 and immediately put in isolation.
" " Flickr/ Commons A fanciful image of the country of Poyais, from the 1822 book "Sketch of the Mosquito Shore, including the Territory of Poyais, etc." published by Gregor MacGregor and supposedly written by Thomas Strangeways, Captain, 1st Native Poyer Regiment.

Many Londoners in the 1820s were exhausted and impoverished after the recent Napoleonic Wars that had ravaged Europe. They were eager for some hope and good news. So when Scotsman Gregor MacGregor arrived in town, claiming to be His Serene Highness Gregor the First, Sovereign Prince of the State of Poyais and its Dependencies, and Cacique of the Poyer Nation, they fell for his engaging tales of the far-off land. Throngs of citizens invested in the kingdom and even attempted to move there, becoming victims of one of the world's greatest swindlers.

MacGregor's story is the subject of a recent episode of Ridiculous History, a podcast produced by HowStuffWorks.com and co-hosted by Noel Brown and Ben Bowlin. His intriguing tale begins in 1811, when MacGregor decided to sail to South America and fight under Simon Bolivar in the Venezuelan War of Independence against Spain. Impressed with MacGregor's solid military background in the Royal Navy, Bolivar granted him a commission. The personable, daring MacGregor did well in many battles and quickly rose through the ranks.

Advertisement

When the Spaniards were largely vanquished, MacGregor moved to various spots in the region to tussle with other European outposts. In 1820, he landed on the Mosquito Coast, an area that today incorporates the eastern coast of Nicaragua and a little of southern Honduras. Named after the native Miskito people who drifted in and out of the region, it was little more than a swampy, pest-filled jungle. After plying landowner King Frederic Augustus with booze, MacGregor persuaded Augustus to sign over the forlorn acreage to him. Then he sailed for London to start his scheme.

MacGregor told Londoners and his fellow Scots that King Augustus had dubbed him Prince of Poyais and granted him 12,500 square miles (3.23 square meters) of beautiful land in the Bay of Honduras. Full of gold mines, rare fruits, sparkling water and fertile soil, the land simply needed settlers. Partnering with other hucksters, he opened offices for the Poyaisian Legation to Britain in London and land offices in Glasgow, Stirling and Edinburgh to sell acreage. MacGregor swapped fake Poyain money he'd printed for interested settlers' real currency.

He even proffered the book "Sketch of the Mosquito Shore, including the Territory of Poyais" as proof of Poyais' existence. The book similarly described a land not only rich in resources, but also possessing a civil service, bank, army and democratic government. But MacGregor had actually published the book himself, using the pen name Captain Thomas Strangeways.

Hundreds of people, both rich and poor, bought his story and invested in the land. Soon MacGregor was a multimillionaire by today's standards. Then, strangely, MacGregor chartered boats to take people to their new home.

In 1822, some 240 people  many older  set out for Poyais in two ships. When they arrived, they obviously did not find the paradise MacGregor had described. Instead, they found an empty, inhospitable, buggy land. Malaria and yellow fever soon swept through the group, killing three-quarters of them. Eventually, 50 people made their way back to London, where MacGregor was exposed as a fraud. But by then, he had snuck away to France.

The French were as easily swept away by the concept of Poyais as the Brits and Scots. But French authorities grew suspicious, and MacGregor landed in jail  in France, and later in England. Incredibly, authorities in both countries released him after short stays.

In 1839, penniless and friendless, Gregor MacGregor moved back to Venezuela, where he persuaded authorities to grant him a pension for his years of service as a general in the Venezuelan War of Independence. He died on December 4, 1845, at the age of 59. Today, Poyais remains undeveloped.

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING In 1817, a young woman appeared in the village of Almondsbury, England, claiming to be Princess Caraboo of the royal family of Javasu, a small atoll in the Indian Ocean. She claimed to have been kidnapped from her homeland by pirates and to have escaped by jumping into the ocean and swimming ashore. Princess Caraboo eventually admitted to being Mary Baker, a servant girl from a neighboring town, after being recognized by her former employer.




The corpse of an 83-year-old woman, known as Mrs. Bamigbola Olayemi has been rejected by the management of General Hospital in Egbe, under Yagba West Local Government area of Kogi State, over suspicion that she died of COVID-19.

Naija News learnt that before she died , she was admitted at the Accident and Emergency Unit, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, after she complained of progressive generalized body weakness and fever.

The fears entertained according to sources was borne out of reports that Abuja has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the country.

Kogi State presently has reported zero cases of the deadly virus.

Share this post with your Friends on
Some Nigerians have taken to social media to attack the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, over his comments on the decay of infrastructure in Nigerias health care sector.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Mustapha, during a meeting between the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and the leadership of the National Assembly in Abuja on Thursday, said until the outbreak of coronavirus, he was not aware that the health sector was in a bad state.

The SGF who doubles as the chairman of the presidential task force was quoted as saying: I can tell you for sure, I never knew that our entire healthcare infrastructure was in the state in which it is until I was appointed to do this work.

He said Nigeria lacks the requirement to handle the situation if it escalates beyond normal.

Following his comments, Nigerians wondered why a top official like him will have no knowledge about the countrys health situation.

Below are some reactions by Nigerians on Twitter.

Here is a reminder that political leaders in Nigeria are completely detached from the agonizing reality of an average Nigerian. This is distributing and frustrating.  FESTUS OGUN (@mrfestusogun) April 10, 2020

When is medical record is in London or somewhere abroad  Arteta X Edu (@EduGasperszn) April 10, 2020

https://twitter.com/nugarini/status/1248511847277441025?s=19

How could he ever know? At the slightest onset of headache our Nigerian leaders are on the next flight out of Nigeria. For the first time since the civil war our leaders are having a taste of our decrepit healthcare infrastructure. Welcome to the life of every day Nigerians  Jovi Usude (@EJovi1025) April 10, 2020

How do you expect people like this to do anything meaningful in the health sector when they are not aware? See what health tourism causes  Blessed Beyond Measure (BBM) (@Drmuzoic) April 10, 2020

The worst set of people to have ever been handed over power in the country,you travel abroad to treat earache and headache,how will you know?  chijioke, Ph.D., Nuclear Engineering(Affidavit). (@Ekwulu) April 10, 2020

https://twitter.com/therealdaddymo1/status/1248520408325914624?s=19

Do you use it? Does buhari use it? Y'all will account for the billions spent for State House Hospital refurbishment.  FS Yusuf, AMIIM (#TPACT) (@FS_Yusuf_) April 10, 2020

The boldness baffles me.  Joy Zita Okebugwu (@itsjoyzita) April 10, 2020

But why then did he chose overseas in the first place, isn't it obvious?  Daddy Yas!!! (@freshprincegiwa) April 10, 2020

Hahahahaha.

What did Nigerians ever do to deserve such people in government?!

This is painful  Es (@slkie) April 10, 2020

I've often said that @MBuhari only has love for power & that his regime is merely making a mockery of governance. 5 years in office & the regime is only knowing about the decay in Nigeria's healthcare infrastructure. It's bcos @MBuhari has been investing in the UK health system.  TheRoy (@BarrROUN1990) April 10, 2020

I hope you know that today is Friday. Your oga's lack of self awareness has obviously spread around the villa. Bad energy is so contagious!  Olisa Nwosu (@OlisaNwosu) April 10, 2020

Its funny how they can't blame the previous government again.

Now that you're the previous Government, blame the ancestors.

COVID19 is the indirect way of saying "we all die here"

Travel abroad for treatment and let's see nau.

Nonsense!  Grace Divine. (@Dandy391) April 10, 2020

A man with an N95 mask who usually travels out of the country for medical care says he doesn't know the healthcare system was so bad and they put him IN CHARGE of the #COVID19 task force.  OB Keeng (@ObKeeng) April 10, 2020

All these so-called political leaders have lost all credibility with Nigerians at home and abroad  Isaac Uwenbor (@IUwenbor) April 10, 2020
(CNN)  Much of Europe is still on coronavirus lockdown, with severe restrictions on movement and penalties for those who transgress.

But not Sweden. Restaurants and bars are open in the Nordic country, playgrounds and schools too, and the government is relying on voluntary action to stem the spread of Covid-19.

It's a controversial approach, and one that's drawn US President Donald Trump's attention. "Sweden did that, the herd, they call it the herd. Sweden's suffering very, very badly," Trump said on Tuesday.

But the Swedish government is confident its policy can work. Foreign Minister Ann Linde told Swedish TV on Wednesday that Trump was "factually wrong" to suggest that Sweden was following the "herd immunity" theory -- of letting enough people catch the virus while protecting the vulnerable, meaning a country's population builds up immunity against the disease.

Sweden's strategy, she said, was: "No lockdown and we rely very much on people taking responsibility themselves."

The country's state epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, also pushed back against Trump's criticism that Sweden was doing badly. "I think Sweden is doing okay," he told CNN affiliate Expressen. "It's producing quality results the same way it's always done. So far Swedish health care is handling this pandemic in a fantastic way."

As of April 9, Sweden has 9,141 cases of the Covid-19 virus and 793 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University figures.

Sweden's actions are about encouraging and recommending, not compulsion. Two days after Spain imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 14, Swedish authorities were encouraging people to wash hands and stay at home if sick. On March 24, new rules were introduced to avoid crowding at restaurants. But they very much stayed open.

So did many primary and secondary schools. Gatherings of up to 50 people are still permitted.

Tegnell defended the decision to keep schools open. "We know that closing down schools has a lot of effects on health care because a lot of people can't go to their work anymore. A lot of children are suffering when they can't go to school."

Elisabeth Liden, a journalist in Stockholm, told CNN the city is less crowded now. "The subway went from being completely packed to having only a few passengers per car. I get the sense that a vast majority are taking the recommendations of social distancing seriously."

But she added that while "some Swedes wont even kiss their spouse, others are throwing Easter parties."

Fresh surge

Much of Sweden's focus has been to protect the elderly. Anyone aged 70 or older has been told to stay at home and limit their social contact as much as possible. One Swedish government official said that on the whole people supported the government's approach, but many were "upset about the fact that no ban on visiting homes for elderly was set until recently [April 1], and now the virus is widely spread among these homes, causing the death toll to rise."

The World Health Organization (WHO) is skeptical of Sweden's approach. Noting a fresh surge in the country's infections, the WHO told CNN Wednesday that it's "imperative" that Sweden "increase measures to control spread of the virus, prepare and increase capacity of the health system to cope, ensure physical distancing and communicate the why and how of all measures to the population."

"Only an 'all of society' approach will work to prevent escalation and turn this situation around," said a WHO Europe spokesperson.

Sweden's "curve"  the rate of infections and deaths caused by coronavirus  is certainly steeper than that of many other European countries with stricter measures. A study by Imperial College London estimated that 3.1% of the Swedish population was infected (as of March 28)  compared to 0.41% in Norway and 2.5% in the UK.

As for deaths, by April 8, coronavirus accounted for 67 fatalities per 1 million Swedish citizens, according to the Swedish Health Ministry. Norway had 19 deaths per million, Finland seven per million. The number of deaths rose 16% on Wednesday.

Some Swedish researchers are demanding the government must be stricter. This week several prominent Swedish clinicians wrote an open letter lamenting that large numbers of people are visiting bars, restaurants and shopping malls, even ski slopes. "This unfortunately is translating into a death toll that continues to climb in Sweden."

Cecilia Soderberg-Naucler  a virus immunology researcher at Sweden's Karolinska Institute  is one of more than 2,000 health professionals and researchers who signed a petition demanding tougher action. She told CNN: "We are not winning this battle. It is horrifying.

"Where I live people are working from home, but they go to local restaurants, local cafes and they mix up old people and young people from schools and universities. That is not social distancing."

Soderberg-Naucler says the situation in Stockholm, where the great majority of the country's infections have occurred, is "lost," but adds: "It is not too late for rest of the country. I wish we would lock down and take control of regions not affected in same way."

Weather the storm

Tom Britton, professor of mathematical statistics at Stockholm University, models how infectious diseases behave in a population. He believes 40% of the Swedish capital's population will be infected by the end of April. While acknowledging the difficulty of measuring the rate of infection, he told CNN that "my best guess today would be 10% or a bit more" of Swedes currently have the virus nationwide.

Some opponents of the government's policy fear that reliance on voluntary behavior will cause a much faster spike in cases, potentially overwhelming the health care system. Sweden also has one of the lowest ratios of critical care beds per capita in Europe, and the government official who spoke with CNN said that supplies of protective equipment are only just staying ahead of demand.

In some ways, however, Sweden is better prepared to weather the storm than other countries. Some 40% of the country's workforce worked from home regularly, even before the virus struck and Sweden has a high ratio of people living on their own, whereas in southern Europe it's not uncommon to have three generations under one roof.

Emma Grossmith, a British employment lawyer working in Stockholm, says another factor in Sweden's favor is a generous social welfare net which means people don't feel obligated to turn up for work if they or a child or partner are sick. State support kicks in on day one of absence from work due to a family member being sick. "The system here was already well set up to help people to make smarter choices which ultimately benefit the wider population," she told CNN.

But Grossmith notes a big gap between the way Swedes and expatriates view the virus. "There is a native trust in the system amongst those who have grown up with it. In contrast, many of the expat community feel that the strategy has neither been communicated clearly nor robustly challenged in the Swedish press. They are deeply worried."

The next month will determine whether the Swedish system got it right.

This story was first published on CNN.com, Sweden challenges Trump  and scientific mainstream  by refusing to lock down
Businessman Alhaji Seidu Agongo has said he finds great joy and fulfilment in giving to the poor, especially widows, orphans, single mothers, sick people and anybody who falls within the underprivileged category in society.

It is one thing, he said, that makes me feel human.

Mr Agongo, a devout Muslim, owns the Class Media Group, CMG, which operates Class91.3FM, Accra100.5FM, No.1 105.3FM, Kumasi104.1FM, Adehyee99.1FM, Ho FM, CTV, Tamale FM, Takoradi FM and ClassFMonline.com.

His love for the poor has seen him embark on numerous philanthropic activities which have touched many lives in Ghana.

Apart from building a 30-bed Out-Patient Department (OPD) block at a cost of GHS857,000 for the Child Emergency Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, he has also empowered a lot of poor people across the country with startup capital and equipment such as hairdryers and sewing machines.

He also pays the school fees of several orphans across the country, from the basic to tertiary level, and financially assists a lot of widows and single mothers on a regular basis among a tall raft of other kind gestures to the underprivileged in society.

Recently, Mr Agongo has been sending money directly to widows and single mothers through their mobile money wallets to help assuage their financial burden during the two-week partial lockdown of Accra, Kumasi, Tema and Kasoa due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.

The disease has, so far, killed six of the three hundred thirteen confirmed cases with three full recoveries.

The government is restricting movement in the four areas to mitigate the spread of the virus but that has meant that vulnerable people like widows and single mothers who live a hand-to-mouth life, would struggle to survive, thus, Mr Agongos decision to send them money for sustenance.

Mr Agongo recently explained his reason for embarking on such philanthropy.

What matters in life is the impact you make in peoples lives; different people are making impact in different ways but everybody and his choice; my choice is the widows, the single mothers, the underprivileged children and also to create employment, he said, adding: To be very honest with you, I just dont get up and do anything. And with everything I do, I want it to make an impact on peoples lives.

He continued: We have a lockdown, and all those kids we see selling in traffic, all those mothers we see selling on tabletops, they are doing that to earn a living  They earn a living on a daily basis, hand-to-mouth, to feed their family; so, if the mother is sick today, youd realise that the whole family can even go hungry; everybody will struggle because the hand that feeds the family is not well, so, on that basis I decided that; Let me see how best I can identify the single mothers, widows, the needy, through your platform, the Class Media Group, and send them MoMo.

Somebody might need money to buy kerosene, somebody might need money to buy water, somebody needs money to do so many things based on his or her priority, he noted.

Such philanthropic activities, he said, give him a lot of gratification.

Islam teaches about giving but I go beyond Islam, Alhaji Agongo said, explaining: What I believe is that life has realities and be it the Bible or the Quran, the holy books tell us that youll be judged according to your own deeds, so, I believe that whatever blessings God has blessed me with, God knows why He has blessed me with that and, of course, God will also know the fact that the blessing he gave me, I didnt utilise the blessing alone; I also tried to bless others. So, basically, that is what makes me feel human.

Asked why he loves helping the widows, single mothers and children the most, the businessman replied: I dont know whether youve ever examined a war in any country, Liberia or wherever; it is the women and children that suffer. The men dont suffer.

Men, sometimes, dont even care about the kids and wife but, of course, a woman will carry a baby for nine months, shes even at work and shes thinking about the kid, and that is how God created women, so, Ive always realised that ones you help a woman, youre helping a lot of people because like it or not, if you give a woman money, shell prepare food for the husband and kids and everybody will eat.

A woman will see how best she can manage the home with whatever you give her to make sure that the house functions, so, personally, Ive been so much into widows, single parents and kids. Kids because, as a nation, if we want to kill poverty, once you invest in old people youre not killing poverty but once you invest in kids: into their education, the same kids will become doctors, lawyers, businessmen and there is a multiplier effect because once the kid becomes a businessman like me, hell assist people, assist the family and the family will cut poverty at a particular level. So, that is what I believe. So, giving money to widows, single parents is to help them to invest in their kids so as to break the poverty cycle, Mr Agongo said, as he philosophised, You came into this world alone and youll leave alone. You came into this world empty and youll leave this world empty.
Mondays Australian Story profiles Victor Steffensen and indigenous fire management techniques.

Victor Steffensen has become known as the face of Australias Indigenous cultural burning movement.

But he says he owes it all to two Cape York elders who taught him everything he knows about the fire management techniques that were practiced by Indigenous people for thousands of years.

Victor was in his late teens when he went on a fishing trip to Cape York and met Tommy George and George Musgrave, who were the last speakers of their language among the Kuku Thaypan people.

Eager to pass on their knowledge to young people, they adopted Victor into the local Laura community and began teaching him about flora, fauna and fire management.

Victor learned from elders who learned from elders. Now hes starting to share that knowledge and tell that story, says Inspector Chris Palmer from the NSW Rural Fire Service.

Victor also began filming the two old men to record their encyclopaedic knowledge of cultural burning, a system of burning different types of land at particular times of the year with a cool burn that leaves the tree canopy intact.

In 2005, the work of the elders was recognized when they were awarded honourary doctorates by James Cook University.

Late last year, Victor Steffensen was just putting the finishing touches to his book Fire Country when devastating fires broke out in large parts of Australia.

It was no surprise to me because I saw it coming, he told Australian Story. I feel sorry for the firefighters, theyre thrown into like a warzone, into an inferno.

Now he is in high demand around the country as people look for a better way to deal with future fires and the bigger question of climate change.

This summer shows you that fire has to be addressed. The people most skilled at doing that are Aboriginal people, says Bill Gammage from the Australian National University.

The episode includes experienced firefighters in the Queensland and New South Wales Rural Fire Services, who say aspects of indigenous burning methods could be incorporated into their hazard reduction techniques.

Producer: Ben Cheshire

8pm Monday on ABC.
Imagine you crafted a beautiful painting or wrote a poem or verse from the heart and somebody just copies it giving it his or her own flavour. How would you feel?

AR Rahman, who usually takes months to compose original and mesmerizing music, was mighty upset when his song Masakali was butchered in a remix version.



Delhi 6 filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra said that the Masakali 2.0 might damage your eardrums, Rahman urged people to enjoy the original. There are memes all over the internet dissing the new version that stars Sidharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria.



#Delhi6 the movie & its songs created with so much Luv & passion , lets save the original creations for generations to come. #saynotoRemixes https://t.co/QIKqYRKiPl  Rakeysh Mehra (@RakeyshOmMehra) April 9, 2020

#Masakali #Delhi6 Created with love & passion an iconic song that has to be preserved. Beware of the re- mix it will damage your eardrums https://t.co/9NJGza2Vfo  Rakeysh Mehra (@RakeyshOmMehra) April 9, 2020

A day has passed but the controversy continues. Filmmaker Hansal Mehta also dissed the trend of remixes and said it will only stop when people will stop producing them.

This 'recreation' of old songs can stop if the public rejects them. The numbers on YouTube for godawful versions of old songs are huge and hence music companies keep producing them. Stop viewing the videos. Stop listening to the songs. Stop playing them at events. They will stop.  Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) April 9, 2020

Yes. I am reacting to the awful, ear shattering #Masakali version. But check its YouTube views in 48 hrs. Then see how DJs blast it at events. And how people groove to the godawful version. Shit sells. While we cringe, somebody is laughing his way to the bank.  Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) April 9, 2020

Kangana Ranaut's sister Rangoli Chandel also called it "cheap atrocious copy".

Nothing worse for an artist when his/her genius work violently taken from them turned in to a cheap atrocious copy and sold for dimwits low IQ audience, art must cultivate the audience to enjoy fine work not ruin fine work to suit tacky gawar audience... https://t.co/h8McybOeS6  Rangoli Chandel (@Rangoli_A) April 9, 2020

The original track was penned by Prasoon Joshi and sung by Mohit Chauhan for Abhishek Bachchan-Sonam Kapoor starrer 2009 film.
File photo

Eight passengers including the driver of a commercial bus arrested in Sokoto by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal are to be prosecuted for violating the state border closure directive.

The borders were shut to check spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tambuwal directed the state police Wednesday to liaise with the Commissioner of Justice and ensure the prosecution of the violators of the closure order.

However, Sokoto state has maintained its zero record of COVID-19 since the outbreak.

Tambuwals special adviser on media and public affairs, Muhammad Bello said the governor on his way back from Tureta Local Government Area bordering Sokoto and Zamfara states, flagged down a vehicle, only to discover it was a commercial bus conveying passengers out of the state.

He arrested and handed them over to the state police commissioner, Alhaji Ibrahim Sani Kaoje for prosecution.

The Commissioner of Police said all the passengers were being interrogated to know their culpability and would be charged to court as directed by the governor.

Also, the state Joint Task Force on COVD-19 lockdown has intercepted three vehicles with 18 passengers and their drivers for defying the lockdown directive.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a bailout package worth VN62 trillion (US$2.66 billion) to support people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Employeeswho are forced to take unpaid leave and those who have theirlabour contracts suspended forat least one month due to COVID-19 will receiveVN1.8 million ($77) each month.

The social security package is part of a resolution signed by PM Phuc on Thursday night to help people affected during the pandemic.

Under the resolution, employees who take unpaid leave and those who have their labour contracts suspended for at least one month will receive VN1.8 million ($77) each month.

The duration of support will depend on how long they are out of work starting from April 1, and will not run beyond three months.

Employers in financial troubles who have continued to pay staff at least 50 per cent of the salaries will be allowed to borrow money from the Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies with zero interest for three months to pay the outstanding money to their staff.

Individual business households with taxable revenue of less than VN100 million ($4,288) per year that have closed since Aprill 1 will receive VN1 million ($43) per month for a maximum of three months.

People who contributed to the national revolutionary cause will receive an allowance of VN500,000 ($22) each month from April to June. Poor and near-poor households will receive VN250,000 ($11) per month from April to June. All of the payments will be made in a lump sum.

The resolution also said that employers affected by the pandemic that had been forced to lay off more than 50 per cent of staff would be allowed to suspend payments to the retirement and death fund for 12 months.

The State will prioritise spending from the State budget to implement the resolution.

The Government has assigned the Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs to guide localities in implementing the resolution.  VNS

Government considers $2.6 billion support package for Vietnamese hit by COVID-19 Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung submitted a relief package worth US$2.6 billion to help those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic at the meeting of permanent Government members on April 1.

Techcombank offers $1.28-billion package to supports firms The Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) has announced a 30 trillion VND (over $1.28 billion) credit package to support its customers to overcome difficulties amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mumbai, April 10 : Every time she posts a photograph of herself, the mercury soars! The actress-former beauty queen Urvashi Rautela has taken to social media to post yet another sizzling picture.

Urvashi took to Instagram, where she shared a picture from what seems like to be from a photoshoot. In the image, she is seen wearing a jet black swimsuit with a plunging neckline and a chunky yellow coloured neckpiece.

She captioned the image: "The love could be labeled poison & we'd drink it anyway." The sizzling hot picture of Urvashi has garnered over 994K likes on the photo-sharing website.

Urvashi recently shared a video where the actress can be seen enjoying a scrumptious breakfast spread on a floating tray.

The B-Town hottie and internet sensation recently got trolled for repeating her bikini in previous posts.
The next time you go to the grocery store, the governor wants you to wear a face mask.

Gov. Phil Murphy took the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions advisory to wear masks when out in public one step further on Wednesday and made it the rule in New Jersey for customers and workers at essential businesses.

There are exceptions, but Murphy said during his press briefing, My guidance is, you gotta go out and find something to put on your face before you come in.

The rule, the governor said, would be enforced by employees asking people who arent wearing face masks "to leave. But the overall enforcement would be benevolent, he said.

Murphy also is limiting the number of customers allowed inside stores to 50% of their maximum capacity, to make it easier to practice social distancing. And hes adding sanitation requirements for essential businesses.

The new rules take effect Friday at 8 p.m.

Heres a closer look at the changes:

Face masks:

Workers and customers over 2-years-old are required to wear cloth face coverings unless doing so would inhibit the persons health.

Workers must also wear gloves. The gloves and face masks are to be provided by the business at the business expense.

If a customer refuses to wear a mask for non-medical reasons, and one cant be provided by the business, then the business must decline entry to the person -- unless it sells medication, medical supplies or food. If it sells those items, the business should provide an alternative method -- pick-up or delivery -- for the person to get the goods.

If a person declines to wear a mask for medical reasons, the business staff cant ask the person to show medical documentation verifying their condition.

Safety measures at stores

Essential retail businesses must limit the number of people allowed inside at one time to 50 percent of the stated maximum store capacity.

Designate store hours specifically for high-risk individuals to shop.

Install physical barriers between cashiers or baggers and shoppers.

Require infection control practices -- regular hand washing, coughing and sneezing etiquette and proper tissue usage and disposal.

Provide employees break time for handwashing throughout the day.

Arrange for contactless pay options, pick-up and delivery and make sure these options take into account people who do not have internet access.

Provide hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes to staff and customers.

Require frequent sanitization of high-touch areas such as restrooms, credit card machines, keypads, counters and shopping carts.

Put signs at the entrance and throughout the store alerting staff and customers to keep six feet of physical distance. And mark six feet of spacing in check-out lines.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@AllisonPries. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Gal Gadot put her wonderful body on display as she posed for the May 2020 issue of Vogue magazine.

The action star, 34, wore an artistic, sheer dress as she posed beside mountainous desert rocks for photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Gal exuded confidence as she placed her hands on either side of her head while working the intricate silver dress.

Silver lining: Gal Gadot put her wonderful body on display as she posed for the May 2020 issue of Vogue magazine in a sheer metallic dress

The unusual frock contained long, feather-like sleeves and an array of intricate silver designs which protected her modesty.

Gal gazed straight towards the camera as she gently touched the nape of her neck with a natural-looking coat of makeup.

But that wasn't the only photo Gal dazzled in.

In addition to the sheer dress, she also wore a shimmering black gown with a dramatic, billowing skirt.

She rocks: In addition to the sheer dress, she also wore a shimmering black gown with a dramatic, billowing skirt

The actress was a vision of glamour as she struck a confident stance while placing her hands upon her waist.

She also wore a taupe ensemble that cinched into her waist.

The star looked in deep contemplation as she cast her attention away from the camera.

Pensive: The actress looked in deep contemplation as she cast her attention away from the camera

Gal landed the May cover of Vogue magazine to promote her new film Wonder Woman: 1984 which was supposed to open in June but has been moved to August due to the coronavirus crisis.

Inside the fashion magazine, the star - who got mixed reviews when she shared a celebrity packed version of Imagine on Instagram to lift the spirits of her fans in self-isolation - talked about COVID-19.

'Obviously the circumstances are horrible and frightening, but were home and were trying to make the best of itto enjoy the quality time,' the 34-year-old star told the magazine from her home in Los Angeles, California.

Statuesque: Wonder Woman superstar Gal graces the May 2020 cover of Vogue

She was referring to her family, consisting of her husband Yaron Varsano, 45, and their daughters Alma, eight, and Maya, three.

Vogue was quick to point out that the article about Gadot was written 'before COVID-19 began to take hold in the U.S.'

And the publication made sure to reach out to her once more in mid-March to reflect on the 'profound changes to daily life [that] were being seen across the country.'

On the pandemic: 'Obviously the circumstances are horrible and frightening, but were home and were trying to make the best of itto enjoy the quality time,' Gadot told the magazine; Gal and her husband seen in February

'Ive never been through times like these,' Gal also said about the current situation in the world. 'But Im also full of hope for when it will be behind us.'

In the glamorous cover image, Gal stands in all her statuesque glory, sheathed in a fabulously textured silver metallic Louis Vuitton dress.

The 5ft10in Israeli film star has her raven dark hair whisked back away from her minimally made up face, with Tiffany & Co. earring studs in her ears.

On her Instagram, the Fast & Furious actress posted the gorgeous cover shot and identified the shoot location, in the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park in the Sierra Pelona Mountains of northern Los Angeles County, in the caption.

Can't wait: One of the big topics in the article itself, of course, was the highly anticipated sequel Wonder Woman 1984, a film that has now been delayed from June until August

Iconic: 'It meant something to them. And just because of that, I care for them, and I want to hear what they have to say,' Gal said of Wonder Woman

'This was shot at Vasquez rocks a few months back,' Gadot wrote. 'Who could have imagined what was coming? Thank you @voguemagazine for having me. Taken by the extraordinary @annieleibovitz '

One of the big topics in the article itself, of course, was Gal's highly anticipated sequel Wonder Woman 1984, a film that wrapped production well over a year ago but has now been delayed for release from June until August as movie theaters around the world remain shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Gadot observed how profoundly the first Wonder Woman film, released in 2017, affected fans.

Imagine this? The star got mixed reviews when she shared a celebrity packed version of Imagine on Instagram to lift the spirits of her fans in self-isolation

'It meant something to them. And just because of that, I care for them, and I want to hear what they have to say,' she said.

'Often its about a profound effect that its had on their life. Usually its that it triggered them to make a change, to do something they would never do, to be courageous.'

At the end of last month, Gal helped break the news of WW1984's delayed release, taking to her Instagram to announce the new August date: 'In these dark and scary times, I am looking forward to a brighter future ahead. Where we can share the power of cinema together again. Excited to redate our WW84 film to August 14, 2020. I hope everyone is safe. Sending my love to you all. '
The screams of the Bernie Sanders supporters are all over, now that their socialist hero has decided to pull out of the presidential race.

I had planned to write about this, because some of them are having trouble accepting it:

day 24 of corona break: bernie dropped out and im not taking it well pic.twitter.com/Hd4noRsijT  abby "abbs" herrera (@itsabbyherrera) April 8, 2020

Bernie supporters are taking the loss very well

pic.twitter.com/ZmjMHzcai1  Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 9, 2020

(Here she was in happier times so you can see the contrast).

But in researching 'material for this blog, I ran across something startling and different, and nobody in the press has noticed:

Biden supporters are mocking, taunting, kicking, and insulting the Bernie-ite voters while they are grieving and down, even though the Democratic nominee needs their votes to win.

Their tweets are mean, vindictive, vengeful and savage:

When I suggest Biden needs to adopt a lot of Bernies platform & meet the left in the middle, Im immediately attacked and shamed & called a Trump supporter by Biden supporters. If @JoeBiden & his supporters dont want to compromise on policy then how is that uniting the party?  Ryan Knight  (@ProudResister) April 9, 2020

Some Bernie Supporters say their votes have to be earned, they should have took their own advice over last 4 yrs and actually earned the votes of other demographics instead of demanding them and then offering threats when there was no compliance.  Country1stAlways (@MichaelHargrov1) April 10, 2020

it's funny how every time Biden wins, his supporters don't celebrate, they panic. they've been yelling at Bernie supporters to fall in line for 24 hours now. almost like they knew he wasn't electable at all.  i bless the rains down in castamere (@Chinchillazllla) April 9, 2020

Bernie pulled a Bernie on you all supporters pic.twitter.com/NIewCFTnEw  In God I Trust (@Maryannzfoster) April 10, 2020

It's just the the Bernie brats aka keyboard gangsters that are having a fucking tantrum. Well if you couldn't show up in say SC, WI, MI. and the rest of the primaries you lost I'm not worried. The Democrats are taking back the country you live in with or without you.  Patty Cross Block ALL maga rats. VOTE (@PattyCross2160) April 8, 2020

And he's taking Bernie bros with him. Oh well, so much for Bernie's reputation and dignity. We'll get it done without them. And when we do. We will not forget their actions.  Mike (@007Rukdme) April 4, 2020

Ther's a ton of this stuff running around on Twitter from the Bidenites.

Joe himself has already said that he takes the Bernie voters for granted, suggesting in comments that they have nowhere else to go. As a result, they'll come running to Joe.

But he seems to be unaware that many Bernie voters, about 15%, according to one poll, actually plan on casting their ballots for President Trump as their second choice. They really don't like Biden.

Rep. Ilhan Omar's self-declared "communist" daughter seems to be in this category, she seems to be saying she'll never support Biden, (though she probably won't move to 15% for Trump). She's tweeting revolutionary change now since she doesn't like the electoral results.

Twitter internet polls show that many Bernie supporters plan on casting their votes for Bernie as a write-in candidate.

This bodes trouble for the Biden campaign, given the importance of Twitter to many Bernie supporters.

It's not made better by Joe Biden, whose appeals to the Bernie voters are being viewed as insults

Every headline is framing it this way when 100% of my fellow Bernie supporters are calling it a half-assed insult. Really shows you who these media companies are working for. https://t.co/XmXBX4VUsG  Secular Talk (@KyleKulinski) April 9, 2020

A few Bidenites can even see the problem and are trying to stop their own from taunting the crestfallen Bernie-ites as bad for party unity.

For the love of god...be nice to Bernies supporters. Stop calling them names. Most of them are NOT communists and socialist and have more in common with Trump supporters than they might realize. Dont let the loud bad apples shape your perspective on them #walkaway #demexit https://t.co/32I3tsXZY7  Dr. Karlyn Borysenko (@DrKarlynB) April 10, 2020

Biden supporters are uniquely gross and toxic and I call upon the candidate himself to personally denounce his supporters and apologize to @briebriejoy https://t.co/bEZCPRrWOc  Nathan J Robinson (@NathanJRobinson) April 10, 2020

This is one bitter contest nobody's noticed, and given the Bidenite sore-winner attitude, they aren't going to win over the wounded Bernie-ites with this kind of grave-dancing going on. So much for uniting the Democratic Party around one candidate.

President Trump, though, can see what's going on, and sure enough has begun to court them. He knows what's doing on Twitter. Dollars to donuts, with this kind of Bidenite gloating going on, Trump is going to win many Bernie supporters over.

Image credit: Twitter screen shot
DENVER, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Aki and Eon are addressing the immediate needs of Essential Patients via Essential Patient Reports to current clients and offering a new solution named Eon SafetyNet at no charge to any hospital.

Essential patients make up our most vulnerable population. If a procedure is delayed or not performed, Essential Patients risk:

Dr. Aki

Threat to the patient's life, Permanent dysfunction of an extremity or organ system, Disease progression Rapid deterioration of the patient's condition

COVID-19 has created an unprecedented healthcare crisis where Essential Patient care is deferred up to three months. Service line employees are redeployed to support COVID response and are unable to perform their usual duties. Without immediate action, patients are at risk of disease progression that could decrease survivability by 90% (source).

Eon addressed the deferred care crisis for all 210 current Eon clients by triaging the most vulnerable patients in an easy-to-use worklist called Essential Patient Reports. These reports allow overburdened hospital resources the ability to focus on the triaged 10-20% of patients who need immediate care, while allowing the lesser-risk patients to enter a queue for deferred exams and procedures.

"Navigating patients in need of diagnostic workup during the current environment surrounding COVID-19 has been nothing short of challenging. New barriers to care are being discovered daily, many of which add to our patients existing anxieties. Problem solving through these new barriers can be time consuming, so receiving these weekly essential patient reports has been extremely valuable in assisting with triaging our most critical patients needing workup when our focus is being shifted in unusual ways. I cannot thank Eon enough for the unsolicited assistance and support from afar." Heather Heuer, BRST, R.T.(T)  UP Health System  Marquette

As the market leader in patient management, Eon is donating this mission-critical service and making it available to every single hospital and imaging center at no charge. Eon SafetyNet can be activated within seven days and relieves over-stressed hospital resources.

Eon SafetyNet utilizes machine learning to identify and segment the most at-risk patients and safely presents these patients to tumor board attendees in a mobile application. This creates a virtual tumor board that allows reallocated resources the ability to comment, respond to any essential patient need, take immediate action for next steps, and do so at a time and location that works best for them.

"Hospitals must get back to patient care to recover both clinically and financially," says Eon founder and co-CEO, Dr. Akrum Al-zubaidi. "Start looking at how to triage Essential Patients safely; queue low-risk patients for deferred treatment and identify essential patients so they safely have access to necessary patient care. Eon SafetyNet is the no-risk solution to getting America's healthcare engine restarted and operating how it should."

Currently, there are over 4,000 hospitals and imaging centers eligible for Eon SafetyNet and over 100 million patients already affected by deferred care. Eon is committed to triaging the bolus of deferred care.

About EON

Eon is a Denver-based healthcare technology company dedicated to defying disease by revolutionizing the way healthcare data is gathered, curated, and shared among healthcare professionals. This ensures the right data reaches the right people at the right time. We are focused on early identification, management and care given to Essential Patients who are at-risk for disease. For more information visit www.EonHealth.com or contact [email protected] and follow Eon on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Media Contact:

Tracy Kollker Coleman

970.988.3077

[email protected]

SOURCE Eon
No one image seems to capture the moment, evidence that the horror of what is happening has overwhelmed our capacity to brand it and contain it within a single, iconic picture. One plastic curtain looks like another, one ambulance shrieking through the empty streets is indistinguishable from the rest, one makeshift hospital can stand for all the others. The generic visuals of the catastrophe hypnotize us into receptivity to the simple facts of the matter: Inside those generic ambulances are real first responders, many of whom have no health insurance; inside those hospitals, doctors and nurses lack equipment and basic protective masks and gowns. In a visual age, there is no sufficient visual image to capture the moment, so we listen, to governors desperate to escape the free-for-all competition for ventilators, to families whose loved ones have died alone inside quarantined hospital wards, to the mindless blather of demagogues who cannot even now take a break from their narcissism.
In New South Wales, for instance, work on construction sites state-wide can continue on weekends and public holidays to spread the work across the full week. This should help given the social distancing measures in place which limit the number of people on-site.

In the city of Melbourne, construction sites with the pertinent approval can operate an extra hour in the morning and evening on weekdays while three hours of extra work are allowed on Saturdays, as well as six hours of limited activity on Sundays.

Painting and plastering work, meanwhile, can be extended until 10pm.

These measures will help contractors and subcontractors implement shift work which in turn will assist with social distancing while getting on with the job, noted Gallagher. From a basic insurance perspective, no additional cover is required to provide for activities performed outside of normal operational hours.

Government advice regarding social distancing, improved workplace hygiene, and limitations on non-essential visitors to construction sites still applies.

Meanwhile recommended steps include utilisation of split shifts, creating specific walkways through site, staggering break times, and spreading out furniture in the break room.

The broker added: Because construction work is hands-on it is critical that your site is regularly and thoroughly cleaned. Surfaces, switches, and facilities in lunch rooms, bathrooms, site offices, and all other site amenities should be industrially cleaned frequently.

The provision of personal protective equipment is also important, for the workers as well as the cleaners. In addition, lines of communication should be open not only to keep staff updated on any regulatory changes but also to encourage them to report symptoms or concerns.
By Ofeliya Afandiyeva

Azerbaijans has airlifted 15,000 citizens from coronavirus-hit countries via special charter flights so far, presidential aide, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said during the briefing of the Cabinet of Ministers on April 8.

Those evacuated to Azerbaijan have been quarantined, Hajiyev said.

"We also thank our citizens who are abroad for understanding. Despite the closed borders, there are exceptional cases. For example, over the last two days, the deceased were transported from Russia on the basis of the principle of humanism and as a result of the considered appeals from the relatives," Hajiyev said.

He added that the country's diplomatic missions abroad are in constant contact with the Azerbaijanis staying there.

Citizens who need help are supported by our diplomatic missions while students - by the Ministry of Education.
Following a war of words between the Islamic Republic Ministry of health and Beijing's Ambassador to Tehran, a prominent member of Majles (Iranian parliament) has called on the country's Foreign Ministry to summon the Chinese envoy to protest his actions.

The lawmaker in question is Ali Motahari, who is ending his term in parliament but in the last three years has often criticized officials and the hardliners for their restrictive policies and use of force.

On April 5, the Islamic Republic Health Ministry spokesman, Kianush Jahanpur, had said at a press briefing that China's statistics about the number of deaths and infections from the coronavirus are "a bitter joke." He added, if Beijing said it got the coronavirus epidemic under control within two months, "one should think very hard [if it is true]."

The comments triggered a barrage of tweets by the Chinese Ambassador in Tehran, Chang Hua who patronizingly directed Jahanpur to follow press briefings by China's Health Ministry "carefully" to draw his conclusions.

Chang Hua, backed by ultraconservative allies of the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei also reminded Jahanpur that China had stood with Iran at a time of severe crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak and Washington's devastating economic sanctions imposed on the clergy-dominated Iran.

The Islamic Republic's dependency on China has deepened since Washington dropped the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers.

Meanwhile, reformists and moderates in Iran dismissed Chang Hua's tweets as a reflection of arrogance.

Tehran's representative to Majlis, Ali Motahari, insisted on Thursday that the Islamic Republic Foreign Ministry should not leave Chang's comments unanswered.

"Our campaign against America was not supposed to end with our dependency on China," Motahari tweeted, adding, "Sadly, our economic dependence on China has also led us to remain silent about the Chinese government's great oppression of the country's Muslims."

Another prominent MP, Tehran's Mahmoud Sadeqi, joined voices with his colleague and reprimanded the military who had supported Chang and chastised Jahanpur.

Ali Motahari and Mahmoud Sadeqi were both disqualified by the ultraconservative Guardian Council and barred from running in parliamentary electios last February.
MICHIGAN  Farmers may still be working through the COVID-19 pandemic to provide food, but the price outlooks of various crops as a result of this outbreak do not look all that promising.

The price forecasts from the Michigan Farm Bureau for many agricultural products look very dire, as dairy prices have dropped 26-36%, corn future prices dropped 14%, and soybean future prices are down 8%.

According to Farm Bureau livestock and dairy specialist Ernie Birchmeier, the main purchasers of dairy  schools, universities, and restaurants  have been closed due to COVID-19, leaving dairy farmers with much more milk than plants are able to process for the retail market.

Theresa Sisung, the field crop specialist for the Farm Bureau, said that since all of agriculture is considered essential during this pandemic, farmers are still going forward as normal in planting crops. The only thing they might not be sure about is whether to make new investments for their farms.

No one is just stopping, Sisung said.

The travel restrictions put in effect mean that people are driving their cars far less, causing the demand for ethanol made from corn to be down as well.

A 35% drop in ethanol prices has caused some plants to either scale back production or stop production altogether, further depressing corn prices, Birchmeier said in a statement. The sudden change has also cut off the supply of dried distillers grains  a byproduct of ethanol production and source of high-protein feed  for livestock producers, who are left scrambling to find a replacement source for protein.

Sisung also said that aside from people driving less, there are lower oil prices and a very large crop of corn being planted, about 97 million acres worth. With the demand in decline in regard to this increase in production, she does not expect it to rebound like other crops might.

She does feel that other crop prices returning to normal depends on China buying large amounts crops from the United States, as the uncertainty in the marketplace due to COVID-19 and China not buying as much has also hurt farmers.

The CARES Act passed by the federal government in late March provides $9.5 billion in financial support to farmers impacted by the coronavirus and $14 billion for the commodity credit corporation, which only accounts for about 0.02% of the total aid in the bill.

The USDA, meanwhile, has not yet announced how it plans to distribute the aid, which Sisung contributes to the USDA taking its time to develop a fair, equitable plan for farmers.

They didnt have a timeline to give yet, Sisung said, who did speak with the USDA earlier this week about the aid. They are still in the developmental phase.
Bangladesh: Coronavirus serves up a surplus of hilsha in the market this Baishakh

by Sohel Parvez

April 10,2020 | Source: The Daily Star

The rapid spread of coronavirus in Bangladesh has shattered traders' hopes of a sales bonanza of hilsha fish marking the celebration of Pahela Baishakh, the first day of the Bangla new year. The government has already imposed restriction on gathering on the first day of the Bangla calendar year 1427, slated on April 14, with the view to flattening the curve on the lethal pathogen that has infected more than 1.4 million globally and claimed 83,568 lives.



Typically, sales of the much-cherished fish begin to surge two-three weeks ahead of the Pahela Baishakh. But this year has been unlike any other -- in recent memory. "It's less than a week to Pahela Baishakh and there is no query or advance orders for hilsha this year," said Narrotheam Das, owner of Partha Enterprise, a fish trader at Karwan Bazar, one of the biggest wholesale kitchen markets in Dhaka. And he is not banking on a change in scenario either given the stringent movement control order that is coming into play by the hour as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases escalate by the day. The fish, loved by people of all walks of life because of its distinct taste, has become an integral part of celebration of the biggest cultural event, Bangla new year, particularly among the urban middle-class, in recent decades. And many traders store the fish in cold storages to profit from the clamour for hilsha ahead of the festival.



"There will be no business this year," said Mohamamd Mostafa, owner of Emon Enterprise, which has stored 12 tonnes of hilsha to profit eyeing the Pahela Baishaki demand. People are not coming out of their homes unless they must. "Where is the mood of Baishakhi celebration?" Now Mosfata, who gets his supplies from areas such as Noakhali and Barishal, where the fish are caught from rivers, are banking on a return of appetite for the delicacy once coronavirus is snuffed out. No estimate of sales of hilsha marking the celebration of Bangla new year's day is available.



In his guestimate, Mosharof Hossain, general secretary of Five Star Fish Traders Association of Karwan Bazar that handles nearly 300 tonnes of fishes daily, said Boishakhi day sales might be one-fifth the total annual sales of hilsha domestically. He echoed the same as others about the most depressing market condition. "The market has been almost out of customers for the last one week," he said, adding that owners of nearly half of the 500 stores here have remained shut. But on the bright side -- and for those who have been intrepid enough to step out of their houses and venture into the kitchen markets -- the price of hilsha, which normally blows up around this time of the year, has remained subdued over the past fortnight.



The price of four pieces of hilsha -- weighing more than one kilogram each -- is now Tk 4,500-Tk 5,000 at the wholesale level, according to Hossain. "Because of coronavirus effect, the price is unlikely to increase ahead of the Pahela Boishakh." And they are sitting on surplus of the fish, which is native to the region. "There is a good stock of fishes in the cold storages. Besides, we have also seen good catches of hilsha this year compared with previous year," Hossain said. The main hilsha catching season begins in May and ends in the first week of October. And catches of the fish have increased in recent years thanks to the government's restriction on hooking young hilsha, termed jatka, for eight months, ban on catches in five breeding grounds for two months, curb on fishing in seas for 65 days as well as two-day restriction on catches during breeding season.



Hilsha catches rose 79 per cent in a decade to 5.33 lakh tonnes in fiscal 2018-19, showed data from the Department of Fisheries (DoF). The national fish accounted for 12 per cent of the total annual fish production of 42.76 lakh tones in fiscal 2017-18. It also accounts for nearly 1 per cent of the country's GDP and 20 lakh people, including fishermen, are involved in its trade, according to the DoF. "This year, we had catches in months never seen before," said Syed Mohammad Sohel, a fish trader at Jatrabari, another major wholesale hub in Dhaka city. As a result of increased production and declining demand for coronavirus, the prices of the fish have been low: he sold a hilsha weighing one kg for Tk 700 yesterday. Previously, that fish would be going for Tk 3,000, Sohel said.
By Maytal Yasur

Beit-Or, Assaf Golan

(Israel Hayom via JNS)There has been a consistent decline in the rate of coronavirus infections in Israel since the last week in March, with infections now doubling at a rate of once every eight days compared to once every three.

Professor Gabi Barabash, former director of the Israeli Health Ministry and of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, told Channel 12 News that as this decline has been observed over a three-day period, it could, hopefully, indicate a trend.

If the numbers continue looking like this, they [the government] could reconsider the lockdown after Passover, he said.

As of Tuesday, morning, March 31, there were 4,831 confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel. Eighty-three patients are in serious condition and 66 of them are in need of respiratory support. Seventeen people have died, and 163 have made a full recovery.

Still, Barabash noted that infection rates could spike again unless certain sectors of Israeli society, and particularly the ultra-Orthodox sector, understand the importance of observing the Health Ministrys directives.

The disregard of some in the ultra-Orthodox community for the Health Ministrys directives is so severe that Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, head of the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party, has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to impose a quarantine on the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, one of the areas hardest hit by the coronavirus.

On Monday, Netanyahu himself went into self-quarantine after a parliamentary aide tested positive for the virus. The prime minister later tested negative for COVID-19.

In a televised address issued prior to receiving his test result, Netanyahu said that this evening I am speaking to you from the Prime Ministers Residence in Jerusalem. Even though my medical tests have still not concluded, I have decided to enter into voluntary quarantine in order to set a personal example. The cameraman is six meters away.

He added: I am continuing to work from home.

I must say that most of you are adhering to Health Ministry directives, [and] I thank you for that. But we have still not reached the desired point. There are individualsand more than this, there are certain groups in the country which are pointedly ignoring, and are even showing contempt for, the clear directives that have been published, he said.

The prime minister stressed that the vast majority of the public, including the ultra-Orthodox, were following the directives, but that the minority that wasnt was putting everyone in danger.

The vast majority is disciplined, in the ultra-Orthodox public, the secular public, the Jewish and the non-Jewish publicbut the undisciplined minority is endangering the majority, said Netanyahu. It is endangering both itself and the majority together. This is unabashed lawlessness.

Therefore, he concluded, I have ordered the security forces to prepare to step up enforcement in neighborhoods and communities in which there are such violations and in which there are events that endanger the lives of all of us. We will prevent extremist elements from harming public health, and we will prosecute whoever attacks police, health and military forces, who are trying to carry out their mission on behalf of all of us, concluded Netanyahu.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
In a petition to the FEC, Citizens United and its affiliate Citizens United Foundation asked the agency to close what the groups dubbed the Bloomberg loophole, saying that while the transfer may fall within the letter of the regulation governing transfers of candidate funds to national political party committees it certainly does not fall within the spirit of the law.
Express News Service

NEW DELHI/PATNA: Munna Kumar, 35, of Muzaffarpur in Bihar was employed as a construction worker in Gurugram, the millennium city with gleaming skyscrapers, shopping malls, upscale eateries and night clubs.

The night Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a three-week lockdown in late March, Kumars employer gave him the marching order. With no money to pay the rent in his slum cluster, he had no option but to return to his village with his meagre savings.

My employer treated me badly, I will not go back to Gurugram now. Even if I have to die of hunger I will do so in my village, Kumar said, revealing the trauma that will remain imprinted for as long as he lives.

Baleshwar Das, 45, of Bihars Madhubani district, was employed with a leather products factory in New Delhi. With the factory shut, he and six others began their journey on foot to reach their homes at least 600 km away.

Luckily for them, they were picked up by a bus arranged by the Uttar Pradesh government for the journey home. But unlike Kumar, Das said he would return to his workplace the moment the lockdown is lifted as my lifes savings are still with my employer.

Kumar and Das exemplify the predicament the millions of migrant workers face currently. Accurate data about their numbers is hard to come by as they are seasonal migrant workers and are excluded from official surveys.

But it is estimated that nearly 50 million short term migrant workers have lost their livelihoods. Analysts estimate that 40 per cent of them were employed in the construction industry, 15-20 per cent had jobs in a host of eateries, small businesses and retail shops and another 20-25 per cent in brick kilns and small workshops.

According to an affidavit the Centre has filed in the Supreme Court, a little over 1 million of them who couldnt make it to their villages and towns are housed in shelter homes and camps run by various state governments and NGOs.

Social activist Anjali Bhardwaj, the main petitioner for migrant workers in the SC, said the government must think long term.

To rehabilitate and give assurance to these workers, the Centre should bring in stronger labour laws so that employers cant throw them out when they return.

Bhardwaj said the workers should be paid by the respective state governments where they were registered.

If not registered, a mechanism should be worked out by the Centre and state governments to give them money.

She cited the example of UK, Germany and Italy, where the government put in place a minimum wage support system.

The government seems to be working on these lines. Support programmes like in the US and elsewhere for small businesses are being considered.

Experts say special trains and bus services will have to be run to get the migrants back to work.

This has to be done with proper social distancing, said Arun Kumar, Malcolm S Adiseshiah Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences.
Senator Holly J. Mitchell Secures Masks for Childcare Providers in Los Angeles County

LOS ANGELES CA State Senator Holly J. Mitchell is teaming up with LA Countys largest childcare provider  Crystal Stairs, the Child Care Alliance of Los Angeles (CCALA) and KDW Apparel to get 7,500 masks to childcare workers.

While weve been working hard to make sure essential workers have access to needed childcare services, it is clear that those childcare workers who are stepping up to provide this critical service, also need to do so safely, said Mitchell. Mayor Garcetti has strongly encouraged all Los Angeles residents to wear face coverings. Now is the time to provide CDC quality masks to our providers.

Over the next week , the 7,500 masks will be delivered to Crystal Stairs to be distributed to CCALA childcare providerswhich includes child care centers and family day care facilitiesthroughout the city and county of Los Angeles. According to Jackie Majors, Crystal Stairs CEO, 98 percent of their clients are single parents and if they are essential workers, childcare might be the only option to allow them to go to work. It is essential that childcare workers are safe so families can survive and children are not home alone.

ADVERTISEMENT

Senator Holly Mitchell stepped up immediately to address the need to equip over 7,500 child care providers across Los Angeles County with face masks which are necessary to keep them safe and healthy while they care for first responder children. said Majors. Crystal Stairs salutes Senator Mitchell and child care providers who are working and providing child care services during this crisis.
Police attempts to stop the public flouting coronavirus lockdown measures over the Easter bank holiday could breach human rights laws, MPs have warned.

As forces threaten to fine people for travelling to rural areas or making non-essential journeys, a report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights said police may be punishing members of the public without any legal basis.

It said widespread confusion as to what people are and are not permitted to do was leading to violations of fundamental freedoms, with people being questioned, fined and even arrested when they have not broken the law.

There has already been at least one miscarriage of justice, which saw a woman wrongly fined 660 under the Coronavirus Act 2020 for a crime she did not commit.

Harriet Harman, chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR), called the lockdown the most significant and blanket interference with individual liberty in modern times.

She said the extreme measures can only be lawful if justified by potential loss of life, and if the measures only interfere with human rights and civil liberties to the extent necessary, are enforced in a clear, reasonable and balanced manner, and enforcement is authorised and does not go beyond what is prohibited by law.

Ms Harman, a former lawyer and solicitor general, added: It remains a concern that some police forces will take a more proactive approach than is necessary and perhaps even unlawful.

Several appear to have enforced the government guidance, rather than the new Health Protection Regulations, which are less stringent in some respects.

The regulations, which give police powers to arrest and fine people for breaking them, do not define essential travel, or specify what kind of groceries people can buy.

Several forces announced they would be stopping cars to check reasons for journeys (Getty)

Wales is the only UK country whose law repeats the government guidance of one outdoor exercise a day, while elsewhere no limit is imposed.

A JCHR briefing paper published on Thursday listed several examples where police claimed to be enforcing a ban on non-essential travel even though it is not against the law and official guidance to officers reads: We dont want the public sanctioned for travelling a reasonable distance to exercise. Road checks on every vehicle is equally disproportionate.

It cited Northamptonshire Police chief constable Nick Adderleys claim that the force may impose roadblocks and check shopping trolleys to see if items are legitimate if people continue to flout restrictions.

Mr Adderley has since backtracked on his comments, describing his language as clumsy, and the home secretary said the move was not appropriate.

Official police guidance says there is no power to stop and account  where an officer stops someone and asks what they are doing  but several police forces have announced their intention to question members of the public about their reasons for being outside over the bank holiday.

Following contradictory statements on the extent of restrictions from police and government ministers, Ms Harman hit out at the worryingly haphazard approach to communicating the content of the guidance and advice and how either of these relate to the new regulations.

It is crucial that government and police messaging reflects the law, she added.

To do otherwise risks real confusion, with members of the public being punished without any legal basis, contrary to Article 7 ECHR and the rule of law.

Police community support officers talk to a man on a street in Brighton shortly after the lockdown (AFP)

Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) states that no one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence if they have not broken the law.

The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and College of Policing have issued guidance to officers and stressed that arrests and fines should only be used as a last resort.

The JCHR said it should lead to more consistent and appropriate policing, but continued confusion was apparent on Friday morning.

A tweet was sent out from the official Twitter account for police in Cambridge reading: Officers visited Tesco Barhill this morning as part of their patrols around supermarkets and green spaces this weekend. Good to see everyone was abiding by social distancing measures and the non-essential aisles were empty.

Amid a deluge of criticism for suggesting that non-essential shopping could be policed, the tweet was deleted and Cambridgeshire Police issued a clarification saying it was not monitoring what people are buying from supermarkets.

A spokesperson said: This message was sent with good intentions by an over-exuberant officer who has been spoken to since this tweet was published.

It came after Cheshire Police said in a tweet it had issued summonses after multiple people from the same household going to the shops for non-essential items but later admitted this part of the social media post was an error.

Priti Patel said such approaches were not the guidance and that the government did not want heavy-handed law enforcement.

Speaking to TalkRadio, the home secretary added: Not everybodys going to get this right and it has taken a couple of weeks for these measures to bed in because this has been unprecedented.

The JCHR said that even if police follow their guidance to engage, explain and encourage people to follow the rules voluntarily, the public may feel intimidated into not leaving their homes  potentially violating the right to private and family life, and freedom of association.

Ms Harman said she was concerned police were also encouraging intrusive behaviour by fellow citizens by introducing dedicated online tools for people to report alleged lockdown breaches.

She has written to the health secretary, Matt Hancock, asking him to ensure human rights and the rule of law are considered in the review of measures due to take place next Thursday.
Their intention  they didnt say this upfront, but it became clear about a week ago  their intention was to set them up to make them operational and then to hand them over to the states, Pritzker said. Weve asked for as much support as we can get from the federal government in that turnover, because obviously we have a limited number of health care personnel available in the state, but we need to do this testing.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Atta-Mills Institute, Koku Anyidoho, has adviced all those who are fomenting tension in the country to make President Akufo-Addo look bad before the general public in the wake of the COVID-19 to desist from such behaviour.



To him, it is not helpful as all hands are needed on deck to fight the novel coronavirus just as the President last week took the initiative to invite all political parties to the Jubilee House to address the pandemic as a nation.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Koku Anyidoho praised former President Rawlings for the mandatory testing to set an example to encourage people to go for it in a bid to fight the pandemic. He also commended Ex-President John Kufuor's effort in the fight against the pandemic.



"Even the former Presidents have come alive in this moment of crisis that is facing the nation. Retired health personnel I hear met the President at the School of Public Health at the University of Ghana and they have committed themselves to support the current frontline medical personnel, this is a national crisis," he mentioned.



He again mentioned the need for the President to rely on science, data, research and statistics as the absence of these means will make the country grope in the dark.



 . . I have listened to the medical experts and they are giving us some good assurance, but the assurance they are giving us is based on research and laboratory analysis and that is the point the President was making," he said.



The Former NDC Deputy General Secretary was of the view that it is not the matter of praising President Akufo-Addo for the decisions he has taken to curtail the pandemic but rather an attempt not to force the President to panic in a moment of crisis.



It is not as if we are praising the President for the decision he has taken for us, but it is also important that we collectively do not force the President to panic. Let us not force our President to panic, he adviced.



He said this is the time the President needs our support the most devoid of politics.



He reitirated that those who have not worked with a sitting President before can afford to be aloof on the touchlines and do their propaganda as usual.



"Let them continue to wallow in their ignorance, he chastised.







Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Houston Chronicle has lifted the paywall on this developing coverage to provide critical information to our community. To support our journalists work, consider a digital subscription.

9:46 p.m. A state judge in Austin has temporarily halted Gov. Greg Abbotts executive order prohibiting judges from releasing inmates during the pandemic on personal bonds if theyve been accused or convicted of a violent crime, saying that to keep the order in place would cause irreparable harm.

Judge Lora Livingston said her late Friday night order restrains the governor and his lawyers from enforcing any such restraints on judges bond rulings and automatically sets bonds at $0. Livingstons order expires April 24 when it will be evaluated for renewal by another judge. This court fully respects the interests and powers of the Governor to meet and manage the extraordinary challenges this State faces in times of disaster, the judge wrote in a letter accompanying the ruling. She added that many provisions in the governors governors sweeping March 29 executive order strip the discretion of the judiciary and potentially subject its judges to mandamus or criminal action with little or no rationale in coping with the current health crisis. Andre Segura, the attorney for Texas ACLU, said the plaintiffs were pleased the court recognized the urgency of this matter and the need to press pause on Abbotts order. -Reporter Gabrielle Banks

9:16 p.m. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is reporting a total of 499,252 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country. There have been a total of 16,570 confirmed novel coronavirus deaths in the U.S.

8:44 p.m. Get the latest COVID-19 numbers for the Houston area and Texas along with some of Friday's latest headlines in our latest "COVID-19 in 60" video update.

Now Playing: The latest state and local case counts and news headlines from the Houston Chronicle news team. Video: Laura Duclos/Houston Chronicle

8:36 p.m. For the first time, Harris County has released coronavirus case data by municipality, reports the Chronicle's Zach Despart.

The Chronicle reported last week that officials said black Houstonians were suffering the worst consequences of the virus.

The county had lagged behind others in Texas on releasing case data by geography and demographics, which would show racial inequities in the spread of COVID-19.

This is a breakdown of cases by municipality:

Baytown- 18

Bellaire-14

Bunker Hill- 4

Houston- 2,063

Deer Park- 12

El Lago- 0

Friendswood- 0

Galena Park- 2

Hillshire Village- 0

Humble- 10

Hunters Creek- 0

Jacinto City- 1

Jersey Village- 4

Katy- 7

La Porte- 30

League City- 1

Missouri City- 2

Morgan's Point- 0

Pasadena- 33

Pearland- 3

Piney Point- 5

South Houston- 5

Seabrook- 1

Shoreacres- 0

Southside Place- 1

Spring Valley- 0

Stafford- 0

Taylor Lake- 5

Tomball- 6

Waller- 1

Webster- 4

8:19 p.m. Need help or want to volunteer? Check out the Chronicle's COVID-19 resource guide here.

7:52 p.m. The foodservice industry has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, and though business dwindles as they're limited to delivery and takeout, restaurant staffs are showing up for their communities, reports Marcy de Luna.

7:30 p.m. There are now 12,336 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Texas, an increase of 960 statewide cases compared to yesterday, the Chronicle's data team reports. As of Friday evening, there have been 249 confirmed deaths in the Lone Star State, an increase of around 29 deaths.

In the Houston region, the total number of confirmed cases is 4,602, up 328 from yesterday. Harris County added 214 new cases Friday and now has a total of 3,261 cases. There have been 64 deaths in the Houston region, up 10 from yesterday.

7:15 p.m. TV viewership in the Houston area has increased by an average of 16 percent in the last month, reports the Chronicle's David Barron. The spike in consumption reflects the degree to which the COVID-19 pandemic has led viewers to spend more time in front of their screens.

7 p.m. There are now more than 1.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, including more than 100,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. More than 370,000 patients have reportedly recovered.

6:45 p.m. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee on Friday announced Harris County's fourth COVID-19 testing site will open next week at Cullen Middle School.

"Reports are now showing that Texas has more than 11,000 positive COVID-19 cases," Lee said in a statement. "That is why diagnostic testing is a vital part of the effort to end this global health crisis. We will continue to advocate for more testing sites, testing kits, PPE, and resources needed to help the American people and our local communities to win the fight against this deadly virus."

The site will open at noon on Monday at the school at 6900 Scott St.

6:30 p.m. Galveston County Health District officials today reported 33 new positive COVID-19 cases, bringing the countys total to 341. Health officials also confirmed a new novel coronavirus death, bringing the county's total to 8.

The new death was of a man between 71 and 80. He pre-existing medical conditions, according to officials.

The county is reporting a total of 91 recovered patients.

6:13 p.m. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced Friday that 18 of its facilities are on "precautionary lockdown" after confirming a COVID-19 case among the state's prison population.

Officials say around 20,970 people serving time in Texas prisons are impacted by the lockdowns, which will be in place for 14 days from the most recent positive test, according to officials.

Another 8,014 people in the prison are now on medical restriction because they may have had contact with the person who tested positive. They are not symptomatic at this time, according to TDCJ, and will continue to receive twice daily temperature testing.

There have been 69 TDCJ employees 132 people in custody who have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the agency.

Visitation to Texas prisons and jails has been cancelled for weeks due to concerns of spreading the virus. The lockdown implements tighter restrictions.

The impacted facilities include: Bell, Beto, Byrd, Clements, Darrington, ETTF, Estelle, Goree, Hutchins, Jordan, Leblanc, Murray, Robertson, Smith, Stringfellow, Telford, Woodman, Wynne.

6 p.m. There are currently 3,261 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Houston and Harris County, an increase of 214 cases from yesterday, according to health officials. There are now 40 confirmed deaths, an increase of 6 since yesterday. Of those infected in the region, 485 have recovered.

5:50 p.m. A federal appeals court has intervened once more to temporarily uphold Texass emergency ban on abortions, though it has agreed to allow access for women nearing the states legal limit to obtain the procedure.

The short-term order by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a decision Thursday by a lower court that had opened the door to medication abortions, using pills. That followed two days after the Fifth Circuit first upheld the states ban, which conservative officials have pitched as a way to conserve hospital beds and medical gear during the coronavirus pandemic.

The appeals court said women can still receive surgical abortions if they will be past the legal limit for one by the time the ban is lifted  currently scheduled for April 21. In Texas, women can obtain an abortion up to 22 weeks into their pregnancy.

-Reporter Jeremy Blackman

5:40 p.m. The U.S. Department of Justice is cautioning taxpayers that scammers could steal economic impact payments through various means.

Anyone receiving a COVID-19 related economic impact payment from the government is at risk, said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick Friday.

The economic impact payment checks will be on their way from the IRS in a matter of weeks, according to Ryan. For most, payments will go through direct deposit into personal bank accounts. Anyone who did not identify a bank account on their tax returns will receive their payments in that manner.

Disasters create openings for crooks and scam artists, said Patrick in a statement. From phony door-to-door solicitations to complex computer and phone scams, I want people to be alert. Do not give out personal information to people who claim they are with the government. The scum that take advantage at a time like this will find the weight of federal law enforcement on them.

For more information about coronavirus tax relief and economic impact payments, visit the IRS website.

For more information about coronavirus fraud overall and related details, go to the DOJ website.

5 p.m. As more people venture outdoors for fresh air during the novel coronavirus crisis, theyre increasingly coming across injured and orphaned animals and bringing them to the regions wildlife center, reports Rebecca Hennes.

The spring and summer months signal breeding season for many animals, so higher numbers during this time of year are expected, according to Sharon Schmalz, executive director of the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal's (SPCA) Wildlife Center of Texas. But over the last three months, the center has taken in 700 more animals than the same time period last year.

4:45 p.m. All the parked cars in Houston are having a positive effect on air quality, but not as dramatically as some thought, and pollution in some areas remained the same even as the state went on lock down, according to an analysis by Texas A&M University researchers.

In Houston, contrary to expectations, NOx air quality has seen limited improvement, and fine particulate matter pollution arguably worsened, wrote Gunnar W. Schade, an atmospheric scientist with Texas A&M.

His analysis, released Friday, looked at air quality monitoring data starting on March 1, and looked for differences after March 19 when Gov. Greg Abbott closed bars and restaurants and March 24 when Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued a stay-at-home order. He relied on data through April 8.

-Reporter Dug Begley

4:30 p.m. Listen to the latest episode of the Chronicle's Texas Take here.

This week on Texas Take: While Gov. Greg Abbott says his decisions are based on "data and doctors," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is telling GOP grassroots activists that the Texas economy could be restarted as soon as the first week in May.

Plus, the battle over Texas' abortion ban continues and a former Texas congressman in prison wants a presidential pardon. Join the conversation featuring Scott Braddock, editor of The Quorum Report and Houston Chronicle political writer Jeremy Wallace.

4:15 p.m. Now that salons are closed, Houstonians are resorting to DIY beauty, reports the Chronicle's Joy Sewing. She talked with people about resorting to do their own hair, nails and other grooming practices they typically hire professionals to do.

3:49 p.m. Gov. Greg Abbott will unveil plans next week to restart the shuttered Texas economy, insisting that the state can "protect lives while restoring livelihoods," reports the Chronicle's Jeremy Blackman.

"We can do both," he said in a briefing, without providing details.

3:37 p.m. Officials with the Montgomery County Public Health District confirmed 14 new cases Friday bringing the total to 245. Of those cases, 165 cases are active, 36 remain hospitalized and 129 in self-isolation. The countys death toll remains at four.

3:25 p.m. A state judge in Austin is pondering whether to halt Gov. Greg Abbotts executive order prohibiting judges from releasing inmates  during the pandemic  on personal bonds if theyve been accused or convicted of a violent crime.

The line of questioning by Judge Lora Livingston at a webcast hearing Friday indicated she was skeptical about the logic behind the governors March 29 executive order, and in particular wondered why the governor thought her fellow jurists would handle their bond rulings with any less discretion during a crisis like the global coronavirus outbreak than they would any other day of the year.

-Reporter Gabrielle Banks

3:20 p.m. The City of Houston confirmed 68 new cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the total to 2,063. Two more novel coronavirus deaths were also confirmed, brining the city's total to 16. Mayor Sylvester Turner said 33 city employees have tested positive for the virus.

3:12 p.m. Apple and Google on Friday announced they will partner to create smartphone technology to alert users if they have come into contact with a person who has tested positive for Covid-19, reports Mark Gurman of Bloomberg. The technology would have the potential to monitor about a third of the worlds entire population.

2:44 p.m. As Texas officials look hopefully at the trend line for positive cases and see progress, the virus has already left a painful mark on many families. Among them is Bobbie Crawford , who the Chronicle's Dylan McGuinness said was "Texas tough."

She had shot and killed a wildebeest from the back of a fast-moving Ford Bronco, and hauled a 345-pound black marlin from the seas off Hawaii. She was one of the first women to break into the commercial real estate industry here in the mid-60s, and at 91 she still drove her Lexus on backroads to visit her three best friends.

Her illness came suddenly, first as shortness of breath on March 29 then an all-out struggle to breathe two days later. By that time she was in the hospital and then put on a ventilator. By April 5, she was dead, leaving her family reeling after a harrowing few days.

Theres so many people in the world going through these sad situations, her son Shane Crawford said. Those stories are important. It is important in all of this.

2:21 p.m. Texas will see a peak and decrease in positive COVID-19 cases before fatalities follow and decline, something that has yet to happen, Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday afternoon.

Still, he said growth in positive cases is "leveling off" in many of the metro areas, a good sign of a downtrend, but no guarantee.

"It is too early to declare that," Abbott said.

The decline is cases is crucial to reopening the state to business.

Abbott said Harris County remains on an upward trend line but is showing some improvement. He said the county is "prepared medically" for an outbreak and efforts to handle overflow of patients at NRG Park.

1:50 p.m. The capacity of hospitals to accept new ICU patients remains steady, according to the latest update from the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council, which oversees a 25-county area response to emergency situations.

For Thursday, the agency reported 1,279 beds in intensive care units were occupied, 1,229 of those in Harris County where the majority of the region's hospitals are located. That leaves about 500 beds open without hospitals adjusting to add more space.

Of the 1,881 ventilators in the region for adult use, 790 are being used, the advisory council said.

1:12 p.m. The worldwide death toll for the new coronavirus has topped 100,000, according to AP.

1:07 p.m. The complications from COVID-19 are testing the ability of some schools to stay on track for their fall semesters, with officials saying flexibility will be key for the incoming freshman class.

Some Texas colleges are extending pressing deadlines, hosting virtual tours and freshman orientation in lieu of in-person ones, and are reconsidering how they will accept admission applications and test scores as high school counselors face challenges in submitting documents, writes the Chronicle's Brittany Britto. Others are making SAT and ACT exams optional, while still other universities are still figuring it out.

I dont know for how long, but this is an unprecedented event in our lives, James Steen, vice president of enrollment at Houston Baptist University, says of the novel coronavirus pandemic. It has caused us to do unprecedented things.  We come up with ideas and new ways of doing things every day.

12:44 p.m. Nine patients of a Texas City nursing home rife with COVID-19 cases are responding well to experimental use of an anti-malarial drug, their doctor told the Chronicle's Taylor Goldstein.

It seems like the patients are maintaining pretty steady and not having any difficulty, so thats good, Dr. Robin Armstrong said, though he added that he cant determine how much their improvement is attributable to the drug. They seem to be getting better  We're just continuing to monitor them.

Armstrong is medical director of the The Resort at Texas City  where 56 residents and employees have tested positive for the disease.

Armstrong said he continues to prescribe the medication after conversations with only the patients and without notifying families, which he says is not necessary and too time-consuming.

If I had to call all the families for every medicine that I started on a patient, I wouldnt be treating any patients at all; I would just be talking to families all the time, Armstrong said.

12:03 p.m. Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday his office was filing a second appeal making sure abortion providers stop conduticng medical procedures in light of the state's order to halt elective surgeries.

My office will steadfastly defend Governor Abbotts Order and the rule of law to ensure that hardworking medical professionals receive the supplies and personal protective gear they need to successfully combat this health crisis," Paxton said in a statement.

The second appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals follows am emergency order signed by a federal judge in Austin on Thursday halting enforcement of the state's ban on abortion providers.

11:43 p.m. Looks like the new coronavirus just claimed another victim: The XFL.

The league, which canceled its inaugural season five games in because of the pandemic, suspended operations and informed all employees that they have been terminated in a Friday conference call, the Chronicle's Aaron Wilson said.

11:25 a.m. The San Antonio Express-News is reporting an inmate at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff made the announcement Friday morning. The inmate was quarantined and deputies were giving masks to inmates, Emilie Eaton reports. Javier Salazar was preparing to test all the inmates in that area for COVID-19.

11:19 a.m. Houston's bikesharing system is shutting down more kiosks, to help keep folks out of closed city parks.

Effective immediately, the BCycle stations at MacGregor Park and Moody Park are closed until further notice. This is in addition to all stations at Hermann Park, Stude Park, along Buffalo Bayou Park, and at Memorial Park.



Our app (https://t.co/K6pLWIo3mU) shows open stations.  Houston BCycle (@HoustonBCycle) April 10, 2020

Yesterday, Mayor Sylvester Turner reversed course and closed all parks for the Easter weekend.

11:10 a.m. Although she called this time an insane, awful event, Rebecca Rolater, an eighth-grade science teacher at Berry Middle Junior High School in Pearland, said she also sees an upside for education.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime teaching moment for our students, she told the Chronicle's Carissa Lamkahouan. When we get back to school, I want to do an entire unit on pandemics. Its important to teach kids how to navigate this situation, how to navigate the news reporting on it and what to look for. I want to teach the kids that this is, unfortunately, something that happens.

As students and teachers adjust to the new realities of learning remotely, some are seeing opportunities where others sense obstacles.

I think that this whole event is opening up our eyes to educational tech and finding new ways to teach, and I hope this will allow school stakeholders to really start to be more innovative with tech in terms of their approach to education, Rolater said.

11:04 a.m. Workers at Houston airports who pressed for free or reduced parking to avoid close contact have succeeded, the union representing them said.

"Our employees park remotely and have to take a bus to the terminal, but these buses are packed like sardines," said Victor Hernandez, assistant general chairperson of International Association of Machinists. "It is nearly impossible to practice social distancing. Our Union asked the City of Houston and Houston Airport System to make airport terminal parking available to airport workers at no or low cost, and after weeks of advocacy, they listened."

Yesterday, Airport Director Mario Diaz said free parking passes would be handed out to workers at Bush and Hobby Airports.

10:59 a.m. Chris Sallans' job at Shriners Hospital for Children - Houston has shifted since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Chronicle's Julie Garcia writes. He still meets with patients at the hospital, but under strict visitor guidelines, which limits families at one parent per patient, and increased sanitation procedures.

As the pandemic progressed, he heard stories about listless children stuck at home, unable to go to school or daycare.

Children dont stop needing to be children even during an emergency, he said. So Sallans went digital, moving his fun things to do to YouTube and Facebook, where he leads easy, at-home craft projects for families, using supplies they likely have on hand.

This many days in quarantine, even if theyre staying home and safe, theyre listless which can lead to behavior issues, he said. The need for self-expression doesnt stop for anything.

10:52 a.m. Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, benched until baseball resumes, is focusing on fundraising for Houston Food Bank.

Bregman and Jim Matress Mack McIngvale each committed $100,000 to FEEDHOU, a $1 million fundraising campaign to help feed Houston-area residents during the coronavirus pandemic, writes Chroncile Astros beat writer Chandler Rome. Houston rapper Paul Wall dropped a special album entitled Frozen Face  Vol. 3  FEEDHOU edition.

Proceeds benefit the food bank.

10:48 a.m. Parks in Harris County and Houston might be closed, but neighboring counties have not taken that step yet, though they are warning visitors to use common sense.

Fort Bend County Parks are open. Only go for exercise - not to meet up with friends or family. While you enjoy the outdoors for your mental and physical well-being, you must follow the CDCs guidelines. If you are unable to go outside, still find ways to move! New signs up- pic.twitter.com/BWtiYvQCG5  County Judge KP George (@JudgeKPGeorge) April 10, 2020

10:40 a.m. Former U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman would like Donald Trump to let him out of prison before he catches COVID-19, writes the Chronicle's Gabrielle Banks.

The 63-year-old Clear Lake Republican firebrand is serving his sentence for campaign contribution fraud at a low-security facility in Beaumont where the Bureau of Prisons has yet to report any cases. His wife, Patti Stockman, however, states in a video made April 1 that her husband said the first case had been diagnosed at an adjoining federal prison in Beaumont.

His wife made a plea this week, along with several former cabinet members, ex-congressmembers and other evangelical and conservative officials, for compassionate release, saying he is among the nonviolent sitting ducks who are especially vulnerable and should be pardoned. They add that Stockman could die if exposed due to diabetes and lung scarring as a result of asthma.

10:28 a.m. Fort Bend County announced this morning three more deaths caused by COVID-19, taking the county total to 10.

The county also added 48 people to its total number of positive cases, taking the total to 485.

10:15 a.m. On the plus side, we're 40 percent of the way there.

Gerald Parker director of Bush School of Government and Public Service s biosecurity and pandemic public policy program at Texas A&M University tells Lisa Gray there are five stages to the coronavirus -- and we're in stage two.

"We are clearly in the mitigation phase now," Parker said. "The primary purpose of mitigation is to slow the spread of virus within our communities. What you're seeing now is a lot of activity to try to prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed caring for those patients who get really, really sick from COVID."

10:04 a.m. Students at the University of Houston struggling during the COVID-19 crisis can tap into a emergency fund created by the school for up to $1,500 in aid.

Many of our students are struggling during this unprecedented public health crisis, yet Im inspired by their collective resilience and determination as we overcome these obstacles together, UH System Chancellor and President Renu Khator said in a news release. "Much of the financial fallout is beyond anyones control, and Im hopeful money from the Cougar Emergency Fund will enable our students to address some of their financial need so they may continue their studies."

To qualify, students must be enrolled in undergraduate or graduate courses and be in good academic standing, writes the Chronicle's Rebecca Hennes. Priority is given to full-time students.

9:58 a.m. Taking schoolwork home will be a bit easier for some third and fourth graders in Pasadena, once 7,000 recently purchased laptops land in the city.

Pasadena Independent School Districts board approved a $2.1 million contract last week for new Chromebooks for students, writes the Chronicles Carissa Lamkahouan.

Students in grades 5-12, in addition to some fourth-graders, already have access to mobile devices they can use at home.

We are blessed because weve had bond initiatives (which allowed us to purchase) one-to-one devices in grades 5-12, Powell said. Most of them take them home overnight, but some keep them charged at school.

9:51 a.m. Of course Houston would be able to take farm-to-table and amend it to farm-to-car.

The Chroncile's Rebecca Hennes writes that Urban Harvest Farmers Market, the popular Buffalo Speedway market, will offer a drive-thru to reduce community contact.

Beginning Saturday, April 11, the farmers market will offer drive-thru pick up from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the top of the parking garage at the market, according to a news release. Orders must be placed online for drive-thru service and require a minimum purchase of $10. A representative will place items in a customer's vehicle upon arrival.

9:44 a.m. Many Houston nonprofits are replacing the glitz and glamor of a gala with the bluescreen glare of virtual fundraisers, a nod to the need for more distance, writes the Chronicles Amber Elliott.

Rick Byrd started preparing for plan B in late February, when the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundations Seattle chapter was forced to postpone its event because of the coronavirus.

As executive director of the Houston Gulf Coast branch, converting the 50th anniversary Midnight in Monaco-themed Promise Ball into an online format meant reconfiguring moving parts.

What we determined was that the gala, originally scheduled for May 2, has a lot of traditional components: an auction, Fund the Cure, a great band and an after-party casino, Byrd shared. Theres no way you can totally replicate that virtually. So were taking our one-night event and spreading it out over two to three weeks.

9:35 a.m. As Houston officials address the climbing number of COVID-19 cases, they're also watching the condition of some city staffers, including police officers, worsen.

Cervantes was in really grave condition but has seen some slight improvements, according to the chief. His wife, Liz, also has tested positive and is isolating at home, Acevedo said.

9:29 a.m. The past 30 days have been an adjustment for folks in Montgomery County, according to the Chronicle's Jose R. Gonzalez.

First came the minor restrictions, then the total closings. For many, that meant a missed chance.

My brother graduated and went to prom, and all the classes before me, and Ive been looking forward to that for so many years, said Splendora High senior Shaelyn Sanders. To see that I might not even get it  I know that not everything is promised for sure, now.

Even as people adjusted to changes, the community stepped up.

Meals on Wheels Montgomery County moved to protect the elderly, who are both the most vulnerable to COVID-19 and who the nonprofit delivers the bulk of its food to, by skipping signing off on deliveries and implementing sanitization between drop offs. Conroes Community Assistance Center hosted free grocery pick-ups.

As county officials asked for donations of PPE, The Woodlands Township created a collection program and quilters got to work on making cotton fabric masks. East county residents came to the aid of law enforcement when officers ran short on cleaning and disinfectant supplies.

8:52 a.m. Be careful what you take on while stuck at home. You could end up with one eyebrow, like ReShonda Tate Billingsley.

With salons closed due to the coronavirus, Billingsley told the Chronicle's Joy Sewing that she tried to microblade her own brows. It didnt work.

While the city is huddling at home, many people are resorting to doing their own hair, nails and other grooming practices they typically hire professionals to do. Some are getting pointers from social-media bloggers, others are pleading with their stylists for help via videos or Zoom meetings.

Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

8:44 a.m. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, some are wondering if the cure will be worse than the disease for the nation's economy, writes the Chronicle's DC energy writer James Osborne.

We need to balance this, and I worry were not, said Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston. When I was in the Navy Seals, if we were on patrol and we got shot at, wed take a tactical retreat. Then wed regroup and go back into the mission; we wouldnt keep retreating.

Crenshaw said he worried some officials were being too cautious, pointing to the city of Dallass decision to extend its stay at home order through May 20. He said the government needed to start reopening the economy sooner rather than later.

As Americans wait it out, efforts to predict the end of the economic losses is guesswork, economists say.

Only the Great Depression would even be remotely close (to the losses this quarter) and I think this swamps that, said John Diamond, an economist and fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Theres been a shutdown of a pretty good part of the economy, and as that goes on thats going to impact other parts of the economy. Its a domino effect, and as we go from 2 to 3 months to 3 to 4 months and every month thereafter, it will get worse.

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, said politicians from both parties were starting to talk about how and when to reopen the economy, but cautioned that officials number one priority has to be keep us safe.

Were seeing perhaps some flattening of the curve in some regions he said, but we need to keep maximum pressure on right now.

8:21 a.m. Houston area artists are "falling through the cracks" in the words of one art supporter, the Chronicle's Molly Glentzer writes.

Greater Houston Area Arts Relief Fund is trying to raise $100,000 to provide emergency living assistance to local art workers who have lost income during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some backers believe much more is needed.

We are not talking about funds for art-making, said John Abodeely, CEO of the Houston Arts Alliance, which organized the fund with a coalition of other local arts agencies and is administering its grants of up to $1,000 each. Were talking about help for one of the most economically vulnerable populations of workers  people who are trying to feed families, pay rent or mortgages and get health care. The situation is dire. Artists havent had funds for basic needs for two months, and they are falling through the cracks.

8:13 a.m. Cruise ships will remain in place for the foreseeable future, after federal officials extending a no-sail order for the industry on Thursday.

The measures we are taking today to stop the spread of COVID-19 are necessary to protect Americans, and we will continue to provide critical public health guidance to the industry to limit the impacts of COVID-19 on its workforce throughout the remainder of this pandemic," Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield said in a release.

Around 80,000 cruise ship crew remain on board approximately 100 boats at sea along U.S. coasts.

"Additionally, CDC is aware of 20 cruise ships at port or anchorage in the United States with known or suspected COVID-19 infection among the crew who remain onboard," officials said.

7:58 a.m. NexTier Oilfield Solutions is laying off several dozen workers in Oklahoma that provided hydraulic fracturing and other services to shale plays managed by the Houston-based company, writes the Chronicles Sergio Chapa.

NexTier has laid off 85 workers at its El Reno, Oklahoma service center since January, the company's assistant general counsel Scott Maddux confirmed in a Thursday letter to the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development.

"The layoffs result from the unforeseeable business circumstance of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impacts, including on the oil and gas market segments in which NexTier operates," Maddux wrote.

7:55 a.m. Air travel continues to slide, as most of the U.S. stays put.

BREAKING: On Thursday, Apr. 9, 104,090 travelers came through @TSA checkpoints nationwide. Exactly one year earlier, 2,487,398 individuals were screened at security checkpoints. Reminder: You may now bring up to a 12 oz. bottle of hand sanitizer through security checkpoints.  TSAmedia_LisaF (@TSAmedia_LisaF) April 10, 2020

7:44 a.m. Coronavirus, or more specifically its effect on the economy, could leave a lot of cubicles and offices vacant around Houston.

Vacancy levels in Houston's 229 million-square-foot office market could reach 24 percent by year-end, according to a first-quarter report from Colliers International. That would be a new high for Houston, according to the Colliers data, which goes back to 1999, reports the Chronicle's Nancy Sarnoff.

While Houston's economy has diversified in recent years, energy companies still drive the office market, and the slump in oil markets will mean fewer leases in the region.

"We are still very dependent on oil and gas companies, both directly in the space or businesses that are dependent on oil and gas companies as clients. These are the big-space users historically," Patrick Duffy, president of Colliers in Houston, said in the report. "If we optimistically assume that the virus-driven economic shutdown recovers quickly once the all-clear is given, Houston will still have a significant oil slow down to cope with."

7:37 a.m. Health care professionals in small towns across Texas are steeling themselves for COVID-19 to come their way, according to the Chronicle's Emily Foxhall and Matt Dempsey.

Its the lull before the storm, said Don McBeath, government relations director for the Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals. And they know theres a big storm.

There are 157 rural hospitals remaining in Texas, caring for an estimated 12 percent of the states population.

The spread of coronavirus into rural Texas counties is about 10 days behind the spread in urban ones. As of Wednesday, about 9 percent of the state's nearly 10,000 confirmed cases were in rural counties, but they covered a large area. Of 167 total counties with confirmed cases, more than half were rural.

In El Campo, about halfway between Houston and Victoria in Wharton County, local quilters and sewers, including retired teacher J Miranda and the El Campo Casual Quilters, have pitched in to make masks and bandannas for hospital workers and patients. Miranda taught several of the paramedics in town.

If we see a need, we try to take care of it, Miranda explained. When you grow up in a small town, thats what you do.

7:28 a.m. Bus and paratransit service in Conroe is free until May 1, officials said in a news release, noting the city intends to ensure Conroe residents have a means of obtaining medical services during this pandemic.

Conroe Connection, the city-run service, operates four routes within the city along with paratransit that provides door-to-door service.

For up-to-date tracking of the spread of the novel coronavirus in Texas, visit houstonchronicle.com/coronavirus.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust
Amnesty International is calling for abortion pills to be immediately available to women in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland's Department of Health has confirmed pregnancy-terminations can now be carried out in hospitals in the region however home abortions are not permitted.
Few generals would choose to fight a war on two fronts, against a foe that is nearly invisible and at times seems to have the terrifying ability to surface anywhere. Yet this is exactly the mission that Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe has taken upon himself, and at the age of 78. One of the world's most celebrated virologists, Muyembe has been leading a 20-month campaign against Ebola -- a disease he helped discover 44 years ago -- and steering DR Congo's fight against coronavirus. Muyembe is a "great expert in managing epidemics," says Denis Mukwege, the gynaecologist who co-won the 2018 Nobel Peace for his work in helping women raped in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2019, Muyembe took on the job of coordinating operations to quell an outbreak of Ebola in eastern DRC -- the 10th in the country's history. And when the coronavirus outbreak loomed last month, he was named by President Felix Tshisekedi as pointman on that crisis, too. The tasks are daunting in a sprawling country the size of continental western Europe, two-thirds of whose population of 80 million live below the threshold of poverty. The World Health Organization (WHO) had been hoping to declare an official end on Monday to an Ebola epidemic that has claimed 2,273 lives, the second highest in the history of the much-feared disease. But the big announcement has been scrapped, as another case -- a 26-year-old man -- emerged just three days before the deadline. - Grassroots work - The fight against Ebola has required relentless hard work on the ground. As the world is discovering with coronavirus, combatting an incurable contagious disease is all about dogged routine: of tracing, isolating and quarantining, and trying to protect those on the front line. A modest, smiling man whose low-key outfits invariably include a checked shirt, Muyembe has known Ebola ever since the notorious haemorrhagic fever first surfaced. "I have devoted all my life and all my career to fighting Ebola," said Muyembe. The first encounter was in 1976, back when the DRC was called Zaire. As a young virologist, educated at the University of Louvain in Belgium, he went to the northern region of Yambuku, near the Ebola River, to investigate a cluster of mysterious sicknesses and deaths. "We worked with our bare hands, without protective clothing," he recalled. "I took liver samples from two corpses, using a metal probe. If I hadn't washed my hands, I would have been dead." Muyembe took a special interest in one of the patients, a Belgian nun, whose blood was sent to the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp for testing. Two samples were sent in test tubes in an ice-packed Thermos flask -- the only equipment available at the time. One test tube broke, but the other survived, and delivered its precious sample intact. "It was from the sample taken from this nun, that Dr. Peter Piot isolated the Ebola virus for the first time," says Muyembe. Piot, a Belgian microbiologist who went on to become a titan in the fight against AIDS, later heaped praise on Muyembe, "a sleek and brilliant young Zairean professor of microbiology," for his part in the discovery. - Controversy - Muyembe's dual combat these days has had moments of tension. At the peak of the Ebola crisis, he fell out with the then health minister, Dr. Oly Ilunga, for pushing for the use of a second experimental vaccine against the disease. In the coronavirus pandemic, he has quickly sidelined Ilunga's successor, Eteni Longondo, as the country's front man. Last week, he stepped into a media storm over the quest for a coronavirus vaccine. "The vaccine will be produced either in the United States, Canada or China," said Muyembe. "As for us, we are putting ourselves forward for carrying out trials here, in this country." His words fed a controversy that arose in France, where two French doctors discussed on TV whether to test a vaccine in Africa -- a debate that unleashed accusations that Africans were being used as lab animals. Muyembe swiftly rowed back, insisting: "I am Congolese myself, and I would never let Congolese be used as guinea pigs." Fighting Ebola and coronavirus: Congolese virologist Jean-Jacques Muyembe Peter Piot, who co-discovered Ebola in 1976 and went on to become a leading figure in the fight against AIDS Muyembe himself was inoculated with an experimental Ebola vaccine last November.
T V presenter Fiona Phillips has opened up on her horrible ordeal with battling coronavirus symptoms.

The former GMTV host, 59, said she fell ill on March 20 and suffered a range of ailments including severe fatigue, a fiery throat and difficulty breathing.

It took her three weeks to recover from the illness, she said, as she spoke after announcing her symptoms had cleared.

She called the experience as "scary" and said she had been left bed-ridden for days.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

Describing the experience in her column in The Mirror on Friday, Ms Phillips said it felt as if she had been "clobbered" in her sleep by the Covid-19 symptoms.

However hard I tried to get myself out of bed and on with the day ahead, something was holding me back," she said.

"Its presence was exhausting and came accompanied by nasty side-effects."

Recounting the symptoms, she added: Id had horrible gut pain for a few days.

My whole digestive tract was making a pain of itself, demanding attention and really dragging me down.

Ms Phillips was still in bed three days after she first became ill and her husband  This Morning boss Martin Frizell  had to stay home from work to avoid the risk of infecting his ITV colleagues.

Imagine how popular Id have been if THAT had happened! she said.

The TV presenter confirmed she was now feeling better, though still tired, adding: My thoughts very much remain with those still fighting this horrible disease.
A mayor in Camden County is the latest public official to test positive for the coronavirus, officials said Thursday

Mayor Michael Mignogna, 61, of Voorhees, was tested after developing mild symptoms for coronavirus, according to Deputy Mayor Michelle Nocito.

We got the test results [Thursday], Nocito told NJ Advance Media on Friday. He feels sick. Hes had days when hes felt better. But he is confident and positive about how hes feeling and happy he is going to pull through.

Nocito, who did not know how long it took for the mayor to get his results, said he is resting at home and is under a doctors care.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

The mayor wanted the residents of Voorhees to be aware of his condition so that everyone continues it take this terrible virus seriously and comply with CDC guidelines and Gov. (Phil) Murphys executive orders, Nocito said in a video statement to residents.

This should serve as a reminder that no one is exempt from contracting this horrible illness, Nocito said.

Nocito said she has not been tested for coronavirus because she has "not been in close physical proximity to the mayor in more than a month.

In Camden County as of Thursday, there were 990 cases of coronavirus with 23 deaths. Voorhees has 75 cases of coronavirus. Across New Jersey, at least 1,700 people have died of complications from the disease.

In Passaic County, Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh announced on Tuesday that he had contracted the coronavirus.

Sayegh released a statement saying he is not suffering from a fever or cough but is quarantined at home and monitoring his symptoms.

I am a fighter and will continue to do my job on behalf of the City of Paterson, Sayegh said.

In Middlesex County, Carteret Mayor Dan Reiman announced March 30 that he had tested positive for coronavirus after waiting seven days for test results.

A week after testing positive, he said he was left with only a cough. He said he announced his diagnosis publicly to help reduce the stigma.

Since the start of the pandemic, public officials in New Jersey who have tested positive for COVID-19 include Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr., Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura and Red Bank business administrator Ziad Shehady.

Today is another challenging day in our community. Please stay diligent in your efforts to respect social distancing guidelines. Posted by Michelle Nocito on Thursday, April 9, 2020

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
UPDATE: The 38-year-old East Providence man died Saturday, authorities said.

A Swansea police 911 call where someone claimed a man brandished a gun from his car led to a chase involving a Massachusetts State Police trooper and the suspected motorist, who shot himself at the end of the pursuit.

The chase stemmed from a 911 call to the Swansea Police Department, where a motorist claimed someone had held up a gun from the window of a 2005 Mercedes ML.

The trooper saw a car with the same make and model with a Rhode Island registration on Route 6 westbound. The trooper tried to stop the suspect around 3:11 p.m., but the motorist continued driving.

The suspect, only identified as a 38-year-old East Providence man, led a brief chase on Route 6 westbound involving the state police cruiser and several Swansea cruisers, according to the state police. By 3:14 p.m., the motorist was stopping off of Route 6 in Seekonk.

The man pulled out a handgun and shot himself, according to state police. He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, where he is being treated for a life-threatening injury.

Authorities first believed there was a BOLO orbe on the lookout alert for the mans car, but after further investigation, state police said a BOLO alert was never issued.

The incident is being investigated by Massachusetts State Police, Swansea police and Seekonk police.

Related Content:




By Jung Min-ho







An obstetrician has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for killing a baby who "burst out crying" during abortion procedures.







The Seoul Central District Court on Friday convicted the doctor, 65, surnamed Yun, of killing a 34-week-old baby and suspended Yun's medical license for three years.







"Medical staff who participated in the operation have consistently said they heard the baby crying," a three-judge panel of the court said in a statement. "It is clear that the doctor killed the baby, who was born alive."







Yun, who ran a maternity clinic in Seoul, received 28 million won ($23,000) for the operation from the mother of a pregnant girl, 16. Yun was later indicted on murder charges for putting the live baby in a bucket of water.







Last year, the Constitutional Court ruled that the law banning abortion was unconstitutional and demanded the National Assembly revise it by the end of 2020.







The court ruled that abortion before 22 weeks of pregnancy should be decriminalized, saying women's rights to self-determination outweighs a fetus' right to life.


Two nurses, aged 27 years and 42 years of Dadars Shushrusha Hospital have tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday following which authorities have directed the hospital to stop taking in any new patients. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has asked the hospital to quarantine nearly 28 nurses who are employed in the hospital.

The civic body has given a time period of 48 hours to the hospital to discharge all existing patients after proper screening. Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of G North ward (Dadar) said, We have advised the hospital to conduct tests of all nurses at their own cost and then we will take a call.

In another incident, an 83-year-old man has tested positive at NC Kelkar Road in Dadar on Friday. Travel history, if any is being investigated and high risk contacts of the patient are being traced and will undergo tests immediately. There are so far six cases of Covid-19, which have been reported from Dadar.
[April 10, 2020] Technology Companies Come Together to Support Addiction Recovery During COVID-19

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies (CSIP) - a non-profit dedicated to consumer protection and education around online pharmacies and prescription drugs - and a coalition of tech leaders Google, Facebook and Twitter have joined forces to announce a new online platform TechTogether.co . The site is a collection of resources to help those experiencing substance use disorder or battling addiction and the associated stigma. During this time of CDC-recommended "social distancing" for COVID-19, the need for online resources is even more imperative. An increasing number of recovery support meetings and in-person recovery resources have been suspended due to shelter-in-place orders. Given that Alcoholics Anonymous alone has over 66,345 groups in the U.S.A., totaling more than 1,361,800 members, the closure of most groups will leave large numbers of people in recovery looking for resources. Prior to COVID-19, a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins and Harvard, showed 2.5 million U.S. adults already using online technology to aid in their recovery, and report that interventions incorporating online technologies led to further recovery success. "COVID-19 may have paused our everyday ives, but unfortunately addiction and substance misuse disorders persist. More than half of Americans know someone impacted by opioid misuse alone," shares CSIP Executive Director Marjorie Clifton. "Those in recovery or looking for resources for a family member must find new ways to cope as they face the challenge of isolation. We are committed to using our technologies to raise public awareness about addiction and recovery and are committed to making it easier for people to find help to battle addiction and stigma." Each technology partner provides a unique offering on TechTogether.co , creating a wealth of resources and tools for those seeking support online.



Tech Together partner efforts include Twitter offering hashtags for thousands of people in recovery to join conversations such as #RecoveryMovement, #OpenRecovery, and #RecoveryWorks. Twitter provides real-time engagement to share stories of recovery, and online community building for people facing similar battles of addiction and recovery. Facebook also sees how their tools are being used to get help during this trying time. Whether offering crisis support over Facebook Messenger, hosting a Facebook Live support session or connecting through a Facebook Group, communities in need are coming together. Last year, Facebook also launched, in Partnership for Drug-Free Kids + Center on Addition, the Stop Opioid Silence (SOS) campaign, a national awareness campaign to break down the stigma associated with opioid use disorders.

Finally, to help people in recovery access support groups, Google is working with various non-profits to put together a list of online support group options, and options for virtual meetings are listed on the site . Please visit TechTogether.co to make use of all of the resources available and share with those who may need extra support while under quarantine. ABOUT TECH TOGETHER Tech Together is a coalition of leading technology companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter operating in partnership with the Center for Safe Internet Pharmacies (CSIP). The coalition began work together in November of 2018 with the goal of leveraging our respective platforms, products and tools to help address the opioid crisis. Tech Together is committed to using its platform to raise public awareness and education about substance use disorder and recovery and making it easier for people to find the support they need to battle addiction and stigma. Media Contact:

Ashley Schlosser

(512) 968-0562

[email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/technology-companies-come-together-to-support-addiction-recovery-during-covid-19-301038767.html SOURCE Tech Together

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
By Lee Min-hyung





Lee Dong-gull, chairman of Korea Development Bank

The Korea Development Bank (KDB) is stepping up its efforts to back up Hyundai Development Company's (HDC) high-stakes plan to take over Asiana Airlines.



The state-run lender takes part in the plan as a main creditor. Last year, the bank along with Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) decided to provide 1.6 trillion won ($1.31 billion) for HDC's ambitious proposed plan to acquire the worsening airliner at 2.5 trillion won.



But the proposed takeover plan has recently hit an unexpected snag, with the stock value of the nation's second-largest airliner nosediving due to the massive shutdown of flights during the global coronavirus pandemic.



Mirae Asset Daewoo, a financial investor, is reported to have retracted its plan to join the takeover, according to media reports.





Chung Mong-gyu, chairman of Hyundai Development Company Group
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 20:10:16|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

LUSAKA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Friday reported the second death due to COVID-19.

The death involved a 58-year man from Kafue town, south of Lusaka, who died on April 8.

Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said the man, who was hypertensive was rushed to the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka after treatment for his chest infection did not improve at a local health center.

He was immediately admitted to the Intensive Care Unit for further management and investigations which revealed a case of COVID-19.

The ministry, he said, has instituted investigations on the matter to establish his close contacts.

Meanwhile, Zambia has not recorded any new cases in the last 24 hours where 22 tests were conducted.

Zambia's cumulative cases now stands at 40, with two deaths, while 25 have been discharged and 13 are still treated.
Across the world, authorities are imposing unprecedented restrictions on citizens freedoms in an effort to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But human rights groups warn that some governments are exploiting the state of emergency to grab power.
When the coronavirus upended ordinary life in New York, John Merz, an Episcopal priest who looks like a band manager of mid-1990s vintage, determined that more people needed to be fed  not from the trough of spiritual aphorism but from professional kitchens. He had an infrastructure for this. During the past three years, the organization he helped start, North Brooklyn Angels, has deployed a 37-foot truck painted turquoise  the Angelmobile  to dispense meals in neighborhoods where so many have been marginalized by the steady onslaught of the prosperous.

As soon as the virus erupted, need began to escalate; the Angels had been serving 1,200 meals a week and they were quickly serving 1,800. At the same time, privation appeared in new contexts. Father Merz is the vicar of the Church of the Ascension in Greenpoint, which is a couple of miles from the Woodhull Medical Center, one of the citys most stressed public hospitals. Woodhull employs more than 2,300 people, and Father Merz and his partner in good works, Neil Sheehan, realized that eating would become a problem for the workers there.

The territory was familiar. Restaurants near the hospital were less accessible to workers on wild, unpredictable schedules. They were unlikely to be open at 3:30 in the morning, when you hadnt eaten for 12 hours and were coming off an extended shift that seemed to begin sometime around Presidents Day. When you got home or woke up, you would be too exhausted to prepare the tuna salad, the turkey sandwich, the jar-sauce pasta you would need to take to work later on. The hospitals cafeteria, once the most reliable option, had closed completely.

I asked Angela Edwards, Woodhulls chief of nursing, when that was, and with each day mimicking the last in terms of its epic length and chaos, she couldnt remember, but she felt it as a setback.
Australia is on the cusp of slowing coronavirus to the point that the virus "dies out" but the nation's deputy chief medical officer has stressed we are not "at that stage yet".

Professor Paul Kelly said the reproductive rate of the virus has been somewhere between one and two - meaning every infected person infects between one and two others.

Deputy Chief Medical officer Professor Paul Kelly says Australia is on the cusp of coronavirus dying out. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"Where you want to be is below one - so less than one other person being infected after a person themselves has the infection," Professor Kelly said.

"Once you get to that point the virus dies out or the epidemic dies out.
For the first time ever, Disney is releasing recipes for some of its most beloved treats.

With both Florida's Disney World and California's Disneyland closed for the foreseeable future, park-goers have been denied their vacations  and all of the delicious foods exclusive to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom.

To help get fanatics through these hard times, Disney has now unveiled its recipes for Dole Whip and Churro Bites so families can make them at home.

Voila! Disney has released a recipe for its beloved Dole Whip now that fans can't order it at Disney parks

Fave: The pineapple ice cream treat is one of Disney fans' favorite offerings from the parks. It was introduced back in 1986 at the Enchanted Tiki Room in Adventureland in Disneyland

Try it at home! This week the Disneyland App released Disney-approved directions

Dole Whip, a pineapple ice cream treat, is one of Disney fans' favorite offerings from the parks.

It was introduced back in 1986 at the Enchanted Tiki Room in Adventureland in Disneyland.

Fans have done their best to recreate Dole Whip at home, but this week the Disneyland App released Disney-approved directions.

The recipe requires 'one big scoop' of vanilla ice cream, 4 oz. pineapple juice, and 2 cups of frozen pineapple.

Still shut down: Disney announced today that its park will remain closed until at least May 31

The ingredients are all added to a blender and blended until smooth, then served in a bowl. To create the same swirl effect as seen in the parks, home chefs can use a piping bag.

What the app fails to mention is that all Dole Whip served in Disney parks is vegan, meaning it's also non-dairy.

For those making it at home, choosing non-dairy ice cream is optional.

And for a special 'adult' version of the treat, some spots across the parks add rum.

Meanwhile, the Dole Food Company also has the Official DIY Dairy Free Dole Whip recipe on its website. Their recipe requires frozen pineapple juice, a frozen banana, powdered sugar, and unsweetened coconut milk beverage.

Delish! The Disney Parks blog has also shared a recipe 'inspired by' its Churro Bites

'These past few weeks, weve seen many of you sharing Disney recipes and creating your very own magical moments right at home,' the blog explained

'While our parks are temporarily closed, you can still enjoy a delicious Disney churro  because you can make them yourself at home!'

'This recipe is inspired by the delicious snack that can be found at all of our parks across the globe,' the blog said

The Disney Parks blog has also shared a recipe 'inspired by' its Churro Bites.

'These past few weeks, weve seen many of you sharing Disney recipes and creating your very own magical moments right at home,' the blog explained.

'While our parks are temporarily closed, you can still enjoy a delicious Disney churro  because you can make them yourself at home!

'This recipe is inspired by the delicious snack that can be found at all of our parks across the globe.'

The recipes may be the first of many as Disney announced today that the parks will remain closed until at least May 31.
Live-fire drills by stealth missile boats enhance China's coastal combat capability

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Source:Global Times Published: 2020/4/9 19:33:41

Type 022 stealth missile boats affiliated with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command Navy recently held live-fire combat-oriented drills that featured guns being fired, shooting of jamming rounds and the release of smoke, showing what analysts said the ships' new support role in coastal combat.

Several missile boats participated in the four-day live-fire exercises, where they practiced firing guns at maritime targets, shooting jamming rounds, releasing smoke and maneuvering in formation, navy.81.cn, the website of the PLA Navy, reported on Monday.

The training courses in the drills showed the Type 022 missile boats can play a support role in coastal combat, as many of them can arrive at battle positions faster than any other type of larger warship, release jamming rounds or smoke to win tactical advantages for larger, friendly ships, and leave the scene immediately relying on their high speed and stealth design, a military expert who asked for anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.

The drills also tested damage control operations, rescues, water mine countermeasures and buoy deployment with the aim of enhancing the troops' capability to deal with emergencies and use technical equipment, the navy.81.cn report said.

Since the mass production of larger warships like the Type 056 corvette, Type 054A frigate and Type 052D destroyer, the Type 022 missile boat - which was designed mainly for coastal defense operations where it would launch rapid missile attacks on large hostile warships in coastal waters - seemed to have lost its significance despite its advanced design, and reports on the boat became less frequent, observers noted.

The Type 022 is likely further developing its role of offering support in addition to attack functions, the expert said, noting that maintaining the boats and conducting training can maximize their potential and enhance China's coastal combat capability.

More than 80 Type 022s have reportedly been commissioned into the Navy.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2020 / International Mining Corp ( CSE:IMCX) ( OTC PINK:IMIMF) (the "Company" or "IMC"), is pleased to announce, further to its news release dated March 18, 2020, that it has completed the acquisition (the "Acquisition") of 100% of the issued and outstanding share capital of Thane Minerals Inc. ("Thane"). Thane holds a 100% interest in an approximately 206 km2 (50,904 acres) land package (the "Land Package") located in north-central British Columbia, which includes six highly prospective mineralized areas identified to date including the Cathedral prospect'.

Purchase Consideration

As consideration for the Acquisition, IMC has issued to the former shareholders of Thane (the "Vendors") an aggregate of $2-million CAD worth of common shares in the capital of IMC, at a deemed price of $0.38 per common share, for a total of 5,263,158 IMC shares (the "IMC Shares"). The IMC Shares will be escrowed and released over a 36-month period.

In addition to the foregoing, if, through additional exploration programs, a resource calculation of at least 800,000,000lbs of copper-equivalent, as determined based on a National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) ("NI 43-101") compliant resource estimate, is determined to be indicated within the Cathedral prospect area, then IMC will issue an additional aggregate of $2-million CAD worth of common shares (or cash in lieu, at IMC's option) to the Vendors.

Changes to the Board

In connection with the completion of the Acquisition, Mr. Thomas Greg Hawkins has been appointed as a Director and Chairman of the Board of IMC.

Mr. Hawkins holds a BSc in Geology from the University of Alberta and an MSc in Mineral Economics from McGill University. He has been involved in the Mining Exploration and Investment industries since 1969 and has been variously responsible for the identification and/or delineation of 10 mineral deposits in Canada, USA, Chile, Ghana, Mali and Zaire (DRC).

Story continues

Mr. Hawkins is currently a Director of New Pacific Metals Corp. (NUAG) and was the Founding Project Consultant and/or Founding Director of seven public and private Exploration/Development ventures (Brohm Mining, Dayton Mining, Nevsun Resources, Banro Resource Corp., Tagish Lake Gold Corp., African Gold Group, Yellowhead Mining Inc.) and has participated in or been responsible for the definition of at least one resource/reserve in every case, with six of those cases resulting in production in the USA, Chile, Ghana, Mali and DRC. These ventures collectively have accounted for over $2.1 billion in market cap at the companies' respective peaks.

In 1990 Mr. Hawkins co-founded CME Consulting Ltd., an international full service consultancy and contracting firm that has served over 100 clients in 25 countries and has employed over 3000 people. He has authored and presented a number of papers on exploration, exploration philosophy and mineral economics since 1979. In 2004 he was awarded the Frank Woodside Past Presidents Award by the British Columbia and Yukon Chamber of Mines in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the mining industry.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Brian Thurston

Chief Executive Officer and President

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL MINING CORP.

IMC International Mining Corp. is a junior exploration and development company. It is focused on creating shareholder value through the acquisition, exploration and development of gold assets, which include the Company's 100% owned Bullard Pass Property in Arizona.

IMC continues to evaluate additional properties to add to its portfolio of mining assets.

INVESTOR RELATIONS:



i r@internationalmining.ca

1 (604) 588-2110

https://imcxmining.com

Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to statements regarding the potential delineation of mineral resources within the Cathedral prospect area, and the Company's business and plans, including with respect to undertaking further acquisitions and carrying out exploration activities in respect of its mineral projects, including the Cathedral Project. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance and developments to differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on, among other things, the risks that no mineral resources are delineated within the Cathedral prospect area, that the Company does not complete any further acquisitions; that the Company does not carry out exploration activities in respect of its mineral projects, including the Cathedral Project, as planned (or at all); and that the Company may not be able to carry out its business plans as expected. Except as required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation and does not intend to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information in this news release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and makes no reference to profitability based on sales reported. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release.



SOURCE: International Mining Corp





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/583535/IMC-International-Mining-Corp-Completes-Acquisition-of-Thane-Minerals-Inc




Vietnam will only allow exports via official channels as China imposes stringent import measures in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade said Thursday that China has recently imposed more protective measures to limit the immigration of people and transport from Vietnam as it seeks to prevent the entry of the novel coronavirus from outside the country.

Border gates between Vietnam and China have not resumed full operations due to protective measures imposed by both countries. As of April 8, there were nearly 1,700 containers stuck at the Vietnamese side of the border, mostly carrying fruits.

The trade ministry said it will work with Chinese officials to ensure commerce continues in safe conditions. It will not allow exports without contracts or clear statements of origin, as per standards agreed with Chinese customs.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also advised traders to stop sending their goods to China via border gates because of the containers that have piled up there.

The ministry estimates that first quarter fruit exports to China, the largest buyer of Vietnamese agriculture produce, fell 29.4 percent year-on-year to $300 million as the Covid-19 pandemic halted normal trade.
The anti-graft agency, EFCC, has reacted to an allegation against its acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu, by a U.S. senator, Charles Grassley, over plans to repatriate the $300 million stolen by late dictator, Sani Abacha.

The 86-year-old U.S. Republican senator had said the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has a high record of human rights violations and thus such funds should not be returned to Nigeria.

In his letter dated April 1, and addressed to the Chief Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Deborah Connor, the lawmaker made reference to a Bloomberg report which exposed how the governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, helped Mr Abacha launder billions of naira.

The lawmaker also accused both the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and Mr Magu, of being agents of oppression of Mr Buharis political opponents.

Part of the letter reads; In 2014, the Isle of Jersey, a British dependency seized more than $320m laundered by the corrupt former dictator of Nigeria, General Sani Abacha. After a long legal battle, the Isle of Jersey and the United States have entered into an agreement to repatriate this money back to Nigeria in the coming months.

Yet, according to a recent Bloomberg article, the current Nigerian government is refusing to help the U.S. Department of Justice finalise a second forfeiture action against a separate $100m in Abacha loot.

The federal government through the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, also reacted to Mr Grassley assertions in a statement on Thursday. Mr Malami said the accusations were baseless.

EFCCs defence

The EFCC acting spokesperson, Tony Orilade, in a statement on Friday, dismissed the allegation, noting that the commission has spearheaded the transparent management of looted funds over the years.

The EFCC added it would not be dragged into any controversy over an allegation that has no fact or any iota of proof.

The commission said Mr Grassley lacks basis for linking the EFCC and Mr Magu with any oppressive or separatist agenda against government opposition.

The allegation clearly has no bearing with the operations of the EFCC nor address(es) the painstaking efforts of Magu in tackling the menace of corruption, without fear or favour.

The EFCC is involved in the processes of repatriation of the looted $300 million by the former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Mr Orilade said.

He said the anti-graft agency was focused on the tripartite agreement on the repatriation of the $321 million Abacha loot.

The AGF in January had announced moves by the federal government to recover the loots, alongside other assets linked to a former governor, James Ibori and an ex-Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

As an anti-graft agency, the Commission has credible records of managing recovered funds and assets. It is rather unfortunate that the ranking U.S. Senator, in a desperate bid to frustrate the repatriation of the funds, embraced the well-worn antics of some unscrupulous elements in the country.

We wish to reiterate that the EFCC under Magu is too focused on the anti-graft agenda of the government to be distracted by such empty claims of the lawmaker. Grassley and his sponsors are clearly on quicksand on this issue, the official added.
At the event (Photo: VNA)

Di Maio wrote that the widespread solidarity shown at multiple levels proves the depth of the relationship between the two countries.

The Italian Government is steering all efforts towards containing the spread of the virus, taking care of those affected, and addressing the dire consequences stemming from the global pandemic, he wrote, adding that Vietnams help will undoubtedly contribute to the success in these endeavors and ultimately assist Italy on its road to recovery.

Italys Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese, meanwhile, also sent a letter of thanks to Minister of Public Security, General To Lam.

She expressed her profound thanks to the ministry for its solidarity with Italy in these challenging times, which is evidence of the sustainable cooperation between the two countries.

She wrote she hoped that, when conditions allow, she may meet with General Lam to discuss issues of shared concern in order to further boost bilateral ties.

Earlier, on April 7, Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung handed over the token of 550,000 made-in-Vietnam anti-bacterial masks to various European countries in support of the fight against the pandemic.
KLM historic aircraft

KLM historic aircraft

Philips ventilators for the ICU

Philips ventilators for the ICU

KLM Boeing 747 aircraft

KLM Boeing 747 aircraft

Philips Trilogy in use hospital

Philips Trilogy in use hospital

April 9, 2020

Special airlift complements existing airlift between Amsterdam and the US

Amsterdam, the Netherlands - With the current loss of around 90% of all flights between Europe and Asia, there is a major shortage of freight capacity. At the same time, and precisely because of the crisis surrounding COVID-19, there is a huge requirement to transport medical equipment and other supplies quickly between the US, Europe and China. KLM has now joined forces with Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA) and the Dutch government to create a temporary special cargo airlift between the Netherlands and China. In addition to these parties, requests for extra capacity are coming from many other organizations. This airlift to Asia will start on April 13, 2020.

During the coming six to eight weeks, specifically for this important airlift between the Netherlands and China, KLM will bring its Boeing 747 Combi aircraft back into operation, ensuring a continuous flow of special freight capacity  two times a week to Beijing and three times a week to Shanghai. This will create approximately 250 tons of extra freight capacity in each direction per week. The flights will operate alongside the existing services of the so-called skeleton timetable that has been in force since March 29, 2020 with two Beijing and two Shanghai flights operated using Boeing 787s and Boeing 777s.

The Full Freighters of KLM/Martinair will continue to be deployed on North Atlantic routes, which Philips will use to airlift from Amsterdam to distribution points in the US. KLM/Martinair will also continue to fly on South Atlantic routes as well as to Africa.

In view of the current 90% decline in flights and future expectations, KLM had decided in early March 2020 to phase out its remaining Boeing 747s as of April 2020 instead of summer 2021. For the airlift from Amsterdam to Shanghai and Beijing, two Boeing 747 Combi aircraft are now being put back into service specifically for these two routes and for the indicated period.

Story continues

I consider it extremely important that especially in this time of crisis, KLM can add value to Dutch society through flexibility, creativity and collaboration, said Pieter Elbers, President and CEO of KLM. Philips initiative to team up with KLM to find a solution for the pressing need for freight capacity between Europe and China for critical medical equipment and supplies fully underlines this. I am proud that a joint team of very committed and professional colleagues from both companies have been able to create an adequate solution in such a short time frame.

Philips and KLM have been important partners for more than a hundred years, said Frans van Houten, CEO Royal Philips. It is good that we have quickly found each other again in this time of need to make this important airlift to China possible. In combination with the existing airlift to the US, we can now transport essential medical products and supplies faster between the US, Europe and China, helping healthcare providers more quickly in their difficult task of fighting the coronavirus.

For further information, please contact:

Steve Klink

Philips Global Press Office

Tel.: +31 6 10888824

E-mail: steve.klink@philips.com

Leandro Mazzoni

Philips Investor Relations

Tel.: +31 20 59 77222

E-mail: leandro.mazzoni@philips.com

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2019 sales of EUR 19.5 billion and employs approximately 80,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at http://www.philips.com/newscenter .





Attachments
On the ground, residents fear the virus has spread beyond the handful of cases that may be officially recorded. In East Hampton, where cases more than doubled over the past week, to 83, Kamal Jackson, a volunteer firefighter, said calls from dispatch of FC, fever cough  now often code for potential coronavirus  have come over his transponder nearly every day for the last three weeks.

It was imported from somewhere else, said Mr. Jackson, 40, who also works for a pool maintenance company and does construction work. I dont fault them. They own property; they have a right to be here. But it was definitely brought out here from them.

Leaders from across Suffolk County, on the eastern half of Long Island, sent a letter to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on March 27, asking for official restrictions on travel to the area. The governor said on Sunday that he had not heard any local officials raise concerns about the need for more travel restrictions and had not yet considered introducing them.

The Shinnecock Indian Nation, a tribe whose leaders signed the letter to the governor and whose 980-acre reservation is at the westernmost edge of the Hamptons, is trying its own tactic: On the edge of Sunrise Highway, the tribes large electronic billboards scroll President Trumps recent advisory that residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut refrain from nonessential domestic travel for 14 days.

It feels like we have been invaded and they are taking advantage of our enclave, said Bryan Polite, the chairman of the tribe. Those people were selfish, and we have to deal with the ramifications of their actions.

Donald G. McNeil Jr. and Azi Paybarah contributed reporting.
Here's When Russia's Military Will Get Giant New 'Flying Radar' AEW Aircraft

Sputnik News

14:52 GMT 09.04.2020

Russia began development of the Beriev A-100 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft in late 2014, with flight testing kicking off in late 2017. The aircraft is based on a heavily modified Ilyushin Il-76 strategic airlifter.

Russia's Aerospace Forces will begin taking delivery of the new Beriev A-100 AEW&C planes in 2024, a source in Russia's military industry has told Sputnik. "Testing is proceeding as scheduled," the source said.

The A-100, christened by aircraft enthusiasts as the 'Flying Radar', is Russia's next-generation airborne early warning aircraft, and is expected to complement and eventually replace the existing 20 or so Beriev A-50 and A-50U Shmel ('Bumblebee') AEW planes in the Aerospace Forces' inventory today.

Built on the basis of an Il-76MD-90A strategic airlifter with improved turbofan engines, the planes will be equipped with a cutting-edge Vega 'Premier' active phased array radar, with the rotating dome design mounted on struts over the plane's fuselage.

The aircraft are expected to be able to detect and track as many as 300 air, sea and ground-based targets simultaneously at distances up to 650 km away. They are also expected to be able to assist in the operation of drones, and serve as a mobile airborne command and communications post. In addition to its primary radar, the plane will be able to interact with and receive information from space-based satellites.

A Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke to his Nepal counterpart KP Sharma Oli and discussed the prevailing situation due to the COVID-19 crisis.

During the telephonic conversation, Prime Minister Modi appreciated the determination of the people of Nepal to fight the challenge.

"Spoke today with Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri @kpsharmaoli. We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday informed that India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,412. Out of these, 5,709 are active patients and 503 of them have been cured/discharged.With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the death toll has reached 199. Meanwhile, Nepal has reported nine coronavirus cases so far.

Last month, Prime Minister Modi and Oli interacted during a video conference of the SAARC nations.

PM Modi had proposed the creation of an emergency fund for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations to combat the coronavirus pandemic and pitched India's initial offer of USD 10 million for this fund.

Nepal had committed NPR 100 million to the SAARC emergency fund.

On March 20, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a telephonic conversation with his Nepali counterpart Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and discussed enhancing cooperation and measures to combat the threat posed by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Prime Minister Modi in the last few days has spoken to many leaders including US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and discussed global cooperation to fight the coronavirus.

On March 24, the extraordinary virtual G20 Leaders' Summit was held to discuss the challenges posed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and to forge a globally coordinated response.

During which, Prime Minister Modi called upon the leaders to help usher in new globalization for the collective well-being of humankind and have multilateral fora focus on promoting the shared interests of humanity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Moscow Mayor bans visiting cemeteries due to coronavirus

 RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov

10:58 10/04/2020

MOSCOW, April 10 (RAPSI) -Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has ordered temporary closure of all Moscow cemeteries for visitors as part of fighting against the spread of coronavirus, according to a statement published on his website.

Under the Mayors order, during the high alert regime all cemeteries will be open only for burial services and participation in the funeral, but not for free visiting.

The self-isolation regime was introduced in Moscow and Moscow Region in late March. Residents are banned from leaving their places of living without a special need. They are allowed to leave homes for urgent medical aid, grocery shopping in the nearest stores, visiting pharmacies. Similar measures have been introduced in several other regions of Russia.




Air France aircraft are seen on the tarmac at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy-en-France on March 24, 2020. (Charles Platiau/File Photo/Reuters)

France Builds 20-Billion-Euro Fund to Help Recapitalize Big Companies

The French government has set aside 20 billion euros ($21.7 billion) to help inject capital into big companies struggling to survive the CCP virus crisis, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on April 10.

Le Maire has repeatedly pledged to help Frances corporate champions get through the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus crisis by taking stakes in them or even going as far as nationalization if necessary.

Weve decided to put credit on the fund, to put 20 billion euros on the special fund to support to the capital of companies that need it, whether public or private, Le Maire said on Europe 1 radio.

A technician flies a drone that will spray disinfectant along the streets of the French Riviera city of Cannes, southern France, on April 10, 2020. (Valery Hache /AFP via Getty Images)

The funds are earmarked in a package of crisis measures that Le Maire more than doubled on Thursday to 100 billion euros and which is set to go to parliament next Wednesday for approval.

First on the list of companies that may need state funds is Air France KLM, which said on Thursday it expected the French and Dutch states to help meet its cash needs with air travel at a standstill.

KLM airline airplanes are seen parked as Schiphol Airport reduces its flights due to the CCP virus outbreak, in Amsterdam on April 2, 2020. (Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo/Reuters)

As regards Air France, we are ready for when the time comes, without a doubt soon, to support Air France and make sure that this French industrial champion  recovers quickly, Le Maire said.

Sources have told Reuters that Air France-KLM is in talks with banks to receive up to 6 billion euros ($6.56 billion) in loans guaranteed by the French and Dutch governments, a sum which the junior transport minister has described as not unrealistic.

Meanwhile, other companies whose business activity has ground to a halt are seeking to tap bank credit first rather than rushing to the state for new capital.

Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said on Friday that the carmaker, in which the French state has a 15 percent stake, could seek bank loans worth 4-5 billion euros ($4.37-$5.47 billion) .

By Leigh Thomas

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
The death toll due to coronavirus rose to 206 and the number of cases in the country climbed to 6,761 on Friday, a record spike of 896 cases and 37 deaths in 24 hours since Thursday evening, according to the Union Health Ministry.

While the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 6,039, as many as 515 people have been cured and discharged, and one had migrated, it said. The total number of cases include 71 foreign nationals.

Thirty-seven deaths have been reported since Thursday evening, of which 25 were from Maharashtra, four from Delhi, three from Punjab, two from Andhra Pradesh, and one each from Gujarat, Karnataka and Jharkhand.

Of the total 206 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 97 fatalities, followed by Gujarat at 17, Madhya Pradesh at 16 and Delhi at 13. Punjab registered 11 deaths while Tamil Nadu has reported eight fatalities and Telengana seven.

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have reported six deaths each while five people have lost their lives in West Bengal. Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh have reported four fatalities each while Haryana and Rajasthan have recorded three deaths each.

Two deaths have been reported from Kerala. Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry data.

However, a PTI tally of figures reported by various states as on Friday showed at least 7,049 cases and 236 deaths.

There has been a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, compared to the number of cases announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states.

According to the ministry's data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 1,364, followed by Delhi at 898 and Tamil Nadu at 834.

COVID-19 cases have gone up to 473 in Telengana and 463 in Rajasthan. Uttar Pradesh has 431 cases so far followed by Andhra Pradesh at 363 and Kerala at 357.

The number of the novel coronavirus infection cases has risen to 259 in Madhya Pradesh, 241 in Gujarat, 197 in Karnataka, 184 in Jammu and Kashmir and 169 in Haryana. Punjab has 132 COVID-19 patients so far while West Bengal has 116 cases.

Bihar has reported 60 cases while Odisha has 44 coronavirus cases. Thirty-five people were infected with the virus in Uttarakhand while Assam has 29 patients followed by Himachal Pradesh with 28 cases. Chandigarh has 18 cases while Ladakh has 15. Jharkhand has 13 coronavirus positive patients so far.

Eleven cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands while 10 were reported from Chhattisgarh. Goa has reported seven COVID-19 infections, followed by Puducherry at five, Manipur at two while Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported one case each.

"State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation," the ministry said on its website.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
FanMilk Ghana Limited, a member of Danone, has made another donation to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic which has claimed at least six lives in Ghana.

Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana

This comes after the company presented 15,600 bottles of drinking Yoghurt (FanMaxx) to the Ridge Hospital and the Noguchi Medical Research Institute to support their efforts at fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement sighted by YEN.com.gh, the management of FanMilk Ghana Ltd noted that the recent donation of FanMax is to support other relevant frontline institutions in their battle for the preventive and containment of the dreaded coronavirus.

Institutions that benefited from the Friday, April, 10, 2020, donation include the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research, National Police Headquarters (Cantonments), Accra Regional Police Headquarters and the Kumasi Regional Police Headquarters.

Speaking at the presentation to the National Police Headquarters, the HR Director FanMilk, Dr Hazel Berrard Amuah, who spoke on behalf of CEO of Fan Milk West Africa and MD of Fan Milk Ghana, Yeo Ziobeieton, commended the Police Command for their good work so far in enforcing the lockdown.

Dr Hazel Berrard Amuah said that the donation is in support of frontline security personnel.

''We recognize the hard work you put in to maintain law and order in these trying times. We know how busy the day gets for most of you, with long hours exerting a lot of energy on the job. We want to help re-energize you when your fuel is low, supporting you as we fight against COVID-19 in Ghana together,''Dr Hazel Berrard Amuah said.

Dr Hazel Berrard Amuah also indicated that the company is dedicated to providing nutritious food to as many people as possible to improve the company's impact on the communities they serve.

Read full Press Release below.

PRESS RELEASE

FANMILK CONTINUES SUPPORT FOR COVID-19 FIGHT: 2ND WAVE OF DONATIONS TO FRONTLINE PERSONNEL

FanMilk Ghana Limited, a member of Danone, has made another donation to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.

Last week, FanMilk presented 15,600 bottles of drinking Yoghurt (FanMaxx) to the Ridge Hospital and the Noguchi Medical Research Institute to support their efforts at fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday 10th April, FanMilk made a second donation of FanMaxx to support other relevant Frontline institutions. Institutions that received the donation include the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research, National Police Headquarters (Cantonments), Accra Regional Police Headquarters and the Kumasi Regional Police Headquarters.

Speaking at the presentation to the National Police Headquarters, Dr. Hazel Berrard Amuah (HR Director FanMilk) representing the CEO of Fan Milk West Africa and MD of Fan Milk Ghana (Yeo Ziobeieton) commended the Police Command for their good work so far in enforcing the lockdown.

She said ''Last week we donated to Frontline Medical Staff. Today we are here to support you, Frontline Security Personnel. We recognize the hard work you put in to maintain law and order in these trying times. We know how busy the day gets for most of you, with long hours exerting a lot of energy on the job. We want to help re-energize you when your fuel is low, supporting you as we fight against COVID-19 in Ghana together''.

''We at FanMilk are dedicated to providing nutritious food to as many people as possible to improve our impact on the communities we serve. We are regularly reminded of the dedication and resilience of all frontline staff and truly appreciate all your efforts. We encourage you to continue with the good work and believe that together we will win this fight against the COVID-19 pandemic''.

The donation to the Frontline Institutions was followed up by a Drive-through Refreshment Caravan to refresh and energize security personnel on the ground at various checkpoints on key routes in Accra and Kumasi.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his sixth address to the nation on the deadly coronavirus, announced that Ghana's case count jumps from 313 to 378 as of April 9, 2020.

According to the president, the additional cases recorded were gotten from the samples collected and tested from the contacts traced.

In other stories, Wife of popular Ghanaian musician Keche Andrew, Joana Grey Cudjoe has disclosed the whopping amount she racks into her accounts every year.

In a yet to be aired interview on the Delay Show, the business titan, formerly Joana Gyan, revealed how her businesses made study financial growth every year.

One on one with the young Ghanaian genius Angela Tabiri who has a Ph.D. in Mathematics | #Yencomgh

Have national and human interest issues to discuss?

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition?

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Source: YEN.com.gh
The first hospital network in the U.S. has joined an international clinical trial using artificial intelligence to help determine which treatments for patients with the novel coronavirus are most effective on an on-going basis.

Why it matters: In the midst of a pandemic, scientists face dueling needs: to find treatments quickly and to ensure they are safe and effective. By using this new type of adaptive platform, doctors hope to collect clinical data that will help more quickly determine what actually works.

The solution is to find an optimal trade-off between doing something now, such as prescribing a drug off-label, or waiting until traditional clinical trials are complete.

 Derek Angus, senior trial investigator and professor at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, told a press briefing

State of play: No treatments have been approved for COVID-19 yet. Researchers have made headway in mapping how the virus attaches and infects human cells  helping "guide drug developers, atom by atom, in devising safe and effective ways to treat COVID-19," National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins writes.

But new drugs take a long time to develop, partly because they must first be tested for safety before broadening to test for safety and efficacy.

While many companies are working on new treatments, others have focused on testing drugs for other conditions that have already met safety requirements.

What's new: The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is the first American hospital system to join an international treatment trial called REMAP-COVID19, which is enrolling patients with COVID-19 in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand so far.

How it works: Starting Thursday, UPMC's system of 40 hospitals began offering the trial to patients who have moderate to severe complications from COVID-19, Angus said.

Patients in the trial will receive their current standard of care. About 12.5% will receive placebo at the launch and the rest will be randomly selected to multiple interventions with one or more antibiotics, antivirals, steroids, and medicines that regulate the immune system, including the drug hydroxychloroquine.

The platform, based on an existing one called REMAP-CAP, is integrated with UPMC's electronic health records and the data collected via a worldwide machine-learning system that continuously determines what combination of therapies is performing best.

As more data is collected, more patients will be steered toward the therapies doing well, Angus said.

The adaptive trial format, published Thursday in the journal Annals of the American Thoracic Society, can allow new treatments to be rolled into the trial.

"This idea came to us after the H1N1 [epidemic], when everyone scrambled to do traditional trials" but by the time those were established, the outbreak had moved on, Angus said. "We asked, how we can do this better."

The big picture: There are more than 400 listed clinical trials for treatments, therapies and vaccines related to COVID-19.

Go deeper: Podcast: Hydroxychloroquine questions
(BIS)  The importation of non-medical protective face masks will be prohibited, effective 8am Friday 10 April 2020, Prime Minister the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis announced today. This does not apply to the importation of medical-grade masks for health care workers. The move is an effort to protect the local mask manufacturing industry that has sprung up overnight as a result of the COVID-19 virus, said Prime Minister Minnis.

We are working to protect and encourage small businesses and to create and promote jobs. I am happy to see so many seamstresses and tailors involved in this growing industry.

All mask orders made before Friday 10 April will be allowed. Proof of the date that masks were ordered is required.

Orders of 10 masks or less for personal use are also allowed.

Requests for special exemptions may be made in writing to the Competent Authority, Office of the Prime Minister.

Under the Emergency Powers (COVID-19) (No.2)(Amendment), every person who leaves their residence must wear a mask covering their nose and mouth while away from their residence.
Local authorities in Nigeria on Friday announced the start of a door-to-door checks on residents of the megacity Lagos to identify cases of coronavirus. Health workers will be visiting homes and healthcare facilities in order to carry out an electronic survey enquiring about cough, cold and fever, some of the telltale signs of Covid-19.

This is in a bid to intensify our search for possible cases of Covid-19 in different communities across the state, said Lagos State Commissioner for Health Akin Abayomi.

Abayomi urged Lagosians to give healthcare workers maximum support by providing accurate information that would help contain the pandemic.

The state commissioner said healthcare workers would be identified by their official Covid-19 Outbreak Response tags and letter from the local government authorities.

Lagos State has confirmed a total of 158 cases of Covid-19 with three dead, according to statistics from the local authorities on Thursday evening. Nigerias health ministry said the country has confirmed a total of 288 cases of coronavirus resulting in seven dead, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

Lagos city has a population of an estimated 21 million people.
THE number of women using postpartum intrauterine devices in the country has rose to 13 per cent, up from nearly one per cent in 2015.

This is an indication that the devices are increasingly becoming the best option for effective birth spacing and reducing maternal mortality.

National Postpartum Intrauterine Device (PPIUD) Project Coordinator, Prof Projest Muganyizi said at least 95 per cent of the 10,000 women who were reached during the pilot project have recommended the devices for an effective family planning.

It is important to understand that every pregnancy is wanted, but unintended pregnancies come with unplanned challenges ... integration of modern family planning helps prevent such unintended pregnancies, he said.

He explained that the IUDs are strategically placed into women reproductive organs and have been safe, or causing no harm to users.

The devices that are now available in six regions; Mwanza, Arusha, Dodoma, Pwani, Dar es Salaam and Mbeya are freely accessible in government health units.

Dr Hemed Makuani, Assistant Director of Child and Reproductive Health, Ministry of Health, Community Development Gender, Elderly and Children said at least 3,000 health care workers were trained to effectively implement the project.

He went on to explain that family planning was essential in ones healthy child, and that the government has set an enabling environment for effective family planning.

According to the director, 97 per cent of maternal deaths in health centres were accounted for poor services.

But were noticing positive progress in the implementation of PPIUD, now covering at least eight per cent of all family planning schemes in the country, he said.

Dr Anita Makins, the Project Director of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics FIGOs Postpartum Intrauterine Device (PPIUD) told a delegate here that the same project has been implemented in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kenya, Bangladesh and India.

She explained that the devices were essentially given to non-pregnant women, but it involved a series of procedures that become easy should it be commissioned immediately after birth.

Ms Martina Matayo, a midwife from Mbeya told reporters that the device is small and non  hormone, meaning they cause no harm or effect to users. It can also be inserted once in 10 to 12 years, preventing you from any unwanted pregnancy.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  The United States and India on Friday contributed cots and medical supplies to help in the countrys fight against COVID-19.

US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim handed over the cots, originally intended for the postponed Balikatan 2020 exercises, to Philippine officials led by Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin Jr.

1,100 of the new cots will be issued to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) for COVID-19 patients, while 150 units will be allocated to the health department for use by medical frontliners at the Philippine General Hospital.

We stand together with the Philippines, as both of our nations work to save lives and protect our people in the fight against COVID-19," said Kim in a statement.

The US Embassy also announced it will provide the country 204 million for the improvement of its laboratory system preparedness, case-finding and event-based surveillance, technical expert response and preparedness, risk communication, and infection prevention.

India, meanwhile, donated 150,000 pieces of heavy-duty KN95 and N88 face masks.

The 12-million delivery was made possible through the efforts of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Indian community in the Philippines.

Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Jaideep Mazumdar led the turnover of the face masks to the OCD.

OCD Administrator and Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and COVID-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. received the face masks in behalf of the government.

The donations from the two countries come as the Philippines continues to battle the spread of the disease. As of yesterdays count, there are now 4,076 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, along with 203 deaths and 124 recoveries.
Pogo got it right. We have met the enemy, and he is us. This 20th-century comic book parody of a 1800s naval transmission may be just the quote to describe the novel coronavirus tearing through the world in 2020 - because nothing really comes out of nowhere. We made this disaster ourselves, with a little help from Mother Nature. Just ask Dennis Carroll.

"Think about it," the scientist and subject of a recent revelatory interview in 'Nautilus Magazine' told me this week. "This Covid-19 virus had existed in a small niche in China. Now it's all over the world... We are a species that more than any other species will allow for rapid dispersal of these viruses." The only answer: "We can change the way we behave on the Earth."

Carroll is, essentially, a virus hunter. He studied diseases at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention before founding a US Agency for International Development programme called Predict that probed the planet for potential pandemics-to-be, until its funding was cancelled last year.

Now he heads up his very own Global Virome Project with much the same goal - finding diseases before they find us. With luck, Carroll and his cohort will compile what he calls an "atlas" of viruses to help us understand how to curb future outbreaks and create vaccines that would wipe out not only Covid-19, but Covid-20 and others to come.

So where are we supposed to look? Viruses are already lurking among mammals everywhere, and among birds, too.

The planet hosts more than 1.6 million of them. About 700,000 could infect people. Predict discovered 2,000 over a decade. The virus that causes Covid-19 is only the seventh coronavirus known to have infected humans, Carroll told me from Washington's District Wharf, where he lives on a boat. Yet scientists estimate that there are about 4,000 other coronaviruses out there, waiting to pounce.

Of course, viruses have been around longer than we have, and so have bats, civet cats, pigs and other prime suspects in spreading diseases from outdoor markets to living rooms across the world.

But these so-called zoonosis spillover events, when a virus sneaks its way into us from the wild, are occurring two or three times a year more often than they did 40 years ago. And that's not because viruses or bats or civet cats or pigs are doing anything too different; it's because we are.

"Viruses don't spread," Carroll says. "People spread viruses."

We're multiplying. There are billions more of us every decade now, though it took hundreds of millennia just to hit the seven-figure mark.

Think about disease, Carroll instructs, like the frequency with which you'd expect to bump up against someone in a crowd: the more people, the more collisions. And the collision rate between us and animals is rising, too, because we're transforming their habitats into our own.

We're gobbling up more and more land for livestock production, disrupting wildlife to enhance our own lives. We're sending these livestock across oceans, and we're sending ourselves across oceans, too, on business trips to Taiwan and beach vacations to Bali. Chinese poultry production has more than quadrupled since the 1970s.

A fresh and timely study from the University of California and the University of Melbourne confirms the point: The risk of spillover is highest when species are hit by human exploitation and habitat destruction.

The Black Death probably came to Europe over the Black Sea, aboard merchant ships filled with illness-spreading rats. Carroll rattles off a rogues' gallery of other killer diseases: "malaria, tuberculosis, certainly HIV", the last of which he describes as the "poster child" for zoonosis. The malady first moved to a hunter in Cameroon when he slaughtered a chimpanzee. The ape's infected blood mixed with the hunter's blood, and the disease hopped from one primate to another: Homo sapiens.

We made ourselves part of the virus's ecosystem, and now it is making itself part of ours. And how demonically designed the disease appears, able to exploit our every weakness. Coronavirus is the Goldilocks amount of deadly: not too lethal (then it would kill people too fast for the virus to replicate), not too mild (then we could simply get ill, build herd immunity, and bid the menace goodbye), but just right for a pandemic.

Our globalised system is in part to blame for this disease ballooning, and yet at the same time our lack of global spirit is to blame for our inability to deflate the blimp before it explodes - by co-ordinating an international response that could contain the germ's spread. The same sort of international action will be necessary for Carroll's virus-fighting atlas to come to fruition, too. Can we summon the will, not to mention the goodwill?

"There's fundamentally nothing special about us in this equation," Carroll says, because a virus doesn't discriminate between great apes and lesser ones, or between bats and boys - except that we act as if we are very special indeed.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Mostly sunny and bitterly cold. It will feel like it's in the single digits and low teens..

Tonight

Partly cloudy and extremely cold. Wind chills around or below 0 degrees.
Residents of Detroit, who are now on the front lines of one of the worst outbreaks in the country, are being forced to confront an impossible choice between earning a living and staying healthy, one of the citys former health officials told Yahoo Finance.

According to data collected by Johns Hopkins, Michigan currently has more than 21,500 cases and 1,076 deaths. Detroits surrounding counties of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb accounting for approximately 85% of the states deaths. Yet despite the fact that the Motor City is not as densely populated as other hard-hit urban areas like New York City and Los Angeles, the virus is still spreading at a rapid rate.

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former health director of Detroit, told Yahoo Finance that its because the citys predominantly black and working class residents are being forced to choose between earning a livelihood and their health.

Its not just about the pathogen but its also about the host and the environment, El-Sayed said on Thursday. Across the nation, more concerns have surfaced about why African Americans communities are being hammered by new infections.

For right now, when you think about why it is that Detroit is getting pummeled so hard... its because youve seen the environment, our society, pummeling the host for a very long time, said El-Sayed, a Democrat who ran for the partys gubernatorial nomination in 2018.

Low wages and lack of basic necessities are forcing residents to make a choice to save their livelihood versus staying home to save their lives [and] that is an impossible choice that too many people face, the physician said.

Were seeing that happen to folks and weve got a responsibility to understand why its happening and what we need to do about it, he added.

The toll on Michigans economy

The total number of coronavirus infections are creeping toward 500,000.

Cities across the country are working tirelessly to stop the spread of COVID-19 as the number of cases in the U.S. creeps toward 500,000.

Story continues

Locally, much of the focus has been on Detroits automotive industry, as the sector is a crucial pillar in the economic success of the region. And since its harder for manufacturing workers to stay at home, many continued to show up to work until the citys big three automakers Ford (F), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) and General Motors (GM)  made the decision to suspend production three weeks ago.

The shutdown of manufacturing plants and businesses nationwide has had a devastating impact on the labor market, with Michigan recording a drastic number of job losses. The state was the second hardest hit when controlling for the size of each states labor force for the week ending April 4, recording 78 jobless claims per 1,000 workers.

Amid a debate over when Americans can get back to work and normalize economic activity, some of the automakers are planning to open factories within a few weeks.

While signs have emerged that new coronavirus cases may be leveling off in some of Americas hardest-hit cities, there are still calls for a significant ramp up in testing in order to successfully flatten the curve. Microsoft (MSFT) founder Bill Gates warned recently that the U.S. needs to get its coronavirus testing sorted in a timely manner, or were in big trouble.

El-Sayed echoed that sentiment, saying mass diagnostic capabilities are necessary to ensure COVID-19 doesnt have a deadly second wave.

In order for us to really be able to tamp this pandemic down and make sure theres not a resurgence in cases and another wave, were going to need mass testing capacity, he told Yahoo Finance.

A peak is coming

A bus driver for the Detroit, Michigan city bus line DDOT poses for a portrait wearing a protective mask and gloves for protection in Detroit, Michigan, on March 24, 2020, during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. (Photo by SETH HERALD / AFP)

Detroit currently has the third highest number of Coronavirus-related deaths in the country, behind only New York and New Jersey.

While the number is still very high, there are signs that the number of new cases are slowing. El-Sayed expects the citys new cases to peak in the coming weeks  but is quick to warn that the worst isnt over yet.

Even when we let go of social distancing, we need something to be able to make sure that this doesnt start spreading again and we get yet another peak, he said. So were still not out of the woods the next phase of dealing with this pandemic is going to require testing, perhaps even more than we need it right now.

Seana Smith is the anchor for The Ticker.

READ MORE:
Health experts are urging Sydney to be patient, saying the number of new coronavirus cases in NSW will need to remain stable for at least another fortnight before any restrictions are wound back.

The number of new cases in NSW has been fewer than 60 each day for five straight days with the Berejiklian government giving tentative signs it is contemplating how and when restrictions may be relaxed.

A runner follows the George St tram line on Friday. Credit:Rhett Wyman

Despite this, Sydney councils are continuing to shut beaches and urging those wanting to exercise to stay away from busy coastal walking tracks during the Easter long weekend.

Amid warnings for residents to stay home in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus, councils and police have intensified patrols at beaches, parks, and common exercise routes from Dee Why to Cronulla.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that clinics in Texas can immediately offer medication abortions  a pregnancy termination method administered by pill  and can also provide the procedure to patients nearing the state's time limits for abortions.

Driving the news: The decision comes after federal appeals court ruled 2-1 on Tuesday in favor of an executive order by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott that prohibits abortions during the coronavirus outbreak.

Reality check: Texas is expected to take this case back to the 5th Circuit, which two days ago vacated the district judge's first temporary restraining order blocking the state's COVID-19-related abortion ban.

The big picture: Abbott last month issued the order banning elective procedures in an effort to save medical supplies like masks and gowns for health workers treating the coronavirus. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton noted one day later that the order applied to abortions  unless the woman's life is at risk.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel had ruled against the order last week, arguing that the prohibitions amounted to a ban on a woman's right to an abortion.

But a federal appeals court in Texas ruled 2-1 in favor of an executive order by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday.

Citing previous rulings, the two majority judges on the appeals court argued: "'[U]nder the pressure of great dangers,' constitutional rights may be reasonably restricted 'as the safety of the general public may demand.'"

"That settled rule allows states to restrict, for example, one's right to peacefully assemble, to publicly worship, to travel, and even to leave one's home. The right to abortion is no exception."

The dissenting judge countered: "In a time where panic and fear already consume our daily lives, the majoritys opinion inflicts further panic and fear on women in Texas by depriving them, without justification, of their constitutional rights."

Read the full ruling.
Teachers in northern Syria are trying to continue teaching, but a lack of resources means that some children are unable to get any education reports Zaman Al-Wasl.

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world, the Idleb Educational Complex has been closed and classes suspended in fear that the virus would reach the liberated areas in northern Syrian.

Despite the difficulties of the distance learning, teachers in the al-Zaitoun camp in the western countryside of Idleb have started giving lessons online.

Teacher Muhammad al-Ahmad said that due to coronavirus, Abjad Initiative for Education has taken preventive measures within the camps that they work, creating educational groups for children on social media forums.

Our mission as the teaching staff is to give lessons that are recorded and checked for mistakes, and then broadcasted in spaces that can be accessed by the parents.

This method, however, faces a number of difficulties in the camps in which they operate, including weak internet and the lack of smart phones for some families.

We have distributed pamphlets to families in the camps as precautionary and preventive measures. We are trying to continue providing children with the required development and education, to the best of our abilities, Ahmad concluded.

Idleb province is home to 3.5 million people, one million of them have been displaced, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, the Health Minister in the oppositions Interim Government said 14 suspected coronavirus cases in Idleb province tested negative on Wednesday; good news as the World Health organization warns of the limited capacity to deal with a rapid spread of the virus in northern Syria.

Dr. Maram Sheikh told Zaman al-Wasl that no coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the opposition areas until now.

All 81 suspected cases were tested negative since the kits arrived at the ministrys laboratory in the liberated northern Syrian, he added.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
PM Modi to inaugurate 11 new medical colleges in Tamil Nadu on Jan 12

In pics: PM Modi to inaugurate new campus of Classical Tamil institute in Chennai tomorrow

Committed to help humanitys fight against COVID-19, says PM Modi to Netanyahu, Bolsonaro

India

oi-Deepika S

New Delhi, Apr 10: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that India is committed to help humanity's fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The hydroxychloroquine diplomacy between India and other foreign nations has garnered praise for PM Modi as Jair Bolsonaro and Netanyahu thank him for lifting export ban on the anti-malarial drug.

Netanyahu on Thursday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for rushing a five-tonne cargo of medicines, including anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, seen as a possible cure for COVID-19.

PM Modi recalls 'courage and righteousness' on Good Friday

"Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!", Netanyahu said in a tweet Thursday evening.

Benjamin Netanyahu thanked India two days after a plane carrying materials used to make medicines for treating coronavirus patients arrived in Israel from India on Tuesday.

The five tonne shipment included ingredients for drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, being seen worldwide as the best possible cure as of now for treating COVID-19 patients.

The dreaded coronavirus has infected nearly 10,000 people in Israel and claimed 86 lives. As many as 121 others are on ventilator in critical condition.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

The consignment reached Israel within days of Netanyahu requested the supply of hydroxychloroquine during a phone conversation with PM Modi on April 3.

India, however, had to restrict its export to meet domestic contingencies.

Benjamin Netanyahu's thanks to India comes soon after US President Donald Trump said India's help in the extraordinary times "will not be forgotten".
Not everything from an interview makes it into a news story, nor should it, but sometimes a reporter cant shake the words and mental images from his head.

Thats what happened after I interviewed energy industry restructuring expert Drew McManigle about the unprecedented crisis the oil and gas industry is facing.

I quoted McManigle in two stories about the industry downturn, but his comparisons of todays events to the 1980s oil bust captured my imagination.

Back then, the U.S. oil & gas industry shed hundreds of thousands of jobs over a four-year period that included the price of crude crashing to $10 per barrel while industries such as banking, real estate and insurance also collapsed.

Thats going to happen now, McManigle warned. Its going to be another great generational clearing.

World Standing Still: Oil industry faces unprecedented crisis

McManigles father Richard Dick McManigle Sr. founded the Odessa oilfield service company Devonian Well Services in the 1950s. The company specialized in restoring production to older oil wells and had 12 workover rigs and crews across the Permian Basin.

The late 1970s and early 1980s were a boom time for Midland, Odessa and the McManigle family. A Rolls Royce dealership opened off Highway 80, which links the two oil towns. McManigles older brother Richard McManigle Jr was mayor of Odessa, and the family business was thriving. At age 29, McManigle was poised to inherit the company but that all changed on Sept. 30, 1983.

It was payday for the companys hourly rig workers, and McManigle was enjoying lunch at the Odessa Country Club when he learned that the National Bank of Odessa, the bank his company used, was folding. He called an emergency company meeting.

I had to make the announcement in front of the men, their wives, girlfriends and children, McManigle said.

He told them he couldnt pay them but handed out $20 bills to some who needed them. Devonian Well Services had credit at a local grocery store, so McManigle authorized employees to go get groceries on the company account.

We had 12 rigs in the field but didnt know if anybody would come to work on Monday, McManigle said.

Fuel Fix: Get energy news sent directly to your inbox

It was an anxiety-filled weekend and McManigle woke up a 3:00 a.m. Monday unable to go back to sleep. Workover rig crews started at 4:30 a.m., so he went to the company yard in Odessa, where he made coffee and waited in silence. He heard the first pickup truck arrive and the rest of the workers quickly followed. They were as surprised to see him as he was to see them.

I was standing there a little thankful and a little bit surprised, McManigle said.

Later that day, McManigle joined a long line of deposit holders who lost money at the National Bank of Odessa. He checked the companys mail and discovered $87,000 in checks from customers. He was able to open an account at a different bank and make payroll but with oil prices and the economy in turmoil, he was only buying time.

Similar to other deposit holders who lost money, McManigle filed a claim with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in a process that lasted about two years but produced no results.

The FDIC office in Midland became a popular place, McManigle said. In Midland, they had a tall building with green glass. Whenever anybody would go over there, wed say were going to see the Wizard and the Emerald City.

Downturn: $20 oil sends energy companies to restructuring experts in droves

When it became clear that the company could not survive, McManigle decided to fold the family-run business after nearly four decades of operation. He hired Houston bankruptcy attorney Harry Perrin to handle the Chapter 11 proceedings but they ended up liquidating Devonians assets and dissolving the company.

Shell-shocked by the entire experience, McManigle left Odessa and moved to Houston, where he tried to move forward with his life.

I wanted nothing to do with oil and gas, McManigle said. I had all the fun I wanted to have.

But fate had other ideas. Perrin offered McManigle a job at his boutique law firm Maddox, Perrin, Kirkendall, Collins & Christie PC, which specialized in bankruptcy and restrucing work for energy companies.

Harry told me, Youre the only client Ive ever had that actually bought a bankruptcy code book and read it, McManigle said.

More: Read the latest oil and gas news from HoustonChronicle.com

McManigle described the law firm job as a godsend and one that led him to open his own company, the MACCO Restructuring Group, in July 2019.

The hard lessons he learned in Odessa and the 1980s serve him to this day, he said.

It was better than a Harvard MBA, McManigle said.

sergio.chapa@chron.com

http://twitter.com/SergioChapa
A guard of honour for Dublin Fire Brigade firefighter and paramedic Dave McLoughlin Pic: Mark Condren

EMERGENCY SERVICES lined up to pay tribute to a Dublin Fire Brigade firefighter yesterday, who sadly passed away earlier this week.

Dave McLoughlin, a firefighter based in Finglas, died suddenly on Monday at Beaumont Hospital.

A service was held for Mr McLoughlin at St Finian's, River Valley Parish, Swords, on Thursday.

Mr McLoughlins colleagues were unable to attend the funeral due to Covid-19 restrictions but paid their respects by forming a guard of honour while maintaining social distancing guidelines.

Expand Close The guard of honour for firefighter Dave McLoughlin, who died suddenly earlier this week Pic: Mark Condren / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp The guard of honour for firefighter Dave McLoughlin, who died suddenly earlier this week Pic: Mark Condren

Dublin Fire Brigade shared images of the send-off on Facebook, writing: Normally 100's of firefighters would assemble to honour his passing but with the need for Social Distancing firefighter/paramedics attended keeping apart.... but staying safe.

They thanked An Garda Siochana, Dublin airport police, fire and rescue service, swords ambulance service and Dublin civil defence for their assistance.

DFB said Mr McLoughlin is from a family steeped in service to the fire brigade, with his brother Paul being a member of the fire brigade, and his father Jack being a retired Swords sub officer.

Another tribute shared by Dublin Airport Fire And Rescue Service said that the firefighting community is stunned and saddened from the loss.

Expand Close A guard of honour for Dublin Fire Brigade firefighter and paramedic Dave McLoughlin Pic: Mark Condren / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp A guard of honour for Dublin Fire Brigade firefighter and paramedic Dave McLoughlin Pic: Mark Condren

Dave passed away suddenly and has left the whole of the DFB and Firefighting community stunned and saddened.

We would like to wish his family and friends our deepest condolences, especially to his wife Paula, his Brother Paul (also a DFB member), also his daughter and his mother and his father Jack who is an AFO within our own ranks.

Rest easy Dave we have the watch.

A number of fire brigades around the country have also paid their respects to Mr McLoughlin.

Cork City Fire brigade held a minute of silence to honor Mr McLoughlin on Tuesday.

"Crews tonight observed a minute of silence as a mark of respect for Dublin Fire Brigades Firefighter/Paramedic Dave McLoughlin," they wrote online.

"The thoughts of everyone in Cork City Fire Brigade is with the colleagues, friends and family of Dave at this difficult time."

Waterford City Fire Service, Letterkenny Fire Service, and Carrickmoss Fire and Rescue are also among those who shared tributes.
Illinois saw a drop in rent payments of 10.1%, from 83% of tenants making at least partial rent payments in April 2019 to 73% this year, placing it 12th among least impacted states, according to RealPage, one of the five participating companies, which each released supplemental data with the NMHC analysis. Alaska, New York, South Dakota, Delaware and Louisiana saw drops in rent payments of at least 20%.
News coming in indicates that Ghanas High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Papa Owusu Ankomah has tested positive for coronavirus.

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

Ghana high commissioner to the UK, Papa Owusu Ankomah, has tested positive for Coronavirus, YEN.com.gh can report.

Papa Owusu Ankomah, has, therefore, been sent to the intensive care unit (ICU) of an undisclosed hospital, where he is responding to treatment, according to a report by 3news.com.

The former minister in the J.A Kuffour administration was confirmed positive about three days ago and has been on a ventilator.

Papa Owusu Ankomah: Ghanas High Commissioner to UK tests positive for COVID-19

Source: Original

A close family relation said they are all hoping he gets out of ICU soon.

He has served as Ghanas High Commissioner to the UK and the Republic of Ireland since June, 2017.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his sixth address to the nation on the deadly coronavirus announced that Ghana's case count jumped from 313 to 378.

According to the president, the additional cases recorded were gotten from the 37, 405 samples collected and tested.

President Akufo-Addo has extended the partial lockdown to one more week.

Akufo-Addo made this known when he addressed the nation of the deadly Coronavirus on Thursday, April 9, 2020.

Accra, Kumasi, Tema, and Kasoa are the only cities that are observing the partial lockdown.

Initially, the partial lockdown was for two weeks which is expected to end on Sunday, April 12, 2020.

New contactless washing tap invention to fight COVID-19 in Ghana | #Yencomgh

Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download YEN's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Ghana news!

Source: YEN.com.gh
Patients 157 and 171, both living in HCMC, were discharged from the Cu Chi field hospital in Cu Chi District.

"Patient 157" is a 31-year-old British woman of District 4 who had come into contact with a patient at the Buddha Bar & Grill in District 2, which has been identified as the second biggest Covid-19 hotspot in the country after the Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi.

"Patient 171," a District 10 resident and 19-year-old student in the U.S. She had landed March 13 at the Tan Son Nhat Airport, after transiting in the Philippines.

"Patient 74," discharged in the northern province of Bac Ninh, is a 23-year-old native of the northern province of Phu Tho. He had landed in Hanoi March 16 on Vietnam Airlines flight VN18 from Paris and was quarantined at the Bac Ninh General Hospital.

All discharged patients will self-quarantine themselves at home and be medically monitored for another 14 days as an added protective measure against transmission of the virus in the larger community.

The latest discharges bring the number of Vietnams active patients to 124, less than half the total of 255 cases recorded so far.

To date, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected 209 countries and territories, claiming the lives of more than 95,700 people.
Bollywood producer Karim Morani's daughter Shaza Morani, recently tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus. As per a report in Times Of India, she is responding to the treatment and has now tested negative for COVID-19. Shaza is awaiting the results of a second test, before she can be discharged from the hospital. Post that, she will be under home-quarantine for 14 days.

A report by The Times of India quotes a source close to the family as saying, "Though Shaza has tested negative, she has been tested again and the result will be known by tomorrow. We are hoping for it to be negative, too. So, by tomorrow, she can hopefully come back home."

Shaza told India News, "Waiting for my second report. Till then, it's not accurate they said." She is currently admitted in Nanavati hospital in Mumbai. Her father, too, confirmed, "Yes, but she is still in the hospital." Shaza is currently admitted to Nanavati hospital in Mumbai.

After Shaza, her elder sister and actor Zoa Morani tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus. Both the Morani sisters had a travel history. While Shaza returned from Sri Lanka last month, Zoa travelled to Rajasthan. Shortly after, they developed symptoms of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, their father Karim Morani too, tested positive for COVID-19.

Recently, Zoa took to her Instagram page to share an update on her health and wrote, "My father, sister and I have been tested Covid 19 positive. Papa and Shaza have no symptoms, I have a few.. will be sharing the experiences soon so that others get an idea and I can be of some help.. It feels like a flu with a bit of uneasiness in the chest.. very bearable if one rests it out, pranayam and hot water have been helping a-lot! Will share details soon Thank you for all the wishes.. looking forward to being home soon."(sic)

She further added, "Feeling So overwhelmed watching the Drs , nurses and hospital staff taking care of us fearlessly! No words can describe .. i can see their discomfort in their protective suits yet 24 /7 on their toes serving us ... the true heroes for sure ... my Dr is so sweet and full of life , he constantly makes jokes and makes me feel so light.. yesterday he was the one to bring the news to me about testing positive and he was so sensitive and funny at the same time (don't know how he did that) so so grateful for Dr Saurabh Phadkare and his team ...Feeling so safe in his hands ..." (sic)

Watch out this space for more updates.

Bollywood Producer Karim Morani Tests Positive For COVID-19!

Shah Rukh Khan's Friend Karim Morani's Daughter Shaza Tests Positive For COVID-19
By Akbar Mammadov

The recent elections held in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region were illegitimate and could aggravate the public health threat, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said in a statement on April 9.

The leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly agreed to endorse a call by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a worldwide ceasefire, emphasizing that a number of conflicts continue to rage in the OSCE area even as countries struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

As the world grapples with containing the COVID-19 pandemic, the last thing we need is armed conflict to complicate these efforts, said OSCE PA President George Tsereteli.

OSCE President also urged all parties to heed the UN call for a ceasefire. "So that we can all focus on the common struggle today against COVID-19," he added.

---

Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The Chadian army said Thursday it had wound up an offensive against Boko Haram jihadists in the Lake Chad border region in which 52 troops and 1,000 jihadists were killed. Army spokesman Colonel Azem Bermendoa Agouna told AFP that the operation, launched after nearly 100 soldiers were killed last month, ended Wednesday after the Nigerian jihadists were forced out of the country. "A thousand terrorists have been killed, 50 motorised canoes have been destroyed," he said, referring to a large boat also called a pirogue. It is the first official snapshot of the outcome of Operation Bohoma Anger, launched after Chad's armed forces suffered their biggest one-day loss in their history. Lake Chad is a vast, marshy body of water where the borders of Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon meet. The western shores of the lake have been hit by jihadists crossing from northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram launched a bloody campaign of violence in 2009. On March 23, jihadists mounted a deadly seven-hour assault on a Chadian army base at Bohoma, killing at least 98 troops, according to an official toll. Chad declared departments near the lake "a war zone" in order to give the military free rein for the offensive. The four countries bordering the lake on 2015 set up a formation called the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), also including Benin, to fight Boko Haram. But Chad, whose forces have a relatively high standing in the Sahel, has shown frustration with the MNJTF following the Bohoma losses. "Chad is alone in shouldering all the burden of the war against Boko Haram," President Idriss Deby Itno complained last weekend. "I met the commander of the MNJTF and asked him to take over." Boko Haram's 11-year-old campaign has claimed tens of thousands of lives in northeast Nigeria and driven nearly two million people from their homes. Separately, in Niger, the defence ministry in Niamey said its armed forces, in a joint operation with Chad, had inflicted "heavy losses" on Boko Haram in the lake region. "Arms caches, logistical points and several boats were destroyed" and islands used as rear bases in the lake's marshland were "bombarded from the air," it said. Landlocked and poor, Niger is facing jihadist attacks in opposite ends of the country -- an insurgency that has spilled over from neighbouring Mali, and raids in the Lake Chad region by Boko Haram fighters. In Burkina Faso, meanwhile, five soldiers were killed and three were wounded on Thursday when their unit came under attack from jihadists in Solle, in the northern province of Loroum, an army official said. Around 4,000 people lost their lives last year in jihadist- or community-related violence in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, according to UN figures.
Mahindra South Africa has launched a nationwide drive to honour the country's health workers and others, including those engaged in delivering essential goods and services, amid the anti-corona battle to support fellow citizens.

The company has announced its Hero Campaign', in which it will engage its dealer network, employees, suppliers and fellow South Africans to share stories of selfless sacrifice and thank all these "everyday South African heroes".

"Throughout this lockdown period we have heard countless stories of South Africans who have sacrificed time with their families and faced personal risk to support their fellow countrymen, said Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa.

This is true for not only all our healthcare workers, but also for the many essential services workers that help to keep us safe and our food shelves stocked.

"Like a candle, each of these essential workers has selflessly given of themselves to bring light and warmth to their fellow South Africans," Gupta added.

For the coming week, Mahindra will encourage people and companies in its circle of influence to light a candle and personally thank any essential workers that they know or come into contact with.

The company hopes that this small act of appreciation will spiral wider and wider and help essential goods and services workers to stay the course during the lockdown.

It will conclude the campaign with a special candle-lighting ceremony on social media on the evening of 14 April.

As a vehicle supplier to many essential services, including municipalities, policemen and women, the military and healthcare services, Mahindra has committed to keeping a core network of dealers open to help during this time.

South Africans who would like to participate are encouraged to join the conversation by using the tags #AlwaysUpForAChallenge, #MahindraSA and #WithYouAlways.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman, who is serving a 10-year federal prison stint for a complex campaign corruption scheme, is seeking a presidential pardon amid the growing coronavirus pandemic.

EX-LAWMAKER SENTENCED: Ex-Congressman Steve Stockman gets 10 years in fraud case

The 63-year-old Clear Lake Republican firebrand is serving his sentence at a low-security facility in Beaumont where the Bureau of Prisons has yet to report any cases. His wife, Patti Stockman, however, states in a video made April 1 that her husband said the first case had been diagnosed at an adjoining federal prison in Beaumont.

His wife made a plea this week, along with several former cabinet members, ex-congressmembers and other evangelical and conservative officials, for compassionate release, saying he is among the nonviolent sitting ducks who are especially vulnerable and should be pardoned. They add that Stockman could die if exposed due to diabetes and lung scarring as a result of asthma. He is also overweight and has high blood pressure, his wife said.

A petition by 50 conservative leaders calls Stockman a perfect example of a prisoner who fits criteria of who should be removed from prison. The letter notes his intense Christian faith, and the extreme length of the judges sentence, and says he is not eligible for release under the First Step Act.

While inmates around the country have requested compassionate and early releases through the courts or the federal Bureau of Prisons new protocol outlined last month by Attorney General William Barr, they have been slow in coming. Lawyers said Stockman has tried an alternate route.

Jeffrey Crouch, an American University professor who wrote a book on presidential pardons, said the appeal is not falling on deaf ears.

Former Rep. Stockman is a high-profile Republican and a convicted white-collar offender who enjoys support for presidential mercy from a list of leading conservatives, Crouch said. If President Trump decided to pardon him, the decision would fit in well with others Trump has made regarding who should receive clemency.

Crouch noted, What is unusual here is the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic: Trump might now have political cover to use clemency as an act of mercy to assist Stockman and perhaps others in a similar position.

Patti Stockman, who accompanied her husband to the Houston federal courthouse during a monthlong trial, made a video appeal directly addressing President Donald Trump.

She begins with Hello Mr. President and thanks Trump for his terrific leadership in leading the nation through this, adding, who knows how many lives have been saved as a result of your actions. She draws a parallel between what her husband did during his two non-consecutive terms in Congress.

He came to Washington to do what you came to do, she says, upset the apple cart and expose missteps of the Obama administration. She notes that, from her vantage point, the former Texas congressman was the target of unjust Justice Department investigation, just like Trump.

She says her husband is brave and has stared in the face of a gun barrel in war-torn regions of the Middle East and Africa. But, I can tell you, President Trump, he is not fearless in the face of this virus.

"Mr. President, I ask you please to intervene so that this sentence does not become a death penalty. This punishment does not fit the conviction, she said.

STOCKMANS SPENDING SPREE: 34 surprising facts revealed during Stockman fraud trial

Stockman was convicted in a wide-ranging scheme that involved spying on a potential GOP rival at the statehouse in Austin and misspending charitable contributions from conservative donors on shopping trips, dolphin boat tours, hot air balloon rides and 500 copies of his brothers custom -made pop-up Advent books.

Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor who has tracked Stockmans career said, The long and orderly process for getting pardons has changed under the Trump administration where the president himself often makes these decisions alone, often for political reasons.

He said Stockman might be lucky given who is working on Pennsylvania Avenue: The likelihood of getting a pardon is low in general but with a White House prone to erratic decision making, its hard to say for sure.

gabrielle.banks@chron.com
RICHMOND, Va. - Members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus called on Gov. Ralph Northam to sign legislation that would raise the minimum wage, protect the environment and fight racial disparity even as the cost of the coronavirus crisis pressures him to hold off.

"While decisions must be made regarding budget changes so that more resources are provided to the front lines of this medical and economic emergency, these . . . measures cannot and should not be put on the chopping block," caucus chairman Del. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, wrote on behalf of the 23 delegates and senators in the group.

The letter, sent Thursday, puts Northam, a Democrat, on the spot just before a deadline of midnight Saturday to act on all 1,291 measures passed during this year's General Assembly session. The Black Caucus has been a key political ally of Northam's, particularly in the year since a blackface scandal nearly caused him to resign.

In recent days, business groups and local governments around the state have urged Northam to at least delay some of the signature accomplishments passed by the new Democratic majorities in the legislature, particularly raising the state's minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 by 2023.

State Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne has said the cost of responding to the coronavirus outbreak will reach in the hundreds of millions this fiscal year and hit at least $2 billion over the next two years. The state's economy is on ice under Northam's order for residents to stay home to halt the spread of the disease, with businesses shuttering in droves. A record 147,369 Virginians filed initial unemployment claims last week, according to figures released Thursday - more than 67 times greater than the same week a year ago.

"Delaying the enactment of legislation that will increase the cost of doing business in the Commonwealth will go a long way to improving conditions for Virginia's businesses to recover," a consortium of 27 business associations and chambers of commerce wrote Northam recently.

Northam's office has said he is considering a freeze on all new spending as the state takes stock of the pandemic's impact. The General Assembly will return to Richmond on April 22 to take up any vetoes or amendments issued by Northam, with reconsidering the state's two-year, $135 billion spending plan now atop the agenda.

"The Governor is grateful for this letter from the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, and for their continued partnership," Northam's spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said in an emailed statement. "He is working closely with legislators on many aspects of pending legislation, and will continue to review these important issues over the coming days."

The caucus made clear in its letter that it views the legislation as crucial for helping individuals get through the health crisis. They point out that many of the jobs deemed essential by the state, in which workers continue to be exposed to possible infection, are low-wage or minimum-wage - such as people who stock grocery stores and clean hospitals.

"It would be inhumane," Bagby wrote, to delay support for such workers at a time when the state and federal government are providing tax breaks, grants and loans to businesses. If Northam delays the wage hike, "these essential workers will be left to struggle under less than a livable wage with minimal labor protections and labor rights during a global health crisis and an impending economic crisis," he wrote.

The letter added that a disproportionate share of such workers are black.

The caucus also called on Northam to enact measures requiring the state to transition to clean energy, allowing some public employees to unionize, and cracking down on predatory lenders. In addition, it urged Northam to preserve extra funds included in the General Assembly's budget for historically black colleges and universities.

Members of the Black Caucus were among the first to urge Northam to resign last year after a racist photo from his 1984 medical school yearbook came to light. Instead of stepping down, Northam vowed to spend the rest of his term in office fighting against racial inequity.

He has followed through, purging state law of racist language, creating new state offices to support diversity, and funding programs to address disparities in health and housing among African Americans. Along the way, members of the Black Caucus have stood by Northam and helped him regain his political stature.

Thursday's letter, Bagby said, was designed to encourage Northam to stay on course.

"I appreciate his judgment up to this point. I suspect it will continue," Bagby said via text message. "Groups that oppose these efforts to help Virginians are aggressively lobbying the Gov. and we felt it was important to provide our unwavering support."
(Newser)  Apollo 13's astronauts never gave a thought to their mission number as they blasted off for the moon 50 years ago. Even when their oxygen tank ruptured two days lateron April 13. Jim Lovell and Fred Haise insist theyre not superstitious. They even use 13 in their email addresses. As mission commander Lovell sees it, he's incredibly lucky. Not only did he survive NASAs most harrowing moonshot, hes around to mark its golden anniversary. Im still alive. As long as I can keep breathing, Im good, Lovell, 92, said in an interview with the AP from his Lake Forest, Illinois, home. A half-century later, Apollo 13 is still considered Mission Controls finest hour. Lovell calls it a miraculous recovery. Haise, like so many others, regards it as NASAs most successful failure. It showed "what can be done if people use their minds and a little ingenuity, said the 86-year-old.

story continues below

Lovell, Haise, and Jack Swigert, a last-minute fill-in who died in 1982, were almost to the moon when they heard a bang and felt a shudder. One of two oxygen tanks had burst in the spacecraft's service module. The tense words that followed are the stuff of spaceand moviefame. OK, Houston, weve had a problem here, radioed Swigert, the command module pilot. This is Houston. Say again, please. Houston, weve had a problem, Lovell cut in. Soon, the aborted mission went from being so humdrum that none of the major TV networks broadcast the astronauts show-and-tell minutes before the explosion, to a life-and-death drama gripping the entire world. Read the full story for details on how NASA flight controllers and the crew itself scrambled to pull off the life-saving return to Earth.

(Read more Apollo 13 stories.)
Four foreigners and 12 Vietnamese were confirmed to have recovered from novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Friday, following their treatment at hospitals in Vietnam.

The National Hospital for Tropical Disease in Hanoi announced the recovery of a 50-year-old British woman, a 58-year-old Frenchman, a 64-year-old Swedish man, and six Vietnamese citizens.

The British patient was admitted to the infirmary on March 8, while the Frenchman started receiving treatment on March 24.

The Swedish citizen was brought to the hospital on April 3.

In Ho Chi Minh City, a 31-year-old British woman has recovered after beginning her COVID-19 treatment at a makeshift hospital in Cu Chi District on March 26.

Alongside the patient, doctors at the hospital also confirmed the recovery of a 19-year-old Vietnamese woman.

The third patient in Ho Chi Minh City having recovered from the disease on Friday is a ten-year-old Vietnam boy who had been treated at the City Childrens Hospital since March 18.

Four other recovery cases on Friday, all Vietnamese nationals, included one patient in the northern province of Bac Ninh, one in the central city of Da Nang, and two in the south-central province of Binh Thuan.

As of Friday afternoon, all COVID-19 patients in Da Nang and Binh Thuan have recovered.

All the recovered will be isolated for 14 more days, as per Ministry of Health regulations.

Health workers who were involved in treating these patients will be quarantined for another 14 days before being allowed to return to their homes.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 1.6 million people and killed more than 95,700 globally as of Friday afternoon, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has confirmed 255 COVID-19 cases in total, with 144 having recovered, accounting for over 56 percent of the tally.

The country has yet to record a death from the disease.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Passengers of the Vasco da Gama cruise ship have finally been able to set foot on the Australian mainland after spending 14 days quarantined on Rottnest Island.

Passengers were taken to the island, 18 kilometres off the coast of Western Australia to wait out their quarantine period.

Travellers were screaming with joy as they were allowed to leave their cabins on the island at 4.30pm on Friday.

Passengers had little to complain about other than 'being fed too much food' on what one man described as a 'trip to nowhere'.

The man said he had trouble access the wifi during his stay but described the general experience to 9News as 'bliss'.

'I said hello to the quokkas.'

The passengers were ferried back to Fremantle on the Rottness Express with its deck filled to the brim with homesick Australians.

At the dock members of the defence force were seen helping travellers with their bags.

While the passengers are now back on the mainland many are still far from home with strict border conditions and a slow down of domestic travel stopping many from getting home easily.

The passengers were ferried back to Fremantle on the Rottness Express with its deck filled to the brim with homesick Australians

Passengers of the Vasco da Gama cruise ship were finally allowed back onto the Australian mainland after they were forced to quarantine on Rottnest Island for 14 days

Passengers had little to complain about other than 'being fed too much food' on what one man described as a 'trip to nowhere'

WA Health Minister Roger Cook told reporters on Friday he would work to get passengers home as quickly as possible.

'We have difficult circumstances at the moment because flights have been severely interrupted and getting people out to their state of origin may take, in some cases, some days,' he said at a press conference.

'But we'll work as quickly as we can with the airlines, other governments and those people to make sure their transition is as smooth as possible.'

Mr Cook said the state government would continue to put passengers up in hotels and provide food.

'We want to reassure people who have been in isolation that we will be working to make the transition home as smooth as possible for them, so they can return to their homes and families as quickly as possible,' he said.

'We understand they have endured difficulty and stress and appreciate the sacrifice they and their families and friends are making to keep our community safe.'
(CNN)  A 99-year-old World War II veteran who survived the coronavirus has been given a guard of honor by nurses as he was discharged from hospital.

Albert Chambers, who will turn 100 in July, is due to arrive back home on Friday after recovering from the virus at Tickhill Road Hospital in Doncaster, northern England.

Chambers was admitted to the hospital three weeks ago after injuring his wrist in a fall. While there, he began to show symptoms of Covid-19 and tested positive for the virus.

But, despite the fears of his family, he recovered, and nurses at the hospital saw him off with a guard of honor -- a moment that was captured on video and shared on social media by the NHS Northeast and Yorkshire health trust.

"Thank you very much, I appreciate every bit you've done for me. It couldn't have been better," Chambers, who has lived alone since his wife's death almost two decades ago, tells one of the nurses in the video.

His grandson, 49-year-old Stephen Gater, told CNN how the family had expected the worst after being told he had contracted Covid-19. But, he said, he believed his grandfather's "fortitude" -- gained during his time as a British Army soldier during World War II -- helped pull him through.

During the war, Chambers was captured by the enemy after being injured in a bomb blast in North Africa. He was transferred to Fallingbostel in northwestern Germany, where he spent three years as a prisoner of war in its Stalag XI B camp.

After the war, he protected London's royal palaces as a soldier in the Coldstream Guards.

"It's nice to have some positive news in the midst of what is a difficult time for everybody," Gater told CNN.

"When we heard the news we feared the worst but he's pulled through and it's amazing -- the staff there are incredible and we owe them a huge amount of gratitude. We were clapping very ferociously last night at 8 o'clock along with everyone else.

"It's testament to the care he was getting and his positive attitude and his fortitude."

One thing Chambers will have missed, Gater said, was his "guilty secret" -- a daily trifle bought from the supermarket Marks & Spencer.

"I'm just driving up and I've literally just stopped at a service station and bought him a load -- so hopefully that'll put a smile on his face," he said.

This story was first published on CNN.com. "99-year-old WWII veteran who survived coronavirus gets guard of honor from nurses."
More than 100 Australians and New Zealanders left Uruguay on a chartered flight after two weeks stranded aboard a virus-infected cruise ship, Montevideo's Carrasco airport said Saturday. Of 217 people aboard the Greg Mortimer liner, 128 had tested positive for new coronavirus and had been blocked from docking. An agreement between the Uruguayan and Australian governments was made to create a "sanitary corridor" to take the mostly elderly tourists from Montevideo's port to its international airport where they boarded a flight for Melbourne, bringing to an end weeks of a virus nightmare. Television images showed jubilant passengers boarding the medically equipped Airbus A350 plane -- with one kissing the runway tarmac. "This is (like) winning a World Cup," Uruguay's Foreign Minister Ernesto Talvi tweeted alongside a video of four buses -- flanked by a police escort with blaring sirens -- taking the roughly 110 passengers to the airport. "Flags waving in the balconies and residents applauding. This is the BEST of Uruguay," he added. Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne tweeted her thanks to her Uruguayan counterpart Talvi "for your sincere assistance in recent times to ensure the (Australian) passengers have been able to head home." She added "special thanks to... all health, emergency & other workers involved" and praised the "unique cooperation" between Uruguay and Australia. The Australian and New Zealand tourists on the flight included people who tested negative and others confirmed ill with the virus. On the plane, passengers were to be "seated by test results and level of care required by passenger," said Australian company Aurore Expeditions, owner of the Greg Mortimer. - 'Life-threatening conditions' - The tourists were on an expedition to Antarctica, South Georgia and Elephant Island when their adventure was called off on March 20 due to the nearest South American countries -- Argentina and Chile -- closing their borders and imposing lockdowns. The ship traveled to Montevideo as it was the nearest port still open. It had been anchored in the Rio de la Plata, 20 kilometers from the coast since March 27. Since then, eight people were transferred to Montevideo hospitals with "life-threatening" conditions. All are in a stable condition and Uruguay's foreign ministry told AFP three Australians undergoing hospital treatment would be allowed to fly home as they were in sufficiently good health to travel. Two are a couple who were brought ashore and taken to a hospital on Wednesday suffering from pneumonia, while the third person had been receiving clinical attention since last week. Of the other people receiving hospital treatment, two Australians are in intensive care and their partners remained on the Greg Mortimer rather than taking the flight. Two Filipino crew members are due to be discharged and released to quarantine on the ship. The eighth person to have received hospital treatment is a British woman. - 'Complex mission' - At the port, some passengers hung a banner from the boat with the words: "Thank you Uruguay." Talvi had described the operation as "a complex but necessary humanitarian mission." He added: "We don't consider it an option, but rather an ethical obligation." However, as Uruguay's government considered all people on board the ship to be infected -- even if they tested negative -- Talvi said this week there would be "practically no human contact" between the passengers and others during the transfer operation. Aurore said it was covering the transfer costs for all passengers and that New Zealand was organizing further travel on from Melbourne for its citizens. After the evacuation more than 80 crew members, as well as around 20 Europeans and Americans, will remain on board. Those who have tested positive for the virus "will have to wait until they test negative" before heading home via Sao Paulo, Aurore said on Tuesday. Those who have already tested negative will be allowed to leave in the coming days, provided they first pass another test.
Boris Johnsons most senior aide is facing fresh allegations he flouted lockdown rules by taking a sightseeing trip on Easter Sunday.

The prime minister is facing mounting calls to sack Dominic Cummings amid claims he made several trips to see his family in County Durham, while the country was being told to stay at home.

Ministers vociferously defended Mr Cummings after it emerged he had made the 260-mile journey, insisting he had obeyed the rules by staying in one place while there.

However, an eyewitness told The Observer and the Sunday Mirror he had seen Mr Cummings on 12 April, 30 miles from Durham in Barnard Castle.

Another eyewitness said they saw the prime ministers most trusted aide in Durham on 19 April, days after he had been photographed returning to Downing Street.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland PA UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket PA UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queens Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London PA UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London Getty UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham PA UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip PA UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London Reuters UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester PA UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge. Getty UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year PA UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton PA UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent PA UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election PA UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire PA UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool PA UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster Getty Images UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds, PA UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judges decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange PA UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service PA UK news in pictures 8 December 2021 Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine PA UK news in pictures 7 December 2021 Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow PA UK news in pictures 6 December 2021 A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra Getty UK news in pictures 5 December 2021 People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin's former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother PA UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square Reuters UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 2 December 2021 Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum Getty UK news in pictures 1 December 2021 Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar PA UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week PA UK news in pictures 29 November 2021 Home Secretary Priti Patel is greeted by a police dog at a special memorial service for Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana Getty UK news in pictures 28 November 2021 Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City battles for possession with Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during a match at the Etihad during snow Manchester City/Getty UK news in pictures 27 November 2021 Residents clear branches from a fallen tree in Birkenhead, north west England as Storm Arwen triggered a rare red weather warning AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 An aerial picture shows a worker using a quad bike and trailer to transport freshly harvested trees at Pimms Christmas Tree farm in Matfield, southeast England AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 26 November 2021 A shopper browses Christmas trees for sale at Pines and Needles in Dulwich, London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 November 2021 A murmuration of hundreds of thousands of starlings fly over a field at dusk in Cumbria, close to the Scottish border PA UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 24 November 2021 Migrants are helped ashore from a RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) lifeboat at a beach in Dungeness, on the south-east coast of England, on November 24, 2021, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel. AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 23 November 2021 The coffin of Sir David Amess is carried past politicians, including former Prime Ministers Sir John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the requiem mass for the MP at Westminster Cathedral, central London PA UK news in pictures 22 November 2021 The scene in Dragon Rise, Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset where police have launched a murder probe after two people were found dead Tom Wren/SWNS UK news in pictures 21 November 2021 London-based midwife Sarah Muggleton, 27, takes part in a 'March with Midwives' in central London to highlight the crisis in maternity services PA UK news in pictures 20 November 2021 Police officers monitor as climate change activists sit down and block traffic during a protest action in solidarity with activists from the Insulate Britain group who received prison terms for blocking roads, on Lambeth Bridge in central London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 19 November 2021 A giant installation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson made from recycled clothing goes on display at Manchester Central, as part of Manchester Art Fair, in a 'wake-up call for the Prime Minister to tackle textile waste' PA UK news in pictures 18 November 2021 The scene at a recycling centre in Stert, near Devizes in Wiltshire after a large blaze was brought under control. The fire broke out on Wednesday night the fire service has said and local residents were advised to keep windows and doors shut due to large amounts of smoke PA UK news in pictures 17 November 2021 The sun rises over South Shields Lighthouse, on the North East coast of England PA UK news in pictures 16 November 2021 ancer Maithili Vijayakumar at the launch of 2021 Diwali celebrations at St Andrew Square in Edinburgh PA UK news in pictures 15 November 2021 Forensic officers work outside Liverpool Women's Hospital, following a car blast, in Liverpool Reuters UK news in pictures 14 November 2021 Wreaths by the Cenotaph after the Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall, London PA UK news in pictures 13 November 2021 Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is ending his hunger strike in central London after almost three weeks. Ratcliffe has spent 21 days camped outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London without food. He began his demonstration on 24 October after his wife lost her latest appeal in Iran, saying his family was caught in a dispute between two states PA

Earlier, Downing Street had described the first trip as essential, saying Mr Cummings needed his familys help to care for his young son because his wife was sick with coronavirus and he feared he was next.

Cabinet ministers lined up to defend Mr Cummings, saying he had put his family first and accused critics of trying to politicise the issue.

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, used the daily Downing Street press conference to suggest that Mr Cummings had not broken lockdown rules because he had stayed put upon arrival in Durham.

But Robin Lees, 70, a retired chemistry teacher, told the papers he had seen Mr Cummings in Barnard Castle on Easter Sunday.

Mr Lees compared him to Catherine Calderwood, Scotlands former chief medical officer, who stood down after visiting her second home twice during lockdown.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP have written to Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, calling for an inquiry into Mr Cummingss decision to travel from London to Durham.

They want the probe to include when the prime minister was made aware Mr Cummings had left the capital.

Senior Tories also expressed concern that Mr Cummings's behaviour could encourage others to flout the rules, jeopardising the governments plans to gradually lift the lockdown.

The Independent can reveal that senior MPs are set to question Mr Johnson over Mr Cummings later this week, as pressure grows on the prime minister to explain what he knew about the trip under lockdown.

Parliament is in recess until June, meaning Mr Johnson will not have to face MPs at Prime Ministers Questions.

But members of the Commons Liaison Committee, which is made up of the chairs of other select committees, said they expected Mr Johnson to be questioned about Mr Cummings when he makes his first appearance before them later this week.

Pete Wishart, an SNP MP who sits on the committee and is a member of the "quad" which organises its business, said: If nothing has changed and Dominic Cummings is still in post by Wednesday, it would be very surprising if this was an issue that was not raised.

Another member of the committee said: Im sure one of my colleagues will crowbar the Cummings question in.

In a statement defending Mr Cummings, Downing Street said his trip had been essential to ensure his young son was properly cared for. After an offer of help from his sister and nieces, he travelled to a house near to but separate from his extended family.

A spokesperson for No 10, said: "Yesterday [Friday] the Mirror and Guardian wrote inaccurate stories about Mr Cummings. Today [Saturday] they are writing more inaccurate stories including claims that Mr Cummings returned to Durham after returning to work in Downing Street on 14 April. We will not waste our time answering a stream of false allegations about Mr Cummings from campaigning newspapers."

There was confusion about the involvement of police, however. No 10 also said that at no stage was Mr Cummings or his family spoken to by the police.

On Saturday night Durham Police took the unusual step of confirming they had spoken to Mr Cummingss father.

Steve White, the police and crime commissioner for Durham Police, a former head of the Police Federation in England and Wales, said it was "most unwise" for Mr Cummings to have travelled when "known to be infected".

The SNP accused No 10 of a "cover up" after reports some in Downing Street knew Mr Cummings had made the 260-mile journey during lockdown.

Former Tory cabinet minister David Lidington, Theresa Mays de facto deputy prime minister, told Newsnight: "There's clearly serious questions that No 10 are going to have to address, not least because the readiness of members of the public to follow government guidance more generally is going to be affected by this sort of story."

Professor Neil Ferguson, the epidemiologist whose modelling prompted the lockdown, quit as a government adviser for flouting the rules when he was visited at this home by his lover.

At the time Mr Hancock, the health secretary, said he was "speechless" and that he backed any police action against Mr Ferguson.

Sir Ed Davey, acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, called for Mr Cummings to quit over the allegations, while a spokesperson for Labour said: "The British people do not expect there to be one rule for them and another rule for Dominic Cummings."

Asked by reporters on Saturday if he had considered his position, Mr Cummings said "obviously not".
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) have asked authorities in Maharashtras Satara not to release Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) promoters Dheeraj and Kapil Wadhawan from a Covid-19 quarantine facility without their approval. The two, accused of financial irregularities, had been absconding since March.

The two were traced to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday after going into hiding in March and ignoring summons from investigators. They had travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on the basis of an authorisation letter from a Maharashtra police officer. The state government has ordered an inquiry and sent the officer, Amitabh Gupta, on leave.

The two were quarantined for violating the national lockdown imposed to check the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

They are facing investigations for allegedly diverting money from DHFL using fake borrowers and in the matter of alleged kickbacks taken by Yes Bank promoters in exchange for a loan.

On April 9, information was received by the CBI that both the accused were located in district Satara ... Thereafter, an email has been sent to DM and SP of Satara (Maharashtra) for not releasing them without an NOC from the CBI or order of the court and taking steps to prevent them from absconding, a CBI spokesperson said. The ED too has written a similar letter to the Satara administration.

Meanwhile, a political blame game has started in the state, with the ruling and opposition parties accusing each other of aiding the family.

Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis accused the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government of facilitating the accused. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray should tell the people that under whose pressure the letter was issued, he said.

Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant hit back, saying, We suspect that the permission given to Wadhwans was at the behest of some BJP leader as the family has been very close to the party.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 15:11:40|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Friday denounced the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in Taiwan for playing political tricks by concocting rumors, urging the DPP to focus on the interests of people in Taiwan.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the mainland has from the very outset shared information on the coronavirus outbreak with Taiwan in a timely manner, taking good care of and providing services to Taiwan compatriots living or stranded on the mainland.

The mainland has spared no effort to treat patients from Taiwan, assist Taiwan compatriots in returning to the island, and help Taiwan enterprises receive tangible benefits of local supportive policies and resume work and production in an orderly manner, the spokesperson said.

She added that Taiwan compatriots and enterprises have made donations for the COVID-19 response on the mainland, while actively joining efforts to help with the treatment of patients and voluntary activities.

"All these are a concrete manifestation of 'people on both sides of the Strait belonging to one and the same family,'" Zhu said.

Instead of playing the political tricks of lying, spreading rumors and smearing, the DPP authorities should focus on people's interests so that people in Taiwan can live their lives with peace of mind, Taiwan people willing to return home can have a smooth journey, and Taiwan compatriots no longer need to suffer from the epidemic or struggle for a living, she said.
Researchers pushing the limits of magnets as a means to create faster electronics published their proof of concept findings today, April 10, in the journal Science.

The University of Central Florida is the lead university in the multidisciplinary university research initiative (MURI) project, which is funded by a $7.5 million grant from the Department of Defense. The team exploring methods for creating machines that operate at trillions of cycles per second includes the University of California, Santa Cruz and Riverside, Ohio State University, Oakland University (Michigan) and New York University, among others.

Today's computers rely on ferromagnets (the same kind that stick to your refrigerator) to align the binary 1s and 0s that process and store information. Anti-ferromagnets are much more powerful, but their natural state, displaying no net measurable magnetization, makes it difficult to harness their power.

The laboratory of Enrique del Barco, Ph.D., and collaborators at the University of California, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the Chinese Northeastern University are successfully overcoming that natural resistance using electrical currents passed through anti-ferromagnets on the nanoscale. The results are groundbreaking because they represent proof of concept showing that antiferromagnetic devices can operate on the terahertz level -- or calculations completed in a trillionth of a second. Not only does that hold potential for everything from guidance systems to communications, but it brings devices closer to mimicking the way the brain operates.

"What we're seeing now is that operating at this level is possible and doable," del Barco said.

The next steps will require close collaboration between the theory, experiment and materials groups within the MURI. Creating devices on the nanoscale (with lateral dimensions below half a micron) takes a fundamental understanding of the appropriate materials. Both theoretical and experimental study will follow this proof of concept with the intention of finding creative ways to scale down anti-ferromagnets.

###

Del Barco received his PhD from the University of Barcelona (Spain) in 2001. He was a postdoctoral associate in the physics department at New York University before joining UCF in 2005.
During performances, which have been postponed because of the coronavirus, roots music star Steve Earle performs songs he wrote about the miners and their families. His album is scheduled for release in May. In early March, Blank and her husband brought some of the people related to Upper Big Branch to New York to see their work.
Spotlight PA is working nonstop to track how the state government is responding to the coronavirus outbreak, and it needs your support to keep it going. Read more

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and PennLive/Patriot-News. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter.

Armed with expansive emergency powers, Gov. Tom Wolf has placed unprecedented restrictions on our lives to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He has closed schools, shut down huge numbers of businesses, and ordered people to stay in their homes.

But with these extraordinary powers comes the extraordinary need for more oversight, not less.

Consider the stakes of the decisions coming from our state government. A designation that a small business is not life-sustaining could mean the difference between solvency and bankruptcy. A determination that a business is essential exposes committed workers to the front lines of the virus, putting them more at risk. Delays in widespread mitigation efforts, such as releasing prisoners or ordering people to stay home, could cost people their lives.

How are these decisions being made? Who is influencing them? Are they being carried out in a way that is fair and equitable to all? We all deserve the answers to these questions, and its the journalists who cover our state Capitol who can demand them. In their absence, we risk the kind of waste, fraud, and abuse we know will come from enhanced power, even in times when extraordinary measures must be taken to save lives.

And yet, as this crisis unfolds, so too does the continued deterioration of local newsrooms across the U.S., forcing publications to shut down, lay off workers, impose furloughs, and cut pay. When the consolidation of power is at its greatest, when the consequences are at their peak for every one of us, we need journalists demanding accountability the most.

In September, we launched Spotlight PA, an independent, reader-funded newsroom focused on holding the Pennsylvania state government to account. The project, led by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News in Harrisburg and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, now provides content to 25 newsrooms across the state.

As part of that effort, supported by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism and more than a dozen other nonprofit institutions and community foundations, we brought a team of 12 to Harrisburg in the largest-ever infusion of reporting talent. Thats now paying dividends on an exponential scale, as Spotlight PAs accountability reporting has been at the forefront of coronavirus coverage in Pennsylvania, providing people in communities in all corners of the state the news and information they need to stay safe and make informed decisions.

And were getting results. A waiver issued to Gov. Tom Wolfs former cabinet supply company was rescinded after Spotlight PA and our partners at PA Post questioned how it qualified as life-sustaining. Similarly, a candy company owned by Sen. Joe Scarnati closed after inquiries from the news organizations. The state began broadcasting its daily coronavirus briefings with Spanish subtitles after Spotlight PA reported on the lack of multilingual options. Lawmakers introduced a bill to change workers compensation rules after Spotlight PA reported it could be difficult for people to prove they got sick with the coronavirus at work. And officials started publishing county-by-county statistics on coronavirus infections after Spotlight PA exposed that the state was using an antiquated law to keep detailed statistics about the outbreak secret.

This unique and creative effort to better cover Pennsylvanias state Capitol depends on support from readers like you, and now more than ever, we need you to join the effort. For a tax-deductible donation of just $15/month, you can become a sustaining sponsor of our work, ensuring we can continue to provide Inquirer readers with the statewide news and information you need to be informed and empowered.

The government isnt making our work easy. State officials from the governor on down have released far less data about the coronavirus in Pennsylvania than other states, and state departments have essentially stopped processing public records requests.

We all have a right to know how these decisions are made. And to get those answers, we need your support. In order to hold our leaders accountable during this crisis and beyond, we need journalists who are able to work nonstop to get us the truth we deserve. Now more than ever, this is a 100% essential public service, one that I hope we all can agree is worth supporting.

100% ESSENTIAL: Spotlight PA provides its journalism at no cost to newsrooms across the state as a public good to keep our communities informed and thriving. If you value this service, please give a gift today at spotlightpa.org/donate.

Chris Baxter is Spotlight PAs editor in chief.
(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden became the Democratic Partys presumptive nominee Wednesday after Bernie Sanders ended his presidential run, setting up the former vice president to face President Donald Trump in November.

Biden will now have to find a way to take on Trump in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, which has made in-person campaigning impossible and has grabbed the publics attention away from the 2020 race.

I want to express my deep gratitude for helping to create an unprecedented grassroots campaign that has had a profound impact on our nation, Sanders said in a livestreamed address to his followers. Together we have transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become.

While Sanders explicitly conceded the presidential nomination to Biden, he also said he would remain on ballots and continue to collect delegates so that he could push the Democrats closer to his vision.

I will stay on the ballot and continue to gather delegates, Sanders said. But Vice President Biden will be the nominee. We must continue working to assemble as many delegates as possible at the Democratic convention, where we will be able to exert significant influence over the party platform and other functions.

Biden, who will need to motivate young and progressive voters to turn out in November, promised Sanderss supporters that he would focus on the issues championed by the Vermont senator, including fighting climate change and income inequality, and fixing the social safety net.

I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country, he said. I hope you will join us. You are more than welcome. Youre needed.

Sanders had endured a string of losses since Super Tuesday on March 3, giving Biden an all but insurmountable lead in delegates. Yet in mid-March he showed little obvious desire to step aside.

Biden has earned more than half the nearly 2,000 delegates needed to secure the nomination, making it nearly impossible for Sanders to have caught up in the nominating races ahead.

Story continues

Former President Barack Obama has spoken with Sanders and other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates in recent weeks about positioning the party to win in November, a source familiar with the conversations said. The former president and the former candidates, including Sanders, agreed that winning in the fall was paramount, the person said.

By late March, the pandemic all but paralyzed the Democratic race. Most of the states that still had primaries on the calendar were moving to mail-in balloting and the candidates were unable to campaign except through television interviews and livestreams.

Americans interest in the campaign waned as well, as the crises in both public health and the economy weighed on their minds.

Trump tweeted that Sanderss candidacy had been crushed by the Democratic Party and invited the Vermont senators followers to join the GOP, which shares a dislike for trade agreements.

Bernie Sanders is OUT! Thank you to Elizabeth Warren. If not for her, Bernie would have won almost every state on Super Tuesday! This ended just like the Democrats & the DNC wanted, same as the Crooked Hillary fiasco. The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!, Trump wrote.

Sanderss campaign was built around some of the most progressive proposals in U.S. political history, including his centerpiece Medicare for All plan to abolish all private insurance and create a government-run health care system. His agenda, which was largely also supported by Elizabeth Warren, pushed the Democratic Party to the left. Biden has already adopted versions of some of Sanderss ideas such as free public college tuition in a bid to appeal to Sanderss supporters.

Sanders was the top fundraiser among Democratic candidates, bringing in $169 million through the end of February, with 58% of that amount coming from donors who contributed $200 or less. Biden had raised $88 million, Federal Election Commission filings show, with small-dollar donors providing 35% of his money.

Sanderss decision to step aside is a marked change from 2016, when he took the primary battle against Hillary Clinton until June, just as Clinton did with Barack Obama in 2008.

A Democratic primary contest that in mid-February had Sanders as the clear front-runner slipped away from the Vermont senator in surprisingly quick fashion.

Sanders scored a strong performance in the first contest in Iowa, and followed up with wins in New Hampshire and Nevada. But an overwhelming defeat to Biden in South Carolina on Feb. 29 was followed by a dismal showing on Super Tuesday, when he won just four of the 14 states holding contests.

Those losses were compounded by others on March 10, including in Michigan, which Sanders had envisioned as a firewall.

Sanders failed to attract African-Americans, who form an essential constituency for any candidate seeking the Democratic nomination, to his campaign. In the Mississippi primary on March 10, Biden won 86% of the black vote, while in South Carolina, the former vice president won almost two-thirds of black voters.

Sanderss campaign was stalled in October, when he suffered a heart attack. The incident, which the campaign first called chest pains, was the first time a candidate experienced a potentially life-threatening health incident while campaigning for a major partys presidential nomination.

At 78, Sanders was the oldest candidate in the race and the health scare led to doubts about his fitness to serve, even though he said he had fully recovered and resumed a full slate of campaign activities.

(Updates with Obama calls to candidates in 10th paragraph)

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Jazmin Moreira of West Brighton went back to working in a Staten Island nursing home nine days after her 8-year-old daughter showed her first symptoms of the coronavirus, tested positive and went on to recover from home.

Though Moreira said she did not feel comfortable going back to work so soon, she had no other choice because it was difficult to get a clear answer on when to return.

Moreiras employer told her to return to work within seven days, per the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions latest guidance. She said the Urgent Care her daughter tested positive at told her and her family to self-isolate for 14 days. While her daughters pediatrician did not have a clear answer for how long her daughter should remain at home or how long she was contagious for.

No one from the city ever reached out to tell her what to do after her daughter tested positive either, Moreira said.

And any follow-up appointments to check up on her daughter afterward, Moreira had to reschedule herself. Checkups after recovery were not mandatory, she said.

I asked them how do I know how long shes contagious for? They didnt have an answer for me, Moreira said.

Its basically you get a positive result, youre in self-isolation and thats really it, you dont really have much information after that  theres no steps afterward, its either youre recovered or youre not, she continued.

SEEKING CLARITY ON WHAT TO DO NEXT

Moreira and other Staten Islanders either recovering from home themselves or caring for a recovering coronavirus patient at home, told the Advance they felt like guidance on what to do next was not made clear to them by officials.

Many of them did not know about the city or states websites detailing what to do if you test positive for the coronavirus or received any follow-up information from health officials.

And they fear the lack of information on exactly what to do next for recovering coronavirus patients could be contributing to further community spread of the virus.

The city and state also do not keep track of people who have recovered, therefore, there is no comprehensive data to provide a clear picture on how many coronavirus patients have gone on to recover successfully.

I think [the city] should check in because its kind of an honor system, Lauren Carnabuci of Hegenot, a teacher who tested positive for the virus last month, said of being sent home to recover and not hearing from any officials after she was released from the emergency room at Staten Island University Hospital.

Im doing what they told me to do, but whos to say that everybody is doing that, Carnabuci said.

Jamie Miller of the North Shore said she decided to stay home for two weeks after she tested positive last month at the recommendation of her primary care physician. But Miller said her physician was also not entirely sure how long she should remain at home.

Miller said she never heard from any city or state officials, and was surprised that the form she received confirming she tested positive, did not provide any instructions on what to do next.

The form literally just said youre positive, there was nothing attached to the form or the PDF regarding anything, Miller said.

A way to kind of tell people whats going on would have been maybe giving an information sheet with that results page, which didn't happen, she said.

The CDC and city and state Health Departments all say recovering coronavirus patients can leave their homes after at least seven days since their symptoms started.

But they did not return requests for comment detailing at what point they deem coronavirus patients to be fully recovered.

They also could not say when someone living in the same home as a coronavirus patient, who has not tested positive for the virus, can safely return to work.

EXPERTS SEE TROUBLE

Rutgers University professor of epidemiologist Henry F. Raymond, said the lack of clear guidance on what to do next after someone tests positive for the virus could be contributing to further community spread.

However with so many unknowns right now it's had to come up with appropriate and specific guidance, Raymond said.

Raymond said there is currently almost no way of knowing exactly how long someone is contagious for or whether people acquire an immunity to the virus for a period of time.

People can be infected for some period of time after symptoms go away, they can also be infected before they develop symptoms, but then the question is, does that translate to infectious? said Denis Nash, a City University of New York professor of epidemiology and executive director of the colleges Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health.

CITY SAYS ANSWERS ARE THERE

You might be able to detect the virus, but it might not be at a level that is going to result in a lot of spread, and that I don't think we know, Nash said.

Asked about recovering coronavirus patients concerns over the lack of information on what to do next, New York Citys Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said during a press conference with reporters April 3, that the citys coronavirus website had ample information about what to do next.

"The bottom line is that we have shared with New Yorkers that when we have widespread community transmission, we want people to stay home for at least seven days since the onset of their symptoms or three days after their fever has gone away, whichever is longer, Barbot said.

Then after that period of time, they are free to go about their normal routine. Before we had directions on sheltering at home that would mean going about their normal lives. So, there is no special directions that are needed after someone recuperates from COVID-19, Barbot continued.

Barbot said New Yorkers can self-report on a new online portal.

New York State Health Department spokesperson Jill Montag said: Governor Cuomo has made it clear that increasing lab capacity and testing is the best way to identify positive cases of COVID-19 to ensure the appropriate public health response is put in place. That effort is clearly having an impact, and increased call volume to the States COVID-19 hotline is a product of that aggressive action."

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.

RELATED COVERAGE:

NYC schools can no longer use Zoom for remote learning

At least 2 Staten Island priests hospitalized with coronavirus

Cuomo: Cabin fever is a second epidemic

Crime down, except for burglaries, across NYC amid coronavirus shutdown

Staten Island healthcare facilities to receive funding to battle coronavirus

Data analysis: Three weeks in, how the coronavirus has spread in our borough

Data shows which Staten Island zip codes have the most coronavirus cases

At least 5,000 coronavirus patients will be in citys ICU beds, mayor says, as NYC waits for supplies, military personnel from DC
New Delhi, April 10 : Acknowledging that some states have already extended the shutdown beyond April 14 to contain coronavirus, Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday said: "These are only some ways we can win this battle. We realize that if we have to get ready for another 15 days, we need to be prepared. We will need volunteers".

Javadekar's remarks hinting at exteding the lockdown period beyond April 14 came during a Facebook live address to Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Pune.

He said, Prime Minister Modi is regularly reviewing the situation to decide the future course of action.

"When the Prime Minister warned us about this disease, we too didn't believe it. Let me be truthful to you," conceded Javadekar. But faced with a new reality, he reiterated the need to practise strict social distancing and personal hygiene.

He said PM Modi's initiative has resulted in 30 companies being readied in India to manufacture PPE (personal protection equipment) kits.

The Minister said the success of 'Janata curfew' was a proof of the PM's credibility.

Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston
The UN Security Council underlined the need for unity and solidarity with those affected by the COVID-19 and expressed support for the efforts of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the potential impact of the pandemic, as the powerful UN arm met for the first time to discuss the crisis that has engulfed the world.

The Council, under the Presidency of the Dominican Republic, held a closed video-conference session in connection with the impact of COVID-19 on the issues that fall under the Security Council's mandate.

Guterres also briefed the Council.

In Press Elements issued following the meeting, the 15-nation Council said Members expressed their support for all efforts of the Secretary-General concerning the potential impact of COVID-19 pandemic to conflict-affected countries and recalled the need for unity and solidarity with all those affected.

Briefing the Council, Guterres said the world faces its gravest test since the founding of the United Nations 75 years ago and there is fear that the worst is yet to come especially in the developing world and countries already battered by armed conflict.

The Council has been seen as missing in action as the coronavirus pandemic across the world has so far left over 1.6 million people infected and more than 95,000 dead.

Guterres stressed that the engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indeed, a signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for a lot at this anxious time, he said.

To prevail against the pandemic today, we will need to work together. That means heightened solidarity, he said.

Guterres said while the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis, it also poses a significant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security -- potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease.

The UN Chief said he is particularly concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to further erode trust in public institutions, particularly if citizens perceive that their authorities mishandled the response or are not transparent on the scope of the crisis.

Efforts to discuss the coronavirus situation in the Council were stalled till now mainly due to the stalemate between Washington and Beijing.

The Council's two veto-wielding permanent members have been arguing over the origins of the virus and how any possible Council statement or resolution should reflect that.

Sources told PTI that there was no discussion during the meeting on a resolution on the COVID-19 situation.

US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft said Washington reiterates the need for complete transparency and the timely sharing of public health data and information within the international community.

"The most effective way to contain this pandemic is through accurate, science-based data collection and analysis of the origins, characteristics, and spread of the virus. We cannot stress enough how important these methods are, Craft said in her remarks, appearing to make a veiled reference to China.

Craft stressed that successfully stopping the spread of this virus depends on the commitment from each one of us to work together in good faith.

China's Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun said to overcome this global challenge, solidarity, cooperation, mutual support and assistance is what we need, while beggar-thy-neighbor or scapegoating will lead us nowhere. Any acts of stigmatization and politicization must be rejected.

UN Director at the International Crisis Group, a non-governmental organization focussed on preventing conflict, Richard Gowan told PTI the Security Council still seems unable to measure up to the scale of the COVID-19 crisis.

He said there is a sense that China and the US in particular are more keen on scoring political points against one another in New York than throwing their united weight behind common action on the crisis.

COVID-19 has laid bare the lack of trust among Council members all too acutely, he said.

We must hope that the big powers gradually grasp that such a severe global threat demands a multilateral response. Most of the elected members of the Council feel that it is essential to do more. India, preparing for its own stint on the council starting next year, should throw its weight behind the elected members' efforts to address this situation, Gowan said.

Louis Charbonneau, the United Nations Director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement to PTI that the Council has been missing in action since the coronavirus outbreak began. It's painful to watch their paralysis, though it's obviously nothing new. They're so often deadlocked these days, he said adding that many of the crisis countries on the Council's agenda such as Syria, Yemen, Libya have seen COVID-19 cases already.

Unless the world acts, it's only a matter of time before those and other situations go from bad to much, much worse, he said.

Ahead of the Council meeting, two draft resolutions had been circulated for negotiations.

One by Tunisia on behalf of the 10 non-permanent members called for "an urgent, coordinated and united international action to curb the impact of COVID-19.

A French text focussed on Guterres' call for a global ceasefire as part of a "humanitarian pause" to combat the pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seamless coordination ensured that there are just 38 local terrorists active in Kashmir

Kashmir: Violating lockdown norms, scores attend JeM terrorists funeral

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 10: The Jammu and Kashmir police have arrested ten persons for attending the funeral of a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist who was killed in an encounter.

JeM commander terrorist, Sajad Nawab Dar was killed in an encounter with security forces in Sopore.

5 terrorists gunned down in last 24 hours in Kashmir Valley; 3 jawans martyred

However, in the aftermath of the encounter, a big headache awaited the local administration.

Defying lockdown norms, nearly 100 persons turned up for the funeral in Sopore. The police then registered FIRs against unknown persons for violating the lockdown norms.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

The police said that Dar's family had given written assurances that they will adhere to social distancing when the body is handed over to them after the requisite formalities are completed. However, scores of people attended the funeral. While 10 persons have been arrested, more arrests are likely, the police said.
COUNCILLORS have paid a formal vote of sympathy to legendary broadcaster, the late Terry Wogan.

And it has been agreed that Mayor Liam Galvin will formally represent Limerick at the stars funeral in Britain.

However, it remains to be seen if the mayor will travel, with the BBC in a statement Friday saying it will be a private family affair, declining to release any further information.

Mayor Galvin said Terry Wogan was one of the great leaders of our city. He always spoke up for Limerick and kept it close to his heart.

Labour councillor Joe Leddin, who was mayor when Mr Wogan became a Freeman of the City, said the broadcaster was surprised to receive the honour.

After the meeting, where it was decided to bestow the honour, I was worried about it leaking out before I had a chance to spoke to him. So I called his home straight away. When I spoke to him and told him, there was a huge pause. I had a sense of nervousness. But he then asked: Why me?. He was so honoured and humbled, Cllr Leddin said.

His untimely death has left people across Limerick and far beyond with a deep sense of sadness. People who had never met him felt they knew him  that was the mans genius, he added.

When Mr Wogan did arrive back in Limerick for the conferring, Cllr Leddin recalled his pride at surveying the city from the top of the Hilton Hotel, now the Strand Hotel.

Cllr John Sheahan, Fine Gael, added: He was forever a prankster, forever able to laugh at himself. But underlying that was a unique genius. I do not think we will see a style like his anymore.

Fine Gaels Jerome Scanlan met Mr Wogan on a number of occasions when he was working for Bank of Ireland at its Shepherds Bush branch, near the former BBC television centre. He said: Every St Patricks Day, when it fell on a weekday, we organised hospitality for our customers. And Terry Wogan had no difficulty at all in attending. We also organised a social event, a pre-match get-together in advance of the bi-annual rugby at Twickenham, which Terry always referred to on his radio show as the headquarters. He would always come to the winning post. He was always there to throw in a word or two.

Cllr Daniel Butler, Fine Gael, said Mr Wogan was a man who could be considered one of the greatest broadcasters of all time.

Deputy council CEO Pat Dowling had a special recollection of Mr Wogans visit to Limerick in 2012 for Cllr Jim Longs mayors ball, recalling how delighted he was to receive, as a gift from the council, a print of the old Leverett & Fry shop, where his father Michael was manager.

He is probably looking down on us now, and wondering what all the fuss is about, he added. The meeting  attended by 12 of the 40 councillors  ended with a minutes silence.
(Newser)  New research suggests the first people infected with the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, spread it to an average of 5.7 others, per Bloomberg. And those aren't even the "super-spreaders." One such person in Chicago, described in a CDC report released Wednesday, was responsible for confirmed or probable infections in up to 15 others while experiencing only mild symptoms. The agency refers to it as a "super-spreading event." The man who'd recently traveled outside of Illinoislet's call him Patient Aattended a dinner, a funeral, and a birthday party in February, bestowing hugs and kisses on people in his circle. Three of them later died, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Patient A first shared a meal with two members of a family who'd lost a loved one, both of whom later developed symptoms of COVID-19.

story continues below

One, over 60 with an underlying health condition, would eventually die in a hospital. The day after the dinner, Patient A attended the funeral, where he hugged other family members. Two later developed symptoms, including one who'd visited the hospitalized patient. Three days after the funeral, Patient A attended a birthday party with nine members of another family, seven of whom fell ill and two of whom died, per BuzzFeed. Before dying, the twoover 60 with underlying health issuesare believed to have each passed the virus to at least one other person. And one of those people likely passed it on as well, per the Sun-Times. Three party guests then attended a church service, where they passed an offering plate to a health care worker who hadn't treated anyone with COVID-19 and was later diagnosed. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
Maharashtra home department has issued an order to lockdown five prisons in Mumbai, Pune and Thane districts until further notice. The move comes after the state authorities realised that these five prisons were located in coronavirus affected areas of Maharashtra.

The five prisons that will go under complete lockdown in Maharashtra are Arthur Road jail, Thane Prison, Yerawada Prison, Byculla Prison and Kalyan Prison.

As per the order, no new inmates would be admitted and no one would be allowed to go out. After this order, the prison staff have also been forbidden to move out.

Also read: India Coronavirus live updates: 614 active cases, 33 new deaths in 24 hours; country's tally at 5,709

"Medically examined prison staff will lock themselves up until further orders and administer the prisons without stepping out", Additional Director General (Prisons and Correctional Services) Sunil Ramanand said.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said that arrangements will be made for food and stay of jail staff inside prisons. Contact numbers of senior prison officials will be shared with families of staff so that they can call up the senior officials if there is a problem, Deshmukh added.

Maharashtra is the worst-affected state from the coronavirus epidemic. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data of April 10 (8 a.m.), Maharashtra has total 1,364 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The state has reported 97 deaths, while 125 people have been cured or discharged.

Also read: Coronavirus impact: Can India afford to export Hydroxychloroquine?

Also read: Coronavirus: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu thanks PM Modi for Hydroxychloroquine export
CAIRO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Arab medical experts held on Thursday a video conference hosted by the Cairo-based Arab League (AL) to share experience and expertise on the ways to combat COVID-19.

The conference was attended by 14 Arab experts representing the health ministries of their countries, and Chinese officials and experts from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China's National Health Commission, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking University First Hospital.

"The Chinese side said that their country is completely ready to provide advice and consultation on the novel coronavirus and the methods of its treatment and prevention, either orally or through the video conference technology," said AL Assistant Secretary General for Social Affairs Haifa Abu-Ghazaleh, who led the discussion.

She said that extensive discussions were held between the Arab and Chinese experts in the form of questions and answers, which touched on the ways to prevent, diagnose and treat the novel coronavirus infection, as well as the pandemic's impacts in health, economic and social aspects.

The conference benefited the participants as it will help their countries to formalize own road map of fighting the coronavirus through international cooperation, Abu-Ghazaleh noted.

She also expressed the hope that more such conferences would be held in future, as the battle to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic requires cooperation by all the countries concerned.

Proposed by the AL, the conference came within the framework of activating the China-Arab Countries Health Cooperation 2019 Beijing Initiative, which was adopted by the second China-Arab Health Cooperation Forum held in Beijing in August 2019, according to Abu-Ghazaleh.

The conference was also attended by Liao Liqiang, Chinese ambassador to Egypt and China's representative to the AL, and Maha el-Rabbat, the World Health Organization's special envoy on coronavirus and Egypt's former health minister.

The COVID-19 has infected around 1.5 million people worldwide, with the death roll surpassing 90,000 so far.

China has succeeded in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic through national mobilization for over two months since late January. Arab states are seeking to learn from the Chinese experience in adopting the effective ways to curb the pandemic and cure the disease.
Bibliophiles interested in owning a piece of literary history will be excited to know that the former houseboat of Shel Silverstein, author of such great poetry collections as Where the Sidewalk Ends and The Light in the Attic, is now up for sale. The unique property is a former World War II balloon barge docked in Richardson Bay just outside of Sausalito, California, and is currently on the market for $783,000.

Photo: Christian Klugmann / Courtesy of Dianne Andrews, Engel & Volkers Sausalito

According to the listing description, Silverstein owned the 1,200-square-foot, two bedrooms, one bathroom floating home until his death in 1999. On the top floor of the multi-level boat are multiple skylights for extra natural light and a central glass-covered table of sorts that peers down into the floor below. Several stained glass windows help add color and texture to the space, as do several pieces of engraved metal artworks.

Photo: Christian Klugmann / Courtesy of Dianne Andrews, Engel & Volkers Sausalito

See the video.

A kitchen situated at the far end of the boat is sleek and modern, with glossy tile flooring, updated appliances, yet another skylight, and what looks to be a conveniently located desk space. A set of stairs in the kitchen lead down one level to a living room/den area, where several strategically placed windows offer up waterside views. The two bedrooms are located on either end of the wide living area, with a lofted bed suspended from the ceiling in the smaller of the two rooms and a more traditional sleigh bed in the other room. The shared bathroom features white subway tiles and a simple combination bathtub and shower setup. The exterior of the boat is eccentric, with a bright red roof topping an unfinished wooden exterior.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

A leading Pune-based developer Kolte-Patil Developers, has through its subsidiary Kolte-Patil I-Ven Townships (Pune) entered into an agreement with Planet Smart City, a UK-based real estate developer, for strategic land monetisation of a portion of a township for Rs 91 crore.

This portion of land measuring around 5.42 acres in Sector R10 in KPDLs township project Life Republic has a residential development potential of 7.6 lakh sq ft in terms of saleable area, the company said.

Under the agreement, the land parcel in Sector R10 will be jointly developed by KPIT and Planet in the profit-sharing model, it said.

We are happy to partner with a renowned global real estate developer like Planet Smart City for Sector R10 in our township project Life Republic in Pune. This is quite a unique deal which earns us land monetization benefits as well as profit sharing cash flows from the incremental planned development, resulting in strong returns," said Gopal Sarda, Group CEO, Kolte-Patil Developers.

"We have visibility from business development and existing portfolio launch perspective in our Mumbai operations and largely plan to use the Rs 91 crore as growth capital for the same, it said.

Another tie-up with a global brand allows us to benchmark our governance, operational excellence and product innovation standards, he said.

Commenting on this strategic partnership, Giovanni Savio, Global CEO, Planet Holding said, We are delighted to partner with Kolte-Patil Developers Ltd, to develop a very innovative project, building smart homes accessible for the growing housing market in Pune. Leveraging our digital platform and apps, we will integrate an array of services, offering quality for our residents.

Life Republic is spread across around 400 acres. Around 4.2 million square feet has already been delivered in the project. The project has four million square feet of pre-approved development space by MAHARERA and is expected to add another 10,000 residents within three years.
Case in point: The mostly plotless work is humming along when, out of nowhere, it becomes a story ballet in which two dancers incite acts of violence on two others. In the course of five minutes, were transported from a fun samba club in Queens to a dark alley, where the offenders imply the beating and killing of the others by forcing them to the ground and breaking their necks. The victims fall belly-down and are dragged offstage by their feet, only to come back on moments later and patty-cake with the two people who just supposedly killed them.
To help its customers during the nation-wide lockdown, Vodafone Idea is launching a new program called #RechargeforGood. It is aimed at incentivising its customers to recharge for a friend, family or anyone who doesnt know how to recharge online or doesnt have access to the internet and in return, Vodafone Idea will reward a cashback of up to 6% of the recharge amount.

The cashback offer will only be applicable for those recharges done through the MyVodafone App or MyIdea App. To avail the offer, a customer must:

Log in to the MyVodafone App or MyIdea App and recharge for any other Vodafone Idea Prepaid customer.

The customer doing the recharge will then get a cashback coupon depending on the recharge value.

The coupon can be applied on the customers subsequent recharge.

#RechargeforGood offer goes live on 9th April 2020 for Vodafone customers and on 10th April 2020 for Idea customers. It will be valid till 30th April 2020.

Commenting on the program launch, Avneesh Khosla, Marketing Director, Vodafone Idea said:
Once upon a time, failed presidential candidates slunk away, embarrassed by their inability to get American voters to buy the product they were selling. That's no longer true for Democrats. We routinely hear from political has-beens promoting their bankrupt ideas. And that gets me to Elizabeth Warren,* who's in the New York Times announcing that she has another plan, this one to help the economy. As always, her plan boils down to two words: Big Government.

Before getting to the substance, it's noteworthy that Warren immediately brings race into things: "Early data shows people of color are infected and dying at disproportionately high rates." Her plan has nothing to do with race. She just threw that line in there because...social justice warrior.

Warren begins by saying she'll increase testing as if Trump hasn't already done this. It's noteworthy that he accomplished this primarily by getting rid of government regulations hindering test development.

Warren also wants to turn the government into a manufacturer:

[W]e must act now to have the government manufacture or contract for the manufacture of critical supplies when markets fail to do so  to produce tests, personal protective equipment, drugs in shortage and any future vaccines and treatments that our scientists develop  not in the thousands, but in the tens of millions. This will ensure swift production and build a stopgap against shortfalls moving forward.

What in the world is Warren talking about when she says she wants the government to manufacture supplies? Is the government going to build factories, buy factories, or nationalize factories?

Also, does Warren seriously believe that the government can do anything swiftly? Trump's WWII-style partnership with the private sector has produced extraordinary speed because only the free market can respond quickly. Government never has done so and never will do so.

Warren also seems to have nationalization in mind when she says she's going to suspend all consumer debt collection, place a national moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, stop water and utility shutoffs, cancel student debt, and fund child care. Except for canceling student debt, those are lovely ideas in the abstract. (Regarding student debt, if a student was stupid enough to get deep in debt for an English or Gender Studies degree, don't put that on the taxpayer.)

Warren ignores that people work for those companies that fund consumer debt, for landlords who owe mortgages and utilities, and for utility companies that have employees. Having the government stomp on credit card companies, landlords, and utility companies will only throw a whole new batch of people into unemployment.

But what Warren hates most is "Big Business." She ignores that, so far, Big Business has been doing an excellent job of adapting to the changing landscape and protecting its workers. For example, Lowe's, Home Depot, and Walmart have increased either salaries or benefits for their employees and implemented safety standards in their stores to protect both customers and employees.

Warren, however, thinks only the government can take care of employees, saying nastily that workers "can't rely on big business to protect them." She wants taxpayers to cough up paid family and medical leave, increased OSHA oversight and regulations, and more collective bargaining. Government, government, government, and unions. That's Warren, all right.

Warren's hostility to business is staggering. Just two paragraphs later, she's on the attack again:

To make sure people already struggling with their costs of living aren't being squeezed by companies out to make a quick buck in a crisis, we need new federal price-gouging laws and stricter enforcement. And we need to ensure that small businesses that want to come back can do so without being forced to sell to giant corporations or predatory private equity funds. That means hitting pause on exploitative corporate takeovers and private equity activity that might help the rich get even richer, but won't help our economy recover.

And of course, there's the inevitable demand for mail-in voting and other Democrat ideas such as ballot-harvesting. These ideas all ensure that people who can't be bothered to get out and vote can have someone else vote for them.

When Warren flamed out, America dodged a bullet. She's as hard left as Bernie, but her XX chromosomes, along with a manner that's less abrasive than Hillary's, might have powered her into the White House. Once there, Warren would have been every bit as power-hungry as Bernie, sharing his disregard for the Constitution and reverence for top-down Big Government, and limited or no individual rights.

(If you want to read a dynamite analysis of Sanders's and Warren's selfish socialism, I recommend Daniel Greenfield's splendid "Bernie's Defeat Shows Why Socialism Doesn't Work.")

_______________________________________________

*And yes, I know Warren still sits in the Senate, but the fact that she couldn't even win the primary in her home state of Massachusetts means she's an also-ran who no longer needs to be taken seriously.
Lucknow: The All India Congress Committee general secretary Priyanka Gandhi has written a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for increasing the coronavirus testing and treatment facilities in the state.

The Congress leader has also demanded action to stop rumours and misconceptions related to the coronavirus spread in the state. Also, she has demanded immediate distribution of masks and sanitizers in the state.

In her letter to UP CM, Priyanka Gandhi has written, The corona virus is wreaking havoc in Uttar Pradesh along with the entire country. Today, the challenge in front of our health system is to identify and treat people infected with the virus and prevent further progression of infection.

The AICC general secretary has further written, Increasing the number of screenings and testing is a very effective way to prevent infection. South Korea, with a population of 60 million, tested about 6 people per 1,000 people and has succeeded in preventing the infection of the virus. In Bhilwara, Rajasthan, work was done on a war footing level and within 9 days, more than 24 lakh people were screened and maximum number of tests was done and the infected people were identified. The population of our Uttar Pradesh is around 23 crores while the number of samples taken for testing is only around 7,000, which is quite less. It is necessary to speed up the testing. For a state with a large population like Uttar Pradesh, increasing the number of tests can prove to be a panacea.

The Congress leader has suggested that by examining as many people as possible, the treatment of mild to moderate high risk cases with war-readiness will lessen the burden of ICUs. She has also suggested improving the conditions of isolation ward and quarantining centers in the state. There were reports of unacceptable conditions of the many quarantines centres in state with many of them failing to provide proper fooding facility and cleanliness. Kindly take cognizance of these issues and ensure food, ration and expenses to the families of those who are quarantined in these centres, Priyanka has written.

The AICC general secretary has also expressed concern over reports of community transmission in several states. She further writes, It is seen that the infection is spreading more in those urban clusters, which are densely populated. There are many reports that infected persons are also trying to hide their disease. Somehow this is happening due to the spread of social fears about Corona. Therefore, it is important that in these clusters, proper information should be given on the war footing and immediate spread of rumors and misconceptions should be stopped.

You (UP CM) have declared yourself mandatory to wear masks since yesterday. Please ensure distribution of war-level masks and sanitizers and people should be told clearly where and how they will get masks and sanitizers, asked the Congress leader in her letter to UP CM on Friday.

Quoting Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen towards the end of the letter, the AICC general secretary has written that participative administration, maximum mass connect on the basis of correct information and participation by masses are the most important measures in the fight against an epidemic like coronavirus.

Priyanka Gandhi has also written that everyone stands together in this hour as the corona virus has no race and religion and its effect is the same on everyone. At the end of the letter to UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi has written, In this war, we need to take steps to create a fear-free environment that brings together the entire people, keeping our political thinking out. Every leader and every worker of the Congress Party is ready to support the public.
* Nearly 40 alumni returned to Notre Dame High School for the 28th Annual Alumni Band Reunion in January, joined by some student musicians. The day began with a morning rehearsal; then the band was joined by family, friends, and members of the Notre Dame community for the evening performance in Collins Auditorium. Each year, one alumnus is selected to receive the Salvatore Michael Amore 78 Alumni Band Loyalty Award. This years recipient was Bryan Mancini 01 (Milford) who has played in every Alumni Band Concert since he graduated.

* Josiah H. Brown from Casa of Southern CT recently spoke at a North Haven Rotary Club meeting about CASA's mission to pair court-appointed volunteer advocates with children in need in the state foster care system. CASA is looking for more volunteers; for more info, visit connecticutcasa.org. For information about joining Rotary, contact Membership Chair Paulette DeMaio at demaio@snet.net.
Teenagers who would have otherwise been studying for their exams are now applying for jobs in the gig economy because they think school is over.

All GSCEs and A-Levels have been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and students are being awarded their predicted grades instead.

There are concerns that these pupils will now stop all their academic work, leaving them ill-prepared for the next stages of their education.

Teenagers who would have otherwise been studying for their exams are now applying for jobs in the gig economy

Martyn Oliver, chief executive of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust which runs 32 schools in England, said that pupils are no longer continuing their academic work, as reported in The Telegraph.

He told Schools Week: 'As far as they're concerned, they've passed.

'Some of them are even trying to get into the gig economy, get work in supermarkets. We don't want them doing that.

'We understand the pressure on them, but unless anyone defines it differently, they haven't left school and should still be engaged with education.'

The exams watchdog Ofqual said that schools should not ask pupils to do any new work to base their predicted exam grade on.

They decided it was only fair for previous tests and assignments to be taken into consideration when teachers submit the predicted grades to the exam boards.

Rob Campbell of the National Association of Headteachers has urged British teenagers to become fruit pickers

According to employment law, children aged 15 and 16 can only work 12 hours per week during term time, and 35 hours during the school holidays.

There are no restrictions on 17 and 18-year-olds.

Rob Campbell of the National Association of Headteachers said it was not a bad thing for teenagers to get jobs during this testing time.

He said: 'I can understand the argument that they are still in education and they should do some preparatory work for university or the sixth form.

'But we are in a different world, we have to mobilise the resources we have for the good of the nation.'

Mr Campbell also encouraged young people to apply to become fruit pickers.

But one sixth former from Exeter decided to go above and beyond to help during this pandemic.

Madeleine Crow, whose A-Levels were cancelled, is working on the hospital front line to help with patients.

She was due to begin working as a healthcare assistant later this year but said it was a 'no-brainer' to start now.

She told the BBC: 'It's scary for everyone. If this how I can help, I am happy and proud to.'
WASHINGTON  Ravaged by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Postal Service appealed to lawmakers Thursday for an $89 billion lifeline, telling them that it could run out of cash by the end of September if Congress fails to act.

But as Washington begins to debate the next round of government relief to prop up the virus-plagued economy, a Postal Service bailout has already emerged as a political sticking point, with Democrats pressing to deliver one and President Donald Trump, a persistent critic of the agency, opposed. The debate appears to be playing out along the same fault lines that have divided the two sides for years as they have quibbled over how to position the cash-strapped agency  one of the governments oldest and most reliable entities  for an increasingly digital future.

The coronavirus crisis has rapidly exacerbated those woes, officials told lawmakers Thursday. Mail volume is down by nearly a third compared with the same time last year and dropping quickly, as businesses drastically cut back on solicitations, advertisements and all kinds of letters that make up the bulk of the mail services bottom line.

As a result, the Postal Service is projecting a $13 billion revenue shortfall this fiscal year because of the pandemic and another $54 billion in losses over 10 years.

Megan J. Brennan, the postmaster general, told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Reform Committee that the agency would need $25 billion in federal grants to cover lost revenue from the pandemic, plus an additional $25 billion to update aging infrastructure. Another $14 billion is needed to pay off long-term debt related to a retirement benefits program, along with $25 billion in unrestricted borrowing authority, she said, according to officials familiar with the information she shared privately.

At a time when America needs the Postal Service more than ever, the reason we are so needed is having a devastating effect on our business, Brennan said in a statement to The New York Times later Thursday. The sudden drop in mail volumes, our most profitable revenue stream, is steep and may never fully recover.

She called on Congress to shore up the finances of the Postal Service as it had other businesses.

Democrats have been pressing for weeks to give the Postal Service most of what it is asking for. But Trump has resisted, saying the agency could solve its woes simply by raising prices on packages delivered for big online retailers like Amazon. And his administration wants to attach strings to any government help the service receives.

Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, squashed a bipartisan attempt to send the agency emergency funds last month, insisting instead that his department be given new authority to lend up to $10 billion to the Postal Service on terms it helps set, according to officials familiar with the negotiations who described them on the condition of anonymity.

Some lawmakers, postal union representatives and others who rely on the service now fear that the Trump administration is trying to use the current crisis to achieve conservatives long-standing goal of nudging the mail service toward privatization  either by setting highly prescriptive loan terms or by essentially forcing it into bankruptcy. That would aid commercial competitors like FedEx and UPS.

RELATED: As Trump rails against mail voting, some allies embrace it

Brennan told lawmakers Thursday that the agency was already in talks with the Treasury about the potential loan, but its revenue predictions suggest that the money would not be enough if the crisis continues.

Even with an increase in online shopping and package delivery to Americans cooped up at home, the agency could see a 50% reduction in total mail volume by the end of June, compared with the same period last year, Brennan told the lawmakers.

She said the projected shortfall this fall could throw regular mail delivery into doubt.

They are chilling numbers, said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-Va., who leads the House subcommittee responsible for the Postal Service. The reaction of a lot of my colleagues  their jaws were dropping. It is one thing to say the Postal Service is suffering. It is another to hear these specifics.

For now, the mail service, which operates under government-mandated service requirements, has continued uninterrupted during the pandemic. Even as scores of its more than 600,000-person workforce have fallen ill and some have died, mail sorters and carriers have continued to walk their routes in every corner of the country, in many cases the only physical lifeline Americans now have to the outside world. They deliver medicines, coronavirus test kits and packages ordered online, and could play a crucial role in Novembers presidential election, in which voting by mail is expected to surge.

But the debate over whether to shore up the Postal Service has been politically fraught.

Negotiators on Capitol Hill had reached a tentative deal last month to provide the Postal Service around $13 billion in direct relief as part of the $2 trillion stimulus law. That was far less than House Democrats had proposed, but it had the buy-in of a crucial Republican negotiator: Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, according to the officials familiar with the talks.

But Mnuchin said the administration would not have it.

Connolly said Thursday that he would recommend that House leaders promptly back the new, higher figures presented by the Postal Service, and Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., the chairwoman of the oversight panel, indicated that she saw doing so as a matter of life and death for the agency.

Unless Congress and the White House provide meaningful relief in the next stimulus bill, the Postal Service could cease to exist, she said.

Republican lawmakers, whose views may prove decisive under the circumstances, remain open to direct cash payments under certain circumstances. Historically, the Postal Service has counted on strong support from Republicans representing rural districts, where the service is a lifeline to homes and small businesses. But it is unclear if they would allocate the funds without imposing reform requirements on the agency or if they would be willing to break with Mnuchin and the White House.

An independent executive agency, the Postal Service has not taken federal funding in decades, running instead off revenue raised from stamps and other postal products. But since the 2008 financial crisis, it has struggled to stay in the black, weighed down largely by a congressional mandate to pre-fund its retirement benefits programs.

The agency has stopped making those payments in recent years, running up billions of dollars in debt, while its mail delivery business has otherwise remained profitable. Lawmakers in both parties have proposed overhauls to the service along the way, but none have taken hold.

Trump has frequently criticized the service for not charging higher prices to deliver packages for large online retailers like Amazon  a company he has sometimes singled out in his Twitter tirades on postal issues. Aides have said the presidents complaints often followed critical articles about his administration published by The Washington Post, which is owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

He repeated the criticism this week, as he appeared to reject calls for a cash bailout. Asked about Connollys proposal, he said the congressman should focus instead on raising package delivery prices.

A task force led by Mnuchin published a study in 2018 recommending steps that could reduce the frequency of mail delivery and increases in the prices of sending some packages. Online retailers criticized the recommendations, which they said could particularly hurt rural customers.

The report did not spur any action in Congress last year. But a longtime congressional advocate of changes to the service, Mark Meadows of North Carolina, recently took over as Trumps chief of staff.

At the end of the day, they have an agenda, said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents more than 220,000 postal workers. Raise prices, reduce worker benefits and reduce services, make it appear more profitable and set it up for sale.

The COVID crisis should not be used to achieve political aims, he added.

The Package Coalition, a lobbying group on postal issues that includes Amazon and other online retailers, raised concerns this week that the strings Treasury officials might attach to postal loans could raise prices during a pandemic that has made Americans more dependent than ever on package delivery.

The Treasury has the Postal Service over a $10 billion barrel, and the Postal Service is on the brink of bankruptcy, said the coalitions chairman, former Army Secretary John M. McHugh. What do you do? Were worried theyll accept the terms.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
CARLISLE, Pa., April 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The GIANT Company announced today a $250,000 emergency grant program, in partnership with Team Pennsylvania, to support small businesses in Pennsylvanias food supply chain impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.



As Pennsylvanias second-largest private employer and as a company that has been able to continue operating during the coronavirus pandemic, The GIANT Company has a responsibility to help mitigate the economic impact in the Commonwealth, said Nicholas Bertram, president, The GIANT Company. From family farms to local food artisans and manufacturers throughout the rest of the supply chain, small businesses are hurting, and livelihoods are at risk. These men and women are instrumental in feeding Pennsylvanians, and we want to do our part to help them in their time of need.

Applications are now being accepted online through April 24 from any small business involved in growing, making or processing food within the Commonwealth. The GIANT Company and Team Pennsylvania worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Economic and Community Development, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the Pennsylvania Chamber, and Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association to develop the program.

Bringing the public and private sectors together to solve our biggest challenges is what we do at Team Pennsylvania, said Ryan Unger, president and CEO, Team Pennsylvania. We are proud and grateful to partner with The GIANT Company on this endeavor that will provide some relief to companies in the Commonwealth working tirelessly to keep our agricultural economy and food supply going.

This amazing effort by The GIANT Company and Team Pennsylvania demonstrates the critical importance of forming public-private partnerships to support our communities, said Dennis M. Davin, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development. This kind of leadership--combined with the Wolf Administrations efforts to bolster the supply chain, protect small businesses, and support the food and wellness needs of all Pennsylvanians--is exactly the path forward to sustaining our communities and overcoming this unprecedented and challenging time.

"The GIANT Company and Team Pennsylvania have been invaluable partners in good times, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. Their leadership will help position Pennsylvania agriculture to emerge from this challenging time ready to recover and grow together.

For additional information on criteria and to apply for an emergency grant from The GIANT Company online, visit: https://teampa.com/giant-ag-grants/. Recipients will be notified in early May.

Our collaboration with Team Pennsylvania is the latest effort GIANT is undertaking as we do our part to help the Commonwealth through the pandemic, added Bertram. With these emergency grants, we hope to provide some relief to keep people employed, strengthen businesses, and keep Pennsylvanians fed  now and in the future.

About The GIANT Company

Founded in 1923 in Carlisle, Pa., The GIANT Company is passionate about connecting families and creating healthier communities. As an omni-channel retailer, The GIANT Company proudly serves millions of neighbors across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. With more than 33,000 talented team members supporting nearly 190 stores, 132 pharmacies, 105 fuel stations, and over 125 online pickup hubs and grocery delivery service in hundreds of zip codes, The GIANT Company is changing the customer experience and creating an impact in local communities for a better future. The GIANT Company family of brands includes GIANT, MARTIN'S, GIANT Heirloom Market, GIANT DIRECT and MARTINS DIRECT. The GIANT Company is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA. For more information, visit the GIANT or MARTIN'S websites.

About Team Pennsylvania

Team Pennsylvania is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 1997 to connect private and public sector leaders to achieve and sustain progress for Pennsylvania. Strong relationships between business and government are necessary for the betterment of our Commonwealth. Our agricultural initiatives began in 2016 in order to support the collective of industries as key drivers within Pennsylvanias economy. Our collaborative work results in innovation that drives entrepreneurial spirit, improves and strengthens our workforce, and contributes to a growing and vibrant economy in Pennsylvania.

Contact:

Ashley Flower

860-966-1727

ashley.flower@giantmartins.com
Senator Bernie Sanders decisively won the popular vote in Iowa earlier this year because he spoke directly to the needs of working people. His message of economic equality, inclusivity and hope inspired thousands of people in Iowa to believe that their government could, in fact, alleviate their suffering.

Iowa voters understand that, in the wealthiest nation on the planet, thousands of people should not die each year because they cannot afford outrageously high healthcare costs. We understand that our political system in Washington and Des Moines is dominated by moneyed interests and a financial elite that does not have the interests of working people at heart. The satellite caucuses in Iowa, where Sanders brought many low-propensity and first-time minority voters into the fold, demonstrated that historically disadvantaged voters can play a pivotal role in our electoral process. When voters heard Sanders speak about their pain and how he proposed to address it, they believed him; his consistent record over the course of decades in public service proved to Iowans that he meant what he said.

The Democratic Party, of which I am a proud member, must incorporate these general tenets of Sanders platform into its agenda. We must speak to issues that working-class people in this nation continue to face. Most importantly, we must welcome the diverse coalition Sanders tirelessly formed here in Iowa. Whether or not people agree with him on every detail, everyone knows that he is genuine and that he gives a damn about regular Iowans. Together, we can put forward a bold, progressive vision that addresses the systemic inequities that exist in our society and defeat Donald Trump in 2020. Although Bernie Sanders will not be president, his legacy will live on through young people like me, inspired by his lifelong commitment to public service.

Sami Scheetz is a Cedar Rapids native who most recently worked as the Wisconsin political director for the 2020 presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders. He was previously an Iowa Constituency Outreach Director for Sanders. Scheetz is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he studied government and history.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Phuket Governor bans sale of alcohol until further notice

PHUKET: Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana has ordered a ban on the sale of alcohol in Phuket. The order comes into effect at 00:01am April 11 and will remain in effect until further notice.

COVID-19Coronavirusalcohol

By The Phuket News

Friday 10 April 2020, 09:15PM

The order came today at the daily meeting of the Phuket Communicable Disease Committee.

The order was publicly posted on the official Facebook page of the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department at 8:41pm tonight (see here.)

Breach of the order will constitute a breach of Section 52 of the Communicable Diseases Act, said the order. The penalty under Section 52 is up to one year in jail, or a fine of up to B100,000, or both.

The order, issued to prevent the spread of COVID-19, will remain in effect until further notice.

Of note, even wholesalers are included in the ban, as those issued liquor-selling license type 1 and type 2 under the Excise Tax Act (2017) are banned from selling any form of beverage containing alcohol.

Section 156 of the act defines license type 1 as for the sale of all kinds of liquor in the amount of at least 10 litres at a time, while license type 2 is for the sale of all kinds of liquor in the amount of under 10 litres at a time. (See act here.)
Yemen has reported its first case of coronavirus, sparking fears of a deadly epidemic in a country where a five-year war has already destroyed the health system and spread disease and hunger.

The ministry of health announced that one case had been discovered in Shihr in Hadhramaut, a southern oil-producing region controlled by Yemens internationally recognised government.

The person was stable and receiving medical attention, the supreme national emergency committee said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) added that the case was in isolation and all known contacts are being traced and quarantined.

Yemen has been ravaged by a five-year civil war which has sparked the worlds largest humanitarian crisis in terms of numbers, pushed two-thirds of the country to the brink famine and prompted the worst outbreak of cholera in modern history.

Lise Grande, United Nations humanitarian coordinator, told Reuters on Friday if the virus spreads in the country so pounded by war, the impact would be catastrophic.

Ms Grande added that the health status of at least half the population is very degraded and the country does not have sufficient supplies or facilities.

A day before Yemens first coronavirus case was revealed, the World Food Programme (WFP) had said it was forced to halve the aid it gives to people in parts of the country controlled by the Iranian-backed rebel Houthi movement from mid-April after donors cut funding over concerns the Houthis are hindering aid deliveries.

WFPs operation in Yemen is now facing a critical funding shortage and is left with no choice but to reduce assistance by half to avoid a full stop of assistance in the future, a WFP spokesperson told Reuters.

Save the Children said Yemen is critically under-equipped, with only 700 intensive care unit beds, including 60 for children, and 500 ventilators for a population of about 30 million.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which has helped set up Covid-19 treatment centres in government-controlled Aden and rebel-controlled Sanaa, called for urgent delivery of personal protective equipment and testing capacity to Yemen for both sides.

The different Yemeni authorities also need to allow the entry of key medical and support staff from foreign organisations, said Caroline Seguin, MSF operations manager for Yemen.

The International Rescue Committee said that more than half of Yemens health facilities are no longer functioning and 18 million people are without access to proper hygiene, water and sanitation.

It also called for an end to restrictions on delivery of aid as well as humanitarian personnel who have been prevented from accessing those in need.

There must be exceptions for humanitarian staff and supplies. Measures to halt the disease will be counterproductive if they prevent life-saving aid from reaching those in need, Tamuna Sabedze, Yemen country director at the International Rescue Committee, said.

The Yemen war first erupted when Houthi rebels swept control of the country, ousting the recognised government and president, Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its regional allies  including the UAE, Egypt and Sudan  launched a bombing campaign to reinstate Mr Hadi, fearing the encroachment of Iranian influence in the region.

The fighting has destroyed the healthcare system and left 80 per cent of the population  or 24 million people  relying on some form of humanitarian assistance to survive, according to the UN.

More than 100,000 people have been killed, only half the hospitals are functioning.

On Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition announced a temporary two-week ceasefire to help the coronavirus response but many fear it will not hold.

The Yemen authorities have ordered the closure of Shihr port for a week and instructed workers there to isolate at home for two weeks, according to a directive seen by Reuters.

They also imposed a 12-hour nightly curfew in all Hadhramaut districts starting from 6pm on Friday until further notice.

The WHO has said previously it was working to provide Yemen with the ability to test thousands of patients. It has already provided 500 testing kits.

Ali al-Walidi, spokesman for the governments national emergency committee, told Reuters this week that in southern Yemen quarantine centres had been set up in Hadhramaut, Al Mahra and Aden.

The committee was requesting ventilators, oxygen tanks and hospital beds from the WHO.
EY, the national accounting firm formerly known as Ernst & Young, examined Ohio State fundraising documents dating to before 1980, real estate transactions, and treasury and investment records. Its examiners were given access to historical documents maintained by the Wexner Center and the universitys Office of Advancement, as well as to university archives, the school said in a statement.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 19:57:43|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Medical supplies are unloaded from the plane at Milan Malpensa Airport in Milan, Italy, March 25, 2020. (Str/Xinhua)

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of medical supplies donated by China has arrived in the Vatican, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, relevant people in the Vatican have expressed through various channels that there is a shortage of anti-epidemic materials for medical institutions that have contacts with the Vatican authorities, spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a routine news briefing.

He said the Red Cross Society of China donated medical supplies to the Vatican Pharmacy in a humanitarian spirit to support the Vatican's efforts to fight against the pandemic and treat patients, and China will continue to provide assistance within its ability. At present, the first batch of medical supplies has arrived in the Vatican.

China views positively of the Vatican's long-term help to poor areas in improving their medical levels and its contributions to global emergency health events response, Zhao said.

"Viruses know no boarders, races or religious, it is the common enemy of all humankind. China is willing to work together with the international community, including the Vatican side, to jointly combat the pandemic so as to safeguard global public health security," the spokesperson said. 
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Kansas City, Kansas police now say the 88-year-old man shot while waiting at a bus stop at 13th and Central on March 31 has died. Police identified the man as Bernard Matlock of Kansas City, Missouri. Two people are in custody in connection to the deadly shooting, police said on Wednesday, [...]
Pennsylvania should see its surge in coronavirus cases next week, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday.

Wolf said earlier this week that the state is no longer seeing exponential daily growth, but a high number of cases are still being reported. The state Health Department reported 1,751 new cases as of 12:01 a.m,. bringing the statewide total to nearly 20,000.

The governor said state officials are projecting the long-awaited surge of patients is expected next week.

The key with the surge, Wolf said, as it relates to the future of stay-at-home and business shutdown orders, is to see whether or not hospitals can handle it. He also reiterated the need for all Pennsylvanians to adhere to the orders to help slow the COVID-19 spread.

I want to address the uncertainty of when this is going to end, and again, its sort of a moving target and depends how we do, Wolf said during a conference call with reporters.

If the surge occurs next week as we suspect it will, and its within the range of the capacity of our health care system, thats going to allow us to shut this shutdown down fast.

But Wolf didnt specify what he meant by fast.

Currently, non-life sustaining businesses are closed indefinitely and the statewide stay-at-home order is in place through at least April 30. K-12 schools, on the other hand, saw their physical locations shuttered for the rest of the school year on Thursday, and all learning will now take place online.

Wolf did not cite a source regarding his belief that the surge is on the horizon.

Earlier this week, Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said the stay-at-home order and other restrictions could be relaxed gradually. She said some counties may be lifted from the order initially as opposed to lifting the order statewide.

In her briefing Friday, Levine noted a well-known model from the University of Washington suggests some areas could peak in the next week. But she also said its not certain and that some areas in the state would peak at different times.

At least one expert, UMPC Pinnacle chief medical officer Dr. James Raczek, has told PennLive that he believes the peak is still weeks away.

The key thing is, all of us really need to stay home, Wolf said. "In a perfect world wed have a vaccine, and plenty of tests, and plenty of equipment. In a perfect world, we wouldnt have this virus, but were not in a perfect world, so were making a lot of decisions with, whats the least bad decision? And the least bad thing we can do is stay home.

Were all responsible to each other in making this happen. To the extent that were able to practice the daily routine things that will keep us from connecting with each other, the faster were going to shut down this virus and the faster we can get through this first phase of a hard stop. Were all on the front lines, and to the extent we all continue to do what weve been doing, we can get through this. It was true when this thing started, and its still true.
Scientists have launched a major new study into people who have recovered from the coronavirus, which the White House hopes could lead to ending Americas nationwide lockdown.

The researchers begin tests this week to discover the effectiveness of using blood plasma from Covid-19 convalescents to trigger immunity to the virus.

Public health officials in the United States hope the tests could be used to clear people to return to work and restart the economy, but scientists working on the project are urging caution.

This can be used as a tool to help more strategically redeploy individuals back to work, says Dr Elitza Theel, director of the Mayo Clinic laboratory performing antibody testing for Covid-19.

I dont know that its going to be the magic bullet or the only thing that decides that, but it will probably play a role, she tells The Independent.

Rather than test whether the subject currently has the virus, these antibody tests will determine if a person has had it and subsequently recovered  even if they havent displayed symptoms. They do that by testing the blood for antibodies associated with the disease. A person with the antibodies in their blood would theoretically be immune to the virus, and may then be cleared to return to work.

These individuals are likely to be at lower risk of getting infected or reinfected. But exactly how thats going to be rolled out, we have yet to see, she says.

Crucially, as the world waits for a vaccine that will deal a decisive blow to the virus, the antibodies could also be used to treat coronavirus patients. Blood plasma from someone who has recovered from the virus would be transfused into an infected patient in the hopes that antibodies in the plasma would inactivate the virus in the patient. The same method was used during the 1918 Spanish influenza outbreak.

As the US has struggled to contain the spread of the deadly virus across the country, the Trump administration has repeatedly expressed its desire to restart the economy as soon as possible.

Speaking a little over the week ago, Donald Trump said: We cant have the cure be worse than the problem. We have to open our country because that causes problems that, in my opinion, could be far bigger problems.

Some European governments have raised the possibility of using immunity certificates to allow recovered patients to return to work. But Dr Theel says there is a lot scientists do not know about the bodys immune response to the virus, and widespread use of the tests may take some time.

The level and the duration of protective immunity is not something that these tests tell us. They tell us that youve been infected, and there are antibodies, but whether theyre neutralising and entirely protective, we frankly just dont know yet, she says.

But I think what we can say is that these individuals are likely at lower risk of getting infected compared to antibody-negative individuals, she adds.

The US Food and Drug Administration has said the Mayo Clinic is leading the initiative to test the convalescent plasma.

Dr Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert and leading member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, said on Thursday that he hoped the tests would be available very soon.

It is likely, but we need to prove it, once youve been infected, that you are very likely protected against subsequent challenges to the same virus, which means you may have a cohort of people who are actually protected, he said.

However, Dr Theel warns that the capacity of her team is currently limited, and that testing is first going to be focused on the people who most need it, such as convalescent plasma donors.

Everybody wants to know if they had it, right? I understand the anxiety, I want to know myself, but were really limited in our capacity currently and we really want to prioritise testing for patients in whom the result is going to lead to some sort of clinical decision being made, she says.

Were also trying to better understand the exposure of some of our healthcare workers and consider more strategically how we would redeploy them back to work, she says.

In recent weeks, the United States has become the epicentre of the global coronavirus crisis. More than 450,000 people have tested positive for the virus and 15,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The number of hospitalisations in New York, the worst-affected city in the country, has begun to plateau in recent days. But political leaders have cautioned against celebrating early.

While some cities around the world have begun to ease their lockdowns  including the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus originated  there is still much scientists do not know about Covid-19.

The research being conducted by Dr Theels team hopes to fill some vital gaps. Testing of people who may have contracted the virus and recovered without displaying symptoms will give public health officials a much more accurate picture of how widespread the virus is, and how it spread. That additional information about asymptomatic carriers will in turn produce a much more accurate fatality rate.

All of that information could help determine when the country will reach a state of herd immunity  a key point factor in deciding when to end lockdowns.

Before she began work on this current project, Dr Theels research was focused on diagnostics for various infectious diseases, much of it relevant to the scientific research being conducted into the coronavirus outbreak today.

I think laboratories were scientifically prepared. But really nothing prepares you for a true pandemic. Its really an all hands on deck kind of event, she says.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 20:21:22|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ANKARA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkey delivered medical aid to Britain and Libya to help fight COVID-19, Turkish Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"At the direction of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Armed Forces aircraft, which will transport to the United Kingdom the medical aid supplies prepared by Turkey's Health Ministry to be used in the fight against COVID-19, has departed Ankara," the Turkish Defense Ministry tweeted.

The medical aid cargo included protective masks and overalls.

On Friday, the Defense Ministry also announced that Turkey has sent medical aid to Libya. The medical supplies were sent to "our Libyan brothers and our military training cooperation and consultancy teams who are on duty in the region," the ministry tweeted.

Turkey has also sent medical aid to Italy and Spain.
10.04.2020 LISTEN

I like to point out 2 recent studies on the mortality of people with a positive SARS-CoV2 test.

John Ioannidis from Stanford University and Martin Posch from the Medical University of Vienna compared the death rates of people with a positive SARS-CoV2 test with the normal mortality in 2 independent studies.

Ioannidis et al. examined the risk of dying for people younger than 65 years and Posch et al. examined the age dependence of this death rate in relation to normal mortality. The peculiarity of Ioannidis et al. is that they put the risk of dying by or with COVID-19 in relation to the risk of dying in a car accident when commuting daily to work. Cf.

Ioannidis et al., Population-level COVID-19 mortality risk for non-elderly individuals overall and for non-elderly individuals without underlying diseases in pandemic epicenters, medrxiv, April 08, 2020, https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.05.20054361v1

Based on the data until April 4, for the whole COVID-19 fatality season to-date (starting with the date the first death was documented in each location) the risk of dying from coronavirus for a person <65 years old is equivalent to the risk of dying driving a distance of 9 to 415 miles by car per day during the COVID-19 fatality season.

Most of the hotbed locations that we analyzed are on the lower side of this range, where the risk of death is in the same level roughly as dying from a car accident during daily commute. The highest risk (in New York City) corresponds to the risk of dying in a traffic accident while travelling daily from Manhattan to Baltimore round trip for these 25 days. People who are 40-65 years old may have about double that risk, while those 40 years old or younger have almost no risk at all of dying. Moreover, females may have 2-3 lower risk than males.

These numbers correspond to the main epicenters of the pandemic, since our eligibility criteria were set explicitly to include the locations with the highest numbers of deaths. Therefore, for the vast majority of countries around the world and for the vast majority of states and cities in the USA with, the risk of death from COVID-19 this season for people <65 years old may be even smaller than the risk of dying from a car accident during daily commute.

[German] Posch et al., "Erste Analysen osterreichischer COVID-19 Sterbezahlen nach Alter und Geschlecht", IMS, Medizinische Universitat Wien, 7.4.2020, https://cemsiis.meduniwien.ac.at/ms/

"Wir analysieren die Alters- und Geschlechtsverteilung der gemeldeten COVID-19 Verstorbenen in Osterreich. Ubereinstimmend mit internationalen Studien legen auch die osterreichischen Daten nahe, dass das Sterberisiko mit dem Alter stark ansteigt. Die beobachtete Altersabhangigkeit ist konsistent mit der des allgemeinen jahrlichen Sterberisikos in Osterreich."

[Translation]

"First analysis of Austrian COVID-19 deaths by age and gender"

"We analyze the age and gender distribution of the reported COVID-19 deceased in Austria. In line with international studies, the Austrian data also suggest that the risk of death increases sharply with age. The observed age dependency is consistent with that of the general annual risk of death in Austria . "

Both results are consistent with official data from Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Switzerland on the median age of the deceased of 80+ years and multiple pre-existing conditions. In Italy, 50% of the deceased had 3 or more pre-existing conditions.

The very high numbers of symptomless people or people with mild symptoms but positive SARS-CoV2 tests already reported from Wuhan and confirmed in Europe and the USA also support these results. This should have played a role in the risk assessment before a lockdown. Why this was not the case will certainly have to be investigated.
This is an opinion column.

There it is. The dismount.

In the middle of the coronavirus shutdown, 1,400 days after former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard was convicted of a dozen felony violations of Alabamas ethics law, the Alabama Supreme Court finally wrapped up its gymnastics routine.

The Russian judge gave it a 10.

The Supreme Court upheld six of the felonies against Hubbard and overturned five. Another had been overturned by a lower court.

The State Supremes bent double to appease the wealthiest and most influential involved in Hubbards case. The five overturned charges were those that involved soliciting things of value from Alabamas richest man, Jimmy Rane, and from former Business Council of Alabama Chairman Will Brooke, both of whom were no doubt eager to distance themselves from any association with a crime.

So thats what they got from the courts. Gold medal work on the uneven bars, again.

But thats how it so often goes. The rich and powerful stick the landing almost every time in Alabama courts.

The problem for Hubbard is that hes still stuck with six convictions for felony violation of the same ethics law he once championed. That is not going away.

He is still a convicted felon who likely will face jail time in the Alabama prisons he could have, as the erstwhile most powerful man in Alabama politics, made safer and more humane, more decent.

And while half of the convictions against him have been wiped away or sent back to lower courts on legal somersaults and technicalities, the question of whether he committed crimes is no longer in doubt. He did.

Mike Hubbard is a felon, despite the fact a building at Auburn University -- funded with taxpayer money, I might add -- still bears his name. Mike Hubbard is a felon, despite the fact that a road through Auburn still bears his name.

Mike Hubbard is a felon, period. Mike Hubbard is a criminal, despite the fact that his friends and political allies have spent years trying to justify his motives and actions and use them to rewrite the ethics law they once were so proud to claim.

Mike Hubbard is a felon, still, and Auburn University should take his name off the Mike Hubbard Center for Advanced Science, Innovation and Commerce. Mike Hubbard is a felon, still, and the City of Auburn should take his name off Mike Hubbard Boulevard.

Mike Hubbard is a felon, convicted once and for all, and Alabama leaders need to spend less time trying to change the ethics law that convicted him, and more time trying to live by it.

Alabama doesnt need more gymnastics. We have seen enough. Alabama needs some real leadership.

The fact remains that Mike Hubbard got more consideration from the courts than most of the people sentenced to die on Death Row. He got more respect than those who served their time and tried to move on with their lives. He got more benefit of the doubt than anyone currently awaiting the prospect of parole in Alabamas justice system.

Mike Hubbard did the crime, and he should go to jail.

I dont know how soon. I dont care. There will be delay, and frankly, during the pandemic, I wouldnt ask for immediate incarceration even for a corrupt public official who abused his power, used it for personal gain and made victims of us all. Even for the poster child public official who made it even tougher for Alabama to have faith in its leaders.

The bars of justice in Alabama are certainly uneven. We see it in every double backflip that justifies throwing the book at the powerless and apologizing for the powerful.

But Mike Hubbard is guilty of crimes against the people of Alabama.

It is time we treated him as such.

John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is a columnist for AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register, Birmingham Magazine and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com.
Hollywood cant decide whether to censure or celebrate its drunken heroes. It frequently gives awards to those playing alcoholics  but the ways in which they are portrayed are wildly varied. Only occasionally do films show honestly the squalor and destructiveness of the typical alcoholics life. It is far more commonplace for their condition to be used as a source of pathos, or of comedy, than to see them soiling themselves or throwing up.

In the silent era, drinking and slapstick often went hand in hand. Charlie Chaplin has many sublime drunken moments in his films: zig-zagging his way home in an inebriated state, putting his foot in the goldfish bowl as he climbs through the window, falling down staircases, slipping up on rugs, dizzy with drink and forlornly trying to hold his balance as the entire world revolves against him.

In comedies, drunkards often behave like holy innocents. Think, for example, of WC Fields as Egbert Souse in The Bank Dick (1940). Wherever Fields goes, mayhem follows but the alcohol shields him from the chaos around him. He blunders through the film in a good natured daze, inadvertently catching thieves, solving crimes and even briefly (in the films most surrealistic section) taking charge of a movie when its original director is carted off even more drunk than he is.
She continued: You fall in love with them, they become your family. Some of them have family, some of them dont. I try to put myself in their position, Some of them are able to communicate, some arent able to communicate. I just think about it. What if that was me or my son or my mom? Were all human beings and we all need each other.
The Gold Coast Airport has closed its terminal because there are no regular scheduled commercial flights to the tourism hotspot for the foreseeable future.

The terminal closed on Friday after the last Qantas and Virgin flights departed on Thursday.

Gold Coast Airport has closed due to a lack of flights during the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit:Cameron Spencer

The operation of the runway and airfield operations will continue for general aviation and other activities.

Gold Coast Airport boss Marion Charlton says the terminal will open when regular passenger flights resume.
Parents at home have to juggle work, running the household and making sure their kids are getting educated and are entertained in quarantine. These are monumental tasks, and parents and kids both need an escape from the reality of being at home all the time.

You cant go out, but weve rounded up the best movies for kids on Disney+ that parents might even enjoy.

Disney+ offers a 7-day free trial and then costs $6.99/month or $69.99/year.

Theres also a Disney+ bundle option available, which includes access to Hulu (with ads) and ESPN+ for just $12.99/month.

Onward

Disney+ made this movie available on streaming just a few days ago. Onward follows two teenage elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, as they search for the last bit of magic in the world, so they can spend a day with their deceased father.

Frozen 2

As the coronavirus pandemic was unfolding, Disney decided to do parents a favor by dropping Frozen 2 on streaming ahead of when they had planned. Elsa leaves Arendelle after hearing a voice and goes on a journey of self-discovery in this sequel.

Toy Story 4

Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the gang go on a new adventure with their new friend Forky. Along the way, Woody runs into his old friend Bo Peep unexpectedly.

Tangled

Rapunzel knows better than anyone what self-isolation and quarantine are like. Shes been trapped in the top of a tower for 18 years. This animated movie is heartwarming and might give you and your kids a few ideas of what else you can do while quarantining.

The Emperors New Groove

An underrated Disney movie, The Emperors New Groove follows Emperor Kuzco as he is accidentally turned into a llama, instead of poisoned. This selfish ruler learns a lot about humanity on his journey back to his palace.

Aladdin

You cant go wrong with this classic animated version  though Disney also has the 2019 live-action version if you want to watch that, too. Aladdin goes from street rat to prince, thanks to some help from the Genie, voiced by the late Robin Williams.

Mulan

Disney delayed its highly anticipated live-action Mulan adaptation due to COVID-19, but the animated version is hilarious and heartwarming. Mulan disguises herself as a man to take her fathers place in the Imperial Army and fights to save China.

Togo

This Disney Plus-exclusive is based on a true story. In Alaska, Leonhard Seppala (Willem Dafoe) leads his sled dog team on an arduous journey of more than 700 miles to fetch life-saving serum.

Zootopia

Judy Hopps achieves her dream of becoming the first rabbit on the police force, but she finds that other animals dont take her seriously because shes a rabbit. She teams up with a fox named Nick Wilde to solve a mysterious case, so she can finally prove herself.

Beauty and the Beast

The 2017 live-action version of this film stars Harry Potters Emma Watson as Belle and Downton Abbeys Dan Stevens as the Beast. Watching this film will prepare you and your kids for the prequel Disney+ is currently working on about Gaston and LeFous friendship.
Three Greater Noida residents have been booked for giving shelter to 10 Tablighi Jamaat attendees, hailing from Maharashtra, and taking them to public places here in violation of the restrictions imposed due to coronavirus outbreak, police said on Friday.

The 10 Tablighi Jamaat attendees, including five women, have also been named in the FIR registered on Thursday under Indian Penal Code section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) for violating curbs imposed under CrPC section 144, the police said.

The Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic congregation held in March at its markaz (headquarters) in Delhi's Nizamuddin area, has been at the centre of a massive controversy after hundreds of its attendees tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The 10 people five married couples -- had come from Beed and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra, officials said, adding they were given shelter at Begumpur village, under Surjpur police station limits, in Greater Noida, by three men.

The FIR has been registered but none has been arrested yet. Proceedings are underway, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Noida, Harish Chander told PTI.

The Begumpur residents are accused of providing shelter and taking to public places the Jamaat attendees in violation of the restrictions imposed with an objective to prevent the virus from spreading, according to a police statement.

The local residents named in the FIR have been identified as Imam Mohammad, Raj Mohammad and Nazim, the police said.

The congregation attendees have been identified as Sarfaraz Sheikh and his wife Faradin, Saleem Vaamoli and his wife Noor Jahan, Rasheed Maqbool and his wife Shareefa, Gafoor Khan and his wife Ahmadabi, Sheikh Qayoom and his wife Ruqaiyya, the police added.

According to officials, hiding travel history of any person, or any information regarding coronavirus, like symptoms or confirmed case, is an offence under the law.

Gautam Buddh Nagar in western Uttar Pradesh has so far recorded 63 positive cases of coronavirus, according to official figures.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yes, we are stuck at home. Yet this is the time many of us can fully give ourselves to God without being distracted by the party of Easter. Jesus came to suffer and die for our sins. It pleased God to bruise his own son. Many of you have been afflicted by Coronavirus. Yet I want you to know the present suffering is nothing to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed within us.

Jesus said in this world you will have great trouble but you will overcome the world like I have. Greater is he that is in you than he who is in the world. Don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself.

Some people have faced the horrific deaths of love ones, crippling financial struggles, have to risk their lives everyday because they are key workers and have huge problems because of this coronavirus. Other people are complaining because they are lucky enough to stay at home, some can even work from home and some are upset because they have a paycut - it's not because the paycut makes paying their bills and buying food harder. To be honest I think those people are spoilt. There are so many things to do at home, like read, reflect, think of new ideas, pray, talk to God, catch up with people on the phone. I get it some people want to go outside and have fun but unfortunately, that puts key workers and other people at risk. Boredom and life not going the way you want it to is not the end of the world. People are dying.

Unfortunately, the West especially is suffering because they value profit over people. In the UK, parliamentarians are getting 10, 000 pounds more a year, while they say they cannot afford to give families a basic income, or provide appropriate health care equipment for key workers. The rich West was slow to shut down because they thought saving the economy was more important than people's lives. Then it turned out the virus doesn't care if your old or young, rich or poor, vulnerable or not vulnerable. It kills all. Yet the Scandinavians, the poor West (Poland and some other Eastern European countries) and the Asians managed to contain the virus. They put people before the economy. Some will say China's lack of transparency led to the spread. Yet the Western rich had warning, especially the UK, France and the USA and decided to bury their head in the sand for the economy. They are not being fully transparent either. Either way, Asian countries close to China have contained the virus.

Some countries are communist, socialist and manage their people. Also, they've figured without key workers the economy does not grow. I know God is a communist/socialist, he's not a respector of persons and values all rich, poor, whatever he gives to you. It's funny how the communists and socialists can look after their entire countries, with testing, masks and appropriate healthcare facilities and the others who say their rich cannot due to individualism and selfishness. Anyway, this is a time to love your neighbour as yourself, please stay in your house if you are supposed to. You can watch preaching and worship in your house this Easter. If you can't do that read your bible and pray, please. Your profit in going outside shouldn't trump other people's right to live.

Remember Jesus suffered to die for our sins so we could have life. Suffer a tiny bit this Easter so others can do the same. There's no greater love than laying down your life for another, for some of us, all that is, is staying at home and giving up the right to go outside. Be grateful to God for life, for a home, for the money you do have, the food you get to eat, your living family members. I wake everyday feeling so blessed because God has had mercy on me. I don't deserve more than anybody else to have all these things but God has been gracious to me. If you wake up each day during this pandemic with the attitude of being grateful for what you have. I'm telling you all you will have is joy.

Strength is not aggression, fighting with people, trampling on people, being a tough guy or woman. Strength is having a sense of self and esteem no matter what. It's being able to push for what you want in a clean manner and go for it despite the obstacles, it's about not wasting time on unnecessary things and whinging about nonsense. It's coming out stronger when you face hardships and not letting the present sufferings overcome you. The race is not for the swift or the strong but for the one who endures. Who is strong: the one who can bear and maintain their sanity and self during storms.

Happy Easter. Jesus loves you.
Good Friday saw car-bound worshippers come in their dozens to a church service at a Dusseldorf drive-in cinema, amid Germany's COVID-19 lockdown.

"The possibility to be here with many others and recognize people and cars passing by makes me feel the community again," said Derick Hermsen, a local resident. Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Germans to continue respecting restrictions on public life over Easter to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Germany has shut schools, bars, most shops and other facilities, and also has banned gatherings of more than two people in public.

Those restrictions are set to remain in place until at least April 19, and Merkel plans to discuss how to proceed with state governors on Wednesday. Merkel said "we must keep this up over Easter and the days afterwards, because we could very, very quickly destroy what we have achieved."

As of Friday afternoon, Germany had confirmed over 118,200 coronavirus infections and 2,607 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.

Image Credits: AP
Easter Sunday, the holiest day for Christians celebrating Christs resurrection and known for packed pews, finds churches canceling services this year to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.

Some churches are live-streaming services, while others are recording them and posting them online. Some buildings are closed, with others open for private prayer, and strong admonitions to recognize safe distances between parishioners.

Private, closed-door Catholic Masses are being live-streamed by Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron from the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament on Sundays. For times and how to watch, go to aod.org/livemasses.

Vigneron urged followers, on the diocesan website, to believe God can bring good from this time.

While it is not possible for us to gather in our parishes during Holy Week and on Easter, it is possible for us to be connected in other ways, he said. I ask you to remain attentive to aod.org and spiritualcloseness.org for ways to be connected with each other during these days.

Vigneron said it is an unprecedented time for churches.

Unprecedented challenges bring unprecedented graces, he said. If we unite ourselves to the Lord, we will emerge from these days of trial and uncertainty more ready to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.

Individual Catholic parishes have scheduled times for churches to be open for private prayer and confession, and for blessing of Easter baskets.

Protestant churches are suspending live services, as well, until the time of isolation ends.

A sign at Dearborn Congregational Church United Church of Christ, 16350 Rotunda Drive, Dearborn, urges members to Stay safe, stay healthy, stay in prayer, while a sign at First United Methodist Church, 22124 Garrison, Dearborn, reads, This Easter, New Life Means Stay HOME.

The United Church of Christ reminds it followers, online, to remember that, during Easter, God reaches beyond the barriers the world creates.

We are people who know that the Holy Spirit can revive us and will be our strength in times of distress. We can do this. We are the church, the risen body of Christ, the post read.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America posted for its parishioners that their experiences this Easter are remarkably similar to those of the first Easter.

Amidst fear and anxiety and crushing disappointment, we will sing our Alleluias with growing hope, strength, defiance and joy, confident that God loves us completely and has brought us into eternal life, it stated.

For more words of inspiration, go to websites for local churches and their respective denominations.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-11 06:27:08|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

GENEVA/ROME, April 10 (Xinhua) -- As some of the European countries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic are starting to see signs of slowing in infections, the World Health Organization (WHO) sounded a stern warning on Friday against lifting restrictions too soon, saying it could lead to a deadly resurgence of COVID-19.

"In the past week, we've seen a welcome slowing in some of the hardest-hit countries in Europe, like Spain, Italy, Germany and France," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a regular press briefing.

As "some countries are already planning the transition out of stay-at-home restrictions," the WHO chief warned that "lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence."

"The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly," he said, underlining that the WHO is working with affected countries on strategies for gradually and safely easing restrictions.

"PALE RAY OF SUNSHINE"

The novel coronavirus has claimed 13,197 lives in France. But the country is witnessing a decline in the number of critically-ill patients on Friday for a second consecutive day, a "pale ray of sunshine," according to Director General of Health Jerome Salomon.

In Spain, where the total number of infection cases has reached 157,022, and death toll stood at 15,843, the single-day numbers of new cases and related deaths dropped on Friday for the second day in a row, according to the data collected by the Spanish Ministry for Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare.

Italy is also witnessing a drop in those hospitalized and those in intensive care, as total fatalities in the country amounted to 18,849 by Friday.

Nonetheless, Italy remains one of the countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, with nearly 150,000 infections. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday extended the country's national coronavirus lockdown by "at least" additional 20 days to May 3.

Some European countries are already considering relaxing their restriction measures as they see a slowing trend in the number of COVID-19 infections. Austria, for instance, aims to gradually ease the exit restrictions and reopen shops and businesses from mid-April. Switzerland also suggested "the first relaxations" by the end of April.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that a further tightening of restrictions on daily life in Germany is not necessary at present.

"The curve is flattening out," said Merkel at the Chancellery. The latest COVID-19 infection figures in Germany gave "reason for cautious hope." But she stressed that it would be necessary to be "very, very careful" with relaxing the current restrictions.

RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE

The European Union (EU) on Wednesday proposed prolonging travel restriction at its external borders. The European Commission said in a statement that it invited Schengen member states and Schengen associated states to prolong the temporary restriction on non-essential travel to the EU until May 15.

Britain's coronavirus lockdown is to continue as the country heads towards one of its biggest holiday weekends of the year while the death toll keeps growing. The fear was that a relaxation of the lockdown could risk seeing millions of people heading to seaside resorts and tourism hotspots during the four-day Easter holiday which starts Friday and lasts until Monday.

"At this stage, the government continues to gather data to determine the effects of the lockdown and physical distancing measures," said Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Thursday urged people to adhere to social distancing measures during the Easter holiday; Sweden's Home Affairs Minister Mikael Damberg said on Thursday that all forms of travel should be avoided and social distancing be upheld while restaurants should not allow crowds to form in outdoors seating areas as the weather warms.

The Hungarian government will indefinitely extend the lockdown imposed nearly two weeks ago due to the coronavirus epidemic, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on his Facebook page on Thursday.

The WHO chief stressed that decision of lifting restrictions should be made on the condition that transmission is controlled; that sufficient public health and medical services are available; that outbreak risks in special settings like long-term care facilities are minimized; that preventive measures are in place in workplaces, schools and other places where it's essential for people to go; that importation risks can be managed; and that communities are fully aware and engaged in the transition.

Globally, nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to the WHO, as well as more than 92,000 deaths.
New guidelines for Int'l travellers: From South Africa to Mauritius, here is a list of at-risk countries

India will not export hydroxychloroquine to private companies: Report

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Apr 10: India will export anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, high in demand globally, only to foreign governments and not to private companies, as the product is under prohibited or banned category of exports, sources said.

Although exports of this medicine is completely banned, India has decided to export this anti-malarial drug in sync with its global commitment to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

"Hydroxychloroquine continues to be a prohibited item. Private-to-private company or a domestic exporter-to-foreign importer trade is ban. The procedure, which the government is adopting, is to help countries which are in dire need or which are traditionally dependent on India for this medicine or friendly countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan," the sources said.

Hydroxychloroquine drug use may lead to irregular heartbeats, low blood sugar: Study

Explaining the procedure, they said countries that have to import hydroxychloroquine would have to route their application through the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals would assess the requirement sought by that country and see its impact on India's availability and without compromising on India's interests, it would recommend the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to give a licence or go-ahead signal to customs authorities to release the consignment.

DGFT is an arm of the commerce ministry that deals with export- and import-related issues. It is the agency that gives licence or permission or no-objection certificate for exports or imports. On March 25, India banned export of hydroxychloroquine with some exceptions in the midst of views in some quarters that the drug could be used to fight COVID-19.

'Your leadership helping Humanity': Donald Trump thanks Modi for supplying Hydroxychloroquine to US

On April 4, it completely banned the exports without any exception. In a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, US President Donald Trump had sought supply of hydroxychloroquine to the US.

Hydroxychloroquine is an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria. India is the largest producer and exporter of the drug globally. India is learnt to have received requests from over 20 countries including its immediate neighbours Sri Lanka and Nepal for the supply.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry has stated that there is enough stock of hydroxychloroquine in the country, and drug firms are ready to ramp up the production to meet domestic as well as export requirements.

India manufactures 70 per cent of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine. Companies like Zydus Cadila and IPCA are the major manufacturers in the country, according to the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA).

Professor at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said India is the world's largest manufacturer and supplier accounting for about 70 per cent of the world's supplies. In the US market, India accounted for about 47 per cent supply of hydroxychloroquine in 2019, he said.

COVID-19 diplomacy: Why sharing hydroxychloroquine is essential for India

Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA) Executive Director Ashok Kumar Madan has said India currently has an annual installed capacity of around 40 tonnes of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) of hydroxychloroquine. With this capacity, "we can make around 200 million tablets of 200 mg," he has said.

India exported hydroxychloroquine API worth USD 1.22 billion in April-January 2019-20. During the same period exports of formulations made from hydroxycholoroquine was at USD 5.50 billion.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, April 10, 2020, 12:04 [IST]
WHO to officially announce on April 12 the end of 20-month epidemic in eastern DRC that killed more than 2,200 people.

Editors Note: Since the publication of this article, the World Health Organization has announced that a new case of Ebola has been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Therefore, the outbreak will not be declared over on April 12, as previously expected.

Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo  Bold rays of sunshine pour through the windows of the Ebola Treatment Centre in Beni, and along its eerily-deserted hallways lined with biosecure care units.

Outside, in a high-risk zone fenced off by neon orange barriers, a nurse in full protective gear carefully sterilises some medical equipment with chlorinated water. A pair of assistants take stock of medical supplies in a large wooden hut nearby.

It feels strange for this place to be so empty, said Dr Esther Sokolua Perso, head of medical activities at the Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or, MSF) centre since June 2019.

But its an enormous relief.

The Democratic Republic of the Congos (DRC) latest Ebola outbreak, which killed 2,264 of the 3,453 people infected, emerged in eastern North Kivu province in August 2018 and later spread to the neighbouring Ituri province.

At the height of the outbreak, the tenth and by far the DRCs largest, the facility in Beni was the epicentre and home to a highly-active team of more than 130 healthcare workers.

But ever since the last patient in the country, a woman called Masika Mawasu Semida, tested negative on February 17 and was discharged last month in scenes of great jubilation, it has largely lay empty.

The last patient being treated for Ebola in the DR Congo has been discharged  and there have been no new cases for two weeks  Is the Ebola epidemic almost over?  pic.twitter.com/kzsqXz1g7B  Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 5, 2020

The World Health Organization (WHO) is set to declare the outbreak over on April 12  the date marking double the diseases 21-day incubation period since the departure of the last patient  if no other cases emerge.

The feeling is of joy, said Perso, calling the expected end of the outbreak a real success. She added: The team here battled and battled. It wasnt easy. But we did everything we could to save people.

Among those saved were a number of women who were pregnant at the time of contracting Ebola, eight of whom survived with a viable fetus, the first time this has ever been achieved.

Josephine Ekoli last year gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Sylvana after being admitted to Benis Ebola Treatment Centre in December 2018.

I was so afraid at the time, the 29-year-old said. I couldnt have imagined my life being transformed to what it is now.

Mass mobilisation led by the Ministry of Health has proven crucial, with almost 160 million individual screenings for Ebola symptoms at checkpoints around the eastern region since August 2018.

191114133556116

The WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in July 2019, after the highly contagious virus threatened to spread to the large city of Goma and neighbouring countries.

Fortunes changed with the rollout of two vaccines produced by Merck and Johnson & Johnson  which are in clinical study phases and not yet licenced  to immunise more than 300,000 people. Prioritising the contacts of people diagnosed with Ebola was highly effective in halting the severe hemorrhagic fever, which attacks multiple bodily organs and can cause uncontrollable internal bleeding.

In these difficult times, it is a great victory, said Jean-Jacques Muyembe, head of the DRCs Ebola response and director of the National Institute of Biomedical Research.

The vaccines helped turn the tide for us. They have been very effective. But our work is far from over.

Opened in January 2019, this treatment centre responds to the outbreak of new Ebola cases in Katwa. Located in Butembo, Katwa Health Zone covers the western part of this urban area that is home to about one million people [Lisa Veran/Al Jazeera]

Initial efforts to tackle the outbreak of Ebola in the DRC were hampered by long-seething political and social tensions in the countrys volatile eastern region.

The densely-populated North Kivu region surrounding Beni is an active conflict zone where dozens of armed groups have killed more than 1,700 civilians since 2014, according to the database Kivu Security Tracker.

Distrust of the emergency operation was also heightened among many locals who saw international organisations dedicate huge resources to respond to the Ebola outbreak but much less to the other concerns in the destitute region, where malaria, measles and other diseases kill thousands every year.

At the beginning of the epidemic, the response was centralised around important systems like surveillance, patient care and communication, said Berengere Guais, emergency coordinator for MSF in North Kivu. But in retrospect, we needed to involve communities in discussions from the start.

This was compounded by allegations of large-scale embezzlement of resources meant to tackle Ebola, misinformation about aid agencies intentionally spreading the virus and heavy-handed use of force by the Congolese army to enforce rules around burial practices and patient transport  which was later deemed disproportionate in a United Nations report.

The ill-feeling combined with the continuing campaign by armed groups led to 420 attacks on health facilities, resulting in 11 deaths and 86 injuries of health workers and patients, since August 2018.

MSF staff at the Beni centre get ready for their round in the high-risk area [Gabriele Francois Casini/Al Jazeera]

Yet the end of this outbreak is now finally in sight for Perso and her team at the Beni treatment centre, with only a matter of days to count down. However, they will continue to remain on high alert for 80 days after the declaration and will provide care for Ebola survivors as part of an 18-month programme of regular health checkups.

Were still in full response mode, said Dr Gervais Folefack, an incident manager for the WHO in the DRC. We have to remain extremely vigilant because there are many factors that could undo all of our work.

The Ebola virus itself can persist in used medical equipment for weeks and in the bodily fluids of survivors for many months, added Folefack, and in rare cases survivors can relapse. The virus is endemic to the region, with fruit bats believed to be its natural hosts, and a further zoonotic transmission from the species is always possible.

Analyses published in The Royal Society journal last year also warned that the 42-day countdown may not be enough to say with confidence that the epidemic is over because the complex security situation means some cases may have gone undetected.

For now, the celebrations will remain low-key. A planned event at the Beni treatment centre to mark the end of the outbreak was cancelled after the first cases of coronavirus in the city were confirmed last week.

But the occasion will nonetheless be a huge stride forward in the battle against Ebola.

There are no words to describe how grateful I am, says Faustin Kalivanda, who was under treatment at the Beni centre until November 2019 and now works there as a nurse assistant.

This place brought me back to life and Ill never forget it.
Jordan St. Cyr releases his new single "Fires" today. The song, which will be available on all digital platforms beginning tomorrow, is the title track from his upcoming summer EP release.

It was two years ago on a trip to Nashville when St. Cyr attended the Full Circle Music Academy writing camp that this song was birthed. It was inspired by a young man named Nathan who attended the Academy's writers-in-the-round event. Nathan was working as a valet as well as holding down two other jobs to make ends meet, but was so touched by the message of the songs performed that night that he left a note for one of the songwriters, thanking them for the hope he had been given.

The note ended up being shared on socials and went viral. While this young man working three jobs was about to lose everything he owned, the next few days changed his life. Enough money was raised to save his home and pay off some debts.

St. Cyr, a husband and a father of two boys and two girls, shares, "Fires is a song that has become an anthem in our house. It has helped us heal and is giving us a new perspective on pain and suffering."

He continues, "The day after our youngest daughter Emery was born, she had an MRI that revealed a rare brain condition. What we were told next changed our future forever; the left side of her brain was dying. That day, we experienced equal parts joy and sorrow. Our hearts were in a million pieces and for the first time in our lives, our need for God was greater than anything else.

Since then, we've had more doctors' appointments than we can count. Emery has had seizures and several emergency hospital visits. We still have so many more questions than answers but, as we continue to place our hope and trust in Jesus, our faith continues to grow deeper. And we wouldn't trade that for anything.

"Looking back," he concludes, "I realize now that God gave me Nathan's story so I could walk through mine with my daughter, to help me along the way and allow my faith to rise up, to know God has not left me in this trial. Rather, he is walking it with me, guiding me through the pain and refining and purifying my heart that I may know him more."

ABOUT JORDAN ST. CYR:

Manitoba, Canada based artist and worship leader Jordan St. Cyr has been writing sincere melodies and lyrics for many years. As a teen, he served with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) and after that season found the inspiration he needed to create his debut, self-titled EP. Jordan St. Cyr has worked alongside many amazing songwriters, producers, and artists who have encouraged him along his journey. He works closely with Compassion Canada and considers it an honor to share the message of releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

Over the years, he has had the opportunity to play numerous events from homes to churches, to festivals and his own concerts. Through the years, it has been revealed to him, humanity's deep desire for meaningful connection and the hope to find something more vibrant than our current reality. Fires continues on that pursuit of hope, even in our darkest moments. God gives us stories to share and encourage one another through our fires, to give strength in the midst of them.

For more information, please visit his website jordanstcyr.com

Tags : Jordan St.Cyr Jordan St. Cyr fires Jordan St.Cyr news Jordan St. Cyr new single Integrity Music
That last phrase is conspicuous. Barr alleges that this was indeed a political effort to take Trump down - letting that linger - and then pulls it back a bit by allowing for the possibility that it wasn't necessarily intended as such. Barr is a very smart lawyer who knows how to choose his words carefully. The idea that he would carelessly toss out such a firm, final judgment about this being an effort to "sabotage" Trump without believing it or wanting to plant that seed seems extremely unlikely.

It's not difficult to see where this is going. But then again, it wasn't too difficult to see where it was going when Barr was confirmed as attorney general. At the time, it was noted that he said in 2017 that the Russia investigation was less substantiated than various investigations of the Clintons, including one debunked theory involving Uranium One.

"I have long believed that the predicate for investigating the uranium deal, as well as the [Clinton] Foundation, is far stronger than any basis for investigating so-called 'collusion,' " Barr told the New York Times's Peter Baker at the time. "Likewise the basis for investigating various 'national security' activities carried out during the election . . ."
The Congress leader also called up creation of more isolation wards and quarantine centres

Police personnel stand guard in the Phoolbagh area sealed as one of the hotspots in UP. PTI photo

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has called for ramping up testing facilities to check coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, saying it can prove to be a lifesaver in the big state.

In a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, she called for steps that could win over the confidence of everyone by creating a fear-free atmosphere, while keeping aside political ideology, to ensure that people come up voluntarily for testing.

"We are with you in this fight against the pandemic. Coronavirus does not see any religion or caste and affects everyone. In this battle, there is need to take steps by keeping our political ideologies away and help bring people together and create a fear-free atmosphere," she said in her letter.

Stressing on the need for ramping up testing facilities, she said for a state with such a big population "increasing testing can prove to be a lifesaver".

She said state authorities have to conduct testing on more and more people, on "mild to moderate high risk cases" and treat them on a war footing so that there is less pressure on ICUs.

The Congress leader also called up creation of more isolation wards and quarantine centres soon.

She said with reports of community transmission coming from some parts and clusters in urban areas are being formed, she said there are also reports about COVID infected people hiding their disease.

"This is happening because of fear mongering in the society about this disease. Hence it is important, especially in these clusters to provide right information on a war footing in these areas and immediately stop fake news and myths about the coronavirus," she said in her letter.

She also called for taking such steps that people win the confidence of the government and come forward to get testing done voluntarily.

"It is important that the government takes such steps to inspire confidence of people so that they come up voluntarily for testing," she said, while also calling for seeking the help of NGOs and social and political organisations to unitedly fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Making a host of suggestions in her letter to UP CM, the Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh also called for improving sanitation facilities and provision of free ration to the poor and the marginalised.
A total of 180 flights have operated since the beginning of the 21-day lockdown under the 'Lifeline Udan' scheme carrying 258.24 tonnes of cargo as on Thursday, the civil aviation ministry said on Friday.

The 'Lifeline Udan' scheme has been started by the ministry for transport of essential goods through aerial routes at a time when the country is under a lockdown till April 14 to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

"Over 180 flights have been operated under 'Lifeline UDAN' during COVID-19 lockdown, out of which 114 were operated by Air India and Alliance Air. Fifty-eight flights were operated by the IAF," the ministry said in a press release.

It said that on Friday, total 13 flights were operated under the scheme, carrying 10.22 tonnes of cargo.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Confirmation of first infection in war-torn Yemen comes after start of unilateral ceasefire partly to halt virus spread.

Yemen has reported its first coronavirus case in a southern province, raising fears of catastrophic consequences in a healthcare system broken by five years of war.

The first confirmed case of coronavirus has been reported in Hadramout province, Yemens supreme national emergency committee for COVID-19 said on Twitter on Friday.

The committee, run by the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, said the infected patient was in stable condition and receiving care.

The case is in isolation and treatment, all known contacts are being traced and quarantined, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Twitter.

WHO is working closely with [the health ministry] to ensure further rapid containment measures are taken.

Hadramout province has seen some of the worst pockets of malnutrition and disease in the war-torn country.

Control of the large southern province has long been divided. Government forces backed by a Saudi-UAE-led military coalition control the coastal towns, but parts of the interior remain in the hands of al-Qaeda fighters.

The committee said medical teams and concerned authorities had taken all necessary precautions and promised to release further details on the coronavirus case later on Friday.





The patient was a Yemeni working in the port of al-Shihr, a local official told Reuters news agency.

Crippled healthcare system

Following years of war, Yemen already faces what the United Nations describes as the worlds worst humanitarian disaster.

Aid groups have warned that a major outbreak will be disastrous and devastate the countrys gutted healthcare system.

Repeated coalition bombings have destroyed or closed more than half of Yemens health facilities. Deep poverty, severe water shortages and a lack of adequate sanitation have made the country a breeding ground for disease.

Were seeing some of the most richest nations, with their most advanced health systems, unable to cope with this pandemic,Sultana Begum, advocacy manager for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Al Jazeera.

In Yemen, you have millions of people who are hungry, young children who are malnourished, people with life threatening health conditions  In this kind of environment, this pandemic will be deadly, she warned.

Frightening

Yemen has been mired in violence since the Houthi rebels overthrew the government in late 2014, prompting the Saudi-UAE-led coalition to intervene in support of Hadis government. The five-year-old conflict has killed more than 100,000 and pushed millions to the brink of famine.

The coalition announced on Thursday it would halt military operations for two weeks. But a Houthi spokesman said they will not stop fighting while the country is under siege.

We will continue to fight and target their military installations and industrial sites since they continue with the siege. So we dont consider it to be a ceasefire, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a Houthi spokesman, told Al Jazeera on Thursday.





If the virus spreads in Yemen, the impact would be catastrophic as the health status of at least half the population is very degraded and the country does not have sufficient supplies, capabilities or facilities, said UN humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande.

In a statement, Grande said that people across the country have some of the lowest levels of immunity and highest levels of acute vulnerability in the world.

Whats facing Yemen is frightening. More people who become infected are likely to become severely ill than anywhere else, she warned.

Its time for the parties to stop fighting each other and start fighting COVID together.

Saudi Arabia is also scrambling to limit the spread of the disease at home. Its health ministry has reported more than 3,200 coronavirus infections and 44 deaths from the illness.

There are more than 134,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Middle East, including over 5,300 fatalities. Some 4,100 of those deaths are in Iran, which has the largest outbreak in the region. Authorities there have recorded more than 66,000 total cases.
Kansas City Southern (KSU) is expected to deliver a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended March 2020. This widely-known consensus outlook gives a good sense of the company's earnings picture, but how the actual results compare to these estimates is a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price.

The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on April 17. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.

While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.

Zacks Consensus Estimate

This railroad company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.69 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +9.7%.

Revenues are expected to be $712.75 million, up 5.6% from the year-ago quarter.

Estimate Revisions Trend

The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 11.38% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.

Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.

Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Earnings Whisper

Estimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. Our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) -- has this insight at its core.

The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.

Story continues

Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.

A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.

Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).

How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Kansas City Southern?

For Kansas City Southern, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -0.61%.

On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3.

So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Kansas City Southern will beat the consensus EPS estimate.

Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?

While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.

For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Kansas City Southern would post earnings of $1.81 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.82, delivering a surprise of +0.55%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates four times.

Bottom Line

An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.

That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

Kansas City Southern doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Kansas City Southern (KSU) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment Research
A novel clinical trial developed by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine launched today at UPMC to address one of the most important debates during the COVID-19 pandemic: How should doctors decide between quickly adopting new therapies, such as the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, and waiting until they are tested in longer clinical trials?

The solution is to find an optimal tradeoff between doing something now, such as prescribing a drug off-label, or waiting until traditional clinical trials are complete. We've developed a way to do that with an adaptive clinical trial model that relies on a type of artificial intelligence known as reinforcement learning to identify the best, evidence-backed therapy for COVID-19 much faster than using the traditional scientific approach." Derek Angus, M.D., M.P.H., professor and chair, Department of Critical Care Medicine at Pitt and UPMC

Before COVID-19 emerged, Angus and a wide range of international collaborators had developed a platform, called REMAP-Community Acquired Pneumonia (REMAP-CAP), designed to find optimal treatments for severe pneumonia both in non-pandemic and pandemic settings. When COVID-19 began circulating, REMAP-CAP was rapidly adapted, as per its intent, to incorporate additional treatment regimens specifically targeting the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The international team describes the REMAP-CAP platform in a manuscript published today in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society (AnnalsATS).

REMAP (randomized, embedded, multi-factorial, adaptive platform) allows researchers to rapidly test multiple treatment approaches simultaneously at a lower cost and with fewer patients than traditional clinical trials. The REMAP design, first described by Angus in 2015 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), is a flexible version of what are called "adaptive platform trials." "Adaptive platform trials are rapidly being endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others as a long-needed revolution in clinical trials," said Angus, who holds the Mitchell P. Fink Endowed Chair at Pitt.

He compares the REMAP approach to a chef offering a prix fixe menu with appetizer, main course and dessert. The chef may try various combinations, serving sizes and options, sometimes leaving out the appetizer or dessert, and adjusting on the fly as plates come back scraped clean or barely touched, until hitting on the combination that sells best.

The UPMC-REMAP-COVID19 trial, built on the backbone of the REMAP-CAP platform, will be particularly powerful because it is being integrated with the electronic health record system at UPMC, noted Angus. "In a pandemic, doctors will not have the time to debate the pros and cons of every possible clinical trial. By building this one-stop solution at the point-of-care, we are rolling out an approach that can assure that every patient admitted with COVID-19, if they choose to, can be enrolled in the program."

"We must throw out old ways of thinking and fuse clinical care and clinical research into one extremely efficient system," said Angus, who authored a recent viewpoint in JAMA advocating for the "learning while doing" approach. "This is an unprecedented pandemic and we need an unprecedented response."

UPMC-REMAP-COVID19 will open across UPMC's 40-hospital system and begin with multiple treatments tested simultaneously in different combinations -- including hydroxychloroquine, steroids and medications called immunomodulators that alter the responsiveness of the immune system. If new drugs need to be tested, they are simply rolled into the platform as study amendments, rather than tested in separate free-standing trials. All participants will receive the current standard of care, and most also will receive one, two or three of the experimental treatment options. This means that, at launch, only 12.5% of participants will be strictly assigned to the placebo arm of the trial and, within weeks, researchers expect that about 99% of patients will be receiving one or more active therapies specifically targeting COVID-19.

Furthermore, because the UPMC-REMAP-COVID19 platform is connected to the worldwide REMAP-CAP, the trial learns from the entire international experience. REMAP-CAP is enrolling patients with COVID-19 in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and expanding rapidly.

"The trial design uses a machine-learning model that incorporates data from patients enrolled across the world to continuously learn which therapies and combinations of therapies are performing best," explained AnnalsATS co-author Scott Berry, Ph.D., president and senior statistical scientist of Berry Consultants, who worked with Angus and his colleagues to build the statistical model. "Last week, the Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom's National Health Service urged every hospital in the country to participate in this trial. As more institutions join, the model learns faster."

If one of the treatments shows early signs of performing better than the others, patients are automatically enrolled more often into that treatment option. Physicians can be assured that they are always betting on the winning horse in the moment, and poorly performing options are quickly discontinued.

"This allows us to always rapidly identify which treatment works best, while keeping the number of patients needed to achieve statistical significance low," said Angus. "It also means we get the best treatment to the most patients right out of the gate."

The design and implementation of the UPMC-REMAP-COVID19 trial is led by Angus and colleagues at Berry Consultants (Austin, Texas), and supported by UPMC Enterprises.

The design and implementation of REMAP-CAP worldwide is supported by multiple governments and institutions. A complete list of the collaborating authors, institutions and funding agencies can be found in the study.
New Mexicos Indian Affairs Department released a Tribal Response Plan this week to help the states tribes, nations and pueblos address COVID-19.

In a letter sent to leaders this week, Indian Affairs Secretary Lynn Trujillo, a member of Sandia Pueblo, said the plan was created to offer resources and guidance to indigenous communities, while respecting tribal sovereignty. It was developed with input from tribal leaders and public health experts.

In the Pueblos there is a saying: Respect is never severed. Like respect, the values of commitment, love and compassion must also never be severed, Trujillo wrote. By holding true to these values and not allowing the crisis to divide us, our communities will endure and thrive.

Among the mitigation strategies in the plan are stay-at-home orders, limiting entry and exit points on tribal land, a curfew and suspension of gatherings of more than five people.

Especially last week, with the San Felipe outbreak, it became clear that this virus is at our doorstep, said state Rep. Derrick Lente, D-Sandia Pueblo, who helped create the document. But this has really been an all-hands-on-deck approach. We wanted to get this blueprint out to our tribal communities. Here at Sandia Pueblo, we have restrictions on who comes in and who leaves, for the protection of our people.

The Navajo Nation, which has had 22 COVID-19 deaths and 597 cases as of Friday, has implemented a stay-at-home order and a weekend-long curfew to curb the spread of the disease. Many pueblos in New Mexico have done the same, prohibiting visitors and screening residents or essential employees entering the pueblos for COVID-19 symptoms.

Lente said leaders were respectful in offering guidance on the delicate subject of deaths and cultural customs during the coronavirus outbreak.

During this pandemic, it is very important to understand that changes will have to be made to the way in which we gather to mourn, bury and carry out associated cultural activities, Acoma Pueblo Gov. Brian Vallo wrote in an executive order Friday. The Pueblo will offer guidelines to assist families during these difficult times and will provide support with burial.

The Indian Affairs Department recommends tribes follow the states restriction on large gatherings, including the frequent home visits and large community meals that are common cultural customs when a tribal member dies.

Bringing community members together to pay their last respects  whether the person died from COVID-19 or some other cause  creates real possibilities for the virus to be spread by those who may be asymptomatic or who may be recovering from COVID-19, the plan reads.

New Mexicos Indian Affairs Department also echoes federal guidance that personal protective equipment be worn at all times when handling or transporting the deceased.

Tribes and pueblos can seek state and federal assistance in creating incident command centers and COVID-19 test sites.

After a tribal member is confirmed to have COVID-19, the state Department of Health and the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center help trace who else may have been exposed. Tribes are encouraged to identify isolation sites for COVID-19 patients who do not require acute care at a hospital.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation can provide road signs or other resources to restrict public access to tribal land.

Secretary Trujillo told leaders that the states indigenous communities should draw from each others unique strengths during the pandemic.

This is how our people have endured and sustained ourselves since time immemorial, Trujillo wrote.
Pakistan's Army Shoots Down Indian Quadcopter - Reports

Sputnik News

05:13 GMT 09.04.2020(updated 05:42 GMT 09.04.2020)

The quadcopter intruded 600 meters inside Pakistan's territory in order to surveil the Sankh Sector along the Line of Control, according to the Pakistan Army.

"In this provocative act, the Indian quadcopter intruded 600 meters inside Pakistan's territory when conducting surveillance," the Pakistan military's media wing ISPR said in a statement.

The incident took place days after Indian authorities claimed a massive level of infiltration from Pakistan's side in the recent past. Earlier this week, five Indian Army special forces soldiers were killed in an intense close counter operation near the Line of Control.

Pakistan had summoned an Indian diplomat earlier this year to register a protest over unabated violations of the 2003 ceasefire agreement.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






OTTAWA  Manitoba lost more jobs in March than any month recorded over the past four decades, as COVID-19 knocks Canada's economy into a coma.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Manitoba lost more jobs in March than any month recorded over the past four decades, as COVID-19 knocks Canada's economy into a coma.

Some 25,300 Manitobans lost their jobs last month of whom 11,900 were temporarily laid off, before the province ordered even more businesses to close.

"It's really just a sign of how our world has changed so quickly," said Brendon Bernard, an economist with the job-search site Indeed.com.

In its monthly labour force survey released Thursday morning, Statistics Canada reported that 3.1 million Canadians either lost their jobs or worked less than half their normal hours over the week of March 16, as Canada started closing its borders.

"The economy, and society in general, has just gone into a deep freeze," said Bernard, who used to work for Finance Canada.

The numbers put Canadas unemployment numbers around the peak of the 2008 financial crisis, which came after roughly nine months of turbulence, compared with last month's sudden shutdown.

The data are especially dire for those working in restaurants, hotels, recreation and education facilities, with the most notable drops in young and temporary employees.

"The first workers to experience job losses as a result of COVID-19 are among those least able to withstand economic hardship," Statistics Canada suggested in its Thursday analysis.

And while the 2008 recession disproportionally affected North American men in fields like manufacturing, Thursdays data shows women aged 25-54 had a five per cent drop in employment compared to two per cent of men, possibly because women work in more front-line service jobs.

Manitoba faced a lower proportion of job losses than the four big provinces, a less stark gender breakdown.

The province has a slower decline in total hours worked than the national data; Quebec lost double Manitobas drop in labour hours.

Still, 2,700 people in Winnipeg reported losing their jobs during the survey week, and losses were particularly pronounced in Manitobas southeast and southwest.

Wayne Simpson, a University of Manitoba labour-economics professor, noted that the province was also slower to close businesses than jurisdictions harder-hit by the coronavirus.

"We all knew it was going to be bad, but it is still hard to process the numbers."  TD Bank economist Brian DePratto

The weeklong survey was ramping down as Manitoba started limiting how many people could patronize a business, by which point most shops in Ontario and British Columbia had already closed.

And while job losses tend to dominate the publics focus, Simpson said hes keeping an eye on total hours worked and how many Canadians say theyre only temporarily unemployed.

"A lot of workers are either in a state of limbo, or have some indication from their employer they will be hired back," Simpson said.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/SEAN KILPATRICK Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has rolled out a series of benefits, tax breaks and wage subsidies to help those affected by the country's economic slowdown due to COVID-19.

The figures, collected three weeks ago, have likely become much worse, economists warn, given the rise in benefit claims and the drop in online job postings.

"We all knew it was going to be bad, but it is still hard to process the numbers," wrote TD Bank economist Brian DePratto in a Thursday research note.

Despite troubles in the oil patch and trade disruptions, Canada had managed strong employment numbers over the past three years.

"This single report wiped out 40 months of net employment gains, and the worst is yet to come," DePratto wrote.

The Trudeau government has rolled out a series of benefits, tax breaks and wage subsidies. More than 4.5 million claims for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit have been processed.

While more measures are in the works, the parliamentary budget officer estimated Thursday that the aid package already in place will put the federal deficit at 8.5 per cent of Canadas gross domestic product for the first time in 35 years.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Simpson is hopeful the federal benefits minimize the disruption to the Canadian labour market.

"We all hope this will be over with as little pain as possible, but its still early days."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Houston-area arts organizations have formed a coalition to launch an emergency fund for artists and arts workers during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.

The funds are to support artists and individuals who work in the arts whose income has been devastated by the pandemic, as many if not all Houston arts organizations have either canceled or postponed their 2020 seasons.

NEWS YOU NEED NOW: COVID-19 in 60 and Coronavirus Chronicle: The latest news, case counts and commentary

Many artists are considered freelance or contract workers and do not qualify for unemployment benefits. Although the 2020 CARES act passed by Congress last month does include benefits for self-employed individuals and independent contractors, artists and art workers impacted by the pandemic need emergency assistance faster than what the government can supply.

Thats why Houston arts organizations got together to provide an emergency $1,000 relief fund for individuals in the arts community, trying to ease the gap of the nearly $50 million in real and anticipated losses to arts nonprofits, with 75 percent of artists contracts being canceled.

Morning Report: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox

Members of the coalition include the City of Houstons Mayors Office of Cultural Affairs, Dance Source Houston, East End Cultural District, 5th Ward Cultural Arts District, Fresh Arts/Arts District Houston, Galveston Historical Foundation, Houston Arts Alliance, Houston First Corporation, Houston Museum District, Mid-America Arts Alliances Engage Houston, Midtown Cultural District, Theater District Houston, and the University of Houston-Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts.

The Houston Arts Alliance Board of Directors seeded the fund with initial donations, with the funds goal being $100,000.

We got together immediately when the disaster started to coordinate our response, said John Abodeely, CEO of Houston Arts Alliance. When we started to get a clear picture of how much income our artist community was losing because all their contracts were canceled, we agreed to get behind a single artist relief fund that would also support other arts workers. Whether youre a gallerist or an employee who was laid off from the Alley Theater, youre part of our arts ecosystem and can access the funds.

The coalition recognizes that private philanthropy will never fill the gap completely and are continuing to help connect artists to existing resources to help them survive.

The fund is about basic needs, said Houston Arts Alliance Partner Joe Brettell. We have an industry of workers that work in what is considered an unstable industry by the Texas Workforce Commission. Rent, food, housing, these basic securities are what were working on. Right now were just trying to keep people in their homes.

Donations are requested at https://bit.ly/GHAAReliefFund.

To see if you qualify for relief, go to https://bit.ly/Apply4ArtsRelief.

ryan.nickerson@hcnonline.com
By Victoria Waldersee LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese berry growers unable to sell their produce because of the coronavrius lockdown will be compensated at 40% of the market price if they donate it to charity, the agriculture ministry said. Restrictions on travel because of the novel coronavirus have left the country with few workers, many of whom come from outside of the European Union, for the berry-picking season.

By Victoria Waldersee

LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese berry growers unable to sell their produce because of the coronavrius lockdown will be compensated at 40% of the market price if they donate it to charity, the agriculture ministry said.

Restrictions on travel because of the novel coronavirus have left the country with few workers, many of whom come from outside of the European Union, for the berry-picking season.

The agriculture ministry is encouraging the Portuguese to buy local produce, but consumers are avoiding fresh fruit as they limit their shopping trips to try to avoid contagion.

Portugal has so far confirmed 13,956 cases of the coronavirus cases and 409 deaths, a relatively low toll, especially compared with neighbouring Spain and Italy.

But restrictive measures in Portugal and other countries have led to a drastic drop in demand just as the fields fill with ripe berries.

"Blueberry season starts in a week or two, and prospects are pretty dark," Luis Pinheiro, head of an association of 42 berry growers, told Reuters, adding the group will deliver ten tonnes of raspberries to a food bank in Lisbon next week.

"On the one hand, if the market gets worse, unfortunately, we won't need more people. But if it's not too bad, and demand returns, we won't have enough," he said.

Hundreds of staff who went home to Ukraine or Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Bangladesh or Pakistan for the winter season are stuck with no way of returning.

The European Commission is supporting agricultural workers within the bloc to help them return to their places of work - but there is no solution in place for those stuck outside the Schengen open border zone.

Farming associations have asked the government to set up a scheme of incentives for Portuguese workers whose jobs have been temporarily suspended because of the crisis - over 640,000, according to the latest figures - to work in the fields.

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; editing by Andrei Khalip and Barbara Lewis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
SALEM, Ore.  The Oregon Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will provide an additional $60 million of benefits to eligible households, the Oregon Department of Human Services announced Thursday.

This breaks down to $30 million more in benefits for April and May each.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Oregonians are facing unprecedented economic instability and food insecurity, said DHS Director Fariborz Pakseresht. This emergency assistance will help address the food needs our neighbors and communities are suddenly facing.

SNAP households will automatically receive the extra benefits, officials said.

Households that already receive the maximum benefit will not receive the additional benefits.

Officials plan to disburse the additional benefit on April 10 for current eligible households and April 29 for new SNAP customers. The following month, the dates are May 8 and May 28, respectively.

For more information, click here.
As struggling San Francisco restaurants pin their hopes of staying open on delivery and takeout orders, city officials have stepped in to lower the commissions charged by the makers of apps like Uber Eats, Grubhub, DoorDash, Caviar and Postmates.

Typically, these companies charge commissions that range from 10% to 30% of an order. On Friday, Mayor London Breed announced a temporary cap of 15% on commissions. The cap will remain in effect for the duration of the local state of emergency, or until restaurants are able to open again for dine-in service.

San Francisco is the first city in California to take such action on behalf of restaurants. Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safai, who said they initiated the talks about the commission caps, joined Breed in making the announcement Friday.

Some local chefs and restaurateurs see the fast-tracked order, which comes a week after The Chronicle reported on the issue of Bay Area restaurants struggling with onerous delivery fees, as a financial lifeline for an industry in crisis. But while restaurants breathe a sigh of relief, local delivery companies say the order could trigger an increase in delivery order costs and lower pay for delivery drivers.

In a statement announcing the order, Peskin said the commission limit was necessary because delivery companies have refused to adjust their fees and are profiting immensely off a public health crisis. As for the 15% number, Safai said it was determined after listening to concerns from chefs and business owners.

Restaurants across San Francisco are struggling to stay open. In these tough financial circumstances, every dollar counts and can make the difference between a restaurant staying open, or shuttering. It can make the difference between staying afloat or needing to lay-off staff, said Breed in the statement.

Food delivery operations are exempt from Marchs shelter-in-place order, which called for most businesses open to the public to close. It allowed restaurants to stay open but only for takeout and delivery service.

The city order addresses fees restaurant owners pay. It does not address charges that customers pay for orders delivered to their doors. A recent study by TechCrunch found that service, delivery and other fees could add 17% to 40% to a delivered meals cost. Some delivery companies offer a subscription service, which, in exchange for a monthly or annual fee, waives or reduces fees on individual deliveries. Sometimes delivery fees are reduced in exchange for promotions within an app, with the cost of the delivery for the consumer subsidized by the fee the restaurant pays. The order could well prompt the app companies and restaurants to pass on more costs of delivery to consumers.

San Francisco is a center of the delivery-app industry. Three of the four biggest players are based in the city  Postmates, Uber and DoorDash, which recently bought the smaller Caviar service while Grubhub is headquartered in Chicago. The four companies responded to the emergency order in a joint statement Thursday, which called the action a rushed, arbitrary policy.

A proposed cap on these commissions would result in fees for consumers rising and service areas shrinking, cutting off consumers from the services they rely upon in this crisis. Delivery people  who are currently relying on on-demand work opportunities to earn an income  would have fewer work opportunities and lower earnings. And restaurants that need revenue to maintain operations would see fewer orders, potentially forcing more of these businesses to close their doors, the companies said.

How restaurant commissions are determined, how they change depending on the markets, and how an app maker uses the fees are complex questions whose answers vary from company to company. The delivery companies said fees are commonly used to cover operating costs, including background checks, insurance costs, marketing, technology related to payment processing and app maintenance. Most important, the companies said the commission fees ensure that delivery people earn a fair amount for their work.

We support efforts to help the hospitality industry, which is why weve focused the majority of our efforts on driving demand to independent local restaurants  a key concern of our partners during these unprecedented times, an Uber representative told The Chronicle via email. Regulating commissions would force all delivery platforms to radically alter the way we do business, which could ultimately hurt those that were trying to help the most: customers, small businesses and delivery people.

San Francisco is home to around 4,000 restaurants, most of which are small businesses operated on tight budgets by only a handful of employees. Since the shelter-in-place order took effect, restaurants have grown increasingly dependent on delivery service, but many owners have been vocal about how commission fees are hurting the industry.

Some chefs in the East Bay discussed potentially boycotting the apps with 30% commission fees earlier this year, but the efforts were halted once the coronavirus spread turned into a pandemic.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Anthony Lucas, who owns a small baking operation in San Francisco called Anthonys Cookies, uses Grubhub as a delivery service. He said the 30% commission fee often gets passed along to the consumer. By capping the fees, he said customers could actually see lower prices on delivery menus.

Thats why the delivery menus are more expensive, we just take that fee and we have to give it to the customers, he said. We adjust how we have to, but right now were all getting hit during this. This cap is going to be better for all of us.

Delivery companies have taken various steps to support small food businesses over the last month. Grubhub is running a Supper for Support program, which provides discounts on orders during specific times, and is meant to drive business to restaurants. Grubhub provided $30 million in funding for the initiative.

Uber Eats has waived delivery fees for customers ordering from small business restaurants, and also waived commissions on pickup orders done through the app.

Postmates is waiving commission fees for new restaurants in the city looking to use the delivery platforms as their singular source of revenue. Similarly, DoorDash and its Caviar subsidiary are reducing commission fees by 50% for more than 150,000 restaurants in the U.S., Canada and Australia, beginning April 13 through the end of May.

Breed highlighted other measures in the February emergency declaration, of which the cap is now a part, to support small businesses. Among the other initiatives from Breeds office are the addition of $10 million toward the Workers and Families First Paid Sick Leave Program; $9 million toward the Emergency Loan Fund, providing up to $50,000 in zero-interest loans for individual small businesses; and $2.5 million in support for working artists and arts and cultural organizations financially affected by the coronavirus.

In a related measure to help the restaurant industry and delivery drivers, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Friday urged insurance companies to extend insurance coverage for drivers who are using their personal vehicles for drop-offs from essential businesses, including restaurants. The department is also asking for coverage to be extended to motorcycle and bicycle riders.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
The ACLU of D.C. and Public Defender Services sued the citys Corrections Department last month, claiming it did not take basic health measures to stop the spread of coronavirus. The D.C. jail has reported 47 positive cases, a figure that includes inmates who officials say have recovered. On Friday it reported its first instance of a positive case from an inmate who resides in the central detention facility, the largest part of the jail.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines)  People all around the globe, including the Philippines, celebrated the Earth Hour through digital activities this year amid the coronavirus crisis.

On March 28, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), held different activities through digital platforms to celebrate the annual Earth Hour.

WWF-Philippines national ambassadors Marc Nelson and Rovilson Fernandez hosted the Conservation Conversations, to allow Filipinos from all across the country to participate.

Meanwhile, musicians Johnoy Danao, Ebe Dancel, and Bullet Dumas performed for a digital concert thrown by Gabay Kalikasan as part of their own Earth Hour celebration.

In the midst of this crisis we are all reminded that we are connected and we can only address this if we act as one. Earth Hour calls for our united and sustained response to care for our environment. We need to realize what is important, WWF-Philippines Executive Director Joel Palma said.

Through digital events, digital participation was observed in 190 countries and territories, and #EarthHour2020 and its related hashtags made 3.1 billion impressions globally. Earth Hour 2020 also trended on Twitter and Google Search in 37 countries.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of lives from the COVID-19 outbreak and our thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones or who are sick. In this hour of crisis, we need to unite now more than ever to safeguard our future and the future of our planet. It is a time for solidarity and a time to respond to challenges more creatively and work more collaboratively, which is why Earth Hour is being marked through digital events across the globe, said WWF International Director General Marco Lambertini.

With the launch of their new campaign, WWF-Philippines asked everyone to help #ChangeTheEnding on the current environmental crisis.

Earth Hour Philippines 2020 served as a rallying point for the next five years of conservation work for the organization, as it seeks to instill a sense of urgency in the public for the most pressing environmental issues while urging governments, businesses, and individuals alike to contribute in solving them.
KENT COUNTY, MI -- Kent Countys coronavirus COVID-19 cases climbed by 24 Thursday, but health officials say theyre still encouraged by the data.

The total cases in Kent County is now at 240, up from 216 a day earlier. The county add one death, bringing the total to 10.

Kent County Health Department data, now shown on a three-page dashboard on the countys web site, now includes racial data for COVID-19 cases.

In Southeast Michigan and across the country, a major concern is that COVID-19 cases are disproportionately affecting African American residents.

In Muskegon County, for example, about 59 percent of the cases involve African American residents while census data shows the countys black population at 18 percent.

Michigan coronavirus deaths top 1,000

In Kent County, the number of black residents with COVID-19 was at 45 on Thursday, representing 19 percent of the countys total cases. African Americans make up about 10.5 percent of the countys population, according to the latest census data.

Of the 45 black residents with COVID-19, 42 live in the urban area of Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Walker, Wyoming and Grandville.

The toll COVID-19 is having on African Americans has garnered state and national attention as similar disparities are repeated elsewhere. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday announced the creation of a state task force to examine the reasons for the increased toll of COVID on African Americans and other minorities.

Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the states chief medical executive, said reasons for the higher toll on African Americans could include the fact they are disproportionately impacted by poverty, working in lower-wage jobs, unable to work from home, needing to use public transportation, lack the ability to isolate sick individuals in their home appropriately, or disproportionately have a higher rate of chronic health conditions.

Among Kent Countys total cases, 53 percent are female and 47 percent are male.

In Ottawa County, data provided by the county health department shows 59 total cases, up by only three from the previous day. The county has had one COVID-19 death. About 25 percent of the people who tested positive required hospitalization.

Kent County Health Department Director Adam London said he remains encouraged by the countys numbers.

In a Facebook video posted Thursday, London said the county is continuing to extend its days to double ratio for COVID-19 cases. As of Thursday morning, it was 8.6.

The ratio previously was 7.9 and, before that, 6.3.

This is a strong indication that the things that (the public) is doing is working, he said.

For more statewide data, visit MLives coronavirus data page, here.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here

Thursday, April 9: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.

Coronavirus cases are growing outside metro Detroit and rural Michigan isnt ready

Pfizer aims to create coronavirus vaccine by end of 2020
Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire when it resorted to unprovoked firing and shelling from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector in frontier Kashmir district of Kupwara. According to Army sources, Pakistani troops opened firing towards the Indian positions along the LoC in Keran sector around 1:12 pm." "The Army retaliated to the Pakistani firing in equal measure," they added. Sources further said that Pakistani troops were resorting to firing to help militants to sneak into this side. However, they said troops were on high alert to foil any infiltration bid from Pakistan where a huge number of trained militants are waiting in launching pads to sneak into this side.

Read: Pakistan Contributes To SAARC Covid Fund Proposed By PM Modi, Skips Trade Official Meet

'Indian Army launched a daring operation'

Divulging further details, sources said a huge number of militants are waiting on launching pads in PoK to infiltrate into this side. However, troops were alert and prepared to foil any attempts by militants to sneak into this side to create a disturbance. Recently, 5 terrorist militants and an equal number of soldiers were killed as the Army foiled an infiltration bid by terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmirs Kupwara district.

Read: Petty Pakistan Skipped India-led SAARC Covid Meeting Citing 'Secretariat Didn't Spearhead'

A Defense spokesperson said in a statement issued today, Indian Army launched a daring operation at the Line of Control and engaged Pakistan supported infiltrators in a close quarter battle in heavy snow, neutralizing the entire infiltrating batch of five." Four soldiers under the command of a Junior Commissioned Officer from elite Para units were heli dropped near the LoC after information on the infiltrators was received. An intense hand to hand battle ensued and all five terrorists were eliminated, the statement said and added, Army lost five of its soldiers, three on the site and two more succumbed while they were airlifted to a nearby military hospital."

Pertinently, with COVID-19 pandemic spreading chaos everywhere, the Pakistan army is trying to take advantage of the crisis and push militants into Jammu and Kashmir. In recent days, several attempts were made by the infiltrators with the Pakistani army giving them covering fire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.

Read: Pakistan Media Reports Fake News, Claims British PM Boris Johnson Has Succumbed To Covid

Read: Pak Troops Violate Ceasefire Along LoC In Poonch
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, Delta Air Lines has suspended several technology projects, impacting over 1,300 staff at its outsourcing partners in the US and India, The Economic Times reported.

Airlines across the globe have been hurt after several countries, including India, closed their borders to contain the spread of COVID-19. Many have either halted operations completely or are operating a small number of flights.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Delta has contracts with software majors Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant and IBM.

Follow LIVE updates on the COVID-19 pandemic here

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"We have made a tough, but necessary decision to reduce contractor positions as Delta manages the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to its business," a spokesperson for the airline told The Economic Times.

Several service providers, which work to support Delta and other companies, have informed approximately 1,300 contractors within the IT organisation that their work assignments at Delta are suspended, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson also said the airline is giving contractors an "opportunity to be placed with other clients".

IBM and Cognizant had not responded to a request for comment by The Economic Times.

"We have strategic relationships with our customers in this sector (airlines and hospitality) and we are partnering with them closely to help them navigate through the crisis. We will be unable to provide any further customer specific information," a TCS spokesperson told the publication.

Delta and Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) are working with fewer vendors in some areas, since they have suspended nearly 90 percent of their services, a source told The Economic Times.

Follow our full coverage here
By Delana Isles

IN MANY parts of the world, governments, non-profits and private individuals are providing humanitarian aid to vulnerable families who are affected by the adverse effects of Covid-19.





The tourism dependent Caribbean is struggling in the wake of the pandemic, which has already negatively affected the tourism and service sectors across the region.





To halt the spread of the virus, the TCI, like many other countries throughout the world has had to resort to drastic measures, closing down its borders and implementing stringent curfew orders.





As a result of these measures and the slowdown of the economy, it is anticipated that many individuals will inevitably become vulnerable.





The TCI Government is working along with non-governmental organisations and companies to provide some humanitarian support to ensure families are fed during the economic ambiguity.





Hon. Karen Malcolm, Minister with responsibility for the Department of Social Development, this week said a multi-sectoral response is now being undertaken.





The aim is to meet immediate health emergency care and response needs, while ensuring that a social safety net is created to support people whose income may drastically reduce during this crisis, and to protect the rights of the most vulnerable citizens.





This multi-sectoral committee comprises of the ministry, public and private sector groups such as the TCI Hotel and Tourism Association (TCHTA), Red Cross, and the Salvation Army.





The committee is working with churches, district commissioners, community leaders and private sector groups to update and expand the existing list of those that may need humanitarian support.





Minister Malcolm is advising against residents conducting distribution on their own.





"Given the peculiarities of this pandemic and the need to maintain social distancing, it is not advisable to establish a standard soup kitchen, as such plans are afoot to establish an efficient front door delivery system to all registered persons.





She added that in addition to the current list being compiled of those who are and who may become vulnerable, persons who need assistance are advised to contact the department.





The department can be reached at 242-0436 in Grand Turk, 243-0435 in Providenciales and 242-6274 in general. Residents are encouraged to call if they need assistance.





The minister stated: "During these times, with the many challenges our country is facing, our vulnerable populations still remain at the forefront of our priorities.





"We are taking an active role in ensuring that families do not go hungry and are able to feed their children.





"I applauded the goodwill and kind gesture of support we have received thus far from the private sector, NGO and PPS and wish to encourage other private sector business that wish to join us in this humanitarian effort to reach out to us at [email protected] and make your pledge.





Immediate relief needed

Meanwhile, asked what their constituency heads are doing to help their constituents, the Progressive National Party said they as an institution are not permitted to offer financial support.





Chairman Calvin Green told Weekly News that the party continues to advocate that the Government provide real and immediate stimulus relief to every citizen of the TCI, "not just a narrow section of the population that was targeted in the Government stimulus package.





He added: "The PNP as an institution is not permitted to offer financial assistance to the citizens as this would be considered as treating which is subject to scrutiny by the Integrity Commission.





"However, we encourage those citizens who have the ability to offer assistance to the needy during these tough times to do so directly.





"I am aware of persons and groups delivering food items and care packages to the elderly and needy in several communities over the past two weeks. We commend those persons for their acts of kindness.





Green said he is in dialogue with a group of party supporters who are discussing the logistics for operating a food distribution centre for people not able to provide hot meals for themselves.





"However, the challenge of limited mobility brought about by the curfew is their greatest concern.





"We hope that the curfew will soon be lifted so that they can provide this much-needed assistance to the public.





The party chairman observed that the trickledown effect of this pandemic has affected every citizen of the country.





"We are all in this together, and the executive of the party has issued instructions to all of our candidates to use this downtime to be our brothers keeper, call and check up on as many persons as possible in their respective constituency to make sure that they are managing and coping during these very difficult times.




2020 was supposed to be a groundbreaking year in cannabis legalization throughout the country, and now these efforts are all but torched for the foreseeable future. The novel coronavirus has swept across the nation state by state, and it has damaged legalization efforts on every level.

Social distancing in the first place is keeping legislators from meetingor even holding and signing paperworkregarding legalization bills. People are scared. They dont want to touch a pen or paper, Melissa Fults, executive director of Arkansas for Cannabis Reform said. All we can do is sit and wait.

Several states have put ballot referendums on hold indefinitely while they try to handle the current chaos of acquiring enough medical equipment for their hospitals and financial assistance for their residents. Most notable is New York, who had failed to pass legal cannabis in 2019 and swore to make it happen this year. Gov. Andrew Cuomo asserts that his state only has enough ventilators to get him through a couple more days, so I could imagine that getting smokable substances to the citizens he represents would be the last thing on his mind.

When asked about his promised efforts to legalize cannabis in New York, Cuomo said, Too much [to deal with], too little time.

This is in stark contrast to the cannabis economy, which is currently soaring. Patients are stockpiling left and rightfearful that they will lose access to their medication at some pointwhile recreational users are buying up whatever they can to help them pass the time in self isolation more enjoyably.

That brings me to the next big problem: even if people could get together to lobby, its extremely difficult for these advocacy groups to make a case for cannabis legalization when the primary form of cannabis use is through smoking and vaping marijuana. The National Institute on Drug Abuse recently announced, Because it attacks the lungs, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could be an especially serious threat to those who smoke tobacco or marijuana, or who vape.

Smoking any substance is known to cause some level of inflammation to the lung and airways, the very area of the body that COVID-19 aggressively attacks. Illegal dealers in New York City alone have reported a 50 percent increase in sales since the outbreak of this pandemic, so it stands to reason that more and more people are putting themselves at higher risk than before, when they need to be at their healthiest. This does, at least, make a strong case for legalization in that people need access to safer methods of cannabis consumption, like edibles and beverages infused with THC.

Unfortunately, the canvasserswho would normally foresee these consequences and already be out there trying to amass signatures on petitions to campaign for legalization effortsare stuck inside their own homes. Going door to door to collect signatures could bring COVID-19 right to peoples doors and transmit it to the canvassers as well. I wont even get my mail without a can of Lysol spray in hand anymore; I definitely dont want to touch a clipboard or tablet thats been passed around to countless other people.

Its safe to say that many states will be forced to table marijuana legalization until 2021 or even 2022, but some states with July deadlineslike Arizona, Arkansas and Nebraskastill have hope for some success as long as they can get back out in the field by early May. Grassroots organizers in Arkansas are brainstorming creative ways to canvas, like having people pull up to pop-up campaign drives and sign from their cars.

What we need to remember is the long-term game here. Cannabis legalization efforts may be getting pulverized right now, but the cannabis industry is taxed heavily, and when the economy is in a slump after all this is over, that extra cash flow will start looking mighty handsome to state and federal governments. The states that receive most of their revenue from oil and gasnow valued at record-breaking low priceswill be forced to seek funding elsewhere. Its almost like New Mexico should consider diversifying its income! As with seemingly every other sector of life right now, we just have to hang in there and see what happens.
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday lauded the steps taken by the state government in tackling Covid-19, such as helping the poor during the lockdown, protecting doctors and announcing incentives for frontline workers.

Dealing with five PILs on Thursday, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice T. Amarnath Goud, observed: The Telangana government is doing its best to curb the further spread of Covid-19 cases they are trying their level best to ensure that coronavirus does not spread further.

The High Court had converted letters addressed to it by various advocates into PILs. These letters had highlighted issues such as the sufferings of migrant labour, attacks on doctors, complaints that the paramedical staff was not being provided personal protection equipment (PPE) and private hospitals being permitted to levy a fee for the Covid-19 test.

During the previous hearing, the court had asked for a report from the government on the steps initiated to curb the epidemic.

On Thursday, after it went through the interim report submitted by the state government explaining the steps initiated by it, the bench opined that the government was on the right track to curtail the disease. The court asked the petitioners to report to officials if they noticed any flaws in the governments approach.

When an advocate asked for all doctors and medical staff to be provided with N-95 masks, Justice Chauhan observed, The Telangana state government is not sitting with its hands folded; rather it is fighting the Covid-19 menace 24 hours a day. There is a huge gap between demand and supply of N-95 masks and other equipment not only in Telangana state but in the entire world. On this issue, one cannot blame the Telangana state government.

Every country in the world is trying to find a way out of this situation, the Chief Justice said.

Advocate-General B.S. Prasad informed the bench that the government had ordered a sufficient number of N-95 masks. He said every returnee from the event at the Markaz mosque in Nizamuddin, Delhi, had been traced as well as a major portion of their contacts, and they have been quarantined.

The bench inquired about the situation of migrant labour and supply of food and medicines to them and directed the government to submit a more extensive report with all facts and figures. The hearing was adjourned to April 15.
Harvey Weinstein leaves a Manhattan courthouse on Feb. 5. (John Minchillo / Associated Press)

Former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, weeks after being sent to prison in New York and already facing prosecution in Los Angeles, has been charged with an additional count of sexual assault in connection with the alleged 2010 attack of a woman at a Beverly Hills hotel, Los Angeles County prosecutors announced Friday.

Weinstein, who was previously charged with four counts of forcible sexual assault and battery in L.A., will now face an additional charge of sexual battery by restraint in connection with a May 2010 incident, Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said in a statement.

We are continuing to build and strengthen our case, Lacey said in a statement. As we gather corroborating evidence, we have reached out to other possible sexual assault victims. If we find new evidence of a previously unreported crime, as we did here, we will investigate and determine whether additional criminal charges should be filed.

Prosecutors said Weinstein's accuser in the 2010 case was first interviewed by law enforcement last October. Investigators believed she could be a corroborating witness at Weinstein's pending Los Angeles trial, where he faces charges of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint.

Charges filed against Weinstein on Jan. 6 in Los Angeles stemmed from alleged encounters at hotels in L.A. and Beverly Hills in February 2013. An Italian model, who gave an extensive interview to The Times in 2017, said Weinstein forced himself on her in the Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel after they met at the Los Angeles Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest.

The woman said that she showed Weinstein pictures of her children and begged him to stop during the alleged attack.

He grabbed me by the hair and forced me to do something I did not want to do, she said.

Days later, prosecutors allege, Weinstein invited a woman to his room at a West Los Angeles hotel after a business meeting in the hotel's restaurant and then trapped her in a bathroom where he groped her while masturbating.

Story continues

The woman, Lauren Young, later testified about the allegation at Weinstein's criminal trial in New York City. While on the stand, Young said the attack took place at the Montage Hotel and noted another woman was present and aided Weinstein by closing the door to the bathroom and leaving her alone with the mogul.

Prosecutors have not said if that person will be charged. The criminal complaint against Weinstein, however, noted that an "accomplice" aided him in restraining the victim in both the May 2010 assault and the attack described by Young. Greg Risling, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, said the reference to an accomplice in connection with the May 2010 attack was "typical charging language" that did not "reflect the facts of the case."

The Times does not publish the names of alleged victims in sexual assault cases unless they come forward publicly.

Weinstein, 68, was sentenced to 23 years in prison last month after being found guilty of rape and committing a criminal sexual act in New York. He is being held in a state prison, where sources said he tested positive for the coronavirus several weeks ago.

On Friday, a source close to Weinstein said the mogul has recovered from the illness. The source spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the mogul's health candidly. New York state corrections officials have declined to comment on Weinstein's health due to federal privacy laws.

L.A. County prosecutors have begun the process of extraditing Weinstein to California, but it remains unclear when a trial might begin since court business has been severely limited by coronavirus restrictions and Weinstein's attorneys have said they plan to appeal his conviction in New York.

Calls and emails to Weinstein's spokesman and Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney were not immediately returned.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
Voice of America (VOA), the US-funded global media outlet, is amplifying Chinese propaganda on coronavirus, the White House said, launching a tirade against the network that broadcasts in multiple languages mostly in the developing world.

The White House in its newsletter 1600 Daily was referring to the VOA's broadcast terming the lockdown in China's Wuhan, the epicentre of the pandemic, as a "successful model" copied by many countries.

The newsletter 1600 Daily gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the White House, the official residence and workplace of the president of the US.

It also provides a daily summary of and events from the White House.

"Journalists should report the facts, but VOA has instead amplified Beijing's propaganda. This week, VOA called China's Wuhan lockdown a successful 'model' copied by much of the world and then tweeted out a video of the Communist government's celebratory light show marking the quarantine's alleged end, the White House said.

Even worse, while much of the US media takes its lead from China, VOA went one step further: It created graphics with Communist government statistics to compare China's coronavirus death toll to America's. As intelligence experts point out, there is simply no way to verify the accuracy of China's numbers, the White House alleged.

VOA is a global network funded by American taxpayers. It spends about USD 200 million each year on its mission to tell America's story and present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively to people around the globe, the White House said in its daily newsletter.

Today, however, VOA too often speaks for America's adversaries not its citizens. The coronavirus pandemic is no exception. Secrecy from the Communist Party of China allowed the deadly virus to spread across the world, it said.

The coronavirus story is just one example of this pattern, it said.

Last year, VOA helped highlight the Twitter feed of Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif while he was issuing threats against the US and sharing Russian anti-US propaganda videos, the White House said.

VOA will represent America, its guiding Charter reads. And for years after its founding during World War II, VOA served that mission by promoting freedom and democracy across the world for audiences who longed for both.

Today, VOA is promoting propaganda instead and your tax dollars are paying for it, alleged the White House.

Primarily viewed by foreign audiences, VOA produces digital, TV and radio content in 47 languages. Based out of Washington, DC, VOA is overseen by the US Agency for Global Media, an independent agency of the government.

Funds are appropriated annually by Congress under the budget for embassies and consulates.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
I hadnt talked with any local business owners who didnt brim with worry, in manner if not in words, until I called Louis Barrios last week.

Barrios, head of the family that owns Los Barrios Mexican Restaurant on Blanco Road and three other eateries in San Antonio, has every reason to be fearful. His small empire has mostly gone dark.

The main job of his 24 office employees now is to find the money to survive. Theyre busy working out bank loans, tapping lines of credit and nailing down a partnership with another company to bring in some revenue.

Theyre also dealing with the 1,001 issues stemming from the layoff of about 200 workers. In addition to filling out a mountain of paperwork, Barrios said, hes trying to help former employees find jobs elsewhere. Some of them had worked in his restaurants for decades.

Hes keeping about 75 workers on the payroll as part-timers, sharing them with other companies or allowing them to collect partial unemployment benefits.

San Antonios hospitality industry was the first to be dragged down by stay-at-home orders, imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Conventions have been canceled en masse. Hotels across the city have closed. Bars and restaurants are off-limits to sit-down customers.

Thousands of service workers are out of jobs.

As if we needed more proof that this crisis is an economy killer, we learned Thursday that the San Antonio city government faces a $100 million budget shortfall, largely because tourism is comatose and its tax dollars have stopped flowing. The city has furloughed 270 employees.

Not even government workers are safe. Its that bad.

And yet when I began my interview with Barrios by saying he must be anxious, he cut me off. I dont know why you say that, he said, without a hint of coyness.

Barrios, 59, is deeply religious, which helps. After spending the first 15 years or so of his adulthood running amok spiritually, he embraced his Christian faith in 1990.

Im not understanding whats happening  but I dont have to, said Barrios, a congregant at the Abundant Life Church of God. I have trust in the Lord.

Despite his outward calm, he counts coronavirus as the third major upheaval in his life. The first was when a drunken driver killed his father, Jose, in 1975, pushing Barrios, his mother, Viola, and his two sisters into poverty. The second came 12 years ago with the grisly murder of Viola at the hands of a teenage neighbor.

She had opened Los Barrios in 1979 with a pittance  $2,500.

Barrios has built on the foundation his mother laid, opening three restaurants on the North Side: La Hacienda De Los Barrios, La Hacienda Scenic Loop and Violas Ventanas.

Hes conservative in the same way as a lot of other older San Antonio business owners. He thinks most politicians have little, if any, notion how business really works. Hes wary of government policies that, as he sees it, trample on his industry.

Barrios was an outspoken opponent of city clampdowns on smoking in restaurants, first under Mayor Ed Garza and later under Mayor Julian Castro. The marketplace was already heading in that direction, he said.

He was less vocal about the mandatory paid sick leave ordinance that City Council adopted last year. But as he pointed out, hes a board member of the San Antonio Restaurant Association, which is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit to upend the ordinance.

His feelings about the multiple stay-at-home orders are harder to read. The decision they made  that is, Mayor Ron Nirenberg, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and Gov. Greg Abbott  is above my pay grade, he said. And the data they were looking at is above my pay grade.

Barrios is seeking four loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, one for each of his restaurants, which operate as separate businesses. The program is part of the $2 trillion stimulus approved by Congress. It allows small to midsize companies to borrow from a $350 billion fund to meet payroll, pay rent and utilities, and cover other operating expenses; if they retain or rehire their workers, the loans will be forgiven.

A little more than a week after the programs launch, banks and credit unions are choking on the torrent of loan requests. Its a marker of the desperation felt by small-business owners.

Last week, a San Antonio bank executive defended lenders handling of PPP loan applications, saying, Its something were doing because our customers really need it  its life or death for some of them.

Does Barrios have qualms about seeking what is effectively a government bailout?

Of course not, he said. Government is intervening to get people to not come together. Thats never happened here before.

If you want people to social-distance and you want small businesses to survive, then youd better give them the means to survive.

greg.jefferson@express-news.net
COVID-19 has brought an abrupt halt to typical daily life and has transformed our reliance on technology beyond what we imagined possible. This could not be truer, perhaps, for mental health supports.

In the United States alone, millions of Americans live with mental illnesses, and less than half of them receive the support they need. The COVID-19 impact exponentially amplifies this concern, given lack of physical access to providers due to stay-at-home orders across the country. Hospitals are overwhelmed by the influx of infected patients, and so other health issues such as psychiatric concerns, while still ever pressing, become a challenge to address. This raises the critical question: Will COVID-19 transform mental health care in the United States? We think so, and we hope it is here to stay.

Telehealth has long been viewed as a viable solution to addressing access and engagement barriers to mental health supports. The implementation of the technology, however, has been slow and stubborn due to a number of bureaucratic hurdles in the private and public sectors.

Empirical studies consistently find that telehealth services are well received and can facilitate engagement in care, but insurers and policymakers have stood in the way of expansion. Until the COVID-19 crisis, the federal government had yet to align any incentives, and most states had yet to pass any legislation promoting expansion. In Texas, small steps were made to implement telemedicine during the past two legislative sessions. During the 85th Texas legislative session, Senate Bill 1107 removed the requirement for a physician to first meet with a patient in person before establishing virtual care; additional physician Medicaid billing barriers were removed during the 86th Texas legislative session. While virtual physician services ramped up during the past three years, Texas legislation did not allow for mental health services beyond psychiatry.

And yet this has all changed due to COVID-19.

What seemed like overnight, providers started implementing a functional telehealth system. For Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott waived certain regulations and directed the Texas Department of Insurance to allow reimbursement for a number of behavioral health services ranging from psychotherapy to case management to Texas Medicaid managed care organizations, to ensure continuity of care in light of COVID-19. This crisis has also supercharged interest and opportunity in telehealth in the private service sector, and providers nimbly began delivering virtual care.

Although the past few years have seen a growth in the use of private pay therapy applications such as Talkspace and BetterHelp, the impact of COVID-19 has catapulted the services, where even private insurances are authorizing telemental health when they typically have not. Last year Talkspace reported more than 1 million users and brought in nearly $110 million since its 2012 inception. The popularity of these services not only emphasizes the need for traditional brick-and-mortar mental health providers to find ways to provide a mix of in-person and virtual services, the current pandemic requires it.

Swift policy adjustments are cutting the red tape in opening telemental health access, where long-term systems change is inevitable. The excuses provided by opponents of telehealth expansion, such as that not seeing someone in person diminishes the standard of care, have been discredited, and protectionism cannot stand in the way of the implementation of telemental health. The industry must now rapidly innovate and adapt to a broad range of services in psychiatric crisis care, prevention and intervention services, and even home- and community-based care.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has provided uniform guidance on data tracking on the use of virtual care within the public sector allowing for examination prior to the 87th legislative session. Texas lawmakers must now craft a bill to cement the temporary billing of services conducted over the phone or computer to become a permanent policy that will allow for greater access to virtual mental health care statewide. Policy and programming shifts that take years of effort to transform are now being tested in a naturalistic experiment to prove what providers have long argued is effective  telemental health is here to stay. And it could be far more reaching than it ever has been.

Cohen is a research assistant professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and Dell Medical School department of psychiatry at The University of Texas at Austin. Morris is a coordinator of local and state mental health initiatives in the department of psychiatry in Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin.
Portland will open three organized camps for homeless people during coronavirus  an unprecedented step for a city that has long resisted sanctioned camping.

The three sites  two on Southeast Water Avenue and one near the westside base of Broadway Bridge  will also group residents in a way that has rarely been done in Portland shelters. One site will give priority to LGBTQ people and one for people of color. Anyone who wants the services specific to those sites will also be allowed to camp there. The third site will be for everyone, with an emphasis on older people.

Each location will have 45 tents on platforms with cots inside for an individual person or couple. The city will provide sleeping bags and tents to ensure they are clean and hygienic. People will be able to store their belongings, including their own tents and sleeping bags, while staying at the camp.

The camps are intended to be temporary measures to group people near bathrooms, showers and other amenities to help insulate them from the spread of COVID-19. Each tent will be on a 12-foot-by-12-foot plot of land. Each of the three locations will be fenced off from the public.

Officials say the camps will comply with social distancing measures and will be routinely disinfected.

Homeless people are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 because many have respiratory infections and weakened immune systems from harsh living conditions. They also have few resources to stay hygienic enough to prevent illness and no place to go to recover in isolation.

Two homeless people in Multnomah County have tested positive for COVID-19. Throughout the state, homeless people make up less than 1% of all cases.

While some states, such as California, have pushed money to local jurisdictions to house as many homeless people as possible in motel rooms and other rooms, this is Portlands approach to try to help people living outside stay safe.

The reality is that a stay-at-home order leaves those without homes to return to behind, and we cant let that happen, said Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. While the housed community can take refuge in their homes and have the bulk of their needs met during this time, our houseless neighbors have lost the many resources and support networks they depended on.

The nonprofit homeless services provider JOIN will operate the camps. Staff will be on hand to help clean the sites and provide services to people staying there. JOIN operates long-standing Dignity Village, a self-run village for homeless people in Northeast Portland. There, members of the village pay $50 membership dues and split chores and costs.

Dignity Village is one of two organized camps that has earned city approval to remain.

Weve heard over and over that social distancing is critically important to help slow the spread of the virus, said JOINs executive director Katrina Holland. For our neighbors that havent been able to get into housing or shelter right now, we cant just leave them without any options.

The city-county Joint Office of Homeless Services will serve as the funding body for the camps, but the planning and funding comes from the city of Portland.

Were all in this together so we must do everything in our power to ensure everyone can practice safe physical distancing and take proper hygiene measures, said Mayor Ted Wheeler.

The Joint Office and Multnomah County have spearheaded much of the homeless response during COVID-19.

They have opened five shelters, in both large group settings and in motels. They have also mobilized outreach workers and others to visit homeless camps, distributing hygiene supplies and information about COVID-19.

The three outdoor campsites will be the first new capacity added to Portlands homeless shelter system since the beginning of COVID-19. The temporary shelters opened to allow physical distancing for people who were already staying in existing shelters.

Officials said they hope that people can now start moving through the shelters into housing as they normally would, freeing up beds. However, they have found people are staying longer in shelter than normal.

The new campsites will be reservation-only and not accept people who walk up and ask for a spot.

 Molly Harbarger

mharbarger@oregonian.com | 503-294-5923 | @MollyHarbarger

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced the latest COVID-19 figures for Turkey on Thursday evening:

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases stands at 42,282 as 4,056 more people tested positive for the virus.

as more people tested positive for the virus. The number of fatalities rose to 908 after 96 people died in the past 24 hours

after people died in the past 24 hours The daily coronavirus tests performed was 28,578, just below the target of 30,000 per day. The number of overall tests carried out so far reached 276,338

just below the target of per day. The number of overall tests carried out so far reached So far, 2,142 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals

patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals 1,552 patients are currently receiving treatment in intensive care

Turkey is now the worlds ninth worst-hit country by the number of active cases which have risen for the 10th consecutive day.

READ: COVID-19 in Turkey: 296 more recovers, death toll now at 908

Coronavirus historical turning point

In a video conference with over 50 top European International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) officials, Kerem Knk, head of the Turkish Red Crescent said, The coronavirus pandemic will be regarded as a turning point in mankinds history, the crisis also proves that all human beings are dependent on each other, and global solidarity is needed to deal with the pandemic.

He informed the group about the Turkish Red Crescents activities and said other countries suffering from the disease must similarly take necessary steps.

The virus has spread to 184 countries, infecting more than 1.5 million people since it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

There have been more than 90,000 deaths and more than 350,000 recoveries worldwide.

READ: https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/coronavirus-historical-turning-point-turkish-red-crescent-head/news

Fethiye Mayor talks on FRT TV

Fethiye Mayor Alim Karaca appeared on FRT TV on Tuesday evening.

He was one of the guests on the regular slot, Positive Thinking, hosted by Erdogan Cankus.

During the program, which lasted three-and-a-half hours, Karaca clarified the COVID-19 cases in Fethiye.

As of Tuesday evening, there are seven positive cases in the Fethiye State Hospital (Devlet), one of whom was sent from Ortaca.

There were 35 patients showing symptoms of COVID-19 in the Devlet hospital. So far, after Tomography imaging, 25 of these patients have been discharged.

The wife of Mehmet Saltk, the first person to die of the virus in Fethiye, has recovered and was discharged from hospital.

(Since the program aired, a second person has died of COVID-19 in Fethiye. British national Jayne Kathleen Hunt, a 73-year-old who has lived in the Cals area of Fethiye for approximately 15 years, was admitted to the intensive care unit at the Fethiye State Hospital where she tested positive for COVID-19. Jayne suffered with an underlying, respiratory condition.)

After a meeting with the two private hospitals in Fethiye, Karaca was able to confirm there are no cases on COVID-19 in the Lokman Hekim ESNAF Hospital. One suspected case was transferred from the Letoon Hospital to the Fethiye State Hospital (Devlet).

Physicians have said that the cases in Fethiye State Hospital have come from outside the city.

Official letters have been sent to the relevant authorities to close the entrances to Fethiye. This is an important measure to prevent the increase of cases.

Other subjects included:

Karaca also commented on reports that market traders had been reported as selling rotten fruit and vegetables in the now compulsory pre-packs, saying that any trader caught doing this would be fined and have their license revoked. He advised citizens who experience this to complain to the police.

Talking about masks, Karaca said Our target is to distribute 40 thousand masks to our people for free. We will distribute free masks in busy places. Some of the masks will come from the Metropolitan Municipality where they have started mask production

The Mayor went on to discuss the ongoing plans for improvements in Fethiye, which are still very much on the agenda.

Fethiye Times will bring you an update on whats next for Fethiye at a later date.

Source: https://gercekfethiye.com/karaca-35-supheli-vakanin-25-tanesi-iyilesti/26574/

Turkey delivers medical aid to UK to help fight virus

A Turkish military cargo plane carrying medical supplies for use against the coronavirus pandemic departed today (10 April) for the U.K.

The medical aid supplies also carried on a message for the people of the U.K., saying:

After hopelessness, there is so much hope and after darkness, there is the much brighter sun.  Rumi.

READ: Turkey delivers medical aid to UK to help fight virus

Turkey starts work to produce COVID-19 test kits

Turkish technology company NANOBIZ on April 9 announced it started working on producing countrys indigenous test kits for the diagnosis of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

With high precision molecular test kits, COVID-19 diagnosis can be made rapidly on the field, said a statement by the company.

The company has been collaborating with Turkeys Defense Industries Presidency (SSB) with Technology and Health ministries, conducting R&D studies together.

READ: Turkey starts work to produce COVID-19 test kits

Global statistics

There are now 1,623,175 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, of which 366,409 have recovered. The number of fatalities stands at 97,236.

Source: Worldometer.

Follow Fethiye Times on social media for regular updates.

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Instagram

Follow us on Twitter

Todays featured image: Oludeniz in Blue by Lyn Ward
Multiple employees in Oregons foster care system have tested positive or are presumed to have the disease caused by coronavirus, according to documents and a state spokesman.

Employees at a child welfare office in Roseburg were notified April 2 that one of their colleagues had tested positive or been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to documents reviewed by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Fellow employees might have been exposed to the virus on March 10 and March 11, according to a letter sent to employees by Child Welfare and Self Sufficiency District Manager Desta Walsh.

At the same time, caseworkers who continue to do certain work in person, such as investigate reports of child abuse and neglect, do not have access to personal protective equipment such as N95 masks through work, according to agency officials. Caseworkers are being allowed to do much of their work, including check-ins with children already in state care, remotely using video conference calls and other technology, documents show.

Jake Sunderland, a spokesman for the child welfare program, said on Thursday he did not know how many child welfare employees in Oregon have tested positive or were presumed to have COVID-19 because the managers and human resources staff who have been sending out notices did not track them. Sunderland said agency officials are gathering the information now and he expects to have a total by Friday afternoon.

If we have a staff member call us and tell us that theyve got COVID-19 or their doctor thinks they have COVID-19, were not asking them to show us proof, Sunderland said. Because our (Human Resources) team has been so focused on getting the potential exposure notifications out as soon as possible, Ill just be honest none of them thought to create an Excel sheet counting it.

Sunderland said managers notified staff of all self-reported illnesses among their co-workers because the Department of Human Services is committed to being as transparent as possible with our staff about the risks for potential exposure, he wrote in an email.

As for why workers in the Roseburg office learned of their potential exposure three weeks after the fact, Sunderland said DHS goal is to get these notifications out as quickly as possible  In some instances employees were out of the office sick for a significant period of time before they self-reported to their managers that their illness is suspected to be related to COVID-19."

As of Thursday afternoon, Sunderland said he did not know of any cases of COVID-19 among children in the states care, including at group facilities.

Sunderland said the Department of Human Services requested personal protective equipment through the state a couple weeks ago.

DHS director Fariborz Pakseresht said he ordered around 10,000 masks and leaders consider our child welfare staff to be first responders. But the reality is caseworkers are not classified by Oregon statute as first responders so they are farther back in the line to receive masks.

"We come from a place of wanting to keep our staff safe and wanting to keep the people who come into our offices safe, Pakseresht said in an emailed statement. We are also working with our community partners to come together to meet this need for our staff through donations and pulling together volunteers to sew masks.

The volunteers so far have included a child welfare manager who sewed masks for her staff and Paksereshts neighbors, who over the weekend sewed a number of masks that have already been delivered, Sunderland said.

 Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | @hborrud

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  The Philippines has joined calls of other Southeast Asian countries on Friday for stable food security and peace in the region amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin Jr., along with other foreign ministers in the region, convened via teleconference yesterday for the 25th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Coordinating Council meeting.

The ASEAN foreign ministers adopted measures to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the pandemic, highlighted by the establishment of the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund.

Locsin emphasized the need for continued cooperation among the 10-member ASEAN nations in ensuring food security, particularly a stable rice supply, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Locsin also called for stable access to medicines, personal protective equipment, and other medical supplies needed to respond to the virus.

The Philippine foreign affairs chief stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the region, especially in the West Philippine Sea, during the crisis.

Last March 22, China opened two new research stations in the hotly-contested Kagitingan and Zamora reefs in the West Philippine Sea.

RELATED: China puts up new research stations on PH-claimed reefs in West Philippine Sea

Several ASEAN nations including the Philippines have been embroiled in a territorial dispute with China for years now. China is claiming most of the West Philippine Sea as their territory.

The Philippines stands united with other ASEAN Member States in the fight against COVID-19, said Locsin in a statement.

As of the latest tally by Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, 10 countries in the Southeast Asian region have confirmed 16,989 COVID-19 cases with 640 deaths and 4,042 recoveries.

Malaysia has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and recoveries in the region. The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker says the country has 4,346 confirmed cases and 1,830 recoveries of the disease.

Indonesia recorded the highest COVID-19 death toll in the region at 306.

The Philippines rank second in the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths in the region. The Department of Health announced today an additional 119 cases of the disease, along with 18 deaths and 15 recoveries.

The country now has a total of 4,196 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 221 deaths related to the disease. There have been 140 recoveries.
By Saumya Joseph (Reuters) - Cats can become infected with the new coronavirus but dogs appear not to be vulnerable, according to a study published on Wednesday, prompting the WHO to say it will take a closer look at transmission of the virus between humans and pets. The study, published on the website of the journal Science, found that ferrets can also become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the scientific term for the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. Dogs, chickens, pigs and ducks are not likely to catch the virus, however, the researchers found.

By Saumya Joseph

(Reuters) - Cats can become infected with the new coronavirus but dogs appear not to be vulnerable, according to a study published on Wednesday, prompting the WHO to say it will take a closer look at transmission of the virus between humans and pets.

The study, published on the website of the journal Science, found that ferrets can also become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the scientific term for the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.

Dogs, chickens, pigs and ducks are not likely to catch the virus, however, the researchers found.

The study was aimed at identifying which animals are vulnerable to the virus so they can be used to test experimental vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 83,000 people worldwide since it emerged in China in December.

SARS-CoV-2 is believed to have spread from bats to humans. Except for a few reported infections in cats and dogs, there has not been strong evidence that pets can be carriers.

A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City who developed a dry cough and loss of appetite after contact with an infected zookeeper tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday.

The study, based on research conducted in China in January and February, found cats and ferrets highly susceptible to the virus when researchers attempted to infect the animals by introducing viral particles via the nose.

They also found cats can infect each other via respiratory droplets. Infected cats had virus in the mouth, nose and small intestine. Kittens exposed to the virus had massive lesions in their lungs, nose and throat.

"Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in cats should be considered as an adjunct to elimination of COVID-19 in humans," the authors wrote.

In ferrets, the virus was found in the upper respiratory tract but did not cause severe disease.

Antibody tests showed dogs were less likely to catch the virus, while inoculated pigs, chickens, and ducks were not found to have any strain of the virus.

"It's both interesting and not terribly surprising in the sense that with the original SARS epidemic, civet cats were implicated as one of the vectors that may have transmitted virus to humans," said Daniel Kuritzkes, head of infectious diseases at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.

"What these data do provide is support for the recommendation that people who are with COVID-19 should be distancing themselves, not only from other household members but also from their household pets, so as not to transmit the virus to their pets, particularly to cats or other felines," he said.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it is working with its partners to look more closely at the role of pets in the health crisis.

Based on the evidence so far, WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told a news conference: "We don't believe that they are playing a role in transmission but we think that they may be able to be infected from an infected person."

The WHO's top emergencies expert Mike Ryan asked people not to retaliate against animals over the outbreak.

"They're beings in their own right and they deserve to be treated with kindness and respect. They are victims like the rest of us," he said.

(Reporting by Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Nancy Lapid and Sonya Hepinstall)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Out dated masks that offer less protection against infection are being issued to staff at a hospital with one of the highest rates of coronavirus deaths in the country, MailOnline can reveal.

Front line medical workers at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow, where there have so far been 90 COVID-19 deaths, the highest in the East of England, say that their lives are being put at greater risk by being forced to wear the older surgical masks.

Known as EN14683 2005, they were issued in 2005 but withdrawn in 2014 and replaced with masks that are tested to a higher standard that offer more protection against droplets entering the body, the primary way in which coronavirus is spread.

Front line medical workers at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow, where there have so far been 90 COVID-19 deaths, the highest in the East of England, say that their lives are being put at greater risk by being forced to wear the older surgical masks (pictured)

A nurse in the hospitals A&E department, who did not wish to be named, told MailOnline: Our department is the first port of call for many patients suffering from coronavirus and we are dealing with them wearing masks that are not fit for purpose.

We have been arguing with the management that we all need the 2014 surgical masks, which are more resistant to droplets in the environment, but they have simply been ignoring us. There is a stock of these better masks but not enough and this is putting all of us in great danger.

According to sources, two members of the A&E staff have contracted coronavirus while last week, hospital midwife Lynsay Coventry, 54, died from it.

Across the country at least 20 NHS staff, including nurses, doctors and other workers have died from coronavirus, amid concerns that they are not being given adequate personal protection equipment.

A Princess Alexandra doctor added: Its stressful enough coming into work every day but the management are being callous for insisting that some of us have to wear these old masks. We need all the protection that we can get because our lives are at risk each time, we step foot into the hospital.

An April 2014 report by the British Standards Institution, the UKs national standards body, ordered the 2005 masks to be withdrawn and replaced with more up to date versions which are manufactured and tested to a higher level.

The 2014 edition mask was also approved the European Committee for Standardisation, which sets the standard for a range of products in countries across the continent.

Jim McLeish, Director of Quality Improvement at Princess Alexandra said: The health and safety of our staff is paramount, and we are proud of their hard work and commitment to safe patient care. We receive daily deliveries of additional PPE, which is available across the hospital and used in-line with national guidance not cost'

Staff at Princess Alexandra have also fallen out with management after their request for FFP3 masks, which offer even greater protection but cost more than their surgical equivalents, was rejected. These are used in intensive care units at the hospital and others around the country.

An A&E nurse at Princess Alexandra added: Our counterparts in Italy, Spain and other European nations are being given much better personal protective equipment than us. This is the only way to reduce the rate of infection amongst health professionals.

We asked for FFP3 masks, but these cost a lot and the management is a disgrace for putting profit before our lives. All were being given is out of date masks and told that we can either like it or lump it.

Hospital bosses refused to respond to concerns raised by their staff about the quality of their masks or reveal any details about them.

Jim McLeish, Director of Quality Improvement at Princess Alexandra said: Along with hospitals across the country, we continue to follow the national guidance issued by Public Health England and the Government. This includes guidance for the use of PPE (personal protection equipment) and the appropriate items for the care being provided.

Staff at Princess Alexandra have also fallen out with management after their request for FFP3 masks, which offer even greater protection but cost more than their surgical equivalents, was rejected (pictured a nurse at Manchester airport takes a swab at a Covid-19 Drive-Through testing station)

The health and safety of our staff is paramount, and we are proud of their hard work and commitment to safe patient care. We receive daily deliveries of additional PPE, which is available across the hospital and used in-line with national guidance not cost.

Earlier this week it was reported that problems of health professionals getting adequate personal protection equipment are continuing, despite the government claiming that it has addressed the issue.

The Doctors Association UK claimed that 72% of doctors could still not get hold of an FFP3 mask when they needed one and that there was still a shortage of supply of other protective equipment.

Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden, the organisations president said: Doctors are dying. Nurses are dying. We are devastated and can no longer stand by and watch as more dedicated colleagues lose their life.

Meanwhile the UK's coronavirus death toll today jumped by 953 to 8,931, according to figures released by all of the home nations. England recorded 866 new fatalities among patients in hospital, while the other 87 were confirmed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Actor Narsing Yadav, who is popularly known for doing comic villain roles in Telugu cinema, slipped into coma due to prolonged illness. He is currently being treated at Yashoda Hospital in Somajiguda, Hyderabad. His wife Chitra told media that the actor suddenly fell unconscious at 4 pm on Thursday at his home. After that, he was immediately rushed to the hospital.

Narsing Yadav's wife also revealed that he had his dialysis on Thursday early morning. It's said that doctors would observe the actor for the next 48 hours. Moreover, Chitra further explained that Narsing Yadav has been put on Ventilator and will be kept under observation.

Chitra urged everyone to pray for her husband Narsing Yadav's fast recovery. Amidst all, reports were doing the rounds on social media that the comedy villain fell and sustained several head injuries at his home. However, reacting to the same, Chitra rubbished all the social media posts claiming so.

One of the Twitter users urged Megastar Chiranjeevi to help Narsing Yadav. Commenting on Chiranjeevi's tweet, in which he mentioned about providing food to the daily wage workers of the film industry through Corona Crisis Charity, a fan asked Chiru, "sir plzz help to your co actor narsingh yadav ,he was in coma plzz help." (sic)

sir plzz help to your co actor narsingh yadav ,he was in coma plzz help https://t.co/qGisONHXmw  varma (@it1246) April 10, 2020

On a related note, the 56-year-old actor Narsing Yadav has acted in more than 300 films in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. He is one of the permanent actors in Ram Gopal Varma's films. He has done memorable work in films like Tagore, Tulasi, Anukokunda Oka Roju, Lakshmi, Bunny, Mass, etc. He is survived by his son Ruthvik Yadav.

Also Read : Ram Gopal Varma On His Joke About Being COVID-19 Positive: 'I Tweeted Because I Was Getting Bored'
It was almost exactly five years ago when Bill Gates gave a TED Talk called The Next Outbreak? Were Not Ready.

And everything in the last few months of COVID-19 has pretty much followed what the Microsoft founder described.

So now were really listening. And during a new interview with Vanessa Kortekaas of the Financial Times, Gates  the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is allocating billions to find a potential vaccine  laid out a series of concerns, investment plans and even a path to normalcy.

Some highlights:

Not enough was done

Some work was done, Gates admits, alluding to certain investment and governments who created platforms to produce vaccines faster than they used to. But the whole point of [my original] speech was to drive the research and the planning and the simulation which would have allowed us to stop this at a very early stage.

Nobody reacted perfectly  except maybe one country

Taiwan comes close [to a perfect record], says Gates, who notes its a shame that the country wasnt a part of WHO. Gates also gives some credit to countries that undergone fairly recent pandemics, including South Korea (and even China).

Testing isnt enough

Testing is what guides you to do more social isolation, says Gates. But it cant just be numbers of tests. You have to have results 24 hours and prioritize who gets tests. He also gives credit to South Korea for developing a unified system of testing. The U.S. doesnt have a criteria and there are testing backlogs, he notes. What you want, he says, is a PCR test thats sensitive enough to accurately test you before you have symptoms.

There is room for hope

We will get a vaccine, says Gates. And the goal of our foundation is that everyone will get one. Hopefully in 18 months.

The economy will take a huge hit. But its not permanent.

Economies can come back, but deaths you cant reverse You dont have a choice. And a warning for the impatient in first-world countries: In rich countries, you will be able to open up if things are done well. Normalcy only returns when we vaccinate the global population.

And while Gates laments that the response shouldnt have required a many trillions of dollars of loss, he notes that weve now been whacked on the head and that some of the medical work now could help in other, non-pandemic areas of medicine.

Most importantly? Were gonna get through this. The science is there, he says. People will step forward.

Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter.

The post Five Things We Learned From Bill Gatess Latest Coronavirus Interview appeared first on InsideHook.
The US sent over 6,300 migrants from its border with Mexico, using emergency powers to curb the spread of the coronavirus, BBC News reported.

According to the public health measure adopted on March 21 by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, migration officials have been granted similar rights with respect to foreigners who pose a serious danger to the spread of communicable disease.

Critics of this measure believe that it was introduced to extend the country's strict migration policy.

CDC Director Dr Robert R Redfield said that this restriction, originally adopted for 30 days, was necessary to limit the spread of coronavirus at borders in crowded places: at checkpoints or ports.

According to acting CBP commissioner Mark Morgan, since the introduction of this measure, concerns about the spread of coronavirus at the border have decreased by 50%.

Less than 100 migrants remained under guardianship, which is 97% lower than their usual number. Morgan noted that about 80% of migrants at the border were sent back within a few hours, while the most of them tried to cross the border illegally.

Most migrants were deported to Mexico, while the rest returned to their homeland.
Moves to squash E Africas worst locust invasion go on amid fears resources could be diverted to fighting coronavirus.

A second wave of desert locusts is about to hit Kenya and the region but this time scientists are warning that it could be up to 20 times larger than the ones that occurred earlier this year.

East Africa is also battling the coronavirus pandemic at the same time, and there are fears that both crises could cause severe food shortages.

Al Jazeeras Catherine Soi reports from Kitui in eastern Kenya.
Author

Dr Dimitrios Diamantis brings over 20 years of hospitality research and teaching experience. His areas of expertise include sustainability, ecotourism, destination management, and branding in tourism and hospitality. Dimitrios began his academic career in 1998 as Associate Lecturer at Bournemouth University. The following year, he joined the faculty of Les Roches Switzerland, where he would go on to supervise the launch of the institutions first MBA programme. In 2007, Dimitrios returned to the UK to teach tourism management at Sheffield Hallam University. He came back to Les Roches Switzerland in 2010, where he continued to teach at the undergraduate and graduate level and oversaw the development of Les Roches current Postgraduate Diploma and MBA programmes. Dimitrios has previously taught as Visiting Lecturer at KDU University College (Malaysia), Institut Paul Bocuse (France) and HTW Chur (Switzerland), and acted as External Examiner for several UK universities. Since 2014, he also serves as a member of the judging panel for the Greek Tourism Awards. Dimitrios was appointed Dean of Graduate Studies at Les Roches Global Hospitality Education in March 2016. Dimitrios holds a PhD in Consumer Involvement and Ecotourism from Bournemouth University. He speaks English and Greek.
India will export anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, high in demand globally, only to foreign governments and not to private companies, as the product is under the prohibited or banned category of exports, sources said.

Although exports of this medicine is completely banned, India has decided to export this anti-malarial drug in sync with its global commitment to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

"Hydroxychloroquine continues to be a prohibited item. Private-to-private company or a domestic exporter-to-foreign importer trade is ban. The procedure, which the government is adopting, is to help countries which are in dire need or which are traditionally dependent on India for this medicine or friendly countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan," the sources said.

Explaining the procedure, they said countries that have to import hydroxychloroquine would have to route their application through the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals would assess the requirement sought by that country and see its impact on India's availability and without compromising on India's interests, it would recommend the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to give a licence or go-ahead signal to customs authorities to release the consignment.

DGFT is an arm of the commerce ministry that deals with export- and import-related issues. It is the agency that gives licence or permission or no-objection certificate for exports or imports.

On March 25, India banned the export of hydroxychloroquine with some exceptions in the midst of views in some quarters that the drug could be used to fight COVID-19. On April 4, it completely banned the exports without any exception.

In a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, US President Donald Trump had sought supply of hydroxychloroquine to the US.

Hydroxychloroquine is an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria. India is the largest producer and exporter of the drug globally.

India is learnt to have received requests from over 20 countries including its immediate neighbours Sri Lanka and Nepal for the supply.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry has stated that there is enough stock of hydroxychloroquine in the country, and drug firms are ready to ramp up the production to meet domestic as well as export requirements.

India manufactures 70 per cent of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine. Companies like Zydus Cadila and IPCA are the major manufacturers in the country, according to the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA).

Professor at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said India is the world's largest manufacturer and supplier accounting for about 70 per cent of the world's supplies.

In the US market, India accounted for about 47 per cent supply of hydroxychloroquine in 2019, he said.

Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA) Executive Director Ashok Kumar Madan has said India currently has an annual installed capacity of around 40 tonnes of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) of hydroxychloroquine. With this capacity, "we can make around 200 million tablets of 200 mg," he has said.

India exported hydroxychloroquine API worth USD 1.22 billion in April-January 2019-20. During the same period exports of formulations made from hydroxychloroquine was at USD 5.50 billion.
Thursday, April 9, 2020

The marketplace is empty

No more traffic in the streets

All the builders tools are silent

No more time to harvest wheat

Busy housewives cease their labors

In the courtroom no debate

Work on earth is all suspended

As the King comes thro the gate.

When Bill and Gloria Gaither penned the words for The King Is Coming, they were warning of Jesus Christs imminent return. They werent describing life during the current global coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down some of the busiest cities in the world such as New York, Los Angeles, London and Moscow. We know a lot about the pandemic. Now is a good time to discuss the possible spiritual significance for Christians.

A Look at Scripture

The Bible offers an account of Gods dealings with mankind throughout the centuries. It contains guidelines about how humans should live their lives, and it offers a record of Gods dealings with nations and prophecies for the future. Christians believe a sovereign God is fully aware of everything that takes place in the universe, including global pandemics (Colossians 1: 16-17).

The unusal cessation of human activites in the worlds busiest cities cannot be explained by the facts surrounding the current global pandemic. We have had far more serious pandemics happen without the world ceasing its activities (SARS and H1N1). Consider that the world has 7.9 billion people. Worldometers 2 percent death rate for coronavirus is a drop in the bucket compared with the fatality rate of SARS (10%) and MERS (34%).

The global shutdown strikes me as a divine warning, because it does not exactly line up perfectly with what Jesus says men and women will be doing when He returns.

For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24: 36-29).

When Jesus returns, we will be conducting business as usual. Jesus will sneak up on us as a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). A thief catches the homeowner by surprise. What we are experiencing with the current pandemic is not business as usual.

The slowdown of the world gives us the perfect opportunity to assess our lives and discover what we believe about the creator and His purpose for our lives. God is the master of perfect timing. Nothing happens by coincidence.

The Significance of the Passover and Easter Season

The global shutdown straddles two Holy Days, one observed by Jews and one by Christians. During Easter, Christians celebrate Jesuss resurrection and victory over death in fulfillment of Isaiah 53: 1-6. The Prophet Isaiah forecast the coming of a Messiah who would be persecuted and would die for the sins of mankind. Afterward, He would be resurrected on the third day. Christians recognize Jesus as the lamb slain from the foundations of the earth who takes away the sins of the world (Revelation 13:8).

Then theres Passover, which commemorates the story of the Israelites departure from ancient Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The exodus takes place after God has poured out nine plagues on the pagan nation of Egypt. In the Passover story, God gave Moses instructions requiring each Israelite family to mark their door posts with the blood of an unblemished lamb to spare them from the tenth plague. When the death angel passed through the city to kill the firstborn of the Egyptians, the blood on the Israelites door posts was a sign to the angel to spare the firstborns of the Israelites inside.

The Israelites were in a special covenantal relationship with God because of promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Through the Prophet Moses, God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and an elaborate set of written hygienic, ceremonial, and moral laws and instructions describing how they were to live their lives. His instructions governed interactions with Him, each other, and with foreigners. When the nation strayed and broke their vows, God allowed judgment to occur through plagues, fevers, and eventually conquest by more wicked nations. When they repented, He received them back.

America as a Blessed but Apostate Nation

America was founded by men who sought to establish a nation that would share in the covenantal blessings of ancient Israel. Charters and states constitutions, the Mayflower Compact, Sunday Blue Laws, and our system of justice with its requirements for due process and the rule of law speaks of the influence of the Bible. Increasingly, our nation has strayed away from her Judeo-Christian roots, so much so Barack Obama felt confident in 2006, when he said: Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation  at least, not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers. While Americans leaders frequently close their speeches with God Bless America, there is no true fear or honoring of the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible. Broken vows have led to confusion and chaos. We are on a collision course with the God of the Bible who assures us that He changes not.

Unfortunately, many of Americas religious leaders have been silenced out of fear, or they preach and endorse a false gospel that is contrary to what the Bible says about sin and its consequences. Good is called evil, and evil is called good (Isaiah 5:20).

America has used its prosperity to induce poorer nations to engage in behaviors the Bible clearly condemns. Disguised as reproductive health, abortions and sterilizations  with Americas financial assistance  are forced upon poor women in nations that need our help. Mother Nature and the environment have become gods. Reducing the human population by any means necessary is the ultimate goal.

As a people, we have repeatedly broken the moral laws outlined in the Judeo-Christian Bible. In the Old Testament, national sins brought national judgment. We are told that innocent blood cries out from the grave (Genesis 4:10).

Abortion and the spilling of innocent blood continues during the pandemic in cities and states controlled by Democrats. It is one of the most flagrant sins because it involves the willful killing of the unborn. Since the legalization of abortions in the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case, more than 61 million babies have been killed in the womb. God takes this seriously. The Israelites were warned about polluting the land with innocent blood. (Numbers 35:33). Sanctuary Cities and elaborate rituals were instituted to cleanse the land from pollution.

Lawlessness is rampant in the United States as is the targeting of law-enforcement officers who are treated with disdain in many cities. Morally, we are a broken people. In our nation we have the transgendering of young children, and drag queen story hours at libraries and public and private K-12 schools. There is rampant adultery and fornication among Christians and open calls for the celebration of alternative lifestyles that include homosexuality, polygamy and polyandry, accompanied with demands for the decriminalization of pedophilia and bestiality. Common sense and science have been thrown out the window as evidenced by the rush to erase biological differences between males and females. Many pastors avoid the sexual sins and have turned to secular voices for guidance on issues such as race relations and male/female relations.

Clearly, the end times prophesied in the Bible are nearer now than ever before. Jesus told his disciples the signs to watch for:

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My names sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another (Matthew 24: 1-26).

Persecution of Christians and Jews has become commonplace across the world, and there is a great effort to control people by stripping them of their freedoms. We are in a new era.

Revelation, the end times book of the Bible, is becoming less mysterious. The rise of the Internet and new technological advances give fresh meaning to prophecies about the Two Witnesses (Ch. 11), the Vials of Wrath (Rev. 16), and the Mark of the Beast (Rev. 13).

One world government or globalization is not a new idea; neither is the desire of some to control the worlds economy through the adoption of a uniform currency that would replace paper money and coins with digital currency. Microsoft creator Bill Gates is among the globalists working on a digital identification system called ID2020. Gates vision for ID2020 includes a microchip injected into individuals through vaccinations he wants made mandatory for the worlds population. The global pandemic has led to increased calls for a global solution.

Revelation describes the emergence of a charismatic world leader who uses deception to induce the world into worshipping him and his global alliance: This anti-Christ causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads. No one can buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13: 16-18, NKJV).

There is no human solution to what ails the nations of the world that have cut themselves off from the true giver of life. Our world is at a critical moment. But the end is not here yet. While marketplaces are empty and the streets are free of traffic, we can rediscover God and His purpose for our lives. We must never allow fear and panic about an uncertain future to cause us to relinquish our national sovereignty and individual freedoms for false promises of peace and security man cannot deliver. In Christ, there is security.
Now that hes the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Joe Biden has to make an overture toward disappointed Bernie Sanders supporters, only 80 percent of whom say theyre ready to back him in the general election. Its not just that Biden needs their votes (though he does). Its that the partys younger, left-leaning members deserve to be treated like equal partners in a coalition rather than as a nuisance that ought to keep quiet and get in line at the polls. The former vice president wont win over everybody (to state the obvious), but he should still make a good-faith effort.

Advertisement

At the same time, Biden isnt going to suddenly stop being a moderate and adopt Medicare for All. Thats obvious. While hes finding ways to move left at the marginshes come out in favor of lowering the Medicare age to 60 and forgiving a large chunk of student debt, for instancehe hasnt come up with a marquee peace offering. So what should he do?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

I have a suggestion. Its a way Biden could reach out to the Sanders wing while updating his health care vision for life after the coronavirus crisiswhich has made the failings of our current system even more apparent, and given him an obvious reason to go bolder. It would grow naturally from his own current platform, as well as Sanders underappreciated work as a legislator. Plus, it would give Biden a catchy, signature proposal so that hes not just the guy who wants to beef up the Obama administrations legacy.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Biden should propose creating an American Health Service, an expansive network of federally funded, locally run primary care providers and hospitals that would offer more affordable treatment and help coordinate public health responses. It would build on the thousands of community health centers that already serve low-income and rural communities, which Sanders played a key role in growing, but cater to middle-class patients, as well. And it would all come wrapped in some stirring patriotic branding.

Why an American Health Service? First, and most important, it would be good idea on the merits that would address some of the glaring shortcomings of our current medical system. Most discussions about health care reform in this country tend to focus on the insurance side of the equation, for the obvious reason that were the only advanced country in the world that doesnt have universal coverage. But many corners of the U.S. suffer from a basic lack of health care services, too. More than 77 million Americans live in federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas, where providers are in short supply for part or all of the community; the dearth is especially acute in poor and rural areas, which leads people to rely on expensive emergency rooms for essential care.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The U.S. also fares poorly in international measures of health care capacity. Despite spending a bigger share of our economy on health care than anyone else, we have far fewer doctors, hospitals, and hospital beds per capita than many of our peer nations. Meanwhile, weve got a rural hospital closure crisis thats threatening to make these issues worse. We overspend, yet were under-resourced. And while its too hard for many Americans find a doctor even in normal times, now were fighting a plague that has left us all worried about literally running out of hospital rooms.

One straightforward way to address these shortages would be to publicly fund more providers, the tried and true method used across much of the globe. In the U.S., public hospitals provide just 15 percent of beds, according to the Commonwealth Fund. In Australia and France, by contrast, they provide about two-thirds; in Germany they provide almost half; and in even in heavily privatized Japan, they provide more than 20 percent. Im not exactly suggesting that we try to replicate the United Kingdoms National Health Service, which directly employs most of the countrys doctors and cares for the vast majority of patients. But if we want hospitals to survive in, say, rural Oklahoma, it seems like we should take a cue from our international peers and just pay for hospitals in rural Oklahoma.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

We also already have a successful model to work from: Community Health Centers, which provide primary care and services like mental health, dental, and drug treatment to around 29 million patients across the country. For that, we can largely thank Sanders, who convinced Democratic leaders to ramp up federal health center funding during the negotiations to pass Obamacare. These clinics receive federal grants, along with state and local dollars, to treat residents in underserved communities and charge on a sliding scale based on income (people in poverty pay little or nothing). Almost half their patients use Medicaid, while another 23 percent are uninsured, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers. These are not, for the most part, government-run operationsthe vast majority are private nonprofits. But they have to abide by strict operating and reporting rules, including a requirement that patient representatives make up the majority of their governing boards, which keeps them focused on their public mission. And research suggests that they are very successful at providing high-quality care to patients while also lowering costs.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Sanders is widely seen as the patron saint of the Community Health Center program, and he has proposed boosting its funding as part of a wide-ranging effort to increase access to primary care in the U.S. But the centers are now widely popular within the Democratic Party; Hillary Clinton wanted to expand them in 2016. Joe Biden is currently calling to double their funding, which reached $5.6 billion in 2019.

Advertisement

But why not go bigger? An American Health Service could include the more than 1,300 Community Health Center organizations that already exist, which ran 11,744 care sites in 2018. Biden could triple or quadruple their funding over time, with the goal of expanding the number and size of clinics, while providing subsidized services to more middle-class patients. He could then take the basic health center grant model and apply a version of it to hospitals in underserved areas. Last July, Sanders proposed a large bailout fund to help states and counties buy distressed local hospitals. Biden could do him one better by a creating a continuous source of funding, with strings requiring hospitals that participate to keep charges affordable and serve needy populations. Nonprofit and public hospitals could both apply. And there could be additional funding for states to build new hospitals (or reopen old ones) in areas that currently lack enough beds.

Advertisement

Again, this wouldnt be a strictly government-run system, like the Veterans Health Administration or Britains NHS. Instead, the American Health Service would be an umbrella agency overseeing a vast array of public and closely monitored nonprofit organizations operated from within the communities they serve. If we wanted a greater level of federal on-the-ground involvement, we could deploy members of the U.S. Public Health Service to work at the clinics and hospitals overseeing community health initiatives.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Aside from being good policy, creating an American Health Service would probably be a popular idea that would fit with Joe Bidens moderate image. Americans dont love being told to give up their private insurance. But they do like public (or quasi-public) services. The Community Health Center program in particular enjoys overwhelming support from Democrats, as well as significant backing from Republicans, who understand that its a crucial source of care for their rural constituents. When its funding lapsed in 2018, 105 House GOP members signed a letter to then-Speaker Paul Ryan urging him to reauthorize it. Slapping a catchy name on the program and supersizing it to include more clinics and hospitals is an idea that moderate Democrats should be able to get behind. It would also cost a fraction of other ambitious health policy ideas. Again, the current Community Health Center program costs about $5.6 billion per year. You could go an order of magnitude higher and itd still look modest compared to the policy ideas that have been kicked around this campaign cycle; plus, it could save money for programs like Medicaid by reducing patient costs.

Advertisement

An American Health Service would be a complement to, not a substitute for, an ambitious agenda to reform health insurance in this country. (Id personally like to see another Medicaid expansion, a strong public option, and more generous exchange than Biden has proposed, but lets not digress.) It would make sure that the newly insured actually have a place to get care when they need it, and that if anybody somehow falls through the insurance systems cracks, they still have a way to see a doctor. But while it isnt a one-shot cure for what ails the health care system, its a project that could bring the centrist and left wings of the party together while giving Biden an opportunity to work directly with Sanders. Medicare for All might be the Vermont senators marquee policy proposal. But his biggest accomplishments as a member of Congress have been the Community Health Center expansion and the bipartisan deal he struck with Sen. John McCain to reform the VA health system. There is arguably nobody on Capitol Hill better qualified to help craft a large expansion of the federal governments role in directly funding the provision of health care service, and Biden could promise that, if elected president, hed make Sanders the point man on crafting legislation to create the American Health Service, or possibly put him in charge of administering it once it is passed into law. If Biden wants to win over Sanders voters, he can give their candidate a real role shaping the future of American health care.
Sesa Sen By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Grappled with a myriad of issues such as underutilised capacities, inconsistent packaging quality, unavailability of trucks and labourers, food manufacturing companies fear scarcity of supply in the days to come.

To meet the unprecedented demand, fresh processing of flour, cooking oil and edibles need to be started at factory levels, but lack of workers, packaging supplies as well a cap on production limits at manufacturing plants are hampering the progress of work, say industry executives.

Our factories are operating at 20-25 per cent production levels and about 25-30 per cent distributors of essential items have the permission to operate. But, the bigger challenge is labour shortage, said Mayank Shah, senior category head, Parle Products.

With inventory depleting fast, he believes the latter part of the lockdown could see a new normal as there is more clarity on logistics, albeit moving stocks down the supply chain remains a challenge with little manpower.

ALSO READ| Freight trucks lie idle as coronavirus lockdown shrinks demand

CG Corp Global executive director Varun Chaudhury said that it is difficult to estimate when supplies would normalise in the current scenario. "As an industry, we are obligated to ensure that the supply chain remains robust but due to lack of labourers we arent able to scale up our production beyond 20 per cent of capacity utilisation. Unless there is clarity from the government, workers are unlikely to come back," Chaudhury said.

Indian Confectionery Manufacturer Association (ICMA), whose members include Nestle, Wrigley India, ITC Ltd, Dukes India and Mondelez, is also in talks with various state and district level authorities to facilitate smooth transportation of ancillary goods like paperboards, laminates, cardboards across the country.

"The ancillary industry such as packaging is as important as the food. Companies are making all the efforts to continue a steady supply of essentials, but it is becoming very difficult without packaging," said ICMA president BK Gurbani.

Officials in the packaging materials industry said they are also operating below installed capacity due to restrictions and acute shortage of manpower besides disruption of supply lines. "There is a shortage of food packaging material because there are issues in sourcing raw materials. The entire supply chain ecosystem is disrupted due to shortage of labour, packing materials and trucks etc and the government must react quickly to this situation or else we may have serious supply shortages by the third or fourth week of April," said Cosmo Films CEO Pankaj Poddar.

Factories of consumer companies such as ITC Ltd, the maker of Aashirvaad Atta, Britannia, Amul, Coca Cola, Godrej Consumer and Dabur are working at underutilized capacities on account of labour shortage.

Labour and packaging supply apart, there are many transporters who are not operating resulting in supply disruptions. According to industry executives, logistics predicament is more pronounced in states such as Assam and Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and Punjab as district administrations are allegedly not cooperating in issuing permits.

ALSO READ| GDP growth to be at zero due to COVID-19 lockdown extension: Barclays

"Movement of goods has eased out a bit in the last couple of days but there is still a reluctance to serve long distance consignment without increased freight. Only about 30-35 per cent of truck drivers are working causing a shortage of raw materials, packing materials and even consumables," Vikram Agarwal, managing director at snacks maker Cornitos told this publication.

Cargill's oils business in India MD Piyush Patnaik echoed similar sentiments. "With automation and permitted labour, our manufacturing and supply chain teams are delivering the maximum possible output. Constraints such as unavailability of trucks and labourers are, however, making it difficult for supplies of goods to reach the retail market. If this perisits, we may also have to live through a period of scarcity in some goods in the coming days," he said.
New York: The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus hit 100,000 as Christians around the globe marked a Good Friday unlike any other - in front of computer screens instead of in church pews - and some countries tiptoed toward reopening segments of their battered economies.

Around the world, public health officials and religious leaders alike warned people against violating the lockdowns and social distancing rules over Easter and allowing the virus to come storming back. Authorities resorted to roadblocks and other means to discourage travel.

Workers in protective suits walk past sinks for hand washing at the Corabastos in Bogota, one of Latin America's largest food distribution centres. Credit:AP

In Italy, officials employed helicopters, drones and stepped-up police checks to make sure residents didn't slip out of their homes. On Thursday alone, police stopped some 300,000 people around Italy to check whether they had permission to travel. About 10,000 were issued summonses.

Some churches held services online, while others arranged prayers at drive-in theatres. Fire-scarred Notre Dame Cathedral came back to life briefly in Paris, days before the first anniversary of the April 15 inferno that ravaged it. Services were broadcast from the closed-to-the-public cathedral.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-11 00:22:12|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Chinese Ambassador to BiH Ji Ping (R) hands over the donation to Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH Ankica Gudeljevic in Sarajevo, BiH, on April 10, 2020. Six ventilators of different models and 58,000 medical masks donated by China have arrived here in Sarajevo on Friday, according to the Chinese Embassy in BiH. (Chinese Embassy to Bosnia and Herzegovina/Handout via Xinhua)

SARAJEVO, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Six ventilators of different models and 58,000 medical masks donated by China has arrived here in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Friday, according to the Chinese Embassy in BiH.

Chinese Ambassador to BiH Ji Ping handed over the donation to Ankica Gudeljevic, Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH.

"This donation expresses our strong support for BiH citizens in the fight against the epidemic. The Chinese people will not forget the help of the international community as we went through the most difficult moments in the fight against coronavirus... We will do everything we can to help BiH," Ji said.

He added that the Chinese government recently organized a video conference to share experiences in prevention and control of the novel coronaviruses, and opened commercial channels for BiH to import medical equipment and supplies.

Gudeljevic said she is very pleased that the first steps in cooperation between China and BiH has been taken within the framework of the memorandum of understanding on health and medical cooperation which was signed seven days ago, especially regarding the medical equipment that will be of great help for BiH to fight the coronavirus.

"This is a nice and positive gesture of China, especially since this year we are marking 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries. This opens up possibilities for further cooperation and I have already talked with Ambassador Ji Ping about the possibilities of exchanging experiences through video conferencing between BiH experts with colleagues from China who have a lot of experience in the field of coronavirus. I believe that this exchange would be of great benefit to BiH," said Gudeljevic.

At the same time, Chinese local governments, civil society and businesses are also actively preparing material aid for BiH and are making efforts to find solutions for the transportation of the goods, said the Chinese embassy.
Every day that Bethlehems Wind Creek casino is closed, the city is losing about $26,000.

The casino voluntarily shuttered March 15 amid the states worsening coronavirus outbreak and remains closed until at least April 30 under Gov. Tom Wolfs statewide stay-at-home. The longer it is closed, the more Bethlehems budget hole grows.

The city is conservatively projecting a $5 million to $7 million deficit in its 2020 budget since normal life in the Christmas City screeched to a half amid the pandemic, Mayor Bob Donchez said in a media call Thursday afternoon with his department heads.

If the governor extends the stay-at-home order past April 30 that could change, the mayor said.

Each month the South Bethlehem casino is closed, the city expects to lose about $800,000 of its $9.8 million annual host fee, said Eric Evans, city business administrator. The host fee pays for about 100 of the citys police officers, officials have said previously.

The citys implemented a hiring freeze and is looking at every aspect of municipal spending, like project deferrals and spending freezes. The mayor would only consider furloughs or layoffs as the last option.

We have laid out when they might be needed, Evans said. That is a little more of a dramatic step.

Bethlehem is expected to receive almost $800,000 under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) stimulus act, but the city is awaiting guidance on just how that money can be spent.

Easton has already furloughed 81 employees as the coronavirus pandemic threatens about $5.5 million of the citys 2020 budget.

With more than 10 million Americans becoming unemployed in recent weeks, Bethlehem officials know many of residents are struggling financially. To that end, the citys extended various tax filing deadlines, discontinued water shutoffs and suspended delinquent account collections.

We understand the hardship many people are experiencing, Donchez said.

The casino represents the biggest hit to Bethlehems $80 million budget, while lower earned income tax and local services tax represent the next chunk, Evans said. The city is also not collecting amusement taxes with the Wind Creek Event Center and ArtsQuest closed.

The city cannot issue any permits for projects under Wolfs order, except for essential projects deemed to be a part of the medical supply change, said Alicia Miller Karner, director of community and economic development. Emergency repairs, like a tree falling on a roof, are allowed and there have been a number of construction waivers granted by the state.

Construction on Wind Creeks $100 million hotel expansion and Lehigh Universitys construction projects has halted under the order, Karner said.

All city departments are fully operational as of now with tweaks to scheduling and work flows to adhere to social distancing guidelines, Evans said.

No city firefighters, police officers or EMS workers have tested positive for COVID-19 to date, said Robert Novatnack, city emergency management coordinator. A handful have been tested and all came back negative, he said.

First responders are following U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines when responding to calls. There have been fewer police and vehicle accident calls, but three working fire calls recently, Novatnack.

The mayor also announced Thursday morning that he is extending the free parking being offered in the New Street and North Street parking garages until April 30. Vehicles will have 24 hours to exit after noon on April 30 or theyll be charged the full duration of their stay.

The Bethlehem Parking Authority will stop booting vehicles and street sweeping is suspended until further notice. Citations are only be issued for public safety violations like blocking fire hydrants. Parking citation late fees from March 1 until April 30 are suspended.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
With physicians working across different locations throughout central Ohio, its imperative we find a way to safely and effectively deliver care to our patients, says L. Arick Forrest, MD, MBA, Vice Dean of Clinical Affairs, OSU College of Medicine, and President of OSU Physicians, Inc.

Updox announced today a partnership with The Ohio State University Physicians, Inc., a multi-specialty physician group, to provide a video telehealth solution to OSU Physicians physicians and advanced practice providers. Telehealth services are in demand across the nation due to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure safe, HIPAA-compliant care delivery for patients, physicians and staff.

OSU Physicians is using Updoxs Video Chat to keep patients healthy and ensure safe care. Patients can connect with their physicians and healthcare providers through HIPAA-compliant Video Chat for face-to-face consultations without the need to download an app or special equipment. Updox Video Chat also works without the need for an existing MyChart portal account.

With physicians working across different locations throughout central Ohio, its imperative we find a way to safely and effectively deliver care to our patients, says L. Arick Forrest, MD, MBA, Vice Dean of Clinical Affairs, OSU College of Medicine, and President of OSU Physicians, Inc. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are encouraging staying home but healthcare must continue. We evaluated other third-party telehealth solutions but Updox allowed us to start immediately.

Updox telehealth solutions give healthcare providers HIPAA-compliant channels to reach patients who are too ill to get to the office, homebound, quarantined, immobile or in rural environments. As healthcare providers navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Updox supports safe, effective screening and treatment, while minimizing exposure risk to protect both staff and patients.

During this time of crisis, quickly implementing comprehensive and secure telehealth services can ensure care continues in a way that is safe, secure and personal, says Michael Morgan, chief executive officer, Updox. Were pleased to offer OSU Physicians a solution to safely treat their patients, protect staff and lower overall risks to help lessen the spread of COVID-19. These stressful times demand next-generation telehealth solutions that practices can use immediately with no special apps or downloads, and are as easy to use as making a phone call.

While cities across the United States are under quarantine or stay at home orders, with at-risk patients advised to stay away from more populated areas and businesses, the need for healthcare doesnt stop. Telehealth offers a way to offer regular healthcare services while also triaging and treating patients impacted by COVID-19.

For more information about how to immediately implement Updox Telehealth solutions, visit https://info.updox.com/covid-19-resources

About Updox:

Changing the way healthcare connects, Updoxs telehealth solutions are part of an all-in-one collaboration platform for out-of-hospital healthcare providers. Named for the past five years to the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies, Updox is integrated with more than 100 electronic health records (EHR) and pharmacy management systems and serves more than 470,000 users and 170 million patients. Updox offers a broad set of capabilities for patient engagement, provider communications and internal productivity that work together in a secure, easy-to-use collaboration platform. Updox was created specifically for the out-of-hospital market and gives customers access to a growing platform that focuses on solutions and services to make everyone delivering healthcare happy. Learn more at http://www.updox.com or follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

About OSU Physicians, Inc.

The Ohio State University Physicians, Inc. (OSUP) provides outpatient care throughout Central Ohio and the surrounding areas, as the approved not-for-profit practice plan for The Ohio State University College of Medicine designated by the University Board of Trustees. Located throughout Central Ohio, OSU Physicians, Inc. has clinics that foster an environment built on diversity, employee development and quality patient care. To learn more, visit https://www.osuphysicians.com/


It was just for fun, says Lanari, 32, when I visit her home in early March. She gestures to the two pieces, which now flank the simple white-painted wood fireplace in her living room. I remember thinking, Its not bad for a first attempt. But I never imagined anything would come of it. When she showed the lamps to friends and design editors, though, they soon commissioned her to make similar creations for their own homes and professional projects. Now, these sculptures  which, depending on the hour, cast dramatic shadows across the wooden floorboards and plum, emerald and tawny brown walls of her apartment  are the foundation of her practice. Each morning, Lanari makes the 20-minute trip across the city in her 1980s Volkswagen Polo to her studio in Clapham, South London, a diminutive, 345-square-foot stone-floored Victorian outbuilding  part of a larger warehouse complex now occupied by artists work spaces  whose weathered yellow-brick facade is obscured by a profusion of climbing ivy. Here, she strives to keep pace with the demand for her growing collection of plaster lighting and furniture, which she makes for both private clients and collaborators, including the interior decorator Beata Heuman, the antique and design gallery 8 Holland Street and the luxury bathroom specialists Balineum.
COVID-19: What you need to know now
The UK announced on Friday it will operate a second wave of 12 charter flights during April 13-20 to evacuate more than 3,000 British travellers stranded in India.

The British government said last week it plans to operate charter flights for some 20,000 Britons stranded in different Indian states. Bookings for the flights to be operated from April 13 began on Friday, the British high commission said.

The first wave of seven charter flights will carry Britons from Goa, Mumbai and New Delhi during April 8-12. The total number of people to be brought back on these 19 flights is around 5,000.

The first charter flight from India arrived at London Stanstead airport on Thursday morning with 317 British nationals from Goa.

The 12 additional flights will depart from Amritsar on April 13, 17 and 19, from Ahmedabad on April 13 and 15, from Goa on April 14 and 16, from Goa via Mumbai on April 18, from Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi on April 15, from Hyderabad via Ahmedabad on April 17, from Kolkata via Delhi on April 19 and from Chennai via Bengaluru on April 20.

The UK minister of state for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Tariq Ahmad, said: We are doing all we can to get thousands of British travellers in India home. This is a huge and complex operation which also involves working with the Indian government to enable people to move within India to get on these flights.

Over 300 people arrived from Goa on Thursday morning, 1,400 more will arrive over the Easter weekend and these 12 flights next week will bring back thousands more.

Jan Thompson, the acting high commissioner to India, said: We are extremely grateful for the support we are receiving from the government of India on this. Getting people home as quickly as possible remains our absolute priority.

The British high commission said India is a priority country for the Foreign Office to arrange charter flights from, with a large number of Britons seeking to return and a lack of commercial options  made more challenging by the size of the country and the restrictions on movement that are in place.

The British government is working with the airline industry and host governments around the world to bring back British travellers as part of a plan announced by foreign secretary Dominic Raab on March 30, with up to 75 million available for special charter flights to priority countries that are focused on helping the most vulnerable travellers.

So far, flights have brought back British travellers from the Philippines, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nepal, Ghana, Tunisia, Algeria and Peru.

The charter flights are only for British travellers who normally reside in the UK and their direct dependants. A number of seats will be reserved for those deemed vulnerable.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
VGTeL, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has merged with Strategic Healthcare Alliances, LLC.

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 10, 2020 / Strategic Healthcare Alliances. LLC is currently doing business in New York City. Strategic Healthcare Alliances, LLC's mission is to acquire primary care physician practices, aggregating a significant number of health plan members assigned to the practices as the member's PCP. They will then negotiate value-based contracts providing the company with global risk contracts, which pay a high percentage of the total premium as revenue, with the health plans who have members assigned to the physicians in the practices acquired. Through the practice management team's broad and deep experience managing primary care practices, significant economies of scale will be achieved through operational activity consolidation.

Strategic Healthcare Alliances, LLC also contains a managed care management team of former health plan executives, CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CMOs, as well as VP level executives. This team will engage with their health plan counterparts, demonstrating significant experience in managing the cost of care, and securing global risk contracts, generating revenues based on a significantly high percentage of the total premium for each member. The initial membership aggregation is expected to result in care management revenues in excess of $100 million, generating a significant additional profit for the company, expected to double the EBDITA of the company with a small additional investment, since the members are already assigned to the primary care physicians of the consolidated group.

Strategic Healthcare Alliances, LLC. plans to implement its mission by leveraging the already existing relationships of its management teams, engaged at the appropriate times, first practice management then managed care management.

Pursuant to the Acquisition and Merger Agreement, a new class of preferred shares will be issued by VGTeL Inc. (OTC PINK:VGTL) as consideration for the acquisition of 96% of Strategic Healthcare Alliances, LLC's issued and outstanding shares. In addition, Mark B. Newbauer will Immediately resign as CEO but remain as on officer and director for a three-month period to assist in the transition.

Kerry A. McDonald will be the new CEO of both VGTeL Inc. (OTC PINK:VGTL) and Strategic Healthcare Alliances, LLC. His impressive resume includes: more than 30 years' healthcare experience at the executive management level including: CEO Magellan Complete Care of Florida, where he planned and executed a financial and operational turnaround, improving from a $47.5 million loss in 2015 to a $45.8 million profit in 2016, just 13 months, becoming profitable in 6 months, he was the start-up CEO of a Medicare Advantage plan, (Liberty Health Advantage); VP of Regional Operations for a managed Medicaid payer in NY and NJ (Americhoice); and the COO of a TennCare PHO, a cost of care management company paid a high percentage of total premium per member (THP). He has extensive experience managing health plan operations including financial services and information support systems. During his career, Kerry led the implementation of a new Amsys claims system and was a leader in the turnaround of an 85k member book-of- business, going from a $30 million loss to a $2.5 million profit, after a 90-day implementation period. Additionally, he conceptualized/implemented a complex rate analysis for UnitedHealth Group that enabled the network management team to re-contract with more than 20k providers which resulted in an annual savings of more than $11M for their New York managed Medicaid plans. Kerry has led the IT implementation of many software system projects unique to health plans, by building teams of people to accomplish these tasks while achieving significant financial results in extremely short time frames.

Kerry holds a BA in finance, and an MS degree in Analytics and Knowledge Management from Notre Dame of Maryland University. He also was a hospital corpsman in the US Navy.

Mark Newbauer, former CEO of VGTeL Inc., states, "this merger will make all stakeholders extremely pleased. Strategic Healthcare Alliance's management teams are second to none which means that they will be a dominant force in the healthcare system management industry."

Kerry McDonald, CEO of VGTeL Inc., excitedly states, "I was impressed with VGTeL's growth which shows the expertise of Mark Newbauer and his management team. I will be bringing the company current in its filings so shareholders can feel the full realization of our rapid growth through the acquisition of Strategic Healthcare Alliances."

Updates will be forthcoming

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. That includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release cannot be concluded for some reason. That could be as a result of technical, installation, permitting or other problems that were not anticipated. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Green Stream Finance, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. Except for any obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, Green Stream Finance, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For All Inquiries Contact:

mrmcdonald@aol.com

SOURCE: VGTel, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/584641/VGTel-Inc-a-New-York-corporation-OTCM-VGTL-Merges-With-Primary-Care-Physician-Practice-acquisition-and-management-company-Strategic-Healthcare-Alliances-LLC
With the Supreme Court directing that private labs should conduct coronavirus tests free of cost, many laboratories expect the government to "come up with modalities" so that they can sustain testing facilities in the wake of burgeoning demand in the country.

IMAGE: A technician from Dr Dangs Lab demonstrates sample collection process for COVID-19 tests in New Delhi. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI Photo

Owner of some labs also said the private laboratories "do not have the wherewithal" to do this costly test free of cost.

Dr Arjun Dang, CEO of Dr Dangs Lab, said,"we endorse the Supreme Court's judgement which aims at increasing accessibility to COVID-19 testing and to make it affordable for the common man".

However, for private labs there are numerous fixed costs, including for reagents, consumables, skilled manpower and maintenance of specific infrastructure, he argued.

The whole process of testing for coronavirus also entails immense infection control measures like personal protective equipment, viral transport media and the need to keep sanitation and employee safety in mind at every step, he said.

"Private labs are barely able to recover costs at the government-mandated cost of Rs 4,500. Keeping this in mind we hope the government comes up with modalities so that testing in private laboratories remains sustainable," said Dang.

Dang said his lab is currently following the apex court's order and doing the test free of cost while awaiting further clarity from the government.

Agreeing with Dang, Dr A Velumani, chairman and managing director of Thyrocare Technologies Ltd, is of the opinion that "private labs do not have the wherewithal to do this costly test free of cost".

"It is duty of the government to reimburse the costs and we do not mind working without profits, he said.

Velumani said, the court in its order, has indicated that "government should find a way and we are awaiting for the directions'.

"If the government doesn't subsidise, it would be a huge setback in the fight against COVID-19," he said.

In a big relief to the poor, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that private labs should conduct coronavirus tests free of cost, observing they need to be philanthropic in the hour of national crisis.

The government had fixed Rs 4500 for private labs for screening and confirmation tests for COVID-19.

The top court in its interim order said the Centre should immediately issue directions for carrying out free COVID-19 tests in NABL accredited labs or any agencies approved by the World Health Organisation or the Indian Council of Medical Research.

It took note of the Centre's submission that government laboratories are conducting these tests free of cost.

A day after the court ruling, Biocon Ltd chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Thursday said it is "impractical" to implement the Supreme Court's order to make all coronavirus tests free, expressing concern that it will lead to plummeting of tests as private labs cannot run their business on credit.

Mazumdar-Shaw, however, offered a contrarian view to that of the apex court through her tweets.

"Humanitarian in intent but impractical to implement - I fear testing will plummet," she said referring to the order of the apex court.

She described the order as "a judgement that will severely affect testing. Pvt labs simply cannot be expected to run their businesses on credit".
NEW YORK - The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus hit 100,000 as Christians around the globe marked a Good Friday unlike any other  in front of computer screens instead of in church pews  and some countries tiptoed toward reopening segments of their battered economies.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus cross a pedestrian walkway on Friday, April 10, 2020, in Tokyo. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency last Tuesday for Tokyo and six other prefectures to ramp up defenses against the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

NEW YORK - The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus hit 100,000 as Christians around the globe marked a Good Friday unlike any other  in front of computer screens instead of in church pews  and some countries tiptoed toward reopening segments of their battered economies.

Around the world, public health officials and religious leaders alike warned people against violating the lockdowns and social distancing rules over Easter and allowing the virus to come storming back. Authorities resorted to roadblocks and other means to discourage travel.

In Italy, officials employed helicopters, drones and stepped-up police checks to make sure residents didn't slip out of their homes. On Thursday alone, police stopped some 300,000 people around Italy to check whether they had permission to travel. About 10,000 were issued summonses.

Some churches held services online, while others arranged prayers at drive-in theatres. Fire-scarred Notre Dame Cathedral came back to life briefly in Paris, days before the first anniversary of the April 15 inferno that ravaged it. Services were broadcast from the closed-to-the-public cathedral.

A man uses a mirror to put on a face mask at a market closed due to the coronavirus outbreak in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, April 10, 2020. Mosques usually filled for Friday prayers and streets normally clogged with cars and motorcycles were empty as authorities in Indonesia's capital enforced stricter measures to halt the coronavirus' spread after deaths spiked in the past week. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

The holiday observances came as the worldwide number of deaths tracked by Johns Hopkins University hit a bleak milestone of 100,000 since late December, when the outbreak emerged in China. More than 1.6 million people around the globe have been infected, by the university's count.

The true number of lives lost is believed be much higher because of limited testing, coverups by some governments, and different counting practices. For example, in places like New York, Italy and Spain, many victims who died outside a hospital  say, in a home or a nursing home  have not been counted.

The U.S. had over 18,000 dead, putting it on track to overtake Italy as the country with the highest death toll. Almost a half-million Americans were confirmed infected. About half of dead were in the New York metropolitan area, which includes northern New Jersey, lower Connecticut and Long Island.

Still, there were signs of hope.

New York state reported 777 new deaths, down slightly from the day before, for an overall toll of more than 7,800.

Believers pray in a old Volkswagen bus during a Good Friday church service at a drive-in cinema when all German churches are closed for worships due to the coronavirus outbreak in Duesseldorf, Germany, Friday, April 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

I understand intellectually why its happening, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. It doesnt make it any easier to accept.

But state officials said the number of people in intensive care dropped for the first time since mid-March and hospitalizations are slowing: 290 new patients in a single day, compared with daily increases of more than 1,000 last week.

Cuomo said if the trend holds, New York might not need the overflow field hospitals that officials have been scrambling to construct.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, said Dr. Jolion McGreevy, medical director of Mount Sinai Hospitals emergency department. Its getting better, but its not like its going to just drop off overnight. I think its going to continue to slowly decline over the next weeks and months.

With the pandemic slamming economies, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned that the global economy is headed for the worst recession since the Depression.

Georg Baetzing, Bishop of Limburg and chairman of the German Bishop Conference, walks alone through the portal of Limburg Cathedral prior to the Good Friday service in Limburg, Germany, Friday, April 10, 2020. Due to the Corona pandemic, the service will be broadcast exclusively by live stream, visitors are not allowed inside the church. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)

In Europe, the 19 countries that use the euro currency overcame weeks of bitter divisions to agree on spending $550 billion to cushion the recession caused by the virus. Mario Centeno, who heads the eurozone finance ministers group, called the package totally unprecedented. ... Tonight Europe has shown it can deliver when the will is there.

As weeks of lockdowns were extended in nation after nation, governments were pressed to ease restrictions on key businesses and industries.

After a two-week freeze on all nonessential economic activity, Spain decided to allow factories and construction sites to resume work on Monday, while schools, most shops and offices will remain closed. Spanish authorities said they trust that the move wont cause a significant surge in infections.

We wouldnt be adopting them otherwise, said Maria Jose Sierra of Spains health emergency centre.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that a premature lifting of restrictions could lead to a deadly resurgence.

Recently painted words saying "Stay 2 M apart protect the NHS" displayed to try and stop the spread of coronavirus through encouraging people to observe two-meters social distancing, on the grass of Primrose Hill in London, Friday, April 10, 2020. In a statement Thursday, a spokesman at 10 Downing Street said British Prime Minister Johnson "has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery." The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

In Italy, the industrial lobbies in regions representing 45% of the country's economic output urged the government to ease its two-week lockdown on all nonessential manufacturing, saying the country "risks definitively shutting down its own motor, and every day that passes the risk grows not to be able to restart it.

Italy reported 570 additional deaths for a running total of more than 18,800 but said the number of hospital admissions is falling along with the number of patients in intensive care.

Malaysia's prime minister announced a two-week extension to the countrys lockdown but said selected economic sectors can reopen in phases while following strict hygiene rules.

In the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, people desperate for food stampeded, pushing through a gate at a district office in the Kibera slum. Police fired tear gas, injuring several people.

In Japan, the worlds third-largest economy, many have criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as being too slow to act against the pandemic. In a rare rebuke, the Japanese prefecture of Aichi, home to the Toyota car company, declared its own state of emergency, saying it cannot wait for the government.

The situation is critical, said Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura. We decided to do everything we can to protect Aichi residents lives and health.

Japan has the worlds oldest population, and COVID-19 can be especially serious for the elderly.

In some of the worst-hit countries, Italy and Spain, new infections, hospitalizations and deaths have been levelling off. But the daily tolls remain shocking.

The 605 new deaths announced in Spain were the lowest in more than two weeks. The coronavirus has claimed more than 15,800 lives there, though the rates of contagion and deaths are dropping.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Britain recorded 980 new deaths, its highest daily total, for close to 9,000 in all.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care on Thursday after spending three nights there being treated for the virus. The 55-year-old remained hospitalized in London. His father, Stanley Johnson, said the prime minister needs to rest up before returning to work.

___

Sedensky reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
E+ / Getty Images

En espanol | Here's a scary scenario that may seem familiar: Your kids are off to college in September, but, thanks to the mortgage, the monthly bills and the looming threat of being laid off because of the coronavirus, you haven't been able to put any money aside. But you don't want your children to become more participants in the nation's $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. So what can you do at this point?

Take a breath, because you have options, even if you're not in a financial position to just whip out your checkbook. There are multiple strategies you can invoke to help mitigate costs, share the load and launch your kids or grandkids into the workforce without a crushing financial burden.

"It's hard, but millions of parents have done it, says Kim Clark, assistant director of the Washington, D.C.based Education Writers Association. There are a lot of different little things you can do to reduce your costs."

So what are those strategies? Here are a few tips from the experts.

1. Fill out the FAFSA

This seems like a basic point, but around a quarter of families don't even complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid  because they think they won't qualify, because it's too complicated or because they miss deadlines.

That's a mistake, and a big one, because then you don't have access to most of the scholarships and grants that could help lower your burden. In fact, 31 percent of college costs were covered by scholarships and grants in the past school year, according to the Sallie Mae report How America Pays for College 2019. To take advantage of this aid, however, you have to complete the FAFSA. Parents generally underestimate their eligibility for needs-based financial aid, says Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and vice president of research at SavingforCollege.com.

2. Look into private scholarships

At your company there may be programs in place to assist employees kids with their school costs. If you work for Google or Bank of America, for instance, it might offer special scholarships or tuition help.

To find funding sources, check out scholarship aggregators, in which you input your information and get matched with relevant opportunities. Two of the most prominent, Kantrowitz says, are FastWeb.com, with its database of 1.5 million scholarships; and the College Board. Just make sure such sites aren't asking for money upfront, which usually indicates a scam.

3. Become a research ninja

Let's face it, most high schoolers are not great at sitting down and doing the legwork necessary to figure out the best and cheapest college options. That's where you can help, by being their research wingman and steering applications to the right institutions.

Generally speaking, the cheapest four-year option is your in-state public institution, with average annual published tuition and fees of $9,410, according to the College Board. Public two-year community colleges are even less, at $3,440 annually, but will require a transfer to get that bachelor's degree.

Keep in mind, though, that many Ivy League universities now waive tuition entirely for families below a certain income level. Don't pass up the possibility of a full ride at one of the world's great institutions just because you didn't know about its income policies or have the paperwork done in time.

4. Cover room and board

Whether you want your college kid living at home is a decision you'll have to make. But a big portion of college costs doesn't involve tuition, fees or textbooks but room and board, which runs $11,140 a year at public institutions, according to the College Board.

If your child can stay home with you for her college years (even for just a couple of them), that will save tens of thousands of dollars. Anything parents can do to reduce the cost of living is a huge benefit, says Clark. You do lose something from the college experience by not living in a dorm, but you do gain a lot of money. If that makes the difference between being able to attend college or not, then you should do it."

In a similar way, keeping college kids on family plans (car insurance, health coverage, cellphone) can save them a ton of money, compared with the rates they would be able to secure on their own. There are a lot of bulk-purchasing advantages that parents can extend, Clark notes.

5. Avoid big mistakes

Securing a financial future  yours and that of your kids  involves not just choosing smart paths but avoiding bad ones. So, for instance, try not to cosign for private student loans, which will keep you on the hook in perpetuity if the student isn't able to pay them back. Don't raid your retirement funds, which will put your own security in jeopardy. What's more, try not to take out loans against your home equity, another temptation that could put your family home at risk.

The key: Don't resign yourself or your college kid to a lifetime of crushing student debt. With thoughtful college choice, creative planning and necessary compromises, you should be equal to the challenge. There are a million ways to save money, Clark says. So find your community and get inspiration and ideas from other parents. Getting support from other people who have done this is a real positive."
A video of hundreds of surfers ignoring the social distancing protocol in the United Kingdom, as they take to the waves at a popular Cornish beach, has sparked outrage among British people. Despite the lockdown, the video published by a British media outlet shows dozens of people at the Fistral Beach with the surfing boards defying the stay-at-home advisory.

While surfing isnt officially banned, and no direct legislation has been brought by the UK authorities to restrict the beach excursion, the assembly of a large number of people at public places has been prohibited in accordance with the local police guidelines, as per UKs media reports.

Read: Coronavirus Cases See Largest 1-day Jump So Far In Virginia

"Hundreds seen surfing on Cornish beaches despite UK lockdown" -- #Coronavirus lockdown snitches at The Independent pic.twitter.com/D9rPc2pxOF  Memelord (@dailydigger19) April 9, 2020

As per local news reports, Cornwall Police official Ian Drummond-Smith has said that the recent guidelines from the London-based National Police Chiefs Council did not completely ban the surfing exercise, people, however, were seen taking undue advantages. He added saying that although the activity was allowed, there are reasonable distancing protocols in place.

Read: 44 New Coronavirus Patients Found In MP, Count 470, One Death

Coronavirus Crisis In UK

Over 73,758 confirmed cases have been reported in the UK, and at least 8,958 fatalities have been registered so far. Earlier, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 infection and was moved to the intensive care unit of a London hospital after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, media reports confirmed.

Johnson was, however, shifted out of the intensive care on April 9 after his condition improved. Stanley Johnson, the UK Prime Minister's father, reportedly said that he thinks that his sons illness has got the whole country to realise that this is a serious event.

Before Boris Johnson, Prince Charles, the 71-year-old member of the Royal family and next in line to the British throne, was also diagnosed with COVID-19 infection and was in quarantine for over a week.

Read: Turkey Coronavirus Deaths Pass 1,000: Minister

Read: France Reports 987 More Coronavirus Deaths, Toll Tops 13,000
The marine insurance market is poised to grow by USD 8.42 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 4% during the forecast period. Request free sample pages

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005645/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Marine Insurance Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Read the 120-page report with TOC on "Marine Insurance Market Analysis Report by Product (Cargo, Hull, Offshore energy, and Marine liability) and Geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America), and the Segment Forecasts, 2020-2024".

https://www.technavio.com/report/global-marine-insurance-market-industry-analysis

The market is driven by the use of multiple distribution channels. In addition, the increase in the use of IoT is anticipated to boost the growth of the marine insurance market during the forecast period. The use of online portals has improved the customer experience by introducing technological advancements such as digitization and analytics in the industry. As a result, various countries, such as Singapore, can promote insurance business models by encouraging direct underwriting via online platforms. Also, these new digital enterprise platforms involves reduced cost, creates an omnichannel distribution, mitigates risks, and offers a better customer experience, which, in turn, will help vendors in revenue generation.

Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free.

View market snapshot before purchasing

Major Five Marine Insurance Companies:

Allianz Group

The company operates in key business segments including Property-Casualty, Life or Health, Asset Management, and Corporate and Other. The company offers marine and shipping insurance for all types of marine risk, from single vessels and shipments to the most complex fleets and multinational logistics businesses.

American International Group Inc.

The company operates in key business segments including General Insurance, Life and Retirement, Other Operations, and Legacy Portfolio. The company provides marine insurance for goods in transit from warehouse to warehouse anywhere in the world.

Aon Plc

The company operates in key business segments including Commercial Risk Solutions, Reinsurance Solutions, Retirement Solutions, Health Solutions, and Data and Analytic Services. The company provides marine insurance which insures transport and storage risks in comfort, keeps an administrative overview, and produces certificates and policies online.

Beazley Plc

The company operates in key business segments including Cyber and executive risk, Marine, Political, accident, and contingency, Property, Reinsurance, and Specialty lines. The company provides insurance in protection and indemnity, terminal or port operators, ship repairers liability, charterers, ancillary, contractual and excess liabilities.

Brown Brown Inc.

The company operates through key business segments including Retail Segment, National Programs Segment, Wholesale Brokerage Segment, Services Segment, and Other. The company provides marine-related risks with charter vessels, yacht clubs, marinas, marine service companies, and any over the water commercial exposure.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Marine Insurance Market Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2020-2024)

Cargo

Hull

Offshore energy

Marine liability

Marine Insurance Market Geographic Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2020-2024)

Europe

APAC

South America

North America

MEA

Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report, such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Request a free sample report

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005645/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
Any talk of a plateau in coronavirus cases in central Pennsylvania is premature, said Dr. James Raczek, chief medical officer at UPMC Pinnacle.

Theres talk of a peak in next week or so, Raczek told PennLive in a phone interview Thursday. I dont think thats correct in what were seeing. I think we are going to see a peak in a number of weeks down the road. We are planning for significant number of (COVID-19) patients that need to be treated.

Raczek declined to provide specific figures for how many cases the multi-county health system of seven acute care hospitals with 1,160 licensed beds, over 160 outpatient clinics and ancillary facilities is expecting. UPMC Pinnacle serves Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry, York, Lancaster, Lebanon, Juniata, Franklin, Adams and parts of Snyder counties.

READ MORE: Homebound Pa. woman, 93, sends beer SOS for more Coors Light amid coronavirus

Whatever the number is, Raczek said UPMC Pinnacle is ready in terms of planning, staffing and equipment provisions to effectively treat pandemic patients.

We want to be ready, and we are ready, Raczek said. We are looking at all of our options to ramp. I think we are weeks away from that peak. As Dr. Fauci said, the virus will determine the timeline.

Raczek did acknowledge that social distancing is working to lower the curve of the coronavirus outbreak, both nationally and in Central Pennsylvania. He expressed hope his hospital system will never need to deploy its worst-case scenario planning for a significant surge in coronavirus hospitalizations.

I always like to have a plan I dont have to use, said Raczek, who added there was no exact number of how many hospitalizations his system was forecasting at the peak.

Dr. James Raczek

Every (UPMC Pinnacle) hospital has a surge plan to take on many, many more patients. We will find a way to take care of the patients who present, he said.

One aspect of the pandemic response that isnt performing to Raczeks liking is COVID-19 testing.

Raczek said UPMC-Pinnacle is currently processing a total of just 30 to 40 COVID-19 tests a day throughout the region. He cited a number of limiting factors, including the supply of test kits and the safety and cleaning precautions taken before and after each outpatient sample collection.

To be considered for a test, a patient must have a referral from a doctor thats then reviewed by the health systems office of infection prevention and control  all before an outpatient appointment for sample collection is either offered or denied.

Raczek added that the health system also has to be judicious in testing its own staff members who might have had exposure to the virus, forcing them to quarantine rather than resume work.

The bottom line is we would like to test every person we thought needed to be tested, Raczek said. That number is quite large.

While Raczek said he hopes to ramp up testing soon, widespread testing that would provide a better picture of community remains a ways off.

As it is, Raczek said the percentage people who test positive at UPMC Pinnacle sites is running about 11%-12% of all those tested by the regional health system.

From my perspective, that is high, Raczek said. And the reason is, we have a selection criteria to meet certain signs and symptoms. Thats why that number to me is higher than screening the general population.

System-wide across all of UPMCs 40 hospitals, those testing positive for COVID-19 is 8% of those tested in the system, a spokeswoman said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 1,989 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, raising the statewide total to 18,228.

At least 338 people have died due to the virus, including 29 new deaths reported Thursday.

At least 26 patients have died in the Harrisburg region, including three new deaths reported Thursday by the health department. The new deaths were reported in Lancaster, York and Adams counties. This marked the first death in Adams County, according to state figures.

More:
Asia virus latest: Australia raids cruise ship; Taiwan demands WHO apology

WORLD: As global cases of infection hit 1.6 million and over 95,000 deaths are confirmed, here are the latest developments in Asia related to the novel coronavirus pandemic:

CoronavirusCOVID-19

By AFP

Friday 10 April 2020, 09:06AM

Police officers in protective gear prepare to board the coronavirus-stricken Ruby Princess cruise ship and seize its black box at Port Kembla, Australia. Photo: AFP

Australian police raid virus-hit cruise ship

Australian police raided the coronavirus-stricken Ruby Princess cruise ship and seized its black box, as part of a criminal investigation after thousands of passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney and 15 later died of the illness.

Police wearing protective suits and masks boarded the vessel in Port Kembla, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Sydney, on Wednesday night (Apr 8), New South Wales Police said.

Taiwan demands apology from WHO chief

Taiwan demanded an apology from the World Health Organization (WHO) chief after he accused the islans government of leading personal attacks against him and his agencys response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Relations between the WHO and Taiwan have worsened considerably since the pandemic began, even as health experts have lauded Taiwan for its response to the virus.

Taiwan used to be able to obtain observer status at the WHOs annual assembly, but diplomatic pressure from Beijing in recent years has pushed the island out of major international bodies.

Markets, oil rise

Asian markets were mostly in positive territory yesterday (Apr 9) following another strong day for Wall Street as traders bought into optimism that the coronavirus crisis could be nearing its apex, while crude extended gains on hopes top producers will agree to a massive output cut.

Scores of detained Rohingya freed in Myanmar

Cases against scores of Rohingya Muslims detained after fleeing Myanmars restive Rakhine state have been dropped, as fears grow of a potential coronavirus outbreak in the countrys overcrowded prisons.

A military crackdown in 2017 forced some 750,000 Rohingya to escape to Bangladesh. Those who remain in Rakhine live under tight restrictions with little access to healthcare and education, unable to move freely in conditions Amnesty International has branded apartheid.

Tokyo Disney parks extend closures

Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea said they will extend their closures after the Japanese government this week declared a month-long state of emergency to halt the spread of the virus.

The parks, which usually attract more than 30 million visitors each year, had originally hoped to reopen this month.

Locked-down Chinese city builds temporary hospital

The Chinese city of Suifenhe in northeastern Heilongjiang province, which has seen an influx of imported coronavirus cases from Russia in recent days, is building a temporary hospital to treat those who have been infected.

The hospital will provide more than 600 beds and is expected to be completed by April 11. The city, on the Russian border, has already placed residents under lockdown and closed the land border.

Australia, New Zealand police halt Easter getaways

Hundreds of police officers in Australia and New Zealand have been deployed to stop holidaymakers from reaching beaches, campsites and vacation homes over the long Easter weekend, usually one of the most popular travel periods of the year.

You cant rent a holiday house, you cant rent an Airbnb, you cant camp, you cant caravan, you cant boat, you cant fish, said Victoria Police Minister Lisa Neville.

This needs to be a very different Easter, she added.
RAANANA, Israel - While hunkering down at home and keeping three young children entertained in coronavirus isolation, Adi Karmon Scope had a thought: How much harder was it for those on the front lines of the pandemic?

So Karmon Scope, a 44-year-old startup entrepreneur took to Facebook to ask Israelis to assist both the health care professionals who are saving lives while braving exposure in long hours at hospitals, and the families they have left behind.

The result has been staggering.

In less than three weeks, more than 10,000 have signed up to Adopt A Doc. Besides providing for needed protective gear and other medical supplies, an army of volunteers has carried out grocery shopping, delivered homecooked meals, babysat for children and even walked the pets of health care providers.

In Israel, more than 10,000 people have contracted the coronavirus and 92 have died. The government has imposed severe restrictions on movement to try to quell the rapid spread, including a near-closure on especially vulnerable neighbourhoods.

With the Israeli workforce largely homebound due to stringent regulations, and the economy slowed to a near standstill, Karmon Scope has enjoyed the robust engagement of tech-savvy Israelis with time on their hands. Theyve built a website that pairs volunteers with nearby doctors, nurses and other overworked medical personnel. Nearly 1,000 now have a designated volunteer who cares for their personal needs, including finding them parking spots in crowded urban centres when they return home from late shifts. Some 3,000 other volunteers offer support in other ways.

The grassroots organization now has a co-ordinator at every hospital in the country, has secured donations from private catering companies and its lobbying effort with local municipalities has produced various gestures toward the doctors.

Weve seen all the medical teams in Italy and in China and we kind of wanted to make sure that our medical teams are taken care of, all their personal lives are taken care of so they can really focus only on being professional and at their best in the hospitals, said Karmon Scope.

Einat Kedem, a 51-year-old digital project manager from Raanana in central Israel, said the least she could do was contribute her cooking skills. Three times a week, shes been delivering vegan meals to the home of Maayan Bacher, an emergency room doctor whos been too overwhelmed to prepare healthy meals for her two children.

Were all at home these days with nothing to do and this is a way to feel like we are part of something, she said.

Bacher was initially hesitant to seek assistance, saying that as a doctor she was used to providing aid, not receiving it. But her children have fallen in love with Kedems pasta dishes and an intimate relationship has since evolved in which the family now feels free to reach out to Kedem and express their profound appreciation.

Its heartwarming that people care about us, she said upon receiving a delivery. Its a good feeling to be appreciated cause, after all, we came into this job basically just to help people.

___

While nonstop global news about the effects of the coronavirus have become commonplace, so, too, are the stories about the kindness of strangers and individuals who have sacrificed for others. One Good Thing is an AP continuing series reflecting these acts of kindness.

____

Follow Aron Heller at www.twitter.com/aronhellerap
When Health Minister Osagie Ehanire was, on Thursday, asked if health workers are being paid hazard allowance for the job that they are doing, in tackling the coronavirus pandemic, he said he was not aware.

Mr Ehanire added that whether during a pandemic or not, handling emergencies is a standard job they (health workers) do every day.

As he said so, his interviewer, House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, cut in. I thought you said coronavirus is novel? How is it a standard job they are doing? to which the minister replied: they are screening for temperature.

The Speaker pressed on. They dont screen for coronavirus everyday. Theyve never done it before. Its the most infectious disease in the world. The answer to my question is that they are not being paid a hazard allowance.

Im not aware was again the ministers response.

You should be aware. You dropped the ball there, Mr Gbajabiamila chided as lawmakers met with the leaders of Nigerias team tackling the coronavirus.

At the same event, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, made a controversial statement on Nigerias health sector.

Mr Mustapha, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Task force (PTF) on COVID-19, said he only realised how bad Nigerias health infrastructure was after he was appointed to head the team.

I never knew that our entire healthcare infrastructure was in the state in which it is  until I was appointed to do this work, Mr Mustapha told the leadership of the national assembly.

Salary structure of health workers

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how nurses and midwives taking care of COVID-19 patients said they had no life insurance and were not receiving any special hazard allowance different from that embedded in their salaries.

An entry level federal doctor or dentist earns an annual consolidated earning of about 1.7 million ($4,722), rising to 8.5 million ($23,611) for the highest grade, as stipulated in the 2019 Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS).

READ ALSO:

Of this, hazard allowance is 60,000 ($167) per annum for medical workers at all grades, said Olanrewaju Amusat, Executive Director of SmileBuilders Initiative.

As for nurses, midwives and other health workers, their total annual entry earning is 360,000 ($1000), rising to 3.2 million ($8,889) for the highest grade, as contained in the 2019 Consolidated Health Salary Structure.

In contrast, the annual take home pay of each member of the House of Representatives in basic salaries and allowances is 17 million ($47,222)  enough to pay at least 10 entry level doctors.

For senators, it is 24 million ($66,667)  enough to pay at least 14 entry level doctors. Yet, the lawmakers have maintained that they are underpaid.

For regional comparison, a 2017 report by Africa Check showed that in South Africa, a full time intern earns US$2,760 monthly, seven times more than Nigerias. Also, a June 2017 deal signed by Kenyan doctors offered the lowest paid among them a gross monthly pay of KSh212,989 (US$2,000  5 times Nigerias).

Oftentimes, complaints of poor remuneration and welfare have pushed health workers in Nigeria to down tools.

Nigeria was still bracing on how to contain the spread of COVID-19 in mid-March when resident doctors in Abuja embarked on an indefinite strike. They have since called it off.

Some health workers at the General Hospital, Ilorin, Kwara State, on Friday also protested the risky working conditions at their workplace, amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Because a good work environment ensures a better work delivery, that is why its important for the government to ensure health workers are adequately catered for, Mr Amusat, Executive Director of SmileBuilders Initiative, told PREMIUM TIMES.

Earnings of workers aside, Nigeria has, administration after administration, never met the agreement in the Abuja Declaration of 2001 where countries agreed to allocate 15 per cent of their national budget to b health.

While he campaigned in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari promised that no Nigerian will have a reason to go outside of the country for medical treatment.

Since he assumed office, however, the president and his immediate family have often travelled abroad, mainly to the UK, for treatment, a common trait shared among many public officials in the country.

Advertisements



Largely based on the poor health infrastructure and welfare, majority of Nigerian doctors want to seek greener pastures.

A survey of 705 doctors found that 9 in 10 Nigerian doctors of all levels are seeking to work abroad, an albatross analysts believe is a further strain on the nations understaffed hospitals.

We hope this pandemic makes the government see the need to set things right in the health sector, Mr Amusat said.

Nigerians fume

Many Nigerians on Twitter took exception to the SGFs comment. Many of them have also criticised the health minister for his comment which some said was devoid of empathy.

The commentators berated the emotional blow Mr Ehanires statement is likely to have on health workers. Some called for his resignation.

Nigerias Minister of Health  Unaware and undiplomatic. Lacking in empathy and emotional intelligence. Cry the beloved country, Omolara Wood, a journalist, wrote on her Twitter page.

Nigeria's Minister of Health  Unaware and undiplomatic. Lacking in empathy and emotional intelligence. Cry the beloved country. https://t.co/K30vCnUHog  Molara Wood (@molarawood) April 10, 2020

This guy should be getting fired. He is not representing the interest of the most important people in the health industry. He has no business being a minister, another Twitter user wrote, referring to the health minister.

This guy should be getting fired. He is not representing the interest of the most important people in the health industry. He has no business being a minister. https://t.co/rKv0v5V1mf  Rufai (@Sir_Ruffy) April 10, 2020

#COVID19 is exposing the inequality gap in our society. Biggest shock is the gap btw supposed govts and the ppl. Nigerias SGF had no clue the public healthcare is dead. The Health Minister is unaware whether doctors/nurses get hazard allowance. To him, they dont deserve it.   Shakir Akorede (@akorive001) April 10, 2020

https://twitter.com/Doctor_MIO/status/1248533494839554048?s=20

https://twitter.com/Tolz__/status/1248523259873804288?s=20
Popular Nigerian cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky has taken to his social media space to jail his surgeon for doing a perfect job on his body.

This comes after cross-dresser shared a couple of video clips in which he had on a bikini.

It is no longer news that the controversial celebrity has gone under the knife a couple of times to get a more feminine body.

Bobrisky commended his surgeon for giving him a moderate derriere while he also insisted that he still remains team natural.

Read Also: My Followers Hate Me  Uche Ogbodo Cries Out

See the post below:
(Natural News) Anthony Fauci: Hes a bit on the short side, seemingly always has this creepy joker grin on his face, and wants you and your family to be forcibly vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) before youll ever again be allowed to leave your house for anything other than cattle pen grocery shopping.

One of the nations most hated deep state tool bags at this point, Fauci exposes himself as a wolf in sheeps clothing just a little bit more with each passing day. And now that we know the guy works for Bill Gates and Big Pharma, the cat is pretty much out of the bag as to his true intentions  but are enough people paying attention?

While feigning expertise in the area of virology, Fauci continues to use his platform to push a vaccine on the public that doesnt even yet exist. Fauci is also vehemently opposed to all other potential treatment options, including inexpensive remedies that already exist and are being used elsewhere in the world with notable success.

Fauci would seem to have a vested interest in seeing a Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine not only come to fruition but be the only medical treatment option available to Americans, even though success against the pandemic is already being seen with hydroxychloroquine, for instance, a malaria drug that costs just a few cents per dose.

Fauci is so determined to get a Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine launched and spread across the country as quickly as possible that hes actually now threatening to never let anyone out of their houses ever again unless they agree to get jabbed in accordance with his desires.

When we get back to normal, we will go back to the point where we can function as a society, Fauci recently stated.

But  [i]f you want to get back to pre-coronavirus, that might not ever happen in the sense that the threat is there. But I believe that with the therapies that will be coming online, and the fact that I feel confident that over a period of time we will get a good vaccine, that we will never have to get back to where we are right now.

Be sure to listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how we need a national zinc campaign to raise awareness about how this natural mineral can help to stop the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) and end the lockdowns:

Fauci is on the Leadership Council of the Gates Foundations Decade of Vaccines Global Vaccine Action Plan

As it turns out, Fauci quietly sits on the Leadership Council of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations Global Vaccine Action Plan, which is currently reaching the finality of its so-called Decade of Vaccines initiative that began in 2010. This fully explains why hes gone all-in for a future Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, and why hes signaled that Americans will continue to be held hostage until they agree to get it.

Like Gates, Fauci stands to make millions from the release of a Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, which seems to have been the agenda all along. He probably wasnt expecting President Trump to ever make any mention of hydroxychloroquine, nor did he anticipate anything other than full compliance from the American people, whove been scared to death by this social engineering experiment, also known as 9/11 2.0.

But Faucis cover has been blown, and everyone whos paying attention can now see him for the rat he is. The guy only cares about forcing a vaccine on you and couldnt care less whether you live or die in the process, just like his buddy Bill Gates.

More of the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) is available at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

WashingtonTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
Aho said she intended to return later in the week for another visit but had some cold-like symptoms and decided it would be best to skip. Soon, she said, the facility was closed entirely to visitors. On March 24, the facility notified the family that a resident had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
On Thursday also, SpiceJet had performed a cargo flight to Singapore from Chennai and back with a dedicated Boeing 737 freighter, transporting critical medical equipment and devices to India.

Mumbai: Budget carrier SpiceJet operated its first freighter service on Friday to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam from Hyderabad, carrying around 16 tonnes of medical supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Today, SpiceXpress operated its second freighter flight to Singapore, this time from Bengaluru, to receive emergency medical equipment. We're committed to playing our part in optimizing the Supply Chain during this crisis. #InItTogether@drharshvardhan @HardeepSPuri @AjaySingh_SG pic.twitter.com/KIP10NSpvh  SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) April 10, 2020

Besides, one of its freighters flew with critical medical equipment from Singapore to Bengaluru, while a passenger aircraft transported medical supplies as in-cabin cargo to Guwahati from Kolkata, it said in a release.

On Thursday also, SpiceJet had performed a cargo flight to Singapore from Chennai and back with a dedicated Boeing 737 freighter, transporting critical medical equipment and devices to India.

"SpiceJet on Friday operated its first-ever cargo flight from Hyderabad to Ho Chi Minh City carrying medical supplies, while another cargo freighter of ours brought in critical medical equipment to Bengaluru from Singapore. We are actively utilising our passenger planes carrying cargo-on-seat with one flying medical supplies from Kolkata to Guwahati today (Friday)," SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh was quoted as saying in the release.

SpiceJet has operated more than 220 cargo flights since the lockdown began transporting more than 1,850 tonnes of vital supplies, Singh said in the release.

During the lockdown period, only special flights approved by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), medical evacuation flights and those carrying cargo, including medical equipment, to and from different parts of the country are operational.
In the 1970s, it played a key role in Indias family planning programme, manufacturing condoms branded Nirodh.

Just around three years ago, dismissed as a mere condom maker (it was more), there was an attempt to privatise the company.

Over the past month, it has been at the centre of controversies -- on how it delayed placing orders for protective equipment for health care workers, or the margin it was adding to such equipment it sourced.

Meet the state-owned HLL Lifecare Limited (the HLL stands for Hindustan Latex Limited, its avatar in its condom making days, but no one uses that name anymore), which has emerged an important part of the governments fight against Covid-19.

The Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala-based company has developed a rapid antibody diagnostic kit to test Covid-19 patients (in a mere 15-20 minutes, the company claims). According to EA Subramanian, director of technical operations of HLL Lifecare, the company was able to develop the test kit within a month. It has had experience in developing test kits for TB, dengue and malaria.

The rapid antibody diagnostic kit to test Covid-19 patients has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research, and validated by the National Virology Institute in Pune. We have got an order of 2 lakh kits to begin with and are planning to produce 20,000 per day in our Manesar plant in Haryana. Mass production will begin on Monday and two lakh kits will be dispatched within the next 10 days, said Subramanian. The production is scalable, he added.

The Union government has already placed an order worth ~2,000 crore for the kits and other equipment. In fiscal year 2018-19, HLL Lifecares standalone revenues were ~1,471 crore and net profit , ~15.36 crore. Even including its five subsidiaries it had revenues of ~1,696 crore and made a small loss of ~12.96 crore.

The test kits are important because governments across the world are scrambling to manufacture or buy enough test kits. India, too, ordered on April 7 half-a-million rapid antibody test kits with at least seven Chinese companies receiving import licenses from the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI ) for the same.

Established in 1967, HLL Lifecare played a crucial role in the family planning campaign of the country, distributing condoms at subsidised rates. Its brand Nirodh was the mascot of the family planning campaign and almost became a generic name for condoms in the country. Later it diversified into other areas, making intrauterine devices, contraceptive pills, blood bags, surgical sutures, and Ayurvedic preparations.

The company says that unlike imported Covid-19 test kits, which cost ~700-800, its own kits will be priced ~350-400 (the final prices have not been fixed).

The health ministry has already authorised HLL Lifecare as the nodal procurement agency for all medical requirements to fight Covid -19. It has been entrusted with procurement of N95 surgical masks with respiratory valves, personal protective garments, nitrile gloves, goggles, hand-held infrared thermometers and hand sanitisers .

Since there is mounting demand for these products across the country, HLL floated an open tender and shortlisted some of manufacturers who will now supply these, said a company official who asked not to be named. The company is also manufacturing some protective equipment in-house.

We have also entered into an agreement with Sree Chithira Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology for developing patient examination and disinfection booths. The World Health Organization is also funding us to make and procure more ventilators, said Subramanian.

Meanwhile, employees of the public sector unit are upbeat about the role their firm is playing in the Covid fight. Good the government did not sell it off. Now it is playing a key role in the health sector of the country. Hope this will open the eyes of the government, said an office- bearer of the Hindustan Latex Employees Union who did not want to be identified.

The union, the Kerala government and the Union ministry of health are believed to have scotched efforts to privatise the company.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases across the world has passed the one million threshold.

The count from the Johns Hopkins Universitys website represents confirmed cases but the true number is believed to be much higher.

Nearly 51,500 people have died from after testing positive for Covid-19.

The United States accounts for about 236,000 of the confirmed cases  more than any other country, according to the tally.

The milestone came on the same day that figures showed more than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest indication that the pandemic is ravaging global economies.

The outbreak has left 10 million Americans unemployed in just two weeks.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency in the US asked the Pentagon for 100,000 body bags because of the possibility funeral homes will be overwhelmed, the military said.

Competition for protective equipment such as face masks is growing increasingly fierce (AP/Sue Ogrocki)

The Democratic Party has pushed its nominating convention back a month, to mid-August, because of the pandemic.

The mounting economic fallout almost certainly signals the onset of a global recession, with job losses that are likely to dwarf those of the Great Recession more than a decade ago.

Elsewhere around the world, at least a million people in Europe are estimated to have lost their jobs. Spain alone has added over 300,000 to its unemployment rolls in March.

Yet the job losses appear to be far smaller than in the US because of Europes greater social safety nets, including government programmes to reduce workers hours without laying them off, in the hope of bringing them back quickly once the crisis passes.

Spain reported a record 950 deaths across one day, bringing its overall toll to about 10,000, despite signs that the infection rate is slowing.

A temporary field hospital in Madrid (AP/Manu Fernandez)

Italy recorded 760 more deaths, for a total of 13,900, the worst of any country, but new infections continued to level off. More than 10,000 medical personnel in Italy have been infected and 69 doctors have died.

Story continues

The competition for ventilators, masks and other vital supplies is cutthroat.

In New York, governor Andrew Cuomo warned that the state is quickly running out of breathing machines. He said: At the current burn rate, we have enough ventilators for six days.

He also said the state will pay a premium to manufacturers  and cover the cost of converting their factories too  to produce gowns and other badly needed protective gear.

(PA Graphics)

Mr Cuomo said: But we need this like now. Not talking about two months, three months, four months. We need these materials now.

The governor has complained that the 50 US states are competing against each other for protective gear and breathing machines, or are being outbid by the federal government, in a competition he likened to being on eBay.

In France, a top health official in the countrys hard-hit eastern region said American officials swooped in at a Chinese airport to spirit away a planeload of masks that France had ordered.

Nine leading European university hospitals warned they will run out of essential medicines for Covid-19 patients in intensive care in less than two weeks.

In Japan, where masks are a household staple, the government planned to post two gauze masks each to the countrys 50 million households.
Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Friday urged people not to panic amid the rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the state.

He said the government'ity is to conduct a maximum number of tests to detect more cases and this will help in controlling the outbreak.

The minister said most of the people who tested positive for coronavirus in the state are in the age group of 21-40 and their possibility of being cured is high due to their strong immune systems.

He said nearly 13 per cent patients are in the age group of 60-80.

Sharma said the state government was making all efforts to break the chain of coronavirus transmission in the Ramganj area.

The government is working on a special model in the Ramganj area as per the local circumstances and requirements, he said.

In Bhilwara, the district administration has managed to contain the spread of the virus through intense screening and imposition of strict curfew, while in Ramganj, the number of coronavirus cases has been constantly increasing.

The Ramganj area has been divided into different clusters and widespread tests are being conducted, the state health minister said.

Sharma said he has urged Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to provide 10 lakh rapid testing kits to Rajasthan as soon as possible.

At least 520 people have positive for coronavirus in the state and eight persons have died.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A voter wearing a protective glove casts his ballot at a polling station near Seoul Station in central Seoul, Friday. Yonhap



Voters wearing face masks and disposable gloves cast their ballots on Friday, with a number of people queuing in front of polling places near their offices at lunchtime.

Having successfully slowed the spread of coronavirus infections recently, South Korea has gone ahead with the quadrennial elections, slated for next Wednesday, to fill the 300-seat unicameral National Assembly.

Early voting got underway Friday morning, as health authorities reported 27 additional cases confirmed nationwide the day before.

A total of 3,508 polling stations were set up across the country, running from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to the National Election Commission (NEC).

Voter turnout came in at 5.98 percent as of 1 p.m., the election watchdog said, marking the highest since the early voting system was introduced in 2013 to enable people to vote in person at any polling station in the country.

Voter turnout is expected to be higher than ever this year, as people vote in advance to avoid crowds amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I wanted to vote at a less busier time since I'm worried about the coronavirus, more so because I have a five-month-old child," said a 36-year old voter in the western Seoul district of Mapo.

With public safety a key priority in this year's elections, voters and officials followed strict quarantine guidelines to prevent potential infections at polling stations.

Voters were asked to stand at least 1 meter apart from each other, with officials conducting mandatory temperature checks. Some officials were seen wearing plexiglass that covered most of their face for added safety.












India will export anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, high in demand globally, only to foreign governments and not to private companies, as the product is under prohibited or banned category of exports, sources said.

Although exports of this medicine is completely banned, India has decided to export this anti-malarial drug in sync with its global commitment to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

"Hydroxychloroquine continues to be a prohibited item. Private-to-private company or a domestic exporter-to-foreign importer trade is ban. The procedure, which the government is adopting, is to help countries which are in dire need or which are traditionally dependent on India for this medicine or friendly countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan," the sources said.

Explaining the procedure, they said countries that have to import hydroxychloroquine would have to route their application through the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals would assess the requirement sought by that country and see its impact on India's availability and without compromising on India's interests, it would recommend the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to give a licence or go-ahead signal to customs authorities to release the consignment.

DGFT is an arm of the commerce ministry that deals with export- and import-related issues. It is the agency that gives licence or permission or no-objection certificate for exports or imports.

On March 25, India banned export of hydroxychloroquine with some exceptions in the midst of views in some quarters that the drug could be used to fight COVID-19. On April 4, it completely banned the exports without any exception.

In a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, US President Donald Trump had sought supply of hydroxychloroquine to the US.

Hydroxychloroquine is an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria. India is the largest producer and exporter of the drug globally.

India is learnt to have received requests from over 20 countries including its immediate neighbours Sri Lanka and Nepal for the supply.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry has stated that there is enough stock of hydroxychloroquine in the country, and drug firms are ready to ramp up the production to meet domestic as well as export requirements.

India manufactures 70 per cent of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine. Companies like Zydus Cadila and IPCA are the major manufacturers in the country, according to the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA).

Professor at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said India is the world's largest manufacturer and supplier accounting for about 70 per cent of the world's supplies.

In the US market, India accounted for about 47 per cent supply of hydroxychloroquine in 2019, he said.

Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA) Executive Director Ashok Kumar Madan has said India currently has an annual installed capacity of around 40 tonnes of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) of hydroxychloroquine. With this capacity, "we can make around 200 million tablets of 200 mg," he has said.

India exported hydroxychloroquine API worth USD 1.22 billion in April-January 2019-20. During the same period exports of formulations made from hydroxycholoroquine was at USD 5.50 billion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Kazuniart.kz scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 11 Apr 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the kazuniart homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if kazuniart has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the kazuniart homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the kazuniart homepage on Delicious. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the kazuniart homepage on Twitter + the total number of kazuniart followers (if kazuniart has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the kazuniart homepage on StumbleUpon.

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE     DESCRIPTION     KEYWORDS kazuniart,  ,  ,   OTHER KEYWORDS



The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE Russian Russian SERVER Apache/2.2.15 (CentOS) (PHP/5.3.3) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux

Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) The language of kazuniart.kz as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Type of server and offered services. Operative System running on the server. Character set and language of the site.

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for kazuniart.kz by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND

A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The type of Facebook page. The URL of the found Facebook page. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Healthcare workers who are part of the citys public hospital network will be getting part of more than $8.2 million in donations raised by the network for them to spend on meals, groceries, taxi rides, and more, but healthcare workers at the Islands two private hospitals, not part of Health + Hospitals, will not.

The citys public Health + Hospitals network raised more than $8.2 million in donations for its healthcare workers through the help of a donation portal it set up last month to help the citys healthcare workers during the coronavirus outbreak.

However, Health + Hospitals said those donations have only been earmarked for healthcare workers within its network.

The Islands Health + Hospitals Sea View and Vanderbilt facilities will be receiving a portion of the donations, but Health + Hospitals could not provide a breakdown of how much of those donations they would receive.

Sea View provides short-term rehabilitation and nursing services, while Vanderbilt serves as a neighborhood health clinic.

"New Yorkers, companies, and people across the country have been very generous to the public health care system during this difficult time, said H+H spokesman Christopher Miller. Donations have been used to provide support to our 11 frontline hospitals, as well as community health and long term care centers on Staten Island -- NYC Health + Hospitals/Vanderbilt and Seaview. We are grateful to generous donors who provided meal donations, toiletries and hotel accommodations to our front line workers on Staten Island."

Staten Island is the only borough without a public hospital in New York City and instead relies on two private hospitals -- Richmond University Medical Center and Staten Island University Hospital.

NOT THE FIRST TIME

This is not the first time the Islands private hospitals have been left out of the citys planning for the coronavirus crisis.

Staten Island recently did not receive a cut of the 291 military medical personnel the city deployed to its public hospitals.

And the borough was also not included in the citys plan to add 3,000 more ICU beds by May 1 at public hospitals, equip them with more than 2,500 doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and physicians and provide free COVID-19 testing for its staff at their request.

The boroughs city and state political delegation have slammed Mayor Bill de Blasio this week for leaving Staten Island out of the citys coronavirus response.

Together, they penned a letter to the mayor asking him to give Staten Islands private hospitals their fair share of medical personnel.

Borough President James Oddo has been an outspoken critic in recent days about the city forgetting Staten Island during the coronavirus crisis.

We got punished by not having a public hospital, dont punish us a second time for not having a public hospital or for being part of the Northwell system and having this irrational belief that Northwell will take care of Staten Island, Oddo said during an interview with the Advance on Thursday of one of the Islands private hospitals --SIUH -- which is part of the Northwell Health hospital system.

Northwell is not the mayor, and Northwell is not a level of government, this is the responsibility of the mayor and city government to step up and treat Staten Islanders fairly and get us our fair share of supplies and medical staffing period. Exclamation point. Expletive, Oddo continued.

The mayor has said he had sent constant shipments of needed supplies and equipment to the Islands hospitals.

However, the Department of Health has said it does not provide a breakdown of the supplies the city distributes to local hospitals. And has yet to provide a breakdown of how many supplies it has sent the Island during the coronavirus crisis.

The mayor said Thursday the Islands hospitals did not receive any of the 291 military medical staff because his administration sent them to hospitals bearing the brunt of the crisis in Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan. He vowed to try to bring some of those medical personnel to the Island in the future.

RUMC and SIUH have said that in order to expand their hospital capacity, they would need more medical staff.

RUMC said Thursday it has requested from the city 60 registered nurses, eight respiratory technicians and four laboratory technicians. SIUH has not provided the Advance with a breakdown of the additional staff it needs

As of Friday morning, there were 93,414 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York City including 6,979 cases on Staten Island.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.

RELATED COVERAGE:

Will summer slow the spread of coronavirus?

USNS Comfort crew member tests positive for coronavirus

Tunnel to towers foundation: $3m to aid healthcare workers

Coughs, sneezes, surfaces: Heres how coronavirus is and isnt spread

Cuomo extends N.Y. on Pause through April 29; will request USNS Comfort take coronavirus patients

Crime down, except for burglaries, across NYC amid coronavirus shutdown

Staten Island healthcare facilities to receive funding to battle coronavirus
Malaysian firefighters wear protective suits before spraying public areas with disinfectant to fight coronavirus in Bangi, a town in Selangor state, April 10, 2020.

The Malaysian and Bangladeshi governments on Friday extended curbs on peoples movements to control surging coronavirus infections within their borders, as the global death toll linked to the pneumonia-like disease broke past 100,000 with almost 1.7 million confirmed cases.

Indonesia, Southeast Asias most populous nation, meanwhile imposed a partial lockdown in the capital Jakarta and declared its toughest social-distancing rules to blunt the COVID-19 pandemic.

Let me remind you that the war on COVID-19 is not yet over. The fight is still on, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a nationally televised speech.

We must be ready to face this situation for a considerably longer period of time, he said in announcing that the so-called Movement Control Order (MCO) would be extended until April 28. It might continue on for several months before we are truly able to eradicate this outbreak 100 percent.

Malaysia reported three new deaths Friday, taking the nations toll to 70, with 4,346 cases of infections.

Globally, almost 1.7 million confirmed cases have been recorded, with 101,526 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Universitys Coronavirus Resource Center. At least 177 countries have reported infections.

The MCO, which started on March 18, was initially scheduled to end on March 31 but was pushed back to April 14. Under the order, schools and nonessential businesses have been closed, with people being required to stay at home.

The prolonged movement restrictions have had negative ripple effects on business activities in South and Southeast Asia, but leaders have undertaken separate moves to cushion the pandemics impact by preparing multibillion financial packages to stabilize their economies.

In his speech, Muhyiddin said several sectors of the economy would be re-opened in stages and a special cabinet panel would be formed to prepare a list of affected industries.

Bangladesh prolongs public holiday

In Dhaka, Bangladeshs government ordered citizens to stay at home on Friday evening, augmenting for a third time orders that restrict their movements as measures to protect the public from the virus.

The ministry of public administration issued a notification banning the movement of people after 6 p.m.

We have extended the public holiday until April 25 to contain the spread of coronavirus, Farhad Hossain, state minister for public administration, told BenarNews, referring to the lockdown. We have also restricted the movement of people between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. up to April 25.

He said people involved in providing emergency services, such as food, medicine, water and electricity, among others, would not be covered by the lockdown.

We are not sure how long we need stay at home. Everything depends on the improvement of coronavirus situation, he said.

On Friday, Bangladeshi health authorities recorded the countrys second-highest daily tally of coronavirus infections with 94 new cases, taking the national tally to 424. Officials said six new deaths pushed the death toll to 27.

During the past 24 hours, 94 people were detected with COVID-19, Dr. Meerjady Sabrina Flora, the director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), told reporters.

Jakarta imposes partial lockdown; death toll tops 300

In Indonesia, authorities banned gatherings of more than five people and ordered residents to stay at home on Friday.

The Jakarta police department said it had mounted 33 checkpoints across the city of 10 million people to oversee the large-scale social restrictions, which will be in force for two weeks.

This is to ensure that Jakarta residents comply with the rules, Jakarta Metropolitan Police spokesman Yusri Yunus said in a statement.

Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan said the measures included closures of schools, places of worship, and businesses, except for establishments providing essential goods and services, such as grocery stores, pharmacies and telecommunications.

For the next two weeks, all Jakarta residents are expected to stay home, reduce or even eliminate outside activities, Anies said.

Restrictions include a ban on motorcycle taxis from carrying passengers and people from dining in restaurants. Violators could face fines of up to 100 million rupiah (U.S. $6,325), he said.

Indonesian health authorities reported 26 new coronavirus deaths, taking the nations toll to 306, the highest toll for an Asian nation outside China.

More than half of the deaths and 3,512 infections are from Jakarta, the nations COVID-19 epicenter, officials said.

On Thursday, Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo ordered all civil servants and security force members not to travel to their hometowns next month to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

Jokowi said his government was evaluating whether to impose the prohibition on the rest of the nation. Indonesia employs about 4.4 million civil servants and 1.3 million police and soldiers, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The central government has faced criticism on social media over its reporting of coronavirus deaths, with independent health analysts saying the number could be much higher.

More than 770 suspected coronavirus victims had been buried in Jakarta cemeteries under COVID-19 protocols requiring bodies to be wrapped in plastic, according to news service Agence France-Presse. That number is five times more than the official 142 dead in the Indonesian capital, AFP reported Friday.

Thai workers stranded in Malaysia

As a result of Kuala Lumpurs decision to extend its lockdown, about 100,000 Thai workers, most of them employed in eateries and the restaurant industry, would be required to remain in neighboring Malaysia, officials said Friday.

They had intended to come back home right after the end of the original scheduled lockdown, but when it was extended until April that means their troubles were doubled, Mongkol Sinsomboon, the Thai Consul-General to Kota Bharu, told BenarNews. They dont have jobs, no income, only expenses.

In Thailands far south, Chonthan Sangpoom, vice director of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center, said the workers were required to stay in Malaysia.

Those workers in Malaysia must stay there until the borders are opened again, Chonthan told BenarNews.

Thai embassy officials and Thai volunteers in Malaysia said they were scrambling to gather basic relief supply for the stranded workers.

Thailands cabinet early this week approved borrowing to fund U.S. $58 billion in financial packages to help the health sector combat COVID-19 and assist businesses bounce back from the economic shock inflicted by the pandemic.

Pimuk Rakkanam in Bangkok contributed to this report.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DoorDash is announcing it will be reducing commission fees for local restaurant partners by 50 percent on both DoorDash and Caviar*. This commission relief program will benefit more than 150,000 local restaurants in the United States, Canada, and Australia and will begin on April 13 and continue through the end of May. This estimated $100M injection from DoorDash is dedicated to helping merchants respond to the acute financial threats they are facing right now.

This new package is in addition to the previously announced COVID-19 response programs which DoorDash adopted to help restaurant partners generate up to $200 million in additional sales. Earlier commitments include:

Zero commission fees for 30 days for independent restaurants in the United States , Canada , Puerto Rico , and Australia who sign up with DoorDash and Caviar for the first time;

, , , and who sign up with DoorDash and Caviar for the first time; Zero commission fees for all existing DoorDash and Caviar partners on pickup orders;

The addition of more than 100,000 independent restaurant partners to DashPass, DoorDash's subscription program which offers $0 delivery fees for consumers;

delivery fees for consumers; The reduction of commissions for merchant partners already in DashPass; and

The commitment of up to $20 million in merchant marketing programs to generate more revenue for restaurants that are already on DoorDash.

While set to end in April, these programs will also now continue through the end of May. This is not a deferral of fees, nor will merchants be asked to pay anything back.

"We have already invested more than $15 million in combined commission reductions and marketing efforts, and we've seen restaurants across the country generate millions of dollars in incremental salesrevenue that has been vital to helping them keep their doors open during the first weeks of the coronavirus crisis," said Tony Xu, CEO and Co-Founder of DoorDash. "We believe that doing our part is critical during this unprecedented time, which is why we are taking further steps to help our restaurant community. Brighter days are coming. There will be a time when restaurants reopen their doors, set the table, and welcome guests to celebrate. We'll be right there with them every day until that day, and every day that follows."

"In a time of great financial strain for many businesses, especially restaurants, DoorDash is leading in a way that we would like to see all businesses follow - placing community need over self-interest. There are many restaurants that will be able to keep their doors open during San Francisco's shelter-in-place order as a result of DoorDash's emergency relief efforts to reduce fees and increase sales," said Laurie Thomas, Executive Director, Golden Gate Restaurant Association.

To learn about our additional efforts to support Dashers, restaurants, health care workers, and those at risk, please visit our blog at blog.doordash.com .

* Eligible restaurants are those that have five (5) or fewer locations. Program administration and eligibility will be in DoorDash's sole discretion. Given that circumstances are rapidly changing, we reserve the right to change, amend, suspend, or terminate the program or terms or conditions at any time, including to comply with legislation or regulation of any kind. 50% commission reduction applies to commission-based rates and is based on contractually-agreed commission rates, excluding any special pricing.

About DoorDash

DoorDash is a technology company that connects customers with their favorite local and national businesses in more than 4,000 cities and all 50 states across the United States, Canada and Australia. Founded in 2013, DoorDash empowers merchants to grow their businesses by offering on-demand delivery, data-driven insights, and better in-store efficiency, providing delightful experiences from door to door. By building the last-mile delivery infrastructure for local cities, DoorDash is bringing communities closer, one doorstep at a time. Read more on the DoorDash blog or at www.doordash.com.

SOURCE DoorDash

Related Links

https://www.doordash.com/


San Francisco, April 10 : Microsoft has announced three-months paid parental leave for its workers are schools are shut and parents are learning to cope with children taking online classes at home.

According to a CNN report on Friday, the tech giant has given two options to its workforce: Take a 12-week leave at one go or few days in a week.

Microsoft has called this initiative "12-Week Paid Pandemic School and Childcare Closure Leave" which is meant to "give our employees greater flexibility and time off as they face extended school closures".

Global tech companies with deep cash reserves have announced some measures to help their workforce.

Facebook last month said it would give $1,000 to each of its 45,000 employees.

Its CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in an internal memo that all employees will earn at least their full bonuses for their six-month review.

Most governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to UNESCO.

These nationwide closures are impacting over 91 per cent of the world's student population. Several other countries have implemented localised closures impacting millions of additional learners.

"UNESCO is supporting countries in their efforts to mitigate the immediate impact of school closures, particularly for more vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, and to facilitate the continuity of education for all through remote learning," it said.
The Minority National Democratic Congress (NDC) Caucus in Parliament on Thursday told a News conference that a sitting earlier in the day following a recall by Speaker Aaron Michael from suspension was bizarre.



The Speaker, citing the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the House indefinitely on Saturday, April 5, 2020, when the House was due to adjourn sine die.



Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, addressing the journalists said the Speakers conduct in suspending the House and recalling Parliament was illegal.



It was attended by the Deputy Minority Leader Dr James Klutse Avedzi, Minority Chief Whip Mohamed Mubarak-Muntaka, and some frontbenchers of the Minority in Parliament.



Calling the break adjournment the Minority raised issues with the sitting, saying that business of the day could have been conducted before adjournment.



It accused the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta of not making himself available to the House after he addressed the House on Monday, March 30, 2020, on issues relating to his request from the Government of Ghana for the House to approve an agreement with the World Bank for an amount of $35 million to support its operations in dealing with the pandemic.



The Minister made the request following a directive from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to prepare a coronavirus alleviation programme` to address the disruption in economic activities following the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic for approval by the House.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Radisson Slavyanskaya hotel in Moscow will provide free rooms to doctors, nurses and other medical personnel battling the COVID19 pandemic. MOSCOW, RUSSIA, April 10, 2020 -- The Radisson Slavyanskaya hotel, owned by Kievskaya Ploshchad Group of Companies, will house both non-resident and local medical professionals who have to self-isolate away from their families due to contact with patients. The hotel offers 421 rooms free of charge, which makes up the 
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Dr. Anthony Fauci listens as Vice President Mike Pence speaks about the coronavirus alongside members of the Coronavirus Task Force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, on March 9, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Fauci: Dont Assume CCP Virus Will Slow Down in Summer Weather

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House task force combating the CCP virus, said he is not sure yet whether the pandemic will subside with warmer weather.

In an interview with CBS News, Fauci was asked about whether Americans could have a typical summer, complete with trips to the beach or pool.

It can be in the cards, he said. And I say that with some caution, because as I said, when we do that, when we pull back and try to open up the country, as we often use that terminology, we have to be prepared that when the infections start to rear their heads again that we have in place a very aggressive and effective ways to identify, isolate, contract, trace, and make sure we dont have those spikes we have now, Fauci remarked.

In short, Fauci said that if we do the things that we need to do to prevent the resurgence, Americans can go on their summer break.

People gather to watch the sun set behind the Throgs Neck Bridge at LIttle Bay Park in the Queens borough of New York City on April 8, 2020. (Frank Franklin II/AP Photo)

Fauci said in an interview with ABC News that people shouldnt assume the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus will go away with warmer weather.

One should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather, he said. You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing. If we get some help from the weather, so be it, fine. But I dont think we need to assume that.

Returning to normal life will depend on which part of the country one lives, he noted.

The bottom line of it all is, that what we see looking forward, it is very likely that we will progress towards the steps towards normalization as we get to the end of this thirty days, Fauci remarked. And I think thats going to be a good time to look and see how quickly can we make that move to try and normalize. But hopefully, and hopefully, by the time we get to the summer we will have taken many steps in that direction, he added.

In New York, authorities said on Thursday the number of newly hospitalized patients dropped for a second day, to 200, even though the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state rose by 799 on Wednesday.

With many Americans celebrating the Easter holiday on Sunday, the White House said on Thursday that it is important to keep social distancing measures in place.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Here is your morning briefing of news you may have missed overnight as the coronavirus pandemic continues to develop across the world.

The Prime Minister has been moved out of intensive care and back into a hospital ward where he will be closely monitored by doctors at St Thomas Hospital in London.

He is said to be in extremely good spirits as he continues his recovery, after he was admitted to hospital on Sunday with persistent symptoms of coronavirus.

Mr Johnson then spent three nights in intensive care after his condition deteriorated on Monday.

A No 10 spokesperson said: The prime minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery.

He is in extremely good spirits.

The foreign secretary has said it is too early to lift the lockdown restrictions in place to fight coronavirus and told the public: We must keep going.

Dominic Raab confirmed that the three-week lockdown would most likely be extended next week as the UK has not yet reached the peak of the outbreak.

He also urged the public to continue observing the strict measures over the Easter bank holiday amid fears people would be tempted to go out by warm weather.

Deputising for Boris Johnson, he said at the daily press conference on Downing Street: Its been almost three weeks and were starting to see the impact of the sacrifices weve all made.

But the deaths are still rising and we havent yet reached the peak of the virus. So its still too early to lift the measures that we put in place.

We must stick to the plan and we must continue to be guided by the science.

A doctor who warned Boris Johnson about the need for more personal protective equipment (PPE) to support NHS staff has died from the virus.

Abdul Mabud Chowdury, 53, pleaded with the prime minister in a Facebook post last month when he asked Mr Johnson to ensure urgently personal protective equipment (PPE) for each and every NHS worker.

Mr Chowdhury died on Wednesday after contracting coronavirus. He worked as a consultant urologist at Homerton Hospital in east London and was described by his friend and fellow doctor Golam Rahat Khan as a life-loving person.

Dr Khan said: He liked singing and liked our own Bengali culture and loved English heritage. He was so caring, he would call us very often to come to his house. I last saw him on February 1 at my house for my sons eight birthday.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

Oil producing nations agree historic cut to deal with reduced demand

The worlds largest oil producing countries have agreed on a historic deal to potentially cut production by 10 million barrels a day as demand for oil continues to plunge drastically amid the coronavirus crisis.

The agreement was made during a meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and is the largest cut ever put forward by the organisation.

It is designed to preserve the value of oil, but has done little to quell concern in the markets and prices continue to fall due to dwindling business in aerospace and heavy industry triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Demand for oil worldwide has dropped by around 30 percent, or about 30 million barrels per day, since the pandemic began steadily tightening its grip on the world.

The proposed measure also signals a truce of sorts between the two major players in the oil industry, Saudi Arabia and Russia, who have been locked in a price war since early March.

Robert Jenrick has defended his decision to visit his elderly parents at their home in Shropshire despite social distancing guidelines.

The housing secretary claimed he went to deliver medicine and obeyed government rules during his visit.

According to The Guardian, a witness said he saw Mr Jenrick, who has represented the government multiple times to urge the British public to stay at home, visiting the property more than 40 miles from his own home over the weekend.

Mr Jenrick said he obeyed social distancing guidelines and was asked by his elderly parents to deliver some essentials  including medicines.

They are both self-isolating due to age and my fathers medical condition and I respected social distancing rules.

Government guidelines state you are allowed to leave your home to help elderly relatives, by dropping shopping or medication at their door, but visiting anyone who lives outside your own home is not advisable.

A 13-year-old from Colorado died on Tuesday after she was hospitalised for pneumonia, breathing problems and seizures.

Charlotte Figi, who was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome, was treated as a likely coronavirus positive case although she had tested negative for it.

According to a Facebook post on 26 March by her mother, Paige Figi, all five members of the family were ill last month with fevers, pains, coughs and some were struggling to breathe.

Most of the family soon recovered, but Charlottes condition did not improve.

Mrs Figi wrote: It is with a heavy heart to let you know that Charlotte Fiji passed away yesterday. Charlottes story directly impacted thousands of families across the globe and has changed the face of cannabis in many ways.

Charlottes epilepsy is unable to be controlled with medication, but she improved after taking CBD oil. Her recovery led to her family pushing for reform and more research into the benefits of medical marijuana.
Mizoram Health Minister Dr R Lalthangliana on Friday asked the Centre to provide the state with more funds for setting up COVID-19 facilities and supply test kits at the earliest to speed up coronavirus screening. During a video conference, Lalthangliana apprised Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan of the difficulties faced by Mizoram in setting up healthcare infrastructure, an official statement said.

Lalthangliana also asked the Centre to allocate more funds under the National Health Mission and provide infrastructure to build Covid Care Centres, Dedicated Covid Health Centres and Dedicated Covid Hospitals in the state that reported one COVID-19 case so far. Taking part in the video conference of health ministers with Vardhan, Lalthangliana urged him to provide test kits at the earliest to speed up COVID-19 screening.

"COVID-19 testing should be expedited in Mizoram due to the rapid surge of coronavirus case in neighbouring states and countries," the state minister said.

Mizoram is sandwiched between Bangladesh and Myanmar. The hilly northeastern state also shares inter-state borders with Assam, Manipur and Tripura. Lalthangliana informed Vardhan that the state requires more microbiologists, epidemiologists and basic life support ambulances for the districts. The need for ice-lined refrigerators or deep freezers for storing samples in Mizoram was also mentioned at the video conference.

Image Credits: PTI
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia reached a tentative agreement on Thursday to cut oil production by 10 million barrels a day for May and June, reported CNN citing a senior OPEC source.

According to CNN report, the deal would see output cut easing to 8 million barrels a day from July to December followed by 6 million barrels a day from January 2021 to April 2022.

Iran, Libya and Venezuela would be exempted from the output cuts due to sanctions or lost production.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said the oil deal involving OPEC and many countries outside it may be announced today or tomorrow.

"They are getting close to a deal. That's OPEC and many other countries outside of OPEC. They will probably announce something either today or tomorrow," Trump was quoted as saying at the White House briefing on Thursday by Sputnik.

"One way or the other. Could be good, could be not so good."

OPEC, Russia and other oil producers gathered for a teleconference on Thursday. The meeting was called by Saudi Arabia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka.

Wednesday, April 8

11:45 p.m. -- A deputy and Michigan State Police troopers were dispatched to a Jasper Township residence in reference to a suspicious vehicle. The complainant said an unknown white SUV was driving slowing through the area, and he suspected they were possibly attempting a breaking and entering into a barn on his deceased brother's property. MSP handled a larceny from a building complaint at the location earlier in the week. The deputy and MSP Troopers checked the property, and found the building to be locked and secured. The complainant reviewed pictures from trail cameras setup on the property, and only found pictures of law enforcement arriving and checking the property.

10:10 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to the Hope Township Park in reference to a vehicle parked in the driveway at the gate. The deputy made contact with the driver, who said that he was hunting for earthworms.

9:45 p.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to an Edenville Township residence to assist a Michigan State Trooper with an overdose situation. The deputy was disregarded before arrival.

9:44 p.m. -- A deputy made contact with a 37-year-old Geneva Township woman in reference to a larceny from a motor vehicle. The woman said an unknown person stole $640 in cash from her purse that was located in her vehicle.

6:45 p.m. -- Officers responded to a felonious assault in the 4000 block of Wellness Drive.

6:36 p.m. -- Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Eastman Avenue and Bookness Street.

1:29 a.m. -- A deputy was dispatched to a Warren Township location for a car-deer crash.
April 9, 2020

Release

China Coast Guard Sinking of a Vietnam Fishing Vessel

The Department of Defense is greatly concerned by reports of a China Coast Guard vessel's collision with and sinking of a Vietnam fishing vessel in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The PRC's behavior stands in contrast to the United States' vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms. The United States will continue to support efforts by our allies and partners to ensure freedom of navigation and economic opportunity throughout the entire Indo-Pacific.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the importance of the rules based international order, as it sets the conditions that enable us to address this shared threat in a way that is transparent, focused, and effective. We call on all parties to refrain from actions that would destabilize the region, distract from the global response to the pandemic, or risk needlessly contributing to loss of life and property.



https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2143925/

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A man shot by police when he allegedly threatened an officer with a knife after a string of car thefts across Brisbane's south remains in intensive care.

The man was taken to hospital in a "very serious condition" after being shot multiple times in an Oxley park - the second to be shot by Queensland police in three days.

His condition had not changed and an internal investigation was under way into the shooting, police said.

Emergency services were called to the scene of nearby Oxley Station Road about 2pm Thursday after reports of a traffic crash.
The province is calling on more daycares to reopen as it prepares to extend child care to all essential workers next week, though it's unknown how many additional spaces are needed.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The province is calling on more daycares to reopen as it prepares to extend child care to all essential workers next week, though it's unknown how many additional spaces are needed.

"That depends on how many people come forward," Families Minister Heather Stefanson told reporters during a news conference Thursday afternoon. "But we still need more childhood facilities and early childhood educators to answer the call during this difficult time."

Last week, the province asked centres to reopen to meet the child-care needs of health and emergency services workers. So far, more than 1,900 children have been matched with daycare spaces across the province, representing placements for more than 90 per cent of front-line workers seeking care.

Families who remain on a waitlist will be matched with a spot before the access is extended to all critical service workers  such as grocery store employees, construction workers and bank staff  on April 14.

Beginning Friday, parents working in those sectors deemed essential will be able to access a database of available daycare spaces on the province's COVID-19 website. Eligible parents will need to contact daycare centres directly to arrange child care.

During Thursday's news conference, Stefanson lauded daycare staff who had gone back to work as "heroes helping heroes."

Jodie Kehl, executive director of the Manitoba Child Care Association (MCCA), said the recognition is appreciated but many of those returning to work still have questions about their role and safety during the pandemic.

The association published an open letter to Premier Brian Pallister on Wednesday asking for better compensation for child-care centres and staff, a lower ratio of children to adults and clearer directions from the province on cleaning and personal protective equipment rules for daycares.

"Our sector is in a place of fear right now," Kehl said. "For those that are opening up, we want to make sure that they are being financially supported, emotionally supported, physically supported so they can provide the best type of quality care."

The province is providing $30 million in operating grants to child-care facilities over the next three months, but Kehl says that only covers a portion of what many centres need. With less revenue coming from parent fees because of the 16-child limit per facility, some daycares are now operating on a deficit.

The MCCA is also recommending higher compensation rates for early childhood educators working during the pandemic, similar to the hourly wage increases happening at some grocery stores. Kehl says this measure could prompt more educators to return to work, especially those who are reluctant to do so because they are now receiving the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit.

"Its not about wanting to be greedy at this time, its just about wanting to be reasonable and provide adequate remuneration," Kehl said.

Daycare centres are eligible for the federal emergency wage subsidy, which provides up to 75 per cent of employee wages for businesses and non-profits, and the provincial government has launched an $18-million grant program for early childhood educators who want to start an independent child-care service.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Since reopening, Kehl says many daycare operators have asked the province for clarification on cleaning and sanitizing expectations in their facilities and whether their staff members should be wearing masks and gloves while interacting with kids.

On Thursday, Stefanson said the province's chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, will be giving updated guidelines for the child-care sector in the coming days.

Kehl hopes the province's top doctor will clarify why daycare centres are allowed to care for 16 children, plus staff members, when the rest of the public has been directed to limit gatherings to 10 people.

"It feels like a bit of a violation of that order," she said.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney
Executive Director of the Alliance for Christian Advocacy Africa, Rev Dr. Kwabena Opuni Frimpong, has suggested the need for a nationwide celebration at the end of the coronavirus Pandemic.



This according to him will make up for the 2020 Easter celebrations.



A ban has been placed on public gatherings due to the outbreak of coronavirus and in effect has ruined this years Easter festivities.



The usual church conventions, family get-together, travels and so on will not be witnessed in adherence to the social distancing directives by government.



But the former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana suggests that after the pandemic takes leave of the world, Christian leaders must in consultation with the Presidency, fix a period for a national celebration to make up for the lost Easter festivities.



We can decide that for some reason this year, we cannot celebrate Easter on Friday and Monday but we will listen to our leaders and our professionals. But after this, the Christian leaders must come together to do a symbolic celebration. That what we could not do on Easter Friday, what we could not do on Easter Sunday, as a nation, and that one should be done with our leaders, with the office of the President, this is a national, Ghanaian celebration that what we could not do on 10 and 12 April, we are doing on this period, he indicated.



Meanwhile, Christians today, amidst the coronavirus outbreak are celebrating Good Friday, the start of Easter, which marks the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for their salvation on the cross of Calvary.



Many churches are offering their members live streaming options so they can observe Good Friday and Easter on TVs, smartphones, and computers.

Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Worries that the COVID-19 threat will persist into the November election is driving a push for US voters to vote by mail nationwide, but the biggest opponent is President Donald Trump, who admits it threatens his Republican Party. Calls for a national vote-by-mail policy mounted after photos of Tuesday's primaries in Wisconsin showed mask-wearing voters in long lines, keeping six feet apart, at a sharply reduced number of voting stations. The shortage of by-mail ballots and the coronavirus threat appeared to significantly depress the Wisconsin turnout, and threatens coming primaries for the November presidential and congressional races. But Trump repeatedly tore into the idea of allowing all voters to post their ballots this week, making unsupported claims that the practice leads to massive election fraud. "Mail ballots are a very dangerous thing for our country because they're cheaters," he said Tuesday. "You get thousands and thousands of people sitting in someone's living room signing ballots all over the place....You can look at the statistics. There is a lot of dishonesty going along with mail-in voting, mail-in ballots." The White House has not supported those claims with evidence. But Trump -- who himself voted by mail in the last Florida election -- openly indicated his real concern: that making it easier to vote would bring out more voters, who he believes would support Democrats. "Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting....for whatever reason, doesn't work out well for Republicans," he said in a follow-up tweet. - Voters at risk - Voting by mail has been around for decades for Americans, and is used regularly by hundreds of thousands of diplomats and military service members away from home at election time. It is already fully implemented in five states, and partially in most other states. In the 2016 election that saw Trump win the White House, 24 percent of votes were cast by mail; in the 2018 mid-term Congressional polls, the figure rose to 26 percent. In five states it was over half. "Much of the country now votes by mail," said Matthew Harwood of the Brennan Center for Justice. "Restricting who can vote by mail this year at best makes voting unnecessarily difficult, and at worst puts citizens at unnecessary risk of catching the coronavirus," he said. Critics say there are too many challenges to by-mail voting, and cite high levels of problem ballots. In 2018 only 91.8 percent of the 30 million ballots returned were counted, according to a US Election Assistance Commission report. Most of those that went uncounted were rejected for arriving too late, or had identity and eligibility problems. - Fraud rare - But advocates say states which put more effort into the process have lower rejections, and that overall, voting by mail increases participation. Amber McReynolds, the chief executive of the National Vote At Home Institute, says 40 percent of non-voters cite inconvenience: they cannot get away from work, or wait for hours at a polling place. In Colorado, where she was formerly director of elections in Denver, participation has soared with by-mail voting. "The polling place model sort of disenfranchises people on its own," she told AFP. "We don't want people to be disenfranchised." Mail-in voting is not exclusive. It can complement early voting and election-day voting at polling stations, making the entire election infrastructure more resilient. But the motivation for it now is the COVID-19 pandemic. McReynolds said local election officials around the country, Republican and Democrat, are seeking information from her group on how to implement voting by mail. "Voters are asking for it," she said. "And a lot of election officials are very nervous after watching Wisconsin." She said that, despite claims by Trump, fraud in mail-in voting is exceedingly low, a few hundred cases in an election with a half-million votes cast. "It's rare, but we have caught people," she said, pointing to the case of former Colorado Republican party head Steven Curtis, who was convicted of forgery and ballot tampering after sending in the ballot of his ex-wife in 2016. His signature on the ballot did not match hers. Primary voters outside a polling place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on April 7, amid the coronavirus epidemic. Elections Chief Inspector Mary Magdalen Moser runs a polling location in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in full hazmat gear during the Wisconsin primary US President Donald Trump opposes voting by mail, claiming -- without providing any evidence -- that it leads to massive fraud
WILTON  The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Wilton continues to grow, and is up to 90 as of Thursday, April 9, according to First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice. But she sees a potential positive side with the growth rate slowing in Wilton.

Statewide, as of Thursday, there were 9,784 confirmed cases of the virus, with 4,882 or 50 percent in Fairfield County. Deaths in Connecticut were up to 380. The number of cases requiring hospitalization increased to 1,464 with 664 in Fairfield County.

Wilton, which began the month with an average 10-percent daily growth in coronavirus cases, has dropped to 6-percent daily average growth, Vanderslice said in a message on the towns website.

Hopefully this trend remains as a result of our actions. Stamford, on the other hand, increased from 13 percent to 18 percent, as their cases per capita are rapidly approaching 1 percent. Testing for each municipality would be helpful in understanding the numbers, but unfortunately, the data isnt available, she said.

Vanderslice cautioned against making assumptions based on one day.

Average Daily Growth in Coronavirus Cases

April 1-5 vs. April 6-9

Darien: 9%  7%

New Canaan: 12%  6%

Norwalk: 13%  8%

Ridgefield: 6%  4%

Westport: 3%  4%

Weston: 2%  5%

Wilton: 10%  6%

Stamford: 13%  18%

Please continue to stay at home as much as possible, practice social distancing and behave as if you have the virus and as if those around you do as well. If you have received a confirmed or presumptive positive test and you have not been contacted by the Wilton Health Department, please contact the department, she said.

Regarding the tri-board budget meeting last night with the Board of Selectmen, Board of Education and Board of Finance, Vanderslice said the consensus was that it was premature to make decisions about the FY2021 budget.

She encourages residents to contact the finance board or all three boards before mid-May with any comments or questions. The finance board is expected to settle on a preliminary budget and mill rate at its regular meeting on Tuesday, May 12.

The email addresses for the three boards are: boardofselectmen@wiltonct.org, boardoffinance@wiltonct.org and boe@wiltonps.org.

pgay@wiltonbulletin.com
MILFORD  The city has had 178 cases of COVID-19 and seven related deaths, Mayor Ben Blake said Friday.

As he shared information about the state of the city amid the coronavirus pandemic, the mayor said the data was reported by city Director of Health Deepa Joseph.

These numbers are inclusive of our long-term care facilities, Blake said.

One of the deaths was a 91-year-old man who was living at Golden Hill Rehab Pavilion. His death is at the center of a state investigation into a nursing home facility where nearly half of the residents have tested positive for COVID-19.

The Chief States Medical Examiner changed the death certificate of Jean Louis Auclair, a resident of Golden Hill Rehab Pavilion who died March 30. His death originally was attributed to respiratory failure.

Blake said the Health Department daily assesses our three long-term care facilities  the one on Orange Avenue, Golden Hill, and the facility on Platt Street, as well.

The states Department of Public Health is the oversight for nursing homes in each community and they are closely monitoring all three of our facilities, he said.

Blake also said the city has personal protection equipment (PPE) for all our first responders, fire and police, and they have been wearing that.

Our Fire Department at this point is PPE on all calls just to be sure, he said.

All our city operations are moving forward, the mayor said. The library building is closed, but the staff continues to offer programming. There are virtual story times, and Im going to go and read to the kids sometime next week.

Blake also said that while the Senior Center building is closed, the food pantry remains active and the Wheels on Meals Program is to-go only.

The rest of our city departments are going full strength, Blake said.

He said buildings are closed to the public other than by appointment only.

All the city offices continue to move forward, he said. Some people are either remote working or working and keeping social distance at work. Some people are alternating because office spacing was too close in proximity. Folks are coming in alternate days or times so that not everyone is in at the same time.

Weve taken those measures to ensure the health of our employees and making sure that everyone stays healthy in the community, he said.

Budget meeting

Blake said that while the city budget process usually starts at the beginning of April, Weve delayed our Board of Alderman 2020-21 budget deliberations until April 15, at 7 p.m.

He said it would done virtually, or remotely, through Zoom, but It is a public meeting and people are encouraged to send in public comment via email.

Any resident, taxpayer or elector interested in providing public comment regarding the proposed fiscal year 2020-21 budget can submit via email to aldermen@milfordct.gov prior to 3 p.m. April 15.

City boards will continue to meet remotely.

Each department will be presenting budgets virtually, as well, Blake said. That is something that has never happened. Earlier, this past Monday, we had our first-ever virtual Board of Alderman meeting and Planning & Zoning meeting. Those went off smoothly, given the circumstances.

Future hearings will be accessible to the public via Zoom in accordance with the schedule listed below. All hearings begin at 7 p.m.; for all the meetings, the dial-in number is 1-929-436-2866, conference ID is 408 567 215 and the password is 470336. They can be accessed at https://bit.ly/3aXCdKw.

Schedule: Public hearing - April 15; budget hearings April 20, 22, 27 and April 29. Budget deliberations (all reserved, if necessary) - May 6, 11, 13, 18 and 20.

Meetings held after April 30 may be held in-person at City Hall or at the Parsons Government Center. In that event, an amended schedule will be published. For information, call the mayors office at 203-783-3201.

Transfer station

Blake announced the return of extended hours at the Transfer Station beginning April 11 and running through mid-December. The extended hours will be from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Regular weekday hours will remain the same (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.).

This program is for Milford residents only. The extended hours do not apply to commercial haulers.

Visitors to the Transfer Station will be asked to present their vehicle registration at the gate.

Construction and demolition materials will not be accepted at the Transfer Station. These items may be brought to Waste Conversion, 221 Old Gate Lane (203-882-5840) Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon. This is a private company; therefore, residents are responsible for disposal costs.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the city will monitor community health conditions before determining whether the 2020 spring bulk trash pick-up moves forward in May. A separate announcement will be made on spring pick-up.

william.bloxsom@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @blox354
The Wilma Theater (right) on the Avenue of the Arts South Broad St. in Phila., Pa. on Saturday, April 04, 2020. The lights are on, but the theater is closed, like every theater, because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Read more

With theaters dark and virtually every theater artist in and around Philadelphia suddenly out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, the regions theater community has created a $145,000 fund to distribute as $300 micro-grants to theater professionals  from those on stage to those answering the box-office telephone.

The Theatre Philadelphia Emergency Relief fund will award grants, on a first-come, first-serve basis, to applicants who live within a 35-mile radius of Philadelphias City Hall, organizers announced Friday.

Applications open at noon Monday, April 13. Details are at theatrephiladelphia.org.

The bulk of the initial pool of money has come from donors who support the Barrymore Awards for theater excellence, managed by the industry group Theatre Philadelphia. The public can also contribute.

Theatre Philadelphia will do our utmost to help fulfill the emergent needs of as many individuals as possible, said, Jason Lindner, the groups board president.

 FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered.

Early supporters of the fund include CHG Charitable Trust, the June and Steve Wolfson Family Foundation, and the Victory Foundation.
A 24-year-old Pompton Lakes EMT died from complications with the coronavirus, friends and state officials said.

Kevin Leiva, an EMT in North Bergen and at Saint Clares Dover Hospital, died from complications with the coronavirus Tuesday, said Cesar Perez, an EMS supervisor in Passaic for Saint Clares. He leaves behind his wife Marina.

Leiva is the second EMT who worked at Saint Clares to have died from complications with the coronavirus. He died one week to the day after the death of Israel Tolentino Jr., a 33-year-old Passaic firefighter and EMT at Saint Clares.

Leiva was remembered as smart, positive and selfless, who lived to help others through being an EMT.

We did everything together, said Kara Connolly, his partner for two years at Saint Clares. We became really close. I talked to him every single day. Hes so selfless. He did everything for anybody.

Kevin Leiva was an EMT in North Bergen and at St. Claires Hospital. A Paterson native, he and his wife, Marina, called Pompton Lakes home.



Kevin was only 24 years old. We thank him for his service to our state and our families. We will not forget him. pic.twitter.com/AD0PMF25lB  Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) April 9, 2020

At Thursdays press briefing, Gov. Phil Murphy honored the young EMT, thanking him for his years helping others.

Kevin was only 24 years old," said Murphy. Bless him. We thank him for his service. For an extraordinary lifetime. For his service to this state.

Perez, Leiva and Leivas best friend Franklin Pachay all started at Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service Corporation (MONOC) at the same time, meeting at their orientation. Although Leiva was a dedicated, diligent EMT, eventually becoming an EMT supervisor for Saint Clares, his friends would tease him for nodding off during orientation videos.

We used to crack on him because he used to fall asleep during the videos, recalled Perez. He was great and hes going to be missed.

When it came to work itself, Leiva was serious, said Perez. But at work, Leiva was never without a snappy comeback, he said.

He was always known as super funny and positive and hard-working, said Connolly. When Saint Clares was awarded the contract to provide emergency medical services for Passaic, both Connolly and Leiva applied. The two became partners, talking every day and becoming good friends.

Eventually, both became EMS supervisors at Saint Clares.

A candlelight vigil was planned for Friday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. to honor Leiva at the Passaic EMS headquarters on Grove Street.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 10, 2020 | MURRAY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 10, 2020 | 02:36 PM | MURRAY

Murray State University has implemented new test-optional guidelines for undergraduate admission.



The University said Friday that the policy will be inclusive of new students who apply for admission to be part of this fall's freshman class, as well as prospective students who apply for admission for fall 2021. This admission requirement change also includes new transfer students who apply to the University with fewer than 24 college credit hours earned.



Students are encouraged to continue to submit test scores if available, as these will be used in the advising process and for certain scholarships.



"This change to our admission policy further emphasizes the importance in assessing the holistic accomplishments and performance by students throughout their high school career," Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson said. "No longer requiring standardized test scores for prospective undergraduate students for admissions will better serve future Racers and their families as they consider the high-quality, total college experience that Murray State offers.



"Additionally, we continue to see many high school seniors who are applying for admission to Murray State as part of this fall's freshman class. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this measure will also reduce anxiety for these individuals who cannot complete standardized tests in the weeks to come."



The University will maintain its undergraduate admission requirements of a 2.0 high school GPA or higher, provided the student has achieved an 18 or higher ACT composite score. Students with a 3.0 or higher high school GPA are admitted without ACT or SAT test scores. Students who do not meet these benchmarks may have other admission options, and are encouraged to call 270-809-3350 or email msu.admissions@murraystate.edu.



Prospective students can continue to remain in touch with the University in many ways throughout the pandemic. Virtual campus visits are available by calling 270-809-2896 or emailing msu.recruitment@murraystate.edu. Individuals and their families can meet one-on-one with a Murray State staff member virtually through Zoom or by phone. The University continues to offer multiple virtual events and resources through Facebook and other online resources.



Students interested in attending Murray State can learn more, schedule a virtual campus visit and apply for fall 2020 admission at admissions.murraystate.edu.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  The Philippine government has temporarily banned doctors, nurses, microbiologists, and other health workers from leaving to work abroad as the country grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic.

An April 2 order signed by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, who sits as chairperson of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), restricts medical frontliners from leaving the country "until the national state of emergency is lifted."

Citing a provision of Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, the POEA said the Executive has been given the power to tap more health workers as additional manpower as the country combats the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Covered by the temporary overseas deployment ban are medical doctors, nurses, microbiologists, molecular biologists, medical technologists, clinical analysts, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, X-ray or radiologic technicians, nursing assistants or aide, operators of medical equipment, supervisor of health services and personal care, and repairmen of medical equipment.

"It is of paramount national interest to ensure that the country shall continue to have, sustain the supply of, and prepare sufficient health personnel to meet any further contingencies, especially to replace, substitute or reinforce existing workforce currently employed, deployed or utilized locally," the POEA order read.

Public and private hospitals have reported thinner workforce as some frontliners have been forced to undergo self-quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19 patients. More than 200 doctors, nurses, and hospital staff have also been infected, while 17 doctors have died due to the disease, the Philippine Medical Association said.

READ: Medical group cites protective equipment lack for death of 17 doctors

Should the national emergency end, medical professionals will still be stopped from leaving unless travel restrictions to their destination countries due to COVID-19 are lifted.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddyboy Locsin denounced POEA's move. In a tweet, the country's top diplomat said authorities were "dead wrong" and are "violating the Constitution" with the deployment ban.

"That only makes sense and justice if we pay them foreign rates and later  this is gonna be my work  negotiate first-class work contracts for them because I don't trust people in the pockets of recruiters. If suspension, we owe departing health workers mucho in euros," Locsin said in another tweet.

Other nations are also battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 18,800 nurses migrated between 2007 and 2017, according to data from the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. Many of them seek to work abroad as they are paid much higher, bulk of which they send to their loved ones back home.
Man opens the Facebook page on his computer in Abuja

By Alexis Akwagyiram

ABUJA (Reuters) - Governments across Africa are teaming up with technology giants including Facebook and WhatsApp to fight misinformation about coronavirus on social media platforms that could propel the pandemic on a continent with shaky healthcare systems.

South Africa, which has more infections than any other African country, with more than 1,300 confirmed cases, has launched an information service about the coronavirus on WhatsApp.

In Nigeria, health officials are partnering with the messaging service owned by Facebook to send push notifications to users with advice on symptoms and how to avoid infection.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is also getting free ad space on Facebook for outreach about the pandemic, a benefit available to public health authorities in 11 other African countries, and around the world.

Twitter has been tweaking its algorithm to elevate medical information from authoritative sources - an initiative available in 70 countries, including five in Africa.

"There has never been a more critical time than now for us to leverage on social media in sending out the right message," said Chikwe Ihekweazu, who heads the NCDC.

But governments and tech firms face an uphill battle: as the virus spreads, unfounded rumours are proliferating across multiple platforms.

"Blacks don't get coronavirus," said one erroneous tweet seen by Reuters, which was posted by a user in Kenya with nearly 700,000 followers.

"If you think you have it ... you must learn to unblock your airway by boiling lemon/ginger & inhaling," advised another bogus tweet, posted by a user in Nigeria with more than 119,000 followers.

Some governments are now resorting to punitive measures.

In Kenya, at least two men, including a popular blogger, have been arrested for publishing false information about the virus on Twitter, an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a fine of 5 million Kenyan shillings ($48,000). Neither has been charged.

Story continues

South Africa introduced a law in March that makes sharing malicious falsehoods about the virus punishable by up to six months in jail.

Public health officials worry such posts will drive up the number of infections - currently around 6,000, according to a Reuters tally - on a continent beset by overburdened health facilities. Many know from painful experience how shared misinformation can fuel a deadly epidemic.

False claims that garlic, beetroot and lemons are an effective alternative to anti-retroviral drugs - endorsed by a former South African health minister - contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 2000s, according to Harvard University researchers.

And bogus rumours that foreign aid workers were bringing Ebola into communities hampered the response to two major outbreaks in Africa in the past six years.

'FEAR AND IGNORANCE'

As coronavirus cases increase in Africa, similar false rumours are surfacing again, amplified by social media.

Shoppers in Addis Ababa said prices of garlic and lemon had tripled within days of Ethiopia confirming its first case.

"These are wanted for medicinal purposes," said ginger seller Abebe Tene. "I am protecting myself by inserting garlic in one side of my nose and ginger in the other."

Seemingly cheap ways to beat a pandemic that has killed more than 46,900 people worldwide have broad appeal on a continent where soap and clean water for hand washing are out of reach for many.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa made clear his concern when he declared a national disaster in March.

"Perhaps the greatest dangers to our country at this time are fear and ignorance," he said. "We should stop spreading fake and unverified news and creating further apprehension and alarm."

The country's health department developed its WhatsApp service with South Africa-based non-profit Praekelt.org, using machine learning technology. Users who send the word "hi" to a WhatsApp number can get questions answered on topics including myths, symptoms and treatments.

The WHO noticed the service and partnered with Praekelt.org to launch its own version on March 20. It receives about 100,000 enquiries per hour, according to the organization's founder, Gustav Praekelt.

FACT-CHECKERS

Facebook, along with social media competitors including Twitter and YouTube, has barred users from posting harmful information about COVID-19 on its platforms.

The company is working with third-party fact-checkers in 15 sub-Saharan African countries to identify and remove such posts from Facebook, said its regional spokeswoman, Kezia Anim-Addo. WhatsApp is piloting a similar effort in Nigeria, among other countries.

But the volume of posts on COVID-19 is too high to catch every problematic claim, said Siphesihle Hlela, Africa strategic director at global media intelligence company Meltwater.

Many rumours begin life on one platform, only to be copied and shared on others.

Post are often written in pidgin English or lesser-known African languages, so might not be picked up by software that directs posts to fact-checkers, said Adebola Williams, founder and chief executive of Nigerian media consultancy Red.

Messages on WhatsApp are encrypted, so will only be checked if a user reports them.

Last year Facebook limited the number of times a WhatsApp message can be forwarded to five, in an attempt to curb the spread of rumours.

But misleading information still gets through.

In Lagos, artist Aderemi Adegbite shook his head at a false rumour on WhatsApp that the government intended to spray coronavirus-fighting chemicals from a plane.

"These messages are actually a big problem, even though they look or sound funny," he said. "We are in a serious situation."

(Additional reporting by Ayenat Mersie in Nairobi, Tim Cocks in Johannesburg, Paul Carsten and Abraham Achirga in Abuja, Nneka Chile and Seun Sanni in Lagos; Editing by Alexandra Zavis and Giles Elgood)
Chron.com is compiling the latest headlines on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the Houston area.

3:15 p.m.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner reports Thursday afternoon that the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the City of Houston has risen by 615 to a total of 1,995.

"I am saddened to announce we have two new death(s) bringing the City of Houston's total to 14.

The mayor also announced that all city parks will close beginning Thursday evening.

10 a.m.

In Fort Bend County, Sheriff Troy Nehls reports that inmates in Fort Bend County Detention are sewing about 100 masks per day to be worn by both jail employees and inmates. Later, the program will be expanded to provide masks for all essential county employees.

"It's crucial to protect essential workers during this unprecedented pandemic," Nehls said. "We must be innovative and use all of our resources to keep our inmates, employees and their families safe."

Galveston County opened its first free testing site for COVID-19 in Texas City.

The site is located at the Galveston County Health District building at 9850 Emmett F. Lowry Expressway. Authorities are using the testing site for high-risk individuals.

Here's the criteria for getting tested at the site:

Any person 65 years or older

Anyone 50 to 64 years with two or more of these conditions: Diabetes, lung disease, heart disease, or if they are immunocompromised

Everyone else must be showing two of the following symtoms: cough, shortness of breath, fever, loss of taste/smell, exposure, fatigue

The site can handle 176 people daily. Anyone wishing to be tested is urged to first call 409-978-4040.

LATEST:

Fort Bend County now has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases among suburban counties around Houston, and the sixth most statewide.

Beaten only by Harris, Dallas, Travis, Tarrant and Bexar counties, there were 417 cases in Fort Bend and seven deaths as of Wednesday. That number came after the county saw its largest single-day jump in confirmed cases.

In other headlines, Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion posted a call for cash app info from fans on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, saying she planned to give money to fans in need.

Check back for updates as they come in.
Homeless encampment seen on Monday, April 6, 2020, in San Francisco.

Ben Margot/AP

A proposed emergency ordinance introduced by San Francisco's Board of Supervisors would require the city to house its entire homeless population in 7,000 hotel rooms amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Officials have been grappling with how to protect its homeless community since the virus penetrated the city.

The shelter-in-place order that went into effect on March 17 exempted those who are homeless.

If this ordinance passes, those living on the streets would have space to shelter-in-place just as much of the rest of the city has been doing.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

An emergency ordinance was introduced Tuesday that would require San Francisco to find and rent 7,000 hotel rooms to house all of San Francisco's homeless population during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a virtual news conference Tuesday, five members of the Board of Supervisors announced they are backing the proposed ordinance, which would require the city to procure the rooms by April 26, the projected date for the number of confirmed cases to hit its peak in the state of California.

According to a press release, the mandate also includes establishing 750 rooms for healthcare workers and first responders who have been infected with or exposed to the virus, as well as 500 rooms for those being released from local hospitals following infection of or exposure to the virus but who cannot self-isolate at home.

According to an article the San Francisco Examiner, the full board plans to vote on the proposal next Tuesday; it will require eight votes to pass under emergency rules.

Since the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, reached San Francisco in early March, the city has endeavored to address how the illness could impact its sizable homeless community. There are an estimated 8,000 unhoused people in the city, and an outbreak among that population could overwhelm the healthcare system.

Renting empty hotel rooms throughout San Francisco has been apart of the city's broader mission to prep temporary treatment and housing sites for not just those who are homeless, but also first responders and healthcare workers who require self-isolation. A similar plan to house the homeless population in New York City is in place.

Story continues

The city's travel and tourism industries have been slammed amid the coronavirus pandemic, rendering hotel rooms empty throughout San Francisco.

As the plan stands now, the homeless people in San Francisco who would be moved to the hotel rooms are those who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who have been tested and are waiting for results to return. The most vulnerable within the homeless community, people over the age of 60 with underlying health issues, also qualify to be housed in a hotel room designated for this purpose. About 945 hotel rooms have already been leased across eight hotels.

But some officials and homeless advocates argue that the thousands of empty hotel rooms in the city should be used to house the entire homeless population in the city as a preventative measure, regardless of the need for self-isolation. The plan has never included those living on the streets  only those in existing shelters  and unhoused people are at a much higher risk of contracting the disease.

But Mayor London Breed said despite the pandemic, there are limits to how officials can house people. "We are not going to be able to solve our homeless problem in San Francisco with this crisis," Breed said Friday.

If this emergency ordinance passes, however, it would introduce an urgency to sheltering every unhoused person in the city in spaces fit for healthy social, or physical, distancing practices.

Housing those living on the streets in homeless shelters isn't an option at the moment  the city has banned new admissions to maintain healthy physical distancing among residents already there.

The city has toyed with turning its Moscone Center and the Palace of Fine Arts into mega-shelters housing up to 400 and 162 people, respectively. But those plans were scaled back after a backlash was stirred over the camp-like living conditions slated for the facilities. And their purpose was originally to free up room in existing homeless shelters by redistributing people to the makeshift shelters, not to house those coming off of the streets.

The first confirmed case within a San Francisco homeless shelter was announced on Thursday. And two more homeless people housed at San Francisco's largest shelter were confirmed to be infected with the virus on Monday.

Read the original article on Business Insider
One phrase in that letter  provided they do not pose serious public safety threats  is the one that gives governors and prosecutors and judges the most pause.

Take St. Louis, as an example. Here, in the city and the county, prosecutors Kimberly M. Gardner and Wesley Bell worked with judges, public defenders and jail administrators to release dozens of people from local jails who were being held while awaiting trial or on probation violations, to try to save lives. Some of those folks are charged with potentially violent offenses, a point made by Attorney General Eric Schmitt in a letter he sent to the two Democratic prosecutors opposing such a release.

Given the publics anxiety, this is no time to quietly negotiate the release of dangerous criminals, wrote Schmitt, a Republican.

So much for innocent until proven guilty. In the letter, he outlines some of the alleged offenses of a few of the people released, including possession of a firearm, first degree assault, child molestation and domestic violence.
Georgian immigrants speak about their life in Italy under quarantine - GeorgianJournal
In my mind, this Covid-19 crisis is moving from concern about the health of our young citizens (particularly those in their 30s with young children and big overheads) to their jobs when this crisis ends.

There are many messages going out this week for everyone to stay indoors and not spread the disease which can kill our fellow citizens.

However, along with that, the longer this crisis is with us, the greater the chance of many people finding themselves out of work next year.

This could be very serious.

Let us stay indoors in order to secure the immediate health of everyone and our long-term economic health and jobs into the future. Do the right thing, stay indoors and well end this crisis sooner.

Damien Carroll

Dublin 24

If were all in this together, why dont TDs take pay cut?

I read with some amusement Charlie Flanagans opinion piece, entitled We really are all in this together  so please stay home this Easter (Irish Independent, April 9)regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.

I would suggest to Mr Flanagan that this doesnt appear to be the case when it comes to politicians pay.

It is scandalous that at a time of national emergency, when up to 25pc of the population may be left without work and many others have taken significant pay cuts, that politicians are due to receive pay increases.

Perhaps they could instead show some solidarity and take a temporary 30pc pay cut for the duration of the crisis.

Michael Walsh

Longmeadow, Dublin 8

Most runners think of others and will keep their distance

Reading Frank Coughlans annoyance with the thundering jogger recently (Why selfish oafs must be told to jog on, Irish Independent, April 7), I would like to appeal to him as a runner/jogger to say that we are not all the same. And 99pc are abiding by social distancing protocol. I give plenty of distance to others using my local park.

I make this appeal to you, Frank, as I would never assume that all dog-walkers are the same.

There are those who clean up and there are those who dont, as I witness on regular occasions by having to scrape it off my runners.

I do enjoy your articles, Frank, keep them coming.

Bernard Quinn

Dublin 18

Gardai need these new powers as many wont obey the rules

Why do some people not understand that the reason for the new temporary powers for gardai is because it has become blatantly obvious that a fairly large minority are unwilling to obey the rules as requested by the Government?

Ruling by consent is gone.

May I also ask where my civil liberties stand if this minority is allowed to run loose, as in all new laws if you obey them your liberties are guaranteed?

Philip Chambers

Brookmount, Dublin 24

We should salute those who are carrying out the tests

Undeniably healthcare workers deserve our profound appreciation and acknowledgement.

They are the lynchpin of efforts to mitigate human suffering since time immemorial.

However, we should not forget the selfless heroes who risk their lives to test and trace infected people.

This is the most crucial and arduous effort to stave off the spread of this contagious foe.

They deserve to be nominated to the Nobel Peace accolade.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London, UK

Teachers who know their pupils can be the best judges

God forbid we let teachers who have been teaching their pupils, sometimes for years, to assess their ability, when teachers who have no knowledge of the same pupils can do it based on one-off exams.

I suppose I shouldnt go to my doctor who knows my medical history intimately, but go instead to a doctor who has no knowledge of same.

But then maybe doctors are a lot more ethical, professional and free from bias than teachers are? Maybe not?

Or maybe those whom the current terminal Leaving Cert exam system has benefited most are most reluctant to have it replaced, even in the midst of a deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Joseph Mackey

Kilkenny West, Athlone, Co Westmeath
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was described on Friday as being in very good spirits after being moved out of the intensive care unit of the St Thomas Hospital, as the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the UK neared 9,000.

The UK-wide figure released on Friday evening was 8,958. However, the figure relates to those who passed away in hospitals and does not include those in retirement villages, care homes and hospices. There are concerns that the overall figure may be much higher.

A Downing Street spokesman said on Friday evening: The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery.

He has spoken to his doctors and thanks the whole clinical team for the incredible care he has received. His thoughts are with those affected by this terrible disease.

Stanley Johnson, the prime ministers father, expressed relief that his son is out of the ICU and wanted him to rest. His illness had got the whole country to realise this is a serious event, he told BBC.

The government immediate concern is the prospect of people moving out of homes during the Easter holiday weekend, particularly as the weather is increasing warm and sunny.

Health secretary Matt Hancock harped on the core message to people to stay at home at the daily briefing, cautioning that Easter will be a test of the nations resolve. However warm the weather, however tempting the beach or park, we need everyone to stay at home.

NHS staff are battling day and night to keep desperately sick people breathing and they need you to stay at home.

The police warned those breaking social distancing rules during the warm weekend that they can expect prosecution.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Nikki Bella's father Jonathan Garcia grilled her boyfriend Artem Chigvintsev over whether their relationship was 'real' on Thursday's episode of Total Bellas.

The 36-year-old former wrestler and her twin sister Brie have had an on-and-off relationship with their father since their parents divorced and Nikki had not seen him in five years.

Artem, 37, met him for the first time as Nikki and Brie reunited with Jon as they worked on their memoir together.

Hot seat: Artem Chigvintsev was on the hot seat as he met Nikki Bella's estranged father Jonathan Garcia for the first time on Thursday's episode of Total Bellas

Nikki beforehand shared that she was nervous about Jon coming over to Brie's house.

'I just feel like, I'm in the time zone right now and I don't know, it's just...my dad's the biggest smart-ass ever,' Nikki said in a confessional.

'It's kind of where I get my no filter from. And he also loves to give people a hard time and, sometimes, people don't know how to take that,' she added.

Jon upon arriving at Brie's house greeted Artem in Spanish and then sat down with him, Nikki and Brie for a glass of wine.

Family reunion: Jonathan had dinner with his daughters and Artem after not seeing Nikki for five years

He asked Artem about his tattoo and then went back outside to grab his belongings.

Artem went out to help him and they talked outside the door.

'Your relationship with her, is it real?,' Jon asked the former Dancing With The Stars professional dancer.

Warm welcome: Artem was greeted in Spanish by Jon who lives in Mexicali, Mexico

'What do you mean? Of course, it's real,' Artem replied.

'I just want her happiness and something real for her,' Jon said.

'Well, that's something we have in common then,' Artem said as Jon then reached over to embrace him.

Real relationship: Jon spoke outside to Artem and asked if their relationship was 'real'

'Did you guys just hug?' a stunned Nikki asked.

'Yeah, he's gonna stroke my back in the shower too,' Jon quipped. 'We're gonna bond a little bit.'

The twins earlier shared chapters from their memoir with their mother Kathy Colace who was hurt over them reaching out to their father.

Memoir chapter: The twins earlier shared chapters from their memoir with their mother Kathy Colace who was hurt over them reaching out to their father

Childhood chapter: Brie and Nikki shared a chapter about their rough childhood with their mother

'My sister and I have been through a lot of s***. What's hard about that is, sometimes, you have to share those stories, even if you've forgiven people,' Nikki said in a confessional.

'But, the last time I saw my dad it was five years ago. We've been in and out of each other's lives. And it's just been a rocky relationship,' she added.

Nikki hoped that reuniting with Jon would help her connect with her Mexican roots, but knew it would bother Kathy and her brother JJ Garcia who remained angry about his past actions.

Rocky relationship: 'My sister and I have been through a lot of s***. What's hard about that is, sometimes, you have to share those stories, even if you've forgiven people,' Nikki said in a confessional

'He had an addiction. And seeing how my parents' marriage was for 15 years, I thought love was a certain way. It was fighting and arguing and jealousyand that is not the case,' Nikki told the cameras.

'And then, I never trusted men because of that. And it gave me, honestly, commitment issues,' she added.

Kathy got emotional reading the chapter about their childhood and blamed herself for raising the twins amid drama.

Getting emotional: Kathy got emotional reading the chapter about their childhood and blamed herself for raising the twins amid drama

She encouraged the twins to 'start a new relationship' with Jon, but grew angry when Brie revealed she already had been in touch with him.

'For a long time, we'd go on and off. And it really took my husband to be like, ''Brie, if my dad was still alive, I'd do anything in the world to text him. You're lucky you have that'',' Brie said in a confessional.

'I don't want to hang onto anger. I don't want to keep thinking about the past. I just want to let go. But I didn't tell my mom because I knew it would hurt her,' she added.

Reached out: Kathy encouraged the twins to 'start a new relationship' with Jon, but grew angry when Brie revealed she already had been in touch with him

Kathy stormed off after learning that her own mother knew about the reconciliation between Brie and Jon.

Brie and her mother later met up and were able to move on after Kathy admitted that reading the chapter and then learning of the reconciliation overwhelmed her.

Brie and Nikki over dinner with John at a restaurant listened as he described himself as a 'late bloomer'.

Anger rising: The twins' mother stormed off after learning that her own mother knew about the reconciliation between Brie and Jon

He told how he was raised without a father by his grandmother who died when he was age 11.

'One thing led to another, you know? Just a blurry life that I lived and then the addiction I was in and everything,' Jon told them. 'I never stopped being a good father, it's just my addiction made me stop being there.'

Jon said he woke up one day and said 'enough is enough' and overcame his addiction.

Addiction issues: 'I never stopped being a good father, it's just my addiction made me stop being there,' Jon told his daughters during dinner

'I've learned so much, so I promised to my god that I would never hurt another woman again, that I would be a different man,' he continued. 'I accept what I did, I've apologized many times and I'm not ashamed to start from scratch again.

Jon then said he did not want to 'dwell on the past'.

'If you want to come to me and talk about 18 years ago, I don't want to talk to you,' Jon said.

Starting over: Jon added, 'I accept what I did, I've apologized many times and I'm not ashamed to start from scratch again'

The twins had not yet told him about the memoir, but they made plans to visit Jon soon in Mexicali, Mexico.

Artem took a picture of Jon with his daughters and Nikki in a confessional called their reunion 'a beautiful moment'.

Total Bellas will return next week on the E! network.
Plague, rather than scandal, has forced radical change upon an institution stubbornly resistant to reform. Father Kevin Dillon, a parish priest in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Rowville, says that already his Holy Week sermons, posted online, have received 10,000 views; a number well beyond those who would normally have come through the doors of the St Simon the Apostle Church. Dillon has spent 25 years cajoling and beseeching his church to do more for victims of clerical abuse. He tells The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that when the allegations against Pell first emerged, he felt a sense of horror. The complaint evoked yet again the abhorrence of countless people about how decades of church-related child abuse around the world had destroyed the church's fundamental mission of care and respect for children and the most vulnerable," he says. "There is no question that for many people, this was enough to make them turn their back on the church and feel they no longer wanted to belong. Reflecting beyond Pell's case, he says: As a church, whether in Victoria or Australia or across the world, we have not really got on board the enormous damage done to so many people and their families for so long. Our absolutely fundamental obligation, not only a Christian obligation but a human obligation, is to set that as right as we possibly can, no matter what. Father Kevin Dillon says the church has "not really got on board the enormous damage done" by child sex abuse. Credit:Angela Wylie He says the way forward for the church will be led less by the clergy than lay people who make up most of the church. He is surprised how resilient many have been in their ability to separate their dismay at the organisational response of the church to child sex abuse from their personal faith.

Just as our whole nation is not going to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic the same as we entered into it, a change in the church will be welcome if it puts more emphasis on the value of ordinary people in the parish. We clerics are a very small part of the whole deal. Those wonderful people who keep parishes on the go are the key to it. If they are listened to, valued, respected and treasured a lot more as a result of all this, that is the hope. Francis Sullivan is the former chief executive of the Truth, Justice and Health Council established by the church to coordinate its response to the royal commission. He warns that unless the church integrates its institution with the experiences of lay men and women it will become increasingly irrelevant. He says that within this future there is little room for Pell's staunchly traditional views about how the church should operate. Francis Sullivan says that for many Catholics, George Pell personifies the church of the past. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen We have an institution which is currently medieval in its structure, dominated by celibate men and a closed system with its own code of advancement and entitlement, Sullivan says. This has played out into a cultural misfit with contemporary life. That is why there is such a drain of Catholics since the 1960s. On top of that you then had the sex abuse scandal, which has exacerbated the lack of trust. The scandal goes to the heart of what a church is meant to be founded on, and that is its moral integrity. For most Catholics, George Pell personifies the church of the past. His rigid and at times ideological positions were counter-cultural and lost all potency to appeal to Catholics in a post-secular world. The disciples of George Pell within the Bishops' Conference run the risk of trying to perpetuate more of the same.

The Catholic church for a long time was made in the image of [Pope] John Paul II and Pope Benedict [XVI] and their strong advocates have been people like Cardinal Pell. For Australia, that experiment has failed. This characterisation of Pell is fiercely contested by the cardinals supporters. Professor Greg Craven, the vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, a leading Catholic intellectual and personal friend of Pell's, predicts the cardinal will resume public life and continue to shape the life of the church. ACU vice-chancellor Greg Craven says George Pell will continue to be a "formidable presence" in the church. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen I think Cardinal Pell will remain a very influential figure in the Catholic church, Craven says. That influence may not be as obvious as it once was but I think he will be a formidable presence. The church is always an evolving thing. With Cardinal Pell, there are parts of him that people might say are vintage or retro. There are parts of him that are incredibly current. George Pell is at his absolute best when he is talking to young people. He can communicate better with young people, in person, better than almost any priest I have seen. And some of his ideas about the Australian church are profoundly modern.

One of those ideas, Craven says, is Pells willingness to accept and rejoice in the changing ethnic composition of the church from its Irish past to its embrace of newly arrived families from the Philippines, Latin America and the Horn of Africa. Pell describes this as moving from a "blue-eyed" to a "brown-eyed" church. Craven says the jailing of Pell was an appalling blow to Catholic morale now repaired by the High Court. Whether you liked or didnt like George Pell, he was the aircraft carrier," he says. The aircraft carrier had been blown up and it left a gaping hole in the Catholic psyche. I think for a lot of Catholics this will be seen as not just a personal vindication for George Pell but a genuine vindication for their sense of real injustice in the way the church and Catholics have been treated. Pells supporters are not the only Catholics to catch a whiff of sectarianism in how this saga has run, even after the High Court delivered its unanimous decision to acquit Pell. Rather than restore to Pell the presumption of innocence afforded anyone not convicted of a crime, his acquittal has been met by some with a parsing of legal principle, as if the cardinal was released from jail on a technicality conjured by clever, high-priced lawyers. He wasnt. The High Court, like Victorias Court of Appeal, closely examined the evidence against Pell. It did not question the credibility of his accuser, a former choirboy at St Patricks who alleged that he and a fellow chorister were sexually assaulted by Pell in the priests sacristy after Sunday Mass. Yet, unlike the two judges who delivered the Court of Appeal's majority decision against Pell, Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Ferguson and Court of Appeal president Chris Maxwell, it found Pells guilt was incompatible with the unchallenged evidence of other witnesses who put Pell on the front steps of the cathedral or in the company of others at the time of the alleged offence. There is a significant possibility ... that an innocent person has been convicted, the court found. The culmination of criminal proceedings does not mean an end to the trials of George Pell. The next step will be the release of about 60 pages of previously redacted royal commission findings detailing whether Pell knew 40 years ago that paedophile priests like Gerald Ridsdale were preying on children in his old diocese of Ballarat and failed to act. Pell in his testimony to the royal commission said he was not aware of Ridsdale's crimes at the time and took no responsibility for them. Comensoli tells The Age and the Herald: Anything that has come from the royal commission needs to be considered and reckoned with.
One day after the sudden and surprising death of Philadelphia-based rapper Chynna Rogers, her cause of death has been revealed as an accidental overdose.

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health confirmed the cause of death on Thursday (via The Philadelphia Inquirer) though no further specifics were given.

The rapper passed away at just 25 years of age, and was found unresponsive in her home in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Cause of death: One day after the sudden and surprising death of Philadelphia-based rapper Chynna Rogers, her cause of death has been revealed as an accidental overdose

Chynna's manager John Miller said Wednesday, 'I can regrettably confirm Chynna passed away,' adding that she passed that day.

Her family also passed along a statement which read, ''Chynna was deeply loved and will be sorely missed.'

While it was not revealed what Chynna had overdosed on, the rapper had battled addiction with opioids in the past.

Addiction: While it was not revealed what Chynna had overdosed on, the rapper had battled addiction with opioids in the past

She was born in Philadelphia and started her career as a model, signing with Ford Models when she was just 14 years of age.

Around the same time she started her modeling career, she became close with rapper A$AP Yams and the A$AP Mob.

She released her first single Selfie in 2014 and Glen Coco in 2014 through A$AP Ant and DJ Nick's Marino Gang record label, which became viral hits on YouTube.

Model: She was born in Philadelphia and started her career as a model, signing with Ford Models when she was just 14 years of age

Chynna would then release EP's entitled I'm Not Here in 2015, followed by Ninety in 2016.

She also released Music 2 Die in 2017, inspired by filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, followed by I'm Not Here and This Isn't Happening in 2018.

The rapper said in a 2018 interview with Pitchfork that she released Ninety on her 22nd birthday, after achieving three months of sobriety.

Sober: The rapper said in a 2018 interview with Pitchfork that she released Ninety on her 22nd birthday, after achieving three months of sobriety

'It got to the point where I had to do something just to be able to get onstage and do my job. I didnt like that,' she said.

She added that she didn't talk much about her addiction because she only does so once she's past the problem.

'I usually dont express myself or get open about things until its in hindsight, and Im not dealing with it anymore,' she said.

Her final album was released in January, dubbed In Case I Die First.




Despite the fear created from the outbreak of Coronavirus in Nigeria, a disease that has drawn men, women and children to their maker, a 43-year-old man, Joshua Abraham, has still found a place for evil in his heart as he was nabbed with a babys placenta.

Ogun State Police Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi confirmed in a statement on Thursday the arrest of Abraham who allegedly stole his neighbours baby placenta.

It was reported that Abraham had visited the hospital where the baby was delivered, deceived the staffs of the hospital by claiming to be the father of the child and thereby demanded the placenta from a nurse.

Unlucky for him, upon receiving the placenta, the babys grandma whose name is given as Raliha Zakara arrived at the hospital and request for the placenta from the nurse.

She was told that Abraham (the self-proclaimed) father of the child had taken it away.

Given updates on Abrahams arrest, Oyeyemi stated, The suspect, who is a neighbour to Raliha, came to the hospital, where Ralihas daughter was delivered of the baby and pretended to be the father of the newborn.

He demanded the placenta from the nurse on duty and it was given to him. On getting the placenta, he took it away on the pretext that he was going to bury it.

But when the grandmother got to the hospital and was informed that the suspect had taken away the placenta, she quickly confronted him, but he told the grandmother that he had buried the placenta.

When the grandmother insisted that she should be taken to where he buried it, it was discovered that he had hidden the placenta but buried a dead rat.

Oyeyemi, however, noted that the culprit has been arrested following report from the grandmother.

Upon the report, the DPO, Ibafo Division, SP Abiodun Ayinde, detailed his detectives to the scene, where the suspect was arrested, said Oyeyemi.

It was discovered that the suspect had once been arrested for defrauding a police officer and a pastor of huge sums of money under the pretext of procuring Canadian visas for them and the case is being prosecuted in court.

He took detectives to where he hid the placenta and it was recovered.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Kenneth Ebrimson, had ordered that a thorough investigation should be carried out and that the suspect should be charged as soon as possible, Oyeyemi added.

In another news, Naija News reported that the Ogun State Police Command has confirmed the death of Mr. Segun Dada, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) attached to the Ibara Divison.

The command, however, denied the information spreading on many social media platforms that he died as a result of complications sustained after arresting a masquerade that violated the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown orders in Ogun State.

Share this post with your Friends on
Indias leading digital payments & financial services platform Paytm has partnered with an NGO KVN Foundation to provide daily meals to thousands of daily wagers and migrant labourers. As part of efforts to feed the needy, Paytm has provided meals to 75,000 daily wage workers across 5 cities and plans to serve 30 lakh needy people in the current crisis.

The company has opened donations through its app for people to contribute and enable Paytm in feeding stranded labourers and daily wagers in their city.

Together with KVN, they are already serving 75,000 meals per day across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Noida. Going forward, Paytm will tie up with various state NGOs to take this initiative across the country.

The people willing to support the campaign can log on to their Paytm App and donate by clicking on the Feed My City tab. Donations for this noble cause can also be made to the city of one's choice on the Paytm app.

Over the last few weeks, Paytm has launched several initiatives to fight the spread of the Coronavirus. The company is aiming to contribute Rs. 500 Crores to PM CARES Fund, and has already collected over Rs. 80 crores within the first week. Also, the company is distributing personal hygiene products, such as hand wash and sanitizers to people who do not have the means to buy it.
Sometimes people ask me what it takes to be a writer. The only things you have to do, I tell them, are read constantly; write for thousands of hours; and have the masochistic ability to absorb a great deal of rejection and isolation. As it turns out, these qualities have prepared me well to deal with life in the time of the coronavirus.

The fact that I am almost enjoying this period of isolation  except for bouts of paranoia about imminent death and rage at the incompetence of our nations leadership  makes me sharply aware of my privilege. It is only through my social media feeds that I can see the devastation wreaked on people who have lost their jobs and are worried about paying the rent. Horror stories are surfacing from doctors and nurses, people afflicted with Covid-19, and those who have lost loved ones to the disease.

Many of us are getting a glimpse of dystopia. Others are living it.

If anything good emerges out of this period, it might be an awakening to the pre-existing conditions of our body politic. We were not as healthy as we thought we were. The biological virus afflicting individuals is also a social virus. Its symptoms  inequality, callousness, selfishness and a profit motive that undervalues human life and overvalues commodities  were for too long masked by the hearty good cheer of American exceptionalism, the ruddiness of someone a few steps away from a heart attack.

Even if America as we know it survives the coronavirus, it can hardly emerge unscathed. If the illusion of invincibility is shredded for any patient who survives a near-fatal experience, then what might die after Covid-19 is the myth that we are the best country on earth, a belief common even among the poor, the marginal, the precariat, who must believe in their own Americanness if in nothing else.
But the ministers were not able to reach an agreement on issuing joint bonds, known as corona-bonds, despite pleas from the leaders of Italy and Spain, which are bearing the brunt of the crisis, after staunch resistance from Germany, the Netherlands and others. And, in a victory for the Netherlands which was lobbying to restrict how the bailout funds can be used, the ministers decided they should be limited to health-related programs.

Throughout its history, the European Union has refused to issue joint bonds, but the size and scope of the current crisis had led some analysts to think the bloc might be willing to back the idea this time, which would have represented a major step in bringing it closer to becoming a United States of Europe. Pooling debt was foundational to the creation of the United States, and it would be considered a momentous step in the blocs governance structures moving toward federalism.

But the need for unanimous backing of major measures  always a brake on swift and bold decisions by the European Union in times of crisis  derailed the bond idea and meant that negotiations for the shape of the economic package were fraught. It took a second meeting to build consensus, after an attempt on Tuesday ended in acrimony.

The finance ministers were well aware of the dramatic toll the virus was taking on all the blocs economies and that a failure to produce an agreement would be disastrous for the confidence of both the blocs citizens and for financial markets. As the United States moved to announce stimulus measures, there was a growing sense that Europe was once again doing too little too slowly.

The most important thing for the finance ministers was to sign off on a deal and a 540 billion tagline, said Mujtaba Rahman, the head of Europe practice at Eurasia Group, a consultancy. But despite everyone patting themselves on the back, there are lots of substantive gaps in the deal that will only become apparent later down the line, he added.
The Irish arm of Debenhams is set to be placed into liquidation, with staff across the country told their jobs are gone.

The collapse of the department store chain is by far the most high-profile destruction of jobs since the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak, which has wiped out the non-food retail trade. However, Debenhams was already struggling before the onset of the crisis.

The scale of permanent job losses despite the availability of temporary State supports will set off alarm bells in Government at the destruction now being done to the economy.

Debenhams said the majority of its 11 Irish stores were not expected to reopen, but that would be in the hands of a liquidator, who is expected to be appointed next week.

The shops were already closed as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. Customers in the Republic could still shop with Debenhams online, the company said, which should mean gift vouchers would continue to be honoured.

The business employs close to 1,000 staff in Ireland directly, with another 300 working for in-store concession. However the trade union Mandate says the total number of jobs affected will be close to 2,000. In the UK, Debenhams has 142 stores and 22,000 workers.

Here, staff were informed of the move by email yesterday - almost all of them had already been temporarily laid off as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown. The decision was confirmed by Stefaan Vansteenkiste, chief executive of the firm.

"We are desperately sorry not to be able to keep the Irish business operating but are faced with no alternative option in the current environment. This decision has not been taken lightly and is no way a reflection on our Irish colleagues, whose professionalism and commitment to serving our customers has never been in question.

"The colleagues have been placed on temporary lay-off under the Irish Government's payment support schemes for employers and we will be working with them to support them through this process," he said.

Debenhams Ireland's biggest creditor is the UK parent, which was itself taken over last year by its own creditors.

The appointment of a liquidator by creditors will require the company to call a formal meeting of creditors - including staff and suppliers - to consider the issue and to nominate and vote on a liquidator.

The courts can also appoint a liquidator, if requested by an unpaid creditor.

The chain's Irish roots date back to the former Roches Stores, which UK retailer Debenhams bought from the Roche family in 2006 for 29m.

The sale at the peak of the Celtic Tiger did not include the chain's properties, which the family held on to and leased to the chain.

The Irish unit previously went though an examinership in 2016.

Its UK parent this week went into administration, a form of insolvency protection, although the British arm will continue to trade.
About 187,000 Scholastic books will go out for delivery as early as next week to Connecticuts alliance school districts, state officials said in a press call Thursday.

Money from the books was donated by former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and her husband Raj, who live in Greenwich.

These books are going directly home to kids, said East Hartford Superintendent Nate Quesnel. The thought process is that were trying to really push literacy and to help families to provide opportunities for rich text opportunities in their home.

The books are one of two gifts from the Partnership for Connecticut which are being distributed to Connecticuts 33 lowest-performing school districts by the Learn From Home task force. The task force, established by Gov. Ned Lamont and state Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona, is co-chaired by Quesnel and Guilford Superintendent Paul Freeman.

The other gift will be 60,000 Dell laptops, which will be distributed in three waves in May, June and July, to high school students in alliance districts. Dalio Philanthropies, founded by Greenwich resident Ray Dalio, is covering half the costs of the laptops, or $24 million.

Every alliance district, except Hamden Public Schools, applied to receive a shipment of bundles of books. Each bundle contains three to four grade-appropriate books, written in English, as well as supplemental think sheets, with questions and discussion material about the books, in English and Spanish.

Bilingual discussion material is especially needed for parents of children in alliance districts, where a significant majority of children are English-language learning.

The books are all in English, but the Scholastic bundles include books that depict children of different cultures  as about 65 percent of children in alliance districts are children of color.

I know Scholastic took into consideration cultural responsiveness, Freedman said. Each book pack has one title that had somebody that would reflect a broader cultural focus than mainstream white America.

Statewide, students of color make up about 45 percent; About 9 percent are English language learners.

While the laptops will be delivered in tiers, prioritizing districts with the least number of students with devices at home, the Scholastic book bundles will be delivered in one bulk delivery, Freedman said.

In most cases, the bundles will go to school buildings for distribution. For a few schools, however, delivery will be modified, since some municipalities have re-purposed school buildings for other uses.

The gifts are being distributed on a very large scale, Quesnel said.

On a large, but safe scale, State Deputy Commissioner Desi Nesmith said in the press conference. Safety of students, families and educators is the most important priority for the task-force, he said.

However that distribution is rolled out, its done in a manner thats consistent with guidelines, keeping safety at forefront of everything were doing, Nesmith said.

Once the laptops are in the hands of deserving high-schoolers, the concern will be whether they have the internet needed to connect with their teachers.

Nick Simmons, manager of strategic initiatives for the office of the governor, said when it comes to internet connectivity, Connecticut is one of the most wired in the country.

Still, not all families with school-aged children about to receive laptops are connected. But, many of the states 15 internet providers have pledged to provide internet at little to no cost to families, he said.

Nearly all have offered generous upgrades and plans, often at no cost to families, Simmons said.

For example, families may get 60 days of free internet, while cellphone companies such as Verizon, T Mobile and AT&T have increased hot-spot tethering activity, he said.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
If youre out of work because of the coronavirus pandemic, what benefits are you eligible for? Do you have still have to make payments on a student loan or mortgage?

As Pennsylvanians continue to stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Attorney General Josh Shapiro released a new guide advising state citizens of their rights, protections, and supportive programs available.

My office is working to protect the health, safety, and financial security of all Pennsylvanians during this public health and economic emergency, Shapiro said. With the intense amount of information and misinformation out there, we wanted to help individuals impacted by this crisis, know the facts, their rights, and what they are entitled to during these uncertain times.

The guide includes information on what rights Pennsylvanians have during the pandemic, and what to do if those rights are violated.

Those rights include:

Guaranteed access to utilities like heat, water, and electricity

Moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, and auto repossessions

Grace period for paying student loans

Grace period for paying home and auto loans

Waived payments from banks for late and overdraft fees

Expanded unemployment eligibility to gig workers, contract workers who use 1099 forms to pay, workers with previously inadequate employment history, and part time workers

Increased unemployment benefits, roughly double the previously available

Up to 2 weeks paid-leave for individuals caring for a sick family member or child whose school has closed

You can find the full guide here.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

READ MORE
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 12:53:58|Editor: Lu Hui

Video Player Close

HARBIN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A major tourist attraction featuring red-crowned cranes in northeast China will offer free admission for medical workers until the end of this year.

Zhalong National Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province will reopen on April 15. It has taken strict prevention measures and will continue to do so after the reopening, according to its management administration.

Visitors will need to show their ID cards and health codes, and have their temperatures taken to enter. They should wear masks in the nature reserve.

Covering an area of 210,000 hectares, the nature reserve is the world's biggest habitat and reproduction base of wild red-crowned cranes. It is known as the "home of red-crowned cranes" in China.
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 09, 2020 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 09, 2020 | 05:12 PM | PADUCAH

Two more McCracken County residents have the novel coronavirus.



The Purchase District Health Department said Thursday afternoon that two more people were notified Wednesday that they tested positive. They are a 50-year-old male and a 56-year-old male. Both are in stable condition, not hospitalized and self-quarantined. Close contacts are being investigated and may be asked to quarantine and be on the lookout for symptoms.



This makes 20 people in the county who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and one of them is hospitalized. The health department says six people have recovered. On Monday, Governor Beshear announced the only death from the virus in McCracken County.



The health department says anyone who is worried or concerned, but otherwise healthy should visit kycovid19.ky.gov for additional information or call the Ky Covid-19 hotline at 1-800-722-5725. Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 should call their medical provider.



Call the Purchase District Health Department at 270-444-9631 or visit their website www.purchasehealth.org for more information.
Spending 14 days days between just four walls, with no fresh air or exercise, could prove painfully boring for many.

So it's no wonder Australians trapped in quarantine in hotels across the country are finding creative ways to entertain themselves, as many near the final hours of their coronavirus lock-up.

Some returning travellers were spotted offering each other massages, while others played with piles of fruit at Sydney's Intercontinental Hotel.

Many of the travellers there are nearing the final hours of their 14-day isolation, and are due to be released on Saturday.

Two returning travellers are seen whiling their isolation away at Sydney's Intercontinental hotel by stacking several apples on top of each other (pictured on Friday)

Returning travellers found ways to keep themselves entertained at Sydney's Intercontinental hotel, including chatting to friends (right) and stretching (left)

WHO PAYS FOR THE QUARANTINE HOTELS? The cost of the 14-day quarantine hotels for arrivals in Australia will be split between the states. It will depend on where the arriving travelling usually lives. So if the person is from Adelaide, but staying at a hotel in Sydney, it is South Australia which will pay. At the moment, there are no rules in place which dictate that the holidaymaker themselves has to pay, meaning it is coming from taxpayers. Advertisement

Under strict government rules designed to protect Australians from the deadly coronavirus, all those returning from abroad must spend 14 days in hotel isolation.

Only after that time, and after regular temperature checks, can people then go back to their homes.

On Wednesday, the first batch of holidaymakers who had completely their 14-day isolation left the five-star Swissotel in Sydney.

There were mixed opinions among the first returned travellers who were allowed to leave their Sydney hotel room.

A total of 288 passengers from the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship were cooped up inside the hotel, after being ferried home from Hawaii on an emergency Qantas flight on March 26.

These men were also seen enjoying the impressive views of Sydney's CBD from their isolation rooms in the Intercontinental hotel on Friday (pictured)

One family were forced to get creative after running out of clothes during their 14-night isolation, instead washing them and hanging them out to dry in in the window (pictured)

Eager guests began filing out of the Swissotel from about 1am on Wednesday, after undergoing a final round of coronavirus checks by a doctor.

The two weeks were particularly hard for Gold Coast mother Jayna Meuwissen, who told how she was separated from her youngest daughter by a hotel room wall.

That was really difficult, a tearful Ms Meuwissen said. But we were looked after really well, I have no complaints.

We all got a final temperature check this morning and a look over to check we were OK. Its certainly a holiday we wont forget though.

Travellers at the Intercontinental hotel in Sydney found odd ways to entertain themselves, stacking apples (left) and giving massages (right)

The federal governments strict quarantine laws meant anyone returning from overseas was forced to spend two weeks in isolation in whatever city they arrived in  regardless of where they were from.

It means that while some returned travellers will be allowed to go straight home, others are now only halfway through their quarantine period.

Some staying in the hotels after returning to Australia have compared their stays to 'torture', with one couple begging for 'fresh air'.

The travellers are being put up in some of the country's best hotels - and its all paid for by taxpayers.

Ashleigh (pictured, front) and Emily Meuwissen (back) leave the Swissotel in Sydney on Wednesday morning

As of Friday afternoon, Australia has 6,186 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 53 deaths

But many of those holed up in the hotels have compared the experience to 'prison' - with one woman calling it 'torture' while wearing a fluffy white hotel robe and drinking a glass of wine.

Ray and Jackie, from Adelaide, are mid-way through their quarantine, in the Crown Promenade hotel in Melbourne.

Holding up a sign which read 'we need fresh air', the couple revealed the prison-like conditions were taking a toll on their mental health.

'I don't want to complain too much, people think this is great five-star accommodation and so forth,' Ray, a retired lawyer, told A Current Affair.

Retired lawyer Ray from Adelaide (pictured) held up a sign which read 'We need fresh air', after being holed up in Melbourne's Crown Promenade hotel with his wife Jackie

Vegans Sarah (pictured, left) and Matt (right) complained they had even been served salmon during their stay, and that meals often came late

'But I think you're going to have a major mental health problem amongst the people staying here.

'I'd easily swap places with you. You can come up here if you want to and take advantage of the five-star facilities. We can't even get past the door without security guards charging at us.

'[Prisoners] can go out and breathe the fresh air and listen to the birds and so on, whereas we can't even do that.'

The couple were returning from a trip to South America when the rule came in.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 06:43:39|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BRASILIA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Brazil has forecast a record grains harvest of 251.8 million tons in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the state-run National Supply Company (Conab) said on Thursday.

The projected harvest, including primarily soybean and corn, represents a 4 percent increase compared to the previous year, or an additional 9.7 million tons.

Soybeans, Brazil's main agricultural export, should yield 122.1 million tons, or 6.1 percent more than last year.

Corn is expected to yield 101.9 million tons, more or less the same yield as last year.

"The COVID-19 pandemic the world is facing has not affected the progress of Brazil's harvest," Conab said in a report.

"Farmers are continuing their activities normally, with the adoption of measures recommended by the Health Ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO)," said Conab.

Apart from soybean and corn, other crops are expected to see increases in yields, including cotton, rice and beans.

The cotton harvest is forecast to reach 2.88 million tons, thanks to major investment in the sector and an increase in land assigned to the crop.

Rice is estimated to yield 10.6 million tons, and beans, 1.07 million tons in the first harvest and 1.33 million tons in the second.
She is currently in self-isolation with her boyfriend Anwar Hadid in London.

Yet Dua Lipa and her famous beau took a break from the confines of lockdown for a romantic stroll on Friday, as part of their government-mandated outdoor time.

The One Kiss songstress, 24, could not stop smiling as she strutted with 20-year-old Anwar's arms draped over her shoulder before packing on the PDA.

Happy days: Dua Lipa and Anwar Hadid took a break from the confines of lockdown for a romantic stroll on Friday, as part of their government-mandated outdoor time

Dua is holed up in 'a random Airbnb' in London with boyfriend Anwar, after returning home from her Australia tour to find her flat flooded.

Despite being out of sorts with their living situation, the couple looked happier than ever as they walked along looking cosy and loved-up.

Donning a bold red jumper and her funky two-tone hair, Dua shared a laugh with her beau - the brother of Gigi and Bella Hadid.

Last week, Dua spoke of isolating with Anwar as she insisted that 'were good at doing our own things and then coming together when we want to watch a movie or do a painting and we go on our one hour daily walk'.

My guy: The One Kiss songstress, 24, could not stop smiling as she strutted with 20-year-old Anwar's arms draped over her shoulder before packing on the PDA

Cute: Dua seemed particularly tickled by Anwar as they strutted down the street

Stay hydrated! Duo clutched a bottle of water and showed off a neon manicure

Off we go! She broke into a run as she made her way down the street

Two days before the outing, Dua proved the show must go on as she appeared on Jimmy Fallon via video link, where she chatted to the TV legend before performing her new song Break My Heart - with her beau behind the camera.

She spoke candidly about the early release of her new record before belting out the hit and admitting it's 'fun' performing only to Anwar.

When Jimmy asked if Dua was finding it strange, she said: 'It's fun performing for no audience. Except I perform for my boyfriend with our own little studio.'

Tender touch: Anwar draped a tattooed arm around the songstress' shoulder

Have a laugh! The couple were having a giggle as they walked down the street

Protective: Dua seemed extremely happy to be with Anwar in the trying times

She has been forced to release her album Future Nostalgia early due to a leak and when asked how she felt, she said: 'It's been ok given the circumstances.'

Dua explained: 'We released it a week early because there was a leak online. I don't actually know how it happened. When it's about to come out it gets sent round...

'It is what it is and I'm quite relieved. It was a bit confusing but some things happen for a reason. I was relieved as it showed me the music had to be out...

Sweet: Last week, Dua spoke of isolating with Anwar as she insisted that 'were good at doing our own things and then coming together when we want to watch a movie or do a painting and we go on our one hour daily walk'

Walking along: She was walking along with her beau on her arm

Here they go: They looked chilled out amid the worrying climate

Happy days: Two days before the outing, Dua proved the show must go on as she appeared on Jimmy Fallon via video link, where she chatted to the TV legend before performing her new song Break My Heart - with her beau behind the camera

On her difficulties with the decision, she said: 'I was feeling conflicted and didn't know if it felt right with a lot of people suffering but then I thought i made the record to escape the anxiety and pressure of making a second record...

'I thought maybe it can give people some comfort and to get away from everything.'

Jimmy told Dua that her music was called 'dance crying'.

Belting it out: She spoke candidly about the early release of her new record before belting out the hit and admitting it's 'fun' performing only to Anwar

Happy days: She admitted they are getting on ok in isolation

She said: 'Dance crying is my forte. Your dancing and your crying...

'Its playing on juxtapositions so you want to make music to dance to but the lyrics have a deeper meaning. My first record had very sad lyrics...

'The new song is a celebration of vulnerability. It's the what ifs.'

Sweet: Jimmy told Dua that her music was called 'dance crying'
James Carville, a former advisor to President Bill Clinton, ripped into Republicans after a conservative majority on Wisconsin's Supreme Court allowed the state's primary elections to go ahead despite coronavirus concerns.

Carville, appearing on MSNBC following the Tuesday primaries, says it was 'one of the most awful things I've ever seen in my life' after the court's conservatives determined Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, lacked the authority to postpone the election in a majority 4 to 2 vote.

The governor had tried to delay the primary to protect polling workers from exposure to deadly flu-like virus, also known COVID-19.

'They will kill people to stay in power, literally,' Carville said of Republicans, after the primaries went through with the court's blessing.

James Carville, the former advisor to President Bill Clinton, ripped into Republicans after a conservative majority on Wisconsin's Supreme Court allowed the state's primary elections Tuesday over Coronavirus concerns

Carville, appearing on MSNBC following the primaries on Tuesday, says it was 'one of the most awful things I've ever seen in my life' after the court's conservatives determined Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, lacked the authority to postpone the election in a majority 4 to 2 vote

The governor had tried to delay the primary to protect polling workers from exposure to deadly virus. 'They will kill people to stay in power, literally,' Carville said of Republicans, after the primaries went through

Wisconsin's Supreme Court is normally controlled 5-2 by conservative justices  but one of the conservatives had been on Tuesday's ballot.

'It was all about one Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin,' Carville said.

The 75-year-old former political operative had been speaking with MSNBC anchor Brian Williams and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

Neither Williams nor Steele confronted Carville on his controversial statements.

The tumult in one of the most critical general election battlegrounds underscored the challenge of voting during a pandemic when public health officials are discouraging groups from gathering for virtually any reason to prevent the spread of the virus.

There have been 469,450 confirmed cases in the U.S. of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 16,715 deaths.

Wisconsin has had 2,885 confirmed cases and 116 deaths related to COVID-19.

There have been 469,450 confirmed cases in the U.S. of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 16,715 deaths

How the number of coronavirus in the U.S. has escalated over time

How the number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. has escalated over time

The Wisconsin high court on Monday had ordered the election back on, hours after Evers issued an executive order postponing it for two months.

The governor had previously opposed moving the election and said he didn't have the authority to shift the timing unilaterally.

But he changed course Monday, ordering a delay of in-person voting to June 9, as poll sites closed because nervous volunteers were unwilling to staff them and as criticism about holding the election grew.

Evers said his order was the last hope for stopping the election, and he had no immediate comment after the court's ruling about any other possible legal challenges.

'There's not a Plan B. There's not a Plan C,' Evers said earlier Monday.

'Frankly, there's no good answer to this problem - I wish it were easy. I have been asking everyone to do their part to help keep our families, our neighbors, and our communities safe, and I had hoped that the Legislature would do its part - just as the rest of us are - to help keep people healthy and safe,' he continued.

Evers had questioned over the last month whether he had the power to reschedule the election, leaving the fate of the election up in the air less than 24 hours before polls were slated to open.

Other states that were slated to vote this month have postponed their elections until May or June, but Republicans in Wisconsin had refused to delay.

A federal judge already extended absentee voting deadlines for Wisconsin until April 13 because of the pandemic when it appeared the state was not going to delay the in-person voting date.

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots in the Wisconsin primary election Tuesday at Marshall High School in Milwaukee

City of Milwaukee Election Commission workers process absentee ballots in Wisconsin's presidential primary election on Tuesday

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic nominee, and others from his party have already floated the idea of fully remote primary and general elections should the levels continue to escalate through the summer.

Biden has also suggested doing a 'virtual' nominating convention in August instead of hosting the in-person event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where tens of thousands of people from all over the country attend.

His rival, Republican President Donald Trump, had said Tuesday that long primary lines in Wisconsin and concern about keeping six feet apart - guidelines from his own administration - were Evers' problems.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic nominee challenging Republican President Donald Trump, has suggested doing a 'virtual' nominating convention for his party in August instead of hosting the in-person event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

'You have a Democrat in Wisconsin as governor. Ask him. That's his problem. He should be doing it. Again, some governors fail. I won't let them fail because when they fail, I'll help. That's run by Democrats right now. It's run by Democrats,' Trump said.

He won Wisconsin in the 2016 election.
ST. LOUIS, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Home State Health is providing assistance to network providers in Missouri who are seeking relief amid the COVID-19 pandemic through the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the CARES Act. Home State Health is sharing access to a dedicated online portal of Provider Financial Support & Resources, where network providers can research benefits they may be eligible for and work directly with experts to apply for them. The portal was developed by Centene Corporation, a leading multi-national healthcare company. As part of the Centene family, Home State Health is providing access to these resources to aid Missouri providers in grant writing and business loan applications, among other key activities.

"Our providers are on the front lines every day, taking care of the most vulnerable populations across Missouri," said Nathan Landsbaum, President and CEO of Home State Health. "In support of our provider partners and their fight against COVID-19, we are providing access to these key benefits and resources to help network providers that are being economically impacted."

The program will help providers apply for various benefits including small business loans, a paycheck protection plan, and various grants they may be eligible for. This includes Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), behavioral health providers and community-based behavioral health organizations, Centers for Independent Living (CILs), and long-term service and supports organizations operating on the front lines.

This resource also helps providers explore additional funds through state offered loans and grants by working with nationally recognized healthcare consultants, organizations, state government agencies and former SBA executives. In addition to the online portal, provider partners will have access to webinars and one-on-one consulting with key experts.

Home State Health and Centene have made it a priority to support providers, especially small providers, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Centene previously announced that its plans, including Home State Health, would reduce the administrative burden to providers by eliminating the need for them to collect co-pays and removing authorization requirements for COVID-19 related treatment.

If you are a Home State Health provider looking for more information about benefits you may be eligible for, please visit https://www.centene.com/covid-19-resource-center/provider-assistance.html for more information.

Home State Health is a Care Management Organization that serves the needs of Missourians through a range of health insurance solutions. Home State Health serves the Medicaid population in partnership with MO HealthNet. The organization also focuses on under-insured and uninsured individuals through its federal insurance marketplace plan, Ambetter. Additionally, Home State Health provides insurance for the Medicare population through a Medicare Advantage plan, Allwell. Home State Health exists to improve the health of its members through focused, compassionate and coordinated care. Home State Health is owned by a joint venture of Centene Corporation and Missouri Community Health Access. Centene Corporation is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise. For more information, visit www.homestatehealth.com.

About Centene Corporation

Centene Corporation, a Fortune 100 company is a leading multi-national healthcare enterprise that is committed to helping people live healthier lives. The Company takes a local approach  with local brands and local teams - to provide fully integrated, high quality, and cost-effective services to government-sponsored and commercial healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals. Centene offers affordable and high-quality products to nearly 1 in 15 individuals across the nation, including Medicaid and Medicare members (including Medicare Prescription Drug Plans) as well as individuals and families served by the Health Insurance Marketplace, the TRICARE program, and individuals in correctional facilities. The Company also serves several international markets, and contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide a variety of specialty services focused on treating the whole person. Centene focuses on long-term growth and the development of its people, systems and capabilities so that it can better serve its members, providers, local communities, and government partners.

Centene uses its investor relations website to publish important information about the company, including information that may be deemed material to investors. Financial and other information about Centene is routinely posted and is accessible on Centene's investor relations website, http://www.centene.com/investors.

Note on SBA Announcement

The information provided does not represent all of the information available or that you may need for making your financial decisions or completing your application. The Federal and State government(s) are best able to provide resources and assistance. We recommended that you contact your financial institution or advisor before making any financial decisions.

SOURCE Home State Health

Related Links

http://www.homestatehealth.com


The Bank of Korea said Korea's economic growth could fall to zero percent if the coronavirus crisis does not ease in the second quarter. But even that appears to be an optimistic view. The Korea Economic Research Institute this week forecast that Korea's economy will shrink 2.3 percent this year, while Nomura Securities, S&P and other global institutions have also projected negative growth. The only times the Korean economy shrank were during the oil shock in 1980s and the Asian financial crisis in late 1997.

Korea was already facing a crisis even before the epidemic. The country's growth fell to a 10-year-low of two percent in 2019, while industrial output, private consumption and corporate investments all shrank early this year. This led to cash shortages. Last year, 21 percent of listed companies suffered poor operating profits and were unable to even service their debts, while money-losing inventory levels rose 10 percent over the past year to a record high. Factory operation rates slowed to around 70 percent.

All of this happened before the epidemic erupted due to policy blunders by the government that forced almost a million small businesses into bankruptcy while jobs disappeared. Then COVID-19 made everything worse. Now Korea's airline, tourism, restaurant and clothing businesses are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, while the petrochemical, automobile, shipbuilding and heavy industries are laying off workers, sending others on rotational leaves or cutting down on output to stay afloat.

Many companies say they are unable to pay their staff. Nine out of every 10 businesses said in one survey that they will not last another five months. The state of the U.S. economy is especially worrying. There are even forecasts that the American economy will shrink 30 percent in the second quarter. That economic tsunami will swamp the Korean economy.

The government's current emergency measures are geared only toward low-income households and small businesses. It plans to shower astronomical amounts of money on them. Major businesses, which are the pillars of the economy, are scurrying to obtain cash, but the government is turning a blind eye to their plight, probably because big businesses do not account for many votes. At this rate, big businesses too may face closure. The government cannot sit by idly and watch the fire grow out of control. Voters in the general election next week must cast their ballots wisely to make sure that the timing for much-needed policy changes is not missed.


- A Thailand hospital has created full face masks to protect new babies in the face of Covid-19 pandemic

- In a Facebook post on Thursday, April 2, the hospital said they are after the safety of both mothers and children

- The infirmary also congratulated the new mothers on their latest bundles of joy

In the fight against coronavirus that has hit the world sore, one thing that would perhaps be remembered long after everything is gone will be the capacity to survive people showed.

A Thailand hospital is going the extra mile to take care of newborn babies during this season as they built them protective full face masks.

In a post made online, Paolo Hospital showed babies wrapped in blankets as they wore the protective shields.

The hospital also congratulated the new mothers, adding that they take adequate protective measures to protect babies.

See photos of the babies below:

One of the photos they shared showed a health official who also had the mask on as she cradled a baby.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that three nurses who were reportedly forced to wear trash nylon because of the scarcity of medical protective gear have caught coronavirus.

In March, the medical officers were photographed wearing the makeshift suits that were made of bright blue bags at Northwick Park Hospital in North West London.

PAY ATTENTION: Download our mobile app to enjoy the latest news update

It was also gathered that the staff at the hospital begged for a protective kit as the facility became swamped with patients.

The group's positive result for the virus came out last week. The same media also said that more than 50% of the workers in a ward have also been infected with the virus.

We need proper PPE kit now, or nurses and doctors are going to die. Its as simple as that. Were treating our own colleagues on the ward after they caught the virus from patients. How can that be right, one of the nurses had said.

The nurses also lamented that even the deceased families cannot bid their loved ones farewell.

In other news, Babafemi Ojudu, an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari on political matters, spoke on how people always wish death on their leaders.

He made this known as a comment on a LinkedIn post of one Nicole Little where she said she is shocked at the hateful comment she has been seeing from UK citizens since Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested positive for coronavirus.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better

Coronavirus: Where is the N30k the government promised us? - Father of 5 cries out | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
"Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness" is set to return on Netflix with a special after-show episode on April 12, Netflix has announced.

In a video, posted on the streaming service's official Twitter account, comedian and actor Joel McHale announced that he would be hosting the episode.

The special, titled "The Tiger King and I," would feature interviews with some of the people featured in the popular documentary-series.

It's eye opening and hopefully funny. So watch 'The Tiger King and I' April 12 on Netflix," McHale said.

The true crime docu-series revolves around the life of Oklahoma zookeeper Joseph Exotic and the events that culminated in an alleged murder-for-hire plot against animal rights activist Carole Baskin.

The official comes a few days after Jeff Lowe, one of Tiger King's subjects, told Los Angeles Dodgers player Justin Turner via video message that an additional episode is in the works.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Where do we go to get real news these days?

To judge by the current press coverage, it's not the press. Media outlets have dished up nothing but one-sided criticism of President Trump and have now ended up serving us just fake news.

For example:

In mid-January, the experts at the WHO repeated Chinese propaganda that the virus wouldn't spread from human to human, and the press repeated that as if it were fact. That was a lie. Instead of excoriating China for its duplicity, all they say is that President Trump should have known.

Here's another:

On Jan. 31, Trump implemented a travel ban from China. The mainstream press and its Democrat allies called that xenophobic, racist, and an overreaction. Now the critics say he reacted too slowly.

Sometimes, the press goes full fake news, based on its urge to snipe at Trump.

ABC loudly ran a false story on Wednesday, with no evidence, claiming that Trump was warned in November about the virus. On Thursday, the network started to bury it quietly.

Defense Official Shoots Down ABC Report Alleging Trump Admin Ignored Virus Warnings ABC is quietly sweeping under the rug their own sensational report they hyped all day Wednesday, which suggested the Trump administration ignored warnings of an impending pandemic, back in November.

As with most things, the media run fake stories endlessly, with other outlets repeating them, and then are very quiet when they bury them.

A story like this is not at all different from the fake Russian collusion stories they ran for years even though they had evidence that the story was false.

The media ripped Trump endlessly when he said Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York would not need thirty thousand ventilators. They said Trump didn't care. But Trump knew what he was talking about. Now it comes to light that New York's need has topped out around 5,000. We will not see the media rip Cuomo for his false estimate or compliment Trump for his expertise.

There's also the number of deaths, a sure magnet for fake news. In this pandemic, the numbers of deaths and cases have always been hyped with dire forecasts and completely exaggerated by exponential amounts. When will the media rip the "experts" instead of pretending their estimates are facts? The answer is never, because the storyline is to trash Trump every day.

Cuomo just made up that the rest of the country would end up like New York, and the media acted as if that was a factual statement.

California's leftist Gov. Gavin Newsom said, in late March, that over 25 million could be infected in California alone in the next two months. On April 7, they had 16,280 known cases. His estimates were so close...

According to the New York Times:

As of Tuesday morning, the state has more than 16,280 known cases, including 386 deaths. California will loan 500 state-owned ventilators to the national stockpile.

There were also the hospital stories.

CBS ran a fake story of an overrun hospital in New York, using footage from Italy's socialized medicine chaos, to intentionally mislead the public that Trump and New York were unprepared and also in chaos.

Then more Italian hospital footage was shown a second time, attributed to New York, after CBS called it a "mistake" earlier.

Anyone who believes CBS when the network says it was an editing mistake needs to have his head examined.

That is like when pictures of kids in cages were shown to the public and Trump was blamed when the pictures were from the Obama/Biden years. The public was intentionally fed a false story. Facts haven't mattered for a long time.

Not content with just that kind of fake news, the New York Times then decided to do a hit piece on Trump for a minuscule financial interest in a drug company, Sanofi, that happens to make a promising drug he cited as a potential COVID-19 treatment.

According to National Review:

A New York Times story highlighting President Trump's "small personal financial interest" in a French pharmaceutical company that sells the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine went viral Tuesday, as pundits and activists ignored the fact that Trump's holdings likely amount to less than $1,000 and that the company does not sell the drug in the U.S.

This story was widely repeated by journalist puppets.

On Thursday, the New York Times is trying to convince the public that the virus came from Europe. Apparently, there's no such thing as Chinese visitors spreading the virus in Europe, which in turn could bring the virus from the U.S., is there? More pure BS from people who called Trump a racist for calling it the Chinese virus. It is disgusting, how many among our media spend their time defending China while trashing Trump.

Meanwhile, NBC and MSNBC, like the NYT, pretend they are factual and unbiased, and they trot out Chuck Todd on Meet the Press every Sunday. He essentially is a campaigner for Democrats and socialist policies.

NBC, MSNBC, and many other media outlets who claim they are for free speech and transparency are now censoring Trump's press briefings.

Here is Chuck Todd promoting Bernie's socialist policies.

It is much easier to find fake news than factual news these days. It is no wonder that the public has so little trust in the media today. I love the news. It would be nice if journalists did the job that the founding fathers envisioned. We need them to hold powerful people to account instead of spending their time promoting politicians from one party.

Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of images from public domain sources.
The nationwide tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases crossed 7,500 on Friday with more than 250 deaths as several places including Delhi and Mumbai reported further spread of the deadly virus and Punjab became the second state to extend the lockdown beyond April 14, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets chief ministers to take stock of the situation.

The Union Home Ministry also sought views of state governments on the 21-day lockdown including on whether more categories of people and services need to be exempted, officials said on Friday, amidst indications of a possible two-week extension of the nationwide restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The Health Ministry in the meantime maintained that no community transmission is taking place as yet in India, while the World Health Organisation also put the country in a category named 'cluster of cases' -- a notch below the community transmission stage and a classification used by the global body for cases "clustered in time, geographic location and/or by common exposures".

Later in the evening, WHO said that a hasty lifting of restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a fatal resurgence of the deadly virus, which has infected over 16 lakh people globally since its emergence in China last December while the worldwide death toll is fast approaching 1,00,000.

While several states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh reported rising number of cases, the Union Health Ministry said the rate of people testing positive was only 0.2 per cent on Thursday when more than 16,000 samples were tested. Cumulatively close to 1.5 lakh samples have been tested so far across India.

A PTI tally of numbers reported by various states as on 9.30 PM showed a total of 7,510 having been affected by the virus nationwide so far with at least 251 deaths. More than 700 have been cured and discharged.

However, the evening update from the Union Health Ministry put the number of confirmed infections at 6,761 and the death toll at 206.

Maharashtra has reported the maximum 1,574 cases, including close to 1,000 in Mumbai itself, while over 100 have died in the state. Tamil Nadu and Delhi have crossed the 900-mark in terms of positive cases, Rajasthan has over 500 now, while Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have reported more than 400 positive cases each. Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat are also fast approaching the 400-mark, while Kerala has also reported over 300 cases already.

More than 200 cases have been reported by each of Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir, while the 100-mark has been breached already by West Bengal, Haryana and Punjab.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said most of the 27 positive cases reported in his state on Thursday -- the maximum daily increase for the state -- were those of secondary transmission and expressed apprehension that the state may be entering the community transmission stage of the outbreak.

A day after Odisha decided to extend the lockdown till April 30, Punjab decided to continue the lockdown till May 1, while a decision by the central government on the nationwide lockdown, which entered its 17th day, is expected after Modi's interaction with all chief ministers on Saturday.

In Tamil Nadu, an expert committee recommended to Chief Minister K Palaniswami that the lockdown be extended by two weeks beyond April 14 considering the rise in number of cases.

A review meeting was also held by the Prime Minister's Office during the day on various efforts to check the coronavirus spread, which also discussed ramping up of production of personal protective equipments (PPEs) among other issues.

The Home Ministry, separately, has sought views of state governments on the 21-day lockdown, scheduled to end on April 14, including whether more categories of people and services need to be exempted, officials said on Friday.

Some of the suggestions made by state governments include allowing construction-related activities in rural areas.

The central government, while imposing the lockdown, had announced that shops dealing in essential commodities, including the online platforms, will remain open, besides services like health, sanitation, police, media, agriculture and banking. Movements of essential and non-essential cargos were also allowed by the government, but there have been reports about disruptions in the supply chain due to lack of labourers and trucks, among other issues.

There have also been reports of depleting levels of essential goods from various parts of the country.

Some states such as Kerala have suggested phased opening of the lockdown, while other suggestions from various states include allowing liquor sale to shore up the revenues and to allow private vehicles on an odd-even basis. However, most states have suggested keeping the public road transport, rail and airline services suspended for more time. Many have also recommended keeping state borders sealed, except for goods movement.

A few states have also suggested area-specific lockdown with stricter restrictions, which are as such being followed in the places identified as hotspots of the virus spread.

In the meantime, more states including Odisha and Telangana made it mandatory for people to wear masks or face covers at public places, while enforcement was beefed up for action against those violating the lockdown conditions.

The Centre also asked states not to allow religious gatherings and processions.

Government officials also said that a decision on bringing Indians from abroad will be taken at a later stage after reviewing the COVID-19 situation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
4 fossilized ape teeth uncovered deep in the Peruvian Amazon.com give brand-new proof that more than one team of old primates travelled across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa, according to brand-new USC research just published in the journal Scientific research.

The teeth are from a freshly discovered types belonging to an extinct family of African primates called parapithecids. Fossils uncovered at the same website in Peru had earlier offered the first proof that South American apes developed from African primates.

The monkeys are believed to have actually made the greater than 900-mile trip on floating boatings of plant life that broke off from coasts, possibly during a tornado.

 This is an entirely distinct exploration, stated Erik Seiffert, the researchs lead author and Professor of Medical Integrative Anatomical Sciences at Keck Institution of Medicine of USC. It shows that in addition to the New Globe apes as well as a group of rodents called caviomorphs there is this third lineage of mammals that somehow made this extremely unlikely transatlantic trip to get from Africa to South America.

Researchers have actually named the extinct monkey Ucayalipithecus perdita. The name comes from Ucayali, the location of the Peruvian Amazon.com where the teeth were discovered, pithikos, the Greek word for monkey as well as perdita, the Latin word for shed.

Ucayalipithecus perdita would have been extremely little, comparable in dimension to a modern-day marmoset.

Scientists think the site in Ucayali where the teeth were found is from a geological epoch called the Oligocene, which prolonged from about 34 million to 23 million years back.

It would have been extremely difficult, though very small animals the size of Ucayalipithecus would be at an advantage over larger mammals in such a situation, because they would have needed less of the food and water that their raft of vegetation could have provided, said lead author Erik Seiffert, a professor of clinical integrative anatomical sciences at Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. The study published Thursday in the journal Science. This is presumably why most of these overwater dispersal events that we know of in the fossil record involve very small animals, Seiffert said.

Based on the age of the site and the distance of Ucayalipithecus to its fossil relatives from Egypt, scientists approximate the movement might have happened around 34 million years earlier.

Taking a trip from the Santa Rosa fossil site to Breu, Peru, by canoe. Credit History: Erik Seiffert

 Were suggesting that this team may have made it over to South America right around what we call the Eocene-Oligocene Border, a time period in between two geological dates, when the Antarctic ice sheet started to accumulate and also the sea level fell, stated Seiffert. That may have played a role in making it a bit easier for these primates to in fact make clear the Atlantic Ocean.

2 of the Ucayalipithecus perdita teeth were recognized by Argentinean co-authors of the study in 2015 showing that New Globe monkeys had African forebears. When Seiffert was asked to assist define these samplings in 2016, he noticed the similarity of both broken top molars to an extinct 32 million-year-old parapithecid monkey varieties from Egypt he had researched formerly.

An expedition to the Peruvian fossil site in 2016 brought about the discovery of two even more teeth coming from this new species. The resemblance of these added lower teeth to those of the Egyptian monkey teeth verified to Seiffert that Ucayalipithecus was descended from African forefathers

The important things that strikes me concerning this research more than any other I have actually been involved in is just exactly how unlikely all of it is, said Seiffert. The fact that its this remote website in the middle of nowhere, that the possibilities of discovering these pieces is exceptionally small, to the fact that were revealing this extremely improbable journey that was made by these early apes, its all fairly amazing.
Samsungs in-house Exynos SoCs have been there for a while now, and the company is set to launch Exynos SoCs with AMD Graphics next year which could drastically improve the GPU performance. Lately, Exynos SoCs are being used on non-Samsung smartphones as well and on similar lines now, a new report suggests that Samsung is working on a custom chipset for Google which could be announced as soon as this year.

According to the report, the custom Exynos chipset is said to feature an Octa-Core CPU with 2x ARM Cortex A78 cores + 2x ARM Cortex A76 cores + 4x ARM Cortex A55 cores and is said to be built on the 5nm LPE process. It is said to be paired with Mali MP20 Borr GPU and Googles NPU and Visual Core ISP are said to be used instead of Samsungs ISP and NPU.

Samsung Electronics has reportedly formed a 30 member Custom SoC team as a part of System LSI Division and is responsible for chipset design. The Custom SoC team is said to be designing chipsets for FaceBooks Virtual Reality and Augmented reality products and the team size is said to increase in the coming years.

The custom-designed Exynos chipset could be announced as early as this year and could power future Google Pixel smartphones, Chromebooks, and more. We should know more information in the coming months.

Source 1, 2 | Via
Airplanes are lined up on the tarmac at the international airport of Orly, the day of its closure due to a drop in traffic, in Orly, south of Paris. (Image: AP)
The United States has once again voiced condemnation of the Chinese coast guard vessel which sank a Vietnamese fishing boat in the East Vietnam Sea last week.

In a statement on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Defense asserted it was greatly concerned by the incident.

Chinas behavior stands in contrast to the United States' vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms, the Department of Defense stated.

The United States will continue to support efforts by our allies and partners to ensure freedom of navigation and economic opportunity throughout the entire Indo-Pacific.

The agency called on all parties to refrain from actions that could destabilize the region, and distract from the global response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of State expressed its concerns regarding the incident, stating that the sinking was the latest in a long string of Chinese actions asserting its unlawful maritime claims and negatively impacting its Southeast Asian neighbors with coastlines on the East Vietnam Sea.

In a press release on Friday last week, Le Thi Thu Hang, spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that fishing vessel number QNg 90617 TS, carrying eight Vietnamese crewmen, was anchored near Phu Lam Island in Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago on April 2 when a China coast guard ship hit and sank it.

The eight fishermen were safely rescued on April 3.

Such actions should not be repeated and adequate compensation should be paid to the Vietnamese fishermen for their losses, Hang stressed.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 20:51:48|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A resident is seen on a shopping street in the city of Sceaux, a southern suburb of Paris, France, April 8, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

The coronavirus pandemic had claimed some 65,000 lives and infected more than 750,000 people in Europe as of Thursday evening. Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Britain remained hardest hit.



BRUSSELS/GENEVA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Over two months after Europe confirmed its first COVID-19 case, latest data started to show encouraging signs of the pandemic abating, bringing a glimmer of hope to this continent.

The coronavirus pandemic had claimed some 65,000 lives and infected more than 750,000 people in Europe as of Thursday evening. Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Britain remained hardest hit.

RISING HOPE

In Italy, four of the past five days -- including Thursday -- have ended with fewer patients hospitalized compared to the previous day, said Franco Locatelli, president of Italy's Higher Health Council.

"As for the number of patients admitted to intensive care, five days out of the last five ended up with a drop compared to the previous day, and this proves the reduction in the pressure on hospitals," Locatelli told a press conference.

Italy's daily number of fatalities too showed clear signs of falling, from the single-day record of 969 deaths on March 27 to 610 fatalities on Thursday. The country also reported 1,979 new recoveries in 24 hours, raising the total recoveries to 28,470.

A staff member works in a mask testing laboratory in Sant'Orsola Hospital, Bologna, Italy, April 9, 2020. (Photo by Gianni Schicchi/Xinhua)

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, in an interview broadcast by the BBC on Thursday, said his country may start gradually lifting some anti-coronavirus restrictions by the end of April.

"We need to pick sectors that can restart their activity. If scientists confirm it, we might begin to relax some measures already by the end of this month," Conte told BBC.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said the latest COVID-19 infection figures in Germany gave "reason for cautious hope." "The curve is flattening out," she said after a cabinet meeting.

Merkel stressed that it would be necessary to be "very, very careful" with relaxing the current restrictions. The ultimate goal is not to overburden the healthcare system in Germany, she said.

In France, admissions in intensive care units (ICUs), considered "an important indicator" to evaluate pressure on hospitals, reported a negative trend for the first time since the epidemic began in mid-February. Some 7,066 infected people need intensive care on Thursday, an 82 decline in the last 24 hours.

"The balance is for the first time slightly negative. So we can hope for a plateau, but it is a very high. We have to be careful," said French Director General of Health Jerome Salomon.

Adding to these encouraging signs was good news from London -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Thursday evening moved out of intensive care and "in extremely good spirits" in a regular hospital ward, a government spokesperson said.

Johnson was taken to hospital on Sunday, 10 days after testing positive for the coronavirus, and was moved to intensive care on Monday.

Fallow deer rest on the lawn at a residential area in east London, Britain, on April 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

DON'T POLITICIZE VIRUS

On Thursday, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, once again, called on countries worldwide to "quarantine politicizing this virus at national and global levels."

"As I said in the press conference yesterday, we must quarantine politicizing this virus at national and global levels. We have to work together, and we have no time to waste," Tedros said at a Mission briefing on COVID-19 from Geneva.

The fatality rate of COVID-19 is estimated to be 10 times higher than influenza. "This pandemic is much more than a health crisis. It requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response," he said.

At Wednesday's press conference, when answering a question from the press about U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to freeze U.S. funding to the WHO, Tedros said his message for the world is unity and solidarity, instead of politicizing the virus.

"At the end of the day, the people belong to all political parties. The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please don't politicize this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level," Tedros told reporters.

"Please quarantine politicizing COVID. That's the way. If we want to win, we shouldn't waste time pointing fingers. We need time to unite," Tedros said.

"No need to use COVID to score political points. You have many other ways to prove yourselves. This is not the one to use for politics, It's like playing with fire," Tedros added.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Junxia)
Marshall Ritzell | Associated Press

EARTH CITY, MISSOURI  Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center (MVRBC) will collect plasma donations from patients who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection to help newly diagnosed patients fight the disease.

The treatment, known as convalescent plasma therapy, requires plasma provided by donors who have recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection. These donors will have antibodies to help fight COVID-19. The treatment has been used in recent years to treat victims of Ebola, SARS, and H1N1 influenza.
Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja on Friday said that the total number of positive cases of coronavirus in the state has surged to 364 as seven new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state.

"Kerala today reported 7 fresh cases of the coronavirus infection - 3 from Kasargod District, 2 each from Kannur and Malappuram districts. Two persons from Malappuram district who have tested positive had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi's Nizamuddin," state Health Minister KK Shailaja said.

"Of the 364 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kerala so far, 238 are active cases. A total of 124 patients have been discharged and 2 deaths have been so far," she added

She further informed that a total of 1,29,751 people are under observation in various districts of the state. Of these, 1,29,021 are under observation in homes and 730 in hospitals. A total of 126 people were hospitalized today. A sample of 13,339 individuals with symptoms were sent for testing.

India on Friday witnessed a jump of 896 positive COVID-19 cases, increasing the tally to 6,761, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Samira Salem, senior policy analyst; Jordan van Rijn, senior economist; and Mike Schenk, chief economist and deputy chief advocacy officer.

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues, CUNAs economists are closely following the situation.

They recently discussed the economic and credit union impact of COVID-19 during the CUNA Managing Economic and Operational Challenges COVID-19 eSchool, offered free as a CUNA member benefit.

This episode of the CUNA News Podcast features some of that discussion.

CUNA Chief Economist Mike Schenk, CUNA Senior Policy Analyst Samira Salem, and CUNA Senior Economist Jordan van Rijn address key implications for credit union operations and prospects for financial stability and success.
TOKYO (AP)  Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda promised Friday that the Japanese auto industry would seek to protect jobs worldwide as it endures the coronavirus pandemic.

Toyoda, speaking as head of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said he was worried the Japanese economy might be destroyed before the world can win the fight against the sickness caused by COVID-19.

If our hospitals get overloaded to the point of devastation, then Japan may never be able to recover, Toyoda said on an online news conference.

The group that brings together Japanese automakers, including Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., and also parts makers, will set up a special fund to help those laid off find jobs, Toyoda said.

Toyoda said the biggest threat to the industry is the potential loss of skilled workers with their manufacturing and engineering finesse.

After World War II, Toyota made pots and pans and grew potatoes on farms, Toyoda said, emphasizing automakers' determination to make practically anything to protect jobs and survive.

Like its counterparts in the U.S., Toyota has begun making face masks, although they were too wrinkly to be sold and will instead be used at Toyota facilities to reduce demand elsewhere, Toyoda said.

Japan declared a state of emergency this week as cases have continued to surge, especially in Tokyo and other urban areas. Japan has about 5,500 coronavirus cases, but the fear is that there may be an exponential jump. The world has 1.6 million confirmed cases, with more than 466,000 in the U.S.

Toyoda said 3,000 rooms now being used to quarantine auto workers returning from abroad, could, if needed, be used for other people.

He compared the current uncertainty and the need to stay home to enduring a long winter. Some assembly plants have halted production because cars arent selling.

We are now feeling more than ever that being able to go wherever you want is a truly moving experience, Toyoda said.

Story continues

We must survive. Or else there can be no spring.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot has announced a curfew on alcohol sales, after a rise in gun violence during the coronavirus pandemic.

Nine people, including a 15-year-old boy, were shot and killed in the city in the space of 48 hours, earlier in the week.

On Tuesday night, 27-year-old Alexandria Baute became the latest to be shot and killed, while waiting in line outside a 7-Eleven store.

Ms Baute was following social distancing rules, queueing with her friend to buy cigarettes, when she was killed.

Her father, Jeffrey Baute, told the Chicago Tribune that she was vibrant and happy. Full of life, independent and stubborn. She wanted to make people happy and to live life and to be happy.

Ms Lightfoot announced that she was reacting to the spike in violence on Tuesday, by issuing a curfew on sales of alcohol in the city.

Effective April 9, we are placing a 9:00 pm curfew on liquor sales in Chicago. A liquor curfew will remain in place during Illinois Governor JB Pritzkers stay-at-home order, she said at a press conference on Wednesday.

These actions place additional and unnecessary burden on our hospitals and ICU units. Violence of any kind is never acceptable but the fact that this is especially urgent now as our ability to protect all Chicagoans is being stretched to the breaking point. We cannot allow that to happen and we will not allow that to happen, Ms Lightfoot added.

The mayor explained that the curfew, along with the previous closure of the lakefront, which includes popular trails and beaches, is to protect the people of Chicago.

Like our closure of the lakefront two weeks ago, this is not punitive. Its protective. Nonetheless, as with our lakefront closure, we are putting this curfew in place because too many individuals and businesses have been violating the stay-at-home order, she said.

An order that was put in place in this pandemic to save lives.

Illinois currently has a stay-at-home order in place, and in March, governor JB Pritzker explained that he made the decision after speaking to experts.

Well, theyve come back to me with one inescapable conclusion: To avoid the loss of potentially tens of thousands of lives, we must enact an immediate stay-at-home order for the state of Illinois.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, upwards of 466,299 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 16,686.
Two Ontario legislators from different parties introduced separate bills on Monday aimed at stopping auto insurance companies from charging drivers higher premiums based on where they live, saying it was time for the practice to end.

The politicians  one from the ruling Progressive Conservatives and another from the Opposition NDP  said they want the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, which regulates insurers, to stop the practice they call discriminatory.

Parm Gill, a Tory legislator from Milton, Ont., introduced a private members bill on the matter, saying drivers from the communities around Toronto pay higher auto insurance rates than those living in other areas of the province.

Ontarios auto insurance rates are amongst the highest in Canada despite having some of the lowest levels of accidents and fatalities, he said. Our government is committed to ensuring fairness in rate setting and ending discriminatory practices.

Gill said his bill would ensure drivers are evaluated based on their driving record and not where they live.

This bill, if passed, will promote personal responsibility, he said. A good driver in my riding of Milton should pay the same rates as a good driver anywhere else.

NDP legislator Gurratan Singh introduced a similar bill on Monday and said his legislation, if passed, would require the Financial Services Commission of Ontario to refuse approval for risk classification systems that dont consider the Greater Toronto Area as a single geographic region.

Drivers in the Peel region and other parts of the GTA continue to arbitrarily pay significantly higher auto insurance rates than any where else in the province, he said.

Singh said drivers in his riding in Brampton pay on average $1,000 a year more in auto insurance premiums each year than a driver in north Toronto. His bill would result in lower insurance rates for GTA drivers, he said.

It will make sure that insurance companies are not allowed to gouge people simply based on the neighbourhood they live in or the municipality that they live in, he said.

Singh wouldnt say if he will work with Gill to meld their bills into one.

On Friday, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario announced insurance rate increases for the third quarter of 2018, approving a 2.06-per-cent increase. In the second quarter of 2018 the commission approved a 1.11-per-cent increase.

Finance Minister Vic Fedeli wouldnt say if the government will support the Gills legislation, committing only to review it once it is tabled.

Fedelis spokesman said the government is looking at the regulatory environment surrounding the provinces auto insurance sector, with the potential of allowing more competition in the marketplace.

Our government is committed to ensuring fairness in rate setting, ending discriminatory practices and working towards a system that puts drivers first, Robert Gibson said in a statement.

Pete Karageorgos, director of Consumer and Industry Relations at the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said insurers would welcome modernization of the sector regulations and acknowledged that some of them are stale.

He noted that the Financial Services Commission of Ontario sets out how insurance rates are set, including various rating factors used to set premiums.

They are the ones that set those rules in place in terms of using things like a persons driving record, the type of car they drive, even where they live, he said. Geography is something thats used and its used not just here in Ontario but in every insurance market across the country.
The number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 378 after 116 new cases were reported since Thursday night, a senior health official said on Friday.

The increase in cases during 24 hours is the highest so far.

With two more deaths reported during this period, the death toll due to coronavirus reached 19, said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi.

Of 116 cases, 55 were reported in Ahmedabad and 37 in Vadodara. The total number of cases found in Ahmedabad is now 197.

Most of the new cases came from areas which have already been declared as hotspots, such as Bapunagar, Shah-e- Alam, Dudheshwar, Kalupur, Manekchawk and Juhapura, Ravi said.

The spurt in the numbers was the result of aggressive testing and therefore people need not panic, she added.

During the day, seven cases emerged from a single cluster in Amod tehsil of Bharuch district.

Police probe revealed that four of them are religious preachers from Tamil Nadu amd attached to a sub-sect of the Tablighi Jamaat.

During the day, new cases were also found in Surat (3), Rajkot (5), Bhavnagar (4), two each in Patan and Kutch while one case was reported in Gandhinagar, said Ravi.

Those who tested positive on Friday included a doctor in Ahmedabad who was engaged in collection of coronavirus samples, the official said.

Of 37 cases reported in Vadodara during the day, at least 17 came from Nagarwada area of old Vadodara city, taking the total number of cases in Vadodara to 59.

IAS officer Vinod Rao, primary education secretary, has been camping in Vadodara to oversee the screening and testing operation there.

Cases were rising because of proactive testing and surveying, he said.

"The entire Nagarwada area, with a population of 5,000, has been already sealed and declared as red zone. Cases are rising because of our targeted efforts and mass screening in that area," said Rao, in-charge secretary of Vadodara.

Out of total 378 cases reported so far, Ahmedabad recorded the highest 197 cases, followed by Vadodara (59), Surat (27), Bhavnagar (22), Rajkot(18), 14 each in Gandhinagar and Patan, Bharuch (7), Kutch (4), Porbandar (3), two each in Mehsana, Gir-Somnath, Chhotaudepur, and Anand and one each in Panchmahal, Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha and Dahod.

"We tested 1,519 samples since Thursday night and found 116 samples positive. Till now, 7,718 persons have been tested in Gujarat, out of whom 378 came out positive for virus," said Ravi.

As a precautionary measure, health department will conduct 100 tests in the districts where no case has surfaced yet, she told reporters.

With two more deaths, the death toll due to the deadly infection in Gujarat has gone up to 19.

A 40-year-old man from Ahmedabad and an 81-year-old man from Gandhinagar died on Friday.

While the Ahmedabad patient was suffering from a kidney ailment and breathed his last at Ahmedabad civil hospital, the Gandhinagar resident, who contracted the virus from a close contact, died at Gandhinagar civil hospital.

In good news, seven persons recovered and were discharged , taking the number of those who recovered to 33, Ravi said.

Of 19 persons who have succumbed to coronavirus in the state so far, seven died in Ahmedabad, followed by Surat (4), two each in Vadodara and Bhavnagar, and one each in Gandhinagar, Panchmahal, Patan and Jamnagar.

Three of them had returned from a foreign country, three had travelled to another state and 13 had come in contact with other local patients, said Ravi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
San Francisco mental health hotline workers say they're seeing an increase in calls as the city remains under lockdown during the shelter-in-place order, and the hotlines are seeking volunteers and funding to expand their services.

According to Mark Salazar, executive director of Mental Health Association of San Francisco, there's been "a significant increase in calls and chats on its California Peer-Run Warm Line, with about a third of the conversations with peer counselors involving COVID-19.

"We are seeing many new callers who have never reached out to a service like ours before, and many regular callers who are calling far more frequently than they were before," Salazar said.

Some callers are worried about getting the virus, or are suffering anxiety related to job and income loss, and lack of access to services like regular support groups and health care. Others are simply seeking assistance developing coping skills for this challenging, isolating time, he said.

Demand is especially high, because MHASF is currently working to transition all of its in-person support groups to the digital sphere. The San Francisco branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness is hoping to do the same, but in the meantime, it's had to direct clients to the Warm Line.

San Francisco Suicide Prevention's crisis line has seen some spikes in the evening hours, but expects to get busier in the next few weeks as people in isolation during the shelter-in-place get increasingly lonely, worried, and anxious, executive director Van Hedwall said.

The crisis line, which has operated 24/7 since 1962, is currently seeing around 100-200 calls per week about the pandemic, Hedwall said.

SFSP's volunteers and staff are currently not able to work remotely, but are considered an essential service, so operations have continued as usual, Hedwall said. He said the organization is anticipating a major donation from a major telecom company, and hopes to transition to remote operations in the next week or two. Its weekly grief group is already running remotely, he said.

In response to the increased call traffic, the hotlines are trying to staff up, and solicit donations to pay existing workers and support their transition to remote services.

MHASF is currently hiring more part-time peer counselors for paid shifts on the warm line. No academic qualifications are needed  just experience with mental health issues, and a willingness to listen and communicate. Spanish-speakers are in particular demand.

The San Francisco Night Ministry is also seeking new volunteers to answer its Care Line, a free phone counseling service usually open nightly from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

To anticipate the full extent of the crisis and support those in need, the Night Ministry has expanded the care line by four hours, to 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. daily.

Only a few callers are specifically calling out COVID-19 in their interactions on the Care Line currently, with concerns about increased isolation, concerns about becoming ill, inability to stockpile supplies, and other related issues, according to executive director Reverend Trent Thornley.

The ministry hopes those in need can be made more aware of the Care Line's extended services through word of mouth, and an upcoming social media campaign.

In the meantime, the night ministers are still walking the streets of downtown San Francisco each evening, just as they have for 55 years. Only those that feel healthy and comfortable in the current circumstances are doing the rounds, with strict distancing protocols and N95 masks and gloves for each minister. Ministers are distributing hand sanitizer, and offering information on where to find hand-washing stations and meals.

Night Ministers have walked SF's streets every night since September 1964. | Photo: SFNM

The services are all seeking volunteers to help serve San Franciscans during the difficult time.

MHASF is seeking volunteers with expertise in remote and virtual outreach and recruitment efforts, or graphic designers with some hours to spare to support its outreach efforts.

Salazar said if anyone is able to contribute funds to help purchase technology items for the association's suddenly remote staff, we would love to hear from them.

SFSP had to cancel its annual Laughs For Life gala, which typically brings in nearly half of the organization's regular funding, Hedwall said. To recoup some of that lost funding, it is soliciting donations through its website.

In the meantime, SFSP is still planning to bring on new volunteers through two cohorts this spring. They're especially seeking older folks and college students that have more flexible daytime hours, because the midday shifts are harder to fill, Hedwall said.

The Night Ministry, which is nondenominational and open to the non-religious, plans to host two 90-minute training sessions for new volunteers via Zoom.

New volunteers will first listen in on experienced counselors on their phone shifts, and have veteran counselors support them on their initial shifts. Interested volunteers can contact the Night Ministry.

It's also seeking money to keep its ministers equipped with protective equipment and hand sanitizer, and to help transition some of its other programs to virtual experiences.

On April 22, it plans to host a Zoom-a-Thon, a contemporary version of an old-fashioned telethon," live-streamed on Facebook. Spiritual leaders, night ministers, church choirs, musicians, artists, and others interested in participating should email Rev. Trent Thornley at trent@sfnightministry.org.
Wakefield, Massachusetts--(Newsfile Corp. - April 9, 2020) - Byrna Technologies Inc. (CSE: BYRN) (OTCQB: BYRN) (the "Company") today announced the exchange of an aggregate of approximately $6.95 million (U.S.) of its outstanding secured convertible promissory notes (the "Notes"), representing 100% of the principal and interest due on such Notes, for 1,410 shares of its newly created Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the "Preferred Stock"). The exchange is set to close on April 10, 2020 and upon closing of the exchange, the Company will no longer have any outstanding indebtedness and the holders will no longer have any rights with respect to the Notes.

In connection with the exchange and the issuance of Preferred Stock, the Company filed a Certificate of Designations of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the "Certificate of Designations") with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware setting forth the rights and preferences of the Preferred Stock. Each share of Preferred Stock has a $5,000 issue price (the "Issue Price"). Dividends accrue on the Issue Price at a rate of 10.0% per annum and are payable to holders of Preferred Stock as, when and if declared by the Company's Board of Directors. Each share of Preferred Stock is convertible into such number of shares of Common Stock equal to the Issue Price divided by the conversion price of $0.15. Upon conversion all accrued and unpaid dividends will also be converted to Common Stock utilizing the same conversion formula. The conversion price is subject to proportional adjustment for certain transactions relating to the Company's capital stock, including stock splits, stock dividends and similar transactions. Holders of Preferred Stock are entitled to a liquidation preference in the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation based on their shares' aggregate Issue Price and accrued and unpaid dividends. Holders may convert their shares of Preferred Stock into Common Stock at any time and the Company has the right to cause each holder to convert their shares of Preferred Stock at any time after the eighteen (18) month anniversary of the original issue date if the Common Stock has traded for more than twenty (20) consecutive trading days above $0.50 (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends and similar transactions). Holders of shares of Preferred Stock are not entitled to vote with the holders of Common Stock, however, for so long as there are 423 shares of Preferred Stock outstanding, the Company is required to obtain the consent of the holders of the Preferred Stock to take certain corporate actions, including to incur indebtedness in excess of $250,000 in the aggregate. In addition, the Company agreed to use its reasonable best efforts to register the shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion of the Preferred Stock in due course following the exchange.

The Notes that are being exchanged in the transaction were previously issued by the Company as part of units (the "Units") in various private placements pursuant to Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), with each $1,000 of Units consisting of (i) a $1,000 10% convertible promissory note and (ii) four thousand (4,000) warrants (the "Warrants") each exercisable for one share of Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.25 per share. Such issuances were discussed in the Company's Forms 8-K filed on October 23, 2018, April 23, 2019, July 23, 2019 and January 21, 2020 and the Company's Forms 8-K/A filed on May 21, 2019 and May 22, 2019. On February 20, 2020 the Notes were amended by consent of all Holders (the "Amendment") to waive all rights to receive interest on the notes in cash and to accept Payment in Kind of accrued interest.

The Preferred Stock is being issued in exchange for the Notes pursuant to Section 3(a)(9) under the Securities Act and neither the Preferred Stock nor the Common Stock issuable upon conversion of the Preferred Stock has been registered under the Securities Act. Accordingly, such securities may not be sold, transferred or assigned in the absence of an opinion in a generally acceptable form of counsel, which counsel shall be selected by the holder and be reasonably acceptable to the Company, that registration is not required under the Securities Act, including that the securities may be sold pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act.

At the closing, in accordance with the Amendment, the Company will also be issuing 1,319,327 Warrants to the Holders reflecting 4000 Warrants for each $1000 (U.S.) of unpaid interest accrued on the Notes.

The foregoing summary of the exchange, the Preferred Stock, the Warrants, and the related agreements is qualified in its entirety by the terms of the relevant agreements, including the Certificate of Designations, exhibits thereto and amendments thereof as described in more detail in the filings referenced above and the form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the foregoing transactions.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe", "project", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "future", "strategy", "opportunity", "plan", "may", "should", "will", "would", "will be", "will continue", "will likely result", and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release including, but not limited to, general economic conditions. In addition, please refer to the documents that the Company files with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and management's discussion and analysis filed with the CSE and on SEDAR. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements set forth in this press release. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements and the Company assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Byrna Technologies Inc. (CSE: BYRN) (OTCQB: BYRN)

Byrna Technologies is an emerging non-lethal technology company, specializing in the development and manufacture of innovative less lethal equipment and munitions. For more information on the Company, please visit the corporate website here or the company's investor relations site here. The Company recently launched its breakthrough Byrna HD personal security device, which looks to be the leading choice in the consumer and private security markets for non-lethal home protection, personal safety, and security.

Investor Relations

Lisa Wager, CLO

(978) 665-2721

lisa@byrna.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/54331
Being overweight is a major risk for people infected with the new coronavirus and the United States is particularly vulnerable because of high obesity levels there, France's chief epidemiologist said on Wednesday.

Professor Jean-Francois Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council that advises the government on the epidemic, said as many as 17 million of France's 67 million citizens were seriously at risk from the coronavirus because of age, pre-existing illness or obesity.

"This virus is terrible, it can hit young people, in particular obese young people. Those who are overweight really need to be careful," Delfraissy told franceinfo radio.

"That is why we're worried about our friends in America, where the problem of obesity is well known and where they will probably have the most problems because of obesity."

Delfraissy said 88% of those infected with the coronavirus suffered only severe flu-like symptoms.

The mortality rate for young people entering hospital with severe COVID-19 respiratory disease was about 2%, he said, but that rose to 14% for people who are more fragile.

Despite the rapid spread of the virus in France, the country is still far from getting to the point where 50% to 60% of the population has been infected and recovered and at which point a certain level of "herd immunity" is reached, Delfraissy said.

"Initial data show that the number of people who may have developed immunity is lower than we imagined, about 10-15%," said the veteran infectious diseases specialist who has led French research into Ebola and AIDS.

He said it was too soon to end France's lockdown, which started March 17 and is set to last until at least April 15.

The council's recommendation was for strict confinement to continue several weeks from now and that before the lockdown could be unwound, pressure on intensive care units (ICU) needed to ease and the spread of the virus slow.

Story continues

On Tuesday, the number of COVID-19 patients in ICU rose by just 59 (1%) to 7,131 but the number of confirmed and probable cases reported nationally jumped by a record 11,059 or 11% to 109,069 as more and more nursing homes declared cumulative data for the first time.

A third condition for ending the lockdown was having sufficient stocks of equipment, Delfraissy said, notably masks, testing kits and tools for tracing infected patients.

French coronavirus testing capacity has risen from 3,000 per day in mid-March to 30,000 on a daily basis now, and will rise to 100,000-250,000 per day in about two weeks, he said.

Obesity has been cited as a possible explanation for higher than average per-capita COVID-19 death rates in the US city of New Orleans and in Mexico.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 18:51:55|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

JAKARTA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Another person has tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Timor-Leste, bringing the total case to two, Timor-Leste's health authority said on Friday.

The person had returned from overseas, the spokesman of the Integrated Crisis Management Center of Timor-Leste disclosed.

Timor-Leste first reported COVID-19 case on March 21, and the infected person has already recovered from the disease, the spokesman said.

The government of Timor-Leste plans to add a 250-million-U.S. dollar spending to curb the spread of the virus, media reported.
Never has it been more clear that Montanas well-being rests on a dynamic mosaic comprised of businesses large and small, nonprofits of all varieties and sizes, local, state and federal government, and private philanthropy. More than ever before we realize how much we rely on all aspects of the mosaic working together to meet the needs and aspirations of Montanas people and to ensure our quality of life.

The economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are hitting hard on all fronts, undermining the safety net we rely on in Montana. As businesses, schools and childcare centers close the doors, nonprofits that offer essential services are stepping forward to meet pressing community needs at a time when social distancing is a safety mandate.

Food banks across Montana are seeing a skyrocketed demand while being inventive about food drop-off and pick-up. Mental health service providers are trying to keep at least a minimum of service in place at a time when anxiety and trauma-related symptoms are climbing. Residential facilities struggle to find the cleaning supplies they need to keep their facilities safe. And health care workers are on the frontline even as they work out their own family care issues with the closures of schools and childcare centers.

And then there are the hundreds of nonprofits who are either operating remotely or have temporarily closed shop. Some will be able to survive a temporary closure; others will not. For those that do not re-open, the loss will be felt most acutely in the most rural parts of the state where the closure of any business or resource ripples through the entire community.

We know we will make it through to the other side of COVID-19. In the meantime, there are tangible things any one of us can do to help position our communities to bounce back as soon as possible.

Each of us can support Montanas future by creatively supporting local businesses and nonprofits now. As possible, purchase local  not just from grocery stores or bookstores, but also from local artists. Purchase gift certificates from hair salons, nail techs, coffee shops, and restaurants as well as the local theater, symphony, or museum. Put money in the jar at the gas station to support employee needs. If you dont need cleaning supplies when you go to the store, buy a single family serving anyway and donate to your emergency shelter, YWCA or group home. Over-tip. Contribute to a local conservation or watershed protection group. Do something unexpectedly kind for a childcare provider who has shut down for the duration. Set up a short-term recurring donation to nonprofits serving your most at-risk neighbors: domestic violence services, food banks, shelters, and houses of faith. You know best who these organizations are in your community and it will help them to know they can count on your donation for a few months.

There are other options as well. Communities across Montana have established relief funds through which dollars donated are deployed to meet immediate needs. For communities without an existing relief fund, Montana Nonprofit Association and Montana Community Foundation are collaborating on a COVID-19 Fund for rural recovery and resilience. This fund will help support Montanas more rural and tribal communities. You can find information about all these funds at the COVID-19 site on Montana Community Foundations website (mtcf.org) and at Montana Nonprofit Associations COVID-19 page at mtnonprofit.org.

The decisions we make now will help us reduce the harm of the pandemic and position us to recover as wholly as possible when the time comes. Montana, lets leave nothing on the table. If ever there was a time to pull every lever we have for the good of the whole, now is it. We are in this together, and to a large degree our communities will rise and fall together. Now is the time to both take care of our own and look out for our brothers and sisters. Spend local and give bravely, knowing we can navigate this crisis with those things no pandemic can touch: our shared sense of humanity, generosity of spirit, and the certainty that caring for one another and our neighbors in the toughest of times will always be the right choice.

Liz Moore is executive director of the Montana Nonprofit Association. Mary Rutherford is president and CEO of the Montana Community Foundation.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Three men have been jailed for coughing, spitting or threatening to infect people - including police officers - with coronavirus.

West Midlands Police released shocking audio and video footage of officers being threatened during arrests, and said they were issuing it as a 'stark warning' to those using coronavirus 'as a weapon'.

On Monday, a teenager was jailed for six months after threatening to spit in a female officer's face as she detained him over an alleged road rage incident in Coventry, police said.

Thomas Wilson, 19, left, and Bevan Burke, 22, were both jailed after threatening to spread coronavirus following their arrests

Officers arrested Thomas Wilson, 19, at 12.30pm on March 31 in London Road after it is claimed he spat at a lorry driver and brandished an axe during an altercation in Brinklow Road.

He resisted arrest and suggested he had Covid-19 symptoms before threatening to cough and spit at the officer.

Wilson, from Hepworth Road, Binley, was charged with possessing an offensive weapon, a public order offence, assault by spitting at the lorry driver, and assaulting an emergency services worker.

Most charges were deferred to be dealt with at a later date but Judge Andrew Lockhart jailed Wilson after he admitted the spit threat.

On the same day another man, Bevan Burke, was jailed after he spat at a shopkeeper who had banned him from the store for shoplifting.

Police said Burke stormed into Allen's Croft Post Office in Northfield, Birmingham, on April 3 and spat at the victim, shouting: 'I have corona ... you're going to die.'

The 22-year-old was arrested later that day, and while being transported to police custody began coughing and blowing towards officers and again said: 'I've got confirmed coronavirus and now you've got it. I hope you and your family die.'

Anthony Evans, pictured, of no-fixed-abode, spat at a police officer during his arrest on April 4 in Birmingham

He was jailed for 42 weeks at Birmingham Crown Court having admitted assaulting emergency workers and the shopkeeper, as well as shoplifting at the convenience store on January 10.

Meanwhile, a 54-year-old man was also given a prison sentence on Monday for spitting in the face of a West Midlands Police officer in Birmingham city centre.

Officers attended a petrol station in Corporation Street at 9.45pm on April 4 following reports of a drunk man causing problems, pouring fuel on the floor and obstructing traffic.

Anthony Evans, of no fixed address but originally from Atherstone in Warwickshire, tried kicking out at them and, as they detained him, spat in an officer's face.

He was jailed for 16 weeks at Birmingham Crown Court, police said.

West Midlands Police Chief Constable Danny Long welcomed the tough stance by the courts.

He said: 'It's completely unacceptable for people to behave in this way against officers, other emergency services staff, key workers or indeed any member of the public.

'At a time of heightened concern across the whole country, a minority of people are using the threat of coronavirus as a weapon.

'It won't be tolerated and offenders have now been sent a clear warning: there is the very real risk you will be sent to prison.'
Dennis Quaid has praised Donald Trumps handling of the coronavirus crisis, pointing to the presidents daily television briefings as a sign that hes involved.

Quaid was asked about Trumps response to the crisis during a wide-ranging interview with The Daily Beast.

The US president has been criticised for initially downplaying the crisis.

During the interview, journalist Marlow Stern brought up some of the criticism directed towards the administrations, such as the shipment of 17.8 tons of medical equipment to China in February, as well as ventilator shortages.

Quaid, who identifies as an independent who has voted both ways throughout his life, praised both New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the US president.

I think Trump, no matter what anybody thinks of him, is doing a good job at trying to get these states  and all of the American people  what they need, and also trying to hold our economy together and be prepared for when this is all over. I dont want to get into petty arguments about it, he said.

Quaid brought up Trumps TV briefings twice.

We see him on television every day, hes involved, and the travel ban early on was a great idea  which he did in spite of protest about that, he said.

At another point in the conversation, Quaid told the publication: To get back to your original question, I do appreciate that Trump is giving the briefings and on television every day giving out the information, and I think they have great people handling it.

More than 16,700 people have died of Covid-19 in the US.
The inspector general said the complaint should be forwarded to the intelligence communities in Congress, believing that was the appropriate protocol because the matter was an urgent concern. The Justice Departments Office of Legal Counsel, however, believed that because the matter did not concern the funding, administration, or operation of an intelligence community matter  but instead was an allegation of possible criminal conduct by the commander in chief  it should be more properly handled as a criminal referral and not be routed to lawmakers.
Gardai are investigating after a man in north Dublin was pulling cars over using fake blue lights.

It is understood the man signalled a car to pull over in the Baldoyle area yesterday, which was being driven by plain clothes officers.
CHICO, Calif. - One Northern California woman is sending out a social media call to help an at-risk group during the coronavirus pandemic.

Addison Bedford is hard at work making supply kits for the homeless.

"These kits are going to have a toothbrush, toothpaste, a bar of soap and a bandana," Bedford said.

She got the idea from her aunt in Illinois.

"She reached out to me and said, hey I'm doing this project here with my neighborhood you should help us with social media," Bedford said.

And she did.

"They can't quarantine so that's really going to be where coronavirus can strike the easiest," Bedford said.

While Bedford is hard at work making those bags she also includes fliers with information on how to protect yourself during the pandemic the info comes from the CDC.

Bedford says these kits will not only help the homeless but everyone else too.

"You need to think these people need to use facilities as well. That same public bathroom or that same-store they went there as well. If they have the virus you're going to get it too," Bedford said.

She's doing all this while still a student at Chico State.

"Keeping up with classwork and switching to online is a little rough," Bedford said.

But she's pushing through and determined to help.

"We want to make as many as we can," Bedford said.

Bedford says everyone putting these bags together is wearing gloves and a mask to prevent contamination.

Bedford plans to give out the kits to Torres shelter this week.

If you would like to donate toiletries to Bedford's cause, email her at abedford2@mail.csuchico.edu
No phone room. No round-the-clock TV broadcasts. And no rattling tins at busy intersections.

But organisers of the popular Good Friday Appeal, which raises millions of dollars every Easter for the Royal Children's Hospital, are hoping Victorians will still dig deep  virtually.

Royal Children's Hospital. Credit:Darrian Traynor

Anne Randall, director of the fundraiser, said around $152,000 had been raised by 9.15am on Good Friday. But she conceded this year's fundraising  which follows devastating bushfires across the country and falls in the middle of a global pandemic  would not be their biggest year of fundraising.

"We've had to move a lot of our activities online, which has actually worked pretty well for us," Ms Randall told radio station 3AW.
 This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on March 31, 2020, Tuesday.

There are two main reasons for the fall in oil prices, first, the development of covid-19 has greatly weakened the oil demand. According to Goldman Sachs, global oil consumption has recently fallen by 25% from normal levels. Second, there is still no sign of a truce in the Saudi-led price war. This has also made the badly affected United States impatient.

Donald trump, addressing the issue in a media interview on Monday, said Saudi Arabia and Russia are "crazy". Trump also spoke with Russian President Putin, both of them agreed to hold a ministerial meeting on oil prices to discuss strategies to stabilize them. We know that the United States is still imposing sanctions on some Russian energy companies. Analysts say the United States could reach some sort of deal with Russia by reducing sanctions.

Helima Croft

Managing Director and the Global Head of Commodity Strategy at RBC Capital Markets

So much of the talk has been going on about what the US can do with Saudi to basically cut the production, but I really think the path to a production cut deal could happen in the market goes to Moscow. the question is will the president give some relief on sanctions to get the Russia to agree to cut production, I think that is the potential path to an early deal. no guarantees, but I don't think we get a big grand bargain unless Russia is willing to participate

International oil prices have fallen nearly 70 per cent since their peak in January.

ultra-low oil prices are unsustainable for all oil producers and exporters, and the related parties are actively mediating to stabilize oil price as soon as possible. And covid-19 won't last forever. In other words, the two main factors affecting oil prices are short-term factors. So, the rise of oil prices is widely expected. Now, the international oil price actually formed a so-called "near low, far high" trend, that is to say, in the near future, cheap, but medium - and long-term, expensive.

WTI crude oil futures, for example, are trading at around $20 a barrel in May, but over $30 a barrel in September. The difference between the six months from May to November is over $13/b, it's basically around record levels. So, in today's ultra-low oil prices, we see some traders buying crude at low prices and storing it to use time to earn the difference. As producers, refiners and traders rush to buy ships to transport or store crude oil, sea freight rates have risen several times in recent days and storage prices have soared.

Shares of Frontline, one of the world's largest tanker carriers, have also risen recently.

The current oil price slump is also having a huge impact on the oil production industry.

Some analysts told us that if demand does not improve significantly in the second quarter, oil prices could fall further, and companies will suffer more losses.

Dominic Schneider

Analyst of UBS Wealth Management

The risk clear here for the downside we wouldn't rule out the price even hit at some stage 15 dollars a barrel in some of these benchmarks

Energy companies that don't survive the slump could go bankrupt or be bought by better-capitalized companies. Falling demand, refinery cutbacks and wellhead closures could have a longer-term impact on the oil market. We also need to be alert to the risk of oil shortages in the coming years, according to Goldman Sachs. We will keep an eye on this issue.
Zenith Shah, of Absecon, picks up a few bottles of spirits from Little Water Distillery in Atlantic City, Tuesday, March 24, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

When Mark Ganter opened Little Water Distillery three years ago his sole purpose was to produce accessibly priced premium quality spirits in Atlantic City.

"In normal times we produce Rusted Revolver Gin, White Cap Whiskey, 48 Blocks Vodka, Liberty Rum and Prosperity Rum," Ganter explained.

But these are not normal times.

The spread of the coronavirus has forced Gov. Phil Murphy to largely shut down most of the state and force restaurants, breweries and distilleries to stop serving patrons in their buildings. While restaurants are allowed to deliver, an executive order Murphy signed to clarify a previous order allows breweries to bring you booze  but not distilleries.

For Little Water Distillery it means curbside pickup of their spirits and merchandise and the production of hand sanitizer -- an essential protection from the virus that nobody can seem to get their hands on.

Don't Edit

Mark Ganter CEO of Little Water Distillery in Atlantic City, right, talks to Stockton University Police Lt. Tracy Stuart after she picked up hand sanitizer, Tuesday, March 24, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

"We are fortunate enough to be in an industry that has the capabilities to produce a much needed personal protection for basically everyone, but primarily people on the front line and caregivers and emergency management people or folks that are most apt to get exposed," Ganter said.

The distillery began producing hand sanitizer last month after gathering the hard-to-find supply of materials -- packaging and raw materials including 190 proof alcohol. Their orders include local fire, police and health departments, and hospital and emergency management personnel, as well as holding public giveaways.

Ganter said that a newly formed coalition of distillers donated approximately 100 gallons of hand sanitizer to The New Jersey Chapter of the American Red Cross.

What the local distilleries are doing, Ganter explained, is filling an immediate desperate need and pushing it right out their front doors to their communities.

He hopes that at some point the market is flooded with so much hand sanitizer it's commonplace which means people can protect themselves and limit the spread "so we can all go back to business and try to save our jobs and our company."

Don't Edit

Jersey Spirits Distilling Company employees adjusting the still and and measure the alcohol by volume with a proof hydrometer. (Photo courtesy Jersey Spirits Distilling Company)

Ganter said they are trying to fulfill as many orders for sanitizer as they can but realizes that will be tough to accomplish due the dwindling supply of materials and the fact that they are not designed to make hand sanitizer the way the bigger global pharmaceutical and healthcare companies are.

"The number of orders and inquiries or requests that we've gotten is dizzying itself."

During normal times approximately 50 percent of the revenue for Little Water came from wholesale accounts -- restaurants, bars, and liquor stores sales where the demand has diminished. Because their tasting room is closed to customers, bottle and cocktail sales -- which account for the other 50 percent -- are also mostly gone.

They are not alone. Most local distilleries are producing more bottles of sanitizer than they are bottles of spirits and are being economically harmed to produce it, said John Granata, co-owner of Jersey Spirits Distilling Company in Fairfield and president of the New Jersey Craft Distillers Guild.

Jersey Spirits supplies its hand sanitizer to police departments, fire departments, paramedics and hospitals and a few weeks ago they shipped "bottles and buckets" of sanitizer to the U.S. Army in New York City after getting a call that they were running low.

Don't Edit

The Easter Bunny wants to bring you Adult Easter Baskets! Each basket comes with a bottle of Spirit, 2 shot glasses,... Posted by Little Water Distillery on Wednesday, April 8, 2020

"These are the guys that are helping the hospitals," said Granata, who drove up to the armory to deliver it himself.

For the foreseeable future the local distilleries hope to continue to produce hand sanitizer. But, what theyd rather see happen is a change in the governors order to allow them to deliver spirits, just like breweries can.

"He has all the power to lift the prohibitions on a temporary basis during a state of emergency," Granata said. "But he chooses not to."

He explains that even that little extra money from home deliveries will allow the distilleries to buy more of the materials and pay for the labor to put the hand sanitizer together and get it out to the front lines.

"The delivery would have given us just another reach to those customers, especially staying consistent with the governor's own message shelter in place."

Consider buying products from your local distillery, said Granata, which in turn will help them do their part in making sanitizer.

"This is where we all come together and you're helping to fight the cause," he said.

"When this is all over and folks are back to their normal lives and they're going out and entertaining and socializing, and they see a product on a shelf or at a bar from a local craft distillery that joined this effort, my hope is that they'll give it a second look and they'll give it a try," said Ganter.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Little Water Distillery in Atlantic City makes hand sanitizer, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Don't Edit

Hand sanitizer from Jersey Spirits Distilling Company. (Photo courtesy Jersey Spirits Distilling Company)

Don't Edit

Little Water Distillery in Atlantic City prepares to make hand sanitizer, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Little Water Distillery in Atlantic City makes hand sanitizer, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Bottles of 50 ml hand sanitizer produced at Little Water Distillery in Atlantic City are set out for customers for curbside pick up, Tuesday, March 24, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Little Water Distillery in Atlantic City makes hand sanitizer, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Don't Edit

Bottles of 50 ml hand sanitizer produced at Little Water Distillery in Atlantic City, Tuesday, March 24, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether it's a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Tim Hawk may be reached at thawk@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Tim on Instagram@photog_hawk and Twitter @photogthawk. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
The big picture: The Internet is now a utility in the truest sense of the world, which is readily apparent from the massive change in the way it's used by people around the world to connect, work, and play during lockdown and social distancing.

Medical professionals at the front lines are crucial to fighting the large number of people that have been infected with the novel coronavirus. However, it's just as clear that the Internet is playing a huge role in helping us get through this crisis by connecting people around the world, and allowing many to work, study, and shop from the comfort of our homes.

With so many people now using business and videoconferencing apps to get their jobs done, not to mention flocking to streaming services, it'd be easy to assume the Internet would bow under the unexpected surge in online activity.

If we look at Akamai, whose platform relies on 270,000 servers spread in 4,000 locations around the world, the data indicates that global Internet traffic increased 30 percent during March, or just about ten times the average monthly rate of growth. CEO Tom Leighton explains that it's another way of saying that Akamai has seen one year's worth of traffic in the span of a few weeks.

Cloudflare, another Intenet infrastructure giant, has published similar findings. It also made some illustrations that show how the pandemic has changed the way we use the Internet. An easy observation is that traffic has decreased in office buildings (red blobs on the map) and increased in residential areas (green blobs).

Overall Internet traffic in San Francisco increased over 48 percent from February 19 to March 18. A similar trend was observed in London and Paris, with traffic up over 22 percent. The effect is less pronounced in cities like Tokyo and Berlin, where there's already a huge number of heavy Internet users.

According to Vodafone, traffic in Italy and Spain surged almost 50 percent, and peak hours also shifted -- the telecom giant used to see the highest pressure on its network between 6 PM and 8 PM, but now it happens somewhere around 12 PM. These parameters are more or less the same for all 65 countries where Vodafone operates.

Video accounts for an estimated 50 to 60 percent of all Internet traffic, depending on who you ask. That's also why the EU urged platforms like YouTube, Netflix, and others to reduce video bitrates to reduce the strain on infrastructure. In the US, ISPs like Comcast made its Wi-Fi hotspots free for everyone and waived its data caps for broadband customers.

Ookla, a company that monitors Internet connection speeds, says it saw a steady but slow decrease in fixed broadband speeds throughout the second half of March and the first week of this month. Mobile broadband saw a negligible change in average speeds around the world, which is in line with the observation that right now people tend to use computers more than smartphones.

And while telecom companies say there's enough bandwidth to keep up with the increased demand, MIT Technology Review says ISPs and companies like Netflix and Equinix are scrambling to bolster network and server capacity just in case. Furthermore, we wouldn't have had this robust mesh of Internet infrastructure in the first place if there wasn't for retail giants like Amazon and cloud service providers like Dropbox and Microsoft who needed to build it.

As these companies expand their global presence, they also invest heavily in content delivery networks, which are essentially shortcuts to last-mile broadband providers like Verizon and Comcast. This ensures that consumers get access to an Internet pipe that's dedicated to specific services and are able to go around some of the limitations of using the public infrastructure.

The pandemic may interfere with supply chains for network and server equipment, which could hinder these developments. Then you have developing regions in Africa and rural areas in the developed world that have far less access to broadband connections, which means those people will be at a disadvantage.

Still, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince thinks the Internet trumps every other utility, including electricity and transportation, in the ability to handle a massive and sudden increase in usage.
Walmarts China branch announced at an investment conference hosted by the Wuhan city government on Wednesday that it was committing 3 billion yuan ($425 million) to expand its presence in the origin point of the coronavirus pandemic over the next five years.

According to Walmart China, the company will be putting up at least four new Sams Club stores, 15 additional shopping malls, and more community stores in the capital of Chinas Hubei province. The U.S.-based retailer already has 34 stores and two distribution centers in the city, where the global coronavirus pandemic first emerged in December.

Wern-Yuen Tan, President and CEO of Walmart China, announced the decision in collaboration with Wuhans municipal government, saying the framework marks a new milestone between the two parties and a new beginning for a win-win situation.

Wuhan ended its city-wide lockdown on Wednesday, after 76 days of mandatory shutdown, despite fears that the city was still hosting many asymptomatic cases. City residents have dismissed the official death toll of approximately 2,500, while U.S. intelligence concluded last week that the city has been lying about its number of cases.

The corporate response to Chinas handling of the coronavirus has been mixed. The American Chamber of Commerce polled 119 companies last month on their China outlook, with 40 percent saying they would maintain their planned levels of investment in China this year, while 24 percent said they plan to cut investment. A third said it was too early to determine coronaviruss impact.

U.S. lawmakers have grown increasingly critical of the U.S.s over reliance on China in recent months, especially relating to medical supplies  with experts suggesting that thousands of basic pharmaceuticals are sourced in China.

Last month, Representative Jim Banks (R., Ind.) warned that House Speaker Nancy Pelosis proposed stimulus package did not address U.S. dependence on Chinese supply chains, despite bipartisan concerns about the issue.

Story continues

Senator Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) also proposed a phase-four relief package last week that promoted bringing critical supply chains back to this country from China and elsewhere and to encourage domestic production.

More from National Review
Efforts to protect people in Direct Provision (DP) have been slammed as "shambolic" and failing to protect the vast majority of asylum seekers living in the system.

The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) was responding to plans by the Department of Justice to open three new self isolation facilities for people in DP by the end of the week in addition to one already operating in Dublin.

The Department said it has added 850 beds to the system in the last two weeks to facilitate social distancing and isolation where required.

However, Bulelani Mfaco of MASI said the measures only assist "an acute minority" of people in DP, namely elderly asylum seekers, healthcare workers and those with underlying health conditions while "ignoring everyone else in centres where observing social distancing is impossible".

"The response by the Department of Justice and Equality has been shambolic on Covid-19 in Direct Provision. Putting a sticker on the floor in a tiny kitchen shared by 19 men who also have to share bedrooms and use communal toilets does not give asylum seekers assurance that they are protected," he said.

Mr Mfaco said if Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan and immigration and integration minister David Stanton were serious about protecting asylum seekers, MASI would not be to persuade the Government to provide self-contained units for single people and families in DP.

"The unwillingness to do so is a clear demonstration of their carelessness. Any public health expert who tells you that it is okay for asylum seekers to share bedrooms, toilets, showers, kitchens and congregate in canteens if you put posters on the walls and stickers on the floor, in response to this contagious disease, is an expert in name only," he said.

The Department has said all measures implemented across the DP system are guided by the HSE and the National Public Health Emergency Team.

The latest restrictions in operation since Friday, March 27 mandate that everyone should stay at home, only leaving to: Shop for essential food and household goods;

Attend medical appointments, collect medicine or other health products;

Care for children, older people or other vulnerable people - this excludes social family visits;

Exercise outdoors - within 2kms of your home and only with members of your own household, keeping 2 metres distance between you and other people

Travel to work if you provide an essential service - be sure to practice social distancing

The Irish Association of Social Worker (IASW) has already expressed concerns that clusters of infection will emerge in DP centres in the same way that they have in nursing homes.

MASI has said it is gravely concerned about the situation in many DP centres where parents have had to keep children in their bedrooms for weeks as every other space in the centre is communal.

The group said that asylum seeking parents in Temple Direct Provision centre in Moate, Westmeath have raised concerns about their childrens wellbeing and the risks associated with having to share a kitchen with dozens of people.

Last week, an open letter to the Government signed by more than 920 prominent lawyers, doctors, public health officials and academics claimed that the State may be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights unless it provides own-door accommodation to people living in DP.
TORONTO, April 9, 2020 /CNW/ - Unifor welcomes the federal government's tentative approval of Canada Emergency Wage Supplement (CEWS) funds for Jazz Aviation to maintain its workforce levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Airline workers will be the backbone of the industry's economic recovery in a post-pandemic world," said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. "It makes perfect sense to help cushion the impact of the temporary downturn with federal emergency funding."

On April 8, 2020 Air Canada announced that it would use CEWS funding to top up the wages of more than 3,000 workers on lay-off due to COVID-19.

Jazz, a regional Air Canada partner airline, recently announced it was putting nearly 1,300 Unifor members in customer service, maintenance, and crew schedulers on Off Duty Status. Today, Jazz says it plans to access the CEWS to recall all employees on voluntary or involuntary layoff. Today's announcement by the company is still subject to passing of the government emergency legislation. The company will allow employees to stay at home while receiving 75 per cent of their wages to a maximum of $847 weekly.

"Airline workers are one of the thousands of Canadian front-line workers in the global effort to contain the virus," said Euila Leonard, President of Unifor Local 2002. "Although there are still details to be ironed out with the program, signing off on the deal was the right thing to do for our members. Jazz's commitment to work with Unifor is a recognition of the role our members play in making the company a successful regional carrier."

On March 28, 2020, Unifor joined with other Canadian airline unions in sharing concerns and providing solutions to help the industry return to economic health and prosperity. Unifor has called on the government that any financial aid package delivered to any industry, including air travel must be accompanied by strong, enforceable conditions that ensure financial aid is tied to maintaining income for current employees and creating employment.

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector and represents 315,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad, and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

Information about the union's response to the pandemic, as well as resources for members can be found at unifor.org/COVID19.

SOURCE Unifor

For further information: For media inquiries or to arrange a Skype or FaceTime interview with Jerry Dias please contact Unifor's Director of Communications, Natalie Clancy at [email protected] or 416-707-5794 (cell).

Related Links

http://www.unifor.org


Two more North Dakotans have died of COVID-19, including a second Stark County man, raising the state total to seven, officials reported Friday.

The state's sixth victim was a Stark County man in his 70s with underlying health conditions who acquired the coronavirus disease through community spread. Gov. Doug Burgum during his Thursday afternoon briefing had announced the sixth death, but no details were available at that time.

The state's fifth victim, announced Thursday morning, was a Stark County man in his 60s with underlying health conditions who also acquired COVID-19 through community spread, according to health officials.

Stark County, home to Dickinson, is the first in the state to report more than one coronavirus-related death. Others have occurred in Cass, Morton, Emmons and McHenry counties.

Burgum during his Friday afternoon briefing announced a seventh victim -- a woman in her 70s with underlying health conditions who also acquired COVID-19 through community spread. Where the woman was from will be released Saturday, he said.
His wife Pink and their three-year-old son Jameson recently recovered from the novel coronavirus that has been plaguing the globe.

And on Thursday evening Carey Hart took to his Instagram page to show that Jameson, as well as the couples eight-year-old daughter Willow, were thriving in wake of the familys recent hardship.

Hart, Jameson and Willow partook in an indoor rock climbing session as well as some other night time shenanigans, while quarantining in their home.

Thriving: On Thursday evening Pink's husband Carey Hart took to his Instagram page to show that son Jameson, as well as the couples eight-year-old daughter Willow, were thriving in wake of the familys recent ordeal with COVID-19

Vroom Vroom: Hart returned to Instagram later in the evening to share a darling video of Jameson sitting atop of quad-runner, while Led Zeppelin blasted in the background

Rock climbing with the crazy kiddos, captioned the 44-year-old former motocross competitor who began his social media spam by posting a perspective shot of himself and his kids on a rock climbing wall.

Shortly after, Hart returned to Instagram to share a darling video of Jameson sitting atop of quad-runner, while Led Zeppelin blasted in the background.

Night time shenanigans at the Shop w/ the crazy kids. Jamos rocking out on the @polarisorv outlaw quad, wrote Hart, as his youngest child bopped his head of flowing blonde hair to the tunes beat.

Hart also shared a clip of Willow  climbing like a monkey during their earlier rock climbing adventure.

Rebel Girl: Pink and Careys eldest child was rocking blue hair that was intricately tied into a myriad of braids

Challenge: On his Instagram Story, Hart showed off a homemade obstacle course he made constructed for his two children and their bicycles

Taking a stab: Both Willow and Jameson attempted to conquer the narrow track to the best of their abilities

Pink and Careys eldest child was rocking blue hair that was intricately tied into a myriad of braids.

On his Instagram Story, Hart showed off a homemade obstacle course he made constructed for his two children and their bicycles.

Both Willow and Jameson attempted to conquer the narrow track to the best of their abilities.

Pink had showcased her daughters affinity for climbing on her Instagram page earlier in the day.

Climbing high: Willow scaled the wall with impressive precision and speed in the video shared with Hart's followers on Thursday

Family: Pink shared a photo of her 8-year-old daughter literally 'climbing the walls' on an Instagram post Thursday

In the photo, Willow wedges herself between two brick walls and spider climbed as high as she could.

Clearly taking after her acrobatic mother, she used both hands and feet to hold her position at the top of her climb.

'Climbing the walls,' Pink (born Alecia Beth Moore) captioned the photo.

The young girl wore a fuzzy and white onesie for her climb.

Scary: Earlier this week, three-time Grammy winner said coming down with COVID-19 was 'the scariest thing I've ever, ever been through in my whole life' from Thursday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show

'You should be angry that I can get a test and you can't!' Pink fully acknowledged that she was able to obtain several COVID-19 tests for her family through her doctor because she's a rich celebrity (pictured January 2)

Earlier this week, three-time Grammy winner said coming down with COVID-19 was 'the scariest thing I've ever, ever been through in my whole life' on Thursday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The pop star and her son Jameson Moon are now free from the coronavirus , but she felt powerless during the two weeks they suffered from the fast-spreading respiratory illness.

'At one point I was crying, praying - and I realized how ridiculous I sounded - "Like I thought they told us our kids would be okay. We were told that our kids were going to be okay!"' Pink recalled.

'It was the scariest thing I've ever, ever been through in my whole life!' Three-time Grammy winner P!NK discussed her bout with COVID-19 on Thursday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Pulled through: The 40-year-old acrobatic pop star and her son Jameson Moon are now free from the coronavirus, but she felt powerless during the two weeks they suffered from the fast-spreading respiratory illness (pictured Wednesday)

'It started with Jameson actually. He's three. Three year olds get sick all the time. But he started with a fever March 14. We've been quarantined since March 11. It started with a fever for him and it would come and go.

'He would have stomach pains and diarrhea and chest pains and then a headache and then sore throat...Every day was some new symptom. And then his fever stayed. It didn't go. At one point he was 103F.'

The 90 Days hitmaker said she didn't get sick until March 18-20 when her sore throat turned into a full blown asthma attack in the middle of the night, but she never had a fever.

'I couldn't breathe. I needed my nebulizer for the first time in 30 years. And I have this rescue inhaler that I use and I couldn't function without it,' Pink marveled.

Pink (born Alecia Moore) recalled: 'At one point I was crying, praying - and I realized how ridiculous I sounded - "Like I thought they told us our kids would be okay. We were told that our kids were going to be okay!"'

'That's when I got really scared because of all the stuff you can't help but watch the news everyday. And I'm like, "Oh my god, wow all the crazy stuff I did, this is it? Like this is the way it ends?!"'

The Lady Marmalade alum fully acknowledged that she was able to obtain several COVID-19 tests for her family through her doctor because she's a rich celebrity.

'You should be angry that I can get a test and you can't, but being angry at me is not going to help anything,' Pink shrugged.

'You should be angry about that and we should work together to try and change that...The healthcare system is jacked. The government, in a way, failed us by not being prepared. But this is where we're at and thank god we're getting better.'
White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow speaks during a "small business relief update" video conference call event with banking executives to discuss the U.S. government's rescue program for businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2020. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

US Should Help Its Manufacturing Firms Move out of China: Kudlow

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow suggested that the administration could lure U.S. companies to move back to the United States from China by paying for the entire cost of capital spending associated with relocation.

Plant, equipment, intellectual property structures, renovationsin other words, if we had 100 percent immediate expensing, we would literary pay the moving costs of American companies from China back to the U.S., Kudlow told Fox Business on April 9.

His proposal was in response to a question about how the United States could reduce its reliance on manufacturing in China.

I think 100 percent expensing would be a very good thing, and by the way, it would be a very good thing for American companies here at home, Kudlow said.

The pandemic has disrupted global supply chains and raised questions about countries dependence on China as a manufacturing base. Japan on April 9 earmarked $2.2 billion of its economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift their production out of China.

Meanwhile, a new report has found that the pandemic is likely to accelerate the process of companies moving out of China, a trend that began during the U.S.-China trade war.

Global manufacturing consulting firm Kearney in its annual Reshoring Index released on Tuesday found that the United States imported less from Asian low-cost countries in 2019a dramatic reversal of a five-year trend. This drop came almost exclusively from a collapse in imports from China, likely a direct result of U.S. tariffs on billions of Chinese goods amid the trade war, the report noted.

U.S. imports shifted away from China to other low-cost Asian countries led by Vietnam, it added.

While supply chain developments in 2019 were influenced by the trade war, the pandemic in 2020 is forecasted to be an even greater disruption, one that would lead to companies going much further in rethinking their sourcing strategiesindeed, their entire supply chains, the firm predicted.

Specifically, we expect companies will be increasingly inclined to spread their risks, as opposed to putting all their eggs in the lowest cost basket, the report said, which has long been in China.

More fundamentally, we anticipate that the threat of future crises will compel companies to restructure their global supply chains with an eye toward increased resilience, as well as lower risks and costs, as resilience is the key to operating profitably in the face of ongoing disruptions, the report said.
Syria rejects OPCW report on chemical attacks as misleading, fabricated

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 5:46 PM

Syria has roundly dismissed a recent report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) about a series of toxic attacks in the country's western Hama region as misleading, and based on fabricated information provided by Takfiri terrorists and the so-called civil defense group, White Helmets.

"The OPCW published on April 8 a report compiled by its Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), whilst Syria and a number of countries have described the team as illegitimate and unconventional," the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said in a statement carried by the country's official news agency SANA on Thursday.

The ministry noted that the report contains fake and fabricated conclusions, and is aimed at falsifying facts and accusing Syrian government forces of using toxic materials in Lataminah town back in March 2017.

It further highlighted that the report relied on sources prepared and fabricated by the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist group, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, and the so-called civil defense group, White Helmets, under the instructions of their masters in the United States, Turkey and other Western countries.

"Syria categorically denies the use of toxic materials in Lataminah or any part of the country. It reiterates that the Syrian Arab Army has never used such weapons in the course of fierce battles against terrorist groups," the ministry pointed out.

The Syrian foreign ministry finally compared the OPCW's latest report with the one on the alleged use of chemical weapons in the city of Douma, located about 10 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus, noting that the present publication is another "disgrace" for the organization.

On April 14, 2018, the United States, Britain and France carried out a string of airstrikes against Syria over the suspected chemical weapons attack on Douma.

Washington and its allies blamed Damascus for the Douma attack, an allegation rejected by the Syrian government.

The OPCW launched an inspection into that incident and announced in a report in March last year that a "toxic chemical" containing chlorine was used in clashes between the Syrian military and anti-government militants in Douma on April 7, 2018.

That report, however, turned out to have been largely whitewashed in favor of the anti-Damascus militants.

Ian Henderson, a former OPCW inspector in the Douma probe team, told the UN Security Council earlier this year that the account the watchdog had issued on the matter ran contrary to the findings of its own fact-finding mission.

Syria surrendered its stockpile of chemical weapons in 2014 to a joint mission led by the United States and the OPCW, which oversaw the destruction of the weaponry. It has also consistently denied using chemical weapons.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The World Bank will provide Ukraine $ 150 million, of which $ 50 million are supposed to support vulnerable segments of the population during the coronavirus epidemic. The remaining $ 100 million are supposed to improve social protection in general. The press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reports.

Already in May this year, Ukraine will receive $ 50 million to strengthen social support for the population during activities aimed at overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic. These funds will be used to pay pensioners and recipients of social assistance in connection with disability. Also, from these funds during quarantine, the size of the subsidy will be increased and restrictions on the appointment of this type of support to those who have lost their jobs due to quarantine will be lifted," the report said.

The funds are provided as additional funding for the project "Modernization of the system of social support for the population of Ukraine", which has been implemented by the Ministry of Social Policy with the support of the World Bank since 2014. Funds will be transferred to the State Budget of Ukraine provided that the government provides increased efficiency of state support for vulnerable groups of the population, the introduction of additional social services and activation services for recipients of social assistance in order to overcome poverty.

At the same time, it is planned to expand the program of assistance to low-income families in order to promote comprehensive and fair coverage of vulnerable segments of the population, take measures to reduce the dependence of recipients on social benefits, increase the targetedness of the housing subsidy program by strengthening control over the correctness of their provision and other measures designed to ensure the effectiveness of social support and improving the quality of life of the population.

As we reported before, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that there would be no reduction in teacher salaries, student scholarships, and research expenses in spite of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
An emergency-room nurse in protective gear outside the Brooklyn Hospital Center on Sunday.

Associated Press

Janie Marshall, 86, "lost her bearings" at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn last month, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

When wandering the emergency room, Marshall, who had dementia, grabbed the IV pole of another patient, who pushed Marshall to the ground because she thought she had violated social-distancing guidelines, The Times said, citing law-enforcement officials. Marshall later died.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Janie Marshall, an 86-year-old woman with dementia at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn, had "lost her bearings" and was wandering the emergency room last month when she grabbed another patient's IV pole for balance, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

That patient, Cassandra Lundy, became "irate" that Marshall had violated social-distancing guidelines recommending 6 feet of space between people and shoved her to the floor, The Times' Edgar Sandoval reported, citing law-enforcement officials. Marshall died three hours later.

Video: The Right Way to Disinfect Everyday Surfaces Against Coronavirus

"How do you put your hands on a 86-year-old woman?" Marshall's grandniece, Antoinette Leonard Jean Charles, told The Times. "I also understand the fear level of every person in New York has. There is a notion of every man for themselves. But attacking an elderly person? That went too far."

Lundy was initially issued a summons for disorderly conduct, but the police charged her with manslaughter and assault after the medical examiner ruled Marshall's death a homicide, The Times reported.

Brooklyn Defender Services, which is representing Lundy, did not immediately return Insider's email seeking comment on Thursday morning.

The Times reported that Marshall ended up in the emergency room on March 27 because of what she described as a piercing stomachache, which was later diagnosed as a blocked bowel.

Because of social-distancing efforts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Marshall's family members were not allowed to wait with her in the emergency room, The Times said. She was later admitted to the hospital.

Story continues

The next afternoon, she became disoriented, went to the emergency room, and ran into Lundy, who pushed her to the ground after an argument, The Times reported.

Investigators found that Marshall "hit her head on the floor, lost consciousness and died hours later," The Times reported. A criminal complaint said Lundy told detectives she had shoved Marshall because she "got into the defendant's space."

Meanwhile, Marshall's niece, Eleanor Leonard, kept calling the hospital to find out about her condition. At about 5 p.m., a hospital staff member told her that her aunt was getting care.

It wasn't until 3:30 a.m. that she learned Marshall had died. A doctor called and told her Marshall had gone into cardiac arrest, The Times reported.

"We thought it was weird, cardiac arrest?" Jean Charles told The Times. "She had gone in for something completely different. She suffered from dementia, bowel blockage, not heart problems that we knew of."

Marshall's family didn't learn about the incident until a family member called to tell them about news reports. Her niece said she didn't understand why the hospital never alerted her about it.

"I understand we are in the middle of a pandemic," Leonard told The Times. "But to say nothing?"

Marshall, the youngest of 12 siblings, lost her parents when she was young and followed some of her siblings from South Carolina to New York City. She became an accountant when few black women were in the profession, The Times said.

"We don't want to remember her as a victim," Jean Charles told The Times. "She always told us, there is no shame in being the first African-American in any field. She was a leader."

Insider
By PTI

MUMBAI: The number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra reached 1,574 on Friday with 210 more persons testing positive.

Of 210 new patients, 132 were detected in Mumbai, the state health department said.

However, there was a significant variance between the official figures for Mumbai, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) release earlier in the day stated that 212 new cases were found in the state capital alone.

ALSO READ: COVID-19 LIVE

Elsewhere, as per the state health department, 38 persons tested positive in Pune, 17 in Mira Bhayander, six in Nagpur, two each in Kalyan Dombivali, Thane and Buldhana, three each in Pimpri-Chinchwad and Akola, one each in Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Ratnagiri and Vasai-Virar.

One patient admitted in Mumbai is from out of the state, it said.
The man who was electrocuted and in a stage of clinical death in Gyumri was checked out of the hospital yesterday. This is what Deputy Director of Gyumri Medical Center Armen Khachatryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am today.

As you know, the man was checked into our medical center in extremely critical condition (stage of clinical death). There was a ventilator turned on for three days. The man recovered and went home thanks to the efforts of our team of doctors, but, of course, he will be under doctors' supervision, Khachatryan said.

On April 5, two electrocuted men were transferred to Gyumri Medical Center in an ambulance truck. One of them was in critical condition and was in the stage of clinical death, but doctors revived him and turned on the ventilator. There were no traces of electrocution on the other mans body, but he had a closed-head injury.
Chennai, April 10 : The alcohol de-addiction centres here are receiving calls for emergency counselling from the family members of tipplers as the state-owned liquor shops are closed due to Covid-19 lockdown, said counsellors.

They said the state government and the media could help in spreading the de-addiction message aggressively as the time is right now.

Owing to the coronavirus scare and also due to the lockdown, the de-addiction centres do not accept new patients but refer them to government hospitals where they are received.

"The calls received now are emergency/crisis calls from the family members on seeing their loved ones suffering from alcohol withdrawal symptoms. The nature of calls received now are different from the calls received prior to lockdown," Jacqueline David, Senior Counsellor, TTK Hospital told IANS.

The de-addiction centres are receiving calls from family members citing intense anger and violent behaviour on the part of the affected member.

According to David, the state has already seen deaths due to the craving for alcohol post lockdown.

Three persons died after drinking paint varnish with water and two persons lost their lives after consuming after-shave lotion with water.

She said though the hospital is closed for new admission, two counsellors attend to the calls of distressed family members and counsel them.

"We have two dedicated numbers for tele-counselling - 9940656081 (10 a.m to 2 p.m. and 9840821627 (2 p.m. to 6 p.m.) for people to call for advice," David said.

"In these days of coronavirus spread, one does not know the health condition of an alcoholic -- whether he is a coronavirus infected or not. We request the callers to approach the government hospitals," A. Felix, Manager, Trust Way Foundation, told IANS.

David said not many realise that alcoholism is a mental and nervous disease needing medical attention.

She said when an alcoholic is deprived of his drink then he suffers from what is called withdrawal symptoms.

The withdrawal symptoms are anger, shaking hands, heart burn sensation, anger, fits, hallucination, hearing voices in the ears, sleeplessness, violent behaviour and others.

According to her, to manage the withdrawal symptoms, an alcoholic's fluid intake should be increased.

"An alcoholic could be given lime juice with sugar and a dash of salt. One can also give other juice. The other steps that family members could take is to distract the alcoholic and keep his mind engaged," she said.

According to Felix, family members should see that the suffering member is well fed -food and lots of vegetables- and he should not be allowed to feel hungry.

"A hungry stomach will trigger craving for liquor in an alcoholic. Apart from food, the person should be given lots of juice," Felix added.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., introduced a bill Friday that would prohibit price gouging during national emergencies, including the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the Price Gouging Prevention Act, the FTC would be empowered to enforce a ban on excessive price increases of consumer goods during national emergencies. It would have to consider any price increase above 10% to be price gouging during such a declaration. The House bill was crafted based on a similar California law for statewide emergencies.

It would allow states to enforce the ban alongside the FTC but would not prevent states from enacting their own laws around price gouging.

The bill is the Senate companion to a House of Representatives bill introduced last week by Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., alongside Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif.

Warren previously discussed the need for a federal price gouging bill in an op-ed this week in The New York Times. Warren and Harris were also among a group of Democratic senators who asked FTC Chairman Joe Simons "to use the full extent" of the FTC's powers to prevent price gouging on consumer health products.

E-commerce platforms including Amazon, eBay and Walmart have felt pressure to crack down on price gouging from lawmakers and state attorneys general around the country. The companies have struggled to keep up with new posts by third-party sellers making misleading claims about masks and exorbitantly marking up products like hand sanitizer. Amazon, for example, said in early March it had removed 530,000 offers from its marketplace for coronavirus-related price gouging.

The new legislation would shift more pressure to individual sellers, which could prove to be a greater deterrent for potential price-gougers, making it harder for some to slip through the cracks of moderation efforts.

Other lawmakers have also introduced bills to stem price gouging as hospitals are experiencing shortages of personal protective equipment like masks and gloves.

On Wednesday, four high-ranking House Democrats introduced a similar bill. It allows enforcers to consider several price factors to determine whether price gouging occurred, rather than provide a blanket threshold. Four Senate Democrats introduced a bill in late March that would presume price gouging if the increase was more than 20% compared to the pre-crisis cost.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

WATCH: Shoppers stockpile supplies as sellers price gouge amid coronavirus outbreak
Following up on its mission to evacuate British nationals stranded in India amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Kingdom on Friday announced 12 additional charter flights. This announcement by the British High Commission comes shortly after it announced its first batch of 7 charter flights back on April 6 to evacuate British nationals from Delhi, Mumbai, and Goa. These 19 flights will evacuate a total of 5000 people from India. As of April 6, there were over 35,000 British Nationals stranded in India. Meanwhile, the first charter flight from India reached London Stanstead on Thursday morning with 317 British nationals on board from Goa.

Read: Charter Flights Announced For British Nationals Stranded In India Amid Coronavirus

"We are doing all we can to get thousands of British travellers in India home. This is a huge and complex operation which also involves working with the Indian Government to enable people to move within India to get on these flights," said UK Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon

Read: UK Braces For More Virus Deaths; Johnson Reported Stable

Schedule of flights

The embassy also announced the schedule of 12 flights. Three of the 12 flights will take off from Amritsar on April 13, 17 and 19. Two flights are scheduled to embark from Ahmedabad on April 13, 15 and two from Goa on April 14, 16.One flight each will take off from Goa, Thiruvananthapuram Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai during the time period from April 15 to 20. "Over 300 people arrived from Goa on Thursday morning, 1,400 more will arrive over the Easter weekend and these 12 flights next week will bring back thousands more," added the UK Minister.

(With Agency Inputs)

Read: Patient Describes Recovery On Same Ward As UK PM

Read: British Virus Crisis Deepens, While New York Sees Positives
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 9

By Yusif Aghayev  Trend:

The Azerbaijani leading PASHA Insurance company, has published the financial results of its activity for 2019, Trend reports citing the report published by the company.

According to the report, the company ended 2019 with profit, the companys total revenue exceeded 151.2 million manat ($88.9 million), while the total expenses amounted to 111.1 million manat ($65.3 million).

In 2019, PASHA Insurance collected over 152.7 million manat ($89.8 million) of insurance premiums. The companys income from investments exceeded 10.8 million manat ($6.3 million), subrogation income - 1.1 million manat ($0.6 million), and other income  210,000 manat ($123,529). The company lost 13.7 million manat ($8 million) due to changes in insurance reserves.



Meanwhile, the company paid 88.4 million manat ($52 million) of insurance claims. The policy administration amounted to 22.6 million manat ($13.2 million), other expenses  15,800 manat ($9,294).

As a result, the company's operating profit amounted to 40.6 million manat ($23.8 million). The company paid profit tax in the amount of 8.9 million manat ($5.2 million), so the company's net profit amounted to 31.7 million manat ($18.6 million).

The companys total assets amounted to 60.6 million manat ($35.6 million), total liabilities - 116.6 million manat ($68.5 million), total capital - 84.6 million manat ($49.7 milion).



In 2018, PASHA Insurance paid profit tax in the amount of 5.9 million manat ($3.4 million), the company's net profit amounted to 22.4 million manat ($13.1 million). Thus, the company's net profit increased by 8.6 million manat ($5 million), or by 38.6 percent.

PASHA Insurance company is a recognized leader in the non-life insurance market in Azerbaijan. The authorized capital of the company is 50 million manat ($29.4 million). It renders insurance services on 36 voluntary and compulsory types of insurance for 300,000 corporate and individual clients.

As a result of the activity in 2019, the company collected insurance premiums in the amount of 150.2 million manat ($88.3 million) and paid insurance indemnities in the amount of 52.8 million manat ($31 million), ranking second in the ranking of domestic insurers.

From January through February 2020, the company collected insurance premiums worth 67.7 million manat ($39.8 million), and become the market leader.

Today, 22 insurance companies and one reinsurance company operate in Azerbaijan.

(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on April 9)
The San Antonio nursing home where 10 people have died from the coronavirus released a statement Thursday.

Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Services said employees are "saddened, devastated and somewhat confounded" by the outbreak.

The virus has infected 73 residents at the facility, and 25 workers have also tested positive.

According to administrators, COVID-19 "raced through" the nursing home despite workers following protocols issued by public health authorities. Southeast Nursing said it did not know how or when the virus entered the facility.

Earlier this week, city officials said Metro Health had been unable to determine the original source of the outbreak, but guessed that the virus had been brought in by a worker.

"We are hopeful this situation serves as a cautionary notice to all senior living and rehabilitation centers," administrators for the facility wrote. "Covid-19 is an evil and fast enemy. Be prepared."

Read the entire statement below:

"Our entire team at Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Services is saddened, devastated and somewhat confounded by the deaths of our residents as well as the test results revealing more cases among people who live and work here.

We have implemented every single protection order and protocol issued by the Metropolitan Health District, the State of Texas, the Centers for Disease Control and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That included the tough restrictions for family visits as well as visits by outside therapists.

Still, cases of this horrible disease apparently raced through our building, and like every similar provider in the country, we dont know how or even when Covid-19 got inside our sealed environment. We also dont know if a carrier was asymptomatic or if the virus was brought in a different way.

This is exhausting for residents, staff and families. Please know we are doing everything possible to care for each person here and we will continue to provide the best protections available.

We are hopeful this situation serves as a cautionary notice to all senior living and rehabilitation centers. Covid-19 is an evil and fast enemy. Be prepared."
Newmont Corporation (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT) (Newmont or the Company) today announced the establishment of a US$20 million fund to help host communities, governments and employees combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Newmont Global Community Support Fund (the Fund) builds upon other local contributions and efforts the Company has implemented over the last month. Newmont will partner with local governments, medical institutions, charities and non-governmental organizations to target funds towards addressing the greatest needs with a view to serving as a catalyst for long-term resiliency and future community development.

Chief Executive Officer Tom Palmer said: Around the globe, we have implemented controls at our operations and offices to put the health, safety, and overall wellbeing of our people and communities above all else. We have been working closely with host governments and communities to implement strict safety protocols at our sites with physical distancing and reduced workforce presence. We are also implementing the provision of hygienic and other critical supplies and training and, in certain cases, pre-emptively ramping down operations to safeguard vulnerable communities, or placing operations in care and maintenance to align with government efforts.

Our employees, local contractors and their families live in the communities that host our operations and the health of our business is inextricably linked to the health of those communities. We not only want to protect our people and host communities from this pandemic, we want to build lasting resiliency so that our host communities thrive after the worst of this pandemic passes. As a global business with operations in eight countries, we are committed to doing our part to combat this disease and protect people and their livelihoods.

With input from local stakeholders, we have identified three focus areas to ensure that our financial support will have the most positive impact and reach those who need it most. We are engaging with our partners to deploy our resources across three key areas:

Employee and Community Health;

Food Security; and

Local Economic Resilience.



In partnership with local institutions and stakeholders, we will closely monitor the progress and outcomes of our support so that we are able to fine-tune and improve results along the way. Our efforts to support communities are already under way. We will use the Fund to build upon those efforts and use our global reach to amplify our ability to make a strong and positive impact across our host communities.

Newmonts core values of safety, sustainability and responsibility are integral to creating long-term value for our investors, host governments and communities, and employees. During this challenging time, where many of our people are worried about their own jobs and livelihoods, we have seen a commitment from across our organization to join the fight in the communities where they live and work. While this pandemic is still evolving, we will continue to support our employees as best we can so that they in turn can continue to support their communities.

Our purpose to create value and improve lives through sustainable and responsible mining is more relevant now than ever before. The strength of our portfolio of world-class assets across top tier jurisdictions underpins the financial flexibility to take care of our employees, communities and shareholders. I am proud of the way our employees have responded to these challenging times. More information about Newmonts COVID-19 response can be found here.

About Newmont

Newmont is the worlds leading gold company and a producer of copper, silver, zinc and lead. The Companys world-class portfolio of assets, prospects and talent is anchored in favorable mining jurisdictions in North America, South America, Australia and Africa. Newmont is the only gold producer listed in the S&P 500 Index and is widely recognized for its principled environmental, social and governance practices. The Company is an industry leader in value creation, supported by robust safety standards, superior execution and technical proficiency. Newmont was founded in 1921 and has been publicly traded since 1925.

Cautionary Statement:

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections and other applicable laws. Where a forward-looking statement expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. However, such statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance and financial condition; and often contain words such as anticipate, intend, plan, will, may, could, would, estimate, expect, believe, or potential. Forward-looking statements in this news release may include, without limitation statements regarding (i) expectations of first quarter 2020 outlook, (ii) expectations regarding on-going gold production (including from leach pads) and other activities at sites, (iii) expectations regarding shipping of concentration, transportation and refining of product and mitigation efforts, (iv) expectations regarding long-term value creation, and (v) other expectations regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial results and operations of our mine sites and overall business, including with respect to the Companys guidance. Risks include uncertainties relating to the global economic impact of COVID-19, particularly with respect to the mining industry in the jurisdictions in which we operate, the ability of operate following changing governmental restrictions on travel and business operations (including, without limitation, the duration of restrictions, including access to sites, ability to transport and ship dore, access to processing and refinery facilities, impacts to international trade, impacts to supply chain, including price, availability of goods, ability to receive supplies and fuel, impacts to productivity and operations in connection with decisions intended to protect the health and safety of the workforce, their families and neighboring communities. In light of the changing environment and uncertainties, no guarantees can be provided that Newmonts proactive efforts to minimize impacts will effective in eliminating risks. For a discussion of risks and other factors that might impact future looking statements, see the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), under the heading Risk Factors, available on the SEC website or www.newmont.com. The Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly revisions to any forward-looking statement, including, without limitation, outlook, to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Investors should not assume that any lack of update to a previously issued forward-looking statement constitutes a reaffirmation of that statement. Continued reliance on forward-looking statements is at investors own risk.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005314/en/
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has officially received a package of documents from the representatives of Ukrainian businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky to agree on the purchase of 100% of the charter capital of Bank Credit Dnipro, which is currently owned by Ukrainian businessman Victor Pinchuk, the press service of the NBU told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.

"Now the documents received for approval of the acquisition of substantial participation are under consideration. The public will be informed additionally about the result of the consideration," the NBU's press service in the statement.

The press service said that the NBU is considering documents submitted for approval of the acquisition of substantial participation within three months from the date of receipt of the full package of documents, under Article 34 of the law on banks and banking activities.

"When considering a package of documents, the NBU verifies that the investor's business reputation, its financial condition and sources of funds are in accordance with the requirements established by the law on banks and banking activities and the regulation on licensing banks," the NBU's press service said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  Pangasinan is now requiring everyone in the province to wear face masks when venturing out of their homes in an attempt to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

The provincial board on Wednesday passed the ordinance that mandates the wearing of face masks in public whether they have symptoms or not. Private establishments are also directed to prohibit anyone without a face mask from entering their premises.

First time offenders will be required to render community service or attend a COVID-19 awareness campaign for at least three hours, while repeat offenders will not be allowed to leave their homes until the Luzon lockdown is lifted, except for emergencies or when in imminent danger.

The ordinance will remain in effect until the end of the enhanced community quarantine period which was recently extended to April 31.

The Interior Department has urged all local government units in Luzon to pass their own ordinances requiring the use of face masks in public to help halt the spread of COVID-19.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases had announced the need for everyone to wear face masks or similar covers when they leave their homes.

Without an ordinance and clear sanctions, police can only reprimand people not wearing masks in public

COVID-19 is spread through small droplets from the nose or mouth when people infected with the virus cough or sneeze.

Pangasinan has reported 33 COVID-19 cases as of Friday.

The Health Department has reported 4,195 COVID-19 cases, with 221 fatalities and 140 recoveries.
This year's cast of Married At First Sight certainly haven't been afraid to break their strict contracts with Channel Nine.

And Mishel Karen became the latest participant to ignore the rules on Friday by speaking openly about her relationship with paparazzi.

The Nine Network is strongly against MAFS stars forming friendships with journalists and photographers, and encourages them to stay away from the media.

Brave: This year's cast of Married At First Sight certainly haven't been afraid to break their strict contracts with Channel Nine. And Mishel Karen (pictured) became the latest participant to ignore the rules on Friday by speaking openly about her relationship with paparazzi

In a lengthy Instagram post, the 49-year-old police worker praised the paps for being clever and helping the cast expose the truth about the show.

'Paps are as clever as detectives. These people follow our journey and record our good and bad days,' she explained.

'We can't always see them, but they see us! We get warned by production to stay away from paparazzi. This year we broke all the rules and lots of us talked to paps.

'With their help, we were able to get our story out, messages that need to be heard. Also they capture some beautiful moments with our friends.'

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Mishel claimed that paparazzi photos actually offered a more 'honest perspective' of what happened on set.

'On our rough days they follow us and recount the day from a different prospective. It could be said an even more honest perspective as it is not staged,' she said.

She added that many of the photographers were 'kind and polite', which contrasted with how the participants were allegedly treated by producers.

Thanks, guys! In a lengthy Instagram post, the 49-year-old police worker praised the paps for being clever and helping the cast expose the truth about the show

Mishel also said that several cast members formed close bonds with their assigned producers, but these relationships weren't shown on TV.

'We spend as much time with them as our partner. We confide in them and we feel like they are our friend,' she explained.

'When we leave the experiment or when it ends, we lose them too. For some of us, losing your producer is worse than your relationship break-up.'

'We get warned': The Nine Network is strongly against MAFS stars forming friendships with journalists and photographers, and encourages them to stay away from the media

Fellow bride Hayley Vernon praised Mishel for speaking so openly about her relationship with the paparazzi - a topic that was once taboo among reality stars.

'Love this babe! It's really nice to get candid pics with everything that went on,' she wrote.

Vanessa Romito added: 'You were so lucky to have [producer] Ryan, he was so nice. Now I understand why you stayed so long. He would have been great support.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine and Mishel Karen for comment.
Some places around the United States may be able to reopen at the beginning of May but the majority of the country will remain on lockdown due to the coronavirus, the US Surgeon General says.

Dr Jerome Adams said on Friday that the areas that have had consistently low levels of positive coronavirus tests may be able to think about lifting lockdown restrictions come May 1.

But he warned the majority of the US would have to remain on lockdown in order to defeat the coronavirus.

It comes after White House officials said they believe the US economy could start to reopen for normal business in May, despite health experts urging for continued social distancing measures.

US Surgeon General Dr Jerome Adams said on Friday that the areas that have had consistently low levels of positive coronavirus tests may be able to think about lifting lockdown restrictions come May 1

'There are places around the country that have seen consistently low levels,' Dr Adams told Fox News.

'As we ramp up testing and can feel more confident that these places can actually do surveillance and can do public health follow ups, some places will be able to think about opening up on May 1.

'Most of the country will not, to be honest with you, but some will and that's how we'll open the country - bit by bit, place by place, based on the data.'

Dr Adams said surveillance involves testing one in 100 or one in 50 people in order to keep track of emerging hotspots because it was not possible to test all 330 million Americans before reopening the country.

'It is going to be a high bar to be able to say we can test 330 million people. We don't do that for any other disease but we want to be able to test people who are at high risk and who have symptoms so we can follow up and contain it,' he said.

'We don't close down cities for measles or tuberculosis, even though they're both highly contagious. We figure out who has the disease, which communities are having outbreaks and we quickly put resources into those communities to be able to quell those outbreaks.

'That's what we're talking about when we talk about having testing available.'

The warning from Dr Fauci came as the Trump administration's top economic officials said on Thursday they believe the US economy could start to reopen for normal business in May

Dr Adams said he agreed with comments made by Dr Anthony Fauci earlier on Friday in which he warned it was too early to relax the lockdown despite glimmers of hope in New York.

Dr Fauci, who is a member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, warned that now was not the time to back off even though hard-hit spots like New York are showing positive results in the battle against coronavirus.

'What we're seeing right now is favorable signs,' Dr Fauci told CNN.

'We would want to see a clear indication that you were very, very clearly and strongly going in the right direction, because the one thing you don't want to do is you don't want to get out there prematurely and then wind up back in the same situation.

'Now is no time to back off.'

Dr Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that if the US 'prematurely' ends social distancing measures 'you're right back in the same situation'.

'The virus kind of decides whether or not it's going to be appropriate to open,' he said.

He said the number of new cases appeared to flattening the curve given hospitalizations and patients on ventilators in New York had decreased.

'We're going in the right direction, let's keep in that direction,' Dr Fauci said.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US, has warned that now is not the time to back off even though hard-hit spots like New York are showing positive results in the battle against coronavirus

'Obviously we're looking for the kinds of things that would indicate that we can go forward in a gradual way to essentially reopen the country to a more normal way,' Fauci said, adding that it depended on a number of factors.

The death toll in the US is currently more than 16,700 while the number of infections has increased to 469,000.

In New York, which is the epicenter of the US outbreak, there are currently more than 159,000 infections and 7,000 deaths.

The warning from both Dr Fauci and Dr Adams came as the Trump administration's top economic officials said on Thursday they believe the US economy could start to reopen for normal business in May, despite health experts urging for continued social distancing measures to defeat the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election in November, wants to get the economy going as soon as possible.

'Hopefully we're going to be opening up... very, very, very, very soon, I hope,' he said on Thursday at the White House coronavirus briefing.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi also warned Trump against trying to get back to normal prematurely.

'I would hope that the scientific community would weigh in and say, 'You can't do this, it is only going to make matters worse if you go out too soon,' Pelosi said in an interview with Politico late on Thursday.
The head of the State's Covid-19 modelling group has said we should not be expecting a surge or peak in the number cases.

It comes as the National Public Health Emergency Team meets today to decide on whether restrictions should continue.

It is likely to formally recommend an extension of the measures, due to end on Sunday, for several more weeks.

Professor Phillip Nolan said the number of cases should take a long time to appear.

Prof. Nolan said: "We shouldn't be expecting a surge, we should flatten this curve so much that we are distributing over a long period of time and there isn't an identifiable surge or peak within that."

He added that we will be social-distancing for a "considerable" period of time in order to flatten the curve and reduce the strain on the health service.

Prof. Nolan said: "We've done extraordinarily well in getting that reproduction number down so close to one, we really need to keep that up.

"First of all, to make sure precisely where we are, and secondly, we will be requiring very strong social distancing measures for a long period of time in order to keep the disease suppressed for the length of time that we need to."

The future of restrictions on travel, work and movement during the Covid-19 emergency will be known later.

The latest restrictions in operation since Friday, March 27 mandate that everyone should stay at home, only leaving to: Shop for essential food and household goods;

Attend medical appointments, collect medicine or other health products;

Care for children, older people or other vulnerable people - this excludes social family visits;

Exercise outdoors - within 2kms of your home and only with members of your own household, keeping 2 metres distance between you and other people

Travel to work if you provide an essential service - be sure to practice social distancing

263 people in the Republic have now died after contracting Covid-19, with a further 26 patients confirmed to have lost their lives yesterday.

The total number of diagnosed cases has risen to 6,574.

Chief medical officer Tony Holohan said a decision will be made later today on restrictions.

Dr Holohan said: "Based on some of the information we have available from the modelling team, that will improve our ability to, if you like, consider that and make a recommendation which in the first instance we will be sharing with the minister and the Taoiseach and government.

"So that's two groups of issues if you like, that feed into our assessment around measures, how long to keep them in place and what should follow in terms of any change in those measures and then also the length of time that they should apply."

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
There is a possibility of introducing a visa-free regime between the countries

South Korea may provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in the form of medical equipment. The issue was discussed today by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during a telephone conversation with South Korean President Moon Jae In, the Presidents Office reports.

The main topic of the conversation was the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Zelensky thanked the Korean President for the prompt execution of the order to create tests for the detection of coronavirus and their delivery to Ukraine.

"They also discussed the provision of humanitarian aid to Ukraine in the form of medical equipment," the statement said.

As we reported earlier, Ukraine will receive extra 320,000 pills for the fight against coronavirus.

The drug with hydroxychloroquine will be enough for the treatment of 22,000 people.

This drug is prescribed in the national protocol of treatment of the patients with COVID-19 and it is used for the patients with the heavy disease and only at the hospital, under the control of the doctors and with the written agreement of the patients, the message said.
Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus./Photo: World Health Organization.

Washington has been constantly attacking the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing it of providing a "faulty recommendation" during the new coronavirus outbreak and threatening to put a hold on U.S. funding for the organization.

A report by The Guardian said the United States "has repeatedly denied responsibility" and has now turned to the WHO for scapegoating. Such moves will only harm worldwide cooperation in this global fight.

After conducing field investigation in China and making a full assessment of the virus transmission risk, the WHO declared a "public health emergency of international concern" on January 30, sounding the alarm to the global community.

But the United States didn't treat the warning seriously, repeatedly downplaying the situation. It was not until 43 days later, on March 13, that the White House declared a national emergency under the pressure of increasing confirmed infections. Washington should ask itself what it did during those six weeks instead of blaming the WHO for the U.S. leadership's mistakes. The buck-passing trick only reveals the administration's weakness and cowardliness.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus responded on Wednesday to the U.S. accusation, saying that to use COVID-19 to score political points is "like playing with fire" and that if Washington didn't want to see more body bags, then it should "refrain from politicizing" the pandemic. On the same day, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement calling on member states to support the UN health body.

The White House sought in February to halve the U.S. funding for the WHO in its 2021 budget proposal. The move was facing opposition from within the country because it was considered inappropriate when the world still faces morbidity and mortality in the pandemic.

Ironically, despite claiming to be the biggest financial contributor to the WHO, the United States is a de facto defaulter. According to the WHO, as of February 29, the United States still owed the organization 70 percent of its membership dues. It should have paid 120 million U.S. dollars for this year before January 1 but has not yet contributed a single cent. There could be a possibility that Washington intends to default on its dues by falsely attacking the WHO during the pandemic.

What's worth stressing is that Washington's contribution to the UN health organization is not charity or favor. It's the country's international obligation as the world's largest developed economy. Threatening to cut funding to exert political pressure on the organization is essentially American interests overriding those of the global public, which is facilitated by Washington's unilateralism.

The successive mistakes made by U.S. decision-makers in the pandemic have already taken a heavy toll on the public. The threat it issued to the WHO will undoubtedly send a dangerous signal to international cooperation countering the pandemic and damage the interests of all people, including Americans.
Senior gardai will consider prosecuting two women for the murder of gangland hitman Robbie Lawlor if 50,000 cash seized from them can be proved to have come from the gang that ordered his shooting.

The two Limerick women, members of the McCarthy/Dundon gang, were released from Portlaoise garda station on Tuesday after they were caught with the money on the M7 motorway after a major surveillance operation.

Lawlor was shot dead in north Belfast last Saturday morning.

The women, aged in their 20s and 30s, were questioned about money laundering and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions, but this may be only the beginning of the issue for the pair.

"Once all the investigations are completed in relation to this seizure - and the firm Garda belief that the cash was partial payment for the murder of Lawlor is backed up - gardai will definitely be examining the possibility that these women be charged with murder," a senior source said last night.

"It is also plausible that the activities that these women were involved in amount to accessory after the fact of a murder, which is a separate offence in itself."

The younger woman is well known to officers for offences linked to intimidation, while gardai are familiar with the older woman for her involvement with serious criminals.

Both women are back in Limerick as tensions simmer between members of the McCarthy/Dundon gang - who gardai believe were hired to set up the murder of Lawlor - and the Maguire gang from Drogheda, which is suspected of ordering it.

Yesterday, the Irish Independent revealed both sides were "blaming each other" for the seizure by gardai of the 50,000, with fears of a "feud within a feud" breaking out between the two factions.

Last night, senior sources said the McCarthy/Dundon gang was claiming it was "set up" and was demanding the Maguire faction pay it the cash that was seized.
Every name on the BrandBucket marketplace is exclusively listed with BrandBucket. That means that all of our sellers are very responsive, making for quick domain transfers.

A dedicated BrandBucket agent will manage your domain transfer from beginning to end, ensuring a secure and easy transaction. They will manage the receipt of the domain into one of BrandBuckets secure registrar accounts and then complete the transfer to you.

1. Verification and registrar choice

After we receive the payment and verify it, we will reach out via email to confirm which registrar you want the domain transferred to. We also provide a link to our tracking system, where you can communicate with us, check on the status of your transfer, view your invoice, and download your logo files.

In most cases, if a domain is moved between accounts at a single registrar, the transfer is quick and usually completes within 48 hours. If a domain changes registrars (in other words, you would like to move it away from where it is currently registered), the transfer is slower. The total transfer time can then be anywhere from 48 hours to 7 days.

BrandBucket has vetted and supports the following registrars:



GoDaddy

Namesilo

Uniregistry

NameCheap

Google Domains

Network Solutions

Name.com

Dynadot

Amazon Route 53

123 Reg

Gandi

2. We request the name from the seller.

Once we know where you would like the domain transferred, BrandBucket will request the domain from the seller. All of our sellers are very responsive, making for a quick process.

3. Transfer the name into your account

As soon as we receive the name from the seller, we start the transfer into your account and guide you through the whole process.

4. Verify with the buyer that the transfer is complete

Once we confirm that you have received the name, we consider the escrow process to be complete. Only then do we release payment to the domain seller.
Particle physicists design simplified ventilator for COVID-19 patients

An international team of particle physicists have paused their search for dark matter to focus on the needs of victims of the global pandemic -- in particular, their need to breathe.

In severe cases, COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation, but the world's supply of ventilators has proven too small for the exponentially increasing demand.

"The public health care system in Lombardy is perhaps the strongest one in Europe, but it was near the point of buckling," said Cristian Galbiati, a professor of physics at Princeton University who has led the design of a simplified mechanical ventilator that can be mass produced using readily available components.

He and his collaborators -- more than 250 physicists, engineers, physicians and others from 12 countries around the world -- call their device the Mechanical Ventilator Milano (MVM). Its operation requires only electricity and a source of compressed oxygen (or a blend of oxygen and medical air), and the control and monitoring unit at its heart is being developed and programmed by "the best developers" from particle physics national laboratories in the U.S., Canada, Italy and many other nations, said Galbiati.

While it may sound odd for a dark matter researcher to have taken up medical manufacturing, it makes more sense when put another way: an expert in constructing sensitive instruments for compressed argon decided to experiment with compressed oxygen and nitrogen.

Galbiati and his colleagues in the DarkSide-20k project have spent 15 years designing and refining equipment that uses a highly pressurized liquid form of the noble gas to detect a dark matter particle. They pivoted from astrophysics to medicine just in the past few weeks.

After research travel to Italy got Galbiati stuck in the country, he texted a friend whose family owns a major gas distribution company to congratulate the family on their donation for a rapidly constructed ward for COVID-19 patients in Milan. He was shocked to learn that the family's order for ventilators in support of the ward was canceled. Galbiati then spoke with his brother Filippo, an emergency room doctor at the Niguarda Hospital in Milan, whose practice had by then constricted to only COVID-19 patients. The other Dr. Galbiati explained to the physics professor the increasingly difficult situation facing Italian physicians who needed to treat oxygen-starved patients with limited ventilators at the peak of the local epidemic.

"We are doing so many complex projects with technical gases," said Professor Galbiati. He wanted to use his expertise "to find the best way -- a way that is more scalable -- to put oxygen into people's lungs when they need it."

Galbiati reached out to the same friend, whose company also commercializes and repairs ventilators, and obtained permission from the Italian government to carry out tests at his friend's facility. Once they had a design, he secured government permission to build and test a prototype. Then he reached out to the DarkSide-20k team.

"Particle physicists are a strange bunch of people," said Fernando Ferroni, president of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and a leading collaborator on the MVM, as well as the director of communication for the project. "We have a particular affinity for intellectual problems. We have a problem? We have to solve it." In addition, he added, one advantage to a global collaboration is that someone is always awake, to keep the project moving forward 24 hours a day.

The team sought input from Italian anesthesiologists. "They spent the last four weeks on the front lines, caring for patients, just being devastated by this," Galbiati said. "They bring incredible experience. They know exactly what needs to be done to save the patients -- and to help them recover."

One feature that the doctors suggested is single-button access to procedures for measuring parameters that have proven crucial for setting the best recovery path for COVID-19 patients. "In most traditional machines, designed for a more general use, these procedures require pressing five or six or seven buttons, or switching between different operating modes," said Galbiati.

"As recommended by Dr. [Giuseppe] Foti and Dr. [Giacomo] Bellani of San Gerardo Hospital in Monza, we are working to implement advanced features such as single-button measurement of the plateau pressure, the pressure reached inside the alveoli at the end of the inspiratory cycle, and of the 'AutoPEEP,' normally referred to as the air-trapping in the exhalation phase, which may be zero for most healthy patients or significantly different from zero for patients that have obstructions in the exhalation channel, as possibly generated by secretions," he said.

The MVM team have shared their design via the open-source science repositories arXiv (pronounced "archive") and medRiv ("med archive"), both to disseminate the conceptual design broadly and to speed feedback from the scientific and medical community. At this point, they have advanced from the design phase, through the prototype phase, and into preparations for mass manufacturing. Materials for the first 1,000 MVMs should arrive in a week. They are working closely with the United States Air Force, the US Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, and Italian regulatory agencies to secure approvals.

"Creating something that is constructed from readily available parts, that is simple but capable of doing everything that is needed in the way of a ventilator -- that was Cristian's original vision, and I think it's panning out very well," said Arthur McDonald, a key member of the MVM team and a recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics. He is an emeritus physics professor at Queen's University in Canada who was on the Princeton faculty from 1982 to 1989.

The first ventilators will go directly to Italian hospitals, followed shortly by those in the U.S. and Canada, said McDonald, but the team also hopes to secure funding to build and distribute MVMs in countries that cannot afford to build their own, said McDonald. "We're all very conscious of the fact that in the longer term, the less developed parts of the world are going to be hit hard by this epidemic, and there's going to be great need around the world."

###

Princeton collaborators on the MVM include Peter Elmer, a senior research physicist; Bert Harrop, a senior technician in physics and the Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials (PRISM); Andrea Ianni, a Borexino general engineer in Princeton's physics department; David Lange, a computational physicist; Xinran Li, a physics graduate student; Daniel Marlow, Princeton's Evans Crawford 1911 Professor of Physics; Javier Romualdez, a postdoctoral research fellow in physics; Mojtaba Safabakhsh, head of the fabrication group in the engineering and technical infrastructure at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab; and Jeff Thompson, an assistant professor of electrical engineering who is associated faculty in PRISM.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
SPRINGFIELD  The shutdown of casinos in Massachusetts due to the coronavirus has led to some relief measures for the companies, but the city of Springfield and the state Gaming Commission continue to seek any owed gambling revenues.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, in a statement this week, said he recognizes the need to balance the cash flow difficulty faced by MGM Springfield while ensuring the casino complies with its payment obligations to the city.

While the Casino may be closed, the City needs to maintain the revenue collected from MGM in order to provide essential City services, Sarno said. We understand that they are experiencing difficulty, but the Gaming Commission has granted some relief.

On April 1, MGM made a payment to the city of $5,505,785.42, and characterized that amount as a partial payment toward the $7,780,376.32 owed under its host community agreement, Sarno said.

The city receives $24 million to $25 million annually from MGM Springfield, including payments in lieu of taxes, community impact payments and development grants, City Assessor Richard Allen said at a public hearing February.

MGM Springfield President and Chief Operations Officer Chris Kelley said the company will meet its obligations.

MGM Springfield values its relationship with the City and appreciates the Mayors cooperation and understanding during this unprecedented worldwide health emergency, Kelley said in a city news release. MGM Springfield will continue to work collaboratively with City officials to satisfy its legal obligations to the City.

MGM Springfield, Encore Boston Harbor and Plainridge Park all closed on March 15, as ordered by Gov. Charlie Baker and the Gaming Commission due to the coronavirus pandemic. The closure is slated to continue until at least May 4 under the recently extended order.

Sarno said he directed City Solicitor Ed Pikula to notify MGM that we will work with them while they remain closed as a result of the Governors and Gaming Commissions order, but we need to protect our rights to assure MGM meets its obligations under our Agreements.

The Gaming Commission, during a meeting Thursday, said that the casinos must continue paying the state based on net casino revenues, but approved budget adjustments to provide some relief.

Specifically, the commission voted to allow the three casinos to make monthly payments to the state during the shutdown, rather than a lump quarterly payment, to assist the companies with cash flow.

MGM and Encore are taxed on 25% percent of their gross gambling revenue, while Plainridge is taxed on 49% of its slots revenue. Combined they paid the state $216 million in 2019.

In addition, the commission has ruled that an approximate $2.15 million surplus in its Gaming Control Fund will be approved as a combined credit to the three casinos on funding owed to the state.

The surplus resulted from the combination of a decrease in commission spending and an increase in revenues, the commission said. The Gaming Control Fund relies on fees charged to the casinos from licensing and slots, and an assessment to the companies to fund commission costs.

Cathy Judd-Stein, chairwoman of the commission, said the decision was in line with its quarterly review process combined with a profound awareness that our agency and the states gaming industry, along with so many others around the world, are now facing an unprecedented and dynamic situation.

City Councilor Michael Fenton, chairman of the councils casino oversight committee, joined Sarno in calling for adherence to MGMs contractual obligations.

These are unprecedented times that have necessitated adjustments to all facets of life, Fenton said. I will continue to monitor the situation and will advocate for adjustments to timing and payments only where absolutely necessary. We all look forward to the time when this pandemic is behind us and our economy is once again open for businesses, including MGM Springfield.

If youre having trouble viewing the embed to sign up on your mobile device click here.
A student in Australia has launched a project to feed thousands of healthcare staff working on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak.

Alex Dekker got the idea for the initiative, which he has named Alex Makes Meals, after his sister, who is a doctor, told him she only has time to eat muesli bars on her long shifts.

In response, the 20-year-old offered to provide her with lasagne twice a week and also posted on Facebook to extend the offer to other healthcare workers.

But the student was soon overwhelmed with responses and within a few days had a team of volunteers working alongside him to cook meals in a warehouse space.

I really just wanted to make lasagne for my sister, but in the first 40 hours I had 60 respondents and from there it kind of ballooned, Dekker told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Im on the phone about 10 to 15 hours a day now with people who have catering companies and restaurants offering to help, its all been volunteers, he added.

Dekker has more than 100 volunteers working with him to deliver more than 2,000 meals to healthcare workers in and around Moorabbin, a suburb in Victoria.

Some of the volunteers working with Dekker are professional chefs.

We have about 50 highly-qualified chefs rostered on that weve put in in rotation so we dont work any of them too hard.

Its been fantastic how the community has got on board.
Kabul To Release More Taliban Prisoners Even As Swap On Verge Of Collapse

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan April 09, 2020

The Afghan government has vowed to move forward with the release of dozens of Taliban militants it is holding behind bars, even though a swap between the two sides appears to have collapsed.

Kabul "will release 100 Taliban prisoners today based on their health condition, age and length of remaining sentence," Javid Faisal, spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council (NSC), said in a tweet on April 9, a day after the same number of militants with similar profiles was freed from detention.

Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Taliban finds the release of prisoners on a daily basis "unacceptable."

Earlier this week, the Taliban recalled a three-member team it had sent to Kabul to try to finalize a prisoner swap originally set to happen by March 10.

The militants blamed the administration of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani for delaying the exchange "under one pretext or another," while Kabul called on the Taliban not to "sabotage the process by making excuses."

Asked why the government was releasing Taliban inmates, Faisal said: "We need to push the peace process forward."

A pact signed by the United States and the Taliban in the Qatari capital, Doha, on February 29 calls for the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban fighters as a confidence-building measure ahead of formal peace talks aimed at ending the 18-year conflict.

The Taliban has vowed to release some 1,000 Afghan government troops and civilian workers it is holding.

In return for the start of talks and a series of security commitments from the Taliban, all U.S. troops and other foreign coalition forces are meant to withdraw from Afghanistan within 14 months.

With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa, and tolonews.com

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kabul-to-release- more-taliban-prisoners-even-as-swap-on- verge-of-collapse/30544155.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






President Trump has kicked off his general election advertising campaign with a xenophobic attack ad against Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee, the opening shot in a messaging war that is expected to be exceptionally ugly.

In a minute-long digital ad released late Thursday that relies heavily on imagery of China and people of Asian descent, the Trump campaign signaled the lines of attack it will use in its attempts to rally the presidents base and define Mr. Biden. The ad reprises accusations Mr. Trump has made that the former vice presidents family profited from his relationships with Chinese officials and presents selectively edited scenes and statements attempting to portray him as doddering and weak.

For the president and his allies, the approach represents their assessment of the race as it narrows into a one-on-one contest with Mr. Biden, the opponent who is least susceptible to their charges that the Democratic Party is too far outside the political mainstream.

The new ad also shows that while the country has changed drastically in recent weeks amid a national health crisis, the president has not. He continues to lead the nation and run his campaign the way he always has: by belittling his adversaries and exploiting racial discord.
From subsidised electricity to stimulus package, state governments have announced a slew of relief measures for the industries in wake of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic that has derailed the economy. The industry has been offered concessions, exemptions and extensions of electricity tariff to push economic activity amid the pandemic.

The Maharashtra government, which is facing one of its worst-ever public health crisis in the form of the coronavirus outbreak, has announced measures for industrial consumers. According to a CII report, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has announced a steep reduction in industrial power tariff in Maharashtra to prop up the struggling industry.

It issued a practice direction on March 26, whereby meter reading and physical bill distribution work was suspended and utilities were asked to issue bills on average usage basis till the current crisis gets subsided.

In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government has proposed that electricity billing of industrial and commercial consumers for April will be done on the basis of actual power consumption by them rather than on the basis of average consumption in the past three months, the report said.

Besides, fixed charges for March and April, taking into consideration the number of days of the lockdown, have been suspended for two months, the report said.

Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: PMO reviews preparedness, relief measures for days ahead

Meanwhile, Rajasthan has deferred the fixed charges on electricity consumed by industrial establishments during March and April for which the bills will be issued in April and May, respectively, till 31 May 2020. The state has also reduced fees for the hotel and restaurant bar licences to give relief to the tourism industry and hotel businesses. It has also approved reimbursement of SGST for these industries in the first quarter of the financial year.

In Himachal Pradesh, the state pollution control board, HPSPCB, has announced extension of validity period for consent for industries to operate under various categories up to 30 June 2020. The validity period of consent was due to expiry on 31 March.

Karnataka has notified certain category of industries as the "Continuous Process Industrial Units" and exempted them from the existing lockdown to prevent the damage to the plant/production machineries and to ensure industrial safety.

Also Read: Coronavirus lockdown: India is prepared for the "worst", says Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

Punjab has exempted fixed charges for medium supply and large supply industrial consumers for next 2 months from 23 March. While energy charges may be fixed to commensurate with reduction in fixed charges (single rate), revised energy charges will be paid by consumers and not to be considered for subsidy.

To augment the local manufacturing capacity of essential medical equipment and drugs and to implement a special incentive package to promote manufacturing, Tamil Nadu has announced a package that will be a combination of financial incentives and ease of starting business related facilitations. The package will apply to manufacture of ventilators, PPE kits, N-95 Masks, multi-para monitors and anti-malarial and anti-viral drugs used in the management of COVID-19.

Haryana has provided relief to the high tension and low tension consumers (industrial & non-domestic) by way of waiver in fixed charges having load of 20kW/kVA and above for March and April 2020, subject to the ceiling of Rs 10,000 per month.
BANGKOK  Asian shares were steady in quiet Good Friday trading after Wall Street closed out its best week in 45 years thanks to the Federal Reserves titanic effort to support the economy through the coronavirus crisis. The price of oil fell back after major oil-producing countries struggled to finalize a deal on output cuts.

European and U.S. markets are closed for Good Friday. The long weekend offers a respite from the drama that has wracked markets for weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In Asia, Japans Nikkei 225 index advanced, gaining 0.8% to close at 19,498.50. In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 1.3% to 1,860.70. Shares also rose in Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia. But the Shanghai Composite index lost 1%, to 2,796.63.

Overnight, in Europe, the countries that use the euro currency agreed on measures that will help each other bear the burden of the costs of the crisis. The package of 500 billion euros ($550 billion) does not include, however, a more ambitious proposal to borrow money together.

Earlier, the U.S. central bank announced programs to provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans to households, local governments and businesses as the country tips into what economists say may be the worst recession in decades.

The Feds actions completely overshadowed a government report that another 6.6 million people applied for unemployment benefits last week. Stock investors expected such dismal numbers, and some are looking ahead to a possible reopening of the economy.

It looks like the Feds are on a mission to blow holes in every dam that stops the flow of credit. And it sure sounds like they have plenty more dynamite if needed, Stephen Innes of AxiCorp. said in a commentary.

The stock market is not the economy, and that distinction has become even more clear this week. For the week, the S&P 500 jumped 12.1%, its best performance since late 1974.

Stock investors are continuously looking ahead to where the economy will be a few months or more in the future, which largely depends on the state of the coronavirus pandemic and on the mass shutdowns meant to contain it.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 39.84 points to 2,789.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.2%, to 23,719.37, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.8% to 8,153.58.

While hopes are building that a plateau may be arriving for infections in several hotspots, its not assured.

Thursdays gains were capped by another downdraft in oil prices, which have collapsed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell $2.33, or 9.3%, to $22.76 per barrel after investors learned that Russia and members of OPEC had reached a preliminary agreement to reduce production by 10 million barrels a day. That is far short of what would be needed to offset the steep decline in demand because of the coronavirus shutdowns, said Dave Ernsberger, global head of commodities pricing at S&P Global Platts.

Brent crude fell $1.36, or 4.1%, to $31.48 per barrel.

OPEC said Friday that approval of the proposal for gradual cuts in output hinges on gaining Mexicos agreement. The Group of 20 major economies will hold a teleconference Friday to further discuss global output.

In currency trading, the dollar fetched 108.42 Japanese yen, down from 108.46 yen on Thursday. The euro edged higher, to $1.0941 from $1.0931.

___

Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report.
[April 10, 2020] Triumph Group Provides Update On COVID-19 Response

BERWYN, Pa., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Triumph Group, Inc. (NYSE: TGI) ("Triumph" or the "Company") today provided an update on the current impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the business and the steps the Company is taking to mitigate it. To align capacity with short and medium-term customer demand, conserve cash and maintain long-term competitiveness, the following actions are underway: Given that Boeing has extended closure of its Washington state factories indefinitely, and closed its Charleston, South Carolina plant for 14 days, Triumph announced furloughs for approximately 2,300 employees across Triumph plants in the U.S. and Europe for two to four weeks to reduce capacity associated with Boeing Commercial Aircraft programs. These plants will remain operational and continue to support other customer demands. Triumph will provide one week of company pay and will cover the employee share of medical premiums during the furlough period.

factories indefinitely, and closed its plant for 14 days, Triumph announced furloughs for approximately 2,300 employees across Triumph plants in the U.S. and for two to four weeks to reduce capacity associated with Boeing Commercial Aircraft programs. These plants will remain operational and continue to support other customer demands. Triumph will provide one week of company pay and will cover the employee share of medical premiums during the furlough period. In addition to the previously announced 500-person reduction in force as part of its austerity measures, Triumph will eliminate approximately 200 full-time positions due to decreased demand. Triumph will pay severance to impacted employees consistent with existing policies. These reductions are expected to be completed by May 1, 2020 .

. To reduce working capital requirements, the Company will also adjust its supply chain demand consistent with updated OEM production and aftermarket forecasts. These actions help to preserve Triumph's liquidity while customers' plants are closed and allow Triumph to continue to support its customers' forecasted rates of production. Further workforce adjustments may be required based on site closures or changes in demand for Triumph's products and services. Triumph's liquidity (cash and borrowing capacity) is approximately $500 million as of March 31, 2020. Although the situation remains fluid, all but two of Triumph's factories are operational. The Company's two facilities in Mexico (Zacatecas and Mexicali), which employ approximately 1,900 individuals, are complying with a government mandate for 30-day losure of non-essential operations effective March 31, 2020. Triumph will adjust its plans as government decisions and Company policies evolve.



Daniel J. Crowley, President and CEO of Triumph Group, communicated to Triumph's employees this week: "Though the spread of the COVID-19 virus appears to be slowing, its swift impact on the global aerospace industry and supply chain is resulting in significant reductions in air traffic and disruptions to our supply chain as our commercial customers and suppliers reduce output or halt production. At the same time, our customers are counting on us to provide essential services for their military, cargo and medical transport missions and to be prepared for the post-crisis recovery." Crowley continued, "Any workforce reduction, whether by temporary furloughs or longer-term reductions in force, is very difficult as they affect our hard working and dedicated team members and their families. However, we must take these actions to enable Triumph to weather this historic downturn and position the company to recover on the other side of this global health crisis."

The Company continues to expand its actions to limit the spread of COVID-19 consistent with U.S. and international government safeguards. This includes temporarily closing plants for deep cleaning, providing over 5,000 thermometers to employees for self-check before their shifts and providing face shields and masks to employees to use onsite. About Triumph

Triumph Group, Inc., headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, designs, engineers, manufactures, repairs and overhauls a broad portfolio of aerospace and defense systems, components and structures. The company serves the global aviation industry, including original equipment manufacturers and the full spectrum of military and commercial aircraft operators. More information about Triumph can be found on the Company's website at www.triumphgroup.com. Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this release which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements under the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements of expectations of or assumptions about our financial results for fiscal year 2020, and our ability to achieve cost savings and the benefits of our operational efficiency initiatives. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties which could affect the Company's actual results and could cause its actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Further information regarding the important factors that could cause actual results to differ from projected results can be found in Triumph Group's reports filed with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. Widespread health developments, including the recent global coronavirus (COVID-19), and the responses thereto (such as voluntary and in some cases, mandatory quarantines as well as shut downs and other restrictions on travel and commercial, social and other activities) could adversely and materially affect, among other things, the economic and financial markets and labor resources of the countries in which we operate, our manufacturing and supply chain operations, commercial operations and sales force, administrative personnel, third-party service providers, business partners and customers and the demand for our products, which could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions and results of operations. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/triumph-group-provides-update-on-covid-19-response-301038944.html SOURCE Triumph Group

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (April 10) said that India-Japan special strategic and global partnership can help develop new technologies and solutions for the post COVID-19 world. The Prime Minister made these remarks after holding a 'fruitful discussion' over coronavirus with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.

"Had a fruitful discussion with my friend, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe about COVID19. India-Japan Special Strategic & Global Partnership can help develop new technologies and solutions for the post-COVID world - for our peoples, for the Indo-Pacific region, and for the world," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

Had fruitful discussion with my friend, Japanese PM @abeshinzo about the COVID-19 pandemic . The ____ Special Strategic & Global Partnership can help develop new technologies and solutions for the post-COVID world - for our peoples, for the Indo-Pacific region, and for the world.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

Both the countries are facing lockdown and are maintaining social distancing. The partnership can bring about technological changes that can lead to curbing or treatment of Coronavirus.

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe had recently declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and six other prefectures to contain the spread of the killer virus.

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed that India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,412. Out of these, 5,709 are active patients and 503 of them have been cured/discharged.

Meanwhile, Japan has reported 4,768 cases so far. The death toll in Japan due to coronavirus stands at 85.

Prime Minister Modi in the last few days has spoken to many world leaders including US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and discussed global cooperation to fight the coronavirus.

On March 24, the extraordinary virtual G20 Leaders' Summit was held to discuss the challenges posed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and to forge a globally coordinated response during which, Prime Minister Modi called upon the leaders to help usher in new globalization for the collective well-being of humankind and have multilateral fora focus on promoting the shared interests of humanity.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Three prisoners have been reported dead and protests have taken place against crowded jail conditions, inadequate sanitation and inaction by Democratic leaders on the growing demands for the release of detainees as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread through the state of Illinois.

With 448 confirmed cases out of 4,500 detainees, Cook County Jail in Chicago has been identified as one of the current COVID-19 hotspots in the US. Reports indicate 59-year Jeffrey Pendleton died of COVID-19 at a local hospital, one of 14 county jail detainees being treated for the virus. Pendleton, who had been held since 2018, was denied release on bond in the last week of March. He was hospitalized March 30 and died on April 5, awaiting his court date. Pendletons family has filed suit against the city, alleging he was inhumanely treated during his illness, being shackled by hand and foot to his hospital bed despite the presence of an armed guard.

A 16-year-old who arrived at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center on March 30 has fallen ill and tested positive for COVID-19. According to the Chicago Tribune, the teen will remain incarcerated in the medical wing until April 18.

Cook County Prison (Wikipedia Commons)

In Illinois prisons, 220 cases are confirmed, most at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet, where 118 inmates and 50 staff members have tested positive. Prisoners Russell Sedelmaier, 59, and Ronald Rice, 66, have died.

As of Thursday, Illinois has had 528 deaths due to COVID-19 and 16,422 confirmed infections.

The illness rapid spread in prisons, jails and immigrant detention centers is driving urgent calls for the release of detainees across the US. Legal advocates have demanded the facilities grant early release to thousands who are locked up for non-violent crimes, including youth inmates, those who are ill and those nearing the end of their sentence.

On Tuesday, a caravan of protesters circled more than 100 cars around the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center and a federal detention center in downtown Chicago. Protests also took place in New York and Los Angeles as the slogan Free them all for public health trended on social media. Earlier this week, 23 detainees at Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego initiated a hunger strike to demand release after 11 detainees and staff tested positive for COVID-19.

A class-action suit was filed this week on behalf of Cook County jail detainees against Sheriff Tom Dart, demanding that hundreds of prisoners be released. Inmates and correctional staff were cited in the affidavits complaining that Cook County Jail is not providing adequate testing, protective equipment for detainees and staff, or relieving the cramped and unsanitary conditions that spread the virus.

Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoots office filed an amicus brief late Wednesday opposing the release efforts, claiming that the prisoners represent a threat to the community. The mayors intervention via an informational brief will contribute to the infection of hundreds of jail inmates and inevitably more deaths.

Sheriff Dart also denounced the suits as ignorant and dangerous, claiming that the jail has taken all the required precautions and improved sanitation measures, isolated inmates and expanded isolation cells to a formerly unused area of the jail. The sheriff also boasted of a mobile COVID-19 testing site for his staff that recently opened at the jail.

According to the World Health Organization, preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus requires reliable access to soap, clean water and sanitation supplies, social distancing to avoid transmission and the use of masks when around those with the illness. Systematic testing and isolation of those who are infected are critical to stopping the spread of the disease. None of these conditions can be found in Americas prisons or jail.

Stateville is a maximum-security prison with a current inmate population above 2,500. The 95-year-old prison, which is in a dilapidated state, has made no mention of cleaning the facilities after inmates contracted the virus. Because of the close proximity inmates have with one another and given the substantial number of inmates already testing positive, everyone in Stateville is at risk.

Tonika Phillips, a medical service worker whose brother is an inmate at Stateville, phoned the prison March 30 to check in on her brother. She told the World Socialist Web Site, I called and called but no one answered the phone. I probably called about five times just because I was so worried but no answer.

Some days later she received a call from her brother which confirmed her fears, he had contracted a mild case of the virus and was being quarantined on the prison grounds. She said, I asked if they were going to transfer my brother to a hospital to get treated but the counselor stated that my brother is being taken care of. They provided very little information. I finally was able to speak with my brother he is still feeling sick but is doing better.

Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker announced last week that the National Guard will be deployed to set up a temporary medical care facility on the grounds of Stateville prison. The announcement came after 19 inmates were transferred to local hospitals. With hospitals having limited bed space, inmates will be treated at the prison in tent facilities.

The Logan Correctional Center, where 4 prisoners have tested positive, is a womens prison and many of the prisoners in the facility are elderly. Prison guards at Logan reportedly passed out soap which did not last more than one day. Cleaning supply products are also running thin and no masks were supplied to the inmates.

In an attempt to diminish the death of Russell Sedelmaier in Stateville, news media have tried to portray him as a monster who deserved to die of COVID-19. Sedelmaier was convicted and sentenced to life in prison after murdering a pastor and his daughter during a robbery attempt. Retired chaplain Eileen Harris, the mother and wife of the two victims of Sedelmaiers crime, said she never wished for his execution and expressed regret learning of his death from the pandemic to the Chicago Tribune.

No other country on the planet has an incarceration rate which approaches that of the US. More than two million human beings languish behind bars and are at risk of losing their lives as the deadly virus spreads through prison systems.

Urgent action is needed to stop the spread of COVID-19 among detainees.

Bound up with the immediate needs of the working class, every prisoner and worker must be given personal protective equipment and tested immediately to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Those who pose no threat to others and test negative for the virus should be released immediately and provided secure housing and food. Those who are positive should be placed in quarantine with adequate health care, sanitation, access to communication and assured release when they cease to be contagious.

With trillions of dollars being made available to try to stabilize the markets, it is clear that the resources exist to achieve these measures. However, the ruling class cannot mount an adequate response to the pandemic because a response plan that takes care of society requires a system which places people above the accumulation of private profit. Their criminal inaction has already led to illness and preventable deaths and the disease spreading.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Just in time for the Easter holiday, the Grand Rapids Symphony and Symphony Chorus is bringing a crescendo of music to peoples homes with a virtual performance of Hallelujah.

More than 70 musicians in the orchestra and chorus came together to create a virtual performance of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handels Messiah," now available for viewing online, according to a news release from the symphony.

The virtual production, titled Hallelujah for Hope: From Our Homes to Yours, debuted Thursday, April 9, and is available on the symphonys website, Facebook page and Youtube channel.

During these extraordinary circumstances, we need music more than ever," Music Director Marcelo Lehninger said. Music sustains us and nourishes us. It gives us comfort when were troubled and offers hope for renewal.

Easter celebrations across the state will look different this year during the coronavirus pandemic. Many church services are held virtually and there will not be any egg hunts in the park under an executive order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer mandating that people stay home to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Michigan.

Related: Easter Sunday church celebrations to feature online sermons, drive-in services, meal handouts

The musicians recorded individual performances in their own homes. All of the tracks were mixed together to create the symphonic, nearly 5-minute-long performance, the symphony said.

The very first performance of the musical piece, now one of the best-known in all of choral music, was given in April 1742 as a benefit concert to raise money for two hospitals in Dublin, the symphony said.

"The 'Hallelujah chorus may be 278 years old, but its message of comfort still rings true, and its promise of hope is just as relevant for us today, the symphony said in the release.

Also on MLive:

Bird-watching an option to enjoy nature in Kalamazoo during coronavirus closures

Friday, April 10: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Staff at Grand Rapids school creates video telling students they miss them amid COVID-19 shut down
Despite the good intentions of volunteers at a St. Norbert residence Thursday, maintaining social distancing while building sandbag dikes could soon prove problematic as provincial flood prevention measures ramp up.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite the good intentions of volunteers at a St. Norbert residence Thursday, maintaining social distancing while building sandbag dikes could soon prove problematic as provincial flood prevention measures ramp up.

St. Norbert councillor and deputy mayor Markus Chambers put out the call for help on Wednesday. Thursday, volunteers flocked to help an older couple who are unable, at their age, to prepare their property themselves.

Chambers tried to put an emphasis on how important social distancing is while sandbagging, but volunteers bump into each other grabbing the heavy bags, and end up shoulder to shoulder in much of the activities. Maintaining distance was nearly futile.

"As much as possible, we're respecting the six-foot separation," he said. "It is tough, but the call initially was for individuals who are healthy, symptom free."

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Sandbags are delivered in St. Norbert.

The province issued a high-water warning for the Red River from Emerson north to the floodway inlet just south of Winnipeg on Thursday, as the river is close to breaching its banks in most of that region. The floodway is expected to be operated as soon as ice breakup permits, which could come as early as Thursday evening but may be delayed by up to two days.

The City of Winnipeg continues to try and prepare the most at-risk properties for the coming rising waters. City employees were on site at the St. Norbert home, guiding the enterprise, instructing some volunteers in how to proceed and how to lead small groups of fellow volunteers.

Good intentions abound, but the operation ran into a snag or two with rookie volunteers. A collective groan came from a group of about a dozen people who are informed the sandbag wall they've just erected was too close to the property  so it was back to square one.

Eduard Anokhin, 27, said the boredom had really start to set it, being at home all the time, and so he came out to help when one of his friends called him this morning and asked if he was free.

"I'm always ready to help people out and do something good for society," he said.

Anokhin has opted for wearing a full balaclava to cover his face. He says with all that's been going on, he's just relieved to have an outlet to help.

"I think people are more cautious right now," Anokhin said. "I think mostly people are sitting at home watching TV or playing video games, it's nice to get out and be able to do something, to help."

Earlier this week, Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief public health officer, said safe protocols still need to be in place where sandbagging occurs.

"You shouldnt be there if youre feeling at all ill," he said Tuesday. "We dont want people showing up with even a mild cough, sore throat or runny nose. We want people to be able to wash their hands frequently. There should be alcohol-based sanitizer  do this frequently.

"Avoid touching your face and eyes  just keeping your distance as much as you can. We know we have essential work going on still in the province. We know that we will need to respond to flooding. That kind of activity has to go on. There are some safeguards that can be put in place."

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A property in St. Norbert gets protected by a ring of sandbags.

St. Norbert is a community that is no stranger to flood risk. These kinds of preparations are second nature to many residents, Chambers says, as 31 of the 57 properties identified by the city as being high risk are in this ward.

Red River levels taken at the James Avenue gauge have hovered around 17 feet all week, breaching the minor flood threshold (15 feet) on Monday and pushing water naturally into the floodway on Tuesday. Water levels are expected to continue rising, with projected peaks at Emerson between April 15 and 20, and at the floodway inlet between April 19 and 24.

Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Once the floodway is put into operations this leaves the expected peak water levels in Winnipeg at the James Avenue gauge arriving between April 13 and 17, reaching a level between 19 and 19.5 feet.

The province has also issued a high-water watch along the Red River from Lockport to Netley Creek due to potential of some overland water in low-lying areas precipitated by ice jams.

Water levels along the Assiniboine, Souris and Pembina rivers are relatively low with no significant flooding issues.

 with files from Carol Sanders

sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @SarahLawrynuik
New Delhi: The News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) on Friday (April 10) issued an advisory for media persons, including members and Editors of NBA, in the wake of the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 Pandemic, asking them to avoid interaction and follow social distancing to contain the spread of the deadly virus, according to an NBSA statement.

Praising media's role for playing a very important role in the dissemination of information to keep the public informed of all the developments relating to COVID-19, the NBSA said, "It has been brought to the notice of NBSA that some channels are entering hospitals /isolation wards and hotels and interviewing patients and/or medical personnel in relation to the virus."

It strictly advised all reporters/ camerapersons and other editorial staff "not to enter hospitals /isolation wards or any other place where patients who have tested positive to COVID-19 have been kept in isolation to contain the spread of the virus in order to avoid putting other persons lives at risk."

The NBSA further said, "They are also advised not to interview medical personnel, who have been kept in hotels or similar places in relation to COVID 19."

"Please note that special sensitivity and care needs to be taken while covering news relating to persons isolated in hospitals and other places to ensure that the privacy and dignity of patients/ medical personnel is maintained. The right to privacy and confidentiality of the patient/ medical personnel is paramount," it added.

The NBSA expressed hope that members and editors would ensure strict compliance with the advisory.
Leave it to stoic, creative Texans to make lemonade out of lemons in any situation, even the threat of an unprecedented pandemic. Photographers from all across the country are now capturing these candid, creative moments of life in the quarantine in a new series called, "The Front Porch Project."

Houston-area families from Channelview to Cypress are now answering the 'front porch' call and showing up for creative, hilarious and often poignant photo shoots. Neighbors agree to stay on the front doorstep of their homes in 'social distancing mode,' while local photographers snap the most candid pics.

View our round-up of hilarious, creative neighborhood 'Surviving Pandemic 2020' photos from all across Houston-->

Cypress photographer, Mary Anne Heckman said she was inspired to join the Front Porch Project after a friend encouraged her. Heckman then put the call out to her neighbors in Cole's Crossing.

NEW 'TIGER KING' PREMIERE: New 'Tiger King' aftershow hosted by Joel McHale coming to Netflix

"I wanted to do something where I could give back," Heckman said. "Every single time I do a photo shoot, everyone says 'Thank you so much for doing this!"

After a growing demand for these family quarantine photos, Heckman was joined by other skilled photographers, Thuvan Nguyen, Jennifer Spencer, Brandy Dykes, Abby Colbert and Karen McConaughey. Heckman said that after she reached out to neighbors to take the front porch photos, 175 people signed up.

"We're doing it now for the second week," Heckman said.

So, which candid photos are among Heckman's favorites?

"There's one that's all about 'Tiger King.' They're all dressed up in Tiger clothes. A lot of them have been so creative with what they've come up with," Heckman said.

UNDERGROUND ESCAPES: These Texas-built bunkers are becoming luxury subterranean shelters as pandemic spreads

Heckman said the best part of the whole project is seeing the smiles light up on neighbors' faces at such a difficult time.

"It's our way of being able to give back in the neighborhood."

alison.medley@chron.com
A three-man crew docked successfully at the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday, leaving behind a planet overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic with three billion people confined.

Russian space agency Roscosmos said the Soyuz MS-16 capsule "docked successfully" in a statement on its website.

Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos and NASA's Chris Cassidy reached the ISS at 2.13 GMT, just over six hours after blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where Covid-19 caused changes to pre-launch protocol.

Usually the departing crew faces questions from a large press pack before being waved off by family and friends.

Neither was possible this time round because of travel restrictions imposed over the virus, although the crew did respond to emailed questions from journalists in a Wednesday press conference.

Cassidy, 50, admitted the crew had been affected by their families not being unable to be in Baikonur, Russia's space hub in neighbouring Kazakhstan, for their blastoff to the ISS.

"But we understand that the whole world is also impacted by the same crisis," Cassidy said.

Quarantine

Astronauts routinely go into quarantine ahead of space missions and give a final press conference at Baikonur from behind a glass wall to protect them from infection.

That process began even earlier than usual last month as the trio and their reserve crew hunkered down in Russia's Star City training centre outside Moscow, eschewing traditional pre-launch rituals and visits to the capital.

The next crew to return to Earth from the ISS will be flying to their home countries on April 17 via Baikonur, rather than Karaganda in central Kazakhstan as usual, as part of new travel measures related to the pandemic.

Self-isolation

The ISS typically carries up to six people at a time and has a livable space of 388 cubic metres - larger than a six-bedroom house according to NASA.

Those dimensions will sound enviable to many residents of Earth, more than half of whom are on various forms of lockdown as governments respond to Covid-19 with drastic measures.

The International Space Station -- a rare example of cooperation between Russia and the West -- has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000 kilometres per hour since 1998.

(with AFP)
The National Election Commission has banned opinion and exit poll results from being made public until voting in the general election closes at 6 p.m. on April 15.

Since Thursday voters have been given no further information on which political party or candidate is in the lead.

Neither media outlets nor political parties can reveal how candidates are faring.


With the Navy reeling from a week of damning headlines and hundreds of new coronavirus cases in the ranks, the service's top leaders issued separate force-wide messages pledging to keep sailors and their families safe.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday and the new acting Navy secretary, James McPherson, told the fleet they are committed to helping sailors and Marines weather the novel coronavirus pandemic. The messages come after a commanding officer who warned of a growing number of COVID-19 cases on his ship was removed from his post, a situation that ultimately led to the previous acting Navy secretary to step down this week.

Gilday addressed some of the controversy directly.

"The events of the past week have been difficult for our Navy and our nation," he said. "We will learn from them. But make no mistake, we are moving forward. The Navy has our orders, and we are executing them."

Related: Roosevelt Sailor with COVID-19 Found Unresponsive in Guam

The health and safety of Navy personnel is his top priority, Gilday said Wednesday. The day after his memo, the Navy reported it had 727 COVID-19 cases among its uniformed personnel.

Five of those people have been hospitalized, including one member of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt who was admitted to an intensive care unit in Guam on Thursday.

That ship's crew, Gilday said, is "staring down an invisible enemy."

Then-Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly relieved their skipper of command last week after Capt. Brett Crozier sent a letter pleading with the Navy to move the crew onto land over fears of spreading COVID-19 cases.

Modly stepped down as acting SecNav days later after disparaging Crozier in a speech to the crew. Crozier has also been diagnosed with the disease caused by the coronavirus.

McPherson, a prior-enlisted soldier turned naval officer who less than two weeks ago was sworn in as the Army undersecretary, was thrust into Modly's old job this week. In his own letter to sailors and Marines on Thursday, McPherson said he is committed to protecting them.

"For as long as I have the privilege of serving as your Acting Secretary, I will do everything in my power to support your efforts and safety, and the safety and well-being of your families," he said.

The Navy Department has been without a Senate-confirmed secretary for nearly six months, when the last one resigned amid controversy over the handling of the case against former SEAL Eddie Gallagher.

President Donald Trump nominated retired Rear Adm. Kenneth Braithwaite, who's serving as U.S. ambassador to Norway, for the job.

With many events on Capitol Hill upended by the coronavirus crisis, though, it's unclear when Braithwaite's nomination hearing will occur.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said once the Senate is back in session, he will push to get the next Navy secretary confirmed quickly.

"It's disturbing to me that there's been so much turmoil at the top of the Department of the Navy over the last year," Inhofe said. "In this difficult time, the Navy needs leaders now more than ever who can provide continuity and steady, insightful leadership. ... Our Sailors, Marines and their families deserve to have stable, capable leadership at the helm during these challenging times."

Inhofe's Democratic counterpart on the Senate Armed Services Committee, ranking member Jack Reed, agreed.

"The new leadership of the Navy must do better in leading and protecting sailors, Marines and their families in this unprecedented crisis," the Rhode Island Democrat said.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read more: Trump Moves Ahead with Plan to Nominate Kenneth Braithwaite for Navy Secretary
As the N.W.T.s Stanton Territorial Hospital treats its first COVID-19 patient, the territorys health authority says supports for staff are evolving to keep pace with the coronavirus pandemic.

The first patient requiring hospital treatment was admitted last week having been taken from the small community of Fort Resolution by medevac. Late last week the patient was said to be in a stable condition, with no update since.

As of Thursday, the territory had five confirmed cases of COVID-19. The remaining four all involve people recovering at home.

With the territory bracing for the number of patients needing medical care to rise, Cabin Radio asked how staff are being prepared for the unique demands of treating people with the coronavirus disease.

A health authority spokesperson said daily calls between managers of health services and community health centres were taking place, with a focus on ensuring supplies are ready and training and certifications up to date.

Training and staff development is an ongoing activity as the situation develops and needs to be measured and responsive to the situation on the ground, wrote the spokesperson, David Maguire.

We have been making significant efforts to ensure staff are aware of any new processes or practices we are putting in place in response to COVID-19.

Some of those new processes include a guide for health-care providers to deliver virtual care appointments  ways of looking after residents without needing to see them in person, for example by using video or phone.

Staff are also being briefed by video, and in writing, on the proper wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) and appropriate use of the testing kits, said Maguire.

Staff have completed PPE demos and audits on donning and doffing PPE intensively since January, he wrote.

Maguire says the authority is working with individual staff to ensure they have thorough understanding and practices in PPE use.

That includes checks where PPE wearers watch each other put on and remove protective equipment, to make sure safe donning and doffing processes are followed.

In Inuvik, Maguire said cross-training efforts  professionals learning other roles  are underway. More sessions are planned in the coming weeks.

Three family practitioners have cross-trained with a general practitioner anaesthetist for ventilation basics, he wrote.

The N.W.T.s health authority is offering grand rounds weekly  sessions in which medical staff come together to discuss how cases are treated. All recent grand rounds have been dedicated to aspects of the territorys COVID-19 response.

Staff are also able to access sessions provided by health-care workers from other jurisdictions.

For example, said Maguire, a recent session on COVID-19 emergency management was provided online by the University of British Columbia.

The health authority is working with Alberta Health Services to deliver training on situations that might happen during COVID-19 acute care.

Yellowknifes Stanton Territorial Hospital, the first major line of defence for any N.W.T. COVID-19 patient, has been running simulations in its emergency department, intensive care units, and operating rooms.

Those simulations include how confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases will be managed.

These simulations look at intubation, emergency surgery, emergency C-sections, and other scenarios, Maguire wrote. Similar simulations are running at Inuviks hospital, he added.

Ordinarily, front-line medical staff are not authorized to discuss their personal views on training with reporters.

Cabin Radio approached the Union of Northern Workers (UNW), which represents a wide range of health-care professionals employed by the N.W.T. government, for its members views on training provided to date.

Todd Parsons, president of the union, said it had been working closely with the territorial government on safety.

In a brief statement not specific to health care, Parsons wrote: The UNW continues to work with employers to ensure that the health and safety of workers is paramount, and to address any issues directly with the employer if and when they come to our attention.

Read more about:
The global novel coronavirus death toll has climbed over 102,000.

The virus has killed more people in the U.S. in a matter of months than those who died in recent years from homicide, according to FBI data.

In the U.S., over 500,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. At least 18,693 people in the U.S. have died.

Worldwide, more than 1.69 million people have been diagnosed since the virus emerged in China in December. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations' outbreaks.

Today's biggest developments:

US cases now over half a million Los Angeles stay-at-home order extended to May 15 Boris Johnson 'at an early stage' of recovery Wisconsin Dept. of Health tracking if new cases stem from Tuesday's election

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates.

9:25 p.m.: US cases now over 500,000

The U.S. now has half a million confirmed cases of COVID-19, three times more than Spain, the country with the second-most infections.

The country's case total rose to 500,399 on Friday night, the same day the world death toll crossed into six digits.

There have been over 18,000 deaths in the U.S.

4:40 p.m.: Los Angeles stay-at-home order extended to May 15

Los Angeles County's "safer at home" order is being extended until at least May 15, officials said Friday.

PHOTO: The Universal City Overlook on Mulholland Drive is closed during the coronavirus pandemic, April 8, 2020 in Los Angeles. (Rich Fury/Getty Images, FILE)

All indoor and outdoor private gatherings remain prohibited, as well as all nonessential businesses, parks and beaches.

The order also requires essential businesses to post social distancing and sanitation plans.

Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.

Story continues

4:22 p.m.: Antiviral drug may help patients with COVID-19

A small study of the antiviral drug remdesivir showed that it was associated with clinical improvement in 68% of patients with COVID-19, according to a report Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Gilead Sciences, the makers of remdesivir, analyzed patients who received the drug from Jan. 25 through March 7 in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Japan.

SLIDESHOW: Coronavirus outbreak sparks global health emergency

Of the 53 patients studied, 36, or 68%, saw clinical improvement in their conditions.

Researchers categorized clinical improvement as a discharge from the hospital or decreased oxygen support. Eight of 53 patients (15%) got worse, according to the study.

3:40 p.m.: Some shops in Italy will be allowed to open next week

In hard-hit Italy -- the nation suffering the most coronavirus fatalities -- the entire country has been on lockdown since March 9.

While the lockdown continues until May 3, some stores -- including stationary shops, bookshops and children clothing stores -- can begin to reopen on April 14, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday.

PHOTO: A man wearing a protective mask sits on a scooter in Naples, Italy, April 10, 2020. (Ciro De Luca/Reuters)

PHOTO: An elderly resident walks his dog and buys a newspaper at a newstand in Milan, March 12, 2020. (Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

3:15 p.m.: Louisiana 'in a better place today' than this time last week

Despite a slight increase in number of hospitalizations and number of patients on ventilators, Louisiana is "in a better place today than we were at this time last week," Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday.

"It is because of you," he said. "It is because of the people of Louisiana and your compliance with the stay-at-home order."

PHOTO: A streetcar conductor wears a mask due to the coronavirus pandemic as she runs her route on St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans, March 19, 2020. (Gerald Herbert/AP, FILE)

Louisiana has over 19,000 people diagnosed with COVID-19. The state has lost 755 lives, including state Rep. Reggie Bagala.

Faces of the coronavirus pandemic: Remembering those who died

In the wake of data revealing a major racial disparity in COVID-19 deaths, the governor said a Health Equity Task Force will be put in place.

The recently released data showed that while African Americans make up roughly 32% of Louisiana's population, they account for 70% of the deaths in the state.

"We want to make sure that we have better health outcomes on the other side of this pandemic, as well," the governor said. "So we need to answer the question: 'What are the social determinants of health disparity and how do we ensure health equity for all of our citizens?' And this task force will be meeting this charge."

Coronavirus is disproportionately killing the black community. Here's what experts say can be done about it

Edwards said his state has received additional federal funding for continuing testing sites in the state, some of which were scheduled to close as soon as today. Edwards said he still isn't satisfied with the testing within the state and that is another issue the task force will tackle.

"There is no region of our state that isn't currently testing, but we don't believe that we have adequate testing anywhere," he said.

2:30 p.m.: Government addressing racial disparity, surgeon general says

Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, cautioned Friday, "We have not reached the peak."

You can see for the first time that in the United States were starting to level on the logarithmic phase, like Italy did about a week ago, Birx said at the White House briefing.

"This gives us great heart," she said, adding, "Everyday we need to continue to do what we did yesterday and the week before and the week before that."

PHOTO: Cataldo Ambulance medics bring a patient who has tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to the ambulance at an assisted living facility in Chelsea, Mass., April 10, 2020. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

As data shows that COVID-19 disproportionately kills people of color, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said the government is "taking steps now" to combat the "alarming" trend.

The government is working "on data collection, targeted outreach, and increasing financial employment, education, housing, social and health support so everyone has an equal chance to be healthy," Adams said at Friday's briefing.

12:15 p.m.: New York sees fewer ICU admissions for 1st time

In New York, the state hit hardest by the pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is "cautiously optimistic we are slowing the infection rate."

PHOTO: A medical worker wears personal protective equipment due to COVID-19 concerns at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, April 9, 2020, in the Brooklyn, N.Y. (John Minchillo/AP)

The three-day average hospitalization rate is down, and for the first time, New York has registered a negative number of ICU admissions, Cuomo said at his Friday press briefing. There were 17 fewer people in intensive care units statewide than there were previously, Cuomo said.

PHOTO:Medical workers take in patients at a special coronavirus intake area at Maimonides Medical Center on April 6, 2020 in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

In New York state, over 160,000 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 -- that's more than any other state in the U.S. and country in the world.

Over 7,000 people in the state have died.

A timeline of Cuomo's and Trump's responses to coronavirus outbreak

"The death toll is going up. And I understand the logic to that," Cuomo told "Good Morning America" anchor Michael Strahan Friday. "These are people who came into the hospital a couple of weeks ago, they didn't recover, they were put on ventilators and once you're on a ventilator, the longer you're on a ventilator, the worse it gets."

PHOTO: The Kosciuszko Bridge is illuminated in blue as part of the #LightItBlue for Health Workers movement on April 9, 2020 in New York City. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

As preliminary data showed the largest percentage of coronavirus deaths in New York City was among Hispanics, the governor on Wednesday called for more testing in minority communities.

Hispanics accounted for 34% of COVID-19 deaths though they make up 29% of the population. Twenty-eight percent of those who have died from COVID-19 in NYC have been African-American.

In NYC, 'stark contrast' in COVID-19 infection rates based on education and race

"Are we shocked that the rates are higher in the African-American/Latino community? We shouldn't be, Michael, if we're being honest," Cuomo told "GMA." "We know that there's inequality in the health care system. We know that the poorer communities often pay the highest price for these types of emergency situations because they're really just bringing to light that systemic racism and discrimination in the system."

PHOTO: Governor Andrew Cuomo appears on 'Good Morning America,' April 10, 2020. (ABC News)

"Let's learn from this moment," Cuomo said. "It's testing and understanding why the minority community has a higher rate. Is it because they work in public sector jobs and they were essential workers and they didn't have the luxury, Michael, of staying home? And they didn't have the luxury of going to stay at their second house? Or staying with a relative in their home in the suburbs?"

'Torn up': African American family mourns 4 loved ones as COVID-19 racial disparities exposed

"There has to be some lesson that we take from this," he said.

11:40 a.m.: Boris Johnson 'at an early stage' of recovery

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is in a London hospital battling the coronavirus, is "continuing his recovery, which is at an early stage," according to a statement from his official residence and office, 10 Downing Street.

PHOTO: Three police officers at left and a security guard at right guard an entrance outside St Thomas' Hospital in London, where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is being treated for coronavirus, April 10, 2020. (Matt Dunham/AP)

Johnson, 55, remains "in very good spirits," the statement added.

The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest," a spokesman said. He has spoken to his doctors and thanks the whole clinical team for the incredible care he has received."

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson 'almost took one for the team' after spell in ICU, father says

A spokesman said Friday, "I am told he was waving his thanks towards the nurses and doctors that he saw as he was being moved from the intensive care unit back to the ward."

Johnson has been hospitalized since Sunday evening due to "persistent symptoms" of the novel coronavirus. He was transferred to the intensive care unit on Monday after his condition "worsened," and released from intensive care on Thursday, a spokesperson said.

The U.K. death toll on Friday increased by 980 for a total of 8,958 fatalities.

PHOTO: Military personal are seen testing people at a coronavirus test centre in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, London, April 10, 2020. (Peter Nicholls/Reuters)

11:20 a.m.: DOJ investigating conditions at nursing home where more than 30 died

After a COVID-19 outbreak left more than 30 dead at a Massachusetts nursing home, the Justice Departments civil rights division is investigating whether the facility violated its residents rights by failing to provide adequate care during and before the pandemic.

PHOTO: A welcome sign is seen outside the Soldier's Home in Holyoke, Mass., March 31, 2020. (CJ Gunther/EPA via Shutterstock, FILE)

"The federal Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act specifically protects the rights of those confined in state facilities like the Holyoke Soldiers Home," located in Holyoke, said U.S. attorney Andrew Lelling.

Employees say veteran at Soldier's Home infected others after leadership failures

"It would be difficult to overstate our obligation to the health and well-being of elderly and disabled military veterans and, by extension, to their families," Lelling said in a statement.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker called for an independent investigation into the Soldiers Home. This probe is the first publicly-announced federal investigation of a nursing home since the start of the coronavirus crisis.

10:50 a.m.: Wisconsin Dept. of Health tracking if new cases emerge from Tuesday's election

The Wisconsin Department of Health said it plans to track whether new cases of COVID-19 arise from Tuesday's in-person election, which was held despite the pandemic.

PHOTO: Voters fill out ballots at Riverside University High School during the presidential primary election, held amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Milwaukee, Wisc., April 7, 2020. (Daniel Acker/Reuters, FILE)

Public health officials said they expect to see any cases from exposure begin to appear next week.

"We will continue this important work to ensure that every case is followed up on, contacted, and anyone who may have been exposed notified," said DHS Secretary-designee Andrea Palm. "We hope the extraordinary efforts taken by local clerks, public health, voters and poll workers helped minimize any transmission but we stand prepared to respond if that isnt the case."

What to know about coronavirus:

How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained

What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms

Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map

5:35 a.m.: IMF anticipates worst economic fallout since the Great Depression

In a preview of its World Economic Outlook event next week, the International Monetary Fund says the world should be prepared for the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression due to the novel coronavirus.

PHOTO: An employee of a nearby hospital with a special coronavirus intake area walks to a market in protective clothing, April 9, 2020, in Brooklyn, New York. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

"Today we are confronted with a crisis like no other. COVID-19 has disrupted our social and economic order at lightning speed and on a scale that we have not seen in living memory," Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, said in a statement Thursday.

Three months ago, the IMF said it expected at least 160 countries would see positive per capita income growth in 2020. As of Thursday, the organization now predicts over 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year.

"The bleak outlook applies to advanced and developing economies alike. This crisis knows no boundaries. Everybody hurts," Georgieva said. "In fact, we anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression."

In the U.S., more than 16 million people have filed for unemployment insurance in just three weeks, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The 2020 World Economic Outlook event is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14.

4:25 a.m.: FDA, FTC send warning to Infowars

The Food and Drug Administration, along with the Federal Trade Commission has sent a notice to Alex Jones' Infowars website to stop selling products it claims can help "mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19."

Officials not only warned against selling alleged treatments for coronavirus, but it also asked consumers not to use the products since none are approved by the FDA to treat COVID-19.

Among the items the FDA said the conspiracy theory website was selling include, Superblue Silver Immune Gargle, SuperSilver Whitening Toothpaste, SuperSilver Wound Dressing Gel and Superblue Fluoride Free Toothpaste. The products were sold on the website and promoted on Infowars videos, the FTC letter said.

The FDA has sent 26 warning letters to companies and organizations claiming to have COVID-19 treatments since March 6. Of those, 14 have been labeled as corrected.

While there are trials running across the world, there is no known treatments or vaccines to cure or prevent COVID-19.

ABC News' Stephanie Ebbs, Rashid Haddou, Josh Hoyos, Kendall Karson, Aaron Katersky, Rachel Katz, Tiffany Kung, Heather MacNeil, Alex Mallin, Phoebe Natanson, Kirit Radia and Terrance Smith contributed to this report.

US surpasses half a million coronavirus cases originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A construction crew begins demolition at LACMA on April 7. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Regarding Builds Move Along Anyway by Deborah Vankin [March 30]: Los Angeles County Supervisors will regret they did not preserve county funds during this worldwide pandemic.

The county previously allocated over $100 million to finance the reconstruction of LACMA buildings. Come hell or high water, demolition of LACMA buildings is scheduled to go forward.

Surely, L.A. County will face enormous unplanned expenses during this emergency.

Los Angeles will end up with a permanent eyesore of demolished buildings on Wilshire Boulevard when county funds run dry, because our county supervisors didnt have the guts to halt a frivolous project during a time when hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs, hospitals are overwhelmed and people are dying.

William Goldman



Palos Verdes Estates

::

Given the financial situation, the destruction of a public museum, which might never raise the additional funds needed for its replacement and may lose some pledged moneydue to markets and the possible years of delays for a return to normalcy, going ahead with the LACMA teardown is folly.

Meantime, massive public funds will be needed to support health and other infrastructures for many months, and possibly years. Holding off would at least leave us an adequate site rather than an unfinished gallery.

Tony Amodeo



Los Angeles

::

Someone didnt get the memo. Angelenos are stepping up all over the city to make sacrifices during this deadly global crisis. But not LACMA director Michael Govan.

Art is important, but so are the Angelenos who love it.

Lynne T. Jewell



Los Angeles

Cats vs. dogs

Lola the dog gets some exercise with Abby Nieto of Burbank at the Burbank Five Points Art Installation on March 25. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)

I read Mary McNamaras column about her dogs [Dog Days of Spring, March 28] and thought this would be a good time to give cats their due.

Ive been stuck inside watching my cat. I realized how low her stress level is. I can now see that the best way to get through this is to try to emulate my cat. Its really helping.

First off, try to eat at regular times, but just small meals. Keep on a schedule. Spend an hour or two looking out the window watching birds and squirrels. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of birds inhabiting my yard.

Story continues

Dont forget, when the doorbell rings, to hide. Be leery of strangers. Dont let anyone touch you. Take at least two to three baths a day to relax and stay calm. For exercise, run around the house and up and down the stairs at least 20 times a day, maybe more. Take as many naps as you want and do a lot of stretches; they are good for your back.

Dont forget to sit on part of the newspaper while reading it, and then do some more stretches. Groom yourself often because you cant get to the salon.

So Im practicing these things and reading books and feeling better. But Im really getting tired of tuna.

Linda Moriarty



Studio City

::

Bravo, and thank you to Mary McNamara, for the funniest thing Ive seen or read in a very long time. What a gift you have given us. Belly laughs in this time of insanity heal our souls. By the way, my two dogs absolutely agree with everything your dogs said and they too are looking for the suitcases and leftovers.

Diana Wolff



Rancho Palos Verdes

::



What a delightful column, a sure cure for depression for us who are isolated and gloomy at home.

Lisa Edmondson



Los Angeles





The paparazzi side effect

Photographer Giles Harrison in his car in the Pacific Palisades, where he was looking for opportunities to get pictures of celebrities. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Josh Rottenbergs intriguing article Paparazzi Hustle for New Angle [April 6] tells of an upside to the COVID-19 pandemic: It keeps celebrities indoors, leaving prying photographers empty-handed. Might this twist prompt consumers of paparazzis typically loathsome end product to reflect on their taste for titillating tripe?

Betty Turner



Sherman Oaks





Echos of a Greek tragedy

Regarding ["Is He America's Oedipus Rex?" March 29]: Thank you to theater critic Charles McNulty for proving that the art of the critical essay is not dead.

Carleton Cronin



West Hollywood

::

An editorial masquerading as philosophical art review. I am disappointed with The Times allowing such foolishness in the Sunday paper.

Paul Williamson



Palm Springs

::

Charles McNulty presents a thoughtful parallel between the ancient Greek ruler and Americas would-be king Donald Trump. Each encounters a scourge visited on their people. Their response emerges from the essential character of each. Character counts, especially in a leader.

Oedipus, while flawed, responds with empathy and compassion for his suffering people. He cares.Oedipus is a tragic hero. Trump is no Oedipus. His leadership is an empty charade.

Gloria Richman



Province, Calif.





History repeats itself

Christopher Knights excellent review of 20th century scholarship and artworks from the time of the Black Death in Europe [A Cultural Loss That Cut Deep, April 5] detailed how a past pandemic influenced art for centuries afterward due to the death of leading artists but also how the trauma seared the psyches of later generations of artists.

Todd Collart



Ventura

Turan's parting gift

L.A. Times film critic Kenneth Turan at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005. (Patricia Williams)

Regarding A Fond Farewell [April 3]: Adding to these sad times is the news of the departure of Kenneth Turan as Los Angeles Times film critic. I will miss him for a variety of reasons. When I taught movie reviewing at UCSB, his reviews were role models, especially the myriad ways he began each one.

His opening sentences were always original and never derivative. No easy task when reviewing hundreds of movies a year.

My students loved to imitate, albeit less successfully, his use of triads, Unsettling, unnerving, undefinable  that began his review of American Beauty. We admired the deft way he had of providing context, for example, his brief history of film noir that preceded his review of L.A. Confidential.

And, of course, we relished his infamous contretemps with James Cameron over Titanic. He was erudite but never superior. A talent indeed.

Mashey Bernstein



Santa Barbara

::

The articles about Kenneth Turans leaving are what I love about getting the Los Angeles Times delivered to my door every morning. Holding the paper in my hands and reading about this lovely man made my day, as Clint Eastwood would say.

Among all the terrible and distressing news that we see every day, these articles were a breath of fresh air and a balm to my bruised heart.

Barbara Busch



Santa Barbara

::

I will miss Kenneth Turan. His goodbye in todays paper was another example of why he was and remains so valuable.

In a time of great stress, particularly on the arts, he gives us a list of movies that celebrate the pleasure principle as a social ideal. Those movies are mostly the product of the Hollywood studio system, both cursed and lamented in our film histories. That they are so distinctive from one another is a testimony to how, when the right ingredients were put together, the result could be miraculous.

Allen J. Manzano



Carlsbad





The injustice system

Regarding Greg Braxton's Self-representation [April 1]: Isaac Wright Jr. was in prison for a crime he did not commit. Through good and bad, he was finally freed and his life, after justice, is the ultimate story in the prison system.

I am a 75-year-old woman. Reading your article brought tears to my eyes. I really dont know how to put into words the way I feel about the justice system in the USA.

Judith Fontaine



Brentwood





An American among the Brits

I just read Robert Lloyds online review of World on Fire ["Struggle. Sacrifice. Cooperation, April 5] and noted that he recounted, rather than critiqued, all of the performances.

I have liked, and sometimes loved, whatever Helen Hunt did; in this I find her startlingly awful. Shes clunky, her readings are mostly wrong  just everything is yuck. Perhaps its something to do with Brits directing American actors in British productions? But American actors often stand out in British productions in a not-good way.

Anath White



Los Angeles
(Newser)  Coronavirus deaths in New York state are continuing to climbbut Harvey Weinstein apparently won't be among them. A spokesman says the inmate, who was reportedly infected weeks ago, is not showing COVID-19 symptoms and is out of quarantine, Fox reports. "As of now, its been 14 days since reports of concern from people inside the prison, and he has no symptoms and no issues," Juda Engelmayer says. The head of the state correctional officers union said on March 22 that Weinstein had tested positive, though prison officials and Weinstein's legal team declined to confirm his condition, Reuters reports. Weinstein, who is serving a 23-year-sentence for sex crimes, is being held at the Wende Correctional Facility, east of Buffalo. (Read more Harvey Weinstein stories.)
The cruise industry has ground to a complete halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. That has left Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL), Carnival (NYSE:CCL), and Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) without any way to make money for the moment.

All three cruise lines had optimistic dates in mind for reopening at least some sailings. But now the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta has issued a new edict that could keep ships in port (or stuck at sea) for another 100 days. On the surface, that seems like terrible news for the cruise lines. The silver lining -- though admittedly a thin one -- is that the ruling at least sets parameters for a return.

Some nasty seas ahead

The CDC did more than say cruise ships operating out of U.S. ports must remain docked. It also created specific parameters under which the industry can return to operation:

This Order renews the No Sail Order and Other Measures Related to Operations signed by the CDC Director on March 14, 2020 -- subject to the modifications and additional stipulated conditions as set forth in this Order. This Order shall continue in operation until the earliest of (1) the expiration of the Secretary of Health and Human Services' declaration that COVID-19 constitutes a public health emergency;

(2) the CDC Director rescinds or modifies the order based on specific public health or other considerations; or

(3) 100 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

This ruling removes any ambiguity or choice for Royal, Carnival, and Norwegian in terms of their U.S. cruise schedules. That sounds like cold comfort, but it means that when the industry returns, it will come back with the permission of the U.S. government. That may make customers feel more comfortable getting on a cruise ship.

The CDC taking charge may also help absolve the cruise lines from potential lawsuits that might have arisen had any of the three decided to head back to sea sooner than the others and experienced negative consequences.

Should I buy a cruise line stock?

Cruise lines have always been prone to weather disruptions. They are also very vulnerable to public perception when an illness or other problem breaks out on board. But the current situation is, of course, unprecedented. Sailings could be canceled for about five months -- and longer from some ports.

This has pushed the industry to the brink because the cruise lines are not included in any stimulus packages -- Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian are not U.S. companies. They have offices in Miami, but their corporate registrations are elsewhere.

That has forced all three companies to tap their credit lines and look for the cash needed to stay afloat. Carnival, for example, took in $4 billion in cash, but it needed to pay 11.5% interest on that money to secure it. Royal and Norwegian will likely face similar pain as the coronavirus crisis extends.

The cruise lines may be able to begin some limited operations before the CDC gives the go-ahead in countries that allow for sailings and do not stop in U.S. ports. But they will continue to bleed money until the U.S. and a large number of ports get the all-clear.

Investing in cruise lines will require accepting a very long time horizon for potential recovery. It will take these companies at least a few years -- maybe longer -- to pay down debt. That will limit marketing budgets and capital expenditures.

It's also difficult to know how long it will take to return to any sort of normal. Regular passengers may be willing to sail when the CDC finally OKs it, but new cruisers or less frequent customers may take longer to feel comfortable boarding a ship.

Down but not out

These companies will, in my opinion, eventually come back. From an investor's point of view, though, that may take a very long time, and there's a risk of bankruptcies wiping out shareholder equity.

Understand that in exchange for getting these stocks at a major discount from their now-unthinkable 52-week highs, you're taking on considerable risk. If you can stomach that and are willing to settle in for a very long voyage (think more like a decade, not just a year or two), then it may make sense to buy cruise line stocks.
The French government has set aside 20 billion euros ($21.7 billion) to help inject capital into big companies struggling to survive the CCP virus crisis, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on April 10.

Le Maire has repeatedly pledged to help Frances corporate champions get through the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus crisis by taking stakes in them or even going as far as nationalization if necessary.

Weve decided to put credit on the fund, to put 20 billion euros on the special fund to support to the capital of companies that need it, whether public or private, Le Maire said on Europe 1 radio.

The funds are earmarked in a package of crisis measures that Le Maire more than doubled on Thursday to 100 billion euros and which is set to go to parliament next Wednesday for approval.

First on the list of companies that may need state funds is Air France KLM, which said on Thursday it expected the French and Dutch states to help meet its cash needs with air travel at a standstill.

As regards Air France, we are ready for when the time comes, without a doubt soon, to support Air France and make sure that this French industrial champion  recovers quickly, Le Maire said.

Sources have told Reuters that Air France-KLM is in talks with banks to receive up to 6 billion euros ($6.56 billion) in loans guaranteed by the French and Dutch governments, a sum which the junior transport minister has described as not unrealistic.

Meanwhile, other companies whose business activity has ground to a halt are seeking to tap bank credit first rather than rushing to the state for new capital.

Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said on Friday that the carmaker, in which the French state has a 15 percent stake, could seek bank loans worth 4-5 billion euros ($4.37-$5.47 billion) .

By Leigh Thomas

NTD staff contributed to this report.
Formalize your agreement

Once you identify a temporary guardian, its important to put that agreement in writing. If your child gets sick and youre unable to consent to their medical care (if youre on a ventilator, for instance), youll want someone else to have the power to authorize their care, explained Greta Solomon, a trusts and estates attorney at Cohen and Wolf in Westport, Conn.

The requirements and necessary forms (called standby guardianship forms) for doing this will vary by state. If you already have a will, the easiest and quickest way to formally draft these documents would be to ask your attorney who drafted your will to do it for you. If you dont have a will, you can often find these forms on your states government or judicial websites (the National Center for State Courts is a good place to start.) You and your standby guardian will then need to sign these forms, usually in the presence of two witnesses, Solomon added.

[More on how to name a legal guardian for your children.]

Devise a plan for your kids caretaker

If you do become hospitalized or are otherwise unable to care for your child, its important to make sure that you have a care plan in place for your children. This should include essential information such as the names of their physicians, the medications they take and instructions on how to care for any pets, but it should also include a snapshot of your childs daily routine, Wolven said. Is there a favorite book you typically read to your child in the morning? Are there any foods that she likes and dislikes? What about certain rituals she needs at night to help her wind down? Any favorite dolls and blankets?

This way, if something does happen to a childs parents, its less traumatic for them, she explained.

If youre not hospitalized, balance your own recovery with child care

Even if you dont require hospitalization, youll still need to figure out how to recover while effectively caring for your kids.

Denise Rice, 54, who lives in Brookfield, Conn., contracted the new coronavirus in March, along with her husband and their 5-year-old son. (Rice also has two other sons, ages 8 and 14, who have not yet gotten sick.) All three children were adopted and have special needs, Rice said, so she had to keep an eye on them at all times.

[How parent and schools are struggling to care for kids with special needs.]

Because Rices symptoms were much milder than her husbands, she opted to remain the primary caretaker for their boys. One of them is always up every three hours at night, so Im getting more and more run down, Rice said. Im just kind of trying to chug through and make believe its a cold until my husband feels better.
The Rajasthan government on Friday banned photography during distribution of food packets and ration among the needy in the state.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot said food and ration distribution among the poor should be taken as a service and should not be made a medium of publicity and competition.

Gehlot said the needy should be benefitted and those who are capable should not take undue advantage.

"Poor and destitute people, who have become completely dependent on the government, have the first right on ration and cooked food packets, he said.

"Photography during food and ration distribution has been banned in the state. This should not be made a medium of publicity," a release quoting the chief minister said.

Gehlot directed the district collectors to encourage NGOs and other organisations to come forward to help the needy.

He said social distancing norms should be followed while distributing food packets among the needy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Trump administration has a plan for helping drain U.S. storage tanks filling up with crude: Persuade other countries to buy those American barrels first.

That Buy American pitch is coming in the form of administration officials exhorting foreign allies to prioritize U.S. crude. The effort involves both the departments of Energy and State, said two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing administration strategy.

Its a familiar approach for the administration, which has spent years dispatching top officials to Europe to pitch U.S. liquefied natural gas overseas. And President Donald Trump already brokered a trade deal with China that included more than $52 billion in energy purchase commitments.

The U.S. is limited in what it can do to help shale producers stung by a massive downturn caused by a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia and the coronavirus pandemic thats obliterated oil demand. The Trump administration has already has signaled one option would be to slap tariffs on imported oil from those countries.

Its not clear how advanced the effort is, as administration officials have been discussing how -- and whether -- to encourage other countries to prioritize U.S. oil purchases. One of the people familiar with the matter said the administration has been actively courting foreign nations. The Energy Department didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Many Barriers

There are plenty of logistical and financial barriers. The idea could face resistance from some large, multinational oil companies. And formal agreements might violate international trade rules. For now, the price of U.S. oil isnt sufficiently discounted to support widespread exports.

Still, its clear some oil producers see expanded trade as a solution to the crude glut. Occidental Petroleum Corp. has asked its employees to press lawmakers for fair and open access for U.S.-produced crude oil to Asian countries including China, South Korea, India, Taiwan and Japan.

U.S. pipelines and storage tanks are already filling up, raising the prospect that oil companies could soon be forced to halt or heavily curtail production. Even the prospect of a 10 million barrel per day cut in oil production -- as tentatively agreed by Russia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday -- wont be enough to make up for lost demand.

Were going to be at tank tops at 40 days unless we get demand back up no matter what Russia-Saudi deal is reached, said Mike McKenna, a former senior Trump administration official. Its not like youre going to be able to fill the Superdome with this stuff.
A day after the popular Bengali Market in central Delhi was marked as one of the 23 containment zones to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the city the police on Thursday registered a case against the owner of Bengali Pastry Shop for violating social distancing norms and keeping workers under unhygienic conditions.

The upscale neighbourhood made was listed as a containment zone after a surveillance team of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Wednesday found 35 workers of the Bengali Pastry Shop living under unhygienic conditions in a congested space and violating social distancing norms. Two workers, who had flu-like symptoms (common in Covid-19 patients), were shifted to a quarantine centre after being tested at RML Hospital. The test reports are awaited.

The owner of the shop did not respond to calls and text messages from HT seeking a comment.

The NDMC on Thursday sanitised the area and sprayed 6,000 litres of disinfectant.

The area was surveyed on Wednesday after three persons were found positive for the coronavirus disease from the neighbourhood between April 4 and April 6.

Deepak Yadav, additional deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi), said the three people found Covid-19 positive in Bengali Market are the owner of Bangla Sweets in the Gol Market area, his son, and a cook.

There was no response from the owner of Bangla Sweets when HT tried to contact him.

The first person who was infected with the virus was admitted to Apollo Hospital with fever on April 4. His son also developed symptoms and had to be admitted on April 5. Their cook fell ill the next day (April 6). Both of them tested positive later, said YK Anand, president, Bengali Market residents welfare association.

A senior administration official said the tracing of their contacts is still on, and that they are unsure if any of them have any history of travel to foreign countries.

The surveillance team, which comprised officials of the district administration and those from NDMC, on Wednesday screened 325 houses, two markets and about 2,000 people in the Bengali Market and Mandi House area.

Bengali Market, which was founded in 1930, has now been sealed by the police, who have blocked all entry and exit points to the neighbourhood. According to an order issued by New Delhi district magistrate Tanvi Garg, the adjoining areas of Todarmal Road, Babar Lane, and School Lane have also been blocked.

An extensive disinfection drive on the sealed containment area of Bengali Market, Babar Road and their adjoining lanes, sub-lanes, residential complexes, parks of the area, was carried out to prevent the spread of the virus, said S Chellaiah, director (horticulture) at NDMC.

A case was registered against the shop owner for violating social distancing norms, prohibitory orders and keeping workers under unhygienic conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic. Investigations in the case is going on, the Delhi Police said in a statement on Thursday.

About 2,000 families live in Bengali Market neighbourhood, which extends from The Lalit hotel on Barakhamba Road to Sangeet Bharti near Mandi House. Within the Bengali Market containment zone, the police have set up double-layer iron barricades at 10 entry and exit points, and at least 100 security personnel have been deployed on the pickets and on patrolling duty in the containment area.

Nobody is being allowed to enter the containment zone or come out. All emergency services, such as ambulances, have been stationed near pickets. The live footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the neighbourhood is being monitored to keep a check on residents. Those found violating orders will be booked, additional DCP Yadav said .

Yadav said drones cannot be used for surveillance in Bengali Market containment because the area comes under the no-fly zone .

No supply of essentials: Residents

After being declared a containment zone, residents are not allowed to step out of their homes, even to buy essentials. Authorities said these essentials will be delivered to doorsteps of residents when they need them.

Contacted over phone, residents, however, said they had already begun facing problems, with essential food items not being delivered.

Vinod Juneja, a resident of Babar Road, said the police had circulated the contact numbers of 14 vendors authorised to deliver these goods.

However, all the vendors we call are refusing to come. For example, the vegetable vendor I called said he did not get fresh supply today as his truck was stopped somewhere. The milk vendor said he has no staff to send , Juneja said.

District magistrate Garg admitted that there may have been some problems since it was the first day of containment. We will keep a stricter vigil from tomorrow and ensure that everybody get their essential supplies, she said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A pharmaceutical firm will donate two million antimalarials to the world's largest COVID-19 medication trial following Donald Trump's praise of the drug.

Accord Healthcare Ltd, a global medicine distributor, will supply hydroxychloroquine to 40,000 frontline healthcare workers in the COPCOV study.

They will take a hydroxychloroquine tablet daily and be followed for a five-month period to see if the drug prevents them from catching the killer virus.

The University of Oxford is running the study on top of the RECOVERY trial, assessing whether antimalarials can treat COVID-19 patients who are critically ill.

Patients in Exeter were among the first in the world to sign up for the trial, as health chiefs encourage others in a bid to speed up findings a cure.

Hydroxychloroquine, marketed as Plaquenil, has been described as a 'gift from God' by Trump who fast-tracked its use in the US.

But critics have urged caution until the results of large-scale trials are published, which won't be for several months at least.

Accord Healthcare Ltd will supply hydroxychloroquine to 40,000 frontline doctors who are at risk of catching the coronavirus. Pictured, the medicine marketed as Plaquenil made by Sanofi

Chloroquine (CQ), sold under the brand name Aralen, and its counterpart hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), known as Plaquenil, are well-established medicines that are also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

They have become the focus of a global drive to find both a vaccine and treatment for COVID-19.

Now, Oxford scientists are keen to see if HCQ can prevent the virus from taking hold of a host by blocking its replication.

ARE CHLOROQUINE AND HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE PROMISING DRUGS? Chloroquine  sold under the brand name Arlan  kills malaria parasites in the blood, stopping the tropical disease in its tracks. But tests of the drug  which has been used for 70 years  on COVID-19 patients in China show it has potential in fighting the life-threatening virus. Chinese officials claimed the drug 'demonstrated efficacy and acceptable safety in treating COVID-19 associated pneumonia'. South Korea and China both say the drug is an 'effective' antiviral treatment against the disease, according to a report by US virologists. The Wuhan Institute of Virology  in the city where the crisis began  claimed the drug was 'highly effective' in petri dish tests. Tests by those researchers, as well as others, showed it has the power to stop the virus replicating in cells, and taking hold in the body. Twenty-three clinical trials on the drug are already underway on patients in China, and one is planned in the US and another in South Korea. Professor Robin May, an infectious disease specialist at Birmingham University, said the safety profile of the drug is 'well-established'. He added: 'It is cheap and relatively easy to manufacture, so it would be fairly easy to accelerate into clinical trials and, if successful, eventually into treatment.' Professor May suggested chloroquine may work by altering the acidity of the area of cells that it attacks, making it harder for the virus to replicate. Chinese scientists investigating hydroxychloroquine penned a letter to a prestigious journal saying the 'less toxic' derivative may also help'. Advertisement

Their study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, involve 400,000 frontline medics who are caring for coronavirus patients and particularly vulnerable to contracting the bug.

Researchers at each of the 150 sites will track 400 to 800 participants.

Co-lead investigator of the COPCOV study, Dr William Schilling, said the trial's rapid initiation was prompted by the 'race against time to find effective treatments and preventive measures as the COVID-19 pandemic grows'.

More than 1.6million coronavirus cases and 97,000 deaths have been recorded globally since the outbreak began.

Professor Sir Nicholas White, Wellcome Trust principal fellow and consultant physician at Oxford said: 'The hypothesis for this study is that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine might both slow viral replication in exposed subjects, attenuating or preventing the infection.

There is extensive experience with these well-established drugs in the prevention and treatment of malaria and rheumatological conditions.

We need to find out urgently in a large definitive study if they can prevent COVID-19. If they do prove effective, then they would be a readily deployable and affordable preventive measure for high risk individuals such as healthcare workers.'

Accord will donate the two million antimalarials needed for the study, as well as two million matched placebo tablets used for comparison.

Medics will be randomised to be either in the HCQ or placebo group, and take a pill each day for three months.

All participants will be followed for five months in total to see if they catch the killer infection and whether HCQ mediated the risk.

If they do test positive, scientists will compare their symptoms are to see if HCQ helped reduce the severity, ultimately preventing serious illness from COVID-19.

But the results won't be published until next year, because the study will go on until April next year.

Dr Shilling said: 'What we already know is that chloroquine has antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture.'

University of Oxford is also running one of the globes largest studies of hydroxychloroquine for treatment purposes.

The RECOVERY will also test the HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir, marketed as Kaletra and Aluvia, and dexamethasone, a type of steroid use in a range of conditions to reduce inflammation.

Almost 1,000 patients from 132 different hospitals have been already recruited in the RECOVERY trial, with thousands more expected in the coming weeks.

'50 DRUGS FOR 50 PEOPLE' TRIAL Sir John Bell, a regius professor of medicine, is co-ordinating research at University of Oxford, which will investigate already existing drugs and whether they are able to fight the coronavirus. The hope is to re-purpose drugs that have already been developed so that they can be rolled out quicker than if a medicine was made from scratch. The drugs included in the trial include those for cancer, high blood pressure, blood thinning for example. It's named '50 drugs for 50 people' - small groups of coronavirus patients in different hospitals will individually be given a medicine and compared to others in their group. Sir Bell told BBC Radio 4s Today Programme: 'We know weve got drugs that might potentially be useful against components of this disease. 'The idea is to have a quick look with a small number of patients, enough to see a very significant effect if these drugs would have such a significant effect and then move them into more definitive trials. Its very much a "look see" exercise.' Advertisement

Already fifteen patients have been recruited in Exeter, Devon.

Chloroquine is also thought to be among 1,000 drugs being tested against coronavirus in a lab as part of a Queens University Belfast study.

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last week: 'We need more patents to volunteer to be part of these trials because the bigger the trial, the better the data and the faster we can roll out the treatment  if, and only if, its proven to work.

'But for now, the only way to protect yourselves and your family from this disease is to stay at home.'

Definitive results on whether the treatments are safe and effective are expected within months and, if positive, they could potentially benefit hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

Early studies on small number of patients, such as in Italy, China and France, are promising.

But other scientists have warned the hype around chloroquine has run out of hand - particularly overly-positive comments made by Trump.

Trump tweeted about CQ and HCQ on March 21: 'HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine.'

His claims support those of controversial French professor Didier Raoult of the IHU-Mediterranee Infection, Marseille, who praised HCQ after a small study on only 36 people.

Professor Raoult and his team reportedly found that hydroxychloroquine drastically reduced the viral load in a group which received the drug.

Professor Raoult claimed a further study on 80 patients confirmed the antimalarial's 'efficiency' at combating the virus.

But his claims raised eyebrows, and several critics said the testing was not carried out in a controlled study and that the results were purely 'observational'.

Professor Francois Balloux of University College, London, rebutted that hydroxychloroquine could be the COVID-19 cure, writing on Twitter: 'No, (this is) not "huge" I'm afraid.'

The bottom line is that evidence for chloroquine effectiveness in COVID-19 is unsubstantiated, but 'exciting' nonetheless.



WHAT ARE THE MOST PROMISING DRUGS BEING TESTED?

Hydroxychloroquine (Malaria)

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Plaquenil.

What does it treat?

Malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. It is a less powerful and, by some experts' accounts, less toxic, version of chloroquine phosphate.

Hydroxychloroquine, sold under the brand name Plaquenil, may treat COVID-19

Who makes it and where has it already been tested?

Drug giant Sanofi carried out a study on 24 patients, which the French government described as 'promising'.

French health officials are now planning on a larger trial of the drug, which is used on the NHS.

What have studies shown?

Results from the French study showed three quarters of patients treated with the drug were cleared of the virus within six days. None of the placebo group were treated.

How does it work?

It interferes with viral molecules replicating in red blood cells.

Is it being tested in the UK?

Hydroxychloroquine is one of the first drugs to be trialled in the Principle study. It involves high-risk patients in primary care, aged between 50 to 64, who have COVID-19 symptoms and a chronic health condition such as heart disease, asthma or cancer.

It is unclear how many patients are taking part, and the study will run until March next year. So it will be a while before results are clear.

The study is being at the University of Oxfords Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences.

Hydroxychloroquine is also thought to be among 1,000 drugs being tested at Queens University Belfast.

What are its side effects?

Skin rashes, nausea, diarrhoea and headaches.

What do the experts think?

Chinese scientists investigating the other form of chloroquine penned a letter to a prestigious journal saying its 'less toxic' derivative may also help.

In the comment to Cell Discovery  owned by publisher Nature, they said it shares similar chemical structures and mechanisms.

The team of experts added: 'It is easy to conjure up the idea that hydroxychloroquine may be a potent candidate to treat infection by SARS-CoV-2.'

Lopinavir/ritonavir

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Kaletra and Aluvia.

What does it treat?

Lopinavir/ritonavir, marketed under the brand names Kaletra and Aluvia, is an anti-HIV medicine

It is an anti-HIV medicine given to people living with the virus to prevent it developing into AIDS. HIV patients were prescribed either Kaltra or ritonavir alone around 1,400 times in 2018.

Who makes it?

Illinois-based manufacturer AbbVie donated free supplies of the drug to authorities in China, the US and Europe for tests.

What have studies shown?

Chinese media reported that the drug was successfully used to cure patients with the coronavirus, but the reports have not been scientifically proven.

A separate Chinese study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the lopinavir-ritonavir combination did not improve survival or speed recovery of COVID-19 patients.

However, the authors noted they had enrolled a 'severely ill population' of patients.

In a clinical trial submission, scientists in South Korea said lab studies have: 'In vitro [laboratory] studies revealed that lopinavir/ritonavir [has] antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).'

How does it work?

It is a class of drug called a protease inhibitor, which essentially stick to an enzyme on a virus which is vital to the virus reproducing.

By doing this it blocks the process the virus would normally use to clone itself and spread the infection further.

Is it being tested in the UK?

It is not prescribed on the NHS for coronavirus because it hasn't been approved - but will be used in the Recovery trial, a massive study run by the University of Oxford for COVID-19 patients already in hospital.

The trial started enrolling patients on March 23, with the aim of reaching COVID-19 patients in more than 150 UK hospitals within two weeks.

The drug is also being trialled on coronavirus patients in China and at the University of Nebraska.

What are its side effects?

Known side effects include diarrhea, headaches, upset stomachs, drowsiness, dizziness, a bad taste in the mouth, and trouble sleeping.

What do the experts think?

The drugs have been described as 'promising' by experts. But there has been some hesitancy about the drug combination due to the NEJM study.

Interferon beta-1b/SNG001

What are the brand versions of the drug?

The drug is still in development and goes by the name of SNG001.

What does it treat?

Interferon beta-1b (IFN-beta) is a naturally occurring protein that orchestrates the body's anti-viral responses.

Interferon beta-1b (IFN-beta) is a naturally occurring protein that orchestrates the body's anti-viral responses

SNG001 is a formulation of IFN-beta developed by Synairgen to prevent severe lower respiratory tract illness caused by cold and flu infections.

A different formulation using the protein is used to treat patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

The drug called Extavia is self-injected every two days and works by slowing down the damage to the nervous system and by reducing the number of relapses.

Where has it already been tested?

Synairgen is a UK-based company, and it appears their formulation hasn't crossed overseas yet.

But it does say has been approached by, and is in discussion with, a number of scientific and governmental bodies in the US and internationally since the COVID-19 outbreak began.

What have studies shown?

Laboratory studies have shown IFN-beta can protect cells from infection by a range of respiratory viruses.

These include the MERS and SARS coronavirus strains, leaving scientists expecting IFN-beta to also protect against the COVID-19 strain.

It has already been shown to improve the recovery of asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) patients who have other lung infections, such as flu.

Richard Marsden, CEO of Synairgen, said: 'SNG001 has been well tolerated in clinical trials in over 200 respiratory patients to date and has accelerated lung function recovery in two Phase II asthma trials in patients with a cold or flu infection.'

How does it work?

SNG001 is inhaled with a nebuliser, which helps deliver drugs to the lungs.

Scientists believe it will prevent the coronavirus from taking over lung cells to replicate. This would prevent patients deteriorating until the point they need ventilation to survive.

Viruses, including coronaviruses, can evolve the ability to suppresses IFN-beta production in the body, thereby helping the virus evade.

Is it being tested in the UK?

Southampton researchers are conducting a Phase II SNG001 trial on COVID-19 patients to see if it could prevent worsening symptoms in those most at risk.

The trial, led by Professor Tom Wilkinson at University Hospital Southampton, will involve 100 patients at Southampton and up to ten other NHS hospitals. It started recruiting mid-March.

Those patients will receive the best current COVID19 care, whilst inhaling either a placebo or SNG001 for 14 days.

What are its side effects?

Doctors are currently clueless. Side effects will be reported with the findings of the clinic trial.

Other forms of interferon beta can cause headaches, vaginal bleeding and diminish libido.

What do the experts think?

Tom Wilkinson told Sky News: 'We are hoping that the drug will increase the rate of recovery from infection, that it will increase the protection in the bit of the lungs that are not infected yet and will reduce the number of patients that decline significantly and require intubation and ventilation.'

Mr Marsden said: 'A successful outcome from this trial [at Southampton] in COVID-19 patients would be a major breakthrough in the fight against this coronavirus pandemic.'

Dexamethasone is a steroid drug is used to treat allergies and asthma, as well as some types of cancer

Dexamethasone

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Ozurdex and Baycadron.

What does it treat?

The steroid drug is used to treat allergies and asthma, as well as some types of cancer.

Who makes it?

Baycadron is made by Wockhardt Usa, Llc, while Ozurdex is made by Allergan, the manufacturer of a commonly used textured breast implant.

What have studies shown?

No studies have yet to prove dexamethasone can treat SARS-CoV-2 - but it has been tested on patients with MERS and SARS, two different coronaviruses.

One retrospective study of critically-ill patients with MERS found that almost half of the people that received steroids needed additional treatments such as assistance in breathing, drugs to increase blood pressure, and a form of dialysis.

Those given steroids were found to take longer to clear the virus from their bodies.

Other studies found that the virus was still present in SARS patients who took the drugs up to three weeks after infection.

How does it work?

Steroids are often used by doctors to reduce inflammation, which is present in the lungs of patients with the coronavirus.

However, steroids also impair the immune system's ability to fight viruses and other infections that often develop in patients with life-threatening illness.

Is it being tested in the UK?

Dexamethasone is one of the drugs being used in the RECOVERY trial launched by the University of Oxford. It will include patients at more than 130 NHS hospitals across the UK.

What are its side effects?

The drug is known to cause an increase in appetite and heartburn, as well as muscle weakness and insomnia.

What do the experts think?

In a piece in prestigious medical journal The Lancet, three experts warned: 'No unique reason exists to expect that patients with 2019-nCoV infection will benefit from corticosteroids.

'And they might be more likely to be harmed with such treatment.

'We conclude that corticosteroid treatment should not be used for the treatment of 2019-nCoV-induced lung injury or shock outside of a clinical trial.'

Remdesivir

Remdesivir is an anti-viral drug that works in essentially the same way as favipiravir  by crippling the RNA polymerase enzyme, stopping a virus from reproducing

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Remdesivir - no brand name currently exists because it is only experimental.

What does it treat?

It was developed around 10 years ago with the intention of it destroying the Ebola virus. It was pushed aside, however, when other, better candidates emerged.

Who makes it?

California-based pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, the firm behind the life-changing HIV-preventing pill Truvada, or PrEP.

What have studies shown?

Lab tests of remdesivir have shown promise against coronaviruses - but human trials are still in their early days.

Doctors in the US have tried it on patients and it managed to speed up the recovery of the first person to be treated for the virus there.

WHAT ARE THE THREE MAIN CORONAVIRUS TRIALS IN THE UK? Principle The Principle trial is studying people aged 50 to 64 who have COVID-19 symptoms and a chronic health condition such as heart disease, asthma or cancer. It is unclear how many patients are taking part. It is also open to those aged 65 or over, with or without other illnesses. The first drug that will be trialled is hydroxychloroquine, sold as Plaquenil. Other potential treatments will be used if they show promise in pre-clinical studies. The study is being run at the University of Oxfords Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences It will last until March next year. Recovery The Randomised Evaluation of COV-id19 thERapY (RECOVERY) trial is being run by the University of Oxford. It will test the HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir, marketed as Kaletra and Aluvia, hydroxychloroquine, a malaria medication sold as Plaquenil, and dexamethasone, a type of steroid use in a range of conditions to reduce inflammation. Almost 1,000 patients from 132 different hospitals have been already recruited in just 15 days. Thousands more are expected to join the trial in the coming weeks, making it the largest randomised controlled trial of potential COVID-19 treatments in the world. Definitive results on whether the treatments are safe and effective are expected within months and, if positive, they could potentially benefit hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. REMAP-CAP The REMAP-CAP trial is an international effort, with more than 50 research teams around the world - in around 13 countries - taking part. It is looking specifically at patients who develop community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) as a result of viral infections. The study will test 16 drugs, including hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon beta, which have all shown promise in pre-clinical trials. Between 2,000 and 4,000 patients will be enrolled. Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial The Adaptive trial is taking place in about 75 hospitals globally to assess the experimental Ebola drug remdesivir in patients with moderate to severe COVID-19. University College London (UCL) is leading the UK part, called ACTT-EU/UK, which recruited its first patient this week. The trial will involve thousands of people across 15 NHS trusts in London, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Plymouth and more. Initially the trial aims to recruit 440 people who will be followed up by 29 days. Researchers hope to have the first results from the trial by the beginning of this summer. Advertisement

The a 35-year-old man in Washington state, close to Seattle  whose infection was announced on January 20  recovered after being given the drug.

A Californian woman who doctors 'thought was going to pass away' also recovered in the US after being given the drug.

Four American passengers on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship treated with the drug in Japan also recovered.

Officials in Liguria  a coastal region of Italy  also announced an infected man in his 70s had recovered and could go home after 12 days in hospital.

How does it work?

Remdesivir is an anti-viral drug that works in essentially the same way as favipiravir  by crippling the RNA polymerase enzyme, stopping a virus from reproducing.

Is it being tested in the UK?

The Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT-EU/UK) trial, which is taking place in about 75 hospitals globally, recruited its first UK patient this week.

The study, led by the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at University College London, will evaluate the safety and efficacy of remdesivir in patients with moderate to severe Covid-19. It will be administered via IV.

The trial will involve thousands of people across 15 NHS trusts in London, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Plymouth and more.

Initially the trial aims to recruit 440 people who will be followed up by 29 days. Researchers hope to have the first results from the trial by the beginning of this summer.

Critically, a clinical trial of this size will highlight the true efficacy of remdesivir and any potential side effects.

The drug is also being trialled on coronavirus patients in China and at the University of Nebraska.

What are its side effects?

Scientists are full of hope because the drug is proven to be safe in humans. Its side effects are still not well understood.

What do the experts think?

Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, hailed remdesivir as 'one of the most promising antivirals' being investigated.

While Dr Alfredo Garzino-Demo, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said evidence shows it has the ability to treat COVID-19 patients.

Ceftriaxone

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Rocephin.

What does it treat?

The antibiotic treat many kinds of bacterial infections, including severe or life-threatening forms such as meningitis.

Ceftriaxone is an antibiotic treat many kinds of bacterial infections, including severe or life-threatening forms such as meningitis

It's also used to prevent infection in people having certain types of surgery.

Rocephin is injected into a muscle, or into a vein through an IV.

Who makes it?

Roche Laboratories, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant.

What have studies shown?

No studies have yet proven Ceftriaxone can treat the new coronavirus.

Is it being tested in the UK?

It is currently being tested on humans as part of the REMAP-CAP trial, an international effort involving more than 50 research teams around the world.

The drug will be trialled on patients who develop pneumonia as a result of the virus, including those in UK hospitals.

How does it work?

It works by by interfering with bacteria trying to multiply and grow.

Ceftriaxone blocks the bacteria from making a cell wall, which eventually kills off the infection-causing bugs.

What are its side effects?

The drug may cause mild diarrhea, warmth or a hard lump where the injection was given, vaginal itching or discharge, rash, or poor liver function.

Moxifloxacin is being studied as part of the REMAP-CAP trial looking into its effectiveness on coronavirus patients with pneumonia

Moxifloxacin

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Avelox.

What does it treat?

The antibiotic is used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including pneumonia, conjunctivitis, tuberculosis, sinusitis and heart infections.

It is taken orally, by injection into a vein, or as an eye drop.

Who makes it?

The German firm Bayer AG, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

What have studies shown?

There have been no studies into its effect on coronavirus patients yet.

Is it being tested in the UK?

Moxifloxacin is also part of the REMAP-CAP trial which spans across the globe, including the UK. It will be used on patients with pneumonia - which COVID-19's can trigger in worst-case scenarios.

Moxifloxacin is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system.

How does it work?

It kills off bacteria by blocking their ability to duplicate.

What are its side effects?

Common side effects include diarrhea, dizziness, and headache.

In rare instances, it may cause spontaneous tendon ruptures, nerve damage, and skeletal muscle weakness.

Piperacillin-tazobactam is a combination medication containing the antibiotic piperacillin and the -lactamase inhibitor tazobactam, a group of enzymes that combat antibiotic resistance

Piperacillin-tazobactam

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Tazocin.

What does it treat?

Piperacillin-tazobactam is a combination medication containing the antibiotic piperacillin and the -lactamase inhibitor tazobactam, a group of enzymes that combat antibiotic resistance.

It is used to treat pelvic inflammatory disease, intra-abdominal infection, pneumonia, cellulitis, and sepsis. It is administered by injection into a vein.

Who makes it?

The German firm Bayer AG, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

What have studies shown?

There have been no studies into its effect on coronavirus patients yet.

Is it being tested in the UK?

Piperacillin-tazobactam is also on the WHO's List of Essential Medicines, and so has been pulled into the REMAP-CAP trial on COVID-19 patients with pneumonia.

How does it work?

The drug kills bacteria through blocking their ability to make a cell wall and duplicate.

What are its side effects?

Common adverse effects include headache, trouble sleeping, rash, nausea, constipation, and diarrhoea.

Macrolide

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Zithromax, Klacid, Erymax, Erythrocin, Erythroped and Erythroped A.

Macrolide are a group of antibiotics used to treat pneumonia and respiratory infections. It is sold under the brand name Zithromax

What does it treat?

Macrolides are a group of antibiotics used to treat pneumonia and respiratory infections.

Who makes it?

Pfizer, best known as the creator of Viagra, makes the most common macrolide, Zithromax.

What have studies shown?

It has been used since 1952 as a substitute to penicillin in cases where patients were allergic to penicillin or had penicillin-resistant illnesses.

Macrolides have long been shown to be effective at treating pneumonia and the serious bouts of the flu.

Is it being tested in the UK?

There are high hopes its effectiveness for treating COVID-19 will come to light in the REMAP-CAP trial.

How does it work?

They act by inhibiting bacterial protein synthesis, or stopping bugs from growing in the body.

What are its side effects?

The drugs have long been considered safe for the vast majority of people.

But a 2008 British Medical Journal article highlights that the combination of some macrolides and statins (used for lowering cholesterol) is not advisable and can lead mto Muscular disease.

Some macrolides are also known to cause cholestasis, a condition where bile cannot flow from the liver to the intestine.

Cholestasis can lead to itchiness, jaundice and abnormally concentrated urine.

The antiviral medication is used to treat and prevent influenza A, the most common version of the flu, and influenza B

Oseltamivir

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Tamiflu.

What does it treat?

The antiviral medication is used to treat and prevent influenza A, the most common version of the flu, and influenza B.

It is recommend it in people who have complications or are at high risk of complications within 48 hours of first symptoms of infection.

Oseltamivir is taken by mouth, either as a pill or liquid.

Who makes it?

Roche Laboratories, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant.

What have studies shown?

A tiny study of four medics, aged 30 to 36, who contracted coronavirus suggested Oseltamivir suppressed the virus' reproduction.

The study, published in the journal JAMA on February 27, followed four medical professionals ages 30 to 36 years old who developed COVID-19 in the outbreak's epicentre in Wuhan, China.

All of the individuals recovered after being treated with Tamiflu.

Is it being tested in the UK?

The drug is being trialled by British and international researchers as part of the REMAP-CAP study.

How does it work?

Tamflu works by attacking flu viruses to keep them from multiplying in the body.

What are its side effects?

Common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, nosebleeds, eye redness or discomfort and sleeping problems.

The flu itself or Tamiflu may rarely cause mood changes, which is more common in children.

Amoxicillin-clavulanate

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Augmentin. It is taken as a tablet.

Amoxicillin-clavulanate is useful for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections

What does it treat?

The penicillin antibiotic is useful for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections, including sinusitis, pneumonia, ear infections, bronchitis, urinary tract infections, and skin infections.

Clavulanate potassium is a beta-lactamase inhibitor that helps prevent certain bacteria from becoming resistant to amoxicillin.

Who makes it?

The British drug giant GlaxoSmithKlin, based in Brentford, London.

What have studies shown?

No studies have investigated its effect on the coronavirus.

Is it being trialled in the UK?

It's on the extensive list of drugs being tested in the the REMAP-CAP trial, involving between 2,000 and 4,000 patients in 13 countries, including the UK.

How does it work?

It stops the growth of bacteria and is only used to treat bacterial infections. It is not thought to be effective for viral infections such as the common cold and flu.

What are the side effects?

The drug is considered generally safe for most people and has very little side effects.

In some circumstances, the drug can cause hives, general itching, itching of the vagina or genital area, pain during sexual intercourse, redness of the skin, vaginal discharge.

But there have been reports of the antibiotic causing bloody or cloudy urine, fever, greatly decreased frequency of urination or amount of urine, seizures and swelling of the feet or lower legs.

The antibiotic is prescribed for complicated skin infections, including MRSA, and pneumonia

Ceftaroline

What are the brand versions of the drug?

Teflaro in the US and Zinforo in Europe

What does it treat?

The antibiotic is prescribed for complicated skin infections, including MRSA, and pneumonia.

It is given via drip into a vein, usually in hospital.

Who makes it?

The New York City based drug giant, Pfizer.

What have studies shown?

The antibiotic is being trialled on an international group of patients, including Britons, along with 15 other drugs as part of the REM-CAP trial.

How does it work?

The active substance in Zinforo, ceftaroline fosamil, is a type of antibiotic called cephalosporin belonging to the group 'beta-lactams'.

It interferes with the production of complex molecules called peptidoglycans, which are essential components of bacterial cell walls.

What are its side effects?

The most common side effects with Zinforo - seen in more than 3 per cent of patients - are diarrhoea, headache, nausea, and itching.
Sean Cox celebrated his birthday at home yesterday for the first time since suffering life-changing injuries after an attack at a Liverpool match two years ago.

Sean (55), from Dunboyne, Co Meath, suffered catastrophic injuries from an attack before the Champions League semi-final between Liverpool and AS Roma at Anfield in 2018.

The father-of-three spent months in a coma in Liverpool before being transferred back to an Irish hospital.

The Support Sean Cox website shared an image of him toasting his birthday.

They captioned it: "Happy birthday Sean Cox ... best wishes to you and your family from the #SupportSean army."

The Cox family took to social media last month to share their excitement over Seans return home.

"Amidst our challenges, a positive moment as Sean Cox makes his return home, they said.

"For the first time in almost two years, the Cox family are finally reunited under one roof as Sean makes a long awaited and welcome return to his home in Dunboyne.

"Seans journey over this time has been challenging and difficult, however today is an important and positive milestone for Sean and his family.

"While Sean will continue to require full-time care and ongoing rehabilitation for the foreseeable future, today is a definitely a day to enjoy."

Seans wife Martina said: "This is a day we as a family have been looking forward to for a long time. While Sean still has a long road to travel, having him home with us is an incredibly important step as we come together as a family unit again.

"I cant thank enough those who have helped Sean along the way over the past two years. Without a doubt this support has made today possible.

"In particular, I would like to thank the incredible staff in Marymount Care Centre in Lucan for the care and support they have provided to Sean over the past number of months.

"At a time when staying at home takes on new meaning for all of us, its clear that there is no other place that Sean would rather be.

"Hundreds of thousands of euro was raised through fundraising to help with the finance for his long-term treatment which will span years."

Three Italian men are currently serving jail sentences in relation to the attack which left Sean unable to walk and in need of full-time care.

Nearly 500,000 was raised for Sean Cox at a benefit gig hosted by in January when around 8,000 fans filled Dublins 3Arena to see some of comedys biggest names, such as John Bishop, Michael McIntyre, Dara OBriain, Tommy Tiernan and Joanne McNally.

The 'Support Sean' event raised 465,000 for the Sean Cox Rehabilitation Trust.
Yemen, which Friday announced its first coronavirus case, is wracked by a war which has killed tens of thousands and caused the worlds worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.

The war between Huthi rebels and pro-government troops escalated in March 2015, when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened against the rebels who control large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa.

 Civilians on front line 

Over the past six years, tens of thousands of people  mostly civilians  have been killed in the conflict, according to aid organisations.

More than three million people have been displaced within Yemen, living in camps.

Amnesty International said in December 2019 that some 4.5 million people living with disabilities are faced with growing difficulties in the country.

In the worst cases, the disabled people are left behind by their families after being separated while fleeing their homes, it said in a report.

 Collapse of health system 

Aid organisations have on several occasions over the past months warned of the countrys ailing health system and the risk of the spread of the coronavirus.

Yemen is critically under-equipped to face the pandemic, said Xavier Joubert, country director for Save the Children in Yemen after the first case was announced.

Only half of Yemens health facilities are still fully functional, said Joubert.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which has said Yemens healthcare system has all but collapsed, said in January it was concerned that many Yemenis have no access to clean water or soap.

The country has also been ravaged by cholera, which has killed more than 2,500 people since April 2017.

Around 1.2 million suspected cases have been reported, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

 Lost generation 

The UN childrens fund (UNICEF) says two million of the countrys children of school age go without education in Yemen, of whom half a million left school after the conflict escalated in 2015.

Across the country some 10.3 million children are suffering from food insecurity, of whom 2.1 million are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to the UN.

According to Cluster Sante, which groups international NGOs and UN agencies, nearly 1.2 million children have been stricken by cholera, diphtheria or dengue fever over the past three years.

 Worst humanitarian crisis 

Long the Arabian Peninsulas poorest nation, Yemen is the scene of the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the UN.

More than two thirds of the population  24 million people  require humanitarian assistance.

 War crimes 

In September 2019, investigators appointed by the UN Human Rights Council pointed to war crimes committed by all sides in the conflict.

There are no clean hands in the conflict, said one of the experts, Charles Garraway.

If confirmed by an independent and competent court, many of the violations identified may result in individuals being held responsible for war crimes, the experts said in a statement.

They listed air strikes and shelling, starvation as a method of warfare, killings, torture and sexual violence, and recruitment of child soldiers as crimes being committed with impunity.

In February, the Saudi-led coalition said it was launching legal proceedings against soldiers suspected of abuses during attacks in Yemen.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 10, 2020 | 02:31 PM | FRANKFORT, PADUCAH





Cameron says he is aware that some Kentucky jurisdictions are discussing a possible prohibition of drive-in church services for the upcoming Easter holiday. According to Cameron, as long as the religious groups and worshipers are complying with current Centers for Disease Control recommendations for social distancing, officials see no problem with the services continuing.





He said, "Religious organizations should not be treated any differently than other entities that are simultaneously conducting drive-through operations, while also abiding by social distancing policies. As long as Kentuckians are permitted to drive through liquor stores, restaurants, and other businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the law requires that they must also be allowed to participate in drive-in church services, consistent with existing policies to stop the spread of COVID-19.







We must all continue to work together and do our part to fight back against COVID-19. However, individuals who wish to celebrate religious holidays using a format that follows social distancing policies and CDC guidelines should not be unnecessarily banned from doing so."







City of Paducah Mayor, Brandi Harless, recently spoke out against drive-in style services within Paducah, and encouraged religious groups to hold virtual services only.





"With the upcoming Easter Sunday, we know that people want to be together to worship. However, the safest way is by worshiping at home and participating in virtual services," She continued, "I praise our local faith community for being adaptable and using technology to reach their congregations. During this pandemic crisis, I ask them to join us in continuing to make the sacrifices we are all making and to not hold in-person or drive-in services in parking lots or other locations."







You can see story on virtual services at the link below.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron has released a statement regarding the possible prohibition of drive-in church services during the pandemic.

On the Net:
Thirty-two-year-old Sushil Kumar rubs clean the last orange from his bag and places it on top to pinnacle his pyramid of oranges. Finally looking up after completing this elaborate exercise, Kumar tends to a group of customers waiting patiently for him to dole out their orders.

Despite the national capitals lockdown to control the spread of Covid-19, the lanes of South Delhis Gautam Nagar are busy with people going out to buy medicines, fruits, vegetables and basic groceries. Some are seen just walking around with large bags over their shoulders.

Many doctors and nurses live here. They are either coming back from their duties or going to them. This place is usually bustling with activity despite movement restrictions, said Kumar, adjusting his face mask.

With central government hospitals such as Safdarjung and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) just a kilometre away, Gautam Nagar, a middle-class neighbourhood adjacent to several posh south Delhi neighbourhoods, has become a hub of young doctors and nurses looking for cheap housing near their workplace.

Residents say house owners have been renting out to healthcare professionals for years now. However, over the last two days, many medicos living in the area have been gripped with fear. Videos of two doctors narrating their horrors of being roughed up by a local while they were out buying oranges, has been circulating all over. In hospital groups, doctors residing in these areas have been asked to lay low and not engage with the general public.

We are out there risking our lives to save people and when we come home, this is what we have to face? said Sheeba Panamketty, a junior resident at Safdarjung Hospital, who lives in Gautam Nagar with four other doctors.

While Panamketty voices her fear, the owner of a grocery shop where she has placed an order for two water cans, clarifies that the incident with the doctors took place at the neighbouring Gulmohar Enclave.

Carefully maintaining distance while talking, Panamketty says, The shift timings are so erratic that we have no other option but to shop for essential items whenever we find the time. We do everything we can to ensure our own safety and of the people around us.

Other healthcare professionals living nearby too say that they do feel threatened since the attack on the two doctors at the marketplace. There is confusion among the general public that any doctor nearby is on the Covid-19 team, which is not the case. Besides, there is anxiety among people here, which is understandable, but its equally difficult for us, said Akanksha Nidhi, a doctor who lives here.

Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti, employed with a private medical facility and a resident of Gautam Nagar, said that people by and large do have apprehensions about living in the same neighbourhood as those from the medical fraternity at this time, as the latter has a greater degree of exposure to the contagious Sars-Cov-2. This has emerged as a common sentiment, that people look at doctors with a suspicion of being infected. While some hospitals are planning for make-shift arrangements for their Covid-19 teams within the hospital compound or at a place nearby, proper facilities are required for an extended stay to ensure the medical personnel dont have to come back home during this period, said Bhatti.

Dhriti Singla, a resident of the area, said the hospital administration or the government should provide doctors with alternative accommodation until the Covid-19 outbreak is brought under control. We are not against doctors; they are doing a great job by saving so many lives in the time of this pandemic. However, there is a fear that the community could suffer. There are old people and children living here, she said.

Amid uncertainty on both sides, the administration is trying to assure residents of their safety while they stay at home during the lockdown, in an effort to control the spread of coronavirus.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Atul Thakur said the area is being patrolled intensively and announcements are being made urging people to not panic or take the law in their hands in any situation. We are urging people to maintain social distancing norms and will ensure strict action against anyone breaching the rules of the lockdown, the DCP said.

The municipal body is also ensuring that residents are at peace with each other. Anil Kumar Sharma, a local councillor, said the incident of violence against the doctors was a one-off case. This colonys main income is rent from tenants, many of whom are medical professionals. Why would anyone want to upset their tenants and ruin their income? This area is safe; women can walk in and out without fear at any time of the night. We assure them (doctors) that we will keep them safe while they fight for everyones safety, Sharma said.

While many shop owners, especially after Wednesdays incident, have been supportive and are ensuring that essential items reach the doorsteps of medical professionals living here, there are some who are hesitant about living in close proximity with healthcare professionals who are at a greater risk of contracting the virus.

Doctors in our society are treated like gods. I have told all my delivery agents to ensure that orders from medical professionals are delivered on priority. We are all with them in fighting this pandemic, said Manohar Lal, the owner of a grocery store in the area.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
(Repeats story published on April 9 for additional subscribers)

* India lockdown hampers delivery of existing contracts

* Vietnam rates unavailable for third week

* Thai rates widen to $555$580 a tonne from $560-$570

* Bangladesh bans exports of its common rice variety

By Sumita Layek

BENGALURU, April 9 (Reuters) - There was little activity this week in Asia's main rice trading hubs as a coronavirus lockdown in India hampered exports, Vietnam's ban on shipments to ensure it has enough domestic supply continued while Thai rates remained at seven-year highs.

In India, the world's biggest rice exporter, traders have stopped signing new export contracts as labour shortages and logistical disruptions caused by the 21-day lockdown are already hampering the delivery of existing contracts.

"Rice is not moving from fields to mills and mills to ports," said an exporter based at Kakinada.

Export prices were unavailable for a second week running.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, the government has halted the export of its common rice variety as domestic prices of the staple grain have been driven to a two-year by panic buying.

"In this situation, there is no scope to allow rice exports even though traders came up with some orders," a commerce ministry official said on Thursday.

It was a similar situation in Vietnam, which has suspended the signing of new export contracts in an attempt to ensure domestic supplies are sufficient during the pandemic.

Vietnam's 5% broken rice prices <RI-VNBKN5-P1> were unavailable for the third week in a row.

"There have been no transactions and we're still waiting for the final decision from the prime minister on the resumption of exports," said a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade asked the government earlier this week to resume rice exports but limit the volume to 800,000 tonnes for April and May.

But traders said the Ministry of Finance wants to keep the ban on white rice exports until June while allowing the export of fragrant and glutinous rice to resume immediately.

Story continues

Thailand's benchmark 5% broken rice <RI-THBKN5-P1> prices widened to $555$580 per tonne - their highest since April 2013 - from $560-$570 last week on concerns about supply shortages due to an ongoing drought.

"The drought has really hurt supply and pushed up the prices and kept buyers away. This has been going on for weeks," a rice trader in Bangkok said.

Rice exporters in Thailand said they were monitoring the situation in rival exporting countries.

"We're still looking at how COVID-19 is impacting exports in the main competitors like Vietnam and India to see whether a lack of exports there will increase demand for Thai rice. So far there has been no major order from overseas markets," another rice trader in Bangkok said.

"But even if demand increases because others can't sell, the supply situation here could push up the price even further." (Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Khanh Vu in Hanoi; Editing by David Clarke)
The union representing University of California lecturers stepped up its demands Friday for UC to provide suitable working conditions as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Union leaders, speaking during a virtual news conference, expressed frustration at what they characterized as the universitys refusal to address the challenges of teaching from home. All UC campuses moved to online instruction last month because of the pandemic.

It seems ludicrous that a university like this, with the resources it has, cannot do better, said Katie Rodger, a lecturer in the writing department at UC Davis.  ... Im so appalled right now. If I had a student in the system, Id be furious.

Lecturers teach more than 30% of student credit hours in the UC system, though they generally work on short-term, part-time contracts. The University Council-American Federation of Teachers represents about 6,500 librarians and non-tenure-track teaching faculty, including more than 3,500 lecturers, throughout the UC system.

In negotiations over the past month, union officials said, the university administration acknowledged lecturers are crucial to the continued function of the university. UC also announced a moratorium on spring layoffs.

This counted as welcome news among lecturers, but they also contended the university did not go far enough. They want UC officials to provide ergonomically sound chairs and reliable internet service for lecturers teaching from home.

Union leaders also noted one example last week in which Jillian Azevedo, of UC Davis, complained about her working conditions at home and was told to teach from her small, shared campus office, where social distancing was not possible. Azevedo has since returned home to teach and bought her own equipment.

The university needs to recognize and fund this, to help us get good chairs and good internet, said Josh Brahinsky, a UC Santa Cruz lecturer, in an interview with The Chronicle. If students come into classes and Zoom is constantly crashing, thats really bad for their learning. And theyre going to bail.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Andrew Gordon, spokesman for the UC Office of the President, said the university has been in contract negotiations with the lecturers union for nearly a year. The unions previous contract expired at the end of January.

UC has been working very hard to provide lecturers with the support they need, including resources for working at home as well as using their empty office on campus if working at home is not feasible, Gordon wrote in an email Friday.

While we strive to provide resources for remote instruction from home, the university (like many organizations) does not typically provide items such as desks. ... Such requests would be handled on an individual basis to determine how we can best accommodate their needs.

Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick
A historic multilateral deal to lower global oil production and stabilize prices, led by record cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia, is at risk of collapse after Mexico refused to sign up.

The impasse casts doubt on efforts to revive the market from a debilitating coronavirus-induced slump. The deal by the coalition of nations known as OPEC+, which dwarves s previous interventions and has been sponsored by U.S. President Donald Trump, would end the price war between Riyadh and Moscow that helped pushed oil down to the lowest in almost two decades.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday morning, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he had talked to Trump and had reached a deal with OPEC+, but it wasn't immediately clear if his position had shifted.

Saudi Arabia made the whole deal dependent on Mexico's participation, pinning an accord to remove more than 10% of global production from the market on an argument about a few hundreds of thousands of barrels. But Riyadh's energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman is determined the burden of cuts must be shared as widely as possible.

Attention now turns to Friday's meeting of G-20 oil ministers, chaired by Saudi Arabia, where countries outside OPEC+, including the U.S., are expected to make commitments to support oil markets. It presents another chance to bring pressure on Mexico. Failure to nail down a deal would likely see oil prices slump again on Monday and could revive the monthlong war for market share between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

"The extreme volatility we are seeing in oil markets is detrimental to the global economy at a time when we can least afford it," said Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, who's been a key figure in the diplomatic effort to broker a global deal.

In a sign that the the diplomatic push for a deal would continue at the highest levels, Russian news agency Tass reported that President Vladimir Putin would make more calls on the issue today. He held a three-way conversation with President Trump and Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman yesterday.

The tentative deal would result in cuts of about 10 million barrels a day during May and June. Saudi Arabia and Russia, the biggest producers in the group, would each take output down to about 8.5 million a day, with all members agreeing to cut supply by 23%.

It would be the biggest cut in OPEC's history and highlights the depth of the market's crisis. Opening yesterday's meeting, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo described the supply-deman balance as "horrifying." But it will probably buy producers little more than a bit of time.

"With demand likely down 20% this quarter, we believe the agreed cuts won't be enough to prevent oil inventories from rising sharply over the coming weeks," said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS Group AG.

The refusal by Mexico's Energy Secretary Rocio Nahle Garcia to accept the proposed cuts reflects her country's determination to keep as close as possible to the production and spending plans it's been pursuing despite the crash. In a Twitter post shortly after leaving the meeting, she said the nation is ready to reduce output by 100,000 barrels a day, far less than the 400,000 barrels a day proposed by the group, and from a higher baseline.

"Mexico can and should join the international community in stabilizing the oil market," said Aldo Flores Quiroga, the former Mexican deputy oil minister who negotiated OPEC+ deals from 2016 to 2018. "The production cut is both necessary and possible. It's the responsible thing to do domestically and internationally."

OPEC+ has been put under intense pressure by Trump and American lawmakers, who fear thousands of job losses in the U.S. shale patch.

While the headline cut equates to a reduction of about 10% of global supply, it makes up just a fraction of the demand loss, which some traders estimate at as much as 35 million barrels a day.

Oil prices have tumbled by half this year as the spread of the coronavirus coincided with a bitter price war that saw producers flood the market. Brent dropped 4.1% to $31.48 a barrel on Thursday, even as the agreement began to take shape. There's no trading Friday in New York or London due to the Good Friday holiday.

Russia has insisted that the U.S. in particular do more than just let market forces reduce its record production. Trump, meanwhile, has said America's cut will happen "automatically" as low prices put shale in dire straits, a sentiment reiterated by his energy secretary Thursday.

OPEC+'s tentative plan would see the output curbs tapering off after two months, depending on the evolution of the coronavirus. The 10 million-barrel-a-day cut may shrink to 8 million a day from July and then 6 million a day from January 2021 to April 2022, according to the OPEC statement. The group is planning another videoconference June 10 to discuss what additional measures need to be taken.

Saudi Arabia and Russia will apply reductions to a production baseline of about 11 million barrels a day, according to the OPEC statement. For Saudi Arabia, that's lower than recent output, which rose above 12 million a day in early April. Other countries would cut from their October 2018 levels.

For oil markets, the massive oil-demand contraction is unprecedented, OPEC said in an internal document circulated to ministers and seen by Bloomberg. The current outlook looks extremely bleak, with oil markets anticipated to be severely tested on many fronts.
The Russian government has bought 50% in the Russias top bank Sberbank from the Russian central bank at 189.44 rubles per share through the Finance Ministry, spending 2.139 trillion rubles from the National Wealth Fund on the deal, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.



In total, the authority bought 11,293,474,000 common shares in the bank.



"The deal was carried out at the weighted average price defined by results of trade on the Moscow Exchange in the period from March 9, 2020 through April 7, 2020 and amounting to 189.44 rubles per share. The sum of the deal reached 2,139,435.71 million rubles," the statement reads.

Thus, the ministry reported the Vedomosty newspaper's earlier report about the deal.



The central bank said in a statement that it has retained one share in Sberbank to sign a shareholder agreement with the government. The regulator will transfer the share no later than on May 6 in accordance with the contract.



In mid-March, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed two bills that cover the central banks sale of its stake in Sberbank to the government. The first bill introduces a shareholder agreement that guarantees consistency of approaches to the management of Sberbank. The second bill allows the regulator to keep 300 billion rubles from the deal and to compensate for losses of up to 200 billion rubles in 20202023 through sales of banks that it had been bailing out.
With Easter weekend here, Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough is asking residents to avoid gathering to continue to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Officials with the Montgomery County Public Health District confirmed 14 new cases Friday bringing the total to 245. Of those cases, 165 cases are active, 36 remain hospitalized and 129 in self-isolation. The countys death toll remains at four.

Health officials confirmed 76 recoveries.

In a video posted on social media, Keough took time Thursday to address the continuing COVID-19 crisis in the county, stating social distance is the only way to beat the spread adding it is working within Montgomery County.

The hospitals are not seeing the surge expected, however that does not mean surrounding counties will not have a surge and need to use our beds available in the county, he stated. So far we have ample beds.

In a statement, HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe officials said they are balancing readiness to care for those with COVID-19 while continuing the needed and timely care of other patients.

Following the guidelines of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services we have asked our doctors to review scheduled procedures and make decisions to reschedule them based on a number of factors. These include the urgency of the procedure, the clinical judgment of our physicians as well as the current circumstances in the facility and in the community, the statement read. HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe remains prepared to accept patients in need of hospital and emergency care.

Keough asked residents to hang in there.

I ask that you please continue to follow my Stay at Home Stop the Spread order along with the governors order, he stated. We still have active community spread and we want to avoid a surge of new cases in the coming two weeks.

While Keough extended the county disaster declaration through May 11, the countys stay-at-home order expires April 30.

Listen everyone, this is hard on all of us but I ask you to hang in there and keep pushing forward, he stated. I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel.

MCPHD officials have updated the ZIP codes and counts, here are the cases: Conroe 63, The Woodlands 57, Spring 49, Montgomery 30, Porter 19, Magnolia 8, New Caney 7, Willis 5, Splendora 2, Kingwood 2, Hockley 1 and Pinehurst 1.

Details on Montgomery County cases can be found at https://mcphd-tx.org/coronavirus-covid-19/confirmed-cases/.

cdominguez@hcnonline.com
On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that he instructed the USDA to utilize all the funds and authority available to financially assist farmers who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure that food supply is stable, healthy, and secure.

According to those familiar with the plan, the administration intends to launch the support package next week.

The farmers have seen damages, and the virus has weakened the commodity demand outlookfarmers who had already struggled from the trade conflict between America and China.

Fruit and vegetable farmers have allowed their production to rot in some areas, as demand fell after restaurants closed. Simultaneously, several dairy farmers resorted to discarding milk as the need crashed for cheese and butter.

Trump's Twitter Post

In a Twitter post on Thursday night, Trump claimed he was eager to assist the farmers, most notably the small farmers currently suffering amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The President's posts did not include details, however last month, Congress approved the Coronavirus Relief Act that included $23.5 billion in farmers' assistance. To date, the manner in which the funds will be distributed has not been addressed.

Over a phone call on Wednesday, Secretary for Agriculture Sonny Perdue stated that he wanted to disseminate the assistance for farmers "sooner rather than later."

Perdue had also mentioned on Twitter that the USDA would be utilizing all the funds they have been provided to develop a project which involves direct payments to farmers affected by the coronavirus and other purchasing methods to reinforce the supply connection between producers and consumers.

Check these out!

The Timing of the Aid

Members of the USDA did not immediately reply to the question of the timing of the aid plan.

Farmers and agricultural groups are an essential component of Trump's political core this year. However, this isn't the first time that the agriculture industry has been supported by the administration. The last time the industry was suffering Trump administration helped out with a $28 billion loan during the trade war.

The USDA has been given specific direction by congressional law on how to administer the assistance. However, it instructs the USDA to cover dairy as well as livestock and crop producers, including fruits and vegetables.

The USDA received a six-page letter from the American Farm Bureau Federation, which addressed sectoral demands. Dairy farmers called on the government to compensate producers for the cutting of milk production and the buying for food banks of cheese and butter as well as other dairy products. After the ethanol rates plummeted, biofuel producers would also like to see assistance.

On Wednesday, Perdue has said that the Department will push to disperse its first package of funds, yet it has to wait until around the beginning of the summer for the latter to use.
Athens, Greece  While national lockdowns to stop the spread of coronavirus are ravaging economies around the globe, for Greece, the pandemic is forcing a rapid and long-overdue embrace of digital platforms that is placing Greek businesses and the government on stronger footing to deal with the crisis and its fallout.

Remote work is moving forward in leaps and bounds, and could leave us with an important legacy [after the crisis], says Marco Veremis, a technology entrepreneur and angel investor.

Hundreds of employees at Upstream, a mobile technology firm Veremis cofounded, have been working remotely for three weeks, communicating via Slack, the business-to-business messaging service, and video conferencing services like Google Hangouts, Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

But Veremis is even more heartened by how quickly his less-tech savvy clients are adapting to doing business under lockdown.

A very large chunk of the marketplace is now being educated by the crisis, he told Al Jazeera.

Supermarkets in the country are a case in point. Social distancing measures mandate that grocery stores have only one customer per 15 square metres (161 square feet). Rather than queue in physical lines or risk exposure by venturing outdoors, droves of customers have taken to shopping online  many for the first time in their lives.

Banks have yet to publish the latest figures on credit card use, but anecdotal evidence of the surge in online grocery transactions is on display at peak shopping times, when supermarket web platforms turn away digital customers.

A very large chunk of the marketplace is now being educated by the crisis Marco Veremis, Greek technology entrepreneur and angel investor

Overnight revolution years in the making

The Greek economy has been slow to move online in a meaningful way, in part because of the burden it places on small businesses. Firms with fewer than 20 employees account for nine out of every 10 jobs in Greece.

But effectively managing the coronavirus outbreak has forced consumers to stay home, which is motivating businesses and the government to make the long-talked-about digital revolution happen virtually overnight.

To help smaller firms adapt to rapidly emerging remote marketplaces, the government launched digitalsolidarity.gov.gr  a platform where tech fluent large corporations provide free online marketing and account management training to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Most websites belonging to retail shops used to just post the opening times. Now theres an announcement saying, we may be closed but we are ready to serve you digitally, says Diomidis Spinellis, professor of software engineering and head of the Department of Management Science and Technology at the Athens University of Economics and Business.

That more robust and organized e-government infrastructure, says Spinellis, also promotes greater public sector transparency and accountability.

Despite recent improvement, Greece still ranks among the lowest countries in the European Union for transparency, according to Transparency International, even below most of its formerly communist neighbours that have enjoyed market economies and democracies only since 1990.

But in the span of a few weeks, the ruling New Democracy Party has placed scores of online and mobile state services on a single platform  gov.gr.

There were some 500 e-government processes when the Coronavirus hit, but they were scattered and many people didnt even know of their existence. What we did was to incorporate them into one platform, digital governance minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis told Al Jazeera. We have also added more functions that have proven to be the most popular such as e-prescriptions and e-powers of attorney.

Pierrakakis says e-prescriptions alone attracted 200,000 users in 10 days.

The move is one which Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been keen to highlight. In Parliament on April 2, he called gov.gr the portal of the new, digital state.

Education is also undergoing a lightening transformation. Greece closed public schools on March 10. Even though it had no distance learning infrastructure in place, high school and middle school students were being taught digitally just two weeks later.

We managed to do in a few weeks what we were planning to do in months and what others didnt do for years, said Mitsotakis, who came to power last year promising an innovative, digital economy and a state made less expensive through e-government.

A pedestrian street under the Acropolis is nearly empty as coronavirus containment measures keep tourists away from popular Greek destinations [File: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters]

Driven by necessity

Greece has nearly 2,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 87 people in the country have died of the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University  statistics that are on the lower side compared with EU countries with similarly sized populations.

Athens responded to the unfolding crisis swiftly. Greece reported its first case of COVID-19 on February 27. Schools were closed on March 10, and the following week all non-essential retail activity, conferences, the hospitality industry, and church services were halted. Towards the end of March, businesses were asked to institute remote work protocols and public schools launched distance learning.

There are no official forecasts yet of the expected toll the outbreak could take on Greeces economy, but most economists agree the country will fall into a deep recession. The government has announced an emergency stimulus package to shore up workers and businesses worth 6.8 billion euros ($7.4bn), financed by the European Central Bank.

At this stage it is difficult to quantify to what degree digitisation is helping lessen the economic blow from coronavirus or how quickly it could help the economy bounce back when the health crisis ebbs. One of Greeces biggest revenue drivers is tourism  a sector dominated by client-facing interactions.

If the entire tourist season is lost, [a recession of about 10 percent for 2020] is unavoidable, one economist told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.

But digitisation has eliminated social distancing measures as a barrier to future fiscal aid packages. The government launched an encrypted e-signatures protocol that is now enabling the cabinet to introduce, securely share and sign bills.

The digitisation drive is also making it easier for authorities to track the virus progression.

Look how simply the lockdown is being monitored, says Veremis. You send a text message and youre self-accountable, he says, referring to the government stipulation that Greeks must report whenever they venture out of doors via their mobile phones.

There are spot checks by police and if youre caught you pay a serious fine. Thats a microcosm of the digital relationship that should exist between people and the state, Veremis added. Both needed a big shock like this to show each other trust and move on to simple procedures outside the [state] bureaucracy, which was self-sustaining.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A new CEO and President has taken the lead at Bronson Healthcare amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The healthcare system announced on Jan. 27 that Bill Manns, former president of St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, was selected to succeed longtime Bronson president Frank Sardone.

Sardone, 62, retired in December after 32 years with the healthcare group.

Manns, 52, was born and raised in Detroit and is a University of Michigan alumnus.

Starting in 1996, he worked for nine years in operations at St. John Detroit Riverview and St. John Providence in Detroit where he was promoted to chief operating officer and executive vice president in 2003, according to a Bronson press release.

In 2005, he moved to California with his wife, India, and son, Justin. He served as chief operating officer for Alameda Health System in Oakland, California, for eight years before returning to Michigan in 2013.

At that time, he took over as president of Mercy Health Saint Marys, an integrated health network in Grand Rapids, for five years, according to a Bronson press release.

He started at Bronson Healthcare on March 30 after both Kalamazoo and Calhoun County had positive coronavirus cases reaching the double digits.

On Friday, April 10, Manns addressed the expected surge in patients that the healthcare system was preparing for in a video message posted on YouTube and Bronsons website. Manns declined a request for an interview with MLive.

During his first few weeks here, he is focusing on acclimating to the organization, our internal teams and the communities we serve during these unprecedented times, according to a hospital spokesperson speaking on Manns behalf.

In his video message, the new CEO said he was impressed both with the healthcare staff and patients for continuing to be positive during unprecedented times.

Bronson Healthcare has been accepting donations of personal protective equipment as well as financial donations. The Bronson Health Foundation received more than $788,121 for medical equipment, food and childcare for employees.

Your generous donations are keeping Bronson doctors, nurses and frontline staff safer as they care for patients with COVID-19, Manns said. Thank you for your kind words and inspiring messages. They fuel the positivity that Bronson is known for.

Manns noted that Bronsons incident command center had been functioning since early March in response to COVID-19 cases and that the team is anticipating more patients in the next month.

Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo was approved for an additional 300 beds, according to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services records. The hospital is now licensed for 734 beds in total.

Leaders and teams are innovating, designing and implementing new processes in hours not weeks, Manns said.

In the month since COVID-19 reached Michigan, Bronson Healthcare has established screening stations at hospital entrances, a sanitizing system for N95 masks and acute care clinics and curbside specimen collection sites among other developments, according to a statement from the healthcare system.

In accordance with Gov. Gretchen Whitmers executive order about hospital data, the healthcare system is now releasing how many tests, patients and deaths happen at its facilities.

As of Friday, April 10, the healthcare system tested 113 positive cases of coronavirus. Across the healthcare system, 18 coronavirus patients are being treated at Bronson and seven patients have died.

There are eight patients at Bronson Battle Creek and 13 patients at Bronson Methodist Hospital.

In total, Kalamazoo County has reported 77 cases and seven deaths as of Friday, April 10. Calhoun County reported 65 total cases and one death.

More coronavirus coverage on MLive:

Michigan coronavirus deaths top 1,000

Pfizer aims to create coronavirus vaccine by end of 2020

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends coronavirus stay-at-home order through April 30

Kalamazoo nurses concerned about reassignment to Detroit, a COVID-19 hotspot

Kalamazoo businesses partner to produce face shields for healthcare workers

Stryker announces limited-release medical bed for coronavirus response

Cumulative total cases and deaths in Kalamazoo County:

Browser does not support frames.

Reported coronavirus cases in Michigan:
Announcing the state's first Coronavirus (COVID-19) hotspot, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Friday, said that the Athgaon Kabristhan Masjid in Guwahati has been sealed for 14 days. He added that the structure was declared as a self-containment zone after 8 Nizamuddin Markaz attendees had stayed there and held a congregation in the Masjid. Assam also witnessed in the first death due to COVID-19 on Friday, with its case tally at 29.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Punjab extends lockdown till May 1, total cases soar to 6761

Assam reports first COVID-19 death

Assam's first fatality was a patient hailing from Hailakandi district - who died in the early morning at Silchar Medical College Hospital. The condition of the 65-year-old retired BSF personnel turned 'alarming' on Thursday and he was shifted to SMCH during the day. The person was confirmed coronavirus-positive on Tuesday night and had attended the Tablighi Jamaat meet at Nizamuddin in New Delhi, apart from returning from Saudi Arabia.

Assam reports first COVID-19 death

Assam govt to file cases against Markaz attendees

Assam government has announced it will start filing cases against all those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, who test positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19). Sarma informed that the government has zeroed in on 831 attendees from Assam - others are being identified through Mosque Committees. Moreover, Assam had also given a deadline to all Markaz attendees to surrender to the police.

Assam govt to file cases against Markaz attendees who have tested positive for Coronavirus

What is the Nizamuddin COVID-19 scare?

On March 30, sources reported that a religious programme was organised at Tablighi Jamaat's headquarters Markaz Nizamuddin mosque between 13-15 March which had over 3400 attendees from Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan and from several states in India. After attending the meeting, prior to the nationwide lockdown, 1500 of these attendees returned to several parts of the country, possibly spreading the COVID-19 virus. The mosque has claimed that while they were letting small groups of attendees leave from the venue prior to the Janta Curfew, several were stuck in the area owing to the nationwide lockdown. All 2631 occupants have been evacuated and the building has been sanitised. The Delhi Crime Branch which has booked the Markaz chief Maulana Saad for violating lockdown is currently searching for him by raiding possible hideouts.

Punjab cabinet unanimously approves extension of lockdown in state till May 1
As part of measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus in Ekiti, members of the State House of Assembly have pledged their April salaries to support the state government.

The gesture by the lawmakers was in addition to their individual palliative initiatives in their constituencies.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemisi Ayokunle, made the disclosure in a statement made available to journalists on Friday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

Mrs Ayokunle said the lawmakers were also ready to give their support in other areas such as necessary legislation to fight the virus.

The committee chairman commended Governor Kayode Fayemi and his team for the various stimulus packages which had been implemented to ease the effects of the stay -at- home directive.

She, however, appealed to the people to adhere strictly to the lockdown order by government as well as keep to the social distancing directive and regular hand washing measures offered by medical experts to stay free of the pandemic.

As lawmakers and representatives of our constituents, we assure the people of our support at all times, she said.

(NAN)
Congressman Anthony Brindisi partnered with the Small Business Administration Thursday to hold a virtual webinar for local business owners to discuss the CARES Act.

The act supports emergency loans and assistance for small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Brindisi offered clarification and more information on the CARES Act. Representatives from the SBA were also available to answer questions.

The president recently signed the CARES Act into law. This bill, that I supported, includes new programs, emergency loans and assistance for small businesses, said Brindisi. Whether its the Paycheck Protection Program or the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, Im working with members of both parties and the administration to help keep our economy afloat.

Anyone who has questions about the CARES Act can call Brindisis office at 315-732-0713.
The Indian government has asked the US to extend the validity of visas, including H-1B and other types of visas, held by Indian nationals who have been hit by the Covid-19-related economic slump, people familiar with developments said on Friday.

Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla took up the matter during his telephone conversation with US deputy secretary of state Stephen Biegun on Wednesday, when the two sides also discussed ways to enhance cooperation to counter the pandemic and ensure the availability of essential medicines and equipment.

We have been in touch with the US government, requesting them to extend the validity of visas of Indian nationals  H-1B and other types of visas  who are stranded in the US due to the pandemic, said one of the people cited above, speaking on condition of anonymity.

We are closely monitoring related developments, the person added, without giving details.

Following the sharp economic downturn and suspension of business operations triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of US firms employing H-1B visa holders have laid off numerous employees.

If an employer terminates the contract of H-1B visa holders, the employees need to find new employment within 60 days to retain the H-1B status or face the prospect of being deported to their home countries. This existing rule has exacerbated the problems of H-1B visa holders who have been laid off.

Several reports in the US media have cited Indian H-1B visa holders as expressing concerns that it will be virtually impossible for them to find new jobs if they are laid off, given the rapidly slowing economy.

A petition on the White House website is requesting the US administration to extend the 60-day period to 180 days to protect H-1B workers in these difficult times. The petition further states: Most H-1B workers are from India and cannot travel home with children who are US citizens as many nations [have] announced an entry ban, including India.

It adds: The Covid-19 situation is getting worse with massive lay-offs expected. The economic conditions may have a significant impact on H-1B workers.

The petition has nearly 49,000 signatures but will get a response from the White House only if it reaches 100,000 signatures by April 18.

The Indian side is hopeful the US administration will step in to help H-1B visa holders.

The H-1B programme is a non-immigrant work visa that allows American employers to hire foreign workers for specialist jobs, and Indians are the largest beneficiary of the programme.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
All member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have recorded COVID-19 infections.

The flags of ASEAN and the member states (Photo: VNA)

In the face of the pandemics complex developments, Vietnam, in its capacity as ASEAN Chair in 2020, has been actively promoting the blocs common efforts and cooperating with partners in the fight against the disease.

Promoting ASEANs cohesion and responsiveness

As ASEAN Chair this year, Vietnam has been working closely with other members to promote the groups readiness to respond and mitigate the outbreaks impacts, reflecting a truly cohesive and responsive ASEAN.

On February 14, after consulting with other ASEAN leaders, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued the ASEAN Chairmans Statement on ASEAN Collective Response to the Outbreak of COVID-19, in which regional leaders highlighted the associations priority to deal with the disease and urge the international community to support ASEAN in this effort.

Aside from this statement, the countries defence, economic and tourism ministers also issued statements that specify measures to coordinate their actions and effectively respond to the pandemic. They affirmed that ASEAN will continue stepping up concrete and practical actions while enhancing information exchange and coordination at all levels within the bloc and with partners.

In her letter sent to heads of the member parliaments of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) on March 30, Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, who also chairs the 41st AIPA General Assembly, called on each AIPA member parliament to stand side by side and join hands with the governments of the ASEAN member countries in response to the pandemic by strongly promoting their roles, adopting measures and policies proposed by their governments to curb the disease, facilitating resources allocation and enhancing connections with the public.

She said as parliamentarians, they need to continue to spread messages of love, solidarity and encouragement to all people, particularly those on the front line of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In reply, President of the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand Chuan Leekpai affirmed his support for the appeal and said that regional cooperation is essential at this time to jointly protect ASEAN against the COVID-19 pandemic.

To discuss ways to implement the ASEAN Chairmans Statement on ASEAN Collective Response to the Outbreak of COVID-19, at the request of Vietnam as ASEAN Chair, the ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC) held a special meeting with the participation of all foreign ministers of the member nations in Vientiane, Laos, on February 20.

At the event, Vietnam proposed the next steps for the bloc to bolster common efforts and actions, including sharing information in a transparent manner, boosting effective coordination among relevant agencies at national and regional levels, strengthening international cooperation to effectively respond and control the pandemic, increasing support for citizens of the member countries when necessary, and trusting and supporting one another in their response efforts.

Following a proposal by Vietnam, the ACC Working Group on Public Health Emergencies was set up to promote concerted and inter-sectoral coordination of the whole ASEAN Community in response to the complex developments of the COVID-19 outbreak.

This working groups first teleconference, chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung  head of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) Vietnam, took place on March 31. It discussed recommendations on cooperation orientations in the COVID-19 fight which will be submitted to the ACC and regional ministers for feedback before they are reported to ASEAN leaders.

Enhancing ties with partners to cope with pandemic-caused challenges

Strengthening cooperation within ASEAN as well as between the bloc and its partners to effectively deal with challenges caused by the COVID-19 outbreak is of critical importance.

As leading organisations in their respective regions, the European Union (EU) and ASEAN have been working together to overcome such challenges.

Speaking at the ASEAN-EU ministerial teleconference on COVID-19 held on March 20, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh noted that as ASEAN Chair in 2020, Vietnam has been coordinating closely with other member countries to promote a synchronous and overall approach for the whole ASEAN Community to improve readiness, gear up active response measures and mitigate the pandemics impacts.

He asked the EU for technical assistance and cooperation in scientific research to control and treat infection cases, while ensuring the interests and equal treatment of ASEAN citizens in the EU, and for coordination to minimise the outbreaks socio-economic impacts.

Highly valuing ASEANs efforts and achievements in the COVID-19 battle, Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles also asked ASEAN countries to create conditions for the repatriation of EU citizens from the Southeast Asian region.

Meanwhile, a teleconference between ASEAN and US senior officials was also organised with a view to fostering bilateral cooperation in response to COVID-19 and public health challenges.

At this session, the Vietnamese representative proposed orientations for cooperation between the US and ASEAN to contain the disease, deal with negative socio-economic impacts, and ensure a stable life for people. The official also affirmed that Vietnam will actively coordinate ASEANs efforts to that end.

US Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell spoke highly of the groups efforts and achievements and thanked the countries for helping US citizens to return home from coronavirus-hit areas. He also pledged assistance for ASEAN citizens in the US.

Additionally, acting Australian Deputy Foreign Minister and head of the SOM Australia on ASEAN and East Asia Summit Justin Hayhurst applauded Vietnams role and efforts as ASEAN Chair. He said his country will continue supporting and working closely with Vietnam to promote disease prevention and control via regional cooperation mechanisms, including the ASEAN-Australia Cooperation and the East Asia Summit. VNA

Vietnam proactively promotes ASEAN joint efforts against COVID-19 Vietnam, as ASEAN 2020 Chair, has been proactively promoted joint efforts of the 10-member group in the fight against COVID-19 with the spirit of "cohesive and responsive", said Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung.
Donald Trump has claimed at times during the coronavirus outbreak that he wants his administration to provide assistance and equipment to other countries, but it was his secretary of state this week who made clear the president's Covid-19 trade policy is shaped by the president's "America first" instincts  even at the expense of virus-plagued US allies.

The president insisted Wednesday night that he is not worried about US-made medical equipment being sent to other countries at a time hospital officials and workers at home are sounding alarms about shortages. "I'm not, because ... we're in very good shape," he claimed despite governors around the country saying the opposite.

Experts, however, see something different: An administration reluctant to alter an approach to global trade and diplomacy that led Mr Trump to launch a trade war with China, while essentially starting trade skirmishes with longtime American allies like Mexico, Canada and all of economic Europe. The UK has been spared a trade flap  for now.

To be sure, Trump's political ideology does not fit neatly into any traditional American philosophy  it was jammed inside the Republican Party's so-called "big tent" in 2016 as he became its leader and presidential nominee. Once he won the general election and took office, US lawmakers and trade experts of all political stripes have, at times, howled as they struggled to choke down Mr Trump's norms-busting cocktail of mercantilist and isolationist foreign policy -- which is chased with a pint of old-fashioned every-country-for-itself realism.

The president has appeared eager to avoid a perception he is opposed to sending medical equipment like ventilators and protective masks to other countries, but his administration's actions and words suggest otherwise.

"So you've seen we're making sure that we have what we need for the American people," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Wednesday during Mr Trump's daily coronavirus task force briefing.

"At this point, what we are doing in terms of assistance is providing what most of these countries need to learn how to do surveillance themselves, to learn how to conduct tests themselves, to learn the things that can reduce the peak in their countries," America's top diplomat said, informing reporters they "should know the United States has been incredibly generous."

"We have CDC officials, like no other country in the world, out helping these nations build out their ... global epidemic healthcare infrastructure," he said. "All around the world, putting these countries in a place where they're better prepared for a virus like this one."

But Mr Pompeo never listed shipments of personal protective equipment, ventilators, gloves or other American-made items that his department is helping get into the hands of medical workers in Europe or Asia, where US allies are still battling the disease.

'Beggar-thy-neighbor'

"Unfortunately, this crisis occurs in a dark political climate, more similar to that of the early [19]30s, when many governments pursued nationalist, beggar-thy-neighbor policies such as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, and international cooperation was very limited," Thomas Wright and Kurt Campbell wrote for the Brookings Institution.

"Over the past decade, the world has grown more authoritarian, nationalistic, xenophobic, unilateralist, anti-establishment, and anti-expertise," the two foreign policy experts wrote in a white paper. "The current state of politics and geopolitics has exacerbated, not stabilised, the crisis."

Mr Trump is part  not the cause  of that global trend. But his unique hybrid foreign and policy approach has created new ill will with some of America's closest friends.

Canadian and French officials have charged Washington with intercepting medical supply shipments they say were meant for their countries. The US and India have tiffed over a malaria drug Mr Trump  defying his top health experts  contends will be a life-saving treatment drug for Covid-19 even though testing has yet to prove that out.

"We understand that the needs of the United States are real, but the needs of Canada are also real. And we need to work together to that end," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly said recently, offering mild and diplomatic criticism of the Trump administration.

Chad Brown, who was the chief economist in the Obama White House's Council of Economic Advisers, says Mr Trump's "continued mistreatment of many trading partners, imposition of tariffs and threats of tariffs on their exports, may make it difficult now to get new sources of supplies."

"Even allies are now lashing out and restricting the flow of medical equipment outside of their borders, including to the United States," Mr Brown noted.

Experts also see Mr Trump's trade policies towards US economic adversaries hindering the virus response.

The hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tariffs he slapped on Chinese goods included 26 per cent import fees on $5bn worth of medical items made there. While the Trump administration last month, mostly under the radar, announced it would lower some tariffs on some of those goods that are needed to fight the virus.

"But those actions, which effectively acknowledged that trade wars can endanger public health, covered only a handful of urgently needed products," according to Mr Brown. "Now that there are potential supply shortages globally, the US health crisis demands that the administration comprehensively and permanently reverse these policies of self-harm."

For his part, Mr Trump is painting a picture of a benevolent United States.

"We're dealing with many countries right now. Many, many countries," he said. "And we're giving them whatever information we're able to glean."

Information. Not medical equipment.

'The UK called today'

He and Mr Pompeo have made clear this week the United States government has been put on an "America first" footing.

"This morning, 450,000 protective suits landed in Dallas, Texas. This was made possible because of the partnership of two great American companies--DuPont and FedExand our friends in Vietnam. Thank you!" the president tweeted on Wednesday. Other than sending 200 breathing machines to the UK, Mr Trump has not loudly touted any American effort to help other countries, and even then he made a point to note "the UK called today" and made the ask.

Still, Mr Trump has suggested  contradicting his own health team and a list of Republican and Democratic governors  that the United States could soon have ventilators to spare, or "110,000 ventilators coming over a short period of time" to be exact.

"I don't think we'll need them. Hopefully, we won't need them," said the president who continues to insist against the advice of his health team that his country might reopen "very, very, very, very soon," adding: "I don't think we'll need anywhere near them."

That will give Mr Trump an opportunity, however unlikely, to alter an approach that sometimes has riled even some of his most ardent Republican supporters in Congress, experts say.

"National health organisations are working closely together, but the United States should be convening world leaders, whether in person or by conference, and coming up with a global response," he said. "Stronger states must provide assistance to countries with weaker capacity to deal with the exigencies of the crisis, even if the countries are adversaries."

But conservative policy experts are quick to note the United States has donated ample funding to the global response. And they want Mr Trump to get tougher on China  not ease the trade war during the pandemic.

"As the top government donor  having donated nearly $1.3 billion in aid to assist in the alleviation of COVID-19 as of 10 March 2020  the US should press the Chinese government to improve access for international humanitarian aid and to expand freedom for domestic humanitarian groups to contribute to the response to this and future crises," according to the right-leaning Heritage Foundation. "China will try to exploit the Covid-19 chaos by splitting off countries and pulling them into its orbit. One example is Italy."

"The UK government is so angry with China," wrote the think tank, which has ties inside the Trump administration, recently. "If ever there were a time for the US to redouble efforts to strengthen its transatlantic relationships, that time is now."
Two people were killed and a third was injured when a passenger vehicle was struck by a semi-truck in Polk County on Thursday, officials said.

Just after 4 p.m., Oregon State Police troopers responded to reports of the wreck on Bethel Road near Highway 99W, about 2 miles east of Perrydale.

Investigators determined that Jose Parejas-Iraheta, a 50-year-old Eugene resident, was driving eastbound on Bethel Road in a Scion XB. For unknown reasons, police said, Parejas-Iraheta attempted to cross the highway in front of an oncoming semi-truck and was struck on the drivers side.

Both Parejas-Iraheta and a passenger, 56-year-old Morena Iraheta-Hernandez, were killed in the crash. Another passenger, 72-year-old Juana Cortez, was flown by helicopter to Salem Hospital with serious injuries.

Highway 99W was closed for several hours after the crash, but has since reopened.

-- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
PAT QUIRKE racked up losses of more than 1m gambling on stocks and shares and ploughing money into property investments in eastern Europe, a former friend has claimed.

Quirke, who received legal aid to cover the costs of his trial, told gardai he owned 50 acres, leased or rented 110 acres (including the 63 acres owned by the Lowrys), and owned 120 cattle.

He was also an enthusiastic investor and gambler on contracts for difference (CFDs).

His former friend told the Sunday Independent that Quirkes investments and losses included:

70,000 in a 5.5m commercial property fund in Warsaw. He lost one-third of his investment, according to the friend  more than 23,000.

140,000 in a 21m Warsaw property fund that required a minimum investment of 100,000. According to his former friend, he will get 6pc back on that investment.

100,000 in another Warsaw scheme which was under discussion at an investor meeting, attended by Quirke, on the night before Bobby Ryan was murdered. Quirke lost 50,000 on that investment.

He also invested around 840,000 in a contracts for difference gamble on C&C shares, which tumbled by 33pc, according to his former friend. He claimed Quirke lost close to 300,000.

A 225,000 investment in a commercial property in Lithuania went bust, leaving Quirke with no return.

Despite these losses, Quirkes investments in the Irish property market were more successful, with two of three properties he bought in Tipperary turning around a profit.

Quirke set up a farm company in 2014, with him and Imelda as directors. Breasha Farms Ltd had 322,000 in assets in 2017 and listed directors transactions in the name of Pat Quirke of 204,000, according to the company accounts.

The accounts also reported a healthy 150,000 cash in the bank.

The lands at Breanshamore are registered to Pat and Imelda Quirke and land registry records show Pepper Finance has a charge over the property.

The financial pressure on Quirke was cited in his trial, and gardai suspected the stresses were a factor in his obsessive urge to control Mary Lowry and sabotage her relationship with Bobby Ryan.

Quirke said he managed Mary Lowrys late husband Martins investments, which included shares, CFDs, or contracts for difference, and property worth about 200,000. He told gardai he advised her to buy bank shares and shares in Ryanair.

He urged her to put up the 80,000 capital for a CFD gamble which generated 40,000 profit for him, without having to part with a cent, and he effectively leased her farm for 1,600 a year.

She changed her will to leave him 100,000 for looking after her children if she died. Gardai accused him of taking her to the cleaners.

Quirkes trial was told this was a tale of love and money. According to his former friend, it was more money than love: maintaining control over Mary Lowrys assets was essential to Quirke, he said.
Leader of opposition in Haryana assembly Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday asked the state government to allow farmers to store wheat and mustard crops in the government schools across the state.

The former Haryana chief minister, while talking to Hindustan Times on phone, said that the state government should allow farmers to store crops in the government schools in their respective villages and purchase it from there only. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the schools will remain shut for the next two months. The best way to initiate crop procurement is to utilise government school buildings for storing the grains after purchasing it from the farmers. Most of the farmers in Haryana do not have storage facility and if they leave grains in open, it can be spoiled due to untimely rain. The state government should soon take a decision on it. The decision will also help in avoiding mass gathering at mandis and procurement centres, Hooda said.

As per the state agriculture department, during this Rabi season, Haryana is expecting 135 lakh tonnes of wheat and 125 lakh tonnes of mustard crop.

Welcoming the state governments decision to increase the number of wheat procurement centres and mandis for mustard procurement, the former CM said that the government should purchase each and every grain of the farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).

In the recently held all-party meeting, I had suggested CM Manohar Lal Khattar to provide gunny bags to farmers and arhtiyas so that they can start storing grains, he added.

On being asked about governments decision to procure mustard in just five days, Hooda said that it depends on the government, how they will purchase the entire crop in such a short time span. The government had assured us that there would be no limit on the procurement of mustard crop in mandis, he added.
(Newser)  A gold mine in Mexico's violence-plagued Sonora state faced robbers arriving from both land and air this week, authorities say. Alamos Gold, a Canadian mining company, says five armed robbers subdued security guards as they were loading gold/silver alloy bars from the Los Mulatos mine onto a plane Wednesday morning, the Toronto Star reports. The robbers escaped with an estimated 160 pounds of precious metals on a light plane, believed to be a Cessna 206, that landed while the robbery was in progress. Highway robberies are common in the area, but this is believed to be the first that involved an aircraft, reports Mexico News Daily. The company says the loss is covered by insurance. (Read more gold mine stories.)
Coronavirus Diaries is a series of dispatches exploring how the coronavirus is affecting peoples lives. For the latest public health information, please refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions website. For Slates coronavirus coverage, click here. If you have a story we should tell, please email coronavirusdiaries@slate.com.

As I ran my hands through my roommates chest hair, it hit me that I hadnt had sex with a man in three years. That was the length of time that had passed since Id fallen in love with a new friend on a backpacking trip to Europe and subsequently realized I was more attracted to women. Even after that relationship fizzled, I started hanging out at lesbian bars, continued dating women, and even came out to mother. In my life, the chapter on heterosexual romance, I thought, was closed. But times are different now. Anything is possible in a pandemic. I held up my hands as he lifted my sweater over my head. My desire was strong and surprising.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

I moved into my house in Brooklyn a year ago. I had looked past the threadbare qualities of my new placea wobbly banister, skid marks on the wall, and splotches of mold on the bathroom ceilingfor the luxury of cheap privacy. My bedroom was three times the size of my previous rooms in shared apartments, and I rarely, if ever, saw my housemates. There were three of us living there (and there was one kitchen and two bathrooms), but we crossed paths only a few times a month. Its easy to share a space with strangers in New York City and live completely separate lives without learning anything about one another, even in your own home. For a while, thats how I liked it.

Advertisement

But when the real severity of the coronavirus outbreak pummeled through the city, I started to panic about my house situation. What if were quarantined for months? Will we still hang out in our rooms alone, the once-welcome isolation now suddenly sad? What if we get sick? At 28, the virus didnt seem like a looming threat, but, due to my history of asthma, I was growing more insecure about the lack of support around me. So I texted my roommate and asked him if he wanted to have a few drinks in our living room.

Advertisement

Dressed in stained sweatpants, I pulled my stringy hair away from my face with a clip. I had downed two glasses of wine already; the news that all the restaurants in the city were ordered to close had filled my feed, as had the skyrocketing death toll in Italy. The world was changing every hour, and for the worse. I struggled to locate myself in the midst of chaos and fear.

Advertisement

Advertisement

He showed up with a bottle of wine and a smile. We sunk down on opposite ends of the couch, offloading our anxieties about the pandemic. Why had I never noticed his mop of curly hair? His almond-shaped eyes? After a bottle of wine, our feet accidentally touched. I yanked them back. We drank another bottle. I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldnt return his gaze. He reached for my hand and asked in a hushed tone if he could kiss me.

Advertisement

Advertisement

For a sliver of a second, I wondered if hed hurt me if I said no. But that worry was eclipsed by my desiremy ache for touch and spontaneity during a time when the chances for both were rapidly diminishing. Once we kissed, I couldnt stop. I didnt feel the dread I felt before with men. I didnt feel the pressure to feign pleasure. I wanted him. For real.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

When he went back to his room, I jumped in the shower. Whatever the hookup meant about my identity (was I bi now? Was I succumbing all over again to the rom-com fantasies of my youth?), I couldnt help but smile at the possibility of a quarantine romance. But the next day when he didnt text me or come out of his room, I started to panic. Would we go back to being strangers after this? Each hour my phone remained still, I felt used and more ridiculous for imagining that we could have a relationship.

At around 5 oclock, he texted me to hang out. We drank again. We talked. It became clear through the fog of my fantasy that he wasnt interested in or emotionally capable of having an end-of-the-world romance but did want to hang out and have sex with me at night. I thought about it. Would I be OK with having sex with my roommate without developing a relationship? Would the desire for men hed rekindled seem somehow false, post-isolation, out in the fresh air? I wasnt sureabout the future, about what to do now. But then he ran his hands up my leg.

For more on the coronavirus, listen to this weeks episode of What Next: TBD.

Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 23:21:17|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ISLAMABAD, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A roadside planted explosive device left two soldiers killed and two others injured in Chaman city of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province on Friday, police sources said.

The security personnel were patrolling the area for fencing at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border when their vehicle was hit by the explosive device, police sources in Balochistan told Xinhua on a condition of anonymity.

The fencing process is being carried out at the border in Chaman and other areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces by the Pakistani military to stop illegal penetration into the country.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The border crossing with Afghanistan at Chaman was closed on Friday after a temporary opening of four days to let the stranded Afghans in Pakistan return home.

Pakistan also decided to allow cargo trucks to enter Afghanistan through Chaman and Torkham border crossings on the request of the Afghan government. The border with Afghanistan was closed last month to stop the spread of COVID-19.
With enrolments at childcare centres plummeting, precipitating an imminent collapse of the lucrative industry, the Australian government last week announced a $1.6 billion bailout for the corporate operators.

The government dressed up the announcement as temporary free childcare, in an effort to convince parents to send their infants back to the centres, despite the obvious dangers of COVID-19 infections to the children and childcare workers.

As with every other measure taken by the federal government and its state and territory counterparts, Labor and Liberal-National alike, the sole concern in ruling circles is to get workers back on the job, pumping out profits for the financial elite.

We need our workers out there doing their bit to deal with this pandemic, federal Education Minister Dan Tehan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). And they need to know their children are being cared for, that was the thing that drove me.

Worked-out behind closed doors, the plan suspends childcare fees for three months for parents, with the centre proprietors to be paid 50 percent of the sectors fee revenue based on the number of children who were in care from February 17.

The plan is devised to dovetail with the governments $130 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme, in which $1,500 per fortnight will be paid to employers to keep workers on their payrolls. Under that scheme, childcare companies will be free to cut the wages of childcare workers, already severely underpaid, to that even lower level, boosting their profits.

The bailout is a desperate bid to keep the countrys 15,000 childcare centres open. Last week, Early Childhood Australia Tasmanian president Ros Cornish told the media: Parents are withdrawing their children from our centres in droves as we are left to grapple with how to pay wages as usage drops and overheads remain the samewith no government assistance or direction.

Australian Childcare Alliance Western Australia executive director Rachelle Tucker said that state had seen a 30 to 90 percent reduction in attendance. Some of our centres have actually lost 100 per cent of children and have had to close their doors, she told the media.

The childcare industry has been increasingly privatised since the Keating Labor government initiated its pro-market restructuring in the 1990s. Previously, 85 percent of childcare was delivered on a not-for-profit basis. By 2018, 47 percent of education and care services were run by for-profit providers cashing in on generous government subsidies to the tune of $1 billion in annual profits. Corporate entities and private equity firms have crowded out small providers, pushing childcare costs to among the highest in the world.

As Tehans comments show, the governments concern that childcare centres remain open reflects economic, not health and well-being, considerations. Like the $130 billion bonanza for employers, the childcare package will primarily benefit the larger private childcare providers.

Up to a million casual employees in the childcare industry will not be eligible for the $750 per week JobKeeper payment. In addition, only businesses, not local council-run childcare operators, qualify for the governments 50 percent funding. Some state governments have provided funding for those centres.

Both the government and the trade unions have shown callous indifference to the health of workers and children in childcare centres. As 13 people from one childcare centre in Sydney tested positive for coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison continued to claim that it was safe for children to attend schools and childcare centres.

Questioned last Sunday on the ABCs Insiders program on the risk to the health of childcare workers, Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus brushed aside concerns. We hope it [the lack of social distancing and personal protective equipment] gets fixed soon, she said.

A major factor in parents withdrawing their children from childcare centres is the impossibility of maintaining social distancing or adequate hygiene practices. Second to health care workers, educators are working in the most at-risk environments.

Typical of the comments on the ABC Facebook page, Toni posted: It seems ludicrous to me that we cant see our extended families or friends but my baby can go to day care with 100-plus kids in the centre that cant practise social distancing or basic hygiene No one should have kids in childcare. They dont need to be on the frontline.

A childcare worker tweeted: Im a childcare worker and this is all well and good, but no PPE is provided to us (just gloves) and we get paid next to NOTHING and we are exposed to so many germs. Im putting my life and my familys life at risk to earn a minimum wage.

A number of parents spoke to the WSWS about their concerns.

Julie commented: I feel so guilty. I feel like Im sending them to the front line, like Im sending them off to war.

A parent who wished to remain anonymous, said: I just dont want to get it [the virus] from my boy and pass it on to the family. I think the big thing is that people are scared to lose their place, they are working and need the income.

They tell us to socially distance but thats impossible at day care! My boy cries and they cuddle him for thirty minutes. The workers dont wear masks. The kids are all over each other and they wipe their noses and they put their fingers in their mouths. They constantly crawl all over each other.

They will pass it on to the workers. They might be living with older people, with sick people. If workers quit they dont get benefits. They probably dont want to be there. I mean they love our kids and want to be there for them, but they dont want to get sick. They are stuck!

They should have shut them down two weeks ago. It would be much worse if the virus spreads. I guess its to keep the economy open.

Far from the official claims that we are all in this together, the childcare package has again demonstrated the vast gulf separating the concerns of the financial elite and their representatives in governments and the unions, and those of the working class. It demonstrates the urgent necessity of childcare being placed in public ownership under democratic workers control, with free services for all parents guaranteed as a basic social right.

The author also recommends:

Labor and the unions help push corporate bailout through Australian parliament

[9 April 2020]

Australian unions tell employers: You can get everything you want

[7 April 2020]

Australian government resorts to pandemic capitalism as depression looms

[31 March 2020]
(Kitco News) - The global economy has all but ground to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be even quieter Friday as some European and all North America financial markets will be closed for the Easter long weekend.

The Asian trading session will also be relatively like as Australian and New Zealand markets are also closed for Easter.

Precious metals investors in Britain will actually have four days off as the London Bullion Market Association will hold any auctions and will not publish any precious metal benchmark information Friday or Monday.

Turning to North American markets. All major equity indexes are closed Friday and will back in business Monday. For the precious metals market, the Comex futures exchange closed Thursday evening and wont reopen until Sunday evening at 6 p.m.

Although U.S. financial markets are closed Friday, the U.S. government doesnt recognize Easter as an official holiday. The U.S. Labor Department will release U.S. Consumer Price Index data for March.

All Canadian exchanges will be closed Friday, so mining investors will be able to sleep in.
Cleopatra RecordsYou can now finally hear what it sounds like when Danzig Sings Elvis.

The Misfits frontman has premiered his take on "One Night," which will appear on his long-in-the-works Elvis covers album. You can listen to it now streaming via RollingStone.com.

Danzig first announced his intention to record Sings Elvis way back in 2014. The 14-track collection will at last officially arrive on April 24.

Later this month, Danzig was supposed to play shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco to celebrate the release of Sings Elvis. However, they have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday that his country will cut its crude oil output by 100,000 barrels per day, joining OPEC and other producers in efforts to stabilize the market.

Lopez Obrador, speaking at his daily press briefing, said President Trump generously offered for the U.S. to reduce output by an additional 250,000 barrels a day, according to The Wall Street Journal.

OPEC was hoping Mexico would lower its output by 400,000 barrels a day, and the country's initial delay in joining the pact had jeopardized the arrangement.

"The United States will help Mexico along and they'll reimburse us some time at a later date when they're pepared to do so," Trump said at a press conference on Friday.

AIRLINE INDUSTRY'S CORONAVIRUS BAILOUT MAY DRAW ON LESSONS OF 9/11

U.S. producers cannot coordinate to lower output because doing so would run afoul of antitrust laws. Governments on the state or federal level would have to mandate a production cut, allowing the market to answer this from a U.S. perspective, Stephen Shorck, founder and editor of The Shorck Report, told FOX Business.

Ahead of Thursdays meeting, U.S. producers, including Continental Resources, had already reduced their daily output by a combined 600,000 barrels per day, Shorck said. Still, there has not been an order from the Trump administration to lower production.

The apparent end to Mexicos standoff would cement a deal between OPEC producers and their allies that would reduce global crude oil output by 10 million barrels a day until July, and initiate a ceasefire in the price war that began last month between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Both Saudi Arabia and Russia would lower production to 8.5 million barrels a day from their current levels of 12.3 million and 10.9 million, respectively. Mexico, for its part, would reduce its output to 1.68 million barrels, according to the Journal.

Longer-term, the deal calls for output to be reduced by 8 million barrels a day from July through December and by 6 million barrels per day for 16 months beginning in 2021, according to the Associated Press.

Story continues

Ten million barrels per day, especially considering you're using that off of the Saudis increased production already, is not going to be enough to offset this incredible demand destruction that we've seen globally because of the virus, Gifford Briggs, Louisiana Oil & Gas Association president, told FOX Business.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark, has plunged 45 percent to $22.76 a barrel since Saudi Arabia began its price war against Russia on March 8, after the latter refused to join OPEC producers in cutting output.

In response, Saudi Arabia slashed prices and ramped up its production.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

The price war compounded problems for the crude oil market, where demand was already faltering due to countries around the world issuing stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The challenge that we're seeing here in Louisiana, because of the lack of storage, is where you've seen oil for May delivery actually not selling at $25, but selling at $10 a barrel," Briggs said. "And that is well below what our members have indicated to us are necessary for survival and for break-even."

Related Articles
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Friday he would propose next week extending a national lockdown till May 1 as the number of coronavirus cases in the country rose above 15,000.

Parliament is likely to approve his request. Portugal declared a 15-day state of emergency on March 18 and last week approved its extension by a further 15 days till April 17.

"We have to be very focused on a fight that we haven't fully won yet," Rebelo de Sousa, who was himself in quarantine for two weeks last month despite testing negative for coronavirus, told a news conference. "We cannot let our guard down."

Portugal has so far reported 15,472 confirmed cases and 435 fatalities, far below neighbouring Spain's death toll of 15,843, the second highest in the world after Italy.

Speaking at a morning show on TVI television on Friday, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said: "It would be a wrong signal for the country to lift the state of emergency."

"There is still no light at the end of the tunnel," Costa said. "We have to walk through this tunnel and the more disciplined we are now the faster we will get to the end of it."

Both Costa and Rebelo de Sousa said it was critical that the Portuguese stay home during the usually busy Easter period to avoid contagion.

The government has tightened restrictions further over the Easter holiday period, closing all airports to commercial flights and banning domestic travel from April 9-13.
Cardinal George Pell has opened up about 'suffering' in jail before his child sex convictions were quashed.

The cardinal won his appeal bid to the High Court on Tuesday and walked free from Barwon Prison, near Geelong, after more than 400 days behind bars.

The 78-year-old is spending Easter in the Seminary of the Good Shepherd at Homebush, in Sydney's west, after leaving prison.

During his first days in freedom, Cardinal Pell wrote a letter to The Weekend Australian about his suffering and the coronavirus pandemic.

'I have just spent 13 months in jail for a crime I didn't commit, one disappointment after another,' he wrote.

Cardinal George Pell has compared himself to Jesus after 'suffering' in jail over a crime he 'did not commit'. Pell is pictured in 2008

'I knew God was with me, but I didn't know what He was up to, although I realised he has left all of us free.'

An image shared by the publication showed the cardinal donned a black robe for the first time in more than a year.

Cardinal Pell wrote that 'every person suffers' and will be confronted by a series of questions, including 'what should I do?' and 'why did this happen to me?'

He explained that Christians can cope with suffering better than atheists can explain the happiness of life, adding that 'Christians see Christ in everyone who suffers'.

'And many, most understand the direction we are heading when it is pointed out that the only son of God did not have an easy run and suffered more than his share. Jesus redeemed us and we can redeem our suffering by joining it to His and offering it to God,' Pell said.

Pell also wrote about the global suffering brought by the COVID-19 crisis and referred to the Spanish flu pandemic as well as the Black Death in the 14 century.

He said there is a new capacity to fight the disease intelligently and curb its spread.

Writing to the sexual abuse scandals which have rocked the Catholic Church, Pell insisted they have painfully cut out a 'moral cancer'.

Cardinal George Pell arrives at the Seminary Of The Good Shepherd in Sydney on Wednesday

The 78-year-old is spending Easter in the Seminary of the Good Shepherd at Homebush, in Sydney's west, following the quashing of his child sex convictions

Following the overturning of his child sex convictions, Cardinal Pell released a statement saying the serious injustice he suffered had been remedied.

'I hold no ill will to my accused, I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough,' he said on Tuesday.

The 78-year-old said his trial was not a referendum on the Catholic Church or how Australian church authorities dealt with paedophilia.

'The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not,' he said.

In December 2018, a jury found Cardinal Pell guilty of five charges, accepting evidence of one complainant that the then-Archbishop of Melbourne had sexually abused him and another 13-year-old choirboy at St Patrick's Cathedral in 1996.

One of the choirboys died in 2014, prompting the other to bring the allegations to police.

In an initial trial, a jury was unable to reach a verdict. The second jury was unanimous in its decision. An appeal to Victoria's Court of Appeal last year was unsuccessful.

Cardinal Pell has always maintained his innocence, a fact noted in the High Court's 26-page decision.
UPDATE: The 3:33 a.m. phone call: Easton makes changes, hopes residents stay connected

INITIAL POST: It was just after 3:30 a.m. Friday when 7,000 phones rang in the 18042 ZIP code that includes Easton.

And in that panicked moment between deep sleep and three-cup-of-coffee awareness, an automated voice told you that there was a freeze watch in place until 9 a.m. Saturday.

Ignore for a minute that the temperature was north of 40 degrees at that hour at Lehigh Valley International Airport. Watches are not warnings. They mean that conditions are present that could lead to something, but the National Weather Service isnt confident enough that its going to happen to issue a warning, meteorologist Paul Fitzsimmons said Friday afternoon from Mount Holly, New Jersey. A warning means somethings imminent.

In the end, the temperature never dropped below 40 at the airport, so what Fitzsimmons termed as sensitive vegetation in the lowlands of the Lehigh Valley likely wasnt at risk. But the overnight low in Mount Pocono, with an altitude near 2,000 feet in Monroe County, was 31, so, yeah, it was freezing somewhere.

But did the fine folks of Easton, West Easton, Glendon and Wilson Borough who share the 18042 ZIP code need to get a phone call at 3:33 a.m. to tell them about what turned out to be a remote possibility?

That will be the subject of a Monday meeting, said Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr., who was also waken up by the call in his South Side home.

And do residents of West Easton, Glendon and Wilson Borough actually want any of this Easton stuff at all? That has been and will be weighed again, another city official said.

Easton switched earlier this year from the Nixle alert system to the Smart911 system. For major incidents, there were only a few hundred Easton residents registered for Nixle alerts -- and the warnings didnt come to landlines, Panto said. But because the new system uses a national registry, even if no one signs up, major weather events and Amber Alerts will cause about 7,000 phone numbers to be called. Eastons information technology director, Frank Caruso, estimates at least 3,000 humans will hear the ring at whatever hour.

If you register with Smart911, you can opt out of alerts from refuse collection to flooding, from street sweeping to winter weather. You can just get text or email alerts or you can get just phone calls or you can mix and match. And by calling Caruso at 610-250-6684 during Monday through Friday business hours or emailing him at fcaruso@easton-pa.gov, you can even opt out of the major stuff not included in the checklist.

Theres a guy in West Chester who, for whatever reason, is getting Easton alert calls, Panto said. The city will opt him out.

But, as Caruso told lehighvalleylive.com, for all but the West Chester guy, the risk has to be weighed. The city could, for example, opt out of freeze watches that come out overnight.

But that would mean, a 3:33 a.m. alert -- which Fitzsimmons confirmed came out at that moment Friday from the Mount Holly office and Caruso said automatically fed into the Smart911 system -- would be missed by someone who forgot to bring in the lilies after giving them a bit of sustaining afternoon sunshine, or by the trusting person who put in the tomatoes before warm spring nights are a guaranteed thing.

"It might mean something to growers, Caruso explained.

But its April 10.

Sometimes it still gets cold.

Fitzsimmons said there is a time each spring and fall when freeze watches and warnings are put up, but as much warmer or much colder weather arrives for good, they go away. This year, since its been so warm, the freeze watches and warnings were brought out early because its possible people planted already or have flowers on the front porch that cant handle a solid chill.

Really, Caruso said, a major reason for the weather alerts in a city that features the confluence of rivers is to warn people when the waters might rise and floods might once again pour into Downtown.

Important stuff.

There are 28 to 30 categories into and out of which the city can opt, Caruso said.

But if you eliminate too many categories, you defeat the whole purpose of having an alert system, he said.

But you wake up too many people needlessly at 3:33 a.m. and, well ... lets check back in with the mayor.

We definitely dont want that, Panto said.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Theres not going to be law enforcement storming into church buildings, he said. Thats not whats going to happen here. Thats not the way to do this. But if peoples lives are at risk, there are consequences for that down the road if theres appropriate evidence of that.
Ten persons, who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a religious congregation in Delhi last month, have recovered, officials said on Friday.

All of them returned to Port Blair via Kolkata on March 24, they said.

They have tested negative and will soon be shifted from the GB Pant Hospital, where they are undergoing treatment, to a quarantine facility before being discharged, a health official said.

The quarantine facility has been set up at a hotel here, he said, adding that they will have to undergo isolation for another 14 days.

After returning on two different flights, they were transported to the hospital directly from the airport as they showed coronavirus-like symptoms, and did not get in contact with locals, officials said.

The state's lone COVID-19 patient at present, a woman in her 20s who tested positive earlier this week, is recovering well, officials said.

The woman was on one of the planes that ferried some of the 10 other persons from Kolkata to Port Blair on March 24. She is also undergoing treatment at the G B Pant Hospital.

Officials at the Union Territory, home to several vulnerable tribes, heaved a sigh of relief with the recoveries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
JB Hi-Fi employees have expressed their concern about having to work as customers blatantly ignore safety measures to slow the spread of COVID-19.

All stores have implemented the Australian Government's recommendations of social distancing and have placed a limit of 100 people in each store dependent on size.

They have also ruled out cash payments and ramped up cleaning procedures to help slow the spread of the killer COVID-19.

JB Hi-Fi stores have implemented the Australian Government's recommendations of social distancing and have placed a limit of 100 people in each store dependent on size (JB Hi-Fi in Castle Hill)

But according to workers, customers are entering the stores simply because they're 'bored', are ignoring social distancing, and coughing into their hands before touching items.

Employees are worried about contracting the deadly virus which has globally infected 1,599,819 people and killed 95,531.

A JB Hi-Fi employee who wanted to remain anonymous, said there was 'no regard' to staff as stores kept their doors open.

'Yesterday, a family of four came into our store and coughed openly ... multiple times, and then continued to touch multiple items while the children ran around without restraint,' the employee told Sydney Morning Herald.

'I'm grateful to have a job, don't get me wrong, but it gets to a point where [you ask], ''Is our safety being prioritised over sales?'' and, to be honest, I don't think it is.

'We are scared and desperate. Our business is doing the bare minimum of the government regulations, but as long as they continue to make money, we will be put at risk.'

Union organisation Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) requested JB Hi-Fi management implement extra safety measures for employees.

Recommendations include safety glasses at checkouts, gloves and masks for employees, and hampering down on those ignoring the rules.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted JB Hi-Fi and SDA for comment.

Employees are worried about working during the coronavirus restrictions as customers ignore the rules in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 (Stock)




By Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR: After managing to keep on top of the first wave of coronavirus outbreaks, Singapore is grappling with an alarming rise in infections among migrant workers housed in crowded dormitories.

Such cases now account for about a quarter of Singapore's 1,910 infections. The government reported 287 new cases Thursday, its biggest daily jump.

More than 200 were linked to the foreign workers' dormitories. The tiny city-state of less than 6 million people was seen as a model in its early, swift response to the virus.

But it apparently overlooked the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers living in conditions where social distancing is impossible.

Now more than 50,000 workers are quarantined and others are being moved to safer locations.

The outbreaks merit attention in a region where practically every country has large numbers of migrants working, commuting and living in crowded conditions.

On one recent night, masked foreign workers laden with luggage got off buses, each keeping a small distance from the others, to be registered and screened before moving into a Singapore army camp.

The 1,300 workers moving into segregated facilities in two army camps will be required to observe strict health measures, stagger their meal times and maintain social distancing.

They are due to stay in the camp until May 4.

Posing beside single cots spaced several feet apart, several gave thumbs ups in a short video on the defense ministry's Facebook page.

Others are to be moved into unoccupied housing estates, an exhibition center and other locations to help reduce crowding in their dormitories.

Foreigners account for over a third of Singapore's workforce, and more than 200,000 are migrant workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other poorer Asian countries living in 43 registered dormitories across Singapore.

Most work in construction, shipping and maintenance jobs, helping to support Singapore's trade-reliant economy.

Virus clusters have emerged in nine of the privately-run dormitories that house up to 20 men per room, with shared toilets, cooking and other facilities.

By failing to act sooner, Singapore allowed the illness to spread more widely than expected in communities that already are relatively vulnerable, experts said.

"This is a very major and urgent issue that requires active and urgent intervention," Lawrence Wong, the national development minister, said in televised remarks.

This week, the city tightened precautions with a four-week "circuit breaker," shutting down non-essential businesses and schools until May 4.

"Hindsight is 20/20. In general, Singapore could have implemented measures earlier that would have blunted the initial surge in imported cases in the second half of March," said Hsu Li Yang, an associate professor and program leader for Infectious Diseases at the National University of Singapore.

"The important matter at hand is to swiftly disrupt the chains of transmission in the dormitories, as well as in the rest of Singapore," Hsu said.

The more than 50,000 workers quarantined for two weeks in five dormitories that were declared "isolation areas" are being screened and tested.

They are still paid wages and provided food and other essentials.

The facilities are sanitized daily and they have been given health kits with face masks and hand sanitizers.

Labor advocates have questioned the strategy, saying confinement en mass in dormitories might put the workers at greater risk.

"When social distancing in dorm rooms with 12-20 men per room is effectively impossible, should one worker in a room be infected - and he could be asymptomatic - the repeated contact he has with his roommates because of confinement would heighten the risk to his mates.

The infection rate in the dorm could increase dramatically," the group Transient Workers Count Too, a charity group helping migrant workers, said in a statement.

It likened the quarantines to the conditions aboard cruise ships that were incubators for coronavirus infections.

The pace of testing, reportedly at less than 3,000 a day, cannot keep up with infections, and many thousands of workers live outside the 43 registered dormitories, noted the group's vice president Alex Au.

"They may be able to move 5 per cent or 10 per cent, but our guess is that the densities in the dormitories are so high, you may need something something like a 50 per cent reduction.

Where do you place tens of thousands of workers? It's a very, very big problem," Au said.

The virus is highlighting the need for better living conditions for workers.

"The problem here is Singapore's whole economic model, our prosperity, is really built on the assumption or expectation of cheap labor," Au said.

"This is going to show us that cheap is a temporary thing. There will be hidden costs that will erupt when you don't expect it," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 22:16:39|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

TEHRAN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Iran's presidential office announced on Friday that the Islamic republic is ready to cooperate with Turkey on dealing with the emerging challenges of the novel coronavirus, official IRNA news agency reported.

The remarks were made in a telephone conversation between Mahmoud Vaezi, head of Iranian presidential office, and Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak.

Both officials called for close consultations of the two countries' health ministers and sharing experience in fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Vaezi thanked Turkey for sending humanitarian aid over the past days, saying Iran is also prepared to help its neighbor.

They also expressed satisfaction over the "effective steps" Tehran and Ankara have taken to boost mutual economic cooperation, and voiced readiness for constant exchanges of goods.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Turkish counterpart discussed maintenance of cooperation on transportation and transit of commodities between the two countries during the coronavirus pandemic.
Individual artists and creatives from across the four counties can apply for a one-time, $100 Visa gift card through the newly established Creative Impact Capital Region Artist Fund, a multi-partnered effort to help offset the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

Partners involved in the fund, which was announced Thursday evening, include Albany Center Gallery, the Arts Center of the Capital Region, Youth FX and the Albany Barn -- which will offer applicants virtual space to sell their artworks on its website, albanybarn.org. In addition, artists will be invited to participate in a livestream series offered by Collectiveeffort, another partner.

According to a press release, individual artists across all disciplines whose work has been affected by the pandemic are eligible to apply. Although the fund is currently open only to residents of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties, it may expand to other Capital Region counties depending on interest and funding. Proof of address will be requested.

The fact that during these hard times a bunch of cool creatives were able to come together and make something uplifting and financially impactful for the local creative economy really speaks to how deeply rooted artists are in this community. We have each others backs because we know how essential art is to the voice of the region," said ACG executive director Tony Iadicicco in a statement.

Added Patrick Harris, president of the Collectiveeffort, in a statement: The best thing about this project is that its reflective of who we are as a community  a bunch of folks who make an effort to care for one another. Often, people confuse love for just kind words and forget that its also hard work. This group is a reminder of that lesson. We are putting in the work it takes to really be there for people.

Other partners in the Creative Impact effort include Acting with Aaron, D. Colin and Creative Action Unlimited, with support from Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region and United Way of the Greater Capital Region.

Artists in need -- or those who know an artist in need -- can fill out a form here. Applications will be considered weekly by members of the application committee, with payments delivered a few days after approval. Artists are also invited to join the Capital Region Artist Support Group on Facebook.

Donations for the fund are being raised at unitedwaygcr.org/creative-impact.
IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva on Friday named former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and 11 others to her external advisory group to provide perspectives from around the globe on key developments and policy issues, including responses to the exceptional challenges the world now faces due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Rajan, 57, who was the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor for three years until September 2016, is currently working as a professor at the prestigious University of Chicago.

Other members of the Managing Director's External Advisory Group are:

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Finance Minister of Nigeria

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of Singapore and Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore

Kristin Forbes, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia

Lord Mark Malloch Brown, former United Nations Deputy Secretary-General

Feike Sijbesima, Honorary Chair, DSM, Former CEO, Royal DSM

Raghuram Rajan, Professor, University of Chicago

Ana Botin, Group Executive Chairman, Santander

Carmen Reinhart, Professor, Harvard University

Mohamed A. El-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser, Allianz

Scott Minerd, Chief Investment Officer, Guggenheim Investments

Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Chair of ActionAid International

Georgieva said that even before the spread of COVID-19 and the dramatic health, economic and financial disruptions it has brought, International Monetary Fund (IMF) members confronted a rapidly evolving world and complex policy issues.

"To serve our membership well in this context, we need top-notch input and expertise from the widest range of sources, inside and outside the Fund," she said.

"Toward this end, I am proud that an exceptional and diverse group of eminent individuals with high-level policy, market and private sector experience has agreed to serve on my External Advisory Group. Today we had a dynamic discussion to gain their insights, and to receive informal reactions to our ideas and approaches," the IMF Managing Director said.

The Managing Director's External Advisory Group will meet a few times a year with the IMF's Managing Director, Deputy Managing Directors, and a sub-set of IMF department Directors.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 96,000 people and infected over 1,605,000 in 193 countries and territories since it first emerged in China in December.

Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: PMO reviews preparedness, relief measures for days ahead

Also Read: Cognizant withdraws full-year guidance for 2020 amid coronavirus uncertainty

Also Read: Is cure to coronavirus hidden in Viagra? Researchers are curious
Siliguri: Strict screening of travellers since January and banning the entry of foreigners and residents of other states since the first week of March has helped the small Himalayan state of Sikkim, which shares its borders with China to the north, Nepal to the east, Bhutan to the west, and West Bengal to the south, remain clear of Covid-19 till date.

As of Thursday, its international neighbours had 1160, 8 and 3 active cases respectively, while West Bengal has reported 107 cases till date.

Sikkim banned the entry of foreigners and Indians from other states in the first week of March well before the nationwide lockdown began on March 25. Even before that, in January, Sikkim began to screen travellers at Rangpo and Melli, the two main entry points into the state  their details were jotted down, and their health status was checked.

Jacob Khaling, political secretary to the chief minister, said, The state government started taking precautionary measures much before the coronavirus was taken seriously in the country. From January 28 we started sanitization programmes at Melli and Rangpo borders and started keeping records of all travellers and screened them.

The landlocked state, Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang said, has enough rice to feed people for three months and there is no fund crunch to fight Covid-19. Tourism is Sikkims primary industry and the state stands to lose revenue with the lockdown. But for now, it has managed to stave off Covid-19 cases.

For the sake of the safety of the people we did not look at economic losses and took early and hard decisions, which includes sealing the borders and banning entry of international and domestic tourists, Tamang told HT.

Most of the essential commodities needed by Sikkim are sent from Siliguri in West Bengal. Vehicles carrying essential goods have been given special permission to ply between Sikkim and Siliguri, The government has also been getting its supplies of pulses and edible oil from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Wire fences have been put up along some parts of the border that are unmanned and wild, particularly along shallow rivers and streams from where people can cross into the state. More than 2000 policemen have been deployed to keep vigil on hill tracks, rivulets and forest paths adjoining Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills in Bengal that are used regularly by people.

Sudhakar Rao, special director general of police, Sikkim, said that all loop roads in the hills are guarded round the clock and not a single person is being allowed to cross the border.

M K Sharma, state health minister, said, More than 500 people including students returned from other states and they are in quarantine at different locations in all four districts. Some have also returned home (after spending time in quarantine). The state government has made arrangements for isolation in government hospitals equipped with ventilators.

In addition to Rs 50 crore allotted as part of the State Disaster Management Fund, Rs 175 crore has been sanctioned from the North East Council to tackle Covid 19 cases in the state.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Pramod Giri I am working with Hindustan Times since 2001 and am posted in Siliguri, West Bengal, as Principal Correspondent. I have been regularly covering vast area of northern parts of West Bengal, Sikkim and parts of Nepal and Bhutan. ...view detail
The Supreme Peoples Assembly meets as the North steps up missile tests and nuclear talks with US remain stalled.

Seoul, South Korea  While much of the world is suspending its local elections and political gatherings to cope with COVID-19, North Korea will push ahead with a massive gathering of delegates later this week.

North Koreas Supreme Peoples Assembly, or SPA for short, is expected to convene on April 10 for the first time since August. The SPA is made of 687 deputies from different North Korean regions who are elected on five-year terms, and usually deliberates new laws and reviews changes to the constitution.

Or, at least, that is what the North Korean state says it does.

Its really a kind of cosplay democracy, and its vexing and interesting to political scientists around the world, Peter Ward, a Seoul-based researcher on the North Korean economy and a writer for NK News.

They dress up, they present themselves as a symbol of unity behind the government and also act as though they have popular support.

In real-life terms, many South Korean analysts also consider the assembly to be politically useless.

Pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been released over the past few weeks showing him not only at missile launches, but artillery competitions. [KCNA via Reuters]

The Supreme Peoples Assembly is often called the most powerful organ in the North Korean government, but thats not the reality. It doesnt mean much, said Jo Dong-joon,a professor of political science and international relations at Seoul National University. Its only an institution that justifies whatever Kim Jong Un decides.

Reading the tea leaves

Even so, those who research North Korea will be paying close attention to the April 10 meeting, which might reveal key indicators about North Koreas plans and how it is coping under the stress of a global pandemic and looming economic downturn.

With diplomatic talks between Pyongyang and Washington stalled since US President Donald Trumpwalked out of the Hanoi summitlast year, North Koreas priorities have been both mysterious and unclear. Short-range ballistic missiles are routinely tested and launched, all while Kim Jong Un pens letters full of best wishes to the South Korean president.

Even more perplexing, North Korea claims to have zero cases of COVID-19, despite more than 1.5 million confirmed cases worldwide and at least 88,000 deaths. The South, meanwhile has had at least 10,384 confirmed cases and 200 casualties.

There are several superficial but highly interesting aspects [of the SPA gathering] that well be paying attention to, said C Harrison Kim, a professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and author of Heroes and Toilers,a book on life in postwar North Korea.

We will have to see how the coronavirus pandemic forces North Korea to change its rituals. There are probably going to be fewer people there, and they might cut down on these public group ceremonies in general.

In his speech at last years Supreme Peoples Assembly, Kim Jong Un emphasised the need to channel all of the nations energy into building the economy. According to Ward, it is unclear whether the North Korean leader will make another speech at the upcoming meeting, but he said he would be looking out for mentions of coronavirus or nuclear talks.

I think this pandemic has largely frozen the diplomatic situation [with North Korea], he said. The United States and much of the world has turned inwards because of the public health and economic crisis, which means that discussions of denuclearisation or relaxation of sanctions are not a priority for now.

Message in a missile

With so little dialogue happening between North Korea, the US and South Korea, experts are only left to speculate as to why North Korea has resorted, once again, to missile launches.

A combination of pictures shows the testing of what local media called a super-large multiple rocket launcher in North Korea. The photo was released on March 28. [KCNA via Reuters]

In March alone, North Korea conducted four separateshort-range ballistic missile tests, producing firm but tempered responses from Seoul.

This kind of military action is extremely inappropriate, particularly at a time when the entire world is undergoing difficulties of the coronavirus outbreak, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staffsaid in responseto the March 29 launch, urging Pyongyang to stop such tests.

This kind of short-range missile testing was halted during the peak of diplomacy between the US, North Korea and South Korea, which started with the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics back in February 2018. Now, some experts believe Kim Jong Un is simply trying to boost his arsenal while causing low-level provocations that are largely inconsequential. After all, North Korea has still refrained from conducting long-range intercontinental ballistic missile launches, which tend to provoke a more severe reaction.

I think they have a long-term plan with this, Ward said. If you do these [short-range] launches often enough, they can become normal. So North Korea can test the technology and see if it works without consequence, and also its an advertisement for other countries that might want to buy its weapons.

North Korea is fundamentally a country that relies on nuclear weapons, and has already reached the capability of being able to launch nuclear warheads, Jo said. But the country is still developing lower-level weapons to deal with its security concerns.

The coronavirus calculation

While experts are interested in monitoring the Supreme Peoples Assembly for hints on how North Korea is coping with COVID-19, others are beginning to question whether North Korea is planning a request for international aid or some form of temporary sanctions relief.

North Korea, which borders China, says it has not had single-case of COVID-19. It has released photos showing the disinfection of public places including trains and buses. [KCNA via EPA]

Jo believes that North Korea, which often follows a mantra of self-reliance, will not ask Seoul for help unless the internal situation with COVID-19 is terribly difficult.

Nevertheless, Kim noted that there is growing concern among humanitarian groups that North Korea will not be able to cope with a COVID-19 outbreak under the pressure of already-existing UN sanctions

While humanitarian aid and healthcare services are not forbidden under sanctions, the overall struggling economy in combination with a pandemic could create enormous suffering for everyday North Koreans. Reports from defector organisations and watchdog groups suggest that North Koreamay already be battling the virus, despite state claims the country is COVID-19 free.

So far, there have been unconfirmed reports of city lockdowns, test kit shortages, infected military units and at least 23 dead.

We know now clearly that sanctions affect the health systems of that country, and it certainly is making a major impact on North Korea, Kim said. Many groups, organisations and individuals around the world are raising this issue and questioning this issue, and calling for some kind of a rebuke or ending of this kind of global sanctioning system, and NK is one of the countries that people are most concerned about.

Mitch S. Shin contributed to this report.
Thiruvananthapuram, April 10 : Kerala Health Minister K.K.Shailaja on Friday said that there were 7 new coronavirus positive cases in the state, taking the total number currently under treatment to 238.

In all, the affected and cured cases are 364.

Two deaths had been reported previously, but those patients had other serious ailments.

"Today there are 1,29,021 under observation at homes and 730 at various hospitals in the state," said Shailaja.

The police today registered 2,239 cases and recorded arrest of 2,308 people and impounded 1,530 vehicles in the state for violating lockdown norms.

On Friday the government came out with an order that allows opening of shops selling fans and airconditioners on Sunday, while on Monday it allowed opening of optical shops and shops selling construction material could open on Monday and Tuesday. But these shops must not have more than three employees.

Meanwhile, State Education Minister C. Raveendranath pointed out that if the situation persists, the ministry might consider conducting the remaining Class X and XII exams online.

With four more deaths reported of Keralaites on Friday in Europe and the US, the total number of such deaths touched 29.
As more people venture outdoors for fresh air during the novel coronavirus crisis, theyre increasingly coming across injured and orphaned animals and bringing them to the regions wildlife center.

The spring and summer months signal breeding season for many animals, so higher numbers during this time of year are expected, according to Sharon Schmalz, executive director of the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal's (SPCA) Wildlife Center of Texas. But over the last three months, the center has taken in 700 more animals than the same time period last year.

"Some days we are getting anywhere from 70 to 90 animals a day right now," Schmalz said. "Its nonstop. We are constantly on our feet."

The society treats an average of about 11,000 injured or orphaned wild animals every year. Lauded as one of the largest wildlife rehabilitation centers in the nation, the center also provides environmental education for schools and children and plays a critical role in rescuing animals during emergency situations such as hurricanes, floods, fires and oil spills.

The outbreak of the coronavirus in the Houston region has placed the center under a different kind of emergency response situation.

Residents under stay-at-home orders are increasingly heading out into backyards or parks, onto nature trails or along bayous where they are finding injured and or orphaned baby animals.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust

Despite the pandemic, the center is still operating because it is deemed an essential business. It currently has more than 500 wild animals in its care.

"We want to keep our doors open because there are still animals that are getting hit by cars, there are migratory birds that are hitting windows," Schmalz said. "If we are not here to take them in they will lay out there and suffer before they eventually die."

Heights resident Connor Jolibois was recently furloughed from his copywriting job due to the pandemic. On a recent sunny Wednesday morning, he was enjoying coffee on his patio when he suddenly heard what he described as persistent little chirping noises. With extra time on his hands, he decided to investigate.

He quickly discovered a baby opossum that was tangled in some thorny vines that scale the abandoned building next to his townhome complex.

I looked down and I saw this tiny little white face just poking up in the bushes, Jolibois said. They are just so helpless. I didnt want to leave him out any longer than I had to.

The center has been so flooded with calls that Jolibois was unable to speak with someone until he brought the animal to the facility. He did his research and was sure the mother would not return before deciding to rescue it. Jolibois, who admits he has a love for wildlife conservation, said he had no idea the center was one of the largest of its kind in the country.

It was a really impressive facility, he said. I felt really good leaving because I knew [that the baby was safe.] People should know this is a resource we have here in Houston.

Hopeful sign

The center cares for a wide variety of animals, from squirrels, opossums, birds and snakes to more unusual cases like river otters. Healed animals are released in designated areas located outside of the city, usually in outdoor areas from an approved property owner.

Schmalz, who started at the center as a volunteer 38 years ago, said she even releases some animals on her own 2-acre property in League City.

"Almost all wildlife is protected by the government, so we have to have certain permits to do this," Schmalz said. "We are trying to move them out as quickly as we can, once they are ready to be on their own."

Operations at the center have been adjusted to help prevent the spread of the virus. Staff is outfitted with personal protection equipment (PPE), only one resident is allowed in at a time and all surfaces are routinely disinfected. The center relies on donations to help fund its mission but is no longer allowing staff to touch credit cards.

Despite the long hours and constant reminder of the virus, Schmalz sees the spike in cases as a hopeful sign.

"It says a lot about people in Houston, that they care," Schmalz said. "Its exhausting but it gives me hope that their lives are going to be okay, they are going to get back to normal and our lives are going to be back to normal too, eventually."

CORONAVIRUS IN HOUSTON: All of the latest news, numbers and analysis to keep you up-to-date, only on HoustonChronicle.com

Houstonians that come across an injured or orphaned wild animal should heed experts' advice before making any moves. Schmalz warns residents against trapping an animal themselves as they are territorial in nature and could lash out in defense.

"Even though it looks like it might not bite you, just dont take a chance with wildlife," she said.

If its determined that the animal needs to be brought into the center, Schmalz said, the best way to do so is to throw a blanket or towel over it, place a dog kennel or box in front of it and then use a broom to gently push it inside.

"That way there is no contact with your hands and we will uncover them when they get here," she said. "But never try and pick up a wild animal especially without some kind of expertise or talking to somebody because people can definitely get hurt."

Schmalz said one of the center's most recent patients is an orphaned baby dove that a Houston girl brought in with her dad after discovering it was unable to fly on its own. The little girl named the bird, "Hope."

The help the center continue its mission, consider a monetary donation, contributing with a grocery store gift card for fruits and vegetables for the animals or donating to its Amazon wish list. The Wildlife Center of Texas is located at 7007 Katy Road, Houston.

Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | rebecca.hennes@chron.com
MRT file photo

Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield told an energy market information provider Thursday he would be more optimistic about an OPEC+ deal if there is a U.S. requirement to cut supply.

Sheffield told S&P Global Platts, If they say the 10 million (barrels a day) cut goes off the table if the U.S. doesnt participate, then Im more optimistic. If there isnt a U.S. requirement, then I think it will be harder to get it approved.
Migrants live crammed into 43 dormitories. Some 500 dorm residents have been infected, a quarter of all cases in the country. Some 24,000 people are under observation. The pandemic hit two dormitories. What is happening in the city-state could happen in other countries in Asia and Africa.

Singapore (AsiaNews/Agencies)  The dormitories housing thousands of foreign workers have become clusters for the spread of the coronavirus in Singapore, which now fears a second wave of contagions.

Local authorities had succeeded in curbing the spread of COVID-19, mainly thanks to the partial closure of borders, stringent airports controls, and an effective disease identification system.

Until a few days ago, Singapores approach was touted one of the most effective, together with that of South Korea, Taiwan and China. Now the number of cases is rising fast and causing concern.

Yesterday, 287 new cases were reported, the worst since the outbreak began, up from 142 the day before. Overall, about 2,000 people have been infected in the country with six deaths.

The negative trend has prompted the government to impose a partial lockdown with schools and non-essential businesses closed.

People have been urged to stay home, except for basic necessities. Penalties for violators range from a S$ 10,000 fine (US$ 7,000) to six months in prison.

Initially, the authorities were concerned primarily about infected people coming back, and so neglected migrant workers.

About 200,000 people from poor countries are employed mostly in construction, shipping and maintenance, sectors where it is difficult to respect social distancing to prevent infections.

Foreign workers, who make up almost 40 per cent of Singapores workforce, usually live in precarious conditions, crammed into 43 dormitories, often 12 in a single room, sharing bathroom and kitchen, a situation that facilitates the transmission of the virus.

Close to 500 cases have now been confirmed in several dormitory clusters, about a quarter of all cases. More than 24,000 workers are now confined to two dorms - on full pay and with meals provided.

Some virus-free residents have been moved to empty properties or army camps to try to reduce the density.

Experts warn that everyone must take notice of what is happening in Singapore, especially in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa, which have large communities stuck in poor sanitary conditions in places similar to Singapores dormitories.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) on Thursday announced it has begun enrolling participants in a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, for treating COVID-19.

According to a report in The Hill, the first participants have enrolled in the trial at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to this drug in his briefings.

The Hill report stated that 'participants will be randomly assigned to receive 400 mg of hydroxychloroquine twice daily for two doses (day one), then 200 mg twice daily for the subsequent eight doses (days two through five) or a placebo twice daily for five days.

On Wednesday, the US President thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over India's decision on the export of hydroxychloroquine, in the wake of global coronavirus pandemic.

"Our national stockpile is now equipped with nearly 30 million hydroxychloroquine pills. I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested before the problem arose. He was terrific. We will remember it," the US President had said, addressing a press briefing here.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorisation, allowing health care providers to use the medicine for illness.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation's medical research agency.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States has exceeded 450,000 with 16,267 deaths due to the disease, according to data published by Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
People who have recently returned from abroad are also being diagnosed

In Ukraine, doctors began testing patients with pneumonia for the presence of COVID-19. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko during a briefing that was broadcasted by 112 Ukraine TV channel.

In addition, people who have recently returned from abroad are also being diagnosed.

It is worth noting that all people who have come to Ukraine from abroad must remain in self-isolation for 14 days.

As of now, there are 2,203 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ukraine. Overall, 69 people have died, while 61 patients have successfully recovered.

As we reported earlier, the increase of the passenger traffic is observed at the border of Ukraine; during the last 24 hours, 6,300 people returned to the country.

On April 9, 6,300 our fellow countrymen were processed at the entrance to Ukraine. Moreover, over 3,400 people left Ukraine, including 1,300 foreigners, the message of Ukraine's State Border Guard Service reads.

25 violators of the quarantine were identified at the checkpoints. Police were informed about them.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, now the presumptive Democrat nominee, told donors Wednesday afternoon that his campaign is mobilizing a team to help pick his running mate.

We are putting in place, which we can do with abandon now, a mechanism to be able to vet the vice presidential potential picks, Biden said, when asked if hes going to be announcing his running mate after the last primary in June.

Its not entirely clear who in Bidens campaign will be part of the committee, or if outside voices will also be consulted.

On Wednesday morning, Bernie Sanders, Bidens only remaining rival for the Democratic nomination, ended his presidential bid. That move has freed up major party players, such as former President Barack Obama, to make an endorsement in the race without choosing between Biden and Sanders.

After committing during the March 15 Democratic presidential debate to select a woman as his running mate, Biden again stressed that intention Wednesday.

Former Vice President Joe Biden at a virtual press briefing on a laptop on March 25. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

There are many women with the experience and background to do that job, and that includes women of color. And so Im putting together a list of the people that I would consider for that job, Biden said.

On the call, Biden did not refer to any particular candidate, although former rival Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams have been rumored to be at the top of the campaigns shortlist. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., whose late-cycle endorsement is credited with resuscitating Bidens campaign, has publicly pushed for Biden to select an African-American woman as his running mate, and counts Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, and former national security adviser Susan Rice among his preferred picks, Axios reported.

On Wednesday, Biden told his donors that he turned to Obama for advice on what qualities he should be looking for in a running mate. According to Biden, Obama said that one of the key factors in their own relationship was that they could balance out one anothers political experiences. Biden, Obama told him, should seek out an individual with similarly complementary qualities.

Story continues

So Im going to need a woman vice president who has the capacity, has strengths where I have weaknesses, Biden said, adding, Im looking for someone who will be a partner in this process. Someone who is simpatico.

Sen. Bernie Sanders announcing his withdrawal from the presidential race on Wednesday. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Typically, running mates are announced in the days leading up to a partys national convention. In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Democratic National Committee pushed its conference back from mid-July to mid-August. The Republican National Committee's convention is set for late August. With the final Democratic primary scheduled in June, and Biden having suspended in-person campaigning thanks to the coronavirus, he has already faced pressure to finalize his ticket before Democrats hold their convention in Milwaukee.

Biden signaled Wednesday that an early announcement is possible, saying he could decide on a running mate before the usual time.

Until then, however, he said there was much work to be done.

Its going to take a while just to get through the vetting and get down to making a determination, said Biden.

_____

Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

Read more:
Extreme right-wing organizations and radical Islamist groups are seizing on the turmoil and panic created by the coronavirus pandemic to advance their violent agendas, often using similar tactics and the same messaging apps, security officials and experts say.

In recent weeks, racist and anti-Semitic organizations, as well as the Islamic State, al-Qaida and radical Shiite networks have ramped up recruitment efforts, encouraged attacks and advanced hate-filled conspiracy theories about the virus.

Far-right extremist groups have called the pandemic a hoax and floated the falsehood that the crisis is being orchestrated by Jews or China. In the United States, they are exploiting the state of anxiety, including massive job losses, by scapegoating Jews, blacks, immigrants, politicians and law enforcement, according to security officials.

Radical Islamist groups are similarly using the pandemic to push their extremist credo, calling the virus an act of God against the enemies of Islam. They also trying to stoke violent opposition to leaders in the Middle East, describing those who have discouraged religious and other large gatherings as defilers of the faith.

Security officials warn that extremist groups may become emboldened during a time when governments and authorities are focused on the sweeping changes to societies and economies brought on by the crisis.

"The online messages of right-wing or jihadist terrorist organizations about covid-19 to incite hate and the call for attacks are finding a receptive audience, and we cannot ignore the possible threat this might cause," said a European intelligence official, who like other officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Experts say Muslim extremist groups and far-right organizations are using similar tactics, as well as many of the same online platforms.

"Practically speaking, these groups' directives largely remain the same: continue attacking the enemy," said Rita Katz, executive director of the SITE Intelligence Group, a private firm that tracks online extremist activity. "The far right has gone much further in directly exploiting the covid-19 pandemic."

Of particular concern, security officials say, are the messages encouraging people to intentionally spread covid-19 to create mass disorder.

One recent online extreme-right post listed chemical formulas for making toxic gases. Others call for spreading the virus to Jews and black children, or encourage sabotaging infrastructure to start race riots.

"In our research, we have found online chatter in which participants state that they are infected and seek to become biological weapons," said Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). "Sites for spreading infection are discussed, among them supermarkets, hospitals and power stations. Also discussed is visiting synagogues and coughing in the faces of rabbis."

Like extremists on the far right, radical Islamist groups have aggressively exploited the pandemic, largely through the same means used in other crises.

Al-Qaida's central media outlet issued a statement in English and Arabic last month that claimed the covid-19 pandemic was a sign of God's fury toward humanity for its sins and failure to adhere to God's rules. It urged Muslims to repent and fight against "the Crusader Enemy," and condemned "the tyranny" of Muslim leaders and the "obscenity and moral corruption" sweeping majority-Muslim countries.

In an editorial in an online magazine last month, the Islamic State urged "lone-wolf" attacks to capitalize on the paralysis and fear.

MEMRI and SITE found that Shiite groups - including Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen - and their supporters on social media platforms have accused the U.S. government of deploying covid-19 as a bioweapon.

Experts and security officials say they are concerned about the swell of calls from extremists to strike at a time when they believe they could get away with terrorist acts and not be detected.

On March 24, a man who authorities say was planning to bomb a hospital where covid-19 patients were being treated was killed during a shootout with FBI agents in Belton, Missouri. Timothy R. Wilson, 36, who had been active on right-wing extremist online groups, intended to use an explosive-laden vehicle in the attack, officials said.

U.S. security officials say they have noticed an uptick in threats against targets in New York and surrounding areas, which lead the country in covid-19 infections and deaths.

Last month, the FBI told police agencies in New York that white supremacists intended to spray Jews and police officers with virus-infected bodily fluids.

On March 21, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness warned that a neo-Nazi media group had encouraged supporters "to incite panic while people are practicing social isolation during the COVID-19 outbreak, which includes discharging firearms in cities and putting bullet-sized holes into car windows."

The fact that people are under quarantine makes them safer from attacks, said Mitchell Silber, executive director the Community Security Initiative, a program created to enhance the security of Jews in New York City.

"I am concerned about the day after, when people start to return back to the real world," he said.

The Department of Homeland Security this week urged religious leaders to keep security in mind when mass gatherings halted by the coronavirus begin resuming at houses of worship. While saying there were no imminent threats, the department highlighted stress fueled by the pandemic and a surge in online hate speech.

In a letter sent to the faith-based community on Wednesday, the department noted that religious leaders who start to welcome congregants back should "also review your security plans and ensure procedures are in place to protect your facilities and visitors."

"Although there are no imminent or credible threats at this time, there has been an increase in online hate speech intended to encourage violence or use the ongoing situation as an excuse to spread hatred," Brian Harrell, the department's assistant director for infrastructure security, wrote in the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by The Washington Post.

"Additionally, stressors caused by the pandemic may contribute to an individual's decision to commit an attack or influence their target of choice," he added. "Again, we have no information to suggest such attacks are imminent or even likely, instead we are looking to provide you with useful information for planning for restoration of normal operations."

The message was sent ahead of major holidays taking place over the coming weeks. Passover began Wednesday, Easter is Sunday and Ramadan starts the following week.

Katz, of the SITE Intelligence Group, said the pandemic should alter the way the world looks at terrorist threats.

"Ultimately, we need to start thinking of terrorism in these new contexts: public health, disinformation, etc. While some of these threats may have seemed far-fetched a few months ago, we're now learning every day what happens when governments don't prepare for the worst."

- - -

The Washington Post's Mark Berman contributed to this report.
Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari over the Presidential pardon granted to the duo of late professor Ambrose Ali, former governor of old Bendel state and late Chief Anthony Enahoro.

Speaking via a statement by his Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr Crusoe Osagie, he revealed that he was the one that championed the Presidential pardon in the first instance.

According to him, When the governor graced the memorial service in honour of late Prof. Alli, he said that he had reached advanced stages of a move to secure a presidential pardon for Prof. Alli. It is delightful that the pardon has now been granted.

What is also very pleasing is the fact that Chief Anthony Enahoro was also granted a presidential pardon. Chief Enahoro would always be remembered for his instrumental role in the ideation of what is Nigeria today.

Read Also: Buhari Celebrates Dangote At 63

The state government would continue to sustain the legacies of late Prof. Alli and the noble ideals of Chief Enahoro, noting, With Prof. Allis legacies serving as indelible examples of the kind of policies and programmes we are enacting in Edo State, the Obaseki-led administration is going to continue to place the common man at the centre of its policies.

Chief Enahoro, on his part, also espoused ideals which we have anchored a number of our programmes, especially on the need for Edo people to chart the path of their destinies on their own terms.
Alternate history is fascinating to many. The often seemingly arbitrary procession of events that leads up to the present offers endless possibilities for wondering about if it had happened otherwise, to borrow the title of one such collection of counterfactual eventualities. Some imagine darker outcomes, such as what might have followed Confederate victory in the Civil War or Axis victory in World War II. Others posit how bad events could have turned out better, such as if the Titanic had had more lifeboats.

The preferred alternate reality of Vox editor-at-large Ezra Klein is one in which Elizabeth Warren is in charge. Promoting an interview he conducted with the Massachusetts senator and unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidate, Klein called it a strange, slightly melancholy experience: like glimpsing an alternate reality where political leadership is proportionate to the crisis were facing.

Kleins basis for Warrens exemplary leadership is . . . her plans. In January, Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the first presidential candidate to release a plan for combating coronavirus, Klein writes. In March, she released a second plan. Days later, with the scale of economic damage increasing, she released a third. Forget that, if one actually looks at the first plan, which would theoretically supply the best case for Warrens managerial prescience, its practical advice  stockpiling medical supplies  is far outweighed by calls to enact and/or increase spending for longstanding Democratic priorities, such as Medicare for All and climate change, conveniently yet unconvincingly transformed into coronavirus mitigators. In this, one hears as a distant echo the refrain that once animated Warrens presidential campaign: Ive got a plan for that. Warren thoroughly embraced the technocratic posture (to the point of producing campaign gear emphasizing it) that a few properly formatted white papers would usher America into a Nirvana of ideal political outcome  provided, of course, that she was in charge, and imbued with the presidencys apparently mystical powers of perfect legislating and vanquishing political opposition.

Story continues

Alas, Warrens plan for winning the Democratic nomination had an inconvenient flaw: It didnt work, failing to win her any state, including the one she represents in the Senate. Though once riding high, Warren was laid low, in part, by a simple critique from then-rival Pete Buttigieg. Warren had insisted that it would be possible to have Medicare for All, a universal-health-care proposal popular among some Democrats, without middle-class tax increases. Senator Bernie Sanders, another primary rival, also supported Medicare for All but admitted that it would require such taxes. Warrens version didnt add up, and Buttigieg knew it. Your signature, Senator, is to have a plan for everything. Except this, he said. National Reviews own John McCormack explained what happened next:

In the days that followed, she released a plan to fund her single-payer health-care proposal. Many critics pointed out that, even with drastic tax hikes, the numbers still didnt add up. This put her in a bind: She didnt want to bleed any more of her relatively moderate supporters to Buttigieg, and she realized she couldnt get to the left of the avowedly socialist Sanders. In mid-November, she retreated on Medicare for All, pledging that she wouldnt push the matter during her first two years in office, the time when a president typically has the most political capital to spend. By the end of the month, half of her supporters nationwide had abandoned her.

And so Warren must settle for being interviewed by Klein, and Klein must settle for imagining that Warren is in charge.

But Warren is, in a sense, in charge. She may not be the Democratic Partys presidential nominee, yet this position in itself could have offered her actual political power no sooner than January 21, 2021, the day of the next presidential inauguration, making one wonder when, exactly, in Kleins hypothetical, Warren would have become president to defeat the present threat of the coronavirus. Klein may also be surprised to discover that there are other sources of political power in the United States besides the office of the presidency  and that Warren is no mere helpless bystander, capable only of commenting on things and not acting. Nor will it do simply to take to the pages of the New York Times to announce that she alone has the plan to fight the pandemic. She remains a member of the U.S. Senate, wielding power in what the Constitution designed to be the most powerful branch of government, albeit a deliberative one that doesnt simply bow to declarations of singular expertise. Klein need not imagine an alternate universe in which Warren has power; she has some right now.

She had it during the recent congressional debate over relief to compensate for the economic effects of COVID-19. During this period, she frustrated negotiations with attempts to insert all manner of conditions and provisions in the aid that pertained not to the crisis at hand but to items long on her agenda: expanding Social Security, canceling student-loan debt, and mandating that businesses receiving such aid be prohibited from stock buybacks and eventually establish a $15-per-hour minimum wage, among other things.

Warren surely believes these proposals are valid. She is welcome to advocate them in the course of ordinary politics. But it is interesting to see her complain, in conversation with Klein, that President Trumps coronavirus response has been inadequate because with him its all politics all the time and that the reason we didnt have testing early on was plain old politics. Donald Trump didnt want to see those numbers. Trumps response to the coronavirus has indeed been seriously flawed. But what was Warrens attempt to direct the coronavirus relief bill toward her political priorities but politics? Does Klein consider this political leadership . . . proportionate to the crisis were facing?

The recent actual conduct of Elizabeth Warren in public life does not inspire much confidence in her ability to rise to the occasion of an emergency. As a presidential candidate, she issued plans, yes. But they were often wish lists: She gave little thought to their practicality and sometimes resorted to obfuscation in their defense. As a senator, she has shown an inability to disregard personal political gain and to respond appropriately to an emergency, instead comforting herself with the fiction that what she has always wanted just happens to be the right response, and insulating herself from criticism with familiar but empty appeals to supposedly unbiased expertise. Maybe theres a more responsible Elizabeth Warren in some alternate reality. But not in this one.

More from National Review
Wading into more politics over the Coronavirus (COVID-19), China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Spokesperson, on Friday, said that the US State Department was speaking with political motives and neglecting facts. Moreover, it also stated that while Taiwan's participation was important in the WHO, it must be arranged via cross-consultation with China under its 'One-China' policy. China stated that any responsible country will ascertain facts before jumping to conclusions about the novel Coronavirus.

China slams US and Taiwan-WHO communication

The spokesperson of the US State Department neglects facts and speaks with political motives. This cannot address the outbreak in US, or promote international cooperation. Instead, it only hurts US' own image and interests. pic.twitter.com/1vBdntrNI1  Spokesperson (@MFA_China) April 10, 2020

Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Punjab extends lockdown till May 1, total cases soar to 6761

Taiwan slams WHO

Reports of Taiwan's participation in WHO has mired new controversy of its sovereignty. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus rejection of racist slurs, which he said had originated from Taiwan, provoked a stern response from Taiwan. President Tsai Ing-wen said in a statement that Taiwan has always opposed all forms of discrimination since they know better than anyone else what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated - this remark has been slammed by China, saying that Taiwan is using the coronavirus to seek independence.

China targets Taiwan officials for 'venomously' attacking WHO chief

Trump attacks WHO, threatens slashing in funding

On Tuesday, President Trump took to Twitter that the World Health Organisation (WHO) really blew it. Trump who has faced severe criticism for his delayed response to the COVID-19 pandemic, claimed that WHO was very China-centric, hinting at a change in funding after stating 'WHO was largely funded by the US'. In response, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged the United States to join with China in combating the disease rather than indulging in a blame game saying 'If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicising it'.

New York sees 799 deaths in one day, Governor Cuomo claims 'COVID-19 in its first wave'

The Coronavirus crisis

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- the novel coronavirus has affected nearly 160 countries in the world. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to deal to treat COVID-19, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its scope. So far, China, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Iran, US, France, UK have witnessed the most number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, with the WHO declaring US as the 'epicenter' - with 17,838 deaths.

The Earth is 'standing still' claim seismologists citing less human activity during Covid
The Indian consulate here has come to the rescue of thousands of stranded Indians in America amidst the unprecedented emergency situation arising out of the global coronavirus pandemic and the resultant lockdown in many countries.

The sudden cancellation of commercial flights to India and other parts of the world following the COVID-19 pandemic has left several Indian students, business travellers, family visitors in many US states.

During these times of unexpected crisis, the Consulate General of India here, which looks after the Indo-US diplomatic matters in the American states of Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas, has been providing support and guidance to the stranded Indians anxious to be home soon.

The consulate has been working round the clock since March 14 because of the unprecedented emergency situation and is actively responding to the flood of inquiries and is providing assistance. However, there are no evacuation plans by India at this point as some believe. There are no flights going to India till April 14 and things may change depending on the situation,Aseem Mahajan, the Indian Consul-General in Houston, told PTI.

Among the problems faced by the students in the universities include, lodging and medical issues.

Thousands of Indian students in local universities and visitors stranded in the US continue with myriad problems like lack of boarding and lodging and medical issues. Some of the students had to vacate college dorms and are struggling to find food and shelter because of limited resources and no flights to return to India. Their parents are equally worried and have been continuously contacting the Consulate for help, he said.

Mahajan urged the students to stay positive, calm, at home, follow social distancing and local advisory and focus on their studies as all schools have resumed classes online.

Many universities are providing all possible help to students. They have been put in the residence halls for anyone wanting to stay through the semester. All residence halls have access to dining services and campuses are secure, he said.

Some Indians including researchers, project engineers and others on a short visit to US, were scheduled to return after their project completion but are stranded now are facing visa issues, while some visiting aged parents, with pre-existing health issues are having the worst time procuring medications as their Indian prescription does not work here," Mahajan said.

He said various private bodies such as the American Association of Physicians of Indian Orgin are offering medical consultations.

Globally, over 1.5 million people have been infected so far by the coronavirus and the fatalities stands at nearly 95,000.

The United States accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the all the COVID-19 positive cases and over 17 per cent of all fatalities.

In the US, the virus has claimed over 16,000 lives and infected over 460,000 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Los Angeles prosecutors have charged imprisoned former film producer Harvey Weinstein with an additional count of felony sexual battery by restraint.

The district attorneys office said the charge was filed over allegations the former movie mogul sexually assaulted a woman at a Beverly Hills hotel in May 2010. The woman was initially interviewed by detectives as a corroborating witness but recently provided details showing her alleged assault occurred within the 10-year statute of limitations.

The charge has been added to a Los Angeles case that alleges Weinstein sexually assaulted two women in separate incidents in 2013.

Weinstein, 68, was convicted in February of rape and sexual assault in New York and is serving a 23-year prison sentence. He recently overcame a bout with coronavirus. It is unknown when he will be transported to face the charges in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles prosecutors on Friday said they are declining to prosecute two other cases involving Weinstein because the women did not want to testify against him. Both alleged victims are described in a document as actresses, and one testified against Weinstein at his New York trial.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said investigators continue to work to strengthen their case against Weinstein. As we gather corroborating evidence, we have reached out to other possible sexual assault victims, she said in a statement. If we find new evidence of a previously unreported crime, as we did here, we will investigate and determine whether additional criminal charges should be filed.

A spokesman for Weinstein had no immediate comment on the new charge.

Weinstein, the Oscar-winning producer of Shakespeare in Love, was convicted of raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006. His lawyers have said theyll appeal his prison sentence.
2 1 of 2 Brant Ward / The Chronicle 2010 Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Show More Show Less



Tomorrow, April 10, 2020, I will wake up for the first time in San Francisco without Phyllis Lyon in my life and the life of this town she so loved. From my earliest days in 1994 as legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Phyllis and Del were a part of my professional and personal life. They welcomed me to their home and answered my relentless questions about their lives as if they had not done it a thousand times. Our regular lunches, at the modest home they shared at the very top of Castro Street, were a source of joy and inspiration for me.

In February 2004 when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, I picked them up at that house to drive them to San Francisco City Hall, where they became the first couple issued such a license. They did this as a political act, not because they saw marriage as liberation, but because they abhorred discrimination. Later, they saw what the difference being able to marry meant to so many and they added marriage activists to their long list of womens, civil and LGBTQ rights. When they married again in June 2008 after the California Supreme Court struck down state laws excluding same-sex couples from marriage, the ceremony moved them both. Phyllis was grateful that they had the chance to have a legally recognized union just a few short weeks before Dels death in August of that year.
Delhi HC asks Centre, Google to respond to mans plea to remove articles on his conviction in criminal case

Who is Saurabh Kirpal? Indias likely to get its first openly gay judge of Delhi high court

Delhi HC dismisses plea to stop publication, sale of Salman Khurshid's book : 'Ask people not to buy it'

COVID-19: Delhi HC suspends summer break to compensate for work loss

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 10: The Delhi High court decided to suspend its summer vacation this year, slated from June 1 to 30, to make up for the loss of working hours due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

The high court has also cancelled the summer break of subordinate courts in June this year.

The decision was taken at a meeting by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D N Patel and other judges considering the severe hardship and difficulties being faced by litigants on account of the lockdown and consequent suspension of functioning of the courts that are currently hearing matters of extreme urgency only through video conferencing.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

The high court has been hearing only urgent matters since March 16. Besides, all the interim orders passed by it and the trial courts earlier, which were to expire by March 16 or there after, have already been extended till May 15.

The high court resolved Thursday that the courts shall continue functioning during the entire vacation month of June 2020.

"This decision has been taken by the Full Court on April 9, to make up for the loss of court working hours and to ensure restoration of normalcy in the functioning of the courts at the earliest," said a statement issued by the high court.

Fake News Buster

The resolution said, Since during the period of suspension of work, the hearing is limited to the matters of extremely urgent nature or urgent nature, there is negligible fresh filing of cases, lesser disposal and corresponding escalation in arrears, resulting in extreme hardship to litigants."

It said the September 16, 2019 notification, which had declared the period of the summer vacations for the high court and trial courts here in June this year, is modified.

The resolution said it is hoped and expected that members of the Bar shall extend their full cooperation in making the functioning of the courts meaningful and purposeful during the month of June 2020.
"Please quarantine politicizing COVID": WHO chief

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:12, April 09, 2020

GENEVA, April 8 (Xinhua) -- "Please quarantine politicizing COVID. If we want to win, we shouldn't waste time pointing fingers," World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged here on Wednesday, saying "Unity is the only option to defeat this virus."

Answering a question from the press about U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to freeze U.S. funding to the WHO, Tedros said his message for the world at this moment is unity and solidarity, instead of politicizing the virus.

"I will suggest two things to the world," he told a virtual press conference from Geneva. The first is national unity, and the second is global solidarity.

Tedros stressed that at the national level, leaders should work across party lines.

"My message to political parties: do not politicize this virus. If you care for your people, work across party lines and ideologies ... Without unity, we assure you, even any country that may have a better system will be in trouble, and more crises," Tedros noted.

"No need to use COVID to score political points. You have many other ways to prove yourselves. This is not the one to use for politics, It's like playing with fire," Tedros added.

"Now, the United States and China, all the rest of G20 and the rest of the world should come together to fight the virus," he said, adding that "When there are cracks at the national level and global level, that's when the virus succeeds."

Earlier in the day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for support for WHO.

"It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against COVID-19," said Guterres in a statement.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






With the total number of coronavirus positive cases in Telangana's Nirmal rising to 15, the district collector on Thursday announced a total curfew in the district.

"We have announced that from today 100 per cent curfew is imposed till April 14. We appealed to the public not to come out of their houses," district collector Musharraf Ali Faruqui told ANI over the phone.

"15 coronavirus positive cases have been detected in the district till now. 11 containment zones have been identified in the district. Four of them are in Nirmal and two of them are in Bhainsa and the remaining five are in different villages," Farooqi told reporters in a press briefing along with Nirmal District SP Sasidhar Raju here

The collector said 105 medical teams are holding a survey in Nirmal, 42 in Bhainsa, and five teams in villages.

"The staff who are working to fight COVID-19 in the district like medical staff, sanitation workers, ambulance drivers, cleaners will be allowed to perform their duties. The public will be allowed only when there is a medical emergency," Farooqi stated.

The collector further said that there are five quarantine centres and two isolated ward hospitals in the district.

"There were 1100 foreign returnees, 45 were kept in a government quarantine, 41 of them are sent to their houses for house quarantine," he added.

Nirmal District SP Sasidhar Raju said, "People must confine to their houses during this complete curfew. Strict action will be taken on those who violate rules. Anyone who comes out will be punished for six months to three years of imprisonment under the Epidemic Disaster Management Act and their vehicles will also be seized and surrendered to the court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Season 3 Premiere. (2020 Home Box Office, Inc. All)

Location manager Mandi Dillin has scouted for Transformers, Iron Man, Quentin Tarantino, and Christopher Nolan. But for the last five years Dillin has been organising locations for HBOs Westworld, a job that entailed recreating artificial depictions of the past in Seasons 1 and 2, and for Season 3  which is currently airing on Sky Atlantic and Now TV  coming up with a convincing version of the future.

We spoke to Dillin about the challenges involved in crafting a location-heavy show that plays out in multiple time periods. But we kicked off by asking how the coronavirus is currently affecting her industry.

Yahoo Movies UK: Are you working from home at the moment?

Mandi Dillin: No, I have been off work for about two weeks now. And Im not sure when I will return to work which is kind of scary, but Im trying to make the best of it. Sleeping as much as I can!

Mandi Dillin attends the HBO POV "That's a Wrap" Celebration on December 10, 2019. (John Sciulli/Getty Images for HBO)

Can a location manager work during self-isolation?

Yes, one can, depending on the project. For example the project I was working on when the city of Los Angeles shut down  and the world shut down  we were still in the scouting and pre-production phase, so up to a certain extent you can still do a lot of digital scouting, digital correspondence with the attorneys to get contracts settled and stuff like that.

Read more: Everything new on Now TV in April

But its the physical part of the job, which is about 100% of the job when you start filming  of going into peoples homes, of going into businesses  and currently that is what makes people uncomfortable. Im not sure when people will allow us back into their private residences for filming.

What are the problems the industry is facing during this crisis?

Depending on what the governments say  so depending on the state of California and what the President decides  in terms of group gathering, thats one concern I have. Because typically a film crew  especially for the projects I work on  is anywhere from 200 to 500 people, so if the film industry is able to pick up again, I have a slight worry about limitations on the number of people who are able to congregate at any one time.

Story continues

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

Explained: Symptoms, latest advice and how it compares to the flu

A perfect example is Westworld; if youve seen the previous seasons you know that we have a large cast and we typically have a lot of background, plus we have a large crew. That on any given day was about 400-500 people. So if there are restrictions on the quantity of people who can gather, that concerns me a little bit.

Do you think the industry will have to change and adapt going forward?

I see more work moving to stage. I see producers wanting to build interiors on stage more than they typically would. Because thats a more controlled environment  at a studio, where you can limit the number of people inside, and certainly sanitise it.

What are the challenges involved in finding locations for Westworld?

If you don't like what you see in the mirror, don't blame the mirror. (2020 Home Box Office, Inc. All)

Keeping the locations fresh and consistent with the look of the world were trying to create. Specifically for Season 3, were trying world-building in a new way. On previous seasons we knew what the world was  Western World, with little parts of other worlds built in that were based in an historic context, such as Shogun World. Here we are talking about a future city that no ones ever seen, and that we hadnt even seen until we started planning out Season 3.

So the mandate at the beginning of a season is, always, Find cool s***. This season I was able to go on a worldwide search for buildings and spaces that had the aesthetic we were looking for. Then once we decided on our three geographies  which would be Spain, Singapore and Los Angeles  we were able to really hone in on the best of what each of those cities and countries had to offer.

Is a lot of the future that we see in Season 3 located in Singapore?

Season 3 Premiere. (2020 Home Box Office, Inc. All)

Its a combination of Singapore and Los Angeles. I think that weve successfully tricked people with some of our Los Angeles locations. Singapore is featured throughout the entire season, but you really see it in Episodes 1 and 4 so far. The goal always when we have a travel unit is to get the big shots while we are there, and do a lot of the scene work and dialogue work in Los Angeles when thats possible just because its a massive amount of both money and logistical effort to get a certain amount of crew out to Singapore. Or wherever  even Utah.

On previous seasons when weve filmed in Utah, it would only be for a couple of days, so while were at that location we would have to maximise what were filming to get the most bang for our buck. So thats true of both Spain and Singapore this season. We only filmed for a few days, then peppered the scenes from those filming periods throughout the entire season to help make our world and our visual storytelling seamless.

How many new locations did you have to find for Season 3?

People put up a lot of walls. Bring a sledgehammer to your life. (2020 Home Box Office, Inc. All)

The foreign locations, we had about 25 in total in Spain and Singapore, so they were completely new. And then Los Angeles, we had over 120 unique locations, and I think only one of them was a repeat from previous seasons, which was the Man in Blacks mansion.

Do you have a favourite of those locations?

I have to say that featuring the streets of downtown Los Angeles; the city of Los Angeles in general is really exciting. I think it can be overlooked because people focus on the beaches and Hollywood and that side of Los Angeles. To me, having the opportunity to film in mostly downtown LA is exciting because it shows a side of the city that people dont really know exists. Unless you live or work in downtown Los Angeles.

Do you prefer creating these artificial versions of the future or the past?

People put up a lot of walls. Bring a sledgehammer to your life. (2020 Home Box Office, Inc. All)

I like the future. I like all of it  the past is cool too  at least you have a reference. But I think the future is so exciting because really, what is the limitation? As long as we stay within the aesthetic of Westworld, or whatever project were talking about at the time, you really have no limits, because anything goes. Because really, what is futuristic?

Read more: Hidden gems on Now TV

People thought Blade Runner was futuristic  which it still is  but they used the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles, which is a Victorian-era building. And that was based on a science-fiction novel. So I feel like theres a lot more flexibility when youre looking at futurism and locations.

Inside the Bradbury building. The historic building was featured in the film "Blade Runner," along with several other films. (Photo by Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images)

Did you miss the old west on this season?

Its nice to have a change. Its nice to have the dirt out of my teeth and my boots. Even though I miss wearing all my Western World gear  I have a separate set of gear just for those locations. But Ive done a couple of other projects that were western  like Django Unchained  so I felt like I was pigeon-holed in the world of making westerns for about two or three years. So for me personally its refreshing to do something else.

Over the course of the three seasons, have you found people thinking that some of the real locations are computer-generated?

Ed Harris as The Man in Black. (2016 Home Box Office, Inc. All)

A lot of people do. Its funny because weve always been a location-heavy show. And on Season 1 and Season 2 people would come up to me quite often and say Wow, Westworld must be so easy, all you do is just film at ranches and have digital locations. And I would be mildly offended because working on the ranches is a huge ordeal for our western-style locations.

But also in Season 1 I think we were 80% on location, and its been a gradual increase each season. Especially for Season 3  I want to say we were 98% on location, and it was very challenging, but also very fun.

Are you working towards Season 4 yet, or might the coronavirus cause delays?

Ive only heard whispers of Season 4. Typically theres about a year between when we finish filming one season to when we begin talking about the next season. Even though [showrunner] Jonah [Nolan] has five million things happening in his brain at one time. For us it typically is a year apart.

So I wouldnt know if Season 4 would be affected by coronavirus yet, but if we were to make a Season 4, which I hope we do, I wouldnt even imagine starting to talk about it until January of next year.

Westworld airs Mondays at 9pm on Sky Atlantic and Now TV.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week awarded nearly $18 million to 20 health centers in Mississippi to help fight the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

The HHS, through the Health Resources and Services Administration, awarded $17,935,990 to the health centers to help their communities detect, prevent, diagnose, and treat COVID-19; and maintain or increase capacity and staffing levels.

HRSA-funded health centers are already playing a critical role by delivering essential services, serving as community testing and screening sites, and alleviating burdens on our nations emergency rooms and hospitals," said HHS secretary Alex Azar.

"HHS will continue bringing every resource we have to support heroic healthcare workers across the diverse settings health centers serve, from our cities to our rural towns.

On March 27, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act became law. The HRSA made the funds to health centers immediately available and they are considered a key element of the nations response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

As of Friday morning, there were 2,469 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi, with 82 deaths attributed to the virus. Included in those cases are 135 in Jackson County, with five deaths reported.

According to HHS, the HRSA funds nearly 1,400 health centers in nearly 13,000 locations nationwide. These health centers deliver care to the nations most vulnerable, including people experiencing homelessness, agricultural workers, residents of public housing, and veterans.

Led by patient-majority boards, these health centers provide affordable, accessible, and primary health care to over 28 million people a year, regardless of ability to pay.
Joe Biden faces the most important decision of his five-decade political career: choosing a vice president.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee expects to name a committee to vet potential running mates next week, according to three Democrats with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans. Biden, a former vice president himself, has committed to picking a woman and told donors this week that his team has discussed naming a choice well ahead of the Democratic convention in August.

Selecting a running mate is always critical for a presidential candidate. But its an especially urgent calculation for the 77-year-old Biden, who, if he wins, would be the oldest American president in history. The decision carries added weight amid the coronavirus pandemic, which, beyond its death toll, threatens to devastate the world economy and define a prospective Biden administration.

Were still going to be in crisis or recovery, and you want a vice president who can manage that, said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist who worked for Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign. This seems like a much more important decision than usual.

Biden faces pressure on multiple fronts. He must consider the demands of his racially, ethnically and ideologically diverse party, especially the black women who propelled his nomination. He must balance those concerns with his stated desire for a simpatico partner who is ready to be president on a moments notice.

The campaigns general counsel, Dana Remus, and former White House counsel Bob Bauer are gathering information about prospects. Democrats close to several presumed contenders say theyve not yet been contacted.

Biden has offered plenty of hints. Hes said he can easily name 12 to 15 women who meet his criteria, but would likely seriously consider anywhere from six to 11 candidates. He's given no indication of whether hell look to the Senate, where he spent six terms, to governors or elsewhere.

Some Biden advisers said the campaign has heard from many Democrats who want a woman of color. Black women helped rescue Biden's campaign after an embarrassing start in predominately white Iowa and New Hampshire. Yet theres no firm agreement that Biden must go that route.

The best thing you can do for all segments of the population is to win, said Bidens campaign co-chairman Cedric Richmond, a Louisiana congressman and former Congressional Black Caucus chairman. He has shown a commitment to diversity from the beginning. But this has to be based on, like the VP says, who he trusts.

Biden has regularly praised California Sen. Kamala Harris, a former rival who endorsed him in March and campaigned for him. When she introduced him at a fundraiser this week, Biden did little to tamp down speculation about her prospects.

Im coming for you, kid, he said.

He's also spoken positively of Stacey Abrams, who narrowly missed becoming the first African American female governor in U.S. history when she lost the 2018 Georgia governors race.

Former Democratic candidate for Georgia Governor, Stacey Abrams, speaks before a Democratic presidential primary debate, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)AP

Yet those two women highlight Bidens tightrope. At 55, Harris is talented and popular with Democratic donors, a valuable commodity for a nominee with a fundraising weakness. But shes also a former prosecutor who faces the same skepticism among progressives as Biden. Meanwhile, her home state is already firmly in the Democratic column and could make her an easy target for Republicans eager to blast the party as too liberal.

Abrams, 46, is a star for many younger Democrats, a group Biden struggled to win over in the primary. And she could help turn Georgia into a genuine swing state. But the highest post shes ever held is minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, a possible vulnerability in a time of crisis.

Paul Maslin, a Democratic pollster based in the battleground state of Wisconsin, said it will be impossible for Biden to please everyone.

You can ask too much of a vice president pick to bridge everything  ideology, generational gap, gender, race, experience, he said. Theres going to be something wrong with every one of these choices.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is Democrats only nonwhite female governor. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has reportedly vouched for his states Latina senator, Catherine Cortez Masto. Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth is a veteran who lost limbs in combat. She's of Thai heritage and has notably jousted with President Donald Trump. And Rep. Val Demings, a black congresswoman from the swing state of Florida, helped lead the House impeachment efforts against Trump.

Yet all four women are relative unknowns nationally.

Biden could go beyond Washington to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, one of the three Great Lakes states that delivered Trump his Electoral College majority in 2016. Shes won plaudits during the pandemic and meshes with Bidens pragmatic sensibilities, winning her post in 2018 with promises to fix the damn roads.

But it's not clear that a 48-year-old white woman from the Midwest brings Biden advantages he doesnt already have or cant find elsewhere.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., addresses the crowd during a Women for Biden rally for Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday, March 6, 2020 in Southfield. Nicole Hester/Mlive.com

Its a similar conundrum for others, including Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a former rival who fits seamlessly with Bidens politics. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, meanwhile, could offer a bridge to progressives, but several Democrats said her age, 70, is a bigger liability than potential policy differences with Biden.

Several African American advocates and progressive leaders said the Democratic tickets policies and empathetic appeals are whats most important.

Black voters have to trust the messenger, said Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of Black PAC, and a black woman could stand up and have moral authority to lead on those big issues facing the country right now.

But she said that doesnt mean a white, Asian or Latina vice presidential nominee couldnt speak to the systemic issues, the structural issues that allow for inequalities to persist.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bexar County leaped to 615, and two more deaths resulting from the virus were announced Thursday.

The death toll now stands at 22, with the number of new confirmed cases rising by 61. A man in his 50s and a woman in her 60s, both with underlying health conditions, were the latest victims of the virus, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at the daily city/county briefing.

This is yet another reminder than this virus does not discriminate, Nirenberg said. We must all do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19, especially as we head into a weekend that is normally celebrated with our friends and family.

On ExpressNews.com: COVID-19 cases in San Antonio grow by double digits

Nirenberg said 217 of those with confirmed cases are the result of close contact with someone who already had the disease, while 182 have been attributed to community transmission. Another 146 are travel-related.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is 85. Of those, 55 are in intensive care, with 42 using ventilators to help them breathe, the mayor said.

Nirenberg said the city still doesnt have a complete picture on local testing by private providers. But based on analysis, the Metropolitan Health District estimates more than 6,000 Bexar County residents have been tested, which puts us on par with the cities of Texas, who, all of us together, are fighting for more access to testing all across the state, he said.

More than one-third of the people who have tested positive in Bexar County are younger than 40, he noted.

A test for the coronavirus can be arranged by calling the San Antonio COVID-19 Testing Center at 210-233-5970. A person must be symptomatic to be tested, but no longer needs a physicians referral.

Nirenberg said there were three additional transports of residents from the Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where 10 people who have died from the disease had been living. With those emergency transports, there now are 10 people from the nursing home in the hospital, including four on ventilators, the mayor said.

He called it a difficult situation but said it was wonderful news that no new infections among staff members were revealed in contact investigations.

We want to make sure we understand the best we can how the disease originated in there, but we also want to make sure that we contain it, Nirenberg said.

On Thursday, Southeast Nursing and Rehabilitation, where the people who have contracted the coronavirus has risen to nearly 100, released a statement saying the nursing home staff was saddened, devastated and somewhat confounded by the deaths of our residents as well as the test results revealing more cases among people who live and work here.

The outbreak at the nursing home has infected 73 residents, and 25 workers have also tested positive.

Nursing home officials said they had complied with all orders and protocols issued by Metro Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and federal regulators. However, the nursing home said none of that stopped the virus as it apparently raced through our building.

Administrators at Southeast Nursing said they still do not know how or when the virus was introduced at the facility, but said they were doing everything possible to care for each person here. Earlier this week, city officials said Metro Health had been unable to determine the original source of the outbreak, but guessed that the virus had been brought in by a worker.

This is exhausting for residents, staff and families, the nursing homes statement said. We are hopeful this situation serves as a cautionary notice to all senior living and rehabilitation centers. COVID-19 is an evil and fast enemy. Be prepared.

In other coronavirus updates, the San Antonio Police Department announced one additional patrol officer has tested positive for COVID-19, for a total of five officers who have contracted the virus. Metro Health found the officer hadnt had any close workplace contacts.

SAPD officials said there were 20 officers and 17 civilians in quarantine as of Thursday.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

Also Thursday, H-E-B announced that employees at three additional San Antonio stores have tested positive, bringing the total number of H-E-B workers with COVID-19 to five. The company said all directly affected workers at each location have been notified.

The three locations are: 7951 Guilbeau Road, where the affected worker was last in the store April 3; 12018 Perrin Beitel, where the worker was last present April 1; and 1015 South W.W. White Road, where the worker was last there March 31.

Officials said each store had been deep cleaned and sanitized multiple times.

The first case was at an H-E-B Plus! near Bandera Road and Loop 1604, where the employee was last in the store March 27. The second was near the intersection of Grissom and Tezel roads. The worker was last there Sunday.

Also, the San Antonio Water System announced Thursday that an employee who was last at work March 30 has tested positive. The employee did not have direct contact with customers, and his work area has had a deep cleaning and been sanitized, the utility said.

Comal County reported its fourth COVID-19 death on Thursday, a woman in her 80s who died at home over the weekend. Her husband, who officials said had been in a San Antonio hospital with the virus, died Tuesday.

Five more cases, including the deceased woman who received a positive test postmortem, were confirmed in Comal, bringing the total number of novel coronavirus cases there to 34. The other new cases were from Spring Branch, New Braunfels and Fair Oaks Ranch.

In Castroville, the Medina Valley Independent School District advised parents and staff that a food service employees family member tested positive for COVID-19. The employee, who most recently worked at Luckey Ranch Elementary from March 30 to April 3, had direct contact with the family member and both are in self-quarantine, as are all of the district employees who worked at that site.

The school site, which has been serving meals during the pandemic, was scheduled to be sanitized and will resume meal service Monday, said Superintendent Kenneth Rohrbach. Temperatures are now being taken of every food service employee when they arrive at work and all are wering personal protective equipment, he said.

In Kendall County, one more case of COVID-19 was reported, bringing the total to 10. None have been hospitalized and seven have recovered, officials said.

Scott Huddleston covers Bexar County government and the Alamo for the San Antonio Express-News. To read more from Scott, become a subscriber. shuddleston@express-news.net | Twitter: @shuddlestonSA
While tens of thousands of new COVID-19 cases continue to be confirmed in the US each day, Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler (FCA) announced Monday that it intends to restart US and Canadian production beginning May 4. Honda, Toyota, BMW, Volvo, Hyundai and Tesla have all indicated plans to restart US production in the first week of May as well.

Ford and General Motors (GM), the other two major US automakers, have not publicly announced restart dates, but signs point toward a similar timeframe, with their suppliers getting ready to begin production in the next two weeks.

Bridgestone, which manufactures tires, has announced plans to begin production on April 13, and Lear, which manufactures seats and electrical systems, has published a so-called Safe Work Playbook signaling that it plans to return to production soon.

The corporate drive to get workers back into the plants takes place even as deaths among autoworkers continue to mount. The Detroit Free Press has reported 19 deaths due to COVID-19 in the Detroit Three US auto plants since March 22. A worker at FCAs Chelsea Proving Grounds in Michigan was the latest confirmed death, dying Thursday morning. Twelve workers have died at FCA and seven at Ford, while no deaths have been reported among GM workers yet. In addition, at least one autoworker at a non-Detroit Three auto plant has died, at Hyundais Montgomery, Alabama factory.

Had it not been for workers taking matters into their own hands to shut down production at several auto plants in the US last month, the death toll would undoubtedly be higher. In defiance of the wishes of management and the United Auto Workers union (UAW), workers at FCA plants in Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana carried out a series of wildcat strikes and job actions, walking out or downing tools in protest of the conditions that put them and their families at risk of contracting the virus.

The auto corporations efforts to restart plants and renew the flow of profits at the earliest opportunity are in line with the aims of the Trump administration and substantial sections of the ruling class to reopen the US economy, in defiance of the World Health Organizations warning against prematurely ending social distancing.

An autoworker at General Motors Fort Wayne Assembly Plant in Indiana spoke out against the corporations push for a return to work under conditions of an escalating pandemic, telling the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter, Whats the sense of going back if its inevitable that people WILL get sick? This just makes me sick because I know a lot of people that live with their elderly parents and have newborns and young children that they go home to as well. I will not return to work on April 14th. Returning to GM could be a death sentence to anyone in my orbit.

Both the auto corporations and their lackeys in the trade unions are demanding that workers risk their lives to go back to work in the factories in order to satisfy the profit interests of the capitalist class, falsely promising that they will enact adequate safety precautions.

In a statement on Wednesday, UAW President Rory Gamble said that the union was in deep discussions with all three companies to plan ahead over the implementation of CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] safety standards and using all available technologies to protect all UAW members, their families and the public.

Cindy Estrada, vice president of UAW-FCA, wrote in a letter to members on April 7, We will be having discussions with FCA Leadership to ensure processes and safeguards are in place prior to members reentering our facilities. Whether the startup is May 4th or a later date, I want to ensure you that our top priority is the health and well-being of all who work and enter the workplace.

The corporate-union partnership in devising a plan to force workers back to work is not limited to the US. FCA aims to restart its operations in Italy as soon as April 13, when Italys national lockdown is proposed to begin easing up, and announced yesterday an agreement with the Italian auto unions over the framework in which it will take place.

Raffaele Apetino, a representative of the Italian union FIM, told Reuters in remarks indistinguishable from that of a company spokesmans, We want be ready to restart most profitable production just after Easter, if the government allows it.

He added that FCA has showed great willingness to accept our proposals, which includes a plan to put employees back to work in crowded factories while testing workers temperatures, providing safety devices such as face masks, and sanitizing premises during work hours and moving meals to the end of shifts.

GM, for its part, has stated that it is studying the coronavirus response at Amazon, where workers are routinely denied masks and are not guaranteed safe social distancing on the job, resulting in a spreading wave of walkouts and protests by workers at the company.

The auto industry plan for restarting production was outlined April 8 in a webinar hosted by the industry think-tank Center for Automotive Research titled The Playbook for Restarting Production. The presentation featured two representatives of Magna, a major US auto supplier and Division 1 global parts manufacturer with operations in 27 countries, including many in China.

Jim Tobin, executive vice president of Magna International and president of Magna Asia, described how a playbook for restarting the global auto parts industry is being drawn up based in part on the companys experience in restarting production in China. He repeated the ruling class determination throughout the call that we got to get the industry, the country back working again. Tobin also stressed the need to ready supply chains and begin a staggered ramp up of auto parts production in the coming weeks, in order to prepare for carmakers to reopen in the beginning of May.

Aaron McCarthy, executive vice president and chief human resources officer for Magna International, made clear that safety measures would not be guaranteed to workers returning to work at auto plants. One plan suggests that automakers phase in the number of workers in a plant at one time, relying solely on social distancing measures and plexiglass barriers, with no guarantee of PPE.

In a blatant disregard for workers safety, McCarthy said that the wearing of masks should be a last resort and that only people in harms way will get N95 masks if it comes to that...we dont need to take supply from doctors and nurses, having the gall to add that personal hygiene, personal accountability was one of the best options to stop the spread.

The Autoworker Newsletter also spoke with a legacy worker at a General Motors plant in Kokomo, Indiana, who raised concerns about being sent back to work under unsafe conditions and criticized the complacency of the United Auto Workers.

When the plant closed about two weeks ago, we got a text message an hour before our shift telling us not to report. Around three hours into our shift, we saw the message and we started talking among ourselves, saying that we are here for nothing and we should go home. The union steward did not tell us that we did not need to be there; someone had to go ask him about it.

About three days before the plant closed, the Big Three companies announced that they would begin rotating shifts to sanitize the plants. We saw the cleaning being done, but they were cleaning in the floors and under the conveyors, which was good for the equipment but its not a place where we touch with our hands.

He spoke to the conditions in the plant itself, which aided the spread of the virus. I really wasnt comfortable being there. The restrooms are crowded and as filthy as ever. You are lucky if you get a stall when you walk in and usually there is a line. There was no social distancing whatsoever.

I believe our plant would not have closed if it werent for the brave workers in Michigan who walked out. When the companies finally announced they were closing plants, it was not because they had our best interest at heart, but because they were forced to. I read that the UAW even tried to stop the workers in Michigan from walking out! It really tells you something, that they dont represent us.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday informed that so far 720 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the capital.

"Out of these, 22 are in ICUs and seven on ventilators," Jain said.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday said India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,412. Out of these, 5,709 are active patients and 503 of them have been cured/discharged and one has migrated.

With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the death toll has reached 199.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had on Wednesday said that 20 coronavirus hotspots had been identified in Delhi in the battle to contain the virus and nobody would be allowed to enter or exit from these areas.

The Delhi Government on Thursday updated the list of hotspots, raising it to 25. Wearing of face masks has also been made compulsory for those stepping out in the capital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MOSCOW  The authorities in Moscow said on Friday that coronavirus cases are increasing rapidly here and have already pushed the citys health care system to its limit.

Warning that the outbreak in the Russian capital was far from reaching its peak, Anastasia Rakova, a deputy mayor responsible for health, said that the number of people hospitalized with the illness related to the virus in Moscow had more than doubled over the past week to 6,500. Nearly half of those infected are under the age of 45.

The citys mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, sounded a further alarm, saying that the virus is gaining momentum and that the situation is becoming increasingly problematic.

A flurry of bad news on Friday about the outbreak indicated that Russia, relatively spared until now from the ravages of the virus, has started on the same harrowing path taken weeks ago by hard hit countries like Italy and now the United States. This has dashed hopes in the Kremlin that its decision in late January to close Russias long border with China, the original source of the virus, and then limit travel from Europe had contained the outbreak.
"Look, I am not saying this because I am from the opposition. But Kejriwal's response has been that of a total failure. He introduced an app for giving out rations. One, there is no transparency on that and more importantly, how can you expect a poor person with no Android phone or internet connection to register in an App to get ration during this time of distress?" said Bidhuri, while talking to IANS.

Kejriwal earlier said that ration would also be provided to the people without ration cards. However, such people need to apply online and on that basis, the government will provide them ration. Bidhuri alleges, while the genuinely needy are robbed off their chance to get it, those with ration cards stand to exploit the system.

BJP MLA Ajay Mahawar has levelled allegations of corruption in the ration supply. He has claimed that the quantity of ration meant for Narela has been found to be underweight.

Gambhir, who recently had an exchange with Kejriwal over Twitter blamed Kejriwal for the sudden exodus of migrants from New Delhi, that shook the conscience of the nation and sent the administration into a tizzy.

"Delhi government did not share the exact data of ration distribution and food. And if he could have done accommodation arrangements, then why did daily wagers leave Delhi in thousands?" asks Gambhir.

Earlier, in a ground investigation, IANS had found that accommodation facilities even after the migrant workers left Delhi in hordes weren't enough. Many were spotted sleeping on the banks of Yamuna, at night under the open sky, barely a few kilometers from the Chief Minister's residence.

Bidhuri went a step further than Gambhir to accuse Kejriwal of deliberately creating panic and orchestrating the exodus of migrant workers, mainly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, most of whom left for their homes on foot, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21 days pan-india shutdown.A

He even adds that whatever ready to eat food is available in the national capital should be credited to NGOs and not Kejriwal. "We requested Kejriwal to provide us with kitchens so that we can serve food to the poor of Delhi. He didn't," claims Bidhuri.

As on Friday, Delhi has recorded a total 720 cases of Covid-19, out of which 12 have succumbed. As numbers rose, the Delhi government designated many places across the national capital as containment zones and completely sealed them. It includes prominent places like Bengali Market, at the heart of the capital.

With each new spate of cases, the onslaught of the opposition only rises against Delhi's CM who has recently come back to power and has battled two crisis since - the riots and Covid-19 outbreak.

Gambhir alleges, "Till now, the Chief minister has been late in reacting. As a result, Delhi is facing shortage of medical equipment and PPE kits, as well."

The Aam Aadmi Party could not be reached for its response, in spite of repeated attempts.
A woman who allegedly breached a protection order that was granted to her male partner the day before appeared at Naas District Court last evening.

The woman, aged in her mid 30s, appeared via video link from another room in the Naas Courthouse building at a special sitting and appeared to be distressed. She faces allegations of breaching the order and criminal damage.

Read more County Kildare news

Gda Jennifer Finnegan told the court she arrested the woman after there was alleged criminal damage to her partners car, her brothers car and there was an alleged threat to damage her mothers car.

Gda Finnegan said the woman damaged her partners car while intoxicated and he was in a bedroom with her four children.

Applying for bail on the defendants behalf, solicitor David Powderly said the woman will stay in a hostel in Newbridge.

The woman was granted bail on condition that she stays away for two addresses, remains sober and does not have any contact with any witnesses in the dcase..

Judge Desmond Zaidan said if she did not he wouldn't hesitate to send her to ajil. He added that if she wants access this should be arranged through her solicitor. When he asked where he had got the alcohol, the woman replied she had been off drink for six years.

He remanded the woman on bail to appear in court again on Wednesday next.
General view of police officers monitoring traffic and members of the public on the Upper Newtownards Road area at the entrance to Stormont Estate as traffic increased on Tuesday lunchtime. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.

The Public Health Agency (PHA) has said there are small indications social distancing is working which may be responsible for the absence of a predicted surge.

It comes as the BBC reports Northern Irelands Department of Health is to place an order for 170million of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Dr Gerry Waldron, assistant director at the PHA stressed the public staying in doors over the Easter break was crucial in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

It is always very, very difficult looking at the day-to-day figures but there is a very small indication (that social distancing is working), he told BBC Good Morning Ulster.

This week weve entered a critical phase in our fight against coronavirus - Health Minister Robin Swann updates on response plans.#COVID19 #StayAtHome #FightBack pic.twitter.com/UdDVpw5B46  Department of Health (@healthdpt) April 10, 2020

I just have to stress that it is very difficult to predict but there is a small indication in terms of deaths and positive cases the numbers arent ramping up to the extent we expected during this current week.

The important thing is to avoid complacency and to avoid thinking because they may be some glimmer of hope in the picture that that is an indication if anything that people are sticking to the advice to stay home and not to go out except for specified reasons.

He said this weekend will be absolutely crucialin battling the virus spread, and people would likely be tempted to go out and travel if there was nice weather.

This is going to go on for a bit longer and it is still not clear where the end is in sight. But if people stay at home and stick to the advice we can be hopeful that we are going to turn this thing around.

We are going to flatten the curve.

Health officials had said they expected the first wave to peak between 6 and 20 April, with a second surge expected later in 2020.



First Minister Arlene Foster urged the public to stay at home and to not go out unless necessary. She said to do so was saving lives.



Health Minister Robin Swann added: "None of us should break or bend the rules this Easter. We must all stay at home. Be part of the fight back not the virus."

The BBC Nolan show reported on Friday the Department of Health has set aside a 60m deposit with a Chinese firm for PPE supplies.

The proposed order is understood to include 28.8m face masks, 12m respirator masks and 28m each of aprons and visors.

However, leaked documents, seen by the Nolan Show, reveal concerns that goods from China may not be of high enough quality as well as concern it could lead to competition with the supply route used by the UK government.

At the Health Committee on Thursday, chief social worker Sean Holland said there were no concerns over the quality of current PPE stocks. There was more concern, he said, with the length of time medics were having to wear them.

The Department for Health said the order had not been confirmed.

In a statement it added: "It is entirely right for officials to scrutinise and test any such proposals, stressing the need for due diligence and emphasising that any procurement must be compatible with NHS four nations arrangements."

The development comes after Finance Minister Conor Murphy faced criticism over his public pronouncements about a significant consignment expected to arrive as part of a joint order with Dublin.

It was later reported there was no order placed. Mr Murphy said bidders from India and the US muscled out Northern Ireland in the global race to buy PPE.

It is understood Health Secretary Matt Hancock will address Northern Ireland's PPE order at a briefing later on Friday.
A handful of holdout U.S. churches plan to hold in-person services on Easter Sunday, saying their right to worship in person outweighs public health officials' warnings against holding large gatherings during the coronavirus outbreak.

Most U.S. churches are expected to be closed on Sunday, and a broad majority of observant Americans are expected to follow authorities' recommendations to avoid crowds to limit the spread of the potentially lethal COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.

But not all of them.

'Satan and a virus will not stop us,' said the Reverend Tony Spell, 42, pastor of the evangelical Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He expects a crowd of more than 2,000 to gather in worship at his megachurch on Sunday.

Tony Spell has said he plans to hold Easter Sunday services at his Baton Rouge megachurch despite orders to self-isolate amid the COVID-19 outbreak

Congregants were pictured at the Life Tabernacle Church on Tuesday evening after a service

People walk to a Palm Sunday service at Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, despite statewide stay-at-home orders. A similar scene is expected here this Sunday as well

'God will shield us from all harm and sickness,' Spell said in an interview. 'We are not afraid. We are called by God to stand against the Antichrist creeping into America's borders. We will spread the Gospel.'

In Kentucky, Pastor Jack Roberts says he will continue to hold an Easter service. He called the state's governor, Andy Beshear, 'stupid.'

'It's my life, and I feel like the Gospel is more important than anything else,' Pastor Jack Roberts told WDRB. 'I know everybody thinks I'm crazy. Maybe I am.

In Kentucky, Pastor Jack Roberts says he will continue to hold an Easter service

'I might not ought to say it this way  but our stupid governor says you can't get together with your family for Easter. What are they going to do stand at my front door and see how many people goes in?' asked Roberts

'I might not ought to say it this way  but our stupid governor says you can't get together with your family for Easter. What are they going to do stand at my front door and see how many people goes in?' asked Roberts.

Roberts' church in Hillsview, Kentucky has continued to keep its doors open during the coronavirus pandemic but is encouraging older and immunocompromised worshippers to stay at home.

Governor Beshear has called out Roberts and his church, which is preparing for more in-person gatherings on Easter Sunday.

'We know that it's a scientific fact that him holding this service today will spread the virus within his congregation, and at Christmas, he's going to have fewer people in his congregation,' Beshear said.

Two other Kentucky churches are pledging to stay open for Easter.

'We our exercising our right as people of faith to worship,' said Rev. Wilbur Browning, the senior pastor of Centennial Olivet Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. 'And according to the First Amendment, last time I read it, the governor can't intervene to tell us how to worship our God.'

'It's a scientific fact him holding this service will spread the virus within his congregation, and at Christmas, he'll have fewer people in his congregation,' said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear

Also in Louisville, at Fern Creek Baptist Church the Rev. Linda Barnes Popham is also considering saying open for an Easter service.

'I have a great respect for governmental authority; however my highest authority is Jesus Christ,' she said to WDRB.

Governor Beshear believes at least three church gatherings have already spread the virus and killed multiple people in Kentucky.

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than 14,700 lives across the United States and infected more than 431,700 people, with officials predicting the worst is yet to come.

Major U.S. religious institutions, including Roman Catholic dioceses and major Protestant denominations, will hold religious services online as well as through local broadcast radio and television, with just a handful of ministers and priests preaching sermons and reading liturgies to rows of empty pews.

Indeed, some major religious-liberty legal advocacy groups, whose mission is to challenge restrictions on freedom of religion, have not raised objections to the closures, saying churches have been treated the same as other major institutions and that safety comes first.

In Idaho, one of 42 states which have stay-at-home orders, Ammon Bundy, who has led multiple standoffs against authorities in acts of protest against the federal government, plans to gather hundreds of people for an Easter observance

Bundy, 44, believes it is his constitutional right to assemble even while state and local officials are urging people to socially distance to avoid spreading the virus further

In Idaho, one of 42 states which have stay-at-home orders, Ammon Bundy, who has led multiple standoffs against authorities in acts of protest against the federal government, plans to gather hundreds of people for an Easter observance, in defiance of public health advice, according to multiple media reports.

Bundy, 44, believes it is his constitutional right to assemble even while state and local officials are urging people to socially distance to avoid spreading the virus further.

'Our goal is to get enough people together and secure our rights... we are not trying to provoke, we want people to be able to worship,' Bundy said to CNN.

Bundy is not concerned about the possibility of catching or spreading the virus.

'I actually want the virus,' he said. 'I'm healthy, my family is healthy. I'd rather have it now so my body is immune to it.'

'Boise Police has not issued any citations or charges due to the governor's order,' Haley Williams, Boise Police Department spokeswoman, told CNN.

'Officers have been focused on gaining voluntary compliance. As a last resort, if we are unable to do that, then we would refer the report to the prosecutor's office for possible misdemeanor charges authorized by the governor's order.'

Idaho has had at least 1,354 confirmed coronavirus cases and 24 deaths as of Thursday.

Ammon Bundy is not concerned about the possibility of catching or spreading the virus

Another holdout church, the evangelical Cross Culture Center in Lodi, California, about 70 miles southwest of San Francisco, plans another service even after its members found their church doors locked against them last weekend.

Lay preacher Jon Duncan, 43, who has led the evangelical center for more than 10 years, said that under city orders, his landlord changed the locks and shut them out Sunday morning.

Lodi police officers was standing by the door, because they were defying both local and state 'stay-at-home' orders and a court order from the San Joaquin County Public Health Services.

Instead, Duncan held brief curbside prayers with his congregants as they showed up for the 11am service.

'It is disappointing because we have a valid lease, but we won't be stopped,' he said. 'God commands us to meet and that's what we're going to do Easter.'

Duncan expects he and his flock of about 80 regular attendees will be locked out on Easter too, so he has picked an alternate site to meet. He and his attorney declined to disclose the new location to the public for fear of becoming a spectacle instead of a holy service.

The church's attorney, Dean Broyles, has lodged a complaint against the city, and implored California's governor in a letter to lift the ban on large church gatherings.

Duncan said he is steadfast in his decision.

'We don't believe our rights are eroded by a virus,' he said. 'We will stand together before God even against the gates of hell.'
FILE PHOTO: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra attend a joint news conference at the Bercy Finance Ministry in Paris

By Gabriela Baczynska and Anthony Deutsch

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - As the European Union hammered out an emergency economic package this week for countries reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dutch held true to their reputation for thriftiness by refusing to support a plea by southern members to take on collective debt.

And while the bloc's 27 finance ministers agreed to half-a-trillion euros in relief on Thursday, the contentious issue of "eurobonds" - jointly issued debt - was left unresolved. A reference to "innovative financial instruments" enabled both sides to declare having won political concessions.

EU powerhouse Germany, Austria, Finland and others had also expressed objections to debt mutualisation, but Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra was ultimately the sole holdout in 16 hours of talks that failed to work out a deal on Wednesday.

When the EU finance ministers returned to talk in a Thursday evening video conference, The Hague agreed to ease terms for accessing financing from the euro zone's EMS bailout fund to help with healthcare costs, but held firm against shared debt.

A smiling Hoekstra said he was "very satisfied" with the outcome on euro bonds, tweeting that "there won't be any" and telling Dutch TV stations "sometimes you have to put your foot down."

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire countered that the agreement had paved the way for mutual debt.

GOING DUTCH

The Dutch minister's stance was no surprise, however.

Only days earlier a top TV satirist took Hoekstra's side in explaining why the Dutch should not pour money into Italy.

With a record two million viewers of his "Lubach on Sunday" show, Arjen Lubach said the Dutch wanted to help, but have legitimate concerns about the bloc's long-term finances and preserving their own hard-fought financial health. He compared the situation to putting out a neighbour's house fire.

Story continues

"I am willing to help you put out the fire, but I don't want to take over your mortgage," Lubach said, adding that while Hoekstra might be irritating, he had a "fair point".

The Netherlands, a wealthy nation of 17.2 million, emerged only recently from years of belt-tightening under an austerity program since the 2008 financial crisis that made deep cuts into social security, pensions, education and healthcare.

While the Dutch cut back their national debt to 50% of GDP, Italy's rose to nearly 135%, or 2.4 trillion euros, Lubach pointed out.

The Hague had drawn a red line with southern European nations over joint debt and conditions for access to the emergency European Stability Mechanism (ESM) credit lines, drawing anger from hard-hit Spain and Italy.

Dutch thriftiness is deeply rooted in the culture and history of the trading nation that adopted the Calvinist branch of Protestantism more than four centuries ago.

In the 17th century, the English coined the phrase "Going Dutch", which refers to the splitting of a bill so that one party does not end up indebted to the other.

The country's neighbours still like to poke fun at the Dutch splitting of dinner bills, taking groceries on holiday, and always looking for a bargain.

'BAD COP'

The fact that the issue is prime TV fodder goes a long way to explaining how the Netherlands has become the bloc's "bad cop" opposing the kind of financial burden-sharing that its neighbours to the south say is needed to stave off an economic meltdown.

While the tough stance of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government has the backing of parliament at home, in Rome eurosceptic challenger Matteo Salvini denounced the bloc as failing to show enough solidarity.

"The European debate is embarrassing not to say sickening," said governor Luca Zaia, a member of Salvini's Northern League in the Veneto region, one of the hardest hit in Italy.

Joris Luyendijk, a Dutch author and political commentator, said Hoekstra's hard line tactics could cause long-term damage to the Netherlands' diplomatic relationships within the union.

"It's horrible PR and horrible politics; at a time of unprecedented crisis Wopke offers southern Europeans an ideal hate figure. We will pay for this down the line, as a country."

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Anthony Deutsch; Additional reporting by Michel Rose in Paris, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, Francesco Guarascio in Brussels and Riccardo Bastianello in Rome; Editing by Frances Kerry)
New Delhi/IBNS: At a time when the world is fighting against COVID-19 outbreak and condemns the irresponsibility of China in exporting the virus worldwide, the Indian government is leading the combat in its own ways by helping the world's leading nation by providing hydroxychloroquine medicine which is being considered as a possible cure for the deadly disease.

India has sent the medicine, presumed to be a gamechanger in the fight against the disease, to leading nations like the USA, Israel and Brazil.

Leaders of all the nations have now acknowledged Indian PM Narendra Modi's help.

Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him "great" following India's decision to export anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine to the COVID-19-hit nations.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump said as quoted by media, "I bought millions of doses. More than 29 million. I spoke to PM Modi, a lot of it comes out of India. I asked him if he would release it? He was Great. He was really good.

"You know they put a stop because they wanted it for India. But there is a lot of good things coming from that."

India has been treating its several COVID-19 patients with Hydroxychloroquine as a "potential" anti-Coronavirus drug though no scientific research has backed the treatment yet.

Amid crisis, India showed its heart and said it will supply drugs that are linked to COVID-19 cure to "nations that have been badly affected" by the pandemic virus.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava earlier said in a statement, "Given the enormity of the COVID19 pandemic, India has always maintained that the international community must display strong solidarity and cooperation."

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had earlier invoked ancient Indian epic Ramayana, mentioning the story of how Lord Hanuman brought a holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lakshmana, as he sought supply of hydroxychloroquine to his nation when he wrote his letter to the Indian PM.

After receiving the supply, the President tweeted: "Our thanks to the Prime Minister of India @narendramodi which, after our telephone conversation, allowed the shipment to Brazil of a load of inputs for the production of hydroxychloroquine."

Thank you President @jairbolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times.



India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic. https://t.co/uIKmvXPUo7  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

Hours after Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Narendra Modi for sending hydroxychloroquine medicine, which is being considered as a possible cure for Covid-19, the Indian PM on Friday said both the nations need to fight the disease together.

We have to jointly fight this pandemic.



India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends.



Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel. @netanyahu https://t.co/jChdGbMnfH  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

"Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!," the official Twitter page of the Israel PM said.

Modi replied: "We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel. @netanyahu."

SAARC COVID Fund:

Modi's leadership was evident in the manner in which he led the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) key leaders meet on Mar 15 when he had proposed the creation of COVID-19 Emergency Fund to combat the situation.

Modi announced that India will contribute 10 million US dollars to the fund.

Spoke today with Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri @kpsharmaoli. We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

On Friday, Modi spoke to Nepal PM KP Oli and said: "Spoke today with Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri @kpsharmaoli . We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19."

Helping own citizens:

In a bid to help those citizens, who have been financially hit hard due to COVID-19, the Indian government this month launched one of the largest cash transfer schemes to move over Rs Rs 30,000 crore into the account of woman JanDhan account holders.

"The Ministry of Rural Development is releasing the lump sum amounts @ Rs. 500/- per woman to Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accountholders (as per number of such accounts intimated by banks), for April 2020, and the same have been credited to the designated accounts of individual banks on 2nd April 2020," read an Indian government statement published on Apr 3.

This follows the announcement made by the Finance Minister on Mar 26 regarding ex-gratia payment of Rs. 500 per women PMJDY account holders, for next three months, under the PM Garib Kalyan Package.

It seems that world leaders had taken inspiration from the Indian government's intiiative and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau recently announced an investment of $100 million to improve access to food for Canadians facing social, economic, and health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The Government of Canada will provide funding to national, regional, and local organizations across Canada that are able to reach people and communities experiencing food insecurity. These organizations  including but not limited to Food Banks Canada, Salvation Army, Second Harvest, Community Food Centres Canada, and Breakfast Club of Canada  will work with partners to meet the urgent food needs of Canadians, including Indigenous peoples and Northern populations," read an official statement.

Many Canadians rely on food banks and local food organizations to feed their families and find support in hard times. Now, with more Canadians turning to these supports, and donations and available volunteers decreasing, they need our help more than ever. Today, we are giving food agencies the support they need to keep helping Canadians through this difficult time," Trudeau said in the statement.

India ahead of USA in helping distressed

Following President Donald Trumps signing of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin last month announced that the SBA and Treasury Department have initiated a robust mobilization effort of banks and other lending institutions to provide small businesses with the capital they need.

The CARES Act establishes a new $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program. The Program will provide much-needed relief to millions of small businesses so they can sustain their businesses and keep their workers employed.

Trump, however, last week had said it might take some time for the money to be transferred, because of a complicated system.

"Were sending the money to the states. Once the money is sent to the states, then the states, whether theyre Republican or Democrat, have to get the money out to the people. Hopefully theyll be able to do it," he told reporters last week.

"But many of those states have 40-year-old computers. I dont know that theyre equipped. I wanted to give them money direct, if thats what youre talking about. I wanted to give the money out direct. It would have been much easier," he said.

The number of initial jobless claims in the United States totaled 6.6 million last week amid mounting economic fallout from COVID-19, following a similar staggering figure the week earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday, reported Sputnik news agency.

In the week ending April 4, the number of people filing for U.S. unemployment benefits slightly decreased by 261,000 to 6,606,000, after setting a second straight record in the previous week.

The newly released number came after the figure spiked by 3 million to reach a record 3.3 million in the week ending March 21, and then surged by 3.34 million to reach 6.65 million in the week ending March 28, which was revised up to 6.87 million in the new report.

The report also showed that the four-week moving average, a method to iron out data volatility, increased by 1,598,750 to reach 4,265,500.

Images: UNI,PIB and Wikimedia Commons
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma actor Tanmay Vekarias building has been sealed after a vegetable vendor tested positive for the coronavirus. According to a report in The Times of India, three residents from the building have also tested positive.

Yes, the news is true. Our building has been sealed due to the Covid-19 cases. The entire building has been quarantined for 14 days since Tuesday, the actor said. He added, It is a tough time for all of us and everyone is scared about their families. We are not allowed to step out and I absolutely understand that it is the most important thing at the moment. I am all praise for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The BMC officials have been extremely helpful, they have sanitised the entire building.

Also read: Salman Khan provides ration to daily wage workers after financially helping 25,000. Fans call him true hero

The actor continued, I am very scared because the vegetable vendor has tested positive for Covid-19. The vegetable vendor has been tested positive today. Though, I was not in direct touch with him, but as a responsible person, I have decided to go in self-quarantine for next 14 days. I had taken care of everything, when the last time I stepped out to get those vegetables after returning I had taken a bath and washed all the vegetables. But I dont want to risk my family.

According to the report, none of the three residents have a travel history, and this is most likely a case of community transmission. The actor said that the building is now coordinating the procurement of essential supplies through WhatsApp groups. All the families get five minutes to collect milk and vegetables from the security so that we maintain social distance, he said.

The shows shoot has been halted during the lockdown. Creator Asit Kumarr Modi told Hindustan Times in an interview, We are all watching the situation and share the governments concerns. We will comply with the decision of the associations, however, since many offices and government departments are functioning, one can only wonder if we could have handled the matter differently. Many people are dependent on daily wages they earn on the sets.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav



on Friday announced to contribute 50 per cent of his salary as an MLA to the Coronavirus Eradication Fund till the end of the Bihar Assembly's term.

The term will end in November and Assembly elections in the state are slated to be held later this year.

Bihar has so far reported 60 COVID-19 cases with one death.

"Bihar government has decided to deposit 15 per cent of legislators' salary into the Coronavirus Eradication Fund. But I am happily announcing to give 50 per cent of my salary into the Fund for the remaining term of the Assembly," Yadav, a senior RJD leader, said in a release.

The Fund was set up by the state government.

Yadav, who was the deputy chief minister in the erstwhile Grand Alliance government, had on March 23 offered his official bungalow for using it in any way the government wants in the fight against coronavirus in the state.

He had also announced donating one months salary into the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the same cause.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Goa Agriculture Minister



Chandrakant Kavlekar said on Friday that the ongoing lockdown on account of coronavirus will hamper the harvesting of paddy in the state.

Rice crop is ready for harvesting in some places, he said at a meeting of state agriculture ministers through video conference.

"But we cannot deploy combined harvesters as per requirement, because the operators trained to run these machines are from neighbouring states, and bringing them back is an issue because of lockdown," he said.

The meeting was chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. It had been convened to discuss the impact of lockdown on agriculture and farmers in the country.

Kavlekar said the lockdown will affect farmers greatly, but in view of the gravity of the pandemic, relaxing the restrictions on movement could not be an option.

"So the central government must be ready to compensate farmers on case-to-case basis," the minister added.

Floriculture in Goa too was under threat, he said.

"Flowers like gerbera which locals grow in polyhouses were mostly sent to other states and exported, which is not possible now," Kavlekar said.

"I have issued directions to the state agriculture department to conduct a preliminary assessment of losses," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

In a move to ensure the survival of San Francisco restaurants, Mayor London Breed has placed a cap on how much food delivery apps can charge restaurants during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Breed, and Supervisors Ahsha Safai and Aaron Peskin made the announcement Friday, stating that third-party delivery apps cannot charge restaurants more than 15 percent on commission fees. The temporary order will be in effect through the remainder of the local emergency or until restaurants can reopen for dine-in service.

Restaurants across San Francisco are struggling to stay open, Breed said in a statement. In these tough financial circumstances, every dollar counts and can make the difference between a restaurant staying open, or shuttering. It can make the difference between staying afloat or needing to lay-off staff.

The move was praised by Laurie Thomas, executive director at the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, who said it will help restaurants remain open and be able to keep their staff.

ALSO: To stay open or not? This popular Bay Area restaurant sees no choice

We have been advocating for this type of relief for the past month and we are appreciative of the progress, Thomas said in a statement.

According to numbers gathered by the Golden Gate Restaurant, of the 4,000 restaurants throughout San Francisco, 30 to 50 percent of them have continued to operate and offer delivery.

Some third-party delivery apps, which can charge as much as 30 percent commission fees, had taken steps prior to Breeds announcement to help struggling restaurants around the Bay Area and beyond. Both Postmates and DoorDash had offered to waive fees, but only to new businesses that signed up with them, according to Restaurant Hospitality.

Grubhub spoke out against Breeds decision in a widely shared email to its users that said the move would mean that customers would need to be charged $5 to $10 per order to offset the cap.

We are doing our best to keep restaurants operational during this crisis and to engage local delivery drivers, but your citys actions are not helpful, the email read. Contact Mayor London Breed immediately and tell her this is not the time to make getting food from San Francisco restaurants more costly!

A spokesperson for Grubhub told Eater that placing a cap would also be detrimental to struggling delivery workers who might get paid less as a result.

"It would disrupt an essential supply chain of meals to San Francisco seniors and families at their most vulnerable time, the Grubhub spokesperson added.

But Safai said the city needed to move aggressively to make sure that San Franciscos mom-and-pop restaurants could remain open.

These corporations have refused to adjust their fees and are profiting immensely off a public health crisis while restaurants and their employees are suffering, Peskin said in a statement.

Read Grubhub's full email to users in the screengrab below:

Grubhub/ screengrab

Susana Guerrero is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: Susana.Guerrero@sfgate.com | Twitter: @SusyGuerrero3

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 07:07:13|Editor: Liu

Video Player Close

Medical workers work at Sant'Orsola-Malpighi hospital in Bologna, Italy, on April 9, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed 18,279 lives in locked-down Italy, bringing the total number of infections, fatalities and recoveries to 143,626 by Thursday, according to the latest data released by the country's Civil Protection Department. (Photo by Gianni Schicchi/Xinhua)

BRUSSELS/GENEVA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Over two months after Europe confirmed its first COVID-19 case, latest data started to show encouraging signs of the pandemic abating, bringing a glimmer of hope to this continent.

The coronavirus pandemic had claimed some 65,000 lives and infected more than 750,000 people in Europe as of Thursday evening. Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Britain remained hardest hit.

RISING HOPE

In Italy, four of the past five days -- including Thursday -- have ended with fewer patients hospitalized compared to the previous day, said Franco Locatelli, president of Italy's Higher Health Council.

"As for the number of patients admitted to intensive care, five days out of the last five ended up with a drop compared to the previous day, and this proves the reduction in the pressure on hospitals," Locatelli told a press conference.

Italy's daily number of fatalities too showed clear signs of falling, from the single-day record of 969 deaths on March 27 to 610 fatalities on Thursday. The country also reported 1,979 new recoveries in 24 hours, raising the total recoveries to 28,470.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, in an interview broadcast by the BBC on Thursday, said his country may start gradually lifting some anti-coronavirus restrictions by the end of April.

"We need to pick sectors that can restart their activity. If scientists confirm it, we might begin to relax some measures already by the end of this month," Conte told BBC.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel said the latest COVID-19 infection figures in Germany gave "reason for cautious hope." "The curve is flattening out," she said after a cabinet meeting.

Merkel stressed that it would be necessary to be "very, very careful" with relaxing the current restrictions. The ultimate goal is not to overburden the healthcare system in Germany, she said.

In France, admissions in intensive care units (ICUs), considered "an important indicator" to evaluate pressure on hospitals, reported a negative trend for the first time since the epidemic began in mid-February. Some 7,066 infected people need intensive care on Thursday, an 82 decline in the last 24 hours.

"The balance is for the first time slightly negative. So we can hope for a plateau, but it is a very high. We have to be careful," said French Director General of Health Jerome Salomon.

Adding to these encouraging signs was good news from London -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Thursday evening moved out of intensive care and "in extremely good spirits" in a regular hospital ward, a government spokesperson said.

Johnson was taken to hospital on Sunday, 10 days after testing positive for the coronavirus, and was moved to intensive care on Monday.

DON'T POLITICIZE VIRUS

On Thursday, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, once again, called on countries worldwide to "quarantine politicizing this virus at national and global levels."

"As I said in the press conference yesterday, we must quarantine politicizing this virus at national and global levels. We have to work together, and we have no time to waste," Tedros said at a Mission briefing on COVID-19 from Geneva.

The fatality rate of COVID-19 is estimated to be 10 times higher than influenza. "This pandemic is much more than a health crisis. It requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response," he said.

At Wednesday's press conference, when answering a question from the press about U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to freeze U.S. funding to the WHO, Tedros said his message for the world is unity and solidarity, instead of politicizing the virus.

"At the end of the day, the people belong to all political parties. The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please don't politicize this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level," Tedros told reporters.

"Please quarantine politicizing COVID. That's the way. If we want to win, we shouldn't waste time pointing fingers. We need time to unite," Tedros said.

"No need to use COVID to score political points. You have many other ways to prove yourselves. This is not the one to use for politics, It's like playing with fire," Tedros added.
US Vice President blocks health officials appearing on CNN, claims say

According to CNN, Mike Pence office blocked health officials in response to the network not airing entire White House briefings.

US Vice President Mike Pence's office is barring the nations top health officials from appearing on CNN in an act of retribution, the network reported Thursday.

The action is being taken after CNN opted not to air the White House's daily coronavirus news conference in full. The network usually airs only President Donald Trump's question and answer portion of White House news conferences.

PENCE'S OFFICE WILL ONLY ALLOW DR. DEBORAH BIRX

During the remainder of the briefing, CNN said it typically uses screen time to fact-check and evaluate the president's remarks. The briefings often run long, and it is not uncommon for remarks to exceed two hours.

Pence's office will only allow Dr. Deborah Birx, who is leading the president's coronavirus task force, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, to appear on the network if it airs the remainder of the briefings that include Pence and other task force members.

"When you guys cover the briefings with the health officials then you can expect them back on your air," a Pence spokesperson told CNN.

office has prevented experts from appearing on the network for a week. Neither Birx nor Fauci have appeared on CNN since last Thursday.
[April 10, 2020] IQIYI INC (IQ) DROPS ON WOLFPACK REPORT: Labaton Sucharow Announces New Investigation of iQiyi and Strongly Encourages Investors with Losses to Contact the Firm

Labaton Sucharow LLP, a nationally ranked and award winning investor rights law firm, announces it is developing a proprietary investigation concerning potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of IQIYI INC (Ticker: IQ) resulting from allegations that IQ may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public. IQ, which is majority owned by Chinese search giant Baidu, is a video streaming platform considered to be the "Netflix of China." Wolfpack Research, which describes itself as an "activist research and due-diligence firm", released a report on Tuesday, alleging that iQiyi "was committing fraud well before its IPO (initial public offering) in 2018 and has continued to do so ever since." Wolfpack surveyed 1563 iQiyi users within IQ's target demographic in China during October and November 2019 and found that approximately 31.9% of IQ users have access to its VIP-only content through their memberships with IQ's partners. Wolfpack estimates IQ inflated its 2019 revenue by approximately RMB 8-13 billion, or 27%-44%.



In 2018, iQiyi was spun off from Chinese search giant Baidu in a U.S. IPO that raised over $2.2 billion. Baidu holds a more than 56% stake in iQiyi. Often dubbed the "Netflix of China", iQiyi has become one of the major content streaming platforms in the country.

IQ stock dropped nearly 5% yesterday on extraordinary volume and is trading down in today's pre-market. If you are a shareholder or option holder that suffered losses in IQ, and wish to participate, learn more, or discuss the issues surrounding the investigation, please contact David J. Schwartz using the toll free number (800) 321-0476 or via email at [email protected]. About the Firm Labaton Sucharow LLP is one of the world's leading complex litigation firms representing clients in securities, antitrust, corporate governance and shareholder rights, and consumer cybersecurity and data privacy litigation. Labaton Sucharow has been recognized for its excellence by the courts and peers, and it is consistently ranked in leading industry publications. Offices are located in New York, NY, Wilmington, DE, and Washington, D.C. More information about Labaton Sucharow is available at http://www.labaton.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005139/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Superintendent of Police, Anthony Danso, Ho Municipal Police Commander has warned faith-based organisations, individuals and groups, that it would not spare anyone who attempts to flout the Imposition of Restriction ACT 1012 of 2020.



He said the Police would come hard at any Church assembly as Christians prepared for the Easter festivities in the Municipality.



Supt. Danso in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said, "we will enforce the law to the later, prosecute and not discriminate.



He said the consequences of flouting Section Six of ACT 1012 were punitive and carried a hefty sentence of not less than four years and not more than 10 years with additional penalty units of GHC 12,000.00 or both and called on the public to be measured.



Lets work to support each other to contain the pandemic. The virus is real, the Commander said.



Supt. Danso said the Command would not relax because of no recorded case in the Municipality but continue to patrol the many illegal entry points with sister security agencies to track the suspicious movement of people through unapproved routes.



Supt. Danso called on philanthropists and benevolent organisations to donate protective items including nose-masks and sanitizers to the Command to assist them in their operations to contain the virus.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Top company executives also will take a pay cut, with Jimenez forgoing two weeks of salary in addition to a 10% cut in base pay, representing a 13.8% reduction. Jimenez has an annual base salary of $575,000, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made in February when he was appointed CEO.
B rits are urged not to ruin the UKs advances in the fight against coronavirus by flouting lockdown restrictions this weekend, as temperatures are set to soar.

The Prime Minister is said to be in extremely good spirits and is continuing to be closely monitored at St Thomas Hospital in central London after spending three nights in ICU.

His father Stanley Johnson expressed his relief at the development on BBC Radio 4s Today programme on Friday morning, adding that his son now needed to rest up while the nation makes sure we play properly now.

Stanley Johnson Says Boris Johnson's coronavirus diagnosis has helped the country understand the pandemic is a 'serious event'

His comments came as ministers and health authorities pleaded with the public not to succumb to the temptations of a sunny Bank Holiday weekend, with the mercury expected to creep up to 26C in London on Saturday.

Reinforcing the instruction to stay in doors, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Thursdays Downing Street press conference: We mustnt give the coronavirus a second chance to kill more people and hurt our country.

On Friday morning, scientific advisor Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, told the Today programme that ending the coronavirus lockdown was the Governments "number one topic and priority.

He stressed that members of the medical and scientific community were working on it "every waking minute, as it were.

Dr Paul Cosford, medical director for Public Health England, also called for people to stay at home over Easter because social distancing measures are working.

He told Good Morning Britain: People are complying (with the measures) in a very large majority and the impact that is having is that transmission is much, much less than it would otherwise be.

Dr Cosford added: The most important thing now is we continue (to stay at home) so we can get through the peak and come down the other side.

NHS Englands national medical director Stephen Powis also said the UK was starting to see the benefits of social distancing.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said: I think it is really critical this weekend that we keep obeying those instructions. We are beginning to see the benefits of this social distancing. We do believe the virus is spreading less.

That will only continue to happen if we dont get complacent and continue to follow those instructions.

Yesterday, Mr Raab, deputising for the PM in his absence, said it was still too soon for ministers to begin lifting the strict social distancing rules introduced last month.

After all the sacrifices so many people have made, lets not ruin it now, he told the televised coronavirus briefing.

Elsewhere, police warned they were ready to take action against anyone breaching official restrictions.

Downing Street offered the Governments full backing to police forces seeking to enforce social distancing rules over the holiday period.

But there was a rebuke for Northamptonshire Chief Constable Nick Adderley after he suggested his force could mount road blocks and search shopping trolleys to check if people were going out to buy non-essential items.

Loading....

Home Secretary Priti Patel told talkRADIO: That is not appropriate, let me be clear on that. That is not the guidance.

The warning came as the UK's Covid-19 death toll among hospitalised patients rose to 7,978  an increase of 881 on the previous day.

Mr Raab acknowledged that it was hard for people hoping to go out and be with their families over Easter, but he urged them to show restraint amid signs the measures were having an impact.

Unfortunately right now we just cant do those sorts of things and I am really sorry about that, he said.

Its been almost three weeks and were starting to see the impact of the sacrifices weve all made.

But the deaths are still rising and we havent yet reached the peak of the virus. So its still too early to lift the measures that we put in place.

We must stick to the plan and we must continue to be guided by the science.

Mr Raab was speaking after chairing a meeting of the Governments Cobra civil contingencies committee to consider how it would proceed with the three-week review, due next week, of the lockdown rules.

He said the Governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) would be looking at the evidence but it would not be possible to say any more until the end of next week.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

Sir Patrick Vallance, the Governments chief scientific adviser, said measures were breaking transmission of the disease with signs of a flattening off in the numbers of new cases and hospital admissions.

However, he warned the numbers of deaths would continue to rise for a few weeks and that it was too soon to relax social distancing.

It is incredibly important that we continue to do what we are doing, he said.

The chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said that while the numbers admitted to intensive care had been doubling every three days, that had now slowed.

Loading....

This is really now becoming not quite flat, but the doubling time is now six or more days in almost everywhere in the country and extending in time, he said.

Also on Thursday, the hospital where the Prime Minister is being treated for Covid-19 was illuminated with blue flashing lights as people across the country joined the weekly round of national applause for NHS workers.

Mr Johnsons partner Carrie Symonds also showed her appreciation for the health service by tweeting a string of clapping emojis.

Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast
(Newser)  Archaeologists in the Amazon found four small teeth that had no business being in South America. The teeth are from an extinct species of monkeys from the family of primates known as parapithecidswhich once roamed in North Africa. In a new paper in Science, researchers lay out what they say must have happened: The monkeys accidentally crossed the Atlantic on some kind of vegetative raft, perhaps one that was unmoored from the African continent during a violent storm, explains Smithsonian. A few key factors would have helped. For one, this was roughly 30 million years ago, when the continents were much closer togetherperhaps about 900 miles instead of today's 1,770 miles. Also, this occurred during what is known as the Late Eocene era, when sea levels were down significantly because of the development of glaciers.

story continues below

The discovery "reveals that, for the last century or so, we have been missing a whole chapter in the chronicle of primate evolution in South America," says study author Erik Seiffert of USC. Scientists named the monkeys Ucayalipithecus perdita, which translates to "lost monkey of Ucayali," referring to the area in Peru where the teeth were found. The monkeys would have been relatively small, about the size of marmosets, per a news release. Scientists already knew that another group of primates made such an accidental trip from Africa to South America; the new study shows it happened at least twice, and probably around the same time, per the Conversation. The Ucayali monkeys must have been "hardy," the post adds, given that they not only survived the journey, they evidently traveled a long distance inland to establish themselves. (Read more discoveries stories.)
Before the vote, board member Tony Walker said he found it problematic for transparency purposes that the resolution allowed the RDA board chairman or chief executive officer, not the full board, to determine when the money is needed.
Michigan Tech relies on small businesses and small businesses rely on Michigan Tech. Heres how were working together to help weather a different kind of storm.

Small businesses in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula are accustomed to handling adversity  but it usually comes in the form of lake-effect snow. The COVID-19 pandemic presents both unprecedented challenges and opportunities to the locally owned establishments and enterprises that are a vital part of the community. At the Upper Peninsula regional Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC) office, located within the Michigan Technological University College of Business, demand has more than doubled.

We are the boots on the ground, said Daniel Yoder, regional senior business consultant.

About SBDC With 11 regional offices and more than 20 satellite offices, the Michigan Small Business Development Center is a partnership funded by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). Along with local partners, it provides consulting, training and research to assist small businesses to launch, grow, transition and innovate. Interested? Request an appointment with your SBDC team.

Due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the regional consultant team is working with more than 50 businesses each day. To help serve UP businesses, the SBDC hired Michigan Tech business students as interns, and looks to hire more.

Business Students Help and Learn

Anna Nault, a second-year management major in the College of Business (COB), is serving as the SBDC intake administrator for the entire UP. Shes the first point of contact for incoming clients and single-handedly triages, fields and tracks inquiries before assigning them to the appropriate consultant.

We entrust Anna to use her judgment to route inquiries appropriately and to maintain confidentiality  thats a huge aspect of her responsibilities. In addition, she developed a tracking system, so we can be sure no one falls through the cracks during the process, Yoder said.

While Annas assisting entrepreneurs, shes also receiving help. Im learning about what it takes to be a part of a team of professionals and familiarizing myself with business in the real world, she said. I know this experience will benefit any career I choose, or help me out one day if I start my own business.

Another MTU business student, second-year marketing major Ryan Stafford, is also learning valuable skills while working as SBDCs social media coordinator, curating timely content while monitoring the Upper Peninsulas regional Facebook page @MISBDCUpperPeninsula. During the current crisis, social media has become an even more critical component for businesses to relay information to customers and clients.

We observed that one business posted about the stay-at-home closure in a more negative way, while a competing business conveyed it more positively, stating, We look forward to serving customers in a new way, Yoder said.

A Place Small Businesses Can Go for Help

There is a lot of information circulating about grants and loans, but its difficult for people to know where to turn and what is legitimate.

Not all programs apply to every business. After a one-on-one session with an SBDC consultant, small business owners have a clearer understanding where to focus their efforts, said Yoder. A typical remote session can involve screen sharing to walk a small-business owner through an application process step-by-step. Although we cannot do it for people, we teach them how, Yoder added.

In addition to one-on-one consulting sessions, the SBDC offers free webinars and online training. The recent UP COVID-19 webinar drew nearly 50 attendees, and new webinars and classes are produced almost daily.

Yoder encouraged small businesses at any stage to connect to SBDC resources.

There are still people wanting to launch new businesses. There are people using this time to plan, Yoder said. The entire economy came to a screeching halt in a matter of days. Theres a lot of uncertainty. We dont have all of the answers  no one does. But one thing is for sure: flexibility and optimism will go far.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, the University offers more than 125 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
Armand is a dedicated, client-focused attorney with a real passion for estate and business law." -Louis Cristo, President of Trevett Cristo

Trevett Cristo, a general practice law firm headquartered in Rochester, NY with more than 90 years of experience, is pleased to announce that Armand DAlfonso has been hired as an Associate.

Armand is a dedicated, client-focused attorney with a real passion for estate and business law, said Louis Cristo, President of Trevett Cristo. His diverse work experience and strong practical knowledge make him a dynamic new attorney.

Since his admission to the New York State Bar in early 2020, DAlfonso has assisted clients in commercial and residential real estate, corporate matters, mergers and acquisitions, and estate administration. Prior to his legal career, DAlfonso worked in real estate and business.

DAlfonso is a magna cum laude graduate of Le Moyne College and cum laude graduate of the University at Buffalo School of Law. For his academic efforts, Armand is the recipient of the 2015 Purcell Scholar Award, 2016 Salwa Ammar Award in Leadership, and Professor Louis DelCotto Award in Tax Law excellence.

DAlfonso is active in the Greater Rochester community and is involved in the New York State Bar Association and Monroe County Bar Association.

Trevett Cristo is a general practice law firm headquartered in Rochester, NY. The firm focuses on a range of practice areas, including civil and criminal litigation, commercial law, residential and commercial real estate law, business transactional law, personal and family law, estate planning, and labor matters. For more information, visit http://www.trevettcristo.com.
The head of Winnipegs firefighters union has issued a public apology for his previous call to let firefighters and paramedics operate in silos during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The head of Winnipegs firefighters union has issued a public apology for his previous call to let firefighters and paramedics operate in "silos" during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alex Forrest, president of United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, posted an apology on Facebook Thursday. The statement refers to a March 23 letter Forrest sent to Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) Chief John Lane and Manitoba Health Minister Cameron Friesen, which was also posted on Facebook and Twitter.

In that letter, Forrest called for WFPS to reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure by reallocating some fire-paramedic stations to serve only fire-rescue emergencies and restricting others to focus on non-virus-related emergency medical service.

He also said ambulances that transport patients with flu-like or coronavirus symptoms should be moved out of fire-paramedic stations and placed at assessment centres or medical facilities instead.

Forrests Thursday statement expressed regret for those comments.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"On reflection, I realize the letter may have given the wrong message," it states. "I regret this and apologize for any misunderstanding. To be clear, my statement did not call for an all-out separation of our integrated services, but rather to give consideration to practices that might minimize unnecessary exposures," wrote Forrest.

The union leader was expected to attend a disciplinary hearing over the same letter, according to a notice previously obtained by the Free Press. He declined to answer whether that hearing has occurred or provide other comments on the matter on Thursday.

The notice said the hearing would deal with allegations that Forrest violated a city/union agreement relating to respectful workplace rules through his March 23 letter.

The WFPS has consistently stressed that procedures are in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including patient screening and ambulance disinfection.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
The national lockdown will not be lifted until a series of strict medical targets are reached including a major suppression of the virus.

The significant shift in policy comes as the Government prepares to extend the nationwide quarantine until at least the end of the month.

The public will this afternoon be told to stay at home and "finish the job we've started" as the health service fights to contain the virus.

It comes as it emerged 28 more people died from the virus, bringing the total number of deaths to 263.

This included 15 females and 13 males and the median age of those who passed away was 84.

And there were another 500 confirmed cases of the virus, meaning there are now 6,574 people who have been infected in Ireland.

The Government will outline the key goals those fighting the virus need to reach before social distancing restrictions can be lifted.

Medical experts are insisting the growth rate of the virus is slashed before life can return to normal.

The growth rate has fallen from 33pc to 9pc this week but this must drop even further.

Figures for the rate of transfer of the virus between individuals who have been infected to others must also fall before the Government considers lifting the Covid-19 restrictions. At the beginning of the health crisis, each infected person was passing on the virus to four others.

This has dropped to close to one but the figure needs to drop to zero before restrictions can be lifted.

In addition to the medical targets, testing and hospital capacity issues must be addressed before a decision can be taken on ending the lockdown.

Expand Close Making a splash: Harry McKeever (10) from Portmarnock runs in the shallow sea water with his dog George at Portmarnock Beach. PHOTO: FRANK McGRATH / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Making a splash: Harry McKeever (10) from Portmarnock runs in the shallow sea water with his dog George at Portmarnock Beach. PHOTO: FRANK McGRATH

Yesterday, Philip Nolan of Maynooth University, who is heading a team modelling how the virus is spreading, said social distancing will need to be in place for a "prolonged period of time".

"We will be needing social distancing measures for a prolonged period of time in order to keep the disease suppressed for the length of time we need to," Prof Nolan said.

However, serious consideration is being given to relaxing travel and socialising rules next month if targets can be reached. The restrictions will be eased in a phased basis rather than all at once.

Those involved in the decision-making say the restrictions may not be reduced in the same phases as they were introduced.

"Schools were one of the first things to close but may be among the first to re-open if deemed to be safe," a senior Government source said.

The source also said "people need a sense of journey" towards the end of the crisis.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Simon Harris will announce the extension of the restrictions.

However, they are also expected to signal an end to the nationwide lockdown.

"Normal won't return but a new normal will," the source added.

The announcement will come after the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) decides how long the social distancing rules should be extended by. The public announcement of the new lockdown time-scale is expected at around 4pm.

Read More

"Nphet will say leave the ban in place for a couple of weeks but during those weeks the Government will highlight the need to hit the medical goals and then we can move towards a different terrain," a Government source said.

Meanwhile, Prof Nolan said his modelling showed that for every five cases detected there are five cases we do not detect.

That is due to people having the virus but having no symptoms, and the limitations of testing.

"We model on the basis we will not detect every case."

He referred to the frightening scenario if no emergency measures were introduced.

"If none had been introduced within 20 days from now we would have had a peak of 100,000 cases per day in the population.

"As of today we would have been well overwhelmed.

"If we opted for limited measures such as closing schools, universities and basic restrictions there would be a peak of infection 40 days from today of close on 60,000 cases. This is not a question of flattening the curve and pushing it into the future. It is a question of completely suppressing the disease, pushing the curve so flat that there is barely a peak detectable at all."

Last night, President Michael D Higgins said the days ahead may continue to be difficult and urged people to tomorrow place a light in their window. "Sabina and I will light lanterns and place these at the doors in Aras an Uachtarain, symbolising our shared solidarity and offering a beacon of hope in a time of darkness," he said.
Canadas law enforcement establishment has circulated a US intelligence report that says terrorists could exploit the stress placed on the public safety system in countering the pandemic, to attack supermarkets and hospitals.

The report pointed to chatter on social media from some terrorist elements pushing for targeting stores owned by people of Indian descent.

The alert was issued by the National Counterterrorism Centre in America, and formed part of a security advisory from the US rail industry. The existence of this document, which has been distributed in Canada by the First Responder Terrorism Awareness Program of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP, was first reported by the Canadian outlet Global News.

Meanwhile, Canadas PM Justin Trudeau came out of self-isolation after 25 days and chaired a cabinet meeting. He warned that the government is unable to predict when the pandemic will peak in the country. Trudeau had been in a self-isolation in Ottawa since his wife Sophie Gregoire had tested positive.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
THE Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) is investigating some people, including public servants, who have started conducting early campaigns ahead of the general elections slated for October 2020, warning that legal actions would be taken against the wrongdoers.

PCCB Director General John Mbungo told editors at a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday: We cannot disclose names or give more details of the people involved but we know who is under our investigations.

The PCCB rebukes all movements that are taking place early before the campaign begins. This behaviour should be stopped forthwith as we want the election to be conducted without having to smell the presence of corrupt practices, the director general further warned.

Brigadier General Mbungo also explained that when an election is enveloped by corrupt elements, such election lacks political legitimacy and thus result in a breach of the peace and the publics lack of trust in the government.

As a result, he said, in April, 2019, PCCB found it necessary to organise a workshop that brought together stakeholders from different sectors, where together they discussed how to control corruption in elections and then put in place effective strategies to control the problem in our elections.

Through such workshops, the PCCB boss went on, they prepared themselves for elections at the local government level and also charted strategies for the October 2020 general election.

We would like to remind the public of several important issues that affect the whole electoral issue. We do this because some misconceptions have started to emerge in the constituencies and resulting in problems identified by PCCB, he said.

Brigadier General Mbungo pointed out further that there were some people, who are neither government executives nor MPs in their respective areas, but had already begun to gather some people and speaking to them with persuasive sentiments.

PCCB will deal with them in accordance with the law, he said.

According to him, the responsibilities of a Member of Parliament, including a minister and deputy minister in constituencies are set out under Article 63 (3) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Likewise, he said, the MP is also the representative of the people who elected him or her in ensuring that the electoral programmes for the constituency are presented to the decision-making organs, including the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Civil servants on their part should not be involved in political activities with the intention of being elected while they are still civil servants. In light of the constitutional requirements, it is not appropriate for a public servant to enter into the nomination process when the process has not started, he said.

Brigadier General Mbungo referred to Article 7 2 of the Constitution on the cessation of employment of civil servants on contesting for election.

The provision reads: Where any person holding office in the service of the government which office is of the type mentioned in Article 67 (2)(g) decides to contest for election to the office of President or any other office under this Constitution; .....or contest for leadership at any level in a political party contrary to the terms of employment, the employment of such person shall be considered to have ceased from the date of his becoming a candidate or of contesting for leadership in the political party.
A specialist palliative care centre in Cork city has asked the public to donate iPads or tablets to patients who are cut off from their families arising out of Covid-19 visitor restrictions.

Marymount University Hospital and Hospice was founded in 1870. The facility provides 44 specialist palliative care beds, an extensive ambulatory care/daycare facility, accommodation for the community palliative care team, and full educational and library resources.

There are 63 elderly care beds and a daycare facility on campus.

In a statement, the Curraheen based hospital said the decision to restrict visitors was a difficult one given that the facility provides end of life care.

"Without the normal face-to-face interactions with their loved ones our patients understandably may feel a little lost without their trusted partner, siblings, sons, daughters, and friends - the people who are their guardians and protectors in their time of need."

Marymount said that one of their patients is a ninety-four-year-old whom they are calling John for the purpose of conveying his story.

Four weeks ago John brought his 87-year-old wife, Nora (not her real name) a cup of tea in bed like any other day. Later that day his doctor advised John that he needed to be admitted to an acute Cork hospital due to increasingly severe pains. The following day he was admitted.

"Nora and his daughter Mary (not her real name) and every other family member have been unable to physically see John since the day he was admitted four weeks ago.

It was four days before they could even hear his voice using his first mobile phone that Mary left in the hospital reception for his use. While John is thankfully not suffering from Covid-19, the current precautions are having a huge impact on him and his family."

Staff said that John's form has improved tremendously since his daughter dropped off an iPad.

"Earlier this week one of our pastoral care team spotted an iPad that had been delivered for his attention with instructions from his daughter Mary. Together they set it up and within 10 minutes John was able to facetime his daughter and then his wife Nora.

"It was a wonderful emotional moment as they spoke and laughed face to face for the first time in a month, catching up on the news, sharing jokes, singing songs, bemoaning the lack of hairdressing facilities (arent we all Nora!) and connecting.

Not only this  Johns iPad has meant that his daughter Mary can be move involved in details of his care, as she would have been in more normal circumstances, and she has been videoconferenced during medical appointments meaning she can help support him from afar."

Due to social distancing, families are unable to support their loved ones in the way they would have before.

People who are admitted to Marymount are not able to be present; to hold the hands of their loved ones at times they might need that simple comfort and physical touch.

The hospice has purchased two designated ward iPads and they have also received five donated iPads.

Due to infection control, they would love to be in a position to have an iPad or tablet in every room so that this connection is available to all. They are asking for the support of the public.

"If you would like to support us in any way in helping us to open up connections between our patients and their families  we are very gratefully accepting donations of tablets and iPads.

"If you are able to help us in any way please email pmcgovern@marymount.ie. You can also donate to our technology at https://www.gofundme.com/f/MarymountTechAppeal

Meanwhile, Cork's 96FM & C103 have joined forces with the Mercy Hospital Foundation and CUH Charity today to support Corks Frontline Legends.

People are encouraged to make a one-off 19 euro donation to support services for medical staff who are going above and beyond to save lives.

CUH is looking to develop an internal and external wellness area while the Mercy wants staff to have the support they need to build their resilience as they treat Covid-19 patients.

Donations can be be made at https://www.96fm.ie/local/corks-96fm-supporting-corks-frontline-legends/
Launch intensive search operation for Tablighis: Chhattisgarh HC

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bilaspur, Apr 10: The Chhattisgarh High Court has directed the state government to launch an "intensive search operation" to find 52 Tablighi Jamaat members who arrived in the state after attending a congregation held in Nizamuddin area of New Delhi last month.

A division bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Gautam Bhaduri passed the direction while hearing Public Interest Litigations (PILs) related to the coronavirus pandemic through video conference.

Advocate General Satish Chandra Verma said this was the first time the high court heard a case through video conference amid the pandemic.

25,000 Tablighi workers, their contacts quarantined, India orders 5 lakh testing kits

"Goutam Khetrapal, counsel (for intervener), has raised issue concerning non-testing of all such persons who have returned to Chhattisgarh after attending the congregation of Tablighi Jamaat Markaz at Nizamuddin," the order said.

"Khetrapal has informed the court that out of 159 Tablighi Jamaat members who have returned to Chhattisgarh, only 107 persons have been tested, out of whom only 87 reports have been received, thus leaving 23 awaited test reports and 52 non-tested persons who may be the cause of COVID-19 spread in the state, if they are eventually found to be suffering from the infection," it said.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

"We direct the state government to initiate intensive search operation to locate 52 persons.. and forthwith obtain reports of 23 persons whose samples have been taken but reports are awaited," the HC said.

"For these 23 persons and remaining 52 persons, status report shall be submitted on the next date of hearing on April 13," the order said.
Illegal sand mining on the Da River in the northern mountainous province of Son La has become more and more serious in recent years.

Local authorities and police units of Mai Son District, Son La Province, inspected a sand-carrying vessel on the Da River.  VNA/VNS Photo

Son La Province had been looking at solutions to effectively handle the situation as well as protect its sand resources.

In Ta Bu Commune, Muong La District, there are many illegal 'sand gathering' sites where people sell illegally-mined sand.

The mining normally happens from February to May when the water level in the Hoa Binh hydro-power plant's reservoir on the Da River drops.

Nguyen Van Bac, vice chairman of the Muong La Peoples Committee, told Vietnam News Agency that the illegal sand mining on the Da River was commonplace due to the lack of officials available to monitor it.

Moreover, determining the origin of the sand was very difficult because most traders had legal receipts that proved they bought the sand from other regions, said Bac.

To handle the situation, the district had asked competent forces to intensify inspections and monitor illegal sand mining, transporting and trade.

Since June last year, local authorities have uncovered 29 illegal sand mining and trading cases and confiscated more than 100cu.m of sand.

The violators were fined VND100 million (US$4,000).

Further upstream in Mai Son District, there are a number of sand mines in Ta Hoc and Chieng Chan communes, which used to be a hot spot for illegal exploitation.

Transporting sand from Ta Hoc Port to Mai Son District has also caused serious damage to the provincial Highway 10.

Mai Son District authorities have taken several measures to handle the situation.

The provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment has been instructed to conduct sand reserve surveys and set up mining plans as well as organise bidding for sand exploitation licences.

So far, two businesses have been granted licences to extract sand from the Da River.

Their designated mining sites have been clearly marked to avoid illegal exploitation and ensure social security and order in Ta Hoc Commune.

There has been no illegal sand mining in the commune since the two businesses were licensed to exploit sand on the Da River, said Leo Van Hoa, vice chairman of Ta Moc Commune, adding that police has kept close watch over any suspect or strange ships coming into the area.

A truck carrying illegally-mined sand seized by the police in Muong La District, Son La Province. VNA/VNS Photo Huu Quyet



A vehicle weighing station has been set up at Ta Hoc Port to oversee the loads of trucks transporting sand to reduce damage to the roads.

To enhance the State management of minerals, the district had set up special teams to inspect mining activities and ensure that laws on the environment, water resources, minerals and land are followed by organisations and households in the district, said Lo Van Bien, an official from Mai Son Districts Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

However, handling the illegal sand mining still faced many difficulties.

One of the reasons is that illegal exploitation often takes place in remote mountainous areas, far from residential places.

Illegal miners also operate at random, so detecting and arresting them was difficult because authorised forces were not equipped to patrol the river frequently.

In addition, the awareness of people in remote areas about environmental and natural resource protection was still limited.

We need to spread the word about protecting these resources, said Doan Van Hoc, head of Son Las Water Resources, Minerals and Hydro-meteorology Centre.

Heads of districts must take responsibility for illegal sand exploitation in their areas, Hoc said.

Besides, investors of construction projects must make sure that the sand they are using is legal when the sand and gravel are proven to be from legal sources.  VNS

Illegal sand mining should be criminal violation: official A high-ranking city official has demanded stricter punishment for illegal sand mining activities, saying the violation must be considered a crime.
Yul Brynner, left, and Charlton Heston, center, in Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 epic "The Ten Commandments." (Paramount Pictures)

Its not uncommon for some of us to describe a great, genuinely transcendent movie as a religious experience. We like to exalt the sublimity of the moving image, sacralizing what is too often regarded as a godless, sometimes profane medium. We make our dutiful pilgrimages to this Robert Bresson retrospective or that repertory house blessed with a 35-millimeter print of Andrei Rublev, and we return home in a state of grace, even rapture  a feeling that can be expressed in silence or in gushing, free-flowing conversation.

You neednt be a believer in anything but the greatness of cinema to be so moved and transported. But for those of us who do attend churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship, it is no stretch to see the movie theater as another kind of temple  an essential forum, in its own right, for the blessings of joy, restoration and communion. As temples go, a theater is not even a strictly secular venue: I know Im not the only one who emerged from Carlos Reygadas Silent Light and Terrence Malicks The Tree of Life feeling genuinely closer to God.

The social aspect of these public rituals  of gathering in a common space, with a mix of friends and strangers, to see and hear something (hopefully) remarkable  is something to cherish. And it has been one of the many pleasures weve temporarily surrendered as we shelter at home, hoping to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. The absence of these gatherings has surely hit especially hard this week for those who held Passover Seders on Zoom or who plan to gather online for an e-Easter Sunday.

But the physical distance between us and our fellow worshipers can provide its own kind of solace. All those familiar faces, smiling out at us from our laptop screens, show how precious and resilient the bonds of a spiritual community can be. They also serve as a heartening reminder that  despite the rationalizations of the many places of worship across the U.S. that have defiantly stayed open  a physical gathering is not necessary to experience meaningful connections with God and with others.

Story continues

And there is beauty and meaning, too, in the very nature of the self-isolation we have taken upon ourselves. Even in non-pandemic times, my personal experience of Holy Week has always driven me toward solitude. Ive always found it both saddening and deeply consoling to wrap myself in the deep gloom and enveloping shadows of Good Friday, a day when Christians recall and identify with Jesus in his darkest hour of suffering.

For Jews and Christians alike, I imagine this week will invest the act of self-quarantine with its own obvious metaphors: As the COVID-19 outbreak surges and peaks in parts of the U.S., many of us may huddle in our homes and think of the plagues and pestilences of the distant past.

This will be, for many of us, a week of solemn reflection as well as quiet gratitude. And also, yes, a week for movies, always an ideal companion in trying times. The pictures listed below will serve, I hope, as a useful guide, and I recommend them wholeheartedly regardless of a viewers faith background or lack thereof.

Some Passover perennials (The Ten Commandments) have been included despite their obviousness; other titles may seem more obscurely related to the events and observances at hand. A few suggested pairings are sprinkled in, and I also tried to include some laughs, which we do desperately need. Comedy, too, can nudge us closer to the sublime.

All titles are available for streaming on multiple platforms unless otherwise specified:

Anne Wiazemsky in the movie "Au Hasard Balthazar." (Rialto Pictures/Photofest/UCLA Film & Television Archive)

Au Hasard Balthazar (1966). Jean-Luc Godard described Bressons masterwork as the world in an hour and a half. Ostensibly about the life and death of a donkey, it is also a story about the sufferings we endure and inflict daily, and the lasting sorrow that ultimately unites all creatures great and small. The ending is one of the most wrenching spiritual benedictions in all of cinema.

August Diehl and Valerie Pachner in the movie "A Hidden Life." (Reiner Bajo)

Cool Hand Luke (1967) and A Hidden Life (2019). Dramas of imprisonment and endurance are always particularly faith-resonant; certainly the Christian parallels and iconography running through Stuart Rosenbergs durable Cool Hand Luke have been well chronicled, especially Paul Newmans unforgettable (and very Easter-appropriate) hard-boiled-egg eating challenge. The more recent A Hidden Life, Terrence Malicks biography of a World War II conscientious objector, is as powerful a movie about the challenge of Christlike conviction as any director has made.

Martin Landau, left, and Jerry Orbach in "Crimes and Misdemeanors." (Brian Hamill / Orion Pictures)

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Uncut Gems (2019). Thirty years separate Woody Allens darkly brooding comedy-drama from Josh and Benny Safdies ferociously amped Adam Sandler-starring thriller. Both are intricately plotted stories about Jewish Manhattanites in desperate straits, trying to hold onto their families and outrun romantic and financial disasters of their own making. And both notably include scenes at a Passover Seder that position their characters sins and shenanigans in a haunting new light.

Marco Hofschneider in the movie "Europa Europa." (Criterion Collection)

Europa Europa (1990). Meticulously restored in 2016 and available for streaming on the Criterion Channel, Agnieszka Hollands surreal, funny and devastating film recounts the war-torn early years of Solomon Perel, a German Jew who escaped Nazi persecution by posing as an Aryan. The Passover scene in this movie takes the form of a dream sequence  a strange, haunting reminder of an identity that, however hard one may try, can never be left behind.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964). You might think of Pier Paolo Pasolinis beautifully spare biblical drama as the anti-Passion of the Christ: Filmed in black-and-white rather than color, in Italian rather than Aramaic, it finds its soul in the trappings of vintage neorealism rather than in a pummeling display of authenticity. And it was made by a committed atheist who somehow summoned more of the poetry and mystery of Jesus' life, death and resurrection than Mel Gibson's fervent Christ-sploitation massacre could manage.

Willem Dafoe in the movie "The Last Temptation of Christ." (Universal Studios)

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Monty Pythons Life of Brian (1979). The cries of "blasphemy!" that once greeted Martin Scorsese's impassioned Jesus drama and the Monty Python gang's joyous New Testament satire have long since receded into history; the thrilling impiety and wild creativity of their filmmaking remains. Blessed are the cheesemakers, always.

Adrianna Biedrzynska in "Dekalog IV," the fourth chapter of Krzysztof Kieslowski's series loosely inspired by the Ten Commandments. (Janus Films)

The Ten Commandments (1956) and Dekalog (1989). It would take you a little more than 13 hours to watch Cecil B. DeMilles barnstorming Exodus epic and Krzysztof Kieslowskis monumental Ten Commandments-inspired omnibus back-to-back, and it would be worth every minute. (A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love, two expanded entries from Dekalog, are available for streaming on Kanopy and the Criterion Channel; the entire series can be purchased on disc.)

Jack Albertson, left, Peter Ostrum and Gene Wilder in the movie "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." (Felicity Dahl)

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). Shelter-at-home orders have made it more difficult to get your Peeps, Cadbury Creme Eggs and Russell Stover Milk Chocolate Easter Bunnies these days. Embrace your inner Augustus Gloop instead: Stay home, throw on this Gene Wilder classic and lick the screen to your hearts content. Accept no substitutes.
An unprecedented event has been discovered in the radio galaxy named ESO 137-006 showing bizarre new thread-like appendages that connect the lobes of plasma within the cosmic entity.

On Wednesday, Astronomer Dr Mpati Ramatsoku of Rhodes University announced he and his colleagues have become accustomed to the usual sight of the galaxy.

Dr Ramatsoku said the space cluster consists of a core which is home to a supermassive black hole that shoots out two jets of plasma that race at near the speed of light. The energy found within the jets will ultimately slow down and disperse, producing large radio lobes.

The astronomer also stated what makes this particular galaxy different is the appearance of what seems to be several, supplementary filaments that link the lobes.

Ramatsoku is the lead author of an international team of astronomers' study of the discovery. They are conducting this endeavour with help from the state-of-the-art radio telescope MeerKat from the Northern Cape Karoo.

The radio telescope SA MeerKat which was launched in 2018, is the means of answering fundamental astrophysical questions regarding the universe.

Ramatsoku said this particular galaxy that belongs in the Norma cluster of galaxies is quite captivating and one of the brightest in the southern sky. And its characterization being the two bright lobes of radio emission which are bent in one direction.

She added with this discovery; they now have knowledge of these new features in the form of multiple collimated synchrotron thread connecting the lobes.

The head of the South African Research Chairs Initiative for radio astronomy over at Rhodes, Professor Oleg Smirnov, expressed the team's excitement over the discovery. He said the beautiful revelations of space are of great importance for MeerKat because they are proof of its amazing capability for locating the 'unknown unknowns' within our universe.

The unexpected finding boosts the team's morale and reminds them of the very reason they undertook their profession in the first place.

Read Also: Looking For The Best Band For Your Buck? Here Are Some Cost-Efficient American Road Monsters You Can Choose From!

What happens next?

Further study of the phenomenon is required to understand its nature further, added Ramatsoku. She also said it is probable for the event to be distinct to the observed galaxy due to its severe climate and environment. It is correct to think the occurrence is common in other radio galaxies but are undetectable due to the lack of more powerful astronomical equipment.

She states if it is indeed more than one galaxies phenomenon, it brings about new challenges and unknowns in figuring out the true nature of these cosmic bodies.

Insight to the nature and physics of these filaments may bring with it backing for other sensitive radio interferometers such as MeerKat and future similar equipment, like the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

Smirnov credited professor Justin Jonas for being the one responsible for MeerKat's birth and the transfer of the SKA to South Africa. Having been with Rhodes since his student days, Professor Jonas was awarded the vice chancellor's distinguished achievement award last 2019.

A reporter for Herald said even the smaller institutions, such as Rhodes University, are capable of bringing about discoveries of cosmic importance to the field of space exploration.

Read Also: NASA Program To Utilize $7M In Funding Research, From Stronger Spacecraft To Landing Humans On Mars - What They Have Planned Will Blow You Away
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan has warned lawmakers at the parliamentary committee on health and social affairs against any potential changes or lifting of the current nationwide restrictions only because of the decreasing daily new cases.

We cannot say that the transmission is stopping and is going away 100%. In the past, we were having 50 cases from a single cluster, for example 50 workers of a large factor, now we are having 16, 20 or 30 cases but from 10 or 20 different clusters. Therefore, the transmission of the virus in itself has gone out of control, but our objective is to find each and every potential case and carry out the same actions like before  test, confirm, isolate the direct contacts, treat and discharge. We must do this as much as we have the power to do it. When we will all, nationwide, get exhausted, that is only when we will be able to lift some actions and we will leave only the testing and treating, we wont do the isolation, because it will be meaningless during a much higher outbreak, Torosyan said.

Torosyan warned the lawmakers that the slowing growth in new cases is not a sufficient reason to lift the lockdown. He cited the practice of other countries as well.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Armenia has reached 937, of which 149 have recovered and 12 have died.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
The Islamic State launched a series of attacks against Syrian army positions, but were repulsed with the help of the Syrian Air Force reports Al-Masdar.

The Islamic State (ISIS) launched a number of attacks against the Syrian armys positions in eastern Syria on Thursday, targeting the latters forces in the Badiya al-Sukhnah and Badiya al-Sham regions of Homs Governorate.

ISIS began their attacks on Wednesday by ambushing the Syrian Arab Armys forces in the Badiya al-Sukhnah region; this would lead to heavy skirmishes between the two parties.

The terrorist group then expanded their attacks to several points in the eastern countryside of the Homs Governorate, prompting the Syrian Arab Air Force to enter the battle.

According to a field source, the Syrian Air Force launched several airstrikes targeting the ISIS terrorists, to force them to scatter and abandon their attacks.

The source said the airstrikes were highly effective, as ISIS fled the areas after being repeatedly attacked from the air.

Earlier this week, the Syrian army and their allies from the National Defense Forces and Liwa al-Quds (Jerusalem Brigade) launched an operation to eliminate ISIS sleeper cells along the Raqqa-Deir ez-Zor axis; however, since then, the terrorist group has shifted their operations to the Badiya al-Sukhnah region.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Beans, tuna, peanut-butter and money are what Keren Taylor-Hughes would like to see more of during these dark days.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/4/2020 (640 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Beans, tuna, peanut-butter and money are what Keren Taylor-Hughes would like to see more of during these dark days.

The chief executive director of one of Canadas largest food banks, Winnipeg Harvest, says demand grew sharply last month for its services as more Manitobans are off work and unable to afford food.

"Weve started to see a dramatic rise in people new to the food bank ever since (mid-March)."

At the same time, the organization has seen a dramatic drop in donations.

"And were looking at a 30 per cent increase in demand between now and the end of April," she says. Normally, the charitable organization will use its cash from donations and other sources to buy wholesale, stretching its dollars further. Yet demand for food is so high from panicked consumers, with an apocalyptic mindset, snapping up everything that Winnipeg Harvest is struggling to buy in large batches.

"We need money to buy food," Taylor-Hughes says, adding costs have increased due to scarcity of basic food staples.

A mountain of money may be flowing slowly to Canadians and businesses over the next several weeks from the federal and provincial governments.

But cash remains a scarce resource for a lot of charities.

In recent days Canadian charitable organizations have been sounding the alarm: Their workers are falling ill or quarantined; volunteering has waned, and donations are drying up.

Given the circumstances this should come as little surprise. Canadian households are losing income across the board. Families are sitting at kitchen tables tightening household budgets, which may include cutting donations.

"Additionally a lot of charities are cancelling major fund-raising events, and spring is usually a big time for those," says Jacob OConnor, director of charitable giving at CanadaHelps.org

"Its a big hit, especially with people turning to charities more than ever for support."

CanadaHelps, a virtual fund-raising portal for thousands of Canadian charities, recently set up a special COVID-19 charitable giving page that lists several food banks, hospital foundations and international aid groups, including UNICEF and Doctors without Borders.

Any sum helps, but regular monthly donations  even just $10  are often most beneficial.

OConnor says recurring revenue provides a foundation so charities can plan and stabilize services.

Whats more, while many of us are now sidelined at home watching our health care workers and other essential service providers risk their lives to help save ours, charitable giving is our way of helping.

Evelyn Jacks, president of the Winnipeg-based Knowledge Bureau, says we should all strive to expand our notion of family now more than ever.

"If we start thinking about the community like a dependent, then charitable giving is something we should doing all year long," says Jacks, author of several tax books including Essential Tax Facts 2019 Edition.

Besides helping others, charitable giving also triggers a healthy tax credit that can exceed 50 per cent of the donation in Manitoba.

- Federally, donations up to $200 per year receive a 15 per cent credit, or $30 in tax savings.

- For amounts exceeding that sum, the credit increases to 29 per cent, and can go as high as 33 per cent for donors earning income in the highest federal tax bracket.

- Additionally, the provincial tax credit is worth 10.9 per cent on the first $200, and 17.4 per cent for amounts above that sum.

Those owning stocks or mutual funds in non-registered accounts (i.e. not an RRSP or TFSA) can also look at donating these investments in-kind to charities.

"If youre cash poor, this might be a solution to help," Jacks adds.

The benefit of donating in-kind profitable investments -- which will otherwise result in taxable capital gains if you sell them -- is you get both the tax credit and avoid paying taxes on those gains.

"Usually its larger charities that only have the infrastructure to accept (in-kind securities), but on Canadahelps.org, you can donate to any charity in Canada through this method," OConnor says, adding donors can split up their giving among many charities of their choice.

Jen Zoratti | Next A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

"We have donors that will pick 20 of their favourite charitable organizations in a bunch of different subsectors."

Jacks further notes individuals can look to sell securities in a loss position and donate the proceeds. Again, they receive the charitable tax credit, and they can use the realized capital loss to help reduce taxes on taxable capital gains from the previous three years or on future realized, taxable capital gains.

That said, Manitobans can have a big impact in the community by simply donating food to Winnipeg Harvest, particularly non-perishable protein (beans, canned meat and peanut-butter). They can also volunteer, or donate cash.

Regardless of how you help, its the decent thing to do in a time of fast-rising need.

"Character is not about who you are when times are good," Taylor-Hughes adds.

"Its about how you act when things are hard."
President Donald Trump is warning without evidence that expanding mail-in voting will increase voter fraud. But several GOP state officials are forging ahead to do just that, undermining one of Trump's arguments about how elections should be conducted amid the coronavirus outbreak.

While Trump has complained that voting by mail was "ripe for fraud," Republican state officials in Iowa, Ohio and West Virginia have all taken steps to ease access to mail-in ballots, following health officials' warnings that voting in person can risk transmission of the deadly virus. The Republican governor of Nebraska urged voters to apply for absentee ballots. Florida's GOP chairman says the party will continue to run a robust vote-by-mail program.

The disconnect between Trump and Republican state officials illustrates the abrupt, hard turn the president and his national political allies have taken on the issue. Before the coronavirus hit, many in the GOP had warmed to mail-in voting, agreeing that it can be conducted without fraud and even used to their political advantage.

But Trump's hard line appears to be driven by his personal suspicions and concerns about his own reelection prospects. Statewide mail-in voting "doesn't work out well for Republicans," he tweeted this week.

Trump's comments put his Republican allies in states in the awkward position of trying to defend their practices without criticizing the president. Some said they agreed with Trump, even as their actions seem to suggest otherwise. Others suggested Trump was out of line.

It is "disappointing when anyone in leadership" makes fraud claims, said Kim Wyman, the Republican secretary of state of Washington state, which has had universal mail voting since 2010. "When it happens, the public loses confidence in the foundational pillar of our system."

Wyman was part of a group of bipartisan election officials who spoke to reporters Thursday to push for money from Congress to deal with the virus.

In Iowa, Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate did not criticize Trump directly, but he, too, said that sowing "doubt about the integrity of the process is as dangerous as vote fraud."

Iowa is mailing requests for absentee ballots to all 2.1 million registered voters ahead of special elections in July. Pate described the move as a reaction to "an emergency."

"You need to have some flexibility," he said.

There is no evidence of widespread mail voting fraud. The most prominent recent case occurred in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District in 2018, when a consultant hired by the GOP candidate was linked to an effort to tamper with absentee ballots.

Trump himself requested a mail ballot for Florida's GOP primary last month. Still, this week he said "mail in voting is horrible, it's corrupt," and the Republican National Committee moved to help state parties block expansion of the franchise. The effort was most notable in Wisconsin, where voters were forced to wait in long lines after the GOP majority on the state's Supreme Court prevented the Democratic governor's last-ditch attempt to delay the election.

But there's no consensus about Trump's position.

In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Frank LaRose, both Republicans, this week urged the state's voters to cast ballots via mail in the April 28 primary. The contest was shifted to an virtually all-mail election last month as the virus outbreak worsened.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican, is urging all voters to request absentee ballots for next month's primary.

In West Virginia, all voters are receiving applications for mail ballots for the state's upcoming primary. On Thursday, on the call with reporters, the state's Republican secretary of state, Mac Warner, said he agrees with Trump that "voting by mail just opens up opportunity for fraud," but he said he believed his state has necessary safeguards.

In Florida, where Republicans have dominated mail voting, state GOP chairman Joe Gruters also agreed with Trump that the state couldn't entirely vote through the method. But, he added: "The Florida GOP will push vote-by-mail requests and returns among Republicans."

Wendy Weisert of the Brennan Center for Social Justice, which advocates for expanded mail voting, said there had been bipartisan agreement on the election changes needed to adjust to the coronavirus outbreak. But she said Trump's comments this week were "adding partisan fuel to decisions that should be no-brainers."

Trump has a history of making baseless claims of voter fraud. After he won the 2016 presidential election while losing the popular vote, he insisted there was widespread voter fraud. He set up a commission to investigate, but it disbanded without finding any examples.

Every state has some version of mail voting, but with widely varying rules. They range from systems like those used in Utah, Washington and Colorado, where all voters are automatically sent ballots, to Wisconsin, where a witness's signature is required for voters to request an absentee ballot. In about one-third of the states, voters need a state-sanctioned excuse to make their request.

Trump's concerns about mail-in voting appears to come from a belief that the practice benefits Democrats. He tweeted that "Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it."

In fact, Republicans in Florida and other states have used mail-in ballots to ramp up turnout among their voters, especially older and rural voters. On Wednesday, Trump tried to adjust his argument by saying that mail voting was legitimate for Republican-leaning groups such as people over age 65 or members of the military, but should not be broadly available. Trump tweeted that "100% mail-in voting" was vulnerable to abuse and should not be allowed.

In Utah, Trump's complaints baffled Justin Lee, the state's elections director. The only fraud the state finds are scattered examples of one spouse signing for another. The mail system hasn't hurt Republicans at all.

"People are turning out, 90% are using it in a very red state," Lee said. "I don't see any problems for us."

___

Associated Press writers Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio and Bobby Caina Calvan contributed to this report.

___

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, "Ground Game."

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0






PARIS  Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) delivered downgrades on Thursday to France's top car companies Renault and PSA, cutting Renault's bonds to 'junk' status due to the impact of the new coronavirus.

S&P downgraded Renault to 'BB+/B' from 'BBB-/A-3', meaning it had ascribed a "junk bond" status to those Renault corporate bonds.

"French automaker Renault has an ample liquidity cushion and can, in our view, count on guarantees from the French state," S&P wrote in a research note.

"We nevertheless expect Renault's earnings, free cash flow generation (FOCF), and financial position to weaken materially in 2020, following an already challenging 2019," added S&P.

S&P kept a BBB- rating on Peugeot-company PSA, but it cut its outlook on PSA to "negative" from "stable."

Shares in Renault and PSA were both down by around 1% in late session trading.

Data earlier this month showed that French car registrations had dropped by more than 72% in March due to the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown ordered by authorities to fight the epidemic spread.

The FCA-PSA merger

With their sales hammered by the coronavirus outbreak, car makers Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot's owner PSA have postponed their shareholder meetings and are looking at ways to boost cash reserves ahead of their planned merger.

The two car makers have turned to their banks to secure much needed cash, and Fiat Chrysler (FCA) is looking at debt guarantees that the Italian government approved on Monday to support local companies, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

FCA, whose legal headquarters is in the Netherlands, runs several plants in Italy and may qualify for the government scheme which offers more than 400 billion euros worth of liquidity and bank loans to companies hit by the pandemic, the source said, cautioning no decision had been made.

Story continues

A spokesman for FCA declined to comment.

In late March FCA secured a 3.5 billion euro credit line, with an initial 12-month term that can be extended six months. This added to existing credit facilities worth 7.7 billion euros.

The Italo-American firm, chaired by John Elkann, scion of the Italian Agnelli family, would need to cut its ordinary dividend if it decides to pursue state aid from Italy. The emergency decree says companies looking to apply for Italy-backed loans must refrain from approving dividend payments for a year.

FCA's decision to postpone the shareholders' meeting to late June has analysts speculating that its ordinary dividend worth 1.1 billion euros could be axed or postponed.
POTTSTOWN  Borough council unanimously approved site plans Monday night for a proposed $208 million sustainable energy facility on Keystone Boulevard that is expected to generate more than 100 jobs. Now called the Pottstown Sustainable Energy Park, or PSEP, the project is being proposed for 11 acres at 405 Keystone Blvd. The company uses a new process called "gasification" to...
The Age of the Coronavirus is ushering in disturbing societal shifts, many of which smack of totalitarianism. Underpinning most of these changes is "social distancing." Here's a snapshot of some of what's happening.

In New York and New Jersey, drones are flying overhead, blasting a synthesized voice message urging people to stay at least six feet apart (here, here, and here).



Facebook video screen grab (cropped).

We see increased police patrols to monitor social distancing, issuing citations and fines and making arrests. In one case, a father was handcuffed and taken away for playing softball with his six-year-old daughter in what appeared to be a large and empty park (here, here, here, here, here, here).

At the same time, citizens are urged to report on their neighbors who aren't adhering to distance guidelines. At least one state set up a hotline to make such reports (here, here, here, here).

And what would totalitarian measures be without the elites in power breaking the rules? So the mayor of Chicago went out for a haircut, and Bill de Blasio left his sprawling mansion to go for a walk in the park, which is supposed to be forbidden behavior, a fact that, in itself, is sheer insanity. Naturally, when these elites are caught and called out, they have an excuse: good for thee, but not for me (here).

Behind the scenes there are signs of increased control over the free market. Most recently, big box stores in some regions of the country were told to stop selling all "non-essential" goods as a means of reducing the number of people in the store and how much time they spend shopping (here).

But that doesn't go far enough for freaks like Zeke Emanuel, who want to keep things shut down for at least a year and a half. I presume he feels confident that that would be sufficient time to seal our fate as a collapsed nation. And, let's face it: Dr. Fauci has often alluded to waiting for things to return to normal until after the elusive vaccine is available, which would fit Emanuel's timeline (here, here).

Significant pressure is also being put on churches, which are increasingly threatened  in some cases with permanent closure, and in at least one case, the locks on the front doors were changed so no entry was allowed (here, here, here).

All the while, tensions are building as fear mounts and people are holed up in their homes like lepers. People are physically assaulting others for not maintaining their distance, and in some cases, the victims have died as a result (here, here, here, here, here, here).

This madness must end.

The United States is founded on individual liberty. A pandemic such as we're facing tests the fabric we're made of. We have a responsibility to ourselves and to our fellow citizens. But we've entered dangerous territory, and the powers that be need to attend to this with as much passion and commitment as they are to the virus.

Saving lives won't matter if we don't also save our country.
10.04.2020 LISTEN

In my previous episode of April 2, 2020, I expressed the fear that persons with disability might not be given the needed attention in the Government of Ghana's interventions to mitigate the current economic hardship in the country, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. My fear was hinged on what is gradually becoming the norm-not prioritizing issues of disability. And there are already signs of that fear manifesting.

The promise by the Government to roll out relief interventions to alleviate the impact of the present economic hardship became more realistic after the President's 5th address to the nation on April 5, 2020, on the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen some actions being taken in that regard, especially to make things easy for the vulnerable. However, some flaws are being spotted and failure to correct them and on time, is likely to undermine the very spirit of the intervention.

Considering the conditions of persons with a disability, one would expect that they would be attended to specially, as is being done in the case of the head porters (Kayayei). However, they have been lumped up with other groups, a situation that is drowning them already.

Even more worrying is the sidelining of the social welfare department in this whole exercise; the state's own agency that is supposed to be responsible for championing the wellbeing of the vulnerable. It was expected that being a state agency attached to all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies across the country, and having some data on the vulnerable, which includes but not limited to persons with a disability, victims of HIV/AIDS, orphans, children with chronic sicknesses, missing children and the aged, social welfare would be made to lead the process.

In such a situation, anybody who is not captured in the database could get registered and attended to on the same day. This would not only ensure that the real vulnerable in the society become the beneficiaries of the intervention, but also go a long way to contribute to data collection, which is one thing this country lacks.

On the contrary, the exercise is being carried out by the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), in collaboration with churches. NADMO is giving the items to the local council of churches in the districts, who are now determining who the vulnerable and needy in the communities are, with only one toll-free number given out for the entire country as the means by which the vulnerable could call for the relief items. And for days now, members of a disability advocacy group, Ghana Disability Forum, have been calling but without success; resulting in heightened fear that they might miss out on this intervention in the long run.

Sidelining the social welfare department in such an exercise only goes to confirm Ghana's disregard for systems. If the social welfare department of the MMDAs can not be useful in a time like this, one wonders when they could ever be.

The effectiveness of the current implementation procedure is in doubt, as it has the possibility of making people who do not qualify as the vulnerable in society enjoy the intervention at the expense of the actual needy. It is also feared that this process could further spread the virus since the prescribed social distancing protocol is not be observed at the centers monitored so far.

Apart from allowing the social welfare to lead, or at least be made part of the process, separate hotlines could also be given to each district to make it easy for the vulnerable to call for help. Until these are done, one can be certain that a great number of the actual vulnerable in society are going to be deprived of the intervention that is meant to cushion them in these very difficult times.

Benjamin Nii-Lartey Ayiku (BNA)

(Africa Disability Rights Journalist, 2019)

Email: [email protected]
EU finance ministers will resume efforts on Thursday to agree a rescue plan for Europe's hardest-hit nations after The Netherlands blocked a compromise over bailout conditions. The 27 ministers will restart their meeting by video-conference at 1500 GMT, after talks broke down on Wednesday following more than 16 hours of ill-tempered negotiations. The Hague surprised many with its inflexible stance, insisting that Italy, Spain and any others caught short by the outbreak must meet reform conditions if they turn to Europe for financial aid. The sting was made all the worse after Italy and Spain were forced to drop their goal of a joint borrowing instrument, now dubbed "coronabonds", due to the inflexible stance of Germany, the bloc's most powerful member state. Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, said it was "vital" that ministers hatch a plan big enough to meet the challenge. "If not all countries are cured, the others will suffer,a she wrote in an op-ed published in newspapers across Europe on Thursday. The package on the table is worth about 500 billion euros, short of what many observers believe is necessary to restart the European economy after the health crisis has eased. All data strongly indicates the economy in Europe is entering its biggest slump since World War II with everyday life and business effectively crashed to a halt. The main component of the rescue plan involves the European Stability Mechanism, the EU's bailout fund which would make 240 billion euros available to guarantee spending by indebted countries under pressure. - 'Certain conditions' - Italy and Spain have the backing of the vast majority of member states to keep the conditions for tapping the ESM at an absolute minimum, but The Netherlands disagrees. For the long-term "we think it's sensible to combine the use of the ESM with certain economic conditions," Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said, after the earlier talks collapsed. Conditionality is seen as a humiliation in Rome and Madrid, conjuring images from the eurozone debt crisis when auditors from Brussels dictated policy in bailed out Greece, Portugal and Ireland. The especially touchy discussion on a solidarity fund that would be paid for by European partners jointly borrowing money on the financial markets has been handed off to EU leaders. They are expected to meet by videolink later this month. The mutualisation of debts is a red line for Berlin and The Hague, which refuse to engage in a joint loan with highly indebted states in the South, which they consider lax in their fiscal management. German finance minister Olaf Scholz on Wednesday insisted that the relaunch of the European economy after the pandemic is possible "with very traditional instruments" such as the ESM or the EU budget. In addition to the eurozone rescue fund, the EU ministers will also debate 200 billion euros in guarantees from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and a European Commission project for national short-time working schemes.
Vietnamese health workers take care of COVID-19 patient (Photo: VNA)

Workers.org page of the US Workers World Party (WWP) on April 8 posted an article titled How Vietnam contained the pandemic saying that the coronavirus pandemic has started to reveal stark differences in the emergency responses of countries all over the globe.

It said Vietnam is among less developed countries which has mounted a highly successful response, perhaps more so than anywhere else in the world.

The article cited that by April 6, Vietnam, with a population of nearly 100 million people, had just 245 confirmed cases and zero deaths.

Vietnams University of Science and Technology has developed a fast and affordable test kit that costs about 15 USD and returns results within an hour.

Now 20 countries around the world are seeking to order tens of thousands of them, according to the article.

Vietnam has also focused on effective, nonpharmaceutical methods to contain the virus, it said, adding that on February 1, the country suspended flights to China and decided to close schools after the Lunar New Year break.

It then instituted a 21-day quarantine of Vinh Phuc province north of Hanoi, where a large number of residents had returned from Wuhan, China, the initial epicenter of the outbreak. It has since mandated 14-day quarantines for everyone arriving in the country and cancelled all foreign flights.

Quarantine centers have been set up on the edges of cities providing 100 percent of the medical care, food and shelter for those in quarantine, including foreign visitors, the article reported.

The US website also quoted a British citizen at a quarantine centre in Son Tay as saying Suddenly it all becomes very human, were guests in a country doing their best to protect themselves and are extending us that courtesy. Such is the good nature of Vietnam.

It also quoted a WWP member who travelled in Vietnam from March 5 to 17 as reporting that screenings in the airports were much more thorough and stringent than in the US. Hand sanitizer was almost everywhere, even in rural areas. People were chipper about following the measures set out by the government to contain the virus.

Vietnam has also used social media and information technology to combat the spread of the virus. Almost 90 percent of the people have either a smartphone or a mobile phone.

The government uses an app and other channels to swiftly alert the public to new cases and areas with potential transmission, to help people get tested and to provide scientifically accurate, up-to-date information on best practices to reduce exposure, according to the article.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health produced a catchy music video to inform people of proper handwashing techniques and other measures to reduce transmission, it said.

The article concluded that Vietnam sets an example for both developing and wealthy countries fighting COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Project Syndicate, a website based in the Czech Republic, on April 8 carried a story titled Vietnams Low Cost COVID 19 Strategy praising Vietnam for managing the crisis so well that it avoided becoming a hotspot.

The article said Vietnams first cases were recorded on January 23, and the situation appeared to be under control until an additional wave of cases fueled by foreign tourists and returning travelers and students.

Perhaps most remarkably, unlike the Republic of Korea, which has spent considerable funds on aggressive testing, or Singapore, which has established strong epidemiological surveillance, Vietnam has followed a budget-friendly approach that has proven equally effective, it said.

Despite expectations of high rates of transmission, owing to a shared border with China and the high volume of bilateral trade, Vietnam has recorded only one-fifth the number of infections that much-lauded Singapore has, with no reported deaths to date, it added.

Vietnams initial success in slowing the rate of infection was attributed to the authorities focus on communication and public education through technology platforms and systematic tracing of pathogen carriers, according to the article.

With 65 percent of Vietnams 96 million people online, official news outlets and social media channels (60 percent are on Facebook) successfully shared information about the novel coronavirus.

In an age when it is difficult to track and stop the spread of mis-/disinformation, understanding the threat, particularly its contagion rate, has been key to citizens willingness to cooperate, whether through social distancing or self-isolation.

Vietnams experience demonstrates how, by focusing on early risk assessment, effective communication, and government-citizen cooperation, an under-resourced country with a precarious health-care system can manage the pandemic, the article concluded.
Willie Nelson has released details of a live streaming event that will feature performances from Dave Matthews and John Mellencamp.

Farm Aid from Home will air April 11 at 8 p.m. through the Farm Aid website and on AXS TV.

Farm Aid board members including Mellencamp, Matthews, and Neil Young will all be offering sets from their own homes. Nelson will also perform along with his sons Lukas and Micah.

On the Farm Aid stage last September, my friend and fellow board member John Mellencamp said, Be hopeful about, have faith in and be grateful for right now; the miracle of life is in the dirt under our farmers fingernails,' Nelson said in a statement. He was right and Im so grateful for the farmers, ranchers and farmworkers who are on the front lines sustaining all our communities. Now, more than ever, stay strong and positive.

Shop for concert tickets here: StubHub, SeatGeek, Ticketmaster.
By Tommy Ardiansyah BOGOR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesian hair stylist Herman Maulanasyah knows that he may look comical in his makeshift protective gear but he sees that as a small price if it helps protect him and his customers from the novel coronavirus. Clad in a plastic sheet held together with tape, a ski mask, a gas mask and latex gloves, Maulanasyah, 40, welcomes customers at his salon in the city of Bogor, south of Jakarta, even as the virus spreads across the country.

By Tommy Ardiansyah

BOGOR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesian hair stylist Herman Maulanasyah knows that he may look comical in his makeshift protective gear but he sees that as a small price if it helps protect him and his customers from the novel coronavirus.

Clad in a plastic sheet held together with tape, a ski mask, a gas mask and latex gloves, Maulanasyah, 40, welcomes customers at his salon in the city of Bogor, south of Jakarta, even as the virus spreads across the country.

"Please don't judge, I'm not making it for fun or to look ridiculous, this is how I show my appreciation to the health workers," Maulanasyah told Reuters at the salon he has run for 15 years.

Before he starts cutting hair, Maulanasyah sprays his protective gear and his customers' hands with sanitizer.

He has worn the gear for the past two weeks as part of efforts to cut the risks from the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus that has killed at least 240 people and infected nearly 3,000 in the world's fourth most populous country.

Health workers in Indonesia have paid a high price, with at least 24 doctors dying from the disease, according to the Indonesian Doctors Association. In Jakarta, 130 medical workers have been infected, according to the city government said.

Jakarta has ordered businesses and schools to close in a bid to contain the virus and it plans large-scale social restrictions enforced by security personnel.

Though Maulanasyah's salon is outside Jakarta, where many of the cases in the country have been clustered, his income has dwindled from about 500,000 rupiah ($31) a day to 100,000 rupiah ($6.20).

Customer Abdul Rahman Fattah said he felt safer having his hair cut this way but conceded that the cumbersome outfit worn by Maulanasyah meant the result may not always be perfect.

As another precautionary measure, Maulanasyah allows only four people in the salon and urges everyone to keep their distance.

"This is to protect myself because I have a family, my child and wife, therefore I need to ensure my safety at work because I don't know whether the people who come here are infected or not," he said.

(Reporting by Tommy Ardiansyah; Writing by Stanley Widianto; Editing by Ed Davies and Robert Birsel)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
A school in Mumbais Juhu has become a beacon of hope amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, as it is organising around 700 cooked meals daily for the citys poor and needy such as old-age homes, street urchins, orphanages and transgender community members.

The Jamnabai Narsee School, which is managed by the Narsee Monjee Education Trust, authorities have been rustling up the daily meals since March 31 in collaboration with the institutions Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Around 6,000 meals have been distributed to date.

Also Read: IIT Kanpur community kitchen feeding 800 street kids

Were using our schools kitchen to cook meals for the poor and needy. Our in-house cooks are preparing the meals and parents are helping with distribution. We want to put our existing resources to good use amid the crisis, Jairaj, trustee, Jamnabai Narsee School, said.

Also Read: Delhi govt scales up its free food distribution, ties up with eateries to feed the needy

Manan Doshi, vice-chairperson of the schools PTA, explained how they hit upon the initiative. The cooks, who work in the school, come from various parts of the country. They couldnt go back home because of the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown that started on March 25 to contain the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak. We decided to utilise their services, as many places such as old-age homes are facing staff crunch because their cooks have gone back to their native places. We want to reach out to people in need, Doshi said.

Parents are also trying to distribute masks, cookies, and other essential items depending on the need and availability of resources.

The school has also redesigned its logo for the interim. The sides of the hexagon have been separated to reinforce the message of social distancing amid the viral outbreak. We want to spread awareness about social distancing. The redesigned logo drives home the point, said Jairaj.
Hoda Kotb has revealed that she isn't sure if her wedding to Joel Schiffman will go ahead as planned in the fall, as she opened up about their plans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV, the 55-year-old Today host said she is 'hopeful' that she and Joel, 62, will be able to keep their original wedding date, but confessed that the couple are happy to tie the knot wherever and whenever they can, as long as they are with their families and friends.

'We had the date scheduled and it's in the calendar, we took care of the bookings and those kinds of things, so I think what we're going to have to do is play it by ear, because I don't know, I'm not 100 per cent sure what will happen as a result of this,' she revealed.

New normal: Today co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager have opened up about how the coronavirus pandemic has changed their work and personal lives

Staying positive: In an interview with DailyMailTV, Hoda, 55, and Jenna, 38, praised their families for keeping their spirits up amid so much 'dark and gloomy' news

The couple got engaged in November during a romantic Mexican vacation, and had hoped to tie the knot this fall, less than a year after Joel's proposal, however if that can't happen, the Today star insisted they aren't going to stress about it.

Hoda shared that seeing so many families separated as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and being kept apart from so many of her own friends and relatives, including her mother Sameha, has made the couple realize that having a 'nice destination wedding' is not the most important thing to them anymore.

'I'm hopeful that we can keep our fall wedding date. But we're open,' she said. 'I was just saying to Joel, "I don't care where we get married. Honey I don't care."

'I'm happy to have a nice destination wedding or whatever, but I'm equally happy just to do it. This has kind of taught us all those things. Like really what's the important part?

'As long as you can spend time with your family and friends, it doesn't really matter where you do something like that or even when. So I'm hopeful that we'll have our friends and family and whenever that day comes, Hallelujah, let's do it.'

Her co-host Jenna however is eager for the hotly-anticipated event to go ahead as soon as possible, admitting that it's going be 'one great party' when they all reunite after spending so many weeks apart.

'I'm hopeful too,' she said. 'That's going to be one great party after not seeing you for six weeks! Wow.'

As for what the party will entail, Hoda offered one hint: ' Sweaty dancing, that's all I have to say.'

Despite hosting their fourth-hour segment together every day, the two women have not seen each other in-person for weeks, with Jenna, 38, currently working from her family home, while Hoda is holding down the fort in NBC's Studio 1A.

Change of plans: Hoda opened up about her wedding plans, revealing that she doesn't know whether she and fiance Joel Schiffman will be able to tie the knot in the fall as planned

Easy going: She said that the couple, pictured with their daughters, are 'playing it by ear', but the most important thing for them is to get married when they can be with family and friends

On Wednesday, the co-hosts celebrate a major milestone for their show - its one-year anniversary, a celebration that they had to enjoy together via video and on Instagram Live.

But, Hoda says that being apart from her co-hosts has taught her a lesson about how important it is to find connection in other ways, explaining that she feels closer than ever with Jenna despite their physical distance - something that she didn't previously think was possible.

'I feel like what I'm learning which I never believed before is, you really can connect this way,' she said, referring to their daily video shows.

I didn't know you could. I thought you had to be in person and that was how you really truly connected. But what I've learned through this whole thing is, I actually feel closer to Jenna now than I have probably since the beginning, because we're going through something together even though we're not in the same space.'

For both women, there have been some tricky obstacles to overcome in finding their new normal, however they both praised one another for helping to keep their spirits high every day - as well as their families, who are helping them to deal with the 'dark and gloomy' news about the COVID-19 pandemic.

'I think one of the missions of our show, for Jenna and I, has always been to lighten the load,' Hoda said 'We want to make life a teeny bit easier today than it was yesterday. We feel like everyone is carrying around a really heavy backpack, and for a minute or so they can just take it off. And I feel like that's what we do.

'We want to make sure your heart feels a teeny bit lighter. Because everything around us is coming in and it feels dark and gloomy so we're hoping that this can be a little place where you can find some light.'

But staying positive during such a dark time isn't always easy - particularly for Hoda who is currently in the studio alone every day, while reporting on some of the most horrifying and upsetting news from the coronavirus frontlines for the first two hours of the day.

Hoda's co-anchor for the first half of the Today show, Savannah Guthrie, has been working at home for the past few weeks - with the exception of a few days - as have Al Roker and Carson Daly, as well as the majority of the staff who usually fill the studio.

'Literally there's nobody in this space,' Hoda revealed, while offering a view around her empty studio. 'And usually, Jenna can attest, it's teaming with people. We have floor directors and camera people and props and lighting and hair and makeup, it's a family.

Support system: Jenna praised her husband Henry Hager, 41, for caring for their three children while she works every morning, saying she is 'lucky' to have him

Good one, mom: She even revealed that her mother, former first lady Laura Bush (center) joked, 'Thank goodness you married Henry and not your college boyfriend!'

'It would be like walking into your home and always having nobody there, that's what it feels like. It's almost surreal to hear yourself walking through halls.

'I miss Jenna here... I miss Jenna all the time, but in this space especially, because there is comfort in - even if you can't touch the person because you have to be six feet away - there is comfort in knowing that they are with you.'

Despite spending much of her day in a near-empty studio, Jenna praised Hoda for filling the show with so much positivity, saying that she is 'an optimist who wakes up every day and says, "It's beautiful," even if it's raining'.

'And as we've seen her so bravely and strongly cover this really hard time, she does it with a smile, not because she has to, but that's because deep in her core that's in her DNA,' the mother-of-three continued.

'I think it's part of the DNA of our show too to just try to let people know that we're here and that there is comfort and optimism.'

Jenna also revealed that she wanted to return to the studio to film with her co-host - but was told by NBC bosses that they needed to wait and make sure that their reunion takes place at a time when it will be safe for everyone involved.

'It's so weird, I'm wanting to get back to the studio right away and in fact Hoda and I were like, "Let's do it!"' Jenna said.

'But our bosses were like, "Wait a minute, you're going to get there, just slow down," and I was a little disappointed.

'It's odd because the show... I think when you truly are meant to do something or sit next to somebody whether it's a spouse or a friend or a colleague, and it feels right, then you can do it via FaceTime. It's bizarre but our shows have felt just as natural as they always have.'

Together, apart: Hoda is currently anchoring the Today show from the studio, which has been left almost entirely empty while so many people work from home

Party time! The two women, pictured on air in February, celebrated the first anniversary of their show on Wednesday, but had to mark the occasion via video call

Hoda and Jenna both credited their families with helping them to keep that positive energy, with former first daughter Jenna praising her husband Henry Hager, 41, for caring for their three children, Mila, Poppy, and baby Hal, every morning while she films the show.

And she's not the only one who is grateful for her husband's support, she revealed, admitting that her mother, former first lady Laura Bush, joked that Jenna is lucky she married Henry and not one of her previous boyfriends.

'For the first time ever, all my work life, all my home life, every part of life, is here. I'm not leaving,' Jenna said, admitting: 'It's been slightly tricky... [I am lucky] I have a really wonderful husband.

'My mom said the other night, "Thank goodness you married Henry and not your college boyfriend!" Because in the mornings, he's with three of our children, making sure they're on Zoom school, making sure Hal's taking his nap, drinking his bottle.'

When it comes to Hoda's home life, the Today anchor confessed that she tries as best as she can to separate her family from all that goes on at work - explaining that she is focused on prioritizing her time with her children, Haley Joy and Hope Catherine.

'For me I feel like I have two separate things going,' she said. 'I leave my house at about 3.45 that's usually my get in the car time and then I get here by about 4.30. And so, from that time until Jenna and I are finished, I try to stay in work mode.

'But when I'm home, I try to be home. I try to just be in those moments as opposed to being on my phone, and [worrying about] what's going on with work. I try to do a "be here now" thing.

'It's not always easy but... Haley said something yesterday and it was so little. We were having a snack sitting outside on the stoop, pretzels and raisins and water, and she kept saying, "This is so fun," and I was like, "This is so fun!" We just sat there eating snacks and she just couldn't believe that we were just two girls hanging out on the curb eating snacks. And I thought it's about those little tiny things.'

Jenna agrees wholeheartedly, adding: 'It's tricky, but I think it's also exactly what Hoda said, to be in what your'e in when you're in it, and let the kids know you're listening to them and you're on their team, because it is a lot of family time.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-11 00:13:20|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MUSCAT, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Omani government on Friday expressed its welcome to the two-week cease-fire starting Thursday announced by the Saudi-led Arab coalition in war-torn Yemen.

Oman calls on all Yemeni parties to take advantage of this step and use the dialogue to achieve a permanent cease-fire agreement as well as a solution to the Yemeni crisis, according to a statement by the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry statement also highlighted support for the UN envoy to Yemen in his efforts to reach a comprehensive political solution that achieves peace and security in Yemen.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition on Wednesday declared a unilateral two-week cease-fire in Yemen for fear that the raging coronavirus pandemic may reach the country which is witnessing the world's biggest humanitarian crisis.

Earlier in the day, Yemen reported the first COVID-19 case in the eastern province of Hadramout.
New Jersey lawmakers want $100 million in emergency rent relief for residential tenants caught in the coronavirus economic crisis and struggling to pay their rent.

A bill, S2332, before the state Senate on Monday would create a state-run program targeting low- and middle-income New Jerseyans who are in imminent danger of homelessness due to a loss in income.

Economists predict catastrophic unemployment. And in New Jersey, nearly 577,000 workers have applied for unemployment benefits through the state in just the last three weeks, as Gov. Phil Murphy ordered entire business sectors shutdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Murphy has asked for compassion from mortgage lenders and landlords for homeowners and renters faced with the sudden loss of income. Hes also ordered a moratorium on evictions during the state of emergency.

But rents will come due, and many New Jerseyans wont be able to pay, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a bill sponsor, said Thursday.

Its nice not to evict someone, but if we dont help people, the 90 days is up and here comes a bill," he said. Im going to get a bill with three months rent that Im not able to pay.

I hope we can do it quickly, he added. Theres a lot of pain right now.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Under the bill, rental assistance would be run through homelessness prevention agencies in each county that would pay landlords directly on behalf of renters who are at risk of losing their housing.

In order the qualify, tenants must be at least 30 days past due on their rent, unable to make the payment without help, and have been harmed financially by the pandemic, according to the bill.

We are living in unprecedented times where tenants should not have to choose between feeding their families or paying their rent, said state Sen. Brian Stack, D-Hudson, who sponsored the bill. Likewise, landlords, without collecting rent from tenants, may be unable to pay their mortgages. Residents are facing enough with this virus and they need relief instead of more of a hardships for them to overcome.

The emergency rental assistance would be funded through federal stimulus aid, if possible, or out of state coffers, the bills says.

The state Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill Monday. It must pass both legislative chambers and be signed by the governor to become law.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and health officials last month ordered hospitals to postpone elective medical surgeries due to the need to free up hospital space and medical resources to combat the growing threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

DeWines office and the Ohio Hospital Association issued guidelines March 18 that affect non-essential surgeries and related procedures for adults and pediatric patients.

What followed involved some public misconceptions about what elective surgery means. Social media users decried criticism and concerns over DeWines order as people concerned they couldnt get cosmetic plastic surgery. As is often the case, social media outrage doesnt align with reality.

University Hospitals Chief Quality and Medical Officer Dr. William Brien said the absence of elective surgery forces people to make painful choices in the most literal sense. He said some examples of operations placed on hold include things like knee surgery for cartilage tears, hip or knee replacement for arthritis, hernia repairs and colon surgery for polyps or benign lesions.

Even low-grade cancers, you know, skin cancers, and some low-grade breast cancers would be elective in nature, Brien said.

Cleveland.com asked representatives from northeast Ohios major medical organizations to discuss how theyre dealing with patients whose surgeries are suddenly in limbo.

What does this all mean?

One of the major concerns about the shortage of hospital space is that low-grade problems can develop into more significant health issues in the absence of even elective surgery. It illustrates the problematic position both healthcare providers and patients find themselves in as a result of the pandemic.

Brien said that a doctor can request to make someones case move into a category beyond essential as urgency develops.

This is then reviewed and either approved or denied by the division chief or department chair, Brien said. If denied, the surgeon can appeal the decision to the surgeon and chief and the UH System Chief Medical Officer.

It (system) doesnt work well because of the delay that patients may have related to surgical procedures and we just dont know when this (pandemic) will be over, he said.

For example, if someone has low-grade cancer, which would fall under elective surgery, it could become more serious if the coronavirus stays longer than expected. That would change the trajectory of someones treatment plan, Brien said.

What Cleveland Clinic says

The Clinic will determine, based on guidelines set by the Ohio Department of Health, which procedures are non-essential and ones where patients should expect delays.

This change supports statewide efforts to conserve hospital beds, equipment and supplies while protecting healthcare workers in preparation for a potential surge of patients with COVID-19, Cleveland Clinic spokeswoman Andrea Pacetti said.

The procedures that will move forward must be life-saving, preserve the function of organs or limbs, reduce the risk of metastasis or progression of a disease or reduce the risk of severe symptoms, according to the Clinics guidelines as well as MetroHealth and University Hospitals.

Examples of elective surgeries and other related procedures include, deferrable bronchoscopy, deferrable upper and lower endoscopies, routine dental procedures, symptomatic problems which are stable, management of benign conditions, cosmetics, primary and revision joint therapy (non-infected), bariatric and elective hernia surgery, and urogynecology, the Clinic says.

We continue to adapt to this evolving situation, with the primary goal of keeping our patients and caregivers safe, the Clinic said in a statement.

What MetroHealth says

The hospital system is still providing care after Gov. Mike DeWine ordered to stop some elective surgeries and screenings.

Among the things continuing are emergency surgeries, cancer surgeries, cases of intractable pain requiring intervention, and treatment for patients with unique characteristics or circumstances, MetroHealth said in a statement. We will continue to prioritize the safety and immediate health needs of our patients.

MetroHealth has started talking to state officials about increasing access to preventative screenings and treatments after new projections shown this week that Ohio is flattening the curve.

Patients, employees and the community remain the hospitals focus in maintaining their health and wellness.

What University Hospitals says

UH canceled in-person non-essential office appointments, screening imaging exams and office visitations March 26. Officials are urging patients to use telemedicine or phone consultation whenever possible.

We decided to look at this, what we call essential, and non-essential surgeries, Brien said. Non-essential is clearly those elective procedures that do not need to be done in any specific time frame. And then weve further broken down the essential cases in those that need to be done in an expedited way versus those that can be done several weeks or maybe a month or two out. Theyre still essential because if this were to go on for six months, there are certain things you wouldnt be able to wait for.

If a patient does not get a call about postponing his or her surgery, it will take place as scheduled.

The hospital will strive to preserve the key elements of our physician-patient relationships and make the best decisions on a case-by-case basis, UH said in a statement. This will ensure the most compassionate and safest approach to protecting the health and well-being of all of our patients.

University Hospitals also is shutting down operations at the Andover and North Ridgeville emergency departments starting at 7 a.m. Saturday to prepare for the coronavirus surge, according to a statement.

Read more coronavirus coverage at cleveland.com:

Dr. Amy Actons order on elective surgeries

Ohioans should postpone many elective surgeries because of the coronavirus, Gov. Mike DeWine recommends

Ohio ordering elective surgeries postponed: What does that include?

Quitting job over coronavirus concerns makes unemployment benefits iffy, two employment lawyers say

Northeast Ohios heavy coronavirus toll: more than half the states deaths, higher per capita rates

Do runners leave wake of coronavirus droplets? Simulation shows outside exercisers should keep greater distance
PA Media: Video

Dark western The Power Of The Dog and HBOs Succession have triumphed at the 79th Golden Globes following a bizarrely muted online event with no celebrity guests. The film and the critically acclaimed series both earned three awards at the ceremony, which has faced heavy criticism over the past year for diversity issues within its organising body. The typically star-studded and joke-filled event was replaced by periodic updates from the Golden Globes website and official social media accounts.
Photo

Chandigarh: Amid apprehensions of community spread of COVID-19, the Punjab Government on Friday decided to extend the curfew in the state till May 1, 2020.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, to check community spread of the pandemic and to prevent overcrowding at the Mandis in the light of the ensuing wheat harvesting/procurement season.

Captain Amarinder will convey the decision to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Saturdays conference with the chief ministers, according to an official spokesperson.

Citing the grim projections about the spread of the pandemic in the coming weeks, the Chief Minister said the curfew restrictions were essential so that the medical infrastructure is not burdened beyond its capabilities. There was general consensus in the medical community that the lockdown curbs would only delay the spread of the disease, he said, hoping that some medication/cure would be found soon.

On a proposal by the Chief Minister, the Council of Ministers also decided to set up a multi-disciplinary task force to formulate an exit strategy for gradual relaxation of curfew/lockdown. The task force will submit its report within 10 days. The task force will about 15 members representing trade, business, industry, agriculture, civil society and health care professionals. The Chief Minister has been authorized to decide on the composition of the task force.

The Cabinet also approved establishment of a high-powered committee to suggest a road map for State's economic revival in post-COVID era once the crisis softens and normal working is restored. Captain Amarinder said he will request former Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Ahluwalia to head the committee.

The Council Ministers also resolved to urge upon Government of India to establish an Advance Center of Virology in Punjab with an anticipated investment of Rs 500 crore, with the state government to offer land free of cost for the project.

For the quick upgradation of the states health infrastructure to combat the current crisis, the Cabinet set up a task force under the Principal Secretary, PWD, to look into it. Principal, Secretary, TCA and MD, Punjab Health Systems Corporation will be other members of the task force, which will carry out the task of quick upgradation of health infrastructure in a time bound manner. The Chief Minister asked the Health Department to submit a detailed proposal for this.
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

Its March 12 and tucked into the corner of a booth of Zombie Village, the tiki-themed bar situated in the Tenderloin, bar owner Doug Dalton is relaxed and chatty  at least as much as the situation at the time could call for.

Business was dropping off a bit, he explained, as people were starting to become wary of being outdoors or in crowded spaces, but there were still customers. The coronavirus was very much the topic of conversation around the city, but not in the ways its talked about now. The word pandemic wasnt thrown around much yet, but many tech companies at the time were asking employees to work from home. People were still heading out to drink and shake off a day of working in their cramped apartments, socializing at the local bar in a way that seems quaint (and maybe foolhardy) when you look back from a months time.

We were on the precipice of a shelter-in-place mandate, which fell upon everyone just four days later, and the situation for everyone tipped upside down in many ways.

What started as a light-hearted profile piece on Dalton has since changed into a much, much different story; instead, its an unfortunate, now-familiar tale of a business trying to navigate its way through a number of unknowns, with non-essential businesses such as bars forced to close while people stay at home. Dalton and the rest of the Future Bars Group  the group which owns a number of innovative cocktail bars in San Francisco, including Bourbon & Branch, the aforementioned Zombie Village and Local Edition, among others  are very much like every other restaurant and bar owner, searching for answers and being forced to make the best decisions they can for their staff and business.

The hardest thing is answering questions and supporting the staff with an unknown in the future, Dalton said by phone this week. When you look at [Dr. Anthony] Fauci, he's constantly [asked] how long can this last? or how long can people last in this scenario? and Fauci's response is, 'This is a virus and it has to run its course. We cannot put a timeline on its course.' And with that driving the global economy, that puts us in a situation that's very difficult with our staff to say, 'When can you come back to work fulltime?'

We don't have an answer to that and we don't know when it will be a safe working environment for our staff and customers. We'll definitely provide that environment as soon as the city and state tell us what those guidelines will be.

READ ALSO: Bay Area restaurants and nonprofits are feeding hospital workers. Here's how you can help

At the moment, all of the bars owned by Future Bars Group are closed, save for two locations of their spirit shop, Cask. Its there that one employee handles each shop location and its online orders, wearing gloves and protective gear while prepping purchases for pickup or delivery or sanitizing the store.

Dalton and his group have done what they can to retain their roster of knowledgeable bartenders, servers and staff members. In order to support employees and the business, Dalton said he and his business partner, Brian Sheehy, have decided to forgo their own paychecks in the interim.

Our entire team that we've assembled at Future Bars, they're all incredibly talented and they're all incredibly valuable and we would just be devastated to not be able to keep providing them with some sort of income, because the biggest thing is we want them all back when this is over. And so retention is very important to us.

We have made all of our decisions siding towards retention, and our staff has been incredibly wonderful and appreciative of us siding in that direction, Dalton later added. A lot of businesses just immediately laid everyone off and that's another route that could have been done with us. It just did not feel like the appropriate option for us."

For now, the group is continuing to pay their employees healthcare through the end of April in hopes of retaining everyone after the shutdown, working with the Small Business Administration and having HR work with staff to apply for temporary unemployment  which Dalton hopes will be substantial enough in the meantime.

Dalton says their bar group is in good financial shape for now, due to conservative business decisions theyve made over the years. But there are still worries about things like rent (how long landlords can continue to provide rent relief without income?), how stimulus packages will be dispersed, or what happens when city assistance goes away, he said.

When [shelter-in-place] goes longer, then we're going to have to come up with more solutions, Dalton said. Across the globe, there's just not a lot of solutions if this continues for an extended period of time.

So far, even temporary fixes havent been of much help to the bar industry. Although Alcoholic Beverage Control recently relaxed its rules to allow for cocktails to-go, the caveat has been that mixed alcoholic beverages can only be sold in tandem with food (beer and wine in manufacturer-sealed containers can be sold without food, however, ABC clarified). That ruling leaves cocktail bar owners like Dalton and others out of the loop and forced into a solid closure. While Dalton said he understands why alcohol isnt considered an essential business, its leaving bars with no outlets for making money and, in turn, paying staff  even in a smaller capacity.

In terms of the bars, it really is unfortunate that ABC didn't relax the laws to allow ours to also continue to make money by having to-go sales, Dalton said. If a restaurant can have a to-go sale, why can't a bar have a to-go sale? It seems a little slanted. So the restaurants have a path to survival, but they didn't provide the same path to survival for bars, which is not taking into account all the small businesses.

Like many business owners, there are plenty of present-day questions to consider and answer as they come. As for the future, theres even more to ponder, in terms of what it will look like to bring back institutions like bars. Daltons been trying to think ahead, but without a cure or vaccine for COVID-19 happening in the near future, he said, hes unsure what the hospitality industry would look like.

I think the biggest things that we're going to be looking for in terms of recovery is what are some of the city and state guidelines for coming back and opening our doors, Dalton said. What will that mean for our staff? What kind of health concerns or exposure do we need to worry about with them? I'm sure there will be distancing, or probably occupancy limits that will be adjusted based on the kind of possible exposure.  So that means that until that time, there's a lot of question marks on how you would have people in a similar space, including restaurants, everything, grocery shopping  any location with multiple people.

Dianne de Guzman is a Digital Editor at SFGATE. Email: dianne.deguzman@sfgate.com

[Editor's note, April 14, 2020: ABC regulations surrounding the sale of to-go drinks from bars has been updated to include sealed beer and wine sales, which is allowed to be sold under new rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article has been updated to reflect that.]

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.
Shoppers woke early before 5am on Friday to ensure they got their hands on fresh produce at the Sydney Fish Market ahead of quieter Easter festivities this long weekend.

While Easter is traditionally one of the busiest times at the market, usually attracting a 40,000 strong crowd, only 400 people will be allowed at any one time this long weekend. Once the market reaches capacity, people will have to wait off site or they will be turned away.

Shoppers' temperatures will also be taken at the entrance in an effort to identify any possible coronavirus cases.

Shoppers at the fish market have their temperatures taken at the entrance on Good Friday. Credit:Nick Moir

Shopper Joseph Tonel said his experience at the market on Friday had gone smoothly, with controlled crowd numbers and the temperature testing station taking moments to pass through.
Petrol and diesel sales have slumped over 66 per cent in April as the nationwide lockdown halted economic activity and travel

Petrol and diesel sales have slumped over 66 per cent in April. (Photo- PTI)

New Delhi: With coronavirus eviscerating demand, petrol pump operators on Friday said per pump sales have fallen to less than one-tenth, leading to heavy losses in establishment and employee cost.

The All India Petroleum Dealers Association (AIPDA), which claims to represent the bulk of about 64,000 petrol pump operators in the country, sought a financial relief package from the oil companies to help business run.

In a letter to the marketing heads of three state-owned oil firms, AIPDA president Ajay Bansal said in line with national duty, petrol pump operators have been running outlets right through the nationwide lockdown imposed to check the spread of coronavirus.

But sales have slumped as most vehicles have gone off the road. Per retail outlet sales have fallen from a national average of 170 kilolitres per month to about 15 kl now, he said.

"Out trade is totally dependent on sales as we get margin on per lire basis. This means that less you sell the more you lose," he wrote adding the dealer margin came to Rs 27,500 per month at 170 kl per month sale basis.

Despite operating with fewer staff, petrol pumps have to fixed charges to pay - electric metre charges, staff salary, bank charges, stamping charges, etc which do not reduce in the same proportion as sales reduction, rendering heavy losses to the dealers, he said.

Petrol and diesel sales have slumped over 66 per cent in April as the nationwide lockdown halted economic activity and travel.

In March, that saw travel restrictions being placed in the second half of the month, diesel sales contracted by 24.23 per cent to 5.65 million tonnes. This is the biggest fall in diesel consumption the country has recorded as most trucks went off road and railways stopped plying trains.
Six Texas billionaires were highlighted by Forbes magazine among the world's wealthiest providing financial contributions during the COVID-19 crisis.

From reimbursing employees for food purchases, to donating money in support of healthcare workers, and waiving rent for store tenants, these billionaires acts of kindness are not unnoticed.
KAMPALA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 continues to spread in Uganda and the government is not certain as to what level the spread may reach. The east African country as of Wednesday had 53 positive cases but the ministry of health fears that there may be more cases in the communities since some of the confirmed cases had already interacted with the public.

The country's President Yoweri Museveni has urged the private sector and development partners to step in to boost the government's effort in the COVID-19 response, noting that it requires enormous resources. The government budget for the response is about 77.8 million U.S. dollar. The ministry of health has only 10 percent of what it requires.

It is this clarion call that both the state-owned and privately owned Chinese enterprises operating in the country are responding to, putting the communities' needs ahead of profit maximization.

In a televised address late on Wednesday, Museveni listed some of the Chinese enterprises that have responded to the government's call for assistance. Museveni earlier said one of the most critical need is to build a fleet of vehicles in rural Uganda that would be used to evacuate patients to the nearest treatment centers.

The Chinese embassy here, according to Museveni, contributed two ambulance vehicles. This donation came days after another Chinese enterprise in the remote eastern district of Mbale donated two four-wheel drive vehicles to the response.

Chinese factories in the central district of Mukono also donated two pickup trucks and 20 tons of cornmeal totaling 71,767 U.S. dollars.

Huawei, China's telecommunications corporation contributed video conferencing equipment to the ministry of health. According to the corporation, the facilities shall enable mobile video meetings and communications among staff in various sites such as health centers and ministry of health. Ugandan medical personnel will also be able to use the equipment to share their experiences with their counterparts back in China on how to contain COVID-19.

Ruth Aceng, Uganda's minister of health referred to the equipment as very critical in helping the country contain the pandemic.

Uganda late last month received a consignment of medical equipment donated by Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The consignment according to the ministry of health here included 100,000 masks, 20,089 test kits as well as face shields and other personal protective equipment.

The country has already started using the much needed equipment, according to the ministry.

Uganda now awaits a second round of medical donations announced by the Jack Ma Foundation to support Africa in the fight against the pandemic.

The Chinese embassy here in a tweet last month referred to the Jack Ma donations as a sign that Uganda and China together fight the war against COVID-19 to build a community of common health.

Chinese road construction companies have also teamed up with the state-owned Uganda National Roads Authority to donate medical supplies and other household items to vulnerable groups of Ugandans. Some of the items include hand sanitizers, mattresses, mosquito nets, blankets and boxes of bottled water.

Sinohydro Corporation Limited, a Chinese hydropower plant construction company also donated cooking oil, rice, mobile phones and cash to help the country in the response. Another company, Dodta Group of companies donated 10,000 face masks and 500 test kits towards the COVID-19 response.

According to the government, the food donations will be distributed to 2 million vulnerable people in urban centers who have been rendered jobless due to the government's lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19. Some of the beneficiaries include commuter taxi drivers in the capital, Kampala and central district of Wakiso, the elderly, sickly, and lactating mothers.
A staggering 16.8 million Americans lost their jobs in just three weeks, a measure of how fast the coronavirus has brought world economies to their knees. Meanwhile, religious leaders worldwide Thursday urged people to celebrate Good Friday and Easter from the safety of their homes.

In other developments, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care at the London hospital where he is being treated for the virus. The 55-year-old had taken a turn for the worse early in the week as his country descended into its biggest crisis since World War II.

Governments warned that the hard-won gains against the scourge must not be jeopardized by relaxing social distancing over the weekend. Across Europe, where Easter is one of the busiest travel times, authorities set up roadblocks and otherwise discouraged family gatherings.

A spike in deaths in Britain and New York and surges of reported new infections in Japan and in India's congested cities made it clear the battle is far from over.

New York state reported a record-breaking number of dead for a third straight day, 799. More than 7,000 people have died in the state, accounting for almost half the U.S. death toll of more than 16,000.

That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking, I don't even have the words for it," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

But he added that there are hopeful signs, including slowdowns in the number of people being hospitalized, admitted to intensive care and placed on ventilators.

He said the onslaught of patients has not been as big as feared and hospitals are standing up to the strain so far. About 18,000 people were hospitalized, well short of the 90,000 hospital beds statewide, many of which were hurriedly lined up at a convention center and a Navy ship docked in the city.

Worldwide, the number of dead topped 95,000 and confirmed infections reached about 1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, though the true numbers are believed much higher, in part because of different rules for counting the dead and cover-ups by some governments.

Numbers released Thursday by the U.S. government showed that 6.6 million workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, on top of more than 10 million in the two weeks before that. That amounts to about 1 in 10 American workers the biggest, fastest pileup of job losses since the world's largest economy began keeping records in 1948.

And still more job cuts are expected. The U.S. unemployment rate in April could hit 15% a number not seen since the end of the Great Depression.

Sharon Bridgeman, 57, of Kansas City, Missouri, was laid off from her job two weeks ago at a nonprofit that helps homeless people and is still waiting to be approved for unemployment benefits.

I'm worried I may not have a job to go back to, she said. I'm also worried about the people I work with. President Donald Trump brushed off fears the economy won't quickly rebound after the crisis, as he has predicted, saying he had a strong feeling that the economy is going to do very well.

I think that what's going to happen is we're going to have a big bounce, rather than a small bounce, he told reporters. I think we're going to open up strong.

Trump said he had met with his treasury and transportation secretaries about helping support airlines and that he likely would put out a proposal over the weekend.

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced it will provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans targeted toward both households and businesses.

In many European countries, where social safety nets tend to be stronger than in the U.S., government programs that subsidize workers' pay are keeping millions of people on payrolls, though typically with fewer hours and at lower wages.

Governments from the 19 countries that use the euro agreed Thursday on a package of measures that could provide more than a half-trillion euros (USD 550 billion) for companies, workers and health systems to cushion the economic impact of the outbreak.

The head of the International Monetary Fund warned that the global economy is headed for the worst recession since the Depression.

The United Nations' organization said the equivalent of 195 million full-time jobs could be lost in the second quarter, while the aid organization Oxfam International estimated half a billion people worldwide could be pushed into poverty.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-diseases expert, shot down hopes that warmer spring weather would bring an end to the crisis. One should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather, he said. You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing.

Amid widespread restrictions on public gatherings, major religious denominations are holding virtual services where members can watch on TV or online. Others are arranging prayer at drive-in theaters, where people can stay in their cars.

The virus doesn't take a day off for Good Friday or Easter Sunday, said Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While China has attracted much attention and criticism over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, governments everywhere pose a risk for human rights with their own responses, advocates warn.

Roads remain empty in Wuhan, China, in late January, as the first coronavirus lockdown was enacted. Countries around the world later followed the measure. Credit:Getty Images

Cambodia, for instance, has detained a journalist and arrested other citizens for spreading fake news about the coronavirus, Human Rights Watch said. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to shoot people who don't comply with a lockdown.

Hungary passed a law that extends the government's emergency powers indefinitely, suspends elections, and gives governments the power to jail journalists for distorting information on the pandemic, according to the COVID-19 Civic Freedom Tracker, an index created by the International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law.

Eleven countries pandemic responses involve public surveillance, the Civic Freedom Tracker shows.
JACKSON, Miss., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 6.6 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week  breaking a record for the U.S. that was set the previous week.

For many of these Americans, however, losing a job doesn't just create worry about providing for their families. It also raises concerns about protecting their health during a pandemic. About half of all Americans get their health insurance through their employer, so for many people, being newly unemployed brings with it uncertainty about how to navigate their health coverage options.

It's important for Mississippians who have lost their jobs to know that the Affordable Care Act includes a provision that gives people 60 days to enroll in health care after a qualifying life event, such as job loss.

There are a variety of affordable health coverage options, including the Health Insurance Marketplace through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Health Insurance Marketplace has unique characteristics and requirements as outlined below:

Health Insurance Marketplace is for anyone who doesn't receive employer-provided coverage, and it allows people to choose from multiple health insurance plans to find the right coverage:

is for anyone who doesn't receive employer-provided coverage, and it allows people to choose from multiple health insurance plans to find the right coverage: Enrollment is available during a special enrollment period (SEP). Once a person experiences a qualifying life event such as job loss, they have 60 days to enroll.



Financial assistance is available for Marketplace coverage if a person's expected 2020 income will be 100%-400% of the federal poverty level, which is $12,490 - $49,960 for an individual and $25,750 - $103,000 for a family of four.

- for an individual and - for a family of four.

To be eligible for coverage, a person must live in the United States , be a U.S. citizen or national, and can't be incarcerated. Healthcare.gov has more details on eligibility.

, be a U.S. citizen or national, and can't be incarcerated. Healthcare.gov has more details on eligibility.

To find out what qualifies for SEP and shop for ACA coverage, visit Healthcare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325).

The Marketplace provides an alternative that's often more affordable than COBRA, the health insurance program that allows people to continue their employer-provided coverage if they have lost their job, and it's important to understand the differences. While COBRA maintains a person's existing coverage, they will pay 100 percent of the cost plus an additional 2% in administrative costs. Subsidies to reduce costs are not available through COBRA, and coverage can last between 18 to 36 months, depending on the circumstances of job loss. However, it will eventually expire, and a person may be required to find new coverage, either through employment or the ACA Marketplace.

"The impacts of the COVID-19 public health crisis are far reaching. It's not only affecting people's health, but also their employment situation and ability to access healthcare," said Aaron Sisk, plan president & CEO at Ambetter from Magnolia Health. "At Ambetter from Magnolia Health, we want to support our communities in making informed decisions about their health coverage options, so they can access they care they need."

Ambetter from Magnolia Health is available to help people navigate health insurance options during this public health crisis. For information about COVID-19, please visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) website. For any questions about health insurance coverage options, please visit Ambetter from Magnolia Health's website or call 1-877-687-1187 (Relay 711).

About Magnolia Health

Magnolia Health is a long-term solution to help the state of Mississippi enhance care for Medicaid recipients, while most effectively managing taxpayer dollars. A physician-driven, Mississippi-based Coordinated Care Organization (CCO), Magnolia is backed by its parent company, Centene Corporation (Centene). Centene has more than 30 years of experience in Medicaid and other government-funded programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and long-term care. For more information about Magnolia, visit www.magnoliahealthplan.com.

SOURCE Magnolia Health

Related Links

http://www.magnoliahealthplan.com


Agra, April 10 : In a disturbing revelation, it has now been found that while returning from the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi last month, many of the members purchased a sweet, 'petha', from Agra and distributed it to friends and co-travelers during their journey.

According to a police official in Agra, some 'petha' sellers in the city have told the police that some 'Muslims' made bulk purchases of 'petha' after the Holi festival, which is when the Jamaat meeting ended in Delhi.

A senior police official who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, "We have received reports that the Jamaatis distributed sweets. It is not very normal for Muslims to distribute sweets to co-passengers on buses and trains. We are talking to several bus conductors and daily passengers who have monthly passes to confirm this." The official said that at least, two 'petha' shop owners had told the police that they sold five to ten kilograms of 'petha' to customers, apparently Muslims, in mid-March.

"If the report of distribution of sweets is confirmed, it could be a major problem tracking down the co-passengers of the Jamaatis. They could be businessmen and lawyers who travel regularly between Delhi and Bareilly, Badaun, Pilibhit and Shahjahanpur. They could also include those who travel to visit families and relatives in Bareilly, Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Hapur, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad etc," he said.

The Tablighi Jamaatis returnees have been found in almost all parts of Uttar Pradesh. These Jamaatis, majority of them confirmed as 'Corona carriers', returned to various cities and spread the virus.

Search is on for those who had travelled with the Jamaatis and accepted the sweets, as authorities fear that it could have passed on the infection.

Police in different parts of the state are already mapping these men and their primary contacts.
An alert mother acted swiftly in Boyne Island, Queensland, on April 9 after she spotted a venomous snake near her two children outside her home.

Vanessa Fanfulla was carrying a laundry basket from her home when she was forced to spring into action to protect her children, Mila and Aisha, from the eastern brown snake.

According to the Australian Museum, the species is widespread throughout eastern Australia, from northern Queensland to South Australia. Wayne Loats, Fanfullas partner, told Storyful the family had only encountered this species of snake around their home on one previous occasion.

He said, We have had a common tree snake often venture on top of our fence. There was only one other time when we encountered a mature eastern brown snake who came into our yard to seek shelter under our deck, probably looking for food. It left our deck, proceeded across our back lawn to our front door and then disappeared into our neighbors yard.

Unfortunately, the father-of-two added, the snake met my shovel because it was so close to my family. Credit: Wayne Loats via Storyful
1.0 Background to the research

Since 1992 when Ghana returned to multiparty democracy, parliamentary elections have very important in our political discourse. This is because the number of seats a political party wins in an election to a large extent determines the political future of the party. In view of this, political parties attach seriousness in the selection of candidates. Most often than not, candidates selected are those who in the view of the party appeal not only to the rank and file of the party but also to the constituents as a whole. But beyond popularity, other factors also come into play. In recent times, what has been the determining factor in who becomes a parliamentary candidate of a party is money and in some cases ones connection with party executives. Ironically, these last two factors have always been the bane of the political parties. This because being rich or having a strong links with party executive does not necessarily make one popular among voters in general elections.

In view of this, political parties, media houses, aspiring parliamentary candidates and even sometimes, individuals conduct opinion polls to assess the strength of competing candidates since the choice of a bad candidates does not only affect the fortunes of the party in a parliamentary but also in a presidential election.

It is against this backdrop that the current opinion poll is being conducted to assess the popularity of the two competing candidates among the delegates of NPP in the upcoming parliamentary elections slated for 25th April 5, 2020.

2.0 Profile of the candidates

The Dormaa Central Constituency parliamentary slot is being contested for by two candidates who incidentally are all coming from the health ministry- the minister for health and the board chairman of Ghana Health service.

2.1 Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu

He is synonymous with the Dormaa Central Constituency. He has been politically active since the late 90s. He is seen as a grass root politician. He has been an Assembly man; party chairman; deputy minister at the Ministries of Finance, transport, Trade and Industry; a three-time MP and currently the minister for health. He boasts of over two decades experience in politics. Professionally, he is a chartered accountant.

2.2 Dr. Yao Yeboah

He is an accomplished academician. He holds a PhD in Public health and has many publications to his credit. In terms of Dormaa politics, he is not a stranger. This is the third time he is vying for the seat. He contested for the seat in 2008 and 2015. Though he lost to the incumbent MP in these two primaries, he continues to help the party in diverse ways. He is a man of strong religious belief. Professionally, he is a health administrator and has worked in many health establishments. He was one-time administrator of Dormaa and Agogo Presbyterian hospitals, Director of Pentecost Social Services. He has also lectured in the Pentecost University College. He is currently, the Board Chairman of Ghana health service.

3.0 Objectives

To find out which of the two candidates is more popular amongst NPP delegates in Dormaa Central Constituency.

4.0 Research Tool

This investigation is quantitative and qualitative in nature and as such, the researchers used questionnaire and interviews to gather data for the analysis.

4.1 Sample Size and Technique

The Dormaa Central Constituency has a total of six hundred and thirty-eight delegates (638) comprising, five hundred and eighty (580) polling station executive, eighteen (18) constituency executive, thirty (30) electoral area coordinators, five (5) council of elders and five (5) patrons. In all 380 respondents were selected through random sampling technique. 130 were interviewed whilst anther 250 respondents were given questionnaire. Those who answered the questionnaire were those with at least basic level of education or were unwilling to grant oral interview. Those given the questionnaire were given three weeks to complete and submit to the researchers. In all, 207 respondents returned their forms with seven being blank. All the questionnaires were returned in sealed envelopes. The questions were two- both close and open ended. The respondents were supposed to indicate their choice of a parliamentary candidate by ticking agaist the name of one of the two candidates and provide not more than two reasons for their choice.

4.1.1 Results of Questionnaire Data

Out of 200 respondents who answered the questionnaire, 82 indicated that they would vote for Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu. This represents 39.61%. Those who said they would vote for Yao Yeboah were 118, representing 57%. Seven respondents did not indicate their preference. This represents 3.3%.

4.1.2 Results of the interview

The results of the interview were as follows. Out of 130 people interviewed, 60 subjects representing 42.15% said they would vote for Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu while 67 respondents, representing 51.54% said they would vote for Dr. Yao Yeboah. Three of the respondents said they were yet to decide on who to vote for. This number represents 2.31%.

4.1.3 Summary of Results

Both the questionnaire and the interview data show that most of the delegates prefer Dr Yao Yeboah to Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu. Out of the 337 respondents who were either given questionnaire or were interviewed, 142(42.13%) respondents indicated their preference for hon. Kwaku Agyeman -Manu while 185 (54.90%) said they would vote for Dr Yao Yeboah. Ten (10) people representing 2.97% did not show their preference.

5.0 Conclusions

The major concern of the research was to find out which candidates is a better appeal to the delegates in the Dormaa Central Constituency and by extension, more popular with the general voting public. Consequently, the respondents were asked to indicate their preference between the two contending candidates- Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu and Dr Yaw Yeboah. The results of both the quantitative and qualitative data show that Dr. Yao Yeboah is more popular amongst the delegates (see sec.4.13 above). Chiefly amongst the reasons given for the choice of Dr. Yao Yeboah instead of Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manu is his longevity in the politics in Dormaa. The delegates fear he might be rejected by the voting populace when he is presented especially at this time when the NDC candidate is a grass root politician. Some made reference to 2008, 2012 and 2016 election results. In 2008 and 2012 elections, he garnered more votes than the president. This was not so with the 2016 elections in which the presidential candidate had more votes. They argued that presenting Hon. Agyeman -Manu will endanger the chances of the party as the people will vote what has become known in our local parlance as skirt and blouse. For Dr. Yao Yeboah, the delgates think he has committed no political sin to warrant the delegates voting against him.

Besides the argument that the people are fed up with him, most of the delegates accused Hon. Kwaku Agyeman -Manu of cronyism. They said that all those he has helped to secure jobs in the civil and public sectors are people in his inner circle. They also accuse his followers of corruption. They cited instances when they charge people various sums of money in order to get them jobs.

Again, the respondents think Hon. Kwaku Agyeman- Manus lack of recognition for the local party executive will spell political doom for the party if he is elected. The delegates therefore prefer a neutral candidate, and this they find in Dr. Yao Yeboah.

However, some delegates think that Hon. Kwaku Agyeman -Manu is resourceful, has projected Dormaa well in a national discourse, is eloquent, has few projects to point and therefore, marketing him will not be difficult.

6.0 The Way forward

There seem to be a serious political tension within Dormaa Central NPP and therefore the winner of the primaries should do to reach out to the loser in order to bring about unity within the rank and file of the party.

Source :

Research desk

Constituency Elections Watch Organization

0507692529
It is indeed getting scary and more serious! Advanced countries like China and USA are even struggling in managing this pandemic, how much more Ghana?! Considering the gravity of issues, it is only God that can save Ghana from this pandemic! The world is surely coming to an end, this pandemic is indeed an indication of the end time! These and many more continue to be sentiments that are being shared by most Ghanaians on a daily basis as we fight Covid-19.

In spite of the seemingly fear that has engulfed the minds of a good number of Ghanaians in this pandemic, one issue remains very significant. Almost all social media and forms of communications have sought to calm the nerves of many people down with captions such as Stay Home and save your life; Spread calm and not Fear; wash your hands regularly; observe social distancing among others.

The president of Ghana has been at the forefront in the fight against this pandemic, I have sought to find out from Aunty Becky in my open letter I wrote a week ago to the first lady if he has had a good sleep since Ghana recorded her first positive case. The president has demonstrated a father figure by calming the nerves of Ghanaians with encouraging words, assurances and timely interventions (see https://www.modernghana.com/news/993856/covid-19-lockdown-govt-announces-free-food-for.html for details). His style of communication and encouraging words in spite of the increasing number continues to provide a good sense of relief to many Ghanaians.

As we continue to fight this pandemic, these past weeks have also revealed and continue to expose the real nature of a good number of Ghanaians of which I would want to highlight. A critical look at these characteristics exhibited remains key in our quest to defeat this pandemic.

Firstly, COVID-19 has revealed that, in spite of our religious differences and inclinations, we believe in the omnipotence and mercies of God. Considering the warm reception by Ghanaians when the President declared a day of fasting and prayers to fight this pandemic is a clear indication of our belief in God. The three-day fasting and prayers led by the former President equally received the same support and attention from Ghanaians. The key lesson for us as a people in this fight is in Proverbs 21; 31. Horses and chariots are prepared for battle but victory comes from the Lord. Indeed this pandemic has demonstrated to us all, there is no science greater than the power of God. He will indeed give us victory over this pandemic.

Secondly, this pandemic has reassured us all of the fact that, Ghanaians can unite in hearts and minds without any political colorization in fighting every enemy that comes our way. Leaders and supporters across the various political landscape have demonstrated and shown patriotism with various interventions and initiatives. This show of leadership among others has cushioned the efforts of the government in managing this pandemic.

Let me appreciate His Excellency, Former President Mahama for his genuine effort, recommendations and interventions in this pandemic such as (see https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/mahama-donates-ppe-worth-ghcent390000-to-korle-bu-and-tamale-teaching-hospital/8lc7wcn for details). As the arch political rival, he has openly supported in his own way as a statesman through the number of initiatives such as issuing guidelines on staying safe, holding a prayer session, supplying PPEs and making a team of experts available to the government to offer credible alternatives.

Thirdly, this pandemic has shown the beautiful patriotic nature of our security and health service officials. In spite of the various risks they may be exposed to, these gallant men and women have chosen the love of their country above all. Ayekoo to our health and security staff for their dedication to Ghana in these trying times. The media has been phenomenal in educating, and disseminating information during this pandemic. As Oliver Twist always asks for more, the many Ghanaians are relying and demanding more of this high sense of dedication, professionalism and patriotism in these trying times.

Sadly, this pandemic has been an eye-opener to how greedy and corrupt some Ghanaian traders can be. The hikes in the price of hand sanitizers and other equipment exposed how greedy some Ghanaians can be. The excessive pricing of goods and services in our various markets days to the commencement of the lockdown attests to this ( see https://www.pulse.com.gh/bi/strategy/coronavirus-in-ghana-how-hand-sanitizer-traders-are-ripping-off-ghanaians/6engmlq for details). Undeniably, these traders who took advantage of this pandemic to make a super-normal profit are inherently greedy, inhumane and insensitive and must be ashamed of themselves. These acts demonstrated show that, many ordinary Ghanaians are more corrupt than people in power, the only difference is the lack of power and authority.

As we continue to fight this pandemic, let us be mindful of our actions and inactions. Let us abide by the directives from the WHO and government religiously. To those Ghanaians, who have taken advantage of the situation to cheat people, bow down your heads in shame.

Let me reiterate the heartwarming words of the President in this pandemic We are not in ordinary times, this too shall pass. I understand some of the interventions rolled by government have made life uncomfortable for many of us. However, let us appreciate the various social interventions by government and do our best to end the spread by staying at home. God bless our homeland Ghana and heal the world from this pandemic.

STAY HOME!!! SPREAD CALM NOT FEAR!!! WASH YOUR HANDS REGULARLY!!!

Kwame Ohene-Ntow

EMAIL; [email protected]

YALI Dream

A better Ghana

A brighter Africa.

The writer holds a Masters Degree in Development Policy and Planning from KNUST, an Alumnus of the University of Ghana Business School, A YALI fellow and a team member of the NO BUSINESS AS USUAL PROJECT based in Kumasi which is ensuring local socio-economic development and training 500 youth in employable and entrepreneurial skills in Asokore Mampong.
Succumbing to illness at a time of global crisis is not new, but it is the first time it has occurred in generations. Aides to British PM David Lloyd George feared he wouldn't make it to the end of World War I after he fell ill speaking in Manchester, a centre of the Spanish flu epidemic. World War II took such a toll on Australia's John Curtin and US president Franklin D. Roosevelt they didn't survive to see the end of it. Britain's Winston Churchill suffered a heart attack during the height of the war in 1941 and contracted pneumonia two years later, before having a serious stroke in his second spell as prime minister a decade later. Herve Lemahieu, director of the power and diplomacy program at the Lowy Institute, says Britains system of politics had not been designed for a contingency such as this. The order of succession for American presidents is set out in the US constitution, while Australias major parties have always had deputy prime ministers who can be called upon by the Governor-General in the event of the leader falling ill. Raab, as first secretary of state, would become the British governments de facto leader if the prime minister could not carry out his duties, but he has only been deputised by Johnson. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab leaves 10 Downing Street on Thursday. Credit:Getty Images Dominic Raab is notable in terms of his ascent - he was relatively little known and I would argue a second-rate politician that really came to fore only as a result of a whole generation of more experienced and competent politicians within the Tory party having been purged as result of Brexit politics, Lemahieu says. Already being foreign secretary was a huge promotion for him. I don't think anyone, least of all Raab and particularly Boris Johnson, ever assumed he would be filling in as prime minister." Bishop says she was shocked to see Johnson was transferred to intensive care this week, and it was deeply concerning to have the leader of one of the worlds largest economies and most significant nations struck down during the crisis. What I think we see at present is that not only the British people, but the world at large, want Boris to get healthy as soon as possible, she says.

It is vital that nations feel confident that their leaders are healthy and are in charge of coordinating the response effectively to the global pandemic, and a loss of confidence in government would have important implications as people would be more likely to be concerned about the responses that they are being required to undertake that could worsen the crisis. According to colleagues who have worked with Johnson, the 55-year-old prime minister has always hated the thought of illness. Perhaps it is this disregard that led him to last month boast about shaking hands with coronavirus victims in hospital. It is the same contempt for mortality that he admires in his hero Churchill. In his 2015 book, The Churchill Factor, Johnson wrote that Britains prime minister carried on through sheer force of will after his 1953 stroke, insisting on trying to organise a summit between the Americans and Russians. The story of Churchills last years in office is not of some giant red sun, heat gone, sinking slowly out of sight, Johnson wrote. He is no volcano puttering himself to extinction. He is Tennysons Ulysses - always struggling, striving, seeking: always convinced that some deed of note may yet be done. It is a story of unbelievable courage and willpower - and cunning. Boris Johnson pictured chairing a recent COVID-19 meeting remotely. Credit:AP Bishop says Johnson would find it very frustrating to be incapacitated. He is so full of energy, he is always in a hurry, Boris is always rushing to the next issue, to the next event. His enthusiasm is infectious and I certainly always enjoyed his company, she says. He was endlessly entertaining and intellectually challenging, but he is also great company, and he seems to thrive on having ideas and challenges in front of him that he can tackle." Bishop first met Johnson in 2012 when he was mayor of London, but the two struck up a rapport when they were both in the foreign portfolios. A year before their early-morning jog, they met prior to a press conference in London. Bishop was confronted with Johnson's blond hair in its signature dishevelled state and his French designer necktie askew. The short part of the tie was at the front of the tie and the big Hermes label was sitting out there and I said: Boris, this will never do, we cannot do a press conference on Brexit with you so obviously displaying a French designer tie, Bishop recalls. He gives the impression that he cares not a jot for his appearance.
Delhi Police have arrested two alleged criminals after an encounter in Narela area of the capital on Thursday night.

The duo, Pankaj Dabbas and Ajit Mota, are alleged to be involved in two murder cases and several cases of robbery.

During the encounter, Ajit was shot in the leg and has been admitted to a hospital.

This comes amid a nationwide lockdown in the wake of COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Students need urgent clarity on the State exams and have been left too long without answers, the Ombudsman for Children has warned.

Dr Niall Muldoon said there had been "a complete vacuum of information leaving young people stressed, anxious and distracted from the study they should be doing".

Read More

An announcement on an extension of school closures -with inevitable consequences for the exams - is believed to be imminent, but it is not clear whether it will come today, after the meeting of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).

Dr Muldoon said that, as recently as Wednesday, the Government again advised young people to stay focused and to continue to study and while "this advice may be well intended, the reality is that many students cannot simply continue to study in the current circumstances".

He said many students did not have access to the online classes and support being offered, some were living in cramped environments not suitable for study, and others were helping to care for siblings while parents went to work or worked from home.

Dr Muldoon referred to Education Minister Joe McHugh's wish that students get at least two weeks back at school before exams begin and said he would even encourage a longer period of time to give them a chance to make up for the time lost and ensure the full curriculum was covered by everyone. Singling out the Leaving Cert for special mention, he described it as "an extremely important exam, deciding the direction of travel for many young people for the next few years of their lives".

"We must give those preparing for this exam every chance to do as well as they can and to fulfil their potential."

He said students had the least power and influence within the education system, and it was vital that their best interests were the foremost consideration in making the final decision.

"I know that the department is working tirelessly to find a fair and equitable solution to this unprecedented conundrum. I am calling on the Government to be clear and honest with young people as soon as possible, and to allow them to prepare for whatever the outcome may be."

The Ombudsman referred to a survey carried out by Foroige among 16-18-year-olds, which found they were finding it difficult to do school work at home while simultaneously worrying about the health and safety of their loved ones.

"This 'double whammy' of anxiety and health concerns puts an enormous weight on the shoulders of so many of our young people. One of the things that people crave when they are anxious is certainty. It is that certainty I am calling for - whatever the decision, make it clear and give it as soon as possible."
Rome, April 10 : Italy's COVID-19 death toll rose by 610 in the last 24 hours to 18,279, the highest in the world, even as pressure on the country's hospitals continued to ease with a fall in the number of patients in intensive care units, the Civil Protection Agency said.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte held a teleconference with business and labour leaders to discuss when Italy can begin to relax the restrictions imposed to contain the disease, Efe news reported.

The shutdown was initially meant to last until April 13, but chances that any significant easing would take place was deemed as virtually non-existent.

"We need to pick sectors that can restart their activity. If scientists confirm it, we might begin to relax some measures already by the end of this month," Conte told the BBC.

The final decision on when and how to re-open the economy will be made by the Scientific Technical Council that is advising the government on the crisis.

The number of new confirmed cases grew 1,615 overnight to 96,877. That increase was larger than the previous day's, 1,195, and nearly double Tuesday's figure of 880.

The total number of cases in the country now stands at 153,222, the second highest in the world after the US (466,033).

Civil Protection chief Angelo Borrelli said that the number of people hospitalized fell by 86 to 28,339 and 88 coronavirus patients were moved out of ICUs, leaving 3,605, he said.

"The past five days, have ended with fewer patients hospitalized compared to the previous day," Franco Locatelli, chair of Italy's Higher Health Council, told reporters on Thursday.

With concern about the economic damage from the shutdown growing more acute, the Senate approved on Thursday a 25 billion euro ($27.3 billion) aid package.
[April 09, 2020] Important Update for Oregon Pacific Bancorp Annual Meeting of Shareholders

Oregon Pacific Bancorp (ORPB): Meeting Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 Meeting Time: 7:00 PM (Pacific Time) Meeting Access: Through videoconference or telephone call-in Due to the emerging public health impact of the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) and to support the health and well-being of our employees, shareholders, and our community, please note that the location of the 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders has been changed and will be held via videoconference or telephone call-in format only. You will not be able to attend the Annual Meeting in person. To access the virtual meeting, please email [email protected] to request a meeting invitation no later than 5:00 PM Pacific Time on April 22, 2020. To participate inthe video portion of the meeting, you must either be an active Microsoft (News - Alert) Teams user with the Teams app installed on your device or be able to access the internet through the use of Edge, Chrome or Firefox web browsers. All others will be required to call-in. Those calling in may request a copy of the presentation by emailing [email protected].



All shareholders are requested to vote through the Legal Proxy document that was mailed with the annual report. Verbal or electronic voting will not be allowed during the shareholders meeting. Meeting Protocol:

Oregon Pacific Bancorp reserves the right to ask all participants during the meeting to identify themselves. It is requested that all meeting participants mute their phones or computers during the meeting, other than during the question and answer period. Advance questions are encouraged. Please email them to [email protected] Please direct all inquiries to Ron Green, President/CEO of Oregon Pacific Bank. Phone (News - Alert): (541) 902-9800

Email: [email protected] View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005858/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Wearing a protective mask is one of your best defences against COVID-19. But wearing your mask incorrectly might just be as dangerous as not wearing a mask at all.

The US government is encouraging all Americans to wear a mask to protect themselves from getting infected with the COVID-19. What it does is lessen chances of contracting the disease, especially from asymptomatic carriers who can spread the virus without knowing it.

For most individuals, the cloth mask is the best option for many reasons, but proper use is important to make sure it works well. By avoiding these common mistakes when wearing masks, you may save a life or two amid the rampage of the coronavirus pandemic.

1. Wearing masks that were already used

According to Geoffrey Mount Varner, a Maryland-based emergency medicine physician, one of the most common errors is wearing a mask that is already contaminated. If you take it off and put it anywhere, you've just given the COVID-19 other ways to infect other people.

Cloth masks need sanitizing and washing to decontaminate it, in between use. This saves lives, including the wearers.

2. Touching mask with dirty hands

Contaminating face masks with your dirty hands will get anyone sick, said physician Dimitar Marinov, MD, PhD. Removing the mask will bring the virus closer to the mouth, and bacteria with pathogens can easily make its way into your body.

The solution is to disinfect hands before wearing or taking off your mask. Avoid touching your face too, especially when you're in public.

3. Never wear the same mask, for the entire day!

Ideally, have two masks and disinfectant ready to cycle them for two hours each. Any longer than this and you will lessen the mask's efficiency in protecting you against the virus. As insurance, make sure to have at least 2 masks ready for use.

Also read: Boris Johnson Stable in ICU: What COVID-19 Drug is Used to Treat Him?

4. Does the mask cover everything?

According to Marinov, an ill-fitting mask is useless and will just get the wearer infected because of improper covering. So, get a mask with good coverage and protect yourself from COVID-19.

The mask should fit the nose to the bottom of the chin for maximum coverage. It should be breathable as well, without gaps.

5. Always wear it before entering a crowded places

Rafael Lugo, a general surgeon, says that everyone should pratice wearing a clean mask before going out in public. Keep this in mind, because it might just save your life and others too!

6. Don't be too trusting of face masks

Wearing face masks is not the only way to protect yourself. According to experts, social distancing and proper hygiene are also great in keeping coronavirus at bay. Remember, a mask is just a preventive.

7. Never douse it with chemicals too much.

Cleaning is not bad, but dousing it too much is a no-no. Just spritz it and it is good to go, never saturate it with strong chemicals.

8. Never make the mask too wet!

Masks are meant to be worn dry and getting it wet will allow the pathogens to get through. According to experts, always keep it dry and away from wet areas.

9. Wear the mask the right way

Mask should be worn the proper way, to filter pathogen properly and avoid getting infected. For surgical mask, the blue side should be worn on the outside.

10. All masks are not created equal.

An N-95 mask is for health workers that keep 95% of bacteria and viruses out, as long as it's fitted properly. Surgical masks are for stopping droplets from infecting people around you.

Now that you're aware of these 10 common mistakes, spread the word so others can be aware too.

Related article: Alleged Lizard Captured by Curiosity Rover, Theorist Claims Its a Sign of Life on Mars

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Aaron Talasnik walks around Center City in a bunny costume. 'If I can make somebody smile or make somebody laugh during the day, I am helping,' he says. Read more

Its humbling to be officially deemed nonessential  but its an experience that thousands across Philadelphia now share, helplessly watching the mounting toll of COVID-19 and the economic fallout of stay-at-home orders.

So when theres a chance to shine a light in the darkness, people are stepping up with whatever tools are at their disposal: sending meals to hospital workers, fulfilling nurses pleas for home-sewn masks, and covering the blight of closed storefronts with crowd-sourced art.

Then there are efforts that are a little more idiosyncratic. Those who are feeling at a loss to help defeat the pandemic are at least finding ways to kill the boredom and share the love. Heres some of what theyve come up with.

Free (beer) for all

On Tuesday afternoon, Mike Hans pulled up alongside a Southwest Philadelphia rowhouse, popped the trunk of his car, and revealed his precious cache: a cooler full of ice and cold craft beers. He pulled out a can of Yards Pale Ale, dunked it into a bin of soapy water, then put the dripping can into a Ziploc baggie, with a few ice cubes.

The world needs heroes right now, he said. Im not a hero. But I do have some beer.

Until March, the South Philadelphia resident had worked four jobs, including as the tour manager at Yards Brewing Co. Now almost all of that work is gone  even Lyft has no riders  but Yards is still providing his monthly beer stipend of two cases per month. So Hans started the I could really use a beer campaign, to deliver a free beer to anyone who asks for one.

Making the Facebook event was easy (though Hans immediately ran into doubters who assumed it was a hoax), but the logistics have proved complicated. He makes a spreadsheet of addresses each Tuesday morning before embarking on his route. He needs to check IDs, so he asks people to set them down on their front steps and back away. He does the same maneuver to pass them the beer, then urges customers to wash their hands and rinse their beer cans.

Jamie Graham, a social worker who had been conducting home visits via Zoom, stepped onto his porch in peak work-from-home fashion  button-down shirt and blazer on top, rumpled pajama pants on the bottom. The corners of a smile showed behind his mask.

I figure its the only time someone will hand me a cold beer during this quarantine, he said.

Making a spectacle

Like many extroverts, Aaron Talasnik is having a particularly hard time with isolation. He lost his income and his pastimes, including kickball leagues, concerts, and sporting events. Even visiting his family in New Jersey is out, since using public transportation no longer feels prudent.

One of the small pleasures that remains for the Graduate Hospital resident is taking his dog, a rescue named Charlie, out for walks. So he decided to make the most of it, donning a new costume each day since April 1: a pink bunny outfit one day, the Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar another.

Ive gotten smiles and laughs," he said. "Ive gotten people to shake their heads. It doesnt matter to me. If theyre doing one of those things, theyre distracted from what were living in right now.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters.

Recently, people started posting photos of him on social media, texting with offers to drop off costumes for his next walk. Someone posted that he was a hero. I said, Im just your normal neighborhood idiot. Theres not much else I can do. Im not a doctor, Im not delivering packages.

Lauren Rinaldi had a similar impulse. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came out with its recommendation that all Americans wear masks while in public, she figured she had it covered.

She pulled out a Gritty mask shed made for her son last Halloween. She added a flowing red prom dress. Then, I said to my husband, What are you going to wear on our walk tonight? A beaked plague-doctor mask that someone had anonymously mailed to them, plus a cape swiped from their costume collection, felt like the obvious answer. Some people were taking pictures, she said. Others werent really amused, so I just waved like a prom queen and kept walking.

Interactive reality TV

Donna Oblongata, a Southwest Philadelphia theater artist, had a busy year planned: teaching a seven-week clown workshop, a tour of her solo show, then a prestigious artist residency this summer. Then, like everyone else, she found herself stuck at home.

So, with Brooklyn-based collaborator Patrick Costello, she decided to start a series of online events shes billed as interactive reality TV: a quarantine remake of The Dating Game thats about to launch, and a Great British Baking Show takeoff that has about 10 contestants each week preparing recipes that play off themes like Let Them Eat Cake and Eat the Rich.

Some have costumes and personas, illusions easily interrupted when a roommate wanders through to heat up a can of soup. One even built a tabletop guillotine.

Not to be glib, but its a lot easier to get people on board for a frivolous art project that doesnt make money when everyone is sitting home looking for things to do, she said. At a time when things are really hard, and people are struggling emotionally, psychically, and financially, it feels like Im doing something thats a kind of service.
Residents of El Espinal, Mexico, march in solidarity with El Espinal native Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes, who is in U.S. custody on charges of being an unregistered foreign representative of Russia. (Aristegui Noticias)

In Mexicos southern Oaxaca state, Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes is a figure of pride and emulation, a role model who emerged from one of the countrys poorest regions and soared to global success.

He is acclaimed as a world-renowned microbiologist and heart specialist who never lost the common touch  stopping for a bite at the local taqueria on visits back home and volunteering to help when an earthquake in 2017 devastated his rural home region.

Dr. Hector Cabrera is a distinguished citizen of our town and very beloved by all of the population, said Hazael Matus, mayor of El Espinal, Cabrera's hometown. He is a person who has always helped others.

To U.S. prosecutors, however, Cabrera is something else  a suspected Russian spy in custody without bail at a federal lockup in Miami. The scientist, who studied in Russia on a scholarship, is charged with acting on behalf of a foreign government while in the United States without notifying the U.S. attorney general's office, as required.

Federal agents arrested Cabrera in February at Miami International Airport as he and his wife sought to board a flight to Mexico City.

A federal complaint paints Cabrera, 35, as a cloak-and-dagger figure of intrigue, a man who led a double and maybe triple life  with wives and families in both Russia and Mexico, and a position at a prestigious research institution in Singapore. The U.S. Justice Department has declined to provide details beyond what is in the complaint filed Feb. 18 by an FBI agent working in the bureaus counterintelligence division.

But the essential allegation is this: Russia recruited Cabrera to gather information on an informant  identified in the complaint only as a confidential human source (CHS)  who resided in a Miami condo complex. The informant had previously provided U.S. authorities with dirt about Russian activities implicating national security interests of the United States.

If convicted, Cabrera could face up to 10 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.

Story continues

Relatives and friends describe the case against him as far-fetched, a colossal misunderstanding  or, in the view of some, a sinister U.S. plot to destroy a scientist for unknown reasons.

His defense at a trial scheduled to begin in July apparently will be that Cabrera was unaware he was being used as an operative for Moscow. The FBI says Cabrera knew he was dealing with a Russian official.

We believe that he was being used unwittingly, that he was an unwitting dupe, said Ronald Gainor, Cabreras Miami-based attorney. I dont believe that he knew he was dealing with Russian intelligence."

From humble beginnings

El Espinal, situated in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest point between the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, is home to about 10,000 people, many speakers of the indigenous Zapotec language. Many former residents left El Espinal and went on to considerable success, Matus said, but few have remained in touch like Cabrera.

In El Espinal there are many people who have become researchers and work in important projects, but they never come back, said the mayor, a close friend of Cabrera. Hector was the only one who came back to his town and would eat tacos on the corner and walk on the streets, mixing with the people.

Cabrera left El Espinal at 16 to study medicine in Puebla state, Matus said, and later won a scholarship to study microbiology in Russia.

Another friend, Alberto Sanchez, a professor at the Technological Institute of Oaxaca, said that as a youth Cabrera had been drawn to Microbe Hunters, the classic 1926 book by Paul de Kruif portraying pioneering scientists identifying and attacking germs.

Cabrera obtained a masters in molecular biology from Kazan Federal University in Russia and, in 2012, garnered his first doctorate from the same institution, according to the European Society of Cardiology, a trade group. He earned a second doctorate in biochemistry in 2014 from Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Germany, according to the biography.

His research focuses on cardiovascular health, especially a condition known as ischemia  blockages in arteries and other blood vessels, a problem that can lead to strokes and death.

At the time of his arrest, the FBI said, Cabrera was a researcher in Singapore with the National Heart Center, a cardiovascular specialty facility. He also had a post at Duke-NUS Medical School, a joint program of Duke University and the National University of Singapore. Both posts have been suspended, a medical school spokeswoman said.

The U.S. Justice Department has declined to provide details beyond what is in a complaint filed Feb. 18 alleging that Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes acted on behalf of a foreign government. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

'Like something you see in the movies'

In its complaint, the FBI identifies Cabrera as a co-optee  a trusted person used by an intelligence service to provide a layer of obfuscation between the intelligence officer and the source for the purpose of increasing operational security. The complaint hints that Russia may have recruited Cabrera as a student.

But Cabreras tradecraft, at least in this case, appears to have been more Maxwell Smart than James Bond, despite what the FBI called repeated contact in Russia with a presumed Russian intelligence operative.

Moscow allegedly tasked Cabrera with a seemingly simple assignment: Find the U.S. informants vehicle, obtain its license plate number and note where it was in the parking lot of the condo complex where the informant lived.

What Russian intelligence planned to do with those details remained unclear. But Moscow provided Cabrera with a description of the vehicle, the FBI said, and devised an elaborate plan to scout the U.S. informant.

In a bid to conceal Cabreras role, his Russian handlers allegedly directed him to have someone else rent a unit in the same complex as the informant. Cabreras name was not to be directly involved. In December, the complaint says, Cabrera transferred $20,000 to his associate for rent and other costs at the Miami condo.

That part of the plan apparently proceeded without a hitch. But Cabrera bungled it at the scene.

On Feb. 13, according to the complaint, Cabrera flew into Miami and rented a Chrysler sedan, which he drove the next day to the condo complex where the U.S. informant resided. Accompanying Cabrera, the complaint says, was his Mexican wife, identified as Female 1. However, Cabreras rental car tailgated another vehicle while entering the parking structure, drawing the attention of condo security personnel.

A security guard approached Cabreras car, which by then had stopped on the third floor of the garage, according to the complaint. At this point, the FBI said in the complaint, Cabrera's wife walked away from the rental and approached the informants car, taking a picture of its license plate.

Cabrera later acknowledged to the FBI that his Russian handler had specifically directed him not to photograph the license plate, the complaint states. But he conceded that he had asked his wife to take the picture out of convenience.

On Feb. 16, as Cabrera was being questioned at the Miami airport, federal agents found the picture of the informants license plate on the phones of both Cabrera and his wife, according to court papers.

Why would Cabrera allegedly risk his successful career and seemingly stable life to spy for Russia?

Enter Female 2, whom court filings identify as Cabreras Russian wife. She has two daughters, but it is not clear if Cabrera is the father.

Female 2 had a problem: In March 2019, she was denied permission to leave Russia for reasons that remain unclear, a fact that apparently worried her Mexican partner.

Two months later, according to the complaint, Cabrera traveled to Russia to see his Russian family. He was contacted by a Russian official, whom Cabrera had met previously at professional events. At a subsequent meeting in Moscow, the complaint says, the Russian official told Cabrera that he knew of the familys difficulty trying to leave Russia, hinting that a departure could be arranged.

We can help each other, the Russian official told Cabrera, according to the complaint.

U.S. prosecutors call the case a quid pro quo: Russia would facilitate getting Cabrera's family out of Russia if Cabrera lent a hand in Miami.

The entire episode has the feeling of a bad dream for Cabrera's relatives and many supporters in Oaxaca, where his Mexican wife, also from El Espinal, has returned and now resides with the couple's young son and daughter.

Everyone feels powerless  its like something you see in the movies, said Erick Omar Martinez, a musician and friend of Cabrera.

Martinez was among those organizing an event on a recent Sunday in Oaxaca city to raise funds for Cabreras legal defense. Items on sale included cups and T-shirts emblazoned with the scientists name. Several townsfolk recalled that Cabrera had developed a therapeutic cream for diabetic patients with feet problems, a balm that was later patented and sold in his hometown.

Everyone is in shock, Matus said. Its like someone arrives late and says, Sorry, I had to make a stop on the moon. Of course no one would believe it! The same thing is happening with Dr. Cabrera. No one can believe it.

Special correspondents Cecilia Sanchez in Mexico City and Jose Maria Alvarez in Oaxaca city contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON - The White House on Friday launched an unusual attack on the congressionally funded Voice of America, the U.S. broadcaster that for decades has provided independent news reporting around the world.

In a broadside directed against VOAs coverage of the pandemic and China on Friday, an official White House publication accused it of using taxpayer money to speak for authoritarian regimes because it covered the lifting of the lockdown in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the new coronavirus first emerged. VOA promptly fired back, defending its coverage.

Voice of America spends your money to speak for authoritarian regimes, the White House said in its 1600 Daily email summary of news and events. It said VOAs roughly $200 million annual budget should be spent on its mission to tell Americas story and present the policies of the United States clearly and effectively to global audiences.

But, citing a VOA report from earlier this week on the lifting of travel restrictions and easing of the lockdown in Wuhan, the White House said that VOA too often speaks for Americas adversaries  not its citizens. It noted that VOA had also recently pointed out comments by Irans foreign minister critical of the U.S.

Fridays attack followed another barb directed at VOA on Thursday by White House social media director Dan Scavino, who branded VOA a disgrace in a tweet.

VOA fired back at both attacks, responding to Scavino on Twitter and defending its coverage as unbiased. It noted that it is required by law to present all sides of an issue.

One of the big differences between publicly-funded independent media, like the Voice of America, and state-controlled media is that we are free to show all sides of an issue and are actually mandated to do so by law as stated in the VOA Charter, director Amanda Bennett said in a lengthy statement that included links to numerous VOA stories highlighting shortcomings in Chinas response to the virus.

Bennett noted that VOA, along with several other U.S. news outlets, has been effectively barred from working in China but that it continues to report and broadcast news from inside the country. VOA is run by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which also oversees other government-funded broadcasters like Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.
Deep emissions cuts this decade could prevent abrupt ecological collapse

Posted on 10 April 2020 by Guest Author

This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Daisy Dunne

Swift global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could prevent the abrupt collapse of ecosystems, which may otherwise begin within the next few decades, a study finds.

The research, published in Nature, finds that uncontrolled climate change would see tropical ocean ecosystems exposed to potentially catastrophic temperature rise by 2030. By 2050, tropical forests could also face such conditions.

By comparison, limiting global warming to below 2C  the goal of the Paris Agreement  could delay the date of exposure by up to six decades, according to the research.

The results show very clearly that it is not too late to act and the benefits of acting now will be massive, a study author tells Carbon Brief.

Burning up

Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are expected to make existing habitats inhospitable for many animal species. Due to this, some scientists expect that climate change will overtake land-use change to become the largest threat facing wildlife by the end of the century.

However, it is not yet certain at what point this century the effects of climate change will begin to overwhelm ecosystems. The new study addresses this question by looking at when various land and ocean ecosystems are likely to be exposed to possibly intolerable increases in temperature.

The results suggest the fate of ecosystems could hinge on the world taking immediate action to tackle climate change, says study author Dr Alex Pigot, a research scientist at the Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research at University College London. He tells Carbon Brief:

Our results show that with continued high emissions of greenhouse gasses, losses of biodiversity and disruption of ecosystems from climate change are likely to happen abruptly and could occur much sooner than we had expected.

According to our models, biodiversity losses are likely to be already underway in the tropical oceans and over the next few decades these risks are expected to escalate rapidly, spreading to tropical forests and then higher latitudes by 2050.

Corals to forests

For their research, the authors estimated the first date at which species in different world regions are likely to face temperatures beyond what they are known to tolerate in the wild.

Exposure to such temperatures could cause species to die out in that region  or to go locally extinct. However, it is possible that some species could adapt to intolerable temperatures, Pigot says:

It is important to note exposure does not necessarily mean extinction. Some species may be able to persist at temperatures warmer than those under which they have previously been found, but this is not something we should blindly assume. Indeed, for some species we already have very good evidence that their current [temperature range] is likely to correspond closely to their physiological limits.

They did this for more than 30,000 species spanning the worlds habitats, from tropical coral reefs to highland pine forests.

Western lowland gorillas and forest elephants in a clearing in tropical rainforest, Obandas Bai, Repubic of Congo. Credit: Nature Picture Library / Alamy Stock Photo

It should also be noted, however, that the authors only studied changes to temperature and rainfall exposure. They did not model other climate-change impacts known to affect wildlife, such as heatwaves or the disappearance of Arctic sea ice.

The authors looked at the timing of exposure under several scenarios for future climate change, known as the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). These scenarios include one where future greenhouse gas emissions are very high (RCP8.5) and one where temperatures are limited to below 2C (RCP2.6). (It is important to note that RCP8.5 is not a business as usual scenario, but rather a scenario where no policies are put in place to tackle climate change.)

The two maps below illustrate how the risk to wildlife differs in these two scenarios. The maps show the risk of an ecosystem seeing an abrupt exposure event under RCP2.6 (top) and RCP8.5 (bottom). An abrupt exposure event is defined as when more than 20% of all species in an ecosystem are exposed to temperatures beyond their natural range in a single decade.

The maps show how, under high emissions, many biodiversity hotspots, including the Amazon, parts of southern Africa and southeast Asia, could face a very high risk of exposure to intolerable temperatures by the end of the century.

The research finds that, under 2C of global warming, only 2% of ecosystems worldwide are likely to face an abrupt exposure event by the end of the century. Under 4C, this proportion rises to 15%.

The authors also find that limiting global warming to below 2C could delay the time when ecosystems first experience abrupt exposure events by up to six decades, when compared to the RCP8.5 scenario of very high emissions

This is indicated on the charts below, which show the projected percentage of the worlds ocean (left) and land (ecosystems) exposed to intolerable temperatures under RCP2.6 (light blue) and RCP8.5 (purple) from 2020-2100. (The chart also shows results for RCP4.5 (orange), a scenario where future emissions are moderately high.)

Not too late

The research finds that, under a very high emissions scenario, ecosystems could be exposed to intolerably high temperatures as early as this decade. However, this does not mean it is too late to act, Pigot tells Carbon Brief:

Our results show very clearly that it is not too late to act and the benefits of acting now will be massive and will accumulate over time. By holding warming below 2C, we can effectively flatten the curve of how climate risks to biodiversity accumulates over time, delaying the exposure of the most at-risk species by many decades and averting exposure entirely for many thousands of species.

The findings are very strong and convincing says Peter Soroye, a PhD candidate in biology from the University of Ottawa, Canada, who recently published a study on projected bumblebee declines worldwide. He tells Carbon Brief:

One of the critical things that this and other large-scale studies on climate change-related biodiversity impacts show is the positive effect of reducing carbon emissions on future biodiversity. Work like this demonstrates that while future climate change will modify ecosystems around the globe  overwhelmingly for the worse  we can mitigate many of these impacts by rapidly reducing our carbon emissions.
(Alliance News) - The coronavirus lockdown will have to remain in place in the UK for "several more weeks" scientists have warned as ministers appealed to the public to stay at home for Easter.

Experts advising the UK government on the crisis said the social-distancing measures introduced last month appeared to be working better than expected.

However they insisted there could be no relaxation of the restrictions until it was clear the peak of the epidemic was past.

The warning followed the announcement on Thursday that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been discharged from intensive care at St Thomas' Hospital where he is being treated for the disease.

Downing Street said that he was in "extremely good spirits" and would be receiving close monitoring during "the early phase of his recovery".

With fine weather forecast for many parts of the country over the long bank holiday weekend, minister fear people may flout the rules and flock to beaches and beauty spots.

NHS England's national medical director Stephen Powis said it was "critical" that people obeyed the instructions and stayed at home.

"We are beginning to see the benefits of this social distancing. We do believe the virus is spreading less" he said.

"That will only continue to happen if we don't get complacent and continue to follow those instructions."

The warning came as the latest official figures showed the number of hospital patients in the UK who had died after testing positive for Covid-19 had risen to 7,978 as of 5pm on Wednesday a an increase of 881 on the previous day.

The government is due to carry out the first three-week review of the lockdown measures next week.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Johnson, has said the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies would be studying the evidence but they would not be able to say more until the end of the week.

Paul Cosford, emeritus medical director for Public Health England, said the while there were signs the spread of the disease was slowing, it was likely the restrictions would still be needed for several weeks.

"It really does look like the numbers are flattening. That is really important because that is the first sign that we may be getting to the peak of this pandemic," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"I think several weeks isn't unreasonable. Let's hope its sooner than that. Just for now, we are getting on top of this but we have got an awfully long way to go and it is absolutely critical that we continue with all the actions that are required of us."

Neil Ferguson of Imperial College, who was the lead author of a report which warned 250,000 people could die if the government did not introduce social distancing, said the measures were working better than they had predicted.

"We made quite conservative assumptions about the level of contact reduction these measures would result in," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"There is some preliminary evidence in terms of contact surveys, in terms of data from companies like Google about how people move, that we have seen even larger reductions in normal behaviour, contact, than we would have dared hope.

"That is good news but we have still got to see that reflected in case numbers coming down."

Ferguson, who is a member of Sage, suggested when the time came the restrictions could be eased in stages, but said more testing would be needed to ensure the virus was kept in check.

"Without doubt measures will be targeted, probably by age, by geography, and we will need to introduce a in my view a much larger levels of testing at a community level to really be able to isolate cases and more effectively identify where transmission has happened," he said.

Cosford suggested one of the first measures could be to allow schools to re-open.

"We do know that children are at very low risk of getting complications from this disease. The importance of children's education, children being in school, is paramount," he said.

"I could conceive of circumstances in which some of the restrictions are lifted sooner and some are lifted later."

By Gavin Cordon, PA Whitehall Editor

source: PA

Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Residents of Bhuvaneshwari Nagar close the road for outsiders in wake of the coronavirus pandemic during the nationwide lockdown, in Bengaluru. (PTI)

Kalaburagi: A private hospital in Kalaburagi has been shut down following the orders of deputy commissioner B Sharath after the District Administration found the hospital to have treated a covid-19 positive patient before referring to ESIC hospital there.

Treatment for persons tested with Covid-19 positive is given at the ESIC hospital and the hospital is also charged with hiding the treatment details of the patient without bringing it to the notice of the District Administration.

The DCP also said that it has come to his notice that Star Hospital had treated a patient for Covid-19 and later the patient was referred to ESIC Hospital for treatment.

Besides, the hospital has not maintained proper records of the patient nor had furnished the details of the medical history to the officials concerned when queried upon.

Suspecting that many such hospitals are treating Covid-19 symptoms patients without informing the District Administration, the DCP said It has come to the notice of the District Administration that some hospitals in the city have been treating persons with Covid-19 symptoms on their own and have not brought details of the treatment of the persons to the notice of District Administration. Later when the situation demands medical emergencies such cases have been referred to EISC Hospital and Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences.

At a time, when a medical emergency has been declared, the hospital staff showed negligence without answering to the queries of the officials concerned and hence stringent action has been initiated against the hospital, stated the DC.

In another case, Sharath said the personnel of Bahamani Hospital in Kalaburagi city have been subjected to quarantine and the hospital has been sealed.

Sources said that a patient aged around 65 year was treated at the hospital before he was shifted to ESIC Hospital in Kalaburagi and he died of Corona positive, unable to respond to the treatment.

On the death of a 65-year old person which was the second Corona death in the city, Sharath said that the person was also suffering from acute respiratory illness.

Another woman aged around 72 years and a resident of Kalaburagi city has also been tested positive for Covid-19.
Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now.

This was supposed to be a big health care year for California.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in January unveiled ambitious proposals to help him achieve his goal of getting every Californian health care coverage. Though it was far less than the single-payer promise Newsom had made on the gubernatorial campaign trail, his plans, if adopted, would have expanded the health care system as no other state has.

His $47 billion health care agenda, fueled by a once-booming economy and pressure from legislative Democrats, sought to expand the pool of undocumented immigrants covered by Medicaid, enable California to manufacture its own generic drugs, pour billions into the Medicaid program to address chronic homelessness and dramatically increase mental health and addiction treatment statewide.

Then, the novel coronavirus swept in, decimating those ambitions.

"The world has radically changed," Newsom said this month, as he prepared California for a mid-May surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations.

icon

DON'T MISS ANY L.A. CORONAVIRUS NEWS

Get our daily newsletters for the latest on COVID-19 and other top local headlines.

Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Once buoyed by record economic growth and a $21 billion rainy-day fund to protect California from a major downturn, Newsom warned of a "budgetary crisis that is starting to manifest," suggesting he can no longer follow through on his health care promises.

"All of that is being recalibrated," he said.

But Democratic lawmakers who control both houses of the state legislature -- and will negotiate with Newsom over the scope of the 2020-21 state budget -- aren't necessarily convinced they have to abandon their plans.

"If those workers providing the products, the services, the food that we eat don't have health care, we're all in danger," said state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), who has pressed Newsom to expand Medicaid coverage to unauthorized immigrants ages 65 and up. "Our reasoning is a lot stronger now because if they don't have health care, it weakens our ability to stop the spread of COVID-19."

Newsom says he has no choice but to scale back his initial $222 billion state budget proposal.

The state may be able to fund only existing programs and coronavirus response and recovery, said state Finance Director Keely Bosler. There could even be cuts, she warned.

Exactly how much money will be available to keep the state running will not be known until mid-May. The legislature, which recessed in mid-March in the midst of the pandemic, isn't scheduled to reconvene until May 4 and may conduct business remotely for the remainder of the session.

Staggering stock market and job losses have thrown the state's fiscal outlook into turmoil, with California receiving more than 2 million unemployment claims since mid-March. Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program for the poor, already covers about 13 million Californians, and state budget analysts expect caseloads to explode.

"It is going to be bad, but we have not yet been able to determine how bad because of the fluid and dynamic nature of this pandemic," said H.D. Palmer, spokesperson for the state Department of Finance. "Clearly what we are in the midst of is much more severe than a midpoint recession."

Meanwhile, the state has already begun draining its rainy-day reserves and spending from its general fund to respond to the crisis.

Newsom has spent more than $850 million in response to the pandemic, such as boosting California's supply of ventilators and other protective gear needed for a projected surge in COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday night, he announced the state had inked a $1 billion deal to get 200 million masks per month -- enough for California and possibly to share with other states.

Newsom is also funding food and senior assistance programs, sending money to counties to house more jail inmates while state prisons temporarily pause intake, and paying for hotel and motel rooms for homeless people. And the state will help pay nearly 40,000 health care workers it is recruiting for the surge.

Some of the costs will be reimbursed by the federal government, Newsom said, but it's not clear how much.

MIGHT HAVE BEEN?

Not long ago, Newsom and the legislature were in a very different place, enacting policies that made California a national testing ground for expanding health coverage.

Last year, they approved a $100 million-per-year expansion of Medi-Cal to low-income undocumented immigrants ages 19 to 25, earning praise from national party leaders and ire from President Donald Trump. And they approved $1.5 billion over the next three years to fund new subsidies for some low- and middle-income Californians purchasing health coverage on the state health insurance exchange, Covered California.

This year would have been even bigger.

"We have a unique responsibility to show the way," Newsom said in January.

Newsom sought to funnel state and federal Medicaid dollars into emergency rental programs to help homeless people get housing, and to bolster treatment for substance use disorders and mental health for homeless people, at-risk youth and incarcerated people.

He threatened steeper fines against health insurers that didn't provide adequate access to behavioral health treatment, vowed to stop surprise medical billing, promised to lower prescription drug costs and hatched a sweeping plan to cut overall health care spending by going after the health care industry for jacking up prices.

Democratic leaders and even Republicans embraced his focus.

"California is certainly the most aggressive at trying to push towards universal coverage," said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Kaiser Health News, which produces California Healthline, is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)

"Typically, you find states focusing on either cost or universal coverage, but what sets California apart is a drive to deal with both."

WHAT NOW?

Some Democratic lawmakers acknowledge they must reimagine their health care agenda, including state Assembly member Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), chair of the Assembly Budget Committee.

"We're going to have to be very disciplined," Ting said. "I don't think we're going to spend money on much else other than coronavirus and economic recovery."

But others argue that proposals to expand coverage and access are even more pressing because of COVID-19.

"Every person who can't get health care and gets sick could potentially spread the disease to more people. We need to take care of that," said state Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), who chairs the Senate Health Committee and leads the state Senate budget process for health-related expenditures.

Advocates and lobbyists also are flooding Newsom with budget request letters asking him not only to stick with existing proposals, such as protecting people from getting hit with surprise medical bills, but also to expand coverage even more and increase state subsidies for insurance. Doctor groups are asking the governor to provide relief for health care providers who have lost income due to declines in patient revenue, while organized labor is asking him to assist businesses so they don't cut health employee health benefits.

County behavioral health directors argue the state must fund more mental health and substance use disorder treatment because the need is greater today, especially for students who can't attend school and for those who have lost homes and work.

"We need to marshal additional attention and resources for lifesaving behavioral health treatment and services, unless we intend to deepen inequality," said Michelle Doty Cabrera, executive director of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association. "This year, right now."

Although Newsom has sought to quell the spending push by health advocates, he said Saturday that health care remains a top priority and he's "committed" to adopting reforms within California's budgetary constraints -- even if it might not happen this year.

"We will do everything in our power to lean into the future despite these circumstances," he said. "Reforms can happen on a good day or a bad day."

California Healthline correspondent Rachel Bluth contributed to this report. This story was also published on California Healthline.
Thirty million children are at risk of disease and death because of the secondary impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new report warns.

Aftershocks, a new report released by child-focused aid charity, World Vision Ireland, reveals millions of children are under threat from other diseases and increased food insecurity. Weak health systems quickly becoming overwhelmed and more people being pushed into extreme poverty means lives are at risk, the charity says. The charity has announced that it plans to increase its initial reach from 11 million to 22.5 million people across 17 priority countries, with its Covid-19 response.

The report analyses the devastating secondary impacts on children of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, and models what would happen if they were replicated in the current crisis. It focuses on these consequences in the 24 most fragile countries covered by the UNs COVID-19 humanitarian appeal.

Key findings:

Secondary impacts will threaten many more childrens lives than COVID-19 itself. Current child deaths are low because severe novel coronavirus infections are rare among children.

As many as 30 million childrens lives are in danger from secondary health impacts:26 million+ children at greater risk of being exposed to other deadly diseases for lack of immunisation

5 million+ children could suffer from increasing malnutrition, an increase of almost 40% from current levels

100,000+ children could die from malaria, a 50% increase from current levels



Niall McLoughlin, CEO of World Vision Ireland, said: 30 million childrens lives at risk is a shocking statistic and it really brings home the reality that children are so vulnerable in a crisis. Experience tells us that when epidemics overwhelm health systems, the impact on children is deadly.

"They are so dependent on their parents and susceptible to plunging into extreme poverty, should anything happen to them. As well as already being vulnerable to diseases and malnutrition, the secondary impacts of a crisis like Covid-19 on children in fragile contexts is devastating - oftentimes, they must engage in child labour to survive; see their families sink into poverty; or suffer isolation and psychological harm.

World Vision, which launched a major emergency response to the Ebola outbreak in 2015, analysed various impacts including reduced access to healthcare, decreased immunisations and a rise in malnutrition. The report demonstrates that the combination of pre-existing weak health systems, populations with high need, and this current pandemic may lead to catastrophic mortality for children.

The report comes as World Vision launches its 70 million response plan to combat the effects of the virus. With the majority of its more than 37,000 staff being locally based, the organisation has been responding since January to the initial outbreak in Asia, and plans to reach 22.5 million people across 17 priority countries.
It is hard to imagine now, with Asians the fastest-growing racial group in America, but in the first half of the 20th century they were largely blocked from entering the country and prevented from becoming citizens after they arrived. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 had banned the immigration of Chinese laborers, and in 1924, Congress enacted a new set of ethnic quotas dreamed up by eugenicists aimed at maintaining their conception of America as a white and Anglo-Saxon nation. By designating some races as more desirable than others, the law sharply restricted Jewish and Italian immigration  and banned nearly all Asians.

In the years that followed, a small group of Jewish lawmakers fought to abolish the quotas. In 1952, when Congress embarked on its most ambitious overhaul of the countrys immigration system in decades, they recognized their best opportunity in a generation.

Masaoka joined the fray, lobbying for a provision that gave Asians the right to naturalize and for an easing of the nearly comprehensive ban on Asian immigration.

But defeating the overall quota system proved more difficult. With the Red Scare at its zenith, lawmakers were wary of admitting Eastern and Southern European immigrants, whom they associated with radical political activity. And so to the dismay of Jewish leaders, lawmakers refused to abandon ethnic quotas giving preference to countries like Britain.

Nor were African-American leaders pleased. By the end of World War II, more than 250,000 black immigrants from the Caribbean had settled in the United States, mostly in New York City and Chicago, counted within the large quotas of their colonizers, the British, the French and the Dutch. But the 1952 bill aimed to cap this flow of immigrants at 100 a year from each of these European colonies.

Masaoka did not relish having the interests of Japanese-Americans pitted against those of other immigrants. But to secure gains for his community, he decided to abandon the other groups to support what became known as the McCarran-Walter Act.

Winning the right to naturalize was a watershed moment in Asian-American history. But the fight left others bitter. It is impossible to compute the amount of harm which the Japanese American Citizens League and Masaoka caused to effective opposition to this legislation, concluded an analysis conducted by the American Jewish Congress.
LANSING, MI -- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced federal approval Thursday for a food program that will provide families of an estimated 895,000 students in Michigan with funds to ensure nutritious food is available to them during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer Program is available to Michigan families with students ages 5-18 who are enrolled in the Michigan Department of Education program that provides free and reduced-price school meals, according to a press release from the state.

I am proud that Michigan is the first state to receive federal approval for this program to put healthy food on the table for families that need them, Whitmer said. The spread of COVID-19 has had a profound impact on our state. My administration will continue to work around the clock to help Michiganders through this difficult time and slow the spread of this virus.

Approximately $172 million a month will go to Michigan families who qualify for the program. The benefits will be distributed via an Electronic Benefits Transaction (EBT) card that will be loaded with $193.80 per eligible student per month for the months of March and April. The card will then be loaded with $182.40 per student to cover May and June.

However, if you do not currently have an EBT card, you will have to wait for the card to arrive in the mail. Officials say you should receive a letter in the mail next week with instructions on how to use the card. The cards are expected to arrive at your home by the first week of May.

For those who currently receive EBT benefits, the funds will be added to your card automatically in the next week or so, the state announced. The payments will be a staggered over the course of 10 days.

Children should never go hungry. Yet because of COVID-19, it is a risk unlike at any time in generations, said MDHHS Director Robert Gordon. I am glad that Michigan will be the first state to deliver SNAP benefits to families that previously received free or reduced-price lunches, whether or not they were SNAP-eligible. In a time of terrible need, it will be a small, good thing for nearly a million Michigan children.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said other states will also have the opportunity to submit plans to receive similar assistance. Perdue went on to call the situation unprecedented and said the federal government is continuing to work on ways to assist families during the crisis.

"During these unprecedented times in the United States, President Trump has authorized a whole of America approach to tackling the coronavirus, and by authorizing pandemic EBT in the state of Michigan, we are able to ensure the Americans who need food the most are able to get it, Perdue said in a press release. This is a challenging time for many people right now, and we are working every day to ensure all Americans have access to safe, affordable, and nutritious food to feed themselves and their families.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

READ MORE

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends coronavirus stay-at-home order through April 30

Michigans updated coronavirus stay-at-home order will close garden centers and other parts of grocery stores

Thursday, April 9: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.
Russia, Saudi Arabia and other members say cuts would be eased to six million barrels per day Jan 2021 to April 2022.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed on Thursday to cut oil output by 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in May and June, according to a statement released by the group. The move is designed to help prop up petrol prices, which have been battered by the coronavirus crisis.

OPEC+ said the cuts would be eased between July and December to eight million bpd, and the reductions would then be relaxed further to six million bpd between January 2021 to April 2022. OPEC+ said it would hold another video conference meeting on June 10 to assess the market. But it did not mention the conditions for countries outside the grouping to reduce oil output.

Its a major climbdown for Russia and particularly Saudi Arabia, which picked a terrible time for a price war, Jim Krane, energy fellow at Rice University, told Al Jazeera

Earlier on Thursday, the mega players were seeking to convince Mexico to join in a deal to implement record oil cuts to lift crudes prices battered by the coronavirus crisis, an OPEC source told Reuters news agency. OPEC+ ministers were trying to persuade Mexico to cut its output by 400,000 bpd based on the countrys output level in October 2018, as part of broader cuts.

A worldwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic has cut fuel demand by roughly 30 percent and contributed to a crash in prices that took major benchmarks down by more than two-thirds before they recovered in recent days in anticipation of action from oil producers.

With storage brimming, its been clear that someone was going to have to fall on his sword. Now it looks like Saudi Arabia and Russia are again the adults in the room. Oil producers worldwide should be thankful, Krane said.

Even with such a reduction in output, analysts still expect storage to fill up worldwide, forcing producers to cut back drilling activities. United States gasoline demand has fallen by nearly half since mid-March alone, and other nations have reported similar declines.

The proposed 10 million bpd cut by OPEC+ for May and June will keep the world from physically testing the limits of storage capacity and save prices from falling into a deep abyss, but it will still not restore the desired market balance, the oil markets team at Rystad Energy wrote in a research note.

The US, whose output has surged to the number-one spot, topping the Russians and the Saudis, has not committed to any cuts. But Washington has said that US output has fallen as oil prices take a dive and that it expects US output to fall by nearly two million bpd by next year.

The core reason for the price war remains US shales freeriding on OPEC sacrifices. Once the pandemic eases, if we see shale returning to its old ways  grabbing market share while others cut  the Saudis will have cause to launch another price war, Krane added.

The last OPEC meeting in early March ended acrimoniously, with Russia and Saudi Arabia unable to come to an agreement to curb output as the virus spread, adding to the slump in prices.
ASEAN Foreign Ministers on April 9 agreed to form a COVID-19 response fund to fight against the disease, according to a statement released after the 25th ASEAN Coordinating Council Meeting on COVID-19 via video conference.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh chairs the 25th ASEAN Coordinating Council Meeting on COVID-19 via video conference

browser not support iframe.



"The Ministers agreed to establish the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund with the objective of mobilising financial resources to address the shortage of medical supplies, support the research and development of medicines and vaccines for COVID-19, and prepare for emergency responses in the future," said the statement.



ASEAN members also expressed their commitment to ensure the regional supply chains and open markets as well as work closely together to mitigate the impacts of the regional and global economic recession, restore the confidence of consumers and business community, and maintain socio-economic stability, it added.



The statement said the ministers also expressed strong commitment to further advance joint actions to tackle COVID-19 and the social and economic impacts that the pandemic has brought about to the region, particularly the ASEAN Community building process, through promoting policy coordination, sharing experiences and best practices, and exploring the possibility to provide mutual assistance among ASEAN member states.



They also recognised the need to engage constructively with external partners, including ASEAN dialogue partners and international institutions, in order to broaden collective efforts in the global fight against the pandemic.



The statement said the meeting was concluded with words of solidarity from all ASEAN foreign ministers who spoke in their respective languages: "We stand united with our ASEAN Member States in the fight against COVID-19."



It added that the meeting looked forward to the fruitful outcomes of the ASEAN Special Summit on COVID-19 and the ASEAN Plus Three Special Summit on COVID-19 via video conference to be held on April 14.



ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam./.VNA

ASEAN, ASEAN+3 Special Summits on COVID-19 response to be held online The ASEAN Special Summit and the ASEAN+3 Special Summit on COVID-19 Response will be held online on April 14.
This year there will be fewer tables groaning with holiday food as the coronavirus outbreak has put paid to religious and family gatherings

Normally at this time of year, millions of people around the world are planning elaborate lamb-based menus -- spits, roasts, kebabs or stews -- for a celebratory Easter Sunday family lunch.

But this year, there will be fewer tables groaning with holiday food as the coronavirus outbreak has put paid to religious and family gatherings.

Lamb sales have plummeted, and sheep farmers around the world are in despair.

"I was planning to slaughter 100 to 120 sheep, now I don't know what to do with them. Nobody does," said farmer Christos Kyriakopoulos in the western Peloponnese region of Greece.

"Farmers are out of options. We are facing a 90-percent drop in demand compared to last year."

In Christian Orthodox Greece, fines of 1,000 euros ($1,087) have been introduced for gatherings over 10 people to discourage the traditional Easter feast hosted on every village square.

"Seven out of 10 Greeks enjoy roasting lamb for Easter. That's not happening this year," Greek meat trader Angelos Asteriou told AFP, staring dejectedly at the inventory on his computer screen.

Greek former agriculture minister Evangelos Apostolou last month said the virus could see as many as two million lambs spared the butcher's knife this year.

In Britain, where people traditionally enjoy a roast leg of lamb on the religious holiday, some 35,000 fewer lambs were slaughtered in the week ending March 28, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

And in major lamb producer New Zealand, meat industry officials said the Easter lamb kill was about half that of last year.

- Growing fat, losing value -

"For us, Easter was supposed to be the best time of the year," said Michelle Baudouin, a sheep farmer in France's central Puy-de-Dome region.

This year, Catholic and Christian Orthodox Easter, Jewish Passover and Ramadan for Muslims all occur within weeks of each other. Eating lamb is traditional for all four, and France's 25,000 sheep farmers had counted on bumper sales.

Story continues

But Christiane Lambert, president of France's FNSEA farmers' union, said about half-a-million lambs will go unslaughtered this year.

Apart from lost sales revenue, this also means farmers are stuck with the unplanned extra costs of feeding the animals.

"They are gaining weight, they are growing fat, and they are losing value," said Baudouin.

"Extra strawberries and asparagus can be thrown away, but our animals, what do we do with them?"

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, about half-a-billion sheep are taken to the abattoir around the world each year. The figure includes lambs which are young sheep up to one year old.

Farmers say the coronavirus crisis, which has shocked the global economy and crippled brought several industries, has seen wholesalers push down lamb prices.

"We're looking at a major blow to our income. Some are forced to sell at very low prices, and others can't find any buyers at all," said 38-year-old Panagiotis Langadakis, who farms in a village near Thessaloniki.

"Last year we were selling lambs and goats at five euros per kilo. This year prices are four euros maximum. It's a disaster."

In France, producers complain of unfair competition from foreign lamb imports sold at prices lower than local production costs allow.

- People have more time -

AHDB analyst Rebecca Wright said anti-coronavirus confinement and social distancing measures alone were not to blame for the surplus of lamb, an expensive meat for most.

Many consumers have seen their salaries shrink as companies have had to reduce working hours, or even fire people.

"Domestically, consumers' financial concerns mean they are trading down rather than looking to the more expensive proteins," said Wright.

There have been some winners, though.

In Ireland, 41,000 lambs were slaughtered in the last week of March this year -- up 3,000 from a year earlier, according to Irish food board Bord Bia.

With restaurants shut and a travel lockdown in place, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has reported a shift in demand from the retail sector.

"A lot of people are at home and they're going to give it a go -- maybe cooking a piece of lamb or trying something different," IFA sheep chairman Sean Dennehy told AFP.

"Before, the problem that people had is that they didn't have enough time. So if you're working from home you have a bit more time to do that."
As a practical matter, the stay-at-home orders that have kept much of the nation hunkered down have been made by governors and mayors. But many were moved to act in part by the federal guidelines meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Mr. Trump, who has often sounded impatient for the nation  and particularly its economy  to reopen, said that he would listen to the advice of the medical experts before acting. But he also said that he would convene a new task force with business leaders on it next week to think about when to act.

At a news briefing at the White House on Friday, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he assumed that any lifting of restrictions would cause an increase in cases, heightening the need to be able to identify, isolate and trace them.

And in an interview on CNN on Friday, Christopher Murray, the director of the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, which had created a model for Covid-19 deaths, said the data he had seen had persuaded him that a premature lifting of social distancing restrictions  without adequate testing and contact tracing, among other safeguards  could see a renewed surge in infections, and deaths.

Its enough to say that if we were to stop at the national level May 1, were seeing a return to almost where we are now sometime in July, Dr. Murray said.
Parents fear that first graders may lose literacy skills and that students in higher grades may suffer from depression.

Nguyen Thuy Dung, whose daughter is a first grader in Hanoi, said since the coronavirus holiday began, the teacher has been giving home exercises in math and Vietnamese language to students regularly.

Students don't go to school these days





Dung noted that her daughter can do math exercises on adding and subtracting up to 2 digits well. However, the girls knowledge about Vietnamese language is not good.



Recently, the girl and her classmates have begun following online lessons via internet. When the teacher asked students to write in their notebooks the word qua ca chua (tomato), Dungs daughter could not do it.



Later, Dung asked the girl to write many other words, and was shocked when she made a lot of mistakes.

Parents fear that first graders may lose literacy skills and that students in higher grades may suffer from depression.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, a teacher at the Tay Ho Primary School, before carrying out online teaching, held a trial teaching hour which lasted 30 minutes.



As first graders cannot concentrate on lessons well, Huyen asked parents to attend online lessons together with their children.



Huyen said the long holiday will make many students forget what they learned in the first semester.



If students come back to school in June, teachers will have to work hard to repeat old knowledge, she said. Only if students learn without interruption from June to September, when the new academic year begins, will they be able to read and write well."



Other teachers in Hanoi also think that online teaching is more effective for higher grades. A teacher said a 30-40 minute online teaching period is just enough for teachers and students to talk to each other.



Meanwhile, parents who have children going to secondary and high schools have been warned that their children may suffer from depression if they have to stay at home for too long.



Ngoc Anh, a parent in Thanh Ha Cienco, said her son, a seventh grader, enjoyed the first days of staying off school very much. He solved all home exercises given by teachers, and read books and drew pictures.



But later, all the activities became boring. He began spending more time watching TV and playing with his smartphone.



I was shocked when he slept throughout a day. He just got up to get a bowl of rice and went back to bed again. Then he had a mild fever and got well again, Anh said.

Mai Lan

Online teaching offered during school closure Teachers at schools, colleges and universities in HCM City are applying a wide range of teaching methods to help their students learn online while the schools are closed until February 9 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The new investments by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) through the postdoctoral study funding program is expected to improve research capabilities and the academic environment.

Why doesnt NAFOSTED (National Foundation for Science and Technology Development) have a program to fund postdoctoral studies? was the question asked by Prof Dao Tien Khoa from the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute five years ago.





Khoa said he received many requests from young researchers, Vietnamese and foreign, to instruct postdoc students. However, he could not admit the students because there were no scholarships.



Many other prestigious and experienced scientists with a high number of internationally published articles such as Prof Pham Hung Viet (the Hanoi National University), Nguyen Van Hieu (Vice Rector of Phenikaa University) and Phan Thanh Son Nam (HCMC University of Technology) had also received proposals. And they also could not find solutions, though they wanted to train young scientists who could develop research teams.



In general, when young scientists want to improve their research capability, they have had to seek foreign professors and international funds.

The new investments by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) through the postdoctoral study funding program is expected to improve research capabilities and the academic environment.

In a research team, postdocs play a very important role because they are the key member just after the research team leader. They actively conduct research after being consulted by the team leader, Viet explained.



The recent launch of NAFOSTEDs post-doctoral study funding program will help solve the problem and bring positive signs to the disciplinary environment in Vietnam.



In 2019, the fund announced the program on postdoc, with requirements that are academically strict. There is no limit on the number of applications.



This program is built in accordance with an MST circular on improving the nations science and technology capability.



As of the end of 2019, NAFOSTED had received 23 applications from candidates in seven disciplines - mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, earth sciences, agricultural biology and biomedical pharmacy.



After the review, the scientific committee selected 11 applications that met the requirements. Three out of five applications in mathematics have approval for funding, 3 of 6 in computer science, 1 of 3 in physics, 3 of 3 in chemistry and 2 of 3 in earth science.



Of the 11 funded researchers, there are five researchers in Hanoi, four in HCM City, one in Thai Nguyen and one in Phu Tho.



The foundation has agreed to grant funding to researchers from either state-owned or private organizations. In principle, the duration for support is 12 months, but if scientists want to expand their research, the foundation may extend the support time by another 12 months.

Kim Chi

Female scientists honoured for influenza, forestry research A group of influenza researchers and a forestry scientist were named winners of the Kovalevskaya Award 2019, a prize dedicated to outstanding female scientists.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has become a focal point for criticism of the American government's coronavirus response, blamed for botching tests that would have helped track the illness in its early days, and then receding from the Trump administration's public messaging.

In a nearly hour-long interview with Bloomberg News, CDC Director Robert Redfield predicted that the CDC would emerge with its reputation and capabilities intact, even improved, from an outbreak that has infected at least 465,000 Americans, caused more than 16,000 deaths, and is projected to kill thousands more.

"We continue to be the premier public-health institution in the world," Redfield told Bloomberg, addressing questions about the agency's response to the virus, its public role, and its future.

The CDC was founded in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center, charged with making sure that malaria didn't spread across the nation. With a $7.28 billion annual budget and 10,000 employees in the U.S. and abroad, it's one of the world's foremost public-health agencies, charged with defending the nation against disease and protecting the health and well-being of Americans. But the coronavirus pandemic has tested the agency like never before, including a high-profile misstep during an important window when the virus might have been contained.

"We didn't get ahead of the outbreak. And the CDC in its history would have always gotten ahead of the outbreak," said Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California, citing the agency's work on Ebola, Zika and other diseases that have threatened the world. "Lives have been lost. It's not just the CDC. It's the entire government."

In January, as the outbreak expanded in China, the CDC's scientists developed a test for the virus at the agency's labs. On Feb. 4, the CDC was cleared to send out hundreds of test kits to state and local public-health labs, part of a stepped-up program to identify infections and track their contacts. The test kits were crucial to the U.S. effort to contain the disease while there were still less than 20 known cases in the country.

"I think history will lay the facts down correct," Redfield said. "The real truth is, CDC did its job really in a record time and developed the test within seven to 10 days" from when the virus's genetic sequence became available.

Unfortunately, the version of the test the CDC sent to labs failed to work for most. It took eight days for the CDC to announce the problem, and more time to get new kits out and modify existing ones.

"We then said, don't use it, let us take it back," he said. "And in a couple weeks we figured it out, we corrected it and got it out."

Those weeks, however, were crucial. By the time the CDC shipped new versions of its test out, the virus had already started to spread inside the U.S., eventually setting off clusters of infections in New York, Seattle and California.

The CDC encouraged other authorities, including the Food and Drug Administration, to allow hospitals and commercial labs to get tests on the market faster. But ensuring that America had widespread testing capacity for the novel pathogen ultimately was not the CDC's job, Redfield said.

"It was really the responsibility of the private sector and the clinical medicine apparatus to develop these tests for clinical medicine," he said. "That's the part that's still frustrating some people."

Other parts of government share responsibility. It took weeks for the FDA to begin issuing emergency authorizations for other tests, after problems with the CDC kits emerged, for example. But the errors cost crucial time, said Topol.

"The singular egregious failure was the lack of having a test ready, at scale, with all that was happening in China," said Topol. "It was their job to be ready for the worst-case scenario. Ready to do millions of tests throughout the country. Because that didn't occur, everything that has happened since then is attributable to that failure.''

Redfield maintains that that's a misunderstanding of the agency's responsibilities, and predicted the CDC would come out of the pandemic stronger. "Our public-health capacity for decades to come is going to be strengthened, the core capabilities are going to be finally brought to where they need to be," he said. "We're going to have laboratory capacity that has enormous redundancy."

Redfield, 68, is a devout Catholic and a noted virologist who has done extensive research and clinical work on HIV and AIDs. He served for 20 years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and after his retirement founded the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland with two other renowned HIV researchers. He's led the CDC for two years, taking over from President Donald Trump's first director, Brenda Fitzgerald, who resigned from the agency after buying stock in a tobacco company shortly after taking the job.

While Redfield has never had a reputation for seeking the spotlight, the CDC's public presence looks far different than when the outbreak began. Through early March, its experts held regular briefings to educate the public on the virus and the government's attempts to contain it. In recent weeks, Trump has taken on responsibility for briefing the public himself, with a rotating cast of officials that rarely includes the CDC, but often includes a mix of conflicting scientific claims and medical advice put forth by the president that are then gently walked back by other members of government.

Redfield was a regular presence at the government's briefings early on. But as the White House and Trump have taken over, he's receded. Since March 14, according to an analysis of transcripts, he's appeared only four times at the Trump-led White House briefings that are broadcast across the U.S. and serve as the administration's most visible and best-covered message to the public about the virus. Most days, no one from the CDC appears at the briefings at all.

The CDC's last public briefing of its own took place over a month ago, on March 9. Asked where the decision to end the agency's briefings had come from, Redfield said he didn't know. "I just know that our regular briefing was discontinued," he said.

A Trump administration official said Redfield attends task force meetings by phone when he's in Atlanta and in person when in Washington. The official said the White House briefings cover much of the same material that CDC briefings did, so it doesn't make sense to hold both. The official said he did not know who decided to discontinue the CDC's own briefings.

Redfield said the agency is focused on getting its recommendations on how to stop the spread of the disease out through other channels, not on appearing at high-profile briefings.

"I don't think that the press briefings, at the end of the day, with all the different things, is really the place to do that," Redfield said. "It's more how do we maximize our public-health message to the components of the American public who are involved in public health."

"You may not see them on the television, or you may not read about them, or hear them on the radio, but we're constantly communicating with the American public to make sure they get the best information that CDC has to give them," Redfield said. Redfield cited guidance on the agency's website and more narrowly tailored outreach to medical workers, faith communities, business leaders and nursing homes, including daily telephone calls that draw up to 40,000 participants.

As questions have arisen about the CDC's role in recent days, Redfield has become more outwardly visible. He gave an interview to the health news publication Stat published on April 4, defending the agency's performance, and appeared at a CNN event on April 9. He's also engaged in appearances on local, often conservative, talk radio, reported Politico, which characterized his role as a trusted voice speaking to Trump's base.

Before they stopped, the CDC's briefings were a reliable source of information about the virus and the government's response. They also proved prescient about the impact on the U.S., at a time when the White House was downplaying the situation and calling the virus nearly contained and unlikely to have a major impact.

Almost three weeks before the White House called for significant social distancing measures to stop the spread of the virus, one of the CDC's top infectious-disease experts warned that Americans needed to start preparing for dramatic changes, including the possibility of closing schools, sporting events and other elements of daily life. The official, Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned of a serious outbreak in the U.S.

"It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness," Messonnier said at the Feb. 25 briefing.

Messonnier, whose comments helped spark a drop in the U.S. stock market, hasn't spoken publicly in recent weeks. The closing of the channel between the agency and the public leaves the nation less prepared, one of Redfield's predecessors said.

"Let's be frank: they are our No. 1 experts in how to address a pandemic of respiratory illness," Tom Frieden, who led the CDC under then-president Barack Obama, said on call with reporters in early April. "If all of us had been hearing from Doctor Nancy Messonnier every day for the past five to six weeks, we as a country and families and as individuals would be much better prepared." (Frieden is currently chief executive of Resolve to Save Lives, which is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, whose founder, Michael Bloomberg, is also founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP.)

Redfield said that as the pandemic spread, the public face of the government's response naturally shifted up the government ranks. What began as a response led by Messionnier's center within the CDC rapidly escalated to the entire agency, and then to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and eventually to one led by the White House.

"I think it's important to see how this response has gone from a CDC center, to CDC, to the Department of Health and Human Services, to an all-of-government response," he said.

But as the responsibility for leading the response has shifted, confusion over what information is right and what's wrong has grown, as well.

The dynamic was on display in mid-March as authorities began to bar public gatherings. On March 16, citing "lack of federal direction," governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut said they would limit gatherings to 50 people. Later the same day, the Trump advised against gatherings of more than 10 nationwide.

"They have lost the role of being the public-facing agency," said Lorien Abroms, an expert on health communications at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health. The danger is more chaos as the country grapples with the fast-moving crisis, she said.

"We have different parts of the government saying different things," Abroms said. "People started by being confused and not knowing who to follow."

In late March, more than 80% of Americans said they trusted the agency for reliable information on the coronavirus, according to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health research group. That is a remarkable number when the country is divided and overall faith in institutions is low. Almost as many people said they trusted state leaders, the World Health Organization, and Anthony Fauci, a National Institutes of Health scientist who has taken on the role of expert-in-chief at the White House sessions. Less than half said they trusted Trump or the news media.

The CDC's latest health recommendation is that Americans wear a facial covering when out in public, part of an effort to reduce spread of the virus, in particular by people who may not have symptoms.

Redfield said he carries a face covering his wife made him from a bandanna and rubber bands, and he wears it in situations when he cannot maintain the recommended six-foot distance from others.

"It's only a recommendation," Trump told reporters on April 3, the day the CDC's mask recommendations came out. "You don't have to do it."
Canada lynx disappearing from Washington state

PULLMAN, Wash. - Canada lynx are losing ground in Washington state, even as federal officials are taking steps to remove the species' threatened status under the Endangered Species Act.

A massive monitoring study led by Washington State University researchers has found lynx on only about 20% of its potential habitat in the state. The study, published recently in the Journal of Wildlife Management, covered more than 4,300 square miles (7,300 km) in northeastern Washington with camera traps but detected lynx in only 29 out of 175 monitored areas.

The results paint an alarming picture not only for the persistence of lynx but many other cold-adapted species, said Dan Thornton, an assistant professor in WSU's School of the Environment.

"Lynx are good sentinel species for climate change," said Thornton, the corresponding author on the study. "They are specialized, have larger ranges and need really cold, snowy environments. So, as they go, they are like an early warning system for what's going to happen to other climate sensitive species."

Wildfire, rising temperatures and decreasing snowpack have all hurt the lynx's ability to survive in Washington, the researchers found.

In the last 24 years, large wildfires have ripped through northeastern parts of the state, destroying habitat for lynx and their favorite food: snowshoe hare. It can take as long as 20 to 40 years for that landscape to recover.

The lack of snow and cold are also a problem, as lynx with their bigger paws are specially adapted to hunt on snow and for the prey that live there. As temperature rises, warmer adapted species like bobcat and cougar could also bring competition into lynx territory.

"We learned that lynx are responding strongly to many of these factors - snow conditions, temperature and fire - that are likely to change even more as the climate warms," said Thornton.

The connection to Canadian populations is also key for the lynx survival in Washington, and that connection is complicated by differing conservation status. In Washington state, they are protected at the state and federal levels as a threatened species. In Canada, they are harvested for their pelts.

The lynx's protected status in the U.S. may also change. Lynx are currently found in Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Colorado, Idaho and Washington, but a 2016 federal draft assessment found the species would disappear from its northern range without protection by 2100. However, a new assessment in 2018 concluded that the lynx could be removed from threatened status under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Living in high, remote areas, lynx are challenging to study, and estimates of actual individuals are difficult to make, but according to an analysis by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife based on data collected in the 1980s, the state used to have about 7,800 square miles of habitat capable of supporting 238 animals. In 2017, that estimate was revised down to about 2,300 square miles capable of supporting 38 to 61 lynx. This latest study adds strong evidence that their territory in Washington is further contracting.

To document the elusive animals, WSU graduate student Travis King, the lead author on the study, covered thousands of kilometers and spent two summers in the field. He also relied upon many partners and volunteers, ranging from government natural resource agency employees and conservation groups to hikers and citizen scientists. The researchers and volunteers deployed and collected 650 camera traps which generated more than 2 million images which were, in turn, sorted with the help of dozens of WSU student volunteers.

This is the first time such a comprehensive method using camera traps to track lynx has been employed. Thornton and his colleagues are now working to use the method to estimate the lynx range in Glacier National Park in Montana.

###

This research was supported by a Seattle City Light Wildlife Research Grant, Conservation Northwest, the United States Forest Service and a Department of the Interior Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center Research Fellowship. King received funding through the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program as well as Washington State University.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley at a news conference at the Pentagon the day after it was announced that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. raid in Syria Oct. 28, 2019 in Arlington, Virginia. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Dangerously Wrong: Dont Test US Military During Pandemic, Leaders Warn Adversaries

The top military leaders have warned adversaries not to test U.S. military strength and resolve during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If our adversaries think this is our moment of weakness, they are dangerously wrong, said Deputy Defense Secretary David L. Norquist on April 9. To those who wish us harm, make no mistake: even with the challenges that this disease has brought to our shores, the Department of Defense stands ready to meet any threat and defend our nation.

Norquest was one of several military leaders, including the top general, to separately offer assurances yesterday on the readiness of the forces to fight.

Those assurances come after the plight of a virus-hit aircraft carrier in the Pacific was pushed into the spotlight by controversial events that culminated in the resignation of the Acting Navy Secretary.

There has been no indication of a shift in activity by other militariesalthough China has not let up on its usual harassment in the Pacific.

The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) transits Apra Harbor as the ship prepares to moor in Guam on Feb. 7, 2019. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Terence Deleon Guerrero)

Norquist said that the United States had rebuilt its military over the last four years. We have more people, more advanced equipment, more munitions, and are better trained.

A similar message was given by other military leaders, including the Defense Secretary and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.

Milley warned adversaries would be making a terrible, tragic mistake if they thought that  [they] can take advantage of any opportunities  at a time of crisis.

The U.S. military is very, very capable to conduct whatever operations are necessary to defend the American people, Milley said. We will adapt ourselves to operating in a COVID-19 environment. We are already doing that.

Milley was talking at an online Town Hall meeting for troops, together with Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

Many of our adversaries  are trying to exploit this crisis, Esper said. So its important that we maintain readiness by full faith and confidence in our commanders.

Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said readiness was not affected overall.

We watch the readiness of the force every day. And the readiness of the force, in aggregate, has not dropped as weve gone through this, Hyten told the online audience.

Hyten acknowledged that there are pockets of degraded readiness, such as the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.

The Plight of the Carrier

The carrier is currently sidelined from its mission as it systematically evacuated and disinfected in port in Guam after an outbreak of the CCP virus on board as it steamed across the Pacific.

As of yesterday, according to the Navy, 416 of the crew have so far tested positive for the virus, with 3,170 negative results. One of the crew was admitted to an intensive care unit yesterday.

Aircraft carriers are key pieces in the geopolitical and military game with China.

U.S. carrier groups are the ultimate insurance policy that guarantees the freedom and independence of Taiwan, Robert J. Bunker, an adjunct research professor at the U.S. Army War College, previously told The Epoch Times via email. These groups also allow the U.S. to project its military power and influence throughout the South China Sea in support of its allies, who are being challenged by the expansive and ongoing CCP regime territorial ocean grab taking place.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is seen while entering into the port in Da Nang, Vietnam, on March 5, 2020.(Reuters/Kham/File Photo)

However, analysts told The Epoch Times that if push comes to shove in the Pacific, the Navy could shrug off any strategic disadvantages of having the carrier sidelined.

If other carriers are hit by further outbreaks, however, most agree that it could affect the usual clout the United States has in the region.

Although the carrier isnt in a state of immediate readiness, that would be the case for any ship in port, according to Dakota Wood, senior research fellow in defense programs at the Heritage Foundation.

If it needs to deploy in an emergency situation, it would do so and the Navy has the ability to reinforce the crew with additional sailors if needed, he previously told the Epoch Times.

If more U.S. carriers or other ships are struck by COVID-19, U.S. influence could be reduced, Wood said. However, in the event of imminent conflict, ships and sailors would be redirected from other missions and ships already in the region to include those in port, he noted.

They might be understrength for a period of time and while this would not be preferable, clearly, it would not differ from a ship having to fight with some of its crew wounded.

The U.S. military would do things in a wartime situation it would not do in peacetime, he said.
An Impoverished Indians gives his finger print on a biometric machine after purchasing food ration in Prayagraj, India, Thursday, April 2, 2020. India is adding more resources to tackle its increase in coronavirus cases by announcing that private hospitals may be requisitioned to help treat virus patients, and turning railway cars and a motor racing circuit into makeshift quarantine facilities. The steps were taken after a nationwide lockdown announced last week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led to a mass exodus of migrant workers from cities to their villages, often on foot and without food and water, raising fears that the virus may have reached to the countryside, where health care facilities are limited. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

WASHINGTON (AP)  The World Bank on Thursday approved its first funds to help some of the globe's poorer countries combat the coronavirus outbreak.

It approved total aid of $1.9 billion for 25 countries. The largest amount of assistance was $1 billion for India followed by $200 million for Pakistan, $129 million for Sri Lanka, $100 million for Afghanistan and $83 million for Ethiopia.

World Bank President David Malpass predicted the bank could provide up to $160 billion in assistance over the next 15 months.

World Bank officials said the emergency resources would include money to purchase critical medical supplies such as masks and ventilators, with the World Bank lending its procurement expertise to help obtain these supplies on global markets.

The approval of the first round of support for 25 countries will be followed quickly with aid to another 40 countries, officials said.

In addition to the support effort, Malpass said he and Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, are lobbying the Group of 20 major industrial countries to support instituting a 14-month pause in requiring the poorest countries to make debt repayments.

Malpass said that would free up about $14 billion over the next year that the countries would be able to use to fight the coronavirus.

He said the proposal was discussed at last weeks conference call with President Donald Trump and other G-20 leaders. Malpass said he hoped it would receive approval when the World Banks policy panel, the Development Committee, holds a virtual meeting on April 17.
Oregon will funnel an extra $60 million into its food stamp program to help people buy groceries amid the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Department of Human Services said Thursday that the money will be split between April and May to increase the monthly amount people receive through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Oregonians are facing unprecedented economic instability and food insecurity, the agencys director, Fariborz Pakseresht, said in a statement. This emergency assistance will help address the food needs our neighbors and communities are suddenly facing.

The $60 million will cover the costs of giving all recipients the maximum amount of assistance allowed for their household size, said Jennifer Grentz, a DHS spokesperson.

The maximum varies, from $194 for one person to $646 for four people.

Households already receiving the maximum monthly amount will not receive any additional benefits, the agency said. Recipients eligible for the additional money will receive the new benefits automatically.

The agency said that the funding would come from the federal government.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
A panel from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine sent a report to the White House this week in response to a request by the White House Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy for information on how weather and seasonality may affect the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The report, officially known as a rapid expert consultation, examined an array of coronavirus-related studies worldwide and focused on two approaches taken: studies based on laboratory data and natural history studies. Information on weather and seasonality was recently requested by Dr. Kelvin K. Droegemeier, a longtime meteorologist who serves as the chief science adviser to President Donald Trump.

The panel observed, "Each approach has strengths and weaknesses."

The impact of higher temperatures and high humidity on the spread of COVID-19, a topic that has drawn significant interest as the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened, was among the research studied and the chair of the panel, Dr. Harvey Fineberg, told AccuWeather, "In the end, I think it's inconclusive scientifically. I think that's a fair comment."

Transmission electron micrograph of a SARS-CoV-2 virus particle, isolated from a patient. Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH)

Fineberg suggested that because the virus is so new, the science is far from being settled.

"Partly it's because this is a novel virus, so we don't have any direct experience over a prolonged period of time with this particular agent," Fineberg said. "Everything we're doing is based either on laboratory experience with testing of this agent," he continued, referring to SARS-CoV-2, "and others, some early experience in different parts of the world with this agent, but not over a long period of time -- and trying to draw analogies with other viruses, other types of coronavirus, and perhaps even influenza, other sorts of pandemic viruses."

Story continues

One result regarding temperature and humidity, however, stood out for Dr. Fineberg.

Dr. Harvey Fineberg told AccuWeather, "In general, the evidence is a mixed picture - and that actually is something you have to expect early on in experience with a novel outbreak, a novel virus." (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

"It's pretty clear that when you look at this virus in the laboratory, if you raise the temperature and you raise the humidity, the virus does not do as well," he told AccuWeather. "It does not replicate as well. So, the virus is subject to success under different conditions of temperature and humidity."

Some of the research Fineberg's report cited was a study published on April 2 by scientists in Hong Kong. The researchers, led by Alex W H Chin of the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, found that SARS-CoV-2 "is highly stable at" a temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit. At 132 degrees, the researchers found, the virus remained active for no more than 30 minutes. And when the temperature was raised to 158, the virus became inactive in five minutes.

Is it possible the virus, then, is weather-proof? "In lab studies," Dr. Fineberg said, "these survival times relate most to the length of time that surface contamination may present a danger. If you touch the same surface as an infected person within a few minutes in Death Valley [California], you could pick up the infection. But you would have days to get the same dose in Juneau [Alaska]." High temperatures in Death Valley typically reach well into the triple digits during the summer, its hottest period. In Juneau, summertime temperatures normally top out in the mid-60s.

"But," Fineberg pointed out, "when you look at the world where the virus has already started, you get a very mixed picture.

"We have a pandemic raging in Australia - well, it's their summertime," he said, pointing to when the first cases were discovered there. To date, Australia has recorded more than 6,000 cases of COVID-19 infection.

"We've got studies in China in different cities that are pretty inconclusive. When they do suggest that there might be some connection, it doesn't explain very much of the variation in the rate of disease. So overall, the conclusion is that you really probably cannot count on seasonal change to have a very profound effect. Now, having said that, maybe it will."

Flowers donated by local florists in appreciation of the medical community are arranged in the shape of a heart at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Friday, April 10, 2020, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Dr. Fineberg acknowledged that humans traveling around the world played "a very important part" in the initial spread of the virus, which could perhaps explain the pandemic's presence in Australia during the summer.

Hong Kong University professor John Nicholls, who is working with colleagues on one of the world's first lab-grown copies of SARS-CoV-2, reviewed the report and told AccuWeather, "Though they mention Australia as the exception for community spread and seasonality, most cases there have been linked to cruise ships, and had these not happened, then cases would be very similar to New Zealand, which seems to have had very few cases and little community spread." New Zealand had 1,283 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of this writing, according to statistics from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Fineberg told AccuWeather that studies indicate travel appears to have affected the spread in New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States.

"Some very recent studies that have looked in detail at the genomic makeup of the virus suggest that in New York City, for example, and New York state, that much of the importation of the infection came probably from European sources," he said, referring to information revealed in a report by The New York Times. "So that could have been American travelers returning from Europe, for example -- that seems to be the prevalent sub-strain of the virus that is circulating in the state.

Latest coronavirus COVID-19 coverage from AccuWeather.com

"Travel is a very important part of this because the world is so connected in normal times that you can be infected, you can reach any part of the world during the period of incubation before you feel any symptoms, and in this particular virus it's even more insidious because not everyone even develops symptoms and you still may be capable of spreading the virus to others," he said. "So, travel is an important consideration in general with the spread of infection."

The panel's report to the White House summarized its analysis of the research it reviewed, particularly regarding temperature and humidity, and noted, "Given the lack of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 across the world, if there is an effect of temperature and humidity on transmission, it may not be as apparent as with other respiratory viruses for which there is at least some pre-existing partial immunity. Additional studies as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic unfolds could shed more light on the effects of climate on transmission."

The panel said it anticipates "new, relevant data within the next week or two, and in particular, data on surface survival of the virus under different levels of humidity, and aerosol survival with and without exposure to natural levels of UV radiation."

Dr. Fineberg says he is not surprised by the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 research. "In general, the evidence is a mixed picture - and that actually is something you have to expect early on in experience with a novel outbreak, a novel virus," he told AccuWeather. "It takes a while before the scientific evidence really settles out and a preponderance of evidence pushes you one direction or another.

"The big challenge to policymakers -- like meteorologists: How do you make judgments and predictions based on imperfect information?" Fineberg added. "That is a continuing important challenge to everyone."

The other lingering uncertainty: When will normalcy return or at least something resembling life pre-COVID-19?

"This is the $64 question, or maybe the $16 trillion question," Dr. Fineberg told AccuWeather. "Did we ever return to 'normal' after 9-11? If you mean when can we expect to get back safely to work and school as before, it depends on how soon we can have ample testing and systems in place to identify, isolate, trace and separate."

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

And normalcy won't return all in one fell swoop, Dr. Fineberg predicted.

"Just as the epidemic is at different stages in different parts of the country, I expect a return to 'normal' economic and school activity will likely be introduced at different times in different parts of the country," he said. "If we have testing and follow-up capacity in place, we will be in a position gradually to re-start the economy with close monitoring and containment of any recrudescence."

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
The fundamental obligation of any government is to keep its citizens safe. In a complex, representative democracy like the United States, these tasks must be delegated to public officials who have the expertise and judgment to do so honestly, transparently and competently, while the rest of us can go about the business of our daily lives.

As Michael Lewis brilliantly illustrated in The Fifth Risk, the US career bureaucracy is filled with people who are experts in anticipating disasters and planning how to avoid or mitigate them. Yet political leadership has repeatedly and at the worst possible times failed in performing its essential function of assuring that the American people are safe.

On issue after issue, from September 11 to Hurricane Katrina to climate change and now the novel coronavirus, politicians have attacked, downplayed or buried inconvenient truths that they dont want to address for their own narrow purposes. What we hear is the litany of excuses that No one could have anticipated x. Yet the major disasters of this century not only could have been anticipated; they were anticipated within the government and every one of them could certainly have been mitigated if not entirely avoided.

President Trump is the apotheosis of the usual game-plan: ignore, deny, lie, blame others and punish the messenger. But this time, the pile of corpses will be much, much higher.

September 11

Osama Bin Laden was nothing if not transparent in his agenda. Between January 20, when George W Bush was inaugurated, and September 10, 2001, more than 40 articles regarding Bin Laden made it into the Presidents Daily Briefing, which was generally attended by the President, the Vice President, the National Security Advisor and the Director of the CIA, who gave the oral briefing.

The intelligence reporting consistently described upcoming attacks as occurring on a calamitous level, indicating that they would cause the world to be in turmoil. The headline of a June 30 briefing was stark: Bin Laden Planning High-Profile Attacks. On July 31, an FAA circular alerted the aviation community to reports of possible near-term terrorist operations. The August 6 Presidential Briefing, Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US, referenced FBI information regarding preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including surveillance of federal buildings in New York.

So what happened? The CIA did not share information with the FBI or vice versa. The domestic agencies thought the threat was foreign; the foreign agencies told the National Security Council. The National Security Council said it had ordered the FBI to step up terrorism operations; the FBI denied it. The lights were blinking red, but no one was in charge and no one took responsibility.

Nearly 3,000 people died.

Katrina

The Hurricane Katrina disaster followed a similar path to disaster. The risk was specifically identified by experts and specific precautions prescribed. A 113-page disaster plan predicted that in a major storm in Louisiana (which happen with increasing frequency), the levees in New Orleans could break and there would be "thousands of fatalities," "floating coffins," and "large quantities of hazardous waste" that "would result in airborne and waterborne contamination."

The plan called for evacuations to begin three days before the storm made landfall. In reality, they began 20 hours before. Critical resources were supposed to be stored in place before the storm hit by FEMA; they werent. The mayor and governor blamed the Bush administration for the slow response. Federal officials said that hurricane preparation was a state and local responsibility and indicated the requests for help were not specific.

Once again, the experts had predicted and planned for the risk but a failure of responsibility at the top led to nearly 2,000 deaths.

Coronavirus

Now we are dealing with something far worse in terms of lives, potential economic impact and duration. Once again, there is a crisis that was anticipated and could have been significantly mitigated. There have been years of pandemic planning for a pathogen that could move swiftly, lethally and globally. Bill Gates warned in 2015 that a pandemic disease is the most predictable catastrophe in the history of the human race, if only because it has happened to the human race so many, many times before.

 Doctor responds to Trump claims during briefing broadcast

President Obamas outgoing homeland security advisor led the Trump team in a simulation of how an airborne respiratory pandemic would halt international travel, upend global supply chains, tank the stock market, and burden healthcare systems. Yet the Trump administration cut back CDC funding and eliminated the National Security Council unit dealing with pandemics.

In 2019, HHS conducted an extensive simulation of a scenario where a respiratory virus, dubbed "The Crimson Contagion," began in China and rapidly spread through the US. A draft report raised red flags about several shortcomings currently arising in the federal government's response and messaging to contain the virus.

A few months later, in November 2019, Covid-19 broke out in Wuhan. According to an ABC News Report, the National Center for Medical Intelligence, through data intercepts and satellite imagery, identified the virus outbreak as a potential threat to US troops in the region by the end of November. Analysts concluded it could be a cataclysmic. Top White House and Pentagon officials were briefed multiple times, beginning in November, and failed to make the basic connection that airborne pathogens in a globalized world travel everywhere.

The official notification by China to the WHO occurred on December 31. Even then, with serious leadership, millions of tests could have been ready as well as PPE provided for healthcare workers. Had testing been done, the curve could have been flattened so that triage of besieged hospitals would not be besieged.

Peter Navarro, the China-hawk trade advisor, wrote a memorandum on January 29, the day before the first case in the US was identified, stating: The risk of a worst-case pandemic scenario should not be overlooked. The President claims he never saw the memo (he is not a reader), although presumably many senior-level people saw it and surely Navarro if not others would have conveyed that information to him.

On February 23, when there were 14 cases in the US and still no deaths, Navarro wrote another memo describing the increasing probability of a full-blown Covid-19 pandemic that could infect as many as 100 million Americans, with a loss of life of as many as 1.2 million souls. By this time, the Coronavirus Task Force had been formed and Navarro wrote to its members: Any member of the Task Force who wants to be cautious about appropriating funds for a crisis that could inflict trillions of dollars in economic damage and take millions of lives has come to the wrong administration.

But Navarro was in fact identifying the President, who was denying the severity and dithering about making a $2.5 billion request. Congress appropriated $8.3 billion on March 4; It has now appropriated more than $2 trillion, with more contemplated. Much of this might have been unnecessary if the President had not wasted 70 days talking about hoaxes and the flu and had instead implemented mass testing and social distancing. Make no mistake: the Trumpian brew of hubris, narcissism, blaming and incompetence will kill tens if not hundreds of thousands needlessly.

This is not about partisanship; it is about a failure of accountability, honesty and foresight. Our leaders seem unable or unwilling to act in response to risk. Only when disaster cannot be ignored, bullied or gamed does top leadership become engaged. And this failure to govern competently in a world of dangerous uncertainty kills people  lots of people.

I stay awake nights thinking about all that I have learned over the past few weeks. It is not my job, or any citizens job, to learn these things, but I feel compelled to understand because the failure, incompetence and dishonesty of our government  and governments around the world  have been so profound and so profoundly disconcerting.
Police say there have been 40 homicides in the District this year, down from 43 at the same time in 2019, which recorded a decade high. Police data shows homicides at an even pace over the past month, with the city largely shut down due to the pandemic.
(Bloomberg) -- Now that Japans government is urging consumers and businesses to step up efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, shoppers may finally have no excuse but to embrace e-commerce and wean themselves from brick-and-mortar stores.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency for Tokyo and six other areas earlier this week. In response, Uniqlo clothing owner Fast Retailing Co., department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. and other retailers are temporarily closing shops or cutting hours, while grocers and other essential services will remain open.

Online shopping got a boost in the U.S., China and the rest of the world as more people turned to the web to buy essentials and shop for clothes, gadgets and other discretionary items. In Japan, its been a different story  the archipelago has so far avoided the severe shutdowns that have crippled other nations, and e-commerce penetration has long been among the lowest of developed markets. Only 7% of transactions were online in 2018, according to government statistics.

There could be first-time users during this time who see the merits of e-commerce, said Takeshi Mori, a researcher at Nomura Research Institute. After the coronavirus outbreak calms down, more people will be online in Japan.

That would be welcome news for the Japanese government, which has been promoting cashless payments and pushing businesses to embrace new retailing technology. More demand for web shopping could also nudge traditional retailers to invest in digital infrastructure to attract customers. Japans web shopping rate lags well behind the U.S. and even more so compared with China, where a fifth of retailing is now online.

One early convert is Shun Iwata, 51, who before the outbreak used to eat out during the week and shop in stores. Concerns over privacy also kept him away from web shops. Now, he considers it an essential service and signed up for an Amazon.com Inc. account a month ago. He initially sought to buy masks and disinfectant because stores were sold out, but now browses for knick knacks, including a hard-to-find case for his car keys. Theres a lot of things you can get online that you cant find in the stores, he said.

Story continues

Rakuten Inc., the Japanese e-commerce company, said its online marketplace sales in recent months are higher than they were a year earlier. A spokeswoman for the company declined to provide figures, but said daily essentials were selling well. A spokeswoman for Amazon, which has been in Japan for two decades, declined to comment.

Theres a big chance for e-commerce right now, Takeshi Okazaki, Fast Retailings chief financial officer, said at the companys earnings news conference this week. We havent seen any declines in e-commerce demand, and were having trouble keeping up with with shipping and logistics.

Even so, rising digital sales arent likely to make up for lost brick-and-mortar sales, not to mention the chilling effect the economic downturn is having on consumption. Most large retailers have said they are bracing for hard times ahead. On Friday, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike requested that all non-essential shopping facilities including malls close to slow the spread of the virus, and offered up to one million yen ($9,200) to support businesses that shut multiple outlets.

Ryuichi Isaka, chief executive officer of Seven & i Holdings Co., said the convenience store operator is considering new services, such as a system that would shorten shopping times in stores. Consumers will change their shopping behavior, he said in an earnings call.

The question is whether people will stick with web shopping once things settle down, according to Mori. A survey conducted by the researcher in mid-March, when stay-at-home measures were still relatively relaxed, showed only 10% of respondents in their 20s to 60s shopped online. That number probably increased in April, he said, as coronavirus cases started rising more rapidly, especially in Tokyo.

Infections in the capital make up about a quarter of the total of about 4,000 reported cases in Japan. Most people pick up groceries and other essentials near the stations where they live, which means that its often quicker and easier than shopping online. Before the virus outbreak, the busy commercial areas of Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ginza often teemed with people looking for clothes, books, gadgets and other products.

While local authorities lack the legal right to force retailers to close, many businesses had voluntarily shuttered storefronts on weekends or cut their hours. Retail traffic fell 63% from normal in Tokyo last month, according to mobility data analyzed by Google.

Even before the state of emergency, department store operators saw double-digit drops in sales during March, but were reporting higher online revenue, with beauty products selling particularly well. Apparel seller United Arrows Ltd. saw its online sales climb 24% in the same month, while store sales slumped 39%.

Takahiro Kazahaya, an analyst at Credit Suisse, wrote in a recent report that previous disruptions in Japan, such as the 2011 earthquake in eastern Japan, had changed consumer behavior and increased e-commerce market share.

Theres also some speculation that cashless payments will gain more momentum. Although Japan has long been known for having cash-preferring consumers and businesses, there are now people seeking to take advantage of promotional discounts. And there are some who are shunning bills and coins for fear of becoming infected; some 12% are concerned about cash hygiene, according to a March survey conducted by two local tech consultancies.

Meanwhile, Iwata, the newly minted online consumer, has been on an e-commerce shopping spree. He bought a laptop cover online from electronics retailer Yodobashi Camera Co. and discovered a site for rare tequilas, which he collects. Really, its thanks to the coronavirus that I found out about all this.

(Updates with Tokyo governor comments in ninth paragraph.)

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-11 00:10:57|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that China stands ready to boost cooperation with Venezuela in COVID-19 prevention and control and continue to help the Latin American country combat the coronavirus disease.

Xi made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi extended sincere sympathies and firm support to the Venezuelan government and people.

Since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, Xi said, China has always been sharing information on the epidemic with the World Health Organization and the international community in a timely fashion and with an open, transparent and responsible attitude, and has carried out extensive international cooperation.

Upholding the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China has also been providing as much support and assistance as its capacity allows for other countries in need, Xi added.

The Chinese president said he follows closely the development of the COVID-19 outbreak in Venezuela, and has noted that the Venezuelan government has rolled out swift and decisive measures, which fully demonstrates its high sense of responsibility for the safety and health of the Venezuelan people.

China understands Venezuela's current situation, and has sent to the Latin American country several batches of material aid as well as a team of high-level medical experts, Xi said, adding that his country is ready to offer more help.

Xi pointed out that China and Venezuela are comprehensive strategic partners, and their people share a profound friendship.

China, he added, supports the Venezuelan government and people in safeguarding national sovereignty, maintaining social stability and improving people's well-being, and supports the Venezuelan people in exploring a development path suited to their national conditions.

Xi said China stands ready to continue to play a constructive role in seeking a political settlement of the Venezuelan issue.
The Union home ministry and the labour ministry have asked state governments to coordinate with the chief labour commissioners (CLCs) office to give a comprehensive data of all the migrant workers by April 11.

Photograph: PTI Photo.

The central government has begun one of the most comprehensive exercises to map migrant workers scattered across the country -- in relief camps, on their employers premises, or in clusters where they reside.

The government wants to create a database of millions of such workers to ascertain whether a relief package could be announced for the most affected segment of the workforce due to the national lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19), a senior labour and employment ministry official said.

The Union home ministry and the labour ministry have asked state governments to coordinate with the chief labour commissioners (CLCs) office to give a comprehensive data of all the migrant workers by April 11.

As you all are well aware that a huge number of migrant workers is impacted due to the lockdown in view of spread of Covid-19  In view of above a comprehensive data in respect of the migrant workers are urgently required within three days, CLC Rajan Verma said in a letter dated April 8 to all his regional officers.

The data is to be collected from three sources primarily: Relief camps or shelters (district-wise); employers whose labour is in-situ at workplace; and from localities where migrant workers generally reside in a cluster. The data will be taken from relief camps operated by non-governmental organisations and companies as well.

The database will ascertain whether the migrant workers have bank accounts or bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan scheme, whether the workers get benefits of free gas cylinders for cooking under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, and their Aadhaar numbers.

The data will be segregated on the basis of occupation too. The list of occupations include agriculture, domestic work, rickshaw pulling, security service, work at brick kilns, automobile work, food processing, and building and construction work.

Sector-wise data will be sought from the employers. The piece of information is supposed to be collected by district administrations in states. The labour commissioners will be working in coordination with them for obtaining the details of migrant workers.

The government will attempt to map the pattern of migration and workers will be asked about their last place of residence and their native place.

A government official said data collection was an important step towards the government announcing contingency measures for the migrant workers in case the lockdown was extended.

Since data collection may pose a challenge and the government requires to collect it in a short duration, officials of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation and Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), along with labour welfare commissioners, will also be roped in for help in some states.

The database will also help the central government to make arrangements to transport workers to their homes from relief camps or bring them to cities for work, if they desire. But this idea is at a nascent stage as it will depend on the final decision on lockdown, another government official said.

The official added that the government also wanted to prepare itself for contingency measures in case there were coronavirus-infected people living in shelter homes.

According to the central governments estimates, part of its response to a petition filed by activists Anjali Bhardwaj and Harsh Mander in the Supreme Court, around 1.03 million people are residing in relief camps. But this might be an underestimation because the information was not captured from all the shelter homes.

Additionally, at least 1.5 million workers are being provided shelter by employers across the country.

Workers in the unorganised sector, which is about 90 per cent of our workforce, has been left in the lurch because they have lost their source of income as businesses have come to a halt. Their savings are meagre and the companies cannot step in to help as they have also been impacted. The government should provide a helping help to them by transferring them minimum wages, Bhardwaj said.

The 21-day lockdown, beginning March 25, led a reverse migration with workers leaving cities and going back to their villages as industries were shut and paying house rent or taking care of basic needs became a challenge, apart from health concerns.

According to official estimates, 500,000-600,000 workers had to walk back home on foot because public transport was not available to them. They travelled miles on foot to reach their villages.

Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers are still living in shelter homes set up by various state governments in India, while the rest are under quarantine facility before they are allowed to meet their families.
This is the moment an angry local confronted a couple who drove 180 miles to rent an Airbnb.

The man in Snowdownia, Wales, slammed the pair and accused them of breaking coronavirus lockdown rules - but the venue's landlady claimed the couple were made homeless by the pandemic.

The Government has ordered people to stay in their primary residence as the crisis continues.

Footage that surfaced on Facebook shows a man demanding to know why they were staying in the village of Penmachno.

The couple try to tell the man that they were renting the property but the local fires back: 'No you're not, you've come up in the lockdown. Coronavirus  you know what's going on don't you?'

He adds: 'How dare you come to this village and dare spread this, there's a lot of old people here and sick people. How stupid are you? Do you not watch the news and see people dying out there from this thing?'

Welsh current affairs show Byd ar Bedwar interviewed the Airbnb homeowner, Adelaide Martin, on Wednesday.

The owner of the property said the man pictured above was made homeless by the coronavirus and had nowhere else to go

Adelaide Martin (pictured) said that the couple turned to her in desperation when they lost their home in Oxford

She said the couple were kicked out of their home in Oxford and approached her for somewhere to stay. She said the man's 'aggressive' outburst had 'shocked' her.

She told the show: 'There's a young couple staying there, they come from Oxford, they asked me Friday.

'They were in a sticky situation, they'd lost their accommodation due to the coronavirus, they'd been chucked out of their accommodation and they went through Airbnb and asked me if they could stay for a month because they literally had nowhere to go.'

The video has garnered more than 17,000 views on Facebook since it surfaced on Monday.

One resident even said that the police had been contacted over the incident. Meanwhile, Airbnb today blocked all UK properties from taking new bookings with only exception being those made by key workers. The blockage remains in place until April 18.

Workers in the NHS will be able to stay in Airbnbs for free with other essential workers having their stays subsidised.

Under-fire minister Robert Jenrick has claimed the 1.1million Grade I listed country mansion he drove 150 miles to during the coronavirus lockdown is his family home - but his official website says the opposite, MailOnline can reveal today.

The Housing Secretary is also facing calls to quit unless he can offer a 'very good explanation' about a 40 mile trip to drop supplies at his parents' house in Shropshire last weekend when neighbours said they were already delivering essentials.

Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick, pictured in Downing Street on March 29, has defended driving 150 miles last weekend to visit his parents in Shropshire despite the Covid-19 lockdown as he was delivering food and medication to his mother and father who are self isolating

Mr Jenrick, a key player in the Government's response to the pandemic that has claimed 7,978 lives in Britain, has repeatedly told the public to stay at home and not make unnecessary journeys to stop the spread of coronavirus, including travelling to any second homes.

But today it emerged he stayed in his 2.5million London home for the first six days of the lockdown until March 29 when he travelled 150 miles to his country house in Herefordshire to be with his wife Michal and their three daughters.

Mr Jenrick, who has a 2,000-a-month taxpayer funded third home in his Newark constituency, said last night he considers the Herefordshire property to be the family home - but his official Conservative website says different.

It fails to mention his 17th-century Grade I listed country house, and instead says the family 'live in Southwell near Newark, and in London'. The couple are understood to spend most of the week in the capital because of Mr Jenrick's ministerial work and his wife's job as a partner for a major US law firm in the City.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, furious residents slammed Gordon Ramsay for moving to his 4.4million mansion in Cornwall amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Not happy: Furious residents have slammed Gordon Ramsay for moving to his 4.4million mansion in Cornwall amid the coronavirus outbreak

Nearby villages are reportedly furious with the chef, 53, after he moved there with his family in order to isolate amid the ongoing pandemic.

It comes as locals in the West Country called for tougher action to be taken on people fleeing to their holiday homes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Second home owners were accused of sneaking into the area in the dead of night, and local authorities have now asked for road blocks to be put in place in order to stop people getting into tourist hot spots this weekend.

Yesterday Cornish locals have roads to visitors and a motorhome was stopped by police on its way to the Lake District as second home owners continue to flock to rural areas.

Cumbria Police stopped this camper van in Windermere from the Devon area. A spokesman said the occupants were 'given words of advice and escorted back to the M6 to go home'

The residents of Worth Matravers, on the Purbeck coast of Dorset, say there has been an influx of second home owners since the coronavirus pandemic started

Police take away a man who was sitting outside an empty pub garden on the seafront in Brighton this afternoon

Police in Cumbria turned around a family of two adults and four children who were visiting Windermere yesterday - and sent them back on the motorway to Leigh in Greater Manchester

Cumbria Police posted this picture yesterday of force patrol cars in the town of Alston

Hundreds of holiday lets and second home owners who have arrived in Cornwall ahead of the weekend have been reported to the council as parts of the countryside brace for a tourist influx over the Easter weekend.

In one Cornish village locals have highlighted some 650 cases of people ignoring the government's lockdown orders in the past five days alone, according to The Times.

Officers in Windermere, Cumbria, are already sending people in camper vans, while locals in St Ives, Cornwall, have blocked some roads to protect vulnerable residents.
Albany, N.Y.  Just a week after announcing New York was on the verge of running out of ventilators, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a different message during his press briefing today.

Were OK right now, he said when asked if hospitals had enough protective gear and ventilators to respond to the coronavirus pandemic in the state.

Early projections showed New York could need as many as 140,000 beds and tens of thousands of ventilators to respond to the pandemic. Thats far more than the state had at the time.

Cuomo spent weeks sounding the alarm, asking the federal government for help and sending staff to scour the globe for supplies.

But the actual need has been much lower. If current trends hold  a big if, Cuomo has noted  the need should remain roughly where it is now at about 18,000 beds.

Hospitals are not completely comfortable  most facilities are accustomed to working with a stockpile of supplies that would last several months instead of just days, Cuomo said. But the state holds daily calls with hospitals and has been able to get them all what they need so far.

Its become apparent this week that the worst case scenarios for the pandemic in New York are not yet coming to pass, but relying on those early projections was not a mistake, Cuomo said.

The experts the state talked with at Columbia University, McKinsey and elsewhere were asked to model something that had never been modeled before. Using their work to prepare the state was the right move, Cuomo said.

They didnt know how unified New Yorkers can be and how responsible they can be and how caring they are, he said. Thats what they couldnt count in those models. They couldnt count the spirit of New Yorkers and the love of New Yorkers to step up and do the right thing.

Thats what they couldnt figure out on their computers.

Coronavirus in NY: 4th day in a row over 700 new deaths, positive trends remain

Growth rate in Upstate New York coronavirus infections stabilized and flat,' Cuomo says

He said it would have been more harmful if he had been in denial about the projections and didnt act on them. And simply because things havent been as bad as previously expected doesnt mean the numbers were wrong.

The reason infection rates have been lower is because of the actions the state took on social distancing and how well New Yorkers complied, Cuomo said. And if the state backs off now, the numbers could jump rapidly.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

NY clarifies essential rules on physical therapy, retail, fitness by video, chiropractors, lawyers, defense work

From Syracuse, with love: Nurses bring supplies, expertise, hope to Long Island outbreak

NY order closes golf courses, boat launches, marinas, playgrounds in coronavirus shutdown

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598
The estranged husband of a Florida woman who has been missing for three weeks was captured in New Mexico and arrested on murder and kidnapping charges, after investigators say he tried to cover up the crime by sending messages from his wife's phone claiming she was hospitalized with the coronavirus.

David Anthony, 43, was charged last Tuesday in the disappearance of his wife, 51-year-old Gretchen Anthony, who was last seen alive in Jupiter, Florida, on March 20.

The Anthonys have an open divorce case that was filed in late February, The Palm Beach Post reported.

David Anthony, 43 (left), was arrested in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on charges of murder and kidnapping in the disappearance of his wife, Gretchen, 51 (right)

On March 21, a neighbor heard woman's screams 'No! No! It hurts!' coming from the Anthony family's garage on Sunshine Drive in Jupiter, Florida (pictured)

Five days before his wife vanished, David was arrested for violently resisting arrest after police received a report that he was 'suspiciously' approaching young girls near a public beach in Florida. He was released three days later after posting bail.

According to a statement from the Jupiter Police Department, on March 26 officers responded to the Anthony familys home after Gretchens family reported her missing.

A cadaver dog was brought in and detected the smell of a dead body inside the residence. A search of the garage on the property turned up what appeared to be blood mixed with bleach, suggesting an attempt to clean up a crime scene.

Gretchens car, a dark blue Mini Cooper, was found in the parking lot of the Jupiter Medical Center, but there was no sign of the missing wife and mom-of-one.

During the investigation, police identified David Anthony as the prime suspect, accusing him of killing his wife on March 21.

According to an arrest report released by the police to CBS12, the case began unfolding on March 25, when a witness called them, saying that she two days prior she received a 'suspicious text message' from Gretchen, who wrote that she had COVID-19 and was being held by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at Jupiter Medical Center.

Five days before his wife vanished, David was arrested for violently resisting arrest after police received a report that he was 'suspiciously' approaching young girls

An officer was dispatched to the Anthony family's home in the 1300 block of Sunshine Drive to perform a welfare check, but no one came to the door.

The cop then contacted the clinic in Jupiter to inquire after Gretchen, but was told there was no patient by that name there.

Police then got a call from another witness, who said that he got a text message from Gretchen on March 24, saying she was at the medical center being treated for an 'acute' case of the coronavorus and was being taken to a CDC-affiliated center in Belle Glade, where she was 'sedated'.

The second witness noted that the texts from Gretchen included language that was not typical for her, but which her husband, David, has been known to use.

Police then 'pinged' Gretchen's phone, which placed it near Pensacola, where they say on March 25 David tried and failed to sell a bag of women's jewelry, including what looked like his wife's David Yurman-designed ring, at a local store.

The next day, one of the witnesses again called police, this time saying that her mother got a text from Gretchen, saying she was on a ventilator at Palms West Hospital battling the coronavirus, but police were unable to find her there.

Police suspect David sent multiple people text messages from his wife's phone, saying she was in the hospital battling an 'acute' case of the coronavirus

David and Gretchen have an open divorce case that was filed in late February

Police tracked down David's Nissan Frontier pickup truck and searched it with a cadaver dog, which picked up the scene of a dead body

When detectives went back to the family's home on March 26, a neighbor told them she heard a woman's 'blood-curdling scream' on the morning of March 21. The woman, believed to be Gretchen, was heard yelling, 'No! No! It hurts!' from the patio or the garage area.

Another neighbor corroborated that account, adding that he saw David's truck with the loaded up and covered with a tarp, according to the report.

The second neighbor allegedly said he saw someone using water mixed with a chemical to clean the garage.

When police entered the home, they found two bottles of cleaner and a rag, as well as towels in the washing machine stained with a 'reddish substance' that looked like blood.

Inside the master bedroom they found a broken glass picture frame and what looked like droplets of blood on the wall, according to the report.

When officers forced their way inside the locked garage, they discovered a large bleach stain. A police dog was brought in to the scene and detected traces of blood on the floor.

Police found what appeared to be blood in Gretchen's home, but they still have not located her body

That same day, police learned that both David and Gretchen's cell phones 'pinged' somewhere in Texas.

On March 31, detectives tracked down Anthony and his Nissan Frontier nearly 1,900 miles away, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and kidnapping.

While processing his vehicle, a cadaver dog indicated the scent of a dead body inside.

As of Friday afternoon, Anthony remained in the Dona Ana County jail awaiting extradition back to Florida.

Police are still searching for Gretchen's body.
There are few things Donald Trump wanted more in 2020 than Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee. I mean, maybe a sack of Filet-O-Fish sandwiches borne to his bedside by a brace of pliant porn starlets with ironclad NDAs, but speaking politically, Bernie was Donald's 2020 dream date.

Comrade Sanders was a fast track to Trump holding on to Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and his new home state of Florida on his way to winning 40-plus states.

Instead, Donald John Trump will face Joseph Robinette Biden in the fall, and he is not happy about it.

You Cheered as He Fucked Up. No Take Backs, Trumpists.

For once, the gods of political felicity smiled on the Democratic Party on Wednesday as Sanders ended his last campaign. As Trumps re-election insurance policy, Bernie would have delighted the culture warriors, the agitprop farms, and the more established conservatives who could finally say, Well, Trump may have problems, but I mean, Bernie.

Trump spent months boosting Bernieand will continue to try to stoke the Bernie base into a state of righteous fury, hoping for a repeat of what happened in 2016 when just over 12 percent of Bernie voters cast their ballots for Donald Fucking Trump. Bernies not being a Democrat is a sore spot for the, you know, Democratic Party; some of his voters hate a centrist Democrat in the way Trumps media ball-washers hate a Never Trumper and wanted to fuck over Hillary Clinton while others wanted to hasten the revolution. Still, most of them are justto use a term of political artnihilist assholes.

No, Trump did not want to face Biden, and for once, the devils luck failed him.

Bear in mind that Trump gambled his presidency on an absurd and clownish ploy led by Rudy Giuliani and a comically inept crew of fuckwit thief-in-law wannabe mobsters and was impeached for his troubles. Thats how much he fears Biden. He worries that Bidens appeal in the suburbs of places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Florida is a non-trivial factor and that Biden will end up bringing Barack Obama off the bench for this fight.

Story continues

Bidens brand runs deeper than Trump is comfortable with, and even Bidens weaknesses arent easy targets for Trumps arsenal of attacks.

Joe Biden is goofy. Has Donald Trump looked in the mirror?

Joe Biden shoots from the lip. Trump alternates between his pound-of-Xanax prompter trance and his stream of excrescence riff-a-paloozas where White House aides nervously eye the exits. Hes barely cogent on bad days, and once drawn outside his narrow comfort zone scans as a lunatic trying to convince the local cops that the bones in his crawlspace are just something his buddy Steve Bannon left behind.

Joe Biden is handsy. As opposed to Jeffrey Epsteins old running buddy, serial porn-star fucker, pro-am adulterer, accused rapist, and sexual harasser Donald Trump? Whoremonger, please.

Bidens path to beating Trump isnt the same as winning the Democratic primary. Its not the same as any election hes ever seen. Joe Biden is in a fight with someone without morals, a conscience, or anyone to restrain him. His opponent will lie, cheat, rely on foreign help to win, attack Bidens family, and unlike Biden, hell do it with a propaganda megaphone of unrivaled reach and power.

To beat Trump, here are just a few of the things that Biden needs to do:

Trump Is COVID. COVID is Trump.

Every re-election campaign is a referendum on the incumbent. Every. Single. One. This is no exception.

This race was going to be a referendum on Donald Trumps corruption, cruelty, incompetence, and status as the worlds top shitbird. All those things still obtain, but the Biden campaign needs to understand the weapon Donald Trump put in their hands.

Donald Trump is responsible for two months of deception, delay, and denial about the death toll COVID-19 is taking on our nation. Biden needs to hang every damn death around Trumps neck. Every doctor, every nurse, every frontline health-care worker knows the toll his inaction took. Donald Trumps decisions have already helped kill 15,000 Americans; never let voters forget it.

America knows what Trump is now. Theyre seeing the cost in lives and treasure. They know the limits of his pond-shallow intellect. They know hes an ineffective leader, unable to step up to the serious work of an important moment. His performance is pathetic, the results tragic. Biden must never, ever let this go.

Trump is rapidly and continually trying to rewrite history, and the core mission of the Biden comms and media effort in the coming months is to make voters understand the true nature and consequences of Trumps disastrous leadership.

Trumps collapsed economy is all his. Biden should be raising holy hell that the president and Mitch McConnell are still focused on bailing out Wall Streetthe only metric Trump really cares aboutas average Americans are getting fucked.

Counterprogram

Bernie is gone. Finito. Kaput. Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee in all meaningful respects, and he damn sure better start acting that way. Start acting like the president. Offer alternative courses of action. Respond to the hundred opportunities a day that the COVID-19 crisis offers to get in front of cameras and reporters and talk.

Trump functions by darkening the sun. He tweets. He picks fights he knows the media will cover. He talks to reporters off the record constantlyincluding the ones he blasts on Twitter and at press conferences, which amid this pandemic have become a sick show meant to command the entire media frontier.

Biden needs to get better, fast, on both earned and social media. Let the man tweet, people. He needs that authentic engagementwith a little adult supervisionand to begin rigorously counterprogramming the Trump show. Biden needs to do more press, and I know his advisers think this is risky, but this battle will be joined in the earned media space. Youll never get coverage to rival Trump until you get out there and commit news.

Its a tough lift, I know, but its where much of this battle will be fought.

Go Weapons-Free on the Adult Trump Kids

Donald Trump and his allies bet the Ukrainian farm on turning Hunter Biden into a radioactive campaign issue, and even though it failed, thats no reason they wont bring it up again.

And again.

And again.

Shamelessly and brutally and falsely.

The trick here isnt to launch into an endless defense of Hunter. The trick is to go on the attack, and go hard. Go after Ivankas China copyright deals. Daddys little angel is a sociopathic chip off the Trumpian block, and his weird feelings toward her (So thats how it is in that family) will lead to his over-reaction.

Donald Trump Does Deals, and Ivanka Trump Does Well

Go after the failsons and sons-in-law, starting with Jareds Persian Gulf bailout. Dont spare Donald Trump Jr. These scuzzy griftbots are raking in money off the campaign hand over fist, and no one is holding them accountable. Theyre using the hotels to launder lobbyist money back into Trumps pockets. Theres enough oppo here for a hundred campaigns.

Biden just needs to be bold enough to use it, and strong enough to resist the initial fainting-couch faux outrage when he gives back as good as he got.

Facts and Empathy Are Weapons

Trumps utter lack of empathy for the dead and suffering is a point of contrast that Biden wont enjoy making, but should. He was shaped by loss, tragedy, and death in the ways that so many Americans now understand. He can feel the pain Trumps decisions caused more viscerally, and if he can articulate the two threads, it will be one of the most damning indictments in our political history.

Remind voters that Trump cared about his ratings, not the pandemic. His denials were to keep his stock-market bubble inflated and his campaign in motion.

Never let up. Never stop reminding voters that both the deaths and the economic depression were entering are a disaster of Trumps making.

Most campaigns have a few attack lines and avenues that are, to put it mildly, tangential. The referendum now is marked by fresh graves, almost all caused by a president who deceived voters for two months. Biden can do what Trump cannotshow sympathy and emotion for the victimswhile keeping the blame laser clearly on Trump.

Be Shameless. Trump Is.

There are no points for nice, now. There are no points for civility or decency when it comes to prosecuting the campaign against Donald Trump. Trump will never, ever do the right or decent thing, and his consultants certainly wont. He will make outrageous, unsupported claims. Hell lie constantly, and promote ludicrous conspiracy theories that will make Pizzagate look like Mr. Rogers. Trying to get the media to litigate Trumps lies is a fools errand.

The secret is to hit back harder, and never, ever stop. Every Republican and Hillary Clinton took swipes at Trump with no consistency or follow-through. They thought, Well, Ill rip this zinger and thatll show him.

Learn from their errors. It doesnt mean Biden has to be ugly, but he does have to be relentless and recognize there is no bottom. There is no limit. There is no John McCain or Mitt Romney on the other side of this equation. When allies go hard at Trumpand especially when they edge up to the linedont apologize. Trump certainly wont.

For the Love of God, Shut Up About Policy

I know this will rankle many progressives, but Biden cant fall into the policy trap. No one gives a fuck about policy. Voters tell pollsters they care, but theyre lying. Obamas policy fit on a poster. Trumps fit on a trucker hat. This isnt a race about policy, because policy is always a snare and delusion, a dead-end at best and a trap at worst. Policy is a smothering lay.

Trust me, the GOP really, really, really wants this race to be about abortion, gun-control, climate change, and whatever else is in the Warren Center for Plans, Policies, and Paperwork. They want to drag this into a familiar frame of the culture warslibtard know-it-alls vs. Mericaand making the race about policy does that work for them.

Even as an empiricist, I have to say that I believe in luck. Ive seen it too many times in politics to let it pass by unnoticed. Joe Biden got lucky in Bernie leaving the race. He was lucky the way the primary chemistry resolved and his campaign rescued itself from peril.

And honestly, hes lucky Trump is failing utterly in the middle of the worst pandemic crisis in a hundred years. Biden has a hard and narrow road ahead to win this race, and while luck may not be enough to win on its own, hes a lot better off than anyone expected six months ago.

This Is a Man-Made Disaster, and That Man Is Donald Trump

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!

Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
A state Superior Court panel has voided a jurys $10 million damage award over the death of a woman following spinal surgery, saying the award is way out of line with others granted in similar medical malpractice cases.

The ruling doesnt let the Laser Spine Institute of Philadelphia off the financial hook in the case over the January 2014 post-operative death of Sharon Kimble., however

In an opinion by Judge Mary Murray, the state court ordered a Chester County judge to hold a new trial only on the issue of the amount of wrongful death damages Kimbles husband Robert and her estate should receive.

As Murray noted, Sharon Kimble died hours after undergoing outpatient surgery. The death was attributed to the cocktail of opioids and depressants administered to her during the operation.

After a trial in March 2018, the jury awarded Robert Kimble $10 million in wrongful death damages, plus $10 million in survival damages for the trauma he suffered due to his wifes death. The county judge who presided at the civil trial overturned the survival damages award but let the $10 million wrongful death award stand.

Laser Spine Institute then appealed to Murrays court, which denied its plea to order a new trial on whether it is liable for Sharon Kimbles death.

Murray did, however, conclude the amount of the wrongful death award is far greater than those issued in similar Pennsylvania cases. She cited examples of verdicts in other such cases that didnt exceed $2.5 million.

So, Murray sent the case back to Chester County Court for a new trial focusing only on the amount Laser Spine Institute must pay in wrongful death damages.
For more than a month, supermarket employees have stood on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, being exposed to hundreds of customers during each shift. It was only a matter of time until some of them contracted COVID-19 themselves.

Yet some stores have been more forthcoming in their public communication and alerting customers when a worker gets sick.

ShopRite has erred on the side of transparency in recent weeks, with stores across the state posting on their Facebook pages when an employee has tested positive. As of Tuesday, 36 ShopRite locations had employees test positive, while five additional stores had employees with symptoms.

Weve always believed in the consumers right to know, and have a commitment to being transparent with our consumers. And because of the nature of [coronavirus], we certainly think that our consumers would want to know, and its important to give them that information, Karen Meleta, the vice president of consumer and corporate communications at Wakefern Food Corp., which owns ShopRite, told NJ Advance Media Wednesday.

In the coming days, ShopRite will implement temperature monitoring and masks for staff members, Meleta added, and stores will be limiting capacity to 30 percent, even lower than the 50 percent mandated by Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday.

ShopRites openness to provide information to the public is in stark contrast to some other grocery chains that have chosen not to reveal which stores have experienced ill employees, citing that releasing such information is not required by law. But doesnt the public have a right to know considering this is an unprecedented health crisis?

Ashley Conway, a workplace health and safety expert at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, praised ShopRite for being above board, but she stopped short of condemning companies that are being less transparent. The key component here is disclosing information to the public information on a need-to-know basis, Conway says, and so little is known about coronavirus and who is carrying it that the situation becomes tricky.

Just because (only one person) is sick doesnt mean that half your store, half your staff isnt infected, Conway said. In light of that, I think it is kind of a moot point.

Elsewhere in the state, Parsippany-based Kings Food Markets says when a staff member at one of its 23 locations falls ill, the loyalty club members at that specific store are notified via email. The correspondence comes from CEO Judy Spires, alerting shoppers about the case and detailing the protocol for disinfecting the store.

I am proud to say Ive been able to get the email out to the local stores the day that were notified [about the cases], Kings spokesperson Kimberly Yorio said. Our customers have really appreciated it, they call and thank us for the transparency.

Meanwhile Stop and Shop, which has 62 locations in New Jersey and earned praise for its unionized workers getting raises and more paid sick leave is not making its small number of positive cases public because the Board of Health is not requiring customer notifications.

All confirmed positive cases have been disclosed to the local health authorities in those respective towns, Stop and Shop spokesperson Stefanie Shuman said. ... We also conduct an extensive deep cleaning of those stores and every surface possible in strict accordance with guidelines from the CDC and state and local public health officials.

Informing local health departments but not the public is also the company line for Wegmans and Acme.

The personal health information of all Wegmans employees is private, and as such we are not privy to, or at liberty to share, individual details," Wegmans spokesperson Tracy Van Auker said.

Acme also confirmed some staff members had tested positive.

When an associate at one of our stores is confirmed to have COVID-19, a nurse from our Crisis Response Center contacts the associate to ensure they are seeking appropriate medical care and to initiate a close contacts investigation," Acme said in a statement. "Following that investigation, we may recommend that additional members of the store team self-quarantine. We also report the confirmed diagnosis to the local health department.

When asked why they havent altered their protocols to further inform the public during the pandemic, the spokespersons for Wegmans and Acme did not respond.

Costco would only confirm that United States staff members had tested positive and they were communicating relevant information to our employees. Other grocery store chains such as Weis, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Target and Walmart did not respond to inquiries.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
Nigerias daily oil production capacity for the rest of the year will be significantly below the revised volume of about 1.7 million barrels contained in the proposed amended 2020 Appropriation Act.

Based on the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Nigerian government announced a N320 billion cut in its 2020 budget, to about N10.27 trillion against the N10.59 trillion earlier passed by the national assembly and assented into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

With the revised budgetary proposal, the crude oil price benchmark was reduced from the previous $57 per barrel to $30, while daily oil production volume was sliced from 2.18 million barrels to 1.70 million.

Nigeria to produce 1.4 million bpd

However, with Thursdays resolution by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut its members production, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipreye Sylva, said Nigerias daily production would drop by almost 300,000 barrels from the proposed revised volume.

Mr Sylva, who was the head of the Nigerian delegation to the meeting held online, said Nigeria would now be producing 1.412 million barrels per day between May and June 2020 in the first phase of the groups agreement.

He said between July and December 2020, Nigeria would produce about 1.495 million barrels per day in the second phase of the agreement, and another 1.579 million barrels per day between January 2021 to April 2022 in the third and final phase of the agreement.

READ ALSO:

Despite the significant difference between the new OPEC output ceiling and the proposed production capacity in the 2020 budget, Mr Sylva expressed optimism Nigeria would still break even and meet its revenue target.

Condensate to the rescue

He said the OPEC production quota calculation does not usually cover condensate production, which Nigeria has the advantage of using to shore up its oil production capacity with an average of between 360,000 and 460,000 barrels per day.

It is expected that this historic intervention when concluded will see crude oil prices rebound by at least $15 per barrel in the short term, thereby enhancing the prospect of exceeding Nigerias adjusted budget estimate that is currently rebased at $30 per barrel and crude oil production of 1.7 Million barrels per day, Mr Sylva said.

The price rebound may translate to additional revenues of not less than $2.8 billion for the federation, he added.

Despite the production curtailments by OPEC through the latest agreement, Mr Sylva assured that all planned industry development projects would progress after the termination of the OPEC/Non-OPEC adjustments in April 2022.

The OPEC deal

In line with the agreement reached in the early hours of Friday, the group resolved to cut a minimum of 10 million barrels of crude oil production from its production in an attempt to strengthen the oil market and halt the unprecedented decline in crude oil prices as a result of the impact of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic.

In the communique issued at the end of the 9th (Extraordinary) OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial meeting, its Chairman, Abdul Aziz Bin Salman, said embers resolved to adjust downwards their overall crude oil production by 10 million barrels per beginning from May 1, 2020, for an initial period of two months till June 30 2020.

Mr Salman, who is also Saudi Arabias Minister of Energy, said part of the resolution at the meeting was for members to also cut about eight million barrels per day subsequently for the period of six months, between July 1, 2020, December 31, 2020.

He said that would be followed by another cut of six million barrels per day for the next 16 months, between January 1, 2021, and April 30, 2022.

While OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing countries reaffirmed their commitment to the Declaration of Cooperation to achieve and sustain a stable oil market, he said they also resolved to uphold their mutual interest towards the efficient, economic, and secure supply to consumers, and a fair return on invested capital.

The Framework of the Declaration of Cooperation was signed on December 10, 2016, and further endorsed in subsequent meetings culminating in Charter of Cooperation signed on July 2, 2019, to cooperate towards a stable global oil market.

The baseline for the calculation of the adjustments, the OPEC Chairman clarified, was taken to be the oil production quotas of October 2018.

The group agreed that Saudi Arabia and Russia, the two powerful producers that stirred the recent global oil war, were the only exceptions, with both agreeing to cut about 5.5 million barrels each from their daily production.

The agreement would be subject to a review during the December 2021 meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) charged with the responsibility of monitoring the impact of the decision.
Moscow, April 10 : Russia, the US and Saudi Arabia have agreed to coordinate actions on stabilizing oil markets and minimize the impact of oil price volatility on global economy, the Kremlin said in a statement on Friday.

"Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud," the state-run TASS News Agency quoted the Kremlin press service as saying in the statement.

The sides confirmed "determination to coordinate actions to stabilize the situation in the global oil trade and minimize the negative impact of volatile oil price quotations to the global economy", it said.

According to the statement, the sides discussed the situation on oil markets, including with regard to the emergency OPEC+ ministerial meeting and the upcoming video conference of G20 energy ministers.

The plan on oil production cuts within the OPEC+ framework envisages that Russia and Saudi Arabia will reduce their oil production by 2.5 million barrels per day, from the current 11 million barrels to 8.5 million barrels per day in May-June, according to a draft agreement obtained by TASS.

During a video conference that began on Thursday, OPEC+ nations have been discussing the situation on the oil market and proposed cuts.

The previous OPEC+ agreement expired on March 31.

After that Russia and Saudi Arabia failed to agree on the terms of its extension.

The parties' withdrawal from the agreement pushed OPEC+ to increase production, which coincided with a sharp decline in oil demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, the oil price plummeted to $22 per barrel which is the sharpest fall in 20 years.

In late March, the partners decided to resume consultations and to invite more oil producing countries to take part in the joint activities to balance the oil market.
Domestic barometers have mirrored global indices this week, with Sensex climbing 2,894 points, and Nifty adding 858 points. As per traders the global cues will deliver be the general trend for our markets.

While India is consecutively reporting biggest single-day jumps in new COVID-19 cases, reports of pandemic slowing down in virus hit nations have kept the markets bullish in recent trading sessions. Further, the anticipation of stimulus announcements also has kept investors optimistic locally. Global sentiment improved as governments considered stimulus plans to control the crisis.

Indian markets were up by around 11% on a weekly basis, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, adding that the week's trend was mostly in sync with global markets.

While hopes of fiscal stimulus and slowdown in new cases have raised optimism, the extension of quarantine period damaging demand and supply chains has kept investors worried.

Here are the top 10 factors affecting the financial markets' trend in India:

1. Economic Stimulus

Expectations of a coronavirus relief package to help the already slowing economy post the lockdown period enthused investors. "In India, there is an expectation that the worst affected sectors and MSMEs may get some relief in another package to be announced shortly," said, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Markets are emulating global indices said, Jimeet Modi-Founder & CEO, SAMCO Securities & StockNote and added, "Indian bourses have defied gravity by merely reacting to the global peers as India is still working on the second tranche of the economic package to combat the COVID-19 effects - first being only a $22.50Bn stimulus."

Experts indicated that global equities since late March are on a relief rally, already pricing in through stimulus led economic recovery while corporate shock remains unclear.

2. Globally induced market

Domestic investors have tuned in with global peers for the overall direction of the market as participants had already taken in the announcements of 21-day lockdown and the stimulus measures.

"It is also pertinent to note that barring the cautionary commentary by the management of one of the fastest-growing NBFCs on various scenarios of lockdown, markets still went higher implying the worst is discounted in the current scenario," Jimeet Modi said.

As per experts, globally, market indices have turned very volatile, amid a rising number of cases and probable extension of lockdown measures. By the March-end, markets reversed to bullish trend with expectations of infections peaking out in worse hit countries.

"The rally in the domestic market was mainly on the back of a strong relief move seen in US markets as the death toll with respect to coronavirus reduced a bit and thereby gave early signs of subsiding this pandemic," said Sameet Chavan-Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking. He added, "Practically, the major impact of this epidemic has already been discounted by markets across the globe in last few weeks and there was just a small ray of hope needed to rebound sharply from extreme oversold or under-owned situations."

3. Short-term rally

Investors are being advised to proceed with caution worldwide, with markets bucking the bearish trend, led by the coronavirus outbreak news. With earning seasons kicking off soon, revision of earnings forecasts will be more clearer, analysts suggested for a long term approach and added that consumer-led demand recovery is the key for bulls to get the grip back.

Amid the bullish rally, Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Citigroup have urged caution to investors as markets turned bullish and participants rushed into recovery bets, claiming that more disruptions may lie ahead.

The recession signals are already visible in few worst-hit nations even after the financial help on an unprecedented scale from central banks and government, experts from Wall Street banks suggested.

The virus is guaranteed to throw the world into recession, and economists are becoming less convinced about the potential for a strong snapback in growth.

4. Fall in Coronavirus cases

Investors worldwide were optimistic over slowing of new virus cases since Tuesday, with death toll in countries considered corona hotspots also signalling signs of slowing down.

Since spread of the virus, markets have factored in the ground reality of the outbreak and reacted accordingly during the lockdown situation, experts suggested.

Although, the longer the pandemic continues, the longer the lockdown stays, impacting economy and companies. The slowdown in cases recorded worldwide as well as in domestic grounds will be a major factor for the markets in the following days

"One must not forget that the recent crisis is related to 'Health' and hence, it would be important to see further developments with respect to coronavirus over the weekend, " Sameet Chavan added in the daily market wrap up note by Angel Broking).

As per technical experts too, the real path of market trend would be decided on cues related to the Covid-19 epidemic.

5. India's lockdown extension

Domestic investors remained fragile fearing about the rising number of cases and probable extension of the lockdown. Extention of the lockdown will cause a reduction in earnings, potential supply disruptions.

Vinod Nair had suggested earlier that markets are also uncertain as to the government response after the official 21-day lockdown expires on April 14.

Further, each day since last Monday was the biggest rise in new cases on domestic grounds. Coronavirus cases continued to rise despite a complete lockdown in the country.

The government told Reuters that the country would have been hit with 820,000 cases by next week had it not imposed a nationwide lockdown, and claimed initial success in its fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

PM Modi suggested on Wednesday that the lockdown will be extended and restrictions will not be lifted in one go after April 14, equity analysts believe an extension would mean more trouble for the market.

"It seems that once the lockdown is lifted, markets will initiate taking notice of the ground reality and react accordingly as the aftereffects of the lockdown will start to emerge only then," Jimeet Modi added.

6. Key data release

Economic data has suggested the beginning of a vicious circle of a decline in consumer spending leading to lower corporate profits, lower corporate investment, more job losses and further decline in consumer spending.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India said the outlook for India's economic recovery has been sharply altered by the coronavirus outbreak. The apex lender said that nationwide lockdown is set to sharply impact March quarter growth and analysts have cut their 2020/21 GDP growth projections to 1.5-2%, levels unseen in India in decades.

7. Oil output war

On the oil front, market participants across the globe awaited the outcome of the OPEC+ meeting. According to reports, OPEC+ is to discuss a massive cut of up to 10 mbpd in its meet Thursday. Brent crude has risen almost 56% from recent lows.

Global fuel demand has plunged by around 30 million bpd, or 30% of global supplies, as lockdown driven by coronavirus has curbed demand for the commodity.

Saudi Arabia's energy minister told Reuters on Friday that a final OPEC+ oil supply pact to reduce 10 million barrels per day (bpd), which was agreed on Thursday, hinges on Mexico joining in the cuts.

8. Volatility

India VIX, that measures intraday volatility ended 5% lower at 49.56 on Thursday. It moved to its 11-year high, spiking 302.8% in the March series to 71.53 levels from mere 17, due to ongoing Coronavirus crisis. This indicates a volatile swing in the market, that may not give smooth ride and comfort to the traders. 'The volatility also depends upon the cooldown of markets across the globe,' Motilal Oswal added in its note.

"Volatility will continue in tandem will global markets where the trend in coronavirus cases globally and locally will dictate the further direction of the market, " Santosh Meena, Senior Analyst at TradingBells said.

9. Pharma stocks rally

Sector-wise, Nifty pharma index remained in positive territory, settling 3.5% higher, in line with gains in auto and FMCG sector. In the last one month, the pharma sector has risen over 13%, followed by 3.2% rise in FMCG. Nifty Pharma has risen 10.87% since the beginning of 2020.

Jimeet Modi said that the pharma sector was trending this week as the government approved partial export of two key drugs to fight novel coronavirus. Taking cues, the pharma index was up 35 % during the week. As this sector remained undervalued for the longest period of time, this week's rally has brought the index to comparatively fair valuations.

He added, "However, investors should not jump the gun and should stay away from this space for now as pharma is a crowded trade and situations can change very quickly depending on the US FDA approvals or if a foreign player starts manufacturing the same drug."

10. Technical outlook

Since the beginning of the year, BSE, NSE benchmarks have declined 24% and 25%, respectively. In March, the decline was 12% each, amid the coronavirus pandemic. Although, on a weekly note, both Sensex and Nifty added 10%. As per Nifty's near term outlook, the resistance of 9000-9300 zone would be a big challenge for the bulls, while major support is placed at 7500 and 6800 levels.

Sameet Chavan said,"Nifty has now managed to surpass the '20-day EMA' for the first time since 24th February. Since there was complete broad-based participation in this move, it can be considered as a robust one. Looking at the way charts are shaped up, we will not be surprised to see this rally getting extended towards 9500-9700 over the next few days."

"Going ahead, we have a mildly positive outlook for the next week with the support and resistance placed at 7900 and 9400 respectively," Jimeet Modi from SAMCO Securities said.

Coronavirus Live Updates: Punjab 2nd state to extend lockdown till April 30; India tally crosses 6,000

Investors gain Rs 4 lakh crore on hopes of second stimulus package to fight Covid-19

India Coronavirus live updates: 614 active cases, 33 new deaths in 24 hours; country's tally at 5,709

Sensex ends 1,265 points higher, Nifty at 9,111; Five factors that fuelled the rally
Brussels: Another horror day of the coronavirus pandemic saw the global death toll pass 94,000, although there were tentative signs of hope that the crisis was peaking in the United States and Europe.

The picture of the unfolding economic catastrophe also became clearer with the IMF warning of a Great Depression and data showing 17 million Americans lost their jobs, but a European Union financial rescue package agreement offered some relief to the barrage of bad news.

Another 1,700 people died in the United States on Thursday, while there were hundreds more deaths across Europe, driving the confirmed global toll above 94,000.

Nearly half of all pandemic fatalities have occurred over the past week. But authorities in worst-hit Europe and the United States said a slight decline in daily deaths and infections gave reason to hope the worst could be over.

"The fire started by the pandemic is starting to come under control," said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain, where fatalities inched down to 683 from 757 a day before, pushing that country's total above 15,000.

"Our priority now is not to turn back, especially not to return to our starting point, not to lower our guard." France also reported that 82 fewer people were in intensive care for COVID-19 -- the first fall since the pandemic broke out.

And Anthony Fauci, the US government's top pandemic expert, said the United States was "going in the right direction".

The US recorded 1,783 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University as of 0030 GMT Friday, lower than the previous day's record toll of 1,973.

The US has seen more than 16,500 confirmed deaths, the second-highest tally in the world after Italy, and more than 460,000 confirmed cases.

In New York, the epicentre of the virus in the United States, only 200 more people entered hospitals, the lowest number since the pandemic struck, even though 799 people died over the last day, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

"We are flattening the curve by what we are doing," Cuomo said, adding, "We have to keep the curve flat." But he declined to predict how New York would fare in the coming weeks, telling reporters bluntly: "I have no idea."

Further lifting spirits, the health improved of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the highest profile of the 1.5 million people infected by the virus, and he ended three days of intensive care.

However, Britain announced another 881 deaths on Thursday, taking the total to nearly 8,000.

On the economic front, Europe attempted a fightback with EU finance ministers agreeing in late-night talks to a 500 billion-euro ($550 billion) rescue package aimed at reducing pain across the 27-nation bloc, especially hardest-hit Italy and Spain.

"Europe has decided and is ready to meet the gravity of the crisis," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted after the talks.

He warned earlier in the day that France's economy was expected to shrink six percent this year, even with the country's own 100-billion-euro relief plan.

The US Federal Reserve threw its own fresh lifeline to Americans, with chairman Jerome Powell announcing a $2.3 trillion financing measure "to provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity."

The International Monetary Fund said 170 of its 180 members would see declines in per capita income this year -- just a few months after predictions that nearly all would enjoy growth.

"We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, urging governments to provide lifelines to businesses and households alike.

And despite hopeful signs in Western nations as well as in China, where the virus was first detected late last year, there are fears the worst is still to come in much of the developing world.

War-torn Yemen, which has been experiencing one of the world's most acute humanitarian crises, on Friday reported its first case. Brazilian authorities Thursday confirmed the first deaths in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro where crowding and poor sanitation have raised fears of a catastrophe.

There are similar fears in India, where hundreds of millions of poor people are becoming increasingly desperate.

"I keep hearing that the government will do this and that. No one has even come to see if we are alive or dead," Rajni Devi, a mother of three, told AFP in a slum on the outskirts of New Delhi.

In a move to build international solidarity over the crisis, Germany on Thursday led a videoconference session of the UN Security Council on the pandemic.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the session by calling the pandemic "the fight of a generation -- and the raison d'etre of the United Nations itself." Guterres appealed for a global halt to conflicts to concentrate on the COVID-19 fight.

Saudi Arabia embraced the call by announcing a unilateral pause in its brutal offensive against rebels who control much of Yemen.

US President Donald Trump said he spoke Thursday to Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and thought they were near a deal to end an oil price war that has thrown further uncertainties into the global economy.

OPEC announced Friday that major oil producers except Mexico had agreed to cut output.
G ay rights pioneer Phyllis Lyon has died aged 95.

Ms Lyon died of natural causes at her San Francisco home on Thursday, according to Kate Kendell, a friend and former executive director of the National Centre for Lesbian Rights.

Ms Lyon was a journalist who met her lifelong love Del Martin while working at a magazine in Seattle.

The couple moved to San Francisco in 1953 and in 2008 became among the first same-sex couples to marry in California after it became legal to do so.

Ms Martin died weeks after their second wedding, aged 87.

The pair co-founded with other lesbian couples the Daughters of Bilitis, a political and social organisation for lesbians and published a national monthly for lesbians.

California Governor Gavin Newsom referred to Ms Lyons death during his daily briefing on the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday, describing her as one of his heroes.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is from San Francisco, said in a statement: All those who were blessed to know Phyllis and Del remember the extraordinary love that they had for each other.
Chicago Jail Reports 450 CCP Virus Cases Among Staff, Inmates

Some 450 inmates and staff have tested positive for CCP virus at Chicagos largest jail, county corrections officials said on April 9, representing one of the nations largest outbreaks of the respiratory illness at a single site so far in the pandemic.

The surge of cases at Cook County Jail marks the latest flare-up of COVID-19 at jails and prisons in major cities across the United States, where detainees often live in close quarters.

The situation gained national attention earlier this week when inmates posted handmade signs pleading for help in the windows of their cells overlooking a public street.

Amid the CCP virus outbreak, the exterior of Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 2020. (Jim Vondruska/Reuters)

Sheriffs officers and county medical professionals are aggressively working round-the-clock to combat the unprecedented global coronavirus pandemic, the Cook County Sheriffs Office said in a written statement on Thursday.

Those measures include opening an off-site 500-bed quarantine and care facility for prisoners, an effort to move as many inmates as possible from double to single cells, and the opening of a testing site at the jail.

Frontline staff members were being checked for fever at the start of each shift and issued protective equipment if they interact with inmates, according to the sheriffs department.

Across the United States more than 16,600 people have died from COVID-19 and 463,000 positive cases have been confirmed, despite unprecedented stay-at-home orders in most states.

A sign pleading for help hangs in a window at the Cook County jail complex in Chicago, Ill., on April 9, 2020.(Scott Olson/Getty Images)

In Monroe, Washington, inmates at a minimum-security prison vandalized the facility in a protest on Wednesday evening after officials announced that six prisoners had tested positive for COVID-19, according to Washington states Department of Corrections. State and local police and corrections officers quelled the disturbance at the prison 24 miles northeast of Seattle using pepper spray, sting balls, and rubber pellets, the corrections department said.

Despite evidence that the spread of the illness has slowed in the larger U.S. population, a Reuters investigation found that prisons and local lockups have reported an accelerating spread of COVID-19 and have taken a varied approach to protecting the inmates in their charge.

Thousands of inmates are being released from detention, in some cases with little or no medical screening to determine if they may be infected by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus and at risk of spreading it into the community, Reuters found.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr declared on Friday that the federal Bureau of Prisons was facing emergency conditions that had prompted the agency to begin releasing more inmates out of custody and into home confinement.

By Dan Whitcomb

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 17)  Airports in Luzon will stop all outbound international flights starting Friday after the government gave a 72-hour window to all those who wish to leave the country after heightened measures were put in place to control the spread of COVID-19.

Under the guidelines crafted by the Inter-Agency Task Force and approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, "Outbound passengers intending to depart Philippines from any of the international airports in Luzon shall be allowed to travel for a period of 72 hours from effectivity of the enhanced community quarantine."

The enhanced community quarantine over the entire island of Luzon took effect midnight Tuesday and is set to end on April 13. The air travel restrictions takes effect at 12 a.m. Friday.

International passengers on their way to the Philippines who were already in transit upon the effectivity of the order will be allowed entry into the country.

Following this announcement, the country's flag carrier Philippine Airlines said its international flight will operate only until midnight of March 20.

AirAsia said it is canceling international flights from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Clark International Airport from March 20 until April 14.

Budget airline Cebu Pacific also announced that all of its domestic and international flights will be cancelled from March 19 to April 14, in support of government regulations on COVID-19. The Gokongwei-led carrier added that it would still operate flights from Manila to Bangkok, Thailand; Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya in Japan; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Singapore; Taipei, Taiwan; and Bali, Indonesia until Wednesday.

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport  the country's main gateway, Clark International Airport, Subic Bay International Airport, and Bicol International Airport are all affected as they're located in Luzon.

The Philippine government imposed strict home quarantine and tightened travel restrictions over the biggest island in the country as the number of cases of coronavirus disease or COVID-19 rises to 142  with majority of the cases recorded in Luzon.

Who are allowed to travel?

Under the recommendation, all inbound Filipino citizen, including their foreign spouse and children; holders of Permanent Resident Visa; and holders of Diplomat visas will be allowed to enter the country despite the travel restrictions.

However, the Office for Transportation Security said they cannot be fetched by their loved ones from the airport as this is not considered essential travel. OTS Administrator Usec. Raul del Rosario said the Transportation Department is working to help bring them to their homes.

"Meron pang P2P buses sa NAIA. Pwede ring maghatid sa mga darating na OFW papunta sa kanilang bahay ang accredited transport providers but will need approval from IATF," he said in a media briefing on Tuesday.

[Translation: There are still point-to-point buses in NAIA. Accredited transport providers can also bring home the arriving OFWs, but this needs IATF's approval.]

Before the Duterte administration expanded the community quarantine, domestic flights were barred from flying in and out of NAIA.

Transportation Assistant Secretary Goddes Libiran said separately that all passengers, regardless of nationality, would be allowed to leave the Philippines within the 72-hour leeway unless their flights have been cancelled.
WARSAW, Poland - Polands government on Friday marked the 10th anniversary of the plane crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others by demanding that Russia return the wreckage of the plane.

Polands Foreign Ministry said it had sent a diplomatic note to the Russian Embassy in Warsaw calling on Moscow to immediately surrender Polands property.

No norm of international law gives grounds for Russias retention of Polands property, the ministry said.

Poland has made similar demands in the past, and Russia has replied that it is keeping the wreckage of the Tupolev plane because of an ongoing investigation.

The crash occurred as the Tu-154 air force jet carrying a high-level Polish delegation attempted to land in fog at an airport near Smolensk, Russia. It was Polands worst tragedy since World War II, killing not only the president and first lady, but many other top government and military officials.

The tragedy strained already difficult relations with neighbour Russia. It has also created a deep sense of grievance that has shaped Polish political life since then. Today the government is directed  mostly from behind the scenes  by the late presidents identical twin, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is chairman of the ruling conservative Law and Justice party.

Kaczynski paid tribute to his twin and other victims at monuments to the victims in Warsaw, at the exact moment that the plane crashed on April 10, 2010.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and more than a dozen ruling party politicians also took part despite restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic that ban gatherings of more than two people.

Police didnt intervene to break up their gathering and some opposition decried what they said were the double standards. Cezary Tomczyk, a lawmaker with the centrist Civic Platform party, called it outrageous that parks and forests have been closed, and high fines handed out to regular citizens, while politicians gathered like that.

Yesterday a hairdresser got a fine of 10,000 zlotys ($2,400) for opening the business for one client, Tomczyk said. What kind of example is this? What kind of hypocrisy?

The fact that the delegation killed in the plane crash had been travelling to commemorate a World War II massacre of some 22,000 Polish officers by the Soviet Union deepened the sense of national tragedy.

This year, Polish leaders had hoped to travel to Russia to mark the anniversary, but a government spokesman said Russia didnt provide the Polish government with the logistical support needed to organize the visit.
Companies now taking orders for coronavirus test swabs

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --Several manufacturers are now ready to ship millions of FDA-certified nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, which are used in testing for SARS-CoV-2, causative agent of Covid-19. Until now, there has been an acute shortage of the swabs, contributing to a bottleneck in coronavirus testing. The rapidly deployed manufacturing capacity, which came online following an intensive, consortium-led design and testing program, is enough to meet the nation's needs and produce supplies for export.

Hospital procurement officers and state emergency agencies can find a list of the manufactures now taking orders for these swabs at a newly launched website.

Responding to the dramatic national shortage of nasopharyngeal swabs, which continues to be a limiting step in test capacity, a consortium of industry, academia and government was formed to rapidly solve the problem. Over the past three weeks, more than one hundred people worked non-stop at major industrial companies, university medical centers and engineering schools, entrepreneurial businesses, and military labs.

As a result of their efforts, the 3D-printed diagnostic test swabs of five qualified manufacturers were certified in bench tests and clinical trials. These new products showed equal or superior performance compared to flocked swabs, the previous-generation technology which was considered the gold standard before this crisis began. Collectively, the companies can dramatically increase coronavirus test capacity by producing more than 4 million NP swabs per week, manufactured in FDA-registered ISO13485 facilities.

The ad hoc consortium was organized and led by Kit Parker, professor of bioengineering and applied physics at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; and Ric Fulop, CEO of 3D printing company Desktop Metals. Ramy Arnaout, assistant professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and associate director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratories at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, coordinated the clinical laboratory testing of the swabs.

###

Consortium members included Harvard University, Desktop Metals, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Army's Natick Soldier Systems Center, USF Health, Stanford University, Ohio State University, Formlabs, Resolution Medical, Origin, Envisiontec, HP, Neurophotometrics, and Opt Industries.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Tourists visit the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall during the fourth day of the Lunar New Year celebration in Taipei, Taiwan, in January. (Sam Yeh / AFP via Getty Images)

Shelly Chen left her ancestral house in Hubei province, the coronavirus epicenter in China, at the end of March after Chinese authorities lifted an order that she stay inside for two months. She rented a private car for the sleepless, 15-hour overnight ride that would get her to Shanghai on time for a rare flight home to Taiwan.

Now shes in quarantine yet again, in a government-allocated room in a Taipei suburb, where she must stay through mid-April with a toilet, balcony, WiFi, TV, two bottles of water and three meals delivered daily. Once that ends, the single mom can finally see her son and daughter again and reopen her beauty salon franchise, which closed in February because she wasnt around to run it.

But she feels no elation about her upcoming freedom. Instead, like hundreds of other returnees to Taiwan from mainland China, she fears shell be the victim of a damaging social stigma that also has the islands government concerned.

You let people know youre coming from Hubei, or even China, and people freak out, Chen, 40, said by social media chat from her isolation room. I plan to see a therapist once Im released.

Stigma against people exposed to COVID-19 is hardly unique to Taiwan. But Chen and another 979 people who have returned in waves to Taiwan after 45 to 60 days trapped in Hubei are bracing for more than the usual disapproval.

Taiwanese still associate Hubei with the virus despite the tapering of infections there and because Taiwans government itself treats returnees from Hubei more rigorously than it does people flying back from heavily infected Western countries. Folks such as Chen are seen as people who very much have the virus, said Huang Kwei-bo, associate professor of diplomacy at National Chengchi University in Taipei.

Taiwan is hyper-vigilant about its coronavirus caseload. Many Taiwanese cite the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which also originated in mainland China, as reason for caution about pathogens coming from the mainland.

Story continues

Taiwan's health and welfare minister, Chen Shih-chung, center, speaks at a Taipei news conference on March 30. "We urge our citizens not to discriminate" against people returning to Taiwan from China's Hubei province, Chen said. "... We hope the society can accept them." (Ralph Jennings / Los Angeles Times)

Chen had gone to Hubei in January, before the COVID-19 outbreak there peaked, to see her father after his stroke. Now shes worried about sidelong glances and whispers behind her back by people who assume shes infected with the coronavirus.

There are some people who think that but wont directly say its because youre from Hubei, said Chen, who shared screen grabs of chats with fellow returnees warning her about stigma. Eastern people are polite.

But the result could still be ostracism at school or work. Chen is debating whether to postpone seeing her children after her isolation ends, even though she cries at the mention of them. She doesnt want their classmates to find out where their mother came from and blab it around. Im afraid Ill impact them, Chen said.

A few of her teenage sons after-school friends already know what his mom has been through. Thats because she has taught him to not to lie, Chen said.

Shes also wondering whether to try to reopen her 3-year-old business. The salon lost about $3,300 during the first month alone of her confinement in Hubei. She fears that many of her customers wont come back, perhaps suspecting her to be an asymptomatic virus carrier.

The specter of such stigma prompted Taiwans health and welfare minister, Chen Shih-chung, to speak out. We urge our citizens not to discriminate, Chen told a March 30 news conference. Theyre coming back totally safely and safely going into quarantine centers. We hope the society can accept them.

But the government itself has treated the Hubei returnees differently, forcing them to stay in government quarantine while most returnees from other places, including heavily infected Western nations, are allowed to self-isolate at home. Just 11 of Taiwans total 380 coronavirus cases originated in China, data from the Taiwan Central Epidemic Command Center show. Most entered from Europe, the United States and other parts of Asia.

As of April 2, all but 370 of the returnees from Hubei had been released from government isolation.

Many of those who had traveled to Hubei went in January to see aging parents and in-laws for Lunar New Year. According to Taiwan government figures for 2018, about 339,000 of the islands 24 million residents were mainlanders married to local Taiwanese.

As the coronavirus caseload in Hubei began rising dramatically, the visitors were banned from leaving apartments and hotel rooms until March while the Chinese and Taiwanese governments bickered over whose airlines would run charter flights and who should be flown back first. The fractious relations between Taipei and Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory, complicated matters.

Chen Chi-chuan, 51, gives his neighbors extra distance in common areas of his Taiwan housing complex. (Chen Chi-chuan)

Chen Chi-chuan (no relation to Shelly Chen) is trying to preempt peoples disapproval by masking up and avoiding people who might otherwise avoid him.

The 51-year-old Taiwanese electrical and plumbing contractor lived in a 24th-floor hotel room in Shiyan city, also in Hubei, for 46 days and on March 14 got on a charter flight from Wuhan back to Taiwan. A car took him from Taiwans chief international airport straight to an isolation room.

Hes been able to settle past-due accounts for his business and resume work on construction sites without alarming anyone from behind his face mask, a thick white one that rides almost up to the eye sockets.

But neighbors in the housing complex where he and his wife live in the southern city of Kaohsiung know they went to Hubei in January to see his wifes relatives. The couple are now keeping a low profile, Chen said.

When leaving his compound, he steps to the side when approaching his neighbors so that they dont have to. Theyre afraid, so I keep my distance, he said. Taiwanese media have reported this to death, so people feel panicky.
The Greg Mortimer, a cruise liner that is operated by Australia's Aurora Expeditions, is full of Australian and New Zeland passengers. They will be evacuated from a stricken Antarctic cruise ship on April 9 after it was reported that almost 60% of those on board tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Greg Mortimer departed on March 15 on a voyage to Antarctica and South Georgia. However, since the beginning of April, the ship has been stuck off the coast of Uruguay, after the authorities refused to allow passengers to disembark because of the risk of coronavirus.

Coronavirus patients on Antartic cruise

There are 217 people on board and 128 passengers and crew have now tested positive for the virus. Six passengers who need specialized care have been transferred to medical facilities in Montevideo. A video posted online by the Uruguayan navy showed the passengers being transferred from ship to ship wearing full protective gear.

The passengers from America and Europe who have tested positive for coronavirus will have to remain on board until they have a negative test result. Once they test negative of the virus, they may be able to depart through Brazil, according to Aurora Expeditions. All of the passengers will be retested every two or three days.

Aurora said in a statement that the ship's doctor had developed a fever and that they are organizing a back-up volunteer medic. The cruise operator added that they had formally escalated their request to the Uruguayan authorities to allow the ship to dock and passengers to disembark. Unfortunately, the Uruguayan authorities denied their request.

Also Read: Japan May Face Healthcare System Collapse, State of Emergency Declared

On April 7, the Uruguayan government stated that it had authorized a medical flight evacuation for Australian and New Zealand passengers only. The said passengers will fly to Melbourne on April 9 on a place chartered by Aurora Expeditions. The passengers will then undergo a mandated 14-day quarantine before they can proceed to their final destinations.

Aurora Expeditions said in a statement that they have been working on charters and flights for all passengers on board, as they aim to disembark all of the passengers as soon as possible. Their preferred plan was to disembark all passengers simultaneously, but the situation and the difficulty in securing flights meant that the Australian and New Zealand passengers will leave the vessel before the European and North American passengers.

The preparation

Aurora Expeditions stated that the chartered Airbus A340 will be fitted with medical and quarantine facilities in order to make sure that the health and safety of the passengers are prioritized. The company estimated that each passenger will cost $9.3000 and the company said it was in discussions with the Australian government for support with the cost since they know it is not viable for a lot of people.

UK's ambassador to Uruguay Ian Duddy said on Twitter "We remain in close contact with the Uruguayan government, the cruise operator (and) UK passengers onboard the Greg Mortimer. Several passengers have tested positive for COVID-19. We continue to explore ways for passengers to disembark while respecting all health protocols."

The Uruguayan government did not release a statement on whether the passengers would be able to disembark this week.



Related Article: Viral Video Shows Dead Bodies Disposed from Wuhan Hospital Late At Night, After Reporting Zero Cases

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A national plan to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and return Americans to jobs and classrooms is emerging - but not from the White House.

Instead, a collection of governors, former government officials, disease specialists and nonprofits are pursuing a strategy that relies on the three pillars of disease control: ramp up testing to identify people who are infected. Find everyone they interact with by deploying contact tracing on a scale America has never attempted before. And focus restrictions more narrowly on the infected and their contacts so the rest of society doesn't have to stay in permanent lockdown.

But there is no evidence yet the White House will pursue such a strategy.

Instead, the president and his top advisers have fixated almost exclusively on plans to reopen the U.S. economy by the end of the month, though they haven't detailed how they will do so without triggering another outbreak. President Donald Trump has been especially focused on creating a second coronavirus task force aimed at combating the economic ramifications of the virus.

Administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations, say the White House has made a deliberate political calculation that it will better serve Trump's interest to put the onus on governors - rather than the federal government - to figure out how to move ahead.

"It's mind-boggling, actually, the degree of disorganization," said Tom Frieden, former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director. The federal government has already squandered February and March, he noted, committing "epic failures" on testing kits, ventilator supply, protective equipment for health workers and contradictory public health communication. The next failure is already on its way, Frieden said, because "we're not doing the things we need to be doing in April."

At a White House briefing Friday, Trump said he will announce next week the members of his second coronavirus task force, charged with determining when and how to reopen the country. He stressed his desire to get the economy running again as soon as possible but wouldn't commit to specifics, saying: "The facts are going to determine what I do. But we do want to get the country open. So important."

In recent days, dozens of leading voices have coalesced around the test-trace-quarantine framework, including former FDA commissioners for the Trump and George W. Bush administrations, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and top experts at Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Harvard universities.

On Wednesday, former president Barack Obama weighed in, tweeting: "Social distancing bends the curve and relieves some pressure. . . . But in order to shift off current policies, the key will be a robust system of testing and monitoring - something we have yet to put in place nationwide."

And Friday, Apple and Google unveiled a joint effort on new tools that would use smartphones to aid in contact tracing.

What remains unclear is whether this emerging plan can succeed without the backing of the federal government. Some states such as Massachusetts and Utah are already trying to implement parts of it. In the absence of federal leadership - as happened last month with stay-at-home orders - other states may watch and follow suit. But without substantial federal funding, states' efforts will only go so far

In South Korea, Taiwan, China and Singapore, variations on this basic strategy were implemented by their national governments, allowing them to keep the virus in check even as they reopened parts of their economy and society.

In America, testing - while still woefully behind - is ramping up. And households across the country have learned over the past month how to quarantine. But when it comes to the second pillar of the plan - the labor-intensive work of contact tracing - local health departments lack the necessary staff, money and training.

Experts and leaders in some states say remedying that weakness should be a priority and health departments should be rapidly shored up so that they are ready to act in coming weeks as infections nationwide begin to decrease. In a report scheduled for release Friday, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials - which represents state health departments - estimate 100,000 additional contact tracers are needed and call for $3.6 billion in emergency funding from Congress.

The CDC is researching how to increase contact tracing capacity, its director, Robert Redfield, said Friday in an NPR interview.

"We can't afford to have multiple community outbreaks that can spiral up into sustained community transmission," he said in the interview. "We have over 600 people in the field right now from CDC in all the states trying to help with this response, but we are going to have to substantially amplify that."

But those efforts have not been reviewed by the White House, and the disease agency's role has been diminished in the administration's pandemic response. "We're definitely in the middle of all of that. It's premature for me to roll it out," Redfield said.

Technology, like the Apple-Google partnership, is also being developed that could aid that effort, but it comes with civil liberty concerns that need to be resolved.

Unless states can aggressively trace and isolate the virus, experts say, there will be new outbreaks and another round of disruptive stay-at-home orders.

"All people are talking about right now is hospital beds, ventilators, testing, testing, testing. Yes, those are important, but they are all reactive. You are dealing with the symptoms and not the virus itself," said Tolbert Nyenswah, who led one of the most successful contact tracing efforts in Africa during the 2014 to 2016 Ebola epidemic. "You will never beat a virus like this one unless you get ahead of it. America must not just flatten the curve but get ahead of the curve."

- - -

Six years ago, Nyenswah watched an even deadlier disease, Ebola, tear through his homeland. Liberia's president tapped him to lead its response, and Nyenswah began immediately hiring an army of surveillance officers to do "shoe-leather" tracing. It involved going door to door to find anyone who interacted with someone with a confirmed case of the hemorrhagic disease and persuading them to stay indoors, even providing food and services to make that more likely.

Testing on its own is useless, Nyenswah explained, because it tells you only who already has the virus. Similarly, tracing alone is useless if you don't place those you find into quarantine. But when all three are implemented, the chain of transmission can be shattered.

Until a vaccine or treatment is developed, such nonpharmaceutical interventions are the only tools countries can rely on - besides locking down their cities.

In 2014, Nyenswah's army of 4,000 public health workers used tracing to eradicate Ebola in Liberia under even more difficult circumstances. Many homes didn't have phone lines, much less house numbers, street names or Zip codes to navigate by.

"We didn't have the sophisticated systems you have in the U.S.," Nyenswah said. "Many of the people we dealt with weren't even literate, but we were able to win. What that tells you is that this can work."

But to expand that in a country as large as the United States will require a massive dose of money, leadership and political will.

Nyenswah, who now lives in the United States and teaches at Johns Hopkins, has watched the disjointed U.S. response on TV with growing alarm.

"You cannot have leaders contradicting each other every day. You cannot have states waiting on the federal government to act, and government telling the states to figure it out on their own," he said. "You need a plan."

- - -

When Vermont's first coronavirus case was detected last month, it took two state health workers a day to track down 13 people who came into contact with that single patient. They put them under quarantine and started monitoring for symptoms. No one else became sick.

"It was a tidy bow," recalled Daniel Daltry, one of the two health officers who did the work.

Within days, new cases were "coming in like dominoes," Daltry said. By late March, his team was racing on a single day to trace the contacts of 12 patients, when an additional 30 cases landed on their desk.

He did the math: If each of those 30 patients had contact with even three people, that meant 90 people his crew would have to locate and get into quarantine. In other words, impossible.

This is the daunting math facing health departments nationwide. Since 2008, city and county health agencies have lost almost a quarter of their overall workforce. Decades of budget cuts have left the them unable to mount such a response. State health departments have had to lay off thousands more - an unintended consequence of federal officials delaying tax filings until July without warning states. Those federal filings generate state revenue.

In Wuhan, a city of 11 million, the Chinese had 9,000 health workers doing contact tracing, said Frieden, the former CDC director. He estimates in the United States, authorities would need roughly one contact tracer for every four cases.

Such large-scale tracing nationally could be possible if federal funding and guidance bolstered counties at the same time social distancing lowers the number of cases.

"We could use a stronger voice out of the White House to mobilize this nation," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, said Thursday. "In the second wave, we have to have testing, a resource base, and a contact-tracing base that is so much more scaled up than right now. It's an enormous challenge."

- - -

In the absence of federal direction, Massachusetts last week unveiled a plan to begin building a contact tracing army.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker partnered with an international nonprofit group based in Boston that has been waging this kind of public health campaign against contagious diseases including tuberculosis in Africa and HIV and cholera in Haiti. The nonprofit Partners in Health quickly put together a plan to hire and train 1,000 contact tracers. Working from their homes making 20 to 30 calls a day, they could cover up to 20,000 contacts a day.

The group is paying new hires roughly the same salary as census takers, more than $20 an hour. As of Tuesday - just four days after the initial announcement - the group had received 7,000 applicants and hired 150.

"People want to help. They're tired of just sitting at home and waiting to be infected," said KJ Seung, strategy and policy chief for the nonprofit's covid response. "There's a huge untapped resource of people in America if we would just ask."

Utah has also taken action, reassigning government employees to increase contact tracing capacity, said state health department spokesman Tom Hudachko. State leaders are trying to pull together 1,200 more workers. San Francisco is trying to build a 150-person contact tracing team using city librarians, university staff and medical students.

"There needs to be a crash course in contact tracing because a lot of the health departments where this is going to need to happen are already kind of flat out just trying to respond to the crisis at hand," said Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Experts have proposed transforming the Peace Corps - which suspended global operations last month and recalled 7,000 volunteers to America - into a national response corps that could perform many tasks, including contact tracing.

On Wednesday, the editor in chief of JAMA, a leading medical journal, proposed suspending the first year of training for America's 20,000 incoming medical students and deploying them as a medical corps to support the "test, trace, track, and quarantine strategy."

Health workers who have been doing this kind of contact tracing for sexually transmitted diseases have proposed expanding an existing group of national disease investigation specialists - about 1,600 workers funded by the CDC and focused on ailments such as rectal gonorrhea - into a ready-made coronavirus tracing battalion. The national organization for local STD programs says $200 million could add roughly 1,850 specialists, more than doubling that current workforce.

- - -

Technology could also turn out to be pivotal. But the invasive nature of cellphone tracking and apps raises concerns about civil liberties.

The technology could offer a version of what contact tracers do in interviews: build a contact history for each confirmed patient and find those possibly exposed.

Doing that digitally could make the process quicker - critical in containing an outbreak - and less laborious.

Singaporean police, for example, used security camera footage and ATM and credit card records to retrace people's steps during the coronavirus outbreak there.

In China, authorities combined the nation's vast surveillance apparatus with apps and cellphone data to track people's movements. If someone they came across is later confirmed as infected, an app alerts them to stay at home.

South Korea and Israel have similarly deployed apps and cellphone technology. In Taiwan, authorities even placed virtual fences around those quarantined at home, alerting authorities if quarantined residents try to leave their homes or turn off their phone.

In the United States, about 20 technology companies are trying to create a contact tracing app using the geolocation data or Bluetooth pings on cellphones, said Dylan George, a former senior Obama administration policy adviser now advising one such effort.

Seattle-King County is in "very early discussions" with one group about using such contact tracing technology, said Jeffrey Duchin, a top county health official. Duchin said he would welcome any way to speed up the contact tracing work of his team, but said, "We have no real experience with them and can't predict how well they will work."

"These apps don't solve the problem on their own, but they can definitely help as force multipliers," said Crystal Watson, a public health expert who helped draft Johns Hopkins' Friday report on contact tracing. "The problem is they come with huge civil liberties caveats that still need to be sorted out."

- - -

The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin and John Sullivan contributed to this report.
Yet those two women highlight Bidens tightrope. At 55, Harris is talented and popular with Democratic donors, a valuable commodity for a nominee with a fundraising weakness. But shes also a former prosecutor who faces the same skepticism among progressives as Biden. Meanwhile, her home state is already firmly in the Democratic column and could make her an easy target for Republicans eager to blast the party as too liberal.
Against a common foe, nations around the world go their own way on pandemic

When Queen Elizabeth recently broadcast a message of reassurance to the British people in the age of COVID-19, not surprisingly perhaps, she invoked that old wartime spirit many Britons still relate to.

She referenced her own experiences during the Second World War and a broadcast she made from Windsor Castle as a young princess to children separated from their families.

But the Queen also implied that the crisis facing the world today was a little less lonely for nation states.

"While we have faced challenges before, this one is different," she said. "This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour."

It hasn't often felt like it, though.

U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" rings loud and clear with, among other things, threats to withhold funding from the World Health Organization.

The European Union faces an existential crisis as it struggles to agree on acts of solidarity for its most stricken member states.

And all the while the world's strongmen are seizing upon the chaos to consolidate their power further.

Taking care of their own

Individual countries may indeed be toiling against a common foe in the form of the virus, but the picture of an international community working together and offering a co-ordinated response remains very much a work in progress.

"The pandemic is laying bare a truth about the international global political system that you can never underestimate, which is that this is an order of sovereign states," said Canadian academic and former federal Liberal opposition leader Michael Ignatieff, who is now the president of Central European University in Budapest.

Daniel Vegel/Central European University

"And when really bad trouble hits, every national political system draws up the drawbridge, closes frontiers, shuts down and takes care of its own. This is just a hard fact of the world we're in."

Igantieff was speaking from a town near Budapest not long after the Hungarian Prime Minister, Victor Orban, had himself awarded the power to rule by decree because of the coronavirus crisis but without a time limit.

Story continues

The global pandemic has swung wide open the closets where world dictators keep their not-so-secret skeletons.

Amnesty International recently condemned Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, for example, for threatening that those opposing coronavirus directives could be shot dead.

4 hours' notice for lockdown

"People like myself have been writing about [injustices] for years," said the Indian writer Arundhati Roy in a Skype interview from her home in New Delhi.

"But it was as if it was a chemical experiment in which what is hidden suddenly came to light and you just saw it visually: the shamefulness of the society."

Stephanie Jenzer/CBC

She was describing the latest round of misery unleashed on India's poor when Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown in a country of 1.3 billion people with just four hours' notice.

Manageable perhaps, for the upper and middle classes able to retreat to comfortable homes, but for millions of migrant workers far from their villages or living crammed in slums and shanty-towns it was a disaster.

"You had police brutalizing them, beating them up," said Roy. "In some places they were caught and sprayed with disinfecting chemicals."

She also accuses Modi and his Hindu nationalist government of quite deliberately using the pandemic to stigmatize the already marginalized Muslim community.

"One of the greatest crises that's faced any of us, certainly in the modern Western world, comes at a time where the most toxic, low-IQ, totalitarian men are in power," said Roy, citing Trump, Modi and Orban in that order.

U.S. global leadership 'over'

There has been much written in recent years, particularly in the European media, about the absence of U.S. leadership on the world stage since the election of Trump in 2016.

Ignatieff believes the notion of U.S. global leadership is "over" for the time being, even though he's clearly uncomfortable with being drawn into criticism of the Trump administration's handling of the pandemic given the vast challenges he says it brings with it.

"There is no substitute for competent national government," he says. "And it goes against the idea that what we actually need is more global governance."

WATCH | 3M strikes deal to keep sending masks to Canada after White House halts exports

But what about the existing mechanisms of global governance?

This week some 90 former presidents and prime ministers, including Britain's John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and Canada's Paul Martin, appealed to G20 leaders to spearhead a co-ordinated response to the pandemic.

United Nations agencies including the World Health Organization continue to mobilize in the fight against the pandemic across the globe, but the UN Security Council itself has been largely missing in action.

Back in 2014 the Security Council sent a strong message during the Ebola crisis afflicting West Africa by adopting a resolution declaring it a "threat to international peace and security."

There has been no such declaration on the coronavirus even though it has wrapped its way around the globe.

"Leadership requires a recognition that you can't abandon the rest of the world in this process, not only because it's a humanitarian imperative, but also because it's self-serving," said the former Canadian politician and diplomat Stephen Lewis.

"If I can be crass: Unless this virus is defeated everywhere, it will come back."

'Nail in the coffin' of EU?

Lewis is a former Canadian ambassador to the UN. He also served a term as the UN's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, where his Stephen Lewis Foundation remains active.

"In a place like South Africa you have 7.7 million people with HIV, and three million of them are not in treatment," he said.

"So they're not receiving anti-retroviral drugs. It means that their immune systems are probably fragile and susceptible to a thrashing from the coronavirus."

One bellwether in terms of the multilateral order's health, he says, is whether or not countries respond to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's appeal for $2 billion US to tackle the pandemic in poorer countries.

Analysts point to the European Union as a cautionary tale when it comes to solidarity even amongst those countries bound in more formal unions.

Alexis MacDonald

"It could be one of the nails in the coffin of the European Union," said Josef Janning of Germany's Council on Foreign Relations when asked about the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

"When our reflexes are tested, the reflex is national," he said, pointing to Germany's early decision to ban the export of medical equipment to other EU countries during the early stage of the pandemic, contrary to EU principle.

Germany has since taken some of Italy's most critical medical cases to its own hospitals in a bid to ease the pressure there.

But Janning says the real test will come after the worst of the pandemic is over, when EU countries will have to agree on financial assistance to countries most in need.

This week, EU finance ministers agreed on a rescue package worth some $500 billion. But it is short of what many analysts believe will be needed to kick-start the European economy.

And the ministers did not agree on proposals for a joint-borrowing instrument proposed by Italy and Spain.

Lasting change?

One thing many nations afflicted by the pandemic share, not just in Europe but around the world, is a daily or weekly ritual where people open their windows or come out onto their doorsteps to bang pots, ring bells or applaud for the front-line health care workers battling the virus under such enormous pressure.

It is a moving expression of solidarity. But when all is said and done, will it leave behind any meaningful change in terms of the way societies value those health care workers or order society?

Janning doesn't think so.

"Nor will it lead to a de-globalization, as some people now believe it will. I think we will all be longing to go back to where we were before."

WATCH | Queen urges unity, strength in special COVID-19 address

Lewis thinks the pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the established ways.

"There is a very strong feeling, I think, in many countries now that the existing systems, the old systems, just have not prepared us for this and haven't been working," he said.

He doesn't believe that means radical change, like an end to capitalism.

"On the other hand, what is happening now has never happened before historically," he said. "And it gives all of us a chance to create something new."

Ignatieff is less confident.

"We all come through these crises thinking everything will be totally different on the other side," said Michael Ignatieff. "I just think we don't know.

Roy has a more philosophical take.

"It's as if there is no present," said Roy. "There is a past and there's an unfolding future that we don't know. The present is an artificial bubble right now."

All the more reason to pay attention to it  and not just at home.
First and foremost, God Bless you all.

These are serious and sad times for our country. While it feels awkward writing my opinion rants, it does take my mind off the devastation so many of my friends are experiencing as their small businesses go to ruin, and as a health crisis abounds. The news is too difficult to watch.

Small business owners, your savvy is not in how you succeeded, it is how you will get back up. Small business is collectively the largest employer, and the people that own and operate small businesses are the janitor, accountant, marketing, legal, acquisition, and human resources all wrapped up in one person. I find small business people to be the most talented group of people, ever. Imagine, no paycheck unless you produce a product or service, and manage to have a profit. It is a tall order in one person to be this multi-faceted talent.

Rhonda Thurman is one of those small business owners. She started a very successful shop, and built a business on pure sweat equity.

Recently, when a certain sector of small businesses was ordered closed, and deemed nonessential by government, many small business owners posted on social media in frustration, Isnt it interesting that all the people telling small business to close, are still receiving their paycheck.

Now lets think about that language used by government referring to any private sector business, taxpaying commerce as nonessential. That is pretty darn comical, and the epitome of pot calling the kettle black. In fact, when government started slinging around the nonessential term towards commerce, it was a laughable moment even in the face of crisis.

After all, commerce is essential for government to exist at all. Government collects revenue from private commerce, and spends or redistributes earnings of commerce. The nonessential word was offensive to small business operators ordered closed.

Small business is having massive layoffs, while government lays off no one in their own nonessential operations. To the business person, it is ironic how this works. Small businesses are allowed to express their frustrations.

With all understanding that a crisis demands certain sacrifices, it is small business paying more than their share.

Rhonda Thurman, as a successful small business operator, empathized with the plight of local small business owners, as she should. Small business does not have the luxury afforded to the government sector. So, I would not expect a group of radical founders of Hamilton County United to understand the meaning and dialogue of small business that Ms. Thurman was referring to.

Apparently, the Hamilton County Education Association does not interest the liberal mean girls, so they started their own group called Hamilton County United.

The group called Hamilton County United literally stalked Thurmans social media dialogue taking every word completely out of context, and creative writing for most of their allegations against Thurman. Reading the hatred from this small group of HCDE teachers was rather shocking. My take away was disbelief that teachers could be this ill-informed about government processes in their comprehension of small business commerce. Contrary to spin evoked by Hamilton County United, Ms. Thurmans words were far from inappropriate and were not defiance.

Then, I read the following post that originated from a founder of Hamilton County United, and allegations that Rhonda Thurman was suggesting defiance of Mint, GovernMint as the character Fred Sanford coined, and orders for small business closures.



https://ibb.co/cTcG2Rr

I read this post from a founding member of Hamilton County United, and thought, what is this group? For a professional educator, that is some rough communication, riddled with untruths, directly towards a school board member. It appears this group fancies themselves as zealous political strategists.

That is what I would do, kick the people like Rhonda Thurman, charged with approving a budget at my place of employment. That would help me get a raise.

My examination of their group indicates that Hamilton County United has the political savvy of a perennial losing candidate. I was taken by this group joining for photos in red T shirts with Hamilton County students in the background, and thought this is why the Little Hatch Act exists. It is written for school employees that view taxpayer buildings, electronics, and employee time as their own personal venue.

I do wish this group saw the real crisis as more important. Not a word.

We, the taxpayers, currently spend over $11,000 per child to teach basic education. Yet, HCDEs testing data shows that for $11,000 per child, only about 37 percent of third through eighth graders can read grade level. HCDE is charged with these children 180 days a year. Quantifiable results matter.

The inability to read grade level by third grade is a state of emergency. HCDE is charged with around 45,000 children, and of the third through eighth graders, they are failing 60 percent. Reading is a prerequisite to all learning.

The teachers of Hamilton County United are missing outrage that only 37 percent of third through eighth graders can read grade level.

Oh no, they are concerned about Rhonda Thurmans conservative opinion on Facebook, and getting their candidate elected as a UnifiEd lite, talk about misplaced priorities.

Hamilton County United is promoting a warm body to run in opposition for school board against Rhonda, not because Hamilton County Uniteds candidate is more qualified. Oh no, that is beside the point. Their agenda is to replace Rhonda.

In short, tough luck Hamilton County United. We are keeping Rhonda Thurman.

Stay safe everyone, please.

April Eidson
- Eric Omondi released a funny video imitating Health CS Mutahi Kagwe when he gives updates on the coronavirus pandemic

- So viral was the video that it caught the attention of the CS who laughed it off as a mere joke

- While addressing the nation on Thursday, April 9, Mutahi jokingly told journalists he would give real updates as opposed to those which were given by the comedian

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Thursday, April 9, left journalists in stitches after he jokingly told them he would not give the coronavirus update like comedian Eric Omondi.

This, after the funniest man in Africa released a video imitating the CS in how he gives coronavirus updates to Kenyans.

READ ALSO: Avoid wearing gloves if you are not a medic - Health Ministry

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe when he was giving an update on the coronavirus during a past incident. Photo: Daily Nation

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Government receives 100,000 face masks donation from Jumia

Speaking on Thursday, April 9, the tough talking CS started off by telling the journalists he was not going the Eric Omondi style.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I will try very hard not to do the Eric Omondi style," said Kagwe as he started his speech.

This left journalists who were concentrating on the main speech to burst in laughter given the hilarious video of the comedian and the seriousness of the CS.

READ ALSO: Wahudumu wa sekta ya Jua Kali hawatahadhari dhidi ya Covid-19 - Mutahi Kagwe

In the nine minutes clip shared on his social media pages, the comedian imitated Kagwe almost to the last behaviour and mannerism.

The funnyman did not miss to capture Kagwe's accent in his comic video and one would easily mistake him for the CS.

He also adopted the character of the CS who seem to be struggling while addressing the press in Kiswahili.

READ ALSO: Kakamega pastor begs Uhuru to open churches for worshippers to pray against coronavirus

However, more interesting was the fact the comedian came up with a fake patient character who he said within 24 hours after landing in the country, had made contact with over 26 women in different estates.

The funnyman also released another video imitating Uganda President Yoweri Museveni giving an update on the coronavirus pandemic.

While dressed like Museveni and acting like him, Omondi gave an "update" and directives on the Uganda lockdown situation.

Do you have an inspirational story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Follow us on Telegram: Tuko news

Source: TUKO.co.ke
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council workers prepare and deliver some of the 10,000 food boxes being delivered to the most vulnerable in society throughout Northern Ireland

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council workers prepare and deliver some of the 10,000 food boxes being delivered to the most vulnerable in society throughout Northern Ireland

Council workers are preparing 10,000 food boxes to be delivered to the most vulnerable in society throughout Northern Ireland during the coronavirus pandemic.

A weekly box of mainly non-perishable goods will be delivered directly to the door of vulnerable people who have been told to shield by their GPs, and who cannot afford food and do not have access to local support networks.

These boxes will also be available to those who are not shielding, but are in critical need of food.

The Department for Communities is leading the initiative.

Meanwhile, a food business on the north coast is delivering free Easter meals to NHS staff and their families on Sunday.

Colum McLornan, owner of gluten-free food specialist Rule of Crumb, said he wanted to help the NHS in the fight against coronavirus in any way he can.

So he came up with the idea of free Easter dinners for workers, though he stressed he is departing from the company's usual gluten-free formula.

"After working a 14-16 hour shift trying to save lives from Covid-19 over Easter, some NHS staff are faced with canteens closed or long queues at supermarkets," he said.

Mr McLornan has been running an appeal on website GoFundMe - and yesterday pulled in a 1,000 donation from bank AIB (NI), helping it hit its target.

However, the appeal will remain open to increase the numbers of NHS staff who can benefit.

Already, he has raised enough to feed 500 NHS staff and their families. He said he was grateful to everyone who'd made donations, big and small. "The generosity of the Northern Ireland public and some of our business partners has been amazing," he said.

All donations go towards getting meals to hospital workers, including food, delivery cost and payment processing fees.

The meals can be delivered to the greater Belfast area: BT1-BT17 in Belfast, BT18- BT21 Holywood, Bangor, BT23 Newtownards, BT27, 28 Lisburn, BT36, 37, 39 Newtownabbey, BT41 Antrim and BT64, 65 Portadown, Craigavon.

The delivery box includes either four portions of turkey or beef with seasonal vegetables and creamy mash potatoes plus dessert.

However, the delivery box cannot be adjusted but will provide food for two days to households of two people.

Elsewhere, Belfast Lord Mayor Daniel Baker is to donate the remainder of his mayoral budget to food banks across the city that are under increased pressure.

"The donation from my budget will be around 52,000 with the council also agreeing to put an additional 50,000 forward to assist foodbanks across the city," he said.

"As Mayor of Belfast, my priority is the health and well-being of the citizens of this great city.

"I hope that this initiative will help to assist citizens from the Colin to Newtownards Road, from the Falls to the Shankill."

NHS staff who wish to avail of Rule of Crumb's free Easter Sunday meals, should email nhs@ruleofcrumb.com
About a dozen Bay Area urgent care clinics are using new, faster coronavirus tests that generate results in minutes instead of the hours or days that most diagnostic tests take.

Some doctors hope the rapid tests, such as the ID Now test made by an Illinois company, Abbott  which generates a positive result in five minutes and a negative result in 13 minutes  may soon become a much more common way to get tested for the novel coronavirus.

But that is unlikely to happen right away because rapid-testing systems come with limitations that make them difficult to scale up immediately. Abbotts test must be run on an Abbott machine called the ID Now platform, a portable device roughly the size of a toaster that can run only one test at a time. Similarly, another rapid test from Cepheid, in Sunnyvale, produces results in 45 minutes but must also be run on a specific Cepheid machine.

California has one of the lowest rates of testing per capita in the country and a larger backlog of pending tests than any other state, making the availability of rapid testing especially critical. Widespread rapid testing will need to be in place before public health officials can consider lifting shelter-in-place restrictions because reopening public spaces will almost certainly lead to flareups in cases.

The new rapid tests are a beginning. Clinics that use them can run dozens of tests a day, but not hundreds or thousands, as commercial labs like Quest and LabCorp do to process the older type of test in large batches of 5,000 or 10,000 a day.

We could never process 1,000 tests in a single day like were trying to do with community-wide testing because the machine will take up to 15 minutes per sample, said Dr. Caesar Djavaherian, cofounder of Carbon Health, a San Francisco network of urgent care clinics that began using the Abbott rapid test Tuesday. So in a 10-hour day we could do max 40 samples on one single machine.

Still, Djavaherian said being able to provide test results on the spot is a tremendous help when trying to treat sick patients promptly. Previously, patients waited from two to seven days for results from Quest, Labcorp or WestPac, a large regional commercial lab. Carbon Health is using the rapid test at all of its Bay Area and Los Angeles locations, which collectively run about 80 to 100 rapid tests each day. Carbon Health is also continuing to use the older test, which it sends to the large commercial labs for processing.

But a greater percentage of tests performed at the health clinics are the fast kind. In just three days of using the rapid Abbott test, a quarter of all its coronavirus tests provide results within 15 minutes, Djavaherian said. He expects that percentage to grow. To get tested there, patients must undergo a virtual visit with a doctor, nurse practitioner or physicians assistant and obtain an order from them.

I cant see a reason why, other than availability of the test, why a provider would choose to wait a day for an answer when this is available right away, he said.

Abbott began distributing the rapid tests on March 31 and has sent more than 190,000 tests to health care providers in 21 states, according to the company. It is producing 50,000 each day and plans to ramp up production to 2 million tests a month by June. Abbott declined to say how many tests it has shipped to California hospitals and clinics.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Many hospitals and clinics already have the Abbott platform because its a relatively common machine thats been used to run flu and strep tests for years. The company created the COVID-19 test to be compatible with it.

GoHealth, the urgent care network associated with Dignity Health, was able to obtain the Abbott rapid test last week at four Bay Area drive-through testing locations because they had already been using the same Abbott machine to run flu and strep tests, said GoHealth CEO Todd Latz.

The four testing sites in San Francisco, Oakland, San Bruno and Redwood City get just under 2,000 tests a week from Abbott, he said.

Because there is a limited number of tests nationwide, rapid testing at GoHealth sites is being prioritized for health care workers and first responders. Tests must be ordered by a doctor or nurse practitioner after they evaluate a patients symptoms and risk factors.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho
Voters drop off ballots by foot and by vehicle at a box outside election headquarters in Medford, Ore., on Nov. 7, 2016. (Denise Baratta/The Medford Mail Tribune via AP)

Phase 4 Relief Package Brings Another Hurdle: Democrats Vote-by-Mail

Democrats and Republicans have yet to formally reveal their priorities for the phase 4 pandemic relief legislation, but there have been hints about infrastructure from the right and funding for vote-by-mail from the left.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said infrastructure will need to wait as funding for things like vote-by-mail is more pressing.

Democrats say vote-by-mail will allow more people to actively participate in the democratic process, but those against say it leads to fraud and weakens the integrity of the voting system.

This issue has already played out in the Wisconsin primary legal battle. The judgment in that case did not allow a change to vote-by-mail or change to the date of the states primary.

Democrats argue that during the pandemic, voters risk getting infected at polling places, which would likely lead to low voter turnout. Republicans say that precautions can be taken to lessen the risk and that it is imperative to keep the integrity of the election system intact even during emergencies.

In the $2 trillion, phase 3 coronavirus relief package, congress allocated $400 million for election safety measures, which could include vote-by-mail initiatives.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed that Democrats wanted much more money for a national vote-by-mail system in the initial version of the phase 3 bill, but Republicans did not agree with the huge amount because of concerns over election security and the federal government overstepping state election laws.

Speaker Pelosi has made it clear that she wants more funding for universal vote-by-mail in the phase 4 legislation, but said Thursday that it would have to be done in a bipartisan manner.

We had $400 million to promote voting by mail, direct mail, all of that. However, it was not nearly enough, we need at least five times that much in order to really meet the needs to protect the integrity of our election critical infrastructure, as well as to promote voting by mail. It is absolutely essential, Pelosi said on the Colbert Show.

It just makes us more democratic. It just gives more people the opportunity to vote. So that is something we would like to see, Pelosi said.

The $400 million is enough for the current election cycle but not enough for future, Hans Anatol von Spakovsky, an American attorney and a former member of the Federal Election Commission told The Epoch Times. The Democrats are seeking to change the election system for good, not only for this election cycle.

There are many key Democrats pushing to make changes to elections who are introducing legislation to get additional funding for initiatives like vote-by-mail.

Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), has introduced legislation that would give states resources to bolster voting by mail. It is estimated to include $1 billion to increase safety and efficiency, and strengthen new health guidelines at polling locations.

Her fellow former presidential candidate, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), has made vote-by-mail a focus since ending her presidential campaign.

Klobuchar has led a group of Democratic senators to introduce legislation that promotes mail-in and early voting initiatives.

The Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act (NDEBA) would ensure voters have 20 days of early voting in all states, require that all mail-in ballots submitted during 21 days leading to an election be counted, and ensure that all voters have the option to request absentee ballots.

A third Democratic senator and former presidential candidate, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also wrote in a recent op-ed that voters need to have a vote-by-mail option.

Absentee Voting vs Vote-by-Mail

The terms absentee voting and vote-by-mail are sometimes used interchangeably but need to be defined, especially if more states move to universal vote-by-mail.

Absentee voting refers to an eligible voter request (traditionally with an excuse of why they can not be at the polls) by ordinary mail or email. Vote-by-mail is the system whereby all eligible voters are sent ballots without requesting them.

Five statesColorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, and Washingtonvote entirely by mail. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) at least 21 other states have laws that allow certain smaller elections to be via mail.

According to the NCSL, possible advantages to vote-by-mail are convenience, voter turnout, and savings. Disadvantages include areas with poor postal service, lack of literacy, security, and slow vote count.

In a Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) report, it states, Some states refer to absentee voting by its categorical designation as vote-by-mail, while others abide by a stricter delineation between absentee and by-mail voting. These policy differences were relevant before COVID-19, but are even more important to consider now.

The report argues that states without pre-existing infrastructure for the broad implementation of vote-by-mail will not be equipped for an immediate transition to complete vote-by-mail during the pandemic.

BPC review of federal data on voting by mail and absentee voting found 34 states had fewer than 15 percent of their ballots cast by mail during the 2018 federal election.

Facilitating a well-orchestrated vote-by-mail election is the equivalent of a logistical nightmare. And with a global pandemic sweeping the country, this logistical nightmare can only get worse, the report stated.

Opposition to Vote-by-Mail

During a task force briefing on Tuesday, President Trump said, Mail ballots are a very dangerous thing for this country because theyre cheaters, Trump said. The mailed ballots are corrupt, in my opinion.

Conservatives argue that mass vote-by-mail will likely lead to voter fraud.

The Heritage Foundation compiled a report about election fraud cases throughout the United States, which highlight some of the gaps that exist in the current voting system.

The report lists some of the voter fraud scenarios related to mail-in ballots, including: voting in the name of voters who have died, moved away, or lost their right to vote; voting under fraudulent voter registrations that use a phony name and a real or fake address; and registering in multiple locations and voting in the same election in more than one jurisdiction or state.

If we are forced to go to universal vote-by-mail, Spakovsky suggests that some key areas be addressed to avoid voter fraud, including updating voter registrations, requiring voter and signature verification, and prohibiting ballot harvesting.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote in a Fox News op-ed. The overhaul would vastly expand opportunities for fraud and weaken confidence in our elections, but all Washington Democrats see is a potential benefit for their party.

A 2012 Pew Center research report confirms that voter registration has not kept pace with technological advances and is highly inaccurate.

Some of the key findings of the Pew research are: Approximately 24 million (one of every eight) voter registrations in the United States are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate; More than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters; and Approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state.

The report also found that an estimated 51 million (24 percent) of the eligible U.S. citizens are not registered to vote.

Implementation of Vote-by-Mail:

A March report from the Brennan Center for Justice titled: Estimated Costs of COVID-19 Election Resiliency Measures, put the price tag for voter safety and security during emergencies like the pandemic at 2 billion dollars. This would include voting measures such as universal mail-in voting, ballot drive-by drop off boxes throughout the country, and easier and safer online voter registration.

The 2 billion would go toward ensuring vote-by-mail (including signature verification technology, high-volume mail processing and sorting equipment, and high-speed ballot scanners), maintaining polling locations with new health standards and staffing (including expanding early voting), overhauling online voter registration (including safely storing data), and educating the public about voting options.

The Brennan Center suggests that it will take years for a state to go from an absentee ballot system to vote-by-mail. They also point out that vote-by-mail will not work for areas that lack internet or groups that have language barriers.

The handful of states that have all-mail elections took many years to get there. As we saw in the Iowa caucus, putting too much strain on an entirely new system is sure to result in breakdowns and failures.

Spakovsky said elections have traditionally been left to each state to administer and it should remain that way. Congress should not interfere with states election administration process.
Authorities in New York have dispatched dozens of refrigerator trucks to store bodies and said they still have enough space in the five boroughs for these remains. If they run out of space elsewhere, officials said, they have a contingency plan to temporarily bury some victims on Hart Island, which has operated as New York Citys public cemetery and has long been used to bury people whose families and estates could not pay for their interment. Unclaimed bodies of AIDS patients were buried in a remote area of the island in the 1980s.
Construction of the River Valley Co-ops second Western Massachusetts grocery store has been temporarily halted due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.

The business, which already has a location on North King Street in Northampton, announced in February it had purchased a roughly ten-acre property on 228 Northampton Street in Easthampton, where a new store would be set up.

The co-ops development was approved by the Easthampton Planning Board in March 2019, and it was expected to open in spring 2021, according to the company. More than 300 owners of the business invested $5 million into the project.

Our Easthampton store has progressed well up to this point, but last week our general contractor, Wright Builders, determined they could not proceed to the next steps as planned due to COVID-19 safety concerns, the co-op said in a statement. We decided to suspend work until May to safeguard everyone involved with the project.

Wright Builders announced in a Facebook post Tuesday it had temporarily suspended field operations for four to six weeks starting April 3. The timeline depends on how conditions surrounding the pandemic unfold, the construction contractor said.

The trends we are seeing lead inescapably to this conclusion, not only for the health of our own people, but the broader community as well, the company wrote in its post.

From: Mark, Jonathan, and Everyone at Wright Builders, Inc. Dear Friends: At this time we believe that the rising... Posted by Wright Builders, Inc. on Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Easthampton city officials announced earlier this month they would halt other construction projects as well. Development of the new grocery store is slated to resume in May, according to the River Valley Co-op.

The business sells groceries, prepared foods, bulk items, beer and wine. The store is open daily and specializes in local and organically grown foods.

Customers can become part owners of the supermarket by buying equity shares in the company. More than 11,000 community members cooperatively own the business, 1,700 of whom are Easthampton area residents, according to the store.

Since opening eleven years ago in Northampton, the co-op has purchased $46 million of products from 400 local farmers and producers, contributed over $1 million to area nonprofit organizations, offered hundreds of free workshops, and provides a minimum starting hourly wage of $15 with 165 employees, 90 percent of them full time, the businesss website says.

In the wake of the COVID-19 public health crisis, the River Valley Co-op has implemented a series of measures aimed at staving off transmission of the viral respiratory infection, including cutting store hours.

Currently, the Northampton location is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the general public. Management has reserved an hour of shopping from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. for customers with compromised immune systems.

Employees have started prepackaging bulk products, and curb-side pickup for online orders is available. A cap on the number of people inside the store has been initiated as well, and customers must wash their hands before entering the location. Latex gloves are provided to patrons if they want them.

The business also bumped up employees wages by $2 per hour in March, and both full- and part-time staffers are allowed paid sick and vacation time.

The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and we hope the steps weve taken will continue to aid and benefit our community as we work together to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, the store said in a statement.

The co-ops Easthampton location, which is expected to be the same size as its Northampton one, includes the former Oldsmobile Pontiac car dealership, a meadow and wetland area as well as Captain Jacks Seafood Shack, which recently signed a lease with the co-op, the store said in a statement.

The business plans to use four acres of the property for their 23,000-square-foot store, 200 parking spaces, outdoor seating and the seafood shack. The meadow and wetlands will be preserved as open green space, the statement said. The total project cost is more than $18 million.

If youre having trouble viewing the embed to sign up on your mobile device click here.

Related Content:
Researchers have developed a 'real time' method that uses social media to reliably forecast the financial impact of natural disasters, an advance that may help businesses recover form the current global health crisis.

According to the researchers, including those from the University of Bristol in the UK, social media could be used to chart the economic impact and recovery of businesses in countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In their study, published in Nature Communications, they said traditional economic recovery estimates, such as surveys and interviews, are usually costly, time-consuming and do not scale-up well.

However, the scientists were able to accurately estimate the downtime and recovery of small businesses in countries affected by three different natural hazards using aggregated social media data.

The method used by the researchers relies on the assumption that businesses tend to publish more social media posts when they are open and fewer when they are closed.

By analysing the aggregated posting activity of a group of businesses over time, the study said it is possible to infer when they are open or closed.

Using data from the public Facebook posts of local businesses collected before, during and after three natural disasters comprising the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal, the 2017 Chiapas earthquake in Mexico, and the 2017 hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the scientists charted the number of smaller urban businesses who were closed and then were able to measure their recovery post-event.

They validated their analysis using field surveys, official reports, Facebook surveys, Facebook posts text analysis and other studies available in literature.

According to the scientists, the framework works in 'real time' without the need for text analysis which can be largely dependent on language, culture or semantic analysis.

They said it can be applied to any size area or type of natural disaster, in developed and developing countries, allowing local governments to better target the distribution of resources.

"The challenge of nowcasting the effect of natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and pandemics on assets, people and society has never been more timely than ever for assessing the ability of countries to recover from extreme events," explained Filippo Simini, the study's lead author from the University of Bristol.

"Often, small to medium-sized businesses slip through the net of traditional monitoring process of recovery. We noticed in areas struck by natural hazard events that not all areas and populations react in the same way," Simini said.

Using the method, the scientists assessed post-emergency deployment of resources after a natural hazard event using public Facebook posts of businesses to measure how a specific region is recovering after the event.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The worldwide coronavirus (covid19) has not had much impact on armed forces despite the fact that troops work, and often live, together in close proximity. The advantage the troops have is that they are generally young and in excellent health. This is especially true of troops in units deployed overseas and the crews of ships. Some 87 percent are between 18 and 39 years old while over 90 percent of ship crews are 18-39. The main covid19 danger in the military is to family members and civilian employees. These may be older or in poor health. These groups are more likely to die if infected. For example, the death rate of covid19 victims is 0.2 percent for younger (under 40) victims but that death rate gets much higher (over 20 percent) for people in poor health. Thus in the military, the most serious problem is troops getting infected and passing it on to more vulnerable civilian populations. Some 10-15 percent of the troops will suffer the effects of covid19 but few will die. Nevertheless, the impact of covid on troops is a problem for morale and overall readiness. In combat zones around the world, the impact of covid19 is already a reality. Most of these wars are disorganized affairs involving lots of irregulars, part-timers and militias. These wars tend to take place in areas that never had much in the way of modern health care or high standards of living. Since covid19 is less lethal than many of the existing diseases, like malaria in many parts of Africa, the new flu-type disease would come and go without much notice were it not for all the publicity.

There are some situations where the military impact pf covid19 can be more disruptive. This would be the case in special operations and air force units as well as the crews of ships at sea. There have already been cases of sailors coming down with covid19 while at sea. How could this happen? We already have examples of the impact. The cruise ship Diamond Princess had 3,700 passengers and crew on board and all were exposed to covid19 because there were enough infected passengers to begin with and the ship was quarantined long enough (two weeks) under conditions that allowed everyone on board to be exposed. Nearly all were tested and 19.6 percent tested positive but 47 percent of the infected showed no symptoms. Some of these did later exhibit symptoms (were asymptomatic) but none died. The danger of the asymptomatic infected is that they can spread the virus until their immune system eliminates it. It is unclear exactly how long that takes but it appears to be up to several weeks. It is known that 80 percent of those exposed to the virus do not become infected. This is typical of such diseases as influenza.

Even with flu, some of those whose immune systems reject the diseases, but some people do so while the virus has already infected them. These people probably spread these diseases more than the minority (10-15 percent) of the population that actually develops the uncomfortable symptoms of the flu. This gave rise, in the 19th century, to Typhoid Mary (Mary Mallon) a woman who carried the typhoid virus but never suffered the ill effects. This was not unique but it was the first time the relatively new mass media got a chance to handle this sort of thing. Unfortunately, Mary Mallon worked as a cook and refused to change professions and was found to have infected 51 people with typhoid, of whom three died. This led to her arrest in 1907 and she eventually spent 26 years confined to a cottage on an island dedicated to the care of those with contagious diseases. There were other such asymptomatic carriers of typhoid and similar diseases, but these were never noticed because they always believed as if they were vulnerable and took the precautions everyone else took to avoid infection or passing on the disease during outbreaks of these diseases. Historically, people have been dying of unidentified fevers for as long as humans, and animals in general, have been around. While modern medicine cant cure all diseases, it can identify anything new that comes along and a fast-spreading fever that kills a few people per million is news, especially in countries were modern medicine and sanitation have enabled large segments of the population to live to old age they have less resistance to fevers.

The Diamond Princess provided other insights that were also historical truths. While 0.2 percent of the passengers and crew died, most of those were and older and all were in poor health. Adjusting this data for more common age distribution (based on global populations exposed to Influenza) shows an overall death rate of 0.3 percent. The average death rate for Influenza is 0.1 percent. Higher death rates in some countries are not based on universal testing and mainly counted only those who showed symptoms. That accounts for the early estimates of a much higher death rate for covid19. Rarely is an entire population tested for the presence of a virus. Thus the Diamond Princess is the only example we have of a large group of people on a ship with at least one infected passenger to begin with and that was enough to expose the entire population of the ship to the virus.

Meanwhile, there has been no universal standard for measuring the impact of covid19. For example, some nations only count a covid19 death if covid19 was the major cause of death. In other nations anyone who died while infected is counted as a covid19 victim. It is already being noticed that a lot of victims are dying in the traditional fashion, at home or work, who had not appeared in need of hospitalization. They had a fever then they suddenly died.

Some navies are providing other examples as ships at sea where this an outbreak of covid19 that the entire crew can be exposed to. A recent example was the American aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt which, while in the Pacific recently, found several of the crew had the virus. Given the days or week an asymptomatic victim may have been on the ship, it explains how a seemingly healthy sailor boarded the Roosevelt and infected others, some of whom did show symptoms and become visibly ill. Ultimately all 5,000 sailors on the Roosevelt were tested and seven percent were found to be infected. So far a few have been hospitalized and no one has died.

Based on the Diamond Princess experience if the carrier did not isolate those known to be infected, the entire crew would be exposed and hundreds of those would be sick for days or weeks and a few might even die. When cases of covid19 were discovered on the carrier it headed to the nearest port (the Pacific island of Guam) and docked so the entire crew could be more quickly tested and those who had the virus would be isolated and treated. The navy moved 4,000 of them off the ship so the carrier can be disinfected. A thousand sailors had to stay on the ship to operate the nuclear power system and watch over many electronic systems and large quantities of ammo and fuel carried. The popular captain of the carrier was relieved of command because a memo he sent to his superiors about the covid19 outbreak was also sent to the media. The carrier was out of action for weeks because the ship had made a port call in Vietnam even though it was known that covid19 had spread to nations, like Vietnam, that were neighbors. So far Vietnam has only identified 244 cases and most of those have recovered.

There are war zones where the threat of covid19 has led to ceasefires and some other strange discoveries. For example, in Libya, a ceasefire was implemented to avoid the spread of covid19 throughout the country. Up to that point (March 2020), no one in Libya has been tested and found to have covid19. All Libyans agree that it is important to keep it that way. A month later 24 cases have been identified in Libya and one person has died. There may be others but no one knows.

South of Libya and North Africa there are a lot Chinese doing business in rural areas where there is also a lot of fighting by rebels or other armed groups. Chinese are a growing presence in Africa where they are making large investments in mining and other enterprises. As a result, there is a lot of travel between China and Africa and covid19 showed up in Africa but has not become an epidemic. The public health systems in Africa are far less capable as those in the rest of the world like China.Chinese researchers discovered that Africans are less likely to catch covid19 because they have one fifth as many cellular receptors in their lungs than Chinese. That difference enables covid19 to cause breathing problems more, or less, readily. Other researchers found that this genetic difference was most helpful for Africans and most harmful for East Asians. People in other parts of the world have less resistance to covid19 than Africans.

Lung damage is the most frequent cause of death among covid19 victims. So far Africa, with 18 percent of the world population, has only suffered about 0.3 percent of the covid19 infections. Africans are not immune, just less likely to get infected or suffer the breathing problems that cause most covid10 related deaths. Such genetic differences are common and account for some ethnic groups having different health problems, or advantages. For example, Africans are more prone to have sickle cell anemia. This genetic mutation helps those with it resist the deadly effects of malaria but also brings with it a high risk of blood disorders. Many of these genetic differences are useful with no bad side effects. That would include the unique eyelid structure of East Asians, which provides more protection from fine sand driven by high winds. Those sand storms still regularly blow into China from the Gobi Desert.
A former Deputy Minister of Power under the erstwhile Mahama administration, John Abdulai Jinapor, has taken a swipe at President Akufo-Addos 50% electricity power reduction stating that it will make consumers worse off.



According to him, the presidents 50% electricity rebate is meant to mislead the poor Ghanaian who queued to vote for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into office.



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his late-night update on measures taken against the spread of Coronavirus, announced on Thursday that government will fully absorb electricity bills for the poorest of the poor, i.e. for all lifeline consumers, that is free electricity for persons who consume zero to 50 kilowatt-hours a month for this period. In addition, for all other consumers, residential and commercial, Government will absorb, again, fifty per cent of your electricity bill for this period, using your March 2020 bill as your benchmark.



Akufo-Addo explained: if your electricity bill was GH100, you will pay only GH50, with government absorbing the remaining GH50. This is being done to support industry, enterprises and the service sector in these difficult times, and to provide some relief to households for lost income.



Shortly after the announcement, the Yapei Kusawgu MP, took to his Facebook timeline and explained: The lifeline Net Charge for Electricity consumers (50kwh) is [GH]19.26 a month.



By spending more time at home during the lockdown, a doubling of consumption, that is say, 100[KWh], will push a consumer to 58.93, John Abdulai Jinapor added.

Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Chiefs of WHO, UN hit back at Trump's threat

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 13:27, April 09, 2020

GENEVA/UNITED NATIONS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- "Please quarantine politicizing COVID. If we want to win, we shouldn't waste time pointing fingers...Unity is the only option to defeat this virus," World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday.

"I will suggest two things to the world," he told a virtual press conference from Geneva when answering a question about U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to withhold funds for the UN agency. "The first is national unity, and the second is global solidarity."

Trump on Tuesday criticized the WHO's response to COVID-19 and threatened to freeze U.S. funding for it.

Tedros stressed that at the national level, leaders should work across party lines.

"My message to political parties: do not politicize this virus. If you care for your people, work across party lines and ideologies ... Without unity, we assure you, even any country that may have a better system will be in trouble, and more crises," Tedros noted.

"No need to use COVID to score political points. You have many other ways to prove yourselves. This is not the one to use for politics, it's like playing with fire," Tedros added.

"Now, the United States and China, all the rest of G20 and the rest of the world should come together to fight the virus," he said, adding that the virus succeeds when there are cracks at the national level and global level.

Earlier in the day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for supporting the WHO during the COVID-19 crisis in the face of Trump's threat.

The WHO, with thousands of its staff, is on the frontlines, supporting member states and their societies, especially the most vulnerable among them, Guterres said in a statement. "It is my belief that the WHO must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against COVID-19."

Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences, rather than for evaluating the performance of all involved, he said.

The situation on the ground seems to support Guterres' appeal for support for the WHO.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has risen to more than 10,000 with more than 500 recorded deaths, as infections on the continent have grown exponentially in recent weeks and are continuing to spread, according to the WHO.

Africa's first COVID-19 case was recorded in Egypt on Feb. 14 and since then the number of African countries reporting cases has risen to 52 out of a total of 54.

The WHO said communities need to be empowered, and provincial and district levels of government need to ensure they have the resources and expertise to respond to the outbreaks locally.

The UN agency is working with governments across Africa to scale up their capacities in critical response areas such as coordination, surveillance, isolation, case management and contact tracing, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement.

For instance, the United Nations is supporting the Nigerian government in efforts to curb the spread of the virus. Three ambulances were donated Wednesday to the populous Lagos State. Other essential preventive, testing and treatment equipment procured by the United Nations is expected to arrive in the country in the coming days, said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for the secretary-general.

In Venezuela, the first shipment of 90 tons of UN life-saving supplies, including 28,000 personal protective equipment kits for health workers on the frontline as well as oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, water quality control products and hygiene kits, was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday to support the COVID-19 response, said Peter Grohmann, the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the country.

In a televised speech on Monday, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez also expressed support to the WHO, saying that the UN-body sent out warnings at an early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak and made specific plans to contain the virus.

Washington should not pass the blame to the WTO for its own failure in managing the COVID-19 situation, she added.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Spain has also delivered the first batch of medical supplies to health authorities to support the fight against the pandemic, Dujarric said.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said Tuesday COVID-19 is generating an unprecedented global economic crisis, with the economic destruction cruelly and unequally distributed.

For the world's poorest countries, the financial fallout caused by the pandemic, combined with debilitating debt-service obligations, is hampering their ability to prevent further transmission and protect citizens, she said.

A report of the International Labour Organization said the pandemic is expected to wipe out 6.7 percent of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020, equivalent to 195 million full-time workers.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

Dozens arrested in J&Ks Sopore for attending funeral of slain JeM commander

Police have arrested more than a dozen people for joining the funeral of a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) commander in Sopore area of north Kashmir in violation of government advisories against public gatherings during the Covid-19 outbreak. Read more

Rajasthan reports 57 new coronavirus cases, maximum on a single day

The states Covid-19 cases have been doubling rapidly. They first doubled from 100 to 200 cases in three days between April 1 and April 4. Later, they doubled again from 200 to 400 cases between April 4 and April 9. Read more

Delhi Police book 137 for not wearing masks

The Delhi Police on Friday said that they had so far booked at least 137 people for violating a government order that made wearing of masks in public places mandatory. Read more

WHO denies ignoring Taiwan early coronavirus warning

The World Health Organisation on Friday denied having brushed off a Taiwanese warning on human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus soon after its outbreak in China late last year. Read more

Class reverse swing at 90 mph: Ricky Ponting reveals the best over he ever faced

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has said that Andrew Flintoffs fiery and magical over during the 2005 Ashes Test against England at Edgbaston was the best over he ever faced in his playing days. Read more

Coronavirus lockdown: Manish Malhotra urges to remain positive, indulge in creative activities

Bollywoods favourite fashion designer and ace couturier Manish Malhotra advised people to remain positive and indulge in creative habits, amid the 21-day government-imposed lockdown prompted by coronavirus outbreak. Read more

This floating bin is sending Twitter into frenzy. Do you think its in the air too?

The Internet is the savior for a lot of people staying inside their homes, keeping them from feeling too bored or too cut off from the rest of world. But every now and then, the Internet throws netizens a curve ball thats not so easy to tackle. Read more

Should Google pay news publishers? French watchdogs latest ruling revives the debate

Google Search and Google News have increasingly become the gateway for users to consume news from different sources. As Google products gain more dominance, publishers are getting more and more reliant on Google for discovery and subsequently for traffic and also advertisements. Read more

Watch: Didnt go home for 7 days: Bhilwara collector on ruthless Covid-19 battle
An Giang province has set up approximately 100 checkpoints along its 100km border with Cambodia to tighten control over any human movements through the border amid the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

Roughly 100 checkpoints have been set up to impose strict control over those either entering or exiting the province through border gates, trails, and open crossings, with a specific focus on cutting down on those crossing illegally.

There are between five and seven people, including border guards, police officers, and soldiers, posted at each of the checkpoints.

The inspection teams manning the checkpoints work around the clock.

Colonel Huynh Van Dong has assigned disease prevention task forces with the responsibility of reducing the potential threat of the COVID-19 entering the country through one of the border gates

Sniffer dogs are also on hand to aid in supervision activities at the Vinh Xuong international border gate

Border guards check the body temperature of people passing through the Vinh Xuong international border gate.

People that do not have permanent residence in Vietnam are not permitted to enter the country due to tightened regulations.

Task forces have been assigned to the Long Binh Border Gate to fight the threat of the COVID-19 epidemic

Border guards stationed at the Vinh Gia border station inspect nearby trails and open crossings

Taking a break after a patrol

A typical meal for on-duty staff at the border

In addition to preventing people from illegally entering and exiting the province, task forces have also moved to reduce the flow of illegally transported goods across the border

Local residents have been provided with updated information on COVID-19 preventive measures.

Aside from strict measures placed on the border gates, guards in An Giang have also distributed leaflets featuring information on disease prevention and control to residents.

Soldiers posted on the frontline in the fight against the virus receive gifts from local authorities.

VOV

Vietnam suspends residents' border crossing from/to Laos, Cambodia over COVID-19 The Vietnamese Government has decided to suspend cross-border activities of individuals at main and secondary border gates, and trails in border areas sharing with Cambodia and Laos from April 1.
Heading into orbit: Nasa astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner board the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft in Kazakhstan. Photo: Getty Images

A US-Russian space crew has blasted off to the International Space Station following a tight quarantine amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nasa astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner lifted off as scheduled from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Russian space officials took extra precautions to protect the crew during pre-flight preparations as coronavirus has swept the world.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday in a video link from Baikonur, Mr Cassidy said the crew had been in "a very strict quarantine" for the past month and were in good health. "We all feel fantastic," he added.

Commander Ivanishin said extra measures were taken to keep the crew healthy and safe before launch, with none of the crew having any guests - no family or friends. "We've been completely isolated at this final stage of training," he said.

Roscosmos director Dmitry Rogozin said earlier this week that nine employees of the state corporation had tested positive for coronavirus.

As part of additional precautions, Roscosmos barred reporters from covering the launch.

The International Space Station is currently operated by Russian Oleg Skripochka and Nasa astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan, who are due to return to Earth next Friday.
First came the ban on gatherings of 500 or more. Then the numerical limit grew tighter and tighter until residents were ordered to stay at home.

Theaters, museums and music venues retooled along the way, canceling and postponing events until they had to close indefinitely.

After rounds of layoffs, San Antonio arts groups suffered another devastating blow when the city suspended arts funding through the end of the fiscal year in September, a step necessitated by a steep fall in hotel occupancy tax revenue, a pillar of city finances.

The suspension, announced Wednesday, will affect 43 San Antonio organizations both large and small, including the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, the Public Theater of San Antonio, the Witte Museum, Jump-Start Performance Company and every resident company at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, including the San Antonio Symphony.

The loss of funding could prove fatal to small groups, which were operating on thin margins even before the recent shutdowns. San Anto Cultural Arts could be one of them.

The city is the biggest source of revenue for the youth-oriented organization, which is known for its mural program and the community newspaper El Placazo. The group was expecting $26,000 from the city, which is about 20 percent of its budget.

Its a grant that we had already gotten, so we were already expecting that money, Executive Director Ben Tremillo said. For it not to be available now, its really pushing us to think about our work and whats essential and how we move forward.

The affected San Antonio groups are unlikely to make up the shortfall through donations.

Philanthropists and foundations have to respond to health and human services needs now, so theyre redirecting, for the most part, their giving, so thats a double whammy, said Paula Owen, president of the Southwest School of Art. Every nonprofit lives with a wolf at the door  every single one. But some of them are more at risk than others.

Even if the groups do make it through this fiscal year, the outlook is bleak for next year, too, with requests for funding likely to be more carefully scrutinized as the region  and world  tries to recover economically.

Tremillo is hopeful city officials will take the long view and remember the value of the arts.

Were going to need artists, writers and musicians to make sense  of it all. And if theyre not around, I worry about our center, our psyche, he said. Especially in a city like San Antonio thats so reliant on its artists. We have to remember what San Antonio is really built on.

On ExpressNews.com: Arts relief fund overwhelmed by applications

Spreading the pain

All of the citys arts funding comes from the Hotel Occupancy Tax. When the budget was set for the current fiscal year, the tax was expected to bring in $96 million, with $10.7 million set aside for the Department of Arts & Culture, including salaries, grants and other programming.

With hotel rooms going unused because of the pandemic, the city now expects a shortfall of $40.1 million from the tax, Deputy City Manager Maria Villagomez told the City Council during Thursdays meeting.

That means the remaining $1.4 million that had been earmarked for arts funding through the end of September is gone.

Arts groups got the bad news in a letter from Department of Arts & Culture Executive Director Debbie Racca-Sittre.

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing you today to notify you that after the April disbursement, we are suspending all remaining payments on all arts agency contracts, Racca-Sittre wrote. You should anticipate no additional funding from the city for Fiscal Year 2020 and adjust your operations accordingly.

The move does not affect the Bexar County Arts Relief Program, which was created by the city and the Luminaria Artist Foundation in March to help artists replace income lost to the pandemic.

A new world

Although the pain is being spread around  virtually all arts organizations are going to take a hit  smaller groups like San Anto are especially vulnerable. But even larger, better-funded groups that survive may have to significantly alter their approach.

The Southwest School of Art was expecting to receive around $65,000, which is one-quarter of its annual budget, Owen said. That loss is compounded by the cancellations of revenue-generating programs and events, including the Fiesta Arts Fair.

Like many other arts organizations, Owen and her staff are making plans beyond the crisis.

The Southwest School will survive, she said. But it may not survive in the form that we know and love.

The school, the only independent arts degree-granting institution in the state, was able to arrange distance learning for current students so that they could finish the semester. And plans are being made to offer online classes to teens and children over the summer.

We own our buildings, Owen said. We own our property. So we have assets on our balance sheet. But we dont have any cash flow. We can last a little while, but not a long time.

About 13 people have been furloughed. Everyone else has taken a pay cut. The school has applied to the federal governments payroll protection program, part of the $2 trillion stimulus approved by Congress.

The program grants forgivable loans to organizations that keep employees on their payrolls during the crisis.

On ExpressNews.com: S.A. museums beef up online educational content

The San Antonio Symphony was slated to receive about $90,000 in city funding in July, Executive Director Corey Cowart said.

So we do have a few months to try to figure out how to mitigate it and plan to make sure were back on stage and that were doing it as quickly and as strongly as possible, Cowart said. Were also fortunate that, being one of the large institutions, we do have more individuals who attend concerts and support us, and so we have more people that we can potentially draw on.

And plans are going forward for next season, with an eye toward flexibility, since theres no way to know when it will be safe for large groups to gather again. Cowart hopes to announce the classical season later this month.

The symphony canceled the remainder of its current season in March. Musicians are being paid, Cowart said.

Artpace already had done some belt-tightening when Riley Robinson came onboard as executive director in 2018. Still, the loss of city funding leaves the internationally renowned visual arts program with a $63,000 shortfall.

Were in as good a shape as we could possibly be, Robinson said. But we still need a way to recover that funding.

Artpace staffers are looking into grants and other sources to make up for the loss, and the organization has applied for a payroll protection loan.

The loss of city funding is going to hurt, Robinson said. And there are going to be some things were going to have to modify and change.

Exhibitions by the spring resident artists  Milagros de la Torre from New York, Carlos Castro Arias from Mexico and Daniel Ramos from Sandy Oaks  have been installed, though the building is closed to the public. Photos of the work will be posted to the Artpace website so that people can access it virtually.

Nothing has been canceled outright, Robinson said, though some programming has been moved around on the calendar.

Ironically, Opera San Antonio has a tiny bit of give in its $1.2 million budget because it wasnt able to produce Rigoletto, its spring production, due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

On ExpressNews.com: SAs new poet laureate wants homebound folks to write

The cancellation of Rigoletto, while heartbreaking, did mean that there were some costs, purely because we were not producing it, that we were able to save on, said E. Loren Meeker, general and artistic director of the company. We will be in a place where I think we can get through to the end of the fiscal year.

The loss of city funding, which accounts for about 13.5 percent of its budget, will hurt. But Meeker is making plans for next season.

We all need to be able to be here to revive the city when we get through the pandemic, she said.

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center had gotten ahead on earned income before it had to shutdown, making $18,000 above projections by the end of February.

We were on a real good course. Then everything came to a halt, Executive Director Cristina Balli said.

The West Side arts group was expecting $114,968 from the city to help in the next few months. Balli has applied for about that amount from the federal governments payroll protection program.

According to these projections, we might end the year in a $30,000 deficit, which we can work with, she said. Our budget is $1.5 million, so we can manage that. So I think the Guadalupe will be OK.

The Guadalupe has canceled its programming for the rest of the fiscal year and furloughed 15 contract employees.

The only thing going on right now is its education program, with ballet folklorico and traditional music classes offered online. A summer youth theater program funded by a Texas Commission on the Arts grant will go online, too.

Whats next

Ballis main worry isnt so much the next few months as it is 2020-2021, which is what shes freaking out about. If the city cant fund the Guadalupe at its current level of $575,000, that money will be hard to find elsewhere.

That will have a devastating impact in our next fiscal year, she said.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said he expects the next fiscal year to be a tough one as well, with more scrutiny given to every funding request.

Theyre going to have to take a very careful look at their budgets and squeeze it down as much as possible, Wolff said.

Deborah Martin is an arts writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Deborah, become a subscriber. dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN
But the pandemic has slammed the brakes on various segments of global trade. Container volume in Shanghai, the worlds busiest port, fell 20 percent year-over-year in February, while cargo volume sank 23 percent at the port of Los Angeles in the same time period.

Earlier this year, much of that collapse stemmed from disruptions in goods coming from China, where many factories were locked down. That has particularly affected industries like electronics and industrial machinery, which rely heavily on factories in China to power global supply chains. Laptop exports from China to the United States have plummeted, for instance, just as demand is surging as companies switch to remote work and students are thrust into distance learning.

But like the virus, which spread from China to the rest of the world, so too will the economic disruptions, which are likely to intensify in months to come. For companies and consumers who have come to rely on being able to ship goods rapidly and seamlessly around the world, the disruptions could come as a shock.

China has shown us how extreme the downturn in industrial activity can be, said Chris Rogers, a global trade and logistics analyst at Panjiva. He said that seaborne shipments from China to the United States were down 45 percent in the first two weeks of March compared with the same period a year earlier.

For the last several months, factories in China have been slowly coming back to life, though many are still operating at partial capacity, and could be shut down if the virus resurfaces. But while Chinese factories recover, demand for many products is cratering elsewhere.

Those places include the United States and Europe, where demand for goods and services is falling as workers lose jobs and cut spending, leaving American businesses scrambling to cancel orders from China.

Around the world, factories are shuttering for a variety of reasons. Workers are quarantined or staying home to care for children who are out of school while some factories lack components and raw materials. Others simply have no need to manufacture products since no one is buying them.
BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The third China International Import Expo (CIIE) plans to double the size of its medicine and medical equipment section from that of last year's event, and nearly 60 Fortune 500 companies and industry giants have signed up for the section, an official said Thursday.

Over 80 percent of the planned area for this section has been booked, Gao Feng, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, told a press briefing.

The section will display items such as drugs, medical equipment, elderly care, health food and medical services. A few companies will present epidemic control products including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines, invasive and non-invasive ventilators, thermometers and protective face masks, said Gao.

More than 1,000 exhibitors worldwide have signed up for the third CIIE scheduled to be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10, occupying 60 percent of the exhibit space.
Mitch McConnell's earliest childhood memory is the day he left the polio treatment center at Warm Springs, Ga., for the last time.

He was just a toddler in 1944, when his father was deployed to World War II, his mother relocated the family to her sister's home in rural Alabama and he came down with flu-like symptoms. While he eventually recovered, his left leg did not. It was paralyzed.

Two long years later, after shuttling young McConnell to and from the center where then-President Franklin Roosevelt received polio care, his mother was told that day that her young son would be able walk into his life without a leg brace.

She immediately took the 4-year-old shopping for a new pair of shoes.

More than 70 years later, Senate Majority Leader McConnell walked into the U.S. Senate to pass a sweeping coronavirus rescue package - and shutter the chamber for the forseeable future - as another dangerous flu-like virus fills the nation with anxiety, quarantines and unimaginable disruptions to American life.

'Why does this current pandemic remind me of that? I think No. 1 is the fear,' said McConnell, 78, in an interview with The Associated Press.

Struck down young: Mitch McConnell, with his parents Addison Mitchell Sr. and Julia 'Dean' at their home in Five Points, Alabama, suffered from polio when he was two, paralyzing his left leg

Childhood: Mitch McConnell, whose father Addison Mitchell Sr. was in the Army when the two-year-old was infected with polio, spent two years unable to walk

Determination: Mitch McConnell says his mother Julia, nicknamed Dean, put him through therapy exercises like a 'drill sergeant' and took him to Warm Springs, Georgia, for treatment

At the center: Mitch McConnell was back in the Senate Thursday to push for an extra $250 billion for the paycheck protection program, part of the $2 trillion coronavirus bailout

'And the uncertainty you have when there's no pathway forward on either treatment or a vaccine and that was the situation largely in polio before 1954.'

The two crises now bookend McConnell's years, making the Kentucky Republican an unexpected voice of personal experience and reflection in what he calls these 'eerie' times.

It's an unusual role for the famously guarded leader, who rarely says more when less will do, and relishes an image as a sly political tactician.

But as more than 16,000 people in the U.S. have died from coronavirus, the echoes are all too familiar.

So too is the solution, as he sees it, to care for the nation's sick and produce treatments, and an eventual vaccine.

'There's hope that we're going to get on top of this disease,' he said, 'within a year, year and a half.'

Polio ignited a dreadful fear across the U.S. in those years, especially in summertime.

The virus particularly struck children, forcing swift closures of schools and playgrounds and, in the sweltering heat, swimming pools.

Towns shuttered, families isolated. Thousands died, others were hospitalized and some left permanently paralyzed or with post-polio syndrome. The Salk vaccine was still years away.

'It was a scary virus,' said Stacey D. Stewart, president & CEO of March of Dimes, which started as FDR's National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis but quickly took on the name that reflected the public service call for Americans to donate their dimes for a polio solution.

'You didn't understand how you got it,' she said, and because it impacted so many young people, for 'so many parents, what's worse for a parent than having your child get sick?'

As a toddler, McConnell was taught to stay off his feet. His mother understood if he tried to walk too soon after the illness he might require a leg brace for the rest of his life.

She began taking him on the hour drive each way to Warm Springs where Roosevelt's condition was a warning sign to Americans the disease spared no one.

Socially distanced: This was the scene as Mitch McConnell answered questions in the Senate after leaving the floor

Fear: Polio epidemics repeatedly swept the U.S. during and after World War II, leaving children in iron lungs and paralyzed. Mitch McConnell was among them, but recovered more fully than many of the survivors

Link: Franklin D. Roosevelt spent time at Warm Springs, Georgia, after himself being paralyzed with polio and continued going there throughout his time as president. Records show he was there at the same time as Mitch McConnell was treated there was a child

Place of recovery: Children who had been left severely disabled by polio recover at the Warm Springs Foundation. It is now a historic site and Mitch McConnell visited it in 2018

Back home, she would would run through the physical therapy with her son 'like a drill sergeant,' he said.

McConnell doesn't remember much from those earliest days. Much of it he knows from his mother's retelling and his own reading of books of the era.

But he does remember what happened in the years after she bought him those saddle oxfords on their last trip home from Warm Springs.

He couldn't run as fast as the other kids. When he put on a swimsuit, his left leg had a narrower circumference, leaving him embarrassed. Even now, he says he has trouble climbing stairs.

'I was lucky,' he said, choking up as he recalls his mother, 'who was determined to see me walk again.'

Of 'tenacity, hard work and not giving up,' he said, 'My mother instilled all that in me before I was 4 years old and I think it's been a guiding principle in how I lead my life.'

One of the first things McConnell did when he was elected to public office in Kentucky, he writes in his memoir, was buy a new pair of shoes.

In the Senate last month, McConnell began linking past to the present 'just as soon as it became clear that we were actually endangering each other to be together.'

Senators were self-isolating and one, Rand Paul, announced he tested positive.

With the Capitol all but shuttered, the Senate raced to approve the rescue package. The votes tallied, McConnell adjourned the Senate.

'Let's continue to pray for one another,' he said. 'And for our country.'

Now from a quiet Capitol Hill -- he is working from the second floor of his townhouse, his wife Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on the third - the two suddenly find themselves like other Americans stumbling through the new stay-at-home normal.

'We're soldiering all through,' he said.

It's also bringing time for reflection.

A year ago, he returned to Warm Springs for the first time. At what is now a historic site, he reviewed files about his condition, his visits. He learned he sometimes received treatments when Roosevelt did, including the week the former president died.

Asked how his mom afforded his own medical care, he was stumped. Were there bills? 'Honestly, I don't know the answer to that,' he said. He said he would try to find out.

One memory that does stand clear is the arrival of the polio vaccine, and the relief it brought a weary populace.

As Congress considers the next aid package, he said he wants more money for health care.

'I've had a normal life, but I've been acutely aware of the disease that I had and the relief that the country had when they found the vaccine,' he said.

'We're going to get that relief.'
On Wednesday, 62-year-old Vandini Devi walked five kilometres from her village in Bokaro, Jharkhand to the bank in order to check if money had been credited to her Jan Dhan account. She was disappointed to learn that it hadnt. A resident of Chargi village, Devi said she had not received her widow pension since February, either. We were promised two months free food grain, but I was given 5 kilograms of ration for only one month. My younger son works as a daily wager and has had no work due to lockdown. I am in big distress, Devi said.

Indias rural population has been central to most relief measures announced since the 21-day lockdown began. On March 26, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced ~ 500 will be credited into Jan Dhan accounts held by women for three months, starting April. There are more than 203.9 million such accounts. Separately, many states have also allocated funds to keep the Public Distribution System (PDS) flush with supplies, even as daily wage, manual and agricultural work dries up. At the other end of this are the nearly 40 million rural women who are the purported recipients of these benefits.

With no money in the bank account, and government assistance awaited, 55-year-old Shahjahan in Lucknows Asti village has only 15kg wheat and 10kg rice left for her family of five. On March 30, UP chief minister Adityanath announced relief worth ~611 crore to all Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme beneficiaries, following which Shahjahan visited her bank. She said she waited for over an hour but found no cash in her account.

In many parts of the country, work under MNREGS has come to a halt. Crop harvesting too has been affected leading to a break in supply chains, as farmers are unable to send their produce to mandis.

In Maharashtra, for instance, the lockdown is being implemented rigorously, with police patrol cars preventing farmers from farming activities.

Sulekha Naba, a 40-year-old tribal woman in Badipalli village of western Odisha district of Bargarh queued up like other villagers to get the ~1,000 assistance that chief minister Naveen Patnaik had announced for cardholders under the national food security act. Naba, a landless daily labourer, has been without work since the lockdown. While she did receive three months ration, she worried that the cash assistance would hardly be enough to sustain her family. Odisha has 7.4 million households under Jan Dhan yojana  thats 99.85% of the total number of households in the state.

Long queues of women to withdraw ~500 from their Jan Dhan bank accounts have been witnessed in almost all rural areas in Maharashtra. Yogesh Warkhede, a bank friend appointed by Bank of Baroda at Nampur village in Nashik district of Maharashtra said almost 200 people have visited his home to enquire about the deposits.

To an extent, the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu have been able to manage such crowds through an innovative token system: Each family is given a token with a specific date and time to pick up their rations at the Fair Price shops. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh completed the first phase of distribution of rice and other essential commodities, as well as cash assistance in the first week of April itself.

In Kerala, ration holders are classified on the basis of their economic vulnerability. The state did away with biometric identification on April 1 to aid the process of distribution. It has now started supplying the ration based on SMSes in order to control the rush.

Not all states have been able to use technology seamlessly, however. In Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, Guddi Bai Lodhi, 58, went to the branch of Gramin Bank to collect her ~500. When my turn came, the bank clerk said the link was not working.

She managed to get cash and purchase a few grocery items.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Debjani Dutta By

Express News Service

PUDUCHERRY: All entrances to Puducherry from Villupuram and Cuddalore through village roads were sealed on Thursday to prevent the entry of people from Tamil Nadu.

This was in response to Chief Minister V Narayanasamy asking the police to get tough on people entering from Tamil Nadu. The Chief Minister has advised the police to invoke stringent and deterrent provisions of the state and central laws against those entering the Union Territory from outside during the lockdown.

Presently, the two neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu have reported a significant number of COVID-19 cases. Tamil Nadu is also in second position after Maharashtra in the number of COVID-19 cases.

The Tamil Nadu government is struggling to contain the spread and the Puducherry government cannot remain slack and has to take stricter measures to prevent the spread of the infection, he said.

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES

Around 20 such roads connecting Puducherry with adjoining villages of Villupuram were barricaded by the PWD, along with 10 roads connecting Puducherry with areas in Cuddalore district.

While the barricading would prevent vehicles from entering, people on foot would be prevented from crossing over by volunteers from the village who would work in tandem with police, said Superintendent of Police (West) Ranganathan. Already, volunteers have taken up the task in some villages while others are being enrolled to work in liaison with the concerned police stations.

Police personnel have been posted at the barricades at entry points from Cuddalore district. Private security guards as well as NCC volunteers are also assisting the police in preventing the entry of people from Tamil Nadu, said Superintendent of Police (West) China Godantharaman.

We are allowing authorized people and vehicles to cross only on Puducherry-Cuddalore main road. Several persons working in Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute and Arupadai Veedu Medical College in Puducherry but residing in Cuddalore and other areas in the district, are being allowed to come and go, he said.

However, intermittent areas in Tamil Nadu like Reddichavady, Kottakuppam and several others remain a challenge. Besides, there are roads where the eastern part is in Puducherry and western part in Tamil Nadu, like Thirukkanur main road, through which people can sneak in despite the vigil.
BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities Thursday urged efforts to beef up COVID-19 prevention and control in border regions and expand coronavirus infection testing in key areas with risks of COVID-19 outbreak.

The instructions were made at a meeting of the leading group of China's COVID-19 epidemic response, which was chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Measures should be taken to strengthen the COVID-19 test and treatment capacity in border regions, according to the meeting.

The leading group decided to shift more resources from inland areas to secure the medical supply reserves in border regions and port cities and boost their testing capacity.

Noting the accelerating spread of the virus globally, the group urged timely and dynamic adjustments to work priorities and measures to prevent the importation of infections. The group asked for a reduction in non-essential cross-border trips while ensuring regular cargo transport.

It also pledged to promote the establishment of joint prevention and control mechanisms with neighboring countries.

The meeting stressed strengthened international cooperation, calling for continuous efforts to offer relevant countries assistance with epidemic prevention and control, facilitate their purchases of epidemic prevention supplies and improve quality supervision and management of exports.

The group demanded efforts to expand the nucleic acid and antibody testing in key regions, calling for raising the testing rate to timely find infected people and obtain the status of asymptomatic coronavirus cases to reduce the risk of virus transmission.

The meeting also required timely, open and transparent information release and efforts to improve detection technologies and speed up the research and development of anti-virus medicines and vaccines.

It also called for creating conditions proactively to fully advance work resumption while implementing regular epidemic prevention and control measures.

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the leading group, attended the meeting.
This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.

Alan T. Ortiz, a leading foreign policy expert who held prominent positions in the Philippine government and in business, traveled to Paris in March to attend an international security conference.

He never made it home.

Dr. Ortiz, who had also served as president of the Philippine Council for Foreign Relations, became infected with the coronavirus during his trip and was hospitalized in Paris.

He died there on March 23, his daughter, Monica Ortiz, said in a post on Facebook. He was 66.

All the days of our lives, we will miss him, his laughter, his intelligence, and his sense of adventure, she wrote.
FILE PHOTO: Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud and Russia's Energy Minister Novak are seen at the beginning of a meeting in Vienna

By Rania El Gamal

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's energy minister said on Friday that a final OPEC+ oil supply pact to reduce 10 million barrels per day (bpd), which was agreed on Thursday, hinges on Mexico joining in the cuts.

OPEC, Russia and other allies, a group known as OPEC+, outlined plans on Thursday to cut their oil output by more than a fifth, but said a final agreement was dependent on Mexico signing up to the pact after it balked at the production cuts it was asked to make. Discussions among top global energy ministers will resume on Friday.

"I hope (Mexico) comes to see the benefit of this agreement not only for Mexico but for the whole world. This whole agreement is hinging on Mexico agreeing to it," Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told Reuters by telephone.

Global fuel demand has plunged by around 30 million bpd, or 30% of global supplies, as steps to fight the coronavirus have grounded planes, cut vehicle usage and curbed economic activity.

The kingdom will host an extraordinary meeting by video conference at 12.00 GMT on Friday for energy ministers from the Group of 20 major economies.

Asked about other countries such as the United States, Canada and Brazil joining the OPEC+ cut pact, Prince Abdulaziz said: "They will do it in their own way, using their own approaches, and it is not our job to dictate to others what they could do based on their national circumstances."

He added that he expects that other producers will join in the global effort to reduce oil supply to stabilise oil markets.

The planned output curbs by OPEC+ amount to 10 million bpd, or 10% of global supplies, with another 5 million bpd expected to come from other nations, according to sources, to help deal with the deepest oil crisis in decades.

The agreement will take about 11.3 million bpd of actual crude supply from the market "provided that Mexico agrees", Prince Abdulaziz said.

Saudi Arabia has agreed a lower baseline for its production cut than its April output which is about 12.3 million bpd, making the kingdom's effective share of reduction at about 3.8 million bpd.

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Liberty University has pushed for criminal trespassing charges against two journalists who pursued stories about why the evangelical college in Virginia has remained partially open during the coronavirus outbreak.

The college, in Lynchburg, Virginia, is led by Jerry Falwell Jr., a supporter of President Donald Trump who has suggested coverage of the epidemic was overblown. Falwell said the university is conducting classes online and obeying social distancing directives.

But he said he has kept the campus open for international students and those with nowhere else to go. On Thursday, there were about 1,000 students living on campus, roughly one-eighth of its normal residential population.

After stories were written saying Libertys decision caused concerns in the community, the university pursued charges against Alec MacGillis, a reporter for ProPublica, and Julia Rendleman, a photographer who illustrated a March 29 story in The New York Times.

Virginia Magistrate Kang Lee signed arrest warrants for Class 1 Misdemeanors against the two journalists, punishable by up to a year in jail. Its up to Lynchburg Commonwealths Attorney Bethany Harrison to decide whether to prosecute, and she said Thursday she hasnt seen any details on the case.

Libertys security forces investigated the journalists following publication of their articles, collecting witness accounts that they were on campus without permission, Falwell said.

He said it was a safety issue not to let outsiders in at a time of a global pandemic.

When people are coming from known hot spots, we feel we owe it to our students and our parents not to let that happen, Falwell said in an interview on Thursday. The only way to send the message is to let them know they will be prosecuted.

Image: US-HEALTH-VIRUS (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades / AFP - Getty Images file)

Whats really important is writing about a decision that goes against safety guidelines and puts peoples health at risk, said Richard Tofel, president of ProPublica. MacGillis article, headlined Whats it Like on One of the Only University Campuses Still Open in the U.S.? was published on March 26.

Story continues

Bringing an action on trespassing charges seems something beside the point, Tofel said.

The only reason that trespassing accusations werent made against Elizabeth Williamson, the Times reporter who wrote about Liberty on March 29, was because eyewitnesses could not be found, Falwell said. The Times story was headlined, Liberty University Brings Back its Students, and Coronavirus Fears, Too.

The Times said its freelance photographer was doing the routine job of taking a picture of someone interviewed for the news story.

We are disappointed that Liberty University would decide to make that into a criminal case and go after a freelance journalist because its officials were unhappy with press coverage of the universitys decision to convene classes in the midst of the pandemic, spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said.

In the midst of reporting its own story about Libertys decision on March 24, an Associated Press photographer was approached by a campus security officer, asked to leave and to delete all of the images he had taken at Liberty.

After consulting with a supervisor, the photographer deleted the images  a decision the news organization said was wrong in retrospect.

We dont delete photos or any other material at the request of an individual law enforcement officer, said Sally Buzbee, the APs executive editor and senior vice president. We try to fight such orders legally.

Liberty is particularly upset at the Times, disputing the newspapers contention that nearly a dozen Liberty students were sick with symptoms that suggested COVID-19. The university said only one student has tested positive  someone who did not live on campus and was last on campus two weeks before being tested.

Video: Communities Struggle With How to Observe Easter During Pandemic

Liberty has called for a retraction and threatened legal action.

Murphy said the Times story described contradictory statements by university leadership and personal attacks against critics of Libertys policy.

Were confident in the accuracy of our reporting, she said.

Falwell has also questioned whether Liberty is being picked on for political reasons, noting that its not the only university in the country to have the same limited opening.

To that end, the university is planning to run newspaper advertisements in some southern cities where many of its students are from that draws comparisons to some other universities, he said.

The upcoming ad says that Libertys response to COVID-19 puts us in pretty good company, despite what you might conclude from media accounts.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 10, 2020 | 02:17 PM | PADUCAH





During a Friday virtual check presentation, the Charity League of Paducah presented Mayor Brandi Harless with a check for $5,000 to go towards the Small Business Relief Fund.







Meagan Mansfield, Charity League President, thanked Harless and partners for quickly creating the fund to assist local small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also thanked other Charity League members for choosing to divert funds to the relief fund.







Harless shared her appreciation for the donation.







She said, Thank you so much for your generous contribution. Your money makes a big difference. Plus, your donation is the largest gift so far. You are pioneering for us and setting an example for the rest of the community.







The Small Business Relief fund is a partnership between the City of Paducah, West Kentucky Community and Technical College, and the Community Foundation of West Kentucky.





The city originally designated $150,000 to the fund, but will be providing an extra $100,000 to match whatever is raised by the community. With the addition of the donation from the Charity League of Paducah, the relief fund has received a total of $16,791 in community donations.





To donate to the fund, visit the link below, or call 270-442-8622. Donations can also be mailed to Community Foundation of West Kentucky, Attention: Small Business Relief Fund, P.O. Box 7, Paducah KY 42001.







Anyone with questions about the application process should call the City of Paducah Planning Department at 270-444-8601.

The Charity League of Paducah has made a donation to Paducah's Small Business Relief Fund.

On the Net:
To the Editor:

Re Focus on Governors, Not Trump, by Nikki R. Haley (Op-Ed, April 10):

Nikki Haleys struggle to obscure President Trumps ineptitude during Covid-19 contains a testimonial ode to Barack Obamas leadership. Ms. Haley recounts a bygone era when as governor of South Carolina  under Mr. Obama  she could count on cooperation with the president to put differences aside to serve the immediate needs of our joint constituents.

Ms. Haley also writes: Its true that states shouldnt have to compete, to bid against each other for supplies at inflated prices. And party politics shouldnt factor in disbursing federal resources to states.

While this was not the case for Ms. Haley under Mr. Obamas presidency, tragically, because of Mr. Trumps failure to lead or care, this is now exactly the situation. Governors are leading heroically, battling a shameful void of federal leadership and coordination, and a failure to provide resources.

Ms. Haleys shameless audition letter for vice president cant camouflage the simple truth that she was lucky to serve under a deft leader when she faced crises as governor. Today, as Americans die by the thousands and overflow morgues, our governors live in a different universe, left on their own to fight for resources while our president obsesses about ratings and vendettas.
Major Charles Ingram admits he 'doesn't like quizzes' as he is pressured to go on Who Wants To Be A Million by his quiz-obsessed wife and brother-in-law in the new hotly anticipated drama.

Quiz, which is a three-part dramatisation of the 2001 'coughing' scandal, which airs on Monday, begins by highlighting how Major Charles Ingram, played by Matthew Macfadyen, was never actually a quiz fan.

However, for his wife Diana, played by Sian Clifford, and brother-in-law Adrian Pollock, played by Trystan Gravelle, knowing the answer is a way of life.

When television producer Paul Smith (Mark Bonnar) puts everything on the line to make the ITV quiz show, a much-loved pub-quiz hobby turns into outright obsession.

The first episode of ITV's three-part dramatisation of the 1997 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? scandal airs on Monday. It focuses on the fact Major Charles Ingram's wife Diana and brother-in-law Adrian were big quiz fans

Chris Tarrant, who is played by Michael Sheen (pictured), comments on the fact he has seen Adrian in the studio four times when he finally makes it to the hot seat

But as Diana and Adrian's repeated attempts to get into the hot seat fall short, all eyes turn to an unsuspecting Charles to win the million-pound prize.

The opening episode follows the attempts of ITV's new director, David Liddiment, to form the premise of a new quiz show that will grip the nation, and it soon turns into the award-winning programme hosted by Chris Tarrant, who is played by Michael Sheen.

And with the chance to win 1 million, it isn't long before pub quiz lovers from across the globe set to work in a bid to hack the system and become contestants on the quiz show.

Among those hoping for a chance to become millionaires are quiz fans Diana Ingram and her brother Adrian, who reach out to a group of elite pub quizzers known as 'The Syndicate,' who claim they can help individuals get onto the show in return for a fee.

As Diana and Adrian's (pictured together) repeated attempts to get into in the hot seat fall short, all eyes turn to an unsuspecting Charles to win the million-pound prize

Later, Adrian can be heard speaking to Paddy Spooner, played by Jeremy Killick - who managed to get in the chair three times - despite the rules saying you can only sit in the hot seat once.

THE REAL STORY Ingram notoriously cheated his way to win 1 million on gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in 2001. The ex-military officer, then aged 38, amazed audiences when he scooped the top prize on the ITV primetime show while answering erratically to host Chris Tarrants questions. But while Tarrant does hand over a cheque to winners on-screen, the money was withheld by production company Celador after concerns were raised over the possibility he had cheated. It later emerged that accomplice Tecwen Whittock, who was a future contestant, had coughed to indicate correct answers throughout the show. Ingram, Diana and Whittock were convicted of deception in a 2003 crown court trial, and Ingram was given a 20-month suspended prison sentence. His two accomplices were given 18-month suspended sentences for their part in the scam. And in August this year, he and wife Diana had to declare themselves bankrupt for a fourth time. Advertisement

'It was three different versions, three countries - Australia, Ireland and the UK,' explains Paddy. 'They don't check. There's a lot they don't check.'

'I've been working with some people - an underground community has sprung up.

'They are fans of the show who have grown into a quiet little resistance in the quiet little villages of England, but the perfect place to plan our attack.'

He goes on: 'In the world of quizzing, the man who has the questions may be King, but the man who has the answers is God.'

'Thousands of people call the hotline, the show selects a random hundred numbers to call back with a question that's all but impossible to get exactly right.

'What the makers haven't predicted was what people tend to do - talk to each other.

'The fools are using the same "closest to" questions, in rotation, time and again. All you need is a network, or, as we call ourselves, "The Syndicate."

The experience quizzer then goes on to advise Adrian that when he gets the callback from the producers, he should pretend to be someone else and say that Adrian is out, to give them time to prepare and for Paddy to mobilise - before helping him with the answer.

Paddy then says that once in the chair, there's a final highly bespoke service they offer on their phone a friend.

When Adrian and Diana both make it into the hot seat and fail to scoop the big prize, they turn to Charles as a last resort. Pictured Chris Tarrant, played by Michael Sheen

Adrian and Diana sit down and watch the popular ITV quiz show together in a bid to get tips to get on the show

'There's a room in London where we gather - the finest pub quizzers in the land - secretly, silently, in solidarity,' he explains. 'If you give the producers one of the dozen special numbers we have around the country, they are all diverted here, to this one phone.'

After hearing Paddy is expecting 25 per cent in return, Adrian replies: 'I am grateful for all the hints and tips and things, but I'm not sure whether I need your services.'

However, when Adrian and Diana both make it into the hot seat and fail to scoop the big prize, both walking away with 32, 00, they turn to Charles as a last resort.

'You must go on - onto the show,' Diana tells him. 'I've been on, Adrian has - it's your turn.'

A frustrated Charles replies: 'It's my turn is it, to join the family business? I warned you of these bad schemes. I don't even like quizzes!'

Meanwhile, the repeated reappearance of middle-class, professional quizzers has not gone unnoticed by the ITV team and Paul makes a vow to stop them by any means necessary.

Quiz will air on Monday 13th April at 9pm on ITV
Attorney General: Trump Was Right to Fire Intelligence Watchdog

Attorney General William Barr said the president was right to dismiss the intelligence community inspector general who handled the anonymous whistleblower complaint that prompted a partisan impeachment against the president last year.

The attorney general made the comments in a Fox News interview aired on Thursday, saying that the inspector general, Michael Atkinson, exceeded his authority when he disclosed to Congress the whistleblower complaint that centered around a phone call President Donald Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

From the vantage point of the Department of Justice, he had interpreted his statutewhich is a fairly narrow statute that gave him jurisdiction over wrongdoing by intelligence peopleand tried to turn it into a commission to explore anything in the government and immediately reported to Congress without letting the Executive Branch look at it and determine whether there was any problem, Barr said during the interview.

On April 3, Trump sent a letter to the Senate intelligence committee and other congressional intelligence officials that he was removing Atkinson from office in 30 days, after having lost confidence in him. The president then appointed National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency general counsel Thomas Monheim to act as his replacement.

Atkinson played a central role in the series of events leading up to the impeachment effort against Trump last year. He vetted the anonymous whistleblower complaint and determined that it should be forwarded to Congress as a matter of urgency. The complaint contained allegations about Trumps conduct during a phone call with Zelensky last July.

The whistleblower, whose name has not been released, admitted in the complaint that he or she was not a direct witness to most of the events described but had received the information from colleagues accounts, which he or she found credible.

House Democrats used the complaint as a basis to accuse Trump of leveraging his office and withholding U.S. aid to Ukraine to obtain dirt on a political opponent2020 Democratic candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.

A transcript of the call, which was released by the White House shortly after the allegations were made, revealed that Trump had asked Zelensky to look into Bidens dealings in Ukraine but hadnt pressured him or used any quid pro quo in the call. Trump has repeatedly described the call as perfect.

Trump was eventually impeached in December by the House of Representatives, which no House Republican voted in favor of, and a few House Democrats voted against. He was acquitted by the Senate earlier this year.

The presidents decision to dismiss Atkinson was met with rebuke from Democrats, who called it a retaliatory firing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also criticized Trump for the dismissal, calling it a shameful late-night firing and a brazen act against a patriotic public servant.

Trump defended the firing, saying that Atkinson mishandled the whistleblower complaint, which he said did not have to be rushed.

Hes a total disgrace, Trump said. Thats my decision. I have the absolute right.

Meanwhile, Atkinson also suggested that he was fired because of his handling of the whistleblower complaint.

It is hard not to think that the presidents loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial inspector general, and from my commitment to continue to do so, he said in a statement on April 5.

During the interview on Thursday, Barr also said that he was troubled by the findings from the ongoing investigation into the FBIs counterintelligence investigation on Trumps campaign during the 2016 presidential election, which is led by U.S. Attorney John Durham.

My own view is that the evidence shows that were not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness, Barr said. There was something far more troubling here. Were going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted.

Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
Each Saarc member state can decide on the timing, manner and implementation of their Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund commitments, India said on Friday in response to Pakistans pledge of $ 3 million for the fund proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Islamabads confirmation about its pledge, however, was accompanied with a rider that the fund should be administered by the Saarc secretariat and be utilised in consultation with member states.

It is for each SAARC Member State to decide on the timing, manner and implementation of their Saarc COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund commitments. Where India is concerned, the commitment made by the Prime Minister is today in an advanced stage of implementation, Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs, said.

Follow latest updates on coronavirus here

Assistance in material and services has been extended to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These Saarc countries have also made early commitments to the Fund. The degree of seriousness of each nation can be gauged by their behaviour, Srivastava said.

Pakistan was the last of Saarcs eight members to contribute to the fund, which was created with an initial corpus of $10 million provided by India following a video conference of leaders of the grouping on March 15.

While communicating Pakistans decision to the Saarc Secretariat, it has been conveyed that all proceeds of the Fund should be administered by the Saarc Secretariat and that the modalities for the Funds utilisation should be finalised through consultations with the Member States as per the Saarc Charter, a statement from Pakistans Foreign Office had said.

Click here for complete coronavirus coverage

Pakistans perspective in this regard was also conveyed during a telephone conversation between Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and Secretary General Saarc Esala Ruwan Weerakoon, today, it had added.

Pakistan had on Wednesday skipped a video conference of senior trade officials of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), saying it chose not to participate since the Saarc secretariat wasnt involved in organising it.

Also read: To block Indian Covid-19 initiatives, Pak seeks to bring issues under SAARC secretariat
<! Buhari >

Nigerias President, Muhammadu Buhari has called on Christians in the country to use the Easter period to pray for the nation to overcome the dreaded Coronavirus.

Nigeria has been hit with 288 cases of Coronavirus so far, with 51 people recovering from the disease and seven death.

Buhari, in his Easter message to Christians on Friday said this years commemoration of Easter came amidst the grip with which COVID-19 had held the entire world.

Unprecedented in living memory, majority of Christians have found themselves marking Easter in a subdued manner, away from the usual congregation in churches. This is unusual and very unfortunate.

However, I wish to enjoin our Christian compatriots to rekindle their faith in Christ who overcame persecution, sufferings and displayed endurance, steadfastness and above all piety.

Jesus Christ represented mans ability to withstand temporary pains in the hope of everlasting glory, he said.

Buhari urged Christians to imbibe and live the values of humility, discipline, perseverance, sacrifice and obedience which Jesus Christ demonstrated during His stay on earth.

There is no better opportunity than now for all Christians in particular, and Nigerians in general, to remain faithful and hopeful that with intensified prayers backed by personal and collective responsibility, the nation shall pull through this most difficult trial.

I have no doubt that if all stakeholders  individuals and groups  play their part to the fullest as advised by our scientists and medical experts in confronting Covid-19, the inherent resilience and determination of our people will enable us to pull through.

As I stated in my national broadcast on Sunday, March 29, 2020, since there is currently no known vaccine against the virus, the best and most efficient way to avoid getting infected is through regular hygiene and sanitary practices as well as social distancing, he added.

The president commended the encouraging containment and ameliorating strategies put in place by members of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19.

He said he was aware of the personal and collective inconveniences suffered by the people due to measures such as restriction of movements and closure of business premises.

Being a matter of life and death, these sacrifices are in everybodys interest to save our country from calamity.

The welfare of our people is paramount. Accordingly, the most economically vulnerable in our communities will continue to be uppermost in our plans, and efforts will be made to supply them with basic means of survival.

While we see the Covid-19 pandemic as a global challenge, this administration is not oblivious of the constant threat posed to our national security by terrorists and insurgents.

They may take this opportunity to perpetrate attacks. But our armed forces and other security and intelligence services will remain vigilant and continue to contain these threats and consolidate efforts to eradicate them completely, he stated.
The parents of three children who were allegedly killed by a driver high on drugs as they rode their bikes to get ice cream have shared an Easter message of forgiveness.

Leila and Danny Abdallah have said prayer and faith have kept them going after the unthinkable tragedy in which their children Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna Abdalleah, 9, were killed.

Veronique Sakr, 11, who is the daughter of their cousin was also killed in the crash.

In their Good Friday message, Mr and Mrs Abdallah had a poignant comment for a world in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, saying our job as a community is to build rather than criticise.

Leila and Danny Abdallah have said prayer and faith have kept them going after the unthinkable tragedy in which their children Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna Abdalleah, 9, were killed

In their Good Friday message, Mr and Mrs Abdallah had a poignant comment for a world in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, saying our job as a community is to build rather than criticise

Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna Abdalleah, 9, were killed and Veronique Sakr, 11, who is the daughter of their cousin was also killed in the crash

'All five of them, as they lay helplessly on the floor took me to the moment of the Crucifixion. My natural reaction was kneeling down and praying.' Mrs Addallah told 7News.

Mr Abdallah said that we should be encouraging and helping one another, even more so during difficult times.

'I know that we as humans on Earth have the ability to love abundantly. The most valuable attributes we have are faith, family, forgiveness, and above all love,'' Mrs Abdallah said.

To those families confined to their homes this weekend and to those who can't visit their families in person, Mr Abdallah had some advice.

'Say I love you as if it is our last day,' he said.

Mrs Abdallah said last month that praying had given her strength ans thanked those people who had supported the family with love through the tragedy.

''I would like to thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, kind words, messages, gifts and all your help. Danny and I are so blessed to have each and everyone of you in our lives,' Mrs Abdallah said on a blog page setup as a tribute to the children.

''Now, I know the world is going crazy because of the coronavirus, but what's keeping me strong in the midst of losing my kids is the power of prayer.'

It has been ten weeks since the tragedy on the Oatlands street in western Sydney that shocked Australia.

The three Abdallah children and Veronique were walking among a group of seven to get ice cream on February 1 when they were mowed down.

From left to right: surviving daughter Leanna, 10, the couple's two surviving twin boys, Leila, Sienna, 9, Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13

Samuel William Davidson, 29, had allegedly spent the day drinking by the pool of his home when he drove to the nearby Caltex service station.

As he drove down the hill on Bettington Road on his way home he allegedly reached speeds of between 100km/h and 130km/h before losing control and ploughing his 4WD into the group.

Davidson had 14 new charges added in Parramatta Local Court on April 1.

The new charges Davidson is facing include four counts of aggravated dangerous driving under the influence of MDMA, four counts of aggravated dangerous driving at 45km/h over the speed limit and six other charges - including refusing to give his details to police at the scene.

Samuel William Davidson, 29, had allegedly spent the day drinking by the pool of his residence when he drove to the nearby Caltex service station he is charged over the crash

The new charges follow 20 offences he is already charged with including four counts of manslaughter and high-range drink driving.

In addition to the deaths of the four children, their cousin Charbel Kassas remains in hospital but is still facing a 'very long recovery'.

A 40-day mass for the children was held in March at Our Lady of Lebanon co-cathedral in Parramatta.

Mr Abdallah at a 40-day mass held in Parramatta for the four children in March

Hundreds attended the church service in Sydney west in March

Mr and Mrs Abdallah and their surviving daughter Leanna wore white to the service which was attended by hundreds.

'Our hearts are in a lot of pain and our minds cannot fully comprehend all that has happened,' Mr Abdallah said at the service.

'However as for me, me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Please, do what only you can do to give us strength.

'We know Antony, Angelina, Sienna and Veronique are in glory with you. You called them home at this time and I trust you know best.'

The archbishop of St Mary's cathedral has invited Leila to read on Easter Sunday.

Mr and Mrs Abdallah and their surviving children at the 40-day memorial service
Our Pennsylvania National Guard (PNG), under the leadership of Major General Anthony J. Carrelli, has been highly active in helping and supporting Pennsylvanians during this crisis. To name just a few of the National Guard activities:

Pennsylvania National Guard (PNG) members personally and individually drove home the 39 Pennsylvanians who were aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship when they returned home at the Harrisburg Airport from Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia.

PNG members were activated by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to support a food bank in Pittsburgh.

PNG has provided logistical support to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

PNG has set up and staffed FEMA medical stations in Delaware County and a medical station in Chester County.

PNG has transported cots and other medical equipment from FEMA locations to areas of need throughout the commonwealth.

PNG also supports a testing center in Montgomery County.

Additionally, they have set up the PNG Joint Emergency Operations Center and all three of its geographic emergency response management centers, the same ones used for storms and other state emergencies.

Our Pennsylvania National Guard is doing all this and more while also continuing to train for future deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and other stations throughout the world.

Fort Indiantown Gap, the home of our Pennsylvania National Guard, is also prepared to respond to any increased needs this crisis requires.

Our National Guard is with us to help. The PNG members live in our communities. All constituents of the 9th Congressional District should be proud to have this important facility and the PNG members as part of our district. All Pennsylvanians and Americans should say thank you for their service. They have one mission. It is to help us all. Pennsylvanians should feel safe and secure knowing we have these great Americans so willing to sacrifice and serve us; in war, peace, and in a crisis. HOOAH Pennsylvania National Guard!

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser servces Pennsylvanias 9th congressional district.
+ Read a Collection of Carter Fellows COVID-19 Mental Health Reporting

Carter Center mental health journalism fellows have been reporting on the mental health impact of COVID-19. Read some of their stories below.

Who will heal the healers? Hospitals are working hard to keep healthcare workers physically safe. But what about their psychological health? A story from Deborah Wang (18-19) for KUOW Public Radio in Seattle, with links to mental health and wellness resources for healthcare providers. More on KUOWs Seattle Now podcast, too.

Honor Your Pace In Life (Regardless Of Whether Theres A Pandemic Or Not). Amna Al Haddad (16-17) writes for Entrepreneur.com Middle East that finding solutions amidst a crisis is a valuable skill and something to be respected.

Fostering pets is helping some better cope with the pandemic. This 6-minute documentary from Melanie Saltzman (19-20) and Laura Fong for PBS NewsHour Weekend looks at how New Yorkers responded to animal shelters pleas to home pets amid the COVID-19 crisis. Turns out, fostering animals has emotional and physical benefits for the humans taking care of them, especially during self-isolation.

Quarantine got your mind? Heres how to take it back. Stephanie Foo (19-20) looks at your brain in survival mode, tips for grounding yourself, finding self control and long-term healing.

What schools should be doing for students and parents. The Nationals Assistant Editor-in-Chief Nick March, who runs the fellowships in the United Arab Emirates, calls for stakeholders and institutions to innovate and respond to student needs.

The plight of a hospital chaplain during the coronavirus pandemic. How do you comfort the suffering when youre not allowed in the room? Elizabeth Barber (19-20) writes for the New Yorker.

Is your familys mental health taking a hit from COVID-19? Take this class. Deborah Wang (18-19) reports for KUOW Public Radio in Seattle.

How to manage your coronavirus anxiety: The novel coronavirus is making everyone anxious. But there are ways to cope. Heres how. Andrea Petersen (07-08) offers tips in the Wall Street Journal.

The facts on coronavirus arent all scary. So why so much fear? Alia Dastagir (19-20) explores for USA Today why we feel the way we feel about the pandemic.

Coronavirus reveals everything thats wrong with our mental health care system. Rebecca Ruiz (11-12) talks to leading mental health organizations about how a broken system often leaves people one emergency away from a mental health care crisis.

Social distancing cant mean being disconnected. Katie Hawkins-Gaar is a member of the Carter Centers Journalism Fellowship Advisory Board. She writes for CNN on safe ways that we canand shouldconnect with our neighbors, friends and loved ones during this time.

An unexpected side effect of the coronavirus? A new urgency about helping people experiencing homelessness. Thomas Curwen (02-03) reminds us in the Los Angeles Times that while the world is facing an unprecedented health crisis, there are reasons to be optimistic.

Rumors fly in Kensington about coronavirus immunity and early jail releases. Courtenay Harris Bond (17-18) reports for Billy Penn on how COVID-19 is impacting people experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia.

Isolation is a big trigger: Feelings of suicide are amplified amid a pandemic. Alia Dastagir (19-20) explores for USA Today the ripple effects and how to take care of others.

Domestic violence in the age of coronavirus: What happens when youre stuck at home, but home isnt safe? Alia Dastagir (19-20) provides for USA Today an overview of the issue, how victims can respond, and resources on where to get help.

The coronavirus has robbed us all. If you feel youve been robbed, youre not alone. The pandemic has taken a lot, and not just in terms of health or loved ones. Alia Dastagir (19-20) reports for USA Today.

We all want to know how the coronavirus ends. How do we cope with uncertainty? Alia Dastagir (19-20) shares advice from the experts on coping in USA Today.

She woke up to her chest burning. It wasnt coronavirus. It was anxiety. Sarah Smith (18-19) reports for Houston Chronicle.

Keeping calm in Guilderland, New York, in the time of the coronavirus. Elizabeth Barber (19-20) with the New Yorker spends time with her father, supervisor of the town of Guilderland, as he mitigates the anxieties of thirty-six thousand people under his watch as more coronavirus cases are diagnosed.

We cant go back to normal: How will coronavirus change the world? Times of upheaval are times of radical change. Some believe the pandemic is a once-in-a-generation chance to build a better future. Others, that itll make injustices worse. Peter C. Baker (17-18) reports for The Guardian.

L.A. suicide hotline seeing rise in coronavirus-related calls. Counselors feel the pain. For L.A. Times, Brittny Mejia (19-20) talks to counselors on the front line and they share why they keep at it.

Psychologists offer tips for staying mentally well during the coronavirus pandemic. Nick Webster (19-20) talks to mental health experts in the United Arab Emirates for The National newspaper about stemming stress during the pandemic.

Restrictions lifted on Dubai clinics offering remote mental healthcare. Nick Webster (19-20) covers this important development for The National newspaper.

Live sessions to help UAE residents manage mental health during social isolation. Nick Webster (19-20) writes about daily sessions with mental health experts being broadcast via the UAEs National Programme for Happiness and Well-beings social media channels.

We are doctors who study trauma. Heres how to cope with the COVID-19 crisis. In HuffPost, two doctors share science-based coping strategies.

Coronavirus anxiety is seriously affecting teens. Heres how to help. In HuffPost, teenagers worlds have been rocked by COVID-19, and theyre being left out of conversations about mental health and stress.

6 mental health tips for parents during the coronavirus outbreak, from Amy Cirbus Ph.D, LMHC, LPC for Talkspace.

Coronavirus is causing a mental health crisis. Heres how to fight it. In Vox, Covid-19 patients and those caring for them could be especially at risk for anxiety, depression, and other conditions.

Taraji P. Hensons foundation offers free virtual therapy for underserved communities. In Colorlines, the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, a non-profit combating mental health issues in the Black community, wants to reach those struggling with life changes triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mental illness will be next wave of COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiologist says. Months-long isolation will take its toll on peoples mental health. CBC Newss Eva Uguen-Csenge explores.

How to sleep better if coronavirus anxiety is keeping you awake. Experiencing insomnia during the pandemic? Stress dreams? This expert advice is for you, from Jillian Wilson in HuffPo.

How to tell if you have coronavirus or if youre experiencing anxiety. HuffPost freelancer Stephanie Barnes explores the symptoms of both, how to handle anxiety and preventative measures worth taking.

Failure to address coronavirus mental health issues will prolong impact. For The Hill, Opinion contributors former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, Kennedy Forum founder Patrick J. Kennedy, and American Psychological Association CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., Ph.D., write about what the federal government and state and local leaders can prioritize in their coordinated responses to ensure the health and well-being of Americans long after headlines about coronavirus have dissipated.

Mental health professionals are preparing for an epidemic of anxiety around the coronavirus. In Mother Jones, Ben Bagdikian editorial fellow Will Peischel talks to mental health experts about common symptoms and how theyre addressing patient concerns.

Pandemic anxiety is making us sleepless, forgetful and angry. Here are tips for coping. In Washington Post, psychologist Jelena Kecmanovic offers key tips for coping.

Governments are still struggling to get ahead of the coronavirus. From The Economist: Of the 5 stages of grief, humanitys response to COVID-19 seemed stuck in the first 3: denial, anger and bargaining. March 16 may have been the day we moved onto the next stage: depression.

Social distancing could affect your mental health, experts say. In this article from Cox Media Group, experts say to remember the three Rs: Recognize, respond and ritualize.

Caring for your mental health in the time of coronavirus (Spanish). In El Especatador, journalist Daniela Quintero Diaz offers tips from a Colombian perspective.
The overhaul will be paid for in part by $15 million in federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to support the Army Corps of Engineers project. Under the terms of the lease, McPier will allow its North and South buildings to be used for free, though the Illinois Emergency Management Agency will be billed for any additional services it requires, according to McPier spokeswoman Cynthia McCafferty.
NEW YORKPlans to turn the Cathedral of St. John the Divine into a vast coronavirus field hospital were abruptly shelved Thursday, with public health officials saying that a levelling off in virus-related hospitalizations in New York City had made them reassess the need for the project.

But behind the scenes, Episcopal leaders said they were upset by the role played in the project by Samaritans Purse, an evangelical humanitarian organization whose approach to LGBT issues runs counter to that of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, which is based out of the cathedral.

Samaritans Purse is led by the Rev. Franklin Graham, who has been criticized for anti-Muslim and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and whose organization is based on a statement of faith that includes a belief that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female.

The Episcopal Church did not realize that Samaritans Purse would be involved in the project when it offered the use of the cathedral to Mount Sinai Health System last month, and the slowing rate of hospitalizations might have created an opportunity for all parties to step back from a fraught situation, officials said.

The project was intended to turn the church, which describes itself as the largest cathedral in the world, into a 200-bed medical facility. If the need for hospital space increases, those plans may be reactivated, but Dean Clifton Daniel III, the cathedrals leader, said he thought Samaritans Purse would not be back.

The cathedral and Samaritans Purse have very different creeds and very different core beliefs and commitments, Daniel said. But we here at the cathedral were willing to set those differences aside, severe as they are, in the service of this city and community.

The dean said he was told by Mount Sinai on Wednesday night that the project would not move forward because the outbreak in New York had begun to plateau. In a statement Thursday, a spokesman for the hospital network said it was optimistic that we are seeing a flattening of the curve.

As such, we are reassessing needs, resources and plans for how best to care for New Yorkers, said Jason Kaplan, the spokesman. We are grateful for all the help we are receiving and, if needed, will continue to look for other ways to expand care as the pandemic continues to unfold.

Kaitlyn Lahm, a spokeswoman for Samaritans Purse, said the group decided against opening a field hospital at the cathedral, where the floor was covered Thursday by blue tarps that bore the relief groups stylized cross logo. She did not say what had led to the change.

After further discussions and assessment, we will not be moving forward with an expansion at this location, Lahm said. We continue to partner with Mount Sinai Health at our Central Park emergency field hospital and will work with them to establish more treatment capacity if needed.

Lahm said the group does not discriminate in providing treatment. She added: We are a Christian organization, and we hire Christians who share our statement of faith.

The role of Samaritans Purse in responding to the coronavirus outbreak in New York first drew criticism last month when the group, in partnership with Mount Sinai, built a field hospital in Central Park.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference last week that the city had received assurances from Samaritans Purse that it would follow local anti-discrimination laws in providing treatment. Mount Sinai has defended its decision to partner with Samaritans Purse as a pragmatic move during a public health crisis.

While our organizations may have differences of opinions, when it comes to COVID-19 we are fully united: We will care for everyone and no patients or staff will be discriminated against, Kaplan said in an email. Mount Sinai and Samaritans Purse are unified in our mission to provide the same world-class care to anyone and everyone who needs it. No questions asked.

The cathedrals leaders see it as a beacon of an inclusive form of Christianity as well as a representative of New York City in all its diversity.

Its Edenic four-hectare grounds in Morningside Heights are home to an AIDS memorial, and one of its chapels houses a bronze and white gold triptych, The Life of Christ, by Keith Haring, a gay artist who died of AIDS in 1990.

One of the Episcopal bishops in New York, Mary Glasspool, was the first openly lesbian bishop to be consecrated in the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a part. She and the other bishops declined to comment on the hospital project Thursday.

Daniel is known for reminding parishioners that Matthew Shepard, a college student killed in 1998 in an act of homophobic violence, was laid to rest in 2018 at the Washington National Cathedral, the Episcopal house of worship that is a fixture of American politics and religion.

On Thursday, Daniel said that the cathedral was ready and willing to help local, state or public health authorities respond to the coronavirus pandemic, and that its commitment to both the city and its core beliefs remained unshaken.

Weve always been committed to the people of the city, especially those who might be marginalized or oppressed or for whom prejudice exists, Daniel said. And in most recent years, obviously the LGBTQ community for whom we have been a strong advocate, we will continue to be a strong advocate.
Have Sheriff Offices in North Carolina, possibly even Beaufort County's Sheriff Office, become too political in the discharging of their sworn constitutional duties?

No, the sheriff is a constitutional officer.

Yes, the Sheriff Office, on strong occasion, often reverts back to political patronage in the dispensation of their sworn constitutional duties.




Late Ambrose Allis son, Andrew Alli says his family never believed that his father, the late governor of the defunct Bendel state was guilty of any crime levelled against him.

This Andrew said, while reacting on behalf of his family to the posthumous presidential pardon which was granted to his father by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday.

Ambrose Alli served as the first civilian governor of former Bendel state between 1979 and 1983.

He was a medical professor who was sentenced to 100 years in prison by a military tribunal during the military regime of Buhari for allegedly misappropriating N983,000 in funds for a road project.

However, he was later freed when Gabriel Igbinedion, Esama of Benin, paid a fine to the government.

He died on his 60th birthday on September 22, 1989, at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

His son, Andrew however said, his family is yet to be officially informed of the development, adding that they only learnt of the pardon via social media.

He then thanked the president, for the gesture.

Also, he expressed his gratitude to Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, for acting as a catalyst to the development.

According to Andrew, the presidential pardon is a testimony to the fact that his father did no wrong other than giving his all to improve the lot of the people of the former Bendel.

We are aware of the announcement concerning the pardon of my father, Professor Ambrose Alli, made by the Government, via its social media pages, Andrew wrote.

Although we are yet to receive any direct official communication on this matter, we are pleased to hear that our father/uncle/brother/grandfather has received a presidential pardon.

We have never believed that he was guilty of anything, other than giving his all to improve the lot of the people of the former Bendel State and, indeed, Nigeria. This is demonstrated by the enduring legacy that he left.

We thank his excellency, President Buhari, as well as his excellency Governor Obaseki, and all those who have supported the process inside and outside government, for their recognition of this fact.

Share this post with your Friends on
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday said that as per a study coronavirus would touch its peak by mid-September and around 58 per cent of Indian's population and 87 per cent of Punjab's would get infected.

The CM was quoting the study by Chandigarh-based Post-Gaduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.

Given the projections, this is just the start of the war and the situation threatens to get worse over the next few months for India, Amarinder said, adding that lifting the lockdown would not be easy for any state in the present situation.

"Projections are frightening. For Punjab, the report has projected that 87 per cent of state's population may be affected. In these circumstances, no government could afford to ease the restrictions", he said. We have to check the spread of the infections. The states preparations would be aligned to these projections."

Amarinder said that his government was seriously thinking of extending the lockdown as the time did not appear to be right for lifting the curbs.

However, he made it clear that since the lockdown could not be indefinite, the government in near future will look for the ways to ease the restrictions and enable it to function with the coronavirus around. A high-powered committee with several doctors, medical and other experts, was examining the situation and will soon submit its report on the lockdown exit strategy, Amarinder.

Pointing out that most of the 27 positive cases reported on Thursday (the maximum daily increase for the state) were cases of secondary transmission, the Chief Minister said it is an indication of the state moving into the stage of community transmission. The situation could seriously worsen in the coming

weeks, he added.

However, the coronavirus cases are low in Punjab compared to other states. "The state got less number of people tested as the centre did not allow some of the medical institutes to test samples. Initially, only the Medical Colleges in Amritsar and Patiala had the nod for testing and now the PGI in Chandigarh got permission. We have now taken on board Faridkot Medical college and still awaiting permission for two other medical institutes in Ludhiana (CMC and DMC)."

In response to a question, Amarinder said his government was gearing up for every eventuality. "We are making arrangements for patients in four phases  for 2,000 patients, 10,000 patients, 30,000 patients and 1 lakh patients - needing isolation and treatment. We have sufficient number of ventilators and medical gears required for the situation at present. We will start receiving more equipments and necessary medical items in the next few days."

On PPE kits, he said with two Ludhiana manufacturers getting approval for making such kits, the state would start getting 5,000 of them a day from Monday and could provide the excess to other states, with directly or through the Government of India. As for medical staff, he said retired doctors had volunteered in large numbers and were on standby to help out.

The CM admitted that only 2,877 people have so far been tested in Punjab which is simply not enough given the states population of 2.8 crore. With 25,000 Rapid Testing Kits now set to arrive, mass testing in hotpots will begin from Monday. In the next few days, the health department would get more aggressive with testing. There will also be random testing in the areas of concentration, said Amarinder.

On Tablighi Jamaat attendees, the CM said his government had received a list of 651 such people who had entered the state. Of these, 636 have so far been traced and 27 found positive (including 10 contacts of the attendees).

Out of the nearly 1.5 lakh NRIs and foreign returnees, the state had traced and quarantined the majority, said Amarinder, adding that the quarantine period is over for 33,166 peoeple.

Replying to questions on the harvesting of wheat, scheduled to begin on April 15, he said the state was gearing up to handle another bumper harvest and will go for district-wise and village-wise procurement. The number of mandis has been increased from 1800 to 3800 this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amarinder said. He added that apart from police and district officials, NCC volunteers also likely to pitch in to man the Mandis.
The Black Death is our cultural model for all things pandemic, and I find myself talking about it often as the novel coronavirus spreads. The contrast between our world and the medieval world of the plague can raise curious questions  such as, wouldn't ignorance about the virus and its effects confer a certain bliss?

After all, if you didn't know a threat was coming, and you didn't know how to stop it when it arrived, you wouldn't have the same moral responsibility to act. If it were the old days, perhaps we'd hear vague rumors of a spreading sickness. We'd pray it wouldn't come for us, but it would, and without an understanding of viral transmission, there'd be nothing we could do to prevent it. COVID-19 would arrive and claim its victims fairly quickly, and then we'd get back to normal life. No months-long shutdown. No social distancing. No 10-person attendee caps at our loved ones' funerals. We could salve our grief with the comforts of community  and we could do it all without a whit of ethical dilemma.

I've heard versions of this olden days story more than once in conversation. But for all its attraction, it has one key disadvantage: It isn't true.

When the Black Death spread through Europe, people knew it was coming. "Since the 11th century, when the village became the seat of the English Crown, Westminster has witnessed many dramatic moments, but none of equal gravity to that of September 1348, when the pestilence was rushing toward London inland from Bristol and Oxford and along the coast from Wiltshire and Hampshire," writes narrative historian John Kelly in The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time. "That September, one imagines scenes of high drama at Westminster Palace," Kelly continues, "Edward III and his ministers anxiously studying maps; clerks furiously scribbling orders; messengers scurrying from office to office; and arriving horsemen shouting out the latest news from the fronts at Hampshire and Bath and Winchester."

Story continues

Cambridge University medievalist John Hatcher likewise speaks in The Black Death: A Personal History of medieval people's "vast appetite for news," even in rural areas, which they obtained via the travels of monks, merchants, and nobles. And plague historian Ole J. Benedictow of the University of Oslo, in his Complete History of the 1346-1353 outbreak, includes accounts of church leaders issuing orders anticipating imminent pestilence.

In short, people knew about plagues before they arrived. News of great illness and death will spread, whatever the technology available. Lords would send riders to inform their allies; traders would share reports of being turned away by quarantines; clergy would learn of mass burials. Our ancestors felt the same sense of impending helplessness as we do.

Also inaccurate is the notion that simply suffering through the pandemic would more rapidly return us to normalcy. The economic effects of the 1918 flu pandemic were dire, but research from MIT suggests places with stronger public health responses  shutdowns that started sooner and lasted longer  had better economic recoveries. In the Twin Cities, where I live, Minneapolis ordered closures three weeks before Saint Paul and came away with both a lower mortality rate (388 deaths per 100,000 vs. 481) and a stronger economy (30 percent employment gains between 1914 and 1919 vs. 15 percent). The economic analogy between that pandemic and ours can only go so far, but this history at least casts real doubt on the economic preferability of ignorantly letting the disease run wild.

Of course, there is a pointlessness to this whole topic. The reality, whatever we wish, is that we do know the novel coronavirus is spreading, and we do know (generally, at least) how to lower its death toll.

That gives us a moral responsibility whether we like it or not, for knowledge creates ethical constraints: "Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin." Imagining what we could do if we didn't know about the virus might make for an entertaining conversation, but we can't unknow what we know. A little imaginative longing doesn't hurt, but neither does it lift our obligations.

More stories from theweek.com

Women's invisible labor is keeping America going

Sting, Jimmy Fallon, and the Roots perform 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' remotely, creatively

5 radically funny cartoons about the end of Bernie 2020


Jaipur Police is taking music composer Tanishq Bagchi's help to keep violators of lockdown in check and we can understand why.

India is currently under 21-day strict lockdown put in place by PM Narendra Modi in order to break the chain of coronavirus pandemic spread that has claimed as many as 227 lives in the country.

What the lockdown essentially means is you stay home and do not hit the streets at all, thus maintaining social distancing and assisting in containing the spread of the infection. Yes, healthcare workers, cops, media persons among others are out there doing their duties, but the aam janta is instructed to not violate the "Lakshman Rekha" of their homes unless, of course, necessary permission from the authorities was provided to them to head out.

It's simple. Cops won't like it you do not adhere to lockdown rules. In an attempt to encourage citizens to stay home, Jaipur Police, on Thursday, announced the "harshest" punishment to those violating the curfew.

Giving their own twist to recently dropped 'Masakali 2.0', Jaipur Police wrote, "If you are unnecessarily roaming outside, we will put you in a room & Play Masakkali 2.0 on loop."

 ,  

  , 

   

  

 , 

The "threat" seems to have worked and netizens praised the authorities for delivering important instructions with a dose of humour.

Impressive and innovative way of connecting with people.. Trust, you people are our real life heroes..  RRajat Bhargava (@BhargavaRrajat) April 9, 2020

tremendous job Rajasthan police ..keep it up  Dhanesh Bajiya (@dhaneshbajia) April 9, 2020

Hahahaha   Here is another Rahmaniac reaction on Masakali 2.0@tanishkbagchi stay away from ARR songs...don't ever dare to touch these classics  Shrikant Dawankar (@shridawankar) April 9, 2020

Tanishq Bagchi, on the other hand, has been on the receiving end ever since he remixed AR Rahman's OG 'Masakali' from 2009's Delhi-6.

First, netizens roasted the music composer with brutal memes, then Rahman himself fired shots at Bagchi in a tweet.

"No short cuts, properly commissioned, sleepless nights, writes and re-writes. Over 200 musicians, 365 days of creative brainstorming with the aim to produce music that can last generations. A team of a Director, a Composer and a Lyricist supported by actors, dance directors and a relentless film crew," Rahman wrote on his Twitter page and shared a link to the original.
SHELTON  Six more coronavirus-related deaths and more than 40 positives were recorded over the past 24 hours, as local officials say COVID-19 cases are spread throughout the city.

Shelton has 37 COVID-19-related deaths and 202 positive cases, according to data released by the Naugatuck Valley Health District Thursday. In total, there have been 39 deaths in the Valley, with two recorded in Seymour, that account for about 10 percent of the total statewide of 380.

There are 72 different locations (with COVID-19 positives) throughout the city, not counting the nursing homes, said city Public Safety Director Michael Maglione. We continue to urge residents to constantly follow social distancing guidelines. Stay away from crowds  and wash your hands.

All the Shelton deaths reported Thursday were residents of nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Maglione said all these locations in the city have had residents or employees test positive for COVID-19.

We are not just grieving and mourning the losses of individual families but also for our entire Valley community, said NVHD Director Jessica Stelmaszek. We understand residents may feel sad, anxious and stressed because of this outbreak.

For public health surveillance, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated deaths are defined as patients who tested positive for COVID-19 around the time of death, said Maglione, adding that this is not a determination of the cause of death.

Maglione said last week that several positive cases are in the citys nursing home community, but the virus is also among the general population. There are five nursing home facilities in Shelton, according to Maglione, housing some 450 residents altogether.

The Valley now has 414 positive cases, with 77 more recorded Thursday. Stelmaszek said that the increase in local cases is largely related to catch up of data entry by the state Department of Public Health into the shared secure online disease surveillance system as well as the recent implementation of a new method for reporting cases to the DPH by the labs and providers.

Stelmaszek said the health district is continuing to urge residents to stay home as much as possible and practice social distancing by keeping 6 feet between you and others if you must go out.

It is evident that we remain in the acceleration phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning we are consistently receiving an increasing number of cases, said Stelmaszek. With an increasing number of cases, we can expect that we will continue to see an increased number of COVID-19-related deaths. We expect the Valley cases to continue to rise over the next few days.

To minimize the amount of people who can potentially be exposed, Stelmaszek said families should designate one person per household to do grocery shopping or other necessary errands. Those going out in public should wear a cloth face covering, she added.

Of the Valley deaths, 30 were people 80 and older, eight were between 70 and 79, and one was between 60 and 69 years of age.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday that the state, overall, has a total of 380 COVID-19-related deaths. Statewide, there are 9,784 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 4,882 in Fairfield County alone, and there are more than 1,400 presently hospitalized.

In Shelton, positive cases rose by 42 in 24 hours to 202, by far the most in the Valley. Overall, there are 414 positive cases in the Valley, with 66 in Naugatuck, 53 in Ansonia, 46 in Seymour including two deaths, 32 in Derby and 15 in Beacon Falls.

Data show that 129, or 31 percent, of the 414 confirmed cases among Valley residents are individuals who currently reside in a nursing home, assisted living facility, group home or similar setting. Overall, 101 of Sheltons 202 confirmed COVID-19 cases are residents of nursing or assisting living facilities.

Positive cases cover a wide range of ages, with Valley data showing that 101 people are 80 and older; 46 are between 70 and 79; 60 are between 60 and 69; 62 are between 50 and 59; 58 are between 40 and 49; 59 are between 30 and 39; and 28 are between 20 and 29.

Lamonts executive orders have shuttered all schools until at least May 20 and directed employees at nonessential businesses to stay home until further notice. Gatherings of more than five people are prohibited. The governor has stated that schools may remain closed until the fall.

Residents should continue to heed the advice of their chief elected officials, said Stelmaszek, and stay home as much as possible and continue to practice social distancing to avoid exposure and further spread of the virus.

Maglione said there are no plans to close parks, trails or the Shelton High School track, adding that city residents are maintaining social distance, and we are not seeing groups of 15, 20 people walking together or gathered talking. All the emergency services would like to thank Shelton residents for following social-distance guidelines.

For more information about making or using cloth face coverings to help slow the spread of COVID-19, visit cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html.

The state Department of Public Health now publishes a report at ct.gov/coronavirus that breaks down positive COVID-19 cases by town.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
A few days ago, I found myself sitting on the edge of our half-assembled bed  my stomach tight and nauseous. "What's wrong?" my wife asked, having noticed my rapidly failing efforts to keep it together. Since the coronavirus pandemic, I'd been spending mostly sleepless nights poring over financial statements and spreadsheets. I was stressed, irritable and emotional. But there was no point in holding back anymore. "I lost all my contracts," I said. "We're going broke."

The collateral damage of Covid-19

Before the pandemic, we decided to move out of our small Toronto apartment and rent a bigger place about an hour-and-half drive from the city. Our income was the highest it had ever been in 2019. We still had our daily expenses, child care costs, student loans, and other debts to pay off, but we wanted our kids to finally have a backyard. Plus, if we budgeted carefully, we'd be able to buy a house in a few years. As a mental health strategist and speaker, my income mostly comes from conferences and corporate training. But in March, over the course of just a few days, every contract I had lined up through September was canceled due to the pandemic. I suddenly went from having a healthy stream of income to absolutely nothing. My first reaction was disbelief. Then came guilt and regret: I should have saved more, I should not have spent so much, I should have seen this coming. We only had about three months of savings to cover a six-month shortfall, possibly longer. Even with the government's recently announced Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (which would provide $2,000 per month for four months to those who lost their jobs because of Covid-19), it wouldn't be enough to cover rent, bills, and cost of food for a family of five.

A letter to our landlord

My wife was still in the doorway, holding our nine-month-old daughter. A few seconds later, my six-year-old son bounced into the room. "Daddy, let's dance!" he shouted. Seconds later, his two-year-old brother ran up from behind: "No! I dance with daddy," he said. "Boys, let daddy work." My wife ushered them out of the room. I couldn't let them down. I opened my laptop and started a letter to our landlord. "This is an email I never imagined I'd have to send," I began. With full transparency, I explained our situation. We had to move back to the city and into our much smaller apartment, which meant breaking the lease. No eviction laws protecting renters had been put into place, and since we signed a one-year lease, our landlord had the right to sue for contract violations. I voiced that as my main concern. In Toronto, we'd have a better chance of finding work and save money through public transit. Still, there were no guarantees. "We have no other choice but to take that risk. If we don't leave, we'll be out of money and food in less than three months," I wrote. "We love it here, but we also don't intend to stay without paying." I wrapped up the email and hit send, then went to the living room and danced with my kids.

A landlord's compassionate response

Early the next morning, after another sleepless night, I turned over and checked my phone. My landlord sent a response at 1 a.m.: "Hi Mark, First, I would like to thank you for your transparency and for the heads-up you're giving me here. Second, I'd like to assure you that during these difficult times, our relationship is way beyond a landlord-tenant one. We're all humans and we are all together in this unprecedented time to support each other. It's unfortunate what you and your family are going through, and I'm very sad to hear you must move back to Toronto, since I've enjoyed having you as tenants. But I completely understand: Family comes first. As you're probably aware, I'm not a hard person to deal with. But I'd like you to know, Mark, that I'm not a big investor  and the rent I collect barely even covers this property's monthly expense. Honestly, I'm having financial difficulties, too  just like you and millions of other people...especially being self-employed as a realtor (and the real estate market got affected big time due to this COVID-19 pandemic). Here are my suggestions on how we can work together during this difficult time: You can rest assured that I will not be seeking damages from you for breaking the lease.

I'll use your security deposit to cover April's rent.

I'll consider May as your final month of tenancy, and use your last-month's deposit to cover rent. Mark, I hope this gives you enough time to plan ahead. Certainly, my thoughts are with you, your family and your loved ones. Best Regards, [...]" Reading the letter, I felt the tears well up in my eyes. I was overcome with gratitude for our landlord's simple act of humanity. Having been so focused on solving our problems, I was anticipating the worst: Anger, not having a roof over our heads, a lawsuit. But I wasn't prepared for words of compassion.

A chain reaction of hope and positive energy
A view of Penn's Minecraft campus. On the left is Fisher Fine Arts Library, "built" by student Michael Willhoit, and on the right is College hall, "built" by student Andrew Roberts. Read more

Before the University of Pennsylvania moved classes online last month due to the coronavirus, junior Andrew Guo had a feeling the pandemic would have a major impact on the rest of the school year. So he and his friends started to toss around the idea of using the video game Minecraft to re-create the West Philadelphia campus.

By the end of the month, most of the campus should be complete on Minecraft, a creative video game on which users can build their own structures and communities. With in-person graduation ceremonies delayed, Guo said, he hopes to hold a different kind of commencement at a virtual Franklin Field next month.

I think a virtual one would be a nice farewell to the seniors," he said.

Guo, 21, a mathematics major from Chicago, said his group set up the Minecraft servers in mid-March and began meticulously reconstructing campus facilities, using Google to check dimensions and make sure their campus was to scale.

The project took off quickly, he said, after it was shared on several Penn social media pages and featured in Business Insider.

Now at least a dozen students are helping, he said. They use a spreadsheet to break up the work and figure out who is building which building. Faculty members have reached out, providing blueprints. Someone even suggested they conduct virtual admissions tours, Guo said.

Along with graduation, Guo wants students to be able to remotely enjoy other spring traditions, including Hey Day, when juniors walk down Locust Walk on the last day of classes to mark the transition to senior year. There are preliminary plans for some kind of virtual Penn Relays this month, he said.

With other college students undertaking similar re-creations of their own campuses, he said, groups from different Ivy League schools may soon compete against each other in contests on Minecraft.

The Penn group hopes to finish the exterior of the campus by the end of the month, he said, but the building interiors will take longer to perfect.

Amid all the uncertainty and anxiety, Guo said, the Penn community has embraced the online space, adding, People really enjoy coming back to campus."
British Columbia is tackling COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes by mandating workers only work at one home, designating them public service workers, hiring them full-time and paying them standardized wages.

Could that happen in Ontario? Should it? Not everyone agrees.

In B.C., the directive from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry came following the provinces experience with Canadas first deadly COVID-19 outbreak beginning in early March. A least 17 residents have died at Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver, and dozens more staff and residents are infected.

The B.C. seniors advocate says valuable lessons learned from Lynn Valley are now preventing or slowing outbreaks in other care homes.

One lesson learned: when care home staff work in different facilities, their risk of spreading the virus in vulnerable populations increases, said B.C. seniors advocate Isobel Mackenzie.

Now, we have been actively eliminating that, Mackenzie said of inter-home movement.

The province believes a worker employed at more than one care home unwittingly brought the virus into Lynn Valley in the early days of COVID-19 spread in Canada.

Last week, the province deemed care aides  or personal support workers (PSW)  to be provincial employees, in turn ensuring they have full-time work within one home and are all paid a fair wage, as opposed to different wages depending on their employer. Mackenzie expects the mandate, which is still being rolled out, to come fully into effect within days.

Mackenzie believes her provinces measures  including ramped up testing and lower thresholds for declaring outbreaks  are working. So does Henry.

All of those enhanced measures have led to very few cases in most of the other outbreaks that were detected very early, the provincial health officer said Wednesday.

While more than 220 of B.C.s more than 1,300 cases  or 17 per cent of all cases  involve long-term care home residents or staff, most of those cases are concentrated in two homes, including Lynn Valley.

In Ontario, more than 850 of the provinces more than 5,200 cases  or 16 per cent of all cases  involve long-term care home residents or staff. However, unlike in B.C., the cases here are spread more evenly across more nursing homes, with a few outliers including Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon where nearly 30 residents have died.

In late March, Ontario directed long-term care employers to limit the number of homes staff work at to stop the spread of COVID-19.

But Ontario health-care advocacy groups are calling on the province to do more to keep workers safe, fairly compensated and employed within one home.

Miranda Ferrier, president of the Ontario Personal Support Workers Association (OPSWA), said she agrees long-term care workers should work only at one home during a pandemic.

In terms of mandating the PSW as public workers and standardizing their pay, the OPSWA would welcome this insofar as it would work within our professional mandate of self-regulation and title protection, she said.

She said the OPSWA welcomes any support to be recognized as equal members of the interprofessional health team.

Meanwhile, inter-home movement is still happening, say front-line workers. Hamilton-area PSW Cindy Hasler told The Spectator earlier this week that some workers dont have time to even shower between jobs.

Still, unions and advocacy groups worry workers will lose out on pay  and homes could lose out on staff  if they have to choose one job.

Were very aware of how many long-term care workers work multiple jobs, said Natalie Mehra, director of the Ontario Health Coalition. Even if they could increase the workers hours, that would leave a number of homes completely devastated of staff.

In principle, Mehra agrees with B.C.s model. Shes just not sure how it would work here.

At this point, the staffing shortages are indescribable, unspeakable, she said, calling crisis too weak a word. The problem is, where are they going to find the staff for all the homes? If the idea is not to cause harm, in some cases would that not cause more harm than good?

In any case, the province wont say if its considering a B.C.-type approach.

All options for protecting staff and resident safety continue to be on the table as we address this serious, evolving situation, said Ministry of Long-Term Care spokesperson Gillian Sloggett, when asked if Ontario is looking to replicate B.C.s model.

Sloggett said the province is giving long-term care homes much-needed flexibility and funds by amending regulations and producing $243 million in emergency COVID-19 funding, allowing homes to rapidly hire personal support workers and other front-line staff they need, when they need them.

Funds are directly available to help homes cover the incremental costs of increasing hours for part-time staff to help those staff to limit their work locations, she said. This comes hand in hand with clear direction from Dr. David Williams, Ontarios chief medical officer of health, for homes to work with employees to limit their number of work locations wherever possible.
A stretches vendor pushes his cart along a road which would ordinarily be bumper to bumper traffic in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 8, 2020. (Ed Wray/Getty Images)

Indonesia Reports Highest COVID-19 Death Toll in Asia Outside China

JAKARTAIndonesia reported its biggest daily jump in COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, bringing the total confirmed number to 280 in the worlds fourth most populous country, the highest death toll in Asia outside China where the CCP virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, first emerged.

Indonesia confirmed 40 more deaths and its death toll accounts for nearly half of the more than 590 across Southeast Asia. More than 16,500 cases have been reported across the region.

Indonesian health ministry official Achmad Yurianto said the country had registered 337 new infections, also a new daily high, taking the total to 3,293.

Health experts say Indonesia faces a surge in cases after a slow government response has seen the outbreak grow in Southeast Asias biggest country.

Indonesia has brought in large-scale social restrictions, but President Joko Widodo has resisted bringing in the type of tough lockdowns imposed by neighbours. Only Jakarta, where there has been a spike in cases, was given more draconian powers to clampdown on the movement of citizens.

Researchers at the University of Indonesia have predicted there could be 140,000 deaths and 1.5 million cases by May without tougher curbs on movement and gathering.

Indonesia has stepped up the number of tests to 16,511 as of Wednesday, but for a country with more than 260 million people, it has had one the lowest testing rates in the world

Neighbouring Malaysia, with only 32 million people, has conducted 69,675 tests.

There are also growing fears that the outbreak could spread across the archipelago during the annual exodus to home villages for the Muslim Ramadan holiday. Widodo has said the government would give aid to poorer families, particularly in Jakarta, to persuade them to stay put but has rejected calls for an outright ban on the mudik, as the holiday is known.

Malaysia reported 109 new infections on Thursday, the second-lowest daily increase since a partial lockdown was imposed on March 18.

The data comes a day ahead of possible ministerial discussions on whether to extend the curbs on travel and non-essential businesses beyond April 14.

The country has so far recorded 4,228 infectionsthe highest in Southeast Asiawith 67 deaths. But government officials have said the restrictions are showing results.

We have done well, Ministry of Health Director General Noor Hisham Abdullah told a news conference. We have a small window of opportunity. If we do it right we may be able to avert the surge that we have seen in other countries.

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
For those who observe Jewish, Christian and Islamic holidays this is one of the most significant months of the year.

Despite the pandemic, people are still finding ways to celebrate.

It speaks also to how important it is to people that they do celebrate this and they do get together, said Rabbi Bruce Alpert.

Passover is the most observed of all Jewish holidays. Members of his congregation at Beth Israel in Wallingford were planning to have Passover seder through Zoom meetings with their families.

Alpert said the holiday is very family-centered. It commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. Part of the story of freedom is that of the 10 plagues which came as the Pharaoh refused to release the slaves. Other rabbis are finding significance in the story as we experience a present-day plague.

A lot of colleagues see strong parallels (and) view it as an opportunity for people to express their anxieties and their sense of confusion at the state of the world, Alpert said.

Rabbi Alana Wasserman, with Gishrei Shalom Jewish Congregation in Southington, said at the end of Passover seder people say next year in Jerusalem. This year she planned to also add and next year all of us together and healthy.

The congregation of about 40 planned to hold a virtual seder this year.

For Holy Week worship at Zion Lutheran Church in Southington, Pastor Jeff Stalley said he planned a live Zoom Maundy Thursday night worship and recorded services over the weekend.

Stalley started at Zion Lutheran Church just two weeks before the church was forced to close because of the pandemic. He is getting to know his new congregation through weekly online get-togethers.

Meridens First United Methodist Church Pastor Ric Hanse said since the gathering ban the church has started a long list of new initiatives to stay connected. One was an effort to collect supplies for members dealing with food insecurity. They are calling it the First United Methodist Pantry.

Donations have also moved online or by mail for many churches that would normally collect weekly offerings during service. Hanse said his church finalized a new online donation system the day before the church closed.

Many religious entities are turning to virtual meeting options like Zoom and Google Hangouts to still hold worship services, meetings, and casual meet-ups. Some hold live worship services, others choose to post pre-recorded ones. Most have committee meetings virtually.

Its forced us to be creative about ways we do worship, Stalley said.

Wajid Ahmed, public relations director for the Connecticut Chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Meriden, said Islam encourages followers to pray five times a day.

In our mosque we basically had people coming in five times a day, he said.

Now the community stays in touch with various WhatsApp groups and frequent live video meetings.

They still plan to observe Ramadan, which starts April 23 and lasts until May 23. Leaders are working on scripture readings for half an hour before and after fasting starts and breaks each day.

Prayers can be done anywhere, Ahmed said. The challenge, in terms of the community aspect of it, is that its not happening face to face.

This year were going to be reflecting even more, because of how were all going to be united by this virus,he added. We need to be closer together by staying apart.

During normal years, the mosque would have open-door gatherings for the general public or hold interfaith events. This year they hope to still connect virtually somehow.

Alpert said after the gathering bans have passed, his synagogue will probably still do some kind of mixed-worship, offering an online option to the physical one.

Since putting services online, hes found past congregation members who have moved away or friends in distant places have been able to connect.

Overall its very challenging but there are some bright spots in this too, Alpert said.

bwright@record-journal.com203-317-2316Twitter: @baileyfaywright
Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Saudi King Salman have discussed the situation in oil markets and reaffirmed their wish to coordinate moves on stabilising the market situation, the Russian presidential press service said on Friday.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump and Saudi King Salman," said a statement.

The leaders discussed the situation in oil markets, including taking into account the extraordinary ministerial meeting in the OPEC+ format, as well as the upcoming video conference of the G20 energy ministers.

"(The leaders) have reaffirmed their wish to coordinate moves on stabilising the situation in the global oil trade and minimising the negative impact of the oil prices' volatility on the global economy," the statement added.

Global cases of coronavirus topped 1.5 million, less than a week after surpassing the one million mark. The worldwide death toll has reached 95,000.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New guidelines for Int'l travellers: From South Africa to Mauritius, here is a list of at-risk countries

What to expect from the Indo-China military commander level talks

COVID-19: India sends planes with consignments of medicine to friendly neighbouring nations

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 09: India has started sending outline saving drugs to neighbouring countries to fight COVID-19.

Sources tell OneIndia that India has been sending drugs to Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Seychelles and Mauritius. On Tuesday, a consignment with 10 tonnes of medicine was sent to Sri Lanka.

These countries are being gifted with consignments of paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine. It may be recalled that the government had also cleared the export of the drugs to countries such as US, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Bahrain and UK. This was in line with the commercial contracts signed with the Indian pharmaceutical companies.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar is also keeping in touch with his counterparts in the Gulf.

India is keeping a watch on the requirements in these countries. Later on Foreign Secretary, Harsh Shringla will speak with his Russian counterpart to discuss the situation.

Fake News Buster

He would also offer to supply any life saving drug to Russia.
Criminal proceedings in question are related to the events of the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine of 2014.

Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov has slammed the State Bureau of Investigation over what he called "inappropriate" and "shameful" actions in relation to ex-legislator Tetiana Chornovol, who was charged with murder earlier today.

In particular, the minister addressed Oleksander Babikov, First Deputy SBI Director, who is known to have earlier been a defense lawyer for an ousted ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, via a post on Facebook: "You spat in the face of your conflict of interests as SBI senior official and inspired the case against Tetiana Chornovol, Yanukovych's personal enemy. There is no case, there's only your thirst for revenge. This is unacceptable!"

The Minister noted that Chornovol took part in civil protests at the Maidan, like hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians.

"There are no untouchables in the country, and there shouldn't be. Everyone  both heroes and prosecutors  must be held accountable. But what's happening with respect to Tanya [Chornovol] is inadequate and shameful," the interior minister said.

Avakov said he was ashamed that "we all allowed such a move against Chornovol as we're seeing today to take place."

Read alsoNew SBI deputy chief claims never was Yanukovych's lawyer, but PGO says otherwise

"Yes, Tanya's like that  she may climb fences and say what she thinks  without really picking words ... And she can take responsibility for that as an adult. And it's a normal thing  but you can't punish Tanya in such a low act!" Avakov emphasized.

The minister recalled he had also been among the Maidan protesters on February 18, 2014.

"I'm just like Tanya  come on over, I'm waiting. Bring it on," Avakov wrote.

"Or better, go to hell and off from the civil service or back to Yanukovych. Don't create obstacles for the president in rebuilding the country, which isn't an easy endeavor anyway!" the Interior minister concluded his post.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) of Ukraine on Friday served former Member of Parliament Tetiana Chornovol with charge papers on intentional homicide.

The former lawmaker is suspected of the crime of deliberately killing another person, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons in a manner dangerous to the lives of many people (sub-paragraphs 5, 12 of Part 2 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), the SBI's press service said.

According to preliminary information, on February 18, 2014, the suspect led the actions of a group of persons and directly participated in an arson attack on a building on Lypska Street in downtown Kyiv, where the office of one of the political parties was located. A worker identified as Volodymyr Zakharov, born in 1948, who was in the building at the time died in the fire.

The criminal case was opened on March 25, 2020. A search warrant was issued by Kyiv's Pechersky court on April 6, 2020. On April 10, 2020, SBI operatives searched Chornovol's house.

The pretrial investigation into the case is carried out by the prosecutor's office of Kyiv region, while the SBI's Main Operations Directorate provides operational support.

All probes targeting ex-president Viktor Yanukovych are being supervised by First Deputy SBI chief Oleksandr Babikov, who earlier represented Yanukovych in court as his defense lawyer.
The Bengal Taxi Association



(BTA) on Friday said it is ready to provide cabs for emergencency purpose during the ongoing lockdown as suggested by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Expressing the association's eagerness to help people during this crisis, BTA general secretary Bimal Guha said that it would be helpful if a government order is issued in this regard.

Most of the metred taxis in the city operate under the banner of the BTA.

"A senior official of the Public Vehicles Department (PVD) on Thursday asked me to make arrangements for keeping five taxis each at important junctions across the city to help people reach their destination during an emergency," Guha said.

The PVD official asked the BTA to place the five vehicles each at Gariahat, Sealdah, Garia, Beliaghata connector and Esplanade, he said.

After a meeting with trade and industry representatives, Banerjee had said on Thursday, the state government is contemplating the idea of minimal transportation like giving a go-ahead to taxis to hit the streets again, but carrying not more than four persons, including the driver.

"But whatever we do, it has to be done honouring the lockdown for the sake of human lives," she said.

Guha said, he has requested the PVD official for issuance of a government order.

Along with the government order, the association plans to provide an authorisation letter with the vehicle number to each driver, so that he does not face police action at various nakas set up in the city to prevent unnecessary movement of people during the lockdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When Kemba Walker entered free agency, before it became clear the Boston Celtics planned to get involved, the New York Knicks were floated as one possibility -- a team in need of a star (any star) which had the added advantage of playing in Walkers hometown.

Walker thought about the Knicks too, according to a feature on his decision by the Boston Globes Adam Himmelsbach, but he was less than enthused by the initial crop of suitors -- the Knicks, the Lakers and the Mavericks.

In fact, according to Himmelsbach, the Knicks were never seriously considered because the distractions of playing in (Walkers) hometown did not appeal to him.

In fairness, the Knicks never made much sense for Walker. The reason he wanted to leave the Hornets was to win, not because he disliked the city of Charlotte (he reportedly plans to live in Charlotte after he retires). New York did not (and does not) have a winning structure, and Walkers entire focus was trying to win. The distractions are an additional reason -- some players avoid signing in their hometowns, since the requests for tickets from friends and family can be overwhelming.

In the end, Walker got a great situation -- a Celtics team with a chance to contend that really needed a player with Walkers talent and leadership. Everybody wins (except for the Knicks).

Related content:

- Kemba Walker was so excited to join the Celtics, he would tell anyone who would listen

- Celtics mock draft: ESPN picks Devin Vassell, Isaiah Stewart

- Paul Pierce will participate in H-O-R-S-E
(Newser)  It starts with a few people letting loose with some tentative yelps. Then neighbors emerge from their homes and join, forming a roiling chorus of howls and screams that pierces the twilight to end another days monotonous forced isolation. From California to Colorado to Georgia and New York, Americans are taking a moment each night at 8pm to howl in a quickly spreading ritual that has become a wrenching response of a society cut off from one another by the coronavirus pandemic, per the AP. They howl to thank the nations health care workers and first responders for their selfless sacrifices, much like the balcony applause and singing in Italy and Spain. Others do it to reduce their pain, isolation and frustration. Some have other reasons, such as to show support for the homeless. In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis has encouraged residents to participate.

story continues below

"There's something very Western about howling that's resonating in Colorado," says Brice Maiurro, who formed the Facebook group Go Outside and Howl at 8pm with his partner Shelsea Ochoa as Colorado's shelter-in-place order went into effect last month. The group has nearly half a million members from all 50 US states and 99 countries. "We wanted to do this mostly because people are feeling isolated right now," says Ochoa. "I think it hit on something others needed." Why howling? In California, friends and family of Ochoa's would howl at sunset; in Brazil, where she lived recently, residents would cheer at sunset. Poets like Maiurro would howl at the moon during back-alley poetry readings in Boulder. "There's no wrong way to do it," she says. "When people look back on this and with so many sad stories, hopefully they'll also remember this as one of the good things." (Read more coronavirus stories.)
Thirty-four residents of the Veterans Memorial Home in Paramus have died over the last two weeks, a spokesman for the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs said Thursday.

The coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, was the cause of death for 10 but ruled out for the other 24, spokesman Kryn Westhoven said.

The rising number of coronavirus-related deaths, including four at a state veterans home in Menlo Park over the last week, have a growing number of residents, their families and staff concerned.

To hear, in that facility, where I know the other residents and their families, that 30-something people lost their lives, that does shock my core, said Marie Cegeno, whose father Jamie Cuellar, 97, a World War II veteran, has lived for the past three years.

Thats just a lot. With influenza you lose a few, but this is 30-something people. So what did they die of? Thats what we have to pay attention to," Cegeno said.

Cuellar and a growing chorus of other family members and residents have been complaining to officials in the home and the media about what they think are deteriorating conditions. The state operates three homes for veterans - the third is in Vineland.

I dont go there to only care for my father," Cegeno said. "There was a couple who used to sit next to my father and I at dinner. They died together. There was another man who died on the date of his wedding anniversary. Its very emotional.

Seventy-five state Army National Guard medics were deployed to the homes in Paramus and Menlo Park on Thursday to bolster the staff of nurses and health aides. At least 25% of the staff at the facilities have not reported to work or been sent home sick since the coronavirus emergency was declared on March 9.

Meanwhile, 23 other residents in Paramus have tested positive for the virus and 47 are still waiting for results. Seventeen staff have tested positive and 20 await results.

Westhoven said the Military and Veterans Affairs department is doing everything it can to safely care for the residents.

In the spring and fall we have more people passing away, Westhoven said. It has to do with flu and some of the residents are on hospice at our homes. It is part of the whole cycle at the homes.

Westhoven said typically about 150 residents pass away in a year at the homes. The average monthly toll over a year would be roughly 12 per month. Paramus is on track for 68 deaths in a 30 day span since March 24.

Arnold Haber, 91, is a resident of the Veterans Memorial Home in Paramus.

Mitchell Haber said he was concerned about the welfare of his father Arnold, 91, a Korean War veteran who lives at the Paramus home.

My fathers roommate has the virus and they are still in the same room, with just a curtain dividing them, Haber said.

I find that just crazy.

Haber said he is also worried because hes heard from nurses and health aides who told him the administration had advised them to not wear protective equipment such as masks and gloves because if would frighten the residents and stoke concern about the pandemic.

Glenn Osborne, 65, a Vietnam veteran and resident at the Menlo Park home echoed Habers concerns. He said Thursday he has witnessed personnel not wearing protective equipment and expressing concern about their safety and the safety of residents. Osborne said conditions at Menlo Park had deteriorated over the past month, with some residents calling out for help.

We survive best we can, Osborne said. They took our nurse call buttons away. So now you hear residents calling out all night, nurse, nursehelp me, help me...water, water.' 

Osborne said conditions started to improve Thursday, though, as National Guard medics began to deploy at the home to bolster the staff and take care of residents.

Brigadier Gen. Mark Piterski, the deputy commissioner of the Military and Veterans Affairs, paid a visit to Menlo Park Wednesday evening to speak with Osborne.

I was absolutely surprised, Osborne said. I didnt expect that. He told me he was bringing in the National Guard to help address our issues and concerns. He said he would meet back in a week to see if anything else needed to be corrected.

New Jersey now has at least 51,027 cases of the coronavirus, with 1,700 deaths, as state officials Thursday reported another 3,748 positive tests and 198 deaths in the last 24 hours.

New Jersey, a state of 9 million residents, continues to have more cases than any U.S. state except New York.

The state has still not released numbers for how many New Jerseyans have recovered from the illness. But they provided information for the first time saying 471 people across New Jersey have been discharged after being hospitalized for COVID-19.

In all, there are 7,363 people hospitalized with the virus as of Thursday, including 1,523 in critical care and 1,551 on ventilators.

- Staff writer Matt Arco contributed to this report.

Have you seen an inspiring story in your community during this troubling time? Tell us about it. See more uplifting stories in #TogetherNJ.

Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bduhart. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
The last time I went out with Nick,* it was clear that things were not right. I dont mean between usalthough yes, there too, if Im being honest. I mean, in the world.

It was Tuesday, March 10, and the only reason I was even free to see him that night was because a gathering Id planned had been postponed due to fears of the coronavirus. (At the time, the decision to delay had still felt a touch hysterical.) Earlier that day Id told my boss that I was no longer totally comfortable taking the subway at rush hour and so would prefer to work from home for the next little while. But as a longtime freelancer, Ive always preferred to work from home. It didnt exactly feel like a sacrifice.

I had a vague idea that we werent really supposed to go out to eat. But because my daughter would soon be returning to our apartment with her sitter, and Nick lives in a relatively distant part of Brooklyn, we couldnt really think of a good alternative. We squabbled, briefly, over whether it would be safer to visit a small restaurant (fewer people) or a big one (better ventilation) before settling on sitting in the backyard of a medium-size place in my neighborhood.

Nick is the first person Ive dated since I decided to end my marriage, a little over a year ago. I waited six months before signing up for Bumble and then proceeded to go out with, on average, one man a month. Nick was the only one that I wanted to see a second time.

Like lots of couples who hadnt yet reached the move-in stage, the only relationship thats going to be available to us for the foreseeable future is one thats socially distanced.

We are very different peoplehe is a Latino social worker from the Bronx with longstanding interests in Eastern religions and martial arts, while I am a Jewish writer from the Virginia suburbs with longstanding interests in literary fiction and popular culturebut I was drawn to him right away. Hes easy to talk to, and kind, and very, very handsome. Hes also extremely emotionally astute, which I suppose makes sense given his profession.

Story continues

He told me early on that hes looking for something long-term, and in theory, so am I. But I guess maybe Im in less of a hurry to find it. Im still healing from the dissolution of my decade-long marriage (a dissolution that is still ongoing, and leaving me with new psychic injuries at irregular intervals), and Im the primary caretaker of a five-year-old, whom I feel comfortable leaving with a sitter two nights a week, max. The basic conditions of my life are suboptimal for falling in love, and that was before people started getting sick.

So I was fine with ignoring the things about Nick that I didnt enjoy as much. Many of them were superficial, like the dad-ish leather jacket that he wore on several of our early dates. Some of them were not, like when he started texting me too often for my taste and with too much familiarity, before wed been seeing each other for even two months. In that case, I pushed back: I felt as though he was trying to force, or perhaps fast-forward to, a level of intimacy that simply hadnt been earned. Maybe Im a little gun-shy because of my situation. But I also wanted to enjoy our limited time together for what it was. I didnt want to feel Id suddenly been plunged into a long-distance relationship. Mostly, though, the question I asked myself with regard to Nick was, Do I want to see him again? And the answer was always yes.

Now, though, thats not an option. Even if we thought it was worth the riskand its not clear to me whether either of us do, given that we are both carrying not only our own germs but those of our kids and, via them, our exesIm with my daughter nearly 24/7. Like lots of couples who hadnt yet reached the move-in stage (and cant, or wont, jump ahead to it now), the only relationship thats going to be available to us for the foreseeable future is one thats socially distanced. And Im not sure thats going to work for us.

Im scared to offer serious emotional support to someone new.

Our physical connection was immediate and, frankly, kind of intenseits been one of my most consistent sources of happiness over the last few months. And I think weve really relied on it to smooth over our conflicts; the last time we saw each other, on March 15, we stayed a responsible six feet apart while we ran the stairs in Fort Greene Park and, perhaps not coincidentally, were slightly less than thrilled with each other when we said goodbye. I was irritated that hed disbelieved me about the cost and necessity of a decent pair of haircutting scissors, an utterly insignificant fact of which he has no personal knowledge, and he was hurt that Id ended a discussion about something his ex-wife was doing by noting that it really didnt sound like his problem, and it definitely didnt sound like mine.

Since then Nick has accused me of pulling away, and I suppose I have been. Like everyone, Ive spent the last few weeks struggling with this scary new reality. He thinks that we should be able to lean on each other, and while Id love to take him up on ithes a great listener, generous and nonjudgmentalIm not sure I can keep up my end of the bargain. I know that hes right, that this whole catastrophe can bring people together (metaphorically, at least). But after everything I, personally, have been through over the last few years, Im scared to offer serious emotional support to someone new. I dont know if I can trust him not to ask for too much.

Where does that leave us? Nowhere great. Nick seems eager to have the kind of define-the-relationship conversations that hed ordinarily have orchestrated at the four-month mark; Id prefer to pause things, more or less, at wherever they were when we all went inside, and then see how we feel in a few months, or next year, or whenever we finally get to head back out again. As far as Im concerned, we can keep talkingI want to keep talkingbut I dont know if Im going to have regular childcare or a job a couple of months from now. It seems impossible, or irresponsible, to make emotional commitments.

Ill be sad if this is it for us. I dont think it would have been, otherwise. But its a sadness thats been dulled, a bit, by my sharper grief over what weve already losthim and me together, but also everyone. Weve lost so, so many things that I didnt even realize we could lose, and Im terrified of the losses still to come.

*Name has been changed.

Lauren Waterman is a writer in Brooklyn whose work has appeared in Elle, Vogue, and The Cut. You can follow her on Twitter and subscribe to her newsletter.

Originally Appeared on Glamour
(Adds Le Maire quote, Dutch minister, Centeno, Gentiloni)

* Germany and France assert themselves to force agreement

* Safety nets for governments, companies and people

* Only health-related conditions attached to credit

* More feuds ahead over whether to issue joint debt

By Jan Strupczewski and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS, April 9 (Reuters) - European Union finance ministers agreed on Thursday on half-a-trillion euros worth of support for their coronavirus-battered economies but left open the question of how to finance recovery in the bloc headed for a steep recession.

The agreement was reached after EU powerhouse Germany, as well as France, put their feet down to end opposition from the Netherlands over attaching economic conditions to emergency credit for governments weathering the impacts of the pandemic, and offered Italy assurances that the bloc would show solidarity.

But the deal does not mention using joint debt to finance recovery - something Italy, France and Spain pushed strongly for but which is a red line for Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria.

It only defers to the bloc's 27 national leaders whether "innovative financial instruments" should be applied, meaning many more fraught discussions on the matter were still ahead.

"Europe has shown that it can rise to the occasion of this crisis," said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, praising what he said was the most important economic plan in EU history.

Earlier on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that the EU's very existence would be under threat if it could not come together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus.

For weeks, EU member states have struggled to present a united front in the face of the pandemic, squabbling over money, medical equipment and drugs, border restrictions and trade curbs, amid fraught talks laying bare their bitter divisions.

While Le Maire said the Thursday agreement paved the way for debt mutualisation, his Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, stressed the opposite.

Story continues

"We are and will remain opposed to eurobonds. We think this concept will not help Europa or the Netherlands in the long-term," Hoekstra said after talks ended.

STRAINED SOLIDARITY

Mario Centeno, who chaired the Thursday talks after sixteen hours of all-night discussions earlier this week failed to yield a deal, said 100 billion euros would go to a scheme to subsidise wages so that firms can cut working hours, not jobs.

The European Investment Bank would step up lending to companies with 200 billion euros and the euro zone's European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund would make 240 billion euros of cheap credit available to governments, he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier in the day talked on the phone with Conte and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, paving the way for the eventual agreement, which now awaits approval from the bloc's 27 national leaders in the coming days.

She said she agreed with Conte on the "urgent need for solidarity in Europe, which is going through one of its most difficult hours, if not the most difficult".

Merkel also made clear Berlin would not agree to jointly issued debt, but said other financial avenues were available.

Discussions on that have so far been fraught between the more fiscally conservative north and the indebted south, which has been hit hardest by the pandemic.

The package would bring the EU's total fiscal response to the epidemic to 3.2 trillion euros ($3.5 trillion), the biggest in the world.

But controversy remained over how to kickstart economic growth, with European Economics Commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni, saying the money for that could be raised against the bloc's next joint budget for 2021-27.($1 = 0.9205 euros) (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Gabriela Baczynska, Michelle Martin, Toby Sterling, Joseph Nasr, Francois Murphy, Robin Emmott, Francesco Guarascio, Joan Faus, Gwenaelle Barzic and Leigh Thomas; Editing by Grant McCool and Diane Craft)
KYODO NEWS - Apr 10, 2020 - 22:52 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

The government said Friday it plans to postpone this month's ceremonies to celebrate Crown Prince Fumihito's ascent to first in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne, while Emperor Naruhito described the coronavirus outbreak as "a great challenge to mankind."

The "Rikkoshi no rei" ceremonies, scheduled for April 19, are intended to proclaim the 54-year-old crown prince's new status, which he acquired after his brother, the emperor, ascended the throne in May last year.

"Following the prime minister's instructions, we will start making arrangements to postpone the ceremonies as a state of emergency has been issued," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference.

The government will set a new date after taking into account developments in the viral outbreak, said Suga, the top government spokesman. Alarmed by sharp rises in infections in urban areas, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency on Tuesday for Tokyo, Osaka and five other prefectures.

The Abe Cabinet is expected to officially endorse the postponement next week.

((from R) Japanese Crown Prince Fumihito, Crown Princess Kiko, Princess Mako and Princess Kako)

The postponement will affect the government's plan to formally start discussions after the ceremonies over how to ensure stable imperial succession amid a shrinking number of male heirs. Under the 1947 Imperial House Law, only males in the paternal line can ascend the throne.

The Imperial Household Agency said it has been notified of the government plan and reported it to the crown prince, the emperor and their spouses.

Two events -- the "Rikkoshi Senmei no gi" ceremony to proclaim Crown Prince Fumihito's new status and the "Choken no gi" ceremony in which he will meet with the emperor and empress following the proclamation -- had been planned for April 19.

As the new coronavirus spread in Japan, the government initially planned to reduce the number of guests at the proclamation ceremony to about 50 from 350.

But the government was forced to postpone the event as Japan scrambles to curb a sharp rise in infections, with people in the seven prefectures asked to stay at home under a monthlong state of emergency.

The ceremonies will be the last in a series of official events held for the imperial succession after former Emperor Akihito, 86, abdicated on April 30 last year, the first Japanese emperor to do so in over 200 years.

(Emperor Naruhito (front L) and Emperor Masako)

[Photo courtesy of Imperial Household Agency]

There are currently three heirs to the throne -- the crown prince, his son Prince Hisahito, 13, and Prince Hitachi, 84, the uncle of the 60-year-old emperor.

As the size of the imperial family has been shrinking in Japan, how to ensure stable succession has become a critical issue.

Also Friday, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako received a lecture from a member of the government panel discussing response to the outbreak.

Shigeru Omi, head of the Japan Community Healthcare Organization, briefed the couple on the recent situation surrounding the virus as well as the state of emergency declaration issued by the government this week.

"The spread of infections is a great challenge to mankind," the emperor said at the start of the lecture. "I sincerely hope we could unite our hearts and work together to overcome difficult situations."
Days after the first USS Theodore Roosevelt Navy sailor was admitted into an intensive care unit to be treated for COVID-19, another ship with sailors who have been isolated over fears of coronavirus is preparing to get underway.

The USS Nimitz is preparing to set sail after one of the ship's sailors was removed from the crew and put in isolation for showing flu-like symptoms, according to anonymous sources who spoke to The Washington Post.

A defence official speaking to the paper said the sailor has been tested twice for the virus, but thus far results have been inconclusive.

A spokesperson for the US Navy 3rd Fleet - which includes the USS Nimitz - said the sailor who was removed has met the requirements to be considered recovered and will be allowed to return to working on the ship.

According to Politico, commanders on the ship are reporting that it is free of coronavirus cases after the sailor's tests came back inconclusive.

Approximately 15 sailors who had contact with the sailor who had to be removed have also been quarantined, but will soon be cleared to return to work.

The crew onboard the USS Nimitz were embarked early this month in an effort to separate them from the general populace and reduce the likelihood of sailors becoming infected.

Commander John Fage, a spokesman for the Navy, said that the crew "has been and will continue to conduct increased cleaning stations" to maintain standards suggested by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Navy has confirmed that there are no active cases on the ship, but sailors preparing to get underway on the USS Nimitz are still nervous.

The father of a sailor aboard the USS Nimitz said his son and other sailors were using t-shirts to make face masks and that the sailors were worried about the virus spreading throughout the ship.

"I think he's pretty worried. He feels like they're not taking it seriously," the man said. "It's how the chiefs are handling it, and the fact that there are cases on board and they're still thinking of pulling out."

Fears of new outbreaks cropping up in the cramped quarters of a Navy vessel or other military facility aren't unfounded; cases of coronavirus have been found on the USS Ronald Regan and the USS Carl Vinson. General John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it would be unwise to think the outbreak that occurred on the USS Theodore Roosevelt couldn't happen elsewhere in the Armed Forces.

"It's not a good idea to think that the Teddy Roosevelt is a one-of-a-kind issue," he said during a news conference. "We have too many ships at sea ... to think that it will never happen again is not a good way to plan."

More than 400 of the 5,000 sailors working on the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for coronavirus, including its former captain, Brett Crozier.

Mr Crozier was relieved from duty after sending a letter to superiors asking for his aircraft carrier to be evacuated and cleaned following the discovery that 23 of his sailors were infected with coronavirus.

The ship docked in Guam and the sailors underwent testing for the virus. President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly disapproved of Mr Crozier's letter and he was removed from command.

Days later, Mr Modly travelled to Guam to address the sailors, who were largely supportive of their former commanding officer. The crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt clapped and chanted as Mr Crozier left the ship.

Mr Modly told the sailors that Mr Crozier was either "too stupid" or "too naive" to think his letter wouldn't get leaked to the press and suggested the captain sent the letter with the intention of it being made public. The crew of the ship responded with hostility to Mr Modly's visit.

Mr Modly's speech was leaked to the press and, following its publication and the ensuing backlash, Mr Modly resigned from his position as Secretary of the Navy.

Mr Esper has since said that he would be open to reinstating Mr Crozier.

Recommended Defence Secretary open to reinstating fired US Navy captain

While the Navy's top brass wrestle with PR nightmares, the rest of the branch is still trying to determine how they can administer tests with the speed and scope it needs to maintain its operations.

Presently, only sailors with symptoms are being tested for the virus. However, as coronavirus can be spread by asymptomatic carriers, there is the potential for a sailor to carry the virus aboard and spread it once a ship has set out, creating another situation like the one faced by the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

"The challenge we have now, is having that type of capability where we can test in volume and at speed," Admiral Mike Gilday said during a press briefing. "I really don't have a good estimate right now on when that testing capability might be available in the kinds of quantities we would like to see.
Global warming will cause "catastrophic" biodiversity loss across the world if greenhouse gas emissions aren't curbed, with some ecosystems liable to collapse as soon as 2030, according to new research into where and when die-offs may occur. Earth has never in human history warmed so quickly or uniformly as currently, but a variety of factors affect temperatures in individual regions, with significant seasonal and geographic variation. Scientists predict that at the current level of manmade carbon emissions, Earth is on course to heat up to four degrees Celsius by 2100. Instead of looking at global trends, researchers in Britain, the United States and South Africa looked at more than 150 years of climate data and cross-referenced that with the spread of more than 30,000 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and fish. They then divided the globe into 100 square kilometre (39 square mile) segments, and modelled the temperature trends and effects this would have on wildlife in a given area. Writing in the journal Nature, they concluded that under emissions as usual -- known as the RCP8.5 scenario -- up to 73 percent of species will experience unprecedented warming with potentially disastrous effects for populations. Alex Pigot, from University College London's Centre for Biodiversity and Environment, said that the models showed that animal populations were liable to collapse once they cross a temperature "horizon" -- being exposed to heat they're not evolved to handle. "As we pass this threshold we expect the risk of local extinction to increase substantially," Pigot told AFP. "It's not a slippery slope, but a series of cliff edges, hitting different areas at different times," he said. The models change dramatically according to each emissions pathway. For example, at 4C of warming 15 percent of all animals could see extreme heat that could cause "irreversible damage" to regional ecosystems. But at 2C of warming -- the cap aimed for in the Paris climate agreement -- that figure dropped to two percent, according to the models. The researchers predicted that such unprecedented temperature events will begin before 2030 in tropical oceans. Recent phenomena such as the mass bleaching of the Great Barrier reef suggest this is already occurring in places, the team said, adding that higher latitudes would see similar events by 2050. Coral reefs occupy a tiny percentage of the oceans but support as much as a quarter of all marine life. Earth has already heated more than 1C since the Industrial Revolution and planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are climbing annually. The United Nations says humanity needs to slash emissions 7.6 percent annually by 2030 in order to limit warming to 1.5C -- the more ambitious aim of the Paris accord. "As we approach 2C of global warming, there is an alarming escalation in the risks of these abrupt biodiversity losses, providing strong evidence for the need to hold warming below 2C," said Pigot. Recent phenomena such as the mass bleaching of the Great Barrier reef suggest heat-related die-off is already occuring in places
TN cops unknowingly stray into Karnataka, question Home Minister Bommai

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bengaluru, Apr 10: In a bizarre incident, the Tamil Nadu police unknowingly entered Karnataka and questioned Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Bommai was inspecting various check posts across the city for any violation during the coronavirus lockdown. The cops from TN questioned Bommai about his identity and where he was going. The incident took place near the police check post set up at Attibele.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

The TN police stopped the minister's car in Karnataka territory and questioned him. Taken aback, Bommai called the Bengaluru rural district SP Ravi Channannavar and asked him how the intrusion took place. He also ordered that the TN police be evicted and Karnataka police be deployed at the border.

Today, I conducted city rounds and inspected several areas. During this time, I noticed that the Tamil Nadu police had put up barricades in the Karnataka border. I immediately called the SP rural and instructed him to evict the barricades, Bommai said in a tweet.

Channannavar said that since there was no shade on the TN side, they entered Karnataka side and put up barricades. We informed them to remove the barricades and the same has been cleared, he also said.
The Federal Government has summoned the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Zhou Pingjian over reports of maltreatment in China. Nig...





The Federal Government has summoned the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Zhou Pingjian over reports of maltreatment in China.





Nigerians in China who had travelled there for business purposes a few days before the federal government announced a lockdown are accusing Chinese authorities of maltreatment, just as they said the Nigerian government did not care about their plight.





A Nigerian returnee in the wake of the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) who preferred anonymity had said that some of his friends in China were going through a lot of stigmatisation from the Chinese.





However, Foreign Affairs Minister of Nigeria, Geoffrey Onyeama met with Pingjian on Thursday to discuss the issue of maltreatment of Nigerians in China.

Onyeama, on his twitter handle said expressed the concern of the Nigerian government over the allegations of maltreatment.





He called for immediate intervention of the Chinese Government on the issue.





Invited the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Zhou Pingjian to communicate Nigerias extreme concern at allegations of maltreatment of Nigerians in Guangzhou, China and called for immediate Chinese Govt. intervention, he tweeted.




Escape from Wuhan: 55,000 People Flee; Second Wave Of Outbreaks?

The Chinese regime reopened Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus, on April 8, and many locals took the opportunity to flee the city, out of fears that a second lockdown would be put in place. Long lines of vehicles were seen at city exits, and officials allowed close to 55,000 people to leave. Many traveled to Shanghai and Guangdong, where locals said in interviews that they too fear a new wave of virus infections.

Meanwhile, many parts of China remained closed. In what may point to a humanitarian crisis, hospitals were emptied to follow the narrative of the regimes victory over the virus, and reports say even critically ill patients were sent home; religious sites in Beijing remain closed; the China-Russia border was closed and over 300 Chinese living in Russia were allegedly repatriated and deported.

In other news, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is continuing hostile activities to leverage the virus outbreak to its advantage. It sent out an open letter to 230 global far-left political parties calling for coordinated policies and mobilization of resources and forces globally. And the Justice Department is continuing an aggressive push to root out CCP efforts of intellectual property theft in the United States.

These stories and more in this episode of Crossroads.

Crossroads is an Epoch Times show available on Facebook and YouTube.
This year, more so than in generations, Easter weekend arrives both resonant and relevant, prompting us to consider the costs of human folly and delusion and what a second chance should look like.

Easter is the most important date on the Christian calendar. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after the crucifixion on Good Friday.

It is chiefly about sacrifice beyond understanding, about relationships in all their many forms, and about the renewal of a world gone awry.

Above all, it offers hope and possibility after a period of profound pain, loss and sorrow.

Two millennia on, whether we be literalists or given to symbolism, similar themes abide.

The COVID-19 crisis has delivered, along with its human and economic ravages, a season of wholesale soul-searching.

It has created an enforced period of stillness. It has encouraged contemplation. Not least of all, it has inspired an assessment of whats vital and whats not.

All around the world, as nations cope with the coronavirus that has killed tens of thousands and idled the global economy, people on their own, in their families, on streets and online, have been taking stock and seeking solace.

Communities have congregated, if virtually, around shared values of compassion, equality and neighbour looking out for neighbour.

Overwhelmingly, men and women have sought something beyond self-interest, something greater than themselves.

In many respects, the best of humanity has been on display, the mutual support, the willingness to sacrifice, the rituals  yoga classes, recovery groups, religious services  reconvened by modern means.

Its been said that religion is something we study, while spirituality is something we experience  and something best experienced through gratitude.

If so, there is a lot of it going around.

Across the planet, citizens have taken to apartment balconies or front porches to applaud front-line health workers, and public servants, to thank the working-class heroes, the grocery-store clerks and truckers on the job under the direst circumstances.

Outliers have earned scorn  for hoarders, for callow youth who put spring break ahead of public well-being, for the doubters of science, and most particularly the current occupant of the White House, who has learned his walls cant protect against all harm.

In a recent essay in Atlantic magazine, Anne Applebaum said epidemics reveal the truth about the societies they hit and a nations response to it speaks to its strengths  and to its dysfunctions.

This Easter, the COVID-19 emergency  and how we cope with it  has cast a spotlight on exactly that.

With the rise of populist authoritarians around the world in recent years, theres been irrational attack on expertise, on public institutions, on the value of government.

Now, those views simply dont scan.

Now, we recognize the power of the collective, the need for experts, and for leaders humble enough to put aside partisanship and meet the occasion.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said this week it will be a very different Easter from what people are used to.

But he was gratified that Canada, as never before, was acting as one and coming together in a way Ive never experienced.

In all, theres been a recurring reprise recently of ancient teachings, time-honoured verities about the perils of self-seeking and the long-term cost of short-term thinking.

All faiths will likely be heartened by the phenomenon of goodwill, finding confirmation of the values central to all religious teachings.

And if life is essentially about relationships, this Easter  given the state of things  prompts us to reconsider not only our personal relationships, but our relationship with the natural world.

Easter is  as a moveable feast  a rite inherently linked to nature, set by the Council of Nicaea in the year 325 A.D. as the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

Moreover, the COVID-19 crisis reminds us that humanity is another kind of animal, inextricably connected with other species.

Holy Week, which leads up to Easter, is full of hard lessons about injustice, cowardice, betrayal. And Easter itself is about more than painted eggs, fancy bonnets, chocolate bunnies and lilies.

Christian faith is said by the gospels to stand or fall on belief in the resurrection, on the liberation from old failings and the new spiritual life Christs sacrifice offers.

Easter is not about going back to the old normal, but the going forward to be better, live better, love better.

It heralds new opportunities, a chance to dispense with old grudges, prejudices, ill will and unworthy acts.

The author Mary Gordon has written that, to her, the importance of the Resurrection is not whether it literally happened, but that it insists on the primacy of life over death.

For me, the meaning of the Resurrection is the possibility of possibility.

This Easter, in a world needful of hope and inspiration, thats a prayer as good as any.




Pharmaceutical and biotech companies all over the world now report the development of their versions of COVID-19 vaccines, which are now scheduled for human clinical trials.

There are more than 30 pharmaceutical companies around the globe that are on the race of developing the first vaccine against COVID-19. Among these companies, three discontinued developing, while two failed during their human clinical trials according to a report.

PRESENT CASES OF COVID-19 ACROSS THE GLOBE

According to the present data, there are more than 1.6 million individuals who have tested positive for the virus and a death toll of more than 95,000 across the globe. This number is expected to increase if there is no vaccine available soon.

It is for this reason that different governments and health authorities across the globe have different strategies of flattening the curve, some of which are the stringent implementation of social distancing, restriction of mass gatherings, home quarantine and isolation, and many more.

However, there are only ways to avoid the spread of the virus and are disruptive to everyone's routine. Not to mention, it globally affects economics, tourism, and almost all factors of a country's progress.

PHARMACEUTICAL OR BIOTECH COMPANIES THAT ARE SCHEDULED FOR HUMAN CLINICAL TRIALS

1. Amgen Inc. and Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp.

Type: Treatment

Stage: Preclinical

Development:

In the official statement of the company on April 2, they said: "The very early-stage collaboration seeks to discover and develop antibodies that can be used to prevent or treat COVID-19. Financial terms of the exclusive collaboration will be finalized in the coming weeks." Robert Bradway, Amgen's chairman, and CEO, also said: "Working with Adaptive and using their viral-neutralizing antibody platform will expedite our ability to bring a promising new medicine into clinical trials as quickly as possible."

2. BioNTech SE, U.S. and Pfizer Inc., U.S.

Type: Vaccine

Stage: Preclinical

Name: BNT162

Development:

Pfizer announced that it would help BioNTech to develop and distribute the latter's vaccine, but this will not include China. The company plans to have clinical trials in Germany and in the United States. Moreover, BioNTech is testing the vaccine in collaboration with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. in China.

3. CalciMedica Inc.

Type: Treatment

Stage: Phase 2

Name: CM4620-IE

Development:

T he company plans to test the investigational drug on 60 patients who have severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Dr. Charles Bruen, critical care and emergency physician at Regions Hospital, said: "It has the potential to prevent the development of [acute respiratory distress syndrome, or] ARDS, in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia, and reduce the need for ventilators at a time when there is a shortage of ventilators in health care facilities across the U.S."

4. CytoDyn Inc., U.S.

Type: Treatment

Stage: Phase 2 clinical trial

Name: Leronlimab

Development:

The company said that the U.S. FDA already gave a green signal for a mid-stage trial for its experimental drugs to the COVID-19 patients. The drug developed by the company is proposed as a treatment for patients who have mild to moderate symptoms of respiratory complications.

5. Dynavax Technologies Corp., U.S.

Type: Adjuvant platform for vaccines

Development:

The company announced in March that its Adjuvant technology could help provide an increased immune response to a vaccine. The company is also working right now with the University of Queensland, Australia in developing a vaccine.

When asked, however, the question of when vaccines will be available, still, it cannot be answered at this time.

Check these out!
A coronavirus graffiti drawn at a junction to create awareness during a nationwide lockdown, imposed in the wake of COVID 19 outbreak, in Bengaluru. (PTI)

Bengaluru: Dropping enough hints that the state government may take tougher measures during continued lockdown after April 14, it has started implementing `seal down' in a phased manner.

On Friday morning, partial `seal down' was implemented in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Kalaburgi cities, which are witnessing a spike in COVID-19 activities. Strict measures have been taken in the state borders to stop any inter-state movements.

Since morning, only emergency services vehicles are allowed in sealed down areas and people are not allowed to come out of their houses.

In Bengaluru, J P Nagar, Vijayanagar Pipeline, Padarayanapura, K G Halli, D J Halli, Commercial street and Shivajinagar have been completely sealed down. In Mysuru, all the roads connecting Mysuru from other towns have been sealed down. Inside the city, Udayagiri area has been sealed down.

In Kalaburgi, the Northern part of the city has been sealed down, as all the cases and deaths reported are from that area.

Though seal down of critical areas while partially lifting lockdown was part of the report by Karnataka government's expert committee, a report by the Health and Family Welfare department has cautioned that the state may witness its peak between April 12 and April 25.

Though the state cabinet favored continuation of lockdown, the state government held back the decision, hoping that the National lockdown would continue.

Earlier, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa had expressed displeasure over people not cooperating with lockdown.

Based on previous experience, the government has decided to implement partial seal down, that are limited to critical areas of COVID-19 activities.
A Congress leader, who tested positive for coronavirus, was booked for hiding his travel history after allegedly attending the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Markaz last month and his village, Deenpur, in Najafgarh was declared a containment zone, police said on Friday.

IMAGE: A health worker during a sanitisation drive near Nizamuddin mosque in New Delhi, identified as a COVID-19 hotspot, amid the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. Photograph: PTI Photo

After the issue of religious congregation at Nizamuddin came to light, district police were tracing people who attended the event. It was then found that five people from the area had attended the gathering following which several people, including the man, were asked to home quarantine, they said.

Initially, the police had also asked the man, a former councillor of Nangli Sakrawati, if he was part of the event, but he denied it. His wife is the current councillor of Nangli Sakrawati, a village in Najafgarh, they said.

During physical verification of the people quarantined at their homes in the area, the man was not found by health authorities at his residence. On subsequent questioning, he again hid facts about his past travel and movements, they said.

Even during repeated medical and police enquiry, he withheld this fact and did not disclose it to the authorities, a senior police official said.

Later, he fell ill and when he was tested he was found positive for coronavirus. His wife and child also tested positive for the infection, following which all three of them were hospitalised, the official said.

After analysing his call records and upon physical enquiry, it was found that he had visited Jamaat at Nizamuddin, the official said, adding that he had jeopardised the health of the local community and his family members.

As a result, a containment zone was declared in Deenpur village and legal action was initiated against him, the police said.

A case under section 188 (for disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) Of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of Epidemic Diseases Act, has been registered against him at Chhawla police station, they said.

Comprehensive surveillance and information gathering through rigorous physical verification and technical monitoring is being ensured to enforce the lockdown and home quarantine norms to contain the spread of coronavirus in Dwarka district, the police said.

The Tabligh-e-Jamaat's Markaz in Nizamuddin West, which is among the major COVID-19 hotspots in the country, was cleared after the evacuation of 2,361 people in the a 36-hour operation.
Have I Got News For You panellist Ian Hislop sent a get well soon message to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as the satirical show was again broadcast from their homes of its stars.

The long-running comedy series saw the return of team captains Hislop and Paul Merton, while actor Stephen Mangan hosted the evening.

They were joined on Fridays show by guest panellists comedian Zoe Lyons and broadcaster Reverend Richard Coles.

Amid the coronavirus lockdown, Stephen Mangan hosted Have I Got News For You from his home (Hat Trick Productions/PA)

For the second week in a row, the coronavirus lockdown forced Have I Got News For You and its guests to broadcast from home and appear in a virtual studio.

Hislop took the opportunity to wish Mr Johnson well, after the Prime Minister spent time in intensive care suffering with Covid-19.

Shall we start with the elephant in the room? Hislop said. The fact that our Prime Minister is actually in hospital? Its not great for comedy is it I think we should probably acknowledge that we dont wish him ill.

We wish him well, we want him to get back and you know, obviously then we can be rude about him again!

The Private Eye editor added: But there is absolutely nothing, for anyone, in having the prime minister of your country actually ill with the pandemic thats going on.

The team also joked about Scotlands chief medical officer, doctor Catherine Calderwood, and the New Zealand health minister, David Clark, who both found themselves in hot water for breaching the lockdown rules they had promoted.

Lyons said: Is this the Scottish health minister, who was seen flouting her own rules about staying close to home to save the NHS, and, not once, but twice, was caught at her second home in Fife, when she lives in Edinburgh and its a good hours drive even in light traffic?

So she had to step down. Her, and the New Zealand health secretary  he was also caught doing the same thing!

Merton quipped: Exactly, and its a much longer journey for him to get to Fife.
The rate at which the CCP virus pandemic is spreading in the United States has begun to level for the first time, White House coronavirus task force advisor Deborah Birx announced on April 10.

What also has been encouraging  We see for the first time that in the United States were starting to level on the logarithmic phase like Italy did about a week ago, Birx said at the White House.

The logarithmic phase Birx referred to is a visual representation of how quickly the number of total cases doubles over time. Birx noted that the leveling off is due in large part to the positive signs from New York City, the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States.

Remember, for a long time they were over 50 percent of our cases and 50 percent of our new cases, Birx said. That has dramatically changed because of the impact of what the citizens of New York and New Jersey and across Connecticut and now Rhode Island are doing to really change the course of this pandemic and really change the trajectory of new cases.

The flattening of the growth rate is in line with a revised model the White House relies on which now predicts that at a minimum 60,000 people may die from COVID-19 in the United States. That figure is sharply lower than the 100,000 projection the White House publicized not long ago.

Birx cautioned that while the rate of growth is slowing, the outbreak is still not at its peak. She encouraged Americans to continue the federal social distancing guidelines as well as the local measures.

Its really about the encouraging signs that we see. As encouraging as they are, we have not seen the peak, Birx said. And so every day we need to continue to do what we did yesterday and the week before and the week before that because thats what in the end is going to take us up across the peak and down the other side.

The United States reported nearly 500,000 confirmed cases of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus on April 10, according to data from Johns Hopkins. More than 18,000 people succumbed to COVID-19 in the United States.

Both Birx and President Donald Trump pointed out that the fatality rate from COVID-19 in the United States is far lower than many other countries when adjusted for population.

In the midst of grief and pain were seeing clear signs that our aggressive strategy is saving countless lives, Trump said.

The president said that the number of lives is horrible there are signs of hope from New York, where the net number of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions decreased for the first time since the beginning of the outbreak.

Thats usually the sign that its heading on the downward curve, Trump said.

Nationwide, the number of new cases per day is flattening substantially, suggesting that we are near the peak and our comprehensive strategy is working, the president added. Overtime our guidelines to slow the spread are decreasing the rate of new cases very substantially and will result in fewer hospital admissions.

New York hospitals recorded more COVID-19 patients leaving ICUs than those that entered overnight, resulting in a net negative of 17 admissions on April 9. On the same day, the hardest-hit state in the nation saw a net increase in hospitalizations of just 290, another sign that the state is at or near the peak of the outbreak.

Every model the state relied on decision-making has proven wrong, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, including the Gates Foundation-funded IHME, Columbia University, and McKinsey.

The actual curve is much, much lower than any of them projected, he said, referring to the rise, peak, and fall of hospitalizations and other metrics.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times
As daily coronavirus-related deaths reached new highs in New York and nationally, USA TODAYs Editorial Board spoke Wednesday with Dr. Marc Lipsitch, one of the nations leading epidemiologists, about the state of the pandemic. Lipsitch is a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of Harvards Center of Communicable Disease Dynamics. Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Q. What is the trajectory of the coronavirus, and where are we headed?

A. Assuming that we're detecting something like one-tenth of all the cases, or one-fifth or something like that, and assuming that protective immunity occurs after most cases, then we're near the beginning in the sense that most of the population in the country remains susceptible. The goal of the current set of restrictions is not to solve the problem, but rather to solve the acute problem of keeping the numbers of patients from exceeding health care capacity.

Q. Are the restrictions working to do that?

A. Some evidence is beginning to accumulate that we may be able to accomplish that in many places. New York is already near the maximum it can handle, and the question is whether it will come down. There's maybe some hint that's happening. And in other places we'll see whether it goes up more and then peaks in the next week or so, or whether it keeps on going up and exceeds capacity in various places.

Q. Then what?

A. If that works out well, then there's the big question of what do we do next? Because if we relax restrictions, as we saw in the 1918 pandemic, and as we've seen probably in China now, there's every reason to expect a resurgence of cases and we're back in the same problem. On the other hand, keeping these restrictions in place is economically disastrous. Under this scenario, we're in a dilemma, and I don't think anyone has found a good answer.

Q. So what do we do?

Story continues

A. Some ideas out there are probably worth trying, including essentially trying to bring cases down in each locality to a point where they can be controlled individually. There is a contingent of people  a number of them at my university with whom I disagree very, very strongly  who are saying that we need to implement Chinese-style out-of-home mandatory quarantine and isolation as part of that response strategy for containment. The evidence that that is necessary is slim, and the evidence that it would be acceptable in the United States is nonexistent. But there is that view.

Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch

Q. Wuhan, the original epicenter, is opening up. Do you find Chinas reported numbers  about 83,000 confirmed cases and 3,300 deaths  to be credible?

A. I don't think they're credible in terms of actual number of cases. And I don't think that they even captured all the deaths, because they probably missed deaths at home and things like that. There's clearly underdetection. Whether they were hiding things, I don't have any more insight, and probably less, than many of you. It doesn't seem to me crazy that those are the best numbers they can come up with, but I'm open to persuasion that there's funny business going on.

Q. In the hot spots like Wuhan and northern Italy, 3% or 4% of the population had confirmed infections. But you and other epidemiologists talk about 40% or 70% of the entire population getting infected. Can you explain that gap?

A. There's a first wave, and then there's the whole epidemic. A lot of the confusion is premised on the misunderstanding that if you control the epidemic once, then you're done. There's no reason to think that. Wuhan is starting to see resurgence of cases as they let up, and in 1918, we saw it all over the country as restrictions were lifted. So 40% or 70% is the number that you need to have immune before viral transmission stops on its own. The number that get infected under very intense control measures is the number that happened before those control measures fully take effect. Those are two different numbers.

Q. Do we know that if someone has been infected, they will be immune? And if we don't know that, how does this work in second and third waves?

A. We don't know that yet. We do know for other coronaviruses that there is a period of immunity that's partial but quite strong. The thing that matters for control of the epidemic is the proportion of the population that's immune, or at least immune enough so that they're not going to significantly transmit infection.

That's the number that we have to get high enough, either through vaccination or through infection.

Q. Could that number already be higher than we think?

A. One possibility is that there are just a huge number of undetected infections, many of which may produce immune responses. We may just have more herd immunity than we know. There are anecdotal hints about that, but no firm data yet. The flip side of it is that if some significant proportion of those infected don't get immune, then that subtracts from the immune fraction of the population. We really, really need serologic studies (to see if people have been infected and have antibodies).

Men wearing protective masks and practicing social distancing on April 08, 2020 in New York City.

Q. How protective is the immune response?

A. We and others are trying to study that, but that's actually kind of tricky to do. Someone will figure that out, but it will be a while.

Q. Do the nation's governors deserve the greatest amount of the credit so far for their decisive stay-at-home actions?

A. The Northeastern governors have been very aggressive. The Washington state governor has been very aggressive. The California governor has been very aggressive. And on the flip side, Texas and Florida, probably among others that are less notorious, have been quite a bit less aggressive. So I think the successes are not coming from a central source. The federal messaging has been confusing at best. So I would give a lot of credit to the governors who have been aggressive.

Q. How will we know when it is safe to discontinue stay-at-home orders?

A. That's a great question, and I think the serologic surveys will be critical in doing that, because that's a necessary piece of the puzzle to understand how many people have been infected. The second piece, once we have those serologic studies, is figuring out how protective immunity is. We don't know whether it will be possible to distinguish someone who is functionally immune from someone who has an immune response that's not that protective. We hope that it will be possible. But that's an open scientific question right now.

Q. How long will it take to answer that question?

A. I hesitate to say this, because I understand that it's economically and otherwise not really acceptable, but from the standpoint of trying to keep cases under control, I don't see an answer coming until at least the next month or two about it being okay to reopen. There may also just be so much fatigue that places will try it, and then they'll see the consequences.  Waiting until the ICU is overwhelmed again is not a good policy. It is a disastrous policy.

Q. Do you know of a plan for these serologic surveys? Are you involved in that?

A. In a high-functioning environment, this would be mainly the project of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). And I think that the CDC has begun to do, or at least plan, some of these surveys.

Q. How about the states?

A. I've been on a large team of really extraordinary people that are trying to do this in a comprehensive and strategic way. So I think Massachusetts will be one of the first. I think New York will be one of the first, and probably some other states that I don't know about.

Q. The CDC seems to be largely absent from the public communication effort. What effect does that have?

A. I think it's very unfortunate. I think Americans trust the CDC because they see the professionals there as apolitical and trustworthy and trying to protect health. I was there for a brief period in the 1990s, and I've worked with them since then, and that's what they are. Having filtered messages coming through politicians is much less trustworthy than having physicians and public health professionals telling what they know.

Q. Why is that?

A. The CDC, as a scientific organization, is well placed to say, This is what we know, and this is what we don't know. Politicians don't like saying what they don't know. Every crisis communication expert I've ever talked to says you need to hear both. People need to hear both, because then when the knowledge changes, it's not a surprise, and it doesn't feel like it's a reversal or something fishy going on. It's just scientific knowledge changing as definitely happens in a crisis like this.

Q. Polls show political differences in how people perceive the threat.

A. We're all vulnerable to the virus. It doesn't matter what party we vote for, or what church we go to or don't go to. It's a virus. And to the extent that people can get messages that are not mixed with politics, that's a whole lot better for helping them to protect themselves.

Q. What are the biggest unknowns?

A. To me, the enormous questions are about immunity. How much is there in the population now? How many of those people didn't even know they were infected? How protective is it? And then for the potential vaccine, how protective will immunity be? I think immunity is what's going to get us through to the other side. And that's the part that's still the biggest uncertainty.

Q. So how long will people have to hunker down?

A. It's not a scientific choice only. It's ultimately a political choice, and science is one input. I hope it's a very important input, but if a governor decides to lift these restrictions, there's not much that can be done other than to watch the consequences and kick the governor out. The question is, can we endure the consequences of them long enough either to get a vaccine or to let the cases accumulate more slowly so that we get towards herd immunity naturally? But that's a slow process.

Q. How important is testing capacity to the decision about reopening?

A. I think serologic testing capacity is probably even more important than viral testing capacity for making that decision. But viral testing capacity is going to be necessary for trying to control the infections that will inevitably spring up as restrictions are lifted.

Q. Does the country have the viral testing capacity that it needs?

A. Nowhere near. Nowhere near. I mean, it's been a debacle, and it's now almost what we need for the sickest patients and health care workers. But even locally here, there are intense shortages of swabs. If you can't swab people, then you don't have tests. It doesn't matter how good your machines are.

Q. Why has the testing rollout been so hapless?

A. It's partly hapless because there's not a strategy. Nobody has articulated, if we come out of these restrictions, how are we going to keep a lid on the cases that begin to emerge? And there are many challenges to doing that if you have good testing, but it's pretty clear that you can't do it if you don't have the testing.

Q. So how do you see things playing out?

A. If I had to make a prediction about how the interaction between social and scientific and public health factors will play out, I think there's going to be fatigue at some point. Some places are going to let up either after they've controlled the first peak or before they've controlled the first peak. Cases will reemerge, and because people are so tired of social distancing, it will take until the intensive care units are overwhelmed in that place to get people to crack down again, and then there will be some cycles of that. There are ways to try to avoid that, but they all involve this very long and destructive process of social distancing. It's easy to say as the public health person, this is what we need to do for public health. But I'm acutely aware that there are also other considerations, and I don't see a really good answer.

Q. Is there evidence the hot, humid weather in the summer will suppress this like it does other coronaviruses?

A. I think it will suppress it to a degree. The decline of coronaviruses, of all the winter viruses in the summer, is an interplay between running out of susceptible people to infect and having the conditions become less favorable. And when you have tons of susceptible people still around to infect, the virus can survive in less favorable conditions. It would slow the growth rather than bringing the number of cases down by itself. That's our best guess.

Q. Is there more of a threat to younger people than we originally thought?

A. You're right that the messaging has been more focused on the old and those with underlying conditions and probably missed a lot of opportunities with the younger crowd. There needs to be caution, because they do have a risk, even though it's a lower risk.

Q. What about the idea of sending younger people back to work first?

A. I don't think this is a great idea, but there is a school of thought that (this) would be less destructive than the alternative. The problem is that those people have parents and siblings and others that they can infect. I'm not sure that it's a very feasible option, but it may be the best option that we have, if we decide that staying closed for extended periods is not acceptable.

Q. Why is the virus hitting minority communities harder?

A. Underlying health disparities are well established. Hypertension and other disparate risk factors are going to be part of the problem here. It's also an economic issue. Density of housing is clearly a risk for transmission, and so the interaction between race and ethnicity on one hand, and income on the other means, there's that aspect as well.

Q. Are prisons a breeding ground for the disease?

A. Overcrowded prisons are a problem and a health hazard. The idea that it's better to have it all bottled up in a prison, and not let those individuals out into society, is kind of missing the point. Prisons have guards, prisons have kitchen workers, prisons have lots of people who are in contact with those prisoners. And the idea that it's better to just keep it in there is, apart from the inhumanity of it, also just wrong.

Q. We've long heard epidemiologists talk about the Big One. In your view, is this the Big One, and how does it compare with past pandemics?

A. Yeah, I think this is the Big One. The amount of social disruption is certainly unparalleled since 1918. The final health and mortality impact still remains to be seen but is clearly going to be higher than previous flu pandemics, with the possible exception of 1918. I think this is the worst thing we've had from a public health standpoint in terms of an acute infection since 1918. This is certainly big enough. I hope never to see bigger.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus is the Big One: Harvard epidemiologist
CarePortal to Help Kids and Families Most Affected by COVID-19

Online platform connects community to local churches to serve the most vulnerable







NEWS PROVIDED BY

CarePortal

April 10, 2020



KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 10, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- In coordination with the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and child welfare workers across the country, CarePortal, an online platform that connects the needs of children and families in crisis with local churches and community members willing to help, is launching a COVID-19 Disaster Relief platform. Through this new initiative, local churches across the nation will soon be able to serve at-risk children and families suffering from COVID-19 related crises in their local communities.



Since 2015, more than 175 child welfare agencies, 2,000+ churches, and thousands of individuals and businesses across 21 states have used CarePortal to serve more than 58,000 children in the U.S. Child Welfare system. It is CarePortal's mission to forge a connection between people in crisis with churches and people who want to help. COVID-19 is disrupting life and increasing the pain felt by at-risk families. The most vulnerable in our communities need help now more than ever before. CarePortal, a proven online connecting platform, allows neighbors to help neighbors in times like this.



Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, in partnership with Angel Armies, founded by Chris and Lauren Tomlin, CarePortal expedited the development of a Disaster Relief platform. This platform is set to launch on Good Friday, April 10, with a goal to serve 10,000+ activated churches across the country.



There will be three specific needs at the bullseye of this crisis that can be presented by requesting agencies and met by local churches through the CarePortal Disaster Relief platform:

Support an Emergency Worker Alleviate Food/Essentials Insecurity Stabilize Housing Insecurity

"We believe that through the Church, and its 350,000+ local congregations, there will be an overwhelming counter-surge of care," said Joe Knittig, CEO of The Global Orphan Project. "We have prepared a CarePortal Disaster Relief platform and our team in expectation of such an imminent movement."



Here is how it works: an enrolled agency representative signs into careportal.org and shares a COVID-19 generated need. Common requests involve food insecurity, housing insecurity, utility bills, and essentials for babies. Using geo-radius technology, CarePortal instantly distributes the request to nearby churches who sign up to serve families in crisis. The responding church will then work with the agency worker to provide what is needed, and build relationships in the process.



Individuals, churches and agencies interested in helping the most vulnerable during the coronavirus pandemic, please visit careportal.org.



About CarePortal

CarePortal is a platform launched in March 2015 by The Global Orphan Project, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo. CarePortal brings faith and government entities together by utilizing a volunteer network and innovative technology to bring the needs of children and families in crisis to the attention of local churches. Agency workers uncover the needs. CarePortal makes local churches aware, giving them a real-time opportunity to respond. Currently active in 21 states in the U.S., more than 2,300 churches have served over 58,000 children and counting. See CarePortal's live impact report at careportal.org/impact.



SOURCE CarePortal



CONTACT: Jon Cassat, 816-536-8333



Related Links



careportal.org



careportal.org/impact


A Philippine coast guard ship sails past a Chinese coast guard vessel during a U.S.-Philippine search and rescue exercise near Scarborough shoal, in the South China Sea, in May 2019. (Ted Aljibe / AFP/Getty Images)

Even as China's President Xi Jinping mobilized a "people's war" against the coronavirus, Chinese warships were busy on another front: maintaining their pressure campaign in the South China Sea, where a buildup of military activity foreshadows a new U.S.-China cold war.

Across the resource-rich waterway, China Coast Guard and paramilitary vessels have continued to harass fishing boats, military ships and oil and gas rigs belonging to smaller Southeast Asian states that reject Beijing's sweeping claims over nearly the entire sea.

Last month, the Chinese navy carried out combat drills with a fleet of submarines, fighter jets and fast-moving missile boats. The exercises occurred as a U.S. aircraft carrier in the region was sidelined thousands of miles away in Guam, its crew members and former commander sickened with COVID-19.

The tussle in the South China Sea is driving a deeper wedge between China and the U.S. The Trump administration accuses Beijing of capitalizing on the pandemic by helping countries fight the coronavirus while the Peoples Liberation Army tightens its grip on disputed islands and reefs, defying international rulings and territorial claims by neighboring countries.

Theres no apparent pause or reduction at all in Chinese activity in the South China Sea, said Collin Koh, a maritime security expert at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. It appears to be business as usual for the PLA, and for that matter, the China Coast Guard as well.

But the coronavirus crisis has also highlighted the United States' diminishing global leadership.

As the isolationist, "America first" Trump administration is preoccupied at home with containing the world's severest outbreak  with half a million infected and more than 18,000 dead  allies in Asia and around the world are accepting Chinese aid even as they bristle at Chinese violations of international norms.

The pandemic "confirms their worst fears about us both  that the U.S. is withdrawing while China is going to put its own interests above those of its neighbors," said Gregory B. Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Story continues

Medical equipment donated by China to combat the coronavirus outbreak arrives at Phnom Penh International Airport in Cambodia. (Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP/Getty Images)

On one day last month, Chinese state media trumpeted more than a dozen reports of Beijing donating aid to battle the coronavirus: gloves to Italy, testing kits to Ethiopia, protective medical suits to South Korea.

The same day, March 20, the official New China News Agency carried a report headlined, New research stations come into operation on Nansha Islands, describing the opening of two civilian labs to study the marine environment in the South China Sea.

The announcement, using Chinas name for what are more commonly known as the Spratly Islands, elided the bitter dispute surrounding the archipelago, where the Chinese military has created a series of artificial islands to house military outposts.

A 2017 photo shows an airstrip and other structures on China's man-made Subi Reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

The two research stations are located on Fiery Cross Reef and Subi Reef  each claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam  where China has dredged land to build runways, missile emplacements, radar towers and barracks that could house thousands of troops.

Although the labs are described as civilian in nature, security analysts say China could use the research to step up exploration of deep-sea oil and gas, rare metals and other resources.

Last month, a Chinese transport plane landed on Fiery Cross Reef, the sort of routine supply mission that often goes unnoticed in what Poling called Chinas low-level, day-to-day consolidation of the South China Sea.

A 2016 satellite image shows what is claimed to be an under-construction airstrip at Chinese-controlled Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands. (DigitalGlobe)

The waterway, through which more than $3 trillion in goods transits every year, is one of the most contested regions of the world. Sitting atop large oil and gas reserves, it is the main sticking point in Chinas relations with Southeast Asian countries, including half a dozen that hold competing island claims.

Beijings aggressive actions there are at odds with the softer image it has tried to project since the coronavirus outbreak, which emerged in central China late last year and raced around the world. China was criticized for initially underreporting the severity of the outbreak, but has since held itself up as an indispensable power in helping contain the virus' global spread.

As China reports that COVID-19 cases are on the wane domestically, it has donated protective equipment to more than 120 countries, fired up factories to meet the global demand for ventilators and deployed medical experts to assist other nations. The Chinese leadership has rejected criticism that its assistance is politically motivated, saying that it is never on its agenda to make aid a ploy to pursue influence.

The U.S. has increased aid as well, contributing an additional $274 million in emergency health and humanitarian assistance to countries worldwide, including $18 million in Southeast Asia.

In this region, which is battling to get a new wave of infections under control, Chinas humanitarian aid is welcome, Koh said. But governments also recognize that Chinas maritime maneuvers have continued while rival claimants have their hands full grappling with the coronavirus crisis, he added.

Therell be inevitably an impact on trust and how these governments view Beijings intentions, Koh said. China will have to tread water very carefully if it doesnt wish to see its diplomatic gains from this coronavirus outreach offset by what its doing in the South China Sea.

The tensions spilled into view last week after a Chinese military vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat off the disputed Paracel Islands, the second such incident in less than a year. Vietnam lodged a formal protest, and the Trump administration accused China of exploiting the distraction or vulnerability of other states to expand its unlawful claims in the South China Sea.

Beijing blamed the Vietnamese ship for fishing illegally in Chinese waters.

Individually, the claimants can do little to counter Chinas military might. The U.S. has been unable to alter the status quo in the South China Sea even after a much touted pivot to Asia under the Obama administration and Trumps trade war against Beijing.

The most important U.S. ally in the region, the Philippines, has failed to demand China adhere to a 2016 international ruling that denied Beijings sweeping claims over the South China Sea. Although the Philippines sided with Vietnam in the fishing boat incident, President Rodrigo Duterte has generally sought rapprochement with China and announced plans to cancel a major security pact with the U.S. that could unravel the decades-old alliance.

Students wave Philippine and Chinese flags during a visit by Handan, a Chinese guided-missile frigate, to the port of Manila in January 2019. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

The U.S. militarys ability to project force in the South China Sea  usually by conducting port calls and sailing warships on freedom of navigation missions  has also been weakened by the pandemic.

The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt had just concluded a visit to the Vietnamese port of Da Nang last month when sailors aboard were found to be infected with the virus. The ensuing fiasco  which culminated in the acting secretary of the Navy resigning after he criticized the ships commander, who was fired after speaking out about the risks to his crew  has grounded one of the key U.S. carriers in the region the Pentagon calls the Indo-Pacific.

Countries are beginning to worry about Washingtons capacity to fulfill its security commitments as it grapples with the health and economic costs of the pandemic, according to a commentary published this week by the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank.

Stricken warships, stalled deployments and Washingtons acute preoccupation with its own poorly handled humanitarian crisis will not reassure Indo-Pacific allies, wrote the authors, Ashley Townshend and Jim Golby.

For now, the pandemic appears likely to widen the U.S.-China divide while convincing other Asian countries that both powers are unreliable.

Malaysia, for example, has been stuck in a months-long confrontation with Chinese military vessels near two offshore blocks where Malaysias state-owned Petronas is drilling for oil and gas. A China Coast Guard ship drew to within 0.3 of a nautical mile of the Petronas rig in January before pulling away, highlighting what the Center for Strategic and International Studies said is Chinas determination to bully any country that attempts to develop new energy sources in the area.

Last month, however, when China delivered a shipment of N95 masks, other protective gear and 200 ventilators to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to help fight the coronavirus, New China News Agency reported that Malaysias foreign minister thanked Beijing by saying, We really, truly know our friends in times of crisis.

Southeast Asian countries are getting used to dealing with China in this way  having some local skirmishes on territorial issues, but having the larger trade and diplomatic relationship going on at the same time, said Zack Cooper, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

These countries dont have a lot of options on how to contest these claims," he said. "The Chinese are confident that the status quo is stable in the South China Sea, and trending in their favor in the long term.
For a long time, I've been puzzling about why, given his leadership in the coronavirus crisis, President Trump hasn't seen much to cheer in the polls. Very specifically, he's constantly trailing Joe Biden in the polls, a candidate so weak he can't get people to go to his rallies, and whose internet press briefings are a shambles.

Now things seem to be turning.

The latest poll from Fox News, which has reported a lot of left-friendly poll results in the past, is that President Trump is now tied with Joe Biden.

Up until now, Trump's been looking at this kind of numbers  here they are, on RealClearPolitics. Look at the negatives over the last couple of days:

This has been strange, indeed, given that some of the polling operations, such as IBD/TIPP, have an unusually strong record of accurate forecasts.

Because nothing's been stranger than seeing voters favoring Biden over Trump, given the recent series of events.

At the time, I could only wonder:

Did the voters want some kind perceived "return to normalcy" with Biden? Was the old shoe just more comfortable? We know that President Trump has opened the gates to a more human version of a politician; could that have now been working to Biden's benefit, given his nonstop record of gaffes? It really was just puzzling that voters who have seen what President Trump can do for an economy, and now see his commanding take-charge crisis leadership on the coronavirus pandemic, would somehow still prefer a clown like Biden running things. Yes, a certain portion of Biden's base is Trump-deranged, for sure. And Democrats in general are willing to support Democrats.

The Fox News poll, released today, now suggests a striking rise in support, probably from independents. It may even reflect a previous poll reading that found15% of Bernie Sanderssupporters planning to pull the lever for President Trump.

It may be that the mushy middle, the people who don't pay that much attention to politics, the people who are independents, are breaking for Trump. Up until now, they've told pollsters "yes" to Biden. But something seems to have flipped.

Odds are, the public is seeing more and more of President Trump's leadership on the coronavirus pandemic, and it is finally translating that approval to voter support. It may be a delayed reaction, or just more people seeing more of Trump and coming to their own conclusions. And it explains why the networks are so keen on refusing the cover President Trump's press briefings: they know that the more the public sees of Trump, the more impressed the people are.

It's almost certainly a migration of independents to the Trump column, as has been noted by previous polls on other matters. Here are three likely factors for why the indies are being won over:

Trump's capacity for working across the aisle, with the Congress that just got done impeaching him in the House, in getting the stimulus bill done, and in close cooperation the Trump-hating one-party-state blue governors, several of whom have praised him. Trump giving so much attention to accommodating these blue states in crisis, with no partisan bias at all in the dishing of aid. (Remember how President Obama refused to visit Baton Rouge after historic flooding presumably because it was a red city? There also was some slow-walking of aid in multiple disaster-hit red states in those Obama days.) Trump's not like that. He aids states in need whether they are Democrats or Republicans. That's new. Trump's aid to blue cities and states stands in stark contrast to Democrats who rejoice in Republicans catching the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, or who threaten to withhold treatment from infected Trump-supporters on a partisan basis, or who tout spreading coronavirus to Trump-supporters at Trump rallies, or who cheer violent criminals who do harm to Republicans, as we see again and again

The real race hasn't even started yet, and now a Harris poll (hat tip: Instapundit) shows that the voters on all sides are united in their disgust with China for inflicting this virus on the entire world, including their top market, the United States.

That would explain this masterly Trump ad, which can only continue to drive the sentiment toward Trump, given its sharp recognition of public sentiment.

Trump's hands-on leadership, and united public perceptions of where the problem is coming from, is a pretty strong formula for political winds blowing in Trump's direction. The Fox News poll might just be the beginning of it.

Image credit: YouTube screen shot, Donald J. Trump.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin (Reuters) Moscow  Fri, April 10, 2020 17:05 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd1123da 2 Health Russia,coronavirus,pneumonia,COVID-19,health Free

The city of Moscow's health department said on Thursday it would begin regarding all pneumonia patients as potential sufferers of the new coronavirus and route them to hospitals accordingly, after doctors raised concerns about the accuracy of tests used to diagnose the virus.

The policy change was made at the request of doctors at hospitals specially designated to treat the new coronavirus, which often causes pneumonia. Tests for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, were producing accurate results only 70-80 percent of the time, the doctors said.

The policy change is likely to add weight to arguments made by critics who say the official number of new coronavirus cases in Russia is lower than the real figure, because many cases have been classified as simple pneumonia.

Reuters reported last month that a sharp spike in the incidence of pneumonia in Moscow had fueled concerns about the reliability of official data on the number of cases, which at the time was well below levels seen in other European capitals.

"The accuracy of existing tests used to detect COVID-19 is at 70%-80%," Denis Protsenko, chief doctor at Moscow's main coronavirus hospital, Kommunarka, was cited as saying in a statement, published on the website of the city's health department.

Read also: Coronavirus lockdown drives jump in vodka and whisky sales in Russia

"In some cases, the tests give false negative results, and the proportion of such results is significant," Protsenko was cited as saying.

The doctors, members of a new clinical committee bringing together the heads of Moscow hospitals treating COVID-19 patients, said most pneumonia cases were being caused by the new coronavirus.

The proposal would mean that patients diagnosed with pneumonia, who had not yet received COVID-19 test results, would be treated as coronavirus patients and taken to appropriate hospitals.

"Based on the consensus of the members of the COVID-19 clinical committee, a Department of Healthcare order has been issued to change the principles of patient routing, diagnosis and clinical decision-making during the admission stage," the city's health department head Alexei Khripun was cited as saying.

Russia has reported 10,131 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, with 6,698 in Moscow.
(Bloomberg) --

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has become a focal point for criticism of the American governments coronavirus response, blamed for botching tests that would have helped track the illness in its early days, and then receding from the Trump administrations public messaging.

In a nearly hour-long interview with Bloomberg News, CDC Director Robert Redfield predicted that the CDC would emerge with its reputation and capabilities intact, even improved, from an outbreak that has infected at least 465,000 Americans, caused more than 16,000 deaths, and is projected to kill thousands more.

We continue to be the premier public-health institution in the world, Redfield told Bloomberg, addressing questions about the agencys response to the virus, its public role, and its future.

The CDC was founded in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center, charged with making sure that malaria didnt spread across the nation. With a $7.28 billion annual budget and 10,000 employees in the U.S. and abroad, its one of the worlds foremost public-health agencies, charged with defending the nation against disease and protecting the health and well-being of Americans. But the coronavirus pandemic has tested the agency like never before, including a high-profile misstep during an important window when the virus might have been contained.

We didnt get ahead of the outbreak. And the CDC in its history would have always gotten ahead of the outbreak, said Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California, citing the agencys work on Ebola, Zika and other diseases that have threatened the world. Lives have been lost. Its not just the CDC. Its the entire government.

Test Troubles

In January, as the outbreak expanded in China, the CDCs scientists developed a test for the virus at the agencys labs. On Feb. 4, the CDC was cleared to send out hundreds of test kits to state and local public-health labs, part of a stepped-up program to identify infections and track their contacts. The test kits were crucial to the U.S. effort to contain the disease while there were still less than 20 known cases in the country.

I think history will lay the facts down correct, Redfield said. The real truth is, CDC did its job really in a record time and developed the test within seven to 10 days from when the viruss genetic sequence became available.

Unfortunately, the version of the test the CDC sent to labs failed to work for most. It took eight days for the CDC to announce the problem, and more time to get new kits out and modify existing ones.

We then said, dont use it, let us take it back, he said. And in a couple weeks we figured it out, we corrected it and got it out.

Those weeks, however, were crucial. By the time the CDC shipped new versions of its test out, the virus had already started to spread inside the U.S., eventually setting off clusters of infections in New York, Seattle and California.

The CDC encouraged other authorities, including the Food and Drug Administration, to allow hospitals and commercial labs to get tests on the market faster. But ensuring that America had widespread testing capacity for the novel pathogen ultimately was not the CDCs job, Redfield said.

It was really the responsibility of the private sector and the clinical medicine apparatus to develop these tests for clinical medicine, he said. Thats the part thats still frustrating some people.

Other parts of government share responsibility. It took weeks for the FDA to begin issuing emergency authorizations for other tests, after problems with the CDC kits emerged, for example. But the errors cost crucial time, said Topol.

The singular egregious failure was the lack of having a test ready, at scale, with all that was happening in China, said Topol. It was their job to be ready for the worst-case scenario. Ready to do millions of tests throughout the country. Because that didnt occur, everything that has happened since then is attributable to that failure.

Redfield maintains that thats a misunderstanding of the agencys responsibilities, and predicted the CDC would come out of the pandemic stronger. Our public-health capacity for decades to come is going to be strengthened, the core capabilities are going to be finally brought to where they need to be, he said. Were going to have laboratory capacity that has enormous redundancy.

Wheres the CDC?

Redfield, 68, is a devout Catholic and a noted virologist who has done extensive research and clinical work on HIV and AIDs. He served for 20 years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and after his retirement founded the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland with two other renowned HIV researchers. Hes led the CDC for two years, taking over from President Donald Trumps first director, Brenda Fitzgerald, who resigned from the agency after buying stock in a tobacco company shortly after taking the job.

While Redfield has never had a reputation for seeking the spotlight, the CDCs public presence looks far different than when the outbreak began. Through early March, its experts held regular briefings to educate the public on the virus and the governments attempts to contain it. In recent weeks, Trump has taken on responsibility for briefing the public himself, with a rotating cast of officials that rarely includes the CDC, but often includes a mix of conflicting scientific claims and medical advice put forth by the president that are then gently walked back by other members of government.

Redfield was a regular presence at the governments briefings early on. But as the White House and Trump have taken over, hes receded. Since March 14, according to an analysis of transcripts, hes appeared only four times at the Trump-led White House briefings that are broadcast across the U.S. and serve as the administrations most visible and best-covered message to the public about the virus. Most days, no one from the CDC appears at the briefings at all.

The CDCs last public briefing of its own took place over a month ago, on March 9. Asked where the decision to end the agencys briefings had come from, Redfield said he didnt know. I just know that our regular briefing was discontinued, he said.

A Trump administration official said Redfield attends task force meetings by phone when hes in Atlanta and in person when in Washington. The official said the White House briefings cover much of the same material that CDC briefings did, so it doesnt make sense to hold both. The official said he did not know who decided to discontinue the CDCs own briefings.

Redfield said the agency is focused on getting its recommendations on how to stop the spread of the disease out through other channels, not on appearing at high-profile briefings.

I dont think that the press briefings, at the end of the day, with all the different things, is really the place to do that, Redfield said. Its more how do we maximize our public-health message to the components of the American public who are involved in public health.

You may not see them on the television, or you may not read about them, or hear them on the radio, but we're constantly communicating with the American public to make sure they get the best information that CDC has to give them, Redfield said. Redfield cited guidance on the agencys website and more narrowly tailored outreach to medical workers, faith communities, business leaders and nursing homes, including daily telephone calls that draw up to 40,000 participants.

As questions have arisen about the CDCs role in recent days, Redfield has become more outwardly visible. He gave an interview to the health news publication Stat published on April 4, defending the agencys performance, and appeared at a CNN event on April 9. Hes also engaged in appearances on local, often conservative, talk radio, reported Politico, which characterized his role as a trusted voice speaking to Trumps base.

Before they stopped, the CDCs briefings were a reliable source of information about the virus and the governments response. They also proved prescient about the impact on the U.S., at a time when the White House was downplaying the situation and calling the virus nearly contained and unlikely to have a major impact.

Almost three weeks before the White House called for significant social distancing measures to stop the spread of the virus, one of the CDCs top infectious-disease experts warned that Americans needed to start preparing for dramatic changes, including the possibility of closing schools, sporting events and other elements of daily life. The official, Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned of a serious outbreak in the U.S.

Its not so much a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness, Messonnier said at the Feb. 25 briefing.

Messonnier, whose comments helped spark a drop in the U.S. stock market, hasnt spoken publicly in recent weeks. The closing of the channel between the agency and the public leaves the nation less prepared, one of Redfields predecessors said.

Lets be frank: they are our No. 1 experts in how to address a pandemic of respiratory illness, Tom Frieden, who led the CDC under then-president Barack Obama, said on call with reporters in early April. If all of us had been hearing from Doctor Nancy Messonnier every day for the past five to six weeks, we as a country and families and as individuals would be much better prepared. (Frieden is currently chief executive of Resolve to Save Lives, which is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, whose founder, Michael Bloomberg, is also founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP.)

Changing Role

Redfield said that as the pandemic spread, the public face of the governments response naturally shifted up the government ranks. What began as a response led by Messionniers center within the CDC rapidly escalated to the entire agency, and then to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and eventually to one led by the White House.

I think it's important to see how this response has gone from a CDC center, to CDC, to the Department of Health and Human Services, to an all-of-government response, he said.

But as the responsibility for leading the response has shifted, confusion over what information is right and whats wrong has grown, as well.

The dynamic was on display in mid-March as authorities began to bar public gatherings. On March 16, citing lack of federal direction, governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut said they would limit gatherings to 50 people. Later the same day, the Trump advised against gatherings of more than 10 nationwide.

They have lost the role of being the public-facing agency," said Lorien Abroms, an expert on health communications at George Washington Universitys Milken Institute School of Public Health. The danger is more chaos as the country grapples with the fast-moving crisis, she said.

We have different parts of the government saying different things, Abroms said. People started by being confused and not knowing who to follow.

In late March, more than 80% of Americans said they trusted the agency for reliable information on the coronavirus, according to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health research group. That is a remarkable number when the country is divided and overall faith in institutions is low. Almost as many people said they trusted state leaders, the World Health Organization, and Anthony Fauci, a National Institutes of Health scientist who has taken on the role of expert-in-chief at the White House sessions. Less than half said they trusted Trump or the news media.

The CDCs latest health recommendation is that Americans wear a facial covering when out in public, part of an effort to reduce spread of the virus, in particular by people who may not have symptoms.

Redfield said he carries a face covering his wife made him from a bandanna and rubber bands, and he wears it in situations when he cannot maintain the recommended six-foot distance from others.

Its only a recommendation, Trump told reporters on April 3, the day the CDCs mask recommendations came out. You dont have to do it.

Sign up here for our daily coronavirus newsletter on what you need to know, and subscribe to our Covid-19 podcast for the latest news and analysis.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Coronavirus CDC Image View Photo

San Andreas, CA  Clarke Broadcasting reached out to local health officials about some of the COVID-19 research underway, including a hypothesis that herd immunity was helping keep Californias COVID-19 cases from looking more like New Yorks.

Stanford Medicine researchers, who are investigating many aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, are trying to determine what proportion of Californians may have already had it.

University officials share that teams in the past few days have administered thousands of finger-prick blood-draw antibody tests with results, expected in the coming weeks that could help prove the novel coronavirus arrived undetected in the state much earlier than previously thought.

Chinese medical officials originally indicated the deadly outbreak began in early January before backpedaling the date first to December, then possibly mid-November. Researchers are hypothesizing that COVID-19 first started spreading in California last fall during what otherwise appeared to be an early flu season and that it could be one explanation for the states lower than expected case numbers, especially since it is the top U.S. travel destination for Chinese tourists.

If Californians were exposed earlier than the rest of the country to COVID-19, researchers say it is possible there was a chance to build up some herd immunity to the disease but test results are needed to prove it.

Researchers say the testing could be a beneficial tool in helping hasten recovery for communities in which more people are found to have antibodies against the disease and could safely get back to work.

Calaveras County Health Officer Dr. Dean Kelaita readily agrees to the value of antibody testing, which is still being developed to administer on a widespread basis. As for herd immunity, he has questions.

Why Are So Many Still Getting Sick?

What we know about COVID-19 was that it was reported in December of 2019, hence the name, Kelaita muses. The China outbreak was the first we heard and we think it originated in China in December 2019, likely due to animals in wet markets congregating closely with humansthen the virus mutated and the outbreak took off.

However, since the novel coronavirus is a new strain  why its going through us like wildfire, Kelaita ponders whether folks who think they might have gotten it last fall might have just been suffering through the early flu season onset or other illnesses that share some of the same symptoms.

As to the hypothesis of herd immunity already being evident in the region, Kelaita acknowledges the virus may have been around in a low amounts for a longer time that officials really know.

The way a herd immunity works is lets say there are 100 people and 99 exposed have immunity  then all the people around them are going to protect that person  the one who is not immune is surrounded by those who are, the explains. But he asks, if folks sick last fall were actually battling COVID-19, wouldnt we have already been seeing more effects of a building immunity?

While testing for COVID-19 is still problematic due to materials shortages, antibody testing for immunity to the virus he says is valuable because it can determine previous exposure and potential susceptibility, similar to blood tests already available to determine if a person has been exposed to measles, mumps and rubella. Too, these kinds of tests are also generally inexpensive and easy to administer.

While different kinds of COVID-19 responses are being developed such as various forms of testing, monitoring models that track such things as movement and fever within populations, vaccinations and other cures are months, even years from being ready. In the meantime, Dr. Kelaita is certain about one thing.

Right now all we have are the social distancing measuresand it is working, he says empathically. Dont get complacent about it. Californias numbers are improving and that is evidence of early adoption of social distancing works.
Realty firm Puravankara Ltd has donated 500 coronavirus testing kits to the Karnataka government that can help test 5,000 people.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa tweeted, "Appreciate the contribution of Ashish Puravankara, MD of Purvankara Group who donated 500 Covid testing kits today. This will help test 5000 people as each kit can test 10 people."



"To help augment the government's efforts, Puravankara has committed to procure approved testing kits, which will be managed by the state's authorities. These tests will be administered free of cost for the people of Karnataka," the Bengaluru-based developer said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WUHAN, China (Reuters) - Tentative signs of normal life are returning to Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus epidemic was first documented, after a 76-day lockdown that turned it into a virtual ghost town. Authorities in the city of 11 million on Wednesday lifted the draconian curbs they put in place in January, allowing residents to leave by car, rail and plane, taxis to resume operations and more non-essential businesses to re-open

WUHAN, China (Reuters) - Tentative signs of normal life are returning to Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus epidemic was first documented, after a 76-day lockdown that turned it into a virtual ghost town.

Authorities in the city of 11 million on Wednesday lifted the draconian curbs they put in place in January, allowing residents to leave by car, rail and plane, taxis to resume operations and more non-essential businesses to re-open.

Shoppers on Thursday streamed into Wuhan's main shopping belt, Chu River and Han Street, where international brands including Nike and Lego have stores and which was virtually deserted last month as the shops were shut.

People also took advantage of warm weather to head to the banks of the freshwater East Lake, filling up its parking lots, while cars returned to the road leading to Wuhan's reopened Hankou Railway station.

But traffic levels remained far below the close-to-gridlock levels that used to plague the city, as national government recommendations that people to refrain from going out unnecessarily remain in place.

During the lockdown, public transport was shut down, roads were blocked and people ordered to stay at home to stay home to try and stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Even so, more than 50,000 people became infected in Wuhan, and more than 2,500 of them died, about 80% of all fatalities in China, according to official figures.

The tough restrictions are credited with helping to bring about a sharp drop in the numbers of locally transmitted cases in Wuhan and China at a time when the virus has evolved into a global pandemic.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh; editing by John Stonestreet)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Hollywood star Sandra Bullock has donated to 6,000 N95 masks for healthcare professionals battling the coronavirus pandemic.

The 55-year-old actor's boyfriend Bryan Randall shared a photo in which Bullock is standing behind a worker of Adventist White Memorial and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles on Thursday.

"Kids wanted to give masks. 6,000 of them went to the warriors on the front lines in downtown LA," Randall wrote in the caption.

"Thank you Olivia at #adventistwhitememorial. Thank you Ricardo at #childrenshospitallosangeles... Louis and Lailas note could not have said it better. @masks.4.heros I'm not sure who that freak is in the background," he added.

Bullock is the latest member from Hollywood fraternity to donate personal protective equipment (PPE) for the healthcare professionals.

Recently, rappers Jay-Z and Meek Mill donated 100,000 surgical masks, through their organisation Reform Alliance.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been 'put on lockdown' amid fears that they might also be able to catch the coronavirus.

The move has seen gorilla tourism suspended for present and the closure of sanctuaries for other apes  including orangutans, which are also endangered.

While habitat loss and poaching have transitionally been the largest concern for the future of great apes, viral diseases are now ranked in the top three for some species.

With great apes being closely related to us  and vulnerable to human illnesses like the common cold and Ebola  experts fear they could contract COVID-19 too.

Scroll down for video

Gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been 'put on lockdown' amid fears that they might also be able to catch the coronavirus. Pictured, a file photo of a baby high mountain gorilla in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park

Mountain gorillas  also referred to as Gorilla beringei beringei  are endangered animals that are only found in the high-elevation forests of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

All three of these countries have seen outbreaks of human coronavirus cases, leading conservationists to fear that the great apes might be at risk too.

Humans are closely related to the great apes  we have a common ancestor that lived some 57 million years ago  and the different lineages are susceptible to some of the same diseases  including the common cold and Ebola.

In fact, outbreaks of the latter are thought to have killed thousands of chimpanzees and gorillas in Africa.

'We don't know if [coronavirus has] infected mountain gorillas; we have not seen any evidence of that,' chief veterinarian Kirsten Gilardi of the Gorilla Doctors project told the BBC.

'But because mountain gorillas are susceptible to human pathogens, we know that they can develop respiratory illness.'

To address the risk, the veterinarians and rangers who work with wild gorillas have had to introduce new precautions.

'Much of what we're practising right now  in terms of social distancing and self-quarantine  are at the heart of the recommendations for protecting great apes as well,' Dr Gilardi explained.

Following the outbreak, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has called for people to stay at least 33 feet (10 metres) away from gorillas at all times  an increase on the usual recommended safety distance of 23 feet (7 metres).

Alongside this, human visits are to be reduced to the minimum required to ensure the great apes' continued health and safety, with those who are ill or have had contact with the sick in the last fortnight prohibited from approaching the animals.

Humans are closely related to the great apes  we have a common ancestor that lived some 57 million years ago  and the different lineages are susceptible to some of the same diseases  including the common cold and Ebola. In fact, outbreaks of the latter are thought to have killed thousands of chimpanzees (pictured) and gorillas in Africa (stock image)

'We don't know, if they were to get infected, what the health effects would be,' primate biologist Serge Wich of the Liverpool John Moores University told the BBC

'But obviously given the health implications for people it's a risk we do not want to take with great apes.

'So these precautions everyone's taking are an important step to try to reduce that risk.'

One of the many great ape sanctuaries to have closed its doors to the public in response to the coronavirus threat is the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, pictured here on February 24, 2017, located at the north of the island of Borneo

Gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been 'put on lockdown' amid fears that they might also be able to catch the coronavirus

One of the many great ape sanctuaries to have closed its doors to the public in response to the coronavirus threat is the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, located at the north of the island of Borneo.

'This disease could be fatal for the already critically endangered orangutan,' Susan Sheward, chair and founder of Orangutan Appeal UK, told the BBC.

'Orangutan Appeal UK will do everything it can to make sure that the orangutans at Sepilok stay healthy and safe.'

Great apes are not the only animals that might be vulnerable to catching coronavirus.

Earlier this week, a four-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia in New York City's Bronx Zoo tested positive for coronavirus  prompting new protection measures to be put into place for big cats, as with the great apes.

Furthermore, a recent study demonstrated that cats and ferrets can be infected with coronavirus and spread it to other animals, but it is hard for dogs to catch the disease.

The findings came after four isolated cases of pets being infected with the novel coronavirus, including two dogs in Hong Kong and a cat in Belgium.

The second cat tested positive for the virus after its owner fell ill  unlike the Belgian cat, however, it is not exhibiting symptoms.

In all four cases, the pets are believed to have caught the virus from their humans.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted that there is no evidence to suggest that household pets are capable of spreading the disease.
Mumbai, April 10 : Even as the Central Bureau of Investigation entered the picture, the ruling Nationalist Congress Party-Congress slammed the Opposition BJP for wrongly targeting the Maha Vikas Aghadi government over the scam-tainted Wadhawan brothers' sojourn in Mahabaleshwar hill station which ended in a quarantine facility, here on Friday.

Besides the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate also stepped into the scene by seizing the five vehicles in which the Wadhawans and others travelled yesterday from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar, as a huge political controversy erupted in the state.

Soon after the BJP state vice-president Kirit Somaiya raised the issue late on Thursday night, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis demanded a reply on the matter from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Demands also came for suspension of the concerned IPS officer, Home Department Principal Secretary (Special) Amitabh Gupta who allegedly granted permission to the 23-strong group of Wadhawans and others travelling in a private convoy of five vehicles from Khandala in Pune to Mahabaleshwar in Satara.

Moving swiftly, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh early today sent Gupta on 'compulsory leave' for the indiscretion and followed it up by ordering a time-bound probe by a senior officer, to be completed within 2 weeks.

Attacking the BJP, Congress state spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that Wadhawans' group companies like DHFL, HDIL, RKW have all funded the BJP.

"Wadhawans' company Privilege Hi-tech is developing Vijaydurga Port in which BJP MP R. Chandrashekhar, a close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a partner. Hence the false pretence of Kirit Somaiya won't work," Sawant said.

Nationalist Congress Party National spokesperson and Minority Affairs Minister and Deshmukh pointed out that all IAS and IPS officers come under the jurisdiction of the PMO.

"Since your party (BJP) is in power at the Centre, you should demand his (Gupta) suspension from the PMO," both ministers advised, pushing the state BJP into an embarrassing corner.

Dropping dark hints, Sawant said that Gupta was appointed by the Fadnavis government which kept supporting the Wadhawans who are now lodged in a government quarantine facility in Panchgani hillstation.

"It cannot be ruled out that someone higher up from the BJP may have influenced help for them (Wadhawans). The MVA government has taken immediate action against Gupta. The Modi government must take action and come clean," demanded Sawant.

The Wadhawans' detention in Mahabaleshwar proved a boon for the CBI which was on their trail for a month when they absconded after the arrest of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor on March 8, and also Enforcement Directorate (ED) which wants them for its probe.

"From the developments, it seems that the Wadhawans were in touch with certain officials like Gupta who were holed up in Khandala. Whether the CBI was deliberately kept in the dark of their whereabouts also needs to be probed," said a Shiv Sena leader, requesting anonymity.

The ED today seized the five vehicles in which the Wadhawans and others travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar while the CBI has directed the Satara Police chief not to release the wanted Wadhawans without its prior permission.

The CBI said that Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan are absconding and it had searched their premises in Mumbai, and later secured non-bailable warrants of arrest against them.
City Lights, the San Francisco bookstore that has been a beacon for writers, literary intellectuals and book lovers of all kinds for almost 70 years, is nearly broke and on the verge of closing permanently.

The store closed its doors March 16 because of the coronavirus pandemic and fears that it may not be able to reopen.

Elaine Katzenberger, publisher and CEO of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, explained in a message posted for a GoFundMe campaign that the store is unable even to process online orders because it wants its booksellers to stay safe at home.

With no way to generate income, our cash reserves are quickly dwindling, with bills coming due and with a primary commitment to our staff, who we sent home with full pay and healthcare, and who we hope to keep as healthy and financially secure as possible, Katzenberger wrote.

People were responding to the appeal. The fund drive had surpassed its $300,000 goal. As of Friday evening, more than $365,000 had been donated.

City Lights was founded in 1953 by Peter D. Martin and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in a small storefront of the Artigues Building at 261 Columbus Ave. by the border of Chinatown and North Beach. It became famous after the 1956 obscenity trial of Ferlinghetti for publishing Allen Ginsbergs controversial Howl and Other Poems. Over the years it has served as a meeting place for poets, authors, artists and counterculture figures.

In 2001, the city Board of Supervisors made the bookstore an official city landmark.

Heres how the actor Peter Coyote described City Lights in a YouTube video:

Its hearts still in the right place, championing the right things, standing up for the underdog, standing up for big heartedness, for generosity, for culture, for the belief in excellence, for craftsmanship. And its just there, it could make me weep.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.



Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate
Despite the current pandemic and economic recession, OEMs are still ordering smartphone parts as usual, with no signs of slowing down.

Smartphone parts being ordered as usual despite pandemic

According to a report from Bloomberg, Murata Manufacturing Co., known for making smartphone, television, and automobile components, says that smartphone part orders arent decreasing despite the current global crisis. Orders for parts through February and March 2020 are keeping pace with 2019 levels. Though the company didnt name specific OEMs directly, Bloomberg says Huawei and OPPO are two companies still ordering components from Murata. Murata parts are found in smartphones from the budget to premium segments.

Murata says that its uncertain about 5G, a major mobile trend, taking off at the high pace it once expected. A number of things are up in the air for smartphone makers and component makers this year. Some companies could delay launches or choose not to release products at all despite the ordering pace.

Advertisement

What explains the constant pace?

Smartphone releases do not happen on a whim; companies plan them months in advance. So with that said, companies place orders ahead of schedule and tend to order parts in advance of a smartphone unveil. Huawei and OPPO are moving forward with their plans for the year. Of course, theyre smartphone OEMs who need to sell smartphones to make a profit. Mobile device manufacturers (MDM) have to sell devices, like any other business with a product. So, the 2020 pace matches the 2019 pace because of OEM plans. To fail to launch smartphones for 2020 is to miss an opportunity to make money in the current market.

Why keeping the pace in smartphone parts is a problem for Huawei

OPPO is, like all Chinese OEMs, an ambitious company looking to stay afloat. Huawei, however, finds itself in a bad financial situation due to the US Ban. The company has already lost $12 billion behind the national ban and stands to lose as much as $30 billion before its over. And when one adds the current pandemic to the equation, Huawei stands to lose even more money. In light of its losses, compounded because of the US Ban, it would be a wise decision for Huawei to reserve some of its profit to avoid further loss. Having money is key to surviving another year in a competitive race such as the smartphone market.

Yes, there is something commendable about ambition. And Huawei has plenty of it. Thats not a problem, but it can become one if a company bleeding cash doesnt try to hold back to save. Huawei is already losing massive amounts of money on its $2,700 Mate Xs foldable. The company says that its losing money on foldables to pave the way for innovation. And yet, losing money in the midst of an economic and health recession is the equivalent of rolling down a car window and throwing money into a river. Its just not financially wise in a time of loss. Huawei has already been faced with layoffs in light of the Ban.

Advertisement

Smartphone makers and fiscal and moral accountability in the pandemic

In a time when global citizens are facing economic setbacks, the last thing they want to see are companies spending untold amounts of money to sell smartphones that they cannot afford. Such massive spending in this economic recession is fiscally irresponsible and inconsiderate of the losses of citizens around the world. Smartphone makers deserve applause when they make great products. They also deserve applause when they model moral accountability in such an unprecedented time.
NEW YORK, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Committee of 100 (C100) is disappointed by a new 2020 presidential campaign ad that falsely suggests an association between C100 member and former U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke and the Chinese government, solely based on his identity as a Chinese American. As we enter another election cycle, we welcome a full, robust debate on U.S.-China relations, but urge all candidates to engage in a discussion based on policy and facts. Inflammatory language and false imagery impugning the loyalty of Chinese Americans should be consciously avoided by all candidates and campaigns.



False insinuations, such as the ones using Ambassador Locke, only further engender unprovoked hostile attacks against Chinese Americans and other Asian American communities. This is especially important to address given the increased violence and discrimination the Asian American community has faced in recent weeks due to xenophobic-based fears in relation to COVID-19.



The Committee of 100 is confident that by grounding our national discourse in facts and focusing discussions on specific policy positions, we can create a productive dialogue and path forward in U.S.-China relations, while avoiding discrimination against millions of Chinese Americans. C100 will continue to monitor all campaigns this year, and will not hesitate to identify any that raise similar concerns.



The Committee of 100 (C100) is a non-profit U.S. leadership organization of prominent and extraordinary Chinese Americans in business, government, academia, and the arts. Founded by the late world-renowned architect I.M. Pei and internationally acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, among others, it is an institution of U.S. citizens of Chinese heritage. For over 30 years, C100 has served as a preeminent organization committed to the dual missions of promoting the full participation of Chinese Americans in all aspects of American life and constructive relations between the United States and Greater China. www.committee100.org . Please follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for updates.

Contact: Zhengyu Huang, C100 President

[email protected] or 212-371-6565

SOURCE Committee of 100

Related Links

http://www.committee100.org


The number of total confirmed coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh rose to 431 on Friday with 21 more people testing positive , while the death toll stood at four, a senior health official said.

"As many as 431 people have tested positive so far. Of them, 32 have been treated," Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said in an official release issued here.

Till Thursday, there were 410 cases in the state of whom 225 are linked to last month's Tablighi Jamaat event in the national capital, he said.

The death toll in the state due to COVID-19 stands at four -- one each in Meerut, Basti, Varanasi and Agra districts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Today

A mix of clouds and sun. High 74F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Low 49F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Intervals of clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds for later in the day. High 73F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
A 31-year-old man was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run on the South Side that left a woman dead, according to an arrest affidavit.

Israel Lee Lopez was charged with failure to render aid-death after police say he hit 26-year-old Yvonne Arias with his truck as she was walking across a road on April 2.

Witnesses told police that Arias was walking near the 3200 block of Roosevelt Avenue just after 11 p.m., when a Dodge pickup hit her before driving off, the affidavit said. When police arrived on the scene, they found the victim's shoes, an unopened pack of cigarettes and a Dodge hood ornament. Arias later died at a local hospital.

READ ALSO: Police searching for driver after woman was hit and killed on South Side

The witnesses said they were walking nearby at the time and heard the impact, and when they turned around they saw a pickup truck sliding out of control toward them, according to the affidavit. Another witness said he was sitting on his porch when he heard the impact and a woman scream.

The next day, Lopez's mother called police to tell them her son confessed to hitting someone on Roosevelt the night before, the affidavit said. They later saw on the news that the woman had died.

When police went to look at the truck, they said they found significant damage to the front grill and hood, along with hairs in the grill. Lopez had tried to hide the damage by pulling the front of the truck into some bushes, the affidavit said.

FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox

Lopez wasn't home when police first went to look at the truck, but on April 7, he turned himself in. He told police that he was going through a green light when he hit what he thought was a dog, the affidavit said. Lopez said he got scared and drove away and also lost his glasses and couldn't see.

He insisted he hit a dog, but asked investigators, "Why would someone walk out when they saw my headlights?," the affidavit said.

Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway






KABUL -- Taliban militants killed five employees of a state-owned national bank in Afghanistan's western province of Herat, an official told dpa on April 10.

The da Afghanistan Bank employees were on their way from Islam Qala commercial port to the capital Herat city when they were abducted and shot dead by the militants late on April 9, said Farhad Jillani, the spokesman for the Herat governor.

The motive behind the killing is unknown, but the Taliban have kidnapped several government employees and military personnel in the past.

Earlier on April 9, the Afghan government released 100 Taliban fighters, bringing the total number of militants released this week to 200. The Afghan government has said it will release 1,500 Taliban inmates before the start of intra-Afghan peace talks with the militants, but the Taliban are insisting that all 5,000 should be released before any talks.

--DPA
THE Government hopes restrictions on public movement due to the coronavirus can begin to be lifted next month - but Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned they could be reimposed if the rate of new cases starts to increase again.

Mr Varadkar was speaking after he confirmed the current set restrictions will be extended in their entirety until May 5th following a recommendation from public health officials.

While stressing that the current measures had worked in slowing the rate of increase in new cases, Mr Varadkar and Health Minister Simon Harris said more work needed to be done and the public should continue to stay at home.

Education Minister Joe McHugh also confirmed that the Leaving Certificate exams have been postponed until late July and August, while the Junior Certificate exams will be replaced by school-based assessments in the new school year.

Mr Varadkar said it was his fervent hope that the Government could begin to unwind restrictions next month - but he could not guarantee this and insisted that they would not be eased in one go.

Read More

It is of course our fervent hope that after that we'll be able to begin to unwind the restrictions, but I can't guarantee what's going to happen, he said.

Speaking at a press conference in Government Buildings he said much would depend on the continuing compliance of the general public over the next three weeks.

"They won't be eased in one go. They'd have to be done, bit by bit and we'll also have to see whether the virus starts to circulate and rise again once restrictions are eased, because then they might have to be reimposed," Mr Varadkar said.

There's no magic figure if you like that we're looking for, but the kind of thing we'll be looking at will be hospitalisations, whether they're stabilising or falling or increasing, he said. "Same thing goes for the number of people who are in our ICUs, also the number of new cases and the percentage increase in new cases.

So there's no magic figure but it's those kinds of things that we're going to have to look at, and also in three weeks time, we'll have some idea as to how countries in Europe that are planning to ease restrictions have done.

He said the easing of restrictions in some EU countries like Austria and the Czech Republic was not a risk he was not willing to take in Ireland as of yet.

What we want to do in Ireland is avoid the scenes and the awful experience that people are having in Spain, Italy, and the UK and France and it's our objective to achieve that and I believe we can, he said.

Mr Harris said that regulations giving gardai the power to enforce the Covid-19 restrictions would be extended until May 5th. Mr Varadkar said there will be an ongoing garda operation to ensure compliance, but that its not our desire to turn Ireland into a police state and that the powers should be used sparingly.

Mr Varadkar said he had seen reports from the UK of people being reported for going for a second run or being 2.1km away from their house and he did not want Ireland to be in that space.

I dont think we will suppress this virus by becoming the valley of the squinting windows. I think well suppress this virus by doing the right thing by each other, and doing the right thing by our neighbours, and by following the advice, he said.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said that the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) did consider further restrictions at its meeting today, but recommended that the current regime be extended.

He said the number of people who are being infected by a patient who has the disease - the so-called R0 (R nought) rate - has dropped to two but that if this decrease stalls, then further restrictions would be considered by NPHET.

Dr Holohan said it was the intention of the health service to deliver a testing regime that could turnaround tests within 48 hours as quickly as possible and to attempt to achieve this over the next three weeks.

He said the HSE was confident that the backlog of cases that have been sent to Germany for analysis in labs there would be cleared in "a matter of days".

However, when asked three times to disclose the current testing backlog in Ireland, Dr Holohan did not answer.
The coronavirus pandemic may have accomplished what years of complaining, eye-rolling and window slamming could not in suburban New York: silencing leaf blowers, their loud motors further rattling nerves and perhaps (Who knows, maybe? But almost certainly not?) spreading the virus.

Cities, towns and villages in New York, New Jersey and elsewhere in the country have created bans or sought voluntary cuts in the use of leaf blowers in suburban neighborhoods. Town leaders noted that with everyone sheltering in home, the constant din was an added nuisance.

These things could be going on almost constantly throughout the day, said Bob Weitzner, the mayor of the Village of Port Washington North, on Long Island, who asked that landscapers refrain from blowing, as many families are home-schooling children. He himself owns an electric blower.

In no way am I touching a leaf blower until this, pardon the pun, blows over, he said.

The municipal actions are a departure in the ongoing saga of leaf blowers, one marked, in many towns, by equal parts irritation and inaction. Everyone hates hearing them down the block, but no one complains about the swift and eye-pleasing work they accomplish on their own lawns. And so a silent majority has carried on, under the whine of the motor.
By Jeffrey Dastin

(Reuters) - Five Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday wrote Amazon.com Inc to raise concern about its firing of a worker who protested warehouse operations during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.

The letter, addressed to Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, adds to public scrutiny Amazon is facing over the dismissal, at a time when the company is racing to update safety protocols, keep warehouses open and ship essential goods to shoppers who are shut indoors.

Amazon employee Christian Smalls came to the company's Staten Island, New York, warehouse on March 30 for a small protest he helped organize, which in part called for the site's closure. Workers feared infection after a colleague had fallen ill to the novel coronavirus, cases of which have now been reported among staff at more than 50 Amazon warehouses, according to the New York Times.

The virus has infected more than 1.4 million people globally.

Amazon said it fired Smalls, who had contact with the virus patient, after he violated a paid quarantine to join the protest. The dismissal prompted New York City's mayor to announce a probe and the state's attorney general to demand a U.S. labor board investigation.

In Wednesday's letter, senators led by Cory Booker of New Jersey questioned the order of events. They cited a media report suggesting that Smalls' two-week quarantine may have come after Smalls "had begun organizing their colleagues to demand more workplace transparency and stronger workplace protections." The quarantine should have ended five days before the protest based on a possible March 11 exposure, the letter said, citing the media report.

"The right to organize is a bedrock of our economy, responsible for many of the greatest advances achieved by workers over generations," the letter said.

Amazon said Smalls' contact with the diagnosed worker was well after the 11th and that on March 28 he was told to go into quarantine.

The company said it fired Smalls because he put others' health at risk, not because he organized a protest.

Story continues

Amazon said it is taking "extreme" measures to keep staff safe while shipping goods to U.S. households, the vast majority of which are under a stay-at-home order. On top of site cleaning, it is requiring temperature checks and social distancing, and is making masks available at all U.S. and European warehouses, the company said.

Leaked notes from an Amazon executive meeting have added to blowback over the firing. In the notes, Amazon's general counsel described Smalls as "not smart, or articulate."

He later issued a statement saying frustration over the health risks created by Smalls had clouded his judgment.

The other signatories to the senators' letter, which referenced the leaked notes, were Robert Menendez, Sherrod Brown, Richard Blumenthal and Kirsten Gillibrand.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Sonya Hepinstall)
Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the UCLA Health Robert G. Kardashian Center for Esophageal Health, activist, entrepreneur, beauty mogul and producer Kim Kardashian West wrote on her Facebook page.

The reality show star thanked the medical staff of the center frothier work during the pandemic.

More than ever we are thinking about the medical staff on the front lines during this pandemic and thankful for everyone who risks their lives each day for others. This month is also an important time for us as we remember our father and shine a light on Esophageal Cancer Awareness Month. Wed like to thank the dedicated staff of skilled doctors and nurses that work at the UCLA Robert G. Kardashian Center for Esophageal Health, she noted.

According to UCLA newsroom, Dr. Eric Esrailian, chief of UCLA Vatche & Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases and longtime family friend of the Kardashians, spoke about helping UCLA, our community and the Republic of Armenia with support, supplies and education around the COVID-19 pandemic.

As longtime family friends, the Kardashian family told me many years ago that they wanted us to do something special together to honor the late Robert G. Kardashian and to help patients in the community at the same time, Dr. Eric Esrailian noted.

Attorney Robert Kardashian became popular after he helped defend friend O.J. Simpson during his infamous 1994 murder trial. He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2003 and died just after two months aged 59.
The Congress on Friday said that the sword of H1B visa job termination looms large on the heads of an estimated 75,000 Indians with the United States giving them only a 60-day period to find a new job in case of a layoff and demanded that Prime Minister Modi led government at the Centre should ensure that the limit for Indian holders of the visa is raised to 180 days.

In a statement, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the Modi government of "failing to secure the safety and livelihood of Indians in America after compromising on 'India First' policy in the HCQ drug."

He said the sword of H1B visa job termination looms large on the heads of an estimated 75,000 Indians, with the United States giving them only a 60-day period to find a new job in case of a layoff.

Surjewala said that there are 3,09,986 Indians working on H1B visa in the USA, and given the COVID-19 lockdown in the two countries, it is logistically impossible for them to come back to India.

"While the COVID-19 pandemic was raising its ugly head in India, we were holding public felicitations for the US President and his entourage. Time for the Prime Minister to ensure that our soft power of 'Namaste Trump' converts into the fair treatment of H1B visa holders in the United States," he said.

He said the US has put American citizens on temporary paid leave or allowed them to work for reduced hours in the wake of the coronavirus threat while Indian H1B workers will have to work for 40-hours per week on payroll.

"Nearly 60,000 H1B visas are generally granted to Indians each year which have already been on a steady decline since the last few years. The rejection rates have gone up as high as 53 per cent for some top IT companies," he said.

Surjewala said the economic slowdown was becoming more and more extreme during the lockdown.

"Just the IT sector contributes nearly 8 per cent to the GDP and the US accounts for two-thirds of the IT services exports. All these 3 lakh jobs, which have been one of the highest contributors to India's growth, are at risk," he said.

Surjewala said that most organisations were even considering terminating the contract and the Modi government should intervene with the help of the Trump administration in finding a solution.

"This has to be taken up on war footing as post-termination, they would have 60 days to find a job, which seems very bleak in these challenging times. Let the Modi government ensure (with its US counterpart) that the extension of the post-job loss limit of H1B visa holder Indians is raised to 180 days instead of the currently stated 60 days. This will give them sufficient time to find an alternate job as the situation improves," he said.

Surjewala said the Modi government should also ensure that the H1B visa holders, who lost their jobs, are covered for COVID-19 and other health insurance free of cost including support to their families.

"We also demand that the Modi government should deliberate with Indian industry confederations like NASSCOM, CII, and FICCI to prevent further H1B job losses," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Washington, US (PANA) - The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the disbursement of US$147 million, to be drawn under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), to assist Gabon in meeting urgent balance of payments needs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the terms of trade shocks
Around 70,000 people currently in quarantine and home isolation in Assam as precaution against the spread of Covid-19 would be allowed to resume their normal lives from Friday on completion of their 14-day observation period, the government said Thursday.

Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma visited a quarantine facility at Srirampur on the Assam-West Bengal border to enquire about the health of around 650 people staying there for the past two weeks.

Doctors have conducted checks and those who dont show any symptoms of Covid-19 and have completed 14-day mandatory quarantine period will be allowed to return to their homes, he said.

Follow coronavirus latest updates here.

Several hundred residents of Assam who were on their way back to the state had got stuck at the border following imposition of the 21-day lockdown across the country.

By Thursday midnight, nearly 70,000 people in Assam who are in quarantine or home isolation would complete their 14-day quarantine period. It is a positive thing for us as none of those thousands from Assam who returned to the state last month have been reported Covid-19 positive till now, Sarma said.

Assam government will provide transportation for those in quarantine facilities to return home. Those in home isolation wont be monitored further by healthcare workers.

Sarma said the government would next try to bring back those from the state who are stranded outside.

Till Thursday, Assam had recorded 28 Covid-19 positive cases. Twenty seven of them were linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi last month.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy complained Thursday that theres a lot of fraud when it comes to voting by mail. If thats true, he might want to be worried about his first-place finish in his San Joaquin Valley districts primary March 3.

The Bakersfield Republican attacked Democrats for holding up a proposed coronavirus relief bill, partly because they want to add as much as $2 billion to help states make voting safer and easier in November, including by expanding mail elections.

You want to hold a bill up because you want to change election law in November, that somehow you think that gives you benefit? McCarthy said in a call with reporters. Thats disgusting.

McCarthy was echoing President Trump, who complained again Tuesday that voting by mail was dangerous for the country.

Mail ballots, they cheat, the president said. OK, people cheat. Mail ballots are a very dangerous thing for this country because they are cheaters.

Trump has repeatedly made baseless allegations of widespread voting fraud in the past, and said most of the supposed cheaters are Democrats.

But if McCarthy is looking to bash voting by mail, he needs to turn his sights closer to home.

In Kern County, which accounts for most of McCarthys 23rd Congressional District, nearly 70% of the voters now opt to receive mail ballots in every election.

In last months primary, McCarthy routed Democrat Kim Mangone by better than 2 to 1. According to election officials, 72% of Kern Countys turnout was from mail ballots.

If Democratic efforts to boost the number of mail ballots would ensure that youd never have a Republican elected in this country again, as Trump suggested in a recent Fox News interview, McCarthy cant prove it by Kern County.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jwildermuth
The callers were in tears. One by one, women in homes across rural Zimbabwe had a pleading question: When would family planning services return?

Lockdowns imposed to curb the coronavirus spread have put millions of women in Africa, Asia and elsewhere out of reach of birth control and other sexual and reproductive health needs. Confined to their homes with their husbands and others, they face unwanted pregnancies and little idea of when they can reach the outside world again.

In these uncertain times, women have to lock down their uterus, Abebe Shibru, Zimbabwe country director for Marie Stopes International, told The Associated Press. But there is no way in a rural area.

Eighteen countries in Africa have imposed national lockdowns, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All but essential workers or those seeking food or health care must stay home for weeks, maybe longer. Rwanda, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to impose a lockdown, has extended it for two weeks, a possible sign of things to come.

Even where family planning remains available, providers say many women fear venturing out and being beaten by security forces and accused of defying the new restrictions. Meanwhile, outreach services, the key to reaching rural women, have largely stopped to avoid drawing crowds and the risk of workers spreading the virus from one community to another.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation, or IPPF, in a new report Thursday says more than one in five member clinics around the world have closed because of the pandemic and related restrictions. More than 5,000 mobile clinics across 64 countries have closed. Most are in South Asia and Africa, but Latin America and Europe have seen hundreds of closures as well.

From Pakistan to Germany to Colombia, IPPF members say they have scaled down HIV testing and gender-based violence response work and face shortages of contraceptives.

They have needs that cannot wait, IPPF director-general Alvaro Bermejo said of women in a statement, pleading for help from national governments to help provide personal protective equipment to allow for intimate care.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild to moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause pneumonia and death.

In Europe, 100 non-governmental groups on Wednesday called on governments to ensure reproductive health services during the pandemic, saying many facilities have sharply reduced them or shut down.

The predicted baby boom in Africa alone, even as birth rates have dropped in many countries as more girls are educated, will add to the growth that already is projected to see the continent of 1.3 billion people double in population by 2050.

In Zimbabwe, Marie Stopes provided more than 400,000 women last year with family planning services, Shibru said, including averting nearly 50,000 unsafe abortions. But now the organizations outreach services, which reach more than 60% of clients, are suspended. Even at clinics that remain open, the number of clients has dropped by 70%.

That leaves a country of men, no longer free to work in the fields or elsewhere, and without the distraction of sports, confined with their wives for weeks on end.

Husband and wife, what else can they be doing in that house? asked Future Gwena, a Marie Stopes outreach worker. I think were going to have a lot of pregnancies and, unfortunately, unintended. And most will result in unsafe abortions, domestic violence. Our community is paternalistic. If something goes wrong in the home, its the mothers fault, even if the man initiated it.

Even in normal times, the average woman seeking contraception must get consent from her husband, Shibru said.

Meanwhile, travel restrictions and manufacturing slowdowns in Asia as a result of the pandemic mean that some family planning providers are waiting for shipments of emergency contraceptives and other items as stocks run short at home.

Today I expected a shipment from Asia, but its suspended, Shibru said. I dont know how to fill that gap. It was supposed to come today to serve us for the coming six months. So this is one of the tragedies. ... Were expecting a huge shortage of contraceptives in African countries. Absolutely, condoms also.

In Uganda, Marie Stopes country director Carole Sekimpi said they dont know when a shipment of emergency contraceptives will arrive because India, their source, has also locked down. Theyve been out of stock for a month and need oral contraceptive pills as well, she said.

Yesterday when I heard (neighboring) Kenya talking about a lockdown in Nairobi and (the port of) Mombasa I thought, My god, whats going to happen to all of our shipments? she said. Overall, theres definitely going to be a problem.

She worried about the girls and women confined in homes with potential assailants, even uncles or cousins. Her organization has suspended outreach, which provides about 40% of services, and clinics that remain open have seen a drop in client traffic of about 20%.

We dont see you anymore, anxious callers say. Whats happening?

Even the capital, Kampala, has been affected. Sekimpi said she visited a large government-run hospital there on Monday, but when I got there my heart was broken because the one service suspended was family planning. With good reason, because its usually crowded.

She expects not only a baby boom but a rise in unsafe abortions and post-abortion care, along with panicky women seeking to remove their IUD (intrauterine device) or birth control implant earlier than expected as they fear no family planning worker will be around to help them later.

Even the U.S. Embassy in Uganda has taken note of the challenges women face, tweeting that Periods dont pause for pandemics and sharing advice on how to make washable sanitary pads at home.

The range of issues is similar across Africa, Shibru in Zimbabwe said, citing a daily call with country directors in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar and elsewhere.

Look, everything has been diverted to COVID, he said of the disease caused by the coronavirus. But after COVID, another catastrophe will be womens health, unless something is done right now.
PM Modi responded to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's tweet, wherein he extended his gratitude to India for lifting the ban from exporting hydroxychloroquine. In the midst of a global health crisis, PM Modi said that the India-Brazil partnership was stronger than ever.

In addition, PM Modi asserted that the country was committed to contributing to humanity's fight against Coronavirus, which has engulfed diverse parts of the world. Bolsonaro thanked PM Modi in his address to Brazil on Friday.

READ| After Sanjeevani Booti reference in request, Brazil Prez thanks PM Modi for Covid drug aid

Thank you President @jairbolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times.



India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic. https://t.co/uIKmvXPUo7  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking supply of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on April 8 invoked ancient Indian epic Ramayana, mentioning the story of how Lord Hanuman brought a holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lakshman. "Just as Lord Hanuman brought the holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lord Rama's brother Lakshmana, and Jesus healed those who were sick and restored the sight to Bartimeu, India, and Brazil will overcome this global crisis by joining forces and sharing blessings for the sake of all peoples," Bolsonaro said on Tuesday.

READ| Pakistan media reports fake news, claims British PM Boris Johnson has succumbed to Covid

India lifts Hydroxychloroquine ban

On March 25, India banned the export of hydroxychloroquine in the midst of views in some quarters that the drug could be used to fight COVID-19. India is the largest exporter of the drug. The ban was partially lifted on Tuesday. In the letter, Bolsonaro requested Modi to ensure that Brazil gets a supply of the drug ordered prior to the imposition of the ban on it.

Bolsonaro also said he was convinced that joint efforts by India and Brazil will help both the countries in overcoming these "strenuous moments". PM Modi and Bolsonaro had a telephonic conversation on Saturday during which they discussed ways of cooperation in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Along with Brazilian President, US President Donald Trump, Israel head of state Benjamin Netanyahu and the United Kingdom too thanked India.

READ| PM Modi reaches out to Sonia Gandhi among other Opposition netas amid Coronavirus fight
COVID-19 in Yemen: Saudi coalition ceasefire declared in bid to contain coronavirus

9 April 2020 - A ceasefire declaration by Saudi Arabia in war-shattered Yemen that was due to come into effect on Thursday has been welcomed by United Nations chief Antonio Guterres as a way to promote peace and slow the advance of COVID-19.

The development comes some two weeks after the UN Secretary-General issued a global appeal to all belligerents to down their weapons to help halt the spread of the new coronavirus.

To date, the pandemic has not reached Yemen, but there have been confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia.

In a statement released on Wednesday evening, Mr. Guterres responded positively to the two-week unilateral truce call by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on behalf of the international coalition supporting the Government of Yemen.

Advance peace

The move would "help to advance efforts towards peace" and "the country's response to pandemic", he said, before urging the other warring parties to issue similar expressions of goodwill.

"I now call upon the Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah to follow through on their commitment to immediately cease hostilities," the UN chief said, in reference to President Abdrubbuh Mansour Hadi, and the mainly Houthi opposition forces who occupy the capital, Sana'a.

In a further appeal, Mr. Guterres also called on the Government - which is based in the southern port city of Aden - and the Houthis to engage with each other, "in good faith and without preconditions", in negotiations facilitated by his Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.

"Only through dialogue will the parties be able to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nation-wide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, and the resumption of the political process to reach a comprehensive settlement to end the conflict", the UN chief said.

According to media reports, fighting in Yemen has claimed more than 270 lives in the past 10 days, amid clashes in the border province of Jawf and the oil-rich central province of Marib, where a building sustained a missile strike in the city centre hours after the Saudi announcement.

Five years of crisis

The conflict in Yemen dates back more than five years.

In 2014, Houthi opposition forces overran the capital, Sana'a, prompting a response by an international coalition led by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which has supporting President Hadi since March 2015.

The fighting in Yemen, which was already one of the poorest countries on earth before the conflict, is widely believed to have killed tens of thousands of people and created the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Repeated warnings from humanitarian agencies about the dire state of the country's health service  where around half of all medical centres are closed - and a lack of food, fuel and medicine  have highlighted how dependent country is on external assistance.

Echoing Mr. Guterres's comments, UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths noted that the 14-day unilateral ceasefire covered "all ground, maritime and air operations in Yemen starting 9 April".

Belligerents 'must make peace'

"I am grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Coalition for recognizing and acting on this critical moment for Yemen," he said. "The parties must now utilize this opportunity and cease immediately all hostilities with the utmost urgency and make progress towards comprehensive and sustainable peace," said Mr. Griffiths.

The Special Envoy has been mediating between the parties to reach agreements on a nation-wide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic measures that will bring tangible relief to the people of Yemen, and the resumption of the political process to comprehensively end the war. The Special Envoy hopes and expects that the Coalition's ceasefire announcement will create a conducive environment for the parties to conclude these agreements in the very near future.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Chennai, April 10 : The Tamil Nadu police has arrested 10 foreigners belonging to different countries in Mayiladuthurai district staying in a mosque for violating their visa norms, said a police officer.

"Ten foreigners have been arrested and remanded in judicial custody. They are being tested for corornavirus in the government hospital and will be shifted to Puzhal prison in Chennai," K.Singaravelu, Inspector of Police, Mayiladuthurai, told IANS.

The arrested included five French nationals, three from Cameron one each from Belgium and Congo.

Two Indians -- one each from Bihar and Maharashtra -- have also been arrested along with the foreigners.

According to Singaravelu, the foreigners had come to India in February and have been visiting various places.

He said they will be charged with violating the visa rules. They had come to India on a tourist visa and indulged in religious preaching, which was not allowed, he added.

They are also charged with putting at risk the health of public at large at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has affected the nation.

The foreign preachers are allegedly linked to Tablighi Jamaat headquartered in Delhi with overseas presence.

The state police has recently booked Tablighi Jamaat preachers from Thailand, Indonesia and Bangladesh for violation of visa rules.
Kolkata Police Commissioner Anuj



Sharma on Friday urged people not to "leave home unnecessarily" and cooperate with the authorities in maintaining the lockdown imposed by the administration to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

"#STOP!! Dont leave your homes unnecessarily. Kindly cooperate with us. Help us maintaining #Lockdown #StayHomeStaySafe #SocialDistancing #WeCareWeDare," Sharma tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police on Friday arrested 407 people from different parts of the city for defying the lockdown norms, a senior police officer said.

Police also seized 65 vehicles during the vigil conducted throughout the day till 8 pm, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Once you get into the election campaign, Trump is going to be lashing out and blaming everyone he can. China will be at the top of the list, Lynch said. If there are several months of that, in a context in which the U.S. looks very pathetic because of its response to the virus, I think it could have some lasting damage.
Stay connected with friends, drink in hand, from the comfort of your own home

Bonnie Tandy Leblang, a New York City restaurant reporter and theatergoer, may be sheltering at home alone in her one-bedroom apartment, but her social life is busier than ever.

She enjoys daily bridge games and five oclock happy hours with different groups of friends. She is attending her book club gatherings and recently celebrated her granddaughters third birthday partyall by home computer.

Like many others, Leblang is staying virtually connected to family and friends through Zoom, a popular video conferencing platform.

Making plans to connect with different groups of friends and having some structure to the day while staying homebound has changed my life, she said. Right now, any human contact that makes you smile is beyond uplifting.

With restaurants and bars temporarily closed, virtual happy hours conveniently connect friends over food and drinks from the comfort of their homes. They can act a social lifeline for many people seeking a sense of community and camaraderie.

Belinda Chang, a James Beard Award-winning restaurant sommelier turned virtual luxury event organizer, has been organizing virtual Sunday cocktail brunches to help friends in the bartending world who have lost their jobs.

For a recent event, she said, I delivered cocktail kits from my favorite bars to friends homes. We brought a bartender on-screen to help everyone mix cocktails. Everyone tipped through Venmo [a mobile payment app], so we were able to put a little income into the pockets of laid-off workers. We all felt comforted being connected and knowing we did some good helping someone in need.

Try hosting your own virtual happy hour with these simple steps.

Set Up Your Space

Download a meeting app, such as Zoom. First-time users should take an online tutorial and practice to become familiar with the platform, including settings like mute, to manage conversation, and the grid or gallery view, to show everyones faces.

Place your laptop on a stand or a stack of books at eye level or slightly higher, at a distance that highlights your full face on-screen, without being too small or big. Make sure the room is well lit but avoid backlighting, which creates shadows. Use a desk or table lamp to create a soft glow. Make sure the space around you has minimal distractions.

Have a simple backdrop, without distracting mirrors or clutter. For themed events, consider festive decor such as fabric or posters. Zoom also allows users to choose different virtual backdrops.

Set the Mood

We are all doing this because we cant get together right now in a restaurant or bar or at a dinner party at home, so why not make it as close to the real thing as possible? said Chang.

Consider a theme. We all need more reasons to smile and laugh. A dress code and a theme always make me excited for a party. Let people know in advance what you will be eating and drinking and encourage them to bring something, she suggested.

Create a festive digital invitation with meeting details to send to friends, including a link and code to RSVP. Keep it intimate: Smaller groups make it easier to manage the conversation.

During the call, be a helpful host and moderator. Introduce and welcome everyone to set the tone. Consider preparing a list of opening questions and topics to get the conversation rolling, and remember to remind guests to mute and unmute to avoid people talking over each other. Keep the conversation upbeat, and end on a positive note.

What to Drink

Since everyone is dialing in from home, most virtual happy hours keep it casual and encourage attendees to bring their libation of choice, with or without alcohol. The focus is more on the spirit of camaraderie and connection, rather than whats in your glass.

However, if you need some help, several bars, distilleries, and restaurants are offering make-your-own cocktail party kits for pick-up or delivery. Examples include The Violet Hour in Chicago and J. Rieger in Kansas City.

Other establishments like The Jeffrey in New York City offer local delivery of batched cocktails to-go (with an order of food), while Long Islands RGNY winery offers to-go quarantine survival kits containing a bottle of wine with assorted snacks.

Check the websites or social media of your local restaurants and bars to see if theyre offering takeout and delivery. Its a nice way to support these small businesses.

Basic Becky

The Basic Becky. (Courtesy of Bidwell)

This twist on the classic gin gimlet is from bartender Cassie Womack of Bidwell in Washington D.C. Womack is hosting virtual happy hours every Wednesday from 47 p.m. EST via Zoom.

2 ounces gin

1 ounce lime juice

1/2 ounce simple syrup (see Note)

Club soda

1 ounce float of light green chartreuse (optional)

Lime wedge, for garnish

Pour gin, lime juice, and simple syrup in a highball glass with crushed or cubed ice. Fill with club soda. Garnish with lime wedge.

Note: To make simple syrup, dissolve one part sugar with one part hot water in a saucepan. Cool before using.

Recipe courtesy of Cassie Womack, Bidwell

Melanie Young writes about wine, food, travel, and health. She co-hosts the weekly national radio show The Connected Table LIVE! and hosts Fearless Fabulous You! both on iHeart.com. Twitter@connectedtable
A top US diplomat for the Middle East said that Iran-backed militia poses a significant threat to the American forces in Iraq as another rocket attack on foreign workers was reported on April 6. David Schenker, assistant secretary of Near Eastern Affairs, reportedly said in a teleconference that the threat continues to be significant but didnt give any details regarding it.

Last week, Trump said his administration had received intelligence inputs that Iran is planning to strike US interests in Iraq. US troops and other Coalition forces stationed at military bases in Iraq are being continuously being targeted by armed militia allegedly backed by Iran.

Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2020

Read: Khamenei Suggests Ramadan Gatherings In Iran May Be Barred

Iranian Finance Minister hits back

After Trumps accusation, Iranian Finance Minister Javad Zarif shot back asking the US President not to be misled by usual warmongers and said that Iran has friends since no country can have millions of proxies. Zarif accused the United States of surreptitiously lying, cheating and assassinating and said that Iran acts only in self-defence.

Dont be mislead by usual warmongers, AGAIN, @realDonaldTrump:



Iran has FRIENDS: No one can have MILLIONS of"proxies"



Unlike the USwhich surreptitiously lies, cheats & assassinatesIran only acts in self-defense. Openly



Iran starts no wars, but teaches lessons to those who do  Javad Zarif (@JZarif) April 2, 2020

Read: Iran Counts 600 More Deaths After People Drink Pure Alcohol To 'cure' Coronavirus

The heightened tension between the US and Iran has led to crippling economic sanctions on Tehran by Washington. Amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the United States missed a historic opportunity to lift the economic sanctions and apologise for their wrongdoing. During a televised cabinet meeting on April 1, Rouhani said that the Americans did not learn a lesson even in these harsh global conditions.

Read: Iran Urges IMF To Sanction Its $5 Billion Emergency Loan As Coronavirus Cases Increase

Read: French President Macron Asks Iran To Respect Nuclear Obligations

(Image Credit: AP)
Dr Akoto-Ampaw has urged the media to demystify the myth that blacks are immune to the coronavirus.



He said there was no scientific proof to that effect and so the media should champion that education to create awareness for people to take the precautionary measures seriously.



According to Dr Akoto-Ampaw who is the Eastern Regional Chair of the Ghana medical association, people were not being cautious of the disease due to that myth that the virus could not stand the heat in Ghana.



He said the coronavirus was real and appealed to the media to use their medium to educate the populace on the need to adhere to the protocols.



He indicated that the taking of vitamin C and other immune boosters were good but the social distancing protocol, staying home as well as wearing face masks are the surest way to prevent its spread.



Dr Akoto-Ampaw made this known at a days COVID-19 orientation for journalists in the region organised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) and the Information Service Department in Koforidua.



Mrs Bridgette Anim, Eastern Regional Health promotion officer said even though the region had recorded one case so far, the precautionary measures must be adhered to strictly.



She said samples had been taken from the Afcon construction at Kpone where an Indian tested positive and the results would be ready soon.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Josa Lukman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 15:34 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd10c7ec 1 Art & Culture #art,#culture,#Indonesia,#weaving,#weavers,#tenun,#handwoven,#textile,#Toraja,#TorajaMelo Free

Toraja Melo founder and CEO Dinny Jusuf and her team just completed their workshops and courses with weavers across five villages in West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces several weeks ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic was not as widespread as it is now.

At that time, the weavers had requested that the workshops go ahead as usual, albeit with protective measures. Once the team flew home, text messages and calls started coming.

The messages of plight came from weavers she has worked with over the years, and she knew she had to lend a helping hand.

Some of them said they were not allowed to leave their houses and that the markets had closed. They usually sell their textiles at the market once a week or someone will pick up the items at their house [but now] they have no cash on hand at all, Dinny told The Jakarta Post over the phone from her home in Toraja, South Sulawesi.

Art of weaving: A weaver makes a traditional textile on a backstrap loom in Toraja, South Sulawesi. Toraja Melo started working with weavers in the area in 2008. (Courtesy of Toraja Melo/-)

Founded in 2008, Toraja Melo originally worked with weavers in Toraja, before expanding in 2013 to include weavers in Mamasa, West Sulawesi.

In 2014, the social enterprise partnered with Women Headed Family Empowerment (PEKKA) to train weavers in Adonara, Lembata and Larantuka in East Nusa Tenggara. Some 1,000 weavers are now part of Toraja Melos community.

Some of the weavers in PEKKA are their families breadwinners, who rely on selling their tenun (handwoven) textiles at the market.

Dinny said the focus during the pandemic was on producing masks and personal protective equipment (PPE), but Toraja Melo wanted to focus on directly helping its community of weavers.

To that end, Toraja Melo on April 13 will be launching a short-term program dubbed #WITTOCorona, short for Weaving in The Time of Corona.

The concept is very simple, in that we wanted the weavers to receive cash as soon as possible.

Intricate: Two weavers show a handwoven textile produced using the double ikat dyeing technique in Lembata, East Nusa Tenggara. Many weavers in the region are the breadwinners in their families. (Courtesy of Toraja Melo/-)

#WITTOCorona will benefit the weavers of PEKKA, as well as approximately 100 more active weavers who worked with Toraja Melo since January as part of the social enterprises partnership with Oxfam.

These weavers are located in five villages: Pringgasela and Sukarare in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara; as well as one village each in Kupang, North Central Timor, and South Central Timor regencies in East Nusa Tenggara.

For the past week or so, the Toraja Melo team has been working on the standard operating procedures for the campaign to work: where the tenun textiles will be stored and how the products will be sent to Jakarta.

We wanted to make sure that when someone wants to purchase a product, the items are ready to be delivered.

Along with the logistics, another aspect of the program is quality control, both at the community and Toraja Melo level. It will also lower the profit margin to be slightly under market rates, just enough to cover the cost of the product and the operational costs.

Dinny said that essentially, prospective buyers would receive a tenun product sourced directly from the weavers, guaranteed to have good quality by Toraja Melo, at a price slightly cheaper than normal.

We really want [the products] to move, so we can immediately transfer the proceeds to the weavers, she said.

The products will be priced from Rp 500,000 (US$30.76) to Rp 3 million and will be available on Toraja Melos Instagram account. The reason for this is related to the timeliness of the program, Dinny says, as uploading the products to the brands website will take too long.

As for the campaign timeline itself, she said the team did not have an exact period for when it would end. It could be throughout the pandemic, or even when the products are sold out, as the weavers do not have access to the materials needed to create more textiles.

Even before the pandemic, these weavers live day-to-day selling tenun at the market or at home. Once activities ground to a halt, so does their cash flow, Dinny said.

For us its like, lets just do something, no matter how small, to help. We basically just want them to get cash as soon as possible. (ste)
WOOD RIVER  As the number of cases of coronavirus continues to rise, state officials on Friday focused their discussion on racial disparities within healthcare relating to COVID-19.

The Illinois Department of Public Health on Friday reported 1,465 new cases statewide for a total of 17,887. Also reported were 68 deaths, bringing the total to 596.

Two cases were reported Friday by the IDPH in Greene County, the last local county to report virus cases.

The Madison County Health Department has confirmed 107 case, including two previously-recorded deaths. The IDPH website showed 101 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county on Friday. There have been some discrepancies in the daily counts as the number of cases grow.

According to the county health department, its confirmed cases include 62 women and 45 men from their 20s to 80s. A total of 27 are hospitalized; 35 are listed as recovered, meaning they have completed isolation.

Within the county by ZIP code, the Alton area (62002) shows 16 cases, Godfrey (62035) has seven, Edwardsville (62025) has 13, Glen Carbon (62034) has six, Granite City/Pontoon Beach (62040) has 20 and Collinsville (62234) has 12. Numbers are not released in ZIP codes with five or fewer cases to protect the privacy of patients.

The IDPH also reported the number of cases in area counties:

 Jersey County: 6

 Calhoun County: 1

 Macoupin County: 14

 Bond County: 4

 Clinton County: 32

 Washington County: 2

 Monroe County: 42 with one death

 St. Clair County: 159 with five deaths.

The information is available online at www.dph.illinois.gov. Select the coronavirus banner, then COVID-19 statistics in the drop-down menu on the left side.

On Friday, both Gov. J.B. Pritzker and IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike focused their comments on concerns about demographic disparities in testing and case outcomes.

The Madison County Health Department has not released any information on racial demographics relating to COVID-19.

Pritzker said black communities have suffered disproportionately from the virus, adding that generations of systemic disadvantages have been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health disparities and major inequalities are major concerns to me, Ezike said. We see alarmingly high rates of COVID-19 in the black population.

She said the mortality rate in general is five times higher for blacks than whites. She noted the rate is 12 times higher for people in their 50s, eight times higher for those in their 60s and 10 times higher for blacks in their 70s.

Ezike said blacks have a higher rate of many of health issues that put people at a higher risk if they contract COVID-19. They include jobs with higher risk of exposure, those uninsured or under-insured, those lacking access to medical care and those with extended family settings.

As part of the response, Pritzker said the Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation will be taking samples at three local facilities and sending tests to Anderson Hospital in Maryville. He also said Illinois hotels will be used as alternate housing facilities to help isolate people who have been exposed to the virus and need to be quarantined, or for first responders who want to avoid having to go home and risk infecting their families.

Pritzker also said more money was being made available to community health agencies to help deal with the pandemic.

Illinois also is developing a COVID-19 text messaging system, Ezike said. To participate people can text covid to 312-500-3836 or covidesp to the same number for messages in Spanish.

For the latest information on COVID-19 or coronavirus resources, visit the Madison County Health Department online at www.madisonchd.org or on Facebook @MadisonCHD. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us for more news and a daily update or on Facebook @MadisonCountyIL.
LONDON, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

iwoca research shows that British public is significantly more sympathetic towards the struggles of small businesses compared to large companies (21%)

However, nearly 70% would not use small businesses if they could save just 1 by buying from a large company instead

Inspired by Joe Taylor , founder of Real Handful snacks, iwoca is supporting small businesses and encouraging people to stockupsmall

iwoca , one of Europe's largest business lenders, is supporting UK-wide initiative StockUpSmall , to inspire the public to use local businesses at this crucial time.

Attitude of British public towards small businesses

Research 1 by iwoca pre-pandemic, carried out to understand the loyalty of the British public, suggests that they are more sympathetic towards small business struggles when compared to large competitors.

A panel of 1,300 people were asked how they felt after being presented with a series of potential scenarios that small businesses and their larger counterparts could face (shutting down, hacking attempts and community initiatives). Respondents were then measured and asked to record their levels of sympathy, positivity and disappointment.

Across all scenarios the British public showed an average of 21% more sympathy towards struggling small businesses and felt 19% more positivity when reading about their successes. However, price is key and most (68%) were willing to not use small businesses if they could save as little as 1 at the larger store. When faced with the choice of buying the same product at the same price, 72% chose buying a product from the small business with just over a quarter (27%) choosing the large store.

Results also suggest that small businesses could risk losing almost half (48%) of their customers if prices were just 10% higher than their larger competitors2 (pre COVID-19).

StockUpSmall

Launching today, StockUpSmall is an opportunity for the public to demonstrate their commitment towards these smaller firms and get their hands on hard to find items such as eggs or tinned tomatoes. Joe Taylor, founder of Real Handful snacks, and Andrew Allen of Biff's Kitchen , both decided to do something to support smaller brands and encourage small business owners to keep serving their customers during these times. Joe created a social media campaign using the name and hashtag StockUpSmall, and Andy built a site for smaller brands to show they were still able to deliver products direct to consumers.

iwoca, Real Handful and Biff's Kitchen are now working hard to raise awareness of the campaign, highlight the role that small businesses can play in this crisis and encourage consumers to look beyond supermarkets. StockUpSmall allows businesses and the general public to promote and highlight any discounts being offered as well as making it clear that they are still open.

"The demand for major supermarkets has been so strong that they'll probably do quite well during this crisis," said Seema Desai, iwoca's Chief Operating Officer. "It's going to be Britain's small and micro businesses that will suffer the most. Supporting this campaign is a truly great way to help them - simply share your stories using StockUpSmall and nominate your local favourites and they'll be added to the list. StockUpSmall will help spread the word about what these businesses have to offer."

"Ultimately, it's about survival for as many businesses as possible," said Joe Taylor, founder of Real Handful. "There'll be a time beyond coronavirus when we all start getting back to shopping as normal - if there's a way that, in this interim period, our initiative can inspire people to discover small businesses and try new things, then hopefully businesses like Real Handful will still be around after all of this."

Many small businesses are adapting to the current climate by offering deals, discounts and changing their business models. A wide range of brands are already involved in the campaign such as plant-based meal provider Pollen + Grace , musician marketplace, Encore , London House Plants and Small Beer .

"We've basically turned the business into what it was in the beginning," said Kristina Komlosiova, co founder of Pollen + Grace. "We started delivering to homes again which is exciting - we usually produce tonnes of food which often just goes onto a shelf in a supermarket, but with this we really get to interact with customers again. StockUpSmall could help create a wonderful legacy that could impact not just the food industry, but other industries too. Hopefully consumer habits start to change, and, after this, people are slightly more aware of smaller businesses."

Shop small and tell all your friends!

Members of the public (and business owners themselves) can use this form to sign up any small business to the Stock Up Small directory. iwoca will then send promotional materials to these businesses so that they can share the news with their customers and help spread the word.

Photos of all small business founders mentioned in the press release can be found here .

About iwoca

iwoca is unlocking economic growth by expanding the financial possibilities available to small business owners. No more convoluted forms, long waits and unfairly rigid criteria. Using our award-winning technology we offer loans of up to 200,000 through our website, partner integrations and our Lending API. Since launching in 2012, we have made funding available to 50,000 businesses and have raised over 400 million in equity and debt finance. For more information go to www.iwoca.co.uk , like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @iwoca and Instagram @iwoca .

1. A total of 1,300 British adults were surveyed in September of 2019 through an independent consumer research platform. Respondents' ages and genders were representative of the UK adult population. Two surveys were carried out. In the first, 602 people were shown seven fictitious news scenarios based on real news stories. Half the respondents saw small business versions of the stories, while the other half saw big business versions. At no point were they explicitly told that the survey was about their feelings towards Britain's small businesses.

2. In the second survey, 698 people were presented with two purchasing decisions. In the first, they were asked to imagine they needed to buy a new iron and that they could choose to purchase it from either a small business or larger retail chain. The model of iron was identical in both cases, and the stores were equally convenient to buy from. For each buying decision, a logistic regression model was used to investigate the relationship between the increasing price difference and the probability of choosing the small business instead of the large business.
Calls have been made for a "full and frank" update on Covid-19 testing following confirmation that the HSE has appointed a new lead to oversee its testing strategy and turn test results around in a 48-hour period.

The appointment was confirmed at a briefing between political party leaders and senior HSE officials on Thursday and follows concerns that some individuals are waiting more than two to three weeks for test results.

More than 260 people have died in Ireland due to Covid-19, with the number of cases exceeding 6,500 this week.

Co-leader of the Social Democrats Deputy Catherine Murphy welcomed the HSE appointment but said a full and frank update was needed to allay growing public concern and frustration.

It is reassuring that someone senior is being given the lead and with the aim of getting to a 48 hour turnaround, Ms Murphy told the Irish Examiner.

Public confidence will be undermined if there is a feeling that the numbers are being spun. Id rather be told that we cant test anymore today because we cant process the tests, she added.

The Kildare TD urged HSE chief executive Paul Reid to provide clarity on the testing strategy: It would be very helpful if he came out and gave a full and frank outline of how he sees this going and where the figures are and how well get to a 48-hour turnaround.

The new Covid-19 testing appointment comes as the government is expected to extend current restrictions on movement and travel beyond the Easter weekend.

Chairman of the HSEs expert advisory group on Covid-19, Dr Cillian De Gascun, has said "real-time" testing and contact tracing systems would be needed before restrictions could be relaxed.

Meanwhile the number of deaths from Covid-19 is on course to exceed 100,000 across the world, with more than 1.6 million people infected by the virus globally.

It is a month since the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on March 11, when 120,000 cases and fewer than 5,000 deaths were recorded around the world.

Since then the number of cases globally has increased 13-fold as the virus spread to every corner of the world.

The disease has been contained in China and South Korea following an aggressive response, involving mass testing and quarantining, rapid contact tracing, and drastic lockdown measures.

The number of deaths in Italy, Spain, France, UK, US, and Iran, has now exceeded the death toll observed in China where the outbreak first began.

Italy has been hardest hit in terms of Covid-19 fatalities, having the highest mortality rate at 13% of all cases, amounting to more than 18,000 deaths.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
OVER half of Tanzanias land area is covered by sedimentary basins with possible rock types that are classified as being potential for generation and accumulation of oil and gas, the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) has revealed.

The countrys total land area of 534,000km2, which is equivalent to 56 per cent of all the countrys land size, consists of sedimentary basins (Inland Basins and Modern Rift System 114,000km2, Coastal and Continental Shelf Basin 280,000km2, and Deep Sea Basins 140,000km2).

The TPDC Director of Exploration, Development and Production, Mr Kelvin Komba, told the Daily News yesterday that a huge part of that potential land area is still unexplored.

Mr Komba further explained that petroleum systems had been confirmed in some of these basins, including oil seeps and natural gas discoveries had been made at Songosongo, Mnazi Bay, Kiliwani, Mkuranga, Ruvuma and Ruvu basins (onshore) and (offshore) in blocks 1, 2, 3 and 4.

As of now, Tanzania has acquired more than 130,000line.km of 2D and 35,000 sq.km of 3D seismic and drilled a total of 96 wells both offshore and onshore. A total of 57 .54Tcf of natural gas has been discovered of which offshore blocks 1, 2, 3 & 4 has 47 .26Tcf while onshore blocks (Songosongo, Mnazi Bay, Mkuranga, Kiliwani, Ruvuma and Ruvu) has 10.28Tcf, Komba said.

He said, to date, natural gas is produced from two main gas fields, Songosongo & Mnazi Bay, with production ranging from 150 - 200mmscf per day for both fields depending on daily demand, while in 2015 it was only up to 105mmscf/d.

Following the offshore gas discovery, TPDC together with International Oil Companies (IOCs) are in the discussion of executing a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project which will be built at L ikongo area in Lindi Region.

This is a land based plant where TPDC is the owner of the land. Mr Komba further elaborated that with presence of vast sedimentary basins in the country, more exploration work is needed so as to realise more discoveries of either oil or gas.

TPDC is currently exploring for oil and gas in four strategic areas, the first block is Eyasi-Wembere basin located in the eastern part of the East African Rift System, West Songosongo block located in the western part of the existing Songosongo gas producing field and Block 4/1B located in the deep sea bordering Tanzania and Mozambique."

Further, TPDC is in the process of conducting its first exploration drilling operation in Mnazibay North block located offshore Mtwara, south-east of Tanzania. This is planned to happen later in this year 2020, he said.
Simon Cowell has reunited with a little girl he celebrated at the Pride Of Britain awards as she auditioned on Britains Got Talent.

Ella Chadwick, was 11 when she was presented with the Child Of Courage prize by the reality show judge at the star-studded ceremony in 2018.

She had raised 3,000 for the hospital where she has been treated for nephrotic syndrome, which had led to her undergoing 40 operations.

Ella Chadwick during the Pride Of Britain Awards 2018 (Steve Parsons/PA)

The pair reunited on stage after Ella auditioned with the signing choir Sign Along With Us on the first episode of the new series of the talent show, which was filmed before the current coronavirus crisis.

Ella and the choir, who are aged between four and 58, sang and signed along to The Greatest Showman hit This Is Me.

After the performance, Cowell said: I have to confess I have a friend of mine in this choice, Ella.

Remember Pride of Britain?

I heard Ella sing and I said I have a feeling youre going to be auditioning on one of our shows and guess what? Youre here!

You sang This Is Me and Im thinking you are us, because you define what this show should be all about.

This is an audition I will never ever forget.

Ella (front centre) performing with the choir (Syco/Thames/ITV)

Another act hoping to impress the judges is the XIX dance troop, who travelled from Mumbai in India in the hopes of dazzling Cowell and his fellow judges David Walliams, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon.

Also trying their luck are Scottish hip hop dance crew Nu Crew, a father-and-son magic duo James and Dylan Piper, Papi Flex, a contortionist from Belgium, and dog trainer Diana Vedyashinka, who appeared with her five dachshunds.

Britains Got Talent is on ITV at 8pm on April 11.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday sent a felicitating message to Nigerians on the 2020 Easter celebration, The Presidents would appear to have created more hopelessness in the citizens than rekindling respite after weeks of restriction of movement and its associated hardship. President Buhari merely rehearsed the suffering of Nigerians, then, went on self-commendation on efforts to combat the ravaging coronavirus infection. There was no modicum of vision or strong re-assurance in the presidents Easter message.

However, the President enjoined Christians to emulate the perseverance and sacrifices of Jesus Christ, lamenting the pains coronavirus brought and the actions of the federal government to save the lives of all citizens.

President Buharis statement reads:

I rejoice with our Christian brothers and sisters as well as all Nigerians on the occasion of the celebration of this years Easter.

This years commemoration of Easter comes amid the grip with which Covid-19 has held the entire world.

Unprecedented in living memory, majority of Christians have found themselves marking Easter in a subdued manner, away from the usual congregation in churches. This is unusual and very unfortunate.

However, I wish to enjoin our Christian compatriots to rekindle their faith in Christ who overcame persecution, sufferings and displayed endurance, steadfastness and above all piety.

Jesus Christ represented mans ability to withstand temporary pains in the hope of everlasting glory.

I urge you to imbibe and live the values of humility, discipline, perseverance, sacrifice and obedience which Jesus Christ demonstrated during His stay on earth.

There is no better opportunity than now for all Christians in particular, and Nigerians in general, to remain faithful and hopeful that with intensified prayers backed by personal and collective responsibility, the nation shall pull through this most difficult trial.

I have no doubt that if all stakeholders  individuals and groups  play their part to the fullest as advised by our scientists and medical experts in confronting Covid-19, the inherent resilience and determination of our people will enable us to pull through.

As I stated in my national broadcast on Sunday, March 29, 2020, since there is currently no known vaccine against the virus, the best and most efficient way to avoid getting infected is through regular hygiene and sanitary practices as well as social distancing.

May I use this opportunity to commend the encouraging containment and ameliorating strategies put in place by members of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19.

I am very much aware of the personal and collective inconveniences suffered by our people due to measures such as restriction of movements and closure of business premises. Being a matter of life and death, these sacrifices are in everybodys interest to save our country from calamity.

The welfare of our people is paramount. Accordingly, the most economically vulnerable in our communities will continue to be uppermost in our plans, and efforts will be made to supply them with basic means of survival.

While we see the Covid-19 pandemic as a global challenge, this administration is not oblivious of the constant threat posed to our national security by terrorists and insurgents. They may take this opportunity to perpetrate attacks. But our armed forces and other security and intelligence services will remain vigilant and continue to contain these threats and consolidate efforts to eradicate them completely.

As we mark this years Easter, whatever the circumstances, I encourage you to make the most of the situation, and to keep safe.

I wish you all a Happy Easter.

PV: 0
Dear Bel,

In January, I emailed you about the fires here in Australia and wrote: Its unspeakably awful, lives lost, thousands homeless.

Australians are pretty good at pulling together, but these are times like no other.

Thought of the day Theres a clue somewhere. Can you find it? Can you say it over and over again Love, till its incantation makes us Forget how much we are alone? from After by Norman MacCaig (Scottish poet, 19101996) Advertisement

I described the situation as feeling like the end of times and what seemed then (to me, in my 70s) like incompetent politicians. I was pretty disillusioned.

When I look back, how silly seem the petty little trials and tribulations I mentioned, of growing old in the modern world, compared to the real disaster that faces us all now.

Im not really worried for myself, but terrified for the young ones. You must be the same.

Ive been reading the 1947 French classic novel, The Plague by Albert Camus, which has given me more insight into what is happening than acres of newsprint.

Essentially, the plague merely compresses into a shorter space what is the normal, tragic human condition  that our own life, and the lives of those near and dear, can be randomly cut short at any moment, by a sickness, an accident or a malevolent act.

This means we live in a state of absurd and cruel meaninglessness, and our only weapon against it is kindness and decency.

This is being demonstrated every day by the health workers in our hospitals, the workers in supermarkets and those driving trucks etc  all people doing their jobs in spite of the neglect and greed of people in high places.

Anyway, have you read the novel? Here are two quotations: I have no idea whats awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing.

And: I know that man is capable of great deeds. But if he isnt capable of great emotion, well, he leaves me cold. What do you think?

DON

This week Bel advises a reader who is not really worried for himself, but terrified for the young ones

Your original email, which I remember well, was one of the many Im sent just telling me what people think, rather than asking for advice.

In January, we watched footage of terrified koala bears and kangaroos fleeing towering walls of flame and imagined how it would feel to have a home under threat. Your summer sun was hidden by a baleful orange glow and clouds of smoke . . . yes, like an Australian apocalypse.

Now here we are  this time the whole world sharing the pain, this fear, doubt and confusion, these restrictions, this storing up of privation for the future, and these heart-breaking losses.

Nearly 100,000 people dead worldwide. No end in sight . . . not yet, at least. And, as you say, it is far worse for our children and grandchildren, who will suffer long-term repercussions, just as they chafe under lockdown now.

Actually, although Ive read two other novels by Camus, I have never read The Plague. Theres plenty of time to do so now, especially as (checking a synopsis online) it does seem relevant to the situation were all in.

It shows how human beings will always respond to any situation in different ways and that each heroic soul is balanced (or should that be weighed down?) by the mean, the cowardly, the vicious.

In fact, this very week we saw that phenomenon played out on social media  when the tsunami of generosity people display in their brave, funny, loving, creative, mutually supportive posts was counterbalanced by cruel waves of the vilest, most wicked hatred from the hard-Left, wishing our Prime Minister a painful death from the virus.

I can honestly say that (much more than worrying about the young) this had me on the brink of despair. Such disgusting people are a pollution  a plague in themselves.

Then I thought about Valeries red shoes (todays second letter). And the heart-breaking courage of Glynis and her family (see And Finally). And all the people you mention who, like the doctor in that quotation from the Camus novel, know that the sick need to be cared for and the rest of us require food to be delivered to shops, and other things we have bought online brought to our homes in vans. These are great deeds  and small.

And then I remembered that the good people always outnumber the bad ones. Neglect and greed have always been with us, but so has philanthropy. Most politicians, driven by public service, try their best. As do we all.

Yes, the human condition is full of pain. We are born in order to die; theres no escaping that process.

Theres a medieval poem which has as its refrain: Timor mortis conturbat me  the fear of death disturbs me. Thats how many of us feel right now. Nothing to be done about it. The virus of mortality runs in our blood.

But so does love. This is where the great emotions come into play. We have no means of knowing how long each of us will live, but what we do have power over is the way we conduct our lives.

Although we may not believe in immortality, we can behave as if St Peter and all the angels were waiting to greet us in eternal welcome. So we see the choir of ordinary Italians singing, and ordinary Brits clapping and dancing in the streets, and musicians in so many countries (including Australia) playing to entertain others at their windows, on rooftops and online. And so on.

All the ordinary people displaying the majesty of their extraordinary souls.

So, Don, I refuse to believe in the end of times. I prefer to think of new beginnings.

Am I bad for wanting new shoes?

Dear Bel,

Just thought I would run something by you in these strange, scary times. Its not a problem but rather a dilemma.

I am a theatre nurse working in the private sector but yesterday volunteered for shifts at the new Nightingale Hospital  which is an easy drive for me. Im not looking forward to it, but if needed I will gladly go.

It is the big 6-0 for me in May and obviously all the celebrations I was planning with family and friends will be put on hold, but thats not important. Its possible I may spend my birthday doing a 12 hour shift looking after very poorly patients, which I will do without a second thought.

I do not want or need anything for my birthday, so was planning to ask everyone who can (and would like to) to donate to a charity in these hard times instead.

During the past two weeks I have been window shopping online and keep being drawn to a beautiful pair of expensive red suede wedges. Should I buy them and be damned, clinging to the hope I can wear them on beautiful summer outings when life returns to some sort of normality?

I feel so guilty spending money on frivolous, needless accessories. What do you think?

VALERIE

This is an email I adore. First there is your willingness to serve your fellow men and women. We always need people like you! We have never been so grateful for the dedication of everybody who works in or services the NHS.

One thing is sure  when all this horror is over and you celebrate later than you planned, all those friends and family members who donated to charity at your request will also bring you the gifts youre owed.

But perhaps not shoes. Still less expensive red suede wedges! No, girlfriend, those soft, scarlet beauties you must buy for yourself. What are you are waiting for? Give yourself a perfect frivolous, needless gift as a firm promise to your essential, inner optimist that you will wear them on beautiful summer outings, just as soon as you can. Hope is what we must cherish.

Now, what does needless mean? Some lines in Shakespeares great tragedy, King Lear, spring to mind.

The infuriating, pathetic old monarch has stupidly put himself into the power of two murderous daughters, thinking he could visit each in turn, accompanied by his gang of knights. But the poisonous pair dont consider the retinue necessary  why does he need them? Lear bursts out: O reason not the need. Our basest beggars / Are in the poorest things superfluous . . .

He cries out that even the poorest have some small possessions they dont really need and if you allow people only what they must have to survive, then a human life is no better than an animals.

So do we need music and pictures and books? Do we need chocolates and a cup of tea or a crisp glass of wine?

Do we need fish and chips when dry bread and water will do? And so will the serviceable old shoes youve had for ages. And a horrible hair shirt, so you dont feel any guilt for indulgence.

No, no, no. We will not live that way! Down with denial and dowdiness.

Humanity needs beautiful treats  whatever form they take. Just visit a museum when our current turmoils are over and notice how the earliest peoples decorated objects they used each day  when, after all, they hardly needed a zig-zag pattern at the rim or a handle shaped like an animal.

At the moment, were stuck in our homes, waiting for the ever-present danger to pass. Yesterday, I ordered some of my favourite tooth-aching fondant dark chocolates online  and why not? Last week it was a 35 silver necklace which has six little stars. After all, theres more to life in lockdown than loo rolls.

So lift your spirits by buying those shoes! Lord knows, you deserve them.

And I tell you what  email me the link and Ill buy some, too.

Strength of spirit shines in all of you

Many of you were moved and uplifted in equal measure by last weeks lead letter, from Glynis, whose husband was in intensive care with Covid-19.

Her words shone with lively courage and hope  summed up in the optimism of her statement: Im sure it will be fine.

But it wasnt fine. It fills me with great sadness to say that Glynis wrote to tell me her brave husband lost his fight.

Typically, she thought of the NHS first. The hospital have been wonderful  I am in awe of how they are managing this situation.

Then came bleak realities: The strange, sad, unreality of it all continues now as the funeral will be for six people maximum and we have to keep our distance . . .

Contact Bel Bel answers readers' questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT, or email bel.mooney@dailymail.co.uk. A pseudonym will be used if you wish. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Advertisement

But her indomitable spirit shone through: My family and friends are still holding me up, albeit at a distance . . . My husband Rick was a very special person and well all miss him hugely. Facebook has been an unexpected joy, with an avalanche of kindness and reminiscences coming from people he knew. Some posts have made us laugh out loud.

He must be very touched and Im sure is smiling. The funeral will be a grey vacuum but we will have a memorial service for him when all of this is over and Im sure well all be fine.

Glynis and I have kept in touch privately; enough to say that I know her beloved Rick was wonderful and had the love of a remarkable wife.

This is just one story of loss, but it confirms for me the resilience of the human spirit. And I am grateful.

You see, its understandable to shy away from things you fear will be depressing  whether a TV documentary, or the endless troubles of a friend, or simply the news.

But writing this column has taught me that even though the pain of others makes you cry, it can also hold an extraordinary beauty. Tears of empathy stretch the imagination and fill the heart so full you can almost feel it grow . . . and grow.
(Natural News) U.S. government scientists have said that the tiny droplets of saliva people spray into the air when they speak could be enough to spread deadly coronavirus.

Its an unsettling finding but an important one when it comes to keeping the virus under control around the world.

Researchers from the National Institute of Health made the discovery using laser imaging with high-speed videography to demonstrate how thousands of droplets far too tiny for the naked eye to detect are emitted into the air during normal speech. This is even true while uttering brief phrases like stay healthy, which saw 360 saliva droplets released in the study.

Although the scientists couldnt analyze the droplets to see if they carry coronavirus particles, their size was large enough to be carrying a range of respiratory pathogens, including those of influenza and measles. The scientists added that wearing a damp, homemade cloth face mask significantly reduced the excretion of droplets, and none of the spoken words created a droplet rise above the background under such conditions.

In fact, they stated that speaking can produce more of these droplets than the seemingly more obvious transmission mode of coughing.

These saliva droplets could well pose a risk to other people if the speaker is infected with the virus. And while the study has yet to be peer-reviewed, it could have major implications when it comes to stemming the pandemic.

Face masks take on new importance

For example, wearing masks or cloth mouth coverings in public could be more widely recommended to help decrease transmission of the disease. It would also reinforce the notion of social distancing and the important role it plays in keeping people safe from the illness.

Its a timely finding as the debate rages on over whether people who are healthy should be wearing face masks when they go out in public. The CDC recently called for people to put on cloth face covers while visiting places where keeping a physical distance from others proves challenging, such as in grocery stores and pharmacies.

The CDC based its decision, at least in part, on recent research showing that a large percentage of COVID-19 cases are being acquired from individuals who do not show any symptoms of the disease.

The World Health Organization, in contrast, recently issued updated guidance on face masks, saying there wasnt any evidence that wearing one in public would prevent people from catching respiratory infections like coronavirus.

Although the WHO acknowledges that a mask can reduce the number of droplets a person who is infected but doesnt realize it may spray into the air, they maintain that wearing such a mask in public isnt likely to completely protect the person wearing it from viruses because the virus can potentially penetrate through the masks, and it can also enter a persons body through their eyes. That stance may change again as more findings like the current one come to light.

Other research has indicated that the virus could remain suspended in the air for several hours, which means that theoretically, a person could acquire it simply by breathing in an area where an infected person had passed through. However, experts dont believe this is a major means of transmission.

You can make your own cloth face coverings if you must go out

If you choose to fashion your own cloth face coverings, the CDC is offering guides to the public on its website. Be sure to wash it regularly, preferably in a washing machine, and remove it safely without touching your nose, eyes or mouth. After youve taken your face covering off, wash your hands right away.

Whether youre wearing a mask or not, its never a good idea for a person who is experiencing coronavirus symptoms to have close contact with other people. Stay home if youre not feeling well to avoid potentially spreading the disease, and seek medical care if you develop serious symptoms like breathing trouble, cough or fever. If everyone follows this advice, it could go a long way toward helping put an end to this pandemic.

Sources for this article include:

TheGuardian.com

Newsweek.com
- with reporting by Daniel McConnell

Concerns have been raised as testing for Covid-19 two of the States largest testing facilities has ground to a halt, despite official claims that daily sampling is being ramped up.

The news comes as the Government again appealed to the public not to travel this weekend to holiday homes and beauty spots amid widespread breaching of official protocols around social distancing.

As 28 further Covid-19 deaths were confirmed, gardai roadblocks on main routes in cities across the country have been confronted with significant traffic flows of people heading away for the holiday weekend.

HSE staff at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in Cork have taken just a handful of swab samples from people who have been referred for testing in recent days. The facility operates for just a few hours a day.

Limited activity was observed at Croke Park yesterday by the Irish Examiner.

It has fuelled concerns about the rate of sampling, which is designed to identify the prevalence of the virus in the community. The HSE has refused to release details about how many samples have been taken at the site, or to give a detailed day-by-day breakdown of the figures since the GAA stadium opened as a Covid-19 drive-through sampling centre in late March.

Responding to Irish Examiner queries last night, Colm Henry, the chief clinical officer of the HSE, said: We have the capacity at these centres... to accommodate all the demand coming through that had existed from GPs. We have the capacity within hospitals to accommodate demand for testing and hospitals.

However, it has been confirmed that the centre in Cork was shut because of a lack of reagent material needed to analyse samples taken from members of the public.

The block was in the reagent for the lab, which were working on at the moment, said Dr Henry. There was a time a couple of weeks ago when Pairc Ui Chaoimh was closed as were other centres because we didnt have the swab material. We succeeded in getting it.

Addressing the low numbers going through the centre, Dr Henry said: We havent had to open all testing centres. Whereas we can now through those testing centres accommodate the demand coming through right across the country. The block on anything we had was our ability to process those tests at lab level with reagents.

It may be in the coming weeks that there will be, we will adopt or look for a more loose, more sensitive case definition, which will result in more people being referred for testing at a different stage in the cycle of this pandemic.

Meanwhile, 28 more people have died from the coronavirus.

The number of confirmed cases in the State increased by 500, the highest increase in a single day to date.

According to the National Public Health Emergency Team, 15 of the patients who died were female, and 13 were male, with a median age of 84.

Of those who died, 19 of the patients had an underlying health condition. Some 22 of the deaths were located in the east, two in the northwest, two in the south, and two in the west.

This brings the number of deaths from the coronavirus to 263 in the Republic.

The number of known cases here has increased from 6,074 to 6,574.

Analysis by the Health Surveillance Protection Centre of 6,444 cases as of Tuesday shows the median age of known cases is 48.

Speaking after a briefing of political leaders, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said that more than 50,000 people are waiting to be tested.

The areas of most concern that were articulated were the ongoing issues around PPE [personal protection equipment], the situation in relation to nursing homes and the entire situation on testing, said Mr Martin.

There were 51,000 people awaiting appointments for swab-taking and it seems to me that there is still a degree of work to be done on the testing front.

So, suffice to say, the country is not where it would want to be in terms of the volume of testing and the turnaround of testing.
Healthcare professionals in Vietnam have launched a clinical trial on chloroquine, an antimalarial drug, as treatment for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Ministry of Health has allowed the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases to chiefly coordinate the trial, with cooperation from the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Cu Chi Makeshift Hospital, Can Gio Makeshift Hospital, the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in Vietnam, according to documents obtained by Tuoi Tre News.

The field hospitals in Cu Chi and Can Gio, two outlying districts of Ho Chi Minh City, were built to treat COVID-19 patients in Vietnam.

The OUCRU will help the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases with testing techniques, drug assessment, and a part of testing fees.

The health ministry will provide drugs to be used in this clinical research.

The main goal is to show if chloroquine kills the virus, reducing its presence in the nose and throat, Prof. Guy Thwaites, director of the OUCRU in Vietnam, told Tuoi Tre News by email.

We hope that if the drug does that, it will also speed recovery.

There is an ongoing debate over the efficacy of chloroquine use in COVID-19 treatment in the U.S. and European countries, Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, lead of the research, told Tuoi Tre News on Wednesday.

This clinical trial will provide evidence for the Ministry of Health to make appropriate decisions in preparing treatment plans for patients in Vietnam.

The health ministry approved a 12-month period for this clinical research on 240 infected patients, Dr. Chau said.

Volunteers will be divided into two groups, 120 patients each.

Both will be treated under the health ministrys existing regimen but only one of the groups will be given oral chlroquine.

The researchers will assess the safety and efficacy of the drug and submit a report to the health ministry.

The doctor said that they had managed to recruit only one volunteer by Wednesday.

Dr. Chau underlined that people should not buy the drug to self-medicate as it can cause death if improperly dosed.

Chloroquine is an oral prescription drug that has been used for treatment of malaria and certain inflammatory conditions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The medication has been prescribed for treating COVID-19 patients in some countries but it is still not a proven treatment.

Vietnam has confirmed 257 cases so far, with 144 having recovered.

The country has recorded no death in association with the disease.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The companion of fallen Voice star Christina Grimmie is continuing to pay tribute to her memory.

Stephen Rezza, boyfriend of The Voice season 6 star who was fatally shot in 2016, dropped his new song Hard Mode on Friday, which features vocals from his beloved Christina after he received approval from her family.

Rezza, 26, had a nickname for Grimmie  'spoop'  which he used in the Instagram post announcing his new track, accompanied by a beautifully animated music video.

Paying tribute: Stephen Rezza, boyfriend of fallen Voice star Christina Grimmie, dropped his new song Hard Mode on Friday which features vocals from his beloved Christina; seen in 2019

Gone but never forgotten: Grimmie was killed at the age of 22 by a deranged fan outside of her Orlando concert in June of 2016; seen here in 2011

'This is the first of many songs Im putting out with spoops vocal. I hope you love it,' Stephen wrote in the caption, in part.

The song itself is an accounting of the difficult experiences Stephen has endured, which include Christina's tragic and untimely death nearly four years ago, as well as a scary and intense bout with brain cancer last year.

The Hard Mode track begins with the lyrics, 'It's hard to say the girl I love is gone, the world doesn't deserve what she woulda sung' before he references the 'doctors in my brain, digging through my skull.'

Grimmie was killed at the age of 22 by deranged fan Kevin James Loibl outside of her Orlando, Florida concert in June of 2016. After fatally wounding the star, Loibl shot and killed himself.

Loving couple: Stephen and Christina seen in a picture on his Twitter

The chorus of Stephen's new song repeats the refrain 'God put my life on Hard Mode,' and it features warped and altered vocals by the late Grimmie.

What's more, Rezza told TMZ that each track on his new album Songs For Christina, which will release later this year, will sample Grimmie's old music along with voicemails she left for him.

Stephen initially resisted moving forward with the project, but his medical problems in 2019 changed his perspective.

'Wrote this song last year with a wrap around my head in a recovery bed': Rezza's new song is an accounting of the difficult experiences he has endured, which include Christina's tragic death as well as a scary bout with brain cancer last year

'I almost never put these songs out. They're so personal I didn't think the world wanted to hear them,' he told TMZ.

'Next thing I knew I was on an operating table wide awake, skull open while my brain's being worked on. I almost lost everything. If I had died or lost the ability to make music, the only thing I would've truly regretted would've been never finishing this album for her.'

In his Instagram post on Friday, Stephen also wrote 'Lifes been rough for me, between loss & brain cancer but if youre out there going through a hard time I want you to know youre not alone. Reach out. Not only do you have a community but Gods got your back.'

Always in his thoughts: This recent Instagram post from Stephen honored his late girlfriend's birthday
David Fuerte of Masataco in Whittier delivers bags of rice and beans to a customer during the coronavirus pandemic on March 31. Fuerte converted his vegan Mexican restaurant into a curbside, drive-up operation and recently adding medical-grade face masks to the menu. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Many Los Angeles restaurants have reinvented themselves as neighborhood markets to survive the ongoing coronavirus shutdown, but one Whittier taqueria is taking things a step further by selling medical safety gear  including KN95 masks, the respirator masks that the FDA recently approved for use in hospital settings.

Masataco is selling the masks to doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel. Customers must present a hospital ID to purchase one of the respirator masks, which cost $5.

On Tuesday, after the restaurant advertised a new shipment of masks on its Instagram account, carloads of customers lined up to purchase them and other goods at the restaurant's curbside, drive-up operation.

The line stretched for three blocks, according to Jason Armond, a photographer for The Times who documented the scene.

Citing traffic safety concerns, Masataco announced in an Instagram post that mask sales will continue, but customers will no longer be able to drive up to purchase them.

Fuerte wont disclose whom hes working with to acquire the medical gear and says he has sold more than a million masks at the restaurant in the last week. He said, I have a friend who used to run a big importing company, and they called me and said, Hey, Im able to get masks. Are you able to help distribute them?

Fuerte, who operates the vegan-friendly Mexican restaurant with his brother, Alex, said the KN95 masks cost the restaurant $5.03 apiece. He posted a photo of the invoice on Masatacos Instagram to show customers that the restaurant is not profiting from their sale.

The restaurant is also selling surgical masks to the general public for $3.

Many of his customers are law enforcement personnel and first responders, said Fuerte.

A long line forms outside of Masataco in Whittier as customers wait in their vehicles for their turn to shop for grocery items and the much needed KN95 on April 7. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Why sell the hard-to-find masks at a loss?

"Because the money will be returned tenfold when my restaurants open back up," said Fuerte, who recently opened a second Masataco location inside Border X Brewing in Bell.

Story continues

"My social media is growing. Profits are not always in money," he said. "Sometimes profits are in growth."

Masataco converted into a curbside, drive-up marketplace shortly after Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered dine-in service suspended at Los Angeles area restaurants.

Many restaurants have turned to selling pantry staples and essential household items, but few have offered them in unrationed quantities like Masataco.

David Fuerte poses for a portrait outside Masataco, the taco shop he operates in Whittier. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

When I saw that there was a shortage of rice and beans, I immediately got ahold of my vendors and put a message on Instagram asking if anybody needed rice and beans, Fuerte said.

Customers have left messages of gratitude on the restaurant's Instagram page, thanking the restaurant for supplying hard-to-find items like tortillas, beans, rice, lentils, toilet paper and hand sanitizer, which are stacked on tables in front of the restaurant.

Fuerte said hes been trying to offer a safe place for the Whittier community to find household goods during the shutdown.

We take the payment and run it inside the restaurant. Then we spray the card with hand sanitizer before handing it back to the customer, he said.

Along with everything else, the restaurant offers its regular menu for takeout and delivery, including daily specials like a jackfruit vegan posole.

Sales have been brisk, but he says the restaurant is essentially breaking even.

This is not making us a huge amount of money. Its just keeping us afloat, he said.




Storyful

Supporters of world No.1 Novak Djokovic gathered outside a courthouse in Melbourne on January 10 as the player appealed against his deportation from Australia in the hope of staying to play in the Australian Open.According to court filings, Djokovics lawyers say he was granted a visa on November 18. An exemption certificate was issued by Tennis Australias chief medical officer on December 30, they said.The hearing on Monday was due to start at the Federal Circuit and Family Court at 10am but was delayed multiple times due to technical issues. According to local reports, Judge Anthony Kelly said a professor and an eminently qualified physician have produced and provided to the applicant a medical exemption.Further to that, that medical exemption and the basis on which it was given was separately given by a further independent expert specialist panel, established by the Victorian state government. And that document was in the hands of the delegate.And the point Im somewhat agitated about is, was what more could this man have done? Judge Kelly asked.Footage by Slobodan Bendjo shows fans waving Serbian flags and dancing outside the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Melbourne. Credit: Slobodan Bendjo via Storyful
Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 11:23PM

Microsoft Surface Neo

It hasn't been confirmed yet, but rumour has it Microsoft plans to push back the release of Windows 10X and the hardware that supports this new platform to 2021. Windows 10X is designed to work on machines with dual displays, like the Surface Neo it was planning to ship with the Windows 10X onboard. Panos Panay, Microsoft's chief product officer, reportedly told his team that the new platform and the dual-screened Surface Neo wouldn't come out this year. And that third-party manufacturers won't be allowed to launch devices running on the operating system either. We have no word yet on what will happen with the Surface Duo.

The likely cause of the delay is the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, reports claim Microsoft also wanted to prioritize getting Windows 10X running on single-screen devices like 2-in-1s first before introducing it to the public. But Microsoft wants to launch some of the platform's features before it becomes available. So, we might see some Windows 10X features crop up in a future Windows 10 update.

Source: Engadget
By Jan Wolfe

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday said some abortions can continue in Texas while the state battles the coronavirus pandemic, dealing a new legal setback to officials attempting to dramatically restrict access to the medical procedure.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin said Texas officials violated the U.S. Constitution by classifying abortion providers as covered by a state order that required postponement of non-urgent medical procedures to preserve hospital beds and equipment during the coronavirus pandemic.

Yeakel's ruling, if upheld by an appeals court, would allow Texas abortion providers to proceed with medication abortions as well as procedural abortions for women who risk meeting the state's cutoff at 22 weeks of pregnancy.

In a medication abortion pills are administered to terminate a pregnancy. Yeakel in his ruling described a procedural abortion as a non-surgical procedure that early in pregnancy is performed employing a technique in which a clinician uses gentle suction from a narrow, flexible tube to empty the contents of the patient's uterus.

Yeakel issued a broader ruling on March 30, but that decision was reversed by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday. In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court said Yeakel had overstepped his authority and usurped Texas Governor Greg Abbott's power to craft emergency health measures.

Within hours of the ruling, lawyers for abortion providers returned to Yeakel's court with a more narrow request that he allow medication abortions and procedural abortions in some situations.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who imposed the abortion restrictions, said in a statement that Yeakel had defied the 5th Circuit and shown a lack of respect for the rule of law.

"Just two days ago, the Fifth Circuit dissolved the District Courts previous restraining order because it failed to apply settled law to the facts," Paxton said. "We will once again ask the Fifth Circuit to uphold Governor Abbotts decision to stop all elective medical procedures during the COVID-19 crisis.

Story continues

Texas and other states that previously acted to limit abortions have sought to crack down on their availability during the pandemic, prompting a series of court battles brought by advocacy groups like Planned Parenthood.

On Monday, the Cincinnati-based Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to block a similar District Court ruling that prevented the state of Ohio from banning abortion procedures.

Proponents of abortion rights have criticized the state actions as political opportunism during the pandemic.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Vibhishan was a seeker of justice who risked it all to be on the side of truth, says Sudhir Bisht.

IMAGE: A scene from Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan, currently being telecast on Doordarshan.

In all epics, there are heroes and there are superheroes.

The biggest superheroes for Hindus are Ram and Krishn; the former is said to have been visited earth during the Treta Yug while the latter came in the Dwapar Yug.

Most people who write about Ram in English refer to him as 'Rama'. For them Krishn is Krishna or Krushna and Yug is 'Yuga'. I would stick to the correct and original nomenclature. Ram and Krishn, our superheroes, do not need an extra 'a' to make their names sound better.

All this stuff of calling the Ganga as Ganges and Emperor Ashok as Ashoka doesn't appeal to me. Why add a letter or two to the names of those whose qualities are beyond description!

Ram and Krishn are contrasting characters. While Ram is serious-minded, kind, mighty, forgiving and full of piety, Krishn is full of love, affection, and liveliness and willing to participate in the drama of life that is full of deceit, conceit and corruption.

However, Krishn is always on the side of rectitude. With Ram, of course, there is no question of any corruption by any human being when Ram is in their midst.

His divinity rubs on all and anyone who encounters him becomes virtuous. The only exception to that rule was Kaikeyi, his stepmother, and Ravan, the king of Lanka.

My first contact with Ram was in the 1970s when I started participating in Ramayan theatre shows that used to be organised in numerous parts of Delhi during the festive month of Dashera.

Then, in the late eighties, Ramanand Sagar's television serial Ramayan took over the entire nation.

There was Ram frenzy all over and on Sundays the streets of India used to be in pin drop silence mode during the hour when the serial was on air.

Thanks to the national lockdown due to the devil called coronavirus, Prakash Javadekar, the information and broadcasting minister, has brought Ram back in focus. This may be Javadekar's biggest achievement, by the way, in recent times.

The serial is being telecast on Doordarshan in an effort to bring some relief to Indians who are locked up in their homes to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

This also gives me time to share with readers something that has been bothering me for many decades.

I am simply not able to understand our antipathy towards Vibhishan, Ravan's half-brother who chose to help Ram during their bitterly fought battle.

Ram is the Maryada Purshottam, the greatest and most virtuous among all men. The handsome prince's lineage is impeccable. The earliest traceable ancestor of his dynasty, the Suryavansha, is Ishvaku, the great king, and Ram was born to Dashrath and Kausalya, but in fact was the avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu himself.

The story of Ram, as contained in Valmiki's Ramayan and in Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas, is the most inspiring story of a prince who gave up his claim on a very revered and prosperous kingdom just because his father asked him to do so.

Ram didn't covet the throne that was his own due to the fact that his birth preceded the birth of his other three brothers by a few hours.

The eldest born didn't even ask his father the reason for his being sent away to the jungle. A father's wish is a command for a son and the king's order is ordained by God.

This was the principle that was enshrined in Ram's heart and soul.

Ram went to the jungle and his wife and younger brother Lakshman joined him willingly. In the course of time, his wife was abducted by the evil king of Lanka, the mighty Ravan.

Many good men and monkeys, bears and birds, support Ram and Lakshman in their fight against Ravan.

The story of Ramayan is full of such warriors -- Hanuman, Sugreev, Jatayu the super eagle and Jamwant the king-bear.

However, one person who helps Ram the most has come to become the most scorned person in India.

I am referring to Vibhishan, Ravan's half-brother who jumps sides and assists Ram in killing Ravan.

Vibhishan revealed the secret to Ram that Ravan had a pot of amrut in his belly and the only way to slay Ravan was by aiming a powerful arrow at his navel to break that pot.

Ram heeded Vibhishan's advice and struck a powerful arrow at Ravan's navel and the 10-headed demon-king came crashing down.

Had Vibhishan not revealed the secret of Ravan's eternity to Ram, the latter would never have vanquished the former. So the credit for killing the evil should go in some measure to Vibhishan, but that is not how our society judges Vibhishan.

He is considered a 'ghar-ka-bhedi', the person from within the household who reveals the family secret to the enemy.

No father or mother wants to name his or her son Vibhishan.

Isnt it ironic that a man who rendered the most critical service to Ram is scorned at by you and I!

Was it not Vibhishan who was instrumental in saving Lakshman, the incarnation of Seshnag?

When Lakshman was unconscious, hit by an arrow aimed at him by Meghnad, Ravan's son, it was Vibhishan who revealed the physician in Lanka who could cure Lakshman.

The royal physician Sushena was rushed to the site by Hanuman on Vibhishan's advice.

It was the mighty Hanuman who brought the magical herb, the Mruthsanjeevani, that was eventually used to revive Lakshman.

Shouldn't Vibhishan's role also be acknowledged in saving Lakshman's life? Do we find anyone ever mentioning that? Of course, no.

Even before Vibhishan joined the Ram camp, he was a devotee of Vishnu and it is said that he knew that Ram was an incarnation of Vishnu. So he was naturally drawn towards Ram just like a devotee is drawn towards his Lord.

Vibhishan was known to be a pious man who advised his elder brother Ravan that the latter had committed an immoral act by kidnapping Sita.

He confronted his brother and asked him to return Sita to her husband and seek forgiveness for his cowardly act.

Vibhishan displayed the strength of his character by seeking to defy his mighty but cruel king.

He risked his life for his high moral values and thus deserves to be given an exalted place among the fearless warriors by our society.

Vibhishan was always on the side of truth and stood for justice and fair play.

He can be considered to be the first champion of women's rights when he chided his brother for keeping another man's wife captive against her wishes.

He could have been at the receiving end of his brother's Chandrahas, the indestructible sword gifted to Ravan by Lord Shiv, but Vibhishan chose to stay on the side of uprightness and integrity.

So why should our society remember Vibhishan as a spineless man who chose to turn his back on his brother and not remember him as a person who stood for his principles of righteousness?

Is remaining loyal to evil just because you are an evil man's brother not an act of cowardice?

What can be a greater case of heroism when you choose to fight your own kith and kin to help the cause of reason and integrity?

Our society's insistence on not giving a virtuous man his due just because he didn't defend his immoral elder brother smacks of lack of morality in our society.

A wife who opposes her husband's corrupt ways; a brother who blows the whistle on his brother's misdeeds; a son who parts ways with his crooked father, deserve high degree of appreciation.

Vibhishan was the first whistleblower in the history of humankind and he deserves a room alongside all the other heroes of the Ramayan.

He didn't desert his king and his elder brother for any ulterior motive.

He revolted but without an army at his command.

Truth, scruples and a clean conscience were his only companions when he went over to meet Lord Ram.

He risked his life when he antagonised Ravan and he risked an uncertain future when he crossed over to the other side.

Vibhishan, the incorruptible and principled younger brother, deserves a better epitaph than being a 'ghar-ka-bhedi'.

He was a seeker of justice who risked it all to be on the side of truth.

It is time Vibhishan gets his due from us. We should remember Vibhishan as the righteous-rebel of Ramayan.

Jai Shri Ram!

Dr Sudhir Bisht, author and columnist, tweets @sudhir_bisht. He can be reached at Sudhir_bisht@rediffmail.com
Ananya Panday debuted alongside Tara Sutaria in Dharma Productions' Student Of The Year 2. Since then, she has garnered a lot of fame and a huge fan following on social media. Ananya enjoys more than 10 million followers on her Instagram account, on which she has been sharing pictures from her quarantine life to keep fans entertained.

Ananya is currently staying at home in Mumbai with her parents and sister, Rysa amid the Coronavirus lockdown. She recently interacted with fans on her IG handle with a live session and got candid with her answers. From special talents, favourite games to even talking about her co-star Ishaan Khatter, Ananya spoke about a lot of things.

When a fan asked her favourite City, Ananya revealed it's Mumbai, even though she is not very fluent in speaking Marathi. Her favourite person in the world is her mother Bhavana Panday, who she said is also her inspiration. Fans love Ananya's bubbly personality, and in the live session, she was being her candid self. Talking about her special talent she revealed, she can touch her nose with her tongue.

As for her favourite Hollywood and Bollywood films, she likes Shutter Island, Kill Bill, Fightclub, David Dhawan's Aankhen and Yash Chopra's Silsila. Ananya also said that she really likes the evergreen comedy flick Andaaz Apna Apna. The actress is a big fan of B-town stars Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh. On the other hand, her Hollywood crushes are Justin Bieber, Ryan Gosling and Zac Efron.

Ananya revealed that she is a foodie and her favourite thing to shop is food. She enjoys grocery shopping and going out to pick up all her favourite kinds of food. She is currently hooked on the online game app, Quiz Up and is improving her general knowledge.

There have been rumours that Ananya is currently dating her Khaali Peeli co-star Ishaan Khatter. When a fan asked her if the rumours are true, she said he is a very talented and a chilled out person, and added that they are very similar people, "and bond over a lot of common things. Our film is very special to both of us."

With regard to work, Ananya was last seen in Kartik Aaryan's Pati Patni Aur Woh. She was shooting for Maqbool Khan's Khaali Peeli with Ishaan, before the quarantine. She also bagged Fighter with south star Vijay Deverakonda, who will be making his Bollywood debut. The film will mark Ananya's Tollywood debut as Fighter will release in Hindi and Telugu.

Fans Give Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday A Power Couple Name 'Anakonda' After Pics Go Viral

Kangana Ranaut Praises India's Response To COVID-19: We Have A Great Leader But The Onus Is On Us
In response to a national shortage of the medical equipment needed to fight COVID-19, the city of Grinnells supply of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) has come not only from within the United States, but also from the efforts of Chinese international students and alumni working to purchase and ship equipment to Grinnell.

At the beginning of spring break, Xinya Yang 20 began reaching out to friends who had returned home to China after the College closed its campus to ask them to send her PPE to distribute to Grinnell medical workers. She knew that in China PPE is easier to buy, both because much of the worlds supply of masks, coveralls and other infection-preventing equipment is manufactured there, and because, according to the Chinese government, the COVID-19 outbreak in the country is now under control.

Yang decided to source equipment from China when New York City health officials began recommending that people at high risk for contacting the virus should wear a cloth face covering to prevent transmission of COVID-19. She had stayed in Grinnell after campus closure due to visa restrictions and was disturbed at the fact that most people she saw were not wearing masks.

The city of Grinnells remote location and high population of people over 60 makes the city a high-risk location for a COVID-19 outbreak, making it especially vital that healthcare professionals have access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies needed to combat the virus.

I thought, OK, finally I can persuade professors I know to wear a face mask. But I also know that in the U.S., you just cant buy it [PPE], Yang said. She also knew many hospitals in the U.S. were undersupplied with medical equipment.

Before people in the United States began experiencing major disruptions to daily life due to the virus, Yang had sent some PPE items to China, so she was already familiar with which kinds of equipment were useful for medical providers and which were not, as well as where to find and distribute instructions on how to use the equipment safely.

When some of the friends shed contacted agreed to send equipment, Yang started looking for more contacts who could increase the scale of the project. She said that she sent a message to a group chat of Chinese international students at Grinnell to ask if anyone had connections who could help.

Thats how it started, she said.

Yang also contacted professors and administrators who she thought might be able to help. Karen Edwards, associate dean and director of international affairs for the College, had been receiving calls and emails from other parents and alumni in China, asking if they could help the situation in Grinnell. Edwards connected Yang with Jack Xing 23, president of the Chinese Student Association (CSA) at Grinnell, who had become the student contact for those in China interested in sending PPE.

Xing said that Chinese international students and their parents feel obliged to help in the effort because the Grinnell community has always been good to international students, and we wanted to do something for them also.

Now, the two students have combined their efforts, and around 150 Grinnell alumni living in China and parents of Chinese international students have either donated money to a crowdfunding effort to buy PPE or sent equipment directly to Grinnell. They have raised over 10,000 dollars. The equipment being collected for distribution includes coveralls, goggles, face shields and the all-important masks  N95 and KN95 respirators, as well as a large number of surgical masks.

Edwards says that shes seen the effort to send PPE to Grinnell mirrored in efforts by international students and alumni at other colleges. I dont think were alone, she said.
(Bloomberg) -- The number of people searching for prayer on Google in March was higher than at any time in the last five years. As deaths from Covid-19 mounted and places of worship closed across the globe, the intensity of searches grew right along with the fear.

The findings from a Danish researcher are a poignant reminder that the social distancing required to keep people alive during a pandemic is anathema for religion in a time of crisis. Saudi Arabia has closed the holy cities of Mecca and Medina to foreigners. Pope Francis has preached to an empty St. Peters Square in Rome. In India, Hindus were told to avoid an annual pilgrimage.

This weekend, Christians celebrate Easter, which along with Good Friday is the most holy time of year for adherents. Jews are also marking Passover, and the holy month of Ramadan arrives for Muslims just two weeks later. But with most of the 350,000 churches, mosques, synagogues, temples and shrines across America shuttered to visitors, the faithful and religious leaders have been forced to find other ways to worship.

Not unexpectedly, many are turning to the internetsocial media, YouTube, Facebookas well as old fashioned media such as television and radio. There are even drive-up services akin to drive-in movies to try and fill the spiritual void created by the virus. Some Catholic churches are allowing drive-up confession as well.

A small number of congregations are continuing to meet in person, despite the deadly risk to worshipers and in defiance of state orders. But even those numbers are dwindling as the seriousness of the pandemic becomes clear even to those who have resisted warnings, said Brad Fulton, an assistant professor at Indiana University who studies the management of religious organizations.

Part of the reason why people are hungering for worship services right now is because theyre in the midst of a crisis, just like right after 9-11, he said. But this time, the reality is differentand worsefor those turning to religion for comfort.

Story continues

This particular crisis inhibits people from actually congregating or coming together, Fulton said. As a result, religious leaders have been coming up with an innovative, creative way to honor the social distancing edicts, but also maintain the religious rituals that are important to a faith community.

The hiatus from group worship comes as religion in America, particularly the Christian faiths, is already struggling. Some 43% of U.S. adults identify as Protestant, down from 51% in 2009, and the number of self-identifying Catholics has dipped to 20% from 23% in the same period, according to the Pew Research Center. Those who consider themselves atheist or agnostic now make up about 9% of the population, double that of a decade ago. And a majority of adults who attend religious services say they only do so a few times a year or less, while 45% say they go at least monthly.

The question remains whether the shutdown of religious institutions across the country will create a resurgence in faith or hasten its decline, said Reverend Al Sharpton, the prominent Baptist minister and civil rights activist. Sharpton convened a call with the heads of the largest black churches earlier this month to urge them not to conduct holy week services in person. He said that exposing congregants to the danger of infection flies in the face of Christian values. A pastor in Louisiana and another in Florida were recently arrested for holding services in defiance of coronavirus-based shutdown orders.

If we are who we say we are, how do we not stand up and not say, this is the sacrifice we have to make? Sharpton said in an interview. They are having virtual services. People can give online. Youve got the possibility of growth from the people assessing the things that are important, that they took for granted.

Donations to African American congregations are likely to be most affected by the cessation of in-person worship services, said Fulton. He is also co-director of the National Study of Congregations Economic Practices, which analyzes how religious congregations receive, manage and spend their financial resources. Donations to U.S. congregations totaled about $125 billion in 2018. On average, congregations receive 78% of their donations at worship services, while black churches, at 88%, are even more dependent on giving. Only about 46% of congregations have some form of online donation, he said.

The fact that only 46% of congregations have an online portal for giving is a significant and particularly problematic right now, Fulton said.

(Corrects name of university in fifth paragraph.)

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Yemen reported its first case of coronavirus Friday in a southern government-controlled province, raising fears of an outbreak in the war-torn country as air strikes blamed on the Saudi-led coalition tested a unilateral truce. The announcement came on the second day of the two-week ceasefire declared by the military coalition supporting the government in what it said was a move to help fight the pandemic. "The first confirmed case of coronavirus has been reported in Hadramawt province," Yemen's supreme national emergency committee for COVID-19 said on Twitter. The committee, run by the internationally recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, said the infected patient was in stable condition and receiving care. "The case is in isolation and treatment, all known contacts are being traced and quarantined," the World Health Organization said on Twitter. "WHO is working closely with (the health ministry) to ensure further rapid containment measures are taken." Aid groups have warned that when the coronavirus hits Yemen's broken healthcare system, the impact is likely to be catastrophic for a country already in the grip of what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. "What's facing Yemen is frightening," said Lise Grande, the UN coordinator for Yemen. "More people who become infected are likely to become severely ill than anywhere else." - 'Critically under-equipped' - Yemen is "critically under-equipped" to face the pandemic, said Xavier Joubert, country director for Save the Children in Yemen. "Only half of Yemen's health facilities are still fully functional," said Joubert. "There are 700 intensive care unit beds, including 60 for children, and 500 ventilators for a population of about 30 million." Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed over the past five years in the war between the coalition and the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who control large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa. Millions have also been displaced and diseases including cholera are widespread due to the scarcity of clean water. Grande renewed the UN's plea to Yemen's warring parties to "stop fighting each other and start fighting (the virus) together". But Yemeni pro-government forces and Huthi rebels reported several air raids in the northern districts of Al-Jawf and Hajjah despite the coalition's unilateral ceasefire which began on Thursday. - Renewed clashes' - The coalition raids "targeted Huthi vehicles after they rejected the ceasefire and were attempting to attack government positions", a pro-government source told AFP. The source also reported ongoing clashes between pro-government loyalists and the rebels in Al-Jawf and the Marib, northern regions which have seen intense fighting since the beginning of the year. There was no immediate comment from the coalition. The military alliance said its ceasefire was aimed at helping efforts to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak in Yemen. The move was welcomed by the United States but dismissed by the Huthi rebels, who charged that the continued coalition air strikes showed the announcement was a public relations stunt. "We consider the ceasefire a political and media manoeuvre," Huthi spokesman Mohamed Abdelsalam told Al Jazeera news network. The United Arab Emirates, a key Saudi ally, said that the battle against the coronavirus trumped all other concerns. "The COVID-19 crisis eclipses everything -- the international community must step up efforts & work together to protect the Yemeni people," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly appealed for ceasefires in conflicts around the world to facilitate the battle against the coronavirus. The UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths said last week he was engaged in talks to secure a nationwide ceasefire. Griffiths said he was in regular contact with both sides "on reaching agreements on a nationwide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people". "This process further aims to foster joint efforts to counter the threat of COVID-19," he said. Saudi Arabia is also scrambling to limit the spread of the disease at home. Its health ministry has reported more than 3,200 coronavirus infections and 44 deaths from the illness. Despite two decades of air and drone strikes by the United States, Yemen also still hosts a significant jihadist presence, with a longstanding Al-Qaeda network challenged in recent years by militants loyal to the Islamic State group. Control of Hadramawt province, where the first coronavirus case was reported, has long been divided. Coalition-backed government forces control the coastal towns but parts of the interior remain in the hands of Al-Qaeda.
How we abuse the freedoms we have and take them for granted: So we had to wait for a virus to learn how to wash our hands and maintain proper hygiene standards after 62 years of being the first country south of the Sahara, to gain independence?



So, we had to wait for the COVID  19 virus to learn how to disinfect our markets and Central Business Districts?



Have we not had a plethora of Official Reports and Surveys painting puking pictures of the smelly state of Accra and how Ghana was once ranked second on the African Continent behind war-torn Sudan when it comes to, Open Defecation?



Yet we could not be bothered about taking all the necessary steps to get our act together by way of enforcing all the existing laws relating to sanitation until COVID-19 came flexing its muscles and now forcing us to pay attention to the Veronica Bucket  an invention by a Ghanaian. Is it not a shame?



Years ago in Ghana, it was the status-quo to look out for each other so we had sanitary inspectors who would walk around the communities and homes, making sure that the best hygiene standards were maintained.



In near-recent times, I recall how a certain Warrant Officer Class One, Salifu Amankwa, took it upon himself during the PNDC Days of President Jerry Rawlings, to ensure that, the Kwame Nkrumah Circle was kept clean and how all those who dared litter around that place, were compelled to engage in manual labour to compensate for their littering indiscretions.



Circle became extremely neat and a no-go area for filth until we began to demonise Salifu Amankwa, in the name of some so-called democracy and its attendant freedoms, and wrote petitions to get him out of place and after his exit, Circle became one of the citadels of filth and stench in Ghana.



It amazes me how some people, who over the years, have sought to deride the presence of the Ghana Armed forces in managing the affairs of state, are now ululating and praising the military for helping manage the spread the CORONA Virus and actually demanding a constant military-police joint operations in maintaining strict zombie sanitation and hygiene standards beyond this Virus scare, and I am a proponent of the need for the military to remain after God takes away COVID-19.



Is it not now very obvious that there is more that unites us than divides us? Over the decades, we have allowed the freedom of our democracy to push us to pursue very, parochial, partisan, and sectarian interests, and allowed our national interest to be subsumed by our negative self-seeking interests.



So, we now know that a Ghanaian, Mrs. Veronica Bekoe, invented the, Veronica Bucket? I read in the Daily Graphic of, Wednesday, April 01, 2020, that, Mrs. Veronica Bekoe is now pleading with the government of Ghana to help her patent her invention because since she came up with the concept, she has been encountering countless obstacles in her quest to patent the invention. It is my prayer that she would not only be supported to patent her invention for Ghanas name to fly high but also be decorated with a National Award.



Necessity Is The Mother Of All Invention, but never again must we wait for a virus to compel us to wash our hands as well as adopt the best hygienic standards, and when, God, in His divine Grace and Mercies, moves us out of CONVID  19, never again must we take our personal and national hygiene matters for granted.



From a sociological functionalist perspective, this Virus is going to teach us critical lessons for the good of our own human existence.



I congratulate the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government for not panicking and being very cautious in its lockdown policies so they do not end up doing more harm than good.



Former Presidents, Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor, and John Dramani Mahama, are also playing commendable roles.



Tons of thanks to the Ghana Health Service, House of Chiefs, and Faith-based Organizations, Financial Institutions, the media, and Ghanaians for uniting behind a common agenda to fight COVID-19.



As for the Ghana Armed Forces, the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana Prisons Service, the Ghana Fire Service, and all other frontline Institutions of State, God bless them for the work they are doing.



Kudos to the Utility and other Services providers; our hard-working market women and men; and our brave commercial drivers for braving the storm and keeping us alive.





Samuel Koku Anyidoho



Founder, Atta-Mills Institute



Email: [email protected]





Source: Samuel Koku Anyidoho/Founder, Atta-Mills Institute/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 06:38:32|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for unity of the Security Council over the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic," he told the council in a virtual briefing. "Indeed, a signal of unity and resolve from the council would count for a lot at this anxious time."

To prevail against the pandemic, the world will need to work together. That means heightened solidarity, and it means having the necessary resources, said Guterres.

The financial situation of the United Nations remains perilous, and it has only enough cash to fund peacekeeping operations through the end of June and no capacity to pay troop- and police-contributing countries, he said.

In his briefing through video teleconference, Guterres listed eight concerns over COVID-19 with regard to the work of the Security Council: the maintenance of international peace and security.

First, the pandemic threatens to further erode trust in public institutions, particularly if citizens perceive that their authorities mishandled the response or are not transparent on the scope of the crisis.

Second, the economic fallout of this crisis could create major stressors, particularly in fragile societies, less developed countries and those in transition.

Third, the postponement of elections or referenda, or the decision to proceed with a vote -- even with mitigation measures -- can create political tensions and undermine legitimacy.

Fourth, in some conflict settings, the uncertainty created by the pandemic may create incentives for some actors to promote further division and turmoil. This could lead to an escalation of violence and possibly devastating miscalculations, which could further entrench ongoing wars and complicate efforts to fight the pandemic.

Fifth, the threat of terrorism remains alive.

Sixth, the weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic provide a window onto how a bioterrorist attack might unfold, and may increase its risks.

Seventh, the crisis has hindered international, regional and national conflict resolution efforts, exactly when they are needed most.

Eighth, the pandemic is triggering or exacerbating various human rights challenges.

"This is the fight of a generation, and the raison d'etre of the United Nations itself," he told the Security Council.
On April 8, the federal government sent an SMS to Australians saying stay home this Easter and help save lives. Only leave for what you really need plus exercise, work, medical and care.

On the same day Scentre Group, which owns the Westfield shopping centres, held an annual meeting and its boss Peter Allen fired off a loaded message to tenants that there was no reason why some retail stores cannot reopen.

Allens apparent tin ear to the global pandemic and the associated health risks to customers and staff didnt stop there. As reported in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Allen said 86 per cent of tenants were allowed to trade, yet many had chosen to close. When you look at the categories that the government has said must close, such as gyms, nail bars and cinemas ... that's only 14 per cent of our tenants, so potentially a lot of other stores could open.

Scentre Group chief executive Peter Allen. Credit:Ryan Stuart

In other words, hairdressers, franchise chains such as Sushi Sushi, Myer and Premier Groups Smiggle, Peter Alexander and Just Jeans should be open and paying rent, regardless of the drop in foot traffic or the repeated messages from state and federal governments over the past few weeks for Australians to stay home.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, announced Thursday that the state will allow voters to cast mail-in ballots in the November general election if the coronavirus is still a factor this fall.

The decision is a significant departure from Sununu's past stance against widespread absentee voting and stands in contrast to the rhetoric coming from some Republicans, including President Donald Trump.

"Basically if you feel more comfortable voting absentee because of the outbreak or your inability or nervousness about just appearing in person to vote, you can vote absentee and obtain an absentee ballot," Sununu said at a news conference.

Sununu said the state is considering other voting alternatives, too, including "drive-up voting," in which a voter would not have to leave his or her vehicle.

Trump this week denounced mail-in voting, claiming without evidence that it allowed for widespread voter fraud. His comments came after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower-court ruling extending the deadline when voters could mail in ballots for Tuesday's state elections and presidential primaries in Wisconsin.

When pressed for examples of it happening, Trump responded, "Well, we're going to find out about the proof because you're going to see what's going on, and I'm not going to stand for it."

New Hampshire has been a battleground in recent years on voting access, with Republicans pushing ID restrictions and opposing Democratic efforts to expand absentee balloting.

On Thursday, voting rights advocates won a significant victory when a single state superior court judge struck down a Sununu-signed law restricting students attending college in the state from registering to vote there unless they have a permanent New Hampshire address or driver's license.

Although more than half the states, including almost all the so-called political battlegrounds, allow no-excuse-needed absentee voting, New Hampshire does not. To vote by mail in the state, a voter must provide a reason, such as illness or travel restraints.

The state legislature passed a bill last year to allow all residents to vote by mail regardless of reason, but Sununu vetoed it.
In this Feb. 24, 2020, file photo, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses a press conference about the update on COVID-19 at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. AP




Central Community College-Columbus will look like a ghost town for an extended period of time starting next week.

To limit the potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, Central Community College announced it will close all campus buildings and centers effective Monday, April 13, through Friday, May 1.

The move comes amid predictive models from public health entities, which predict the cases of COVID-19 will peak in Nebraska in late April.

CCC campuses are in Columbus, Grand Island and Hastings, while centers are in Holdrege, Kearney, Lexington and Ord.

As an entire college, we want to do our part to limit interactions and contact to help slow the spread of the virus and its harmful effects, said CCC President Dr. Matt Gotschall, in a provided statement.

Remote instruction and services will continue during the three-week closure. Only pre-authorized employees will be on campuses and centers to support for the remaining residence hall students, provide security and continue operations. Advising or student services appointments will be conducted by either phone or video technology.

If conditions warrant the extension of the closure, CCC administrators will notify the public through the media, the CCC website and social media platforms.

The college previously asked for donations to its Central for Student Success fund, as well as food and hygiene pantries at its campuses, including Columbus. Those who want to do so can contact the CCC Foundation to set up a donation, either by calling Executive Director Dean Moors at 402-460-2153 or by donating online at cccneb.edu.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
The announcement came hours after immigrants around the District held a socially distant protest  they held signs on the front steps of their own homes  begging Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) to do more to provide monetary relief to those who rely on nontraditional streams of income, including street vendors, day laborers, housekeepers and others who work for cash.
Friday, April 10th, 2020 (12:01 am) - Score 5,039

In a new interview the CEO of ISP WightFibre, John Irvine, has spoken to ISPreview about some of the challenges theyve faced in deploying Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband across the Isle of Wight (England), particularly obstacles created by the council, and their future hope of covering 71,000 premises by 2025.

Until recently WightFibre (formerly Wightcable until a rebrand and restructure in 2012) predominantly operated a limited Hybrid Fibre Coax (DOCSIS) based network on the island, which was similar to Virgin Medias UK platform and covered around 13,000 homes (plus 4,000 homes already ducted) with their ultrafast broadband and phone services.

NOTE: The Isle of Wight resides just off the south coast of Hampshire.

However, the operator had long held an ambition of expanding to reach the rest of the island and that finally came to fruition in 2018, following a 35m investment deal with Infracapital (here). As part of that agreement the operator also changed their roll-out strategy to focus on a gigabit-capable full fibre network, which would both replace their existing HFC infrastructure and expand well beyond it.

The initial target was to cover 53,000 homes (plus a few thousand businesses) by the end of 2021 and theyve so far reached 15,000 homes (18th March 2020), with a target of 30,000 by the end of 2020 and 55,000 premises by the end of 2021 (a little short of their target  when businesses are included). But John Irvine now expects they can go beyond that to reach 66,000 premises by the end of 2022 and possibly 71,000 by 2025.

Interesting Irvine said the decision to adopt FTTP was aligned to the Governments focus on full fibre at the time, which has since been diluted down to gigabit-capable and if they were to make that same decision today then they might well have upgraded to DOCSIS 3.1 instead (Virgin Media use that to achieve 1Gbps+). This could have been done for a fraction of the cost of the upgrade to full-fibre and much more quickly, said the CEO.

Nevertheless Irvine remains happy with the decision to go with full fibre as it will deliver higher service levels and better speeds going forward, although the operator remains concerned that local authorities are institutionally biased towards BT Openreach and could try to overbuild them with state aid (a similar thing happened with the earlier BDUK funded deployment of slower FTTC on the island).

WightFibre also faces a familiar obstacle from complicated and expensive wayleave (land access) agreements, as well as the fact that the council has chosen to hand control of the islands road and footways to a private, profit making company (Island Roads).

Irvine claims the new company are using their fibre roll-out as a revenue generating opportunity and resolving this is said to have cause some added costs, as well as delays. It is certainly not seen as a strategic infrastructure project by anyone other than local politicians and the executive officers in the council, said Irvine.

Despite such challenges WightFibre has made extremely good progress and, much as we reported in August 2019 (here), the main bulk of their build is currently taking place with approximately 2-3,000 extra homes being reached per month. See below for further details in our extended interview with John.

NOTE: John Irvine joined WightFibre in 2012 when it was still Wightcable. He has a long career in telecoms having spent 8 years at IBM, 10 years at John Irvine joined WightFibre in 2012 when it was still Wightcable. He has a long career in telecoms having spent 8 years at IBM, 10 years at BT and 3 years at Verizon with spells in a number of start-ups including Truphone.

The WightFibre Interview (John Irvine)

Q1. Can you tell us how many premises passed youve achieved with your FTTP deployment so far and whether you still expect to complete the rollout by the end of 2021?

ANSWER: WightFibre have 12,000 homes passed (as of 7th February 2020) and now rolling out at approximately 2-3,000 homes per month. We are on target for around 30,000 homes passed by end 2020 and 55,000 homes passed by the end of 2021, a little short of our initial target set in 2017. An additional 11,000 premises have been identified. We are planning to a total of 66,000 premised passed by the end of 2022. There are a further circa 5,000 homes which we cannot reach due to wayleave and Section 58 notice limitations. We expect to reach those premises in due course (by 2025) as Section 58 notices expire and wayleaves are given. This would give a total 71,000 homes passed. It is worth noting, at WightFibre, we define homes passed as homes ready for service and so, for example, we dont include MDUs in these numbers until they have been internally cabled.

Q2. The projects current investment of 35m, which we understand should benefit 53,000 homes (as well as a few thousand businesses), puts the per premises cost at somewhere around 580-660. This seems about right for urban / suburban areas on the Isle of Wight but rural areas are predicted to be much more expensive for FTTP.

Ofcom has suggested that reaching some remote rural areas could push the per premises cost up to 2,500, while Openreach believes that the final 10% of the UK might even hit 4,000 via FTTP (here). How much do WightFibre expect the per premises cost to rise for the more rural parts (e.g. around West Wight) and do you think it will be possible to raise enough investment to do every single one?

ANSWER: WightFibre had an existing 13,000 homes passed with our HFC network and a further 4,000 homes already ducted. The cost of upgrading these to full fibre is less than for new build network (because little civil engineering is required). For our initial deployment, therefore, the average cost per premise is lower. The bulk of the islands population (circa 58,000) are concentrated in the main towns and large villages which we would regard as urban. Another circa 10,000 are concentrated in smaller villages in hamlets which could be viewed as truly rural. A further circa 5,000 are extreme rural. We are seeing CPP of less than 1,000 per home passed for urban and rural. Only the extreme rural premises are exceeding this with some individual premises reaching costs of several 10,000s. The additional 10,000 rural premises have only become economical because of BT Openreachs exchange to exchange Dark Fibre X product which has recently been made available on the Isle of Wight. Without this the cost of trunk or backhaul connections to those small villages and hamlets would have made them uneconomical. This Dark X product is, as yet, unproven to us but BT Openreach are being quite supportive in our attempts to deploy this on the Isle of Wight. WightFibre is also making some expedient use of PIA (Physical Infrastructure Access) though this is expected to constitute less than 10% of our network measured by homes passed.

NOTE: PIA or Physical Infrastructure Access is a product that Openreach sells, which gives rival ISPs access to run their own fibre through existing cable ducts and poles.

Q3. Can you tell us a bit more about the kit (e.g. XGS-PON or some other full fibre standard technology etc.) and the suppliers that youve chosen to work alongside for FTTP on the Isle of Wight and why you picked them?

ANSWER: WightFibres network is a Point to Point network with multiple fibres deployed to each premise (although only one fibre will ever be in use for the foreseeable future). Our core network utilises Juniper equipment with connections from two head ends on the island to two data centres in London via SSE Telecom. Underwater connections to the mainland are diverse via an SSE owned cable and a BT owned cable. Our street network uses Keymile (now DZS Keymile) equipment, chosen for its compatibility with our existing cabinets, high capacity and our long standing relationship with Keymile. Each Keymile MSAN is deployed with a pair of 10Gb trunk connections diversely routed (upgradeable to 2 x 20Gb with currently available Keymile equipment) so we believe this is a truly futureproof network deployment. Passive materials including the ODFs are sourced exclusively from Hexatronics. Street cabinets are from ICEE in Waterlooville including the electrical, battery backup and cooling elements designed and sourced in co-operation with Hexatronics. Network planning is outsourced to Flomatiks.

Flick over page 2 to finish reading this interview..
Maltese government said it could not guarantee further rescues as its resources have been strained by the pandemic.

Dozens of people rescued from a capsizing boat in the Mediterranean Sea have been brought ashore in Malta, hours after the government had said no further groups would be allowed in after it shut its ports due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 64 migrants were rescued early on Friday by the Maltese armed forces from a boat inside the Malta rescue zone south of the island.

On Thursday, Malta had followed Italy, the country that has so far recorded the most deaths from COVID-19, in announcing it would no longer allow migrant boats to land due to the risk of infection.

The Maltese government said in a statement the armed forces had been monitoring the migrants for some hours before a patrol boat picked them up.

However, it said Malta could not guarantee further rescues and would not allow any further disembarkation of rescued people because resources have been strained by the pandemic.

The new arrivals were received by soldiers wearing bio-suits shortly after midnight. They will be kept in detention.

It is in the interest, and is the responsibility, of such people not to endanger themselves on a risky voyage to a country which is not in a position to offer them a secure harbour, the government said.

Human rights obligations

In a joint statement, 13 NGOs working with migrants and refugees said they are shocked by Maltas announcement.

It is unacceptable for Malta to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to shelve its human rights obligations and endanger the lives of men, women and children, the statement read.

Whilst we appreciate Maltas current challenges, we nonetheless insist that migrants must not be sacrificed for the nations well-being. National emergencies should be overcome with solidarity and compassion, it continued.

We therefore urge Malta to ensure the rescue and disembarkation of persons within its responsibility and to revise the situation of hundreds of detained persons.

Malta has imposed a 14-day quarantine on all travellers entering the country, closed schools and told people to stay at home during the emergency.

It announced this week its first death from COVID-19, and had 319 active cases as of Thursday, according to government figures.

After a relative lull in arrivals of boat migrants from Africa, numbers had started to pick up again in the first two months of the year only to fall back sharply in March as Italy was hit by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, war-torn Libyas internationally recognised government in Tripoli declared its seaports unsafe for the disembarkation of migrants.

In a statement on Thursday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said some 280 migrants who were intercepted and returned to the country remained on an overcrowded coastguard vessel as Libyan authorities refused to let them come ashore.

Relevant officials have indicated that due to the intensity in shelling, some of which previously targeted the Tripoli main port, Libya is not considered a safe port, the IOM said.

Before the crisis, ships operated by aid groups regularly patrolled the coast of Libya looking to rescue migrants from flimsy boats. Most have withdrawn but one ship operated by German charity Sea-Eye returned to the area last week.

With both Italy and Malta, the two nearest European countries, closed, it is unclear where they will be taken.
Dilip Kumar thanks fans for their prayers and wishes on Shab-e-baraat. Image Source: IANS News

Dilip Kumar thanks fans for their prayers and wishes on Shab-e-baraat. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, April 10 : The legendary Dilip Kumar took to Twitter to express gratitude to fans for their wishes and prayers on Shab-e-baraat.

Sharing a picture of himself, he wrote: "Thank you for all your prayers and duas on #Shab_e_baraat. My heartfelt prayers for all of you too." Fans flooded the 97-year-old Bollywood icon's post wishing him well, and praying for him.

"Lots of prayer for you Allah khush Rakhe sir," a fan commented.

Another fan wrote: "Sir, wish you health and happiness always." As the nation is experiencing a lockdown owing to the COVID 19 pandemic, the veteran actor recently took to Twitter to share a message urging citizens to stay at home.

He wrote: "I urge you to #StayHomeSaveLives during this #COVID19pandemic Dawa bhi, dua bhi

Auron se faslaa bhi

Ghareeb ki khidmat

Kamzor ki seva bhi..."
Most of us in the South were raised with the timeless story of Good Friday. This is traditionally a day of mourning because it was on this day long, long ago that Jesus Christ suffered a horrible death by crucifixion for our sins at Calvary. As a child none of us could fathom what is good about such a day, but the bigger picture is that on Easter Sunday our same Jesus rose from the dead, assuring eternal life  a really good thing  to each of us who have confessed our sins to Him in personal prayer and remain in devout belief that Jesus Christ is our Savior.

That may be far too simple an explanation. So, it is today  most especially today as the world reels from the worst epidemic ever known and over 100,000 worldwide have died (over 16,500 in the U.S.) in just three months  I want to share a story.

Again remember it was written years ago, that better explains why Good Friday was so necessary for Easter mornings resurrection. Originally the story was entitled Clean Blood but in more recent years it has been headlined, Through His Eyes:

* * *

THROUGH HIS EYES (CLEAN BLOOD)

By Jeff Walling

The day is over, you are driving home. You tune in your radio. You hear a little blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before. Its not influenza, but three or four fellows are dead, and its kind of interesting. Theyre sending some doctors over there to investigate it.

You dont think much about it, but on Sunday, coming home from church, you hear another radio spot. Only they say its not three villagers, its 30,000 villagers in the back hills of this particular area of India, and its on TV that night. CNN runs a little blurb; people are heading there from the disease center in Atlanta because this disease strain has never been seen before.

By Monday morning when you get up, its the lead story. For its not just India, its Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and before you know it, youre hearing this story everywhere and they have coined it now as the mystery flu. The President has made some comment that he and everyone are praying and hoping that all will go well over there. But everyone is wondering, How are we going to contain it? Thats when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks Europe. He is closing their borders. No flights from India, Pakistan, or any of the countries where this thing has been seen.

That night you are watching a little bit of CNN before going to bed. Your jaw hits your chest when a weeping woman is translated from a French news program into English: Theres a man lying in a hospital in Paris dying of the mystery flu. It has come to Europe.

Panic strikes. As best they can tell, once you get it, you have it for a week and you dont know it. Then you have four days of unbelievable symptoms. Then you die.

Britain closes its borders, but its too late. South Hampton, Liverpool, North Hampton, and its Tuesday morning when the President of the United States makes the following announcement: Due to a national security risk, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been canceled. If your loved ones are overseas, Im sorry. They cannot come back until we find a cure for this thing.

Within four days our nation has been plunged into an unbelievable fear. People are selling little masks for your face. People are talking about what if it comes to this country, and preachers on Tuesday are saying, Its the scourge of God.

Its Wednesday night and you are at a church prayer meeting when somebody runs in from the parking lot and says, Turn on a radio, turn on a radio!! While the church listens to a little transistor radio with a microphone stuck up to it, the announcement is made, Two women are lying in a Long Island hospital dying from the mystery flu. Within hours it seems, this thing just sweeps across the country.

People are working around the clock trying to find an antidote. Nothing is working. California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts. Its as though its just sweeping in from the borders. Then, all of a sudden, the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made.

Its going to take the blood of somebody who hasnt been infected, and so, sure enough, all through the Midwest, through all those channels of emergency broadcasting, everyone is asked to do one simple thing: Go to your downtown hospital and have your blood type taken. Thats all we ask of you. When you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, please make to the hospitals.

Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that Friday night, there is a long line, and theyve got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it. Your wife and your kids are out there, and they take your blood type and they say, Wait here in the parking lot and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home.

You stand around scared with your neighbors, wondering what in the world is going on, and that this could be the end of the world. Suddenly a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. Hes yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says, Daddy, thats me.

Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. Wait a minute, hold it! And they say, Its okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make sure he doesnt have the disease. We think he has got the right type. Your son could save the world.

Five agonizing minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses, crying and hugging one another some are even laughing. Its the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor walks up to you and says, Thank you, sir. Your sons blood type is perfect. Its clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine.

As the word begins to spread all across that parking lot full of folks, people are screaming and praying and laughing and crying. But then the gray-haired doctor pulls you and your wife aside and says, May we see you for a moment? We didnt realize that the donor would be a minor and we need. ... we need you to sign a consent form.

You begin to sign and then you see that the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty. H-h-h-how many pints? And that is when the old doctors smile fades and he says, We had no idea it would be a little child. We werent prepared. We need it all, sir. Butbut

You dont understand. We are talking about the world here. Please sign. But cant you give him a transfusion? If we had clean blood we would. Can you sign? Would you sign?

In numb silence you do. Then they say, Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?

Can you walk back? Youre asked yourself. Can you walk back to that room where he sits on a table saying, Daddy? Mommy? Whats going on? Can you take his hands and say, Son, your mommy and I love you, and we would never ever let anything happen to you that didnt just have to be. Do you understand that? And when that old doctor comes back in and says, Im sorry, weve got to get started. People all over the world are dying. Can you leave? Can you walk out while he is saying, Dad? Mom? Dad? Why  why have you forsaken me?

And then next week, when they have the ceremony to honor your son, and some folks sleep through it, and some folks dont even come because they go to the lake, and some folks come with a pretentious smile and just pretend to care.

Would you want to jump up and say, MY SON DIED! DONT YOU CARE?

Is that what God is saying? MY SON DIED. DONT YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE?

Father, seeing it from your eyes breaks our hearts. Maybe now we can begin to comprehend the great love you have for us. Amen

* * *

Before I was led to this story, I had a poem I had been saving for this Good Friday:

* * *

ONE GUY DIDNT

Three guys were tried for crimes against humanity.

Two guys committed crimes.

One guy didnt.

Three guys were given government trials.

Two guys had fair trials.

One guy didnt.

Three guys were whipped and beaten.

Two guys had it coming.

One guy didnt.

Three guys were given crosses to carry.

Two guys earned their crosses.

One guy didnt.

Three guys were mocked and spit at along the way.

Two guys cursed and spit back.

One guy didnt.

Three guys were nailed to crosses.

Two guys deserved it.

One guy didnt.

Three guys agonized over their abandonment.

Two guys had reason to be abandoned.

One guy didnt.

Three guys talked while hanging on their crosses.

Two guys argued.

One guy didnt.

Three guys knew death was coming.

Two guys resisted.

One guy didnt.

One.

Two.

Three guys died on three crosses.

Three days later.

Two guys remained in their graves.

One guy didnt.

-- Author Unknown

* * *

I TOOK YOUR PLACE

One day, a man went to visit a church. He arrived early, parked his car, and got out. Another car pulled up near him, and the driver told him, I always park there. You took my place!

The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat, and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, Thats my seat! You took my place! The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome but said nothing.

After Sunday School, the visitor went into the church sanctuary and sat down. Another member walked up to him and said, Thats where I always sit. You took my place!

The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still said nothing. Later, as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood, and his appearance began to change.

Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, What happened to you? The visitor replied I took your place.

Author Unknown
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday confirmed that the United States would help Mexico along in achieving the production requests that OPEC+ has asked it to make.

I dont know if its going to be acceptable. Well find out. The United States will help Mexico along and theyll reimburse us sometime at a later date when theyre prepared to do so, Trump said at a White House press briefing on Friday afternoon, without elaborating on the extend of the help.

OPEC+ has requested that Mexico cut 400,000 bpd, but Mexico, who is hedged to the nines, is not eager to bite off such an ambitious figure. Instead, Mexico has agreed to cut 100,000 bpd, which is unlikely to satiate OPEC+.

Not wanting the deal to failin fact, needing it to succeedTrump agreed to help Mexico. According to Mexicos President Obrador, Trump agreed to have the United States cut 250,000 bpd of its production on Mexicos behalf to make up for its production cut shortfall. Trump did not cite this figure during the briefing and stressed that he did not know if OPEC would be okay with the deal AMLO and Trump cooked up.

It is unclear exactly how the United States would cut 250,000 bpd in such a free-market system that does not give the President the powers to mandate specific production levels. Trump has, however, on previous occasions indicated that this free market system will naturally drive U.S. producers to reduce run rates as storage nears capacity and oil prices fall.

President Vladimir Putin had previously dismissed the idea of a natural production cut as a result of the market.

The G20 group that is meeting today was set to discuss the production agreement from OPEC+. OPEC+ was hoping to pick up another 5 million bpd of cuts from G20 members today, in addition to the already 10 million bpd of cuts that OPEC+ agreed to.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Assam reported its first coronavirus linked death on Thursday with a 65-year-old man succumbing to complications of the infection at Silchar Medical College and Hospital in Assam, the state health minister said on Thursday.

"With utmost Grief and sorrow, I would like to inform that Sri Faijul Haque Barbhyan, (65) Hailakandi District has expired few minutes back in SMCH due to complication of COVID19 http://infection. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family," State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on his Twitter account.

Earlier the minister had posted that the condition of man, the 28th COVID-19 case in the state was deteriorating as although his other parameters are stable his oxygen saturation was decreasing. The minister also informed that the patient had been shifted to the ICU of the Silchar Medical College and Hospital for better monitoring.

So far 29 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed from Assam, as the country's total cases rose to 5,865 on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seven GOP senators have drafted a joint letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, voicing opposition to the appointment of a Chinese minister to a panel at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

China should not occupy a position of prestige or influence on the U.N. Human Rights Council while it engages in human rights violations of the worst kind both at home and abroad, the senators wrote in a letter dated April 6.

Jiang Duan, minister of Chinas mission in Geneva, was appointed to be the Asia-Pacific representative of the five-nation panel Consultative Group of UNHRC on April 1. The group vets candidates for different U.N. human rights posts.

In this position, Jiang will provide China with the opportunity to play a central role in picking at least 17 human rights investigators, including those who look at freedom of speech, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detentionrights abuses which the Chinese regime routinely perpetrates, the senators warned.

The letter was signed by John Cornyn (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.).

Epidemic

The senators pointed to Beijings deception regarding the initial outbreak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, as one reason why China was not qualified to hold a position on the panel.

Through intimidation of its medical first responders, censorship of online forums, and threats of severe punishment for anyone who dared to speak out with the truth, the Chinese Communist Party engaged in its most egregious human rights abuse: the unchecked spread of a new and dangerous virus on an unwitting global population, the senators wrote.

What has become the hallmark of Beijings initial coverup was Chinas decision to silence eight doctors, among them ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, after they posted on Chinese social media about a new form of pneumonia that was spreading in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Li was summoned to a local police station for rumor-mongering and forced to sign a confession statement in early January. Li died the following month after contracting the CCP virus while unknowingly treating an infected patient.

The senators added: Even now, China withholds critical information about the spread and death toll of the virus and continues to silence and intimidate its critics.

Some China experts have questioned Chinas claim of having zero new cases in the country.

The true death toll is also likely higher than what China is officially reporting, according to an Epoch Times analysis of the drastic increase in the number of Chinese cellphone accounts canceled in the past three months.

Human Rights Abuses

The letter also pointed to Chinas long-term human rights abuses, including of Uyghur ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, where more than a million are incarcerated against their will.

The senators called on Guterres to take action against Duans appointment.

We implore you to intervene on behalf of our shared values of freedom and dignity by suspending Jiangs appointment to the UN Human Rights Council Consultative Group, the senators wrote.

In 2018, the United States withdrew from the 47-nation UNHRC, with then-U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley calling the council a protector of human rights abuses, and a cesspool of political bias.

These six senators are not the only U.S. lawmakers to voice opposition. On April 5, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) called Duans appointment appalling and ironic, given Chinas coverup of the current epidemic and its poor human rights record, according to a statement from his office.

Smith called out China for its systematic abuses against religious and ethnic minorities, including Tibetan Buddhists and Falun Gong adherents. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice that involves meditation and moral teachings based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

The Chinese regime has severely persecuted adherents of Falun Gong since 1999, with hundreds of thousands of adherents detained in prisons, labor camps, and brainwashing centers, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center.

In addition, there is a growing body of evidence that the Chinese government harvests the organs of political prisoners, providing organs on order for those willing to pay a blood price, Smith added.

The China Tribunal, a London-based independent peoples tribunal, found direct and indirect evidence of forced organ harvesting against prisoners of conscience in China, primarily from adherents of Falun Gong.

Smith said that there is no justification whatsoever in empowering a Chinese government official, and called for an investigation into Chinese influence at the World Health Organization and other U.N. bodies.

He also urged Congress to pass H.R. 1811, a bill he introduced last year, which stipulates that the U.S. government draft a yearly report on Chinese political influence operations and require Chinese-funded entities to be registered with federal authorities.

From The Epoch Times
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Coronavirus outbreak: Four countries that received 'defective masks from China'

India

oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P

New Delhi, Apr 10: Several countries around the world are facing a severe shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and coronavirus testing kits amid the ongoing pandemic.

In a recent report, Finland has become the latest country to publicly blame China for selling masks that do not meet its requirements.

WHO warns masks are no 'silver bullet' for ending pandemic

According to reports, Finland, on Wednesday discovered that China did not meet its standard of protection for the use of medical environment after it received the first shipment of 2 million surgical masks and 2,30,000 respirator masks from China.

Recently, Spain, Netherlands, Turkey and Australia have returned masks that were brought from China, that forced the Chinese government to claim that nations have not "double checked" the products before purchasing them from China.

1/2 China export "defective" masks to the Netherlands? True story about masks purchased by a Dutch procurement agent: the Chinese manufacturer stated clearly that they are non-surgical & the exported customs clearing procedures were also under the name of "non-surgical masks".  Spokesperson (@MFA_China) April 2, 2020

However, here are four countries that claimed it received 'defective masks from China'.

Canada

On Wednesday, the Toronto city claimed that at least 62,600 surgical masks were returned after discovering that the masks do not match the city's standards.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

In an official statement, it said that the order worth 2,00,000 dollars was received on March 28, but on receiving reports of them ripping, and tearing, the administration decided to return them to the vendor on the assurance of full refund.

Spain

The Spanish government claimed that 60,000 of 3,40,000 test kits from a Chinese manufacturer, did not accurately test for COVID-19.

However, the Chinese embassy in Spain posted a tweet, claiming that the company behind the kits, Shenzhen Bioeasy Biotechnology, did not have a license from Chinese medical authorities to sell its products.

Netherlands

In March, the Dutch Health Ministry claimed that it had returned around 6,00,000 face masks that arrived from China as they did not fit and that their filters did not work as intended, even though they had a quality certificate.

Turkey

Turkey also claimed that some of the testing kits it had ordered from Chinese companies were not accurate to use. However, it has said that around 3,50,000 kits showed results.
More auto insurance companies are jumping on board Allstates move earlier this week to give back up to $600 million in premiums to customers because people are driving less due to coronavirus shut-downs.

Thats in addition to good news from the governor.

Gov. Phil Murphy today announced that New Jerseyans who cant pay their insurance bills because of the coronavirus pandemic will get some much-needed help.

He signed an executive order that extends the grace period for people who cant pay their health or dental insurance premiums by 60 days. And, those with home insurance, auto insurance, renters insurance, life insurance, insurance premium-financing arrangements  and others  will have a 90-day grace period, Murphy said.

Last month, consumer groups called for insurers to give back premiums because people are driving less.

Heres a rundown of what New Jerseys largest auto insurers plan on doing. Not all of them have said they are planning to return premiums.

Most said they are awaiting regulatory approval from N.J. and the other states in which they operate.

Allstate

Allstate said Wednesday that customers would receive what its calling Shelter-In Place Paybacks, promising up to $600 million will be returned to customers over the next two months.

This is fair because less driving means fewer accidents, Tom Wilson, the companys chair, president and chief executive officer said in a statement.

The company said most customers will receive 15% of their monthly premiums in both April and May through a credit to their bank account, credit card or Allstate account.

Farmers

Farmers and 21st Century auto customers customers would receive a 25% reduction in their April premiums to reflect the changed driving environment resulting from various stay-at-home guidelines issued across the country.

"We are committed to helping customers during this unprecedented time, said Jeff Dailey, the companys CEO. As we continue receiving updated information in the coming weeks, well assess additional ways to take care of our customers.

Geico

Geico hasnt yet announced it will return any premiums.

It said it is pausing cancellation of coverage due to non-payment and policy expiration, and this will remain in effect through April 30.

The company said its offering special payment plans to those who will need it when normal billing operations resume.

This ongoing situation impacts everyone, and we want our policyholders to have some peace of mind knowing well be there when they need us most, said GEICO president and CEO Todd Combs.

Liberty Mutual

Liberty Mutual said it would give personal auto insurance customers of Liberty Mutual and Safeco a 15% refund on two months of annual premiums.

It amounts to about $250 million, the company said.

Today, more than ever, we recognize the uncertainty and financial challenges our customers are facing, said Liberty Mutual chairman and CEO David Long.

Customers will receive the 15% refund on two months of their annual auto premium as of April 7, 2020, pending regulatory approval, the company said. The refunds are expected to begin in April and will be issued either by check or in the manner the customer made their most recent payment.

The payments will happen automatically so customers dont need to take any action.

Plymouth Rock

Plymouth Rock didnt respond to our requests for comment.

Progressive

Progressive said it would return about $1 billion (not a typo) to customers because there are fewer claims as people drive less frequently.

We understand how difficult and uncertain peoples lives are right now, Progressive president and CEO Tricia Griffith said. While auto insurance might not be the most pressing topic on everyones mind, we know that finances could be.

The company plans, for those who have policies in force as of April 30, to credit 20% of April premiums in the month of May. Those with a policy in force as of May 31 will get a 20% credit in June.

Customers wont need to take any action.

The credits will be applied automatically to the customers policy and those customers who have paid in full will receive a refund of the credited amounts, the company said.

State Farm

State Farm said theres an obvious impact on driving habits because of government restrictions.

It announced an up to a $2 billion dividend that will go to its auto insurance customers.

With schools and businesses closed, and many of us sheltering in our homes, people are driving less right now, so were returning value to customers as we anticipate fewer auto claims, the company said.

Customers do not need to take any action to receive this dividend, which will appear as a credit on their auto policy, it said.

It also said on average, auto customers will receive a credit of about 25 percent of premiums for the time period March 20 through May 31, but exact percentages will vary by state. Customers will receive credits applied against bills beginning as early as June, the company said.

Well continue to monitor our loss experience and respond appropriately, the company said.

Travelers

Travelers said customers will receive a 15% credit on their April and May auto insurance premiums.

The company said it will automatically credit customer accounts, providing them with prompt and much needed relief during this time.

Our customers are doing their part to stay at home and help stop the spread of COVID-19, said Alan Schnitzer, the companys chair and CEO. Our new program recognizes their contribution to the effort we all need to make to protect our health and safety and the resulting decrease in miles driven and auto claims.

USAA

USAA said it will return $520 million to its members.

This payment is a result of data showing members are driving less due to stay-at-home and shelter-in-place guidance across the country, the company said. Every member with an auto insurance policy in effect as of March 31, 2020, will receive a 20% credit on two months of premiums in the coming weeks.

Members will automatically receive a credit applied to their bill, it said, noting no one needs to take action to get the money back.

Have you been Bamboozled? Reach Karin Price Mueller at Bamboozled@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KPMueller. Find Bamboozled on Facebook. Mueller is also the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com.
On Tuesday, KSBW, a news station in Monterey, California, aired a story about Californias potential herd immunity to the novel coronavirus. The piece opens by discussing a new study from Stanford Medicine in which researchers are conducting blood tests that detect antibodies, which can show whether an individual has or previously had COVID-19. The reporter then goes on to cite Victor Davis Hanson, a Stanford-affiliated source who advances the theory that COVID-19 might have actually begun spreading in California in fall 2019. [Stanfords] data could help to prove COVID-19 arrived undetected in California much earlier than previously thought, KSBW reported.

Advertisement

The piece has spread widely. An accompanying web story posted to the TV stations website has been shared more than 58,300 times, and has also been picked up by SFGate. The theory is appealing to some, particularly those who had respiratory illnesses in late 2019 that they now believe couldve been COVID-19. In their minds, that might mean they have some immunity to the virusand if a large portion of Americans have some immunity, we can begin our move out of lockdown. But that theory has no scientific basis, and it spreads dangerous misinformation.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Lets start with the facts. I reached out to Stanford Medicine to try to understand the goals of its antibody test, and how it relates to Hansons fall 2019 theory. The short answer on the latter is that it doesnt. Our research does not suggest that the virus was here that early, says Lisa Kim of Stanfords media relations team.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Neither does anyone elses, it appears. There is zero probability [SARS-CoV-2] was circulating in fall 2019, tweeted Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center who has been tracking SARS-CoV-2s genetic code as it has spread. Allison Black, a genomic epidemiologist working in Bedfords lab, says this is apparent from researchers data. As the virus spreads, it also mutates, much like the way words change in a game of Telephone. By sequencing the viruss genome from different individual samples, researchers can track strains of the coronavirus back to its origins. They have been continually updating their findings on Nextstrain. (In case youre wondering, the strains have nothing to do with severity of illness. Theyre simply a way to track the viruss mutations over time.)

Advertisement

Advertisement

Richard Neher, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, told the Scientist that Nextstrain researchers work has tracked the virus back to a single source somewhere between mid-November and early December, which then spread in China. The earliest cases in the U.S. appeared in January 2020, according to Nextstrains sequencing work. Washington state, where the first known COVID-19 case in the U.S. was identified, has at least six strains. A similar analysis of Californias coronavirus caseswhich has yet to be peer-reviewedidentified at least eight strains in the state, suggesting transmission from Washington state, New York, Europe, and China.

Advertisement

Advertisement

If genomics isnt your thing, consider this: If the virus had arrived earlier, we would have known. Humans have no natural immunity to this new virus, which is why its spreading quickly, infecting millions and killing tens of thousands. Thats evident in whats going on in New York right now, says Black. If it had arrived in fall of 2019, and we were all living our lives as normal, we wouldve had New York back in fall of 2019, she says. Theres no reason why this virus would have spread undetected for months before wreaking the havoc it has.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

So whats really behind this theory? It might be worth considering the source. KSBWs piece begins by mentioning Stanford Medicines research, then quotes Victor Davis Hanson, a Stanford-affiliated source; the piece reads as if Hanson is one of these aforementioned Stanford Medicine researchers. But Hanson is a military historian, not a doctor or scientist; he is affiliated with Stanfords Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank.* (I reached out to Hanson for comment, but he has not responded; we will update this article if he does.) The piece makes no effort to clarify what the Hoover Institution is, and it delves into Hansons theory as a prelude to a brief explanation of Stanford Medicines study. Hansons recent work, published in National Review, suggests he is eager to reopen the American economy. It would be quite convenient, then, to claim that the virus has already torn through the U.S. and granted us immunity. (In that article, Hanson also claims that much of the virus modeling is nearly worthless and refers to it as science, in scare quotes.)

Advertisement

Hanson also (incorrectly) suggests that the viruss spread in California came from Chinese nationals visiting California. Looking more closely at his recent work reveals a potential political motive for that claim; in a recent op-ed for Fox News, he argues that we already have too many Chinese nationals visiting, studying, or collaborating in the U.S., and that post-coronavirus America should wake up and make changes.

Advertisement

Advertisement

While its certainly possible that some cases of transmission came from Chinese nationals, current genomic analyses show that there are several cases of Americans who traveled to China and brought it back with them. Limiting Chinese nationals access to the U.S. wouldnt have prevented those transmissions, or the cases that entered the U.S. via other countries, like Italy. Whats more, the data show that community spread and coast-to-coast transmission within the U.S. are responsible for much of the spread. The trope of the Chinese as disease harbingers has been used to justify anti-Chinese travel bans and dehumanization for centuries, and the coronavirus lends a new opportunity to revive those arguments.

Advertisement

While Hanson may have advanced this unscientific claim, he didnt do it alone. Thousands of people have shared the article and casually questioned whether the illness they had last fall or winter might have actually been due to the coronavirus. (Black says her friends, too, have brought up this theory around her, and she shuts it down quickly: Ill say, Were you in China in December? Otherwise, absolutely not.) The idea that we might have unknowingly been infected months ago and now have immunity is comforting, and when we see an article that might confirm that hope, we share it.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Confirmation bias has driven the sharing of other dubious science as well, though sometimes it works to reinforce fear rather than offer hope. A Medium piece asserting that people exercising outdoors could be spreading the coronavirus went viral Wednesday, shared by many who were already paranoid about being outside near runners or cyclists. Vice dug into its origins, and it turned out to have been written by an entrepreneur and based on very flimsy research. With the news changing rapidly, its difficult to keep track of whats legitimate, but when in doubt, look at whos making sweeping claims and ask how they know (or dont know) what they claim.

For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to this weeks episode of Slate Money.

Correction, April 10, 2020: This piece originally misidentified Stanfords Hoover Institution as the Hoover Institute.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Recently, Christianity Today published an article entitled, Jesus Didnt Eat a Seder Meal: Why Christians Shouldnt Either by rabbis Yehiel E. Poupko and David Sandmel. The article argues that Christians should refrain from participating in Christian Seders as a matter of historical and ecumenical respect. We disagree on both points.

There is great interest today by Christians to learn more about and participate in Seders to help them better understand the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. In particular, knowing more about the Seder helps Christians explore the Jewish background of the Last Supper celebrated by Jesus, whom we know was a first-century Jewish teacher, and his disciples, who were also Jewish. Both Jesus and his disciples would have grown up observing the Passover in whatever fashion Jewish people living at the time observed the feast.

We agree with the rabbis regarding the importance of caution in the way the sacred traditions of the Jewish faith are handled.

We also agree that Jesus did not celebrate the Passover the way Jewish people commonly observe the festival in the 21st century. However, the Last Supper accounts in the Gospels record a number of themes and practices held in common with the Passover Seder. Perhaps the Last Supper should be viewed as a primitive Seder, which was used by Yeshua as the backdrop for his claim to be the fulfillment of the types and prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures for a greater Lamb, a greater redemption from bondage (to sin), and a new perspective on salvation through his shed blood.

Many Christians and especially Messianic Jews (Jewish believers in Jesus) exercise caution in the way the Messiah is linked to the Passover Seder. In the introduction ...

1
The ministry of power says no decision has been reached on whether Nigerians will get two months of free electricity. This comes aft...

The ministry of power says no decision has been reached on whether Nigerians will get two months of free electricity.





This comes after electricity distribution companies (DisCos) said the federal government would bear the financial responsibility of the exercise.





In a tweet on Friday, the ministry of power said the government would officially communicate its decision when it has arrived at one.





The ministry assured Nigerians that the government is working on ways to ameliorate the hardship caused by the disease outbreak.

No decision has been taken by the federal government to provide Nigerians with free electricity for two months, the tweet read.





If and when that becomes a reality, it shall be announced officially.





Be rest assured that FG is exploring ways to ameliorate any hardship on Nigerians.

Please Note: NO DECISION has been taken by the Federal Government to provide Nigerians with FREE ELECTRICITY for 2 months. If and when that becomes a reality, it shall be announced officially.

Be rest assured that FG is exploring ways to ameliorate any hardship on Nigerians.  Office of the Minister of Power (@PowerMinNigeria) April 10, 2020





The proposed initiative was first announced by Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker of the house of representatives, who had said the lower chamber was considering a second stimulus bill that would allow Nigerians to enjoy electricity for two months without paying charges.




COVID-19 PANIC: Some Tele-Questions

by Limin Wang

April 10, 2020

These are not happy asks, but may wander around the blocks. What a humble guy, POTUS Trump. The White House is so tiny, and you are the one always standing for hours like a standing president. Check the beloved local authorities. Governors, mayors, all sitting like a sitting-chairman with a spacious space, so the first tele-question would be, is it time to build a Novel White House now?

The second T-question is, have you and the federal government, on behalf of the food chain industry, had the stockpile of metalic medals of all grades, platinium, gold, silver, copper, steel, iron, etc, ready to be delivered to the Demos like in California, and New York?

The last but not least T-question is, how about you POTUS and your team invite all walks of U.S. citizens such as governers, mayors, medical professionals, IRS-stalkers, involuntary hunger-strikers, etc out for as a House Guest-Speaker in person or on the screen? Make it more scientific-looking. The News Briefing room has room to hang a big TV there? Sometimes, you and your team may use the Fake News' video clips. For example, when you talk about Governor Cuomo or Mayor de Blasio of the epicenter, wouldn't it be more convincing that you show the video clips?
Mayo Clinic and the City of Rochester are seeking donations of homemade sewn cloth masks to protect their staff employees from COVID-19.

The call for donated masks from seamstresses, sewers and community organizations comes as hospitals and cities are trying to preserve their finite stockpile of medical-grade N95 masks for mission-critical usage.

In a press statement, a Mayo Clinic spokesperson said the clinic will use homemade masks that are created following the Centers for Disease Control guidelines .

Mayo has set up drive-up donation centers at the Gonda East entrance and at Mayo Family Clinic Southeast and a donation site at Frances Staff Cafeteria that will run weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Rochester Fire Department has set up collection barrels in front of all five firehouses.

Mayo officials say the donated masks will be used by staff who do not work in patient care areas, as well as by patients and visitors.

ADVERTISEMENT

Rochester Fire Chief Eric Kerska said the aim of the donation request is aimed at preserving its supply of high-grade masks and, by extension, protecting responders and city workers from falling ill to the virus.

He emphasized that the measure is not just for first responders but city electricians, sewer and sanitation workers and city water employees.

"Worldwide, there's a shortage of medical grade masks due to this high demand because of COVID-19," Kerska said. "But the resupply chain is not necessarily reliable right now. So we have to try to conserve the medical grade stuff for when they're actually needed."

Kerska said a first responder, for example, would need a N95 mask when administering CPR to patient, when the task requires a rescuer to be in close quarters with the patient. However, there are less dire circumstances when a homemade mask would offer sufficient protection for fire personnel and city workers.

"We don't want to use medical grade masks for just walking down the street or walking into a building," Kerska said. "The CDC says that a homemade mask can do that. But right now, we're using medical grade for that kind of stuff."

N95 masks are one-and-done items and thus can't be re-used. And since it is still unknown how long this pandemic will last, officials are worried about running out of masks.

A Mayo official said that cloth masks are not a substitute for social distancing and do not offer filtration, but they can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 to others.

"Based on the latest guidelines from the CDC regarding masks in public settings, Mayo Clinic is now recommending wearing cloth masks in public settings where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain," an official said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Businesses who wish to donate large quantities of new supplies such as masks, can contact Mayo supply chain at development@mayo.edu, so the items can be vetted to ensure they meet requirements.
In a month, we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. During the war, the representatives of various union republics fought shoulder to shoulder, and thus they managed to withstand all the hardships of the war and defeat a strong, well-armed, organized enemy absolutely confident in his superiority. The Nazis were defeated because they did not calculate the most important thing: the unity and solidarity of the USSR citizens.

The victory was gained by the unity of Russians and Kazakhs, Ukrainians and Belarusians, Georgians and Jews, Uzbeks and Yakuts, Armenians and Latvians, Moldovans and Estonians, Tatars and Lithuanians, Tajiks and Turkmens, representatives of many other peoples who defended their common Motherland. People of different ages, different cultures, different faiths, Christians and Muslims, Jews and Buddhists, selflessly loyal to the oath, did not flinch in the face of death. That country ceased to exist, but the memory of its great warriors who saved the world from the brown plague remained. One of them is Janibek Suleev, who died during the Smolensk operation. He was born in 1923 in the Alma-Ata region, was conscripted into the army by the Sulikan RVK of the Sverdlovsk region on December 1, 1942, and died on April 4, 1943. Janibek Suleev fought only four months but was decorated with two medals.

Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Kazakhstan Al-Farabi KazNU Laila Akhmetova says: His first medal is For courage. In the electronic document bank The Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, we can find Red Army gunman Suleev Janibek. He advanced ahead of his unit in a battle for the Zheltaya height on March 20-21, 1943. That day he took the injured snipers rifle and shot a German sniper from the third shot, giving the unit an opportunity to advance without losses. As a result of his feat, Janibek was wounded. On April 4, on behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR, he was awarded a medal "For Military Merits." He received neither of the awards. We assume that he was wounded in early April 1943, taken to the medical battalion, where he died. For a long time, his fate was unknown. "

Laila Akhmetova said that "taking into account those who were conscripted into the army in 1939-1941, about 1,400,000 people from Kazakhstan went to the front. Of this number, more than 630,000 died and went missing. 130 thousand of them were Kazakhs... 33,000, a quarter of dead Kazakhs, were conscripted into the army from the RSFSR and other Union republics. We know almost nothing about these 33,000 people. "

Speaking about the Smolensk operation, during which Janibek Suleev died, Laila Akhmetova noted: When the Smolensk-Vyazemsky cauldron was formed, almost all the armies that retreated from the territory of Belarus  about 1, 200,000 soldiers  were captured there. Only 90,000 people escaped from the cauldron. In two months, the Germans lost 250,000 people in the battle of Smolensk, about 1,000,000 of soldiers were captured ... In 1942, a third of the Wehrmacht forces in the USSR was in the Smolensk region. The Smolensk-Vyazma-Rzhev shaft was built at that time. In December 1941 - November 1942, the Germans were driven out of Moscow for 100-250 km, thus, they stopped in Smolensk, where for almost two years, there were endless battles of so-called local significance. Rzhev became the most tragic place, where the soldiers lay in stacks in several rows. The survivors recalled that while stretching the line of communication, they had to dive under those rotten bodies. About 15,000 Soviet soldiers died there every day. "

"Kazakhstan made a huge contribution to secure the Victory. It is a republic that gave the front a huge amount of metal: lead, copper, molybdenum. This republic has preserved and enforced the Soviet industry. 19 enterprises were evacuated to Almaty. Science was developing: during the war, in Kazakhstan, 12 scientific research institutes appeared, on the basis of which the Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences was created after the victory,  president of the Kazakhstan Public Foundation Eurasia World Eduard Poletaev says.

According to him, the Kazakhstanis who participated in the war were mostly ordinary people. Higher educational institutions just began to appear on the territory of Kazakhstan between the two wars, the first was opened in 1928, a number of others in the 1930s. Not all had time to learn, and ordinary guys fought in the war. 20-year-old boys quickly learned, took up arms and went to fight for the victory. And they died for the victory. There are few living witnesses of that war. There are about a thousand of them in Kazakhstan, the youngest of whom is 92 years old. The war on the subject of how to evaluate the results of this Great Patriotic War, unfortunately, leads to the fact that the feat of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers is not entirely unambiguously evaluated, and we cannot accept this. We have one memory and one victory.

The political scientist noted that people at that time were completely different: Now our best friend is a smartphone, and then people talked to each other, helped each other. A huge number of stories are related to how people shared the last piece of bread in the rear and at the front. Military units gathered from different regions of the Soviet Union, people with a different mentality and different thinking served together, but they were united by universal values. They fought for their family, for their homeland, for their home. They did not fight for money, as now contractors or mercenaries are fighting in the most global conflicts. In most cases, those people voluntarily came to the front and fought in the hardest conditions with no uniform and weapons.

According to Poletaev, thanks to the feat of ordinary people the USSR and its allies were able to turn the tide of the war and gain victory. Among such ordinary fighters was Janibek Suleev - a Red Army gunman, a native of a repressed family who decided voluntarily to serve in the Red Army and accomplished a feat by destroying a German sniper. Thanks to his feat, his unit managed to take height in the Smolensk region. This is one of the ordinary events on the scale of the war, but for a person, it is a huge feat. Such feats, human courage, nobility, when in order to fulfill a combat mission, for the sake of his colleagues, a man risks his life, we must remember what happened. The Great Patriotic War and the victory in it became a cardinal turning point in the entire socio-political system of the world in the middle of the 20th century. This is not just a victory of one army over another, it is an understanding of all mankind that such a massacre must never be allowed again."
Paris (AFP) - Shuttered bars, cancelled concerts and no sporting matches: European beer brewers large and small are bracing for a catastrophic summer as demand dries up during the lockdowns imposed to curtail the coronavirus outbreak.

"When it's nice out, that's when you sell beer," said Maxime Costilhes, head of the French brewers' association, noting that many have little money left in the bank to cushion the blow after building up stocks over the winter.

France may be known for its wine, but beer sales had been soaring in recent years, spurred on in part by the craft brewing trend imported from the United States.

Even Europe's dominant brewers are facing big hits from the absence of restaurant and bar sales, and the wave of scotched summer festivals, concert series and other events in the coming months.

"The impact is expected to worsen in the second quarter," said Dutch giant Heineken, which already forecasts a two-percent drop by volume for the first three months of this year among its 165 breweries in some 70 countries.

Germany's biggest brewer Radeberger, famed for its crisp pilsner, warned that supermarket purchases by people cooped up at home would not come close to compensating for the evaporation of bulk orders from professionals.

"We're assuming that the situation won't show any real improvement in the coming weeks," a spokeswoman told AFP.

German officials are even considering calling off the biggest beer celebration of all, Munich's annual Oktoberfest, which attracts millions of people from around the world.

Clemens Baumgartner, the party's organiser, said a decision would be made by June on whether to open as planned this year on September 19.

- 'Disaster' -

For Bruno Torres, who founded his microbrewery La Baleine in a gritty corner of northeast Paris a few years ago, the coronavirus crisis is nothing short of a "disaster".

His stainless steel fermenting vats, which normally produce around 560 hectolitres (near 15,000 US gallons) a year, have been sitting empty, and nobody is buying his bottles or kegs.

Story continues

"Even some smaller supermarkets don't want to open because of the health scare," Torres said.

Overall, French beer sales are expected to be flat for the year as a whole, Costilhes said, after years of rapid growth.

"We had the equivalent of 7,750 full-time jobs as of January 1, an increase of nine percent on the year, so nearly 700 more jobs compared to 2019. But that was before all this," he said.

He did not want to speculate on how many brewers might be facing bankruptcy, but "notwithstanding what some have said, it's not certain that alcohol consumption is going up during the lockdown."

Jacques Lebel, France director for the industry behemoth AB InBev, agreed that "beer wasn't among the products that benefited from any stockpiling effect in France during the first weeks" of the lockdown.

"Beer has been impacted less than other alcoholic beverages, but we were growing at a very slow rate compared to what we had seen in previous years," he told AFP.

According to consulting firm Nielsen, French beer sales rose seven percent year-on-year during the first two weeks of the lockdown that began on March 15, bucking an overall drop of 3.4 percent for alcohol sales.

"If this is over by the end of April, it'll be OK, but if not, it's going to get very hard," Torres said.

- 'On the brink' -

German beermakers are also warning of mass layoffs as many firms "are on the brink of failure," said Holger Eichele, president of the country's brewing federation.

"Sales to the food sector are essential for most brewers. For some, they account for 90 percent of their revenue. And that has now completely disappeared," he told AFP.

In the last week of March, German beer sales were down 9.4 percent on the year, the federation's spokesman Marc-Oliver Huhnholz said.

"It's because consumers are increasingly buying less, and the fact that a lot of occasions for celebrating with friends or family have disappeared," he said.

Exports are also sinking -- Italy and China, which are among the countries hardest hit by COVID-19 outbreaks, are Germany's biggest foreign markets, consuming 3.4 million and 1.8 million hectolitres respectively last year.

Foreign beer sales were down a whopping 58 percent in early April, the federation said.

Some German brewers are even urging clients to buy non-alcoholic beers, such as the family-owned Bavarian firm Volkach.

"We're giving our alcohol to hospitals and pharmacies in the region" so that it can be used to make sanitising hand gel, Volkach's Caroline Dull told a local radio station.
Krueger: With some care over the years, the old family barn keeps standing
Stacker looked at various news articles and government updates to find out how hospitals in each state are adapting to the ever-changing COVID-19 pandemic.

This article was first published on theStacker.com
Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - In this March 25, 2020, file photo, American and United Airlines jets are temporarily stored west of the terminals at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. The number of Americans getting on airplanes has sunk to a level not seen in more than 60 years as people shelter in their homes to avoid catching or spreading the new coronavirus. The Transportation Security Administration screened fewer than 100,000 people on Tuesday, April 7, a drop of 95% from a year ago. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

The number of Americans getting on airplanes has sunk to a level not seen in more than 60 years as people shelter in their homes to avoid catching or spreading the new coronavirus.

The Transportation Security Administration screened 94,931 people on Wednesday, a drop of 96% from a year ago and the second straight day under 100,000.

The official tally of people who passed through TSA checkpoints exaggerates the number of travellers  if that is possible  because it includes some airline crew members and people still working at shops inside airport security perimeters.

Historical daily numbers only go back so far, but the nation last averaged fewer than 100,000 passengers a day in 1954, according to figures from trade group Airlines for America. It was the dawn of the jet age. The de Havilland Comet, the first commercial jetliner, was just a few years old, and Boeing was running test flights with the jet that would become the iconic 707.

As air travel became safer and more affordable, the passenger numbers grew nearly every year until 2001. There was no commercial air travel in the U.S. for several days after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and people were slow to get back on planes  U.S. passenger traffic didn't grow again until 2003.

It could be longer this time. Polling firm Public Opinion Strategies said that fewer than half the Americans it surveyed about 10 days ago say they will get on a plane within six months of the spread of the virus flattening. A Stifel Nicolaus analyst estimated that air travel demand won't return to pre-outbreak levels until the middle of next year under the best outcome, and it's likely to be later.

TSA, which was created after the 9-11 attacks, has been chronicling the plunge in air traffic, posting numbers on how many people its officers screen each day. On March 1, it was nearly 2.3 million  almost the same as a year earlier. The one-way roller coaster ride  a sheer downward scream  began in the second week of March and slowed only in the last several days, when there wasnt much more room to drop.

The falloff is amazing to see, said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst. The good news is that it shows people are taking shelter-in-place orders seriously."

Some of the people still travelling are health care professionals on their way to pandemic hot spots such as New York, where they will help in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. A few are travelling to be with family.

The nations largest flight attendant union, which is worried about the safety of its members who are still flying, is demanding that the government ban all leisure travel. Representatives at several airlines said they dont know how many leisure travellers are left, since they dont routinely ask people why they are flying.

Airlines have drastically cut the number of flights to match demand and save cash, but even with far fewer flights, most seats are empty.

United Airlines says it is losing $100 million a day. Delta Air Lines says it is burning through $60 million a day. All the leading U.S. carriers have applied for federal grants to cover payroll costs through September and some are likely to seek federal loans or loan guarantees.

Even if they get taxpayer help, the airlines warn, they will be smaller on the other side of the pandemic.

The recovery in air travel  whenever it occurs  could depend on many factors including social-distancing rules and the state of the economy, which is staggering as 16.8 million people  one in every 10 workers  have filed new claims for unemployment benefits in the last three weeks.

Air travel is much more affordable and accessible to the masses than it was in the 1960s. Still, both leisure and business travellers have above-average incomes.

Theoretically, these consumers should be better-positioned financially to be able to travel again," Harteveldt said, but we are seeing people at all income levels and all ages affected by job loss or reduction in hours or working for companies that have closed.
Open source

The level of crime in Ukraine has decreased due to the introduction of lockdown. It was reported by Ukraines Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The crime rate has decreased by 25-30%.

"We think this is due to the fact that criminals are also human beings and want to remain healthy. Cafes, restaurants and discos are not operating now, so the level of alcohol-related conflicts has decreased. Theft rate has also gone down because people are sitting at home," the message said.

Meanwhile, since the beginning of the lockdown, Ukrainian law enforcers have opened 4,000 administrative protocols for breaching the lockdown.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry claims that most of the citizens live up to the quarantine restrictions. In Kyiv, the overall sum of paid fines made some 3,700 U.S. dollars.

As we reported earlier, according to Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko, there is a possibility of introducing a state of emergency in Ukraine.

"We have been talking, of course (with the president  ed.). These are conditions when we understand that there is a good chance that we will not be able to stop the spread of the coronavirus without the introduction of a state of emergency. There are many different factors. State of emergency provides measures that can help control the situation, control that people stay at home," he stated.
Visitors to the New York State Department of Labor are turned away at the door by personnel due to closures over CCP virus concerns in New York on March 18, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

Small Business Layoffs Surge Over 1,000 Percent In March

Businesses employing 25 to 49 workers saw the biggest surge in layoffs, while those employing 1 to 4 workers the lowest

In yet another symptom of the CCP virus-driven economic rout, layoffs at small businesses with fewer than 49 employees jumped by 1,136 percent month-over-month, according to a payroll processing company report.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary government actions to reduce the spread of the virus have significantly impacted businesses across the country, wrote Daniel Sternberg, head of data science at Gusto, in the Wednesday report.

The 1,136 percent change in the month-over-month layoff figure is a simple average of four small business segments Gusto tracked that employed fewer than 50 workers.

The report found that the hardest-hit were businesses with 25 to 49 employees, which saw a spike in layoffs of 1,631 percent between February and March. This was equivalent to a 6.94 percent month-over-month change in headcount.

Small businesses have been forced to implement multiple strategies beyond layoffs to reduce headcount costs in order to make it through the first shockwave of sheltering in place and stay-at-home orders, Sternberg wrote in the report, adding that data showed a 50 percent increase in the number of workers whose hours were cut significantly in March, year-over-year.

Businesses with more than 50 employees saw a month-over-month increase in layoffs of 721 percent, or 6.1 percent in headcount, the report said.

Businesses with fewer than five workers saw the smallest headcount decline at 1.02 percent month-over-month in March, and a corresponding 658 percent rise in layoffs compared to the previous month.

One potential explanation for why the smallest businesses had relatively lower headcount reductions may be that many of these businesses have few to no employees who they can stand to lose without needing to fully shut down operations. As a result, if these businesses experience significant enough revenue shocks, they may close down entirely, Sternberg wrote.

The figures were compiled using data from Gustos platform and are based on more than 100,000 small businesses across the country.

Forthcoming April figures could be even worse since, as Sternberg noted, the data in the report only includes the first half of March, before many states and cities imposed social distancing restrictions and stay-at-home orders.

Sternberg cautioned that despite meaningful sample sizes used in the calculations, the nature of the distribution of Gustos customers means that the conclusions may not be fully representative of the industry and geographic breakdown of small businesses across the United States.

The hardest-hit industry, both in terms of the percentage change in layoffs and headcount in March compared to February, was the food and beverage industry. Food and beverage saw a 9,040 percent increase in layoffs and a 13.07 percent drop in headcount.

This was followed by the salon and spa industry, which saw an increase in layoffs of 7,209 percent and a headcount drop of 8.68 percent, month-over-month.

Unemployment Rate Around 20 Percent

Gustos small business employment trends report comes as economists at JPMorgan, Americas biggest bank, said the severity of the pandemic would likely result in a 40 percent drop in the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) and lead to a jobless rate of 20 percent.

With these data in hand we think the April jobs report could indicate about 25 million jobs lost since the March survey week, and an unemployment rate around 20 percent, the analysts wrote, CNBC reported. Given the expected hit to hours worked this quarter we now look for -40.0 percent annualized real GDP growth in 2Q, down from -25.0 percent previously.

The new analysis follows an earlier Goldman Sachs forecast that predicted a 34 percent plunge in the second quarter, and a Bank of America forecast that expects unemployment to soar to over 15 percent.

The predictions follow staggering weekly jobless claims figures, which showed that over the past three weeks, almost 17 million Americans have filed for unemployment.

Efforts to give the U.S. economy the best chance for a sharp bounceback have come from a historic COVID-19 relief bill, as well as recent measures by the Treasury and Federal Reserve to channel money to Americas small and medium-sized businesses to encourage them not to lay people off.

The Fed and Treasury announced on Thursday the rollout of several new lending facilities, totaling around $2.3 trillion, for businesses and local governments affected by the CCP virus pandemic.

President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, on April 6, 2020. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has sought to balance the needs of Americans to make a living with restrictions intended to save lives. The president said at a Thursday White House briefing that economic shutdowns across the country have exacted a tremendous toll, mentally, on a lot of people.

I think were going to open up strong. I think were going to open up very successfully, and, Id like to say, even more successfully than before, Trump said, adding that, Were going to be opening up  very, very, very, very soon, I hope.

The CCP virus has spread aggressively across the nation, with Johns Hopkins figures at the time of reporting noting 467,184 infections and 16,736 deaths.
Coronavirus Outbreak Updates:According to ICMR's 9 pm update on Saturday, 17,143 samples were tested of which 600 were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Overall, 1,79,374 samples from 1,64,773 individuals have been tested till date and 7,703 individuals have tested positive for the disease among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases in the country, it said.

Auto refresh feeds

The video conference comes amid indications that the Centre may extend the lockdown across the country beyond 14 April after several states have favoured the extension to contain the fast-spreading virus.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers of all states on Saturday via video, where a call would be taken on whether the 21-day lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus, ending next week, should be extended.

Of the total cases, 6,039 were active patients while 515 have been cured or discharged, and one migrated while 206 have died so far.

The total number of coronavirus cases across the country surged to 6,761 on Friday with 37 new deaths and nearly 900 new cases in 24 hours as several places including Delhi and Mumbai reported further spread of the deadly virus.

These numbers, however, do not represent the actual reality on the ground as a PTI tally of numbers reported by various states as on 9.30 pm showed a total of 7,510 people having been affected by the virus nationwide so far with at least 251 deaths. More than 700 have been cured and discharged.

Maharashtra has also registered the maximum deaths accounting for 97 of the total 206 deaths in the country, which is over 5.7 times that of Gujarat, which recorded 17 deaths, the second highest in the country.

Ten coronavirus patients died in Mumbai and one each in Pune, Panvel and Vasai-Virar. Nine of the deceased were men and four women.

As many as 132 new patients were found in Mumbai alone, state officials said.

Thirteen COVID-19 patients died during the day, taking the death toll in the state to 110.

Maharashtra state officials reported 210 new cases on Friday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 1,574, with Mumbai accounting for close to 1,000 cases in the state.

"Even reports have been received about people attempting suicide after being placed under home quarantine," he said, adding that rapid COVID-19 tests will relax a large number of people as well as the administration, which has been keeping a tab on all the people placed under quarantine.

In the state government's briefing on COVID-19, Mohanty stressed on the social distress being created due to the quarantine period along with the month-long lockdown period.

"It has become a difficult task to place so many people under home quarantine after they returned to Odisha from highly-affected states and countries," the Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET), Prof CBK Mohanty, said.

The Odisha government on Friday said it was planning to conduct two lakh rapid COVID-19 tests to give relief to the people who have been placed under home quarantine.

Italy has registered the highest number of COVID-19 deaths, more than 18,800 as of Friday, while the United States has reported the majority of confirmed infections, nearly half a million.

The global toll from the novel coronavirus has surpassed 101,000 amid with 1.6 million confirmed cases and more than 372,000 recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

Brazil, the hardest-hit Latin American country in the coronavirus pandemic, passed the mark of 1,000 deaths, the health ministry said. The ministry's latest figures gave a toll of 19,638 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,056 deaths.

It brings the total number of fatalities from COVID-19 in UK hospitals to nearly 8,000, while the number of confirmed cases inside the country climbed to more than 65,000.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Friday that Britain had recorded 980 deaths from coronavirus in the 24-hour period since the last report, the highest daily toll yet.

"Privacy, transparency, and consent are of utmost importance in this effort," the companies said in a statement published on Google's blog site.

The app will rely on Bluetooth to determine distances between phone users and encryption to ensure data security, the companies said.

Tech giants Apple and Google announced they would join forces to develop an app for tracking the coronavirus infections using existing Bluetooth and encryption technology.

The number of containment zones in Delhi was increased to 30 on Friday after an addition of six more areas. These include Nabi Karim, E pocket GTB enclave, street no 18 to 22 of Zakir Nagar and nearby area of Abu Bakar Masjid, Zakir Nagar.

The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country has reached 7,600, with more than 800 new cases being recorded on Friday. Fatalities in the country, according to data compiled by Worldometer , stand at 249.

The police have also registered a case against 13 local residents, who provided shelter to them in different mosques and caused the spread of coronavirus infection, Additional Superintendent of Police (Zone-1) Rajat Saklecha told PTI on Friday.

Police have registered an offence against 64 foreigners, including some COVID-19 patients, and 10 others from different states, all of whom were found hiding in Bhopal after attending Delhi's Tablighi Jamaat event held in March, an official said on Friday.

Agra registered three more cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday. The District Magistrate of Agra, Prabhu N Singh, said the total confirmed cases of the infection stood at 92 in the region, including 81 active cases.

A 16-year-old who had earlier tested positive for COVID-19 in Chhattisgarh has now been cured of the virus. He will be discharged later on Saturday.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot chaired a high level meeting on the novel coronavirus in his residence on Saturday and said the decision to extend the lockdown will be taken keeping in mind to protect lives of people.

The figure includes 6,565 active cases, 643 cured/discharged/migrated and 239 deaths, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The highly infectious COVID-19 has killed 239 people in the country, with 40 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours. The total number of positive cases is now at 7,447 after 1,035 new cases were registered.

"Total number of positive cases in the state goes up to 17", said Jharkhand Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni

Jharkhand saw an increase in its COVID-19 tally after three new cases were registered on Saturday. One from Ranchi's Hindpri, the other two from Koderma and Hazaribagh, ANI reported.

"No labourer left from Punjab, they were stopped. A list of workers enrolled under MNREGA is being prepared they'll also render services. I assure the labourers that there are enough shelter homes. They needn't worry for food," Punjab Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu

Farmers in Ladian Kalan village of Ludhiana on Saturday said that some of their harvest is yet to be reaped as many labourers have gone back to their homes in fear of the novel coronavirus and the lockdown. They said, "Many labourers have gone home, some are scared to come to work due to COVID-19&curfew. Urge govt to help us."

"Two more persons tested positive and 10 recovered on Friday," the official said, adding that that the state presently has 37 active COVID-19 cases.

Odisha has reported two fresh COVID-19 positive cases taking the total number to 50, while 10 coronavirus patients have recovered in the state, an official of the Health and Family Welfare department said on Saturday.

"Siwan, Begusarai and Nawada have been completely sealed now after new cases reported from these areas. A curfew-like situation is prevailing in these districts. People are not allowed to move from one house to another," said DGP Bihar.

Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey on Friday informed that Siwan, Begusarai and Nawada districts have been completely sealed after new cases were reported from these areas.

The Bihar government ordered on Saturday to step up its vigil in three of its hotspot areas of Siwan, Begusarai and Nawada districts to curb the fast-spreading coronavirus in the state, according to All India Radio News.

The three men died during treatment at different hospitals in the city over the last three days. However, their test reports, which confirmed that they were coronavirus positive, were received this morning, an official of Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College said.

With three more individuals, including a 75-year-old man, succumbing to COVID-19 in Indore, the toll in the city has reached 30, officials said on Saturday.

"Of the 102 people staying in 13 different religious locations in the area, 52 tested positive," said Office of Central district DM.

At least three people have died of the novel coornavirus in Delhi's Chandni Mahal area in the past three days, ANI reported. Chandi Mahal is one one of the 30 areas that have been declared containment zones.

Rajan, 57, who was the RBI governor for three years until September 2016, is currently working as a professor at the University of Chicago.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Friday named former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan and 11 others to her external advisory group to provide perspectives from around the globe on key developments and policy issues, including responses to the exceptional challenges the world now faces due to the coronavirus pandemic.

All protocols with regard to COVID-19 related death would be followed for his funeral, he added.

The man, had earlier undergone treatment at two private hospitals at Thalassery for fever and later was admitted to the Pariyaram Medical College Hospital here, where he died this morning, Dr Naik said.

The deceased, who had tested positive for the coronavirus, hailed from neighbouring Mahe, an enclave of Puducherry, Kannur District Medical Officer Dr K Narayana Naik told PTI.

The video conference comes amidst indications that the central government may extend the lockdown across the country beyond 14 April after several states have favoured the extension to contain the fast-spreading virus.

CNN-News18 reports say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be interacting with chief ministers from all states at 11 am today. A call on whether the 21-day lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus, ending next week, should be extended or not, will be taken during the meet.

Officials said that the lockdown and social distancing measures have helped contain the pandemic in a big way in India. Citing an ICMR study, the Health Ministry said just one COVID-19 patient can infect as many as 406 people in 30 days in the absence of preventive measures such as social distancing and the lockdown, reported PTI.

Top government sources have told CNN-News18 that the Centre is likely to extend the nationwide lockdown post 15 April.

Many experts and state governments have urged the Centre for the lockdown period to be extended beyond 14 April in view of the continued rise in confirmed cases in the country. Odisha and Punjab have already announced a lockdown extension till 30 April and 1 May respectively.

Those defying this order will face serious consequences, he added.

As per the order, movement of people and vehicles, except those engaged in essential services, to and from these towns will be restricted.

In an order issued on Friday night, district collector Rajesh Narvekar said the borders of Ambernath, Kulgaon-Badlapur, Murbad and Shahapur were sealed for effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

The district administration in Maharashtra's Thane district has sealed the borders of Ambernath, Kulgaon-Badlapur, Murbad and Shahapur towns in light of the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Saturday.

Sources told the news channel that the lockdown may be extended but with many changes this time around. Interstate movement will remain restricted, except for essential services. Schools, colleges and religious institutions are likely to stay closed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the nation again to announce his decision on whether the coronavirus lockdown will end on Tuesday, reports NDTV.

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with all state chief ministers, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram urged state leaders to unanimously demand for transfer of cash to every poor family and table the issue at the scheduled meeting today.

One person has so far succumbed to COVID-19. The cumulative tests in the state stand at 3,547 out of which 50 have tested positive, the department said.

Two more persons tested positive and 10 recovered on Friday, the official said, adding that that the state now has 37 active COVID-19 cases. Two others had recovered earlier.

Odisha has reported two fresh COVID-19 positive cases taking the total number to 50, while 12 coronavirus patients have recovered in the state, an official of the Health and Family Welfare department said on Saturday.

China has reported 46 new coronavirus cases, including four local and 34 asymptomatic infections, while three more people have died due to the global pandemic, taking the death toll in the country to 3,339, health officials said here on Saturday.

About 210 new coronavirus cases were reported as of 8:00 am on 11 April in Maharashtra, according to data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This brings the total reported cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra to 1,574. Among the total people infected as on date, 188 have recovered and 110 have passed away.

"In last 24 hors 1,593 tests conducted, of which 1,187 cases are negative while 124 tested positive. The results of 282 swabs are pending," said state health department.

Gujarat registered a total of 432 positive coronavirus cases on Saturday after 54 new cases emerged in the state. Ahmedabad and Vadodara are among the most affected cities with 228 and 77 cases respectively.

Amid rising cases of the novel coronavirus cases in West Bengal, the government is likely to impose total lockdown in 10 COVID 19 hotspots including parts of Kolkata, PTI quoted officials as saying.

Strict lockdown, quarantine and contact tracing are the major reasons behind the region being coronavirus free. Sangli was identified as one of the first hotspots by the Central Health Ministry.

Sangli was red-flagged by the Centre after the region registered 26 positive cases. All the cases were reported from Islampur area.

At a time when Maharashtra has been identified as the worst COVID-affected state with 1,574 confirmed cases, a major development was seen in Sangli district. The Islampur region in Sangli, one of the first hotspots in the state, became "COVID-free" on Saturday, News18 reported.

State leaders have pushed for lockdown extension in Maharashtra as the number of total coronavirus cases crossed over 1,500 in the state. The meeting will be discussing exit strategy and possible extension of lockdown which is set to end on 14 April.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen wearing a mask during video-conferencing with the State Chief Ministers over COVID-19.

The number of positive cases crossed 1,500 in the state on Saturday.

As the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has exponentially increased in Maharashtra, the cabinet has expressed concern Saturday to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about suspension of of lockdown on 14 April.

Five others tested positive in Malegaon, four in Thane, two each in Panvel and Aurangabad, one each in Kalyan-Dombivali, Vasai-Virar, Pune, Ahmednagar, Nashik city, Nashik rural and Palghar, the department added.

Seventy-two of these new cases were detected in Mumbai, it said.

As 92 more cases of COVID-19 have emerged in Maharashtra, the number of such patients in the state reached 1,666 on Saturday, the state health department said.

He also said that the decision should be taken at the national level as a state-level decision might "not be much effective," adding that even if the lockdown is eased, "the transportation should not be opened including movement by road, rail or air."

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the lockdown in the National Capital should continue till 30 April at least to contain the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

The thermal screening will take place over the course of next ten days, News18 reported.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Doctors of Maharashtra Medical Council have begun door-to-door testing of 7.5 lakh people in Dharavi, in south Mumbai, on Saturday.

"If we follow a common strategy we can defeat coronavirus and the losses that we are incurring due to this crisis," he added.

"I am available 24x7. Any chief minister can speak to me and give suggestions on COVID-19 anytime. We should stand together shoulder-to-shoulder," Modi said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a video conference with chief ministers to discuss whether the lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus should be extended, assured them that he is open to suggestions.

Over the past few days, the ward had been reporting a daily average of 50 new cases. Other wards such as E (Byculla) reported five new cases, D (Malabar Hill, Walkeshwar) eight, and K West (Andheri West) five.

According to data released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday, the tally in the G South ward, which comprises areas such as Worli Naka and BDD chawl, now stands at 199.

Reports state that the hotspots have being sealed, rapid tests of residents are being planned, markets removed and government ready to ensure supply of essential commodities to residents.

A '100 per cent lockdown' will be imposed in parts of Dum Dum, Salt Lake in Kolkata, Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas, several wards of South and Central Howrah, Haldia and Egra in East Midnapore, Kalimpong and some areas of Alipurduar district in North Bengal and parts of South 24 Parganas district.

West Bengal government released a list of 10 regions in the state identified as coronavirus hotspots to curb the spread of the disease.

A total of 29 cases have emerged in Palwal so far, of which 1 person has recovered.

After a gap of three days, another person has tested positive for COVID-19 in Palwal on Saturday, with officials saying he had attended the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi in March.

What is more hard-hitting as of Saturday, state had 1,574 positive cases and 110 deaths while the nationwide toll stood at 239. This suggests Maharashtra that has 21.13 percent of the country's cases accounts for 46 percent of the deaths across the nation.

At 6.98, the states mortality rate is higher than the global rate of 3.21% and the national average of 6.10%

According to the State Health Department, not only does Maharashtra bear nearly a fifth of the national burden of COVID-19 cases with the highest nationwide tally, but also has the highest mortality rate.

As Indias coronavirus cases surged past the 7,400 mark, it became clear that the state of Maharashtra bore the brunt of the spread of pandemic in the country. But a recent study, also quoted by the Maharashtra government, shed light on just how bad the situation as.

"Dear citizens, there are no plans to seal-down any other area in Bengaluru. Please do not heed to any rumours. Bengaluru Police is strictly enforcing lockdown by barricading roads in Kodigehalli, Vidyaranyapura, Horamavu and all over city to stop citizens moving around in vehicles," said Kumar.

"Seal-down orders are only in wards 134 Bapuji Nagar and Ward 135 Padarayanapura due to fresh cases and to contain the fast-spreading COVID-19. Urge television channels to report facts and not speculate," tweeted Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner BH Anil Kumar.

Seal-down orders are only limited two wards in Bengaluru in the city to curb COVID-19 cases, said a top civic body official, urging news channels to avoid speculation.

The government hospital drew up a list of some 40 doctors, nurses and health workers whose samples have been collected for tests. State health department to decide later on Saturday whether they would be simply quarantined or put in hospital isolation

The wards are currently being sanitized, existing patients have been removed to other wings of the hospital. These patients would be treated in isolation for 14 days by hospital staff wearing special gears.

Authorities seal off cardiology and male medicine wards of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata after two patients who died in these wards on Friday were later found to have tested positive for COVID-19.

There is no shortage in country of hydroxychloroquine tablets used for COVID-19 treatment, the health ministry said in response to a question.

Talking about the Exit Plan from Lockdown in his interaction via video conference with chief ministers of states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that there seems to be a consensus amongst the states on extension of Lockdown by another two weeks, the Press Information Bureau said in a statement. According to the statement Modi also said that coming 3-4 weeks are critical for determining the impact of the steps taken till now to contain the virus.

The coronavirus crisis is taxing New York Citys 911 system like never before. Operators pick up a new call every 15.5 seconds. Panicked voices tell of loved ones in declining health. There are multitudes of cardiac arrests and respiratory failures and others who call needing reassurance that a mere sneeze isnt a sign theyve been infected. The system is so overwhelmed, the city has started sending text and tweet alerts urging people to only call 911 for life-threatening emergencies.

He also said that people from Odisha who are stranded in other states are to be taken care by concerned states and that the state government is coordinating with them. "Our state will continue to take care of workers from outside who are in Odisha," he added.

"All three points have already been informed to the Centre by the state," Ptanaik said after the conference.

Patnaik also told the Centre during the video conference that agriculture and allied services should resume despite an extension of the lockdown.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik supported the extension of lockdown till 30 April during his interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other chief ministers of states on Saturday via video conference, however suggested that train and air services should remain suspended till the restrictions are lifted.

Meanwhile, according to ANI, a couple that recovered from COVID-19 recently has been blessed with a baby in Kannur today, the chief minister said.

As of Saturday, Kerala has reported 373 confirmed cases, of which 228 are active, Vijayan added.

Seven of the ten new cases have a foreign travel history while three have contact history with COVID-19 positive patients, the chief minister said.

In his daily briefing, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the state has reported 10 new coronavirus cases on Saturday with seven infections being reported from Kannur, one from Kozhikode and two from Kasaragod.

According to sources, central ministers are likely to begin work from office from Monday, sources said on Saturday. Bureaucrats, including those at joint secretary level and above are also to work from govt offices, starting next week.

The directive, signed by Srinavasu K, deputy scretary to the Government of India, has come amid reports of attacks on health workers and doctors.

According to the directive, necessary police security is also to be extended to "doctors and other medical staff who are visiting places to conduct screening of people to find out symptoms of disease".

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday directed police authorities across India to "provide necessary police security to doctors and medical staff in hospitals and at places where patients who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or suspected to have contracted coronavirus are being quarantined or isolated".

Thirty-six new cases of coronavirus were found in Gujarat on Saturday, taking tally to 468, PTI quotes Gujarat health officials as saying. The toll rose to 22 with three new COVID-19 deaths.

The Chhattisgarh government on Saturday said that it was making face masks compulsory for all persons while stepping out of the house.

According to Union health ministry data, Delhi, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana are the states which have recorded more than 500 cases. The highest number of cases till now has been recorded in Maharashtra (1,574) while Tamil Nadu follows with 911 cases. Delhi and Telangana reported their first cases on 2 March, Rajasthan on 3 March, Tamil Nadu on the 7th and Maharashtra on 9 March.

The tally in Maharashtra rose to 1761 with 187 new cases and 17 deaths reported on Saturday, said the state health department. Of these, 12 were from Mumbai, 2 in Pune and one each in Satara, Dhule and Malegaon. Eleven of the deceased were men and six were women;sixteen suffered from other health conditions such as diabetes and asthma, said the statement.

The Trinamool Congress supremo said she raised the issue of a financial package for the state and clearing its dues. The Centre should also bring in a special package for the unorganised and MSME sectors, she said.

Narendra Modi had with CMs of different states where a broad consensus emerged about expanding the duration of the shutdown amid spurting COVID-19 cases, reports PTI  All schools and colleges in West Bengal will remain closed till June 10, she added.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday declared extension of the lockdown till 30 April , soon after a video-conference Prime Minister

There will be no activity in the red zones the districts where sizeable number of cases were detected or areas which were declared hotspots. In the orange zones where only a few cases were found in the past with no increase in the number of positive cases -- minimum activities like opening of limited public transport, harvesting of farm products will be allowed. Green zones will be in the districts where there is no COVID-19 case.

The Centre is likely to categorise the country into red, orange and green zones depending on the number of COVID-19 cases during the proposed extended period of lockdown and might allow limited services to function in the safe zones, reports PTI. Officials privy to the discussions during the four-hour-long conference with chief ministers, convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that schools and colleges would remain shut but some small scale industries and liquor shops may be allowed to function.

All Union ministers have been asked to resume work in their ministries from Monday and focus on kick-starting the economy post lockdown, sources told PTI.They also said the government is mulling giving relaxation in curbs for agriculture and industrial sectors in areas which are least affected by COVID-19, if the lockdown is extended.

Singh said 16 people have so far tested negative for coroanvirus after treatment and 58 people have been discharged.

Rajasthan recorded 139 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, taking the tally of such cases in the state to 700,reports PTI. The virus has so far claimed nine lives in the state. A 62-year-old man who was admitted at the state-run SMS Hospital on April 9 died on Friday. He was tested positive today. He was suffering from ischemic heart disease and hypertension. As many as 139 new cases have come up today," Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said. The total number of coronavirus positive cases in the state has risen to 700, he said. Among the fresh cases, 80 are from Jaipur, 20 in Tonk, 14 in Kota, 13 in Banswara, six in Bikaner, two in Jhalawar and one each in Dausa, Alwar, Karauli and Jaisalmer district, the official said.

Almost 80,000 people in Britain have tested positive for the virus, among them Johnson, who is in the early stages of recovery on a hospital ward after spending three nights in intensive care. The prime minister continues to make very good progress, a Downing Street spokesman said.

Britains COVID-19 death toll neared 10,000 on Saturday after health officials reported another 917 hospital deaths, reports Reuters. Britain has now reported 9,875 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, the fifth highest national number globally, and Saturdays increase was the second day running that the number to die had increased by more than 900.

According to ICMR's 9 pm update on Saturday, 17,143 samples were tested of which 600 were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Overall, 1,79,374 samples from 1,64,773 individuals have been tested till date and 7,703 individuals have tested positive for the disease among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases in the country, it said.

Another person tested positive for novel coronavirus in Muzaffarnagar on Saturday, taking the number of confirmed cases in the Uttar Pradesh district to five, reports PTI. According to Chief Medical Officer Praveen Chopra, the man is among the 13 Tablighi Jamaat members who were quarantined last Saturday. They had come to the Kidwai Nagar locality a fortnight ago and were later quarantined. One of them tested positive, taking the number of infections in the district to five, the official said. Meanwhile, efforts are on to seal the locality where the 13 members resided.

Singh said 16 people have so far tested negative for coroanvirus after treatment and 58 people have been discharged.

Rajasthan recorded 139 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, taking the tally of such cases in the state to 700,reports PTI. The virus has so far claimed nine lives in the state. A 62-year-old man who was admitted at the state-run SMS Hospital on April 9 died on Friday. He was tested positive today. He was suffering from ischemic heart disease and hypertension. As many as 139 new cases have come up today," Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said. The total number of coronavirus positive cases in the state has risen to 700, he said. Among the fresh cases, 80 are from Jaipur, 20 in Tonk, 14 in Kota, 13 in Banswara, six in Bikaner, two in Jhalawar and one each in Dausa, Alwar, Karauli and Jaisalmer district, the official said.

Six staff members of Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace Hotel have tested positive for the coronavirus and have been hospitalised, reported India Today . The Taj has been hosting doctors involved in Covid-19 treatment, reports Hindustan Times .All six employees have a mild infection and are stable, the report said adding that other emplyees who came in contact with the six patients have been placed in quarantine.

Tamil Nadu on Saturday recorded one more COVID-19 death, taking the toll from the virus to 10, reports PTI. The latest death was reported from Erode district, Chief Secretary K Shanmugam said. Further, 58 fresh coronavirus cases were reported in the state on Saturday, with the total number of positive cases reaching 969.Of this, 881 people were those who had attended the "single source event" in Delhi and their contacts, the government said, in an apparent reference to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the national capital.

Almost 80,000 people in Britain have tested positive for the virus, among them Johnson, who is in the early stages of recovery on a hospital ward after spending three nights in intensive care. The prime minister continues to make very good progress, a Downing Street spokesman said.

Britains COVID-19 death toll neared 10,000 on Saturday after health officials reported another 917 hospital deaths, reports Reuters. Britain has now reported 9,875 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, the fifth highest national number globally, and Saturdays increase was the second day running that the number to die had increased by more than 900.

The wife and son of the deceased man alleged that they had to face a "lot of hassles" at the Nigambodh Ghat.The cremation was to be done in a CNG-based crematorium, but there was no operator there and people were trying to avoid us, the wife alleged. Finally, after a couple of hours, an operator came from Bawana and the cremation could be carried out, she said.

The man was brought to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi from a facility in Bulandshahr, and he died in the emergency ward, an official source said. His sample was taken which tested positive on Saturday, the source said.

A middle-aged doctor from Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr has died due to coronavirus at a hospital, reports PTI.The family of the 58-year-old doctor has alleged that when his body was taken for cremation at the Nigambodh Ghat in the National Capital on Saturday, they had to "wait for many hours" before it could finally be done.

According to ICMR's 9 pm update on Saturday, 17,143 samples were tested of which 600 were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Overall, 1,79,374 samples from 1,64,773 individuals have been tested till date and 7,703 individuals have tested positive for the disease among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases in the country, it said.

Odisha has already set up 10 dedicated COVID-19 hospitals with a total bed strength of 1,950 and these two facilities will raise the capacity to 2,250 beds. The state plans to establish around 34 exclusive COVID-19 hospitals with a capacity of 6,000 beds, the official said.

The Odisha health department on Saturady said four new cases were detected in the state. The state is all set to have two new COVID-19 hospitals with a total capacity of 300 beds very soon as a part of its preparedness to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, PTI quotes officials as saying.The hospitals, for treatment of COVID-19 patients only, will come up in association with National Aluminium Company (NALCO) and Paradip Port Trust (PPT).

The official data posted by the Ministry of National Health services on its website showed that the worst-hit Punjab province reported 2,414 COVID-19 cases, Sindh 1,318, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 697, Balochistan 220, Gilgit-Baltistan 215, Islamabad 113 and PoK 34. It also reported that 762 patients have recovered so far. Seventy-seven patients have died including five in the last 24 hours. The official data showed that 52 percent patents were those who had travelled abroad while 48 per cent were local transmissions.

Pakistan said on Saturday that it will take a decision on whether to extend the ongoing nationwide lockdown or ease restrictions on Monday, as the number of coronavirus patients rose to 5,011, reports PTI.Speaking at a press conference here, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar said that Prime Minister Imran Khan will take a decision after his meeting with the National Coordination Committee on COVID-19, comprising senior officials of all provinces and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). "We will make a national decision on the lockdown," said Umar.

Areas in Rajouri, Jahangirpuri and Deoli Extension were identified as hotspots in the National Capital on Saturday, PTI quotes authorities as saying. The total number of hotspots in Delhi now stands at 33. The civic authorities have carried out mass sanitisation and disinfection drive in hotspot areas in the last few days using drones and other measures.Houses in containment zones are being surveyed by medical teams and people were made aware about the signs and symptoms of COVID-19, methods of prevention, social distancing measures and importance of hand washing.

Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: According to ICMR's 9 pm update on Saturday, 17,143 samples were tested of which 600 were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Overall, 1,79,374 samples from 1,64,773 individuals have been tested till date and 7,703 individuals have tested positive for the disease among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases in the country, it said.

Tamil Nadu on Saturday recorded one more COVID-19 death, taking the toll from the virus to 10, reports PTI. The latest death was reported from Erode district, Chief Secretary K Shanmugam said. Further, 58 fresh coronavirus cases were reported in the state on Saturday, with the total number of positive cases reaching 969.

Rajasthan recorded 139 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, taking the tally of such cases in the state to 700. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Centre should come up with a 'Food for Work' scheme as a social safety net for the poor in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown

The Centre is likely to categorise the country into red, orange and green zones depending on the number of COVID-19 cases during the proposed extended period of lockdown and might allow limited services to function in the safe zones.

529 cases of coronavirus have been detected in Madhya Pradesh till date, up from 451 yesterday, as per date released by the state health department whil the toll has risen to 40.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao said lockdown in the state will continue till 30 April as the number of cases in state rises to 503 while death count is at 14.

The tally in Maharashtra rose to 1761 with 187 new cases and 17 deaths reported on Saturday, said the state health department. Of these, 12 were from Mumbai, 2 in Pune and one each in Satara, Dhule and Malegaon.

Thirty-six new cases of coronavirus were found in Gujarat on Saturday evening, taking the tally to 468, PTI quotes Gujarat health officials as saying. The toll rose to 22 with three new COVID-19 deaths.

The Goa government has recommended to the Centre that the lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak should continue till 30 April , PTI quotes chief minister Pramod Sawant as saying. Speaking to reporters in Panaji, Sawant said the state government will resume certain activities/establishments including government offices from Monday.

189 COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths related to the novel coronavirus have been reported in Mumbai, taking the total number of cases in the city to 1,182 and deaths at 75.

In his daily briefing, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the state has reported 10 new coronavirus cases on Saturday with seven infections being reported from Kannur, one from Kozhikode and two from Kasaragod.

Seven of the ten new cases have a foreign travel history while three have contact history with COVID-19 positive patients, the chief minister said.

As of Saturday, Kerala has reported 373 confirmed cases, of which 228 are active, Vijayan added.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray says that he told the prime minister that he will continue lockdown in the state after 14 April and requested people to not panic. The lockdown will continue till 30 April he said. He said that while restrictions may be relaxed in some places, they might be tightened in others depending on the situation.

Next 3-4 weeks critical to determine impact of steps taken till now to curb spread of the virus, Prime MInister Narendra Modi told chief ministers on COVID-19 fight, said a press release.

The Centre is considering a request made by most states to extend the ongoing nationwide lockdown by two more weeks beyond April 14, government said on Saturday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with chief ministers and told them focus should be now on health as well as prosperity of the nation.

1035 news cases were reported yesterday ,while 40 deaths were recorded. Overall, 239 deaths have been recorded till now, said Lav Agarwal.

Narendra Modi's meeting with Chief Ministers regarding extension of lockdown on Saturday, Delhi cheif minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, "PM has taken correct decision to extend lockdown."

"Today, Indias position is better than many developed countries because we started lockdown early. If it is stopped now, all gains would be lost. To consolidate, it is imp to extend it," he added.

Several states on Saturday pitched for an extension of the 21-day nationwide lockdown, that was to end on 14 April, during their video conference with Modi, according to government officials.

According to the State Health Department, not only does Maharashtra bear nearly a fifth of the national burden of COVID-19 cases with the highest nationwide tally, but also has the highest mortality rate.

At 6.98, the states mortality rate is higher than the global rate of 3.21% and the national average of 6.10%

What is more hard-hitting as of Saturday, state had 1,574 positive cases and 110 deaths while the nationwide toll stood at 239. This suggests Maharashtra that has 21.13 percent of the country's cases accounts for 46 percent of the deaths across the nation.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh suggested an extension of lockdown to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the meeting on Saturday. He asked for a faster and supply of rapid testing kits and special risk insurance for all government employees who are working at the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.

He also asked for urgent special concessions and relief for industry and agriculture amid the lockdown.

According to data released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday, the tally in the G South ward, which comprises areas such as Worli Naka and BDD chawl, now stands at 199.

As 92 more cases of COVID-19 have emerged in Maharashtra, the number of such patients in the state reached 1,666 on Saturday, the state health department said.

Seventy-two of these new cases were detected in Mumbai, it said.

Five others tested positive in Malegaon, four in Thane, two each in Panvel and Aurangabad, one each in Kalyan-Dombivali, Vasai-Virar, Pune, Ahmednagar, Nashik city, Nashik rural and Palghar, the department added.

At a time when Maharashtra has been identified as the worst COVID-affected state with 1,574 confirmed cases, a major development was seen in Sangli district. The Islampur region in Sangli, one of the first hotspots in the state, became "COVID-free" on Saturday, News18 reported.

Sangli was red-flagged by the Centre after the region registered 26 positive cases. All the cases were reported from Islampur area.

Strict lockdown, quarantine and contact tracing are the major reasons behind the region being coronavirus free. Sangli was identified as one of the first hotspots by the Central Health Ministry.

CNN-News18 reports say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be interacting with chief ministers from all states at 11 am today. A call on whether the 21-day lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus, ending next week, should be extended or not, will be taken during the meet.

The number of containment zones in Delhi was increased to 30 on Friday after an addition of six more areas. These include Nabi Karim, E pocket GTB enclave, street no 18 to 22 of Zakir Nagar and nearby area of Abu Bakar Masjid, Zakir Nagar.

The highly infectious COVID-19 has killed 239 people in the country, with 40 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours. The total number of positive cases is now at 7,447 after 1,035 new cases were registered.

The figure includes 6,565 active cases, 643 cured/discharged/migrated and 239 deaths, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country has reached 7,600, with more than 800 new cases being recorded on Friday. Fatalities in the country, according to data compiled by Worldometer, stand at 249.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India surged to 6,761 on Friday with 37 new deaths and nearly 900 new cases in 24 hours as several places including Delhi and Mumbai reported further spread of the deadly virus, which has infected over 16 lakh people globally since its emergence in China last December and the worldwide toll is fast approaching 1,00,000.

Of the total cases, 6,039 were active patients while 515 have been cured or discharged, and one migrated while 206 have died so far.

According to health ministry data, Maharashtra continued to top the list with 1,364 cases, while Delhi (894) and Tamil Nadu (834) seemed to be inching closer to the 900 mark.

Maharashtra has also registered the maximum deaths accounting for 97 of the total 206 deaths in the country, which is over 5.7 times that of Gujarat, which recorded 17 deaths, the second highest in the country.

These numbers, however, do not represent the actual reality on the ground as a PTI tally of numbers reported by various states as on 9.30 pm showed a total of 7,510 people having been affected by the virus nationwide so far with at least 251 deaths. More than 700 have been cured and discharged.

The Health Ministry in the meantime maintained that no community transmission is taking place as yet in India, while the World Health Organisation also put the country in a category named 'cluster of cases'  a notch below the community transmission stage and a classification used by the global body for cases "clustered in time, geographic location and/or by common exposures".

Amidst this, on Friday, Punjab became the second state to extend the lockdown beyond 14 April, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a video conference with chief ministers to take stock of the situation.

The Union home ministry also sought views of state governments on the 21-day lockdown including on whether more categories of people and services need to be exempted, officials said on Friday, amidst indications of a possible two-week extension of the nationwide restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The WHO has warned that a hasty lifting of restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a fatal resurgence of the deadly virus.

Meanwhile, the Union health ministry said the rate of people testing positive was only 0.2 percent on Thursday when more than 16,000 samples were tested. Cumulatively close to 1.5 lakh samples have been tested so far across India.

Maharashtra toll rises to 110, 1,574 cases confirmed, say state officials

Maharashtra state officials reported 210 new cases on Friday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 1,574, with Mumbai accounting for close to 1,000 cases in the state.

Thirteen COVID-19 patients died during the day, taking the death toll in the state to 110.

As many as 132 new patients were found in Mumbai alone, state officials said.

Ten coronavirus patients died in Mumbai and one each in Pune, Panvel and Vasai-Virar. Nine of the deceased were men and four women.

In Tamil Nadu, a 70-year-old woman died of coronavirus on Friday, taking the toll in the state so far to nine, while 77 people tested positive, pushing the total to 911 (the second highest in the country), Chief Secretary K Shanmugam said.

The woman died in Tuticorin, he said.

Of the total number of positive cases, Chennai topped the list with 172, followed by districts of Coimbatore 86, Erode 60, Tirunelveli-56, Dindigul 54, Namakkal 41, Chengalput and Theni 40 each, Trichy and Ranipet 36 and Nagpattinam 12, he said.

On Friday, Delhi registered 183 new cases in the last 24 hours, the highest jump so far, taking the National Capital's tally of coronavirus cases to 903 (the third highest in the country).

Two more deaths linked to coronavirus were reported, taking the total number of fatalities to 14.

Among the fresh areas that have been included in the list of containment zones are in west, central and south east Delhi.

With 44 persons testing positive on Friday, the number of coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh climbed to 470, while one more person succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 37, health officials said.

Twenty-one new cases were reported in Bhopal, which took the tally of COVID-19 patients in the state capital to 119, they said. Indore has reported the highest 249 cases in the state with 14 new cases being reported on Friday.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Rajasthan rose to 561 as 98 fresh cases were reported in the state on Friday while the fatality count due to the disease increased to eight with the death of a 65-year-old woman at a hospital here, officials said. The fresh cases include eight people evacuated from Iran, they said.

On Friday, the maximum number of cases  53  were reported in Jaipur, a hotspot, taking the tally of COVID-19 patients in the state capital to 221.

Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh rose to 433 on Friday, with 23 new cases being reported, of whom 21 are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, the state government said.

It said the deadly virus has now spread to 40 of the state's 75 districts, with Agra being the worst hit at 88 positive cases and one death.

Gujarat records highest single-day jump

On Friday, Gujarat recorded the highest jump so far in a single day after as many as 116 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, officials said. The number of coronavirus positive patients in the state jumped to 378.

After two more COVID-19 patients succumbed to the infection, the death toll in the state has reached 19, Principal Secretary (Health), Jayanti Ravi, said.

This is for the first time that such a large number of positive cases have surfaced in a single day in the state.

According to Health Ministry, COVID-19 cases have gone up to 473 in Telengana, 363 in Andhra Pradesh and 357 in Kerala.

The ministry also reported 197 cases in Karnataka, 184 in Jammu and Kashmir and 169 in Haryana. Punjab has 132 COVID-19 patients so far while West Bengal has 116 cases.

Bihar has reported 60 cases while Odisha has 44 coronavirus cases. Thirty-five people were infected with the virus in Uttarakhand while Assam has 29 patients followed by Himachal Pradesh with 28 cases. Chandigarh has 18 cases while Ladakh has 15. Jharkhand has 13 coronavirus positive patients so far.

Eleven cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands while 10 were reported from Chhattisgarh. Goa has reported seven COVID-19 infections, followed by Puducherry at five, Manipur at two while Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported one case each.

Punjab extends lockdown till 1 May day before Modi meets CMs of states

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh Friday announced the extension of lockdown in the state till 1 May, a day after Odisha extended it to 30 April.

Singh said that most of the 27 positive cases reported in his state on Thursday  the maximum daily increase for the state  were those of secondary transmission and expressed apprehension that the state may be entering the community transmission stage of the outbreak.

In Tamil Nadu, an expert committee recommended to Chief Minister K Palaniswami that the lockdown be extended by two weeks beyond 14 April considering the rise in number of cases.

A review meeting was also held by the Prime Minister's Office during the day on various efforts to check the coronavirus spread, which also discussed ramping up of production of personal protective equipments (PPEs) among other issues.

The Home Ministry, separately, has sought views of state governments on the 21-day lockdown, scheduled to end on 14 April, including whether more categories of people and services need to be exempted, officials said on Friday.

Some of the suggestions made by state governments include allowing construction-related activities in rural areas.

The central government, while imposing the lockdown, had announced that shops dealing in essential commodities, including the online platforms, will remain open, besides services like health, sanitation, police, media, agriculture and banking. Movements of essential and non-essential cargos were also allowed by the government, but there have been reports about disruptions in the supply chain due to lack of labourers and trucks, among other issues.

There have also been reports of depleting levels of essential goods from various parts of the country.

Some states such as Kerala have suggested phased opening of the lockdown, while other suggestions from various states include allowing liquor sale to shore up the revenues and to allow private vehicles on an odd-even basis. However, most states have suggested keeping the public road transport, rail and airline services suspended for more time. Many have also recommended keeping state borders sealed, except for goods movement.

A few states have also suggested area-specific lockdown with stricter restrictions, which are as such being followed in the places identified as hotspots of the virus spread.

Odisha, Telangana make masks mandatory

In the meantime, more states including Odisha and Telangana made it mandatory for people to wear masks or face covers at public places, while enforcement was beefed up for action against those violating the lockdown conditions.

The Centre also asked states not to allow religious gatherings and processions.

Government officials also said that a decision on bringing Indians from abroad will be taken at a later stage after reviewing the COVID-19 situation.

With inputs from agencies
Satara/Mumbai, April 10 : The Maharashtra government on Friday ordered a probe against a senior IPS officer who allegedly permitted the scam-tainted Wadhawan brothers and others to travel from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar flouting state and national lockdown norms, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said.

In a double whammy, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) rushed to enter the scene by shooting off an email to the Satara Superintendent of Police not to release the scam-tainted Wadhawan brothers - who were absconding since a month - without its prior permission.

Raising eyebrows, a day after getting permission to travel from Pune district to Satara district, on Thursday, DHFL's RBI-appointed Administrator R. Subramaniakumar announced a contribution of one-day's salary by all employees to PM-CARES Fund, but the amount was not specified.

The officer on the radar is Principal Secretary (Special) in the Home Department, Amitabh Gupta (IPS), who was shunted on 'compulsory leave' early today after the controversy erupted late on Thursday night.

Simultaneously, the Mahabaleshwar Police swung into action early today and booked 23 persons of the Wadhawan family and others for violating various laws including the Indian Penal Code, Disaster Management Act, Epidemic Diseases Act, etc, said Deshmukh.

The probe will be conducted and completed within 15 days by Addl Chief Secretary Manoj Saunik, the minister added.

Gupta's permission - in the form of a 'To Whomsoever It May Concern' letter - was issued on his personal letterhead on April 8 (Wednesday), permitting the Wadhawans and others to cross from Khandala (Pune) to Mahabaleshwar (Satara).

"They were found here on Thursday evening and said they had come from Mumbai, travelling from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar. We have lodged a FIR against them under various laws pertaining to flouting lockdown under the pandemic," an official from Mahabaleshwar Police Station told IANS.

According to local reports, several natives from Mahabaleshwar were surprised to see a convoy of vehicles suddenly zooming in and shattering the calm of the hill station on Thursday afternoon.

While some protested, others complained to the police, expressing apprehensions about the medical condition of the visitors who had come there at the height of the pandemic lockdown.

The matter sparked off a storm late on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and state Vice-President Kirit Somaiya demanding a probe and Deshmukh's scalp.

Hitting out at the BJP, Deshmukh and Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik said that since IAS and IPS officers come under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Officer, any powers to suspend them are vested only with the PMO.

"Since your party (BJP) is in power at the Centre, you should demand his suspension from the PMO," both ministers said.

Gupta's helpful letter said: "This is to just inform you that following are well known to me as they are my family friends and travelling from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar for family emergency. Hence you are hereby informed through this letter to co-operate with them to reach their destination." It listed the registration numbers of all the five vehicles and the names of all the family members, friends, and others who were planning to travel in each of the vehicles for the unspecified 'family emergency'.

For the agency, the action in Satara has proved to be fortunate as it managed to trace the absconders - Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj - who are presently lodged in a government quarantine centre in the adjoining twin-hill station of Panchgani.

The CBI said that the Wadhawan brothers were absconding since beginning of the investigation in the alleged Yes Bank scam probe, but have now been found sitting in a government isolation centre.

Last month, the CBI had raided the Wadhawans' premises, but both were missing and later the CBI served notices to them, but they did not respond.

Following their-non compliance, the Mumbai Special CBI Court on March 17 issued a non-bailable warrant against both of them, but they continued to evade the law.

Besides CBI, the Wadhawans are also accused by the Enforcement Directorate, which had summoned them, searched their premises in Mumbai and Mahabaleshwar, but they could not be traced.

After the arrest of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor on March 8 by the ED, the Wadhawans went into hiding, but the coronavirus has helped the investigating agencies trace and pin them down.

The Wadhawans have been linked as accused in the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank and Yes Bank scams along with the entities, DHFL-HDIL.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
Several Bollywood actors followed Akshay Kumars call to acknowledge the contribution of all essential workers during the lockdown period with the hashtag #DilSe Thank you. Actors Katrina Kaif, Vicky Kaushal and many others followed suit as they put out their gratitude on their social media handles.

In a video message shared on Twitter, Akshay recalled a conversation he had with a Mumbai police officer yesterday, who is also a good friend of the actor, and said that the conservation gave him a new insight into the situation. Akshay, you people are scared to come out of your homes, and the irony is we are afraid to go home. We do not want to transfer any sort of disease to our family as we are on the streets the whole day, meeting different kinds of people, he quoted his friend in the police as saying.

Watch: #DilSeThankYou - Akshay Kumar lauds those fighting COVID-19 from frontlines

Later in the two-minutes and 12-seconds video, he addressed of the people, the essential workforce, be it police force, city workers, doctors, nurses, NGO volunteers, government officials, even the ration and vegetable dealer and the watchmen who are working putting their health at risk to ensure our safety.

Soon after, Katrina Kaif hopped on to Instagram and thanked the police officials through both an Instagram post and a story. In the story, Kaif posted a picture of the Mumbai Police badge on the uniform of the officials and wrote: Thank You.

Katrina Kaif, Vicky Kaushal and Gurmeet Chaudhary say Dil Se Thank You.

She also posted a video of the police officials on duty and wrote, Thank You Mumbai Police. Saluting the bravery and dedication of the Mumbai Police and Maharashtra Police who are working so hard while we stay in the safety and comfort of our homes. Tremendous respect for all of you #DilSeThankYou #StayHome #MumbaiPolice #MaharashtraPolice, her caption further read.

Vicky Kaushal took to Twitter and thanked Mumbais Director General of Police (DGP) and the rest of the officials. My heartfelt thanks and salute to each and every braveheart of @MumbaiPolice and @DGPMaharashtra who are out there, selflessly and relentlessly fighting the battle for all of us. You are the real heroes and Im your fan for life! #ThankYouMumbaiPolice #ThankYouMaharshtraPolice, he tweeted.

This is the time to thank our Maharashtra police force,our BMC workers and staff,who leave their families at home and are working with untiring efforts for our security and safety ..#DilSeThankYou to @MaharashtraPolice @CPMumbaiPolice @MumbaiPolice @mybmc #CoronaWarriors pic.twitter.com/WsMUdUjgJH  Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) April 9, 2020

Actor Shilpa Shetty Kundra thanked the police officials in a special by posting a picture of herself holding a placard that read, #Dil Se Thank You. Jai Hind. Mumbai se main, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, apne aur apne poore parivaar ki orr se @MumbaiPolice, @mybmc, Nagar Nigam ke workers, doctors, nurses, NGOs, volunteers, govt. officials, vendors, building ke guards ko #DilSeThankYou kehna chahti hoon. Aap hain isiliye hum surakshit hain, she tweeted along with the picture.

(With ANI inputs)

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Mental health helpline marks 25th birthday with plea to those struggling during COVID-19 crisis

This article is old - Published: Friday, Apr 10th, 2020

Staff at a Wrexham based mental health helpline are marking its 25th birthday by calling on people struggling with their mental health during the COVID-19 crisis to reach out for support.

Since its launch the CALL Mental Health Helpline for Wales has provided support to half a million people.

With the COVID-19 crisis likely to have a significant impact on mental health, the helplines services have never been more vital.

To mark its quarter century birthday this week, Manager Luke Ogden is urging people across Wales who are struggling during these uncertain times to get in touch for support.

We know that during the COVID-19 crisis there will be an increase in people struggling with their mental health for a variety of reasons, he said.

This could be because they are feeling isolated from the support network of friends and family; are worried about their finances or if they have a job to go back to; or are struggling to adapt to life under the COVID-19 lockdown.

We have already seen an increase in calls to the helpline but we want more people across Wales to know that if they are struggling we will always be here to support them, just as we have been over the past 25 years.

The service is funded by the Welsh Government and managed by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

As well as providing a telephone helpline which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, CALL Helplines website offers a comprehensive directory of local and national mental health support. CALL staff also provide emotional support and advice via social media and a text message service for those who feel uncomfortable or unable to talk through their problems over the phone.

The helpline operators are the backbone of this vital service and its no exaggeration to say that they are life savers explained Luke.

We also help to alleviate pressure on our Emergency Services colleagues by supporting people who have dialled 999 or 101 because they need emotional support and dont know where to turn.

Our motto is a problem shared is a problem halved, and we want people to know that we are here to support them during the difficult weeks and months ahead.
Good news about the coronavirus is in short supply. The United States confirmed case count is approaching half a million  more than triple any other countrys. The U.S. will soon lead the world in COVID-19 deaths as well. Roughly 95 percent of Americans are living under lockdown orders. No one seems to have any real sense of how or when this will end.

But look a little harder and you can just start to discern a faint light at the end of this very dark tunnel. You just have to know where to look.

Ignore the skyrocketing case count, or at least take it with a grain of salt. As FiveThirtyEights Nate Silver has explained, the number of positive tests reported in any given city, state or country is highly dependent on the number of tests conducted there  which differs wildly from place to place over time. Death tolls are more useful for comparing how the epidemic is evolving in different locales. But because it typically takes weeks for someone with COVID-19 to die, theyre also lagging indicators that tell you less about where on its epidemic trajectory the virus is now than where it was back then.

The number you really want to focus on is hospitalizations. And if its good news youre after, pay particular attention to whats happening in two key states: New York and California.

Until very recently, nationwide data about how many COVID-19 patients are currently receiving treatment in hospitals was hard to come by. Its still incomplete and inconsistent. But on April 7, researchers at the University of Minnesota launched the U.S. COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project, which is just what it sounds like: the first effort to capture, track, visualize and compare daily data on the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations from the 37 state departments of health that are reporting this information (so far).

The reason this information is so valuable is simple. Because hospitalization typically occurs a week or so after infection, its less of a lagging indicator than the death count (which trails by two to two and a half weeks) and more directly tied to the trajectory of the epidemic than the testing-dependent case count. Its also a measure of the most pressing public health concern of all: how close we are to exceeding the capacity of our hospital system, which can make COVID-19 much deadlier than it would otherwise be.

Story continues

Which brings us to New York and California. Chart each states hospitalization data over the last seven days or so, and two different narratives emerge.

Both are encouraging.

Each day this week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has delivered a cautiously optimistic message at his morning briefing.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a press conference on Tuesday. (Michael Brochstein/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

We are reaching a plateau in the total number of hospitalizations, Cuomo said Tuesday. You can see the growth, and you see its starting to flatten.

All of this data suggests we are flattening the curve so far, he added Thursday. So far our efforts are working. Theyre working better than anyone projected they would work.

The hospitalization numbers tell the tale. On Wednesday, New Yorks daily death count hit an all-time high: 799. But that reflects infections from weeks ago, before the states lockdown started. The number of people testing positive stayed relatively flat.

Meanwhile, there were fewer new hospitalizations  just 200  than on any day since March 18.

It wasnt a blip. The amount of new daily hospitalizations has been declining since last Thursday: from 1,427 on April 2 to 1,095 on April 3 to 656 on April 6 to 200 on April 8. (There are some questions about inconsistencies between the data from New York state and New York City, but the trend line is the same.) Previously, the total current number of coronavirus patients in New York hospitals had been increasing by at least 20 percent a day for weeks. Now the overall number of hospitalizations is barely increasing at all.

On Friday, new hospitalizations ticked up slightly, but not enough to alter the curve  which, as Cuomo noted, is much, much lower than any of [the models] projected.

Thats what Cuomo meant by a plateau. If current trends continue  and given how conscientious New Yorkers have been about staying home, theres no reason to think they wont  total current hospitalizations should hover right around 18,000 to 20,000 for a while, well under the states expanded, 90,000-bed hospital capacity. Then, as new cases start to taper off, the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals should decline. Hopefully, todays plateau will become tomorrows peak.

A patient is wheeled out of Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, N.Y., to a waiting ambulance on Tuesday. (Kathy Willens/AP)

Assuming that happens, New Yorks hospitalization numbers will have been an early sign that the hardest-hit state in the U.S. is turning the corner and getting its coronavirus outbreak under control.

The story in California is different but also heartening. The Golden States hospitalization curve is not changing drastically like New Yorks. In fact, its not changing much at all.

But thats the good news.

On March 16, the Bay Area stunned the nation when health officers in six counties jointly ordered residents to stay indoors. Eleven other California counties soon joined the order, and on March 19 it was expanded statewide by Gov. Gavin Newsom  the first statewide lockdown in the U.S. By that time, the virus had already spread widely in New York, the nations largest, most densely populated city. A lockdown there three days later came too late to slow its exponential growth.

California caught the coronavirus earlier in its trajectory. That fact is reflected in the case count (20,000 to New Yorks 150,000) and the death count (550 to New Yorks 7,000). But the hospitalization rate may be the most telling metric. Since the state began reporting hospitalization data at the end of March, total confirmed COVID-19 admissions  they currently stand at 2,825, with another 2,803 suspected cases  have been rising by only 1 to 4 percent per day. Thats roughly the same slow and steady rate of increase Cuomo is now touting in New York as a plateau.

Except so far, California has been all plateau. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the number of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care dropped  by 1.9 percent, to 1,132  for the first time since California began tracking them.

Its one point of data, but nonetheless its encouraging, Newsom said. It again reinforces the wonderful work we are all doing. The curve has bent in the state, but it continues to be stretched.

This idea of stretching the curve is key. The good news in New York is that the state might be peaking now. The good news in California is that the state might not peak for a long time  but its path to that peak will be so incremental, its curve so flat, that coronavirus patients will never come close to overwhelming the hospital system.

Of course, this is happening only because both states have been in lockdown for weeks, at great cost to their economies. Both Newsom and Cuomo warn every day against what the latter recently described as slacking off; as soon as residents start to ease up on social distancing, the virus will have another opportunity to spread. For this reason, transitioning back into something that resembles normal life will be enormously complicated.

Nonetheless, the hospitalization numbers suggest  tentatively but hopefully  that thats the direction both New York and California are heading in.

_____

Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

Read more:
Priests wearing hard hats led a small Easter prayer ceremony at Notre Dame today, one year after a fire ripped through the French cathedral.

Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit declared 'there is still life here,' as he joined a handful of clerics and well-known actors in worship for Good Friday.

For most of France, Easter celebrations have been effectively cancelled as part of last month's ban on large gatherings to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Restoration work at the world heritage site was also halted, adding to doubts about the government's ambitious plans to rebuild the 13th-century landmark by 2024.

Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral's rector Patrick Chauvet repositions the Crown of Thorns, a relic of the passion of Christ, after a ceremony to celebrate Good Friday

Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit (right, with Patrick Chauvet) declared 'there is still life here,' as he joined a handful of clerics in worship for Good Friday

From left: Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral's rector Patrick Chauvet, Auxiliary Bishop of Paris Denis Jachiet and Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit listen to violinist Renaud Capucon

'In this Holy Week, the entire world has been stunned by a pandemic that is spreading death and paralysing us,' Aupetit said.

After a moment of silence before a crown of thorns, which many Christians believe was placed on Jesus' head during his crucifixion, Aupetit offered thanks for the 'global movement' that followed the blaze to ensure the cathedral 'is rebuilt and restored'.

Star French classical violinist Renaud Capucon - wearing a plastic suit and boots to protect against the toxic lead from the molten roof that still contaminates the site - then played Bach sonatas.

Prominent French actors Judith Chemla and Philippe Torreton - similary clad - also read texts from Mother Theresa, Paul Claudel and others.

Archbishop Aupetit speaks with violonist Renaud Capucon, actor Judith Chemla and actor Philippe Torreton after they performed at the ceremony

Restoration work at the world heritage site was also halted, adding to doubts about the government's ambitious plans to rebuild the 13th-century landmark by 2024

The cathedral's structure remains at risk as workers try to consolidate walls weakened by the collapse of the oak beams supporting the roof as well as the steeple, which were undergoing restoration when the fire broke out on April 15, 2019 (steeple and spire collapsing, pictured)

The cathedral's structure remains at risk as workers try to consolidate walls weakened by the collapse of the oak beams supporting the roof as well as the steeple, which were undergoing restoration when the fire broke out on April 15, 2019.

They must still carefully remove a tangled web of molten steel scaffolding before being able to fully cover the gaping hole in the roof and protect the site from rain - an operation that was set for this spring before being halted by the coronavirus crisis.

France has recorded 118,790 cases and 12,228, according to Johns Hopkins university.
Representative image

As the technology and startup world steps up its fight against COVID-19 in partnership with the government, ventilator manufacturing is one area where some concrete progress has already happened. With direct support from the government, Agva Healthcare, which had developed a portable and cost-effective ventilator in the country, is ramping up production of the devices in its Noida plant.

We have received support from Maruti Suzuki India in terms of manpower, space and manufacturing know-how, armed with which we are aiming at producing 10,000 to 15,000 ventilators in the coming month, said Diwakar Vaish, cofounder of Agva Healthcare.

From next month onwards the target is to ramp up production to 25,000 pieces, he added. Moneycontrol had written on March 24 how Agva Healthcare was prepping up to manufacture new ventilators and deploy them at hospitals quickly.

They have received an order for 10,000 ventilators from the central government which will eventually be given out to the major hospitals in the frontline treating COVID-19 patients.

To help the startup deal with financial requirements, the government has even made an advance with regards to payments for the ventilators, which are priced at Rs 1.5 lakh each. The advantage of these devices is that they are portable and can be deployed quickly.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The device is just shy of one foot and weigh only 2.5 kg, said Vaish. Normally ventilators tend to be bulky and occupy a large space. India used to primarily import these devices from other countries.

Bengaluru-based Ethereal Machines has also pitched in with its own efforts to enhance ventilators which are a crucial device in the fight against COVID-19. Since the virus attacks the lungs, the ventilators can provide breathing assistance to patients in an advanced stage of the infection. But India does not have a sufficient number of such devices. Media reports peg the total number in the country anywhere between 17,000 and 57,000.

Ethereal Machines is creating splitters for ventilators thereby enabling them to provide support to two patients at the same time. This device will come in handy when the number of ventilators fall woefully short in comparison to the number of patients requiring intensive care which is not the case in India, yet.

On March 27, Moneycontrol wrote how India could leverage its 3D printing capabilities to help hospitals and frontline medical staff treat patients suffering from Covid19.

The startup recently received Rs 50 lakh in grants from ACT Grant which is a Rs 100-crore fund created by top venture capitalists and startup founders in the country. They have also started to mass-produce the product so they can be deployed with hospitals falling short of the life-support device.

These splitters are advanced 3D-printed valve-like structures which can not only split oxygen flow between two patients but also prevent cross-contamination. With regards to the regulatory nod, the Central Drug Standard and Control Organisation does not directly regulate these devices. Therefore, they can be deployed if the medical fraternity okays it and only when there is a severe shortage of life-support machines.

We are finalising the vendors for production and are looking to make 25,000 of these devices by the end of this month. We will also create a request page where hospitals and medical professionals can put in their requests, said Kaushik Mudda, cofounder of Ethereal Machines.
scyther5/iStock(HOLYOKE, Mass.) -- A federal investigation is now underway at Soldiers' Home in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where at least 25 veterans have died and management has been accused of failing to protect residents and staff amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.



The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts and the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division announced the joint investigation on Friday.



The agencies will examine whether the Soldiers' Home, a state-runhealth care facility for veterans, "violated the rights of residents by failing to provide them adequate medical care generally, and during the coronavirus pandemic," according to a statement.



Of the 25 veteran residents who've died since late March, 18 tested positive for the coronavirus, while three have pending test results, three tested negative and one was unknown, according to the latest information from the state's Office of Health and Human Services on Monday.



At least 59 veteran residents have tested positive, while 31 employees have tested positive, according to the agency. There were 159 veteran residents and 179 employees who tested negative, the agency said.



A spokesperson for the agency released a statement following news of the investigation, saying it's "imperative" that the facility provide a safe environment for residents and staff. The statement also included efforts made by officials during the crisis, including putting Superintendent Bennett Walsh on paid administrative leave and instituting an onsite clinical command team.



Those team members "have assertively responded to the emergency situation and are continually making necessary changes on the ground to protect resident safety," the spokesperson said. "The circumstances that led to the heartbreaking situation at Holyoke Soldiers' Home are the subject of a full and impartial investigation ordered by the Governor, led by Attorney Mark Pearlstein."



Employees have told ABC News that management at the home, including Walsh, did not provide staff with personal protective equipment and that veterans who had been exposed to the virus were placed in overcrowded rooms with veterans who had not been exposed.



Walsh has not responded to requests for comment from ABC News, but did provide a statement to MassLive defending his actions.



The investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office and DOJ is separate from the independent investigation that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has ordered.



"It would be difficult to overstate our obligation to the health and well-being of elderly and disabled military veterans and, by extension, to their families.  My condolences to the families of those veterans who died while in the Homes care; we will get to the bottom of what happened here," U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said in a statement.



Cory Bombredi, an organizer with the Local 888 union that represents some of the employees, applauded the new investigation.



"I find the news promising that we now have several sets of eyes looking into the events that led to the unnecessary death of our veterans, and the spread of COVID-19 throughout our membership," Bombredi told ABC News.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
On Wednesday, April 8, 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new guidance under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) that authorizes licensed pharmacists to order and administer COVID-19 tests, as long as the tests are authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

According to the guidance issued by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, expanding COVID-19 testing across America is a critical component in the federal govenrments response to the pandemic. The guidance notes that pharmacists, in partnership with other healthcare providers, are well positioned to aid COVID-19 testing expansion, due to their status as trusted healthcare professionals with established relationships with their patients.

The guidance also cited the fact that the majority of Americans live close to either a retail or independent community-based pharmacy and that proximity reduces travel to testing locations. Pharmacists also have strong relationships with medical providers and hospitals to appropriately refer patients when necessary.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar issued the following statement: Giving pharmacists the authorization to order and administer COVID-19 tests to their patients means easier access to testing for Americans who need it. Pharmacists play a vital role in delivering convenient access to important public health services and information. The Trump Administration is pleased to give pharmacists the chance to play a bigger role in the COVID-19 response, alongside all of Americas heroic healthcare workers.

HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Brett P. Giroir, M.D., also issued a statement, In an effort to expand testing capabilities, we are authorizing licensed pharmacists to order and administer COVID-19 tests to their patients. The accessibility and distribution of retail and independent community-based pharmacies make pharmacists the first point of contact with a healthcare professional for many Americans. This will further expand testing for Americans, particularly our healthcare workers and first responders who are working around the clock to provide care, compassion and safety to others.

A Word of Caution

As noted by Tom Buckley, Legislative Chair at the Connecticut Society of Health-System Pharmacists, This is federal authorization. Connecticut has not yet released anything with regard to procedure, regulation or reimbursement. The Governor announced that CVS will be having 2 drive-through testing sites in CT within a week or so (Stamford and New London). We dont know if pharmacists will be ordering and administering at these sites.

This indicates that before administering the tests, pharmacists should check with their individual states procedure on ordering and administering the COVID-19 tests.

A PDF outline of priorities for testing patients with suspected COVID-19 infection can be found here.
Plans to turn the Cathedral of St. John the Divine into a vast coronavirus field hospital were abruptly shelved on Thursday, with public health officials saying that a leveling off in virus-related hospitalizations in New York City had made them reassess the need for the project.

But behind the scenes, Episcopal leaders said they were upset by the role played in the project by Samaritans Purse, an evangelical humanitarian organization whose approach to L.G.B.T. issues runs counter to that of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, which is based out of the cathedral.

Samaritans Purse is led by the Rev. Franklin Graham, who has been criticized for anti-Muslim and anti-L.G.B.T.Q. rhetoric and whose organization is based on a statement of faith that includes a belief that marriage is exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female.

The Episcopal Church did not realize that Samaritans Purse would be involved in the project when it offered the use of the cathedral to Mount Sinai Health System last month, and the slowing rate of hospitalizations might have created an opportunity for all parties to step back from a fraught situation, officials said.
Blog Archive Apr 2010 (22) May 2010 (25) Jun 2010 (8) Jul 2010 (12) Aug 2010 (18) Sep 2010 (19) Oct 2010 (29) Nov 2010 (30) Dec 2010 (18) Jan 2011 (13) Feb 2011 (21) Mar 2011 (23) Apr 2011 (19) May 2011 (31) Jun 2011 (36) Jul 2011 (46) Aug 2011 (26) Sep 2011 (12) Oct 2011 (15) Nov 2011 (17) Dec 2011 (7) Jan 2012 (18) Feb 2012 (4) Mar 2012 (12) Apr 2012 (18) May 2012 (10) Jun 2012 (21) Jul 2012 (8) Aug 2012 (15) Sep 2012 (7) Oct 2012 (17) Nov 2012 (20) Dec 2012 (10) Jan 2013 (58) Feb 2013 (59) Mar 2013 (60) Apr 2013 (98) May 2013 (135) Jun 2013 (204) Jul 2013 (293) Aug 2013 (351) Sep 2013 (363) Oct 2013 (348) Nov 2013 (374) Dec 2013 (442) Jan 2014 (547) Feb 2014 (476) Mar 2014 (526) Apr 2014 (527) May 2014 (469) Jun 2014 (408) Jul 2014 (472) Aug 2014 (522) Sep 2014 (443) Oct 2014 (472) Nov 2014 (497) Dec 2014 (536) Jan 2015 (539) Feb 2015 (520) Mar 2015 (582) Apr 2015 (658) May 2015 (679) Jun 2015 (673) Jul 2015 (728) Aug 2015 (803) Sep 2015 (923) Oct 2015 (924) Nov 2015 (802) Dec 2015 (791) Jan 2016 (782) Feb 2016 (835) Mar 2016 (929) Apr 2016 (866) May 2016 (947) Jun 2016 (1044) Jul 2016 (882) Aug 2016 (1035) Sep 2016 (967) Oct 2016 (918) Nov 2016 (854) Dec 2016 (885) Jan 2017 (879) Feb 2017 (777) Mar 2017 (896) Apr 2017 (872) May 2017 (850) Jun 2017 (851) Jul 2017 (971) Aug 2017 (1040) Sep 2017 (998) Oct 2017 (1144) Nov 2017 (1046) Dec 2017 (838) Jan 2018 (873) Feb 2018 (769) Mar 2018 (885) Apr 2018 (809) May 2018 (827) Jun 2018 (820) Jul 2018 (840) Aug 2018 (854) Sep 2018 (844) Oct 2018 (851) Nov 2018 (870) Dec 2018 (912) Jan 2019 (919) Feb 2019 (827) Mar 2019 (957) Apr 2019 (913) May 2019 (1007) Jun 2019 (935) Jul 2019 (950) Aug 2019 (936) Sep 2019 (910) Oct 2019 (920) Nov 2019 (874) Dec 2019 (908) Jan 2020 (941) Feb 2020 (849) Mar 2020 (898) Apr 2020 (848) May 2020 (822) Jun 2020 (789) Jul 2020 (819) Aug 2020 (858) Sep 2020 (841) Oct 2020 (873) Nov 2020 (812) Dec 2020 (780) Jan 2021 (765) Feb 2021 (716) Mar 2021 (819) Apr 2021 (805) May 2021 (815) Jun 2021 (824) Jul 2021 (830) Aug 2021 (832) Sep 2021 (791) Oct 2021 (754) Nov 2021 (683) Dec 2021 (693) Jan 2022 (254)
An alert has been sounded in Bihar following a letter from the office of the Commandant of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) that some Indians who may be infected with coronavirus might try to enter the country through the porous border with Nepal.

Hindustan Times has seen the letter written by the commandant of 47th battalion of the SSB, Ramgarhwa, and addressed to the district magistrate of West Champaran and the Superintendent of police, Bettiah district.

Dated April 3, the letter said that a Nepal-based smuggler Jalim Mukhiya planned to spread Corona pandemic in India.

It said that the Indians attempting to cross the border might consume paracetamol tablets to lower their temperature on the way and they may be corona positive.

In a letter dated April 7, West Champaran district magistrate Kundan Kumar ordered officials to increase vigilance along the border, and informed the Bettiah and Bagha superintendents of police (SPs) and officials at the sub-divisional and block levels.

West Champaran SP Nitasha Giriya said that the administration has kept a tab on the activities on border through CCTVs.

The border along Nepal is completely sealed and under the strict vigilance of district administration and SSB. There is no movement through Indo-Nepal border, Bettiah SP Nitasha Gudiya said.

Priyavart Sharma, commandant of the 47th battalion, SSB said, There were some inputs received sometime back and shared it with the authorities concerned. He refused to divulge any further information.

Recently, Sitamarhi SP on April 6 also instructed the SHOs of Indo-Nepal border to identify areas where people easily cross the border after lockdown. The SP also directed them to set up barriers or fencing through wire on illegal crossing. In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, authorities had earlier sealed the Indo-Nepal border to ban entry of foreign nationals into Bihar.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The National Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has donated Infections Prevention and Control (IPC) commodities to the Saint Martins de Pores hospital, Eikwe in the Western Region.



Presenting the items to the management of the hospital, the personal assistant of the National Chairman, Abeka Dauda Anvegyene commended management and staff of the hospital for their commitment and dedication towards the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.



He reiterated Chairman Blays commitment towards assisting the facility to cater for its patients, management and staff towards the total prevention and management of all infectious diseases that may be recorded at the hospital.



This gesture is in tune with His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos efforts at containing and preventing the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic in Ghana and to a large extent, globally.



The Saints Martins de Pores Hospital being the only hospital in the area requires all and sundry to contribute their widows' mite towards infection and prevention of the spread of COVID-19 from patients to staff and vice versa.



Among the items presented to the hospital were; Veronica buckets, Disposable gloves, Nose masks, Liquid soap, Hand sanitizers, among many others.



On his part, the Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Kuppa expressed his appreciation and gratitude to Freddie Blay for the donation and also pledged to use the items to the benefit of the staff, patients, and the general public who assess health care services at the hospital.



Freddy Blay donated a state of the art ambulance to the same hospital a couple of months ago during their 60th anniversary celebration.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
CHICAGO, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Telemedicine consults at First Stop Health as of April 6 were 43% higher than March 9, the beginning of the COVID pandemic in the U.S. While overall patient demand for telemedicine services has decreased in the past few weeks for the reasons set forth in our last release of statistics, requests for consults for coronavirus-related issues continued to increase and is now at 21% of all consults. Despite sustained overall increases in demand for consults, First Stop Health patients are back to receiving convenient access to care at an average doctor response time of less than three minutes.

Telemedicine is helping keep people away from medical waiting rooms and providing much-needed advice to anxious patients on how to operate in the presence of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus.

First Stop Health Telemedicine trends:



COVID-19

Consults* Non-COVID-19

Consults* Consult Increase

Since March 9 Median Doctor

Response Time March 9 1% 99% -- <6 minutes March 16 9% 91% 78% <15 minutes March 23 9% 91% 92% <11 minutes March 30 20% 80% 57% <9 minutes April 6 21% 79% 43% <3 minutes

*Percentage of telemedicine consults

According to the CDC, COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have increased from 647 on March 9 to more than 374,000 on April 6.

Learn more about First Stop Health by visiting fshealth.com.

About First Stop Health

First Stop Health provides care that people love. Patients can talk with doctors 24/7 via mobile app, website or phone. We help them save time and money with convenient, high-quality care. Our Telemedicine services are only available as an employee benefit program from employers.

Media Contact

Nick Severino | VP, Marketing | First Stop Health

888-691-7867 x-410 | [email protected]

SOURCE First Stop Health

Related Links

http://fshealth.com


The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has urged the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) to speed up the registration of REX codes for producers to facilitate exports to the European Union (EU).

The Ministry of Industry and Trade urges VCCI to speed up registration of REX Code to facilitate exports

REX, or registered exporter system, is a system of certification of origin of goods based on self-certification.

The VCCI is in charge of receiving exporters application for registration of REX Code and carrying out the registration.

According to the MoIT, the process of registering the codes has been slow.

The MoITcited figures on the EUs REX Authorisation system that the VCCI had registered a REX Code for 429 producers or just 10.7 percent of the total 4,000 exporters who were applying for C/O form A.

Some enterprises said they had sent documents to the VCCI for certification for a REX Code but had not received a response from the VCCI, according to the MoIT.

The MoIT asked the VCCI to speed up the registration of REX Codes for firms to facilitate exports to the EU, Norway and Switzerland, together with providing instructions for firms on how to complete documents for registration.

The REX system means producers would not need to apply for C/O form A each time they export goods to the EU.

Instead, they could self-certify the origins of the goods for orders with a value of below 6,000 euros and for orders worth above 6,000 euros, they would need to register REX Code at the VCCI for self-certification of goods origin. VNA

Exports suffer during Covid-19 crisis as orders are cancelled or delayed Some countries have temporarily closed shopping centers and asked people to stay at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which has affected exports of Vietnamese enterprises.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police on Staten Island arrested four men who allegedly broke into a truck with furniture from a store on Hylan Boulevard in Dongan Hills, NYPD Chief of Patrol Fausto Pichardo announced via social media.

Pichardo praised the phenomenal work by Anti-Crime Unit officers from the 122nd Precinct for nabbing the suspects, according to the post.

The suspects allegedly entered a 2007 white truck to remove a sectional sofa on Thursday at about 2 a.m. behind Muranos Furniture at 1510 Hylan Blvd., according to a spokeswoman for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

The four suspects all were apprehended and arrested moments later at the corner of Evergreen Avenue and Hylan Boulevard, according to the police spokeswoman.

The suspects allegedly used a stolen, 2008 Subaru Outback belonging to a 57-year-old man during the incident, according to the police spokeswoman.

Police identified the four suspects as:

Daniel Scavone, 51, of Lamport Boulevard in the South Beach Houses, who was charged with burglary, criminal trespass and criminal possession of stolen property.

Charles Abbriano, 53, of Carlyle Green in Arden Heights, who faces charges of burglary and criminal possession of stolen property;

John Martin, 51, who police said is homeless, was charged with burglary, criminal use of drug paraphernalia, criminal possession of a controlled substance for allegedly being caught with a crack pipe with crack residue, and criminal possession of stolen property;

Thomas Robbins, 52, of Regal Walk in Graniteville, who faces charges of burglary and criminal possession of stolen property.

Information about the suspects attorneys is not yet available in court records.
Update: The IRS has launched a new tool to help people register their direct deposit information for stimulus payments.

Americans are waiting for their coronavirus stimulus payments.

If you normally get your tax refund or benefits from Social Security by direct deposit, thats how youll get your stimulus check.

But if you normally get a paper check for benefits, it will take longer to get your stimulus money.

Much longer.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin previously said payments would start to go out on April 17, but the Washington Post obtained an internal IRS draft document that said payments would start as early as April 9  a week earlier than expected.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Then the Treasury Department said those who get their tax refunds and Social Security benefits by direct deposit would see their payments by April 15.

But if you normally get paper checks from the IRS and Social Security, payments wont start going out until April 24, an IRS spokeswoman told the Post.

Payments would go to the lowest-income Americans first, starting with those with incomes of $10,000 or less on April 24.

Checks for earners of $20,000 or less would be in the mail May 1, followed by those with incomes of $30,000 on May 8, $40,000 on May 15, and continuing in income increments of $10,000 each week, according to the plan. The IRS plans to issue about 5 million checks each week, the report said.

Checks would be issued on Sept. 4 for those who near the income cutoff, and the rest  those for whom the IRS didnt have prior tax information  would be issued on Sept. 11, the report said.

So if you want to speed up when you get a payment, you need to get the IRS your direct deposit information.

The problem is how.

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin previously said the IRS would create a portal so Americans could give this information to the federal government, but thats not expected to be ready until mid-April.

That leaves you with few choices.

First, you could rush to get a tax return ready so the IRS has your direct deposit information. Lots of people are waiting, though, because the federal government extended the tax filing deadline until July 15. New Jersey is expected to follow, but the legislature wont vote on that until April 13.

Second, you could wait for the IRS tool. When its ready, its expected to be posted on the IRS website.

Your third option is to use a tool created by TurboTax. Its not an official IRS tool, though the company said it was created in a partnership with the IRS.

Otherwise, youll just have to wait for your snail mail paper check.

To see how much of a benefit you may receive under the current law, use our stimulus payment calculator.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Have you been Bamboozled? Reach Karin Price Mueller at Bamboozled@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KPMueller. Find Bamboozled on Facebook. Mueller is also the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Stay informed and sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter.
Vineet Upadhyay By

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: In a novel initiative to pursue people to follow social distancing and remain in isolation to fight COVID-19 epidemic, two residents of a border village in Pithoragarh district came out in the attire of mythological characters from Ramayana.

Two residents - Surendra Singh Chauhan (39) and Hafiz Khan (41) - are now getting into the costume as Ravana and Meghnaad respectively and come out to the streets of Baluakote of Dharchula in the border district and urged people to follow social distancing.

"After Ramayana was aired on Doordarshan, it was an instant hit with record viewers across India. We thought characters from the epic can make people pay attention and follow," says Khan.

Chauhan and Khan have already visited several villages with at least 800 or more people everyday for an hour while carrying sanitary materials, equipments and masks to create awareness on coronavirus. Additionally, they sanitize locations such as shops as they are visited by many.

"We approach people and explain them about social distancing and provide masks to those who do not have and urge them to remain at home," added Chauhan.

The duo has been spreading corona awareness for a week now. Prem Singh, a villager, said, "It is a delight to see that our people are aware and concerned about their fellow human beings. "Such steps give us hope."

Till date, out of total 35 COVID-19 positive cases in Uttarakhand, 29 are directly linked to Tabhligi Jamaat followers.
Their plan was simple.

Troy Joe Vitale and Madeline Sung Eade would sell half-a-kilogram of cocaine, make $500,000 in profit then buy gold watches for themselves and their young son.

The couple - aged 27 and 24 - had even talked about retiring once the deal was done.

'I don't care (about the drugs)... I just want to know how much money we (are) going to be making after we sell,' Eade told her boyfriend.

'Once I make half a mil(lion) I'm buying myself a nice watch and retiring,' Vitale said.

The only hole in Vitale and Eade's plan for drug domination, was the fact NSW Police officers were listening to every word.

Police finally swooped on the couple as they prepared to make the exchange over a dinner at a Korean restaurant in Sydney's west - all while their one-year-old son was by their side.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal their downfall after the couple were jailed by the NSW District Court last month for their role supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine.

Troy Joe Vitale and Madeline Sung Eade pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine after being mid-drug deal by police, as their one-year-old son sat in the back of the car

The couple were in business with Dylan Shaw (right), a musclebound bodybuilder and long-time drug dealer and importer

Police began listening to Vitale and Eade's conversations in June 2018 after catching wind of their plan.

The couple were in business with Dylan Shaw, a musclebound bodybuilder and long-time drug dealer and importer.

Shaw and the couple would exchange drugs and cash which would be on-sold, court documents state.

In a recorded conversation from June 27, 2018, Vitale began to explain the deal to his girlfriend, but Eade wasn't overly interested.

'So here's the plan I tell Dylan (Shaw) to pay cash up give you the ounces for $5k each and then he pays cash up,' Vitale said.

'We get the key (kilogram of cocaine), do our thing to it and we turn it into...'

'I don't care about what you turn it into,' Eade interrupted. 'I just want to know how much money we going to be making after we sell?'

Over the weeks that followed the couple continued to discuss the plan, while Vitale had further conversations with Shaw about the logistics.

They discussed the need for a capable 'driver' to deliver the drugs so that they would not attract attention from police.

Eade and Vitale planned to meet with Shaw to do the deal on July 26, 2018.

Vitale and Eade had hoped that the drug deal would land them $500,000, allow them to buy a gold watch and retire

The couple were caught with 586.7g of cocaine (left) and $25,600 cash (right) hidden inside the secret compartment of Eade's Toyota Camry

Police swooped on Vitale, Eade and Shaw after a dinner at the Walnam Ssam Korean Restaurant in Burwood

The night before they discussed whether they could wait until morning to put 586.7g of cocaine and $25,600 inside the hidden compartment of Eade's Toyota Camry.

'No we can't (wait), because I'll probably be in gaol tomorrow,' Vitale told her.

His premonition would be right.

After a business meeting, Vitale, Eade and their young son, and Shaw, emerged to be swarmed on by police.

Wait, wait, it's all mine. My missus had nothing to do with it... Troy Joe Vitale after his arrest

When officers discovered the cash and drugs hidden in the car, they asked Vitale if it belonged to him.

He shook his head, before officers moved onto Eade.

When she too shook her head Vitale blurted out: 'Wait, wait, it's all mine. My missus had nothing to do with it.'

Officers also found $179,000 cash in a false wall in Shaw's car and arrested the trio.

Shaw was sentenced to a minimum four years prison last September, for a variety of drug importation and dealing offences, not just his encounters with Vitale and Eade.

He had come to the attention of Strike Force Wandevan after dealing drugs through Facebook.

Eade and Vitale both pleaded guilty to supplying a commercial quantity of cocaine.

Eade (pictured) was sentenced to a two-year intensive correction order (ICO), formerly known as a suspended sentence, in the Downing Centre District Court last month

When police began to question Eade, her boyfriend (pictured) blurted out: 'Wait, wait, it's all mine. My missus had nothing to do with it.'

Shaw was sentenced to a minimum four years prison last September, while his topless waitress girlfriend Natasha Barlin (left) received a three month ICO for her role in importing steroids

Vitale received a minimum one year and eight month sentence, but with time served was released on parole in late-March.

Eade - who has given birth to the couple's second child since her arrest - vowed she would not re-offend during a court hearing last month.

'I'd personally like to say how deeply sorry I am for what has led me here today,' she said.

'It (jail) was definitely a big wake-up call  somewhere I don't want to go back again.'

She received a two-year intensive corrections order, formerly known as a 'suspended sentence'.

As part of the conditions of the order, she and her children must live with her in-laws.
Camila Cabello-starrer "Cinderella" is the latest Hollywood project to be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The project, to be directed by Kay Cannon, has been described as a retelling of the classic fairy tale.

According to People magazine, the Sony Pictures film will now release on February 5, 2021.

The movie will feature Cabello in the title role, with Billy Porter as the fairy godmother and Idina Menzel as the evil stepmother.

British actor Nicholas Galitzine will star opposite Cabello as Prince Robert.

Former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan is aboard the project and he will play the king and father of Galitzine's Robert.

Popular TV host-actor James Corden is producing the project along with Leo Pearlman through their banner Fulwell73.

Sony had delay a number of its upcoming releases, including Spider-Man spinoff "Morbius", the new "Ghostbusters" and Tom Holland starrer "Uncharted", after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

"Morbius", starring Jared Leto as the titular anti-hero, is now coming in theatres on March 19, 2021, while Jason Reitman-directed "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" has been shifted to March 5, 2021.

Holland's "Uncharted" is now hitting theatres on October 8, 2021.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The coronavirus pandemic is instilling chaos that is shaking the world. When intensive care units are running out of ventilators and essential medications, and some 95,000 people die in a matter of a few months, society panics - and justifiably so.

But medicine is a science with a long history, and the best way forward now is to stick to strategies that we already know can work.

As our nation searches for ways to augment the ventilator supply - with Medtronic rushing to release ventilator design specs and anyone with a 3-D printer or some extra wood wondering if they could help with the problem - there's another path available. The number of ventilators could be increased, and the shortage of sedatives, respiratory therapists and nurses lessened, by getting people off ventilators faster and making those same machines available for the next patients sooner.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?: A timeline of the coronavirus pandemic

That would improve the heartbreaking crisis of depersonalization and isolation felt by covid-19 patients and their families. A protocol already developed over the past 20 years and tested in thousands of patients in critical care successfully shortens time on mechanical ventilation, reduces coma and delirium, accelerates getting out of bed even if in isolation and increases survival.

At the bedside of a covid-19 patient, it's easy to let fear take over - to feel as though nothing in our training has prepared us for this. Perhaps as a result, critical care doctors like us find themselves deviating from our proven techniques. We are regularly placing coronavirus patients on ventilators earlier than we would were it not for their diagnosis, out of fear that they might decompensate rapidly.

We are starting neuromuscular blockade (paralysis) in 40 percent of patients, half of whom would generally not be considered sick enough to require it considering standard approaches to other viral illnesses like severe influenza, which also means these people are sedated very heavily into a coma - begetting another shortage, this one in sedative medications.

Doctors typically use the precarious practice of paralysis less than 10 percent of the time, usually only in severely stiff lungs to prevent damaging them further by a ventilator. Now, reports from the field show, it's being used to treat lungs that are not very stiff at all. Rather than turn to the protocols we know, critical care doctors are flying by the seat of our pants.

That all started because an incredibly talented Italian physician, Luciano Gattinoni - as famous globally as National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci is - submitted a paper on 16 patients with covid-19 that was published just three days later. Everyone in the critical care community listened. With just four words in his journal article, "intubation should be prioritized," tidal shifts in thinking occurred (likely much larger than Gattinoni ever intended), and the usual operating procedures shifted. A ventilator shortage accelerated, which sent policy planners scrambling for solutions.

Covid-19 is "the story of dissemination of anecdotal medicine in a disease you don't know, and the walk away from evidence-based medicine," Christopher Thomas, a critical care physician at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Baton Rouge, told us. "And it's driven by fear and anxiety."

Critical care itself is just 150 years old. During the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale requested to place the most seriously ill patients closer to the nurses' station so they could be monitored more carefully. Specialized shock units were used in World War II to provide efficient resuscitation for the large numbers of severely injured soldiers.

In 1952, in Copenhagen, the polio epidemic ballooned to 900 patients locally, which forced a medical response that thrust the discipline forward. Some providential and seemingly random connections between folks who met on a transatlantic ship journey led to the development and use of rudimentary ventilators, but there weren't enough.

Through the night and day, hundreds of nurses joined with approximately 1,500 medical and dental students to bag ventilate the tracheostomized polio patients manually. Thus, critical care was born - under conditions that seem eerily reminiscent of the stories we've been hearing from Bergamo and New York.

HOUSTONS FINEST: These people are Houstons heroes of the coronavirus pandemic

Images of modern critical care from the 1990s show rows of patients, sedated into the Stone Age, unmoving, tethered to ventilators, families nowhere in sight. This was not an accident. Until about 20 years ago, patients were heavily sedated throughout their critical care stay with the dual goals of pain control and amnesia. Clinicians hoped to spare patients the discomfort and memory of the breathing tube and other procedures and - mistakenly - believed that if the patients appeared to be asleep, they would not remember anything of what went on.

But when patients are sedated, they aren't asleep. For many covid-19 patients, the nightmares of ICU delirium - caused by suspected brain invasion of the coronavirus, immense inflammation throughout the body, toxic effects of over-sedation and new lows of social isolation - are now setting in as a harbinger of ensuing acquired dementia, plus depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

We already know this isn't the best practice. In 1996 and 2000, the New England Journal of Medicine published data showing that interrupting sedation and the breathing machine nearly every day in intubated patients shortened the amount of time they spent on ventilators and got patients out of the ICU faster.

As a result, daily breaks in sedation and the ventilator, known as "spontaneous awakening and breathing trials" (SATs and SBTs), became standard practice globally. We also learned that delirium itself, a waxing and waning in consciousness that is being seen so commonly in covid-19 patients, is the most robust driver of acquired dementia after the ICU - and that we must select and minimize our sedative meds with this in mind.

That groundbreaking research led to the creation of what's known as the "A2F safety bundle," which reminds us how best to care for critically ill patients. The basic tenets are to make sure that our patients have the chance to wake up from sedation each day, unless that proves dangerous. We must assess and manage pain and monitor our patients for delirium daily, in addition to making sure our choice of sedation is the right one, usually avoiding drugs like benzodiazepines, to minimize long-term side effects.

The safety bundle emphasizes the importance of early mobility (getting patients up and walking or using in-bed exercises even when they are still on the vent) and engaging families - both of which are challenges in covid-19 patients, since the virus demands that we isolate them. Unfortunately, this guide can't be completely followed in all covid-19 patients every day. But we must try.

David Janz, director of medical critical care at the University Medical Center in New Orleans, says that these steps were often being lost there early on. "At the beginning of this, we did things that weren't evidence-based," he told us. "They were probably not good practices. We would deeply sedate patients who were remarkably hypoxemic [meaning their blood had very low levels of oxygen]. They'd be on deep sedation for days. When we'd extubate them, if and when we'd extubate them, they'd be laying in bed with little to no attention about mobilizing them." Covid-19 has made doctors much more likely to leave patients on sedation too long to avoid the hypothetical risk that patients might pull out their breathing tubes and the shortages of personal protective equipment that would be required to intubate them again.

CORONAVIRUS CELEBS: Celebrities whove tested positive for COVID-19

In truth, this risk is grossly exceeded by the true danger of subjecting people to ongoing sedation and even one extra day on a ventilator. Without spontaneous awakenings and adherence to the A2F bundle, we have repeatedly shown that patients stay an average of two to four extra days immobilized on life support - and die more often. ICU teams have reams of data from famous ICU physicians like JP Kress at the University of Chicago and Dale Needham at Johns Hopkins showing that prolonged immobilization is extremely dangerous for the human body. But, Janz says, "everyone was very scared, and now we are getting back to our basics."

In a pandemic, everything seems uncertain. There is still so much that we do not know about the coronavirus. But we do know that from years of rigorous research in tens of thousands of patients that the more we comply with our A2Fs, the better our patients do. Our guidelines are perhaps at their most essential in times like these - when we are in the midst of a crisis. No doubt there are heroes with scrubs on in many major cities of the world right now, doing the best they can. But let us not forget the key components of care that we know. They could save us ventilators, sedation - and lives.

- - -

Ely is the co-director of the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship (CIBS) Center at Vanderbilt University and the Nashville Veteran's Administration Hospital. Lamas is a pulmonary and critical care doctor at Brigham & Women's Hospital.
A Japanese idol and actress has gone viral for sharing her quarantine hobby of carefully picking apart pieces of fruit and veg and counting the segments.

Kikkawa You, 27, who's best known for producing the longest song by a Japanese idol at 17 and a half minutes long, started the unconventional lockdown pastime last Friday and has been sharing the results on Twitter ever since.

The first task she took on was disassembling an orange segment into each individual juice sac. She recorded 158 pieces, took a picture, and shared her findings online.

Pictured: Before Japanese pop idol Kikkawa You disassembled an orange segment on 3 April

Pictured: After You, who is currently locked down in Japan, disassembled the orange segment she shared with her followers that she had found 158 individual juice sacs (pictured) on 3 April

Pictured: Japanese actress and pop idol Kikkawa You in an undated photograph

She did the same with strawberry pips on the same day, picking out 241 individual seeds.

Two days later You ventured away from fruit and challenged herself to deconstruct a mass of cod roe into 340 individual eggs.

Over the next few days she painstakingly severed pieces of corn from a cob, juice sacs from a raspberry and pips from a kiwi.

Pictured: A strawberry before Japanese idol Kikkawa You deconstructed it during lockdown last week

Pictured: The individual strawberry seeds after Japanese idol Kikkawa You deconstructed it last week. She recorded 241 individual pips

Pictured: A mass of cod roe before (left) and after (right) it was deconstructed by You in Japan earlier this week

Some Twitter users were concerned about You's state of mind in lockdown, with one asking 'Is she okay?'

One found her actions relatable in the current circumstances.

'I can relate. The other day I was trying to calculate how many slices of bread Ive eaten in my life,' she said.

Pictured: A kiwi half before it was dissected by Japanese idol Kikkawa You this week

Pictured: The individual seeds from the kiwi half after You dissected it to while away the time in lockdown in Japan this week

Pictured: A corn kernel before Japanese idol Kikkawa You disassembled it earlier this week

Pictured: The individual pieces of corn from the kernel. You said she painstakingly counted 433 seeds

Another was concerned about the science behind You's findings, tweeting: 'I thought corn was supposed to have an even number of kernels due to cell division.'

Tokyo declared a state of national emergency due to the coronavirus on Wednesday as the country's death toll reached 85 with 4,768 confirmed cases.

But for pop stars, who have been unable to perform since February due to a closure of large-scale shows, there's been little to do in recent months, according to SoraNews24.

Pictured: An individual raspberry before it was dismantled by You earlier this week in Japan

Pictured: The individual juice sacs of a raspberry after Kikkawa You dismantled it in Japan last week

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the state of emergency would include increased social distancing but stop short of hard lockdowns of the kind in place in Europe.

Governors can ask people to stay inside - something Tokyo's governor has effectively already done by asking people to limit unneccessary outings and work from home.

There will be no punishments for defying the measures and the government are largely relying on peer pressure and respect for authority.
Featured stories

24-year-old woman arrested for string of hit-skips in Westlake, Bay Village involving pedestrians, dogs (WEWS Channel 5)

Experimental coronavirus treatment using plasma from survivors approved for Ohio use (cleveland.com)

Five more test positive for coronavirus at Avon Lake nursing home, bringing total to 17 (cleveland.com)

Unemployment claims in Ohio, U.S. remain stratospheric amid coronavirus crisis (cleveland.com)

Should Ohio plan for a vote-by-mail election in November, just in case? (cleveland.com)

Coronavirus in Ohio

More than have the Ohio deaths attributed to coronavirus have been in Northeast Ohio.Rich Exner, cleveland.com

Ohio has been better at social distancing than coronavirus models anticipated, Gov. Mike DeWine says (cleveland.com)

Protesters try to disrupt Gov. Mike DeWines daily coronavirus briefing (cleveland.com)

One month after first confirmed coronavirus infections, 213 Ohioans have died, 5,512 confirmed cases (cleveland.com)

See coronavirus cases by day for each Ohio county (cleveland.com)

Mapping Ohios 5,512 coronavirus cases, updates and improving trends (cleveland.com)

6 graphics to explain what we now know about coronavirus in Ohio (cleveland.com)

Michigan coronavirus case numbers crack 20,000 -- nearly four times Ohios (cleveland.com)

More data, consistency needed to understand racial, ethnic effects of coronavirus (cleveland.com)

U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman appeals to northeast Ohio hospitals to report coronavirus-related price-gouging, hoarding (cleveland.com)

Ohio manufacturers to make up to 1 million face shields for health-care workers battling the coronavirus (cleveland.com)

Why ventilators matter to hospitals during the coronavirus crisis: A doctors perspective (cleveland.com)

One month into coronavirus stay-at-home, finding your favorite brand of TP, other products still a challenge (cleveland.com)

Do runners leave wake of coronavirus droplets? Simulation shows outside exercisers should keep greater distance (cleveland.com)

Signs you might have cabin fever or worse, and what to do about it (cleveland.com)

Yelp partners with GoFundMe to give small businesses a fighting chance at survival during coronavirus shutdowns (cleveland.com)

Crime

Cleveland police are investigating an officer-involved shooting near Riverside Cemetery.

Man shot to death by off-duty Cleveland police officer in Brooklyn Centre neighborhood, police say (cleveland.com)

Cleveland police release photos of persons of interest in fatal shooting on East Side (cleveland.com)

Two in custody after locking woman in trunk of car, beating at Lorain home, police say (cleveland.com)

Man accused of fatally shooting MMA fighter in Akron (cleveland.com)

69-year-old man fatally stabbed in Akron home, medical examiner says (cleveland.com)

Cleveland / Cuyahoga County

33 Light up, Cleveland! To honor healthcare workers, April 9, 2020

Cleveland reports 23 new cases of coronavirus, the citys largest gain for a single day (cleveland.com)

Nursing home and healthcare workers protest lack of PPE amid coronavirus pandemic (photos) (cleveland.com)

Two more Cuyahoga County Jail inmates test positive for coronavirus, bringing total to 11 (cleveland.com)

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish mulling furloughs for some unionized employees (cleveland.com)

More than 4,000 people in need preregister for Greater Cleveland Food Banks Thursday food distribution (cleveland.com)

Cleveland-area manufacturers among 19 companies helping make face shields to combat coronavirus (cleveland.com)

University Hospitals needs more homemade masks: Heres how you can help (cleveland.com)

It makes me sick: Used gloves and masks popping up in parking lots across Northeast Ohio (WJW Channel 8)

New restaurants Taverne of Richfield, Bobo Taste of Europe thrive with curbside service amid shutdown (cleveland.com)

North Union Farmers Market adapts to coronavirus challenges (cleveland.com)

Cleveland florists are still open for delivery, so you can send Easter flowers to loved ones (cleveland.com)

Local news East

11 Jellybeanville in Euclid

Jellybeanville in Euclid continues but as drive-by display because of coronavirus (photos) (cleveland.com)

Euclid City Schools makes numerous staff cuts, program changes to meet budget (WEWS Channel 5)

A Chagrin Falls High School graduation ceremony in July? Its possible (cleveland.com)

Mayfields 2020 road work schedule includes repair on all major roads; decision not yet made on canceling summer rec activities (cleveland.com)

Local news West

University Hospitals temporarily closing Andover, North Ridgeville emergency departments in preparation for coronavirus surge (cleveland.com)

Family files wrongful-death lawsuit against Parma nursing home involving dementia patient who fell down embankment (cleveland.com)

Coronavirus boosts demand for Elyria-based Invacares oxygen products and beds (cleveland.com)

North Olmsted mayor furloughs 50 city employees during coronavirus pandemic (cleveland.com)

Akron / Canton area

Akron-Summit County Public Library to furlough 339 employees due to coronavirus closures, financial concerns (cleveland.com)

Several Akron-area first responders among those sickened by coronavirus (Akron Beacon Journal)

Giant Eagle looks to the future, adding Cuyahoga Falls store for curbside-pickup-delivery only (cleveland.com)

State

Feds will use extra Great Lakes Restoration Initiative money to fight water pollution and invasive species (cleveland.com)

Ohio State gives $360,000 in donations from Jeffrey Epstein to human trafficking prevention initiative (cleveland.com)
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has called for ramping up testing facilities to check coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, saying it can prove to be a lifesaver in the big state.





In a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, she called for steps that could win over the confidence of everyone by creating a fear-free atmosphere, while keeping aside political ideology, to ensure that people come up voluntarily for testing.

"We are with you in this fight against the pandemic. Coronavirus does not see any religion or caste and affects everyone. In this battle, there is need to take steps by keeping our political ideologies away and help bring people together and create a fear-free atmosphere," she said in her letter.

Stressing on the need for ramping up testing facilities, she said for a state with such a big population "increasing testing can prove to be a

lifesaver".

She said state authorities have to conduct testing on more and more people, on "mild to moderate high risk cases" and treat them on a war footing so that there is less pressure on ICUs.

The Congress leader also called up creation of more isolation wards and quarantine centres soon.

She said with reports of community transmission coming from some parts and clusters in urban areas are being formed, she said there are also reports about COVID-19 infected people hiding their disease.

"This is happening because of fear mongering in the society about this disease. Hence it is important, especially in these clusters to provide right information on a war footing in these areas and immediately stop fake news and myths about the coronavirus," she said in her letter.

She also called for taking such steps that people win the confidence of the government and come forward to get testing done voluntarily.

"It is important that the government takes such steps to inspire confidence of people so that they come up voluntarily for testing," she said, while also calling for seeking the help of NGOs and social and political organisations to unitedly fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Making a host of suggestions in her letter to UP CM, the Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh also called for improving sanitation facilities and provision of free ration to the poor and the marginalised.
100,000 face visors are being delivered to the HSE after University of Limerick designed them using a 3-D printer.

The project was carried out in conjunction with University Hospital Limerick and also includes the refinement of a shield used during patient intubation and ventilation.

The designs will help to protect front-line staff and increase the amount of treatments in hospitals.

In less than two weeks, the team designed solutions to three critical clinical challenges facing clinicians due to the pandemic.

These include capacity to manufacture 100,000 face visors for HSE front-line staff, refinement of a shield concept to protect anaesthesiologists during patient intubation for ventilation, and design of adaptors for respiratory technologies to undergo a clinical trial.

The first batch of visors were delivered to UHL yesterday, while the shield box and adaptors are about to be put into practice. The face visors are in Limerick green and say The Limerick Visor: Front Line Heroes.

There has been a phenomenal collaborative effort to deliver these solutions in a very short timeframe, explained Professor Leonard OSullivan, of ULs School of Design and the Health Research Institute based at UL.

Professor Leonard O'Sullivan from UL says other colleges could also help to increase the supply chain of personal protective equipment.

Following a request from Professor Paul Burke, Chief Academic Officer at UL Hospitals Group and Vice Dean of Health Sciences at UL, academics and clinicians at the Rapid Innovation Unit at UL worked to design and manufacture solutions where doctors had identified potential shortages of equipment should Covid-19 cases surge.

Professor OSullivan noted that brothers Aidan and Kevin OSullivan, research fellows at UL, had pulled out all the stops to lead the team to deliver these rapid response solutions for the hospital.

Professor OSullivan explained the local companies had enabled capacity to manufacture up to 5,000 visors a day.

The visors can be for multiple use but it is likely also be for single use given the current circumstances, he explained.

The normal production time on a project like this would take months, but it was done in just nine days. This was accomplished through the local companies working very intensively together, Professor OSullivan said.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
 This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on April 3, 2020, Friday.

Both Russia and Saudi Arabia were quick to deny US President Donald trump's suggestion that Russia and Saudi Arabia had agreed to cut output by 10m or even 15m barrels. So international oil prices have fallen. Meanwhile, we've seen the Saudis call for an emergency meeting of OPEC and its allies.

It also said Saudi Arabia was willing to make large cuts if other countries agreed. That has renewed hopes for a deal. At a news conference on Thursday, Trump still believed that would happen soon

Donald Trump

US President

So it would be great for Russia, it would be great for Saudi Arabia if they made a deal. I think it'll be soon. I think hopefully they'll announce something soon. Can a deal be broken? I guess. In which case there's another alternative. But I'd rather not see that. I hope they can make a deal. They both want to make a deal.

Still, some analysts tell us that a cut deal not just need the agreement from OPEC and its allies, but also that from the US.

Brian Sullivan

CNBC reporter

I've just been going back and forth minutes ago literally with somebody inside of Aramco to talk about this a little bit. Any 10 million cut or more must include the US producers, so I don't know I you are saying that like mathematically it must, here is the reality, you are not gonna take half of Saudi's and or Russia's production offline, no country could physically do that, it has to include US producers.

The United States is now the world's largest producer of crude oil and has not had government control of its production for 50 years since 1970. Even they reach a cut deal of 10 million barrels or 15 million barrels, then he international crude oil market will still be in a situation of oversupply.

As a result of the outbreak, oil demand has now been reduced by about 20 million barrels a day. With the recent collapse in international oil prices, traders are hoarding crude, International oil storage space, both onshore and offshore, has been sharply reduced. Some analysts believe that the global oil storage space may hit the upper limit in the middle of this year. For many small energy firms, shutdowns are worse than loss-making.

We have already seen US shale companies file for bankruptcy in the wake of the current oil price. The industry believes this could be just the beginning if things don't get better. There will be more bankruptcies and mergers in energy sector, President Trump also plans to meet with the heads of major U.S. energy companies on Friday to discuss solutions to tackle the crisis in the energy sector.

In addition to the possibility of production cuts, other possibilities being discussed include a tax on Saudi crude oil and abandoning the Jones act, which has existed for 100 years or making some kind of exemption. It is also aimed at reducing Saudi oil market share in the United States.

But such protectionist measures are likely to have more complex and even counterproductive consequences. Texas, the nation's energy powerhouse, has been the hardest hit. The head of the Railroad Commission of Texas., the local agency that regulates oil and gas, also spoke on social media on Thursday,

Saying they have spoken to Russia's energy minister about the possibility of cutting global oil production by 10m b/d. He said while they were rivals, they needed to work together in special times, and he looked forward to speaking to the Saudi energy minister soon.

Whichever way you end up doing it, it's probably going to be historically significant, we will keep an eye on this issue.
Ms. Lyon and Martin, who had by then been together more than 50 years, were secretly swept into the clerks office. They exchanged vows before a tiny group of city staff members and friends, according to a 2008 Associated Press story. Afterward they went to lunch, just the two of them.
The BBC has donated fully working ventilators from the set of medical drama Holby City to the new Nightingale Hospital in London

The corporation shared the news in a tweet, showing workers loading equipment into a van.

Holby City executive producer Simon Harper said: 'We are only too happy to help out and do what we can for the courageous and selfless real-life medics.'

The BBC has donated fully operational ventilators which were on the set of the medical drama Holby City. The machines arrived a the NHS Nightingale Hospital in London yesterday

The BBC said they were happy to donate their ventilators to help the NHS during Covid-19

The NHS Nightingale hospital in the ExCel centre in London's docklands will have a capacity of 4,000 beds once it is fully completed

It was not immediately clear how many ventilators had been donated, or why working medical equipment was used on set.

The BBC had several fully functional ventilators on the set of its popular drama Holby City

The first new NHS Nightingale hospital was created in just nine days to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

It has the potential to offer 4,000 beds at the ExCeL Centre site in the capital's Docklands, in Newham, east London.

The BBC ventilators were donated there as the drama is made in the South East, even though it is set in a fictional West Country city.

There are also Nightingale hospitals in Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Harrogate, with two more announced on Friday on Wearside and in Exeter.

The BBC's gesture is the latest in a national outpouring of gratitude to NHS staff risking their lives to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, the nation once again united for a country-wide round of applause for workers on the front line.

It came as the UK recorded its highest daily death toll since the outbreak began.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the daily No 10 news conference that as of Thursday there had been 8,958 hospital deaths from the disease, an increase of 980 on the previous day.

Each bed at the Nightingale Hospital will have its own ventilator to provide assistance to Covid-19 patients who are struggling to breathe on their own

A 460-bed Nightingale hospital for the North East of England is being built in an industrial unit bigger than a football pitch, it has been announced.

Work has been carried out to convert the site - which was built for the motor industry, close to the Nissan plant on Wearside - into a hospital which will take coronavirus patients if units in the region cannot cope with demand.

The site, owned by Sunderland City Council, is close to the A19 and will be divided into 16 wards.

It is being fitted out with help from the Army, Durham North West Conservative MP Richard Holden said.

He wrote on Facebook: 'Washington's Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing, just off the A1 is to become the North East England and Cumbria's Nightingale Hospital.

'It will be able to care for 460 patients, from across, and will have the capacity to support patients who require ventilation, should that be required.

'Work is well underway on equipping the building and it should be able to receive patients within a couple of weeks.'

A similar development for the South West is being created at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter, according to reports.

The NHS has already set up temporary hospitals in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Harrogate.

In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has unveiled a new 1,00-bed coronavirus facility in Glasgow as the site of a seventh NHS Nightingale field hospital.

The SNP leader said her Government expects that the NHS Louisa Jordan hospital, set up at the Scottish Events Campus, will not need to be used.

In an official statement, Ms Sturgeon said: 'Everyone involved in establishing the NHS Louisa Jordan deserves our sincere thanks. They are working tirelessly under extremely challenging circumstances to build a unique national facility.'

She continued: 'While I still hope that it will not be needed, the NHS Louisa Jordan will help our NHS to prepare and provide people with reassurance that we have measures in place to help treat people during this pandemic.

'I urge everyone in Scotland to continue to follow the social distancing advice and to stay at home. By following the social distancing measures, they can help to slow the spread of COVID-19, save lives and protect our NHS.'

The First Minister added that the hospital will be available for use 'from mid-April'.

The NHS Louisa Jordan is an NHS Scotland-run medical facility. It will have an initial 300 beds which could expand to hold more than 1,000 patients if required.

Jill Young, former Chief Executive of the Golden Jubilee Hospital at Clydebank, has been appointed Chief Executive of the temporary hospital.

The facility is named after Sister Louisa Jordan, a First World War nurse who died on active service in Serbia in 1915 while providing much-needed care to an area of dire need as part of the Scottish Womens Hospitals for Foreign Services.
The son of one of the oldest patients to survive the coronavirus has revealed how he never thought he'd see his mother again when he put her in an ambulance last week.

Wesley Shah, from Perth, Scotland, was terrified when his mother Daphne, 98, started showing symptoms of the deadly virus last week and was rushed to Ninewell Hospital in Dundee.

Appearing on ITV's This Morning, Wesley told presenters Ruth Langford and Eamonn Holmes that his parting words were 'until we meet again', as he watched his mother being driven away.

Daphne Shah, 98, was rushed to hospital with coronavirus last week, but after just five days defied the odds and became one of the oldest patients to beat the virus and return to her family.

Wesley Shah, from Perth, Scotland, was terrified when his mother Daphne, 98, started showing symptoms of the deadly virus last week and was rushed to Ninewell Hospital in Dundee

Speaking today, Wesley said: 'I'm so relieved to have my mum back. She's a very formidable lady who has lived with me for nearly 20 years, and when she went in the ambulance I really thought I'd never see her again.

'When she got into the ambulance I just didn't know what to say as you can't rehearse something like that. It happened very quickly, she was rushed in on the weekend and prior to that we thought it was a bacterial infection.

'I remember saying to her 'Until we meet again' - but it was in the back of my mind that it would be in another world'.

Daphne Shah, 98, (seen with Wesley) was rushed to hospital with coronavirus last week, but after just five days defied the odds and became one of the oldest patients to beat the virus and return to her family

He added: 'It wasn't yet confirmed that she had corona but the symptoms were there and I genuinly thought when I put her in the ambulance that I'd never see her again.

'I thought I would never be able to see her in the hospital again and that would be it but it was just fantastic how the NHS dealt with it and that she got through it, amd I'm so happy to have her back.

'And thanks to the NHS I do have her back.'

Blasting what he called a 'misconception' that the NHS won't look after older patients as well as younger ones, he continued: 'I think it's incredibly wrong to perceive that [only younger people will survive], there's a perception that if you're over 60 the NHS won't help you.

'That is a load of nonsense I had four updates a day, they were amazing.

Appearing on ITV's This Morning, Wesley told presenters Ruth Langford and Eamonn Holmes that his parting words were 'until we meet again', as he watched his mother being driven away

'They really helped my mum through this it isn't true, they were brilliant. She had stacks of people praying for her she's a strong believer in Christianity.

'Hopefully we can celebrate her 99th birthday together in July'.

Daphne Shah tested positive for Covid-19 in Dundee's Ninewells Hospital and spent five days there before being discharged with medication on Monday.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon later called her case 'an inspiring and very welcome good news story'.
Back in February, Android users were warned that an app with over 100 million downloads could leave the devices open to attack from hackers and malware. Now those who have installed the app are being told to delete the app immediately. Known as SuperVPN Free VPN Client, the app has been available on the Google Play Store for years, but researchers recently uncovered some dangerous surprises buried in the app code.

Android users must delete this app

According to the team at VPNPro, the app is free-to-download and it has a number of critical vulnerabilities that leave it open to dangerous hacks known as MITM or man-in-the-middle attacks.

These vulnerabilities enable the hackers to intercept every communication from your device and the VPN provider. It allows hackers to see everything that you are doing online. Each time you open a new browser window in Chrome, make a video call, or load-up an app, all of that information from your smartphone and the servers could be passing under the hackers.

These issues were reported to Google, but the tech company confirmed hat the vulnerability was still seen in the latest version of SuperVPN. Google was not happy hosting the service on its Play Store, so the company deleted the free version of the app. However, despite Google stopping the chances of downloading the app, it is still present on the devices that may have already installed it. Security experts are now asking people to delete the app and clear their device.

Also Read: 5G Towers in UK Burned Down After False Claims That It Transmits Coronavirus

Jan Youngren Security researcher at VPNPro said that SuperVPN used a wide range of shady techniques and it helped the app rank highly in Google and it helped to hide who owns the app, where it is located and the other apps from the same developer that may have the same issues.

Most importantly, it looks like that the whole time the app was on the Play Store, it had critical vulnerabilities in one way or another, either by allowing for MITM attacks or by being a vehicle for malware. The only thing that is unclear now is whether the said vulnerabilities are due to intention or mistake. But one thing is clear, there are millions of users right now with a dangerous app on their phone.

Dangers of VPN

A Virtual Private Network or VPN allows you to create a secure connection to another network over the Internet. VPNs can be used to access region-restricted websites, it can help shield your browsing activity from other people on public WiFi and more. VPNs are popular but not for the reasons that they were originally created for. They were created as a way to connect business networks together securely over the internet and allow you to access a business network from home.

VPNS have become very popular throughout the years, and a fast search on the Google Play Store shows numerous apps that claim to offer the perfect experience. If you want to use the web-accessing software, check the advice from VPNpro.com to help keep you safe.



Related Article: Zoomboming: FBI Warns Against Security Threats in Zoom

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Now that the bodies are piling up in hospital morgues, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has finally acknowledged that it needs to release people to protect them from the coronavirus.

Theyll be let out based on medical vulnerability. And yes, its a welcome change that at least those who need hospital care will get it.

But ICE is still missing the larger point: Even healthy detainees should be released immediately, so long as they present no danger to the public. Leaving them behind bars puts them in danger, sends the virus over the walls every time guards go in and out, and results in more pressure on hospitals during the height of the crisis. This has to change.

Among those still jailed at the Essex County Correctional Facility is 21-year-old Maynor Carranza, originally from Honduras, who has only one disorderly conduct offense, his lawyer says.

A Costa Rican man in his 40s has no criminal record at all, just an expired visa  yet remains locked up at the Elizabeth detention center, while ICE agreed to release another man with drug offenses on an ankle bracelet, attorney John Leschak says. These decisions are so haphazard.

Leocadio Lux, age 34, has only a few tickets for drinking in public or failing to appear in court. Hes an indigenous environmental activist who fled Guatemala after a gang used a broken bottle to slash gruesome scars into his face, according to his lawyer, Laura Rodriguez.

A doctor said Luxs scars were consistent with torture and diagnosed him with PTSD. But his case has been delayed and hes still jailed, in cramped quarters with this virus, because no one can find him an interpreter.

Thats worse than neglect. Its cruel, reckless, and deadly, as Amnesty International says.

I hope theyre not waiting for someone to die to take any action, says David De Leon, a detainee at Essex County jail. The way things are going, I can see that its just crazy, they just dont care.

* * * * *

On Wednesday, someone did die. It was one of the jails regular inmates, and its officials say the 48-year-old man wasnt complaining of any coronavirus symptoms. Maybe not.

But its easy to say that nobody is dying of this virus, if you arent testing people.

The jail reports that 32 of its staffers have now tested positive, but just two ICE detainees out of more than 500. At least one was tested only after being taken to the hospital for an unrelated trauma.

Thats quite the disparity. A spokesman for Joseph DiVincenzo, who oversees this jail in Newark, refuses to even tell us if it has any testing kits. The jail says its been proactive about putting sick people in isolation, and ICE says it will ensure those in its custody remain safe.

But how is that even possible, when this virus spreads before symptoms show?

Detainees say it already is like wildfire. Nearly everyone in one 34-person dorm says they are sick, but they arent telling the guards anymore because theyre so afraid of being put in the hole.

Thats what they call the quarantine cells where sick people are locked away for nearly 24 hours a day, with just 20 minutes to shower, and sometimes no phone calls.

One guys been in there for three weeks, they say. He was literally crying to the corrections officer, every day: Let me talk to my parents, they need to know where I am, says detainee Rony Bonilla Toro, who spoke by phone with the mans mother. Id rather take my chances here and be sick, than tell them Im sick, and not be able to call my kids.

* * * * *

Its an impossible task to keep this virus out of our jails. But we all have something gigantic at stake in trying to contain it. Its not only inhumane to put people in these conditions, its a breeding ground for an outbreak.

Jails still arent temperature checking all the inmates like they should be, says William Sullivan, head of the union for rank-and-file corrections officers. And while isolation cells mean guards dont have to walk in close contact with everybody, they have limited bed space.

We all worry about bringing it home to our family members, Sullivan says.

The more people in detention, the more exposure for all. Two nurses at Hudson County jail just died from the virus, and If ICE doesnt speed up its releases, there could be more.

Jail staffers are doing a heroic job. But theyre working long hours and so exhausted theyre falling asleep in their chairs, detainees say. Some are on edge, losing their tempers with anyone who coughs.

And if you isolate people, you have to make sure its not perceived as added punishment. Rodriguez, an attorney with American Friends Service Committee, says her client, Wilson Pena Lojo, described the hole like this:

All night, people are just banging on the doors, crying, begging to use the phone. Begging to get medication, begging for help. People are coughing all through the night and vomiting in their cells.

Detainees clean these units with relatively minimal protection, Rodriguez said. Theyre using them as the bodies to go do the dangerous work, while the guards all have white gowns and protective gear.

After some fell sick, others volunteered to replace them on work details, for money to spend on things like phone calls. But then they were discovered to be sick, too, and had to be isolated themselves.

They are running around in a circle and going nowhere, says detainee Terry McInerney, who worked on one cleaning detail. They havent got a clue how to deal with this.

Hes since been removed from the detail as punishment, he says, for talking to this editorial board.

* * * * *

Among other things, he told us there was a waiting list of up to 15 days to see the doctor when he fell sick. Left to their own devices, detainees have been making masks out of anything they can find.

I dont think its right that theyre providing masks to the officers and not to us, De Leon says. My life has the same value as their life This is not about who has status here in this country, this is about being a human to another human.

Since ICE cannot protect people, it should only be detaining them in extraordinary circumstances, where they cant self-isolate or get proper medical care.

I did not expect to be treated like this. In my whole life, literally every single American, theyve always treated me very good, said De Leon, brought to the U.S. when he was 14 years old. This is not the type of Americans that I know.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Page Content

The COVID-19 crisis is both an intensely local moment  with hundreds of millions unable to leave their neighbourhoods  and a global experience, with almost every country now working to suppress or contain the virus.



We were therefore particularly glad to hear from a Palestinian member of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM)  Ramallah municipality  about the measure it is taking to respond to the crisis. Ramallah municipality wrote that it had quickly realised that COVID-19 pandemic would be "one of the most challenging stresses in its history". It activated an integrated risk-management policy with six principal measures:



It established an emergency team in the city council, which now meets virtually to set actions in motion; More than a month ago, on 5 March, the city closed all public parks and municipal facilities; Municipal workers have disinfected a variety of public venues and spaces; It made an open call for young volunteers to offer support to their neighbourhoods; more than 700 young people applied; The municipality has focused on ensuring that solid waste continues to be collected and that waste-water and treatment plants remain in operation. Ramallah municipality is also supporting neighbouring cities efforts to maintain their services; To ease the provision of services, the municipality has zoned the city into 19 neighbourhoods, and is using GIS interactive apps and spatial analysis to document cases, support decision-making and manage requests.

In its message, Ramallah municipality encouraged the creation of partnerships between states, cities and regions, so that they can face the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences side by side, exchanging knowledge, sharing resources, and learning from each other's good practices.



The first winner of the ARLEM award for young entrepreneurs also wrote to the CoR, via our mailbox, covid19@cor.europa.eu. Najwa Shokriy said that her fashion company, Zimni Jdeed, which is based in Tripoli, has now producing protective clothing for medical workers. The circumstances are challenging, but the company is working 14 hours a day, doing everything it can to help doctors in the country. More details can be found here. So far, Libya has confirmed 21 cases, with one death reported.


Cut out the drive-by birthday greetings, police officers in one town are telling residents in the latest crackdown inspired by Gov. Phil Murphys stay-at-home directives.

In light of the spread of the coronavirus across New Jersey, Sparta Police Chief Neil Spidaletto is asking for the immediate cease and desist of individual celebratory processions, according to an announcement on the departments Facebook page.

Regrettably, this measure must be taken to ensure that our community, and each resident within it, remains compliant with all state mandates around COVID-19 as ordered by Governor Murphy, read the announcement.

With public gatherings in New Jersey prohibited amid the coronavirus outbreak, some have attempted to salvage a semblance of good cheer by stopping in front of a home on a childs birthday, typically honking a horn and waving before departing.

Sparta Police Lt. John Lamon told NJ Advance Media the well-intentioned gestures run afoul of Murphys orders, which direct residents to stay home unless travel is essential.

Its a nice gesture. Its nice for the kids involved and everything else. The only problem is, is starts to draw people out on the streets, Lamon said.

Murphy banned public gatherings such as parties, celebrations and other social events under an executive order that took effect March 21.

Lamon said no one incident prompted the police chiefs announcement. However, in addition to the drive-by birthday greetings, he said the department has heard about teachers driving by the homes of displaced students in an effort to cheer them up.

Moreover, with Easter coming up on Sunday, Lamon said there is a concern about the holiday prompting similar-type events, perhaps with an Easter Bunny theme.

Its nothing against anyone, Lamon said.

Its the idea that things are supposed to get worse in the next couple of weeks, so its not something wed want to promote right now, Lamon said, referring to efforts aimed at deterring the spread of the coronavirus in New Jersey.

Though police elsewhere in New Jersey have issued charges upon breaking up public gatherings, the Sparta police chiefs announcement did not warn about possible penalties.

Lamon said the primary goal is to raise awareness.

Its just more of a precautionary thing, to say, hey, this is probably not a good time for that. I think most people understand, he said.

Of Sussex Countys 24 municipalities, Sparta had the most confirmed coronavirus cases, 54, as of Thursday. At least four residents have died. Statewide, there are more than 51,000 confirmed cases.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A 101-year-old woman escaped from a nursing home in a bid to get to visit her little girl on her birthday, German police said Tuesday. Officers blocked her after she had escaped via an emergency exit at the home, situated in Brunswick in northern Germany, some 140 miles west of Berlin.

After the senior lost her way in her search for her daughter's house in a suburb, she called the Brunswick police for help. Despite the fact that she claimed that she lived with her little girl, officials speculated truth.

At the point when they brought her to the house, the little girl clarified that her mom had moved into the old people's home only two weeks before and had been missing her daughter terribly.

Police said the old lady was able to see her daughter from the safety of the patrol car's window before they took her back to the home.

Germany in lockdown

Germany has been under a worldwide lockdown for more than two weeks, with gatherings of more than two individuals in public are prohibited and most businesses and foundations.

Elderly people's homes have been shut to guests to constrain the spread of infection to their vulnerable inhabitants.

A week ago, Brunswick prosecutors affirmed they were exploring an old people's home in Wolfsburg after 22 individuals died there following coronavirus infections.

Furthermore, as of Tuesday, Germany has recorded more than 106,700 cases with at any rate 1,942 deaths, as indicated by the most recent information from John Hopkins University.

As we get familiar with COVID-19, it's inexorably certain that your risk of severe illness and death increments with age.

Children under nine years old appear to be to a great extent unaffected, either with no or mild symptoms. None have died because of the coronavirus.

Read also: 10 Coronavirus Drugs and Vaccines in Development

Elderly are the most vulnerable to COVID-19

Individuals over the age of 80 years and those with interminable illnesses are the most vulnerable. For those more than 80, around 15% of them who are infected will die.

Older adults are at an essentially increased risk of severe illness following infection from the coronavirus. This is a significant perception of the European Region.

Some of the reasons older individuals are enormously affected by the coronavirus include the physiological changes related to maturing, diminished immune capacity and multimorbidity which expose grown-ups to be increasingly susceptible to the infection itself and make them more likely to suffer severely from the coronavirus and progressively serious complications.

In any case, age isn't the main risk for severe illness. The very thought that the coronavirus only affects older individuals is accurately off-base. Young people are not invincible, 10% to 15% of individuals under 50 have moderate to extreme infection. Extreme cases of the infection have been found in individuals in their teens or twenties, with many requiring serious care and a few, tragically, dying.

On a positive note, there are reports of individuals beyond 100 years old who were admitted to hospital for the coronavirus and have now since made a total recuperation. It is turning out to be more clear that the healthier you were before the coronavirus outbreak plays a crucial role. Individuals who age healthily are less at risk.

Related article: Surveillance Robot Patrols the Streets of Tunisia While on Coronavirus Lockdown

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Priliantina Bebasari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 15:40 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd10d643 3 Opinion children,Save-the-Children,COVID-19,pandemic,lockdown Free

During disease outbreaks it is always the most vulnerable and marginalized children and their families who suffer the most. According to The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, beyond the immediate health impacts, a disease outbreak also presents secondary risks to childrens well-being and protection. It is therefore vital that every measure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic considers childrens safety and security as well as upholding their rights.

The situations of children vary greatly. Children with disabilities, children living in institutions, girls married before 18, children who live on the street or are economically and/or sexually exploited, indigenous children and those without birth certificates are just a few examples of children deprived of their basic rights. They are the ones who are going to be disproportionately affected by this pandemic.

Based on what we know so far, children have the lowest risk of COVID-19 infection, but they can still contract the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-COV2, and also die from the novel coronavirus. The case numbers updated daily by the Health Ministry are not disaggregated for age and sex. The only complete age- and sex-disaggregated data of COVID-19 patients published on the worldometers website is from China. It shows that only 0.9 percent of COVID-19 patients were 0-9 years of age and 1.2 percent were aged 10-19 years. No death from COVID-19 has been reported among children below the age of 10 and only 0.21 percent of the patients aged 10-19 have died.

In Indonesia, kawalcovid19.com presents sex- and age-disaggregated data of COVID-19 cases, but in many cases age and sex are not identified. Only nine cases of children aged 0-18 years were identified as of March 31.

Tragically, two children aged 12 and 13 from Belgium and the United Kingdom, respectively, were infected with the novel coronavirus and have died.

Beyond fatalities, the pandemic is affecting children worldwide and in Indonesia in other severe ways. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, more than 1.54 billion learners or 89.5 percent of enrolled students in 188 countries have been affected by either full or localized school closures. In Jakarta alone, more than 8,000 schools, including community learning centers and special schools for disabled children, are either fully or partially closed.

Moreover, children risk getting neglected when primary caregivers are quarantined as patients or health workers. A teen with cerebral palsy in China reportedly died when his father was in intensive care and the social worker failed to feed him for several days. There is also a risk to childrens health as a result of closured community health centers (Posyandu) in several cities, such as Bandung and Depok.

With millions of people now confined to their homes for weeks or months, we hear about a rise in cases of domestic violence. China and France have reportedly seen an increase in domestic abuse since lockdowns were put in place. Children can become caught in the middle and even become victims of abuse. When the livelihoods of their parents or primary caregivers are disrupted, children may suffer social and psychological distress, not to mention failing to get their daily nutrition.

In Indonesia, parents have expressed their struggle to help children learn at home, especially when fathers still work. This could lead to child abuse if parents feel too stressed.

The Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone forced girls to become primary caregivers as well as frontline health responders for sick relatives, they became more isolated due to school closures; they were forced into sex work, and they experienced sexual assault by community members.

Meanwhile, a disruption of already weak sexual and reproductive health services led to 60 percent of girls aged 15-19 years in some communities becoming pregnant. There was a lack of humanitarian response catering to girls specific needs. We cannot allow that to happen here in Indonesia.

Save the Children has several recommendations to fulfil childrens rights to survival, development and protection in Indonesias COVID-19 response. In terms of health, immunization and antenatal care for pregnant women should remain available despite Posyandu closures.

Mental health and psychosocial support are crucial for children and caregivers, especially for frontline workers. Health workers must also be trained to safeguard children. It is vital that children receive family-based care with parenting and psychosocial support when their primary caregivers are in quarantine as patients or health workers.

Children who are in facilities including orphanages and juvenile prisons should be protected by limiting visits by outsiders yet still being connected with their families via online communication.

Child-friendly information must be distributed to children explaining the current situation. In education, it is important to ensure virtual distance learning is accessible by all children and teachers, including those without internet, or other alternative home-based learning should exist for them.

Boarding schools must take children home, unless the situation is unsafe for them to do so. For the business sector, private companies must enact a flexible work-from-home policy, so that both men and women can support childrens home-based learning and monitor their health. The government must extend social protection schemes for families who might lose their income as a result of this unprecedented crisis.

Save the Children Indonesia is supporting the government to prevent the spread of the disease especially among vulnerable groups of children through promotion of a healthy lifestyle that leads to behavior change. These cover washing hands with soap, maintaining self-health and hygiene, the dissemination of home-based learning materials, positive discipline training for parents and children, violence management training for social workers, and psychological first aid hotline more than 100,000 current beneficiaries and public at large. This is the time for all of us to support each other, to show solidarity with those less fortunate. Together, we can beat COVID-19, because no one is safe until everyone is safe.

***

Policy advocacy specialist at Save the Children Indonesia

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Akhmad Rizal Shidiq (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 16:46 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd111a67 3 Opinion healthcare,CSIS,large-scale-social-restrictions,PSBB,lockdown,COVID-19,COVID-19-lockdown Free

As of Monday, here is President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's instruction on COVID-19: I order a large-scale social distancing policy [and] physical distancing to be enforced in stricter, more disciplined and more effective ways.

The press release by COVID-19 fast-response chief Doni Monardo says: [] The concluding step taken by the President [] is in the form of large-scale social distancing."

A more detailed definition is in Government Regulation No. 21/2020, which says that large-scale social distancing includes school and business closures, limiting religious activities and/or limiting activities in public spaces. I would also interpret, also from the regulation, that shops and activities for health services, food and basic necessities would remain open.

At least now the government has come up with some policies to contain COVID-19 and to save lives  albeit too late. But do we have a health system that has the capacity to anticipate increasing demand as a result of the governments large-scale distancing policy?

I've done back-of-the-envelope calculations based on some simple parameters values. I rely on various government data as of April 6, as well as academic reports and credible press reports.

Back to the drawing board: Its (just) a moderate intervention policy

Lets try to make sense of the governments policy. The first immediate problem is that we do not have the governments model on the estimated number of infections and fatalities. On April 2, the government presented a National Intelligence Agency (BIN) model on COVID-19 cases. The fact that the government is relying on the intelligence agency to predict COVID19 cases and, presumably, design the policy based on it, is deeply troubling. So far, the epidemiology basis of the model is far from clear.

So, let us just use a model that I happened to know from Ariawan et al. (2020) from the University of Indonesias School of Public Health instead. This model actually has been presented before the COVID-19 fast response team as well as the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas)  there is no reason for the government to say that we do not have a model because of lack of data or the government is not informed by our own epidemiologists.

Based on my reading on Government Regulation No. 21/2020, large-scale social distancing meets the definition of medium-scale intervention in this UI-Bappenas model. The current large-scale social distancing policy also seems to have many similarities to the Dutch governments approach, even though the capacity of the Dutch healthcare system is, obviously, in a different league than ours.

It does also mean that, eventually, there would be around 1.2 million people who need to be sent to hospitals.

If it is true that large-scale social distancing is in line with the moderate-intervention scenario, it may potentially delay the peak of daily hospitalization cases by about 20 days. With staggering hospital admissions, we also do not need to provide 1.2 million beds and supporting facilities and medical staff at once. But at least, we need to be able to anticipate the peak of 105,000 daily COVID-19 hospital admissions. Also bear in mind, this model assumes that it takes 14 days for a hospitalized person to recover and seven days for those who do not manage to survive, which is probably an optimistic estimation for the length of a COVID-19 treatment.

So, we now have a rough idea of COVID-19s demand on the health system, based on the moderate intervention scenario of large-scale social distancing. The next logical step is to assess our supply capacity to deal with this increasing demand.

Back-of-the-envelope calculation: Do we have enough hospital beds?

Under the existing capacity, adopting large-scale social distancing would delay the surge of hospitalized COVID-19 cases but still see about 25 days when the number of hospitalized patients exceeds 50 percent of total beds in major type A and B hospitals. In other words, the pressure on the existing hospital system is still too heavy. To illustrate the problem, at the peak, we need 105,000 beds, but the total number of beds in type A and B hospitals is just 110,000!

Just how many beds do we need to prepare for a surging number of COVID-19 cases? Here is a back-of-the-envelope calculation. Lets suppose that only major hospitals (type A and B) have the capacity to deal with COVID-19 cases. These hospitals have 110,000 beds. But we know that some of those beds are already occupied by non-COVID-19 patients. If the occupancy rate is 50 percent, that is only half of the total beds in type A and B hospitals are available, it means that we need to set up at least 45,000 beds quickly.

But what is our actual hospital bed occupancy rate? Lets use the national bed occupancy rate of 77 percent, based on a state-owned (PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur) report. By that, the number of available beds that could be allocated for COVID-19 cases is 25,000  that is 23 percent of 110,000 beds. Ergo, to absorb an additional 105,000 COVID-19 cases at the peak, we need to provide at least an additional 80,000 hospital beds! A tall order, indeed.

Java generally has more beds but also a higher bed occupancy ratio and  this is crucial also a higher number of COVID-19 cases at the moment.

But here is another catch: COVID-19 cases dont only need regular hospital beds but also intensive care units (ICU) to treat severe cases. If we assume that 14 percent of hospitalized cases need intensive care (as suggested in the Ariawan et al. model), we need at least 14,700 ICU beds at the peak, which is 14 percent of 105,000 hospitalized cases. Let us call this a low-case scenario.

If we take a more conservative rate and follow the Imperial Colleges model, 30 percent of those that are hospitalized will require critical care [invasive mechanical ventilation or ECMO]. With this rate, the demand for ICU beds is as high as 31,500 units  and lets call that a high-case scenario.

How many ICU beds do we have? Data from the Healthcare and Social Security Agencys (BPJS Kesehatan) Aplicares shows that, nationally, there are around 3,300 ICU beds. In other words, in a low-case scenario, were short of 11,400 ICU beds  14,700 needed minus 3,300 available. But in a high-case scenario, as we need 31,500 ICU beds, we are short 28,200 beds.

What if we mobilize all intensive care units (ICU, ICCU, NICU, PICU and HCU)? In total, we have around 8000 beds  still short by 6,700 units in the low-case scenario and 23,500 in the high-case scenario.

As in hospital beds, these numbers assume that all ICU beds are available for COVID-19 cases. If taking into account the bed occupancy rate of 77 percent, which is very likely too low for ICU, the number of available ICU beds is just 1,850. In the low-case scenario, we are short by 12,850 ICU beds and 29,650 beds in the high-case scenario. Very concerning, indeed.

The spatial distribution of ICU beds is concentrated in Java, North Sumatra and South Sulawesi. The current epicenters of COVID-19, Jakarta and West Java, are at top of the list. If the outbreak spills out of Java, we are in deep trouble.

And the ventilators?

The other medical equipment crucial for COVID-19 cases is the ventilator; so crucial that many countries are now mobilizing all of their resources to secure this vital equipment and some governments have directly ordered their industries to realign their production facilities for ventilators.

Preliminary data from the Health Ministry, subject to further verification, shows that as of March 22, Indonesia has 8,400 ventilators in state hospitals. This number is not too far from what the health minister claimed before the House of Representatives on April 2.

Assuming that all who need intensive care also need ventilators, we need at least 6,300 more ventilators  that is 14,700 intensive care cases minus 8,400 available ventilators  in the low-case scenario. In a high-case scenario, we are short by 23,100 ventilators. But again, as in the availability of beds, some of the ventilators have already been used by non-COVID-19 patients. If we assume a similar occupancy rate with that of hospital beds, 77 percent, it means that the number of available ventilators is just 1,900  not 8,400. We are short of 12,800 ventilators in a low-case scenario and 29,600 in a high-case scenario!

Recap

Let us recap the numbers: We probably need approximately 80,000 more hospital beds, of which 12,850 should be ICU beds in a low-case scenario and 29,650 units in a high-case scenario. For the ventilators, we need an additional 6,300 in the first scenario or 23,100 in the latter. I do not know how much protective gear is needed to treat 1.3 million COVID-19 cases, but I would imagine it would be very substantial.

How much will it cost? I do not have any idea of how much building hospitals and ICU beds as soon as possible will cost. But the cost of a ventilator can be between US$18,000 and $30,000. Just multiply the numbers with the number of ventilators needed above.

Besides upgrading the health systems capacity, there is also a direct cost of treating COVID-19 patients. I do not know the specific cost of treating one COVID-19 case. But to illustrate, the cost of hospitalizing a simple pneumonia and severe whooping cough case in a third-class room of a type A government hospital Rp 12.27 million ($782.90). For a severe case that needs long-term mechanical ventilation without a tracheostomy, the cost is Rp 92 million. Think about this number while knowing that the predicted accumulative number of cases under large-scale social distancing policy is as high as 1.2 million COVID-19 hospitalized cases.

Do we have the money? The Finance Ministry has allocated Rp 75 trillion for upgrading the health systems capacity and this significantly reduces the financial constraints in dealing with surging COVID-19 cases. The problem is: I do not see a good plan from the Health Ministry to disburse the money effectively.

Last, I have just shown you my (back-of-the-envelope) numbers. I do hope that the government or anyone who has better knowledge on the matter also shows their numbers, so that, hopefully, we can have more thorough evidence-based policies to save lives.

***

Assistant professor in economics and modern Southeast Asia, Leiden Institute for Area Studies, Leiden University

The original article was published in CSIS commentaries.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
As another day of battle between the coronavirus COVID-19 and humanity came to an end, the total number of cases across 184 nations reached 1,650,210 and the death toll stood at 100,376 at 11.45 pm (IST) on Friday.

The US continues to record the highest number of cases at 475,749, followed by Spain at 157,053, Italy at 147,577, Germany at 119,624, and France at 118,790. So far, Italy has witnessed the highest death toll across all the nations at 18,849, followed by the US at 17,925, Spain at 15,970, France at 12,228 and the UK at 8,973.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy rose by 570 on Friday, down from 610 the day before, and the number of new cases also slowed modestly to 3,951 from a previous 4,204. The latest tallies broadly confirm what experts describe as a plateau of new cases and deaths, which are no longer accelerating but are still not falling steeply.

The Italian government is planning to extend its lockdown to contain the country`s COVID-19 outbreak until May 3, two trade union sources told Reuters. The lockdown, closing most Italian businesses and preventing people from leaving their homes for all but essential needs, has been in place since March 9 and was due to end on April 13.

Spain will begin handing out masks at metro and train stations on April 13 as some companies re-open after a two-week "hibernation" period, the health minister said on Friday. The news came as Spain recorded its lowest daily death toll from the new coronavirus in 17 days, with 605 fatalities reported over the past 24 hours. On March 30, Spain toughened its nationwide lockdown, halting all non-essential activities until after Easter as it sought to further curb the spread of the virus. The measure particularly targeted the construction and manufacturing sectors.

COVID-19 patients on ventilators in New York dropped for the first time to a "negative" number since the outbreak began, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday, expressing cautious optimism that the state was slowing the infection rate but voiced concern that the number of daily deaths continues to be high. "We are cautiously optimistic that we are slowing the infection rate," Cuomo said at the daily press briefing on coronavirus. He said there is a "dramatic decline" in the total number of hospitalisations and "that's obviously very good news".

In another encouraging sign that the state is flattening the curve, Cuomo said, "Change in ICU admissions is actually a negative number for the first time since we started this intense journey. That means there are fewer people in the intensive care unit statewide than they were (on the previous day). And again, that's the first time we've seen a negative number, so that's good."

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned nations about lifting coronavirus COVID-19 restrictions too quickly, adding that a sudden transition could spark a deadly resurgence. The WHO added that it is working with affected countries on strategies for the gradual and safe easing of restrictions.

Addressing a press brief, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom said, "I know that some countries are already planning the transition out of stay-at-home restrictions. WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone. At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly. WHO is working with affected countries on strategies for gradually and safely easing restrictions."
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Murphy looks around after he toured the Edison Field Medical Station at the site of the N.J. Convention & Exposition Center. Read more

The governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey on Friday authorized the early release of potentially thousands of state prison inmates, in measures aimed at fending off a major coronavirus outbreak behind bars like those seen in other parts of the country.

Govs. Tom Wolf and Phil Murphy each invoked executive powers to establish criteria that would offer some nonviolent offenders a temporary reprieve, placing them under house arrest or parole.

In Pennsylvania, Wolf announced a program that could result in the freeing of up to 1,800 inmates starting Tuesday. Qualified prisoners include nonviolent offenders within nine months of eligibility for parole, inmates 65 or older, pregnant women, and prisoners with chronic health conditions that make them more vulnerable to serious coronavirus complications.

The temporary reprieve does not apply to inmates incarcerated for gun offenses, drug trafficking, and sex crimes. Prisoners who have been denied parole or convicted of a separate offense while incarcerated are not eligible.

Wolfs executive order said the Department of Corrections will discuss each inmate with the courts, the state Attorney Generals Office, and county district attorneys offices before granting release. Those chosen will be monitored by parole agents and will have to return to prison to complete their sentences once the states coronavirus emergency order ends.

Corrections officials said all inmates will undergo a medical screening prior to release to ensure sick individuals arent fanning out across the state.

We can reduce our nonviolent prison population and leave fewer inmates at risk for contracting COVID-19 while maintaining public safety with this program, Wolf said in a statement.

 READ MORE: As coronavirus spreads in Philly jails, panic marks efforts to avert crisis by thinning inmate population

Murphy laid out his order along similar lines. Also eligible for release in New Jersey are individuals denied parole in the past year or whose sentences expire within the next three months.

The process will begin over the next few days, Murphy said. The governors office offered no estimate on how many inmates might be affected.

A virus this virulent can spread rapidly in a densely populated prison setting, said Murphy, and the needs of public safety and public health must be balanced.

The orders in both states came within minutes of each other and in response to an increasingly loud chorus of defense lawyers, activists, and some prosecutors seeking more action from the governors.

Public health advocates have said for weeks that prisons, county jails, and detention centers  with their close quarters, limited hygiene, and inability to implement recommended social distancing guidelines  are ideal breeding grounds for a disease that could infect hundreds of inmates and guards and spread to the surrounding community. The New York Times reported this week that the Cook County Jail in Illinois has become the largest hot spot in the United States.

But earlier efforts to thin the state prison population in Pennsylvania and New Jersey had either snarled or not moved quickly enough to blunt the coronavirus blow.

Wolf, a Democrat, had hoped to avoid unilaterally granting reprieves by urging lawmakers in Harrisburg to agree upon a framework for releases. But as a plan by the GOP-led legislature that would have released no more than 450 of Pennsylvanias nearly 45,000 inmates fell apart this week, Wolf said he worried time was running out.

Theres a premium on speed here. This virus is unforgiving, he said. I communicated and worked [with state House Republicans] as much as I could. But in the absence of the ability to do that, Im going to be doing this on my own.

 READ MORE: Less risk, less reward in Gov. Tom Wolfs choice to wait for legislature to act on prisoner releases

In New Jersey, the state Supreme Court two weeks ago ordered the release of hundreds of inmates from county jails, which unlike prisons house mostly pretrial defendants. But Friday, New Jersey officials announced its first death of a Middlesex County corrections officer  Nelson Perdomo, 44  who had worked at East Jersey State Prison for 19 years.

One New Jersey prison inmate has already died and at least 129 officers and 20 prisoners have tested positive for the virus, State Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks said. More than 1,000 asymptomatic employees and 400 asymptomatic inmates are in medical quarantine due to possible exposure to the coronavirus.

You can imagine when youre running a correctional facility, in a correctional setting, that there are unique challenges in trying to implement social distancing, Hicks said.

Only one Pennsylvania prison  SCI Phoenix in Montgomery County  had reported any infected inmates as of Friday, when Department of Corrections officials announced their 11th positive test there. Nineteen corrections officers, including six at Phoenix, have also become infected, Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said.

Advocates lauded the governors actions as a positive first step, but said it must not be the last.

Keir Bradford-Grey, Philadelphias chief public defender, said that the criteria outlined by Wolf would only apply to 4% of Pennsylvanias incarcerated population. And not all eligible inmates have stable homes where they could be placed under house arrest, meaning its possible less than 2% of the current prison population would qualify, she estimated.

Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, encouraged Wolf and lawmakers to keep pushing for ways to release more.

Public health experts say that Pennsylvania is on the verge of bending the curve of outbreak of this pandemic," Shuford said. "If an outbreak were to occur in a Pennsylvania prison or jail, it could threaten to erase the progress weve made in the commonwealth.

Staff writer Justine McDaniel and Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA contributed to this article.


Daniel Larrea died recently after several days of high fever and struggling to breathe while slowly turning blue  signs of being infected with the new coronavirus.

Then his family found an unexpected problem: No one in their city of Quito, Ecuador would pick up his body.

We wrapped him up in black plastic, Larreas wife, Karina, said.

The small South American nation has recorded only 120 deaths from COVID-19. But officials say there could be many more who died from the virus. Nationwide, there were 3,160 cases confirmed last week. The real numbers are likely higher.

In recent days, pictures of the dead and appeals from families have appeared on social media. Images of bodies and coffins left on sidewalks have appeared on television.

Doctors say there are not enough tests in the country. This makes it difficult to identify and isolate the sick to try to stop the spread of COVID-19. There are also not enough hospital beds or medical equipment.

We are seeing a situation quite similar to that of Italy, said Dr. Mireya Rodas. She treats patients at a Guayaquil hospital.

Ecuador identified its first case of COVID-19 on February 29, a 71-year-old woman from Spain. Ecuador was one of the first Latin American countries to confirm the arrival of the disease.

Medical experts fear the problems in Guayaquil may be what awaits the country in coming weeks and months. The area has 70 percent of the virus cases in the country.

Enrique Acosta is a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic research in Germany. He expects there will be more deaths from the disease.

Acosta is among a group of experts urging Latin American governments to quickly increase testing. They believe the true number of coronavirus cases in Ecuador could be five times the official count or higher.

Health officials defended Ecuadors reactions to the growing number of cases. They said new technology would soon permit testing to increase to 1,400 a day.

Meanwhile, many Ecuadorians are dying of unrelated diseases. They cannot be treated because hospitals are crowded with coronavirus patients.

Seventy-one-year-old Carmen Suarez recently died at her home in Guayaquil. Her family believes it was kidney failure. Before she died, family members tried to find a hospital that would accept her, but there were no beds available. They were told that taking her to a hospital would be very risky because of the spread of coronavirus.

Esteban Ortiz is a public health specialist. He said there was only enough medical equipment for 175 patients in Guayas which includes Guayaquil.

He said, Were not giving them a chance to come and get medical attention.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

coffin  n. the wooden box bodies are buried in

isolate  v. to remove from the presence of other people

kidney  n. either of two organs in your body that remove waste products from your blood and make urine
10 Newborn Babies Test Positive for CCP Virus After Contact with Medical Staff

Ten newborn babies reportedly tested positive for the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, after they came into contact with infected medical staff in a maternity unit in Romania.

Nine of the babies have been taken home from the hospital in the western Romanian city of Timisoara for self-isolation with their parents, Romanias Health Minister Nelu Tataru said on April 6, as he pointed to the failures in the activities of both maternity officials and the local public health directorate (DSP).

The country has reported a total of 5,202 COVID-19 cases, with 257 deaths, according to a tracking map from Johns Hopkins University, which collates official government data. The European Union state, which has a population of around 100,000, declared a state of emergency on March 16.

Tataru said the local DSP chief has been dismissed and that he would implement severe measures if necessary.

The mothers tested negative, but the babies tested positive so we have to consider their contacts with medical staff, Tataru told Antena 3 TV station on Monday.

He said none of the babies had displayed symptoms consistent with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

One of the mothers of an infected newborn said she felt as though she was living in a horror film as she described the lack of personal protective equipment in the facility.

The staff were not wearing masks, she told the local pressalert.ro website. She said some of the mothers had heard through unofficial channels that there had been a confirmed COVID-19 case in the hospital.

On Thursday the hospital was disinfected with us inside, she said.

The maternity unit was reportedly placed under quarantine on March 31, but the local DSP ordered it be reopened the next day, insisting that there was no risk of infection for patients or doctors, AFP reported.

A total of 13 members of staff at the facility had reportedly already tested positive for COVID-19.

Under measures imposed by President Klaus Iohannis to restrict movement, people are allowed to leave their homes only for work, with a signed note from their employers, and to buy groceries. The elderly are required to stay confined at all times and the army has been deployed to supplement police personnel.

Tataru has blamed the spread of the virus on poor management and people not respecting self-isolation rules. Roughly 700 of those infected in the country are health care workers.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Good Morning America

With less than 10 months until the 2022 midterm elections, President Joe Biden heads to Georgia on Tuesday to make his biggest push yet for national voting rights bills and is expected to call for changes to the Senate's filibuster rules in order to get them passed. Echoing his impassioned address on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection when he blamed former President Donald Trump and his supporters for holding a "dagger at the throat of democracy," Biden's remarks in Atlanta are expected to be a "forceful" call to action to protect voting rights. "The president will forcefully advocate for protecting the most bedrock American rights: the right to vote and have your voice counted in a free, fair and secure election that is not tainted  by partisan manipulation," White House press secretary Jen Psaki previewed in her press briefing Tuesday.
The new standard-gauge luxury train, Southern Aurora, glided into Spencer Street station right on time at 12.30 p.m. yesterday, to make the start of a new era in Australian railway history and a new deal for train travelers.

The Southern Aurora arrives at Spencer Street Station on its inaugural trip. Credit:The Age Archives

The Aurora Came In Right On Time

First published in The Age on April 14, 1962

A crowd of about 6000 welcomed the train as it pulled into No. 2 platform.

The 1 million silver sleeper train left Sydney at 10.45 on Thursday.

At Wodonga, the new train, driven here by the chairman of the Victorian Railway Commissioners (Mr. E. H. Brownbill) broke through a garland of flowers.

Watching the breakthrough was the chairman of the Commonwealth Standardisation Committee (Mr. W. C. Wentworth, M.P.), who could not join the train in Sydney because of the Federal Oppositions refusal to grant him a pair.

Mr. Wentworth caught the train in Goulburn at 2.15 a.m. after a 60-mile taxi drive from Canberra.
It's Holy Week and a Cincinnati pastor understands that some may feel saddened that they're unable to celebrate Easter at church with their fellow church members.

Father Eric Sundrup from Bellarmine Chapel on the campus of Xavier University did something this week to make his congregation feel as though they were present at church, despite having to stay home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and ministers have decided to take a 33 per cent pay cut for the next three months to help fund the relief measures for COVID-19. In a televised address of April 10, Ramaphosa also announced an extension of the nationwide lockdown, which started on March 27, until April end.

During the address, the 67-year-old leader said that the extension of the lockdown in necessary to contain the spread of the virus otherwise it will ultimately engulf the whole country. South Africas economy was already on a downturn and the World Bank has now predicted a recession in sub-Saharan Africa due to the pandemic.

South Africa, which has the highest number of HIV infections in the world, now facing the threat of contagion with its beleaguered health system. The African nation has reported over 1,900 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 18 deaths due to the infection and a drastic rise in cases could severely impact the health care systems.

Read: South Africa Extends Coronavirus Lockdown As Increase In Cases Slows

African Union supports WHO

On April 8, the African Union reaffirmed its unwavering support for the World Health Organisation (WHO) at a time when the UN health agency is facing criticism from various corners for its handling of the crisis. Ramaphosa, African Union chairperson, appreciated WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for exceptional leadership.

Read: South Africa: Couple Arrested From Their Wedding Ceremony For Violating Lockdown Orders

The AU lauded the management of WHO chief in leading the global response to the pandemic. The continental union recognised and appreciated the good work that has been undertaken by the WHO and noted a sense of satisfaction for the various initiatives and measures to mitigate the spread of the virus.

On a daily basis, the WHO has been an essential technical and scientific partner to the African Union and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), as we work to mitigate the pandemic which has now reached nearly every member state, said the union in a statement.

Read: South Africa's Minister Sent On 'special Leave' For Violating COVID-19 Lockdown

Read: South Africa: Bride, Groom, Pastor & All 50 Guests Arrested For Violating Covid Lockdown

(Image Credit: AP)
Heinz has launched a new delivery service to help customers get their favourite tinned goods while self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic.

Its first ever UK online shop - Heinz to Home - offers bundles of 16 tins made up of eight baked beans, four spaghetti hoops and four cream of tomato soup.

The boxes of food costing 10 plus 3.50 for postage, will be delivered within three days of ordering and are available now from its website.

Heinz has launched a new delivery service of boxes of food (pictured) to help customers get their favourite tinned goods while self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic

It's first ever UK online shop - Heinz to Home - offers bundles of 16 tins made up of eight baked beans, four spaghetti hoops and four cream of tomato soup and people are already fans of the idea (pictured)

Each tin costs an average of 63p without the delivery cost, putting the cost on par with buying at the supermarket.

Tesco offers Heinz baked beans for 62p each, while Iceland sells a four-pack of spaghetti hoops for 2 and Asda puts Heinz tomato soup at 67p a can.

However, the cost of postage does up the price to around 84p a tin, making it more expensive than going to the supermarket.

But that hasn't stopped British shoppers from taking advantage of the new shop already.

One person wrote online: 'Thank you for doing this! I have just ordered a surprise bundle to my grandparents who live far away from me.

The boxes of food (which will contain the above) cost 10 plus 3.50 for postage and will be delivered within three days of ordering and are available now from its website

'I've tried to get surprise food deliveries to them with no luck, so this will really cheer them up, especially as my Nan has been moaning she can't get hold of beans!'

The shop is planning to expand its product range with additional Heinz favourite sauces, including Heinz Tomato Ketchup, as well as a Heinz Baby bundle (for babies aged six months plus).

Heinz is partnering with Blue Light Card, the UK's number one discount service for NHS, Emergency Services, Social Care Workers and Armed Forces, to ensure all frontline workers receive free postage and packaging and priority shipments on all orders.

Those registered with Blue Light Card will receive a unique code for their online shop once they've logged into their account and searched for the Heinz offer.

Impressed Heinz fans on social media were quick to praise the idea, which launched today

Jojo de Noronha, President of Kraft Heinz Northern Europe, said: 'We are very proud to announce the launch of our new online shop - Heinz to Home - which will deliver Heinz varieties directly to the doorsteps of people across the UK from today.

'The shop is a first for us, and it comes in response to stories weve all heard in the last few weeks.

'Stories about people struggling to access food and basic necessities, where people are understandably upset about how they are going to eat and stay healthy during this pandemic, and about people who need food but cant access it in any of the usual ways.

'While we continue to work day and night to get our most loved Heinz varieties on shelf, we hope this new initiative will help those who cannot otherwise access our products.

'As part of this initiative we also want to thank all key workers - these are the people who are ensuring we are still able to access essential items, receive the medical services we need and keep our streets safe.'
The shooting death of a 12-year-old boy has been deemed a homicide and his teen brother has been charged in the case.

Sean Rose was killed the afternoon of March 30 inside his home in the 500 block of 29th Street North in Bessemer. Authorities said at the time it appeared he and his 17-year-old brother were playing with a gun when the gun, in the hands of the brother, discharged and Sean was struck in the head.

Sean taken to Childrens of Alabama where he was pronounced dead at 4:15 p.m. The brother was detained by Bessemer police for questioning but released later that night.

Lt. Christian Clemons on Thursday said evidence technicians processed the scene and detectives spoke with witnesses. They determined the brother was handling the gun in a reckless manner toward his brother and presented their evidence to authorities, which led to the brother being charged with manslaughter through Jefferson County Family Courts Bessemer Division.

Then, on April 2, Clemons said officers were dispatched back to the same house in the 500 block of 29th Street North on a fire investigation. Officers arrived to find an inoperable car on fire parked at the residence. Bessemer Fire and Rescue extinguished the blaze.

Upon further investigation, he said, it was determined that the fire was intentionally set. It was also determined the residence at 505 29th Street had an accelerant applied in an attempt to set fire to the home.

Detectives were able to determine a 17-year-old friend of the family living in the area was seen setting the fire of the car and house. That 17-year old has been charged with first-degree arson and first-degree criminal mischief. Clemons said detectives are working to see if there is a connection to both incidents.

Because both teens are charged as juveniles, their names and mugshots are not being released. Anyone with information is asked to call the Bessemer Police Department at 205-425-2411 or the Tip Line at 205-428-3541.
A voter in Wisconsin reviews his ballot while voting Tuesday, April 7, 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more

Officials in two Southeastern Pennsylvania counties are calling for the state to make the June 2 primary an all-mail election to protect the safety of voters in the states most populous region and the epicenter of its coronavirus cases.

And officials in a third county, while not going so far as to call for a mail-in election, say they might have to defy an order from Gov. Tom Wolf and not use new voting machines because they lack the training time and staff to prepare them.

Make no mistake, asking counties in Pennsylvania to administer an in-person election on any scale is putting everyone in a position where failure is the most likely outcome, Montgomery Countys two Democratic commissioners, Val Arkoosh and Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr., wrote in a letter sent this week to Wolf, legislative leaders, and the countys state lawmakers.

Chester Countys commissioners said Friday for the first time that they believe ballots should be mailed to every voter.

In neighboring Delaware County, officials worry they cannot comply with the governors order to use new voting machines and protect public health. Instead of using the new systems that scan paper ballots at the polls, the county may simply collect the ballots and scan them all at the courthouse.

The actions come as the counties face limited time to prepare for an election during the nations largest public health emergency in a century, and after an April 7 primary in Wisconsin turned into a fiasco, with thousands of voters unable to receive absentee ballots in time, shuttered polling places, and hours-long lines to vote in Milwaukee and other urban areas.

Like counterparts across the state, officials in the Philadelphia-area counties say they face a variety of challenges, including poll workers who are dropping out and polling places that arent available.

And, of course, in-person elections mean people congregate in central locations, contrary to social distancing guidelines.

In addition to many logistical concerns, conducting an in-person election would be the antithesis of the action we should be taking to properly address the effects of this virus on our population, the Montgomery County commissioners wrote.

It described an in-person election as irresponsible from a policy and planning perspective and potentially catastrophic from a public health perspective. (The third commissioner, Republican Joe Gale, declined to sign.)

Chester Countys commissioners, two Democrats and a Republican, said in a statement Friday that the unprecedented challenges we are currently facing with COVID-19 make mailing ballots to all voters the best option for the health and safety of our community.

However, Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell, and Michelle Kichline wrote, a limited number of polling places would still be required to ensure access for voters who need them, such as those who are homeless or have disabilities.

Similarly, Philadelphia City Commissioner Omar Sabir supports a mail-in election if there are a small number of traditional voting stations open for senior citizens and individuals with disabilities.

Fellow Democrat Lisa Deeley, chair of the commissioners, does not want to rule any options out, her deputy commissioner said. The third commissioner, Republican Al Schmidt, did not respond to a request for comment.

In Delaware County, officials are hoping to avoid an entirely mail-in election, said County Councilwoman Christine Reuther, a Democrat.

But if the county cant complete training and preparations by mid-May, she said, it will not use the new machines and will deal with whatever the fallout is.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work, and life? Ask our reporters.

The countys new voting system uses hand-marked paper ballots that are fed into a scanner.

One option, Reuther said, is to collect all the paper ballots at the polls and take them to the courthouse to be tabulated.

It is not what I want to do. Certainly, if we did it without the governors blessing, we would be looking at possible repercussions, she said. But I can assure you, the only reason we would do that is if we did not feel we could both respect the public health emergency restrictions and deploy the machines.

Major changes would require the Republican-controlled state legislature to pass a bill. While there was consensus on postponing the primary, GOP leaders oppose expanded mail voting and counties are split.

 READ MORE: Should the Pennsylvania primary be all vote-by-mail because of the coronavirus? Elections officials are divided.

State Sen. Jake Corman (R., Centre) said last month that an entirely vote-by-mail election was off the table.

Were not going to get to an all-mail situation, at least not for this year, he said. Thats something that takes a lot more discussing.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 01:05:40|Editor: zyl

Video Player Close

A man wearing a face mask looks at screens displaying the Ontario government's messages on COVID-19 at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto, Canada, on April 9, 2020. Canada could see 22,580 to 31,850 COVID-19 cases and 500 to 700 deaths by April 16, the Public Health Agency of Canada said Thursday. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua)

OTTAWA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Canada could see 22,580 to 31,850 COVID-19 cases and 500 to 700 deaths by April 16, the Public Health Agency of Canada said Thursday.

Even with the strongest control measures in place, COVID-19 could kill between 11,000 and 22,000 Canadians over the course of the pandemic, the agency said in its forecast "COVID-19 in Canada: Using Data and Modelling to Inform Public Health Action."

The modelling lays out three scenarios: one with strong control measures such as high rates of social distancing and testing, 1-10 percent of the population will be infected; one with weaker measures, 25-50 percent infected; and one with no measures taken, 70-80 percent infected.

They are estimates based on the best available data so far.

"Data and models can help Canadians see how our collective efforts ... can determine the trajectory of Canada's COVID-19 pandemic," said Theresa Tam, chief public health officer of Canada, at a press conference Thursday morning.

Tam said the objective for Canada is to be in the strong control measure camp, which the modelling suggests would result in roughly 11,000 deaths if 2.5 percent of the population is infected and 22,000 deaths if that infection rate rises to 5 percent.

If the infection rate hits 25 percent under the weaker control measures scenario, those deaths could spike to more than 100,000 or 250,000 if 50 percent of the population is infected.

"These stark numbers tell us we must do everything in our power to stay in the control model," Tam said.

Even if the country is successful in getting the epidemic under control, measures like physical distancing, restrictions on international and domestic travel, and contact tracing will need to remain, Tam said.

Ontario's modelling released last week predicted the province could see 1,600 deaths by the end of April even with the current social distancing and shutdown measures in place while Quebec's modelling forecast it could see between 1,263 and 8,860 deaths by the end of April.

Tam said the federal modelling is "imperfect" but it can help understand the state of the pandemic and where it might go, along with the effect of public health measures on the transmission of the coronavirus.
The CDC has extended its 'no sail' order for the cruise industry for a further 100 days, leaving 100 ships and 80,000 crew members stranded off the US coast.

At least 20 of these ships have known or suspected cases of coronavirus on-board, the agency said.

Cruise liners are coming under pressure to make repatriation plans for their sailors after a 50-year-old crew member on the Zaandam became the latest victim of coronavirus on a cruise ship on Wednesday.

The Coral Princess, pictured moored in Miami, has reported 13 cases of coronavirus

The Zaandam, moored in Port Everglades, Miami, lost a crew member to coronavirus on Wednesday. It has reported four deaths due to the virus so far

People pictured being taken off the Costa Favolosa, moored off Miami, which has reported 15 cases of coronavirus

This map from cruisemapper.com shows cruise ships moored around Florida and the coastline of California and Washington

Extending their order, CDC director Robert Redfield said: 'The measures we are taking today to stop the spread of COVID-19 are necessary to protect Americans.

'We will continue to provide critical public health guidance to the industry to limit the impacts of COVID-19 on its workforce throughout the remainder of this pandemic.'

Most passengers have already been evacuated and placed onto repatriation flights back to their home countries or within the US.

There are more than 35 cruise ships with 35,000 crew members floating off the coast of Florida alone, reports ABC News.

They include Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, which had two crew members evacuated due to medical issues last week, and Celebrity Infinity, which had one crew member evacuated who later died from 'undetermined medical reasons'.

The Costa Favolosa pictured floating off the coast of Miami, Florida

The Grand Princess is pictured above moored off Oakland, California. Nearly 650 crew members on the ship have completed their 14-day quarantine

The Celebrity Infinity, pictured moored at Port Miami, has had one crew member evacuated. They later died due to 'undetermined medical reasons'

The Oasis of the Seas, pictured in January this year, has had two crew members evacuated due to medical conditions since it came in to port

Wiwit Widarto, 50, from Indonesia, died in hospital after he was taken off the Zaandam cruise ship which is docked in Port Everglades, Miami.

A further 29 passengers still on board due to mild symptoms were finally allowed to travel home yesterday, a week after arriving in Florida. The Zaandam had reported 11 cases of coronavirus.

The Coral Princess and Costa Favolosa, which are both also moored off Miami, had recorded 12 and 15 cases respectively. Two passengers died on the ship and a third died later in hospital.

The ship said it has been working through diplomatic channels to allow members of its crew and a further 13 international guests to be repatriated.

The guests are to remain on the ship, as authorities will not allow them to use local hotels, for a self-imposed 14-day quarantine.

A dozen guests remain quarantined on the Coral Princess. Many former passengers left South Florida on five charter flights Thursday, the company said. One flight was domestic while the others were heading to South America and Europe.

Coastguards have been working to bring them essential supplies and treatment, but told ABC that companies must take 'additional measures' to ensure their crews are 'reasonably self-sufficient'.

The Grand Princess has been moored off California following reported cases of coronavirus

The US is continuing to reel from the coronavirus outbreak hitting a death toll of 16,715 Thursday evening, a jump of nearly 2,000 fatalities of the deadly virus over the past 24 hours

Ships are also stranded off the coast of California, including the Grand Princess, which has moored near Oakland.

The ship reported three deaths due to the virus and 103 cases before it was allowed to stop off Oakland, California.

Cruise liner companies, led by industry giant Carnival Corporation according to Bloomberg, have turned to financial markets to raise billions to wait out the pandemic.

Carnival alone says it needs $1 billion in liquidity for each month its ships don't said.

The US is at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak and has reported 16,715 deaths and more than 469,000 cases.
Ritika Arun Vaishali By

Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: The Krishna district administration recently made changes to the food menu for those people kept at the quarantine centres in order to boost their immune system.

Though the people staying at quarantine centres have tested negative, several of them have some or other symptoms. Also since they have come back from highly affected States in our country, they need to improve their immunity so that they dont catch the virus once sent home, said Narayana Rao, in-charge of one of the quarantine centres set up at Sri Chaitanya Junior College (girls hostel) at Ganguru near Vijayawada.

Each of them admitted to the quarantine centre is provided with a citric fruit (orange, sweet lime) along with the normal breakfast items which include upama, idly, vada and pongal. In the lunch, they get three eggs in addition to rice, sambar, two varieties of vegetables, chutney and a sweet. Evening snacks include banana, lemon juice and dry fruits (cashew nuts, almonds, pista, khaja).

Earlier we used to give samosa and biscuits. Now, we changed it to dry fruits, banana and lemon water or juice, said Narayana Rao. The dinner is prepared as per the inmates wish. My centre has majority of North Indians and Muslims, who attended Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin Markaz or the contacts of those who attended the meeting. As the food habits of these people are different from localities, to make them feel comfortable, we serve them chapatis and curry instead of rice, said Dr Leela Rani, who has been posted at the centre. On Sundays, they are served biryani for one meal.

Those admitted at the quarantine centre seemed to be satisfied with the facilities provided. All facilities here are good. They provide us good food four times a day. There is also WiFi, which helps us pass our time. Along with this, they have given us new toiletries.

The only problem is that we have to stay away from our families, which we are not liking at all. Since our reports have come negative, they should take a decision and at least send us home within 10 days instead of 14 days. For our trip, we had already stayed away from our families for so long and these days have been added, said Abdul, one of the inmates. The inmates are also given counselling to prevent them from going into depression.Under Goru Muddha scheme, migrant workers, homeless people sheltered at relief camps are being served rice and vegetables, in addition to eggs, dal and chickpeas to make them healthier.
Photo credit: gahsoon - Getty Images

From Oprah Magazine

Dalgona coffee, is a viral food trend that originated in South Korea, and is now a global phenomenon.

The iced coffee drink requires only four ingredients: Instant coffee, sugar, milk, and boiling water.

Here's how to make the whipped coffee yourselfand why you absolutely should.

About three weeks into my quarantine, I woke up to a bone-deep craving for a Starbucks Frappuccino. Not only a Frappuccino, but also sunny afternoon in which I could stroll with said Frappuccino.

Obviously, I couldn't live out that dreambut thanks to dalgona coffeealso known as whipped coffee, I did get an icy sweet caffeinated treat, using only ingredients found in my pantry, and some TikTok instructional videos (more on how to make it below).



Dalgona is currently the "it" beverage of Instagram, TikTok, and Youtubeand understandably so: The drink is more art than it is coffee. Take a look at those luscious tufts of froth, delicately perched atop the cup. Those caramel hues!

While now an international phenomenon, the beverage has roots in South Korea. Dalgona gets its name from a popular South Korean street toffee, and early posts originated in Korean. Currently, Korean YouTuber Jadore's instructional video has nearly 10 million views.

Photo credit: tickcharoen04 - Getty Images

If coffee could be described as beautiful, then dalgona coffee would be a cover girl. Though aesthetics are only the start of why dalgona coffee has become so popular on social mediaas of writing this, the hashtag #dalgonacoffee has amassed 162 million views on TikTok. The appeal, I suspect, lies in the process of its creation. The beverage was practically designed for our holding-pattern lives. The recipe for dalgona coffee calls for four simple pantry ingredientsinstant coffee granules, sugar, boiling water, milkand lots of time.



Here's how to make dalgona coffee:

Step one: Combine two tablespoons of granulated instant coffee, one tablespoon of sugar, and two tablespoons of hot water in a medium bowl. Sugar is optional, but the foam gets creamier with sugar. Step two: Whip by hand or with a stand mixer for about three minutes, or until the foam is lightened in color and creamy. If mixing by hand, a whisk works better than a spoon. (This will take around 3 to 4 minutes). Warning: you may break out into a sweat. Step three: Spoon the creamy mixture atop water or milk, or both, in a glass filled with ice. Step four: Drink!

Story continues

Making dalgona coffee is simple, though it helps to check out some of these how-to videos on YouTube.

TikTok videos show the step-by-step construction of the drink, to near-hypnotizing effects.

And here's where I admit something. I've actually been drinking dalgona coffee for yearsbut under a different name. The frappe, the unofficial national drink of Greece, is prepared with nearly the same ingredients as whipped coffee: Nescafe, sugar, milk, and cold water (Folks in India and Pakistan drink a similar frothed beverage called phenti hui).

Dalgona coffee is like a frappe that started lifting weights, and was frothed for five minutes instead of 30 seconds. The result is a creamier, but more labor intensive, drink than a frappe.

While visiting my family in Cyprus, the afternoon frappe is a crucial part of the day's routine, as reliable as overeating and complaining about the heat. Though everyone has their particular way of ordering (two sugars and milk, for meonly maniacs order them plain), we all drink a frappe the same way: Slowly.

The frappe aligns with the particularly Greek word of "xalara." The easiest way to translate xalara is "laid back" or "relaxed," but that doesn't quite capture the moodslow, sunny. It's doing nothing, and relishing it. It's the joy of watching time pass, with a frappe in hand.



Like dalgona coffee, frappes are designed to be savored. Drink too fast, and you'll either drink pure foam, or leave all the foam (and coffee) to waste. Over time, the coffee in the foam can sink down into the water and milk mixture below. As a result, frappes are best enjoyed over the course of a long conversationideally on the beach but Zoom chats or virtual game nights will do, too.

Lately, when I stir up dalgona coffee, I think of the summer I first learned to make a frappe, and could join my aunts in being convinced my method was the best method. I don't know when I'll see my family in person again. But when I do, I'll be surprising them with a dalgonathe frappe that got a glow-up.

In these times, we need things to look forward to, and things that fill up our days. Oddly, for me, dalgona coffee has become both.

For more ways to live your best life plus all things Oprah, sign up for our newsletter!
When testing became essential to combating the virus, the state public health department reached out to ThermoFisher, the manufacturer of the instrument, asking about its availability because it had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for coronavirus screening. The laboratory at the Shedd had been closed for weeks, leaving the KingFisher unused.
Apple Inc. and Google unveiled a rare partnership to add technology to their smartphone platforms that will alert users if they have come into contact with a person with COVID-19. People must opt into the system, but it has the potential to monitor about a third of the worlds population.

The technology, known as contact-tracing, is designed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus by telling users they should quarantine or isolate themselves after contact with an infected individual.

The Silicon Valley rivals said on Friday that they are building the technology into their iOS and Android operating systems in two steps. In mid-May, the companies will add the ability for iPhones and Android phones to wirelessly exchange anonymous information via apps run by public health authorities. The companies will also release frameworks for public health apps to manage the functionality.

This means that if a user tests positive for COVID-19, and adds that data to their public health app, users who they came into close proximity with over the previous several days will be notified of their contact. This period could be 14 days, but health agencies can set the time range.

The second step takes longer. In the coming months, both companies will add the technology directly into their operating systems so this contact-tracing software works without having to download an app. Users must opt in, but this approach means many more people can be included. Apples iOS and Googles Android have about three billion users between them, over a third of the worlds population.

The pandemic has killed more than 100,000 and infected 1.63 million people. Governments have ordered millions to stay home, sending the global economy into a vicious tailspin. Pressure is building to relax these measures and get the world back to work. Contact-tracing is a key part of this because it can help authorities contain a potential resurgence of the virus as people resume regular activities.

Still, this technology is controversial because it involves sharing sensitive health information from billions of people via mobile devices that are constantly broadcasting their location. Some politicians and regulators have been warning that citizens privacy should be protected.

We caution that actions taken to contain spreading of coronavirus must also preserve the right to privacy held by each and every American, members of the U.S. House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives, wrote in a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump. Googles colossal stores of data on daily movements of Americans, coupled with the might of local, state, and federal governments is an alarming prospect.

Apple and Google stressed on Friday that their system preserves users privacy. Consent is required and location data is not collected. The technology also wont notify users who they came into contact with, or where that happened. The companies said they cant see this data either, and noted that the whole system can be shut down when needed.

Such a close partnership between these longtime rivals is extremely rare. The technology giants have competed in smartphone operating systems, app stores, media services and voice-recognition technology for years  while trading barbs over the privacy of each others platforms. However, both companies have been under pressure to use their prodigious resources to help fight the pandemic.

All of us at Apple and Google believe there has never been a more important moment to work together to solve one of the worlds most pressing problems, the companies said in a joint statement.

Their system uses Bluetooth, a standard way for most mobile devices to communicate with each other. Apple and Google shared a theoretical example to explain how it works.

Two people meet to chat for a few minutes, and in the background via Bluetooth their smartphones exchange anonymous identifiers to register that they have been in contact. These digital keys change every 15 minutes or so and remain on these peoples devices to preserve privacy.

Several days later, one of these individuals is diagnosed with COVID-19. The person enters the results into a health-agency app on their phone. The system then asks for this users consent. If granted, the persons smartphone sends a record of the other mobile devices that have been in close proximity during the previous days. This information is temporarily stored in a remote computer server for about 14 days.

Meanwhile, the other persons phone checks the server periodically to see if any identifier keys have been associated with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. The phone downloads all positive keys and matches it anonymously to the key belonging to the individual from the original meeting days earlier. This sends a notification to the other persons phone with information from health agencies about how to quarantine or self-isolate.

The contact-tracing technology isnt the first step against COVID-19 for either company. Google launched an information website in March, while Apple has released its own screening tools for iPhone users. Apple has also donated over 20 million masks to health-care workers and has designed face shields, and Verily, a unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc., is running virus-testing sites in some parts of California.

Other organizations are also working on contact-tracing. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology earlier this week announced plans for a similar system. Some countries and third-party developers have also tried implementing contact-tracing on phones, but they have faced privacy and connectivity issues that the new system is designed to avoid.

Read more about:
Summer will not curb the spread of the coronavirus in the northern hemisphere, a study has found  dashing hopes that warmer weather will halt the pandemic.

The transmission of many infectious diseases  such as influenza and SARS  are known to be impeded by increases in the ambient temperature.

Previous studies from both Beihang and Tsinghua Universities had concluded that the transmission rate of COVID-19 in China fell in as the temperature grew warmer.

But the latest work comparing transmission rates with the weather by researchers from Fudan University has concluded there was no such relationship.

The findings come as New Zealand and Australia  now in Autumn  report falling infection rates they attribute to breaking the coronavirus' chain of the transmission.

Scroll down for video

Summer will not curb the spread of the coronavirus in the northern hemisphere, a study has found  dashing hopes that warmer weather will halt the pandemic (stock image)

WHY WAS IT HOPED SUMMER WOULD SLOW THE SPREAD? The transmission of many infectious diseases  for example, influenza and SARS  are thought to be impeded during the summer. Scientists believe that warmer seasons slow the spread of viruses for a number of reasons. These include: More sunlight allows the body to produce more vitamin D from cholesterol, resulting in better immune responses.

The fact that schools are out, meaning that children are not clustered together to allow easier viral transmission.

Increased UV radiation, which has been suggested can slow the spread of respiratory diseases. Advertisement

The investigation was undertaken by public health expert Weibing Wang and colleagues from Fudan University in Shanghai, China.

'Our analysis suggested that ambient temperature has no significant impact on the transmission ability of SARS-CoV-2,' the researchers said.

'It is premature to count on warmer weather to control COVID-19, and relying on seasonality to curb this pandemic can be a dangerous line of thought.'

'Changing seasons may help but are unlikely to stop transmission,' the team added.

'Urgent policies or interventions  such as community travel bans and school closures  are needed to help slow transmission.'

In their study, Dr Wang and colleagues analysed the spread of coronavirus in 224 Chinese cities  including 17 in Hubei province, where the outbreak began  using data from the National Health Commission and the Provincial Health Commissions.

They then compared this information with daily weather data  including measurements of the mean temperature, relative humidity and incoming ultraviolet (UV) radiation  over the period between January and early March 2020.

The team found that there was no significant association between either the temperature or the levels of UV exposure from sunlight and the total infection rate, both in cities inside and outside of Hubei province.

COVID-19 would not be the first infectious disease to defy expectations and remain unaffected by the arrival of warmer weather, the researchers note.

Total case numbers in the MERS epidemic in the Arabian Peninsula were known to continue developing when temperatures reached as high as 113F (45C).

Other recently emerged diseases transmitted from animals into humans  including Ebola and some strains of influenza  have also occurred in unpredictable patterns.

'Our analysis suggested that ambient temperature has no significant impact on the transmission ability of SARS-CoV-2,' the researchers said. 'It is premature to count on warmer weather to control COVID-19, and relying on seasonality to curb this pandemic can be a dangerous line of thought'

'Even though the transmission of SARS, which began in November, 2002, and ended in July, 2003, suggests it might be seasonal,' the researchers concluded.

'It also might have been controlled by effective case finding, contact tracing and quarantine.'

The full findings of the study were published in the European Respiratory Journal.
EUGENE, Ore. -- YMCA is now providing emergency child care for essential workers in more districts.

First responders, health care workers, and others doing work deemed essential during the pandemic can utilize the program.

Brian Steffen, CEO of Eugene Family YMCA, said this is a way to give back to the workers keeping us all safe during this time.

"There's hundreds of families in the community right now who need this type of care because workers and families are out there being heroes working for our community," he said.

YMCA is partnering with multiple districts to provide the service, including Eugene School District 4J, Springfield Public Schools, Bethel School District, and South Lane School District.

Children from infancy to age 12 can receive care. The program offers distance learning support for students whether they are learning virtually or on paper.

RELATED: EUGENE YMCA, SCHOOL DISTRICTS PARTNER TO PROVIDE CHILDCARE FOR FIRST RESPONDERS

Chelsea Whitney, a public health nurse, is a mother of a child who is going to Holt Elementary's care site. She said as a single mother, the YMCA child care program makes it possible to work without additional stress.

"So that was just this huge relief to know that (my child) was going to be someplace with people that knew them, had known them for a while, and that I really trusted to provide quality care," she said.

Children are screened every morning before entering a site, and to keep social distance, no more than 10 children are in an area at a time.

Steffen also said they are maximizing time outdoors and sanitizing all surfaces children come into contact with.

For more information about the program, click here.
The union representing correctional officers in Ontario says some of its members have refused to work after they were not allowed to wear protective gear amid the spread of COVID-19 in provincial jails.

Some institutions allow guards to wear surgical masks and gloves while others dont, said Chris Jackel, a spokesman for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

Last week, guards at Monteith Correctional Complex near Timmins, Ont., refused to work after they asked, but werent allowed to wear the protective equipment near an inmate who started showing symptoms of COVID-19, said Jackel.

Then the (inmates) test results come in positive and they say, sure, you can wear PPE (personal protective equipment), Jackel said. Its so ridiculous, we dont understand.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Solicitor General said jails across the province have access to protective equipment, adding that the health of its workers and inmates is a top priority.

The ministry is currently working with bargaining partners to address outstanding matters, such as the use of personal masks, said Kristy Denette.

As of April 6, three inmates had tested positive for COVID-19, the one in Monteith and three at the Toronto South Detention Centre. One staff member at Toronto South and another at Hamilton-Wentworth also tested positive for the disease, she said.

Guards also refused to work their shift in the Sarnia Jail last week over similar concerns, Jackel said.

The layout of the jail, including more use of bars rather than walls, is a problem, he said.

As youre walking through that unit, youre going to fail the social distancing measuring stick, Jackel said. Youll fail it every time, its so small.

Correctional staff there wanted to wear protective equipment because of that, but they were denied, he said. So they refused to work.

Three days later the ministry changed course and allowed the guards to protect themselves, he said.

The ministry has since turned their mind to it, but its a waste of three days. Just say yes at the start, Jackel said.

Why did we have to go through three days of anxiety and a work refusal?

The union wants the ministry to place clear and simple measures at all institutions. He recognizes that masks and gloves are in short supply around the world, but wants all correctional workers to wear protective gear during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, guards at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre refused to work due to the lack of screening measures in place. It was an issue across the province.

That situation has been rectified after weeks of negotiations.

Earlier this week, jails began the screening of guards and visitors, which includes a temperature check and a self-assessment.

They initially said no then it changed to what would screening look like to implementing it, Jackel said. It was a long process, but were glad thats in place.

Denette said the measures have now been put in place in its institutions across the province. The ministry has also moved to reduce the jail population, she said, in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Since April 2, 2020, nine low-risk offenders close to the end of their sentences have been released from custody under a temporary absence pass, Denette said.

The ministry has also given temporary absence passes to intermittent offenders, who would normally spend weekends in custody.

She said the ministry is also working with courts and police to reduce the numbers inside jails. Those measures include more people out on bail and police releasing individuals on a promise-to-appear in court at a later date.

Since mid-March, the Ontario jail population has been reduced to 6,148 inmates from 8,344, she said.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the rising levels of anxiety, uncertainty and fear resulting from this unprecedented pandemic, The Salvation Army has launched its first nationwide hotline to provide emotional and spiritual care to anyone impacted by this crisis. If you're looking for spiritual guidance or local services, or if you just need someone to talk with, Salvation Army officers who are pastors and emotional-care personnel are there to listen.

The phone number is 1-844-458-HOPE (4673). Staff are available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST. Counselors speak English and Spanish, and callers are encouraged to leave a message if they call after hours.

As the nation's largest social services organization with a presence in almost every ZIP code in America, The Salvation Army has expanded its efforts to meet the overwhelming need caused by COVID-19. Uniquely positioned to assist those vulnerable in our communities, the Army's current response is focused on:

Food security  expanding food assistance with new delivery and drive-through options

 expanding food assistance with new delivery and drive-through options Shelter  providing safe shelter for individuals and families experiencing homelessness

 providing safe shelter for individuals and families experiencing homelessness First responder support  providing support based on each community's need (for example, providing meals and childcare)

 providing support based on each community's need (for example, providing meals and childcare) Virtual worship  offering virtual services during this outbreak using livestreaming tools to continue providing faith, hope and healing, which will be especially important this Easter

Though The Salvation Army is committed to meeting need wherever it exists, COVID-19 will greatly increase the number of service requests received for months  if not years  to come. As a result, ongoing public support will be critical in ensuring no one is turned away or overlooked.

People can join the fight for good and support their local Salvation Army and community by visiting salvationarmyusa.org/COVID19.

If you or someone you know is in need of assistance, please visit www.salvationarmyusa.org to find your local Salvation Army service center.

About The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army annually helps nearly 23 million Americans overcome poverty, addiction and economic hardships through a range of social services. By providing food for the hungry, emergency relief for disaster survivors, rehabilitation for those suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, and clothing and shelter for people in need, The Salvation Army is doing the most good at 7,600 centers of operation around the country. In the first-ever listing of "America's Favorite Charities" by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Salvation Army ranked as the country's largest privately funded, direct-service nonprofit. For more information, visit SalvationArmyUSA.org. Follow us on Twitter: @SalvationArmyUS and #DoingTheMostGood

SOURCE The Salvation Army

Related Links

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org


cup of cappuccino with a sad face

The convergence of COVID-19 and the oil price war was the reason for the 20% slump of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) in the first quarter of 2020. The index lost about $750 billion in value.

The trading volume in March, however, was almost $16.8 billion, or double the volume versus the same month in 2019. Despite the market crash, the stock market remains one of the best marketplaces to build wealth. But how safe is safe?

Asset allocation

In the stock market, risk-averse investors spread the risk. When you want to continue building wealth while the market is declining, the key is asset allocation. The strategy allows you to avoid as much risk as possible. You boost your chances of riding out the market crash when you diversify.

Emerging winners

Since no one can predict when a market crash will happen, you should be looking for investments that can provide a higher degree of shelter. Always remember that in stock investing, growing your money and protecting your investment is a balancing act.

People with holdings in Kinaxis (TSX:KXS) and Innergex Renewables (TSX:INE) are finding out why both companies are the emerging winners amid the financial devastation that COVID-19 is causing.

Critical supply-chain software

Kinaxis is at the epicentre of the current madness. As of this writing, this tech stock is surprisingly in positive territory. Very few stocks are posting gains, whereas Kinaxis is ahead 1.45% year to date.

This $2.68 billion company has software that can track supply chains. Kinaxis is expecting potential new sales because of the major disruptions in the supply chain. Companies are unable to cope with the changing market conditions that effective management of the supply chain cycle is of the utmost importance.

Kinaxiss software is a tremendous help in supply chain planning, monitoring, and decision-making. Its Rapid Response platform enables prompt response and action by the users. The results are risk reduction, cost savings, and maximum business performance.

Story continues

The company is playing a key role in ensuring there is the much-needed agility in communication in the supply chain ecosystem. More importantly, software users can work from home.

Thriving IPP

Utility companies and independent power producers (IPPs) are among the safe assets in a massive downturn. Innergex is a $3.12 billion independent renewable power producer in Canada, Chile, France, and the United States.

The company owns and operates various renewable power sources, such as hydroelectric facilities (37), wind farms (26), and solar farms (five). The total net installed capacity is 2,588 megawatts. An additional net installed capacity is coming from numerous development projects, including two projects in Hawaii.

Innergex has set aside $500 million for the future development of renewable energy. The goal is to have at least a couple of hundred megawatts annually.

This utility stock is trading at $17.93 per share as of this writing. It has a dividend yield of 4.02%. Notably, Innergex has a 7.37% gain year to date. The company is fresh from its impressive growth in production (28%), revenue (16%), and adjusted EBITDA (16%) last year.

Protection against market disruption

Kinaxis and Innergex are two of the better investments to own and wont be caught off guard when a major market disruption arises.

The post 1 Sad Lesson the 2020 Market Crash Is Teaching Investors appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

More reading

Fool contributor Christopher Liew has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends KINAXIS INC.

The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020
During Monday evenings daily COVID-19 briefing, Vice President Mike Pence said that this will be a week of heartache and hope. By the grace of God, we all hope this proclamation is true on more than one level.

Isnt it profoundly surreal that COVID-19 is peaking as the beauty of spring is unfolding? Spring brings an end to my seasonal affective disorder, which hit harder this year since COVID-19 ended Spring Training in Clearwater. But to paraphrase the Troggs 1967 hit, it now feels like Spring is all around me, and so the feeling grows. Its written on the wind, its everywhere I go!

As this years seasonal pilgrimage of thousands of people to see cherry blossoms at The Tidal Basin was restricted to being a virtual experience, I watched a young father taking close-up photographs of cherry blossoms in our office parking lot while his wife and their two young children playfully gathered the blossom petals that lie on the ground, only to throw them in the air and then gather them again. I was reminded of the Russell Conwell book, Acres of Diamonds, which teaches that we need not travel far, but can find true wealth in our own backyard.

This year during Holy Week, as research scientists are working frantically and families are praying fervently for a vaccine for COVID-19, an email message from a friend suggested how we can each do our small part to make the COVID-19 quarantine no harder than it needs to be: For the first time in history you have the chance to save the human race by lying on the couch in front of the TV ... dont screw it up!

As a life-sustaining business, our team of elder care guides has been doing more than vegging on the couch. It has been a time to focus on what we can safely offer to the public with the assistance of internet technology and social media. Those tools, and a passion to do something helpful, led attorney Patrick Cawley to implement our free Healthcare Power of Attorney and Advance Directive. Take advantage of it at keystoneelderlaw.com.

Staff still answers our phones during somewhat limited hours, and our care coordinator, Karen Kaslow, remains available for a free telephone consultation about long-term care planning and crisis issues. Other staff interacts as needed with both long-time and new or prospective clients.

While COVID-19 is an immediate and dangerous public health threat, the social and economic challenges of long-term care remain. What has changed is that COVID-19 has restricted hospitalization and made the process of entering a long-term care facility more challenging. Although we have an exemption to remain in business during this crisis, we have not met with clients in our office, although our entire staff is very much available and up to the challenge of serving clients creatively.

We counsel some clients who now suffer the heartache of not being able to gather with the extended family in a hospital or nursing home room to share in the final days of a loved one. Others cannot mourn a loved ones passing as expected with a traditional viewing and funeral service, followed by a procession to a graveside service and a church or fire-hall luncheon.

While some of these deaths in isolation will be caused by COVID-19, others will be a natural end to a long-term care crisis. We understand that it can be hard to know what to do when everything seems to be closed. Just call us.

Both COVID-19 and spring are now peaking during Holy Week. Jews celebrate Passover and their cultural ancestors freedom from Egyptian bondage and subsequent plagues. Christians celebrate that the ultimate sacrifice of our Creator was made by allowing the crucifixion of His son, Jesus Christ.

It is somewhat comforting that, as we shelter in place in our fight against COVID-19, Christians and Jews share a spiritual camaraderie as neighbors because Easter somewhat coincides this year with Passover, which began on April 8 and will end on Thursday, April 16. That makes sense since Christians believe that Jesus celebrated a Passover meal, the Last Supper, with the disciples on the Maundy Thursday before Good Friday, which we who are Christians observe with somber but hopeful hearts.

For most Christians, Easter is always the first Sunday following the first full moon on or after March 21; however, while most Christians will celebrate Easter this Sunday on April 12, Eastern Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on April 19. Easter doesnt always coincide with the week of Passover. Apparently the confusing dates of these floating holidays are generally caused by differences between the Gregorian and Julian calendars, and lunar and solar years.

The Surgeon General compared COVID-19 to Pearl Harbor and the attack on the World Trade Center. It is fitting that both Easter and Passover do not have fixed dates. Likewise, this years Holy Week will be remembered not with the certainty of a specific date such as Dec. 7 of Sept. 11, but as a time that COVID-19 ended many lives in a way that was unexpected, swift and lonely; the year that Seder celebrations were limited by social distancing; and when church parking lots were empty on Easter Sunday.

Now is a time when it becomes clear whether our personal outlook is one of being half-empty, or of a half-full glass that is refillable. Some media analysts 2020 vision comes from impaired hearts that look backward to see what political leaders could have done 60 days ago. Gratefully, there are others who report about how the leaders of many countries have collaborated to fight the pandemic or how truckers, warehouse workers, grocery workers and health care providers risk their personal safety in the performance of their necessary jobs on the front lines of service while most of us are ordered to isolate for safety.

Join us in looking at this historic time as an opportunity to serve others safely, hopefully and creatively.

Learn more about the articles author, and other community education opportunities, at www.keystoneelderlaw.com. Check out the book, Long Term Care Guide: Essential Tools for Solving the Elder Care Puzzle, at the Whistlestop Bookshop or Amazon, and see Keystones free directory of services for older adults at www.mypeaceguide.com. Keystone Elder Law has offices in Mechanicsburg and Carlisle. Call 717-697-3223 for a free telephone consultation.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has directed the BSF to enhance vigil along the Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, especially in the non-fenced areas, a senior official said on Friday.

The minister reviewed the security of the two borders on Thursday with Border Security Force (BSF) officials via a video conferencing and directed the force to ensure that no cross-border movement takes place at these two fronts, Joint secretary in the ministry, Punya Salila Srivastava told reporters during a daily briefing.

The interaction is aimed to brief the media on the steps taken by the ministry to ensure enforcement of the ongoing 21-day coronavirus lockdown in the country that began on March 25.

She saidthe home minister also directed the force that they should make the farmers in the border areas aware about the COVID-19 pandemic and its prevention.

The minister asked the BSF to coordinate with district authorities so that no one goes across the border fence inadvertently, she said.

The officer said as per latest data provided to the ministry by various states and union territories, a total of 37,978 relief camps and shelters are being run in the country where 14.3 lakh stranded workers and migrants have been housed.

There are a total of 26,225 food camps also where more than 1 crore peopleare being fed, she said.

It has also been informed that 16.5 lakh workers are been given shelter and food by their employers, Srivastava added.

Taking about the ongoing lockdown in the country, Srivastava said its enforcement was going on properly in the country and urban local bodies have increased theirefforts in this direction so that the spread of coronavirus is checked.

The Home ministry has again written to state governments stating lockdown enforcementshould take place properly especially in view of the upcomingfestivals, the officer said.

"Inter-state cargo movement, movement through railways and air cargo is being monitored regularly. The stategovernments are working on ensuring that all the essentialsupplies and agricultural operations happen timely," Srivastava said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Despite the challenges that the coronvirus has placed on schools. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos believes that schools must try to ensure students dont just go over old coursework if theyre forced to stay home.

As schools quickly shifted to online learning, some have encouraged teachers to largely review material they had previously covered, due to concerns that students with barriers like inadequate internet access might miss a chance to master new concepts.



On a conference call with reporters Thursday that focused mainly on higher education, DeVos said that she recognized that the virus has created unprecedented circumstances for students and educators. But in response to a reporters question, she also stressed that shes not inclined to simply let schools off the hook on their core mission, saying We can do hard things and that some districts that have responded well to the coronavirus should serve as a model for others.



We have an expectation that learning will continue for all students, DeVos said. And we would hope that it would be an aspirational goal ... that the students would not only maintain their current level of learning, but continue to expand it.

Her remarks hit on a similar theme as when she made when the U.S. Department of Educations release of guidance about online learning last month. At the time, DeVos stressed that federal laws and concerns about equity should not prevent schools from providing online learning to all their students , including those with disabilities. She said it was extremely disappointing to hear schools shying away from offering such services over concerns about special education.

Its difficult to tell to what extent schools are focusing on teaching new content to students instead of reviewing prior coursework and material. Some states have addressed the issue, according to a collection of resources compiled by the Teaching Systems Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

At least a few states are clearly signalling to school districts that given the situation, priority should be given to reviewing prior work.



In guidance to schools about how they can ensure continuinty of learning, the Delaware education department said, Districts and charters should focus on reinforcing skills already taught this school year as well as applying and deepening these skills. In cases when teachers and students may wish to continue with new material, particularly at the high school level, districts and charters must consider equity of access and support for all students.

said, Districts and charters should focus on reinforcing skills already taught this school year as well as applying and deepening these skills. In cases when teachers and students may wish to continue with new material, particularly at the high school level, districts and charters must consider equity of access and support for all students. The Massachusetts education department uses similar language in addressing the issue; Massachusetts says it strongly recommends that shcools focus on reinforcing skills previously taught.

in addressing the issue; Massachusetts says it strongly recommends that shcools focus on reinforcing skills previously taught. Meanwhile, the Illinois State Board of Education said late last month that if schools determine that teaching students new materials is a better course of action than reviewing prior coursework in certain instances, then students cannot be required to master and cannot be penalized for failure to master the new content.

Its also important to remember that grading students during the pandemic is a significant challenge , as Education Weeks Stephen Sawchuk reported recently. One of the concerns with assigning grades in the current climate is that not all students are getting the same level of access to their teachers.

Photo: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaks about the coronavirus pandemic and school closures at a White House briefing March 27, 2020. --AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Follow us on Twitter @PoliticsK12 . And follow the Politics K-12 reporters @EvieBlad @Daarel and @AndrewUjifusa .
A new Finnish study demonstrated the benefits of large-scale genomic information in estimating the risk of onset for cardiac diseases, diabetes and common cancers. The findings, based on the FinnGen research dataset encompassing more than 135,000 Finns, show that new tools based on genomic data are helpful in identifying high-risk individuals not identified by the current system.

Many of the most common causes of death are due to diseases whose onset could be significantly slowed down or whose prognosis could be improved by identifying with increasing accuracy individuals at high risk. In the current system, a considerable number of high-risk individuals cannot be identified in time, as currently available tools measure genetic risk inadequately or not at all.

The findings, published today in the Nature Medicine journal, demonstrate that genomic information could be used to improve the selective prevention of cardiac diseases and diabetes, as well as cancer screening. The results are based on the FinnGen research project, which encompasses more than 135,000 Finnish voluntary donors of biobank samples.

The study focused on five common diseases: coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, atrial fibrillation, breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Previous studies have identified numerous genetic risk factors for each of these diseases. In this study, the data pertaining to all of these individual risk factors was combined into what are known as genome-wide polygenic risk scores. These scores were calculated for all the 135,000 study subjects, for each of the five diseases.

In terms of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, genomic information alone can identify individuals who have a lifetime risk of more than 60% of developing these diseases, which means that most of them will develop these diseases at some point of their lives." Professor Samuli Ripatti, principal investigator of the study, University of Helsinki

The research group also combined genetic risk data with currently known risk factors and clinical risk calculators. Adding genomic information improved the accuracy of current risk estimation approaches.

"Our findings show that the genetic risk profile was a significant factor in predicting the onset of all five diseases studied. A particular benefit was seen in the identification of individuals who develop diseases at a younger age than on average," says Nina Mars, doctor of medical science at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) of the University of Helsinki, who carried out the study.

"Personalised risk calculation engenders opportunities that are important to healthcare. Risk assessment that utilizes genomic information could be employed in, for example, determining the age when breast and prostate cancer screening begins. One option is to have those with a elevated genetic risk already undergo screening earlier than instructed in the current screening recommendations", Mars states.

"A study that combines genomic and health data in such an extensive dataset is exceptional even on the global scale. From the perspective of our healthcare system, it's great to have been able to study Finnish individuals, making the results also directly applicable to Finns," says Aarno Palotie, scientific director of the FinnGen research project.
Thousands of people held in US jails have not been convicted of current charges but still face COVID-19 threat.

More than 65 percent of the 740,000 people held in local jails in the United States have not been convicted of the charge on which they are being held in any given year, according to government figures.

At Santa Rita Jail (SRJ) in Alameda County, California, one of the largest jails in the US, the percentage of inmates held in pretrial detention sits at roughly 75 percent of the daily average of 2,500 inmates that are pre-trial detention.

These individuals are held without being proven guilty of current charges.

Pretrial detention has been highlighted over the last two months as novel coronavirus makes its way to prisons and jails across the United States, with lawyers and others calling for those who have been charged, but not convicted to be released.

According to figures compiled by the New York Times, there are at least 1,324 coronavirus cases in prisons and jails, and 32 deaths from COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.

The sign marking the entrance to the New York City Department of Corrections Rikers Island facility in Queens, in New York [Shannon Stapleton/Reuters]

SRJ, which confirmed its first coronavirus case on April 4, had at least 12 COVID-19 cases as of Friday. At least two employees had also tested positive.

Weve been sounding the alarm for more than three weeks, and now were on the verge of the virus sweeping through the jail, Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods said in a statement emailed to Al Jazeera. I dont think prosecutors have gotten the message about how serious this is. Theyre moving far too slowly and now people in custody are getting sick.

National, state and local authorities have called for the widespread release of pretrial detainees and those locked up for nonviolent crimes to in an effort cut prison and jail populations to flatten the curve in detention centres.

But the basic underpinning of whats happening across the country can be best described as incredible variability, said Cherise Fanno Burdeen, an executive partner at the Pretrial Justice Institute, an organisation that pushes for pretrial detention reform in the US.

Some states have taken measures to downsize their jail populations, while others have taken a measured approach, Burdeen told Al Jazeera.

Still, some authorities are saying absolutely no one' will be released.

Keeping those accused of nonviolent, low-level crimes imprisoned is really essentially sentencing people to the possibility of death, Burdeen said.

SRJ began releasing detainees in March after an agreement between court officials and public defenders. The population has been reduced from 2,597 on March 1 to 1,979 on April 9 in an effort to combat the spread of the virus.

California agreed to end cash bail for people charged with low-level crimes on April 6, a temporary measure that goes into effect at 5pm local time on April 13.

The Public Defender estimates there are approximately 115 people currently serving time who are scheduled for release in the next six months. Over half are scheduled for release in May, it said in the statement.

For organisers who work with inmates at SRJ, however, the releases are not enough.

Releasing 200 or even 500 people, is still a fraction of the people who are still incarcerated, said Riley Williams, a member of Santa Rita jail Solidarity, a coalition that advocates for the release of inmates during the crisis.

Healthcare concerns

Critics also argue that jails and prisons often have unsanitary conditions and lacklustre healthcare.

SRJ saw a six-day hunger strike over conditions from inmates in November, with a follow-up civil rights lawsuit that month wherein five inmates alleged inhumane conditions at the jail.

Another class-action suit alleges poor conditions for inmates with mental health issues. The jail reportedly has a higher death rate in detainees than that of the Los Angeles jail system, the largest in the US, though SRJ officials dispute the total number of deaths.

In March of this year, a collective grievance signed by more than 400 inmates demanded improvements in sanitation and health conditions, Williams said.

While pre-trial detainees are a large percentage of Santa Ritas  and the nations  detained population, many others have been convicted of crimes that preclude them from being released. But family members worry what that may mean for their loved ones, especially those who have conditions that may make them more susceptible to COVID-19.

Dana* told Al Jazeera her son John* has a pre-existing condition, disseminated valley fever, a fungal infection that targets the lungs and can be long-term.

John was convicted of a violent felony that would likely preclude him from release.

Im very concerned about his health, Gonzalez told Al Jazeera, citing concerns about healthcare in SRJ.

John is housed in the same area of the jail as the detainee who first tested positive with coronavirus. Gonzalez said hygiene and social distancing are nearly impossible for him, as he is often held with cellmates and doesnt have access to enough soap.

Its all too much, she said.

A new normal?

The Public Information Officer for the Alameda County Sheriffs Office Sergeant Ray Kelly told Al Jazeera in an email on Wednesday that in the coming days we will see a large number of releases based on the orders of the judicial council and Chief Justice.

Kelly directed Al Jazeera to the Alameda County Sheriffs website, which has details regarding the jails efforts to quarantine inmates who may have been exposed.

For Burdeen, the coronavirus pandemic highlights why weve been pushing for this reform prior to this.

Burdeen pointed to policies of states like New Jersey, which has seen a steady decline in pretrial detention after making numerous reforms, including effectively ending money bail in 2017.

Though California will likely return to money bail after the virus ends, it is possible that it and other states will see the benefit of lowering pretrial detainee populations through reform, Burdeen said.

Proactive steps towards pretrial reform that the coronavirus necessitates are what we hope we will be able to see in terms of a new-normal after it is over, Burdeen concluded.

*Names have been changed to protect the individuals privacy.
Americas economy is a massive beast. With just 4.3% of the global population, the U.S. produced 25% of the worlds GDP in 2019. As Mark Perry, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, points out, four Americas states combined (California, Texas, New York and Florida) each produced more than $1 trillion in output and together as a separate country would have ranked as the worlds third-largest economy.

It comes then as no surprise that if you undertake a policy to lockdown the American consumer and drastically curtail economic activity, whatever the merits, there are going to be catastrophic economic and employment losses. These losses are showing up in a spike in unemployment, a massive reduction in the nations wealth holdings, and diminished expectations on future prosperity.

As in many sectors of the U.S. economy, the lockdown has not spared the American oil patch, which for many companies is now turning into an existential crisis. Recall that in 2019, the U.S. was the worlds largest oil and gas producer and a net exporter of petroleum to the world market. The surge in U.S. oil production in recent years came almost entirely from the use of an innovative extraction technique called hydraulic fracturing (fracking) that permitted access to vast domestic resources deemed uneconomic in the past.

Stay-at-home orders and related restrictions for controlling the COVID-19 virus have been accompanied by a not so unexpected massive decline in petroleum demand. World petroleum use is likely to fall by close to 25 million barrels/day (MMB/D) in April 2020, about 25 percent of world consumption. For the U.S. alone, we can expect to see a decline of anywhere between 5-7 MMB/D by the end of the month, around 30 percent.

This demand destruction is taking place at the same time as the Russians and Saudis are adding (or threatening to add) 3-4 MMB/D of additional supply to take market share from each other and U.S. shale producers. World oil prices have fallen from $60/b in January to $20/b over the last 30 days. But these are the prices for so-called marker crudes. Regional prices in some parts of the U.S. are in the single digits, as is the case in Canada and Mexico. We can expect a wave of bankruptcies from oil producers perhaps even among some large independents if very low prices remain throughout 2020.

On Friday, a virtual meeting of the G20 energy working group is scheduled to address, among other agenda items, the Saudi-Russia price war and related proposals to work with OPEC to curtail U.S. production. The President has also announced that he is entertaining other initiatives ranging from imposing a crude oil import fee or quotas to lift domestic oil prices by constraining the importation of crude oil and petroleum products into the U.S. An end to the Saudi-Russia price war would be helpful and likely lift prices somewhat, but sustaining production cuts among an even well-disciplined cartel is nearly impossible, and OPEC + Russia is a long way from a disciplined cartel.

The President has been asked to intervene in this price war to convince the parties to reach an agreement and some U.S. producers are calling for mandated production cuts as a way for the U.S. to cooperate with OPEC. But calling for an expansion of OPEC+ to include the U.S. is not likely to be effective or a particularly good idea. The problem is that the world economy has nearly ground to a halt and consumer and industrial demand has cratered and none of these proposals are a remedy for that particular problem.

Were not against fig leaves, and our estimates show a reduction in annual oil output of at least 0.5 MMB/D in 2020 and perhaps over 1 MMB/D in 2021. These are in line with the latest estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. If production cuts are raised at the G20 meeting on Friday, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette can legitimately point out that he gave at the office.

Also, anyone calling for an import fee or quota needs to check their math. One of the problems of being a net exporter of petroleum is that tariffs are not likely to raise oil prices. In fact, it is likely to push them further down. The oil industry pushed hard for years to lift the ban on oil exports and succeeded in getting legislation to do so in 2015. By this date, constraints on oil exports were imposing large transportation and refining inefficiencies on the domestic petroleum industry.

The U.S. is a large country and so minimizing transportation costs for moving crude oil to market are important. Oil prices are set in the world market so a refiner in Hawaii would rather purchase crude from Indonesia than Houston and save on transportation costs. A Gulf coast refiner whose processing technology is tuned to heavy crude might find it cheaper to use Mexican or Canadian oil than one with alternative specifications produced in North Dakota.

Lifting the ban on crude exports allowed the entire North American production platform to minimize transportation and processing costs and lifted crude prices throughout the domestic oil patch. Remember the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, it is finally under construction and remains one of several critical pieces of an efficient transportation solution for North American petroleum. U.S. refiners have open access to the Mexican market and move millions of barrels of gasoline and diesel into that market every day.

Open access to markets and crude and product transportation efficiencies permit U.S. refineries to operate at high levels of capacity utilization. The free movement of capital, crude oil and petroleum products remain critical to sustaining the productive capacity of the U.S. oil and natural gas industry. These efficiencies played a large role in the rapid expansion of U.S. oil production and remain one of the central reasons that large volumes of U.S. crude imports also result in large volumes of higher value added exports of petroleum products. We disrupt these flows at our own peril.

OK, what about joining in with OPEC and cutting U.S. production? As appealing as this might sound to some in the industry, its a very bad idea. First, it is not likely to work since there is no national program for undertaking such measures and second, where permitted among some state authorities, it will introduce (or in some cases reintroduce) more government control over U.S. oil production. It might sound like a good idea now, but in a few years when environmental activists have more control of the regulatory agenda, those calling for such measures might find the outcome more than unpleasant.

Instead, the President should use this opportunity to rapidly advance his current program of common sense deregulation and other long-term policies that will allow capital to flow back into the industry when market conditions merit. Some near term financial support for the companies might make sense and we would support purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve since it could be expanded at fire sale prices and remains an important strategic asset.

In the end, the crisis in both the American oil patch and the national economy require more of us to get back to work. The answer to this crisis is to give the American people a concrete plan on restarting the national economy. We are both more than long in the tooth and one of us has a severely impaired immune system. But the costs of the broad economic shutdown are now becoming intolerable to a broad range of the American workforce and offer considerable potential to impose long-term damage on the American economy. Many sound proposals have come forth which can protect the most vulnerable and let most of us get back to work. Pick one.

Lucian Pugliaresi is the president of the Energy Policy Research Foundation, Inc. (EPRINC) in Washington, DC. He served on the National Security Council staff during the Reagan Administration. Larry Goldstein is the former president of EPRINC and a co-founder of Petroleum Industry Research Associates in New York City.
AP

Mexico said it has reached an oil-production cuts agreement with OPEC+ after an intervention from U.S. President Donald Trump resolved an overnight impasse, although it was unclear whether Saudi Arabia had accepted the proposal.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday morning, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he and Trump reached an accord on a level of production cuts that was more acceptable than the 400,000 barrel-a-day reduction proposed by OPEC+ on Thursday.

Separately in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that President Vladimir Putin considers the OPEC+ deal to be fully agreed and regards it very positively. However, delegates from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said they were unaware of the terms of the deal to which Mexican leader was referring.

If the standoff between Mexico and OPEC+ has indeed been resolved, it opens the way for a historic effort to revive the oil market from a debilitating coronavirus-induced slump. The deal by the coalition of nations known as OPEC+, which dwarfs previous interventions, would end the price war between Riyadh and Moscow that helped push oil down to the lowest in almost two decades.

All of that was in doubt on Thursday night after Saudi Arabia made the whole deal dependent on Mexicos participation, despite the countrys refusal to cut as deeply as required. The kingdoms energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, was pinning an accord to remove more than 10% of global production from the market on an argument about a few hundred thousand of barrels, but he was determined that the burden of cuts must be shared as widely as possible.

When asked about Mexicos refusal to significantly reducing its oil production, Lopez Obrador said Trump had given him assurances that the country can make a smaller curb.

First they asked us for 400,000, then 350,000 but Mexico was only able to cut by 100,000 barrels a day, said Lopez Obrador. Trumps very generously expressed to me that they were going to help us with an additional 250,000 to what they are going to contribute. I thank him.

OPEC+ has been put under intense pressure to do a deal by Trump and American lawmakers, who fear thousands of job losses in the U.S. shale patch. Yet the American president hasnt promised to make deliberate production cuts. Instead, he will let market forces do their work, allowing low prices to deliver automatic output curbs.

That sentiment was reiterated by his energy secretary Dan Brouillette in opening remarks at Group of 20 meeting on Friday. He predicted a decline of nearly 2 million barrels a day in U.S. output by the end of this year.

G-20 Meeting

Attention now turns to the call between the G-20 energy ministers, where OPEC+ is hoping to secure commitments for 5 million barrels a day of production cuts in addition to the initial 10 million reduction in its own output proposed on Thursday.

The extreme volatility we are seeing in oil markets is detrimental to the global economy at a time when we can least afford it, said Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, whos been a key figure in the diplomatic effort to broker a global deal.

A 15 million barrel-a-day production cut would be unprecedented, but still be just a fraction of the 20 million to 35 million barrels a day in estimated global demand losses as billions of people stay confined to their homes and businesses close to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

West Texas Intermediate crude plunged more than 9% on Thursday, settling at below $23 a barrel, as traders and analysts said the cut was too small to prevent an oversupply of crude.

Not Enough

With demand likely down 20% this quarter, we believe the agreed cuts wont be enough to prevent oil inventories from rising sharply over the coming weeks, said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS Group AG.

The OPEC+ deal would result in cuts of about 10 million barrels a day during May and June, shrinking to 8 million a day from July and then 6 million a day from January 2021 to April 2022, according to the OPEC statement. The group is planning another videoconference June 10 to discuss what additional measures need to be taken.

Saudi Arabia and Russia, the biggest producers in the group, would initially each take output down to about 8.5 million a day, with all members agreeing to cut supply by 23%.

The size of the reduction highlights the depth of the markets crisis. Opening Thursdays meeting, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo described the supply-demand balance as horrifying. But it will probably buy producers little more than a bit of time.

For oil markets, the massive oil-demand contraction is unprecedented, OPEC said in an internal document circulated to ministers and seen by Bloomberg. The current outlook looks extremely bleak, with oil markets anticipated to be severely tested on many fronts.




Getting a bit stir crazy, are we? Stuck at home? Having a hard time getting our favorite foods, thanks to the stripping of supermarket shelves? Not able to go to our favorite restaurant or theater or sporting event or family gathering or, God forbid, church? All the time having to worry about being exposed to the coronoavirus?

Welcome to the world inside prison walls. And here were not just talking about two or three months but years, sometimes life without any chance of parole, or in some cases the ultimate: death row. Everybody in close quarters, the perfect breeding ground for the virus. To say nothing of the brutality built into that system. Little wonder that the suicide rate in prison is four times what it is in the general population.

Before you say, well, serves them right, you need to consider a few realities of the criminal justice system. Like, for instance, folks who did something stupid in their teens, maybe for street cred, and having to spend the rest of their lives behind bars. (Anybody who has raised teenagers knows what lousy judgment they are be capable of.) Or people who are innocent but, unlike some of those celebrities accused of sexual harassment and worse, lack the funds for an effective legal defense, or are sitting in prison because they couldnt come up with the exorbitant bail money. Or simply caught up in the get-tough-on-crime atmosphere of recent years, which has multiplied the numbers in U.S. prisons to a point where the rate is more than five times greater than most of the countries in the world.

Here in Delaware County, as in so many other places around the country, theyve turned prison management over to a for-profit company. Plenty of incentive to build more prisons and keep them filled. In the case of the GEO Group, which runs the countys George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornton, they made $83 million in profits just in the first half of 2019.

Im also thinking of the two teenagers who admitted to taking part in an armed robbery using toy guns and were held as adults in the county prison for the better part of a year awaiting trial, before the younger one was redefined as a juvenile offender. Not that the juvenile justice system is a piece of cake by any means, witness the scandal that forced the closing of the Glen Mills Schools.

Then there are persons convicted merely on the basis of fabrications by a jail house snitch who is adept at using it as a means of getting a lighter sentence.

Bryan Stevenson, in his celebrated book, Just Mercy, lays out in excruciating detail how unjust and racist the so-called criminal justice system in this country is; especially in the Deep South, but not exclusively there by any means. He was able to free an innocent man on death row, despite efforts by the prosecution to hide exculpatory evidence.

This is not a plea to do away with prisons, despite the fact that they may increase rather than decrease the likelihood of recidivism. They are necessary in some cases to protect potential victims and sometimes alleged perpetrators as well. Instead, I urge that we level the playing field, so to speak. That along with trying to make prison a less brutal place.

Having gotten a small taste, thanks to the coronavirus lockdowns, etc., of what prison inmates have been dealing with for decades, people may be ready to think anew about the need to reform prisons and the criminal justice system of which they are part. Persons interested in getting involved may want to contact Equal Justice Initiative, the nonprofit organization founded by Bryan Stevenson. Easily accessible via the web.

t.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged people to be strong, stay home and consider Skype-ing that family dinner as the country heads into the long weekend  and what could be a major test of Canadians commitment to social distancing.

I know the long weekend coming is very important to many Canadians, he said Whether you mark Good Friday or Passover, Easter, Tamil New Year, or Vaisakhi, usually this is a time we spent together, he said. This weekend is going to be very different.

The long weekend comes as public health experts in some jurisdictions are beginning to speak more optimistically about early evidence that social distancing measures are slowing the spread of coronavirus. But questions about community spread remain  particularly as Ontario lagd behind the west in terms of testing.

While some jurisdictions including British Columbia and Alberta are doing extraordinarily well with testing, as Trudeau put it, not all provinces can say the same.

While Ontario has the capacity to complete 13,000 tests per day, according to the health ministry, the testing labs have processed tests for fewer than 4,000 patients a day since Sunday, the Star reported Tuesday.

Speaking hours after Trudeau, Ontario officials said they were planning to increase their daily testing capacity from 4,000 per day to 16,000 by early May, and shift their focus towards people who are more at risk, including residents of long-term care homes and health-care workers.

The rest will go to symptomatic members of at-risk populations, including those in Indigenous and remote communities, people who live in homeless shelters or prisons, and health-care workers.

In comparison, testing in Alberta has peaked at over 4,000 people per day at some points, and the province has recently loosened requirements to allow anyone in Calgary  a current coronavirus hot spot  with symptoms to get tested.

Experts have argued that testing is a critical component of knowing where the virus is spreading, and how to ultimately contain it.

But Trudeau defended Canadas record on testing overall, saying that testing regime has been good so far but absolutely can get better, and pointing out that Canada has done significantly more tests than the United States, despite having one tenth the population.

We know that theres more to do, but we can certainly know that the lead weve taken on testing is part of the reason why were seeing a flatter curve than other places.

He added that Ontario will be addressing some of the challenges that they faced over the coming days.

But work remains to develop more testing kits and speed up the testing process.

Once we are able to get into those coming months, where we will be on guard but not as shut down or paused as we are right now, testing rapidly and efficiently of as many people as possible will be a key part of that path forward, he said.

For now, he reiterated the importance of people staying home, only going outside when necessary and staying two metres apart. If Canadians can stay strong now, it will mean this will be the first and worst phase for COVID-19 and social distancing measures can be relaxed sooner.

Trudeau has appealed to young Canadians in the past to do their part with social distancing, and he included a message for kids in his address Friday, noting that the Easter Bunny has a big job to do this year.

He told children to ask their parents if they could put a picture in the window, asking the bunny to bring extra chocolate for nurses and doctors.

They need a lot of energy to keep us all safe. And this is how you can help them to do their job.

With files from Kenyon Wallace and Ed Tubb and the Canadian Press
Two women were killed in a chain-reaction crash along the North Freeway early Friday morning.

The driver of a red SUV was towing a trailer in the southbound lanes of the freeway near Rankin Road when one of his tires blew, according to Harris County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Simon Cheng. He tried steering off the freeway, but the driver of a Mazda 3 slammed into the trailer, Cheng said.

That collision spun the Mazda sideways on the main lanes. After that initial collision, the driver of a Chevrolet pickup swerved to avoid the Mazda and ricocheted off the concrete sidewall, winding up disabled in the middle of the freeway near the Mazda.

MORE FROM JAY R. JORDAN: Man found shot dead in Chick-Fil-A parking lot, police say

A passenger in the red SUV and the driver of the Mazda got out of their vehicles, just before an Amazon 18-wheeler plowed through the crash site  killing the two women who had stepped out of their wrecked vehicles. The big rig driver was unable to avoid the crash and struck all three vehicles involved, Cheng said.

Two young children, 1 and 3, were inside the red SUV and were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. No one else was injured in the crash.

A man who had stopped on the side of the freeway after the first hits managed to avoid being hit by the truck by jumping off the lower portion of the overpass, falling nearly 10 feet, Cheng said. He suffered a leg injury but is expected to survive.

Intoxication is not believed to be a factor, Cheng said.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com
Thiruvananthapuram, April 10 : The Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Friday asked the Pinarayi Vijayan government to investigate how the data on Covid-19 patients and suspects is being fed into the server of a US-based marketing firm, Sprinklr.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media the data transfer was taking place in Kerala from the local ward level. The data is collected by the government and sent to the server of the US-based marketing company, he said.

"Several countries have banned this. The most precious thing is data, especially related to Covid-19. What is doubtful is why this is being handed over to a foreign company when our own state-owned companies can do an analysis. The emblem of the Kerala government is being used by this US firm. These are generally protected health information pertaining to our people," said Chennithala.

Demanding an investigation, Chennithala asked: "We want to know what's this all about. What's the financial implication in it? The government has to come out with an explanation."
Primeste notificari pe email

Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare (Premium) Granturi - Finantari (Premium) Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele
More than 100 Australian and New Zealand residents aboard an Antarctica cruise ship anchored off the coast of Uruguay are expected to fly into Melbourne over Easter.

Aurora Expeditions, the operator of the Greg Mortimer ship, has chartered a flight from Montevideo which is scheduled to arrive in Australia on Sunday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told AAP on April 10.

Of the more than 200 people on the vessel, 96 are Australian passengers and crew, along with roughly 16 New Zealand citizens.

Five Australians have already been taken off the Greg Mortimer and hospitalised in Montevideo, DFAT said.
While most coronavirus cases in Canada have been relegated to major urban centres so far, physicians working in smaller communities may actually have a harder time dealing with the ongoing outbreak in the future.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An exterior shot of the Neepawa Health Centre's emergency drop-off area on April 1. (Kyle Darbyson/The Brandon Sun)

While most coronavirus cases in Canada have been relegated to major urban centres so far, physicians working in smaller communities may actually have a harder time dealing with the ongoing outbreak in the future.

Thats according to Dr. Alan Drummond, the former president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, who has been practising medicine in the town of Perth, Ont., since 1983.

During a March 31 conversation with the Sun, the 66-year-old doctor said rural medical centres across the country, including those in Westman, are understaffed on a good day, which means those chronic deficiencies are only going to be heightened during a pandemic.

Part of this has to do with how most rural physicians are generalists, which pulls them in a bunch of different directions such as administering anesthetic services, working in the local ICUs and providing surgical assistance care.

"The day-to-day business of looking after sick people and injured people is going to have to go on," he said. "But were also going to end up, presumably, seeing a lot of older people with COVID and they can really stretch the resources."

This potential situation is made worse by the fact rural Canadians are older on average and tend to contract a larger burden of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

An exterior shot of the Neepawa Health Centre's emergency drop-off area on April 1. (Kyle Darbyson/The Brandon Sun)

"Rural Canada is a lovely place, but its not exactly a healthier place," Drummond said.

"Our people are the ones that, theoretically, are most at risk if they contract COVID, and so our critical-care resources may become rapidly overwhelmed depending on the curve and the severity of this particular illness."

Drummond said this staffing disparity did not happen overnight, since rural recruitment drives have been struggling for a while now.

"We have seen neglect in the health-care system and in health and human resources for two decades now and the chickens are coming home to roost," he said. "And its a hard sell sometimes for physicians trained in a city environment to pack up and move to Portage la Prairie or Brandon, Manitoba. Its just not the mindset."

Currently, Prairie Mountain Health services approximately 171,000 people across the Westman region. At least 32,000 of those potential patients are 65 years or older, the age group that is the most vulnerable to this respiratory illness.

Even though these rural residents are in the hands of extremely talented health-care professionals, Drummond said the staff on the ground are at the mercy of the heads of government who, in his opinion, havent been providing clear communication about such things as proper testing procedures.

"I think transparency and clear communications would be very helpful, and it has not been that way," he said. "It seems like health-care providers have been dragging government along the way, and not the other way around.

And because cities such as Winnipeg are dealing with the bulk of Canadas COVID-19 cases right now, rural centres cant expect their urban counterparts to simply bail them out with additional staff, supplies or patients transfers.

"Winnipeg, on a good day, has a crowded hospital system, and you cant really pick up the phone and say Im sending you Mrs. X because their ICUs may be busy and they may not be able to accept patients," he said.

In a March 21 press release, the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians provided federal and provincial governments with a variety of recommendations on how they can help close this gap in care between urban and rural centres.

This includes increasing the supply of personal protective equipment, improving medevac resources and the creation of centralized provincial teams that include physicians, core generalist specialties and respiratory therapists.

Despite all these concerns, Drummond remains optimistic about the future and how this will all play out.

Not only are rural physicians and their support staff some of the best in their field, but the people living in these smaller communities have already faced something like this.

"Rural Canadians are a resilient people, and this is not the first time weve been to this rodeo," he said.

"Weve had SARS and H1N1 and Ebola, and weve had natural disasters, and we always seem to rise to the challenge."

 kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @KyleDarbyson
Russias space agency Roscosmos has condemned US President Donald Trumps order signed this week, which encourages citizens to mine the moon and other celestial bodies with commercial purposes.

The government body likened the policy to colonialism and said it hardly sets the countries to fruitful cooperation.

There have already been examples in history when one country decided to start seizing territories in its interest  everyone remembers what came of it, Roscosmos deputy general director for international cooperation, Sergey Saveliev, said in a statement.

Trumps order classifies outer space as a legally and physically unique domain of human activity instead of a global commons, paving the way for mining the moon without any sort of international treaty.

Americans should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space, the document states, noting that the US had never signed a 1979 accord known as the Moon Treaty. This agreement stipulates that any activities in space should conform to international law.

This is not the first time the US is addressing space mining by issuing an order. In 2015, the US Congress passed a bill explicitly allowing companies and citizens to mine, sell and own any space material.

That piece of legislation included a very important clause, stating that it did not grant sovereignty or sovereign or exclusive rights or jurisdiction over, or the ownership of, any celestial body.

The section ratified the Outer Space Treaty, signed in 1966 by the US, Russia, and a number of other countries, which states that nations cant own territory in space.

Trump has taken a consistent interest in asserting American power beyond Earth, forming the Space Force within the US military last year to conduct space warfare where needed.

The countrys space agency NASA had previously outlined its long-term approach to lunar exploration, which includes setting up a base camp on the moons south pole.

Trillion-dollar market

The US isnt the first nor the only nation to jump on board the lunar mining train.

Russia has been pursuing plans in recent years to return to the moon, potentially travelling further into outer space.

Roscosmos revealed in 2018 plans to establish a long-term base on the moon over the next two decades, while President Vladimir Putin has vowed to launch a mission to Mars very soon.

Luxembourg, one of the first countries to set its eyes on the possibility of mining celestial bodies, created in 2018 a Space Agency (LSA) to boost exploration and commercial utilization of resources from Near Earth Objects.

Unlike NASA, LSA does not carry out research or launches. Its purpose is to accelerate collaborations between economic project leaders of the space sector, investors and other partners.

Thanks to the emerging European network, scientists announced last year plans to begin extracting resources from the moon as early as 2025.

The mission, in charge of the European Space Agency in partnership with ArianeGroup, plans to extract waste-free nuclear energy thought to be worth trillions of dollars.

Both China and India have also floated ideas about extracting Helium-3 from the Earths natural satellite. Beijing has already landed on the moon twice in the 21st century, with more missions to follow.

In Canada, most initiatives have come from the private sector. One of the most touted was Northern Ontario-based Deltion Innovations partnership with Moon Express, the first American private space exploration firm to have been granted government permission to travel beyond Earths orbit.

Space ventures in the works include plans to mine asteroids, track space debris, build the first human settlement in Mars, and billionaire Elon Musks own plan for an unmanned mission to the red planet.

Geologists as well as emerging companies, such as US-based Planetary Resources, a firm pioneering the space mining industry, believe asteroids are packed with iron ore, nickel and precious metals at much higher concentrations than those found on Earth, making up a market valued in the trillions.

By Mining.com

More Top Reads From Safehaven.com:
Gardai are prioritising responses to domestic abuse reports amid concerns about an increase in incidents during the coronavirus emergency, a senior Government official has said.

Liz Canavan, Assistant Secretary General at the Department of the Taoiseach, stressed that the 2km restriction on movement did not apply to abuse victims who were seeking help.

Ms Canavan moved to provide assurance to those suffering domestic abuse that the full range of support services were still available during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Weve spoken previously about concerns in relation to an increase in the incidence of domestic abuse in times of crisis, she told the daily Government press briefing on the coronavirus pandemic.

At a time where we have all been asked to stay at home were very conscious that for victims of domestic abuse, home may not be a safe place.

The Government wants to assure victims of domestic abuse that support is still available despite Covid-19.

We want to put out a very clear message to anyone who may be suffering domestic abuse that frontline support services are still available.

An Garda Siochana is prioritising responses to domestic abuse, other services like the courts and the legal aid boards are ready to offer support where needed.

And any restrictions on moving around, including the two-kilometre rule, do not apply to a person trying to avoid risk of harm, or seeking to access essential services.

Ms Canavan said information on services and support for victims is available through gov.ie.

The official also raised concern about a reported scam involving people being sent a fraudulent text message about contact tracing of the virus.

Weve spoken about the need to be vigilant about scams and fraud at this time, she said.

Unfortunately, there are people who will take advantage of us during this emergency.

Were aware of reports about a contact tracing scam that involves people getting text messages saying theyve been in contact with a confirmed case, or with someone presenting with symptoms of Covid-19, where theyre asked to click on a link.

Dont click on this link, delete the text immediately.

You will not be contacted in this way as part of the contact tracing process.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
By Arno Schuetze and Ilona Wissenbach

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany is in talks to provide Lufthansa <LHAG.DE> with billions of euros in state aid and could take a stake in the airline, which has grounded 95% of its fleet due to the coronavirus pandemic, people close to the matter said.

The government and airline are discussing loans as well as a possible equity investment as Lufthansa grapples to cope with Berlin's order to all but halt its operations, the people said.

"We are in close contact with the federal government to secure our liquidity", a Lufthansa spokesman said, but declined to comment on the details.

Lufthansa is working with banks including Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> in its talks with the German government and state bank KfW, the people said. Goldman Sachs <GS.N> had been expected to secure a leading role, but it remained unclear whether the U.S. bank has been mandated, they added.

The Economy Ministry, KfW, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Last week, Lufthansa said it had not yet applied for state aid but was in talks with lenders and authorities about what kind of help would be possible if needed.

Lufthansa, like other German companies, could seek a loan 80% guaranteed by state bank KfW and 20% backed by commercial banks, while an equity contribution - possibly in the form of non-voting capital - is also an option.

"The forecast for Lufthansa as a going concern is strong, so the likelihood of Lufthansa getting bridge loans from its banks and KfW is very high", a person close to the matter said.

Competitor American Airlines <AAL.O> intends to apply for up to $12 billion in U.S. government aid, executives said in a memo to employees on Monday.

Lufthansa may need state support of a similar magnitude, an industry banker said.

The coronavirus crisis has cut Lufthansa's sales from passenger flights to almost zero, but shorter working hours as well as lower fees for airports and air traffic control have brought down costs.

Story continues

On Thursday, Lufthansa said that it would cancel all flights -- except those to return stranded tourists -- until May 3.

The head of the International Air Transport Association said that the industry is going through the biggest crisis that it has ever faced. In one of the most dramatic moves yet, British Airways <ICAG.L> is in talks with its union about a plan to suspend around 32,000 staff, a person familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Lufthansa has applied for short-time work for around 87,000 crew and ground staff at its core brand until the end of August. Short-time work is a form of state aid that allows employers to switch staff onto reduced working hours during an economic downturn to keep them on the payroll. It has been widely used by German industry, including its car sector. With planes unable to fly because of travel restrictions, compounded by a plunge in demand over fears of contagion, many airlines worldwide have said they need government support to survive. Last week, airlines urged governments to speed up bailoutsto rescue the air transport industry, as they doubled theirestimate of 2020 revenue losses from the health crisis to morethan $250 billion. Germany stands ready to take over Condor as a deal for the airline to be bought by Polish rival LOT is likely to collapse in the industry turmoil caused by the coronavirus crisis, people close to the matter have told Reuters. In the United States, the treasury is preparing to provide up to $25 billion in direct grants to the airline industry. Last week, investors led by Singapore state investor Temasek put together a $13 billion funding package for Singapore Airlines <SIAL.SI> in the single biggest rescue so far for an airline hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

(Additional reporting by Klaus Lauer in Berlin and Patricia Uhlig in Frankfurt; Editing by Michelle Martin, Mark Potter and Carmel Crimmins)
This article is published through a partnership with New York Medias Strategist . The partnership is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. Every editorial product is independently selected by New York Media. If you buy something through our links, Slate and New York Media may earn an affiliate commission.

Even if you dont know any nurses personally, you probably know this: They spend a lot of time caring for others. Its an essential and often thankless job, and right now its even more essential, as nurses and other medical professionals put themselves at risk every day to care for patients with COVID-19. If you do have nurses in your lives, theres no better time to send a gift to show your appreciation. Whether its something thatll make the long shifts more bearable or help them relax when theyre off the clock, the right gift can not only show you care, but also improve their lives, at work or at home. We asked nine experienced nurses about the best gifts theyve received and the ones theyd love to get right now.

Gifts to help them stay caffeinated

With long days and nights, the nurses we talked to all said the gift of caffeine will surely be appreciated. (If you dont know a nurse, dont worry. You can still send them coffee. Justin Mattera, owner of Blend Bay Ridge, began taking donations through Instagram to fund coffee deliveries to doctors and nurses on the front lines after he was forced to close his own shop. Your contribution will help fund the hundreds of coffees a day he and his team deliver to three Brooklyn Hospitals.)

Yeti Rambler 30 oz Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tumbler Nearly all of the nurses we talked to recommend giving an insulated coffee tumbler. Atlanta-based family nurse practitioner Julia Eze says an insulated tumbler is the perfect work accessory [that] a nurse can utilize throughout the entirety of a shift. Sonja M. Schwartzbach, a nurse in the New York tristate area, says Yeti tumblers, which keep coffee hot and water cold, are popular among nurses because they hold large quantities of liquid to sip during a shift. $35 from Amazon



Drip Kit Perfect Pour Over Kit With most local coffee shops closed, nurses used to picking up a latte on their way to work have to make other arrangements. Zach Adams, a certified registered nurse anesthetist in Philadelphia, puts coffee at the top of his list of recommendations and says that not all nurses have a coffee grinder at home. This gift set from coffee startup Drip Kit makes pour-over coffee simple to brew anywhere. It comes with a Hario electric kettle and ten single servings of delicious drip coffee. To use, you simply unfold the cardboard drip kit, place it on top of your mug and add hot water. $100 from Drip Kit



Starbucks Digital Gift Card Several nurses we spoke with said a gift card for Starbucks (or another local coffee shop) would be a welcome gift. [Nurses] can use that going into their shift, but they can also treat their whole unit to Starbucks, says Katie Duke, an in-patient cardiology nurse practitioner in New York City. Eze calls it an all-time fave. [Editors note: Depending on the city and state youre in, many Starbucks locations have closed their doors, but some remain open in and around hospitals.] $25 from Starbucks



Gifts to help them take care of themselves

Zeel Gift Card Not surprisingly, massage gift cards came up a few times in our reporting. Adams says that, despite not being able get a massage right now, this would still be appreciated for when things get back to normal. Nurses take care of other people for 40-plus hours a week, Duke says. Sometimes at the end of the day, we dont have energy to do things for ourselves. Nurse practitioner Danielle LeVeck agrees and says nurses appreciate a gift that lets them pamper themselves. A gift card for a local spa is always good, but Schwartzbach says one of her favorite gifts is the promise of an eventual in-home massage through the on-demand service Zeel. $50 from Amazon



Philips Norelco Cordless Electric Shaver with Precision Trimmer in Blue To make sure N95 masks have a good seal, male nurses need to be clean-shaven, Adams says. He recommends gifting an electric razor or shaving kit to help with the process. This one from Norelco got the most praise from our shaving experts when we asked about the best electric razors. $120 from Bed Bath & Beyond



First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream Intense Hydration Strategist beauty writers Tembe Denton-Hurst and Rio Viera-Newton recently answered an ER doctors plea for ways to soothe her dry and irritated skin that was wrecked by wearing N95 mask for 14 hours at a time. This rich and calming moisturizer is designed to hydrate and protect extremely irritated skin. $34 from Ulta Beauty



Gifts to feed them (and one they can drink)

Blue Apron Meal Kits One of the best gifts LeVeck ever received was a subscription to a meal-delivery service. Nursing is exhausting and the last thing any of us wants to do when we get home is cook dinner, she says. She loves that it takes the work out of grocery shopping and menu planning so she could easily prepare healthy meals for her family. From $48 from Blue Apron



Make Mine Dark Care Package For something sweeter, Amy Sedgwick, Clinical RN, BSN at Mount Sinai Kravis Childrens Hospital, says she would love to receive this chocolate care package. This is obviously a challenging and scary time. What keeps me going is looking forward to something delicious mid-shift or after a shift, Sedgwick says. She would be thrilled to receive Seattle Chocolates Make Mine Dark care package with a couple of different dark chocolate bars and truffles  some for herself and some to share with her team. $35 from Seattle Chocolate



Gifts to help them sanitize

NEMO Equipment Inc. Helio Pressure Shower According to Adams, his biggest concern right now is not getting his family sick. So he suggests giving nurses innovative ways to sanitize themselves and their belongings when they return home from a shift. If you know they have outdoor space or a porch, Adams thinks one of these portable outdoor showers normally used for camping would be appreciated. This way they can suds up and rinse off (hopefully out of sight of the neighbors) before entering the house. $70 from Backcountry



59S UV Light Sanitizer Bag Adams would also appreciate a UV light sanitizer to clean things like his ID, phone, keys, and anything else that might fit. $200 from Amazon



Gifts they can wear

Baggu Packable Backpack Diana Arias, an ER Nurse in New York City would like a lightweight backpack to replace the big book bag she currently uses to carry all her necessities to the hospital. (That includes her stethoscope, pens, badge, wallet, phone, lotion, hand sanitizer, a pouch with feminine products, medications for head and body aches, and body splash.) I walk to work and it weighs me down, says Arias. $36 from Baggu



Crocs On The Clock Work Slip-On Adams mentioned that Crocs has been donating lots of clogs to health-care workers. And though he prefers wearing Brooks sneakers, he says Crocs are easier to sanitize. This pair is a bit more durable and provides more support than Crocs signature clogs, and theyre just as comfortable. $40 from Zappos



Stylish compression socks

Nearly every nurse we spoke with said theyd love to receive a pair of compression socks, preferably in a fun pattern or print. According to Sonja M. Schwartzbach, a nurse in the tristate area, these snug socks are the holy grail for nurses on their feet for 12-hour shifts. Eze says theyre really good for making sure youre getting good blood supply to your legs, preventing pain and swelling. This pair from Nurse Mates, one of Schwartzbachs favorite brands, are less than $20. As Schwartzbach says, You dont have to spend a ton of money, but its something that when nurses get as a gift, they appreciate.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

A registered nurse from Seattle, who asked to remain anonymous due to her employers media policy, says colorful socks like these play an important role in the fight against the coronavirus. We are now required to roll and tuck our scrub pants into high socks to prevent the virus from being carried around by fabric that drags on the floor, she says adding that this style is now known as the COVID cuff.

Lululemon Fly Away Tamer Headband II We are required to wear our hair up in a bun and out of our face right now, which is super-uncomfortable for 12 hours at a time, says the nurse from Seattle. She suggests giving RNs comfortable and cute headbands to wear while on a shift. This headband from Lululemon comes recommended by Strategist senior writer Karen Adelson. $12 from Lululemon



Because nurses wear them every day, a new set of scrubs would be a nice gift. Duke (who actually designed her own line of scrubs with Cherokee Uniforms) says that lots of nurses often wear free scrubs from their hospitals but that these can be unflattering, uncomfortable, or not made with enough pockets for everything they need to carry around. We work in health care, so you cant really express yourself with tons of fashion, she says. But everybody still wants to look good and be confident in what theyre wearing. This set from Figs has a more tailored fit and plenty of pockets. Registered nurse Brittney Wilson describes them as supersoft and really nice.

Figs also makes tailored, functional scrubs for men.

Jaanuu Seamless Underscrub Like Figs, Jaanuu is a relatively new brand that designs stylish scrubs as well as pieces like jackets and undershirts to be worn with your hospital outfit. Wilson says the brand has done a good job catering to the plus-size audience. Its also a favorite of Schwartzbach, who turns to Jaanuu for scrub leisure styles like this underscrub shirt. Since some parts of the hospital are kept very cold, she relies on these for warmth  and also modesty. Were doing a lot of bending and lifting, she says, and you dont want that crack between your scrub top and your scrub pants to show. A tucked-in under-scrub shirt closes up the gap. $36 from Jaanuu



Nurse Badge Reel Since many hospitals require that nurses wear specific color scrubs, a little piece of flair like a handmade badge clip helps them add some personality to their uniform. Eze says nurses often choose clips that represent their specialties, like a heart for a cardiac nurse or an X-ray for a nurse in the orthopedic department. $10 from Etsy



Littmann Classic III Monitoring Stethoscope With three nurses mentioning the brand by name, Littmann is basically a status stethoscope among nurses. When you see doctors and cardiologists wearing a stethoscope, its usually that one, says Schwartzbach, who thinks itd be an especially thoughtful gift for a new nurse about to start his or her career. LeVeck adds that theyre the highest-quality stethoscopes on the market and a must-have for any nurse. Wilson says you can almost never go wrong with a Littmann. $86 from Amazon


ASHLAND, Ore -- Restaurants in Oregon can only make food if it's heading out the door. Governor Kate Brown has extended the dine-in ban indefinitely to help flatten the curve.

Restaurants are trying to find ways to stay open. "As a restaurant we didn't do delivery before, so that was kind of a new challenge." said Ivan Thui. He is the Owner of Breadboard. "We found other places doing more and more deliveries. So we added delivery within a week." said Gary Allen. He is the Co-Owner of Oak Tree NorthWest Bar and Grill.

Three weeks into this dine-in ban, owners are finding out what works and what doesn't. "That was kind of the process. Just try to keep it going; try to keep the doors open." said Allen. For Allen, it was being more active on social media and door knocking. "Some of the employees and myself, we've dropped off to go menus through various neighborhoods." said Allen. It turned out to be a huge success. "We got a lot of direct, immediate response from that. Same day orders, that kind of thing."

"We are trying to be more active of social media. Trying to let people know that we are open." said Thui. He says most of his regulars are in the at-risk age group. So he made dropping off food easy. "We don't have any signing pens or anything like that. It's all contact-less now."

Both restaurants are going to keep doing what they are doing. Despite the new indefinite ban. "You know if business drops off too much, obviously things could change. You can't ever rule that out. You know there's a loan program out there that we are trying to get. I know a lot of other businesses are trying to do as well." said Allen. "From our regulars they definitely come in still; trying to support us, and buying gift cards. That really does support us. We want all of our employees, customers to be safe. That's all that we really want." said Thui.
Coronation Street star Simon Gregson's wife Emma has revealed her grandmother has died of coronavirus.

The actor's spouse took to Twitter to reveal the tragic news, just hours after he revealed he was also battling the deadly disease.

She wrote: '881 people lost their lives today, one of those beautiful souls was my grandma!! Heartbroken... #stayathome. Fly High Grandma... We love you.'

Upsetting: Coronation Street star Simon Gregson's wife Emma has revealed her grandmother has died of coronavirus, hours after he revealed he was battling the disease

Tragic: Emma took to Twitter to share the sad news that her grandma had passed away as the nation continues to be gripped by the coronavirus pandemic

On Friday Simon also took to Twitter to thanks viewers for their support after he publicly revealed he'd been diagnosed with the virus.

He penned: 'Thanks twiiterford for all the kind messages feel tonnes better today xx heart goes out to all the people who have suffered so much more. Stay safe.'

A day earlier the star revealed that he was battling coronavirus, and as he continued to recover he urged fans to 'stay safe.'

He wrote: '1st day out of bed today starting to feel a little better after contracting the virus, my main symptom was gastric and still is b****y awful but lucky to not have respiratory. Stay safe everyone x'.

Grateful: On Friday Simon took to Twitter to thank fans for their supportive messages as he continues to battle COVID-19

Shock: A day earlier the star revealed that he was battling coronavirus, and as he continued to recover he urged fans to 'stay safe '(pictured on the show in 2018)

The star was inundated with well-wishes from friends and fans after the shock announcement, which comes 17 days after production was halted on Coronation Street, which Simon has starred on for 31 years.

The UK recorded 881 more coronavirus deaths on Thursday, taking Britain's total to 7,978 as its coronavirus crisis rumbles on and 4,344 more positive tests pushed the number of patients, past and present, to 65,077.

The grim tally is considerably smaller than the devastating 938 announced on Wednesday but still represents the second biggest surge since the epidemic began almost six weeks ago.

Britain has so far managed to avoid the dark milestone of announcing 1,000 deaths in a single day, something that has only happened in the US.

Brave: The Steve McDonald actor announced he had the virus in a tweet on Thursday, where he urged fans to 'stay safe' as he begins to recover'

Shut down: The star was inundated with well-wishes from friends and fans after the shock announcement, which comes 17 days after production was halted on Coronation Street, which Simon has starred on for 31 years

Filming was suspended on both Corrie and Emmerdale on March 23 due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown.

Coronation Street and Emmerdale actors will receive full pay for three months despite production stopping on the soap.

Cast members receive an annual salary, with bonuses for the episodes they appear in. Familiar faces on the soaps are said to earn around 200,000 a year while younger stars can pick up around 100,000 annually.

A Coronation Street spokesman told MailOnline : 'Coronation Street and Emmerdale have reached an agreement with Equity to provide financial security for regular cast members for the next three months.

'The specific details of this agreement will remain private as this is a contractual matter.'

Family: Simon has been married to his wife Emma Gleave for 19 years and the couple are parents to three sons - Alfie, Harry and Teddy

A source added: 'This is a very fair and consistent deal which treats everyone equally, and is in recognition of the fact we'll need to hit the ground running once filming safely recommences.'

Equity is the trade union for creative workers and has also secured financial support for actors in dramas such as Holby City, EastEnders, Doctors and Hollyoaks.

Among Corrie's top earners is veteran Jack P Shepherd, who is thought to earn around 200,000 a year with his role as David Platt, which he has played for 20 years.

Simon, is thought to take home around 160,000 a year.

Last month Coronation Street and Emmerdale bosses confirmed that the soap's planned storylines will be affected by their scheduling changes during the coronavirus pandemic.

An ITV spokesperson revealed that episodes that were planned to air around Easter or VE Day in May will inevitably be shown on a different dates, after cutting back on their weekly broadcasts to ration their filmed episodes.

Lockdown: Coronation Street and Emmerdale actors will receive full pay for three months despite production stopping on the soap (pictured filming in January 2020)

In their statement a spokesperson told MailOnline: 'In the coming weeks some episodes of Coronation Street and Emmerdale will understandably be out of kilter due to the temporary transmission pattern for both programmes which takes effect from Monday 30 March.

'Episodes due to broadcast at Easter and those commissioned and filmed to commemorate VE Day, for instance, won't now air on the dates we'd anticipated.

'We'd hope the audience will understand the reasons for this and continue to enjoy the shows.'

Coronation Street and Emmerdale confirmed that along with reducing their weekly broadcasts, they would also re-write certain storylines to exclude elderly cast members, allowing them the chance to self-isolate at home.

Coronation Street now airs just three episodes a week, while Emmerdale will only air five.

Pay: This comes one day after it was revealed Coronation Street (above) and Emmerdale actors will receive full pay for three months despite production stopping on the soaps due to the coronavirus pandemic
Elle Fanning turned 22 on Thursday.

And the Maleficent actress proved she surrounds herself with a thoughtful crew, when she shared photos of the array of personalized cakes she received for her birthday on Instagram.

Before showing off the cakes gifted to her by her gal pals, Fanning dedicated an entire post to the elaborate cake mom Heather Joy had crafted in her honor.

Feeling 22: In celebration of turning 22, actress Elle Fanning was gifted an array of elaborate cakes from her closest friends and family; pictured is Elle's cake from mother Heather Joy

'Anyone who knows me knows I loooove strawberries,' began Elle, in a post shared to her 4.2million followers.

She continued: 'My mom surprised me with the cutest most hilarious cake all thanks to @bigsugarbakeshop. Strawberry Shortcake celebrates her birthday in style, even during a pandemic!'

The confectionery creation included a fondant replica of Strawberry Shortcake donning a coordinating face mask, as well as a plethora of two-dimensional strawberry decals.

'Happy 22nd Birthday Elle' was written in red frosting across the front.

Birthday Girl: Elle was born in Conyers, Georgia on April 9, 1998; Elle pictured on the red carpet in February

Rainbow: Elle continued show-and-tell on her Instagram Story, where she gave a shout-out to her dear friend Dove Rose

Elle continued show-and-tell on her Instagram Story, where she gave a shout-out to her dear friend Dove Rose.

The cake had 'Happy Birthday Elle' scribbled across the top in vibrant red icing, while the sides of the cake were dressed in hoards of rainbow sprinkles.

But one cake - in Elle's opinion - reigned supreme due to its sentimental nature.

Friend Holly gifted The Neon Demon star two cakes that donned throwback pictures of the pair during a joint trip to Italy.

The inside joke 'We will always have Italy' was transcribed in black frosting.

Inside joke: Friend Holly gifted The Neon Demon star two cakes that donned throwback pictures of the pair during a joint trip to Italy

'These are the BEST birthday surpise,' wrote Elle, before sharing the personalized treats to her followers.

Hour earlier, sister Dakota Fanning took to Instagram to pay homage to her 'bigger little sister' by sharing a series of snapshots of the pair from their childhood to present.

'Thank you for putting up with me when I'm annoying, for always going downstairs to grab me something when I should go grab it myself and for being the best sister anyone could ask for,' penned the 26-year-old actress.

Happy Birthday: Dakota Fanning took to Instagram on Thursday to wish her younger sister Elle Fanning a 'happy birthday'

Grateful: 'Thank you for putting up with me when I'm annoying, for always going downstairs to grab me something when I should go grab it myself and for being the best sister anyone could ask for,' penned the 26-year-old actress in her post

Dakota posted a total of five portraits of herself and her now 22-year-old sister to her Instagram Story.

Three of the five were taken during an evening out that occurred prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first two photos featured Elle and Dakota engaging in some candid laughter as they held hands and sipped on a bottle.

In one shot, Elle, donning a linen floral dress and a makeup-free complexion, had her arm wrapped around Dakota as the eldest Fanning sister nestled her head into the crook of her neck.

Dakota then gave fans a real treat, when she posted two images from the pair's younger years.

Memory lane: On her Instagram story, the 26-year-old actress shared a series of snapshots of herself and Elle from their childhood to the present

Tinier times: One snapshot featured a pint-sized Elle (left) sitting next to much younger Dakota (right)

'And this one sums her up. Happy 22 Elle! Feels like yesterday were drinking Johnny Rockets Coke's and pretending it was coffee,' captioned the War Of The Worlds star in conjunction with a photo of herself and Elle sitting at food counter.

With a cup in hand, the pint-sized Elle flashed a toothy grin at the camera, while Dakota, tongue sticking out, remained fixed on a nearby TV screen.

The final shot showed both of the famous sisters head on as they sat at a kid's table crafting a gold aluminum whale figurine.

Both Dakota and Elle, four-years apart in age, were born in Conyers, Georgia to parents Steven Fanning and Heather Joy Arrington.

Sister, sister: Both Dakota and Elle, four-years apart in age, were born in Conyers, Georgia to parents Steven Fanning and Heather Joy Arrington; the pair pictured in 2018

The family moved to Los Angeles in 1998 to pursue Dakota's acting career.

Dakota would get her big break in the 2001 film I Am Sam that starred actor Sean Penn in the lead role.

Elle would make her acting debut in the film by playing the younger version of Dakota's character.

Since entering the acting scene, Elle and Dakota have made names for themselves in Hollywood.

Path to fame: Since entering the acting scene, Elle and Dakota have made names for themselves in Hollywood; the pair pictured in 2007

Most recently, Elle starred alongside Keanu Reeves in the cosmic art film The Neon Demon.

She most famously acted opposite of Hollywood heavyweight Angelina Jolie in Disney's live-action Maleficent film, which premiered in 2014.

In 2019, Dakota took on her most ominous role yet in the Academy Award winning film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood directed by Quentin Tarantino.
China is about to resume work to further test the first of four planned prototypes of its AG600 Kunlong, the worlds largest amphibious aircraft whose technical characteristics will enable it to cover all of the South China Sea. The AG600 is bigger and has a greater take-off weight than Japan's US-2, the world's most advanced flying boat.

China is about to resume work to further test the first of four planned prototypes of its AG600 Kunlong, the worlds largest amphibious aircraft whose technical characteristics will enable it to cover all of the South China Sea. The AG600 is bigger and has a greater take-off weight than Japan's US-2, the world's most advanced flying boat.

AVIC AG600 "Kunlong" (Picture source: Wikipedia)

Designed by Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and assembled by CAIGA, the first prototype of AG600 "Kunlong" amphibious aircraft is being worked on in Jingmen. Powered by four WJ-6 turboprops, it is one of the largest flying boats with a 53.5 t (118,000 lbs) MTOW. After five years of development, assembly started in August 2014, it was rolled out on 23 July 2016 and it made its first flight from Zhuhai Airport on 24 December 2017. It should be certified in 2021, with deliveries starting in 2022.



The project had been suspended for over a month due to the Covid-19 epidemic in Hubei, and the prototype plane was at risk of damage without maintenance. (AVIC) sent a reinforcement team to Hubei in mid-March, during the province's lockdown, to start preparing a new series of tests of the G600. The operations are now carried on at full capacity.

The AG600 is 36.90 meters (121 feet) long with a 38.80 meter wingspan, similar to the size of a Boeing 737. It has a capacity of 50 passengers, and can fly at a maximum speed of 500km/h (310 mph), with a longest duration of 12 hours. So, if deployed in the southern island province of Hainan, the aircraft would be capable of reaching anywhere in the South China Sea within four hours. However, the AG600 can operate only when sea waves are no more than 2-meter high. This would limit the AG600's use in the South China Sea, where large waves occasionally occur during seasonal monsoons or typhoons.
The Congress on Friday formulated a "Corona Action Strategy" across states to utilise its cadre and organisations to combat COVID-19 on a "war footing", with party chief Sonia Gandhi stressing on ramping up testing to deal with the pandemic.

She also flagged concerns over "massive shortfall" in number of testing centres in the country and demanded a special financial package for MSME sector and labourers working there, besides urging partymen to help farmers.

Gandhi held discussions over videoconferencing for over three hours with all Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents to chart out a comprehensive strategy to combat and contain the virus.

Gandhi also stressed on the necessity of instituting meaningful financial incentives for frontline workers fighting coronavirus and said it was non-negotiable.

The Congress also called for special assistance to farmers.

In addition to providing support to harvest and transport the crops, the central and state governments must ensure fair and remunerative prices for the produce, the party said.

Gandhi also called for ensuring adequate support to farmers for planting the next crop cycle.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Member of Parliament for Tema East, Nii Kwartei Titus Glover, has started a house to house patrol in the Constituency to ensure that President Akufo-Addos directive for water to be provided freely to all Ghanaians is enforced.



With a small entourage of educators and law enforcement personnel, the MP stormed community after community and stopped over at homes and commercial water supply joints to drum home the Presidential order.



Mr Titus Glover, also handled questions from constituents who did not understand aspects of the presidential directive and educated them appropriately.



Among persons that the MP educated were landlords, water tanker service providers and non-mobile commercial water sales people.



Everywhere he stopped over he made it clear that per Governments instruction, water was to be freely provided to people for the next three months.



From this month (April) to June, Government has purposed for every single Ghanaian to have free water and because of this, water bills within this period will not be charged to citizens, the MP would say at every stop.

He then went ahead to warn that if the order was disobeyed, those who flouted it would be arrested and prosecuted.



We are doing this so that all of us can have enough water to fight away the deadly coronavirus. Anybody who flouts the order will be a threat to public health and safety, the Tema East MP warned.



Meanwhile, the MP also shared food and veronica buckets across his Constituency, all aimed at defeating the deadly virus.



The buckets targeted market women and other operators who deal in commercial goods or service provision, while the food targeted at the vulnerable in society, such as the elderly, head porters and mentally challenged persons on the streets.



The MP explained that the initiative was in line with a national initiative that President Akufo-Addo started.



Our President is like a wartime leader; in keeping with his promise to give resourceful leadership, he is feeding the vulnerable and providing all the necessary relief items to cushion all of us in these extraordinary times.



Once the President has moved, it is a natural signal to all of us his appointees to take initiatives as well and that is what I am doing with these distributions, the MP said while handing out some of the relief items.



The MP attracted the appreciation of beneficiaries. Asafoi-Atse Nii Dzata, a water tap operator said he was impressed with the MPs quick action.



''As soon as President Akufo Addo gave the directives, our hardworking MP came around distributing food from house-to-house especially the aged and he ensured that President Akufo Addo's order on free water for Ghanaians including; preventive measures of coronavirus was enforced, I and many other tap water operators of Tema new town have decided to obey because we hold the President and our MP in high esteem, the MP enjoys massive support and if we don't comply, we'll create enmity for ourselves.' Asafoi-atse Nii Dzata said.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Gov. Charlie Bakers updates on preparations for the expected surge in COVID-19 patients.

Baker Balks at Idea of 'Exit Plan' for COVID-19 Response

BOSTON  Gov. Charlie Baker reacted angrily on Friday to the notion that the commonwealth might be developing an exit plan to "reopen" Massachusetts after the COVID-19 crisis.

On an afternoon when his daily press briefing was devoted to discussing Massachusetts' preparation for a coming surge of cases and announcing guidance that Bay Staters wear masks whenever social distancing is not possible in public, it was a question toward the end of his press availability that caused the governor to raise his voice.

A reporter, referencing recent comments from New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio about a potential timetable for relaxing social distancing guidelines, asked Baker if Massachusetts officials were talking about an exit plan.

Baker paused for a moment and then calmly replied.

"We are about to enter what will probably be the most difficult period we are going to face in dealing with this particular virus at this particular time, period," Baker said. "Our energies, our focus, our efforts and our daily work are about making sure that our health-care community and our service community  social service, first-responders, shelter providers, all the rest  have the capacity and the staff that they need to ensure that we do everything we can on behalf of the people who are going to find their way into the shelter or the health care system over the course of the the next several weeks."

Gradually over the course of a three-minute response, Baker's voice grew louder.

"People have put a ton of work into preparing for this, so that we can do everything we can to make sure that not only are we able to serve the people who are going to be dealing with COVID-19, but that we are able to make sure our health care system can continue to take care of the people who have the incidents and the illnesses and the heart attacks and everything else that happens every single day in Massachusetts," he said.

"One of the biggest challenges other countries have faced when they have gone through the surge is not must managing the surge itself but the impact that surge has on its ability to actually service people who have solvable problems but who can't get taken care of."

He later referenced the Easter and Passover holidays.

"If you're looking for something to pray for this weekend, you should be praying for the families and the neighbors and the friends who are going to be working their way through this surge over the next several weeks, whether they are health care workers or patients or hospital leaders or just folks out in the community who are volunteering to step up and help with some of the ancillary issues associated with food or shelter or whatever it might be," Baker said. "We'll start talking about other stuff eventually. But the focus right now really needs to be on what's right in front of us. And what's right in front of is going to be a very difficult few weeks in managing something that's never happened before in Massachusetts."

Baker was joined at the podium on Friday by the president and CEO of Boston Medical Center, who talked about the steps her facility has taken to prepare for the surge.

"BMC quickly mobilized first to reorganize our campus to maximize capacity for COVID-19 patients and second to reduce the risk to the most vulnerable, the homeless people among us, and increase access to care for everyone," Kate Walsh said. "We immediately canceled all elective surgery and routine ambulatory activity. We created a clinic to screen and test patients with flu-like systems. We converted beds across the hospital to almost double our ICU capacity and expand our medical surgical bed capacity for COVID-19 patients. We repurposed endoscopy suites and post-operative recovery space. We transferred our pediatric inpatients to Boston Children's Hospital  and as a result, we have a number of adult patients in some brightly colored rooms."

And even with all that preparation, Walsh said on Sunday that Boston Medical had to transfer some of its intensive care patients to other hospitals.

She talked about how the city hospital serves a population that does not always have the luxury of "sheltering in place" and is instead forced to work "cleaning buildings, preparing food, stocking shelves, loading trucks."

She talked about Boston Medical's work with other partners to open the East Newton Pavilion in the South End to accommodate homeless patients; it welcomed its first 20 last night.

Walsh closed on an optimistic note, saying Boston Medical Center's plan is working and the facility is keeping pace, though, "We know we are not out of the woods."

"I truly believe that Massachusetts, with the leadership of the Baker administration in Boston, with the leadership of [Boston] Mayor Walsh, combined with the expertise and empathy of our incredible healthcare teams and strict social distancing practice by everyone  I'm hopeful we can beat the odds on this," Kate Walsh said.

Baker reported that statewide, Boston is adding 3,500 hospital beds for ICU care and acute care since the COVID-19 crisis began. About 2,500 beds are coming online from hospital surge planning and 1,000 beds are being added by the field hospitals the commonwealth has set up at sites like the DCU Center in Worcester.

He said the state's modeling for the surge suggests it will need about 2,700 additional ICU beds  2,200 for COVID-19 patients.

So far, he reported, the state's total inventory of hospital beds is keeping pace with demand with an occupancy rate of about 55 percent.

"Thanks to everything we are all doing to stay home and practice good hygiene and the incredible work of our medical community, capacity is manageable right now," Baker said. "But what we're seeing in the models predicts a big increase in cases in the weeks ahead. That means our healthcare system will be stretched like never before."

Baker said Friday that the state's modeling  based largely on the experience in Wuhan, China  predicts the surge of COVID-19 cases will come between April 10 (Friday) and April 20, though recent data suggests it may come close to the later date.

"Our model puts a peak at around 2,500 new confirmed cases per day," he said. "Yesterday, we reported 2,100 new cases. If we do not see a flattening in the daily cases, we may need to make some adjustments in our planning, and we will. At this time, we see evidence that we're still on the upward slope of the pandemic."

And the state took another step Friday to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, issuing a Department of Public Health advisory that recommends Massachusetts residents wear a mask or cover their face in public when they cannot safely social distance.

In response to a question later in the briefing, Baker explained why now is the right time to advise widespread use of masks but continued to reject the notion of a statewide curfew.

"The fundamental reason I think this is important as we go forward is the growing body of evidence that  a significant minority of the population that becomes infected with COVID-19 never becomes symptomatic," Baker said. "That's why that mask or that face covering is important, not just to protect you from others but also to protect others from you."

On curfews, Baker again repeated his message that people should stay home except when making essential trips to grocery stores or pharmacies or medical appointments, and he said he believes Massachusetts residents are getting the message.

"If local communities want to recommend that people not be out at night in their communities, they are free to do that under our guidance," he added.

On other fronts in the battle against COVID-19 on Friday:

 Baker said he welcomed Friday's announcement by U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling that his office is looking into the situation at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home.

"Remember that the entity that does the survey work for the soldiers home is the [Veterans Affairs], which is a federal entity," said Baker, who noted that the state named its own special investigator on April 1.

 Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said the commonwealth is expecting another 200 ventilators from the federal stockpile next week. The state more recently received 100 but had asked for 1,400.

 Sudders also reported that the commonwealth's mobile testing initiative has collected samples at 150 facilities, including 20 on Friday.

"Yesterday, I announced that the program expanded to include assisted living residences and that nursing facilities can now request to receive test kits to perform the sample collection, rather than having the National Guard specialists perform the testing on site," Sudders said. "Today, I'm pleased to announce that we have started a partnership with the largest EMS provider in New England, and we're now doing mobile testing at some of our very vulnerable group homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities."

 Baker said that, so far, more than 4,000 volunteers have signed up through the commonwealth's web portal to assist with the response to the virus.

"But we could use more," he said. "Mass Responds needs volunteers of all skill levels and backgrounds in both medical and non-medical professions. If you're a licensed or certified healthcare provider, a public health professional or retiree or an individual with an interest in helping your community, please visit the website, www.maresponds.org

Massachusetts Command Center Hospital Capacity Charts by iBerkshires.com on Scribd
Dr Clifford Braimah, Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) said, its management has started the implementation of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo directives.



The GWCL in a statement copied to Ghana News Agency in Accra on Thursday said: "All customers of the GWCL on category 611 (domestic users) shall have their bills from April, May and June absorbed and paid by Government."



President Akufo-Addo on April 3, 2020, announced to Ghanaians, that Government will absorb the water bills of citizens from April, May, and June as part of measures to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic.



"All stand-pipes shall be used to serve citizens for free and the Government shall absorb the bill and pay commission/compensation to the vendors. Hence, vendors are expected to still control the services to the public, but for free. This is to ensure the prudent use of water."



It said Landlords and Landladies who sell water to tenants must allow tenants to use the water for free from April, May, and June. Landlords and Landladies who sell water to other members of the community must register with the district offices of the GWCL to be eligible for commission/compensation.



"All customers disconnected prior to the Presidents announcement, are still liable and must pay their arrears to enable them to enjoy the free water. If a customer is not in a position to pay arrears in full, such customers can negotiate with the District Offices and or Regional Offices, so as to be reconnected. These cases will be treated on an individual bases."



The statement further states that Tanker Services have been arranged to serve deprived communities and that consumers in such communities must liaise with their Assembly members, who will request for the services of these tankers from the GWCL District Offices.



The numbers for all district offices of the GWCL will be published in the media, it added.



The statement expressed their appreciation to the public for their support in the trying times and assured that the company would work assiduously to enable citizens to have adequate supply especially for domestic use to help the citizenry observe the necessary protocols outlined by the President.



It added that to help the GWCL through this critical period, consumers are advised to strictly observe the water conservation measures, "Cease indiscriminate watering of lawns with treated water, Moderate the use of treated water for car washing through the use of buckets instead of hosing, shut all taps when not in use, Repair all leakages in your homes, like overflowing reservoirs and dripping taps, valves, etc."



"Other measures were to report all burst pipes and leakages to the nearest GWCL District Offices, Customer Service Centres, Fault Offices and Report all persons engaged in illegal connections, by-passes, and all malpractices against GWCL to the nearest Police station or to the District Offices".



The statement asked the public to also call or WhatsApp GWCL on the following numbers; 0555123393, 0555155524, 0207385088, 0207385089, 0207385090, and include google locations, pictures, and videos of the burst. The toll-free line for the customer call center is 0800 40 000 for Vodafone cell and landlines only 0302 218240 for all other networks.



Management according to the statement advised the public to desist from Antisocial and unacceptable behaviors like the misuse of water as we see on social media, illegal connections and bypasses and called on the public for their cooperation to Help GWCL serve them better.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Vehicles for export are parked at Hyundai Motor's plant in Ulsan in this April 8 photo. / Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



The Korean auto parts industry has sent a distress call to the government, claiming the industry's sustainability is threatened due to plunging global vehicle sales amid the COVID-19 pandemic.



Industry officials said the domestic automotive ecosystem could collapse because of small auto parts firms' vulnerability to the weakening demand and subsequent liquidity crunch. The officials claimed auto parts and other export-centric industries had been neglected in the government's coronavirus relief packages.



A federation of Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) and five other car parts, engineering and research organizations held a meeting on Thursday and adopted a statement asking the government to extend 32.8 trillion won ($27 billion) in financial aid to Korea's car parts and complete car firms.



"The government has delivered prompt relief for small- and medium-sized enterprises, the self-employed and low-income households," the federation said in a statement. "However, the relief has relatively neglected export companies, which make significant contributions to domestic income and national demand."



In the statement, the federation anticipated the domestic automotive industry needs 32.8 trillion won of liquidity infusion, which could be addressed by state-run lenders' and financial institutions' purchase of commercial papers, primary collateralized bond obligations and other financial aid.



The request came amid a global automotive industry plunge after the outbreak of COVID-19. According to KAMA, vehicle sales in Italy fell 85 percent last month, followed by France (72 percent) and the U.S. (38 percent).



Along with the shutdown of global carmakers' plants across the world, major markets including the U.S. and Europe are under lockdown, preventing carmakers from carrying out marketing programs and hurting exports from Korean carmakers and auto parts firms.



The federation estimated overall sales in the domestic auto parts industry have fallen by up to 30 percent, and that the decline would be worse this month, as more companies faces shutdowns.



On Monday, Donghee Auto, a medium-sized contract manufacturer of Kia Motors' Morning, Ray and other mini cars, has shut down its plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, for a week. The company exports more than 70 percent of its complete car output to Europe and other overseas markets, and decided to cease operation as demand from Europe is expected to plummet.



Following Donghee Auto's shutdown, Hyundai Wia, which supplies engines for the Morning and the Ray, also halted operations at its plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, from Monday to Thursday. Hyundai Mobis, which supplies parts for Donghee Auto, also temporarily closed its module plant in Seosan.



Hyundai Motor also will shut down some assembly lines. The carmaker said it would stop the manufacturing line for the Tucson at its Ulsan plant No. 5 for four days. The decision came after dealers in the U.S. and Middle East closed due to the pandemic. This is expected to trigger a series of shutdowns in partner firms supplying parts for Hyundai.



"Based on anticipations from S&P, Moody's and IHS Markit, vehicle demand in Europe will decline by up to 21 percent this year, followed by the U.S. with 17 percent and China with 10 percent," Eugene Investment & Securities analyst Lee Jae-il said.



"With poor first-quarter earnings expected for complete car and auto parts companies in Korea, it became difficult to expect recoveries in the second quarter, following the global manufacturing setbacks and declining demands."



He cut price targets for shares in Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Wia and other parts companies.












To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.

We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.

A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Gardai at a checkpoint on the northbound carriageway of the N3 yesterday.

The national lockdown will not be lifted until a series of strict medical targets are reached, including a major suppression of the virus.

The significant shift in policy comes as the Government prepares to extend the nationwide quarantine until at least the end of the month.

The public will this afternoon be told to stay at home and finish the job weve started as the health service fights to contain the virus.

Yesterday, it was announced 28 more people had died, bringing the total deaths to 263.

This included 15 women and 13 men and the median age of those who died was 81.

Nineteen of the 28 had an underlying condition.

There were another 500 confirmed cases of the virus, meaning there are now 6,574 people who have been infected in Ireland.

Goals

The Government will outline the key goals needed to be reached before social distancing restrictions can be lifted.

Medical experts are insisting the growth rate of the virus is slashed before life can return to normal.

The growth rate has fallen from 33pc to 9pc this week  but this must drop even further.

Figures for the rate of transfer of the virus between individuals who have been infected to others must also fall before the Government considers lifting the lockdown.

At the beginning of the health crisis, each infected person was passing on the virus to four others.

This has dropped to close to one but the figures needs to drop to zero before restrictions can be lifted.

In addition to the medical targets, testing and hospital capacity issues must be addressed before a decision can be taken on the ending the lockdown.

Yesterday, Professor Philip Nolan, of Maynooth University, who is heading a team modelling how the virus is spreading, said social distancing would need to be in place for a prolonged period of time.

We will be needing social distancing measures for a prolonged period of time in order to keep the disease suppressed for the length of time we need to, Prof Nolan said

However, serious consideration is being given to relaxing travel and socialising rules next month if targets can be reached.

The restrictions will be eased in a phased basis rather than all at once.

Those involved in the decision-making say the restrictions may not be reduced in the same phases as they were introduced.

Schools were one of the first things to close but may be among the first to reopen if deemed to be safe, a senior Government source said.

The source also said people need a sense of journey toward the end of the crisis.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Simon Harris will announce the extension of the restrictions, but are also expected to signal an end to the lockdown.

Normal wont return but a new normal will, the source added.

The announcement will come after the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) decides how long the social distancing rules should be extended by. The announcement of the new lockdown time scale is expected at around 4pm.

Nphet will say, Leave the ban in place for a couple of weeks, but during those weeks the Government will highlight the need to hit the medical goals and then we can move towards a different terrain, a Government source said.

Meanwhile, Prof Nolan said his modelling showed for every five cases detected, there are five cases not detected.

That is due to people having the virus but having no symptoms and the limitations of testing, he said, adding: We model on the basis we will not detect every case.

He referred to the scenario if no emergency measures were introduced.

If none had been introduced within 20 days from now, we would have had a peak of 100,000 cases per day in the population, he said.

As of today, we would have been well overwhelmed.

If we opted for limited measures such as closing schools, universities and basic restrictions, there would be a peak of infection 40 days from today  close on 60,000 cases.

This is not a question of flattening the curve and pushing it into the future. It is a question of pushing the curve so flat that there is barely a peak detectable at all, he added.

We are looking at Austria and Denmark and see if they change their measures. That will allow us to see how much we can relax.
Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday signed a bill that would make Education Commissioner Jeff Riley waive the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System testing requirements for the 2019-20 school year.

The MCAS bill went to Bakers desk on Thursday after the Legislature passed the legislation. Baker said during Fridays news conference at the Massachusetts State House that he signed it.

I signed it already and thank the Legislature for getting it done, the Republican governor said.

Students are expected to return to classes in May under the governors latest executive order. That could change if the coronavirus surge lasts longer than anticipated. Other states have canceled classes for the rest of the year, but Baker has held off on doing so.

At this point in time, we would be concerned about writing off the rest of the school year, especially considering how incredibly uneven the online process or the remote education process has been across the commonwealth," he said this week.

Under the bill, the Department of Elementary of Secondary Education may modify or waive the MCAS graduation requirements for high school seniors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill also waived requirements for diagnostic assessments for students in grades three through eight. The bill states any tests administered to those students will only be used to inform teachers, parents, school administrators and students how theyre progressing.

The legislation also postpones the deadline for three-year plans schools had to submit on how they would address educational disparities. The reports were required under the Student Opportunity Act, which Baker signed in November. The deadline is postponed until at least May 15, though Reilly can push back the deadline further.

Other provisions in the bill include extending budget deadlines for regional schools and the MBTA.

The Senate remains steadfast in its approach to offering relief to students, families and all sectors of our Commonwealth as we continue adjust to the challenges caused by COVID-19, stated Senate President Karen E. Spilka, an Ashland Democrat. This bill is just the latest step as we help to guide the state through this unprecedented time."

Students were sent home last month as Baker issued executive orders to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Several school districts had already shifted to remote learning because administrators saw school buildings as public gatherings that far exceeded the governors limits on public gatherings (public gatherings were initially restricted to groups under 50 people).

Teachers, parents and education advocates have pushed for the MCAS requirements to be waived since students were sent home to study remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. They argue the disruptions caused by COVID-19  especially for students without reliable internet at home  warrant a waiver of the standardized testing requirements.

Supporters of the MCAS waiver called on Reilly to waive the standardized testing requirements for high school graduation.

We urge the commissioner to exercise that right once the bill becomes law, leaving it to districts to determine which students have met local graduation requirements in this disrupted season, said Merrie Najimy, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

No student should see their educational career derailed by this pandemic, the Massachusetts chapter of the American Federation of Teachers wrote in a statement. As the COVID-19 crisis unfolds, educators are focused on making sure our students have food, shelter, social and emotional support, and equitable access to remote learning resources.

Related Content:
Some parts of the Central Region including Assin Central and Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem Municipalities have been hit with acute water shortage, compelling residents to resort to wells and polluted rivers as their water sources.



In the Assin Central, the "Betsensin" river in the Municipality which is highly polluted has become the last resort for water for some residents.



The communities have been battling with the situation for the last ten days, compelling them to resort to the untreated water for domestic and commercial activities.



To this effect, many residents have to travel long distances with yellow gallons, popularly known as Kufuor gallon, in search of water on a daily basis.



In KEEA, the situation is not different as residents have been without potable water for four days.



The government in its bid to curb the spread of COVID-19 pledged to foot the water bills of Ghanaians for April, May and June 2020 to provide relief for Ghanaians amidst the partial lockdown in some parts of the country.



The President also directed water service providers to ensure a stable water supply during the period.



However, some residents who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said they have been drinking untreated water for the past ten days and this was affecting their budget.



Narrating their ordeal, Mr Emmanuel Gyamfi, a resident of Bantama said apart from the struggle they go through in search of unsafe water they risk contracting water-borne diseases,



Ms Naa Akweley Anyang, spokesperson for the Community Water Sanitation Agency (CWSA), the main state agency that supplies water to the Assin Central Municipality explained to the GNA, that parts of its main water pumping machine had broken down, and assured the residents that work was in progress to resolve the problem.



She said for now only those on the lower side of the municipality were likely to receive water from Thursday until the situation was rectified.



Ms Anyang also said efforts were being made to tackle the issue of burst pipelines to curtail leakages as they have stepped up education for people to be conscious of prudent management of water to ensure sustainability.



She acknowledged consumers as key partners in its efforts to facilitate the provision of safe water to rural communities and small towns throughout the Country.



"We welcome your suggestions, comments, and contributions that will help us work together to achieve the objectives of the CWSA.



Mr Nicholas Fiifi Baako, Assin Central Municipal Chief Executive regretted the situation and said arrangements were being made to rectify the anomaly, stressing that "water is life."



He pledged to collaborate with all key stakeholders to ensure that the Presidents directive was achieved.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Les membres du Cabinet ont pris note que le pays reste en couvre feu sanitaire jusquau 4 mai 2020, quil ny a pas eu de cas de Corovavirus a Rodrigues et Agalega, de la creation dun National Steering Committee entre autres.

1. Cabinet has, after taking into consideration the various reports on the prevailing situation pertaining to the outbreak of COVID-19, agreed to the extension of the Curfew Order for the island of Mauritius up to 04 May 2020.

Cabinet has also taken note that there is no case of COVID-19 in Rodrigues and Agalega and that the passengers placed in quarantine in Rodrigues have already been released. Cabinet has agreed that the Curfew Order in Rodrigues and Agalega would lapse on 15 April 2020 to allow economic and other activities to resume, except for schools that will remain closed for the time being. Passenger flights will not resume until further notice. However, sanitary and non-sanitary precautions would be taken to ensure that there is no importation of COVID-19 on both islands.

2. Cabinet has agreed to the setting up of a National Steering Committee under the chair of the Prime Minister to develop a post-curfew Strategy and Action Plan for a phased resumption of economic and other activities. Four Sub-Committees would be set up to make appropriate recommendations promptly to the National Steering Committee as follows 

(a) Sub-Committee on Education, Health and Social Issues, under the chair of the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology;

(b) Sub-Committee on Public Sector and Local Authorities, under the chair of the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Local Government and Disaster Risk Management;

(c) Sub-Committee on Labour Issues and Transport, under the chair of the Minister of Transport and Light Rail; and

(d) Sub-Committee on Finance and Economic Matters, under the chair of the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development.

3. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the Emergency Meeting of the SADC Council held through video conference on 6 April 2020. The Mauritian Delegation was led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade and the Minister of Health and Wellness. The SADC Emergency Council adopted the report of the Technical Committee which was set up for the coordination and monitoring of the SADC Protocol on Health and directed the Secretariat to undertake a mapping of regional manufacturers of essential medicines and medical supplies to enable the SADC Pooled Procurement Agency to make bulk purchases for the SADC Member States on preferential rates during the COVID-19 period.

The Secretariat, in consultation with the SADC Cross Border Road Transport Regulations Forum, has proposed regional Guidelines on the harmonisation and facilitation of cross border transport operations. The aims and objectives of the guidelines which were approved by the Emergency Council are to 

(a) contain the spread of the COVID-19 through a rigorous control at border points;

(b) facilitate the implementation of transport-related national COVID-19 measures on cross border transportation;

(c) facilitate the flow of essential goods such as fuel, food and medicines;

(d) limit the mass transportation of passengers across borders; and

(e) harmonise and coordinate transport-related national measures.

. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade would chair a National Transport and Trade Facilitation Committee to coordinate and implement the SADC regional Guidelines and to facilitate the operational issues during the COVID-19 period.

4.Cabinet has taken note of the constitution of the Appeal Committee under the National Land Transport Authority Act with Mr Sandilen Calliapen, Barrister-at-Law, as Chairperson.

Partager et informez vous aussi......

0 shares Share

Tweet

LinkedIn

Articles similaires
Shuttered bars, cancelled concerts and no sporting matches: European beer brewers large and small are bracing for a catastrophic summer as demand dries up during the lockdowns imposed to curtail the coronavirus outbreak. "When it's nice out, that's when you sell beer," said Maxime Costilhes, head of the French brewers' association, noting that many have little money left in the bank to cushion the blow after building up stocks over the winter. France may be known for its wine, but beer sales had been soaring in recent years, spurred on in part by the craft brewing trend imported from the United States. Even Europe's dominant brewers are facing big hits from the absence of restaurant and bar sales, and the wave of scotched summer festivals, concert series and other events in the coming months. "The impact is expected to worsen in the second quarter," said Dutch giant Heineken, which already forecasts a two-percent drop by volume for the first three months of this year among its 165 breweries in some 70 countries. Germany's biggest brewer Radeberger, famed for its crisp pilsner, warned that supermarket purchases by people cooped up at home would not come close to compensating for the evaporation of bulk orders from professionals. "We're assuming that the situation won't show any real improvement in the coming weeks," a spokeswoman told AFP. German officials are even considering calling off the biggest beer celebration of all, Munich's annual Oktoberfest, which attracts millions of people from around the world. Clemens Baumgartner, the party's organiser, said a decision would be made by June on whether to open as planned this year on September 19. - 'Disaster' - For Bruno Torres, who founded his microbrewery La Baleine in a gritty corner of northeast Paris a few years ago, the coronavirus crisis is nothing short of a "disaster". His stainless steel fermenting vats, which normally produce around 560 hectolitres (near 15,000 US gallons) a year, have been sitting empty, and nobody is buying his bottles or kegs. "Even some smaller supermarkets don't want to open because of the health scare," Torres said. Overall, French beer sales are expected to be flat for the year as a whole, Costilhes said, after years of rapid growth. "We had the equivalent of 7,750 full-time jobs as of January 1, an increase of nine percent on the year, so nearly 700 more jobs compared to 2019. But that was before all this," he said. He did not want to speculate on how many brewers might be facing bankruptcy, but "notwithstanding what some have said, it's not certain that alcohol consumption is going up during the lockdown." Jacques Lebel, France director for the industry behemoth AB InBev, agreed that "beer wasn't among the products that benefited from any stockpiling effect in France during the first weeks" of the lockdown. "Beer has been impacted less than other alcoholic beverages, but we were growing at a very slow rate compared to what we had seen in previous years," he told AFP. According to consulting firm Nielsen, French beer sales rose seven percent year-on-year during the first two weeks of the lockdown that began on March 15, bucking an overall drop of 3.4 percent for alcohol sales. "If this is over by the end of April, it'll be OK, but if not, it's going to get very hard," Torres said. - 'On the brink' - German beermakers are also warning of mass layoffs as many firms "are on the brink of failure," said Holger Eichele, president of the country's brewing federation. "Sales to the food sector are essential for most brewers. For some, they account for 90 percent of their revenue. And that has now completely disappeared," he told AFP. In the last week of March, German beer sales were down 9.4 percent on the year, the federation's spokesman Marc-Oliver Huhnholz said. "It's because consumers are increasingly buying less, and the fact that a lot of occasions for celebrating with friends or family have disappeared," he said. Exports are also sinking -- Italy and China, which are among the countries hardest hit by COVID-19 outbreaks, are Germany's biggest foreign markets, consuming 3.4 million and 1.8 million hectolitres respectively last year. Foreign beer sales were down a whopping 58 percent in early April, the federation said. Some German brewers are even urging clients to buy non-alcoholic beers, such as the family-owned Bavarian firm Volkach. "We're giving our alcohol to hospitals and pharmacies in the region" so that it can be used to make sanitising hand gel, Volkach's Caroline Dull told a local radio station. Lockdowns are no small beer for brewers who depend on bars, restaurants and sporting matches for much of their business
President Donald Trumps top mental health and addiction experts are warning that the coronavirus pandemic will derail the fragile progress theyve made addressing the opioid crisis, one of the administrations top priorities and an achievement Trump hoped to run on in November.

Federal efforts to combat the longstanding opioid epidemic have already been sidelined by the government-wide scramble on coronavirus. And in states hit hardest by the opioid crisis, there is growing trepidation that coronavirus will create a perfect storm that overwhelms already-stretched prevention and recovery offices and undermines years of progress.

I think were going to see deaths climb again, Nora Volkow, the long-serving director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told POLITICO. We cant afford to focus solely on Covid. We need to multitask.

Only three months ago, when reported U.S. coronavirus cases were in the single digits, the Trump administration celebrated some rare good news in the battle against opioids. It reported overdose deaths in 2018 were down 4 percent from the previous year, which marked the first drop in fatal overdoses in nearly three decades and helped contribute to the first increase in U.S. life expectancy in four years.

We need to make sure we don't lose ground," said Elinore McCance-Katz, Trump's top mental health official. "Im worried about it so much so that I've spent a lot of my time over the last week addressing the issue."

That progress is in jeopardy, experts say, as social distancing rules and fears of the virus hamper traditional treatment efforts, including syringe exchange programs, peer counseling and medication-assisted treatment.

Its a bit ironic because many felt that we are at an inflection point and finally starting to turn the corner and reverse opioid related harms, said Caleb Alexander, co-director of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness.

Story continues

Mental health and addiction recovery advocates, who spoke with Trump on Thursday, are pressing Washington for nearly $50 billion in emergency funds they say is necessary to prevent the country from backsliding on opioid progress. Without new support, problems that plagued the opioid response effort  a dearth of providers, stigma, and access to treatment  will only be exacerbated by the pandemic, they caution.

Trump, who earlier this month rejected the idea that the pandemic was setting back efforts to curb drug abuse, said his administration would remain focused on the issue. At the same time, hes warned that the cratering economy, which hes anxious to reopen, could fuel more deaths from drug overdoses and suicides.

You will see drugs being used like nobody has ever used them before, he warned. And people are going to be dying all over the place from drug addiction.

But the coronavirus response has prompted leading health agencies to postpone some opioid work. The National Institutes of Health has frozen most non-coronavirus related research, which Volkow said meant postponing vital research into drug addiction. That includes a massive $1 billion project studying opioid alternatives and treatment options that the Trump administration rolled out just last fall.

Further, much of the governments data collection around drug use and overdoses has been put on hold, potentially creating serious gaps in information about the trends in overdose deaths during the pandemic.

Its very, very unclear how these people are dying, Volkow said, adding that theres a very urgent need for that data.

Theres also widespread fear that the coronavirus crisis itself could fuel a new wave of addiction, between the unprecedented surge in unemployment, the deadly devastation from the disease and prolonged periods of isolation forced by social distancing.

I think a lot of people are coping with drugs and alcohol, said Devin Reaves, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Coalition.

Indeed, alcohol sales surged 55 percent in the first week lockdowns accelerated across the country, according to market research firm Nielsen. Meanwhile, the federal mental health hotline fielded nearly nine times as many calls in March compared to a year earlier.

While it will take months to fully understand how the coronavirus outbreak is exacerbating Americas drug abuse crisis, there are already disturbing reports from Ohio, a state that had seen a 22 percent reduction in overdose deaths after years of sharp increases.

In Montgomery County, home to Dayton, there were 37 overdose deaths in March, the highest monthly total in nearly three years. The coroner for Franklin County, which includes Columbus, said Saturday that there had been 12 suspected overdose deaths in 48 hours.

Lynn, a Columbus woman who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her privacy, said a feeling of isolation led her to use heroin recently for the first time in three months.

The general mood right now is bad, she said. Were bored, were not working. Its definitely making it more likely for people to relapse or to use.

Mental health and substance abuse counselors have moved quickly to bring their services online since lockdowns took hold. But Lynn said those telehealth options cant provide the same level of personal support.

The Trump administration has sought to quickly erase longstanding barriers to telehealth. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency is encouraging providers to conduct counseling and therapy sessions over the phone or through video chat after federal regulators relaxed privacy rules.

The administration has also tried to make it easier for people to access vital medication, temporarily lifting restrictions to let doctors virtually prescribe controlled substances for medication-assisted treatment. Its also reducing the need for daily visits to a methadone clinic by allowing people to receive up to 28 days worth of medication-assisted treatment.

The historic stimulus package Congress delivered two weeks ago included $425 million to increase mental health and substance use care in communities, but advocates say that falls well short of whats needed. Theyre seeking another $50 billion in the next major rescue bill under discussion to help stabilize community mental health centers and expand the behavioral health workforce to meet an expected spike in demand.

Some addiction experts say coronavirus could prompt some people to newly seek treatment. More casual users, fearful of supply shortages and withdrawal symptoms, may be more willing to try medication-assisted treatments that are considered the gold standard for addressing opioid addiction.

The opportunity to buy drugs from the illicit market is less, said Brooke Feldman, who manages two outpatient clinics in Philadelphia. Some folks may say this is the time.

Addiction recovery groups in the meantime have said theyre trying to manage the blow to in-person services while health officials urge social distancing. Prevention Point, a nonprofit public health organization in one of the Philadelphia neighborhoods hit hardest by the opioid crisis, has shuttered its drop-in center, suspended HIV and hepatitis C screening and closed off its medication-assisted treatment programs to new patients. Its also scaled back syringe exchange and peer-support programs for people in recovery.

When youre doing grab-and-go services, it takes away the ability of staff and participants to connect with each other, said Jose Benitez, the groups executive director.

Kacey Byczek of the Harm Reduction Coalition said most nonprofits that work with substance abuse patients dont have room in their budget for personal protective equipment, which is already in short supply for frontline health workers. Many have reduced their hours to protect staff. While some drug abuse counseling groups have moved online, its hard to replicate personal interaction of in-person meetings, Byczek said.

Theres also fear that drugs people are misusing are now more likely to be mixed with fentanyl or other substances as supply chains are disrupted because of coronavirus. That could lead to a spike in overdoses.

You will be using drugs you don't normally use, your tolerance may not be as high, said Michael Kilkenny, executive director of the health department in West Virginia's Cabell County.

There are also hurdles to dispensing treatment drugs online. Care providers typically must observe patients receiving treatment drugs like methadone or buprenorphine, which themselves are controlled substances.

Some requirements are waived but how well some of those [treatment] centers are using those tools now is unclear, Joshua Gordon, who heads the NIHs mental health agency, told POLITICO.

The pandemics effect on drug abuse rates will likely be tied to the scale of economic wreckage from coronavirus, experts said. The last recession coincided with a sharp increase in opioid prescriptions, helping to fuel the drug crisis. Though prescriptions are down since then, the opioid epidemic has shifted to drugs like heroin and fentanyl.

We had that little blip, 4 percent or 5 percent decrease [in overdose deaths] and there were way too many headlines celebrating, said Sheila Vakharia, a deputy director at the Drug Policy Alliance. That tenuous plateau people hoped we were seeing is not going to hold.
Over 200 farmers from Amreli



and Bhavnagar districts in Gujarat have donated their Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi amount of Rs 2,000 to the PM CARES fund set up to fight the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Friday.

As part of the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, farmers get Rs 6,000 as minimum income support in three equal installments, the last of which was disbursed recently, they said.

"The government takes care of farmers by giving us financial support in the form of Kisan Nidhi. Now it is time for us to help. Several farmers from our village have donated their Rs 2,000 Kisan Nidhi amount to PM CARES fund," Ukabhai Bhatti of Ditla village of Amreli district said.

BJP leader from Amreli, Dileep Sanghani, said as many as 200 farmers from Amreli have come forward and deposited cheques of Rs 2,000 each into the fund at Amreli District Cooperative Bank since Thursday.

"I had appealed earlier that farmers who do not need this money should come forward to help the Centre in fighting coronavirus. Till now, 200 farmers have already deposited Rs 2,000 each into the special fund for fighting the pandemic. On an average, 100 farmers are visiting the bank to donate the money they had received under Kisan Nidhi scheme," Sanghani said, adding that farmers from Bhavnagar were also lending a helping hand.

"Farmers have always helped the country during difficult times. A total of 56 farmers of our village have decided to donate Rs 2,000 of the Kisan Nidhi scheme to the fund meant to fight the virus outbreak," said Kaushik Vekaria, sarpach of Amreli's Devrajia village.

"Sixty farmers of our village have decided to donate the Kisan Nidhi in to the PM Cares Fund," Vikramsinh Gohil, a farmer from Rupavati village of Bhavnagar district, said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PICTURED AT the OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE NEW BACK BAR AT DOHENY & NESBITT, BAGGOT STREET....FROM LEFT, OLIVER BARDEN, PROPRIETOR OF O'DONOGHUES, FRANK QUINN, PROPRIETOR, TONERS PUB, AND PADRAIC HANNON, OF THE EBS....NEW

One of Dublins best-known publicans Frank Quinn, owner of the legendary Toners on Baggot Street has passed away.

Mr Quinn, who was remembered as "one of lifes true gentlemen", died peacefully at home surrounded by his family.

The Tyrone native, who settled with his wife Maura on Pembroke Road in Dublin owned a portfolio of some of the capitals best-known venues including the Lansdowne Hotel, the Waterloo Bar and The 51 Bar.

Widely known for his business interests Frank Quinn was heavily involved in fundraising for charities

Toners announced the tragic news this morning on social media.

A statement read: "It is with sadness and deep regret that we wish to inform you of the passing of Frank Quinn, owner of Toners. Frank was one of lifes true gentlemen and we are all heartbroken."

His death notice said he would be "fondly remembered and loved by all who knew him, especially his many friends and colleagues; and the staff of The Lansdowne Hotel, Toners Pub, The Waterloo Bar, The 51 Bar, staff at Corrigans Pharmacy, Malahide Road, Dublin, staff at Rocwell Water, Pomeroy, County Tyrone, all friends and neighbours at Wilderness Lodge, Glenmalure, County Wicklow agus gach daoine sa Gaeltacht Tir Eoghain."

Friends and former colleagues left messages of condolence and sympathy.

Steven Wicek said: "So sorry to hear this news. RIP Frank. It was a pleasure to have spent 4 years working in Toners and to have known you. Great guy."

Mikie OSullivan said: "I have to say Im really very sad to hear this, Frank was by far one of the kindest most genuine people I worked with over the years. He gave me great guidance and advice in my early years freelancing particularly during our walking meetings in Glenmalure, he was an absolute gentleman."

Eamon Bohan said: "My deepest sympathy to you all and his family. When he bought the pub, I was working there and he couldn't have been nicer even though I moved on despite a generous offer to stay. May he rest in Peace."

Niamh Courtney said: "A true gentleman. Charitable, caring, funny, unassuming and very interesting. RIP Frank."

Due to the current Government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a private funeral will take place for his immediate family on Easter Monday, April 13th in his hometown of Pomeroy, Co. Tyrone and will be streamed live at 11am from The Church of The Assumption.
India on Friday responded to Pakistans conditional decision to pledge $3 million to the Saarc Covid-19 Emergency Fund by saying each member of the grouping is free to decide the manner and implementation of its commitment.

Pakistan had on Thursday made a contribution to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperations (Saarc) Covid-19 Emergency Fund on the condition that the facility be administered by the Saarc secretariat.

It was the last of Saarcs eight members to contribute to the fund, which was created with an initial corpus of $10 million from India following a video conference of leaders of the grouping on March 15. Pakistan also proposed that the contribution be used in accordance with the Saarc Charter.

Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic

Responding to Pakistans position, external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said: It is for each Saarc member state to decide on the timing, manner and implementation of their Saarc Covid-19 Emergency Response Fund commitments.

He added, Where India is concerned, the commitment made by the prime minister is today in an advanced stage of implementation. Assistance in material and services has been extended to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The other members of Saarc have also made early commitments to the Fund and the degree of seriousness of each nation can be gauged by their behaviour, Srivastava said.

Click here for the latest updates from the coronavirus outbreak

According to New Delhi, Indias engagements with Saarc members on Covid-19 related matters are stand-alone events, whereas Pakistan has sought to bring all issues under the Saarc secretariat in a bid to block Indian initiatives.

On Wednesday, Pakistan skipped a video conference of senior trade officials of the Saarc, saying it chose not to participate since the Saarc secretariat wasnt involved in organising it.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
New York  As hospitals scour the country for scarce ventilators to treat critically ill patients stricken by the new coronavirus, pharmacists are beginning to sound an alarm that could become just as urgent: Drugs that go hand in hand with ventilators are running low even as demand is surging.

Michael Ganio, of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, said demand for the drugs at greater New York hospitals has spiked as much as 600% over the last month, even though hospitals have stopped using them for elective surgery.

These ventilators will be rendered useless without an adequate supply of the medications, Society CEO Paul Abramowitz said in an April 1 letter to Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading President Donald Trumps coronavirus task force.

Nationwide, demand for the drugs surged 73% in March, according Dan Kistner, a pharmaceuticals expert at Vizient, Inc., which negotiates drug prices for hospitals throughout the country. Supplies, according to Vizient data, have not kept pace.

Trying to run the ventilators without these drugs will be like trying to operate a fleet of cars without gasoline, Kistner said.

To date, no hospital has reported being unable to put a patient on a ventilator due to a lack of those drugs, said Soumi Saha, a pharmaceuticals expert at Premiere, Inc., which also negotiates drug prices for hospitals.

When clinicians put critically-ill patients on ventilators, they generally rely on three categories of drugs: sedatives, pain killers and, at times, paralytics.

You have a tube basically down your throat to help you breathe, explained Chris Fortier, the chief pharmacy officer at Massachusetts General Hospital. We need medications to sedate you and treat your pain, and sometimes to even give you some paralysis so that youre not pulling on that ventilator and damaging your lungs.

The demand is surging because hospitals across the country are trying to stock up at the same time, said Erin Fox, director of the drug-information service at University of Utah Health, which runs five hospitals.

Im just terrified that were not going to have the medicines we need, Fox said. It keeps me up at night.

Fortier said adequate supplies of the drugs are also being stretched because COVID-19 patients typically stay on ventilators from 10 to 14 days, which is longer than typical patients.

At the moment, supplies are not critically low at Mass General, Fortier said, but the concern is so great that hospital staffers are monitoring supplies around the clock. We have a team looking at it, hour-by-hour, seven days a week, he said.

If supplies run out, specialists said, doctors have other options  drugs that may not be their first choice, or drugs unavailable in doses they prefer. Using them could increase the risk of medication error or take more time to administer at a time when clinicians are racing to treat as many patients as possible.

Fentanyl comes in different sizes, Kistner said, describing a situation where clinicians might have to use several smaller doses for a single patient if larger doses are not at hand. That would be a lot of work and very inefficient.

The specific drugs running low include the opioid painkillers fentanyl, morphine, and hydromorphone; the sedatives midazolam and propofol; and the paralytics pancuronium, rocuronium, and succinylcholine, according to the letter the ASHP sent to Pence.

Already, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has announced it is raising its 2020 ceiling for opioid production by 15% and is approving drugmaker requests for higher limits, often within a day.

Pfizer, a top maker of injectable drugs, is one of several U.S. drugmakers covered by the new quotas, and is ramping up production of fentanyl, morphine, hydromorphone and other medicines for ventilator patients, according to company spokeswoman Kimberly Bencker.

For many of these critical medicines, we have ample supply. For some, the unprecedented surge in demand for these products is limiting our ability to fully satisfy customer orders in the short-term, Bencker said.

QuVa Pharma, a drug compounding business that makes drugs for hospitals nationwide, also received a higher ceiling for making fentanyl and hydromorphone and expects to begin shipping more of those drugs directly to hospitals starting April 20, said co-founder Peter Jenkins.

The Houston-based company aims to make two to three times its normal volume of those drugs while manufacturing extra sedatives and paralytic drugs, plus one to boost blood pressure in COVID-19 patients, said Jenkins.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, some of the drugs were already in short supply because profit margins for generics are relatively low and, consequently, some manufacturers have stopped producing them.

Whats more, because the drugs are injectables, they must undergo sterility tests, a process that can take weeks. You cant say, Hey, were going to make more of these drugs and have them here tomorrow, Kistner said.

Thats why some pharmacists fear the shortages may get worse before they get better. Said Fortier: This is going to get bigger as we move forward over the next couple of weeks.

__________

Johnson reported from Trenton, N.J.
Some members of the New Patriotic Party in the Binduri Constituency of the Upper East Region have chided the member of parliament of the area for not helping in the combat against the Coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Constituency Grassroot Chairman Yakubu Abdallah, Hon. Dr. Kuganaab Lem Robert has not visited the constituency since the first case of the global pandemic was recorded in the country.

"Other MPs have visited their constituencies to help them in the fight against the virus but our Mp did not come."

Mr. Yakubu Abdallah alleged that one Martin Ariku presented only 40 boxes of Madar soap to the District Health Directorate on behalf of the Member of Parliament to aid in the fight against Covid-19.

"What the MP only gave was madar washing soap, the solid one which is not enough," he said.

Reacting to whether the MP's failure is not an opportunity for the NPP to win the December election in the constituency, he said: " that is not our interest now (but) we are just looking at how we can help the people."

He appealed to Hon. Dr. Kuganaab Lem who is also the deputy ranking member on health to take some time off his busy schedule to visit the constituency.

"We are doing so(complaining) because he is the member of parliament for the constituency not about politics. But he should be able to help the people"

But in a press statement, they cited the MP for assisting members of the constituency only to go home to vote for him during elections.

"If it had been about paying for the transportation and bussing electorates of Binduri Constituency in Accra to come home to register and vote for him, he would do everything possible", the statement said.
How about a post that has nothing to do with the coronavirus or President Trump?

My friend in Maryland called to check on us and related a funny story. This is from the Baltimore Sun:

Ocean City can ban women from going topless in public, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Judge James Bredar noted in his ruling that the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently maintained that physical differences between men and women provide a constitutionally sound basis for laws that treat men and women differently. Bredar also determined that protecting the public sensibilities from the public display of areas of the body traditionally viewed as erogenous zones, including female, but not male, breasts, is an important government objective. "Whether or not society should differentiate between male and female breasts is a separate inquiry from whether it is constitutional to do so," wrote Bredar, adding that the beach town's ban on female toplessness is substantially related to protecting the public sensibilities.

Nice to hear that there is a judge with a little common sense  a judge who thinks men and women are physically different.

Judge Bredar's common sense is welcomed. Of course, the beaches are closed right now, so let's see if anyone challenges the opinion.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
By Umar Akilu Majeri,Dutse

Jigawa state governor badaru Abubakar today pardoned 74 prisoners as part of the governments effort to decongest the prison due to fear of covid 19. The governor disclosed this to newsmen while disbursing monies to women groups in Aujara villages of Jahun local goverment area of jigawa state

Badaru stated that more prisoners will be pardoned in the state. 76000 women will receive twenty thousand naira each in cash as part of the federal government programmes

The governor said the sum of one and a half billion will be disbursed to benefit women across the nine selected local government

Badaru also charged the women to use the money judiciously by investing the money in to a business that will make their life comfortable.

Adding that they are now working hard to see that the raining 19 local government which are yet to benefits on the issues of cash transfer will start enjoying the money given by the federal government as social security
AJC - Logo - Main logo_ddn_tag_Site JN with Tagline logo-sns_tag_Site

Our apologies, unfortunately our website is currently unavailable in most European countries due to GDPR rules.
Wendy Lawrence has been the CEO of Totally plc (LON:TLY) since 2013. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid.

See our latest analysis for Totally

How Does Wendy Lawrence's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?

According to our data, Totally plc has a market capitalization of UK21m, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth UK163k over the year to March 2019. We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at UK140k. We examined a group of similar sized companies, with market capitalizations of below UK161m. The median CEO total compensation in that group is UK267k.

Next, let's break down remuneration compositions to understand how the industry and company compare with each other. On an industry level, roughly 65% of total compensation represents salary and 35% is other remuneration. According to our research, Totally has allocated a higher percentage of pay to salary in comparison to the broader sector.

At first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Wendy Lawrence is paid less than the average total compensation paid by similar sized companies. However, before we heap on the praise, we should delve deeper to understand business performance. The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Totally has changed from year to year.

AIM:TLY CEO Compensation April 10th 2020

Is Totally plc Growing?

Totally plc has seen earnings per share (EPS) move positively by an average of 51% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 23% over last year.

This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. It's a real positive to see this sort of growth in a single year. That suggests a healthy and growing business. It could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Story continues

Has Totally plc Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 79% over three years, some Totally plc shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. It therefore might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously.

In Summary...

It appears that Totally plc remunerates its CEO below most similar sized companies.

Since the business is growing, many would argue this suggests the pay is modest. Few would deny that the total shareholder return over the last three years could have been a lot better. So while we don't think, Wendy Lawrence is paid too much, shareholders may hope that business performance translates to investment returns before pay rises are given out. This sort of circumstance certainly justifies further research, because the investment returns might still come in the future. Shifting gears from CEO pay for a second, we've spotted 4 warning signs for Totally you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit concerning.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu that the country is committed to jointly fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The PM's remark came after the two leaders thanked him for clearing the export of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a drug said to be effective against the deadly disease.

"Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!" Netanyahu tweeted on Thursday.

In response, PM Modi said, "We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel."

Similarly, Bolsonaro also thanked PM Modi for timely help to Brazil, adding that the raw material will help to continue production of hydroxychloroquine to treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of lupus, malaria, and arthritis.

"Thank you, President Jair Bolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times. India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic," PM Modi said.

The drug has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as potential treatment for the coronavirus and was touted repeatedly by President Trump as a "game changer". India had earlier put a hold on its export, but later allowed it on Trump's request.
File photo

An Ebute Meta Magistrates Court in Lagos on Friday ordered the remand of a 27-year-old man, Ibrahim Abu, accused of stabbing a man to death with a broken bottle who played the role of Good Samaritan by separating a street fight.

The presiding Magistrate, Tolu Agbona ordered that Abu should be remanded in Ikoyi Prison pending legal advice from the State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

He, thereafter, adjourned the matter till July 15.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp Cousin Adams, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on May 30, at Satellite Town.

He alleged that the defendant had used a broken bottles to stab Azuka Ogobi, 32, to death.

The deceased did not like the fact that the defendant was separating two street fighters, he approached him and asked that he should not meddle and should leave them to fight.



The duo consequently had gotten into a fight and stabbed each other, but Ogobi died two days later from the wound sustained, the prosecutor said.

The offence, Adams said, contravened the provisions of Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Section 223 stipulates death sentence for offenders.
Pen Argyls Lookout Fire Co. No. 1 wont be hosting its annual Easter egg hunt this year due to state social distancing guidelines in place because of COVID-19.

Instead, the volunteers at the company decided to bring the hunt to the residents.

Saturday, children who are 10 years old and younger can get a bag of candy-filled plastic Easter eggs if they go outside to greet the companys firetrucks as they drive down the road.

The firefighters will begin making their rounds north of Route 512 at 11 a.m. and will visit streets south of Route 512 from noon to 1 p.m.

We already purchased the eggs, Lookout Fire Chief Dean Parsons said. We figured lets give them out.

Children who want a bag of Easter eggs can go outside their homes when they hear the sirens are near. Residents are asked to remain on their porches or sidewalks and the volunteers will toss them a bag of eggs.

Parsons said gloves and masks were used while packing the eggs. The bags they chose to use can be easily disinfected once brought inside the home, he said.

Parsons said he hopes, while residents are staying home, the fire company can deliver some happiness to the people of Pen Argyl.

There are also reports that the Easter Bunny may be on one of the trucks.

For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov or covid19.nj.gov and the website of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover or a personal story you want to share.

John Best is a freelance contributor to lehighvalleylive.com. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A nurse takes a swab at a Covid-19 drive-through testing station for NHS staff on March 30, 2020 in Chessington, United Kingdom. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread to many countries across the world, claiming over 30,000 lives and infecting hundreds of thousands more. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

UK Suffers Worst Day After 953 People Die From CCP Virus

The United Kingdom on Friday reported its worst 24-hour death toll from the CCP virus, according to health officials.

The total figure is based on reporting from health agencies in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The most occurred in England, said the National Health Service (NHS), noting 866 deaths among people who tested positive for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus.

Among English deaths, the patients were between the ages of 27 and 100 years old. Only 56 of the 866 fatalities had no known underlying health issues, Sky News reported.

John Apter, national head of the Police Federation of England and Wales, stated that most people are following social distancing rules and laws.

A street cleaner is seen in front of Coronavirus messaging on Picadilly Circus in London, England, on April 8, 2020. (Peter Summers/Getty Images)

But there is a small number who are either genuinely confused by the guidance or theyre completely oblivious to the dangers, he said. Policing is a tough job at the best of times but in some areas its making that difficult job even more difficult, he added to Sky.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 55, has been counted among the many COVID-19 cases in the UK. He was rushed to a hospitals intensive care unit earlier in the week.

So far, more than 65,000 cases of the CCP virus have been confirmed across the UK. Nearly 8,000 deaths have been reported so far.

The prime minister is back on a ward and continuing his recovery, which is at an early stage. He continues to be in very good spirits, said his spokesperson to The Guardian. There will be just one daily update about his condition now he is out of intensive care.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a news conference on the CCP virus in London, UK, on March 3, 2020. (Frank Augstein/Pool via Reuters)

The spokesperson added: The PM is just beginning his recovery and he will be taking advice from his medical team. The PM is enormously grateful for the care he is receiving from NHS staff. I am told that he was waving his thanks at all of the nurses and doctors that he saw as he was being moved from the intensive care unit to the ward.

The NHS, meanwhile, warned people to not go outside amid favorable weather conditions on Easter Sunday.

You may be tempted by good weather this Easter Weekend to go outside, but it is important to continue to follow government advice and stay at home to stop the spread of coronavirus, it said.
Coronavirus case numbers could 'explode' if restrictions are relaxed, Professor Paul Kelly warned today.

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer said easing social distancing measures could have serious implications 'down the track.'

'If we don't have these measures, one person can lead to 400 other cases within a month,' he said.

'That is the sort of explosive epidemic we've seen in other countries. And we just cannot afford at this stage to be considering that happening.'

Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly (pictured today) has dismissed rumours that a cure has been found for coronavirus

Despite the stark warning, Professor Kelly hinted at what the 'road out' might look like for Australia.

He said mass testing and a readiness to re-introduce restrictions were key.

'The fear is that as we start to lift those measures and allow people to get on with their lives, there are still a lot of susceptible people left in the population who could get infected, and we want to avoid seeing a further outbreak occur,' he said.

'To prevent that we really need to have very good testing, very good situational awareness of what might be happening out there in the population as we lift those measures.

'We need to be ready to detect and isolate cases as soon as they're discovered, and potentially to re-introduce some of those social distancing measures if we get a hint of a second wave.'

Asked if Australia's borders would have to kept closed for up to two years until a vaccine was found, the professor did not rule out the possibility.

'That depends on what is happening in the rest of the world in terms of the epidemic and, of course, the vaccine,' he said.

'If we have a vaccine which does work, and does give lasting immunity and can be rolled out across the world, not just in Australia, then that changes everything.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 27,244 Victoria: 20,269 New South Wales: 4,273 Queensland: 1,161 Western Australia: 692 South Australia: 473 Tasmania: 230 Australian Capital Territory: 113 Northern Territory: 33 TOTAL CASES: 27,244 ESTIMATED ACTIVE CASES: 269 DEATHS: 897 Updated: 5.31 PM, 11 October, 2020 Source: Australian Government Department of Health Advertisement

'Certainly the border closures will be a component of what needs to happen into the future. How that would actually work remains to be seen.

'We are an island, of course, and that's our advantage. But we also do need to our trade both back and forth, to continue in the society that we love.'

On a positive note, Professor Kelly said the infection rate was heading below one, meaning one patient passes the virus on to less than one person on average.

'Once you get to that point, the epidemic dies out. At the moment, we're probably on the cusp of that in Australia,' he said.

At the start of today's press conference, the professor addressed claims in media around the world that scientists are close to a cure.

'I just want to reiterate that there is no specific treatment yet proven to be able to cure this virus,' he said.

Professor Kelly said several treatments are being developed and are in clinical trials.

He also said he was 'concerned' about reports that people in Japan and South Korea have been infected again after overcoming the virus, leading to fears the virus is mutating.

If people can get re-infected then making a vaccine is going to be much harder.

Stranded Australian travellers arrive at Melbourne International Airport after flying from Peru

'If immunity does not last for a long time that has implications for the vaccine. If there are slight changes in the virus that leads us to be able to be re-infected, that also has vaccine implications,' he said.

Earlier today it was announced that a man in New South Wales and a person in Victoria have died of coronavirus, taking the national death toll to 53.

The victim in NSW was a 69-year-old Newcastle man who caught the virus on a trip inter-state. The Victorian's age and gender have not been released.

There were 49 new cases in NSW on Thursday, a modest increase from 39 new cases on Wednesday.

Thirteen new cases were recorded in Victoria while Queensland reported 12 new cases and no deaths.

Three new cases were recorded in the ACT, taking the territory's total to 103.
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has expressed displeasure over the inhuman treatment meted out on some Nigerians by the Chinese authorities in Beijing.

Mr Gbajabiamila said at a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, that the inhuman treatment on Nigerians in China must be addressed forthwith.

Amidst the fallouts of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, several videos have emerged appearing to show how the Chinese government has harrased Africans, throwing them out of their homes and making them sleep on the streets of Guangzhou, in a province of China.

This has recently created a furore on social media.

The videos that have drawn an hashtag #ChinaMustExplain on Twitter are eliciting comments and questions from Nigerians, who have equally called on the Nigerian government, as well the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to look into the issue as a matter of urgency.

The speaker went ahead to confront the Ambassador with the protest video of the incident where a Nigerian was seen challenging Chinese officials over the maltreatment.

At the meeting, which had in attendance the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, and Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, the Speaker said viral media reports/videos from Beijing showed Nigerians being forced out of their houses and hotels, rounded up and their passports seized by the Chinese police.

The viral videos also showed that some Nigerians were being forced into another 14-day quarantine after the initial 14 days they spent for the same purpose in China.

The Speaker said there should be an official explanation for treating Nigerians in such a manner.

If the diplomatic relationships between our two countries are for the mutual benefits of our citizens, then there must be respect for our citizens, and we should not compromise it, he said.

As a government, we will not allow Chinese or other nationals to be maltreated just as we will not allow Nigerians to be maltreated in other countries.

The way you treat your citizens, we expect thats how youll treat others. We will not tolerate our citizens breaking your laws, but the crime of one citizen cannot be used to stigmatise the whole country.

READ ALSO:

It appears thats what happened in this case. You cant use one brush to smear the whole wall. Whatever the reason, it cannot be used and taken out on the entire community in China.

In his response, Mr Pingjian said though he had not been officially informed about the details of the incident but that he would take it up with the home government.

We take our relationship with Nigeria very seriously. Until we receive a full report from back home, I cannot act, but I can assure you it is not a policy issue.

We treat everyone equally, but during the implementation of the COVID-19 measures in China, it is possible for some incidents; all I do is to take it back home, today I will, he said.

The Speaker said the House will expect a feedback from the Ambassador as soon as possible, saying We are glad you are looking into it but we are hoping to have it at least by Tuesday.

It is better we nip it in the bud so that it doesnt escalate to another level. So, by Tuesday, if you have the information to give us, if steps have been taken, lets talk about it and lets see the way forward.

The Speaker also sought to understand the specific mandate of the Chinese medical team that arrived Nigeria on Wednesday and if they are on quarantine.

The ambassador said the Chinese medical personnel are in full quarantine and ready to observe all protocols as stipulated by Nigeria.

They are on 100 per cent quarantine. The NCDC has been there twice; they have to follow the protocol. They are here to deliver medical supplies and on advisory role only, that is a prevention working group on Covid-19. They will do nothing like practicing as doctors, he said.
Drugs and Bollywood have had a weird relationship. Since Bollywood celebrities are exposed to a 24x7 scrutiny by their fans on social media, it for sure doesn't look all rosy for them.

For instance, just a few months ago, a Bollywood party snowballed into several controversies after fans alleged use of drugs. The party included A-listers like Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal and all of it because of a home-video shared by Karan Johar himself.

Instagram

Another celebrity who has caught attention after landing into a similar situation is Anurag Kashyap. A tweet that has gone mildly viral shows the exchange of words between Anurag Kashyap and a social media user.

Twitter

After Anurag Kashyap was seen on a video chat that a netizen chose to tweet to Mumbai police, complaining to them how Anurag Kashyap is seen 'smoking weed' on a video call as he could be seen rolling a paper with his mouth. Considering how he is smoking something that still comes under illegal drugs.

Hello @MumbaiPolice ,will you please look into this ?

Here @anuragkashyap72

is rolling a joint which is illegal in India. pic.twitter.com/lS3UxlGpfL  Chirag (@igot10on10) April 9, 2020

In no time, Kashyap, who is one of the most popular and important faces on social media because of his unbiased and unabashed opinion replied to him saying, He added that if Police wants, they can thoroughly investigate for the satisfaction of the bhakts and trolls.

Yes please for once @MumbaiPolice look into it. Once and for all lets make it clear that I roll tobacco and please thoroughly investigate for the satisfaction of the bhakts and the trolls .. https://t.co/ZHv3CwpVBG  Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) April 9, 2020

Well, you don't mess with AK. You just don't.


The coronavirus death toll in Pennsylvania rose sharply again Friday, with 78 more deaths bringing the states total to 416 as the overall case count nears 20,000.

Two dozen people died in Philadelphia, 13 in Montgomery County and six in Allegheny County, according to the daily report from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Four more COVID-19 deaths were reported in the Lehigh Valley, with several more in adjacent counties.

Pennsylvanias case count rose to 19,979, up 1,751 from Thursday  still climbing, but only an 8.8% increase from the prior day, the lowest daily rate since the states first cases were identified March 6.

Still, health officials warn that the official total is almost certainly an undercount and that Pennsylvanias peak in cases and deaths is still ahead. Residents are urged not to ease up on social distancing.

The 78 new deaths reported Friday match a daily high set just three days earlier. The statewide surge is likely from patients who have been fighting the illness over the last few weeks, Health Secretary Rachel Levine said in Fridays daily briefing.

In the Lehigh Valley, the two-county COVID-19 death toll rose to 37 on Friday. Three new deaths were reported in Lehigh County, which now has 16. Northampton County reported its 21st death, up one from the previous day.

Nearby, Berks County to the immediate west saw four more people die from COVID-19, bringing the total there to 12. To the south, the toll in Bucks County is now 26 after three more people died. And Carbon County to the north reported one new death, its third from the disease.

Philadelphia has by far the most cases (5,521) and deaths (110) of any county in the state. But when adjusted for population, the Lehigh Valley and Poconos are Pennsylvanias most impacted areas.

As of Fridays report, Monroe, Lehigh and Luzerne counties each have more than 400 cases per 100,000 people. Philadelphia, for comparison, has about 350 cases per capita  closer to Northampton Countys rate.

The health department has said it plans to set up a field hospital in East Stroudsburg to deal with the regions cases and ease the burden on hospitals. Plans for a mass testing center in the Lehigh Valley or Poconos are also being developed.

Statewide, 93,040 patients have tested negative for the coronavirus since March 6. Of the 2,069 people who have been hospitalized, 598 have required ventilators. There have been 1,209 people sickened in 181 long-term care facilities, like nursing homes.

Adults 65 and older account for a majority of hospitalizations and deaths in the state. No pediatric deaths have been reported.

The state does not release information on recoveries  the health department can track hospital discharges but is unable to monitor those with mild symptoms who recover at home, Levine said Friday.

Levine said the statewide peak in cases is expected as early as next week, though the exact timing will vary from region to region.

In the meantime, Levine said the health department has issued nearly 2 million N95 masks and hundreds of thousands gloves, face shields and hospital gowns, while still working to get more supplies from federal stockpiles.

We know that more will be needed from our health care system, which has already done so much, Levine said.

For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov or www.nj.gov/health and the CDC website.

(NOTE: The story above contains maps and charts. If they dont display properly on your device, try opening this story in your Internet browser.)

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @SteveNovakLVL and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
New Delhi: Film producer Karim Morani and his two daughters Shaza and Zoa were diagnosed with coronavirus a few days back and were rushed to the hospital. A sigh of breather has come in early for Shaza as she has tested negative in her latest report.

According to a report in The Times Of India, the family is now awaiting another test report to confirm when can she be discharged from the hospital.

The TOI report quotes a family source as revealing that Shaza has tested negative and after that, she underwent another test, the result of which is awaited. The family is hoping that this one too comes negative so that Shaza can be home as soon as possible.

Shaza had travelled to Sri Lanka while sister Zoa went to Rajasthan. After both of them tested positive, father Karim Morani and mother Zara as a precautionary measure went to get tested. Karim was diagnosed with being COVID-19 positive while his wife's result was negative.

Incidentally, Shaza had earlier shown no symptoms of the virus but tested positive on her return while Zoa had a few signs indicating that she is affected.

Meanwhile, actress Zoa Morani gave her health update on Instagram.

Arpita Khan Sharma, Varun Dhawan and Ayushmann Khurrana amongst many others have sent the Moranis 'get well soon' messages. Shaza and Karim Morani are admitted to the Nanavati Hospital whereas Zoa is in Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital.
SAN FRANCISCO  A gang enhancement murder case that carries a life without parole sentence is not a violation of the United States' prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, a California appeals court ruled this week.

In its 33-page partially published opinion, the 1st District California Appeals Court ruled that a life without parole sentence for 30-year-old David Arce was not an affront to the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Arce was convicted of special circumstances gang charges in the 2014 shooting of Earl Hamilton Jr., which a jury found was committed to benefit a San Pablo subset of the Nortenos that Arce belongs to.

The court rejected Arce's argument that the penal code allowing special circumstances through gang charges was unconstitutionally vague. Arce's appellate attorney argued in part that the law's provision that activity "furthering" a gang's purpose went too far, since it could include "innocent" conduct. The appeals judges said that argument "makes no sense."

"It is difficult to conceive of a situation where a defendant would commit murder to further an 'innocent' gang purpose," appeals court judges wrote. They later added that the statute adequately defines what it means to "further the purpose" of a gang and is therefore "not unconstitutionally vague under the Eighth Amendment."

Gang enhancements to criminal charges  as well as stand-alone charges, such as "street terrorism"  have been part of California's penal code since the early '90s. They've recently come under fire, in part because of studies that have found they're disproportionally applied to Latinos and African Americans. San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin has decried them as racist and pledged his office won't use them except in very rare circumstances.

Gang enhancements apply in murder cases when a defendant kills a rival gang member, or commits a murder that serves to make others fear the gang. Prosecutors aren't supposed to file them when a gang member commits a murder over a personal conflict. A special circumstances gang murder case can mean an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole.

In Arce's case, he was convicted of murdering Hamilton in a 2014 shooting at the now-defunct Green Lantern Bar in Pinole. Hamilton was there with a group that included gang members from North Richmond that rival the Nortenos. Someone else in Hamilton's group yelled out, "f  San Pablo," and "North Richmond," which prosecutors successfully argued Arce took as a gang taunt.

Before he was shot, Hamilton  who'd been permanently injured from a prior shooting and was unable to run  reportedly begged for his life. Earlier in the evening, Arce and other gang members retrieved a gun from another part of Contra Costa County after spotting the other group.

Hamilton's murder allegedly led to more violence between the groups; last year, authorities linked the 2018 fatal shooting of Mario Ambriz Jr., 28, to Hamilton's death, accusing two North Richmond gang members of murdering Ambriz in part to retaliate for what happened to Hamilton. That case is still ongoing, with a preliminary hearing set for May.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(Newser)  A landlord who tried to kick a family out of their home despite Minnesota's ban on evictions during the coronavirus crisis is facing chargesand has been ordered to restore their electricity. Authorities say Howard Mostad on March 4 told a Pine County family of three they had to be out by April 1 as their lease was ending, the Duluth News Tribune reports. But the family had trouble finding new accommodationespecially after a shelter-in-place order was issued March 25. According to court papers, Mostad showed up at the property April 2, saying he wanted to show it. When the family refused to let anybody in, saying their 4-year-old daughter has a pre-existing condition that puts her at risk in terms of COVID-19, Mostad allegedly pushed his way in and removed circuit breakers.

story continues below

"We are sitting in our home with no electricity, heat, or running water," one of the tenants said in an affidavit. "My daughter is telling me that she is cold. We have nowhere else to go and cannot risk exposing my daughter to other people." Authorities say that when Assistant Attorney General Katherine Kelly called Mostad on April 3 to inform him that the state banned evictions on March 23, he "concluded the call by calling her a crude name" and hanging up, the Pine City Pioneer reports. The Guardian reports that when it contacted Mostad about the case, the 77-year-old admitted the family was current on rent (though the Pioneer reports he said they were behind on their electric bill) but that he was looking to sell the property due to his own financial needs. (Read more Minnesota stories.)
Former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, has expressed that it is wrong to relax lockdown because of religious worship.

Obi stated this while speaking on Arise Television on Friday.

Also Read: I Didnt Donate N1billion For Fight Against COVID-19: Peter Obi

The former vice-presidential candidate made this statement in reaction to the relaxation of the lockdown enforced to curb the spread of the coronavirus over the Easter celebrations.

According to him, COVID-19 is spreading quickly in Nigeria and there are not enough resources to manage it.

Obi also lashed out at State Governors, who have relaxed the lockdown for Easter celebrations.
CHICAGO (April 10, 2020): Major metropolitan areas such as New York, Seattle, and Detroit have dominated news of the COVID-19 outbreak, but rural hospitals and health care systems must also prepare for a surge of coronavirus patients. Surgeons at one rural health care system on both sides of the New York-Pennsylvania border have reported on their preparedness response plan for dealing with the COVID-19 surge in an "article in press" appearing on the website of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons ahead of print. This rural surgery plan takes into account challenges unique to a rural population and geography, and it includes greater utilization of telehealth and coordination of resources and communications at affiliated centers spread over a large geographic area.



"We have an older patient population, and they have more comorbid conditions than what you might find in an urban area," said Jean Miner, MD, MHA, MMEL, FACS, a general surgeon at Guthrie Clinic/Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pa., and article coauthor. "Our population is also very spread out, with about 77 people per square mile, and some of the research shows that up to 35 percent of the people in rural areas don't have Internet access. Some of our staff doesn't even have Internet access." By comparison, New York City has about 27,500 people per square mile.

Robert Packer Hospital is a 267-bed tertiary care teaching hospital in Sayre, a town of about 5,400 people, 270 miles northwest of New York City. It is the primary institution of the Guthrie Clinic, a nonprofit system of five hospitals that serves an area of about 770,000 people in 12 counties in northern Pennsylvania and the southern tier of New York State.

"Our older patients are at risk of not only complications from COVID-19 and the higher mortality rates, but also have chronic diseases that we must also take care of to try to keep them out of the hospital at this time," Dr. Miner said.



Key components of the preparedness plan include:



Implementation of a screening process for visitors and employees (which began in early February) and tightening that process as more information about the coronavirus became available

Having nonessential staff work at home before such a mandate was in place from governors in either state

Conserving personal protective equipment (PPE)

Postponing elective procedures

Having a contingency plan to redeploy a pool of volunteer physicians and advanced practitioners to cover areas where they're needed during a surge of COVID-19 patients

A centerpiece of the response plan is a rapid expansion of telehealth. Like many health systems, Guthrie Clinic has limited the number of in-person clinic visits. With the recent approval for telehealth expansion by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Guthrie Clinic saw its number of providers participating in telehealth soar from 12 before the COVID-19 outbreak to 252 providers performing remote office visits and 450 having access to the platform after the outbreak began.



The telehealth system works despite the limits of Internet access in rural areas, explained coauthor Burt Cagir, MD, FACS, a general surgeon. Most outpatient clinics within the system have telehealth kiosks, and the system is flexible to fit each patient's needs. "We allow all of our patients to communicate with any and every modality available to them, such as cellphones so they're able to do video conferencing," he said. Landline telephone calls are also handled and documented in patient records. The system now has the capability to do 1,000 video visits daily, he said.



Another important element of the response plan is what Dr. Cagir called "the patient safety huddle" first introduced in 2016. Senior leadership staff meets for a half hour each weekday morning to review patient safety issues. By 2018 a second huddle was added to identify trends from the previous day or week and to extrapolate forecasts for the next day or week. "We converted our forecasting and trend huddle to a COVID-19 huddle immediately in February, and the patient safety huddle system became the patient safety and personnel safety huddle," Dr. Cagir said. Huddles were added for Saturday and Sunday.



Dr. Miner explained the huddle works on four staffing levels: front-line, department, hospital, and systemwide.



Joseph Scopelliti, MD, a gastroenterologist and president of Guthrie Clinic, explained that for the huddles to work effectively, they must be blame-free zones. "It means that everybody has to expose their challenges, so the second series of huddles we have every day is the patient safety huddle," he said. "Think of it as the huddle where you have to answer the question, 'What is impeding you from doing your job today?'"



Dr. Cagir explained that the processes the Guthrie Clinic adopted were developed using the Lean Six Sigma and the PDCA cycle (for plan, do, check, act) principles that industry has used to improve efficiency and quality.



"Without a doubt this approach is scalable to every urban and rural center," Dr. Miner said. "Frequent communication has been key." She noted that staff gets a daily e-mail with that day's news, trends and expectations and that there are multiple ways staff can exchange ideas, including a Workplace from Facebook portal.



###

In addition to Dr. Cagir and Dr. Miner, the article's coauthors are Jennifer Brown, MD; Swadha Guru, MD; Karen Williams, PharmD, BSPharm, BCPS-AQ ID; and Reyna Florentino, MBA, CPHRM, all with Guthrie Clinic/Robert Packer Hospital.



The authors have no financial relationships to disclose.



"FACS" designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.



Citation: Rural Healthcare Center Preparation and Readiness Response to Threat of COVID-19. Journal of American College of Surgeons. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2020.04.006.

About the American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 82,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit http://www.facs.org.
By Mohammed Ghobari and Abdulrahman Al Ansi ADEN/SANAA (Reuters) - A nationwide ceasefire in response to the global coronavirus outbreak went into effect in Yemen on Thursday, raising hope for an end to the five-year-old war that has pushed millions to the brink of famine. A Saudi-led coalition fighting against Yemen's Houthi movement said it would halt military operations from 0900 GMT for two weeks in support of United Nations efforts to end the conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people. The Iran-aligned movement, which controls the capital Sanaa and most big urban centres, has yet to announce whether it will follow suit in what would be the first major breakthrough in peace efforts since late 2018

By Mohammed Ghobari and Abdulrahman Al Ansi

ADEN/SANAA (Reuters) - A nationwide ceasefire in response to the global coronavirus outbreak went into effect in Yemen on Thursday, raising hope for an end to the five-year-old war that has pushed millions to the brink of famine.

A Saudi-led coalition fighting against Yemen's Houthi movement said it would halt military operations from 0900 GMT for two weeks in support of United Nations efforts to end the conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people.

The Iran-aligned movement, which controls the capital Sanaa and most big urban centres, has yet to announce whether it will follow suit in what would be the first major breakthrough in peace efforts since late 2018.

The coalition said its move is intended to facilitate talks sponsored by U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths for a permanent truce, motivated in part to avoid a potential outbreak of the new coronavirus, though no cases have been reported in Yemen.

In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Saudi-backed government and the Houthis to engage "in good faith and without preconditions" in the talks to agree a nationwide truce mechanism, humanitarian and economic confidence-building steps and a resumption of negotiations on a political settlement.

"We are tired of the war," said 49-year-old Abd al-Basset Muhammad, who owns a juice shop in the southern port of Aden, interim seat of the Saudi-backed government. "If the war hasn't already killed you, you are dying of hunger or disease."

The conflict, widely seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has been in military stalemate for years. Riyadh last year took over most of the costly and unpopular military campaign after coalition partner the United Arab Emirates significantly scaled down its presence.

Some Saudis and Yemenis residing in the kingdom, whose cities have been targeted by Houthi missiles, welcomed the news.

"A lot of money was spent on the war. If there was no war, that money would be spent on education," Saudi national Ammar Khaled told Reuters outside a supermarket in the capital Riyadh.

A Houthi official said on Wednesday the group had sent the United Nations a proposal calling for an end to the war and what it describes as a coalition blockade. The coalition, which patrols the coast and controls airspace, denies imposing a blockade and says it aims to halt import of weapons.

In the Yemeni capital, some also remained sceptical.

Engineer Abdulrahman al-Qadi said he saw no point in only a two-week ceasefire. Ahmed al-Nuwaira, a member of Sanaa's parliament, agreed: "Let them (the coalition) open the airports, (humanitarian) corridors and ports," he said.

CORONAVIRUS FEARS

The United Nations and Western allies have pointed to the threat of the coronavirus to push the combatants to restart talks to end the war, which has shattered Yemen's health system.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, told Reuters at least half of Yemen's population was in a "very degraded health status" while three quarters require some form of humanitarian assistance or protection.

"There aren't sufficient supplies, capabilities, facilities. If the virus spreads the impact will be catastrophic," she said.

The warring parties last held U.N.-sponsored political negotiations in Sweden in 2018. They agreed a peace deal for the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, but this has yet to be fully implemented because of deep mistrust among all sides.

Yemen witnessed a lull in hostilities after Saudi Arabia and the Houthis began back-channel talks late last year. But there has been a recent increase in attacks, including Houthi missile launches at Saudi cities and retaliatory coalition air strikes.

"We cannot control a global pandemic amongst bombs and airstrikes," said Tamuna Sabedze, International Rescue Committee's Yemen country director.

Two weeks was not enough time to prepare for any coronavirus outbreak, she said.

The Houthis ousted the government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi from power in Sanaa in late 2014, prompting the coalition to intervene in March 2015 to restore him. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system.

(Reporting by Muhammad Ghobari, Reuters TV teams in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, Lisa Barrington and Aziz El Yaakoubi; Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Ghaida Ghantous, Peter Graff and Timothy Heritage)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Measurements from NASA satellites have revealed significant reductions in air pollution over the major metropolitan areas of the Northeast and Great Lakes regions of the United States.

Similar reductions have been observed in other regions of the world as countries institute widespread lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders as a result of the spread of COVID-19.

Nitrogen dioxide, primarily emitted from burning fossil fuels for transportation and electricity generation, can be used as an indicator of changes in human activity.

The images below show average concentrations of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide as measured by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASAs Aura satellite.

The left image shows the average concentration in March of 2015-19, while the right image in the slider shows the average concentration measured in March of this year.

According to NASA, March 2020 shows the lowest monthly atmospheric nitrogen dioxide levels of any March during the OMI data record, which spans 2005 to the present.

In fact, the data indicate that the nitrogen dioxide levels in March 2020 are about 30% lower on average across the region of the I-95 corridor from Washington, DC to Boston than when compared to the March mean of 2015-19.

Further analysis will be required to rigorously quantify the amount of the change in nitrogen dioxide levels associated with changes in emissions versus natural variations in weather.

Of note. Satellites that measure nitrogen dioxide cannot see through clouds, so all data shown is for days with low cloudiness. Such nuances in the data make long-term records vital in understanding changes like those shown in this image.

You can see the satellite readings of both time periods below.

According to NASA, March 2020 shows the lowest monthly atmospheric nitrogen dioxide levels of any March during the OMI data record, which spans 2005 to the present.NASA
By IANS

ROME: Italy's COVID-19 death toll rose by 610 in the last 24 hours to 18,279, the highest in the world, even as pressure on the country's hospitals continued to ease with a fall in the number of patients in intensive care units, the Civil Protection Agency said.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte held a teleconference with business and labour leaders to discuss when Italy can begin to relax the restrictions imposed to contain the disease, Efe news reported.

The shutdown was initially meant to last until April 13, but chances that any significant easing would take place was deemed as virtually non-existent.

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES

"We need to pick sectors that can restart their activity. If scientists confirm it, we might begin to relax some measures already by the end of this month," Conte told the BBC.

The final decision on when and how to re-open the economy will be made by the Scientific Technical Council that is advising the government on the crisis.

The total number of cases in the country now stands at 143,626 the second highest in the world after the US (466,033).

Civil Protection chief Angelo Borrelli said that the number of people hospitalized fell by 86 to 28,339 and 88 coronavirus patients were moved out of ICUs, leaving 3,605, he said.

"The past five days, have ended with fewer patients hospitalized compared to the previous day," Franco Locatelli, chair of Italy's Higher Health Council, told reporters on Thursday.

With concern about the economic damage from the shutdown growing more acute, the Senate approved on Thursday a 25 billion euro ($27.3 billion) aid package.
South Africa may be in lockdown, but that doesnt mean you cant find great deals on technology online.

Huawei is offering great Stay Home Specials on its online store  giving customers up to 50% off!

These deals include:

The Huawei Band 3 is selling at half price  down from R1,999 to just R999.

Huaweis P20 smartphone is available for just R6,999, and includes a free Huawei power bank worth R799.

The Huawei P smart 2019 costs R2,999  a R1,000 discount on its usual price. You will also receive a free Huawei power bank worth R799.

These and other great deals are waiting on Huaweis online store  so dont miss out.

Note that due to the lockdown, all orders will be delivered after the lockdown period ends.

Some of the best deals on Huaweis online store can be found below.

Huawei Band 3  R999 (save R1,000)

Huawei Watch Ella  R2,999

Huawei P20 + FREE power bank  R6,999

Huawei P smart 2019 + FREE power bank  R2,999 (Save R1,000)

Huawei Watch GT + FREE Huawei smart scale  R3,499

Huawei Watch GT 2 42mm + FREE Huawei FreeBuds Lite  R6,499

Huawei Watch GT 2 46mm + FREE Huawei FreeBuds Lite  R5,499
The CBI has asked Satara district authorities in Maharashtra to not release DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan from COVID-19 quarantine without its approval as they face non-bailable warrants in the Yes Bank fraud case, officials said Friday.

The brothers are named as accused in the CBI FIR pertaining to swindling of money by Yes Bank former CEO Rana Kapoor and other accused, they said.

The CBI said Kapil and Dheeraj were absconding since the case was registered on March 7 prompting the agency to get Non-Bailable Warrants against them from a special court, they said.

The agency had received information on Thursday about their location at a government quarantine centre in Panchgani following which the CBI dispatched an email to Satara District Magistrate asking him to not release them without an NOC from the CBI, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
GALT  Arlin Van Groningen stood a few feet away from his cows, worried about the future.

Two months ago, the price of milk products was headed toward a peak and then those same prices plunged into freefall. Now the impact of the new coronavirus was sinking in.

Exports overseas dwindled. Schools no longer needed so many milk cartons. Restaurants are not buying as much cheese. So Van Groningen, who owns the New Hope Dairy in Galt, started making more butter to soften his losses.

Its heavier butter now since the crisis, Van Groningen said. Weve diverted about 30 percent of our milk into more butter.

A third-generation dairyman, Van Groningen, 46, has seen his share of ups and downs in an industry accustomed to erratic price turns. The challenge of COVID-19 is different, he said, an economic imbalance thats touching every part of the economy, including the milk business.

When the market for dairy products in schools, restaurants and abroad disappeared amid the lockdown it left behind a void. Farmers like Van Groningen moved to make butter but now that the dust has settled hes learned that it may not be enough.

Creameries are telling farmers to cut back on the amount of milk theyre sending because they cant find a buyer for it, said Anja Raudabaugh, chief executive of Western United Dairies, an industry group based in Modesto.

The holdup and the challenge with the school lunch program and the restaurant sector shutting down are these creameries have not been getting the orders that they usually do, she said. They dont want to take the milk.

That means farmers will face potentially big losses by either pouring the milk out like many farmers are already doing on the Northeast. They can dry the cow off by no longer milking it or they can beef them.

Almost every single farmer in California has been given orders to cut their production, Raudabaugh said.

Massive recession coming

State and federal agencies have created some protections in the form of loans and a delay on taxes for small businesses. However, agricultural economists say the disruption may be just the beginning and that an expected price drop is on the horizon.

Like every part of the food system, there are complications. The issue for milk is you cant turn off the cows, said Daniel A. Sumner, an agricultural economist and professor at UC Davis. Whats becoming more of a problem is the slightly longer-term outlook where we have a massive recession (coming).

Dairy prices are regulated by the federal government and fluctuate on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. So the price of large quantities of milk, cheese, whey and milk powder is set based on data from the prior month, Sumner said.

In January, milk traded at nearly 18 cents per pound and by March the amount fell nearly five cents. Sumner said this suggests there is a price shock to come in the summer.

The May and June futures markets for milk has collapsed, Sumner said. All the dairy farmers, so far their prices havent gone down yet because all these prices are set by looking in the rearview mirror. But they know its coming and they know its going to be really bad.

Van Groningen was concerned enough for his 14 employees that he has applied for the U.S. Small Business Administrations paycheck protection loan, but worries its only a band-aid solution.

Im going to use it to make sure I can pay my employees, he said. Those types of programs usually prolong the problem, unfortunately. We as an industry need to figure it out on our own.

Editors Note: Because of the health implications of the COVID-19 virus, this article is being made available free to all online readers. If youd like to join us in supporting the mission of local journalism, please visit napavalleyregister.com/members/join/.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
As parents who traditionally depend on public school pivot to the new normal of at-home learning, online resources used or created by homeschool parents can provide a platform to learn about supporting educational needs.

Sam Sorbo, a homeschool parent and representative of the non-profit Texas Home School Coalition, said the organization stepped into action after public school closures due to the novel coronavirus. THSC developed a website for parents to provide educational tools for learning from home that will be offered for free through April 30.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Now more than ever, Houstons digital divide puts childrens education in peril

Sorbo, who has been the home school educator of her three children for over 10 years and published two books, recommends signing up for daily curriculum emails on the THSC coronavirus education website. Sorbo said parents and children can learn together about the world through home education.

I think the struggle we have today is that parents feel completely inadequate to the task of education, and that is too bad. They are infinitely adequate to the task of education, especially because they dont know what theyre doing, Sorbo said. ...A parent who doesnt know very much about the world, as long as they are willing to learn, they can show the child how to learn about the world, and thats a wonderful thing.

CORONAVIRUS CLOSURES: Humble ISD extends school closures through May 1 after Gov. Abbotts order

With the closures of public schools, Sorbo said this is an opportunity for parents to see what their children are learning in school. She recommends downloading the curriculum they provide and compare and contrast what public schools and homeschooling programs are teaching. Sorbo said the reason she starting teaching from home was that what her school was providing was inadequate based on a systemic issue.

The idea is that the parents now have this opportunity that theyve been given to see what the kids are learning in their schools and to come alongside the children and help them in their endeavor to satisfy their curiosity about the world, Sorbo said.

More Information Online resources: Coronavirus Homeschooling Education Plan: coronavirushomeschooling.com Home Education and Responsible Teaching (HEART): www.homeschool-life.com/tx/heart Google resources: Information, tips, training and tools for teachers Teach From Home Resources and strategies for engaging students Distance Learning Hub Parent and family resources Learn@Home YouTube See More Collapse

VIRTUAL LEARNING: Humble ISD teachers prepare students for new, online AP testing formats due to coronavirus

Resources for parents and students at home

Coronavirus Homeschooling Education Plan: coronavirushomeschooling.com

The non-profit Texas Home School Coalition created an emergency coronavirus education website offering free daily lesson plans for kindergarten through fifth grade. This is the first phase of a multi-phase emergency COVID-19 response plan to provide free online educational resources according to their press release.

Home Education and Responsible Teaching (HEART): www.homeschool-life.com/tx/heart

Kingwood-based home schooling organization with online educational resources for scheduling the day, texts and resources, additional homeschooling websites, free worksheets, educational games, and subject learning.

Google resources:

Information, tips, training and tools for teachers

Teach From Home

Resources and strategies for engaging students

Distance Learning Hub

Parent and family resources

Learn@Home YouTube

Google will also offer free premium video-conferencing for schools through July 1, allowing 250 people to be on one call, record lessons and livestream.

savannah.mehrtens@chron.com
Even when Nigeria is nowhere close to getting out of the wood in its battle against the novel coronavirus, the nations governors appeared to have let down their guards just so soon because of religious considerations, thereby putting the lives of thousands of citizens at risk.

Because of the Easter Celebration, a host of Nigerian states have ordered partial or absolute relaxation of weeks-long restriction of non-essential movements by residents, a controversial directive that could spell doom for Nigerias containment efforts against the pandemic.

This development coincides with a reported plan by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to advise President Muhammed Buhari on the possibility of having a nationwide lockdown.

Since its importation into the country, the confirmed cases of coronavirus have been on the increase in Nigeria. The number stood at 288 as of April 9, according to the data released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Nigeria has few COVID-19 testing laboratories and inadequate, even decrepit, medical facilities to manage infected persons, compared with the countrys over 200 million population.

READ ALSO:

Many believe that if larger sizes of sample are tested rapidly across Nigeria, the country could see an increase in the number of confirmed cases.

Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Katsina, Kogi, Ondo, are some of the Nigerian states that have asked their residents to feel free to go to church for this weekends Easter celebration or to the mosque for todays Muslim Friday prayers.

Cross River, Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, Taraba and several others are said to have or planning to lift the restriction orders in their states.

In the Spirit of Easter and after a careful review of the state of COVID-19 situation in our State, we have decided to temporarily relax the restriction on large religious gathering, the Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike, announced in a statewide broadcast on Thursday.

Friday 10th April 2020  all Moslem faithful should observe Jumaat prayers in their mosques or prayer grounds throughout the State and pray for the peace, forgiveness and the blessings of Allah upon the State.

Sunday 12th April 2020  all Christians should have Easter Church Services with their full congregation and pray to God to forgive us of our sins, continue to intervene in our affairs and protect the State and our people from the Coronavirus, Mr Wike said in the broadcast.

Mr Wike in his message to Rivers States residents ironically said, We have no other choice but to fight this mass killer virus with all of our might and every weapon and resource at our disposal, less we all perish, for our inactions and indiscretions.

The Rivers governor has been in the news lately because of the controversial arrest, arraignment, and detention of two pilots working with a logistics company, Caverton Helicopters, whom he accused of flying illegally into Rivers against an order barring vehicles and flights from entering the state because of the pandemic.

Rivers state Governor Nyesom Wike [PHOTO CREDIT: @GovWike]

The Caverton flight was approved by federal authorities.

Aside from the pilots, 10 of the aircraft passengers have been remanded in Port Harcourt prison after they were charged before a chief magistrate on Tuesday.

Mr Wike, who likened the coronavirus to a war situation has been insisting that people flying into Rivers must subject themselves to health check to ascertain if they are positive or not to the virus.

There are two confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Rivers.

The relaxation of restriction in the oil-rich state is an apparent contradiction of Governor Wikes posturing in his fight against the spread of the virus, and could reverse whatever achievement the state may have recorded so far.

Akwa Ibom, another state in Nigerias South-South, has been battling to halt the spread of the deadly virus since five index cases were confirmed in the state a few days ago.

Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom state.

Despite the difficulty the state is experiencing getting residents to obey its stay-at-home order, the state government, Thursday, lifted its restriction order so residents could go to church for Easter celebrations. A top government source said Governor Udom Emmanuel approved the relaxation of the restrictions in deference to religious leaders who piled pressure on him.

In Kogi State, Governor Yahaya Bello, Thursday, said residents were now free to go to mosques and churches for their prayers.

Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello

Sitting arrangements in mosques and churches should be done to ensure social distancing.

We also urge churches and mosques to make their services as brief as possible in order not to keep a large crowd of worshipers within enclosed confinement, Mr Bello was quoted to have said.

Advertisements



Bayelsa State Governor, Duoye Diri

Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa said his administration was relaxing the restriction order in the state because of appeal from Christian leaders in the state.

Mr Diri said the state would be locked down again once the Easter celebration was over.

In Katsina, Governor Bello Masari lifted the suspension the state had earlier placed on Friday congregational prayers, but advised that prayers should be conducted under some stipulated health and security guidelines.

Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State [PHOTO CREDIT: @GovernorMasari]

The Jumuat Imams should avoid prolonged sermons in order to discharge their followers within the shortest period.

People are also strongly advised to maintain social distancing and adhere strictly to all the rules and regulations provided by the health experts in fighting the contagious disease, the state government said in a statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government, Mustapha Inuwa.

In Bauchi, the state governor, Bala Mohammed, and other government officials were among Muslim faithful who attended Friday prayers at the Bauchi Central mosque. The governor came out from a 14-day isolation about 24 hours ago after recovering from the virus.

Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State [Photo: Bussiness Day]

Federal authorities are said to be alarmed by the development, and are said to be making frantic efforts to reach out to the state governors to abandon actions that could worsen the nations health crisis, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

One group with a focus on health reforms in Nigeria issued a statement on Friday, warning the governors that it was not yet time to lift the ban on public gathering.

The group, the Health Sector Reform Coalition, said it was shocked that some states were lifting the ban on public gathering because of the Muslim Friday prayers and the Christian Easter celebration.

Abuja City Gate.

The lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and similar decision by some governors across the country was a welcome development. It is important for containing the spread of COVID-19, avoiding the high number of deaths that might follow and the disastrous effects on the health system and economy, as we are seeing with countries like US, Italy, Spain, UK, amongst others, the group said.

The coalition said it recognise and respect the importance of worship and religious celebrations to Nigerians. But that scientific evidence and experience from developed and developing countries have shown that avoiding crowds, physical distancing, handwashing and respiratory hygiene remained the best ways to prevent the spread of the virus and halt associated deaths.

The coalition appealed to the governors to cancel the directives to lift the ban on religious and other gatherings in their states until the NCDC and Federal Ministry of Health advise otherwise.

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)

With the high number of people living in poverty, high prevalence of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes (underlying diseases) and very weak health systems, it will be catastrophic if the virus spreads widely in Nigeria, it said.

The Catholic Diocese of Port Harcourt, in response to the relaxation of restriction in Rivers state, issued a statement saying it preferred to have its members stay isolated at home, instead of congregating in churches for Easter.

The Bishop of the diocese, Camillus Etokudoh, in a statement, Thursday, therefore, directed priests and faithful in the diocese to continue to pray from home.

In the wake of the lockdown in the states, some churches in Nigeria began running online services for their members, using Facebook, YouTube, and other internet platforms.
While scholars debate whether the coronavirus crisis will mark a turning point in modern world history, smaller-scale dramas - some affecting the Trump administration's highest foreign policy priorities - are still playing out across the globe.

In the Middle East, alliances and battlefields are being redrawn. In Asia, new powers are strengthening as new partnerships emerge. Much of Africa is descending into a deeper economic hole. The declining U.S. transatlantic leadership role has come into even sharper relief.

The administration's ability to manage these issues, preserving U.S. interests even as its attention and resources are sapped by the domestic pandemic fight, will help determine the starting point for its post-virus position in the world.

Nowhere is the risk of waning U.S. global influence more visible than in its relationship with China, already strained before the pandemic. President Donald Trump has sought to make Beijing a scapegoat, viewing the fight against the virus as a strategic competition and possible reelection advantage, rather than heeding the advice of some within his own administration to postpone a reckoning and assignment of blame until the immediate crisis has passed.

China has picked up the mantle, "touting its model as the best equipped . . . at a time when the U.S. seems to be faltering, a time when it's struggling to project its model," said Robert Malley, the president of the International Crisis Group, an international security think tank.

Strained relations will only grow worse as both countries experience rising unemployment, said Daniel Lynch, a professor of international relations at the City University of Hong Kong.

"Once you get into the election campaign, Trump is going to be lashing out and blaming every one he can. China will be at the top of the list," Lynch said. "If there are several months of that, in a context in which the U.S. looks very pathetic because of its response to the virus, I think it could have some lasting damage."

More broadly, on issues tied to the pandemic and not, the U.S. voice at times has been overwhelmed by fast-moving facts on the ground, or a dearth of information.

Japanese officials are loath to admit that the crisis has dented U.S. leadership in Asia, but the region has largely dealt with the pandemic without looking to the United States. From wearing masks to mass testing, the West has not been part of the conversation, and close allies Japan and South Korea - with far more experience dealing with epidemics - have largely found their own solutions.

With the Trump administration notable by its absence, Japan has staked out its own leadership credentials, donating masks, money and medical supplies to China at the height of the outbreak in Wuhan. More recently, it arranged to send the antiviral, anti-influenza drug Avigan to at least 20 countries after it was found to have helped patients recover in China.

While the eyes of the world are elsewhere, North Korea has conducted a series of missile tests - the most in a single month in March. Even before the virus outbreak, Kim Jong Un had moved to a more hard-line position on U.S. disarmament demands. Although he still seems to see some value in his relationship with Trump, Kim has taken advantage of the world's distraction to continue to develop weapons systems.

To some extent, the wheels of U.S. foreign and national security policy continue to turn, virus or no virus. When two Russian anti-submarine patrol aircraft entered the Alaskan air defense zone on Wednesday, they were intercepted by U.S. F-22 fighter jets.

The State Department, with about 20 percent of its Washington workforce in the building, has released a steady stream of non-virus pronouncements over the past few weeks, celebrating International Roma Day, U.N. Mine Awareness Day and Senegalese Independence Day. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other officials have participated in video conferences and phone calls with foreign counterparts, sometimes involving non-virus matters.

The administration's "maximum pressure" campaigns against Iran and Venezuela have continued apace, with new sanctions and reams of fact sheets. U.S. indictments against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and others in his government were followed by a proposal for an interim government and elections, one of the few diplomatic initiatives to emerge during the pandemic crisis.

In a recent foreign ministers meeting of the G-7, which was held virtually, the United States helped set up "very good coordinated work streams" among health ministers, finance ministers and others, said one of several senior European officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's performance.

But in the past, the official said, U.S. administrations would step forward in international crises to say that "we're going to make sure all the pieces of the jigsaw fit together, that no one is causing trouble . . . . We are America, and we are going to do it."

Now, despite U.S.-inspired coordination on many levels, "there's not a lot of top-down strategic narrative around it. That's what I find curious . . . it does leave everybody short." While U.S. withdrawal from global leadership did not begin with Trump, the official said, "the temperament of this administration" seems to have exacerbated it.

In the Middle East, the pandemic descended at a moment when Turkey and the United States, after years of acrimony, had at last agreed on an issue - the necessity of stalling a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive in Idlib, one of the final rebel redoubts.

The Trump administration praised Turkey's decision to send thousands of troops into the province, in the northwest corner of Syria, and said the United States was seeking other ways to help, short of providing boots on the ground, including by sharing intelligence.

U.S. officials, sensing an opportunity to drive a wedge between Russia and Turkey, repeatedly highlighted and denounced Russia's central role in the offensive, which displaced nearly a million people and set off a humanitarian catastrophe in a matter of weeks.

But the rapprochement now appears to have stalled. Washington rebuffed a Turkish request for Patriot missile defense batteries, and in early March, Turkey and Russia struck a cease-fire deal over Idlib that included joint military patrols between the two nations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkey would make the S-400 missile defense system it has purchased from Russia "operational" this month, a move that would trigger U.S. sanctions.

"Because of the coronavirus, I don't think people [in Washington] spend much of their time" on what is happening in the region, a senior Turkish official said on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly . "Information from the United States is at its lowest level. . . . There is no discussion on this issue."

In Syria, the administration has not moved to withdraw the about 650 troops remaining, which is about a third of what the numbers was before Trump ordered a withdrawal more than a year ago. Since then, much of the territory they controlled, along with Syrian Kurdish allies, along the northeast Syrian border with Turkey, has become occupied by Syrian government forces and their Russian allies.

The pandemic has further complicated the U.S. mission in Iraq, where troops were already at risk from Iran-backed militias. The spread of the virus has caused the U.S.-led coalition to suspend the training of local troops, even as the Americans have withdrawn hundreds of troops out of smaller military bases and consolidated them in a few centers.

The administration is increasing pressure on the Iraqi government to push against the militias. "We believe that we bring a lot to Iraq," including economic and security assistance as well as trade, David Schenker, the assistant secretary of state for the region, said in a briefing for reporters Thursday.

"But it is on the Iraqis, if they value that relationship, to take certain steps, and that includes providing protection to the coalition forces who are in Iraq if they want those forces to remain," Schenker said.

Iraqi officials said that protection is unlikely. "No judge will issue an arrest warrant against a senior militia member if he wants to stay alive," said one senior Iraqi military official. "Let's be honest. If the militias want to attack" the Americans, "we can't stop them."

The administration this week announced a high-level "strategic dialogue" with Iraq, to be held in June. But assuming such a gathering could take place during the pandemic, Iraq has no permanent government that could participate. There has been no official prime minister in Baghdad since late November, when Adel Abdul Mahdi stepped down in the face of mass protests. After a visit from the new head of Iran's Quds Force, a U.S.-backed candidate, Adnan al-Zurfi, withdrew his candidacy on Thursday when key Shiite parties turned against him.

In Israel, the virus outbreak forced the two sides of the country's year-long political stalemate to join forces in an emergency unity government. But two weeks after the former Army chief of staff, Benny Gantz, agreed to serve with his rival, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the factions have failed to reach a deal over, among other issues, the annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

U.S. officials had urged a delay in annexation plans, which were envisioned in the Trump administration's long-awaited Israel-Palestine peace plan, until the political upheaval was settled. But there has been little indication the United States has played any significant role in the current talks between Netanyahu and Gantz.

In North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, the United States has been mostly absent or lacking influence in key crises.

The administration has said repeatedly that humanitarian and medical aid for virus-stricken Iran is exempt from U.S. sanctions, and it blamed Tehran's Islamist government for for failing to help its own people. But other nations have urged the United States to be more proactive in helping the Iranian people. U.S. regional allies have become increasingly divided over the issue, with Saudi Arabia standing firm with the United States, even as the United Arab Emirates has shipped tons of medical equipment, testing kits and other crucial supplies to Iran.

In Yemen, the United States has cut tens of millions of dollars in health care, hygiene promotion and other aid programs, saying that Houthi rebels would interfere with its delivery. But the timing, amid rising concerns about the virus emerging in the area considered the world's worst humanitarian crisis, has been widely criticized.

"When #COVID19 hits, Yemenis will be uniquely vulnerable," Oxfam America said in a series of tweets. "We asked @USAID officially to pause its suspension. . . . We are all worried about the lives that will be lost."

This week, Saudi Arabia declared a unilateral cease-fire in its five-year war against the Houthis. It said it would contribute $500 million to humanitarian response plans there and an additional $25 million to help combat the spread of the virus.

- - -

The Washington Post's Simon Denyer in Tokyo, Anna Fifield in New Zealand, Steve Hendrix in Jerusalem, Louisa Loveluck in Baghdad, Kareem Fahim in Istanbul, and Sudarsan Raghavan in Cairo contributed to this report.
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Zoom logo is seen in front of diplayed coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

By John Geddie

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has suspended the use of video-conferencing tool Zoom by teachers after "very serious incidents" in the first week of a coronavirus lockdown that has seen schools move to home-based learning.

One incident involved obscene images appearing on screens and strange men making lewd comments during the streaming of a geography lesson with teenage girls, media said.

Zoom Video Communications Inc <ZM.O> has faced safety and privacy concerns over its conferencing app, use of which has surged in offices and schools worldwide after they shut to try and curb virus infections.

"These are very serious incidents," Aaron Loh of the education ministry's technology division said on Friday, without giving details.

"The Ministry of Education (MOE) is currently investigating both breaches and will lodge a police report if warranted.

"As a precautionary measure, our teachers will suspend their use of Zoom until these security issues are ironed out."

Loh said they ministry would further advise teachers on security protocols, such as requiring secure log-ins and not sharing the meeting link beyond the students in the class.

Zoom was deeply upset to hear about the incidents and was "committed to providing educators with the tools and resources they need on a safe and secure platform", the firm's chief marketing officer, Janine Pelosi, said in an email.

It has also recently changed settings for education users to enable virtual waiting rooms and ensure that only hosts can share their screens by default, she added.

Taiwan and Germany have already curbed use of Zoom, while Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O> Google banned the desktop version from corporate laptops this week. The company also faces a class-action lawsuit.

Concerns have grown over its lack of end-to-end encryption of meeting sessions, routing of traffic through China and "zoombombing", when uninvited guests crash meetings.

Story continues

Officials at Berkeley High School in California said they suspended use of the app after a "naked adult male using racial slurs" intruded on what the school said was a password-protected meeting on Zoom, in a letter to parents seen by Reuters.

To address security concerns, Zoom has launched a 90-day plan to bolster privacy and security issues, and has also tapped former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser.

The Singapore government has also been using the tool to host media conferences.

(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.)

(Reporting by John Geddie; Editing by Michael Perry and Clarence Fernandez)


remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Trishta Dordi, a young Californian, writes: As Indian American youths, we consistently straddle two realities  our comfort of our American lives and our understanding of Indias hardships. During this outbreak of COVID-19, we must make our friends aware of the bleak circumstances many Indians currently face. Seen above: Migrant laborers get tea and refreshments at a camp set up by the Delhi Government during the nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in New Delhi on April 9, 2020. (Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images)
For the record, the accusation would be outrageous if it were not simply ridiculous. The video accompanied a link to a straightforward news article  written not by VOA but by the Associated Press  that described the end of the lockdown. The tally of Chinese deaths was taken from the respected covid-19 information site of Johns Hopkins University. And as director Amanda Bennett pointed out in a statement, VOA has reported extensively on Chinas initial attempts to cover up the coronavirus outbreak and its subsequent disinformation campaign  so much so that Beijing recently barred most of its reporting staff from working inside China. Thats a funny way to treat an organization that, according to the White House, has been pushing Chinese propaganda.
A four-year-old boy has recovered from coronavirus which he got while being treated for cancer.

Archie Wilks, who has neuroblastoma with two tumours, has recovered from coronavirus.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic Archie's parents, Simon and Harriet, tried to make sure Archie was not exposed to the virus.

They look Archie's twin brother, Henry, out of school and isolated in their family home in Saffron Walden, Essex, where only a community nurse visited them twice.

'We had some trips to the day unit where we kept away from whoever we possibly could and stayed outside to keep away from the waiting room,' said Simon.

But Archie became the first child cancer patient to get coronavirus at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

'Typical of Archie,' said Simon.

Archie Wilks, four-years-old, has recovered from coronavirus after he got it during treatment for rare cancer neuroblastoma

Archie had a fever after starting a chemotherapy and immunotherapy course and was quickly moved to a coronavirus ward where he tested positive two days later

Archie was quickly moved to a coronavirus ward, where he was diagnosed with the virus two days later, after he had a fever after starting a chemotherapy and immunotherapy course.

Archie and his father isolated for five days in a hospital room that doctors and nurses wore protective gear into.

'It was scary to be moved into the coronavirus ward as we had no real information about how a child in his position might cope with the virus, said Simon.

Simon said hospital staff really helped him to feel at ease in such a worrying situation.

Archie and his father isolated for five days in a hospital room that doctors and nurses wore protective gear into

Archie and his father returned to the rest of their family, who have all had coronavirus symptoms, on April 1. 'I know Harriet found it hard at home with Henry. We've been in a similar position countless times in the last year but obviously the other was able to leave the house or interact with others to take our mind off the situation but the isolation at home made it harder,' Simon said

Archie and his father returned to the rest of their family, who have all had coronavirus symptoms, on April 1.

'I know Harriet found it hard at home with Henry. We've been in a similar position countless times in the last year but obviously the other was able to leave the house or interact with others to take our mind off the situation but the isolation at home made it harder,' Simon said.

Archie was tired and still needed oxygen overnight for a few days but on Thursday his family told supporters on the Archie's Journey Facebook page: 'Archie's definitely out the other side of the virus with no cough and no need for oxygen.'

'It's reassuring for other parents to see that a vulnerable child like Archie has coped well so far with the virus but we obviously don't want anyone thinking it's a good idea to not worry about their children contracting it,' said Simon.

Simon and Harriet are raising money for Archie to to be able to participate in a vaccine trial at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York that could decrease the chances of the cancer returning once Archie is in remission

WHAT IS NEUROBLASTOMA? Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that affects children and usually starts in the abdomen. Around 100 children, who are typically under five, are diagnosed every year in the UK. The disease affects approximately 800 new children annually in the US. In around half of cases, neuroblastoma spreads to other parts of the body, particularly the liver and skin. Neuroblastoma's cause is unclear. There may be a family-history link. The main symptom is usually a lump in the abdomen, which may cause swelling, discomfort or pain. If the disease affects the spinal cord, it can lead to numbness, weakness and loss of movement in the lower part of the body. Treatment depends on how advanced the cancer is and the risk it will return after therapy. Surgery, and chemo and radiotherapy, are commonly used. Source: Cancer Research UK Advertisement

Simon said: 'Luckily because we had been so cautious, isolating early and completely, we wouldn't have come into contact with many people during any potential stage of him having the virus, which was helpful to mentally deal with the positive result, knowing we wouldn't have caused any potential harm to anyone else.

'It's reassuring for other parents to see that a vulnerable child like Archie has coped well so far with the virus but we obviously don't want anyone thinking it's a good idea to not worry about their children contracting it.'

Simon and Harriet are raising money for Archie to to be able to participate in a vaccine trial at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York that could decrease the chances of the cancer returning once Archie is in remission.

According to CureSearch for Children's Cancer 50 to 60 per cent of children successfully treated for neuroblastoma will relapse.

The trial will 'will look to reduce the chance of that happening and allow us all to know we have done everything possible to give Archie the best chance at life', Simon said.

Archie's dad, 31, and Archie's mum, 30, have raised more than 180,000 via their Just Giving fundraising page and they need 230,000.
There has been a mixed reaction to a new report into the handling of legacy issues published by Queen's University and the Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ).

The document is highly critical of the Government's proposal to end repeat investigations into Troubles cases and deliver on a promise to protect former soldiers from "vexatious claims".

The group of academics from Queen's and human rights activists claim the Government proposals are incompatible with the European Convention on Human rights and the Good Friday Agreement. Professor Kieran McEvoy from the School of Law at Queen's University led the team behind the report.

"The latest Government statement appears to envisage the abandonment of the structures proposed in the Stormont House Agreement in favour of a process wherein the bulk of outstanding conflict investigations would be 'fast-tracked'," he said. "It is difficult to see how this could allow for an effective investigation.

"It is clear that a driving influence on the UK Government's approach has been a desire to ensure soldiers do not go to prison for conflict-related offences."

QUB Law Professor Louise Mallinder said the CAJ report offers a new proposal on sentencing.

"Bearing in mind the Government's clear determination to keep soldiers out of prison, we have reviewed a number of options which would see the Stormont House Agreement implemented in full - but where the current two-year sentence before being considered for early release could be reduced to zero," she said.

DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the new Government proposals had been a much needed fresh approach.

"The Stormont House Agreement legacy proposals lack the support of many innocent victims," he said.

"It is vital that justice and truth are not denied to those innocent victims and that there is no provision to re-write the past."

Ulster Unionist justice spokesman Doug Beattie said the time for victims being ignored by the Stormont House Agreement was over. "Innocent victims have been let down time and again by legacy arrangements," he said.

"Now we have a group of self-appointed experts with proposals to reduce the tariff on Troubles-related convictions to a zero term sentence.

"It would neatly fit the agenda of those who want to rewrite the history of the Troubles," he added.

Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly welcomed the new report.

"The analysis of the options is timely, given the significant shift in the British Government's position last month, where they unilaterally attempted to reconstruct and rewrite the Stormont House Agreement," he said.

"Any cherry picking or attempted solo run by the British Government is unlikely to secure the support or agreement of the other parties."

SDLP Policing Board member Dolores Kelly MLA has said the report was a robust rejection of the Government narrative of a witch-hunt against former soldiers.

"It is clear that the Government's latest legacy proposals are motivated by a political desire to shield former soldiers," Ms Kelly said. "I do have to express reservations about proposals to reduce the tariff on troubles-related convictions to a zero term sentence."

Alliance Justice spokesperson Stephen Farry said his party would give the latest report full consideration.

"Any approach for dealing with legacy must be consistent with the rule of law and human rights compliant," he said.
ENGLISH

The awards of design, creativity and innovation on the internet
Filmmaker Martin Scorsese is reportedly in talks with Apple and Netflix to produce or distribute his next feature "Killers of the Flower Moon".

After "The Irishman", the veteran filmmaker is once again facing issues due to the budgetary issues.

According to Wall Street Journal, the inflating cost of the film, which has now reached the USD 200 million figure, has made the studio Paramount Pictures tense about the project.

At the insistence of the studio, Scorsese's representatives have started talks with Netflix and Apple for either financing the film or distributing it.

According to the report, the filmmaker has also reached out to other potential players, Universal and MGM. Paramount is open to a deal that would still allow them to participate as as financier or distributor.

"Killers of the Flower Moon" will feature Scorsese's favourite leading men -- Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The film, based on David Grann's historical book of the same name, is set in 1920s Oklahoma and centres around the Osage Nation murders, in which members of the Native American tribe were murdered one by one after the group became rich off the oil found underneath their land.

This is the second time that the filmmaker is having trouble with making his film. His previously directorial, "The Irishman" was also set up at Paramount but due to its climbing cost, the film was sold to streamer Netflix.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The series has captivated tens of millions of viewers stuck at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Netflix announced Thursday that Tiger King fans would be getting a special treat with an additional episode to be hosted by Community's Joel McHale.

The new episode is set to hit the streaming service on Sunday, April 12.

Coming soon: Netflix announced Thursday that Tiger King fans would be getting a special treat with an additional episode on April 12 to be hosted by Community's Joel McHale

Netflix announced the upcoming episode with a tweet featuring Joel, who was wearing his best Joe Exotic costume while showcasing his abs.

He had two different scarves of cheetah and leopard print material over his shoulders and neck and he held on to his belted jeans throughout the clip.

McHale called the episode an 'after show,' so it's presumably in a talk show format, similar to Talking Dead.

'I talked to a lot of people involved in the project  Jeff and Lauren Lowe, Saff, Erik Cowie, John Finlay, John Reinke and Rick Kirkham  to see what's happened in their lives since the release of the series,' he said.

Playing the part: Netflix announced the upcoming episode with a tweet featuring Joel, who was wearing his best Joe Exotic costume while showcasing his abs

Getting the goods: 'I talked to a lot of people involved in the project  Jeff and Lauren Lowe, Saff, Erik Cowie, John Finlay, John Reinke and Rick Kirkham  to see what's happened in their lives since the release of the series,' he said

Tiger King is a seven-part crime documentary following the exploits of Joe Exotic (Joseph Maldonado-Passage).

He owned an exotic animal park in Oklahoma and claimed to be the most prolific breeder of tigers in the United States.

The takes a stunning turn when the already outrageous breeder is convicted of trying to hire an FBI agent to kill Carole Baskin, an animal rights activist and his primary nemesis.

The series debuted to stunning numbers for Netflix, with more than 34 million people tuning in during the first 10 days, according to Nielsen estimates from Variety.

That makes the series more popular than Stranger Things season two was in its first 10 days, and within striking distance of Stranger Things season three.

Controversial: Tiger King is a seven-part crime documentary following Joe Exotic (Joseph Maldonado-Passage), a prolific tiger breeder who went to federal prison for attempted murder and multiple animal cruelty charges

Still going strong: Among Joel's guests will be Saff Saffery, the former manager at Joe's park who had to have his arm amputated after a brutal attack

Among Joel's guests will be Saff Saffery, the former manager at the zoo who was shown being brutally attacked after sticking his arm in a cage.

He chose to forego two years of reconstructive surgeries and instead opted to have his shredded arm amputated in order to get back to working with the big cats sooner.

Fans will also hear from John Finlay, who married Joe in a non-binding polygamous ceremony a year before same-sex marriage became legal in the US.

Jeff and Lauren Lowe enter the documentary as Mephistophelean characters and unabashed swingers who invest in the park after Joe Exotic revealed his financial woes.

Close contact: Viewers will also hear from John Finlay, who married Joe in a polygamous ceremony

Non-binding: The marriage wasn't ultimately legal, as it took place a year before same-sex marriage became legal in the US

Shady characters: Jeff and Lauren Lowe enter the documentary as Mephistophelean characters and unabashed swingers who invest in the park after Joe Exotic revealed his financial woes; shown April 5

Notably absent from the after show are Joe Exotic, who's serving a 22-year federal sentence for attempted murder and multiple animal cruelty charges, and his antagonist Carole Baskin.

Joe was recently placed into Covid-19 isolation in prison after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for the illness.

As for Carole, Tiger King's treatment of the animal rights activist led some viewers to blame her for the disappearance of her husband Don Lewis in 1997.

Some conspiracy theorists online have gone as far as to suggest that she killed him, destroyed his body in a meat grinder and then fed him to their tigers.

She lambasted the series as having 'the sole goal of being as salacious and sensational as possible to draw viewers' in a strongly worded post on her own Big Cat Rescue website.

She also claimed that her former husband had been suffering symptoms of dementia in the months leading up to his disappearance.

The big game: Notably absent from the after show are Joe Exotic, who's serving a 22-year federal sentence for attempted murder and multiple animal cruelty charges; pictured with Shaquille O'Neal
Federal authorities have launched an investigation into the conditions at a Massachusetts veterans home where at least 18 residents have died from coronavirus after it emerged that infected employees were still showing up to work.

The Department of Justice announced on Friday that it would be investigating the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke to determine if the facility was providing adequate care for its residents amid the coronavirus pandemic.

It comes after two employees who tested positive for coronavirus were still showing up for work out of fear of losing their jobs.

The federal investigation is separate from a state investigation that is currently underway.

Two employees at the Soldiers' Home (pictured) in Massachusetts, where at least 18 residents have died after contracting the coronavirus, are still working out of fear for their job despite testing for positive for the virus

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced that a state investigation was being conducted.

'Public health experts are at the @HolyokeSOHO conducting a thorough review of the health status of staff and residents to plan appropriate next steps,' he tweeted.

It emerged that the Soldiers' Home had a policy in place that employees had to show up for work regardless if they had tested positive.

Cory Bombredi, the Local 888 union organizer for the home, said there is a written policy in place for workers to continue coming into work.

The policy states that 'if you're COVID-19 positive and asymptomatic, you still have to show'.

Bennett Walsh, the superintendent of the home, has been placed on administrative leave and a new clinical command structure is in place.

Medically trained National Guard personnel have since been brought in to test all residents and staff.

Employers have accused management of not keeping them or the residents safe during the pandemic.

Two other employees, Carmen Rivera and Joe Ramirez, who fell ill with the virus and have been out since last month, said their coworkers are fearful of losing their jobs. The National Guard was sent to the veterans home amid the outbreak

At least 25 residents at the home have died since the outbreak hit the area. However, 18 tested positive for the virus and three have pending test results. Three others tested negative and one was unknown. Cleaners enter the Soldiers' Home on March 31

Two employees, Carmen Rivera and Joe Ramirez, told ABC News they had stopped going to work after falling ill and testing positive.

But they revealed that two of their colleagues were still going to work.

Ramirez, who is a certified nursing assistant, said his colleagues were 'afraid of losing their job' and 'of retaliation' for not showing up.

He said that while his coworkers were asymptomatic, they are still scared that they are 'passing it on to somebody' else.

Rivera, a certified nursing assistant, accused the home of failing to protect them.

'They already failed us from the beginning, not being protected,' Rivera said.

At least 25 residents at the home have died since the outbreak hit the area. Eighteen of those people tested positive for the virus while three have pending test results. Three others tested negative and one was unknown.

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse said that the first deaths occurred on March 25 but officials at the home failed to disclose the deaths until March 29.

Morse said he had called Walsh directly after receiving an anonymous complaint.

'I was incredibly disappointed,' Morse said. 'There was a clear lack of urgency and we were repeatedly told that these were folks with underlying health conditions.

'That's certainly not an excuse for not isolating the folks that did test positive.'
At least four care homes in Brighton and Hove have been struck with coronavirus

Coronavirus deaths in care homes are going unreported, say funeral directors as up to 1,000 UK residents have died amid claims 'ageist' GPs are refusing to visit pensioners or send them to hospital.

At least four homes within Brighton and Hove have been struck by coronavirus, which is increasingly fatal to the elderly or people with underlying health conditions.

NHS data published daily, which counts the death toll by hospital trusts, does not include deaths in care homes.

It comes amid claims elderly care home residents are being left to die from coronavirus by 'ageist' GPs.

1,000-plus people within the system may have perished after being exposed without being counted in the official death toll, it was alleged today.

One funeral director, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'We have just collected from a home in the Sussex area. The doctor has put down the cause of death as dementia and yet when we collected over the weekend, the staff told us she had developed a cough three days ago.

Fifteen out of 20 residents of Oaklands Nursing Home in East Sussex last week developed coronavirus symptoms, with a member of staff in intensive care. However, just three were tested  among them Giuseppe Casciello, 95, who died on Monday March 30. He is pictured with family

Five of those who died at Castletroy Residential home (pictured) in Luton were confirmed positive for Covid-19. The deaths were announced by Public Health England on Wednesday

'A few days after that, the client received a call from the home confirming they had an outbreak of coronavirus.

'Further to that, we also found out from the surgery that there were seven deaths within the same home within the last number of days. The point is, I strongly believe this is happening now - I would suggest there are a lot more than what's being said.'

Another funeral director agreed, saying they could 'absolutely say there are' deaths happening within the city's homes, but that they could not elaborate further.

Many funeral directors, who also wanted to remain anonymous, said there has been an increase in the number of deaths within the area.

One claimed the number of overall deaths had risen 'quite dramatically', however another only noted a slight increase.

But they said: 'In the Brighton area, you might have 22 or 23 funeral directors. If there were 500 people who pass with Covid-19, divided between all the directors, you are not going to see that much difference.'

It has been claimed that unprotected agency workers who are travelling from home to home are inadvertently spreading Covid-19 across Brighton and Hove in a 'perfect storm'.

Hove MP Peter Kyle said failure to do more to stop this spread within care homes amounted to a 'crime'.

Elderly care home residents are essentially being left to die by 'ageist' GPs amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the chief of Care England (file photo)

The agencies providing the workers say banning them from travelling between care homes would mean people 'would not be able to eat, drink or have medication'.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of the UK's independent social care service, alleged one doctor wrote to a home refusing to visit pensioners, saying they will not be admitted to hospital amid the pandemic.

He claimed it was an individual case, but expressed concern over the letter showing a wider culture of ageism in Britain.

There are growing fears the nation's half-million people in care homes face becoming the 'abandoned victims' of the crisis with the illness tearing through some sites killing close to one in four residents in the worst outbreaks.

Professor Martin Green (above), chief executive of Care England, alleged one doctor wrote to a care home refusing to visit and saying they will not be admitted to hospitals

And in some homes up to 50 staff are off sick with coronavirus-like symptoms - while others still working are known to be having panic attacks with at least three care workers dying because of the virus in the past fortnight.

Many workers have complained about having little or no protective masks, gloves and gowns to protect them. One whistleblower told MailOnline today: 'They have forgotten about us all. The residents are all at risk of dying - and so are we.'

More than 1,000 people are estimated to have died from coronavirus in UK care homes, without being counted in the official death toll, amid grave concerns residents and staff are not being properly protected.

15 residents at one 69-bed care home in Luton have died already and thirteen residents at a Glasgow care home have died in one week following a serious outbreak. Seven residents have died at a care home in east London where another 21 others are also ill with possible symptoms with similar serious outbreaks at other facilities all over the UK.

And at least three carers are known to have died in the past fortnight after contracting the killer virus.

Dean McKee, 28, of London, worked as a carer at an old people's home before he fell ill with symptoms of the virus just over a week ago and died on Tuesday.

Professor Green told The Daily Telegraph: 'We've seen some ageist behaviour from GPs who, for example, have said to some care homes 'Well, first of all, I'm not coming in, and secondly we are not going to send anyone to hospital.''

He said the practitioner was reported and spoken to, but does not believe they were disciplined.

The Nursing and Care Quality Forum member added: 'I think it's an isolated case of someone actually writing a letter, but I'm not sure it's an isolated practice.'

But sources linked to NHS England reportedly described the claim as 'fundamentally wrong'.

Michelle Fay is pictured caring at Oak Springs in Liverpool, Merseyside, where six residents have died amid the pandemic and three quarters began developing symptoms

Replacement staff arrive outside The Oak Springs care home in Wavertree, Liverpool, which was operating with a quarter of its usual staff numbers

This week, the Office for National statistics (ONS) revealed for the first time that 20 pensioners died in care homes across England and Wales in the week up to March 27 of the illness.

But over 200 people have been reported to have died in care homes by two different providers in the UK so far.

However Care England, the industry body, estimated that the true death toll is likely to be closer to 1,000.

It follows 15 residents at a single care home dying in the coronavirus crisis in less than a week, after its manager told families no cases had been diagnosed.

The deaths at Castletroy Residential home in Luton, which has 69 beds for elderly people with nursing or personal care needs, were announced by Public Health England on Wednesday.

Five of those who died have confirmed positive with Covid-19. It comes after the deaths of eight residents at a care home in Dumbarton and 12 at another in Cranhill, Glasgow.

Burlington Court Care Home in Glasgow where 16 residents have died from coronavirus

Castleroy Residential home in Luton is believed to have had 15 deaths from coronavirus

Nine Covid-19 related deaths have been reported at Tranent Care Home in East Lothian

Hawthorn Green Care Home in Stepney, where seven residents are reported to have died with suspected coronavirus

The daily death toll reported by the government only relates to deaths in NHS England hospitals.

But the current figures are 12 days behind the daily hospital death rate and rely only on registered death certificates, which take an average of five days to process.

This means there is a lag of 17 days between deaths and their announcement, leading to fears the care home death toll could be far higher.

The Alzheimer's Society and other care industry leaders believe that the virus is now present in homes that care for around 400,000 people in the UK.

On Tuesday, Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said that just over nine per cent of care homes had the virus.

The UK announced 887 more deaths from coronavirus yesterday, taking the total of fatalities to 7,984.

Cllr Hazel Simmons, Leader of Luton Council, said: 'We are all so desperately sad to hear about the tragic situation at Castletroy Residential and Nursing Home. To lose so many residents in one care home is heart-breaking and our love, thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of those who have died, as well as the staff at the home.

'The council are supporting the staff at the home and will be offering support to the relatives of all those affected during this very difficult period.

'This tragedy serves as another reminder of how important it is that we all follow the government guidance and stay at home to prevent the spread of this deadly disease.'

The forgotten frontline heroes: Two nursing home workers including 28-year-old man have died from coronavirus they caught looking after vulnerable elderly people

Emotional tributes have been paid to first three care home workers who died of coronavirus after catching the deadly bug while looking after the elderly.

Dean McKee, 28, of London, worked as a carer at an old people's home before he fell ill with symptoms of the virus just over a week ago.

He was rushed to hospital on Monday night but died in the early hours of Tuesday. His family say they are 'truly heartbroken' and described him as the 'kindest, sweetest man'.

His football team, Queens Park Rangers, also paid tribute to him on their website, promising to pay his poem 'Born White and Blue' before every home game.

It comes almost a week after Carole Jamabo, 56, became the first carer to die of the virus. She worked at Cherish Elderly Care in Bury, where she had moved to be closer to her children.

Dean McKee, 28, of London, worked as a carer at an old people's home before he fell ill with symptoms of the virus just over a week ago. He died in the early hours of Tuesday

His football team, Queens Park Rangers, also paid tribute to him on their website, promising to pay his poem 'Born White and Blue' before every home game

Today, the UK death toll rose by a record 936, increasing the number of fatalities to 7,095. There are now 55,242 confirmed cases nationwide.

Mr McKee is believe to be the youngest care worker to have fallen victim to the deadly bug.

A lifelong QPR fan, his team paid tribute to him in a statement that read: 'It is with huge sadness the club has learned of the untimely passing of Dean McKee.

'A lifelong fan, Dean's original piece 'Born Blue & White' will continue to be played before all #QPR home games. Our thoughts are with his family. RIP Dean.'

His family's tribute yesterday said: 'Today we lost our little brother Dean Mckee aged 28.

'He was a carer at an old people's home and worked there until he got ill over a week ago. Last night he collapsed and was taken to hospital, he died a few hours later from covid 19.

'We are truly heartbroken. Dean was the kindest, sweetest and nicest man.

'He was an amazing poet, please see his best piece by clicking on this video, he wrote that for the love of his football team, Queens Park Rangers FC.

'The tributes that have poured in are a testament to him and and testament to our mum who raised our lovely brother.'

A GoFundMe page to pay for his funeral has already raised more than 4,000.

Carole Jamabo, 56, of Bury, (pictured with her two sons) is believed to have been the first care worker lost in the fight against coronavirus

Carole Jamabo is believed to have been the first care worker lost in the fight against coronavirus.

She fell ill with symptoms of the infection around a week before her death on April 1.

She died at Salford Royal Hospital and is not believed to have suffered from any major underlying health conditions but did have asthma.

A devout Christian, Ms Jamabo served the public as a key worker for over 25 years, after moving to the UK from Nigeria in the early 1990s.

She previously worked in both the prison service and as an NHS administrator at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London.

Most recently, she worked as a carer in the community after moving to Bury to be closer to her two children, Tonye Selema, 25, and Abiye Selema, 22.

Her youngest son Abiye, a student at Leeds University, has also now tested positive for the virus, according to the family.

Ms Jamabo became suddenly unwell at her home whilst with her youngest son and was then rushed to hospital and put on a ventilator but medics could not save her.
Editor's note: Louis P. Masur is distinguished professor of American studies and history at Rutgers University. He is the author of "Lincoln's Last Speech" and the forthcoming book "The Sum of Our Dreams: A Concise History of America." Visit his website. The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN)  "The President quite unwell," reported John Hay on November 26, 1863. On his return from the dedication of Gettysburg National Cemetery, where he delivered "a few appropriate remarks" that would stand to define the war and the meaning of America, Abraham Lincoln had taken ill with varioloid fever, a mild but highly contagious form of smallpox. Even the New York World, a virulent anti-administration newspaper, hoped that "the President will soon be restored to health and strength."

Lincoln handled the illness with humor. He joked that since becoming president, crowds of people had asked him to give them something and now he had something he could give everyone. He also commented, in typical self-deprecating fashion, that being ill offered the consolation that the disease, which could leave scars, "cannot in the least disfigure me."

I have been thinking about Lincoln as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to unfold. Public figures such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have modeled what it means to be a leader in a time of crisis. They have communicated the facts as they know them, have not shied away from telling the hard truth, have offered comfort to the grieving and have used humor, not to trivialize but to humanize these most difficult of times.

Part of what made Lincoln such an effective leader was that he never let the gravity of the situation, or his own tendencies toward melancholy, keep him from finding ways to offer solace and hope. In my research on Lincoln, time and again, I return to a letter he wrote on December 23, 1862, to Fanny McCullough, the daughter of his friend William McCullough, who had been killed in battle.

Lincoln had every reason not to reach out to Fanny. The war was not going well, there was opposition to his announcement of a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and suspension of habeas corpus, and in the November elections Republicans had taken a drubbing.

After the Union defeat at Fredericksburg, Lincoln is said to have remarked, "If there is a worse place than hell, I am in it."

But no matter how low he felt personally, even when in February 1862 his son Willie died in the White House, he was able to consider others and their needs.

In his condolence note to Fanny, who he heard was suffering terribly from her father's passing, he wrote, "You can not now realize that you will ever feel better, is not this so? And yet it is a mistake. You are sure to be happy again."

Lincoln never stopped preparing for what lay ahead: In the midst of his illness, he formulated his plans for the reconstruction of the Union. He knew whatever actions he took would be judged and remembered. This is what he meant by his comment to Congress in December 1862, "We cannot escape history." He was thinking of future judgments  our judgments  on their actions in the moment.

Lincoln encouraged people to consider how they would want to be remembered and to act accordingly. In a public letter addressed to his friend James C. Conkling, to be read at an Illinois rally of Union men in September 1863, Lincoln scolded those Democrats who wanted peace and objected to the enlistment of black soldiers with this vision of the future:

"And then, there will be some black men who can remember that, with silent tongue, and clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have helped mankind on to this great consummation; while, I fear, there will be some white ones, unable to forget that, with malignant heart, and deceitful speech, they have strove to hinder it."

Lincoln was in effect telling Americans what Queen Elizabeth said Sunday in her address to Britain and Commonwealth countries: "I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge."

Even toward those who acted poorly, Lincoln held no bitterness or animosity and this is what I marvel over most: his refusal to hold a grudge and his willingness to forgive. "With malice toward none; with charity for all," he famously concluded his Second Inaugural, and he meant it. Asked what to do with the defeated rebels, he said "Let 'em up easy."

Vindictiveness was not part of his nature and he took to quoting the biblical verse "judge not that we be not judged."

That is not to say he did not recognize the meanness and cruelty of others. "Human-nature will not change," Lincoln observed. "In any future national trial, compared with the men of this, we shall have as weak, and as strong; as silly and as wise; as bad and as good. Let us, therefore, study the incidents of this, as philosophy to learn wisdom from, and none of them as wrongs to be revenged."

This is certainly a national trial, and it is a fitting time to look to Lincoln for lessons in leadership, for philosophy to learn wisdom from, and for a reminder that we too cannot escape history.

This story was first published on CNN.com 'What Abraham Lincoln can teach us about resilience in the face of crisis'
Beverly Hills has ordered all residents to wear face masks when they are walking outside and driving with the car windows open as it attempts to curb the spread of coronavirus.

A scarf, bandana or cloth covering the mouth will be sufficient when the order comes into force at 6pm today, city authorities said, with surgical masks 'encouraged' for health and emergency workers only.

Celebrities including Simon Cowell, pregnant Katy Perry and Justin Bieber have mansions in the southern Californian city.

Beverly Hills, southern California, will bring the measures into force at 6pm today. Pictured above is Emma Roberts, who has a home in the city, as she shops for toilet paper and paper towels in a grocery store eight miles away

Simon Cowell, who owns a $12 million mansion in the city, was pictured wearing a face mask as he shopped for essentials 25 miles away

Justin Bieber was seen visiting a Beverly Hills clinic with his wife Hailey Baldwin on March 13

Announcing the protective measures yesterday, Mayor Lester Friedman said: 'We believe this action will help protect and ultimately save lives.

'While we continue to ask our community members to remain at home, those who do go outside and the people they encounter will be safer.'

The city has also ordered the closure of all parks from 6pm on April 11, to limit interactions between its inhabitants.

The measures will add further restrictions to current regulations, which require face masks to be worn inside essential businesses.

Los Angeles county, with its star-studded and jet-setting inhabitants, has been hit hard by coronavirus. It has confirmed 223 deaths and 7,955 cases so far.

Beverly Hills has recorded 71 cases, according to figures published by Los Angeles Public Health.

Celebrities Emma Roberts and Malin Akerman wear face masks as they shop for essentials in Los Angeles, California, before the order was announced

Jennifer Garner cycles with her son in Brentwood, California. Both are wearing face masks

Justin Bieber was spotted wearing a face mask when he visited a medical centre in Beverly Hills, California, with his wife Hailey Baldwin on March 13.

Simon Cowell was also seen wearing a face mask as he shopped in Malibu, 25 miles from Beverly Hills where he has a $12million home.

Emma Roberts was photographed donning a face mask at a grocery store in Los Feliz, California, eight miles from her $3.5million Beverly Hills mansion.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended citizens should wear face masks while in pubic on Saturday last week.

Actor Ben Affleck carries books and a picture while wearing a face mask as he walks through Santa Monica, California

The US is continuing to reel from the coronavirus outbreak hitting a death toll of 16,715 Thursday evening, a jump of nearly 2,000 fatalities of the deadly virus over the past 24 hours

President Donald Trump initially disputed the recommendation, declaring it was 'voluntary' before adding 'I'm not choosing to do it'.

By Monday, however, he appeared to have backtracked after First Lady Melania tweeted the CDC's advice and said she would don a face mask.

'She feels that way', Trump said. 'I would wear one... A lot of people do. Again, it's a recommendation and I understand that recommendation and I'm ok with it.'

The US is at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, having recorded 16,715 deaths and 469,450 cases of the disease.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 10, 2020 | 05:42 AM | DRAFFENVILLE

Gov. Andy Beshear and Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary and retired Justice Mary Noble announced on Thursday that the Marshall County Board of Education has been awarded more than $600,000 in supplemental funding under the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA).

This supplemental award of $621,176 will be used to purchase and install a comprehensive security camera system and make essential security upgrades to the entries at Marshall County High School. These additional funds are from the VOCA grant KY received in FY2018.

"We will never forget the tragedy in Marshall County and we will continue to do everything we can to honor those we lost, support the community and protect our students and educators," said Gov. Beshear. "We are grateful the Marshall County Board of Education received this critically important grant. With these additional funds, the Board will be able to make the improvements necessary to further support the emotional, psychological and physical safety and security of each survivor, student and educator."

The Governor said VOCA is the only federal grant program supporting direct assistance services to victims and survivors of all types of crimes. The primary purpose of the VOCA grant program is to extend and enhance services to survivors of violent crime.

Previous VOCA grant awards were used to launch the Marshall Strong Recovery Project. The district also used grant funding to hire a program director and two mental health therapists for Marshall County High School. They have been available on-site to provide cost-free counseling services for students and staff. During the COVID-19 State of Emergency, they continue to provide counseling and crisis intervention services via telehealth.

"Mental health therapists are vital to all survivors, so that they can truly heal, recover and restore their lives stronger than ever before," Justice Noble said.

Additionally, grant funding also was awarded to the 42nd Judicial Circuit Victim Advocacy Project. Prosecuting the suspect in the Marshall County High School shooting will require an unprecedented level of victim advocacy in the 42nd Judicial Circuit. The 42nd Judicial Circuit is being supported in this challenging task by the Office for Victim Advocacy at the Attorney General's Office, also a VOCA-supported project.

On Jan. 23, 2018, a gunman opened fire inside Marshall County High School in Benton. Two students were killed while 14 others were shot and four more were injured. Countless others among the 1,350 enrolled students and their families, teachers and school staff members, as well as first responders, law enforcement and medical staff remain deeply affected.
Pulkit Samrat has been an extremely active force during the COVID-19 crisis which has taken over the world. The actor is doing everything he can to help with the crisis. Due to the widespread nature of this pandemic, supplies keep running low including essential medical supplies like N95 masks, which are necessary for the people dealing with the virus at the forefront.

Pulkit Samrat decided to help with the issue of the shortage of N95 and surgical masks. The actor came up with an initiative urging people to make their own DIY masks at home, leaving the N95 masks for the professionals who need them. He shared a video on his social media teaching fans to make their own masks at home, so the N95 masks could be provided to frontline warriors.

Pulkit wrote in his caption, Please leave surgical or N95 masks for doctors & volunteers, our frontline warriors! Its very easy to make. Washable & reusable.

The N95 masks are designed for a close fit and help block 95% of test particles. Therefore they are essential to the people who are treating the virus, people at home do not need the mask.

Pulkit has been very vocal during crisis. Hes participated in the Janta Curfew, shared tips on dealing with the lockdown & urged people to think of those on the frontline first. He has also been constantly updating his fans on how he has spent his time during this lockdown, teaching them ways to be productive during this tough time. This video is just another initiative by the star, and we can see that he is doing all he can to help during these trying times.
MEXICO CITY, April 9 (Reuters) - An armed group stormed a gold mine in northern Mexico and stole bars of gold and silver alloy before fleeing in a light aircraft, mine operator Minas de Oro Nacional said.

Minas de Oro Nacional, a subsidiary of Canadian firm Alamos Gold Inc., said in a statement late on Wednesday that the robbery at the Mulatos mine in Sonora state occurred when a group of five "heavily armed" people assaulted security staff who were transferring bars of the precious metals onto a plane.

Within 10 minutes, the robbers loaded the goods onto a separate plane that landed alongside. The aircraft, which appeared to be a Cessna 206, then took off towards a mountain range, Minas de Oro Nacional said. It did not detail the amount or value of the stolen bars.

The Miners' Association of Sonora (AMSAC) said the incident was the second recent robbery at a Sonora mine, after an armed group in late March stole from Mineria Penmont, a subsidiary of Fresnillo . It called on law enforcement to work with mining companies to step up security amid broader instability due to the coronavirus crisis.

"During this sanitary emergency ... the industry is in a transition stage in its operations in order to adhere to the federal and state government orders, which makes it a vulnerable target for organized crime," the group said in a statement.

(Reporting by Raul Cortes Fernandez, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon Editing by Paul Simao)
To curb the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Bollywood celebrities have been urging people to stay at home and practice social distancing. One of them is superstar Salman Khan, who has been motivating fans to stay indoors and follow the nationwide lockdown orders.

Recently, the Dabangg 3 actor took to his social media page to share pictures of a Qabrastan (burial ground) and an empty street in Mumbai. In the same post, Salman also thanked fans for following the lockdown rules. He captioned the photos as, "Wah! Thank u for listening n understanding the gravity of this situation the country is in. God bless n protect each n every 1... #IndiaFightsCorona".

Salman is currently staying at his Panvel farmhouse with his nephew and brother Sohail Khan's son, Nirvaan. A few days ago, the actor shared a video where he and Nirvaan were seen talking about the COVID-19 lockdown. Salman also urged his fans to stay scared and stay home and was seen saying in the video, "So hum log toh bhai darr gaye hai (we are scared)."

The actor even revealed that he hasn't seen his father for three weeks. In a recent interview with Hindustan Times, Salman's father Salim Khan revealed that he is constantly in touch with his superstar-son over video calls. The veteran writer also said that he is confident, Salman Khan and Nirvaan will come home when they are able to, after the lockdown is lifted.

Meanwhile, Salman has pledged to financially support 25,000 daily wage workers of the film industry, who have been heavily affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. Reportedly, the actor started the money transfer into their accounts on Wednesday.

With respect to work, the latest reports suggest that Salman Khan's upcoming film Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai might not make it to the theatrical screens due to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic.

Salman Khan's Eid Release Radhe May Get Delayed Due To Coronavirus Crisis

Salman Khan Says There Is No Point In Being Brave, 'I Am Scared I Haven't Seen My Father In 3 Weeks'
- President Mokgweetsi Masisi called on legislators to extend the state of emergency in bid to curb spread of COVID-19

- The legislators and the president assembled at parliament to discuss the matter

- When they were entering parliament, they were screened by a nurse who later tested positive for COVID-19

- All the parliamentarians and the president were required to go into quarantine until after 14 days

The President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, and all members of parliament have been forced to go into quarantine after a nurse who was conducting tests on them tested positive for COVID-19.

The health worker screened the MPs and members of Mokgweetsi's Cabinet on Wednesday, April 8, when they were attending a meeting to discuss on possible extension of the country's state of emergency.

READ ALSO: DP Ruto awataka wakenya kutilia maanani mikakati ya serikali kukabiliana na Coronavirus

President of Botswana Mokgweetsi Masisi was among other leaders who were screened by the nurse who tested positive. Photo: Africa News

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Mike Sonko's wife Primerose Mbuvi flaunts palatial home fitted with expensive decor

The legistors started panicking after the Minister for Health, Lemogang Kwape, in an update on COVID-19 confirmed that one of the seven new cases was a health worker who was on duty at parliament.

On Thursday, April 9, public health director, Malaki Tshipayagae, when he appeared in a local TV station said the legislators and president would go into quarantine.

You have to quarantine at home if you can or, if thats not possible, we will find a place for you to be quarantined. We will test you on the 14th day and if you are negative, allow you to go out of quarantine, Tshipayagae said.

The nurse who was screening the legislators at parliament buildings tested positive for COVID-19. Photo: CNN

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: William Ruto's body language is combative and defiant - Mutahi Ngunyi on DP's address

Tshipayagae urged the nation to remain calm and to continue following directives from health officials.

He said health professionals would also advise parliament on how it was to proceed, considering that some of the members interacted with the health worker.

The country confirmed 13 cases of coronavirus with one patient having succumbed to the disease.

Do you have an inspirational story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Follow us on Telegram: Tuko news

Source: TUKO.co.ke
In the past few years, Ezra Miller received lots of media attention for his acting talent and his unorthodox sense of fashion. For years, he had a large fan base thanks to his roles in the Fantastic Beasts franchise and the DC Extended Universe. However, not all of the media attention surrounding him has been positive.

Recently, someone shot a video of Miller interacting with a fan. Miller appeared to get violent in the clip. This raises a question: Is Miller under investigation?

Ezra Miller at Apple Store Soho | Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage

The clip of Ezra Miller which went viral

Firstly, some background. A clip of Miller interacting with a fan went viral on April 5, 2020. In the clip, Miller lashes out at one woman, yelling Oh, you wanna fight? Thats what you wanna do?

He then appears to choke her. He then lowers her to the ground. The incident occurred around 6 a.m. outside a bar in Reykjavik, Iceland called Priki Kaffihus. According to Cinema Blend, its currently unclear if alcohol played any role in this altercation.

Ezra Miller got angry at a fan.

Someone close to the incident said it happened after Miller was confronted by fans. The source said the fans were quite pushy. Cinema Blend reports its not clear what this individual meant when they said fans were acting very pushy. Miller has reportedly never been involved in an incident like this before.

How the public and the law reacted to this clip

After the clip went viral, many fans on Twitter felt Miller should be canceled. In addition, some didnt want him to have any more involvement with the Fantastic Beasts franchise or the DC Extended Universe. These fans felt it immoral for anyone to support an actor who behaved the way Miller did in the clip. A change.org petition is even circulating to get Warner. Bros. to fire him from both of those film series.

Ezra Miller | Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

In part, the petition reads As a responsible film studio, Warner Bros. should take the most appropriate action towards Ezra by removing him for all current projectsThe studio must make a stand that violence in all forms should not be tolerated. Let this be his punishment. So far, the petition has fewer than 250 signatures, which is not very many for a change.org petition. We will see how this incident affects Millers career.

However, it does not appear that Miller will face any legal repercussions for his actions. A spokesman for the Reykjavik Metropolitan Police, Gunnar Runar Sveinbjornsson, informed TheWrap that no police officers were called to deal with the situation. Sveinbjornsson said No one was arrested or placed in custody regarding this. Millers representatives would not respond to TheWraps requests for comment. So far, Miller and his team dont seem to have reacted to the clip publicly.

This could bode well for Miller. On the other hand, if the public outcry surrounding his behavior is strong enough, Miller could face some career repercussions. Above all, this incident could prove to be an interesting case study of how the public perceives this sort of behavior in a post-MeToo world.

Also see: The Real Reason Christian Bale Stopped Playing Batman
Drone footage from The Hart Island Project appears to show prisoners burying unclaimed bodies in a mass grave at City Cemetery on April 2.

Melinda Hunt/The Hart Island Project via Vimeo

The coronavirus pandemic is killing hundreds of people in New York City each day.

To accommodate the dead before families claim them, the city's medical examiner expanded temporary refrigerated storage to hold 3,600 decedents, up from the usual 900.

However, a policy change posted to the medical examiner's website suggests that room is running out: Bodies that families don't claim within 14 days of death will be catalogued and interred in a mass grave site on a Bronx island.

Funeral directors said other policies described by the medical examiner during a conference call on Tuesday could make it even harder to serve families.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As coronavirus infections peak in New York City, its morgues are quickly running out of room, exceeding their already vastly expanded capacity.

The city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) quietly posted a significant but subtle policy change to its website: Instead of holding some bodies in refrigerated city storage for 30 days until they are claimed by families, the city will now hold them for less than half that time.

On Thursday, OCME's site said decedents who are not claimed by a funeral home within two weeks would be sent to the Bronx's Hart Island, where a graveyard called City Cemetery contains more than 1 million unclaimed bodies  the largest such site in the US.

"As we aim to accommodate the many New Yorkers who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner will provide temporary storage of a decedent for up to 14 days," the office said on its website. "If a decedent has not been claimed within 14 days, the decedent will be transferred for temporary interment at City Cemetery."

Those who are interred can either be removed by family members or left at rest for no cost, the site added.

Story continues

An average of 245 people have died each day within the city's five boroughs from COVID-19, or about one person every six minutes. The number is likely even higher, though, since the official count does not include "probable" deaths from the pandemic; as many as 200 more per day may be dying from the coronavirus, according to Gothamist.

"I don't know how many more bodies I can take," Patrick Marmo, a funeral-home operator based in Brooklyn, previously told Business Insider. "No one in the New York City area possibly has enough equipment to care for human remains of this magnitude."

Aja Worthy-Davis, a spokesperson for OCME, directed Business Insider to the website in response to an inquiry about the policy change but did not immediately answer further questions  including whether "claiming" a body requires physical removal within the stipulated time or just a claim via an existing online system.

Medical workers wheel bodies to a refrigerated trailer at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center on April 6 in New York City.

John Minchillo/AP

Worthy-Davis told Business Insider on Monday that "we currently have adequate space for decedents." She said the city has built tent facilities and parked more than 80 refrigerated trucks and trailers near hospitals to accommodate about 3,600 bodies in refrigerated storage  a vast expansion of the typical storage for 900 bodies. As of Monday, she said, the city had not changed the timeline in which families had to claim bodies.

A day later, however, both situations had changed.

Business Insider learned of the policy shift from two New York-licensed funeral directors whose identities are known to us but who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from city or state authorities.

The city on Tuesday initially shrunk its unclaimed-body-holding window to six days from what is typically more than 30 days, according to one of the funeral directors. (OCME contended its previously policy gave 15 days but did not immediately provide supporting documentation.) However, after the original publication of this story on Wednesday, officials on Thursday bumped up the number to 14 days of storage, according to a memo sent to Business Insider via one of the unnamed funeral directors.

"Given the current status of the COVID-19 crisis, the ... [OCME] acknowledges the significant impacts of the pandemic to the funeral industry which may in turn further impact families who have lost a loved one, whose body may be in our custody," Dr. Jason Graham, the city's first deputy chief medical examiner, wrote in a memo sent to industry businesses and associations on Thursday afternoon. "The OCME will provide decedent storage for families for an extended courtesy period of up to 14 days from the day OCME takes custody of the body."

'They're not supporting us'

A forklift operator moves a body onto a refrigerated container truck on March 31 at Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York.

John Minchillo/AP

OCME held a conference call with funeral directors on Tuesday afternoon to go over the changes and answer questions, the two people familiar with the matter said.

According to notes taken by a person on the call and reviewed by Business Insider, OCME also said the city's funeral industry would have to pay for its own temporary storage, despite requests from funeral directors for trucks similar to those at hospitals. Moreover, the office recommended that funeral directors store embalmed bodies (which do not decay as readily) for several weeks to accommodate an immediate need to deal with surging fatalities.

Hospitals can now also determine time limits for their temporary morgue storage  perhaps shorter than OCME's original six-day limit before interment on Hart Island  according to the meeting notes.

One funeral director said these changes would strain an already overburdened deathcare industry, which conveys the bodies of deceased relatives to a final resting place. That system in New York is struggling to find proper storage to accommodate families' requests, and its workers are putting in grueling hours (at significant risk of exposure) to handle the remains of those killed by COVID-19.

"It makes it look like it's our fault when it's not our fault. It's the city's fault for not helping us," the person said of OCME's policy change. "They're not supporting us."

The funeral director also said the process of disinterring remains from Hart Island was complex. Bodies buried there are cataloged in an online database, so their location is precisely known, as are their names and other identifying records to the extent such information is known.

A view of City Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.

Mike Segar/Reuters

But it's not easy for families to claim human remains on Hart Island. To retrieve them, the person said, "they get prisoners to dig the body up; they put it in a special holding cell. Then you have to take a special ferry, which only accommodates one funeral director at a time."

If hundreds, or even thousands, of bodies are buried there in the coming weeks, families might have to wait until long after the pandemic subsides to claim and move loved ones to a final resting place.

"It's going to take years to get bodies off of Hart Island at that rate," the funeral director said.

For those reasons, the person suggested it'd be preferable to temporarily inter bodies in public parks if the city's refrigerated storage runs out. Such a plan was outlined in a 2016 contingency plan by OCME for a surge in city fatalities.

Mark Levine, the chair of the New York City Council Health Committee, said via Twitter on Monday that this scenario was about to happen, but he later walked back the notion.

"I have spoken to many folks in City gov't today, and received unequivocal assurance that there will be *no* burials in NYC Parks," Levine later tweeted. "All have stated clearly that if temporary interment should be needed it will be done on Hart Island."

A nonprofit called the Hart Island Project recorded drone footage of a mass burial at City Cemetery on April 2. While such mass burials occur on a weekly basis, the unnamed funeral director who's familiar with the Hart Island disinterring process indicated it was highly unusual to see a roughly 200-foot-long trench dug in anticipation of the many bodies that the city expects to arrive  presumably as a result of the pandemic.

This story was published at 2:27 p.m. ET on April 8, 2020. It was updated after the city increased its new holding period for unclaimed bodies from six days to 14 days.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

Dung said after consulting ASEAN leaders, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued the ASEAN Chairman's Statement on February 14, affirming the blocs high determination and political commitment to control and prevent the pandemic.

The ASEAN Coordinating Council, composed of ASEAN Foreign Ministers, held two sessions on March 20 and April 9 under the chair of Vietnams Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh to discuss measures for stronger collaboration within the bloc and with its partners.

Emergency response mechanisms in ASEAN and its partners namely China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN 3) have been launched right after the disease outbreak.

The ASEAN Defence Ministers, Economic Ministers, and Ministers in charge of tourism have issued statements and agreed on action measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

As ASEAN 2020 Chair, Vietnam pushed the establishment and organisation of the teleconference of the ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on Public Health Emergencies on March 31 to take steps to implement intra-bloc coordination against COVID-19 in the coming time.

Specific recommendations included containing the spread of the pandemic; supporting affected people in ASEAN countries, including those living, working and studying in each other's member states and in the third countries; and mitigating the diseases impact on socio-economic development.

The ASEAN countries also pledged to strengthen solidarity and mutual assistance, share efforts, and enhance resilience to cope with the pandemic.

At the meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council, ministers agreed to hold the ASEAN Special Summit and the ASEAN 3 Special Summit on COVID-19 Response online on April 14. The events will be presided over by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is Chair of ASEAN and Chair of ASEAN 3.

The countries leaders are expected to adopt a joint statement of ASEAN Special Summit and another of the ASEAN 3 Special Summit on COVID-19 Response reaffirming their strong commitment and determination in preventing and eliminating the risks of the pandemic that threathen people's lives and socio-economic stabilisation of the member states.

In response to reporters queries about evaluating the cooperation of the US and China with ASEAN in the COVID-19 fight, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, who is head of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) Vietnam, said Vietnam supports the two powers in promoting their role in the world, adding that the country has also cooperated with the two countries since the beginning of the combat.

Within the framework of ASEAN, China was the first country, then the US and the European Union (EU), to have first meetings with the bloc in this joint effort. This is the hope and endevour of the ASEAN countries to strengthen partnerships with these countries.

We have received very strong commitments from China and the US in supporting and uniting with ASEAN in fighting the pandemic, he said.

Regarding the organisation of meetings under the ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020, Dung said the complicated developments of COVID-19 forced the postponement of the 36th ASEAN Summit and ASEAN-New Zealand Leaders' Summit from April 8-9 to the end of June in the central city of Da Nang.

Since it is impossible to predict the end of the pandemic, Vietnam has to prepare backup plans such as conducting online meetings, he added.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The pandemic has spread to all ASEAN member countries with a total of more than 14,000 infection cases, including 493 deaths.
Only four of the dozens of personal support workers who typically staff a Markham home for mentally and physically challenged adults were tending to residents after a COVID-19 outbreak hit this week.

At least 10 of the 42 adult residents at Participation House and two staff members have tested positive for the virus. That prompted most of the remaining staff to walk out after a meeting Thursday revealing the positive tests.

Its like a bad dream, said Shelley Brillinger, executive director of the support facility, where residents with serious ailments like cerebral palsy need help for almost every basic function  from getting out of bed to going to the washroom.

At the meeting, which included about 10 to 15 remaining employees, there was no panic or anger, Brillinger said.

They slowly just said I cant do this or I wont be back. 

Brillinger, a nurse, says management from her facility, head office and other facilities have been picking up the slack as best they can.

But its not sustainable, its definitely a cry for help immediately, she said. Our residents are the most vulnerable in society, they really are.

Typically, the site would have 80 people on the payroll, a large majority of them personal support workers.

In a normal 24-hour period, 35 workers would be required, including eight support workers for each of two day shifts and two for overnight.

So we would need at least 18 PSWs for a normal 24-hour period, she says.

The remainder would be kitchen staff and nurses. There are now 10 workers between management and the remaining PSWs.

Brillinger said the Butternut Lane facility, one of three Participation House locations in the city, had been hemorrhaging staff for the last month as workers left for higher-paying jobs in long-term care facilities.

But the skeleton staff  many working double shifts already  was decimated when the coronavirus cases were confirmed Thursday.

Palmer Lockridge, spokesperson for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, said its regional staff are working with the facility to ensure appropriate staffing levels are in place.

There are currently eight support staff, which includes three personal support workers and one nurse. Management have stepped in to assist with clients to ensure they are supported as the ministry works to find additional staff, Lockridge told the Star.

Lockridge also said personal protective equipment is available and in use, and more is on the way.

We want to thank the community, and the mayor of Markham, for their support and assistance and we continue to work with Participation House, and all our partners, to ensure that clients are supported and their health and safety, and that of the staff who work with them, is protected, Lockridge said.

Frank Scarpitti, the citys mayor, said businesses and fire officials quickly came through with hundreds of protective equipment items for the Participation House support home.

As soon as I found out about it (Friday morning) I . . . immediately put a call out to the community for gowns, face shields and glasses and gloves, said Scarpetti, listing the items facility officials told him they most needed.

And I just want to say weve had an overwhelming response so far, he said.

That response included donations of 200 face shields from the Harding Display marketing solutions company, gloves from the fire department and York University and more than 100 gowns from Kingdom Developments Inc.

Certainly the community has responded and the residents and staff there deserve our support, Scarpitti said. And its our obligation to do everything in our power to help out organizations who have vulnerable people in our community when theyre in a desperate situation.

The Butternut Lane facility sits across a parking lot from the Markham Stouffville Hospital, but it was not clear Friday whether any of the residents have had to be admitted, Scarpitti said.

So there is one advantage there, if they require more help, help is literally right across the parking lot.

This is the third time in a month that Scarpitti had to make such appeals to the community for help with a residential institution  something that clearly had the mayor fuming.

Its got me thinking some days did we learn enough from SARS? said Scarpitti, whose city has also seen outbreaks at the Markhaven Home for Seniors, which took seven lives, and the Bethany Lodge assisted living facility, which saw at least one death.

And I think when this is all over well need one hell of a big debrief to talk about how people looking after the vulnerable in our community can be first in line for equipment like this, he said.

April 10, 2020  Update: This story has been changed from a previously published version to add comments from Participation House and the ministry.

Read more about:
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, has expanded its outreach to feed more needy and vulnerable people within the restricted areas  Accra, Kumasi, Tema, and Kasoa.



The Ministries since the restriction of movement directive from President Akufo-Addo has collaborated with faith-based organisations to distribute uncooked food items and cooked food to the poor and destitute.



The beneficiaries include kayayie, persons living in slum areas, street children and adults, persons with disabilities, and aged poor.



Apart from the faith-based organisations, the Ministries partnered the Accra and Kumasi Metropolitan Assemblies, Nongovernmental organisations, and traditional leaders to identify the genuinely needy people within their jurisdiction to support them.



The move was due to the inability of the beneficiaries to go about their daily trading activities that fetched them income as a result of the partial lockdown of the country, as a step to control the spread of COVID-19.



Dr Rita Owusu-Amankwaa, the Director of Social Protection, Ministry of Gender, said the Ministry shared over 250,000 packs of cooked food in Accra and 150,000 in Kumasi every day.



The food items comprised rice, gari, tomato paste, sardines, eggs, yam, and beans.



She said the foods were prepared by some caterers who were supervised by the Ministries.



Since people are in their houses and arent working, the Government knew many people will have a challenge with feeding themselves. That is why we had to roll out this intervention, she said.



Dr Owusu-Amankwaa advised the beneficiaries to wash their hands often with soap under running water, bath at least twice daily, use hand sanitizers often, cover their nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing and observe the social distancing protocols.



Akumaa Mamazimbi, a television presenter and Founder of the Mamazimbi Foundation' also received food items for 300 vulnerable widows of her Foundation.



She expressed gratitude to the Ministry for recognising needy widows when the nation was battling with COVID-19.



Naa Shormey Nortey, a member of the Osu Traditional Council, who received food items on behalf of the community, encouraged members of the community to help the government in the fight against the respiratory disease by adhering to the President and Ghana Health Service directives.



Initially people thought they would starve when we were asked to stay home. However, the support government is giving us has made staying home easy for many people, she said.



Mr Kofi Ngleshie Alata, Asafoatse Okuakawanim of Jamestown, after receiving the food items on behalf of the Jamestown Traditional Council for the needy people of the area, thanked the Ministry for recognising how vulnerable many people in Jamestown were and going to their aid.



Mr Ebenezer Quaye, Deputy Director, National Disaster Management Organisation, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, also received food items to be distributed to people living in Old Fadama and its environs.



He said there was a crisis in Old Fadama about feeding since the imposition of the restriction of movement.



Hence, the support from the government was timely and would enable members of the community to observe the governments COVID-19 preventive directives.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Nancy Ludin, CEO of the Jewish Pavilion, is deeply concerned about the loneliness the residents of assisted-living facilities are feeling during this time of quarantine because of COVID-19. She suggested to the program directors that they write short notes to the senior citizens to brighten their day. She also shared the card sending idea in the article "What's in a card?" (March 27, 2020 Heritage issue) and encouraged Heritage readers to do the same.

The results have been incredible as the Jewish Pavilion has been inundated with cards, drawings, letters from children and adults from all over the community.

"The cards are arriving daily at the Jewish Pavilion-cards from all over the United States!" Ludin said.

As cards and letters come in, the program directors make sure they are distributed to the assisted-living facilities around town.

If you would like to write a card to brighten a senior citizen's day, send it to the Jewish Pavilion, 421 Montgomery Rd # 131, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714.

For more information, contact the Pavilion at 407-678-9363.
Over the last decade many businesses have been in a mad dash to open social media accounts  Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat or YouTube  in order to boost sales or brand awareness.





If you don't have a social media presence in today's market, you simply don't exist to some customers. They want to be able to interact with your business, learn about your products and read past reviews. Not being on social media puts you at a disadvantage.





Registering for an account is the easy part. You can be up and running in a few minutes, but the real question is: are you being strategic with these accounts?





Are you regularly checking analytics and letting them guide your decision-making? More importantly, are you taking advantage of new opportunities?





Conducting a Social Media SWOT Analysis is the best way to craft an effective marketing strategy, by examining your businesses' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

What Are My Strengths?





Business accounts on Instagram provide a wealth of information, including your top-performing content, reach, impressions, actions taken on your page and audience demographics.





What does this mean for you? Capitalizing on your strengths!





Businesses can determine what pictures or videos are performing the best on their page and replicate that content, or they can use demographic information to figure out what imagery resonates most with their audience.





In 2020 it was projected that 788.4 million people worldwide would use the Instagram app at least once per month. It remains the fastest growing network in the United States, especially among younger users.





As a business, Instagram is where you want to be.

What Are My Weaknesses?





Everyone has weaknesses. The good news is it's not too late to reverse course after conducting an in-depth SWOT analysis.





For example, how is your social media advertising going? Are you doing it at all?





Advertising through the Facebook Business Manager is simple, affordable and highly effective. Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg spent $60 million on Facebook ads in the first three months of 2020 because they work.





Depending on the size of your business, a healthy Facebook advertising budget could be anywhere from $50-$500 per month. For that, you can get higher post reaches, website visits or new email contacts.





If you aren't doing it, your competitor probably is.

What Are My Opportunities?





New apps are being rolled out every year and existing platforms are continually evolving to keep pace. This gives you plenty of opportunities to consider.





One example is Instagram stories. First implemented in 2016, it allows users to post fun videos or content for 24 hours before they disappear.





The use of stories hasn't overtaken regular posting on Instagram, but it's growing fast. For stories, think about posting engaging content. Have fun with it. Post a sticker or two.





Another technique to consider is adding seo backlinks from your accounts because most people discover new websites through social media.

What Are My Threats?





Look at similar businesses on social media and audit their performance. Some of the things you could ask are:





Is their engagement higher than yours? Why?

Do they have more followers? Why?

Is your content (pictures, videos or text) as sharp as theirs?

Do they respond to comments or questions? Do you?

What time of day do they post? Have you determined your page's best time to post on Facebook or Instagram?





Advanced digital marketers also develop a social media calendar to manage their accounts, a basic spreadsheet or software package where you can plan out your content, distribution days, and even track what's working best.





This is the best way to be strategic with your social media marketing accounts.

Need Help With Your Social Media SWOT Analysis?





The truth is not everyone is an expert at marketing. If you need help conducting a Social Media SWOT Analysis for your business, read some of the informative articles from the Bootstrap Business Blog.




: IndianOil Corporation Ltd on



Friday said it was fully geared up to meet the additional demand for liquified petroleum gas (LPG) in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The oil major has tied up with additional imports for April and May to the tune of over 50 per cent normal imports to ensure uninterrupted supply of bulk LPG.

IndianOil is taking steps to increase LPG production in its major refineries by optimising operations, improving LPG yield in LPG producing units, IndianOil said in a statement.

The company's bottling units were working on extending hours to meet the growing demand, IndianOil said adding the transport infrastructure was also optimised for quick turnaround of cylinders.

Giving some numbers, the company said it had delivered more than 3.38 crore LPG cylinders in the last 15 days since the lockdown, which is 26 lakh cylinders every single working day.

The oil major appealed to people not to resort to panic- booking of LPG cylinders and suggested they can also book through online portal to avoid cash handling and man-to-man contact, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amazon on Thursday informed its employees at a Dallas area warehouse that one of their colleagues was infected with coronavirus just a day after CEO Jeff Bezos paid a surprise visit to the facility while wearing a protective mask and getting a temperature check.

The company sent a memo to workers saying that the individual in question was last at the site on Monday.

Consistent with our daily processes, the site has undergone enhanced cleanings since the associates last day, the company informed its workers at the FTW6 warehouse just north of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

The news of the companys announcement was first reported by Bloomberg News.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is seen above during a surprise visit to the FTW6 fulfillment center near Dallas on Wednesday. The company told employees there on Thursday that one of their colleagues tested positive for COVID-19

The company said that the infected employee was last at the warehouse (seen in the above stock image) on Monday - two days before Bezos visited

Jeff Bezos was filmed taking a temperature check and wearing a mask on his surprise visit to the facility on Wednesday

Bezos on Wednesday thanked staff at the warehouse and a nearby Whole Foods after employees nationwide staged a spate of strikes and sick-outs over working conditions during the pandemic.

The world's richest man was filmed taking a temperature check and wearing a mask on his surprise visit.

He was seen waving to staff and thanking them, telling one: 'I can't shake your hand. It's a hard habit to break.'

Amazon has faced a spate of strikes and sick-outs over working conditions as employees test positive for the coronavirus and others ask for more protections.

Five senators have written to Amazon founder Bezos after worker Chris Smalls was fired from his job following a protest at the company's Staten Island plant.

In the letter they express 'continued concern about working conditions at Amazon'.

An internal document leaked, in which Amazon's general counsel described Smalls as 'not smart, or articulate.'

The company has since said it is testing the use of disinfectant fog at the warehouse in Staten Island.

Bezos was seen waving to staff and thanking them, telling one: 'I can't shake your hand. It's a hard habit to break.' He visited a Whole Foods in Dallas, according to reports. Whole Foods is owned by Amazon

The virus has led to at least 469,450 cases across America - including workers at more than 50 Amazon facilities, according to a New York Times report.

Amazon posted the footage of Bezos visiting the store and factory on Wednesday.

The retail giant had earlier confirmed it is now tracking its warehouse staff and will fire them for failing to socially distance themselves from their co-workers.

An Amazon spokesman told DailyMail.com they are taking 'intense measures' to ensure safety, adding: 'We've had some instances of employees intentionally violating our clear guidelines on social distancing at our sites, which endangers both the individual and their colleagues.'

'It is understood workers will be warned if they are caught failing to follow the new rules.

'They may then be fired if are found to have broken them for a second time.'

The spokesman added: 'Individuals who intentionally violate our social distancing guidelines will receive two warnings  on the second documented offense, termination may occur.'

Jordan Flowers holds a sign protesting at the Amazon building in Staten Island on March 30

Breana Avelar, a processing assistant, holds a sign outside the Amazon DTW1 fulfillment center in Romulus, Mich. on April 1. Employees are protesting in response what they say is the company's failure to protect the health of its employees amid the COVID-19 outbreak

In response to the public backlash over workplace conditions, Amazon on Thursday said it is developing a lab that will screen employees for the coronavirus.

In a blog post, the worlds largest retailer said that it, too, has taken steps to protect its workforce.

The company said it has begun distributing masks to employees. It has also started to take temperature checks of workers at company-owned warehouses, fulfillment centers, and grocery stores.

To get the economy back up and running, Amazon said that it would require regular testing on a global scale across all industries.

But in the absence of readily available testing, the company said it has begun the work of building incremental testing capacity.

A team of Amazonians with a variety of skills  from research scientists and program managers to procurement specialists and software engineers  have moved from their normal day jobs onto a dedicated team to work on this initiative, the company said.

Amazon on Thursday announced that it is developing its own lab that will aim to provide testing of employees for COVID-19. Amazon employees are seen above at the company's lab in an undisclosed location

We have begun assembling the equipment we need to build our first lab and hope to start testing small numbers of our front line employees soon.

We are not sure how far we will get in the relevant time frame, but we think its worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn with others.

Communications Workers of America members carry signs that read 'Protect Our Lives! Protect America!' as they take part in a protest to demand General Electric accelerate crisis response by manufacturing ventilators at GE plants including the plant in Lynn, Massachusetts

IUE-CWA union GE (General Electric) workers take part in protest demanding the company to use the workforce to produce ventilators and demanding more safety measures amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Lynn, Massachusetts on Wednesday

One of Amazon's main competitors, Walmart, is also taking steps to offer protection for its workforce.

Doug McMillon, the president and CEO of Walmart, said that the company on Friday started temperature checks of its employees.

It has also implemented routine overnight cleanings of its locations, according to McMillon.

The retailer also installed plexiglass barriers at its cash registers while implementing a policy of 'metering' customers so that there are a small number of them inside the store at one time.

Earlier this week, Walmart was sued for wrongful death after one of its employees at a Chicago-area store died of COVID-19.

The estate of Wando Evans filed the suit in Illinois on Monday, saying the Walmart store south of Chicago was not properly cleaned and employees were not given masks, gloves, antibacterial wipes or other protective equipment.

Evans, 51 died on March 25, and another employee at the same store died four days later from complications due to coronavirus, according to the complaint.

The outbreak has now infected more than 470,000 nationwide and killed at least 16,700.

Arkansas-based Walmart said it had conducted 'a deep-cleaning of key areas' in the Illinois store, which has passed a health department inspection and a separate third-party review over the last week, according to a statement provided by a spokesman.

'We have taken steps across the country to protect our associates and customers, including additional cleaning measures, installing sneeze guards at registers, placing social distancing decals on the floors and limiting the number of customers in a store at a given time,' the company said.

The lawsuit filed by Evans' estate accuses Walmart of negligence and wrongful death in violation of Illinois law.
After Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked PM Modi for lifting the ban over the export of Hydroxychloroquine to Israel, PM Modi replied to his counterpart saying that India is ready to help its friends in these dire times. The development comes after several countries including the USA reached out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the supply of the anti-malarial drug which has been recommended as a prophylactic against Covid for those who are at high risk. India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade on March 25 banned the export of Hydroxychloroquine; however, soon after, it decided to open it's export on humanitarian grounds.

Read: US White House Only Follows 19 Handles & 6 Are India-related; No Other Countries Involved!

We have to jointly fight this pandemic.



India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends.



Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel. @netanyahu https://t.co/jChdGbMnfH  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

Read: Benjamin Netanyahu Thanks PM Modi For Chloroquine Supply To Israel

Israel thanks PM Modi

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is a good friend of Narendra Modi thanked his Indian counterpart on Thursday for his decision to approve the supply of hydroxychloroquine to Israel. An Israel health ministry official reportedly informed the state broadcasters that India has made an exception and permitted the export of the drug to Israel. Earlier, US President Donald Trump had thanked PM Modi for relieving the restrictions on the supply of HCQ to the US. Trump had also praised PM Modi's leadership, saying that he was not only helping India but the entire humanity in the fight against coronavirus.

Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel.



All the citizens of Israel thank you!  pic.twitter.com/HdASKYzcK4  PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 9, 2020

Read: Brazil Cites 'Sanjeevani Booti' From Ramayan In Request To India For Hydroxychloroquine

Read: 'Gujarat Companies To Export Hydroxychloroquine To US,' Says Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani
Zookeepers are taking special measures to protect endangered clouded leopard cubs from Covid-19.

Zookeepers are taking extra precautions with the newborns

Special measures are being taken at the Miami Zoo to protect two highly endangered clouded leopard cubs that are vulnerable to catching coronavirus.

The cubs - one male and one female - were born on 11 February but have since been secluded in their den to allow time to bond with their mother.

Last month, a tiger at another US zoo tested positive for coronavirus.

The Miami zoo says staff are wearing gloves and masks and disinfecting their shoes when they handle the leopards.

During their examination and vaccinations on Tuesday, the newborns were confirmed by zookeepers to be "developing well".

"Both offspring appear to be thriving and the mother continues to be attentive and nursing them on a regular basis," Zoo Miami said in a statement.

"With the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent revelation that a tiger had contracted the disease at another zoological facility, extra care is being taken by all staff working around these kittens.

"New procedures include stepping into disinfecting footbaths prior to entering any feline area as well as using masks and gloves while working in those areas."

Last month, a 4-year-old Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo was confirmed by testing to have Covid-19. Researchers say it's likely that the tiger, named Nadia, was infected by one of her zookeepers.

Six other lions and tigers at the zoo also displayed symptoms, such as dry coughing and loss of appetite, that led biologists to believe that they too were sick.

"This is the first time that any of us know of anywhere in the world that a person infected the animal and the animal got sick," Paul Calle, the chief veterinarian at the zoo, told Reuters news agency.

There have been isolated instances of pets testing positive for the coronavirus elsewhere in the world, but experts have stressed there is no evidence they can become sick or spread the disease.

Clouded leopards are a secretive cat native to forests in southern China, Taiwan, and Malaysia.

Adults usually weigh between 30 to 50lbs (14-23kg).

They are highly-endangered throughout their natural habitat due to over-hunting.

Zoo Miami is currently closed due to shelter-at-home orders, but said in their statement that when the pandemic is finally over, they hope that guests will come visit the clouded leopards in person. BBC
A directive by the Centre, asking states to not procure personal protective equipment (PPE) for Covid-19 on their own, has led to protests from states.

In a notification sent to principal secretaries of the health departments of states on April 2, the Union ministry of health and family welfare asked them to not procure crucial medical equipment such as PPEs, N-95 masks and ventilators on their own, as they will be procured by the Centre and then distributed to the states. The decision was taken at the third meeting of the empowered group formed to look at procurement of medical equipment that took place on April 1, the note said.

By way of rationale, the notification said that states were found to be hoarding these materials as field functionaries, such as care working as essential service providers, continued to work without them. In some areas, inventories which can do with some repair work, were lying, the Centre noted.

A senior government official, involved in the process, said that the move was prompted by reports coming in from states that in states where domestic producers of PPEs are situated, state officials have insisted that the produce be sent to states instead. India has just started domestic production of PPEs.

The textile ministry has readied over 45 producers to manufacture PPEs such as masks and coveralls - that require non-woven fabric - as well as manufacturers of such fabric. N-95 masks are being made by two domestic producers with the help of DRDE, while ventilators are manufactured by two other producers domestically. In addition to that, Indian auto manufacturers are also preparing to step up manufacturing of ventilators.

The official said there were reports that some of the states were individually procuring PPEs which were untested by authorised agencies.

To ease shortage, the Centre has announced the lifting of basic customs duty and health cess till September 30 on crucial medical equipment such as ventilators, face and surgical masks, PPEs, Covid-19 test kits, and on any item that goes into the making of these items. A notification was issued by the finance ministrys department of revenue on April 9.

The move has led to protests from states. Former Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, MB Rajesh said that the Centre is trying to wash its hands off its failure to act in time and because of this move, states will suffer.

The first case was detected on January 30 and the lockdown was announced on March 24; the government had 54 days to act, but it wasted time. One cannot eradicate Covid-19 by lockdown, so every state has to prepare, he said.

He added that since health is a state subject, states should be allowed to do their own procuring.

DMK MP from Tamil Nadus Dharmapuri, Dr Senthilkumar S, took to Twitter to voice his protest. He said that he strongly condemns the move to make health care centralised, and that Tamil Nadu and Kerala will be affected the most. This is (an) infringement on states federalism, he tweeted.

The move could well be revised soon, said a senior textiles ministry official. Nihar Ranjan Dash, joint secretary at the textiles ministry, said that the health ministrys move might have been prompted by a need to rationalise procurement and inventories. He said that the domestic manufacturers whose samples were tested and approved by the textile ministry have started producing 15,000 units of PPEs such as masks and ventilators per day.

By April 20, we will be producing 30,000 units per day easing the shortage, said Dash.
Page Content

People of St Maarten, both here on St. Maarten and abroad, I hereby address you as Prime Minister and Chair of the EOC for today's update on April 9, 2020. As part of the process to keep the community of St. Maarten informed about the latest developments and governments COVID-19 containment, mitigation and response measures.





A strategic meeting was held yesterday, April 8, 2020, with the EOC and this morning, April 9. The disaster management team comprised of ESF 4 and the back office, met with ESF 6, the health section, to strategically plan for the roll out of the dashboard and the use of the data in planning an execution of our mitigation strategy, especially during this lockdown. Later this afternoon, a meeting was held with ESF 5 to further update on how the controls and public order was progressing during the lockdown.









COVID-19 Cases





Today, I would like to start by updating you on the COVID-19 updated cases as of April 9, 4:00 PM.





 Self- Quarantine: 133





 Self-Isolation: 203





 Number Tested: 134





o Number Positive: 50 (2 hospitalized)





 Male: 34





 Female: 16





o Number Negative: 82





o Number Pending: 1





o Inconclusive: 1





 Deceased: 8





 Recovered: 3





As such, there are 39 active cases of which 2 are in the hospital and 37 are recovering at home or in our isolation facility. We wish to encourage all those currently suffering from the virus to remain indoors and isolated. We also encourage those caring for them to utilize strict hygiene and follow the directions of the Collective Prevention Services (CPS) and your general practitioner.









EOC Dashboard





The EOC Dashboard to record data and statistics is being developed. This will allow us to be able to mitigate and respond better. This dashboard will be launched in the coming week. Data is being digitalized in order to facilitate CPS in its response to COVID-19 to monitor and report the progress of efforts, as well as to provide empirical data to support decisions to be taken by the EOC.





A Dashboard for the public is also being worked on, which will be a one-stop shop for all the information that is COVID-19 related and will be updated daily. The public will be able to go to this site, see the data, changes, as well as everything related to COVID-19 including our Stimulus Plan and all of the press briefings and press statements that have been made.









Delivery Program





Orders from the public must be submitted to the respective grocery stores between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM. Grocery stores, both large and small, will have the opportunity to deliver between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Between 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM, employees may work on packaging items for the deliveries of the following day. Each grocery store operator needs to ensure that a priority system is implemented to guarantee that priority is given to orders of the basic necessities. All purchases and orders should be on a strict need-basis only.





The government is also busy with its deliveries of food to the most vulnerable. Over 400 persons have received food boxes and Id like to thank all the front-liners who are working tirelessly to distribute the food boxes despite the negativity within the community that they are facing. Several persons are trying to steal from or attack these persons. This is food that the government of St. Maarten has bought and is distributing to persons on their list beginning with distribution to the most vulnerable. Several persons have registered using the social impact assessment form. Those persons will not be receiving food boxes in this first round however, these persons will be included in the second round for the distribution of food boxes. There are over 4000 persons that have registered and we ask for your patients as we assess those with acute needs as well. Persons should ensure that they filled in the address registered at social services and where they are living currently.









COVID-19 Testing





Testing will continue in our efforts to mitigate the spread. CPS will be going out into the community with many volunteers to test, isolate and contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Those persons in vulnerable situations where isolation is not possible will be isolated in our facility to further mitigate the spread as well.









Ministerial Consultations





We also continue with weekly consultations on a Ministerial level, as well as with Prime Ministers, Ministers of Public Health within the Dutch Kingdom and also with the Minister of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations (BZK) Raymond Knops. I would like to thank all the Ministers of Public Health for their cooperation and support in getting the much-needed equipment and medical personnel for St. Maarten. We are ready to deal with any outbreak that may happen on a medical level at this moment.









Liquidity Support





In a meeting held yesterday, April 8, 2020, I was able to update our Kingdom partners on some of the challenges St. Maarten is still experiencing where the number of COVID-19 test kits is concerned and





we have been promised assistance in this regard. We also reiterated to our Kingdom partners our preference for a grant instead of a loan, as our liquidity support from after Hurricanes Irma and Maria is already a loan also seeing that the Board of Financial Supervision (CFT) and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) have advised that this should also be the case. Our Caribbean kingdom countries CFT and CFATF representatives believe that Caribbean countries and islands in the Dutch Kingdom should be given the opportunity to have no strings attached to the liquidity support in order to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.





The Kingdom Council of Ministers met today and I was updated that the liquidity support for 2019 has been transferred to St. Maarten and has been received by the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten. This is not the liquidity support that is related to the COVID-19 request. That request is still being handled and totals 245 million over a period of 3 months to assist not only, persons who have lost their jobs but businesses as well in order for them to keep their employees.





Border Movement & Dutch Royal Military Assistance





Several persons have complained that it is a challenge crossing to the French side of the island. Id like to reiterate that both French and Dutch St. Martin are working together on the controls and are utilizing the same form for cross-border movement. That is Form C on the Dutch side and the Form of Exception on the French side of the island. Both forms are valid for both sides of the island for work, caring for the elderly or emergency purposes that cannot wait. The French form is signed by the Prefet Sylvie Feucher and the Dutch form is signed either by Minister of VSA Richard Panneflek, Police Chief Carl John or by my person. Some forms are also being signed by the Minister of Justice Anna Richardson.





Minister of Justice Anna Richardson has requested for the St. Maarten Police to receive the assistance of more Royal Dutch Military (Koninklijke Marechaussee). This request is being processed and we expect that we will have some more assistance on the ground to assist our police force in keeping law and order. Any abuse of the waivers will not be tolerated and the inspectors of businesses and police will carry out inspections. Should any grocery stores be in violation of this, the store will be shut down and fined.





The Police reported that 80-90% of the population are complying with the lockdown measures, however, there are still youngsters within the community who are behaving very dangerously on motorcycles. Therefore, I ask all parents to keep your children at home, no matter their age. Everyone is expected to remain at home and within the confines of their yard.





In closing, Id like to remind the people of St. Maarten why we are doing this. We are facing a pandemic of worldwide proportions. Everyone is feeling it all around the world. We must do our part as citizens of St. Maarten to curb the spread of this virus. I ask each and everyone, if you have symptoms that are COVID-19 related, please call CPS at 914 and register. Please also notify your doctor as they are assisting the government in swabbing their patients and following up to ensure that they are doing well while isolating at home. Those in quarantine are also asked not to venture outside. Pray, reflect, stay inside, take care of your family, spend lots of time with them doing all the wonderful things that you now have the time to do and enjoy. You are safe at home. It is a difficult time, however, we are strong people and we will get through this together. The government is doing all within our





power to ensure that the people of St. Maarten are safe but you as St. Maarten people must do what it takes to keep yourselves safe as well.





Tomorrow, April 10, is Good Friday, a National Holiday, as such, no deliveries will be made nor on Easter Sunday, so I am hoping that if you have and your neighbor doesnt have, that you would share. We expect each and everyone to behave as good citizens of St. Maarten and ensure that people are happy, healthy, and safe. For those with religious and spiritual beliefs in our communities, I call on you to pray. I call on you for a moment of silence for the daily departed; those from COVID-19 and those that are not COVID-19 related. Every life is valuable and we hope to be able to save more lives as our days go by.





Follow our Government Radio station  107.9FM. For official information, statements and news updates or visit the Government website at www.sintmaartengov.org/coronavirus and our Facebook Page: Government of Sint Maarten.





Continue to spread the love that I'm seeing out there and encourage others to keep up their good spirits. Remember that our resilience is not something that we got overnight. It has been handed down by the ancestors and this too shall pass. I would like to wish each and everyone a Happy Easter and as much as we are confined, we are in our home. Share love through social media, share caring through social media, share with your neighbors if you have food and pray that the effects of the COVID-19 virus are less than what we would expect and that we would quickly be over with it and move forward.





God bless you people of St. Maarten. God bless each and every one of us as we reflect and think about this serious season that we are now in. Happy Easter to all!




Jared Kushner, the White House advisor coordinating medical supply assistance, listens as President Trump takes a question during a coronavirus task force briefing on April 2. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

To the editor: Confusion continues to reign as we get deeper into the COVID-19 pandemic. Now we are learning that the federal government is seizing, without warning or explanation, orders of desperately needed medical supplies placed by hospitals and clinics.

This leaves the hospitals and clinics empty-handed and having to find another way to get what they need.

I suppose the federal government has the power to jump to the front of the line to redirect these supplies, but why would it do that when President Trump already said the states should get their own supplies and not beg Washington for help?

We should be able to count on the president to lead a coordinated national response to this crisis. Instead he claims no responsibility for any of the problems but thinks he rates top marks for what he is doing.

Thank goodness for the great governors who are providing real leadership during these trying times.

Joanna Ryder, Hermosa Beach

..

To the editor: Our federal government's diverting of life-saving supply orders from medical providers, under the rules of the Defense Production Act, reminds me of T.S. Eliot's observation that mankind searches for "systems so perfect that no one will need to be good."

Wendell H. Jones, Ojai

..

To the editor: When medical supply czar Jared Kushner says that the federal stockpile of medical supplies is "ours," he means "What's yours is ours." Here's how it works.

Kushner's supply chain task force is like a pirate flotilla, using its "data-driven approach" to locate and plunder scarce medical and personal protective equipment, bought by supply-strapped hospitals and health-provider organizations. These supplies were bought at exorbitant prices from for-profit corporations, whose merchandise was air freighted to them on government-chartered air cargo jets.

This is truly breathtaking lawlessness. Hoist the Jolly Roger!

Stuart Sheldon, Murrieta
She's a woman of faith and science. Sister Angel Bipendu, a nun and doctor, is battling on two fronts against Italy's coronavirus pandemic, both treating and comforting patients. Sister Angel -- whose native country of Democratic Republic of Congo suffered its own epidemic two years ago with the Ebola virus -- tries to remain optimistic in light of Italy's crisis, which has killed nearly 18,000 people, most in the northern region of Lombardy. "I think of my Congo, where sick people will also die of hunger," said Sister Angel, who for the past few weeks has substituted her nun's veil for a protective suit, gloves and a surgical mask. The 47-year-old makes home visits within Zogno, a commune of 9,000 inhabitants in the province of Bergamo, where the coronavirus has killed about 2,000 people. "I'm afraid of not being able to do everything I have to do," she told AFP. "Fear of being infected? Absolutely not." Roughly 100 doctors and nurses have died caring for coronavirus patients since the start of the pandemic, and she says they "didn't back down an inch". Sister Angel, who arrived in Italy 16 years ago, decided late in life to embark on medical studies and graduated from Palermo's medical facility in Sicily. Last month, she took a leave from her convent of Canossian nuns and joined a unit designed to care for patients suspected of having the coronavirus inside their own homes. - Cheering up - The patients -- many of them older retirees -- first greet their doctor with surprise, recognising she is "not their usual doctor". "Then I introduce myself and explain to them that I'm not just a doctor, that I'm also a nun and then everything changes -- the doors open," she said. Sister Angel takes temperatures, checks blood oxygen levels and monitors chronic illnesses such as diabetes or hypertension. When a patient is critical they are hospitalised. "We're on the right path," she told one woman during a home visit on Tuesday after the patient's slightly elevated temperature had gone back to normal. The coronavirus has forced into quarantine many general practitioners who ordinarily would have done the work Sister Angel now performs, and many older patients live alone. "The support is also psychological, it's necessary to boost morale, to break the solitude." Sister Angel still finds time to go to church -- sporting a facemask but swapping protective gear for her nun's attire. Between 2016 and 2017, Sister Angel was involved in another human drama, helping migrants in the Mediterranean on a rescue ship of the Order of Malta's Italian Emergency Corps (Cisom). On board, she helped deliver babies, treated hypothermia and chemical burns, she said. The vicar of the neighbouring parish of Alme, Giorgio Carobbio, told AFP it was an advantage to have a combination doctor and nun within the community. Sister Angel helps not only older people but also the young. "She's a nun who is full of energy," Carobbio said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 22:59:13|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ISTANBUL, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that the continuation of "free, open, and rule-abiding" international trade and cargo transportation between countries would be vital for the flow of supply chain amid the outbreak of COVID-19.

Attending the summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) via teleconference from Istanbul, Erdogan said the measures, which were taken by individual countries to curb the spread of the virus, could negatively affect international trade.

"For this reason, we should adopt the most practical solutions in the shortest time possible in areas such as transportation, customs, and border crossings by prioritizing the public health," he noted.

The Turkish leader also said the world is facing a socio-economic crisis on a global scale because of the impacts of the pandemic.

In Erdogan's view, the latest developments revealed the importance of strengthening the Middle Corridor, which begins in Turkey and passes through Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and Central Asia before reaching China.

"We need to intensify our cooperation to take concrete steps in this transport corridor and ensure the developments of a contactless foreign trade and multimodal transport systems," he said.

Erdogan noted that railway transportation, which is used as freight shipment between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, could be extended to Central Asia.

"In that regard, we are working to be able to carry an extra 3,500 tons of products per day through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (railway) line," Erdogan said.

The summit brought together the leaders of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan as well as Hungary which has observer status to discuss the ways of cooperation and exchange of views in the fight against the COVID-19, according to press reports.

The Turkic Council was founded by Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in 2009 as an intergovernmental organization aiming to promote comprehensive cooperation among Turkic-speaking states.
WSU Faculty and Students Navigate New Normal

April 10, 2020

OGDEN, Utah  While the world battles with the COVID-19 pandemic, students and faculty at Weber State University have been adjusting to rapid changes and trying to find a new sense of normal amid a global crisis.

When Weber State made the decision to move the remainder of the spring semester to a virtual format on March 18, students were plunged into a new learning environment and faced uncertainty about their educational futures.

The unknown is very scary at this time, said Kiersten Cragun, a communication student with an emphasis in public relations and advertising. Many of my classes have big group projects that were supposed to require in-person presentations. There were so many unknowns; it was hard not to get stressed.

Nursing student Violet Lufkin studies at home.

Violet Lufkin, a first year nursing student, said the changes have been strange, but she has managed to make the necessary adjustments while still caring for her familys needs.

I have four kids, so in some ways my adjustments have been different than other students, Lufkin said. It has been a little easier because I dont have to find child care, but on the other hand, my kids have school too. We have had to set some rules for study time, but they have adjusted fairly well. Luckily, this happened at the end of the semester, so I already knew how the nursing program works and what I needed to do. My professors have also been very understanding about the stress students are under and have tried to make things easier.

Some students experienced anxiety over the possibility of failing classes because they relied on the in-class lectures and instruction to understand course material.

Its been stressful, said Elise Weidman, a marketing major in the John B. Goddard School of Business & Economics. Learning the information that was previously given to me in a face-to-face lecture has been difficult because I relied heavily on in-person contact.

Although she dropped one of her classes, Weidman is now doing well in her remaining courses and, with the help of her professors, has been able to adjust to the virtual learning environment.

Cully Long teaches his Scenic Painting class with an iPhone.

Faculty also faced their own challenges. In a matter of days, faculty were tasked with moving all their face-to-face courses online. They tried to make the transition as smooth as possible by adjusting course due dates, changing testing formats, teaching online lectures in everything from art to nursing to zoology. Faculty offered virtual office hours to help students make it through the semester.

Ive tried to keep in mind that, not only is my life up in the air now, so are my students' lives, said Andrew Keinsley, economics assistant professor. The environment is different, so we should treat it as such. Its important to realize I probably shouldn't try to make everything exactly the same as a normal class.

Despite challenges, some professors have already seen positive responses to the changes from their students. Communication professor Susan Hafen said her students have been engaging in discussions more than they would in a face-to-face class.

Because the students had already had eight weeks to get to know each other, they seem more willing to engage in group discussions, Hafen said. Their responses to questions and each other are far more thoughtful than in class. They are having to do more reading and fully watch the videos, in order to answer the questions. In class, I only hear from a few students, and often the same ones. Now I am hearing from all of them, and I am delighted with their engagement with each other.

As the situation evolves, students continue doing their best to find ways to adjust and manage their anxiety in the new reality. Some have implemented strategies such as making schedules, writing down important announcements, taking time for naps, reaching out for support from friends and family, and even doing yoga.

I am trying my absolute best to remain positive, said Clarissa Marston, a psychology and neuroscience major. I am trying to be grateful for my health and for the other things I am fortunate enough to not worry about. I am also trying to make sure to keep a schedule going and maintaining routines to the best of my ability. I think even getting up and making sure I get dressed in the morning helps things to feel somewhat normal.

Jim Hutchins (right) instructs students online with the help of Ryan Belnap.

While transitioning courses online, faculty have also been working hard to help ease student fears and provide additional support for students to ensure they can finish the semester successfully.

I've been managing, or trying to manage, student stress, said Jim Hutchins, health sciences professor. Students are so scared right now. I try to make sure they know that we care about them; we are on their side, and we can be flexible in the current emergency. We are all in this together and will get through it together.

As a new type of normal begins to set in, students and faculty are striving to stay strong and continue doing their best to remain positive about the future.

I feel hopeful that even though things are pretty bad right now, we will all be OK, said Joshua Anderson, a communication major with an emphasis in public relations and advertising. It will take effort, adaptability and cooperation, but things are going to be OK. Happiness is not outside our reach in this or any other moment. We just have to look for it.

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is pushing to reopen much of the country next month, raising concerns among medical experts and economists of a possible covid-19 resurgence if Americans return to their normal lives before the virus is truly stamped out.

Behind closed doors, President Donald Trump - concerned with the sagging economy - has sought a strategy for resuming business activity by May 1, according to people familiar with the discussions.

In phone calls with outside advisers, Trump has even floated trying to reopen much of the country before the end of this month, when the current federal recommendations to avoid social gatherings and work from home expire, the people said. Trump regularly looks at unemployment and stock market numbers, complaining that they are hurting his presidency and reelection prospects, the people said.

Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions.

Trump said at his daily briefing Thursday that the United States was at the "top of the hill" and added, "Hopefully, we're going to be opening up - you could call it opening - very, very, very, very soon, I hope."

Multiple Cabinet secretaries in recent days have publicly expressed hope that the various government orders directing residents to stay at home and forcing nonessential businesses to close could be eased at least partially next month.

Asked Thursday during an appearance on CNBC whether he thought it was possible that the country could be open for business next month, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, "I do." A day earlier, Attorney General William Barr had called some of the stay-at-home orders and other restrictions "draconian" and suggested they needed to be reevaluated next month.

"When this period of time, at the end of April, expires, I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have, and not just tell people to go home and hide under their bed, but allow them to use other ways - social distancing and other means - to protect themselves," Barr said on Fox News.

The White House cannot unilaterally reopen the country. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued federal guidance advising people to avoid social gatherings, work from home and use pickup and delivery options for food, it is state officials who have put the force of law behind those suggestions.

The CDC guidance is set to expire April 30, but the states are free to choose their own paths. Already, the state directives have varied in timing and in severity, and that is certain to continue as they are rolled back.

White House advisers have contemplated scenarios in which some "hot spot" states will not be ready to reopen as quickly, the people familiar with the matter said. There have already been vigorous debates, with public-health experts and some presidential advisers warning against reopening too soon, while key members of the president's economic team - and some conservatives in the vice president's orbit - push for a quicker return to normality.

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top expert on infectious diseases, said Thursday that some places might reopen sooner than others, and that hard-hit New York, for example, shouldn't loosen its restrictions until there was a "very steep decline" in infections.

"It's not going to be one-size-fits-all," he said.

The president, said one senior administration official with direct knowledge of the conversations, asks regularly: "When can we reopen?"

Health experts say ending the shutdown prematurely would be disastrous because the restrictions have barely had time to work, and because U.S. leaders have not built up the capacity for alternatives to stay-at-home orders - such as the mass testing, large-scale contact tracing and targeted quarantines that have been used in other countries to suppress the virus.

Even one of the most optimistic models, which has been used by the White House and governors, predicts a death toll of 60,400, but only if current drastic restrictions are kept in place until the end of May.

There have been nascent signs that the aggressive social-distancing measures imposed by state and city governments have slowed the spread of the infection, which has killed more than 16,000 Americans. Federal officials have noted that Washington state and California were among the first states to see cases of the virus but have not experienced the high levels of infection and death that others, such as New York and New Jersey, are enduring. Pence said Thursday that officials were beginning to see "stabilization" in some of the hardest-hit areas.

"It's working, America," Pence said.

More News Europe is looking at several more weeks of virus lockdowns

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said Thursday that hospitalizations and intensive-care admissions in the state have fallen, suggesting progress. But he stressed that he did not know when New Yorkers would be able to begin a return to normal life.

"We're not going to go from red to green; we're going to go from red to yellow," Cuomo said.

Trump aides internally have taken note of New York's stabilizing hospital numbers, and some believe that the modeling projections are excessively high.

The comments from Barr, who is not a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, and Mnuchin, who is, seem to indicate the growing recognition in the administration that the steps meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus have inflicted economic pain that is likely to last for many months.

On Thursday - as the Labor Department tallied another 6.6 million Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy was deteriorating "with alarming speed" and called for a national discussion about what will be required to reopen it.

Trump is preparing to announce this week the creation of a second, smaller coronavirus task force aimed specifically at combating the economic ramifications of the pandemic, according to people familiar with the plans.

The task force is expected to be led by Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, and include Larry Kudlow, the president's chief economic adviser, and Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, along with outside business leaders. Others expected to play a role are Kevin Hassett, who has been advising Trump on economic models in recent weeks, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, administration officials say.

Stephen Moore, a conservative economist who advises the administration informally and has pushed for the country to reopen more quickly, said he believed the task force was a good idea to help expedite that process.

"You have to figure out: How do you do it? Where do you it? When do you it? What areas of the country? What industry?" Moore said. "His presidency depends on getting that right."

Barr, the nation's top law enforcement official, noted that the economics of the shutdown could cost lives. For example, he said, cancer researchers were probably at home, not doing their critical work.

"We will have a weaker health-care system if we go into a deep depression," Barr said. "So, just measured in lives, the cure cannot be worse than the disease."

Barr's comments came in response to repeated questions from Fox News's Laura Ingraham about the civil liberties problems created by government-imposed shutdowns.

Barr, a person familiar with his thinking said, has known Ingraham for many years and agreed to the interview some time ago.

The attorney general repeatedly lauded Trump and said states were, at least for now, within their rights to impose such measures. The person familiar with his thinking said he was focused on what happens after the CDC's guidelines on social distancing expire this month.

The person said Barr has been informally talking with associates about how businesses could reopen, including having more equipped with personal protective equipment or on-site testing.

"He was trying to say once we're through this period, it's not sustainable to live in fear," the person said.

Health experts and economists have said that reopening prematurely could backfire and lead to another shutdown if coronavirus cases begin surging again and a long-term solution is not found. Past pandemics have offered clear warnings of what can happen.

A 2007 study funded by the CDC examined the fate of several U.S. cities when they eased restrictions too soon during the 1918 flu pandemic. Those cities believed they were on the other side of the peak, and, like the United States today, had residents agitating about the economy and for relaxing restrictions.

Once they lifted the restrictions, however, the trajectory of those cities soon turned into a double-humped curve with two peaks instead of one. Two peaks means overwhelmed hospitals and many deaths, without the flattening benefit authorities were trying to achieve with arduous restrictions.

Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, notably did not advocate a May reopening, saying such steps were more likely after July. And even some close to Trump seemed wary of supporting an early date.

Pence on Thursday did not put a firm date on a possible reopening but said the decision would be guided by medical experts and that Trump wanted it to be done "responsibly."

"No one wants to reopen America more than Donald Trump," Pence said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump ally, said an early reopening was "an aspirational goal."

"The real fear is that you do it too quickly and you create a spike in the disease, which is likely to come back in the fall," Graham said. "It has to be a science-based assessment, and I don't see a mass reopening of the economy coming anytime soon."

Even some of those most affected by the economic downturn expressed fear of a premature return to work.

"If restoring the economy means restoring transit systems back to full-throttle schedules, before covid-19 is defeated, it's just going to expose more transit workers to harm's way, and it's something we would not be in favor of," said John Samuelsen, the international president of the Transport Workers Union. "Public transit systems are the most effective disperser of the virus. An evil-genius engineer could not have engineered a better system than the New York City transit system to spread covid-19."

Zack Hershman, 27, has been out of work since mid-March, when he was laid off as a server at Suraya, a Middle Eastern restaurant in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood. The layoff was profoundly unsettling, he said, but he nonetheless commended his employers for leveling with the staff early on about why the closures were necessary.

"As much as I would love to get back to work," he said, "it's not the right thing to do long-term in terms of the safety of people working and eating at restaurants."

- - -

The Washington Post's Devlin Barrett, Heather Long, Brittany Shammas and John Wagner contributed to this report.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Nine employees are accusing Furrs Fresh Buffets Santa Fe location of wage theft, as thousands of workers from across the state reel from economic hardships brought on by the coronavirus.

Furrs closed its doors March 18 after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered the closure of nonessential businesses.

Employees were supposed to receive paychecks on March 27. But no checks were deposited into the accounts of any of the more than 40 workers employed by the restaurant, according to a news release issued by nonprofit Somos un Pueblo Unido, an immigration rights group that has helped organize the workers.

The employees also allegedly notified their manager that they were not paid, to which he reportedly told them not to expect their wages.

Furrs corporate office did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Now, the workers have brought their complaints to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.

Furrs allegedly withheld a total of $5,562 from the nine workers that filed complaints, ranging from $500 to $847 each.

The workers said they need their last paycheck to help pay bills and buy groceries.

I couldnt pay my rent this month, and my landlord is demanding at least half, said Carmen Garcia, one of the workers, in a written statement. Some of us have had to ask for loans from family and friends to cover basic needs.

Representatives of Somos un Pueblo Unido said all of the workers are immigrants, which precludes them from many government assistance programs.

As businesses shutter, workers, especially immigrant workers who do not qualify for unemployment benefits or stimulus relief, need to know they still have rights, staff attorney Gabriela Ibanez Guzman wrote.

More than 73,000 people in New Mexico filed for unemployment benefits over the past three weeks, as many businesses have been forced to close during the coronavirus outbreak, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
At a time when the world is dealing with a global pandemic, it is the duty and responsibility of every individual, community, and organization to do their bit to help in the fight against a common enemy.

As an agency with specialized expertise in tracking and utilizing real time data, AutumnGrey saw a huge increase in peoples need to track statistics and information about Covid19 in real-time. While several platforms, publishers and individuals immediately jumped to the cause, there were gaps in these initial solutions that left much to be desired.

The Coronavirus Update website conceptualized, developed and deployed completely in-house by Autumn Grey has several unique features to address the needs of the Indian populace. Immediately on landing, the website serves data and statistics specific to the region of the visitor accessing it. Additionally, a visitor will be able to see an embedded stream of tweets from government bodies in their region to stay updated on the latest advisories relevant to them. Last but not least, the website has been developed in 10 different languages from across the country, which can also be activated automatically basis the users location.

Talking about the platform, Anusha Shetty, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, GREY group, said Fake news has been the worlds problems on many fronts, including news on the Corona virus. At a time like this, when we need to keep positivity at its peak this site with validates information is a blessing. More so, served in local languages for our diverse India. I am proud of my team for making a small difference in this challenging phase

The data on the platform is only updated using the data made available by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and is therefore verified data exported into a much more user-friendly interface.

The combination of unique features custom-built for India and verifiable data are what make this platform a potent medium for information access and real-time updates for people across the country.

Link to the platform: http://www.coronavirus-update.in

CREDIT LIST:

Creative: Nidhi Johar, Shyam Mohan, Swati Balani

Planning: Salil Shahane

Data: Mithun Cotha, Karthik Bhattarahalli, Keerthan Raj

Development: Santhosh Murugan, Rohan Khude

Client Servicing: Manisha Singh, Sakshi Karnik
Canada shares rose on Thursday, capping the biggest one-week advance since January 2009 despite a record plunge in employment in the country and another surge in jobless claims in the U.S.

Investors focused instead on another dose of economic support south of the border.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 1.7 per cent on Thursday, bringing the weekly gain to 9.5 per cent, the biggest since January 2009, even as the Easter holiday cut it one day short. Materials, health care and consumer discretionaries were the best performing sectors.

The rally needs to be closely monitored as there are signs another leg down is possible, according to Mark Stacey, co-chief investment officer at AGF Investments Inc. If or when a new wave of bad news hits, the market rebound might prove fragile, he said in a blog post.

The United States Federal Reserve announced another series of steps that will provide as much as $2.3 trillion (U.S.) in additional aid. The measures will see the Fed give help to small and mid-sized businesses as well as state and local governments. Oil fell, reversing earlier gains, as investors saw an OPEC+ supply-curb proposal as insufficient to offset estimates for demand destruction from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Canadas labour market sustained a historic drubbing in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Employment plunged by 1.01 million from the prior month, the largest decline in records dating back to 1976, Statistics Canada said. However, the loonie shrugged off the report. The Canadian dollar climbed 0.3 per cent to $1.3969 per U.S. dollar, while the 10-year government bond yield fell about six basis points to 0.763 per cent.

Gold and silver prices rallied as the haven asset continued to be in demand, with investors weighing the economic fallout from the coronavirus and fresh help from governments. The rally in prices helped miners of the precious metals on Friday. Spot gold rose 2.1 per cent, to $1,681.50 (U.S.) per ounce.

Meanwhile, investors can take solace in the fact that this volatile market may have created the opportunity to redeploy cash to diversify their portfolio, Stacey said. The recent market panic has proven that there is never a bad time to better diversify a portfolio, and now might prove to be a very good one, he said.
BANGKOK  His whole family back in Myanmar depended on him. But Ko Zaw Win Tun, one of an estimated four million migrant workers in Thailand, lost his job at a Bangkok toy store when the city went into a coronavirus lockdown.

With little hope of a new job there, Mr. Zaw Win Tun, 24, joined the crowds of workers rushing home to Myanmar, traveling by packed bus, plane and car to reach his hometown, Kyaukme, in the countrys north.

The morning after he returned, the fever set in. A test for the coronavirus came back positive.

The coronavirus spread early through international travelers: tourists, worshipers, conference attendees and members of the business elite. But nearly 200 million migrant workers also travel across national borders, according to the International Labor Organization. About 760 million more move within their countries, more than 40 million in India alone.

Lacking basic rights and marooned in unfamiliar places, migrant workers are usually the first in the labor force to be hit by an economic downturn. Now, as the coronavirus disease, Covid-19, spreads across the globe, migrant workers are not only victims but vectors, too, taking the epidemic to villages ill-equipped to deal with a health crisis.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  With the strict implementation of the Luzon-wide lockdown, Filipino Catholics commemorated Holy Week in not so traditional ways.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) supported the governments order to help halt the spread of COVID-19 and urged the faithful to observe the most sacred days of the year through online masses.

RELATED: Where to watch online masses during Lenten season

But the CBCPs call did not stop some Catholics from showing their devotion and downplaying the risk of infection, as they went ahead and celebrated in their own way the passion, sacrifice, and death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

On Palm Sunday, April 5, devotees flocked to the locked gates of Quiapo Church to observe the traditional start of the Holy Week.

Every Palm Sunday, churchgoers bring palm fronds to symbolize the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. But with most houses of worship closed, some got a little creative.

A Las Pinas parish for example held a procession inside a village, so that palms held out by residents can be blessed while near the safety of their homes.

Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, held the first-ever Palm Sunday Mass without a congregation in St. Peters Basilica at the Vatican City.

On Maundy Thursday, only a handful ventured out to observe the Visita Iglesia, a practice where devotees try to visit different churches and pray parts of the Stations of the Cross.

At the Manila Cathedral, CNN Philippines spotted a couple celebrating their wedding anniversary.

The tradition of the Washing of the Feet on Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Last Supper of Jesus and the institution of the Holy Eucharist, was not observed this year.

The Alay Lakad, where devotees walk barefoot to the Antipolo Cathedral, also did not push through, after the Rizal provincial government ordered a total lockdown on its borders last April 6.

On Good Friday, the most solemn day of the Holy Week, some devotees again tried to show their devotion by praying near the Quiapo Church, but they were dissuaded by uniformed personnel.

Some devotees instead prayed near the Quinta Market, a few meters away from Quiapo Church.

Others held their own procession of the Black Nazarene along Carriedo Street in Manila, with the image placed atop a tricycle.

Some churchgoers were seen praying and lighting candles outside the St. Peter Parish in Commonwealth Avenue.

The quarantine restrictions did not stop some Pasay City residents from holding their Good Friday tradition, a mini procession along Tramo Street.

Popular Holy Week pilgrimage sites like the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto Shrine in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan and the National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio in Santo Tomas, Batangas, remained closed on Good Friday.

Another fixture every Good Friday is the crucifixion of carpenter Ruben Enaje in Barangay San Pedro Cutud in San Fernando, Pampanga. But the lockdown ended his 33-year streak of reenacting the sacrifice.

RELATED: Quarantine in Kwaresma: An invitation to strengthen one's faith

Despite the limitations brought about by the Luzon-wide lockdown, Filipino Catholics were reminded by Pope Francis that they can commemorate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross by acknowledging Gods boundless love to His people.

In the risen Jesus, life conquered death. This Paschal faith nourishes our hope. I would like to share it with you this evening. It is the hope of a better time, in which we can be better, finally freed from evil and from this pandemic. It is a hope: hope does not disappoint; it is not an illusion, it is a hope, said the Pope in his video message last April 4.
A London court adjourned the bankruptcy petition against Vijay Mallya filed against him by State Bank of India-led consortium of banks. Judge Briggs adjourned the petition and said that Mallya must be given "at least six months" time to repay the banks. Declaring him bankrupt would have enabled the banks to recover a loan of over Rs 9,000 crore.

While pronouncing the judgment, Briggs said that the petition was in breach of the Insolvency Act and Insolvency Rules. He added that the banks failed to disclose their security over Mallya's assets. The banks were secured creditors in part, he said.

The London court adjourned the petition and allowed sufficient time for Mallya's petitions in the Supreme Court as well as his settlement proposal before the Karnataka High Court to be determined. This would allow Mallya time to repay the debts he owes in full. Briggs added that Mallya's petitions "stand a reasonable prospect of success".

"If the proposal before the Karnataka HC is sanctioned, then the United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd (UBHL) debt will be paid in full and there will be no liability under the personal guarantee. It is difficult to see what reasonable basis the banks may have for rejecting the offers," said Briggs.

The London court called the banks' bankruptcy petition "by any measure extraordinary". "The banks are pressing for a bankruptcy order at a time when there is extant proceedings in India such as a challenge to the personal guarantee, a challenge to the high rate of interest accruing on the debts and the Karnataka HC is seized of compromise proposals presented by UBHL. In addition a petition has now been presented to the Supreme Court to sanction a binding compromise," stated the court.

Mallya has filed a petition in Supreme Court asking for a court-sanctioned settlement with UBHL creditors. He had also offered to sell the UBHL assets and other companies controlled by him as well as his family members and deposit them with the Karnataka HC.

Briggs added that the banks should have known that they are secured creditors due to their participation in the Indian proceedings.

The bankruptcy petition is based on the judgment loan by the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Karnataka against unpaid loans that were extended to his airline, Kingfisher Airlines.

Also read: Coronavirus: 'Shut my companies but still paying employees,' says Vijay Mallya

Also read: Please banks, take all your money back, requests Vijay Mallya
P Thiruselvam By

Express News Service

ARIYALUR: A 60-year-old man who was in the Corona isolation ward of Ariyalur Government Hospital committed suicide.

The deceased Narayanasamy (60) was a native of Arakkattalai near Kadambur in Ariyalur district. He was working as a daily wager in Kerala.



According to sources, he returned from Kerala two weeks ago by hitchhiking. After he developed fever, villagers had informed the health officials after which he was taken to Ariyalur government hospital on April 6. Locals said that he was also suffering from kidney problem.

The sample was taken from him and was tested for COVID-19 at the laboratory in the Mahatma Gandhi Government Medical College Hospital on April 7.

It is said that the results of his samples are yet to come. On April 10, a heartbroken Narayanasamy committed suicide in the isolation ward.

On information, Ariyalur police rushed to the spot and conducted a preliminary inquiry. This caused a big stir in the hospital campus.

Sources in the health department told The New Indian Express, "His samples tested negative for COVID-19. The result has come just now. But it was to be formally announced on Saturday."



Hospital sources said that he was monitored every half-an-hour. Last, the hospital staff saw him was around 6.30 pm on Friday and gave him tea and snacks. When they saw him next, he was dead.



He is survived by his wife Janaki (55) and daughter Indira (38). His son Kaliyamurthy died four years ago.



(In case of any suicidal thoughts, please contact Aasra at their 24x7 Helpline: 98204 66726)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told Israel and Brazil that India is ready to do whatever is possible to help its friends in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

Modi made the remarks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro thanked New Delhi for allowing the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and the raw materials to produce it.

The drug has been cited by many as a viable therapeutic solution to fight the coronavirus infection.

"Thank you President @jairbolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times," Modi wrote on Twitter.

India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic, he said.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Modi was responding to a tweet by President Bolsonaro who thanked him for allowing shipment of raw material needed to produce hydroxychloroquine.

In a tweet to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Modi said, "We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends."

"Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel," he said. Earlier, Netanyahu thanked.
Senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya



on Friday demanded the resignation of Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh over the permission given to DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, accused of financial fraud, to travel despite the ongoing lockdown.

He said the government's action against Amitabh Gupta, Principal Secretary (special) in the home department, who has been sent on compulsory leave following the incident, was mere "window dressing".

The former Lok Sabha MP sought to know on whose instructions Deshmukh told Gupta to provide VVIP treatment to the "fraudulent" Wadhawan brothers.

"Sending Gupta on leave is nothing but window dressing. We want resignation of Anil Deshmukh," Somaiya said in a video statement.

Earlier in the day, Deshmukh announced that Gupta, whogave permission to the Wadhawans to travel to Mahabaleshwar, a popular hill station in Satara district, has been sent on compulsory leave.

The bureaucrat had issued a letter exempting the Wadhawans from the lockdown norms citing a family emergency.

Deshmukh said the decision has been taken after discussion with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

According to local police officials, the Wadhawan family along with others travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday evening in their cars, even when both Pune and Satara districts are sealed amid the ongoing lockdown for containing coronavirus.

Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan are accused in Yes Bank and DHFL fraud cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Soldiers in the Pennsylvania National Guard are working statewide to battle the coronavirus and some are becoming casualties in that fight, their commander said Friday.

Maj. Gen. Anthony Carrelli, the state adjutant general, said some guardsmen who have been deployed on COVID-19 related missions throughout the Keystone State have tested positive for the virus.

I cannot give specific numbers, he said during a telephone press conference. Its a readiness issue.

Carrelli said hundreds of guardsmen have been sent on health and humanitarian missions amid the pandemic, including transporting medicine and food to hot spots.

We have declared war on the virus in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he said. Everybodys all in.

Just in the last 24 hours we have delivered 85,000 meals. In the next 24 hours we plan on delivering another 97,000, Carrelli said.

He said guardsmen transported passengers of affected cruise ships to their homes after they arrived in Harrisburg. They conducted 5,000 COVID-19 tests at an emergency unit set up in Montgomery County.

Wherever help is needed, were sending them there, Carrelli said.

Meanwhile, he said more than 1,000 guardsmen are continuing preparations to deploy on missions overseas. Several hundred others who already have been deployed outside the U.S. for six months to a year are blocked because of the worldwide pandemic from returning home on schedule. They might have to soldier on in those posts for another two or three months, Carrelli said.

Theres lot of sacrifice going on, he said. I couldnt be prouder about how (guardsmen) have pulled together.

Were well beyond any script that we had. This (pandemic) has exceeded anything any of usthought we would ever have to do, Carrelli said.
Gov. Greg Abbott will unveil plans next week to restart the shuttered Texas economy, insisting that measures can be taken to protect lives while restoring livelihoods.

We can do both, he said in a briefing, without providing details.

The remarks come as state and federal Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have begun pushing to reopen parts of the economy by early May. At the same time, infections and deaths from the coronavirus have more than doubled in Texas in the past week, with local officials expecting those numbers to continue to rise.

May is when some Texas communities expect coronavirus patient volumes to surge.

Public health experts have warned against lifting social distancing restrictions too soon, saying it could lead to new outbreaks of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 11,000 Texans and killed 221, according to state totals.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican who is leading a task force on reopening the state economy, told GOP activists this week that he is confident it can be done by early next month, according to reports from multiple news outlets.

Were not going to open up everything immediately, but it will be done in phases, Patrick said in a call with the GOP of Texas, according to CBS Austin. We need to get started, and I hope thats the first week of May, barring any unforeseen big spikes.

State jobless claims in the past three weeks have hit 750,000, more than all the filings in 2019.

While the White House and Cabinet officials have reportedly called for removing restrictions in the next few weeks, the decision ultimately falls on governors.

Abbott and other state officials said Friday that the outbreak appears to be slowing in some counties, including Bexar, while others are less certain. Harris County continues to have the largest outbreak, with more than 3,000 cases as of Friday.

Were decreasing the rate at which the disease is growing, but that doesnt mean its over, said Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt.

Abbotts remark about Bexar County contradicts what public health and local government officials said earlier this week. They expect COVID-19 cases there to peak in May or early June, and they predicted that it will take several months after that for the virus to abate. If cases spike beyond current projections, local hospitals could become dangerously overrun with patients.

The New York Times reported Friday that federal health officials have projected large infection spikes if restrictions such as stay-at-home orders and school closures are lifted after 30 days. The governors stay-at-home orders currently last through the end of April.

Abbott  who did not issue his stay-home order for Texas until last week, after 30 other governors had done so  said he will lift restrictions only when it appears safe. He declined to say whether testing for the virus will have to increase significantly for the economy to reopen, saying only that it is part of the solution. The state has had among the lowest testing rates in the country.

Abbott noted that private labs are sending tests to the state but said testing should still be limited to those who show symptoms.

If you have no symptoms and you get tested, thats pointless because you could get the virus that night, he said. The virus is known to appear in people who are asymptomatic.

Gerald Parker, a Texas A&M vaccine expert, told Hearst Newspapers this week that expanded testing is critical in the weeks ahead.

Despite the rapid advancement thats occurred in lab testing over the last month, were still catching up, he said. And without the lab testing, were still almost blind to whats really happening in the community.

Staff writer Jeremy Wallace contributed to this report.
Japan News-Yomiuri photo

STANDALONE PHOTO: Young horses born this year are making an adorable sight as they snuggle alongside their mothers, on ranches in Niikappu, Japan. The Hokkaido town, which is famous for the breeding of racehorses, has a road lined with equestrian ranches. The foaling season peaks in March and April. MUST CREDIT: Japan News-Yomiuri photo
Clare Waight Keller is leaving her role as artistic director of Givenchy after three years.

The departure of the British designer, who created Meghan Markles wedding gown, was announced on Friday.

After three truly wonderful years, the time has come to close my chapter at Givenchy, Waight Keller wrote in a statement shared to Instagram. As the first woman to be the artistic director of this legendary maison, I feel honoured to have been given the opportunity to cherish its legacy and bring it new life.

Continuing, Waight Keller called the opportunity one of the highlights of my professional journey, and said that the exceptional talent and dedication of Givenchy ateliers and design teams would forever remain in her memories.

The designer also thanked the unsung heroes and heroines behind the scenes of the fashion industry for their help and contributions during her time at the French fashion house.

Without all of you, I could not have brought my vision for Givenchy to life in such a beautiful way, she said.

Recommended Why Meghan Markle chose Givenchy for her wedding dress

The stylists last collection for the fashion house was the fall 2020 womens ready-to-wear, which was shown in Paris on 1 March, according to WWD, with her departure coming at the end of her initial contract with Givenchy.

In a statement, Givenchy, which is owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the worlds largest luxury goods company, said it wanted to warmly thank Clare Waight Keller for her creative leadership, in contribution to our latest chapter.

Under her creative leadership, and in great collaboration with its ateliers and teams, the maison reconnected with the founding values of Hubert de Givenchy and his innate sense of elegance, Sidney Toledano, chairman and CEO of LVMH Fashion Group, said. I wish Clare all the best in her future endeavours.

Waight Keller, who was the first woman to lead the fashion house since its inception in 1952, has been in the role since March 2017, during which time she won the British designer of the year award for womens wear at the 2018 Fashion Awards in London.

As of now, a successor has not been named, with the luxury fashion brand stating it would announce a new creative organisation at a later date.
A study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to identify the spread and extent of transmission of coronavirus disease has revealed that just two per cent of the patients have tested positive for Covid-19.

The study was conducted on 5,911 patients of SARI or Severe Acute Respiratory Infection, caused by the Sars-CoV-2 virus, in 52 districts in 20 states and union territories between February 15 and April 2.

The study showed that only 104 people (1.8 per cent) tested positive for Covid-19. Out of this group, 40 per cent cases did not have any international travel history or contact with laboratory tested confirmed Covid-19 positive case.

This study by ICMR has been published in the latest issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR). SARI surveillance was initiated in the early phase of the Covid-19 outbreak in India.

Among the 965 SARI samples tested between February 15 and March 19, only two (0.2%) were positive for Covid-19. But when the testing strategy was expanded to include all SARI patients, out of 4,946 samples, 102 (2.1%) were positive for Sars-CoV-2.

Some experts say that these studies suggested the disease has entered the community transmission phase (Stage 3) in the country. One may not like to call it community transmission but this is in fact community transmission of Covid-19, said Dr T Jacob John, professor emeritus and former head of virology at the Christian Medical College, Vellore.

Community transmission is the third of the four stages of the spread of an infectious disease. The first is travel history, the second is local transmission, the third is community transmission, and the fourth is epidemic.

India has maintained that the disease is in the second stage, or between stage two and stage three with limited community transmission in some clusters.

R Ganga Ketkar, senior scientist at ICMR, reiterated that the country has still not reached Stage 3 of the disease spread.

A few days ago, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria had said that the threat of community transmission is serious given the number of cases. It becomes even more serious if people dont understand their responsibility of social distancing, home quarantine and avoiding crowded areas, Guleria told Hindustan Times. Data from US and Europe is pretty frightening and worrying. We have to take all steps that we dont move in that direction, he added.

Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 positive cases reached 6412 on Friday morning, the health ministry said. India reported 30 Covid-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the number of fatalities to 199 across the country, it further said.
COVID-19 fatality projections are sinking like stones. That shouldnt be a surprise, as reality has never begun to match the models numbers, just as it hasnt in past epidemics. The Hill reports on the administrations falling fatality numbers:

Anthony Fauci, a leading member of the Trump administrations coronavirus task force, said Thursday he thinks the U.S. death toll from the virus could be much lower than the 100,000 to 200,000 first estimated by the White House.

Was that really the first estimate? At one time, people were talking about deaths in the two to three million range. I suppose no one wants to be reminded of those predictions at this point.

Fauci said on NBCs Today show that given widespread mitigation efforts, the death toll will likely be closer to 60,000 as the U.S. now has more data about the growth and spread of the virus throughout the country.

That is what the IHME is now projecting, too. Their numbers are sinking rapidly; 60,000 is just a way station in the downward trajectory. The actual number of COVID-19 deaths, currently, is 14,696 according to the Centers for Disease Control.

MSNBCs Chris Hayes smells a rat:

The most cynical interpretation of all this, one I can't quite bring myself to accept, is they rolled out the model showing 100k deaths after they knew it would be less than that so they could anchor everyone to that # and take a vicotry lap when "only" tens of thousands died. https://t.co/hYiUCHhO5g  Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) April 8, 2020



Hayes has been widely denounced for floating a conspiracy theory. But what some call conspiracy, I call politics. Did politicians know that early estimates were wildly off base? It depends on what the meaning of know is. And, actually, President Trump set the bar at a reasonable level when he referred to 100,000 deaths. That is far lower than some of the early projections.

Hayes, given his partisan orientation, confined his speculation to the Trump administration. But what about all the Democratic governors and mayors who are poised to claim credit for limiting COVID-19 fatalities? Here in Minnesota, our governor preposterously alleged that absent his actions, there would be 74,000 deaths in our state. The actual count, as last recorded by Scott: 39. Do you think any Democratic governor or mayor will fail to take credit for lives allegedly saved?

All incumbents, regardless of party, share a common interest in citing bad model predictions and claiming credit for the models failure to describe reality. No doubt self-isolation measures have helped to some degree, but it will be easy for politicians to give their policies credit for what largely is attributable to models that were wrong in the first place, just like prior models for prior epidemics.

Politicians quickly figured out that there was little down-side to taking harsh, economy-killing measures. They could be blamed for doing too little, when the inevitable deaths occurred, but who would blame them for doing too much? As the feckless Andy Cuomo said, if we save just one life, destroying our economy and devastating the lives of millions is worth it.

One of my partners linked earlier today to an excellent piece by Mollie Hemingway in The Federalist. The whole thing is well worth reading, but for now, Mollies penultimate paragraph quotes Tucker Carlson:

Tucker Carlson recently said, If the coronavirus shutdown was crushing college administrators or nonprofit executives or green energy lobbyists, it would have ended last week. Instead, its mainly service workers and small business owners who have been hurt, and theyre not on television talking about what theyre going through. You need to look closely to see their suffering.

I think that is right. But here is a glimmer of hope, from the TaxProf Blog: BigLaw Starts Cancelling Summer Associate Programs, Delaying First Year Associate Start Dates, And Cutting Salaries. Prof. Caron cites many examples, but I like this one:

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (ranked 44 by Am Law) co-chairs Steve Baumer and Lisa Mayhew sent a firm-wide email letting everyone know that all employees making over $40,000 will be taking a 15 percent pay cut.

And this:

Biglaw has been awash in cost-cutting measures designed to keep the firms afloat during these hard times. The latest example of that comes from Am Law 100 firm, Nixon Peabody. The firm already announced massive staff layoffs, and now lawyers are also seeing the axe. According to multiple tipsters at the firm, the firm is cutting 10 percent of non-partner attorneys, and tipsters report even senior associates were impacted. The cuts are divided by approximately 5 percent layoffs (with three months of health insurance) and 5 percent furloughs (presumably with full benefits).

Big law firms are losing money? Now its serious! Every small businessperson in America can take heart from the expectation that people who really count with the Democratic Party will soon be agitating to restart our economy.
Yu Chengdong, chief executive of Huawei's consumer business group, said he expects revenue at the unit to grow this year despite pressure from the coronavirus health crisis, which has hit supply chains and squeezed consumer demand across the world.

Yus forecast, which was given in an interview with local media on Thursday, came as the Shenzhen-based company launched its latest high-end P40 series of smartphones in China. Besides China, the Google-free smartphone will be available in all markets except for the US, Brazil and South Korea.

Yu said that revenue grew slightly in the first quarter for the consumer business group, which includes smartphones, personal computers, and tablets.

For the whole year, our consumer business expects to increase revenue  although this will be very difficult, said Yu. The China market will see solid growth, but the overseas market will see a decline.

The Covid-19 pandemic has sickened millions and forced the temporary closure of smartphone factories across the globe after authorities imposed restrictions on large groups of people being in one place.

It is almost impossible to avoid a decline in the global smartphone business, Yu said. Though sales fell in February in China, we saw growth in January and March.

According to research firm IDC, global smartphone shipments are expected to drop 10.6 per cent in the first half of 2020 year-on-year due to the pandemic. A decline of 2.3 per cent is expected for the full year, with overall shipments volume at just over 1.3 billion. IDC expects global smartphone shipments to return to growth in 2021 driven by accelerated 5G efforts.

However, Yu warned about more potential risks if the US imposes further restrictions on Huawei.

A Reuters report last month said that the Trump Administration was considering tightening Huaweis ability to access semiconductors made using US manufacturing equipment  including those made by Taiwans TSMC.

Story continues

Last month Huawei reported 19.1 growth in revenue to a record 858.8 billion yuan (US$121 billion) in 2019. The consumer group accounted for 467.3 billion yuan of that revenue and China contributed 59 per cent of total sales.

Sign up now and get a 10% discount (original price US$400) off the China AI Report 2020 by SCMP Research. Learn about the AI ambitions of Alibaba, Baidu & JD.com through our in-depth case studies, and explore new applications of AI across industries. The report also includes exclusive access to webinars to interact with C-level executives from leading China AI companies (via live Q&A sessions). Offer valid until 31 May 2020.

This article Huaweis consumer business chief Yu eyes growth in 2020 in face of US and coronavirus pressures first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
WOODLAND PARK, N.J. - In the twilight, the somber tones of a lone trumpet playing taps float over birdsong at the entrance to the New Jersey Veterans Home in Paramus.

Standing next to the home's sign with his trumpet is 13-year old Alex Saldana of Oradell, an eighth grader at River Dell Middle School.

In two weeks, 37 military veterans have died at the home, at least 10 of them from the coronavirus. Alex doesn't want them to be forgotten.

"I know it's very hard for them right now, and they made the ultimate sacrifice for this country," he says. "I wanted to show respect and give them a sign of hope throughout this outbreak and sad time."

Alex Saldana, 13, a Boy Scout in Oradell Troop 36 and a Life Scout, plays the Marine Corps Hymn and Taps in front of the New Jersey Veterans Home in Paramus on Thursday April 09, 2020. Saldana plays to honor the 37 military veterans who have died at the the New Jersey Veteran's Home in the past two weeks. At least 10 veterans died from the coronavirus.

It was impossible to get any closer than the entrance because National Guard troops are stationed there, but Alex says he hopes at least some of the veterans heard the song.

"I definitely hope that some of them heard about it or learned about it to give them hope that people know what's happening to them and that people care about them and that they will not be forgotten," Alex says. "I really want to show that to them and hope that if I keep doing this, it will be helping them."

Alex has been playing the trumpet since fourth grade and serves as the bugler for Boy Scout Troop 36, playing taps at every meeting. He has vowed to play taps and the Marine Corps hymn every night outside the veterans home.

He had already chosen the veterans home as his Eagle Scout project, set to begin in the next few months. He says his plan is to collect necessities for the veterans by partnering with communities and businesses throughout the state.

Alex's father, David, is a detective in the Bergen County Sheriff's Office and a veteran of the Marine Corps.

Melissa Saldana, Alex's mother, said the home holds a special place in Alex's heart because of his father's service and time he spent with the veterans for a Bingo night in sixth grade.

Story continues

"I know what he did to help this country," Alex says of his dad. The veterans made those same sacrifices.

Saldana said she and her husband hadn't realized how big of a deal Alex's gesture of respect was until they heard about the video she had posted to her Facebook page on the radio. She began getting messages from friends saying they saw the video on the national news.

The response to the video has been "tremendous," Saldana said. She said they've received a lot of support from the Oradell community.

"That was the moment we realized that his tribute was reaching many people from all over," Saldana said.

Saldana said she is proud of Alex and that he has "an enormous heart and he always wants to make others feel loved."

"We are happy that he was able to take his talents and use them in a positive way during this tragic time that we're all experiencing," she said.

Follow Kaitlyn Kanzler on Twitter: @KaitlynKanzler8

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Coronavirus: Boy Scout plays taps outside veterans home hit hard
Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial.

The federal government has not done a good job helping states battle the coronavirus, providing only a fraction of the medical supplies some states requested and sometimes even seizing supplies states and hospitals have purchased for themselves. But there is one way the federal government is offering to help: by suggesting new crimes to prosecute. The Department of Justice issued a memo to federal law enforcement on March 24 suggesting a list of coronavirus-related crimes they should prosecute. Many of the criminal activities listed in the memo are precisely the types of crimes that federal law enforcement should targetcrimes like internet-based frauds, illegal price fixing, and Medicare fraud and abuse. Those sorts of crimes can be difficult for states to enforce because they cross state borders. It is also appropriate for the federal government to protect its own programs, like Medicare, and to target illegal schemes that affect the national economy. But the memo also included crimes that do not require any federal involvement. Most notably, it encouraged prosecution of threats to intentionally infect other people with the coronavirus. The memo claimed that the virus qualifies as a biological agent under federal law, so these threats could be prosecuted under a number of different federal criminal laws that carry sentences of up to five years in prison.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Does the coronavirus truly fall within the federal definition of a biological agent? It does, but only because the federal definition is unbelievably broad. Federal law defines a biological agent to include any virus or bacteria that is capable of causing death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism. The coronavirus is obviously capable of causing death or disease in humans. But so is the flu, the chickenpox, and even the common cold. This law labels any disease, no matter how minor, a biological agent. Intentionally transferring that disease to another personsay, by purposefully coughing or spitting on themcarries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

This expansive biological agent definition is hardly unique. Congress has passed many criminal laws that are incredibly broad in scope. For example, federal law defines the term chemical weapon so broadly that one federal court observed that the law turns each kitchen cupboard and cleaning cabinet in America into a potential chemical weapons cache. And federal officials have used that broad definition to charge minor offenses as very serious crimes.

Advertisement

Advertisement

States have their own criminal laws that they can use to prosecute people who try to infect others with coronavirus.

For instance, in 2007, federal prosecutors brought chemical weapons charges against a Pennsylvania woman, Carol Anne Bond, who had put a minorly caustic chemical on the doorknob and mailbox of her husbands lover. The chemical, potassium dichromatewhich Bond purchased on Amazoncaused a minor chemical burn on the lovers thumb, which the lover treated by rinsing the thumb with water. Federal prosecutors charged Bond with violating the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act, a crime that is so serious that it does not limit the prison sentence that a judge can impose after conviction. Bond obviously had no business putting anything on anyones doorknob or mailbox, but her actions could have easily been prosecuted by Pennsylvania officials under a more appropriate state statute.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The Supreme Court has pushed back on these broad criminal laws, stating that they are inconsistent with the Constitutions division of authority between the federal governments and state governments. While Congress can criminalize activities that harm the federal government, implicate foreign relations, and affect interstate commerce, whether to criminalize purely local activity is a power reserved to the states by the 10th Amendment. That is why, in 2014, the Supreme Court reversed Bonds conviction. Even though Congress defined chemical weapons very broadly, the court refused to interpret the statute to include Bonds purely local criminal conduct. As Chief Justice John Roberts explained, Because our constitutional structure leaves local criminal activity primarily to the States, we have generally declined to read federal law as intruding on that responsibility.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The Supreme Court is likely to be just as hostile if federal officials decide to use harsh federal laws criminalizing the use of biological weapons to prosecute a person who coughs or spits on someone else. It is true that the plain language of the biological agent law includes the coronavirus and various other illnesses. But interpreting the law so broadly would upset the usual constitutional balance of federal and state powers. Before the court will consider upsetting that balance, it requires a clear statement from Congress that it intended for a federal criminal law to reach purely local activities. The court didnt find such a statement in the chemical weapons law, and it is highly unlikely to find one in the biological agent law.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

States have their own criminal laws that they can use to prosecute people who try to infect others with the coronavirus. Indeed, there are several reports of states using their own criminal laws to prosecute people who have threatened to infect others by coughing on themdespite the fact that criminal law is not the best way to deal with a public health crisis.

The states need the federal governments help right now to secure ventilators and protective equipment for medical personnel. The states dont need any help putting people in prison for crimes that are purely localthey are already quite proficient at that task. The federal government should concentrate on helping states weather the medical and economic effects of the coronavirus rather than using the pandemic as an excuse to sweep local crimes into the federal courts.






Mexico has become one of the most prevalent human and sex trafficking destinations since the practice began in the 1970s. Tenancigo, a municipality in the state of Tlaxcala, is home to some of the most notorious drug-cartels that support the illicit practice.

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission recently uncovered nightclubs promoting 'home delivery' sex services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission believes the establishments present a threat to public health and are used for the sexual exploitation of minors.

Several nightclubs were found to be advertising underaged girls. Human trafficking activity was also observed as recent as this month in Tlaxcala.

The National Citizen's Observatory of Feminicide said the women and girls being advertised for the illicit at-home services were more likely exposed to several forms of violence.

'Holding them hostage'





Human traffickers often prey on young and impoverished mothers---sometimes even marrying and having children with them. The children are then held hostage to force women to keep working.

Children often experience physical or verbal abuse when their mothers do not meet their weekly quota, disobey rules, or try to run away. Traffickers often threaten mothers that they'll never see their children again if they do not follow the rules, making it easier for the criminals to force the victims to do what they want.

In 2018, authorities recorded 400 victims of sex trafficking who suffered in those conditions. The female victims were commonly aged 15 to 25 living in the impoverished areas of Mexico. The women were often lured with false offers of work in Mexico and the United States, only to be forced to work in brothels or prostitution on the streets.

Children and babies who were rescued from the trafficking environment lived in overcrowded conditions. Some were found tied up, while babies suffered from red, horrible rashes.

In Tlaxcala, sex trafficking is a family-run business and regarded as a necessary "cultural tradition." Many children grow up aspiring to become pimps.





Sex Trafficking Figures

In 2018, state authorities launched more than 385 trafficking investigations. More than half were opened in just three states, leading many to believe the issue goes vastly underreported. Experts say state prosecutors do not have the capacity or knowledge to investigate cases related to the crimes, raising concerns about the law enforcement's willingness to tackle the issue.

The National Human Rights Commission estimates that there could be over 500,000 young men and women who were forced to work for criminal groups and render sexual services. Academics, however, believe there could be more.

State vs Trafficking

While human trafficking ranks second as one of Mexico's most lucrative markets, the country has assumed the top rank for female sex-trafficking and producing child pornography.

Pedophiles have been drawn to what is dubbed as "Latin American Thailand" in search of a vast array of online markets distributing photos and videos of Mexican children performing lewd acts.

Many states are lacking compliance with the government's plans to combat human trafficking in Mexico. Twelve out of all 21 states have yet to update their legislation with the most recent national law. Government officials also have weak and unreliable data to work with.

Mexico City also passed a bill in 2019 aimed to decriminalize sex work. The bill, however, removed a law that allowed authorities to place a fine on prostitutes and clients should neighbors file a complaint.

El Pozo de Vida, a nonprofit organization in Mexico, is one of the many advocacy groups that provide human and sex trafficking victims with a safe house. The victims are given food, water, shelter, education, and proper counseling.

Local nonprofit organizations have also started combatting the trafficking circles to obliterate the practice. Unfortunately, they do not have enough funding or government support to live up to their goals.
Taylor Swift shared a sweet tribute to her younger brother Austin on Friday in honor of National Siblings day.

The 10-time Grammy winner's referred to him as one of her 'best pals' alongside a photo taken at one of her birthday parties.

It was no ordinary snap though - the photographer was none other than her famous model pal Gigi Hadid.

Sister of the year: Taylor Swift showed her love Friday for her younger brother Austin Swift as she took to Instagram for National Siblings Day

The 30-year-old wrote: 'Its National Siblings Day! My brother @austinkingsleyswift is one of my best pals.'

She also took the opportunity to promote his new movie We Summon the Darkness, which premieres Friday.

'And Im really proud of him because hes in a film that came out today called We Summon The Darkness (which he also co-produced). Photo by Gigi. My facial expression by 3 glasses of wine.'

Austin, 28, stars with Alexandra Daddario and Johnny Knoxville in the horror movie about metalheads fighting for their lives.

Leading man: She also took the opportunity to promote his new movie We Summon the Darkness, which premieres Friday

Metal and horror: The horror movie about metalheads fighting for their lives also stars Alexandra Daddario and Johnny Knoxville

Helping hand: The post came after Taylor paid for a green card for a fan who was facing deportation amid COVID-19

The post came after Taylor paid for a green card for a fan who was facing deportation amid COVID-19.

She sent $3,000 to Skylar Kervin, who was about to be sent home to Canada from Alabama after losing her job.

Skylar told The Sun: 'I would have been deported had Taylors generosity not come through.'

She was just one of several lucky recipients of the Cats star's generosity, as she's been helping fans through the pandemic with monetary assistance.

Taylor recently said on her SiriusXM series: 'Mostly, I've been online trying to figure out how to help others and just constantly in awe of our first responders, emergency workers and our healthcare professionals that are putting themselves in danger every single day.'
Russians Among Us

By Gordon Corera

William Morrow. 438 pp. $32.50

---

Spying may be the world's second-oldest profession, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has certainly given it a fresh makeover. To fully grasp what Russia did in the 2016 U.S. presidential election - and hopes to replicate this fall - you need to look back to the end of the Cold War. Putin was a young Soviet KGB officer in Dresden, East Germany, and as the Berlin Wall teetered, he sought guidance from Moscow. The response: "Moscow is silent."

Putin was stunned as the Soviet empire collapsed in what he has called the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century." To restore what was lost, Putin has focused on reimagining Russian intelligence - something the United States often underestimated until the last presidential vote.

"Spies - the threat of foreign ones and the successes of Russia's own - would be a defining theme for Vladimir Putin," Gordon Corera writes in his excellent new book, "Russians Among Us: Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories, and the Hunt for Putin's Spies."

"Russia may not be an economic giant, but one area where it was still a first-class power was espionage, and Putin would double down on his intelligence services as a means to wield power and influence around the world," Corera adds.

Corera, the BBC's intelligence correspondent since 2004, offers extraordinary details on Russian spies like Andrey Bezrukov, who became Donald Heathfield and lived in North America for 23 years, a journey that took him from odd jobs in Canada to a master's degree from Harvard. His wife and fellow spy, Elena Vavilova, who took the name Ann Foley, refused anesthetics during childbirth because she worried the drugs would cloud her mind and cause her to scream out in Russian, not English.

Corera weaves multiple story lines together to make a compelling case. By the time he works his way to Russia's 2016 election interference, the operation isn't a surprise, it's an inevitability.

The big takeaway is that Putin's Russia has moved away from traditional methods, such as "deep-cover illegals." These were Russians like Bezrukov and Vavilova, who effectively became middle-class Americans as part of a patient, long-term approach to infiltrating the United States. These tales also provided fodder for the entertaining television series "The Americans."

But now, the Russians tend to work with "co-optees," who may be Russian students or business executives in the United States, well-placed to cultivate contacts. They live openly under their own names, carry their real Russian passports, don't possess spy gadgetry and may only come to the United States for relatively short visits.

"They were Russians who were not trained spies at all but who were co-opted in to help. In some cases, these people might not even have known they were working for Russian intelligence," Corera writes.

A perfect example is Maria Butina, the Russian gun rights activist who studied at American University and befriended a range of conservative figures. She pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent and was jailed for 15 months before being deported to Russia. But she was never charged with spying. "However you view Maria Butina, she had managed to build up a far larger repertoire of American political contacts than the deep-cover illegals had managed and in a far shorter time," Corera writes.

Back in Russia, meanwhile, Putin's intelligence officers have adapted their disinformation skills to the digital age, seizing on the low-cost, high-yield returns of hacking emails and manipulating social media. "The new ways of Russian spying were more opportunistic, more fast and loose," Corera writes.

Corera builds his book around a 2010 spy swap in which 10 Russian spies, mostly deep-cover illegals, were arrested in the United States and sent home. In exchange, Russia released four spies caught working for Western intelligence agencies.

The key figure is Alexander Poteyev, a member of Russia's SVR intelligence service who worked in New York. Upset that he was being sent back to Moscow in 1999, he began working with U.S. intelligence. While he was unhappy, his American handlers were overjoyed. Pteyev's new job in Moscow was deputy director of the bureau running the deep-cover illegals in the United States. This arrangement lasted a decade, until the Americans gave him the signal to flee Russia in 2010. The day after he reached the United States, the FBI rounded up the Russian spies he had directed.

The Russian media reported that Poteyev died in the United States in 2016, but according to Corera, he's very much alive, his whereabouts secret.

The 2010 spy swap "all seemed like some kind of bizarre retro-throwback, a hangover from the past, a last hurrah of people who could not quite let go of the Cold War," writes Corera.

But it explains Putin.

"A group of our undercover agents was betrayed," Putin said in 2010. "Just imagine what it means to speak a foreign language as a native tongue, to give up one's relatives and not even be able to attend their funerals. Think about it! A person spends his life serving the homeland, and then some bastard betrays him."

This is not a man who forgives and forgets. In 2018, one of the spies Russia had released, Sergei Skripal, was poisoned on a park bench in Salisbury, England. He narrowly survived the attack, which Britain blamed on Russia.

Corera cites several key moments in Putin's evolution. In 2013, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the military's chief of the general staff, outlined a new era of warfare using "political, economic, informational, humanitarian and other non-military measures." This "hybrid warfare" got its first big test during Russia's 2014 invasion of Ukraine.

"By 2014 Russia saw itself engaged in an ongoing conflict with the West - one below the threshold of war and fought with spies, hackers and information," Corera writes. "One side was engaged in this conflict - the other had not even realized it had begun."

With hindsight, the sirens were wailing well before the 2016 U.S. election. Yet American politicians, the media and the public aided the Russian project at every step. Trump supporters flocked to a fake "Florida for Trump" Facebook account and enthusiastically attended real-life rallies. The U.S. media energetically dug into the leaked Democratic Party emails. Republicans and Democrats squabbled throughout the Robert Mueller investigation.

Corera doesn't dwell on President Trump's response to Russia. Rather, he indicts the United States and the West for a collective reaction that was underwhelming for two decades. And he neatly sums up what the 2016 interference means for 2020: "It would also create an image of a Russian intelligence operation that was actually more powerful and coordinated than the often messy reality. From being barely aware of Russian activity (in 2016), people would start to see its hidden hand everywhere. Russian ghosts would start to haunt the American body politic."

---

Myre is a national security correspondent for NPR. He was based in Moscow from 1996 to 1999.
(Newser)  Thailand is trying a new tactic in its battle against the new coronavirus: banning the sale of alcoholic beverages to try to curb irresponsible socializing. With bars already ordered closed, a number of provinces, as well as the capital of Bangkok, have temporarily outlawed the sale of beer, wine, and spirits. Bangkok's ban, which started Friday and runs until April 20, had the unintended effect of creating long lines at stores as people stocked up in the few hours between the ban's announcement and its going into effect. Authorities have been concerned about partying during the Thai new year festival known as Songkran, the AP reports. It is Thailands biggest holiday and is notorious for merrymaking and drinking, which typically contributes to a spike in traffic deaths. The official April 13-15 holiday has already been postponed.

story continues below

Thailand has confirmed 2,473 coronavirus cases and 33 deaths. At least initially, a number of the cases were linked to parties at Bangkok nightspots. Most surveys put Thai alcohol consumption a bit above the global average and far below the volumes of Eastern Europe. The president of Thai Alcohol Beverage Business Association said drinkers will find what they need in a less managed way, such as driving to areas where there are no bans or buying from smugglers, hoarders and underground producers. Other countries have instituted at least limited bans on alcohol sales during the pandemic, including Barbados, Grenada, Colombia, Mexico, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Greenland. In South Africa and Greenland, officials said the ban was imposed partly to try to curb domestic violence that might rise while people are cooped up in close quarters.

(Read more coronavirus stories.)
NORWALK  City property owners may have until Oct. 1 to pay their taxes.

The Finance and Claims Committee of the Common Council voted Thursday night to bring a real estate tax extension proposal in front of the full council next week.

The committee had several options based on an executive order from Gov. Ned Lamont outlining possibilities for taxpayer relief during the coronavirus crisis. But the committee voted to forward this proposal because it seemed most appropriate, said committee member Tom Keegan.

We adopted the position...that made the most sense and gave the most relief to the most people, Keegan said.

City taxes are normally due July 1, but taxpayers have until Aug. 1 to pay them without penalty. This year, theyll have until Oct. 1. However, if you pay after that, Keegan said, you would pay the late percentage rate dating back to July 1.

Keegan said anyone whose taxes are paid in escrow, which is about 50 percent of residential taxpayers in Norwalk, will still have them paid on time by the bank.

The spirit was to make this as easy on the property owners as possible, Keegan said. Were all going through enough right now. Lets not add to the burden.

The committee also voted to move forward on a new proposed budget calendar due to meeting delays related to the coronavirus. The new calendar would have the Common Council approving the citys capital and operating budget by May 12 and the Board of Estimate and Taxation approving tax rates on June 1.

The full Common Council will meet via Zoom video conference to vote on the proposals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

erin.kayata@hearstmediact.com
US Navy Capt. Brett Crozier.

US Navy/MCS Seaman Alexander Williams

The US Navy has not ruled out reinstating Capt. Brett Crozier, the former commanding officer of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.

"I am taking no options off the table," Adm. Michael Gilday, the Navy's top officer, told The Associated Press.

Gilday said he was particularly interested in Crozier's motivations for emailing a letter that was leaked to the media.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The US Navy has not ruled out reinstating Capt. Brett Crozier, the former commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt who was fired for his handling of a coronavirus outbreak, according to the service's top officer.

Adm. Michael Gilday, the chief of naval operations, told The Associated Press he hadn't decided against reinstating Crozier. "I am taking no options off the table," Gilday said.

Gilday said he hadn't yet spoken with Crozier, who is under quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus, but that he was particularly interested in the captain's motivations for emailing a bombshell letter that was eventually leaked to the media.

Crozier was relieved of command on April 2, days after he emailed a four-page letter to at least 20 people warning about a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship.

The letter was eventually leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, which published its contents on March 31. It was not immediately clear how the letter was leaked, but Navy leaders said they recently completed an investigation into the matter.

USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Jackie Hart/US Navy

Thomas Modly, the acting Navy secretary at the time, scrutinized Crozier's decision to email the letter to the group and accused him of circumventing the service's chain of command.

"I have no doubt in my mind that Capt. Crozier did what he thought was in the best interest and well-being of his crew," Modly said last week. "Unfortunately, it did the opposite."

Story continues

Modly later traveled to Guam, where the USS Theodore Roosevelt is in port, to address the ship's roughly 4,800 crew members. Modly's 15-minute profanity-laced speech about Crozier's actions was later leaked and widely criticized by former Navy leaders, the ship's crew, and lawmakers.

Modly apologized for his remarks and resigned on Tuesday.

Reinstating Crozier would likely be an unprecedented move by the Navy. Previous Navy commanding officers have had their firings expunged from their service records, but reinstatement to command a ship has rarely, if ever, taken place. An online petition seeking to "reward" the captain for "asking for help regarding the safety of his crew" had more than 315,000 signatures as of Thursday.

More than 2,300 of the carrier's crew members have been evacuated, and many of them are under quarantine in hotels in Guam. About 416 crew members had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Thursday.

Read the original article on Business Insider
New Delhi, April 10 : The Congress on Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to impress upon the US not to terminate the H1B visa of Indians living in the country.

Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that after compromising on 'India First' policy in the HCQ drug "climbdown", the Modi government is again failing to secure the safety and livelihood of Indians in the US.

"The sword of H-1B visa job termination looms large on the heads of an estimated 75,000 Indians, with the United States giving them only a 60-day period to find a new job in case of a lay-off. There are 309,986 Indians working on H-1B visa in the USA, and given the COVID-19 lockdown in the two countries, it is logistically impossible for them to come back to India," said Surjewala The party said in a statement that when the COVID-19 pandemic was raising its ugly head in India, the government was holding public felicitation for the US President and his entourage.

"Time for the Prime Minister to ensure that our soft power of 'Namaste Trump' converts into fair treatment of H-1B visa holders in the United States," said Surjewala.

"The US has put American citizens on temporary paid leave or allowed them to work for reduced hours in the wake of the virus; Indian H1B workers, on the contrary, will have to work for 40-hours per week on a payroll and be paid nothing less but the same am sount." The party said that 60,000 H-1B visas are generally granted to Indians each year which have already been on a steady decline for the last few years; where rejection rates have gone up as high as 53% for some top IT companies.

The economic slowdown is becoming more and more extreme during lockdown. The IT sector contributes nearly 8 per cent to the GDP, where the US accounts for two-third of the IT Services exports, the party noted.

Almost 3 lakh jobs, which have been one of the highest contributors to India's growth, are at risk and the most affected would be the one, whose visa renewal is past due or would be in the coming months, it said.

"Most organizations are considering terminating the contract unless Modi government intervenes with the help of the Trump administration in finding a solution," said Surjewala.
T he World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned countries to be cautious about lifting restrictions introduced to curb the spread of coronavirus.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference on Friday that "lifting restrictions could lead to a deadly resurgence".

He said there had been a "welcome slowing" of epidemics in some European countries - Italy, Germany, Spain and France.

However, he added that there has now been an "alarming acceleration" elsewhere including community transmission in 16 countries of Africa.

Wuhan lifts Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures 1 /20 Wuhan lifts Coronavirus lockdown - In pictures A medical worker from China's Jilin Province, in red, embraces a colleague from Wuhan as she prepares to return home at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP A pilot leans out of the cockpit window to wave goodbye before the China Eastern airlines flight, the first domestic flight from Wuhan that resumed service after travel restrictions to leave the capital of Hubei province and China's epicentre of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak were lifted, takes off from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport to Sanya Reuters A medical staff member from Jilin Province tears up during a ceremony before leaving as Tianhe Airport is reopened in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Passengers wearing face masks and suits to protect against the spread of new coronavirus walk past a display screen at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport i AP A passenger wearing a face mask is seen in the counter at the Tianhe Airport after it was reopened today AFP via Getty Images People wearing protective clothing and masks arrive at Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Travellers wearing protective gear ride an escalator at Wuchang Railway Station before travel restrictions to leave Wuhan Reuters Medical staff from Jilin Province (in red) hug nurses from Wuhan after working together during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak during a ceremony before leaving as Tianhe Airport is reopened in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images Medical workers from China's Jilin Province react as they prepare to return home at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport AP A man wearing protective gear gets through security check at Wuchang Railway Station before travel restrictions to leave Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and China's epicentre of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak are lifted Reuters A woman wearing a face mask to protect against the spread of coronavirus puts a poncho on a child at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan AP Bullet trains at a station in preparation for resuming operations after authorities lifted a more than two-month ban on outbound travel, in Wuhan AFP via Getty Images People wait for the train at the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan as travel restrictions for leaving the city, the epicentre of a global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, are lifted and people will be allowed to leave the city via road, rail and air Reuters A train staff member stands on a high-speed train at Wuhan's Hankou Railway Station Reuters People wait for the train at the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan as travel restrictions for leaving the city, the epicentre of a global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, are lifted and people will be allowed to leave the city via road, rail and air Reuters

Nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and more than 92,000 deaths have been reported to the Geneva-based agency, Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Yemen reported its first case of the novel coronavirus on Friday as aid groups braced for an outbreak in a country where war has shattered health systems and spread hunger and disease.

Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was particularly concerned by the large number of infections reported among health workers.

WHO issued the warning at a press conference on Friday / AP

"In some countries reports of up to 10 per cent of health workers being infected, this is an alarming trend," he said.

A new UN supply task force will coordinate and scale up the procurement and distribution of protective gear, lab diagnostics and oxygen to the countries that need it most.

"Every month we will need to ship at least 100 million medical masks and gloves, up to 25 million N-95 respirators, gowns and face shields, up to 2.5 million diagnostic tests and large quantities of oxygen concentrators and other equipment for clinical care," he said.

The World on Coronavirus lockdown 1 /60 The World on Coronavirus lockdown Getty Images A UK government public health campaign is displayed in Piccadilly Circus Reuters Chinese paramilitary police and security officers wear face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus as they stand guard outside an entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing AP A usually busy 42nd Street is seen nearly empty in New York AFP via Getty Images Bondi Beach, Australia Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images View of the illuminated statue of Christ the Redeemer that reads "Thank you" as Archbishop of the city of Rio de Janeiro Dom Orani Tempesta performs a mass in honor of Act of Consecration of Brazil and tribute to medical workers amidst the Coronavirus (COVID - 19) pandemic Getty Images Rome AFP via Getty Images An Indian man paddles his bicycle in front of a mural depicting the globe covered in a mask, as India remains under an unprecedented lockdown over the highly contagious coronavirus Getty Images Aerial view of the empty 9 de Julio avenue in Buenos Aires in Argentina AFP via Getty Images A view of an empty Grand Canal Reuters Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Central cemetery in Bogota, Columbia AFP via Getty Images The facade of the Palacio de Lopez (seat of the government palace) AFP via Getty Images Miami, Florida AFP via Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Simon Bolivar park in Bogota AFP via Getty Images An LAPD patrol car drives through Venice Beach Boardwalk AP Venice Beach, California Getty Images Los Angeles, California Getty Images Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images Many shops stand shuttered on the Venice Beach boardwalk Getty Images Empty escalators are seen at a deserted train station during morning rush hour after New South Wales began shutting down non-essential businesses Reuters A nearly empty Times Square in New York AFP via Getty Images Caracas AFP via Getty Images Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador AFP via Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Midland Park in Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Civic Square at lunchtimein Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A policeman rides his motorcycle wearing a face mask in front of a closed shopping mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina AFP via Getty Images Florida Keys AP The historic Channel 2 Bridge closed to fishermen, bikers and pedestrians in Florida Keys AP The Beach on Scenic Gulf Drive near Seascape Resort in south Walton County, Florida sits empty of tourists AP Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images A deserted Rajpath leading to India Gate in New Delhi AFP via Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images Empty roads are pictured following the lockdown by the government amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Kathmandu, Nepal Reuters An empty New York Subway car i AFP via Getty Images The empty pedestrian zone is seen in the city of Cologne, western Germany, AFP via Getty Images Place de la Comedie in the city of Montpellier , southern France AFP via Getty Images An empty street in Kuwait city AFP via Getty Images A building is covered by the Portuguese message: "Coronavirus: take precaution" over empty streets in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, AP A general view shows an empty street after a curfew was imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters Parliament of Canada is pictured with empty street during morning rush hour AFP via Getty Images A near empty beach on Southend seafront in England PA Near empty Keswick town centre in Cumbria, England PA

The World Food Programme - the UN agency that handles logistics - will deploy eight 747 aircraft, 8 medium-sized cargo aircraft and several smaller passenger planes to transport the goods and aid workers needed in the operation which will have 8 hubs, he added.

Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged donors to contribute to WFP's operation which will cost an estimated $280 million, while the cost of procuring supplies will be "much greater".

Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme said the world owed a tremendous debt to front-line health workers, and it was vital they got the right protective gear.

Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus said no country was immune from the pandemic, which was spreading panic around the world. Cases have recently been found in some parts of Japan with no known links to other outbreaks.

"From this pandemic we have to try to learn what the gaps are, this is a message even for the developed countries. Across the board you see a lack of preparedness of the public health system," Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
New York City residents are struggling with social distancing as they are being forced to rethink how they navigate still-crowded subways while commuting to their essential jobs.

Locals let trains that look too crowded pass by. If they decide to board, they search for emptier cars to ride in. Then they size up fellow passengers before picking the safest spot they can find to sit or stand for commutes sometimes lasting an hour or more.

This quiet calculus is being performed daily by people who must keep working during the coronavirus pandemic and say the social distancing required is nearly impossible to practice in the enclosed spaces of New York Citys public transit system.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that people should stay 6 feet (2 meters) apart. But even though ridership has plummeted in the city, making jam-packed trains and buses the exception rather than the rule, passengers aren't always guaranteed even 6 inches (15 centimeters).

An MTA worker (left) wears personal protective equipment at Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza station on April 7, while trains are still full of people despite the stay-at-home mandate

Subway riders are seen here wearing a variety of personal protective equipment on April 7

'Everybody is very scared,' Shaderra Armstead, a health care clinic receptionist who rides the subway to work, said this week. 'Theyre trying to keep their distance from each other, but its impossible.'

'It makes me not want to go on the train at all,' she said. 'Im nervous every day, but I still have to go.'

Riders on some trains in Brooklyn and Queens this week sat or stood in some cars within a few feet of one another, some with their faces uncovered, while keeping their distance from homeless people camped out. At the same time, there are images showing subway platforms mostly empty at times theyd typically be crowded.

Transit officials say theyre working harder than ever to protect passengers and their own workers amid a pandemic that has killed more than 7,000 New Yorkers in just a few weeks, mostly in the city and its suburbs. Several suburban counties in New Jersey and Connecticut have also registered significant numbers of deaths.

Riders are seen here wearing masks and gloves boarding a relatively empty subway on April 7

Subway riders are seen attempting to maintain social distance while still surrounded by people

Patrons board a train while wearing masks at the Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue station April 7

The virus has also taken the lives of 41 employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city's buses and subway as well as many commuter trains. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, but, for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and lead to death.

'We want as little social density and as much social distance as we can get,' MTA Chairman Patrick Foye said in a radio interview Tuesday.

Foye, who also got the virus but is doing fine, called scenes of crowding on trains 'episodic' and said safety measures are working well enough that complaints by riders about overcrowding have dried up in recent days.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday on WNYC radio that he doesn't think the issue has been resolved.

'I dont understand how he can say that when I have, all through the week, heard these reports,' the Democrat said.

He said he will ask Foye whether trains can run more frequently or be supplemented with buses. The mayor said he has been sending police officers to particularly crowded stations to space people out and tell them not to get on crowded trains.

Foye said in an email that the MTA 'is aggressively monitoring any reported crowding issues' and has deployed police officers to assist in those efforts.

The challenges arent unique to New York. In Philadelphia, where at least three transit workers have died from COVID-19, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority said it will move to a 'lifeline' service Thursday, closing some stations and limiting rail and bus service to core routes.

An MTA conductor wears personal protective equipment while pulling into a station April 7

Riders are scattered around the platform, waiting for the train at Queens' Queensboro Plaza

London, Paris and South Korea have also struggled to keep public transport running.

In London, where ridership is down as much as 93% from the same point last year, images posted on social media have shown some trains crowded at rush hour since fewer are running because of staff illnesses. Fourteen London transport staff have died from the virus, including eight bus drivers.

In New York, too, use of all forms of mass transit has plummeted.

Ridership on the subways Monday was down 92% compared to a normal weekday. The commuter rail lines serving Long Island had 97% fewer passengers. On Metro-North, which serves the city's northern suburbs, including those in Connecticut, ridership was down 95%. On MTA buses, it is down more than 60%.

The agency has cut back bus service by about 25%, reduced the number of trains running on weekdays on the Long Island Rail Road from around 740 to around 500 and on Metro-North from 713 to 424.

While subways and buses are all far less crowded than normal, there are still moments that are too close for comfort in the age of coronavirus.

Waiting for a Manhattan-bound train on the Queens platform, Ebrahima Sumareh said he searches for the least crowded subway car he can find before boarding.

'Im scared for people to touch me, to get close to me,' said Sumareh, a railroad quality control clerk. 'Im scared for other people too.'

Hes also worried some of his fellow riders might not be following the distancing protocols in their lives, not just on the trains, he said. 'New Yorkers, we dont listen.'

To keep trains from getting too crowded, New York's MTA says it has sought to keep up normal service on the most-used routes. There are also police directing people on subway platforms to less crowded sections of trains. Riders are urged to cover their faces and to report situations where social distancing isnt being observed.

The agency has posted signs on some trains that read: 'Essential Worker, yes, ok to ride. ... No - why are you even reading this? Go home.'

The MTA has sought to help protect employees by distributing 300,000 medical grade masks, 160,000 surgical masks, and 2.5 million pairs of gloves to its employees since March 1, Foye said.

Queens subway rider Bhargav Munagala said Tuesday that during his commute to his job as a project manager for a food packing and delivery service, he tries 'to give respect to the very important people' like nurses.

'Most of the people I look at now are tired,' while others act 'crazy,' he added. 'Thats New York.'
Hong Kong: Ships last HK passenger back home

The Security Bureau said today that the last Hong Kong resident who had contracted COVID-19 while aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship and was hospitalised in Japan has returned to Hong Kong.

Immigration Department staff that assisted Hong Kong residents in Japan have completed their mission and returned to Hong Kong as well.

In early February, a cluster of COVID-19 infection cases occurred on the Diamond Princess cruise docked in Yokohama.

Of some 3,700 passengers and crew, about 370 were from Hong Kong. Among the 712 confirmed COVID-19 cases associated with the cruise, 76 patients were Hong Kong residents who were hospitalised in Japan for isolation and treatment.

While three Hong Kong residents passed away, the remaining 73 patients returned to Hong Kong or their places of residence after being discharged from the hospital.

As for other Hong Kong residents on board the cruise, the bureau noted that Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government arranged three flights, between February 19 and 23, to escort 193 of them back to the city.

Upon arrival, they were transferred to the quarantine centre at Chun Yeung Estate to undergo 14 days of quarantine.

Another 144 Hong Kong residents returned on their own via other flights, including 25 close contacts of the patients who had completed quarantine in Japan.

For those who returned to Hong Kong on their own and did not complete 14 days of quarantine in Japan, they were required to complete the remaining quarantine period at a quarantine centre.

Of the 231 cruise passengers admitted to the quarantine centre at Chun Yeung Estate, nine tested positive for COVID-19 and were sent to hospitals for isolation and treatment.

The Hong Kong SAR Government expressed profound condolences on the passing of the Hong Kong patients and its deepest sympathies to their families.

The SAR Government emphasised that the incident could not have been resolved smoothly without the staunch support of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in Japan and Japanese authorities.

The SAR Government also thanked Cathay Pacific Airways and the Airport Authority for their assistance, the bureau added.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Pope Francis delivers a prayer from the empty St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vatican on Friday announced that Francis will celebrate Mass for Palm Sunday, on April 5, Holy Thursday, on April 9 and Easter vigil and Easter Sunday on the weekend of April 11-12, all at the basilica's central altar. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (Image: AP)
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Coronavirus positive cases in India rises to 6,761; death toll 206

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Apr 10: The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the country rose to 206 and the number of cases climbed to 6,761 in the country on Friday registering a record jump of 896 cases in a 24-hour span, according to the Union Health Ministry.

However, a PTI tally of figures reported by various states as on Friday showed at least 7,510 cases and 238 deaths.

There has been a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, compared to the number of cases announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states.

Punjab on Friday, became the second state after Odisha, to extend the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown by another fortnight till 1 May, reported ANI.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry maintained that there is no community transmission of novel coronavirus in the country so far while urging people to follow lockdown norms and social distancing properly.

Responding to a question over an ICMR study which stated that 40 out of 104 people having severe acute respiratory infection and later tested positive for coronavirus did not have any recent international travel history or contact with any confirmed cases of the disease, senior official of the ministry Lav Agarwal asserted, "No community transmission has happened in the country so far. There is no need to panic." "If there would be, we would be first to tell you so as to alert people," the joint secretary in the ministry of health said at the daily media briefing.
My wish is to create an archive in Saint-Denis de La Reunion so that historians can know what happened. Then I hope to be able to turn the page. Standing in front of a large cupboard full of archives, on the 8th floor of a council flat in the centre of Gueret, Simon A-Poi expresses frustration and weariness.

He is one of the 2,015 Reunionese minors who were transplanted, according to the official term, to metropolitan France between 1962 and 1984. Aged between two and a half and 16 years old, these children and adolescents were orphaned, abandoned or taken from their families by court decision and had been taken into care by the very inadequate social services of this Indian Ocean island that belongs to France. They were sent 9,000 kilometres away from their homes to 83 departments of mainland France to counter the depopulation of rural areas, according to the main argument put forward at the time. Many of them landed in Gueret, prefecture of the Creuse department in the centre of France, hence they are commonly called Reunionnais de la Creuse.

Simon A-Poi arrived there in 1966, at the age of 12. He first had a long stay in the city hostel (now converted into a hospital). Then, like many of his transplanted comrades, he went back and forth between host families and the hostel in Gueret. In his eyes, he was finally lucky to find his passion, cooking, which he discovered as an apprentice and then became a cook in a medical centre near Gueret.

Judicial complaint fails

At the beginning of the 1960s, the less obvious objective of this French policy was to reduce the demographic pressure on Reunion Island, where health, social and economic conditions were difficult. The person leading the policy was Michel Debre, the islands MP and former prime minister, who approved departures to France through the Bureau for Migration in Overseas Departments (BUMIDOM). The Departmental Directorate of Health and Social Affairs (DDASS) promised struggling families a better education for their children and their return each year for a visit. In reality, many of these children went on to lose their family ties and the majority never set foot on their native island again. We have been deprived of our family, our history and our identity, says Valerie Andanson, who was one of them.

A judicial complaint was filed against the French State by Jean-Jacques Martial, transplanted in 1966, for kidnapping, sequestration and deportation of minors. The publication in 2003 of his autobiography, Une enfance volee, and the billion euros he demanded from the State brought attention to this forgotten page of French history. The court case also encouraged other victims to organize, seek reparation and inform the public about their history. The associations Les Reunionnais de la Creuse and Rassin anler (Uprooted) were created in the 2000s. About 50 plaintiffs brought complaints seeking financial reparations. However, between 2006 and 2007, these complaints were thrown out, and in 2011 the European Court of Human Rights also deemed there was no case.

Snapshots of Reunionese children transplanted in France between 1962 and 1984.  FEDD

Hope returns through Parliament

Then, at some point, there was this alignment of planets, says historian Gilles Gauvin. On February 18, 2014, a resolution was adopted at the French National Assembly, relating to Reunionese children placed in metropolitan France in the 1960s and 1970s. The resolution says that the State failed in its moral responsibility towards these wards of the nation, urges that historical knowledge of this issue be deepened and disseminated and that everything possible be done to enable the victims to reconstruct their personal history.

The Federation of People Uprooted from Overseas Departments and Regions (FEDD), which groups various associations of victims, then put forward five demands: recognition of the crime against children; financial reparations (the victims hope to follow the example of Switzerland, which allocated 300 million euros to victims of abusive placements before 1981); means to be able to travel to La Reunion and be housed at State expense; access to victims personal files for all members of their families; and the repatriation to La Reunion of the bodies of deceased victims.

Hope returned when, on 13 February 2016 Minister for Overseas Territories George Pau-Langevin announced the creation of a Commission of Inquiry and Historical Research. Sociology lecturer Philippe Vitale, a specialist in the subject and co-author of Tristes tropiques de la Creuse, was invited to the ministry on 2 January 2016 and appointed president of this commission, which includes three other experts: Wilfrid Bertile, a geography graduate and Member of Parliament for Reunion Island; Marie-Prosper Eve, a professor of modern history; and Gilles Gauvin, a historian from Reunion Island.

For two years, the private archives of Aide Sociale a lEnfance (ASE) on Reunion Island were consulted and interviews were conducted with former victims who spoke for the first time about their history. On 7 November 2017, Emmanuel Macron, newly elected President of the Republic, addressed a letter to the representatives of the associations, acknowledging the fault of the State, which had aggravated the distress of the children. Finally, on 10 April 2018, the Commission issued a 700-page report entitled Study of the transplantation of minors from Reunion Island to France. It established the number of minors transplanted at that time as 2,015 (1,800 of whom are still alive) and recognised that their suffering and trauma had been increased by uprooting in a post-colonial context. It also reveals the shortcomings of ASE, which from the 1960s to the early 1980s had neither the same principles, nor the same organisation, nor the same view of the child as it does today. Addressing the main stakeholders when the report was submitted, Minister for Overseas Territories Annick Girardin said that the document was a starting point to help you heal in the present and look to the future with peace of mind.

Still waiting for reparations

Bronze sculpture installed in 2013 at Saint-Denis de la Reunion airport, as a tribute to the Reunionese children torn away from their island.  FEDD

Two years later, however, almost nothing has been done in the way of reparations. The report recommended 25 measures, but they have not yet been implemented. They include enhanced psychological support, access to personal documents in the archives of Reunion Island, assistance for adopted minors to recover their original identity, additional support for the repatriation of bodies to Reunion Island, and the creation of a memorial centre on Reunion Island. The victims are also calling for a day of remembrance and a resource centre in Gueret and Paris, along the lines of the Maison dIzieu, which is a memorial to the Shoah.

The only measure taken concerns funding for an air ticket and temporary accommodation on the island. This is a mobility grant, financed by the Ministry of Overseas Territories and managed by the Union of Family Associations of Reunion, which, according to the Ministry, provides for 90% of the cost of a plane ticket to Reunion and 95% of the cost of accommodation on the island for the first three nights. This measure has been in place since 2017, before the publication of the Commissions report.

Philippe Vitale, who chaired the Commission, sees this as a partial failure. He, who has devoted twenty years of his life to this issue, feels cheated and does not understand why the State has not acted. These recommendations [of the Commission] gave guidelines to reduce peoples suffering, so that they could make peace with this painful past. But two years have passed.

Reunions elected representatives must take this up

On November 14, 2019, victims from the FEDD gathered in Paris for a press conference, urging the government to finally take into account their demands. According to their new lawyer, Elisabeth Rabesandratana, their pressure will be more political than legal. I made them understand it makes no sense to attack the State. Many have broken lives and a broken judicial past, says the lawyer, who specializes in criminal law and has experience in international criminal tribunals.

In the face of criticism, the ministry pleads, among other things, for the time needed for in-depth coordination work with the other public services concerned, exchanges with other institutional players, and the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of Overseas Territories and the departmental council of Reunion Island (signed in April 2018). The rehabilitation of biological and adoptive families, the creation of a resource centre, the improvement of travel and accommodation arrangements and psychological support are, according to the Ministry, new requests made by victims at a meeting at the end of November 2019. Another meeting had been scheduled for April 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

For Rabesandratana, however, the time for reparations has come and one of the plaintiffs main weapons is public opinion. The elected representatives of Reunion Island should take up this issue, she argues. For Valerie Andanson, spokesperson for the FEDD, the real battle is just beginning.
LYNDHURST, Ohio -- City Council held its first-ever online meeting Monday (April 6) via Zoom, then made the meeting available to residents on Facebook Live.

In that meeting, it placed a moratorium on the use of reusable bags at retail stores.

Mayor Patrick Ward said he had difficulty hearing what was being said by all of the meetings participants, and was made known of similar comments from residents viewing the meeting on their computers.

Ward was physically at the meeting, as was Vice Mayor Joseph Marko, Law Director John Luskin and Assistant Clerk of Council Kelly Miller. All were spaced apart, in keeping with social distancing practices during the coronavirus pandemic. Residents watching live online got one camera angle, which came from Wards iPad computer set facing the council dais.

We used Zoom (for the April 6 meeting) so that the council members could attend the meeting, and then experimented with broadcasting it on Facebook Live, Ward said. I think our next meeting is going to be totally Zoom, so residents who are interested (in viewing) would send Kelly a note and she would send them an invitation, and then the host (the vice mayor) would manage the meeting.

Ward said he anticipates that the city will buy a yearlong Zoom subscription -- a step up from the one-time use of April 6 -- which would allow each council member, and residents, to better see and hear everyone speaking. He said that, with the Zoom subscription, it may also be possible to stream the meeting on Facebook Live.

The council meeting, and the Board of Control meeting that regularly precedes it, took a little more than a half-hour to complete. The citys first streamed meeting can be seen here.

As for the agenda, council approved, without dissent, legislation that exempts Lyndhurst retailers from having to use reusable bags. The resolution also placed a moratorium on the enforcement of Cuyahoga Countys disposable bag ban that County Council adopted in May 2019.

It further prohibits the use of reusable bags and requires that certain business establishments, such as grocery stores, collect and recycle disposable plastic bags.

Recent evidence shows that the coronavirus can live for days on surfaces, including reusable bags, which can become filthy without regular washing between uses.

Several governmental entities around the country sought to go green in the past year by forbidding the use of disposable plastic bags.

Some government entities, such as the state of New Hampshire, have since moved to prohibit the use of reusable shopping bags.

The Lyndhurst resolution will be in effect until the current coronavirus emergency ends, or until Jan. 1.

Marko shared an incident that he said happened to him a week earlier while he was at an unnamed grocery store, which influenced him to help draw up the resolution. Marko said the person in line in front of him took items from reusable bags and placed them on the conveyor belt for scanning, then placed them back into the reusable bags.

Marko said the cashier then placed his items on the same belt. At which time, he said, I decided I was not going to purchase them because of the reusable bags that had gone before me.

"So, I thought in the interest of public health, and of not spreading COVID-19 and prohibiting community spread, I would talk to local retailers.

Marko said he spoke with the owner of Lyndhursts Produce Place and the manager at Giant Eagle at Legacy Village. Both, he said, told him they thought prohibiting reusable bags would be a great idea.

He said that the grocers believed they would hear arguments from those who do not want to use plastic bags.

Marko, Ward and Luskin worked out the resolutions language.

I think we can really make an impact with this legislation, and I did notice over the weekend there were retailers voluntarily prohibiting the use of reusable bags, Marko said.

Summer recreation

Ward said he has not yet taken the step of closing the citys pool or other recreational attractions for the summer.

We have moved back the opening of the pool from May 23 to May 30, he said. But we can wait to make a decision on opening the pool, because we have to fill it anyway.

Ward said a coating product is being put on the pools floor and that water must be in the pool to cure the product. He said a decision on whether summer recreational facilities will be closed will come sometime in May.

Weekly consultations

Ward said he joins Hillcrest area mayors weekly in getting updates from Hillcrest Hospital President Dr. Richard Parker about such things as hospital capacity, coronavirus testing and logistics as communities deal with the virus.

It is so appreciated, Ward said of Parkers updates. I am confident that were going to be able to address what comes at us. I am confident that our medical partners are prepared and capable and well-supplied. It gives us a great deal of comfort to have these tools at our beck and call.

Ward said some Lyndhurst city employees have been tested at Hillcrest for the virus, but none have tested positive.

Read more from the Sun Messenger.
The Shiv Sena on Friday took



objection to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari holding a meeting with administrative officials on steps being taken to curb the spread of coronavirus, saying "parallel governance" will create confusion.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana', the ruling party said in the prevailing "war-like situation" (a refernce to the coronavirus crisis), there should be a single centre of command to give directives to the administration.

"The Prime Minister at the Centre and Chief Minister in the state (should have that authority). Even at the video conference meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, the Shiv Sena and NCP president Sharad Pawar told Modi the entire country was united under his leadership to fight the virus," the Marathi daily said.

ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray and Pawar had attended the meeting from Mumbai.

While lauding Thackeray for his handling of the coronavirus situation, Pawar apprised Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah about the Governor's role (in holding the meeting with officials), the editorial said.

"There was no bitterness. If someone runs a parallel government, it would lead to confusion. If a senior leader like Pawar feels this way, then the matter should be taken seriously," it said.

The newspaper said the Governor is known for his zeal for work as in the past he has been an RSS pracharak and a BJP worker.

"The state has got a Governor who does not follow any time schedule and people experienced this when they saw Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar being sworn in early morning (last year)," the Sena mouthpiece quipped.

The editorial also slammed the opposition BJP for frequently going to the Raj Bhavan to criticise the Sena-NCP- Congress government.

Earlier this week, Koshyari held a meeting through video conferencing with district collectors and divisional commissioners.

The meeting discussed availability of medical facilities and food items for labourers, migrants and homeless persons, who have been badly affected by the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown.

It also discussed measures for sale of agriculture produce, involvement of NGOs in relief efforts and tracking people who returned from the religious gathering held in Nizamuddin, Delhi, last month, among other issues.

The meeting was attended by divisional commissioners, additional commissioner of BMC and collectors of ten districts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Over two months since it reported its first case of the novel coronavirus on Feb. 21, Lebanon has shut down all nonessential institutions, including Beiruts international airport, and has put in place nightly curfews and a host of other measures to encourage people to stay home. On April 9, the Lebanese Cabinet extended the nationwide lockdown until April 26. The approach so far appears to be yielding some positive results  the number of new confirmed daily cases of coronavirus infections has started to fall since late March, and overall numbers have remained manageable compared with other countries both in the Middle East and Europe.

This recent dip has given researchers and medical professionals cautious hope that the countrys health care system capacity may be able to weather the coronavirus crisis without being overwhelmed. But significant challenges around limited medical supplies and testing remain, making it difficult to ascertain the full scope of the outbreak, where the peak will take place and whether there will be a surge in new infections down the line.

In addition, although the measures the Lebanese government has implemented have been praised by many medical practitioners, critics of the states handling of certain elements of the crisis have emerged, and  according to sources  a lack of trust in the governments ability to provide reliable information runs deep for some in the health care sector.

I wouldnt say that we are flattening the curve; I would rather say that we are delaying the peak, Walid Ammar, director general at Lebanons Ministry of Public Health, told Al-Monitor.

As of April 10, the total number of coronavirus cases in Lebanon sits at 609. Ammar stated that while he remains cautious about interpreting existing data, the ministry is confident they are capturing the majority of cases, citing the relatively low number of people with severe coronavirus symptoms who have been hospitalized. According to him, this number is currently no more than 60.

Ammar also stated that Lebanons total capacity for coronavirus patients is currently at 576 beds, 234 intensive care units and 263 ventilators, claiming that these numbers would increase by 50% at the end of the month. He said he is comfortable with this capacity given the current number of cases.

Shadi Saleh, founding director of the Global Health Institute at the American University of Beirut, said he felt encouraged by the recent numbers.

Overall I am optimistic that in Lebanon we will not reach a stage where the health care system will be overwhelmed, he told Al-Monitor.

The Global Health Institute produced a projection March 26 estimating how many confirmed positive cases Lebanons health care system could bear before being overwhelmed, and given existing government measures, estimated that the number of coronavirus cases would approach system capacity by the last week of June. But Saleh stated that because of the most recent developments, this date may, in fact, arrive even later. He hypothesized that the change in seasons may mean the outbreak will temporarily subside by then.

Nevertheless, not everyone in the medical community has the same outlook. Fatima al-Sayah, a Lebanese public health researcher at the University of Alberta in Canada, praised the governments early response to the viral outbreak, but stated that the Ministry of Public Health has not provided all the necessary estimates to make a clear determination about the future of the outbreak in Lebanon. Unlike Ammar, who estimated that the total number of real cases is only 200 or 300 more than the confirmed count, Sayahs analysis of Lebanons death rate suggested instead that Lebanon is under-reporting by a factor of three to five, putting the number of total cases in the thousands.

There is a sense that there will be a surge at some point, she said about views she has encountered among Lebanons medical community, but they have no idea when.

The small number of cases that we have been seeing for the last week or so could be a reflection of the effectiveness of containment measures or insufficient testing; the truth is probably somewhere in between, Sayah told Al-Monitor, adding, Without expanding testing capacity, its difficult to evaluate the growth of cases.

Firass Abiad, CEO of Rafik Hariri University Hospital where the first coronavirus cases in Lebanon have been treated, agreed that more testing was needed. He said there are several black holes for testing in Lebanon, which include communities living in refugee camps, prisons and rural areas.

According to Ammar, 550 tests are given daily in Lebanon, but these are being prioritized for high-risk individuals and community screening is not yet taking place. Public Health Minister Hamad Hassan stated on April 7 that the rate of testing would reach 1,000 polymerase chain reaction tests per day next week, but Ammar said he hopes to see this number rise to 2,000 soon. Citing a new cluster of cases discovered in the mountain town of Bsharri in north Lebanon on April 7, Abiad went further and wrote on Twitter that the rate of testing should increase to 2,500 per day.

Ammar said the largest obstacle facing Lebanon in the ministrys view is the availability of reagents for testing, swabs and personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical workers during the crisis. According to Ziad Rahal, CEO of Rahal Akkar Hospital in Halba in north Lebanon, such shortages are present across the country.

I can say that in all of Lebanon, we have a shortage of PPEs in the private sector, Rahal told Al-Monitor.

Martine Orio, general manager of the Hotel Dieu de France Hospital in Beirut, cited overpriced PPEs and masks as a potentially major problem for the hospital going forward, as has been the case in other parts of the world.

As far as now, we can face the epidemic, Orio told Al-Monitor, adding, But it could be a problem if the prices increase more and more or if we have no way to find supplies.

According to a March 24 report from Human Rights Watch, throughout the coronavirus outbreak, Lebanons health system has been suffering from a chronic shortage of imported supplies and a lack of funds as a result of the countrys economic and fiscal woes. These inadequacies have left many health care workers at risk of infection, and many said they have had to go without pay.

We are talking maybe hospitals will shut down, maybe staff will resign because they are not getting paid, Rahal said of the potential effects of the outbreak on Lebanons health care system. He added, So I dont see that if we look more in the future and we have more severe patients without any plan that we can say that the health care sector will get back in shape at the right time.

Rahal also criticized the Lebanese governments lack of planning and its reactive attitude during the coronavirus crisis.

We cannot ask for hospitals every time theres a coming pandemic or an outbreak to build another building to receive the patients that might be at risk, because we have our own patients that need to be kept safe, he said.

Others have apparently gone further. According to Sayah, some professionals in the health care industry have told her they remain doubtful about the ability of the Lebanese state to provide accurate information.

There is an enormous lack of trust in the ministrys plan and the numbers being shared, she stated. This is not necessarily a reflection of the current government, but rather the long history of corrupt governance and lack of transparency by government officials, added Sayah.

Moving forward, despite recent numbers, little is totally clear about the future of the coronavirus outbreak in Lebanon. Rahal stated that in his view the most likely scenario is a continued, low-number outbreak that lasts for two to three months, while Saleh cautioned that despite an eventual ebb in summer, Lebanon should prepare for a reemergence of the virus in fall. For Abiad, it is possible that the countrys most challenging period may still lie ahead.

I think we still have a lot of trying times coming ahead, and my biggest worry obviously is if we have a perfect storm made from both the health care challenges and the financial challenges on top of that. So by all means, I dont think that the worst part of this crisis is behind us, Abiad said.
Fourteen San Franciscans have died of COVID-19  officially. Thats the count from public health officials, but there could be more. And we may never know the real tally.

Residents of an Inner Richmond apartment building wonder whether their neighbor belongs in that grim tally.

Larry Kaplan, 70, was a longtime driver for Yellow Cab and made numerous airport runs during his shifts, picking up travelers arriving from all over the world.

In February, the fourth-floor resident developed a deep, loud, persistent cough that neighbors in other apartments heard for weeks. He complained to his neighbors that he couldnt play his beloved clarinet because his lungs were so weak. He said he was exhausted and looked it, too, but he couldnt afford to stop driving.

He said his doctor had diagnosed him with pneumonia, but he wasnt happy with his medical care and wasnt getting any better.

And then on March 19, Rob Geyer, a second-floor resident in the 10-unit building, heard his buzzer ring. It was the San Francisco police. They were there for a welfare check on Kaplan requested by a co-worker, but he wasnt responding to his own buzzer. Geyer let the police inside, and they entered Kaplans apartment.

They found him, Geyer said. They said hed probably been dead for about a week.

Now Playing: The top of Salesforce Tower is illuminated with artist Jim Campbells contribution in support of medical workers and first responders fighting Covid-19 with video of clapping hands and prayer flags. The artists Day for Night, video show atop the tower, changed at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, with clapping hands taking its place, then changed at 8:30 p.m. to prayer flags until 12:30 a.m. Video: Carlos Avila Gonzalez

Geyer said the police mentioned their concern that the coronavirus had struck down Kaplan. He lived alone except for his cat, which was taken to Animal Care and Control. His landlord had his belongings removed and hired a biohazard company to clean the unit. And Kaplans body remains at the medical examiners office, his cause of death still undetermined.

The office would say only this in an email: Larry Kaplan, San Francisco resident, passed 03/19/2020. This case is still open. There is no other information I can give you at this moment.

There is widespread speculation among doctors around the country that official death counts from COVID-19 are lower than the real number. There still arent nearly enough tests to determine who has the disease, and some people are dying of it without ever knowing they had it.

Dr. Allison Bond, an infectious disease fellow at UCSF, said there is absolutely concern that COVID-19 deaths have been undercounted, including here in San Francisco.

Testing has not been widespread enough to catch everybody, she said. Only recently have doctors understood that COVID-19 can be present with symptoms other than just a fever and cough, including gastrointestinal distress. Medical experts also just realized that people can have two infections at once  such as the regular flu and COVID-19  so testing positive for one doesnt rule out the presence of the other.

Asked whether she thinks San Franciscos official death count is accurate, Bond said, Its exceedingly unlikely.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

Rachael Kagan, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said local officials think its unlikely that our death counts are inaccurately low.

We have been testing hospitalized patients from the beginning who have respiratory symptoms but no other known cause, she said. We have been aggressive in our testing of those most at risk.

Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the Public Health Department, told a news conference that the medical examiners office is conducting postmortem coronavirus tests in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which call for testing of people who died suddenly who have a known contact with somebody whos been COVID-19-positive, he said.

In fact, the first COVID-19 death tracked in San Francisco on March 24 came from a postmortem test at the medical examiners office of a man in his 40s with other health conditions.

But not everybody who dies is known to have had contact with someone with the coronavirus, and not everybody will wind up at the medical examiners office for postmortem testing.

Bill Barnes, a spokesman for the city administrator, said the vast majority of people who die in San Francisco will have their death certificate signed by a doctor who can attest to the cause of death. Their bodies will be taken directly to funeral homes. About 5,800 people die in San Francisco in a given year  and of those, roughly 1,300 will be taken to the medical examiners office.

Those are often people who, like Kaplan, lived alone and died unattended or people whose death is suspicious.

The moral of the story is people should check on their neighbors, Barnes said. There are certainly people without support systems.

Kaplans neighbors would like to know how he passed  both to understand whether they were in proximity to the virus and because they cared about the man whod lived in the building since 1977 in that casual city kind of way.

When we saw him on the street or in the lobby in the building, we would talk, but we didnt hang out regularly or anything like that, Geyer said. He was pretty gregarious. He could talk for long periods of time  sometimes it was a little inconvenient even.

Kaplan years ago had scored a once-coveted, expensive medallion, the permit allowing a taxi to operate, but complained to his neighbors it was nearly useless after the explosion of Lyft and Uber. He told them he could barely swing it on his Social Security checks and cab income.

The buildings landlord, Gaspare Indelicato of Gaspares Pizza in the Richmond District, said Kaplan was a typical New Yorker  very friendly, but he kept to himself.

Indelicato said hes asked police repeatedly for his tenants cause of death, but hasnt gotten an answer.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Were as curious as everybody else, he said. Thank God everybodys safe in the building. Nobodys sick that we know about.

He said he told tenants that if they get sick and have trouble paying the rent, hell give them a reduction.

Kaplans nephew, Aaron Kaplan, a 51-year-old clinical psychologist in Oahu, Hawaii, said he knew his uncle hadnt been feeling well and had been diagnosed with pneumonia, but had no idea how bad the symptoms had gotten and was shocked to learn hed died.

Looking back, he probably had COVID, he said. He was too young to die.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

Aaron Kaplan said his father and uncle grew up in Queens, and Larry Kaplan hitchhiked with a girlfriend to San Francisco in his early 20s. Larry and his girlfriend split up, but his love affair with San Francisco lasted a lifetime. He took his nephew to lots of concerts  he especially loved jazz  and theyd always end the night at the now-shuttered Shimo Sushi on Clement Street, talking late into the night with its owner.

Aaron Kaplan said his uncle was a brilliant man whose apartment was stuffed with vinyl records and floor-to-ceiling books about philosophy, religion, spirituality and politics.

He was a voracious reader and studier of life. He could schmooze with anybody, Aaron Kaplan said. He was a real character, a New Yorker at heart.

Eliote Durham, another neighbor of Kaplans, said the two bonded over music  she plays the trumpet, and he played the clarinet. They went to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival together once, and he loved it.

Her mother, Carol Terrell, visited from Tennessee for several weeks in February and March and had a long chat with Kaplan on the staircase about his health problems.

He said he couldnt play the clarinet anymore because he didnt have any wind for it, and his chest hurt. He felt bad, really too exhausted to drive the cab, Terrell recalled. He knew he had to get back to the doctor, but he said he didnt feel like doing it that day. Maybe hed go another day.

She slipped a note under his door with recommendations for finding affordable health care, but she doesnt know whether he received it. Her daughter phoned her when she was back home to tell her Kaplans body had been found.

I was really sad that he died and that none of us knew it, Durham said. I didnt know it for a week.

Rest in peace, Mr. Kaplan.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Instagram: @heatherknightsf
Chennai: The medical expert group set up by the Tamil Nadu government has recommended that the lockdown be extended in the state by two more weeks, said a group member on Friday.

The government is expected to take a decision on the matter on Saturday at the Cabinet meeting.

The recommendation has come in the wake of increasing number of persons testing positive for coronavirus in the state and the 21-day lockdown period coming to an end on April 14.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K.Palaniswami on Friday held a meeting with the expert committee and other state government officials on preventing the virus spread and the treatment given to the patients.

Speaking to the reporters after the meeting, a member of the medical expert group contended that the impact of Coronavirus is on the rise despite various measures by the government and hence the group has recommended to extend the lockdown period by two more weeks.

With no downward trend seen in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus and a possibility of the state moving into the community spread stage (third stage) looming large, Tamil Nadu is yet to chart out any lockdown exit strategy.

On Thursday, Chief Minister Palaniswami said the state is now in the second stage of coronavirus spread and there is a possibility of moving into the third stage -- community transmission -- and steps are being taken to prevent that from happening.

Pointing at the rising number of positive cases in the state, hesaid the decision to extend the lockdown will be taken after looking at various aspects.

A 19-medical team has been constituted for the purpose. The group's advice, along with that of the 12 official groups set up earlier, will be taken into account by the government while deciding whether to extend the lockdown.

Officials also said the exit strategy is yet to be charted out as the number of people testing positive for coronavirus is on the rise and the curve has not gone flat yet.

They also pointed out that several Chief Ministers have asked the Central government to extend the lockdown period.
MELROSE, MA  "Foam up."

You'll hear those words early and often at MelroseWakefield Hospital. There's a foaming antibacterial station when you walk in either of the two entrances the hospital funnels people through  it's next to where the repurposed athletic trainers and physical therapists are handing out masks and asking if you've had a cough lately  then another station around every corner.

Dr. Steve Sbardella foams up at least a few dozen times a day. His knuckles are red. That's the least of his problems.

"It's COVID all the time," the hospital's chief medical officer said. "There's no break."

The hospital's bones don't try to hide it. Some hallways have been repurposed as makeshift wards, to put it nicely. They are littered with beds, a toilet and a food cart. Half of the ER waiting room is ready to house nearly a dozen patients mere feet from each other. The hospital's patient capacity has been increased from 134 to 196.

It's crisis mode.

How does a hospital increase capacity? By lining the long hallways with beds. "This is going to be like World War II," Dr. Steve Sbardella said.

The hospital is living by an old adage: Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

As Massachusetts announced confirmed COVID-19 cases were nearly 19,000 and the death toll topped 500 on Thursday, Sbardella was explaining how the hospital has been planning based on what happened in hotspots like China, Italy, Spain, Seattle and New York City.

"We're preparing to be in the same situation they found themselves," he said. "If we are, we are. But if we're not, fantastic."

The hospital isn't winging it. While COVID is new, there are always disaster plans. Though the plans around here are often for fire, snow or hurricanes, contingencies are in place for a wave of patients. The hospital has spent weeks tweaking those plans to best suit this particular threat.



[RECIRC]The preparation goes beyond the 46-percent capacity increase. Hospital engineers have used the building's smoke exhaust system to create negative pressure wings. Negative pressure means the air in an area is sucked out so it isn't shared with the rest of the building.

Story continues

Where there was once six such rooms in the hospital, there are now entire floors that have as many as 34.

What that means is the influx of patients with potential COVID-19 infections can be treated in negative pressure environments. Meanwhile, medical workers can change and use personal protection equipment in vacuum-sealed rooms, sort of like the decompression zones in science-fiction movies.

Some of the adaptations are more crude.

The long hallways connecting sections of the hospital  the "spines"  are usually eerily empty during a normal hospital visit. Now they are eerily full.

The spines in the top three floors each have nine beds up against the wall. Two beds are on either side of a curtain that offers token privacy for a toilet.

The nursing station is a folding table next to a window, a decision made so the nurses get to look out and see there's more than COVID.

The hallway beds could hold patients for the entirety of their stays.

"This is going to be like World War II," Sbardella said.



Other changes are old-school.



One worker, whose eyes and hair bun were the only things that could be made out behind her scrubs and mask, was sitting on blue tape  the usual carpet would keep too much bacteria  in what used to be the ER waiting room, shuffling through a few dozen papers.

The hospital's computer system might not be able to handle the surge of COVID patients. So, just in case, she was working through hard copies.

"Back to the '70s," Sbardella said.

Meanwhile, the pharmacy department is making its own hand sanitizer for the hospital to lessen its reliance on a strained supply system. Thanks to innovation and elbow grease  workers are stretching supplies to last  the hospital hasn't seen the shortage of supplies everyone reads about in other parts of the country.



"Not yet," Sbardella said. "Right now we're OK."

The hospital's efforts to increase capacity may not be pretty. But they could save lives.

Scroll through social media and you're lucky to make it 15 seconds without a post about an overwhelmed medical worker, eyes soaked in tears, flirting with their breaking point.

And that's OK, Sbardella said. Because, fair or not, they keep bouncing back.

"We've been in this state for six or eight weeks, working this way," Sbardella said."There's no break [from COVID.] And that is draining for people.

"I'm so proud of people who come back to work the next day because everyone, at every level, you gotta take a break. You gotta turn off, you gotta close your eyes, you gotta cry, you gotta laugh, whatever you gotta do. Then go back to work."

It's not just the stress of the job. It's the fear of getting an illness that has a stranglehold on life itself.

"The emotional side of this is strong, because they're afraid, too," Sbardella said. "But they've committed to being here. This is your job. This is what you chose to do. You walk into it every day. Like how they say firemen run to the fire, health care workers run to the hospital. They're afraid. But they hold it together."

Just as the workers take care of the patients, the hospitals take care of the workers. The employee assistance program has been dialed to 11, with online meditation groups, behavioral health help and therapists.

"We're trying to give people as many avenues as they can so if they want to talk to someone, we can provide it," Sbardella said.

The community can help.

"It's sounds cheesy," Sbardella said, but few things carry more weight than receiving a note from the outside world.

"People tear up when they get them," he said. "They're at the emotional fragility state. They're inside these units, they don't even know what the weather is outside. So to have someone say 'thank you'  if there's anything that can be done in the world, that is the best."

Dr. Steve Sbardella said this table was chosen as the hallway nursing station. Their "corner office."

Sbardella shows up to work every day at 6 a.m., then spends nine or 10 hours dealing with issues around patients that have or could have COVID-19.



"Then you go home and you think your day's gonna be over," he said. "And all you see on the news is COVID, your family members talk about COVID, you get text from family members about COVID, every email is about COVID.

"It's COVID all day long," he sighed. "That is tiring."

Shortly after, his beeper goes off.

"I've got to escape," he said.

This article originally appeared on the Melrose Patch
After skipping SAARC meet chaired by India stating that SAARC Secretariat should lead it, Pakistan on Thursday pledged to contribute $3 million to the Coronavirus Emergency Fund proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India initially offered $10 million to help combat the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic in the region. While on March 15, Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, had participated in the video conference, Imran Khan-led country skipped the meet of the trade officials discussion on April 9, citing that the SAARC Secretariat was not part of the video conference.

The Foreign Office of Pakistan in a statement said its perspective on the utilisation of fund was conveyed during a telephone conversation between Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and SAARC Secretary-General Esala Ruwan Weerakoon. It also added that being a founding member, Pakistan considers SAARC an important platform for regional cooperation and 'remains committed'.

READ | SAARC health professionals meet to discuss coronavirus measures postponed

"While communicating Pakistan's decision to the SAARC Secretariat, it has been conveyed that all proceeds of the fund should be administered by the SAARC Secretariat and that the modalities for the fund's utilisation should be finalised through consultations with the Member States as per the SAARC Charter," it said.

READ | SAARC trade officials agree to work on larger framework for boosting intra-region trade

SAARC meet initiated by India

Prime Minister Modi on March 15 in a video conference on forming a joint strategy to fight Covid-19 in the SAARC region, proposed the emergency fund and asserted that the best way to deal with the coronavirus pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart. Subsequently, Nepal and Afghanistan pledged $1 million each, Maldives committed $ 200,000, Bhutan $100,000, Bangladesh $1.5 million and Sri Lanka pledged $5 million to the fund. Founded in 1985, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation and geopolitical union of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

READ | Petty Pakistan skipped India-led SAARC Covid meeting citing 'Secretariat didn't spearhead'

SAARC meet with trade officials

In a video conference skipped by Pakistan, trade officials of the SAARC countries broadly agreed to identify new ways to "sustain and expand" the intra-regional trade to offset the huge economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic. The officials also deliberated on creating a larger framework of trade facilitation and highlighted the need to enhance the quantum of intra SAARC trade as the pandemic is likely to have a considerable impact on the region, the Ministry of External Affairs said. The deliberations took place as a follow up to an India-initiated video conference of SAARC leaders on March 15.

READ | Here's the press release of senior SAARC health professionals' Coronavirus videoconferenc
Judge denies request to allow Easter church services of more than 10 people in Virginia

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

A judge has denied a request by a Virginia man to allow for church services to take place on Easter in the state, despite a state order barring large gatherings to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Larry Hughes, a retired teacher from Russell County, had filed legal action against the Commonwealth for its stay-at-home order, which did not exempt religious events.

Judge Michael Moore denied the injunction request on Thursday, meaning that church gatherings of more than 10 people will not be permitted by Easter Sunday.

The equities do not weigh in [petitioner's] favor based on this pandemic, ruled Moore, as reported by the Bristol Herald Courier.

And to say that this injunction to be granted would be in the public interest is not defensible. So the court is going to deny the request for temporary injunction.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring expressed support for the injunction denial, saying in a statement that the order was a matter of public health.

Science tells us that social distancing is the most important thing we can do to save lives and prevent the spread of COVID-19, and thats exactly what these orders are doing, stated Herring, as reported by the Herald Courier.

We are all having to sacrifice right now to keep ourselves, our loved ones and our communities safe, and our win today maintains these crucial safety measures.

Last month, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order 55, which prohibited gatherings of more than 10 people. The measure contained no exemption for religious events.

On Monday, Hughes filed a lawsuit in Russell County Circuit Court against Northams order, arguing in the complaint that the measure was a threat to religious freedom.

EO 55  ignores the special status and protections afforded Virginians relative to their religious liberties recognized, and more clearly amplified than in the United States Constitution, stated the complaint.

Article 1, Section 16 of the Virginia Constitution clearly states that the way a person discharges their religion cannot be directed by force, nor shall he be restrained in his body.

T. Shea Cook, the lawyer for Hughes, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch after the Thursday hearing that he considered the injunction denial to be a dangerous precedent.

Wed hoped to be able to get some relief prior to the Easter weekend, but ultimately we knew it was going to be difficult, said Cook. Were talking about a fundamental right that  in a time of crisis  has been eroded.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Friday there were indications that Punjab was moving towards the community transmission stage of coronavirus outbreak, but asserted his government was gearing up for every challenge, and announced mass testing in COVID-19 hotspots from next week.

Speaking to the media through video conference, Singh quoted a PGIMER study to say that the virus infection is likely to touch its peak by mid-September and may likely affect 58 per cent of the country's population.

"....COVID19 epidemic in India is estimated to reach its peak in mid-September 2020 at a point where 58 per cent of population has been infected," he said, quoting the projections by experts of the Department of Community Medicine at PGIMER in Chandigarh.

The prediction are horrendous and frightening," he said.

Quoting another figure from the PGI projection, he said the virus can infect up to 87 per cent of population of Punjab and other states.

The PGI Chandigarh, however, later clarified "it is not aware that any expert/faculty member from the Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health of the Institute has carried out any study or estimate that COVID-19 may peak by mid-September and can infect 58 per cent of country's population".

A Punjab CMO official later said the report cited by Singh is an assessment of Dr Shankar Prinja, the Additional Professor of Health Economics, the Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, and his team, using standard mathematical models with Punjab data provided to him.

The official said the State Committee on Health Sector Response and Procurement, headed by Vini Mahajan, with ex-PGI director Dr KK Talwar as professional advisor, had sought an urgent assessment of Punjab's COVID-19 scenario.

Meanwhile, the CM said most of the 27 positive cases reported in Punjab on Thursday (the maximum daily increase for the state) were those of secondary transmission, and expressed apprehension of the state moving towards the community transmission stage of the outbreak.

"27 cases are not primary cases, as most of these are cases of secondary transmission," he said.

However, he said his government was readying itself for every eventuality, and had planned arrangements in four phases -- for 2,000 patients, 10,000 patients, 30,000 patients and 1 lakh patients needing isolation and treatment.

With 25,000 Rapid Testing kits expected to arrive, mass testing in hotpots will also begin from Monday, he said.

Singh said Punjab will allow district-wise relief from lockdown, which the state cabinet extended till May 1, only to farmers so that harvesting of Rabi crop is not hampered.

Singh, however, said the lockdown could not be indefinite and the government was also looking for ways to extricate the state from the restrictions and enable it to function even while fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

A high-powered committee with several doctors, medical and other experts, was examining the situation and will soon submit its report on the lockdown exit strategy, the Chief Minister said.

He said it is just the start of the war and the situation threatens to get worse over the next few months for India. Lifting the lockdown would not be easy for any state in the present situation, he said.

"The only good thing about coronavirus is that the drugs supply line has been broken, Singh said.

The Chief Minister rejected as "absolutely insufficient" the Rs 15,000 crore package by the Central government for improving health infrastructure. "How can this be enough for the nearly 1.4 billion people?



On the number of coronavirus tests in the state, the Chief Minister admitted that the 2,877 tests conducted so far were simply not enough, given Punjab's population of 2.8 crore.

On the impact of the Tablighi Jamaat event on the spread of coronavirus in Punjab, Singh said his government had received a list of 651 people who had entered the state, of whom 636 have so far been traced and 27 found positive (including 10 contacts of these TJ Nizamuddin attendees), but 15 of them are still untraceable, he said.

Among the nearly 1.5 lakh NRIs and foreign returnees, the state has traced and quarantined the majority, he said, adding quarantine period was over in 33,166 cases of foreign travel, but 2,032 still remained in restrictions.

He said the state was expecting a bumper wheat production of 185 lakh tonnes and is making arrangements its harvest.

With harvesting of wheat slated to begin on April 15, he said the state would increase the number of Mandis from 1,800 to 3,800 this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Call it doomsday prepping, Texas-style. Quarantine amid the COVID-19 outbreak has escalated into a whole new level of precautions and secure accommodations for some of the worlds wealthiest people. Some are chartering private jets and heading to luxurious disaster bunkers so that they can fend off the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet, its not just the wealthy and well-appointed who are stocking up and staying sequestered in bunkers. Its also individuals and families with moderate incomes who are feeling the need for protection and security amid an unprecedented pandemic and potential civil unrest.

"Here's the thing: Nobody wants to face uncertainty no matter how you believe," Gary Lynch, general manager of Rising S. Co. said. " Everybody wants to protect themselves. "

Lynch is now busy keeping up with all the demand for his Texas-built, solid-steel bunkers that promise to provide subterranean shelter during the coronavirus pandemic. Working out of his warehouse in Murchison, Lynch says that Rising S. Company is now the the largest bunker manufacturer in the world.

Lynch has noticed an uptick in interest and orders for these custom-built shelters. He's now fielding calls from clients all over Texas including Houston, College Station and Navasota.

"From January 1 to March 20, my overall leads were up 2000%," Lynch said. "Any time theres anything political happening, obviously the interest in our product increases."

Lynch says Rising S. Co. is dedicated to building quality bunkers with 1/4 inch-plate high grade steel.

"Our low-end bunker is around $45,000 installed," Lynch said. "The most is expensive one I've built was a 13,000 square foot bunker for $15 million. The biggest one I've built had about 100 beds inside it."

Some clients might prefer the basics -- a master bedroom, living room wired for satellite capability, a composting toilet and a food storage closet. The most luxurious bunkers, the 16,000 square foot "ultra bunkers," might include features like a billiard room or a hot tub.

The ultra bunker is "the ultimate bunker" showcasing plenty of amenities. Lynch has seen clients deck out the ultra bunkers with underground shooting ranges and a 1,000 square foot greenhouse.

"Clients are usually practical. They want function without problems -- simplistic designs, food storage, kitchen, bathroom," Lynch said. "Theres not a lot of extra things they actually want."

alison.medley@chron.com
The US Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia ruled last week that extensive grand jury records in the notorious lynching of two African-American couples in 1946 must remain sealed. The 11th Circuit judges, by an 84 margin, citing the confidentiality of grand jury deliberations, declared that federal judges did not have the authority to release the records, which had been sought by historians and researchers. The decision came after the Trump administrations Justice Department appealed a lower court ruling.

Descendants of the victims, along with authors and researchers, deplored the appellate decision. They argued that, based both the length of time since the case as well as its extraordinary historical importance, the transcripts should be made public. Joseph J. Bell, a lawyer who has fought for the release of the records, said, I think history demands a full disclosure of the truth surrounding this important civil rights case. Bell told the New York Times that the decision would be appealed to the US Supreme Court.

The July 1946 killings of George W. and Mae Murray Dorsey and Roger and Dorothy Malcom, sharecroppers on a farm in Walton County, Georgia, captured national and international attention. The murders became known as the Moores Ford lynchings, named after the bridge between the rural towns of Monroe and Watkinsville near which their car had been forced to stop on the evening of July 25. Roger Malcom had just been released on bail after being jailed for an alleged stabbing of a white man. The car was stopped by a gang of 20 armed whites, and the four victims were tied to a large oak tree and killed by an estimated 60 shots fired at close range.

The Moores Ford lynchings have been called the last mass lynching in America. In the first half of the 20th century several thousand such extrajudicial murders of African Americans took place, primarily in the American South, mostly by hanging from trees or telephone poles, and later increasingly by shootings and other means. The white supremacist terror became a means of enforcing the regime of Jim Crow segregation in the post-Reconstruction South after the Civil War.

The brutality and shamelessness of the lynching, and even more importantly the historical and political context in which it occurred, provoked an outpouring of outrage and protest. George Dorsey was a veteran of World War II. Like tens of thousands of others, he returned to the US with new knowledge and experience, determined to fight for equality before the law. The stirrings in the South coincided with a broad movement within the working class. The same year the Dorseys and Malcoms were killed, 1946, saw a massive wildcat strike wave in basic industry.

Large protests took place in Washington, D.C. and New York City after the Moores Ford lynchings. President Harry S. Truman was forced to take some action in an attempt to appease the anger. Truman ordered the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, the racist and vicious reactionary who headed the domestic intelligence service for nearly 50 years, to investigate the murders.

J. Loy Harrison, the farmer for whom the Dorseys and Malcoms worked, had arranged for the release of Malcom from jail, but there were strong suspicions that he had been involved in plans for the lynching. Also reportedly implicated were Eugene Talmadge, a racist demagogue then running for governor of Georgia. Talmadges son Herman, who became governor only two years later, after his fathers death, went on to a 35-year career as a defender of racism and Jim Crow, first in the State House and then for more than 25 years as a US Senator.

After almost six months of investigation in late 1946, nearly 3,000 interviews and 100 subpoenas, the FBI came up empty-handed. Thurgood Marshall, then the legal counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), wrote a memo at the time declaring, I have no faith in either Mr. Hoover or his investigatorsand there is no use in my saying I do.

FBI poster asking for information in the 1946 lynching at Moore's Ford Bridge, Georgia

A separate investigation was begun in late 1946 by a local grand jury, selected by US District Judge T. Hoyt Davis. At this time the governor of Georgia claimed, that 15 or 20 of the mob members are known by name. The grand jury heard from dozens of witnesses and others over a period of three weeks. The jury announced, after its lengthy hearings 73 years ago, that it was unable to establish the identity of any persons guilty of violating the civil rights statute of the United States. It is this testimony, which could shed light on why the jury refused to issue indictments, that remains sealed in the National Archives and is at issue in the recent decision.

The Moores Ford lynchings disappeared from local and national headlines and were little discussed in the ensuing decades. A witness came forward almost 50 years later, however, in 1992. This was reported first in the Atlanta Constitution and a few years later in other Georgia newspapers. A biracial Moores Ford Memorial Committee was established to commemorate the atrocity and advocate further investigation. Later a state historical marker was placed near the site of the lynchings. The FBI and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reopened the case in 2006 and 2008, respectively, but once again this led nowhere, and the case was closed yet again.

Historical research has continued over the past 25 years. A book on the case, Fire in a Canebrake, by reporter Laura Wexler, was published in 2003. Anthony Pitch, the author of another book, The Last Lynching: How a Gruesome Mass Murder Rocked a Small Georgia Town (2016), sought access to the sealed grand jury testimony, which has now been denied.

The transcripts could provide important leads in the case, even though it is more than 70 years old. As Ms. Wexler stated, Not being able to see those grand jury documents means theres so many things we dont know. How the hell was nobody indicted in this?

This makes the action of the Trump administrations Justice Department, appealing a lower court decision to insist that the records must not see the light of day, all the more significant. The presidents base includes fascistic and white supremacist elements. No doubt some of the descendants of the gang of killers in 1946, now perhaps among the more prominent citizens of the state of Georgia, would also want this history covered up.

The granddaughter of Roger Malcom, Atanya Lynette Hayes, said after the court decision, It made me really disappointed in our judicial system and FBI and all the people who were supposed to protect us. You should not be able to enjoy that good reputation. Dead or alive, good or bad, the truth needs to be known. In a brief comment to the Times, she noted the class reality behind the ruling. We live in a day where people protect each other through the generations. It just goes back to something weve been told all of our lives: The rich look out for the rich.

Rigid Jim Crow segregation became the rule in the South in the last two decades of the 19th century and was given the legal backing of the US Supreme Court in its Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896. Segregation, together with the racist terror that found its most gruesome expression in lynching, was aimed especially at derailing the potential of unity of white and black workers, sharecroppers and small farmers that found expression in the growth of the Populist movement in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The vast majority of victims were African-American, but there were some others, including Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager imprisoned on fraudulent murder charges in Atlanta and kidnapped from jail and lynched in 1915, after his death sentence had been commuted.

It was no coincidence that the period which saw the greatest number of lynchings was the three decades from 1890 to 1920. While they continued later, the pace slackened, and they changed from the sometime shocking mass celebrations to semi-secret killingsmurders that were never solved, with juries refusing to return convictions in the relatively few instances in which suspects were arrested and tried.

The heinous crime at the Moores Ford Bridge was not the last of its kind, but the wide outrage it sparked was significant in heralding the mass movement that led to the end of official segregation and second-class citizenship. In the 1950s and 60s the civil rights struggle that swept the South finally dismantled Jim Crow, forcing the federal government to enact the first important civil rights legislation since the Reconstruction period of almost 100 years earlier.

There were other victims of white supremacy during this period, during the civil rights struggleAfrican-Americans and white supporters, including Medgar Evers, the Rev. George Lee, Emmett Till, the four schoolgirls killed in the Birmingham 1963 church bombing, civil rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, the Rev. James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo. By the end of the 1960s, however, the era of lynchings had essentially come to an end.

The civil rights reforms did not and could not by themselves achieve the goal of social equality. The limited reforms of the 1960s made clearer than ever the necessity to remove the outmoded capitalist system. The unearthing of the true history of atrocities such as the Moores Ford lynchings is important for the education of the working class for this struggle today. These murders can only be fully avenged through a united struggle for socialism, against the system that breeds every form of hatred and backwardness.
He made headlines last month when he took to his verified Twitter account to post a brief video where he prayed for God to eliminate the coronavirus.

And Jon Voight took extra safety measures as he headed out in Los Angeles on Thursday to pick up food shopping at Jayde's Market.

The Oscar winning actor, 81, donned a protective face mask and brandished a large indigo and purple umbrella as he then went on to pick up some dinner at the Beverly Green Deli.

Stepping out: Jon Voight took extra safety measures as he headed out in Los Angeles on Thursday to pick up food shopping at Jayde's Market

The Ray Donavan star was smartly-dressed in a checked shirt, which he layered underneath a navy sweatshirt.

He complemented the outfit with grey chinos, black trainers and a fleece.

The actor flew solo for the outing and appeared in good spirits despite the miserable weather.

Precautions: The Oscar winning actor, 81, donned a protective face mask and brandished a large umbrella as he then went onto pick up some dinner at the Beverly Green Deli

Last month, Voight made a brief speech, where he prayed for COVID-19 to be eradicated.

He said: 'This nation is under God with liberty,' adding, 'Joshua has lifted his Ark and will show his kingdom that this virus will not wipe out his men.'

'He will battle to the end and he will show Jesus the prayer, Oh mighty, oh Lord, bring us to our feet, to love you more.'

Jon then asked his saviour to, 'teach us more but lift this veil over our heads. Wipe away the curse that has taken us down with fear.

Turning to prayer: Jon made headlines last month when he took to his verified Twitter account to post a brief video where he prayed for God to eliminate the coronavirus

'Oh Lord give us peace on our holy land, give us peace for our children and elders. Oh Lord give us light to shine on our souls so we may strong to fight. Oh Lord, we are all one with you,' he continued.

He then told his 'fellow Americans' that we will get rid of this virus, 'because we are strong, because we are the greatest gift to mankind, we are all God's children.'

'God bless this nation and the entire creation and may God protect our President and his family,' Voight concluded.

Voight is an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump, who presented the actor with the National Medal of Arts in November.

The actor and father of Angelina Jolie has played Mickey Donovan, the father of Liev Schreiber's title character on Showtime's Ray Donovan, which was surprisingly canceled after its seventh season in February.

He will next be seen on the big screen in Roe v. Wade, playing Justice Berger, which is currently in post-production.
Made up of more than just the works on view, the art and design worlds also comprise openings, lectures, fairs, biennials, and galasall of which have gone on hiatus amid efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. And while socializing may remain on pause for now, galleries and institutions are coming up with innovative ways to continue their programming online, with ambitious virtual exhibitions, video tours, social media content, and engaging games. While the traditional white-cube exhibition display remains the most refined and delicately mute backdrop to honor an artist's work in person, the global health crisis has mandated an inevitable alternative, with gallerists and curators discovering the possibilities of limitless space and access that enclosed interiors inherently lack.

The concept of online viewing first started to blossom in the late 2010s as powerhouses like David Zwirner and Pace Gallery began to offer access to their pricey Koons and Hockney works in their online viewing rooms, which used a log-in system. Now more galleries and museums than ever are turning to digital exhibitions to maintain their public-facing programming.

The challenge in all endeavors remains navigating the absence of four walls and a roofan encompassing environment for viewers to engage with the art, finished with dramatic lighting and curatorial orchestration. Last month the online-only Art Basel Hong Kong attracted over 250,000 digital visitors throughout its run on the fair's website, and was the art world's first large-scale effort to remain financially and socially active during the pandemic. Both the commercial and nonprofit sectors are quickly responding to the need to stay connected with online programming that pushes the technological and creative limits of virtual presence. Ahead, we've highlighted 11 digital initiatives from galleries and museums across the globe.

Story continues

Image courtesy of MoMA.

As far as public engagement goes, the Museum of Modern Arts Louise Lawlers Tracings for You project checks numerous boxes, connecting with audiences of all ages to stimulate their creativity while doing justice to the artist (whose work MoMAs senior photography curator, Roxana Marcoci, says brings to mind the word indeterminacy). Lawlers 12 line drawings are available to download on the museums website and color in, whether you choose to paint your own Jeff Koonss Bunny in its signature chromatic tone, or take creative liberties for an alternative. The works are from the museum's 2017 exhibition Why Pictures Now, in which Marcoci had shown "emptied" black-and-white versions of Lawler's photographs of canonized artworks situated in collectors' homes, museums, and auction houses. MoMA's current digital offering gives another life to the series, which, at its core, underpins the idea that pictures can have more than one life, says Marcoci, adding, Lawlers tracing project makes us realize that what also matters to humanity and its modes of survival are imaginative ways to creatively share and connect.

Untitled, 2016 Photo by Kerry Ryan McFate. Image courtesy of Pace Gallery.

Pace Gallery has challenged itself to present sculpture in a virtual realm with a group exhibition, Material Matters, organized by the gallery's curatorial director, Andria Hickey. While "meandering" through three-dimensional works by Lynda Benglis, Arlene Shechet, Lee Ufan, and Yin Xiuzhen, viewers connect with the tactility of ceramic or clay through their screens, appointing more responsibility to imagination and memory. The mesmerizing glare over Bengliss corrugated ceramic sculptures, which simultaneously recall discarded tire debris strewn across highways and the excavated remnants of an otherworldly beast, yearn for closer inspection; however, the complexity of bringing sculpture into viewers homes, explains Hickey, allows for a different kind of storytelling that feels more in line with publication or film. To that end, she has implemented broader conversations between artist and viewer by making available supplementary quotes, audio interviews, and short films; the addition of virtual reality, 3D renderings, and gaming software is on the gallery's horizon.

Image courtesy of half gallery and the artist.

In contrast, the East Villages Half Gallery is mirroring the experience of a virtual exhibition in real life, opening its windows to a group exhibition, Under Glass, while keeping its doors closed. Given our new reality, we thought it made sense to present a show fully viewable from the street, says gallery founder Bill Powers of the painting show, which benefits from the gallerys all-window architecture. When it opens online and to passersby on April 18, the dioramic exhibition will feature paintings by Daniel Heidkamp, Peter Schuyff, and Chloe Wise, viewable from the street. We wont turn on gallery lights, so the show hours depend on daylight, the founder says. The website exhibition will be accompanied by an audio guide recorded by Powers himself and gallery director Erin Goldberger. Powerss curatorial decision to separate figurative and abstract paintings in a physical space may be bypassed online, but an audio element mimics the conceit of a guided museum tour, he notes. For artists, showing through limited views behind glasseither that of a street window or a computer screensounds equally alarming and inspiring. Wise mentally wrestles with what exhibiting painting means today, but she also admits feeling drawn to compositions that contain an inferred lack, void, or something cut off from view, not unlike a street view of a painting.

Photo by Owen Wong. Image courtesy of the artists and Lehmann Maupin.

Chelsea gallery Lehmann Maupin thematizes the absence of walls with a show dedicated to Nari Ward and Robin Rhodes, two artists known for their textural and metaphorical investigations of concrete surfaces. After the gallery unveiled Power Wall at its Hong Kong space on April 3, it inaugurated its online viewing room with the digital adaptation, exhibiting the artists approaches to walls as contentious spaces and sites of control division, and support, according to gallery cofounder David Maupin. Harlem-based Ward is known for his grasping installations, for which he directly applies numerous shoelaces onto walls to orchestrate impactful texts or images on perseverance; for Berlin-based South African artist Rhodes, walls resonate with opposing aspects of urbanism and provide canvases for his abstract drawings and performative photo series.

Photo by Adrien Millot. Image courtesy of Carpenters Workshop Gallery.

Another thematic group show taps into the prevalent urge for hope through the utilitarian nature of design. Carpenters Workshop Gallerys Hope & Togetherness stems from German painter Gerhard Richters 1982 quote on art being the highest form of hope, and brings together artists, designers, and studios whose practices inherently borrow cues from a hopeful sentiment, such as DRIFT, Atelier van Lieshout, and Franz West. The curatorial response was an organic one, notes Maria Bonta de la Pezuela, the gallerys CEO of the Americas, pointing out the thread of commitment to hope that runs through works exhibited on the U.S.- and Europe-based gallerys first virtual show. DRIFTs Flylight summarizes hopefulness with its poetic arrangement of a flock of glass birds, suspended in air, illuminated by its natural reaction to its surroundings, rather than a preprogrammed system. Color and form grant a similar sentiment to late Austrian sculptor Wests Kotznick, a pastel-hued papier-mache heart with a mouth on its center, perched on a thin steel leg, reminiscent of a side lamp or single-legged pink flamingo.

Image courtesy of The Third Line.

Outside the United States, art institutions are putting in similar efforts to remain connected with their local audiences and expand their viewership to a global range through an engaging web presence, and Alserkal Avenue is no different. Established in 2008, Dubais cultural district is currently devoid of passersby on its sun-drenched streets dotted with galleries, design offices, and creative studios. However, the organization beams visitors onto Emirati streets through 360-degree viewings of its exhibitions via a newly built online platform where its galleries and nonprofits, such as the Third Line, Ishara Art Foundation, Leila Heller Gallery, and Carbon 12, welcome guests into virtual replicas of their physical spaces. Known for his hilariously uplifting paintings of stick figures, California-based German painter Andre Butzer occupies Carbon 12s digital walls, where the virtual viewing experience mimics the whimsicality of video games: a sentiment that perfectly fits into the artists unabashedly colorful renditions of human impressions and geometric abstractions.

Image courtesy of the artist and Di Donna.

Mediums that inherently flirt with technology like photography and video are naturally better accommodated online, while the dramatic effects of brushstrokes over canvas are a challenge to convey for the screen. Upper East Side gallery Di Donna assumes this delicate task to present colorful abstract paintings by Portuguese Modernist Maria Helena Vieira da Silva. The digital show comes from Paris and London, where the public enjoyed Vieira da Silvas hallucinatory densely-colored abstractions in person, and spans the artists five-decade-long career, which mainly flourished in avant-garde circles of postwar Paris. The subtlety of colors, the texture and scale, notes director Christina Floyd Di Donna, are challenging to capture virtually; however, she appreciates the broadened international audience that now has access to more than 30 paintings the overlooked artist created with visual dynamism and a broad range of references, including Ballet Russe and icons of card games. Hanging the show before the art world shut down allowed the gallery to film the installation, which provides deeper understanding of the painter's use of scale.

Photo by Tom Vaneynde. Image courtesy the artist and Bridget Donahue.

Closures for the unforeseeable future are taking a serious toll on smaller galleries, and, unlike the established powerhouses, they face issues around exposure, technical support, and limited clientele that are creating tougher financial burdens. As the first gallery to launch an online exhibition platform in 2017, David Zwirners virtual exhibition, Platform, connects Chelsea extravagance with the experimentalism of downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, hosting works by a single artist from 12 smaller galleries. The solidarity project emphasizes young talents whose exhibitions closed earlier than planned or faced cancellations before works met the public. In addition to Lower East Side darlings such as 47 Canal, Bridget Donahue, David Lewis, and JTT, Ramiken and Elijah Wheat Showroom from Brooklyn join the dozen, offering a fresh breadth of artists who shed light onto the future of art market. Scroll down to Elijah Wheat Showroom for Hungarian artist Zsofia Keresztes, whose joyfully colored amorphous sculptures merge the craft aesthetic of glass mosaic with contemporary investigation of corporeality and self. Queer Thoughts gives platform to Megan Marrins charming paintings of vague domestic structures that equally resemble shower units and torture chambers.

Collection of the artist. Commissioned by Dia Art Foundation for the Artist Web Projects series.  Claude Closky.

The minimalist tradition Dia Art Foundation has championed since 1970s is most iconically visualized with Richard Serras mammoth steel mazes or the poetic heftiness of Nancy Holts Sun Tunnels; less known is that the pioneering institution has the longest-running online art program among art institutions in the U.S. In fact, the enigmatic and contemplative visual lexicon minimalists mastered over natural materials functions merely different than that of data-based artists. Having this archive of digital projects from the last 25 years is valuable now in a way we couldnt have foreseen, expresses director Jessica Morgan, singling out French artist Claude Closkys 1997 project Do you want love or lust for its timely engagement with the public. Using questions culled from magazines and self-help manuals, the participatory piece pulls users into what she calls a rabbit hole of humorously absurd revelations about contemporary dynamics through the simplicity of language, another tool minimalist artists heavily employed for transcendence. Another addition to the institutions digital endeavors is a blog which publishes artist prompts, similar to those of 1960s Fluxus artists Yoko Ono or Alison Knowles, guiding participants to perform certain mind and body exercises.

Image courtesy of P.P.O.W.

Contemplation is a central theme on offer in P.P.O.Ws group exhibition Hell Is a Place on Earth. Heaven Is a Place in Your Head, which brings together moving image by six artists, including Carlos Motta, Carolee Schneemann, Guadalupe Maravilla, and David Wojnarowicz. Adapting its title from a line in Wojnarowiczs essay collection Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration, the scroll-down-style exhibition pauses at each artist to offer contemplation on trauma, from timely crises like AIDS/HIV to enduring ones like colonization and sexism. Triggered, says gallery coowner Wendy Olsoff, about their reaction to the current pandemic after going through major financial crashes and calamities over the last 38 years, including the AIDS pandemic, a subject many artists in the East Villageborn gallerys roster have long tackled. From Legacy, Mottas half-hour video of a durational performance with a dental gag, to Fuses, Schneemanns equally long documentation of her sexual encounter with her then partner, the exhibition asks viewers to slow down and lend their time to inhale the works thought-provoking subjects. Olsoff is inspired by bypassing given challenges of hanging an all-video show with the gallerys first online show: While I do long to get back to the white cube and looking at art on a wall, the potential now for interesting exhibitions and pairings is really unlimited.

Photo by Ivan Erofeev. Image courtesy of Garage.

Moscows Garage Museum of Contemporary Art was among the first institutions to flirt with the digital realms particular offerings, like access to a global audience and exhibiting art in virtual reality. According to the museum's senior curator, Katya Inozemtseva, it was a natural reaction to working with artists whose work tends to be "digital first." After switching to what the museum calls self-isolation mode, Garage launched an eponymous online platform in Russian on March 14, offering playlists, games, critical texts, live broadcasts, and online versions of its exhibitions with a sleek web design. The platforms recently launched English version includes an online edition of the museums current exhibition, Passer-by, that connects British fashion label Atelier E.B with artists such as Tauba Auerbach or Elizabeth Radcliffe, using visuals from the show, detailed text on crucial works, and audio recordings with collaborating artists. The space that both we and Garage visitors inhabit has shrunk to that of a room or an apartment, says Inozemtseva. Yet the borders of the museum are expanding.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
In a case reminiscent of the districts first coronavirus disease (Covis-19) casualty, another suspected patient was allegedly denied admission to Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMC&H) on April 5 and made to run from piller to post for treatment. A probe was initiated in the matter on Friday.

The 35-year-old suspected Covid-19 positive woman was suffering from renal failure. The patient, who stays in the Durgi area, was first taken to the Civil Hospital on March 30 for dialyses.

A health department official, on condition of anonymity, said, The woman had been referred to Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, for dialysis but as she could not travel amid the lockdown, the patient sought treatment at a private hospital in Model Town on April 3.

Soon after, her condition began to deteriorate and she developed a fever and dry cough. She was rushed to the Civil Hospital for treatment on April 5. However, the doctors referred her to CMC&H as they suspected of having Covid-19, the official said.

The patient said that instead of admitting her to the hospital, CMC&H authorities sent her back home.

On April 8, her condition worsened and she was rushed to the hospital in Model Town where hospital authorities after reading the referral slip of the civil hospital, which mentioned that she was suspected of having Covid-19, raised the alarm.

Thereafter, a social activist reached out to the woman and got her admitted to the Civil Hospital.

When deputy commissioner Pardeep Agrawal heard of the patients ordeal on Thursday, he directed thecivil surgeon to submit a report in the matter.

Civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga initiated an inquiry into the matter on Friday and asked Dr Baldeep Singh, a medical officer at the Covid-19 unit of the civil hospital, about the incident. The reports of the suspected patient are still awaited.

Medical superintendent Anil Luther said the woman had not been denied admission. We have 14 beds, including seven ventilator beds, dedicated to those suspected of Covid-19 and all of them were occupied. The patient and relatives were apprised of the issue and as per protocol were further referred to another tertiary care hospital for treatment, said Dr Luther.

History repeats itself

The first patient in the city to die due to Covid-19 was also referred from one hospital to another until she finally breathed her last at Rajindra Hospital Patiala.

The 42-year-old, mother of three, was made to visit the Civil Hospital multiple times from March 19 to March 26. When her condition worsened, she was rushed to the Civil Hospital on March 29, from where she was referred to CMC&H, and later ESI Hospital. Ultimately, she was again admitted to the Civil Hospital from where she was rushed to Rajindra hospital, Patiala, at midnight where she succumbed to the infection in the small hours of March 30.
By PTI

LONDON: Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has temporarily eased the tax criteria for highly skilled foreign workers, including those from India, engaged in the coronavirus fightback in the UK during a fixed three-month period.

The Indian-origin finance minister wrote to the House of Commons Treasury Committee on Thursday to announce that the so-called Statutory Residence Test (SRT) will be waived between March 1 and June 1, which means there would be no change in the tax status of international workers coming in response to the British government's efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

"We welcome the expertise and resource from those who wish to come to the UK to combat COVID-19 from anaesthetists through to engineers working on ventilator design and production.

"Under normal circumstances, the actions and presence of these individuals in the UK could affect their own tax residence status, potentially bringing their global earnings within the purview of the UK taxation," notes Sunak's letter addressed to Conservative Party MP Mel Stride, the chair of Parliament's Treasury Committee.

"We will amend the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) to ensure that any period(s) between March 1 and June 1, 2020 spent in the UK by individuals working on COVID-19 related activities will not count towards the residence tests.

It is right that these changes are time limited and only support those people whose skill sets are currently required," it adds.

The minister said that the measure will provide flexibility and support to those coming to work in the UK to serve the coronavirus fightback and is required due to the "extraordinary circumstances" unleashed by the pandemic.

But he stressed that the UK government remains committed to the wider framework of the SRT and to ensuring that all individuals pay their fair share of tax in the UK.

"The qualifying criteria will therefore be designed so that the relaxation of the rules is tightly targeted, minimising the risk of abuse.

We will also keep the duration of this measure under review as the situation develops, in line with the other support already provided," he added.

Sunak, 39, has been leading the UK government's charge on the economic response to the COVID-19 outbreak and mass social distancing measures, which have put the future of many businesses in disarray.

He has unveiled a series of mini-budgets since last month to offer new loans and grants for businesses and workers to help them through the crisis.

"Our economic plan is built on one simple idea: that we depend on each other," he said earlier this week as he unveiled a new funding to support the UK's charity sector.
About 15 million people face job losses in India's exports sector following cancellation of over half of the orders and gloomy forecast for global trade due to the Covid-19 pandemic, exporters' body FIEO said on Friday.

Seeking immediate announcement of a relief package for exports, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Sharad Kumar Saraf said a fine balancing is required between life and livelihood, as opting for only one can be disastrous for the country.

He said that exporters are left with "very" few orders and if factories are not allowed to work with a minimum workforce, many of them will suffer "irreparable losses" which will bring them to the brink of closure as they are saddled with fixed cost that in any case has to be absorbed by them.

"With cancellation of over 50 per cent of orders and gloomy forecast for the future, we expect 15 million job losses in exports and rising NPAs (non-performing assets) amongst exporting units, hitting the economy very badly," Saraf said.

He added that sectors including apparel, gems and jewellery, leather, handicrafts, engineering and textiles are severely hit by the lockdown.

"We are losing markets to China. All orders are going to China as they have resumed work. It will be very late if we will not start our factories now. Small economies like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka too have announced relief packages," he said.

Saraf added that any further delay in rolling out of incentives would be "catastrophic".

He recommended steps like interest free working capital term loans to exporters to cover the cost of wages, rental and utilities; EPF and ESIC waiver for three months from March to May; extension of pre and post shipment credit by 90-180 days on their maturity, and extension of interest subsidy benefits.

"Huge support given by various economies to exports will put Indian exports in further difficulties as when the size of the cake reduces, competition intensifies with focus on prices," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
| By Joanne Morrison

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today the launch of a large-scale COVID-19 testing initiative that will significantly expand testing capability over the coming weeks, enabled by new funding of $2.5 million from the state of Maryland.

Claire Fraser, PhD

The new initiative will be launched with strong support and collaboration from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and its interim president, Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, who has been supportive of the program since its inception. At UMSOM, the initiative will be led by Claire Fraser, PhD, the Deans Endowed Professor and director of the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS), and Sanford Stass, MD, professor and chair of UMSOMs Department of Pathology and Department of Medical and Research Technology. This large-scale testing initiative will be progressively ramped up to eventually be able to run as many as 20,000 tests per day within the next few months. This will allow for far wider access to testing in Maryland through coordination with the city of Baltimore and the State Health Department.

Our state is continuing to marshal every tool in the arsenal of public health to combat the spread of this virus, including the expertise of our University System," said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. Increasing our testing capability is critical moving forward, and I want to thank the Institute for Genome Sciences and the Department of Pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine for partnering with us in an effort to significantly expand COVID-19 testing here in Maryland."

The patient samples will be processed on robotic platforms with automated technologies housed in a laboratory at IGS. The new state funding would allow for the purchasing of additional platforms to facilitate an increase in testing capacity. Analysis of the samples will take place at the University of Maryland Pathology Associates (UMPA), CLIA/CAP accredited, which is operated by UMSOMs Department of Pathology.

"A major impediment we face is not understanding the extent of asymptomatic disease in the Maryland population, Jarrell said. Having broad access to high-throughput testing will show us where the disease is and how its spreading. Thats the guidance we need to control this pandemic more effectively until a vaccine can be developed."

Added Reece, who is also the executive vice president for medical affairs, UMB, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor: The state is in dire need of increased coronavirus testing, and the School of Medicine already has the early infrastructure in place, in terms of our technology and scientific expertise, to help close the testing gap. This funding provided to us will enable us to better track the spread of the virus and provide swifter diagnoses and treatments to those in need.

While 18 laboratory staff are currently needed to process a maximum 3,000 samples per day in the IGS facility, increasing to 20,000 samples per day would involve 60 laboratory personnel working three eight-hour shifts over a 24-hour period. This ramp-up in staffing and sample testing will occur over a few months.

Initially, we will call in extra technicians who are currently working from home. Ramping up to a full staff will be done over time, Fraser said. I am sure many of our laboratory staff would be eager to return on-site to work for such a worthwhile endeavor.

Most patients in the state have to wait for a week or more for commercial outfits to return their results due to a backlog of tests and limited capacity and throughput. The facility at UMSOM would be able to return the results to patients and doctors within 24 to 48 hours, dramatically increasing the turnaround time.

Analyzing test samples from patients suspected of having COVID-19 is a complex, multi-step process that involves first transferring a portion of the sample to an inactivation solution and extracting its RNA, which contains the virus genetic code. The RNA is then converted to DNA and amplified using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended assay. The laboratory at the UMSOM faculty practice site ultimately determines whether the patients sample contains the novel coronavirus. Automation of these steps is critical to increasing the laboratory ability to test thousands of samples per day.

We have now implemented a reconfiguration of the IGS laboratory to establish this high-throughput testing capability, said Jacques Ravel, PhD, professor of Microbiology and Immunology and associate director of IGS. Working closely with the oversight of the Department of Pathology, the UMPA laboratory was able to obtain regulatory approval to enable us to process samples to be tested under the supervision of UMPA, a member of the UMSOM faculty practice.

Ravel noted that Mike Humphrys, director of the Microbiome Service Laboratory (MSL) at IGS, has led this effort, and his past experience as a CDC laboratory scientist and expertise were key to this effort. MSL, working with his laboratory team, repurposed and reprogrammed the robotic platforms to handle specific tasks related to COVID-19 testing, a task that they started in late February after it became clear that the virus was spreading beyond China. The machines had previously been used for research studies to characterize the bacteria that compose the human microbiome.

The testing facility at UMPA has been certified by the federal government to perform laboratory developed tests. These tests, referred to as LDTs, consist of a type of diagnostic test that is designed to be performed and used in a single laboratory, often located in a hospital. For COVID-19 testing, the UMSOM Department of Pathology plans to seek emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration and then will submit data to the agency to verify the tests performance both in detecting true positive results for the virus and true negative results that indicate the virus is not present.

We already have the capability to perform testing in patients who are admitted to University of Maryland Medical Center to test for COVID-19, Stass said. This new funding initiative, however, will greatly improve our capabilities to reach deeper into the community and help provide expanded testing which is desperately needed to help bring the epidemic under control in the state of Maryland. The enhanced testing capability will also be leveraged in the longer term to ensure sustained COVID-19 surveillance across the state of Maryland.
Vines is not a physician, but is chair of the Department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences, with expertise in mechanical ventilation and critically ill patients. He was once the Illinois Society for Respiratory Cares Practitioner of the Year. He teaches classes and helps treats patients as well. Like other medical workers, he has been slammed with work in the past few weeks since the pandemic spread locally.
Since time immemorial, the story of a scorned woman who loses everything because of a selfish man which forces her down the path of revenge has worked on both the big screen and small. The characters have a dark side, the action is thrilling and we all love these storylines!

MX Player is taking a leap into this genre with its new show 'Ek Thi Begum' which is set in 80s crime fueled Mumbai and is a story of a woman driven by vengeance. As we watched this show, we realised that Indian content is finally moving in a direction where women get the freedom to be dark characters with depth and tenacity, unlike their male counterparts.

A Plot That Impresses:

MX Player

Let's start off by talking about the plot. Inspired by true events, the story brings to life the quote, "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". The show kicks off with us being introduced to the characters and the surroundings they live in. We see hooligans with a code and women hoping to keep their families together.

The first episode brings to the screen Sapna (Anuja Sathe) playing a seductress and goes back to when she was Ashraf, the pregnant wife of the vigilante Zaheer (Ankit Mohan). Zaheer is killed by Maqsoods Mumbai pointman Nana and crooked police inspector Tawde and thus, begins the journey for revenge. Ashrafs attempt to file a case and resolve matters the legitimate way comes to a quick end which is when she decides that she will pick off Nana and his men all by herself and eventually make her way to Maqsood.

A Directorial Masterpiece:

MX Player

'Ek Thi Begum' is written and directed by Sachin Darekar and he has done an exceptional job piecing together the different emotion that the show deals with. He managed to flawlessly bring out all the grim of the Mumbai underworld genre and the era is shown with great finesse. All the characters you expect to see in this throwback to the 1980s and 90s are present: vigilantes, corrupt policemen, self-serving politicians, bar dancers and journalists with the only moral compass. The men have egos bigger than the Gateway Of India and their fingers press triggers faster than the clock ticks and that just makes for more interesting content for us to watch.

Stellar Performance:

MX Player

The plot thickens with every episode and we were truly gripped by the performances in the show. From bringing to life the perfect '80s gangster through Maqsood to grabbing the pain and turmoil of Sapna, the show peaks every time either of them come on screen.

We all need to applaud the performance that Anuja Sathe gives as both Sapna and Ashraf. It is hard enough to play one character but to play two complete opposites is a challenge unlike any other. But, she flawlessly brings the power and ruthlessness Sapna's character needs to the screen while still maintaining the element of grief and pain that Ashraf is going through after losing her family.

In addition to Anuja Sathe, actors like Ankit Mohan, Chinmay Mandlekar, Rajendra Shisatkar, Resham, and Abhijeet Chavan have delivered powerful performances. The show moves back and forth between the personalities of Sapna and Ashraf with ease, making sure that all the characters get a moment to shine.

This 14 episodes long series is filled with action, thrill and drama. Even though the show is set in the '80s, the empowering moments that Sapna has over the show are surpassing most leading characters of today's stories. We definitely recommend watching this show not just for the action but for a storyline that grips you and performances that capture you.

MX Player launched the show this week in both Hindi and Marathi. So, get ready to feel a myriad of emotions all in one season as you watch the show on MX Player for FREE.
Forty-seven persons



were locked in their houses for 12 hours in Chhattarpur district on Friday as they kept violating quarantine, an official said.

These people had returned to Raj Nagar tehsil from cities such as Indore and Bhopal which are hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Swapnil Bankhede said the tehsil authorities were compelled to lock these persons at home as they were frequently venturing out.

"Since March 25, they are permitted to go out of the tehsil only in emergency, like for attending funerals or for medical reasons," he said.

"After they returned from places such as Indore and Bhopal, they were placed under quarantine," the SDM added.

"But they often left home and loitered on roads, forcing us to lock them up," Bankhede said.

Officials unlocked the houses at 5.30 pm, 12 hours later, after coming under fire over the action.

"I got information that 47 people have been locked in Rajgarh and Khajuraho to enforce lockdown," former chief minister Kamal Nath tweeted. "This move is arbitrary, oppressive and inhumane," the Congress leader added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China this week officially reopened Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus pandemic was first detected, claiming that new infections were in the single digits. Some have hailed the seeming success of Chinas draconian lockdown as a model for other countries.

In recent days, however, everyone from the CIA to Chinese investigative journalists has accused Beijing of reporting inaccurate counts of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, pointing to patterns in other countries, to frequent unexplained changes in Chinas accounting, and even to pallets of urns being delivered to funeral homes in Wuhan.

These concerns are not new, but neither are they an indication of some nefarious plot. Rather, they evince a degree and type of weakness that may surprise some critics abroad, who think the Chinese government effectively controls all aspects of life in the country with an iron fist. In fact, underreporting of bad news is not a simple product of autocratic leaders cruel strategy, but an artifact of Chinas idiosyncratic authoritarianism that goes back decades, though it has resurfaced acutely over the past 15 years.

In 1958, the Peoples Republic of China initiated one of the largest and most radical utopian experiments in human history: the Great Leap Forward. All land and agricultural labor were to be fully collectivized overnight, traditional family units were to be disrupted, and the rural Chinese economy freed of private property. The result was a calamity of monumental proportions. Between 1958 and 1962, more than 30 million people starved to death. Horrific violence (even, in a few cases, cannibalism) erupted, and social order broke down throughout much of the country.

Chinese peasants on a communal farm in the 1950s during the Great Leap Forward. (Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The magnitude of devastation was almost impossible to comprehend  largely because of statistics.

Under extreme pressure to show results, local cadres reported vastly exaggerated yields and harvests. Some areas claimed to be producing more grain, for example, than could possibly be grown even if every square inch of their jurisdictions had been successfully planted. Higher authorities accepted many such reports at face value, eager to see the Great Leap as a success, and requisitioned concomitantly large amounts of grain, much of which rotted in warehouses for want of adequate distribution systems.

Story continues

More than a year into the carnage, Chairman Mao Zedong lashed out against underlings who raised concerns and eventually had to be pushed aside so that other leaders (many of whom became targets of the Cultural Revolution a few years later) could take charge of cleaning up the disaster.

Four decades later, in 2003, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) ravaged China. The outbreak was made far worse and spread far more widely because doctors and health officials who tried to sound the alarm early on were suppressed. What began as a small cluster of cases in Guangzhou became a major epidemic infecting Hong Kong, Beijing and even Toronto.

President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders, chastened by that crisis and how it had spun beyond their control, established an enviable national pandemic early warning network. Local public health authorities were to monitor flare-ups of infectious disease and report quickly to higher levels any worrisome trends or unforeseen spikes in the number of patients seeking care. By all accounts, China ought to have been well positioned to catch and suppress an outbreak of a novel pathogen, particularly a close cousin of SARS like SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus pathogen that causes COVID-19).

Residents wear masks to protect against a killer outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong in 2003. (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images)

But it didnt, and heres why.

First, large parts of Sichuan, in southwestern China, were devastated by one of the worst earthquakes in modern history on the afternoon of May 12, 2008. The central state quickly took charge in the aftermath, organizing massive programs of paired support, in which wealthier provinces or cities helped rebuild ruined neighborhoods and towns. A few short months after the earthquake, the political tone shifted to one of a gratitude campaign showcasing the competence and munificence of the central government and Communist Party leadership as well as the spirit of national unity. A severe setback was leveraged into the ultimate affirmation of the partys political narrative.

Second, Xi Jinping rose to power as a new type of leader in 2012. Concerned about the partys eroding power to inspire, he sought to restore a kind of ideological rectitude and political discipline that harkened back to the Maoist era. China in the past eight years has pursued ruthless ongoing campaigns against corruption and in support of socialist core values, as well as Xis own position as core leader. Now nearly every county-level cadre has met Xi in person (likely again since January via teleconference), and many have seen at least one or two of their immediate superiors purged for corruption or ideological errors. This left the apparatus more loyal, but also far more wary, by 2019 than it had been in perhaps 30 years.

When a new coronavirus began wreaking havoc in Wuhan in late 2019, local officials were thus especially leery of reporting the grim news and terrified of any implication that they may not have been handling it properly. Li Wenliang, a young doctor who tried to raise the alarm, was admonished and threatened in a crudely worded letter, given to him by local police after they interrogated him on Jan. 3, 2020. Just a few days later, on Jan. 7, the CCP Politburo Standing Committee met in Beijing to discuss the outbreak. No strong action was taken and no report of the discussion was published. Two weeks later, cases and deaths began to spiral and the country went into lockdown.

A memorial at UCLA for Dr. Li Wenliang, the whistleblower of the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan and caused the doctor's death in that city. (Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images)

When Li died of COVID-19 on Feb. 7, many saw it as a shocking testament to the partys and President Xis failure of leadership. Thousands of online tributes contained strident criticism of how Li had been silenced and the consequences for Chinese society. The CCPs credibility and legitimacy seemed to suffer a serious blow  until COVID-19s relatively unchecked spread across Europe, combined with the lifting of Chinas most stringent lockdown measures in early March.

At that point, Xi was able to shift the narrative to one that highlighted Chinas competence at controlling the virus and ultimately melded into a full-blown campaign of gratitude reminiscent of the 2008 earthquake response (right down to its stressing the success of a new round of paired support for Wuhans health care services). Of course, in this environment, despite published warnings not to conceal new cases, local officials have even stronger incentives now not to tarnish the leaderships image by reporting new outbreaks.

It is a chronic pathology of Chinas particular brand of authoritarianism that prevents even central officials from believing statistics reported by lower levels, and helps lead time and again to tragedies like the Great Leap Forward or COVID-19. But recent episodes have aggravated the underlying malady. Old habits die hard in China, even as a new virus spreads explosively around the world.

William Hurst is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University, focusing mainly on Chinese and Indonesian politics, especially the politics of courts and legal institutions, labor politics, contentious politics, and political economy.

A medical worker from China's Jilin province prepares to return home at Wuhan airport on April 8. (Ng Han Guan/AP)

_____

Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

Read more:
Priscilla Shirer: Churches can no longer 'manufacture' fire of God, they must rely on the Holy Spirit

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Evangelist and author Priscilla Shirer said she hopes temporary church closures will empower ministers to rely more on the Holy Spirit instead of trying to manufacture the fire of God by using production "gimmicks" many modern churches have become dependent on.

Shirer was among 50 other Christian leaders, musicians, speakers, and pastors who participated in a 10-hour livestream event called Leader Check In hosted by PULSE and Year of the Bible founder Nick Hall on Wednesday. During her segment, she preached from 1 Kings 18:21, 23 and 24.

"I've been thinking about something this morning, just in preparation for the opportunity to share today with everybody who would be gathered in this particular week when we're heading into Easter when we are celebrating the sacrifice of our Lord. With the power of our Lord that He got up out of the grave, that He still lives, ever making intercession for us, ever the mediator that bridges the gap between us and the Father. So the thoughts that have been on my mind have been in and around Elijah, one of the premier Old Testament prophets, Shirer said.

The daughter of Dallas megachurch pastor Tony Evans taught from Elijahs example when he proved that His God, not Baal, was the one true God. She said Elijah understood that as believers we are to provide the sacrifice and God is who provides the fire.

"We're supposed to do our part but not step into the margin  that's supposed to be God's part, Shirer explained. "Its the Spirits part to light the fire, the anointing, the favor that will be required for every single one of our churches' streams to be effective in the lives of people. That they reach all over the globe on this coming Sunday, when for the first time, definitely in my lifetime, maybe in history, that as many people have been reached on Easter Sunday as will be reached this Easter.

She said Easter wont just be a good production or good technology, but it will be a service that will have to impact the souls of human beings.

"What that means is, is that it's gonna have some fire on it. And it can't be a fire that we have manufactured in our own humanity. Emotionalism is not gonna cut it, promotion is not going to cut it, Shirer continued. All the gimmicks and the stories and the emotionalism, the veneer of actually having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

"The charisma, the talent, all that stuff that may have been able to carry us in front of a crowd, now that we've been stripped down, one of the things that I believe the Lord is inviting us back to is this reminder that we're supposed to present ourselves, a living sacrifice to Him. That we give Him our best. That we study to show ourselves approved, that we walk in integrity, and in characters as leaders in the body of Christ. That we continue to cultivate an actual real-life friendship with God that doesn't need an audience to sustain it.

The Texas native whose mother recently died of cancer said this fire is only cultivated behind closed doors during ones personal time with God.

Shirer emphasized that during one-on-one time with God is when everyone gets the ability to resist the urge to do what we humans have a hard time resisting the urge to do. We refuse to manufacture our own fire. We refuse to try to set a flame for the part of our ministry that is supposed to be reserved for God and God alone.

Only He can make the heart of a human be penetrated by the message of the Good News. Only the Holy Spirit can open blind spiritual eyes so that they can actually come to know, this Easter, that it's not about emotionalism, and it's not about the gimmicks and it's not about the fog machines and the spotlights and the HD screens in our churches. It's not about the cappuccino maker that we might have in a cafe nearby. It's not about the kids' ministry or the great parking lot, and all the things that we can enjoy, she added.

"There's no problem with enjoying any of those things. But unfortunately, we can become dependent upon them. Until we don't even recognize the fact that we're not even depending on God to light the fire anymore because we've gotten so used to the crutches of our conveniences.

She stressed that Gods Holy Fire and how He offers that to His believers is what separates Christianity from every other so-called faith on the face of the Earth.

Shirer also celebrated the fact that Christians can talk to God and because of Jesus, He hears.

Because of His Word, and because of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and revelation from God's Spirit, I can hear the voice of God. That means that our God is alive, Shirer declared. If we really believe that, if we really believe that this is not just some fairy tale that we've been spouting, but we actually for real believe that our God lives, then that means we will step back from trying to go into the margin that's supposed to be reserved for Him. We will trust Him to light the fire.

"Please know that if you see that gap that exists where you've done the best you can, and now you recognize that unless God comes through this ain't gonna go so well. Trust me that gap is supposed to exist. God allows it. He asks us to trust Him with that margin. Because as the Apostle Paul would say, come the New Testament, it is in that gap, that weakness, that His strength is made perfect.

She ended by encouraging leaders worldwide that as the Lord has stripped all of us down to not try and manufacture what He is now inviting you to let Him light an ignite in your life.

By the way, can I just say, just in case you're wondering what that fire represents. It is the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now more than ever, y'all will need a relationship with the Holy Spirit of God, Shirer concluded.

If you have never nurtured a fervent and consistent relationship with the Spirit of God, I'm telling you now is the time.

Leader Check-In was a joint initiative of Pulse and Year of the Bible and happened in partnership with thousands of churches and organizations worldwide. Every speaker volunteered their time to give a word from God to a hurting world.
Uuqi.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team

This CoolSocial report was updated on 24 Feb 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.

The total number of people who shared the uuqi homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the uuqi homepage on Twitter + the total number of uuqi followers (if uuqi has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the uuqi homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the uuqi homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the uuqi homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if uuqi has a Facebook fan page).

Basic Information

PAGE TITLE uuqi.com DESCRIPTION KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS



The title found in the head section of the homepage. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site.

Domain and Server

DOCTYPE CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE Italian Italian SERVER nginx/1.0.14 (PHP/5.3.10) OPERATIVE SYSTEM

Character set and language of the site. Operative System running on the server. Type of server and offered services. The language of uuqi.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0)

Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world.

Referring domains for uuqi.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines.

Facebook link

FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND

The URL of the found Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The type of Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users.

Twitter account link

TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 17:27:29|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits an industrial park, which produces high-end auto parts and molds, in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 29, 2020. Xi on Sunday inspected the resumption of work and production in Zhejiang. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for tighter supervision of workplace safety to effectively safeguard the safety of people's lives and property.

As the country is resuming work and production, it is necessary to strengthen monitoring and law enforcement of production safety in a differentiated manner and better implement the responsibilities of enterprise entities, said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, in an instruction.

Authorities should firmly hold the bottom line of workplace safety, Xi said.

Noting that the country had made progress in workplace safety last year with the number of accidents declining, Xi said there remained many risks and much work is yet to be done.

Party committees and governments at all levels must give high priority to workplace safety, Xi stressed, adding that authorities must not neglect safety while focusing on development.

Workplace safety must not be regarded as a trivial matter or treated with formalism or bureaucracy, Xi said.

In view of the main features and outstanding problems in workplace safety, Xi said efforts should be made to improve the responsibility system, ensure strict rectification of problems found, and strengthen risk prevention and control so that hidden dangers could be fundamentally eliminated and major accidents effectively curbed.

Premier Li Keqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also made an instruction on workplace safety.

Authorities must not let up on workplace safety at a time when the country is in a critical period of coordinating epidemic control and work resumption, Li said.

The country should take a systematic approach and implement targeted measures to ensure effective safety control in key areas such as hazardous chemicals, mines, transportation, industrial parks, urban construction and hazardous waste, Li said.

Efforts should be made to establish and improve mechanisms on workplace safety responsibilities and management, and on hidden danger investigation and management as well as risk control, Li said, calling for strengthened supervision, law enforcement and improved services on workplace safety.

The instructions were delivered at a national teleconference on workplace safety in Beijing Friday. Liu He, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Work Safety Committee of the State Council, attended the conference together with other senior officials.

At the conference, officials made arrangements for safety precautions in resuming work and production and for carrying out the three-year action plan on improving national workplace safety. 
By Trend

Quarantine regime in Kazakhstans Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Shymkent cities and in regions will be extended till the end of Apr. 2020, Trend reports with reference to the press office of Kazakhstans president.

The corresponding order has been given by Kazakhstans President Kassym Jomart Tokayev.

Decree on the introduction of a state of emergency expires on Apr. 15. Its clear already that the state of emergency will have to be extended at least until the end of April. We have not yet passed the peak of coronavirus outbreak. This is why I order to extend the quarantine regime in the capital, Almaty, Shymkent cities and in the regions until the end of April, Tokayev said.

On March 15, 2020, Kazakhstans President Kassym Jomart Tokayev signed a decree introducing an emergency state in Kazakhstan due to the coronavirus outbreak, which came in force from 08:00 (GMT +6) on March 16 and will last till 08:00 April 15, 2020.

I understand that this is an unpopular decision, because people want to go out and restore the normal, familiar life. But there is no other way out, apart from quarantine and self-isolation. These are the recommendations of Kazakh and international virologists, Tokayev said.

Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan amounted to 802 cases.

The first two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020.

The outbreak of the coronavirus began in the Chinese city of Wuhan (an international transport hub), at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has exceeded 95,000. Over 1.6 million people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 355,000 people have reportedly recovered.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
NEW YORK (AP)  The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus hit 100,000 as Christians around the globe marked a Good Friday unlike any other  in front of computer screens instead of in church pews  and some countries tiptoed toward reopening segments of their battered economies.

Around the world, public health officials and religious leaders alike warned people against violating the lockdowns and social distancing rules over Easter and allowing the virus to come storming back. Authorities resorted to roadblocks and other means to discourage travel.

In Italy, officials employed helicopters, drones and stepped-up police checks to make sure residents didn't slip out of their homes. On Thursday alone, police stopped some 300,000 people around Italy to check whether they had permission to travel. About 10,000 were issued summonses.

Some churches held services online, while others arranged prayers at drive-in theaters. Fire-scarred Notre Dame Cathedral came back to life briefly in Paris, days before the first anniversary of the April 15 inferno that ravaged it. Services were broadcast from the closed-to-the-public cathedral.

The memorial for the late Jersey City Councilman Michael Yun outside his Central Avenue headquarters has grown. Yun died Monday of complications of COVID-19.Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal

The holiday observances came as the worldwide number of deaths tracked by Johns Hopkins University hit a bleak milestone of 100,000 since late December, when the outbreak emerged in China. More than 1.6 million people around the globe have been infected, by the university's count.

The true number of lives lost is believed be much higher because of limited testing, cover-ups by some governments, and different counting practices. For example, in places like New York, Italy and Spain, many victims who died outside a hospital  say, in a home or a nursing home  have not been counted.

The U.S. had over 18,000 dead, putting it on track to overtake Italy as the country with the highest death toll. Almost a half-million Americans were confirmed infected. About half of dead were in the New York metropolitan area, which includes northern New Jersey, lower Connecticut and Long Island.

Still, there were signs of hope.

New York state reported 777 new deaths, down slightly from the day before, for an overall toll of more than 7,800.

I understand intellectually why its happening, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. It doesnt make it any easier to accept.

But state officials said the number of people in intensive care dropped for the first time since mid-March and hospitalizations are slowing: 290 new patients in a single day, compared with daily increases of more than 1,000 last week.

Cuomo said if the trend holds, New York might not need the overflow field hospitals that officials have been scrambling to construct.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, said Dr. Jolion McGreevy, medical director of Mount Sinai Hospitals emergency department. Its getting better, but its not like its going to just drop off overnight. I think its going to continue to slowly decline over the next weeks and months.

The memorial for the late Jersey City Councilman Michael Yun outside his Central Avenue headquarters has grown. Yun died Monday of complications of COVID-19.Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal

With the pandemic slamming economies, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned that the global economy is headed for the worst recession since the Depression.

In Europe, the 19 countries that use the euro currency overcame weeks of bitter divisions to agree on spending $550 billion to cushion the recession caused by the virus. Mario Centeno, who heads the eurozone finance ministers group, called the package totally unprecedented. ... Tonight Europe has shown it can deliver when the will is there.

As weeks of lockdowns were extended in nation after nation, governments were pressed to ease restrictions on key businesses and industries.

After a two-week freeze on all nonessential economic activity, Spain decided to allow factories and construction sites to resume work on Monday, while schools, most shops and offices will remain closed. Spanish authorities said they trust that the move wont cause a significant surge in infections.

We wouldnt be adopting them otherwise, said Maria Jose Sierra of Spains health emergency center.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that a premature lifting of restrictions could lead to a deadly resurgence.

In Italy, the industrial lobbies in regions representing 45% of the country's economic output urged the government to ease its two-week lockdown on all nonessential manufacturing, saying the country "risks definitively shutting down its own motor, and every day that passes the risk grows not to be able to restart it.

Italy reported 570 additional deaths for a running total of more than 18,800 but said the number of hospital admissions is falling along with the number of patients in intensive care.

Malaysia's prime minister announced a two-week extension to the countrys lockdown but said selected economic sectors can reopen in phases while following strict hygiene rules.

In the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, people desperate for food stampeded, pushing through a gate at a district office in the Kibera slum. Police fired tear gas, injuring several people.

In Japan, the worlds third-largest economy, many have criticized Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as being too slow to act against the pandemic. In a rare rebuke, the Japanese prefecture of Aichi, home to the Toyota car company, declared its own state of emergency, saying it cannot wait for the government.

The memorial for the late Jersey City Councilman Michael Yun outside his Central Avenue headquarters has grown. Yun died Monday of complications of COVID-19.Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal

The situation is critical, said Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura. We decided to do everything we can to protect Aichi residents lives and health.

Japan has the worlds oldest population, and COVID-19 can be especially serious for the elderly.

In some of the worst-hit countries, Italy and Spain, new infections, hospitalizations and deaths have been leveling off. But the daily tolls remain shocking.

The 605 new deaths announced in Spain were the lowest in more than two weeks. The coronavirus has claimed more than 15,800 lives there, though the rates of contagion and deaths are dropping.

Britain recorded 980 new deaths, its highest daily total, for close to 9,000 in all.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care on Thursday after spending three nights there being treated for the virus. The 55-year-old remained hospitalized in London. His father, Stanley Johnson, said the prime minister needs to rest up before returning to work.

Related Content:
Angelia Jolie and Brad Pitt may not agree on a lot of things, but there is one detail about their children that puts them on the same page.

Finally, the two have decided to give "traditional schooling" to their children under their custody.

Traditional School vs. Homeschool

A source confirmed to Us Weekly that traditional schooling has always been something that Brad Pitt pushes forward. Their children's therapists agree with the 56-year old actor that sending the kids to a traditional school would be best for them.

Homeschooling will only isolate the children even more and that would greatly affect how they adjust to society. This stipulation in their divorce agreement would only apply to the ex-couple's five youngest children namely Pax, 16, Zahara, 15, Shiloh, 13, and the 11-year old twins Knox and Viviene.

Pitt and Jolie's eldest child, Maddox, 18, is currently a student in Seoul, South Korea at Yonsei University. A source told Us Weekly in March that Maddox is currently taking on his classes virtually as he is at home with the family due to the world health crisis.

"Maddox is home from school and focusing on his Korean and Russian studies until school reopens," the source said.

On the other hand, the source added that the other younger children are following a routine that their mother has put in place.

"Angelina has the other children on a routine by waking them up early every day and getting them started on their school tasks shortly afterward."

Although Angelina enjoys the fact that she has all her children with her, the "Maleficent" star revealed that their son Maddox plans to return to the university once the coronavirus pandemic is over.

In an interview with DongA Daily on April 1, Jolie said that she is happy with the university their son Maddox is currently enrolled in.

"It is, of course, closed at the moment because of the pandemic. But he's not transferring schools, he'll be going back as soon as things settle," the actress added.

Jolie dropped off Maddox during his freshman year in August 2019. With that said, the Academy Award-winning actress could not help but feel proud of their son's milestone.

"He's ready and he's so smart. And I'm so proud of him. And I'm excited. I'm excited about his choices," Jolie shared.

Education Is Important

In 2016, Jolie talked about how important education is for their family. She further revealed that all her six children have shown interest in learning world languages.

"All the kids are learning different languages," the "Salt" actress told BBC Radio during "Women's Hour."

"I asked them what languages they wanted to learn and Shi is learning Khmai, which is a Cambodian language, Pax is focusing on Vietnamese, Mad has taken to German and Russian, Z is speaking French, Vivienne really wanted to learn Arabic, and Knox is learning sign language."

Although Brad and Angelina are still trying to iron out the other details of their divorce, the two have reportedly moved on with their lives. The children under their care are getting all the love and attention of both their parents.

At the moment, Jolie has custody of all their children.
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted several royal engagements, but Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II does the impossible this time.

Due to the rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom, Buckingham Palace has decided to postpone their scheduled activities such as the royal wedding of Princess Beatrice, Trooping the Colour parade, and the the Royal Ascot races -- which is one of the Queen's favorite events.

Given that the whole nation is on lockdown, it was expected that the annual tradition of Maundy Thursday would also be affected. In fact, it was reported that the 93-year-old head of the monarch was "disappointed" for being unable to carry out this royal duty in person.

In the said religious service, Queen Elizabeth II hands out "Maundy Money" or commemorative coins to pensioners nominated by their local diocese.

However, the longest-reigning monarch was eager not to skip this tradition and instead chose to deliver the special minted coins through a courier alongside a sweet letter.





Instead, the Maundy purses and coins were blessed at the Chapel Royal, before being posted to recipients alongside a personal letter from Her Majesty. This year, in the current circumstances, the traditional service could not go ahead in its usual form.Instead, the Maundy purses and coins were blessed at the Chapel Royal, before being posted to recipients alongside a personal letter from Her Majesty. pic.twitter.com/s6ce7xH8Tu  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2020

The letter reads: "I have great pleasure in sending you the Maundy Gift which, unfortunately, I am unable to distribute to you personally at the Royal Maundy Service in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on Thursday, 9th April."

The Queen also mentioned that it is one of her "most rewarding duties" as the head of state, highlighting that the ceremony plays "such an important point in the Christian calendar."

"I know that you, as a Recipient of this year's Maundy Gift, will be as deeply disappointed as I am that it is not going ahead while understanding the necessary decision in the current circumstances," she added.

Ending the letter, Her Majesty also thanked the recipients for their "Christian service" amid the ongoing pandemic.

More Than A Hundred Pensioners Received The Maundy Gifts

Moreover, it has been reported that 188 pensioners received the commemorative coins that were sent from Windsor castle where HM the Queen is currently staying.

One of the recipients is 101-year-old Thomas Brock, who is said to be the oldest active bell-ringer in the world. Brock is also the oldest recipient of the Maundy gifts.

Up to now, Brock has been doing his duties at his local church in St. Mary's, a duty he has fulfilled since he was seven-years-old.

A Dedicated Queen

Netizens praised the Queen for carrying out this tradition even in difficult times.

One Twitter user wrote: "She's shown real dedication to the nation."

Another one replied: "A Great Woman in the world. You are really impressed by everyone. May God bless you."

"There will never be another Monarch like Elizabeth II. God bless her," a thiird user responded.

Earlier this week, Queen Elizabeth II made a historic nation's address as the coronavirus pandemic grapples the U.K.

It was only the Queen's fourth televised nation address aside from her annual Christmas message. First is in 1991 when she addressed the Gulf War and called on for unity as their "success will be as swift as it is certain."

Following this, the Monarch made her most personal speech yet after the death of Princess Diana of Wales in 1997.

The third is when the longest-reigning monarch made a mournful tribute after the death of the Queen Mother in 2002.
Joel Exotic Photo: Courtesy of @RottenTomatoes/Twitter

Dress him up in enough spotted animal prints and the student will finally become the teacher dean. Thats the only rational and/or moral takeaway from the news that one week after Community hit Netflix, its star Joel McHale will host a Tiger King aftershow called The Tiger King and I. Just when you thought the Tiger King discourse was as dead as the roadkill Joe Exotic fed to his tigers, Netflix figures theres definitely more to unpack in its zany seven-episode docuseries. In a video announcement on Netflixs Twitter, a shirtless McHale wears leopard print, a cowboy hat, earrings, and a giant Sharpie (hopefully?) Netflix logo tattoo where John Finlay once had Property of Joe Exotic tatted. McHale says that in this aftershow, he speaks to Jeff and Lauren Lowe, Saff, Erik Cowie, John Finlay, John Reinke, and Rick Kirkham to see whats happened in their lives since the release of the series. Its eye opening and hopefully funny. If we were wary of this eighth Tiger King installment to begin with, hopefully funny isnt easing our concerns.

The Tiger King and I  a Tiger King after show hosted by Joel McHale and featuring brand new interviews with John Reinke, Joshua Dial, John Finlay, Saff, Erik Cowie, Rick Kirkman, and Jeff and Lauren Lowe  will premiere April 12 pic.twitter.com/8fbbNdaiDA  Netflix (@netflix) April 9, 2020

Did someone tell Netflix that the concept of an aftershow generally means something that takes place directly after a show, as in the following episode, not three weeks later? Oh well. The Tiger King and I premieres on Netflix on April 12, which is Easter Sunday, to remind us that there is one true (tiger) king, his name is Joe Exotic, and he is risen (in Netflixs viewership numbers).
The only lasting truth is change, Octavia Butler wrote in the prescient novel The Parable of the Sower. As the ground shifts under our feet and we ponder the far-reaching effects of this global crisis, Butlers words ring truer than ever. Uncertainty abounds even in the best of times, and our responses to it determine our fate. Understanding, anticipating, and responding to change is at the heart of science fictionenvisioning ourselves amid the strange and the fantastic attunes us to the unexpected and helps us chart a course to a better future.

Advertisement

With this in mind, Future Tenses partners at the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University is proud to launch Us in Flux, a weekly series of flash fiction stories and virtual events about community, collaboration, and collective imagination in the face of transformative change. (Future Tense is a collaboration between Slate, ASU, and New America.) But these arent tales of the apocalypse, or even stories about our current public health crisis. Weve invited talented authors, scholars, and creators of all stripes to give us glimpses of new worlds; of people and systems in transition; and of the different ways we might flourish in times of adversity.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Every Thursday morning, well publish a new, original story on the Center for Science and the Imagination website and will host an online public conversation with the author and their special guest the following Monday afternoon.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The first piece in this series is The Parable of the Tares by Christopher Rowean arresting short story about food, monoculture, and communities that draw together the human and nonhuman.

Then, on Monday, April 13, at 4 p.m. Eastern, Christopher will be joined by Michael Bell, professor in the Department of Community and Environmental Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for a deeper dive into The Parable of the Tares. During the event, Christopher and Michael will talk about the origins of the story, their shared passion for agroecology and politics, and issues of food security, monoculture, and communities that bridge the human and nonhuman. The discussion will be broadcast live on Zoom and available on-demand shortly after. Register today.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Tiger King's Joe Exotic indulged in bestiality, used stuffed animals as sex toys and had two protesters' bodies buried at his zoo, the park's new owner has claimed exclusively to DailyMailTV.

Jeff Lowe, who now owns Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma with his wife Lauren, claims Netflix only showed one percent of Joe's crimes and shady business deals in the popular docuseries.

'In just the few years that we knew him, we witnessed so many horrendous things that he did to people and businesses, nobody around here would take his checks because he bounced them on everybody,' Lowe said.

Joe is currently serving 22 years in federal prison for plotting to have his arch nemesis Carole Baskin murdered and for more than a dozen wildlife violations, including killing five tigers.

But Lowe claims Joe was only convicted of a fraction of the crimes he committed while operating the zoo, going further to allege he got entangled in the whole scandal when Joe conned him into investing in his zoo by claiming he was HIV positive and only had a few years left to live.

Tiger King's Joe Exotic lied about his HIV status, used stuffed animals as sex toys, solicited male prostitutes online for sex and has two human bodies buried at his zoo, the park's new owner claimed exclusively to DailyMailTV

Jeff Lowe, who now owns Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma with his wife Lauren (pictured together), claims Netflix only showed one percent of Joe's crimes and shady business deals in the popular docuseries

Lowe said he also pictures and videos of Joe and his then-husband John Finlay dressed up in trashy lingerie (pictured)

Jeff alleges Joe would cut holes into stuffed animals to use them as sex toys (pictured)

DailyMail.com has contacted Joe's lawyers for comment.

Lowe said he met Joe for the first time in 2015 when he flew him and his then husband Travis Maldonado to Colorado because Lowe was interested in buying a zoo in Callahan, Colorado.

'Joe wanted to come out to Colorado to give me his professional opinion because he thought he was the gift of all the zoos, he was going to tell us what had to be changed in order to bring the zoo back to USDA compliance,' Lowe said.

While out in Colorado Joe made his pitch for the Lowes to buy his zoo. That's when Joe told the couple he was dying.

Joe allegedly told Lowe because of his HIV diagnosis, he had only two years to live and he needed someone who loved animals and had the financial wherewithal to continue to run the park after he died.

'He presented me these pictures of himself on his phone with his face all swelled up and his lips all purple. Joe told me at that time the was HIV positive,' Lowe said.

'Joe told us he had a $5 million life insurance policy and he was going to put us down as a 50 percent beneficiary so we would have money to take care of the animals, with his husband Travis getting the other 50 percent.'

Just days after Joe flew back to Oklahoma, he was blowing up Lowe's phone with pictures of his life insurance policies as proof he wasn't lying.

Lowe said: 'He basically begged us to come out there to help him save it.'

Joe told Lowe because of his HIV diagnosis, he had only two years to live and he needed someone who loved animals and had the financial wherewithal to continue to run the park after he died

Just days after Joe flew back to Oklahoma, he was blowing up Lowe's phone with pictures of his life insurance policies as proof he wasn't lying. Lowe said: 'He basically begged us to come out there to help him save it'

Lowe said he met Joe for the first time in 2015 when he flew him and his then husband Travis Maldonado to Colorado because Lowe was interested in buying a zoo in Callahan, Colorado.

'Joe wanted to come out to Colorado to give me his professional opinion because he thought he was the gift of all the zoos, he was going to tell us what had to be changed in order to bring the zoo back to USDA compliance,' Lowe said

Joe told Lowe because of his HIV diagnosis, he had only two years to live and he needed someone who loved animals and had the financial wherewithal to continue to run the park after he died

Joe is currently serving 22 years in federal prison for plotting to have his arch nemesis Carole Baskin murdered and for more than a dozen wildlife violations, including killing five tigers

Later Lowe found out most of the policies had been cancelled for non-payment or Joe had already cashed them out.

Lowe added: 'Joe not only told us he was HIV positive on several occasions, but told several other people. He used it to his advantage so he could scam something out of them, if it wasn't HIV, it was cancer.'

In reality, Lowe said he found out Joe did have an auto immune disease called CVID, it's not transmitted sexually like HIV, but mimics the genetic code of HIV.

Common variable immune deficiency (CVID) is a disorder that impairs the immune system. People with CVID are highly susceptible to infection from foreign invaders such as bacteria, or more rarely, viruses and often develop recurrent infections, particularly in the lungs, sinuses, and ears.

Whenever Joe had to go to the hospital or to the doctors for treatment for his CVID, he said it was either cancer, HIV or something else, Lowe said.

He added: 'I mean he used that as a crutch whenever times were tough and he'd get out of line, he'd say, ''I've got this cancer, I have this auto immune deficiency you know, and I can't pay the bills''.'

Meanwhile, Lowe claims Joe was embezzling from the both the zoo and his parents, and using the money to pay male prostitutes he would meet on Craigslist.

Pictured: Joe with his husbands John Finlay (left) and Travis (right)

Meanwhile, Lowe claims Joe was embezzling from the both the zoo and his parents, and using the money to pay male prostitutes he would meet on Craigslist. Pictured: An email account in Joe's name soliciting sex on Craigslist

Images obtained by DailyMail.com show that Joe would meet young men from Craigslist ads, promise them money to come down and have sex with him

Lowe said that after having sex, Joe would kick them out of the house, often without paying

After Joe had left the zoo, Lowe said he had gained access to some of Joe's email accounts and found such messages, where Joe would solicit young gay men from Oklahoma City to come have sex with him for money

Lowe said there were several times he would get up early and find a young man wandering around the parking lot after Joe had just kicked him out of his house after having sex.

On one occasion Lowe said he saw one guy wandering around who told Lowe: 'I'm not leaving until I get my money, Joe promised me $400.'

Copies of emails obtained by DailyMail.com show that Joe would meet the young men from Craigslist ads, promise them money to come down and have sex with him.

Lowe said that after having sex, Joe would kick them out of the house, often without paying.

After Joe had left the zoo, Lowe said he had gained access to some of Joe's email accounts and found such messages, where Joe would solicit young gay men from Oklahoma City to come have sex with him for money.

'We found lists of all of these accounts and passwords and I got into a couple of his email accounts and found him soliciting for big black c**k every Tuesday or Thursday night out of Oklahoma City on Craigslist.

'He would write to them, 'I'll pay you $400 to f**k me. I'll pay you $300, to come f**k me. Come f**k me now.'

'Joe was embezzling money from the zoo in order to pay all of these men to come have sex with him, he was only making $150.00 a week at the time. He was using the zoo as his own personal piggy bank,' Lowe said.

Lowe said he also found several thumb drives containing pictures and videos of Joe and his then-husband John Finlay (pictured together) hanging from sex swings

Lowe said he also pictures and videos of Joe and his then-husband John Finlay dressed up in trashy lingerie (pictured)

Lowe said: 'We also found pictures of stuffed animals where the mouths and ends of the animals had holes cut out in them where they would use them as their own sex toy'

Lowe also claims Joe liked to film his partners having sex with other men, at times participating himself. Pictured: Joe with his husbands Travis (left) and John Finlay (right)

Lowe recalls Joe telling a zoo worker that if he ever dies, not to let his mother into the attic, so as soon as he got a chance, he decided to go see 'what this f**ker is hiding in the attic.'

He continued: 'As soon as I pulled the stairs down... it was like packages, packages and packages of these whips and chains and bondage devices.'

Lowe said he also found several thumb drives containing pictures and videos of Joe and his then-husband John Finlay dressed up in trashy lingerie, hanging from sex swings.

He also found videos and pictures of Finlay engaging in a sex act with another man while Joe filmed it.

Lowe said: 'We also found pictures of stuffed animals where the mouths and ends of the animals had holes cut out in them where they would use them as their own sex toy.'

DailyMail.com obtained images of such stuffed animals and photos of lingerie Joe allegedly wore.

Lowe also said he heard about allegations of bestiality with Joe and Finlay.

He claims an employee found a thumb drive that showed Joe and John, with John dressed like a cheerleader, walking around the zoo having sex with farm animals. '

Lowe claimed a former zoo security guard told him that Joe used to get some of his animals, including goats, sheep and alpacas, and bring them into his house in the middle of the night.

Then, 30 to 40 minutes later Joe would put them back in their cages, Lowe said, adding the employee told him: 'You would hear horrible things coming from inside that house.'

One of the more shocking details Lowe claims that he learned there could be dead bodies buried on the property.

'After Joe was arrested, four locals who didn't know each other told me that there could be dead bodies buried on my property.'

Lowe claimed a former zoo security guard told him that Joe used to get some of his animals, including goats, sheep and alpacas, and bring them into his house in the middle of the night. Pictured: A litter of 6-day-old tiger cubs at the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park

Lowe said he was told one of the employees would get drunk and tell how one night, several years ago they were out on the property getting high with another zoo employee when two protesters were attempting to climb the fence

Lowe said: 'Netflix wanted you to believe that I stole the zoo from Joe and Joe wants you to believe it as well, [but] he begged me to buy it. He wanted me to bail his a** out of trouble'

Lowe said he told the authorities about this information, prompting an inspection

One of the more shocking details Lowe claims that he learned there could be dead bodies buried on the property (pictured)

Lowe said he was told one of the employees would get drunk and tell how one night, several years ago they were out on the property getting high with another zoo employee when two protestors were attempting to climb the fence.

Lowe says he was told one employee shot both of them, with one supposedly dying on the fence and the other falling to the ground choking and gagging on blood, promoting the employee to shoot them again.

Lowe said: 'It was about 3am at this time. After they were finished off, they told Joe what happened. Joe allegedly instructed them to put the bodies into the cavity of the big construction tires they have out there that weigh about 200lbs each.

'He then told them to throw gasoline on it and light it on fire to burn the bodies.

'Joe thought the dead protestors were working with PETA and they were UK citizens, which is why they never showed up on a missing person's report.'

Lowe said he told the authorities about this information, prompting an inspection.

He said: 'They came out and searched that particular area of the property bringing a bone specialist from the FBI out of Quantico. They walked around and dug in certain areas.

'The problem was it was the area where Joe had thrown animal bones at for years. There were already hundreds of bones buried there from the animals that they fed to the cats.'

Joe also sold countless baby tigers illegally, too many to count according to Putman

Lowe believes Joe was guilty of all of the charges, especially killing the five tigers he was convicted on. He points to zoo employee Erik Cowie, who claimed Joe asked him to tell him which five tigers weren't able to breed. After doing so, Joe allegedly went over to their cages and shot each one of them in the head

Lowe scoffs at the recent $94 million civil lawsuit Joe Exotic against him and several others, saying: 'This is typical Joe always blaming someone else for his own actions, nothing was ever his fault. Joe ended up where he deserves to be, in prison'

Lowe said the Feds made a determination at the time to wait and see how long Joe was going to be sentenced for. From there they were going to evaluate the situation to see if it was worth the estimated $1 million to excavate and process the entire area.

So far Lowe said he hasn't heard back from the FBI.

Lowe believes Joe was guilty of all of the charges, especially killing the five tigers he was convicted on.

He points to zoo employee Erik Cowie, who claimed Joe asked him to tell him which five tigers weren't able to breed. After doing so, Joe allegedly went over to their cages and shot each one of them in the head.

Lowe said: 'Erik had no idea what Joe what was going to do when he sent them to their execution, he was devastated after Joe shot them.

'Joe had a circus guy who came every year who boarded his cats at Joe's zoo, he paid Joe $5,000 in cash.

'But this time Joe didn't have any extra space, so he needed to get rid of some of his own tigers to make room to board the one's he was going to make money on.

'If I saw Joe today, I would tell him, you did this Joe, this was not on us.'

He added: 'Netflix wanted you to believe that I stole the zoo from Joe and Joe wants you to believe it as well, [but] he begged me to buy it. He wanted me to bail his a** out of trouble.'

Lowe scoffs at the recent $94 million civil lawsuit Joe Exotic against him and several others, saying: 'This is typical Joe always blaming someone else for his own actions, nothing was ever his fault. Joe ended up where he deserves to be, in prison.'
Photo credit: Hearst Owned

From Town & Country

Right now, in an alternate universe, high school students are traveling the country looking at prospective colleges. In any ordinary year, juniors would be touring schools over spring break and seniors would be preparing for admitted students weekends. Even admissions officers would be flying around the nation, attending college fairs and speaking to high schoolers unable to travel. But in the era of COVID-19, these journeys are some of the millions that have been cancelled.

Colleges and students alike are now trying to adapt to a new normal: virtual tours have replaced in-person ones, information sessions are held over Zoom, and students will likely have to make difficult choices about the next four years of their educations without ever setting foot on a campus or meeting a representative in person.

In a recent Scoir survey, 80% of high school juniors and 84% of parents surveyed reported that campus visits are extremely or very important to their college selection processso, what now? T&C spoke with college admissions experts to get advice for students and parents alike on how to virtually visit and choose a school.

Photo credit: Boston Globe - Getty Images

Evaluate Yourself Before Evaluating A School

Before scheduling a virtual tour, it's important to figure out what kinds of colleges you may be interested in. Jennie Taylor Tucker is the CEO and founder of Pointer, an app designed to inform students about the admissions process and help them customize their search to fit their needs. Her biggest piece of advice for prospective students is to use this time at home to self-evaluate.

"This moment actually provides an opportunity to take pause and reflect on who you are as a person," Tucker suggested. "This is such a challenging process under normal circumstances, and in this moment, so much of what I think students should be doing is thinking about who they are and what makes them tick. The more self-aware they are, the better their college exploration will be."

Story continues

Many college counselors ask students to make lists of qualities they'd value in a school. Aaron Fulk, director of college counseling at Marin Academy, a prestigious independent school in Northern California, asks students to take this questioning a step further.

"I think this is an opportunity for our students to actually do the search process in a more thoughtful way," Fulk said. "An important thing for our students is to articulate why they want to go to college. Many of our students and parents often scoff when we ask, but a lot of students can't answer that."

From there, Fulk asks students to figure out what they want out of college, and then explore online resources through that lens. This is also how students should be approaching the task of putting together their wishlist of schools.

Photo credit: David Butow - Getty Images

Adam Lips, Director of College Counseling at Stanford's Online High School, does not see virtual counseling as an impediment to the process, having worked with students via video conference even before the pandemic.

"Initially, its finding places that are a good fit for the student, and then when they're applying, its helping them put together a strong application," Lips said. "I think that all of that can be done extremely effectively in an online environment. I dont think you have to give much up at all. "

Where To Look

Once you've listed a few schools of interest, the next step is to go to a college's website. While these websites are large and overwhelming, there are specific areas targeted to prospective students.

Whitney Soule, Dean of Admissions and Student Aid at Maine's Bowdoin College, suggests beginning with the school's admission requirements. She also noted that many schools that usually mandate standardized testing are relaxing those requirements this year (Bowdoin, for one, is test-optional).

"It's very important to be looking to see how colleges are responding to what would normally be their admission requirements, both curriculum-wise and through standardized testing, so students can feel secure about what theyre going to have available at the time they apply," Soule said.

Photo credit: Portland Press Herald - Getty Images

Financial aid is another incredibly important factor to consider as you're researching your potential schools. Most institutions have a calculator online where students can input their information and get an estimate about the cost of attendance. Soule noted, "[Students] really should be exploring financial aid as much as they should be exploring what the college is like."

Next on the website, take a look at the school's curriculum. Especially for seniors trying to decide between schools, Fulk asks his students to dive deeply into requirements and course offerings: "[What] always shocks me, the longer I do this job, is the number of students that are going to leave for college in five or six months and have not looked up the curriculum."

Finally, investigate what's important to you. Look at the website pages and social media accounts for potential majors. Research extracurricular options that interest you. Explore housing options. Make sure you're thoroughly examining whatever aspects of college you, personally, value.

Feel (Almost) Like You're On Campus

There are a number of ways to explore campus or speak to students and admissions officers online. From online campus tours to Zoom information sessions, colleges are more virtually accessible than ever.



Though this year may be disappointing for some students, Soule noted that tens of thousands of students nationwide each year are unable to visit colleges before attending, so schools have already been trying to provide more virtual options. "Its important to keep in mind that the lack of opportunity to visit is a new issue for some families and a familiar issue for a lot of families," she pointed out.

When looking at schools virtually, first join the mailing lists of colleges of interest. That way, prospective students will learn about upcoming virtual programming and options via email, which is particularly crucial in this admissions cycle.

"Recognize that college admissions are creating a lot of content very quickly to try to accommodate the lack of in-person exposure," Soule said. "The best way for students to have access to that content is to get onto the mailing lists of colleges they might be interested in."

Once you're informed, there will likely be plenty of virtual options available. YouVisit offers free virtual campus tours of over six hundred colleges and universities. All of our experts advised that students attend online information sessions through the schools' admissions offices. And many schools are offering live chat services on their websites, where prospective students can be connected with an admissions officer or student, similar to a customer service experience you might find while online shopping.

Our experts also recommended a number of other online resources and websites, including Niche, College Confidential, Campus Reel, and individual schools' social media accounts. All of theses sources will provide more information about each school, and many also feature photos and video which enable students to get a sense of the campus. Students can also use Google Maps to look at a school's surrounding area, Tucker says: "Are there things in your day-to-day now that you want to carry over to your college experience? Does that environment have similar things?"

Information sessions with admissions officers should also be a part of your virtual college visit. Knowing the constraints of social distancing, colleges are giving students greater access to their faculty and staff than ever before.

"Schools are trying to be mindful of this moment and be as flexible, adaptive, and empathetic as possible to students," Tucker said. "So, there are resources on a school-by-school basis that are available in a way that they wouldnt be normally."

All of our experts agreed that the best way to get a real sense of a school is to talk to as many people as possible. whether you connect with alumni from your high school or ask a school's admissions office to connect you with current students and faculty. "Its not just browsing a website. Its interactive; its a human being who has a personality and a smile and gestures and is answering questions in real time," Soule said.

Students can tell a lot about a college based on how they're treated, Lips noted. He asks his students to "make direct contact with people who will give you a good sense of whats going to be available to you [at this school], and then also how helpful and welcoming the people from those offices are, too."

A major part of the college search has always been finding a school you connect to personally, as well as academically. That does not change, even though today's search process is different.

Photo credit: Boston Globe - Getty Images

Keep Some Perspective.

Make no mistakethis is an incredibly difficult time to be applying to college. With mounting uncertainties surrounding the coronavirus, colleges are unsure how and in what form the fall semester will take place, and some current seniors are considering taking a gap year to avoid the possibility of beginning college online.

"Ive definitely had many more students thinking about delaying," Lips said. "In any year, I think its a great idea. Particularly this year, if the college gives that option."

While 89% of Scoir survey respondents said they had no intention of delaying enrollment, those figures may change as we learn more about the impact of COVID-19. Lips also noted that possible deferrals could have rippling consequences, including lower college admittance rates for the class of 2021, since fewer spots will be available if many current seniors defer admission.

With standardized test dates being cancelled and high schools moving to pass/fail grading systems, there are numerous other complications to consider. But despite all of these hiccups, it's important for students to keep everything in perspective.

To that end, Fulk recommended students put more of an emphasis on wellness in their college plansfor instance, an incoming freshman might plan out five things they will do to build community once the semester begins.

"Wellness is actually a far better indicator of success and persistence and graduation than even standardized testing or high school GPA," Fulk said. "Were trying to talk to our students... more about how you are going to find your community as quickly as possible, and how are you going to find people that you can connect with and trust."

Photo credit: AAron Ontiveroz - Getty Images

"Your primary concern needs to be your personal health and well-being. You need to do whats best for you," Lips said. "Even though people are skeptical of the colleges and cynical about the admissions process, I think [the colleges] try to be reasonable and are going to be accepting and understanding."

Finally, remember that you are not alone. The whole world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus and everyone is handling it in their own way. Students will react differently, but remember that everyone applying to college right now is going through the same problems.

"I try to remind our juniors that every junior in the country is going through this," Falk said. "They shouldnt feel like they're behindcertainly they can have all sorts of emotional responses to this. They can be frustrated or angry or disappointed, but it should be unifying. Everyone is experiencing this together."

You Might Also Like
The musicians got their scores by email. They also got an audio track to listen to through headphones as they played. That audio included a previous recording of the music and the ticking sound of a metronome, to help them keep time and stay in perfect unison despite being scattered to the winds.
Toronto Community Housing has confirmed some tenants and at least one staff member have COVID-19.

The citys social housing provider said it is working with Toronto Public Health and doing everything else possible to limit the spread of the potentially deadly virus, but not all residents are satisfied with the agencys response to the threat.

Kevin Marshman, TCHs chief executive, told the Star on Thursday that in recent days less than five residents and one staff member informed the agency they have confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Marshman could not say where the tenants lived and offered few details except that one is currently in hospital or another setting outside their TCH building.

The staff member notified the agency of their illness on Wednesday and had self-isolated for about a week prior, Marshman said. Public health officials are urging anyone with COVID-19 or exposure to the virus to self-isolate for at least 14 days.

Asked if the infected employee was in close contact with coworkers or tenants prior to self-isolating, Marshman said not based on our investigation so far, but TCH continues to help public health workers identify any interactions.

We are working with Toronto Public Health and others in terms of additional steps we need to take in our buildings, to ensure the virus doesnt spread among tenants, many of whom live in densely populated highrises, he said.

Asked if nearby tenants need to be notified of the infections, Marshman said TCH is consulting public health on the appropriate process.

Posters warning of the dangers of COVID-19 and encouraging physical distancing, along with hand sanitizer, have been placed in TCH buildings across the city, Marshman said.

When the Star reported in late March on challenges COVID-19 poses for TCH tenants, many low-income and some with disabilities, and the agencys efforts to help them, TCH said it knew of no tenants with the virus.

A staff member later contacted the Star anonymously to say there were suspected COVID-19 cases in TCH buildings, and provided internal log entries about tenants in self-isolation as early as mid-March, including one freshly out of hospital.

Marshman confirmed that information, saying it was a warning to staff and a note to ensure supports for the tenants were in place, but repeated the agency had no confirmation of infections until this week.

TCH staff who enter any tenants unit now must wear masks and gloves, eye protection and full body suit, he said.

Tom Robson, a TCH tenant, told the Star that the housing provider failed to recognize or address the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic until March 19, when Ontario recorded its first death from the virus.

The agency was too slow to warn tenants about symptoms and preventative measures such as handwashing, Robson said, and still hasnt given residents proper information about what to do if they feel symptoms including fever.

While TCH says its staff have phoned almost 16,000 elderly and vulnerable residents to ensure they have supports during the crisis, Robson said the agency doesnt have information to identify those most in need of help.

TCH should partner with the United Way and its member agencies, which have staff and expertise to do proper outreach and assessments for tenants most at risk, he added.
An image taken by the MCAM selfie camera on board of the European-Japanese Mercury mission BepiColombo as it neared Earth ahead of its gravity-assist flyby manoeuvre in April 2020.

The image was taken at 16:56 UTC on 9 April 2020, less than a day before the closest approach, from over 200 000 km away.

A sequence of images taken by the MCAM selfie cameras on board of the European-Japanese Mercury mission BepiColombo as it neared Earth ahead of its gravity-assist flyby manoeuvre in April 2020. Images in the sequence were taken in 10-minute intervals from 11:25 UTC until 15:00 UTC on 9 April 2020, less than a day before the closest approach. As BepiColombo approached the planet at a speed of more than 100 000 km/h, the distance to Earth diminished from 281 940 km to 230 000 km during the time the sequence was captured.

In the image Earth appears behind the spacecraft structure and above the high-gain antenna, and moves slowly to the centre of the image.

The manoeuvre, first of an overall nine flybys but the only one at Earth, helped steer the spacecraft towards Venus as it gradually closes in on its target orbit around Mercury. During its seven-year cruise to the smallest and innermost planet of the Solar System, BepiColombo will twice use the gravity of Venus and six times that of Mercury to break against the gravitational pull of the Sun. This constant need to break requires either a lot of fuel or a complicated trajectory with many flybys, otherwise BepiColombo would not be able to enter the correct orbit around Mercury.

A sequence of images is available here



Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
The United States on Thursday called for complete transparency in the reporting of coronavirus data at the UN Security Councils first meeting on the pandemic, in an unmistakable reference to China, which it did not name but has previously accused of concealing the true extent of its outbreak.

China hit back calling for the need to oppose stigmatization of the crisis and racial discrimination in a clear reference to US efforts to pin the epidemic on China, calling it the Chinese virus or the Wuhan virus, which is said to have fueled a spate hate crimes against Asian Americans.

The Security Council had been largely missing from action as the coronavirus tore through the world. China, which held the bodys rotating presidency for March, did not allow a debate or a meeting arguing the pandemic was outside the mandate of the Security Council; it was backed by Russia and South Africa.

The UNSC finally met Thursday, virtually, at the request of nine of the 10 non-permanent members of the body, but failed to even consider two resolutions that it had expected to take up this week. The UN general assembly passed a resolution last week calling for intensified international cooperation.

The UNs top decision-making clearly remains divided on its mandate and role in dealing with the pandemic that had killed more than 97,000 people worldwide and infected more than 1.6 million, with the United States and China, two of the bodys five permanent members, hit the hardest.

The United States reiterates today the need for complete transparency and the timely sharing of public health data and information within the international community, said Kelly Craft, the US ambassador to the UN.

She added that accurate, science-based data collection and analysis of the origins, characteristics, and spread of the virus was the most effective way to tackle the epidemic.

While the start of the epidemic in Wuhan, China last December is well documented, its spread around the world has been as a consequence of a combination of factors, with the urgency, or the lack of it, of the response of respective nations playing a key role; how soon they initiated mitigation measures, when they close their borders or shut down travel from affected areas.

The Trump administration has been criticized at home for responding late and inadequately, despite the presidents claims to the contrary. And it has been seen to be trying to deflect responsibility by pinning it on China and, lately, the WHO, accusing it of aiding Beijing hide the extent of the outbreak. Trump has he re-evaluating US contribution to the WHO, which is the highest of all at more than $450 million.

Trump began calling the virus the Chinese virus and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo named it the Wuhan virus. Trump has since stopped after he was widely criticized for fanning racial backlash against Asian Americans, who have been subjected to verbal abuse and whose businesses have faced boycott calls.

Calling for the international community to act with solidarity against the pandemic, Chinese ambassador to the UN Chen Xu, focussed on the Trump administration. All parties should jointly oppose stigmatization and politicization of public health issue, he said. The virus is common enemy for all mankind, which respects no borders and hurts all ethnic groups. Instigating racial discrimination and xenophobia, and creating divisions and confrontations deliberately should be abandoned.
Like many courses in the Segal Design Institutes manufacturing and design engineering (MaDE) program, DSGN 386: Manufacturing Engineering Design is a hands-on, interactive class where students and instructors work together. And like other experiential courses at Northwestern Engineering, the capstone experience was redesigned to fit the new, COVID-19 realities of online classes.

To keep the courses rigor and learning outcomes, Clinical Professor Dan Brown and MaDE program director David Gatchell reimagined an online, but hands-on, design for manufacturing experience. They sourced and assembled measurement tools and components to send to students, enabling them to virtually manufacture fixtures for a bionic wrench assembly simulation in CAD for the final project.

The Segal team worked quickly.

With concerns over the pandemic rising in mid-March, Gatchell contacted Brown about adjusting the class. Normally, the shop-heavy course requires students to take all theory learned in earlier classes and put it to practical use.

Within a day, Brown had a vision for giving the students what they needed to work remotely, based on his experience in industry and over 10 years of teaching. Brown, also the director of the Ford Prototyping Lab at Segal, immediately engaged the Segal Shop team to assist and coordinate the challenge of getting the tools to the students.

Dan is very good at being solution-focused, said Gatchell, a Charles Deering McCormick Distinguished Clinical Professor. Just, were going to get this done. I see a way were going to do it.

By early the next week, the plan was approved. And now, around 40 kits have been sent to students as far away as Hong Kong and Turkey.

The kits include measuring equipment and bionic wrench parts allowing teams of students to complete the objectives of the course: document how to reverse-engineer the wrench, develop the component drawings in 3D CAD, and build a virtual wrench. Following this reverse engineering experience, the students are than challenged to design a manufacturing fixture for the wrench, and eventually produce as many wrenches as they can within a set amount of time using CAD to simulate and model the optimal design for manufacturing.

Instead of physically building a fixture, students in teams will build and assemble virtual models in CAD, with the virtual parts modeling the assembly in a realistic simulation, as part of the final deliverable.

What weve been able to do because of the power of CAD is to create 3D models and have the students work virtually in teams, Brown said. Its the only way we can really give this class and challenge the students in the critical thinking necessary to design a robust and lean manufacturing strategy.

Some staples of the course remain the same. There will still be lectures twice per week and professional mentoring. And, there may be a bonus: the students heavy work with CAD and virtual teamwork will provide them the experience to work with partners and clients from all over the world in their professional careers.



And though the class isnt exactly how its normally intended -- to provide a heavy dose of hands-on machining and assembly -- Brown and Gatchell are confident the switch to CAD simulation will be an excellent skill to learn for the students future careers.



Well accomplish the same goals and teach them the same lessons, only in a different way this quarter, Brown said. This is certainly a challenge, but Dave and I are professionals, and we are committed to delivering the best classroom experience despite the challenges.
The German electronic newspaper DW ran an article, saying the Vietnamese Government had handed over 550,000 antibacterial face masks as gifts to the embassies of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK in Hanoi.

Meanwhile, Euronews reported that in addition to the above-mentioned countries, Vietnam has also donated masks and medical equipment to Cambodia, Laos and China.

Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung speaks at the ceremony to hand over 550,000 antibacterial face masks to the embassies of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

The German Embassy in Vietnam, through its facebook page, thanked the Vietnamese Government for giving the German Government 110,000 face masks.

According to Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung, Vietnam wants to support its European partners which have shown their solidarity and friendship with Vietnam in the past.

The German Embassy said that the Vietnamese community in Germany has also joined hands with local authorities in the fight against the pandemic.

Thousands of medical face masks, cloth masks, and protective gloves have been mobilised among overseas Vietnamese in Germany to present to local hospitals, nursing homes, health centres and police stations.

Many Vietnamese restaurants in the European country have offered thousands of free meals to doctors and nurses at COVID-19 treatment centres, the embassy added.

The German Embassy expressed its gratitude to the Vietnamese communitys determination to combat the disease, as well as the strength of the German-Vietnamese friendship.

It said that research institutions, scientists and the governments of the two countries are closely cooperating in the COVID-19 combat.

Accordingly, the Vietnamese-German Centre of Excellence in Medical Research (VG-CARE) in Hanoi recently delivered 6,000 test tubes to Germany for COVID-19 drug development research.

In an interview with Berlin-based daily newspaper Berliner Zeitung on April 7th, Regine Hengge, a prestigious microbiology professor from Humbolt University, recommended that German authorities and people follow Vietnams face mask wearing rule to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic./.
Syracuse, NY -- Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon has been sounding the alarm this week over the potential for coronavirus spread this weekend during Easter and Passover.

And now theres some proof that his fears were founded. But McMahon noted, its not too late to change course and keep everyone home on these days of celebration.

Also, the county caught a big break in the numbers over its fight with COVID-19. And separations are continuing to strain families where mom and dad dont live together.

Restaurants alarmed

McMahon said that hes heard from a half-dozen restaurants and caterers over large orders for this weekend -- the Easter celebration for Christians and Passover for Jews.

Theyre the workers reaching out to us, the county executive said. "People who are going to have a pretty good day business-wise, alarmed by the quantities" of food being ordered.

McMahon said the orders hes talking about would feed more than 10 people with hearty appetites.

Thats troubling, he said, adding that its too hard to police that kind of thing. He dismissed the idea of sending sheriffs deputies to follow people home from restaurants.

More, he said, its an example of the 10 percent of people he guessed who are still not taking social distancing seriously. (McMahon has outlawed parties and celebrations, punishable by a misdemeanor. No one has reported being charged.)

McMahon urged people to celebrate with only immediate family this weekend. A well-intentioned plan to bring mom or dad, grandpa or grandma to the party could lead them to get very sick.

Of the ongoing COVID-19 cases, nine percent now are people -- typically elderly -- fighting for their lives in an intensive care unit, McMahon noted Friday.

County residents have gotten their elderly loved ones sick by visiting them during the pandemic, county health commissioner Dr. Indu Gupta has said.

As for McMahon, hell be celebrating Easter at home with his wife, Kate, and their three children, he said. That breaks the tradition of his mom cooking the traditional meal, but thats not an option this year, he said.

Please, dont get mom and dad sick, he said. Dont.

A break in the numbers

On Friday, the gap between two coronavirus trends widened in the county: the number of deaths and deathly sick people increased, while the number of known active infections decreased.

McMahon started out noting the deaths so far, and those undoubtedly to come.

But he also pointed out that our active caseload decreased Friday, for only the second time since the pandemic started.

That decrease is due to a minor miracle in the numbers:

435 tests were returned with results Friday, one of the highest daily totals to date.

Of those 435 tests, there were only 14 new infections, one of the lowest daily totals to date.

Thats a 3 percent infection rate among tests returned in the past day. By comparison, the county overall has averaged a 7.5 infection rate among its total 6,050 tests returned to date (456 positives).

Not only did that huge dump of results Friday not produce many positives, but it also helped clear a nearly three-week-long backlog in test results.

At its height, there were 1,051 tests awaiting results on March 25. Thats now down to 300 pending tests, the lowest number to date.

However, the number of new tests taken daily remains steady: 201 tests were sent to labs for results in the past day, according to county data.

That suggests that people are continuing to get sick with the virus.

Child custody - with no court

McMahon has spoken publicly for several days now about a difficult, coronavirus-related problem: parents with joint custody who are concerned about seeing their children or protecting them from the other parents bad social-distancing habits.

McMahon voiced his concern with the issue, but noted that child custody arrangements were set by the courts. He said the county has been in touch with local Family Courts over the issue.

But courts remain closed except for emergencies: cases in which a childs safety is in imminent danger. Suspicions of social-distancing violations havent risen to the level of a judge intervening.

A local Family Court lawyer, Tara Trammell, told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that parents should follow the rules of their custody arrangements, even during the pandemic, if at all possible. Once things return to normal, judges will likely take note of how parents behaved during crisis in determining their custody rights going forward.

But lawyers are still trying to figure out things on the fly, Trammell said. Can the parent settle for Skype instead of a visit? Is there a large open area where both parents could meet while social distancing?

McMahon noted that he had no control over those conflicts, but urged parents to use common sense in protecting their children from the virus.

He suggested that Family Courts could issue some guidance at some point in the future.

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.
All 14 BJP legislators in



Chhattisgarh will aid the state's fight against COVID-19 pandemic by donating Rs 11 lakh from their local area development funds to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF).

Apart from this, the party MLAs will also donate 30 per cent of their basic salary to the CMRF for a year and their one-month salary to PM CARES Fund.

BJP legislative party leader Dharamlal Kaushik made this announcement in a press statement issued here.

The 90-member state Assembly has 14 BJP MLAs, including Kaushik.

"All BJP legislators will donate 30 per cent of their basic salary for one year along with Rs 11 lakh each from MLA Local Area Development Fund to the CMRF," the release said.

The party MLAs will also donate their one month's salary to PM CARES Fund, it said.

The decision was taken in light of the health crisis arising out of the coronavirus outbreak.

"We all are united in the fight against the pandemic. We all are committed to contribute in this fight," Kaushik said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The US Department of Defence issued a statement on April 9 expressing its deep concern over a Chinese coast guard's collision with and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel near Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago.

The US Department of Defence's headquarters (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

"Chinas behaviour stands in contrast to the US's vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, in which all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms," according to the statement.

The US will continue to support efforts to ensure freedom of navigation and economic opportunity throughout the entire Indo-Pacific, it said.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the importance of the rules-based international order, as it sets the conditions that enable us to address this shared threat in a way that is transparent, focused, and effective, it added.

The US called on all parties to refrain from actions that would destabilise the region, distract from the global response to the pandemic, or risk needlessly contributing to loss of life and property.

The Vietnamese vessel, number QNg 90617 TS, with eight fishermen on board, was hit and sank when it was fishing near Hoang Sa's Phu Lam island in the East Sea on April 2.

According to spokeswoman of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang, Vietnam lodged an official complaint with China following the incident.

While answering to reporters queries about the incident on April 3, Hang said that Vietnam has sufficient legal grounds and historical evidence affirming its sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes in accordance with international law, she said.

Such an act by the China coast guard ship violates Vietnams sovereignty over the Paracel islands, causing damage, threatening the safety of life and the legitimate interests of Vietnamese fishermen.

It also went against the common perception of senior leaders of the two countries on the humane treatment of fishermen and the Vietnam-China agreement on the basic principles guiding the settlement of maritime issues, and in contrary to the spirit of the Declaration of Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea (DOC), which complicates the situation and is not conducive to the bilateral relations as well as the maintenance of peace, stability and cooperation in the East Sea, she said. VNA

Philippines issues statement on China's sinking of Vietnamese fishing vessel The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on April 8 issued a statement expressing its deep concern over a China coast guard ships hitting and sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the East Sea.

US voices serious concern over East Sea situation The US on April 6 said it was "seriously concerned" about China's reported sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the East Sea.
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is moving aggressively on national security grounds against Chinese telecom firms, with key agencies this week recommending that a subsidiary of China's largest landline provider have its U.S. license revoked.

The advice to pull a license from China Telecom Americas was prompted by long-standing concerns that the firm, whose parent company is state-owned, poses unacceptable risks of Chinese espionage and disruption of U.S. networks, U.S. officials said.

The action comes on the heels of advice by the same agencies to deny Google permission to run a high-speed Internet cable to Hong Kong. And it follows the Federal Communications Commission's barring last year of state-owned China Mobile from operating in the United States, as well as the Commerce Department's blacklisting of Huawei Technologies, discouraging U.S. companies from doing business with the telecom equipment-maker.

These steps represent a ratcheting up of pressure on Beijing by an administration increasingly unwilling to abide any threat to the integrity of the nation's telecommunications network and what it sees as a massive theft of America's advanced technologies in a bid to dominate the world economy.

"To have a telecommunications company that is ultimately subject to the direction or control of an adversary power isn't a safe situation - it's not in the interests of national security," Adam S. Hickey, deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's national security division, said in an interview.

At the same time, such moves are raising concerns among some in industry and academia about the risks to American companies as the world's two largest economies struggle to regain their footing in the midst of a global pandemic.

"Every time the United States invokes its discretionary power to block entry and operation by foreign telecom carriers, it sets a precedent for nationalists in other countries who want to block entry to networks operated by U.S. companies, including the fiber optic networks that fuel American technology giants like Google," said Peter Cowhey, a former FCC chief of the international bureau who is now a professor at the University of California at San Diego. "An ounce of prudence in regulation can discourage a pound of pain in protectionist regulations around the world."

Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, told reporters at a news conference in Beijing on Friday that the government is "firmly opposed" to having China Telecom's license pulled. "The Chinese government asks Chinese enterprises to abide by local laws and regulations and follow market principles when carrying out economic cooperation," Zhao said. He urged Washington to "stop abusing the concept of national security and politicizing economic issues, and stop wantonly oppressing Chinese companies."

In a statement to The Washington Post, China Telecom Americas spokesman Ge Yu said: "CTA looks forward to responding to the allegations in detail. The company has been extremely cooperative and transparent with regulators. In many instances, we have gone beyond what has been requested to demonstrate how our business operates and serves our customers following the highest international standards."

The momentum against China is bipartisan. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in September joined Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in urging the FCC to review China Telecom's license and if necessary revoke it.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a former wireless industry venture capitalist who once held the view that engagement with a rising China would bring mutual benefit, said he is now persuaded otherwise. "It is time to wake up to the fact that Beijing is pursuing a strategy to not only strengthen China, but also to explicitly diminish U.S. power and influence globally," Warner said in a speech in the fall at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, helped write legislation banning the use of Huawei and ZTE, another Chinese telecom equipment-maker, in U.S. government systems.

Thursday's recommendation to the FCC on China Telecom's license came from an ad hoc group of agencies, led by the Justice Department and informally dubbed Team Telecom, which reviews foreign telecom licenses for national security and law enforcement risks. The China Telecom advice marked the first time the group has urged that an existing license be pulled on national security grounds.

The firm misled the U.S. government about where it was storing U.S. records, a violation of assurances it had made to obtain the license, the agencies said in a filing to the FCC.

The recommendation would apply to China Telecom's services regulated by the FCC: "international basic switched data, private line, data, television and business services," according to the filing. The company would be permitted to run its data centers and cloud services, which are not regulated by the FCC.

Still, the move "is a pretty big deal," Richard Sofield, who ran Team Telecom for 10 years as an attorney in the Justice Department's national security division. "China Telecom's been active for over a decade in the United States," said Sofield, now a partner at Wiley Rein, noting the license was granted in 2007. "The government has had increasing concerns regarding the company's capability to intercept communications and access customer data here and their ability to evade lawful surveillance by U.S. authorities."

According to the filing, China Telecom targets its cellphone service to more than 4 million Chinese Americans, 2 million Chinese tourists visiting the United States annually, 300,000 Chinese students at U.S. colleges and more than 1,500 Chinese businesses in the United States. Moreover, the FBI is disadvantaged in wiretapping Chinese diplomats using the service because the bureau could not serve an order on the company for fear of tipping off the Chinese government, U.S. officials said.

Team Telecom, which includes Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security officials, last week was given an official status and name through an order issued by Trump, creating the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector. That gives its recommendations more legal heft.

Industry officials are already fretting about the potential for retaliation. "The concern we would have is you're taking a shot at the Chinese," said one telecom industry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid. "They're going to shoot back. What are they going to do to us?"

The administration is also drafting a rule targeting a major Chinese tech firm's ability to make semiconductor chips, part of its broader effort to slow Huawei Technology's drive to dominate the emerging high-speed wireless 5G market.

At a White House meeting called by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday, Trump raised no objections to proceeding with the rule, though its timing remains uncertain, according to several individuals familiar with the meeting who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The "foreign direct product" rule, which is being written by the Commerce Department, would affect Huawei's domestic chip design arm, a Shenzhen-based firm called HiSilicon, according to the individuals. The rule would bar any company from using American semiconductor technology to make chips for HiSilicon, a move that would substantially affect Huawei's principal supplier in Taiwan

American companies could still sell semiconductor chips to Huawei, as long as they have a license from the Commerce Department and the activity does not pose a risk to national security.

Huawei U.S. spokesman Glenn Schloss said the potential restrictions would be bad not only for Huawei but for U.S. leadership in semiconductors and would pose long-term economic and supply chain consequences.

"There has been a warning that decoupling in this area will be a death knell for the U.S. industry similar to its networking equipment manufacturing sector," said Schloss, noting that no American firms make the base stations and radio antennas that go into 5G networks. "Covid-19 is already devastating the U.S. economy and these restrictions would add more fuel to the fire."
With livelihood of about 1 crore truckers in peril due to the lockdown, transporters on Friday urged the government for an immediate relief package for the transport sector.

The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic and the resultant lockdown to contain its spread have led to idling of more than 90 per cent of about one crore truckers.

More than 4 lakh truckers with goods under non-essential categories are still stranded across India while goods worth about Rs 40,000 crore are lying in vehicles in the absence of unloading mechanism as well as reluctance on part of godowns, owners and others, All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC)President Kultaran Singh Atwal told PTI.

Atwal said the situation is so grim that AIMTC has written to the government, seeking immediate rescue and relief package as the transport sector has already gone on "ventilator" and as much as 20 crore people are directly or indirectly dependent on it for livelihood.

AIMTC is the apex body of transporters representing about 93 lakh truckers besides various transport entities,



Naveen Gupta, Secretary General of AIMTC said he was flooded with distress calls from across the nation from drivers stuck during the lockdown, seeking help.

In a few such recordings with PTI, truckers are heard pleading for help saying they have been left with nothing to eat. One driver from Himachal Pradesh is heard saying "I will die of cold and hunger."



In few other recordings, drivers are heard saying the godown owner or concerned transporter is not ready for unloading of goods.

Gupta said the average daily loss suffered by truckers is estimated at about Rs 2,200 crore and the situation is going to be alarming.

Atwal said there are many instances where the truckers have abandoned the goods and left in panic.

"We have asked immediate rescue and relief package from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman which includes demand of average Rs 15,000 per month for the drivers of trucks and buses to sustain their families on basis of documents like driving licences and Aadhar,"Gupta said.

Besides, AIMTC, which has prepared a White Paper and submitted it to the government, has demanded compulsory insurance for drivers as they are the backbones of the supply chain, he said.

"The strategic importance of the road transport sector cannot be under-estimated, which is amply demonstrated now while maintaining the continuity of the supply chain and ensuring that communities have access to food, medical care and other essential commodities. This sector is providing yeoman services akin to police, doctors and paramedics," the White Paper said.

The road transport sector of India is one of the critical sectors of the economy and highly unorganized and marginalized, the Paper said adding "it is supposedly the 'backbone of the economy' and the 'lifeline ... providing essential services to the common man'- 365 X 24 X 7. It is highest employment generator."



The paper said the health of the sector, which is pinned as the barometer of economy, has in fact "deteriorated amid lockdown and in essence it is on ventilator and is in dire need of oxygen to survive. All the transport segments, both cargo and passenger, are under Acute Financial Stress due to the Corona virus crisis."



The wheels have stopped and so there is no revenue generation, no financial inflows as payments from parties are restrained and existing finance with the small operators as well as that of big operators is depleting fast, it added.

It demanded immediate intervention including inclusion of road transport into the National Transport Policy, a minimum Cost Based Freight (CBF) support policy and social security for the people engaged in the supply chain including rivers, helpers, loaders, un-loaders and other players of the supply chain under ESIC, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojna or Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna.

The other demands included availability of soft loans without Collateral and Credit Facility to transporters besides waiver of NH / State / Municipal Tolls till October 31, 2020 and deferments of EMIs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Advertisement

By Katie Jarvis, DPA Marketing Assistant

Apr. 10, 2020 | UNION CITY

By Katie Jarvis, DPA Marketing Assistant Apr. 10, 2020 | 12:45 PM | UNION CITY

A group of students participating in the next production of Discovery Park of Americas Historical Theater Academy has now experienced firsthand the old adage the show must go on.



The Historical Theater Academy is made possible in part by a financial gift from Warner Law Firm and Third & Church of Union City and a grant contract with the state of Tennessee. This unique program designed for students in grades six through twelve takes place at Discovery Park twice each year. Participants receive instruction in multiple aspects of theater and historical research then stage a performance of the original work they create. Rather than cancel the current class, the planning, research and writing phase has been moved online. Their work will be performed later in the year.



Working on a play without being together in one room has its challenges, said Andrew Gibson, Discovery Park assistant director of education. But when you have a group of creative students who are as passionate about theater as these are, nothing will stop them from meeting, not even a world pandemic.



The mission of Discovery Park, a 100,000-square-foot museum and 50-acres heritage park in Union City, Tenn. is to inspire children and adults to see beyond. While that has primarily been done with programs, exhibits and hands-on experiences, the organization closed to the public on March 17, 2020 because of the threat to guests and staff from the coronavirus.



The museum has also been using technology to communicate with members and others who follow the organization on social media. Early in the pandemic they worked with Baptist Memorial HospitalUnion City to share COVID-19 information on the Discovery Park blog and to their e-mail list. Lindsay Frilling, CEO of the Obion County Chamber of Commerce, joined Scott Williams, Discovery Park CEO, for a video posted to YouTube and Facebook with information for both small business owners and residents in the area.



Under ordinary circumstances, this time of the year the Discovery Park education specialists and docents would be sharing lessons and details about the exhibits and activities at the museum and park with thousands of families that would be visiting for spring break. Much of that interaction has now moved to social media in the form of daily posts of photos of artifacts, videos of the staff sharing lessons in the galleries and frequent blog posts with a deeper dive into many of the areas guests would ordinarily get to experience in person. When it was evident there was the possibility of staff not being able to come to work, the internal team quickly worked to create videos that will be shared until guest can return.



While many of Discovery Parks staff are working from home, a few continue to work to keep everything in perfect order for when guests can visit again. One such staff member is John Watkins, Discovery Parks grounds director. The 50-acre heritage park includes a man-made river flowing through the extensively landscaped property, along with waterfalls, bridges and art installations. On Friday, Watkins took advantage of the beautiful spring day to film several videos that will be shared on Facebook.



One of the most beautiful times of the year at Discovery Park is when the dogwood trees begin to bloom in the spring and the lawns begin greening up, said Watkins. Im grateful to get to share a little of this with those who are having to stay at home.



Although they are working from home, a task force of Discovery Parks managers and directors has already begun frequent meetings on Zoom planning for the day the museum and park can once again open to the public. Plastic shields are currently being installed at the ticket counter and in Sabins Cafe, and new policies and procedures will be put into place to make certain guests will be able to visit safely when the time comes.



Based on what were hearing from experts in the tour and travel industry, eventually people are going to be looking for relief from being indoors for so long, said Scott Williams, Discovery Park CEO. Our task force is planning for ways we can safely activate our 50 acres to provide a wide-open space that will enable us to meet that need and implement our mission while ensuring everyones safety.



Discovery Parks content can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The blog and podcast can be found at DiscoveryParkofAmerica.com.
A directive by Irans health authorities asking families to coordinate Covid-19 burials with the military authorities has led to questions and controversy.

A letter by a health official leaked to social media April 8, showed that for obtaining death certificates for Covid-19 victims or people suspected of having died because of coronavirus families must contact the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) in addition to the health ministry.

The revelation led to criticism and controversy on social media, as to why the military should intervene in such public health issues.

Alireza Vahabzadeh, an advisor to the minister of health April 10 has told Fars news agency, close to the IRGC, that burials must be handled by the paramilitary Basij and that is why the Revolutionary Guard must be notified and issue the death certificate.

One reason for the Basij to conduct burials is apparently to make sure families do not break social-distancing norms and gather in large numbers around the body in cemeteries. Videos published on social media show a few members of the Basij dump bodies of coronavirus victims into a four-meter deep graves to prevent any danger of the virus spreading.

However, the IRGC issuing death certificates has no precedence or legality and it can mean they can register the cause of death as anything other than Covid-19. Reports have emerged in the past few weeks in Iran that death certificates for many epidemic victims indicate respiratory complications, instead of COVID-19 as cause of death.

Iran official statistics both about infections and deaths has been very linear since the outbreak began, leading many to question the figures. So far Iran has announced over 4,000 deaths and 66,000 cases, but an estimate by Radio Farda puts the number of infections closer to 100,000 and deaths near 7,000. Other sources have issued much higher figures.
Shimla, April 10 : For the monkeys, it's no more business as usual in Himachal Pradesh tourist resorts, for now.

In the absence of adequate food in the populated areas of the state capital and other popular destinations when close to 8.6 billion people staying indoors following the COVID-19 clampdown, the monkeys are no more dangling there.

They have, it appears, made a tactical retreat into the woods, till their predecessors win the war against the pandemic.

Wildlife officials say without tourists on the streets in most of the resorts, monkeys entered to nearby forests for the natural vegetation to forge.

Local residents are stunned by how they moved to the outskirts of cities and towns on their own.

Old-timers say in Shimla that the city hasn't been rid of monkeys for decades. It is time to grow natural food in their habitat when the coronavirus is defeated so they could not return to the 'concrete' jungle.

Sandeep Rattan, Assistant Director with the Forest Department's wildlife wing, has been monitoring three troupes of monkey in the Jakhu residential area of Shimla for quite some time.

"With the imposition of the city lockdown, there is a shortage of foodstuff in human wastes," Rattan told IANS.

With the closure of restaurants, shops and temples and no humans on the streets, the monkeys have moved to nearby villages and forest areas where they are feeding on natural vegetation, he said.

Now only some dominant ones remain in town, wildlife veterinary surgeon Rattan said.

"We got reprieve from the marauding monkeys after a long, long time. We are praying they should not come back with the lockdown getting over," octogenarian Ramesh Sud said, while pointing towards an iron grill erected outside his home to prevent straying of monkeys.

As per the last census conducted in 2015, Himachal Pradesh has a population of 2.07 lakh monkeys.

Barring Lahaul-Spiti district and some pockets in Kinnaur district, the state is in the grip of monkey menace as they have caused crop losses worth hundreds of crores of rupees in recent years.

As the religious sentiments prevent the people from kill the monkeys, their population is multiplying and their menace has increased manifold in cities and villages.

Marauding monkeys, prowling in gangs on streets of Shimla, Kasauli, Chail, Manali and other places create panic among residents and tourists. They have been causing havoc by biting passersby and snatching food.

Pictures of monkeys drinking from abandoned coke bottles and carrying food wrappers up into the trees are common once.

Officials say on an average at least 50 monkey bite cases are being reported every month in the Rippon Hospital in Shimla alone.

In Shimla's localities like Jakhu, Tutikandi, Nabha, Phagli, Kaithu, Summer Hill, Tutu, Boileauganj, Chotta Shimla and Sanjauli, the residents have literally converted their houses into jails by erecting iron grills on the doors and windows to check the intrusion of monkeys.

Wildlife officials said over a decade-and-a-half ago monkeys were trapped from streets of Shimla and banished to the jungles -- a technique to reduce their population.

But Rattan believes the translocation has not resolved the conflict rate, conversely such translocations shifted the problem to new areas instead of resolving the issue.

Activists working for the cause of farmers have been demanding the monkeys should either be eliminated professionally by hiring hunters or lifting the ban on the export of monkeys for bio-medical research to check their rising numbers.

The central government had banned the export of wild animals in 1978.

In written reply last month, Forest Minister Govind Thakur informed the assembly apart from monkey sterilization, the state has got the monkey declared as vermin in the most affected 91 tehsils and sub-tehsils of the state and within the Shimla Municipal Corporation.

He said for designing effective strategy of mitigating damage by monkeys, the population estimation of monkeys has been carried with the help of primate specialists from the Wildlife Institute of India and the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural Historyin December 2019 and the estimation report is under preparation.

The habitat enrichment plantation scheme is being implemented across the state under which fruit bearing trees of different species are being planted in 10 adversely affected forests for providing natural food resource for the monkeys and other wild animals so that they may not come over to agricultural fields.

Also, the Shimla Municipal Corporation has been requested to adopt effective waste management practices to help managing the conflict as throwing of waste specially food items lead to increase in the commensalism in monkeys, the minister said.

Commensalism refers to increased dependence of monkeys on human food.

Himachal Pradesh has declared nine species of wild animals as crop damaging animals.

They are the rhesus monkey, wild boar, blue bull, porcupine, jackal, chittal, sambar, hare and the parrot. All of them are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
114 stranded Ecuadorians in Cancun return home after 20 days

Cancun, Q.R.  A group of Ecuadorian citizens who returned to their country after being stranded in the Cancun airport for 20 days have expressed their gratitude to the citys mayor.

The group of 114 Ecuadorians were left stranded at the airport for nearly three weeks as a result of border closings and flight cancellations due to the global pandemic. Enrique Ponce de Leon, Ecuadors ambassador to Mexico reported that during their stay in Cancun, his compatriots were supported with special-rate lodging in hotels.

Those who were unable to pay were given the option of being in free shelters in addition to being provided with food and transportation until their return.

A very special recognition to Mayor Mara Lezama for her strong support, said the diplomat. After their return home, some travelers from the group extended their appreciation on social media.

Dear Mara, I am writing to you on behalf of the 114 Ecuadorians who have just arrived in our country, largely (thanks) to your valuable management, says one message from a previously stranded traveller.

Those good vibes that Mexicans give to foreigners, and more so from those of Cancun, have made us fall in love with their way of being with others, always wanting to return, they added.

The cancellation of international flights along with border restrictions left the group stranded since March 21. Mara Lezama said these are times of solidarity and union and we will always do what is necessary to help all who need it.
Inside Hook

Pop quiz: Where did COVID-19 come from? Theres a good chance the first answer that popped into your head was Chinas wet markets, especially those in Wuhan where some of the first cases were traced. But as The Guardian recently discussed, while its easy to blame that institution as a while, the origin is more complicated.

Unfortunately, nuanced discussions of disease outbreaks are being sidelined as coronavirus cases in Wuhan decrease and the city begins to reopen for business. And as Wuhan and other regions in China reopen, so have the controversial wet markets, leading Bloomberg to look at both local measures to make them safer and the international powers calling for their closure.
InfoWars founder Alex Jones takes photos at a hearing to examine foreign influence operations' use of social media platforms before the Intelligence Committee at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 5, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

FDA Delivers Warning to Alex Jones, InfoWars Over Virus Claims

Alex Jones, the InfoWars founder, was warned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to stop making claims related to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.

Jones in three separate videos said products he sells will help boost peoples immune systems, linking a strengthened system to staving off the new virus, which causes the potentially deadly COVID-19 disease.

Im not going to belabor this, Im just gonna tell ya, that for just your daily life, and your gums and your teeth and for regular viruses and bacteria, the patented Nano Silver we have, the Pentagon has come out and documented, and homeland security have said this stuff kills the whole SARS corona family at point blank range. Well of course it does, it kills every virus, Jones said in one video watched by FDA workers.

If you are concerned about the coronavirus or the flu or the common cold, then I recommend you to go to the InfoWars store, pick up a little bit of silver that really acts its way to boost your immune system and fight off infection, he said in another.

The videos were hosted on Joness InfoWars and Banned Video websites.

People wear masks as they walk outside the Elmhurst Hospital Center in Elmhurst, Queens, New York on March 29, 2020. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)

FDA official Donald Ashley said in a warning letter to Jones that the FDA determined his InfoWars Store website offers four products that are intended to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19. The products are not approved and are misbranded, he said.

We request that you take immediate action to cease the sale of the products, Ashley wrote, threatening Jones with legal action, including a possible order to return money to customers, if he doesnt stop the claims.

The FDA has so far sent similar letters to 25 other companies for unapproved sales linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, including companies selling liquids, essential oils, and colloidal silver products.

Jones, who didnt immediately return a request for comment, was warned last month to stop selling and marketing products as a treatment or cure for the CCP virus by Letitia James, New Yorks attorney general.

As the coronavirus continues to pose serious risks to public health, Alex Jones has spewed outright lies and has profited off of New Yorkers anxieties, James said in a statement after sending a cease-and-desist order.

If these unlawful violations do not cease immediately, my office will not hesitate to take legal action and hold Mr. Jones accountable for the harm hes caused.
IBM staff with 3D printers are volunteering to turn their devices and skills to help alleviate the shortage of protective face visors for hospitals. Within just the first few days of a rallying call for help, a shipment of 20 visors was created and sent to a grateful University Hospital Southampton.

Over 300 have now been distributed, and many more are in production as the team grows and gets more printers running, in what has become a virtual assembly line across the teams homes. Requests have now been received from around the country including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol. The initiative has even been recognized by the Member of Parliament for Harrow West, Gareth Thomas.

How it all started

One of last years interns at IBM Hursley, Dhiresh Nathwani, contacted Developer Advocate, Sean Tracey, and me to let us know about face visors that can be created by anyone with a 3D printer, and which are designed to help protect medical professionals who are treating patients affected by COVID-19.

Sean immediately set his printer into action to test the open source model and after 2 hours of printing, some acetate cutting, and attaching a rubber band, he had created his first protective visor. I also printed a sample visor on my 3D printer at home. The sense of accomplishment and realization that wed be able to help people desperately in need of supplies led to the start of our collaboration with Dhiresh, and a search for other makers to join the effort.

The rallying call

So now we were three, but I knew we needed more people if we were going to be able to produce the quantities required to make a real difference. We put a call out to friends and colleagues in the technical community, reasoning that they would be the most likely to have access to 3D printers. The immediate response was amazing, and the message spread rapidly by word of mouth. By the end of the following day, the team of volunteers had grown to over 20 people, made up of both IBMers primarily linked to the Hursley lab near Winchester, and makers out in the wider community from London and the South East.

How useful are 3D printed masks?

The masks are intended to help prevent fluids from patients coming into contact with the skin of hospital staff. In normal circumstances healthcare professionals would have access to medically certified visors to provide the necessary protection, but these are not normal circumstances. These home-made visors are not medically approved or tested devices, and they are produced and supplied through a volunteering initiative, not on any commercial basis. They are intended and acknowledged as a temporary measure to try and help keep frontline staff safer than if they had no protection at all. Each mask is typically used for one shift although some hospitals are exploring the possibility of cleaning them for re-use.

Progress update

Since the team started production on 26th March, we have received requests for nearly 2,000 visors from more than 20 NHS trusts and health services across the country. On the 31st March we shipped the first batch to University Hospital Southampton where theyve been put straight into service. On Sunday 5th April the team sent out a further 100 visors and now more than 300 have been distributed.

Angie McClarren, Service Improvement Manager, University Hospital Southampton sent us her appreciation: Thanks for the delivery  everyone loved them and we are trying them out now. I have attached a photo of one of our sisters modeling the mask for you.

How are the masks made and funded?

Each visor consists of 3 components: a 3D printed frame which holds a sheet of acetate and an elastic strap. Once the plastic frame has finished printing, the sheet of acetate has holes punched into it and the two are fixed together by clipping the acetate over pegs on the frame. Finally, the elastic strap is secured over hooks at the back of the frame. Each mask costs about 2.50 in materials to produce, and can be ready to go in 2 hours.

Originally most of us were using our own supplies but it was quickly recognized that a longer-term solution was needed, especially to help those who currently find themselves in a difficult financial situation. To fund production, Dhiresh and fellow maker from the community, Abhi Patel, turned to crowd-funding through GoFundMe which reached its initial goal of 3,500 in less than 5 hours, by the 31st March an additional 2,500 had been donated. This generosity has enabled the team to buy additional filament, acetate and more printers to help in the effort. Initially, we had the capacity to produce approximately a dozen masks per day, but we now have capacity for more than 120, with additional printers volunteering to join the team every day.

Upon hearing of the GoFundMe, Gareth Thomas  Labour & Co-operative MP for Harrow West tweeted his thanks for the teams efforts, Impressive stuff  thank you for what youre doing  it matters.

Sean, who is currently volunteering full-time on the project, is already looking to the future: When this crisis is over, these additional printers will be donated to local schools so that the next generation of makers will have a head start in using 3D printing technology to solve problems.

Want to get involved?

While its incredible to have gone from an idea to a distributed assembly line in less than a week, we need more help and there are ways in which others can get involved.

1. If you have access to a 3D printer. Everything needed to help make more masks is documented here: https://github.com/seanmtracey/PPE-Visor-Fabrication-Instructions

2. If youd like to make a donation. This project is being run on a voluntary basis and contributions towards acquiring the materials used to manufacture the masks can be made here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/3d-printed-visors-for-the-nhs. Any excess funds raised will be donated to charities, selected by the volunteers once production of the visors ends.

3. People with suggestions or other offers of help can get in contact with the team at: [email protected]
When crisis strikes, take a few deep breaths and set a course

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic is creating chaos. Ive seen chaos before. As a Special Forces officer in Afghanistan, there was always one chaotic battlefield event after another. Some of these events were localized tactical engagements with the Taliban. Other chaos-inducing incidents were large scale events such as country-wide riots, or mass assassinations of Afghan elders by the Taliban. One event, I will never forget, in 2005, was the downing of one our transport helicopters in southern Afghanistan, at the very beginning of a combat mission led by my best friend.

When my friends chopper was shot down, all hell broke loose. In our command center, the cacophony of frantic radio transmissions shouting chopper down and troops in contact, turned my blood to ice. It was chaos.

The first thing I did was to close my eyes and take three deep breaths. Id learned this from retired Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, before embarking on our first deployment to Afghanistan.

As the operations center director, I needed to gain situational awareness and then start mobilizing support to help my guys get out of this terrible situation. As the flurry of reports rolled in from the guys on the ground, getting clarity was difficult. They were under duress. They were getting shot at. There was complexity. There was ambiguity. There was confusion. There was emotion. There was

Fear.

Fear can be a good thing. It warns of us threats and elevates our response to those threats. All of the operators on the ground and all of us back in the operations center were facing our own brand of fear and fighting hard to overcome it. Eventually, we did. And we got everyone out of that kill zone alive. Fear did its job that day.

Fear is a primal reality. No one is beyond it. But if we allow fear to dominate us, it can have a prolific negative effect on us achieving our goals. Fear is what a lot of us are feeling right now as the coronavirus pandemic unfolds.

We are at a critical point in our history where a leadership mindset is more important than ever. Like the virus itself, fear can be contagious. Fear can spread through the ranks rapidly. If we allow fear to dominate our minds, its almost impossible to regain control.

How do we lead through fear? Here are a few things I learned from the battlefields of Afghanistan that might help inform your mindset as you lead here at home.

The first report is always wrong. So when we check the news for latest coronavirus updates, you should always assume that at least some degree of that report is probably wrong. The same ambiguity, complexity, and emotion that drove that chopper down scenario, creates inaccurate reports in our lives. Continue to accumulate the facts over time. Let the picture build. Dont over-react. You will start to see common threads, trends, information that will remain constant and begin to accurately illuminate the situation. The real facts will reveal themselves.

Avoid headline saturation. Information is power. But, too much debilitates us. Stay away from 24-hour news cycle reporting. I made this mistake after 9/11. I was obsessed with the 24-hour news cycle. Understand that the media are masters of fear-based behavior, and they know how to draw you in. Getting drawn in is not going to help your ability to lead through this developing situation.

Find a rational thought partner. They can help you start thinking through things and bounce ideas around. Ask each other, what can we control right now? What can we influence? Identify what your issues and unknowns are.

Manage your time. Time is a valuable resource at this point. Developing a plan will put you in control of the situation and force you to focus on what you can actually get done. Build a timeline of the facts that you know. Then find out who the constituents are and how you need to communicate with them. It goes against our instincts in situations like this when chaos and confusion feel like theyre taking over.

Over-communicate. Stay connected over social distancing into your teams, families, and organizations. Keep everyone succinctly tied into each other and gain a sense of unity.

Embrace the chaos. Take the information you have and start to make a plan. You may not have the facts and you may not know what you need to do next, but you can start to tame the problem.

Whats your available time right now? Whats your overall goal? Who are the relevant stakeholders in the problem? How do you want to communicate with them? How do you bring them into the collaborative framing of this problem in spite of social distancing? How do you communicate with each other?

These are the questions we can answer.

So answer them. Then step back and re-assess. Re-acclimate. Re-attune to your environment. Ask yourself open-ended questions such as, how do we maintain client relationships through this social distancing imperative?

Finally, take care of yourself. Dont get so caught up in caring for your people that you ignore your own well-being. If you do down, were in trouble. Remember the acronym HALTI (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, TiredIll). If you are feeling any of these, deal with them immediately. And dont forget to breathe.

It may seem like youre alone, but youre not. There is a whole tribe of leaders, just like you, around the world, in the trenches, leading through this chaos. What we cannot do is panic. What we cannot do in any situation is surrender to fear because then, were done. Youve got this.

Fear is contagious, but so is leadership.

Scott Mann is a former Green Beret who specialized in unconventional, high-impact missions and relationship building. He is the founder of Rooftop Leadership and appears frequently on TV and many syndicated radio programs. For more information, visit RooftopLeadership.com
DUBLIN, April 9 (Reuters) - Ireland's health minister expects to be advised on Friday to keep the significant restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus in place for a period of weeks but that the country will have to move onto a "different terrain" after that.

"What's highly likely tomorrow is that the National Public Health Emergency Team will recommend that we continue with the very strict restrictions ... I expect that to be a period of weeks," Simon Harris, who ordered citizens on March 27 to stay home until at least Sunday, told broadcaster Virgin Media.

"In relation to the roadmap, there is going to be a point in this country where we will have to live alongside the virus, for want of a better phrase, where sadly people will still get sick and sadly some people will still die but it is at a rate that is sustainable for our doctors to manage." (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alison Williams)
Being a teacher is incredibly challenging in the best of times. But with the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the U.S., many teachers have had to adjust to a once unimaginable reality. This includes managing online instruction through Zoom, Google Classroom, and other platforms, even when not every student has access to the internet.



It also means addressing the new classroom disparities, such as spending extra time with students whose parents are working essential jobs and dont have time to help them with schoolwork, or even bringing students meals because they no longer have access to subsidized ones. For many teachers, the workload has only increased  but pay has not.



We spoke to several teachers about what their working lives are like now, ahead.

Mariah Najmuddin, 27, teaches 7th-grade Spanish at Thornton Middle School in Houston, TX



I work in one of the largest school districts in Texas. I live in a very white and affluent part of the district, but I teach at a Title I school where the majority of students are on free and reduced lunch and the demographics are significantly more diverse. We have 2,000 students at our middle school. With all of that being said, my experience these last two weeks has been gut-wrenching. Several students do not have internet access, and if they do, they don't have a device larger than a cell phone to complete their work. This makes our platform extremely hard to use.



Each of our classrooms is equipped with eight laptops, but I know several teachers who do not know how to use tech in the classroom and they are struggling because theyve never used Google Classroom or Zoom. Our district has failed to prepare teachers and students for the 21st century, and were learning the hard way. The most unfortunate part about this is that we had a district-wide shutdown less than three years ago during Hurricane Harvey. While it wasnt as long as this, it was still a significant amount of time that should have served as a wakeup call to district leadership.



Despite the fact that we have a large Spanish-speaking population and that our district is predominantly Latino, I have spoken to several families who haven't heard from a single teacher because of the language barrier. Can you imagine what that looks like on a district level?



The biggest hurdle is our state government. When we have leaders dragging their feet to make decisions, it makes it harder for schools to make long-term plans. Texas is primed to be the next COVID-19 hot spot because our state government is too concerned with the economy and not enough with people. This has a direct impact on our students and their families. We cannot make an adjustment to the education plan because Gov. Greg Abbott refuses to implement a common-sense policy, and we are only delaying the inevitable. We are literally receiving updates and changes to the learning plan every few days. I don't blame any of this on our district leadership; it falls on the Governor's unwillingness to acknowledge the reality of COVID-19.



As a teacher in a Title I school, COVID-19 has highlighted the disparities in education on a national level. Teachers know that some of our students face disadvantages, but when school is in session we can make up for that with purchasing school supplies and bringing snacks. We can provide our students with routine and security and hugs of reassurance, but not having school has taken that away. Middle school is an emotional time for all kids, and the coronavirus has taken away some of their biggest allies and confidants. Photo: Courtesy of Mariah Najmuddin.

Ella Greenberg, 62, teaches K-4 special education in Scotch Plains and Fanwood, NJ



The disparity and differences in students home life has never been so stark and highlighted to me as it is now. The differing abilities of parents to support their children academically and emotionally during this crisis is striking. Families have so much to navigate now  their own work, their concerns over their own and their extended families health and finances, limited internet access, limited knowledge of the technology. Some parents dont speak English and have a hard time supporting their children, while others are not equipped to support their children academically or emotionally in the ways necessary for this paradigm.



Most of the day these days, I meet virtually with my special-needs students one-on-one or in small groups, trying to meet their myriad IEP (Individualized Education Program) goals. At the same time, I have daily ongoing communication with families in an attempt to support the emotional needs of their children who dont typically do well with change, lack of structure, or the need to work independently.



The most difficult thing for me is to find balance and create boundaries. There is always the potential to work non-stop as a teacher, and even more so at this time as we try to be available for our students and families in ways and for reasons wed never imagined.



An additional challenge is that I am used to closing the door of my classroom and working intimately with my students. Now, parents are in the classroom  they see each aspect of the days lesson, they hear the conversations ALL the students are having, they see the mini-lessons and videos. Parents are seeing their children as students and as learners in a light theyve not necessarily seen before.



I so feel for families at this time. Most have their own work to attend to while their children are present, and some parents are essential workers and have to leave their children for hours at a time. I know of one single mother who is a nurse with two young children, and she is having a hard time managing it all. There have been a lot of parent meltdowns, needs, and adjustments that weve been working to support. There are several families in our school who have more than one non-verbal autistic child at home. Many parents are concerned that their childrens speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and counseling sessions are not able to be delivered. Parents are concerned for their childrens development and fear they will regress.



As far as job security, we are unionized and luckily the staff in our district does not have that concern. But I had planned to retire this year, and now I am not so sure. Photo: Courtesy of Ella Greenberg.

Kimberly Coombs, 26, teaches 8th-grade English at New River Middle School in Fort Lauderdale, FL



I think one thing people don't understand is that this is all a new experience for us, for both students and teachers. So it's important that we treat this as a learning experience. Every day, something changes and we need to be patient and gentle with each other as human beings. This is an opportunity to teach our students how to explore learning at their own pace, by providing them the tools to be as successful as possible.



At my school, we are conducting distance learning using Canvas. So far, some of the biggest challenges have been making sure all of our students are equipped with access to technology and the internet at home to attend school virtually. Thankfully, we've been able to provide over 600 laptops to our students over the last few weeks. However, the Canvas site crashed the first day, and theres no alternative to technology malfunctions when teaching remotely. So being patient and innovative has been a key to distance learning for me. Every day, we have new regulations and requirements trickling down from up top, so remembering that nothing is set in stone has helped me keep my peace of mind.



So far, my students are definitely feeling the repercussions of social distancing. They miss being at school, seeing their friends, talking to me (yes, they've told me so), and they're even tired of their cell phones! Imagine that?! Photo: Courtesy of Kimberly Coombs.

Sam Van Matre, 32, teaches 3rd grade at Austell Elementary School in Austell, GA



The challenges have been ever-changing. The greatest challenges I have faced are families that are not active on ClassDojo, where I post instructional videos and do read-alouds of books, and students who do not have devices. Four out of my 21 students do not have devices to access any of the online learning platforms we are providing. What has worked is sticking to a guideline I created for my families to follow and just being available 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. I never know when a family is going to be able to complete work during the day because of siblings or parents needing to use devices. Therefore, I have made myself available for questions all day long.



I have 11 students out of 21 who have IEPs (Individualized Education Programs). The disabilities in my class are ADHD, ADD, legally blind, OHI (other health impaired), SLD (significant learning disability), and more. This has made adjusting our digital learning quite tricky to make sure our students are supported the way they need to be. For example, I have four students this year who are reading on a kindergarten level. They need devices that can read to them, and unfortunately two of them do not have them.



I have many students who rely on breakfast and lunch at school. If their parents are not available to go pick up food on Monday from the county, that means they may have little to no food for the week. I have dropped off food to two families in my class.



The biggest change I have experienced is switching from being a working mom to a work-from-home mom. I have a one- and two-year-old, so the time I invest in them daily has been difficult to manage, however, after the first week of digital learning I think we have managed well. My home babies show up in my videos for my school babies, which makes it more fun!



I am very lucky that my husband is home with me, but he is also working from home. It is just a balance we try and work with each day. Our babies require a great deal of attention and care due to their ages. We work in shifts and are flexible with each others schedules when needed. Photo: Courtesy of Sam Van Matre.

Nicole Gonzalez*, 28, teaches 7th- and 8th-grade history in Los Angeles, CA



It's been extremely stressful. Teaching is a high-stress job to begin with, but this situation is increasing the daily stress levels. I work in a low-income area, and my students already have so much to deal with. A lot of my students do not have stable home lives. Many of them depend on school food as their only meals. I worry constantly about their well-being and safety. I stay up all night worrying about their mental state. Only a few students are actually logging on to Schoology, the online portal were using; I would estimate that less than 40% of my students are present online. I have not heard from the rest of them. I have been making phone calls home, but many parents are not responding. I also know that many students are now taking over childcare duties while their parents are at work.



I think that the district has done the best it can in this situation. For the last two days of school before we shut down, they had us pulling every laptop we had on campus and distributing them to students. The district worked on a partnership with internet providers to provide free WiFi to students. They have worked on grab-and-go locations for students to pick up three meals a day.



However, I believe theyre demanding too much from us. We have to sit through these three-to-four-hour Zoom meetings weekly. Theyre demanding we complete five two-hour trainings in one week, one each day. Then they expect us to document every single interaction we have with students. On top of all this, we are expected to make phone calls to reach out to parents of students who are not logging on to the portal. Some of us have over 200 students! I spent two-and-a-half hours on Monday calling parents, and I only got through ONE out of my eight periods. There are not enough hours in a day to meet all these demands! Luckily, our union has been pushing back on the mandatory contact logs and more.



*name has been changed to protect privacy



Photo: Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images.

Marisa Lopez, 26, teaches middle school English Language Development at R. Pete Woodard Junior High School in Yuma, AZ



I think the biggest misconception about teachers right now is people dont understand that we are still working from home. We arent just sitting around binge-watching Tiger King, eating Hot Cheetos, and drinking wine all day. We have to make lesson plans, just as we normally would, and make sure they correlate with state standards. We have many, MANY virtual meetings a day. We have to grade and send back assignments. We have to respond to emails. The only difference is we now get to do this in our yoga pants and without makeup.



I teach English Language Learners and its already difficult face-to-face. Virtual-teaching with them has been exhausting. They have more challenges than most because they hardly speak English or dont speak it at all, and their parents dont speak it either, so they dont have much of a support system at home when it comes to schoolwork. My heart truly hurts for them. Some already have the stress of having to stay at home and take care of siblings while parents work. Many of them have emailed me and said they are bored or lonely at home. Others say its hard doing their schoolwork at home without one-on-one teacher help. Many have said they miss school and they miss me  and I miss them. I miss telling them to spit out their gum, to stay in their seats. I miss joking around with them.



At my school, were conducting distance learning using Google Classroom, Google Docs, Google Meet, and the Remind app. I already used Google Classroom and Google Docs before school closed, so my students didnt have as hard a time adjusting as others might have. Its difficult teaching virtually because not all students have access to the internet or computers at home. Our school has distributed district-issued iPads as much as possible, but some students have yet to pick theirs up, so they havent done any of the work. Others have instead opted for paper packets of the assignments. However, we dont collect the paper packets right away; they are set aside for two weeks due to health and safety reasons.



Before all this, I was already sort of a homebody. But when they tell you that now you have to stay home, it changes things and it makes people want to go out now. Its also messing with my mental health. I have anxiety and the way everything happened, without warning, has definitely messed with my head. With the shutting down of schools, my anxiety has been worse because so much is expected of us teachers, yet were also having to deal with our own personal losses.



I am definitely worried about job security and pay. We were told that we would still be paid as if we were teaching in a classroom because we are still putting in the work, creating lesson plans and assignments, holding virtual meetings, and hitting standards. However, this is a very fluid situation and anything can change. Photo: Courtesy of Marisa Lopez.

Diana Leygerman, 37, teaches 11th- and 12th-grade English and debate in Philadelphia, PA



My students are definitely struggling. Many live in lower-income households. I think some are dealing with a lot of trauma at home, and are now stuck with their abusive family members. Its been tough thinking about that. A lot of them are also taking care of their siblings because their parents are essential workers or have picked up more hours to supplement income lost due to layoffs. On top of this, theyre sad they wont have prom or graduation. My heart honestly hurts for my students. I am trying to engage them positively; I even opened a TikTok account to post funny videos for them.



While the Philadelphia School District forbade their teachers from teaching online due to equity concerns, our charter school is continuing to provide education virtually because we supplied all of our students with the necessary technology. We use Google Classroom, which I use throughout the year anyway, and Google Meet (not Zoom anymore due to privacy and hacking concerns).



While all of this is happening, I am also teaching my 10-year-old son how to read, or at least attempting to. He is behind and works with a reading specialist at school, so I am really worried hell fall even further behind. So, while I am not a reading teacher, I am doing my best. I am definitely seeing some progress. Photo: Courtesy of Diana Leygerman.

Olivia Chui, 24, teaches 6th grade in Los Angeles, CA



Going from teaching in a physical classroom to teaching remotely during a crisis is something teachers have been asked to pull off very quickly. There is really no precedent for this rapid shift. The adjustment is not easy for both teachers and students.



Many of my students are a combination of bored and anxious. For many students, school may be a place where they find stability, comfort, and structure. With schools closed until the end of the year, that place is lost.



Moreover, I think this crisis is revealing the deep inequity that exists in our society and in our schools. Many of my students are tasked with taking care of their siblings or even working during this time. We are using Google Classroom, but many students do not have adequate technology to connect them with full remote learning so they are using paper packets as an alternative. Even students who do have technology at home may be sharing their device with multiple siblings. All of this puts them at even more of a disadvantage when it comes to learning.



The biggest challenge for me personally has been a loss of routine and structure in my daily life. Its hard to know when to stop working, since there is no defined schedule. Photo: Courtesy of Olivia Chui.

Erin Wallace, 23, teaches 2nd grade in Ithaca, NY



A big challenge when it comes to teaching remotely is equity, specifically for my families who are struggling right now, who are worried about food and health, and my families who are still working full-time and aren't able to care for their children during the week. Sure, I can make engaging lessons and post them online, but theres a HUGE difference between a family that has parents at home and can sit with their child and walk them through the schoolwork step-by-step and a family that works a full week, is worried about getting dinner on the table, and only sees their children on the weekend.



Its very hard to adjust my teaching online for students with different abilities. In class, I am able to work one-on-one or one-on-two with students who have special needs to make sure I am adjusting my teaching to what they need in order to learn best. I also typically make different versions of work for specific students, which I am unable to do when creating large projects online for the class to access through Google Classroom.



Another big change has been the face-to-face time with my students. A lot of my students are very affectionate and rely on those hugs and stories and personal moments to get through the day. It has been extremely difficult not to see them and be in the classroom with them every day.



Our schedule is always changing, too. We were supposed to have spring break this past week, but we were told we are no longer having one and this is now a working week. Photo: Courtesy of Erin Wallace.

Analea Lessenberry, 29, teaches 2nd grade at HoLa Hoboken Dual Language Charter School in Hoboken, NJ



Honestly, it is easier to work this way for me. I don't have as many stressors with classroom management  I can just mute a student if I need to. I also don't have the commute I used to have, gaining more of my day, and I have more time to exercise and cook healthy meals. I am more calm because I don't have to actively monitor this large group of children in person from 7:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. I can have breaks in-between video conferencing. I don't have to use my voice so much, run up and down the stairs, and constantly monitor behaviors like bullying. Although I have anxiety about the outside world, I am also a lot more peaceful now that I am home. I am putting my time towards learning qigong to help myself remain calm and peaceful.



Thats not to say the time hasnt been without its challenges. Our school, a Spanish-immersion charter school, is finally starting live virtual instruction this week. Weve started posting all assignments on Google Classroom. All this has been very challenging, since the children I teach are still quite young and don't necessarily know how to type well.



The biggest issue for my students is the parents are often struggling to help them with their work, since we expect them to do 90% of their work in Spanish and most of the parents don't know Spanish. I have had a lot of communication about feeling guilty for using Google Translate and the like.



It has been rewarding to see more about my kids personal lives than I ever would have before, such as their living situation, their toys, and such. I got to see an entire rock collection one day and have met pets and family members. That has been pretty cool. Photo: Courtesy of Analea Lessenberry.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Pregnant In A Pandemic: 8 Women's Stories

A Teacher Gets Real About Remote Learning

How To Use Zoom For Remote Work & Classes
Amazon echo

AP Images

A Michigan nursing home patient reportedly asked her Amazon Echo smart speaker for help dozens of times before she died from COVID-19.

LouAnn Dagen, 66, was one of 36 people who tested positive for coronavirus as part of an outbreak at a Cedar Springs nursing home.

She reportedly asked her Alexa device "How do I get to the police?" In response, the device gave directions to the nearest police station. Amazon Echo devices cannot contact 911 on their own.

After her death, Dagen's sister found more than 40 recordings on Dagen's smart speaker of her asking for help. Dagen's sister decided to publicize the recordings to show others the brutality of the virus.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As LouAnn Dagen battled COVID-19, the 66-year-old asked her Amazon Echo Show for help dozens of times before she ultimately died of the disease, caused by the coronavirus.

Dagen was among 36 people who tested positive for coronavirus at Metron nursing home in Cedar Springs, Mich., Nexstar Media Wire first reported.

Dagen's sister, Penny Dagen, said that after her sister's death, she found more than 40 recordings on her Amazon Echo that showed Dagen asking for help in her final days.

"Alexa, help me," LouAnn Dagen said to her device. "I am in pain. I have to find a way to relieve it."

At one point, Dagen asked Alexa, "How do I get to the police?" In response, the device gave her directions to the nearest police station.

Penny Dagen shared the Alexa recordings with a local news station, saying she wanted people to understand the brutality of the coronavirus.

In recorded statements on her Amazon Echo, as well as in phone conversations with her family, LouAnn Dagen repeatedly said she was in pain even as she was being administered pain relievers by the nursing home, Penny said.

After four days of those symptoms, Dagen's oxygen level and blood pressure reportedly dropped, and the nursing home sent her to the emergency room. She died shortly after.

Story continues

"The hospital called me right away and said that they put her on a respirator," Penny told the news station. "They asked me about giving her CPR if her heart stopped, and I said, 'No, she didn't want that.' And then her heart stopped and that was it. A half-hour after they called."

There's no indication that Dagen's Echo device was malfunctioning or broken. An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that, while Alexa devices cannot call 911 on their own, users can configure their device to contact friends or family in emergencies.

"We were saddened to hear about this news, and our hearts go out to the family," the spokesperson said. "Today, customers can ask Alexa to call family or friends, or set up skills like Ask My Buddy, which lets you alert someone in your Personal Alert Network that you need them to check on you. We continue to build more features to help our customers."

Part of the reason Alexa devices can't contact 911 is that smart speakers don't reliably transmit location data and a callback number in the way phones do, and that consumers would have to pay more per month for a 911 surcharge, according to The Wall Street Journal.

However, it's possible to configure the device to call non-emergency numbers by merely speaking the phone number or the name of the contact.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Description

Artists and art lovers alike are invited to join Rockefeller Centers weekly virtual Happy Hour Art Party, this week featuring artist Justin Teodoro, for a live illustration, in partnership with the nonprofit Art Production Fund, on Friday April 10th at 5:00 p.m. EST on the @rockefellercenter Instagram page.

Justins Art Party is the third installment of Rockefeller Centers virtual art programming series that takes place each Friday from March 27th until April 17th on Instagram as New Yorkers stay at home to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The New York City-based artist began his career as a womenswear fashion designer and now works as a fashion illustrator, artist, and creative consultant for brands including Louis Vuitton, SoHo House, YouTube, and more. For the past two years, Justin has been the featured illustrator at the Holiday Truck at Rockefeller Center.

Viewers can join in on the fun by submitting photos of themselves, their pets, or their favorite personal fashion moment to @rockefellercenter via Instagram direct message by 11:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 9. During Fridays Instagram Live, Justin will recreate some of his favorite submitted photos for everyone to see. After the party, Rockefeller Center will send viewers a digital copy of their new illustration to print at home and share with friends using #RCArtParty.

Justin Teodoros artwork can be found on Instagram and his website justinteodoro.com. For more information, visit rockefellercenter.com and follow Rockefeller Center on Twitter @rockcenternyc, Instagram @rockefellercenter, and Facebook @rockefellercenternyc.

DATE: Friday, April 10, 2020

TIME: 5:00 p.m. EST

LOCATION: @rockefellercenter on Instagram

instagram.com/ rockefellercenter/
For many workers  those who earn up to $1,200 a week, depending on the state  that additional benefit means their unemployment pay could exceed what they were earning on the job. The discrepancy could encourage some companies to furlough workers.

Small-business aid from an initial $349 billion pot has been slow to arrive for many companies already staring down the possibility of bankruptcy, with bureaucratic and technological hurdles bedeviling the program. The Paycheck Protection Program  which offers companies forgivable loans to continue covering their payroll  began taking applications only on April 3, weeks after many merchants had been ordered to close their doors. Very little of the more than $100 billion committed through it so far has actually made it into borrowers hands.

Banks, which are expected to front the money for the program, are still battling bottlenecks at the overwhelmed Small Business Administration and are waiting for technical information they need to close and fund the loans. Smaller banks are on the verge of running out of cash to lend. They are relying on the Federal Reserve to quickly repurchase their paycheck program loans, which the Fed has said it will do, but it has not yet provided details on its plan.

A program aimed at keeping airline employees on the payrolls is also in a holding pattern, as the Treasury Department vets applications from airlines and prepares to negotiate what the government will receive in exchange for bailing them out.

And individual checks to help millions of Americans continue to pay bills are not expected to arrive until April 15, at the earliest

Even the Feds Main Street lending program, announced Thursday, may prove insufficient for business needs. It operates through banks, so it still requires lenders to feel comfortable extending credit. And while they can sell most of the loans they originate  the Fed will buy 95 percent of eligible loans, up to $600 billion worth  the banks will still have to hang onto a tiny slice of risk. There is no clear date when the program will be up and running.
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has been conducting random sampling tests on patients from various states for the last few weeks. The goal of this exercise is to determine whether community transmission of coronavirus is taking place or not. The latest report by the ICMR suggests that community transmission may be taking place in clusters across India.

The ICMR between February 15 and April 2, had tested 5,911 SARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses) patients for the coronavirus. The results showed that 104 were tested positive for the coronavirus. The patients tested positive were from 52 districts in 20 states and Union Territories.

The alarming fact was that out of the 104, 40 patients were such who had no history of foreign travel or had come in contact with any foreign traveller. These patients were from 36 districts spread across 15 states.

The ICMR report said, "These districts need to be prioritised to target COVID-19 containment activities. Only two cases ( two per cent of those tested positive) reported contact with a confirmed case, one case ( one per cent of those tested positive) reported recent international travel, and, for about 59 such cases (57.8 per cent), exposure history was not available."

The first ICMR study results released in early March had said that no SARI patient had tested positive for the coronavirus. The ICMR also conducted tests between March 15 and March 21 this time they had included SARI patients but only two out of the 106 SARI patients were found positive. In the third round of testing, done in late March, 48 out of the 2,877 patients tested were found positive for the coronavirus.

The second report also shows a higher number of cases among men and patients aged above 50 years. Detection of COVID-19 among SARI patients increased from 0 per cent before March 14, to 2.6 per cent by April 2.

The conclusion of the report stated, "COVID-19 containment activities need to be targeted in districts reporting COVID-19 cases among SARI patients. Intensifying surveillance for COVID-19 among SARI patients may be an efficient tool to effectively use resources towards containment and mitigation efforts."

Also Read: India Coronavirus live updates: Country's active COVID-19 cases at 5,709; death toll rise to 199

Also Read: Coronavirus impact: COVID-19 may push half million people into poverty, says Oxfam
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday issued seizure orders for five luxury vehicles in which DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan travelled to their farmhouse in Maharashtra's Mahabaleshwar during the coronavirus lockdown, officials said.

The federal agency has sent the official order, issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), to the Satara Superintendent of Police for execution, they said.

The vehicles, two Range Rover and three Toyota Fortuner cars, are "beneficially owned" by Kapil Wadhawan through their controlled entity RKW Construction Facility Management Pvt Ltd and another company called Golden Beach Infracon Pvt Ltd, the order said.

While two vehicles bear Jharkhand number plates, the others sport Maharashtra's registration number.

The order said the vehicles are "proceeds of crime" of money laundering and hence placed under seizure which can also be confiscated at a later stage.

"The said the seized high-end vehicles are not to be dealt with in any manner without prior written permission from the ED authorities," it said.

The investigating officer of the case has also asked the district police to serve the seizure memo to the Wadhawans, fix a copy of the memo on each vehicle and keep the keys in their custody.

"After the service of the seizure memo, these vehicles should not be allowed to be used in any circumstance," the order said.

The Wadhawan brothers and 21 others, including their family members, are at present in quarantine in Mahabaleshwar after it came to light on Thursday that they travelled to the tourist town from Khandala in alleged breach of the 21-day lockdown imposed on March 25 to check the spread of coronavirus.

The state police has booked them under sections of the IPC and the Disaster Management Act. The brothers are being probed by the ED as part of two PMLA probes linked to gangster Iqbal Mirchi, who died in 2013 in London, and Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
COVID-19 testing is available across Michigan, but not for everyone.

A national shortage of tests is preventing people who may be sick but dont show advanced symptoms from gaining clarity about their condition. Hospitals, universities and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services established dozens of testing locations across the state, but tests are largely reserved for people with a doctors referral, severe symptoms, hospitalized patients and vulnerable populations like the elderly and immunocompromised.

Most major health systems in Michigan require patients to go through a screening process or bring a doctors order to access their roadside clinics. People who suspect they are infected with the coronavirus can appear at some curbside testing locations without a doctors referral, but health professionals will still screen patients before determining whether they should be tested.

Michigans confirmed COVID-19 cases surged after private hospitals and universities began testing patients in late-March. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and public health officials say its still impossible to grasp the full extent of the outbreak without greater testing.

The fact of the matter is, COVID-19 has been spreading in our state for a lot longer than we ever detected it, Whitmer said during an April 6 press conference. Weve never had enough tests, we still dont have enough to do robust testing, to be able to articulate precisely who hasnt and doesnt have it.

Sorry, but your browser does not support frames.

A total of 21,504 residents have been confirmed to carry COVID-19, an infectious respiratory disease that killed 1,076 people as of Thursday. There were 66,185 tests completed from March 16 to April 7, according to the state of Michigan, with a positive rate of 33%.

One month after Michiganss first COVID-19 case was discovered, the state and hospitals are grappling with a limited supply of test kits. MDHHS spokesperson Lynn said the state has enough tests for a maximum of two weeks.

Swabs to collect specimens from patients have been in short supply and high demand, Sutfin said. The state asked FEMA to provide 2,000 COVID-19 testing kits and 89,000 swabs on March 20, but the request hasnt been fulfilled as of Thursday.

MDHHS is in the process of verifying the accuracy of new diagnostic tests developed by Thermo Fisher, a Massachusetts health science company. Sutfin said Thermo Fisher could provide 4,000 tests per week to the state laboratory, each of which can deliver results within four hours.

Thermo Fisher spokesman Ronald OBrien said the company supports the governors effort to complete 10,000 tests per day. Sutfin said the states Bureau of Laboratories can currently complete between 300 to 400 tests per day.

The state of Michigan is providing local health departments with collection kits used to obtain specimens. Some county health departments are offering testing, but require appointments to be scheduled with a clinicians recommendation.

Meanwhile, hospitals are left to their own devices to obtain COVID-19 tests. Fifteen hospital systems are conducting their own testing, Sutfin said.

Sutfin said shes not aware of any testing sites that dont require some form of pre-screening.

Hospitals have established drive-through testing sites across the state but only for people who outwardly exhibit symptoms, a measure to ensure tests are available for high-risk patients. A portion of tests are also being reserved for symptomatic health care workers at some hospitals.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever or cough with or without shortness of breath. If you have been exposed to someone with confirmed COVID-19 and are experiencing symptoms, you might have COVID-19, but people are urged to not visit any hospital unannounced.

Beaumont Health and Henry Ford Health System were the first hospitals to develop same-day testing in Michigan. The health care systems primarily operate in Southwest Michigan, a hot spot for confirmed cases.

Beaumont Health established curbside screening at all of its hospitals except its facility in Wayne. Patients do not need to schedule an appointment before arriving, but health care workers determine on-site whether someone requires a COVID-19 test.

Most people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 will not be tested for the virus to conserve the supply of test kits, Beaumont states on its website, adding that a majority of patients can recover without being hospitalized.

A spokesperson encouraged people to call a COVID-19 hotline at (800) 592-4784 or talk to their doctor before seeking testing.

Dr. Matthew Sims, director of infectious disease research at Beaumont Health, said hospitals put a higher priority on patients who are worse off. He acknowledged that has caused some frustration among people who suspect they are sick.

If you were a little symptomatic, or maybe just worried about it, youre going through the curbside and they dont think you need to be in the hospital, obviously youre going to be nervous about it, Sims said. Nobody is underestimating how that person whos worried that they have COVID feels.

Sims said multiple suppliers are keeping Beaumont stocked with multiple types of tests. The health system can complete around 600 tests per day, he said, which depends on supply.

I think right now theres a shortage of everything, Sims said. Everybody needs everything, and they can only produce it so fast.

Henry Ford Health System, St. Joseph Mercy Health System, Detroit Medical Center and local health departments partnered to conduct free drive through COVID-19 testing at the former Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit. You still need an order from their doctor to set an appointment and bring a form of ID showing you are a resident of Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties.

Call the (313) 230-0505 to schedule a drive through appointment.

Henry Ford Health System received results for 10,611 tests as of Thursday. The metro Detroit hospital network said 39% of those tests confirmed positive for the coronavirus.

Henry Ford also established an online screening tool and patient hotline at (313) 874-1055.

Dr. Betty Chu, associate chief clinical officer and chief quality officer at Henry Ford, said the health care system has expanded its testing capacity in recent weeks, but not enough to grasp how pervasive the virus is in metro Detroit.

We would have to test every person in the community to know an actual true prevalence in the community and that is one of the challenges that we have, Chu said.

Detroit Medical Center is offering an online screening tool, but not outpatient testing. A spokesperson said COVID-19 tests are reserved for patients who are hospitalized.

Testing is primarily focused on six counties in Southeast Michigan, particularly Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties. Half as many tests were taken in the 77 counties outside Southeast Michigan as of April 6.

Only 809 tests have been completed in the Upper Penninsula as of April 7, with 44 confirmed cases. An average of 35 people are tested each day.

Sims said part of the reason metro Detroit has experienced such a large number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is simply because hospitals are confirming cases. Sims said he is concerned that a lack of testing outside the hardest-hit areas may give people a false sense of security.

If you go into the rural areas where you dont have places like a Beaumont, the small hospitals, the urgent care (facilities), they cant do this sort of thing," he said.

McLaren Macomb Hospital in Mount Clemens is offering curbside screening and collecting samples for those with serious complications. McLaren Health Care is also offering online coronavirus screening.

Pre-screening is required for anyone attempting to get tested through Spectrum Health. Those who have symptoms are required to complete screening online or over the phone at (833) 559-0659.

Spectrum established a drive-through coronavirus testing center, but only for patients with an appointment and doctors order.

Spectrum Health, primarily based in West Michigan, screened 51,000 people but only tested 3,657 people as of April 8. The hospital reported 9.6% of those tested were confirmed to carry the coronavirus.

Bronson Healthcare is only testing people who go through a pre-screening and schedule an appointment at a curbside screening site.

Bronson recommends someone who has symptoms of COVID-19 to set up an appointment with their doctor, call an adviser (269) 341-7788 or purchase a $20 online consultation. Advisers can determine over the phone if an individual meets the hospitals criteria for COVID-19 testing.

Bronson completed 1,017 tests as of Wednesday, with 10% of tests coming back positive. The health system has multiple locations in West Michigan, including Battle Creek, Kalamazoo and Portage.

Ascension Health does not offer any off-site or drive through testing at its facilities, according to a spokesperson.

COVID-19 tests at Ascension Health facilities are only available following receipt of an order from a medical professional. Referrals are not available through $20 online screening sessions or Ascensions COVID-19 hotline at (833) 981-0738.

Ascension urges people to contact their doctor before seeking a COVID-19 test. The health care network also recommends staying home even if you have symptoms, except if those symptoms are life-threatening.

University of Michigan Medicine patients who have an appointment through their healthcare provider can use its screening services in the parking lots of the West Ann Arbor Health Center, Canton Health Center and Brighton Health Center.

Patients must call their physicians in advance and be referred for curbside screening. Those who arrive without an appointment will not be screened.

Michigan State University is offering curbside testing without an appointment. In order to be tested, patients will need to provide a physicians order for COVID-19 testing and valid photo identification, such as a drivers license.

Sparrow Health System, located in Central Michigan, is providing curbside testing for people who have a doctors note or go through a screening process. A hotline is available for over-the-phone screening at (877) 205-1300.

Great Lakes Bay Health Centers announced Thursday the creation of a curbside collection site for COVID-19 testing in Bay County. To receive testing, people need a paper lab order from their doctor.

Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more on MLive:

Friday, April 10: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Read Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmers revised coronavirus stay-at-home order

Michigan coronavirus deaths top 1,000

Michigan Medicine delays field hospital opening, predicts lower curve in coronavirus cases

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends coronavirus stay-at-home order through April 30
The following essay was written by Nicholas Golina, a cofounder of Momentum Advocacy. He is the Analytics Director for the Jessica Scarane Campaign for US Senate and works for multiple other organizations including The Morgan Harper Campaign for Congress, Ohio for Bernie, and WolfPAC Ohio. He is also a graduate student at Kent State University in Data Science with his Bachelors degree in Labor Economics from the University of Akron.

The views expressed in this essay are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the entire Eclectablog staff. They are presented here for information and discussion.

White supremacy is an ideology that has been endemic to the American experience since its inception. But since World War II, the Neo Nazi movement had existed on the fringe of American politics for decades. This changed after the Unite the Right Rally where racist and anti-Semitic protesters swarmed Charlottesville Virginia to protest the removal of a statue of the racist Confederate General Robert E Lee. During the ensuing chaos, a counter protester named Heather Heyer was murdered by a white nationalist in one of the worst terrorist attacks of the 21st century. When the current President of the Electoral College, Donald J Trump, said that those protesters were very fine people, it was the sign of a new era of right wing fascism. But in order to win this war against the fascist movement it is important that we understand the macro level trends in American fascism, while also understanding the characteristics of its members. That is where the Iron March Forum will come in.

American Fascism and Its Trumpian Resurgence

Since the 2016 election, American fascism has been on the rise and it can be traced to the stochastic terrorism that Donald J Trump practiced during and after the campaign. Since the 2016 election, the Southern Poverty Law Center documented that there were 1,863 bias incidents as of June 2017. The Center also noted that a disturbing part of that trend was a number of lynchings that disproportionately affected Black Americans, which explains why polling shows that most Americans believe that race relations have gotten worse under the leadership of Donald Trump. There was also a 30% increase in the number of hate groups over the past 4 years, which can be attributed to persistent political, economic, and ethnic polarization that can be linked to an increase in terrorism from right wing extremist groups. According to our analysis of data from the Global Terrorism Database at the University of Maryland, the number of terrorist attacks from right wing or Fascist groups in the United States increased by 208% in 2018 compared to 2016 and 19.3% compared to 2017 to its highest level since 1970.

Additionally, 2018 was the year with the highest number of fatalities and injuries from right wing and fascist terrorism in recorded history.

The explanation for this link to an increase in violence can be gathered by studying the social geometry of societies. Donald Black of the University of Virginia explained that when unchecked technological innovation is combined with social isolation, it lowers the barriers for terrorism to flourish in societies that are built on alienation. That is why it is clear that American fascism is on the rise in the US, and it is important to assess the role that Iron March plays in this equation by understanding its members.

What is Iron March?

Iron March was the website and chat room that many people went to in order to learn about the core principles of fascism and plug themselves into hate groups across the globe. According to Vice News, the site was used as a linchpin for 9 different fascist groups and was linked to a number of terrorist attacks. Though the forum had members with a diversity of opinions, its founder, who went by the username Slavros, espoused an accelerationist ideology, which is the idea that economic neoliberalism would push society so far to the brink of destruction that this is where fascism would be able to strike and spread across the world. Additionally, Slavros also envisioned a hierarchical society based on an esoteric ideal to organize people into their role in the newly formed fascist movement and societies to follow. This of course serves as a way to keep loyalty of followers towards the movement itself through the development of a cult of personality that is characteristic of every single fascist movement in history.

The website was taken down in November of 2017, however, an SQL data dump was done giving information on all its members including posts, IP addresses, polls, etc. The network included potential military members, and spanned 1207 core members of the forum. After writing a script using python to scrape the locations of all its members from the IP addresses, it was identified that these people spanned almost all major continents of the globe.

In terms of how these members are distributed within the US, the southern census region contained the most members, while the Midwest contained the least amount of Iron March members.

Strangely though, despite the fact that the south had a plurality of the members, the two states with the largest amount of members were New York and California who are dominant blue states, while Texas was number 3.

So, the main takeaway from this geographic representation of the data is that the fascist movement has inroads to every major part of the country and it is important to be mindful of its presence in order to win the progressive struggle of racial justice.

What Do They All Have in Common?

After diving into the details of the 626 Iron March members in the United States, there are a number of important insights that can be gleaned by combining the data that was scraped with publicly available data from the American Community Survey. This data on the location of the members in the US also complements the fact that there were some important polls conducted on the forum that present dangerous warning signs for the future of US democracy.

Lack of Diversity and Support for Racial Discrimination

The aforementioned ACS data shows that over 60% of the members live in zip codes with less than 35% people of color. This shows that generally the US members tend to live in very racially homogenous areas.

The phenomenon follows a poll that was done among the sites members where the vast majority supported either deporting all non-whites or ethnically cleansing them. This trend can be compared with previous literature on explaining support for nationalist political priorities. According to Jonathon Rothwells paper on explaining nationalist political views, one of the number 1 predictors of support for Trump was racial homogeneity. Thus it is important to use this as a lesson in ethnic polarization. When the social distance between white people and people of color grows, the frequency and volatility of extremism multiplies. That is why the need to close social distance between all races, classes, and social groups must be at the center of any social justice framework. This includes school desegregation, where the rising trend in income inequality has contributed to current levels of school segregation by race and socioeconomic status. But while this is an important finding, the economic characteristics of this group should be analyzed.

Economic Inequality and Nazi Economics

The economic dimension of this reality is extremely salient when considering the role that economic volatility played in the rise of Nazi Germany. When examining the Iron March dataset, the US members were more likely to come from zip codes with levels of economic inequality higher than the 2017 Gini coefficient for the entire country.

This is significant because there is some recent literature that suggests that economic inequality can be a determinant of racial bias. But even more telling is how the members answered a question to a poll on economic systems. The majority of respondents said that they preferred Nazi Economics as the proper economic system. This is important, because Nazi Economics is a distinct form of ideology that takes a statist approach to the economy. This approach involves the state setting the macroeconomic goals of the economy, while firms and industry fulfill the microeconomic means to achieve those goals. In the case of Nazi Germany, an integral aspect of this was the idea of a war preparedness economy, where the value set that defines the system is based on military efficiency when it is needed for wars of aggression. In other words, the economy was viewed as a way to satisfy the racist and xenophobic social, political, and military goals of the state.

The promotion of such an ideology is a warning sign for the progressive movement. There needs to be a synergy between class consciousness and racial solidarity with the rise of fascism, which is in response to economic volatility. In a pamphlet from the Philadelphia Workers Organizing Committee, the committee noted, as part of a collection of Black labor writings between 1955 and 1980, which The plain fact of the matter is that it takes Black-white unity, the unity of the working class, to really beat racism back. Only a united, fighting working class has the numbers and social power, a power inherent in the workers role as the producer of all social wealth, to force the struggle against racism beyond its present stalemate. Thus, the movement to combating white supremacy must utilize an anti-racist working class framework that brings workers of all races together against elite structures that use racism as a weapon to preserve economic power, while being completely oblivious to the fragility of their own economic order. Thus, it is important to discuss the environmental part of this phenomenon in light of these worrying signs.

Rising Ecological Fascism

Environmental politics are being increasingly embraced by the fascist right in the United States and the Iron March data only reinforces this reality. A poll conducted among its members showed that nearly half of all the respondents said that climate change was human caused and induced. What this shows is that the warning calls of Neo Nazi groups trying to infiltrate the environmental movement are warranted and are leading to real world consequences. As an example of this, The Intercept reported that the recent terrorist attack in El Paso was partially motivated by environmental concerns driven by a Malthusian conception of immigration as an external threat to the environmental stability of the nation. In response, progressives should embrace democratic socialism as a solution to the ecological crisis, by putting social control over investment decisions in the hands of workers and communities. As a NASA funded study found that the key problems that egalitarian and equitable societies do better at is reducing economic stratification and the exploitation of resources, which are the most important determinants of a potential collapse of industrial civilization.

Conclusion

The politics of the current moment is not one of progress, but of precarity. This insecurity is one not just of the mind and body, but also spirit. As the Philosopher Achille Mbembe puts it Neoliberal capitalism has left in its wake a multitude of destroyed subjects, many of whom are deeply convinced that their immediate future will be one of continuous exposure to violence and existential threat. And we are seeing this play out with the rise of Coronavirus Capitalism, which seeks not to resolve the pandemic we find ourselves in, but to profit off of it in most horrendous ways imaginable. If the collective spirit of America continues to be one of hopelessness and despair, then the road to economic and social degradation will continue to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is why the disease of demagoguery is spreading like a cancer and it will only get worse if political institutions do not promote a vision of universality over one of dystopianism.
Tata Sons has carried out an extensive review of its group firms as businesses take a severe hit from coronavirus pandemic which has brought the global economy on its knees. Tata Sons which is the holding firm of the Tata Group has asked CEOs of its companies to keep capex plans on hold which will ensure sufficient liquidity in these tough times.

"Conserving cash for 2020-21 is our message to all group companies," N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, told The Economic Times.

Tata Sons has asked group CEOs to carry out collaboration in businesses and undertake digitalisation as a top priority.

"Every country is at a standstill as far as jobs are concerned, and GDP everywhere will be hit. In India, a huge shrinkage of GDP, of around $250 billion, is expected. We need to quickly get the economy back on track post the crisis to address it," Chandrasekaran said.

India Coronavirus live updates: 614 active cases, 33 new deaths in 24 hours; country's tally at 5,709

Since transactions are not taking place, several industries, especially SMEs and microenterpreneurs would need external support to survive, he said.

There is special need to revive sectors such as construction, automobile and logistics to ensure that people return to work. "Liquidity and timely stimulus are critical, through maybe interest-free loans or moratorium, along with food security to get our economy back to growth quickly," he said.

"The biggest challenge is the uncertainty about how long will this health crisis last. Essentials like consumer and retail will come back but to get people back to work, some stimulus is required," Chandrasekaran said.

Coronavirus insurance covers to be withdrawn if cases spike

Commenting on the strategy how group companies such as Vistara and Indian Hotels will react to the impact on revenues due to the pandemic, the Tata Sons chief said it was up to individual firms to ensure that their business was viable. "Tata Sons will only do the scenario planning, ultimately we are also a shareholder. Each company will review its HR policy, revenue planning and ways to manage cashflows. We will be compassionate and each company will take a decision individually to ensure a viable business."

Group firms have been directed to alter annual plans since revenues are seen taking a big hit due to the ongoing crisis. In a heart-warming gesture, Tata Group had said it would continue to pay temporary workers for the duration they had not been working. "We have made a commitment to the 100 million bottom of the pyramid workers," Chandrasekaran said.

The group chairman said tough decisions would be taken in terms of portfolio restructuring, which was aimed to ensure a mix of growth and cash businesses.

"The portfolio restructuring plan will in fact be accelerated. We have already lost valuable time and what is not sustainable will be reviewed and some businesses may be restructured to have a digital face," he said. "While addressing the issue of portfolio restructuring, tough decisions and calls will have to be taken and that will have people implications," he said. "As a group we will be compassionate and always handle the people issues with fairness."

Tata Group which has been producing ventilators to help the government fight the coronavirus crisis will also start making other medical devices.

"We always had a plan but now the seed for our medical venture business too has been sowed," he said.

Coronavirus lockdown: RIL, Tata Steel, JSW, others gear up to restart production

The Tata Group has already been collaborating to procure personal protective equipment (PPEs), make masks and sanitisers and disinfectants.

On the automobile sector, Chandrasekaran said the passenger car and the commercial vehicle market had already hit the bottom even before coronavrus crisis started.

"These sectors can now come back faster having hit a low. A little push with stimulus can help these sectors revive and get many people back to work which is critical for the economy to revive," he said.

On worries over global businesses like Tata Steel Europe and JLR, Chandrasekaran said they would be addressed by the global entities. "Every government has offered to help and protect industries and jobs. So we all are going through the processes and hoping for timely intervention by respective governments to save jobs," he added.
Young people questioned by police after sharing photos of themselves criticising oil companies on social media.

Singapore  On 13 March, Wong J-min skipped school and headed to a glass-walled tower at the Harbourfront complex on Singapores west coast.

While her peers sat in their classrooms, the 18-year-old posed for a series of photos before the building housing ExxonMobils Singapore office, holding up messages scrawled on pieces of paper that read, PLANET OVER PROFIT, SCHOOL STRIKE 4 CLIMATE, and the tongue-in-cheek ExxonMobil KILLS KITTENS & PUPPIES.

The photos were shared on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram, but while they fuelled some interest, did not go viral.

Wongs small action signalled a fledging Singapore chapter of Fridays for Future  a global school strike movement founded by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg  but just over a week later, Wong found herself summoned for questioning by the police, and her phone was confiscated.





Singapore is a low-lying island that will be heavily affected by rising temperatures and sea levels caused by climate change. Yet much of its economy is also built on the fossil fuels that have been pinpointed as a major perpetrator of the crisis.

According to the countrys Economic Development Board, the energy and chemicals industry contributed S$81 billion to Singapores 2015 output  almost a third of its entire manufacturing output.

Youth feel that in spite of all that has been announced  various legislation such as the Energy Conservation Act and measures such as the carbon tax  more needs to be done, said Melissa Low, a research fellow at the National University of Singapores Energy Studies Institute.

Wongs signs took aim at the petrochemical industry and its presence in Singapore.

Fossil fuel industry

Members of the worlds largest oil and gas companies, such as Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil, all have a significant presence on Jurong Island, one of the worlds largest petrochemical hubs off the southwest coast of Singapores main island.

Wong J-min, 18, skipped school on March 13 and posed for a series of photos in front of the building housing ExxonMobils Singapore office, holding up messages she had scrawled on pieces of paper. [Supplied]

ExxonMobil, already one of the largest foreign investors in Singapore, recently held a virtual foundation-laying ceremony for the expansion of its refining and petrochemical complex.

She is not the only young Singaporean speaking out against fossil fuels, despite laws that make protest difficult.

In 2017, a group of students at Yale-NUS College launched a campaign to push the institution to divest from coal, oil and gas. Other initiatives, such as LepakInSG, organise and list activities that provide public education. In September last year, more than 1,700 Singaporeans turned up for the countrys first ever climate rally, organised by the new youth-led SG Climate Rally group.

On 22 March, a photo of 20-year-old Nguyen Nhat Minh holding up a placard in public saying SG IS BETTER THAN OIL @fridays4futuresg was posted on Fridays for Future Singapores Instagram account.

Nguyen says that he, like Wong, only posed for the picture before leaving.

But he has also been questioned by the police. As part of the investigation, he was escorted from the police station back to his home, where his laptop and mobile phone were seized, and officers dug through the dumpster outside his home to retrieve his cardboard sign.

Singapore's first climate strike! J Min skipped school today to call for more urgent action to be taken on climate justice. She is at harbour front because it is the office of ExxonMobil. Join the conversation on twitter @fridays4futuresg #fridays4future #climatestrikesg pic.twitter.com/mrQNvt5k8a  Jolovan Wham (@jolovanwham) March 13, 2020

The duo also says that they were strongly advised by the police to take down the Fridays for Future Singapore website and social media accounts. The website has been removed, while the Twitter and Instagram accounts have been made private.

Permission for protest

If convicted of illegal assembly, the maximum sentence is a fine of up to 5,000 Singapore dollars (US$3,500).

Under Singapores public order laws, there is only one park in Singapore where residents are allowed to participate in public assemblies without a permit, and even a solo protest is outlawed if the police have not first given their permission.

In 2018, performance artist Seelan Palay spent two weeks in prison in lieu of a fine after a performance  which involved walking with a mirror out of the park to Singapores parliament building  was deemed an illegal procession.

The Singapore Police Force declined to comment for this story.

Faced with dire warnings of the impact of climate change, Wong feels like the Singapore government needs to move away from fossil fuels sooner rather than later, even though she acknowledges the economic cost.

To me, as a young person, I think its a trade-off thats worth it, because I feel like  [do] you want the economy to die, or [do] you want me to die? she told Al Jazeera.

Divesting is easier said than done. As Low points out, the energy and chemicals sector is not only an important contributor to Singapores economy, it also provides energy security in a country with no natural energy resources of its own.

Vessels pass an oil refinery in the waters off the southern coast of Singapore [File: Edgar Su/Reuters]

Singapore is already looking to decarbonise the energy and chemicals sector as much as possible, Low wrote in an email to Al Jazeera.

Even if Singapore were to completely rid itself of this sector, the question of moving away from fossil fuels and divestment is not so simple, as theres always the risk of carbon leakage where the carbon emission simply goes elsewhere, she said.

Parents worry

Wong and Nguyens run-in with the authorities has caused them strife at home, too.

Wong, who is preparing for her A-Level exams this year, says her father worries the investigation might hurt her future: Its not his fault because I guess hes scared, because hes never really had trouble with the police before.

Nguyen is facing a similar situation. [My father] went through the whole speech about his Vietnamese immigrant upbringing and how he worked his way to Singapore and  how Im basically just throwing it all away, he said.

This experience is familiar to many young Singaporeans venturing into activism. Kristian-Marc James Paul, a member of SG Climate Rally, says that many members have had to constantly negotiate and navigate our parents fear for our safety.

Our parents have seen how Singaporeans, time and time again, have been punished for speaking up and they dont want that to happen to us.

That said, Paul said that some parents are supportive of their childrens efforts, acknowledging that their offspring are more motivated and courageous than they have been.

Police attention and parental disapproval have not deterred Nguyen, who says that he took the risk because ultimately what happens to me isnt as bad as what would happen to other people if we just keep going business as usual.

Nor is he concerned about any potential threat to his future prospects.

[Maybe] I make less money, okay  but there are people out there who will not have houses, like their islands will literally be underwater, they wont have anything to eat.

Bread-and-butter issue

Although the government announced in February that Singapore will aim to halve its peak 2030 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with a view to achieving net zero emissions some time in the second half of the century, climate activists are not satisfied.

SG Climate Rally pointed out that Singapores targets fall short of the recommendation by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Since the September event, SG Climate Rally has teamed up with another group, Speak for Climate, to launch Greenwatch, a campaign that has already produced a policy brief on climate and intends to score political party manifestos according to their proposals on how to tackle climate change.

This country focuses a lot on bread-and-butter issues and one of the main criticisms we get is that the climate crisis is not a bread-and-butter issue, said Paul.

We hope that Greenwatch will show Singaporeans that the climate crisis is indeed such an issue because it intersects with so many other concerns Singaporeans have, whether its cost of living, healthcare services or social inequality.

Wong and Nguyen have been keeping an eye on social media, trying to gauge the level of support for them. They say the reaction has been fairly polarised: while some have been pleasantly surprised by the emergence of Fridays for Future in Singapore, other commenters have belittled their activism.

One common criticism I get is, Why should adults listen to children?' Nguyen said.

[But] no one needs to listen to us; there have been researchers [calling for action on climate change] for decades. And if were the first people to tell someone about it, that says more about them than it does about us.
Democratic presidential hopeful Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the fifth Democratic primary debate.

Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

In a shift left, Joe Biden has unveiled a proposal to make people eligible for Medicare when they turn 60.

Biden has mainly advocated in favor of expanding Obamacare by providing people with higher subsidies and giving people the option to enroll in a government plan.

The idea doesn't go as far as the "Medicare for all" plan from Bernie Sanders, which would enroll everyone in the US into a government plan.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Former Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a proposal Thursday to let people enroll in Medicare starting at age 60.

The move marks a shift left for the presumptive Democratic nominee, whose healthcare plan has focused on building on Obamacare and giving all adults the option to buy into a new government plan that would be similar to Medicare.

Biden released his idea just a day after his "Medicare for All" rival Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign. Sanders wanted to mostly outlaw private health insurance in favor of enrolling everyone living in the US into a single government plan that would offer more benefits than Medicare does currently.

The battle over how far to extend the government's role in paying for healthcare became one of the leading feuds in the Democratic primary, and "Medicare for all" gained the support of former presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Biden said in a post on Medium that he was calling for lowering the age that people can sign up for Medicare as a direct response to the coronavirus pandemic. Expanding eligibility, he said, would "help people find more secure footing in the long term once we have emerged from this crisis."

"It reflects the reality that, even after the current crisis ends, older Americans are likely to find it difficult to secure jobs," Biden said in his announcement.

Story continues

The highest proportion of people who are uninsured in the US are between the ages of 19 and 34, but older Americans who don't qualify for Medicare yet have had the hardest time finding affordable health insurance because they can be charged three times more than younger beneficiaries. At the same time, the inclusion of older beneficiaries in the markets also make costs rise for younger beneficiaries, who tend to have fewer healthcare needs.

Biden provided few specifics Thursday other than to say he was directing his team to develop a plan to lower the age of Medicare eligibility. Currently, people are allowed to enroll in the program once they turn 65. Some people with severe health needs, including people on dialysis or people with Lou Gehrig's disease, can also qualify.

The latest idea adds to Biden's former proposal, which he frequently billed as a "build on" Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act. As he fought for his party's nomination, he frequently accused Democratic rivals of wanting to "get rid of Obamacare" by pushing "Medicare for all."

The government plan he pushed for instead, often called a "public option" would be available to people as an alternative to private health insurance, rather than having the government become the sole payer for healthcare services.

Biden's plan would let people stay on private insurance they get through work if they choose, or be on Obamacare or the public option.

The portion that would pay for people to enroll in Medicare at age 60 would be financed out of general government revenues rather than the Medicare Trust Fund. That specification is presumably to address criticisms about Medicare's solvency. According to the Social Security and Medicare Trustees report, the part of Medicare that pays for inpatient hospital and hospice care will run out of full funding in 2026. Unless Congress fixes the financing, the program would pay a diminishing amount of reimbursement for medical costs.

Read the original article on Business Insider
By Bob Fernandez, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Cargill Meat Solutions, a 900-worker plant in Hazleton that packages meat in plastic for supermarket shelves in Pennsylvania and surrounding states, shut down temporarily on Tuesday as 130 hourly workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and a rash of employees called out sick, a union leader said.

And on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Medical Examiners Office confirmed to the family of a 70-year-old union steward at the JBS Beef slaughterhouse in Souderton, now shut down for a second week for sanitizing, that he died on April 3 from respiratory failure brought on by the pandemic virus.

The man, Enock Benjamin of Oxford Circle, had checked with a doctor but was not tested for COVID-19. He thought he had a bad case of asthma, and was using a nebulizer as he coughed and lost his appetite, son Cabo said.

READ MORE: With Pa. meat-packing workers getting COVID-19, is the food supply safe?

By the time the family realized how sick he was, they couldnt transport him to the hospital and called paramedics. He died soon afterward at home, in his bed. Im screaming in the street because nobody is there, his son said of waiting for about 20 minutes for the ambulance. He broke down while being interviewed by phone.

Meat-processing plants across several states  Colorado, Iowa, and Nebraska along with Pennsylvania  are reporting COVID-19 outbreaks. A federal food inspector in New York died from the disease last month. And at least four meat plants in Pennsylvania have recently closed due to concerns related to the pandemic, said Wendell Young IV, president of the 35,000-member United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, which represents workers at all four plants.

The four are Cargill in Hazleton, on the I-80 corridor connecting eastern Pennsylvania with New York, and JBS Beef in Souderton, along with the CTI Foods hamburger-grinding plant in King of Prussia and Empire Kosher Poultry Inc. in Mifflintown, in central Pennsylvania, Young said.

These environments are almost impossible for workers to adhere to safe-distancing protocols," Young said. "We want our folks back to work, but we want them back safely. Safe is more important than fast.

Young said the number of COVID-19 cases among Cargill hourly workers had risen to 164 by Thursday morning.

Some companies are temporarily closing to sanitize facilities while also boosting hourly pay and offering bonuses to workers in an essential industry. Cargill said it would reopen its Hazleton plant as soon as it is safe. In late March, Cargill and the United Food and Commercial Workers negotiated a $2 per hour raise for shifts worked between March 23 and May 3. JBS Beef employees will be eligible for a one-time $500 bonus on May 15.

Meat-packing plants present unique safety issues. Workers stand elbow to elbow wielding cutting tools and jostle each other in crowded break rooms. Temporary workers, transported in vans, can bring in the disease.

Keeping such workers healthy is part of the pandemics complexity, as U.S. companies and government officials seek a smooth-flowing food-supply chain without causing panic over potential shortages and worker safety.

Everybody has to understand that there is food out there. We dont see any shortages, Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said Thursday. We are concerned, but we are not alarmed yet, he added of the difficulties facing food-processing plants.

The World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say COVID-19 cannot be spread through food, said Martin Wiedmann, a professor in food safety at Cornell University. Its an unstable virus that is mostly spread through sneezing and person-to-person contact. Stomach acids also mostly neutralize the virus if its eaten, he added.

Wiedmann described the risk of the virus spreading on food packaging as extremely low, virtually nil, because of the time between packaging and when its stocked in supermarkets. But he added that grocery shoppers should always wash their hands after returning from the store.

Experts say workers might avoid food plants fearing they could be exposed to the virus, leading to labor shortages.

Young said he has encouraged workers to be honest when they test positive for COVID-19, but "its almost like the AIDS virus. People really want to be private about it.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases grew rapidly in Hazleton, Young said, adding that it crept up on us. The plant supplies an estimated one million families a day with meat, he said.

Cargill spokesperson Daniel Sullivan said Wednesday that the Hazleton employees who had tested positive for COVID-19 were receiving appropriate medical care.

Cargill has met all food shipments to date," he said, adding that we will shift production to other facilities within our broad supply-chain footprint to continue to meet demand for our products.

Neither CTI Foods nor Empire Kosher could be reached for comment. CTI closed its operation, with about 100 employees, on March 26. Its expected to reopen next week, Young said. Empire closed early last week and would have been closed anyway for part of this week for Passover. Its expected to reopen next week, Young said.

JBS USA spokesperson Cameron Bruett said Wednesday night that the Souderton plant shut down when several managers displayed flu-like symptoms. We have decided to close the plant for two weeks to ensure we have the appropriate management leadership in place before resuming operations, he added. The plant is expected to resume operations on Thursday.

Among the precautions the company plans to take when the Souderton plant reopens: promoting physical distancing by staggering starts, shifts, and breaks, and increasing spacing in cafeterias and break and locker rooms; dedicating staff to continuously clean facilities; temperature-testing team members when they enter the complex; providing extra personal protective equipment, including protective masks; removing vulnerable employees from the plant with full pay and benefits; and relaxing attendance policies so people dont come to work sick.

The Souderton plant had four or five confirmed COVID-19 cases among its hourly workers when it closed about two weeks ago, Young said. Now there are 17, he added.

Cabo Benjamin said on Thursday that his father, a 70-year-old Haitian immigrant, planned to retire in two or three years from the Souderton plant, but found so much satisfaction in working there. Our of 12 years, he never missed a day, and he was never late, Cabo said.

His father spoke Haitian Creole, but learned Spanish to interact with the workers. Hed help Haitians get jobs there, too. For a while, he drove a van to transport workers to the plant, which was 40 minutes from his home. In the Haitian community, he was a huge figure, Cabo Benjamin said. Everybody thought that my dad was like their dad.

Local 1776's Facebook posting on Benjamins death garnered 132 reactions, 55 comments and 62 shares. It did not mention COVID-19.

One reaction said that Enock Benjamin "was not a worker. He was a life lover. He didnt love his life for himself. But through others, he watched his own life. He dreamed about seeing his colleagues, coworkers become better and better every day. [Enock] was a huge facilitator. For him no problem is difficult. He always try to solve peoples hardships. When HR is between 2 difficult mountains, that['s] just because [Enock] doesnt talk yet. This handyman, this lawyer, this fighter will never rest in peace because his wont stop being cited everywhere and everyday.

Cabos sister, Debbie, had traveled to Philadelphia from her home in Mississippi. Cabo and his mother, Mireille, called the doctor on Thursday to ask what they should do after learning the cause of death on Wednesday. The doctor said there was nothing he could do and did not test them but told them to self-quarantine. Thats what theyre doing, Cabo said, as they make funeral arrangements.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the Ministry of Science and Technology with the World Health Organisation (WHO) is striving to develop the vaccine to treat COVID-19 patients.

"We are also in the race with the world to develop the vaccine. Ministry of Science and Technology with the WHO is striving to produce the vaccine," Dr Vardhan told state Health Ministers via video conferencing while reviewing actions on COVID-19 management.

"I believe that we need to maintain social distancing and follow the lockdown provisions until we develop the vaccine. These are 'social vaccines'. We need to adhere to protection measures," added Dr Vardhan.

The Union Health Minister complained that in various States people are not following the spirit of lockdown.

"We are seeing visuals from many States where people are not following the lockdown provisions. I request Health Ministers of all States to ensure that lockdown is followed 100 per cent in your respective States. If we lag behind in this, it will be difficult for us to win this fight against COVID-19," he said.

He said the Centre has announced a Rs 15,000 crore package to deal with the coronavirus crisis and Rs 4,100 have been disbursed to all States.

"The Centre has announced Rs 15,000 crore for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package' and Rs 4,100 crore have been disbursed to all states. Our aim is that there should not be a problem due to a lack of money," he said.

Dr Vardhan said that we need to fight against COVID-19 together and we will win. "Each State should follow the good practices of other States too. I advise all the State health officials to keep visiting the MoHFW website regularly for the latest guidelines and suggestions," he said.

He added that hotspots have been identified and the containment zone has been implemented in various parts of the country.

He said that pregnant women and newborns must not suffer during the lockdown.

"We need to notify dedicated COVID-19 hospitals in the affected districts. Voluntary blood donations must not be affected. We have issued guidelines for this," he said.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) has put in place a set of guidance norms to ensure adequacy and safety of blood, given the restrained gathering and social distancing norm in force currently.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
THE Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, told parliament on Thursday that a total of 349 elders are being taken care of by the government at its 13 centres.

The minister said out of that number, 149 were women and 200 were men.

She said the government had been charting special strategies and programmes for taking care of the elders, and that so far there are 13 centres that are catering for them.

She said that as of March 2020, there were 349 elders in the said centres, and that majority of them had no children, relatives or close relatives to look after them.

The minister said that in recognition of the elders position in the society, the government had been charting plans to support all elders across the country, especially those who lived in abject poverty with no one to take care of them.

She said that through the local government, there had been special programmes for recognizing such elders, and that majority of them had been given special identity cards that enable them access social services free of charge, including health services and psychological support.

The minister was responding to Special Seats MP Joyce Sokombi (Chadema), who wanted to know the number of elders who lacked people to take care of them and the governments plan to ensure they got vital services.

The minister said so far, there is no exercise had been conducted to establish the number of needy elders.

She said it was difficult to do so as some of them begged on the streets during daytime and rejoined their families in the evenings.

However, the minister asked local government authorities to continue recognizing elders who were in need of government support so that they could be reached easily.

According to the 2012 Population and Housing Census, out of 44.9 million people, 2.5 million (5.6per cent) are estimated to be aged 60 and above (1.2 million male and 1.3 million female).

Plus, 80 per cent of elderly people live in rural areas, 40 per cent of all orphans in Tanzania are cared for by older people, usually their grandmothers.

Moreover, 2,866 elderly people were murdered over allegations of witchcraft in 10 regions over five years, which is an average of 573 a year.

The census shows that 96 per cent of elderly people in Tanzania do not have a secure income, but 73 per cent of older people remain economically active, with most engaged in small-scale agriculture.

Furthermore, households with elderly caregivers are 22.4 per cent more likely to be poor and food insecure. Also, nearly 60 per cent of deaths among those in some districts of Tanzania occur due to non-communicable diseases.
Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

MIDDLETOWN  Community health centers around Connecticuts First Congressional District were awarded more than $5.6 million in federal funding to combat Covid-19 courtesy of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut made the announcement this week in a press release.
Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial.

The Labor Department reported that unemployment claims soared to a record-breaking 6.6 million in the past week, bringing the total claims amid the pandemic to almost 17 million. While the governments stimulus package promises coronavirus relief checks and extra unemployment protections, April rent has already come due, and its beginning to look like Mays will too before many people see any form of that reliefwhich still may not be enough. Across the country, tenants are turning to rent strikes against property managers, with some who can afford to pay refusing to do so in solidarity with those who have lost their jobs.

Advertisement

Slate spoke this week with Clifton Rowls, a D.C. landlord who has been renting for 40 years and has eight tenants across four properties, some of which he shares with a business partner. We discussed the unique position of landlords who must maintain their properties while their tenants financial futuresand their ownare still up in the air. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Slate: Is renting your primary source of income?

Clifton Rowls: No. I taught school for six years. Then I worked for D.C. Public Schools budget office for 30 years. Now Im retired from that job. I always in my spare time bought houses, repaired them, and the ones I could keep, I kept. The ones I was forced to sell because they cost too much, I sold.

Advertisement

Advertisement

What have your communications with your tenants been like since the pandemic started? Have any of them had to ask for accommodations with the rent?

I havent had one do that so far. To prepare for this, I have always had a line of credit with a small bank in Maryland, so when things happen, I use my line of credit. I do not think that I will have to use any government assistance.

My problem that I have now is when people call for service, its very difficult to get, for example, a plumber, an exterminator, a carpenter, painter. Those people are following the mayors advice, which is to stay home. In emergencies, I either go myself or I can find some close friends, the people Ive been working with for years, who will come out, although Im reluctant to put them and their family in that position. So far, I guess Ive been lucky. I havent had any major things happen that I could not get help for.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Have you had to go do repairs yourself since the crisis began?

Yes. I try not to go in if I can. If they can send me a picture of something, for example, thats leaking, then I can try to get a plumber in there to take care of it. But Im one of the vulnerable ones to this virus. If I catch it, I think Id have some real problems. If Im forced to go in, then I just have to go in. I wear a mask, try to clean up as much as I can when I come out.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Lawmakers are proposing that rent and mortgages be not just postponed but canceled for three months, while some landlords in different cities have just decided to cancel rent. Have you considered doing the same?

Advertisement

Advertisement

Im certainly not going to go out and cancel the rent. And the governments not going to help you canceling rent. If you have a problem, the renter tells you, Ive lost my job, then Im sure theyre going to ask for a letter from the employer. Youve got to be able to prove that it happened. But to just write to people and tell them, Hey, dont pay your rent. No. Im not going to do that. Because the city has not made any effort whatsoever to cancel the taxes on these places.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Now I understand that you can call the mortgage company and ask them to relieve you of mortgage payments. And take my word for it, some of them will do it. But youre going to get your butt kicked for it later. And the government is not going to be able to help you. If youre in a position where youve got to use something like that, then I say, by all means, use it. But you better do your level best to get out of this mess on your own.

Advertisement

You mean landlords, theyre the ones who need to do their level best?

To get out of this mess on their own. This is a mess. The people who cant work from home and that have been fired from their jobs, theres nothing they can do except to say, Ive been fired from my job. Heres the proof. Heres my letter from my employer, and then you can take that and go to the government and say, I need help here because I have a mortgage to pay. But these banks are not going to forget this. Its very difficult.

Advertisement

Advertisement

If one of your tenants came to you and said that they got laid off or fired from their job, how long would you be able to let them not pay?

Advertisement

Ive never been in that situation before. The only thing you could do is to try to get around paying the mortgage if you dont have the money. Now some mortgage lenders have said you can go three months and defer those payments. Then some banks are saying that you will have a balloon at the end. In other words, if you didnt pay $700 for three months, then the $2,100, thats just an example, would be due and payable at the end of the mortgage.

One thing gaining traction is the idea of a rent strike.

People can do that. And you dont have to have been fired from your job and Im positive that there are a lot of people who are going to take advantage of this and then theyll do it. But they need to remember, they will pay for it sooner or later because once you have just simply refused to pay your rent because of this, it will affect your credit report. Theres no free lunch out here, none. Ive been around for a very long time. Take my word for it. In the fine print, you do not want your credit destroyed.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Not only that, its against the law to do it. Why would you risk going to jail? There is no law that I have seen saying that you can just not pay your rent. Thats like saying, Go to the grocery store and dont pay your grocery bill. And anybody who tries that, they will be affected later on if not right away. I wouldnt tell anybody to do it.

Advertisement

Advertisement

But there are going to be people who will do it. I have a lot of friends who rent places and I have one who has already called me and said that one of the restaurants that he rents space to stopped paying their rent the month before last. And he says hes seen people going in there and coming out with food. This was prior to their stopping people from eating in restaurants. They stopped paying their rent back then. People going to take advantage of it. It will not get to the people who really need it.

Advertisement

If your tenants decided not to pay rent or just couldnt pay rent because they got laid off, would that affect your income or your ability to pay for your own housing or food?

Advertisement

Well, like I said, it would depend totally on how long this lasts. If the tenants stop paying for whatever reason, I could last a few months and then of course, I would start to lose my property, or I would have to talk to the banks about not paying my mortgages. I could stand it for three or four months. And then I would have to let it go.

Its just my opiniontheres no way you can live in decent housing with everything that is up to standards and good shape [without paying rent]. When a tenant calls me, Im there the next day or Ill get somebody there the next day as a normal course of business. Now things have slowed down because peopleand you cant blame themtheyre staying home. So, in a situation like that, you just do the best you can. In my opinion, it is a mistake for people to take advantage of this and just go on a rent strike if you need housing.

Advertisement

Advertisement

For people who cant pay rent

OK, see, youre confusing the two. You say rent strike. Then you compare the same thing with people who lose their jobs genuinely and cannot pay their rent. Theres a big difference in those two. A big difference. When you cant because youve lost your job, then you take that letter, you send it to the landlord, and say: Hey, look. Ive lost my job. Theres nothing I can do. Then the landlords got to ride this thing out the best way he can until this pandemic is over. And itll be over. Well get back to work. I cant believe that this is going to go on for years. Because if it does, theres going to be a lot of people with housing thats not fit to live in.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

You can do that foolishness, but if the landlord doesnt get the money to perform the maintenance on what hes got, then its going to go down. Theres nothing that goes down faster than real estate without maintenance. Youve got to do maintenance. And in order to do maintenance, you are going to have to pay the workers. Thats why I do what I can to get out there. If a tenant calls me and says they need something, if I cant find anybody to do it, Ill put my mask on and go do it myself. Or Ill find a friend to go in there and help. Thats dangerous for both of us.

Advertisement

But you have a situation where a tenant needs you and you cant get there  thats pretty bad. You know, a tenant calls you, The washer and dryer doesnt work. Youve got to get in there and fix it. Pandemic or no pandemic. Because they have no place to get their washing done. The lock breaks on the door. You got to fix it. These things are emergencies that must be fixed. How long do you think theyre going to get fixed if youre on a rent strike? Theyre not going to be fixed. And Im not saying that because Im a landlord. Im saying that because there is no sense in breaking the law and breaking your agreement when you have a job. If you dont have one, you can prove it, youre in good shape. But you better not bring that stuff out there and you have a job and youre continuously getting paid. And people are going to do it. Thats the world we live in.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

So, for tenants who have lost their jobs and can prove it, once this is all over, how would you go about collecting past rent?

I dont think theres any mechanism to. Say you work at an automobile mechanics and theyve had to close your shop and youre not getting any money from them. Youre getting $1,200 a month from the government, which is not going to be enough to even feed your family, yourself for that matter. You dont have a job. How are you going to catch rent up for three or four months? You cant do it. Theres no way these people are ever going to be able to go back after they lost their job and pay that rent. Theyre not going to do it. Theyre not going to be able to. Chances are good that you wont get the money because people dont have it. This thing hit people with zero savings. Theres no way anybody can go back and make this stuff up. Everybody is going to take a loss.

Advertisement

It sounds good, $1,200. Were going to put the check directly in your hand. Where is $1,200 going to take you? Unless youre living in a state that you buy groceries at half the price they cost you in D.C. This city has not stopped collecting taxes on your groceries. And I sure did have to pay my property taxes the 31st of March. They sent those notices out along with notices telling you what its going to cost you if you dont pay it by the 31st of March.

Advertisement

Advertisement

So youre saying that landlords whose tenants lost their jobs should just accept those months of rent as losses? They shouldnt expect to get the money?

Advertisement

Advertisement

How can they? Im old enough to have been in this position, where every time I got a paycheck in one hand, it went right out the other. There was no savings account. The only thing that this pandemic has done is to shine a light on how low-income and even some medium-income people are living in this country. Nobody wanted to see it before. But right now, its in your face. How are the hospitals ever going to collect their money from these people who have no insurance because they couldnt afford it in the first place, but they had to be treated? How are you going to pay that money back? You cant.

For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to this weeks episode of What Next: TBD.
[April 10, 2020] NRG Energy Joins Forces with Project HOPE to Deliver Protective Gear to America's Frontline Health Workers

As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in the U.S., NRG Energy has joined forces with Project HOPE to deliver lifesaving protective gear and equipment to America's frontline health workers in partnership with the Business Roundtable and Healthcare Ready. "Our strong safety and wellness culture is a longstanding tenet of NRG, and our $100,000 donation to help provide frontline health workers with critical safety resources is an extension of that," said Mauricio Gutierrez, President & CEO, NRG Energy. "We appreciate the medical community working tirelessly to combat this pandemic and we're glad to support them as they face this profound challenge." "America's health workers need support now more than ever, and with the generous support of NRG, we will be able to deliver the much-needed, lifesaving supplies and equipment to doctors, nurses, and first responders on the frontlines of this outbreak," said Project HOPE President and CEO Rabih Torbay. "Working together with Business Roundtable and Healthcare Ready, we will protect health workers and save countless lives." Together with the leadership of chief executive officers of America's leading companies such as NRG, Project HOPE is rapidly mobilizing protective gear and other vital equipment from manufacturers worldwide and delivering these lifesaving supplies to America's nurses, doctors, and others working to treat patients and stop the spread of COVID-19. These critically needed supplies will be allocated to health facilities in coordination with Healthcare Ready, which is already working in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help allocate protective gear donations nationwide. Project HOPE has more than 60 years' experience responding to some of the world's greatest health crises, including being one of the only international humanitarian relief organizations on the ground in Wuhan since the earliest days of the COVID-19 outbreak. Since early this year, Project HOPE has been providing critical support to frontline health workers who were treating patients and working to contain the spread of the virus. Project HOPE has delivered nearly 5 million facemasks and other protective gear as well as lifesaving medical equipment, including ventilators, to hospitals that cared for tens of thousands of patients in China. In addition, Project HOPE quickly ramped up its global response to provide live, online training on COVID-19 prevention and treatment, protective gear, and other support for health workers in high-risk countries like North Macedonia, Kosovo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Colombia. Project HOPE is also providing protective equipment and medical surge staff to help support America's COVID-19 response efforts as well. Healthcare Ready is a national nonprofit organization, which has spent more than a decade strengthening healthcare supply chains through collaboration with public health and private sectors to build and enhance the resiliency of communities before, during and after disasters. About NRG At NRG, we're bringing the power of energy to people and organizations by putting customers at the center of everything we d. We generate electricity and provide energy solutions and natural gas to more than 3.7 million residential, small business, and commercial and industrial customers through our diverse portfolio of retail brands. A Fortune 500 company, operating in the United States and Canada, NRG delivers innovative solutions while advocating for competitive energy markets and customer choice, and by working towards a sustainable energy future. More information is available at www.nrg.com. Connect with NRG on Facebook, LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @nrgenergy.



Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions and typically can be identified by the use of words such as "expect," "estimate," "should," "anticipate," "forecast," "plan," "guidance," "outlook," "believe" and similar terms. Although NRG believes that the expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct, and actual results may vary materially.

NRG undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. The foregoing review of factors that could cause NRG's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in connection with information regarding risks and uncertainties that may affect NRG's future results included in NRG's filings with the SEC (News - Alert) at www.sec.gov. About Project HOPE Project HOPE operates around the world wherever the need is greatest, working side-by-side with local health workers and addressing the greatest public health challenges to enable people to live their best lives. We respond to disasters and health crises, staying on in communities after the emergency subsides to help find durable solutions to epidemics and any other neglected health needs. For more information on Project HOPE and its response to the coronavirus outbreak, visit www.projecthope.org and follow @projecthopeorg. About Business Roundtable Business Roundtable CEO members lead companies with more than 15 million employees and $7.5 trillion in revenues. The combined market capitalization of Business Roundtable member companies is the equivalent of over 27 percent of total U.S. stock market capitalization, and Business Roundtable members invest nearly $147 billion in research and development - equal to over 40 percent of total U.S. private R&D spending. Our companies pay $296 billion in dividends to shareholders and generate $488 billion in revenues for small and medium-sized businesses. Business Roundtable companies also make more than $8 billion in charitable contributions. Learn more at businessroundtable.org and follow @BizRoundtable. About Healthcare Ready Healthcare Ready is a preparedness and response nonprofit organization that helps to strengthen healthcare supply chains through collaboration with public health and private sectors by addressing pressing issues before, during, and after disasters. As a convener of industry and government, the organization safeguards patient health by providing solutions to critical problems and best practices for healthcare preparedness and response. Learn more at HealthcareReady.org and follow @HC_Ready. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005187/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
forester BHPian



Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: New Delhi Posts: 106 Thanked: 472 Times

I went to China before the Corona!







This travelogue dates back to September 2018, more than a year before when the epidemic thats turned out to be a serious blot and threat to mankind  Coronavirus  ever came to the picture.



I was invited to attend a technology summit on Digitalisation and Industry 4.0' in the manufacturing sector by a leading tech giant and it was organised on the sidelines of the China International Industry Fair (CIIF) 2018  a massive breeding ground for industry professionals and business folks from around the world to network and showcase new technologies.



My trip was a short four-day visit between September 18 and 21 (Friday) to the business capital Shanghai, and while I could have extended it over the weekend, I chose not to as I had huge concerns about being able to effectively communicate due to the stark language difference.



Since the invitation was rather on a short notice, I was asked to submit my online application for the Express Visa service, which although is a little expensive compared to the regular Visa process, expedites the procedure and can be extremely useful for business travel or exigency cases.



Express Visa process for China 



I applied for the Visa on September 10 (Monday) with a duly-filled printout of the visa form downloaded from the Embassys website and had submitted it along with my passport and a cover letter from my employer. What made things easier for me was that the mediator agency which was taking care of all the logistics for my travel sent across someone to collect my documents so that I didnt need to go to the Embassy myself, and moreover, I believe that a valid US visa on my passport would have increased the chances of approval as well.



On September 17, my passport was returned and I was allotted a single-entry visa for a 30-day duration to the Peoples Republic of China. By this time, my flight tickets were booked and I was scheduled to depart on China Southern Airlines (CZ) bound to Guangzhou from New Delhi, at 11:55 on September 18.



It was supposed to be a 5 hours and 15 minutes flight to Guangzhou from where I had my connection to Shanghai on China Eastern Airlines (MU). The only discomforting factor in this whole transit was that I had a rather SHORT layover of 1 hour and 50 minutes to switch planes.



Planning before departure



Like a lot of people on the forum, travel gives me solace and the thought of exploring a new place / country is always exciting. However, this time around, I was a little nervous. There was this underlying fear in my mind, majorly owing to the possible language issues that I could face in a country as huge as China, and to make matters worse, the regular means of communication  WhatsApp, FB, Gmail and the entire Google suite  are non-existent in China.



As a result, I and my wife (we had just been engaged then), whos a Computer Science teacher and much more tech-savvy than me, started looking out for other alternatives that are predominantly used in China for the very basic need of humans - communication  in my phone.



Just like the majority of the world uses WhatsApp as the basic tool these days, China literally runs on WeChat  their answer to Brian Actons invention. But, unlike WhatsApp, which would need you a total of five minutes to go to the Play Store (Android), download the app, install and get going, this thing was tough, at least for someone sitting in India and trying to do it on their phones.



So, WeChat requires someone already on the platform to invite you to join and only then can one become a member of the family of millions of users. While the app is available on the Google Play Store, and this led us to try and try harder to log in and get chatting, we finally realised that theres no other way than getting an invitation.



We approached my wifes maternal uncle, who lives in Thailand and has his business in China to send us the invite, but unfortunately, we were still unable to install and make a new account on WeChat. I am not really sure if the process is still that cumbersome, but we had to give up.



I was now thinking to show up in China and install the app on my phone by taking help of some locals there. Yes, we literally couldnt find a way out and even the agency couldnt help either.



Thank my stars or whatever, while boarding my flight from IGI T3, I installed Skype on my Google Pixel XL, and logged in to my existing account and added my wife. I had not used Skype for a while and the last conversation I had was sometime in March 2017.



China Southern experience and landing in Guangzhou



The flight experience was decent with a full house and food being alright and par for the course. Of course, I preferred a vegetarian meal to keep things on the lighter side, given the anticipated non-vegetarian days that lay ahead.



Like we have our Amul girl, the mascot for China Southern is pretty cute too!





I watched a couple of nice Hindi flicks and really liked the Sonakshi Sinha-starrer 'Noor'. I have a habit of looking at the flight information every now and then.





We touched down at Guangzhou Terminal 2 as per the scheduled ETA  19:40.





However, given the size of this giant airport, the plane kept taxiing for about 15 minutes before arriving at the allocated gate.



I dont know about the hundred other passengers, but by the time we parked to disembark, I had started worrying as I had my next connection in exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes.



A herd of people alighted and if my memory serves me right, all foreign travelers were supposed to go through a Biometric / health scan before then going to the immigration area. Everything around me was scribbled in Chinese with English subtitles and I had already received my cultural shock that I was dreading about.







There were scores of people ahead of me waiting in the chaotic que and trying to understand what the Biometric machine wanted, which finger, how long to be pressed  everything was being displayed mainly in the Chinese language which made the process cumbersome.







It was 20:15 and I was still in the que when finally some lady from the airport staff came to the passengers' rescue and got the line moving a little faster. She was guiding individual passengers in sign language and as I neared my turn, I was constantly trying to peep and follow the steps being followed by the person attempting it at the front.



By the time I got done with the Biometric, it must already be 20:25 and thankfully, the immigration process was smoother.







I had successfully entered China with my passport stamped, and now, the task to find way to the domestic terminal and interchange into my next flight to Shanghai had begun. Luckily, I just had a cabin stroller that I was dragging along with me.



How I missed my first-ever flight in China



As I got walking inside the airport, I came to realise that finding ones own way is not going to be a piece of cake. It was 20:30 and I was getting a bit anxious as things were looking confusing and a lot difficult than what I had expected. I approached two staffers at an airlines customer desk to get help, but using English language in China would hardly get you anywhere.



Nonetheless, one of the ladies guided me in sign language to go downstairs, and I quickly rushed to find a huge baggage claim area. I was panicking as my next departure was in less than 60 minutes and not being able to figure out anything quickly, I took the escalator upstairs again to now ask another gentleman about how to make the transition.







I was luckier this time around as the fellow knew English and asked me to go down, head out of the gate and take the underground Metro train to the domestic terminal. The only big question in my mind at that time was how to take a train ticket, which might have killed even more time, which I just didnt have to lose at this point. No ticket, he responded and I sighed.



I immediately whooshed towards the escalator and then started running to the exit gate when I spotted a signboard with a train symbol and a downward arrow. It couldnt have made me more cheerful in this time of distress. I ran towards the signage and saw two downward escalators and a baggage scanning machine.



I put my bag through the X-Ray scanner, cleared security and rushed down to the platform.





The next train was about to be there in 2 minutes and I was continuously checking the time on my phone to keep a tab on my boarding.





I took the train...





...and was just looking at the station map placed above the doors. It was a short one-stop ride from Airport N (Terminal 2) to Airport S (Terminal 1).





As soon as I de-boarded at the next station, I was again amazed to see the sheer scale of things.





I must have landed up at minus 3 and was staring at a giant escalator to reach the ground level.





As things would stand, I was frantic and was struggling to find the China Eastern counter upon reaching the main check-in area. A look at the flight information screen and I was pretty sure I'd be in trouble.





After a lot of going helter-skelter through a rows of numbers and alphabets, I finally saw the airlines counter and could see the last two passengers checking in (probably for a later flight), and some of the lights being turned off too.





As soon as I reached the desk and swiftly showed the ticket on my phone, came the shocking reaction  a shrug, a negative nod and a lady and a gentleman together trying to tell me that I have overshot the boarding time and that the gates have now been closed.



What a bummer! I literally get shocked and take a look at the world clock on my phone. It was 22:50. I was five minutes late! Had it been India, I would still have stood a chance to check-in and also be allowed to board the flight. But, in Guangzhou, the gates close 45 minutes prior to departure, a whole 20 minutes earlier than what we are used to.



I requested them in English if I could speak to the Manager. They were able to understand this term and went in to call someone senior to speak to me. The senior official from their support team showed up at the counter and I pleaded him in all means to allow me to board the flight. I requested him to escort me to the flight as it would still be preparing for departure.



I pushed my luck as far as I could, but there was no relent from the other end. I even said that I dont have enough cash to book another flight or phone connectivity to get in touch with my family. I could understand that the manager in his capacity couldnt have done anything else even on empathetic grounds. I finally let go.







I had missed the first ever flight of my life, and that too while being abroad and in the Peoples Republic of China! It took some time for me to soak that in and during that time, I just switched on the WiFi on my phone and tried connecting to the airport network.



Since everything was written in Chinese, I had to take help of the person at the information desk to patch me up on the network and as soon as I was online, I saw a stream of Skype messages from my wife flowing on my screen.



She was checking if I had reached Guangzhou safely and I texted back the harsh words - I missed my flight to Shanghai.



She immediately called me on Skype and I told her the ordeal. We decided to reach out to the agency coordinating the logistics for the trip. Since I had not taken any international roaming pack on my Airtel number or an international SIM card for that matter, I had no means of contacting the lady from who had been facilitating my tickets and Visa. The only option left was for my wife to reach out to her and let her know what had just happened.



It is in such an hour of despair that your loved ones come to your rescue, and my wife came out to be a true saviour for me. Back home, she was now the mediator between me and the agency, coordinating all communications and transmitting minute-by-minute updates.



As she was updating about my current status to the lady, I quickly searched for the next flight options to Shanghai. For this, I again requested the staff managing the information desk, and lo and behold, we are stuck at another language barrier.



I was trying my level best to speak in one-worded English and let the folks know that I wanted to check the flight options, but, we werent getting anywhere. At last, the person at the desk took out his phone, switched on the translator app and held it in front of me to talk.



Now, I could see some progress! Though it ended up being a tedious process, this was the best way to overcome the humongous language challenge that I faced. Unfortunately, the next flight out of Guangzhou was at 07:30 in the morning and the last train had already departed at 20:30. So, here I was, stuck at the Guangzhou airport, with no means to reach Shanghai well in time before the conference started the next day at 10:00.



It was close to 10pm in the night and I was feeling extremely hungry by now. Having given up on all hopes, I decided to take a seat at one of the kiosks in the F&B area, and order a meal while waiting for further communication from my wife.







I was lucky to have found a simple-looking vegetable sandwich along with a glass of cold coffee!





I sat there to quench my thirst and douse the hunger, connected the power bank to charge my phone and started conversing with my wife on Skype through text as the call quality was really poor owing to a dozen people using the limited bandwidth of the free network.



She was awaiting updates from the travel agency about booking a new ticket. Meanwhile, as I got done with my meal, I moved to the information desk to inquire about my overnight stay options near the airport as well as get some currency exchanged for the dollars that I was carrying.



I was fortunate that it was still only late afternoon in one part of Europe and the travel desk at the host company was working for the day. While my wife had told the agency about the time-consuming Biometric process and the language constraints leading to the flight getting missed, I wasnt really sure if they would book a new ticket.



The next update she gives me is that the company has agreed to book me on the morning flight and I need not book the ticket myself at the airport. It breathed a sigh of relief. Now, the next issue was my accommodation for the night.



As my wife was coordinating regarding the same, I again reached out to the information desk, which told me about a few budget hotels nearby and the timings for the free shuttle service. It was 22:54 and the next bus was scheduled to depart at 23:03. If I wait, the only next shuttle would be an hour later.



Without a second thought, I paid the RMB 200 (approximately Rs 2,000) charge and booked a budget hotel some 15 minutes from the airport, which was inclusive of a to-and-fro shuttle service. I called up my wife to update and asked her to convey the same to the travel team in Delhi.



My first-ever electric bus ride



I exited the airport and got into the designated shuttle which was an electric mini-bus and was itching to reach my hotel quickly and get some rest for the day before I start the next one again quite early. I took the front-row seat and as we started moving, I started observing the scenery all around.







It was really fascinating to see well lit buildings and the wide roads as we passed through a couple of flyovers and underpasses before entering a sort of a residential-commercial area. The hotel was located at a corner and there was a market situated adjacent to it with a few eateries still open. I thought to myself that I would come back after checking-in to grab a quick ice cream or something.



A total of three of us passengers got off the bus and we qued up to check-in one by one. I got a key card to my room and the WiFi password. The manager also took our flight details for the morning and told us the timings at which the respective shuttles would depart. Mine was at 05:30.



Meanwhile, as I was attempting to connect my phone with the WiFi, I could see the driver of the electric shuttle bus putting it up to charge.





The EV fast-charger placed outside the hotels main-gate. Neat!





China is way ahead of a lot of countries when it comes to going electric and my journey hadnt even started yet.





Unfortunately, I wasnt able to connect to the WiFi and I asked for help and the manager called up one of the bell boys to help me out. This fellow was instructing me in Chinese and fed up by now, I just handed over my phone to him and requested him to do the needful.



As he was trying to connect my phone, we took the lift and moved to the second floor where my room was located. I opened the door, and was in for a sweet surprise.







For a measly sum, this room had a lounge area with a proper sofa-set, a bedroom, bath as well as a balcony with a view of the street and the market!





I can never even imagine in my wildest dreams to get such a hotel for so cheap in India! Thats Chinas value-for-money quotient, and I had just got a first-hand experience of it.





It took the staffer quite a while to successfully get the internet working on my phone and finally when it was done, I opened Skype to update my wife about my whereabouts. She told me that the lady from the agency wanted to speak to me and had already tried doing that but I was offline.



I called her up and she told me that the company wanted me to go to the Pullman near the airport and would have reimbursed me the amount against the bill. I told her that I was happy to be where I was and it was completely okay to not worry about any payments. I had saved enough time by not waiting any further at the airport and for a good nights sleep this seemed quite a solid option. I apologised for the trouble and thanked her for cooperating and for booking the new tickets, which she had already shared with me on Skype.



After chit-chatting with my wife and thanking her for all the coordination during the last few hours, I quickly headed out to have a look at the market and get some snacks. At this hour, it was sort of a lonely lane but I could see people still having a smoke or grabbing a bite at the few restaurants which looked like they were about to down their shutters for the day.



I was observing the parked cars and entered in a supermarket and got myself a pack of dry cakes. This would come handy in the morning for breakfast I thought. For that itch of something sweet, I then went inside a cigarette shop and got a cup of chocolate ice-cream. I finished it while on my walk back to the hotel, came into my room, and called it a day.



My first-ever First Class experience This travelogue dates back to September 2018, more than a year before when the epidemic thats turned out to be a serious blot and threat to mankind  Coronavirus  ever came to the picture.I was invited to attend a technology summit on Digitalisation and Industry 4.0' in the manufacturing sector by a leading tech giant and it was organised on the sidelines of the China International Industry Fair (CIIF) 2018  a massive breeding ground for industry professionals and business folks from around the world to network and showcase new technologies.My trip was a short four-day visit between September 18 and 21 (Friday) to the business capital Shanghai, and while I could have extended it over the weekend, I chose not to as I had huge concerns about being able to effectively communicate due to the stark language difference.Since the invitation was rather on a short notice, I was asked to submit my online application for the Express Visa service, which although is a little expensive compared to the regular Visa process, expedites the procedure and can be extremely useful for business travel or exigency cases.I applied for the Visa on September 10 (Monday) with a duly-filled printout of the visa form downloaded from the Embassys website and had submitted it along with my passport and a cover letter from my employer. What made things easier for me was that the mediator agency which was taking care of all the logistics for my travel sent across someone to collect my documents so that I didnt need to go to the Embassy myself, and moreover, I believe that a valid US visa on my passport would have increased the chances of approval as well.On September 17, my passport was returned and I was allotted a single-entry visa for a 30-day duration to the Peoples Republic of China. By this time, my flight tickets were booked and I was scheduled to depart on China Southern Airlines (CZ) bound to Guangzhou from New Delhi, at 11:55 on September 18.It was supposed to be a 5 hours and 15 minutes flight to Guangzhou from where I had my connection to Shanghai on China Eastern Airlines (MU). The only discomforting factor in this whole transit was that I had a rather SHORT layover of 1 hour and 50 minutes to switch planes.Like a lot of people on the forum, travel gives me solace and the thought of exploring a new place / country is always exciting. However, this time around, I was a little nervous. There was this underlying fear in my mind, majorly owing to the possible language issues that I could face in a country as huge as China, and to make matters worse, the regular means of communication  WhatsApp, FB, Gmail and the entire Google suite  are non-existent in China.As a result, I and my wife (we had just been engaged then), whos a Computer Science teacher and much more tech-savvy than me, started looking out for other alternatives that are predominantly used in China for the very basic need of humans - communication  in my phone.Just like the majority of the world uses WhatsApp as the basic tool these days, China literally runs on WeChat  their answer to Brian Actons invention. But, unlike WhatsApp, which would need you a total of five minutes to go to the Play Store (Android), download the app, install and get going, this thing was tough, at least for someone sitting in India and trying to do it on their phones.So, WeChat requires someone already on the platform to invite you to join and only then can one become a member of the family of millions of users. While the app is available on the Google Play Store, and this led us to try and try harder to log in and get chatting, we finally realised that theres no other way than getting an invitation.We approached my wifes maternal uncle, who lives in Thailand and has his business in China to send us the invite, but unfortunately, we were still unable to install and make a new account on WeChat. I am not really sure if the process is still that cumbersome, but we had to give up.I was now thinking to show up in China and install the app on my phone by taking help of some locals there. Yes, we literally couldnt find a way out and even the agency couldnt help either.Thank my stars or whatever, while boarding my flight from IGI T3, I installed Skype on my Google Pixel XL, and logged in to my existing account and added my wife. I had not used Skype for a while and the last conversation I had was sometime in March 2017.The flight experience was decent with a full house and food being alright and par for the course. Of course, I preferred a vegetarian meal to keep things on the lighter side, given the anticipated non-vegetarian days that lay ahead.Like we have our Amul girl, the mascot for China Southern is pretty cute too!I watched a couple of nice Hindi flicks and really liked the Sonakshi Sinha-starrer 'Noor'. I have a habit of looking at the flight information every now and then.We touched down at Guangzhou Terminal 2 as per the scheduled ETA  19:40.However, given the size of this giant airport, the plane kept taxiing for about 15 minutes before arriving at the allocated gate.I dont know about the hundred other passengers, but by the time we parked to disembark, I had started worrying as I had my next connection in exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes.A herd of people alighted and if my memory serves me right, all foreign travelers were supposed to go through a Biometric / health scan before then going to the immigration area. Everything around me was scribbled in Chinese with English subtitles and I had already received my cultural shock that I was dreading about.There were scores of people ahead of me waiting in the chaotic que and trying to understand what the Biometric machine wanted, which finger, how long to be pressed  everything was being displayed mainly in the Chinese language which made the process cumbersome.It was 20:15 and I was still in the que when finally some lady from the airport staff came to the passengers' rescue and got the line moving a little faster. She was guiding individual passengers in sign language and as I neared my turn, I was constantly trying to peep and follow the steps being followed by the person attempting it at the front.By the time I got done with the Biometric, it must already be 20:25 and thankfully, the immigration process was smoother.I had successfully entered China with my passport stamped, and now, the task to find way to the domestic terminal and interchange into my next flight to Shanghai had begun. Luckily, I just had a cabin stroller that I was dragging along with me.As I got walking inside the airport, I came to realise that finding ones own way is not going to be a piece of cake. It was 20:30 and I was getting a bit anxious as things were looking confusing and a lot difficult than what I had expected. I approached two staffers at an airlines customer desk to get help, but using English language in China would hardly get you anywhere.Nonetheless, one of the ladies guided me in sign language to go downstairs, and I quickly rushed to find a huge baggage claim area. I was panicking as my next departure was in less than 60 minutes and not being able to figure out anything quickly, I took the escalator upstairs again to now ask another gentleman about how to make the transition.I was luckier this time around as the fellow knew English and asked me to go down, head out of the gate and take the underground Metro train to the domestic terminal. The only big question in my mind at that time was how to take a train ticket, which might have killed even more time, which I just didnt have to lose at this point. No ticket, he responded and I sighed.I immediately whooshed towards the escalator and then started running to the exit gate when I spotted a signboard with a train symbol and a downward arrow. It couldnt have made me more cheerful in this time of distress. I ran towards the signage and saw two downward escalators and a baggage scanning machine.I put my bag through the X-Ray scanner, cleared security and rushed down to the platform.The next train was about to be there in 2 minutes and I was continuously checking the time on my phone to keep a tab on my boarding.I took the train......and was just looking at the station map placed above the doors. It was a short one-stop ride from Airport N (Terminal 2) to Airport S (Terminal 1).As soon as I de-boarded at the next station, I was again amazed to see the sheer scale of things.I must have landed up at minus 3 and was staring at a giant escalator to reach the ground level.As things would stand, I was frantic and was struggling to find the China Eastern counter upon reaching the main check-in area. A look at the flight information screen and I was pretty sure I'd be in trouble.After a lot of going helter-skelter through a rows of numbers and alphabets, I finally saw the airlines counter and could see the last two passengers checking in (probably for a later flight), and some of the lights being turned off too.As soon as I reached the desk and swiftly showed the ticket on my phone, came the shocking reaction  a shrug, a negative nod and a lady and a gentleman together trying to tell me that I have overshot the boarding time and that the gates have now been closed.What a bummer! I literally get shocked and take a look at the world clock on my phone. It was 22:50. I was five minutes late! Had it been India, I would still have stood a chance to check-in and also be allowed to board the flight. But, in Guangzhou, the gates close 45 minutes prior to departure, a whole 20 minutes earlier than what we are used to.I requested them in English if I could speak to the Manager. They were able to understand this term and went in to call someone senior to speak to me. The senior official from their support team showed up at the counter and I pleaded him in all means to allow me to board the flight. I requested him to escort me to the flight as it would still be preparing for departure.I pushed my luck as far as I could, but there was no relent from the other end. I even said that I dont have enough cash to book another flight or phone connectivity to get in touch with my family. I could understand that the manager in his capacity couldnt have done anything else even on empathetic grounds. I finally let go.I had missed the first ever flight of my life, and that too while being abroad and in the Peoples Republic of China! It took some time for me to soak that in and during that time, I just switched on the WiFi on my phone and tried connecting to the airport network.Since everything was written in Chinese, I had to take help of the person at the information desk to patch me up on the network and as soon as I was online, I saw a stream of Skype messages from my wife flowing on my screen.She was checking if I had reached Guangzhou safely and I texted back the harsh words - I missed my flight to Shanghai.She immediately called me on Skype and I told her the ordeal. We decided to reach out to the agency coordinating the logistics for the trip. Since I had not taken any international roaming pack on my Airtel number or an international SIM card for that matter, I had no means of contacting the lady from who had been facilitating my tickets and Visa. The only option left was for my wife to reach out to her and let her know what had just happened.It is in such an hour of despair that your loved ones come to your rescue, and my wife came out to be a true saviour for me. Back home, she was now the mediator between me and the agency, coordinating all communications and transmitting minute-by-minute updates.As she was updating about my current status to the lady, I quickly searched for the next flight options to Shanghai. For this, I again requested the staff managing the information desk, and lo and behold, we are stuck at another language barrier.I was trying my level best to speak in one-worded English and let the folks know that I wanted to check the flight options, but, we werent getting anywhere. At last, the person at the desk took out his phone, switched on the translator app and held it in front of me to talk.Now, I could see some progress! Though it ended up being a tedious process, this was the best way to overcome the humongous language challenge that I faced. Unfortunately, the next flight out of Guangzhou was at 07:30 in the morning and the last train had already departed at 20:30. So, here I was, stuck at the Guangzhou airport, with no means to reach Shanghai well in time before the conference started the next day at 10:00.It was close to 10pm in the night and I was feeling extremely hungry by now. Having given up on all hopes, I decided to take a seat at one of the kiosks in the F&B area, and order a meal while waiting for further communication from my wife.I was lucky to have found a simple-looking vegetable sandwich along with a glass of cold coffee!I sat there to quench my thirst and douse the hunger, connected the power bank to charge my phone and started conversing with my wife on Skype through text as the call quality was really poor owing to a dozen people using the limited bandwidth of the free network.She was awaiting updates from the travel agency about booking a new ticket. Meanwhile, as I got done with my meal, I moved to the information desk to inquire about my overnight stay options near the airport as well as get some currency exchanged for the dollars that I was carrying.I was fortunate that it was still only late afternoon in one part of Europe and the travel desk at the host company was working for the day. While my wife had told the agency about the time-consuming Biometric process and the language constraints leading to the flight getting missed, I wasnt really sure if they would book a new ticket.The next update she gives me is that the company has agreed to book me on the morning flight and I need not book the ticket myself at the airport. It breathed a sigh of relief. Now, the next issue was my accommodation for the night.As my wife was coordinating regarding the same, I again reached out to the information desk, which told me about a few budget hotels nearby and the timings for the free shuttle service. It was 22:54 and the next bus was scheduled to depart at 23:03. If I wait, the only next shuttle would be an hour later.Without a second thought, I paid the RMB 200 (approximately Rs 2,000) charge and booked a budget hotel some 15 minutes from the airport, which was inclusive of a to-and-fro shuttle service. I called up my wife to update and asked her to convey the same to the travel team in Delhi.I exited the airport and got into the designated shuttle which was an electric mini-bus and was itching to reach my hotel quickly and get some rest for the day before I start the next one again quite early. I took the front-row seat and as we started moving, I started observing the scenery all around.It was really fascinating to see well lit buildings and the wide roads as we passed through a couple of flyovers and underpasses before entering a sort of a residential-commercial area. The hotel was located at a corner and there was a market situated adjacent to it with a few eateries still open. I thought to myself that I would come back after checking-in to grab a quick ice cream or something.A total of three of us passengers got off the bus and we qued up to check-in one by one. I got a key card to my room and the WiFi password. The manager also took our flight details for the morning and told us the timings at which the respective shuttles would depart. Mine was at 05:30.Meanwhile, as I was attempting to connect my phone with the WiFi, I could see the driver of the electric shuttle bus putting it up to charge.The EV fast-charger placed outside the hotels main-gate. Neat!China is way ahead of a lot of countries when it comes to going electric and my journey hadnt even started yet.Unfortunately, I wasnt able to connect to the WiFi and I asked for help and the manager called up one of the bell boys to help me out. This fellow was instructing me in Chinese and fed up by now, I just handed over my phone to him and requested him to do the needful.As he was trying to connect my phone, we took the lift and moved to the second floor where my room was located. I opened the door, and was in for a sweet surprise.For a measly sum, this room had a lounge area with a proper sofa-set, a bedroom, bath as well as a balcony with a view of the street and the market!I can never even imagine in my wildest dreams to get such a hotel for so cheap in India! Thats Chinas value-for-money quotient, and I had just got a first-hand experience of it.It took the staffer quite a while to successfully get the internet working on my phone and finally when it was done, I opened Skype to update my wife about my whereabouts. She told me that the lady from the agency wanted to speak to me and had already tried doing that but I was offline.I called her up and she told me that the company wanted me to go to the Pullman near the airport and would have reimbursed me the amount against the bill. I told her that I was happy to be where I was and it was completely okay to not worry about any payments. I had saved enough time by not waiting any further at the airport and for a good nights sleep this seemed quite a solid option. I apologised for the trouble and thanked her for cooperating and for booking the new tickets, which she had already shared with me on Skype.After chit-chatting with my wife and thanking her for all the coordination during the last few hours, I quickly headed out to have a look at the market and get some snacks. At this hour, it was sort of a lonely lane but I could see people still having a smoke or grabbing a bite at the few restaurants which looked like they were about to down their shutters for the day.I was observing the parked cars and entered in a supermarket and got myself a pack of dry cakes. This would come handy in the morning for breakfast I thought. For that itch of something sweet, I then went inside a cigarette shop and got a cup of chocolate ice-cream. I finished it while on my walk back to the hotel, came into my room, and called it a day. Last edited by forester : 9th April 2020 at 10:37 .
PR-Inside.com: 2020-04-10 08:32:03

Brussels, April 10, 2020, 8.30 a.m. CEST - Solvay will hold its next General Shareholders' Meetings on Tuesday May 12, 2020 at 10.30 a.m. All documents relating to these meetings are now available on www.solvay.com.

In this period of COVID-19, SOLVAY's priority is to maintain the good health and safety of its shareholders, employees and other stakeholders.

Depending on the measures adopted by the authorities in this context, Solvay will most likely be obliged to adapt the modalities of participation to the Shareholders' Meetings.

In the coming days Solvay will communicate the adapted participation modalities on its website (www.solvay.com) and by means of a press release. Solvays annual integrated report is available on https://annualreports.solvay.com/2019/en/

Already now, for security/public health reasons, the company strongly encourages shareholders not to attend the Shareholders' Meetings in person and to vote by proxy granted to the company, as well as use the right to ask questions in writing.

Solvay thanks the shareholders for their understanding.

Please address any questions relating to Shareholders' Meetings to AG.SOLVAY@SOLVAY.COM.

Attachment
ISTANBUL, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China and Turkey have strengthened their mutual understanding and trust in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and the solidarity will have a lasting effect on their relationship, Turkish experts have said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that China will continue to support Turkey in its fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in line with its needs, and facilitate its purchase of medical supplies in China.

Noting that the COVID-19 is spreading around the world and posing severe challenges to Turkey, Xi, on behalf of the Chinese government and people, expressed sincere sympathy and firm support to the Turkish government and people.

"This is an important conversation and the support that China is expressing (to Turkey) as a nation which is at the forefront of this fight, has to be praised in these extraordinary times," Selcuk Colakoglu, director of the Ankara-based Turkish Center for Asia Pacific Studies, told Xinhua.

"This exchange of views shows that mutual understanding and partnership between the two nations are not simply on a short-term basis for this pandemic," but are long-term, and will contribute to their existing relations, the professor of international relations said.

At a time when countries are banning medical supply exports, China's offer of support is much appreciated by Turkey, which has imposed strict restrictions to tackle the spread of the coronavirus among its population, he said.

According to data released Wednesday by the Turkish Health Ministry, 812 people have died while a total of more than 38,000 cases have been confirmed.

Noting that now is a time of stress tests for international relations, and that some nations are facing a lack of international solidarity and support, Colakoglu said Sino-Turkish ties are expected to become even stronger after the health crisis.

"We sincerely value our good cooperation with China in this crisis. They have been open to us throughout and shared their experience and knowledge about this disease which has no borders and is affecting everyone everywhere," a Turkish official said on the condition of anonymity.

"Our relations with China will be stronger after this pandemic. We don't consider our ties with Beijing on a temporary or a project basis. We see it going beyond that to a strong partnership, because we need each other," he told Xinhua.

He added that video-conferences were regularly being held between Chinese and Turkish doctors for exchanging views and therapy methods as well as progress on the disease.

Scholars have said that the pandemic has to be addressed globally with international cooperation and coordination instead of protective measures.

Altay Atli, an Istanbul-based Asia expert, said that the fight against the pandemic needs the engagement of each and every nation, including but not limited to the biggest and most powerful countries, which are generally seen as an anchor against traditional threats.

Atli told Xinhua that "restrictive measures would hit countries who rely the most on medical supplies and other goods and services needed during the pandemic."

Praising China's remarkable progress in epidemic control and assisting other countries in need, he said that China would play a "leading role" in the new world order that is expected to come about following the end of this pandemic with technological and digital breakthroughs.

Turkey and China have strengthened their trade cooperation and political dialogue in the last decade. China is currently Turkey's third largest trading partner after Russia and Germany.

The two countries have also expressed their willingness to maximize their cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, a development initiative proposed by China in 2013 envisioning trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Ohio hospitals could soon begin offering an experimental treatment using plasma from COVID-19 survivors to treat patients fighting the disease, after researchers in Cincinnati got federal approval this week for a protocol for the treatment.

On Wednesday night, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for use in Ohio the protocol developed by the Lindner Research Center at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, according to state and research center officials.

Hospitals across the state, including University Hospitals in Cleveland, have expressed interest in using the protocol, according to Linda Martin, the Lindner Centers executive director. Depending on internal approvals from different hospitals, and how long it takes to obtain plasma from survivors, the experimental treatment could be available in Ohio within weeks.

Were very excited because its really something that were hoping will be a successful potential treatment for COVID, Martin said.

Lindner Center investigators will help compile and analyze data to see if the treatment improves patient outcomes. The results will be shared with the FDA, which will decide whether to approve it for general use.

The rate limiting step is the availability of convalescent plasma, Dr. Dean Kereiakes, the Lindner Centers lead investigator on the project, said in an email. We will be starting a plasma drive using a multi-media approach to get people who have survived this virus to come in and donate their plasma.

Lindner Center researchers believe their protocol will help them quickly identify and treat people most at risk for death. They reached out to the state on Tuesday, hoping to get quick FDA approval, according to Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who shared details of the approval at the states daily coronavirus briefing on Thursday.

Lindner Center researchers hope the plasma, intravenously transfused into consenting and qualifying patients, will improve survival rates, including reducing the likelihood they will need to be placed on a ventilator for breathing support.

In their proposal laying out their parameters for the study, Linder researchers said other viruses have been successfully treated using plasma collected from those who survived them.

Generally, these types of treatments work because of the presence of antibodies, naturally produced by the bodys immune system to fight invading pathogens, that are present in the blood of survivors. The concept dates back to the late 19th century, in the early days of modern medicine.

We are transferring their immunity with their plasma antibodies, Kereiakes said.

Other institutions have developed plasma protocols for COVID-19. But the Lindner Center protocol is the only to use troponin, which can rapidly identify patients at greatest risk for dying early in their treatment course, Kereiakes said.

But researchers emphasize their protocol is only supported with limited evidence when it comes to fighting COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

The potential benefits of COVID-19 convalescent plasma in the treatment of COVID-19 disease are yet to be defined but limited, anecdotal evidence suggests shortening in the course of disease and an improvement in pulmonary / cardiovascular dysfunction, the Lindner Center protocol reads.

Other hospitals are studying plasma treatment for coronavirus patients, including the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas and the Mount Sinai Hospital System in New York City. A national consortium of doctors and scientists have launched a website providing detailed information on COVID-19 plasma treatment research for interested health-care providers, donors and patients. They are working to confirm results reported by doctors in Shenzen, China, who in March reported improvements in five COVID-19 patients on ventilators who received plasma transfusions.

The FDA issued guidance this week for health care providers and investigators exploring using plasma as a COVID-19 treatment. That included setting criteria for patient eligibility, collection of plasma and labeling and record keeping of results.

Although promising, convalescent plasma has not yet been shown to be safe and effective as a treatment for COVID-19, the FDA guidance reads.

Read related coverage from cleveland.com:

One month after first confirmed coronavirus infections, 213 Ohioans have died, 5,512 confirmed cases

Gov. Mike DeWine gives Thursdays coronavirus update: Watch live

An Ohio firms new machine can sanitize 80,000 masks a day for the coronavirus fight. Heres how it works.

U.S. FDA OKs expanded use of new mask-cleaning technology after pressure from DeWine, Trump
Celebrity chef Maggie Beer is helping amateur chefs perfect their skills in the kitchen with free online cooking courses.

The Australian cookbook author and MasterChef guest judge, 75, is hosting classes on Facebook and Instagram, from her kitchen in Adelaide, South Australia, in a new online series called Cook with Maggie.

The restaurateur shows home cooks how to whip up delicious meals in less than 20 minutes using simple ingredients which are already sitting in the pantry.

Scroll down for video

Celebrity chef Maggie Beer (pictured) is showing home cooks how to whip up delicious meals in less than 20 minutes with free online cooking classes

Maggie is sharing new and easy recipes for amateur chefs to follow every day on her social media accounts.

She recently shared a simple and delicious recipe for a pumpkin and oat risotto and it requires just six simple ingredients.

Using oats, milk, pumpkin, olive oil, nutmeg and parsley, Maggie created the dish in less than 20 minutes.

She recently shared a simple and delicious recipe for a pumpkin and oat risotto and it requires just six simple ingredients

How to make a pumpkin and oat risotto Ingredients: - Pumpkin - 1 and a half cups oats - 3 cups full cream milk - Nutmeg - Parsley - Olive oil Method: 1. Drizzle olive oil on pumpkin and add salt. Spread in a tray and place in a 220 degree pre-heated oven 2. After 15 mins, take the pumpkin out of the oven and sprinkle with verjuice before placing back in the oven for an additional five minutes 3. Pour 3 cups milk into a saucepan, mix it with some nutmeg and place on a stove 4. Before bowling point, gently pour oats in with milk and stir. Add a teaspoon of salt and let it shimmer for 10-12 mins 5. Mix pumpkin in with the oats and milk then add some olive oil, pepper and parsley 6. Roast walnuts in oven for five minutes and rub skin off in a tea towel 7. Serve the oat and pumpkin risotto with walnuts sprinkled on top Advertisement

First she drizzled some olive oil and salt on the pumpkin before placing it in the oven for 15 minutes.

Then she sprinkled the pumpkin with verjuice before placing it back in the oven for an additional five minutes.

Maggie made the risotto base by pouring three cups of milk in a saucepan, mixing it with nutmeg and pouring in oats before it reached boiling point.

She then mixed the pumpkin with the milk and oats and served the dish with walnuts on top.
Instruction in Tibetan classrooms in Sichuans Ngaba prefecture will soon be given exclusively in Chinese, with the students mother tongue used only in special classes teaching Tibetan as a language, sources in Ngaba say of a an issue that has emerged as a major sore point among Tibetans.



The move comes as schools in the neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region have begun teaching mainly in Chinese in what authorities say is an effort to facilitate participation in Chinas modern economy, but what rights groups have called a campaign to destroy the cultural identity of Tibetan schoolchildren.



News of the switch emerged as schools slowly reopened in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture following a reported drop in coronavirus infections, Tibetan writer Sangkar Nyidang said in an article published online on April 7.



A few days ago, we received a notice that the schools would reopen, and my wife attended a meeting called by school officials. On returning home, she said that beginning this summer the medium of school instruction will be switched entirely to Chinese, Nyidang said.



Tibetan will still be taught, but only in language classes, Nyidang said, adding, A document to this effect will be issued shortly.



When I heard this, I couldnt believe it and felt anxious, and in a panic I asked a number of sources if this news was true, and they confirmed that it was.



The Tibetan people have the law on their side in this case, and they should come together without fear from all levels of society to protest and demand that the order be repealed, he said.



A violation of the law



Also writing online, Hura Jambea popular young Tibetan writerconfirmed the scheduled change in the language of instruction in Tibetan schools.



At staff and teachers meetings when the schools reopened at the beginning of April, school authorities announced that upper-level managers had decided that the medium of instruction would be changed, he said.



In a Phase 1 ending at the close of the year, instruction in Tibetan will be gradually eliminated in Tibetan primary and middle schools, with instruction increasingly given in Chinese in a following Phase 2, Jambe said.



Even though many people have voiced doubts that this will happen, there is no doubt at all that reports of the policy change are true, he said. The change was clearly announced at a staff meeting by school authorities, so how can there be any question about this?



If implemented, the change would violate provisions of regional laws guaranteeing ethnic rights, however, and the order may not have come from Chinas central government but from provincial officials, Jambe said.



Speaking to RFAs Tibetan Service, a Ngaba resident confirmed that the new policy had been announced at a school staff meeting.



But no one has seen any written policy document yet. Probably it is just a policy known only within inner circles that has not been publicly released, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



But a change like this violates Chinas Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law, which guarantees numerous rights to minorities, including the freedom to use and develop their own languages, religions, and cultures, he said.



If higher authorities dont reconsider this step, there will be a lot of dissatisfaction and disappointment within the Tibetan community that will lead to a wider discussion and sharing of opposing views on these issues, he said.



A pattern of pressure



Meanwhile, a March 5, 2020 report by Human Rights Watch details a growing emphasis on Chinese-language schooling in Tibet, calling the trend an assimilationist policy for minorities that has gained momentum under President Xi Jinpings leadership.



Drawn from interviews conducted in September 2019 with Tibetan parents and teachers in six rural townships in the Nagchu municipality in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the 91-page report reveals a pattern of pressure on local schools to give preference to classroom instruction in Chinese, even at the kindergarten level.



Thousands of non-Tibetan speaking teachers have now been hired from other parts of China to teach in Tibetan areas, with ethnically mixed classes promoted in the name of the unity of Chinas nationalities, HRW says in its report.



Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses typically deemed illegal associations and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.



Reported by Lobe Socktsang for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Controversy has erupted over whether its safe to construct a homemade mask out of a vacuum bag to fight the spread of the new coronavirus.

The Oregonian/OregonLive was among the media that reported earlier this week about a Cambridge University study that tested a range of commonly found household items as DIY mask material candidates -- including T-shirts, tea towels, scarves and linen.

The researchers found vacuum bags to be one of the top performers, filtering out 94 percent of airborne particles. Other studies looked at sweatshirts, pillowcases and cotton bandanas, but the vacuum bags outshined nearly all of them.

Our story included a link to a popular YouTube video by Dr. Ryan Southworth, an emergency medicine doctor in Arizona, who recommends a HEPA filter vacuum bag.

Some readers responded with questions about the safety of vacuum bags, and referenced London doctor Simon Freilich, who said in a YouTube video that making a mask from a HEPA vacuum bag is a really, really awful thing to be doing. He said the bags are made from glass microfiber that can damage the human respiratory system. Many Americans refer to those microfibers as fiberglass.

After some pushback from YouTube viewers saying the bags theyd checked didnt have dangerous glass fibers in them, Freilich posted that he couldnt research every possible type and that there are clearly various types of filters and materials out on the market.

That has, in turn, spurred a spate of testimonials from people in the vacuum bag industry.

One came from Josh Wolcott of Vacuums R Us near Denver, Colo., also on video. He denounced the idea that vacuum bags contain fiberglass as a myth. Wolcott said his research included contacting various manufacturers and looking over safety data sheets that describe bag materials. He found no vacuum bags that contain fiberglass, he said.

Another vacuum cleaner industry member, Vacuum Cleaner Market of Morgan Hill, Calif., also was adamant in its response. Vacuum bags have not ever, and do not contain fiberglass, read a statement on the companys website.

But a prominent vacuum bag manufacturer, Shop-Vac, has issued a statement saying its products arent intended to protect humans from bacteria, viruses or other pathogens," though it didnt allude to what its bags are made of.

Under no circumstances should anyone attempt to make a mask or mask material from any filters manufactured, sold or distributed in the market for or by Shop-Vac Corporation, read the company statement.

The company couldnt be reached to offer an explanation, including whether fiberglass is included in its vacuum bags.

Health experts agree that fiberglass particles are dangerous to inhale, and homemade masks shouldnt be made from materials containing fiberglass.

To be sure, you might want to check with the manufacturer of any vacuum bag youre thinking of using before making a mask.

Or try using some other highly rated materials in from the Cambridge University study. They include tea towels, which with two layers filtered out 96 percent of particles, or a T-shirt, which filtered out 69 percent.

-- Aimee Green; agreen@oregonian.com; @o_aimee

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 13:41 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd10395f 1 Politics house-of-representatives,Lawmakers,incentives,cars,COVID-19,coronavirus,parliament,pandemic,YLBHI Free

Lawmakers will have to wait a little longer for cash incentives to buy new cars for personal use following a statement from the House of Representatives secretary-general that the plan has been postponed.

According to a circular dated April 6 that was leaked to the public on Wednesday, each of 560 lawmakers was to receive Rp 116.6 million (US$7,207) on Tuesday for down payments on new cars.

The plan has triggered public anger as the country faces the COVID-19 pandemic. Activists have slammed lawmakers for having no empathy at this crucial time affecting many aspects of peoples lives.

Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) chairwoman Asfinawati lambasted the plan, saying lawmakers should not get benefits during this difficult situation.

"This is a matter of appropriateness, an ethical issue. Workers have been laid off everywhere and they have no income, she said on Thursday.

Read also: Public decries 'elite privilege' as lawmakers, relatives get tested first for COVID-19

The House said the plan had been postponed on the grounds of newly enacted Presidential Regulation No. 54/2020 on the 2020 state budget revision.

"The plan has been postponed. We don't know until when, House secretary-general Indra Iskandar told reporters on Thursday.

He said he did not have the official document on the delay or announcement letter.

"I should check on that."

According to the regulation, the House budget was cut by more than Rp 220 billion to be reallocated to focus on the governments coronavirus handling.

However, some lawmakers said the postponement had yet to be announced by the House.

Read also: Workers blast lawmakers with messages opposing omnibus bill on job creation

Lawmaker Benny K Harman of the Democratic Party said he had not yet received any letter about the delay, nor the money.

"I don't know yet," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Saleh Daulay of the National Mandate Party (PAN) stated the same thing, saying he would be grateful if the program was postponed.

"If possible, just allocate the funds for the COVID-19 handling so that House members can do more for the people," he said.

The House had previously received public criticism following its plan to conduct COVID-19 tests on lawmakers, which they also postponed following an outpour of public outrage.
Campus News

Psychology major is UBs latest Goldwater winner

By CHARLES ANZALONE

To win a Goldwater as a psychology major is very challenging. The award typically goes to the hard sciences, so this recognition is particularly notable. 

A junior psychology major who hopes to research social and cognitive aspects of depression  including reducing prejudice of those struggling with the disorder  is UBs latest Goldwater scholar, an honor UB administrators call the countrys premier scholarship for undergraduate students pursuing research careers.

The award to Cassondra Lyman, 21, is particularly notable because Goldwater awards usually go to students studying the hard sciences.

To win a Goldwater as a psychology major is very challenging, says Elizabeth A. Colucci, director of the Office of Fellowships and Scholarships. The award typically goes to the hard sciences, so this recognition is particularly notable.

When I first met Cassondra, we met to talk about fellowships. As a researcher, she spoke with great conviction about how psychology research was indeed a STEM discipline, Colucci says. Many psychology students go into clinical psychology, which is not an eligible field. But for Cassondra, her research is informing the field on many important topics.

Obviously, Goldwater felt that her research and future graduate plans are exceptional.

Lyman was one of 396 students chosen from among 1,343 students from 461 American colleges and universities nominated for the Goldwater scholarship. Established by Congress in 1986 to honor the work and memory of Sen. Barry Goldwater, the scholarship is awarded to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.

Lyman will receive a $7,500 Goldwater scholarship for tuition during her senior year at UB. But UB administrators emphasize the academic prestige, networking possibilities and entry into the highest echelon of their respective research circles are more valuable than the scholarship award itself.

A graduate of Maine-Endwell High School near Binghamton, Lyman plans to earn her PhD in psychology and continue researching the social/cognitive aspects of depressive disorders. She lists her academic goals as reducing prejudice and provide new insights into mental illness.

Throughout the application process, I told myself not to get too excited, Lyman said shortly after she was notified she would receive the Goldwater scholarship. I knew I submitted the strongest application I could but, in all honesty, I planned to receive a rejection letter up until I read my acceptance letter.

This is essentially a group of highly respected individuals saying, Yes, youre doing something right, and that has made me incredibly happy.

Lyman, who wrote in her Goldwater application that her goal is to reduce prejudice and provide new insights into mental health, has worked on multiple research projects under the mentorship of John Roberts and Wendy Quinton, both associate professors of psychology, and Gregory Wilding, professor and chair of the Department of Biostatistics.

An Advanced Honors College junior and McNair Scholar, she is completing the psychology honors program.

In my 21 years of university teaching  including the past 12 years that I have supervised our top undergraduates in the Psychology Honors Program  I have never met a student with a more astutely curious mind than Cassondra, Quinton wrote in Lymans scholarship recommendation. She has, quite simply, the best potential to become a groundbreaking research scientist of any undergraduate I have ever known.

In her scholarship application, Lyman wrote about her research interests, noting that depression is a risk factor for serious health consequences and suicide.

While a number of interventions for depression have demonstrated efficacy and effectiveness, access to treatment remains limited, she wrote.

She said a promising avenue for increasing access to evidence-based treatment is the development of mental health (mHealth) apps. Unfortunately, many available mHealth apps have not been subjected to empirical evaluation, she said, adding that her research project aims to establish the feasibility and efficacy of a new health apps.

In her application, Lyman also discussed the great value of her university education, despite her personal financial hardships.

Having been raised in a low-income single-parent household, she wrote, my mother always made it clear that should I choose to pursue a degree in higher education, I would do so without financial support as she does not possess the resources needed to contribute to my education and raise my brother. For this reason, the cost of college has always rested squarely on my shoulders, and I work year-round to finance my education.

She noted that she often has less time to study and spend as much time as she would like in the lab, and has had to sacrifice valuable academic experiences as well.

There were many moments, she says, when she struggled to protect her sense of academic adventure from being extinguished by the overwhelming financial burden of college.

In these moments, I consider the many joys I have found while at college. I have had an enriching and rewarding experience and, regardless of the financial burden, I see college as a place to find positive role models, form meaningful relationships and receive life-changing counsel.
President Donald Trump predicted on Thursday that deaths from the coronavirus in the United States will be much lower than 100,000 as he predicted the economy was on track to reopen.

'You are looking at a much lower level than the level of, I hope the level of 100,000,' he said at the daily White House briefing on Thursday.

There have been more than 15,000 deaths in the U.S. with over 436,000 people infected.

President Donald Trump predicted deaths from the coronavirus in the United States will be much lower than 100,000

Vice President Mike Pence noted that the containment measures like social distancing were working

President Trump acknowledged the tragedy suffered by many Americans who have lost loved ones.

'You can never do anything about the people that lost their loved ones. And the great friendships and, I'm not sure a lot of people will ever be the same,' he said in a rare moment of empathy.

But he went on to say the economy would bounce back and bounce back big.

'I think our country from an economic standpoint, we have tremendous stimulus plans. I think what's going to happen, we will have a big bounce rather than a small bounce,' the president said. 'And we will have succeeded in many ways. And, also from an economic standpoint, this is taking a tremendous toll mentally on a lot of people. I think we are going to open up strong, open up very successfully, and even more successfully than before.'

And Vice President Mike Pence sounded a hopeful note, saying the social distancing guidelines and other recommendations from the administration are working.

'All evidence indicates from the West Coast to what we are beginning to see in major outbreak areas on east coast, it's working America. And it's working because you're doing it. And we encourage you onward in that,' he said.

The optimistic tone came as President Trump is looking at reopening the economy on May 1 and preparing to announce the formation of a task force designed to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin confirmed the date in an appearance on CNBC Thursday morning.

'I do,' he said when host Jim Cramer asked him if he thinks if 'the doctors let us, that we could be open for business in the month of May.'

Trump originally named Easter Sunday as his goal for getting back to business, a date he had to walk back.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said it's possible the economy could reopen in May

President Donald Trump is looking at reopening the economy on May 1

May 1 would mark the end of the administration's '30 Days to Slow the Spread'

And the president declined to name a specific day when asked about it at the daily White House press briefing on Thursday.

'I don't want to do that,' he said when inquired if he was looking to reopen things on April 30th or May 1.

But a senior White House official told Axios there's a big internal push for May 1, because that's the end of the administration's '30 Days to Slow the Spread.'

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has made a similar prediction, saying on Monday the economy can 'snapback' from the damage done by the coronavirus in the next four to eight weeks.

'I still believe, given our assistance package and hope and maybe prayer that we're at a four-to-eight week period, we can get a pretty good snapback, a good snapback. That's my hope,' he told reporters at the White House.

He said the sooner the better.

'The sooner we begin to reopen, the faster that snapback's going to be. That's the rule of thumb that I think most economists would agree with,' he said.

President Trump will also announce as soon as this week a second, smaller coronavirus task force that will examine ways to combat the economic ramifications of the virus and focus on reopening the nation's economy, The Washington Post reported.

The task force will consist of a mix of private-sector and top administration officials, including chief of staff Mark Meadows, Mnuchin and Kudlow.

President Trump is looking at creating a second coronavirus task force focused on the economy featuring Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and economic adviser Larry Kudlow

People wearing face masks nail wood planks to cover windows and door of a store at Flushing's Chinatown in New York

But their plans could be countered by health care officials, who managed to rein in the president from his original Easter target date.

Medical experts have argued that social distancing programs need to remain in place to avoid a second wave of coronavirus cases.

'What we need to do is to make sure we don't let up on those mitigation, those physical separation programs, because if we do that can just bounce back again,' Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday morning on ABC's 'Good Morning America.'

And when asked about a May 1 deadline, Fauci refused to commit to a date.

'The virus itself will determine the guideline. We hope that by the time we get to this extended 30-day period, you know, we went from the 15 days of mitigation to the additional 30 days, which gets us to the end of April. I do hope by the time we get there that we will well see that curve, that bending in the curve which we've been talking about now for several weeks,' he said.

'You never want to claim victory prematurely,' he added. 'You hope that we'll see that curve go down and then can start to think about gradually getting back to some sort of steps towards normality.'

The administration's push to get back to business comes as a record 6.6 million unemployment claims were filed last week, according to the latest Labor Department figures released on Thursday.

The staggering number of first-time claims was on top of the more than 10 million applications filed in the last two weeks of March.

It means that more than one in 10 American workers have lost their jobs as tough measures to control the coronavirus outbreak abruptly grounded the country to a halt.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned the coronavirus will determine when the country reopens for business

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines Wednesday night to get workers in critical fields who are exposed to the deadly coronavirus back to work faster. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pictured announcing those new guidelines at a White House press conference

The Labor Department's latest report on Thursday showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4 totaled 6.6 million, down slightly from an upwardly revised 6.87 million the week before

The new jobless claims figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948.

Additionally, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines Wednesday night to get workers in critical fields back to work faster - which some saw as a sign the administration will slowly start to reopen the economy.

Under prior guidelines workers were told to stay home for 14 days if they were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

Under new guidelines critical workers, in fields such as health care or food supply, can go back to work as long as they are asymptomatic.

They will have to follow certain conditions including taking their temperature before going to work, wearing a face mask at all times, and practicing social distancing.

'One of the most important things we can do is keep our critical workforce working,' CDC Director Robert Redfield said while unveiling the new guidelines during a White House news briefing on Wednesday.

The president has been anxious to get things up and running amid the terrible jobless numbers and the tanking stock market. He has based his re-election campaign on a strong U.S. economy.

Trump noted on Twitter Wednesday that the economy will be reopened 'sooner rather than later.'

The viral outbreak is believed to have erased nearly one-third of the economy's output in the current quarter.

About 95 percent, or 48 states, are now under some form of lockdown with non-essential businesses shutting down. Restaurants, hotels, department stores and small businesses have laid off millions as they struggle to pay bills at a time when their revenue has vanished.

The president said on Saturday he was thinking of forming the economic-focused group.

'Thinking about it,' he said. 'Getting a group of people. And we have to open our country. You know, I had an expression: 'The cure can't be worse than the problem itself.' Right? I started by saying that, and I continue to say it: The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself.'

'We've got to get our country open,' he added.
Two persons pass the logo of the Organization of the Petroleoum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in front of OPEC's headquarters in Vienna, Austria on June 19, 2018. (Leonhard Foeger/Reuters)

Oil-Producing Nations Seek Global Deal to Stabilize Market

DUBAI/MOSCOW/LONDONOPEC and its allies held talks on April 9 on record oil output curbs of 15 million to 20 million barrels per day (bpd), or 15 percent to 20 percent of global supplies, to support prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis, OPEC and Russian sources stated.

They said the cuts included contributions of up to 5 million bdp from producers outside their group known as OPEC+ and could be made gradually, potentially overcoming resistance from the United States, whose involvement is seen as vital to win broad backing for an agreement.

Talks have been complicated by friction between OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Russia, two of the worlds biggest oil producers. But OPEC sources and a senior Russian official said they had managed to overcome their differences.

Global fuel demand has plunged by as much as 30 million bpd, 30 percent of global supplies, as measures to fight the coronavirus have grounded aircraft, reduced vehicle usage, and curbed economic activity. So even a 20 million bpd cut falls short.

That is a global deal, one OPEC source said as the OPEC, Russia, and others that make up the OPEC+ group held a video conference.

Three OPEC+ sources said the group wanted nonmembers such as the United States, Canada, Norway, and Brazil to contribute 5 million bpd to the overall cut, with OPEC+ would add at least another 10 million to 12 million bpd.

Benchmark Brent oil prices hit an 18-year low in March and were trading on April 9 around $34 a barrel, half their level at the end of 2019, dealing a severe blow to budgets of oil-producing nations and high-cost U.S. shale oil industry.

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week a deal he had brokered with Saudi Arabia and Russia could lead to cuts of 10 million to 15 million bpd. Even that range, which was lower than the one cited by sources on April 9, would be unprecedented.

The biggest one-off cut previously agreed by OPEC alone was 2.2 million bpd during the 2008 financial crisis.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he supported an overall cut of about 10 million barrels a day.

We are ready for agreements with partners and within the framework of this mechanismOPEC-plusand we are ready for cooperation with the United States of America on this issue, Putin said.

According to preliminary estimates, I think that we can talk about a reduction in the volume of about 10 million barrels per day, a little less, maybe a little more.

The April 9 OPEC+ talks were expected to be followed by a call on April 9 between energy ministers from the Group of 20 (G-20) major economies, hosted by Saudi Arabia.

OPEC sources have indicated that any deal on major cuts would require the participation of the United States, whose output has surged in recent years to exceed the production levels of both Saudi Arabia and Russia.

We are expecting other producers outside the OPEC+ club to join the measures, which might happen tomorrow during G-20, the head of Russias wealth fund and one of Moscows top oil negotiators, Kirill Dmitriev, told Reuters.

The United States was invited to April 9 OPEC+ talks, but it wasnt clear if it joined the video conference.

OPEC+, which started its video call at 2.25 p.m. GMT (9.25 a.m. EST), stated it was debating introducing cuts gradually for a period that would last at least two yearsmuch longer than initially expected and possibly allowing the United States to join in.

Washington has previously stated that U.S. output was falling gradually because of lower prices, although Russia has previously said that wasnt the same as making cuts.

However, it wasnt clear from what levels Moscow and Riyadh were proposing to agree cuts. Moscow had said reductions must be based on levels in the first quarter. Saudi Arabia has said the baseline should be from April, when its output jumped steeply.

We have managed to overcome differences. It will be a very important deal. It will allow the oil market to start on a path to recovery, said Dmitriev, who last month was the first official to propose a deal involving members other than OPEC+.

Goldman Sachs and UBS both said even major cuts might not be enough. Ultimately, the size of the demand shock is simply too large for a coordinated supply cut, Goldman wrote in a note.

In the United States, gasoline demand tumbled 48 percent to 5.1 million bpd in a three-week period to April 3.

April 10 talks could see importing nations announce plans buy oil for their strategic reserves to boost demand, said Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency.

Several U.S. states could order private companies to limit production under rarely used powers. The oil regulator in Texas, the largest producer among U.S. states with output of about 5 million bpd, will meet on April 14 to discuss possible curbs.

But Trump hasnt shown any appetite for U.S. cuts, instead he has said he had many options if Saudi Arabia and Russia failed to reduce supplies. U.S. senators called on the White House to impose sanctions on Riyadh, pull out U.S. troops from the kingdom, and impose import tariffs on Saudi oil.

By Rania El Gamal & Olesya Astakhova

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The top infectious disease expert in the United States has warned that now is not the time to back off even though hard-hit spots like New York are showing positive results in the battle against coronavirus.

Dr Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, said it was still too early to relax restrictions on Americans and they needed to be sure the US was heading in the right direction before opening the country again.

'What we're seeing right now is favorable signs,' Fauci said in an interview on CNN on Friday.

'We would want to see a clear indication that you were very, very clearly and strongly going in the right direction, because the one thing you don't want to do is you don't want to get out there prematurely and then wind up back in the same situation.

'Now is no time to back off.'

Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the US, has warned that now is not the time to back off even though hard-hit spots like New York are showing positive results in the battle against coronavirus

Dr Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that if the US 'prematurely' ends social distancing measures 'you're right back in the same situation'.

'The virus kind of decides whether or not it's going to be appropriate to open,' he said.

He said the number of new cases appeared to flattening the curve given hospitalizations and patients on ventilators in New York had decreased.

'We're going in the right direction, let's keep in that direction,' Dr Fauci said.

'Obviously we're looking for the kinds of things that would indicate that we can go forward in a gradual way to essentially reopen the country to a more normal way,' Fauci said, adding that it depended on a number of factors.

The death toll in the US is currently more than 16,700 while the number of infections has increased to 469,000.

In New York, which is the epicenter of the US outbreak, there are currently more than 159,000 infections and 7,000 deaths.

The warning from Dr Fauci came as the Trump administration's top economic officials said on Thursday they believe the US economy could start to reopen for normal business in May, despite health experts urging for continued social distancing measures to defeat the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election in November, wants to get the economy going as soon as possible.

'Hopefully we're going to be opening up... very, very, very, very soon, I hope,' he said on Thursday at the White House coronavirus briefing.

With many Americans celebrating the Easter holiday on Sunday, Dr Fauci said it was important to keep social distancing measures in place.

The warning from Dr Fauci came as the Trump administration's top economic officials said on Thursday they believe the US economy could start to reopen for normal business in May

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi also warned Trump against trying to get back to normal prematurely.

'I would hope that the scientific community would weigh in and say, 'You can't do this, it is only going to make matters worse if you go out too soon,' Pelosi said in an interview with Politico late on Thursday.

It comes as US Surgeon General Dr Jerome Adams said he agreed with Dr Fauci's comments but added the areas that have had consistently low levels of positive coronavirus tests may be able to think about lifting lockdown restrictions come May 1.

He warned, however, that the majority of the US would have to remain on lockdown in order to defeat the coronavirus.

'There are places around the country that have seen consistently low levels,' Dr Adams told Fox News.

'As we ramp up testing and can feel more confident that these places can actually do surveillance and can do public health follow ups, some places will be able to think about opening up on May 1.

'Most of the country will not, to be honest with you, but some will and that's how we'll open the country - bit by bit, place by place, based on the data.'

Dr Adams said surveillance involves testing one in 100 or one in 50 people in order to keep track of emerging hotspots because it was not possible to test all 330 million Americans before reopening the country.

'It is going to be a high bar to be able to say we can test 330 million people. We don't do that for any other disease but we want to be able to test people who are at high risk and who have symptoms so we can follow up and contain it,' he said.

'We don't close down cities for measles or tuberculosis, even though they're both highly contagious. We figure out who has the disease, which communities are having outbreaks and we quickly put resources into those communities to be able to quell those outbreaks.

'That's what we're talking about when we talk about having testing available.'

The state is faring far better than any of the models suggested it would in terms of hospitalizations but Cuomo said the projections 'keep him up at night' and could still happen if people do not comply with social distancing

Even as death toll grows, New York hospitals hope fever is breaking with lower hospitalizations and supply of ventilators still in tact

New hospitalizations are the lowest they've been since the coronavirus crisis hit New York, the volume of 911 calls has fallen and ventilators remain in supply.

Even as the state reeled on Thursday from its deadliest day of the pandemic, health professionals and public officials saw signs they are averting the abyss they feared, of too many patients, too few beds, and doctors forced to choose who lives and dies.

'There is a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the volume of patients and how sick people are,' said Dr Jolion McGreevy, medical director of Mount Sinai Hospital's emergency department.

'It's getting better, but its not like it's going to just drop off overnight. I think its going to continue to slowly decline over the next weeks and months.'

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced another 799 deaths from the virus, the third consecutive day of a record-breaking increase. The state's death toll now stands at more than 7,000.

But hospital admissions across the state ticked up by a net of just 200 patients, down sharply from the crisis-high increase of 1,427 new patients on April 2. New intensive care admissions were also down. In all, about 18,000 people were hospitalized with the virus.

The tide of 911 calls overwhelming the city's emergency response system has started to ease. Requests for ambulance service fell from a record 6,527 calls on March 30 to 5,017 on Wednesday - still far above normal but the lowest total in two weeks.

'Today we can say that we have lost many of our brothers and sisters, but we haven't lost anyone because they couldn't get the right and best health care that they could,' Cuomo said.

In New York City, the once-desperate need for ventilators has eased a bit as new supplies pour in from around the globe.

China this week sent 1,000 ventilators to New York. California, Oregon and Washington lent its extra ventilators to the state and a Florida company shipped in 2,400 respiratory therapy machines that can be converted into ventilators.

'I can say with assurance that we will get through this week in terms of ventilators,' said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. 'We actually have enough to get through this week, free and clear.'

Patient releases are now exceeding new admissions at New York-Presbyterian's hospitals in the New York City area, CEO Dr Steven J. Corwin said Thursday.

At Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, a chime is sounded each time a patient is discharged. More than 450 have gone home so far.

'We are starting to see a slowing,' Corwin said. But, he warned, 'now is not the time to take our foot off the gas on social distancing measures.'

Cuomo and de Blasio both stressed Thursday that New York was not 'out of the woods,' urging people to keep isolating themselves indoors.

'It is good news. 'Well, now I can relax,' No, you can't relax,' Cuomo cautioned.

He noted that in other places, measures taken to control the spread of the virus have appeared to be working, only to have illnesses come roaring back.
India has cleared the first list of 13 countries for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) which includes USA, Spain, Germany, Bahrain, Brazil, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives and Bangladesh, the sources said.

They said USA had asked for 48 lakh tablets of HCQ and India has sanctioned 35.82 lakh tablets, sources said.

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug deemed to be useful in dealing with COVID-19.

The sources said that India has also sent nine MT of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) to the US in line with its request.

They said Brazil and Canada are expected to get 50 lakh tablets of hydroxychloroquine in the second consignment. In the first consignment, Brazil will receive 0.53 MT of API.

The sources said Bangladesh will get 20 lakh tablets of hydroxychloroquine, Nepal 10 lakh, Bhutan 2 lakh, Sri Lanka 10 lakh (not in the first consignment), Afghanistan 5 lakh, and Maldives 2 lakh.

They said Germany will also get 50 lakh tablets of HCQ in the second consignment and in the first consignment, it will receiving 1.5 MT API.

The other countries to receive hydroxychloroquine include Seychelles and Dominican Republic.

The sources said India will be sending a total of 14 million tablets and 13.5 MT API.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing the export of HCQ. In a tweet he had also thanked India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ, saying it will not be forgotten.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also thanked India for sending chloroquine.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Late Friday morning, it was the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest staffs turn to feel the love from first responders who are joining them on the front lines in the war against COVID-19.

Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Co. was joined by other Lehigh Valley emergency workers in a lights-and-sirens parade around the hospital in Salisbury Township, to show appreciation for the dedicated physicians, nurses and other staffers caring for patients during the coronavirus outbreak.

Similar parades were held April 2 at St. Lukes Hospital-Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township, April 4 at St. Lukes University Hospital in Fountain Hill and on Friday at St. Lukes in Allentown.

Pennsylvanias confirmed COVID-19 case count as of Friday rose to 19,979 since the states first cases were identified March 6, with 416 deaths -- 37 in the Lehigh Valley.

For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov or covid19.nj.gov and the website of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover or a personal story you want to share.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
There is a possibility that Syria could be brought back in to the international community, if it is willing to curb the Turkish and Iranian influence on its territories writes Asharq Al-Awsat.

Regional and international players have been recently active in discussions on economic sanctions and the normalization of relations with Syria.

Fears over the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in the worn-torn country have pushed Arab and Western states to take unprecedented steps.

Arab officials and former Western diplomats intensified contacts with Damascus, in the wake of a deterioration in the countrys economic and health conditions.

A telephone conversation has taken place between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, the first of its kind since 2011.

I discussed by phone with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad the repercussions of the spread of the coronavirus, and expressed to him the UAEs support and assistance to the brotherly Syrian people in these exceptional circumstances, Sheikh Mohammed said in a tweet.

Human solidarity in times of adversity comes above all other considerations, and brotherly Arab Syria will not remain alone in these critical circumstances, he added.

The UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018, after seven years of severed diplomatic ties between the two countries. Other Arab states have also reactivated diplomatic contacts and exchanged security visits, in addition to putting forward ideas to provide humanitarian and medical aid to Damascus as part of the fight against the coronavirus.

Western figures have contacted officials in Damascus to follow up on a call by US President Donald Trump at a press conference for the release of American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo repeated Trumps request last Tuesday. Proposals were made through closed channels regarding the cost of Tices release, including Washingtons easing of some of its sanctions.

On the other hand, major countries have intensified pressure on Damascus. The US has maintained its military presence in the east of the Euphrates and Al-Tanf base, while Israel launched raids on Iranian sites. Moreover, Turkey has consolidated its military bases in the northwest of the country.

In a report submitted to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, international investigators accused the Syrian government of deliberately targeting hospitals and medical and educational facilities in northwestern Syria last year. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons also accused the government of carrying out the Sarin gas attacks in Khan Sheikhoun and Douma in 2017 and 2018.

In view of the latest developments, closed meetings that took place through video calls over the past days reflected two viewpoints on Syria.

Some countries underlined the necessity to adhere to the policy of pressure on Damascus to push the government to curb the Turkish and Iranian influence on its territories.

Those advocating the pressure campaign have argued that the existing sanctions do not hinder the delivery of medical equipment, food and humanitarian aid.

But other countries advocate some exemptions and flexibility to allow Damascus to combat the spread of the epidemic.

The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Street art in Dublin created by the collective SUBSET showing health workers wearing face masks as the coronavirus outbreak continues in Ireland. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire

From burning lights in windows to projecting messages of thanks on a hospital wall to literally turning the air blue  the entire community is coming together over the Easter Bank holiday to express gratitude for the healthcare heroes and frontline workers who are working round the clock to keep the country going during the Covid-19 crisis.

Starting tonight, personalised messages of love, support and thanks will be projected onto a walled section of the Mater Hospital in Dublin to thank all the hospital and nursing home staff who are working tirelessly to fight the pandemic.

The community-led initiative called The #DearHeroes campaign, is inviting the public to send their own messages of support starting today. They will then be projected continuously from 9pm until 2am for the next four nights, starting tonight.

Participants can send their messages of support via www.dearheroes.ie or Twitter using #DearHeroes.

The display will be recorded and posted on social media where people can watch it unfold online from their homes.

The project, which just came together this week, is an volunteer community-led collaboration between the Mater Hospital and ad agency Algorithm Creative Production Studio, CAVS Audio Visual Services, Mountain Productions and Splanc PR.

Campaign spokesperson Ciara Finn said: Like everyone else, weve been blown away by the dedication and selflessness of those who are battling at the frontline to help us through the Covid-19 outbreak. We wanted to use our assets and skill sets so we can all show our love and admiration for them.

Meanwhile, the the Poolbeg incinerator and the sky around it will be bathed in blue light every night for the foreseeable future starting Saturday night.

The initiative by the Dublin Waste to Energy facility is to honour everyone on the front lines fighting the pandemic.

The doctors, nurses, emergency services, healthcare workers and hospital staff battling the coronavirus are truly inspirational. Their commitment and dedication to providing critical care during the pandemic deserves to be recognized and appreciated, said Kieran Mullins, Project Director for Dublin Waste to Energy.

We chose the colour blue as it represents health and healing, which we wish for everyone in Ireland throughout these very difficult times.

The inspiring initiatives are on top of the nationwide Shine a Light campaign that kicks off at 9pm on Saturday night in which every householder is asked to shine a light in their windows as a beacon of hope, thanks and a show of solidarity for those battling the pandemic and afflicted by it.

However, the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM) is urging the public to be particularly mindful of fire safety in the home.

The NDFEM is supportive of this initiative and the sentiment behind it but stresses the importance that is not marred by the often devastating effects of household fires, the organisation warned.

Householders should avoid hazards such as candles and high-temperature lamps near flammable items (e.g. curtains, furnishings). Instead battery operated candles, LED lights, torches, mobile phone lights and similar should be used. If a candle is used, a non-combustible candle holder must be utilised and they should never be left unattended,  it advised.
Greektown, a popular casino and restaurant area of Detroit, sits deserted during evening rush hour on April 6, 2020. Michael Wayland / CNBC

The streets of downtown Detroit are desolate. Its factories are shuttered. A city that for the first time in a lifetime was showing strong signs of a resurgence has been brought to a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the Motor City is known for its toughness and grit, it also has widespread poverty, which makes it harder for many residents to get the health care and medications they need. Despite a thriving downtown for the first time in decades, Detroit's rapid rise as a nationally recognized hot spot for the pandemic has magnified the city's racial and socioeconomic inequities and made the jobs of doctors and nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 more complex.

Hot spot

There are roughly 1,400 new coronavirus cases in the Detroit metro area every day, White House officials said Wednesday. Roughly 26% of residents who get tested for COVID-19 are positive. President Donald Trump cited Detroit, New Orleans and other metropolitan areas as hot spots where coronavirus cases "started low and slow" before shooting up. The cause of the outbreak in Louisiana is pretty obvious; cases started to rise shortly after Mardi Gras. But the reasons cases have started to skyrocket in Detroit are far different, and they break down along race and economic lines. "They don't have a lot of access to health care under good circumstances," said Dr. Howard Markel, a professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan. There are more marijuana dispensaries in Detroit than pharmacies, he said. "That says a lot." Many of the coronavirus patients in Detroit already had serious health conditions before becoming infected, making their chances of survival all the more grim. A handful of doctors and nurses who spoke to CNBC described dire scenarios as coronavirus cases in the Detroit-area have climbed and resources  from employees to personal protective equipment and ventilators  grew scarce

"We know that if things continue to go in the same direction, there is going to be a point where we do have to start selecting who gets the ventilator," said one resident of internal medicine at Henry Ford Health Systems in Detroit. He said the hospital is constantly evaluating policies and protocols in an attempt to avoid such a scenario. Dr. Steven Kalkanis, CEO of Henry Ford Medical Group, on Thursday told reporters that COVID-19 cases are projected to "peak in the next few days" in Detroit. The hospital has deployed between 300 and 400 employees in areas they don't typically work to handle the influx of COVID-19 patients, he said. And they've had luck in getting more patients off ventilators, freeing up the life-saving device that's in short supply across the U.S. With more than 21,500 confirmed cases, including at least 1,076 fatalities, Michigan ranks third in the U.S. for COVID-19 cases, only trailing New York and New Jersey. Metro Detroit accounts for a vast majority of those cases, led by nearly 6,100 confirmed cases and at least 275 fatalities in the city, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Racial disparities

Black people make up about 14% of Michigan's population, but 33% of its coronavirus cases and 40% of all COVID-19 deaths, according to state health data and the most recent U.S Census Bureau. In Detroit, African Americans comprise 75% of all coronavirus fatalities, according to the city's health department. "The African American community is being hit and destroyed by this disease," U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich., said during a press conference with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on Thursday. "The black community must step up more than anyone else because we are being attacked at an unprecedented level." Earlier in the day, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a coronavirus task force to address how the coronavirus has impacted the African American community. Prior to the announcement, Henry Ford officials disputed that Detroit's poverty and racial and socioeconomic disparities contributed to the city's rise as a hot spot. They cited the area's international airport, the "resurgence of Detroit" and a dense population as reasons for the spread of the disease. "I don't think it's because people aren't observing stay-at- home policies or because there's some innate problem with Detroit," Kalkanis said. Dr. Betty Chu, associate chief clinical officer and chief quality officer for Henry Ford, also cited the amount of COVID-19 cases in the "more affluent suburbs." Kalkanis said hospital officials have spoken with Vice President Mike Pence who's leading the U.S. coronavirus response at least twice this week, including discussing clinical trials being done by the hospital regarding malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventative medication for COVID-19.

'Bad days' coming

Duggan this week said the pace of fatalities in the city is slowing, however on Tuesday he warned "really bad days" are ahead: "We're going to lose a lot of our neighbors in the coming days." He said the outbreak will get worse before it gets better, "but we can beat this if we keep doing what we're doing." Duggan, who ran the region's largest health care provider the Detroit Medical Center for about eight years before running for mayor, cited the "racial health gap" and high rate of coronavirus cases among African Americans across the nation. Markel described the city's health-care system as "rudimentary, almost non-existent" compared to cities such as New York. More than a third of Detroit's residents are living in poverty with a median income of $29,481 in Detroit, compared with $54,938 for the state, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. And many, Markel said, have pre-existing health conditions such as emphysema, heart disease and hypertension. Hospitals in the city and tri-county area around Detroit have been inundated with coronavirus patients for weeks. They're also running low on space and personal protective equipment, also known as PPE, to care for patients. "We've got hospitals that are already at capacity, we don't have enough personal protection equipment," Whitmer said Sunday on Fox News Sunday, calling the state a "hot spot" that needs assistance.

The TCF Center in downtown Detroit, which will be used as a field hospital, displays messages of encouragement on a large video board outside of the convention center on April 6, 2020. Michael Wayland / CNBC

The growth in cases in Detroit, which Whitmer doesn't expect to peak for several more weeks, pushed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to take over Detroit's largest convention center to create a field hospital that's expected to begin housing COVID-19 patients this week. Whitmer declared a state of emergency on March 10, when the state only had two confirmed COVID-19 cases. That was followed by a stay-at-home order on March 23. Detroit is among the first cities in the U.S. to launch rapid testing kits for COVID-19 that produce results in about 15 minutes

Fears, long hours

Residents and nurses in the Detroit-area describe weeks of long hours and some fears of running out of protective gear as well as exposing themselves and their loved ones to the disease. "It was generally a hectic day to begin with, but there wasn't ever fear about patient care," said a first-year medical resident at Henry Ford Health Systems in Detroit. "COVID came by so suddenly that people were afraid. Patients, staff, everyone was like 'What's going to happen?' because generally our hospital runs pretty full to begin with." The Henry Ford doctors, as well as other Detroit health-care workers who spoke to CNBC, requested anonymity because they did not have permission to speak to the media.

The main entrance to Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where hundreds of staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. Michael Wayland/CNBC

Henry Ford is one of the hardest hit hospitals in the city  not just in the volume of cases, but in the number of staff members who have become sick with COVID-19. The hospital's Dr. Chu said Thursday that 872, or about 2.5%, of Henry Ford's more than 31,600 employees throughout the system have tested positive for the disease. That's in addition to more than 4,000 patients testing positive as of Wednesday. More than 700 remain hospitalized, according to the hospital. Henry Ford's five-hospital system has 2,305 beds, including 877 at its Detroit location.

Influx of cases

The influx of cases has changed the typical rhythms and routines of the hospital, the first-year medical resident said. Hospital leaders led demonstrations of how to safely take off protective gear, such as gowns, masks, gloves and eye shields. Team meetings at the hospital became virtual. Hospital visitors were prohibited. Hospital leaders told everyone, even in unrelated specialties, like neurology and psychiatry, that they'd be tapped to help with coronavirus care, especially since some doctors and nurses might have to quarantine themselves because of exposure or stay home as they became sick. Initially, the hospital planned to dedicate a unit to COVID-19 patients, but as numbers kept growing, hospital floors usually dedicated to neurology or orthopedic care were opened up to coronavirus cases, the first-year resident said. Open clinics were converted into patient rooms, too. The internal medicine resident at Henry Ford said the days have started to "blend together" but he has on average cared for five COVID-19 patients per day and more than 100 total, including "quite a few" who have died. "A lot of them will, if they're going to pass, do it in the ICU," he said. "A couple of them haven't made it there. A couple of them have come in and said they don't want to be intubated."

A man in a face mask and gloves walks from a bus depot in downtown Detroit amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 6, 2020. Much of the city's downtown was vacant, during what would be rush hour traffic, however the public transit hub was one of the busier areas. Michael Wayland / CNBC

Less than 10 miles away from Henry Ford at a Detroit Medical Center hospital, a group of night shift emergency room nurses and attending physicians reportedly staged a sit-in to demand more support to treat a surge of COVID-19 patients. Health care workers said each nurse is single-handedly tending to 20 or more patients at a time and forced to continuously wear the same personal protective equipment for 24 hours, according to The Detroit News. At hospitals outside the city, the circumstances aren't much better. A registered nurse with Beaumont Health, the state's largest hospital system, in suburban Royal Oak described unprecedented situations of reassignments, 60-hour work weeks and fears of contracting the disease, which many have.

The hunt for PPE

The hospital, in an email to CNBC, said it is taking measures to support its staff. Beaumont Health infectious disease specialist Dr. Nick Gilpin said Beaumont is "encouraged by improvements made to our PPE stock needs thanks to community donations and new vendors and suppliers." About 1,500 workers of the eight system's 38,000 employees are not working because they have symptoms consistent with COVID-19, according to the hospital. Beaumont said it has cared for 4,456 coronavirus patients, including 3,390 patients who were discharged and 312 who died. It currently has 1,066 COVID-19 patients, according to data through Thursday afternoon. The hospital has more than 3,400 beds as of 2018, nearly a third of which are at its Royal Oak location. Beaumont spokesman Mark Geary said the hospitals have more than three days of N95 masks and other medical gear on hand as of Wednesday. However, he said Beaumont continues to "need assistance from the state government, federal government and manufacturing community to continue to support the growing needs" for the supplies. "We have a robust pipeline of orders in the queue that might or might not materialize," he said in an emailed statement. "Also, no one knows when or if a surge will occur or how long we will need to treat large numbers of COVID-19 patients. Therefore, we are continuing to work with our current suppliers and more than 200 new suppliers, around the clock, to get more PPE."

Slow the spread

Health care officials in Detroit are not alone in their sacrifice and efforts in the fight against COVID-19. Like many areas across the country, they are attempting to save lives while potentially risking theirs as well as their loved ones due to a lack of planning, supplies and knowledge about COVID-19. Many of those who spoke with CNBC as well as other confirmed registered nurses and healthcare workers are pleading on social media with people to stay home to help slow the outbreak. "Everybody should assume that you have it even if you don't have symptoms," said the internal medicine resident at Henry Ford. He and others, including an employee at a suburban hospital for Henry Ford in Macomb County, described a "sense of community" and working for a greater cause when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic.

A street leading to General Motors' world headquarters in downtown Detroit is vacant amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 6, 2020. The top of the main building is illuminated with a white ribbon to show support for healthcare workers. Michael Wayland / CNBC
By Online Desk

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced the extension of current lockdown till April 30, becoming the sixth state to do so. Other states that have announced a complete lockdown include Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

A total of 1,035 cases and 40 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the number of cases to 7,529 while the death toll stood at 242 on Saturday.

Budget carrier IndiGo on Saturday said one of its staff passed away due to coronavirus infection in Chennai, making this the first aviation casualty due to COVID-19 in India.

Meanwhile, The United States overtook Italy on Saturday to become the country with the largest death toll in the coronavirus pandemic.
It is a well calculated propaganda label conceived by the U.S. government to discredit what is an indisputable moral accomplishment of a developing country, Fernandez de Cossio, director general of the Cuban Foreign Ministry for U.S. affairs, said in a statement to The Post. It is no secret that it is the policy of the U.S. to discredit Cuba and to not tolerate any notion of recognition to our country.
She is set to make her Hollywood movie debut in a musical reimagining of Cinderella.

But after filming on the project at Pinewood Studios in England was halted in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, Camila Cabello is going to have to wait a bit longer to see herself on the big screen.

People reported Thursday that Sony Pictures has pushed the film's release to February 5, 2021.

Star vehicle: Camila Cabello is set to make her Hollywood movie debut in a musical reimagining of Cinderella. But its release has been pushed to February 2021, People reported

Former Fifth Harmony member Cabello, 23, was cast in the lead role early on in the project and has since been joined by a string of big names.

Billy Porter is the Fairy Godmother and Idina Menzel portrays Cinderella's evil stepmother.

British actor Nicholas Galitzine, 25, has been tapped to play the romantic lead Prince Robert, while Pierce Brosnan will play his father, the king.

The idea for the musical movie came from British actor and host of CBS' The Late late Show James Corden. He is also producing the project with his Fulwell 73 production partner Leo Pearlman.

Cinderella is being directed by Kay Cannon from her own screenplay.

Co-stars: Billy Porter, 50, confirmed in October that he's set to play the Fairy Godmother and Idina Menzel, 48,takes on the role of Cinderella's evil stepmother

Big break: British actor Nicholas Galitzine, 25, has been tapped to play the romantic lead Prince Robert, with Pierce Brosnan playing his father, the king

Camila has been riding out the coronavirus crisis with boyfriend Shawn Mendes in Miami, Florida.

The pair surprised kids at a children's hospital in Washington, D.C. this week with a remote concert and a Q&A session.

Posting video and photos of the special performance on Instagram, Camila wrote: 'Kids are the light of this whole world!!!!!'

She also thanked the Ryan Foundation for ' bringing smiles to these kids, who are brave and spunky and warriors everyday!'

Self-isolating together: Camila has been riding out the coronavirus crisis with boyfriend Shawn Mendes in Miami, Florida

Kind: The pair surprised kids at a children's hospital in Washington, D.C. this week with a remote concert and a Q&A session




Taipei responded angrily to the WHO chiefs assertion that racist slurs against him originated in Taiwan.

China has accused Taiwan of venomously attacking the World Health Organization (WHO), taking advantage of the current coronavirus crisis to seek independence, and conspiring with internet users to spread racist comments, after the WHO chief said a racist attack directed at him had come from the island.

Taiwan had responded angrily on Thursday to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus assertion this week, and demanded he apologise, saying the accusations were slander and extremely irresponsible.

Taiwan, which China claims for itself, is excluded from the WHO because of Chinas objections to its membership.

The government has said this resulted in it being unable to get timely information, putting Taiwanese lives at risk. The WHO denies the allegation.

China says Taiwans ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is seeking Taiwans formal independence, but President Tsai Ing-wen says the island is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name.





In a statement late on Thursday, Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office took aim at the DPP authorities.

The DPP authorities are unscrupulously using the virus to seek independence, venomously attacking the WHO and its responsible people, conniving with the green internet army to wantonly spread racist comments, it said. We strongly condemn this.

Taiwans justice ministry said on Friday that Twitter posts purporting to be from Taiwanese people apologising to Tedros for racist slurs were actually posted by people in mainland China.

There is a concern it is a deliberate operation by overseas forces, the ministrys investigation bureau said.

Falsely claiming to be Taiwanese and openly admitting to racist attacks on WHO Director General Tedros and begging forgiveness seriously damages our countrys international reputation, it said in a statement.

Taiwan has reported at least 380 cases of coronavirus to date, far lower than many of its neighbours thanks to early and effective prevention work. On Friday, it said a sixth patient died, an elderly person with underlying health conditions.

US criticises WHO

The WHO has also come under severe criticism from the United States. President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold US funding for the WHO, which is at the forefront of fighting the pandemic that has infected more than 1.6 million people worldwide.

The US Department of State questioned why the WHO did not pursue a lead offered by Taiwan in the early days of the pandemic; it also said the organisation was too late in sounding the alarm over COVID-19 and showed too much deference to China.





The US is deeply disturbed that Taiwans information was withheld from the global health community, as reflected in the WHOs January 14, 2020, statement that there was no indication of human-to-human transmission, a State Department spokesperson said.

The WHO once again chose politics over public health, she said, criticising the UN agency for denying Taiwan even observer status since 2016.

Critics say Trumps sudden threats against the WHO amount to a political ploy to find a foreign scapegoat as he comes under fire for not doing more to prepare for and control COVID-19, which has killed more than 16,600 people in the US.
By Trend

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) will have the highest impact on Greek energy security, said Kostis Hatzidakis, Greek Minister of Environment and Energy,Trend reports.

Of the projects currently under construction, the one with the highest impact on the Greek economy and the countrys energy security is the Trans Adriatic Pipeline. It is through TAP that Greece  via DEPA  will get 1 billion cubic metres/year of natural gas from the Caspian Sea, thereby significantly improving the diversification of its energy supply, the minister told Greece Investor Guide.

Hatzidakis pointed out that TAP has created thousands of jobs during its construction phase, while also investing tens of millions of euros in several projects that improved lives in the local communities.

TAP is almost complete, and we are very much looking forward to the commercial commissioning of the pipeline, he added.

TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union (EU). The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.

Connecting with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP will cross Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian natural gas network.

The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.

Once built, TAP will offer a direct and cost-effective transportation route opening up the vital Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-kilometer long gas value chain stretching from the Caspian Sea to Europe.

TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Their hiking trip was a welcome reprieve.

Late last month, my parents trekked through the lush mountain trails in their home city in southern China. It was their first outing since the Chinese government had relaxed its coronavirus lockdown. After being housebound for almost two months, they relished this moment of renewed freedom. Mom flashed a big smile for the camera, her arms spread wide and her purple scarf fluttering in the wind. Dad  always boastful of his creative workout regimen  sent me a video of his effortless finger pushups at the top of a mountain.

Barely two months ago, from the safety of Toronto, I had sent message after message to my parents back home, begging them to stay inside as the coronavirus raged across the country. Now, with cases in China dwindling and the pandemic taking hold in the West, my parents were returning the same advice. Wash your hands. Go out less. Then, they floated a drastic idea: Do you want to come home?

In a matter of weeks, the tables have turned. In our family WeChat group, my parents obsessively feed me health tips and the recent updates on confirmed infections in Canada, just when life is slowly returning to normal in China. Mom started dancing in public again and Dad recently visited his ancestral village to mark Chinas tomb-sweeping festival.

Meanwhile, Toronto has fallen eerily quiet. Restaurants and bars have closed, along with the university I attend. Gone are the raucous music and parties near my residence in The Annex, where young people used to gather on Friday nights. A few weeks from completing my graduate program, Ive been cooped up in my residence for four weeks, engrossed in news, books and Netflix. The convocation ceremonies, slated for early June, have also been cancelled.

My family once thought that my distance from China would insulate me from the pathogen wreaking havoc on lives back home. But today, as I write this op-ed in my student dorm, some 12,000 kilometres away from my hometown south of the Yangtze, the reality becomes clear: What happens in China will affect me one way or another, regardless of where I call home.

Many blame Chinas authoritarian ways for failing to control the outbreak  and rightly so. Yet this view also belies the fact that democratic values did not make citizens in the West any safer. Indeed, this merciless virus knows no boundary nor political system. And the simple truth is this: Both China and the West fumbled their COVID-19 response, much to the detriment of our collective health.

Last December, when cases of patients with SARS-like symptoms first emerged in Wuhan, the Chinese authorities reprimanded a doctor who tried to sound the alarm, a misstep that allowed the pathogen to gain a tenacious hold. The doctor, Li Wenliang, later died from the coronavirus. Worse still, the outbreak coincided with the Lunar New Year travel that was underway, creating a perfect condition for the virus to spread. On Jan. 23, two days before the Chinese New Year, China sealed off Wuhan, ground zero of the coronavirus. Many more Chinese cities followed.

The ensuing weeks saw a China brought to its knees by the pathogen. Hospitals struggled to cope with a surge in infected patients. Thousands of deaths a day were reported at its peak. The economy ground to a halt. Large swaths of the population waited at home in dread.

As the West watched China succumb to the virus, it perhaps never expected the same catastrophe to come to its shores. But it did. Like a tsunami.

In a span of just two months, the coronavirus  once seen as a faraway menace  has morphed into a global threat. At the time of my writing, 94,806 people have perished around the world. An estimated 3.9 billion people  or half the worlds population  are now under lockdown. Millions have lost their jobs. The sudden onslaught of the virus has shaken humanity to its core, forcing us to rethink how we work and socialize. Health-care systems, from the U.S to Spain to Italy, have been stretched thin as governments scramble to combat a little-known virus on a relentless march.

Were really worried about you, a voice message came one morning from my mom.

If only Western politicians had uttered the simple words Im worried, before it was too late. Fearful of eroding their political capital, many Western leaders were too quick to offer reassurances that sometimes bordered on complacency.

In the U.S, President Trumps repeatedly downplayed the danger, saying in February that the virus would soon disappear like a miracle. In Italy, a top health official admitted that her country initially viewed the outbreak in China as a science-fiction movie that had nothing to do with us. Echoing the same sentiment was the leader of an Italian ruling party, Our economy is stronger than fear: Lets go out for an aperitivo, a coffee or to eat a pizza, he wrote on social media in late February. About a week later, he tested positive for coronavirus.

Similarly in Canada, health officials repeatedly reassured the public until early March that the risk posed by the coronavirus remained low. The country identified its first presumptive case on Jan. 25 and first case of community transmission on March 5. It wasnt until 10 days later that Canadas top health official declared the virus a serious public health threat.

When China enacted the lockdown measures, many in the West were skeptical, arguing that such moves would only work under authoritarian governments. In the Western press, Chinas stay-at-home orders were often depicted as oppressive and cruel. Today, confronted by the fast spread of the virus, country after country in the West has followed suit, with leaders urging their citizens to stay indoors to stem the spread of the virus. Many countries have introduced bylaws to arrest and fine those who fail to comply.

My parents, like most of my family, sometimes complained to me about boredom during quarantine. But they all understood the need to endure the short-term pain to get through a crisis. Mom and Dad whiled away the hours watching TV and trying new recipes. A cousin started baking. Life under lockdown in the West may look just the same.

As we hunker down in our common fight against the monstrous virus, were so much more alike than were different. And no matter what kind of political system we live under, one thing is certain: We are all in this together.

Owen Guo is a graduating master of global affairs student at the University of Torontos Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Prior to moving to Canada in 2018, he was a researcher and writer for the New York Times in Beijing.

Read more about:
East Africa, particularly the Horn of Africa region, is facing the worst locust outbreak in decades. City-sized swarms of these insects are eating their way through vegetation and pastures, leaving little or nothing for local people and their cattle.

Desert locusts are the worlds oldest and most destructive migratory pest.Human history has recorded locust invasions going back thousands of years, and it just takes a confluence of just the right conditions, particularly warm weather and heavy rains, to promote rapid breeding. That is what happened last year. By late summer, huge swarms of these insects began moving from Yemen across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, devouring enough green plants every day to feed 35,000 people.

Now the rainy season is once again approaching in East Africa, and with it, another wave of these pests is expected in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and other countries in the region. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, if left unchecked, the number of locusts in East Africa could explode 400-fold by June. That would devastate harvests in a region with more than 19 million hungry people.

The best way to stop desert locusts is by aerial and ground spraying, as well as through constant tracking of the swarms.Timing is critical. We must reduce locust numbers now, before the spring planting season gets underway, even as we face the added challenge of the global coronavirus pandemic.

That is why the United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, is providing an additional $10 million in humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, the hardest-hit countries. The funds will support regional operations to control desert locusts. This new funding brings the U.S. humanitarian response to the infestation to $19 million.

Throughout the region, USAID has disaster experts who are evaluating humanitarian needs and coordinating response efforts with local governments and aid organizations. They will work closely with these groups to determine whether additional assistance is necessary.

The United States calls upon other donors to contribute funds to address the immediate needs of communities throughout the Horn of Africa.
C oronavirus has continued to race through New York, leaving the state now battling a larger outbreak of the infection than any other country outside the US.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the state jumped to 159,937 on Thursday after another 10,000 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus in the preceding 24-hour period.

The surge means New York is currently facing a bigger caseload of coronavirus than Spain and Italy, which have recorded 153,000 and 143,000 infections respectively.

Meanwhile, the number of cases in the US as a whole has spiralled past 466,000, with the outbreak linked to nearly 17,000 deaths to date.

More than 7,000 of those deaths have occurred in New York state alone.

Trump says US 'at the top of the hill' on infections

The dizzying speed with which the infection is spreading through the state has seen some of the dead laid to rest in mass burials.

Photos surfaced on Thursday showing workers in hazmat outfits laying coffins into huge pits at Hart Island, off the Bronx, New York City.

The site has for decades been used to bury those with no known next of kin, or those whose loved ones cannot afford their funeral costs.

Currently, about two dozen bodies a day, five days a week, are buried on the island, according to the Department of Correction, which oversees the burials.

Before burial, the dead are reportedly wrapped in body bags and placed inside pine coffins. The deceaseds name is scrawled in large letters on each.

Photos surfaced on Thursday showing workers in hazmat outfits laying coffins into huge pits at Hart Island, off the Bronx (Reuters) / REUTERS

Local prisoners have historically digged out graves at the site, but the rising workload caused by Covid-19 has seen city officials draft in contractors for the job.

Jason Kersten, a spokesman for the Department of Correction, said workers had "added two new trenches in case we need them".

Meanwhile, state officials pointed to early signs that social distancing measures rolled out in response to the pandemic were beginning to take effect.

Loading....

On Thursday, New York recorded the lowest number of new hospitalisations since the crisis started, while the number of intensive care admissions was also down from a day before.

"We are saving lives by what we are doing today," Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Speaking at a daily briefing on Thursday, Mr Cuomo also compared the outbreak to "the same evil that we saw on 9/11", saying it was like a "silent explosion that ripples through society with the same randomness".

Trump says US 'at the top of the hill' on infections

Separately on Thursday, the US government's top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, lowered official projections for the nationwide death toll.

Mr Fauci, a key member of the White House's coronavirus task force, told NBC News' Today show the final number of Americans who will die from Covid-19 in the outbreak "looks more like 60,000".

New York is now facing a bigger caseload of coronavirus than Spain and Italy / AFP via Getty Images

In late March, Mr Fauci had estimated the pandemic would kill "between 100,000 and 200,000" people in the US.

The White House has previously suggested that more than two million Americans could die from coronavirus if nothing was done to stop its spread.

Loading....

In a bid to curtail the outbreak, stay-at-home orders have seen non-essential businesses shuttered in 42 states.
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048256f230)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482abe580)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048256f230)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482abe580)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482b5ecc8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482abe580)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482abe580)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481b67478)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f048255a320)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f048255a320)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
We reassessed and rebalanced our resources to align with ADBs long-term strategy, Strategy 2030, said OAI Head John Versantvoort. These measures have allowed us to provide better value to our stakeholders and achieve significant improvements in the number of completed investigations and complaints that we assessed and closed.

Source: ADB

In 2019, ADB concluded 110 investigations into integrity violations, a 93% increase from the previous year, and assessed and closed 219 complaints, an increase of 16%. ADB debarred 69 firms and 62 individuals for violating ADBs Anticorruption Policy (1998, as amended since). It cross debarred 153 firms and 20 individuals sanctioned by other multilateral development banks. Imposition of other remedial actions against firms and individuals, such as reprimands and cautions, more than doubled from 2018.

Strengthening governance and institutional capacity to improve service delivery in ADB developing member countries is one of seven operational priorities under ADBs Strategy 2030.

OAI conducted eight Proactive Integrity Reviews (PIRs) of ADB-financed projects in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Nepal, and Palau. PIRs assess the application of sound financial management, procurement, and asset management practices by government agencies responsible for implementing ADB projects and recommend remedial measures for any shortcomings. In 2019, OAI conducted a PIR on an emergency assistance project for the first time.

We are fully appreciative of the constructive review and recommendations that OAI has provided in the ongoing Nikachhu Hydropower project so that we can improve, benefit, and better manage our present and future projects, said Managing Director of the Bhutan Druk Green Power Corporation Dasho Chhewang Rinzin, who is responsible for implementation of the project. We will continue to work to ensure that the recommendations of the OAI report get implemented.

ADB maintained quality screening methods to identify, assess, and mitigate integrity risks associated with its private sector counterparts and projects. It conducted integrity due diligence on 954 entities and issued 869 advisories on compliance. It provided capacity building support on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism in Mongolia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam. ADB also expanded its technical assistance to strengthen tax integrity standards to Armenia, Cambodia, Maldives, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Thailand.

ADB launched its first gamified e-learning course and delivered 98 learning sessions, including trainings on anticorruption and respect at work to widen the reach of its knowledge-sharing and communication work. It also contributed to the G20s Good Practices Guide on Promoting Integrity and Transparency in Infrastructure Development.

It gathered representatives from 14 international financial institutions to strengthen integrity risk management in private sector transactions. Together with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Government of Viet Nam, ADB hosted a conference for the Anticorruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacificthe largest anticorruption network in the region./.
Lowell Briscoe is a North Carolina native who grew up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, enjoys boating, movies, the beach, taking log walks with his dog, and currently resides with his seven-year-old son in Raleigh. He has published his latest book The Night I Rode with Santa: an enchanting Christmas story for school-aged readers.

The Night I Rode with Santa is the first childrens story readers can customize!

Briscoe writes, Take your kids on a ride with Santa, where they will help him deliver presents, have a snowball fight, and do so much more!

The names of the characters have intentionally been left blank. This is so you can put your own name and the names of your children in the story! Imagine the delight in their eyes when the story includes your whole family!

You will also notice that all the character illustrations have been specifically drawn with the characters turned away and/or without skin color; this was because the author wanted his story to be enjoyed by children of all races, colors, and nationalities. His sincere wish is that this will be your childs favorite book!

Published by Page Publishing, Lowell Briscoes book is a delightful addition to any childrens library.

Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchaseThe Night I Rode with Santa at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.


The Deep Knowledge group put Israel in first place among countries around the world when it comes to promoting safety amid the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus media adviser announced Tuesday.

The Deep Knowledge Group is an investment fund focused on AI and DeepTech, which values knowledge above profit, its website says.

Netanyahu announced severe new restrictions Monday night in an effort to curtail the spread of the virus. To date, 17 Israelis have succumbed to the disease.

During the announcement, Prime Minister Netanyahu mentioned that he was addressing Israelis from isolation, as he had been in contact with another person confirmed to be infected with COVID-19his aide, Rivka Paluch. The only other person in the room was the cameraman, who was six meters away, he said.

He added that he had done his own hair and makeup before the broadcast, quipping that was why he looked like he did.

Test results showed that Netanyahu, 70, is not infected with the virus.

Israel has been a world leader in taking steps to protect its citizens since the start of the pandemic.

Hundreds of Israelis have returned home from abroad as the coronavirus pandemic continued to threaten populations across the globe.

In fact, aliyah (immigration to Israel) continued during the past several weeks with 961 immigrants arriving in Israel since the beginning of the month, despite the global coronavirus crisis and the closure of borders and skies in many countries.
Advertisement

Pope Francis presided at a 'Way of the Cross' service held in an empty Saint Peter's Square on Friday because of the coronavirus outbreak and listened as both prisoners and their victims recounted their sorrows.

It marked the first time the procession, commemorating the last hours in Jesus' life, was not held at Rome's ancient Colosseum since the modern-day tradition was re-introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1964.

Francis watched from under a canopy on the steps of the basilica as 10 people - half from the Italian prison system and half from the Vatican's health services - carried a cross and flaming torches towards him.

Francis watched from under a canopy on the steps of the basilica as 10 people - half from the Italian prison system and half from the Vatican's health services - carried a cross and flaming torches towards him

It marked the first time the procession, commemorating the last hours in Jesus' life, was not held at Rome's ancient Colosseum since the modern-day tradition was re-introduced by Pope Paul VI in 1964

Speakers read meditations as the group stopped 14 times to mark each of the 'Stations of the Cross' starting with the first when Jesus was condemned to death by Pontius Pilate to the last when he was buried in a tomb

Francis (pictured) has often brought attention to the problems of prisoners, including overcrowding, and more recently he has expressed concern that the coronavirus would spread unchecked in jails

Speakers read meditations as the group stopped 14 times to mark each of the 'Stations of the Cross' starting with the first when Jesus was condemned to death by Pontius Pilate to the last when he was buried in a tomb.

The meditations are written by different groups each year and this time they were penned by prisoners, including a murderer, from a jail in Italy, and prison guards, chaplains, and family members of both prisoners and victims.

Francis has often brought attention to the problems of prisoners, including overcrowding, and more recently he has expressed concern that the coronavirus would spread unchecked in jails.

'I became a grandfather in prison. I didn't experience my daughter's pregnancy. One day, I will tell my granddaughter the story of only the goodness I have found and not the evil I have done,' read another meditation.

The meditations are written by different groups each year and this time they were penned by prisoners, including a murderer, from a jail in northern Italy, and prison guards, chaplains, and family members of both prisoners and victims

Cantalamessa said the pandemic, which has killed nearly 19,000 people in Italy, should be a spur for people to appreciate what really matters in life. Left and right: The Pope on Friday night

According to tradition, a plague that hit Rome in 1522 began subsiding after the crucifix was taken around the streets

Cantalamessa said the pandemic, which has killed nearly 19,000 people in Italy, should be a spur for appreciation

The participants prayed before a wooden crucifix which is normally kept in a Rome church and brought to the Vatican for the special service. According to tradition, a plague that hit Rome in 1522 began subsiding after the crucifix was taken around the streets of the Italian capital for 16 days in 1522.

Cantalamessa said the pandemic, which has killed nearly 19,000 people in Italy, should be a spur for people to appreciate what really matters in life. 'Let us not allow so much pain, so many deaths, and so much heroic engagement on the part of health workers to have been in vain,' he said.

'Returning to the way things were is the "recession" we should fear the most,' Cantalamessa added.

Earlier yesterday the Pope was helped to his feet as he celebrated Good Friday Prayers in St Peter's Basilica with no worshippers present as the Italian public obey strict lockdown rules.

In a sign of humble obedience, he prostrated himself on the floor of the nearly empty St Peter's Basilica, where the papal preacher said the coronavirus has reminded people that they are mortal, not all-powerful.

As Francis listened attentively, the Rev Raniero Cantalamessa told a few prelates, choir members and about a score of other faithful that 'it took merely the smallest and most formless element of nature, a virus, to remind us that we are mortal' and that 'military power and technology are not sufficient to save us.'

The service is usually attended by cardinals, bishops and some 10,000 faithful. But coronavirus conditions meant it was attended by about two dozen people, including papal aides reading from scriptures and a small choir.

In another change from the usual ritual dictated by the coronavirus outbreak, only the Pope kissed a crucifix at the end of the service. Usually it is also kissed by every cardinal, archbishop and bishop in the church.

Pope Francis was helped to his feet as he celebrated Good Friday mass in St Peter's Basilica with no worshippers present as the Italian public obey strict lockdown rules triggered by the coronavirus pandemic

Francis tested negative for coronavirus, it was revealed on March 3, and is thought instead to have been suffering from a cold. The Pope also visits the Vatican Library to record messages for the world's 1.3 billion Catholics

The head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State led the Good Friday Passion of the Lord with no public participation as millions of Italians stay at home over the weekend

The WHO said over 1.6million people have been infected with the coronavirus, while the global death toll nears 100,000

Cantalamessa said that when the pandemic is over, 'returning to the way things were is the 'recession' we should fear the most.' He said the virus broke down 'barriers and distinctions of race, nation, religion, wealth and power.'

During the basilica service, prayers were offered for those who contracted or succumbed to the virus, as well as health care personnel who cared for them.

Francis has tested negative twice for Covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, after fears that the 83-year-old Pontiff might have contracted the disease intensified last month.

He was allegedly swabbed at St Martha's guest house, which the Pope uses as his own resident. The building is also used by the Pop as a place to take meals and have private meetings.

Francis has tested negative twice for Covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, after fears that the 83-year-old Pontiff might have contracted the disease intensified last month

He was allegedly swabbed at St Martha's guest house, which the Pope uses as his own resident. The building is also used by the Pop as a place to take meals and have private meetings

Francis has been largely secluded since coming down with a cold at the end of February. Fears were first raised for the pope's health on Ash Wednesday, when he fell ill with a cough, fever, chills and sore throat

There are concerns for the Argentine-born pope if he contracts the virus due to his age and previous health conditions. He lost part of his lung and suffered from sciatica, a nerve condition that causes pain in his hip

Francis has been largely secluded since coming down with a cold at the end of February. Fears were first raised for the pope's health on Ash Wednesday, when he fell ill with a cough, fever, chills and sore throat.

He tested negative for coronavirus, it was revealed on March 3, and is thought instead to have been suffering from a cold. The Pope also visits the Vatican Library to record messages for the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.

There are concerns for the Argentine-born pope if he contracts the virus due to his age and previous health conditions. He lost part of his lung and suffered from sciatica, a nerve condition that causes pain in his hip.

This week the Pontiff advised believers and non-believers to 'take the elderly and the young under their wing, that they take history under the wing, take the deprived under their wing' during the coronavirus crisis.

He previously told an Italian newspaper that he had asked God to stop the ongoing pandemic, and told people to use their time in mass quarantine to reconnect with their families.

Speaking to La Repubblica, he said he had asked God to stop the epidemic in Italy 'with his hand'.

He continued: 'We must rediscover the concrete nature of small things, of making small gestures toward those around us - family, friends. They are gestures of tenderness, of affection, of compassion, which are nonetheless decisive and important - for example, a hot dish, a caress, a hug, a phone call.'

Carlo Maria Vigano listening to remarks at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual fall meeting in Baltimore in 2015 when he was Apostolic Nuncio to the US. He accused Pope Francis of covering up the sexual misconduct of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and rehabilitating him from sanctions imposed by Pope Benedict XVI

Carlo Maria Vigano (right) and Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke (left) at a 'National March for Life' against abortion and euthanasia in Rome in 2018. The march was attended by families, children, and many volunteers

It comes after an Italian archbishop who has represented the Vatican in the US and Europe called for a global exorcism prayed on Saturday to defeat the coronavirus pandemic.

Carlo Maria Vigano told followers to recite an exorcism prayer to expel 'Satan' as the pandemic has sent millions into lockdown. He sent the message to the faithful to say the 'Exorcism against Satan and the apostate angels' psalm at home as mass gatherings including church services have been banned in much of Europe and the US.

First published by Pope Leo XIII in 1890, the prayer was written 'to curb the power of the devil and prevent him doing harm'.Vigano said that people should join together in the same prayer over Easter.

In an article written for Catholic new outlet, Life Site, Vigano wrote that as Christians cannot visit confession, they should still continue 'praying to our Lord' against 'the Evil One'.

He said: 'In these modern times of terrible tribulation, when the pandemic has deprived Catholics of Holy Mass and the Sacraments, the Evil One has gone into a frenzy and multiplied his attacks to tempt souls into sin.

'These blessed days of Holy Week, which used to be the ideal time to go to Confession to prepare ourselves for our Easter Communion, now see us locked inside our houses, but they cannot stop us praying to Our Lord.'

A doctor from the Bassini Hospital making a test tube for a Covid-19 test swab in Milan, amid the coronavirus lockdown

Vigano added that 'there is no need to go out, or to breach any of the laws currently in force' when praying against the devil. The archbishop also asked his fellow priests to join the prayer and to wear a stole.

Meanwhile, Italy recorded 570 coronavirus-related deaths yesterday, down from 610, while the number of new cases slowed to 3,951 from 4,204 the day before, as hopes are raised that the pandemic is subsiding.

The latest tallies broadly confirm what some epidemiological experts describe as a plateau of new cases and deaths, which are no longer accelerating but are still not falling steeply.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on February 21 rose to 18,849, the Civil Protection Agency said. The number of confirmed cases climbed to 147,577, the third highest global tally behind the US and Spain.

There were 3,497 people in intensive care yesterday against 3,605 on Thursday - a seventh consecutive daily decline. Of those originally infected, 30,455 were declared recovered against 28,470 a day earlier.

A doctor at a new coronavirus unit at Casal Palocco hospital near Rome checking on a patient suffering from the virus

Italian firefighters in Catania, Sicily, commemorate their colleague, firefighter Giuseppe Coco, who died with the coronavirus

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is preparing to extend Italy's lockdown until May 3. Italy's main newspapers said Mr Conte will publish a decree banning people from taking walks or lounging in parks.

Daily rises in new infections have slowed dramatically in recent days and Italy is gradually approaching a point when the number of people officially suffering from Covid-19 might begin to drop.

The Corriere della Serra newspaper reported yesterday PM Conte will bow to growing pressure and allow a tiny number of businesses to reopen when the existing restrictions expire on April 13. These reportedly include book and stationery stores as well as lumber companies and factories that make agricultural machinery.

Mr Conte said in a televised address that the sacrifices being made 'were having results,' and that for this reason 'we can not render vain the efforts taken. If we give in, we risk that all the positive results could be lost. It would be a great frustration for all, and we would have to start again, also with an increase in the number of dead.'

The Government and scientists view these as businesses with the least amount of human interaction. Only grocery stores and pharmacies have been allowed to operate since a general lockdown began on March 12.
THE Taoiseach has announced that the current Covid-19 restrictions are to be extended for a further three weeks until Tuesday, May 5.

The decision was confirmed this Friday evening and follows a meeting of the National Public Health Emergency team.

Schools are to remain closed until further notice and this years Leaving Certificate exams will be postponed to the end of July or early August.

At a media briefing at Government Buildings, Leo Varadkar thanked the Irish people for their forbearance and sacrifice since the current regulations were introduced on March 28.

He said it is his fervent hope that the government will be able in a position to begin to unwind the restrictions in early May but warned it will be done on a phased basis.

Today, Ive announced the #COVID19 restrictions will be extended for a further 3 weeks until Tuesday, May 5th. Stay strong, stay safe and stay at home. pic.twitter.com/v2aCMvPVdE  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) April 10, 2020

Mr Varadkar said that because the vast majority of people have heeded the public health advice, the spread of Covid-19 has has been slowed but it has not been stopped.

He said too many people have already died from the disease in Ireland and that "many more will die and many more will get sick before this is over".

Minister for Health Simon Harris has also confirmed the enforcement powers given to gardai earlier this week will be also be extended to May 5.
In an attempt to help the frontline workers combat COVID-19, actor Sandra Bullock has donated 6,000 N95 masks to different hospitals in Los Angeles.

According to Fox News, Bullock's boyfriend Bryan Randall took to social media to share the images of the actor giving the masks in big boxes to a worker at the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles.

According to People magazine, it is Bullock's children who came up with the idea of donating the masks to doctors and hospitals.

"Kids wanted to give masks. 6000 of them went to the warriors on the front lines in downtown LA. Thank you Olivia at #adventistwhitememorial. Thank you Ricardo at #childrenshospitallosangeles... Louis and Lailas note could not have said it better," said Randall in the caption of the picture.

As the supply of N95 masks is continuously short, hospital workers are quite thrilled with the donations by 'The Proposal' actor.

According to the World Health Organisation, the highly contagious virus has contracted over 15,21,252 people globally and has claimed the lives of 92,798 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Nevada man was arrested this week for allegedly stealing hundreds of surgical masks from a Veterans Administration medical center, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Peter Lucas, 35, of Reno, was arrested Tuesday and appeared in court the next day to face charges, said U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada.

According to the charges, Lucas stole about 200 surgical masks from a supply cart at the Ioannis A. Lougaris VA Medical Center in Reno.

"Our military veterans served on the front lines to protect our country, and now our health professionals are doing the same in our fight against COVID-19," said U.S. Attorney Trutanich. "We will not allow the theft of personal protective equipment to go undeterred, endangering the safety of doctors, nurses, and other health professionals protecting our communities."

Prosecutors say police surveillance cameras at the VA Medical Center showed Lucas stealing at least four boxes of surgical masks from supply carts in his care, then concealed the boxes under his jacket before exiting the hospital between March 19 and March 23, 2020. Each box contained 50 masks.

Lucas faces one count of theft of health care property. He made his first appearance in court Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carla L. Baldwin. If convicted, Lucas faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the VA Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Walkingshaw.

Read more: 'Terrible, Tragic Mistake:' Top General Warns Enemies Not to Test US Military Readiness
Zimbabwe's embattled national airline is to send some of its staff on indefinite unpaid leave later this month following a drop in revenue caused by global travel restrictions.



Air Zimbabwe, which has just one aeroplane, was already $300m (237m) in debt before the coronavirus pandemic struck. At the end of March it grounded its flights altogether.



"This decision has been made after evaluating all the available and possible options," Air Zimbabwe said in a message to staff, according to Bloomberg News.



Air Zimbabwe is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying it will keep a skeleton staff for the time being, and that all empoyees will still receive their April salaries.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer says the country is "probably on the cusp" of forcing the coronavirus infection rate down to a point where the virus could die out, as case numbers continue to slow in Victoria.

The daily growth rate as a percentage of total cases has fallen from about 20 per cent in late March, to an average of 1.8 per cent over the past week. On Friday, a growth rate of 1 per cent was recorded.

Professor Paul Kelly struck a positive tone. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the overseas infection rate for COVID-19 was "disturbing", with international results showing infected people can pass it on to as many as five others. But he said Australia's successful social distancing measures were helping drive the rate closer to a further one or two infections per person.

"Ideally, where you want to be is below one. So less than one other person being infected, after a person themselves had the infection," he told reporters in Canberra.
Few hours after leaving isolation centre, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, on Friday, attended Jummaat prayers.

The Governor was discharged from an isolation centre following his recovery from coronavirus.

The governor, the Deputy Governor, Senator Baba Tela; Commissioners, senior government officials and traditional rulers as well as thousands of faithful, attended the Jummaat prayers at Bauchi Central Mosque on Friday.

The governor, who has been in isolation since contracting the disease two weeks ago, was seen in the mosque wearing face mask and hand gloves but declined to shake hands as he used to do with people before and after Jummaat prayers.

Governor Mohammed was discharged Thursday evening after his second COVID-19 test appeared negative.

Read Also: Bauchi Governor Tests Positive For Coronavirus

State Commissioner for Health, Dr Aliyu Muhammed Maigoro, said the governor had been discharged after two of his samples tested negative.

Today (Thursday), we are discharging our first index case, you can recall that, our first case was in isolation for more than two weeks and today having satisfied the requirements to be discharged, we are here discharging His Excellency as a patient who recovered from COVID-19.

With this development, we have only 3 active cases with zero death in Bauchi State, he said.
As stay-at-home orders swept across the country, shoppers rushed to grocery stores and stocked up on staples, among them eggs. This spike in demand has boosted egg prices, both nationally and especially in California, and likely will for some time.

On March 2, the Urner Barry wholesale benchmark for a dozen, conventional California shell eggs was $1.55. By March 27, the benchmark rose to $3.66, where it remained for several days before decreasing slightly to $3.26, as of Friday.

That means higher costs for retailers  and also shoppers. In the last three weeks, grocers egg costs increased 57%, said Dave Heylen, spokesman for the California Grocers Association trade group, which represents more than 80% of the states retail grocery stores. A bit of relief came last week, when those costs dropped about 8%.

Northgate Gonzalez Market is paying more to get eggs on its shelves, up anywhere from 20% to 35%, said Mike Hendry, executive vice president of marketing and merchandising.

He described it as one of the largest increases weve seen in quite a while.

The chain opted to reduce its margins, passing on only a portion of that cost to shoppers, Hendry said. On Tuesday, the chain decreased its retail egg prices by $1 ahead of an anticipated supplier price reduction.

Agricultural experts describe the price increase as a lesson in supply and demand. Theres only a fixed number of eggs available on any given day  you cant squeeze an unlimited number of eggs out of a chicken, and it can take months to buy more hens and build more coops for them. In the meantime, shoppers are clamoring for extra cartons as they aim to limit grocery runs amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Some retailers have purchased double or even six times their usual orders of eggs, said Brian Moscogiuri, director with Urner Barry and an analyst covering the egg and egg product markets. To try to keep eggs in stock, some stores posted limits on the number of egg cartons customers could buy.

Thats the case at Beachwood Market in the Hollywood Hills, where owner Alex Papalexis said he had to limit customers to one carton per household.

People were scrambling, no pun intended, to get eggs, he said.

He, too, is paying more for eggs, an additional 50 cents to 75 cents per carton, depending on the type. Though he hadnt yet raised prices, Papalexis said he probably would soon.

He noted that many restaurants and hotel kitchens are closed, meaning eggs destined for diners dishes could now be diverted to store shelves.

Theres a question there. Papalexis said. Why would they have to raise their rates?

Laws prohibit price-gouging in California during a declared state of emergency, capping price increases for essential goods at 10% compared to their pre-crisis costs. Exemptions, however, exist should the cost of a good increase along the supply chain  to compensate should shipping or labor costs rise.

The rules are hard to enforce, said Diana Winters, assistant director of the Resnick Center for Food Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law.

The state attorney generals office relies on consumer complaints to ensure essential items, like food, dont exceed that 10% price cap, she said.

Prices for eggs certainly have risen more than 10% in many markets, but its hard to gauge all of the factors that might contribute to that increase, Winters said. For example, restaurant closures could mean egg producers need to divert their supply to grocers, and that change in distribution and additional packaging comes with a cost.

Eggs are naturally, very often, one of the most price variable products in the supermarket, said Daniel Sumner, UC Davis professor of agricultural economics and director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center.

Jesse Laflamme, chief executive of New Hampshire-based Pete and Gerrys Organic Eggs, said his freight costs have gone up since the coronavirus pandemic because there are not enough refrigerated trucks to transport all of the fresh goods now in high demand.

His company has also slowed its egg packaging equipment and spaced people out to comply with social distancing directives. The company chose to absorb the extra costs rather than increase prices. Its eggs are not priced on the wholesale egg market.

Being a commodity market, its really sensitive to any supply or demand fluctuation within single percentage points, Laflamme said.

Egg prices could remain elevated for at least a few months, Sumner said. And the demand for eggs has been historically strong during tougher economic stretches. Eggs are a relatively cheap source of protein and arent seen as a luxury food item.

It may take longer to get back to normal for the egg business, he said. We can build supply, but it takes a few months.

Samantha Masunaga of the Los Angeles Times wrote this story.

2020 Los Angeles Times

Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
10.04.2020 LISTEN

The Novel Corona Virus has threatened the very existence of mankind, exposing the weakness and vulnerability of our governance, social protection and economic models around the world. This calls for stronger partnerships, accountability, and innovation to address the likely human rights abuses and violations that often characterize situations of emergency for the millions living in poverty.

In these difficult times, state parties and duty bearers must reflect deeply and be guided by the profound word of the renown American Civil Rights Activist, Martin Luther King Jr., who opined in Letter from the Birmingham Jail Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

Advancing human rights must be viewed as an effort not aimed at only promoting the protection and dignity of our fellow human, but an effort to safeguard our own dignity and worth. Governments, individuals and private entities are legally and morally obligated to promote, protect and uphold the fundamental human rights of fellow humans.

In this era of fake news, where people easily share fake content, it is difficult to sometimes tell what is true of fake. Some weeks ago, Ghanas social media platforms, notably Whatsapp and Facebook were awash with viral videos of State Security forces allegedly abusing citizens for defying social distancing and lockdown measures announced by the government.

In the 5th address to the nation on the status of COVID-19 in Ghana, His Excellency President Nana Addo Dankwa Akkufo Addo pledged to investigate any excesses by the security forces and further urged citizens to desist from sharing such videos which he says are largely fake.

While commending, His Excellency for the thought provoking advice, I wish to humbly direct His Excellency and my fellow citizens to the following 1946 poem by a German Lutheran Pastor, which summarizes the need to speak up and demand an end to any form of brutality and abuse:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out

Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for meand there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemoller (18921984)

RISE-Ghana is concerned about the risk of discrimination, excessive use of force and violations of fundamental rights and freedoms reported in parts of the Greater Accra and the Greater Kumasi areas as a fall out of the implementation of lockdowns and mandatory isolation. While the need to protect public health is vital, it is imperative to keep the security forces in check to ensure they dont undermine the fundamental civil liberties and human rights of anybody.

While urging citizens to continue the difficult sacrifice associated with the social distancing measures, we urge all to remain vigilant and be each others keeper.

State and non-state actors must note that the pandemic calls for measures to ensure the already vulnerable and marginalized, ethnic and religious minorities and persons with disabilities are not further exploited and persecuted.

The United Nations Population Fund for Development (UNFPA) and the Domestic Violence Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service deserve commendation for setting up 0551000900 as a Hotline dedicated to domestic violence survivors during this COVID-19 period.

Other CSOs and agencies such as UNICEF-Ghana, Oxfam in Ghana, WILDAF, the European Commission, Canada Embassy, Embassy of the United States also need to be commended for the supporting efforts to reduce inequality and vulnerability and issues related to sexual and gender-based violence and child protection in Ghana.

Addressing the COVID-19 pandemic can best be approached with the principles of human rights, that is Participation, Accountability, Non-discrimination, Empowerment and Linkage to human rights standards (PANEL).

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Awal Ahmed Kariama

Executive Director

Vision: A world in which Human Rights and Sustainable Development informs all actions to empower people to live in DIGNITY. Core Values: Accountability, Equal Opportunities & Diversity, Mutual Respect, Inclusion, Equity & Justice. Mission: To facilitate and initiate processes/programs that empower poor peoples movements to access and utilize the social, human and natural resources they need in a sustainable and timely manner to become self-reliant.
"Patient 36" and "Patient 44" were both treated at the Binh Thuan General Hospital of the south central province. Their infections were linked to 51-year-old Dang Thi Lynh Trang, a Vietnamese businesswoman in Binh Thuan who triggered at least 10 cases, mostly family members and acquaintances, after returning from the U.S. on March 2.

"Patient 36" is a 64-year-old female housekeeper employed by Trang and "Patient 44" is the 12-year-old son of one of Trang's employees who was also infected.

Trang and eight other patients linked to her, six in Binh Thuan and two men in HCMC, were discharged earlier.

Vietnam has recorded 255 cases so far, and 133 have been discharged.
When Covid-19 pulled the shutters down in Irish towns and villages, the supermarkets kept their doors open.

Something as previously mundane as getting the messages has suddenly become tense and can be our sole trip outside the house for the week. Supermarket staff are now frontline workers.

In the south Dublin suburb of Blackrock, management and staff in SuperValu have had to keep an eye on people who are using their trip to the shop to socialise.

Niall Broughan, the store manager, says the supermarket is now one of the only places everybody is allowed to go to - including RTE's Ryan Tubridy, who is spotted near the tills, freshly recovered from Covid-19. "He comes here all the time," Mr Broughan says with pride.

The staff, conscious of how many retail workers have recently been let go, are grateful they still get to go to work.

The shop hired 15 new people to cope with extra demand, and most of them were people who had just been laid off. All the staff say they are being bombarded with gratitude from the public.

"There's a sense of pride between most of us, now what we're doing is so necessary. It's nice to know that," says Gavan Guildford, who has worked here for 15 years.

Contact with supermarkets is now crucial for people who aren't allowed to leave the house. Mr Broughan says a woman in her 80s was crying on the phone the week before. She was worried she wouldn't be able to put a shopping list together, and when she tried to shop online she saw all the delivery slots were full.

"She said 'I don't want to starve'," Mr Broughan says.

They found a way to help her choose her groceries online and send a list to the store. All Centra and SuperValu shops now have volunteers from local GAA clubs available to deliver groceries for people.

When older people call to order their shopping they often get through to Jacinta Bolton, who has worked at SuperValu for 33 years.

Ms Bolton, from Sallynoggin, got a job here when she was 27. "I'm part of the building now," she says.

Chatting away in the fruit and veg aisle, she sometimes interrupts herself to talk to the customers. "Hiya, Carmel," she yells to a woman she sees over by the lettuce.

Older, cocooning customers know her by her voice now when she answers the phone. They often ask her what it's like in the shop, if it's busy or how her day has been. "Some of them just want a chat. They tell me 'you're the only person I've spoken to today'. This isn't a chore for me, it's an honour. They're not customers, I consider them my friends.

"I just feel so sorry for them. If I was that age, I'd want someone to be nice to me, too."

She'd just come off her break early because an order came in from a lady called Rita, who only likes Ms Bolton to do her groceries. One day, she spoke to the same man three times because he forgot some of his "few bits".

She even got a call from Norway, from a woman who was worried about her mother and her mother-in-law who both live in Blackrock. Ms Bolton arranged two lots of groceries for them.

"Oslo. I couldn't believe it, and she sounded like she was just down the road. We're a great nation, we don't give ourselves enough credit."

The staff have started looking out for older people on their streets, too. Mr Guildford says he's introduced himself to neighbours he never met before, and asked them for grocery lists he can pick up.

Alan Phillips, a sales assistant who has worked at the store for 15 years, has also offered to pick up food for older neighbours. He has a new role at work, standing at the door as customers queue to get in. He uses an app on his phone to keep a tally of people entering and leaving, and he also reminds everyone to sanitise their hands or use gloves.

Mr Phillips knows his neighbours well, having grown up in his mother's childhood home near UCD. His mother Sylvia is over 70, and Mr Phillips lives with and cares for her so he doesn't want to risk taking the bus and picking up Covid-19. Instead, he walks to work every day from his home, almost an hour away on foot.

Every time Leo Varadkar makes an announcement on restrictions, the retail workers brace themselves. Mr Phillips says panic-buying usually follows, but he says there's no need to panic, they have plenty of food. And most things are available, with the exception of the most elusive white powder in Ireland. Plain, spelt, wholemeal and even coconut flour is all out of stock.

What else is popular? Mr Broughan gestures to the off-licence. "The biggest spike in sales. Over anything else."

The mundane is now extraordinary. Customers innocuously milling around the aisles are a stark contrast with the deserted streets of Blackrock village outside. If it weren't for the odd mask, the store could almost pass for normal.

The only giveaway is the recordings played every few minutes, with Mr Broughan's recognisable voice reminding people to keep their distance from each other.

"If you need any help, just ask," the recording says. "We are here for you."
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has defended his decision to visit the home of his elderly parents despite social distancing guidance - claiming he attended their Shropshire home to deliver medicine and obeyed government rules at all times.

Mr Jenrick has represented the government at multiple times during the coronavirus pandemic to urge the country to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

However a report in The Guardian claimed a witness had seen Mr Jenrick, 38, visit the property more than 40 miles from his own home over the weekend

In response the housing minister said he had obeyed social distancing rules on the visit - and had only attended his parents as they were isolating to protect his fathers health.

While the Government's guidelines state you should not visit anyone who lives outside your own home, including elderly relatives, you are allowed to "leave your house to help them, for example by dropping shopping or medication at their door".

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

Mr Jenrick wrote on Twitter: "For clarity - my parents asked me to deliver some essentials - including medicines.

"They are both self-isolating due to age and my father's medical condition and I respected social distancing rules.

Earlier this week Scotland's chief health minister resigned from her post after it was found she had visited her second home during the nationwide lockdown.

Dr Catherine Calderwood apologised "unreservedly" after being caught out on a trip to Fife, more than an hour away from her property in Edinburgh where she had been staying.

It comes as ministers urge the public to stay home during a long and sunny bank holiday Easter weekend.

Speaking at the daily No 10 press conference, Dominic Raab accepted it would be hard for people who had wanted to see their families over Easter, but urged restraint amid signs the measures were having an impact.

"Unfortunately right now we just can't do those sorts of things and I am really sorry about that," he said.

"It's been almost three weeks and we're starting to see the impact of the sacrifices we've all made.

"But the deaths are still rising and we haven't yet reached the peak of the virus. So it's still too early to lift the measures that we put in place.

"We must stick to the plan and we must continue to be guided by the science."

A Downing Street spokesperson told reporters on Friday morning: "The secretary of state has set out in two different statements the reason for the journeys which he made. We are confident that he complied with the social distancing rules."

Asked whether Downing Street believed there had been any wrongdoing on behalf of the minister, the spokesperson replied: "Correct."

The spokesperson added: "I think he has said that himself, his wife, and his children consider the home in Herefordshire to be his family home."

"Like everybody else ministers have been told to work from home wherever possible and not make unnecessary journeys. As part of the coronavirus response there will be occasions where ministers have no option but to work from Whitehall. In the event this is required and the rest of their household is living elsewhere, it's not an unnecessary journey for them to travel and rejoin their family. The same rules apply to ministers as they do to everyone."

Additional reporting by PA.
On Easter Sunday, at Torontos historic St. James Anglican Cathedral on King Street East, Bishop Andrew Asbil, accompanied by the church dean, an organist and a cantor will look out, not into the uplifted faces of 1,000 followers, but into the eye of a camera, livestreaming the service to the faithful in their homes.

The most difficult part is knowing that you are not gathering as a community, said the bishop, who has been broadcasting services to parishioners throughout the citywide lockdown, begun in mid-March, aimed at slowing the spread of an illness sweeping the world like a biblical plague.

It feels peculiar, like everything else about this pandemic.

Leaders of three downtown Christian congregations  St. James, St. Michaels Cathedral and Metropolitan United  are preparing for an Easter Sunday that is at once like no other, and at the same time very much like all the others  a celebration of triumph over suffering and death.

We asked them, and leaders in the Jewish and Muslim communities, how they are planning to celebrate the holiest days in their religious calendars, during a pandemic.

Easter revolves around the Christian story of the crucifixion of Jesus, the earthly son of God, and his resurrection, typically played out in a pageant of services over weeks that includes processions, alms, choirs, flowers and on Easter Sunday, churches filled to overflowing with congregants.

With everyone in the city ordered indoors, Easter will take place in churches stripped of the very core of the Easter service  the congregations, confined to their homes, waiting for the pandemic to pass. In response, hundreds of churches and temples and mosques have launched YouTube channels and are reaching out to congregants through Facebook or websites.

"The people won't be there, but the mass goes on," says Cardinal Thomas Collins of this Easter's celebrations at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church. "We never stop that." Richard Lautens

People need to know the Catholic Church is celebrating these great days to the full, said Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, who will be leading the Easter service from an empty St. Michaels Cathedral on Sunday.

St. Michaels has been broadcasting services for years, but with parishioners in pews.

The people wont be there, but the mass goes on. We never stop that.

This year, church leaders will be celebrating not only the mystical and disputed victory of life over death two millennia ago, but also the small and large victories taking place around the city: The first responders and health-care workers risking their lives on the front lines of this epidemic, the ordinary people shopping for groceries for their neighbours, the city workers still caring for the homeless. They will pray for people living alone through this long quarantine, people who have been hit hard by the loss of income, and for those who are sick, sweating through fever and struggling for breath.

For Rabbi Yossi Sapirman, of the Beth Torah Congregation in North Toronto, the parallels with Jewish Passover, which began this week, seem remarkable.

Passover is the celebration of victory over an ancient plague in Egypt, at a time when Jews were enslaved, a plague that ultimately liberated them. Told to stay indoors on the night the plague stole over Egypt and to mark the doors of their homes, Jews complied and were spared, and the next day began their exodus from Egypt and enslavement.

Southern Sinai. TIM FINLAN

The parallels are beyond astonishing  the idea that the Angel of Death is passing over us if you dont stay inside, said Sapirman.

Its a hugely meaningful Passover, because were literally on the doorstep of our own personal exodus  this is a moment were going to be able to celebrate some day.

While the rabbi is broadcasting live, he has become so lonely for his congregation that he has asked them to send in family pictures, and has pinned them to chairs and delivers his sermons to the pictures.

For Rev. Karen Jessie Bowles, interim minister of the congregation for Metropolitan United Church downtown, the phrase that has been tumbling around in her head that she hopes to use on Easter Sunday is Love in the Time of COVID-19. Its a play on Love in the Time of Cholera, a book by Nobel Prize-winning Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

I keep thinking along those lines  what does love look like in this time and what is the opportunity here for change, what does the new normal look like  will we learn anything from this?

The spire of Metropolitan United Church looms over a surrounding green space on Queen St. RICK EGLINTON

COVID-19 has thrown a spanner into the works of daily life in countries across the globe and in every major economy on earth, but it has also brought blessings, Bowles said.

Those blessings include less pollution, fewer greenhouse gases, a slower pace of life, time with family, strangers reaching out to help strangers, and appreciation for humble work and the people who carry that work out  the bus drivers and cleaners and retail workers, putting their lives on the line for less glory than medical professionals are likely to receive.

Bowles will be recording her sermon from her home, using her iPhone and a microphone she ordered from online retailer Amazon, propped on a tripod. Her prescient director of music, Patricia Wright, thought to record Easter music before people were ordered not to gather in groups. The sermon and the music will be woven together, including an excerpt from Handels Messiah and a French carol, Now the Green Blade Riseth.

Change is also in store for those looking forward to Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting and prayer, which begins April 23 or April 24, this year, depending on when the new moon is first seen.

Muslim pilgrims wear masks at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on February 27, 2020. ABDULGANI BASHEER

Days of fasting during Ramadan are typically rewarded by meals after sunset with family.

Mosques in Toronto closed March 13, cancelling weekly Friday services, and adherents are being told not to meet with family during the pandemic. Like their Christian counterparts, Muslim leaders are holding prayer meetings online, using YouTube and for smaller groups, apps like Zoom.

This is an opportunity for us to reflect and think about our relationship with God and our relationship with humanity, and to reflect on all of the bounties God has given us, said Fareed Amin, chair of the board of directors of the Islamic Institute of Toronto.

Cardinal Collins acknowledges that Easter will look different this year. In substance, it will remain the same.

We have worshipped God with extravagant beauty  music, art  that touches the heart, said Collins, of the Catholic Church.

But every year on Good Friday, we really strip it down to just the bare altar, no candles, no flowers, nothing. Now its as if every day is Good Friday. And that Good Friday has a powerful beauty of its own.
Elementary school students hold signs while watching a car parade organized by their teachers in French Valley, Calif. (Courtesy of Dawn Marie Wong)

California Communities United by Car Parades During COVID-19 Lockdown

FRENCH VALLEY, Calif.A single act of kindness goes a long way.

Michelle Jarreau, a retired nurse and stay-at-home mom, knew that her friends son, Josh, was sad. He was turning 9 on March 21, but because of stay-at-home restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he would have to celebrate alone, without a party.

So she decided to throw him a parade instead.

Rather than have Josh miss out on his birthday celebration altogether, Jarreau arranged to have a couple of friends follow her and her children in the family minivan to the boys house in French Valley, a small community in Riverside County.

As they drove by, they slid open the side door, rolled down the windows, held out signs, honked the horn, played music, sang, and threw Josh a birthday parade hell never forget.

Everybody was emotionalwe were crying, they were cryingit was very emotional, Jarreau told The Epoch Times.

A few days later, one of the other children in the same friend circle had a birthday, Jarreau said. And we thought, How fun to do it for her too! And this time, the parade was a couple cars bigger.

Soon, what began for children and was expected to be a couple here or there, according to Jarreau, exploded and turned into over 100 people.

Then, we started getting more and more requests, Jarreau added.

That single act of kindness spawned a movementexpanding to more than 70 community parades and bringing smiles of joy to hundreds of familiesuntil Riverside County issued an amended order on April 5 that reinforced the states stay-at-home mandate, shutting the processions down.

From birthdays to anniversaries to school celebrations, Jarreaus drive-by car parades served to unite Southern California communities during a time when residents needed it mostand inspired a group of dedicated teachers to hold car parades of their own for the students they miss so much.

A Movement Is Born

When Joshs happy family shared his birthday video on social media, people noticed.

My friends kind of shared their videos, and things like that, Jarreau said. And really quickly, they had 1,500 views or things like that.

People were commenting on how special that was  because people within the friend circle had kind of experienced it firsthand. I was like, Hey guys, what do you think if we just kind of do this for the community?

Before long, requests for parades were coming from nearby Hemet, Murrieta, and Temecula, and expanded to include anniversaries and adult birthdays. There were so many that Jarreau began to track them on Google Docs.

When she shared the document on Facebook, it garnered a significant amount of signups.

Every morning, she would send a map of the days starting point to a group of participating French Valley residents. Each paradewhich averaged eight to 12 carswould take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, and last two to three miles. There would be as many as nine stops each day.

People would show up, said Jarreau. People from our church came, and people from the community came. Weve had as many as 14 cars in the caravan.

The car paraders werent shy about making their presence known, either.

You know were coming, she said. We make a lot of noise.

They even had a karaoke machine and a microphone, which they used to sing Happy Birthday through the car speakers.

My family kept the dry erase board in the car, and every house, we would write that childs name on the dry erase board and hold it out the window, Jarreau said.

Neighborhoods were greeted with car hornseach blaring a different notecoupled with loud birthday music that brought smiles to the faces of many residents.

A car parade participant waves to the crowd during a parade of teachers in French Valley, Calif. (Courtesy of Darlene Dormanen)

A Smiling 8-Year-Old

One of those residents is Zayra Allbritton, whose son turned 8 on April 1.

We were fortunate to have a birthday parade for my son, Allbritton told The Epoch Times.

It touched my heart, how our community came together and made it so special in such uncertain times. Even the firefighters and his teacher at FV [French Valley Elementary School] came!

She said, I told whoever organized these parades that they really brought so much hope and joy, even for a day. That is exactly what we need in these times.

Allbritton said she and her son stopped counting after seeing 20 cars roll past their house.

My son Andrews reaction was, Wow! Mom, all of these people are here for me? That is so awesome, best birthday ever!

He was so excited, and jumping up and down, Allbritton recalled. I had happy tears coming down.

Life for the Albritton family has been challenging in quarantine, especially with Zayras military husband being deployed to Guam. Andrew misses his father, and came close to missing his birthday, too.

But this particular act of kindness brought the community together, and restored some hope.

A Very Special Anniversary

Fourteen years ago, on April 2, Anthony Hildebrand proposed to his then-girlfriend, Karen.

I was the office manager at a doctors office, and the doctors came up to me and told me that there was a really unhappy patient in one of the rooms that wanted to speak with me, Karen Hildebrand told The Epoch Times.

She walked in nervously to find her future husband standing there.

And I think the first words out of my mouth were, Oh my gosh, Im going to vomit! she said. The next word out of her mouth was a jubilant Yes.

Karens husbanda 17-year first responderis captain of the local fire department in their French Valley neighborhood, where theyve lived for six years. The couple have four young sons, the oldest of whom is 13.

The Hildebrand family stands in front of the family RV, where first responder Anthony self-isolates, in French Valley, Calif. (Courtesy of Karen Hildebrand/Stood Still Photography)

Three weeks ago, because of the pandemic protocols of all emergency personnel in the county, Anthony chose to self-isolate in the familys Jayco RV, parked in front of their home, as a safety precaution. Their oldest son has a heart condition and the youngest was born prematurely with respiratory issues.

The adjustment hasnt been easy for Karen and her sons, who are used to having a very involved father who helps with cooking and cleaning.

Its been hard not having him around, she said, fighting back tears. We only visit with him outside.

Every year, the couple spends their anniversary enjoying special dinner dates and romantic weekend getaways. But this year would have to be different, due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

Karen knew she needed to be creative, if she wanted to make her husband feel loved on the first anniversary they would spend physically apart. So, she reached out to Jarreau.

Jarreau, who until then had only organized birthday parades, immediately agreed to help. A mother of four herself, shes also married to a nurse who currently works on the front lines of relief efforts, in a correctional facility that houses COVID-19 patients.

On April 2, nearly a dozen community members drove by the Hildebrands home to wish the couple a happy 14th anniversary, honking their horns and playing music. Each car was uniquely decorated, including some with streamers, while others had homemade signs plastered on the doors.

They drove up and down the street, the pavement lined with rose petals.

She was sending me pictures of her own familyof signs that they were makingand it was making me tear up, because it was very, very sweet, Karen Hildebrand said.

Karens sister, who is spending lockdown with Karen to help out with the kids, also took part in the parade.

So, she took all of my kids and participated as well, without telling, Karen said, with a laugh. So it was really sweet that they drove by too, and we had a couple of friends who drove by with them.  It was really sweet.

Anthony was confused when he heard the couples favorite songs blaring from down the street. Then, he heard the pairs honeymoon song, The World, by Brad Paisley.

Then he realized it was for us, and he was really surprised, said Karen. And grateful.

The couple, which had been separated by social distancing, was able to enjoy a special anniversary together after all.

Teachers Organize Wave Parade for Students

I miss the smiles on those precious faces, kindergarten teacher Kristi Robinson told The Epoch Times.

We were able to go back in our classroom and grab a couple of things real quick, one last time, first-grade teacher Darlene Dormanen added. Its like my room is frozen in time the day that I left it, thinking I was gonna be back.

An excited student holds up a sign at a car parade organized by his teachers in French Valley, Calif. (Courtesy of Darlene Dormanen)

Teacher Brittni Rowland said she misses seeing those lightbulb moments from her students. She told The Epoch Times that shes trying to replicate those moments online, and its heartwarming at timesbut just not the same.

These teachers all wanted to do something that would remind their students how much they care, and how much they miss them. After seeing other car processions in the community, the teachers decided to begin holding parades for their students.

On April 1, teachers from both French Valley and Susan LaVorgna Elementary Schools began their expeditions through the French Valley neighborhoods.

Flyers, phone calls, and online announcements were made ahead of time, so that students would be able to create greeting signs for their teachers.

Families waited up to an hour on their front driveways to wave to their teachers.

We had 45 cars in our parade that were all decorated with posters, balloons, and streamers, said Robinson, who added she thinks she needed the parade more than they [the students] did.

I was very emotional during the parade, she said. Seeing my current students and their families holding signs and yelling how much they miss me brought me to tears.

Teachers drove by and yelled, We miss you!waving out of their sunroofs and windowsas kids waved back and held up their signs.

Robinson said she even saw students she had taught in the past, even some who are now in high school, holding signs saying they miss and love me!

One of those former students, Jesse Moritz, is now a senior in high school. He found his fifth-grade class T-shirt from French Valley Elementary and squeezed into it for the parade. He said nobody believed that he had kept the shirt all these years.

Its kind of nice to be like, Oh, theres still people that care about you, and I think that these people that havent seen me in, you know, 10 to 12 years now, still look out for us, he told The Epoch Times.

And still care about usit was just really nice to know that youre not alone in this journey.

The stay-at-home restrictions also have led to the cancellation of all the rite-of-passage activities reserved for graduating seniors.

One of those activities is the Walk of Distinction, a day when seniors return to their elementary schools and take one last stroll through the halls they grew up in, symbolizing the end of a chapter.

We were supposed to walk the halls with all the kindergarten through fifth graders in there, just to say hi and hello to all of our teachers from when we had them, Moritz said. It was like a whole-day event, and obviously with everything going on, we cant do that anymore.

The car parade, in a sense, replaced that opportunity for Moritz. He said he saw almost all of his elementary school teachers passing by.

It was definitely just a reality hit, he said. Also, kind of a motivation. Like, Well, like, you made it this far, keep going.

Parent Perla Aguilar said her three children were very excited to see all of their teachersand more, including staff.

It was really nice to see that the principal was there too, she told The Epoch Times. Having their vans and their cars decorated made it even more exciting.

She added: They put a lot of work into it, so that was really nice. Its a beautiful experience, because who would have thought? I wish every year it happened.

It just was really heartwarming and it showed me how much my kids love me, Rowland said. But me being out there also showed them how much I appreciate and love them too.

Dormanen, whos been teaching for 21 years and is currently at Susan LaVorgna Elementary, said the parade was really heartwarming, and really a little sad.

It was just really sweet to, just to see everybody, and to kind of make a connection, even though it was still a little distant, she said, holding back tears.

At the end of the year, she usually creates a memory book, where she takes a photo with all of her first-graders. But this year, she said, the photo would just be of her alone.

Still, she thought of calling her students parents and requesting photos of the children learning online, because someday well look back on it, she said.

Children hold signs at a car parade organized by teachers in French Valley, Calif. (Courtesy of Darlene Dormanen)

When they do, theyll see what a year first grade was. Definitely something out of the ordinary theyll never forget, she added.

What they may remember mostwhat many people in the area may remember mostwill likely be the way the community rose together in the spirit and camaraderie of these homegrown parades to celebrate life at a time when it was surely needed most.

On April 5, when Riverside County issued an amended order that strictly prohibited all gatherings and nonessential travel, Jarreau sadly announced the suspension of all birthday parades until further notice, citing the desire to comply with the communitys safety regulations.

I want to extend a huge thank you to all of the families that have come out to join our birthday parade the last several weeks! she wrote on Facebook.

For the 70-plus families we had the honor of doing a parade for, we thank you for the honor of being part of your special dayyour parade was the highlight of our day!

For many who felt fortunate to share the experience, the feeling was mutual.
As business stagnates during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies in VIetnam predict major reductions in revenue

Indochina Research in collaboration with the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam has prepared the latest report on the impacts of COVID-19 on businesses. The results of the survey come from 116 companies operating in various fields in Vietnam. The survey was conducted from March 25 to April 3, 2020.

Accordingly, all respondents anticipate a loss in revenue. Half of them believe the loss could represent at least 30 per cent this year. Among the problems arising from the crisis, international mobility and cash flow are the most frequently mentioned. Large firms are mostly impacted by procurement limitations.

Given the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis, all respondents have implemented a number of measures to protect their employees and adjust their activity. Remote working (74 per cent), cancelling business trips (70 per cent), and enforcing prevention measures (50 per cent) are the main ones.

If staff dismissal measures are now taken by only a few companies (17 per cent), almost half are already considering some potential layoffs. The higher intentions of layoff are in the service sector like tourism, retail, and business services.

According to the survey, 68 per cent of companies are facing high risks of order delays or cancellations. Meanwhile, 60 per cent of companies face some cash flow problems and the survival of one-third is at stake.

About half of the respondents consider cash flows to be a threat to their company in the coming three months and 10 per cent are facing issues in the very short term (1 month).

The anticipated need for cash flow is 10 million ($10.95 million) by the end of June, growing to 20 million ($21.9 million) by the end of 2020.

The measures considered of the highest interest are delays or cancellation of PIT, VAT, SI, and CIT. Teh cancellation of PIT would indeed benefit both employers and employees by supporting the economy with increased consumption once the activity restarts.
Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday afternoon announced $450 million in loans for Pennsylvania hospitals.

It comes a day after Pennsylvania hospitals asked for an emergency fund. The Hospital & Health System Association of Pennsylvania said the financial infusion is needed to offset the costs of preparing for COVID-19 patients and cancelation of elective surgeries.

Overall hospital revenues are down 40% and the states hospitals are losing $1.5-2 billion per month as the result of canceled elective surgeries intended to conserve beds and other resources for COVID-19 patients, HAP CEO Andy Carter said.

Wolf acknowledged the financial strain on Friday and said hospitals continue to add beds and prepare for more COVID-19 patients. He said they must be also to do so without facing financial ruin.

HAP said the loans will be helpful in addressing some of the short-term needs of facilities across the state. Still, HAP noted the monthly loss and said, This is why we will continue to advocate for an all-hands-on-deck approach to make sure that our health care system remains financially stable and can remain fully functional to treat every patient who needs carein the short term and after the crisis ends.

The loans were authorized Friday during an emergency meeting of the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority. Officials described the aid as low-interest, short-term loans that will be available immediately. They said the federal government is expected to deliver funds for the same purpose, but its unknown when will arrive, and the states hospitals cant afford to wait.

We cannot allow any of our hospitals to go bankrupt, Wolf said.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
A group of people who flew to southern France in a private jet from the UK have been turned away by police due coronavirus restrictions, according to local media.

Seven men aged between 40 to 50, and three women in their twenties, were reportedly onboard and hoping to go to a villa in Cannes last weekend.

Authorities had not given the jet permission to land before it touched ground at the Marseille Provenance airport, according to French media.

None of the group  who were Croatian, German, French, Romanian and Ukrainian  had a valid reason for travelling to the area during the coronavirus pandemic, according to BFM TV.

Three luxury helicopters were waiting for them on the tarmac to make the journey to the villa, the head of Marseille-Provenances border police told local media.

He told news channel La Chaine Info police refused to let the group onto French territory.

Most of the group have reportedly flown back to the UK, while one of their party is thought to have taken a private jet to Germany.

The French government has placed strict limits on movement in a bid to tackle the spread of the virus, with people only allowed to travel if it is deemed essential.

The public have been ordered to stay at home unless it is for a list of reasons, for example to get groceries or go to work where homeworking is not possible.

Christophe Castaner, the interior minister, has praised the French public for respecting lockdown measures, saying last week he thought the country was one of the best in the world at following the rules.

More than 13,100 people have died after testing positive for the virus in France, according to official figures.

On Friday, the health ministry said 7,004 people were in intensive care after a drop of nearly 1 per cent from the day before.

We seem to be reaching a plateau, albeit a high level, Jerome Salomon, the health ministry director, said.

Additional reporting by Reuters
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Yes, Theyre Open" is a new web series highlighting local bars and restaurants that are still open for takeout, delivery or pickup during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Live streams from the featured restaurants are broadcast on the Advance Facebook page every weekday around 3 p.m.

On Friday, the Advance featured Harvest Cafe in New Dorp, a restaurant serving breakfast and lunch comfort food daily from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The restaurant has switched its typical dine-in experience to a pickup and delivery model.

Harvest Cafe, run by A Very Special Place, employs developmentally disabled Staten Islanders and gives them opportunities to develop skills after graduating from high school.

YES, THEYRE OPEN: Harvest Cafe, located at 694 New Dorp Lane, is open for pick up and delivery. Hours are 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily (closed Easter) Posted by Staten Island Advance on Friday, April 10, 2020

Harvest Cafe is located at 694 New Dorp Lane and can be reached at 347-857-6888. For a full look a the menu, visit harvestcafe-si.org.

Staten Island restaurant owners: If you would like your establishment featured for free as part of Yes, Theyre Open, email reporter Victoria Priola at vpriola@siadvance.com.

For a full list of restaurants and bars that are still open for takeout, delivery and curbside pickup, click here.

YES, THEYRE OPEN: Harvest Cafe, located at 694 New Dorp Lane, is open for pick up and delivery. Hours are 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily (closed Easter) Posted by Staten Island Advance on Friday, April 10, 2020

MORE ON YES, THEYRE OPEN

Tropical Smoothie Cafe, 1650 Richmond Ave., 1407 Forest Ave. and 7001 Amboy Road.

Kings Arms Diner, 500 Forest Ave.

Giovannis Trattoria, 3800 Richmond Ave.

Reggianos, 7339 Amboy Road.

Beso, 11 Schuyler St.

Blue, 1115 Richmond Terrace.

In Fine Fettle, 961 Jewett Ave.

West Shore Inn, 3955 Victory Blvd.

Better Gourmet Health Kitchen, 2333 Hylan Blvd., 400 Forest Ave., 4077 Victory Blvd. and 877 Huguenot Ave.

Campania Coal Fired Pizza, 3900 Richmond Ave.

Call It A Wrap, 1198 Forest Ave.

Beans and Leaves, 422 Forest Ave.
Phone apps and other technology are proving to be a key way for countries to come out of coronavirus lockdown  but also pose privacy and civil rights threats that could linger long after the crisis has passed, experts have warned.

Such technology has already proved central to responses to the threat from coronavirus. Almost as soon as the alarm was sounded, authorities turned to technology, initially using it to begin contact tracing, working out who had been within reach of an infected person and how the disease may have spread.

In the future, as restrictions lift and lockdowns come to an end, the use of technology may mean downloading an app that will coordinate the response and should help stem the spread of coronavirus even as people go back out into society. Suggestions have included everything from virtual immunity passports to allow people to go outside and anonymous trackers that would alert a person if they had been within the presence of another person who may have been infected with coronavirus, to more authoritarian solutions like apps that could chastise or even report their users if their location data shows them spending too much time outside.

The visions proposed by technologists for countries like the UK  and already adopted in some form by other places  is that in the months to come, as lockdown lifts, our movements and networks could be governed by technology. Citizens will move back to something like normality, the hope is, but may sometimes be buzzed to say that their phone has been in contact with another phone that belongs to an anonymous person suspected to have Covid-19  and that they should stay indoors.

Such solutions will require access to peoples most personal data  their location, their health history, and that of their friends  if it is to be successful. The world could face a profound trade-off between the privacy of that data and the speed with which they are able to go back to normal and be forced to choose between the efficacy of such technology and the protection of the information it relies on.

As Covid-19 became more prevalent, and the nature of the pandemic changed, so did the nature of the data and technology that is likely to prove most useful to authorities. Instead of individual interactions, the focus has moved instead to patterns in the population, such as the tracking and enforcement of social distancing measures that attempt to slow the spread of the disease.

But perhaps the most lasting effects will come in the later phases, which are still some time away in the UK but can be previewed in other countries across the world. There, contact tracing once again comes into play  as authorities attempt to stem the spread of the disease in the world once more  and to enforce the more long-term rules as citizens emerge from lockdown.

It is during that time that technology could prove central in allowing people to leave their houses, by allowing authorities to track peoples movements and enforce any restrictions that are required to let them leave lockdown safely. Such technology has already been hailed as part of the reason for the success of countries like South Korea in leaving lockdown quickly and with relatively little reinfection.

In China, for instance, leaving the house after weeks of lockdown is reliant on having the right app with the right information. The apps display specific codes  red, yellow or green  and only those with the right colour are able to enter restaurants, get on public transport or move between different places.

But leaving lockdown could also be the time when those surveillance plans are extended into the future, leading human rights groups to warn that it could lead to a power grab from governments that could leave the world with more surveillance and less privacy than before. The solution relied on by countries with questionable human rights records, from China to Turkey, has allowed people some measure of freedom from lockdown  but has also prompted fears about the kinds of data that it is gathering about its users.

The wave of surveillance were seeing is truly unprecedented, even surpassing how governments across the world responded to 9/11, said Edin Omanovic, advocacy director of Privacy International.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

The laws, powers, and technologies being deployed around the world pose a grave and long-term threat to human freedom. Some measures are based on public health measures with significant protections, while others amount to little more than opportunistic power grabs.

Privacy International also noted that the ongoing disputes about surveillance and security have stemmed the ability of governments to introduce such measures. If officials had paid more attention to questions of legality and privacy before the crisis, citizens would be more likely to have confidence in how the measures would be deployed.

Its researchers have also argued that any abuse of power during this time could actually lead to problems in fighting the virus. For people to lose faith in the government and health authorities at this time, through being subjected to intrusive and unnecessary surveillance, will only serve to damage efforts to fight this virus, senior researcher Tom Fisher told the BBC, after Russia rolled out an app that took access to users location, camera, phone storage and more to track them and ensure they didnt leave their house if they were possibly infected with the virus.

In the UK, the question of how exactly to deploy those measures ahead of any possibility of lockdown is still being asked, and politicians have been keen to stress that both the timing and the nature of any loosening of lockdown is still unclear. But what is certain is that authorities will rely on technological solutions to safely navigate the ending of lockdown, as the rest of the world has.

One proposed solution, which has already gone into effect in countries ranging from Russia to China in different forms, is to use phones to register people who may have Covid-19, and then watch for who they are in contact with. If a phones Bluetooth connection registers another device that belongs to someone who has the disease, for instance, then it would alert them that they should stay indoors. (The phone would wait a short while and not show any identifying information about the person, preserving the anonymity of the infected person.)

The hope is that all of solutions created by companies across the world could eventually be integrated together, allowing the data to be shared so that citizens can more easily move across borders.

NHSX  the new part of the heart service tasked with developing and integrating new technology into the NHS  has confirmed that it is exploring such an app, though no details and has not indicated whether it could be interoperable with other countries solutions. NHSX is looking at whether app-based solutions might be helpful in tracking and managing coronavirus, and we have assembled expertise from inside and outside the organisation to do this as rapidly as possible, a spokesperson said.

Though NHSX has denied that it is developing an app that could be used for enforcement, a run of stories have led to fears that it could be used for more invasive strategies. In late March, a vast host of privacy researchers, technologists and ethicists signed an open letter that voiced concern that the NHS may cut ethical corners and was being insufficiently transparent about its work.

These are testing times, but they do not call for untested new technologies, the letter concluded. Ethical data-driven decision-making requires good governance, transparency and willingness to course correct.

The same researchers also worried that the new surveillance tools could be combined with other increased powers for immigration officers and police that are part of the emergency Coronavirus Act. That gives authorities the ability to detain people if they have reasonable grounds to suspect they are infectious  which they warned could be combined with existing far-reaching data-gathering powers as a means of social control.

While much of the discussion of solutions to the coronavirus crisis and exiting lockdown have focused on voluntary measures such as apps, it might be possible for governments to track their citizens without their consent or even their knowledge. Telecoms networks, phone companies and tech services all gather a variety of personal data such as peoples location, and that could easily be gathered and passed on to governments for tracking or even enforcement.

Rumours have also suggested that both NSO and Palantir, for instance, have been pitching for business with the NHS. Both are private companies that have been criticised for their work on private surveillance, and the very suggestion that they could be involved in the NHSs plans led to denunciations from the Open Rights Group and others.

In response, privacy groups have called for protections that will allow the public to trust that the technological responses to the crisis are not also used to undermine their civil rights.

This extraordinary crisis requires extraordinary measures, but it also demands extraordinary protections, said Mr Omanovic from Privacy International. It would be incredibly short-sighted to allow efforts to save lives to instead destroy our societies.

Even now, governments can choose to deploy measures in ways that are lawful, build public trust, and respect peoples wellbeing. Now more than ever, governments must choose to protect their citizens rather than their own tools of control.

Last week, groups from across civil society and around the world called on governments to ensure that any technological solutions to the coronavirus pandemic must meet a range of different conditions.

They included a commitment that surveillance measures were lawful and necessary, that they must be limited only to the ongoing pandemic, and that peoples data is protected from abuse. The joint statement also asked governments to ensure they address the risk that using technologies like big data and artificial intelligence could lead to discrimination and other abuses against marginalised populations such as racial minorities and those living in poverty.

More than 100 human rights groups signed the letter, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a range of journalism groups.

Technology can play an important role in the global effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, however, this does not give governments carte blanche to expand digital surveillance, said Rasha Abdul Rahim, deputy director of Amnesty Tech.

The recent past has shown governments are reluctant to relinquish temporary surveillance powers. We must not sleepwalk into a permanent expanded surveillance state.

Increased digital surveillance to tackle this public health emergency can only be used if certain strict conditions are met. Authorities cannot simply disregard the right to privacy and must ensure any new measures have robust human rights safeguards.

Wherever governments use the power of technology as part of their strategy to beat Covid-19, they must do so in a way that respects human rights.

In the UK, the government has the questionable advantage of being able to look to other countries and their approaches. They can serve as an example of the kind of technologies that could prove useful  but also the dangers that might be inherent in relying on them to keep people safe.

Singapore, for instance, had previously been hailed as a shining success in coming out of lockdown. Strict rules for surveillance and quarantine helped contain the disease when it first spread from China in January, and the lockdowns appeared to have worked so well that in recent weeks people have been allowed back out of their houses and into something more closely resembling normal life.

One of the central reasons for that success was the countrys contact-tracing app, known as TraceTogether. It kept privacy concerns at bay with a host of different measures, including keeping any data encrypted, restraining what data the app could access from a users phone, and largely keeping information secured with users rather than sending it to the government.

But after Singapore continued to relax its lockdown this week infections surged once again, in a stark reminder of the degree to which coronavirus appears to be easier to contain than it is to eradicate.
A New Ross woman living in Australia has written of how much she misses her family in a letter which featrued in the Irish Independent Lockdown Letters series.

Laura Hennessy has been living been in Sydney for 24 years. She wrote: 'I have travelled home every year since to visit close family and friends, sometimes twice a year. I have found the great distance between Ireland and Sydney quite difficult over the years but never moreso than now. It is surreal. Our lives are a constant whirlwind of activities with the children, It never stops. Until now. My husband and I and our young children aged 12 and 9 are in lockdown. My career as an artist is on hold as all my upcoming markets and fairs have been cancelled. So far, our children are pretty resilient. There have been on-the-spot fines of AUS $1,000 for people out walking with those not from the same household, so we take each child for a very quick daily walk, one parent and child at a time, avoiding anyone on the streets - there's usually no one. Whilst it has been incredibly difficult, there are parts of it that have actually been good for us. We are learning to slow down, be together more without always rushing to the next activity, being more in the moment. We have no other choice. We are incredibly grateful for what we actually do have. We know it could be a lot worse.

'Whilst my family and I normally keep in touch with lengthy WhatsApp conversations, recently we have had more Facetime contact and it really has made me smile. My cousins recently accidentally drunk dialled me in on a Facetime call and I laughed for days!

'Underneath it all, I silently worry though that I won't get home in case of an emergency.

'My grandmother Loretta Dooley (103) is in a community hospital in New Ross and we thought we might go home for her birthday in July. That's no longer an option. If anything happens to her, or indeed any one of my friends or family, I will not be able to say goodbye the Irish way. Having already received bad news over the years and made that incredibly difficult journey home, I know I will struggle with that.

All that I keep saying to myself is one day at a time and this too will pass. My heart is torn and my feet are still in two places. We are living history.'
DENVER, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2019, RE/MAX affiliates in the U.S. and Canada donated $9.8 million to Children's Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals, bringing the grand total of donations in the 28 years since the partnership began to more than $160 million.

The RE/MAX Miracle Home Program, where many agents make a donation after a closed transaction, is the cornerstone of the partnership between RE/MAX and CMN Hospitals. Agents also raise funds in a variety of other ways, including organizing live auctions and hosting community festivals.

"Great things happen when we work together," said Mike Reagan, RE/MAX Senior Vice President of Industry Relations and Global Growth & Development. "These funds help hospitals offer comfort, treatment and hope to each of the nine million children in North America who visits a CMN Hospital each year. This fundraising milestone is a testament to the passion our agents have for CMN Hospitals' mission to change kids' health to change the future."

The announcement rounds out #ChildrensHospitalsWeek, an annual campaign to raise awareness of the critical and often lifesaving medical care provided by local children's hospitals. As healthcare workers at children's hospitals put themselves on the frontlines to keep patients safe during the coronavirus outbreak, financial support has never been more important. CMN Hospitals worked with corporate partners to take the movement online after the in-person event was cancelled in Orlando, Florida.

RE/MAX participated through a variety of activations:

Two Miracle Children appeared in takeovers of the @REMAX Instagram account. Aubrey shared a makeup tutorial for the perfect virtual tour, and Vinny shared ways to stay busy and have fun while staying home.

The four-part "Home" video series reminded RE/MAX agents of the power their donations have to transform lives.

RE/MAX agent Anna Gilsinger from Indiana shared her personal story behind why she supports CMN Hospitals.

from shared her personal story behind why she supports CMN Hospitals. Reminding followers of the risk coronavirus poses to immunocompromised children, RE/MAX agents shared graphics on social media as part of CMN Hospitals' "Who Do You Stay Home For?" campaign.

To help provide emotional care to patients during social distancing, RE/MAX, LLC employees recorded themselves reading children's books for patients of Children's Hospital Colorado.

"The goal of content on RE/MAX social media channels right now is to inspire and uplift our audiences," said Kerry McGovern, Vice President of Communications for RE/MAX. "A message of hope has never been more important, and that's exactly what CMN Hospitals offer the patients in their care. We're proud to support their incredible work through this campaign."

Learn more about the RE/MAX and CMN Hospitals Partnership on RE/MAX News.

About the RE/MAX Network

As one of the leading global real estate franchisors, RE/MAX, LLC is a subsidiary of RE/MAX Holdings (NYSE: RMAX) with over 130,000 agents in more than 110 countries and territories. Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX, as measured by residential transaction sides. Dedicated to innovation and change in the real estate industry, RE/MAX launched Motto Mortgage, a ground-breaking mortgage franchisor, in 2016 and acquired booj, a real estate technology company, in 2018. RE/MAX agents have lived, worked and served in their local communities for decades, raising millions of dollars every year for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and other charities. To learn more about RE/MAX, to search home listings or find an agent in your community, please visit www.remax.com. For the latest news about RE/MAX, please visit news.remax.com.

SOURCE RE/MAX, LLC
New Delhi, April 10 : The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Friday wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah, expressing concerns over rising incidents of assaults on healthcare workers. It has demanded to bring a central legislation to deal strictly with such issues.

In the letter to the Home Minister, the IMA said: "The need to strengthen 23 state laws is becoming clear every day. IMA once again points out that a central legislation under item 1 and 2 of concurrent list ie IPC and CrPC are absolutely essential to deal with such situations. Kindly consider our plea." Speaking to IANS, IMA President Dr Rajan Sharma said: "It is extremely sad that many such cases are coming into light these days from states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh etc. The Indore incident was very well highlighted in the media. There was an incident near Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi where two young lady doctors were accosted and abused physically and verbally by an assailant who blamed them for the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. There was a group of people who remained silent as if they concurred with them." Sharma also said that there was a need to fulfill a long-standing demand to bring a central legislation in order to deal with such matters.

"It is good that the Delhi Police has taken action in that (Safdarjung) matter but the moot question remains how long such abuses be tolerated especially amidst a pandemic? Doctors, nurses and health care workers have been risking their health to save others. The Prime Minister has condemned such violence twice." Sharma told IANS that such incidents are increasing and there is lack of good deterrence in law for dealing with such incidents. "Morale of the medical and allied healthcare workers is vital to fight the current epidemic. Such demoralising incidents have to stop. We once again demand an ordinance against violence on Doctors nurses , health care workers and hospitals," he said.

(Sfoorti Mishra can be contacted at sfoorti.m@ians.in)
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday about the coronavirus and energy markets, the White House said.

President Trump and President Putin discussed the latest efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and maintain stability in global energy markets. The two leaders also covered critical bilateral and global issues, according to White House spokesman Judd Deere.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Kuzma/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- As the COVID-19 crisis spread from China to Europe throughout February, there was growing concern that an outbreak in the U.S. was on the horizon. One glaring vulnerability was coming into focus -- there were not enough masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment to meet the potential need.



Craven R. Casper of Washington, D.C., a self-described "successful American author, businessman and entrepreneur" saw an opportunity, according to court records, quickly creating a business to sell "N-95 masks, surgical masks, hand sanitizer, and other personal protection equipment."



Casper registered a website on Feb. 24 that purported to sell PPE and provide a way for customers to make donations to the "Global Coronavirus Relief Fund" for sending needed supplies like masks, face shields, goggles and virus neutralization solution to hospitals in China and other areas affected by the outbreak, according to court records.



But according to federal prosecutors, Casper is a "professional fraudster."



Despite the growing worldwide demand for protective gear, Caspers website claimed scarce N-95 masks were "in stock." He engaged in more than 140 customer transactions in a matter of weeks valued at almost $9,000, all paid in advance by credit card, prosecutors said.



But by mid-March, customer complaints began to pile up as urgent orders for masks went unfilled. At least 24 customers filed complaints with their credit companies, according to court records. Soon, federal agents from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were on the case.



Casper has been in trouble with federal officials before. Postal Inspectors had searched his D.C. luxury apartment last October as part of an earlier fraud investigation. On March 12, Casper pleaded guilty to a single count in that case involving filing fraudulent tax returns in 16 different states and 47 fraudulently obtained tax refunds valued at nearly $200,000.



While on release in that case and awaiting sentencing, Casper continued stealing from customers in his newest scheme, withdrawing money from his account while failing to provide refunds to customers whose orders for masks were never fulfilled, according to prosecutors.



Prosecutors said Casper is a seven-time felon, citing his previous convictions in North Carolina for stealing and then selling restaurant equipment and his guilty plea last month. But as agents searched his apartment last week for this most recent allegation of fraud, prosecutors say they found evidence of more crimes, including alleged unemployment benefits fraud.



Postal inspectors also found what they said is a false reimbursement claim made by Casper to the U.S. Postal Service for a package of N95 masks listed as missing that was found in Caspers apartment.



Casper was arrested last Friday and was ordered held without bond after the government argued "there are absolutely no conditions of release that will ensure that Casper does not continue to defraud people."



Caspers attorney, Shelli Peterson, declined to comment for this story.



Just as an alleged COVID-19-related scam got him arrested, the spread of the disease through the D.C. jail weighed heavily on whether he would be released pending trial. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta noted there have been 37 people who have tested positive for COVID-19, that number growing by nine in the past 24 hours.



"I really think its a hard call. Under any other circumstances, I would not hesitate to detain Mr. Casper for what I think are new law violations," Mehta said.



Caspers attorney told the court he suffered from heart disease, high blood pressure and has asthma, and possible exposure to COVID-19 could put him at risk.



Mehta said the prosecution's characterization of Casper as "a serial fraudster" was "apt," but that "even serial fraudsters should not be exposed to conditions that present a very real risk to their health and their safety and their life."



Casper was ordered placed on home detention under supervision of his former girlfriend, confined to his luxury apartment with GPS monitoring and no access to phones or computers pending sentencing in his first fraud case and trial for his latest case.



In 2017, he filed a 367-page federal lawsuit against Comcast, NBC Universal and Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels claiming copyright infringement for use of the phrase "Randy Candy" in a skit. "Randy Candy" is the name of a trademarked name of a novelty apparel clothing line owned by Casper, which includes underwear with an image bearing the likeness of Casper holding a hobo sack full of money. He claimed he was entitled to more than $20 million damages, but a federal judge thought otherwise, dismissing the suit last month.



Copyright  2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Several US departments are urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke China Telecom (Americas) Corps authorisation to provide international telecommunications services to and from the United States.

This recommendation reflects the substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecoms continued access to US telecommunications infrastructure, the group of departments, including State, Justice, Defence, Homeland Security and Commerce, as well as the United States Trade Representative, said in a filing to the FCC on Thursday.

The call came as the FCC continues its review of China Telecom, an inquiry that began last year. The US subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned telecommunications company has held the license to provide services in the US since 2007.

Last May, the FCC voted unanimously to deny the request of another state-owned Chinese telecommunications company, China Mobile, to provide services in the United States. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said after that vote that the commission had determined China Mobile is controlled by the Chinese government.

The statement on Thursday cited risks that the Chinese government could use the FCCs approval to conduct espionage against the US government.

A woman walks past a China Mobile store in Beijing in August 2014. Photo: AFP

Chinas telecommunications companies have come under heightened scrutiny by the US. Last year, lawmakers urged an FCC review of China Telecom and another Chinese telecommunications company, China Unicom.

Also last year, the Trump administration placed Huawei Technologies  the Chinese telecoms company that is the global leader in next-generation 5G technology, on an entity list and barred it from buying critical components from its American suppliers.

The US has also urged other governments around the world to exclude Huawei from developing their 5G infrastructure, citing national security risks.

In Thursdays filing, the departments contended that the Chinese government has ultimate ownership and control of China Telecom and the companys US operations.

Story continues

Such ownership might allow Chinese government entities to engage in malicious cyber activity enabling economic espionage and disruption and misrouting of US communications and provide opportunities for increased Chinese government-sponsored economic espionage, according to the filing.

The departments also contended in their filing that China Telecom had made inaccurate statements about where its US records were stored, and that it had made inaccurate statements to US customers about its cybersecurity and privacy practices that may fall short of complying with US law.

On Wednesday, the FCC agreed to allow Alphabet unit Google to use part of a US-Asia undersea telecommunications cable.

Google agreed to operate only a portion of the 12,900km (8,000-mile) Pacific Light Cable Network System between the United States and Taiwan, but not Hong Kong. Google and Facebook helped pay for construction of the now completed telecommunications link, but US regulators have blocked its use.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department said US agencies believe there is a significant risk that the grant of a direct cable connection between the United States and Hong Kong would seriously jeopardise the national security and law enforcement interests of the United States.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Sign up now and get a 10% discount (original price US$400) off the China AI Report 2020 by SCMP Research. Learn about the AI ambitions of Alibaba, Baidu & JD.com through our in-depth case studies, and explore new applications of AI across industries. The report also includes exclusive access to webinars to interact with C-level executives from leading China AI companies (via live Q&A sessions). Offer valid until 31 May 2020.

More from South China Morning Post:

This article China Telecom should be banned from operating in US, departments say first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
Two dedicated



Covid-19 hospitals with a combined bed strength of 350 were made operational in Odisha on Friday.

With the inauguration of the two facilities, Odisha has made 10 such hospitals to treat cornavirus patients, and the total bed capacity of the hospitals set up exclusively for treatment of patients with coronavirus infection has gone up to 1,950, officials said.

Of the two hospitals inaugurated on Friday, one facility is in Ganjam district while the second is in Jajpur district.

The facility at Tata Steel Medica with a bed strength of 200 is located at Sitalapalli near here in Ganjam district.

Inaugurating the facility through video-conference, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik praised the Ganjam district administration for readying the hospital in record time.

The hospital to be managed by Tata Care and funded by Tata Steel will have 15 beds in the Intensive Care Unit(ICU).

District collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said, the number of beds in the ICU would be increased to 20 in next ten days.

As many as 16 doctors and 70 staff, including nurses and paramedics from the government-run MKCG Medical College and Hospital, will manage the facility.

Besides the ICU, the hospital will have isolation wards with 40 beds and 140 general beds.

A Covid-19 patient will be first admited to the isolation ward for preliminary treatment and then shifted to the general ward. Patients in serious condition will be shifted to the critical care unit, he said.

Meanwhile, Jajpur district administration dedicated a 150-bed facility at the transformed Duburi Tata Steel Medica Hospital at Duburi with 15 beds in the ICU.

The hospital has 20 doctors and 30 others, including nurses and paramedical personnel, Jajpur District Collector Ranjan Kumar Das said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The most precious commodity these days is human contact and those who are single have started to feel the pinch

The lockdown has unleashed a universal feeling of frustration. But its perhaps the singles whom it has hit the most. Usually singles are confident, and independent, both financially and sexually. They like being on their own, free as birds. But now with the lockdown, riding out each day alone has transformed into a nightmare for the tribe.

For 35-year-old Harsh Kumar, GM, of a leading chain of spas, spending time away from others is rather daunting especially when living alone.

First four to five days, it was cool. I loved it that I didnt have to wake up early in the morning to work out, had no work pressure, no traveling. I could rest at home, order takeout, cook Maggie and omelettes differently, calling and chatting with old friends and family, watching motivational movies and drinking and eating food till late night. But soon, life became tough looking at the same walls of the apartment all day through, he laments.

Quite like Harsh, Yagnapal Raju Upendram, a 35-year-old Telugu language expert, explains how doing your own thing can be nice and relaxing for the first few days only. No one likes feeling lonely, its challenging to manage when the length of isolation is uncertain, he says.

Raju has been single for over a decade and while hes not phobic towards people, he doesnt mingle too easily.

I like to keep to myself and I enjoy a limited company. And this lockdown has helped me to sit back and reflect upon what Ive done in life so far. But even so, during these times, I feel a lonely as I cant step out to even meet my friends, he says adding, The mind is tricky. Nobody can recon the damage a single negative thought does to our psyche and how it re-programmes our defence reflexes. It takes some time to get of such an insecurity, adds Raju.

Nothing to despair

True. Loneliness could increase the risk of indulging in negative thinking, making one vulnerable to depression. Despite how bleak the situation may seem to some, being single neednt be a reason for despair.

Sonia Akula, a 26-year-old social worker and actress, tells us how the period has been productive for her. The lockdown helped me calm down and understand the joy of doing nothing. I cook, exercise and meditate and use online resources to keep up with those activities. I also read books, watch movies and connect with my parents on Facetime. I watch online beauty classes; have learned how to make lip balm at home, etc., she says.

But Akula also has moments when the joy of solitude transforms into berating loneliness. I love my teatime with friends. But since the lockdown, its sometimes difficult to even find milk when I go to buy it. So besides having to have black tea, I miss the company of my friends, she adds.

Even Shubham Agrawal, the 25-year-old CEO of Magic Lantern, feels being a bachelor and away from ones family can be depressing.

Even videocalls lack an emotional touch. These things cannot take the place of a human with whom you can talk and share your thoughts, ideas, feelings and imaginations, says Shubham who has turned to art during these times.

As Bella DePaulo, author of the book Singled Out: How Singles Are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After points out, For people who are single at heart, they often love having a place of their own, they look forward to their solitude. But now they dont have a choice about it, so that makes it a little less positive. And then theres the uncertainty of not knowing how long its going to go on.
Calling for joint efforts to fight against coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India is ready to help its 'friends' in combating the deadly virus.

"We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel," tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

PM Modi made these remarks while replying to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's tweet of appreciation for India's decision to supply Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, seen as useful in the treatment of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephone conversation on April 3 with Benjamin Netanyahu where the two leaders discussed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the response strategies adopted by their respective governments to counter the health crisis.

The leaders also explored possible collaboration between India and Israel in fighting the pandemic, including by improving the availability of pharmaceutical supplies and by innovative use of high technology.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump thanked PM Modi and the people of India for lifting curbs on the export of hydroxychloroquine.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you, India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump had said in a post on Twitter on Wednesday.

Earlier, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro thanked Narendra Modi for allowing the export of raw materials to his country to produce hydroxychloroquine. Bolsonaro was one of the leaders Prime Minister Modi spoke to over the weekend in his continuing interaction with leaders since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

India is the largest manufacturer of hydroxychloroquine in the but the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had banned exports of the drug and its ingredients in view of the rapid rise in the infection-related cases in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 10

Trend:

Turkmenistan and UN have discussed prospects for future cooperation, Trend reports with reference to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

The discussions were held on April 9, 2020 in the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

During the meeting, the implementation of cooperation in various areas was discussed. The parties highlighted a number of documents that serve as the basis for lasting cooperation. One of these documents is the Framework program of cooperation, in the field of sustainable development between the government of Turkmenistan and the UN from 2021 through 2025. This document was signed on March 14, 2020.

The parties considered measures to fight against the spread of infectious diseases and summed up the results of the work that they have done for the first quarter of 2020.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Central Asia, the Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalia Gherman, UN Resident Coordinator, Heads of the UNICEF, WHO in Turkmenistan, as well as the representatives of the UNDP and UNFPA participated the meeting.
Prince Charles recently gave everyone an update on his health via a video posted by Clarence House. While it was great to see that the Prince of Wales is already recovering from the virus, royal enthusiasts were quick to notice a rare photo of the royal family on display in the Birkhall office.

Once A Happy Family

Last week, Prince Charles took part in the opening of the NHS Nightingale Hospital via a video conference. In a photo posted by Clarence House, the Prince of Wales can be seen sitting in front of a laptop looking all fresh and healthy.

While the photo was intended to show everyone that Prince Charles is in good and healthy shape, eagle-eyed watchers noticed the slew of photos atop his antique piano. It was awash with various family photos of his mother, including the Queen during her childhood and Prince Archie's christening last year.

But there was one snapshot that particularly caught everyone's attention. It was a picture taken during the christening of Prince Louis, the youngest son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Royal photographers were able to capture that special moment in the spring of 2018.

On the photo were Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle featured alongside Prince William and wife Kate Middleton. Everyone in the photo looked like they arre in a festive mood, too happy for the celebration. It was taken at Clarence House in celebration of the special event.

Although the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have recently been photographed with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the happiness captured in the christening photo was no longer there. What once was a happy family has been divided by their heart's desire and public opinion.

A Slew Of Memories

Apart from the rare photo of Kate and Meghan, there was one photo of the 71-year old prince with his grandson Prince George. The photo looked like it was taken during the 2015 Earth Hour. Prince Charles was holding his dear grandson in a loving embrace.

There were other pictures featured during the video call, too. There is one of Charles and Camilla during their wedding celebration in 2009. There is also a photo of Princess Anne when she was still young. And there is a special photo of Prince Charles with his two sons -- Prince William and Prince Harry -- during the celebration of his 70th birthday.

And then there is a photo of Camilla posing with her children and their respective partners.

Will the royal family ever be caught on camera happily spending time together? At the moment, this might be an impossible question to answer. While the quarantine and social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic is keeping everyone from being together, some members of the royal family are no longer in the U.K. to be with the rest.

Harry and Meghan are currently in quarantine in Los Angeles. The couple's exit as senior members of the royal family was made official on March 31. At this time, the two are working behind the scenes for the launch of their new charitable foundation and the many ways they can be financially independent.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The last time OPEC+ met, its members said they would be opening the taps to reassert their control of the oil market. Barely a month later, they are set to  tighten the taps  to reassert  you see the problem.

Covid-19 has made a mockery of just about any plan made a month ago. Global oil demand has dropped by perhaps a third. If people arent buying fuel, then refiners arent buying crude oil, which means producers are selling into a void  and therefore must cut. Thursdays fractious OPEC+ meeting  with Mexico taking a starring, stubborn role  was all about apportioning unappetizing slices of a cake called inevitability.

By Friday afternoon, as a meeting of the energy ministers for the Group of 20 countries wound down, an agreement of sorts was in place. But Mexicos role remained unclear and the G-20s draft statement offered only vague support for efforts to stabilize the oil market. If this is the cavalry riding to the rescue, it is just as well the market isnt open.

There is one salient point to focus on: Even the headline OPEC+ cuts cant prevent a big buildup in inventories. The best producers can hope for is to flatten the curve on that and avoid storage space running out altogether, which would likely push prices into single digits. OPEC estimates demand is down roughly 12 million barrels a day for the quarter. Under that scenario, the agreed cut of almost 10 million barrels a day for May and June would still mean half the remaining onshore storage capacity filling up by July 1.

As it is, that 10-ish million figure likely overstates the true immediate cut, given Mexicos ambivalence and the fact that the figure is set against production levels from last fall. Russias commitment to cut 2.5 million barrels a day  beyond what the market forces upon it  looks especially ambitious. Meanwhile, OPECs estimate for demand destruction may well be optimistic and, in any case, theres no telling how quickly demand will recover.

Story continues

This may well explain the planned set of tapered cuts adding up to five billion barrels over two years. But whos really buying a two-year target set by a group that broke up in acrimony mere weeks ago and was held hostage by Mexico over a few hundred thousands of barrels a day? This is a coalition formed under duress and now reformed under yet greater duress; picture a giant feuding family suddenly forced to quarantine together for at least two months. OPEC+ shouldnt be willing to tolerate Mexicos intransigence and Mexico shouldnt want to belong to a group that would. Yet here they are.

This should temper the bullishness that got going a week ago after President Donald Trumps 10 million barrel tweet. It has been astonishing to watch the rally of almost 30% in exploration and production stocks since then. Production in the shale fields is starting to roll over already, with the sharp drop in fracking crews a leading indicator (see this). The resulting natural decline was all the U.S. offered at Fridays damp squib of a G-20 meeting. Trump also indicated market forces had already taken care of the other oil cuts he offered, seemingly without success, to smooth over the Mexican spat (translation: dont bank on any actual incremental barrels leaving the market).

Trump will no doubt spin all this as art-of-the-deal anyway. Like the OPEC+ cuts, though, it is just a demand shock doing its thing. Trumps threatened tariffs on barrels if no OPEC+ deal was forthcoming were bluster, given they would raise consumer costs in a recession and ahead of an election; hurt oil majors and refiners; and might not even do much for frackers, whose light crude is simply less valuable with gasoline and jet-fuel demand tanking.

Regardless of long-term targets, adherence to cuts beyond June, particularly on the part of Russia, will be determined by the pace of recovery in demand and the pace of decline in supply from other countries  especially the U.S. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia may be suffering in absolute terms (see this) but it also has worked assiduously not merely to bring Moscow to heel but to tighten screws on the more ebullient members of the fracking crowd. This is a temporary truce in a multilateral fight between the big three oil powers.

So anyone piling back into E&P stocks on hopes for this OPEC+ agreement should know their sectors continued suffering is critical to its maintenance. Frackers now face an oil market where the old supposed certainties of demand growth, easy financing and the OPEC+ put can no longer be taken for granted. Restructuring and rationalization are unavoidable. After a week of high drama, expect this reality to reassert itself.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy, mining and commodities. He previously was editor of the Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Street column and wrote for the Financial Times' Lex column. He was also an investment banker.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
After Pakistan pledged to donate USD 3 million to SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, India on Friday highlighted the "early commitment" made by other member countries and said the 'degree of seriousness' of each nation can be gauged by its behaviour.

Pakistan's foreign office on Thursday announced that it will contribute USD 3 million towards the South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) COVID-19 emergency fund. This comes weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed to establish fund during a video conference of SAARC member countries.

While the SAARC countries immediately responded to a united call for the COVID-19 emergency fund, Pakistan made its contribution recently.

"It is for each SAARC Member State to decide on the timing, manner and implementation of their SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund commitments. Where India is concerned, the commitment made by the Prime Minister is today in an advanced stage of implementation," Ministry of External Affair's spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a statement

"Assistance in material and services has been extended to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These SAARC countries have also made early commitments to the Fund. The degree of seriousness of each nation can be gauged by their behavior," he added.

All other SAARC nations had promptly donated to the COVID-19 emergency fund except Pakistan.

Afghanistan had contributed USD one million as per the discussions among the SAARC heads of nations, in a bid to collaborating and strengthening partnerships to fight the pandemic.

Nepal had committed NPR 100 million to the SAARC emergency fund, Maldives government contributed USD 200,000 to the COVID-19 emergency fund.

Bhutan has committed USD 100,000 to the SAARC emergency fund while India has made an initial offer of USD 10 million for the fund.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Zealand has reported that for four days straight, there was a decline in new coronavirus cases. It is an achievement that a lot of countries are wishing to have.

On April 8, New Zealand reported 29 new confirmed and probable cases, bringing the country's total to 1,239, including only one death. Out of the 1,239 cases, only 14 are in the hospital, and 317 have recovered. New Zealand is a small island country with a population of under 5 million. The country is halfway through a month-long lockdown, the lockdown was implemented to contain and eliminate the virus.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that they are turning a corner and the people's commitment means that the government's plan is working. With the decline of new cases, the approach seems successful.

New Zealand sees success in stopping COVID-19

While Denmark, which has 5,597 cases and 218 deaths, announced that they will begin to lift the lockdown next week because the virus cases in their country is stable, New Zealand has a different approach. Prime Minister Ardern said that she was tightening border restrictions, which means that all those who arrive in the country will be required to spend at least two weeks quarantined in an approved facility instead of self-isolating at home.

However, this rule only applies to the citizens of New Zealand, as foreign nationals have been banned from entering the country since March 20. According to Ardern, she has no hesitation in saying that what New Zealanders have done over the last two weeks is huge, as the citizens listened to live and that the citizens of the country made the decision that together with the government, they could protect one another and the result was successful.

Also Read: Japan May Face Healthcare System Collapse, State of Emergency Declared

New Zealand's head-start

New Zealand has two key advantages, and they are time and geography. On February 28, the country confirmed its first case of coronavirus, a month after the United States confirmed its first case. On March 29, the country confirmed its first and only death.

According to Auckland University microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles, New Zealand had the advantage of being an island far from most other countries, with fewer flights than other places. That is something that Prime Minister Ardern also pointed out, as she noted that being an island was an advantage in their ability to eliminate the virus.

Professor Michael Baker, from Otago University's Public Health Department, said that New Zealand has carried out 51,165 tests to date. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, a country with more people than New Zealand, had tested only 208,837 people. Baker expressed his disappointment over the leadership in countries like the US and the UK, as they are the countries that house some of the world's top science resources yet they were not able to use it to their advantage.

While UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned citizens that they should prepare to lose loved ones before their time, Prime Minister Arden was clear that she would value the citizens of New Zealand and not just the economy and she responded to the threat fast.

On March 14, when Ardern announced that anyone entering the country would need to self isolate for two weeks, it was among the toughest border restrictions in the world. And at the time, the country only had six cases. On March 19, Ardern banned foreigners from entering the country, and the confirmed cases then were 28.

On March 23, Ardern announced that the country was going into lockdown, there were already 102 confirmed cases then, and no deaths. According to Wiles, in New Zealand, they do not have a lot of intensive care beds compared to other countries. That is why Ardern acted fast, in order to save the lives of the citizens.



Related Article: Spain Holds Drive-Thru Funerals in the Country's Coronavirus Epicenter

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Loran, whose real name was Mira but was known as Mi to just about everyone, passed away last September. Although our community has been blessed with many visionary servants in ministering to the homeless during the last 40 years, Loran is remembered by many as being one of the most tireless forces during the years that ministries to the poor developed and grew in our city.
MIAMI BEACH, Fla., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- David Xavier Kenney, researcher and owner of Roman Officer, Inc. in South Beach has an artifact depicting a Roman Christian in North America. Kenney speculates it is from the 2nd (circa late 1st to early 3rd) century AD. The artifact was discovered in South Florida right after Hurricane Irma in 2017. It consists of equine hair, and maize leaf and paste. The equine hair was perhaps from Europe, or from a few North American horses that "may" have still existed. Nearly miraculously, the piece survived, likely it was soaked in fish glue.

The artifact appears to have been made by, or for, an Armenian horse archer. It represents St. Paul, the Centurion Julius and their shipwreck of c. 60 AD; and possibly the martyrdom of St. Paul and St. Peter. It also depicts Armenian King Tiridates's visit to Puteoli on his way to Rome in 66 AD, suggesting his consort had embraced Christianity at that time. There are also indications she may have been from an Amazonian tradition, possibly revered by that kingdom's archers.

The primary Roman bind letters on the artifact read "PAX," "ARM" and "ROM": Peace between Armenia and Rome. St. Paul and Julius landed in Puteoli on their way to Rome. Puteoli was next to Misenum, which according to Kenney's research, was where the first expedition to North America was planned for 71 AD. Misenum also appears to have been involved in a famous intrigue related to that expedition's planning. Concerning the maize, perhaps the Romans saw a connection between an ancient Native American maize god and Jesus Christ. Kenney would like a world-class expert to carbon-14 test the piece.

Kenney also owns a Roman bronze and silver ring discovered in the Ukraine depicting related themes. The bronze band is from the 1st century AD; yet the silver bezel is reworked from the obverse of a denarius from 132 AD to 138 AD. This suggests the ring's band had special meaning from an earlier time. The bezel shows a Roman galley being wrecked by a sperm whale, and features Centurion Julius but also includes St. Paul. The Roman bind letters on it read "IVS," "IVSTIS," and "IVSTI" - Julius the Righteous and Just.

St. Paul and the Centurion Julius Artifacts:

http://romanofficer.com/StPaul/StPaulPage.htm



Additional information at romanofficer.com.



Contact: David X. Kenney

[email protected]

SOURCE David X. Kenney

Related Links

http://romanofficer.com


Following the sharp drop in employment due to coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, the U.S. economy faces a slow and painful recovery with high unemployment through 2021, a panel of top business economists warns.

The net number of jobs destroyed by the U.S. economy's crisis-driven sudden stop could top 4.5 million this quarter, according to the median estimate of 45 forecasters surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics.

Fewer than 2 million of those positions will be recovered by the end of 2021, the economists expect, pushing the unemployment rate above 6 percent for the next 21 months in a massive blow to a labor market that had recently been considered among the best for workers in decades. In February, the U.S. unemployment rate was about 3.6 percent.

'Panelists believe that the U.S. economy is already in recession and will remain in a contractionary state for the first half of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic severely restricts economic activity,' said NABE President Constance Hunter, chief economist for KPMG.

An aerial view from a drone shows vehicles lining up to receive unemployment applications being given out by City of Hialeah employees on Thursday in Florida

The city of Hialeah is distributing the printed unemployment forms to residents as people continue to have issues with access to the state of Florida's unemployment website

New jobless claims (above) totaled 17 million in the past three weeks. The panel of business economists predicted net job destruction in Q2 would total 4.5 million

'Conditions will improve by the end of the year with support from aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus,' she said, with annualized growth near 6 percent by year's end.

But that will follow a devastating contraction in the second quarter of 2020, with the median forecast expecting GDP to fall at an annualized rate of 26.5 percent for the April to June period.

The prognosis is in line with other recent predictions by economists and some Fed officials.

The breadth of the responses to the NABE survey showed the uncertainty economists have about what happens when major parts of an economic system simply shut down, in this case as a result of efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

People queue to receive the printed Unemployment Benefits applications in the parking lot of Kennedy Library in Hialeah, Florida on Tuesday

People walk past of an office of the New York State Department of Labor closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, New York on Thursday

The responses included estimates that second-quarter GDP would fall by a full 50 percent.

Estimates at the other extreme saw only a 1 percent fall in second-quarter GDP, and a rocket-like 20 percent rebound from there with millions of jobs created and unemployment falling quickly.

The median outcome of persistent job loss, however, is sobering in the face of the trillions of dollars in new programs the Fed, Congress and the Trump administration have approved in recent weeks to try to keep the economy 'whole' through the pandemic and ready to restart once the health crisis passes.

Delta says 35,000 employees accepted voluntary unpaid leave as Boeing 'considers laying off 10% of its workforce'

Hard-hit by a staggering 95 percent drop in air travel in the pandemic, airlines as well as planemaker Boeing are looking at ways to cut payroll costs.

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said on Thursday that nearly 35,000 workers had volunteered so far for voluntary unpaid leaves of absence the company is offering in an attempt to stem costs.

In a memo to employees, Bastian said the company was enhancing the benefits provided to employees while on leave and offering new longer-term leaves of up to 12 months as it continues to seek more volunteers.

Hard-hit by a staggering 95 percent drop in air travel in the pandemic, airlines are looking at ways to cut payroll costs. Pictured: Nearly empty Salt Lake City International on Tuesday

This chart shows the number of daily air travelers in the US (blue) as well as that number's change from a year ago (red), based on data released by the TSA

Meanwhile, Boeing is is considering a plan to reduce its workforce by about 10 percent, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.

The plan could involve a combination of layoffs, buyouts and early retirements, the people said.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Boeing has been suspending production at various plants, including the manufacturing of its 787 airplane at its facilities in South Carolina.

Last week, the U.S. planemaker's Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun outlined a plan of voluntary layoffs for employees, while warning that the pandemic would have a lasting impact on the aerospace industry.

Boeing said Sunday it will continue its shutdown of production indefinitely at its Seattle area facilities due to the spread of the coronavirus.

The company had earlier freezed hiring and overtime pay except in certain critical areas to preserve cash.

As of the end of last year, Seattle-based Boeing employed 153,027 people worldwide.

Airplanes and a handful of vehicles are parked, Monday at Boeing's airplane assembly facility in Renton, Wash. Boeing said Sunday it will continue its shutdown of production indefinitely

An idle employee turnstile gate is shown Monday at Boeing's airplane assembly facility in Renton, Washington. Boeing is reportedly considering laying off 10% of its workers

Meanwhile, layoffs among small business spiked 1,021 percent in March compared to the month before, according to a new report.

The data was compiled by human resource provider Gusto, based on more than 100,000 small businesses nationwide, according to CNBC.

'This is unprecedented,' said Daniel Sternberg, the head of data science at Gusto.

Small business layoffs are expected to rise even higher in April, as full lockdown measures did not go into effect until late March in many parts of the country.

As well, one expert in corporate bankruptcies expects that a bleak new record will be set of the next 12 months.

'Whether it's corporate bankruptcies or personal, this is unprecedented,' Edward Altman, the professor emeritus at New York University's Stern School of Business, told Bloomberg.

'We will break the record in dollar amounts because there are much greater amounts of debt outstanding now than in any prior downturn.'

Data released Thursday showed 17 million people have lost their jobs since mid-March.

A man crosses the street at a nearly empty Time Square on Thursday in New York City. Another 6.6 million US workers file for unemployment benefits for the week ending April 4, 2020

People wait in their cars Thursday at Traders Village for the San Antonio Food Bank to begin food distribution. The need for emergency food aid has exploded in recent weeks

Volunteer Ann Rhodes directs traffic as hundreds of cars line up for a food give-a-way at the Cordova YMCA in Memphis sponsored by the Mid-South Food Bank

Thursday's weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department, the most timely data on the economy's health, strengthens economists' expectations of job losses of up to 20 million in April and their conviction that the economy is in deep recession.

It also underscored an urgent need for more fiscal stimulus to halt the free fall, economists said.

'In its first month alone, the coronavirus crisis is poised to exceed any comparison to the Great Recession,' said Daniel Zhao, senior economist at Glassdoor, an online recruitment firm. 'The new normal for unemployment insurance claims will be the canary in the coal mine for how long effects of the crisis will linger for the millions of newly unemployed Americans.'

The record unemployment insurance claims numbers are the result of businesses such as restaurants, bars and other social venues being shuttered as states and local governments implement tough measures to control the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 261,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.606 million for the week ended April 4, the government said. Data for the prior week was revised to show 219,000 more applications received than previously reported, taking the tally for that period to an all-time high of 6.867 million.

All told, a record 16.78 million people have filed claims for jobless benefits since the week ending March 21.
An artist's impression of the My Thuan 2 Bridge in Tien Giang Province that will be connected with Can Tho City via the My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Transport.

The PM has approved state funding for an expressway section that will connect HCMC with the Mekong Deltas Can Tho City by 2022.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs approval to open up state coffers for building the My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway is a significant shift from the original plan to source private funds.

The 23-kilometer expressway will run from the My Thuan Bridge 2 in Tien Giang Province with Can Tho City. The bridge is under construction.

When complete, the My Thuan-Can Tho section will be linked with the North-South Expressway to improve links between HCMC and the Mekong Delta, which comprises 13 localities.

Construction of this section will cost VND4.9 trillion ($208 million). It will have four lanes allowing speeds up to 100 kilometers per hour.

PM Phuc has also okayed the use of public funds for eight sections of the North South Expressway and ordered that work on all of them begins by August at the latest.

Work is already ongoing on the other three sections of the North-South Expressway.

Last year, the Transport Ministry had tried to find foreign investors for the eight projects, but few passed the qualification round, which meant low competition between bidders.

The ministry then decided that only domestic investors would be allowed in these projects to "ensure national security and expand Vietnamese firms capability in constructing infrastructure."
By Express News Service

GUWAHATI: A 65-year-old man in Assam is the Northeasts first COVID-19 casualty.

The man died at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) in southern Assams Barak Valley in the wee hours of Friday.

With utmost Grief and sorrow, I would like to inform that Sri Faijul Haque Barbhyan, (65) Hailakandi District has expired a few minutes back in SMCH due to complication of COVID19 http://infection. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family, Assams Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted.

The deceased had a travel history to Saudi Arabia. He had tested positive on April 7 and was admitted to the SMCH. Sarma said the man had visited Nizamuddin Markaz in New Delhi last month.

He was among 29 people who had tested positive. The remaining others were admitted to various hospitals.

Five others in Northeast  two in Manipur and one each in Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh  also tested positive.
- Ethel Booba made a revelation that immediately puzzled a lot of social media users

- She stated through a post that the Twitter account @IamEthylGabison is fake

- The said account had 1.6 million followers and it was used to take a jab at some government officials

- Many netizens, meanwhile, showed proof that Ethel acknowledged the controversial Twitter account

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Ethel Booba immediately became the subject of discussions on social media because of her revelation about the controversial Twitter account under her name.

KAMI learned that the popular comedienne has just confessed that the account @IamEthylGabison is actually fake.

She disclosed the said information through a much-talked-about Instagram post and she also uploaded a screenshot of the said Twitter account.

The account was very popular for its hilarious takes on social and political issues, including those that involved President Rodrigo Duterte.

Before it got deactivated, it was still able to take a swipe at Mocha Uson for her negative post against Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto.

Beware of this fake Twitter, Ethel quipped.

Stop using my name, she added through a hashtag.

PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

Many netizens were in disbelief after hearing the confession of the prominent actress. Her name even became a trending topic on Twitter.

Some social media users pointed out that Ethel acknowledged the said Twitter account and they also showed a video to prove their claim.

In a previous article by , Ethel poked fun at the insufficient supply of alcohol amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Ethel Booba is one of the most prominent celebrities in the Philippines. She won the much-anticipated celebrity edition of Tawag ng Tanghalan sa Showtime.

POPULAR: Read more news about Ethel Booba!

Please like and share our Facebook posts to support KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinion about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts!

TikTok dance challenges are taking over social media. We are always on point in asking passers-by to dance to famous songs together with our host Andre!  Dont forget to subscribe to HumanMeter!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on Viet Nam's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) to stable, from positive, and has affirmed the rating at 'BB'.

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected Viet Nam's exports.  Photo vov.vn

The outlook revision reflects the impact of the escalating COVID-19 pandemic on Viet Nam's economy through its tourism and export sectors, and weakening domestic demand, the international rating agency explained in a report released on Thursday.

The affirmation reflects Viet Nam's strong medium-term growth prospects, lengthening record of macrostability, lower government debt levels and stronger external finances compared with peers, including foreign-exchange reserves built up over the previous few years during more favourable economic conditions.

Fitch projects Viet Nam's GDP growth to slow to 3.3 per cent in 2020, from 7.0 per cent in 2019, on account of the pandemic. This would be the lowest annual growth rate since the mid-1980s. Growth in the first quarter of 2020 slowed to 3.8 per cent, from about 7.0 per cent in the last quarter of 2019.

The 2020 forecast is highly uncertain and subject to downside risk, depending on the evolution of the pandemic, both within Viet Nam and in its major export markets. Viet Nam has so far recorded a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases, but these could increase, and large parts of the country are already subject to curbs on economic and business activity to prevent the spread.

The tourism and export sectors are particularly vulnerable to weaker activity. Tourism accounts for about 10 per cent of GDP directly, but its contribution to overall GDP is considerably higher through indirect spillovers. Tourist arrivals for March fell by about 68 per cent year-on-year. Fitchs baseline assumes the outbreak is contained by the second-half of this year and the global tourism industry starts to recover at a gradual pace.

We expect exports to contract sharply, given the fall in demand in Viet Nam's key export markets, including the US and China, although the latter has begun to recover; about 23 per cent of total exports were to the US at end-2019, while about 16 per cent were to China. Weak export demand will affect foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the manufacturing sector.

We expect the current account to shift to a modest deficit in 2020, from a surplus of around 3.0 per cent in 2019, as exports, tourism and remittances decline However, it should return to surplus in 2021 as the global economy recovers, Fitch said, adding that it has used provisional numbers for the revised GDP series, for these calculations.

According to the rating agency, domestic demand is likely to stay muted as strict measures aimed at maintaining social distancing to contain spread of the virus are put in place. The authorities are implementing policies to mitigate the impact, including relief measures to assist households and the tourism and transport sectors. Specifics include payment extensions for value-added, personal income and land taxes for those affected by the outbreak, and cash handouts to workers who have lost jobs.

The relief package to combat COVID-19 so far amounts to VND171 trillion (around 2.1 per cent of GDP). Additional measures may be introduced if downward economic pressures intensify, including an acceleration of infrastructure spending.

Fitch said fiscal consolidation is likely to be delayed due to the pandemic relief measures and higher spending to cushion the economic impact of the outbreak.

We expect the budget deficit to widen to 6.5 per cent of GDP in 2020, from an estimated 3.4 per cent in 2019, and for gross general government debt to increase to 42.5 per cent of GDP, from about 38 per cent of GDP in 2019, which is in line with the 'BB' median. The projected deficit and debt levels could rise if the outbreak lasts longer than we expect. Our calculations are based on the provisional numbers for the revised GDP series.

Fitch expects economic momentum to rebound in 2021, with growth projected at 7.3 per cent as external and domestic demand gradually recover in line with global and regional trends. Exports and tourism are likely to rebound and FDI in the manufacturing sector should pick up, supporting strong medium-term growth prospects.  VNS

Fitch Solutions lowers Vietnams growth forecast Fitch Solutions has recently revised down Vietnams economic growth in 2020 to 6.3 per cent from 6.8 per cent previously due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
(JNS)A Palestinian activists harsh response to the first Israeli fatality from the coronavirus has sparked some controversy. Its a tempest in a teapot, but it also contains an important lesson or two.

The activist, Ms. Leen Dweik, was president of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at New York University in 2018-19. In response to the news that 88-year-old Holocaust survivor Arye Even died from the virus in Israel, Dweik tweeted a contemptuous message referencing the painting of her fingernails. Her sneering comment was so ugly that even the president of NYU publicly condemned her.

If Dweiks name sounds familiar, it may be because of a bizarre incident in March 2019, in which she confronted and screamed at then-pregnant Chelsea Clinton at a public event. Dweik shouted, The 49 people died because of the rhetoric you put out there! She was blaming Chelsea for the massacre of Muslims at a New Zealand mosque because Ms. Clinton had criticized the anti-Semitic statements made by a Muslim U.S. congresswoman, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Mich.).

While Dweik obviously is an out-of-control extremist, she is voicing sentiments that, tragically, are shared by certain other advocates of the Palestinian cause.

Im not only talking about the other Twitter cheerleaders who responded to the death of Arye Even with extreme callousness or even celebration. No, Im referring to those senior officials in the Clinton and Obama administrations who were so devoted to the Palestinian cause that they expressedsome off the record, some on the recorda cruel sense of satisfaction concerning Palestinian Arab violence against Israelis.

Its important to recall these episodes because they offer us an instructive lesson regarding the dangerous power of hate and dehumanization.

On June 22, 1997, The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior U.S. official called recent Arab violence against Jews in Hebron a plausible safety valve that lets the Palestinians vent their anger. The officials name was not revealed. Martin Indyk, a strident critic of Israel, was the U.S. ambassador in Israel at the time.

On Aug. 26, 1997, the Israeli news agency Arutz 7 reported that advisers to President Bill Clinton recommended to him that he allow what [they called] the explosive situation between Israel and the Palestinians to deteriorate to a violent clash [because] this will convince the sides of the need to renew negotiations. The officials were not named.

On Jan. 14, 1999, The Jerusalem Post reported that a senior U.S. administration official had said there may be riots in the territories if Israel did not make more concessions, and it may be unreasonable to expect that Palestinians at the grassroots level will remain quiet. Once again, the official was not named.

But on May 21, 2000, one such official went public. Clintons national security adviser, Sandy Berger, declared in a speech at Tel Aviv University on May 21, 2000, that Palestinian Arab violence against Israelis was not only a curse, but also a blessing, because the tragedy that awaits in the event of inaction also constitutes the greatest incentive for immediate action in the Israeli-Arab negotiations.

Berger made the same point in a conference call with representatives of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on July 31, 2000. He said: Either there will be an agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, or there will be a conflict... If there is no agreement, we may be sadder and bloodier, but then maybe theyll be prepared to make a deal.

Sadly, such attitudes did not disappear after the end of the Clinton administration. On May 2, 2014, Yediot Achronots Ynet web site reported that a senior U.S. official (of the Obama administration) said: The Palestinians are tired of the status quo. They will get their state in the endwhether through violence or by turning to international organizations.

Three days later, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Israeli government believed that the official who made the remark was former ambassador Martin Indyk, who in 2014 was the senior U.S. envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

It is one of the great tragedies of our era that some people become so wrapped up in their political positions or agendas that they become indifferent to human suffering. It is an even greater tragedy when that indifference evolves into something much worsepeople feeling satisfaction at others suffering, if it somehow advances a political aim.

No matter where one happens to be on the political or religious spectrum, no matter what lofty goal one claims to be pursuing, such cruelty can never be acceptable.

Stephen M. Flatow, an attorney in New Jersey, is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995. He is the author of A Fathers Story: My Fight for Justice Against Iranian Terrorism, now available on Kindle.
Days after a police officer fatally shot a Black man in Brampton, Peel Regional Police chief Nishan Duraiappah issued a statement expressing condolences for the family of the victim and acknowledging issues of trust in policing.

The shooting took place on Monday afternoon after police were called to a home in Bramptons west end with reports of a domestic incident.

Police entered the home, where they encountered 26-year-old DAndre Campbell and got into an altercation.

After two officers used stun guns, one officer shot his firearm multiple times at Campbell, who died at the scene.

I along with members of the Peel Regional Police express our condolences to the family of the deceased DAndre Campbell, and recognize the tragic outcome. We acknowledge the impact this tragedy has on the lives of all those involved as well as the community as a whole, Duraiappah said in a news release. Friends say Campbell had been struggling with mental illness in the final years of his life, and that Campbell was the one who called police on Monday.

Although Duraiappah said he cant comment on the details given the ongoing investigation from the Special Investigations Unit, he acknowledged that the lack of information deeply affects public confidence, especially given the historic relations and issues of trust in policing in the community.

Duraiappah was sworn in as chief last October, making him the first person of colour to hold the office in Peel. In the years prior to his arrival, the police force faced a number of race-related controversies.

In 2017, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ruled the police force racially discriminated against a decorated officer of South Asian heritage after he was denied a promotion and had to endure years of racial harassment from his colleagues and senior officers.

The tribunal also concluded last month that race was a factor when Peel police officers handcuffed a six-year-old Black girl at her school in 2016.

The police chief reaffirmed his commitment to work with community members and improve relationships in his statement.

Key members of the Black community and the Peel Police Black advisory committee have seen positive changes in police and community engagement. The value of relationships will continue to be number one for myself and Peel Regional Police, Duraiappah said.

Correction: An earlier version of this article described Campbell as unarmed. This has not been confirmed and is under investigation by the SIU.

TY Tom Yun is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @thetomyun

Read more about:
65-year-old man dies of COVID-19 in Assam; first fatality in North-East

India

oi-Deepika S

Guwahati, Apr 10: The Northeast has recorded the region's first Covid-19 fatality with a 65-year-old man passing away in Assam.

The condition of the 65-year-old retired BSF personnel turned 'alarming' on Thursday and he was shifted to SMCH during the day. The person was confirmed coronavirus-positive on Tuesday night and had attended the Tablighi Jamaat meet at Nizamuddin in New Delhi. He also had travelled to Saudi Arabia before that.

Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed his deepest condolences and prayers for the bereaved family.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

"With utmost grief and sorrow, I would like to inform that Sri Faijul Haque Barbhyan (65), Hailakandi District has expired few minutes back in SMCH due to complication of COVID19 infection. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family," the state's health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted on Friday morning.

Fake News Buster

Silchar MP Rajdeep Roy said the funeral of the deceased will be held according to the COVID-19 protocol and the details will be announced later. The number of positive cases now is 28 with more case confirmed from Dhubri last night.
Passengers on board the Ruby Princess claim they were kept in the dark over the extent of coronavirus danger onboard before being herded off the ship in Sydney "like cattle" and allowed to travel across Australia.

Photographs from the last days of the now-infamous cruise reveal passengers packed tightly together during a performance on the coronavirus-riddled ship. But emails have revealed that around the same time, medical staff on board the ship were already in consultation with NSW Health about testing for the virus as the vessel closed in on Sydney.

The decision to allow the Ruby Princess to dock in Sydney on March 19, resulting in dozens of new COVID-19 cases spreading across the country, has prompted a police investigation into the bureaucratic meltdown and divided sections of the NSW government.

And as police probe the cruise line and a handful of state and federal agencies for their role in the debacle, lawyers are preparing class actions on behalf of some of the 2700 passengers on board the Ruby Princess.
This Saturday (April 11) will mark 50 years since NASA's Apollo 13 mission launched on an unexpectedly tumultuous journey around the moon. Now, a modern lunar orbiter has reconstructed what the Apollo 13 astronauts would have seen of the lunar surface.

Famously described as a "successful failure," Apollo 13 did not go as planned: An oxygen tank exploded 56 hours into the mission. Thankfully, some fast-thinking teamwork between the astronauts and mission control back on Earth salvaged the mission and, after a trip around the moon, the astronauts safely returned to Earth.

So, while the crew didn't land on the moon as planned, they did travel around it and, thanks to modern technology, we can now see what they saw on this journey.

Related: Apollo 13 in Real-Time website offers new insight into mission

More: Apollo 13: A step-by-step timeline of the historic mission

Image 1 of 3 A photo of the lunar surface taken by the Apollo 13 astronauts on their trip around the moon. (Image credit: NASA) A photo of the lunar surface taken by the Apollo 13 astronauts on their trip around the moon. Image 2 of 3 Soon after sunrise, the Apollo 13 crew snapped this incredible shot of the moon. (Image credit: NASA) Soon after sunrise, the Apollo 13 crew snapped this incredible shot of the moon. Image 3 of 3 A snapshot of the Tsiolkovskiy crater, taken by the Apollo 13 crew with a telephoto lens. (Image credit: NASA) A snapshot of the Tsiolkovskiy crater, taken by the Apollo 13 crew with a telephoto lens.

Researchers used data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission to recreate what the Apollo 13 crew saw as they flew around the far side of the moon. In the video, you can see craters and other lunar features emerge from the darkness. You can imagine yourself as any of the crewmembers  commander Jim Lovell, command module pilot Jack Swigert or lunar module pilot Fred Haise  looking down and watching the lunar surface pass by as the spacecraft flew overhead.

In addition to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data, the researchers also consulted the Apollo 13 flight plan and, despite the major change in plans with the mission, were able to use the position and speed at the craft's closest point to the Moon which was listed in the Apollo 13 Mission Report . Taken together, those details allowed them to determine factors including the position and speed of the spacecraft at its closest point to the moon, which helped clarify the vehicle's trajectory.

To create this virtual trip around the moon, this team was also informed by photos taken by the Apollo 13 crew during this trip around the moon. You can see some of the captivating original images above, but you can also find every Apollo 13 photo ever online in the Apollo Image Atlas .

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
A volunteer at a Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, DC.

Team Rubicon: Originally founded by a pair of US veterans, Team Rubicon has a long history of mobilizing highly effective relief efforts to the places most affected by disasters. It has launched a special #NeighborsHelpingNeighbors initiative to respond to Covid-19. You can learn more about ways to volunteer and donate here.

Meals on Wheels: Dedicated specifically to ensuring that seniors living alone receive hot, healthy meals, Meals on Wheels is uniquely positioned to help our most vulnerable communities weather the coronavirus pandemic. As of April 6, it had already distributed more than $2.2 million in emergency funding to local senior nutrition providers responding to the crisis. You can read more about the Meals on Wheels response to Covid-19 and donate here.

A volunteer with Team Rubicon responds to the Covid-19 pandemic

The CDC Foundation: Set up by the US Congress as an independent non-profit arm of the Centers for Disease Control, the CDC Foundation has launched a dedicated fund to buy medical supplies, increase lab capacity, provide support to vulnerable communities and more. You can donate to it here.

Feeding America: The largest hunger-relief organization in the US, Feeding America has set up a dedicated Covid-19 relief fund. You can donate to it here. You can also find your local food bank to donate money or supplies here.

The Frontline Responders Fund: In partnership with supply chain management platform Flexport, the Frontline Responders Fund is dedicated to ensuring that necessary medical supplies and PPE get to the hospitals, medical clinics and medical facilities that need them the most in this pandemic. You can contribute to their GoFundMe here.

Volunteers from the Salvation Army

The Salvation Army: Perhaps best-known in normal times for their army of bell-ringers every Christmas, the Salvation Army has mobilized a huge response to the coronavirus crisis, helping the 550,000 homeless and the one in six Americans who live in poverty to weather this storm. You can learn more about the Salvation Army's response and donate to help the cause here.

Invisible Hands: If you're young and healthy and living in NYC or New Jersey, you can volunteer to become one of Invisible Hands Deliver's army of grocery-shopping volunteers. Invisible Hands matches those in vulnerable communities who shouldn't be going outside with volunteers who do the legwork and bring groceries to their door. If you're not in NYC or NJ, you can also donate to Invisible Hands Delivers here.

The Red Cross: If you've already recovered from Covid-19, you can be uniquely helpful in the fight against this illness. The Red Cross has set up an online portal where fully recovered coronavirus sufferers can sign up to donate plasma, which may then be used for the antibodies to help fight the virus in those most severely affected by the disease. If you have not tested positive for Covid-19, there are still plenty of ways to help: You can donate regular blood if you are feeling healthy, or donate money here.

A volunteer at a San Antonio Food Bank, in partnership with Feeding America

The Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation: The closure of restaurants and bars across America has left an untold amount of workers unemployed, most without health insurance. You can donate to your favorite local restaurant by purchasing gift cards to use when the lockdown is lifted, or you can donate to the restaurant community more generally through the Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation's Covid-19 relief fund.

The JBF Relief Fund: The James Beard Foundation is best known for its awards, which are known as the Oscars of the food world. But now the nonprofit has pivoted to create the JBF Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund, which will provide support to small, independent restaurants affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Contribute to the fund here.

Medshare: Originally conceived to help distribute medical equipment to underserved populations, Medshare is working right now to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. You can give money here, and find out how to donate medical supplies here.
West Chester, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/10/2020 -- Full-service West Chester Law Firm Carosella & Associates provides a wide range of legal services surrounding weighty issues such as domestic violence. Being wrongly accused of abusing a loved one can destroy a person's reputation, livelihood, and relationships with their children, family, and friends. Domestic violence charges can also lead to fines, jail time, and a criminal record. Having an experienced family law or criminal defense attorney as a staunch advocate can ensure an accused's rights are protected and that they get the fair treatment and due process to which every American is entitled.



Vincent Carosella, Jr., the founding partner of Carosella & Associates, has much to say on the issue of domestic violence. "Being accused of domestic violence often comes with a stigma that can label an innocent person as an abuser in their community. Our attorneys believe that everyone has a right to quality legal representation and due process. We work hard to help our clients understand their rights and aggressively defend them against all charges. On the other side of the issue, our family law attorneys also provide legal advice and assistance to victims of domestic violence, such as filing for protection from abuse orders and modifying child custody orders, if necessary. No matter what type of legal issues our clients may be facing, our caring and professional team, works collaboratively to solve them."



If you or someone you know has been wrongly accused of domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, or another family or domestic partner-related crime, the best thing you can do to protect your rights is contact an experienced attorney right away. The lawyers at Carosella & Associates carefully assess each client's case and provide personalized, straightforward legal advice and representation you can rely on.



About Carosella & Associates

For more than 23 years, the skilled team of attorneys, paralegals, firm administrators, administrative assistants and legal secretaries at Carosella & Associates has provided top-quality legal representation for matters in myriad aspects of the law. The full-service law firm has decades of experience in many different areas, including estate planning, business succession planning, commercial and residential real estate, zoning, contracts, bankruptcy, immigration, divorce, and criminal law. Several of the attorneys at Carosella & Associates are licensed to practice law in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. For more information visit carosella.com.
The medical director at a Texas City nursing home says some COVID-19 patients on an unproven drug are showing signs of improvement and that hes prescribed it to another dozen patients.

Dr. Robin Armstrong said the first group of nine patients at The Resort at Texas City  where 56 residents tested positive for the disease  finished their five-day treatment with the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine on Wednesday and are stable.

It seems like the patients are maintaining pretty steady and not having any difficulty, so thats good, Armstrong said, though he added that he cant determine how much their improvement is attributable to the drug. They seem to be getting better  We're just continuing to monitor them.

None of their respiratory problems have grown more severe, Armstrong said, addressing one of the most serious complications of the virus.

TOP HITS: Get Houston Chronicle stories sent directly to your inbox

As he expands the number of patients in the treatment group from 27 to 39, Armstrong continues to prescribe the medication after conversations with only the patients and without notifying families, which he says is not necessary and too time-consuming.

If I had to call all the families for every medicine that I started on a patient, I wouldnt be treating any patients at all; I would just be talking to families all the time, Armstrong said.

But around him, a fierce debate has emerged. The use of hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus patients has drawn controversy globally as the medical community and public debate the ethics of trying out a medication before significant research is available  and in the case of elderly patients such as those in the Texas City nursing home, on a population that is statistically more vulnerable to the virus.

Some see it as questionable, others say patients ought to be able to decide whether they want to accept the risk for the possibility of a good outcome.

HISTORY OF PROBLEMS: Texas City nursing home at center of coronavirus outbreak recently cited for health inspection violations

While hydroxychloroquine has been used for decades to treat malaria, it is not approved for treating COVID-19, which so far has no cure. But small studies have suggested it could be effective in managing the symptoms.

Still, a large controlled study has not yet been completed, and some doctors warn the drug combination used for the experimental treatment could have severe, potentially deadly side effects.

Informed consent is one of the most important factors in any treatment, especially experimental ones, said Savitri Fedson, associate professor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine.

Doctors legally can and do prescribe drugs for a different purpose than those formally approved by the FDA. But, Fedson said, doctors have an obligation to thoroughly explain to patients the risks and benefits and give them a choice about whether to participate.

The question is: Is he getting consent from these patients? How is he phrasing it to these patients? Fedson said.

Armstrong said he explained to patients that he believes the drug could help them and told them he was going to prescribe it to them.

Now Playing: 'COVID-19 in 60': Houston coronavirus news in a minute Video: Houston Chronicle

He'd tell them: You tested positive for COVID virus, and we're going to put you on some medications to try and treat it.

Most accepted. If patients wanted to refuse, he said he believes they knew they could.

I know some families were upset, but these are medications that are fairly routine and not dangerous at all, Armstrong said. I think most of the families are upset because theyre hearing about controversy in the media. All they would have to do is call.

There are blood pressure medications that people take every day that are more dangerous, Armstrong said. Aspirin has bad side effects as well. Were starting these medications urgently in people who are having symptoms, who we think are about to get worse, get sicker.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Texas City nursing home doctor explains using hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients

If a patient has the ability to consent, Fedson said a doctor is not required to inform anyone else, such as that patients family, about a particular treatment, she said. Legal guardians or medical power of attorney may need to be consulted, but it depends what kind of permissions theyd previously given to the doctor.

More so than anything else, they may feel that their trust has been violated, Fedson said. They also might feel that this guy is really looking out for my mother, my father, and they really want to do whats best. It might go both ways, but the concern is how much he was upfront about it and whether or not they were aware they were taking anything.

For a procedure or surgery, Armstrong said he would have contacted power of attorney, but not a change of medication, which happens routinely.

The concept of informed consent has long been a keystone of research ethics, learned over the years by scientists after the historical wrongs of studies such as the U.S. government's infamous 40-year Tuskegee syphilis experiment. In that 1932 study, medical workers withheld treatment for hundreds of black men with a sexually transmitted disease without their consent, allowing many to die just so they could research the illness' effects on their bodies.

Without the typical markers of a clinical trial or other scientific study, such as a control group or high amounts of data collection, the results of Armstrongs treatment will likely not be revelatory, Fedson said. Depending on how much data is collected, the information could be used as group case study, known as a case series, she said.

Armstrong said what hes doing was not intended as an experiment, but nonetheless he plans to release the results in case theyre useful.

Well kind of write down our observations and everything weve seen and write that up and send it out, so hopefully it can help other folks, Armstrong said.

The outbreak at the home was found about three weeks ago after an employee came up positive for the virus and Galveston County health officials rushed to test 146 residents and employees. Fifty-six were positive as of this week, and one has died. At least three people from the home have been hospitalized this week, but Armstrong said none were on the medication.

One of the concerns about hypodroxychloroquine is that used in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin, it could cause heart rhythm problems and have serious implications for people with heart disease. Armstrong said electrocardiogram, or EKG, tests, which measure electric signals in the heart, have not shown such issues.

The biggest side effect that most people were concerned about, at least that Ive heard, appears to not have been happening, Armstrong said. So thats a great development for them. Im happy about that.

Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the number of residents at The Resort at Texas City who had tested positive for COVID-19. Fifty-six residents, not including employees, have tested positive.
YEREVAN.  Anna Naghdalyan, Spokesperson of the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (RAN MFA), has provided details about the return of the 35 Armenian students who are studying at various high schools in the US.

"As a result of the agreement reached between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Georgia and in close cooperation with the American Councils, the return of Armenian and Georgian students studying in various US public high schools under the FLEX program to Armenia and Georgia, respectively, was organized on April 9," the spokespersons respective statement reads, in particular. "With the coordination of the RA Embassy in the US, the American Councils have ensured the safe transportation of students from 19 US states to the city of Chicago, and then to Armenia on a Doha-Tbilisi-Yerevan flight.

At the Chicago airport, the RA Embassy in the US and the RA Honorary Consulate in Chicago have provided the Armenian students with the necessary items for health safety. The Armenian students greeting at the Doha airport and escorting until the other departure hall was also coordinated.

As a result of the above-mentioned cooperation, 34 students and one student studying in the US within the framework of the American ACES program are returning to Armenia. Upon their return to Armenia, the latter will be subject to a 14-day mandatory quarantine regime.




Nigerians have been asked to stop producing drama skits and video clips that paints the military and the security forces in a bad light.

The appeal was given by the acting director of army public relations, Sagir Musa, in a statement today.

According to Musa, the development has created a wrong impression of Nigerian soldiers and projected the military as an undisciplined and brutal institution.

We are well trained and dedicated professionals that perform our Constitutional duties diligently and dispassionately with utmost regard for human rights and rules of engagement, he said.

It is wrong to continue to produce such drama skits, video clips, and graphics at the expense of the excellent image of the Nigerian soldier.

It affects troops morale and has broad implications for national security. No nation or good citizen makes jest of its military.

Therefore, we are appealing to well-meaning Nigerians and producers of such materials to desist forthwith.

The military or security agencies should not be made the subject or focus of those skits at the expense of a key and strategic arm of the security architecture of our great nation.

Musa said the authorities would investigate the source of props and costumes used for the skits and ensure that army uniforms are not used to denigrate the military.

Some of these measures include restriction of movement, lockdown and stay at home directives which are being enforced by various government and security agencies, he said.

Some creative Nigerians found it expedient to provide comic relief through the production of funny jokes, graphics, drama skits, and video clips to entertain the public. The materials are circulated through social media.

Unfortunately, most of these clips circulating on social media bordered on the Nigerian soldier and projecting the military as lawless, brutal and being harsh on people flouting the stay at home order pursuant to the lockdown and stay at home directives imposed in some states in Nigeria.

Share this post with your Friends on
The difficulties facing online lenders are another example of the dysfunction and disorganization that have slowed down the flow of loans to small businesses, even as President Trump has insisted that the program is going well, with only a few small glitches.

Financial technology companies like PayPal and Square, and smaller companies that focus on small-business lending, like Kabbage and OnDeck, have specialized in giving loans to the businesses that are the focus of the government program  those with fewer than 500 employees  and doing it more quickly than banks. Many of the lenders have expressed frustration that they have been shut out when they feel they could be the most useful.

Every five minutes Ive been refreshing the Treasury page like a maniac, said Sam Taussig, the head of global policy at Kabbage, one of the largest online lenders for small businesses. The businesses that we serve on Main Street, they only have about 10 to 12 days of cash on hand, and we are well past that in many places.

The Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department, which are overseeing the loans program, didnt respond to requests for comment about the online lenders. S.B.A. officials have said they are working to iron out any issues slowing the flow of money to business owners.

The lenders want to help distribute the $349 billion in loans the government is giving to small businesses to help them make payroll and cover other costs during the pandemic. The loans have generous terms, including a low interest rate and forgiveness for portions spent on fixed costs like rent and paychecks for employees who arent working.
The coronavirus outbreak has stretched the relationship between Iran and Syria, with some speculating that Iran could be forced out reports Brocar Press.

As Russia and China seek to reduce sanctions imposed on the Syrian regime and bring it out of isolation on the pretext of solidarity amid the coronavirus crisis, the international pressure on the regime has increased as higher authorities were held responsible for three chemical attacks that took place in 2017.

According to a UN report, the regime or its allies might have carried out three chemical assaults against health-care facilities, a school and a childrens shelter in northwestern Syria.

Russian experts expect Irans influence to fade away in the coming period amid reports claiming that Tehran and its allies are disrupting regimes efforts to impose a ban on the Sayyida Zainab area, and amid growing popular resentment toward Iran. Iranian militias are also blamed for the spread of the novel coronavirus in Syria with the regimes failure to control air and land borders dominated by Iran.

Things are not working out the way Iran and its militias have planned. In fact, between Russia and Turkey, Iran might be the biggest loser in northern Syrias developments all the way from Idleb to Hassakeh. Its losses might become even graver amid regional and international intentions to help the Syrian regime in its fight against the pandemic. By that, Iran would become the weakest link among those investing in the Syrian crisis, and the regime will consequently be forced to abandon Tehran in exchange for aid and to be granted the elixir of life that would help it hold on until the situation changes and a comprehensive political settlement be reached with major regional players.

International pressures come as Russia calls for halting military operations and putting the political and humanitarian aspects on different sides to protect Syria from the pandemic.

Russian sources have also warned that Iran might resort to escalating the situation in Syria because it is the weakest party at the moment.

In a call with Brocar Press, a Russian source welcomed the UAEs new stance towards Syria, calling for more Arab and international states to follow the lead and help the country in its fight against COVID-19. The source affirmed that while Russia stresses that the regime should regain control over all Syrian lands at some point, it has no current intentions to support any military operation in northeastern or northwestern Syria.

As for the intensified Russian flights in northern Syria, the source said Russia is monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire and also combating terrorists in coordination with Turkey.

According to Russian experts, Syrias regime is likely to abandon the Iranians to strengthen ties with Arab countries and the world, especially now that Iran might be facing an economic disaster that will have grave social and perhaps political repercussions after the coronavirus outbreak.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) DG Kumar Rajesh Chandra on Friday said that the country's borders have been completely sealed and India has enforced strict lockdown and Nepal was doing the same by augmenting their deployment to prevent any infiltration by criminals taking the advantage of COVID-19 pandemic.

"We're enforcing strict lockdown and Nepal has been doing the same by augmenting their deployment. The letter is based on intelligence input about a criminal. We're looking into it," DG said.

Sashastra Seema Bal, the paramilitary force tasked with border security, has warned that there might be an attempt by anti- forces to infiltrate India with multiple COVID-19 positive patients through Nepal via border areas in Bihar.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday informed that India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,412.Out of the total cases, 5,709 are active patients and 504 of them have been cured/discharged and migrated.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 15:12:00|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has directed his agriculture secretary to "expedite help" to American farmers hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I expect Secretary (Sonny) Purdue to use all of the funds and authorities at his disposal to make sure that our food supply is stable, strong, and safe," Trump tweeted Thursday night, adding he wanted to "expedite help to our farmers, especially to the smaller farmers who are hurting right now".

Also on twitter, Perdue said that his department "is using all financial resources we have been given to develop a program that will include direct payments to farmers & ranchers hurt by COVID-19 & other procurement methods to help solidify the supply chain from producers to consumers."

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ripple across the country, crop and livestock prices have fallen to levels that threaten the livelihoods of many U.S. farmers and ranchers, according to recent analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).

"The drop in demand is pushing the prices farmers would get paid for their crops to lows that may make it very difficult for them to justify putting another crop in the ground this spring," John Newton, chief economist of the AFBF, said Tuesday in a statement.

"I stand by my assurance that our food supply remains strong, but America will have fewer farms and ranches supplying it unless USDA acts quickly to deliver aid and our economy is released from the grips of this pandemic soon," echoed AFBF president Zippy Duvall.

Last month, 48 agriculture groups, including the AFBF, had called on Congress to expand the United States Department of Agriculture's borrowing authority to assist farmers and ranchers facing serious cash flow challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Millions of producers will need help with cash flow given the rapid and unanticipated decline in commodity prices, the likely closures of ethanol processing plants, the effective elimination of direct-to-consumer sales and decline in full-service restaurant and school meal demand," the groups wrote in a letter to congressional leaders.
Amid the current crisis, many coronavirus-fighting products are hard to come by. Houston rappers Slim Thug and Trae Tha Truth are doing something about it.

Slim Thug, whose real name is Stayve Thomas, and Smoke Shield, a company that makes a cigarette smoke-eliminating fragrance, donated 1,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to Houston Police Department and Metro bus drivers on Tuesday. They are planning to donate an additional 1,000 bottles by Wednesday, April 15.

I want our police officers and bus drivers to know that we appreciate their service during this tough time. Theyve always been a huge part of keeping Houston going, said Thomas.

IGLOO STEPS UP: Katy factory ramps up efforts to help healthcare workers

The recording artist, who tested positive for the coronavirus in late March, has been in isolation for two weeks. During that time, he has been recording new music at his home studio.

Thomas will receive the results of his COVID-19 test this evening. He is doing much better and goes for his follow-up doctors appointment today, said his representative La'Torria Lemon.

CRITICAL NEED: Houston nonprofit asks for supplies to help abused children

Also stepping up to help is Trae Tha Truth, whose given name is Frazier Thompson III.

Thompson has teamed up with his business partners at Bumpboxx, a Stockton, CA-based Bluetooth boombox company, to donate 4000 masks to Houston Methodist Hospital and Harris County Jail on Wednesday.

We purchased the masks from an overseas company and paid for them ourselves, said Thompson.

Hes also helped more than 100 Houston families pay for their basic necessities.

I was spending my own money but there was only so much I could do. I wanted to keep going so I started taking donations from people on an app called $iamtraeabn, said Thompson. I cant afford to pay for their rent but I can help with school supplies and groceries. I can donate $50 to $100 to each family.

Doing good deeds is not unusual for Thompson. Along with his cohort Justin "DJ Rogers" Rogers, he helms "Relief Gang," formed during Hurricane Harvey in 2017 as they helped victims of the storm's devastating destruction.

Anytime something happens, I am going to be here to help. Ive always felt like its what I was meant to do in life, said Thompson.

@marcydeluna
The United States has opposed the choice of former Algerian foreign minister Ramtane Lamamra as UN Special Envoy to crisis-hit neighboring Libya to replace Lebanese Ghassan Salame, who resigned in March.

A UN diplomat who asked not be named because not allowed to speak on the matter told AFP that during Wednesday UN closed session on Libya, the head of the global body, Antonio Guterres has begun looking for another candidate.

Another source told the French news agency that the US has opposed the choice of Lamamra at pressures from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Egypt and the UAE, which both back rebel Gen. Khalifa Haftar, claim that the Algerian diplomat is close to the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) resisting the east-based rebel leader.

Another diplomatic source instead argued that Washington has stood on the way of Lamamras appointment because he is believed to be loyal to Moscow, which supports Haftar.

Russian mercenaries are currently fighting for the former Muammar Gaddafis close aid in his over one-year old military offensive to ouster the GNA from Tripoli.

Ghassan Salame who served as Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya from 2017 to 2020 gave up on the job citing health issues. The UN Chief appointed for interim Salames deputy  awaiting the appointment of a new Special Envoy.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 10

Trend:

The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the monitoring of Azerbaijan, Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC), Sir Roger Gale (United Kingdom, EC/DA) and Sunna varsdottir (Iceland, SOC), have welcomed the decree of President Ilham Aliyev pardoning 176 prisoners aged over 65 in need of special care, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trend reports citing the PACE website on April 10.

This humanitarian measure addresses concerns expressed by the Council of Europe Commissioner on Human Rights with regard to the protection of human rights and health of people detained in prisons in Council of Europe member states in connection with the global coronavirus pandemic," they said.

Pardon of convicts in Azerbaijan who need special care due to age amid the coronavirus pandemic is a very right step," the rapporteurs added.

On April 6, 2020, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an Act of Pardon on clemency of a number of convicted prisoners.
France confirmed 987 more COVID-19 deaths registered in hospitals and nursing homes in a day, bringing the total toll to 13,197.

Speaking to reporters, top health official Jerome Salomon said a child aged under 10 infected with COVID-19 died, but the causes of the death were multiple.

In encouraging news, Salomon said there were now 62 fewer people in intensive care, continuing a trend first seen on Thursday.

SOURCE: AGENCIES
Recent News

Cetin: We have a huge opportunity here in data science

April 2, 2020

Mujdat Cetin will become the next Robin and Tim Wentworth Director of the Goergen Institute for Data Science (GIDS) at the University of Rochester. The appointment is effective July 1, pending approval of the University Board of Trustees.

Cetin, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, has served as the interim director of GIDS since July 1, 2019. He replaces Henry Kautz, the founding director of the institute. Kautz stepped down in early 2018 to serve as director of the Division of Information and Intelligent Systems at the National Science Foundation. Prior to Cetin, Ehsan Hoque, assistant professor of computer science and the Asaro Biggar Family Fellow in Data Science, served as interim director.

"We have a huge opportunity here. We have many strengths at the University that are very well aligned with data science," Cetin says. "So, this is very exciting for me. As interim director, I have sensed how much emphasis the University places on GIDS, the importance associated with data science, and the enthusiasm for it.

"This is an evolving domain, and we face a lot of competition. Other universities are making major moves in data science. So, our challenge is: How do we position ourselves?"

Wendi Heinzelman, dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who co-led the search for a new director, says: "Mujdat is not only an internationally-recognized researcher, but he has a wealth of leadership experience within his research field. I know he will be an outstanding leader who will continue to advance GIDS as not only a University priority but also as a national and international presence in the field of data science."

"We could not be more thrilled that Mujdat has agreed to serve as the Wentworth Director of GIDS," says Gloria Culver, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, who also co-led the search. "Even in the very short time he has been at the University he has made a large impact on research and community -- none more so than the impact he had as interim director of GIDS. We anticipate great things for GIDS and Mujdat in the very near future."

GIDS was founded in 2014 as part of the Universitys $100 million commitment to making data science its top research priority. Located in Wegmans Hall, the institute serves as a hub for interdisciplinary data science research, interdepartmental data science academic programs, and collaborations with local companies.

For example:

The institute offers educational programs ranging from summer programs for high school students to research projects engaging PhD students. It currently enrolls 130 bachelors and 50 masters students whose training culminates in company-sponsored capstone projects that engage students in tackling "real-world" data science problems. In addition, the Institute recently launched a new advanced data science certificate program for professionals.

The Rochester Data Science Consortium works with more than two dozen local companies on providing timely solutions to pressing data science problems. The consortium employs 10 data and research scientists who are experts in the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced analytics.

The New York Center of Excellence supports longer term research involving faculty and industry, commercialization of foundational data science research, and connecting students to opportunities in data science.

Heinzelman praised the "new level of activity and success" that Cetin has brought to the research program in GIDS during his time as interim director.

For example, he has established working groups among the more than 70 University faculty members affiliated with the Institute. The groups are working to develop data science research collaborations in:

Machine learning and artificial intelligence

Imaging, optics, and computer/human vision

Life sciences and biomedical data science

Healthcare analytics and digital health

Human-data-system interfaces, including AR/VR, and robotics

Complex systems and network data science

Economics and business data analytics

In collaboration with Cornell University, Cetin obtained $1.5 million in National Science Foundation funding to establish a Greater Data Science Cooperative Institute. The goal is to develop theoretical foundations of data science that transcend individual fields, with a special focus on applications for health care.

He also is principal investigator of a $1.5 million NSF grant that will enable 62 doctoral students to be trained in the skills needed to advance augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies. The program will also help the students gain an appreciation for the broader cultural and societal implications of the technologies.

Cetins agenda as the new GIDS director is an ambitious one. In an interview he listed these top priorities:

Expanding the opportunities for undergraduates and graduate students to become engaged in the institutes activities, beyond their academic studies, to build and maintain an interactive, broad data science community on campus.

Expanding and improving the educational program by exploring online offerings for professionals and traditional students, modifying and adapting courses to meet career needs of students, and improving local and global recruitment efforts.

Hiring more data science faculty in collaboration with other departments, to teach courses and engage in research.

Continuing the process of identifying and building on the Universitys data science research strengths through core working groups. Also, generating seed money for promising projects, which, in turn can help leverage external federal, corporate, and foundation grants.

Strengthening industry engagement in collaboration with the Consortium and Center of Excellence, "such that we relate our academic work on campus with the interests of industry through student projects as well as research proposals and grants."

Continually reviewing the institutes administrative structure, budget, and academic resources to ensure it can maintain and expand its competitiveness.

Establishing partnerships with other universities, industries, foundations, and funding agencies.

"We are a great institute, but we are still a small institution," Cetin says. "So, we need to build strategic partnerships, especially focusing on areas in which we have complementary strengths." The grant with Cornell is an example, he adds.

Cetin joined the University in 2017 after serving as a faculty member at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey for 12 years. At Sabanci he directed the Signal Processing and Information Systems Laboratory. From 2001 to 2005, he was with the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, MIT. Cetin has held visiting faculty positions at MIT, Northeastern University, and Boston University.

His research interests are within the broad area of data, signal, and imaging sciences, with cross-disciplinary links to several other areas in electrical engineering, computer science, and neuroscience. The overarching theme of his research is the development of probabilistic and machine learning-based methods for robust and efficient information extraction at various levels of abstraction from observed uncertain, complex data.

Cetin received his BS in electrical engineering from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey in 1993, an MS in electrical engineering from the University of Salford, Manchester, UK in 1995, followed by a PhD in electrical engineering from Boston University, Boston, MA in 2001. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Data science at the University of Rochester is supported by an aggregate computational capacity that equals 420 teraflops or 420 trillion calculations per secondthe equivalent computing power of more than 20,000 laptops. The Center for Integrated Research Computing (CIRC) provides computational technology and support services to more than 900 faculty members across the University. The Health Sciences Center for Computational Innovation (HSCCI) houses the health sciences research program. The VISTA Collaboratory is a 1,000-square-foot visualization lab that renders massive data sets, helping researchers visualize and analyze complex data instantly and collaboratively.
COVID-19 has presented the world with a new and devastating threat. The global death toll has passed 95,000, and the number of those infected with the novel coronavirus has risen above 1.6 million. Healthcare systems around the world, inundated with patients, have quickly become overwhelmed, and even the most state-of-the-art health services are at breaking point. For the many millions caught in the crosshairs of conflict whose access to health services is already limited or close to impossible, the pandemic brings a new terror.

The COVID-19 storm is now coming to all theaters of conflict. The virus has shown how swiftly it can move across borders, devastate countries, and upend lives. The worst is yet to come, warned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres days ago, following a call for a global humanitarian cease-fire in March.

The call, endorsed by over 70 member states and regional partners, has seemingly also been heeded by several armed groups. Groups in Colombia signaled a desire to stop fighting as the contagion spreads, and guerrilla groups in the Philippines agreed to observe a cease-fire to help the country deal with the pandemic. On April 9, Saudi officials announced the countrys forces would begin a cease-fire in Yemen amid the pandemic.

In Afghanistan, reaching a humanitarian cease-fire is complicated by a fragile peace process and political gridlock.

With the outbreak of the coronavirus the U.S. envoy for Afghan peace, European Union, UN Security Council, Organization for Islamic States, Russia and Iran, among others, have urged all parties in the country to observe a cease-fire on humanitarian grounds. The Afghan government, for its part, has repeatedly called for a cease-fire in recognition of the common threat of COVID-19. The Taliban recently signaled that they might agree to a cease-fire in areas under their control, though significant questions remain about what conditions would precipitate a cease-fire, if they would attack health professionals in areas outside their control, or how many COVID-19 cases would need to be confirmed in any given area for them to implement a cease-fire. On April 8, there was little sign of a cease-fire, as the Taliban attacked security forces in Balkh, killing at least seven civilians.

Active conflict creates new challenges and exacerbates existing ones such as security and access, making it difficult for humanitarian and medical actors to reach vulnerable and at-risk communities.

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. It now has 521 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least 15 deaths, including a doctor who died earlier this week after contracting the virus. In recent weeks, more than 200,000 Afghans have crossed the border from Iran, where over 62,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and over 4,000 have died, the highest recorded death toll in the Middle East. Tens of thousands have also returned from Pakistan in recent days, which is among the worst-affected countries in South Asia. While there have been attempts to test people crossing the border, the country does not have the capacity or the resources to implement robust control and containment mechanisms at border crossings. Last week, the Afghan government moved quickly to impose lockdowns in a several cities across the country as a preventive measure.

Although hugely challenging, containing the spread of the virus is essential in Afghanistan. Over 40 years of conflict, coupled with widespread poverty, have resulted in an impoverished public healthcare system that is extremely precarious under even the best of circumstances. Afghanistan has one of the most vulnerable populations in the world, including millions of internally displaced people and rural communities where healthcare provisions are either very limited or nonexistent. The country has recently faced multiple health crises, increasing the likelihood that the coronavirus will spread and will quickly overwhelm the system.

Highlighting these concerns, over 70 international and Afghanistan-based humanitarian, aid, civil society groups and activists have come together to push for a cease-fire across the country. The joint call, coordinated by Time4RealPeace, is backed by dozens of groups from around the world, including Oxfam International, Norwegian Refugee Council, International Civil Society Network, Mercy Corps, Help Refugees, CARE, Alliance for Peacebuilding, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, Afghan Womens Network, Madre, BAAG, Afghanistan Civil Society Forum, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Global Witness, and asks that three immediate actions be taken by all sides:

 A full and immediate cease-fire ahead of resolutions being reached in the intra-Afghan talks;

 A boosting of immediate preparedness and response operations;

 The protection of human rights, womens rights, refugee protection laws and norms, and the space for independent civil society to operate in safety.

Citing the countrys compromised healthcare system, chronic shortages in healthcare equipment and medicines, as well as escalating violence, the joint statement emphasizes the risk of large-scale deaths across the country if all sides to the conflict refuse to observe a cease-fire.

Only through a cease-fire and cooperation can the country respond to this new threat and implement measures to protect the lives of all Afghans. This is not the time for political maneuvering or grandstanding. COVID-19 will not be stopped by borders or nationality, faction or faith. The only way to prevent senseless deaths is to respond to this global health crisis together. Quick and responsible action to help stem this crisis is the best way for all parties to demonstrate a real, long-term commitment to peace and to strengthen their positions at the negotiating table.

Sahar Halaimzai, an Afghan writer, advocate, and human rights campaigner, leads the Afghan peace campaign Time4RealPeace. Rahela Sidiqi, is a co-founder of Time4RealPeace and founding director of Farkhunda Trust for Afghan Women's Education. She is a former senior adviser of the Afghanistan Civil Service Commission and a senior social development adviser of the United Nations-Habitat Afghanistan. These views are the authors alone and do not represent those of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Gov. Tom Wolf spoke with reporters Friday afternoon to discuss the latest on the coronavirus pandemic in Pennsylvania.

He was asked about reopening businesses, the long-expected surge of patients and the move to release some inmates from the state prison system. And he talked about the struggles of the state-run online liquor store.

Here are the highlights.

Opening more businesses

Wolf was asked about allowing more construction to occur and more businesses to open their doors. The governor has shut down businesses that are not life sustaining.

Wolf said hes trying to use common sense but thinks its necessary to limit the number of businesses that are open to reduce the spread of the virus.

Every time we talk about opening something up, were going to be prolonging this phase, Wolf said.

Some Republican lawmakers have moved bills that would reopen businesses and restart the construction industry. Most construction activity has come to a halt in the state under Wolfs order.

The governor said he hasnt seen the measures to open more businesses since they havent reached his desk. If the bills do come before him, Wolf said hed look at them very critically.

If its not in the best interests of keeping people safe, Im not going to go along with it, Wolf said.

Surge could come next week

Wolf said state officials expect the surge of new patients they have been bracing for could come next week.

The governor said officials project the surge is likely next week.

If the surge occurs next week and hospitals arent overwhelmed, that could lead to easing the statewide shutdown, Wolf said. The governor has issued a statewide stay-at-home order that is in effect until April 30.

He said its critical for residents to stay home and practice social distancing so eventually, restrictions affecting so much daily life can be eased.

It really depends on all of us, 12.8 million Pennsylvanians, Wolf said, adding, Were all on the front lines.

Earlier Friday, Health Secretary Rachel Levine spoke about the states efforts to combat COVID-19 in her daily briefing today. Levine said even as the rate of the spread of the coronavirus is slowing somewhat, it remains unclear when it will peak in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania now has nearly 20,000 patients who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed 1,751 new cases Friday, raising the statewide total to 19,979.

At least 416 people have died, including 78 new fatalities reported today.

Releasing inmates

Wolf was asked about his decision to allow the release of some state prison inmates.

The governor issued an order Friday that could lead to the temporary releases of as many as 1,800 state prisoners with medical issues that put them at dire risk if they contract the virus.

Were trying to make sure the prison population isnt overloaded, Wolf said.

The governor said the move is designed to protect some vulnerable prisons and reduce the risk facing prison staff.

Were working with the local DAs, Wolf said. We want to do this safely.

Wolf was asked making the decision to release some inmates without first securing the support of state lawmakers. Wolf said he met with lawmakers to convince them to release some inmates but he said they couldnt reach an agreement. So he acted on his own.

Theres a premium on speed here, Wolf said, citing the health risks to inmates and prison staff.

Waivers for businesses

Wolf was asked about the states program allowing businesses to seek a waiver to remain open. Some have criticized the states waiver process as inconsistent and lacking transparency.

Weve tried to apply common sense, Wolf said.

Thousands of companies have applied for waivers. He said a team at the state Department of Community and Economic Development has made the calls on which businesses can open.

In some cases we agreed, in some cases we disagreed, he said.

Did we make calls that some people may question? Yeah, probably, Wolf said. But he said businesses have had a chance to make their case.

State-run liquor stores

Wolf was asked about the possibility of re-opening some state-run wine and spirits stores, even on a limited basis. He said his office is examining options to make liquor more available.

Last week, the states online store was launched but many have been unable to place orders. The states website has been overwhelmed by consumers trying - unsuccessfully - to buy booze.

We tried to make the online service robust enough to meet the demand, Wolf said.

Obviously the online system has been overloaded and has not worked well, he said.

Wolf didnt say if there would be any soft opening of stores.

Earlier today, Wolf announced the launch of a $450 million emergency loan program for hospitals today.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

READ MORE
PARADISE, MI  Viewing platforms overlooking the Upper Peninsulas iconic Tahquamenon Falls are closed until further notice as authorities ask Michiganders to recreate responsibly during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Tahquamenon Fall State Park in Paradise remains open, but visitors will no longer have access to viewing platforms, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced via Facebook this week.

While the park remains partially open, the main viewing platforms at the Upper and Lower Falls are closed. #RecreateResponsibly Posted by Tahquamenon Falls State Park on Wednesday, April 8, 2020

While a specific reason for the closure was not given, the DNR has been closing certain areas of state parks when social distancing  keeping a 6-foot distance from others  guidelines are not followed.

Whether you fish, hunt or just enjoy the outdoors we want to remind everyone that social distancing guidelines should be... Posted by Michigan Department of Natural Resources on Monday, March 30, 2020

The viewing platforms are a huge draw to the remote 48,000-acre park. Many people visit to see the Upper Falls, which is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi with a drop of nearly 50 feet and span of more than 200 feet. The water flow is more than 50,000 gallons per second.

But the second largest state park in Michigan has lots of other attributes to explore that remain open to visitors. The park has more than 40 miles of hiking trails, 13 inland lakes, 24 miles of the Tahquamenon River and approximately 20,000 acres of natural area.

RELATED: Michigan state park bathrooms, gathering spots shut down during coronavirus spread

Fishing is still allowed, and the 2020 season is now open.

The trails offer opportunities for hiking, photography, birding, wildlife watching and more.The variety of wildlife includes 125 species of nesting birds, plus moose, bear, wolves, fishers and more.

Here are the parks trail offerings:

State campgrounds are closed  they are expected to open for summer on May 15.

Tahquamenon Falls State Park is open year-round from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

As of Thursday, April 9, the state says 1,076 people have died from the virus while Michigan has 21,504 total confirmed cases. On Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended the Stay Home, Stay Safe executive order through April 30. The order continues the restrictions in place on gatherings, travel and which businesses are deemed essential. There are also some new restrictions. Michiganders are allowed to leave their homes for certain activities, including outdoor recreation, essential work and to purchase necessary supplies.

RELATED: When traveling to Michigan outdoor destinations during the stay-home order, how far is too far?

Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

READ MORE:

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore closes all camping until June 25

Popular Sleeping Bear Dunes trails may close because of overcrowding, improper social distancing

Heres when federal stimulus payments should hit bank accounts

Friday, April 10: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan
A major expansion of supports for businesses impacted by Covid-19 will be of huge benefit to enterprises across Kilkenny City and county during the current emergency, according to local Fine Gael TD John Paul Phelan.

His Fine Gael colleague, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, has announced that a package worth 1 billion in liquidity measures will be made available to businesses to meet the unprecedented difficulties posed by the Covid-19 emergency.

An additional 450 million of lending will be provided through the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) for SMEs in all sectors including agri-food. This will provide much needed liquidity for firms and brings the total SBCI COVID-19 lending capacity to 650 million, with loans being made available through the pillar banks," says Deputy Phelan.

These measures are in addition to the 150m of funding capacity in the Governments Credit Guarantee Scheme, which I would encourage businesses across Kilkenny to avail of."

In the manufacturing and international services sectors, which employ over 460,000 people, a new Sustaining Enterprise Fund of up to 180m has also been announced. This is aimed at all firms with 10 or more employees impacted by Covid-19.

The fund will be operated by Enterprise Ireland, providing repayable advances of up to 800,000 as agreed with the EU under new State Aid rules and should see up to 500m of additional investment in vulnerable but viable firms. These grants will only be repayable if and when a business returns to financial good health.

With regard to small businesses with under 10 employees, an additional 30 million will be made available through the 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs). Microfinance Ireland (MFI), which is administering special COVID-19 Loans, will receive an additional 13 million in capital support bringing its total lending capacity up to 20 million for the coming period," the local Fine Gael TD says.

Minister Humphreys has also increased support for two trading online initiatives to a total of 7.6 million  the first for small businesses in partnership with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Richard Bruton TD, and the second for retailers with over 10 employees.

These supports will help businesses sell their products online at a time when so many retail outlets remain closed and require a much needed boost in revenue."

Commenting on the package of supports, Minister Humphreys said the impact of Covid-19 presents unprecedented difficulties for businesses who have already spent the past three years preparing for the possible consequences of Brexit, but those preparations will stand to us.

"I want to reiterate to firms that we will continue to use all available tools at our disposal to support them and keep money flowing through the economy in the difficult months ahead," she said.

Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe said the package of measures is designed to offer supports to businesses of all hues, from start-ups to more established companies.

"It is vital that traders examine what is on offer, apply for schemes and loans, many of which are available at reduced rates, to give themselves the best chance of survival during this difficult time," he said.
An inmate at Bexar County Jail and 12 employees of the Sheriffs Office have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Friday.

The 29-year-old man is the first inmate to contract the virus. Arrested last month on a family violence warrant, he reported feeling shortness of breath Thursday, officials said, and the medical staff determined that he had a fever over 100 degrees.

Because the inmate displayed symptoms consistent with COVID-19, he was placed in a negative pressure cell, pending test results, which came back positive. It is unclear how the inmate contracted the illness, a spokeswoman said Friday.

Before he was tested, the inmate was housed in two cellblocks with 116 other inmates, officials say. Each cellblock holds a maximum of 64 people.

This is obviously very concerning, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said. Previously, after the deputy tested positive for the coronavirus, we were concerned. But those deputies were assigned to a lockdown unit. Now, its an inmate in a cellblock. Thats much more worrisome.

So far, Wolff said, no other inmates from the two cellblocks have shown any symptoms consistent with the coronavirus. Those units have been shut down, and all inmates confined to those living areas are having their temperatures checked twice daily.

Sheriff Javier Salazar has asked that everyone confined to that cellblock be tested for COVID-19, Wolff said, though it is not clear whether that request will be granted.

On ExpressNews.com: Law enforcement personnel in S.A. tweak procedures amid coronavirus outbreak

Later Friday, Salazar said the 12 employees who tested positive include a communications dispatcher and 11 deputies who graduated earlier this month from the academy.

The dispatcher likely contracted the virus from a family member and has been self-monitoring at home since March 31. Co-workers are believed to be at low risk of contracting the virus, officials said.

It is also believed that additional detention staff and the inmate population are at low risk of contracting the virus because the new jailers that tested positive Friday were placed on leave early on.

In total, 15 employees at the Sheriffs Office have tested positive for COVID-19, including a video visitation civilian employee. A maintenance employee who works at the detention facility also tested positive, but he works for the county, not the Sheriffs Office.

To further prevent the spread of the virus, all inmates  roughly 3,000 at the jail, many of whom are awaiting trial  have been given face masks to wear at all times.

Time limits have been placed on the use of the jails day room.

Additionally, all areas the inmate had contact with have been fully sanitized and disinfected, which includes the living units the inmate had access to, the spokeswoman said.

The deputies who worked in the units where the inmate was housed are believed to be at low risk of contracting the virus, officials said. So far, no deputies have any symptoms. As a precaution, the deputies were placed on leave while they self-monitor for symptoms.

In each instance, officials have said they have taken precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. Earlier this week, after the maintenance worker tested positive, all nonpublic jail facilities were temporarily shut down to conduct a thorough decontamination.

As of Thursday, 60 Sheriffs Office employees  56 deputies and four civilians  have been placed on leave and told to self-quarantine after possibly being exposed to the virus. Among them are 20 deputies who graduated this month from the training academy with the deputy who later tested positive.

About 18 deputies are scheduled to return to work Monday, a spokesman said.

On ExpressNews.com: Sheriff defends releases from jail in downtown San Antonio, saying it could prevent coronavirus spread

Jails and prisons, known for their unsanitary and crowded living conditions, have emerged as hotbeds for spreading the virus, and officials across the country are grappling with how to cut inmate populations.

You get one sick inmate in a jail, before you know it, its 100 or 300 really quick. Those people are going to get back into society on a daily basis, Salazar said in March. And theyve been sitting in this cesspool of disease, in a pandemic situation like this.

At last count, the Sheriffs Office had reduced the jail population by roughly 770 inmates to about 3,100, primarily by releasing nonviolent misdemeanor offenders and sending felons to prisons.

In March, after jail officials in several large cities, including San Antonio, began lowering jail populations, Gov. Greg Abbott banned the release of inmates accused or convicted of violent felonies unless they post bail.

Criminal justice reform advocates have criticized that move, saying it discriminates against poor defendants who dont have access to cash, putting them at increased risk of contracting the virus. Judges have the power to release defendants on personal recognizance bonds, even for violent offenses.

That was the case for the Bexar County inmate who tested positive this week. In November, he was arrested on a charge of assault bodily injury married, a misdemeanor, and released under a personal recognizance bond, meaning he did not have to pay but agreed to meet certain conditions set by the judge.

But on March 11, after being arrested on charges of violating a protective order and drug possession, a judge increased his bail. He could have been released if he paid 10 percent, about $500, through a bondsman.

The man was likely not eligible for re-release under Salazars push to decrease the jail population because he is accused of a violent offense.

Two separate legal cases, filed by civil rights attorneys, have challenged the constitutionality of Abbotts order, saying it takes away a judges power to make case-by-case decisions.

The harms of this order are not abstract: Poor people are being detained pretrial with no way to escape a possible jail outbreak, Amanda Woog, executive director of the Texas Fair Defense Project, said in a statement announcing one lawsuit. The governor has overstepped his legal authority, and this is causing significant harm on the ground.

Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales also questioned the constitutionality of Abbotts order, during a recent panel hosted by the Texas Organizing Project, a statewide advocacy group.

Its a violation of the constitutions separation of powers doctrine, Gonzales said. Thats why we have separation of powers  because the executive branch cannot control what the judiciary does, just like the president cant control how the Supreme Court is going to act.

In response to the order, Gonzales said he has instructed prosecutors in his office to continue reviewing cases that might be eligible for personal recognizance bonds and to set low bails for new cases  sometimes as low as $10, in effect having the same outcome.

That way, we can continue to facilitate the release of some of those individuals, Gonzales said.

Emilie Eaton is a criminal justice reporter in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Emilie, become a subscriber. eeaton@express-news.net | Twitter: @emilieeaton
Contributed Photo / Connecticut State Police / Contributed Photo

ANSONIA  A stretch of Route 8 north was briefly closed Friday afternoon because of a vehicle fire, according to initial dispatch reports.

First responders in Ansonia got the call for a possible vehicle fire on Route 8 north, a little bit north of Exit 18, around 5:15 p.m.
MOVES by US car manufacturer General Motors to expand its footprint at its Dooradoyle offices, which could lead to a further 100 jobs, have been described as a terrific vote of confidence by a council executive.

This follows Limerick city councillors decision on Monday to sanction proposals which could see the car giant, based in the council offices at County Hall in Dooradoyle, double the number of people it employs in Limerick to 200.

It was proposed to lease the third floor of the councils buildings to General Motors Ireland for a term of five years, with the firm having the option to extend for a further five years.

The Detroit company is in the middle of a recruitment drive in Limerick, and will pay 145,242 per year in respect of rent, insurance and service charges.

Councillors voted in favour of the proposal at the metropolitan district council meeting, which was held at Limerick City Gallery of Art, Pery Square.

Metropolitan mayor Cllr Michael Hourigan, who chaired the meeting, said: It is a very positive note because Limerick, by these large companies, is perceived as a good place to come, perceived as a place where workers will have a good quality of life, and where workers can get reasonable accommodation at a reasonable price.

It is incredible news for Limerick, as it says something about Limerick, a place where people want to come to set up their business. While Limerick City and County Council cannot really create jobs as such, we can create the atmosphere, we can create the location, we can create the sites. So, we have a huge responsibility to make Limerick a place where people will want to come, he told the Leader.

Speaking at the council meeting Cllr Daniel Butler added: I would like to welcome this. It means more jobs, and it has to be welcomed. And its a double-whammy because it means that we are getting revenue from General Motors.

Anti-Austerity Alliance councillor Cian Prendiville, however, raised concerns about parking availability for any new staff.

Cllr Joe Leddin said we should do everything we can to facilitate them, adding he did not consider parking to be a big issue.

Kieran Lehane, council manager in the metropolitan district said the move will encourage staff to spend more in the locality, adding that its a "terrific vote of confidence".

One of the worlds biggest companies, General Motors owns brands like Opel, Cadillac and Chevrolet among others.
South Carolina reached 3,065 total coronavirus cases Friday, surpassing the milestone 3,000 patients for the first time as it logged 274 new positive tests and five new deaths.

A total of 72 coronavirus patients from the Palmetto State have died. The most recent five include three patients from Greenville County, one from Berkeley County and one from Florence County. Two were elderly, three middle-aged, and all had underlying health conditions, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

South Carolina surpassed 2,000 cases on Sunday and 1,000 cases on March 31, 25 days after the first two cases were recorded in the state on March 6.

As South Carolina's rate of coronavirus infection continues to climb and officials crack down on social distancing orders, three more Charleston residents have been cited with violating the city's stay-at-home ordinance.

Three men were cited at 15 Line St. on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Police Chief Luther Reynolds said they were told repeatedly to leave the area but refused.

To date, five people have been issued misdemeanor summonses for violating the city's stay-at-home ordinance: two town of James Island residents at Demetre Park on James Island on April 3 and then three on the East Side Wednesday.

So far, three businesses have been cited with misdemeanor summonses for violating the city's non-essential business ordinance.

It's been weeks since Charleston closed public parks and asked residents to stay home, and Gov. Henry McMaster issued a statewide order Monday.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare announced eight new positive tests from its hospitals on Friday morning, bringing the hospital system's total to 149 patients with positive diagnoses. Most are home as they recover.

In addition to enforcing stay-at-home orders, local law enforcement agencies are taking precautions with their own equipment.

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office had its entire fleet of vehicles decontaminated. Chembion Environmental, based in North Charleston, was cleaning squad cars and detention center vehicles throughout the week, the department said.

As inmates enter the Charleston County jail, their temperatures and travel histories are checked and those with high temperatures are isolated, according to a checklist the department shared Friday. Staff temperatures are also checked daily.

Inmates with symptoms will be isolated and required to wear masks outside of their cells.

On Friday afternoon, Sheriff Al Cannon spoke with reporters about further measures being taken at the jail. The facility will receive equipment that will allow deputies to conduct COVID-19 tests in house, he said.

Its infirmary is the only such facility at a jail in South Carolina to be certified by DHEC, Cannon said.

In addition, the Sheriff's Office is working with courts and other authorities to identify inmates who are eligible for release in order to lower the jail population for social distancing purposes, he said. Among the categories of inmates who could be considered are those being held on misdemeanor charges, family court matters and other low-level charges.

As of Friday, no inmates in South Carolina's prisons have been diagnosed with COVID-19, said S.C. Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling.

SCDC is working hard to ensure the safety of inmates and staff and is following the guidelines set forth by public health professionals, Stirling said.

Inmates at three prisons have been sewing cloth surgical masks for distribution among the inmate population, said Chrysti Shain, a SCDC spokeswoman. Enough masks have been produced to provide one, reusable mask to each incarcerated person in South Carolina.

More masks have been ordered and officials aim to provide each inmate with two masks, Shain said.

Meanwhile, DHEC announced on Friday that it will conduct virtual food-safety checks for restaurants and retail operations.

"This creative approach allows us to stay connected with these essential businesses while we continue our oversight of food safety compliance, said Myra Reece, DHECs Director of Environmental Affairs. Were working together to help ensure the food that customers order is safe.

Mikaela Porter and Gregory Yee contributed to this report.
NEW DELHI: The Home Ministry on Friday (April 10, 2020) directed all state governments to ensure compliance of lockdown measures to fight coronavirus COVID-19 menace. The Home Ministry also directed the states to ban all social and religious events, gatherings and processions for some time.

A statement issued by the Home Ministry said, "In view of the ensuing festivals in the month of April 2020, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed all States/UTs to ensure strict compliance of lockdown measures to fight COVID19 and not allow any social/religious gathering/procession.

"It has been communicated to inform District authorities and field agencies on the specific prohibitions as mentioned in the Consolidated Guidelines on Lockdown Measures and that they should take all required precautionary/preventive measures for maintenance of law and order, peace and public tranquillity, the MHA order said.

The MHA also called for maintaining an appropriate vigil on social media to ensure no objectionable content is circulated.

"Appropriate vigil on social media should also be maintained against the circulation of any objectionable content, the communication adds, the MHA order said.

"The communication has further requested that for the attention of the public authorities, social/religious organisation and citizens, the respective provisions of the guidelines should be widely circulated. It adds that for violation of any lockdown measure, action under the relevant penal provisions of the Disaster Management Act 2005 and IPC should be taken by the law enforcement agencies, it added.

"The consolidated guidelines on the lockdown measures to be taken by Ministries/ Departments of Government of India, State/Union Territory Governments and State/ Union Territory Authorities for containment of COVID-19 epidemic in the country were notified by Ministry of Home Affairs on 24.03.2020 and further modified on 25.03.2020, 27.03.2020, 02.04.2020 and 03.04.2020. Clause 9 & 10 of the Consolidated Guidelines state that no religious congregation will be permitted without any exception and all social/cultural/religious functions/gatherings shall be barred, the Home Ministry said in the release.

In a separate order, the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, asked BSF to enhance vigil along Pakistan, Bangladesh borders, especially at non-fenced areas.
Mr. Cuomo has relied on several models in making his decisions, and while each is slightly different, they all convinced him that the wisest course of action was to plan for the worst while hoping for the best.

The models also helped Mr. Cuomo and other governors project an air of confidence amid the crisis and to come up with the cover they required to place their states under crippling restrictions that have damaged economies and brought most aspects of life to a halt.

When asked on Friday at his daily news briefing whether he feared losing credibility for trusting some models that had proven to be less than accurate, Mr. Cuomo said no.

I think my credibility would be affected if I didnt ask experts for their opinion, he said.

The governor also said that the discrepancy between the predictions and the actual statistics was because of the behavior of New Yorkers themselves. With some exceptions, New Yorkers have managed to follow the restrictions on movement and socializing.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, seemed to agree and congratulated Mr. Cuomo and his counterparts on Friday for having slowed the tide of infections in their states.

That has dramatically changed because of the impact of what the citizens of New York and New Jersey and across Connecticut and now Rhode Island are doing to really change the course of this pandemic, Dr. Birx said.

It is, of course, prudent politically and for public health reasons that elected leaders over-plan, not under-plan, for disasters. During hurricanes, for instance, governors are much more likely to save their constituents lives, and their own jobs, by ordering evacuations early rather than banking on the chance that a storm will peter out.
A new strategy to create 2D magnetic order

Grain boundaries, which are consist of periodic arrangement of structural units and generally recognized as a two-dimensional "phase", can exhibit novel properties that are not existed in the intrinsic bulk crystal. The altered continuity of atomic bonding at grain boundaries cause local chemical environment dramatically change at a few unit cells, subsequently alter local electrical activity, magnetic order or other physical properties. The effects of grain boundary on properties is even more significant in the complex oxides due to the substantial interactions between lattice and other order parameters. Therefore, such an inhomogeneity of materials with grain boundary may dominate the entire response in nanoscale devices and have garnered particular interest in designing novel functional devices.

The nature of structural defects is determined by the atomic arrangements. Correlating the properties of single defect-based device with its specific atomic structure is vital and prerequisite for the device application. However, experimentally revealing such a structure-property relation is very challenging due to the atomic-size and chemical and structural complexity of defects, especially for the perovskite oxides that contain multiple elements.

In a new research article published in the Beijing-based National Science Review, scientists at Peking university, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tianjin University present atomic mechanism of spin-valve magnetoresistance at the asymmetry SrRuO3 grain boundary. The asymmetry atomic structure is very different from the common assumption based on prototype perovskite SrTiO3. The transport measurements exhibit the spin-valve magnetoresistance for the as fabricated centimeter-size and sub-nm-width 5(310) SrRuO3 grain boundary. Advanced scanning transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopy reveal its atomic arrangements based on which the first principles calculations reveal its electronic properties. Scientists find that owing to the Ru-O octahedron distortion near the asymmetric grain boundary, Ru d orbital reconstructs and results in reduction of magnetic moments and change of spin polarization along the grain boundary, forming a magnetic/nonmagnetic/magnetic junction. The calculations bridge the atomic structure with transport properties.

"Our findings can help us to understand the past transport properties such as the negative magnetoresistance and absence of tunneling magnetoresistance at the SrRuO3 grain boundary, and also predict new effects of SrRuO3 grain boundary such as the interfacial magnetoelectric coupling when SrRuO3 is used as a bottom electrode for growth of ferroelectric thin films." Prof. Peng Gao said, "In a broader perspective, control of defect structure at atomic scale can realize peculiar physical properties, providing us a new strategy to design devices with new low-dimensional magnetic properties by using boundary engineering."

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFA0300804), National Equipment Program of China (ZDYZ2015-1), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51672007 and 11974023), the Key-Area Research and Development Program of GuangDong Province (No. 2018B030327001?2018B010109009) and "2011 Program" Peking-Tsinghua-IOP Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter. Project was also supported by State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, China

###

See the article:

Xujing Li, Li Yin, Zhengxun Lai, Mei Wu, Yu Sheng, Lei Zhang, Yuanwei Sun, Shulin Chen, Xiaomei Li, Jingmin Zhang, Yuehui Li, Kaihui Liu, Kaiyou Wang, Dapeng Yu, Xuedong Bai, Wenbo Mi, Peng Gao

Atomic origin of spin-valve magnetoresistance at the SrRuO3 grain boundary

Natl Sci Rev

https:/ / doi. org/ 10. 1093/ nsr/ nwaa004

The National Science Review is the first comprehensive scholarly journal released in English in China that is aimed at linking the country's rapidly advancing community of scientists with the global frontiers of science and technology. The journal also aims to shine a worldwide spotlight on scientific research advances across China.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Sweden has dismissed Donald Trumps understanding of its coronavirus combating strategy as factually wrong after the US president said it was suffering badly.

The Nordic country is an outlier in its approach to the pandemic, keeping restaurants, bars, and schools open despite neighbouring countries implementing restrictive lockdowns to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

On Tuesday, Trump claimed Sweden was relying on the herd  referring to herd immunity, which means allowing large numbers of the population to contract the virus and develop immunity while isolating more vulnerable groups.

He said: Sweden did that, the herd, they call it the herd. Swedens suffering very, very badly. Its a way of doing it but the, you know, everybody has been watching everybody else and so far, almost every country has done it the way weve done it, weve chosen to do it.

But Swedens foreign minister Ann Linde said his assessment of the countrys approach was factually wrong in an interview with broadcaster TV4 on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, she was quoted as saying: Some countries seem to think that we arent doing anything, but were doing a lot of things that suit Sweden.

"We do not have a strategy that aims at herd immunity at all.

[Swedens strategy is] No lockdown and we rely very much on people taking responsibility for themselves.

Swedish authorities are allowing public places to remain open and gatherings of up to 50 people are still taking place, but updates rules about avoiding crowds and queues regularly. Restaurant, bar and cafe owners must take responsibility to minimise crowding in their establishments.

The Public Health Agencys most recent guidelines, introduced on 7 April, reads: All parts of society must contribute to the prevention of Covid-19, for example by staying informed and taking the appropriate precautions.

The regulation for restaurants and bars place a large responsibility on those that fall under it. As part of their self-regulation, they must regularly do risk assessments, including the risk of crowds of people that may contribute to transmission of disease with serious consequences for society.

Anders Tegnell, chief epidemiologist at the Swedish Public Health Agency, also rejected Trumps comments.

When asked at a press briefing if he shared Trumps opinion, Mr Tegnell said: No, as we said here before, no we wont share his opinion. Of course, were suffering. Everyone in the world is suffering right now in different ways.

But Swedish healthcare, which I guess he alludes to  its very difficult to understand  is taking care of this in a very, very good manner.

Sweden has reported 9,141 positive cases of Covid-19, with 793 deaths as of Thursday.

The Nordic countrys approach, at odds with much of the rest of the world, has drawn skepticism by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The WHO told CNN earlier this week it was imperative that Sweden increase measures to control the spread of the virus, prepare and increase capacity of the health system to cope, ensure physical distancing and communicate the why and how of all measures to the population.

But Sweden remains confident in its strategy and its citizens. Prime minister Stefan Lofven said last month in a televised address: We who are adults need to be exactly that: adults. Not spread panic or rumours.

No one is alone in this crisis, but each person has a heavy responsibility.
With the mandated closures of hair salons across the country to flatten the curve of COVID-19, celebrities like Gabrielle Union have taken the opportunity to embrace their natural hair at home. Around the same time, hashtags like #QuarantineCurls have started popping up on Instagram, where hundreds of users are sharing their stories of how social distancing has inspired them to wear or care for their curls and coils.



During a time of uncertainty and high anxiety, the unexpected natural hair movement that's emerging is bringing hope and a sense of community to women  many of whom are embracing their curls for the first time. We spoke to seven women  from the United Kingdom to Atlanta, Georgia  to learn how the pandemic has changed their relationship to their hair in ways they never could have predicted.



COVID-19 has been declared a global pandemic. Go to the CDC website for the latest information on symptoms, prevention, and other resources.

Kaylan Mary in Atlanta, Georgia



Before Quarantine:

In 2018, when I started growing out my hair after shaving off the sides, it entered a transitioning phase following the perms and heat that I was constantly putting on it over the years. That's when I decided to cut off all my damaged hair and go natural. I told myself I was going to try to not put as much heat on my hair. That's when protective styles became my go-to.



During Quarantine:

I had braids going into quarantine, but once they started to get a little frizzy, I decided it was time to take them out. With all the beauty supply stores closed, I knew I was going to have to rock my natural hair for the remainder of the time. Its definitely not something Im used to. I was a little overwhelmed and discouraged at first, but eventually I was ready to take on the challenge.



As I take the time to do research on products and techniques that will let my hair flourish, Ive learned new things about my hair that I didnt know before. Protective styles will still be my go-to, but quarantine has taught me how to properly take care of my hair, and thats something I will carry for the rest of my life.

Rhianne in Lincoln, England



Before Quarantine:

When I was 16, I shaved my hair off and wore it like that until I was 21. I decided I wanted to grow it out, but every time I tried to style my natural hair, I felt like I looked like a 12-year-old. So, I wore weaves, wigs, and braids all the time.



I live in a predominantly white city, so I have to travel a few hours to get it done. That was getting really expensive, but I do feel stressed when trying to style it myself. Sometimes, I felt like I had failed as a Black woman by not being able to do my own hair.



During Quarantine:

I've been wearing a weave for a while and was due to get it redone. Once lockdown happened, I knew that wouldn't be possible, so it was time to start to learn to care for my natural hair. I wanted to learn different ways in which I can style my hair without resorting to heat. I've been following a lot of bloggers and YouTubers who seem to do it so effortlessly.



Now, I hope that I can reach a place where I feel happy with how I can style my hair so I don't have to rely on wigs, weaves, and braids all the time. I do like to switch it up, so I will still use those styles  I just don't want to be dependent on them.

Nancy in San Antonio, Texas



Before Quarantine

Growing up, I never really learned how to style or fully embrace my natural curls, so my hair was always worn in a braid or ponytail. Seven years ago, I decided to start flat-ironing it regularly. While I definitely enjoyed the versatility of straight hair, I've always felt somewhat guilty for not loving my natural hair the way I should. In the last year or so, the heat damage started to show  and I had been planning on putting down the flat iron at some point this year.



During Quarantine:

During the first week I started working from home, I realized I would have to start embracing my curls. Any nerves that I had about the process went away knowing that no one would see the awkward grow-out phase. I thought it would be a lot harder to stay away from my flatiron, but I dont really miss it at at all. Its been great seeing my curls bounce back over the past few weeks. Im starting to love my curls more than I ever did before, and it feels great.



Once this quarantine is over, I would love to get a much-needed haircut to further enhance my curls and master how to style them the right way. My goal is to not go back to straightening it. Im starting to see them in a different light and I hope to keep it that way.

Carmen Sivakumaren in Boston, Massachusetts



Before Quarantine:

Back home in Malaysia, where the weather is very humid, my natural curls are much more defined and prominent. However, I grew up rarely seeing curly hair in the media, and I, like many others, internalized the notion that straight hair was more beautiful, professional-looking, or desirable. When I came to the U.S. over a decade ago, I never took the chance to embrace proper curl care and always leaned toward a straighter style.



During Quarantine:

About two weeks into the quarantine, I realized how much more free time I had. I needed to do something relaxing and self-care-related to ease some of the anxiety that started to set in. This ended up being the perfect opportunity to really take the time to let my curls be free in the comfort of my own home.



Having the extra time (albeit not under the best circumstances) really allowed me to invest in my curls without feeling like I had to resort to heat or styling because I was in a hurry or because I wanted to achieve a certain look. I'm beginning to feel like my hair is beautiful in all its ways and quirks.



I will, of course, have days when I want to blow my hair out, use a hair straightener, or style it differently  but now it doesn't feel like I have to. I can just want to do it, as a little change every now and then, because my natural curls are beautiful as they are.

Brania Aquino in Yonkers, New York



Before Quarantine:

Growing up in a Dominican family, it was traditional to always have your hair pin-straight as curls are negatively referred to as un pajon"  a word that translates loosely to puffball"  which isn't seen as professional. So, I've always applied lots of heat and hair spray.



During Quarantine:

With the privilege of being able to work from home, I decided to give my curls the opportunity to take a break from the heat. Ive been deep-conditioning them more, and I can see my curls making an attempt to come back to life, which is motivating me to embrace them more often.



Ive always loved seeing others with their natural hair, but now, Ill be making it a goal to apply less heat and love my hair more.

Foluke in Brooklyn, New York



Before Quarantine:

I've been natural since birth, but I've always struggled with hair management. I started wearing it straight in high school, then wore it natural in college. Despite complaints and concerns from family members, I wore it natural into the working world as well. I've cut it out of dissatisfaction, and I've held contempt for having to style it.



During Quarantine:

Probably my fourth week in quarantine, I realized that taking care of my hair was an act of love and not for vanity or the benefits of others. In washing, conditioning, and moisturizing my strands, I was able to enhance my hair health without focusing on the beauty output. Ironically, this has lead to more growth and beautiful curls. Now, wash day will be a gift and an indulgence instead of a chore.

Alexis N. in St. Louis, Missouri



Before Quarantine:

Back in the summer of 2015, I did the big chop, and I hated it. Im pretty sure I wore a beanie on my head most of that summer. Over time, I started experimenting with products and saw how defined my curls were. It was fun while it lasted, but I went back to wearing weaves quickly.



During Quarantine:

I knew there was no way to get my hair done at a salon, but I was honestly excited. I didnt want to risk the damage, so I took down my protective style and I really liked my curls. Previously, I avoided wearing my natural hair because the styling process was so tedious, but this extra time in quarantine has allowed me to be able to play around with it.



Ive just gotten so much more comfortable with it, and I love trying new styles and products. Now, I definitely see myself wearing my natural hair more often. It changed my overall outlook and comfort with myself.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, Georgia officials are delaying the state primary for a second time.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Thursday that the primary will be postponed another three weeks, until June 9 now after first being delayed from March 24 to May 19.

The delays have led to many questions from confused voters for Whitfield County Chief Registrar Mary Hammontree and her office, she said Tuesday during an appearance on County Connect, a twice-weekly teleconference call shown on the Whitfield County website (www.whitfieldcountyga.com) that aims to share the latest information about the COVID-19 pandemic with local residents.

Im hoping to clear up a few questions for voters because weve been bombarded in our office today with questions, Ms. Hammontree said.

For example, if you already cast your ballot in the Presidential Preference Primary during the two weeks of early voting and are now requesting an absentee ballot for the June election, your new ballot will not include the Presidential Preference Primary again, she said.

However, if you didnt early vote, you will receive a combined ballot with the Presidential Preference Primary and the May ballot on it, Ms. Hammontree said, including the local races and the proposed four-year, $66 million Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum.

All 52,000 active registered voters in Whitfield County should have received a request for an absentee ballot from the Secretary of States office. If youre one of the 2,500 Whitfield County voters who have already sent in their request for the May 19 election, you dont have to send in another one now that the election has been delayed until June 9.

We do not know when early voting will begin for the June 9 election, Ms. Hammontree said, but I do know the runoff election has been set for Aug. 11. Once we find out when early voting starts, well post it on the county website.



Shes also had lots of questions from people who think that they are required to vote by mail this time. You DO NOT have to vote by mail, Hammontree said. This is just an option given to protect voters, poll workers, and all of us during this outbreak of COVID-19.



If you request an absentee ballot and then decide you want to vote on the actual election day in June, Hammontree says you can still do that but youll have to bring that ballot with you and turn it in to poll workers and sign a document so the absentee ballot can be canceled in the system.



Ms. Hammontree also said June 9 voters should expect to see social distancing and limits on the number of people admitted into the polling places, as well as poll workers wearing gloves, masks, and other protective gear. Itll be a slow go, so please be patient with my poll workers, she said. Were trying to keep us all safe in the midst of all this.

She also reminded voters that if they request a Democratic Presidential Preference Primary ballot, they will only be allowed to vote for Democratic local candidates, and not in the four contested Republican local races. Normally, thats not the case because the PPP is a separate election from the primary, but due to the expense of having two elections, the elections are being combined.

If youve already early voted in the Democratic PPP and now would like to vote for local Republicans in the June primary, you must call her office and request a Republican ballot.

Ms. Hammontree also pointed out that though the Democratic field has now been narrowed only to Joe Biden, all the other candidates will still be on the Democratic PPP ballot because they have not been officially eliminated by the Secretary of States office.

Voters can also pick up absentee ballot requests and voter registration applications from a table outside her office in the courthouse, she said.

The cut-off date for voter registration has not been decided but will be posted on the county website once it is, Ms. Hammontree said.

Also during todays teleconference, Commission Chairman Lynn Laughter reminded the public that the Army National Guard is supporting the COVID-19 response effort in Whitfield County.

Theyve deployed more than 30 infection control teams called ICTs to long-term-care facilities throughout the state, and right now, our long-term-care facilities and nursing homes do not have a single case, Ms. Laughter said. So in that regard, the Guard is just here to assess what we might need should we start having a problem here. Our hospital closed assisted living and nursing home facilities very early to people coming in, so Im very thankful we right now dont have a single case in these facilities.

The Guard also sent 17 medical supply teams for hospitals throughout the state, but again, our hospital is in pretty good shape, Ms. Laughter said. Weve got plenty of capacity so theyll just be assessing that. Theyre also helping with testing kits. Were very thankful that they are here in our community to help us and they will continue to do that. I wanted our citizens to know theyre here and why theyre here so there wouldnt be undue concern about that.

The Whitfield County Health Department is also holding drive-through testing for COVID-19, but you need to call 888-881-1474 in advance. If youre experiencing symptoms like fever, dry cough, and fatigue, you can call and make an appointment and, if approved, drive by the health department to get tested.

Whitfield County Emergency Management Director Claude Craig reported on the number of cases as released by officials at noon today. In Georgia, there have been 10,566 positive tests, 2,159 hospitalizations, and 379 deaths. Whitfield County has reported 23 positive tests and three deaths.

One of the things I am noticing is that our hospitalization has been low, Mr. Craig said, and thats a good sign that that is not going up in numbers. Thats going to help us as we talked about the other day to flatten the apex of the curve (in the number of cases). We want to get that curve out and make it a flat line. Our efforts seem to be working, and I just want to ask everybody to continue doing the job that youre doing on your social distancing and most of all stay home if you dont have to go anywhere. Doesnt take all seven of yall to go get a jar of peanut butter at the Kroger. Use our head and well do the best we can and were going to get through this.

Mr. Craig says he can see the light at the other end of the tunnel. But weve just got to remember we cant get complacent once we have flattened the curve and say, okay, thats over with, lets get back to doing what we were doing. Youre not going to be able to get back to what you were doing anytime soon because weve got to watch this thing or well end up as a couple of places in China did. When they thought it was all over with, they said everybody go back to what you want to do, and then boom, it spiked in a couple of days and they were right back in the same situation. We want this thing to be gone; we dont want to have to deal with it.

County Attorney Robert Smalley also reported on Governor Brian Kemps new executive order Wednesday that extended the declaration of a public health emergency set to expire April 13 until May 13. As a part of that order, he also extended the stay-at-home order that he had issued last week until April 30, Mr. Smalley said.

Governor Kemp also announced that short-term rentals wont be allowed through the end of the month as the state attempts to prevent Georgia from being a destination for people during this emergency. No new VRBO or Air BNB short-term rentals allowed through April 30 unless booked prior to yesterday, Mr. Smalley said. That doesnt affect hotels or people who have lease agreements in place prior to that time.



Ms. Laughter also said that the county commissioners will hold their monthly meeting via teleconference on Monday at 5 p.m. Another session of County Connect is also slated for 5 p.m. Tuesday. You can view both meetings at this link on the countys website: https://livestream.com/accounts/25637515/events/7960637/videos/204211960.




(TNS)  At least two of California's Bay Area school districts have suffered recent cybersecurity breaches in the wake of the sudden switch to digital learning during coronavirus-related school closures.In Oakland and Berkeley, student privacy has been compromised and, in one case, an unknown adult male exposed himself to teenagers during a class video conference.In Berkeley, a man somehow gained access to an online Zoom video conference Tuesday, exposed himself to the high school students and shouted obscenities before the teacher ejected him from the session.The district immediately banned all video conferencing with students until security could be ensured.In Oakland, the district suffered a more widespread breach of student privacy after administrators inadvertently publicly posted hundreds of access codes and passwords used by teachers and students to log into online classrooms and video conferences.The codes allowed anyone with a Gmail account to join the Google Classroom sites set up by teachers across the district, allowing access to students full names as well as their comments posted in the class. The documents also included the time, access codes and passwords for Zoom video conferences with teachers and students.In Oakland, district officials were unaware of the exposure of the information untilnotified them of easily found information and access to the sites.Such breaches of student privacy and digital security have plagued school districts across the Bay Area and the country as classrooms have moved online for several weeks if not months because of COVID-19 containment efforts. The breaches have been widespread in other areas as well, with company meetings, church gatherings and other events suddenly interrupted by hackers.The school incidents exemplify how unprepared districts and technology companies were to meet an instantaneous and massive demand for ways to educate and communicate with students online, experts said.You throw this curveball at everybody and theyre scrambling, said Joel Schwarz, cybersecurity expert and adjunct professor at Albany Law School. Theyre trying to figure out what the heck to do.Teachers and administrators are faced with a steep learning curve in protecting student privacy, often without experts on staff to oversee contracts with technology companies or to monitor use and access, Schwarz said.Access codes and passwords should never be posted on a social media site, but rather only via personal emails, otherwise, youre basically given the keys to the castle and saying, Come on in, he said.Allowing outsiders access to lists of class names and teacher information, which occurred in Oakland, offers a welcome mat for spear phishing  or fraud by pretending to be a trusted sender in emails, Schwarz said.It does raise alarms for me, he said, adding theres a lack of experience in cybersecurity. A lot of schools are struggling.He recommended schools bring in experts or consultants if necessary to help them transition to digital instruction to ensure cybersafety. He also suggested partnering with other districts to reach comprehensive privacy agreements with education tech companies.Oakland officials said they were in the process of locking down the websites Wednesday afternoon, although the content was still publicly accessible three hours afternotified them of the issue. The pages were removed from the districts website late in the afternoon.The district planned to reach out to teachers and school administrators to advise them of the possible exposure of student information and access, said spokesman John Sasaki.Were all encountering challenges like other districts, he said. Its a learning process for all of us.In Berkeley, Superintendent Brent Stephens informed families Wednesday of the incident with the man exposing himself.What is especially troubling about this incident is that it appears that the teacher followed all the current guidance about security precautions in Zoom, Stephens said. Still, the intruder obtained the credentials for the meeting and was able to gain access to the session.Police are investigating.Security within Zoom has been increasingly questioned in recent weeks as the number of schools, companies and individuals using it has exploded during shelter-in-place orders.Zooms CEO promised Wednesday to increase security standards, explaining that the company is starting a feature called Security that defaults privacy settings to their highest level. The San Jose company also said it would upgrade encryption for its video calls and meeting rooms for large online gatherings.Stephens said it appears likely that a student cut and pasted the access information to the video conference, which was obtained by the intruder.Were all kind of learning about the world that were in, he said.The district had already incorporated extra security features with Zoom two weeks ago by creating a districtwide corporate account, requiring passwords and teacher authorization to access. The man apparently created a pseudonym that matched a students first name.Many other districts and individual teachers have also taken advantage of Zooms offer of free access during closures, including unlimited meeting minutes.Were being asked to sustain student learning while theyre at home and using technology to do it and just stumbling through these issues, Stephens said.The sad part, the superintendent said, was that students were so happy to be seeing their classmates and peers again this week, even if on a video chat  and that was yanked away for their safety, at the expense of that joy.He hopes to restore video conferencing with additional security measures next week.Its just heartbreaking hearing stories from parents that their kids arent getting out of bed until 11 in the morning and are displaying symptoms of depression, Stephens said. And (Zoom) was alleviating some of that.
Poor people await aid from a charity group on Ly Chinh Thang Street in District 3, HCMC, April 3, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyet Nhi.

The government has passed a VND62 trillion ($2.6 billion) financial support package for poor people and businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The package, approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc Friday, targets six categories of individuals and businesses.

Those people losing their jobs due to the Covid-19 crisis for 14 days or more will get a monthly allowance of VND1.8 million ($77).

Part-time workers who are unemployed but have not received unemployment benefits will get a monthly allowance of VND1 million ($43).

Poor and near-poor households would receive VND250,000 ($10.7) per month while those with a record of meritorious services to the nation would get VND500,000 ($21.5) per month.

Household businesses with revenues below VND100 million ($4,300) a year whove have had to suspend operations from April 1 due to the Covid-19 pandemic would also be supported with VND1 million per month.

The financial support will be provided over at least three months until June. Of the VND62-trillion package, nearly VND36 trillion ($1.55 billion) will be taken from the central government and local administration budgets.

In addition, businesses that have suffered financial difficulties as a result of Covid-19 will be allowed to borrow money from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies at zero percent interest to pay their employees salaries for three months. The loans will cover a maximum of 50 percent of the local minimum wage, and businesses will be responsible for paying the remaining salary.

The Planning and Investment Ministry has estimated that 250,000 workers will lose their jobs this quarter and another 1.5-2 million face a similar threat in the coming months.

The ministry has also warned that if the pandemic situation worsens, 400,000 would lose their jobs and three million more could be laid off.

The government has ordered "non-essential" businesses like massage parlors, karaoke bars, tourist and amusement sites, movie theaters, beauty salons, beer shops, restaurants, and eateries to be closed until April 15, saying the country was entering a critical two-week stage in its Covid-19 fight.

As of Friday morning, Vietnam had recorded 255 Covid-19 patients, 131 of whom have been discharged.

The Covid-19 pandemic has claimed 95,500 lives in 209 countries and territories.

Vietnams GDP growth hit roughly 3.82 percent in the first quarter, the lowest since 2010, due to the coronavirus impact, according to the General Statistics Office. Last year, GDP expansion hit 7.02 percent, the second highest growth figure in the last decade, after the record 7.08 percent in 2018.
The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) says the statement credited to the Secretary-general of the federation, Boss Mustapha wherein he said he didnt know that the health care sector in Nigeria is in shambles confirms the current administrations failure.

Read Also: Obaseki Lauds Buhari On Pardon For Ex-Bendel Governor Alli, Enahoro

This was contained in a statement on the official Twitter handle of the party.

SGFs Comments on Health Confirms Buharis Failure

The @OfficialPDPNig said the confession by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, that the nations health sector had gone comatose has confirmed the failure of President @MBuhari administration.

The party says Bosss comments also served as a further vindication of its stand that the @MBuhari administration is the saddest chapter our national history.

He portrays this government as one that is not in touch with national reality but only administers the nation remotely from the comfort of Aso villa, while its cronies loot huge budgetary allocations and merely claimed to have released same for the health need of our citizens.

The @MBuhari administration has reversed the gains of past administration so much even the once celebrated State House Clinic in the Aso Presidential Villa has been largely reduced to a mere consulting center while our National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has become the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of government cronies.

The irreversible lesson which the @MBuhari administration must take from Bosss confession is that no matter how falsehood, propaganda, beguiling and deceit appear to thrive, the truth will always show forth at the end.

SGF's Comments on Health Confirms Buhari's Failure The @OfficialPDPNig said the confession by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, that the nations health sector had gone comatose has confirmed the failure of President @MBuhari administration. pic.twitter.com/ZbGX4bHsSQ  Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig) April 10, 2020

The party says Boss's comments also served as a further vindication of its stand that the @MBuhari administration is the saddest chapter our national history.  Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig) April 10, 2020

 that thrives only on propaganda and false performance claims, while the nation is left in pains, trauma and agony.  Official PDP Nigeria (@OfficialPDPNig) April 10, 2020
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Mali Thursday recorded 15 new positive cases of coronavirus, taking to 74 the overall number of cases in the country, official sources told PANA here
After Sonakshi Sinha had troubling answering a Mahabharata related question on Kaun Banega Crorepati, she was mercilessly trolled for it. Months after the controversy, DD National started a rerun of its two most famous shows, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana to keep people entertained during the lockdown.

With the rerun on, actor Mukesh Khanna, who is famous for playing Shaktimaan and also Bhishma in Mahabharata, said that it is a good thing that the channel decided to air the show again. Reportedly, he further added that it will help our actresses gain some knowledge of the epics and create awareness about our mythology. This was taken as an indirect jibe at Sonakshi and lead to trolls taking him on. Even Nitish Bharadwaj, who plays Krishna in the show, reportedly said that Khanna could have handled the situation sensitively rather than pointing fingers at Sonakshi.

To clear the air around this, Mukesh Khanna reportedly said that he was not calling out Sonakshi but was referring to young actors, who do not know much about the epic. He added he doesn't know the actress but holds great affection for her father, Shatrughan Sinha, and would never do anything of this sort to upset anyone.
In a bid to filter false



information and derogatory messages on social media amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mumbai police on Friday issued an order warning action against administrators of groups who allow posting of such contents.

The police have been keeping constant tabs on social media activities in light of the pandemic and the ongoing lockdown, an official said.

A lot of incorrect and derogatory content about certain communities in the form of messages, videos, images or memes were being circulated on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik-Tok and other social media platforms, he said.

Such social media posts cause panic, confusion in minds of people and create mistrust towards government functionaries and actions that are being taken to contain the spread of COVID-19, the official said.

Taking cognisance of such incidents, the Mumbai Police issued an order, restricting the use of social media and messaging platforms under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, (CrPC) he said.

This step was taken to ensure there is no danger to human health or safety or threat to public order, he added.

All persons designated as 'administrators' on messaging and social media platforms will be held responsible for any such information on a group administered by them, he said.

As per the order, it is mandatory for administrators on social media to report to the police any derogatory, malicious, incorrect content posted on their group, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ireland will potentially ease stay-at-home restrictions and allow some shops to reopen in the coming weeks as part of a step-by-step scaling back of the country's coronavirus lockdown, a senior health official said on Friday.

Irish Health Minister, Simon Harris, has said he expects to be advised on Friday to keep the current restrictions in place for "a period of weeks" after citizens were ordered late last month to stay home until at least Sunday.

Prior to that, Ireland had banned all non-essential travel within the country and shut clubs, gyms, and hairdressers. Other retailers like DIY stores were allowed to remain open and people could travel beyond the current 2-km radius limit from their house and visit family, once they maintained social distancing.

"We are conscious of the fact that the restrictions are very difficult for people and not sustainable in the long term," Cillian De Gascun, chair of the coronavirus expert advisory group, told RTE.

"What we would hope to do is be able to lift those, within the next perhaps couple of weeks... I think what we would like to try and do is offer people a bit more movement outside the house, there may be an opportunity to open more of the retail services closed formally a couple of weeks back. In essence, it would be looking in reverse from how they were implemented."

Confirmed cases in Ireland rose to 6,574 on Thursday, with 263 deaths, but the average day-on-day case growth has fallen to 9% from 15% a week ago and officials said a stabilisation in intensive care admissions was encouraging.

De Gascun reiterated the view of many of the top officials advising government that the growth rate of new cases needs to drop to zero alongside a continued fall in the reproductive rate - the number of people who become infected from each positive case - before restrictions can be eased.

Officials have said testing and contact tracing also need to be scaled up first. De Gascun, who is the head of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, said he expected testing capacity to increase dramatically over next 7-10 days. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Convicted killers sentenced to death will have a slightly easier life in Pennsylvanias prisons under a settlement approved Thursday by a federal judge.

Final approval of the deal by U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III comes five months after the ACLU and the state Department of Corrections hashed out a tentative accord over easing restrictions for those facing capital punishment.

Those inmates, who had been spending 22 hours out of every day alone in their 8-by-12-foot cells will now be able to socialize, including with one another, and will have wider contacts with the outside world.

Under the final settlement sanctioned by Jones, those prisoners will receive at least 42  hours of out-of-cell activity weekly, including exercise time in the prison yard. They will have access to phones daily and be allowed contact visits with family, lawyers and religious advisors.

The inmates wont be routinely shackled any more and will be allowed to hold prison jobs. Those affected by the previous de facto solitary confinement practices will be provided resocialization assistance. The prisoners still will be housed separately from the general population in Capital Case Units in the prisons.

The ACLU and the Abolitionist Law Center filed the civil rights suit against the Corrections Department in 2018, claiming the state prison system was violating the constitutional protections of its 156 death row inmates, including their rights against cruel and unusual punishment and to due process of law.

The prisoners named as plaintiffs in that suit are Anthony Reid, Ricardo Natividad, Mark Spotz, Ronald Gibson and Jermont Cox.

Reid killed two men in Philadelphia in 1989. Natividad committed a 1996 murder in Schuylkill County. Spotz is on death row as the result of a 1995 killing spree in Clearfield, Schuylkill, Cumberland and York counties. The victims included Spotzs brother and three women he encountered at random.

Gibson fatally shot two people, including an off-duty police officer, at a Philadelphia bar.

Cox was sentenced to death for a 1995 slaying in Philadelphia. Last year, the state Supreme Court rejected a petition filed in Coxs name urging it to abolish the death penalty in Pennsylvania.

Jones called the prior restrictions on the death row inmates draconian in his order approving the settlement. He also approved an agreement for the state to pay $507,500 for the legal services the prisoners received.
Greater numbers of people working from home and greater awareness of cyber threats are just some of the likely positives on the horizon for business.

Phishing attempts, scams or scareware through email, text and social media have risen markedly since Covid-19. According to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau in the UK, victims lost over 800,000 to coronavirus scams in February.

Scammers are offering information or statistics on coronavirus, deals on surgical masks or free VPN offers for businesses, but when you click on the link a malware is installed giving them control of your computer, log your keystrokes and access company and/or customer data, said Niall Tuohy, security product manager, Vodafone Ireland.

These phishing emails may look like they come from an internal address, but if it looks any way unusual, it is vital you contact the sender before opening the link. Beware of free or limited offers from unknown parties and untrusted websites  if its too good to be true, it usually isnt!

Niall says the risks for a security breach have multiplied as more employees have been working from home. He says that ensuring devices are secure is the key for remote working to be a success.

He is talking to business owners who want advice. He sees this advice as a service rather than as commercial opportunism.

We dont charge for advice. It is a bit confusing for small business owners at the moment. Everyone is out there trying to sell their wares, and there is a lot of ambulance chasing going on. There are small businesses that are struggling to find out what they need, and theyre being swamped with advice.

The living rooms of their staff members are now the new office, and they need to take steps to ensure that these homes are as secure as their offices.

At Vodafone, we are ahead of the curve on this as we have many people remote working for a long time, but some companies didnt have time to react quickly enough; they just have to do all they can to ensure their security is robust. Ideally, make sure all connectivity is over VPN.

It is also a good idea to adopt a zero trust policy. Restrict access. For instance, HR doesnt have to have home access to the personal information of staff members. If youre going for a cup of tea, close down your laptop.

A lot of people use webcams. The default setting should be Off; only turn it on when you need. When Boris Johnson was interviewed remotely recently, a lot of people remarked that they could see his Zoom number.

Niall said Vodafone staff are working flat out taking calls from businesses who were not prepared for these new remote threats.

For businesses who already have security built into devices, they should make sure their solutions are up-to-date and operating on the latest versions.

Businesses may want to add a feature so employees can clearly see when an email is from an external source. Company devices should have a VPN or virtual private network so employees can access company email and applications, without risk, preferably with a two-step authentication.

Businesses may also want to blacklist certain websites and install more robust device management software for an added layer of security in these uncertain times.

For people working from home, malicious attempts to gain entry to your wifi are possible, Niall said. To mitigate this, and as a best practice, you should always change your home wifi password from the generic admin password provided to a personalised one. Another option is to hot spot, using the mobile data from your device, if it is secured through robust management software.

People may be working with a combination of personal and company devices as an interim step to ensuring business continuity. Without the security of a firewall or the ability of updating or enforcing the latest anti-virus, at a minimum, devices need to be using up-to-date anti-virus software.

Solutions such as Palo Alto Traps can be easily sent to an employees device and can provide an enhanced feature set, Niall said. Traps replaces legacy antivirus and secures endpoints with a multi-method prevention approach that blocks malware and exploits, both known and unknown, before they compromise laptops and other devices.

People are advised to change their passwords more regularly, hesitate before clicking on things (from anything Free through to memes on social media).

Encourage employees to use your cloud solution remotely and deter them from using personal cloud storage solutions that are not secured by your companys data protection protocols.

If you are not using a cloud-based file sharing solution, the good news is that Microsoft is currently offering its Teams solution for free. And it seems that, for many, working from home could be here to stay.

The pandemic has fundamentally changed the way businesses operate, Niall said. Organisations who were slow to promote remote working now see value in it. One clear positive is the potential cost saving from having smaller offices.

A lot of the fear has gone out of wondering if people at home are actually working. Companies have ways of measuring productivity. Workers check in regularly with their employers. At Vodafone, we are very rigid in reporting the working hours to our line managers.

And workers have learned the value of having structure to their day. It is important for people to close the laptop at the end of their day to feel that they have left work.

Of course, those childminding by day in recent weeks may have had to flip their day around and work by night instead. They need that flexibility. Once you get the security right, the positives far outweigh any negatives.
The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has asked the public to assist in its operation as it starts the implementation of the governments policy of absorbing water bills, by stopping indiscriminate watering of lawns with treated water.



The Company said it had started the implementation of the policy announced by the President on April 3, this year, as a part of measures to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic and it was important for all and sundry to strictly observe outlined water conservation measures.



A statement from the Company and copied to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday said the GWCL had started the implementation of the governments policy, hence, Ghanaians would not be paying water bills for April, May, and June.



The statement urged all to moderate the use of treated water for car washing by the use of buckets instead of water hosing, shut all taps when not in use, repair all leakages in homes - like overflowing reservoirs and dripping taps, and valves among others.



It said citizens should endeavour to report all burst pipes and leakages immediately to the nearest GWCL district offices, Customer Service centres, Fault Offices, adding that there was the need to report all persons engaged in illegal connections, by-pass, and all malpractices against the company to the nearest Police station or the Companys district offices.



The public can also call or whatsApp GWCL on these numbers; 0555123393, 0555155524, 0207385088, 0207385089, 0207385090. You can include google locations, pictures, and videos of the burst, it said and said the toll-free line for its customer call center is 0800 40 000 for Vodafone cell and landlines only and 0302 218240 for all other networks.



On the modalities for the implementation of the policy, the statement said all customers of the GWCL on category 611 (domestic users) shall benefit from the offer.



It added that all stand-pipes shall be used to serve citizens for free and the government shall absorb the bill and pay commission/compensation to the vendors, adding that all vendors are expected to still control the services to the public, but for free to ensure the prudent use of water.



The statement said Landlords and landladies who sell water to tenants must allow tenants to use the water for free from April, May, and June, and that Landlords and Landladies who sell water to other members of the community must register with the district offices of the GWCL to be eligible for commission/compensation.



It said all customers disconnected before the Presidents announcement, were still liable and must pay their arrears to enable them to benefit from the policy.



The statement, however, added that if a customer is not in a position to pay arrears in full, such customers could negotiate with the District Offices and or Regional Offices, to be reconnected, saying that these cases would be treated on individual bases.



It said tanker services had been arranged to serve deprived communities but added that consumers in such communities must liaise with their Assembly members, who will request for the services of these tankers from GWCL district offices.



The numbers for all district offices of the GWCL, the statement said would be published in the media.



It said Management of GWCL was working assiduously to enable citizens to have an adequate supply of water especially for domestic use and to help all citizens observe the necessary protocols outlined by the President.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Taiwans foreign ministry on Thursday denied accusations by World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the country had engaged in a racist smear campaign against him.

Without having checked the facts, Tedross unprovoked and untrue accusations not only differ from reality, they have also seriously harmed our government and our people, the ministry said in a statement. Tedros should immediately correct his unfounded allegations, immediately clarify, and apologize to our country, the statement continued.

Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen also condemned Tedross remarks.

If Director-General Tedros could withstand pressure from China and come to Taiwan to see Taiwans efforts to fight COVID-19 for himself, he would be able to see that the Taiwanese people are the true victims of unfair treatment, Tsai wrote on her Facebook page. I believe that the WHO will only truly be complete if Taiwan is included.

At Wednesdays press conference, Tedros said he had endured racist attacks and death threats over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, and accused Taiwan of initiating the attacks.

This attack came from Taiwan, Tedros said. The foreign ministry knows about this campaign and they didnt disassociate themselves.

Details of the attacks, including specific dates, were not immediately made clear.

Tedros became head of the WHO with the strong backing of China, which prevents Taiwan from joining the organization because it considers the island to be part of its territory. Taiwan has alleged that the WHO did not relay its warnings, during the earliest stages of the pandemic, of possible human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus.

Taiwan has managed to almost completely stop the spread of coronavirus within its borders, recording 380 cases and just five deaths as of Thursday. It has also pledged to provide ten million protective masks to the U.S. and Europe.

More from National Review
Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith shared heartfelt tributes to one another as they celebrated their 26th anniversary on Thursday.

The couple, who met in 1994 and tied the knot in 2001, took to Instagram to share throwback snaps.

Pierce, 66, wrote: 'My darling angel heart Keely, thank you for bringing such love and beauty into my life, for making these past twenty six years the greatest joy of my life...Happy anniversary my brown eyed girl'.

Sweet: Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye Smith shared heartfelt tributes to one another as they celebrated their 26th anniversary on Thursday

He shared the sweet words alongside a photo of them beaming at one another from back in the day.

Keely, 56, meanwhile, wrote: 'Still celebrating the day we met ...on a beach in Mexico. Happy 26th my love 4/8 (1994).'

The American journalist posted a throwback photo alongside a more recent one of the pair.

Romantic: Pierce, 66, wrote: 'My darling angel heart Keely, thank you for bringing such love and beauty into my life, for making these past twenty six years the greatest joy of my life'

Soulmates: The couple, who met in 1994 and tied the knot in 2001, took to Instagram to share throwback snaps

Fond memories: Keely wrote: 'Still celebrating the day we met ...on a beach in Mexico. Happy 26th my love 4/8 (1994)'

True love: Keely, 56, meanwhile, wrote: 'Still celebrating the day we met ...on a beach in Mexico. Happy 26th my love 4/8 (1994)'

She also uploaded a shot on Friday of the striking similarities between their son Paris, 19 and the acting legend.

Pierce and Keely met the year before he made his James Bond debut and got married in 2001 at Ballintubber Abbey in his native Ireland.

He was previously married to Australian actress Cassandra Harris, herself a Bond girl to Roger Moore in For Your Eyes Only, from 1980 until her death of ovarian cancer in 1991.

Doppleganger: She also uploaded a shot on Friday of the striking similarities between their son Paris, 19 and the acting legend

Pierce is the biological father of three sons, two by Keely - 23-year-old Dylan and 19-year-old Paris - and a 36-year-old called Sean by Cassandra.

He is also the adoptive father of Charlotte and Christopher Brosnan, Cassandra's two children by her first husband Dermot Harris, whose brother was Richard Harris of Harry Potter fame.

Charlotte, who like Christopher took Pierce's surname when she was adopted, died at the age of 42 in 2013 of the same illness that claimed her mother's life.

He has often been vocal about how Keely saved him from depression following his personal tragedies, describing her as a ' strength I wouldnt be able to live without.'

Pierce is now a proud grandfather of three - Charlotte's children Isabella, 21, and Lucas, 14, as well as Sean's four-year-old daughter Marley May.
As COVID-19 tests become more widely available across the US, scientists have warned about a growing concern: Many people with negative results might actually have the virus. That could have devastating implications as a global recession looms and governments wrangle with the question of when to reopen economies shuttered as billions of people were ordered to stay home in an effort to break transmission of the deadly disease. The majority of tests around the world use a technology called PCR, which detects pieces of the coronavirus in mucus samples. But "there are a lot of things that impact whether or not the test actually picks up the virus," Priya Sampathkumar, an infectious diseases specialist at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, told AFP. "It depends on how much virus the person is shedding (through sneezing, coughing and other bodily functions), how the test was collected and whether it was done appropriately by someone used to collecting these swabs, and then how long it sat in transport," she said. The virus has only been spreading among humans for four months and therefore studies about test reliability are still considered preliminary. Early reports from China suggest its sensitivity, meaning how well it is able to return positive results when the virus is present, is somewhere around 60 to 70 percent. Different companies around the world are now producing slightly different tests, so it's hard to have a precise overall figure. But even if it were possible to increase the sensitivity to 90 percent, the magnitude of risk remains substantial as the number of people tested grows, Sampathkumar argued in a paper published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. "In California, estimates say the rate of COVID-19 infection may exceed 50 percent by mid-May 2020," she said. With 40 million people, "even if only one percent of the population was tested, 20,000 false-negative results would be expected." This makes it critical for clinicians to base their diagnosis on more than just the test: they must also examine a patient's symptoms, their potential exposure history, imaging and other lab work. - Timing is everything - Part of the problem lies in locating the virus as its area of highest concentration shifts within the body. The main nasal swab tests examine the nasopharynx, where the back of the nose meets the top of the throat. This requires a trained hand to perform and some portion of the false negatives arises from improper procedure. But even if done correctly, the swab may produce a false negative. That's because as the disease progresses, the virus passes from the upper to the lower respiratory system. In these cases, the patient may be asked to try to cough up sputum -- mucus from the lower lungs -- or doctors may need to take a sample more invasively, when a patient is under sedation. Daniel Brenner, an emergency physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, described to AFP taking a test after performing a procedure called a bronchoalveolar lavage. This was done on a patient whose nasal swab returned negative three times, but who showed all the signs of COVID-19. Eventually, the patient's medical team placed a camera down his windpipe to examine the lungs, then sprayed fluid in and sucked out the secretions, which were then tested, resulting in a positive. - No perfect test - Uncertainty in clinical diagnoses is not new, and clinicians are well aware that no type of test for any condition can be considered perfect. What makes COVID-19 different is its newness, said Sampathkumar. "Most of the time when you have tests, you have test characteristics outlined carefully and warnings about tests interpretation," she said. "We had no test for so long, and when we got the test, we started using it widely and sort of forgot the basics." After being slow to start mass testing, the US has ramped up production and has tested almost 2.5 million people, with pharmacists now authorized to carry out the procedure. But "the real fear of that is people who are given a false negative test and then decide that they're safe to go around their daily life and go out and expose people," said Brenner. Much hope is placed on newly available serological tests which look for antibodies produced by a person's body in response to the virus and can tell whether a person was infected, long after they recovered. They could also be used to help diagnose a person who is currently infected but whose PCR test results showed a false negative, by waiting a week or so for the body to produce its immune response. "We are excited about the serologic test, but we don't know how well it will work and we are starting to study it," said Sampathkumar.
By Azernews





By Akbar Mammadov

The international communitys criticism of the illegal elections held in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh once again proved that that the so-called elections were nothing but Armenias attempt to legitimize the consequences of that occupation, head of of Nagorno-Karabakhs Azerbaijani commuity Tural Ganjaliyev told local media on April 8.

Overall, the world reaction to these elections shows that the liberation of our lands is not far off. Also, the occupying regime and its illegal actions have not yielded any results and will continue to do so.

As for the announcement of the "second round" of the "election" show in the occupied territories, Ganjaliyev noted that this illegal action by Armenia and the occupying regime set up in Nagorno Karabakh is a great stain on democracy and elections.

At the time when the world is faced with (COVID-19) pandemic, and despite the danger to human lives, Armenia and the occupying regime remain true to their nature and continue to operate illegally and hold a show called elections. This is another indicator of the values on which Armenia and the so-called organization are based and their attitude toward the Armenian community of Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region, confirming how insignificant the lives and destinies of these people are for the regime, Ganjaliyev said.

We believe that Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh will finally realize that they are a tool in the hands of Armenia and the occupying regime, which do not value them and instead of protecting them from the threat of a pandemic, turn them into the tools in fake games, Ganjaliyev added.

Ganajliyev stated that holding illegal "elections" in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh is a gross violation of the basic human rights of Azerbaijanis who have been subjected to ethnic cleansing and expelled from their lands.

He reminded that the UN, OSCE, other international organizations and the international community have condemned the illegal "elections" and voiced their support for inviolability of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized borders.

The Azerbaijani community has stated that these illegal elections are another blow to the negotiation process and serve to aggravate the situation.

We are confident that Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, along with the Azerbaijanis who will return after the restoration of the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan, will participate in the legitimate elections to be held in accordance with the Constitution and other laws, Ganjaliyev concluded.




Defying both distance and lockdown restrictions, a 48-year old school headmistress, and mother, from Telangana undertook a journey that only a mother could pull off - undertaking a three-day journey across 1,400 kilometers, aiming to find her 17-year old son who was stranded during the COVID-19 lockdown.

My story for the day. Amazing woman, mother, rider...Telangana Woman Rides 1,400 km On Scooty To Bring Back Son Stranded In Andhra Pradesh - NDTV https://t.co/XTt8gmJccg  Saba Naqvi (@_sabanaqvi) April 10, 2020

Razia Begum set out on the arduous journey on Monday morning armed with local police permission. Beginning from Nizamabad (some 200km away from Hyderabad), she rode solo to Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, returning with her younger son on Wednesday evening. She

averaged close to 500 kilometres a day - a distance usually covered by seasoned roadtrippers, and definitely a huge feat to accomplish on a scooter.

"It was a difficult journey on a small two-wheeler for a woman. But the determination to bring my son back overtook all my fears. I packed rotis and they kept me going. It was fearsome in the nights with no traffic movement and no people on roads," Ms. Begum told PTI on Thursday.

Currently working as a headmistress at a local school in Nizamabad, Ms. Begum tragically lost her husband 15 years ago, and now lives with her two sons, an engineering graduate, and 19-year old Nizamuddin, who aspires to become a doctor as an MBBS aspirant. The boy had visited Rahmatabad in Nellore on March 12 to drop his friend and stayed back there. Meanwhile, the lockdown was announced following the coronavirus outbreak, and he could not return.

While the family considered sending their elder son instead, the mother took it upon herself out of concern that police would mistake him for a joy rider and detain him.

Naturally, several messages of support and astonishment flew in across social media,

Alhamdulillah the son is BLESSED to have a MOTHER like her.

MISSING mine.  R. Mohammed Ali (@RangilaAli) April 10, 2020

Heart warming. Beautiful story. Just that she should also have arranged for helmet.  PP Ambashta (@AmbashtaPP) April 10, 2020

However, there were a fair share of skeptics who considered Ms. Begums actions as uncooperative and disruptive taking into account the lockdown - despite her seeking and obtaining police permission before retrieving her son.

Foolish Act. If something happen in between then blame govt for not planning. Should not publicise these kind of news to avoid others try such stunts  Hari moorthy (@Moorthyh) April 10, 2020

Bad example.

As every mom starting doing this then what is meaning of lockdown  Atul Kumar Singh (@Atulslam) April 10, 2020

@TelanganaDGP this is how rioters are instigated



This is how Ruke breakers are promoted so that every mother every parent would now take a bike get on the street to bring their child home



Can we get a written apology for the @_sabanaqvi causing public nusience@PMOIndia  Karan (@cyberKaran) April 10, 2020





Class act of motherly love, or foolish breaking of the lockdown? Tell us what you think in the comments!
April 10, 2020

 Astronauts on the International Space Station reflected on the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 13 mission while considering the challenges facing their own safe return to Earth.



NASA flight engineers Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir, along with soon-to-be Expedition 63 commander Chris Cassidy, spoke to reporters from on board the orbiting laboratory on Friday (April 10), a day before the anniversary of the Apollo 13 launch in 1970.



"Fifty years ago, Apollo 13 had a crisis in space and the flight control team, Mission Control and those on the ground prevailed through their ingenuity, their professionalism and brought the crew home safely," said Morgan. "And now, we are on board here during the anniversary of Apollo 13."







Astronauts reflect on Apollo 13 50th. Click to enlarge in pop-up window. (NASA TV)
Polarized is a weekly series featuring Americans from all 50 states sharing their views on the 2020 elections. Click here if you would like to be a part of this project

The news hit hard and slow for Caroline Gomez Lassalle.

It felt like I swallowed an anvil and it dropped to my stomach in slow motion, she says. It was  or has been  an intense combination of fear and loathing.

Lassalle sat quarantined in Brooklyn, New York, watching Bernie Sanders announce the suspension of his presidential campaign in real time on Wednesday.

A legal professional and writer who originally hails from Puerto Rico, Lassalle became interested in the Vermont senators platform following the 2016 election.

In a recent interview, she says she was inspired to support Sanders in the 2020 race after he held a rally in the nearby community of Queens, New York, where local Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  the youngest woman ever elected to the House of Representatives  officially endorsed him for the Democratic nomination.

(Photo courtesy Caroline Gomez Lassalle)

That was a very special day, she says. Seeing the huge crowd full of hopeful faces of the young, old and different demographics really showed me how big this movement could be. For the first time in a while, I felt real and actual hope.

Lasalle says she hopes for a country which values the people that have been instrumental in its development  exactly the reason she was drawn to Sanders campaign in the first place. Her advocacy for the working class, Latinx and immigrant communities across the country, as well as her support for things like universal healthcare, a pathway to citizenship and more are what sealed the deal.

I can confirm how much Sanders campaign meant to Lassalle, because I happen to know her well: We lived together as roommates in New York City during the 2016 election. Over the last 22 weeks, Polarized has featured unique voters across 22 states  most of whom Ive never met or spoken to before in my life  but when it comes to my own hometown of New York, I wanted to highlight a voter who is also my friend.

Story continues

In my view, Lasalle, who genuinely embodies the spirit of Sanders campaign, is the perfect person to hear from on the week Sanders pulled out the race.

My priorities as a voter have always emanated from a place of empathy, she says. I believe in the protection of the working class, a criminal system that is reinvented with rehabilitation at the forefront of its policies and a pathway to citizenship for those that risk their lives and place in the world for the opportunity of living a life with dignity in this country.

Now, Lassalle must grapple with the same decision Sanders supporters are mulling across the country: whether or not to cast a ballot for former Vice President Joe Biden, who seemingly became the presumptive Democratic nominee this week.

Unlike some, she says her mind has already been firmly made up.

Click here to read more of The Independent's series, Polarized: Voices From Across America

Look, for me the one true fact that we can all agree to is that this current administration is one of the biggest existential threats to ever plague this country, she says. The mishandling of this current crisis by the Trump administration has already cost us thousands of lives and the numbers will continue rising. So we have to vote for the Democratic nominee and continue to put pressure on them so that they can move forward with an agenda that works for the people and not the corporate powers that have controlled our democracy for far too long.

In announcing the end of his second presidential campaign, Sanders said the struggle continues for the revolution he and his supporters have long called for.

The greatest obstacle to real social change has everything to do with the power of the corporate and a political establishment to limit our vision as to what is possible and what we are entitled to as human beings, he said.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorses Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders at a campaign rally in Queensbridge Park on October 19, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Getty Images)

Lassalle agrees that the struggles continues for a better world, and though shes heartbroken over the close of this chapter, she says she remains hopeful for the future.

This movement is just beginning, she says. It will continue beating loud in all of us. I hope it will inspire new generations of political voices.

A large part of Sanders platform focused on his core motto: Not me, us. And yet, as Lassalle notes, the senator is responsible for spearheading a grassroots campaign, while building a community of millions of donors and volunteers, all with a similar vision for the country. Thats a rare feat for a presidential candidate.

At 78 years old, its unlikely Sanders would launch a third presidential bid  nor is it clear he would be able to surmount a victory in the Democratic primaries, despite his deep and loyal base. As one of those ardent supporters, Lassalle shared a note thanking the senator for giving it his all:

Because of this movement so many voices have been uplifted and he and his team have created ripples extending to what I hope will be a brighter future for all of us. Thank you for leading with kindness, for asking empathy from voters, for asking us to fight for our neighbors so that they in turn will fight for us. Thank you for sharing your spotlight with incredible women of color so that we can all gain confidence from watching them speak so passionately about what we could be as a great country. Thank you for consistently working to protect our civil liberties, for having enough faith in the people of this country, taking all of our stories and highlighting them to create a political mosaic showing what this country is really all about.

After Sanders announced the suspension of his campaign, Biden rolled out new campaign initiatives designed to provide immediate and long-term relief for Americans impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The policies appear to be somewhat of a progressive olive branch to Sanders supporters, including $10,000 in student loan relief and a new plan that would forgive all remaining debt for student borrowers after 20 years, as well as lowering the age of Medicare eligibility to 60.

It remains to be seen whether the former VP can successfully woo all of Sanders' supporters. But Lassalle says there's just too much on the line.

She concludes: "There is so much at risk with this presidency that it makes it an unconscionable act to vote against removing this president from office."
New Delhi: A day after Pakistan pledged to donate USD 3 millions to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) COVID-19 Emergency Fund to support regional efforts in the fight against the global pandemic, India on Friday highlighted the early commitment made by other member countries and said that 'degree of seriousness' of each nation can be gauged by its behaviour.

"It is for each SAARC Member State to decide on the timing, manner and implementation of their SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund commitments. Where India is concerned, the commitment made by the Prime Minister is today in an advanced stage of implementation," Ministry of External Affair`s spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a statement.

"Assistance in material and services has been extended to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These SAARC countries have also made early commitments to the Fund. The degree of seriousness of each nation can be gauged by their behavior," he added.

Pakistan was the last of SAARC's eight members to contribute to the fund, which was created with an initial corpus of USD 10 million provided by India following a video conference of leaders of the grouping on March 15. And while the SAARC countries immediately responded to a united call for COVID-19 emergency fund, Pakistan made its contribution recently.

Afghanistan had contributed USD one million as per the discussions among the SAARC heads of nations, in a bid to collaborating and strengthening partnerships to fight the pandemic.

Nepal had committed NPR 100 million to the SAARC emergency fund, Maldives government contributed USD 200,000 to the COVID-19 emergency fund.

Bhutan has committed USD 100,000 to the SAARC emergency fund while India has made an initial offer of USD 10 million for the fund.

On April 9, Pakistans Foreign Office had announced that it will contribute USD 3 million towards the SAARC COVID-19 emergency fund. "While communicating Pakistans decision to the Saarc Secretariat, it has been conveyed that all proceeds of the Fund should be administered by the Saarc Secretariat and that the modalities for the Funds utilisation should be finalised through consultations with the Member States as per the Saarc Charter," a statement from the Pakistan's Foreign Office said.

"Pakistans perspective in this regard was also conveyed during a telephone conversation between Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and Secretary General Saarc Esala Ruwan Weerakoon, today," it had added.

On April 9, Pakistan had skipped a video conference of senior trade officials of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), saying it chose not to participate since the SAARC secretariat wasn't involved in organising it.
As Madhya Pradesh battles rising



number of COVID-19 cases, burdening its health infrastructure, government data showed the state has just one ventilator, a key equipment to treat serious patients, for every 75,000 people and one intensive care unit (ICU) bed for every 47,000.

However, to the satisfaction of authorities, the availability of hydroxychloroquine, a common anti-malaria drug seen as potential cure for COVID-19, is around 30 tablets per person, according to an analysis of state government data.

Madhya Pradesh has so far registered 426 coronavirus positive cases and 33 fatalities.

Indore leads the tally with 235 COVID-19 cases followed by Bhopal, which has 98 patients of the infection which has now spread to 20 districts of the state.

The state, having a population of over 7.5 crore, has a total of 993 ventilators and 1,598 ICU beds in government and private hospitals put together together (as on March 9, 2020), according to the data.

Overall, 29,914 beds, including 9,492 in isolation wards, are available in states hospitals, the data said.

If compared to total population, Madhya Pradesh has just one ventilator (whose count now stands at 993) for about every 75,000 people and one ICU bed for every 47,000, it showed.

Asked about the low ratio of ventilators and ICU beds vis-a-vis population, Principal Secretary (Medical Education) Sanjay Shukla told PTI that efforts are being made to improve overall medical facilities and procure necessary healthcare equipment in the state.

The state government has placed orders to procure 200 ventilators but as everybody knows that manufacturers of life- saving equipment are overburdened these days so it may take time to receive supply, Shukla said.

He said there is no shortage of funds.

Development of healthcare infrastructure needs time. We also need expertise to operate these ventilators. Funds are available.

"We are making all-round efforts to improve medical facilities in the state to deal with the COVID-19 menace, said the Principal Secretary.

Shukla said private hospitals are also arranging additional ventilators to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

The state has 29,380 Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits and 1.50 lakh N95 masks, two important protective gears required for healthcare workers who are on the frontline of anti-coronavirus fight, he said.

Meanwhile, health commissioner Faiz Ahmed Kidwai has called for a rational use of PPE kits, which healthcare workers and those deployed at quarantine centres, hospitals and laboratories need the most at this crucial time.

On the other hand, the state has about 24.25 lakh tablets of hydroxychloroquine, the data showed.

The drug is used to prevent and treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, among other ailments. It is seen as offering a viable therapeutic solution to coronavirus.

The virus sneaked in Madhya Pradesh on March 20 when four people, including two women with foreign travel history, tested positive for COVID-19 in Jabalpur city. Of them, three have recovered and returned home.

Some top officials of the health department, including two IAS officers, who attended meetings chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, have also tested positive for COVID-19 in Bhopal.

In Bhopal, 50 health workers, including doctors, and 12 police personnel have been found to be infected with the viral disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 Flash

Switzerland has dispatched the first batch of relief supplies against the COVID-19 pandemic to Italy, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) said on Thursday.

Among the supplies, 10,000 protective suits worth CHF 100,000 (103,500 U.S. dollars) have been handed over to the Italian Civil Protection Department on Thursday, said FDFA.

The assistance package, as part of the "global fight against COVID-19 pandemic", follows other relief supplies delivered to China, Nepal and Serbia earlier, and is also now in the process of being offered to Greece, according to FDFA.

FDFA also said that the second delivery to Italy is expected in the near future.

As of Thursday, Switzerland, a landlocked country with a population of 8.5 million, has reported 23,574 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and the death toll has reached 756.




The onslaught of coronavirus is worse than 9/11, according to a New York City paramedic who spent months digging through the rubble of Ground Zero retrieving body parts after the 2001 World Trade Center terror attack.

FDNY paramedic Luis Lopez, 46, has revealed his fears about the spread of the deadly virus, which has now killed more than twice as many people in New York State than died in the Twin Towers on September 11.

'As far as 9/11, we came to know that it was a terrorist attack and it was more localized,' Lopez told DailyMail.com. Coronavirus 'is unprecedented. It's spreading like wildfire.'

The 24-year FDNY EMS veteran also said shortages of personal protective supplies, hospital beds and other medical supplies which have hampered the fight against coronavirus weren't an issue 2001.

Lopez added: '9/11 we had more than enough [supplies]. We had trailers, containers full of equipment. We had more hospitals, we had more beds, it was a different time.'

Lopez is assigned to FDNY/EMS Station 54 in Jamaica, Queens - one of the coronavirus hotspots in hard-hit New York City.

But back in 2001, he was an EMT who helped with logistics at the emergency command center in Brooklyn on 9/11, then spent several months searching through the World Trade Center rubble, looking for victims' bodies.

Paramedic Luis Lopez, who worked at Ground Zero for months, said the coronavirus epidemic is 'worse' than 9/11 in several ways, because while the attack was a tragedy, it was an isolated incident, while coronavirus is 'spreading like wildfire'

FDNY first responders are seen assisting a woman at Queens' Elmhurst Hospital Center on April 5. One FDNY paramedic said that the coronavirus pandemic has been worse than the Sept. 11 attacks

A person wearing protective gear is seen disinfecting an FDNY ambulance outside Queens' Elmhurst Medical Center on April 9

During that time, nearly 20 years ago, Lopez sifted through the rubble at Ground Zero - also known as 'The Pile' - looking for survivors, then bodies or any other remains to bring to the morgue.

'I was down at the pile until the end of January,' he told the New York Post. During that period, he said, 'We found body parts. We brought body parts to the medical examiner to get tagged. We found rings, earrings, clothes.'

'It was terrible,' he recalled.

Despite this, he says the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic makes it feel worse than the 9/11 tragedy.

The current NYC death count alone is more than 4,700, while the wider New York state has seen almost 8,000 deaths. On September 11, 2,977 people were killed.

'It's worse, in terms of body count - we're definitely dealing with a lot more corpses,' Lopez told DailyMail.com.

Lopez told the New York Post that responding to coronavirus callouts 'is unsettling.'

'Its an odd feeling,' he noted. 'You think its the flu. People are just dropping. Its like, "wow."'

Although the elderly and people with preexisting conditions - such as those with asthma or who are immunocompromised - are at particularly high-risk for coronavirus, it can have a devastating effect on people of all ages.

Seeing young people die from coronavirus has been particularly troubling for Lopez.

'Theyre very healthy people. Its scary,' he told the newspaper.

An Emergency Medical Technician disinfects the stretcher after taking a Coronavirus victim to the emergency room in the South Bronx on April 8

A person is seen here, wearing special PPE clothing, after disinfecting FDNY ambulances outside Elmhurst Medical Center in Queens on April 9

Lopez ticked off the growing roster of symptoms - fever, sore throat, shortness of breath, body aches, chills, vomiting, diarrhea - and said they were 'common things you see with a typical flu.'

With coronavirus, 'You dont know exactly whats going on,' he said, calling it 'a silent killer.'

He told DailyMail.com, 'People that we deal with are significantly sick or have passed or are just calling for advice.'

For the latter, 'we basically offer just a chat. We give them the courage, the information that they need.'

Ultimately, 'Its not knowing whats going on behind that door' that makes coronavirus more challenging to deal with, Lopez said.

The possibility of being infected by a patient is something that medics and EMTs have always had to worry about, 'day in and day out, even before coronavirus,' Lopez said.

'We deal with infectious disease, there are sicknesses in the world, but this is unprecedented and has brought things to a different level. It's just scary times.'

Lopez said that 'We have dealt with so many things before, our immune systems are probably stronger than most people, but that doesn't mean that we're safe, obviously.'

The paramedic, who spent months at Ground Zero after 9/11, said coronavirus callouts have been 'unsettling' because the symptoms are so unknown, it looks like the flu and then they die. A paramedic is seen disinfecting a gurney after dropping off a patient at the hospital on April 5

EMTs and other first responders have been working double shifts as they are being diagnosed with coronavirus or recovering. An EMT adjusts a sign outside the Elmhurt Hospital Center on April 7.

The paramedic spent months sifting through the rubble at Ground Zero. Workers are seen here on September 24, 2001 (file image)

He said that aside from fastidiously cleaning their ambulances and equipment, as well as making sure they're properly equipped with personal protection devices, EMS teams are trained to do a 10-second scene survey safety check before rushing into the situation.

Lopez and others in his line of work are now taking extra precautions when they return home from the field.

'I have a daughter, she was born with a heart problem, so when I walk through the door, I have to make sure I'm safe for her,' he said. 'That's a major concern for all of us.'

Lopez credits his wife with helping to keep the family safe.

'From Day One, I came through the door and she's like,'You're taking off your clothes.' So everything comes off, goes right into the washing machine, then I go right into the shower,' he said.

'I mentioned it to people at work and they're following the same practice. It's just things we have to do, this virus is so unknown, we don't know how to control it.'

Lopez said that he and other paramedics have been working double shifts since the city's coronavirus cases have skyrocketed, largely due to the fact that so many other EMTs and paramedics have been infected or are in recovery.

EMTs are among the frontline healthcare workers who have been hit hard by the current pandemic.

It was recently revealed that a 24-year-old New Jersey EMT died of coronavirus complications just seven days after his 33-year-old EMT co-worker died from the virus.

Thousands of EMTs, doctors and nurses have tested positive to COVID-19 in the US, while more than 100 have died worldwide since the outbreak

New York state is now the coronavirus epicenter of the world, with more than 159,900 cases and 7,000 deaths.

The United States has just over 436,000 cases and accounts for a third of the world's total infections.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in in a phone conversation have discussed the issue of global and regional response to the spread of COVID-19, according to the presidents press service.

"I am grateful to Korea for the speedy completion of a contract for the sale of 100,000 PCR tests. Ukrainian hospitals have already started using them. We need your support in this matter, the Ukrainian president said.

He thanked the South Korean companies for prompt response to the purchase of medical equipment and personal protective equipment needed to tackle the coronavirus in Ukraine.

Zelensky praised the experience and effectiveness of the measures taken by the Republic of Korea to contain the pandemic.

The presidents also discussed the provision of humanitarian aid to Ukraine in the form of medical equipment.

In addition, the parties paid special attention to the issues of development of trade and economic cooperation and noted the growth of trade turnover between the two countries despite negative effects of the pandemic on the world economy.

COVID-19 should not destroy the international trade system and existing economic ties. Ukraine is a reliable partner. Im looking forward to further developing economic ties and attracting investment from South Korean companies, Zelensky said.

The parties noted the successful experience of implementing Korean investment projects in Ukraine, in particular in the agrarian and industrial sphere.

Separately, the interlocutors discussed the introduction of a visa-free regime between the two countries, which will facilitate the development of interpersonal contacts. They agreed to step up political dialogue and exchange visits after the pandemic.

iy
Former EastEnders star Ben Hardy was pictured holding hands with his girlfriend Olivia Cooke as they picked up some shopping together on Friday.

The actor, 29. who also starred in Bohemian Rhapsody looked very much in love as he and his actress girlfriend, 26, enjoyed a once-daily outing amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Olivia looked very fashionable wearing a colourful Topshop vest top which she teamed with 70s flared jeans and trainers for the walk in Primrose Hill.

Love: Ben Hardy held hands with girlfriend Olivia Cooke as they picked up some groceries together in Primrose Hill on Friday

She carried the shopping while Ben had his phone and cards in one hand and used his other hand to hold hands with the pretty brunette.

Ben looked chic yet casual, wearing a cream shirt over a white T-shirt and petrol blue cargo pants with Ray Ban sunglasses.

The couple met and fell in love on the set of their latest film, Pixie.

Also starring Alec Baldwin, Pixie tells the story of a girl [Cooke] who plans to avenge her mother's death.

A step back in time: Olivia looked very fashionable wearing a colourful Topshop vest top which she teamed with 70s flared jeans and trainers for the walk

She masterminds a heist but must flee across Ireland from gangsters, take on the patriarchy, and choose her own destiny.

Olivia is also best known for her role as Emma Decody in the drama Bates Motel as well as her turn as Becky Sharp in the miniseries Vanity Fair.

Ben became known to audiences for his role as Peter Beale in EastEnders which he played from 2013 to 2015.

He made his film debut in X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016, playing winged mutant Archangel.

The star has also made appearances in other big films including Rocketman, Mary Shelley, Only The Brave and The Woman In White.

Meanwhile, his character Peter had a tumultuous time in Albert Square in the last couple of years, most notably with his sister Lucy being murdered by their brother Bobby.

Peter left the Square for a new life in New Zealand, with his ex Lauren Branning eventually joining him with their son Louie.
Geneva, April 10 : The fatality rate of COVID-19 is estimated to be 10 times higher than influenza, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Speaking at a Mission briefing on COVID-19 from Geneva on Thursday, the WHO chief said that so far, more than 1.3 million people have been infected, and almost 80,000 people have lost their lives, reported Xinhua news agency.

"This pandemic is much more than a health crisis. It requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response," he said.

He added that the world is yet to see the devastation it could wreak in poorer and more vulnerable countries. Without help and action now, poor countries and vulnerable communities could suffer massive devastation.

"The window for containing the virus at the sub-national and national level is closing in many countries. The infection numbers in Africa are relatively small now, but they are growing fast," he warned.

"As I said in the press conference yesterday, we must quarantine politicizing this virus at national and global levels. We have to work together, and we have no time to waste," he added.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Jersey City has established a coronavirus relief fund for the citys most vulnerable residents and small businesses and has already raised $1.5 million, Mayor Steve Fulop announced Friday morning.

The Jersey City COVID-19 Community Relief Program is now accepting private donations to minimize hardships for needy families and seniors by improving access to food and other necessities, Fulop said.

The relief fund will also invest in the local economy by helping small businesses and nonprofits recover from the economic blow of a statewide shutdown of non-essential businesses and stay-at-home order.

The fund has a goal of raising $3 million, and in the first 48 hours it has already surpassed $1.5 million in donations.

We are in the midst of unprecedented times, and I have no doubt we will overcome the challenges were facing if we work together to support one another, Fulop said. This relief program will be a great resource for our most vulnerable residents and businesses who are the backbone of our community.

The program will be administered through the Jersey City Economic Development Corp. (JCEDC), a 501c3 nonprofit. Donations can be made through the JCEDC website at www.JCEDC.org. All donations will utilize community programs to address the needs of seniors and low-income families and youth.

Jersey City has reported more than 2,000 positive cases of COVID-19, and 59 deaths, as of Thursday.

Anticipating financial hardships for families and businesses because of the pandemic, Jersey City has introduced several measures, including rent freezes in rent-controlled buildings and a 100% match of state grants awarded to small businesses.

The city is working daily to protect the health and safety of residents. However, we need the communitys support to address the full scope of this crisis, said Vivian Brady-Philips, vice chairwoman of the Jersey City Economic Development Corp. We know that many of our community members  both local businesses and concerned residents want to help address this crisis, so we have set a goal of raising $3 million for the Jersey City Relief Fund to support citywide initiatives that will help the city not only recover, but also continue to move forward.

Tax deductible donations can be made out to Jersey City Economic Development Corporation.

For more information on this and other related relief programs at www.jcnj.org/coronavirus.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  Community support groups have sprung up on Facebook to allow netizens to reach out to people now struggling to make end meets amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Concerned netizens now have an option to donate to drivers, vendors, janitors, persons with disabilities and others in need of aid through various Facebook groups.

People asking for help must provide their names, valid IDs, photos, addresses, and GCash or PayMaya number once screened and approved for membership by the group's administrators to ensure that the request is valid.

Donors who are also part of these groups may then comment "donated" on the post once they've sent aid.

For drivers

Facebook group "SuperTsuper" has been dedicated to drivers of public utility vehicles and transport network vehicle service, where they can ask for financial donation from group members via GCash, Globe's virtual wallet service.

The group, which was formed on March 31, has so far enlisted more than 34,000 members.

For vendors

Street and market vendors who are left with no other means of income during the enhanced community quarantine may join "#PasokMgaSuki," which has over 6,000 members to date.

For janitors and maintenance staff

"Bayaning Frontliners," created April 4, is a Facebook group for janitors, garbage collectors, and maintenance staff.

The group already has over 2,900 members to date.

For service workers

"Tulong Tawid COVID" is dedicated to other service workers and donors willing to offer aid.

Laundry workers, barkers, manicurists, barbers, and freighters may also ask for help through the platform that now has over 1,200 members.

For persons with disabilities

"#HalubiloCares", on the other hand, provides a platform for various forms of support for PWDs.

"Halubilo is a foundation with intention to promote Halubilo (interactivity) to create a positive impact for the community," the group's bio read, noting that the intention is to share opportunities, testimonies, encouragement, and support among its members.

Community members' urgent needs vary from financial aid to vitamins, milk supply, and other basic needs.

The group has more than 300 members so far.

Another group, "Bayanihan para sa mga PWD," has also dedicated itself to the same sector. It has more than 3,800 members so far.

The Philippines is currently under a state of calamity as the government continues to address the rising cases of COVID-19.

Luzon and multiple areas elsewhere in the country have been placed under an enhanced community quarantine since March 17, preventing people from going outside and performing regular work to minimize infection. This includes daily wage earners and those who have been relying on government dole-outs for access to basic necessities.

The country as of this week has 4,076 total COVID-19 cases, with 203 deaths and 124 recoveries.

Note: The Facebook groups above are reminding its members to conceal sensitive information in their IDs. Sending private messages to donors and other community members is also prohibited.
The coronavirus pandemic has already inspired nuanced, insightful observations from veteran journalists. These are not those observations.

Maybe wed be just better off if we gave it to everybody.

Rick Santelli, CNBC



Im not a doctor, warned Santelli, a former commodities trader who now works for CNBC. All I know is, think about how the world would be if you tried to quarantine everybody because of the generic-type flu. Now Im not saying this is the generic-type flu. But maybe wed be just better off if we gave it to everybody, and then in a month it would be over because the mortality rate of this probably isnt going to be any different if we did it that way than the long-term picture, but the difference is were wreaking havoc on global and domestic economies. Santelli apologized the next day.

Even if virus gets into your mouth, drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through your throat & into stomach where acid will kill virus.

Geraldo Rivera, Fox News

#CoronaVirusAdvice: Also everyone should insure [sic] mouth & throat are moist, never dry. Take a few sips of water every 15 minutes, tweeted Fox Newss Geraldo Rivera on March 13. Even if virus gets into your mouth, drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through your throat & into stomach where acid will kill virus. Rivera deleted the tweet.

This is impeachment all over again.

Trish Regan, Fox Business

The chorus of hate being leveled at the president is nearing a crescendo as Democrats blame him and only him for a virus that originated halfway around the world, said Fox Business host Trish Regan as soon as her show, Trish Regan Primetime, began on March 9. Dont kid yourself. They told us how much they crave a recession as a way to get rid of Donald Trump. Four days later Regan was taken off the air and then fired.

This virus is the common cold.

Rush Limbaugh, Premiere Networks

All of this panic is just not warranted, proclaimed Rush Limbaugh on his show on March 11. Ive told you that this virus is the common cold. When I said that, it was based on the number of cases. Its also based on the kind of virus this is. Why do you think this is COVID-19? This is the 19th coronavirus. Theyre not uncommon. COVID-19, or coronavirus disease 2019, gets its name from the year it was discovered2019not from the number of coronaviruses. In February, President Trump awarded Limbaugh the presidential medal of freedom.

The conventional, and most likely, view of the COVID-19 outbreak is that it originated in Wuhan, China, near the most sophisticated Chinese bioweapons lab and then proceeded into the world from there, leaving people to guess whether it originated in the lab and leaked.

Grady Means, The Hill



[COVID-19] represents the perfect asymmetric warfare strategy, and there should be little doubt these lessons are being studied carefully by military planners in North Korea, Tehran, Moscow, Beijing and desert caves throughout the Middle East, wrote Means, an economist and Beltway consultant, in the opinion section of The Hill. The falsehood that COVID-19 is a bioengineered weapon is routinely disseminated on social media by state-sponsored disinformation operations blaming the United States. The disease probably did migrate to humans from bats at a wet market in Wuhan, but cannot be transmitted through food, as Means also suggested.

One dayits like a miracleit will disappear.

President Donald Trump

If we were doing a bad job, we should also be criticized, Trump warned in a Feb. 28 address commemorating Black History Month. But we have done an incredible job. Were going to continue. Its going to disappear. One dayits like a miracleit will disappear. And from our shores, weyou know, it could get worse before it gets better. It could maybe go away. Well see what happens. Nobody really knows.

Animated gifs by Kayleigh Waters, text by Sam Thielman

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Steve Brodner is a graphic artist and commentator. His art has won many major awards in the world of illustration and cartooning and has appeared in most publications in the US. He teaches narrative art at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
The United States on Thursday accused the World Health Organization of putting politics first by ignoring early coronavirus warnings by Taiwan, which voiced outrage over criticism from the UN body's chief.

President Donald Trump has gone on an offensive with threats to withhold funding for the WHO, which is at the forefront of fighting the pandemic that has infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide since emerging in Wuhan, China late last year.

Critics say that Trump's sudden threats against the WHO amount to a political ploy to find a foreign scapegoat as he comes under fire for not doing more to prepare for and control COVID-19, which has killed about 15,000 people in the United States.

Trump himself said in January that the United States had the coronavirus "totally under control" and predicted it may go away in April as temperatures rise.

Elaborating on Trump's case against the WHO, the State Department said the WHO was too late in sounding the alarm over COVID-19 and overly deferential to China. It questioned why the Geneva-based body did not pursue a lead from Taiwan.

The United States is "deeply disturbed that Taiwan's information was withheld from the global health community, as reflected in the WHO's January 14, 2020 statement that there was no indication of human-to-human transmission," a State Department spokesperson said.

"The WHO once again chose politics over public health," she said, criticizing the WHO for denying Taiwan even observer status since 2016.

The WHO's actions have "cost time and lives," the spokesperson said.

Taiwan, which has succeeded in limiting the virus to just five deaths despite the island's proximity and ties with China, warned the WHO on December 31 of human-to-human transmission, Vice President Chen Chien-Jen has said.

Chen, an epidemiologist, told the Financial Times that Taiwanese doctors had learned that colleagues in Wuhan were falling ill but that the WHO did not work to confirm the finding.

Story continues

China considers Taiwan -- a self-ruling democracy where the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949 -- to be a province awaiting reunification and has sought to exclude it from all international organizations.

- Taiwan decries 'slander' -

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in an appeal Wednesday for unity, said that he had been subjected to insults including racial slights since the public health crisis began.

The Ethiopian doctor turned diplomat did not mention the United States -- the largest donor to the WHO at more than $400 million last year -- but singled out non-member Taiwan.

"Three months ago, this attack came from Taiwan," Tedros told reporters in Geneva, referring to online criticism and insults.

"Taiwan, the foreign ministry also, they know the campaign. They didn't disassociate themselves. They even started criticizing me in the middle of all that insult and slur, but I didn't care," Tedros said.

The comments sparked anger in Taiwan, which described Tedros' comments as "baseless" and said it was seeking an apology for "slander."

"Our country has never encouraged the public to launch personal attacks against him or made any racially discriminatory comments," foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou told reporters on Thursday.

In a Facebook post, President Tsai Ing-wen invited Tedros to visit Taiwan and learn from its handling of the epidemic, challenging him to "resist pressure from China."

"We have been blocked from international organizations for many long years and we know what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated more than anyone else," she said.

Beijing responded that Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party, which emphasizes Taiwan's separate identity, has engaged in "political manipulation" over the WHO.

"Its true aim is to seek independence through the pandemic. We are firmly opposed to this, and their scheme will never succeed," a foreign ministry spokesman said in Beijing.

Critics of Tedros have accused the WHO under his leadership of being too close to Beijing and complimentary of China's response to the coronavirus.

But some public health experts say that the WHO had little choice but to cooperate with China to preserve access in Wuhan.
By Olivia Rose

A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY advisory team from the UK is in the TCI to provide medical, operational and security support to the Government.





Premier Sharlene Cartwright Robinson and Governor Nigel Dakin welcomed the Security Assistance Team at Providenciales International Airport on Monday (April 6).





Governor Dakin in a communique on Monday evening said the multi-department team consists of a doctor, medical planners, logisticians, military, police and security planners who will boost local capacity in these areas.





"At around 20, its a multi-disciplinary, effort that draws heavily on three Commando Brigade, commanded by a lieutenant colonel.





"Myself and the team leader Lieutenant Colonel Steve Jones, had a three-way teleconference with his commanding general today in the UK.





"The team is very clear on their initial task which is to properly understand the health capacity in all its forms we have in TCI, so we can support and help build greater capacity against Covid-19 and border security challenges.





"While at the same time understanding how UK military capability, which comes in different forms, can support our anti-illegal immigration operations.





"The two of course link together in terms of the fight against Covid-19.





"The team brings with them our militarys experience of supporting the UKs National Health Service during this period which has been extraordinarily important to the UK response and therefore brings welcome relevant experience onto the Islands.





He explained that the Turks and Caicos Islands is the first overseas territory to receive such a multifaceted team due to the range of problems the territory currently faces.





"This is a reflection of the number of overlapping challenges we face here, from both Covid-19 and from illegal migration.





"The skill set that the Royal Marines bring with them, to both land and maritime operations, and the militarys links to the UKs health response, makes this team a particularly welcome member of the wider national security team and medical effort, the governor stressed.





The Security Assistance Team will be quarantined for 14 days in keeping with health protocols and will be following the advice of the chief medical officer before getting to work.





Dakin said: "During that time, they will be able to connect remotely to a full range of stakeholders in TCI so they can build understanding and context as they wait.





"The public will see them out and about in two weeks time.





He further informed that the military and police expertise will aid the TCIs law enforcement authorities in their fight against serious crime.





He said: "Serious crime was an issue on the Islands before this period of lockdown and looking to the future we do not imagine for one moment that we will not face similar challenges in the near future.





"The lockdown and curfew period has though offered a welcome respite from this menace.





"The team therefore includes two UK Home Office advisors who can work with the TCI police executive.





"The public might recall that just before the lockdown, the premier and myself announced a jointly funded TCIG and UK uplift for the next year to our polices hard-edged Tactical

Unit.





He said despite the Covid-19 pandemic, that work is progressing and recruitment is taking place.





Both the governor and premier expressed their gratitude to the team for offering their expertise to the TCI.





Dakin said: "I hope this news reassures, its a significant uplift in our capability on the Islands to deal with these extraordinary events.





"The premier and myself thanked the team for leaving their homes and their families to come and support ours.





Premier Cartwright Robinson said: "As the first overseas territory to receive assistance as such, TCI is appreciative of this important response to our needs.





"I am grateful to those involved in making this a reality especially His Excellency the Governor Nigel Dakin and UK Overseas Territory Minister, Baroness Sugg.





Prior to the teams arrival, medical supplies for the TCI from the UK had been sent through cargo channels and are expected to arrive imminently.





Although the Ministry of Health is best placed to cover the procurement efforts, the equipment the UK is providing will provide practical medical assistance, Dakin said.





"But in terms of completeness, in support of the Health Ministrys work, personal protection equipment and a significant number of tests kits will arrive from the UK this week with more to follow. The first batch are presently in-transit.





"The critical on-island testing equipment (which has been extremely hard to procure globally) is on order by the UK on our behalf, and will arrive as it comes off the production line.





"We are also in detailed discussions with the UK about providing people who can support medical delivery here.




New Delhi, April 10 : A young IAS officer in Uttar Pradesh has put his tech-savvy to good use to come up with a website which has a tool to alert authorities about a suspected coronavirus patients and at the same time offer advice to users.

The website coronajankari.com employs an interactive tool similar to that used by National Health Service in the UK to know about the coronavirus positive and suspect patients.

IAS officer Prashant Sharma, 32, said the website has been set up keeping in mind the 45-50 crore Hindi-speaking users in north and central India.

It incorporates all information related to coronavirus, government guidelines, tests and even a helpline.

Sharma said that the user can fill in details about his or her age, gender, symptoms if any, travel history, pin code of address etc on the website to know whether he or she is a suspected coronavirus patient or not.

Thereafter, the user will get advice as to whether he should visit a hospital, stay at home or call a helpline.

Since people using the website would fill up their details to know about their health status, it would help authorities take suitable action to prevent community spread of the dreaded coronavirus, the IAS officer said.

The officer had in 2016 made an aap 'Ask UP' that enabled users to get information on all state government policies and programmes, projects and services while sitting at home.

Sharma had done engineering in information technology before he cracked the civil service examination.

(Navneet Mishra can be contacted at navneet.m@ians.in)
Although the COVID-19 outbreak in Illinois so far has been mainly concentrated around the Chicago area, public health officials are bracing for a surge of cases in rural areas of downstate Illinois  including areas that already have shortages of hospital beds, healthcare providers and equipment.

So, were keeping a close eye on that, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike said. As we look right now, I think our hot spot is more northern Illinois  but were keeping an eye on all the beds, the ICUs, the ventilators and the availability of those, and we potentially, well have to do some moving of things, but we are also looking at what the needs will be there.

Despite health care shortages in some areas, Danny Chun, a spokesman for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, said in an interview that most rural hospitals in Illinois should be well prepared for the surge, at least in terms of strategy.

They are very prepared, he said, citing two major trends in health care: industry consolidation over the past five to 10 years into health care systems that have the ability to share resources, and regional planning.

A lot of small and rural hospitals, critical-access hospitals, are now part of large systems, like OSF, HSHS, Carle, Southern Illinois Health, Chun said.

Then theres an existing structure within the state of Illinois  theyre called Regional Health Care Coalitions, he added. There are 11 coalitions throughout the state covering every area of the state, including southern and central Illinois, where all the health care providers in that region get together in terms of emergency planning, pandemic planning, emergency exercises. Thats been in place for years.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, each of those 11 regions has one main hospital designated as the coordinating center. For example, the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana serves as the coordinating center in the Champaign region, which covers 18 counties in east-central Illinois.

Anita Guffey, who serves as the emergency management coordinator and readiness and response coordinator for that region, was unavailable for an interview Wednesday because of the immediate demands on her time, as were her counterparts in other regions. But she issued a statement through a spokesperson saying the planning process for COVID-19 is not significantly different from the planning they go through for other emergencies.

In this region we need to be prepared for tornadoes, blizzards, and even earthquake risk, in addition to pandemic planning, she said. Every incident is different, but we work on this at all times so when the time comes, were already familiar with each other.

The one thing rural hospitals have not been prepared for, however, is the financial pressure resulting from dealing with the pandemic.

Chun said hospitals throughout the state postponed most outpatient and elective surgeries, a significant amount of their annual revenue, to free up space and medical staff for treating COVID-19 patients. They also are ramping up for the pandemic, he added.

We are urging the state to take all the steps that they can to increase cash flow to hospitals, because as you know, theyre facing a double whammy, he said.  On the one hand, theyre losing money because theyre not doing elective surgeries and procedures, and then moneys going out the door because of the preparations for the virus.

Chun noted the state comptrollers office used inter-fund borrowing in March to increase its Medicaid payments to state hospitals, paying down about $200 million in past-due bills. But the comptrollers office already has indicated there likely will be additional payment delays in coming months because the tax filing deadline was pushed back to July 15 and because of the economic slowdown brought on by the statewide stay-at-home order and closure of nonessential businesses.

The federal government temporarily increased its share of Medicaid funding by 6.2 percentage points, retroactive to Jan. 1. That reduces the states share of Medicaid costs, freeing up general revenue funds for other purposes.

The biggest boost hospitals will see in the near term will come from the $2.2 trillion federal recovery package Congress recently passed, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

Chun said that package includes more than $100 billion for hospitals across the country to help offset the cost of responding to the pandemic, including some automatic funding increases and some reimbursement programs for which hospitals must apply.

Even with that, Chun said, hospitals across the country will need additional assistance.

We are now preparing to ask the Illinois General Assembly for help on the state level with Medicaid funding for our hospitals, he said. So whenever the legislature finally returns  you know, maybe in May, maybe in June  we will be asking the General Assembly for help for our hospitals.
SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo is cross-training staff, evaluating space and conserving supplies to handle a possible surge in COVID-19 cases.

The hospital has the capacity for 12 intensive-care unit beds right now and its surge plan, under development for several weeks, has laid the groundwork for possibly converting other units of the hospital for ICU care if COVID-19 hospitalizations rise significantly, President Laura Walczak said.

Several areas of the hospital have already been converted to negative pressure, which ensures the air from rooms with COVID-19 patients would not be recirculated into other areas of the hospital, Walczak said. The hospital has designated wings specific to respiratory patients where COVID-19 patients and those suspected of having COVID-19 are cared for away from the general patient population.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services projects the states peak of infections will occur sometime between April 23 and May 23 and Walczak said the hospital is prepared to redeploy staff  safely  to the areas where they might be needed during a surge of cases.
An Indian American entrepreneur has announced to produce 10,000 face masks a day and 15,000 face shields per week to address the massive shortage of these public health items in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cleanaxa, the company recently formed by Indiana-based Gurinder Singh, is also producing 1,000 gowns a week for personal protective use for those who must go out and, in the process, is also providing employment to 300 families.

The products are produced by people who do not leave their homes and then packaged and distributed in a sanitary fashion, Singh said in a statement.

An Indian American Sikh activist from Indiana, Singh, 46 is recipient of the Rosa Parks Trailblazer award in recognition of his campaign that forced US authorities to change their policy towards headgear of the Sikh community.

The face masks are intended to provide some protection for those who must leave their homes. The use of these masks will help save the medical and N-95 masks for medical and emergency service personnel," Singh emphasized in a statement.

Cleanaxa so far has generated income opportunities for over 300 families and hopes to provide it to at least 125 more, he added.

We are starting a homemade revolution where people can make products at home and create income independently in their home, he said.

With this being an election year, Singh invites candidates to consult with Cleanxa to have the fabric for their mask designed for their campaign.

Cleanaxa will help with their design and we will produce the masks for them, their campaign workers, and as handouts for at their events, he said.

In view of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, there is massive shortage of face masks in the country. As part of the preventive measures, the White House Task Force on Coronavirus has recommended that every citizen wear some short of face mask. Some of the states like California has made it compulsory for any outside movement.

Singh said his new company has given over 1,000 masks to law enforcement, agencies, first responders and health care workers. He is creating a process where any law enforcement officers, first responders, or health care workers can obtain a free Cleanxa mask, only paying for shipping if they cannot pick one up.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
North Korean Workers Remain in Africa Months After Sanctions Deadline to Repatriate

2020-04-09 -- North Korean migrant workers and the companies that dispatch them overseas still have a strong presence in Africa, despite UN sanctions prohibiting the export of North Korean labor past the last month of 2019.

According to a former North Korean diplomat who defected and is now applying for refugee status in the United Kingdom, Pyongyang has many allies in Africa and has made strategic alliances with several African nations, so they are ignoring the sanctions, which are meant to deprive the isolated country of cash and resources that could be funneled into its nuclear program.

"There are many African countries that are close to North Korea," the ex-diplomat, identified only by his surname Kim, told RFA's Korean Service Tuesday.

Kim said that most African countries have long-standing alliances with North Korea, many dating back to the Cold War era, and do not see the advantage of kicking North Korean workers out because they are highly skilled and they accept relatively low pay.

Equatorial Guinea said it has returned all North Korean workers in its interim report in March last year to comply with paragraph 8 of UN Security Council Resolution 2397, which says that North Korean workers must be repatriated before late December 2019.

But Equatorial Guinea did not reveal a specific number for how many North Koreans were repatriated.

Angola meanwhile promised in 2016 to cut off all military and economic exchanges with North Korea and send back all workers, including military officers.

However, it is known that this promise has not been kept yet.

Tunisia, the only African country that submitted its final report on the repatriation of North Korean workers specified in Resolution 2397, pointed out in its report that most other African countries are ignoring UN sanctions against North Korea.

"We can't say that African countries are faithfully implementing sanctions against North Korea," Kim said.

According to Kim, North Korean affiliates in Africa are all officially under Pyongyang's prestigious Mansudae Art Studio, which commissions artistic works for propaganda. But North Korea's External Construction Guidance Bureau, the Korean Workers' Party's Propaganda Department and the Ministry of People's Armed Forces all send their affiliates as well, leading to a situation in which North Korean companies with a presence in Africa are all competing with each other to make money to prop up Kim Jong Un and his inner circle.

The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) told RFA that the international community should pay attention to the North Korean migrant situation, especially to the human rights of the workers, because those officially dispatched by Pyongyang are deprived of most of their earnings and live and work in squalid conditions.

"The role of North Korean workers sent abroad is crucial to maintaining the Kim family regime," said Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of HRNK.

"Despite the coronavirus crisis, North Korean workers are risking their lives to earn foreign currency for the regime," he added.

A Washington-based source familiar with Africa's economy, who requested anonymity on fear of reprisal, told RFA that infrastructure and construction work under a long-term development plan is underway.

According to the source, more than 2,000 North Korean workers have been dispatched to work in pro-North Korean developing countries with poor medical systems.

Data published by the website "North Korea in the World," which provides information regarding North Korea's external diplomatic and economic relations, the total number of North Korean workers dispatched to other countries, prior to the December 2019 repatriation deadline, was about 100,000 to 120,000.

Among African countries, Angola had the most North Korean workers with about 1,000. Nigeria, Algeria and Equatorial Guniea had about 200 each and Ethiopia is believed to have 100, but the current status of North Koreans in these countries is unknown.

An RFA reporter visiting Tanzania in 2016 was able to identify about 100 North Korean medical staff that had been dispatched there.

In its final implementation report on sanctions prohibiting the export of North Korean labor, submitted to the UN Security Council on the March 19, the U.S. stressed that there are no North Korean nationals who have received valid labor permits in the U.S. from December 23, 2018 to December 22, 2019, and that the US is complying with sanctions.

The report, released on April 3, also calls for the repatriation of North Korean workers from other UN member states, saying the U.S. will continue to implement all the UN Security Council's resolutions related to North Korea.

The UN Security Council's North Korea Sanctions Committee did not answer questions from RFA about its position on the remaining North Korean workers in Africa as of Thursday afternoon.

Reported by Albert Hong for RFA's Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Copyright  1998-2016, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content April not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






They have faced criticism for setting a bad example during the coronavirus pandemic by kissing in public.

But Married At First Sight's KC Osborne and Michael Goonan aren't letting the haters get them down.

KC, 31, shared a throwback video to Instagram on Thursday of the pair smooching at the supermarket in Melbourne.

'We've got to keep our distance, babe!' Married At First Sight's Michael Goonan and KC Osborne laughed off COVID-19 rules while kissing at the supermarket earlier this week

She joked that they 'need to keep their distance', referring to official advice that people should stay two arms' length apart to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Elsewhere in the clip, KC tells Michael to 'push me around' before she hugs and kisses him while trying to keep her balance.

The footage was recorded in the past week, when Michael and KC were self-isolating together in Melbourne.

'Push me around': KC shared a throwback video to Instagram on Thursday of the pair kissing

She has since returned to Sydney, where she lives in beachside suburb of Cronulla.

KC and Michael faced some criticism earlier this week for setting a bad example as Australians are being encouraged to observe social distancing rules.

They were pictured kissing and cuddling in public in photos published on Monday.

Missing him? The footage was recorded in the past week, when Michael and KC were self-isolating together in Melbourne. KC (pictured) has since returned to Sydney, where she lives

And while KC offered Michael a squirt of hand sanitiser from her designer handbag, some fans questioned whether their outing constituted 'essential travel'.

'Not the time to be showing off in public!' one fan wrote on Facebook. 'We are meant to be at home social distancing. Confirming a rumour for a tabloid is not essential.'

'So is no one going to address the fact that KC is breaking isolation to accompany her partner to work?' another wrote.

Backlash: KC and Michael faced some criticism earlier this week for setting a bad example as Australians are being encouraged to observe social distancing rules

'That would be an inessential outing for her,' a third Facebook user pointed out.

The Victorian government has published a list of 'essential outings', which cover shopping, exercise, work and education, and access to medical services.

People who fail to comply with social distancing rules may be liable for fines of up to $20,000.

Naughty! They were pictured kissing and cuddling in public in photos published on Monday

However, it's important to note that Michael and KC didn't break any rules by kissing or cuddling. They were a couple living together at the time, which means they didn't have to observe social distancing with each other.

Furthermore, Michael was attending business meetings, which means his outing fell within the permitted category of 'work and education'.

The lovebirds have been dating since early March after meeting the previous year on MAFS when they were both partnered with other people.
Pakistan President Arif Alvi claimed that he was 'reusing' N-95 masks given to him by China, over the condemnation of misuse by politicians. The President of Pakistan sparked a row after he was seen donning an N-95 mask at a meeting amid shortage for health professionals.

Responding to the critics, Arif Alvi said, "As a doctor, I am strongly aware of misuse and wastage. I was re-using the N-95 mask that was given to me by China. Finally, its strap broke yesterday."

As a Dr I am strongly aware of misuse & wastage. I was re-using the N-95 mask that was given to me in China. Finally its strap broke y/day so in next mtng @ WingCmdr Noman Akram Shaheed's house you see me wearing regular public mask. I hope my clarification finds equal billing  pic.twitter.com/bXDLHnwe4d  Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) April 9, 2020

READ| Pakistani cricket icon Shahid Afridi donates essential items to needy amid COVID-19 crisis

The Pakistani government has been urging its people that N-95 masks should be exclusive for health professionals in isolation wards and quarantine centers. The Pakistan Medical Association had also issued a statement asking the country's politicians and bureaucrats to not wear N-95 masks, Dawn reported.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday expressed concern that the situation "can further deteriorate" and "our hospitals may not be able to cope" with the increasing number of patients. Pakistan is making frantic efforts to tackle the pandemic. Khan has again warned the people to follow official guidelines on self-isolation or the virus would spread further. He, however, defended his decision to not impose a total lockdown, saying over 50 million people were below the poverty line in the country and they could die of hunger if such a step is taken.

'Underwear masks' by China

Last week, Pakistan's 'all-weather friend' China had promised to send top-quality N-95 masks to the country to battle the Coronavirus, however, later the equipment turned out to be made from underwear, a Pakistani news channel reported. In a bizarre incident, China that had promised medical aid to its ally duped Pakistan by sending masks made out of underwear. Reporting the news, the anchor of the Pakistani channel said, "China ne chuna laga diya" (China conned us) and further notified that the Sindh provincial government sent the masks to hospitals without checking.

Pakistan on April 10 morning reported 4,474 cases, 65 deaths, and 572 recoveries. The Pakistani Army has urged its citizens to be indoors and avoid unnecessary travel. It was reported that the largest province of Punjab registered 2,224 cases, Sindh 1,128, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 311, Balochistan 169, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) 190, Islamabad 68 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 9 Coronavirus cases.

READ| Pakistan reporter hands out 'anti-bacterial handwash' to fight Coronavirus; expects thanks
A local couple were delighted to be back in Termonfeckin and Monasterboice this week after being caught up in a COVID-19 nightmare, thousands of miles from home.

St Fechin's GAA star Niall McCabe and Kim Madden were on the journey of a lifetime when it turned into a holiday from hell.

The couple had planned a six-month round the world trip, taking them from South America to New Zealand and Australia.

They had arrived in Peru and had trekked for days to the gates of the famed Inca stronghold of Machu Picchu when they were stopped by the military and told the country was in lockdown.

They had to go to a hostel in a nearby city and spent nearly three weeks there, before major political discussions resulted in the last rescue flight out of the country being organised and it got them home.
Small businesses can pick an app template from Studio Store, for which hosting is now being offered free for three months

The first apps on Studio Store will be suitable for grocery stores, garment boutiques and florists.

Chennai: Online delivery platforms have become all important amid the coronavirus crisis as people are unable to visit stores physically. But setting up an online platform is not easy for a mom-and-pop corner shop as it requires knowledge of coding. Now, a software development firm is helping small businesses to easily build apps from pre-packaged templates.

Software company Builder.ai on Thursday launched The Studio Store which features a set of pre-packaged apps for ecommerce and delivery.

To set up an ecommerce delivery app, any small business now only needs to pick one of the templates available on The Studio Store. There is no hassle of finding a good software developer or spending a lot of money on building an app from scratch

Whats more, Builder.ai offers free hosting of the app on its servers for three months.

Businesses need to adapt to survive, Builder.ai co-founder and CEO Sachin Dev Duggal says. Customers now expect to communicate with businesses via digital channels  whether its through an app or a website. Builder.ai makes it easy and affordable for businesses to create such a digital presence.

The first apps on Studio Store will be suitable for grocery stores, garment boutiques and florists. Businesses can expect to have a fully functional app in less than eight weeks, Builder.ai says. The firm also offers assistance in scaling up the app in line with the growth of the business or customising it for specific needs.

Studio Stores apps have scrollable carousels on which photographs and descriptions of ones goods can be featured. It also integrates a range of secure payment gateways as well as delivery couriers such as FedEx.

The interface of the Studio Store apps is English, and would appeal more to businesses in urban areas.

Access to the Studio Store requires a one-month deposit along with the cost of Rs 40,000.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday appealed to the clerics in Nuh district to ensure that people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi should come forward and undergo test for coronavirus.

"I request the Maulvis in Nuh district, which is the most backward district, to ensure that people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat reveal themselves to the police and get their COVID-19 tests done. They would be required to stay in quarantine for 14 days," Khattar told ANI.

"No one needs to be afraid of coronavirus as people who had been tested positive for coronavirus are getting discharged," he added.

Speaking on the 'Corona Rahat Fund', Chief Minister said that several people including the Group D workers in the state government have contributed their one month salary to the fund.

Naresh, a peon residing in Ambala, told the CM over the phone: "I had made up my mind to participate in India's combat against coronavirus. My family had inspired me to donate my one month salary to the Corona Rahat Fund."

Sashi Balaji, a staff nurse at a government hospital, also said, "I donated my one month salary to help people whom I cannot reach out at a personal level."

"Giving one month's salary was my way of serving the society and doing the duty as an Indian," said Constable Ravi.

Echoing similar sentiment, Sarla Devi, a teacher, said, "This is one way to fight together against coronavirus."

"I want to tell people that by keeping yourself safe you will be keeping the country safe," she added.

The Chief Minister said that about Rs 72 crore has been collected in Corona Rahat Fund' till now.

He also said, "Several people have launched websites and portals to contribute in India's fight against coronavirus like in Karnal an initiative has started with the slogan 'Adopt a family'."

"Under the 'Adopt a Family' portal, till now about 400 people have adopted 15,000 people and are giving them ration or money on a weekly basis."

Till now, the total number of coronavirus cases in Haryana is 169, of which 29 have been cured/discharged and 3 deaths.

The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India has climbed to 6,761, as per the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday. Out of the 6,412 cases, 6,039 are active COVID-19 cases, 516 patients have been recovered or discharged and 206 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bernie Sanders raises his fist as he arrives onstage after winning the Nevada caucuses during a campaign rally.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has pledged to keep every campaign staffer on their healthcare plan through November, Jack Califano, the campaign's deputy distributed organizing director, announced on Twitter.

"We're all crying," Califano tweeted. "I am so proud to work for this man."

Sanders dropped out of the 2020 presidential race on Wednesday, making former Vice President Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee.

A veteran progressive lawmaker, Sanders declared healthcare a human right and built his grassroots campaign around overhauling the US healthcare system and implementing a single-payer, "Medicare for All" national health insurance program.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has pledged to keep every campaign staffer on their healthcare plan through November, Jack Califano, the campaign's deputy distributed organizing director, announced on Twitter.

"We're all crying," Califano tweeted. "I am so proud to work for this man."

Sanders dropped out of the 2020 presidential race on Wednesday, making former Vice President Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee.

In an address from his home in Burlington, Vermont, Sanders said his path to the nomination had become "virtually impossible" and that the country should stay focused on handling the coronavirus pandemic as it sweeps the nation.

"I cannot in good conscience continue to mount a campaign that cannot win and which would interfere with the important work ahead of all of us," he said.

A veteran progressive lawmaker, Sanders built his campaign on calling for a "political revolution" and skewering the political establishment on both the left and the right. His 2020 presidential bid built on his 2016 primary race against Hillary Clinton, during which he established himself as the most prominent national voice for the populist, progressive left and an outspoken advocate for the working class.

Story continues

Declaring healthcare a human right  and not a privilege  was the centerpiece of Sanders' campaign, which also called for overhauling the US healthcare system and implementing a "Medicare for All," single-payer national health insurance program.

The Vermont senator also frequently excoriates the health insurance and pharmaceutical lobbying industries, accusing them of "ripping off the American people" by valuing profits over lives.

In addition to universal healthcare, Sanders has long championed policies like tuition-free public college and the Green New Deal, a plan to transition the US to 100% clean and renewable energy within the next decade.

Sanders hit the ground running with a series of wins in early primary and caucus states, but he failed to pick up momentum on Super Tuesday and subsequently lost delegate-rich states like Michigan and Florida to Biden, significantly narrowing his path to the nomination.

He also suffered from low turnout among young voters in the 2020 campaign season.

Voters between the ages of 18 and 29 were a huge part of why he picked up momentum in 2016, and Sanders conceded that the turnout this time around wasn't enough to help him secure the Democratic nomination.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Chandigarh administrations recent decision to make the wearing of masks mandatory in public places is not in tune with the guidelines of World Health Organisation (WHO) and Union ministry of health and family welfare.

The administration, in its media release on Wednesday, cited Maharashtras example  where confirmed COVID 19 cases are exponentially higher than Chandigarh  to make wearing a mask mandatory in public places to tackle coronavirus crisis. The UT police have also been asked to warn people to wear the masks in public places. Chandigarh has seen 18 coronavirus cases so far but no one has tested positive since Monday, whereas in Maharashtra, the positive cases have crossed 1,100.

The Punjab government has also made wearing masks a must in public spaces as a preventive measure.

CREATES FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY

In its updated guidelines on April 6, the WHO said: There is limited evidence that wearing a medical mask may be beneficial as a preventive measure. Moreover, it may create a false sense of security, with neglect of other essential measures, such as hand hygiene practices and physical distancing.

Also, Union Ministry of Health in its advice on masks too said that the masks should only be worn if one is ill with COVID-19 symptoms (especially coughing) or looking after someone who may have symptoms.

The most effective ways to protect yourself and others against Covid-19 are to frequently clean your hands, cover your cough with the bend of elbow or tissue and maintain a distance of at least 1 meter.

PREVENTIVE MEASURE

Dr JS Thakur, a professor at the department of community medicine in PGIMER, agreed that except patient, hospital staff and attendants, not everyone is required to wear mask. There is already shortfall of masks in hospitals, recommending it to the general public will create further shortfall, he said.

The president of the Chandigarh chapter of Indian Medical Association, Dr Rajesh Dhir, however, said that WHOs recommendations are just advisories. Wearing a mask is definitely an additional protection from the virus. But one must understand it is not dilution of other prevention measures. Secondly, people must know how to use and dispose it of, he said.

When contacted, Dr G Dewan, the director of health services, UT, said that the move will help in stopping community transmission. Neighbouring states have also followed it.

LACK OF AWARENESS

On the ground, the UT lacks an awareness drive despite pressing for the use of masks in public spaces.

Local resident welfare association president Hitesh Puri said that people are using the same mask multiple times, while the medical superintendent at the government hospital in Sector 16, Dr VK Nagpal, clarified that the maximum life of a surgical mask, normally available in chemist shops, is not than eight hours or even less if it gets dirty.

UT adviser Manoj Paridas tweet on Wednesday suggesting that homemade masks are less effective in dealing with the virus has also added to confusion at a time when the Centre is advocating home-made masks, which according to experts, can be reused after washing.

TIPS TO GET IT RIGHT

Place the mask over the nose, mouth and chin and ensure there is no gap.

Avoid touching the mask while in use.

Dont leave the mask hanging from the neck.

Dont touch potentially contaminated outer surface while removing it.

Change the mask after six hours.

Never reuse disposable masks.

Dispose the used masks in a closed bin after disinfecting them.

Source: Ministry of health and family welfare

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The Trump administration has an historic opportunity to find out, once and forever, if Silicon Valley employers are truly dependent on imported foreign labor.

The 2020 lottery that will grant 85,000 new H-1B visas is over and done. But imagine that President Trump did the right thing, and announced that allowing 85,000 new workers into the U.S. during this period of rising unemployment (which the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank predicted may exceed 32 percent) is against the best interests of the U.S. President Trump could add, truthfully, that to allow 85,000 overseas workers into the U.S. as the coronavirus rages on would unnecessarily expose them to dangerous and possibly fatal health risks.

Although immigration advocates would oppose visa restrictions even though unemployment and health crises grow greater daily, they would look foolish and self-serving. The Indian lobby, nevertheless, has taken the extraordinary step of asking a federal judge to commandeer immigration-making decisions from President Trump and suspend the routine visa deadlines for about 2 million workers.

President Trump should allow foreign-born workers whose H-1B visas have expired to self-deport instead of, as the Indian lobby has requested, extending by six months their grace period. Under the H-1B guidelines, unemployed H-1B visa holders have 60 days to find another job or return home.

Assuming the Trump administration carried out todays imaginary scenario to the full extent  85,000 visas voided, expired H-1B visas expiration dates enforced, and immigrant workers self-deported  the president and other immigration skeptics would soon learn to what degree, if any, fewer employment-based visas have on businesses that claim to be dependent on them. Educated guess: none.

The H-1B scam has gone on long enough. Over the last three decades, the H-1B has displaced tens of thousands of experienced U.S. tech workers and has created financial and emotional heartache for Americans who have lost their jobs to younger, less-skilled but cheaper-to-employ overseas workers.

Heres a prime example. Michael Welch, a San Francisco employment lawyer, identified several companies to Bloomberg that phase out older workers for younger, cheaper ones, including Facebook, Apple, Google, Tesla, LinkedIn and HP. The Bay Areas tech companies are singularly uninterested in long resumes. Phase out means fire, and long resumes indicate that the job applicant is a skilled worker, likely an American.

Before the H-1B visa became a well-known, widely used tech industry displacement tool, workers frequently spent their entire careers in the field, gradually earning increasing pay as they advanced.

Ten years ago, Ron Hira in his Economic Policy Institute article, wrote that the H-1B visa and its L-1 cousin were out of control. Hira, a respected Howard University public policy professor, wrote that both of these visa programs need immediate and substantial overhaul. The original goals of the H-1B and L visa were to admit foreign nationals who complement the U.S. workforce. Instead, wrote Hira, Loopholes in both programs have made it too easy to bring in cheaper foreign workers, with ordinary skills, who directly substitute for, rather than complement, workers already in the country. They are clearly displacing and denying opportunities to U.S. workers.

Another prominent labor economist, Harvard University professor Lawrence F. Katz, agreed with Hira. Katz told The New York Times that employers like the H-1B visa program because it expands the labor pool which means paying lower salaries. The two big H-1B winners are, concluded Katz, the workers who come here with H-1B visas and the companies that employ them.

In the decade since Hiras cautionary article, the federal government has approved about 1 million H-1B visas, and allowed employers to use the cap-free L visa to transfer their international employees and their families to the U.S. The great deal for the L visa holders and their families includes lifelong valid work permits and citizenship for all!

Today, President Trump has a golden chance to convert his campaign promise to reform legal immigration to serve the best interests of America and its workers, the forgotten people into reality.

What choice President Trump makes will say volumes about his commitment to U.S. workers.

Joe Guzzardi is a Progressives for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.
Masks earmarked for New York were sent to a state collection center that will distribute to front-line workers, and Nevada masks are also being distributed through a state-run entity responsible for the distribution of incoming donations, along with supplies provided directly by the state and federal government.

"This pandemic has called on each of us to use every ability we have to help those most impacted by the crisis," Mr. Adelson said. "Getting personal protection equipment to our health-care professionals and first responders in Nevada and New York, the epicenter of this crisis, is critical to keeping those brave folks safe, while making sure they can do their jobs to aid our most vulnerable citizens. I am grateful we can leverage our resources to get these donations to the front lines, and we send them with the best wishes of our company and team members."

In total, Sands has donated more than 2.5 million pieces of personal protection equipment to Nevada, New York, California and Massachusetts. The company also donated 1,900 coronavirus test kits and is in the process of donating 20,000 protective suits to the state of Nevada.

Sands also has made financial contributions to several hunger-relief organizations and donated 60 pallets of food and more than 55,000 bottles of water to local organizations. The company is currently paying each of its nearly 10,000 Las Vegas Team Members, along with providing full health-care benefits, while its properties remain closed.

About Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS)

Las Vegas Sands is the world's pre-eminent developer and operator of world-class Integrated Resorts. We deliver unrivaled economic benefits to the communities in which we operate.

Sands created the meetings, incentives, convention and exhibition (MICE)-based Integrated Resort. Our industry-leading Integrated Resorts provide substantial contributions to our host communities including growth in leisure and business tourism, sustained job creation and ongoing financial opportunities for local small and medium-sized businesses.

Our properties include The Venetian Resort and Sands Expo in Las Vegas, and the iconic Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Through majority ownership in Sands China Ltd., we have developed the largest portfolio of properties on the Cotai Strip in Macao, including The Venetian Macao, The Plaza and Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Sands Cotai Central and The Parisian Macao, as well as the Sands Macao on the Macao Peninsula.

Sands is dedicated to being a good corporate citizen, anchored by the core tenets of serving people, planet and communities. We deliver a great working environment for 50,000 team members worldwide, drive social impact through the Sands Cares charitable giving and community engagement program and lead in environmental performance through the award-winning Sands ECO360 global sustainability program. To learn more, please visit www.sands.com.

Contacts:

Media:

Ron Reese

[email protected]

Kristin Koca

[email protected]

SOURCE Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Related Links

http://www.sands.com


"LA Originals" director and co-subject Estevan Oriol with his 1964 Chevrolet Impala. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

There was a time in the recent cultural history of Los Angeles when tattoos were strictly the markers of bona fide gangsters, when graffiti was vandalism  little more  and when going downtown at night was considered a definite no-no.

Today, arm sleeves of elaborate ink are embraced by media moguls and suburban moms alike. Graffiti as a form can command handsome corporate commissions by its most heralded artists. And downtown L.A. became known as a playground of art walks, stellar restaurants and whiskey bars.

This remarkable transformation in the citys cultural DNA is due in part in two figures whove not gotten nearly as much credit as theyre due: photographer-director Estevan Oriol and  tattooist to the stars  Mister Cartoon. In the early 1990s, the artists set up shop as S.A. Studios at a complex of warehouses on the edge of downtown Los Angeles' skid row. There they began fomenting a cultural movement.

By bridging the gap between cultural gatekeepers and the urban landscape, Oriol and Mister Cartoon brought the roughest realms of L.A. street art and Chicano culture into the boardroom  and into your living room.

On Friday, Netflix is premiering the documentary LA Originals, directed by Oriol, which charts the two artists lives and careers. The film is a raw, often jarring portrait of one of the richest creative partnerships in this towns history. Upon viewing it in a period of pandemic-forced lockdowns and isolation, the film becomes an especially urgent celebration of life in Los Angeles, acknowledging its ups and downs.

More than anything, its a portrait of two great artists who found kinship and inspiration in each other and continue to do so today. These dudes are like cholo Da Vincis, comedian George Lopez says.

A kinship forms

Oriol and Mister Cartoon met in 1992 at a record-release party in Hollywood. Both were coming up in their respective fields and wanted to take L.A. street culture to a wider audience. Almost immediately, the two recall in an interview this week, they recognized themselves in the other.

Story continues

Mister Cartoon, who went from outlaw tagger to big-time artist, graphic designer and "tattooist to the stars." (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Oriol had grown up on L.A.s Westside and moved to Hollywood at age 19. Mister Cartoon, born Mark Machado, hailed from the L.A. harbor area, specifically San Pedro.

It was a good time to be alive in 92, Mister Cartoon says.

The L.A. riots marked the year, but so did the release of Dr. Dres seminal album The Chronic; Snoop Doggs Doggystyle followed in 1993, two key moments in West Coast hip-hop history.

As the documentary details, Oriol by then was building connections as a bouncer at Hollywood clubs, later becoming a tour manager for the rap groups Cypress Hill and House of Pain. Along the way, he began taking pictures with a camera that his father gave him, a vintage Minolta SR-T SC-II (now Oriol uses a Canon AE-1). Often, his lens was the only one documenting the wild scenes of the rap groups road lives.

Mister Cartoon, left, and Estevan Oriol on the set of "LA Originals." (Devin Stinson / Netflix)

Meanwhile, Mister Cartoon was transcending his roots as a graffiti writer (his early tag was Flame). He made a breakthrough when he merged prison-style drawing with graffiti flourishes and changed his primary medium to human skin. His distinctive style was thus born, a sort of cholo baroque aesthetic that is finely detailed, strict in its parameters: he never uses colored ink, only black and gray.

Mister Cartoon began hitting the road with Oriol and his tours, and before long, he was tattooing the biggest names in hip-hop, from Eminem to Snoop Dogg. That list quickly expanded.

Basically, my tattoo customers were getting together and throwing some type of little concert, Mister Cartoon jokes in the film.

Snoop Dogg, who is a prominent presence in LA Originals, quips: Theres only one guy that I let do my tattoos and my kids tattoos, the great Cartoon.

Mister Cartoon, seen here in his L.A. warehouse studio in 2009 working on a billboard commissioned by Universal Studios for "Fast & Furious." (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

In their heyday, Oriol and Mister Cartoon embodied the essence of 1990s West Coast urban culture: graffiti, hip-hop, lowriders and tattoos all merged with them and their creative circles. Celebrities across the spectrum took notice. Everyone, it seemed, wanted a Mister Cartoon tattoo, and everyone also wanted to have a portrait taken by Oriol.

In LA Originals, the list of cameos and in-person interviews is astounding, rivaling any marquee awards telecast of the past couple decades: Beyonce, Dr. Dre, B-Real, Sen Dog, Michelle Rodriguez, Nas, Xzibit, Big Pun, Travis Barker, Danny Trejo, Rick Ross, Kim Kardashian, Eva Longoria, 50 Cent, Pharrell, Paul Wall, Christina Aguilera and a host of others.

Now Im brothers with 50 Cent and Eminem and Beyonce and everyone else, says actor Ryan Phillippe in the film, referring to his ink by Cartoon.

The late Kobe Bryant is also interviewed. He describes being told that he could not leave his tattoos uncovered in a Beijing hotel gym facility. The employee who stopped him then asked if his ink was by Mister Cartoon. I'm like, dude, how do you know that's Mister Cartoon? Bryant says. This is a young woman in Beijing, so far removed from L.A.  Thats big.





Generous self-homage

A striking theme that runs throughout LA Originals is how true to their roots the artists remain, no matter how big their profiles become. Oriol and Mister Cartoon team with top-tier brands including Nike and T-Mobile and Hollywood producers like Brian Grazer. Mister Cartoon even supplies imagery for the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." And they were executive producers on the 2017 feature film "Lowriders," set in East L.A.'s car scene. Along the way, as "LA Originals" shows, Mister Cartoon and Oriol keep it, in a word, real.

A lot of great art has come from struggle, struggle in peoples own lives, in their community and in their head-space, Oriol says. Most of the Chicano art comes from out in the streets, from the revolution, fighting for their place in the community.

Mister Cartoon, center, and Estevan Oriol, right, with Ricardo de Montreuil, director of "Lowriders." Mister Cartoon and Oriol were executive producers of the 2017 feature film centered around L.A. car culture. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The director does not shy from exploring the violence, despair and addiction that often accompany a life on the streets. His portraits of former gang members describing their lowest points are visceral moments in the film. The pairs proximity to skid row in the heyday of S.A. Studios (read: ese, the Chicano slang term for homeboy) keeps Oriol attuned to the social and psychological crises that grip so many of the people who call the neighborhood home.

Chicano art had been underground and hardcore for so long," Mister Cartoon says, "the last thing we were worried about was it getting too commercial, because what we do is so lowbrow. Estevan spawned a whole sea of photographers, and now its out of control. It just grows. As long as drugs are illegal, there will be gangs and there will be incarceration, and unfortunately thats where a lot of hardcore styles were developed.

Estevan Oriol on the set of "L.A. Originals." (Devin Stinson / Netflix)

For all of their success, the two stumbled when the 2008 financial crisis hit. Mister Cartoon and Oriol had to adapt and reckon with the fallout that followed. Maintaining their then-legendary downtown studio space became untenable. Dejected, they moved out  Oriol is seen flipping off the doorway after he says goodbye.

But in a short time the pair regrouped and quickly found ways to keep grinding. That L.A. survivalist impulse wins over, the film seems to argue.

And L.A. changed as well. Today, the artists note their old studios command 10 times the rent they did when the two occupied the spaces. "We didnt know the word gentrification back then," Cartoon says.

Also in the intervening period, social media began radically reshaping the way artists work, communicate and sell. Oriol notes that entire generations of creatives have emerged with no access to a pre-digital, pre-social-media framework. His analog photographs from the mosh pits and green-room hangouts of the Cypress Hill and House of Pain tours now feel like eons ago.

Id just like the younger generations to know that we worked really hard to get where were at, Oriol tells The Times. Before us, there was no blueprint to follow, so a lot of stuff that you see out there, we were doing at the beginning stages. A lot of the youth today are like, Who cares about the old guys? Were doing our thing. Thats true, but at the same time, you have to have respect for the elders. Of course, we were doing our own thing, but we had a lot of respect, and we honored our elders and the people that came before us.

That sense of honor and homage is a key message. At one point, Oriol describes how he made one of the most canonical images to represent Los Angeles  possibly at any point in history: a black-and-white photograph of a womans hands, with stylized nails and multiple glistening rings, using her right hand to make an L and her downturned left hand to make an A across the Ls bottom line.

Youve surely seen it.

Estevan Oriol, left, on the set of "LA Originals." (Devin Stinson / Netflix)

I was shooting this girl that was a gang member, she just threw up LA, Oriol recalls in the film. And I went in and just took two frames of the LA.

The image has been mimicked or copied by countless brands, companies, celebrities, professional athletes and politicians, like our own Mayor Eric Garcetti, who once flashed the L.A. on a red carpet. In 2013, Oriol sued fashion retailer H&M for selling a labels garments that reproduced his image without permission. ("They won," Oriol says.)

Currently, as L.A. and the world copes with the coronavirus pandemic, Oriol and Mister Cartoon are hunkered down, patient, but eager to get back to their projects.

"To me, this is like having a dog on a leash; as soon as you let me out, I'm going out there like a beast," Oriol says. "I want to come out pounding the pavement. ... Most artists who are real hustlers and real go-getters have a competitiveness in them. They're gonna be fine because they're gonna come out fighting."

That attitude is in its own way a testament to the power of Oriols lifelong work. A sort of background figure in many respects  club bouncer, tour manager, tour photographer, A-lister photographer and eternal champion to his friend and creative kin Mister Cartoon, Oriol, now 53, is a naturally trustworthy documentarian.

His LA Originals is both generous and modest, a self-homage that every hood-bred Angeleno and Californian, past or present, can find themselves within.
Over the last several weeks, the Democratic Party of New Mexico has heard from countless New Mexicans who want to know what they can do to support their communities during the coronavirus outbreak.

Im so proud to have seen so many of our friends and neighbors offering to step up and do what is necessary in order to combat COVID-19. Democrats from Silver City to Raton to Ruidoso are collecting cans to donate to food banks, creating community response groups to support the most vulnerable, and finding ways to move their voter engagement efforts online.

While New Mexicans continue to put in the effort to support our neighbors and keep our communities healthy, were proud to see that same spirit reflected in our elected officials.

Since day one of this crisis, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has been putting New Mexico first. Shes taken immediate proactive steps to slow the spread of the virus by shutting down schools and closing nonessential businesses, moves that have made New Mexicos response to novel coronavirus one of the most successful in the country. Shes also made it her priority to ensure all New Mexicans have access to accurate, up-to-date information about the spread of the virus and how to address it. With this kind of understanding, we can all work together to help flatten the curve.

Meanwhile, Lujan Grishams administration continues to roll out programs to support people whose health or finances are affected by the virus. New Mexico has expanded unemployment benefits to those who have been affected by COVID-19, set up programs to deliver necessities to those who cant leave their homes, and taken steps to provide access to affordable childcare.

New Mexicans are also lucky to have such dedicated advocates in Congress. In Washington, our congressional delegation has already helped pass three major pieces of legislation, including $8.3 billion in emergency funding for states, the Families First Act, and the CARES Act. Through these pieces of legislation, our delegation has fought to expand testing, secure resources for New Mexico hospitals, and provide financial support for New Mexicans  including up to $1,200 for each individual citizen.

Throughout this process, our U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and Reps. Ben Ray Lujan, Deb Haaland and Xochitl Torres Small have kept our state and its needs at the forefront of the conversation. Theyve fought for federal support for our tribal communities, pushed for policies benefiting small businesses, and worked across the aisle to support hard-working families. Our elected leaders are fighting for New Mexico at every step of the way, and we can be confident that together we will make it through these unprecedented challenges.

As we face these uncertain times, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of the incredible people who are standing together as New Mexicans doing their part to effectively combat COVID-19.

Thank you to the neighbors who are collecting cans, dropping off groceries, supporting local businesses or just staying home.

Thank you to our volunteers who are making calls and writing postcards.

Thank you to the essential workers who are keeping our grocery store shelves stocked, our hospitals running and our communities safe.

And thank you to our elected officials who are fighting for New Mexicans at the local, state and federal level.

Your commitment and hard work is the kind of action that we need to make it through this pandemic together.

Now and always, I am so proud to be a New Mexican and to see the ways our community has come together to keep each other safe. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
BEREA, Ohio -- Berea City Council has passed a resolution urging the U.S. Congress and Ohio Legislature to preserve municipalities bond ratings that could be impacted because of the COVID-19 crisis.

Cities sell bonds to finance major capital improvements, including road construction and infrastructure upgrades. They rely on their bond ratings -- as determined by companies such as Moodys and Standard and Poors -- to spur investment in those bonds.

The coronavirus pandemic, however, is negatively affecting cities operations, and Berea council members hope their plea to state and federal politicians will be the start of a large-scale bond ratings conversation.

Bereas resolution (see document below) encourages Congress and Ohio legislators to enact a measure that will prohibit bond rating companies from downgrading their ratings of municipalities due to conditions caused by COVID-19.

There is a genuine concern among municipalities nationwide about the potential impact of what is, in essence, an economic shutdown and what it may do to cities budgets, explained Public Safety and Law Director Barb Jones at the April 6 Berea City Council meeting.

(COVID-19) is a contingency that no city or state could have planned for. If not addressed, cities bond ratings could go down  and it becomes a cascading effect.

The resolution indicates that any bond-rating change dramatically impacts a local governments ability to provide basic services to its residents  and local governments should not be financially penalized for the negative economic impact that will occur as a result of the unforeseen coronavirus.

Jones added her belief that Berea is in the forefront of requesting the bond rating legislation. Berea Finance Director Andrea Morris agreed.

"I think we're blazing the trail with this legislation," Morris said. "If we can get this going nationwide, then it's something Moody's and S and P could take a look at and definitely consider."

Council President Jeff Dettmer commended the administration and council, calling the resolution "a very forward-looking thing to do."

The Berea resolution:

Berea City Council passed a resolution urging Congress and the state legislature to prohibit bond rating companies from downgrading municipalities' ratings as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

Read more stories from the News Sun.
Fitch retained Vietnams sovereignty rating at BB on April 4 and revised its outlook from positive to stable.

It downgraded the sovereignty ratings of 12 countries and the outlook of 7 countries to negative in March.

The ministry said the revision reflects the widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, which damaged the credit status of countries worldwide, including Vietnam, via exports, tourism, and faltering global demand.

The Vietnamese Government and its people have taken drastic action and found initial success in containing the spread of the pandemic, which was hailed by the World Health Organisation, foreign governments, and the international community, it said.

Fitchs maintenance of Vietnams sovereignty rating at BB is a bright spot in the countrys credit profile, the ministry said, and is based on its medium-term development potential, stable macroeconomic environment, under-control Government debt, and easier accessibility to external finances than other countries.

It lauded Vietnam for consolidating its fiscal situation and foreign reserves over recent years, thus improving its cushion against macro risks.

Fitch also forecast that Vietnams economy will rebound in 2021, with growth estimated at 7.3% as domestic and foreign demand gradually recover.


(@FahadShabbir)

Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Kiku said Friday he hoped the national economy would bounce back by the end of 2021 to the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2020) Moldovan Prime Minister Ion Kiku said Friday he hoped the national economy would bounce back by the end of 2021 to the levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic.

"Moldova is obviously in for a big crisis. If this epidemic subsides by mid-June, allowing us to restart economic mechanisms, we will hopefully get back to normal within 12 to 18 months," he said during a video conference with Eurasian nations.

He estimated that Moldova, which receives $1.5 billion worth of private transactions from abroad every year, could lose roughly a third of its budget to the health crisis.

"Our budget income has dropped 45 percent. The problem is that a large share of our income came in transactions from our expats. Our national budget is $3.5 billion worth, so the cut will be deep," Kiku said.

The Moldovan government plans to manage the crisis by attracting foreign investment and shielding trade from the impact of coronavirus restrictions.

Moldova went into a 60-day lockdown on March 17 in an effort to stem the spread of the disease, shutting borders, nonessential businesses, schools and universities, and canceling public events. It has so far reported 1,438 infection cases, including 29 deaths.
New Delhi: A 70-year-old woman died of Coronavirus COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin on Friday (April 10) taking the toll in the state so far to nine, while 77 people tested positive, pushing the total to 911, according to Chief Secretary K Shanmugam.

The Chief Secretary reportedly stated that all the 77 people who tested positive were primary contacts and from various containment areas in the state, adding "The new cases have been reported in those places which have been marked as containment or quarantine areas".

He said the government was strengthening its efforts to contain the virus while addressing media persons in Chennai. On extending lockdown in the state, he said the Chief Minister was holding meetings with various experts and a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to be held on Saturday.

"After that he may take a good decision", he said, adding that 44 people have been discharged after their treatment.

Meanwhile, doctors and health workers, who are working in the COVID-19 ward of Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital in Chennai, are staying inside the campus after completing their work to prevent the spread of the virus to their family members as COVID-19 cases are rising in the state.

Dr K Vasanthamani, Dean of Kilpauk Medical College told ANI, "Doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff working in the main COVID-19 ward of college have been given the required protection gear like Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and N95 masks. Still, they are staying back in order to protect their families."

Notably, Tirunelveli Police in Tamil Nadu gave a guard of honour to the sanitation workers in the city`s municipal corporation for their efforts in combating COVID-19. Headed by Tirunelveli Deputy Commissioner of Police, Saravan, the guard of honour was given to sanitary workers in the premises of Tirunelveli Corporation office.

Saravan told media persons, "We have given the guard of honour to the sanitation workers and healthcare department workers. Their work in this difficult situation of the spread of coronavirus outbreak is important. They are doing it for us."

A total of 834 have tested positive for coronavirus, including 21 cured and discharged and 8 deaths, said Union Health Ministry today. In the last 12 hours, India`s total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 6,412 on Friday, with an increase of 547 new infections.
The unequal division of domestic chores has been a reality for generations. Even today, 71% women sleep less than their husbands due to this inequality. On this International ASMR Day, Ariel India is giving men yet another reason to #ShareTheLoad of domestic tasks, and giving women a way to relax, stay calm and sleep better!

Ariels latest ShareTheLoad movement- #ShareTheLoad for Equal Sleep is all about impact and action. Uneven division of household chores like laundry is coming in the way of women getting enough sleep and rest. Taking the conversation further and in context of the current times, today on International ASMR Day, Ariel collaborated with American ASMR youtuber and artist GIBI ASMR to curate a #ShareTheLoad ASMR. This ASMR video is a depiction of a husband doing the laundry, the sound of which is calming for the women! Nothing is more blissful for women than the sound of some household chores being done by men and being done well! When women are assured that the household chores are being taken care of, they can relax and sleep better.

The video is of 6-minute duration and teaches men to take up task like laundry as it is the easiest task to get started with. The Ariel #ShareTheLoad ASMR video teaches men the simple step of laundry. It serves two purposes- Men learning how to do laundry and the therapeutic and soothing sound of the chore when partners take up laundry that can help women relax or sleep better.

ASMR stands for "Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It is the term for the strange, tingly sensation people get when they watch stimulating videos that could help them relax and can even cause them to fall asleep. Such videos are very popular globally and are deemed very helpful in calming down anxiety. Gibi, who has around 2.53 million subscribers on YouTube, is globally renowned for her variety of ASMR videos.

In todays times when people are all staying indoors, they are not just working from home but also working for home. It is heartening to see more and more men come forward and take pride in doing household chores to be equal partners to their spouse. If the load is not shared, there is undue burden on one member of the family. It is not just about familys well-being, but also about managing all tasks for the house, caring for the children, their own work, etc. Women around us are often the first to wake up and last to sleep. When men dont share the load, what ends up getting impacted is a basic and everyday phenomenon  sleep and rest! Lack of sleep is thus almost an indicator, of the inequality within the household. Ariels ASMR video in partnership with Gibi is calming and relaxing. Working from Home is enabling families to bond better and spend quality time together. Ariels ShareTheLoad campaign has an uncanny resemblance to the current scenario and harps on the need for Equal Household for Happier Homes.

Talking about the Ariel #ShareTheLoad ASMR, GIBI said, Sleep can continuously be pushed down the list of people's priorities, even when it's so important to let your body rest and recover. When we compromise sleep, rest, and relaxation because of such a societal pressure to get everything done on our own, it can wear down on us not only physically, but mentally as well. I was touched by the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign because it's a message that I believe doesn't get looked at enough. I know how important it is in my own household that my partner and I share the load for our own mental health, and I hope this message reaches families and partnerships in India and beyond! There truly is nothing more relaxing than knowing that your partner or your family has your back -- that even though there's work to be done, you can get it done together; it doesn't always have to be JUST YOU. So, my beautiful ladies in India, this one's for you! Let's sit back, relax, and let your partners take up the laundry for a change while you enjoy this ASMR video!"

Elated with the first of its kind Laundry ASMR, Sharat Verma, CMO, P&G India and Head, Fabric Care Indian Subcontinent, said, Ariels ShareTheLoad movement, which started five years back, has been sparking conversations to promote gender equality in the household by propagating the equal distribution of household chores. The message is more relevant now than ever ...when the home is also an office, school and playground. Research tells us that households where partners share the load, make happier homes. Its important that women get equal rest and sleep. Gibis ASMR video aims to help more and more women unwind using relaxing sounds and sights while inspiring more men to #ShareTheLoad.

Ariel Share The Load for Equal Sleep, conceptualised by BBDO, is depicted from the eyes of a little girl devoid of any conditioning, who notices her mom is missing at night while she is asleep and continues to notice her running around doing multiple things, tired and sleepy. The fathers moment of realization is also in a way, driven by the daughter missing her mom at night.

Ariel India launched the #ShareTheLoad movement in India to address the inequality that exists within Indian households. In 2015, we raised a triggering question Is laundry only a womans job drawing attention to the uneven distribution of domestic chores. With Dads Share The Load in 2016, the conversation was aimed at helping to address the root cause - the cycle of prejudice passed down from one generation to the next. In 2019, we started to drive action, urging parents to raise their sons like they have been raising their daughters, so that the future generation is more equal!
A zoonotic disease is an illness that can be passed from an animal to a human

Washington: Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, a bipartisan group of top US lawmakers have urged China to urgently shut down all of its operating wet markets as that have a potential to expose humans to health risks through the introduction of zoonotic disease.

A wet market sells fresh meat, fish, produce, and other perishable goods as distinguished from "dry markets". It gets its name from the floors being constantly wet from the spraying of fresh produce and cleaning of meat and seafood stalls.

We write to urgently request that China immediately close all operating wet markets that have a potential to expose humans to health risks through the introduction of zoonotic disease into the human population, wrote the senators, in a letter to Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai.

A zoonotic disease is an illness that can be passed from an animal to a human.

Gao Fu, the director of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has acknowledged that the origin of the new coronavirus is the wildlife sold illegally in a Wuhan (China) seafood market, they said.

A wet market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan is believed to be the source of the coronavirus pandemic that began in December last year, crossing from animals to humans.

"It is well documented that wet markets in China have been the source of a number of worldwide health problems, and their operation should cease immediately so as to protect the Chinese people and the international community from additional health risks, the senators wrote.

"Therefore, we are urging China to shut down all wet markets that allow for interactions between humans and wild animals that pose public health risks," the lawmakers concluded.

Prominent among the group of 11 Senators were Republican Mitt Romney, Republican Lindsey Graham and Democratic Chris Coons.

"We understand and respect that wet markets are an important component to Chinese society and way of life, but we believe the current moment, which has disrupted everyday life around the world, calls for extreme precautions."

Last week, China published an official timeline that said that the novel coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan in late December where it was listed as "pneumonia of unknown cause".

The letter of the Senators comes after Dr Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health, called for the closing of these markets.

"They should shut down (wet markets) right away. I mean it boggles my mind when we have so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual human animal interface that we don't just shut it down. I don't know what else has to happen to get us to appreciate that," he said.

"And I think that there are certain countries in which this is a very common place. I would like to see the rest of the world really lean with a lot of pressure on those countries that have that because what we are going through right now is a direct result of that," Fauci said.

In the October 2006 issue of Current Opinions in Infectious Diseases, it was found that in Chinese wet-markets, unique epicenters for transmission of potential viral pathogens, new genes may be acquired or existing genes modified through various mechanisms such as genetic reassortment, recombination and mutation.

The wet-markets, at closer proximity to humans, with high viral burden or strains of higher transmission efficiency, facilitate transmission of the viruses to humans."
WASHINGTONMelania Trump is spreading some colorful Easter cheer to workers on the front lines of the pandemic caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

With the annual White House Easter Egg Roll canceled due to concerns about large gatherings, the first lady is giving 25,000 commemorative wooden eggs to area childrens hospitals, federal agencies, aid groups and grocery store chains.

The pastel-colored eggs would have been handed out to participants in the egg roll on April 13, the day after Easter.

The eggs are being delivered Wednesday and Thursday to Childrens National Hospital, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, the American Red Cross and local grocery store chains as a small token of appreciation for those serving the public, her office said.

Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, said this years eggs, made by Maine Wood Concepts, are particularly unique.

Theyll be collectors items, he said. Theyre for an event that will never take place.

The Easter Egg Roll has been canceled only 17 times since the event started in 1878. Those cancellations were because of wars, White House renovations, bad weatherand now a pandemic, he said.

Earlier Wednesday, the first lady released a brief video message thanking medical professionals and others on the front lines of the response to the virus.

It is because of you that the people of America are receiving the care and treatment they need, she says in the video on behalf of herself and President Donald Trump. We stand united with you and we salute your courageous and compassionate efforts. Our prayers are with all who are fighting this invisible enemy, COVID-19.

By Darlene Superville

NTD staff contributed to this report
Maharashtra Health Minister



Rajesh Tope on Friday sough the Union government's permission to start coronavirus testing laboratories in Nanded, Jalna, Aurangabad, Latur and Amravati districts in the state.

He made the demand during a meeting with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan through video conferencing, officials said.

Tope said the rise in the number of COVID-19 patients in Maharashtra was a cause of concern, and demanded that the Centre provide more PPE kits and N-95 masks.

He also demanded that companies in the state making medical equipment be given certification quickly so that they can start manufacturing these products.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BRUSSELS (AP)  As the new coronavirus spreads across Europe, ravaging economies and killing thousands, governments and the European Union are focusing much of their economic rescue efforts on containing a boom in joblessness, particularly by helping companies not fire workers.

Unions estimate, based on reports from local branches, that at least one million Europeans lost their jobs over the past two weeks - and say the actual number is likely far higher - as a shutdown of schools, businesses and social gatherings froze large parts of the economy.

While the rise in unemployment is devastating and rapid, it is still far below that of the U.S., where nearly 10 million people applied for jobless benefits in two weeks. The contrast highlights Europe's greater social safety nets, in particular schemes where governments help companies put workers on shorter hours instead of firing them - in the hope of bringing them back quickly once the pandemic fades.

In this coronavirus crisis, only the strongest of responses will do," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday as she unveiled a 100 billion-euro ($110 billion) EU plan to help companies to not fire employees.

With a new solidarity instrument, we will mobilise 100 billion euros to keep people in jobs and businesses running. With this, we are joining forces with member states to save lives and protect livelihoods."

Even before lockdown measures were extended across almost all of Europe, the economy was expected to fall into recession because of the virus. To weather the downturn, governments have unveiled trillions of euros in credit for companies and aid for small businesses and families, including cash handouts. The EU commission, its executive body, made available 37 billion euros from the EU budget and the European Central Bank said it will buy as much as 750 billion euros in financial assets to calm markets.

With her new lending tool, Von der Leyen wants to ensure skilled workers are kept by their companies until the moment the economy picks up again."

Story continues

It would help fund schemes that have already been put in place in many countries to avoid layoffs.

According to the European Trade Union Confederation, some 18 EU countries as well as Norway and the U.K. have already introduced jobs-protecting measures.

France is spending 11 billion euros on a scheme to keep people in partial employment. Germany has a program that fills in lost wages when companies must put workers on shorter hours due to an interruption that is temporary and beyond their control, which can be up to 100% of their work time. The program pays 60% of employees' lost net pay, and 67% for those with children.

Many companies have labor agreements under which they can bring workers even closer to full salary. The German scheme helped limit unemployment in the 2009 recession, when companies put some 1.5 million workers in the program. About 2.35 million workers are expected to make use of it during the current crisis.

The idea is to preserve the employment relationship so that companies can immediately resume full operations when trouble passes without having to recruit and train new staff. It also helps keep other businesses afloat across the economy since the workers still have money to spend in shops.

In Europe, Spain and Italy have been the hardest hit by the outbreak of the virus, which has killed more than 33,000 people in the region, though most people only suffer moderate symptoms. They are also suffering some of the biggest economic damage.

In Italy, social security agency computers crashed on the first day individuals could apply for aid to cover lost income due to the coronavirus, with up to 300 requests coming in every second at the peak on Tuesday. Some 18 million Italians are eligible for short-term unemployment schemes, or a payment of 600 euros in March. The monthly handout is expected to be increased to 800 euros this month, as the government has extended the lockdown through at least April 13. The aid in Italy is even being offered to sectors not usually covered, including the self-employed and seasonal workers.

In Spain, over 300,000 more people registered for unemployment benefits in March. And in Britain, which tends to have easier hiring and firing laws than other parts of Europe, the number of people applying for welfare benefits increased nearly tenfold to almost one million in the past couple of weeks. Economists think the unemployment rate of 3.9% could double.

The International Labour Organization last month estimated that nearly 25 billion jobs could be lost globally as a result of the pandemic, though that figure is likely to be revised up.

___

Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

___

David McHugh in Frankfurt, Aritz Parra in Madrid, Carlo Piovano, Pan Pylas and Danica Kirka in London, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, and Colleen Barry in Rome contributed to this report.
Weather Alert

...The Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Kentucky...Illinois...Missouri... Ohio River at Paducah. Ohio River at Cairo. Ohio River at Olmsted Lock and Dam. .Recent heavy rainfall and snow melt will continue to keep water levels on the lower Ohio River in or near minor flood this week. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas. Caution is urged when walking near riverbanks. Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov. && ...FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Ohio River at Paducah. * WHEN...Until early tomorrow afternoon. * IMPACTS...At 39.0 feet, Minor flooding occurs affecting mainly bottomland and surrounding low lying areas. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 7:00 PM CST Monday the stage was 38.6 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to rise to a crest of 39.0 feet tomorrow morning. - Flood stage is 39.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood &&
AstraZeneca (Cambridgeshire, England), a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, is joining forces with government and academia with the aim of discovering novel coronavirus-neutralizing antibodies. By harnessing its internal expertise and entering into new collaborations, the company is aiming to identify monoclonal antibodies that have the potential to recognize, bind to and neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus, thereby reducing the impact of COVID-19.AstraZeneca focuses on three main therapy areas  Oncology, Cardiovascular & Metabolic Disease (CVMD) and Respiratory  and is also selectively active in the areas of autoimmunity, neuroscience and infection. The company leverages its combination of capabilities, which encompass both small molecules and biologics, and include immunotherapies and developing innovative delivery devices that can offer choice to patients. These are reinforced by a strong focus on personalized healthcare capabilities, which aim to match medicines only to those patients who will benefit from them.AstraZeneca scientists are exploring three potential sources for antibodies against the SARS CoV-2 virus  patients who have recovered from COVID-19, immunized humanized mice and laboratory techniques such as phage display. The spike protein on the SARS-CoV-2 virus is the primary target being explored for potential COVID-19 monoclonal antibodies. The aim is that by targeting the spike protein, the antibody will be able to neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus and affect its capacity to infect healthy cells. AstraZeneca is harnessing its proprietary immune replica technology, developed as part of the abovementioned agreement with DARPA, which can capture and screen antibodies from millions of primary B cells. The company is also utilizing hybridoma technology, which is a method for producing large numbers of monoclonal antibodies through a culture of hybrid cells that results from the fusion of B cells and immortal myeloma cells. Once identified, the monoclonal antibodies are screened against their ability to bind to the spike protein before further developability tests are carried out. AstraZeneca is aiming for clinical evaluation in the next three to five months. This multi-pronged approach is likely to increase the chances of discovering potential monoclonal antibodies against the coronavirus. Should any of the antibodies progress through to development and subject to scale up and regulatory approvals, AstraZeneca has end-to-end capabilities for development, manufacturing and distribution of monoclonal antibodies.In addition to internal research and development, AstraZeneca is collaborating with government and academic experts to evaluate additional promising candidates for future clinical use. The Chinese Academy of Sciences and Vanderbilt University Medical Center are providing AstraZeneca with genetic sequences for antibodies they have discovered against SARS-CoV-2 for further in silico and in vitro assessment. Via collaborations with the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine, promising antibodies from AstraZeneca, discovered through its internal research efforts and collaborations, will undergo preclinical safety and efficacy assessment in the organizations biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratories. The company is also in discussion with governments to support clinical development and manufacturing capabilities.Through our scientific expertise in infectious disease and antibody discovery and development, we have rapidly mobilized our research efforts to help respond to the COVID-19 global pandemic. By partnering with government and academia, our ambition is to accelerate the discovery and development of a safe and effective antibody treatment to help fight COVID-19, said Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals at AstraZeneca.At AstraZeneca, we have a long history of, and deep expertise in discovering and developing antibody-based treatments for a range of diseases. The proprietary technology we are using to identify novel coronavirus-neutralizing antibodies has already been pressure-tested against influenza-A in response to the DARPA P3 program. Harnessing these capabilities, our scientists are working tirelessly and collaboratively, hoping we can contribute to putting an end to this crisis as fast as we can, said Mark Esser, Vice President, Microbial Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca.
Giorgio Locatelli, 56, (pictured) reveals the items of personal significance inside his kitchen in north London

1 FLAVOUR SAVER

This recipe book by Pellegrino Artusi from 1910 changed my life.

In the 1980s I was being bullied and working 18-hour shifts in top-end Paris restaurants, where a plate of spinach cost as much as I got paid per day.

I stuck it out for three years, but I returned to Italy, miserable, not wanting to be a chef any more. One day, I went to the library and this book was staring at me.

Artusi travelled Italy, meeting people who told him their recipes and stories  it made me realise I can interpret food my own way.

2 CULINARY ART

This painting is by my friend Paul Simonon, the bassist of The Clash. He gave it to me in 2015 after I was in a music video for his group The Good, The Bad & The Queen, in which Im cooking eggs.

To my left, on the trunk, is a piece of visual art by Dinos Chapman, which he gave to me as a gift.

Giorgio cherishes an award he was given for his representation of Italian culture

He made a stove out of plastic and then set fire to it  he called the piece Giorgio, Youve Blown Up The Kitchen Again.

3 BROTHERLY LOVE

My only brother Roberto, an electrical engineer, was older than me and died aged 53 from cancer in 2014. This was his favourite blue wax jacket.

His wife hated it because of the smell it gave off and handed it to me after his funeral saying I was the only one who liked it.

Roberto was bigger and stronger than me, and always defended me. He loved motorbikes and among my happiest memories are of us driving our bikes round sharp bends over the Italian mountains.

I have his BMW motorbike in Italy and I wear his jacket even though its too big for me. They both make me feel closer to him.

4 WALKING TOGETHER

Chef Antonio Carluccio was larger than life. He made his own walking sticks and he carved his signature, a little mushroom, at the top.

This present from Antonio reminds me of him. After I met him in 1984, we did projects together and he mentored me.

Two weeks before he died in November 2017 I cooked him his favourite: anchovies with green sauce. I never thought hed die, he was so energetic. Chefs can pretend to be indestructible.

5 MY SUPER SON

This photo of our son Jack was taken in Sicily, which we all love, and it reminds me of a lovely day with friends and family on my wife Plaxys 50th birthday.

Everyone dressed up which is why hes in a kimono and hat, and it took him hours to perfect this photo using a timer and a fast shutter.

Hes now 32 and works as a fashion video photographer, while our daughter Margherita, 24, is a waitress in Australia. Theyve both inherited their hard work ethic from us.

6 NATIONAL PRIDE

I received this Cavaliere award for Outstanding Representation of Italian Culture in the World in 2017  its the equivalent of a knighthood.

My grandfather got one for heroism during the First World War.

They can remove it if you misbehave and people took the mickey saying I got Silvio Berlusconis award, after his was taken away from him.

I spend a lot of time promoting Italian culture through food, and I feel proud to do this job.

As told to Tony Padman. Made At Home by Giorgio Locatelli (Fourth Estate) is out now. locandalocatelli.com
MIDDLEBOURNE, Ohio - A man brandished a gun and threatened a person playing the Easter Bunny who was waving to motorists from an interstate overpass in Ohio, authorities said.

A 49-year-old man was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Middlebourne, The Daily Jeffersonian reported. He was given a breath-alcohol test at an Ohio State Highway Patrol post but was taken to a medical facility when jail officials refused to book him because of an elevated temperature, leading to concerns he might be infected with the coronavirus.

Guernsey County Sgt. Jason Best on Friday said the man could face charges of aggravated menacing and improper handling of a firearm in a vehicle.

Deputies found the suspect and another man sitting inside a camouflage-painted pickup truck parked at the edge of a field shortly after receiving a call about the Easter Bunny threat over Interstate 70.

A .22-calibre handgun and an open 12-pack of beer were seized as evidence. Deputies said the man slurred his words and smelled of alcohol.

Middlebourne is about 95 miles (150 kilometres) east of Columbus.
M ore people visited parks throughout the UK last weekend compared with two weeks ago, according to location data from Google which tracks Britons' movements amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The US tech giant's has begun uses aggregated, anonymised data from products such as Google Maps to compile reports on how our lives are changing to adapt to stringent social distancing measures rolled out during the crisis.

In its second report for the UK, covering the period between February 23 and April 5, the data shows that trips to the park dropped 29 per cent in comparison with the period before the lockdown was introduced nearly three weeks ago.

Googles first report, which looked at activity between February 16 and March 29, found park usage was down 52 per cent compared against the same period.

Latest figures suggest that, in Greater London, park visits are meanwhile down just 15 per cent.

Lockdown Londoners bask in Greenwich Park sunshine - In Pictures 1 /10 Lockdown Londoners bask in Greenwich Park sunshine - In Pictures Lockdown Londoners bask in Greenwich Park sunshine - In Pictures REUTERS Lockdown Londoners bask in Greenwich Park sunshine - In Pictures REUTERS Lockdown Londoners bask in Greenwich Park sunshine - In Pictures REUTERS Lockdown Londoners bask in Greenwich Park sunshine - In Pictures REUTERS Lockdown Londoners bask in Greenwich Park sunshine - In Pictures REUTERS Lockdown Londoners bask in Greenwich Park sunshine - In Pictures REUTERS Lockdown Londoners bask in Greenwich Park sunshine - In Pictures REUTERS Lockdown Londoners bask in Greenwich Park sunshine - In Pictures REUTERS

The report came as police forces across the country warned the public to stay at home over the upcoming Easter weekend amid fears that an ongoing bout of warm weather could encourage Britons to head outside of their homes and break lockdown rules.

Reinforcing the instruction to stay in doors, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday said Britons "mustnt give the coronavirus a second chance to kill more people and hurt our country".

Speaking during the Government's daily Covid-19 briefing, Mr Raab urged people to show restraint amid signs nationwide lockdown measures were having an impact and confirmed the restrictions were likely to be extended beyond next week.

Its been almost three weeks and were starting to see the impact of the sacrifices weve all made," he said.

But the deaths are still rising and we havent yet reached the peak of the virus. So its still too early to lift the measures that we put in place."

Emphasising the impact of the lockdown restrictions, Google's second report also revealed that visits to grocery stores and pharmacies across the UK were down 41 per cent, while trips to public transport hubs, like bus and railway stations, fell 75 per cent.

Home Sec Priti Patel shuts down threats of harsher lockdown measures

The information being used to produce the new reports is traditionally used by the company to inform Google Maps users when specific places of interest are busiest and revise driving routes to account for traffic, among other things.

The data comes from users who have Location History turned on in their Google account settings  a setting which is turned off by default.

However, it can also be turned off at any time from within Location History setting, and data can also be directly deleted from a user's Google Maps timeline.
RACINE COUNTY  Its now been four weeks since Gov. Tony Evers declared a state of emergency, which from there led to the closure of schools, restaurants and bars and then eventually all businesses deemed nonessential.

Matt Montemurro, president and CEO of RAMAC, the Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce, is concerned about the health impact of the coronavirus on people in the community. But he is also concerned about what extended business closures would mean.

Another 30 days has me very worried about many of them  We could lose some. That would be very bad, Montemurro said. There are many small businesses that are struggling. A longer closure is going to be devastating.

RAMAC was one of 52 business associations and chambers of commerce to sign a letter to the governors administration to put together a plan that allows the states economy to get moving again  starting on April 24. The Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce also signed on in support.

The letter states, Wisconsin needs to bring certainty to workers and businesses alike by setting a firm date to begin the process of reopening our economy on April 24  the end date for the Safer at Home order.

It continues, To be clear, no one expects that our economy would go back to business as usual on April 24. We understand that reopening will require a very strategic and well-planned approach that, over time, phases our economy back to an operational level that existed prior to any social distancing requirements.

Possible extensions

Under state law, the governor has the ability to declare a state of emergency for up to 60 days. Evers declared Wisconsin was in a state of emergency as of March 12. To extend the declaration beyond May 11, what would be the 60th day of the order, the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate would need to pass a joint resolution, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau.

The Safer at Home order, which was issued under Evers emergency powers on March 24, is expected to end at 8 a.m. Friday, April 24, but could be extended by the governor until that same date: May 11.

The Governors Office has not announced if there will be any extended closure dates yet. Melissa Baldauff, the governors deputy chief of staff, stated Thursday, We are of course looking forward to getting back to business as usual around the state, but public health and safety have to come first. We will continue to listen to the science and follow the guidance of public health experts.

On Thursday, the City of Racine extended its public health emergency until at least May 25.

Racine City Attorney Scott Letteney said the emergency declaration extension does not change the date  at this time  of when businesses would reopen. Businesses can continue to operate under the states Safer at Home order.

The mayors order really just has to do with the ability of the municipal government to exercise emergency powers, Letteney said.

However., this emergency declaration extension would allow the city to extend closures beyond the state if the public health emergency made that necessary, Letteney said.

At the county level, Mark Schaaf, the countys communications and media relations director, also said If the state order expires, then the County Executive  and, in turn, the County Board  could consider whether to extend our local declaration. However, the countys emergency declaration is in effect until May 13 (about the same time frame as the states), so this wouldnt be something we would consider until the date draws closer.

Jobless rate skyrockets

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development announced this week that Wisconsins jobless rate has skyrocketed to nearly 27%, near the rate was estimated at during the Great Depression.

Beyond paying employees, businesses also have rent or mortgage costs and businesses have inventory in their establishments they are paying for, Montemurro said.

They dont just go away because the coronavirus is here, he said about those expenses.

He knows that when businesses are allowed to reopen, everything is not going to go back to business as usual overnight.

We need to be strategic and have a planned out approach as to how this can all work. That may include social distancing, Montemurro said.

But he said, We have to start putting out a plan to reopen  If it goes past the 24th, every day past the 24th will make it that much harder to get restarted.

Kenosha County

Similarly in Kenosha County, Every day past the 24th will take a toll, said Lou Molitor, Kenosha County Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer. Im concerned that a lot of small businesses would be struggling.

The Kenosha County Chamber has more than 700 members.

Alexandria Robinson, executive director of Downtown Kenosha Inc., said 83% of small businesses in the Lakeshore Business Improvement District are closed or have reduced operations.

The district includes 298 businesses, with 100 of them retail and food and beverage establishments.

Up to 90% of the businesses report a loss of revenue, she said. We have to look for some advocacy. We have to look for some aid.

Production is slowing

Gary Meier, president of Racine-based Metalworld Inc., said business is going decently because the business had a backlog of orders to finish before the coronavirus pandemic reached the area.

The backlog is expected to last for another two months. But after that is difficult to predict, said Meier, whose business is located at 1920 17th St.

In addition, Meier said the pace of getting new orders has dropped off within the last few weeks. He speculated that the decrease in orders is because of what other Racine manufacturers are facing, laying off employees or putting them on furlough.

It appears everybodys production is slowing down, Meier said.

Also, even before the pandemic emerged, Metalworld Inc. had experienced a decrease in orders. In February, Metalworld Inc. employees noticed customers werent buying as many products that the company would fill during the summer months.

Its pretty common for that to occur, at least it seems to have occurred every four years when there is a presidential election, Meier said. If you have a changing of the guard, so to speak, it just creates a fair amount of uncertainty.

Metalworld Inc. employees were working overtime before the pandemic occurred, but now they are working normal business hours, 40 hours a week.

Even though the main business is metal fabricating, the company also sells raw material either as-is or cut to size. Meier said many Racine area manufacturing companies still buy material from Metalworld Inc., which helps the business. However, that will probably slow down too, Meier predicted.

If things were to get worse, there is a plan in place that the company has used before. The 14 employees at the business would be reduced to a four-day workweek and employees who have more than two weeks of vacation time would need to use it  although vacation time is paid.

However, Meiers biggest concern during the coronavirus pandemic is that all employees are following the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions guidelines on social distancing and hand washing.

The Metalworld Inc. plant is about a half a city block in size and it is easy to social distance employees from one another while working. However, Meier hopes employees keep up the practices when not at work as well.

The plant also has a restricted customer policy. They are not allowed in the office anymore. Payments have been limited to credit cards, via over-the-phone transactions.

Well see what happens. Hopefully things gradually pick up in a month or two from now. Time will tell, Meier said.

Definitely challenging

Michelle Schimian, who owns RG Natural Babies in Downtown Racine at 430 Main St., said she is fortunate because she is still able to offer curbside pickup for customers.

As a childrens store, people are still buying items for Easter for kids and a lot of people are continuing to buy local to help out.

After people are done with their Easter baskets, I dont know what it will be like, Schimian said.

Hers was fortunate to be one of the businesses that received a grant from the city to help pay employees and help pay rent, but Schimian said, Its definitely challenging.

While she is able to still sell some of her inventory and bring in some income, Schimian feels for other businesses like beauty salons and barber shops that cannot work at all and are unable to bring in any income.

We have to start putting out a plan to reopen  If it goes past the 24th, every day past the 24th will make it that much harder to get restarted. Matt Montemurro, president and CEO of RAMAC

Adam Rogan of The Journal Times and James Lawson of the Kenosha News contributed to this report.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.

Stephanie Jones Managing Editor Stephanie Jones is the managing editor for The Journal Times. To stay informed about what is going on in Racine County, subscribe at journaltimes.com/subscribenow. It's only about 10 cents per day for a digital subscription. Follow Stephanie Jones Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
President Nana Akufo-Addo

10.04.2020 LISTEN

President Akufo-Addo has thanked a number of countries and organizations that have extended support to Ghana in its fight against coronavirus.

He made specific mentions of the Governments of China and USA, the World Bank, African Development Bank, the Jack Ma Foundation, among others, for the support they have extended to Ghana.

China recently donated some Personal Protective Equipment to Ghana.

The Jack Ma Foundation did same earlier and the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and African Development Bank availed funds towards the fight of the virus.

Delivering his sixth address on Thursday evening, President Akufo-Addo says We appreciate the expression of solidarity. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

----citinewsroom




Bayelsa state governor, Douye Diri

The Bayelsa State Government has extended the sit-at-home order for an additional two weeks.

Governor Douye Diri said this during an enlarged meeting with members of the states COVID-19 Task Force and security agencies at the Government House, Yenagoa, according to a report by Punch.

Diri, who is the chairman of the task force, however, approved a slight adjustment to the lockdown to allow Christians to celebrate Easter.

The governor, in a statement by his acting Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, said the COVID-19 preventive measures would be reviewed every two weeks until stability was established.

Diri added that, as part of efforts to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus, the Nigerian Agip Oil Company and its joint venture partners had chosen Bayelsa as the site for the establishment of the COVID-19 health facility for the South-South zone.

Diri directed the Ministry of Lands to make land available for the project and announced the approval of another N98m for the procurement of foodstuffs as palliatives to Bayelsans.

The governor also highlighted donations made by some corporate organisations, including the United Bank for Africa (N28.5m), Niger Delta Development Commission (N100m), Sterling Bank (N100m) and the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (300 bags of rice).
As Pennsylvania hospitals care for or prepare for a surge of COVID-19 patients, they say their income is down significantly  mainly because of the patients theyre unable to treat during the coronavirus crisis.

They say it has put them in need of major financial help. Overall hospital revenues are down 40%, according to Andy Carter, CEO of the Hospital & Health System Association of Pennsylvania.

Carter said much of it results from cancelations of high-paying elective surgeries, done at the request of Gov. Tom Wolf and to conserve beds and supplies needed for COVID-19 patients. The cancelations are costing Pennsylvania hospitals $1.5-2 billion per month, he said.

The association, known as HAP, is asking the state to create an emergency response fund to help relieve the financial stress. Its possible the federal government will provide money for the same purpose. In that case, the hospitals wouldnt need the state funds, Carter said.

HAP is further asking for temporary relief from a tax which hospitals pay the state to maximize federal matching funds for hospitals. HAP hopes the state will instead use taxpayer money to draw down the federal matching funds.

Hospitals are also asking for liability-related relief, he said, so doctors and nurses dont have to worry about lawsuits stemming from caring for COVID-19 patients.

In a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Carter also discussed the state of supplies such as personal protective equipment and ventilators at Pennsylvania hospitals.

He said hospitals have enough for now, but could soon face shortages of equipment such as face masks, ventilators and medications used in treating COVID-19 patients. He said hospitals are working in conjunction with the state to acquire supplies from assorted sources, including Pennsylvania-based manufacturers.

Carter was asked how, with expanded Medicaid, the Trump administration promising coverage for COVID-19 patients, and individuals and businesses paying so much toward health care, can hospitals already be in such dire straits.

He said that while hospitals will be paid for COVID-19 patients, payments will be much lower than what would have come from the lost elective surgeries. He also said hospitals have spent heavily to bolster equipment and staff for a COVID-19 surge.

Carter further said that while some hospitals are financially strong, 30% lost money last year and 20% percent lost money for multiple years running.

It wont take long for some hospitals to collapse, he said.

Carter also was asked how hospitals feel about the order signed by Wolf this week giving the state power to shift hospital resources around the state as needed to address COVID-19 surges.

Carter didnt fault Wolf, saying hospitals see it as an action Wolf would use only as a last resort. But he said hospitals already have voluntary agreements involving themselves and the state to share and distribute resources as needed. He said the voluntarily process is working well and theres no reason to think state intervention is needed.

If it were a first resort it would be extremely concerning, he said.

He stressed throughout the call that Pennsylvanians must do everything they can to limit the spread of coronavirus and thereby prevent the healthcare system from being overwhelmed.

We face a potential calamity if we dont do everything we can to reduce the demand on our health care system, he said.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Showing unbridled courage and endurance, a 48-year-old Telangana woman drove 1,400 km on a scooter to get her 19-year-old son who was stranded due to the nation-wide lockdown announced on March 25.

Razia Begum, who's a headmistress at a government school in Nizamabad, about 200 km from Hyderabad, started her arduous journey on Monday morning after taking permission from the local police authorities and returned with her son on Wednesday morning.

Not bothering about empty roads in night, Begum kept going on her journey till she reached her destination. "It was a difficult journey on a small two-wheeler for a woman. But the determination to bring my son back overtook all my fears. I packed rotis and they kept me going. It was fearsome in the nights with no traffic movement and no people on roads," She told PTI on Thursday.

Also Read: Coronavirus in India Live Updates: Delhi reports 183 new cases in 24 hours; 154 belong to Tablighi Jamaat

Begum, who lost her husband 15 years ago, lives with her two sons -- an engineering graduate and Nizamuddin. Nizamuddin had gone to Rahamatabad in Nellore to drop his friend on March 12 but stayed back. He was ultimately stuck when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the nation-wide lockdown.

After the governments banned all sorts of traffic movement, anguished Begum decided to go on a 1,400-km long and arduous journey to get back her son. She said she decided not to send her elder son fearing cops could mistake him for a joyrider and detain him.

It took her more than one day to reach her destination in Nellore. Knowing fully well that no restaurants were open due to the lockdown, Begum said she packed food with herself and kept on stopping at fuel stations and quenching her thirst at certain points along the way.

Meanwhile, Telangana has reported 442 cases of coronavirus, including 35 who have been cured. The state has also reported 7 deaths so far.

Also read: Coronavirus lockdown: Govt likely to take final call on lockdown extension on April 11
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has predicted a radical change to the outlook of global economy after the coronavirus pandemic.



The deadly coronavirus, which started in China last year, has not only devastated humanity, it has also ravaged economies around the world as countries battle to stop the virus.



Writing on his Twitter account on Friday, Dr. Bawumia predicted the effects of the pandemic will change the global economic outlook.



"The post COVID-19 global economic architecture is going to be a radically different one," wrote the Vice President.



With countries, especially African nations, leading their own unique charge against COVID-19, Dr. Bawumia has also predicted that the experience will make African countries more self reliant, especially in the production of goods and services.



"It will usher in more self-reliance in the production of goods and services. We in Africa have to get ready for this future."



Many respondents to his tweet commended and agreed with the Vice President's tweet.



One of them was economist, Professor Peter Quartey of the University of Ghana, who added that Ghana must position itself and produce a lot of import substitutes.



"Well said Veep," wrote Professor Quartey.



"Ghana certainly has to position itself and produce a lot of import substitutes. The small business soft loans to be administered by NBSSI can make a lot of difference if it is well targeted and given to deserving businesses," he added



The post COVID-19 global economic architecture is going to be a radically different one. It will usher in more self- reliance by countries in the production of goods and services. We in Africa have to get ready for this future.

 Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia (@MBawumia) April 10, 2020















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Leer en espanol

PHOENIX  Arizonans will soon know more about whether their neighbors are getting sick and dying from COVID-19.

Beginning Sunday, the state Department of Health Services will provide information on location  by ZIP codes  of patients with confirmed diagnoses of the virus, and will also start listing race and ethnic information about the patients.

Deaths will be recorded by age and gender  but not necessarily with the same geographic precision. The issue is privacy, said department spokesman Chris Minnick.

If there are few enough deaths within any ZIP code that a specific person could be identified, they will not disclose the locations, he said. Minnick said the details of how that would be handled are still being determined.

Those reports may not be fully accurate at first.

State health director Dr. Cara Christ noted that it was only this week that Gov. Doug Ducey ordered hospitals to provide more information to the state about their cases. Complete reports from the hospitals havent been available so far, she said. They had a lot of unknowns and a lot of blank entries, she said.

Sundays public reports by the state also wont be 100 percent complete because the hospitals are not due to file their first reports until Friday, April 10.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 10

Trend:

The Parliament of Turkmenistan has started analyzing proposals from its citizens, political parties, collectives of enterprises and institutions, as well as from public organizations and local authorities, Trend reports with reference to Zolotoy Vek (Golden Age) newspaper.

A meeting of the Working group of the Constitutional Commission of Turkmenistan was held in the country's Parliament. At this meeting, special attention was paid to positive foreign experience in improving the country's Constitution. In this regard, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov proposed to improve the country's Constitution. Those present at the meeting unanimously approved this proposal.

The law about amendments and additions to the Constitution of Turkmenistan was published in the media, so the government could take into consideration the opinion of its citizens.

The Working group consists of MPs, representatives of ministries and sectoral departments, law enforcement agencies, political parties, public associations, scientists, as well as experts from the Institute of State, Law and Democracy.

All the above-mentioned representatives of the Working group regularly check the proposals received from citizens of Turkmenistan about the law of Turkmenistan on amendments and additions to the Constitution of Turkmenistan.
Staff at a high-fee Melbourne independent school were told in a Zoom meeting their roles were not required during the coronavirus crisis.

The employees of Haileybury's music department were informed they were being stood down in an online video call on Wednesday morning.

Haileybury principal Derek Scott. Credit:Arsineh Houspian

After the meeting, at which a number of teachers were told their hours would be suspended or reduced, the affected staff were sent a five-page document detailing options for temporarily stopping work or reducing hours.

The document, seen by The Age, states: "Unfortunately, at this time, the business does not have capacity to continue operating with a fully utilised workforce."
Pastors, rabbis, imams and other employees of religious groups taking an economic hit from coronavirus will see their paychecks covered by the federal government, a move some church-state experts say expands government funding of religion.

The multi-trillion-dollar Cares Act, set to take effect this week, provides paycheck protection for private companies and nonprofit organizations through the Small Business Administration. The money runs through banks and is essentially a loan to cover payroll for organizations devastated by the societal shutdown. If the organizations keep their workers on staff, the loans are forgiven.

To some, public money used for an expressly religious purpose is alarming and unconstitutional, while others say we're in a crisis and religious employees need the same economic protection every other American worker does.

"Although it may not seem easy in times like these to tell those seeking aid that certain costs are not eligible for loan forgiveness, the bar on the government funding of religious activities is an important limitation that exists to protect religious freedom for all," reads an April 7 letter to SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza from six national progressive groups, most of which are faith-based.

Charles Haynes, the founding director of the Religious Freedom Center, said he didn't know of any precedent for the government paying salaries of clergy. However, he and other experts on law and religion said the Supreme Court has become more permissive in the last decade or two when it comes to government funding for religious groups.

Starting under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, government officials have increasingly been able to purchase services from religious social service providers. Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama created and expanded faith-based offices in federal agencies that worked to make sure religious groups weren't turned away from public-private partnerships. There have also been more court rulings favoring parochial schools seeking access to public funds, and in 2017 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the first time that state governments can't deny public funds directly to houses of worship just because they're religious.

Haynes says the no-go zone is getting "narrower and narrower. If Congress said: 'We're going to put money in the stimulus package to help churches' even this [more conservative Supreme] Court would say that's unconstitutional. But that's really not leaving very much."

The percent of Americans affiliated with a religious denomination - and thus perhaps putting into the weekly collection plate or paying Sunday school tuition, for example - has been shrinking in recent decades. Many religious leaders are very worried the coronavirus shutdown and overall hit to Americans' wallets could cripple or shut down many houses of worship and other faith-based nonprofit groups.

Other prominent church-state watchers say the Cares Act isn't a connection of any kind between the government and religion and is more like a simple bank loan.

"I don't see that as any more of a government connection than an FDIC-insured bank account or a house of worship calling the local fire department," said Russell Moore, president of the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. "I am opposed to any government funding of any ministry of any kind, and always have been and always will be but I don't think that's what's happening here..this is enabling banks to give loans to anyone and the government certainly has an interest in doing that."

The SBA released the guidelines for the paycheck protection program earlier this week, and the rules will be final soon, said Katy Joseph, director of policy and advocacy for the Interfaith Alliance, one of the groups that wrote a protest letter about the money. Usually rules would be open for public feedback before being finalized, but because this is an emergency, they will go into effect right away, she said. Public comments will be allowed later.

There have been debates since the founding of the country about the proper financial relationship between church and state. The questions centered in part on whether the government is - in violation of the First Amendment - "establishing" a religion or endorsing a specific faith, or faith at all, by giving it money for religious purposes. They also centered on whether religious groups could be harmed or corrupted by government intrusion, including by money that came with requirements or rules that might violate or meddle with religious teachings or values.

Moore wrote on his blog this week that he's heard from some clergy concerned that taking government money could come with strings.

Many states have long-standing bans on government money going for religious purposes, measures that often date back to anti-Catholic sentiment.

For many years the more "absolutist" separationists held sway, Haynes said. But recently courts have become more permissive, said John Inazu, a religion and law expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

A core tension of late, Inazu said, is whether fundings like the payroll protection program should be viewed as "government funding religion directly or the government funding a broad set of actors that includes some religious actors."

Religious groups already get government money in various ways, he said, including federally backed loans and federal tax exemptions that amount to a financial benefit.

Inazu isn't sure whether to see the Cares Act money as an expansion.

"The fact is that this legislation expressly pays salaries of employees..That raises the question of direct funding of pastors through tax dollars which is in some ways a more pointed issue than we've seen in some time," he said. "However, the federal government has paid pastors for the whole history of the country when you think of legislative and military chaplains. However, those are federal employees."

The current Supreme Court balance is 5-4, Haynes said, in favor of more openness to government support of religion, though he said in the past it hasn't been direct funding of the religious aspect of organizations' work.

"The whole point of the disestablishment of religion in the first place is being lost in the fog of this crisis," he said. "And I think that's probably right, I mean who's paying attention? It's hard to hold the line."
More than 1,200 Hong Kong residents stranded in over 62 countries amid coronavirus lockdown have sought help from the government, the city security minister revealed on Thursday.

John Lee Ka-chiu said many countries faced similar problems and officials needed to consider a lot of factors before rendering possible assistance.

The Covid-19 pandemic has spread across much of the world, with more than 1.5 million confirmed cases. About 88,000 people have died from the disease. Many places, such as India, France, Italy, New Zealand and Britain have implemented restrictive mass quarantines.

Speaking at the Legislative Council, Lee said Hong Kong immigration officers would try their best to help residents stranded abroad, such as by providing daily necessities and medication. He added that they were largely reliant on Chinese embassies overseas to help the residents in trouble, as the diplomatic offices had better knowledge of local situations.

The city government had received assistance requests from 158 Hongkongers stranded in Morocco. Photo: Nora Tam

Citing the case of Morocco as an example, Lee said officials had contacted nine airlines but none agreed to help with chartering flights to Hong Kong.

Many countries have imposed strict transport and aviation controls. Some places have rolled out curfews and cannot be reached by any transport, Lee told lawmakers.

Like in many other administrations, the staff from the Immigration Department and embassies are facing a lot of difficulties and uncertainties when rendering assistance.

On Wednesday night, the government announced that 27 Hong Kong residents who were stranded in Morocco could catch a chartered flight to Guangzhou in mainland China. The flight was arranged by the Chinese embassy in Morocco and aimed to repatriate all Chinese citizens. The cost of the journey would be borne by the passengers.

The authorities had received assistance requests from 158 Hongkongers stranded in Morocco. Among them, 113 people had already returned to the city on various flights.

Story continues

Secretary for Security John Lee (left) and Commissioner of Police Chris Tang (right) at the Legislative Council Complex in Hong Kong on April 9. Photo: May Tse

Last month, the Hong Kong government issued a red outbound travel alert for all places worldwide  except the mainland, Macau and Taiwan  as the virus swept across the globe.

Members of the public are strongly urged to adjust their travel plans and avoid any non-essential travel outside Hong Kong as many countries have implemented quarantine measures.

Since February, the authorities have sent chartered flights to pick up residents stranded in Japan, the mainland and Peru.

The first four chartered flights to bring 469 Hongkongers back from the mainlands Hubei province, the original epicentre of the pandemic, cost taxpayers about HK$7.4 million (US$955,000).

In late March, another 558 Hongkongers returned to the city from Hubei on four more chartered flights. The government was yet to reveal the costs for the second round of Hubei flights, or the costs involved in quarantining the evacuees.

Separately, police earlier said they would conduct more large-scale drills with other government departments and map out policies to raise readiness for home-grown terrorism. Lee said at the legislature on Thursday that if there was a chance, he would let members of the public take part in the drill so they could understand better how to react and protect themselves in violent situations, such as a bomb attack.

This article Coronavirus: more than 1,200 Hongkongers stranded around the world have sought help from city government, security minister says first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
An officer stands between tents for screening visitors outside the clinic building of Changhai Hospital in Shanghai, China Monday, Feb. 03, 2020. Getty Images

BEIJING  The global coronavirus pandemic is propelling more money and government support for public health in China. Whether it's new policies, capital, or even a school, the outbreak of what's officially called COVID-19 has intensified national attention on the inadequacy of China's public health infrastructure, from hospital beds to medical expertise. The health care challenges are global and not limited to China, which has come under fire for early cover-up of the highly contagious disease and recent attempts to deflect its origin away from the country. Since the virus first emerged in late December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the disease has killed more than 3,300 people nationwide, and over 92,000 people overseas in more than 180 countries and regions. Early cases in Wuhan were linked to a local live animal market. As the virus spread rapidly, the city rushed to build two new hospitals and re-purpose other areas to care for tens of thousands of patients. At the end of 2018, Wuhan's health commission said the occupancy rate of hospital beds was already at 94%.

As the spread of the virus within China has stalled, authorities are now focusing on helping the economy recover from a prolonged lockdown. Last week, the central government called for greater issuance of local government bonds to support a variety of projects, including those in public health. Previously, local government debt focused on more traditional infrastructure development such as transportation. The level of government versus individual spending on public health in China is rather high compared with that of major developed countries, according to Zhao Bowen, research director at Beijing-based Blue Stone Asset Management. "As a result, directing some local government bonds to health care and public health will help reduce the burden on individuals," Zhao said, according to a CNBC translation of his Chinese remarks. He expects government funds to take the primary role in meeting public health needs, while high-end health care services may attract private firms and foreign capital.

An urgent global need

China isn't alone in feeling the pressure on public health. The World Bank warned in its East Asia and Pacific economic update published on March 30 that a vaccine likely won't be available for another year-and-a-half. It also said hospitals will be so overwhelmed with coronavirus patients it will be difficult to care for other needs, leading to more deaths. "Unless capacity increases dramatically, health systems could be placed under tremendous strain for a period of two years," the report warned. The World Bank said it is ready to spend up to $160 billion over the next 15 months to help countries respond to health and economic needs. The first batch of projects, worth $1.9 billion for 25 countries, were approved on April 2. "I believe this current crisis is so severe it will change the public priority toward the health sector," Joachim von Amsberg, vice president for policy and strategy at the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, said in a phone interview on March 27. "There's a recognition that this is a very severe event that may reach or exceed the global financial crisis," he said, noting that as a result, "I see a very strong willingness to act well beyond (the) traditional limit and scale." The multilateral development bank has stepped up its own focus on public health. It announced on April 3 plans for a $5 billion lending facility dedicated to helping both public and private entities hit by the coronavirus. A loan of $500 million for India is under review, and $250 million for Indonesia. Turkey, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also interested, according to von Amsberg. The bank also announced on April 7 the approval of an emergency loan of about $355 million to support public health infrastructure in Beijing and Chongqing.

Real estate-like investment trend

In the private sector, investor interest in health care opportunities in China has increased in recent years, particularly given the country's growing affluence, aging population and underdeveloped systems such as health insurance and privately-run hospitals. Michael Xu, managing partner at China-based CEC Asset Management, pointed out that the tens of millions of Chinese citizens who pass retirement age every year are wealthier than prior generations, and will be able to pay for more expensive health care services. "There are more and more private money who made their money in real estate. They are looking for real estate-like investments," Xu said, noting a "hospital is like a hotel." He expects this investment trend will be more visible next year. Rapid advances in health-related research and development and technology have also spurred a slew of start-ups looking to create new drugs or sell online health consultations. And in the face of the virus, demand for new kinds of equipment is set to rise. Property management firm JLL expects greater deployment of infrared thermometers, internet-connected sensors and robots that can check temperatures and disinfect areas, according to Eric Lee, head of operations, property and asset management, for JLL Greater China. On the pharmaceutical end, a few Chinese research teams are already at the forefront of the global race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Hong Kong-listed CanSino Biologics received approval last month to begin trials on humans. Its backer Qiming Venture Partners announced Thursday it had closed Fund VII by raising a more-than-expected $1.1 billion. The new fund's investments are expected to be split between health care and technology, with a portion going toward pre-IPO and late-stage healthcare firms, according to Nisa Leung, a managing partner at Qiming. "I think public health infrastructure probably has to be built by the government. I think it's a little bit harder as a private investor to be investing in infrastructure," Leung, said in a phone interview Thursday. "I've been encouraging various government departments to put (out) more programs and degrees in public health management."
Health Ministry inspectors speak with a woman who is in self quarantine in Hadera, Israel, March 16, 2020.

Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

Three Alabama nurses were recruited to work on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic in New York City hospitals.

They left after they say the conditions were worse than what was promised.

Now they're suing Kansas-based recruiting firm Krucial Staffing.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Alabama nurses Wyatt Logan, Alexis Allen, and Latricia Hickenbottom left their jobs and families to work on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, according to a recently filed lawsuit.

When they got to their assigned hospitals, however, they were surprised that they were given little training, needed to work without protective equipment, and were assigned to areas they didn't have experience in. Now they're suing the Kansas-based recruiting firm, Krucial Staffing.

"After plaintiffs arrived in New York, they learned in a matter of days that Krucial subjects unsuspecting nurses to physical harm by requiring work without proper protective gear," a lawyer for the nurses wrote in the suit. "Just as significantly, it required them to work outside of their fields of competence  not just specialty, but competence."

On or around March 18, the nurses were recruited to the frontlines through a mass text that said all nurses or nurse practitioners who took the assignment would be provided PPE, paid $10,000 to $13,000 a week, given a stipend of $76 a day for meals, and be housed at the New Yorker Hotel.

Logan has two nursing degrees and was working in an Alabama Hospital, making more than $100,000 annually. He "didn't mind the increase in pay" but the experience of travel nursing was the primary reason he took the assignment, quitting his job to do so, according to his lawyer.

Allen is a nurse practitioner and was studying for her doctorate. She left her two young children and her $4,000 course for the assignment, according to the suit.

Story continues

Hickenbottom, also an NP, quit her job as a home health hospice work practitioner to help with the crisis. She two left her two children and husband behind, attorney Gregory Antollino wrote.

"But no plaintiffs would have done it for any money had they known they were putting their lives at risk, as well as, potentially, their families," the lawyer wrote. "They also wouldn't have come had they known they would have to violated normative standards of nursing care."

None of the nurses had experience in an ICU setting, and they were all taken off guard by what would be expected of them in the city, the lawyer wrote.

The suit seeks $500,000 in damages and accuses Krucial Staffing of breach of contract and violating labor laws.

Krucial Staffing didn't immediately comment on the case.

"We have received several media requests and will contact you as soon as possible," a spokesperson for the company told Business Insider. "Our time, talent, and resources are focused upon supporting those that have been deployed by our firm and serving in any way we can to help in the fight against COVID-19."

Medical staff at NYU Langone Health on April 6.

Noam Galai/Getty Images

Nurses say they were expected to work outside of their areas of study

When Logan  who used a pseudonym in the suit  accepted the job, he did so to work at a swab center, where individuals would be tested for COVID-19. Those positions had been filled before he arrived.

A few days after arriving in New York with no assignment, Logan was sent to work in a Medical-Surgical unit at Coler Specialty Hospital, for which he was not competent. He wasn't given the N95 respirator mask usually required for this kind of work, according to the lawsuit.

There is currently a national shortage of N95 masks.

"Wyatt saw not only that the lack of PPE would expose him to the virus, but that he was not competent to do what Krucial expected. Krucial certainly knew this," the lawyer wrote. "The City and Krucial just lured bodies, many with minimal qualifications, to work in a disaster zone."

Krucial gave nurses the option of leaving if they were uncomfortable working without PPE, but that was "cold comfort for nurses" who traveled all the way to New York City, Antollino wrote.

Hickenbottom, a nurse practitioner, alleges she was told over the phone that she'd be placed based on her area of specialty but was instead asked to work as a "Hospitalist," which usually refers to a doctor working in a hospital, at Harlem Hospital.

She disputed the assignment and was given two other options, one as an RN at Harlem Hospital, and another in a COVID-19 ICU. She didn't feel like she was qualified for either, but was told later by text that "employees could not question assignments and must be flexible."

She chose to leave.

Allen, also an NP, was similarly offered positions outside her training and was worried accepting them would violate nursing regulations in Alabama.

She learned that Krucial recruited NPs when there wasn't a need for them, and those who arrived in New York were expected instead to work in emergency rooms and ICUs, according to the lawsuit.

When Bellevue Hospital in Midtown Manhattan asked the NPs who weren't assigned if they'd work as RNs instead, most "would not agreebecause they were repeatedly told not to do so by Krucial," according to the suit.

Antollino, who didn't immediately return a Business Insider call seeking comment Friday, wrote on his blog that most of the nurses recruited by Krucial are in their 20s and 30s and African-American. Some of the nurses started feeling sick during their assignments, he wrote.

"Many of the traveling nurses developed symptoms, and  without quarantining or testing them for COVID  sent them on packed planes where, if exposed, could infect other passengers," he wrote. "Others quit their jobs to be on the front lines."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  With the arrival of more test kits, Quezon City will start conducting next week COVID-19 testing starting right in communities that have cases under investigation or are considered vulnerable to the coronavirus.

The first set to testing kits  1,300 kits from the Health Department  are expected to arrive next week. The QC government will also receive additional 1,500 test kits through its partnership with the Philippine Red Cross.

It is also in the process of procuring 10,000 swab kits and universal transfer mediums, where samples will be placed for testing.

The QC Health Department on Thursday said the first wave of tests will be conducted in areas that have the most number of patients under investigation. The city will prioritize people showing flu-like symptoms.

"We will test people with cough and colds, influenza-like symptoms o mga tina-trangkaso (or flu), and acute respiratory infection," QCHD Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit head Dr. Rolando Cruz said in a statement.

The patients will be tested in the newly-installed "swab booths" in the city. The test samples will then be taken to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for testing, with results expected to be released in 2 to 3 days. The QCHD hopes to shorten result turnaround period as it establishes more hospital partnerships.

Those who have no means to do strict self-quarantine while awaiting their test results will be housed in "HOPE"  Quezon City's temporary quarantine facilities  to avoid passing on the virus to their family members.

"We want to avoid a situation where the patient might infect a relative whose immune system is compromised. Those who have symptoms from urban poor communities, as well as those who will be tested positive, will be referred to our HOPE facilities," said QCHD head Dr. Esperanza Arias said.

Quezon City now has 641 COVID-19 cases, 58 deaths, and 35 recoveries.
CHICAGO, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The ongoing COVID-19 pandemicand the worldwide reaction to ithas compelled companies to radically rethink their strategies and the way they operate. We salute the industry experts helping companies survive and sustain in this pandemic.



At MarketsandMarkets, analysts are undertaking continuous efforts to provide analysis of the COVID-19 impact on the Testing, Inspection, & Certification Market. We are working diligently to help companies take rapid decisions by studying:

The impact of COVID-19 on the Testing, Inspection, & Certification Market, including growth/decline in product type/use cases due to the cascaded impact of COVID-19 on the extended ecosystem of the market

The rapid shifts in the strategies of the Top 50 companies in the Testing, Inspection, & Certification Market

The shifting short-term priorities of the top 50 companies' clients and their client's clients

You can request an in-depth analysis detailing the impact of COVID-19 on the Testing, Inspection, & Certification Market: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=5352498

According to the recent report "Testing, Inspection, & Certification Market by Offering (In-house & Outsourced Services), Application (Consumer Goods & Retail, Agriculture & Food, Chemicals, Energy & Power, Automotive, IT & Telecommunications) & Geography - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, is expected to grow at a CAGR% of 4.7% from USD 218.4 billion in 2020 to USD 274.3 billion in 2025. The primary reasons for this rise in demand is the increasing need for safety, surge in the illicit trade of counterfeit and pirated goods, advancements in networking and communication technologies, and inclination toward outsourced TIC services.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Testing, Inspection, & Certification Market"

102  Tables

51  Figures

274  Pages

Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=5352498

Certification service to grow at highest CAGR of TIC market, by service type, in 2020

The market for certification services is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Certification bodies are providing product certification issue product certificates or licenses to organizations, which entitles them to display a mark of conformity of their products or issue a certificate indicating the products conformity with specified requirements. Product certification can offer the customer formal documentation that the product they have purchased has been tested by qualified personnel to the applicable codes and/or standards.

Agriculture and food application to grow at highest CAGR during forecast period

TIC services for the agriculture industry are required to ensure quality and improve the productivity of food products. These services also support companies playing a crucial role in trading agricultural commodities and food products by acquiring international certifications. Moreover, changing regulations, especially in the agriculture space across the world, would drive the adoption of TIC services by manufacturers.

Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=5352498

APAC to hold largest share of TIC market in 2020

The highest CAGR growth is due to the presence of giant manufacturing electronic companies in countries such as China, Japan, India, as well as Vietnam, the Philippines, and Bangladesh. Domestic markets in APAC are growing rapidly owing to the rising per capita income among the middle-class population. Moreover, there is a growing consumer awareness about the importance of certification. TIC players are increasing their horizon by setting up their testing labs in the APAC countries as the potential of APAC countries on the overall various applications.

A few key players operating in the TIC market are SGS (Switzerland), Bureau Veritas (France), Intertek (UK), Eurofins Scientific (Luxembourg), DEKRA (Germany), TUV SUD (Germany), TUV Rheinland (Germany), DNV GL (Norway), among others.

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Sanjay Gupta

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]

Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com

SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
You Cannot Retaliate Against Workers Reporting Unsafe Conditions, Cautions the DOL

During this coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Labor reminds employers that they cannot punish workers for reporting unsafe conditions.

On April 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor reminds employers that they cannot punish workers for reporting or raising concerns about unsafe working conditions. OSHA protects workers who file whistleblower complaints, and it provides more than 20 whistleblower statutes.

Employers are responsible for ensuring the safety of their employers. While the coronavirus has changed many work environments and working conditions, its important to understand what rights your workers have, and what your responsibility as an employer areeven if your staff is working from home.

Read the following news release from the Department of Labor about workplace whistleblowers protection:

U.S. Department of Labor Reminds Employers That They Cannot Retaliate Against Workers Reporting Unsafe Conditions During Coronavirus Pandemic

WASHINGTON, DC  The U.S Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is reminding employers that it is illegal to retaliate against workers because they report unsafe and unhealthful working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic. Acts of retaliation can include terminations, demotions, denials of overtime or promotion, or reductions in pay or hours.

Employees have the right to safe and healthy workplaces, said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Loren Sweatt. Any worker who believes that their employer is retaliating against them for reporting unsafe working conditions should contact OSHA immediately.

Workers have the right to file a whistleblower complaint online with OSHA (or 1-800-321-OSHA) if they believe their employer has retaliated against them for exercising their rights under the whistleblower protection laws enforced by the agency.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) on Friday issued a statement on the 28th anniversary of the massacre of Armenians in Maragha. The statement reads as follows:

Today marks the 28th anniversary of the massacre of civilians of the Armenian settlement of Maragha, Martakert region of the Republic of Artsakh, committed by the armed forces of Azerbaijan. The massacre in Maragha is an unprecedented war crime committed by the Republic of Azerbaijan, on the basis of hatred against Armenians aimed at the annihilation of the Armenian population.

On April 10, 1992, after several hours of shelling, the Azerbaijani armed units invaded Maragha. Prior to this, a significant part of the population was evacuated, but the people who remained in the village, were subjected to inhuman torture and massacre by the Azerbaijani servicemen. The self-defense forces of Artsakh managed to liberate Maragha, but two weeks later, the Azerbaijani troops attacked the settlement again and committed new crimes against the civilians who had returned to bury their relatives.

Maragha was captured by the Azerbaijani armed forces and to this day is under the occupation of Azerbaijan. According to various data, including the reports of the human rights organizations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as a result of the war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces in Maragha over 50 civilians, including 30 women, were brutally killed. About 50 more people, including 29 women and 9 children, were taken captive, and the fate of 19 civilians is still unknown.

As testified by Member and former Vice Speaker of the House of Lords of Great Britain, human rights activist Baroness Caroline Cox, who visited the village with representatives of the organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide immediately after the tragedy, the bodies of the brutally murdered residents of Maragha were dismembered, mutilated, and burned. Lady Cox called Maragha contemporary Golgotha many times over.

The massacre of Armenians of Maragha became another manifestation of the consistent policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Azerbaijani authorities against the Armenian people, first in Sumgait, Baku and other settlements of Azerbaijan in 1988-1990, and later in Northern Artsakh. The fact that commander of the Azerbaijani armed units Taghiyev Shahin Taliboglu, who had committed the massacre in Maragha, was awarded the title of national hero of Azerbaijan testifies that the responsibility for this crime lies entirely with the Azerbaijani authorities. The impunity of the crimes committed by Azerbaijan against Armenians and the lack of an adequate political and legal assessment by the international community created favorable conditions for rooting an atmosphere of hatred towards Armenians and all Armenian at the state level in Azerbaijan. 24 years later, in April 2016, during the aggression unleashed against Artsakh, Azerbaijan attempted to use the same methods to carry out new genocidal acts in Artsakh that were prevented by the decisive actions of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh.

The massacres of civilians in Maragha are a crime against humanity with s no statute of limitations, and they must be condemned by the international community, and their organizers and executors must be justly punished.

Today we bow our heads in commemoration of the victims of the massacre in Maragha and assure that the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh will take all measures to guarantee the inalienable right of the people of Artsakh to live freely and safely in its homeland.
Yahoo News Canada is committed to providing our readers with the most accurate and recent information on all things coronavirus. We know things change quickly, including some possible information in this story. For the latest on COVID-19, we encourage our readers to consult online resources like Canadas public health website, World Health Organization, as well as our own Yahoo Canada homepage.

As cases of COVID-19 continue to spread around the world, Canadians seem to be increasingly concerned about their health and safety

Currently, there are more than 18,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Canada more than 400 deaths.

Check back for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak in Canada.

For a full archive of the first month of the pandemic, please check our archive of events.

Canadas projections for COVID-19 predict up to 22,000 deaths

The federal government has released the modelling data forecasting the impact of COVID-19 across Canada.

Public Health Agency of Canada

For the short-term epidemic track of the virus, its predicted that Canada will see 27,215 cases Apr. 16. The lower prediction limit would see 22,580 cases and the upper prediction limit is 31,850. This could result in between 500 and 700 deaths by Apr. 16.

Experts have made their predictions using two models, one with stronger epidemic control, with a high degree of physical distancing, contract tracing and cases isolated. The weaker control has a lower degree of these public health measures.

Public Health Agency of Canada

Stronger epidemic control:

There will be a 1 to 10 per cent infected rate peaking and the end of spring, beginning of summer and ending in the fall.

Between 11,000 and 22,000 deaths in Canada are predicted.

There will be between 73,000 and 146,00 hospitalizations, and between 23,000 and 46,000 in intensive care.

Weaker epidemic control:

There will be a 25 to 50 per cent infected rate peaking between summer and fall, ending in spring 2021.

More than 200,000 deaths are expected to occur in Canada.

Public Health Agency of Canada

Dr. Theresa Tam was, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, said Canada is fairly early on in the epidemic and a high and sustained degree of physical distancing is essential to maintain the stronger epidemic control scenario.

Story continues

Its a matter of life and death, she said, adding that she believes the country has a very good chance of staying in the stronger epidemic control model.

We must do everything that we can now to remain in that best care scenario, Dr. Tam said.

Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Howard Njoo said the first wave of the outbreak could end by summer but anticipates multiple smaller waves will follow. He added that predicting the lifespan of the virus for Canada is difficult because all province and territories have their own epidemic curve and timeframe.

Dr. Tam said even when Canada has hit the peak of the curve and the outbreak is on its way down, the country will need to have highly sensitive testing for any possible new infections, and continue to practice strong social distancing measures.

Were looking for...the slowing down of that growth rate, Dr. Tam said. These models are very sensitive to our actions.

Province reveal projections for COVID-19

Ontario

Ontario has released its modelling data with possible forecasts for the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic in the province.

The main message from experts is that each person in Ontario needs to do their part to stop the spread of the virus, highlighting that the public will impact the eventual outcome.

The outcome is in the publics hands, Peter Donnelly, president and CEO of Public Health Ontario said on Friday. Its about breaking the chain of infection and its very important that we all realize...we have a personal opportunity to do that.

This isnt about flattening the curve, its about chopping the head off the top.

Projected Ontario Cases by April 30, 2020

Donnelly said that we are some way off from lifting any measures currently in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

He added that bearing down hard now will result in the virus coming to an end and the economy bouncing back more quickly.

Donnelly also highlighted that modelling is a very inexact science, particularly for a new virus. As a reference, Ontario loses 1,350 people to normal seasonal flu per year.

Deaths without public health measures (without any intervention at all) are expected to be 100,000 in Ontario, lowered to between 3,000 and 15,000 with the current public health measures in place.

The data shows that the measures put in place, including physical distancing, self-isolation following travel, prohibiting large gatherings and work from home arrangements, have been effective to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Projected cases in the province, without any intervention, is 300,000 cases by Apr. 30 but the forecast with the current measures is 80,000 cases.

Projected deaths with no intervention is 6,000 by Apr. 30, with the current measures the modelling has predicted 1,600 deaths.

The lifespan of COVID-19 in the province could be between 18-months and two years.

Projected Ontario Deaths by April 30, 2020

Matthew Anderson, president and CEO of Ontario Health said that currently, hospitals have the capacity to mange COVID-19 patients but if there is a spike in hospitalizations, it would be very difficult to project.

There are currently 410 ICU beds available for COVID-19 patients with 900 additional beds can be added.

The worst case forecast for Ontario ICU capacity predicts more than 3,400 beds will be needed by the end of the month. The best case would see the need top out just over 1,200 around Apr. 18, getting lower as the month progresses.

Ontario ICU Capacity for COVID-19

For a full look at Ontarios COVID-19 projections, visit the Government of Ontarios site.

Alberta

There are three different scenarios for Alberta: probable, elevated and extreme.

Government of Alberta

Probable scenario:

Expected to be the most likely situation for Alberta

For every case, one to two more people are infected

Infections will peak in mid-May

800,000 infections by the end of summer

There will between 400 and 3,100 deaths

Hospitalizations will peak in late May at around 818 and individuals needing critical care will peak in late May, early June with around 232 people

Elevated scenario:

For every case, two more people are infected

Infections will peak in early May

1,060,000 infections across the province

There will between 500 and 6,600 deaths

Hospitalizations will peak at the beginning of May at around 1,570 and individuals needing critical care will peak in early May with around 392 people

Extreme scenario:

Shows what would have happened if Alberta did not undertake the interventions in place

For every case, three people are infected

Infections will peak in mid-April

1,600,000 infections across the province

There will between 16,000 and 32,000 deaths

For a full look at Albertas COVID-19 projections, visit the Government of Alberta site.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan has released its modelling data detailing the forecast for the COVID-19 outbreak in the province.

Saskatchewan Health Authority

Saskatchewans high range scenario, predicting one person with the virus will infect four people, would see 408,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases and 8,370 total deaths.

The mid range estimate, predicting one person with the virus will infect 2.76 people, has cumulative cases at 262,000 in Saskatchewan and 5,260 deaths.

The low range scenario, predicting one person with the virus will infect 2.4 people, estimates that there will be 153,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the province and 3,075 deaths.

While we understand Canadian data is starting to show some hopeful signs about flattening the curve on COVID-19, it is critical to remember not to be complacent, Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone said in a statement. We need to continue to escalate our response to ensure we are prepared for the worst case scenarios and we need the public to help us avoid those scenarios.

For a full look at Saskatchewans COVID-19 projections, visit the Government of Saskatchewan site.

Quebec

Quebec officials released modelling data forecasting the impact of COVID-19 in the province by the end of April.

Estimated deaths in Quebec (Gouvernement du Quebec)

The optimistic projections, comparing provincial data to Portugal, show:

29,212 confirmed cases of the virus by Apr. 30

A peak of 1,404 people in hospital around Apr. 21 and 468 people in intensive care

1,263 deaths in the province by Apr. 30.

The worst-case projections, comparing provincial data to Italy, show:

59,845 confirmed cases of the virus by Apr. 30

A peak of 3,028 people in hospital around Apr. 15 and 1,009 people in intensive care

8,860 deaths in the province by Apr. 30

Earlier on Tuesday, Quebecs total number of deaths increased to 150. There were also 760 more confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province, 9,340 in total.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault was pleased to announce that the number of people in intensive care has not increased since Monday, 164, and highlighted that no one in the province should relax any of the physical distancing or other public health measures in place.

For a full look at Quebecs COVID-19 projections, visit the Government of Quebec site.

For the latest updates on COVID-19 in Canada, follow our live blog. For an archive of the first month of the pandemic, please check our archive of events.
Union Government has approved the first list of countries that will receive crucial COVID-fighting drugs from India, including the much talked about anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine or HCQ. The first consignment has started to leave.

The list includes 13 countries including the United States of America, Spain, Germany, Bahrain, Brazil, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Seychelles, Mauritius and the Dominican Republic.

Dammu Ravi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, while speaking to the media on Friday, said, "A lot of requests for HCQ were already there and taking into view domestic stock and requirement while keeping a sufficient buffer, a decision was taken by the Group of Ministers to release some of the surplus medicine for export purposes."

Ravi informed that there will be two more such consignments of the coveted drug that will be exported to foreign nations.

Amid apprehension, whether the nation had sufficient HCQ stock itself, the Health Ministry informed that in the coming week, India will require 1 crore tablets for domestic use and current stock stands at over 3.28 crore, that we are constantly augmenting.

The United States had asked for 48 lakh HCQ tablets. India, meanwhile, has sanctioned 35.82 lakhs tablets along with 9 MT active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), as per their request.

Besides USA, it is only Brazil, Canada and Germany that are expected to get 50 lakh HCQ tablets each in the second consignment. In the first consignment, Brazil will receive 0.53 MT API and Germany, 1.5 MT API.

In neighbouring countries, Bangladesh will get 20 lakh HCQ tablets, Nepal - 10 lakh, Bhutan - 2 lakh, Sri Lanka - 10 lakh (not in first consignment), Afghanistan - 5 lakh, and Maldives - 2 lakh.

MEA said the countries were shortlisted on first come, first serve basis and neighbouring countries were prioritised even then. India will also be exporting a total of 430 million paracetamol tablets.

The list of countries slated to receive paracetamol from India includes - UK, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and a few African nations.

Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: PMO reviews preparedness, relief measures for days ahead

Also Read: Cognizant withdraws full-year guidance for 2020 amid coronavirus uncertainty

Also Read: Is cure to coronavirus hidden in Viagra? Researchers are curious
Police have arrested a Kaithal man for making threat calls to Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, who lives in Sector 6, Panchkula.

The accused has been identified as Agrim, who is in his mid-30s. Police said Surjewala has a house in Kaithal and the accused lives near his house there.

Sector 5 station house officer inspector Lalit Kumar said that Surjewala submitted a complaint online stating that the caller, claiming to be from a gang in Uttar Pradesh, threatened to kill him and his cousin Sudeep.

The SHO said Surjewala received three calls between 9.50am to 10.15am on his landline on April 1.

The caller identified himself as a member of a gang headed by Mukhtar Ansari, Raja Bhaiya and Pappu Yadav from Uttar Pradesh. He threatened to kill my cousin Sudeep Surjewala and me and disconnected the call. He called a minute later and said that he knew where I lived, had complete details of where I go and my vehicles. He called again, extended the same threat, and identified himself as Agrim, the complaint stated.

The Sector 19 crime branch team of Panchkula then started investigating the matter. Officials privy to the investigation said the mobile number from which calls were made was traced to Kaithal and the caller was arrested. A case has been registered under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code at Sector 5 police station.

Surjewala stated in his complaint that he had earlier received threat calls and letters on behalf of gangster Surinder Geong. So, he had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court, asking for his personal security in 2016. The court had granted him Y category security through a central agency, he said.
Monday marked the first day some centers were open and some providers said there has been less enrollment than they initially expected  whether because of fear, inability to pay or lack of awareness. Whatever the reason, though, they say theyll remain open for those who do need their services.
Students move out of dorm rooms on Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on March 12, 2020. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Trump Admin to Distribute Over $6 Billion CARES Act Funds to College, Universities

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Thursday more than $6 billion will be distributed immediately to colleges and universities so that the institutions can provide direct emergency cash grants to their students.

Congress passed two weeks ago a $2.2 trillion aid package bill, known as CARES Act, in an effort to ease the economic stress on Americans amid the pandemic. Of the $14 billion the CARES Act allocated for higher education, $6.3 billion has been made available to colleges and universities to provide cash grants to help students cover expenses related to disruptions to their educations because of the CCP virus outbreak, including course materials, technology, food, housing, health care, and childcare.

The CARES Act funds are available to all types of higher education institutions, including public and private nonprofit four-year universities, community colleges, and for-profits. DeVos maintained that theres no law that forbids for-profits from receiving aid, after high-ranking Senate Democrats argued in a letter (pdf) that for-profit colleges should not be able to access that money.

A student moves out of her dorm at the University of Michigan on March 17, 2020. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

To receive the funding, institutions need to sign an agreement (pdf) that says they will use the money as intended.

The Department of Education on Thursday also released a detailed list (pdf) about how much money each institution will receive based on a Congress-approved formula, which is weighted toward institutions that enroll more low-income Pell Grant recipients. For example, New Jerseys Rutgers University, with 30 percent of its student receiving Pell Grants, will be given $54 million.

Whats best for students is at the center of every decision we make, said DeVos in a press release. Thats why we prioritized getting funding out the door quickly to college students who need it most. We dont want unmet financial needs due to the coronavirus to derail their learning.

In a letter (pdf) to college and university presidents on Thursday, DeVos said the CARES Act gives institutions freedom to decide how to distribute the funds. But she encouraged the leadership of each institution to prioritize their students with the greatest need, and at the same time consider establishing a maximum funding threshold for each student to ensure that these funds are distributed as widely as possible.

Colleges are expected to receive another round of relief checks of $6 billion, but DeVos did not specify when it will happen. DeVos said in a conference call with reporters that her department wanted to move as quickly as possible to help students whose lives and academic plans have been disrupted by the ongoing pandemic.
Newly-published 'CBD Technical Series No. 87' discusses key elements and approaches for realistic and coherent reporting on the elements of Aichi Biodiversity Target 6

April 10,2020 | Source: CBD

Marine fisheries provide livelihoods, food security and recreation for hundreds of millions of people around the world. In order to be sustainable, however, the ecosystems that underpin fish stocks must be biodiverse, healthy and resilient.



The Convention on Biological Diversity acknowledges the clear link between fisheries and biodiversity. The Parties enshrined the need for a strong focus on this link through the adoption of Aichi Biodiversity Target 6 on sustainable fisheries, as part of the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Aichi Biodiversity Target 6 addresses various elements of sustainable fishing, including fishing of target stocks, as well as minimizing and eliminating impacts on other species and ecosystems. There are, however, numerous challenges and capacity gaps in assessing progress towards these different elements.



The newly published CBD Technical Series No. 87 Assessing Progress towards Aichi Biodiversity Target 6 on Sustainable Marine Fisheries report, drafted by Serge Garcia and Jake Rice of the Fisheries Expert Group of the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management, provides an expert analysis of the needs and challenges associated with the reporting and assessment of the different elements of Target 6. This analysis also provides a valuable source of knowledge and lessons in setting future goals and targets, with associated monitoring and reporting frameworks, related to fisheries and biodiversity.



Target 6 is not likely to be met by the end of 2020. Still, it has led to achievements such as:



- Increased awareness of the link between fisheries and biodiversity.

- Increased dialogue and collaboration between the fisheries and biodiversity communities.

- Valuable insights in the development of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

- In addition, progress has been made on the development and implementation of measures aimed at achieving the mutually reinforcing goals of sustainable fisheries and biodiversity conservation.



The substantial progress made towards Target 6 underscores the crucial lesson that efforts to mainstream biodiversity into fisheries management, and fisheries into biodiversity conservation, are fully compatible?giving a solid foundation for working together towards our shared goals, said the reports co-author Jake Rice. Although Target 6 will not be achieved, its critical to learn lessons from progress made thus far, as the global community sets future goals and targets for biodiversity.
China, the world's second largest economy, is under threat as the pandemic wipes out jobs and slows productivity and growth.

But even with the economic setback, that's not stopping Beijing from doubling down on its geopolitical agenda.

China expert Elizabeth Economy, the Council on Foreign Relations' director of Asia studies, told CNBC's "Trading Nation" she sees the country forging ahead with its national development goals long laid out before the virus.

"Even in the midst of this global pandemic, which began in China, for which China must ultimately claim a significant degree of responsibility, it has not deterred the Chinese leadership from pursuing additional objectives like the Belt and Road," Economy said Tuesday.

China's Belt and Road initiative was the brainchild of President Xi Jinping, announced in 2013 as a path to gain a cultural and economic foothold in the global economy. Its projects include investments in infrastructure and other developments in more than 60 countries. The plan has been heavily criticized by the U.S. and other countries as an attempt to extend Beijing's reach and influence. The rollout of loans under the program has also raised eyebrows.

When Sri Lanka was unable to pay China back, the government was forced to hand over a key port to the Chinese in 2018.

China could be using diplomatic outreach, while skirting any responsibility for the crisis, as a way to move forward with its geopolitical plans, Economy said.

"It's trying to use its masked diplomacy to frankly mask its original culpability at the outset of the crisis," she said. "We're seeing China do the right thing now in terms of reaching out to help others, as it was helped when it was sort of at the peak of its pandemic. But I think there's an accounting that has yet to occur in terms of, where and why this started and how it's spread and I think that that judgment day will come."

With the economic losses mounting in the U.S., Economy is betting the Trump administration will have to ease tariffs on Chinese goods, if only as a reprieve. Companies like General Motors involved in ramping up production of ventilators have requested tariff relief from the administration on certain components that are made in China.

"I think we will see the administration lift tariffs temporarily for this extraordinary set of circumstances. But I don't anticipate that anything that happens now in terms of the trade relationship will affect the post COVID-19 trade relationship. I think the tariffs will be back in place. I think the Trump administration will be looking to China to buy American, to fulfill the promises that it made," she said.

As to whether Xi will face internal pushback for not being transparent when the coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan, Economy said it would take a rebuke from multiple fronts.

"What it would require for him to have to take a step back, maybe not to be ousted, but in fact to be pushed to a second line, I think would be for there to be significant concern within the upper echelon, the top seven people in the Standing Committee of the Politburo," said Economy. "If they decide that this was the case that Xi is ultimately responsible, I think then, we could see him really in significant political trouble."

In the meantime, the People's Republic of China has rolled out significant measures to offset the economic impact of the pandemic. Everbright Securities says key measures include two targeted reserve requirement ratio cuts for banks and special lending programs for small and medium sized Chinese businesses.

Chinese stocks have rebounded off their lows, up 7% since March 19.

Disclaimer
In a time when we're living our lives online, it can be difficult to find someone who truly gets you. As a band formed by two brothers, Elliott and Virgile Arndt, Franco-American duo Faux Real knows a bond like this is irreplaceable. Their new track, "Kindred Spirit," premiering today with a music video, acknowledges this by exploring how deep connection to the Earth is integral to welcoming your authentic self into the world.

The groovy anthem that blends elements of post-punk, glam rock and psychedelia is off Faux Real's forthcoming, self-titled EP, out May 1. While putting the soulful, harmonized vocal talents of both members on display, the song also highlights their brotherhood in its lyrics alongside jangly electric guitar solos and infectious synthesizers.

The video opens with Faux Real dancing in front of a mountain while sporting white briefs adorned with fringe and gold bull decorations. The two are then shown in matching shirts as they sing about a bond only they know. "Half the time, I'm in my mind," they sing, completing a synchronized dance. "The other half we're intertwined."

Faux Real's surreal lyrics often personify mountains, water and other elements of nature. They tell a narrative of being true to yourself, and doing so with the help of everything from a "candid mountain" to a "stony sibling" and a "spiky cousin"  things that are natural and connected to the environment.

"I got another one of me somewhere inside," the two sing as scenes (and their fabulous monochromatic, sequined and vintage ensembles) transition. "Someone who doesn't want to hide." You'll see everything from throwback shag cuts to sleek shades in the video. Perhaps they serve as each other's style icon, as well.

At the climax of "Kindred Spirit," the Arndts burn a photograph of themselves while speak-singing the words, "Kindred spirit, spirit animal, animal kingdom, kingdom come." Scenes play with duality until the conclusion, abruptly changing in connection with each beat drop. One minute, the brothers are depicted under teal lighting surrounded by trees and then, in an instant, they're flaunting all-black outfits with a fiery backdrop behind them.

Recognizing a similar soul (and creating music with them) is something Faux Real prides themselves on, and it helps them produce psychedelic bangers you'll want to turn up and dance to in these increasingly strange times. Stream "Kindred Spirit," below, and mark your calendars for May 1, when more music from this duo is set for release.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 20:59:09|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

LUANDA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 256 Cuban physicians arrived early on Friday in Angolan capital, Luanda to aid the country's fight against the COVID-19.

Speaking at Luanda's 4 de Fevereiro International Airport, Angola's Health Minister Silvia Lutucuta, reiterated that the Cuban health professionals will be scattered across the country's 164 municipalities according to their local needs.

The minister also explained that the Cuban physicians will not stay only in reference hospitals, but will also place in remote areas, especially where there are confirmed cases.

Angola, which has been under State of Emergency since March 27 has reported 19 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which two have been recovered and two have died.

Angolan president, Joao Lourenco, on Thursday decreed the extension of the State of Emergency, for another 15 days. The period begins on April 11 and ends on April 25 of the same month.
JACKSON COUNTY, MI  Its been a month since the first cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed in Michigan.

One case each of COVID-19 were reported in Wayne and Oakland counties the evening of March 10. As the number of cases grew, officials and organizations in Jackson County responded to the pandemic.

Its been four weeks since Michigans first confirmed coronavirus cases. We mapped its spread through the state

Here are some of the milestones in the county

March 12 -- Organizers of the American 1 Credit Union Womens Expo cancel the event scheduled for March 14, while planners of the Southern Michigan Winter Beer Festival, scheduled for the same day, say they will continue as scheduled.

March 13 -- The beer festival is postponed. Cancellations of events and services start rolling in across the county. The city of Jackson suspends water shut offs, cancels all recreation programs and shuts down the Boos Recreation Center.

Jackson beer festival postponed, despite earlier plan to continue amid coronavirus outbreak

The Jackson County Jail stops in-person visits and a variety of services, including non-essential finger printing. The Jackson Symphony Orchestra cancels its sold-out Irish Festival and postpones its Maestro Returns concert.

March 14 -- Henry Ford Allegiance Health creates a drive-through testing site, before the first positive test of COVID-19 is confirmed in the county. The hospital later restricts who is able to receive tests to preserve resources for people who needed them most.

March 15 -- Jackson District Library closes all locations for an indefinite period of time.

March 16 -- After Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces the closing of all K-12 schools, Jackson parents react to balancing childcare with their jobs. Jackson County school districts create bus routes and pickup locations for free breakfast and lunch to keep students from going hungry.

Im screwed, Jackson parent says as schools close for 3 weeks amid coronavirus outbreak

At 3 p.m., Whitmers executive order prohibiting dine-in customers at bars and restaurants goes into effect and Jackson County businesses adapt for take-out and delivery orders.

March 17 -- Data is released saying a 60-year-old woman is the first person in Jackson County to test positive for COVID-19.

Jackson Mayor Derek Dobies declares a state of emergency for the the first time in the citys history. Hand-washing and hand-sanitizing stations are set up around the city as well.

March 23 -- Five county residents now have positive COVID-19 tests, according to Henry Ford Allegiance Health. Whitmer issues an executive order, telling people to stay at home and she closes all nonessential businesses.

Jackson County residents are grocery shopping and filing their cars with gas in preparation for the three-week order.

Why didnt I get my haircut 2 weeks earlier? Jackson resident reacts to stay-at-home order

7 Jackson area residents react to stay at home order

Patti Poppe, Consumers Energy president/CEO, personally gives $1 million to small businesses in Jackson County to help them during the statewide shutdown.

March 24 -- A sixth person in the county tests positive and Jackson Crossing announces an indefinite closure of the mall.

Our evacuation was so abrupt': Jackson resident leaves Peace Corps service overnight amid coronavirus outbreak

March 25 -- There are 12 positive cases of COVID-19, with seven people hospitalized. Jackson and Summit Township fire departments create a special response unit for possible cases of COVID-19.

Grand River Brewery uses supply to produce hand sanitizer for Jackson hospital

March 26 -- Four more positive cases are confirmed in the county, bringing the total to 16, with 10 people in the hospital.

March 27 -- As unemployment numbers increase, CP Federal Credit Union suspends loan payments until June. There is one more case of COVID-19 announced, bringing the total to 17.

March 28 -- Jackson Countys first death from COVID-19 is reported. Hes a 74-year-old man, who died at Henry Ford Allegiance Health, and the countys cases grow to 20.

Sorry, but your browser does not support frames.

March 29 -- Jackson County cases increase to 28.

March 30 -- Jackson County sees its first double-digit increase in cases to 38 people.

Henry Ford Allegiance Health accepts COVID-19 patients from Detroit-area hospitals

March 31 -- There are 13 more cases reported, bringing the total to 51.

To help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the Jackson County Jail releases at least 114 inmates. People are released because they are elderly or in vulnerable populations, including those with chronic health conditions, per an executive order from Whitmer.

April 1 -- A 58-year-old Jackson County woman is the second person to die from COVID-19 in Jackson County. Cases increase to 56.

With 45,000 meals distributed, its not just for the impoverished, Jackson school district says

Jackson College officials prepare the schools field house to become a field hospital, in case Henry Ford Allegiance Health reaches capacity during the coronavirus pandemic.

April 2 -- Whitmer closes all K-12 schools for the remainder of the school year. Superintendents across the county go into action to plans to help students continue to learn.

Eleven more cases of COVID-19 are reported, bringing the total to 67. Of those cases, 22 are hospitalized at Henry Ford Allegiance Health.

April 3 -- Another death from COVID-19 is reported in the county. The person did not die at the hospital and the health department does not provide age and gender. Positive cases increase to 70.

The U.S. Post Office confirms an employee at the Brooklyn branch has COVID-19. Officials wont release the date of the positive result or any details about the person.

Jackson business delivers groceries for free amid coronavirus pandemic

April 4 -- There are 11 new coronavirus cases reported, bringing the total to 81. Cases increase by 10, for a total of 91 in the county.

April 6 -- A fourth person dies from COVID-19 in Jackson County, the health department said, while cases grew to 103.

Henry Ford Allegiance Health has tested 318 employees, with 15 positive tests and 12 tests still pending results, hospital officials said.

April 7 -- The number of cases grows to 117.

Its almost like youre drowning, COVID-19 survivor says

5 JK Haehnle talks about his battle against COVID-19

April 8 -- Cases increase to 126.

April 9 -- Cases increase by five, bringing the number in the county to 131. The hospital said there are 45 people hospitalized with the virus, and 14 people have recovered and been discharged.

We will break the back of the coronavirus, Jackson mayor says

Whitmer extends the stay-at-home order through April 30.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends coronavirus stay-at-home order through April 30

Michiganders cant go back and forth to vacation homes under Gov. Whitmers latest stay-at-home order

Michigans updated coronavirus stay-at-home order will close garden centers and other parts of grocery stores

Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus.

Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
Hyderabad, April 10 : "My mom needs to undergo bypass surgery. Pls, help us to get NOC for her travel to Hyd Star hospitals from Vijayawada due to COVID-19 lockdown. Thank You,"A someone tweeted from New Zealand. "We will take care brother @KTRoffice please contact and assist, came the reassurance.

"Hello sir, I am 9-month pregnant with twins. There is no possible commuting way for my checkups due to lockdown. Now I am having contracts n wanted to check with doctor," tweets a woman from somewhere in Telangana. She was assured help is on the way.

Ever since the lockdown began last month, Telangana's senior cabinet minister K.T. Rama Rao aka KTR has emerged as the key point of contact for people in distress.

From someone in a remote part of Telangana with emergency healthcare need to people stuck in Hyderabad and wanting to rush to their native places in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh for attending funerals of their near and dear ones to those living abroad and concerned about the wellbeing of families backhome, all tweet him.

Every day, KTR receives dozens of requests on various social media platforms, primarily on Twitter. Many people tweet him on behalf of the poor and the needy.

"We will take care @KTRoffice please assist," comes the assurance in response to someone's tweet about treatment of a seven-year-old daughter of daily wage workers.

"My grandmother passed away this morning. I am struck in Hyderabad. My mother is alone in my native. Could you please help me reach my native Kakinada," tweets Sandeep Yendamuri.

"Sorry for your loss Sandeep. @KTRoffice please assist immediately," comes the reply.

The young and dynamic minister, son of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, on Thursday requested the state police chief to explore the possibility of bringing back a group of people from the state stuck in Varanasi.

He promised help for treatment of a poor woman in Nizamabad, who fell down after giving birth to twins, suffered blood clot in the brain and required Rs 5 lakh for urgent surgery.

He also takes suo moto note of newspaper reports and give necessary instruction. After reading a report in a vernacular daily about two girls losing their parents, he immediately requested Siddipet collector on Twitter to take care of them by getting them into a residential school KTR also reacts to some ugly incident like two persons from northeast being denied entry into supermarket for they looked like foreigners. "This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Racism in any form should be dealt with sternly," he tweets and asks police to send out a clear message.

KTR has always been just a tweet away for citizens seeking help but in the lockdown period his office is busy attending to numerous calls from people in distress.

"After the lockdown came into effect, lot of citizens stranded in various places had emergency needs to either go out or get to something at the doorstep. The minister is responding to all SOS calls because people don't know where to approach. They tweet on the minister's personal handle and he tags his office," Konatham Dileep, Director, Digital Media, Government of Telangana told IANS.

The ministeraAs office which has one personal secretary and two officers on special duty divide work among themselves and coordinate with concerned government agency or private person to resolve the issue "Lot of requests relate to healthcare emergencies or untoward incidents like death in the family. What the minister feels is that in this hour of crisis all support mechanisms currently available will be overburdened. We have services like 100, 104, 108 and different helplines but because lakhs of people will be in need of those services they are overwhelmed. He feels there is need for another channel to extend help to those in need. That is reason he is responding," said Dileep, a key member of KTR team.

Though holding several key portfolios like industry and commerce, information technology, municipal administration and urban development and shouldering key responsibility in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) as its acting president, he is quite active over the social media.

The suave and affable leader has 2.1 million followers over Twitter handle KTRTRS.

Popular among techies and students alike, he always tweets to encourage youngsters for their achievements and innovations.

He takes time out to reply to tweets by youngsters about their innovative ideas or designs to combat COVID-19 situation and asks his office or a senior bureaucrat to look into the same.
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is ready to provide support to its partners, member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as much as possible in fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a video conference of the Eurasian Inter-Governmental Council.

Armenia is ready within its capacities to provide assistance to its EAEU partners. I am sure that in the EAEU we should unite our efforts in fighting the pandemic. We should strengthen our union, even in case of the current pandemic. We should prove the viability of our union during the crisis. In such situation we need to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the free trade regime within the EAEU. The restriction in movement of goods and services within the EAEU is unacceptable, even during the current pandemic. It is necessary to create conditions for the uninterrupted operation of cargo transportation, he said.

In his remarks PM Pashinyan also thanked Russia for the operative support provided to Armenia. In the fight against the pandemic we are cooperating with our main international partners, and by using this chance, I want to thank our Russian partners for the operative assistance and effective cooperation, Nikol Pashinyan said.

The session of the Eurasian Inter-Governmental Council, scheduled to take place in Minsk, Belarus, is currently being held via a video conference due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally has surpassed 1,608.000. 95,837 people have died from the virus so far.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan
Spain has recorded its lowest death toll from the coronavirus in 17 days with 605 deaths on April 9. According to the Spanish government, the rate of infections in the country also slowed down with just 4,576 new cases in the last 24 hours. The total number of deaths in Spain has reached 15,843 with over 1,57,000 confirmed cases so far. Spain has been put under a complete lockdown since March 14 with all non-essential businesses suspended until April 25. However, the government has indicated that it may extend the lockdown by two more weeks.

Read: US Records 6.6 Million Unemployment Cases In One Week, Total Number Reaches 16 Million

Spain is the second most affected country in Europe after Italy, which is leading the way with over 18,000 deaths and more than 1,43,000 confirmed cases so far. The United Kingdom and Germany are also battling to contain the spread of the disease. UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to a hospital on April 5, 11 days after testing positive for the virus. Johnson was released from intensive care Yesterday but he still remains in hospital. Countries have taken draconian steps to contain the virus by imposing partial or complete lockdown and banning air travel, shutting down schools and businesses, etc.

Read: UN Chief Guterres Calls For 'unity' Among Security Council Members Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Coronavirus outbreak

The deadly coronavirus infection has claimed more than 96,900 lives across the world and has infected over 16,17,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China was the most affected country until last month before Italy and Spain surpassed it to record the most number of deaths anywhere in the world due to COVID-19. The United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Iran have also overtaken China in terms of the COVID-19 death toll. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally.

Read: US University Developing COVID-19 Tracker Inspired By Apple's 'Find My' Feature

Read: Donald Trump Calls Mail-in Ballots 'ripe For Fraud' As COVID-19 Worries Loom Over US Polls

(Image Credit: AP)


India on Friday said the degree of seriousness of each member nation of the SAARC in collectively fighting the coronavirus pandemic can be gauged by their behaviour, in a clear reference to Pakistan's opposition to New Delhi's leadership in dealing with the crisis in the region.

India's reaction came a day after Pakistan pledged to contribute USD 3 million to the SAARC Coronavirus Emergency Fund as proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi but demanded that any initiative to deal with the situation must be brought under the bloc's framework.

On Wednesday, Pakistan boycotted a video conference of trade officials of the SAARC countries, saying such initiatives could only be effective if spearheaded by the group's secretariat instead of India.

India has been maintaining that the initiatives taken under extraordinary circumstances are focussed on jointly dealing with the pandemic without being bounded by any procedural formalities.

"It is for each SAARC member state to decide on the timing, manner and implementation of their SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund commitments. Where India is concerned, the commitment made by the prime minister is today in an advanced stage of implementation," Ministry External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

He was responding to a query on Pakistan's announcement of the contribution to the emergency fund and insistence that it should be utilised in accordance with the SAARC Charter.

"Assistance in material and services has been extended to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These SAARC countries have also made early commitments to the Fund. The degree of seriousness of each nation can be gauged by their behaviour," the spokesperson said.

In a video conference on forming a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region, Modi on March 15 proposed the emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India. It is understood that India has already made the contribution.

Subsequently, Nepal and Afghanistan pledged USD 1 million each while Maldives pledged to contribute USD 200,000, Bhutan USD 100,000, Bangladesh USD 1.5 million and Sri Lanka announced to contribute USD 5 million to the fund.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional grouping comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

All the SAARC member nations are reeling under adverse social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

After Pakistan boycotted the video conference of trade officials of the SAARC, government sources said the neighbouring country was aiming to score narrow political goals by attempting to bring India's initiatives under the framework of the grouping.

"It is an attempt to score narrow political goals while people of the region are facing the Coronavirus crisis," said a source.

Wednesday's video conference took place as part of India's initiatives to jointly fight the pandemic as well as its economic and social impact on the region.

The sources said Pakistan will get a free hand to block India's initiatives if COVID-19 related interactions are brought under formal structure of SAARC.

If the initiatives are brought under the umbrella of SAARC, then Pakistan will have the option of scuttling them by pressing for the principle of consensus in drafting of agenda, outcome document and on all other related issues at every step, they said.

A series of initiatives have been taken to deal with with the pandemic as a follow up to the India-initiated video conference of SAARC leaders on March 15.

India has been considering the activities as being stand-alone and outside the "SAARC calendar of approved activities".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 10, 2020 | 02:47 PM | PADUCAH





West Kentucky Community and Technical College is one of more than 70 colleges and universities to receive more than $156 million in emergency funds from the U.S. Department of Education for students and institutions during the pandemic. Approximately $2.4 million of the emergency funds will be going to WKCTC.





"WKCTC is excited and thankful to hear Senator Mitch McConnell's announcement of the federal CARES student financial support," said WKCTC President Anton Reece, "It comes at a critical time as our remarkable students are continually adjusting and facing various financial challenges during the COVID19 pandemic. This will definitely be much needed relief for our current and future students."







The funding is a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that Senator McConnell introduced and was passed last month. The bipartisan act, which is the biggest rescue package in history, passed on a 96 to 0 vote, and was signed into law by President Donald Trump. Because of the CARES Act, Kentucky will be receiving at least $1.25 billion in relief.







The Department of Education says the emergency financial aid can be used by students for course materials, technology, housing, food, healthcare, and child care costs.

WKCTC has announced they will be receiving financial aid to help students in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funeral workers in protective gear transport the casket of Myanmar's confirmed coronavirus case No. 17, who died in Pyay township, central Myanmar's Bago region, April 7, 2020.

He was known in Myanmar as coronavirus patient No. 17.

The township administrator, married to a nurse, became a tragic headline that captivated the Southeast Asian nation once known as Burma after he died Wednesday of the contagious virus, officially known as COVID-19.

He caught the virus from his wife, a nurse who works at an international medical center in the commercial capital Yangon, and who is known as coronavirus patient No. 15.

After she became ill, the administrator on March 26 took their eight-year-old daughter, 10-year-old son, and an 18-year-old niece who lived with them from their home in Yangons Bahan township to Paukkhaung township in Bago region, where he worked.

Five days later, his wife tested position for the virus. As authorities tracked down everyone the nurse had come into contact with, her husband and the three children were confirmed as COVID-19 positive.

The husband, whose name also has not been released, had been in serious condition and died after being treated for two days in the Intensive Care Unit at Pyay General Hospital. His funeral was held at Nyein Ayeyar Cemetery in Pyay, but none of his immediate family members who are all in the hospital could attend.

His ashes were buried in the Christian quarters of the interdenominational cemetery, said Soe Moe Naing, chairman of Moe Myittar Free Funeral Service Association who arranged for the body to be cremated Wednesday morning.

His family members held a customary Christian wake this morning, he said. We have quarantined two volunteers from our association and a staff member from the crematorium.

The mans wife requested that photos be taken during the funeral since she and the children could not attend.

Dr. Khin Soe Soe Kyi, a lawmaker who represents the Pyay township constituency in Bago region, where the children were first admitted to the hospital, said Thursday that the three are in good condition.

The two children have no fever, she said. They dont have any coughing, sore throats, or fatigue.

The niece had a mild fever two days ago, but has since recovered, she said.

Now, all three of them are in good condition, Khin Soe Soe Kyi added.

Aung San Suu Kyi's promise

Following her husband's death, the woman, whose name has not been publicly released, appealed to State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi to send the children back to Yangon to live with her while she is being treated at Waibargi Hospital, a medical institution that specializes in infectious diseases.

Now that the father has passed away, she is concerned about her son, daughter, and niece, who had been admitted to Pyay Hospital, said Khin Soe Soe Kyi.

The mother, who has been admitted to Waibargi Hospital, is worried about the children, so the authorities agreed to send them to Waibargi Hospital yesterday evening, she added.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmars de facto leader and chairwoman of the national-level Central Committee on Prevention, Control, and Treatment of Coronavrius Disease 2019, said during a live video conference Wednesday that the state would take care of the surviving family members.

I feel sorry for the man who lost his life in Pyay Hospital, she said. Losing one person is also a loss for everyone. We feel sorry, but having sorrow alone is not enough. We have our responsibility. We must try not to make the situation worse.

The state will fully look after his surviving family members. It is the states duty, Aung San Suu Kyi added.

As of April 9, Myanmar registered 23 confirmed coronavirus cases and three fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports.



Reported by Phyu Phyu Khine for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Tony Evans hosting virtual Good Friday to urge men to covenant with God, heal nation in crisis

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Pastor Tony Evans is issuing a clarion call to men on Good Friday to covenant with God for the advance of His Kingdom and the healing of the land amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The vision for the "Kingdom Men Calling" online gathering was originally set in motion as a result of Evans' ministry to men, in part based on his book Kingdom Man, in which he challenges men toward biblical, godly manhood. The event will be streamed on Evans' Facebook page at 8 p.m. CT.

When COVID-19 hit, the longtime pastor Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas recalled the specific emphasis he placed on Exodus 34:23-24 in which God speaks of gathering men to appear before the Sovereign Lord in order to save the land.

"Given that the land is in trouble, that when men will covenant with God we can get God to intervene in our situation," Evans explained in a Thursday phone interview with The Christian Post.

"When men fail it opens up the door for cultural collapse," he stressed.

At the end of the gathering, every man who is interested will be invited to receive free downloads to continue further study of what covenanting with God looks like, specifically as it relates to manhood.

"We have plenty of religious men, we don't have covenanted men, plenty of even Christian men who are not aligned underneath this word called covenant," Evans says in a video promoting the gathering.

Asked to elaborate on what he means by "biblical manhood," Evans explained that what he calls a "Kingdom man" is a man who consistently lives all of life under the rule of God, reflecting God's ways in every area of life.

"And the word that God uses to signify that level of commitment is the word covenant, and a biblical covenant is a divinely created relational bond. When God established a covenant, He established it so that men would relate to Him, would come under His authority and reflect His word and His will in all of life," he told CP.

Yet when men abdicate that position underneath God then the things they are responsible for become shaky, he added. When men fail in this way, every sphere of culture disintegrates.

"The whole point of a biblical man is that he out-serves the woman who he is responsible for. He is not a tyrant, not a dictator. He is a superior servant. And because he is a superior servant, he is reflecting Jesus Christ and that gives him legitimate, not illegitimate authority."

He also pointed that that "many men have not been fathered correctly, so they don't know how to be the right kind of husband or father."

"For many men it's not their fault, because they just don't know," he lamented.

"We want to serve men to be servants."
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan has commended the swift action taken by Heads of State and Government of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to contain and combat the spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus)
VALLETTA, Malta - Malta has brought to its shores 70 migrants who drifted into Maltese waters after being stranded at sea for five days, but said Thursday that it must suspend further rescues due to the COVID-19 emergency.

After the rescue mission, the Malta government said in a statement that it could no longer help migrants in distress at sea trying to reach Europe from northern Africa.

Malta said the resources of law enforcement and armed forces are focused on combating the spread of the virus, which has infected some 350 people on the Mediterranean island nation since March 7, and noted that the port and airports had been closed to passenger traffic due to the emergency.

In the light of the magnitude of these pressures, it is considered that the Maltese authorities are not in a position to guarantee the rescue of prohibited immigrants on board of any boats, ships or other vessels, nor to ensure the availability of a safe place on the Maltese territory to any persons rescued at sea, the government said in a statement.

More than 500 migrants set out from Libya this week, according to the International Organization for Migration. Their fates have been complicated by the virus.

Italy also has closed its ports to non-Italian-flagged rescue boats, citing fears over the pandemic. Italy has denied a request for docking by the Alan Kurdi, a German-flagged rescue vessel that pulled 150 migrants from the water and is still searching for a port.

About 280 migrants were picked up after three days at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard, but then denied entry to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Australian Students Offered 2500 Places at ANU for 2021

CANBERRAThe Australian National University (ANU) will be accepting 2,500 Australian school-leavers next year based on their year 11 results from April 9 until May 25, 2020.

This comes after many graduating students have had their exams and assessments interrupted by the CCP Virus CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. The figure is roughly equivalent to recent intakes.

The CCP virus pandemic has left universities confronting an uncertain future for domestic enrolments.

ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt said in a video statement that 2020 was not panning out how any of us expected and that this will provide thousands of school-leavers from all across the nation with certainty in uncertain times.

Offers of university placements will also be sent out earlier in August, with the hope being that this will allow students to prepare and plan for university next year.

The peak body for the sector, Universities Australia (UA), said on April 7 that Australias universities were facing a steep revenue decline owing to the reduction in international students for the second semester. It estimated the loss would be between AU$3$4.6 billion ($1.92.5 billion).

Universities Australia Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said in the same statement that universities around Australia may lose 21,000 jobs in the next 6 months or more if the pandemic lockdown continues. A report by Professional Services firm Deloitte Australia commissioned by UA estimated that the university sector brings in AU$41 billion ($25 billion) in revenue for Australia.

Overseas Enrollments Down, Financial Pain Coming

The loss of international students has walloped the sector. In 2019 Australian universities gave 720,000 spots to overseas students, with the largest group coming from China.

Salvatore Babones, a researcher from the University of Sydney, released a study in 2019 detailing how Australian universities were relying far too much on overseas enrolments. He argued if the sector did not stop, Australian universities would be hard-pressed to meet their financial and moral obligations to creditors and employees.

Detailing how his employer generated more than half a billion dollars in annual revenue from Chinese student fees in 2017. Babones noted that universities need to stop pursuing international students, or they will be a risk to Australian governments and ultimately to Australians themselves.

Universities are also aware of the dangers faced by opening themselves up to large numbers of international students. In 2019 the Australian National University suffered a huge data breach by Chinese hackers that had been going on for 19 years. While in Queensland, universities saw increasing interference from Chinese international student groups.

In response to the difficulties, the Australian government set up a taskforce to monitor and stop further interference.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 18:55:21|Editor: Xiaoxia

Video Player Close

A firefighter decontaminates their personal protective equipment at a decontamination tent in Antipolo City, the Philippines, on April 10, 2020. The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines on Friday reported 119 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number to 4,195. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

MANILA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines on Friday reported 119 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number to 4,195.

The DOH further reported that 16 patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 140.

However, the DOH also said that another 18 patients died, bringing the death toll to 221.

To prevent a looming domestic shortage of health workers, the Philippines has recently decided to temporarily ban sending Filipino health workers such as doctors and nurses abroad.

According to the resolution, which Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello signed, the order was to ensure the country has a sufficient number of health workers amid the public health emergency.

"Whereas it is of paramount national interest to ensure that the country shall continue to have, sustain the supply, and prepare sufficient health personnel to meet any further contingencies, especially to replace, substitute or reinforce existing workforce currently employed, deployed or utilized locally," the resolution said.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders bump elbows before their debate in Washington on March 15. (Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images)

To the editor: With several news articles plus an editorial, the Los Angeles Times' coverage of Sen. Bernie Sanders' departure from the 2020 Democratic presidential race rivaled that of a fallen commander-in-chief.

When he first ran for president four years ago, several of Sanders' ideas, like "Medicare for all," were characterized as wildly radical by many Democrats and Republicans. Now, single-payer healthcare will probably be one of the issues former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and President Trump debate.

With his campaign, Sanders proved is more than just a politician; he also is a mensch. No matter how you define the Vermont lawmaker, one thing is certain: His shadow will loom large over the 2020 presidential election this fall.

Denny Freidenrich, Laguna Beach

..

To the editor: Your editorial states, "We also believe that it's vital that voters bring to an end the incompetent and corrupt administration of Donald Trump." You call the president an "odious incumbent."

What is your justification for labeling the Trump administration as "incompetent and corrupt"? Was it redoing our trade agreements to improve the balance between us and our partners? Was it destroying Islamic State? Was it presiding over an economy that generated the lowest unemployment rate in decades?

Was halting travel from China on Feb. 2 and from Europe on March 13 to ameliorate the COVID-19 pandemic incompetent? Is the team he put together to fight the coronavirus incompetent?

I could go on, but hopefully you get my point.

Larry Hart, Tarzana

..

To the editor: Sanders is an honorable man. I disagree with him on important issues but I respect his decency and love of all. He serves us well in putting our greater needs first.

Hopefully we will have more like him as we reexamine our values during this crisis.

Paul Malykont, Los Osos
As a young seminary student, Lynn Horan was serving a few months as an Albany Medical Center chaplain when she was summoned to the maternity ward, an urgent call she felt unprepared to answer. Parents asked her to baptize their stillborn baby.

The mother cradled the dead infant. The father stood gazing out a nearby window. As Horan blessed the lifeless baby, the dad turned toward them.

Horan was stunned.

He was holding a healthy boy, the surviving twin of the stillborn baby. No one had told Horan the parents had twins.

"In the father's face I saw seemingly contradictory emotions of despair and hope, like watercolors streaming together from opposite sides of the pallet," Horan said. "I came expecting to find death and darkness covering the room but here, also standing before us, was life and light."

That memory of the joy of birth mingled with sorrow over loss will open her written Easter sermon this Sunday. Horan, now 36, is pastor of historic St. Peter's Presbyterian Church in small, rural Spencertown. Like many of the Capital Region's pastors and priests, she's been inspired by the pandemic's turbulent, fearful times to deliver Easter messages that weave together darkness with light.

Many local rabbis are also sharing Passover messages celebrating the Israelites' escape from slavery while remembering the decades of hardship wandering the desert that followed.

Normally, the darkest elements of these springtime holy days are obscured by the delight in family feasts, new clothes, pastel-colored crocuses, tulips and daffodils blossoming. But the 2020 pandemic brought the turmoil and fear felt in biblical times into our current Easter consciousness.

"Early Christians saw the future as frightening, unpredictable after their leader died in a horrible execution," Horan said. "They were hiding indoors, afraid of being arrested."

Her Easter sermon reads in part: "This is Easter: recognizing the heartbreaking realities of life yet in those very same moments embracing the joy, the holiness, the gift of life itself."

Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of the Albany Diocese also sees the analogy between Easter 2020 and the holiday's ancient roots. The diocese is broadcasting its Holy Week services over the Internet, as many other congregations are doing across the nation and the world in response to the social distancing required to stop the pandemic.

"We have never been closer to what the early Christians faced on Good Friday," he wrote to the Times Union when asked to share his Easter message. "Their lives were shattered, everything they hoped for, the One they had hoped in... Easter, and the hope for the life that lasts, is not a story we can...make happen but a mystery we discover."

Easter is the joyful zenith of Holy Week which starts with Palm Sunday, celebrating Christ's triumphant arrival in Jerusalem. Good Friday marks the crucifixion. Saturday night memorializes Christ in the tomb.

"Some Christians would like to jump from Palm Sunday to Easter without the darker days in between," said Rev. Rebecca Putman from Fulton County's Northville Presbyterian Church.

Putnam recalls one of the most powerful services she's ever attended was a Saturday night before Easter at a predominantly black church. The worship service was plunged into darkness, not a flicker of candlelight, to simulate a dark tomb. Before the choir sang a pre-Civil War gospel, "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord," Putnam said the choir let out "a loud, almost primal scream."

It was meant to re-create pain the disciplines must have felt upon learning of Christ's fate.

St. Peter Armenian Church in Watervliet posted "Glimmers of Light," a Holy Week video from Bishop Daniel Findikyan, primate of the Eastern Diocese. Findikyan zeroed in on the grim days of Christ's arrest, trial and death just before Easter.

"But light emerges from darkness," Findikyan said, adding that darkness and light co-exist because all earthly humans can percieve are "glimmers of God's powerful light."

Rev. Father Leander S. Harding, dean of the Cathedral of All Saints, is hosting a Saturday vigil via Facebook and YouTube. Darkening the soaring space to represent the tomb is difficult.

"It may not work," he said. But he's not stressing over aesthetics in this Easter of COVID-19.

Harding said in his view he thinks COVID-19 (the illness brought on by the coronavirus) and the pandemic bring a very sharp focus to the question of "is there more than just this life?" "Dare we hope in life eternal  can Christ really give that to us? This is the big question."

Lockdown confinement shaped other holy day sermons.

The extremely active congregation of Albany's Westminster Presbyterian enjoys a gamut of social activities from book clubs to millennials' restaurant mixers. Members volunteer for a wide array of charitable efforts.

Rev. Bill Schram's Easter message urges confined congregants to be inspired by "selfless, heroic efforts of healthcare workers, essential employees maintaining supply chains."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

At Albany's Macedonia Baptist Church, Rev. Leonard Comithier, Jr. streamed a Holy Week sermon called "Medicine for Fear." Because "perfect love casts out fear," he counseled his church to love the pandemic's heroes, from first responders to friends who make "midnight coffee" when you are scared and need to talk on the phone.

Likewise, Gilead Lutheran Church Pastor Jeff Silvernail in Center Brunswick pays tribute to first responders who must venture out in a crisis. He praises "the women who dutifully went to the tomb of Jesus that Sunday morning to do what was right, to care for the body of Jesus."

One of the women, Mary Magdalene, has her courage rewarded by an encounter with the resurrected Jesus.

Although no one can worship in the church, a volunteer decorated an empty cross with white lilies so Silvernail can film his sermon near that Easter symbol, signifying that death isn't the final word on a life.

"As we traverse through this strange time with its absence of public worship, with its worries and fears, let's remember how that story ended. Jesus is alive!" Silvernail said.

Rena Kieval of Congregation Ohav Shalom uses the theme of pandemic confinement in her Passover commentary on YouTube. The Jewish eight-day holiday, which commemorates the Israelites' daring escape from Egyptian slavery, began on Wednesday night this year and ends Thursday, April 16. Kieval's talk is aptly named, "In a Narrow Place," and starts with the Israelites trapped at the edge of the Red Sea as the pharaoh's army thunders toward them.

Some Israelites wanted to drown rather than be captured. She compares them to those made hopeless by the pandemic. Others wanted to fight.

"There are enemies we cannot defeat no matter how hard we fight," Kieval said, adding COVID-19 can't be defeated by combat. She urges her congregation to strengthen bonds with friends, ask each other and God for help.

Rabbi Mordechai Rubin's Colonie Chabad celebrations are usually inclusive, crowded and high-spirited. This Passover, it's just him and his young family sheltering at home. He offers a silver lining Passover message.

"This year's Seder will be much like the original observed by our ancestors on the eve of their Exodus: a family-only event, with no one entering or leaving the home," Rubin wrote. "In our fragmented, distracted society, let's embrace this veiled blessing... of time to nurture the mind and soul."

As for this Sunday's Easter observances, Father Anthony Ligato (who leads both Wynantskill's St. Jude the Apostle Church and Troy's St. Michael the Archangel Church) has a Easter homily that addresses the angst his congregations feel about what post-pandemic life will be like.

"As we wait for the virus to be defeated, we pray and reflect on our lives, the good, the bad and the indifference of our lives," Ligato wrote. "How can we simply go back to our lives prior to the pandemic (when) we have been changed by this event in ways we can't even understand."

Scharfenberger's Easter message is blunt. Post-pandemic life won't be the same. But possibly, humans might be better.

"If I seek security in things returning to how they were, good old days, that quest will lead nowhere," Scharfenberger wrote. "Our hope is, rather, in a God who loves us... and that helps us discover our true humanity."

lyedwards@timesunion.com  518-454-5403
Coronavirus is impacting everyones travel plans. One of the top questions frequent fliers have for travel industry executives is: Whats going to happen to my elite status?

There are clearly far more important things to worry about at the moment but with frequent fliers among the many people stuck at home for weeks, this is clearly something theyre pondering. Just check the message boards and/or comment sections of aviation blogs.

Obviously, flight cancellations, curtailed service, stay-at-home orders, and closed borders are making it very difficult for travelers to get from point A to B, let alone maintain their elite status for 2021.

In previous high-profile travel disruptions like 9/11 or the 2003 SARS outbreak, airline loyalty programs automatically extended elite status or relaxed minimum qualifications.

However, these are unprecedented times. Never have airlines cut flights so dramatically and it feels like travel is about to come to a screeching halt, which in fact, it has in some places.

If youre wondering if airlines and hotels are extending elite status benefits, then heres whats happening:

What Can Airlines Do for Elite Status?

The first coronavirus-related travel restrictions began impacting air travel at the end of January. Up until a few days ago, U.S. airlines were taking an understandably wait and see approach in regards to how frequent fliers can earn elite status in 2020/21.

While there are ways to earn airline miles that dont involve flying, the best course of action, at the moment, is to wait and hear from the airline.

As flight curtailments continue through the spring travel season airlines may take one of these approaches:

 Extend current loyalty status for up to 12 months

 Relax the annual minimum qualifications

 Offer status points at a discount to keep your ongoing loyalty

Asian carriers began taking measures to protect fliers elite status back in February. For example, Cathay Pacific was offering relief to Marco Polo Club members and Club benefits were also extended up to six months at current tier level.

The world was watching what the Asia-Pacific airlines such as Cathay did, as these were the first to feel the effects of coronavirus.

Their reaction gave fliers an idea of what to expect from other airlines. In mid-March, Australian carrier Qantas announced that its frequent flier status would automatically be extended for 12 months. Just this week, U.S. airlines started making similar announcements.

Delta Extends Medallion Status Benefits

On April 5, Delta Air Lines became the first major domestic airline to make a move.

Medallion members will have their Medallion Status for 2020 extended into 2021. All Medallion Qualification Miles from 2020 will also roll into 2021 to enable qualification for Medallion status in 2022.

Individual and Executive Delta Sky Club memberships expiring on or after March 1, 2020, automatically extend another six months. Also, Delta SkyMiles Credit Card members get a six-month extension on select benefits like flight credits and a Companion Certificate.

Deltas first move helps set a precedent that other U.S. airlines may follow. While we dont know when travel will return to normal, SkyMiles and Medallion members have some relief.

United Extends MileagePlus

Less than 24 hours after Delta, United Airlines announced it is extending MileagePlus Premier status through January 2022.

It says all MileagePlus Premier members will retain the status they earned for 2020, through January 2022.

In addition, for the 2021 status year, United is reducing thresholds for Premier qualification by 50 percent for each status level, to make reaching an even higher status tier easier, it said.

Now the big question is whether or not American Airlines follow Delta and Uniteds move?

Theyll probably have to do it soon if they dont want to risk their frequent fliers switching their loyalty to one of their competitors. Airlines are happy to match elite status from other carriers.

Flight Discounts Ahead

One hidden benefit of the travel lull is finding discounted flights this summer with loosened ticket restrictions.

Airlines across the globe have been reducing ticket prices on select routes in all classes and many are waiving change fees in case the current situation doesnt improve. Be sure to read the fine print and if any airline cancels your flight to, from or within the United States, youre entitled to a full refund not a travel voucher.

This is also the time when cashing in airline miles is not worth it because ticket prices are so low.

However, if you do have elite status and you have a lot of miles, you might want to use them if your airline has already extended your elite status for 2021 to save cash and burn your miles.

What About Hotel Elite Status?

In addition to the airlines extending frequent flier elite status, hotel loyalty programs are extending elite status benefits too.

Hilton announced on March 25 that anyone whose 2019 status was scheduled to be downgraded at the end of Marchwhether Diamond, Gold, or Silverwould be automatically extended until March 31, 2021.

Similarly, 2020 status would be pushed until March 31, 2022.

The hotel chain said it would also pause the expiration of all loyalty points scheduled to expire throughout the rest of 2020.

Meanwhile, World of Hyatt said April 3 that it was extending its current elite status tier through Feb. 28, 2022.

Anyone with Discoverist, Explorist, or Globalist elite status on March 31, 2020 will now have nearly two years of the same status level.

Hyatt is also extending the expiration for all unused free night awards, suite upgrades and club lounge access awards from Dec. 31, 2020, to the end of 2021.

These programs follow Best Western Rewards, which became one of the first hotels to extend elite status when members were told in early March that they will maintain their current status through Jan. 31, 2022, without needing to fulfill necessary qualifications.

The-CNN-Wire and copyright 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
We understand the restrictions on travel during the coronavirus pandemic. But like you, we dream of travelling again, and are publishing these stories with future trips in mind.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.The Roaring 20s are back and so, too, is the Cavalier Hotel.

The Cavalier was born as a grand hotel in 1927 at the height of the Roaring 20s on a hill overlooking what the Guinness Book of Records considers the worlds longest pleasure beach. It played a major role in developing that beach in Virginia into one of Americas most popular playgrounds.

The majestic hotel, once sitting on 16 square kilometres, had fallen into disrepair in this new century and appeared to have a date with the wrecking ball, due mostly to a family dispute among its owners.

In the mid-50s, Gene Dixon, a wealthy mine owner, was denied access to the Cavaliers elaborate dining room because he wasnt wearing a tie. He refused a tie that the maitre d offered him and left the building.

A couple of years later, he came back and bought the hotel and never again wore a tie in the dining room.

Dixon owned Virginias Kyanite Mining Corp., the worlds largest kyanite producer, which extracts the mineral used in the manufacture of spark plugs, ceramics, auto parts and the heat-resistant tiles on space shuttles.

After Dixons death, his son, grandson and extended family took over the mining operation, plus the hotel. But the family then started fighting over the distribution of profits from the mine. It all ended up in court, where a circuit court judge in Virginia ruled that the mining company and hotel be sold and the proceeds be disbursed among the feuding family members.

By then, the hotel needed significant repairs, was losing money and had an occupancy rate of 27 per cent. That was a long way from its heyday, when it was considered the finest resort in America. At least 10 U.S. presidents had laid their head to sleep in the Cavalier and many movie stars had danced the night away to the music of Cab Calloway, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman, with Frank Sinatra at the mic.

To avoid breaking up the profitable mining company, the majority shareholders in the Dixon family bought out the noisy minor shareholders for $77 million (U.S.).

They put the Cavalier up for sale to pay off the minor shareholders, but the hotel needed big, expensive repairs. Local hotel developer and operator Bruce Thompson and a local consortium bought the hotel for $35.1 million with court approval, then closed it for four years to spend $200 million on structural repairs.

The refurbished hotel, now with 62 rooms and 23 suites compared to 195 rooms when it closed, opened in time for the 2018 summer beach season.

In 2017, Thompsons hotel firm Gold Key/PHR Hotels & Resorts opened the $175-million Hilton Norfolk The Main, a 15-storey hotel on Norfolks harbour overlooking the USS Wisconsin, a Second World War-era battleship.

Thompson also owned three Oceanfront hotels stretched along Virginia Beachs famous five-kilometre-long boardwalk, which was built with wood in 1888, but is today a seven-metre-wide paved pathway and bicycle trail.

Thompson recently sold his three hotels on the boardwalk, but is now building a $175-million remote addition to the Cavalier Hotel about 500 metres downhill on the beach.

To help pay for the refurbishing of the Cavalier, Thompson sold the eight hectares surrounding the hotel for high-end housing. The hotel sat on a 16-square-kilometre site in the previous century and guests used to shoot ducks and other waterfowl on the property to bring back to the hotel chef to be cooked for their dinner that night.

Hotel guest F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, didnt shoot waterfowl outside the hotel. Instead, he spent a lot of his time lounging by the saltwater swimming pool scribbling notes. Fitzgerald may have even been at the Cavalier when Adolph Coors, the founder of Coors Brewing Company, threw himself to his death out of a sixth-floor window in 1929.

Virginia Beach attracted 17 million visitors last year and youll be able to tell the difference between locals on the boardwalk and visiting Canadians. The locals never look up when a U.S. navy F-18 Hornet goes screaming by only 300 metres or so overhead.

Virginia Beach is home to Naval Air Station Oceana, the U.S. navys only master jet base on the east coast. Dozens of jet fighters head out over the Atlantic each day at low altitude. Oceana is also the home of SEAL Team 6, a highly trained anti-terrorism and hostage rescue squad. Youll see their squadrons of helicopters heading out over the beautiful beaches on a regular basis.

Much of Ontario and Quebec is within a days drive of Virginia Beach and Canadians get a 25 per cent reduction in prices at various hotels, restaurants and attractions along the beach up until the middle of June, but that date may be extended because of COVID-19. Canadians need to show their passport to get the reduction and the Virginia Beach web page (visitvirginiabeach.com) has a list of the hotels, restaurants and attractions accepting the loonie at par.
Donald Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen is in solitary confinement, his lawyer has said.

Cohen, 53, is currently serving a three year sentence at Otisville Federal Correctional Institution for violating campaign finance laws.

He was moved to the disciplinary Special Housing Unit, Cohen's lawyer and two other sources revealed to Reuters.

Cohen had been in the minimum-security camp at Otisville, which is about 70 miles northwest of New York City.

Michael Cohen, 53, is pictured above exiting his New York apartment on May 6 2019 to begin serving his jail sentence

One of the sources said Cohen was placed in solitary after another inmate complained about his internet use.

In an email seen by Reuters, Cohen's lawyer Roger Adler said: 'It is my understanding that a verbal dispute over phone use prompted a temporary placement to SHU pending an investigation.

'I do not however know who prompted the altercation, or if the action taken was factually/ regulatory appropriate.'

Cohen (above, pictured making his way to jail) requested early release in March because of his fears over catching coronavirus. His request was rebuffed by U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan

A former representative for Cohen, Lanny Davis, declined to comment.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it could not comment on circumstances of individual inmates.

The Otisville Federal Correctional Institution has 840 inmates, with 722 at the prison and 118 at a nearby camp, according to the Bureau of Prisons

Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to eight counts including directing hush payments to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, both who claimed they had affairs with Trump.

Trump has always strenuously denied the encounters.

Cohen pleaded guilty to a further count of lying to Congress in November 2018 and began his jail sentence in May 2019.

He started working as Trump's personal attorney in 2007 and once said he would 'take a bullet' for the President.

Cohen had worked as Trump's personal lawyer since 2007. Above, he is pictured delivering a talk during Trump's campaign trail at the New Spirit Revival Center Church in Ohio, September 2016, while Trump looks on

In March, Cohen argued that he should be released from prison early because of the coronavirus outbreak and the risk of contracting the virus.

U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan rebuffed the request in a scathing order.

'Ten months into his prison term, its time that Cohen accept the consequences of his criminal convictions for serious crimes that had far reaching institutional harms,' the judge wrote on March 23.

Adler said in an email that he had sent a letter on Tuesday requesting compassionate release for Cohen despite Pauley's order.

Adler called the disciplinary action a 'hiccup' in the process and said he was hopeful that Cohen would be returned to the prison's general population when 'all the facts are known.'

The federal prison has a medium security prison as well as a minimum security satellite camp. It has a full-time Jewish chaplain and offers kosher meals, Passover seders. It has a large number of inmates who, like Cohen, are Jewish.

Rabbi Menachem Katz for the Jewish-outreach Aleph Institute told New York Magazine back in 2008: 'The Bureau of Prisons kind of unofficially designated it to meet the needs of Orthodox Jews.'

Cohen issued a statement outside of his apartment before he was transported to jail, in which he said: 'There still remains much to be told and I look forward to the day that I can share the truth.

Cohen is eligible for release in November 2021.
Dr Jane Goodall told how her friend Prince Harry hinted at leaving the royal family months before his bombshell 'Megxit' announcement.

Dr Goodall, 86, who is in lockdown in Bournemouth, recalls a comment made by the prince, 35, during a conversation last summer.

Speaking to the Daily Mail's Weekend Magazine, Dr Goodall said Harry had told her he didn't want Archie growing up with the airs and graces of a royal - suggesting he and Meghan, 38, already had other plans for their future.

Dr Jane Goodall told how her friend Prince Harry hinted at leaving the royal family months before his bombshell 'Megxit' announcement. Pictured, the pair at an event last summer, around the same time Prince Harry is thought to have made the comment

'At the end [of the conversation] Meghan came in to listen with Archie,' Dr Goodall recalled.

'He was very tiny and very sleepy  not too pleased to be passed from his mummy. I think I was one of the first to cuddle him outside the family.'

Dr Goodall continued: 'I made Archie do the Queens wave, saying, I suppose hell have to learn this. Harry said, No, hes not growing up like that.'

The exchange took place at the end of an interview Prince Harry conducted with Dr Goodall for Meghan's September issue of British Vogue.

The interview is thought to have taken place when Harry joined Dr Goodall at an event to raise awareness of her Roots & Shoots programme at St George's House, Windsor Castle, in July last year.

Six months later Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they would be stepping back as senior working royals.

Dr Goodall said she spoke to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and met their son Archie. Pictured, the couple with their son in South Africa in September last year

They officially gave up their HRH titles at the end of March.

The couple are in isolation with 11-month-old son Archie in California, where they are busy setting up their post-royal life.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced this week they are launching a new charitable foundation named Archewell.

Prince Harry and Meghan have said they 'look forward' to getting started with the Archewell foundation, which will replace their Sussex Royal brand.

The pair also have plans to include their own charity as well as a website, as part of their new venture.

Harry and Meghan revealed the Greek word in the project Arche  meaning source of action  was the inspiration behind the name of their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
Short-form video app TikTok announced today it's committing more than $250 million to support front-line workers, educators and local communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as an additional $125 million in advertising credits to public health organizations and businesses looking to rebuild. Some of these funds are being directed toward major health organizations, like the CDC and WHO, while other funds are aimed at helping individuals or smaller businesses.

The $250 million includes three separate efforts: the TikTok Health Heroes Relief Fund, TikTok Community Relief Fund and TikTok Creative Learning Fund.

The first is the most significant effort, as it provisions $150 million in funds for things like medical staffing, supplies and hardship relief for healthcare workers. Included in these distributions is $15 million to the CDC Foundation to support surge staffing for local response efforts through state and local governments, and $10 million for the WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

In addition, TikTok, which is owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, said its employee matching program will deliver aid to organizations like the Red Cross and Direct Relief.

TikTok also said it's working with global and local partners to deliver masks and other personal protective equipment to hospitals in India, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea and the U.S., among others. Earlier this month, TikTok announced it had donated 400,000 hazmat medical protective suits and 200,000 masks to protect doctors and front-line medical staff in India, for example.

The TikTok Community Relief Fund, meanwhile, is focused in particular on vulnerable communities impacted by COVID-19.

This effort involves allotting $40 million in cash for local organizations that serve representatives of TikTok's user community -- including musicians, artists, nurses, educators and families. The fund has already been used to donate $3 million to After-School All-Stars, which is providing food for families who had previously relied on school lunches, and $2 million for MusiCares, which supports artists, songwriters and music professionals whose livelihoods have been disrupted.

Story continues

As a part of the Community Relief Fund, TikTok will also be matching $10 million in donations from its community.

The third effort, TikTok's Creative Learning Fund, will provide $50 million in grants to educators, professional experts and nonprofits working on distance learning efforts. TikTok sees itself as a potential home for creative remote learning efforts, but didn't announce any specific plans on this front.

Outside of the funds themselves, TikTok is extending ad credits to health organizations and SMBs.

The company is providing $25 million in prominent "in-feed" advertising space for NGOs, trusted health sources and local authorities, allowing them to share their important messages with millions of people, it said. Other major tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Twitter, have done the same on their own platforms.

TikTok noted it has worked to spread educational information in other ways, as well, having hosted live streams from representatives of WHO, IFRC and other popular voices in public health and science, including Bill Nye the Science Guy. There's also a dedicated section in TikTok with other resources: the COVID-19 Resources Page on TikTok's Safety Center. And it has partnered with creators on campaigns like #HappyAtHome, which airs live programming at 8:00 PM ET/ 5:00 PM PT on Fridays and has other themed experiences planned during weekdays.

TikTok will also offer $100 million in advertising credits to small and medium-sized businesses trying to get back on their feet in the months ahead. This effort hasn't yet started, as it will depend on the decisions made by public health authorities about the re-opening of businesses, the company explained.

"We understand that these are challenging times for everyone," wrote TikTok president, Alex Zhu, in an announcement. "Alongside businesses, governments, NGOs, and ordinary people across the globe stepping up in this critical moment, we are committed to offering the very best that we can to help out humanity. Together, we will persevere through this time of crisis and emerge a better community and part of a world that we fervently hope will be more united in common purpose than it was before," Zhu added.
Through an emergency authorization, the FDA approved hydroxychloroquine for what is called off label use, meaning doctors can prescribe it in limited fashion for COVID-19 patients, but FDA has yet to determine if it is effective.

Scientists in the United States have begun testing an anti-malarial drug as a potential treatment for coronavirus patients.

President Donald Trump has touted the benefits of hydroxychloroquine despite warnings from health experts of its long list of side effects.

Its efficacy in curing COVID-19 remains unproven and a specific vaccine for the virus may still be months away.

Al Jazeeras Gabriel Elizondo reports from New Jersey, US.
Also last month, the EPA issued an unusually permissive memo to the companies it regulates, allowing them to skip routine pollution checks, testing and training if they can claim that covid-19 interrupted their operations. Some leeway may be necessary, particularly on requirements for in-person training. But the memo was so broadly worded and out of step with previous EPA practices that it will likely encourage companies to try to get away with far more than the situation demands, with the pandemic as a handy excuse. The document even raised the possibility that polluters might not be punished for creating an acute risk or an imminent threat to human health or the environment if they can argue that their failure was tied to the pandemic.
1ST DEATH IN MONROE COUNTY

A Monroe County man in his 70s has died after testing positive for COVID-19, county officials announced Friday.

The man died at an area hospital. The medical examiner reports that while the person tested positive, his death was due to multiple underlying health conditions, according to the Monroe County Health Department.

The health department released no additional information.

Monroe County Health reported no additional cases Friday. There have been eight confirmed cases; 388 negative tests; 4 people listed as recovered.

Monroe County Health Department sends our deepest condolences to the family, friends and community of this individual. We continue to take this virus seriously, said Sharon Nelson, director/health officer of the department. This loss is a reminder of how important the safer-at-home order is in the protection of our most vulnerable residents.
Because of the coronavirus outbreak, Poland's ruling conservative government has held scaled-back commemorations marking the 10th anniversary of a plane crash in Russia that killed then-Polish President Lech Kaczynski and other high-ranking officials.



Only a small group of senior officials, including Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of the late president and head of the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS), and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, attended the wreath-laying ceremony at the Warsaw monument at the exact moment that the plane crashed on April 10, 2010, in the western Russian city of Smolensk.

Many Poles, including top members of PiS, question the results of the official investigation conducted by the previous centrist government of Donald Tusk, which found that the Tu-154 military plane crashed in heavy fog at an airport near Smolensk due to human error and bad weather.



Poles also criticize Russias handling of the investigation, and Jaroslaw Kaczynski suspects his brother was assassinated, probably by the Russians.



"After 10 years, it's difficult to say anything or predict whether the case can ever be resolved," said President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the PiS.



"We don't have basic evidence; the wreckage is still in Russia; the black boxes are still in Russia," he said in Krakow after visiting Kaczynski's grave in the Wawel Cathedral.



Poland's Foreign Ministry sent a diplomatic note to the Russian Embassy in Warsaw calling on Moscow to return the crash wreckage.



"No norm of international law gives grounds for Russias retention of Polands property," the ministry said.



Poland has made similar demands in the past, but Russia says it is keeping the plane wreckage because of an ongoing investigation.



Russian authorities said on April 10 that there was no evidence of an explosion causing the crash.



The tragedy has strained relations with Russia, all the more so because the plane had been traveling to commemorate a World War II massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police.

With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters
DURAND, MI -- Eight employees at Durand Senior Care and Rehab have tested positive for COVID-19 and all residents and employees are being monitored for symptoms of the virus.

The Shiawassee County Health Department and Durand Senior Care jointly announced the coronavirus cluster west of Flint a news release Thursday, April 9, and said the employees who tested positive are self-isolating at home and are no longer in contact with residents, who are being isolated in their rooms and not participating in group activities.

Durand Senior Care and Rehab is working closely with the Shiawassee County Health Department to ensure residents and staff are safe by following Centers for Disease Control guidelines, the announcement says.

Staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19 will not be able to return to work until at least three days have passed since recovery, which is defined as resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and improvement in respiratory symptoms.

At least seven days must have passed since symptoms first appeared, all symptoms must have improved, and the employees must be released from monitoring by the Health Department, the announcement says.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not immediately reach a representative of the senior home for further comment.

In a message about coronavirus on its corporate web site, the facility reported early Thursday evening that it did not have a positive case of COVID-19 at its facilities, including Durand.

Mike Perry, chief executive officer of NexCare Health Systems, said in a message on the web site that its facilities have taken steps to help reduce the potential for the virus. The steps include limiting all visitors to facilities unless absolutely necessary, strict handwashing procedures, and in many circumstances, wearing gowns and gloves when interacting with residents who present symptoms.

The news release says Durand Senior Care is currently taking temperatures on all residents and staff twice a day, monitoring residents respiratory status two times a day, has shut down all communal spaces and quarantined residents to their rooms, has limited all non-essential visitors for over the last three weeks, has re-educated staff on the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and how it is spread, and required staff to wear masks when they clock in.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported Thursday that there have been 31 cases of coronavirus in Shiawassee County. The county has yet to have a death attributed to the virus.

Nine more die from coronavirus in Genesee County, 48 total lives lost

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends coronavirus stay-at-home order through April 30
Surgeon General Jerome Adams pleaded with the African-American community and other communities of color to follow the government's guidelines to 'slow the spread' of the coronavirus - as those communities are being disproportionately hit by the pandemic.

'We need you to do this if not for yourself than for your abuela. Do it for your granddaddy, do it for your big momma, do it for your poppop,' the nation's top doctor said Friday at the daily coronavirus taskforce briefing - later defending his use of slang.

Adams assured Americans of color that 'there is nothing inherently wrong with you,' but 'social ills' are likely a contributing factor when looking at the dire statistics that the outbreak has killed twice as many Americans of color.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams asked members of communities of color in the United States to follow the White House guidelines, imploring them to 'do it for your granddaddy, do it for your big momma, do it for your poppop'

The surgeon general talked about some of the dire statistics that show black and Latino Americans are dying twice as much of coronavirus complications than their white peers

Adams was asked later in the briefing if he should have used language like 'big momma' and brought up alcohol and drug use when speaking about communities of color

On Wednesday, New York released data that showed black and Latino people were twice as likely to die from coronavirus than white residents.

Similar figures are popping up around the country including in Chicago where 70 per cent of the deaths have been black people, who only make up 30 per cent of the population.

In Louisiana, with New Orleans being another hot spot, 70 per cent of the dead have been black. Black people only make up 32 per cent of residents in the state.

'Everywhere we look, the coronavirus is devastating our communities,' said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP.

Johnson and other black leaders, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, were on a call Friday with Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the White House's coronavirus taskforce, and Adams, who took over the briefing room podium to discuss the call and the numbers.

'So what's going on?' he said. 'Well it's alarming, but it's not surprising that people of color have a greater burden of chronic health conditions.'

Among those are high blood pressure, which Adams said African-Americans and Native Americans see at a much younger age than their white counterparts.

'Puerto Ricans have higher rates of asthma and black boys are three times as likely to die of asthma than their white counterparts,' Adams said.

Crosses are seen outside of a church, as each cross represents one life lost to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the state of Louisiana, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana U.S, April 10

Adams said the 'chronic burden of medical ills' among Americans of color is making those communities less resiliant to the 'ravages' of COVID-19

Adams then pulled out his own red inhaler, used to open the airwaves during an asthma attack.

'As a matter of fact, I've been carrying an inhaler in my pocket for 40 years out of fear of having a fatal asthma attack,' said Adams, who is black. 'And I hope that showing you this inhaler shows little kids with asthma all across the country that they can grow up to be Surgeon General one day.'

'But I more immediately share it so that everyone knows it doesn't matter if you look fit, if you look young, you are still at risk for getting and spreading and dying from coronavirus,' he warned.

Adams said the 'chronic burden of medical ills' among Americans of color is making those communities less resiliant to the 'ravages' of COVID-19.

'And it's possible, in fact likely that the burden of social ills is also contributing,' he remarked.

He mentioned trends like fewer people of color having jobs where they can work from home. He also pointed to housing trends - where many Americans of color live in urban, and thus more densely-packed, places and have multi-generational living arrangements.

'We tell people to wash their hands, but a study shows that 30 per cent of homes on Navaho nation don't have running water, so how are they going to do that?' he asked.

The takeaway, Adams said, was that 'people of color experience both more likely exposure to COVID-19 and increased complications from it.'

'But let me be crystal clear, we do not think people of color are biologically or genetically predisposed to get COVID-19, there is nothing inherently wrong with you,' he said. 'But they are socially pre-disposed to coronavirus exposure and have a higher incidence of the very diseases that put you at risk for severe complications of coronavirus.'

Adams then encouraged members of those communities to follow the guidelines of social distancing, mask-wearing and hand-washing strictly.

'Wash your hands more often than you ever dreamed possible,' he said. 'Avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs,' he advised.

'And call your friends and family, check in on your mother, she wants to hear from you right now,' Adams said.

And with the mention of mothers, Adams listed nicknames for Spanish grandmothers and black moms.

Later in the briefing, PBS NewsHour's Yamiche Alcindor asked Adams to respond to people who might have been offended by his colloquialisms.

'We need targeted outreach to the African-American community and I used the language that is used in my family,' Adams said. 'I have a Puerto Rican brother-in-law, I call my granddaddy "granddaddy" I have relatives who call their grandparents big momma.'

'That was not meant to be offensive,' he added. 'That's the language that we use and I use and we need to continue to target our outreach to those communities.'

Alcindor also pressed Adams on why he mentioned drugs and alcohol, when talking specifically about communities of color.

'All Americans need to avoid these substances at all times,' he said.
Disney parks could start checking visitors temperature before letting them enter the premises.

Bob Iger, Disneys executive chairman, spoke to Barrons about how the company plans to reopen parks once the coronavirus crisis is over.

He said that a vaccine would play an essential part in making people feel safe, adding: But in the absence of that it could come from basically more scrutiny, more restrictions.

Just as we now do bag checks for everybody who goes into our parks, it could be that at some point we add a component of that, which takes peoples temperatures, for instance, Mr Iger added.

The company is looking at measures implemented by China as coronavirus lockdown eases up.

One of the things thats obvious is theyve conscripted a large segment of their population to monitor others in terms of their health, Mr Iger said.

You cant get on a bus or a subway or a train or enter a high-rise building there  and Im sure this will also be the case when their schools reopen  without having your temperature taken.

All Disney theme parks shut down in March as part of efforts to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
A royal expert has slammed Prince Andrew for 'exploiting coronavirus to creep back into the spotlight' after he surfaced publicly for the first time in nearly three months.

The Duke of York, 60, was seen packing cupcakes into gift bags to be donated to Thames Hospice in Windsor in a series of photographs posted to Instagram.

The photographs, which show him with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson at their Windsor home, were posted by Ms Ferguson's assistant Antonia Marshall last night.

The images mark Andrew's first public appearance since he attended church in Sandringham, Norfolk with the Queen in January.

Prince Andrew was later spotted arriving at a memorial service for Sir Malcolm Ross at St George's Chapel in Windsor last month, though his attendance was not acknowledged in the official record of royal events, the Court Circular.

The Prince was forced to quit frontline royal duties in November following a car-crash Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis, in which he failed to apologise for befriending billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.

However the Prince Andrew's most recent appearance has drawn criticism from one royal watcher.

The Duke of York, 60, was seen packing cupcakes into gift bags for the Thames Hospice in Windsor in a series of photographs posted to Instagram (pictured) last night

Royal biographer Tom Bower said it was 'rather pathetic that he (Prince Andrew) exploits the coronavirus crisis to creep back into the spotlight'.

He said: 'He should do good works but not seek to win kudos by posting trashy photos.

'If only they would both accept that their only public duty is to remain invisible from the public.'

Another royal watcher, Richard Fitzwilliams, said Prince Andrew's actions were 'admirable'.

He said: 'This is the sort of thing he (Prince Andrew) ought to be doing.

'When someone does something like this it's very very clear it should be appreciated.'

However, Mr Fitzwilliams said Prince Andrew was still likely to face scrutiny over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, which led him to step down from front-line royal duties.

The images mark the first time the Duke has been seen with the Duchess of York since making that announcement.

In the caption, Ms Marshall explained the pair were packing Easter care packages of cakes and biscuits to give to those at the nearby Thames Hospice.

'Sarah Ferguson and the Duke of York packing all the care packages for the Thames Hospice in Windsor today,' she said.

'The York Family are a wonderful and steadfast unit and through this crisis, are continuously helping others. So proud of them all...'

Another photograph captured Prince Andrew as he arrived at the hospice to present the bright pink gift bags to residents and staff.

The images also mark the first time the Duke has been seen with the Duchess of York since he stepped down from his royal duties three months ago

In the caption, Ms Marshall explained the pair were packing Easter care packages of cakes and biscuits to give to those at the nearby Thames Hospice

It is believed the majority of the photographs were taken at the Duke's home in Winsdor, Berkshire - the Royal Lodge - where he and Sarah are thought to be staying together amid the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

Andrew was last spotted in public in January, when he attended church in Sandringham with the Queen.

Although he cut a solemn figure as he marched into church, Andrew seemed pleased with his appearance at the Queen's side and was pictured grinning as he was whisked away from the service.

During Prince Andrew's interview with Emily Maitliss, The Duke of York said he did not recall meeting alleged sex-slave Virginia Roberts  now known as Virginia Giuffre - and emphatically denied that he had sex with her.

The royal also denied sweating heavily on the dance floor at Tramp nightclub with her, on the basis he had suffered from a medical condition at the time which meant he did not sweat.

Andrew then sought to cast doubt on the authenticity of a photograph that showed him with his arm around Miss Roberts' waist, but conceded that it was difficult to prove if it was a fake.

Andrew was last spotted in public in January, when he attended church in Sandringham with the Queen

Sarah Ferguson has urged her fans to find 'gold-hearted strength' and 'keep focused on small steps to victory' amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

The Duchess of York, 60, has been using Instagram to keep in contact with her 262,000 followers.

It comes after Fergie, along with daughter Princess Eugenie and son-in-law Jack Brooksbank, made a secret mercy dash to deliver supplies to frontline NHS staff last week to help during the crisis.

Sharing the post with her followers yesterday, she wrote: 'Hold with golden-hearted strength and keep focused on small steps to victory.

Royal biographer Tom Bower (pictured) said it was 'rather pathetic that he (Prince Andrew) exploits the coronavirus crisis to creep back into the spotlight'.

'To reach the summit, it takes mini steps, through many valleys, perseverance and patience and you will get there.

'The light would not be so bright without the shadow.'

It is not known where the photographs were taken, but the Duchess has previously shared snaps of snowy mountain scenes taken from her home in Verbier.

Last month, Fergie claimed Mother Nature has 'taken back control' and 'sent us to our rooms like spoilt children' on Instagram.

She shared a snap of a blossom tree alongside the thoughtful message, believed to have been taken at her home with Prince Andrew at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park.

Her former husband was forced to step down from his royal duties following allegations made by Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein.

She said in an interview with BBC Panorama that she was left 'horrified and ashamed' after an alleged sexual encounter with Andrew in London in 2001.

She alleges the duke had sex with her on three separate occasions, including when she was 17, still a minor under US law.

Alongside the post, the Duchess of York shared a snap of a snowy mountain. While it is not known where the image was taken, the royal has shared pictures from her home in Verbier before

Alongside the image of the snowy mountain scene, Sarah shared a picture of a galloping white horse

The duke categorically denies he had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre.

American authorities still investigating Epstein, who committed suicide in jail while facing sex trafficking charges, want to interview the Queen's son.

US lawyer Geoffrey Berman, who is leading the Epstein inquiry, said in March: 'Contrary to Prince Andrew's very public offer to co-operate with our investigation into Epstein's co-conspirators, an offer that was conveyed via press release, Prince Andrew has now completely shut the door on voluntary co-operation and our office is considering its options.'

The duke stepped down from royal duties in November following a disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with Epstein.

Following the interview, he was accused of failing to show regret over his friendship with the disgraced financier, and empathy with his victims.

Princess Eugenie, 29, took to Instagram to re-share a story first uploaded by the Royal Mail's Official account, and penned: 'Thank you to every postman and woman for working so hard during this time. You can download these stickers to thank you postie'

he royal then went on to thank Boldon postie Jon for bringing 'joy' during this time by delivering letters in fancy dress

Sarah Ferguson also took to her own Instagram account to thank @kikasa_cupcakes for the tasty treats they donated to the front line workers in Windsor
LUDLOW  As the first clients of Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchis First Responder Recovery Home take up residence, Country Bank has offered up a $50,000 donation to support the initiative.

While COVID-19 testing sites for first responders have been set up across the state, Cocchi was the first in Massachusetts to announce the opening of a recovery center for frontline workers  including doctors, nurses, police, firefighters, EMTs, corrections workers and military personnel  diagnosed with the disease. Some universities have followed suit.

Cocchi has offered up an 84-room prerelease center at the Ludlow correctional campus. It is designed for members of this professional population experiencing viral symptoms, but still able to care for themselves, who may have children, elderly parents or other vulnerable loved ones at home they are reluctant to expose.

Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday announced that the death toll in Massachusetts surpassed 500.

So far, two people have entered the Ludlow facility and calls are flooding in, Cocchi spokesman Robert Rizzuto said.

While the initial launch of the facility was bolstered by donations from the community and local businesses, Cocchi announced the hefty contribution from the Ware-based financial institution on Friday morning.

I cant thank Country Bank enough for stepping forward and making this donation to help our first responders in this time of unprecedented need, Cocchi said. Their donation will help us provide top-notch care for the people who usually care for us, and a comfortable environment for the people who come running when we are in need in our daily lives. This is our time to help the helpers. Its the least we can do.

Rizzuto said the Sheriffs Department is conducting outreach to police and fire departments throughout the region, as those departments report rising numbers of both afflicted and exposed staff awaiting test results.

You, as a first responder, deserve a peaceful and tranquil place to recover from the COVID-19 virus without the worry of infecting a vulnerable family member, outreach fliers read.

Cocchi previously said the facility will offer hotel bedding and restaurant quality food, and today announced a volunteer pool of medical professionals will be on call. Services will be provided free of charge.

That team will include medical staff from the community led by the Town of Ludlow physician Dr. Shaukat Matin. They will be making daily rounds, and if someone needs more comprehensive medical care, the Sheriffs Department will help coordinate transportation to critical care facilities, Rizzuto said.

Any doctor, nurse, police officer, firefighter, EMT, correctional professional or military member can call 413-858-0801 or 413-858-0819 to request a room or ask questions. Entrance will require the persons full name, gender and expected length of stay, among other information. All correspondence will be confidential, the department said.

These are challenging and ever-evolving times as we face the continued uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and how it will impact our region, said Paul Scully, President and CEO of Country Bank. As a community partner, we care deeply about our communities, and wanted to show our appreciation and support for first responders, healthcare workers and their families throughout the region when they need it the most.

The donation raised community-based contributions to over $87,000, Rizzuto said.

Community partners include: Country Bank; Anthony Ravosa and the 91 Supper Club; Charlie DAmour and Guy McFarlane of Big Y Foods; Bob Bolduc and Pride Stores; Cesar Ruiz Jr. and Golden Years Home Care; Jim Brennan on behalf of the Edward J. Brennan Jr. Family Foundation; Anthony Cignoli of A.L. Cignoli Co.; Jeff Polep of J. Polep Distribution Services; Jay Caron of Bee-Line Corp.; Larry Katz of Arnolds Meats; Andy Yee and Peter Picknelly; and Matin.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the First Responder Recovery Home initiative can send tax-deductible donations to: Criminal Justice Organization, 627 Randall Road, Ludlow, MA 01056. Check memo: First Responder Recovery Home.

If youre having trouble viewing the embed to sign up on your mobile device click here.
Cook County officials, including Sheriff Tom Dart, are reacting to the COVID-19 challenge. Darts office worked with prosecutors and defense attorneys to release at-risk detainees, moved inmates to separate cells in an effort to enforce social distancing and handed out soap and, yes, sanitizer. The jail population has dropped to a low in recent memory  but there are limits to what a criminal justice system should do. As of last week Dart said 70% to 75% of detainees were locked up on violent charges. Theres some bad people in this world, and those people cannot be released, the sheriff said reassuringly.
In the middle of H-E-B's heralded response to the coronavirus pandemic, it is also celebrating the birthday of the man who turned H-E-B into what it is today.

Howard E. Butt was born on April 9, 1895. Though the Butt family is one of the most well-known Texas names, Butt was born in Memphis, Tenn. The family moved to the Texas Hill Country, finding a home in Kerrville, where Howard E. Butt and his siblings grew up. His parents, Charles Clarence Butt and Florence Thornton Butt, decided on relocating in hopes that the dryer climate would be therapeutic for the father's tuberculosis, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

SAFE SHOPPING: How you can avoid coronavirus exposure while shopping

When Howard H. Butt was 10, the first grocery store in the family history was started by Florence in Kerrville. The mother started C.C. Butt Grocery Store in November 1905 with a $60 investment, H-E-B's online timeline says. The store, which sold bulk food, started young Howard E. Butt on a path which would lead to generations of customer loyalty. At 16, Howard E. Butt became manager of his mother's store. After graduating as valedictorian of his Tivy High School class in 1914, he spent some time in California, then enlisted in the U.S. Navy to serve in World War I.

By 1919, Howard E. Butt had returned to Kerrville to help his mom with the store. In 1921, he transitioned the store, which was based on deliveries, into a cash-and-carry, which was a move that was considered risky at the time.

After a few failed attempts to expand the store in Texas, he opened a store in Del Rio in 1926 and then in the Rio Grande Valley. San Antonio welcomed the first H. E. Butt Grocery Company in 1942, before the stores were officially named "H-E-B" in 1946. In 1971, as the founder celebrated his 76th birthday, he gave the role of president to his son, Charles C. Butt. A few years later, H-E-B's headquarters moved to San Antonio. Howard E. Butt's successor also implemented changes like staying open on Sundays and starting the sale of beer and wine, according to San Antonio Express-News archives.

Howard E. Butt died on March 12, 1991. He was 95.

Charles C. Butt remains at the helm of the grocery giant as CEO. The chain, which remains privately owned, now has hundreds of stores in Texas and Mexico.

In January, H-E-B took the top spot in a consumer survey of more than 60 grocery stores nationwide. Now, H-E-B is earning national acclaim for its crisis response during the pandemic, including protective measures and increased pay for employees and community relief like a new program which allows local restaurants to sell their meals in the grocery stores. The partnership program gives restaurants in-store display space, as COVID-19 emergency orders restrict food establishments to take-out and delivery only. Participating restaurants are able to keep all of the proceeds from sales of the heat-and-serve meals, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

ON THE FRONTLINE: Houston H-E-B employees test positive for coronavirus

Longtime H-E-B employee Eddie Garcia, who helped launch the company's annual Feast of Sharing dinner, said helping communities they're part of is ingrained in the Butt family values in a 2015 San Antonio Express-News interview.

The Butt family has always tried to address hunger in the community, Garcia said.

He said Florence donated all surplus from the original Kerrville store to the poor.

All of this builds customer loyalty, he added. For H-E-B, its not just about raking in money. Its about doing the right thing.

Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye
Editors note: See the results of part 2 of this challenge here.

With a significant portion of the population stuck inside during the COVID-19 pandemic, were challenging Star readers every week to try new things and show off their skills.

This week, we asked readers to take a photo of what they see when they look outside their window, and get creative with the lighting, angle, framing and subject from inside your home.

We asked Star photographer Steve Russell to pick his favourite five photos and provide feedback. Im not specifically looking technique, he says. As a photojournalist I think the most powerful aspect of a photo is how it communicates feeling.

These are the five photos of the submissions received before April 8, 2020 at midnight (submissions received after will be considered for next week due to the Good Friday statutory holiday) that made Steve reflect on his feelings as a Torontonian in the centre of a pandemic:

From Steve Dunn, Toronto

Steve: Love this picture through the window. Its very nicely exposed with very few light trails from cars on the highway and so many lights in the condo towers and apartments throughout the city showing us that everybody is participating in: #StayHome.

From Esther Zea

Steve: Beautiful light that makes the leaf buds pop. In this challenging time this photo gives us all a little bit of hope for a new beginning when we will emerge from our homes when this crazy time is over.

From Teresa Uszacki, Toronto (Bathurst/St. Clair baloncy view)

Steve: This photo has a couple things that speak to community. We have the CN Tower in the background which identifies us as Torontonians. We have a church steeple in the foreground, another place where community gathers, and we have the skyline that represents many small communities that create a bigger city. In this time of physical distancing this is a good reminder of how much we are missing, but how much we will gain later on.

The sunset is great metaphor as well, I like to tell my children that each day that passes is one day closer to everything being back to whatever normal will be.

From Gregory Robins, Scarborough (Photo title: Love, Live, Life)

Gregory: I made this from recycled aluminum in my backyard to try and help with what the city is going through during Covid-19. With the sun rising on the piece, I hope it will give people trust that we will get through this and appreciate life so much more.

Steve: Many people are sharing strength in this scary, unpredictable, strange time in messages that they place on their front lawns. I feel these messages help ground us and let us know that were not alone and give us hope.

From Tony van Kessell, Muskoka (Photo title: Muskoka Morning coffee view)

Steve: While many of us are physical distancing in the city, some might be closer to the countryside. What I hope this photo does is to help those that might not have this escape right now think about a place that they have been that helps them remember the feeling that this photo has. Serenity now.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday by Pendletons two brothers, alleges that Pendelton was shackled by his hand and foot to his hospital bed in accordance with Cook County sheriffs office policy, even though the policy called for an armed guard to be present around the clock.
Nestle MILO launched paper straws for MILO Breakfast Drink to meet the rising green consumption trend in Vietnam

The development of green consumption trends

Green consumption is becoming a rising trend in the world as the environment has become a major concern of many countries. Thus, the market for eco-friendly products is expanding, with a growing number of people willing to pay more for a cleaner conscience and a cleaner world.

Like many other countries in the world, the green consumption trend areis more and more popular in Vietnam. According to a recent survey by Nielsen Vietnam, 80 per cent of consumers are willing to pay more for green and clean brands. The green products are made from eco-friendly materials, thereby ensuring safety for human health and the environment. It is clear that there has been increased awareness among Vietnamese consumers about environmental issues.

In line with this trend, many enterprises are investing in green and clean products and are building brands associated with sustainable development. Nielsen Vietnams survey also showed that brands committed to green and clean products enjoy four times higher annual profits than their peers.

Nestle MILO and paper straws  a green initiative to protect environment

Taking action for the environment, Nestle MILO under Nestle Vietnam will put into use over 16 million paper straws for its MILO Breakfast Drink this year, contributing to a reduction of 6.7 tonnes of plastic waste. Since March, consumers find their favourite Nestle MILO Breakfast Drink now comes with a paper straw.

For the first time, Nestle MILO products feature paper straws. Interestingly, 16 million straws, if lined up, they would stretch over 2,200km, equivalent to 1.5 times the distance from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. The new initiative affirms the companys commitment to realising its sustainable development goals in Vietnam.

Nestle MILO will use more than 16 million paper straws in all of its MILO Breakfast drink products in 2020

The switch to paper straws demonstrates Nestle MILOs commitment to supporting Vietnam in achieving its green goals for the future. The Vietnamese government currently targets a 75 per cent reduction of plastic waste in beaches and oceans by 2030. It is also in line with Nestles own global commitments to reduce its own plastic use, aiming to make 100 per cent of its packaging recyclable and reusable by 2025.

Ali Abbas, head of Nestle Vietnams Dairy Business, shared that launching paper straws for MILO Breakfast products is one of our ways of bringing a real impact to the environment. This is a long journey and we are constantly striving to come up with and execute new initiatives.

With this pilot initiative, we hope to inspire positive change among our consumers and enjoin them to do their part to help the environment. Every small action we do today can have a big, positive impact tomorrow if we all work together, he added.

Nurturing environmental protection habits among children

Nestle MILO Breakfast products with paper straws are available nationwide in all Co.opmart and Co.opXtra stores, which is also one of the first supermarket chains in Vietnam encouraging consumers to pursue a green lifestyle. The distribution of these products will be extended to various retail channels within the year. Many parents are really keen on the idea of replacing plastic straws with paper ones.

Parents are excited and pleased with the new paper straws

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thao (District 7, Ho Chi Minh City) said that the initiative of using paper straws will help cultivate environmental protection habits among children as well as teach the young generation to value what they have.

In particular, the switch from plastic straws to paper straws will not affect the quality of products or change the usage habits of children. Paper straws are manufactured in line with European standards so they are safe to use without changing the flavor and aroma of the drink. The paper straws are also easily disposable and environmentally friendly. With a deep understanding of childrens habits, Nestle MILO has designed its paper straws to look like plastic straws so that children can easily enjoy their favorite MILO Breakfast Drink.

I am pleased with Nestle MILO's paper straws that are similarly shaped and sturdy like plastic straws. Children can put paper straws into their drink, which bend easily without folding or breaking. Paper straws are safe to use and are environmentally friendly so I am completely assured of the product quality, Ngoc Trang (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) said, expecting that Nestle MILOs initiative will be replicated in Vietnam to protect consumers' health and living environment.
Taiwan Hits Back at 'Racism' Claims From WHO Chief, Invites Him to Visit

2020-04-09 -- Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has hit out at accusations from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the democratic island's government had instigated "racist attacks" in the international community.

"I strongly protest the accusations today that Taiwan is instigating racist attacks in the international community," Tsai said in a statement.

"Taiwan has always opposed all forms of discrimination. For years, we have been excluded from international organizations, and we know better than anyone else what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated," said Tsai, who has repeatedly been ignored by the WHO after calling for membership of the U.N. health agency.

Taiwan, which has never formed part of the People's Republic of China nor been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, has nevertheless been denied membership in international organizations under huge diplomatic pressure from Beijing, which claims the island as part of its territory.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that he had been personally attacked, had suffered racist abuse and had even received death threats.

"This attack came from Taiwan," said the WHO chief, who is a former Ethiopian health and foreign minister and the organization's first African leader.

Taiwanese diplomats were aware of the attacks but did not dissociate themselves from them, Tedros alleged.

"They even started criticizing me in the middle of all those insults and slurs," Tedros added. "I say it today because it's enough."

However, he gave no specific examples of the attacks, nor of any link to Taiwan, where the authorities are waging an ongoing battle against online disinformation by Beijing's supporters that long predates the coronavirus pandemic.

Invitation to visit Taiwan

Taiwan foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said Taiwan's government, which is a sovereign state dating back to the 1911 Republic of China founded by Sun Yat-sen, regretted that Tedros had been the target of racist attacks.

"We also know what that feels like in Taiwan," Ou said. But she called on him to retract his claim that the foreign ministry had been linked to that abuse in any way.

"Dr. Tedros' unproven and inaccurate allegations against Taiwan, with no attempt at verification, are not only inconsistent with the facts, but also cause serious harm to our government and people," Ou told a news briefing in Taipei on Thursday. "Such defamation is extremely irresponsible."

"Our government Director-General Tedros to correct these unfounded allegations, clarify immediately, and apologize to our country," she said.

"We call on Director-General Tedros to abandon political prejudice, return to a neutral and professional position, invite Taiwan to fully participate in all meetings and mechanisms to combat the COVID-19 epidemic, and resume its invitation to Taiwan to participate in the WHO with observer status," she said.

Tsai, meanwhile, called on Tedros to visit Taiwan.

"If Director-General Tedros could withstand pressure from China and come to Taiwan to see Taiwan's efforts to fight COVID-19 for himself, he would be able to see that the Taiwanese people are the true victims of unfair treatment," said Tsai, who was re-elected on a landslide last November amid growing threats from Beijing over possible military action to annex the island.

"We have never let our inability to join international organizations lessen our support for the international community," Tsai said.

Tedros' allegations came after U.S. President Trump said the WHO was "China-centric," and suggested that the U.S. would consider withdrawing funding from the agency.

US funding cut threats

Trump said the WHO "got it wrong" in their handling of the coronavirus epidemic.

"They also minimized the threat very strongly," he said on Wednesday.

WHO Europe regional director Hans Kluge responded that "this is not the time to cut back on funding."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed later Wednesday that the U.S. was reevaluating its WHO funding, saying that "it hasn't accomplished what it was intended to deliver."

The chair of the African Union's commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, tweeted the support of the African Union for the WHO and Tedros, but U.S. Senator Marco Rubio called for Tedros to resign.

"Unfortunately, it has been politicized ... I have deep concerns about it," Rubio, a Beijing critic and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), told Fox News.

Yen Chen-shen of the Institute of International Relations at Taiwan's Cheng-chi University said any attempt to unseat Tedros at the WHO will likely fail.

"There are more than 50 countries in Africa, and the African members will support him ... in addition, he may also win support from Middle Eastern countries," Yen said. "Basically, he won't be replaced unless China were to be dissatisfied with him."

"[Many developing countries] have received many benefits from China, so they will support China in international organizations," Yen said. "But the U.S., and especially Trump, is pursuing a policy of unilateralism, and he is unwilling form alliances or work within the international system."

"That effectively leaves a vacuum which can be filled in these organizations by China."

Zhuang Jiaying of the National University of Singapore agreed.

"The Obama administration attached great importance to the United Nations, but the Trump administration is not the same, and basically despises the U.N," Zhuang said. "So they may not be very active in promoting their candidates or canvassing for votes."

He said even if there was a recall and a new election for a WHO leader, there would be little advantage to the U.S.

Reported by Cai Ling, Chung Kuang-cheng, Gao Feng and Man Hoi-tsan for RFA's Mandarin and Cantonese Services. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Copyright  1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content April not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






New emoji have been delayed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

There will be no new characters next year as the volunteers who help create them are struggling to deal with the health situation across the world, according to the Unicode Consortium, which organises new emoji releases.

The new emoji that were announced earlier this year  which include transgender representation and extinct animals  are still expected to make their way to iPhone, Android and other platforms through the course of 2020.

But the new updates that would have been planned for 2021 have been pushed back to the following year. Version 14 of Unicode's standards, which would have included the new characters, has been delayed by six months, it said.

The Unicode Consortium is made up of most of the biggest technology companies in the world, who work through the group to agree new emoji, ensuring that all the available characters are consistent across platforms and interoperable. But the actual work of the consortium is done in large part by volunteers, and the delay was agreed to ensure they were able to deal with the fallout from the pandemic.

Under the current circumstances weve heard that our contributors have a lot on their plates at the moment and decided it was in the best interests of our volunteers and the organizations that depend on the standard to push out our release date, Mark Davis, president of the consortium, said in a blog post. This year we simply cant commit to the same schedule weve adhered to in the past.

New emoji work on a long schedule: they are usually finalised in January, but do not actually arrive in new phones until the following September. The new schedule pushes the schedule back by six months, meaning that any characters planned for version 14 are not likely to arrive until the spring of 2022.

The delay in the schedule does give an extra six months to anyone planning to submit proposals for new emoji, with the deadline pushed back to September of this year. Anyone can propose an idea for an emoji to the consortium, which then works to decide if the character should be added.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

The consortium said it was still looking to see whether it will be possible to release new "sequenced" emoji, which are made up of existing characters combined to make a new one, and those new emoji could come sooner. The planned black cat, for instance, is internally made up of the existing cat emoji added to the existing black square one, and so could still arrive next year in a smaller release.
Several banks have cautioned



their customers against possible attempts by fraudsters as they became active to exploit the three-month loan repayment moratorium offer in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Friday.

The cyber criminals pretending as officials of banks have been reaching out to borrowers, offering them assistance to avail the loan repayment moratorium scheme for phishing out account details, they said.

"They have become active at a time when people are seeking immediate relief from their financial obligations.

"After getting some complaints, many banks have started sending messages to their customers, requesting them to be cautious against possible frauds," an official said.

He, however, did not provide details about number of such cases already registered.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India said, "Please note that EMI deferment does not require OTP sharing. Do not share your OTP."



Fraudsters are reaching out to banks' customers through social media, e-mail, phone calls or SMS, another official said.

"Don't let fraudsters profit from the pandemic. Fraudsters are taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic by preying on public fears," Standard Chartered said in a message.

"Posing as bank representative or public officials, they might attempt to obtain personal and financial information from you, which may lead to data compromise and fraudulent transactions," it said.

Axis Bank, in a communication, requested its customers to protect their banking information against frauds relating to EMI moratorium.

"Fraudsters have started a new modus operandi to gain access to your banking details. Imposters may contact you to help postpone your EMI payments and request you to share OTP, CVV, password or PIN related to your banking accounts. Stay aware," the lender informed its customers.

ICICI Bank, too, has been requesting its customers to be cautious against the deceptive activities by cyber criminals.

The Reserve Bank had recently announced a three-month moratorium on loan repayments in the wake of COVID-19 crisis for dues to be paid between March-May 2020 and left it to the banks to implement the same.

Several private sector banks have decided to go for the "opt-in" option on loan repayment moratorium, putting the onus on the customers to take the initiative of informing the lenders of their choice to go for the three-month breather.

A slew of state-run banks have gone for an "opt-out" option where the repayments automatically get deferred unless a customer informs his or her willingness to pay.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States topped 500,000 on Friday as health officials reported the highest number of death in a single day.

As of Friday evening, 18,637 people in the United States have died of coronavirus, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, an increase of 1,953 deaths from Thursday. Worldwide, there are 1.69 million confirmed cases and more than 102,000 reported deaths.

The grim milestone comes as researchers warned that lifting social distancing measures too soon could lead to a setback in the pandemic mitigation.

The latest version of an influential model tracking the coronavirus pandemic estimated the US will see peak daily death numbers on Friday instead of Sunday.

The peak use of resources -- like hospital beds and ventilators -- will be on or around Saturday as suggested earlier this week, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.

States like New York and New Jersey may have already passed their peaks this week, but Florida and Texas could see the worst by the end of the month, according to the IHME model.

Dr. Chris Murray, director at the IHME, said that even if the country sees a decrease in the number of deaths, ending mitigation efforts -- like stay-at-home orders or social distancing -- could have a negative effect by the summer.

"If we were to stop at the national level by May 1, we are seeing (in models) a return to almost where we are now sometime in July," Murray said on CNN's AC360.

The IHME's modeling also estimates more people will die from coronavirus than previously predicted.

On Wednesday, the IHME estimated that 60,415 in the US would die of coronavirus by August, assuming social distancing policies continue through May. On Friday, that estimate increased to 61,500.

White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said health officials seeing a leveling of the curve for the first time since the pandemic hit the country but urged Americans to continue mitigation efforts.

"So it's really about the encouraging signs that we see, but as encouraging as they are, we have not reached the peak, and so every day we need to continue to do what we did yesterday, and the week before, and the week before that," Birx said at a White House news conference on Friday.

Infections would increase if stay-at-home orders are lifted at 30 days, projections show

After federal officials began discussing what it would take for the US to reopen this week, new government projections indicate that coronavirus infections and deaths may dramatically increase if social distancing and other measures are lifted after only 30 days.

The projections, obtained by The New York Times, were drafted by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services and dated April 9. The projections don't indicate when those spikes would take place, the Times reported.

The Times reported that the documents outline three scenarios, including one where no restrictions are imposed and another where 25% of people telework, some social distancing continues, and schools remain closed until the summer months. The third scenario adds a 30-day shelter-in-place to the restrictions in the second scenario.

If stay-at-home orders are lifted after 30 days, report says, there would be a bump in the demand for ventilators and the death toll could reach 200,000, according to the Times.

A Health and Human Services spokesperson told CNN's Kristen Holmes, "We do not comment on any alleged, leaked documents." CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

President Donald Trump said he is hoping to reopen the country by a certain date, but he won't do anything until he knows the country will be healthy.

"We don't want to go back and start doing it over again, even though it would be in a smaller scale," Trump said during Friday's White House coronavirus briefing.

Earlier on Friday, the nation's top infections disease expert cautioned against reopening too early, saying there should be a clear indication that the country is "strongly going in the right direction."

"So, even though we're in a holiday season, now is no time to back off," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN. "As I say so often, now is the time to actually put your foot on the accelerator. Because we're going in the right direction."

Antibody tests could be available this month

Antibody tests that would verify whether a person recently had the novel coronavirus could be available within a week, according to the nation's top infectious disease expert.

"Within a period of a week or so, we're going to have a rather large number of tests that are available," Fauci said on CNN's New Day Friday morning.

Having antibodies to the coronavirus could mean someone is protected from getting re-infected, making such tests important for medical workers and others on the front lines fighting the pandemic.

"If their antibody test is positive, one can formulate strategies about whether or not they would be at risk or vulnerable to getting re-infected," Fauci explained.

Tests that would identify a current infection would still be important, he said, and used in parallel with antibody tests, which still need to be validated.

"But as we look forward, as we get to the point of at least considering opening up the country as it were, it's very important to appreciate and to understand how much that virus has penetrated this society," Fauci said. "Because it's very likely that there are a large number of people out there that have been infected, have been asymptomatic and did not know they were infected."

Antibody tests are used in other clinical scenarios, said Dr. Colleen Kraft, associate chief medical officer of Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Soon, she said, we'll learn whether a coronavirus antibody test "tells us that somebody can go back to work, for instance, tells us that somebody is no longer infectious, and tells us that somebody cannot get the virus again."

As officials begin discussing what it would take for the US to reopen, there could be "merit" to the idea of Americans carrying certificates of immunity that prove they have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, Fauci said.

Fauci told CNN, "It's one of those things that we talk about when we want to make sure that we know who the vulnerable people are and not."

Social distancing appears to be working, officials say

Americans need to continue to adhere to social distancing guidelines throughout the coming holiday weekend, Fauci said Friday.

"Because it is working," he said. "The kinds of mitigations that we're doing now, the curves that we're seeing flattening and coming down, that's exactly and precisely because of what the American public is doing."

Some states remain cautiously optimistic with the latest developments.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that there was a dramatic decline" in the hospitalization rate averaged over the past three days.

"Overall, New York is flattening the curve," Cuomo said.

The number of deaths, though, remained close to Wednesday's high, down to 777 from 799. Cuomo described the deaths as a lagging indicator, saying those who don't make it tend to have been hospitalized the longest.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said new hospitalizations are dropping, while Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the state has the lowest number of hospitalizations per 100,000 people compared to other neighboring states.

And while the number of coronavirus-related deaths continues to increase in Ohio, the number of people impacted by the virus is lower than previously projected, Gov. Mike DeWine said.

"Ohioans have done a great job," the governor told CNN's Jim Sciutto Friday. "They've changed the future, but we've got to keep doing it."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state has seen a 1.9% drop of people in ICU, and the stay-at-home order appears to be working.

"I think we're seeing the consequences of that when we see that our mortality rate is really a lot lower than what have been predicted, and it really shows that this mitigation works," said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While maintaining social distancing measures appears to be holding down the spread in some areas, reopening the country will require a strategy and understanding the extent of the transmission, experts say.

"It's not going to be one size fits all. It's going to be using the data that we have from surveillance to really understand where it is the most important places for us to begin to reopen," Redfield said.

CDC won't recommend hydroxychloroquine, director says

On Thursday, Trump said more than 2 million coronavirus tests have been completed in the US. But he also suggested mass testing would not happen.

"We want to have it and we're going to see if we have it. Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes," the President said. "We're talking about 325 million people and that's not going to happen, as you can imagine, and it would never happen with anyone else, either."

States are rushing to get hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug that President Trump has touted as potential treatment and a "game changer." The drug has not been fully tested but some states are gathering doses for their patients. The CDC's Redfield said he does not recommend the drug.

"At this stage, at this moment in time, we're not recommending it, but we're not, not recommending that," Redfield said. "We're recommending for the physician and the patient to have that discussion."

The CDC removed its website guidelines for doctors on how to prescribe hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. Trump has pressed federal health officials to make the drugs more widely available despite little reliable evidence that they are effective at treating the virus.

"We're very comfortable in responding when we have data that is compelling," Redfield said Thursday on CNN's Global Town Hall. "CDC, as an organization ... we're not an opinion organization. We're a science-based, data-driven organization. So, I do think this is going to be an independent decision of these health care providers and patients."

Despite the lack of a vaccine, the CDC is preparing for what could happen next year, which is expected to be challenging as well, Redfield said, adding that proactive steps will change the way the country deals with another outbreak.

"That includes early case identification, isolating people who are sick and tracing those that the person has come into contact with while they were contagious," he said. "We don't have to go through the serious mitigation steps that we're taking to get us under control."
Chandigarh, April 10 : After Odisha, the Punjab Cabinet led by Amarinder Singh on Friday decided to extend curfew in the state till May 1.

Amid apprehensions of community spread of Covid-19, the government decided to extend the curfew, an official statement said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Council of Ministers to check community spread of the pandemic and to prevent overcrowding at the amandis' in the light of the ensuing wheat harvesting and procurement season.

Amarinder Singh will convey the decision to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Saturday's conference with the chief ministers, an official spokesperson said.

Citing the grim projections about the spread of the pandemic in the coming weeks, the Chief Minister said the curfew restrictions were essential so that the medical infrastructure is not burdened beyond its capabilities.

There was general consensus in the medical community that the lockdown curbs would only delay the spread of the disease, he said, hoping that some medication and cure would be found soon.

On a proposal by the Chief Minister, the Council of Ministers also decided to set up a multi-disciplinary task force to formulate an exit strategy for gradual relaxation of curfew or lockdown.

The task force will submit its report within 10 days. The task force comprise about 15 members representing trade, business, industry, agriculture, civil society and healthcare professionals.

The Chief Minister has been authorised to decide on the composition of the task force.

The Cabinet also approved establishment of a high-powered committee to suggest a roadmap for state's economic revival in post-Covid era once the crisis softens and normal working is restored.

Amarinder Singh said he would request former Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Ahluwalia to head the committee.

The Council Ministers also resolved to urge upon the government of India to establish an advance centre of virology in Punjab with an anticipated investment of Rs 500 crore, with the state government to offer land free of cost for the project.

For the quick upgradation of the state's health infrastructure to combat the current crisis, the Cabinet set up a task force under the Principal Secretary (Public Works Department) to look into it.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced that restrictions on movement implemented to contain the outbreak of Covid-19 will remain in place until May 5.

Speaking in the last few minutes, Mr Varadar added the initial Easter Sunday deadline by three weeks as he acknowledged the frustration that people have at this time but said the sacrifice is "saving lives".

In a speech broadcast live on television, radio and across social media platforms, pointed out the importance of Good Friday in Irish history.

"Your sacrifices are making a difference," he said, while acknowledging "too many have died".

"We cannot be complacent, we cannot lose focus," he added

The decision comes after a meeting between senior government officials and the National Public Health Emergency Team.

"It is not our desire to turn Ireland into a police not for one day, not for one month," Mr Varadkar said on the restrictions, adding that the vast majority of people are co-operating with the restrictions.

"Let's not use them," he said of the new garda powers, which is called "extensive".

Health Minister Simon Harris praised the public's response to the outbreak, saying that the people are all doing their part

"Doctors can save hundreds of lives... but you can save thousands," Mr Harris said.

Education Minister Joe McHugh announced that the Junior Cert has been cancelled while the

Read More:

Over 350 people with Covid-19 have died on the island of Ireland with 263 in the Republic as of last night and 92 in the North.

The current restrictions started on Friday, March 27. They mandate that everyone should stay at home, only leaving to:

Shop for essential food and household goods;

Attend medical appointments, collect medicine or other health products;

Care for children, older people or other vulnerable people - this excludes social family visits;

Exercise outdoors - within 2kms of your home and only with members of your own household, keeping 2 metres distance between you and other people

Travel to work if you provide an essential service - be sure to practice physical distancing

Taoiseach's speech in full

"Throughout our history, Good Friday has had a special meaning. Its a day associated with suffering, and sacrifice, and sorrow. And also with new beginnings. The promise of rebirth and renewal and better days to come.

"Its also the day an agreement was signed in Belfast to bring peace to our island ending the troubles in the North.

"During the worst year of those Troubles the poet Seamus Heaney spoke about what was happening and predicted that if we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere.

"I know these words have provided inspiration to many Irish people as we deal with this Emergency. They remind us that we are in this together, we can get through it, and better days will come.

"Thank you for your forbearance and for the sacrifices you have made so far.

"I know many people are feeling frustrated, and I know the fine weather makes it even harder. We want to be outside, we want to be with friends and family, and we want to feel like we can go anywhere. We want to be free.

"I know it is difficult, but every sacrifice we make is helping to save someones life. Its making sure that our health service isnt overwhelmed. Its making things a little easier for those working on the frontline and all those backing them up whether its support staff, administrators, or partners at home.

'Your sacrifices are making a difference'

"Because most people have heeded the advice of the experts we have been able to interrupt the spread of the virus. We have been able to shelter our most vulnerable and protect them.

"Your sacrifices are making a difference. We have slowed the spread of the virus but unfortunately we have not stopped it. We all know people who are suffering or grieving at this time. Too many have died and more sadly will die and get sick before we are through this.

"Todays message is that we cannot be complacent and we cannot lose focus. What we are doing is difficult, but it is making a difference, so we have to keep going.

"We need to persevere and we need to maintain our discipline and resolve.

"The restrictions we introduced two weeks ago were set to expire on Sunday. Today the expert recommendation is to extend them for a further three weeks, until Tuesday, May 5.

"The Government has accepted this recommendation.

"I know many of you would like to know when things will go back to normal and life will be as it was. We are working towards that time and we are planning carefully so that we get there safely.

"The truth is, nobody knows for certain when that will be or how our lives will be different when that comes.

"All we can do is take one day at a time. To think of others. And to choose hope and solidarity over self-interest and fear.

"Your sacrifice will save lives. What is an inconvenience for some will be a lifesaver for others. So I am calling on everyone to do what is being asked of them.

"To be tolerant and compassionate, and to think about each other before we think about ourselves.

"Nothing greater will be asked of any of us.

"In one of his best collections of poems, Heaney celebrated the human chain of help that can bring about an almost miraculous recovery.

"As Heaney wrote, we were all the more together for having had to turn and walk away. In the days ahead we must continue to turn and walk away from each other and from doing the things we would like to do. But we will be all the more together for having done so.

"Stay strong, stay safe and stay at home.
Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed Iranians for the first time since March 22, which marked the Iranian New Year, or Nowruz. In his live speech today, on the occasion of the birth of Imam Mahdi, Khamenei spoke about the countrys efforts to combat the coronavirus.

Khamenei said that the efforts of health care workers who worked through the Nowruz holidays will leave a good memory in the minds of the Iranian people. He also thanked the armed forces for supplying hospital beds and medical equipment.

In response to the early criticism Iran faced for how it handled the coronavirus compared to how it has seemingly flattened the curve, particularly in the last few days, Khamenei said, Despite how they tried to humiliate the Islamic-Iranian culture and push people to a Western lifestyle, these actions showed that Islamic thought and culture is firm and strong among the Iranian people.

Khamenei also addressed a number of controversies and scandals that have taken place in Western countries as the coronavirus spread to their countries, including confiscating supplies destined for other countries, empty shelves at grocery stores, hoarding of food, fighting over toilet paper, long lines at gun stores, and hospitals having to choose which patients get to live due to lack of supplies.

In this situation, the culture and civilization of the West showed its outcome, which is a natural result of a dominant Western philosophy that is based on individualism, materialism and atheism, he said.

Quoting Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who said the competition among states for supplies is like the Wild West, Khamenei said, When we say the West has a violent spirit that is contrary to its ironed and cologned appearance, some people deny it, but now they are straightforwardly admitting this reality.

Khamenei thanked Iranians for following the guidelines set forth by the committee to combat the coronavirus, particularly social distancing. He recognized that the shutdowns adversely affected the poorer classes and urged the help for these communities to be faster, more and better.

President Hassan Rouhani announced today that economic groups who receive subsidies will receive extra money the following month. Rouhani also said that the country is reaching self-sufficiency in producing test kits. He added that when the coronavirus began to spread in Iran, there was a lot of fear among doctors and nurses because not everyone had access to masks and equipment. Now, there is no one who has concerns about clothes, masks or equipment.

According to Irans Health Ministry, the country had 1,634 new cases in the last 24 hours. In the past week they had averaged below 3,000 new cases. The total confirmed coronavirus cases is now 66,220. There have been 117 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total deaths to 4,110.
Any premature lifting of restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a fatal resurgence of the new coronavirus, the World Health Organisation warned Friday.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while some states were considering ways to ease the restrictions which have placed around half of humanity under some form of lockdown, doing so too quickly could be dangerous.

"I know that some countries are already planning the transition out of stay-at-home restrictions. WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone," he told a virtual press conference in Geneva.

"At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly. WHO is working with affected countries on strategies for gradually and safely easing restrictions."



Tedros spelled out six factors that should be considered before restrictions could be safely eased.

He said that transmission would have to be controlled; sufficient public health services made available; outbreak risks in care homes minimised; preventative measures imposed in workplaces and schools; virus importation risks managed; and communities made aware of and engaged in the transition.

The global death toll has gone over 100,000.

More than 1.6 million infections have been recorded globally, according to an AFP tally, since the virus first emerged in China in December.

Tedros welcomed signs that its spread was slowing in some of the hardest-hit countries in Europe -- citing Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

But he also warned of an "alarming acceleration" of the virus elsewhere, highlighting Africa, where he said it was beginning to emerge in rural areas.

"We are now seeing clusters of cases and community spread in more than 16 countries" on the continent, the former Ethiopian health minister said.

"We anticipate severe hardship for already overstretched health systems, particularly in rural areas, which normally lack the resources of those in cities."



Tedros said even the countries with the world's strongest health systems had been caught by surprise by COVID-19. He urged them to reinforce their healthcare provision rather than plunge into a "cycle of panic and neglect".

In many countries, "we're now in a phase of panic because there is this dangerous, invisible virus which is wreaking havoc," he said.

"But that should actually lead into asking questions on what to do to strengthen our system. No country is immune."



The WHO director-general also said he was particularly concerned by the large numbers of cases being recorded among health workers -- with more than 10 per cent reportedly infected in some nations.

"When health workers are at risk, we're all at risk," he said.

Tedros said evidence from some countries, including China, Italy and the United States, showed that health workers were being infected outside healthcare facilities, in their homes and communities.

Switching to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he said a new case had been reported, just three days before a deadline that would have marked the official end to the long epidemic.

WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said some 2,600 alerts were still being investigated every day in the DRC, with thousands of samples taken every week.

"Maybe that's our lesson for COVID-19: there is no exit strategy until you're in control of the situation, and you must always be ready to go back again and start again," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Secondary school students who have to take high school or college entrance exams began returning to classes starting from April 7 in several provinces of China after a two-month super long vacation, as the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic situation continues to improve in the country.

Twelfth graders attend class in No. 3 Middle School of Harbin on April 7. (Photo/Xinhua)

Although the peak of the epidemic in China has passed, schools in Chinese provinces including Heilongjiang, Henan, Fujian, and Hunan which resumed classes on April 7 have taken abundant precautionary measures to protect the students from any possible infections.

For instance, twelfth graders from Changjun Meixihu Middle School in Changsha, central Chinas Hunan province, are required to maintain a certain distance between each other and get disinfected at the entrance of the school.

The students then step into an aisle to have their body temperatures taken by a thermal imaging system before they are allowed to enter the school.

All the schools have prepared disinfection materials for teachers and students, and some have even set up observation rooms for emergency situations.

Furthermore, many schools have reduced the number of students in classes. In Hefei No. 7 Middle School in east Chinas Anhui province, teaching classes have been divided into two classes of smaller sizes that take their lessons in turn. When one class takes lessons from their teachers, the other watches the lesson via live broadcast.

Schools have also made strenuous efforts to ensure the safety of students while dining and taking transportation.

At Chengdu No. 7 High School in southwest China's Sichuan province, arrangements were made for students of different grades to go to the canteen during different periods at lunch time. After each batch of students have their meals, tablecloths are immediately changed to ensure the hygiene of the dining environment.

In Fuzhou city, southeast China's Fujian Province, customized bus lines have been launched for senior high students preparing for the upcoming gaokao, China's national college entrance examination.
Regulatory News:

At the announcement of the death of Jacques Calvet, Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the Management Board of Groupe PSA (Paris:UG) declares: "It is with great sadness that I learn of the death of Jacques Calvet and I would like to extend on behalf of all employees of the Groupe PSA our sincere condolences to his wife and his family.

Jacques Calvet, a great visionary, managed the company from 1984 to 1997, making it a leading automobile manufacturer. I would like to pay a tribute to the memory of this great captain of industry who is leaving us, endowed with rare courage and an unfailing determination that must inspire us.

In view of the crisis we are going through, his example obliges us and commits us to protect the company for the benefit of its employees, as it has always been able to do. ".

About Groupe PSA

Groupe PSA designs unique automotive experiences and delivers mobility solutions to meet all customer expectations. The Group has five car brands, Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall and provides a wide array of mobility and smart services under the Free2Move brand. Its 'Push to Pass' strategic plan represents a first step towards the achievement of the Group's vision to be "a global carmaker with cutting-edge efficiency and a leading mobility provider sustaining lifetime customer relationships". An early innovator in the field of autonomous and connected cars, Groupe PSA is also involved in financing activities through Banque PSA Finance and in automotive equipment via Faurecia..

Media library: medialibrary.groupe-psa.com @GroupePSA_EN

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005097/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Pierre-Olivier Salmon: +33 6 76 86 45 48 pierreolivier.salmon@mpsa.com
Homoeopathy medicines are safe to use because they rarely cause side-effects. This medicine is based on the principle of like cures like. This means that a substance in a small amount is taken will cure the same symptoms as it causes if taken in large amounts. Homeopathy is derived from the Greek words homeo, means similar, and pathos means suffering or disease.

Pixabay

Homoeopathy-History

Homeopathy treatment does not use drugs and surgery. It is based on the belief that everyone is a different individual and has different symptoms and should be treated accordingly. Homoeopathy first gained recognition in the 19th century after the extensive work done by the German physician and chemist Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). But its origin dates back from the 5th century BC, when the father of medicine Hippocrates introduced homoeopathy remedies to hide medicine chest.

It is said that it was Hippocrates who understood the disease, how it affects bodies rather than focusing on the remedies, that made the discoveries homoeopathic. He said that it is necessary to understand the symptoms of each individual. This understanding of any individual became the basis of homeopathy which you find in todays time. After Hippocrates, homoeopathy was largely neglected by others, it was Hahnemann who reinvented it in the late 18th century. Hahnemann found clinical medicine totally unacceptable and rejected them. He worked hard on medicines and chemistry and revolted against the poor hygiene that was the main reason that the disease was spreading. He was totally against the brutal medical practices and use of strong medications that cause terrible side effects in people. But his disillusionment finally led him to give up medicine and work as a translator. Meanwhile while he was pursuing his translating job, he got a A Treatise on Materia Medica by Scottish physician Dr. William Cullen, Hahemann discovered something in the medical field that made him the true founder of Homeopathy.

Pixabay

However, due to the astringent properties of the quinine, Cullen told that it was a brilliant method to treat the patient of malaria. Hahnemann also knew about it as it helps to fight malaria but he was in doubt about the astringent properties. He did research and made several investigations. He invested himself with quinine for some days and noted the reactions of it. He was surprised that one by one, he developed the symptoms of malaria but he was not suffering from it. Every time he used to take a dose of quinine the symptoms would reoccur and if he didnt take the medicine the symptoms went away. Then he believed that it was the ability of quinine to make the symptoms of malaria that made it such an effective and efficient treatment.

To illustrate his theory he conducted some tests known as provings on several volunteers and noted the reactions of each person. He repeated the same tests with others and with popular medicines like arsenic, etc. He noted the same as Hippocrates discovered that symptoms and the healing responses depend on the individual.

World Homoeopathy Day - India

World Homeopathy Day (WHD) is celebrated on 10 April and the day has become a great initiative for the Homoeopathy profession because it is being celebrated under the banner of the Ministry of AYUSH, Govt of India for the last few years in New Delhi.

This year the Ministry of Ayush let NIH organise World Homeopathy Day at Kolkata, the cradle of Homoeopathy in India. NIH with the help of Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy is organising an International Conference on 10th and 11 April 2020 at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre, New Town, Kolkata. Here due to the COVID-19 pandemic the conference was not done and it has been postponed.

The theme of World Homeopathy Day

"Enhancing the scope of Homoeopathy in Public Health"

Homoeopathy Awareness Week is observed from 10 April to 16 April and celebrates the birth of Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of Homoeopathy. Several varieties of public events are organised which includes free lectures, volunteer first-aid events , free homoeopathy clinics, educational campaigns on social media and this is also shared in various countries.

Why is this day celebrated?

It is celebrated to raise awareness about homoeopathy and to improve the accessibility to homoeopathy.

Homeopathy is a medical system that believes that the body can cure itself. Medical Practitioners of homeopathy use tiny amounts of natural substances like plants and minerals to treat patients. World Homoeopathy Day is celebrated on 10 April to raise awareness about the same and also this day we celebrate the birthday of Samuel Hahnemann who was the founder of Homoeopathy.
Advertisement

The once bustling streets of the vibrant French Quarter in New Orleans remain empty but for restaurant workers and a few lonely musicians as Louisiana moves past the projected peak of its coronavirus outbreak with one of the highest fatality rates in the country.

Deaths in Orleans parish, which encompasses the city, hit 224 on Thursday, a jump of 16 new deaths since Wednesday. The city has 5,242 cases.

There is a wide gulf between the deaths in New Orleans and the epicenter of New York City, where 4,778 have died, but the Big Easy has a fatality rate from the coronavirus that is far above the Big Apple.

Photographs taken on Wednesday, April 8, show a city quietened a day after the state reached the projected peak of its outbreak deaths, which was expected to hit on Tuesday.

It marks a striking departure from the bustling streets and raucous parties seen just weeks before as Mardi Gras was celebrated, an event which has since been blamed for the rapid and fatal coronavirus spread in the area.

Louisiana now has 18,283 cases and 702 deaths.

Businesses stand boarded up on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans on Wednesday as the city's death toll rose to 224

The Cafe Du Monde restaurant stands closed in New Orleans, Wednesday. The hotspot had 16 new deaths on Thursday

Royal Street is seen empty in New Orleans as the outbreak in the city appears to lag while towns further up the river begin to suffer from high death tolls. The Big Easy has one of the highest coronavirus fatality rates in the United States

A worker wearing protective gloves gives food to a customer at a makeshift pickup window at the Joint BBQ restaurant in New Orleans. The city has been under an order to shelter in place since late March as once of the country's hotspots

A driver wearing a protective mask operates a streetcar traveling down St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. The city is empty but for essential workers and a few lone musicians as it comes to terms with the large coronavirus death toll

A person wears a protective mask while carrying a dog on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Louisiana's death toll is at 702

Lone figures walking their dogs or essential workers on their way to work are the only people seen on the city's streets as its battles to come to terms with the gigantic loss of life in recent days.

The state is now hoped to be through the worst of the outbreak with less deaths on Thursday but officials have warned that social distancing must be maintained to ensure that there is not a further wave of infections.

New Orleans has one of the highest coronavirus fatality rates in the nation with 5,242 cases and 224 deaths as of Thursday.

Orleans Parish, which encompasses New Orleans, has a rate of 57.5 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people. The fatality rate is 4.27 percent.

The rate even lies higher than that for New York City which is 18.86 deaths per 100,000.

'We already had tremendous healthcare disparities before this pandemic - one can only imagine they are being amplified now.'

'We're just sicker,' said Rebekah Gee, who until January was the health secretary for Louisiana and now heads Louisiana State University's healthcare services division.

People ride bicycles through the French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans. The area remained abandoned on Wednesday as the state reached what is projected to be the peak of its coronavirus deaths

A worker walks past a boarded up store in New Orleans. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has warned that social distancing guidelines must be followed over Easter weekend despite a dip in new deaths and cases in the state

Boards cover Muriel's Jackson Square Creole restaurant in New Orleans, which has suffered a large coronavirus outbreak

People ride bicycles along a nearly empty Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The city has a fatality rate of 4.27 percent as another 16 people lost their lives to coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 224

City workers disinfect the French Market in New Orleans. The once bustling area suffered a severe coronavirus outbreak

Canal Street stands empty during rush hour in New Orleans, where there are more than 5,200 cases of coronavirus as of Thursday

Public health officials have blamed New Orleans' high levels of obesity and related ailments for the high death rate.

In New Orleans, 39 percent of residents have high blood pressure, 36 percent suffer from obesity and 15 percent have diabetes , according to research.

A host of other factors could contribute to New Orleans' high death rate from COVID-19, ranging from access to healthcare and hospital quality, to the prevalence of other conditions, including lung disease, health officials say.

They have also warned that it could be a harbinger for the potential toll the pandemic could take in other parts of the South and Midwest that also have high rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.

As the crisis in New Orleans appears to lessen, the outbreak looks to have moved upstream with St. John Parish on Wednesday reporting the highest per capita death rate in the country with 81 deaths per 100,000 residents.

A sign stands illuminated outside a music club closed on an empty Bourbon Street

Stores stand boarded up in the French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans as residents are warned that they must continue to stay at home and follow social distancing guidelines over the Easter weekend to beat the coronavirus outbreak

Signs are seen illuminated on closed businesses on Bourbon Street in New Orleans

The quiet streets are in stark contrast to the packed crowds just a few weeks ago when Mardi Gras was celebrated.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has claimed he had no idea that the celebration would trigger a coronavirus outbreak despite receiving a briefing on the pandemic weeks beforehand.

Although concerns over coronavirus and its ramifications didn't manifest until March in the U.S., U.S. governors were briefed February 9 at the National Governors Association Winter Meeting by members of Donald Trump's coronavirus task force on the growing threat of the respiratory virus.

Despite this, many states did not immediately react and resumed business as normal, including New Orleans going forward with Mardi Gras celebrations and parades.

Mardi Gras was celebrated February 25 with the traditional parade down Bourbon Street, which usually takes about 2.5 hours and is attended by thousands of people from all over the country  and even many international travelers.

The celebrations across the state, and specifically in New Orleans, sparked a major outbreak in Louisiana, leading it to become the fourth deadliest state in the nation with 702 deaths as of Thursday.

A massive crowd of visitors crushes onto Bourbon Street to celebrate Mardi Gras. The celebration has been linked with the massive spread of the coronavirus in the city and across Louisiana, with one of the deadliest coronavirus outbreaks

Crowds fill the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards claims that he had no idea the celebration could cause such a fatal outbreak of the coronavirus in the city and state

Beads and crowds on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. In stark contrast to this scene, the city's streets now lie empty and silenced by one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country that has a concerning fatality rate

Gov. Edwards said Thursday that there is reason to believe the virus is finally plateauing in the state.

While deaths are at a high, cases are slowing down and the state is no longer facing an imminent shortage of medical resources. There were 50 new deaths reported in the state on Thursday, down from 70 deaths on both Wednesday and Tuesday.

Models from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which is often cited by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, had predicted that Tuesday would be the peak of the state's deaths.

Currently, 2,014 coronavirus patients in Louisiana are in hospitals. Of that number, 473 are on ventilators.

The number of ventilators in use decreased for the third day in a row, down 17 to 473 and Louisiana now appears to be out of the danger zone in terms of an immediate danger of running out of the crucial respiratory device.

Louisiana's fatality rate now stands at 3.9 percent, closer to the national rate of 3.5 percent.

Gov. Edwards warned that social distancing across the state must be maintained this Easter weekend.

The Archdiocese of New Orleans is streaming its Easter Mass and other churches and religious organizations are moving services online to remind people to stay home.

Some 97 percent of those killed by COVID-19 in Louisiana had a pre-existing condition, according to the state health department.

Diabetes was seen in 40 percent of the deaths, obesity in 25 percent, chronic kidney disease in 23 percent and cardiac problems in 21 percent.

Data on coronavirus deaths and race has also been a hot topic in Louisiana, with the state seeing more than 70 percent of African Americans dying of the virus. Health officials said 28 percent of Caucasians died of COVID-19 in the state.
Iranian Regime Campaigning to Ease US Sanctions For CCP Virus Fight But Rejecting Aid

The Iranian regime has launched a propaganda and influence campaign calling globally for an end to U.S. sanctions amid the COVID-19 health crisis in order to obtain cash, while rejecting humanitarian aid offered by the U.S. and international organizations, the State Department has warned.

The regimes goal is to raise funds for its terror operations, not to bring health relief to Iranian people, the State Department said in a statement on April 6.

In March, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif accused the United States of draining Irans economic resources needed to fight COVID-19 through its economic sanctions. He called on world to ignore them.

The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 aimed at cutting off the revenues the [Iranian] regime uses to bankroll terrorist groups, foment global instability, fund nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and enrich its leaders, the White House said at the time.

According to the State Department the Iranian regime has spent over $16 billion since 2012 to fund its terror proxies abroad while cutting the countrys healthcare budget. Iranian health minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi had resigned in January 2019 over repeat budget cuts.

The State Department also highlighted that, in July 2019, 1 billion euros ($ 1.1 billion) intended for medical supplies disappeared and another $170 million dollars allocated for medical goods were instead spent by the regime on tobacco.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Irans Foreign Minister, (L) at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce in Vienna, Austria on July 4, 2018. (Michael Gruber/Getty Images)

In late March, Irans President Hassan Rouhani inadvertently revealed when praising the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their concerted effort to influence public opinion and say no to sanctions, that these efforts are aimed at bringing back our money seized in other countries, the State Department said.

The Iranian regime had withdrawn $4 billion dollars from its sovereign wealth fund in the last two years for defense and military spending.

Clearly, their priority is access to cash, not medicine, the department said.

On April 6, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei finally approved the withdrawal of $1 billion from the fund to fight the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus after it was requested by five members of the Iranian parliament and Rouhani in March, according to the State Department.

Before April 6, Khamenei had prioritized an increase funding for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by 33 percent over its existing year budget, as well as double funding for the Basij, which is the regimes brute squad that killed around 1,500 Iranians in the November 2019 protests.

Humanitarian Aid Rejected

A dhow loaded with goods bound for Iran is seen along the creek in old Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on March 2, 2020. (Christopher Pike/Reuters)

The United States offered humanitarian aid to Iran in February to help the Iranian people in their fight against the CCP virus.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reminded the regime on Feb. 28 that certain donations to Iran intended to relieve human suffering, including the donation of medicine, are exempt from U.S. sanctions. In addition, the United States maintains broad exceptions and authorizations to its sanctions for the commercial export of food, medicine, medical devices, and agricultural products to Iran.

According to the State Department, the Iranian regime refused Americas offer of humanitarian assistance and medical supplies to the Iranian people intended to counter the COVID-19 outbreak.

The United States established in October 2019 a transparent channel with the Swiss government through which humanitarian aid could flow to Iran. Payments to exporters are guaranteed by a Swiss bank. However, they have to meet a very high standard of due diligence, U.S. Special Representative Brian Hook told Reuters during a press briefing in January after the first sales of cancer and transplant drugs to Iran.

The Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement will help ensure that humanitarian goods continue to reach the Iranian people without diversion by the regime, Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in Feb. 27.

The State Department said that according to Iranian documents, healthcare companies from Iran have been importing COVID-19 test kits since January.

However Khamenei has rejected Washingtons offer. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a news conference on April 6, Iran has never asked and will not ask America to help Teheran in its fight against the outbreak  But America should lift all its illegal unilateral sanctions on Iran, according to Reuters.

The Iranian Health Ministry also revoked its approval to a Doctors Without Borders mission two days after its arrival in Iran on March 22. The nine person team from this international medical organization was going to build a temporary 50-bed hospital in Iran and treat Iranian patients.

An Iranian man confronts riot police during a demonstration outside Tehrans Amir Kabir University on Jan. 11, 2020, after Iran admitted to having shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet by mistake on Jan. 8, killing all 176 people on board. (-/AFP via Getty Images)

Widespread protests calling for government change erupted in Iran at the end of 2017 as protesters expressed their anger over deteriorating living conditions of the Iranian people. The protests have continued since then, with momentum building in November 2019 after a 50 percent hike in gasoline prices, and again in January after a Ukrainian passenger plane was shot down by the Iranian military.

The State Department referenced graffiti in the suburbs of Tehran reading The Islamic Republic in Iran is the real coronavirus, and declared that the United States will continue to support the needs and aspirations of the Iranian people, who are the longest suffering victims of the Iranian regime.

Reuters contributed to this report.
By Rick Fuentes

My mother, soon to be 92, was recently re-located from a rehabilitation facility in Pennsylvania to a long-term care facility in North Jersey. Her facility has an excellent reputation for caregiving and her move there opened greater opportunities for her extended family to participate in visits and outings.

A week after her admission, the pandemic shuttered all in-person visits between families and their loved ones. This is understandable and necessary as a precaution against the spread of the coronavirus, particularly among our elderly, who are the most vulnerable. Many families have adapted to this sudden change, resorting to telephone calls, trips to pass bags of goodies to masked careworkers at the front door, or waving wildly to loved ones from curbside vantages.

Soon after the end of family visits, my mother became ill with a low-grade fever, stomach distress and lung congestion. She was moved into isolation, tested twice for COVID, the first one was positive, the next was one negative.

As the person with power of attorney over her medical and health affairs, my efforts to get any updates on her condition since that diagnosis has been difficult. Scheduled briefings for medical updates have been overlooked or disregarded, leaving me and my family to fear the worst. In some ways, this is to be expected. Understaffed nurses and medical assistants, significantly at risk themselves and increasingly sidelined with symptoms, have precious little time to answer inquiries from concerned families. Residents are their top priority; their families, not so much in these harried times.

Speaking with others, Im told that this story is typical of the existing environment in care facilities. Families feel cut-off, helpless to alter the fate of their elderly relatives in longterm care. For those residents, the love and attention of their families has suddenly become a lifeline lost.

Every care facility has an activities director, whose job it is to improve the social well-being of their residents. In better times, sing-alongs, movie nights and Bingo did the trick, filling in the lapses between family visits. However, these are extraordinary times that have brought about devastating consequences to the harmony of that relationship.

In addressing the many economic, medical and social impacts of the coronavirus, state government can exercise greater authority and influence in mitigating these unfortunate family situations. Gov. Phil Murphy said he understood families concern and called for greater transparency on the part of care facilities to their workers and families.

After some families talked about the intransigency or outright secrecy by some facilities to communicate with families, and even employees, about on-site COVID outbreaks, or to respond to simple welfare checks of residents, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli told all facilities that they must notify families about an outbreak by telephone, email or another form of communication within 24 hours. Then, they must follow-up that notification in writing within three days. If they failed to do this, Persichilli said she state would list the hospitals with outbreaks.

More can be done, and here are some suggestions to strengthen family support during these difficult times for in-patient care residents:

Every facility needs to have a dedicated family ombudsman whose sole job is to maintain connections between families and patients. At the familys request, through the ombudsman, arrangements can be made for brief online video chats with residents For ill residents under more intensive medical supervision, there should be an email or telephone interaction on a weekly basis, or as often as needed, from the ombudsman or medical practitioner to update the designated family contact on the welfare of their loved one and their current treatment regimen. To foster more routine family contact, make sure that room telephones are within the residents reach while in bed or at the bedside, and that they know how to use them. Religious beliefs offer great comfort and support positive outlooks for many residents. If requested, allow weekly, protected, religious visits, brief bedside prayers and denominational blessings.

These are simple solutions to significantly enhance the quality-of-life for a care facility resident until normalcy once again prevails. Improving their welfare gives even greater recognition to the outstanding job being performed by our healthcare workers.

Our elderly remain the foundation upon which we have built our prosperous lives. The sacrifices they have borne should not be in expectation of end-of-life suffering in isolation adrift of their families. This is not the time to abandon them, removing all that gives them hope and strength.

Rick Fuentes is a security consultant and guest columnist.

The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
For years Rebecca Judd has been forced to defend her naturally slender figure against unfair criticism that she is 'too thin'.

And last month, the 37-year-old footy WAG shared an open letter to her teenage self in which she addressed her past insecurities over her 'long, lanky frame'.

In a post shared to the 3pm Pick Up website, the mother-of-four urged her younger self not to worry about lacking 'boobs' or 'any kind of womanly shape' - because her thin frame would eventually become her 'most powerful weapon in life' as a model.

'Your healthy body is your most powerful weapon in life': Rebecca Judd (pictured) has shared an open letter to her teenage self about her insecurities over her 'long, lanky frame'

'Brace yourself because no matter how often throughout your life you defend the body type you were born with, people will still have an issue with it,' Rebecca wrote.

'Because actually, they have an issue with themselves. Your healthy, lean, strong body will actually be your most powerful weapon in life.

'Not only will it allow you to travel the world and make some serious coin, but more importantly, it will effortlessly create the four most wondrous, fantastic human beings who will ever walk the earth.'

Throwback: In a post shared to the 3pm Pick Up website, Rebecca urged her younger self not to worry about lacking 'boobs' or 'any kind of womanly shape' - because her thin frame would eventually become her 'most powerful weapon in life' as a model. Pictured as a teenager

Rebecca went on to explain that she gave up wanting 'G cups' after breastfeeding her children and was now a proud member of the 'itty bitty t**ty committee'.

It comes after the Jaggad founder revealed last year she had been forced to delete her Facebook and Twitter accounts due to 'skinny shamers'.

'Scrutiny of my body has been going on my entire life,' she told Sunday Life.

'I'm good at blocking and deleting. I used to leave [negative comments] up there and it would fester and fans would weigh in.'

Slim: For years Rebecca has been forced to defend her naturally slender figure against unfair criticism that she is 'too thin'. Pictured earlier this month

The wife of retired AFL player Chris Judd hasn't been afraid to hit back at her critics in previous interviews.

In 2016, she accused trolls of characterising thinness as a disease rather than a normal body shape.

'Thin used to be a body type, like a normal body type. Now it's almost seen as an illness,' she told Mamamia.
Dead bodies are picked up by the National Guard in rental vans directly from U.S. residences. This is another horrible scene as the COVID-19 kill more Americans without a war. Many just succumbed to the unseen enemy, the coronavirus. The number of fatalities is getting worse than 9/11 or Peart Harbor.

On Wednesday, officials announced that they will begin the grim count of all who died in their homes which are those who have been tested or are not in the death count.

It was found out that between 200 to 250 New Yorkers die in their homes each day. Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that it was caused by the coronavirus.

The Daily Beast has reported that the National Guard is going to these homes and collecting the deceased. Even emergency service cannot deal with the mountain of dead bodies, and 911 calls are ringing off the hook.

Rental Enterprise Vans are used to pick up the dead, since those that offer this service is already stressed to the limit with many people dying at home.

National Guard spokesmen confirmed the reports of using rental vans as extra vehicles to enable pickup of corpses.

These vans were in use for a week. Enterprise did not issue comments when asked for one.

Last Tuesday, about 256 people were dead at home in New York City. An increase of COVID-19 related deaths went from 45 to a high of 241, that indicate an undercount of fatalities that are all COVID-19.

In two weeks, there are as many as 2,192 'dead-on-arrival' calls compared to last year's 453.

Also read: Alleged Lizard Captured by Curiosity Rover, Theorist Claims Its a Sign of Life on Mars



Calls that were cardiac or respiratory-related were up by 20 to 30% at March's end. Since March 28, 2020, more than 100 calls were registered with a death rate of 75% (2019 death rate was 30 to 50%) which has been reached by April 5.

According to Mayor Blasio, most of the deaths are not fully counted, but many who are dead at home are COVID-19 related.

Despite the effort done to save everyone, the resources are lacking. It is also deemed necessary to check the dead people in homes to determine the cause of their death.

Death everywhere in NYC

On Wednesday, the coronavirus more than 4,200 lives while on Tuesday, there is an increase from 806 to 3,544 deaths in only one day.

As the national death rate rockets up to 2000 yesterday, there's a total death toll of 14,831.

Central Park is now a 68-bed makeshift field hospital in just 48 hours since hospitals just cannot cope. There are 41 patients now in mortal danger of dying.

Burying the dead

One answer to solving the problem of where to bury the dead bodies is to use Hart Island as temporary resting places.

Freddi Goldstein said that "the city government was not considering using local parks as cemeteries."

There are footage of inmates in hazmat suits, digging graves for the deceased and mostly the victims of COVID-19.

To recall, Hart Island is where Spanish flu victims were buried. Now, hundreds of bodies were taken from New York by rental van which might rest in the same place.

Related article: Coronavirus Outbreak Second Wave? Recovered Wuhan Patients Testing Positive Again

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
: Over 200 personal protective



equipment (PPE) have been handed over to the district Wenlock hospital which has been designated as the COVID-19 hospital in the city.

The PPE were given by the Commissioner of central GST and central excise Imamuddin Ahmad on Friday, a press release here said.

The commissioner said the gesture is a token of gratitude to doctors and healthcare workers for their work for saving millions of lives in the country.

He said Rs 4.5 lakh was collected till date from the officers of all the departments for supporting the district administrations efforts to tackle the coronavirus.

Officials of Mangaluru central GST commissionerate, customs, revenue intelligence, audit, SEZ and retired officers were present when the equipment were presented, the release said.

Meanwhile, Nitte (Deemed to be University) and Nitte Education Trust here contributed Rs 1.25 crore to support the efforts towards fighting the virus.

In a statement, Nitte university chancellor N Vinaya Hegde said of the Rs 1.25 crore, Rs 75 lakh has been contributed to the PM Cares Fund and Rs 50 lakh to Karnataka Chief Ministers relief fund.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yemen reported its first case of COVID-19 today, raising the specter of calamity in the poverty-stricken country whose health care system has been destroyed by five years of conflict.

The patient was identified as a male Yemeni working in the port of Ash Shihr in the southern oil-producing area of Hadhramout, an official committee linked to the internationally recognized government led by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi announced via Twitter.

The UN has warned that the spread of novel coronavirus in Yemen that has infected over 1.6 million people worldwide could spell catastrophe.

Few hospitals have been left untouched in the bloody war pitting the US-backed and Saudi-led coalition supporting Hadi against the Houthi rebels who are allied with Iran.

The UN says only 51% of the countrys health centers are fully functional and that there are only 500 ventilators and two testing sites for a population of 30 million.

At least 100,000 people are thought to have already perished in the conflict that has spread famine and disease.

The country has also been ravaged by one of the worst outbreaks of cholera in modern times and most recently by dengue fever in Hadramouth, one of the worst hit provinces. The fever produces symptoms similar to COVID-19. With few if any testing kits at hand, its hard to tell the difference.

On March 20, Doctors Without Borders reported repeated attacks and armed violations against its staff in the city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen.

In a series of particularly shocking incidents, including one in October 2019 and another in January 2020, armed intruders killed patients receiving medical care inside the [al Thawra] hospital, the report said, adding that the violence was scaring off medical staff and patients alike.

Some 80% of Yemens population relies on aid. Nearly 3.6 million people have been displaced by the conflict. The UNs World Food Program announced today that it was halving aid to areas under Houthi control. The decision stems from aid cuts by donors, notably the United States, who say the rebels are diverting and weaponizing aid to promote their own agenda.

The UN body feeds more than 12 million Yemenis a month, mostly in Houthi-run areas.

Lisa Grande, the UNs senior representative in Yemen, told the BBC the cut could not have come at a worse time, with COVID-19 threatening.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced a unilateral cease-fire on Wednesday to allow for talks between the warring sides and to prevent the spread of the virus. The kingdom says it will contribute $500 million to the UNs humanitarian response plan for Yemen this year and a further $25 million to help Yemen deal with the coronavirus threat.

The Houthis have disparaged the cease-fire announcement as a political and media maneuver.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hailed the move today, tweeting, Pleased to see the Saudi-led Coalitions announcement of a unilateral ceasefire in #Yemen. Pompeo urged the Houthis to respond in kind.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

When Barbara Webber heard on Friday about the $349 billion program in the federal coronavirus relief bill aimed at helping small businesses retain their employees, the executive director of Health Action New Mexico was prepared to apply first thing the following week.

Unfortunately, the start of the week proved to be too late.

On Sunday, Webber, whose nonprofit employs four people including herself, received a note from Wells Fargo, the bank she had chosen to seek the forgivable loan, that it would no longer be accepting new applications for the Paycheck Protection Program, leaving Webbers company waiting for more information as the economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic worsens.

That was kind of surprising from such a big organization, said Webber, who went to Wells Fargo because it handled Health Actions accounts.

Webber said she then checked with dozens of local and regional banks for a replacement, but found most were only serving current customers, leaving her in the lurch. As of Wednesday, she had not laid off any employees, but might have to consider it down the line.

Webber isnt alone. The federal program, a cornerstone of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, has been plagued by overuse and confusion, to the frustration of small businesses, lenders and state economic development officials alike.

Its disturbing that the banks just tapped out, said Alicia Keyes, Cabinet secretary for the state Economic Development Department, during a webinar on the program hosted by the New Mexico Association of Commerce and Industry this week.

Wells Fargo ended up receiving permission from the Federal Reserve to expand its participation earlier this week, which means more of its customers should be able to apply through it.

But the situation has left businesses throughout New Mexico  like Health Action New Mexico and Santa Fe Door Store  in limbo, or scrambling to find a lender that can process their application before the economic downturn prompts more layoffs.

Jerry White, co-owner and CFO of Santa Fe Door Store, said she has about 25 employees at her Albuquerque shop, and is hoping to avoid furloughs and layoffs.

I have no idea whats going to happen at this point, she said.

Program problems

The program was introduced as a way to incentivize employers to retain employees even in the midst of a pandemic. It provides cash-flow assistance through 100% federally backed loans for businesses. Under the program, companies with fewer than 500 employees can seek loans for up to 250% of their average monthly payroll costs  with that amount being forgiven if they maintain their payroll through the emergency, according to a federal guide on the new programs for small business owners.

However, the program had challenges from the start after its launch on April 3. Businesses were urged to file quickly before money ran out, which fed an onslaught of organizations seeking entrance. Russell Wyrick, executive state director of New Mexicos Small Business Development Center network, said the website responsible for pushing the claims through the system has failed several times from overuse since the programs inception, frustrating both participating banks and small businesses.

Thats a real bottleneck for the lenders, Wyrick said.

While there are lenders all over the state, Wyrick said they arent distributed evenly. In rural areas, a shortage of participating banks and credit unions means small businesses in those areas have to travel a long way to find a participating lender.

Making matters worse, Wells Fargo and some other participating banks hit a cap on lending quickly. Wells Fargo was under lending restraints because of past misbehavior, and maxed out its participation the first weekend the program was in place.

This forced organizations like Webbers, which have worked with Wells Fargo for years, to scramble and search for other lenders.

However, John Garcia, district director for New Mexicos Small Business Administration office, said many lenders arent accepting new customers, and instead choosing to focus on businesses they had a preexisting relationship with.

Jerry Walker, president and CEO of the Independent Bankers Association of New Mexico, said during the webinar that this made sense  that its unreasonable to expect banks to drop customers theyve worked with for years in favor of unfamiliar companies.

When youve had a relationship with a bank and a banker  you expect that banker to give you the attention that you need, Walker said.

Walker added that confusion over official forms has proven challenging. He said theres concern among banks he works with that the SBA could moot the guarantee if the loan form isnt written correctly, effectively leaving lenders with unsecured loans.

Thats why youre seeing some reluctance from the banks, Walker said.

Still, banks not accepting loans from new customers opens up opportunities for those that are. George Guarini, founder, president and CEO of United Business Bank, said the bank is accepting applications from outside clients as well as from its own existing customers.

Across the banks branches, Guarini said around a quarter of the nearly 300 applications the bank has received have come from customers of other banks.

Were hoping theyll see value in that, he said.

The path forward

Garcia said the federal government is working on fixes to the problems identified. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve unveiled its own $2 trillion aid package that includes some funding to back the SBAs Paycheck Protection Program.

And on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve gave Wells Fargo  which has thousands of customers in New Mexico  permission to expand its participation after previously capping its involvement at $10 billion.

Garcia added the SBA has worked to standardize its form as a way to cut down on confusion from the borrowers and lenders.

This is unprecedented, Garcia said. Weve never gone through this before.

In the meantime, there are other state and federal programs small businesses can take advantage of. Wyrick said he encourages companies his office works with to consider the SBAs Economic Injury Disaster Loans, which offer small businesses an emergency advance of up to $10,000 toward payroll, sick leave and other expenses.

Keyes added the state offers a loan-guarantee program for loans up to 80% of principal or $50,000, along with zero-interest loans for companies that qualify under the state Local Economic Development Act. More information on those programs may be found at www.nmsbdc.org.
Medical workers wearing personal protective equipment wheel bodies to a refrigerated trailer serving as a makeshift morgue at the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in New York on Monday.

John Minchillo/AP

Gov. Andrew Cuomo releases an official coronavirus death toll for New York each day. But that number includes only people who tested positive for the virus and later died.

As of Friday morning, Johns Hopkins University had tallied 5,150 COVID-19 deaths in New York City.

Health officials told The New York Times that the true number of deaths is likely much higher.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

About 120 death workers and US soldiers work around the clock to pick up as many as 280 bodies a day from New York City homes, according to The New York Times.

While many of these people likely died of the coronavirus, their deaths are probably not counted in the official death toll, The Times' Ali Watkins and William Rashbaum reported on Friday.

New York City and the state count their deaths differently. The state tally is based on hospital data, which includes people who tested positive for the virus and died in the facilities, The Times reported.

In the city, any person who tests positive and later dies at home or in a hospital is counted, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, the commissioner of the city's Department of Health, told The Times.

A worker with PPE.

REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid

Individual hospitals, too, might have different methods of data collection, The Times reported.

"To date, we have only been recording on people who have had the test," Barbot told The Times.

The problem is that there is currently no clear way of counting the untested people who died at home and were presumed to have COVID-19 in the official tolls  and that number is significant.

The Times reported that in the first eight days of April, 1,891 people died at home or in the streets in New York City, adding that "paramedics are not performing coronavirus tests on those they pronounce dead."

While some of those people died of reasons unrelated to the virus, right now we don't know how many people that might be.

"I don't know how many more bodies I can take," Patrick Marmo, a funeral-home operator in Brooklyn, previously told Business Insider's Dave Mosher. "No one in the New York City area possibly has enough equipment to care for human remains of this magnitude."

Story continues

As of Friday morning, Johns Hopkins University had tallied 5,150 COVID-19 deaths in New York City.

The coronavirus 'is the tragic "X" factor here'

Workers wearing PPE wheeling a body.

REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid

"The driver of this huge uptick in deaths at home is COVID-19," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told The Times. "And some people are dying directly of it, and some people are dying indirectly of it, but it is the tragic 'X' factor here."

Before the pandemic, protocols were in place to determine a cause of death  but during a crisis of this magnitude, those are often abandoned, The Times reported.

Because of that, the differences in data collection, and likely comorbidities  like a person with COVID-19 having a heart attack  calculating an accurate death toll is a challenge at best, the newspaper said.

Dr. Howard Markel, a professor of medical history at the University of Michigan, told The Times that it's nearly impossible to grasp the full scale of a pandemic in real time.

"You have an idea of what numbers are, but you don't have an exact source," Markel said.

"Even if we're underestimating deaths and cases, particularly in the New York situation, there are enough of both to tell us this is very serious," he added. "It's already all hands on deck."

Read the original article on Business Insider
One year since the overthrow of al-Bashir, Sudan authorities yet to prosecute perpetrators of deadly violence, HRW says.

A year after Sudans former president was forced to step down amid mass anti-government protests, little has been done to bring justice to the families of those killed in the demonstrations, a rights group said on Friday.

Calling on the countrys transitional government to prosecute crimes committed at the time, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement that security forces had used lethal and excessive force against protesters, killing dozens.

The months-long protests  which began on December 19, 2018, over rising costs of bread and fuel  quickly transformed into calls to overthrow longtime leader Omar al-Bashirs government, and then called for a handover of military rule to a civilian-led government.

Al-Bashir stepped down on April 11, 2019, after nearly 30 years in power in Sudan.

Independent groups estimate the death toll was more than 100 between December 2018 and April 2019. According to Amnesty International, at least 77 people were killed during that period.

Scores of protesters, including teenagers and children, paid with their lives to force al-Bashir out, but a year on, the families of those killed are still searching for justice, said Jehanne Henry, HRWs East Africa director.

Sudanese authorities should step up their efforts to do right by these victims. Justice should not be denied or delayed, she added in the statement.





Deadliest episode

Violence against protesters also continued after the overthrow of al-Bashir.

Thousands of Sudanese protesters camped outside the army headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, demanding al-Bashirs removal and kept up their sit-in even after his departure to protest against the military council that took over in his place.

On June 3, armed men in military fatigues moved in on the protest camp and dispersed thousands of demonstrators. In the ensuing days-long crackdown, many were killed and wounded.

Doctors linked to the protest movement have said at least 128 people were killed in the violence. Authorities gave a lower death toll of 87, and denied ordering the deadly dispersal.

In a scathing report released in March titled Chaos and Fire, the US-based NGO Physicians for Human Rights said the crackdown was a massacre that could have claimed up to 241 lives.

After documenting the events of June 3, HRW concluded they could qualify as crimes against humanity.

Sudans new authorities set up an independent commission to investigate the attack, but the team has yet to release its findings.

HRW said cases of violations against protesters in Sudan are still being handled in an ad hoc manner.
Faced with supply shortages, the Park District has teamed up with the Illinois Soybean Association to make hundreds of gallons of the now-coveted protective measure against COVID-19. The hand sanitizer will be used by Park District staff, as well as other workers deemed essential during Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home order.
Five Rockets Hit NATO Air Base in Eastern Afghanistan - Resolute Support Mission

Sputnik News

10:39 GMT 09.04.2020(updated 11:41 GMT 09.04.2020)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The NATO Resolute Support Mission said on Thursday that five rockets were launched towards Bagram military base in the eastern Afghan province of Parwan, adding that there were no casualties during the incident.

The mission took to Twitter to report on the rocket attack.

Daesh* has claimed responsibility for the incident. In their statement, as quoted by Reuters, they said that their fighters had targeted a helicopter landing pad at the Bagram base.

This comes as a hundred Taliban members were scheduled to be released on Thursday from a jail near the base.

Earlier this week, talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Kabul stalled after the government delayed the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners. According to a member of the Afghan government's negotiating team, as cited by AFP, the release was delayed because the government did not want to include fifteen of the Taliban's 'top commanders' in the list of those who would be freed.

*Daesh (ISIL/ISIS/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Notorious mobster Salvatore 'Sammy The Bull' Gravano has joined the ranks of reality TV stars.

The former Gambino crime family underboss, who became a government witness and brought down the Teflon Don John Gotti, appears in MTV's new series Families Of The Mafia that premieres Thursday night.

In a teaser for the show shared via Instagram Thursday, Sammy The Bull, 75, is seen in silhouette at his home in Arizona where he resides after being released from state prison in September 2017.

As the camera shows him from behind looking out of a large window, he says: 'La Cosa Nostra, the Mafia, it was a brotherhood, a secret society. It was a family just like my family.'

Gambino crime family underboss: Notorious mobster Salvatore 'Sammy the Bull' Gravano, 75, becomes a reality star in MTV's new show Families Of The Mafia that premieres Thursday night

Families of The Mafia is executive produced by Sammy's daughter Karen Gravano, 47, who starred in VH1's Mob Wives and the short-lived MTV series Staten Island.

During the Gotti trial, Sammy admitted to being involved in the murders of 19 people but the new show seeks to portray him as a grandfather trying to re-establish a relationship with his 20-year-old granddaughter Karina Seabrook.

Sammy was arrested on federal and state drug charges in 2000 along with his wife Debra, daughter Karen and son Gerard and other members of the crime ring.

In 2002, he was sentenced in New York to twenty years in prison and a month later, he was also sentenced in Arizona to nineteen years in prison to run concurrently. He was released two years early in 2017.

Notorious: Sammy The Bull, pictured testifying under oath in Washington D.C. on April 1, 1993, turned government witness after being arrested in 2000 on federal and state drugs charges

Turned on the Mafia: His testimony brought down John Gotti, the Gambino crime family boss who was known as the Teflon Don (pictured in April 1986)

In the family: Sammy's daughter Karen Gravano, 47, is an executive producer of the six-episode series in which she stars with her 20-year-old daughter Karina

Meanwhile, Karen, 47, seeks to encourage her daughter to escape the shadow of the mob past.

In a teaser video for Thursday's premiere, she explains: 'I just don't want her to experience any negativity because of my family's history.'

'I'm not getting up here promoting, join the mob, join a gang. I'm here saying this is who I am, these are experiences I had in my life and this is the path I want to take to change it.'

Moving on: Karen hopes her daughter will escape the shadow of her mob past. 'I just don't want her to experience any negativity because of my family's history,' she says in the trailer

In the shadow of the mob: Karina was raised by her mother in Arizona until the age of 14 when Karen moved them back to New York's Saten Island where the Gravanos have lived for 40 years

Karen is then seen going to visit her mobster father in Arizona.

With his reputation now one of being a 'rat', he fears for the safety of his daughter and granddaughter if they remain in Staten Island and wants them to move back to Arizona, where Karen raised Karina until she was 14.

He tells Karen: 'The only way I won't help you is if I'm dead. I will die for you.'

The Gravano family has lived on New York's Staten Island for 40 years and it's also home to other mob families including the O'Tooles, the Augustines and the LaRoccas who are featured on the show.

Cameras followed them for two years and what transpired will be shown over six episodes.

Family: In the trailer, Karen goes to visit her dad at his home in Arizona where he's lived since being released from prison in September 2017
A medical tribunal decided that despite a catalogue of errors, Dr Baljinder Ubhi was not a risk to patients following the tragic death of Gracie Foster

A doctor who mistook deadly blood poisoning for tonsillitis, leading to a four-year-old girl's death, has been found guilty of serious misconduct but escaped being struck off.

A medical tribunal decided that despite a catalogue of errors, Dr Baljinder Ubhi was not a risk to patients following the tragic death of Gracie Foster, who died of sepsis just hours after he sent her home from hospital.

The youngster from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, had been due to have her tonsils removed before surgery was cancelled after she fell sick on the hospital ward.

The hearing was told consultant paediatrician Dr Ubhi admitted he was 'cutting corners' and failed to carry out a series of basic examinations on Gracie or prescribe antibiotics and decided she simply had a viral infection.

An inquest in September 2018, found there were 'gross failures' by healthcare professionals which contributed to her death in October 2015.

At the time her mother, Michelle Foster, said: 'Nothing will bring Gracie back - her early, tragic and avoidable death is something from which her family will never recover.

'Gracie walked into hospital on the day of her death a happy, chatty and joyous little girl.

Gracie Foster, had been due to have her tonsils removed before surgery was cancelled after she fell sick on the hospital ward. Dr Ubhi admitted he 'cut corners' and failed to carry out basic examinations on Gracie or prescribe antibiotics

'Gracie's family never imagined that the very same day they would see their little girl covered in tubes, being resuscitated - witnessing Gracie's death in such traumatic circumstances is something they have to relive daily.'

At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing, Dr Ubhi accepted that he failed to adequately review Gracie's medical records or obtain a history from her mother when he took charge of her case at Chesterfield Royal Hospital.

The tribunal ruling today stated: 'Dr Ubhi failed to assess [Gracei's] behaviour, heart rate, breathing rate, capillary refill time, skin colour or extremities' skin temperature.

'Dr Ubhi failed to arrange for the following investigations to be undertaken for Patient A (Gracie): a full blood count blood culture C-Reactive Protein (CRP) level urine analysis and culture.

Dr Ubhi accepted that he failed to adequately review Gracie's medical records or obtain a history from her mother when he took charge of her case at Chesterfield Royal Hospital

'Dr Ubhi failed to request that a period of observation be undertaken in respect of Patient A, pending the results of those investigations. Dr Ubhi did not record his consultation with Patient A in the medical notes.

'After examination solely of the tonsils Dr Ubhi diagnosed Patient A with viral tonsillitis and advised that antibiotics were not required.'

After her condition deteriorated, her worried family rushed Gracie to Sheffield Children's Hospital but she could not be saved and died due to meningococcal septicaemia.

When questioned at the hearing, Dr Ubhi also accepted he had been 'cutting corners' on the day in question, saying he was very busy.

After her condition deteriorated, her worried family rushed Gracie to Sheffield Children's Hospital but she could not be saved and died due to meningococcal septicaemia

However, the tribunal heard he had since learnt from his mistakes and described Gracie's inquest as a 'turning point' in recognising his own failings.

The ruling states: 'The Tribunal noted that the failures in the care that he provided Patient A occurred almost 5 years ago.

'During the intervening period there have been no further complaints with regards to his clinical practice. Dr Ubhi described the Inquest as a "turning point" for him in terms of how he viewed the impact of this incident.

'The Tribunal noted that there was a public apology at the Inquest and at this hearing. The Tribunal were in no doubt as to the sincerity of these apologies and the efforts he has made to develop insight and to remediate his misconduct over the last eighteen months.

However, the tribunal heard Dr Ubhi had since learnt from his mistakes and described Gracie's inquest as a 'turning point' in recognising his own failings

'In all the circumstances, the Tribunal concluded that Dr Ubhi does not present a risk to members of the public.

'The Tribunal has previously found proved that Dr Ubhi's actions in relation to Patient A amounted to serious misconduct.

'The Tribunal accepts that now Dr Ubhi has undergone extensive reflection and remediation. This led to the Tribunal's decision that Dr Ubhi's fitness to practise was not currently impaired.'

Instead of being struck off, Dr Ubhi was given a formal warning.
Budget carrier SpiceJet operated its first freighter service on Friday to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam from Hyderabad, carrying around 16 tonnes of medical supplies as part of the transportation of medical essentials, including medicines and other medical supplies, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the airline said.

Besides, one of its freighters flew with critical medical equipment from Singapore to Bangaluru, while a passenger aircraft transported medical supplies as in-cabin cargo to Guwahati from Kolkata, it said.

On Thursday also, SpiceJet had performed a cargo flight to Singapore from Chennai and back with a dedicated Boeing 737 freighter, transporting critical medical equipment and devices to India.

"SpiceJet on Friday operated its first-ever cargo flight from Hyderabad to Ho Chi Minh City carrying medical supplies, while another cargo freighter of ours brought in critical medical equipment to Bangaluru from Singapore. We are actively utilising our passenger planes carrying cargo-on-seat with one flying medical supplies from Kolkata to Guwahati today (Friday)," SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh was quoted as saying in the release.

SpiceJet has operated more than 220 cargo flights since the lockdown began transporting more than 1,850 tonnes of vital supplies, Singh said in the release.

During the lockdown period, only special flights approved by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), medical evacuation flights and those carrying cargo, including medical equipment, to and from different parts of the country are operational.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) and RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) are asking the public not to take part in any water-based activity on or in the sea, while the current national emergency restrictions are in place. Both organisations are highlighting the importance of minimising the risk to Search and Rescue (SAR) volunteer crews, Helicopter crew and other front line emergency services, through being unintentionally exposed to COVID-19.

RNLI and Coast Guard are confirming that their Search and Rescue services are fully operational.

Under normal circumstances, many people would be heading to the coast this weekend to enjoy the Easter bank holiday. Given the current COVID-19 outbreak, both organisations are urging everyone to follow Government instructions, which are clear: stay home, protect frontline services and save lives.

While you are allowed out for daily exercise, we do not recommend that this exercise is on or in the sea and all travel restrictions must be observed. SAR services including RNLI lifeboat service, Coast Guard Helicopter services and Coast Guard units are still available, but every callout has the potential to put additional pressure on SAR services and other front-line emergency services as well as potentially exposing them to COVID-19.

Gareth Morrison, Head of Water Safety at the RNLI, said: We know people who live near the coast still want to exercise by the sea, but when you do this, please think of the potential impact of your actions on RNLI lifeboat volunteers and other emergency services.

Gerard OFlynn from the Coast Guard said, Please; Stay Home & Stay Back to Stay SAFE. Observe the 2x2 Rule - 2 metre physical distance and 2km travel distance. Arrangements are in place for Coast Guard services including Helicopters and Volunteer Coast Guard units to assist HSE, Gardai and Local Authorities in provision of community support and other logistical support. We need our people to stay healthy during this emergency to enable us support the national action plan.




A man who killed two people in a knife attack in southeastern France at the weekend is a refugee from Sudan and has been charged with terrorism offences and murder, the French anti-terrorist prosecutor's office said on Wednesday.







Five people were also wounded in Saturday's attack. The 33-year-old suspect probably acted alone, "without having been given any orders by a terrorist organisation", the office said in a statement.







It added that the man, who worked locally, had not been known to police forces or intelligence services. He had arrived in France in August 2016 and obtained refugee status in June 2017.







When police arrested him shortly after the attack, he was kneeling on a pavement and praying in Arabic.







A search of his home revealed documents with a religious connotation in which the author complained in particular of living in a country of "unbelievers".







France has experienced a wave of attacks by Islamist militants in recent years.







Bombings and shootings in November 2015 at the Bataclan theatre and other sites around Paris killed 130 people, and in July 2016 an Islamist militant drove a truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86. (Reuters)


National Police of Ukraine Open source

Since the beginning of the lockdown, Ukrainian law enforcers opened 4,000 administrative protocols for breaching the lockdown. The Interior Ministry reported that on April 10.

"At the same time, some 500,000 people were fined in France, and 400,000 in Spain", reads the message.

The Ministry claims that most of the citizens live up to the quarantine restrictions. In Kyiv, the overall sum of paid fines made some 3,700 U.S. dollars.

The overall number of Covid-19 cases in Ukraine made 2,203 people. Since the beginning of the epidemic in Ukraine, 69 people deceased and 61 recovered.

Earlier, the Presidential Office of Ukraine claimed that up to 70% of the Ukrainians support the measures of quarantine and only 3% are going to visit the church on Easter.

It is good that Ukrainians are so responsible and the majority of the citizens realize the high risks of the epidemic. The peak is ahead. That is why it is necessary to do everything possible to prevent the endangering of 3% of believers, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

To help people to celebrate Easter at home, Ukrposhta State Postal Office has started to take orders for free delivery of blessed Easter cakes. According to Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy, a few hundreds of orders were provided; the new orders are provided.
Beirut

The coronavirus pandemic may help end one of the world's nastiest wars.

That hope appeared this week when the main combatants in Yemen, the poorest Arab country, laid out their visions of the path toward peace.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced a unilateral cease-fire to allow for talks and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Almost simultaneously, the Houthi rebels who control the Yemeni capital unveiled their own eight-page peace plan. The United Nations, which has been struggling for years to quell Yemen's violence, hopes to convene talks between them as early as next week.

It all sounds like progress, but analysts and diplomats who track Yemen said the distance between the warring sides' positions and the barriers that need to be cleared are so great that the new moves were  at best  opening gambits.

The war has generated incalculable human suffering since the Saudi-led bombing and blockading of Yemen began in 2015. Tens of thousands of people have died, towns and cities have been destroyed, poverty has spread and diseases like cholera have proved hard to beat because the country's medical system has been dismantled and many people lack clean water.

That reality would leave Yemen's 30 million people dangerously vulnerable should the coronavirus take hold, although as of Thursday, Yemen had yet to confirm a case of COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.

The Saudi cease-fire announcement came five years after the kingdom and a number of its Arab allies launched a military intervention in Yemen to try to push back the Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rival. The Houthis had stormed the Yemeni capital, Sana, and sent the government into exile.

Now, the Saudis have many reasons to look for a way out, analysts said. The war's cost has been tremendous, and at a time when the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, wants to push through expensive efforts to diversify the Saudi economy.

More recently, the worldwide drop in demand for oil, because of coronavirus lockdowns and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, has exacerbated the fiscal strains, reducing the price of oil to less than half of what the kingdom needs to balance its budget.

Saudi Arabia has long faced international censure for contributing to Yemen's humanitarian collapse, criticism that would probably intensify if many Yemenis started dying of COVID-19.

But the kingdom may be stuck with an enemy who prefers to keep fighting. Within hours of the cease-fire's start time of noon Thursday, there were reports of breaches.

The Saudis had told the Houthis in advance that the cease-fire announcement was coming, according to a diplomat with knowledge of the exchange. But Houthi leaders have yet to issue an official response to the initiative.

In a telephone call, Muhammad al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi leader, dismissed the Saudi announcement as "more of a continuation of the war than a cease-fire."

"Saudi Arabia is mobilizing its air, navy and armed forces to continue blockading Yemen, which has a far greater impact than the continuation of air bombing," he said.

Another senior Houthi official, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, released the group's own peace proposal. It included, among other things, the end of the Saudi-led blockade, the reopening of Yemeni airports, long-term Saudi financial commitments to Yemen's reconstruction and direct talks between the Saudis and the Houthis about Yemen's political future  with no direct mention of the Yemeni government.

Those demands indicated that after standing in the face of the Arab world's richest country and keeping the Yemeni capital for five years, the Houthis were in no mood to offer concessions, analysts said.
Air pollution over the northeast region of the US has declined as millions living in the area are forced into lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus .

NASA satellite images show a 30 percent reduction in atmospheric nitrogen dioxide compared with the same period last year.

The pollution stems from the burning of fuel and emissions of vehicles and power plants, and because the lockdowns have closed businesses and left streets empty, air quality has improved

This is the lowest monthly levels of any March since the American space agency began recording such data in 2005.

Scroll down for video

 Slide me  NASA satellite images show a 30 percent reduction in atmospheric nitrogen dioxide compared with the same period last year.

Every state in the northeast has been impacted by the coronavirus in some way.

Most are under lockdown, while the rest are being advised to stay home in order to limit spreading the virus.

Nearly every state in the US has been infected, but the northeast areas are feeling the brunt of it.

New York City has been deemed the epicenter in the country, with New Jersey following behind with the second amount of deaths.

NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center released data captured by its Aura satellite that shows the difference in nitrogen dioxide levels. New York City (pictured) has also seen a 50% decline in carbon monoxide levels

The 30 percent decline includes the region of the I-95 corridor from Washington, DC to Boston (pictured)

However, as millions are forced to remain inside, the air pollution has dropped.

NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center released data captured by its Aura satellite that shows the difference in nitrogen dioxide levels.

The organization did a comparison with an image showing the average concentration in March 2015 through 2019 and another from last month.

Though variations in weather from year to year cause variations in the monthly means for individual years, March 2020 shows the lowest monthly atmospheric nitrogen dioxide levels of any March during the OMI data record, which spans 2005 to the present. NASA shared in a statement.

The 30 percent decline includes the region of the I-95 corridor from Washington, DC to Boston.

Nitrogen dioxide is known to increase respiratory problems, as it inflames the lining of the lungs and reduces the persons ability to fight off lung infections.

It also causes wheezing, coughing, colds, flu and bronchitis, and is linked to asthma.

Also experiencing a decline since the coronavirus made landfall in the US are other major metropolitan areas such as Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and New York City.

California was the first to implement a stay-at-home policy earlier this month, with Governor Gavin Newsom deeming socializing outside of the home a crime until further notice.

The state's drop in nitrogen dioxide began shortly after the policy went into effect, with Los Angeles, a pollution hub, experiencing the largest decrease.

The Bay Area and San Diego have also witnessed an improvement in their air quality.

California's drop in nitrogen dioxide began shortly after the policy went into effect, with Los Angeles (pictured), a pollution hub, experiencing the largest decrease

Nearly every state in the US has been infected, but the northeast areas are feeling the brunt of it. New York City has been deemed the epicenter in the country, with New Jersey following behind with the second amount of deaths

In New York City, all nonessential gatherings of any size are temporarily banned and many businesses have been forced to suspend their operations.

The Big Apple has been deemed a hotspot of the virus and although it does not rely heavily on automobile traffic like Los Angles, New York City has also seen a drop in air pollution since the lockdown began.

Researchers at Columbia University have seen emissions of carbon monoxide over New York City decline more than 50 percent below typical levels over the past week.

Levels of carbon dioxide have dropped by up to 10 percent and methane have also fallen 'significantly', according to the Colombia team.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-11 01:19:43|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SKOPJE, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of the two main political parties in North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev of Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and Hristijan Mickoski of VMRO-DPMNE, were asked to self quarantine at home, Health Minister Venko Filipce said at a press conference on Friday, as a TV journalist that interviewed them last week was confirmed positive with coronavirus.

Filipce told reporters that Zaev and Mickoski were tested immediately as soon as the ministry was informed that the journalist tested positive.

According to the minister, the VMRO-DPMNE leader tested negative, but he will have to be placed in mandatory self quarantine for the next 14 days.

Via a post on Facebook, Mickoski said he will respect the recommendation of health authorities and self quarantine at home.

Zaev declared through a Facebook post that he as well has isolated himself at home while waiting for the test results.

In the last 24 hours, according to health authorities, a total of 48 new COVID-19 cases were registered in North Macedonia, bringing the total number to 711 while the death toll stood at 32.
All across America, people have taken to collective howling in the night as a way to thank healthcare workers and first responders for their work in the pandemic and as a way of coping with coronavirus-induced isolation.

From California to Colorado to Georgia and upstate New York, Americans are taking a moment each night at 8 p.m. to howl in a quickly spreading ritual that has become a wrenching response of a society cut off from one another by the coronavirus pandemic.

It starts with a few people letting loose with some tentative yelps. Then neighbors emerge from their homes and join, forming a roiling chorus of howls and screams that pierces the twilight to end another days monotonous forced isolation.

Facebook group Go Outside and Howl founders Brice Maiurro (back) hugs Shelsea Ochoa after they led a howl in Cheesman Park in Denver, Colorado on April 8

Howlers are seen here on April 8 in Denver. There are more than 500,000 members of the Facebook group that started the howling initiative

They howl to thank the nations health care workers and first responders for their selfless sacrifices, much like the balcony applause and singing in Italy and Spain. Others do it to reduce their pain, isolation and frustration. Some have other reasons, such as to show support for the homeless.

In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis has encouraged residents to participate. Children who miss their classmates and backyard dogs join in, their own yowls punctuated by the occasional fireworks, horn blowing and bell ringing.

'Theres something very Western about howling thats resonating in Colorado. The call-and-response aspect of it. Most people try it and love to hear the howl in return,' said Brice Maiurro, a poet, storyteller and activist who works at National Jewish Health.

The nightly howl is a primal affirmation that provides a moments bright spot each evening by declaring, collectively: We shall prevail, said Dr. Scott Cypers, director of Stress and Anxiety programs at the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Brice Maiurro, Shelsea Ochoa, Anna Beazer and Kali Healf (L to R) howl in Denver's Cheesman Park on April 8. The howl is being joined by an increasing number of people across the country

IIrina Bocomolova and her dog, Darby (left), joined the group howl. Some Americans are howling as a way of thanking the health care workers and first responders who are fighting the pandemic, others are doing it to cope with coronavirus-induced isolation

Its a way to take back some of the control that the pandemic-forced social isolation has forced everyone to give up, Cypers said.

'The virus impact is very different for everyone, and this is a way to say, 'This sucks, and get it out in a loud way,' Cypers said. 'Just being able to scream and shout and let out pent-up grief and loss is important. Little kids, on the other hand, are really enjoying this.'

Maiurro and his partner, Shelsea Ochoa, a street activist and artist, formed the Facebook group Go Outside and Howl at 8 p.m. The group has nearly half a million members from all 50 U.S. states and 99 countries since they created it as Colorado's shelter-in-place order went into effect last month.

'We wanted to do this mostly because people are feeling isolated right now,' said Ochoa, 33, who works at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. 'I think it hit on something others needed.'

The howl was inspired by friends and their time abroad.

In California, friends and family of Ochoas would howl at sunset; in Brazil, where she lived recently, residents would cheer at sunset. Maiurro, who also works at National Jewish Health, and fellow poets would howl at the moon during back-alley poetry readings in Boulder.

The super moon is showing here, rising behind the state Capitol in Denver on April 8

Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center health care professionals stand and wave from the sidewalk as the Caravan of Care parades around the hospital in Athens, Georgia on April 5

Motorcyclists and friends of Chad Edmonds, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who is battling COVID-19, wave to hospital workers from a parking ramp on the UnityPoint St. Luke's campus on April 5

'Theres no wrong way to do it,' said Ochoa. 'People can subscribe any kind of meaning they want to it.'

The couple suggest different themes for the evening howls, such as a recent 'The Day of I Miss You.'

Health care workers are grateful for the support - and the nightly moments relief from the stresses of their work.

Jerrod Milton, a provider and senior vice president of operations at Childrens Hospital Colorado, makes it a point to step outside at 8 p.m. each evening.

'It not only inspires me with a sense of solidarity and appreciation, but it makes me laugh a little each day,' Milton said. 'I cannot tell the difference between the howls coming from fellow humans and those instinctively coming alongside from our canine neighborhood companions.'

In downtown Los Angeles, thousands of people yell, scream, cheer, applaud and flash lights from their apartment balconies and windows, thanks in large part to Patti Berman, president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, who promotes the ritual conceived by council communications director Marcus Lovingood.

'I never believed it would take off like this,' said Berman, who in her 70s is staying inside her apartment in deference to the health concerns of her family.

Bermans concerns are for the homeless on LAs Skid Row, the struggling family-owned small businesses, the people shes used to meeting and helping face-to-face in her 15 years on the council.

'These people are my stakeholders and my job - and this is where the howl comes in - is to let them know that we havent disappeared. To preserve the human contact,' she said.

Organizers say restoring and keeping that contact through such extreme adversity will be an achievement to look back upon when the crisis eventually passes.

'When people look back on this and with so many sad stories, hopefully theyll also remember this as one of the good things,' Ochoa said.
China on Friday stepped up quality checks on exports of medical products being used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic amidst a string of complaints from several countries about the faulty and substandard supplies.

India and several other nations are in the process of procuring a host of medical goods like ventilators, masks and personal protection equipment (PPE) from China.

However, over the last few weeks, numerous nations -- including Italy, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Croatia, Turkey, Spain and Nepal -- have complained about substandard or faulty medical products shipped from China.

The Chinese customs authority on Friday announced that it will take stringent quality checks on 11 categories of medical exports essential for COVID-19 control and treatment.

Medical masks, protective suits, goggles, ventilators and seven other categories of medical products will undergo a mandatory quality examination before their shipment to other countries, state-run People's Daily reported.

The new rule takes effect immediately, the report said.

In the wake of the recipient countries questioning the quality of much-needed personal protective equipment made in China, the authorities recently rolled out stricter regulatory measures to ensure the quality of medical exports.

Chinese exporters were asked to provide documents to customs to show that their exports have obtained a registration certificate for medical devices from the State Food and Drug Administration and met the quality standards of the importing country or region.

As Chinese manufacturers are working around the clock to meet the surging global demand for medical materials to beat the pandemic, allegations emerged questioning the quality of Chinese supplies, the report said.

The alleged faulty Chinese medical masks were for non-medical uses and Chinese officials told overseas buyers to "double-check the instructions to make sure what they purchase can serve their intended purposes and avoid making mistakes in a rush", it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (April 9, 2020) said that India is ready to help its `friends` in combating the deadly coronavirus and called for joint efforts to fight against the pandemic, which has claimed over 95,000 lives across the globe so far.

"We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.

We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel. @netanyahu https://t.co/jChdGbMnfH  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

PM Modi made these remarks while replying to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's tweet of appreciation for Indias decision to supply Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, seen as useful in the treatment of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephone conversation on April 3 with Benjamin Netanyahu where the two leaders discussed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the response strategies adopted by their respective governments to counter the health crisis.

The leaders also explored possible collaboration between India and Israel in fighting the pandemic, including by improving the availability of pharmaceutical supplies and by innovative use of high technology.

Replying to a tweet from Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, PM Modi said that the India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times. India is committed to contributing to humanity's fight against this pandemic, he added.

Thank you President @jairbolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times. India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic. https://t.co/uIKmvXPUo7  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro had thanked PM Narendra Modi for allowing the export of raw materials to his country to produce hydroxychloroquine.

Bolsonaro was one of the leaders Prime Minister Modi spoke to over the weekend in his continuing interaction with world leaders since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump thanked PM Modi and the people of India for lifting curbs on the export of hydroxychloroquine. "Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you, India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump had said in a tweet.

India is the largest manufacturer of hydroxychloroquine in the world but the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) had banned exports of the drug and its ingredients in view of the rapid rise in the infection-related cases in the country.
New Delhi, Apr 10 (UNI) Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday said that the Congress is ready to play its role in the battle against Coronavirus outbreak and expressed the hope that the government will come out with a comprehensive scheme to deal the challenge.

Addressing a meeting of PCC chiefs of various states, through video conferencing, the Congress chief, noting that the lockdown has put a tremendous burden on the economy, said that the already bad economic situation is likely to worsen in the coming days.

Mrs Gandhi called on the PCC chiefs to consider as to how the Congress can contribute to the battle against Coronavirus in states where it is not in power.

'The country is battling against the Corona pandemic. In this fight, Congress is ready to play to role. In every state, Congress office-bearers and our workers have been serving countrymen for many weeks,'she said.

Thanking the Congress workers for their dedication towards mitigate the suffering of the underprivileged sections of society during the lockdown, Mrs Gandhi said, 'our workers have come together to serve the poor and migrant laborers who began to leave for their respective villages following the lockdown.

Congress soldiers from every district are engaged in this work. I am extremely grateful for the dedication shown by all of you.'

Pointing out that she and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had written letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which they had given several suggesions to deal with the crisis, Mrs Gandhi said, 'we hope that government will come out a comprehensive scheme to deal with the challenge.

Noting that the lockdown has severely burdened the economy, she said, 'the economy was already facing a crisis. It seems that more trouble is in offing. We have to be ready for such a situation. We have to help the public in this painfull period. We have to strive to make efforts to solve the problems faced by the people. '

She called on the PCC chiefs to consider as to how the Congress can contribute to the battle against Coronavirus in states where it is not in power.

'I want to know from you how the work of preventing the spread of corona epidemic is going on in your states? Are you satisfied with the efforts of the government? We need to consider how the Congress party can contribute to the fight against Coronavirus, ' Mrs Gandhi said.

UNI AR JW1904
Canada has lifted the ban defense equipment to Saudi Arabia in place after the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and concerns over the kingdom criticized campaign in Yemen as the countrys top diplomat noted that they have received significant improvement to the contract worth $14 billion, reports say.

Canada in 2018 froze sales of light armored vehicles to the Gulf country after Ottawa expressed reserves over the death of Saudi critic journalist Jamal Khashoggi killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and over the kingdoms five-year old military campaign in Yemen which has caused the death of thousands of people mostly civilians.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December 2018 said his government was considering cancelling the deal signed by the previous government.

Thursday, Canada Foreign Minister Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne, however, said in a statement that Canada had been able to secure significant improvements to the contract.

The improvement according to the top diplomat include financial protections for Canada if it chooses to delay or deny export permits in the event the vehicles are not used for their stated purposes.

Under our law, Canadian goods cannot be exported where there is a substantial risk that they would be used to commit or to facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian law, international human rights law or serious acts of gender-based violence, he said.

We have now begun reviewing permit applications on a case-by-case basis, Champagne said in the statement.

As always, we will ensure that they comply with the aforementioned legal requirements under Canadian law and the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, he added.

General Dynamics based in London, Ontario, is the main contractor.
She's quarantining in one of the sunniest cities in the US.

And Elle Macpherson looked summer chic as she stepped out to buy coffee and pastries at a local bakery on Friday.

The 56-year-old Australian beauty looked cheerful as she donned a face mask while waiting in line outside the eatery.

Sunny outing: Elle Macpherson is pictured out in Miami on Friday after picking up some coffee and baked goods

Going makeup-free she showed off her flawless sun-kissed complexion as she removed the mask after getting her drinks and baked goods.

Elle looked great in a cream graphic-print T-shirt and cropped pants which she teamed with brown sandals.

Last month Elle revealed all the things she was hoping to achieve while staying home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In an Instagram story she wrote: 'At home and happy... Im choosing to do things I've been promising myself for ages.'

Precautions: The Australian star lined up at a bakery with her face mask on as the purchases were brought outside to customers

Laid back: The 56-year-old beauty looked summery chic in cream pants and T-shirt

The Sydney-born beauty, who is based in Miami, said she has kept busy by video calling her friends through Zoom for support and laughter.

She also said she cleaned her closets, been writing and spending time outside of her home under the sun for 'natural vitamin D'.

Elle wrote: 'most of all [I've] reflecting on what this whole unexpected phenomenon is teaching us as whole and me personally.'

Helping out friends? Elle then headed to see friends at a condo

She also thanked the nurse, doctors, health care works and hospitals for 'doing their best to help the affected.'

'There are many people suffering from being unwell, afraid, alone, and struggling at this time and so Im sending love,' she wrote.

'What's clear to me is choosing faith over fear is the way to go... we are in this together.'
Open source

No restrictions in the market of financial operations will be imposed due to the spread of Covid-19 disease. The press office of the National Bank of Ukraine reported that, quoting Andriy Blinov, the coordinator of the Expert Platform of the NBU.

"No restrictions, either on issuing loans or currency operations - are not and will not be imposed", he said.

According to him, Ukrainians even return some money to the banks.

Blinov underscored that the Ukrainian banking system calmed down the wave of negative effects of the pandemic and the respective lockdown measures.

"The currency market calmed down. The extreme demand among the population and the business decreased. The NBU stopped large-scale interventions to sell currency, but it keeps evening out the fluctuations. On certain days, the authority even re-deemed the excess of currency on the market, re-filling its reserves. There are enough reserves to keep the situation calm", Blinov concluded.
The Finance Ministry has proposed that export of regular rice is stopped until mid-June to build reserves and ensure national food security.

It said in a letter to the Ministry of Industry and Trade that the government plans to buy 190,000 tonnes of regular rice for reserves, and traders have been awarded bids for 178,000 tonnes. However, when some companies see rising demand for exports, they are delaying the signing of contracts and not negotiating sales, it added.

The Finance Ministry, therefore, suggested that the trade ministry asks Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to halt exports of regular rice until June 15 to ensure national reserves. Exports of glutinous rice and other types of rice can still be allowed, it said.

It also proposed that the PM orders the Vietnam Northern Food Corporation (Vinafood1) and its subsidiaries that win bids to commit to selling their rice for national reserves.

On March 24, the PM had imposed a rice export ban until late May to ensure national food security amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, but the trade ministry had proposed that it be lifted, arguing that supply will exceed demand by 6.7 million tonnes for the year.

The trade ministry was reported to be finalizing its proposal to the PM with traders saying the sudden ban has resulted in millions of dollars worth of rice idling at ports. Some experts also said that the ban could cause prices to plummet and farmers would suffer losses.

Vietnam is the world's third largest rice exporter after India and Thailand. Last year it exported 6.37 million tons worth $2.81 billion, with the top markets being the Philippines, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, and China.
(Newser)  All adults entering Utah have been ordered to disclose their travel plans as part of the state's focus on "contact tracing" to control the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Gary Herbert said Thursday that visitors will receive a text message with instructions, CNN reports. "We need to limit our travel to essential purposes only," he said. "Our goal is to trace potential cases of COVID-19 in inbound travelers." Authorities say adults entering the state by road or air will be asked to sign a "travel declaration" that lists their travel plans as well as where else they have traveled in recent weeks.

story continues below

Utah has so far declined to issue a statewide stay-at-home order, though it has a "stay home, stay safe" directive that Herbert considers more positive. The governor said that Dr. Anthony Fauci praised the state for taking "direct, decisive action early on" with measures like closing schools, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. (Read more Utah stories.)
Children: This is a great time to reinforce good personal hygiene, teaching children to wash their hands often.

Laundry: If someone in your home is ill, wash their clothes and bedding with detergent on the hottest water setting, then dry in a hot dryer.

Cleaning: Household surfaces and frequently-touched items should be washed with soapy water and then disinfected with a bleach solution of a gallon of water with five tablespoons of bleach or any EPA-approved household disinfectants. Its better to use wipes than a spray bottle with paper towels. (Most Clorox, Purell and Lysol products are approved and widely available.)

Hand washing: Use soap and warm running water for 20 seconds, or about the amount of time it takes to sing the Happy Birthday song. Use paper towels  not a hot-air dryer  to dry your hands. In a public restroom, use the paper towel to open the door when you leave.

DIY hand sanitizer: In a bowl, mix one-third cup aloe vera gel with two-thirds cup 91 or 99 percent rubbing alcohol until blended. You can add a few drops of essential oils to make it smell better. (Note: this will be runnier than hand sanitizers you buy at a store.) For more DIY tips, go to houstonchronicle.com.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Find extensive information about coronavirus and COVID-19, including how to protect yourself and your family. Its list of approved cleaning and disinfecting products includes many widely available products, including some by Purell, Clorox and Lysol. For a full list, go to cdc.gov and search Center for Biocide Chemistries.

American Cleaning Institute: After President Trumps remark that household disinfectants could be injected, The ACI has issued a reminder that household disinfectants are meant to kill germs or viruses on hard surfaces. Under no circumstances should they ever be used on ones skin, ingested or injected internally. For information on household cleaning go to cleaninginstitute.org/coronavirus .

West Houston Area Ministries: West Houston Assistance Ministries: This west-side nonprofit is accepting donations of food, cleaning and hygiene supplies and cloth face masks. Dropoff at 10501 Meadowglen Lane, 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Make cash donations at whamministries.org/corona-virus-crisis .

Heights Interfaith Ministries Food Pantry: It is accepting donations of hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes and disinfectant spray in addition to canned goods, non-perishable foods, toiletries and diapers. Leave items in the Feed Frank bin outside the pantry.

CrowdSource Rescue: This Houston-based nonprofit needs volunteers for no-contact food deliveries to elderly residents in need. To volunteer, go to crowdsourcerescue.com .

Katy Christian Ministries food pantry: Donations of nonperishable food , personal hygiene, cleaning products and paper goods can be taken to the pantry at 5506 First St., Katy. Cash donations can be made online at ktcm.org/foodpantry/ and volunteers are needed for weekly grocery store pickups and to work as a front desk attendant.

Houston Food Bank: The food bank uses up to 200 volunteers each in shifts from 8 a.m.-noon, 1-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. for product sorting and box packing. Families and groups are welcome; children must be at least 6 years old. Bring your own face mask. Register in advance at www.houstonfoodbank.org/ways-to-give/give-time or call 713-547-8604. Make cash donations online at houstonfoodbank.org .

Houston Humane Society Pet Pantry: 2-4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, apply for pet food assistance at the main shelter, 14700 Almeda. HHS personnel will come to your car to give food; you do not need to bring your pet with you. For information or to donate go to houstonhumane.org .

White Oak Music Hall Staff Fund: With the temporary closing of Northside music venue White Oak Music Hall, many of the staff are particularly hard hit by loss of income. The venue has started a GoFundMe page, with all of the proceeds going to employees. By making a donation, you can also get perks at WOMH like lifetime tickets, commissioned art pieces, sidestage access, or even a cocktail named after you. gofundme.com

Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center: As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread in the U.S., maintaining a sufficient blood supply is essential to assist patients in need of treatment. Healthy people must regularly donate to minimize disruptions to the blood supply and ensure blood is available for patients. Since it is the blood already on the shelves that saves lives, if you are feeling healthy and well, GCRBC strongly encourages you to schedule and keep blood donations regularly to help patients in local hospitals. giveblood.org/where-to-donate/

Southern Smoke Foundation: If you are able, donations are greatly appreciated as 90 percent of all donations go directly to the Emergency Relief Fund, which goes to supportsing restaurant owners and service industry workers who are dealing with closed businesses or significant declines in revenue. southernsmoke.org

Texas Diaper Bank: The Texas Diaper Bank, a nonprofit organization that keeps families healthy by providing diapers, baby essentials, senior incontinence items, food, and education, is taking donations to help victims and their families who are in need of these supplies. texasdiaperbank. networkforgood.com

Kids Meals Inc.: The poverty-stricken are greatly impacted by economic fluctuations, and they need volunteers and donors now more than ever. When businesses change operations and families face reduced hours, illness or dont have work, it causes a measurable impact on family income and ability to provide for children. This year, Kids Meals Inc. will deliver more than 1.2 million healthy meals directly to the homes of hungry children. giveffect.com

Meals on Wheels Texas: Volunteers must contact their local Meals on Wheels organization to learn about delivery opportunities, or how to get involved in student free meal distribution programs. You can also make donations at imgh.org/ meals-wheels-greater-houston

Medical equipment: Fort Bend County Judge KP George is asking that people to donate new, FDA-approved Personal Protection Equipment to coordinated drop-off sites so they can be distributed to hospitals and health care facilities, first responders, public offices and volunteers. Requested items include N95-rated masks, face shields, disposable surgical masks, disposable gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, disposable gowns and generic medical supplies. To schedule a donation, write to FBC.Judge@FortBendCountyTx.gov. For information about COVID-19 in Fort Bend County, go to fbchealth.org .

Alex Bregmans FEEDHOU: The Houston Astros third baseman teamed with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to provide food to Houstonians in need through the Houston Food Bank. To donate, type FEEDHOU in a text message to the number 4144 or by visiting his FEEDHOU Alexs Army page at bit.ly/2y1eB96 .

Spirit Food Fund: The Spirit Golf Association and the Houston Food Bank have launched the Spirit Food Fund to raise money to fight hunger during the coronavirus pandemic. Corby Robertson Jr. and his family as well as the Cullen Foundation and Cullen Trust For Higher Education donated $500,000 and local sports celebrities support the campaign. To donate or volunteer go to houstonfoodbank.org/spiritfoodfund or text spiritfoodfund to 41444. You can also send a check payable to Houston Food Fund (with Spirit Food Fund in the memo line) to Houston Food Bank, 535 Portwall, Houston, TX 77029

Food pantry: St. Pauls Episcopal Church, in the Gulfgate community, will host a weekly drive-thru pantry for people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. 10 a.m. Thursdays in the church parking lot, 7843 Park Place.

CrowdSource Rescue: The elderly in need can get food bank deliveries through this Houston-based nonprofit. To sign up for food deliveries go to crowdsourcerescue.com .

Northwest Assistant Ministries: Offers help with rent, food, clothing and other basic needs , 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday at 15555 Kuykendahl Road. Call 281-885-4555. (NAM has no more rental assistance for April.)

Clear Lake Food Pantry : Open 8-11 a.m. Mondays and Thursdays for people in 77058, 77059, 77062 and 77598 ZIP codes at Clear Lake Baptist Church, 15700 Space Center Blvd. Call 281-488-3736.

West Houston Assistance Ministries: 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for food distribution at 10501 Meadowglen Lane. They also help with financial assistance for rent and utilities; call 713-780-2727, ext. 200, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Wednesday. Financial aid is available only to those living in 77036, 77042, 77057, 77063, 77072, 77077, 77082, 77083, and 77099 ZIP codes. Visit whamministries.org/care-ministry to donate and for a list of services.

Katy Christian Ministries food pantry: Provides food and personal care items, including a one-time emergency portion of food to non-clients. For ongoing assistance call 281-391-9623. Hours: 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday. 5506 First St., Katy. (Park in front of the food pantry and a pantry worker will come out to you.) It is also accepting handmade masks for its volunteers and staff. Information: ktcm.org/foodpantry/

Heights Interfaith Ministries Food Pantry : Open 5-7 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m.-noon Saturdays in a drive-through format with pre-bagged groceries. Bring a photo I.D. and mail (such as a utility bill) showing a current address. Call 713-861-6155; 3523 Beauchamp

United Way of Greater Houston: Dial 211 for its helpline, staffed round-the-clock. They help callers connect with groups offering assistance with basic needs such as food, rent assistance, utilities and health care.

Houston Food Bank: The food bank is distributing 750,000 pounds of food daily. It has pantries and partner sites all over the city . For information go to houstonfoodbank.org or call 832-369-9390.

You can find a donor center or mobile blood drive and schedule an appointment at giveblood.org. Here are some of the sites:

Test and donate: With the regional blood supply at less than a one-day supply, the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is partnering with United Way Galveston County Mainland to host a blood drive with COVID-19 antibody testing 10 a.m.-2 p.m. July 15 at 2800 Texas Ave., Texas City. The blood center is offering free coronavirus antibody testing with each successful blood donation. Antibody tests show if your immune system responded to the virus by producing antibodies, which could appear in people who never had symptoms of the disease. All blood donation is by appointment only; to register or find a list of other places to donate blood, go to www.giveblood.org or call 409-948-4211.

MD Medical Group: (COVID-19 and Rapid Antigen Testing) at MD KidsPediatrics, 20403 FM 529, Cypress, and 490 IH-10 Frontage Road, Beaumont; and Clinicas Mi Doctor, 5230 Aldine Mail Route, 8225 Broadway, 5402 Airline and 1410 Gessner, all Houston. Appointments are required; call or text 888-776-5252

Walmart: 12353 FM 1960 West, 13003 Tomball Parkway, 9235 N. Sam Houston Parkway East, 11242 S. Gessner and 9700 Hillcroft, all Houston; 8208 and 11425 Barker Cypress, Cypress; 12312 Will Clayton Parkway, Humble; 20903 Highland Knolls Dr., Katy; 2165 Northpark Dr., Kingwood. Open 7:45-8:45 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Appointments are required; go to DoINeedaCOVID19test.com.

CVS Health: 3923 Garth Road, Baytown; 2326 61st St., Galveston; 12502 Memorial Drive, 1003 Richmond, 5402 Westheimer, 2469 Bay Area, 1000 Elgin, 6079 Texas 6 North, 12601 and 19715 Tomball Parkway, 5510 W. Orem, 5430 Bissonnet, 5603 and 11600 FM 1960 West, 4150 N. Shepherd, 5725 N. Eldridge Parkway, 2828 Spears Road, and 4451 W. Fuqua Road, all in Houston; 26265 Northwest Freeway and 12550 Louetta, Cypress; 5002 W. Main, League City; 5610 Spencer Highway, Pasadena; 2232 Repsdorph, Seabrook; 25110 Grogans Mill Road and 8754 Spring Cypress, Spring; 11600 Shadow Creek, Pearland; 2902 Palmer Highway, Texas City; 5002 W. Main, League City; 5430 Bissonet, Bellaire. Register online at cvshealth.com/covid-19/testing-locations.

HOPE Clinic West: 12121 Westheimer, Suite 205. Testing is by appointment only, call 281-558-2749. Testing fee is $120 but sliding scale discounts are available.

Houston/Harris County Health: Free drive-thru testing for anyone, regardless of symptoms, at Butler Stadium, 13755 S. Main, and Delmar Stadium, 2020 Magnum Road; open 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Call 832-393-4220 for an appointment and access code.

Fort Bend County: The county is offering free testing to its residents  with or without insurance  at sites in Rosenberg, Sugar Land, Katy and Missouri City, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays. To schedule an appointment call 281-238-2363 or go to fortbendcountytx.gov.

Christ Temple of Deliverance: Free drive-thru COVID-19 testing will be offered 8 a.m.-4 p.m. through Aug. 16 at Christ Temple of Deliverance, 3710 McHard Road, Missouri City. Patients do not need to show symptoms and no referral is required. The event is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Al Green in conjunction with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, State Rep. Ron Reynolds and the temples Bishop Destry C. Bell Sr.

Advice for Eating: Join registered dietitian Catherine Kruppa at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 12 for a free Zoom seminar on developing a plan to maximize your workout. The even is held in conjunction with Koala Health and Wellness Houston Half Marathon and 10K. Registration is required.

Consejos Legales: The Mexican-American Bar Association of Houston, Hispanic Bar Association of Houston and Houston Bar Association will again hold Consejos Legales helping Spanish-speaking residents with general legal questions or COVID-19 inquiries, including unemployment and eviction, from 6-8 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. The next program will be Sept. 3. Choose a time slot at HBA.org/LegalLine to register in advance. For information call 713-759-1133.

Veterans Legal Initiative: Legal clinics with free advice and representation for low-income veterans are offered 2-5 p.m. Fridays by phone. Submit applications by phone (713-228-0735) or online at www.MakeJusticeHappen.org . The clinic is open to all low-income U.S. veterans and spouses of deceased veterans in the Houston area.

Houston Bar Association: The HBAs free LegalLine has shifted to an online platform, answering legal questions 5-8 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. The next session will be Aug. 19. Go to hba.org/legalline to sign up for a time slot or call 713-759-1133. You must register 24 hours in advance.

Fighting evictions: Several local legal groups are banding together to help Houston area residents fighting evictions. Anyone needing assistance should go to HBA.org/Evictions for information on free legal representation. It includes a self-representation kit, mediation and lawyer referrals. Groups participating are the Houston Bar Association, Houston Volunteer Lawyers, Houston Lawyer Referral Service, Dispute Resolution Center, Lone Star Legal Aid, South Texas College of Law Houston, Thurgood Marshall School of Law Earl Carl Institute for Legal and Social Policy, and the University of Houston Law Center. Other sources of information include www.MakeJusticeHappen.org , email info@hvlp.org or call 713-228-0735. Anyone who has received an eviction notice should act as soon as possible.

YMCA of Greater Houston: The YMCA has partnered with the Houston and Montgomery County food banks and others to provide food to families in need. Its schedule for August is:

Generation Park: Free produce and milk will be given away at 8 a.m. Aug. 15 at Generation Park at Redemption Square on Subsea Lane. They will have enough to supply 750 cars. Volunteers are needed to help with the effort starting at 6:30 a.m. on both days. For information or to volunteer go to www.GenerationPark.com/covid19

Christ Temple of Deliverance: Free drive-thru COVID-19 testing, groceries and PPE supplies will be given out 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, at Christ Temple of Deliverance, 3710 McHard Road, Missouri City. The event is sponsored by the church, U.S. Rep. Al Green, State Rep. Ron Reynolds, Judge Joel Clouser and Pernell Davis.

Test and donate: With the regional blood supply at less than a one-day supply, the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center is always looking for blood donations. It is by appointment only; to register or find a list of places to donate blood, go to www.giveblood.org or call 409-948-4211.

Texas Folklife fund: The Texas Folk and Traditional Artist COVID-19 Relief Fund helps local folk and traditional artists affected by COVID-19. One-time monetary grants of $500 are available; fill out an application at texasfolklife.org. Applicants must live in Texas, identify as a folk or traditional artist and show financial need. For information call 512-441-9255 or write to info@texasfolklife.org.

Houston Food Bank: The food bank needs volunteers to help with increased distribution demand and to help with hurricane preparedness. The food bank has a new warehouse  referred to as North Branch, at 146 Knobcrest  to help alleviate demand at the main warehouse at I-10 and Gellhorn. Volunteers age 16 and older are needed to build home delivery kits and disaster boxes from 8 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Masks are required and social distancing is practiced. Sign up in advance at www.houstonfoodbank.org/ways-to-give/give-time or call 713-547-8604. Make cash donations online at houstonfoodbank.org.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

How COVID-19 spreads: Person-to-person when coughing, sneezing or exhalation releases droplets from the nose or mouth of someone who is infected onto other people, objects or surfaces, according to the World Health Organization. When other people breathe in those droplets, or touch contaminated objects or surfaces and then touch their eyes, nose, or mouth, they can contract the virus.

Symptoms: Can appear within two to 14 days of exposure and can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Colds and allergies are typically marked by itchy eyes, stuffy noses and sneezing, while the flu and coronavirus share symptoms of fever, fatigue, body aches, cough and worsening symptoms. Six additional symptoms -- chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and loss of taste or smell -- were added more recently by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-19 can be differentiated from the flu if you have shortness of breath, a history of travel and known exposure to someone with the illness.

When to call your doctor: If you have mild symptoms and think you have COVID-19 contact your doctor. Do not go to your doctors office without calling first. Most people with mild symptoms can isolate and recover at home, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

More Information Heroes of COVID-19 Houstonians are showing courage and resilience - coming together to help those vulnerable and in need. These everyday heroes make Houston strong, and we want to celebrate them. Nominate the heroes on the frontline in your community: doctors, nurses, grocery store workers, business owners and volunteers. Send your nominees for Heroes of COVID-19 to houstonheroes@chron.com. See More Collapse

If you test positive: Isolate at home until a medical provider clears you. Isolate by staying in one room away from others who are not sick. If possible, use a different bathroom. Surfaces in rooms used by anyone who is sick should be cleaned and disinfected daily, says the CDC.

At-home treatment: There is no medicine to treat those with COVID-19. Follow your doctors advice. The CDC recommends getting plenty of rest and staying hydrated.

When its urgent: If you develop emergency warning signs  difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, persistent chest pain or chest pressure, new confusion or inability to arouse, and bluish lips or face  the CDC warns that you should get medical attention immediately. Call your doctor or emergency room before going in and tell them your symptoms.

How do I know when Ive recovered?: Patients isolating at home must go fever-free for 72 hours without fever-reducing medication, according to the CDC. Other symptoms must have improved and seven days must have passed from the time those symptoms first appeared. If you have tested positive, two negative tests must be returned 24 hours apart.

Prevent the spread: Avoid contact with people who are sick and stay at home as much as you can to avoid contact with others. Clean and disinfect surfaces in your home with a solution of five tablespoons of bleach in a gallon of water or a disinfectant approved by the CDC. (Most Purell, Clorox and Lysol disinfectant products are on the list.) Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, then throw used tissues in a lined trash can.

If you leave your home: Wear gloves and a mask covering your nose and mouth if you can. Touch as few surfaces as possible and do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth after touching any object or surface unless you have washed and disinfected your hands. (Wash hands with soap and warm running water for 20 seconds.) Observe social distancing by staying six feet away from others.

Self-isolation vs. self-quarantine: Self-isolation is for people who have COVID-19 or believe they do. If thats the case, stay at home and call a doctor for testing. Self-quarantine is for people who have been exposed to the virus but arent sick; it lasts 14 days after contact with a person who has COVID-19.

VIRTUAL MEDICINE

Kelsey-Seybold Virtual Health: Patients with accepted insurance should register at MyKelseyOnline.com and download the MyKelseyOnline app. You can communicate with Kelsey-Seybold medical providers; schedule, change or cancel appointments; request prescription refills; access most test results; and complete payment for appointments.

Memorial Hermann eVisit: The Memorial Hermann Health Plan includes Everyday Well, Memorial Hermann Virtual Clinic, eVisit and Teladoc. For any coronavirus symptoms or immediate concerns, start with eVisit for a virtual consultation. The service is available 24/7. EVisits include an online questionnaire about symptoms and medical history, then a health care provider reviews and responds with a diagnosis and treatment plan within 30 minutes. memorialhermann.org/virtual-care/evisit/

Houston Methodist Virtual Urgent Care: Houston Methodists Virtual Urgent Care is available 24/7 and eVisits can be scheduled from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. The appointment is $20, but other costs may vary depending on your insurance status. Anyone with cold, flu or coronavirus symptoms should use the MyMethodist app first. houstonmethodist.org/virtual-urgent-care/

RediClinic@Home: Try telehealth options with a live, board-certified clinician at RediClinic.com. Patients should have ID and a form of payment such as insurance, debit or credit cards. Hours are 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. RediClinic.com

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINES

Houston Area Womens Center: Call 713-528-2121.

Katy Christian Ministries: Its Crisis Center helps victims of domestic abuse and sexual abuse. Call 281-391-HELP (4357) for domestic violence emergencies (281-391-4504 for non-emergencies); or 281-693-RAPE (7273) for sexual abuse emergencies (281-391-5262 for non-emergencies.)

Bay Area Turning Point: Victims of domestic or sexual violence should call 281-286-2525 for help or free counseling.

The Montrose Center: Call the LGBT Switchboard Houston at 713-529-3211 for 24-hour help.

Family Violence Center: Call 281-885-4673 or 888-750-4673.

RESTAURANT WORKER RELIEF William Chris Vineyards: This Texas Hill Country winery has launched a Wanderer Series Relief Project to benefit the Southern Smoke Foundation. Purchase a bottle of its new red wine blend for $20 and all proceeds go to Southern Smoke, a nonprofit spearheaded by Houston chef Chris Shepherd, to help restaurant workers in need. Purchase it at H-E-B, Kroger, Whole Foods, Twin Liquors and williamchriswines.com. Messina Hof: This Texas-based winery created its Bottle of Thanks program to allow customers to purchase wine and send it to medical workers. Purchase any of their 50-plus wines at messinahof.com and they can be sent to a specific person or to a local hospital the winery partners with. Messina Hof covers the cost of shipping.

Bartender Emergency Assistance Program: To apply or donate to the USBG National Charity Foundation effort go to usbgfoundation.org/beap<extra_leading>

Fisherman: This program helps restaurants with free website services and help setting up takeout or delivery services. You can also donate to the cause at gofisherman.com.<extra_leading>

One Fair Wage: This website provides cash assistance for restaurant workers through the Emergency Coronavirus Tipped and Service Worker Support Fund. You can apply for help or donate to the cause at ofwemergencyfund.org.<extra_leading>

Restaurant Workers Community Foundation: This group offers a list of places that restaurant workers can turn to for financial assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Write to covidhelp@restaurantworkerscf.org or go to restaurantworkerscf.org.

Kiva: Crowd-funded, interest-free loans of up to $25,000. For information on the programs below, go to houstontx.gov/obo/<extra_leading>

Facebook Small Business Grants Program: $100 million to be distributed. Sign up for updates at facebook.com/

business/boost/grants.

FINANCIAL HELP

Renters protection: People living in rental housing financed by government-backed loans are protected from eviction during the pandemic. Landlords cannot begin eviction proceedings or charge penalties on unpaid rent until Aug. 23. To find out if your rental housing is included, go to knowyouroptions.com or myhome.freddiemac.com.

Episcopal Health Foundation: The foundation is awarding grants of up to $100,000 to groups working on COVID-19 response and is creating an emergency loan fund with two-year, no-interest loans up to $1 million for grant recipients. The money is earmarked for groups working with groups disproportionately impacted by the disease. The first round of funding will be given in May. Episcopalhealth.org<extra_leading>

United Way of Greater Houston: Dial 211 for the 24/7 United Way helpline that will connect people in need with food, child care, transportation and other resources.

Katy Christian Ministries: Its Social Services program provides financial help with rent/mortgage, utilities, gas cards and prescriptions. For help call 281-391-9623 or go to 5504 First St., Katy, 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Go to ktcm.org/social-services/ for information on what you need to bring with you.

West Houston Area Ministries: Offers financial aid for rent, mortgage and utilities for residents in 77042, 77057, 77063, 77077 and 77082 ZIP codes. Call 713-780-2727, ext. 200, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Wednesday. You must provide picture ID, proof of income, copy of lease or mortgage statement and proof of job loss or decrease in hours.

Unpaid wages: If you worked hours before the stay-home mandate and have not been paid, you can file a claim with the Texas Workforce Commission under the Texas Payday Law. File your claim online at twc.texas.gov, where youll find tutorials and information to help you through the process. You must submit your claim within 180 days of your missed pay date.

Unemployment compensation: The Texas Workforce Commission website has been swamped with unemployment claims since the coronavirus pandemic and stay-home mandates started in March. Apply online at twc.texas.gov, where youll find information and tutorials (late-night, early-morning hours are best). Call 800-939-6631 8 a.m.-5 p.m. for information.

Small business loans: The federal CARES Act provides $376 billion in relief. Options include paycheck protection, debt relief, express bridge loans of up to $25,000 and economic injury emergency loans of up to $10,000. Go to sba.gov for information.

Arts coalition: A coalition of Houston-area arts groups is offering financial help for people who work in the arts and have been economically impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. To donate to the fund go to charity.gofundme.com; to apply for grants of up to $1,000, go to houstonartsalliance.<DP>submittable.com.

SNAP Benefits: Texas Health and Human Services has received $168 million for emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits. SNAP recipients will see additional funds on their Lone Star Card by April 15 and again by May 15 for next months benefits. SNAP recipients do not need to take any action to receive the additional food support.

Safety alert: The U.S. Attorneys Office Southern District of Texas warns people of potential theft and scams related to COVID-19 economic payment checks. If anyone calls claiming to be from the IRS and in need of personal information, it is a scam. Hang up and do not give them any information. If you receive texts or emails offering ways to get your money faster, delete them. Some bogus checks are being distributed. Real checks will be in the mail in a few weeks. If you get one with an odd amount (especially one with cents) and it asks you to call to verify a check online, it is fraudulent. For information about fraud, go to justice.gov/coronavirus.

JOB HELP

West Houston Area Ministries: Helps people apply for unemployment benefits, write resumes and search for jobs. Call 713-780-27200 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday or go to whamministries.org.

Workforce Solutions: Check this statewide site for a list of active job openings at wrksolutions.com. For information call 888-469-5627.

LEGAL HELP

Small business help: Vinson & Elkins and the City of Houstons Office of Business Opportunity with several other local law firms are offering one hour of free legal advice to small businesses in Houston. Through phone consultations they will offer advice on loan and grant relief programs, taxes, commercial leases, contracts, employment, intellectual property and other pandemic-related general business issues. Small businesses, self-employed entrepreneurs and nonprofits are all eligible. First fill out a form at houstontx.gov/obo/free-legal-assstance.html and email it to obolegalservices@houstontx.gov.

Consejos Legales: The Mexican-American Bar Association of Houston, Hispanic Bar Association of Houston and Houston Bar Association will again hold Consejos Legales helping Spanish-speaking residents with general legal questions or COVID-19 inquiries, including unemployment and eviction from 6-8 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. Choose a time slot at HBA.org/LegalLine to register in advance. For information call 713-759-1133.

Houston Bar Association: The HBAs free LegalLine will answer legal questions  general or COVID-19 related  5-8 p.m. Wednesdays through May 27. Go to hba.org/legalline to sign up for a time slot or call 713-759-1133. Calls are limited to 20 minutes. For immigration questions, call 833-468-4664 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Writing wills: Houston Volunteer Lawyers have developed a free guide to help people create a handwritten, or holographic, will. After you write your will, store it in a safe place and let your appointed executor know where it is. Later, consult an attorney to confirm that it is complete. For the free guide and information on virtual legal clinics, visit makejusticehappen.org or call 713-228-0735.

Houston Volunteer Lawyers: Volunteer attorneys will give legal advice over the phone for those who submit an application and are eligible for its pro bono services. The advice interviews are 2-5 p.m. on Fridays through May 2020. Apply online at www.makejusticehappen.org/

MENTAL HEALTH

Free therapy: Mental health tele-therapy is available free for people in the restaurant industry through a collaboration between Southern Smoke, Mental Health America of Greater Housotn and the University of Houston Clinical Psychology program. To register go to southernsmoke.org/mental-health-services.

Katy Christian Ministries Crisis Center: Provides free help by phone, email and video chat only right now. Call 281-391-9623 9 a.m.-5 p.m. for help.

St. Lukes United Methodist Church: Its Nick Finnegan Counseling Center offers mental health services on a sliding scale and is now operating remotely. Call 713-402-5046 for an appointment.

Harris County Mental Health: This county agency offers services: dial 211 for mental health care services, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or call the Treatment Referral Helpline at 877-726-4727.

The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD: The center is operating the 24/7 COVID-19 mental health support line launched by Texas Health and Human Services. For stress and anxiety related to COVID-19, call 833-986-1919.

Yes to Youth: The nonprofit is offering counseling services online. For an appointment, call 936-756-8682. For immediate help, call its 24-hour hotline at 888-756-8682.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 for English and 888-628-9454 for Spanish.

Center for Healing Arts and Sciences: Offering reduced-fee $50 solution-focused therapy sessions to first responders and healthcare professionals. 713-526-4444 or info@thecenterforhas.com.

This is My Brave: This national mental health performing arts nonprofit has more than 800 videos, including full performances, about living with depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, addiction and other mental health issues; youtube.com/user/thisismybrave.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE RECOVERY

Alcoholics Anonymous: Offers online support at aa-intergroup.org.

Cocaine Anonymous: Offers online support and services at ca-online.org.

Refuge Recovery: Offers online support at lifering.org.

In The Rooms - Online Recovery Meetings: Provides online support through live meetings and discussion groups at intherooms.com

Marijuana Anonymous: Offers virtual support at ma-online.org.

Narcotics Anonymous: Offers a variety of online and Skype meeting options at na.org.

Reddit Recovery: Provides a virtual hangout and support during recovery at reddit.com.

Self-Management and Recovery Training: Offers global community of mutual-support groups, forums including a chat room and message board at smartrecovery.org.

SoberCity: Offers an online support and recovery community at sobercity.com.

Sobergrid: Online platform for those who want to sober and stay sober at sobergrid.com.

Soberistas: Provides a women-only international online recovery community at soberistas.com.

Sober Recovery: Offers an online forum for those in recovery and their friends and family at soberrecovery.com.

We Connect Recovery: Provides daily online recovery groups for those with substance use and mental illness at <a href="https://
Barvin, a Houston-based real estate investment and service company, sold the Oak Lawn Heights apartments in Dallas to a local investor that plans further upgrades to the 137-unit property.

The 16-building complex, which had been considered a potential redevelopment site, was purchased by BKE Acquisitions. Terms of the deal were nt disclosed. Built in 1970, Barvin acquired the property, near the Dallas North Tollway and Wycliff Avenue, in 2011 as the nation was recovering from the Great Recession.

The dynamic infill location was key in our decision to purchase Oak Lawn Heights almost nine years ago, CEO Eric said in an announcement. We have watched with excitement as this asset and location have continued to improve over our ownership period. Our investors expectations were greatly exceeded."

Improvements made by Barvin include renovations to the unit interiors, the clubhouse, leasing center and pool area and a new dog park.

The sale, which closed on March 5, was the company's first disposition of the year. Chris Deuillet and Danny Baker of CBRE Dallas marketed the property for Barvin.

Dallas has the highest apartment occupancy rate among big cities in Texas at 91.5 percent, according to ApartmentData.com. Houstons occupancy rate averages 89.6 percent. Rents at Oak Lawn Heights average about $1,000 per month or $1.21 per square foot, and the complex has maintained an occupancy rate of about 95 percent. The units average 826 square feet.

While the complex was Barvins only Dallas asset, the company is looking to acquire other property there, said Susan Pohl, the copanys director of acquisitions.

The privately held firm owns 4,000 apartments units across 12 properties, primarily in Houston, with others in San Antonio and Atlanta.

Barvin is preparing to embark on its first ground up development on Knight Road, north of El Paseo Street, near the upcoming TMC3 collaborative research campus and NRG Stadium. Plans have not been finalized, but the company hopes to break ground late this year on the site, which could hold 275 to 300 units and open in 2022.

Predominantly, we buy existing properties, Pohl said. This will be our first development.

The development comes as rents are poised to soften in the coming months after recent increases, according to ApartmentData.com. Rents for Class A apartments in the Houston area rose by $5 to $1,540 per month from February to March. Overall, local rents increased by $2 to $1,056 in March.

katherine.feser@chron.com

twitter.com/kfeser
Chad Inver used to supply wheels of cheese, 100-pound batches of beef fillets and cases of butter to restaurants, bars and hotels around Philadelphia. Now in the wake of America's coronavirus shutdown, he's surviving by selling goods to households via Ziploc bag.

After Pennsylvania issued lockdown orders in mid-March, forcing many customers to close, Inver spread the word on Facebook that he'd be selling items like 5-pound bags of pasta and 1-pound cases of mushrooms-for pickup or home delivery-in a bid to keep afloat Larry Inver Wholesale Foods, which he runs with his parents. A few weeks in, it's working. Sales are surging, and the company has added two employees to meet demand, while finding new accounts wherever it can-even at police precincts.

"It's been crazy busy," said the 26-year-old Inver. "We've managed to generate almost the same amount of revenue that we had before the lockdown."

Inver is part of a growing number of food wholesalers who are pivoting to households to avoid a shutdown and laying off workers amid the covid-19 outbreak that's decimated small businesses. Over the past few years, the so-called direct-to-consumer movement has taken hold in categories like clothing and beauty with firms offering lower prices by eliminating the retailer middlemen. Food producers hadn't been as quick to embrace this model, but are now catching up out of necessity.

What this shift means for the industry's long-term future remains to be seen. However, it's not hard to see it helping to push more Americans to embrace cooking. Many are preparing more meals than ever because of the stay-at-home orders, and now they have more options to get high-quality food delivered at what are often lower prices than they are used to paying.

Overall, about 60% of small businesses have temporarily pivoted their operations during the pandemic, according to Hello Alice, which offers advice and resources to small companies. And nearly 10% have made a permanent change.

Out on the west coast, the switch to retail meant that Joe Conte could hire back most of the workers that he'd laid off. He was preparing to close Water2Table Fish Co. after restaurant orders for halibut, black cod and sea bass evaporated when the Bay Area enacted America's first shelter-in-place order on March 16. But within a week, he started selling seafood to households.

On a typical day at San Francisco's Pier 45, Conte, who buys from local fishing boats, is putting together more than a hundred home deliveries for the Bay Area. The new program is generating about 60% of the revenue that he did from restaurants. There are other benefits, too.

"Retail pays immediately compared with businesses, so it's been good for cash flow," said Conte, 55, whose been running his business for a decade.

Since the lockdowns in the U.S., financially stricken small businesses are enacting a range of measures so they don't have to close. Restaurant owners have resorted to crowd funding and selling vouchers, fitness instructors are holding classes online and skin care companies are selling hand sanitizers.

Still, the road ahead for them is precarious. Overhauling a business quickly, including revamping supply chains and finding enough new customers, is no doubt difficult. More than 10% of small businesses are on the verge of closing for good within the next month, according a poll released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Their survival is key because as a group they account for almost half of U.S. private employment.

In Atlanta, Kirk Halpern, who supplies restaurants in Georgia and South Carolina, had to quickly change when his business, Farmers & Fishermen Purveyors, collapsed. He reckons that 97% of sales got wiped out in one day last month; what he described as "boom...gone."

The 56-year-old responded by mapping out a plan over 13 hours to shift from supplying restaurants to delivering to households. His wife provided inspiration by asking friends if they wanted friends-and-family meat and seafood packages. Enough people responded that it gave him confidence to take it to go public.

And so far Halpern is surviving. Gross profit is down about a quarter from before the crisis struck because the big orders from restaurants, which can total $5,000, are gone, and being replaced by purchases that average less than $200. But he's managed to keep his vans running and employees working. Both Halpern and Inver in Philadelphia said they plan to continue offering home deliveries once the pandemic passes.

"As long as you're moving, as long as you're working, good things will happen," Halpern said.
[April 10, 2020] MetLife Provides Resources and Tools to Help Small Business Owners and Their Employees Navigate the Pandemic

Eighty-four percent of small business owners say they are concerned about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on their business, and a majority (58%) are very concerned, according to a recent poll from MetLife and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This poll provides the first view of the small business landscape from their own perspective. To help small businesses weather the economic fall-out and immediate challenges of COVID-19, MetLife is offering several resources to both small business owners and their employees. "MetLife and the Chamber of Commerce have been releasing the quarterly Small Business Index for three years, and our recent poll on the impact of COVID-19 on small businesses is the first time overall business optimism has dropped significantly," said Todd Katz, executive vice president, Group Benefits, MetLife. "We recognize the financial and emotional upheaval the coronavirus is having on the country, particularly small business owners and their employees. MetLife is making resources available free of charge to small businesses to help them navigate these difficult times." Effective today, MetLife is making the following available to our small business customers: Financial Wellness. Small businesses with fewer than 100 employees can now access COVID-19-related guidance on cash flow issues, IRS taxpayer relief, government legislation, market volatility and asset allocation through MetLife's PlanSmart Financial Wellness planners. For 90 days, small business owners and their employees will have phone access - at no cost to them - through our alliance with Ernst & Young LLP, the U.S. firm (EY), to credentialed EY financial planners. Overall Wellness. Overall individual healthand well-being is a top priority during a crisis. To help our small business customers address these needs, MetLife is offering a dedicated COVID-19 hotline provided by LifeWorks. Through the hotline, small business owners and their employees will have access to services including immediate emotional support, research and referrals along with guidance and resources to cope with COVID-19. The hotline is available to all customers with fewer than 500 employees through September 30. No rate increases. MetLife will not increase rates on any Group Benefits products for customers who have fewer than 500 employees for June 1, 2020, through September 1, 2020, renewals.



Financial Wellness Hub. This dynamic new financial wellness microsite is designed to guide employees at all companies and in all circumstances as they actively manage stress, navigate life choices, and manage their finances in this volatile environment. The hub, which will expand over time, helps consumers think about what they need to do now and how they can prepare for the future. Legal document access and review. Through the end of July, MetLife Legal Plans will provide free document review and consultation to all employees, regardless of whether or not they are signed up for the service, of employers that offer MetLife Legal Plans. Employees can access our network attorneys to get answers to questions related to legal issues they may be facing and have attorneys review estate planning documents or insurance forms. These customer offerings follow MetLife Foundation's announcement on March 31 that it is committing $25 million to the global response to COVID-19 in support of communities impacted by the pandemic.

"We know that people are struggling. Employers of all sizes want to help their employees get access to tools and resources to better manage their financial and emotional stress," said Meredith Ryan-Reid, senior vice president, Financial Wellness & Engagement, MetLife. "We are committed to helping employees address their current needs and feel more confident about the future." About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (MetLife), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005127/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Controversial Prophet Kofi Oduro says the outbreak of Coronavirus in Ghana has proven that the production of stickers, hand bands, creams, oil and calenders by some men of God is useless.



The head pastor of Alabaster International Ministries reiterated that Coronavirus has exposed all the fake men of God who were hiding behind fake miracles to deceive their members.



"Coronavirus has made us know that pastors can save us. Coronavirus has made us know that our oil, stickers, cream, bands and calenders are useless. If they are not useless, they should cure coronavirus with it."



In a video that has gone viral, the man of God is seen daring all prophets in the country to cure coronavirus patients if indeed they claim they perform miracles.



"If it can help, I Kofi Oduro will be the one promoting it for them. I will go on TV, radio and make noise about it. Coro has made us know that people were just being deceived."



Most of the Ghanaian prophets who previously touted their 'superpowers' have gone silent in the midst of the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus.



Watch the video below:















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Photo: moneycrashers.com

1. Speculation is not investing

Speculation is more akin to gambling as you put all your eggs in one basket, home-value appreciation.

You have no contingency plan. Cash flow and mortgage pay down create ROI regardless of the market. Spec buying is putting a deposit down on a condo thats two years away, hoping the unit is worth more and you can sell it before the building completes.

Speculation is buying a property that doesn't cover itself with rent each month because you believe in the area and the potential for appreciation. I learned this lesson the hard way back in 2007; by the time my high-rise condominiums were built in 2010, they had dropped by more than my equity.

I was underwater and forced to close anyway. This was a $150,000 tuition.

https://twitter.com/VanREflipflops

2. There are no good or bad markets  only good or bad tactics



For example, there are specific tactics that work in a slump, like trading up as the higher-priced homes get hit the hardest. Or negotiating creative terms like seller financing.

These same tactics won't work in a boom. Here you would use a buy-fix-sell strategy.

In a recovery period, the time between the end of slump and the next boom, this is the time to use a buy-and-hold tactic, and even more advanced strategies like rent to own, and agreements for sale.

This is a great time to begin a real estate development project as well

The key is to know where you are in the cycle at all times. The good news is we always know where we are heading based on where we came from; it always goes Boom-Slump-Recovery.

In this order, in a cyclical fashion. If youve been in a slump for a while, get ready, the recovery is on its way.

3. Your team matters

You need to build a dream team around you.

This is one of the biggest reasons I chose to join Canadas leading Real Estate Investment Network  R.E.I.N. Its in rooms like this you can rub shoulders with professionals that specialize in this kind of thing. Building out a dream team is one of the largest contributing factors in my success as an investor.



You want professionals that specialize in helping people achieve financial freedom through real estate investing.

Find an investor-focused, real-estate agent, have them point you in the direction of a great mortgage broker, lawyer, and insurance agent.

These three in conjunction with your ace property manager are the group of professionals that will leverage you to the highest of heights.

Getting this right is the difference between buying a couple properties with varying success and building a well-run real estate empire that creates multi-generational wealth without consuming your precious time.

4. You get what you negotiate

Having a sharp agent who can negotiate a good deal for you is one thing, but a great negotiation starts with you. You need to become a master at the art of negotiation. Check ego and emotion at the door and allow the process to unfold over time, never be in a rush.

Also, remember that a real estate negotiation does not need to only be about price. Often terms are more important than dollars. Find out what is important to the other side and try to solve their problems while you create a wonderful deal for yourself.

Dates, inclusions, improvements even financing options are all up for negotiation.

If you don't ask, you don't get.

5. Find your niche

Don't try to be in too many different arenas at once. Find a particular property type and become an expert at it. Maybe its homes with a basement suite, maybe it's a condo that allows short-term rentals, perhaps it's small multi-family or light industrial.

The key is to find a groove and master it. Its very difficult to build a strong portfolio with a mixed bag of all of the above, but pick one and really master it; each deal is better than the next and you become the most confident investor possible.

6. You don't need to invest where you live

Most people like the idea of being able to drive over to their investment and give it a kick or a feel. And as nice as that is, where you live is not necessarily the best option for you.

Proximity to your home matters far less than positive cash-flow in a market with strong economic fundamentals for growth in both rents and market value. Furthermore, you might be at the tail end of the boom at home, but one province over is just coming out of a long slump.

The opportunity for the next five years is far greater in the neighbouring province purely because of where they are in the cycle. A strong team of local professionals can be found to help you make a smart investment once you locate the area with the best opportunity

7. Graduate for economy of scale

Once you have mastered the single-family home game, and hit the limit of your ability to finance homes, which usually happens at five properties as banks typically place a limit on how many properties you can finance.

Mortgages aside, the biggest reason to graduate to multi-family investing, which is more than five units on one title, is for economies of scale.

You can get cheaper property management, a roof over an apartment building of eight units costs less than the four separate roofing jobs, same with one boiler system versus four individual furnaces.

Having multiple units in one place just streamlines and simplifies your portfolio.

8. Bigger numbers don't equal bigger risk

Its counterintuitive, but a million-dollar four-plex is less risk than a $500,000 property, and a $5-million apartment building is even less risk than the four-plex and on it goes. As prices rise, risk is reduced. The big reason for this is diversified risk.

The more units, the less risk of falling into a negative cash-flow for example three out of eight units could suddenly be vacant and you could still cover your mortgage.

If your house or apartment suddenly becomes vacant, you are on the hook for the entire mortgage payment until a new tenant is placed.

9. Master joint ventures

At some point, every single investor reaches a ceiling as to what they can accomplish alone. Eventually everyone will run out of one of the three ingredients needed to grow their portfolio.

The most common is capital for down payments; once youve deployed your chunk of liquid capital, it takes a long time to build up another down payment. Other times, the issue isn't capital, but rather access to financing.

Every single investor eventually hits their limit for how many mortgages they can convince the bank to give them.

And then theres time and expertise, the third but equally important ingredient. Eventually, your time and expertise can only be stretched so thin.

When you hit this point, its time to master the art of joint venturing. For every person out there flush with cash but without extra time or expertise to spare, there is a person with the capacity and expertise to execute who has run out of capital.

This is a match made in heaven and, with the right documentation and expectations, can be a mutually beneficial partnership that serves all parties for years and allows investors to reach new heights in their career.

10. Cash is king, but cash-flow queen

Yes, cash is king, but what really holds the power to your success and designing the lifestyle of your dreams is creating cash flow.

For example, you could have a half million dollars and buy a nice condo in a high rise for a million with your cash, rent it for $3,000/month and you and find yourself in a negative cash flow situation monthly. That same 500k invested into a $2 million multi-family will bring in close to $15,000 in revenue per month; that's five times more revenue and positive cash flow each month that can pay for your lifestyle.

11. Force appreciation

One of the best aspects of real estate as an investment class is the opportunity to influence the value of the asset by improving it. Take advantage of low hanging fruit renovations like floor and paint to instantly force up value. Put your sweat equity into landscaping and cosmetic projects.

Some properties let you unlock value by developing them further, adding a suite or rezoning to another use. There are many ways you can influence the value of your real estate.

Even if you are currently stuck in terms of finances, you can give your portfolio, and thus your net worth, a boost, simply by being strategic

12. Hold for wealth

Saving the best for last. Good money can be made buying, fixing and selling property. Many people do this as their full-time job.

The challenge here is that this will forever be their full-time job because they rely on these profits to live. Real estate is great for creating a profit but the real magic is what happens when you own it over time.

Multi-generational wealth is created by holding hard assets like real estate over decades.

Consider that a $2.5 million portfolio of real estate today that you've invested under $500,000 of your own capital in, using 80/20 leverage, will, in 30 years, be a fully paid for portfolio worth around $10 million (real estate doubles every 15 years historically) and generating over $500,000 in rental profits every single year.
Laois/Offaly Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley has called for reform of the Wage Subsidy Scheme to ensure that workers receive a minimum payment of at least 350 per week.

Some workers have complained to me that they are receiving as little as 240 on the scheme. This is putting many workers in a very difficult financial situation as they still have mortgages or high rent to pay and in some cases, they also have a car loan.

Under the current scheme, many workers who are only receiving 70% of their usual wage, are being paid much less than the 350 they would receive through the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

"The current design of the Wage Subsidy Scheme is deeply flawed, with both workers and business representatives calling for anomalies to be addressed.

As employers receive up to 70% of employees wages, any worker with a weekly take-home pay of less than 500 is receiving less than the 350 they would receive from the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment.

"One of the core objectives of the scheme is to maintain a relationship between workers and employers, but figures published this week show that more than half a million people are in receipt of the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment whilst only 130,000 workers are currently qualified for the Wage Subsidy Scheme.

"If employers and their workers do not sign up for the scheme, we are at risk of deepening this recession and increasing long-term unemployment. This requires immediate attention and further delay is not an option.

"Sinn Fein has proposed alterations to the wage subsidy scheme that would provide greater protection for workers who would normally have a take-home pay of less than 500 per week and would have avoided the flaws that have now come to pass.

We have contacted the Minister for Finance and Revenue to look for the scheme to be reformed by ensuring that 350 is the minimum payment that workers will receive. This needs to be addressed urgently.
Head of stricken Kiev monastery says underestimated gravity of coronavirus FILE PHOTO: A man walks in front of the gate of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kiev

By Ilya Zhegulev

KIEV (Reuters) - The head of a 1,000-year-old Orthodox monastery that became a hotspot for coronavirus infections in Kiev said he had underestimated the gravity of the pandemic and that measures had now been introduced to curb the spread of the disease.

Metropolitan Pavel heads the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the headquarters of the Russian-backed wing of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, often referred to as the Moscow Patriarchate. Its gold-domed towers and labyrinthine caves housing mummified bodies of monks are among the capital's cultural treasures.

Pavel and the Moscow Patriarchate said last month that coronavirus was a result of human sin and could be fought with hugs, prayers and fasting.

But they then threw their support behind the Ukrainian government's lockdown measures, moving church services online, disinfecting buildings and offering to house patients in monasteries.

"Yes, I used to think the trouble was not so significant, but it was really different in those days," Pavel told Reuters by phone late on Thursday.

"The fact I said other things is not contrary to the laws of conscience. You too can say one thing first and then another."

According to the Kiev mayor's office, 26 members of the monastery have become infected. Meanwhile Ukraine's total number of cases has increased by 16% in one day to 2,203, health ministry figures showed on Friday, with 69 deaths.

FOLLOWING DOCTORS' ORDERS

Asked about the infections at his monastery, which is known in English as the Monastery of the Caves, Pavel, 58, was cryptic: "It's better to read the gospel than the internet."

Despite being shut to the general public, services at the monastery are continuing as normal and people with illnesses are being kept in separate cells, he added. Only one member of the monastery has a serious health condition but not with coronavirus, Pavel said, without elaborating.

In line with government rules, the churches in the complex are shut, services are held without a congregation and icons are being wiped, he said.

Story continues

"Today we need to do what the doctors say," he said.

The church has not confirmed media reports that Pavel himself has contracted the virus.

Asked about his own health, Pavel said: "I feel good, God has mercy. I'm taking tests, undergoing treatment. Who says that I am in poor condition? Some people probably just expect it."

He did not say what illness he was receiving treatment for.

Ukrainian authorities are anxious to stop the virus spreading in the run-up to Easter and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged Ukrainians not to attend church services.

Easter in the Eastern Orthodox Church falls a week later than in the Western churches. Easter Sunday falls on April 19.

After years of hostility between Moscow and Kiev, Ukraine now has two main branches of Orthodox Christianity. One recognises the authority of the Patriarch of Moscow, while the other was recognised last year by other Orthodox denominations as having its own head.

(Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Google is introducing a new virtual keyboard that lets the visually impaired type messages and emails without additional hardware.

The 'Talkback braille keyboard' is a new feature integrated directly into Android.

'Its a fast, convenient way to type on your phone. .. whether youre posting on social media, responding to a text, or writing a brief email,' the company said in a blog post.

The feature uses a six-key layout and each key represents one of 6 braille dots according to Google.

When tapped, they make any letter or symbol. For instance, to type an 'A' users would press dot one, and to type a 'B,' dots one and one together.

To switch the keyboard on, users can navigate to it in their keyboard menu the same way they would find international keyboards.

To use the braille keyboard, users will have to turn on the 'TalkBack' feature in the Accessibility section of their device settings.

Once the it's set up, users can conjure the keyboard with three fingers by swiping up on the screen.

The tool will be usable for any text field on Android, which means it can be used to send text messages or emails and other quick tasks.

The keyboard will use a standard six-key layout that lets users input commands in text messages and emails

Though there are already hardware solutions that allow those who are visually impaired to type on mobile devices, the advantage of Google's virtual keyboard is that it offers users a quick and easy way to type without having to connect or attach a physical keyboard.

Google says that Talkback braille keyboard is currently rolling out to Android devices running version 5.0 or later today and it will across all apps on one's device.

It currently supports braille grade 1 and grade 2 and is available initially in English.
Maharashtra government on Friday



sent a senior IPS officer on compulsory leave for allowing DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan to travel despite the ongoing lockdown, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said.

The bureaucrat had issued a letter exempting the Wadhawans from the lockdown norms citing a family emergency.

"As per discussion with Hon. CM, Mr Amitabh Gupta, Principal Secretary (special), has been sent on compulsory leave with immediate effect, till the pending of enquiry, which will be initiated against him," Deshmukh tweeted.

The Wadhawans were detained at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra's Satara district on Thursday for violating prohibitory orders amid lockdown, police said.

Police found 23 people including members of the Wadhawan family at their farmhouse, an official said.

According to local police officials, the Wadhawan family along with others travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday evening in their cars, even when both Pune and Satara districts are sealed amid ongoing lockdown for containing coronavirus.

Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan are accused in Yes Bank and DHFL fraud cases.

They were spotted at their 'Diwan farm house' by civic authorities, officials said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had recently issued summons to Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan in Yes Bank case and asked them to appear on March 17.

The duo reportedly cited the pandemic and skipped the appearance, officials said.

Meanwhile, opposition BJP has latched onto the issue.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis wondered how could one vacation in Mahableshwar with official permission from the police when lockdown is in force.

"No lockdowns for mighty and rich in Maharashtra?. One can spend holidays in Mahabaleshwar with official permission from police," the former chief minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two middle school boys who face charges of rape arrive at Incheon District Court, Thursday, to attend a session held to determine the validity of the arrest warrants sought by police. The court issued warrants for their arrest later in the day. / Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



Two male students at a middle school in Incheon have been arrested for allegedly raping a teenage girl who attended the same school, according to Incheon Yeonsu Police Station Friday.



Police officials said the 15-year-old boys are facing charges of violating the Sexual Violence Crime Act.



Kim Byeong-kook, a judge at Incheon District Court, issued warrants for their arrest the previous day.



"Although they are juveniles, there were unavoidable grounds for arrest," Kim said.



On Dec. 23, the boys allegedly raped and assaulted the girl after forcing her to drink alcohol at a gym. The victim fell unconscious, and was dragged up the stairs near the rooftop of the building, before she was raped and assaulted, according to the girl's mother.



During the investigation, the police took DNA samples from the boys and asked the National Forensic Service to analyze them. The DNA matched the semen taken from the victim's body.



One suspect pleaded guilty to rape, while the other rejected the charge, according to police.



The middle school attended by the defendants and the victim held a committee meeting on school violence, Jan. 3, and ordered the boys to move to other schools.



The two are now attending two different schools in Incheon.



On Thursday, an elder brother of the victim submitted a petition to Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education, claiming the school had tried to cover up the incident.



The brother also wrote that the perpetrators had pretended to be assault victims and that one of the perpetrators even went on a trip overseas with his family while the victim was suffering mental trauma.



The mother of the victim posted a petition on a website run by the presidential office, March 29, asking for harsh punishment for the boys.



"The perpetrators had caused lots of trouble such as the sexual harassment and assault of female students, even before the incident," she wrote.



The petition has been supported by more than 342,000 citizens as of 1 p.m. Friday.


Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday said community transmission has started in the state with 27 positive cases coming from secondary sources, the claim that has been contested by the Union health ministry.

Addressing a news conference through video-conferencing, Amarinder said: The number of positive Covid-19 cases will increase as is happening across the world and even in India. How can Punjab be isolated from it? We have contained the pandemic to some level as compared to other states. But this will spread. We have kept our contingency plan ready and lockdown is one of the methods to cut social contacts, he said.

Punjab, which was one of the first states to impose a statewide lockdown and stop public transport, has reported 132 Covid-19 patients till Friday.

The chief minister admitted that the community transmission has started in Punjab following 27 fresh positive cases with no travel history and most of them are due to secondary infection.

Responding to a question during the daily Covid-19 press conference in New Delhi, Union health ministry joint secretary Lav Aggarwal said there is no community transmission in the country yet and there is no need to panic.

Today, the challenge is not local or community transmission. Whenever the community transmission stage comes, we will inform you. There is no community transmission in the country yet. There is no need to panic, Aggarwal said.

According to the World Health Organisation, community transmission is evidenced by the inability to relate confirmed cases through chains of transmission for a large number of cases

The WHO in the latest Covid-19 situation report number 80 has termed Indias virus transmission classification as cluster of cases and not community transmission as of now.

Expressing concern over the prevailing situation, Amarinder said: We had around 1,40,000 NRIs and foreign returnees, including from those countries where the virus had spread. They were the primary ones. Now, with 27 positive cases of secondary transmission we have entered the stage of community transmission. That is a serious cause of worry, added Amarinder.

The CM said 651 people have come to the state from the Tablighi Jamaats congregations in Delhis Nizamuddin area, which emerged as the biggest Covid-19 hotspots in the country. Of them, 636 have been traced and 15 remain untraced.

Community transmission is the third of the four stages of the spread of an infectious disease. The first is travel history, the second is local transmission, the third is community transmission, and the fourth is epidemic.

He admitted that there has been slow testing in Punjab due to lack of such facilities. Out of the 28 million-population in Punjab, only 2,877 have been tested. It is nothing. That is because the Centre had initially approved only three centres and later added one more. Now, we have sought permission for more such facilities.

Quoting experts and reports by some national and international institutions, including Chandigarh-based PGIMER and John Hopkins University, the chief minister said the Covid-19 situation will peak in India in mid-September at a point when 58% of its population will be infected, with 87% of people likely to get affected in Punjab.

These figures are frightening. Predictions by health experts about the spread of the pandemic are horrendous. So, we have to do what we can and lockdown is one of such measures, he added.

The chief minister also rejected as absolutely insufficient the 15,000 crore announced by the Centre on Thursday for the health infrastructure in the country.

How can this be enough for the nearly 1.4 billion people of India? No state has the resources needed to fight the battle without the help of the central government and they have to come forward to help the states, Singh said.

PGIMER REFUTES CAPTS CLAIM

CHANDIGARH: Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, has clarified that the institute has not undertaken any study which predicts that number of Covid-19 cases may peak by mid-September.

Assistance provided at the personal level by some faculty member should not be projected as the viewpoint of the institute. Head, department of community medicine and School of Public Health of the Institute has confirmed that the no such study was conducted and thus there is no proof regarding the numbers being projected, PGIMER spokesperson, Dr Ashok Kumar said.

PGIMER in a statement said that institute is not aware that any expert or faculty member from the department of community medicine and School of Public Health of the Institute has carried out any study or estimate that the Covid-19 may peak by mid-September and can infect 58% of countrys population.

Amarinders media adviser Raveen Thukral, however, said the report cited by the CM is assessment of Dr Shankar Prinja, additional professor of health economics, department of community medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, and his team, using mathematical models on the basis of Punjab data provided to him. State Committee on Health Sector Response and Procurement headed by Vini Mahajan (a senior IAS officer) with ex-PGI director Dr KK Talwar as professional advisor had sought an urgent assessment of Punjabs Covid-19 scenario from Dr Prinja to plan its preparedness, he tweeted. Dr Prinja did not respond to calls.
Ballymore-Mayglass: Collections Postponed - Both the Daffodil Day and Wexford Mental Health Association collections were postponed due to the Covid 19 but you may still donate to either. To support Daffodil Day you can text Daffodil to 50300 for a 4 donation. Log on to mentalhealthireland.ie/get-involved/donate to support the Wexford Mental Health Association.

Alone

The charity Alone in collaboration with the Dept of health and HSE have launched a covid 19 support line for older people that may feel vulnerable at this time. Please contact Alone at 081 8222024 if you have concerns. Further information can be found on alone.ie.

Support Response

As a support response St Fintan's GAA Club have established a mechanism for community assistance for anyone who is self isolating or confined to their homes due to the covid 19 crisis.

We can assist in collecting fuel, food shopping, collecting of orders and collecting of prescriptions. In line with the NPHE team guidelines our volunteers will maintain the recommended social distance in all communications.

Our initial point of contacts should you require any assistance are: Robert O'Callaghan 086 0556257, Shane Sinnott 086 8139925, Eoin Cummins 087 3118847, Nicky Sinnott 087 2918020, Edward Goggin 087 2297337 and Shane Sinnott 085 7287257.

We have a list of volunteers who will assist our coordinators in helping out where requested. Our offer of assistance is open to everyone in the wider community and we ask anyone in need to please engage with us. Well done to Syl Farrell, who came to the rescue of two young ladies at the club grounds during the past week.

Local Notes

If you require coverage of any important event within the parish of Ballymore-Mayglass ie: church services, club or families important occasions and events within the national school please contact Paddy McGuire by phone or txt 087 9680419 or email conzarcat@hotmail.com on or before 7 p.m. on Thursday prior to the publication. There is no charge to include your item in the local notes and good news is more than welcome in these challenging times.

Parish Church Notice

Due to the Covid virus restrictions, there will be no weekend or weekday Masses in the parish till further notice. However, the churches will be open during the day for anyone who wishes to spend some time in prayer. RTE News Now broadcasts Mass each day at 10.30 a.m.

The parish council appreciates the initiative of St Fintan's GAA club in providing help and support for the local community. We encourage people of the parish to check on their neighbour and friends and together we will come through this crisis.

We hope that everyone keeps well and does their part to ensure we all come safely through this.

Lotto

The club lotto draw has been postponed till further notice. Many thanks for your continued support and pleas mind yourselves and all your family over this worrying time and follow all government directives.

St Fintan's

Under a new instruction received during the past week from Croke park all GAA grounds are now closed for member and public use.

We encourage all members, supporters and the wider community to follow all the advice that is been communicated by government.

Clonard

Covid-19 Restrictions.

Day Chapel Opening Hours the Day Chapel will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. We ask that there are no more than four people in the Day Chapel at one time. The Main Church is closed till further notice. The community centre is closed till further notice.

There is no bingo till further notice. There is no lotto draw till further notice. Any tickets purchased for the draw on March 18 will be honoured for the next draw when it takes place. Tickets dated March 18 will be used for the next draw.

Clonard parish office is closed till further notice.

We will continue to update our website clonardparish.ie and our Facebook page church of the annunciation-clonard parish with the latest news.

Clonard lotto.

Jackpot for the next lotto draw to take place is 4,000.

Church notices

Acorn Shop: Clonard parish office and shop is closed till further notice.

Clonard Parish Radio: Church services are broadcast on 92.9 FM Please inform people who are sick or housebound so that they can join us over the airwaves. Daily Mass is streaming live on facebook.com/church of the annunciation-clonard parish at 10 a.m.

The Obligation To Be Physically Present At Mass: is suspended for everybody till further notice. Mass will continue to be celebrated with no congregation in our church and the intentions of the parishioners will be remembered at these Masses. If you have booked a Mass intention, these intentions will be honoured at the Mass celebrated on that day. If you would like to rearrange to have the intention prayed for at a later date, please contact the parish office at 053 9123672.

In these extraordinary times when we cannot gather together as a Christian Community to celebrate Mass, let us unite ourselves spiritually to the Mass as it is being celebrated in our church. You can do this by listening to our Mass on 92.9FM Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. Sunday 9 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. We thank you for your continued generosity, support and patience during these extraordinary times.

We have had a few enquiries from parishioners as to what to do with their weekly envelopes as there are no public Masses. You can leave your weekly envelopes both the green and white ones in the letter box. The letter box is located at the entrance on the Wexford Park side of the church between the double doors. The letter box is securely locked and will be emptied daily. Alternatively, if you would like to set up a direct debit please contact the parish office at 053 9123672 or clonardparishoffice@gmail.com.

We realise that times are very difficult for everyone, but the Mission of the parish continues and your material support in making that happen is greatly appreciated. Prayers that can be said at home when unable to attend Mass.

Lockdown: Yes, there is fear. Yes, there is isolation. Yes, there is panic buying. Yes, there is sickness. Yes, there is even death. But they say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise you can hear the birds again. They say that after just a few weeks of quiet the sky is no longer thick with fumes but blue and grey and clear. They say that in the streets of Assisi people are singing to each other across the empty squares, keeping their windows open so that those who are alone may hear the sounds of family around them. They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound. Today a young woman I know is busy spreading fliers with her number through the neighbourhood so that the elders may have someone to call on.

Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples are preparing to welcome and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary. All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting. All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way. All over the world people are waking up to a new reality to how big we really are. To how little control we really have. To what really matters. To Love.

So, we pray, and we remember that Yes there is fear but there does not have to be hate. Yes, there is isolation but there does not have to be loneliness. Yes, there is panic buying but there does not have to be meanness. Yes, there is sickness but there does not have to be disease of the soul. Yes, there is even death but there can always be a rebirth of love. Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now. Today, breathe. Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic. The birds are singing again. The sky is clearing, spring is coming, and we are always encompassed by Love. Open the windows of your soul and though you may not be able to touch across the empty square, Sing. Fr Richard Hendrick OFM.

Piercestown

ARA Club notes

Unfortunately due to the COVID 19 we are postponing our Day Trip to Banagher, Co Offaly on April 21 till a later date, the newly proposed date is June 16. if however, you cannot or decide not to travel on the new date, please call Ann at 087 6677411to cancel, and as soon as we are open again we will issue you with a refund if you have already paid. the programme will remain the same for the new date, Tullamore Dew Distillery, Lunch at O'Flynns Banagher followed by cruise on the Shannon with Silveriines Cruise Company.

We hope you are all keeping well and staying safe. this is a trying time for everyone but we will come back with lots of enthusiasm once the restriction is over. God Bless and stay safe. The committee.

Easter Draw postponed

Due to the essential lockdown of almost everyone, the ARA club will postpone their Easter Draw for Hampers till all restrictions are lifted, please continue to sell your lines and we will have our draw at Londis Piercestown at a date to be announced most likely in May now. Thank you for your support. Anyone, who still wishes to donate to the hampers can do so when the club re-opens.

Scout Group

Hi everyone in 25th Wexford Piercestown Beaver and Cub sections. we hope you are all staying safe and well. we know you have some homework to do from the schools, but we have a few fun things and learning by doing things to do which we will be sending out to all your parents by Whatsapp over next short while. All of the work completed will result in a badge for you on completion, do keep all your work in a file/folder and bring back with you when we all return to scouting.if you need any help you can google scout work and you will find lots of helpful hints/demonstrations online to help you get the work done.

This is a trying time for everyone and we hope you are all coping well. See you soon and look after your parents and siblings.

Knockingall Org Community Centre.

We were due to have a Line Selling event on April 3/4 at Londis Piercestown thanks to generosity of the management for a 100 Voucher for Londis, due to the lockdown this will now be postponed to a date to be decided once all restrictions are lifted. Please keep selling the lines, this draw will go ahead at a later date, and we thank everyone for their support in these trying times Stay safe everyone.
Dear Aunty Rebecca,

I hope this piece finds you well. I know you have been and continue to be a strong pillar in the life of our President. I know you have an integral role to play in his government especially in this pandemic. I felt I should put these few words together to urge you and our president on in the fight against Covid-19.

My beautiful Rebecca as the president affectionately calls you in public, in these trying times, the whole of Ghana is looking up to their President, your husband. The president might have a technical team working to resolve this pandemic but the utmost responsibility to ensure the safety of Ghanaians largely depends on the decisions of our President.

After the day's activities, I know you are the only one he shares his frustrations and worries with in bed. I do not know if he has had a sound sleep since Ghana recorded her first case of Covid-19. Please be strong and cheer our president up. Encourage him to try and have a sound sleep. Let him understand, the whole of Ghana is not just looking up to him but we are with him to fight this pandemic.

Remind him, his closest political rival is even in support and have made available a team of experts to complement his team to fight this pandemic.

Assure him, Ghanaians are adhering to his guidelines and we will ensure this fight passes away soon.

Aunty Becky, in as much as we are to avoid personal contact, let him find comfort in your arms in this pandemic. Reassure him on our behalf that, this fight shall surely end in praise...

Well, I do not know if he can get his usual kisses but if he can't, kindly blow him a kiss every night and morning on behalf of all of us.

BY Kwame Ohene-Ntow

Email: [email protected]
Most large states by Friday evening had suggested the lockdown should be extended beyond April 14, preferably until the end of the month, but they left it to the Centre to take a final call on a graded lifting of the curbs, and whether it wished to restart some economic activity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet state chief ministers on Saturday to discuss the issue further, and is slated to address the nation in the next couple of days to inform it on the way forward. The Punjab government on Friday extended the lockdown in the state until May 1, ...
The EBRD, together with the European Union (EU), is stepping up efforts to support small and medium-sized enterprises managed and owned by businesswomen in Morocco, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, considering that women entrepreneurs are expected to be disproportionately affected by the crisis as their firms tend to be concentrated in certain sectors.

The EBRD is providing immediate support to companies affected by the impact of the coronavirus. As a first step, the Bank approved a 1 billion solidarity package for existing clients facing temporary difficulties. The program includes, among other measures, short-term capital, refinancing, trade finance and restructuring support, EBRD said in a press release Thursday.

More than 20 women entrepreneurs, who are participating in the Women in Business program, are taking part in a series of online training sessions launched by the EBRD with support from the EU through its Initiative for Financial Inclusion. The Initiative provides financial support to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, including innovative start-ups, in the EU Neighborhood South, said the press release.

As a response to the need to adapt to remote working, the training focuses on digital marketing, online presence and exposure. The program includes crisis management and innovative marketing. It will equip participants with tools to build a communication strategy reflecting the challenges during this crisis period and prepare for the aftermath.

Businesswomen in Morocco will also be able to take part in a tailored online mentoring program in partnership with Endeavor Morocco, an affiliate of the international organization Endeavor that provides support to high-impact entrepreneurs. They will be able to access a network of management consulting firms, incubators, investment funds and private equity funds as well as high-tech companies, and to exchange advice and experience to boost their skills and strategies, the EBRD explained.

The Covid-19 pandemic and its economic consequences present an unprecedented challenge to the regions where the EBRD invests. During the period of major economic disruption, it is vital to ensure that enterprises adapt to the challenges ahead.

The EBRD launched the Women in Business program in Morocco in 2018. The program combines advisory services with credit lines through local partner banks, BMCE Bank of Africa and BMCI, for a total of 35 million, to invest in projects that boost the competitiveness of firms.

Morocco is a founding member of the EBRD and became a country of operations in 2012. To date, the Bank has invested over 2 billion in the country through 60 projects.
Hundreds of interstate passengers from the Vasco da Gama cruise ship will finish their 14-day enforced isolation at Crown Perth on Friday afternoon and free to their own devices until flights to their state of origin are secured.

The 500-odd contingent have been in quarantine at the resorts Metropol and Promenade hotels while about 200 WA passengers have spent the past two weeks in self-isolation on Rottnest Island and other CBD hotels.

Police are seen at Fremantle Harbour on March 30 as Vasco da Gama passengers prepare for arrival at Rottnest island.

Local passengers on Rottnest will depart the tourist island by ferry when their isolation period ends at 4.30pm on Friday, with family allowed to collect them once they return.

Health Minister Roger Cook on Friday said WA would work with airlines, other state governments and interstate passengers to return the stranded passengers to their home states as soon as possible.

"We have difficult circumstances at the moment because flights have been severely interrupted and getting people out to their state of origin may take, in some cases, some days," he said at a press conference on Friday.

"But we'll work as quickly as we can with the airlines, other governments and those people to make sure their transition is as smooth as possible.

"There are limited flights returning home.

"The Department of Health is liaising with other agencies and airlines to determine viable solutions to help get these people home as soon as practicable."

Mr Cook reassured interstate passengers they would continue to be accommodated by the state.

"We understand they have endured difficulty and stress and appreciate the sacrifice they and their families and friends are making to keep our community safe," he said.

WA deputy chief health officer Robin Lawrence spoke to interstate passengers at Crown on Friday morning about the current efforts to get them home.

"I want to reassure all of those passengers and their families we will continue to care for them, provide them with accommodation and food and get them home as soon as possible," Dr Lawrence said.

"We ask that they remain in their rooms until we can talk to them later today.

"I have been down to Crown this morning to talk to them via the intercom and they have been made aware of the efforts to get them home.

"As of 4.30pm this afternoon they will have some increased freedom to move around the local area and the city, so long as they maintain the social distancing as required."

Mr Cook said WA had recorded 11 new cases of COVID-19 overnight, including four foreigners from the cruise ship Artania, bringing the states total number to 506.
Police man the barricades at Hafez Baba Nagar locality in Hyderabad to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus. The Telangana government declared 101 locations in the state as Covid-19 hot spots (DC Photo: P Surendra)

Hyderabad: One more person died of Covid-19 in Telangana on Thursday, taking the toll in the state to 12. On the positive side, the state registered the lowest number of fresh cases in a week, with 18 new cases taking the total to 471.

But things are decidedly more serious now with the government designating 101 locations across the state as Covid-19 hotspots. This means that a strict containment policy will be in operation there: no one will be allowed to enter or exit.

On Wednesday 14 containment zones were declared in the state capital, Hyderabad.

However, health minister Etala Rajendar continued to stress the positive parts of a grim story: he said the dip in new positive cases is an indication the epidemic is now beginning to ebb.

A total of 414 patients are currently being treated at the Gandhi and King Koti government hospitals in Hyderabad. No less than 388 of them are either people who took part in a three-day religious congregation in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi from March 13-15, or those who came into contact from such a persson.

Rajendar said some of the Delhi returnees or their contacts will begin to be discharged in the next few days if they test negative at the end of their quarantine period.

Thosoe results were expected late Thursday night or Friday morning. The negative cases will be discharged. That number is expected to be 60-70 patients, Rajendar said.

Again on the opitimistic side, the quarantine period of all those who returned from Covid-19 countries will have ended on Thursday.

From now on we hope we can keep discharging cured patients and that the state will be free of Covid-19 cases by April 22 or 23, provided no new cases crop up, said minister Rajendar.

The last clause in the ministers statement is crucial, and dependent on how successfully the authorities implement their containment policy in the hot spots they have declared.

Some 14 contnainment zones were declared in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits. These, the minister said, are small pockets where Covid-19 cases have been found. The authorities goal is to stop the disease from spreading outwards from these pockets.

Accordingly, the police heavily barricaded the containment zones declared in Hyderabad: Moula Ali, Pahadi Sharief, Panjagutta, Balapur, Malakpet Race Course Road, Khairtabad Bada Ganesh area, Chintalbasti, Ramgopalpet, Hasmathpet, Jagadgirigutta and Mallepally.

The government sincerely appeals to those living in these containment zones to contact 104 or 108 services if they live in cramped homes. The government will shift such people to comfortable quarantine facilities where distance between people can be maintained so any possibility of disease spreading among them can be eliminated, Rajendar said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 19:30:06|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HANOI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has approved a subsidy package worth over 62 trillion Vietnamese dong (about 2.7 billion U.S. dollars) to help individuals, businesses and households affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, Vietnam News Agency reported Friday.

People having their labor contracts suspended or on unpaid furloughs for at least a month due to the epidemic will enjoy a maximum subsidy of 1.8 million Vietnamese dong per month, the news agency reported.

Employees whose labor contracts are terminated and are yet eligible for unemployment allowances, as well as people without a labor contract that have lost their jobs, will receive 1 million Vietnamese dong per month, according to the news agency.

Each person of what classified by the country as poor and near-poor households will be subsidized 250,000 Vietnamese dong per month while individual business households with tax return of less than 100 million Vietnamese dong per year can receive 1 million Vietnamese dong per month, the news agency reported.

The subsidy will be provided for around three months starting from April.
Airline passengers may not be offered refunds for flights cancelled due to the coronavirus travel restrictions.

Eoghan Corry, editor of travelextra.ie, has said airlines are trying to change the rules to allow them to give flight vouchers instead.

Mr Corry said: "The law is that EU261 still applies, they have to give you back the cash within a two-week period.

"And we've got to bear in mind that the financial circumstances of a lot of households have changed dramatically over the last few weeks. Vouchers are of little use to people.

"Travel agents are caught in this because, legally under the package holiday directive, they have to give the cash back to the customers within that period of time and the airlines are telling then that they are not going to get the cash back from them, so travel agents are facing an existential crisis out of this."

Mr Corry said airlines face massive refund bills because of the pandemic and are determined to avoid them.

He added: "They trotted off to Brussels straight away and said 'can you make sure EU261 does not apply so we don't have to come up with cash and this is our solution to come up with vouchers instead'.

"Brussels initially said no, but the lobbying is still going on and it is interesting that five European countries have enacted legislation that effectively throws out EU261 and the package holiday directive."
Updated at 3:30 p.m. Friday to include a response from Gov. Charlier Baker.

HOLYOKE  The U.S. attorneys office has opened a federal investigation into conditions at the Soliders Home in Holyoke to determine if the recent deaths of several residents due to the new coronavirus were the result of staff failing to provide adequate care.

The office of U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew E. Lelling said the investigation will involve prosecutors from his office and the Department of Justices Civil Rights Division. It will look at whether the facility violated the civil rights of residents by failing to provide adequate medical care in general and during the coronavirus pandemic.

It is the third investigation of the Holyoke facility, where 28 residents who have died in recent weeks tested positive for COVID-19.

Gov. Charlie Baker appointed an independent investigator to look into the home after the first wave of deaths was reported. This week, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced her own investigation.

Local representatives have called for a Legislative investigation as well, although the Massachusetts Senate and House are not in session due to the pandemic.

Lelling said his office will conduct the investigation under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, or CRIPA. The law gives the U.S. attorney the authority to investigate civil rights violations of people who are residents of state-run institutions including nursing homes.

It would be difficult to overstate our obligation to the health and well-being of elderly and disabled military veterans and, by extension, to their families. The federal Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act specifically protects the rights of those confined in state facilities like the Holyoke Soldiers Home, Lelling said. We will aggressively investigate recent events at the Home and, as needed, require the Commonwealth to adopt reforms to ensure patient safety in the future."

Baker, at his daily briefing for reporters on Friday, said he believes the U.S. Attorney has the authority to investigate conditions at the soldiers home, and he welcomes a federal investigation.

We started our own investigation because we wanted answers, he said.

Within the first 48 hours after the crisis became known, he appointed attorney Mark Pearlstein to lead a special investigation. We wanted answers, to stabilize the situation on the ground and to deal with the issues.

Eric Dreiband, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, said, We owe it to the veterans, their families, and the public to investigate the facts, determine what happened, ensure compliance with the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, and protect those veterans who continue to reside at the Soldiers Home.

The situation at the Soldiers Home has continued to escalate almost daily since the first deaths were reported on March 30.

Since the story broke, the facilitys superintendent, Bennett Walsh, has been placed on leave and the operations placed in the hands of the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Walshs management has been criticized by state officials for failing to inform them of the scope of the emergency at the earlier stages. Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders last week said that when the crisis started, the Soldiers Home administration failed to properly follow the chain of command.

Walsh issued a public statement to the media this week defending his actions against this criticism. He said he provided daily reports to multiple state agencies when the crisis became evident, and requested National Guard assistance as early as March 27, three days before he was placed on leave.

State officials knew that Holyoke needed as much help as possible. No one was kept in the dark, he said in the statement.

Staff at the facility have also spoken out about shortages in personnel and in supplies in the weeks leading up to the crisis.

The first reported instance of a resident testing positive was March 21, but since then the virus was swept through the facility among residents and staff.

Cory Bombredi, a staff representative Service Employees International Union Local 888, said this week that Walsh rebuffed the union on March 24 when it complained of critical staffing shortages. He also said it was the union, not Walsh, that notified Sudders of multiple deaths on March 28.

In addition to the 28 dead, another 69 residents and 68 staff have tested positive for the virus.

A week ago, several dozen residents who tested negative were transferred down the street to Holyoke Medical Center, where they were admitted and are receiving care.

The state formed an onsite clinical command team made up of medical, epidemiological and operational experts to respond to the outbreak. The National Guard is also assisting and augmenting the depleted staff.

That team is continuing to bring on new staff by using contract and per-diem nurses and certified nursing assistants. On Thursday all staff received additional infection control education, officials said.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, said on Friday that he welcomed the federal investigation.

Neal from the time the story broke has said there needs to be accountability for how the coronavirus was allowed to become so widespread through the soldiers home.

A spokesman for Neal said the congressman has been working with officials at the local, state and federal levels about the Soldiers Home issue.

This is a heartbreaking situation and even more personal for Congressman Neal as his uncle is a resident of the facility. He welcomes this inquiry and has said from the start that there needs to be accountability for what occurred, the spokesman said.
 Flash

A spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry said Thursday that China strongly condemns personal attacks and racist words and deeds against WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's remarks came following the head of the WHO Wednesday rebuked "racist slurs" against him, which he said came from Taiwan.

China opposes any attempt to use the epidemic for the purpose of politicization or stigmatization, Zhao told a routine press briefing.

Under the leadership of Director-General Tedros, the WHO has played an important role in assisting countries' responses to the epidemic and promoting international anti-epidemic cooperation, said Zhao.

The WHO actively fulfills its responsibilities and upholds an objective, science-based and unbiased stance, which has been widely recognized and highly praised by the international community, he added.

Zhao stressed that China supports the WHO in continuing to play a leading role in global anti-epidemic cooperation.

The spokesperson accused the Democratic Progressive Party authorities in Taiwan of doing all they can to make reckless political maneuvers and hype up the issue of Taiwan's participation in the WHO and the World Health Assembly since the outbreak of COVID-19.

"Their real intention is to seek independence under the pretext of the pandemic," he said. "We are firmly opposed to that. Their scheme will never succeed."
Rosanna Arquette has lashed out at one of Harvey Weinstein's spies in a new documentary, calling the undercover investigator 'a piece of s***'.

After seeing the documents gathered on her for the first time, the actress, one of the convicted rapist's most high profile accusers, says: 'Why would you spy on me, Harvey, unless you were worried because of what you did to me.'

Former Guardian journalist Seth Freedman has defended secretly trailing 91 Hollywood figures, including Arquette and fellow accuser Rose McGowan.

Arquette, 60, who one of the first to accuse the producer of sexual assault, adds: 'What a piece of s***. Seth Freedman is a piece of s***.'

Weinstein, 68, is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault.

Sources exclusively told DailyMail.com this week that the shamed movie producer had beaten his bout with coronavirus after he tested positive last month.

Rosanna Arquette, pictured, has lashed out at one of Harvey Weinstein's spies in a new documentary, calling the undercover investigator 'a piece of s***'

Weinstein, 68, is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault

Freedman worked for private intelligence agency Black Cube. He used the cover story of being a reporter working on an article about Hollywood to convince McGowan's literary agent to encourage the star to speak to him.

McGowan was one of the first women to make public allegations about Weinstein's abuse, triggering his downfall in 2017 and the emergence of the #MeToo movement that brought down many other public figures.

Freedman, who was unmasked by journalist Ronan Farrow, said: 'I don't feel guilty about anything I did for Black Cube. I mean, as far as I'm concerned if you're an actress who works in Hollywood and a reporter calls you and you decide to talk to them, that's pretty run of the mill.

'I think the problem with how toxic this debate is over the Weinstein case is that if you say anything that sounds like you're dissenting from the #MeToo narrative, therefore you're on his side and you support him. I don't know the guy, I couldn't really care less one way or the other what happens to him.'

Rowena Chiu , pictured, described 'a lot of cajoling' during late night meetings in hotel rooms where she says Weinstein would see trying to remove her clothing as 'a game'

Accuser Rowena Chiu has also spoken out in the new TV documentary.

Weinstein's former assistant has previously said she was so alarmed by his behavior that she would wear two pairs of tights to work as he paraded around 'naked or in a gaping robe'.

Speaking exclusively to the DailyMail.com she said: 'There is definitely an ongoing problem in Hollywood. I still get letters from young assistants working in film now who say their bosses have not been appropriate with them, that they are dreading the next time they travel with them.

'This is an industry where the odds are stacked against young people and especially young women from ethnic minorities.'

Chiu described 'a lot of cajoling' during late night meetings in hotel rooms where she says Weinstein would see trying to remove her clothing as 'a game'.

The married mother of four also revealed how the shamed producer 'would typically be either naked or just dressed in a robe that was gaping open', adding: 'He would frequently ask me to be dressed in less clothes, and he would ask me to take off layers of clothes.'

Chiu said: 'He would try to cajole you into taking off a pair of tights or allowing him to take off a pair of tights, and he would do that and he would be, "I don't understand why you're wearing so many layers. Come on, let's relax a bit, let's have fun".'

Chiu alleged the producer 'pushed her back against the bed' after the pair worked at a hotel together in Venice, Italy, in 1998. She later received a settlement after signing an NDA.

Weinstein, pictured, in February, is being held in the prison's residential mental health unit, where he remains on suicide watch, a prison official said on Thursday

Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein survived his bout with coronavirus, overcoming a fever and cough, and has been released from his 14-day quarantine, sources exclusively told DailyMail.com Thursday.

He had been placed in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 in mid-March at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison east of Buffalo, New York.

He's being held in the prison's residential mental health unit, where he remains on suicide watch, a prison official said on Thursday.

A source close to the disgraced movie mogul said he's surprised Weinstein survived, given his age and poor health. The 68-year old suffers from high blood pressure, heart problems, severe diabetes and a spine condition.

Accuser Chiu said of his diagnosis: 'It was a weird feeling. You cannot rejoice at someone getting carted off to jail, even someone who did so much wrong and so much evil.

'It is still a sobering thing when someone goes to jail and so for that reason I do not wish coronavirus on anyone, even Harvey Weinstein.'

Weinstein received 20 years on the criminal sex act charge for forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006. He was sentenced to three years for third degree rape for a 2013 attack on Jessica Mann.

Weinstein's attorney Donna Rotunno has suggested that he will now die in prison, saying after his sentencing that he 'won't see the light of day.'

He also faces charges in Los Angeles where prosecutors filed a separate set of sexual assault charges against Weinstein in January.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN: ID BREAKING NOW premieres on Sunday, April 12th at 10/9ct, only on Investigation Discovery.
Ancient teeth from Peru hint now-extinct monkeys crossed Atlantic from Africa

Four fossilized monkey teeth discovered deep in the Peruvian Amazon provide new evidence that more than one group of ancient primates journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa, according to new USC research just published in the journal Science.

The teeth are from a newly discovered species belonging to an extinct family of African primates known as parapithecids. Fossils discovered at the same site in Peru had earlier offered the first proof that South American monkeys evolved from African primates.

The monkeys are believed to have made the more than 900-mile trip on floating rafts of vegetation that broke off from coastlines, possibly during a storm.

"This is a completely unique discovery," said Erik Seiffert, the study's lead author and Professor of Clinical Integrative Anatomical Sciences at Keck School of Medicine of USC. "It shows that in addition to the New World monkeys and a group of rodents known as caviomorphs - there is this third lineage of mammals that somehow made this very improbable transatlantic journey to get from Africa to South America."

Researchers have named the extinct monkey Ucayalipithecus perdita. The name comes from Ucayali, the area of the Peruvian Amazon where the teeth were found, pithikos, the Greek word for monkey and perdita, the Latin word for lost.

Ucayalipithecus perdita would have been very small, similar in size to a modern-day marmoset.

Dating the migration

Researchers believe the site in Ucayali where the teeth were found is from a geological epoch known as the Oligocene, which extended from about 34 million to 23 million years ago.

Based on the age of the site and the closeness of Ucayalipithecus to its fossil relatives from Egypt, researchers estimate the migration might have occurred around 34 million years ago.

"We're suggesting that this group might have made it over to South America right around what we call the Eocene-Oligocene Boundary, a time period between two geological epochs, when the Antarctic ice sheet started to build up and the sea level fell," said Seiffert. "That might have played a role in making it a bit easier for these primates to actually get across the Atlantic Ocean."

An improbable discovery

Two of the Ucayalipithecus perdita teeth were identified by Argentinean co-authors of the study in 2015 showing that New World monkeys had African forebears. When Seiffert was asked to help describe these specimens in 2016, he noticed the similarity of the two broken upper molars to an extinct 32 million-year-old parapithecid monkey species from Egypt he had studied previously.

An expedition to the Peruvian fossil site in 2016 led to the discovery of two more teeth belonging to this new species. The resemblance of these additional lower teeth to those of the Egyptian monkey teeth confirmed to Seiffert that Ucayalipithecus was descended from African ancestors.

"The thing that strikes me about this study more than any other I've been involved in is just how improbable all of it is," said Seiffert. "The fact that it's this remote site in the middle of nowhere, that the chances of finding these pieces is extremely small, to the fact that we're revealing this very improbable journey that was made by these early monkeys, it's all quite remarkable."

###

About this study

In addition to Seiffert, the study's other authors are Marcelo Tejedor and Nelson Novo from the Instituto Patagonico de Geologia y Paleontologia (CCT CONICET - CENPAT); John G. Fleagle from the Department of Anatomical Sciences, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University; Fanny Cornejo and Dorien de Vries from the Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University; Mariano Bond from CONICET, Division Paleontologia Vertebrados, Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Plata and Kenneth E. Campbell Jr. from the Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

The study was supported by J. Wigmore, W. Rhodes, and R. Seaver, who helped to fund the 1998 expedition that led to the recovery of the Ucayalipithecus partial upper molars; the Leakey Foundation, Gordon Getty, and A. Stenger who supported the fieldwork in 2016; and the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the U.S. National Science Foundation (BCS-1231288) which supported micro-CT scanning.

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Taylor Warren Self entered jail last year with a wired jaw, healing from recent surgery.

He was released from jail with his jaw broken a second time.

Now the 24-year-old St. Helens man is suing Columbia County Jail for $ 3 million in damages, alleging jail officials put him in harms way and then failed to get him medical help once his jaw was broken behind bars.

Instead, the jail "dumped him'' on the street late at night about a week before his anticipated release, his lawyer alleges in a federal civil rights suit filed Thursday.

The suit contends Columbia County Jail officials were negligent, subjected Self to cruel and unusual punishment and recklessly caused him severe emotional distress.

The conduct of defendants was extreme and outrageous and beyond the scope of conduct that should be tolerated by citizens in a democratic and civilized society, the suit contends.

Defendants deliberately disobeyed physician orders and caused plaintiffs jaw to be broken, and then dumped him on the street late at night as he was in incredible pain, with no means provided where he could promptly obtain medical assistance.

Hes seeking $3 million in general damages, plus undetermined punitive damages.

Columbia Countys counsel didnt immediately respond for comment.

According to the suit, Self initially was assaulted by a stranger while he was homeless and looking for a place to sleep in June. He had surgery for a broken jaw at Legacy Emanuel Hospital.

The next month, his probation from a 2019 conviction for possessing methamphetamine in Columbia County was revoked after he was caught using the drug and carried a knife with him when visiting his probation officer, according to court records.

He was ordered to serve six months in jail for the probation violation.

Back in custody, Self still had surgical wires holding his jaw together. A doctor placed Self on medical isolation inside the Columbia County Jail so hed have no physical contact with other inmates to protect his jaw and its healing, the suit says.

But on Sept. 6, a jail sergeant assigned another inmate to share Selfs cell. Self reminded the sergeant that he was supposed to be isolated and also told her there was animosity between him and his new roommate. The other inmate, according to Selfs suit, was known to be violent and aggressive.

Sergeant Carolyn Townsend disregarded plaintiffs concerns by saying Oh it will be fine, '' and had the two inmates share a cell, the suit says.

That same day, Selfs cellmate complained that Self was untidy and asked him to clean up the cell. Self didnt oblige, saying he liked the cell the way it was and that if his new cellmate didnt like it, he could move.

Just before 5 p.m., as Self waited in the general pod of the jail as his new cellmate moved his belongings in, the cellmate approached Self and punched him in the jaw, knocking him to the floor, according to the suit.

Self reported to jail staff that he was in immense pain and believed his jaw might be broken again. About 8 p.m., a nurse came to his cell to examine Self. She said she also believed his jaw was broken again, but told him the jail lacked the resources to treat him, according to the suit.

Though Self wasnt supposed to get out of jail until Sept. 14, Columbia County released him from the jail that night at 10:30 p.m.

At that time, Self was homeless, remained in significant pain, had no reliable means of transportation and there was no emergency medical service within 30 miles of the jail, the suit says.

As an inmate under the control and protection of defendants, plaintiff had the right to be offered basic medical assistance and/or a medical transport once he had been injured as a proximate cause of Defendants deliberate indifference, Selfs lawyer, Jacob Johnstun, wrote in the suit.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.

Subscribe to Facebook page
Washington, Apr 10 (UNI) US President Donald Trump on Friday said that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman over the oil production and OPEC.

"Just spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman over the oil production and OPEC. We had a big talk as to oil production and OPEC, making it so that our industry does well and the oil industry does better than its doing right now," the President said during the coronavirus task force daily briefing at White House.

"The numbers are so low there will be lay off across the world and there will be lay off across this country and we don't want that to happen," he further added.

He also said that OPEC met today and they were getting close to a deal.

UNI JAL GK 0412
Phoebe Waller-Bridge in "Fleabag." (Joan Marcus)

Before it was a hit TV series about a libertine on the loose in London, Phoebe Waller-Bridge's off-color Britcom "Fleabag" was a one-woman show that the writer-performer debuted to acclaim at the 2013 Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Emmy winner reprised that stage version at Wyndhams Theatre in London in 2019, and a performance was filmed for theatrical release by the National Theatre. The recording becomes available to stream on Amazon Prime for about $5 starting Friday, with proceeds going to charities in the U.S. and Britain that are offering assistance to those affected by the coronavirus crisis.

There are other ways to engage with a little culture during your coronavirus quarantine. We'll keep sharing picks for streaming concerts, online musicals, virtual art exhibitions and more. Here's Friday's list, all times Pacific.

Ballet Hispanico



This New York-based contemporary dance company, a frequent visitor to Southern California, is featured in a showcase that includes Club Havana by choreographer Pedro Ruiz and Gustavo Ramirez Sansanos Carmen.maquia, inspired by Bizets tragic opera and the art of Pablo Picasso. 2:30 p.m. Friday. Free. lincolncenter.org

Jesus Christ Superstar



The next offering from Andrew Lloyd Webber is a 2018 concert-staged presentation of the legendary Broadway composers classic rock opera about the man from Galilee. With Tim Minchin and former Spice Girl Mel C. 11 a.m. Friday; available for 48 hours. Free; donations accepted. youtube.com

Musee dOrsay



Take a virtual tour of this Paris institution, built in a former train station on the banks of the Seine. It houses an impressive collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Modern masterpieces by the likes of Van Gogh, Gaugin, Cezanne, Manet, Degas and Renoir. Available anytime. Free. artsandculture.google.com

Bandstand



Playbill, the magazine and website for all things theater, launches its new Playbill Playback streaming service with this Tony-winning musical drama about World War II veterans who form a band to enter a national radio contest. Laura Osnes and Corey Cott star. Available beginning at 5 p.m. Friday; original cast members will also take part in a live watch party on Twitter (@playbill) at 5 p.m. Saturday. $6.99, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Actors Fund. playbill.com

Story continues

Liz Callaway: The Beat Goes



The Broadway veteran sings show tunes, standards and pop hits from the 1960s in a livestream of this cabaret show recorded at the Manhattan supper club Feinsteins/54 Below. 3:30 p.m. Friday. Free. youtube.com/54Below

"Risk! Livestream Online Show"



Lately staged at the Virgil in East Hollywood, this live storytelling series hosted by Kevin Allison of MTVs 1990s-era sketch-comedy series The State moves online using Zoom. 7 p.m. Friday. $12. risk-show.com

Each day's recommendations are indexed in the same place where our regular event listings (sigh) used to post. Check back for new picks Monday through Saturday.
This cease-fire might be different

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the insurgent Ansar Allah movement in Yemen announced a comprehensive cease-fire on April 9. The Saudi initiative complements both UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres call for a cease-fire in global conflicts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and UN Yemen Envoy Martin Griffiths latest diplomatic initiative toward a political solution. The 14-day freeze has the support of the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Ansar Allah (followers of God) is the Islamist political armed movement from North Yemen that began the war in 2014 by overrunning the capital of Sanaa. It is led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi of the Houthi tribe, and is linked to the Zaidi branch of Shiite Islam. The Houthis, as the movements members are known, receive support from Iran.

Saudi Arabia and its allies, including the United Arab Emirates and other regional and Arab countries and with backing from the United States and other Western powers, intervened in an attempt to turn back the Houthi advance in March 2015. The war, which is now in its fifth year, has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, in addition to Saudi, Emirati and other coalition casualties.

We know that past cease-fires in Yemen and Syria have often been false flags, producing minor lulls before even more brutal fighting. But this one, less than 24 hours in, has a different feel, maybe because it is wrapped around the imminent calamity of the novel coronavirus  something Yemen is not prepared to deal with.

While Yemen has just announced its first case of COVID-19, as Amerin Zaman reports, there are fears that the virus will spread quickly once it hits, especially given Yemens collapsed infrastructure in most of the war-torn country.

Yemen crisis may be even bigger than you think

Yemen, by regional standards, is a big country, with 28 million people, 46% of them under 15 years old. Saudi Arabia, by comparison, has 33 million people; Syria 18.5 million; the UAE 9.6 million and Libya 6.6 million.

For Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest country, is therefore too big to fail. A chronically failed state in Yemen would mean a peninsula and region in perpetual crisis  whether caused by war, terrorism, refugees, disease or all of the above.

To be sure, Yemen was a fragile and even failing state before the war. Ansar Allah got its start in 2014, organizing mass protests in response to a lifting of fuel subsidies as a condition for loans from the International Monetary Fund to stave off an economic crisis. Since then, as a result of the war, Yemens plight has gone from bad to catastrophic. In addition to the tens of thousands dead, 2.6 million Yemenis have been displaced and there are more than 280,000 refugees, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The country has faced waves of cholera and is a haven for al-Qaeda. The health and education systems have mostly collapsed. IMF staff, following a visit to Yemen last year, referred to the economy as crippled and said the country is in a humanitarian crisis," explaining, "A sharp contraction in economic activity and hydrocarbon exports, along with a wide suspension of basic public services, have left some 17 million people in acute need of food aid and other forms of assistance. That 17 million is now estimated to have grown to 24 million  a staggering 85% of Yemens population.

Yemen, Syria and Libya are what the World Bank has termed fragile states in high intensity conflict situations that risk endemic poverty and instability absent massive assistance. This assessment, which we wrote about last week, came about before the COVID-19 pandemic and drop in oil prices. In a recent policy brief, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia expects a massive increase in food insecurity and malnourishment, both already endemic to Yemen. The World Health Organization is calling for debt relief and the World Bank has announced $160 billion to protect vulnerable populations, rebuild businesses and support economic recovery efforts, to help mitigate the effects of the pandemic in these fragile states.

Of course, there will be no reconstruction, economic development or reform until the fighting stops.

The kingdom wants to end its endless war. Does Iran?

House Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., told Al-Monitors Bryant Harris that Democrats may try again to cut off US support to the Saudi-led coalition in Congress annual defense authorization bill in order to pressure Saudi Arabia over Yemen.

I want to keep the pressure on all parties involved  including, by the way, the Iranians and the Houthis, Smith said.

The catch here is that it was Riyadh that just took a giant step with the cease-fire. For Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, the Yemen war needs resolution so he can focus on his economic and social reforms and remove an irritant in US-Saudi ties.

Despite some divergences in Saudi and Emirati policies, as explained by Samuel Ramani and Jonathan Fenton-Harvey, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are in sync on a diplomatic push in Yemen. Along with the United Nations, the Arab League and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as the United States and key Western powers, the constellation on the side of negotiations right now is powerful, especially given the pandemic.

The spotlight, and pressure, should therefore shift to Iran. As of this writing there has been no official response from Tehran to the UN/Saudi initiatives, but the Houthis are so far reportedly skeptical.

Tehran, for its part, might take a signal from Abu Dhabi in seizing opportunity in crisis to build bridges and help neighbors in need. And Yemen can be that opportunity.

The UAE has sent medical supplies to Iran to help combat COVID-19 in the spirit of the Emirates' "founding humanitarian principles. This initiative led to a phone call between Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who reaffirmed the UAE's support to the Iranian people as they come through this crisis and stressed the importance of collective work and efforts to survive such global challenges. Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman S.A Mousavi tweeted that Iran will never forget that the UAE stood with Iran in hard times.

If Iran wants to build bridges and confidence, and do the right thing, it could get behind the UN initiative. Its strategic interests in Yemen are minimal; its intervention is instead all about low-cost aggression against the kingdom, a penny stock investment, with the Yemeni people paying a terrible price.

This is not to say that Iran necessarily has full control over Ansar Allah. Yemens crisis is firstly a Yemeni story. But Iran has lots of leverage, and it could and should use it to support a cease-fire. The UN and the COVID-19 crisis give it cover, if thats whats needed. The strategic payoff of such a goodwill gesture would likely be well received by the people of Yemen, tired of war, and in Riyadh, the region, the UN and maybe even Washington.
The NFU has called the government to a crisis meeting today looking at ways to save the UK's dairy sector from the effects of the coronavirus impact.

The survival of many British dairy farming businesses hit by Covid-19 depends on 'urgent action' from the government, the union said.

The outbreak has seen the almost complete loss of the food service and hospitality markets, as well as increasing price volatility in global markets which has left farms and processors under pressure.

This has led to some dairy farmers with no other option but to dispose of milk on farm.

NFU President Minette Batters has urged Defra Secretary George Eustice to look at 'immediate steps' to ensure the sustainability of UK dairy.

Mrs Batters said the dire situation facing many UK dairy businesses is now becoming 'untenable'.

For weeks now, we have been flagging to government in our daily calls the issues within the dairy sector and working with Defra to try and find solutions.

"Only four weeks ago all of this milk was being used, losing businesses at this stage will leave consumers reliant on convenience stores and other difficult to reach outlets not being able to have access to the same supply of milk," she said.

There may be at least 2,000 dairy farmers suffering severe financial pressure, the NFU believes, and that number could be growing by the day.

"As things develop very few dairy businesses will be left unaffected," Mrs Batters said, "We need to move fast to mitigate the impacts of this unfolding crisis on dairy farming businesses across the country."

The union has called Mr Eustice to step in and take action or else 'iconic dairy businesses will go to the wall'.

One key issue is that dairy farmers or processors largely cannot access the Treasury schemes designed to help businesses through this crisis.

NFU dairy board chairman Michael Oakes explained: We cannot furlough staff or stop milking cows, and things like business rate holidays dont apply to us.

"We need Defra and the Treasury to work together to extend these schemes so that they can be utilised by everyone in the dairy sector."

The NFU has called for a similar scheme to the Retail and Hospitality Grant Scheme - which provides businesses in the retail sector with a grant of up to 25,000 - for farmers.

In other measures set out by the union, the government should talk with the EU Commission about schemes such as PSA, production reduction and market promotion to help restore confidence in the market and prevent adverse publicity related to disposal of milk.

All crown buying service contracts should make sure the NHS, military and prisons are all sourcing British milk, the NFU said, and government should also explore measures to inject cash into the sector via the 2020 BPS.

Lastly, the NFU said Defra should 'urgently convene' with key stakeholders and help manage flows of milk through the supply chain.

It comes as the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) called on the government to help fund a short-term financial support scheme.

It is thought about 300 dairy farmers will be eligible for reimbursement if the scheme is approved, equating to about one million litres of milk being produced a day.
Is it possible that the blood of those who have recovered from COVID-19 can help cure those who are now sick?

The extraordinary situation we are currently living through demands extraordinary solutions. Faced with the threat posed by COVID-19, Canada and Quebec researchers are contributing their expertise to national and international efforts in seeking a cure for the disease. This major project is bringing together scientists from CHU Sainte-Justine (CHUSJ), the Universite de Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM), the Jewish General Hospital, Hema-Quebec and a number of other Quebec hospitals. Under the leadership of Dr. Philippe Begin, scientists will soon be collecting and using convalescent plasma to develop a passive immunization program to treat patients hospitalized for COVID-19. The treatment will be studied as part of a major clinical trial involving some 50 centres across Canada, including 15 in Quebec.

A promising approach based on old knowledge

Passive immunization involves transfusing plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to patients at the onset of illness in order to transfer protective antibodies. This approach was used during major epidemics before the advent of vaccines. Older studies of other severe viral pneumonias such as Spanish flu reported reductions in mortality of up to 75%. Although encouraging, these studies showed some methodological shortcomings, and the treatment's efficacy against COVID-19 has yet to be demonstrated.

The advantage of passive immunization is that the drug does not have to be developed in the laboratory, but is made naturally in the donor's body, specifically to combat the new virus. However, as with any new drug, efficacy must be proven in multi-centre clinical trials. The challenge is to urgently set up the infrastructure to collect the plasma and conduct the clinical trial." Dr. Philippe Begin, clinician-researcher at CHUSJ, associate researcher at the CRCHUM and professor at Universite de Montreal

Hema-Quebec will be responsible for collecting plasma from patients who have recovered.

One of the advantages of passive immunization is that the number of potential donors increases as the infection progresses. If the results are conclusive, a clinical offer would be immediately put in place for the hospitalized population, using the structure developed by Hema-Quebec and the blood banks set up as part of this clinical trial.

"We have to wait two weeks from when the symptoms end before collecting plasma from convalescent patients, so only now are we starting to have potential donors in Quebec. But Hema-Quebec has been working on this project for more than three weeks with a team of clinicians and researchers to develop the protocols and plan the logistics in order to be ready to offer this service, in addition to our usual collection activities, which remain essential," said Renee Bazin, Director of Innovation at Hema-Quebec.

A feat made possible by a pooling of forces

Less than one month has elapsed from the start of project design to the start of a clinical trial. This amazing feat has been made possible by the pooling of resources at all levels and collaboration among laboratories in developing serological tests, which are in daily contact with clinical teams and epidemiologists in order to move the project forward. Dr. Andres Finzi's team at the CRCHUM was instrumental in developing the serological tests needed to check the quality of plasma before transfusion.

At the Jewish General Hospital, the first hospital in the province to have treated patients suffering from COVID-19, a team led by Dr. Sarit Assouline, a hemato-oncologist and clinical researcher specializing in blood cancers, will be in charge of the clinical trial.

"Everyone wants to be where they can be most useful in the current crisis. While the infectious disease and critical care teams are on the front lines, our teams are making a difference by using their research expertise to advance the search for solutions. No one wants to sit on the sidelines!" says Dr. Gerald Batist, Director of the Segal Cancer Centre at the Jewish General Hospital.

A national effort

This major initiative, which includes a pediatric and an adult component, transcends provincial boundaries. Over the past week, the Quebec-led initiative has joined forces with projects developed elsewhere in the country to pool the strengths of research centres and institutions across the country and to launch a broad Canada-wide clinical trial. This will be co-led by Dr. Philippe Begin at Ste-Justine, Dr. Donald Arnold at McMaster University and Dr. Jeannie Callum at Sunnybrook Hospital, affiliated with the University of Toronto. A pediatric component is also being co-developed with researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Canada is thus positioning itself as a leader in the development of this therapeutic approach.

Support from the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation

This promising research requires the support of multiple partners. The CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation, always at the forefront of initiatives to care for and improve the lives of children at the CHU Sainte-Justine has decided to financially support Dr. Begin's initiative to enable the launch of this highly promising project in the province without waiting for the usual sources of funding.

"The current crisis demonstrates more than ever the importance of scientific research to our society," says Maud Cohen, president and CEO of the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation. "With its high potential for short-term benefits for the population and its brilliant researchers working hard to find concrete and credible solutions, this research deserves our full attention. We are calling on the generosity of our donors to make it happen. A collective effort at all levels is essential in order to deal with this pandemic.
By Gabriela Mello and Rodrigo Viga Gaier

SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Lockdowns in Brazil's largest cities to slow the coronavirus outbreak are beginning to slip, according to new data this week seen and analyzed by Reuters, with more people leaving their homes as President Jair Bolsonaro continues to criticize the measures.

State governments in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have expressed growing concern as their social isolation orders lose effectiveness, even as the outbreak spreads to nearly 16,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 800 deaths.

Cellular phone data, public transportation figures and interviews with taxi drivers in Rio and Sao Paulo point to rising traffic and footfall in Brazil's two largest cities.

Mayors and governors trying to keep Brazilians indoors have struggled against Bolsonaro's repeated attacks on the social distancing measures, which he described as "poison" that could kill more through economic hardship than the virus itself.

In Sao Paulo state, Brazil's most populous and home to Latin America's largest city, anonymous cellular data gathered by the local government and passed to Reuters on Wednesday showed the number of people considered to be in "social isolation" reached its lowest point this week since the lockdown began on March 24.

"Social isolation fell significantly in the past two to three days and that makes our challenge harder," Patricia Ellen, state secretary for economic development, told Reuters. "We are concerned."

On Wednesday, 49% of Sao Paulo residents were considered to be in "social isolation," compared to a weekday-peak of 56% on March 30, according to a government analysis of cellular data collected from phone operators. The all-time peaks were on Sundays, when 59% remained in isolation.

Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria told reporters on Thursday that the state was targeting a 70% rate of compliance, which he said science showed was necessary for it to be properly effective.

Story continues

In the city of Sao Paulo, the number of passengers using public buses increased by 28% on Monday compared to the same day a week earlier, according to official figures.

This week in Rio, the metro reported the highest weekday passenger numbers for a Monday and Tuesday since the lockdown there began on March 23. Trains and buses also saw an increase in ridership.

Luciano Ventura de Jesus, a 58-year-old taxi driver in Sao Paulo, said he has seen a jump in demand from passengers since last week.

He is now doing seven or eight trips per day, up from just two or three last week. On a normal day, before lockdown, he said he was doing 12 to 15 trips.

"People are becoming a bit more relaxed (about the lockdown)," he said.

(This story corrects Doria to governor, not mayor)

(Reporting by Gabriela Mello in Sao Paulo and Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro; Additional reporting by Pedro Fonseca in Rio, Eduardo Simoes and Stephen Eisenhammer in Sao Paulo; Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Brad Haynes, Aurora Ellis)
It may take businesses only several months to carry out digital transformation and process standardization instead of several years as once thought because of the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

Pham Duy Tung, Chief Operating Officer of Amber Online Education, a startup that provides online education services, said that now is the time for businesses to analyze problems to find suitable solutions.

The process allows managers to interact directly with workers and pay attention to the data they might have missed in the past, and discover holes in the management system.



Businesses, because of the need to work online, will also be motivated to become familiar with software, apply management tools and online training, and will develop new products that fit the market.



Amber, a business with 100 workers, has begun working-from-home scheme since March 9. The initial results are encouraging, with efficiency of 80-90 percent.

It may take businesses only several months to carry out digital transformation and process standardization instead of several years as once thought because of the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

Many other businesses have also organized the working-from-home model. Some procedures need to be adjusted and streamlined so that they can be uploaded to software to support online collaboration and exchange.

Some of businesses take roll call every morning through international chat groups, while others apply flexible working hours. Workers fulfill their tasks assigned to them every day, reflected in monthly KPI (key performance indicator) and quarterly OKR (objectives and key results).



Hung Dinh, founder and CEO of DesignBold, the initiator of the Vietnam Remote Working community, said managers need to change their views on management methods.



They need to shift to assess workers capability based on their performance and productivity, not on the time of working. Businesses need to set up the requirements for KPI and OKR. The application of technology is very important.



We need tools to administer and measure results. The assessment system must be transparent and accurate, he said.



Businesses, workers have to change



Previously, getting used to new tools was a big barrier to technology application because workers were not ready for new things. But now, technology is a must and the only option.



Tran Van Vien, director in charge of the southern region of Base.vn, which provides online administration platforms to more than 5,000 Vietnamese businesses, said Base has been very busy with training programs for its clients.



If direct training cannot be implemented, clients will ask to do this online, and they dont delay training programs anymore, Vien noted.

Chi Mai

Banks, fintech firms promote cashless payments during epidemic To prevent the spread of the new strain of coronavirus in Vietnam, customers are encouraged to adopt cashless payment methods.
The crowned Miss England 2019, Dr. Bhasha Mukherjee, was four weeks into a humanitarian mission in India when the daily cases of the CCP virus outbreak were surging worldwide. Mukherjee, a junior doctor, made the decision to hang up her pageant sash and return to England to help out on the front lines of the pandemic.

Miss England 2019, Bhasha Mukherjee. (BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

Resuming her work as a doctor to help amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, wasnt a tough decision, Mukherjee told Fox News on April 7, 2020. After India, I had several other countries that had to be cut short because of, obviously, the coronavirus, she added. I knew the best place for me would be back at the hospital.

Mukherjee shared that from a few weeks back, she had been hearing that her colleagues had been taking on numerous tasks they didnt have before and that they were working really long shifts in the hospital. I really wanted to join in the task force right away, she said.

Miss England, Bhasha Mukherjee (L), and Miss Denmark, Natasja Kunde, during the Miss World Finals at the Excel arena in east London, England, on Dec. 14, 2019. (DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images)

The 24-year-old beauty queen was a fresh University of Nottingham graduate and qualified junior doctor when she was crowned Miss England in August 2019. She had been head-hunted from her social media pages in 2017, which prompted a return to competing in pageants, something she had previously explored.

Mukherjee began a position at Pilgrim Hospital Boston-Lincolnshire in the east of England, just one day after being crowned Miss England, and went on to compete in the Miss World pageant four months later.

Touro University Nevada medical personnel get ready to conduct medical screenings at a temporary homeless shelter in a parking lot at Cashman Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 28, 2020. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

According to CNN, Mukherjee had planned to devote a year to humanitarian work and return to her role as a junior doctor in August 2020. I was invited to Africa, to Turkey, then to India, Pakistan, and several other Asian countries to be an ambassador for various charity work, she explained.

When you are doing all this humanitarian work abroad, youre still expected to put the crown on, get ready, look pretty, Mukherjee said, adding, [but] I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work.

Clinical support technician Douglas Condie extracts viruses from swab samples in the testing laboratory at Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland on Feb. 19, 2020. (Jane Barlow  WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Mukherjee, who specializes in respiratory medicine, negotiated her route home with the British High Commission in Kolkata, flying from Delhi, India, to Frankfurt in Germany, then on to London, England.

On April 6, the Independent reported that Mukherjee returned to England to observe a 14-day isolation before returning to work as a doctor for the NHS.

The young doctor emigrated from Kolkata, India, with her family as a 9-year-old child and was raised in England. In returning to the United Kingdom, she has become an advocate for reduced rent for front line healthcare workers and is also encouraging the public to vocalize their support for medical personnel as they continue to make huge sacrifices for the sake of saving lives.

A nurse takes a swab at a drive-through testing station for NHS staff in Chessington, England, on March 30, 2020 (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

As for staying safe amidst this unprecedented crisis and as events unfold, the beauty pageant winner advocates mindfulness as the best self-care measure. Its scientifically proven when you do an act of kindness it activates the happy sensor in your brain, Mukherjee told Fox News.

Its a whole different feeling of being able to sit next to someone, give them that support and to feel needed, she added. Those were the biggest reasons for me as to why I went into the medical field.

Mukherjee admitted questioning whether she was truly psychologically ready for the potential death toll in returning to work during the virus outbreak. However, she feels certain that the front line is where she needs to be.

Theres no better time for me to be Miss England, Mukherjee explained, and helping England at a time of need.
Phyllis Lyon, a lesbian activist who was relentless in her push for LGBTQ and womens rights, and was rewarded for 50 years in the fight when she and her partner became the first same-sex couple to be legally wed in California, in 2008, died of natural causes Thursday morning at her San Francisco home.

Her death was confirmed by Kate Kendell, a close friend and former director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Lyon was 95.

Lyon and partner Del Martin co-founded the Daughters of Bilitis at their home on Duncan Street during the years of enforced invisibility for gay couples. The couple began publishing the Ladder, a typed newsletter produced monthly at their kitchen table and circulating nationally, which gave other groups the foundation on which to build a national movement.

In 1972, they published Lesbian/Woman, one of the first nonfiction books on the subject, also written at their kitchen table, in the same house where Martin lived until she died in 2008 two months after their marriage, and where Lyon died Thursday.

We lost a giant today, said state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. Phyllis Lyon fought for LGBTQ equality when it was neither safe nor popular to do so. We owe Phyllis immense gratitude for her work. Rest in power.

In a 2010 interview in The Chronicle, the 85-year-old Lyon told reporter Meredith May that she and Martin never intended to be the first gay couple married in San Francisco, when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom declared it to be legal in 2004.

We thought marriage was a bad deal for women, she told May. But Kendell had recruited them as the symbolic couple and they went along with it. It meant so much to so many people that we decided it was what we were supposed to do, Lyon said. We only had two days to get ready.

Four years later, they were recruited to be the first couple again, when the State Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage to be legal.

We wore the same suits, but we had to get the pants shortened. Wed shrunk, Lyon told May. Also by then, the benefits became obvious, like when Del died, there was no question about her insurance and inheritance. It all came to me, so thats important.

To Kendell, there could have been no other choice than for them to be the first gay people to be married  twice.

Her life was marked by courage and the tenacious belief that the world must and could change, she said. Few individuals did more to advance womens and LGBTQ rights than Phyllis Lyon.

Phyllis Ann Lyon was born Nov. 10, 1924, in Tulsa, Okla. Her family moved to Sacramento, where she grew up, attending Sacramento High School. She graduated in 1946 from UC Berkeley, where she studied journalism and was editor of the Daily Californian student newspaper. After stints as a police reporter in Fresno and at the Chico Enterprise Record, Lyon was working at a magazine in Seattle when Martin got a job there.

I peeked out of my office and saw her walking down the hall in a dark green suit, and she was carrying a briefcase, Lyon told May. I had never seen a woman with one before. I was impressed.

Lyon left that job and was traveling when she met up with Martin, who had come to San Francisco to visit her parents. Martin took Lyon to a lesbian bar. They became partners in 1953 and bought a wood-and-glass house up a steep set of stairs in Noe Valley in 1955.

So began their lifes work in activism. They were Phyllis and Del, inseparable for the next 55 years. Lyon adopted and helped raise Martins daughter from her first marriage, Kendra Mon.

They were very funny and they never interrupted each other like some couples do, May said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Lyon kept Martins ashes in a urn close at hand and told May that she still read out loud to her. There was plenty to read from. There were bookcases everywhere, books packed in with the overflow piled on the floor.

When the Rev. Cecil Williams arrived in 1963 as the minister of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, Lyon was his first administrative assistant. Over the years, she helped bring the gay community to Glide, where they became a major part of the culture.

She inspired Cecil to conduct same-sex unions in the 1960s, said Glide co-founder Janice Mirikitani, noting that it was one of the first churches in the country to do so.

Lyon and Martin also became active in San Franciscos first gay political organization, the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, which was a major factor in outlawing discrimination in hiring.

Phyllis changed countless lives for the better, Mayor London Breed said in a statement. Through decades of organizing, activism, and writing, Phyllis helped advance civil rights protections, created robust support networks for LGBTQ people, and established political and advocacy organizations that continue her work to this day.

Survivors include her sister, Patricia Lyon of Berkeley; daughter Kendra Mon of Santa Rosa; granddaughter Lorri Mon; and grandson Kevin Mon. A public memorial is pending.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SamWhitingSF
Advertisement

The San Antonio Food Bank distributed one million pounds of food to roughly 6,000 families in a single day as millions across the country turn to charity organizations to avoid going hungry amid coronavirus lockdowns.

Stunning aerial photos show thousands of cars lined up at Trader's Village in San Antonio, Texas, during the massive food distribution event on Thursday.

Families in need waited hours to get their hands on fresh fruit, vegetables and other non-perishable goods that have become hard to find in traditional stores as panic-buying leaves shelves empty.

The sight of long rows of cars waiting outside food banks has become more frequent since the pandemic has made its impact on the United States, with similar scenes seen in Florida and Pennsylvania in the last two weeks.

'The need is that great,' San Antonio Food Bank President and CEO Eric Cooper said of the huge turnout.

'We are moving through food so fast, this is our second big distribution this week, but there are hundreds of distributions that are going on all the time.'

Six thousand families lined up in their cars for hours at Traders Village in San Antonio for a food distribution event on Thursday

The San Antonio Food Bank said it distributed one million pounds of food over the course of the day

People are seen standing by their cars as they waited in line for hours to get their hands on food and other essentials

Helpers Alisa Alonzo (left) and Jennifer Byrnes (right) gather bags of split peas to load into cars at Traders Village

The San Antonio event dubbed 'Mega Giveaway' will be held twice a week for as long as stay-at-home orders are in place in the city, available to people who pre-register online.

Thursday marked the fourth time they held the event - and the largest turnout yet.

Michael Guerra, the food bank's chief resources officer, said 5,000 families signed up for the latest event, but even more showed up.

Guerra said he expected each family to leave with enough food to last for the rest of the month - around two grocery carts full.

Stunning aerial photos show rows of thousands of cars waiting in the line at Trader's Village in San Antonio

Food bank staff wore masks and gloves as they distributed boxes into waiting cars

Each family left with enough food to fill two grocery carts, intended to last them the rest of the month

Food bank volunteer Heather Martinez says goodbye to a family after filling their car with pantry items

Pete Delgado was among the thousands of people waiting in line on Thursday.

He told FOX San Antonio he and his wife are both disabled and that he arrived at Trader's Village in the middle of the night to ensure that his family wouldn't go hungry.

'I've been hour here for an easy 12 hours,' Delgado said.

'And it's important for me and my wife because we have nothing to eat at home. I brought crackers and peanut butter as a snack to get me through the night.

'We didn't have any bread or lunch meat or anything to make some kind of lunch, a picnic for me to stay overnight, so I've just been munching on peanut butter and jelly and crackers.'

Cars began lining up in the parking lot as early as Wednesday night after about 5,000 families pre-registered for the event

The line of cars extended outside the parking lot and into the street in San Antonio

The San Antonio scenes mirrored similar queues at food banks around the country in the last two weeks.

Dramatic images from South Florida on Monday showed a long line of cars backed up bumper to bumper on a roadway while motorists waited hours to get food from a food bank.

A drone captured aerial shots of vehicles waiting in line in Sunrise, just northwest of Fort Lauderdale.

The motorists were waiting to receive food from Feeding South Florida, a food bank that relies on donations to feed the poor. Feeding South Florida has seen a 600 per cent increase in the number of people asking for food

According to the Miami Herald, food banks like Feeding South Florida and others have a glut of fresh produce to give away.

An aerial view from a drone shows vehicles lineup to receive food provided by the food bank Feeding South Florida in Sunrise, Florida, on April 6

Feeding South Florida has seen a 600 per cent increase in the those asking for food aid as people, some of whom have lost jobs, need to make ends meet during the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured are queues in Sunrise, FL, on April 6

With the coronavirus outbreak has forcing governments to shut down the hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, hotels, airlines, cruise ships, school cafeterias, farmers who rely on these businesses to buy their crops have an excess of perishable food and nothing to do with it.

Last week, hundreds of motorists waited hours to collect food from a food bank in Orlando, a city that has seen a surge in unemployment after the town's famous theme parks were forced to close its doors to the coronavirus outbreak.

Hundreds of families flocked to the parking lot of Mount Olive Seventh-day Adventist Church in Orlando on April 2 to collect food during the coronavirus pandemic

DailyMail.com witnessed a 50-vehicle line stretching a half mile waiting to collect food from the church in Orlando on April 2

Motorists were forced to wait on a mile-long line (pictured) for a drive-up emergency food distribution set up in Pittsburgh to meet social distancing requirements due to the coronavirus outbreak. Queues are pictured on March 30.

And motorists were forced to wait on a mile-long line for a drive-up emergency food distribution set up in Pittsburgh.

The Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, had only 1500 food boxes as local police set up portable toilets every 3/10ths of a mile to handle the large crowds who showed up.

The food bank, which is about 10 miles outside Pittsburgh and serves 11 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, is considered an essential facility during containment efforts underway to slow the spread of the deadly flu-like virus, also known as COVID-19.

Millions of families across the country have been turning to charity organizations to avoid going hungry amid coronavirus lockdowns. As of Thursday, more than 469,000 COVID-19 cases and 16,715 deaths have been confirmed in the US

The coronavirus outbreak has thrown at least 16.8 million Americans out of work in just three weeks as the coronavirus outbreak continues to tear through the country, bringing the economy to a near standstill.

A record 6.6 million new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week, according to the latest Labor Department figures released on Thursday.

The staggering number of first-time claims was on top of the more than 10 million applications filed in the last two weeks of March.

It means that more than one in 10 American workers have now lost their jobs as tough measures to control the coronavirus outbreak abruptly grounds the country to a halt.

The real number is likely to be even higher because many states are still clearing out backlogs of unemployment claims after people reported lengthy delays trying to lodge applications online or via the phone.

More cuts are still expected with economists predicting that more than 20 million Americans may lose jobs this month. The unemployment rate could hit 15 percent when the April employment report is released in early May.

The Labor Department's latest report on Thursday showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4 totaled 6.6 million, down slightly from an upwardly revised 6.87 million the week before

The new jobless claims figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 261,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.606 million for the week ending April 4, according to the report. Data for the prior week, ending March 28, was revised to show 219,000 more applications were received than previously reported, taking the tally for that period to 6.867 million.

The states with the largest increases in new claims last week were California (up 871,992), New York (up 286,596), Michigan (up 176,329), Florida (up 154,171), Georgia (up 121,680), Texas (up 120,759) and New Jersey (up 90,438).

The viral outbreak is believed to have erased nearly one-third of the economy's output in the current quarter.

About 95 percent, or 48 states, are now under some form of lockdown with non-essential businesses shutting down. Restaurants, hotels, department stores and small businesses have laid off millions as they struggle to pay bills at a time when their revenue has vanished.
There have been nascent signs that the aggressive social-distancing measures imposed by state and city governments have slowed the spread of the infection, which has killed more than 16,000 Americans. Federal officials have noted that Washington state and California were among the first states to see cases of the virus but have not experienced the high levels of infection and death that others, such as New York and New Jersey, are enduring. Pence said Thursday that officials were beginning to see stabilization in some of the hardest-hit areas.
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Increasing novel coronavirus cases in Mysuru region has put the spotlight on the Jubilant Generics, where over 27 of its workers with no travel history tested positive for COVID-19.

A public interest litigation (PIL) seeking investigation into this issue has also been submitted to the Karnataka High Court.

Some reports suggests that a related case with regard to Jubilant Pharma could be as high as 31.

The petitioner, Geeta Mishra, has also brought this to the notice to Chief Secretary, government of Karnataka and Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Rural and Mysuru.

To track all live updates from the coronavirus pandemic, click here

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

careless/negligent handling of the situation by the Owner of said Company, the COVID-19 had spread to various parts of the Mysuru District as well as other parts of the Karnataka. the PIL read. The petition was filed by GR Mohan on behalf of Geeta Mishra.

Jubilant Generics manufactures essential medicines and drugs such as Azithromycin dihydrate and Azithromycin Monohydrate, which is used for treating bacterial infections such as respiratory infections. Jubilant Bhartia group is the parent company of the firm.

On March 26, an employee (patient 52) of the pharma company tested positive for novel coronavirus pandemic. He did not have any travel history nor was he a secondary contact. Soon after more than 20 people, who were either employees or their relatives, tested positive. This number was 27 as of April 6.

The plant was shut down and over 1,000 employees were quarantined following this.

The company had reportedly imported chemicals from China, which arrived to Nanjangund via containers at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak. The petition alleges that the chemical imports, which came in an air conditioned container truck is the root cause of the virus outbreak in Mysuru.

However, the company has refuted these allegations. The company has said that the employee did not come to work starting March 21 till March 26 when he tested positive. It said it has been sharing all required information and providing assistance to concerned authorities. This includes health department, which visited the plant on March 27.

While the company did import drugs, it came in normal containers at a temperature above 32 degrees. In addition, the virus cannot survive more than 72 hours.

It would be premature for any conclusions to be made on the role of raw material in spread of the virus, the company added. The company is awaiting results of the samples taken by the government authorities.
Chennai, April 10 (IANS) The UK will be using charter flights from various Indian cities to ferry its nationals stranded across the country. Image Source: PK

Chennai, April 10 : The UK will be using charter flights from various Indian cities to ferry its nationals stranded across the country.

Over 3,000 British travellers are currently stranded in India and the charter flight from Chennai via Bengaluru is scheduled on April 20, said a statement from British Deputy High Commission here.

An additional 12 charter flights will be operated and bookings have opened on Friday.

This follows the seven charter flights announced on April 5 from Goa, Mumbai and New Delhi (April 8-12) and will take the total number of people brought back on these 19 flights to around 5,000.

The first charter flight from India arrived at London Stansted on Thursday morning with 317 British nationals on board from Goa.

"We are doing all we can to get thousands of British travellers in India home. This is a huge and complex operation which also involves working with the Indian government to enable people to move within India to get on these flights," UK Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, was quoted as saying in the statement.

"Over 300 people arrived from Goa on Thursday morning, 1,400 more will arrive over the Easter weekend and these 12 flights next week will bring back thousands more," he said.

Jan Thompson, Acting High Commissioner to India, said: "We can confirm 12 more charter flights to bring British travellers back home, on top of the flights already launched. We are extremely grateful for the support we are receiving from the government of India. Getting people home as quickly as possible remains our absolute priority," Jan Thompson, Acting High Commissioner to India was quoted a saying in the statement.

The following flights to London are scheduled for the next two weeks and British travellers should visit the India Travel Advice page to reserve seats as well as for any further information:

Amritsar-UK: April 13, 17, 19

Ahmedabad-UK: April 13, 15

Goa-UK: April 14, 16

Goa (via Mumbai)-UK: April 18

Thiruvananthapuram (via Kochi)-UK: April 15

Hyderabad (via Ahmedabad)-UK: April 17

Kolkata (via Delhi)-UK: April 19

Chennai (via Bengaluru)-UK: April 20So far, flights have brought back British travellers from the Philippines, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nepal, Ghana, Tunisia, Algeria and Peru.

The charter flights are for UK travellers who normally reside in the UK and their direct dependants. A number of seats will be reserved for those deemed vulnerable.

To book flights and register their details, British nationals should use the city-specific webpages listed on the India Travel Advice page, the statement said.
The Indian armed forces have been called upon to combat terrorists, violent ideologies and natural disasters. In rare instances, they have been ordered to enforce law and order in riot situations. However, they have not dealt with pandemics.

The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) currently poses a threat which, affecting the entire spectrum of society and State, can be classified in terms of its first-and-second-order impact.

The first order or direct impact is on the patient affected by the virus in terms of illness, possible death and the risk of infecting others. Medical services and related infrastructure are also directly impacted. The second-order impact is manifold and on infrastructure and services such as communications, law and order, and finances. These can be managed and controlled through various departments of the government. The questions that then arise are the following: Should the armed forces be deployed to deal with pandemics? If yes, what are the ways of utilising them?

To answer this, one must understand the concept of securitisation. This means that security, as understood from a realist point of view, is a social construct rather than a condition. In other words, the affected political system may define what a security threat is, and it may not be what is commonly considered a threat. The armed forces can deal with pandemics as a lead agency in countries when they are defined as security threats, and if the forces are equipped accordingly. However, if defined from the perspective of aid to civil authorities, the forces are likely to deal with the second-order impact. Additionally, the forces have a sterling reputation in the public eye and this can be weaponised and used to stabilise the situation, if it worsens.

The armed forces have developed several advanced capabilities in communications, logistics, inventory management, surgery and rapid insertion and deployment of modular teams. While dealing with pandemics, the armed forces can be used to supplement and, at times, complement the efforts of the civil administration.

The Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF) have significant capabilities such as secure and robust communications, near blue-water presence and dominance and strategic airlift, which puts them in the drivers seat when it comes to out-of-area contingencies. After the outbreak of Covid-19, the two major contingencies that arose were the evacuation of Indian nationals from affected countries and providing trained medical manpower to friendly countries. The mass evacuation of Indians and nationals from at least 23 countries was earlier conducted successfully during Operation Raahat in 2015 from Yemen. In the case of Iran, India flew some of its scientists from the Indian Council of Medical Research in an IAF aircraft to set up a lab to test 1,200 stranded Indians for Covid-19. On March 13, doctors and paramedics from the armed forces were flown to the Maldives to provide medical assistance. Both these actions were made possible due to the bilateral and multilateral exercises with friendly countries on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, port calls, participation in air shows, seminars and discussions in various multinational forums. With the severity and spread of Covid-19 increasing, the armed forces may likely see an accelerated deployment cycle in the Indian Ocean region.

The sharp increase in the number of infected cases in almost all affected countries is an indicator that India will face this situation soon. There will be a clamour for wards and open spaces for patients, in case hospitals are overwhelmed. As the forces have shown, by creating quarantine zones and wellness centres out of pre-existing accommodations, they have the capability and manpower to do so at a larger scale, and in a much shorter time frame. The engineering equipment in the Armys inventory can be used by local formations to support and augment civilian capacities in respective areas. The human resources of the armed forces can also be used to rapidly convert open spaces such as stadiums and parks into closed ones with basic facilities.

If there is a breakdown of law and order, there may have to be flag marches or other interventions by the forces. This is in case the police and Central Armed Police Forces are overwhelmed. The panic likely to be generated due to the news about casualty figures may lead to violence, which may be intrinsically created or inflated by external factors.

The armed forces need to weaponise their perceived impartiality in cases of intra-community violence, if any. Violence in a jail in Bogota, Colombia, over Covid-19 rumours, which resulted in 23 deaths and 83 people being injured in March, is a stark reminder of what can happen if false information is allowed to spread uncontrolled. In such a situation, the forces can be pressed into action.

With rugged distribution networks, the armed forces are adept at the distribution of basic amenities during natural calamities, as has been evident in the aftermath of many natural disasters in India and abroad. These capabilities can be utilised by the government and local administration to provide basic food and medicines to remote places as well as to specific sections of society most affected by the lockdown. The forces can also be used to carry out awareness campaigns within the civilian population, thanks to their credibility.

The unique capabilities of the armed forces in terms of their trained manpower, communications and extensive distribution networks will complement the governments efforts. They must be prepared for a role that will be challenging and risky. However, all these capacities can be brought to bear on the condition that the forces themselves are safe and infection-free.

Lt Col Akshat Upadhyay is a serving officer and author of Coercive Diplomacy Against Pakistan

The views expressed are personal
The USNS Comfort and the Javits Convention Center are still sitting mostly empty despite being set up in New York City to treat coronavirus patients while emergency rooms across the city overflow with patients.

The 1,000-bed Comfort and 2,500-bed Javits Center were set up by the federal government and military to alleviate the strain on New York's hospitals at the height of the pandemic.

But immediately, hospital executives expressed frustration and outrage at the red tape that was stopping them from actually contributing to the crisis.

The first problem was that neither was willing to take COVID-19 patients. The Comfort also refused to take patients who had any of 49 other health conditions that were detailed in a list by the state department that is yet to become public.

Gov. Cuomo asked Trump to overrule FEMA and turn both into COVID-19 facilities, which he did. It reduced the USNS Comfort's capacity from 1,000 to 500.

But there is still a mountain of as-yet unexplained red tape that is stopping people from being treated there.

There are currently only 60 patients at the Comfort and 225 in the Javits Center.

One doctor told The New York Post there was a 25-point checklist of requirements that patients had to meet before they could be transported. It is unclear whether the military or the state department of health mandated that checklist.

Photos released by the defense department show the Javits Center, where military doctors are treating coronavirus patients. It is still largely empty due to a mountain of red tape that is stopping people from getting the care they need. Only 225 people are being treated there

The USNS Comfort, which has the capacity for 500 coronavirus patients, only has 60

State officials say that it was the military that put the strict requirements in place, whereas defense officials say it was the state. They say the state issued guidance saying the patients had to have five days worth of medication before they could be transported to either facility because their pharmacies are so backed up.

They are now working to get their pharmacies up to scratch to handle the incoming load of patients and say dozens will be transported this week.

An additional hurdle is the lack of specialized staffing. The Comfort, for example, does not have the right staff to treat mentally ill people, children or pregnant women.

One state official told the Post that the Comfort was refusing to take any patient that needed a nurse for eight hours or longer, for reasons that are not clear.

Yet another complication is that it is logistically difficult to move patients who are on ventilators.

'I think at the end of the day, no one wants to accept a patient that then we cant care for and then we have to transfer back to a hospital and burden them again,' Major General William Hall, the commander of Joint Task Force Civil Support, said, adding that more patients would be moved this week to both.

Doctors in overwhelmed hospitals are at their wits end with the situation.

An EMT wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), prepares to unload COVID-19 transfer patients at the Montefiore Medical Center Wakefield Campus in the Bronx on Monday

One doctor who works at a hospital in East Harlem told The Post: 'It's bulls**t.'

The worker said that his hospital recently asked Javits to take 95 patients but that they only accepted one. He did not say what their reasons were for rejecting the other 94.

Another hospital worker from the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx said that it was a 'big problem' especially when his ER is 'backed up 50 deep'.

Michel Downing, the CEO of Northwell Health, is among those who are frustrated.

He said it was 'hogwash' that the delay was the state's fault and that the federal government is to blame for the bungled relief efforts.

'They wanted no patients that needed to see a nurse more than once every eight hours.

'They wanted all patients to be ambulatory. We had no patients like that. To say it was our list is hogwash,' he said.

On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence called the patient count on the Comfort so 'modest' that 75 military doctors had been deployed to emergency rooms to help relieve their strain.

A specialized bus known as a Medical Evacuation Transport Unit (METU) caries patients on stretchers and benches

A worker wearing PPE pushes a COVID-19 patient from a specialized bus known as a Medical Evacuation Transport Unit (METU), which carried patients to the Montefiore Medical Center Moses Campus on Tuesday

Devastating photos show coronavirus patients being stacked onto evacuation buses and body bags being wheeled out of morgues as New York City sees over 1,000 deaths over the last 36 hours from Tuesday morning to Wednesday night

The rate of hospitalization is dramatically slowing in New York, as is the number of patients entering ICU.

While the death toll continues to climb, it has left many hopeful that New York has hit its peak and is now turning a corner in its fight against the virus.

The city's hospitals have been so overwhelmed by the crisis that they turned lobbies and conference rooms into wards to accommodate the wave of patients.

Doctors and nurses have worked round the clock, many of them falling sick themselves, because of their unrelenting exposure to the disease.


A new Russian disinformation campaign targeting Americans on social media operated through satellite outfits in Ghana and Nigeria, according to new reports from CNN and Graphika, in collaboration with Facebook and professors at Clemson University.

Why it matters: Russian efforts to meddle in this year's U.S. elections are evolving in an attempt to avoid detection. In 2016, most state-backed misinformation campaigns went through St. Petersburg. Now, the Kremlin is changing course.

Details: According to the report, hundreds of accounts run by Ghanaian trolls created posts in English aimed at sowing division among U.S. citizens.

The Ghanaian fraudsters, mostly in their 20s, were instructed to time the posts for optimal U.S. hours. Many of their posts, like Russian operations in 2016, focused on driving division among the races, as well as LGTBQ issues and police brutality.

mostly in their 20s, were instructed to time the posts for optimal U.S. hours. Many of their posts, like Russian operations in 2016, focused on driving division among the races, as well as LGTBQ issues and police brutality. The trolls communicated via the encrypted app Telegram, which CNN notes isn't normally used in Ghana.

the encrypted app Telegram, which CNN notes isn't normally used in Ghana. The operation's headquarters were in a compound near the Ghanaian capital, Accra. It was rented by a small nonprofit group that called itself Eliminating Barriers for the Liberation of Africa (EBLA). Facebook's intelligence suggests that EBLA was run by a Ghanian man living in Russia in conjunction with the Kremlin.

Between the lines: Facebook and Twitter were already looking into some of the troll accounts when CNN notified the two companies of its investigation.

The probe found that the group had extended its activities to Nigeria, and was beginning to try to advertise positions in the U.S. CNN found online job postings for misinformation shops in Nigeria and even Charleston, South Carolina.

By the numbers: More than 200 accounts were created by the Ghanaian trolls  the vast majority in the second half of 2019, per CNN.

Facebook said in a statement Thursday it had removed 49 accounts, 69 Pages and 85 Instagram accounts. It said thousands of U.S.-based accounts followed the Ghanian fraudsters' accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

in a statement Thursday it had removed 49 accounts, 69 Pages and 85 Instagram accounts. It said thousands of U.S.-based accounts followed the Ghanian fraudsters' accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Twitter said it had removed 71 accounts that had 68,000 followers.

The big picture: The report speaks to a growing trend of bad actors relying on vulnerable populations in Africa to deploy misinformation campaigns. In October, Facebook said it took down Russian misinformation campaigns that were targeting people in eight African countries.

CNN found last summer that Russia had begun to develop an influence operation in the Central African Republic.

Go deeper: 2020 misinformation threats extend beyond Russia
Addressing COVID-19 is causing organizations to have to work through issues that challenge governance, leadership, and management. eBOARDsolutions remains committed to addressing these needs and assisting our users to effectively communicate, collaborate and make decisions.

Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA) and its subsidiary, eBOARDsolutions, Inc. are pleased to announce the release of its Virtual Board Meeting Guide, a new website resource for school boards.

In response to nationwide school closings resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, eBOARDsolutions has developed a dedicated website to help school boards better equip themselves to address the challenges of meeting virtually, in an online environment. Highlighting the benefits of combining virtual meeting software, board management software, and video streaming services via social media platforms, the website shares best practices on implementing these complementary resources to provide school boards with the ability to effectively conduct virtual board meetings. The website also features resources shared from other state school board associations around the country as well.

Our member school boards are facing new realities each day in responding to the needs of their students, staff, and communities and are looking for guidance and help, said Valarie Wilson, GSBA Executive Director. We felt compelled to assemble and share resources that would best enable them to continue to meet and make decisions in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Launching the virtual board meeting guide website is the first step in that journey.

In conjunction with the virtual meeting guide website release, eBOARDsolutions has also announced free access to their paperless board meeting software, Simbli, to eligible school districts. One of six core integrated modules that make up Simblis board management software, the Meetings module facilitates paperless board meetings, helping school boards streamline meeting preparation and provide easy and secure access to meeting materials online; the software will be available for free for newly subscribing, U.S. school districts until the end of the school year.

Addressing COVID-19 is causing organizations to have to work through issues that challenge governance, leadership, and management, said Mark Willis, eBOARDsolutions Chief Operating Officer. eBOARDsolutions remains committed to addressing these needs and assisting our users to effectively communicate, collaborate and make decisions.

Visit http://www.virtualmeetings.eboardsolutions.com to access the newly developed virtual board meeting guide. Visit http://www.eboardsolutions.com to learn more about Simbli and inquire about free access to the Simbli Meetings module.

About eBOARDsolutions

eBOARDsolutions is the leader in online board management tools for effective governance. With a unique understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing school boards, the Georgia School Boards Association began building these online tools over 20 years ago to help its member boards increase their efficiency and effectiveness. In 2007, eBOARDsolutions, Inc. was born, and has been making these tools available to school boards, nonprofits, and governments across the United States ever since. With an annual renewal rate of more than 99 percent, Simbli is helping boards and the people who work with them simply get more done. Learn more about eBOARDsolutions and Simbli at http://www.eboardsolutions.com.

Media Contact:

Andy Ryff, eBOARDsolutions Marketing Manager, 770.822.3632, aryff@eboardsolutions.com
But almost everything these days is unprecedented as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. And like many churches throughout Naperville, Ss. Peter and Paul has turned technology to stream its daily church services and stay connected to parishioners in the days leading up to Easter, Christendoms holiest week.
By Express News Service

COIMBATORE: People of Mayilampatti village in the district have been voluntarily collecting essentials from people in order to help those in need by placing containers in front of a ration shop there.

People have been asked to place their ration, that they deem is in excess, in the containers. A notice pasted on the containers states that the collected items will be donated to migrant labourers residing in the village, who are suffering due to the lockdown.

Residents of the village that falls under Sulur block said that more than 200 migrant labourers and their families have received provisions in the last two days.

Though most workers own ration cards in their respective natives, they cannot get essentials right now. Most of them are stuck and are looking for help, said A Sathasivam, a resident of Mayilampatti.

Nearly 70 ration cards holders have so far come forward to give up their monthly rations, Sathasivam added.
Irish primary healthcare has noticed a worrying decline in the number of patients attending for red-flag health issues, depression, and domestic abuse since the onset of Covid-19 restrictions.

Despite general practitioners stressing that they are open for business, the amount of non-Covid consultations being carried out across the country has fallen precipitously, according to sources.

This has stemmed both from the fact people are less inclined to carry out consultations over the phone and because the public is avoiding GP surgeries due to fears over contracting the coronavirus.

People are frightened and are afraid that what theyre experiencing might be trivial by comparison, Dr Madeleine Ni Dhalaigh, a Roscommon GP, told the Irish Examiner.

As GPs we need to get the message out - dont ignore non-respiratory symptoms. That could be chest pain, headache, anxiety, unexplained weight loss, skin conditions. You need to pick up the phone, she said.

People need to know that the clinical pathways to secondary care are still there.

While Irelands intensive care settings are under a deal of duress during the current crisis, there are a high number of beds still vacant on the general wards of hospitals.

Dr Ni Dhalaigh acknowledged that over the telephone is definitely not the ideal situation, but added its definitely better than nothing. Were used to taking detailed histories, she said.

She said that, ordinarily, she would see four chest pains a week, maybe five or six with abdominal pain. Were just not seeing them now, she added.

She sought to reassure patients that the GP surgery remains very much a viable avenue for those suffering domestic abuse. People at risk need to call us, were an obvious out because they can tell their abuser theyre going to the doctor for something else.
Hundreds of people have been arrested across Asia for posting purported false coronavirus information, according to an AFP investigation, deepening concerns that growing government efforts to combat "fake news" will target the wrong people and silence dissent. From teenagers to a TV star, people have been wrongly detained under vaguely worded cybercrime laws or broad state-of-emergency powers ushered in since the outbreak began, rights groups say. "Governments are using the 'fake news' label to dress up their rights-abusing efforts to censor views and statements that are at odds with whatever strategy they have taken to deal with the COVID-19 crisis," said Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director for Human Rights Watch (HRW). "It's insane frankly. In many cases it's people being dragged out of their homes to the lock-up, put in pre-trial detention, in crowded spaces where they're more likely to get COVID." At least 266 people have been arrested for posting coronavirus-related information in 10 Asian countries, from Thailand to India and Mongolia, according to an AFP tally based on police reports. They include a local politician in India who claimed on Facebook that the government was downplaying virus fatalities, and a Malaysian TV personality made to pay a fine of several thousand US dollars after he posted a YouTube video criticising a hospital's handling of the pandemic. Authorities say criminalisation is needed to curb the online flood of dangerous fake cures and conspiracy theories that the World Health Organization has called an "infodemic". But HRW and other campaigners point to cases where opposition figures or journalists have been targeted -- as well as questioning the fairness of arresting ordinary people who may not even realise they are spreading misinformation. A middle-aged woman in Sri Lanka spent three days in custody this week after posting a prank message on Facebook saying the president had tested positive for COVID-19, police said. In Cambodia, a Facebook pundit who posted a quote from Prime Minister Hun Sen was charged with incitement to commit felony and is facing up to two years in jail, according to a court warrant seen by AFP. Officials say Hun Sen was joking when he told motorbike taxi drivers to sell their vehicles if they cannot make money in the pandemic. - 'Rumour mongering' - Cambodian authorities have also detained four opposition politicians, according to HRW, while a local rights group and police sources said a 14-year-old girl was among more than a dozen people arrested. She was released soon after questioning with no charges. The surge in arrests in Asia focused on coronoavirus misinformation has come after various countries toughened laws or introduced new ones on so-called fake news. "Regulating misinformation by either introducing new legislation or by expanding the scope of existing laws has been the trend in Asia for the last few years," said Masato Kajimoto, a journalism researcher at the University of Hong Kong. The pandemic has accelerated this because a crackdown can be perceived as protecting public health, rather than infringing on freedom of speech, he said. In Thailand, a state-of-emergency decree passed in late March criminalised sharing misinformation online about COVID-19 that could "instigate fear". This is on top of the Computer Crimes Act, which has a five-year maximum jail penalty and is often used to stifle dissent online. The Philippines also recently adopted an emergency law giving it more powers to combat the pandemic, including arresting people who share false information about the disease. Nearly 100 people in India have been arrested for spreading virus misinformation under existing penal laws and the disaster management act -- with punishments including up to one year in prison. "While India lacks any specific fake news law, there do exist provisions of laws that can be used for 'rumour mongering'," said Apar Gupta, director of the Delhi-based Internet Freedom Foundation. "It is fair to state that these laws are broadly phrased and can result in arbitrary action, given India's slow judicial system that also generally displays a prosecutorial bias," he said. Karuna Nandy, an Indian Supreme Court lawyer, told AFP that such arrests were particularly alarming in a lockdown, when courts are mostly shut. - Hoax confusion - In Singapore, an anti-government website was blocked earlier this year under the city-state's controversial and sweeping new anti-misinformation law, passed in October. Authorities accused the States Times Review of circulating falsehoods including about the coronavirus outbreak. Police in neighbouring Indonesia have made more than 80 arrests under the country's strict electronic information law since the outbreak began. The maximum penalty is five years in jail. They include individuals accused of attacking the government and its response to the outbreak, and multiple people who shared claims that a Muslim woman had died suddenly from COVID-19 at Jakarta's international airport. Damar Juniarto, from digital rights group SAFEnet, said Indonesian law gives "no clear definition" of a hoax, which can be spread by accident. "The source of the problem is that there is no information leadership from the government," said Juniarto. Indonesia's doctors association has warned that the crisis there is worse than officially reported. HRW's Robertson echoed this sentiment. "People should not be criminalised for saying what they think online. It's up to the governments to provide effective information". burs-kaf/kma
The return of our citizens to Armenia is one of our functions that is extremely essential, important and is a great obligation and duty. The coronavirus pandemic completely changed the logic of our ordinary lives, and all countries and regions were affected. This is what Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said during an interview aired on Armenian Public Television.

The most important thing has been and still is to disallow the spread of the pandemic in Armenia and provide all the necessary resources and the opportunities to resist this pandemic. The governments actions have been aimed at ensuring a necessary environment and the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic, minimizing pressure of the pandemic on our normal lives and creating an environment for Armenians to get back on track and for the Armenian government to get the economy back on track after this is over. In this sense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has its share of the job, that is, by working with other government agencies and coordinating the activities through the Commandants Office. As far as resources are concerned, my counterparts played a huge role in helping provide all the drugs, equipment and accessories. One of the recent examples was the plane that carried necessary accessories that Armenia had purchased in China. Armenia is currently preparing for the second flight, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said.

According to the foreign minister, international cooperation is extremely essential, especially now, and Armenia really praises the cooperation that it has established with several countries.

The foreign minister also considers the issue of citizens of Armenia abroad an extremely important issue. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia is still in contact with citizens of Armenia abroad and those who are registered at Armenias embassies. In this period, based on our data, 63,322 citizens have returned to Armenia starting from March 1, and 1,870 citizens of Armenia are registered in 47 countries. In the initial period, we addressed our citizens and asked them to stop traveling and return to Armenia. Most citizens responded, and this is why there are over 63,000 citizens who have returned to Armenia. I praise, respect and thank all citizens who unite around the Armenian embassies and consulates and make a contribution.

Over the past week, 440 Armenians of Russia returned to Armenia via two flights. We are trying to address each issue and case individually and systemically. Their return to Armenia is ensured whenever there is an opportunity. Upon their return to Armenia, we make sure the healthcare and security systems are safe and comprehensive, and in this sense, the 14-day quarantine requirement arises from this goal. Armenian students from Israel should have crossed the border of Armenia by now, and 34 young Armenian students of the United States are on their way to Armenia. The latter is a great example of cooperation with our colleagues in the United States and Georgia. They will reach Tbilisi and then head towards Armenia. Im certain that they will arrive in Armenia tomorrow morning, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said.
Delhi University (DU) is considering making its entire admission process online to minimise the students visits to the varsity in view of the situation arising out of the coronavirus pandemic, according to officials.

Although the university has put the registration process on hold due COVID-19, its admission branch is working towards strengthening the process.

According to the officials, the varsity has begun the process of collecting information from colleges amid a likelihood that there will be a little time left for preparations after the lockdown ends.

In a letter to principals of all DU colleges on April 9, Professor Shobha Bagai, Dean (Admissions) said, There has been a conscious effort to minimise visits of the students for physical verification of the mandatory documents during the admission process.

In the current scenario, it has been recommended that it becomes more imperative to have the complete admission process online, which also includes the online verification of the certificates, the letter said.

Bagai also asked the colleges to upload necessary information on their websites and send the link to the admission branch.

In the letter, she also directed the colleges to constitute a strong admission team for the process.

A team of reasonable number of student volunteers along with a Faculty Mentor be formed. The student volunteers must remain available during the time of admission to answer any related query pertaining to the admissions in the college, the letter said.

DU had implemented the first phase of 10 per cent expansion in EWS (Economically Weaker Section) seats in 2019-20 and the remaining 15% enhancement will be completed in 2020-21 academic session, according to the letter.

The colleges have been requested to declare the seats in each course, category-wise on their websites.

With respect to certain course-wise combination of subjects, if there were any additional eligibility criteria, the same must be communicated to the admission branch by April 13, the letter said.

The colleges have been given a deadline of April 30 for furnishing the remaining information.
The stimulus bailout of up to $1,200 per person will go to everyone with income below $99,000 a year last year, or $198,000 for a married couple, and to some single parents earning up to $136,500. Parents who are eligible will get $500 for each of their children.

The source of your income is irrelevant, meaning social security recipients are eligible too.

How do I work out whether I am eligible?

First you need to find whether your adjusted gross income (AGI) was under the $99,000 adjusted gross income limit, or the $198,000 if you file as a married couple.

That is not the amount on your paycheck but your total income minus some permitted tax deductions including student loan interest payments - and your AGI can be found on your 2018 or 2019 tax return.

You also have to be a citizen or permanent resident, meaning workers on visas and undocumented - or illegal - aliens will not get cash despite having paid taxes.

How much will I get if I am a single filer?

If your adjusted gross income was under $75,000, you will get $1,200.

For every $100 of adjusted gross income over $75,000 you will lose $5 from the check or deposit. So if your AGI was $85,000, you will get a check of $700.

I'm a single parent - how am I affected?

If you file as head of household as many single parents do, the AGI limits are higher. You will get a $1,200 check if your AGI is under $112,500 and the upper limit for a payment is $136,500. All eligible parents receive $500 extra checks per child under 17.

What about married couples?

The limits for married couples to get payments is simply double that for single filers. So if your joint AGI is under $150,000 you get a full payment of $2,400. Payments taper down and no couple with an AGI above $198,000 get a payment. Parents get $500 per child.

How will I get paid - and when?

That depends on how you - or your tax filer - filed your tax return in 2019 or 2018. If you gave your bank account details for your refund to be directly deposited, your payment will come directly and could come as early as Wednesday.

The same applies if you receive Social Security retirement or Social Security Disability Insurance benefits - your payment will go direct into your bank account. That also applies to people who receive payments from the Railroad Retirement and Survivor Benefits scheme.

But if you opted for a check from the IRS, you will get your bailout payment by check. It will take the IRS 20 weeks to print the full number of checks it is anticipating sending out.

The IRS says it is planning to produce a website tool to enter your bank information to cut the number of people who need checks - but that has still to go into action

I didn't file a tax return and I'm not on Social Security. Will I miss out?

People with incomes below $12,200 - $24,400 for couples - do not have to file federal tax returns but they are eligible. However you need to sign up at the IRS website's special section to get the payment.

What if I don't have a bank?

The government has still to specify any help for people without banks to cash their checks without paying fees but there have been calls for it to ask big banks to do so.

I earned more than the limit in 2019 and 2018 but now I've lost my job. Will I get a payment?

No. The checks are based on what people earned in the last tax return which is on file. So many people who lost jobs paying above the limit will get no help from the scheme. It is possible that the IRS comes up with a way to issue payments to such people in the future.
The number of deaths caused by the coronavirus surged past the 100,000 mark on Friday, doubling in nearly a week as the pandemic continues to spread across the globe, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The coronavirus, named COVID-19, has spread to more than 180 countries and territories. Countries that were most affected by the initial outbreak, such as China and South Korea, have seen their daily number of new cases decline dramatically.

However, the worst-hit countries in Europe, such as Italy, Spain and France, are still struggling to flatten the curve.

Over in the U.S., however, hope is rising that the situation is improving. New York, the epicenter of the outbreak in the country, reported a lower rate of virus-related hospitalizations this week, although the data is still early. White House officials said Wednesday that there's "real evidence" the country's lockdown efforts are working, although there's still "a significant amount of disease" in the New York City metropolitan area.

The number of global deaths surpassed 50,000 people on April 2, just after global infections passed 1 million people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh rose to 431 in the state on Friday with 21 more people testing positive.

"As many as 431 people have tested positive so far in the state. These cases are in 40 districts. Of them, 32 have been treated," Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters.

"So far, 9,041 samples have been checked out of which 8,250 were found to be negative, 431 were found positive and results of the rest are still awaited," he added.

Presently, around 1,000 virus samples are checked every day but the facilities at testing centres will be ramped up to get 1,500 to 2,000 samples analysed in future, Prasad added.

Till Thursday, there were 410 cases in the state of whom 225 are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi last month, he said.

The death toll in the state due to COVID-19 stands at four - one each in Meerut, Basti, Varanasi and Agra districts.

Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi said 75 per cent of the total coronavirus positive cases in the state (about 300) are in hotspots that have been identified in 15 districts.

"These hotspots are under strict lockdown and sealed. A magistrate has been appointed for every hotspot," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The new rules of the sidewalk demand that we skirt one another by 6 feet when passing, as though one of us is carrying the novel coronavirus and might unexpectedly sneeze in the direction of the other. Whether or not such caution is strictly necessary in each encounter, its part of the heightened degree of awareness of the value of distancing thats widely credited with slowing the spread of COVID-19.
A year after a fire that shocked the world and destroyed the roof of Paris' ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, France is marking the first anniversary amid the coronavirus pandemic. Workers who were removing lead contamination ahead of reconstruction were sent home as part of efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

It has been a year since the iconic towers of Notre Dame were engulfed in flames and smoke, its ceiling collapsing and leaving the ancient building weakened. It has also been a year since French President Emmanuel Macron promised to rebuild the Paris landmark quickly.

In an address last year, Macron said French people are made of builders and that Notre Dame would be rebuilt even more beautifully, within five years. He assured the French it could be done. A year later, Parisians, tourists and Christian pilgrims are still mourning the loss of one of France's best-loved monuments, which attracted 12 million visitors in 2018.

Cedric Burgun is priest and a vice dean at the Paris Catholic Institute. He remembers the dramatic scene a year ago. He said the memories of the fire are still vivid when walking around Notre Dame. He sees many people next to the building to see it or pray outside to remember that shocking event for French people.

The scaffolding is still visible from outside the building. It was present on the building prior to the April 15th fire due to restoration work -- the heat of the blaze welded it together. There are an estimated 551 tons of metal are still on top of the cathedral.


Police have released details of the getaway car used in the brutal murder of Robbie Lawlor in north Belfast.

Lawlor, from Coolock in the Republic of Ireland was shot multiple times outside a house in the Etna Drive area of Ardoyne just before midday on Saturday, April 4.

Police believe a single gunman was involved in the killing.

Lawlor has been linked to the murder of Drogheda teen Keane Mulready-Woods whose dismembered remains were found in various locations of north Dublin in January.

Expand Close Robbie Lawlor / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Robbie Lawlor

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Montgomery said: My investigation into this brutal killing is progressing and I would like to thank those who have come forward with information so far.

I believe the white Volkswagen Scirocco car, registration YLZ 7052, which was discovered burnt out in nearby Kingston Court, was parked in Estoril Park in Ardoyne the day before the murder, on Friday April 3, at 10am.

"I know it was stolen in the Republic of Ireland on January 30.

"I am appealing to anyone who saw it or witnessed its movements between March 31 and Friday, April 3 in Estoril Park until it was found burnt out on Saturday at approximately midday in Kingston Court to speak to me. Did you see anyone park it there or move it to Kingston Court?"

Expand Close Police officers arrested man and carried out searches in the Strathroy Park area of Ardoyne in north Belfast . April 7th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Police officers arrested man and carried out searches in the Strathroy Park area of Ardoyne in north Belfast . April 7th 2020 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Five people have been arrested but so far no one has been charged.

Detective Chief Inspector Montgomery appealed to any motorists or taxi drivers who were in the area at that time and have dashcam footage to contact detectives.

"I am still keen to hear from anyone who saw this car and its occupants either before 11.50am on Saturday April 4 or after the murder had taken place," he added.

I am also interested in speaking to anyone who was in the Etna Drive or Strathroy Park areas on Saturday and again if any drivers or taxi drivers have dashcam footage during those times I would urge them to bring it police.

This was a horrific and callous murder, carried out in close range and in broad daylight, and those involved need to be removed from the streets and our communities.

Expand Close Police at the scene at Etna Drive in the Ardoyne area of Belfast (David Young/PA) / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Police at the scene at Etna Drive in the Ardoyne area of Belfast (David Young/PA)

"At this stage, I believe that a single gunman was involved in the killing, firing multiple shots at the victim and striking him a number of times. The murder weapon has not yet been recovered. These dangerous people have no place in our society and need to be brought to justice for what they did.

If anyone in the area captured any footage of the incident please make that available to us also. It can be uploaded on the Major Incident Public Portal at https://mipp.police.uk/operation/PSNI20P04-PO1.

And information can be provided to police on 101 or anonymously through the Crime Stoppers charity on 0800 555 111.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

10 Coronavirus patients in Andaman and Nicobar Islands recover

India

oi-PTI

Port Blair, Apr 10: Ten persons, who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a religious congregation in Delhi last month, have recovered, officials said on Friday. All of them returned to Port Blair via Kolkata on March 24, they said.

They have tested negative and will soon be shifted from the GB Pant Hospital, where they are undergoing treatment, to a quarantine facility before being discharged, a health official said.

The quarantine facility has been set up at a hotel here, he said, adding that they will have to undergo isolation for another 14 days.

After returning on two different flights, they were transported to the hospital directly from the airport as they showed coronavirus-like symptoms, and did not get in contact with locals, officials said.

How does Delhis 'Operation SHIELD' work in fight against coronavirus

The state's lone COVID-19 patient at present, a woman in her 20s who tested positive earlier this week, is recovering well, officials said.

The woman was on one of the planes that ferried some of the 10 other persons from Kolkata to Port Blair on March 24. She is also undergoing treatment at the G B Pant Hospital.

Officials at the Union Territory, home to several vulnerable tribes, heaved a sigh of relief with the recoveries.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, April 10, 2020, 12:34 [IST]
- A barbaric act was recently committed in Somalia, causing a public outrage

- Two girls aged three and and four were abducted and gang-raped by unknown men

- The heinous crime has been condemned by the government and the people of the country

There is a public outrage in Somalia following the gang-raping of a three-year-old and four-year-old girls in the country.

The two girls, who are cousins, were abducted and raped, a nefarious act that has put their lives in a serious health situation, Face 2 Face Africa reports.

Legit.ng gathered that the Somali government has condemned the act and people are seeking justice for the rape victims.

According to report, the girls need major surgery as a result of injuries they sustained during the rape.

They were said to be on their way home from school in Afgoye when they were attacked.

After searching for them, their parents found them the following day seriously injured as a result of the rape.

Several arrests had reportedly been made following the rape.

Mohamed Yusuf Mohamed, the doctor in charge of the hospital where they are being treated, said: They were brutally gang-raped but we are doing everything to save their lives. I have never witnessed such an ordeal, its simply unimaginable."

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read the best news on Nigerias #1 news app

In other news, the four boys who were recorded assaulting a girl (who was a girlfriend of one of the boys) have finally been apprehended, charged and remanded in prison by the court.

It would be recalled that a clip made the rounds on social media in March showing a boy assaulting his girlfriend while his friends did little or nothing to stop him.

Multiple award-winning Nigerian artiste Peter Okoye has confirmed that the boys have now been arrested.

He wrote on his Instagram page: "I told yall I wasnt going to sleep on this!... Well, All 4 have been arrested and charged to court We are to protect our women at all cost. So lets be guided with due respect. Job Weldon @ukankurugh. Court Remands Junior, 3 Others For Assault."

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

NIJ lecturer dismissed over alleged s*xual harassment says student offered him free s*x| Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
China has defended the World Health Organisation and its chief in a row with Taiwan over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Taiwan, which is not a member of the UNs health agency because of Beijings objections, has accused the WHO of leaving it to tackle the spread of Covid-19 without access to crucial and timely information.

The argument took an ugly turn this week after the WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he had faced months of racist slurs online that originated in Taiwan, as well as death threats, adding: I dont give a damn.

China said Taiwan was venomously attacking the agency and trying to use the pandemic to advance its agenda of seeking independence. China claims Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory, though the island is practically run by its own democratically elected government.

Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement that: The [Taiwanese] DPP authorities are unscrupulously using the virus to seek independence, venomously attacking the WHO and its responsible people, conniving with the green internet army to wantonly spread racist comments. We strongly condemn this. Green is the colour of the DPP  Taiwans ruling party.

On Thursday and Friday, messages started to emerge on social media purporting to be from Taiwanese people expressing remorse for the abuse of Tedros and the WHO. Most had similar wording, along the lines of: As a Taiwanese, I feel extremely ashamed that we attacked Tedros in such a malicious way. I apologise to Tedros on behalf of the Taiwanese and beg for his forgiveness.

In a statement, Taiwans justice ministry said the posts actually appeared to be a coordinated campaign from the mainland, designed to drive a wedge further between the WHO and Taiwan.

At a briefing, the ministrys investigations team said the posts were suspicious because of the similarity of their wording, and the fact that they mainly feature the simplified Chinese characters more common to the mainland.

There is a concern it is a deliberate operation by overseas forces, the ministry said. Falsely claiming to be Taiwanese, and openly admitting to racist attacks on WHO director general Tedros and begging forgiveness, seriously damages our countrys international reputation.

Also on Friday, Taiwans president, Tsai Ing-wen, issued a strong protest against Tedross suggestion that the abuse he had been receiving came from Taiwan.

Taiwan always objects to discrimination in any form, she wrote on her official Facebook page. We know how it feels to be discriminated against and isolated more than anyone else as we have been excluded from global organisations for years.

So Id like to invite Tedros to visit Taiwan, to see how Taiwanese commit to devote to international society despite being discriminated and isolated.

Taiwan is not the only country to have criticised the WHO over its handling of the coronavirus crisis. Donald Trump threatened this week to withdraw US funding from the agency, calling its approach China-centric.

Theyve been wrong about a lot of things, he told a daily briefing, where he suggested the WHO was influenced by Beijing in downplaying the severity of the outbreak when it first began. They missed the call. They could have called it months earlier. They would have known and they should have known and they probably did know, Mr Trump said.

Other countries, like India, have diverged from WHO recommendations in a number of ways, formulating their own strategies for dealing with the virus. While Tedros said test, test, test was the best policy, India instead aggressively shut down first international travel and then movement within the country, while testing remained at minimal levels.

Recently, it has started rolling out mandatory use of face masks, and ramped up production of the untested malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. One Indian national described the country as politely sidestepp[ing] WHO advice on key aspects of virus management.

In Taiwan, some internet users have used the WHO row to draw attention back to the positive ways it is seen as having responded to the coronavirus pandemic.

Thanks to an early and effective prevention strategy  Taiwan was one of the places to start screening passengers from Wuhan in January  the island has reported just 382 cases of the virus to date, and on Friday confirmed its sixth death, an elderly patient with underlying health conditions.

Under the English hashtag #ThisAttackComesFromTaiwan, Twitter users wrote about all the good things that come from the island, including its democratic system and being the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage.

And using the hashtag alongside pictures of medical supplies being offloaded from an aircraft, foreign minister Joseph Wu tweeted: Our assistance to allies in Central America has arrived safely. The people of Taiwan are proud to help friends in time of need.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has asked neighbouring Afghanistan to extradite a leader in the local Islamic State affiliate who was arrested in an Afghan intelligence operation in southern Afghanistan earlier this month, the foreign ministry said.

Aslam Farooqi is a Pakistani national wanted in connection with attacks claimed by IS in Pakistan. The Afghan government accuses him of involvement in last months attack on a Sikh house of worship in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that killed 25 worshippers.

The Islamic State group, on the website of its Aamaq news agency, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by Indian national Abu Khalid Al-Hindi in revenge for Indian military actions in the violence-wracked India-administered section of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

A single gunman rampaged through the Gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, exploding grenades and firing at worshippers. There were about 150 people inside at the time, before Afghan special forces killed the attacker.

The request from Islamabad came late Thursday. Pakistans Foreign Ministry said the Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Atif Mashal, had been summoned and told of Pakistans worries about the activities of the Islamic State affiliate, headquartered in eastern Afghanistan.

Since Aslam Farooqi was involved in anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan, he should be handed-over to Pakistan for further investigations, the ministry said.

Farooqi, whose real name is Abdullah Orakzai, was arrested last weekend along with 19 other IS operatives, according to Afghanistans intelligence agency.

On Friday, Kabul said it would not hand him over as it has no extradition treaty with Pakistan. Instead, Aslam Farooqi will be dealt with based on the Afghanistans law, the Afghan government said.

The regional affiliate of the Islamic State group has taken credit for attacks in Pakistan, including one in January in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, that killed 15 worshippers.

In recent months, Afghan and American officials say the IS has been weakened as a result of relentless U.S. bombing raids in eastern Afghanistan, as well as military operations by the Afghan security forces and attacks by IS rivals, Taliban insurgents.

In the months leading up to Washingtons peace deal with the Taliban signed in late February, U.S. officials said a key component of the agreement was a promise by the Taliban to aid in the fight against IS, seen as the greatest threat to U.S. national security emanating from Afghanistan.

Still, the U.S.-Taliban peace deal has had a rocky start. Political wrangling in Kabul between President Ashraf Ghani and his rival in last years disputed presidential polls, Abdullah Abdullah, has frustrated Washington, which has threatened to withdraw $1 billion in aid if the two dont find a power-sharing deal. Their bickering has delayed the next critical step in the deal, which calls for intra-Afghan negotiations between Kabul leaders, many of whom are linked to warlords, and the Taliban.

Also, delays in completing a prisoner release as laid out in the U.S.-Taliban deal have further frustrated peace efforts. Still, the U.S. and NATO began withdrawing forces from Afghanistan. If the Taliban keep their promise to fight other militant groups, the U.S. is expected to withdraw all its forces over a 14-month period from the signing of the deal.

___

Associated Press writer Tameem Akhgar in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.
The Texas Department of Family Protective Services confirmed that 12 employees have tested positive for COVID-19. Two of the cases are in San the Antonio area.

The agency said six Child Protective Services employees, five Child Protective Investigations employees and one employee in administration have tested positive for the virus statewide as of Thursday. Of the 12, one employee lives in San Antonio and the other is in Uvalde, about an hour west of the city. All 12 are quarantined and recovering in their homes, said Marissa Gonzales, the department's Media Relations Director.

The agency is in the process of notifying 95 people, both staff and clients, who might have been in contact with the infected employees.

"When a caseworker notifies their supervisor that they have tested positive for COVID-19 or are presumed to be positive, the supervisor will talk with the caseworker to identify anyone they have had close contact with at work over the last 14 days," Gonzales said. "DFPS is using the CDC guidelines which define 'close contact' in order to determine who is at risk of exposure and should be notified."

The CDC defines "close contact" as either being within 6 feet of a person with the virus for a prolonged period of time in situations like caring for, living with, visiting or being in a healthcare waiting area, or having direct contact with "infectious secretions" of a person who is infected.

Child Protective Services continues to investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect during the pandemic. Child Protective Investigations are following guidelines such as thorough handwashing before and after home visits, maintaining a distance of 6 feet and conducting virtual visits when possible. Investigators are also asking four screening questions before entering a home to determine if anyone in the family has symptoms of COVID-19 or has been exposed to the virus through contact, travel or a visit to a healthcare facility. Employees who have received personal protective equipment are wearing it, Gonzales said.

Monthly visits between Child Protective Services workers and children who are in the care of the state is still required, but the federal government is allowing for caseworkers to use video conferencing. If certain cases require in-person contact, visits may still happen, Gonzales said.

The agency is working to supply staff with gloves, masks and sanitizing products. More than 200,000 pairs of gloves have been shared with staff in all programs. Another 379,500 pairs are being shipped to the agency and will be delivered to staff over the next few weeks. Gonzales said an order was placed "several weeks ago" for 250,000 disposable masks, 100,000 bottles of hand sanitizer and 100,000 wipes for all agency employees. Those supplies are expected to arrive next week.

The agency is also equipping "front line" employees with reusable face shields. The agency said 1,500 of the shields, which were purchased from a Texas vendor, have been given to the employees. More shields are expected to arrive next week.

Staff is also buying the products locally, in smaller amounts, when they're available, Gonzales said.

Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye
The coronavirus pandemic has had grave human cost that cannot be put in numbers and figures.

But the economic cost can. Its $5 trillion! Thats the estimate coming in from the Wall Street banks, the first such figures on the impact of Covid-19 on global economies. "The coronavirus pandemic is set to rob the global economy of more than $5 trillion of growth over the next two years, greater than the annual output of Japan." Even with unprecedented levels of monetary and fiscal stimulus, global GDP is unlikely to return to its pre-crisis trend until at least ...
India has so far lifted Covid-19-related trade restrictions for commercial sales, mainly of pharmaceutical products, and provision of aid for some 25 countries, including the US and the UK, people familiar with developments said on Thursday.

The lifting of trade restrictions was done after a comprehensive stock-taking exercise was completed, and the restrictions were eased on a case-to-case basis, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.

Among the countries that have benefited from the easing of the restrictions are the US, the UK, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. In the case of larger countries, the restrictions were eased to facilitate commercial sales of pharmaceutical products such as hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol.

The restrictions were eased for several smaller countries in Indias neighbourhood such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives to facilitate the provision of aid, including medical supplies.

These issues figured during a virtual meeting on Thursday between foreign secretary Harsh Shringla and members of the Kolkata-based Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), led by the chambers president Mayank Jalan and immediate past president Rudra Chatterjee.

The discussions with the members of the ICC focussed on different aspects of border trade with neighbouring countries, meeting contractual and export commitments during Indias lockdown period, and potential challenges and opportunities for Indian businesses and industry in the post-Covid-19 phase, the people said.

The virtual meeting was organised at the request of the ICC, whose members were also briefed by Shringla and additional secretary (economic relations) P Harish about the external affairs ministrys initiatives to assist Indian citizens around the world and foreign nationals in India.

On Sunday, India partially eased restrictions on the export of hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol and removed restrictions on the sales of 14 other drugs. The move followed requests from US President Donald Trump and Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro to lift the hold on exports of hydroxychloroquine, whose use has been recommended by some experts to fight Covid-19.

Bolsonaro thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for helping Brazil with hydroxychroloquine during his address to the nation on Wednesday.

We have more good news. As an outcome of my direct conversation with the prime minister of India, we will receive, by Saturday, raw materials to continue our production of hydroxychloroquine so that we can treat patients of Covid-19 as well as of lupus, malaria, and arthritis. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India for such timely help to the people of Brazil, he said.

Britains action high commissioner Jan Thompson also thanked India on Thursday for allowing exports of essential drugs. She tweeted, Thank you @narendramodi and the Government of India for approving the export of paracetamol to the UK. Global cooperation is critical in the fight against #COVID19. UK and India have track record of working together as a #ForceforGood tackling global challenges.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
A lawyer in the central Chinese province of Henan who was disciplined for writing on social media about the number of dead bodies being cremated in the central city of Wuhan has abandoned her appeal against the sanction.



Liu Yingying became the subject of a disciplinary action by the official lawyers' association in Henan's provincial capital, Zhengzhou, after she posted a photo of people lining up outside a Wuhan funeral home to her WeChat account.



The Zhengzhou Lawyers' Association, which is under the control of the municipal justice bureau and therefore the ruling Chinese Communist Party, has accused her of "provoking dissatisfaction with the government" after her post received more than half a million views and more than 10,000 retweets.



The association said its code of practice requires lawyers not to post "inappropriate comments" online.



Liu had cooperated with the investigation, admitted her mistake, deleted the post and reflected sincerely on her mistake, it said, adding that it would treat her with leniency in return.



Liu had originally lodged an appeal against the sanction, but reappeared on social media to say that she had now withdrawn it.



But she declined to comment when contact by RFA recently.



"Where are you calling from? The U.S.? I'm sorry, but I can't give interviews to U.S. journalists," Liu told RFA. "Sorry about that."



Pressure not to speak



A source in the legal profession said Liu is under pressure from government propaganda officials and police not to speak to anyone about the case.



"She had been posting a lot of stuff about the coronavirus epidemic online lately, and actually, we thought that a lot of what she was posting was factual," the source said.



"We also thought that she used appropriate language to describe these things, but controls on public expression are very tight right now, so even these things were banned," he said.



The source said the volume of Liu's posts and the fact that they reached large numbers of followers had also played a role in deciding the authorities' approach.



"Her law firm was constantly asking her to delete her posts, and had even asked her to move to a different law firm," the source said. "This is definitely the propaganda department that is behind this, either that or the departments in charge of stability maintenance."



The source said another lawyer from Zhengzhou, Zhang Zhan, had her license to practice revoked after she traveled to Wuhan and reported on the daily lives of people in the city under lockdown.



An official who answered the phone at the Zhengzhou Lawyers' Association declined to comment when contacted by RFA.



"What do you mean? I don't know anything about this," the official said.



Thousands targeted



The ruling Chinese Communist Party has targeted thousands of people for speaking out about the coronavirus epidemic in the country since it began in late December in the central city of Wuhan, according to a recent report by the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network.



Since state news agency Xinhua first reported that President Xi Jinping would lead "a people's war" on the epidemic on Jan. 20, police had handled 5,111 cases of "fabricating and deliberately disseminating false and harmful information," according to a Feb. 21 statement from the ministry of public security.



CHRD said it has documented 897 cases between Jan. 1 and March 26 involving Chinese internet users penalized by police for their online speech or info-sharing about the coronavirus epidemic, based on official information in the public domain.



Some 18.5 percent of people were placed in administrative detention, which can be handed down to a maximum of 15 days without trial, while 17.8 received an "education reprimand," it said.



Charges used to question, detain, and arrest people included "rumor-mongering," "fabricating false information," sowing panic, disturbing public order, and "breach of privacy."



Cases in which people were accused of "spreading misinformation" or "disrupting public order" accounted for more than 96 percent of cases, the group said.



Citizen journalist and lawyer Chen Qiushi is still incommunicado since being taken away by police on Feb. 6 after he started livestreaming from hospitals in Wuhan.



Similar treatment was meted out to rights activist and citizen journalist Fang Bin, who was detained on Feb. 9, and to former anchor with state broadcaster CCTV, Li Zehua, who was detained on Feb. 26.



Reported by Wong Siu-san for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
The leader of the Alabama Bankers Association is counseling business owners to be patient as they apply for Small Business Administration loans to help with financial turmoil brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scott Latham, president and CEO of the ABA, said its a time of escalating need and unprecedented aid. And while those seeking the funds need quick action, banks are willing to help. But the process will take time.

We are delighted as an industry to be part of the solution, Latham said. The regulations that we follow are being written almost as we go. Were trying to implement the largest lending mechanism in the history of the SBA, and were needing a lot more than were getting in terms of detail. Thats our biggest challenge.

The ABA represents 126 banks across Alabama with combined deposits of more than $100 billion.

Since the pandemic started, the SBA has offered up to $10,000 to businesses with the SBAs Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, and up to $10 million to businesses with the mammoth $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program. The PPP began last Friday, with assurances from Congress that more money will be flowing to help businesses retain employees and mitigate the damage. There is also relief for businesses with existing SBA loans.

However, the loans have been slow in coming for several reasons. Banks are, in some cases, still waiting for more guidance from the Treasury Department, while others that are not traditionally SBA lenders are working to take part. Add to that the control measures of the pandemic, which has limited lobby time and face time with loan officers in bank lobbies, Latham said.

And then, there is the huge scale of demand for the loans, and the infrastructure in place to meet the challenge. The SBA normally handles anywhere from $20 billion to $28 billion a year in loans, while it is now attempting to flow a much larger sum to businesses in less than two months during a pandemic.

The Wall Street Journal reported the SBA in the past week has hired an outside mortgage company to help process 2,000 loan applications a minute, while hiring 7,000 agents to answer calls from business owners, thus shortening wait times. Surveys show about 70 percent of small business owners nationally have attempted to file for a PPP loan, while half surveyed had filed for an EIDL loan.

And then, theres the processes banks normally use to review applications, Latham said.

Theres multi-factor authentication and credentials, multiple layers within a bank that has to approve, calls and emails, he said. There are technological challenges, information and guidance, and governance challenges.

At the same time, he said, banks realize the scope of demand for the loans, and the strategy to provide quick relief. What can business owners do?

Were encouraging them to get all their ducks in a row as best they can before they go to the bank, Latham said. Include documents that memorialize what kind of business you have, any partnerships, business licenses, tax returns, authenticating payroll. If you have to go back and piecemeal these items, those loan officers are already stretched thin, working alternate days, rotating people. Bankers are more than ready to be pushing this money out.

If you do receive funds, you need to think now about how to prepare for using that money, and how to document its uses to avoid any legal trouble down the road.

At the same time, he said, be concerned with those who want to use the pandemic for fraud. Protect any financial data, including debit and credit card information.

No financial institution or government agency will ever call you to verify your account numbers, passwords, he said. If you get a call like that, hang up and call a number you know belongs to your bank or credit card. During times like this, bad guys come out.
The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is monitoring nearly 66,036 persons who have been in quarantine for coronavirus.

These persons are being monitored by local health officials.

According to the government spokesman, 8,671 persons have been put in institutional quarantine while 459 have been admitted to the isolation wards.

The count in Uttar Pradesh, on Friday, touched 431 with 21 new patients who tested positive for the virus.

Corona footprints can now be found in 40 of the total 75 districts.

The official spokesman said that with strict enforcement of lockdown and sealing of hotspots, the Corona curve was expected to flatten in the coming week.

Meanwhile, online services like Swiggy and Zomato, on Friday, stopped service in several areas and their app simply states that the area was unserviceable.
Whole Foods cashier Jason Ellsworth rings up groceries in 2014 as Instacart shopper Kara Pete uses a photo to double-check items ordered by a customer. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Dina W. did her last job for Instacart on March 20. Before the coronavirus outbreak, Dina could easily avoid doing the labor-intensive orders that required her to shop for and deliver groceries to two or three customers at a time. But on that day, with few other choices, she accepted a triple order that promised take-home pay of $48. Only $17 of that was to be from Instacart, the rest in tips.

With shoppers in Delaware frantically preparing to hunker down in their homes, lines at the grocery store spanned the length of the building. Some items were nearly sold out; others carried limits on how many a customer could purchase at a time. Dina queued for more than 20 minutes at the deli, then again at the seafood counter. The line to check out lasted an hour. All the while, Dina was in constant communication with the three customers about what was unavailable and what they wanted instead.

Three hours of shopping later, she loaded 20 bags of groceries into her car and drove to the first customer's home. On her way there, she got a notification: Customer No. 2, peeved at the long wait and unavailable items, had canceled the order. In the end, after about five hours of shopping and driving, Dina received $29.60, including tips, plus some of the groceries from the canceled order.

"It's almost like you're volunteering your time," she said.

Since March 30, a contingent of Instacart workers across the country has been on strike over demands including hazard pay, protective gear and easier access to paid sick leave. The protest hasn't made a dent in Instacart's business. In fact, the company said it has seen an unprecedented number of grocery orders in the last few weeks.

For the people tasked with fulfilling those orders, that surge of demand has exacerbated long-standing stresses in their jobs and bolstered a critique that Instacart systematically exploits them with confusing, opaque and ever-changing practices. Navigating the wraparound lines and picked-over aisles of overtaxed supermarkets while balancing pandemic protocols, Instacart's shoppers and drivers say they are risking their health and working longer hours than ever before, with little to show for it. Interviews with five drivers and documents that The Times reviewed reveal company policies that all but ensure extra demand doesn't translate into higher pay for workers.

Story continues

Among those policies is Instacart's compensation model. A large part of shoppers' pay is a 60-cent-per-mile fee for the distance driven between the store and the customer's home. That component, which often makes up more than half of the pre-tip total, doesn't reflect the size of the order or the time spent shopping, both of which have gone up dramatically since the arrival of the pandemic. If an order includes unusually heavy items, shoppers receive about $10 in extra pay. But, that applies only to the first 50 pounds. Customers are able to cancel orders right up until delivery. While Instacart still pays workers for those orders, they lose out on the tip, which often represents the majority of the total.

Company spokesperson Natalia Montalvo said Instacart shopper earnings increased 40% from February to March and tips have gone up 30%.

"In the last four weeks, Instacart has introduced more than 15 new product features, new health guidelines, new shopper bonuses, new sick leave policies and new safety supplies, as well as pay for those affected by COVID-19," Montalvo said.

Instacart shoppers can choose from two kinds of orders: delivery only, meaning drivers pick up bags of groceries collected by someone else, and full service, which requires both shopping and delivery. Though some policies guarantee workers a minimum payment for each "full-service batch," receipts show Instacart pays shoppers who complete multiple orders in one batch the same amount or just above what they are paid for a single order.

Some shoppers, such as Dina, avoid doing double- or triple-order batches because the logistics are too complicated, "and then the pay doesn't add up," she said. But avoiding them is difficult because it's Instacart, not shoppers, that decides whether to aggregate orders, and with store access at a premium, the company has been bundling them more frequently.

Montalvo said that shoppers can choose whether to accept multi-order batches and that they often do since those orders are more "lucrative because they can earn tips for multiple orders with one trip to the grocery store." Instacart guarantees a minimum of between $7 and $10 for full-service batches.

Montalvo said Instacart's worker pay formula "takes into consideration the estimated time and effort involved in picking, packing and delivering a batch. This payment is dependent on a number of factors, including item quantity, weight, store type and distance." But receipts The Times reviewed confirm Instacart pays shoppers about as much for multi-order batches as for single full-service orders despite the extra time and labor required.

A St. Louis, Mo., shopper provided receipts that showed Instacart offered $26.66 for a three-order batch totaling 72 items and requiring 11.2 miles of driving March 30. The company's contribution to that pay was $12.76, less than half the total. The rest was in tips.

On the same day, Instacart offered the same shopper a total of $11.94 for a single order of 38 items requiring 3.9 miles of driving. Instacart's contribution: $7.22. For buying nearly twice as many items and driving nearly three times as far, the company offered less than $6 extra out of its pocket. And this pattern holds in receipts The Times reviewed from around the country.

In essence, Instacart is getting shoppers to do more jobs and passing all or most of the extra labor cost on to customers in the form of tips. And tips aren't guaranteed. With delivery slots at a premium, some customers have resorted to a practice known as "tip-baiting"  entering a large tip to secure an order, then withdrawing it after delivery.

"The core of this strike comes down to what Instacart is paying," the St. Louis shopper said. "This isnt about greed. Its about ensuring the benefit is worth the cost."

But the coronavirus crisis has also inflamed tensions over how Instacart responds to workers' needs and feedback.

In the first few days of the strike, the company conceded to one of the workers' demands, agreeing to provide sanitizer, masks and gloves free of charge. Previously the company did not provide any safety equipment. But supply has been limited and many shoppers have complained that they still haven't been able to order the equipment.

When San Diego Instacart shopper Schana Cummings tried to order the safety kit on April 3, the app said it was "coming soon" and that sanitizer needed to be restocked, screenshots of the app show. Cummings tweeted about the lack of supply that day. On April 4, she received a notification in the app saying she was deactivated and to check her email. The email, which The Times reviewed, said that her application to be a shopper was denied. Cummings had worked for Instacart since 2018.

Instacart said Cummings was deactivated because she had two accounts  Cummings denies this and says she simply updated her email address on the same account in July 2019  and said that shoppers "are given information on how to appeal directly with our Trust & Safety team" when they are deactivated. Emails and notifications that Cummings received and that The Times reviewed contained no such guidance. Montalvo said that the company "has never deactivated a shopper for posting feedback, criticism or opinions about the company on social media."

Shoppers complain that it can take hours or days to get a response from the company on issues such as this. Montalvo said the dramatic growth in the ranks of both customers and workers has temporarily swelled wait times. "Overall customer order volume is up by more than 300% year over year, and weve also grown the shopper community from 200,000 to more than 350,000 in the last two weeks alone," Montalvo said.

The slow response has been particularly difficult for shoppers such as Tom Andrew, who lives in San Diego. After Andrew was exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19, he began experiencing fevers, achiness and a dry cough. To request the two weeks of paid sick leave that Instacart promises to drivers diagnosed with COVID-19 or instructed to self-quarantine, he had his doctor complete an online form saying that "he has been in contact with someone with confirmed COVID-19 and therefore requires 14-day isolation."

The company rejected his claim on the basis that he had not been diagnosed with COVID-19 himself or directed by a "public health agency" to quarantine. Questions about who qualifies as a public health official went unanswered, as did Andrew's repeated attempts to point out that the form he filled out specifically asked if he'd been "directed by a qualified physician or public health authority" to quarantine. "My doctor IS a qualified physician is he not?" one of his emails, which The Times reviewed, read. Instacart's customer support representatives did little beyond repeating their initial answer: "We carefully reviewed the documentation and, unfortunately, we were unable to confirm this claim at this time."

Instacart's policy requiring workers to provide documentation from a public health official to qualify for the paid sick leave differs from those of its competitors DoorDash and Uber, which say they accept doctors' notes. The company says that's because only local health authorities "are able to determine the necessity for quarantine based on confirmed cases of COVID-19."

"Any individual who is diagnosed with COVID-19 is reported to the local public health authorities," Montalvo said. "The local health authorities conduct contact tracing of any diagnosed individual to determine if any other parties have come into close contact to merit mandatory isolation or quarantine, regardless of their symptoms."

It's a high bar that workers are struggling to meet, according to the strike organizers. "Instacart knows its virtually impossible to meet their qualifications and is ignoring Shoppers pleas for more substantial and preventative help," their blog post read.

Andrew still has not received any compensation. Cummings remains deactivated. As for Dina, after being on hold with customer support for two hours, she got the company to give her an extra $5. She doesn't think she'll go back to driving for Instacart unless it starts treating shoppers better.

"I'm not interested in these practices," she said. "It's too disrespectful to me."
After being hospitalized due to coronavirus, at least one patient was finally well enough to go home from Baystate Medical Center Thursday  but not without a celebration.

Baystate employees fill the lobby with cheers and the Rocky theme song as the patient was wheeled out of the hospital.

This is what my heart needed," one employee said. "Thank you, Baystate healthcare workers for making a difference!

There were 18,941 COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts as of Tuesday afternoon, including 503 deaths.

At Baystate facilities, 2,502 people have been tested with 1,903 of those tests have come back negative, which works out to 76 percent.

It has also admitted 179 patients who are confirmed to have COVID-19, including 29 patients being treated in critical-care units.

Now when a patient gets to go home, employees  and the patient  are ready to celebrate.

A Code Rocky mobilizes BMC team members throughout the hospital to gather in the Daly Lobby  dressed in their personal protective equipment from masks to gowns  to provide a standing ovation and provide a beautiful, warm send-off for the patient and to acknowledge the care team, the hospital said.

Related Content:
A woman has been arrested by police for leaving Easter Eggs filled with porn in strangers' mailboxes.

Florida police arrested Abril Cestoni, 42, after police received a tip-off that she had allegedly been distributing the eggs into strangers' mailboxes around Flagler County.

The plastic eggs contained pornographic images and fish-shaped crackers instead of treats.

Florida police arrested Abril Cestoni, 42, (pictured) after police received a tip-off that she had allegedly been distributing the eggs into strangers' mailboxes around Flagler County

The plastic eggs contained pornographic images and fish-shaped crackers instead of treats

The 42-year-old is understood to have delivered around 400 of the eggs since Monday.

Cestoni would deliver them to people's homes after she finished her shift at a Publix grocery store, police say.

Based on calls from members of the public and a review of home surveillance footage, police conducted a traffic stop on Cestoni and arrested her.

She later admitted to making the porn on a computer program.

Deputies say Cestoni's reason she gave for distributing the eggs was because she wanted to educate people on the need for churches and pastors to give money to less fortunate, Click Orlando reported.

Police conducted a traffic stop on Cestoni (left and right) and arrested her

'Abril stated she was 'a church' and had a business license. Abril said she was conducting research on local clergy and people deserved to know the truth,' the arrest report read.

'She certainly has a bizarre almost zealous opinion of churches and what they should believe in and how they should teach the teachings of the bible,' Sheriff Rick Staly said.

Cestoni is being charged with violating Florida's statewide stay-at-home order as well as at least 11 counts of distributing obscene material,

She is being held at Flagler County Jail on a $7,000 bond.
Muslim women perform the special Tarawih prayer at the Great Mosque in Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia, May 26, 2017.

The leader of the worlds largest Muslim country on Thursday ordered all civil servants and security force members not to travel home during Ramadan, as traditions of the upcoming fasting month become the latest casualties of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo issued the order while the sultan of Selangor state in neighboring Malaysia announced that he would not join people at local mosques to break the daily fast or perform special nighttime prayers during Ramadan to help stop the domestic spread of the highly contagious and deadly virus.

We have decided today that for the civil servants, the military and police and the employees of state-owned enterprises are prohibited from going home, Jokowi said. He was referring to an annual exodus from Jakarta and other major cities as millions of Indonesians travel to their home towns and villages to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

Jokowi said his government was evaluating whether to impose the prohibition on the rest of the nation. Indonesia, home to about 225 million Muslims, employs about 4.4 million civil servants and 1.3 million police and soldiers, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

We cannot ban those who lost their jobs and income in this pandemic crisis from returning to their villages, he said.

On Thursday, health authorities in Indonesia, Southeast Asias most populous nation, confirmed 337 new cases of COVID-19  the single biggest daily jump in the country, taking the total number to close to 3,293. Forty more deaths from the virus were also recorded, taking the national toll to 280  the highest death toll in Asia outside of China, where the virus emerged.

Jokowis order added to a wide mix of coronavirus-related messages and directives issued in recent days by governments, state-level officials, and Islamic authorities across the region regarding Ramadan-time travel to hometowns, group prayers in mosques and bazaars where Muslims can purchase food for Iftar, the meal they eat to break their daily fasts.

In 2020 the holy month is to start in South and Southeast Asia on April 23 or 24, depending on when the new moon appears.

Meanwhile in Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shahs private secretary issued a statement on Wednesday.

The Sultan with a heavy heart has decided not to hold a break fasting [meal] and tarawih prayers with the people in mosques throughout the state, spokesman Mohamad Munir Bani said, referring to special nightly group prayers at mosques during Ramadan.

The sultan made the decision after taking into consideration the safety factors following the COVID-19 outbreak, which is yet to be fully contained and also to avoid the risk of infection among the people.

On Thursday, Malaysian health officials said that 109 new cases and two more deaths from the coronavirus had been recorded, bringing the national caseload to 4,228 and the death toll to 67.

Muslims practice social distancing linked to COVID-19 while attending Friday prayers at a mosque in Bali, Indonesia, March 20, 2020. (AP)

Contrasting statements

President Jokowi issued his order about a week after he announced that Muslims would be able travel home to celebrate Eid, an announcement that drew a sharp response the next day from the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), the nations top Islamic clerical authority.

Doing something like that at a time of a pandemic is haram [forbidden], Anwar Abbas, the MUI secretary general, said in a statement not enforceable by law.

Even before those statements, many Indonesians had decided against traveling amid the pandemic. By the end of March, 300,000 had canceled train tickets they had booked for Ramadan, according to a spokesman for the state-railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI).

Jakarta college student Verayanti, who goes by one name, said she had canceled her train ticket to Yogyakarta scheduled for a week before Eid.

I dont want to risk it. Ill go home in July [during the school break], she told BenarNews.

Yani, 22, an informal worker in Central Jakarta who also goes by one name, said she had not decided whether to cancel her train ticket to her hometown in Purworejo, Central Java, at the end of May.



I want to go home during Lebaran (Eid), to gather with my family, but Im also afraid that I would bring the disease home. Hopefully, everything can be settled before Lebaran, Yani told BenarNews.

Hundreds of people look for Ramadan bargains at a shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur, June 11, 2018. [S. Mahfuz/BenarNews]

Malaysian protective measures

In Malaysia, the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, a respected association representing doctors across the nation, issued a statement on Wednesday calling for the government to extend its so-called movement control order (MCO), which restricts the movement of people during the pandemic and is set to expire on April 14.

A premature withdrawal or excessive relaxation of MCO restrictions will potentially undo all the good that has been achieved from staying home these past four weeks. The war against COVID-19 is far from over  many sacrifices have and will continue to be made this year, the academy said.

Earlier, Federal Territory Minister Annuar Musa had called for a study to determine if Ramadan bazaars should be banned or if they could be modified.

Of course, the bazaars in their current shape most probably cannot be allowed, he said pointing out that many contain hundreds of stalls that attract thousands of people in a tight space. But they can be modified  we cannot be reactionary and just ban [them].

Maybe this year, instead of 50 at one location, we have just 10 spread out from one another.

Officials in seven Malaysian states  Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu, Sarawak, Penang, Malacca and Kedah  did not wait for a study, announcing their own bans this year.



The decision was made in an effort to ensure peoples safety following the COVID-19 outbreak, Negeri Sembilan Chief Minister Aminuddin Harun said last week.

Traders should be more creative. We cant allow them to do business in the open air because we refuse to take risks. I hope everyone can be patient for now, he told reporters in Seremban.

Farhan Yassin, 32, of Klang in Selangor state, said his familys main source of income, especially during Ramadan, was from sales. This year, starting in February, the family spent about 10,000 ringgit (U.S. $2,300) for Ramadan supplies and had planned on selling dodol, a sugar palm-based confection, and spring rolls.

We usually sell at the bazaar at Shah Alam Stadium, the biggest one near our home in Klang, but this year we were not able to secure a spot at the market, he told BenarNews. We were planning to just set up shop in the neighborhood but with the lockdown, we need to explore other avenues.

Bangladeshi concerns

Meanwhile in Bangladesh, Muslim leaders have not decided whether Ramadan-time group prayers should be cancelled because of public health concerns around the viral outbreak. However, the Ministry of Religious Affairs this week instructed devotees of all faiths to confine their prayers to their homes, but said that staff members of mosques, churches and temples could carry on with their work on site, but would have to limit the number of staffers praying together to 10 or fewer people.

We are in a fix on whether we should suggest discouraging prayers at mosques during Ramadan, Anis Mahmud, director general of the Islamic Foundation of Bangladesh, told BenarNews.

We have time. We will ask for the opinion of Islamic scholars and hold a special meeting to decide whether we will ask people to say their prayers at home or if they can go to mosques, he said.

Islamic scholar Maulana Farid Uddin Masud, chairman of the Bangladesh Jamiatul Ulama, a national body of Islamic scholars, expressed concerns that millions of Muslims go to mosques at night to pray during Ramadan and millions travel from Dhaka and other cities to their homes for Eid.

To contain the coronavirus, we have to avoid large gatherings of people, he told BenarNews.

He said the government should seek opinions from Islamic scholars before issuing a directive regarding the holy month.

But I would urge people not to go to their ancestral homes to celebrate Eid al-Fitr this year, he said.

Friday prayers in Thailand

In Buddhist-majority Thailand, Wisut Binlateh, the director of the Sheikhul Islam Office, which governs Islamic-related affairs in the country, said his organizations main concern during Ramadan was Tarawih because some imams had allowed Friday prayers despite a ban linked to the pandemic.

Muslims can perform Tarawih at home instead and we should be able to carry out fasting activities without a problem given current safety measures, he told BenarNews.

As for those clerics who defied the Sheikhul Islams order, We are thinking of dismissing imams who allowed mosques to hold Friday prayers and may consider secondary punishment, he said.

Philippines: Compromise

In the Philippines, Luzon island, home to Manila, has been on lockdown for weeks, preventing millions of people from moving about during the pandemic. Earlier this week, President Rodrigo Duterte, acting on a task force recommendation, extended the lockdown until the end of April.

For Jackia Lao, a resident of Manila, that means not being able return to her hometown of Marawi, to observe Ramadan with her family, an annual tradition.

I cant go home to Marawi because of the lockdown, she told BenarNews.

The fasting will continue. We are not affected and it cant prevent us because its a sacrifice, she said, adding that social distancing would affect nightly prayers at Philippine mosques.

Tia Asmara and Ronna Nirmala in Jakarta, Hadi Azmi in Kuala Lumpur, Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka, Mariyam Ahmad in Pattani, Thailand, and Jeoffrey Maitem and Mark Navales in Cotabato, Philippines, contributed to this report.
Fayetteville, N.Y.  The potentially life-saving equipment came to Central New York from all over China over the course of the last three weeks, crammed tightly into priority envelopes from couriers like Federal Express, DHL and UPS.

It arrived in 20 different mailboxes. It was stored in closets and spare rooms. As donations were finalized, separate cars converged on one house where it all came together.

Surgical masks. Surgical gowns. Gloves. Facemasks. Even the N95 masks that youve heard so much about, made to fit as snugly as possible against a face in order to defend against the coronavirus.

The supplies were mailed from people living in China, where the coronavirus and the fight against it originated, to Central New York, one of countless places across the globe where it continues.

Over the past three weeks a group of 11 Chinese-American organizers and 34 volunteers called on contacts in China to help bring hard-to-find personal protective equipment here to Central New York.

"All they can send are small packages, said Jian Shu, a local acupuncturist and one of the groups organizers. They cant ship it together. They have to get different people to take them to the post office person-by-person. We gave them more than 10 addresses so they could start sending it over.

The organizers are part of a We Chat group of approximately 500 Chinese-Americans in the area.

The group initially raised more than $18,000 from GoFundMe donors in the United States but found that supplies were largely unavailable at any price. So it turned to overseas connections and received $20,000 in purchased supplies from people living in China.

That combination has led to donations to more than 30 community organization in Central New York. Supplies have gone to police departments, bus companies, community centers, nursing homes and hospitals.

Most critically in the mind of the organizers, have been donations made to all three major Syracuse hospitals (St. Josephs, Crouse and SUNY-Upstate). Given their ties to China, the group has taken close note of how the fight against the virus in Wuhan played out. They believe the biggest key to protecting their home is keeping CNYs medical personnel healthy.

Many of the donations have come from parents of Syracuse University students in China. A student effort at the school resulted in a fundraiser called A Hand for Wuhan" and raised $53,000 from SU students, faculty and alumni to help China as it endured the peak of the epidemic.

When the virus reached the United States, their parents back in China pushed their community to return the favor.

Thats so beautiful, said Wei Gao, the assistant director for international student orientation at Syracuse, who works with many of the Chinese students and is also involved in the donations. We are touched every day. Were different people, different languages, different cultures. But the care for each other is obvious.

We helped (China), said Emily Qiu, one of the 11 primary organizers. Now its their turn to help us. We live in different countries but were all humans.

It has been a collective effort.

On Monday, a handful of the organizers stood outside in the sun, waiting for a St. Josephs representative to pick up the latest delivery. Qiu, who works for Carrier, has been thrust into a role as a spokesman but quickly deflects credit, calling herself just a worker bee.

She pointed to Shu and Zuozhe Zhang, who works for National Grid, as the leaders. They each pointed to each other. Zhang is looked to as a leader and has taken that role in this project. It was Shus urging and insistence that pushed him there.

While the primary goal was simply to provide help in a difficult situation, Qiu said the group also hopes the donations serve as a display of unity, with citizens of both countries coming to each others aid at a time when many are looking to place blame.

In the United States, President Donald Trump and Fox News journalists spent time referencing the coronavirus as the Chinese virus." There have been outbursts of anger directed toward Chinese-Americans in the United States, and news organizations have picked up on the worst of those interactions.

In China, meanwhile, fringe conspiracy theorists purport that the coronavirus was unleashed as an American weapon.

Yet inside the boundaries of both countries are millions of people more similar than different. They have the same goals in a challenging time. They want to protect their families and friends. They want the best for their communities and others around the world.

Its in the back of our minds," Qiu said. "We wanted to do something positive. We all have shortcomings. Prejudice exists in all places and forms. One of the things were  I wouldnt say trying to counter, we cant change everyones thinking  but if we can do something positive in a way for the good of the community, maybe some of those feelings will change.

Both Qiu and Shu said they were aware of reported animosity from across the country but havent experienced any of it in CNY. Gao said the closest thing she heard about was students being made to feel uncomfortable when they wore facemasks in public early in the pandemic.

Many of the donated supplies have come from the parents of Syracuse University students. (Courtesy Photo)

As they waited to pass along supplies, the organizers stood socially-distanced and wearing facemasks despite fresh air and the ample outdoor space. In addition to the supplies, they passed along another wish.

They said they hoped that their fellow citizens would follow the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and embrace the idea of wearing a basic facemask in public, an option they are working to make accessible for many people as possible. Facemasks being worn by the general population should help limit the spread of the virus by asymptomatic carriers.

For those Chinese students, wearing a mask in public brought unwanted attention and worried glances. Rather than being viewed as a sign of illness or wariness, the group hopes that wearing a mask will be viewed more frequently as a caring act. It is an effort, they say, to protect their community and a display of compassion to those around them.

The groups larger mail-ordered act of caring required more than 80 separate packages from overseas as it navigated restrictions on size and the value of goods imposed by China. The shipping costs often came close to the value of the supplies inside.

Yet despite those obstacles, the supplies kept coming. And they continue to come.

They arrive so often that the group has conference calls five days a week to keep track of what equipment has arrived and what community group might need supplies next.

They are still collecting and gathering all that they can. They are eager to donate more. They are hoping to do their part to protect as much of Central New York as they can.

We just want to help, Shu said. This is what we can do.

Contact Chris Carlson anytime: E-mail | Twitter | 315-412-1639

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

NY order closes golf courses, boat launches, marinas, playgrounds in coronavirus shutdown

Coronavirus in Onondaga Co.: 8 percent of infected in fight for life, 15 percent hospitalized; 442 total cases

Couple on medical staff at Crouse swaps homes with son to keep the kids safe from coronavirus

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com
Since the construction of the Huoshenshan and Leishenshan hospitals, two medical facilities purposefully built to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) has garnered a lot of media attention on its frontline management, its actions in outbreak prevention and control in overseas projects, and the measures for resuming production in an orderly manner in the wake of the pandemic.

Xinhua News Agency

CSCEC had dispatched teams with medical capacities to Egypt and Algeria recently, which was highlighted in a video report of Xinhua News Agency on March 31: "CSCEC has put outbreak prevention and control as the top priority for all its foreign-based organizations and projects."

Xinwen Lianbo

CSCEC has been steadily carrying on the construction of projects in Wuhan as well as others across Hubei province, without compromising the outbreak prevention and control. Its North Fourth Ring Road project in Wuhan was picked up on a March 30 special feature by Xinwen Lianbo,China Central Television (CCTV) evening news bulletin. During the interviews, CSCEC's construction workers said, "We are carrying the torch of the devotion and faith that had been put in the construction of Huoshenshan and Leishenshan hospitals. We will stick to the containment protocols and be more devoted."

CCTV News

Starting from January, more than 30,000 construction workers across China participated in the construction of the Huoshenshan and Leishenshan hospitals. The construction finished rapidly, but for CSCEC, its work did not end there. How to effectively monitor the workers' health within the 14-day quarantine and facilitate their way back to where they came from posed a great challenge. A couple of programs on CCTV News have featured CSCEC's strategies in this regard.

Jiaodian Fangtan

In this battle against COVID-19, the disposal of medical waste and the treatment of waste water have been closely watched by the public as well. In the March 30 broadcast of news commentary program Jiaodian Fangtan, an in-depth coverage recounted CSCEC's solutions on seepage and waste water: "We put down two layers of special fabrics andone impermeable barrier,to ensure not one single drop of medical wastage can seep through."
Vegans do not have to deprive themselves of New Mexican favorites.

Albuquerque pop-up Vegos offers plant-based New Mexican cuisine, and its meatless burrito has received national recognition.

Vegos Vegan Steak Burrito has been recognized nationally by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as one of the top vegan burritos in the country.

By treating yourself to Vegos Vegan Steak Burrito, you can support a local business while fighting cruelty to animals and human health problems on a global scale, said PETA President Ingrid Newkirk in a news release.

Vegos owner and head chef Elizabeth Bibiano is honored and humbled to be recognized as having one of the top 10 vegan burritos in the country. For a full list of honorees, visit peta.org/features/best-vegan-burritos-peta.

I went into the market looking for all the traditional foods that I grew up on, Bibiano said. I loved the flavors of your steak and your chicken and your pork and that fun stuff, but I couldnt find a plant-based version that was healthy, not the highly processed stuff, so that is where I got to work in the kitchen and I created this vegan steak, which I was really happy about. So we throw it in a large flour tortilla with our Mexican rice, our seasoned pinto beans, your traditional tomato, lettuce and onion, and of course youve got to have your New Mexican red or green (chile) or Christmas or you can get it smothered if you dont want it handheld.

Bibiano is always trying to evolve and come up with new recipes. The menu features a variety of vegan offerings, including red chile jackfruit tamales, green chile chicken enchiladas, nachos, chile rellenos and gluten-free empanadas with either a sweet filling such as pumpkin, cherry or apple or a savory filling such as chayote squash with roasted poblano chile. The most popular menu item is the Nobody Calls Me Chicken sandwich. Its name was inspired by the movie Back to the Future. Vegos chicken is a soy-based product that is made in-house.

Its a chicken sandwich that we serve on our housemade concha bun, which is pan dulce, Bibiano said. Not everybody is familiar with conchas, but its a New Mexican sweet bread, and that has kind of taken off. We realized our community is lacking a good chicken option, vegan chicken option. I am definitely in the kitchen right now working on other variations where we can put more of our chicken in different products.

Vegos turns a year old on May 3.

The community has welcomed us in, and we were on a track where we were, Lets start really small in the markets,  Bibiano said. We started at the Rail Yards Market last year and we had planned to do that for a couple of years and then it just kind of spiraled from there and people were asking for our food more than just on Sundays. Weve grown faster than anticipated.

Bibiano did not grow up wanting to be a chef. Instead, cooking grew on her after she bought a home with her husband. She enjoyed hosting dinner parties and homed in on the cuisine of various locations she traveled to. She realized her passion for food was more than a hobby and enrolled in the culinary program at Central New Mexico Community College. She graduated from the program and became an intern with the Street Food Institute, which sponsored her and helped her get her foot in the door at the Rail Yards Market. Bibiano continues to use the Street Food Institute as her commissary kitchen.

Vegos does not have a storefront and instead does pop-ups around town including at Prismatic Coffee in the Sawmill District. Patrons can find out where Vegos will be next and place a takeout order online by visiting facebook.com/vegosabq.
Ron Paul, the physician and former Texas congressman who launched two unsuccessful Republican presidential campaigns, has pushed unfounded conspiracy theories about the novel coronavirus  as well as a leading infectious disease expert  amid the pandemic.

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus response task force, wants to have total control of the American people, Mr Paul claimed during Thursdays airing of his programme, titled Ron Paul Liberty Report.

He went on to suggest the coronavirus pandemic was an excuse to have total control over the people while calling on Donald Trump to fire Dr Fauci from the head of the US institute and White House task force.

As this one goes away, theyll come up with another one, the former congressman said about the novel virus. Its an excuse to have total control over the people.

People have to quit listening to Dr Fauci, he continued. Mr Paul later shared a clip of the show to Twitter, writing: Fauci should be fired. If not by Trump, then by the American people.

Dr Faucis public facing position on the White House task force has earned him high approval ratings across the country, according to national surveys, as well as criticism from right-wing corners of the web and conservative media.

The doctor reportedly began receiving a security detail amid death threats that began surfacing online shortly after his participation in the daily White House press briefings. The security detail was ordered by US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, according to Politico.

Mr Paul seemingly added fuel to the fire that has been stoked in recent weeks against the doctor, with the left-leaning Media Matters reporting a rise in pro-Trump media outlets attacking Dr Fauci in late March.

Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio talk show host who the president awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his last State of the Union Address, attacked Dr Fauci and other disease experts working on the administrations response as Hillary Clinton sympathisers earlier this week.

It's just, we've got all of these Hillary Clinton sympathisers still in the medical expert team here, he said on his programme, The Rush Limbaugh Show. We know that one thing has not changed, and that is these people's desire, above everything else, to get rid of Donald Trump.

Recommended Fauci says US may begin to reopen by summer

Dr Fauci, who has remained even-keeled in his public comments about rumours of tension between he and the president and other reports of palace intrigue, has dismissed questions about his own safety during media interviews.

Ive chosen this life, the doctor told NBCs Today Show. I know what it is.

The incendiary attacks come as the nation confirms nearly 500,000 cases of coronavirus and almost 17,000 deaths since the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in the US on 20 January.

Mr Trump has extended White House guidelines advising social distancing and self-isolation measures for an additional 30 days  crediting his discussions with the countrys health experts, like Dr Fauci  in an attempt to flatten the curve and keep hospital systems within their capacity.

Health officials have said such stringent measures, like closing up restaurants and businesses to millions of Americans, are necessary in order to prevent millions of deaths. Even with the current guidelines, Dr Fauci and other experts predict the US could see as many as 100,000 to 240,000 deaths resulting from the pandemic.
In any election, different types of voters are likely to be swayed by different factors. Liberals, for instance, often express more concern about health care, whereas conservatives generally pay more attention to foreign affairs. Among ambivalent swing voters, it is often candidates personalities  whether they are perceived as relatable, trustworthy, evenhanded and so on  that make a difference.

But this years presidential race may be an anomaly. With the response to the pandemic taking center stage, issues like health care, the economy and voting rights are likely to be viewed through the lens of the virus. So how the president handles the response  and how his presumptive opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., proposes to confront the outbreak  could become a kind of omni-issue.

At his daily news conferences, and in frequent tweets about the virus, Mr. Trump has sought to project authority as the nation weathers the storm. But he has hardly let up on his habit of lashing out at political opponents, and he has refused to take responsibility for things like shortages of test kits and medical supplies, which many governors say they need.

Most Americans are not convinced of the presidents position. Roughly seven in 10 said the federal government should be doing more to address shortages in personal protective equipment and medical devices, the CNN poll found. And by a 14-percentage-point margin, most respondents to that survey said the federal government had done a bad job of preventing the viruss spread. (That is a significant change since last month, when back-to-back CNN polls found the public more split on the question.)

As the pandemic has worsened nationwide, Americans have expressed widespread approval of their own governors (72 percent, according to a Monmouth University poll released this week) and of federal health agencies (66 percent, per the Monmouth poll). This bucks the trend in recent years of waning faith in American institutions.

But Mr. Trump has never shed his public persona as an anti-establishment firebrand. Throughout the crisis he has criticized everyone from nonpartisan inspectors general to popular state governors. So the president will need to contend with Americans belief in core institutions  which Mr. Biden has consistently echoed  alongside their wavering confidence in Mr. Trump himself.

He likes to say, Well, the governors messed up, and China lied to me, and all this other stuff, Bob Shrum, the director of the Center for the Political Future at the University of Southern California, said in an interview. I think its a little like Herbert Hoover saying, The Great Depression, you know, thats really a world problem. Peoples reaction was: Well, wait. Youre the president of the United States. Fix it.
The Central government on Friday announced that COVID-19 testing capacity has been increased as the number of confirmed cases continues to rise.

"The capacity of testing has been up-scaled through 146 government labs, 67 private labs with more than 16000 collection centres. Further, rapid diagnostic kits have been sanctioned and guidelines for usage have been issued and orders have already been placed," said an official statement.

The statement further read: "In the context of COVID-19 situation, considering the immediate requirement of ventilators and other items, the Central Government has granted exemption from Basic Customs Duty and Health cess, on the import of the following goods, with immediate effect: ventilators, face masks, surgical masks, personal protection equipment (PPE), COVID-19 test kits, inputs for the manufacture of the above items."

"The Central Government has directed the Food Corporation of India to provide food grains 5 kg per person per month for 3 months at the rates of Rs 21 per kg for wheat and Rs 22 per kg for rice uniformly across the country to all beneficiaries, not covered under NFSA to whom ration cards have been issued by state governments under their schemes," it read.

The states have been given the option to lift these stocks in one go or on a monthly basis over 3 months up to June 2020, the statement added.

The COVID-19 cases in the country saw another single-day high of 896 taking the total number to 6761.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The expert medical committee has recommended that the Tamil Nadu government extend the lockdown for another 14 days as the state has been witnessing an increase in COVID-19 cases for the last one week.

Speaking to the press on behalf of the committee, Dr Prabhdeep Kaur from the National Institute of Epidemology of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Chennai, said, "17 members participated in the meeting that went on for two hours and expressed their views to the government. Dr Sowmya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, WHO, also participated through video conferencing from Geneva and expressed her views."

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy held the meeting with the expert committee members through video conferencing from the Secretariat here on Friday.

"During this 14-day lockdown period, the committee suggested more testing on contacts of COVID-19 patients and the data collected from these two weeks should be used to take an informed decision," Dr Prabhdeep said.

The committee discussed the safety of doctors, nurses and other health care workers which is paramount, she said, adding that the needs of patients and their families were also discussed.
<! President Idris Deby , right , arrives in Ndjamena after Boko Haram campaign >

Chadian President Idriss Deby has announced the end of his countrys military operation against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region.

This followed the killing of more than 1,000 terrorists and devastation of their launching bases.

The unprecedented eight-day campaign, styled Operation Anger of Bohoma, took the Chadian forces inside Nigeria and Niger.

The campaign also saw Deby relocating to Baga Sola to coordinate the battle.

The terrorists lost tonnes of weapons to the merciless Chadian troops.

However, Chad lost 52 soldiers, with 183 wounded.

Deby, before leaving for Ndjamena on Thursday told a meeting with his military officials in the Lac Province that the Chadian troops within Nigeria and Niger will leave in about two weeks.

He has told the Nigerian and Nigerien authorities to be ready to take over the defence of the liberated areas from 24 April.

Deby said no Chadian soldier will any longer take part in a military operation outside of Chad.

We are able to defend the integrity of our territory, Idriss Deby said.

We fought alone in Lake Chad, without the support of the countries supposed to help us, he added.

However, on Monday Deby acknowledged that Nigeria, Sudan and Rwanda offered large equipment support.

He said that the Chadian soldiers died for the cause of the countries of the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin.

He then promoted five commanders in charge of operations, into higher ranks of colonel, brigadier general and division general.

Back in Ndjamena, which he left 24 March, Deby declared:

I am back in the capital. I sincerely thank all the Chadians and all the African brothers and sisters for the support given to our Defense and Security Forces. Peace, security and stability are sacred values,. .

Deby left the capital, the day after Boko Haram attacked the Bohoma base of Chadian army, killing scores of soldiers.

Chad retaliated.

In eight days of military operations, Chadian forces cleaned up all the islands of Lake Chad.

They also entered Nigerien and Nigerian territory to conduct operations and track down Boko Haram.

According to Deby, 90 to 95% of the terrorist sect members have been decimated in the areas of operations.

All of Africa and the whole world knows what you have done, he told his men during an inspection visit to the theatre of operations.

I will never forget those who fell, said Deby.

Inspection visits to Niger

Before returning to the capital, the head of state went to Boko Haram bases liberated by the Chadian army in Niger territory.

He landed the military helicopter himself, having had pilot training.

*Source: Alwihdainfo.com
Maruti Suzuki sold 14.85 lakh units last year, while its parent Suzuki recorded a sale of over 30 lakh units globally, suggesting that the Indian carmaker contributed almost 50 per cent of its parent companys sales.

Maruti off-late has been playing an extremely vital role in Suzukis R&D department. Also, several of the companys cars are manufactured according to the required specs and exported to different parts of the world.

It should also be noted that Suzuki does not operate in the worlds two largest market US and China after it pulled out due to low sales and high costs. This also made Suzuki focus more on the Indian market to sustain its volumes.

In India, Maruti Suzuki dominates with more 50 per cent of the market even with the ailing industry condition and the challenges of the new BS-VI emission norms. No other manufacturer in the world can take on the hold that Maruti Suzuki has in the Indian market. Apart from that, no other manufacturer has also been able to maintain such a huge gap in market share. Nor has the gap in market share between the top-two players in any individual market been as wide!

In light of the current situation, Maruti Suzuki India has decreased production by 32.05 per cent in March, according to a regulatory filing by the company.

The company produced a total of 92,540 units in March as against 1,36,201 units in the year-ago month, the auto major said.

Passenger vehicle production last month stood at 91,602 units as against 1,35,236 units in March 2019, a dip of 32.26 per cent, it added.

Also Watch:
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens dramatically around the world, and Australias death toll rises, the countrys national cabinet is drawing up plans to get workers back on the job, regardless of unsafe conditions.

Throughout the pages of the financial press in Australia and globally, behind the backs of most of the population, calculations are being made, in explicit dollar terms, about how many lives must be sacrificed in order to restore the profit-making process.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his state and territory counterparts in the national cabinet are trying to mislead and condition public opinion to accept the premature lifting of lockdowns and other restrictions.

Morrison declared on Tuesday that support measures for businesses and workers cannot go on forever. He foreshadowed a scaling-down of social and health measures through trial-type relief of restrictions.

At the same media conference, the federal Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said: We have focal outbreaks. The one that worries us most of all is the community transmission in Sydney. Reportedly, health officials are tracking evidence of locally-acquired community transmission of the virus, with more than 600 cases under investigation.

Nonetheless, Morrison promoted the notion of lifting restrictions. He said no one point of data would determine when social-isolation measures would be eased, and it would likely be a staggered exit strategy, from state to state.

Yesterday, media reports revealed the national cabinet was considering plans to use Western Australia (WA) and South Australia as guinea pigs for a broader easing of restrictions, by invoking the relatively low number of confirmed cases in both states to rollback lockdown measures. Testing rates in WA are the second-lowest of any state in the country, underscoring the fact that these plans are based on woefully-inadequate data.

For now, Morrison has urged people to stay at home over Easter. Failure to do so this weekend would completely undo everything we have achieved so far together, and potentially worse, he said, essentially placing the blame for any new wave of infections on ordinary people.

Morrison gave an indication of the pressure being applied by big business for a full return to work. The states and territories and I are very conscious that the path out of this is not just avoiding the peak (in new infections) but getting back to some sense of normality, he said.

The Australian reported on Wednesday that some New South Wales (NSW) state government ministers are agitating for the state to recalibrate social-distancing measures because they are damaging the economy and unsustainable.

In a meeting of NSW members of parliament, calls were made for the adoption of the disastrous herd immunity policy, initially adopted by Boris Johnsons British government, which essentially means exposing the majority of the population to the virus. Thousands of people have died in the UK as a result of this doctrine.

A senior government MP put it crudely: People have to get sick for this to pass.

This could involve partial lifting of social-distancing restrictions for people supposedly less vulnerable to the virus, such as schoolchildren, even though young people have died from the illness in the UK and elsewhere.

A senior health official told the newspaper that school-aged children and young adults were the least likely to have symptomsit would start to increase the herd immunity for the country.

The official said: The issue for us in Australia is that at some point youve got to start weighing up the consequences. If this goes on for six to 12 months, that could do much greater destruction to our economy and lifestyle than the virus is doing to us.

The types of capitalist calculations behind these moves were displayed in the Australian Financial Review last Monday. Sam Lovick, former chief economist for CSL, a biotech company, asserted that if restrictions were continued for six months, the economic cost would probably add up to $240 billion.

Compared to his estimates of the number of lives that would be saved, he suggested, you can reach the somewhat alarming figure of $6 million or more per life saved.

He urged the newspapers readers: Lets not be shy about balancing the economy against health. Governments do it all the time. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee rejects 69 percent of anti-cancer drugs because they are not cost-effective.

The economist gave the example of a drug that would cost more than $30,000$70,000 for each (quality adjusted) year of life saved. He explained: Anything higher is too much; $4 million for a drug that saves a newborn for 80 happy years appears to be the yardstick.

Lovick advocated the strict quarantining of those people mostly likely to need intensive care and most likely to die, combined with allowing COVID-19 to spread through the community in a controlled fashion. Even though this would place hospitals under stress.

While Lovick admitted that not enough was known about COVID-19 to make reliable predictions, his proposals could save 90 percent of the lives saved by our current aggressive social distancing stance at much lower cost. By implication, the other 10 percent of deaths would be an acceptable price to pay.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation business editor Ian Verrender commented that Lovicks view reflected wider processes under capitalism. Ultimately, the decision comes down to dollars. What monetary value do you place on a human being, on life itself? he asked.

Callous as they are, these decisions are being made right now, in Canberra, London, Rome, Beijing, Madrid, Washington, Jakarta, Johannesburg: everywhere that COVID-19 has invaded populations.

Health experts are warning of the likely death toll from the herd immunity doctrine. Infectious disease physician and microbiologist Peter Collignon told the Australian: [T]he trouble with the idea of building up herd immunity, which I think Sweden seems to be following, is youve got to get to 60 or 70 percent of the population infected. The trouble with that is that with the mortality rate of this virus, thats an awful lot of deaths.

James McCaw, an infectious disease modeller with the Doherty Institute, said that if social-distancing measures were relaxed, the numbers of infections would skyrocket. We know that our population is still largely susceptible, and so if we relaxed and went back to normal we would see a rapid and explosive resurgence in epidemic activity, he said.

These developments express two irreconcilably opposed forces. For the ruling capitalist class, workers must be put back to work as quickly as possible so that their labour power can be exploited to once again produce profits and wealth. For the working class, it is a question of saving lives and stopping all non-essential production, which means restructuring economic life along socialist lines, on the basis of social need, not private profit.
The Dauphin County Board of Prison Inspectors and Corrections Director Brian Clark announced Friday the suspension of inmate transfers from April 11 to April 25.

The additional step is being taken to help protect staff and inmates from getting the coronavirus. The countys decision aligns with the state Department of Corrections same course of action to stop all transfers during this period based on the expectation of positive cases surging throughout the commonwealth.

"Were doing everything we can to limit the spread of COVID-19 by suspending transfers, implementing a facility-wide quarantine and providing personal protective equipment, said Commissioner Mike Pries, who serves as chairman of the Prison Board. "We cannot thank our staff enough for carrying out these new procedures and prioritizing the health and safety of everyone at the facility.

The staff is following recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by regularly cleaning surfaces and wearing a mask. They also received a COVID-19 preparedness kit, which has an OV/N95 reusable respirator, clear eye protection, and gloves.

"Were closely monitoring our system and taking the necessary steps to stop the spread of this virus, Commissioner Jeff Haste said. Over the past several weeks, corrections employees have done an outstanding job with adjusting to the changes and stepping up safety measures.

Dauphin County secured 1,200 washable cloth masks for inmates this week from the state Department of Corrections.

"Thanks to advanced planning and our strong partnership with the state, we have the ability to provide all corrections employees and inmates with protective equipment, Commissioner George P. Hartwick, III said. "Were incredibly grateful for their around-the-clock efforts to keep everyone safe.

Visits to the prison are suspended until further notice. Inmates are allowed to see their loved ones through free video visitations.

There are currently 199 cases of COVID-19 in Dauphin County, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. There are no confirmed cases at Dauphin County Prison at this time.
Srinagar, April 10 : District magistrate Baramulla has ordered closure of all banks in the district for Friday to ensure social distances as crowds were recently seen thronging bank branches in violation of the prohibitory orders.

DM Baramulla, G.N.Itoo passed an order that no bank branch will function in the district today.

"The order has been passed to ensure compliance of social distances which we have noticed is not followed when people visit different branches of the bank.

"Of course it is a warning and unless the people and the bank management ensure compliance there could be more restrictions in the offing", officials said.

The surfacing of COVID-19 positive cases has surged during the last two days in Kashmir division.

Yesterday, 24 new cases came to light while 34 surfaced on Wednesday.

Alarmed by the rising numbers of positive cases, DM Srinagar has ordered complete sealing of the district disallowing all entry and exit except of those directly engaged in fighting the outbreak.

The total number of positive cases has shot up to 184 in J&K.
How do mantis shrimp find their way home?

Mantis shrimps have earned fame for their powerful punching limbs, incredibly unusual eyes, and vivid exoskeletons. And, it turns out, they're also really good at finding their way home. Through a series of painstaking experiments with these often-uncooperative creatures, Rickesh Patel has produced new findings on mantis shrimp navigation, published this week in Current Biology.

Patel, a Ph.D. candidate in biological sciences at UMBC, found that the species of mantis shrimp he investigated relies on the sun, patterns in polarized light, and internal cues--in that order--to navigate directly back to their non-descript burrows. These straight-line returns often follow forays that meander and zig zag as the shrimp looks for a meal or a mate. The ability to get home quickly comes in handy when seeking shelter in the presence of predators, or a perceived one, as Patel noted on his first research fieldwork expedition.

After his first year at UMBC, Patel traveled with Tom Cronin's lab to Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef to collect mantis shrimp for study. "As soon as they notice you, they'll turn around and zip straight to some sort of shelter," Patel says. Like a true scientist, "That got me wondering how they go about finding their way home."

A crucial starting point

Scientists have written a great deal on navigation in other species--primarily bees, ants, and mice--but Patel's is the first work on navigation in mantis shrimp.

First, Patel had to find a behavior he could work with to test ideas about how mantis shrimp navigate. So he created a small arena with an artificial shrimp burrow buried in sand. He placed the shrimp in the arena, and to his delight, the mantis shrimp was happy to occupy the small section of PVC pipe. Then he placed a piece of food at a distance from the burrow. He watched as the shrimp left its burrow, meandered until it found the food, and then returned to its burrow in a fairly straight line.

From those initial observations, Patel hypothesized that mantis shrimps use a process called path integration to find their way home. In other words, they are somehow able to track both their distance and direction from their burrow.

"That was probably the most exciting part of the experiments for me, because I knew I had a really robust behavior that I could work with," Patel says. "Everything I did really extended from that initial point."

Sunshine surprise

After that first discovery, the challenging work began, to figure out what cues the animals were using to determine the path home.

Patel built eight much larger arenas, each about 1.5 meters in diameter, to run his experiments. The first question he asked was whether the shrimp were using internal or external cues to go home.

To test that, Patel created a setup that rotated the animal 180 degrees as it retrieved the food. If the shrimp was using external cues to remember its distance and direction from home, it would still head in the right direction. If it was using internal cues, based on the orientation of its own body, it would head in the opposite direction. In the first round of trials, the animals consistently headed in the exact opposite direction.

"That was really cool, but it didn't make a lot of sense," Patel says, "because an internal compass is going to be a lot less accurate than something that is tied to the environment." Then it hit him: "We just happened to have a really overcast week when I did these experiments, so I waited until we had a clear day, and then every time, they went right back home."

Putting together the puzzle

Patel realized that his experiment perfectly demonstrated the hierarchy of cues used by the animals. They used external cues first, but when those weren't available, they used internal cues.

That was the beginning of a long series of creative experiments that further teased out how these animals navigate. When Patel used a mirror to trick the animals into thinking the sun was coming from the opposite direction, they went the wrong way. This indicated they use the sun as a primary cue. When it was cloudy but not totally dark, they used polarization patterns in light, which are still detectable when it's overcast. And when the sky was completely covered, they reverted to their internal navigation system.

A varied skill set

For Patel, creating the experimental arenas--essentially, the shrimp obstacle course--was almost as fun as getting the results. "That's something I really enjoy--building things, creating things," he shares. Patel studied art and biology as an undergraduate at California State University, Long Beach. "I think those skills lent me a hand in designing my experiments."

Other skills Patel needed were patience and perseverance. "The animals will only behave maybe once a day, so if you scare the animal, you've lost that day," he says.

For example, one of the experiments involved putting the animals on a track that pulled them to a new position, and seeing where they headed from there. "If the track is too jerky or goes too fast, they get scared and just don't behave," Patel says. "So I had to design the experiment so that it was so gentle they didn't realize they were being moved."

New questions

All of Patel's patience has paid off with new findings that open up an array of future questions to answer. While path integration is well-documented in other species, mantis shrimp are the first to demonstrate the technique underwater. Looking up at the sky through water is a very different view than doing so through air, so Patel is curious how the animals' process is different from other species.

Patel is also ultimately interested in the neural basis of navigation behavior, but "before you can investigate what's happening in the brain, you have to understand what the animal's doing," he says. "So that's why I really focused on the behavior work, to figure out what the animal is doing and what kind of stimuli are appropriate to show the animal that we can use to investigate its neurology."

So far, other work has demonstrated that a brain region called the central complex has uncanny similarities between insects and mantis shrimps. This is especially interesting considering how far apart bees and shrimp are on the tree of life. The central complex is known to contribute to navigation in bees, so Patel is intrigued to learn more about its function in mantis shrimp. Alice Chou, another graduate student in the Cronin lab, is also investigating the brain structures of mantis shrimp.

UMBC to Europe

Other scientists in the U. S. and around the world are also interested in this work. Patel's research, like other work in his mentor's lab, is supported by the Air Force. They would like to know more about how animals use polarized light for navigation, on land and underwater, in hopes of imitating it in human-made systems.

Patel will have the chance to work on some of these questions as he continues his research career at Lund University in Sweden as a postdoctoral fellow, starting this summer. Right now, he's thankful for the experience he's had at UMBC, from that first summer through his dissertation research.

Patel says he benefited from being the mentee of Tom Cronin, professor of biological sciences and a preeminent scholar of mantis shrimp vision. "Tom has been great in that he's given me complete freedom to approach any question I want to, while also being happy to offer advice when asked," Patel says. "That combination has helped me grow into my own as a researcher."

With this initial paper and more on the way, Patel has made the most of that freedom. His next chapter is sure to be one of further discovery.

###

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Advertisement

Continued strict adherence to physical distancing, hand-washing, surface disinfection, and other preventive measures, regardless of risk level, symptoms, or COVID-19 test results. Universal masking of both health care workers and patients may be necessary.

Development of highly sensitive tests or combinations of tests is needed urgently to minimize the risk of false-negative results. Improved RT-PCR testing and serological assays -- blood tests that identify antibodies or proteins present when the body is responding to infections such as COVID-19 -- are needed.

Risk levels must be carefully assessed prior to testing, and negative test results should be viewed cautiously, especially for people in higher-risk groups and in areas where widespread COVID-19 infection has been confirmed.

Risk-stratified protocols to manage negative COVID-19 test results are needed, and they must evolve as more statistics become available.

Even with test sensitivity values as high as 90%, the magnitude of risk from false test results will be substantial as the number of people tested grows. "In California, estimates say the rate of COVID-19 infection may exceed 50% by mid-May 2020," she says. "With a population of 40 million people, 2 million false-negative results would be expected in California with comprehensive testing. Even if only 1% of the population was tested, 20,000 false-negative results would be expected."The authors also cite the effects on health care personnel. If the COVID-19 infection rate among the more than 4 million people providing direct patient care in the U.S. were 10% -- far below most predictions -- more than 40,000 false-negative results would be expected if every provider were tested.This poses risks for the health care system at a critical time. "Currently, CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines for asymptomatic health care workers with negative testing could lead to their immediate return to work in routine clinical care, which risks spreading disease," says Colin West, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic physician and the study's first author. Victor Montori, M.D., a Mayo Clinic endocrinologist, also is a co-author.While dealing with the enormity of the growing COVID-19 pandemic, it's important for public health officials to stick to principles of evidence-based reasoning regarding diagnostic test results and false-negatives. Four recommendations are outlined in the Mayo Clinic article:"For truly low-risk individuals, negative test results may be sufficiently reassuring," says Dr. West. "For higher-risk individuals, even those without symptoms, the risk of false-negative test results requires additional measures to protect against the spread of disease, such as extended self-isolation."At Mayo Clinic, RT-PCR testing is "one of many factors we take into account in deciding whether the patient meets criteria for COVID-19," Dr. Sampathkumar says. If the RT-PCR test is negative, but chest X-ray or CT scan results are abnormal, or there has been close contact with a person who has confirmed COVID-19, the recommendation is to continue caring for the patient as if he or she has COVID-19."We need to continue to refine protocols for asymptomatic patients and exposed health care workers," says Dr. Sampathkumar.Source: Eurekalert
Its time to encourage people to wear face masks as a precautionary measure on the grounds that we have little to lose and potentially something to gain, say experts in The British Medical Journal.

Professor Trisha Greenhalgh at the University of Oxford and colleagues say despite limited evidence, masks could have a substantial impact on transmission with a relatively small impact on social and economic life.

The question of whether masks will reduce transmission of Covid-19 in the general public is contested. Irish health authorities have not yet recommended widespread use.

The BMJ says that although clinical trial evidence on the widespread use of facemasks as a protective measure against Covid-19 is lacking, increasing numbers of agencies and governments, including the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, are now advocating that the general population wears masks. It says others, such as the World Health Organization and Public Health England are not.

The BMJ says some researchers argue that people are unlikely to wear masks properly or consistently, and may ignore wider infection control measures like handwashing. Others say the public should not wear them since healthcare workers need them more.

But the BMJ says Greenhalgh and colleagues challenge these arguments and suggest that in the context of Covid-19, many people could be taught to use masks properly and may well do this consistently without abandoning other important anti-contagion measures.

The BMJ says that they say if political will is there, mask shortages can be quickly overcome by repurposing manufacturing capacity  something that is already happening informally. They conclude that it is time to act without waiting for randomised controlled trial evidence.

Masks are simple, cheap, and potentially effective, they write. We believe that, worn both in the home (particularly by the person showing symptoms) and also outside the home in situations where meeting others is likely (for example, shopping, public transport), they could have a substantial impact on transmission with a relatively small impact on social and economic life.

In a linked editorial, Babak Javid at Tsinghua University in Beijing and colleagues agree that the public should wear face masks because the benefits are plausible and harms unlikely. And they say cloth masks are likely to be better than wearing no mask at all.

The BMJ says in a release that as ws we prepare to enter a new normal, wearing a mask in public may become the face of our unified action in the fight against this common threat and reinforce the importance of social distancing measures, they conclude.

In an opinion piece, researchers recommend that health care workers should not be caring for Covid-19 patients without proper respiratory protection, and that cloth masks are not a suitable alternative for health care workers.
Even as Pakistan renewed its attempt to undermine Indias role in mobilizing the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received support from his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli for coordinating the South Asian blocs response to the pandemic.The prime ministers of India and Nepal discussed the COVID-19 pandemic over phone on Friday.

Track live updates on coronavirus here

Oli lauded Modi for taking the initiative in coordinating the SAARCs response to the pandemic, according to a press-release issued by the Prime Ministers Office in New Delhi.

Nepal currently holds the chair of the SAARC and its endorsement for Indias role in coordinating the eight-nation blocs response to the COVID-19 is significant as it came just a day after Pakistan demanded that all initiatives by the bloc to contain the pandemic in South Asian nations must be spearheaded by the secretariat of the organisation.

Also Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases

The degree of seriousness of each nation can be gauged by its behaviour, the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India said on Friday, tacitly slamming Pakistan for its move to create roadblocks for the SAARCs endeavour to save people in South Asia from the virus and to minimize the social and economic impact of the pandemic and the curbs imposed to contain it.

We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19, Modi, himself, posted on Twitter after his talks with Oli over the phone.

Spoke today with Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri @kpsharmaoli. We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

Oli too tweeted about his talks with Modi. He also thanked New Delhi for providing Kathmandu with medicines and other medical equipment necessary to deal with the pandemic in Nepal.

       @narendramodi                                  K P Sharma Oli (@kpsharmaoli) April 10, 2020

The two leaders also discussed maintaining the supply of the essentials from India to Nepal.

The SAARC, which came into existence in 1985, has its secretariat in Kathmandu and is headed by a Secretary General nominated by a member-state. Each of the eight member-states gets to nominate a person for the office of the Secretary General in turn. Each Secretary General has a fixed term of three years in the office.

Islamabad on Thursday conveyed to the SAARC Secretary General E R Weerakoon that all proceeds of the COVID-19 Emergency Fund must be administered by the secretariat and the modalities of managing it should be finalised through consultations with all the members in accordance with the charter of the organisation.

Also Read: Pakistan again plays spoilsport as India, other SAARC nations fight coronavirus

The SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund was set up after Modi on March 15 had a video-conference with almost all other leaders of the South Asian bloc. Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan did not join, but his Special Advisor Health Affairs), Dr Zafar Mirza, represented him. India initiated the fund with a voluntary contribution of $10 million and was followed by Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Afghanistan, which contributed altogether $8.43 million more. After much dilly-dallying, Pakistan on Thursday pledged $3 million to the fund, but with riders attached.

The fund was set up to help any SAARC nation to meet the emergency expenditure to deal with the pandemic in its territory.

It is for each SAARC Member State to decide on the timing, manner and implementation of their SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund commitments, Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India, said, adding: Where India is concerned, the commitment made by the Prime Minister is today in an advanced stage of implementation.

Srivastava noted that India had already extended assistance in material and services to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Pakistan on Wednesday also boycotted a video-conference the SAARC trade officials had to discuss ways to minimize the impact of the curbs imposed to contain the pandemic on regional commerce. Aisha Farooqui, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Government, said that Islamabad had decided to stay away from the virtual meeting as it was not organized by the SAARC secretariat.
Buddhist monks build a sanitising tunnel on April 09 to disinfect worshippers entering their temple and help to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Leaders at the Wat San Sai Ton Kok temple in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, are expecting locals to flock there during the Songkran new year event from April 13 to April 15. They were worried that more visitors could lead cases of the COVID-19 infection spreading. The temple decided to reduce the risks by setting up a disinfectant tunnel at the temple gate. Village chief Arnon Chairak said that although the Songkran festival celebrations were cancelled, many devotees would still attend temples to pray. He said: "The Songkran new year has more significance than just the festival as every year, Buddhist followers will attend temples. "Even though the festival is cancelled, we still expect many Buddhists to come to the temple to pray and give donations, so we need to be prepared. "We will need strict measures to keep the monks and the residents safe from COVID-19. "Every visitor will have to enter the temple through the disinfecting tunnel and they have to wear the face mask otherwise they will not be welcome here."
The ideal work from home trousers should be soft and cosy, but also chic enough that you don't have to hide your legs under your desk when jumping on a Zoom meeting.

Which is where Saint and Sofia comes in. The sustainable brand, which favours responsible production practices, offers a range of pants that are smart enough to wear to work but comfy enough to lounge in.

The brand's conscious and versatile collection features a relaxed edit of basics from classic ribbed roll necks to soft v-neck sweaters and even accessories, but it is the stylish selection of trousers that are the hero pieces for us.

Saint and Sofia is the new brand from the award-winning founders that created Zaggora in 2011, the activewear brand with 1.5 million customers in 143 countries

Quickly making their way into our working from home wardrobe, the loose fitting trousers and casual joggers are the exact kind of attire we want to be wearing right now.

First to make their way in to our basket is the Saint and Sofia Runway Pant.

The price is a little steep at 60, but the cost is justified thanks to the silky smooth texture. Made from an Italian fabric called Ponte Di Roma, these are quite possibly the softest trousers we have tried.

The high-waisted band is another bonus; enjoy total comfort with a flattering shape and a tailored finish. Comfortable like leggings yet chicer than most pants of this style, the Runway Pants sport a leopard print seam adding a cool modern touch.

Thanks to the thicker material, these would look just as good worn around the house or teamed with white trainers out and about on the weekends.

The Saint and Sofia Runway Pant in Black Leopard is one of the brand's bestselling products

Next up are the Saint and Sofia Pimlico Pants.

Another solid yet versatile piece, the Pimlico Pants offer the same high-levels of comfort but with a wider less form-fitting leg.

Relaxed yet smart, the trousers have been made to a soft and silky finish thanks to the Tencel fibre - a luxurious fabric that comes from eucalyptus trees.

To provide you with perfect shape and comfort, the trousers feature elegant front pleats, a front tie and elasticated gathered back.

You can easily wear these trousers for smart or casual occasions and, thanks to the timeless silhouette, they will always be chic.

A trending piece on Saint and Sofia, the Pimlico Pants, priced at 70, are wonderfully soft and comfortable. These would look great worn with trainers or dressed up with heels.

Saint and Sofia should be commended for their inclusivity, offering nine sizes and three leg lengths as standard. Sizes range from UK 6 to 22

The Pimlico Pants are available in multiple neutral colourways as well as printed versions - we love the subtle navy colour.

One thing to note is I found these a little long on my 5'4 frame. The inseam leg length is 30' inches so these might need a bit of taking up if you prefer a more fitted look.

Moving away from fast fashion, Saint and Sofia is serious about sustainability.

The brand is focused on creating quality garments using regenerated fabrics such as ECONYL, which is created with recycled plastic into Nylon yarn.

By sourcing raw materials close to production Saint and Sofia is also committed to reducing the brand's environmental impact. This smart supply chain not only reduces the brand's carbon footprint but benefits the customer by controlling costs.

MailOnline may earn commission on sales from the links on this page.
One of Britain's most prestigious scientific journals has apologised for referring to the coronavirus as a Chinese illness, which may have fuelled racist attacks across the world.

Nature, which publishes various scientific and medical journals, admitted 'an error on our part' for being part of press coverage that called the virus Chinese.

The company had, in one example, published an article titled 'China coronavirus' in January. The connection was widely made in the media in the pandemic's early stages and US President Donald Trump still uses the term 'Chinese virus'.

But the publisher has now rowed back in a editorial and said the association had helped to fuel racist attacks against people with Asian heritage.

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement in February saying that the coronavirus should be referred to as COVID-19.

Guidelines for scientists choosing names for viruses are told by the WHO not to use any words which link them to specific places, people or cultures, for this specific reason.

Nature's editorial article went on to explain that it was once common practice to link viral diseases with their area of outbreak.

For example, by using such names as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Zika virus  which was named after a forest in Uganda.

British scientific journal Nature has apologised for 'associating' coronavirus with Wuhan and China in its news coverage, saying the linkage had led to racist attacks (file photo)

The journal said: 'That we did so was an error on our part, for which we take responsibility and apologise.'

'Failing to do so has consequences,' the journal added.

'Its clear that since the outbreak was first reported, people of Asian descent around the world have been subjected to racist attacks, with untold human costs  for example, on their health and livelihoods.'

'Law-enforcement agencies say they are making investigation of hate crimes a high priority, but such inquiries might come too late for some.'

This, they added, includes 'many of the more than 700,000 Chinese undergraduate, masters and PhD students studying at universities outside China.'

The editorial said that a 'minority of politicians', including US President Donald Trump, Eduardo Bolsanaro  the son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsanaro  and unnamed UK MPs are still 'sticking with the outdated script'.

Trump previously used the term 'Chinese virus' to describe coronavirus and federal lawmaker Eduardo Bolsanaro claimed in a tweet the disease was 'China's fault'.

In May 2015, the WHO called on organisations involved in communicating health information to 'follow best practices in naming new human infectious diseases' in order to 'minimise unnecessary negative effects on nations, economies and people'.

In an editorial published on Tuesday (above), the publication said: 'That we did so was an error on our part, for which we take responsibility and apologise'

Keiji Fukuda, WHO's Assistant Director-General for Health Security, previously said: 'In recent years, several new human infectious diseases have emerged.

'The use of names such as "swine flu" and "Middle East Respiratory Syndrome" has had unintended negative impacts by stigmatising certain communities or economic sectors.'

He added: 'This may seem like a trivial issue to some, but disease names really do matter to the people who are directly affected.

'Weve seen certain disease names provoke a backlash against members of particular religious or ethnic communities, create unjustified barriers to travel, commerce and trade, and trigger needless slaughtering of food animals.

'This can have serious consequences for peoples lives and livelihoods.'
These weekly workbooks have been made free for all students across the world as a way to combat the amount of screen time children are faced with. We wanted to counteract this with educational activities parents can download to keep their children engaged while learning.

Best Brains Learning Centers is now offering free printable workbooks for students in grades PreK-8 in response to shelter-in-place keeping children out of school and away from their after-school activities. Easily accessible and available to all students, not only to those currently enrolled. Best Brains online content offers solutions for parents looking for screen-free content they can trust.

In a statement issued by the companys President Ajay Sunkara, he stated, These weekly workbooks have been made free for all students across the world as a way to combat the amount of screen time children are faced with. We wanted to counteract this with educational activities parents can download to keep their children engaged while learning.

With 150 locations and growing, Best Brains is a well-established brand which parents relied on for educational needs and face-to-face student support. But as state mandated closures and social distancing due to the spread of COVID-19 became more and more frequent across the US and Canada, the learning centers had to mobilize fast. Not only have they completely renovated their model to allow their one-on-one teaching method to go online, but they have added extra features to share the quality that Best Brains customers have come to trust with all families. With Live Classroom Teaching, students can now attend their weekly classes virtually, utilizing free meeting software to connect directly with their teachers. Still in its early days, parents and staff have shown great enthusiasm for the program, with students as young as 3 years old benefiting from the teacher guided lessons.

Best Brains Learning Centers provide enrichment to students ages 3-14 and is available to students across the US, Canada, and Jordan. They are best known for offering one-on-one student interaction from certified teachers in a safe classroom environment. Their non-repetitive model and highly qualified staff leads to high student engagement and excitement, as well as parent satisfaction.
Joel Martinique Hall has been jailed for six months for spitting at an emergency worker while claiming to have the coronavirus

A 24-year-old woman has been jailed for six months for spitting at an emergency worker while claiming to have the coronavirus.

Joel Martinique Hall appeared before magistrates in Mold after the incident in Pwllheli, North Wales.

She was arrested on Tuesday and charged with 11 offences, including biting and spitting at an emergency service worker and claiming to have deadly bug.

North Wales Police county chief inspector for Gwynedd Mark Armstrong said: 'Assaulting Emergency Service workers at anytime is simply not acceptable, as is the disorderly behaviour that this female was responsible for in Pwllheli this past Tuesday afternoon.

'The fact that she has been charged and sentenced on first appearance for 11 separate offences, to six months immediate imprisonment, shows how serious the court has taken these offences against both the community and also the emergency service workers involved, who were simply doing their jobs within the communities they serve.'

She appeared before magistrates in Mold (pictured) after the incident in Pwllheli, North Wales

In Staffordshire a man has been jailed for 12 months after coughing in the face of two nurses in hospital.

Lance King, 30, of no fixed address, was taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital with suspected Covid-19 and coughed on two A&E nurses on April 6.

He also urinated on the floor of the cubicle and scribbled on himself and items within the cubicle with a pen from the nurse's desk, Staffordshire Police said.

Lance King, 30, of no fixed address, was taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital (pictured) with suspected Covid-19 and coughed on two A&E nurses on April 6

It comes as police stopped one motorist in Wales who was heading to west Wales for a spot of crab fishing over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, before being turned around and sent home.

The driver was one of 1,300 vehicles pulled over by Dyfed Powys Police as they clamped down on holiday makers attempting to travel to popular coastal hotspots during lockdown.
Over dozen ships carrying fuel, food impounded in Djibouti: Yemeni official

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 4:26 PM

A Yemeni maritime official says the Saudi-led coalition has impounded more than a dozen ships carrying energy derivatives and food destined for the conflict-plagued and impoverished Arab country, despite the fact that the vessels had earlier acquired necessary permits from the United Nations.

The unnamed official at Hudaydah port told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network on Thursday that 14 tankers loaded with more than 320 thousand tons of oil derivatives and three vessels with foodstuff aboard have been marooned at a port in Djibouti.

He added that the vessels had undergone inspection by the United Nations and obtained the relevant papers to dock at Yemen's Hudaydah port.

The remarks came a day after the Saudi-led coalition, which has been engaged in a brutal five-year-old military aggression against Yemen, declared a two-week ceasefire, and announced that it would take effect at 12 p.m. local time (0900 GMT) on Thursday.

Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement has, in return, downplayed the Saudi-led coalition's ceasefire announcement, describing it as a chance for the alliance to get out of the quagmire with minimum disgrace. The movement highlighted it would will not abide unless a years-long siege on the impoverished nation is lifted.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior member of the political bureau of the Ansarullah movement, told the Lebanon-based and Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network that the coalition's move to announce a ceasefire was just another ploy by the aggressors.

"Saudis have repeatedly declared ceasefire in Yemen, but have violated it every time," he noted.

Bukhaiti said Riyadh is using the outbreak of COVID-19 as an opportunity for ceasefire and a face-saving exit from the Yemen war.

However, he added, with the siege of Yemen in place, the war will not end.

"If any ceasefire does not include the removal of the siege on Yemen, that would be the continuation of the Saudi war," he noted.

Houthis unilaterally release 70 prisoners

Separately, the Ansarullah movement has unilaterally released dozens of Saudi-sponsored Yemeni militiamen loyal to the country's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

The head of the Houthi-affiliated National Committee for Prisoners Affairs (NCPA), Abdulqader al-Mortada, said in a post published on his official Twitter page on Thursday that 70 prisoners were set free on humanitarian grounds and handed over to local authorities in a number of provinces amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in order to bring Hadi back to power and crush Ansarullah.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past five years.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have purchased billions of dollars' worth of weapons from the United States, France and the United Kingdom in their war on Yemen.

Riyadh and its allies have been widely criticized for the high civilian death toll resulted from their bombing campaign in Yemen.

The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The government has asked IAS



officer Kannan Gopinathan, who quit the elite service eight months ago "over denial of freedom to the people of Jammu and Kashmir", to immediately join duty in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic but the bureaucrat said he won't resume work.

The government has asked Gopinathan to join duty on the ground that his resignation has not been accepted yet.

Gopinathan termed this as as act of harassment by the government and refused to join duty, saying he is ready to volunteer his service to people during the COVID-19 crisis but not as an IAS officer.

Owing to imposition of curbs in Jammu & Kashmir after revocation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state in Union Territories in August last year, Kannan had resigned in protest as IAS officer from the adjoining UT of Daman and Diu.

It has been almost 8 months now since my resignation. Only thing the Govt knows is harassment. Of people & of officers.

"I know that they want to harass me further. But still, I offer to volunteer for the govt in these difficult times. But not rejoining IAS, Gopinathan tweeted on Thursday night, posting a photo of his official response to the government.

The letter sent to Gopinathan by the government on the direction of the Administration of Daman, Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli said, a resignation becomes effective when it is accepted and a government servant is relieved of his duty.

You were directed to continue to attend your assigned duties, but till date you have not reported for duties of this UT administration".

Further, coronavirus has been declared as a pandemic and NDMA, under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, has directed all Ministries /Departments of Government of India, state governments and state authority to take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country, the letter said.

Therefore, you are hereby directed to report for duty immediately, the letter said.

In his response to the order, whichGopinathan has put up on Twitter, he said, In this regard, let me clarify that I have resigned from the Indian Administrative Service close to eight months back, in August 2019, and accordingly the government has also not processed my salary since then.

"Hence, I am under no obligation to reply. As a responsible citizen, I extend all my services to the people of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu during this disaster."



The 33-year-old bureaucrat said he is ready to help people as a common citizen.

"But as I have already resigned from IAS, my services won't anymore require the tag of an IAS officer, or the perks and salary that it entails.

"I provide my service voluntarily as a free and responsible citizen of this country, the letter by Kannan to the government read.

Gopinathan had resigned to protest "denial of freedom to the people of Jammu and Kashmir" following scrapping of Article 370 by the NDA government, which had also imposed communication curbs on the erstwhile state, including on the Internet, and ordered detention of prominent leaders.

A week after his resignation, the government had asked him to join duty, a directive he ignored. This is the second time Gopinathan has been asked to join duty.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
South Korea is regularly ranked lowest in the developed world for gender equality, but for the first time a feminist party is seeking parliamentary seats at Wednesday's election, accusing the political establishment of having failed women. The party was founded last month on International Women's Day on the back of a surge of anger over the country's spycam porn epidemic and other crimes, and against a backdrop of an enduring pay gap and employment and childcare issues. But it has a mountain to climb. It has put forward four candidates in the proportional representation section of the vote, and to secure a single seat will need three percent of the popular vote. "I had signed petitions, I participated in rallies against sexual violence against women, but realised it wasn't going to work. So I've decided to go to the National Assembly," said Kim Ju-hee, one of the four, who at 25 is among the youngest candidates in the whole election. The party has about 10,000 members -- around three-quarters of them in their 20s -- and Kim says she will never marry nor have children in her efforts to fight patriarchy. But with the party unlikely to attract male voters, the threshold means it needs to secure the backing of six percent of all women. It is an ambitious goal when the South's two major parties -- the ruling left-leaning Democratic party and the conservative main opposition United Future Party (UFP) -- and their satellite entities dominate the political system. And single-issue parties have long struggled. "For many women, it's hard to support a party only because it deals with women's issues," acknowledged Kwon Soo-hyun, president of Korea Women's Political Solidarity, a rights organisation. Chai Hyun-jung, a 33-year-old mother who works in Seoul, said she would vote for a party that offered solid pledges on children's education and tackling the South's sky-high housing prices. "I have too many other responsibilities in my life to solely focus on gender issues," she told AFP. "Of course I'm angry about cyber sexual violence, but I'm sceptical giving a single seat to a feminist party can actually lead to a significant difference." - Glass ceiling - Despite its economic and technological advances, South Korea remains socially traditional and patriarchal, and has one of the world's thickest glass ceilings for women. It has the highest gender wage gap in the OECD club of developed economies, and only 3.6 percent of Korean conglomerates' board members are female. Similarly in politics, women make up just 17 percent of assembly seats in the outgoing parliament -- 125th in a global ranking maintained by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, just behind North Korea in 120th place. "Almost all male politicians, regardless of being progressive or conservative, are traditionalist when it comes to rights of women," said Lee Soo-jung, a criminology professor at Kyonggi University, adding that some do not understand the difference between pornography and crime. Former UFP presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo admitted in his memoirs that at university he supplied a stimulant to a friend who tried to drug and have sex with a female student. In 2019, a provincial governor from the Democratic party who used to proclaim himself a feminist was convicted and jailed for raping a female aide. - Stones thrown - Young South Korean women have enjoyed unprecedented campaigning successes outside parliament in recent years -- fighting to legalise abortion and organising a widespread #MeToo and anti-spycam movement that led to the largest women's rights demonstrations in Korean history. But being an open feminist can lead to social stigma in a society where the movement is often framed as selfish, extreme and even irrational. Women's Party candidate Lee Ji-won said party members had received online death threats and had stones thrown at them while on the stump. Linda Hasunuma, a politics scholar at Temple University in the US, said feminist issues were often framed as "not representing the mainstream", and portrayed instead as the "concerns of extreme activists". "It's hard for women's issues to gain traction in a society that has devalued women's status and labour for generations." But the party's Kim said winning isn't impossible. "Thousands of women joined our party within the first week," she said. "I believe in young women's collective wish to live a dignified life."
Doctors at a Brooklyn hospitals are removing coronavirus patients' blood from their bodies, rejuvenating it with oxygen, and returning it to the patients in an experimental bid to help those on ventilators.

The procedure is known as 'ECMO' - extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

As critically ill coronavirus patients flood into their hospitals, doctors have noticed a bizarre trend.

Even those who aren't struggling to breathe and don't yet show signs of oxygen deprivation have such low levels in their blood that a lab report would suggest they're already dead, Stat News reported.

Putting these patients on ventilators for extended periods may damage their already fragile lungs, and in New York City, 80 percent of ventilated patients are dying.

In an effort to alleviate these deadly issues, Dr Paul Saunders and his colleagues at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, where more than 23,000 people have coronavirus, are using ECMO to put oxygen straight into patients' blood, according to Good Morning America.

ECMO removes blood from a patient, enriches it with oxygen, then pumps it back into their bodies in an effort to supplement mechanical ventilation for critically ill coronavirus patients

Coronavirus has a spike protein that attaches to lung cells, hijacking their machinery to replicate itself.

It typically enters the body through the nose or mouth then travels down the airway toward its goal, deeper in the lungs.

There it damages the branches of the respiratory tree, a network of passageways, then on to the tiny sacs in the lungs responsible for gas exchange.

This triggers an immune response that rushes white blood cells to the site of the infection in an effort to eliminate the viral invader.

But because the virus that causes COVID-19 is totally unfamiliar to the immune system, it doesn't have antibodies designed to fight it.

So the inflammation keeps pouring in, eventually building up in those air exchange sacs, called alveoli, and keeping them from being able to take in oxygen to distribute to the body and expel carbon dioxide.

Dr Paul Saunders is a heart surgeon leading the charge to use ECMO for COVID-19 patients. He himself survived coronavirus and is now back to work in the ICU at Maimonides Medical Center

At this stage, a patient has pneumonia, and if it persists, the lungs start failing.

Mechanical ventilation can breathe for them, but it isn't always enough to save a patient's life and the invasive supportive care itself can damage the lungs by forcing highly pressurized air into the lungs and over-saturating them with oxygen.

An analysis of ventilated patients in New York City found that at least 80 percent of them die. Already

Still, ventilators are, broadly speaking, the best hope for critically ill coronavirus patients, but they're in short supply.

So doctors are racing to find alternatives or supplements.

At Maimonides, they're turning to ECMO.

Dr Saunders (not pictured) refers to ECMO as a 'last resort' for patients for whom 'ventialtion is not enough' to keep their blood oxygen levels high enough

ECMO works similarly to heart and lung bypass machines used during open-heart surgeries, mechanically pumping blood and air for the patient while they are undergoing the procedure.

The machine used for ECMO removes blood from the body, uses an artificial lung to infuse oxygen into starved red blood cells, then pumps that rejuvenated blood back into their bodies, helping to prevent cell death in tissues deprived of oxygen.

'In the current epidemic it's used as a last resort when ventilators aren't enough,' Dr Saunders, a heart surgeon at Maimonides Medical Center told GMA.

Dr Saunders himself caught coronavirus, but survived and is now back to work in the ICU.

He said that some of the patients on the ward are in their 30s and 40s.

'It's very hard to predict who's going to get very sick and who's not,' Dr Saunders said.

The hope is that the method can be a secondary aid for patients on life support, help to limit the damage ventilation may cause to their lungs and supplement the short supply of ventilators.

New York City had a stockpile of some 3,500 ventilators when coronavirus started spreading in the metropolis, according to ProPublica.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week he thought the city would run out of ventilators over the weekend.

The crisis was averted, for the moment, but the threat of ventilator shortages is far from over, with more than 87,000 people in the city infected with COVID-19. n
King Felipe VI of Spain and King Mohammed VI of Morocco held this Friday talks over the phone, during which they discussed the follow-up of the Coronavirus health crisis, announced the Spanish Royal Household

Talks also covered international solidarity to cope with the pandemic, the Spanish Royal Household said in a tweet.
Australian human rights campaigner Helen McCue, 70, met Lebanon-based Palestinian refugee Olfat Mahmoud, 59, while nursing in a Beirut hospital. Olfats quiet strength inspired Helen to change her career path.

Olfat Mahmoud, left, and Helen McCue: "Helen and I always laugh together, even when the situation is miserable." Credit:James Brickwood

OLFAT: I was in the Gaza Hospital, Beirut, in 1982, treating a family who were injured by a cluster bomb, when someone said: Theres a foreigner waiting for you outside. She was wearing a light pink dress and said, I am a nurse if you need a hand. I said, Today is not a good time. After three hours she was still there, she was very determined. Even that first day, she told me: It seems we will work together. We will get on well together.

I introduced her to friends and family in the nearby refugee camp where our family fled to from Palestine in 1948. Helen became like a family member. When she stayed with us in the camp, my family looked after her. My father would get her the food she likes, especially eggplant stuffed with minced lamb.

She realised most of the nurses in the hospital werent qualified and said, I can train them. I was impressed; shed left her job as a consultant to come and do volunteer work.
Health officials in Salem County will begin making appointments next week for its residents to be tested for the coronavirus at a drive-thru testing site, officials said Friday.

We will only accept individuals who are Salem County residents and who are currently showing symptoms of COVID-19, such as dry cough, fever and shortness of breath, the county freeholders announced in a notice to residents.

Appointments will be scheduled by phone from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, beginning April 13.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Call 609-569-4510 to schedule an appointment. The location of the testing site will be given when the appointment is made, officials said.

The drive-thru testing is a joint venture between the Salem County Department of Health and Human Services, Southern Jersey Family Medical Centers and PSE&G.

New Jersey now has at least 54,588 cases of the coronavirus, with at least 1,932 deaths, as state officials reported 3,627 new cases and 233 new fatalities Friday morning. As of Thursday, Salem County had 43 cases with three deaths.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Health Minister Arsen Torosian on Friday sounded a note of caution over a decreased rate of new coronavirus cases in Armenia, saying that the epidemic is not yet ending and requires continued harsh measures by the authorities.

According to the Armenian Ministry of Health, the total number of coronavirus cases rose by less than 2 percent, to 937, in the past day. The ministry also reported two more fatalities which raised the countrys coronavirus death toll to 12.

The official figure marked the fifth consecutive day of a relatively slow spread of the virus in the country. The daily number of COVID-19 infections rose by over 10 percent earlier in April and in late March.

We cannot reckon that the spread is stopping or dying down by 100 percent, said Torosian. Why? Because while we previously had 50 cases [a day,] they typically originated from a single source: for example, 50 employees of a large manufacturing plant. Now we are having 16, 20 or 30 cases a day but from 10 or 20 different sources.

This is making it harder for the authorities to identify and isolate people who have been in contact with known COVID-19 patients, he told members of an Armenian parliament committee on healthcare and social affairs.

We must take these [epidemiological] actions as long as we can, Torosian went on. When we become exhausted  we will have to give up some of these actions and keep only testing and treatment and stop doing isolations because the spread will be very serious and they wont make sense.

The Armenian government declared a state of emergency on March 16 and went on to issue stay-at-home orders and close nonessential businesses in an effort to contain the epidemic. It has to decide by Monday whether to extend the one-month emergency rule and the resulting lockdown.

Torosian signaled support for such an extension, saying that the restrictions on peoples movement have already saved hundreds of lives.

All that is due to our measures taken in the last two months, he said, pointing to Armenias small death toll. They are very harsh for the economy, peoples psyche and the workload of medical personnel, but these are the results we have at the moment.

Our task is to move forward while keeping the number of deaths and the burden on hospitals low, added the minister. We now feel a bit more confident in terms of the number of hospital beds and lung ventilation devices at our disposal.

Armenia imported 120 such ventilators, 60,000 coronavirus test kits, 340,000 medical masks, 100,000 pieces of protective medical clothing as well as medication from China earlier this week. The medical supplies were purchased by the Armenian government or donated by Chinese authorities and private benefactors from the two countries.

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian said on Friday that Armenia will receive another 100,000 test kits in the coming days. He reaffirmed government plans to significantly expand COVID-19 testing.
A cop took to the street streets singing 'Bohot tedha hai corona, teri himmat aazmaega' - an adaptation of the classic 'Hai apna dil to awara' from the 1958 film 'Solva Saal' -here on Thursday in order to generate awareness regarding the coronavirus crisis.

The performance was a duet of an official playing the mouth organ-- also known as the harmonica-- and the policeman singing the song.

Through the musical performance, the police officer urged the people to beware of the deadly virus and residents to say Namaste instead of a handshake and adhere to the rule of social distancing.

The audience was enthralled by the performance and were seen clapping and enjoying it.

Police officials from across the country are indulging in innovative methods to ensure that people are aware of the impact the coronavirus can inflict. From wearing coronavirus themed helmets to performing jingles matching to the current scenario.

Last week, cops in Kolkata took to streets singing 'We shall overcome' to generate awareness among people with respect to the coronavirus spread and instil confidence in them. Whereas in Chennai, Inspector Rajesh Kumar visited different markets in Villivakkam area to spread awareness about the COVID-19 wearing a coronavirus themed mask, shield, and mace.

India's total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 6,412 on Friday. With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the death toll stands at 199.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At the UN Security Councils virtual meeting on the coronavirus pandemic late on Thursday, the United States called for science-based data collection and analysis of the origins, characteristics and spread of the virus.

We cannot stress enough how important these methods are, Ambassador Kelly Kraft told the security council at its first closed-door meeting to discuss the pandemic that has killed 90,000 and infected 1.5 million people across 200 countries.

Ambassador Kelly Crafts reference on the origin of the virus echoes a point that US President Donald Trump and his administration has frequently made, variously labelling the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen the Chinese Virus to underscore that it was spotted in the Chinese city of Wuhan and message that Beijing should have acted faster to warn the world.

China has blocked the pandemic from being discussed by the UN Security Council for all of March when it held the UNSC presidents post, arguing that the pandemic was not within its mandate.

Washington, on the other hand, insisted that any council action refer to the origins of the virus, much to the annoyance of China. US President Trump had set the tone for his administrations stand at Thursdays council meeting this week when he put the World Health Organisation on notice, calling it China centric and giving the US bad advice.

The United States reiterates today the need for complete transparency and the timely sharing of public health data and information within the international community. The most effective way to contain this pandemic is through accurate, science-based data collection and analysis of the origins, characteristics, and spread of the virus, Ambassador Kelly Craft said early in her remarks on the disease.

Chinas UN Ambassador Zhang Jun, according to news agency Reuters, told the Security Council that it should reject any acts of stigmatization and politicisation.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who briefed the council about the pandemic, described it as the gravest test since the UN was founded 75 years ago.

The secretary-general reiterated that the United Nations faces its gravest test since the organization was founded 75 years ago from the pandemic and concluded saying: This is the fight of a generation  and the raison detre of (the reason for) the United Nations itself.

The council had met on Thursday at the request of nine of the elected members. After the meeting the council issued a short statement, agreed by consensus, which expressed support for Guterres efforts concerning the potential impact of Covid-19 pandemic to conflict-affected countries.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The federal Health Minister has warned Australians it is vital to follow social distancing restrictions over the Easter weekend.

'This, in many ways, is the most important weekend we may face in the whole course of the virus,' Greg Hunt said on Thursday.

The country has seen the rate of coronavirus infections drop in recent days to the point where we have seen less than 100 new cases in 24 for the first time in three weeks,

Two police officers patrol along Cottesloe Beach in Perth, 10 April 2020 while the beach remains open police keep an eye out for social distancing rule breakers gathering in groups

International arrivals at the Sofitel in the Sydney CBD are escorted by police them to their 14-day quarantine on April 10

However, in an effort to prevent a resurgence in infections, state authorities will be out in force cracking down social distancing rule breakers during the four-day religious holiday.

'As we go into Easter with welcome news for Australia, the virus does not take a holiday, therefore none of us can relax what we do,' Mr Hunt said.

'If we can lock in the gains that we've made as a nation through the courage and sacrifice of those on the health, medical and policing frontlines, but also through the immense goodwill and discipline of Australians, then we can help really protect Australian lives going forward and give ourselves the pathway through.'

Australia has seen more than 6,000 cases of coronavirus with about half recovered

States and territories have brought in fines for social distancing rule breakers

Police have the ability to fine people who visit the beach, travel interstate, attend church services, and even hold family gatherings.

Enforcing federal government guidelines on prohibiting gatherings larger than two people fall onto state governments.

Each state and territory has quickly passed the policies into law - imposing fines and penalties for those who break restrictions.

Police have said they are using foot patrols, helicopters, and number plate recognition technology to catch out those flouting the rules.

'You can't go to an Airbnb, you can't camp, you can't caravan, you can't boat, you can't fish. Those are very clear rules,' Victoria's police minister Lis Neville said.

'You can't catch up with friends or family that don't currently live with you,' she added.

Queensland has gone a step further by closing it's borders to anyone who does not hold a resident's permit.

However, some holiday-makers on the Gold Coast are not taking the situation seriously with police saying people were out sunbaking and congregating on the regions beaches.

New South Wales, meanwhile, has brought in additional fines this week for people who deliberately spit or cough on frontline workers such as police or ambulance officers.

Police around the country have already handed out hundreds of fines in the last few days for lockdown rule breakers.
Main opposition party to blame for candidates' absurd remarks



The leadership of the largest opposition United Future Party (UFP) apologized Thursday for absurd remarks by Cha Myung-jin, one of its candidates in the upcoming April 15 general election. "Fellow citizens, we are very sorry for disappointing and angering you," said Kim Chong-in, chief of the party's election committee. UFP leader Hwang Kyo-ahn also bowed his head, saying, "I offer my sincere apology to you."



During a TV debate Wednesday, Cha said that a bereaved family member of a victim of the 2014 ferry disaster allegedly committed indecent acts with a supporter inside a protest tent in the heart of Seoul, citing a peripheral media report. It is more than deplorable how a person can be so brazen and shameless as well as utterly devoid of decency. The UFP's response may appear to be swift and resolute. However, the conservative party should realize its past leniency toward such ludicrous acts is behind the recent series of gaffes and blunders.



The latest incident should have been fully expected when the party nominated Cha to run for election in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. In April last year, Cha said, "These bereaved family members have squeezed out the last drop of benefits from the deaths of the Sewol ferry victims." Despite the nominating panel's avowal to exclude applicants hurling rough words, Cha was resurrected through a preliminary. Party leader Hwang cannot avoid responsibility for the situation by dragging his feet in disciplining party members who make problematic remarks and are involved in this sort of misbehavior. Voters will find it hard to trust Hwang's real intentions behind the ostensible apology.



At the heart of the ongoing affairs are the UFP's regressive practices, which have not changed a bit from the days of ousted former President Park Geun-hye. Since the unprecedented impeachment of a sitting president, the party has put forth slogans like "new conservatives" and "change and innovation." However, a series of reckless remarks by its candidates shows that the party has not changed at all. Without a modicum of self-reflection or demonstrating innovative visions, the conservative party is asking for votes just to rebuke the government and the ruling party. This is a moment for the UFP to look upon itself with a cool head.






Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
English Finnish

Sanoma Corporation, Stock Exchange Release, [10 April 2020 at xx:xx EET]

The Dutch ACM gives its unconditional approval for DPG Media to acquire Sanoma Media Netherlands

After its assessment, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has today given its unconditional approval to DPG Media to acquire Sanoma Media Netherlands. The transaction will be completed within the next two weeks.

Sanoma announced it has signed an agreement to divest its strategic business unit Sanoma Media Netherlands to DPG Media on 10 December 2019 ( https://sanoma.com/release/sanoma-divests-its-strategic-business-unit-sanoma-media-netherlands-to-dpg-media-2/ ).

Additional information

Kaisa Uurasmaa, Head of Investor Relations and CSR, tel. +358 40 560 5601

Sanoma

Sanoma is a front running learning and media company impacting the lives of millions every day. We enable teachers to excel at developing the talents of every child, provide consumers with engaging content, and offer unique marketing solutions to business partners.
I heard schools are closed until "further notice". What does that mean?

Previously, it was announced that schools were closed until Sunday April 19, which marks the end of the traditional Easter break,

However, with general restrictions on movement and physical distances being extended, on public health grounds, it makes sense that the schools' shutdown is also stretched out further.

Second-level schools would be due to close at the end of May, so it may be that they won't reopen.

There is a greater prospect that some or all primary school pupils may return to the classroom in the current school year, as primary schools don't close officially until the end of June.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar expressed hope today that they would be able to start relaxing general restrictions after May 5, but everything depends on public health advice. Education Minister Joe McHugh said that steps to reopen schools would only be taken when public heath advice assured that it was ok to do so.

Are we sure that the public health restrictions will be lifted by late July/August, to allow the Leaving cert go ahead?

We can't be certain , but the hope is that, at the very least, the rules will be relaxed.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) said that the decision to postpone the Junior Cycle exams recognised the need to prioritise the running of the Leaving Cert in order to allow sixth-year students to progress to higher and further education, or to the world of work.

The SEC said that retaining all of the available space that was to be used for both sets of exams would allow for a significant reduction in the number of Leaving Cert candidates in each exam centre.

They said that, at all stages, the health and safety of candidates, exam superintendents, school staff and others involved in the delivery of the examinations system will be at the forefront of their approach.

And what about the Junior Cycle exams in schools in September?

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) will provide schools with the exam papers and related materials they need to deliver these tests when schools reopen. All of the remaining elements of the Junior Cycle, project work, course work and assessment tasks, will also be rescheduled to that time.

If the Leaving Cert is off until July/August, what's the deadline for practical projects and course work?

A range of subjects involve these elements - computer science, PE performance, technology, art, agricultural science, agricultural economics, history, geography, RE, politics and society, music composition, construction studies and home economics (textiles).

The deadline for submission of work will now be immediately prior to the commencement of the written examinations in the late July/August period.

And what about practical exams, that were scheduled to run between April 27 and May 8?

A number of practical exams, supervised by school-appointed superintendents in engineering, art life sketching and construction studies, and a practical and written exam in computer science scheduled for May 27, will now take place in the late July/August period.

Does the same hold for the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) and LCVP Link Modules?

The LCA personal reflection task, scheduled for completion on May 1, will now be completed by the start of the written examinations in the late July/August period.

The following will be rescheduled for the late July/August period.

LCA oral exams; LCA practical performance tests in hotel catering & tourism; office administration and customer care; active leisure studies; hair & beauty; agriculture/horticulture; LCA ICT practical performance and written exam.

Does postponing the Leaving Cert to the end of July/early August mean teachers will have to work during their holidays?

The Minister wants Leaving Cert students back in school for at least two weeks before the exams, which are now rescheduled to start around the last week of July/early August .

Schools are remaining closed until further notice, so second-level schools may not reopen in the normal way before the end of May, when classes usually finish to allow for the sitting of the State exams.

Even though there's lots of digital teaching and learning going on, it would be very important for Leaving Cert candidates to be back face-to-face with teachers for a period before the exams.

Have the teachers' unions said anything?

Yes, in a joint statement, ASTI and the TUI said they fully understood the decision to defer the State exams and welcomed that the Government was still focused on running the Leaving Cert, given both its importance and the high level of public trust that it enjoyed.

They said they remained committed to serving the best interests of students, as evidenced by the wholehearted engagement of teachers with remote teaching and learning over recent weeks.

They also acknowledged the work being done by others to meet the enormous challenges facing society. The executive committees of the two unions are meeting remotely this evening and we should know more after that.

What about my CAO application and my hopes of going to college in September?

The admissions process for higher education, managed by CAO, will operate as closely as possible to the usual timeframe for offers , although the entry date for first-year students will be delayed.

The Department has asked the Higher Education Authority and the higher education sector to explore ways of assisting access to higher education for students from under-represented groups.

The Irish Universities Association said this evening that universities would work with the CAO and other stakeholders to ensure that new students could begin their studies as soon as possible after the publication of the 2020 Leaving Certificate results, but would be guided in this, and other matters relating to the 2020/21 year, by the latest public health advice.

Phew! That's a lot to take in.

It sure is, which is why second-level school principal and management bodies issued a joint statement this evening, saying that in light of the revised schedule: "We would ask that our students take a complete break from their studies in this Easter period so that they can return refreshed and renewed to the learning process."
Conservative actor James Woods took a swipe at actress Alyssa Milano, telling her to 'buy more ammo' after she urged Americans to stop stockpiling guns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, Milano, 47, shared a video to Twitter to encourage her followers to practice gun safety after reports revealed nervous citizens have caused a surge in gun and ammunition sales.

Actor James Woods (left) told actress Alyssa Milano (right) to 'buy more ammo' after she pushed back against stockpiling guns during the coronavirus outbreak

'Americans bought over 2 million firearms in March of 2020, over a million more than this time last year. We have to keep each other safe by social distancing and washing our hands and not bringing dangerous firearms into our homes,' she wrote.

'I know we that we are all scared and really stressed out during these uncertain times. But that's exactly why stockpiling weapons could have dire consequences for our personal safety and those around us. '

Milano (pictured): 'I know we that we are all scared and really stressed out during these uncertain times. But that's exactly why stockpiling weapons could have dire consequences...'

Milano added that guns being purchased during the outbreak - which has infected 469,450 and killed 16,715 in the US - could 'end up being used in households, schools, churches, bars and on our streets in the future.'

Woods, 72, who has an ardent pro-gun stance, replied to Milano's plea with a quip.

'Thank you for the reminder,' he wrote. 'When the looting starts, always be prepared. Buy more ammo!'

As early as mid-March, people flooded to gun and ammunition shops amid the uncertainty of the pandemic.

California, New York and Washington - the states hardest hit by the deadly bug - all saw a massive surge in gun sales.

Acording to the The Wall Street Journal, police officers in New York state said burglaries in commercial areas have increased by 75 percent as of March 12, when Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency.

Some buyers sought to 'protect their families' from looters should food and supplies run out due to coronavirus panic.

As the coronavirus spread across the United States, concerned Americans rushed to gun shops to purchase weapons and ammunition

Some reasons for the sudden surge in gun sales comes from people who want to 'protect their families' and Asian Americans who fear possible racial attacks

Others feared that the government's emergency powers could restrict their right to buy a gun while some Asian-Americans bought weapons to protect themselves from potential racist attacks.

Huge lines stretched along the sidewalk outside the Martin B. Retting gun store in Culver City, California.

Another stretch of shoppers was seen outside Gun World in Burbank.

US correspondent for Australian network Nine News Amelia Adams tweeted: 'Queues to buy guns in LA. Buyers tell me they're scared of what will happen if people run out of food and supplies, and they need to protect their families.'

John Gore, 39, who lined up outside the Martin B. Retting store one Saturday in March, told the LA Times: 'Politicians and anti-gun people have been telling us for the longest time that we don't need guns.

A worker restocks handguns at Davidson Defense in Orem, Utah on March 20. Gun sales have surged during the coronavirus pandemic

A worker inspects an AR-15 gun at Davidson Defense in Orem, Utah, this month

'But right now, a lot of people are truly scared, and they can make that decision themselves.'

Anna - who had never bought a gun before - said: 'It's not like an active panic, more a preoccupation with making sure everyone is adequately prepared, myself and family and friends.

'Better to be prepared and not need it than need it and not have it.'

Ralph Charette, 71, spent $1,500 at a store in Germantown, Wisconsin and told USA Today: 'There's so much uncertainty and paranoia but you've got to protect your own.'

Gun sales also soared in San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles, as Asian-Americans feared they could be victims of racist attacks due to coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China.

Arcadia Firearm & Safety David Liu told CBSN that many are fearing for their safety should people in their local area catch the bug.

Online ammunition store Ammo.com said there has been a 68 per cent increase in sales from February 23 - when Italy's major outbreak was first reported.

Donald Trump urged Americans not to stockpile food and told citizens to 'take it easy' on Sunday.

Vice President Mike Pence also insisted that food stores will stay open indefinitely.

Trump also insisted the outbreak is under 'tremendous control'.

The president said the federal, state and local governments are all working with these retail leaders, including Walmart, Costco, Target, Whole Foods, Publix and several more, to ensure there are no shortages of goods and food.
Age of Coronavirus: Pandemic Exposes Health Insurance Gaps As unemployment claims skyrocket to unprecedented levels amid the COVID-19 outbreak, millions of Amercians suddenly are being pushed out of work - and often out of health insurance coverage. In just three weeks, nearly 17 million Americans have filed first-time unemployment claims. Within weeks, the nation's unemployment rate is widely expected to surge into double-digits.

Progressive advocacy reminds us that the only way the current system proves effective for the working-class is if they never get sick . . . Here's advocacy/journalism attacking an admitted weak point for the GOP in 2020 among the sickly, the broke-ass, socialists missing Bernie badly and a few random voters who don't want to just blame brown people for all of their problems.Read more:
For weeks, EU member states have struggled to present a united front in the face of the pandemic, squabbling over money, medical equipment, and drugs, border restrictions and trade curbs, amid fraught talks laying bare their bitter divisions.

Brussels: European Union finance ministers agreed on Thursday on half-a-trillion euros worth of support for their coronavirus-battered economies but left open the question of how to finance recovery in the bloc headed for a steep recession.

The agreement was reached after EU powerhouse Germany, as well as France, put their feet down to end opposition from the Netherlands over attaching economic conditions to emergency credit for governments weathering the impacts of the pandemic, and offered Italy assurances that the bloc would show solidarity.

But the deal does not mention using joint debt to finance recovery - something Italy, France and Spain pushed strongly for but which is a red line for Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and Austria.

It only defers to the blocs 27 national leaders whether innovative financial instruments should be applied, meaning many more fraught discussions on the matter were still ahead.

Europe has shown that it can rise to the occasion of this crisis, said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, praising what he said was the most important economic plan in EU history.

Earlier on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that the EUs very existence would be under threat if it could not come together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus.

For weeks, EU member states have struggled to present a united front in the face of the pandemic, squabbling over money, medical equipment, and drugs, border restrictions and trade curbs, amid fraught talks laying bare their bitter divisions.

While Le Maire said the Thursday agreement paved the way for debt mutualisation, his Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, stressed the opposite.

We are and will remain opposed to Eurobonds. We think this concept will not help Europa or the Netherlands in the long-term, Hoekstra said after talks ended.

Strained solidarity

Mario Centeno, who chaired the Thursday talks after sixteen hours of all-night discussions earlier this week failed to yield a deal, said 100 billion euros would go to a scheme to subsidise wages so that firms can cut working hours, not jobs.

The European Investment Bank would step up lending to companies with 200 billion euros and the euro zones European Stability Mechanism (ESM) bailout fund would make 240 billion euros of cheap credit available to governments, he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier in the day talked on the phone with Conte and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, paving the way for the eventual agreement, which now awaits approval from the blocs 27 national leaders in the coming days.

She said she agreed with Conte on the urgent need for solidarity in Europe, which is going through one of its most difficult hours, if not the most difficult.

Merkel also made clear Berlin would not agree to jointly issued debt, but said other financial avenues were available.

Discussions on that have so far been fraught between the more fiscally conservative north and the indebted south, which has been hit hardest by the pandemic.

The package would bring the EUs total fiscal response to the epidemic to $3.5 trillion, the biggest in the world.

But controversy remained over how to kickstart economic growth, with European Economics Commissioner, Paolo Gentiloni, saying the money for that could be raised against the blocs next joint budget for 2021-27.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The Las Vegas City Schools board of education president was arrested Tuesday after firing one or more shots near his stepson during a family dispute.

Robert Duran III allegedly slapped his stepdaughter Monday and then was confronted by his stepson Tuesday, according to a statement of probable cause filed with the San Miguel County Magistrate Court.

After discussing via phone the initial incident, the stepson went to Durans house.

Duran claimed his stepson walked up the driveway towards R. Durans pickup truck in attempt to confront him, the report said. As the stepson closed distance towards him, R. Duran reached into the drivers side door compartment and pulled out his firearm (a black Glock 9-mm handgun).

Duran told the stepson to leave the property and the stepson began to walk away, the report said, but he stopped and began to yell at Duran.

Duran then pointed his firearm towards the ground and shot one round in attempt to scare (the stepson) away, the report said.

The stepson, however, gave police a different version of the story. He said that when talking with Duran on the phone, he wanted to know why Duran slapped the stepdaughter.

Yeah I did and what, Duran told the stepson, according to the report. What the (expletive) are you going to do about it?

The stepson said he felt he was being challenged and went to speak with Duran in person. As he walked up the driveway, Duran said, get off my property, I dont want you here, at which point Duran immediately pulled out a gun and fired two or three rounds toward (the stepsons) feet.

As the stepson walked away, Duran then pointed his firearm at the stepsons face, later adding he would blast him, the report said.

The stepson told police he felt threatened by R. Duran and feared for his life.

Duran was booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center Tuesday afternoon on a felony charge of aggravated assault (deadly weapon)  solicitation and a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon (unsafe handling). He was arraigned on those charges Wednesday afternoon at the San Miguel County Magistrate Court and then was released, according to a court employee.

Duran did not respond to a phone message seeking comment.
Tzi Ma and Christine Ko in "Tigertail," a drama from Alan Yang, now streaming on Netflix. (Sarah Shatz / Netflix)

In the opening 10 minutes of his affecting new film "Tigertail," writer-director Alan Yang introduces us to the movie's central character, Pin-Jui, in three stages of his life  as a young boy, a fledgling adult and, finally, a retiree  asking viewers to reconcile how a once-vital human could have turned so inward that he now leads a life that amounts to solitary confinement.

It's a mystery that Yang reveals methodically, purposefully, building toward a moving resolution that could prompt a few parents to share life stories with their adult children. I mean, we've got the time right now, don't we? And since "Tigertail" is streaming on Netflix, you don't have to be sheltering in the same home to partake. Set up a Zoom meeting for an after-movie heart-to-heart. Just remember to keep a box of tissues within reach.

"Tigertail" examines those unspoken family stories and, specifically, serves as a nuanced look at the Taiwanese immigrant experience  the sacrifices, the loneliness and the sheer exhaustion that can break people and leave them unrecognizable.

The heart of Yang's film  his feature debut after co-creating the vibrant Netflix comedy series "Master of None" and Amazon's underrated marriage story show "Forever"  is the relationship between the adult Pin-Jui (played by the great Tzi Ma) and his grown daughter, Angela (Christine Ko). Or, to be more specific, the absence of a relationship. Their time together is marked by pained silence. What wounds Angela is not just the lack of conversation, but her father's willful impenetrability. "Maybe it's easier if we just stopped trying," she tells him.

Certainly, the notion of the emotionally distant Asian father has been mined in movies. What distinguishes "Tigertail" is the way Yang explores Pin-Jui's earlier life as a means of showing how duty and obligation brought him to that place. And as Yang takes us on that journey with him, he also offers a low-key lesson for redemption  examine the past to escape regret.

Story continues

Pin-Jui's history in Taiwan is steeped in loss, resulting in tears, which bring about familial reprimands. "Crying never solves anything," his grandmother (Li-li Pan) tells him. "Be strong. Never let anyone see you cry."

But when we see Pin-Jui as a carefree young man (a charming Hong-Chi Lee), he's far from a tortured soul. Yes, he's impoverished, working in a sugar factory and living with his mother (Kuei-Mei Yang). But he's also a good dancer, picking up his technique from watching American movies, and he's enjoying romancing the beautiful Yuan (Yo-Hsing Fang) with his impetuousness and impeccable appreciation for music. (Who could resist Yao Su Rong?)

Because Yang himself possesses discriminating taste (the music choices on "Master of None" were consistently wide-ranging and inspired), the scenes between Yuan and Pin-Jui owe a certain debt to Wong Kar-wai, boasting a restrained sensuality tinged with sadness. And because we've already glimpsed the graying Pin-Jui, flabby and stoic, we know, like the entanglements in Wong's masterpieces, this particular story doesn't have a happy ending.

But there are a few stories in "Tigertail." I haven't even mentioned the one that brings Pin-Jui to America, as its revelations are best left to be discovered. (Another surprise: Joan Chen's in this movie, appearing memorably toward the end.) Most of the film's episodes and characters are fully realized, save for Angela's, whose personal upheavals are only broadly sketched. Her journey is tied to her father's, separate lives longing for a mutual understanding that eventually, fittingly, begins and ends in silence.
Goans should not be used as "guinea pigs" in battle against COVID-19: Kamat

Panaji, Apr 10 (UNI) Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat on Friday said said that Goans should not be used as "guinea pigs" in the battle against COVID-19.

In a tweet, he said," Use of Ayurveda for #Covid19. Has GOI Health Ministry & IEC approved the medicines? Has

@moayush got approval from @WHO
Delhi airport operator DIAL is assessing post-lockdown domestic air traffic demand along with the airlines and evaluating if consolidation of terminals is required, it said on Friday.

Four days back, the Singapore government had announced that the Changi airport would close its Terminal 2 for 18 months from the beginning of next month, following a sharp drop in passenger traffic due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Delhi airport has three terminals while Singapore's Changi has four.

The GMR group-led Delhi Airport International Limited (DIAL) clarified in a statement that it had no immediate plans to defer any ongoing expansion works.

"DIAL is assessing the quantum of domestic demand along with the airlines, once the suspension of operations is lifted. Various options, including the potential of consolidating terminal operations, are being evaluated depending on the airline requirements as well as government notifications/advisories that may be issued from time to time," the airport operator said in its statement.

"Even during the ongoing suspension of commercial operations due to the lockdown, Delhi Airport continues to handle 25-30 operations per day - primarily cargo and evacuation flights. Also, as of now, there are no immediate plans to defer any ongoing expansion works," the DIAL added.

India has imposed a 21-day lockdown till April 14 to curb the coronavirus outbreak. Consequently, all domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended for the time period.

However, cargo flights, offshore helicopter operations, medical evacuation flights and special flights permitted by Indian aviation regulator DGCA are permitted to operate during the lockdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
On the initiative of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, chairman of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States Ilham Aliyev, an extraordinary Summit of the Turkic Council has today been held through videoconferencing.

The Summit focused on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

President Ilham Aliyev made a speech at the Summit.

Speech by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

- Dear heads of state and government,

Dear Director-General of the World Health Organization,

Dear friends!

My warm greetings to all of you. I thank you for supporting the initiative of holding an emergency Summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, which was put forward by Azerbaijan as the chairing country. The organization of the Summit just a few days after the launch of this initiative indicates that the Turkic Council is built on the basis of friendship and fraternity.

I would like to express my gratitude to the Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for joining the Summit.

The Summit agenda has been shared. If there are no proposals on the agenda, then we can get down to work.

Dear colleagues, as you know, the 7th Summit of the Cooperation Council of the Turkic-Speaking States was held in Baku in October last year. During that summit, Azerbaijan took over chairmanship and immediately began to act as the chairing country. During the chairmanship, we have been making efforts to further enhance the authority of the organization in the world and strengthen cooperation among our countries.

Coronavirus, defying all borders, has spread throughout the world and led to tragic consequences. I wish the repose of the souls of those who died from the pandemic in our country and in the world. Let me express my condolences to their families and wish those infected a speedy recovery.

The Turkic Council is the first international organization on a global scale to hold a summit on the COVID-19 pandemic at the level of heads of state. This is further clear evidence of our high-level solidarity. The common roots that unite us, our history, culture and national values are an important basis for mutually beneficial activities.

The coronavirus pandemic requires a global response because it is a global threat. Since the first days of the pandemic, we have witnessed some countries and international organizations being confused by the coronavirus and choosing the path of self-closure. In the current circumstances of the global pandemic, the world needs solidarity and cooperation.

Azerbaijan has taken prompt and proactive steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Restrictive measures were taken in accordance with the prevailing conditions. At the beginning of this year, the Task Force was set up under the Cabinet of Ministers on my executive order. Starting from 3 March, teaching in all educational institutions of the country was suspended until 20 April. All public events planned in the country were postponed or canceled. A special regime which envisaged a series of social isolation measures was introduced on 14 March and a special quarantine regime on 24 March. The activities of shopping and entertainment centers were suspended, people were not allowed to enter parks and public places of recreation. The operation of intercity transport and the Baku underground was completely suspended. Since 5 April, a restriction on movement was introduced in the country. With the exception of persons involved in the activities of a number of public and private institutions, all other citizens are allowed to leave their places of residence in specific cases and within a certain time interval using an SMS-based permit system.

Since early days of the fight against the pandemic, Azerbaijan has fruitfully cooperated with the World Health Organization. We invited the organization's specialists to Azerbaijan in early March. Our invitation was accepted in a short time. Thus, on 9-13 March, a delegation of leading specialists of the organization visited our country. They were familiarized with the situation in our country and praised the work done. The recommendations contained in the report prepared by the expert mission are taken into account by relevant government agencies.

In his letter sent to me on 23 March, Director General of the World Health Organization Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the work done in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is considered as an exemplary country for the measures taken against the pandemic.

Azerbaijan plays an active role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic both domestically and globally. Azerbaijan has demonstrated global solidarity and provided voluntary financial assistance to the World Health Organization in the fight against coronavirus. On 13 March, Azerbaijan signed a donor agreement to provide voluntary financial assistance to the COVID-19 Appeal Fund within the framework of the World Health Organization's Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. We appreciate the important role the World Health Organization has been playing in the global fight against the pandemic.

Comprehensive work has been done in the healthcare system of Azerbaijan over the course of 16 years, the professional level of doctors has increased, more than 750 healthcare institutions have been built or fully renovated. More than 5 million people in Azerbaijan undergo medical examination at the expense of the state every year.

Patients infected with coronavirus are being treated in more than 20 public hospitals. The most modern hospital of our country for 575 beds, called the Yeni klinika", was recently made available to these patients. In March this year, three new hospitals with a total of 500 beds were commissioned in three cities of our country. These hospitals are also available to patients infected with coronavirus. There are plans to build and commission 10 modern modular-type hospitals with 200 beds each shortly, six of which will be built by the state and four by private entrepreneurs.

We appreciate the achievements of our doctors and medical workers in the fight against coronavirus. The salaries of doctors serving coronavirus-infected people have been increased three, four and five times. This is a manifestation of the governments care for doctors.

More than 15,000 Azerbaijani citizens have been evacuated from various countries, including charter flights organized at the expense of the state. All citizens returned to the country are placed at state expense in four- and five-star hotels, in special quarantine zones. Quarantined individuals are also housed in the Athletes Village, which was opened during the first European Games.

In the conditions of mutual understanding and coordination with neighboring states, land and air transport communications have been temporarily suspended, except for international trade transportation. International air transportation of passengers has also been suspended with other countries.

So far, about 60,000 tests for coronavirus have been carried out in Azerbaijan. The number of tests per million people exceeds 5,200. For the number of tests, we are in the 30th place and for the number of tests conducted per million people in the 40th place in the world. There are 18 testing laboratories in Azerbaijan, five of which have been set up recently.

Currently, the acquisition of medical equipment and supplies has become problematic in the world. Countries have limited the sale of equipment and supplies. Therefore, there was a need for domestic production. To meet the domestic demand, an enterprise for the production of medical masks was quickly launched in our country in early April.

A Fund to Fight Against Coronavirus was established in Azerbaijan on my initiative. Currently, the amount of donations transferred into the Fund exceeds 110 million manats, or $65 million. Along with state funds, voluntary donations into the Fund from individuals, entrepreneurs and organizations are of great symbolic importance. This is an example of solidarity in Azerbaijani society.

It is no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has hit the economies of the world. 2.5 billion manats, or about $1.5 billion, were allocated to maintain economic stability in Azerbaijan, solve the problems associated with unemployment and maintain the stability of the macroeconomic and financial situation. In order to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on the country's economy, on macroeconomic stability, employment issues and businesses, the Cabinet of Ministers has prepared and approved an Action Plan. If we take into account the sectors and individual entrepreneurs affected by coronavirus, we can see that about 600,000 people are worst affected by this situation. Entrepreneurs have been urged not to lay off workers. The state will pay a significant part of the salaries of more than 300,000 people working in 44,000 business entities. In addition, more than 290,000 representatives of micro and private entrepreneurship will also benefit from state support. These programs cover a total of about 600,000 people. Employment and preservation of wages of more than 900,000 workers in the public sector and 690,000 workers in the private sector have been ensured. A total of 50,000 paid public jobs will be created for the social protection of the unemployed. One-off payments to registered unemployed persons have begun. A state guarantee will be provided for 60 percent of loans in the amount of 500 million manats, or about $300 million, recently issued to entrepreneurs. Half of the interest rate on guaranteed loans will be subsidized from the state budget. The state will also subsidize 10 percent of the interest rate on existing bank loans in the amount of 1 billion manats, or about $600 million that do not have state guarantees. To do this, 50 million manats, or about $30 million, have been allocated from the state budget. The main objective of this measure is to assist entrepreneurs who are experiencing difficulties in paying interest due to the pandemic. As a result of the measures of social isolation, the consumption of electricity by the population has increased. With this in mind, concessions have been made for utility bills. These programs are only part of state support. Work is currently under way on other mechanisms of state support.

Dear friends, I believe that the main goal of today's extraordinary summit is to exchange experience in the actions we are taking at national level, support each other at the right time and strengthen solidarity among our peoples. In the current conditions of the global pandemic, member states of the Turkic Council did not withdraw into themselves. The Turkic Council as an organization is ready to cooperate with other international organizations. Azerbaijan also provides support to individual countries.

Of great importance to our economies, trade relations and import-export operations is transportation. Azerbaijan, responsibly treating its role as a transit and logistical center between Turkey and Central Asia, has taken additional measures to transport transit goods. In the conditions of mutual understanding and coordination among our countries, international cargo transportation is carried out continuously. Despite the negative impact of the pandemic, in the first three months of 2020, more than 180,000 tons of goods were transported from Turkic-speaking countries through Azerbaijan, which is 40,000 tons more than in the same period of last year.

There are good opportunities for our cooperation in the field of health services, including the exchange of experience by medical specialists, and the creation of joint medical commissions. In addition, it is important to provide support and assistance to each other's citizens finding themselves in our countries due to the temporary cessation of passenger transport. The measures we have taken are aimed at protecting the health of our countries and alleviating the socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic and ensuring the sustainable development of our economies. I do hope that our countries and peoples overcome this difficult situation with dignity and make a significant contribution to the global fight against the pandemic. Thank you for your attention.

***

Speakers at the event included Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbai Jeenbekov, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, and Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States Baghdad Amreyev.

***

Speaking at the end of the Summit, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

- Thank you, Mr. Secretary General.

I believe that the secretariat should record all the proposals made in the speeches and, summarizing them, submit them to all countries for approval. I am sure that these valuable proposals will be taken into consideration. Thus, by successfully continuing the next stage of our cooperation and showing unity in the fight against coronavirus, we will defeat this misfortune.

I would like to ask my dear brothers if there are any problems, questions or suggestions.

If there are not, then allow me to make a closing statement, after which the adoption of a Declaration is envisaged.

- Dear friends!

I want to once again express my deep appreciation to my dear brothers for accepting our initiative and participating in the Summit. I am sure that the valuable thoughts and suggestions made in the speeches today will strengthen our joint fight against coronavirus. At the same time, we need to further intensify the efforts after the pandemic to cooperate in the fields of economy, trade, transport and other areas to eliminate the negative impact of this disease.

Our solidarity and unity are exemplary. This suggests that we stand by each other not only in joy but also on difficult days. Solidarity and cooperation among countries and international organizations in the context of a global pandemic are of great importance. We are ready to cooperate with other international organizations. I believe that the Final Declaration of the Summit is a significant contribution to this cooperation.

Dear colleagues, I do hope that we will win the fight against coronavirus and get out of this difficult situation with small losses. And now the adoption of the Declaration is on the agenda. The text of the Declaration has been agreed and thus adopted.

Dear friends, thank you very much again for your active participation in the Summit and I declare the Summit closed. Thank you!

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Nearly 6% of San Francisco tenants were unable to pay April rent because of income lost due to the coronavirus pandemic and the shelter-in-place order that has brought economic activity to a halt throughout the region, according to a survey from the San Francisco Apartment Association.

The survey of 315 landlords who own 10,377 units citywide found that 596 residential residents, or 5.7%, were unable to pay all or part of April rent because of the coronavirus and its impacts. The average amount the tenant was unable to pay was $2,504  roughly $1.5 million in rent was not paid as of April 9.

Another 16%, 51 total, of the landlords surveyed had residents break their lease or unexpectedly give 30 days notice to vacate over the past month.

Its better than I would have expected, said landlord and property manager JJ Panzer. I thought there would be an avalanche of people not paying rent.

Panzer oversees 519 units in San Francisco, 35 of which are vacant. Of the remaining 484 units, 30 tenants  about 6%  didnt pay some or all of April rent because of lost income from the coronavirus crisis, he said. Seven of those paid partial rent  from as little as $200 up to 70%, he said.

Apartment owners stressed that the percentage of tenants unable to pay would likely rise sharply in May. Roughly 2.4 million California residents have filed for unemployment over the past three weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom said recently.

The apartment association numbers are consistent with a report issued Wednesday by Equity Residential, which controls 54 properties with about 13,000 units in the Bay Area. Equity Residential said the company had collected approximately 93% of its monthly residential cash receipts through Tuesday and is working with the remainder of its tenants on payment options.

For tenants, the prospects are bleak. For eight years corporate event photographer Rebecca Wilkowski has punctually paid rent on her apartment by Lake Merritt in Oakland.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle

I have perfect credit. I dont drink. I dont smoke. I dont have parties. I pay my rent on time, she said.

But when April 1 rolled around, Wilkowski knew she would not be able to pay the $1,900 she owed. All of her work contracts were canceled, and no inquiries about new assignments have rolled in. She has applied for several dozen grants, as well as a loan and unemployment benefits. The landlord of her 45-unit complex suggested that she take advantage of the downtime to work on fine art photography. She scoffed at the suggestion.

There is no time to relax, she said. This is my life in a total financial tailspin. Im working my tail off to keep my 20-year-old business afloat.

While San Francisco laws generally favor tenants, renters have much more leverage than usual under the set of emergency orders in place because of the coronavirus. On April 6, state judicial leaders barred courts from enforcing eviction orders against renters. The ruling held that eviction orders threaten to remove people from the very homes they have been instructed to remain in. The action halts legal procedures used by property owners to initiate and enforce evictions until 90 days after the governor declares an end to the current state of emergency. Thats likely at least through July.

Tenant attorney Joe Tobener said that he expects a huge increase in the number of tenants who wont be paying rent. More and more people are not going to be able to pay rent, and its not their fault, he said. And there is no way for landlords to collect right now and no way for them to get tenants out of the units.

With the courts closed until midsummer, it could be August before the first eviction cases come up. And even then most eviction cases wont be heard until 2021, Tobener said.

We are telling tenants that are in a desperate spot that they dont have to pay their rent and there is nothing their landlord can do about it, Tobener said.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

That reality could be tough for many landlords, who find themselves with mortgage, utility and tax payments due even as revenues decline. And landlords are also facing a big decline in commercial rent collection.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

About 50% of commercial tenants  mostly mom-and-pop retailers and restaurants  were unable to pay all or part of April rent due to the virus, according to the apartment association.

So far just 4.8% of housing providers have been able to work out mortgage forbearance with their lenders and 17% will be delaying paying their property taxes, which were due April 10. San Francisco extended that deadline to May 4, as did San Mateo County. Other counties say they may waive late-payment penalties.

Of the 30 retail and ground-floor office spaces Panzer is responsible for, 20 did not pay April rent. In one building at 22nd and Valencia streets in the Mission District  home to a restaurant, a bar, a clothing store and a laundromat  only the laundromat is still open.

The owner said he has made less than $300 since the shelter-in-place started, Panzer said. I told him, Dont worry about it. I guess everyone is washing their clothes in their sinks.

Landlord David Gruber, who owns 16 buildings, said that only about 3% of his tenants said they could not pay rent due to coronavirus-related income loss. He said he has not been asking for proof of lost income  just that the tenant check in every month for as long as the health emergency is going on.

We are trying to be as cooperative and helpful as we can be, Gruber said. The majority of people out there dont want to mess with their credit. These are people who have savings. They have jobs. They are able to weather the storm. They dont want to run up a bill they will have to owe later.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Sichuan province will subsidize new-vehicle sales produced locally to help spur demands and cushion the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Rural consumers across the country who purchase trucks with a load of 3.5 tons or below or passenger vehicles with emissions of 1.6 liters or below will be given subsidies of as least RMB1,000 per car by local governments from April 10 to August 10, 2020, according to a document jointly issued by Sichuan's provincial departments of economic & information, commerce and finance.



(Photo source: Hyundai Truck & Bus)



It is noteworthy that the new subsidy is an additional incentive on the basis of preferential prices offered by automakers over the past year. Besides, the cash handouts are merely available to vehicles locally produced in Sichuan, which has manufacturing plants of such automakers as FAW-Toyota, FAW-Volkswagen, Hyundai Truck & Bus, Volvo, DPCA (Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co.,Ltd.), Brilliance Auto as well as Yema.

Moreover, the latest policy also encourages car manufacturers to increase the subsidies to automobile replacement, interest subsidies to loans, extend the validity period of maintenance service and quality warranty.

Under the new policy, municipal or prefectural governments in Sichuan have the right to design details of measures and standards based on their own circumstances. Thus the amounts of subsidies are varied with change of locations, while RMB1,000 is the bottom line. The money shall be appropriated from the local government's fiscal funds with proper aid of Sichuan Provincial Industry Development Fund.

Up until now, a number of cities in China, such as Foshan, Guangzhou, Changsha, Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, Nanchang, Zhuhai, Chongqing, Changchun, and Ningbo, have all announced the policies about subsidy offering.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday hailed accredited social health activists, auxiliary nurse and midwives and anganwadi workers for their role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, saying they are "true patriots" who toil to keep communities safe in the midst of this grave crisis.

In an environment where fear and misinformation pose a bigger danger than the virus itself, community workers have a key role to play in educating people about the dangers of COVID-19 and the manner in which it is transmitted, Gandhi said.

In a message for Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), Auxiliary Nurse and Midwives (ANMs) and Anganwadi Workers, he said they are working with dedication and courage, putting their lives at risk, on the frontlines of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The greatest form of patriotism is to serve our country in her hour of need. Our community workers are true patriots, our unsung heroes, who toil tirelessly away from the limelight, to keep our communities safe in the midst of this grave crisis," the former Congress chief said.

"As a nation, we owe them and their families a huge debt of gratitude for the tremendous personal sacrifices each of them is making. I hope that when this crisis is over their exemplary service will serve as a catalyst for deep-rooted change in their conditions of work," he said.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Gandhi said he salutes each and every community worker for their service to the nation and prays that they and their families will remain safe during this pandemic.
President Donald Trump said he would unveil the members of his coronavirus economic task force next Tuesday and it will include members of both political parties.

Trump, at his daily White House press briefing on Friday, specifically praised Democratic Governors Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York, both of whom he has spoken to often during the coronavirus pandemic.

'We will be announcing names on Tuesday,' the president said, noting his task force will include medical experts, members of his administration, business executives and elected officials from both political parties.

President Donald Trump said he would unveil the members of his coronavirus economic task force next Tuesday

President Trump didn't name names but praised several Democratic governors, including Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York

Other names mentioned for the task force include White House adviser Ivanka Trump, chief of staff Mark Meadows, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and economic adviser Larry Kudlow.

Trump said his new task force, which will focus on when and how to reopen the country as it battles the coronavirus, would likely meet by teleconference because he doesn't want people traveling right now.

He said party membership was not a consideration.

'The one thing I didn't ask is are you a Republican or Democrat? Hard to believe, but I didn't ask,' he said of the group's membership.

He said governors will be included and mentioned several Democratic governors he's become friends with because of the outbreak, including Newsom, Cuomo, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, and John Bel Edwards of Louisiana.

'I've actually become friends with some of the Democrat governors that I wouldn't really have had the privilege of getting to know, Trump said.

'Governor Murphy of New Jersey is a very liberal guy. I'm not. But we've had a great relationship. As you know, I call him John Bell. John Bel Edwards. Sort of a cool name from Louisiana. I have a very good relationship with him,' he added.

He noted he and Newsom disagree on many things but have become friends: 'He wants open borders I want people to come into our country legally. But I've gotten very friendly with Gavin Newsom. He's done a very good job here.'

Trump, who was a lifelong New Yorker before changing his official residence to Florida, said Cuomo has 'been sort of a friend for a long time, don't get to see him much.'

'I spoke to him - last call just before walking in here,' Trump said.

'I've asked a couple of them. They've all said yes. So far, everyone said yes,' he said without giving a hint of which of the governors he's named will be on the team.

Trump has been advocating to reopen the country's economy as soon as possible.

'I want to get it open as soon as possible. This country was meant to be open and vibrant,' he said on Friday.

The president has been anxious to get things up and running amid the terrible jobless numbers and the tanking stock market. He has based his re-election campaign on a strong U.S. economy.

The viral outbreak is believed to have erased nearly one-third of the economy's output in the current quarter.

About 95 percent, or 48 states, are now under some form of lockdown with non-essential businesses shutting down. Restaurants, hotels, department stores and small businesses have laid off millions as they struggle to pay bills at a time when their revenue has vanished.

President Trump also praised Democratic Governors Phil Murphy of New Jersey, and John Bel Edwards of Louisiana

President Trump also said he'd listen to medical experts like Dr. Tony Fauci before making a final decision on reopening the economy

Health experts, however, have expressed concern there could be a second wave of coronavirus infections if social distancing guidelines and other containment measures are lifted too early.

Trump indicated he understood the importance of the decision he would make - reopening a tanking economy versus the public health threat.

'I'm going to have to make a decision and I only hope to god that it's the right decision. But I would say without question, it's the biggest decision I've ever had to make,' he said.

But the president also said he would listen to his medical experts before making a final decision.

The president has been eyeing the end of April for that to happen - a time which marks the end of his '30 Days to Slow the Spread.'

Other names mentioned for the task force include White House adviser Ivanka Trump, chief of staff Mark Meadows, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and economic adviser Larry Kudlow

But he vowed to listen to the health experts, adding he has 'great' and 'tremendous' respect for them.

'I listen to them about everything. I have great respect for these people, all of them. I have great respect for this group,' he said of his medical advisers, which include Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Dr. Deborah Birx, the Coronavirus Response Coordinator and an expert in infectious diseases; and Surgeon General Jerome Adams.

'I have tremendous respect for these people,' the president added.

President Trump originally pushed for an Easter reopening of the economy, a date his medical advisers talked him out of.

'I will certainly listen. I understand the other side of the argument very well because I look at both sides of an argument. I will listen to them very carefully,' Trump said.

States, however, will play a large role in determining how quickly the economy reopens. Several governors have issued stay-at-home orders with end dates that exceed the administration's 30-day recommendation.
New Delhi, April 10 : Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Kailash Chaudhary, on Friday said that the agriculture sector will lift the economy out of the present corona affected crisis which has halted all economic activity. He said the Central Government has given an exemption to agriculture and allied areas during the nationwide lockdown to ensure that there was no shortage of food items.

In a conversation with IANS, Chaudhary said that the Central government has been working since the early days of the lockdown to ensure that the farmers of the country do not face any problem and this was being reviewed daily.

On the question of missing farm labourers during this peak season of rabi crops when wheat harvesting was going on Chaudhary said, "Recently, we had talks with agriculture ministers from all over the country through video conferencing about the problems of farmers in which no one said that harvesting was getting hampered in the absence of labourers." The Minister said that wheat harvesting is done by machines and all the concessions have been given for the purchase, repair and transport of machinery, so that farmers do not face any problem in harvesting.

He said that there would be no difficulty in harvesting and procurement of the crop even as the lockdown was on because they have been exempted.

Chaudhary said, "The states have been issued advisory on the issue of purchasing wheat. They can purchase through cooperative societies at the Panchayat level. State governments are free to purchase wheat from which ever agency they wish to. They will take a decision on when to start their purchase." Like in earlier years, the procurement of wheat was going to start from April 1, but due to the lockdown, it has not started in any state. According to the information received from Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, the procurement would start after April 15, once the lockdown was lifted.

Kailash Chaudhary, the young minister in the Modi government, has been active regarding the farmers' problems.

Chaudhary said that Rs 14,000 crore has been transferred to the bank accounts of about seven crore beneficiary farmers under the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme till now. He said that farmers are getting the benefits of all the schemes being run by the Modi government.

On the question about the benefits to farmers from the special Parcel Trains being run across the country, he said that this will facilitate the transportation of perishable agricultural products, including fruits and vegetables, milk, and other items. He said that for all these items the farmers would be benefited as this will give them a fair price for these products.

Chaudhary said that during the lockdown, the maximum relaxation has been given to agriculture and allied sectors, and where activities in many other sectors of the economy have almost stopped due to the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown, farming-related work was going on.
Four residents at a North Down care home owned by Four Seasons Healthcare have been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Carnalea Nursing Home in Bangor confirmed to the BBC that a number of other residents are displaying coronavirus symptoms.

More tests are to be carried out to establish whether they too have contracted the potentially lethal illness.

Four Seasons Healthcare said that one staff member has tested positive for the virus, while another is showing symptoms of the infection. Neither of the staff are currently at work in the home.

The news comes just days after Health Minister Robin Swann said there were cases of Covid-19 in 20 care homes across Northern Ireland.

He said cases in care homes were being managed by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) and the Public Health Agency (PHA), but he did not detail which homes were affected or how many residents.

Earlier this week a nursing home resident at Harold McCauley House in Omagh passed away after being diagnosed with the virus. Six residents of Owen Mor Care Centre in Londonderry also tested positive for the coronavirus last month. One of them later died.

The Commissioner for Older People, Eddie Lynch, also spoke out this week to urge health bosses to be more open about deaths from Covid-19 that have happened in nursing homes across Northern Ireland.

A spokesperson for the Pubic Health Agency said that information on deaths in nursing homes is not currently collated.

The most recent figures show there are 484 care homes in Northern Ireland, with a total of 16,000 beds.
Sicily, Italy  The 100th doctor to die on Italys front lines as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus epidemic was Samar Sinjab, a 62-year-old Syrian woman who was born in Damascus and lived in Italys northeast Veneto region since 1994.

She contracted the virus from a patient in the early stages of the pandemic and died after spending two weeks in an intensive care unit.

She worked until her last days. The last WhatsApp message she sent was to one of her patients, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

More than 18,000 people have died in Italy from COVID-19, a disease that has infected more than 143,000 people in the country.

More than 8,000 healthcare workers have been infected, the majority in northern regions, according to the Italian National Institute of Health, and at least 100 doctors have died.

Family doctors visiting patients at home, without personal protective equipment (PPE), were the first to catch the virus.

The 100th doctor to die in Italy  was Samar Sinjab, a Syrian immigrant to the Veneto. She was remembered today by Massimo Gramellini @MaxGramel, whose front-page sketches for @Corriere are a national treasure. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/XkpEu7gBM0  Rachel Donadio (@RachelDonadio) April 10, 2020

According to the Association of Foreign Doctors in Italy, there are about 20,000 doctors with ancestry in other countries.

Of those, 3,700 come from the Middle East. Since the 1960s, young Arabs have studied medicine in Italy.

It was an unquestioned duty for us to serve our second homeland, considering the unprecedented emergency, Foad Aodi, president of the association, told Al Jazeera.

While treating patients, at least 15 Arab doctors have reportedly been hospitalised, three of whom are currently in ICU with severe conditions. We also lost some of our colleagues and friends. But as we mourn, we still feel committed to Italy and our profession.

Here, Al Jazeera profiles four Arab doctors who lost their lives in this pandemic.

Abdel Sattar Airoud  A family doctor who came out of retirement amid the epidemic

Airoud was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1945.

At 19, he realised his dream and arrived in Italy to study medicine. He specialised in oncology and internal medicine at the University of Bologna in the countrys north.

After four years in a private clinic, he opened his own practice in a town near Piacenza, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, and became a well-known family doctor.

He was very generous and kind. He followed me throughout my three pregnancies, and never complained about my numerous phone calls to ease my worries. He will be missed, also as a friend, Anita Santelli, one of his patients, told Al Jazeera.

Abdel Sattar Airoud was among the first doctors to contract the virus from a patient [Courtesy of family]

His eldest daughter, 35-year-old Kinda Airoud, said: My father never forgot his roots, Syria was part of our upbringing.

He had been retired for five years but returned to work when the epidemic began; he did not want to abandon his former patients at a difficult time.

We spent every summer of my youth in Syria, until the war began. But he also owed everything to the country that welcomed him, so it was natural for him to help those patients he had kept in contact with.

Airoud was among the first doctors to contract coronavirus from a patient. As he showed mild symptoms, he tested negative at first.

Then suddenly one night his conditions worsened, so we called an ambulance. Thats when we last saw him, said Kinda.

Airoud died on March 16.

His body was buried in Brescia, a city almost two hours away from Piacenza because there was no section for Muslims at the local cemetery at the time.

After a second Syrian national passed away, Piacenzas mayor secured a dedicated area for Muslim burials to keep them closer to their loved ones.

Tahsin Khrisat  A gentle widower with a caring bedside manner

A Palestinian from Jordan, 66-year-old Khrisat worked in Brescia, one of the worst-hit cities in the region of Lombardy.

He had lost his wife a few years ago, and suffered because of that, Federica Maestri, Khrisats former colleague, told Al Jazeera.

She said the pain of the epidemic, instead of closing him in, opened him to a new form of sensibility and empathy towards others.

He was kind, compassionate, funny and, as an ER doctor, loved sharing stories about his childhood in Amman during rare breaks in long night shifts.

He later opened his own private clinic.

Almost every day, Tahsin would send good morning or encouragement messages to his friends and patients, to remind them of his presence in case of need. It was his way of saying, Ill always be there for you, Maestri said.

Tahsin Khrisat enjoyed telling people stories about his childhood in Jordan [Courtesy of family]

In the early days of the pandemic, he was infected by a patient.

We used a Facebook Live feature to give relatives both in Italy and Jordan a sense of normality while grieving in such a painful context, Raisa Labaran, spokeswoman of the Islamic Cultural Center of Brescia, told Al Jazeera.

His pre-existing heart condition made him more vulnerable to the virus. He died on March 22.

Only the imam and employees of a local Muslim funeral home were allowed to attend the burial.

Khrisats body now rests in the Muslim section of Brescias public cemetery.

However, the situation for Muslim burials remains critical in Italy amid a shortage of space.

There are now only 20 places left in the cemetery, and with the current lockdown situation, its been hard to organise burials or repatriate the bodies to their home countries.

Fears of possible cremation, forbidden in Islam, add to the overall sentiment of anxiety, said Labaran.

Abdulghani Makki  A loving grandfather who loved Italy and Syria in equal measure

Born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1941, Makki was not only known as a doctor but also as a cultural pillar in his local community in SantElpidio a Mare, in Italys Marche region.

He was a symbol of cultural integration, his tales will be his legacy, said his friend Corrado Virgili, who last saw him on March 2.

After studying medicine and surgery in Italy, he had planned to return to Syria. But he fell in love with an Italian woman and had called Italy home since 1961.

Makki specialised in reanimation as well as paediatrics, and later dentistry.

He helped his eldest daughter Leila open and run a family clinic.

He would work with passion to assist his patients, never forgetting his role of husband, father and grandfather, Leila told Al Jazeera.

Abdulghani Makki was a caring doctor, husband and father who saw no differences between religions and nationalities [Courtesy of family]

When he was not looking after his patients, Makki would tell stories to his granddaughters  talents that saw him author childrens books.

In his tales, Makki mixed Arab and Italian traditions to foster intercultural dialogue in his local community.

Leila says her fathers love for Syria and Italy was equal.

In our household, there was no difference between Muslim and Christian, Italian or Syrian. My sister and I grew up with a broader understanding of humankind, thanks to him, she said.

Makki died on March 24, aged 79.

His latest book, illustrated by his friend Virgili, will be published posthumously with the title Mariam and the Savannah Queen.

Ghvont Mouradian  A spiritual guide who specialised in alternative therapies

Known by his nickname, Revont, Mouradian died on March 29, aged 61.

Besides practising modern medicine, he also specialised in acupuncture and hydrotherapy.

Mouradian was born to an Armenian family in Qamishli, northern Syria, where he spent his childhood.

He moved to India to study gynaecology and in 1987, travelled to Italy to specialise in medical hydrology at the University of Pavia.

He became a respected thermal doctor in Salsomaggiore, a city in northern Italy known for its healing thermal baths, where he kept caring for his patients until the lockdown was enforced.

Mouradians relatives, split between Syria and Lebanon, were deeply saddened by not being able to say a final goodbye due to travel restrictions.

As well as specialising in modern medicine, Ghvont Mouradian was an expert on alternative therapies [Courtesy of family]

His nephew in Beirut, Sarkis Kerkezian, wrote on Facebook: He was there for all of us in times of trouble and when we had health issues.

Grumpy with a unique sense of humour, kind-hearted, loving and caring to all his family and friends. He left a trace with everyone who came to know him with his unique spirit.

His colleague Roberta Bianchi said on her social media page: When you used to leave for India or China for a few weeks, everybody would miss you. Now that youre gone forever, you will leave an unbridgeable void. He was a colleague, a friend, a spiritual guide to us all.

Mirko Avesani, a neurologist from the Lombardy region who knew Mouradian, told Al Jazeera that these Arab doctors, who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, must be remembered.

Immigration should not just be associated with problems. The sacrifice of these doctors teaches us an important lesson, for future reference, he said.
Discrimination Against Asian-Canadians as a Reaction to COVID-19 Pandemic Must Cease

Commentary

Throughout history, pandemics have spread with devastating consequences. However, because the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, theres been cases of unwarranted discrimination toward Asians in Canada and elsewhere. It is un-Canadian to denigrate this community, especially in our multicultural nation with two official languages, 66 Indigenous languages, and 128 immigrant languages.

By stigmatizing Asians-Canadians who have nothing to do with the pandemic, we tarnish our own societys values and give support to the Beijing narrative alleging Western racism. We criticize the Chinese regime for its repression of freedom for its own citizens and of truth; we do not criticize its diaspora here.

The Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice is documenting experiences of the community in relation to COVID-19. Members handed out Stop the Spread of Racism hand sanitizers in Toronto to raise awareness. Their Facebook page gives an example of someone posting photos of Asian women wearing face masks in public and then falsely declaring them as presumptive cases.

Its more than just dirty looks, microaggressions, and prejudiced remarks. People have avoided sitting beside Asians on public transportation. Uber drivers have refused to pick them up or have cancelled their rides. There are Facebook posts labelling Asians as dirty or disease-ridden.

A woman whod lived in Canada for 10 years was told by a stranger to go back to China while shopping at a Vancouver grocery store. She was wearing a face mask to protect herself and her unborn child from the virus. In Toronto, an emergency room nurse says she was spat on and verbally assaulted because she was Asian.

Such discriminatory words and actions are unjustifiable and unacceptable. COVID-19 doesnt discriminate based on race; xenophobia wont protect anyone from the virus.

In Montreal, religious statues were smashed at Buddhist temples and a cultural centre. Lion statues at the entrance to Montreals Chinatown were splashed with paint. A Korean man was stabbed in mid-March, leaving local Asian-Canadians concerned and frightened. Its grossly unfair to blame them for COVID-19.

Asian-Canadians bear no responsibility for Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mis-governance. Canadians, waiting under self-isolation and stay-at-home orders, read how the police states concealment for weeks of the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan and inaccurate messages on transmission enabled the global spread of it and endedhopefully only temporarilymany Canadian jobs. In these days of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and White Nationalism, discrimination and abuse against Asians is the last thing we need.

There is much to criticize in the actions of the CCPthe Xinjiang internment camps holding more than a million Uyghur Muslims and the horror of involuntary organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience, for starters. But such criticism is directed specifically at the CCP. Chinese citizens face arrest and imprisonment if they criticize their unelected government. Wuhan residents have often been heroic in opposing the irresponsibility of the party-state in concealing COVID-19.

The way to reduce the impact of Chinas authoritarian regime is not through victimizing innocent people because of their origins. They should not feel alone or fearful living in Canada. We must let them know that we have their backs.

David Kilgour, a lawyer by profession, served in Canadas House of Commons for almost 27 years. In Jean Chretiens Cabinet, he was secretary of state (Africa and Latin America) and secretary of state (Asia-Pacific). He is the author of several books and co-author with David Matas of Bloody Harvest: The Killing of Falun Gong for Their Organs.

Michael Davidson is a former public servant, now retired, with an interest in Canadian and international human rights issues.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday chaired a meeting with state health ministers via video conferencing here from Nirman Bhawan to review actions on COVID-19 management.

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, was also present in the meeting. Both the ministers took cognisance of arrangements made by states hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients and preparedness for challenges arising out of the virus spread.

On Thursday, Harsh Vardhan had addressed the Global Online Conference on COVID-19 and said that India is thoroughly equipped and is putting its best foot forward. "We have planned everything possible and are in constant touch with the World Health Organisation (WHO)."

He had added that India is prepared for the "worst" but he does not think the country will get there due to COVID-19 menace.

With an increase of 547 new COVID-19 cases in the last 12 hours, India's total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 6,412 on Friday.Out of the total cases, 5,709 are active patients and 503 of them have been cured/discharged, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the toll stands at 199.According to the ministry, Maharashtra is the worst-hit state after recording over 1,360 positive cases. Tamil Nadu comes second with 834 cases.The total number of cases reported in Delhi so far is 720.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
No Casualties In Rocket Attack On Largest U.S. Afghan Base

By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan April 09, 2020

Several rockets have been fired at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan in an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

Five rockets were fired at the Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul, early on April 9, causing "no casualties or injuries," the mission said on Twitter.

An Afghan security official in Parwan Province, where Bagram, the largest U.S. military base in the war-torn country is located, told RFE/RL that the rockets were fired from a vehicle.

The IS group said in a statement that their militants had targeted a helicopter landing pad at the base.

A Taliban spokesman said his group was not behind the attack.

Earlier this month, Taliban militants and the United States reached a deal on the withdrawal of U.S.-led international troops in exchange for Taliban security guarantees, but IS militants are not included in the agreement.

The Afghan affiliate of the IS group appeared in eastern Afghanistan in 2014, and has since made inroads into other areas, particularly the north.

IS fighters, whose number is estimated at 2,000 by the U.S. military, battle foreign and Afghan government forces as well as the Taliban.

They have carried out some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan in recent years.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/no-casualties-in-rocket-attack -on-largest-u-s-afghan-base/30543708.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A group of North Carolina property owners have filed a federal lawsuit against local officials who have blocked them from accessing their second homes on the barrier islands of the Outer Banks during the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 20, North Carolina's Dare County - which includes the middle part of the Outer Banks - issued an order barring non-state residents from entering the area in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Checkpoints have been set up along major highways, and those trying to enter the county must produce a North Carolina driver's license or a 'Permanent Resident Permit'.

Bu the move has angered many out-of-state property owners who have ritzy beach houses in the area and wanted to retreat to them amid the pandemic.

On Wednesday, six of those out-of-state property owners sued Dare County, claiming the ban violates the 'privileges and immunities' clause of the US Constitution.

A group of Outer Banks property owners have filed a federal lawsuit against local officials who have blocked them from accessing their second homes during the coronavirus pandemic. Houses along the Outer Banks are pictured

Checkpoints have been set up along major highways, and those trying to enter the county must produce a North Carolina driver's license or a 'Permanent Resident Permit'. Local Kari Pugh snapped this photo

The clause states that citizens of each state are entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in every other state.

Attorney Chuck Kitchen, who is leading the lawsuit, told OBX Today that his clients 'simply want to get to the property they own and pay for'.

A copy of the suit reads: 'If not enjoined by this Court, Dare County will continue to discriminate against the Plaintiffs, and deprive them of their Constitutional rights. The Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable injury due to this deprivation of Constitutional rights.'

On March 20, North Carolina's Dare County - which includes the middle part of the Outer Banks - issued an order barring non-state residents from entering the area in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19. The Outer Banks are located off North Carolina's coast

Kitchen believes that if the suit is successful it will set a precedent, meaning others across the country who have found themselves blocked out of different states will be able to file and win similar cases.

Counties across the country have reduced their access or closed their borders amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 15,000 lives.

Attorney Chuck Kitchen, who is leading the lawsuit, told OBX Today : ' They simply want to get to the property they own and pay for'. Homes on the Outer Banks are pictured

Authorities have blocked off access points to the county, requiring drivers to produce state ID

Millions of affluent residents in cities have fled to their second homes in more sparsely populated areas which has sparked angry backlash from locals.

Last week, Rhode Island ordered fleeing New York residents to quarantine for 14 days after entering the state. New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded that the move was illegal and threatened to sue.

Meanwhile, others have accused fleeing New York City residents of spreading the virus, with many accusing Big Apple locals of bringing COVID-19 with them whilst fleeing to the beach houses in Florida.

Elsewhere, New York City's elite have decamped to areas in The Hamptons, with stores experiencing a shortage of essentials due to an increased run on supplies.
New Jerseys top public defender complained to the chief justice of the state Supreme Court this week that officials in Gov. Phil Murphys administration were handling the spread of the coronavirus behind bars with a complete lack of urgency," according to documents obtained by NJ Advance Media.

Now authorities at the highest level of state government are locked in a dispute over which inmates, if any, should be set free as prison systems around the country weigh public safety against a looming public health crisis.

In an April 7 letter, Public Defender Joseph Krakora asked the states highest court to intervene after the state Parole Board rebuffed his requests to fast-track the release of elderly, sick and other inmates from state prisons.

New Jersey has released about 700 people serving sentences in county jails for low-level crimes, but none from state prisons.

The public defender, along with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, requested an emergency order from Chief Justice Stuart Rabner that is similar to one last month that led to the county jail releases.

My office is increasingly receiving calls and emails from the families of inmates who are in facilities already infected by the virus, Krakora wrote.

The public defender and the ACLU-NJ have called for the release of older prisoners and those with underlying health problems, as well as any who are currently or could soon be up for parole, or those recently denied parole based on a technicality.

In an April 1 letter obtained by NJ Advance Media, Parole Board Chairman Samuel J. Plumeri, Jr. denied the public defenders claim that the pandemic was reason enough "to reconsider a decision to deny parole for some prisoners, saying the board was bound by state statute.

The letter did note that the board is reviewing some cases. A spokesman declined to comment on ongoing proceedings.

In an April 8 response, the chief justice instead recommended everyone involved  including the public defenders office, the ACLU, parole board, the state attorney general, county prosecutors and the corrections department  negotiate with a state-appointed mediator Monday.

Its unclear whether all the parties will come to the table. Spokespeople for the governor have repeatedly declined to comment on what action, if any, the governor would take to ease prison populations, and the state attorney generals office did not immediately say if they would participate.

Defense attorneys say releasing prisoners amid the pandemic is the only way to flatten the curve behind bars. Prosecutors warn that the release of inmates could lead to dangerous situations at a time police are focused on stemming the spread of the virus among the public.

Meanwhile, some advocates worry conditions in state prisons are worse than publicly acknowledged.

According to state data, at least 18 prison inmates and 110 corrections officers have confirmed cases of COVID-19. Nearly a thousand of the states 18,000 prison inmates are over the age of 60, a group considered heavily at risk of contracting the virus.

Robert Novy, 68, a South Woods State Prison inmate convicted of money laundering in 2018, is one example. A heart attack left him with multiple stents in his chest, according to his wife Catherine, making him especially susceptible to the virus.

If he gets it, he will die, she told NJ Advance Media.

While Murphys administration has enacted stricter social distancing and sanitizing policies in prisons, dozens of prisoners and their relatives have reached out to NJ Advance Media to say those policies arent always being followed.

Corrections officials say symptomatic inmates are being referred for testing in line with health department guidelines, but prison reform advocates and families say prisoners with telltale signs of COVID-19, such as high fevers, are being quarantined but never tested.

Corrections unions, too, say officers arent being given enough protective equipment and are calling for a statewide lockdown, raising concerns that transporting inmates from northern prisons, where the illness is currently concentrated, to southern facilities will only exacerbate the spread.

Prosecutors have raised concerns over whether some inmates might commit new crimes if released, or fail to return to finish their sentences once the public health crisis is over. One county jail inmate overdosed the night he was released, and he was sent back.

When reached for comment, Monmouth County Prosecutor Chris Gramiccioni said New Jerseys county prosecutors have a moral and constitutional obligation to protect society from dangerous criminals.

There is growing concern by many prosecutors across the state that defense attorneys and prison reformers are trying to use the COVID-19 pandemic as a get-out-of-jail free card, using the release of lower-level offenders as a foothold on the way to seeking release of more dangerous inmates," he said.

Some advocates for former prisoners, including former Gov. Jim McGreevey who runs a reentry services organization, have also raised concerns about hasty releases while so many government services are closed or backlogged.

Some former inmates have wound up homeless, McGreevey said in an interview last week, and shelters have been turning away people who are symptomatic.

Without food, without shelter and without healthcare, theyre being placed in a very precarious position," McGreevey said of his clients.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Staff reporter Alex Napoliello contributed to this story.

Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Education Minister James Merlino says the government has no plan to enforce restrictions about children going to school in term two, preferring to trust parents to follow the crystal clear advice that students should stay home if they can.

Yet principals worry that as the term goes on, more and more parents will send their children to school once they discover that managing remote learning is difficult and the teachers' union says its members should not feel compelled to work on campus rather than remotely.

Deputy Premier James Merlino: "There will be things that we will need to tweak along the way, inevitably." Credit:AAP

Victorian schools are set to open on Wednesday with coronavirus restrictions meaning that only the children of essential workers will be allowed to attend in person.

Only those workers who cannot work from home should send their children to school, Mr Merlino said, with most students set to be taught remotely, at least until the end of term two.
Amidst the lockdown in the wake



of the COVID-19 pandemic, Good Friday was marked by an absence of worshippers in churches but the address of clergymen was livestreamed on social media platforms.

Before his customary address, Archbishop Thomas D'Souza of the Archdiocese of Kolkata, paid tribute to nurses, and medical practitioners for their service during the coronavirus outbreak.

Maintaining that people are standing by the distressed at this critical junture, he said, "When the coronavirus has spread fear, we can see generosity among people at this hour."



Pointing out that essential service staff and citizens have set on a mission to serve the needy at this hour, he said, "Listen to the Almighty. Love humans as Jesus said. It is a life giving pledge that sets us on a mission."The address of Father D'Souza was streamed live from the Archbishop's House, and viewed by 12,000 people.

Bishop Paritosh Canning of the Diocese of Kolkata (Church of North India) held Good Friday service from the 'Bishop's House' which was streamed live to members of the community.

The bishop also urged them to come to the aid of the poor and elderly.

A CNI spokesman said, services had never been live- streamed in this fashion, as the situation did not warrant so.

Principal of St Xavier's College, Rev. Father Dominic Savio said, the institute distributed food among poor while maintaining distancing norms.

The Good Friday prayer service was held in the church inside St. Xavier's College compound and the faithfuls were asked to pray from home, Father Savio said.

Benjamin, a student living in central Kolkata, said, "My family prayed together at home during the online mass. We plan to do the same on Sunday."



The Holy Week started on April 5 and will end on April 12.

Amyt Dutta, another member of the community thanked Bishop Canning for his address.

"It made us aware of our responsibilities," he said in a post.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lake Urmia level rises by half a meter year on year

03/29/20

Source: Tehran Times

Lake Urmia water level has increased by 50 centimeters compared to the same time last year, Farhad Sarkhosh, head of the Lake Urmia Restoration Program's office in West Azarbaijan province, has announced. According to the latest monitoring, the lake's level has reached 1,271 meters and 64 centimeters, which is 50 centimeters higher than the last year's level, he stated, IRNA reported on Saturday.

The lake's water volume was estimated at more than 4.440 billion cubic meters, which indicates an increase of 1.450 billion cubic meters compared to the last year, he highlighted.



He went on to say that Lake Urmia's surface area has now reached more than 3,055 square kilometers, adding that the figure has increased by 358 square kilometers.



The lake's level will increase by nearly one meter annually if conservation projects are exploited, he noted.



Shared between West Azarbaijan and East Azarbaijan provinces in northwestern Iran, Lake Urmia was once the largest salt-water lake in the Middle East.



Lake Urmia

However, decades of long-standing drought spells and elevated hot summer temperatures that speed up evaporation as well as increased water demands in the agriculture sector shrank the lake drastically. In 1999 the volume of water which was at 30 billion cubic meters drastically decreased to half a billion cubic meters in 2013. Moreover, the lake's surface area of 5,000 square kilometers in 1997 shrunk to one-tenth of that to 500 square kilometers in 2013.



The lake is expected to reach its ecological level within 10 years by completing the restoration plans which started four years ago.



The sharp rise in precipitations rates over the past crop year since now has raised hopes for total restoration of the once glorious Lake Urmia.



This is a while, deputy environment chief Masoud Tajrishi said in July 2019 that rainfall is not the only the reason behind Lake Urmia coming back to life. Thus, restoration measures turned out to be effective, unlike the previous years of high rainfall poured over the lake but did not raise the lake level.



The effort put into properly dredging and clearing of weed and vegetation in river beds as a way came efficient in the lake conservation, he added.
UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2020) The UN Envoy Martin Griffiths is in consultations with all the parties to the Yemeni conflict in an effort to transform a newly announced two-week ceasefire into a permanent end of hostilities in the country, the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Stephene Dujarric told reporters on Thursday.

"Special Envoy Mark Griffiths has been mediating between the parties to reach agreements on a nationwide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic measures that will bring tangible relief to the people of Yemen and the resumption of the political process to comprehensively end this war," Dujarric said during a briefing.

"Mr.Griffiths is meeting with all the parties involved to seize this opportunity to make sure that this is not a wasted opportunity. He will be meeting and he is in discussions with all the relevant parties."

On Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition declared a two-week ceasefire in accordance with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' call to halt all conflicts in the world amid the raging coronavirus pandemic.

The Shia Houthis have been engaged in a conflict against the Yemeni government and the Saudi-led coalition since 2015, which has resulted in one of the worst humanitarian situations in the world.
The planned output curbs by OPEC+ amount to 8 million barrels per day

(File) OPEC Conference President Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khaled al-Falih (2ndR), OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo (R) and Angola's Governor for OPEC and Chairman of the Board of Governors Estevao Pedro (2nd L) the 173rd OPEC Conference of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna. (AFP Photo))

DUBAI: Major oil producers except Mexico agreed to cut output in May and June by 10 million barrels per day, OPEC said Friday, after marathon talks to counter a collapse in prices.

The agreement, which reduces production to eight million bpd from July to December, depends on Mexico's support for it to take effect, the oil cartel said after a videoconference.

But the group, known as OPEC+, said a final agreement was dependent on Mexico signing up to the pact after it balked at the production cuts it was asked to make.

Global fuel demand has plunged by around 30 million bpd, or 30% of global supplies, as steps to fight the virus have grounded planes, cut vehicle usage and curbed economic activity.

An unprecedented 15 million bpd cut still wont remove enough crude to stop the worlds storage facilities quickly filling up. And far from signalling any readiness to offer support, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Saudi Arabia if it did not fix the oil markets problem of oversupply.

Trump, who has said U.S. output was already falling due to low prices, warned Riyadh it could face sanctions and tariffs on its oil if it did not cut enough to help the U.S. oil industry, whose higher costs have left it struggling with low prices.

A White House aide said Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Salman of Saudi Arabia about the talks, after a U.S. official said the OPEC+ move towards cuts sent an important signal to the market.

Officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia have said the scale of the crisis required involvement of all producers.

Thursdays OPEC+ talks will be followed by a call on Friday between energy ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, hosted by Saudi Arabia.

Brent oil prices, which hit an 18-year low last month, were trading around $32 a barrel on Thursday, half their level at the end of 2019.
The Assam government has sealed a mosque in Guwahati where three persons who later tested positive for COVID-19 had stayed to attend a religious congregation last month, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

Two of them had returned to Assam after attending a Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin area. The third stayed with them at the Athgaon Kabarsthan Masjid and accompanied one of them to Dhubri, Sharma said at a press conference here.

At least 100 people attended the gathering at the mosque on March 12 and the organisers have so far given the names of 58 people and they have been quarantined, he said.

"The fact that a congregation was held here was brought to our notice much later and we have asked the organisers to give a list of all people who attended it, he said.

The masjid has been sealed and declared a containment zone with no entry or exit allowed. The administration will provide essential items to the caretaker and other functionaries of the mosque staying inside, he added.

The government is considering to lodge an FIR against one of the three persons, the first COVID-19 case in Assam, as he hid the fact that he attended the Jamaat event.

"He was asked by doctors in three hospitals where he had gone for treatment on feeling unwell,whether he had attended the event in Nizamuddin or not but he denied and as a result now all these doctors have been quarantined, Sarma said.

"We are facing a shortage of doctors in these hospitals and we are considering to file an FIR against him, he added.

Assam reported the first COVID-19 death on Friday at Silchar Medical College Hospital. He was later buried as per the protocol near his home in Hailakandi in the presence of district officials.

His family members are home quarantine, the minister said.

The state has reported 29 cases of coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
B oris Johnson has "personally" thanked the NHS team who cared for him as he starts to take short walks amid his coronavirus recovery in hospital, Downing Street has said.

The PM is back on a ward at St Thomas Hospital after being discharged from the intensive care unit where he was being treated for Covid-19.

The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery, a No 10 spokesman said.

He has spoken to his doctors and thanks the whole clinical team for the incredible care he has received.

A billboard van outside St Thomas' Hospital in Central London where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in intensive care as his coronavirus symptoms persist. / PA

His thoughts are with those affected by this terrible disease.

Health Secretary also said on Thursday that Mr Johnson wanted to "personally thank" the hospital team.

Speaking at the daily Covid-19 press conference, Mr Hancock said: Im very happy to report that the Prime Ministers condition continues to improve."

He wants to personally thank the whole clinical team at St Thomas for the incredible care that he has received.

His thoughts are with all of those who have been affected by this terrible disease.

Mr Hancock also issued another warning to the public to stay at home over the Easter weekend.

Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures 1 /81 Coronavirus hits the UK - In pictures A deserted Westminster Bridge PA A man wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past customers sat outside a restaurant AFP via Getty Images Boris Johnson addresses the nation on the Coronavirus lockdown Andrew Parsons Runners pass cardboard cutouts of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince William during the London Marathon in London AP An empty escalator at Charing Coss London Underground tube station Jeremy Selwyn Electronic bilboards displays a message warning people to stay home in Sheffield PA A sign is displayed in the window of a student accommodation building following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mancheste Reuters People take part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions, in Londo AP People sing and dance in Leicester Square on the eve on the 10PM curfew Reuters Hearts painted by a team of artists from Upfest are seen in the grass at Queen Square, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bristol Reuters Graffiti reads 'good luck and stay safe', as the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases grow around the world, under a bridge in London Reuters A sign is pictured in Soho, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures, during a coronavirus briefing in Downing Street, London AP A person runs past posters with a message of hope, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Manchester REUTERS Riot police face protesters who took part in a 'We Do Not Consent' rally at Trafalgar Square, organised by Stop New Normal, to protest against coronavirus restrictions in London AP An image of The Queen eith quotes from her broadcast to the UK and the Commonwealth in relation to the Coronavirus epidemic are displayed on lights in London's Piccadilly Circus PA Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images Durdle Door in Dorset Reuters Captain Tom Moore via Reuters Mia, aged 8, and Jack, aged 5, take part in "PE with Joe" a daily live workout with Joe Wicks on Youtube to help kids stay fit who have to stay indoors due to the Coronavirus outbreak PA An NHS worker reacts at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital during the Clap for our Carers campaign in support of the NHS Reuters Goats which have taken over the deserted streets of Llandudno @AndrewStuart via PA Tobias Weller PA Novikov restaurant in London with its shutters pulled down while the restaurant is closed London Landscapes: Hyde Park and the Serpentine, central London. Matt Writtle A newspaper vendor in Manchester city centre giving away free toilet rolls with every paper bought as shops run low on supplies due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus PA Theo Clay looks out of his window next to his hand-drawn picture of a rainbow in Liverpool, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue Reuters A young man cuts another man's hair on top of a closed hairdresser in Oxford Reuters General view of the new NHS Nightingale Hospital, built to fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London via Reuters Jason Baird is seen dressed as Spiderman during his daily exercise to cheer up local children in Stockport, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues Reuters A woman wearing a face mask walks past Buckingham Palace Getty Images A man holds mobile phone displaying a text message alert sent by the government warning that new rules are in force across the UK and people must stay at home PA Medical staff on the Covid-19 ward at the Neath Port Talbot Hospital, in Wales, as the health services continue their response to the coronavirus outbreak. PA Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking part in a virtual Cabinet meeting with his top team of ministers PA A shopper walks past empty shelves in a Lidl store on in Wallington. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have also created special time slots for the elderly and other shoppers vulnerable to the new coronavirus. Getty Images People on a busy tube train in London at rush hour PA Mia, aged 8 and her brother Jack, aged 5 from Essex, continue their school work at home, after being sent home due to the coronavirus PA Children are painting 'Chase the rainbows' artwork and springing up in windows across the country Reuters Social distancing in Primrose Hill Jeremy Selwyn A general view of a locked gate at Anfield, Liverpool as The Premier League has been suspended PA Homeless people in London AFP via Getty Images A piece of art by the artist, known as the Rebel Bear has appeared on a wall on Bank Street in Glasgow. The new addition to Glasgow's street art is capturing the global Coronavirus crisis. The piece features a woman and a man pulling back to give each other a kiss PA The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace, London, for Windsor Castle to socially distance herself amid the coronavirus pandemic PA A general view on Grey street, Newcastle as coronavirus cases grow around the world Reuters Matt Raw, a British national who returned from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in China, leaves quaratine at Arrowe Park Hospital on Merseyside PA Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty (L) and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance look on as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) news conference inside 10 Downing Street Reuters The ticket-validation terminals at the tram stop on Edinburgh's Princes Street are cleaned following the coronavirus outbreak. PA Locked school gates at Rockcliffe First School in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear PA A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products as the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases grow around the world Reuters Jawad Javed delivers coronavirus protection kits that he and his wife have put together to the vulnerable people of their community of Stenhousemuir, between Glasgow and Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images A sign advertising a book titled "How Will We Survive On Earth?" Getty Images A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask today in Victoria Jeremy Selwyn A pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads "Diseases are in the City" in Edinburgh AFP via Getty Images Staff from The Lyric Theatre, London inform patrons, as it shuts its doors PA A quiet looking George IV Bridge in Edinburgh PA A quieter than usual British Museum Getty Images A racegoer attends Cheltenham in a fashionable face mask SplashNews.com A commuter wears a face mask at London Bridge Station Jeremy Selwyn A empty restaurant in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre Getty Images A deserted Trafalgar Square in London PA Passengers determined to avoid the coronavirus before leaving the UK arrive at Gatwick Airport Getty Images

Speaking at the daily press conference, he said: This is a national effort, and every single person in this country can play their part in this plan.

This Easter will be another test of the nations resolve. Its a time of year when people normally come together.

But however warm the weather, however tempting your local beach or park, we need everyone to stay at home."

Earlier, the PM's spokesman said he is in very good spirits after being discharged from intensive care as he continues to fight coronavirus, his spokesman said.

Boris Johnson is said to be enormously grateful for the care he has received from NHS staff at St Thomas Hospital.

I am told he was waving his thanks towards the nurses and doctors that he saw as he was being moved from the intensive care unit back to the ward, the spokesman said.
March 10 started sunny and breezy in Montgomery County. By late afternoon, rain had fallen over parts of the county. With the downpour came an announcement from officials about the countys first confirmed coronavirus patient as a global pandemic made its way here.

Every segment of life in Texas 11th largest county would be impacted as cases this week climbed past 200 with a total of four deaths. In the face of it all, residents managed to find a semblance of normal in a new, and often times, uncertain period.

As Wednesday marked the first 30 days of the COVID-19 outbreak in Montgomery County, this is a look back.

Advancing closures

That initial patient, a male Patton Village police officer in his 40s from Willis, was also Texas first possible community spread case. The officer, who remains unnamed, appeared to have become infected at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, prompting its abrupt shut down.

Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough signed a 30-day local disaster declaration March 12. To stem off community spread, Keough capped county-permitted events at 250 people, then 50 and finally 10. The Montgomery County Fair and Rodeo, which draws more than 50,000 spectators annually, was canceled.

Keough would eventually order non-essential businesses to close their doors. Though Keough originally pushed back against a stay-at-home order, by March 27, he had signed one for the county.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Montgomery County constables reach out on Facebook about communitys coronavirus concerns

It was extended to April 30 after 12 residents at a senior facility in The Woodlands tested positive for COVID-19, three of which died by Wednesday. On Wednesday, Keough extended the disaster declaration, but not the stay-at-home order, to May 11.

I want to thank our community and praise our community, as difficult as it has been, for the sacrifices they have had to make in order to implement the stay-at-home order, Keough said.

Remaining steadfast

Not having a defined essential need, The Woodlands Mall shuttered its doors indefinitely. Also in The Woodlands, three hotels temporarily closed.

Restrictions on bars and restaurants did not go down easy for craft beer breweries in the county, with one laying off half of its employees. An absence of social gatherings took a swipe at musicians, photographers and other gig workers.

Though the county order did allow for eateries to still do delivery, takeout or catering, some were forced to make layoffs. Longtime business owners remained steadfast.

Like my late husband and son always said, we are here to feed the people and we will, said Mary Bowers, widow of Buster Bowers of Vernons Kuntry Katfish ownership fame.

Gun store owners in the county saw a shortage of ammo as customers stockpiled.

Tough lessons

The cancellation of the Montgomery County Fair and Rodeo, which in 2018 awarded $148,000 in youth scholarships, took a toll on children who showed and their families with significant financial losses for the livestocks grooming, feeding, housing and vet care.

Gov. Greg Abbott would go on to push reopening schools to May 4, extending the closure of most county school districts by about three weeks. Distance learning via the internet became the norm for the New Caney, Willis and Conroe school districts, with teachers helping parents continue student education.

Meanwhile, graduating high school seniors saw milestones such as commencement and prom canceled.

My brother graduated and went to prom, and all the classes before me, and Ive been looking forward to that for so many years, said Splendora High senior Shaelyn Sanders. To see that I might not even get it  I know that not everything is promised for sure, now.

Monitoring threats

County operations were just as sharply affected by the COVID-19 threat. The Montgomery County Hospital District has kept close watch on the outbreak from a command center at its administration building. Paramedics at MCHD made a COVID-19 screening tool for use online.

District and justice of the peace judges announced postponements through at least mid-April. The district attorneys office made clear crimes exploiting the disaster declaration would result in bigger punishments. As residents carried out self-isolation, the county experienced a reported 35 percent increase in domestic violence.

The Woodlands Fire Department had 15 firefighters self-quarantine after possible exposure to COVID-19. Woodlands Fire and the Conroe Fire Department implemented new procedures to keep from infection while responding to emergency calls.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: MCHD projects big increase in COVID-19 cases

As most everything was closed, the Lake Conroe patrol out of Precinct 1 Constables Office saw a boost in visitors. Deputies ensured social distancing was upheld.

We want people to have this little outlet, Lt. Tim Cade said of the lake.

In light of Abbotts state disaster declaration, the city of Conroe and city of Montgomery general elections in May were delayed to November.

Finding relief

One homeless shelter in Conroe had little recourse but to turn away people to prevent community spread. Similarly, the Montgomery County Womens Shelter limited its capacity. Some charitable groups found themselves having to forego fundraisers.

Nonetheless, the countys generosity managed to prevail.

Meals on Wheels Montgomery County moved to protect the elderly, who are both the most vulnerable to COVID-19 and who the nonprofit delivers the bulk of its food to, by skipping signing off on deliveries and implementing sanitization between drop offs. Conroes Community Assistance Center hosted free grocery pick-ups.

As county officials asked for donations of PPE, The Woodlands Township created a collection program and quilters got to work on making cotton fabric masks. East county residents came to the aid of law enforcement when officers ran short on cleaning and disinfectant supplies.

A new popular diversion was the car parade, where the socially distanced greeted each other, whether it was Conroe ISD and Willis ISD educators and their students, or community members and senior living facility residents.

Church pews were emptied as service was live-streamed. As a means to congregate while practicing social distancing, drive-in worship was adopted by churches.

Slow recovery

Montgomery ISDs Lake Creek High School Principal Phil Eaton had been placed in the ICU and had tested positive for COVID-19. A few days ago, however, he was moved out. He remains hospitalized but is breathing on his own. A slow recovery is expected of Eaton, his family said.

Eatons situation is much like the Patton Village officers condition, which turned critical a few days after he was confirmed as having COVID-19.

Then suddenly, the officer started getting a little better daily. He began breathing on his own recently and was taken off of his ventilator. Now out of ICU, he started the rehabilitation process two days ago. Doctors are evaluating the officer to see if he will make a full recovery or if he will have long-term issues, Patton Village Police Chief Shannon Sharp said Thursday.

Hes doing much better, Sharp said, adding about the outbreak, Were gonna get through all this together.

Catherine Dominguez, Meagan Ellsworth, Jeff Forward, Justin Maskulinski and Jamie Swinnerton contributed to this report.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With MTA employees among those hardest hit by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the transit agency is now taking additional precautions to ensure the health of its workforce.

On Thursday, the MTA deployed a Temperature Brigade" of medically trained personnel to check employees temperature as they report to work at 22 locations throughout the region.

One of the best ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is to ensure that people who are sick are staying home, out of the transit system and away from work, said MTA Chief Safety Officer Patrick Warren. Our temperature brigade helps reduce risk for everyone, and they are among the thousands of behind-the-scenes heroes at the MTA working hard to fight this formidable pandemic. Our frontline employees are incredible, and we thank them for their courage and commitment to public service.

The brigade consists of medically trained workers from across the agency, including NYC Transit safety and security personnel, LIRR fire marshals and Metro-North fire brigade, as well as 60 contract workers.

Upon arrival, employees have their temperature checked using a thermal scan thermometer on their forehead. Those with a temperature exceeding 100.4 degrees are sent home and advised to seek medical attention.

The Temperature Brigade began last month at seven locations, but has since been expanded to 22 locations, now testing over 2,000 employees per day.

According to the MTA, the fever rate has been low, with just one in every 1,000 employees exhibiting a temperature in excess of 100.4 degrees.

While the brigade is regularly redeployed based on need, its currently operating at the following 22 locations:

NYCT Rail Control Center

NYCT Bus Command Center

NYCT Power Control Center

NYCT 130 Livingston

NYCT PS248 Training Center

NYCT West Farms Depot

NYCT Queens Village Depot

NYCT Grand Ave Depot

NYCT Gun Hill Depot

NYCT Jackie Gleason Depot

NYCT College Point Depot

NYCT JFK Depot

NYCT Zerega Training Center

Staten Island Railway Command

LIRR Jamaica Command Center

Penn Station Central Control (both Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak personnel)

LIRR Maintenance of Equipment Crew Dispatching Office

LIRR West Side Storage Yard

Metro-North Grand Central Terminal

Metro-North Croton Harmon Yard

Bridges & Tunnels Operations Command Center

MTA Police Department Command Center

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

The MTA said it hopes that the brigade will help slow the spread of the virus that has been ripping its way through the agencys ranks.

During a Friday morning interview with WCBS880, MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye announced that 50 employees have died from the virus thus far, with nearly 1,900 testing positive, including the chairman himself.

Foye said the number of employees currently in quarantine is at around 5,200, down from a high of 6,000. So far, 1,800 employees have returned to work.

In addition to the Temperature Brigade," the MTA has distributed nearly 500,000 masks to its employees and over 2.5 million pairs of gloves since March 1. The agency is continuing to distribute hundreds of thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment on a weekly basis.
The UK on Friday expressed its gratitude to the Indian government as a first batch of 3 million paracetamol packets is all set to arrive in Britain within 48 hours after New Delhi lifted its export ban amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Lord Tariq Ahmad, the Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), said the shipment is symbolic of the cooperative way both countries have been working through this unprecedented global crisis.

"The UK and India continue to work in close partnership to respond to the COVID-19 threat. My sincere thanks on behalf of the UK government to India for approving this important shipment," Ahmad said.

The shipment, set to arrive on a plane by Sunday, will coincide with a series of charter flights laid on by the UK government to ferry thousands of British residents stranded in India's coronavirus lockdown.

"We have been working very closely with the Indian authorities, here at the Indian High Commission in London, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and at state level in India to put in place all the necessary requirements for British nationals wanting to return to the UK," Ahmad said.

"The sheer logistics of this exercise involves every individual who has registered on to our central database being sent detailed information about booking their seat on the flights as well as local support for them to be able to get to the airports in the particular states, given the lockdown and curfews in place," he said.

The travellers are set to be flown out from Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai via Bengaluru over the coming week.

They will be checked for any symptoms of the novel coronavirus before being allowed to board the charter flights and on landing in the UK, they will be subject to the same self-isolation and social distancing stipulations as other UK-based citizens, the FCO said.

An estimated 21,000 British residents are currently in India, of which around 5,000 are set to be repatriated over this weekend and the next week with a total of 19 charter flights confirmed between the different cities of India back to London. Passengers are given a chance to book on to these flights at a standard 600-650 pound rate, with those facing financial difficulties given the opportunity to access an interest-free loan to be paid back over a six-month period.

The British High Commission in New Delhi has said that it is prioritising the more vulnerable within the nationals registered on its database wanting to return to the UK.

The charter flights announced so far are expected to make "serious inroads" into repatriating the large numbers stranded in India, with an end of April target set for getting the majority back to the UK.

In reference to some calls for a possible passenger swap on these flights, for thousands of stranded Indians in the UK to be flown back to India by return journey, the UK government said that is a decision for the Indian authorities  given the ban on international flights in India.

The FCO said in the spirit of cooperation it has announced a series of measures to assist the Indians caught up in the crisis in the UK, including an extension to any expiring visas until the end of May and steps to safeguard university accommodation for Indian students.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here
New Delhi: Bollywood actress and former beauty queen Urvashi Rautela is upping the hotness bar on social media amid her quarantine break. Her recent posts have been throwback pictures and videos giving major vacay goals (of course once the pandemic ends!).

In her latest Instagram post, Urvashi is seen posing for a photoshoot picture in a scintillating black monokini.

The stunner looks fab and flaunts her svelte hourglass figure.

The young and beautiful actress will be next seen in the Hindi remake of Tamil superhit "Thiruttu Payale -2" alongside Vineet Kumar and Akshay Oberoi. She also has a song titled 'My channa Ve' by Meet Bros featuring Jyotica Tangri in her kitty.

She was recently in news for copying a tweet review of an international author-journalist named John Paul Brammer (JP Brammer). The former beauty queen's appreciation post for Oscar-winning South Korean film 'Parasite' was a word-to-word copy of what Brammer had tweeted days back.

An internet user pointed out the similarity between the two tweets and tagged Brammer on the post, who in fact was amused to find it.
A private jet full of super-rich holidaymakers from London has been sent back to the UK after the group landed in France and tried to get to their Cannes villa by helicopter during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Seven men in their 40s and 50s and three women in their 20s arrived at Marseille-Provence airport last Saturday and were immediately intercepted by local police.

The organiser of the trip  a Croatian national working in banking and estate agency in the UK  had booked the jet and helicopters to take everybody to the rented villa.

The private jet used by the groups was an Embraer Legacy 600  a Brazil made luxury business jet, which costs around 5million.

When confronted by police, the Croatian businessman offered them cash, saying: I have money, lets talk, said the police source.

Pictured: A 2014 file photo of the Embraer Legacy 600 jet, similar to the one flown from Farnborough Airport to Marseille last saturday

Pictured: Flight tracker shows the route taken by the wealthy businessmen and the 'escorts' from Farnborough Airport near London to Marseille last Saturday

An undated photograph shows the cityscape view of the French Riviera with yachts in Cannes. The group of super-wealthy holidaymakers had three helicopters booked to whisk them away to the city

The source said the Croatian had paid for everything, including the villa and plane, was looking forward to the break, with his friends and young female escorts.

The source added: He said they all go to the villa, and lockdown there, and that there would be no problem.

But it was obviously a recreational trip, and under the containment measures these are strictly prohibited.

The only fines issued were to the three French helicopter pilots. The holiday party did not technically enter France, as they were kept on the plane while being interviewed by police.

None of those on board have yet been identified by police.

A police source told the BFM news outlet: They had planned to come and have a good time on the Riviera despite the Coronavirus epidemic.

Everything had been planned by the organiser of the trip  a Croatian national who works in finance and real estate  starting with the London-Marseille trip in a private jet that he had rented on the other side of the Channel.

He then booked a luxury villa in Cannes. To get there, the man had reserved three helicopters from a company in the Var which provides private connections for privileged customers.

Commercial flights are greatly reduced at airports across Europe at the moment, and the authorities are trying to stop private jets breaking restrictions.

The source reported that police guarding the borders of Marseille-Provence airport asked the private jet not to come and land on its tarmac.

This handout picture released on March 18, 2020 by the French Army shows a soldier standing on the tarmac at Marseille Airport. The source reported that police guarding the borders of Marseille-Provence airport asked the private jet not to come and land on its tarmac

But the plane still landed anyway, and the passengers, aged between between 24 and 27 years for the women, and 40 and 50 for the men, were not allowed to get off the aircraft.

Controlled by the border police and the gendarmerie of air transport, none had valid reasons for traveling, said the source.

Crossing borders is only allowed with a legitimate or compelling reason, he added.

As well as Croatian, the ten travellers were German, French, Romanian and Ukrainian, said the source.

They initially argued with police, and expressed anger when three helicopters waiting for them were ordered to leave empty, and their pilots fined for breaking lockdown restrictions.

Police check the self-certified not of a passerby justifying their outing in Strasbourg, eastern France, yesterday on day 24 of lockdown in France aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus. France has been in lockdown since March 17 in a bid to slow the spread of the pandemic, with only essential trips allowed that must be justified with a signed piece of paper

Nine members of the holiday party returned to London by the private jet on Saturday evening, while the tenth went back to Germany.

France's coronavirus death toll rose to 12,210 on Thursday, and there are now 7,062 people in intensive care units at hospitals across the country.

France has been in lockdown since March 17 in a bid to slow the spread of the pandemic, with only essential trips allowed that must be justified with a signed piece of paper.

Health director Jerome Salomon said the lockdown was working: Thanks to these measures, we are in the process of putting the brakes on the epidemic.

The lockdown, which was supposed to run until April 15, will be extended beyond that date, it was announced on Wednesday.

President Emmanuel Macron will discuss the coronavirus situation in a live TV address to the nation on Monday.
The test was a routine one, on what should have been a routine mission. But after astronauts on Apollo 13 discovered a leak in their oxygen tank, a crippled spacecraft's desperate four-day voyage home transfixed the world.

Fifty years ago today, three astronauts took off from Florida's Kennedy Space Centre on what seemed by then like an 'ordinary' trip to the Moon.

After all, the crew of Apollo 11 had walked on the lunar surface the previous July, followed in November by the crew of Apollo 12.

Apollo 13 was commanded by James Lovell, with Jack Swigert as command-module pilot and Fred Haise as the lunar module pilot.

The experienced Lovell, 42, had been on three previous space missions. Haise, 36, was a former Marine Corps fighter pilot on his first trip to Space, while Swigert - also on his maiden flight - had been brought in at the last minute after another back-up astronaut inadvertently exposed the crew to German measles.

After astronauts on Apollo 13 discovered a leak in their oxygen tank, a crippled spacecraft's desperate four-day voyage home transfixed the world (still from 1995 film Apollo 13)

The command module pilot, Ken Mattingly, had no immunity to the disease and had to be replaced in case he developed it in Space.

The mission's motto, Ex luna, scientia (From the Moon, knowledge) said it all: the excitement was over. This trip was to collect rock samples.

Instead, Apollo 13 ended up providing a nailbiting drama that made the original moonshot with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin look almost tame by comparison.

The mission to bring the craft and its three occupants back to Earth owes much to the men's fortitude but also to the ingenuity of Nasa flight controllers and engineers, most of them hunched over mainframe computer terminals at Mission Control in Houston, Texas.

It is rightly remembered as the space agency's finest hour, just as it was perfect fodder for Hollywood. But even the acclaimed 1995 film Apollo 13, starring Tom Hanks as Lovell, didn't capture what really happened...

3.08am GMT, April 14

'Ok, Houston we've had a problem here.'

Jack Swigert's now immortal words - often slightly misquoted - to Mission Control on their third day in space suddenly cuts short assumptions that this is going to be the smoothest flight of the Apollo programme.

The mission is supposed to take the crew to the Moon's Fra Mauro crater and they are still on the outward journey.

The mission had taken off at 7.13pm GMT on April 11 and the only drama at first was when Swigert realised he'd forgotten to file his tax returns and anxiously asked flight controllers how he could get a filing extension.

'We're bored to tears down here,' a Nasa official complained to the crew on the radio. Not for long. With the craft 210,000 miles from Earth and closing on the Moon as planned, an explosion - described as a 'pretty large' bang accompanied by fluctuations in the electrical power - is heard just nine minutes after Lovell has finished giving a tour of their craft for a television broadcast.

Fifty years ago today, three astronauts took off from Florida's Kennedy Space Centre on what seemed by then like an 'ordinary' trip to the Moon

The spacecraft, put into Space by a giant Saturn V rocket, consists of two independent modules connected by a tunnel - the lunar module (called Aquarius) to land on the Moon, and the two-part command and service module, or CSM (called Odyssey), where the crew live on the journey there and back.

Lovell initially thinks they have been hit by a meteoroid (a small rock flying through Space, perhaps no bigger than a pebble), or that it is one of Haise's notorious pranks. In fact, one of their two oxygen tanks has blown up after Swigert performed a so-called 'cryo stir', a routine procedure that turns on a fan in the cryogenic tanks.

This stirs the liquid oxygen so that supply levels can be more accurately measured. Experts now believe a spark from a damaged wire ignited a piece of Teflon insulation in Tank 2 and, in the oxygen-rich environment, obliterated it. 3.21am GMT Lovell happens to look out of the window and sees their problems are even worse than they thought. 'We are venting something out into Space,' he tells Houston.

'It's a gas of some sort.' It is oxygen escaping at a high rate from the other oxygen tank, Tank 1, which has been damaged in the blast.

The oxygen isn't just for the men to breathe. Mixed with hydrogen in three fuel cells, it also provides power and water. In Mission Control, flight director Gene Kranz and his staff relay instructions and page references to a crew who - because of technology limitations - had to go into Space with all the emergency instructions written down in a set of ordinary spiral-bound notebooks weighing 20lb.

Marilyn Lovell and Mary Haise, the astronauts' wives, miss the drama. They were at Mission Control, as that was the only place they could watch the TV broadcast (the networks hadn't been interested in airing it) but went home just before the accident.

4.45am GMT

It Is clear the leak to oxygen Tank 1 cannot be stopped. It is running dry, which means the remaining functional fuel cell will shut down within two hours.

In Houston, Nasa has formed a 'tiger team' of specialists dedicated to getting the spacecraft back. Both the flight controllers and the crew agree they must, at least for now, abandon the command module and take to the 'lifeboat'.

This is the first of a string of critical decisions taken in a few hours that will dictate the course of the next four days. The 'lifeboat' is the lunar module, now the only source of enough electrical power and oxygen to allow the crew to make the return journey - now the only 'mission' that matters.

But unlike the command module, the lander has no heat shield to get down to Earth.

Lovell later admits they were 'lucky' - had the explosion occurred on the return journey, the lunar module would already have been jettisoned and they would have perished.

5.09am GMT

With only 15 minutes of power left in the command module, the crew switch it off completely to conserve whatever is left for reentering the Earth's atmosphere. They quickly float through the tunnel into their cramped new home, the lunar module.

Ground controllers in Houston face a daunting task. Nasa had previously considered having to use the module as a 'lifeboat' impractical. Luckily, it conducted a trial run while training the Apollo 10 crew. The necessary procedures drawn up at that time are now dug out and relayed over the radio to the Apollo 13 crew.

6.30am GMT

'Aquarius; Houston. We've got you both on VOX.'

Mission Control gently reminds Lovell and Haise, who is starting to use bad language, that their voice-activated microphones are transmitting everything they say back to Houston and may even be broadcast to a much wider audience.

In fact, the world is soon hanging on their every word.

'The whole human race is participating with them in the agony of their return,' says Le Monde newspaper in Paris.

Later in the day, Pope Paul leads 60,000 people in prayers for the astronauts at the Vatican, while even the Soviet envoy to the United Nations praises their courage. In the U.S., both the Senate and House will pass resolutions asking all Americans to pray at 9pm that evening for the safe return of their countrymen.

Apollo 13 ended up providing a nailbiting drama that made the original moonshot with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin look almost tame by comparison

Prayers are said at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem and at the Chicago Stock Exchange.

In Times Square, New York, huge crowds gather to watch updates on giant TV screens, while a media army converges on the Lovell family home near Houston, where Mrs Lovell is glued to the TV with the other astronauts' wives.

They are joined by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. 8.43am GMT The lunar module's Descent Propulsion System, designed to get it down to the Moon, burns for 34 seconds, its propellants producing a nearly transparent flame.

It puts Apollo 13 on a new course - a 'free return' trajectory. This was one of two options for getting the spacecraft home that sharply divided the experts at Mission Control. Some argued for speed and favoured a so-called 'direct abort', using Odyssey's main engine to return before reaching the Moon.

But Kranz feared the engine could be damaged and if the direct abort didn't come off perfectly, Apollo 13 might even crash into the Moon. In what he will describe as the toughest decision of the mission, he opts for a 'free return', sending the spacecraft on a longer route around the Moon but one that uses its gravity to catapult Apollo back towards Earth in about four days.

3.10am GMT, April 15

Two hours after they swing around the Moon at a speed of 4,552 ft a second, the lunar module's engine is ignited again, this time for four minutes, to change its course a second time. The spacecraft had been heading to touch down in the Indian Ocean but the U.S. has few recovery ships there.

It now hopes to land in the Pacific, on a new trajectory that will save 12 hours.

Mission Control tells Lovell that a part of Apollo 13 that detached earlier as part of a scientific experiment has landed successfully on the Moon. 'Well, at least something worked on this flight,' he says sarcastically.

After the second engine burn, the crew shuts down most of the lunar module's systems, including its electrical ones, to conserve power.

The crew are plunged into an increasingly chilly darkness. 5.50pm GMT Conditions on board the lunar module are tough. There is plenty of oxygen but not much water, which has to be used not only for drinking but for cooling equipment.

They conserve water, cutting down to 0.2 litres a day, just a fifth of their normal intake. They drink orange juice and eat foods with a high water content, such as hot dogs. Lovell will lose 14lb before he's home, while Haise develops a severe urinary tract infection.

8.21am GMT, April 16

The crew has an impromptu DIY lesson. Mission Control has become increasingly worried by a potentially more lethal problem than a shortage of water or heat - the build-up of carbon dioxide inside the lunar module.

It doesn't have enough canisters of the lithium hydroxide pellets used to absorb the suffocating gas. The command module does have enough canisters but they are the wrong shape to work in the lunar module's equipment.

The mission to bring the craft and its three occupants back to Earth owes much to the men's fortitude but also to the ingenuity of Nasa flight controllers and engineers

Nasa engineers ingeniously create an improvised device they call the 'mailbox' out of items they know are on board - including duct tape, a sock, the cover of a flight manual and a spacesuit oxygen hose - and tell the crew how to make it themselves. Carbon dioxide levels fall immediately and - a bonus - Mission Control tells Swigert he has been given a 60-day extension on his tax returns.

12.40pm GMT

In the endless exchange of technical information between the crew and Mission Control, there is still time for banter.

Hearing the sound of a female voice on a pop song the crew are playing on a tape recorder, a Nasa official quips: 'Hey, have you guys got a woman on board?'

Haise shoots back: 'No way I could handle that.'

Mission Control has been reinforced by Ken Mattingly, the crewman who had to drop out. As a command module pilot, he has been trying to work out how it can be provided with sufficient power to get the others back safely to Earth.

He and Nasa experts hit on a solution: transferring power from the lunar module batteries into the command module.

8pm GMT

The trio have been astonishingly stoic but Swigert finally complains to Mission Control about the chill in the command module, where the exhausted astronauts try but fail to get much sleep in temperatures that fall almost to freezing.

Lovell decides they will get too hot if they put on their spacesuits. Instead, they wear two sets of Constant Wear Garments, a combination of cotton full-body underwear and Teflon flight coveralls.

They cannot even discharge their urine into Space, as it might alter the craft's trajectory because anything coming out of the craft will have a propulsive force. Instead, it has to be stored in bags that often end up floating around the cabin.

The windows, walls and ceiling are dripping with so much condensation that the crew fear it might cause a short-circuit in the electrics - but they dare not switch on heaters for fear of running down the battery.

12.45am GMT, April 17

The crew has spent hours just writing down the procedure for reawakening the command module. Extreme fatigue, stress and thirst are taking a toll. Haise needs to go to the bathroom, where he strips off. 'I ricocheted around touching bare metal, and it just chilled me to the bone every time I'd touch anything,' he recalls.

After astronauts on Apollo 13 discovered a leak in their oxygen tank, a crippled spacecraft's desperate four-day voyage home transfixed the world (still from 1995 film Apollo 13)

'You can't help but bounce all around in there.'

His exhaustion suddenly catches up with him, but they cannot rest as they are about to start powering up the command module.

4.10am GMT

'I'm looking out the window now, Jack, and that Earth is whistling in like a high-speed freight train,' Lovell tells Swigert.

Under Earth's gravitational pull, their speed has increased to more than 6,000mph as they near the planet. Returning to the command module, they jettison the lunar module. 'Farewell, Aquarius, and we thank you,' says an official at Mission Control.

'She sure was a good ship,' adds Swigert.

6.07pm GMT, April 17

The engineers have done their sums correctly and the command module has sufficient power to get them down safely. However, Nasa fears the heat shield has failed when the communication blackout caused by ionisation of the air around the command module lasts agonising minutes longer than usual.

But the three are safe, if exhausted, and still freezing cold as the craft splashes down gently in the Pacific Ocean near Samoa.

Mission Control erupts, as cheering Nasa staff punch the air and light celebratory cigars. Many, including Kranz, simply cry.

The next day, they and the astronauts will be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour, by President Nixon.

After just under six days and 622,268 miles, a truly epic journey is over. Undeterred, Nasa will land Apollo 14 on the Moon in less than a year.
Interim committees of North Dakota's Legislature probably won't meet again until June due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Legislative Management, a powerful committee of state lawmakers that guides work between sessions, met Thursday. The group appeared to reach a consensus on interim committees not holding meetings until June. If any committees must meet, they could do so by telecommunications. The committee didn't hold a vote.

The Legislature has 29 interim committees, which are carrying out more than 40 studies and various duties before the 2021 legislative session begins.

Some meetings have already been canceled due to the virus outbreak, though three groups of lawmakers met this week in the Senate chamber to allow for livestreaming for the public and social distancing for lawmakers in attendance as they carried out some essential business.

Ten members of Legislative Management were present Thursday via telephone; five were in the room.

House Majority Leader Chet Pollert, R-Carrington, who chairs the group, said interim committee chairmen "have to take a look" at whether to hold meetings.

"Folks, if you don't think you can hold your committee meeting, I understand that, and so the rightful thing to do is to cancel," Pollert told the committee.

Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, R-Dickinson, said it would be "a rule of thumb" not to meet in April and May and reassess afterward. Interim committees have until the fall to wrap up their work before presenting reports in November.

House and Senate majority and minority leaders met this week with the governor's office and state health officials to discuss the pandemic, Pollert said.

He was coordinating with the governor's office Thursday for legislative leaders to receive regular updates and for an employee of Legislative Council to act as a liaison for updates to state lawmakers, too.

Updates on the coronavirus pandemic in North Dakota are available at health.nd.gov/diseases-conditions/coronavirus.

Legislative Management also set Dec. 1-3 as the dates for the 2021 Legislature's organizational session, which is when new lawmakers will take office.

Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
A Sydney harbourmaster offered to stop the Ruby Princess from docking at Circular Quay after a Border Force officer expressed concern that their staff could be exposed to coronavirus.

Border Force has confirmed a telephone conversation took place between the harbourmaster and one of its officers in the hours before the troubled cruise ship was due to dock on March 19.

In a statement Border Force said: "The ABF officer made internal enquiries and subsequently advised the NSW Port Authority that the vessel had been cleared by NSW Health."

But a senior NSW government source said there "is no evidence to date that Border Force spoke to NSW Health immediately prior to giving approval to dock".
Darrin Menard, a family physician in Lafayette, Louisiana, has spent the past month easing patients' anxieties about the coronavirus that has killed 10 people in his parish so far.

But Menard has his own fears: How will his medical practice survive the pandemic?

His office typically sees 70 patients a day, but now it handles half that amount and many of those appointments are done over the phone or computer. He said revenue in the practice has dropped by 40%  which makes it challenging to pay a mortgage, staff salaries, malpractice insurance, utilities, electronic health records costs and other expenses.

To help stay afloat, Menard is one of thousands of doctors, hospitals and other health providers reaching out for a lifeline made available in the series of federal relief measures to counteract the effects of the viral outbreak.

He applied last week for a three-month advance on his Medicare billings, which he hopes will bring in about $120,000 or more to cushion the strain. He's also applying for the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection loans to help cover costs of meeting payroll.

"We are quite thankful for the help so I can keep the lights on in the office for us to be available for our patients," Menard said.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced in late March that it would implement for the first time a national accelerated Medicare payments program to help ease the financial strain for health providers. Thursday, officials said they had disbursed $51 billion to hospitals, doctors and other care providers.

"Healthcare providers are making massive financial sacrifices to care for the influx of coronavirus patients," CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a statement.

"Many are rightly complying with federal recommendations to delay non-essential elective surgeries to preserve capacity and personal protective equipment. They shouldn't be penalized for doing the right thing. Amid a public health storm of unprecedented fury, these payments are helping providers and suppliers - so critical to defeating this terrible virus  stay afloat."

The federal help has inspired private insurers such as UnitedHealth Group and several Blue Cross Blue Shield plans to offer advanced payments and other financial support.

CMS in April has received more than 25,000 requests from providers and suppliers for expedited payments and has approved more than 17,000 requests. Before the pandemic, CMS had approved about 100 requests for advanced payments in the past five years, mostly for natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

Most physicians can get an advance on three months of their Medicare reimbursements, and hospitals can get up to six months. Hospitals will generally have up to one year from the date the accelerated payment was made to repay the balance. Doctors will have up to seven months to complete repayments.

To put all this $51 billion in financial aid in perspective, traditional Medicare in 2018 paid $403 billion to health care providers.

Coronavirus patients are overwhelming hospitals in cities including New York, New Orleans and Detroit. But as other health systems brace for similar spikes, they are also seeing sharp drop-offs in regular doctor visits, emergency room arrivals, and the lucrative surgeries and medical procedures that are vital to their bottom lines.

The advanced Medicare payments are just part of the hundreds of billions of dollars the federal government is providing doctors, hospitals and other health providers.

Congress also set up a separate $100 billion program for hospitals and other health providers with coronavirus-related expenses.

The Trump administration Tuesday said it will begin distributing the first $30 billion from this fund to hospitals this week. The money will go to all hospitals based on their Medicare fee-for-service revenue.

Lobbying groups representing safety-net hospitals slammed the decision because they get a lower share of their revenue from Medicare than some other hospitals do. And safety-net hospitals have a higher percentage of patients who are uninsured or covered by Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for low-income people.

It also upset hospitals in New York, the epicenter of the U.S. epidemic, because they were getting no more funding than hospitals little affected by the outbreak.

Verma said the administrations top priority was getting the funding to hospitals as quickly as possible. She said childrens hospitals, nursing homes, pediatricians and other health care providers that receive much of their revenue from Medicaid and other sources will be given priority when the second round of funding is distributed.

Other federal steps to help providers include Medicare for the first time paying for telemedicine treatments at the same rate as in-person visits. Previously, those fees paid less than half of what in-person visits paid.

Congress has also suspended a 2% Medicare reimbursement cut and bumped up Medicare fees by 20% for treating COVID-19 patients. The Trump administration said it is also paying hospitals Medicare rates for uninsured COVID-19 patients.

The billions in advanced Medicare payments are seen as one of the quickest ways to get funds to struggling hospitals and doctors.

"It's money we will desperately need," said Patrick McCabe, senior vice president of finance at Yale New Haven Health, the largest health system in Connecticut. It is counting on more than $450 million in advanced Medicare payments to get through the pandemic  at least for the next couple of months.

The health system, which runs a $5 billion annual budget, could lose more than $600 million as a result of the added expenses of preparing and dealing with COVID-19 and the drop-off in other revenue, he said. Such a loss  without any federal assistance  would more than wipe out the health system's ability to upgrade equipment and keep up with rising expenses, he added.

McCabe said determining whether the federal relief will be enough depends on how long the pandemic lasts.

Shelly Schlenker, senior vice president of public policy and advocacy for CommonSpirit Health, a Chicago-based Catholic health system with 137 hospitals, said she expects all these facilities will apply for advanced Medicare payments.

"Hospitals are in urgent need of assistance to meet the demands of the pandemic," she said. "It's an unprecedented time."

Even with all the government help, industry analysts say, the economic fallout from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, will rock the health industry, which communities often count on to fuel their economies.

The average large hospital will see about a 51% decline in revenue as a result of the pandemic, said Christopher Kerns, vice president at the Advisory Board Co., a consulting firm.

While some patients who postpone procedures will return, Kern said, hospital systems shouldn't expect a quick recovery. "Health systems are going to try to capture as much pent-up demand as possible, but there are big challenges with that," he said.

Before the crisis, a quarter of U.S. rural hospitals were at high risk of closing, according to a report this month from consulting firm Guidehouse. These 354 hospitals span 40 states, though most are in the Southeast and central states.

"It was already troubling that the economic outlook for rural hospitals deteriorated during the longest period of uninterrupted economic growth our country has ever experienced," said Dave Mosley, a Guidehouse partner. "A major crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic or any significant economic downturn is likely to make the situation even more dire."
People wave when they prepare to leave a concentrated quarantine centre in Ho Chi Minh City after finishing the 14-day quarantine period (Photo: VNA)

That means the total amount of people with the coronavirus remains at 255 since late April 9, with 128 having made full recovery.

Of those with the disease, 158 or 62.2 percent are imported cases, and 97 others contracted the virus from other patients in the country.

It is expected that 14 more people will be given the all-clear on April 10, comprising 10 at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No. 2 in Hanoi, one at the General Hospital of Bac Ninh province, one at the Da Nang Hospital in the central city, and two others at the General Hospital of Binh Thuan province.

The committee also noted that 17 cases have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once while 18 others twice.
The mayor of Englewood said he is mourning one of the citys most extraordinary citizens" in announcing her death from the coronavirus.

Margaret Temple founded the Family Teen Center, a youth performing arts program for residents in Bergen County from ages 11 to 17.

Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes said he spoke with her daughter, following her mothers death.

She was a person who loved, and worked, for the benefit of our youth, Wildes said of Temple in a video posted to his Facebook page.

COVID-19 has taken some of our very special residents, and though she lived nearby, she was an Englewood resident as far as Im concerned, added the mayor.

Mayor Wildes: Margaret Temple Englewood mourns the loss of Margaret Temple the founder of Family Teen Center. May her family be comforted in knowing we share in their loss. Her voice and life was a gift to us all. Michael Wildes, Mayor City of Englewood - City Hall, NJ. Posted by Mayor Michael Wildes, Esq. on Thursday, April 9, 2020

Referencing the pandemic that, as of Thursday afternoon, had claimed at least 1,700 lives in New Jersey, Wildes said, I also know that this is disproportionately hurting and hitting the African American community.

About a quarter of the deaths in New Jersey for which race data was available, as of Tuesday, were black or African American.

Its so important that we realize were going to get through this together, he said.

New Jersey as of Thursday afternoon had at least 51,027 confirmed coronavirus cases.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Heartwarming footage has shown a coronavirus patient emerging from the intensive care ward after successfully overcoming the disease.

Retired police officer Kym Watkins recovered from the virus after she returned home to Queensland from New York with her husband Grant.

In the footage shared on Thursday, Mrs Watkins was seen clutching flowers as she thanked the staff at Gold Coast University Hospital who saved her life.

Retired police officer Kym Watkins was applauded by medical staff as she was wheeled out of Gold Coast University Hospital

Medical staff lined the halls and gave Mrs Watkins a round of applause as she was was wheeled out the door to be transported home.

'Thank you for saving my life,' she told the workers.

'I am so grateful to the amazing people at the Gold Coast University Hospital  everyone from the doctors and nurses to the people who meticulously clean the ward are incredible at their jobs.

'I just wish everyone could see how big my smile is under this mask.'

Mrs Watkins was admitted to hospital on March 25 with mild symptoms - but her health later took a turn for the worse.

After being admitted to hospital she required the use of a respirator to continue breathing but soon overcame her struggle.
Small businesses frustrated at rollout of SBA loan program

The owners of North Carolinas nearly 900,000 small businesses received conflicting messages over the past week about the SBA Paycheck Protection Program, the new federal program designed to help cover payroll and other expenses during the new coronavirus pandemic, Carolina Public Press reports.

Approved by Congress as part of a $2.2 trillion relief package, the $349 billion loan fund was first made available April 2.

But some would-be participants soon discovered that theyd been shut out of the program, at least temporarily.

Bankers in North Carolina and regulators in Washington, D.C., now say the initial glitches in the programs rollout are being addressed, and loan approvals should go more smoothly in the days ahead.

Available through community financial institutions that participate in U.S. Small Business Administration lending, the 1-week-old Paycheck Protection Program allows businesses with fewer than 500 workers to take out loans at 1% interest. Neither the government nor local lender charges any fee during the application process.

The programs immediate goal is to keep more Americans employed until the threat of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, begins to subside.

The SBA will forgive a loan if of a businesss employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and if a loans proceeds are used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utility payments.

But if a business reduces its full-time headcount or if wages and salaries are cut by more than 25%, the level of loan forgiveness by the government is also reduced.

About 60% of the N.C. Bankers Associations members are participating in the program, said Wendell Begley, CEO of Buncombe County-based Black Mountain Savings Bank and the associations board chairman.

Weve got to get money back out there in the pipeline to these folks that are being laid off, Begley said.

Shaky start

Begley acknowledged the initial confusion that arose.

The legislation that approved all this and worked it was so voluminous in size, its really been hard for the banks to have been ready to take the plunge and make sure they got the assurances they need and understand the program as it is and get the money in the hands of the folks that need it the worst, Begley said.

Questions troubling bankers during the programs first week included the degree to which federal regulators might mitigate any risk in making the loans and the ability to sell some loans, get them off the books and make way for new ones.

Other complicating issues included crashes of the SBAs E-Tran system used by bankers to authorize loans and the absence of an official agency document used to close the new loans, which some community lenders feared would place them at legal risk.

In the wake of the 2008 market crash, were very, very closely examined, Begley said of the banking industry. Were regulated. We want to make sure were credible and we do whats right.

By Wednesday, some bankers were feeling somewhat more optimistic that snags in the program were being worked out.

A spokesperson for Truist, the Charlotte-based bank formed from the merger of BB&T and SunTrust, said more than 100,000 businesses had already signed up and that applications were being processed.

Charlotte-based Bank of America initially received criticism from some customers who were locked out of applying.

The bank later explained that it was staggering its applications by working with prior borrowers first and then opening the door to applicants with a business account but without any borrowing history.

Raleigh-based North State Bank also chose to take applications in stages, with small businesses and sole proprietorships able to apply as of April 3 and independent contractors and the self-employed able to do so beginning Friday.

Durham-based Self-Help Credit Union is also rolling out the program piecemeal.

As we continue to ramp up the program, well share updated information on our website, its statement noted.

The White House has asked Congress to add another $250 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said.



Back to work, but when?

While employers and employees are anxious to get back to work, not everyone in the hospitality industry believes that encouraging employment through the Paycheck Protection Program is the right approach, at least for now.

Jud Watkins, the owner of Wrightsville Beach Brewery in New Hanover, has cut his workforce by half and supports the mandated closure of bars and restaurants during the pandemic.

Watkins has converted his business into a drive-thru for beer, groceries and pizza with no more than eight to 10 people inside the building at one time.

Typically, the drive-thru looks like one person working outside, one working the bar for six-packs and growler fills and one person working the phone, then two or three people strategically spaced out in the kitchen, Watkins said.

In a letter delivered this week to U.S. Rep. David Rouzer, Watkins shared that he thought Paycheck Protection Program loans were not designed for most businesses operating in the hospitality industry.

If full forgiveness of the PPP loan hinges on rehiring to full staffing levels, I would kindly ask that Congress continue to refine the process by adding special provisions for the hospitality industry so that you do not put business owners in the awkward position of asking employees to return to work in a space that has been mandated by the government to be closed, the brewery owner wrote.

Asking an employee to do so is counter-intuitive and goes against the advice of every doctor with whom I have spoken. Congress is effectively asking employers to force their staff into unsafe conditions; return to perform work that does not exist; and risking pushing many of those employees right back into unemployment when the PPP funds run out if business volumes havent returned to their previous levels.

If we are allowed to delay when we receive and use the PPP funding based around a logical timeline that coincides with government mandates, more businesses will succeed and stay viable in the long term, Watkins told his congressman.

Accessing the SBA program

Businesses interested in the PPP program can access the SBA website for information or to apply online.
FLINT, MI -- Starting next week, Flint Community Schools will be distributing food two days a week instead of five.

Seven days worth of meals will be available for grab-and-go pickup between Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. starting Tuesday, April 14.

Families unable to make it to the food distribution sites can contact the district at superintendent@flintschools.org.

Flint schools food distribution sites cut from 24 to 7

After being cut last month from 24 to seven sites, the district has expanded the number of distribution points through the city as well. Now there are 12 sites, four between three zones of the city.

North Zone

Northwestern G-2138 W. Carpenter Road, Flint

Brownell/Holmes 6602 Oxley Drive, Flint

Berston Field House, 3300 Saginaw St. Flint

Carpenter Road River Park Apartments, 7002 Pemberton Drive, Flint

Central Zone

Potter, 2500 N. Averill, Flint

DTM, 1518 West Third Ave, Flint

Stonegate, 3103 Stonegate Dr, Flint

Summerfield, 1360 Melbourne, Flint

South Zone

Freeman, 4001 Ogema Ave., Flint

Southwestern, 1420 West Twelfth St., Flint

Howard Estates, 1928 Howard Ave, Flint

Evergreen Regency, 3102 Fox Circle, Flint

Carman-Ainsworth school district ends food distribution citing safety concerns

Whitmer has called school meal programs critical infrastructure that should continue.

Her office issued the following statement from Press Secretary Tiffany Brown on the recent executive order:

Gov. Whitmer is committed to ensuring that Michigan students have access to the food they need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the governors executive order, K-12 school food services are considered critical infrastructure and should continue. The governor deeply appreciates the vital work that our frontline school employees are doing every day to ensure that our kids have the food they need while the order is in effect.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-11 06:54:30|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BISSAU, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Guinea-Bissau's Minister of Public Health Antonio Deuna on Friday praised the significant role of China in improving the country's health system and helping the country fight COVID-19.

"China is an ideal and extraordinary partner in the fight against the novel coronavirus," Deuna, also chairman of the interministerial commission for prevention and combating against COVID-19, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

Deuna stressed the importance of Chinese aid to help contain the spread of COVID-19 in Guinea-Bissau, which has recorded a total of 38 cases.

"The donation of medical materials from China for Guinea-Bissau is very important, because it allowed us to do the test and the diagnosis on possible cases of infection," the minister said, expressing gratitude to the Chinese government for its solidarity with Guinea-Bissau.

According to the minister, all 38 cases in the country are mild. "Patients receive medical assistance at home," he said.

"The support provided by the People's Republic of China has now made it possible to provide assistance to patients suffering from the novel coronavirus," he added.

Guinea-Bissau has five ventilators, donated by China as part of bilateral cooperation and installed at the China-Guinea-Bissau Friendship Hospital.

"There are no serious cases yet, but we are prepared," Deuna said, adding that medical supplies from China, including respirators, will soon arrive in Bissau.

"China and Guinea-Bissau have a good relationship and bilateral cooperation is very significant," said the minister.

"We are brotherly countries... China and Guinea-Bissau are consolidating their community of destiny by helping each other in different fields, including those of health, agriculture, education and etc.," he said.
The Allahabad High Court on Friday rejected preliminary objections raised by BJP MP Sanghmitra Maurya against a petition filed by Samajwadi Party leader Dharmendra Yadav, challenging her election from the Badaun parliamentary seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Justice Ramesh Sinha ha May 6, 2020 as the next date of hearing.

In July, Yadav had moved a petition in the Allahabad High Court challenging the election of Sanghmitra Maurya from Badaun constituency.

Sanghmitra, daughter of Uttar Pradesh minister Swamy Prasad Maurya, had defeated Yadav by around 18,000 votes.

While rejecting the objections of Sanghmitra Maurya, the court said, In my considered opinion, the contention advanced by counsel for Maurya that petitioner Dharmendra Yadav's statement in the election petition raises no cause of action is wholly unfounded. It is a well settled law that if the election petition speaks about the material facts and concise statements on which the election petitioner relies upon are stated in the election petition, the same should not be thrown at the threshold.

The petitioner has requested the court to declare the election of Sanghmitra Maurya as null and void.

Yadav has challenged the election of Sanghmitra Maurya on the ground that it is a case of improper acceptance of nomination.

In the petition, he also said that there is no disclosure of Sanghmitra Maurya's marital status.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bus drivers have been told that they will now get full sick pay after many went to work with covid-19 symptoms because of money fears, MailOnline can reveal.

Hardworking drivers with families have been getting as little as 153.32 per week, forcing them to choose between self-isolating and putting food on the table.

Typical sick pay rates should be between 300 and 500 per week, depending on length of service. But in practice, many get far lower sums.

Fourteen transport workers have died in London after contracting covid-19 so far, including eight bus drivers.

There are concerns that the buses, which are used by NHS nurses and other keyworkers, are acting as incubators for the disease which has been spreading rapidly in the capital.

After being questioned by MailOnline last night, Transport for London (TfL) wrote urgently to all London's private bus operators, telling them to pay full sick pay.

But many transport workers fear that this has come too late. The culture needs to change, one said. Theyre used to treating us like dirt and they wont stop overnight.

Scroll down for video

A bus driver wears a medical mask as a precaution, as MailOnline reveals that many are going to work even though they have covid-19 symptoms because they are getting low sick pay

Bus driver Emeka Nyack, 36, right, who died of coronavirus after raising concerns about the filthy state of his bus, with his son Makiah, seven

Bus drivers Mohammed Nehman, left, and Nadir Nur, right, both died of covid-19

Speaking anonymously, a driver who has been employed by Metroline in north and west London for five years said he had been forced to work with a cough.

I had to self-isolate last week because my son had a chest infection,' he said.

'At first, my manager put it down as unpaid leave because I didnt have the symptoms myself yet.

We had a big row and in the end I got 153 for the week. I havent been able to pay the rent and Im getting threatening phone calls.

Bus drivers live hand-to-mouth as it is. Now were pretty much broke. Ive got three children and theyre eating me out of house and home.

Now Im coughing, but Ive got to just work through it. Im terrified that if I get too ill to work, what that would mean in terms of money for my family.

Metroline said that the way the employee was treated was a mistake, but other drivers at the company said they had had similar experiences.

One told MailOnline that he had decided to use his holiday allowance when he was unwell, as the rates of sick pay were so bad.

Theyre pushing us to work, thats the biggest problem, he said. Drivers are making that decision: do I go to work or dont I?

Nine times out of 10 we go, because theres no alternative. We are too scared about losing money.

A Metroline spokesman claimed that no driver should be forced to work if they have symptoms, adding that anyone with symptoms should self-isolate and will receive full sick pay.

No member of our team will face financial hardship as a result of shielding on the recommendation of Government or a GP, the spokesman said.

Any drivers who have been offered low sick pay by their manager, or are being forced to self-isolate without pay, should complain to Human Resources, he added.

Empty soap dispensers and overflowing bins were filmed by a driver at the depot in Southall, London, leaving bus drivers with little opportunity to practise safe hygiene

Taken by a bus driver this morning before his shift commenced, this picture shows a filthy bus

More pictures show unidentified stains on a bus before it was put into use this morning, after it should have been deep cleaned

A driver working for Abellio, which operates buses in west London, said: I told my boss I was feeling ill and I wanted to see a doctor, but he said it was nothing but a minor cough.

We only get between 50 and 150 per week sick pay, so Im just having to work through it.

He added: The only thing they care about is getting the buses out, so they put us in the firing line. The managers are all hiding at home, leaving us on the front line.

They pay us the bare minimum, whatever they think they can get away with. Theyve got us by the balls.

When questioned by MailOnline, Tom Cunnington, TfLs Head of Bus Business Development, said:

We have today written to all of Londons bus operators urging them to do the right thing by vulnerable employees and, like TfL, provide sufficient financial support so that they do not have to come to work.

This is to ensure that these drivers dont feel forced to attend work for financial reasons when they shouldnt.

It comes as the row over dirty buses continues, with drivers taking to social media to post pictures of their grimy vehicles.

MailOnline has obtained videos of the staff facilities in the bus depot in Southall, west London, which has no soap, toilet paper or hand towels. The bin was seen overflowing and the lavatory had apparently not been cleaned.

An Abellio spokesman said that the company was disappointed that it did not meet its normal housekeeping standards on this occasion.

We are increasing checks on these facilities and have asked staff to notify a manager or supervisor if there are any hygiene issues, he said.

But drivers from the same depot have also passed MailOnline videos and pictures of apparently filthy buses. All were taken at the start of each shift, when the vehicles should have been cleaned.

There are three or four cleaners dealing with 50 or 60 buses, one driver said. They dont have the time to deep clean them.

The Mayor of London has promised that buses are being deep cleaned, but we havent seen that happening on the ground.

TfL's Head of Bus Business Development claimed that although the buses were still soiled by liquids and rubbish, and had apparently not been cleaned, they had been treated with anti-virus spray that made them safe.

He said: 'Every single bus is cleaned before it enters service each day, in addition to daily applications of anti-viral fluid. Weve been very clear with operators that this must happen, and it is happening.

'It is the anti-viral detergent fluid that provides the protection from coronavirus rather than the regular sweeping and litter picking on buses.

'Sadly, there may be occasions when litter or marks are left on a bus while it is in service, but if passengers and drivers report anything they see it can be dealt with as soon as possible.'

Grime and sticky stains were seen this morning on the floor of the bus by the driver's cab and the passenger doors after the vehicle was supposedly deep cleaned
The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory disease caused by SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 virus). A lot of information about the COVID-19 virus, which first appeared in Wuhan, China in December last year, is already out there but lets run through the basics. Index infections were from a seafood market in Wuhan China.

Originally China tried to cover up the outbreak and by the time China acknowledged the emergence of COVID-19, community spread of the virus had already begun in China. Due to the interconnected nature of our world especially via trans-global transportation (air travel in particular), the virus quickly spread beyond China. The World Health Organization declared it a pandemic and at present, the virus has infected more than 1.4 million people worldwide and more than 82,000 fatalities.

In Nigeria, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) as of today reports 254 confirmed cases and 6 fatalities. My primary motivation for writing this article is to directly debunk assumptions that Nigerians or Blacks living in sub-Saharan Africa somehow are immune to contracting coronavirus or have anti-bodies that inhibit the development of the disease after it enters the body.

I have had the course at several forums, in discussions with academic colleagues at the American University of Nigeria Yola where I presently teach, and on Gotel Television in Yola, to advise Nigerian and other African Governments to sustain ongoing measures aimed at protecting their populations against the Coronavirus, as there exists yet no scientific proof that sub-Saharan Africans enjoy any form of immunity against the virus.

In the absence of a vaccine or effective drug, social distancing measures is the only effective public health intervention. Data from China, Singapore, Czech Republic, Taiwan, Austria, Norway and Germany have consistently shown that social distancing flattens the epidemic curve.

My submission as a researcher and molecular virologist of over 30 years, in Norwegian and Nigerian universities and research institutes, is that it will be beyond recklessness and irresponsibility to relax the present ongoing social distancing measures in the inane belief that Nigerians have some innate or acquired resistance to COVID-19 virus.

There is no evidence to support that Africans have some immunity to COVID-19. Indeed, the very risk factors for the severity of COVID-19, that is, diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, etc. are very common in Nigeria and African communities around the world.

As already shown from the data in the USA, COVID-19 will kill much more in Nigeria because of these associated morbidities. This misinformation spreading on the internet that Africans are immune is responsible for the shocking statistics that are coming from the USA, that is, in states like Louisiana where Black Americans constitute 30% of the population, but account for 70% of the fatalities.

African American communities believed this false narrative of immunity and thought that COVID-19 is a white man disease, refused to practice social distancing and other precautionary measures and now we are witnessing the fatal consequences. I am worried that the same scenario is and will play out in Nigeria with much more devastation.

We will keep shouting, and screaming until our policymakers hear us and take decisive action. I am afraid that if nothing is done to counteract this misinformation of immunity, the consequences to our people in terms of infection, morbidity, and fatality will be of apocalyptic proportion!

The issue of resistance to malaria conferring some protection to COVID-19 is a legitimate but premature hypothesis. Reason being that an insignificant portion of individuals in malaria-endemic regions have been tested. Nigeria has tested about 4000 people representing about 0.002% of the 200 million population. You need to at least test 1% of the population, that is, two million Nigerians to start making any correlation and then test those correlations.

Why will we spend time investigating an unestablished correlation between malaria resistance and COVID-19 fatality when there is an established correlation between risk factors like diabetes, hypertension, asthma and COVID-19 severity? When time is of the essence and the difference between life and death, it is far better to spend resources including scientific investigation, public health intervention efforts on established correlations.

The malaria resistance if future data supports it can then be investigated but as of now it is not a priority in terms of risk assessment and public health. Remember, last week, Nigeria had 131 cases and 1 fatality but today (one week later), it is 234 cases and 6 fatalities, almost 80% and 500% increase in the number of infections and fatalities respectively.

Even when you eliminate under testing and reporting, the almost doubling of the infection cases and 500% increase in fatality within a week is ominous, and suggest as I have argued in my previous discussions that our reported COVID-19 cases are following the same pattern as countries in the early phase of the epidemic curve.

Nigerian infection curve is about four to five weeks behind the USA. A month ago, the USA had very few infections and fatalities prompting Trump to boast that the COVID-19 virus is contained. Today, that is, four weeks later, about 400,000 Americans are infected with 12000 fatalities. The public health message should be that all must practice social distancing and wear a mask if they have to venture outside and those with underlying illness (diabetes, hypertension, asthma, etc.) as well as the elderly (60 years and above) must stay at home. Disobeying the social distance measures exposes one to the virus with attendant morbidity and mortality. In addition, one may also be a spreader of the virus to uninfected individuals.

The Covid-19 pandemic caught the entire world unprepared, not just Nigeria. The unpreparedness is not because nations did not receive early warnings but because those warnings were ignored by bureaucrats. The bureaucrats and policy makers thought that the probability of such an event occurring is very low.

In a laymans term Risk is probability multiplied by the consequence. Thus, a low probability event will have a high risk when the magnitude of the consequence is extremely high. For instance, the probability of a nuclear explosion may be low but the risk is still very high because of the magnitude of the consequences, i.e., millions of people will die if it happens.

READ ALSO:

The same scenario plays out with pandemics. Thus, without question the zoonotic spillover of emerging/re-emerging pathogens from the wild should have been assigned the highest level of risk and proactive measures taken to prevent, detect, mitigate and respond. Pandemics are not just a public health concern but have immense biosecurity implications.

Thus, our country Nigeria should be deeply concerned about the health and biosecurity implications of the emergence or reemergence of pathogens. Proactive research through identification and characterization of potential pathogens before they emerge or reemerge to cause deadly infections in humans and animals is the holy grail of pathogen discovery, public health intervention, and robust biosecurity preparedness. We can only prevent, detect, mitigate and respond effectively to pathogens if we are proactive in the following ways: (a) Nigeria should establish centers of excellence on pathogen hunting.

These proposed centers should hunt for potential pathogens in the wild before they emerge, predict the potential timeline for the emergence and put in place a robust evidence-based system for response. Only by this will have the capacity for pathogen diagnostics, simulation and surveillance, as well as vaccine development and therapeutics. The pathogen hunting centers can be modeled in the way of the USAID funded PREDICT program. But this time, the proposed Nigerian PREDICT should do the scientific work and not outsource the core scientific investigation to foreign reference national laboratories in the name of quasi collaboration.

Collaboration in science is welcomed but it should not be one-sided, that is, where African scientists are mere sample collectors while the sophisticated scientific work is ferried to foreign laboratories in the USA and Europe. We must build our capacities here in Nigeria and genuine collaboration must support capacity building, skill and competence transfer.

(b) The government and private sectors should as a matter of national urgency invest heavily in STEM, particularly in the areas of genomics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, robotics, and artificial intelligence. These are the disciplines of the present and the future. They are at the core of creativity and innovation for the future, without which Nigeria cannot address the healthcare and ecosystem problems of now and the future. Young people should be incentivized to pursue careers in functional genomics, genetic engineering, systems biology, and artificial intelligence.

Many programs in our Universities and research institutes are outdated and will not equip our young ones with the skill set to discover new vaccines, cure genetic diseases, find alternative and green sources of energy, etc. Our medical schools are minting out doctors that are not equipped to address pandemics or integrated health problems. The curriculum in our medical schools should be modeled to problem-solving instead of memorization and regurgitation of obsolete information. Medical schools should emphasize molecular and translational medicine. If we develop and nurture competence in these areas and more, we can innovate or manufacture ourselves out of any problem.

Advertisements



Our 100% dependence on oil is a clear indictment of our poverty of scientific innovation as well as crippling inertia to technological advancement. COVID-19, oil dependency, etc.

can be solved if as a nation, our governments create the enabling environment to support research and innovation. I will propose that Nigeria should create a National Research Council whose mandate will be to massively fund STEM research in the core areas earlier mentioned, and provide the structural framework to translate research into innovation! Nigerian academics can apply for funding for innovative projects and fund will be awarded to deserving recipients after rigorous external peer-review.

All these suggestions will only work if the Nigerian factor is removed, that is, competence and skills must take precedence over any other consideration. How can a professor who has never extracted nucleic acid or even run a basic DNA gel lead a laboratory or agency whose mandate is molecular diagnostics or epidemiology?

The lack of investment in education, health, science and technology have irreparably crippled our ability and capacity to respond effectively to the covid-19 pandemic. It is my hope that this pandemic is a water-shed moment that awakens us to the realization that we can only compete if we innovate and create. No country or people will help us except ourselves.

Professor Malachy Okeke held senior research and teaching positions in Norway, and was Senior Scientist, Molecular Inflammation Research Group, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, before joining American University of Nigeria, in 2018.

He can be reached on malachy.okeke@aun.edu.ng; https://www.aun.edu.ng/index.php/academics/faculty/sas/malachy-okeke
The first person to contract Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo in more than 50 days has died, the government said, ending hopes that the second worst outbreak of the disease in history might be over.

The Central African country planned to declare an end to the epidemic on Sunday, which would have allowed its overstretched health service to concentrate on containing the coronavirus, which has infected 215 and killed 20 there.

Health workers dressed in protective gear begin their shift at an Ebola treatment centre in Beni in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit:AP

The new Ebola case, the first since February 17, was a 26-year-old man in the area of Beni, a town in eastern Congo. He developed symptoms on March 27 and died in hospital on Thursday morning, regional health authorities said in a statement.

Ebola has killed more than 2200 since August 2018 in a volatile area of the country where rebel attacks hobbled efforts to contain it. The country is also trying to bat back a measles epidemic.
Recent days and weeks have witnessed a spike in COVID-19 deaths in Germanys elderly care homes. Elderly residents of these facilities, who often suffer from pre-existing health conditions, are more likely to experience a serious illness as a result of a COVID-19 infection. The large number of deaths stems from the failure to implement timely countermeasures or follow them, a shortage of staff, overworked personnel and the absence of personal protective equipment (PPE).

The outbreaks of COVID-19 in care homes have risen dramatically. Virologist Christian Drosten referred to the development as a new phase in the Coronavirus pandemic. At just one care home in Wolfsburg, where the first cases were identified on March 18, 29 residents have died. After five residents died at a Karlsruhe care home, all 200 residents and 160 staff members were tested. One hundred and four tests came back positive, with the other results still pending.

In a care home in Wurzburg, 16 residents have died. Many more residents and care workers have tested positive for COVID-19. Sixteen residents and four staff members tested positive at a care home in Neukoln in Berlin, and 45 people at a home in Hamburg. The list goes on.

Due to the lack of testing in Germany, there is also undoubtedly a large number of unreported cases. Across the country, some 800,000 people live in elderly care homes. However, there is no official statistic for the number of COVID-19 cases in these facilities.

The irresponsible and criminal indifference of the government and big business is to blame for the horrific conditions in care homes and hospitals.

In an interview with Der Spiegel, patient ombudsman Eugen Brysch responded in the affirmative to the question as to whether care homes are being transformed into centres of death. Brysch acknowledged that the totally inadequate number of tests for the virus is having especially lethal consequences in the care sector, stating, The strategy of not testing care home residents as a general rule was wrong.

The lack of PPE is having an even more dramatic impact on care homes than on hospitals. Brysch justifiably referred to this as a scandal. Despite existing plans for a pandemic, there were no stockpiles in retirement and care homes. Prices on the market have increased 100-fold, and no institution can afford them.

A poll by the Suddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, and WDR revealed that thousands of doctors and health care workers are already infected with COVID-19, and that institutions have been forced to close due to staff shortages resulting from sickness, or a lack of PPE. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germanys federal agency for infectious diseases, estimates that across the country, 2,300 medical staff in hospitals are infected with SARS-CoV-2. Unreported cases are also undoubtedly much higher, and this figure does not include workers in doctors practices, care homes, and care services.

According to figures from the Registered Doctors Association in Bavaria, 244 practices in this federal state alone are closed141 due to quarantine, 82 due to a lack of PPE, and 21 due to a lack of clinic staff.

The situation is being exacerbated by the emergence of some clinics as COVID-19 hot spots. This process is exemplified by the Ernst von Bergmann clinic in Potsdam. The hospital stopped accepting patients on March 28 because too many had already been infected by the coronavirus. By Wednesday, April 1, nine people at the hospital had died due to COVID-19. After one in five patients and 63 staff members had been infected, the RKI sent a crisis team to the state capital of Brandenburg.

The reality is that for too long, nothing was done in the care sector to prepare for the pandemic. Even when the first infections in Germany were reported and it became clear that the capacity of the health care system was far too low, no measures were taken to protect the vulnerable people in the elderly care system or care workers.

Instead, politicians sought to pass the buck. Lower Saxonys Social Affairs Minister, Carola Reimann (Social Democrats, SPD), blamed irresponsible relatives for bringing the virus into the Wolfsburg care home, according to the daily TAZ. Only two weeks after the first infections in Lower Saxony did the state government issue an order banning the acceptance of new residents in elderly care homes. In Bavaria and several other states, this straightforward but effective measure was only adopted after dozens of people had died.

In the case of Wolfsburg, the government did not utter a word about the irresponsibility of the care home operator. Workers who had tested positive at this facility and many others were forced to continue working, putting their own health and that of residents in grave danger. On the infection ward, people who have tested positive but have shown no symptoms are still working. With the authorization of the local health authority, quarantine can be suspended in such cases, the TAZ wrote with respect to the Wolfsburg case.

The state prosecutor is now investigating a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the case of the Hans Lilje care home in Wolfsburg. A spokesman for the state prosecutor said that the trigger was a complaint that made serious accusations about the standard of care. Employees of the Diakonie, the operator of the care home, reportedly spoke of catastrophic hygienic conditions that encouraged the spread of the virus. The lawyer who filed the suit noted that a ban on visits was imposed far too late.

A question to the Federal Ministry of health from the Paritatische Gesamtverband, which represents a number of care home operators, underscored how widespread the disastrous conditions are. On the one hand, the submission declared, they are obliged to equip staff with masks and personal protective equipment. But on the other, it is virtually impossible to obtain PPE on the market. This leads to the question of whether one can be permitted, or ought to continue caring for residents or patients, and whether the care home is liable if it compels staff to work without providing them adequate protection. An answer from the Health Ministry has yet to be received, according to a report in the Suddeutsche Zeitung.

Cuts and privatizations have created the disastrous conditions presently experienced in the care sector. The huge shortage of staff in the current crisis is linked to the miserable working conditions and low wages in the sector. As the Suddeutsche Zeitung reported, 17,000 employees in the care sector depend on state welfare benefits to get by, including 10 percent of this figure who work full time. More than 1,600 full-time workers in the health care and paramedic services do not earn enough to cover the costs of rent and basic necessities of life for their families.

At the same time, the number of privately-owned for-profit operators in the care sector has increased dramatically. The turnover of Alloheim SE, one of Germanys largest care home operators, rose from 110 million in 2014 to 631 million in 2017.
Staffers at a hospital in Daegu clean a ward, Friday, after COVID-19 patients who had been hospitalized there were discharged from the hospital. The city that was once considered the local epicenter of the virus outbreak reported no new cases for the first time in 52 days. / Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



The southern city of Daegu, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea, saw no new cases for the first time since the city's first patient was reported, Feb. 18, according to health authorities Friday.



The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said the total number of patients in the city has remained at 6,807 for two days from Wednesday.



After the confirmation of the city's first and the country's 31st patient, who was linked to the Daegu branch of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, massive infections occurred at the city, with the daily number of patients reaching its peak at 741 on Feb. 29.



"A high level of social distancing for the last three weeks seems to have made results now," Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said in a briefing. "But it is premature to prejudge the situation with the daily number of patients."



He said a second wave of infections could come at any time, calling on the people to continue physical distancing.




As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to.

After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS!

OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK

The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  The Department of Health cautioned the public against spraying or misting disinfectants to kill COVID-19 virus, saying such may even cause harm.

There is no evidence to support that spraying of surfaces or large scale misting of areas, indoor or outdoor with disinfecting agents, kills the virus, DOH said in an online advisory on Friday.

The health department said that contrary to protecting against COVID-19, spraying even poses health and safety concerns, as it can cause the virus to spread further from the direct application of a spray.

Spraying or misting may also result in skin irritation or inhalation of chemicals that may cause respiratory issues, DOH said. It added that spraying disinfectants may also cause environmental pollution.

The DOH advised everyone to instead soak objects completely or disinfect surfaces directly to kill the virus.

As of April 10, the country has recorded 4,195 confirmed cases of the viral disease. The death toll stands at 221, while 140 patients have already recovered.

Health officials continue to urge the public to practice preventive measures such as physical distancing, cough etiquette, and avoiding close contact with those who exhibit virus symptoms.
A minister taking legal action against a Belfast hotel over claims he was asked to halt a public meeting in support of traditional marriage has spoken of his anger.

The Reverend Harry Coulter, from Carrickfergus Reformed Presbyterian Church, is suing the owners of the Balmoral Hotel, on the outskirts of west Belfast, for unlawful discrimination and breach of contract over the alleged incident. He said court papers have been lodged to initiate legal proceedings.

Rev Coulter hired the hotel's grand ballroom for his 'Marriage Matters' event in October last year.

However, the Christian Institute, a lobby group and charity, which is supporting the minister, said that midway through the two-hour meeting, attended by more than 50 members of the public, hotel staff interrupted the event and asked the clergyman to end the meeting.

The Institute claims that despite Rev Coulter writing to the hotel on two occasions, as well as sending a legal letter, the hotel has failed to respond.

The Co Antrim man claimed his meeting had been interrupted because of traditional views of marriage.

He said: "At the time of making the booking, it was communicated that the room was to host an event in relation to the proposed change to the definition of marriage in Northern Ireland under the banner Marriage Matters. The hotel recognised this by its sign 'Marriage Matters' located in the entrance area of the hotel.

"Staff were closely involved with us in the set-up for the meeting.

"They observed us putting out publicity materials which included the location of a free-standing pull-up at the top of the corridor leading to The Grand Ballroom."

Rev Coulter claimed that no staff members expressed any concern in relation to the content of the publicity materials or the display until the meeting was interrupted.

He is also claiming the hotel breached its contract after the event ended before the room booking expired.

Rev Coulter said it was important to take legal action to ensure people are able to express their views.

Simon Calvert, from the Christian Institute, said that it was right to support Rev Coulter in his legal action "to defend his freedom to hold and express these beliefs".

The Balmoral Hotel yesterday failed to respond to a request for comment.

In a previous statement it said it was closed due to the coronavirus crisis and as such was "unable to comment".
Comedian David Spade discussed the possibility of himself playing Tiger King star Joe 'Exotic' Maldonado-Passage in a movie version of Netflix's No. 1 hit docu-series, which will air a bonus episode this Sunday.

'I don't know. It depends. There's [my talk] show and there's getting time off and all that,' the 55-year-old sarcastic stand-up said on Thursday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

'Joe Exotic said me or Brad Pitt. I see Brad Pitt at auditions all the time and it's always tense...But I think Joe is a little too squirrely for Brad that might be wishful thinking because Brad is so studly.'

'It depends': Comedian David Spade (L) discussed the possibility of himself playing Tiger King star Joe 'Exotic' Maldonado-Passage (R) in a movie version of Netflix's No. 1 hit docu-series, which will air a bonus episode this Sunday

Spade was recommended by the 57-year-old former roadside zookeeper due to the blond-mulleted janitor he portrayed in the 2001 redneck comedy Joe Dirt and its 2015 straight-to-video sequel Joe Dirt: Beautiful Loser.

But Edward Norton, Dax Shepard, and Kevin Bacon have all expressed interest in taking on the part of the gun-toting openly gay polygamist - who's serving a 22-year prison sentence for a murder-for-hire plot among other crimes.

SNL actress Kate McKinnon signed on to produce and star as Joe's nemesis Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin in UCP's upcoming small-screen adaptation of Robert Moor's Wondery podcast, Over My Dead Body - according to Deadline.

And six-time Golden Globe nominee Rob Lowe just reteamed with his 9-1-1: Lone Star creator Ryan Murphy to 'develop our version of this insane story.'

The 55-year-old sarcastic stand-up said on Thursday's episode of The Ellen Show: 'Joe Exotic said me or Brad Pitt. I see Brad Pitt at auditions all the time and it's always tense...But I think Joe is a little too squirrely for Brad that might be wishful thinking because Brad is so studly'

Look familiar? Spade was recommended by the 57-year-old former roadside zookeeper due to the blond-mulleted janitor he portrayed in the 2001 redneck comedy Joe Dirt and its 2015 straight-to-video sequel Joe Dirt: Beautiful Loser

Incarcerated: But Edward Norton, Dax Shepard, and Kevin Bacon have all expressed interest in taking on the part of the gun-toting openly gay polygamist - who's serving a 22-year prison sentence for a murder-for-hire plot among other crimes

David has interviewed Tiger King's John Finlay, Rick Kirkham, Jeff Lowe, and Kelci 'Saff' Saffery remotely from the Beverly Hills bunker of his Comedy Central talk show Lights Out.

The four-time Emmy nominee acknowledged animal lovers are horrified at directing duo Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin's 'dark and rough' series, but he said 'as a character study it's fun to watch.'

'I thought it's just a funny idea because it's more fun to think what the casting would be just for something to do,' Spade noted.

Hot project! SNL actress Kate McKinnon (L) signed on to produce and star as Joe's nemesis Big Cat Rescue founder Carole Baskin (R) in UCP's upcoming small-screen adaptation of Robert Moor's Wondery podcast, Over My Dead Body

From the Beverly Hills bunker: David has interviewed Tiger King's John Finlay (R), Rick Kirkham, Jeff Lowe, and Kelci 'Saff' Saffery on his Comedy Central talk show Lights Out

'As a character study it's fun to watch!' The four-time Emmy nominee acknowledged animal lovers are horrified at directing duo Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin's 'dark and rough' series

The SNL veteran (1988-1996) suggested Woody Harrelson play the part of Jeff Lowe, the man who replaced Maldonado-Passage as the owner and director of GW Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma.

Joe's ex-husband John Finlay told People on Saturday that he wanted either Channing Tatum or Shia LaBeouf to play him in a movie version.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump even told a New York Post reporter he'd 'look into' possibly pardoning Joe, who ran for President in 2016 and Oklahoma Governor in 2018.

'It's just a funny idea': Spade suggested Woody Harrelson play the part of Jeff Lowe (pictured), the man who replaced Maldonado-Passage as owner and director of GW Exotic Animal Park

Dream casting? Joe's ex-husband John Finlay (pictured) told People on Saturday that he wanted either Channing Tatum or Shia LaBeouf to play him in a movie version
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482045e78)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481f57ef0)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482045e78)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481f57ef0)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482092948)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481f57ef0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481f57ef0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481b67148)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0482047548)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0482047548)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Teachers should focus on quality education



It is unprecedented for South Korea to start a new school year with remote learning. On Thursday, around 850,000 middle and high school seniors began their first day of a spring semester by participating in online classes. Their schools have been closed since March amid the coronavirus pandemic.



There arose many problems with the new method of schooling due mainly to a lack of preparations. One of them was the malfunctioning of the EBS Online Class site of the state-run educational TV channel, which delayed the virtual classes for more than an hour.



Most of all, parents and students complained about the quality of online classes. The education authorities have advised schools to provide remote learning by adopting three methods: classes involving real-time interaction, online lectures prerecorded by the EBS, and projects and homework for students. But most online classes were devoid of interaction between teachers and students. Many teachers wasted time checking attendance. Some of them presented prerecorded lectures.



It is apparently hard for the authorities, schools and teachers to make thorough preparations for online classes. In fact, they were given very little time after schools were shut down due to COVID-19. The education ministry has delayed the school opening four times on fears about potential cluster infections in classrooms. The delay is indispensable to the nation's efforts to contain the highly contagious virus.



Yet it is disappointing to see the online classes getting to a rocky start, despite the country's reputation as one of the world's powerhouses of information and communication technology. This means that the authorities have so far neglected utilizing the technology to develop online education platforms. Simply put, the government, schools, teachers and students have only focused on traditional learning methods designed to prepare for college entrance exams.



That's why South Korea is currently at the bottom of the OECD member countries when it comes to the utilization of ICT technology in classrooms. So the problem is not a matter of technology, but a matter of our approach toward how to innovate education in the information age. If it had changed the education system, the country could have set another example in online learning after emerging as a model case in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.



Now we have to address the problems arising from remote learning through trial and error. First of all, the authorities should create a prototype for online classes that teachers and students across the country can use effectively. Another urgent task is to build the online infrastructure to allow all users easier access to remote learning. It is also necessary to narrow the digital divide. About 223,000 students nationwide do not have devices for online learning.



Most of all, the government, schools and teachers should work together to offer quality online education programs. They are required to turn the coronavirus crisis into an opportunity to promote education innovation.






The lack of preparedness for the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic revealed how non-state actors could access deadly strains to perpetrate a bioterrorist attack, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN Security Council.

"The weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic provide a window onto how a bioterrorist attack might unfold - and may increase its risks," Guterres said on Thursday. "Non-state groups could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe."

Guterres also said that some actors might take advantage of the current global crisis and promote further division resulting in the escalation of violence and potential "devastating miscalculations" in regions already ravaged by conflicts.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic might further erode the people's trust in public institutions if citizens perceive government have mishandled the response or lacked transparency about the scope of the crisis, Guterres said.

The Secretary-General also called on the UN Security Council to demonstrate unity in mitigating the peace and security challenges posed by the pandemic.

According to the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, the number of people infected with the virus has exceeded 1.5 million with 95,000 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
For the second time this week, a federal judge Friday ordered ICE to release 22 immigration detainees held in the York and Pike county prisons to try to protect them from the coronavirus.

U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III issued that second edict after ICE officials asked him to reconsider his first release order, which he handed down Tuesday.

Things havent changed, Jones concluded in his new decision. He found the detainees, who have medical conditions that put them at heightened risk if they contract COVID-19, cannot be adequately protected from infection at either county jail.

We simply cannot find, in the face of the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic that is washing through this country and the (prisons), that the public interest favors the continued detention of civil immigration detainees with underlying health conditions that render them particularly vulnerable were they to contract COVID-19, Jones wrote.

That is so despite ICE claims to the contrary, the judge found. He said ICE concerns that the detainees are flight risks and/or dangers to the community can be addressed by restricting their freedom by, for instance, requiring them to report their whereabouts to their lawyers weekly.

Any of the released detainees who violate the terms of their freedom or commit other crimes can be locked up again immediately, Jones said. Meanwhile, he said, the virus risks require that they be removed immediately from the two prisons.

While they may have ramped up their sanitation protocols the simple fact that inmates are incapable of social distancing in the facilities remains, Jones wrote, finding that situation amounts to a threat to their constitutional rights.

Jones order regarding release of the 22 detainees closely followed another in which he ordered the coronavirus-related releases of 17 other ICE detainees held at the York, Pike and Clinton county prisons.
Varanasi: A 55-year-old tourist from Belarus, who was staying in a guest house of Shivala area in Bhelupur police circle since February 28, was found dead in his room on Thursday.

SP City Dinesh Kumar Singh said that the additional city magistrate-I, circle officer of Bhelupur along with a team of doctors inspected the incident site after which the body was sent for post mortem.

The Belarus embassy has been informed about the tourist`s death.

Following the initial investigation, SP City Dinesh Kumar Singh said that this tourist had come to the city with one more companion in February. The duo stayed at Alvis guest house in Shivala area. His companion had left after a few days but the deceased was apparently stranded here due to declaration of lockdown.

When the team of doctors had conducted mandatory checking of foreigners stranded in Varanasi, he had not been found.

The guest house manager said that the deceased had taken normal dinner on Wednesday night before going to bed.

However, when he did not open doors of his room till late morning on Thursday, the guest house staff alerted Bhelupur police.

When Bhelupur police broke into his room, his body was found lying on bed in nude condition. Singh said that the post-mortem report will throw light on the cause of his death.
WOOD RIVER  The confirmation of 14 new coronavirus cases in Madison County on Thursday brought the total to 99, according to the Madison County Health Department.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that, while both case numbers and death tolls continue to rise statewide, there is evidence social distancing and isolation efforts are working to bend or flatten the curve of the coronavirus spread.

In his daily briefing, he noted the rise in both was less and less exponential, which he called a good sign.

That indicates to us that we are, in fact, bending the curve, he said. There is even some evidence that we may be moving toward a flatter curve.

He said individual residents remain the first line of protection in both communities and households, and they need to continue to follow stay-at-home and social distancing guidelines.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, which includes representatives of the regions major healthcare providers, said Thursday it will probably be at least a week or two before the actual effects of stay-at-home and social distancing become more apparent locally.

The task force said a total of 611 patients are hospitalized in the region because of COVID-19, including 219 in ICU and 173 on ventilators.

The Madison County Health Department on Thursday confirmed 99 cases, including two previously noted deaths, while the Illinois Department of Public Health website showed 89 cases in Madison County. There have been some discrepancies in the daily counts as the number of cases grow.

Health department officials said the countys cases include 56 women and 43 men from their 20s to 80s. Twenty-five are hospitalized and 27 are recovered, meaning they have completed isolation.

According to the IDPH, Jersey County has reported five cases, Calhoun County one, Macoupin County 12, Bond County four, Clinton County 31, Washington County two, Monroe County 35 cases and one death and St. Clair County 144 cases and four deaths.

By ZIP code, the Alton area (62002) shows 14 cases, Godfrey (62035) five cases, Edwardsville (62025) 12 cases, Glen Carbon (62034) six cases, Granite City/Pontoon Beach (62040) 19 cases and Collinsville (62234) 10 cases. On Wednesday there were six cases listed in the Wood River (62095) area, but there was no listing for that ZIP code Thursday.

Numbers are not released in ZIP codes with five or fewer cases to protect the privacy of patients.

The information is available on the IDPH website, www.dph.illinois.gov. Select the coronavirus banner, then COVID-19 statistics in the drop-down menu on the left side.

The IDPH on Thursday reported 1,344 new cases statewide for a total of 16,422. Also reported were 66 deaths, bringing the total to 528.

IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said the response to the pandemic has been tremendous and urged residents to continue to stay home and practice social distancing and good hygiene.

We are all making sacrifices, and I ask you to stay the course, she said Thursday. We are headed in the right direction because of all the actions taken by you.

Pritzker said it has been an entire calendar month since the original disaster proclamation, noting the extreme measures that have been taken to stop the spread of COVID-19.

During the last month we have experienced tremendous tragedy, he said, referring to hundreds who have died. He also noted that thousands are hospitalized throughout the state, but thousands have also recovered. He added the economic impact of the virus has uprooted the lives of people throughout the state and nation.

However, much of his discussion Thursday focused on highlighting the truly incredible organizations that have stepped up during the pandemic.

He cited specific groups providing services ranging from care and meals for children, to providing help for the elderly, disabled and those suffering from mental health and addiction issues.

Know that everywhere you look there are helpers, he said.

He also said there have been large numbers of volunteers. Those seeking ways to help can visit www.coronavirus.illinois.gov and click on the Volunteer Opportunities section.

For the latest information on COVID-19 or coronavirus resources, visit the Madison County Health Department online at www.madisonchd.org or on Facebook @MadisonCHD. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us for more news and a daily update or on Facebook @MadisonCountyIL.
GRAND HAVEN, MI -- It was about to be another great year for Odd Side Ales in Grand Haven.

Sales in the taproom were up.

Distribution was up.

And everyone was excited for the brewerys 10th anniversary celebration scheduled for March 13-14.

That all changed quickly when Michigans first two coronavirus COVID-19 cases were announced on March 10. Bands started to cancel. Then a few days later, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banned gatherings of more than 250 people.

The celebration never happened.

We lost out on what we expected to be a huge weekend for us, Odd Side Ales General Manager John Motz in a Q&A with MLive.

Since then, business has, expectedly, declined very dramatically.

Like many states, Michigan is under a Stay Home, Stay Safe or shelter in place order. The most recent one extends through April 30.

READ: Read Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmers revised coronavirus stay-at-home order

That means Michigan breweries, and there are more than 300 of them, have been regulated to takeout, delivery and curbside service. (Michigan is ranked fifth in the country in breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs, according the Michigan Brewers Guild.)

At Odd Side Ales, the impact on its business has been profound, Motz said.

We talked to Motz, who has worked at the brewery for 3 1/2 years, via email about that impact.

Odd Side Ales was a finalist in 2013 for our search for Michigans Best Brewery. Its core brands include Citra Pale Ale, Bean Flicker Blonde and the Dank Juice series.

General Manager John Motz at Odd Side Ales in Grand Haven is busy filling curbside orders, which can be made online. The core brands are Citra Pale Ale, Bean Flicker Blonde, and the Dank Juice series. Motz has worked at the brewery for 3 1/2 years.John Motz

Odd Side Ales Q&A - John Motz

John Gonzalez: Amy Sherman and I have always been big fans of Odd Side. Whats a great way to describe your vibe in the taproom and style of beer. To me its always been funky and fun, and youve always been willing to try new things.

John Motz: You hit the nail on the head describing us - Odd Side is a family of people who march to the beat of our own drums, and are proud of it. We love to push the boundaries of what we can do with beer, and youre right that theres not much we wont try at least once! We love being quirky and out there, and having fun while making and selling the highest quality product that we can.

JG: When did you close down the tap room, and what was the immediate impact on business?

JM: We closed the taproom on Monday, March 16, following Governor Whitmers order for dine-in restaurants, bars, etc. to close. We remained completely closed until Thursday, March 19, when we reopened for to-go beer sales only. The immediate impact was profound - even before the shutdown, we had our 10th anniversary celebration scheduled for March 13-14th. We had bands scheduled who (understandably) canceled, and we lost out on what we expected to be a huge weekend for us. Since then, business has, expectedly, declined very dramatically.

JG: How much has business decreased, and what has been the impact on your employees (how many?)

JM: Again, dramatically. At the taproom, since March 16, we are down over 60% from last year, and closer 75-80%ish below this years projected numbers. Unfortunately, like most other breweries, restaurants, bars, etc., this shutdown has left the majority of our staff furloughed until we are able to reopen. At the taproom and attached coffee shop, we went from around 20 employees down to 3. The company as a whole has gone from around 35 employees down to 7.

JG: When did you start offering curbside service; how does it work?

JM: We launched our online ordering/curbside pickup on March 26. It is super simple, on our website (oddsideales.com) is a link to an online store. Its divided into packaged beer (cans & bottles), and crowler/growler fills. Both are linked to a live inventory of what we have in stock, which is updated daily. So you place an order, pull up to the curb in our front parking lot, call the taproom, and we run it out to you. Its been going over very well!

JG: What have been your biggest sellers? How are Growlers and Crowlers doing?

JM: When we first reopened for to-go sales, we brought out a bunch of barrel-aged beer we had held on to from special releases in the past year or two, and those went very fast. Our juicy IPA series, the Dank Juices, have been selling very well, as well as our first ever run of Fuzzy Navel and Pina Colada hard seltzers. By the end of next week (4/17) we will have the next batch of seltzers in cans for sale here, this time in black cherry and tangerine flavors! Crowlers and growlers have been huge too. We have a wide range of beers on draft that are not packaged in cans or bottles to go, so its nice to be able to offer those for people to take home as well.

JG: We heard you stopped brewing. Can you explain how much youve slowed down?

JM: We havent stopped completely, but it has decreased significantly. We are down to brewing our main core brands (Citra Pale Ale, Bean Flicker Blonde, and the Dank Juice series) for large chain accounts.... We are also brewing the hard seltzers, which are getting limited distribution in Michigan right now.... All of the bars and restaurants who would normally be ordering our beer right now are also closed, so its brought everything almost to a screeching halt.

JG: I know youre distributing. How much did you distribute before the pandemic vs. what you send out now?

JM: We are currently in 9 different states, including Michigan. As of about 2 weeks ago, of those 10 states, Texas and Michigan are the only ones still placing orders. I cant give you an exact number, but it is a fraction of where we would be under normal circumstances.

JG: Overall, how serious is your situation? Is your brewery in jeopardy of closing? If not (and we hope not), how are you getting through this?

JM: Thankfully, we are in a position where we are not considering ourselves in jeopardy of closing. We are just taking it one step at a time at this point. The support of our fantastic community through to-go sales has been amazing, and we have been able to keep the Side Bar coffee shop open for takeout as well, so we are doing our best to bring money in and just ride this out like everyone else.

JG: When did you open the brewery? How big of a system?

JM: So our owner, Chris (Michner), opened Odd Side in 2010. I believe his very first system was even smaller, but most of the brewing early on was done on a little 1.5 barrel (46.5 gallon) brewhouse that still sits on display in our taproom. Fast forward to today, and we brew everything at our 44,000 square foot production facility. We brew in 3 shifts per day, 5 days a week, on a 15 barrel (465 gallon) brewhouse.

JG: How many barrels of beer do you produce a year, and what is your projection for 2020?

JM: In 2019, we sold 9,906 barrels of beer. Our ambitions for 2020 were higher, but this will put a significant damper on that. I do not have an official projection for you right now, as it all depends on how long this lasts, and how quickly we are allowed to ramp back up after it is deemed safe for us to reopen.

Know of another great Michigan brewery that could use a little love right now or you want to pass along a story tip? Please email us at:

John Gonzalez at gonzo@mlive.com

Amy Sherman at asherma2@mlive.com

Stay safe, friends.
When the rest of the country was grappling with Tablighis googly, Muslims from Bhatkal did not wait for the community leaders from the state outside to give diktats or plead them to cooperate with the government for implementing total lockdown or social distancing.

The news channels have continued to feed the caged viewers in the lockdown with stories of how Tablighi Jamaat is culpable in spreading coronavirus. On the other side are the argumentative Indians on social media; one set of social media warriors is seriously attempting to preach scruples while the others are showing their hawkish nature as ever.

In the middle of the cacophony are the efforts of fighting the pandemic by authorities and public unnoticed by news channels and social media and the experiment in Bhatkal town in Uttara Kannada district is a case in point.

The imposition of curfew, voluntary screening, maintaining total lockdown and keeping the suspect under quarantine without any hassle in a Muslim dominated Bhatkal town can be a lesson for others. Of course, the district administration could not have achieved what they intended to do unless the local Muslim Jamaat joined hands with the authorities.

Bhatkal, a quick look

The coastal town of Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district has over 50,000 Muslims. They believe their ancestors were the Arab sailors and traders who came to visit India nearly in the eighth century or so. The community got a piece of evidence for their ancestry is a mosque, Jamia Masjid which is 650-years old. Here in the district, Bhatkal Muslims are called Nawayath Muslims. In the Persian language, Nao Aayed means newcomers and it is no secret that Nao Aayed has become Nawayaths over the years. Nearly 10,000 of Nawayaths would work in the Middle East and due to economic stress there, over 4,000 have come back.

Even to date, 35 doctors from our community serve in the Middle East. Of the 10,000 nearly 4,000 have returned to Bhatkal and our Majlise-Islah-O-Tanzeem, the local Muslim welfare social organisation helps them now, says Syed Pervez, the president of Tanzeem.

In the early 90s, the town witnessed unprecedented communal violence that ended in the murder of sitting BJP MLA U Chittaranjan. Thereafter, the town and the innocent Muslims here had to bear the brunt, when Indian Mujahideen roots were traced to Riyaz Bhatkal and others in the first decade of this century.

For years, they came under intense surveillance and perhaps during this period, people had realised it was better to live a new life, law-abiding by being cooperative with the authorities. Ever since no untoward incident happened. To the extent that, when the recent anti-CAA protest had taken place, the local Muslims penalised some of the mischief-makers from the community for crossing the fine line, says a senior police officer who refused to come on record.

Click here for Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates

Muslims in Bhatkal consider themselves superior to some of the local Muslim groups because of the differences in skin colour and the looks. The police officer maintains that Bhatkal Muslims have reportedly fallen out with the Delhi Tablighi Jamaat.

Fast forward to March 2020

When a few patients tested positive for COVID-19, the focus again turned towards Bhatkal, because all the nine COVID-19 cases reported in the district till Thursday are from Bhatkal town alone.

When the rest of the country was grappling with Tablighis googly, Muslims from Bhatkal did not wait for the community leaders from the state outside to give diktats or plead them to cooperate with the government for implementing total lockdown or social distancing. Because they seem to be under pressure that all the cases reported in the district are from Bhatkal town and any mismanagement will be catastrophic for the community. Interestingly, Bhatkal has gone under stringent measures much before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced them. Many attributed this to deputy commissioner K Harish Kumar.

When we first heard about the correlation between COVID-19 and foreign travellers, we focussed on two places first, Gokarna and Mundagod. Gokarna a village that attracts European tourists and Mundagod is a Tibetian settlement. Next, we had planned to focus on Bhatkal where people would return from the Middle East for Ramazan holiday. At around the same time launched a training programme for healthcare officials and paramedics which has come to our help now, says Kumar.

Even before the first positive case came, the authorities had imposed Section 144 in Bhatkal on 19 March. Because, all the COVID-19 positive cases in Kerala got links with travel history to the Middle East and since Bhatkal too got similar social characteristic, the town may witness an outbreak of the disease.

"So to take preventive steps, we imposed Section 144 in Mundagod, Gokarna and Bhatkal, says the deputy commissioner.

This coastal town clocks about 40 percent of the total foreign travellers who visit the district. When two people with travel history to the Middle East were tested positive in Bhatkal, the administration wasted no time and announced health emergency.

This helped us to keep government machinery ready for the COVID-19 fight, says Kumar. He also says that over 100 Tablighis tested negative for COVID-19.

A doctor from the community Mohammed Haneef Shabab narrates the difference between Tablighis and theirs.

We are highly educated. Thats why we made our Ulema announce in the mosque and now, we are strictly following social distancing and lockdown. There is no confusion among us about cooperating with the authorities, says Shabab.

The president of Majlise-Islah-O-Tanzeem Syed Parvez seeks to clarify on the Tablighi controversy and why it did not impact Bhatkal Muslims.

Whatever be the portrayal of Tablighi issue, we are not like that. For instance, we dedicated a hostel block of the Engineering College for home quarantine patients where over 40 suspected were kept. Now, the majority have returned home after the swab test came negative. We also started supplying essential commodities to households. We give this service to non-Muslims. We take the help of our non-Muslim friends and supply commodities to non-Muslims who have a reservation in taking our goods, says Parvez.

Interestingly, as many as 103 Tablighi members were quarantined in the district that did not hit the headlines and finally, reports of all came negative, according to Kumar.

Sharat Nayak, a doctor who is camping in Bhatkal to attend COVID-19 cases concurs with the Tanzeem president.

All the nine cases tested positive in the district till now are from Bhatkal and the patients either have a travel history or they are members of the family who had travel history. We are now focussing on aged and young in the family of those tested positive. We finished survey of family members of the COVID-19 cases and we have asked them to bring the family members for intensive health check-up, says Nayak adding that this time, people are cooperative to the authorities.

The author is a senior journalist and political commentator.
For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

LATEST, April 10, 10:03 p.m. Sonoma County announced the second coronavirus-related death Friday evening.

The county also updated its website to reflect three more known cases, bringing the total to 145.

April 10, 5:10 p.m. The coronavirus death toll in Santa Clara County hit 50 on Friday when three additional deaths were reported.

County officials also reported 42 new cases, bringing the total to 1,484. The county with the second-highest case total is San Francisco with 797 confirmed cases.

April 10, 3:50 p.m. Alameda County reported three additional COVID-19 deaths on Friday.

20 people in the county have died thus far, and the number of cases also rose from 681 to 730.

County officials also reported that two additional residents have died at Gateway Care & Rehabilitation, the Hayward nursing facility where over 40 residents have tested positive for the coronavirus.

April 10, 2:00 p.m. On Friday, Mayor Breed announced a partnership with San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and Veritas, a local real estate developer, to address a rise in domestic violence cases during the citys shelter in place.

Some people sheltering at home may not be in safe environments, Breed said. Domestic violence doesnt stop because of a pandemic. Its important we continue to provide support, services, so we can help the people who need it the most. I know so many domestic violence survivors out there are thinking about what we are doing as a city to help others who have not been able to escape those very challenging situations.

Breed stated that Boudin and Veritas have provided 20 rooms, fully furnished, for survivors needing to relocate. She also noted the availability of text emergency services in the event a person is unable to speak on the phone.

April 10, 1:45 p.m. San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Friday announced a new outbreak of coronavirus at St. Vincent de Paul Multi-Service Center South, one of the citys largest homeless shelters.

A total of 70 people  68 members of the shelter and two staff members  tested positive for COVID-19, she said.

However, as she added, One of the real challenging situations [which] could have been worse will be a little bit better [because] we were preparing to ensure we were able to respond quickly.

On any given night, she noted, the shelter receives 340 people, but because the city acquired hotel rooms to house more vulnerable people, it mitigated infections.

April 10, 1:30 p.m. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state has seen 541 deaths due to COVID-19 to date, and 49 individuals died in the last 24 hours. As of Friday, 2,897 patients are hospitalized due to the virus and of those 1,145 are in intensive care units.

The number of individuals in the ICU decreased 1.9% percent yesterday and today it went up 1.1% percent.

Newsom acknowledged these numbers are encouraging, but added, "Yesterday, I said one data point doesnt make a trend line. I caution people even two points dont make a trend. But still, two lower numbers for two days is a good sign."

Newsom said the state's mobility data that guides models predicting the course of the virus is also promising, but tells a "cautionary tale" and if residents pull back from our stay-at-home order, the numbers will change "radically and quickly."

Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Department of Health and Human Services, said county-by-county mobility data shows movement of residents across the state is down compared to this time in February before the shelter-in-place order went into effect. Ghaly also shared a graph showing that hospitalization numbers in the state are on the low end of what models had predicted.

"We see that we are holding on to the bottom part of the model," Ghaly said. "Thats sort of the better-case scenario, what we had always hoped for but we of course planned for something different. This is a point of pride that weve done so well, but I caution you that this line could easily see an upward slopesomething that rises quickly if we lose the focus on physical distancing and staying at home."

Newsom and state officials have said the virus in California is likely to peak  reach its height of spread and severity  in mid-May and Ghaly acknowledged that other experts and models are predicting an earlier peak.

"Our peak may not end up being as high as we actually planned around and expected and that difference between what were seeing today in our hospitals might not be that much different than where were going to peak in the many weeks to come," he said.

Newsom acknowledged that the positive numbers are leading California residents to want to know when their lives may return to normal.

"I anticipated that question," Newsom said. "Know we are putting together detailed plans to architect what that looks like and will be made public soon. That work is being done."

Newsom said nursing homes continue to be a top priority with 191 of the state's 1,224 major facilities being monitored by state health officials where individuals have tested positive. At these centers, 1,226 residents and staff have the virus. Of the 7,464 smaller facilities, 94 locations are under observation and have another 379 residents and staff with the illness. Newsom announced a program providing workers at these facilities with hotel vouchers if they're unable to go home. He also said a Navy hospital ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles will be used to house skilled nursing residents who do not have COVID-19. "The U.S.N.S. Mercy will be taking seniors onboard and helping decompress our nursing facilities," the governor said.

A new partnership between the state, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and restaurants will provide meals to seniors. "Meals on Wheels alone cant feed our seniors alone," Newsom said. "We have well over a million people isolated at home."

Newsom said the effort was inspired by Steph and Ayesha Curry, who have helped provide Oakland students with meals.

April 10, 12:40 p.m. Contra Costa County health officials reported its ninth death Friday. This is the second death the county has announced for the week. The county also identified 27 more cases, bringing the total to 511. There are currently 35 individuals hospitalized in the county due to COVID-19 complications.

April 10, 11:45 a.m. White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx told members of the media that while social distancing measures appear to be working, the United States has not yet reached the "peak" of the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's really about the encouraging signs that we see, but as encouraging as they are, we have not reached the peak," she said. "And so every day, we need to continue to do what we did yesterday and the week before and the week before that."

Birx also stated that the mortality rate for COVID-19 is "significantly lower" in the United States than in other counties.

In addition, Vice President Mike Pence said it is "imperative" Americans continue to remain at home in the near future, and told churches across the country to adhere to government guidelines on Easter Sunday.

April 10, 11:30 a.m. President Donald Trump said in a White House press conference Friday that social distancing and self-quarantine tactics have been, broadly, very successful across the country. As a result, he says he expects to see substantially lower fatalities that initially projected by health officials.

Well see what it ends up being but it looks like a number substantially lower than the 100,000  that would be the low mark, he says. Well hope that bears out.

"Were seeing hospital admissions declining nationwide, he later continued. The new number of cases per day is flattening substantially, suggesting we are near the peak and our comprehensive strategy is working. Over time our guidelines to slow the spread are decreasing the rate of new cases very substantially and will result in fewer hospital admissions and were seeing that  its incredible, with no exceptions, its looking like its lower.

Trump also noted the fatality rate is looking lower than in other countries.

April 10, 9:28 a.m. San Francisco health officials reported three additional deaths due to COVID-19 complications Friday morning. This is the first time the city has reported more than one death in a day. San Francisco reported its first death on March 25, and the death toll is now 13. Officials also reported 79 additional cases, bringing the total to 797.

April 10, 8:35 a.m. Multiple nursing facilities in the Bay Area face COVID-19 outbreaks.

The Alameda County Health Department reported the seventh death among residents of Gateway Care and Rehabilitation Center in Hayward. Officials said infections have been found in 40 residentsincluding the seven who passed awayand 25 staff members.

A second death was reported at the Orinda Care Center, where 50 residents and staff have tested positive. Drake Terrace in San Rafael reported a total of six cases among residents on Thursday.

April 10, 7:45 a.m. Marin County officials announced Thursday a shutdown of vacation rentals, including short-term rentals, timeshares, hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and other lodging facilities rented for 30 days or less.

Owners of short-term rentals are being directed to stop all operations except to provide lodging for the homeless population, people who need to isolate or quarantine, healthcare and emergency workers and displaced residents.

The mandate went into effect on April 9 and will remain in effect through May 3, 2020.

We all have a responsibility to do our part to flatten the curve, Dr. Lisa Santora, the county's deputy public health officer, said in a statement. Travelling to or within Marin for vacation is non-essential and puts our vulnerable populations are risk.

Courtesy Oakland DOT

April 10, 6:50 a.m. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf will announce a new program Friday that will close 74 miles of streets throughout the city to create more space for increasing pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Well announce an emergency measure that allows Oakland residents more space to walk, bike and run safely through their neighborhoods, and were calling it the Oakland Slow Streets, Alexandria McBride, the citys chief resilience officer, said in a town hall meeting held via Zoom video conference.

The city will begin closing streets on Saturday.

To reduce the spread of the coronavirus, people are being asked to social distance and maintain at least six feet of distance from others. This new program aims to make it easier for Oakland residents to socially distance when walking and running in their neighborhoods.

Cumulative cases in the greater Bay Area (due to limited testing these numbers reflect only a small portion of likely cases):

ALAMEDA COUNTY: 730 confirmed cases, 19 deaths*

For more information on Alameda County cases, visit the public health department website.

*Number excludes infected patients in city of Berkeley, which has its own health department and 34 cases and 1 death.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: 511 confirmed cases, 9 deaths

For more information on Contra Costa County cases, visit the public health department website.

LAKE COUNTY: 2 confirmed cases

For information on Lake County and coronavirus, visit the public health department website.

MARIN COUNTY: 153 confirmed cases, 10 deaths

Fore more information on Marin County cases, visit the public health department website.

MONTEREY COUNTY: 71 confirmed cases, 3 deaths

For more information on Monterey County cases, visit the public health department website.

NAPA COUNTY: 32 cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Napa County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN BENITO COUNTY: 35 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on San Benito County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY: 797 confirmed cases, 13 deaths

For more information on San Francisco County cases, visit the public health department website.

SAN MATEO COUNTY: 638 confirmed cases, 21 deaths

For more information on San Mateo County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY: 1,442 confirmed cases, 47 deaths

Fore more information on Santa Clara County cases, visit the public health department website.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: 80 confirmed cases, 1 death

For more information on Santa Cruz County cases, visit the public health department website.

SOLANO COUNTY: 121 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Solano County cases, visit the public health department website.

SONOMA COUNTY: 145 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

For more information on Sonoma County cases, visit the public health department website.

In California, 559 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported, according to Johns Hopkins University. For comparison, New York has 7,067, New Jersey 1,700 and Louisiana 702.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.
For the programme, Novaland Group teamed up with various partners, including NutiFood Nutrition Food JSC, Charitable Assistance Fund CP Vietnam, Giau Thuan Co., Ltd., Colusa Miliket Foodstuff JSC, and Vietnam Health Channel as well as the Centre for Youth Social Work.

Being the initiator of this programme, a representative from Novaland said that with the common goal of coping with the pandemic, the business community is ready to join hands with Ho Chi Minh City Peoples Committee and the whole country to push the pandemic back.

Previously, Novaland had donated more than VND6 billion ($260,870) from the companys budget and employees contributions to protect public health and cope with the epidemic in Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces like Binh Thuan.

The group is also going to donate medical equipment such as negative pressure room, high-class ventilators, and dialysis systems worth about VND10 billion ($434,780) to Hospital 115.

It is expected that on April 10, Novaland and its partners continue to present gift packages at Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, Smile restaurants, the Red Cross of District 6 and many others.

On April 9, VIRs reporters followed Novaland staff and partners and members of the Youth Affairs Committee of District 10 to present gift packages to vulnerable people.

The photos below are courtesy of Le Toan:

A 62-year-old woman living in the corridor of Ngo Gia Tu Building, who makes a living by selling lottery tickets and collecting bottles, received the gift package with the hope that the pandemic will soon be gone

The elderly were reminded to drink milk to improve their health

The gift recipients have welcomed the gifts of Novaland and its partners in their time of need

In a house full of used bottles and odds and ends, this elderly lady was at a loss for words receiving the gift packages

Novaland volunteers visited each alley and each house, bearing gifts for all

Volunteers knocking on every door to present packages

An employee of Novaland presenting a gift to a disabled person living by selling lottery tickets in Ward 13 of District 10

A family of five living in a house of less than 10 square metres, getting by on the salary of the husband who is a construction worker. Ly Khoan, in District 6 shared that her family has had zero income since the pandemic

Novaland and its partners want to share the difficulties of people affected by the pandemic
Labour leader Keir Starmer on Thursday appointed Seema Malhotra and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi to his shadow cabinet to monitor the work of the Boris Johnson government, increasing the number of Indian-origin MPs in the frontline opposition team.

Malhotra is MP from Feltham and Heston, while Dhesi is MP for Slough. They join Lisa Nandy and Preet Kaur Gill in the shadow cabinet, who were earlier appointed as shadow foreign secretary and shadow international development secretary respectively.

Malhotra has been appointed shadow employment minister, while Dhesi, who is the first turban-wearing Sikh MP elected to the House of Commons, is shadow railway minister. Goa-origin Valerie Vaz continues in her role as the shadow leader of the House.

Click here for the complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic

Starmer said: This is a new team that will take the Labour Party forward in a new era. Under my leadership, the Labour Party will be utterly focused on working in the national interest, rebuilding peoples trust in our party and winning the next election.

According to parliamentary rules, the shadow cabinet is the team of senior spokespeople chosen by the leader of the opposition to mirror the cabinet in government. Each member of the shadow cabinet is appointed to lead on a specific policy area for their party and to question and challenge their counterpart in the cabinet.

Click here for the latest updates from the coronavirus outbreak

In this way the official opposition seeks to present itself as an alternative government-in-waiting, the rules state.

Starmer, who promised to be a rallying figure in the party, defeated Nandy and Rebecca Long-Bailey in the leadership election that was triggered after Corbyn stepped down following the partys fourth election loss in a row in December.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Prasun Sonwalkar Prasun Sonwalkar was Editor (UK & Europe), Hindustan Times. During more than three decades, he held senior positions on the Desk, besides reporting from Indias north-east and other states, including a decade covering politics from New Delhi. He has been reporting from UK and Europe since 1999. ...view detail
Dozens of new clinical trials into the controversial antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine have been registered with the U.S. government since President Trump first advertised it as a potential game changer against the coronavirus via March 21 tweet.

In the weeks after, the number of COVID-19 drug trials in the U.S. National Institute of Health registry nearly tripled, from 66 to 183, with dozens of new hydroxychloroquine trials driving the uptick.

Before the presidents tweet, roughly 1 in 10 trials studied hydroxychloroquine as an intervention. After, 1 in 3 new trials involve hydroxychloroquine.

Wayne Myers, a pharmacist at Norland Avenue Pharmacy, said Hydroxychloroquine works in a number of ways and has different medical uses. "For lupus patients, it kind of dampens the immune system," he said. "Lupus is an autoimmune disorder where your immune system is over-responding - not responding correctly - and Hydroxychloroquine is called an immune modulator - it helps settle down the immune system."

Trumps rhetoric around the drug is likely behind the surge, some of the nations leading infectious disease experts told the USA TODAY Network. And while they agree that the new wave of trials should help definitely resolve whether the drug is indeed effective against COVID-19, they cautioned that results in most studies are still months away.

But damage from hydroxychloroquines swift and widespread adoption may already be happening, the experts said.

Many doctors have been prescribing hydroxychloroquine to coronavirus patients, despite no conclusive evidence of its success. This is exposing patients already suffering from cardiac ailments due to COVID-19 to a drug with cardiac toxicity, whose known side effects include cardiac arrhythmia and arrest, said Dr. Andre Kalil, Director of Transplant Infectious Diseases at the University of Nebraska.

If we dont do randomized controlled trials, if we just give these drugs to people just because they are sick, a lot of people may end up being killed by this drug because of the side effects, Kalil said. And well never know it because well think they died from COVID-19.

The drug, which has been used to treat malaria since the 1940s and is approved by FDA, has shown an ability to fight viruses  including HIVE, dengue, yellow fever and influenza  in vitro, Kalil said. That is, it has demonstrated antiviral properties in test tubes and petri dishes.

Story continues

But a cell culture in a plate cannot represent the human body, Kalil said. In fact, chloroquine drugs have consistently failed to combat each one of these viral diseases in human patients for the last century, he said. That it has shown success in vitro alone cannot be a reason to give drugs to human beings.

There are safety issues, Kalil said. There is no scientific reasoning to giving unsafe drugs to patients other than panic. This is panic.

Katherine Seley-Radtke of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who has specialized in antiviral drugs for three decades, expressed concerns that the new wave of clinical trials are placing hydroxychloroquine as too high a priority.

What concerns me and what concerns a lot of people is the fact that there are a number of other drugs that show potential that should be being looked at, Seley-Radtke said.

Remdesivir, favipiravir and galidesivir are three examples of antiviral drugs that have shown early promise against the coronavirus, she said. It is far more intuitive that one of these drugs would wind up being a cure than an antimalarial, she said, which is more of a treatment that helps prevent the immune system from overworking itself.

But these drugs are being tested in only a dozen of the 183 coronavirus drug trials on the NIH registry. By comparison, four dozen of these trials involve hydroxychloroquine.

If we've put all of our eggs into this one basket, she said, and then in three weeks or five weeks or six weeks or however long until we come out of this, it's shown that this indeed doesn't cure COVID, and nothing else is being done, we're now behind the eight ball again.

French study denounced

The president has repeatedly touted hydroxychloroquine as a potential solution to the coronavirus and encouraged its use in treatment.

I hope they use the hydroxychloroquine, Trump said at a press briefing on April 4. I hope they use it because I'll tell you what, what do you have to lose?

Much of the Trump administrations enthusiasm around the drug appears based on positive results from a study in China and one in France that showed some clinical benefit treating COVID-19 patients with hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin. But experts have roundly criticized these studies due to their small size and lack of well-defined control groups.

Ohios pharmacy board has barred pharmacists from dispensing chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 unless a person has tested positive for the virus or otherwise approved by the pharmacy boards executive director.

In fact, the society that publishes the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, in which the French study appeared on March 20, denounced the study on April 3, saying it does not meet the Societys expected standard, especially relating to the lack of better explanations of the inclusion criteria and the triage of patients to ensure patient safety.

Furthermore, two subsequent studies conducted in China and France showed nearly opposite results. The French study used hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat 11 patients with severe COVID-19 infections and found no evidence of rapid antiviral clearance or clinical benefit. One patient died, two were transferred to intensive care units and one was pulled from the study due to serious complications.

Dr. David Boulware of the University of Minnesota Medical Schools Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine is currently running three clinical trials into the drugs effect on COVID-19.

The first, which launched March 17 and claims to be the first clinical hydroxychloroquine trial into COVID-19 in the U.S., examines prophylactic effects of hydroxychloroquine in exposed patients without symptoms. The second studies the drugs treatment effects in symptomatic patients, and the third studies prophylaxis in high-risk healthcare workers.

The studies exclude patients with heart conditions, Boulware said, and his first interim analysis identified no safety or efficacy concerns that prevent it from continuing.

There is no data that (hydroxychloroquine) actually has any clinical benefit, Boulware said. Clinical trials are needed.

That hydroxychloroquine is readily available may help explain the recent surge in clinical trials, Boulware said, noting that any doctor can prescribe it to any patient for any reason because it is FDA approved.

Boulware said he is less concerned about an abundance of hydroxychloroquine trials than he is about reduced participation in trials. Its possible, he said, that people will opt not to participate in well-designed, randomized trials because they can get hydroxychloroquine outside of a trial instead  and not face a 50% chance of receiving a placebo.

That does not move our knowledge of how best to treat patients forward, Boulware said. We dont know how hydroxychloroquine works.

Boulware declined to share if his trials have been impacted as a result but said the first is on pace to finish enrollment by the end of April.

Initially, patient interventions and exams for that trial had been slated for completion by April 21, according to the National Institute of Health data.

Additionally, the university website shows just over 1,000 people have enrolled in the trials so far  well short of its combined goal of 6,500.

Pretty good, he said, but more volunteers from around the country would make recruitment go faster (and) get results sooner."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's support of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 could slow cure
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  When Jose Andres first came to New York City, the wide-eyed sailor in the Spanish navy docked on West 30th Street full of ambition. Decades later, the award-winning chef has an upscale food hall on that very street and will serve 40,000 meals this week across the city where he built his dreams, and which is now the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus.

Andres, whose restaurants in the United States include The Bazaar, Jaleo and the two Michelin-starred Somni, founded World Central Kitchen in 2010. It has served over 15 million meals worldwide after hurricanes, wildfires and other disasters.

Since the pandemic, his organization has served more than 750,000 meals from Miami and Los Angeles to Little Rock, Arkansas, and Fairfax, Virginia. It works out of places like libraries, food trucks and shuttered restaurants, feeding 125 hospitals, students in school lunch programs and even quarantined cruise ship passengers.

Andres has amassed an A-list network around the world, relying on celebrity chef pals including Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri and Marcus Samuelsson to feed the hungry and buoy the humble restaurant kitchens across America where many started their careers.

Im in debt to America. ... Thats the best I can give to America because America gave me a home. America gave me opportunity," Andres told The Associated Press in a recent phone interview.

In New York City, he set up a cafe to serve the Mount Sinai field hospital in Central Park. In Harlem, he's using Chopped" TV judge Samuelsson's Red Rooster restaurant to feed families.

Samuelsson's Miami restaurant hasn't opened to the public yet, but instead of leaving it empty, he turned it over to World Central Kitchen. They are serving sandwiches and salads there to laid-off hospitality workers, homeless residents and Uber drivers.

Even in crisis, these top chefs aren't serving bland porridge. Recent meals at senior centers in Washington, D.C., included creamy tomato pasta with spring vegetables, and cilantro rice bowls with spiced chickpeas and spinach topped with citrus vinaigrette and crispy tortillas.

Story continues

Andres was among the first to close his restaurants, hoping to create a blueprint for chefs around the world on how to use their restaurants and employ workers while feeding the hungry.

This operation is growing every day," he said. We want to put America to work in the process of feeding America."

In California, Fieri is on standby, ready with a 48-foot-long (15-meter-long) rescue kitchen and support team. Guy is ready to go," Andres said. This is like war. You need to have troops ready for action."

Fieri compared his longtime friendship with Andres and other famous chefs to playing in a band."

When you hang out with generous, philanthropist warlords like Jose Andres, all you want to do is go bigger, go better," said Fieri, who cooked alongside Andres during last year's California wildfires.

In the early days of the outbreak, Fieri, the TV host of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," also wanted to do more. He bought $50,000 in gift cards to support local restaurants. He sent dozens of personalized videos to CEOs from big food companies seeking donations.

His Restaurant Employee Relief Fund quickly raised $10 million, with a goal of raising $100 million, to offer $500 grants for laid-off workers. The first checks were handed out last week.

As diners, were always the ones asking restaurants for help.  We ask the servers to take special care of our tables, the bartenders to listen to our stories and the bussers to clean up our messes," Fieri said. He described the program as a big warm blanket, as if to say, Hey, we got you. Its our turn to help you for once."

Ray announced a $4 million donation Tuesday from her two charities. Half will go to feeding and nutritional programs, including World Central Kitchen. The other half will support animal rescue, feeding and veterinary programs.

We are not a disaster relief fund by origin or desire but thats what weve become quite frankly in the last couple of years," she told the AP in a phone interview.

Andres' organization is one of the largest recipients.

Hes just there around the clock all over the planet and I love Jose. Im so devoted to him," Ray said from her home in upstate New York.

In Minnesota, Chef Andrew Zimmern was among the first there to shutter his restaurants, fearing for his workers' safety. Next, he cobbled together the Independent Restaurant Coalition, hiring lobbyists to be a voice in Washington for restaurants, especially mom-and-pop ones. He noted that such restaurants are many peoples first jobs, as teens, and are top employers of single moms and those transitioning from prison.

We cant fail. (Restaurants) have to be open and ready to welcome their workers back," said Zimmern. If we cant do that, it will be an economic and humanitarian cultural catastrophe."

___

This story has been edited to clarify that Jose Andres was among the first chefs to close restaurants in the U.S., not Spain.
Russia launches criminal investigation after Prague removes Soviet military statue FILE PHOTO: A man takes a picture of the monument of Soviet World War II commander Ivan Stepanovic Konev in Prague

By Tom Balmforth and Jason Hovet

MOSCOW/PRAGUE (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday it had opened a criminal investigation after Czech authorities dismantled the statue of a Soviet military commander last week despite Moscow's protests, escalating a rancorous diplomatic row over the issue.

The statue to Marshal Ivan Konev, who led Red Army forces during World War Two that drove Nazi troops from Czechoslovakia, is reviled by some in Prague as a symbol of the decades of Communist rule that followed the war.

But in Moscow Konev is lionised by authorities as a war hero, and the removal of his statue was cast as a diplomatic insult and part of what Russia sees as a dangerous attempt to rewrite history.

The statue to Konev, who also played a leading role in crushing the 1956 Hungarian uprising and building the Berlin Wall in 1961, was taken down on April 3 by municipal Prague authorities who said they planned to put it in a museum.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has appealed to Czech Defence Minister Lubomir Metnar to intercede, asking that the statue be sent back to Moscow.

Russia would be prepared to pay for transport or any other costs, the ministry said.

"We expect information from you about the place and time of its handing over," Shoigu said in a defence ministry statement late on Thursday.

The Czech Foreign Ministry said it was up to the Prague district municipality where the statue had been located to decide whether to give it to Russia.

On Friday, Russia's Investigative Committee, which handles probes into major crimes, said it had opened a criminal case into the suspected public desecration of symbols of Russia's military glory.

The Czech foreign ministry said it considered the move to be meddling in its internal affairs and that the statue would be treated in a dignified manner after its removal.

"If Russian bodies continue with confrontational statements and actions in this spirit, it will be a sign they have lost interest in developing mutually beneficial relations between our countries," it said.

Story continues

Russia has no legal jurisdiction in the Czech Republic.

The statue has for years been the centre of controversy in Prague. It has been repeatedly vandalised and moves by municipal authorities to cover it up with tarpaulin sparked anger among local pro-Russian residents.

Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the Soviet military campaign has become a highly sensitive subject for Moscow.

President Vladimir Putin has accused Russia's detractors of diminishing the Soviet war effort and its huge loss of life, and said Moscow must defend itself from what he has called the rewriting of history.

(Editing by Andrew Osborn, Mike Collett-White, Kirsten Donovan)
Cooper tightens rules for shopping, nursing homes

Roy Cooper

In further efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19, Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday issued stronger social distancing requirements at retail stores and mandatory guidelines for nursing homes. The order also makes it easier for employers to file unemployment claims for batches of employees at one time.

Cooper's executive order affected three key areas. The first requires retail stores that are still operating to implement new social distancing policies to make shopping safer for customers and employees. The second makes earlier COVID-19 guidelines mandatory for nursing facilities, and recommends other long-term care facilities to do the same. The third area is unemployment benefits, issuing changes that will speed up certain benefit payments to those who are out of work.

North Carolina continues to take strong action to slow the spread of COVID-19, and todays Order will help make stores safer, protect those living and working in nursing homes, and get more unemployment benefits out quicker. Our state is resilient, and we will get through this crisis together if we all do our part, Cooper said.



Social distancing in stores

The order offers clear requirements that essential businesses must implement in order to safeguard the health of customers and employees. Some of the directives include:

Setting limits of how many people can be in a store at one time, 5 people per 1,000 square feet of retail space or 20% of fire marshal posted occupancy limits

Marking 6 feet of distance for areas where people gather like checkout lines

Requiring specific cleaning measures for retail stores

The order encourages:

Implementing hygiene recommendations for employees and customers, like hand sanitizer at the doors and face coverings for workers

Establishing designated shopping times designated for high-risk groups

Creating barriers between customers and employees at checkout to lower the risk of required interactions

Creating barriers between customers and employees at checkout to lower the risk of required interactions

The Order states these requirements will last for thirty days unless extended by further executive action.

Long-term care facilities



The order sets public health and safety requirements for nursing homes during the public health emergency. The order encourages other long-term care facilities to follow the same guidance. Some of the directives include:

Canceling communal activities, including group meals

Taking the temperature of employees and essential personnel when they enter the facility

Requiring specific personal protective equipment in the facility

Requiring close monitoring of residents for COVID-19 health indicators like body temperature

The order states these requirements will last until this order is repealed.

Unemployment claims

The order makes it easier for employers to file a batch of claims, called an attached claim, on behalf of their employees. By temporarily eliminating some of the hurdles for employers, benefits can get in the hands of those who need them faster. The order will extend 60 days beyond the date the state of emergency is lifted to allow employers to get back on their feet. Additionally, the Department of Employment Services issued information on timing of federal benefits reaching North Carolinians today.

Read the full order here.
Washington, April 10 : US airplane giant Boeing was mulling a plan to cut about 10 per cent of its workforce amid the fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a media report.

The plan, which could include buyouts, early retirements and involuntary layoffs, were expected to mostly target the company's commercial arm, since turmoil in the global airline industry has put the unit under immense strain, Xinhua news agency quoted the Wall Street Journal as saying in a report on Thursday.

No decisions on cuts have been made, with the potential 10 per cent decline in labour force still under consideration, according to the report.

Last week, Boeing announced it was initiating a voluntary layoff (VLO) plan to try to stem the financial strain from the pandemic.

"One thing is already clear: It will take time for the aerospace industry to recover from the crisis," said Dave Calhoun, the company's president and CEO, in a letter to employees.

"We are initiating a VLO plan that allows eligible employees who want to exit the company to do so with a pay and benefits package. This move aims to reduce the need for other workforce actions," he added.

Boeing employs about 145,000 employees across the US and in more than 65 countries and regions, according to its official website.
Nick Caggiano and Isabella Rizzo, "Aunt Chickie", the father and the aunt of Lorraine Caggiano, died after testing positive for COVID-19 in March. (Courtesy of Lorraine Caggiano)

Woman Sues CCP After Family Comes Down With Virus, Loses Dad and Aunt

Lorraine Caggiano and family members from New York traveled to Connecticut for a wedding early in March, before calls for social distancing. When they came back, Caggianos mother came down with a fever, and then her father got sick, and Caggiano herself, as well as her husband and her daughter, and Caggianos aunt.

I lost my dad and my aunt within two and a half days of each other, Caggiano said.

Caggiano felt an abstract loss, as if this was a reality that hadnt sunk in yet. But her mother, who lost her husband and her sister so quickly, was angry.

She sends me a text: I want to sue China,' Caggiano said. She thought, Oh, Mom, I have no head for this right now. The very next day she saw a news article that people are indeed suing China.

Florida based Berman Law Group filed a class action suit on March 12, seeking damages from the Chinese Communist Party over the mishandling of the outbreak of the CCP virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. The firm is partnering with Washingtons Lucas Compton in the suit. According to experts, the CCP can be held legally accountable.

And I said, you know what, I want to add my name to that. I want to add our names to that, I want to feel like Im doing something,that Im not just taking this whole thing lying down, because I do feel like they were not very forthcoming, Caggiano said. She signed on, and added her husbands name and her mothers name.

Caggiano has read about how China did not share information in early December, when Chinese doctors started warning of the virus, and reports of China stating they have had no new cases when evidence was emerging that said otherwise, and conflicting reports about the viruss origin. Caggiano does not think China will volunteer the truth unless something like the class action comes to bear.

What Im hoping to come out of it is some accountability and some clarity and some truth to see what really, really happened, Caggiano said. And to see how moving forward we can prevent such a thing. I mean the world has been turned on its ear, its insane.

Two Weeks

After returning from the March 7 wedding, Caggianos mother woke up on March 12 feeling wretched and beaten. Caggiano, who works from home and had been following news of the virus, asked about the common symptoms of the CCP virus and whether her mom had difficulty breathing. Her mother had no respiratory issues and so didnt think it could be the virus. Two days later she felt so awful she had to go to urgent care where she tested negative for strep throat and the common flu. She was tested for COVID-19 and told to self-isolate for a week.

At that point, that was March 14, my husband took her home and took my father here to stay with us, Caggiano said. My father was 83 years old, and he thought lets get him out of there in case she is sick.

Four days later, Caggianos mother continued to convalesce, feeling extreme fatigue with a high fever but still no respiratory issues. But her father woke up feeling confused and awful.

At some point he couldnt even put one foot in front of the other to walk into the shower, and he was breathing heavily, so we said, okay something is wrong here, Caggiano said.

Her husband took her father to the emergency room, and Caggiano remembers thinking her father was just dehydrated. She had even parked her car a certain way so that her husbands car could park close to their door so he and her father would only have a short walk into the apartment when they got home. She didnt realize that would be the last time she would see her father again.

Then she got a call from her cousin telling Caggiano her aunt couldnt breath, and her other cousins father in law collapsed. They were both in the hospital with pneumonia. About a day later, three positive tests for COVID-19 come back. Then her mothers test comes back positive for COVID-19.

My aunt then was getting just progressively worse, but she had underlying issues. My father never had any underlying issues, which is why I was very hopeful and I thought for sure he would make it, Caggiano said.

Her aunt passed away late on March 25 and her father died at 2 a.m. on March 28.

To be very honest, the whole thing is so intangible to me, she said.

And you know, the first thing I wanted to do as well, when my father died, what first came to my head: I want to call Aunt Chickie,' she said. And I couldnt go call Aunt Chickie. And my mother said the same thing, I wanted to call my sisterI cant call my sister.'

Its still unbelievable right now, she said. You dont get the closure, theres no closure.

I never saw my father in the hospital because we werent allowed to go, obviously. I didnt see him in a casket because we couldnt have a wake. We couldnt have anything, Caggiano said. You could only have immediate family and only 10 people. Well, my uncle who lives in the Bronx here, I would never want him coming near us, for fear of having anyone else infected. So the only logical thing to do was cremate, and well do a mass sometime down the road when people can gather again, and from what Im seeing its not going to be anytime soon.

Caggiano was sick with a fever herself for 12 days, her husband had fatigue and fever as well, and her daughter had a fever for a day but has otherwise been fine.

Its very scary and crazy, she said.

Im not sitting in reality right now, I didnt get that slap to the face of reality, seeing my father in the hospital laying there with tubes coming out of his mouth. I didnt get to go to a funeral home and see him lying in a casket. So to me right now, the whole thing is very abstract, she said. You know, I feel like had I known that my father was leaving my house that night to go to the hospital, had I known that I was never going to see him again, I would have held him a lot longer and kissed him a lot longer.
This story, reported before COVID-19 began to take hold in the U.S., went to press as profound changes to daily life were being seen across the country. Gal Gadot, like every one of us, has been affectedher childrens school closed, her projects on hold, including the June release of Wonder Woman 1984 (as of now, it has been postponed to August 14). Reached in Los Angeles in mid-March with her family, she was upbeat: Obviously the circumstances are horrible and frightening, but were home and were trying to make the best of itto enjoy the quality time. Its so surreal. Ive never been through times like these. But Im also full of hope for when it will be behind us.

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, May 2020

SPENDING TIME WITH GAL GADOT is an exercise in nonchalance. She is the coolest of customers, so unperturbed that you get a kind of contact high: Anxieties dissipate, defenses drop, tensions drain. Even as she goes about the business of a hectic, two-kid, big-career lifemaneuvering her sleek Tesla (toys on the floor, half--eaten sandwich on the seat) through the precincts of show business (Hollywood to Burbank to Beverly Hills and back again)she manages to make it seem like shes just meandering on a Sunday afternoon. Indeed, it feels wrong to impose any sort of agenda, anything so uptight as an interview. Its a hang, really.

Part of this is natureborn that waybut Gadot is fundamentally a creature of her environment. She grew up in Rosh Haayin, a city near Tel Aviv, but lived most of her adult life with her husband among friends and family, just a couple of blocks from the beach. She speaks Hebrew to them, English to most everyone else. Her English is not perfect, but close, her fluency such that you can see the wheels turning as she searches for the right wordsand discovers new ones before your eyes. She will sometimes stumble on a phrase or an idiom, question it, then either commit or find the right one.

Story continues

Which is why spending time with her feels like picking your way through a new world looking at all the pretty flowers. One morning after a workout, still in Capri tights and a loose tank, shes driving from her gym to a photo shoot at the Montage Beverly Hills. I will always feel foreign in L.A., she tells me, and I nod in agreement, though distracted by the novel experience of gliding noiselessly along the surface streets of Los Angeles in her Tesla. Theres a screen in the middle of the dash the size of a television, which feels like an extension of the windshield that disappears somewhere behind your head, all of which conspires to create the sensation that were levitating.

The more successful I get, the more I want to plant my roots in and focus on the important things in life

I love this car, she says. Its like driving an iPhone. Suddenly, a deep, otherworldly soundboop...boop...boop. She looks at the screen. Just a secondthats my mom in Israel, where its 8 p.m., and this is literally the only window I have to talk to her. She touches the screen and speaks in Hebrewone mother to another. Are you okay? How was yesterday? Dont work too hard. Take it easy next week! Okay, Ema, she says, and they blow kisses to each other. This is what she misses. In many ways, the success of Wonder Woman has stranded Gadot in Los Angeles, a 15-hour flight from home. You cant walk anywhere here, she says, but that is the only complaint she will lodge because complaining is not her style. But she does relate this story, about how she came back from Israel recently and on the endless drive from LAX to her house in the Hollywood Hills, her eight-year-old daughter, Alma, said, You know what I like about home in Israel? Everything is five minutes away. Five minutes walking to the gelato place, five minutes to the beach, five minutes to our cousins house. And all of our neighbors are our friends. Gadot sighs wistfully. But theres always give-and-take. How do you say in English? Eat the cake and leave it whole? Eat the cake and. Theres something with a cake.

You cant have your cake and eat it too, I say.

Exactly.

LIFE IN L.A. before you find your tribe and your rhythmeven (especially) for a newly minted movie starcan be alienating. You live at the top of one of those famous hills with a view of the worlda dream come truebut driving all the way down and back up for a carton of milk can take an hour. Everything must be planned, strategized, and for a spontaneous creature like Gadot, it can be constraining. And then sometimes its just surreal. Leaving the gym earlier, Gadot stopped to talk to a woman with long blonde hair who looked like shed just woken up and was slowly getting her 10 minutes of cardio in before the real workout began. It was the newly slender Adele, whom I didnt recognize until she let loose with one of those honking laughs. Id interviewed her several years ago, and once we figured it all out, Gadot and I stood next to her while she pedaled away, talking about the Vogue cover-story treatment.

The Adele encounter is a reminder: This is, in point of fact, not a hang with some cool Israeli chick. Gal Gadot is an international superstar. Though it may have seemed like she appeared out of nowhere, fully formed, in the summer of 2017 as the star of Wonder Woman, an instant hit and box-office juggernaut that grossed over $800 million worldwide, Gadot has been making movies for more than a decade, most notably as the character Gisele in four films from the Fast & Furious franchise. And yet her entire career trajectory has been one of almost-didnt-happen serendipity. At 18, she won the 2004 Miss Israel pageant, competed in Miss Universe that year in Ecuador, and then fulfilled two years of mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces as a combat fitness instructor. While still a soldier, she met Jaron Varsano, a real estate developer 10 years her senior whom she married in 2008. Her military service complete and at loose ends, she enrolled in law school in Tel Aviv and started modeling. One day, a casting director contacted her agent and asked her to audition for the Bond-girl role in Quantum of Solace. She didnt get the part, but the casting director remembered her, which is how she wound up auditioning for 2009s Fast & Furious. She got that part because the director, Justin Lin, was taken by the fact that she knew her way around a military weapon.

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, May 2020

Riding along in her car, I say that Id read that just before Wonder Woman came along, Gadot was so unhappy with her career that she was on the verge of quitting and never coming back to Los Angeles. (Doing press for Wonder Woman, she told one reporter, You go to the audition and you have a callback, then another callback and then a camera setup, and people are telling you your life will change if you get this part. And then you dont get it. I reached a place where I didnt want to do that anymore.) So now youre an actor living in L.A., I say, how do you feel about it?

Just . . . inertia. She laughs. You know, one of the people I really admire is Charlie Kaufman, she says of the celebrated screenwriter, director, and novelist. He rarely gives interviews. But theres a video of him giving a BAFTA speech a few years ago, and I dont remember it exactly, but the vibe is, You know, Im here, but I dont know what Im doing here. Im a writer, I guess. But I never refer to myself as a writer, except when Im filling out my tax forms. But you know, I want you to care about what I do; I just dont want to care about what you think. And I thought, Thats so interesting! Were living in a world where everything is by titles: You are a writer; I am an actress. I dont want to sound too New Agey . . . but were always evolving and changing, and life happens and takes us in different directions. Yes, I am an actress, but at the same time, I have this appetite to do morebigger, deeper, more interesting.

Do you think of yourself as an ambitious person?

Yeah, Im pretty ambitious. She pauses. Im not elbowy . . . if you say that here. But Im a big believer in karma, and if its mine its mine, and if its not its not. Im not fighting for things. But when Im there, when Im facing the opportunity, Im completely onboard. I definitely make sure to be prepared, to do the work, to come in 100 percent and go for it.

That sounds more like conscientiousness than ambition, I say. She thinks for a few seconds as we sit at a red light and then finds another way to explain. When I was told I got the part in Wonder Woman, I had just landed in New York, and I was at the airport. And the first phone call I made was to Jaron. And we were both super happy and shouting and screaming, and then I told him toward the end of the conversation, After I shoot the movie? I want us to have another baby. And then when I got home to L.A. he said, That was such an interesting comment. And I said, Why? And he said, Youre funny because, like, the higher you get, the more. . . . If you imagine a kite, right? If it flows really well? My instinct is to tie the string to the ground. Its hard for me to translate because we were having that conversation in Hebrew. But its like the more successful I get, the more I want to plant my roots in and make sure everything is balanced and still focused on the important things in life, which, for me, is family.

Wonder Woman 1984 has been shrouded in secrecy. Everything you get from Warner Bros. is like, YOUR COMPUTER WILL EXPLODE IF YOU OPEN THIS, says Kristen Wiig

THE NEXT MORNING, I meet Gadot at her daughter Mayas school. As I am looking for a parking spot on a side street, I spot Gadot on foot and roll down the window. Perfect timing! she says. Even among the stylish L.A. mommies and daddies, she cuts a glamorous figure in her skintight jeans, camel coat, and enormous sunglasses. The elementary school is in one of those midcentury institutional buildings common to L.A.its hard to tell where the outside ends and the inside begins. We find ourselves in a covered, open-air parking structure, with a series of couches and a coffee station that seems to be a spot for nannies and parents to congregate while dropping off the kids. Gadot is here to read to Mayas class of three-year-olds and, with the help of Mayas sister, Alma, decorate cupcakes. Sheesh, what a morning! she says as she grabs a coffee and we sit on one of the couches. I left the book Im supposed to read at the house, so Jaron is bringing it.

Lest you think that those scenes in Big Little Lies of California elementary school drop-off culture veer toward parody, Im here to tell you just the opposite: Theyre closer to documentary footage. Heading inside to Mayas Butterfly classroom, we pass through an open-air hallway with jungle gyms and play areas that look like art installations. In the classroom, there are a dozen kids and a startlingly exuberant teacher wearing a Frozen T-shirt, a blue sequined jacket, bright-pink sneakers, and a mouse-ears headband, who never breaks character, even while speaking with the adults. At one point, a mom and dad in high-strung-showrunner casual arrive late with their son. The mother gets into a conversation with Gadot about the terrifying possibility of same-day birthday parties. His birthday is actually on the 22nd, she says. Were doing it on that afternoon. But our times dont conflict so I think well have good Butterfly turnout.

Its saying something that Gadotsoldier/model/movie star from Tel Avivis the most regular-seeming person in the room. When she pulls off her jacket and sits down to read her book to the kids, I notice for the first time that her hair is in a tangled ponytail and that her sapphire-blue cashmere sweater looks like it got pulled out of the hamper just before she ran out the door this morning. The teacher herds the children into formation, and everyone sits on the floor, including Gadot. The book she has chosen is about kindness, and as she starts to readfully committed, acting out every partthe kids, to a one, slip into that contented, enchanted, glazed stupor, hanging on every word. Too young to understand who she isother than Mayas momthey nevertheless succumb to the magic of transference that great movie stars inspire. A thing to behold!

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, May 2020

Adults from all walks of life have been falling under Gal Gadots spell for years. Kristen Wiig, Gadots costar in Wonder Woman 1984, met her at the Governors Ball in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. She walks into a room and youre like, Um, is that person real? But shes such a weirdo in the best way. And so kind, such a loyal, beautiful friend. I mean, the text and voice messages she sends make me laugh so hard. Theyre the highlight of my day.

Patty Jenkins, who directed both Wonder Woman movies, tells me that men, women, and children approach her with what they think is their little secret: I am in love with Gal. So charmed by her, she says. Smitten from a distance. And I constantly say to all of them, Heres the shocking thing: It only gets stronger when you get to know her. You forget completely that shes a movie star.

One afternoon, I got on the phone with two of Gals best friends in Tel Aviv: Yael Goldman, model and TV host, mother of three, and Meital Weinberg Adar, who has two kids and owns a creative branding agency. I was modeling and she was modeling, says Yael, and she had just done the first Fast & Furious. I was standing in the street; she stopped her car and beeped and said, Hey, Yael! Give me your number! Actually, she just hit on me. Thats the truth.

She hit on me, too! say Meital. Thats her thing. Im her girlfriend, and they both laugh. When I met her, she continues, I was still trying to be a grown-upIm so sophisticated, blah, blah, blah. All my barriers up. And Gal just came in and melted it all away. Normally you grow up and slowly realize that you just have to be good and nice and comfortable with people and the whole world opens up to you, but it takes time to learn that. But somehow Gal just has it inside her. Shes very pure and clear with her intentions. She loves you without waiting for a sign that you love her.

Young girls are starstruck by Gadot. Wonder Woman had an effect on them, she says. It meant something to them

As we are zooming around Los Angeles in Gadots Hovercraft, she gets a callthis one from her husband, Jaron. She answers with the common Israeli term of endearment that has no English translation but sounds like Mommy. They speak to each other warmly in Hebrew about their schedules, and afterward I ask how the two of them met.

In the desert at this chakra/yoga retreat type of party. And he was too cool for school. Like, we were in the same group of friends, but I didnt know him and he didnt know me. And something happened kind of from the first moment we started talking. When we got home, I was like, Is this too early to call you? I want to have a date. Then we go out, and by the second date he told me, Im going to marry you. Im going to wait for two years, but were going to get married. I was like, Fine. 

Jaron remembers it in a bit more detail. We were in a very unique laboratorya desert retreat in the south of Israel. And both she and I were at a stage in our lives where we were thinking about what is love and what is a relationship. We started talking at 10 p.m., and we kissed at sunrise, and we held hands on the drive back to Tel Aviv. At that moment, we were just glued together. It was beautiful.

Gadot says she always knew she wanted to be a young motherand where she goes, so goes the family. Alma is also enrolled at a school in London because Gadot has shot three films there in as many years, including Death on the Nile, which is due to come out later this year. The director, Kenneth Branagh, says, I get the sense that she feels very secure in her family life: She knows what they are, who they are, and that they are with her. And I think that lets her be adventurous in her work and also at ease in her work. Shes a serious person, so she knows the world is a tricky and challenging place from time to time, but there is this ongoing sense of fun about her, and it seems to come out of the wellspring of family. She is determined to smell the roses along the way, and it makes her an exceptionally sort of effortlessly positive energy to be around.

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, May 2020

AFTER THE VISIT TO her daughters school, Gadot drives us to the San Vicente Bungalows, Hollywoods newest members-only clubhouse. There are a lot of silly rules here, including a ban on camera phones, which requires an elaborate ritual of temporary confiscation of nonmember phones so that they may be covered in cute little stickers, which are meant to disable the camera and microphone.

Luckily, the place is like a dream, achingly romantic, with flowers and climbing vines and green-and-white striped umbrellas. Indeed, it looks like the kind of spot you might find along the beach in Tel Aviv. You see? she says when we sit down. Its like were having a date. And its Valentine!

I had heard from a friend that Gadot, her husband, and his brother, Guy, owned the chicest hotel in Tel Aviv and that they recently sold it to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Yes, says Gadot. When I met Jaron, he and Guy were living in the first house that was built in Tel Aviv. Its a huge beautiful mansion with, like, painted floors and archways and high, high ceilings, but it was in a shitty state. It became the Varsano Hotel. Literally a 30-second walk from where Jaron and I were living, she says. We were going to the hotel all the time. It was...fun.

Three years ago, Jaron sold his entire real estate portfolio, including the hotel, and he and Gadot moved to L.A. when she was five months pregnant with Maya. Jaron was now the one at loose ends, and Gal said to him, Youre a developer. Develop movies. And then one night they had dinner with Annette Bening, who encouraged them both. You two think and talk so beautifully about making movies, she said. Go and find amazing projects. Now they are partners in an ambitious production company, Pilot Wave, with 14 of those projects in various stages of development.

Most intriguing (and first up) is a series based on the book Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film, about a star from a more glamorous era that this place throws back to, with its Tommy Dorsey soundtrack and starchy table service. Lamarr was born in Austria and had a brief career in Czechoslovakia before fleeing to Paris and then London, where she was discovered by Louis B. Mayer, who gave her a movie contract in Hollywood. Gadot, whose mothers family is Czech and Polish, her fathers Austrian, Russian, and German, would seem to be just about the perfect person to play Lamarr.

So it wont be long now before Gal Gadot gets sprung, at long last, from the constraints and the limited range of car-chase franchises and comic-book tentpoles. But first, Wonder Woman 1984, which I see about a half hour of, under supervision at the Warner Bros. lot. Other than to tell you that it is an all-encompassing and visually stunning (and quite loud) experience, I will admit I have absolutely no idea what its about, except to say that its set in 1984 (the year before Gadot was born), has an exhilarating New Wave soundtrack, and features an oleaginous guy who may remind you of Donald Trump in his much more harmless 80s salad days. Neither Jenkins nor Gadot would reveal a single plot point. No one really knows that much about the movie, says Wiig, which is crazy in this day and age. Its amazing that nothings leaked. Everything you get from Warner Bros. is sort of encrypted, like, your computer will explode if you open this.

Part of the reason for the top-level security clearance on the project is that the Wonder Woman effect has been enormousespecially for Jenkins and Gadot.It completely changed my life, says Gadot. Somehow it came out at a point in time where people were really craving it. It made an impact. And Patty and I were very lucky, I would say, that the movie was received the way it was and that it came out in the era it did, and I think we just, without even knowing consciously, ticked a lot of the right boxes. Because it was in our DNAwe didnt have to think about it too much. We were two women who cared about something, and that wound up in the DNA of the movie.

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, May 2020

I miss great, grand, blockbuster films that have all of the things that you go to the movie theaters for, says Jenkins. Like humor and drama and romance . . . but also weight and significance of narrative. So its that. I was aiming to make something big and grand but very detailed and thorough. But I also think Wonder Woman stands for something pretty incredible in the world, so I wont say anything about the plot, but she is a god who believes in the betterment of mankind. Shes not just defeating bad guysand that has a lot of resonance with the times were living in right now.

As Gadot and I are finishing our egg sandwiches, the place begins to fill up with the lunch crowd, and I start looking around to see if there is anyone of note. We get to talking about the fine line between admiring someone from afar and being starstruck. Oddly enough we agree that we would both be nervously excited if Barbra Streisand walked in. You must get a lot of young girls who go a little Wonder Woman gaga over you, I say.

Yeah, it happens a lot, she says. Pretty much constantly. My friends ask me, Dont you get tired of it? Thats your time and space and privacy. Youre not the character.  It is true: At the moment, Wonder Woman is more famous than the actress who plays her. And young girls, at least for now, are starstruck not because they have met Gadot but because they have bumped into Diana Prince, the Amazonian-Olympic demigoddess. They care, says Gadot. It had an effect on them; it meant something to them. And just because of that, I care for them, and I want to hear what they have to say. Often its about a profound effect that its had on their life. Usually its that it triggered them to make a change, to do something they would never do, to be courageous.

A MONTH LATER, on an afternoon in mid-March, Gadot calls me to talk about the new reality were living in. Practically everyone is at home; Gadots upcoming Netflix movie, Red Notice, which she had been filming in L.A. with Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson, has been put on hiatus. Her parents in Israel have canceled their long-planned Passover visit, which was also meant to be a celebration of their 60th birthdays. Yes, of course I miss my family, she tells me, but the biggest priority for all of us is to stay home, not get it, and not give it to other people. With all the sadness and all the big . . . missing that I feel, thats the only thing we can do right now.

Maya, her three-year-old, doesnt understand whats happening. As far as shes concerned, shes on a vacation from preschool. Her older daughter, Alma, is more aware. But we talk about it in a PG way, Gadot says. We try to avoid watching the news when theyre around. So right now thats the situation. Were trying to enjoy the quality time that we have. The girls are not worried. They feel safe. I think the girls are going to grow up being able to tell their kids that they lived through the corona times. But were really trying to...how do you call it? Um...theres a saying. Let me see if I can get it...Um...Its like...something in disguise? She pauses for a moment, and just as Im about to prompt her, she finds the right words on her own: Blessing in disguise.

Originally Appeared on Vogue
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 18:31 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd1149ed 1 National political-communication,COVID-19,State-Palace,spokesman Free

The central government could use a more coherent public communication strategy as it looks to address the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, with analysts pointing to deepening frustrations over mixed messages and a failure to effectively convey the seriousness of the situation.

Indonesias government is coming under increasing pressure to provide transparency and access to information to combat the outbreak, as it scrambles to run an effective crisis response, keep the regions largest economy afloat and ensure that public order and calm is sustained.

One unusual feature of the coronavirus response has been the growing prevalence of officials contradicting one another in public, which has caused confusion in local efforts to curb a pandemic that has seen some 1.6 million people infected and more than 80,000 deaths globally.

After a Cabinet meeting on April 2, presidential spokesperson Fadjroel Rachman released a statement insisting there would be no official ban on the mudik (exodus), the almost annual tradition of millions of Indonesians visiting their hometowns for the Idul Fitri holidays.

Travelers, he said, should instead self-isolate for the recommended two-week period and would in the meantime be placed under general observation (ODP) when they arrive in their hometowns.

Later that day, State Secretary Pratikno sought to clarify Fadjroels statement, saying President Joko Jokowi Widodo had actually called on the people not to go back to their hometowns, although he did not categorically state that the President would ban the mudik this year.

Later still it was reported that Jokowi said the government had advised people not to return to their hometowns for Idul Fitri in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus. But he again stopped short of issuing stricter orders to prevent people from mobilizing, calling instead for greater community oversight at the village level to observe recent arrivals from Greater Jakarta.

After Pratikno waded into the conversation, Fadjroel revised his statement to advise people not to return to their hometowns and added a point about social assistance for informal workers, many of whom have lost their source of income as economic activities slowed in the capital.

The statements emerged after Jokowi declared a public health emergency on March 31 and opted for large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) over a territorial quarantine as his preferred method of containing COVID-19.

He has since offered cash payouts to the most vulnerable people and shifted the Idul Fitri holiday leave period to the end of the year in the hope of getting people to stay put, experts say.

It is hardly the first time officials have been caught contradicting one another in public, but the current lapse during a time of crisis made it clear that a communication protocol was needed, said Arya Fernandes, political researcher at the Centre for Strategic International Studies (CSIS).

It is important for the State Palace to prepare a communication protocol for times of crisis. The public needs trustworthy and sound information that will inspire more trust in the government, Arya said on Wednesday.

On a separate occasion on April 3, presidential expert staff member Ali Mochtar Ngabalin from the Executive Office of the President disclosed to the media that one of its officials had contracted COVID-19. The statement was later corrected by Juri Ardiantoro, acting undersecretary for political information and communication at the Executive Office.

In a statement, Juri confirmed that employees of the office had tested positive for the disease in a rapid test, but a later polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, considered to be more reliable, turned out negative.

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The confusion caused by these officials indicated that the formulated policies were still rough around the edges, Arya said, suggesting that a clear chain of command in communications would help convey the governments messages with greater clarity.

The President has no shortage of spokespersons, aides and stand-ins. Besides Fadjroel and Pratikno, Jokowi still has Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, a former House of Representatives deputy speaker. He also has Moeldoko, Juri and Ali Mochtar at the Executive Office of the President, as well as Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi to speak on international affairs.

Jokowis own admission in mid-March that the government was deliberately holding back information on COVID-19 cases from the public did not increase its credibility in handling the outbreak, said Kunto Adi Wibobo, executive director of local pollster KedaiKOPI.

Without accurate data, the concern is that the public could be lulled into a false sense of security while we might in actuality be sitting in an emergency [situation], Kunto told The Jakarta Post.

To minimize the potential for future misunderstandings, Kunto said, Jokowi should take the charge in conveying government policy and action in the fight against COVID-19, including by shedding light on the motivations behind certain policy decisions.

As of Thursday afternoon, all but one province in Indonesia have confirmed cases of the disease. The government tally of COVID-19 cases has reached 3,293 infections, 280 deaths and 252 recoveries.
Apple and Google launched a major joint effort to leverage smartphone technology to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

New software the companies plan to add to phones would make it easier to use Bluetooth wireless technology to track down people for who may have been infected by coronavirus carriers. The idea is to help national governments roll out apps for so-called contact tracing that will run on iPhones and Android phones alike.

The technology works by harnessing short-range Bluetooth signals. Using the Apple-Google technology, contact-tracing apps would gather a record of other phones with which they came into close proximity. Such data can be used to alert others who might have been infected by known carriers of the novel coronavirus, although only in cases where the phones' owners have installed the apps and agreed to share data with public-health authorities.

Privacy and civil liberties activists have warned that such apps need to be designed so governments cannot abuse them to track their citizens. Apple and Google plan said in a rare joint announcement that user privacy and security are baked into the design of their plan.
John Lennox: COVID-19 a 'huge loudspeaker,' rousing humanity to seek God amid pain

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Acclaimed mathematician and philosopher of science John Lennox believes the coronavirus has forced an opportunity for humanity to wrestle with life's deepest questions, to find God amid heartbreak.

In a video interview with Kharis Productions CEO Iain Morris, Lennox elaborated on themes he explores in his new short book, Where is God in a Coronavirus World?

When the disease first began to spread, Lennox knew the number of cases would grow exponentially, he said, noting his knowledge of statistics.

"I thought this is going to be utterly unique and devastating. And I thought, 'Look, I'm locked down. I need to think about how to speak into this situation," he explained.

It took Lennox approximately one week to write the book, spending eight to 12 hours per day on it.

In one of the chapters, he addresses a common objection to the Christian faith, namely, "How can there be a loving God who presides over human suffering?" relating it specifically to the coronavirus.

The atheist solution to this quandary is this is essentially "we've got what we've got so we have to put up with it," he surmised, but that falls short.

"Atheism actually removes the very concept of good and evil. So there's no point in calling this kind of thing natural evil, this disaster, if there is no such thing as evil," the Christian apologist said.

Furthermore, he asserted, atheism removes any possible hope.

Yet the Gospel provides hope because it speaks about a God well-acquainted with suffering; at the heart of the Christian faith is God on a cross.

"That tells me that God has not remained distant from our human suffering but He himself has become part of it," he said.

Asked how Christians can give counsel in a way that does not sound cliche but speaks to the hearts of people in a real way during the ongoing pandemic, Lennox recalled Christ's interactions with Martha and Mary when Lazarus died.

"What I find helpful is to see the ways in which Jesus treated people in a tragedy," he said.

Amid Mary and Martha's devastation at the loss of their brother, Scripture recounts that Jesus wept, he noted.

"Sometimes we need to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. And a touch on the shoulder  if you were allowed to do it these days  a hug, and weeping can get through a veil of tears much better than trivial answers and just saying something for the sake of it," Lennox said.

"We don't know what to say and so we need to be honest about it and keep quiet. This thing is so big, as far as I can see. We've never been there before. And honesty tells me we're at a loss facing it."

While some have suggested that God is speaking through the coronavirus, Lennox cautioned against saying it was a divine judgment, noting that in the Bible, when such plagues were indeed a judgment on a nation it resulted from a direct word from God.

"As far as I know we do not have God's direct word on COVID-19. And, therefore, we have to be very careful ... because Jesus himself made it abundantly clear that not all tragedy or catastrophe or disease results from one group of people being worse than others," he said.

He elaborated that when Jesus was on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, as is described in Luke 13, some of the people present told him of Galileans whose blood Pilate and his armies had massacred. Yet Jesus then described another event that happened there, the collapse of the tower of Siloam, which killed 18 people. Jesus then pointed out that those whom the towers collapsed on and killed were no worse sinners than everyone else living in Jerusalem at the time.

"So we cannot just take any event and judge it and say 'Ah, that is the judgment of God,'" Lennox said of the coronavirus.

When Christians say specific disasters are caused by God, people do not usually start thinking about God but the person who made that determination, thinking characterized with outrage, he observed, when what is needed is a more nuanced view.

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains," Lennox said, quoting author C.S. Lewis, "it is His megaphone to rouse a dead world."

"From that perspective, it seems to me that COVID-19 might well function as a huge loudspeaker. I can see that happening because it reminds us of our vulnerability and our mortality.



"If these events induce any of us to look to the God, who, to be honest, we might have ignored for years, and help us to think about the matter of the fact that we are mortal and someday we'll have to face Him, then something good could come out of it, as well as all the pain and evil."
Archbishop Nelson Perez gives his blessing at the end of Palm Sunday mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul in Philadelphia, PA on April 5, 2020. The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul was closed to the public to help stop the spread of the corona virus. Read more

Like so many of us, Archbishop Nelson J. Perez had plans. Whats been postponed for him arent just the meetings youd expect, but the dozens of visits he had scheduled as he began his new role as the head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and its more than one million parishioners.

Perez, whose installation Mass was in mid-February, was only weeks into his post leading the archdiocese when the coronavirus forced him to release area Catholics from the obligation of attending Mass in person. On his one-month anniversary, he suspended all public Masses. This spring, he was going to visit local Catholic schools; he was going to visit all of the archdioceses deaneries, or regional divisions; he was going to sit down with various civic organizations.

Back in February, I started out that way, visiting parishes. I visited Little Flower  that was awesome, Perez said. I spent 20 years of my priesthood in that area of North Philadelphia. Then I come back, and were all ready to go, and things are on the schedule, and then the plug got pulled out from under it.

Perez and the archdiocese have been forced to go remote because of the pandemic.

Hours ahead of the Mass of the Lords Supper, the archbishop said that this year, the livestreamed Mass would be a simplified version.

He praised doctors and other health-care workers for not only their work, but their compassion during this crisis.

"In so many ways, its the mystery of that wonderful gesture of Jesus, who washed the feet of his disciples the night before he died, which will be the gospel that is proclaimed at this evenings Mass, Perez said on what Catholics call Holy Thursday. The washing of the feet might not be happening ritually this year in our churches, but it is happening in real time, all over the place in neighborhoods and community centers and social services.

The archbishops typical day has transformed into Zoom meetings and conference calls, he said, with constant discussions concerning the coronavirus and its impact. Aside from prayer, in the free time that he has, Perez has been turning to music. Hell put on performers like Christian hip-hop artist TobyMac and Christian pop duo For King & Country. He will play along to easy listening music on his guitar. He sees the current timing  Holy Week occurring during a pandemic  as an opportunity.

Easter couldnt have come at a better time for all of us, Perez said. What is Christianity about? At the end, in a nutshell, is that we believe that a dead man rose from the dead and came back to life, and in doing that gave us the gift of eternity. Even when everything appears to be done, faith and God comes in and says, Wait a minute. Dont be so sure. Easter just speaks powerfully of the power of hope, even in the midst of despair.

The questions that the archdiocese has been receiving from the faithful, he said, have been natural: When can we go to church again? Are we going to be OK?

"And my answer is, of course well be OK, Perez said. You know, sometimes I think we take things for granted, and that was something that was so readily available to us  to have the opportunity and the option to just go to church with not being questioned by anybody, and gather. This time is a time where maybe we need to reevaluate our own appreciation of that great gift that we have here in this country, which is our religious liberty.

The 58-year-old prelate said he would not cast judgment upon churches that may still be welcoming worshipers physically, but emphasized that suspension of public services was the archdioceses doing its part to protect each other.

He said that with it being so early in the data collection process, hes not sure what to think of racial disparities in COVID-19 cases, but he wants to see those in need, no matter what their background, receive the same treatment.

We have to make sure that everybody is treated equally, because we all possess the same dignity, said Perez. This crisis, this coronavirus  it doesnt discriminate.... So our care cannot discriminate either.

Nearly eight years ago, the archbishop narrowly survived an accident on the Long Island Expressway. There are things that he learned in his recovery that hes tapping into now. One, everything cant be controlled; two, everything passes; three, he didnt heal alone, but with the help of other people.

Projections show that Philadelphia will begin to reach its peak death toll from the coronavirus next week. The region has not yet seen the worst, but Perez says the archdiocese is ready.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters.

We work every day at it, at all sorts of different levels, the archbishop said. Our Catholic Social Services is in the front lines of all these things in terms of their ministry and service to people.

He said Catholics should trust that the doors of their churches will reopen. For everyone regardless of faith, Perez said, now is a moment where everyone needs to be kind to one another.

This is a time for us to be compassionate and loving and caring to the people that are next to us, that God has placed by our side, and in particular those who are vulnerable, he said. Those who are poor, or the elderly that might feel isolated. A call, a smile, a wave, even from a distance is a powerful way of expressing our common humanity, because we are all in the same boat here.
An Ohio man has been arrested for allegedly brandishing a gun and threatening a person dressed as the Easter Bunny who was waving to motorists from an interstate overpass.

A 49-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday afternoon in Middlebourne, located about 95 miles east of Columbus.

The suspect, who has not been named as of Friday evening, was given a breath-alcohol test at an Ohio State Highway Patrol post but was taken to a medical facility when jail officials refused to book him because of an elevated temperature, leading to concerns he might be infected with the coronavirus.

A 49-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday afternoon in Middlebourne, Ohio, for allegedly threatening a person dressed as the Eater Bunny (stock photo)

Guernsey County Sgt. Jason Best on Friday told The Daily Jeffersonian the man could face charges of aggravated menacing and improper handling of a firearm in a vehicle.

Deputies found the suspect and another man sitting inside a camouflage-painted Dodge pickup truck parked at the edge of a field shortly after receiving a call about the Easter Bunny threat over Interstate 70.

A .22-caliber handgun and an open 12-pack of beer were seized as evidence.

Deputies said the man slurred his words and smelled of alcohol.
Almost every senior member of the Madhya Pradesh state health department is in quarantine or in the hospital after two officers allegedly flouted social distancing norms and suppressed symptoms, two senior officials said on Friday.

The government has now instituted an inquiry against the officers and expanded testing in a bid to arrest the spread of Covid-19 in the state, whose two biggest cities, Bhopal and Indore, are reeling under the pandemic.

The state, which has one of the lowest rates of testing in the country (70 per million), has 451 cases as of Friday evening. Roughly 70% of these cases were concentrated in Bhopal and Indore, where the administration has set up 70 and 74 containment zones, respectively, with sweeping restrictions on transport and business.

The health department, reported its first case on April 2, when the managing director and IAS officer in the National Health Mission (NHM) tested positive.

Two days later, another IAS officer contracted the virus. Another director in the department, who had returned from a foreign country, tested positive. Despite testing positive, both insisted on working from home and said they did not have any symptoms. On April 8, both of them were taken to a hospital by the state authorities.

By then, 18 health department officials -- including the additional director of health services -- had tested positive, and 40 others were in mandatory home quarantine. On Saturday, the principal secretary in the department who had allegedly not reported to the authorities about her sons US trip, tested positive.

The two IAS officers heading the department showed symptoms of cold and cough almost the same time but they continued to attend the meetings in the directorate and the state secretariat, a top health department official said, requesting anonymity. He said the government now estimated that the two IAS officers were responsible for at least 50 infections in the department.

A second senior health department officer said even social distancing norm was not practiced in the Covid-19 control room of the health directorate. The control room later became an epicentre of coronavirus spreading, he added, requesting anonymity.

The government is now focusing on containing the epidemic in Indore, which has 235 cases, and has increased the number of labs from two to seven in the past fortnight. Officials have also intensified efforts to procure more Personal Protective Equipment for health care workers.

We have decided to divide Indore into different zones and there will be an officer for each of the zones. They will be supported by the local teams. The state government is making all out efforts to break the chain of Covid-19 spread, said chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Cardinal George Pell will be interviewed about his legal battle and time in jail.

The 78-year-old will record an interview with Sky News presenter Andrew Bolt which will be televised at 7pm on Tuesday.

Cardinal Pell will tell 'his side of the story' and give 'unprecedented insight into his lengthy criminal saga,' according to Sky News.

Cardinal Pell spent his first full day of freedom on Wednesday in the back seat of a friend's car on a road trip to Sydney after the High Court overturned five convictions for child sexual abuse

The clergyman spent his first full day of freedom on Wednesday in the back seat of a friend's car on a road trip to Sydney after the High Court overturned five convictions for child sexual abuse.

After leaving the Carmelite Monastery in east Melbourne, he arrived at around 9pm at the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Homebush where he has lived briefly in the past.

He will initially stay at the seminary for trainee priests, but the Catholic church would not comment on his movements.

But he was jovial when earlier greeted by cameras at a petrol station in Glenrowan, in Victoria's north, where he paused to look at the day's newspapers.

'I was very pleased,' he said about Tuesday's High Court verdict.

He apologised for not dressing better, saying he wasn't expecting company on the trip.

'Before you arrived, it was better here,' he told media at the service station when asked about life behind bars, before adding his prison experience was 'not too bad'.

Pell was jovial when earlier greeted by cameras at a petrol station in Glenrowan, in Victoria's north, where he paused to look at the day's newspapers

Cardinal Pell was put up by the Sydney archdiocese in 2018 after he returned from his job as Vatican treasurer to fight the abuse charges, having previously served as Archbishop of Sydney.

Cardinal Pell was charged by Victoria Police officers after a man came forward in 2014 alleging he and another choirboy had been sexually abused at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne in 1996.

That boy, now in his 30s, gave evidence in court, revealing he felt compelled to come forward after the death of the other boy.

A jury convicted Cardinal Pell of five charges in December 2018 after an earlier jury was unable to reach a verdict.

Victoria's Court of Appeal upheld the convictions last year.

In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, all seven judges of Australia's High Court ordered that his five convictions for child sexual abuse be quashed.
The NDCs Director of Communications, Sammy Gyamfi, has been criticized for by many Ghanaians for trying to play politics with the COVID-19 situation in Ghana.

Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in

The NDC man had suggested that President Akufo-Addos free water supply package for all Ghanaians for the next three months - April, May, and June was an idea put forward by the former president John Dramani Mahama.

Mr. Gyamfi opined that the NDC as a party has always shown foresight and vision.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe makes water, electricity-free for citizens

President Nana Akufo-Addo on Sunday, April 5, 2020, announced some incentives for frontline workers leading the COVID-19 fight, as well as free water supply to all Ghanaians for the next three months.

The Presidents initiative was applauded by many, but the NDC Communications Director says the NPP leader was only implementing ideas and thoughts put forward by John Dramani Mahama.

Sammy Gyamfi chided Akufo-Addo-Addo saying, he always struggles to deliver and implement all his lofty ideas and promises.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Head of Ghanas testing team predicts cases will not hit 1000

But some followers of YEN.com.gh on Facebook have jabbed the NDC spokesman, saying it is not the right time to politicize a good initiative like the one the President has implemented.

Evans seems to believe it doesn't matter who proposed the idea first.

Akwasi says it takes a great leader like Nana Addo to execute such a brilliant idea.

Wendy says there is no need for politics in the fight against COVID-19

READ ALSO: Police reject 'spoilt' meals as they enforce COVID-19 partial lockdown

Patrick says it doesn't matter whose idea it is.

Kofi says the NDC is so hungry for power.

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that President Akufo-Addo has appointed Dr. Bernard Oko-Boye, MP for Ledzokuku as deputy minister-designate for health.

Nana Addo also revoked the appointment of deputy minister of Communications Vincent Sowah Odotei, the presidency said in a statement on Monday, April 6, 2020.

New contactless washing tap invention to fight COVID-19 in Ghana | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: COVID-19: 84 out of 86 suspected cases in Central Region test negative

Want to be featured on YEN.com.gh? Send us a message on our Facebook page or on Instagram with your stories, photos or videos.

Source: YEN.com.gh
John Jinapor, a former Deputy Minister of Power under the erstwhile Mahama administration, has taken a swipe at President Akufo-Addos 50% electricity power reduction stating that it will make consumers worse off.



According to him, the presidents 50% electricity rebate is meant to mislead the poor Ghanaian who queued to vote for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into office.



Ghana's President, Nana Akufo-Addo has announced that the government will absorb full cost of electricity for the vulnerable and also subsidize 50% bills for all businesses for the next three months.



In addition, for all other consumers - residential and commercial - government will absorb 50% of their electricity bills for this period using the bill for the month of March as a benchmark.



Addressing the nation in his 6th update on COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday, April 9, 2020, the President stated the new directive takes effect on Monday, April, 13, 2020.



''If your electricity bill was GH100, you will pay only GH50 with government absorbing the remaining GH50'', the President expounded.



He added that these mitigation measures are intended to support industries, enterprises and the private sector during these difficult times and provide relief to households for thier loss of income.



I urge Ghanaians to exercise discipline in the use of water and electricity...The Ghana Water Company Ltd and the Electricity Company of Ghana have been directed to ensure the stable supply of water and electricity during this period. In addition, there will be no disconnection of supply," he assured.



But Hon. Jinapor reacting after the President announcement on his Facebook page stated that: For the avoidance of doubt the lifeline Net Charge for Electricity consumers (50kwh) is 19.26 a month.



By spending more time at home during the lockdown a doubling of consumption, that is say 100kwh will push a consumer to 58.93 Therefore a 50% rebate will still make you worse off, he stressed.



Read full post below;



For the avoidance of doubt the lifeline Net Charge for Electricity consumers (50kwh) is 19.26 a month.



By spending more time at home during the lockdown a doubling of consumption, that is say 100kwh will push a consumer to 58.93.



Therefore a 50% rebate will still make you worse off.



Use electricity wisely and don't be misled by the rebate.



Stay safe.





Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/10/2020 -- The ongoing COVID-19 pandemicand the worldwide reaction to ithas compelled companies to radically rethink their strategies and the way they operate. We salute the industry experts helping companies survive and sustain in this pandemic.



At MarketsandMarkets, analysts are undertaking continuous efforts to provide analysis of the COVID-19 impact on the Healthcare Fraud Analytics Market. We are working diligently to help companies take rapid decisions by studying:



- The impact of COVID-19 on the Healthcare Fraud Analytics Market, including growth/decline in product type/use cases due to the cascaded impact of COVID-19 on the extended ecosystem of the market

- The rapid shifts in the strategies of the Top 50 companies in the Healthcare Fraud Analytics Market

- The shifting short-term priorities of the top 50 companies' clients and their client's clients



You can request an in-depth analysis detailing the impact of COVID-19 on the Healthcare Fraud Analytics Market:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=221837663



According to the new market research report "Healthcare Fraud Analytics Market by Solution Type (Descriptive, Predictive, Prescriptive), Application (Insurance Claim (Postpayment, Prepayment), Payment Integrity), Delivery (On-premise, Cloud), End User (Insurance, Government) - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Healthcare Fraud Analytics Market is projected to reach USD 4.6 billion by 2025 from USD 1.2 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 29.8% during the forecast period.



The growth of the Healthcare Fraud Detection Market is mainly due to a rise in the number of fraudulent activities in healthcare, combined with the increasing number of patients seeking medical insurance and rising pharmacy claim-related frauds. Emerging markets like APAC and Latin America provide significant growth opportunities in this market.



The prescriptive analytics segment registered the highest growth during the forecast period.



Fraud analytics solutions vary from vendor to vendor. Some vendors offer rule-based models while others offer AI-based technologies, but broadly, these solutions are classified based on the type of analytics useddescriptive analytics, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics. The prescriptive analytics segment registered the highest growth in the market during the forecast period. The high adoption of this technology is attributed to its advantages, such as rapid detection and investigation of suspects, claimants, and claim-level behavior from unstructured and/or semi-structured data.



Browse in-depth TOC on "Healthcare Fraud Analytics Market"

105  Tables

32  Figures

144  Pages

Get 10% Customization on this Research Report:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=221837663



In 2019, public & government agencies accounted for the largest share of the market, by end user.



Based on end user, the Healthcare Fraud Detection Market is segmented into public & government agencies, private insurance payers, employers, and third-party service providers. The public & government agencies segment accounted for the largest share of the market in 2019. The increasing cost burden due to healthcare fraud is proving to be a financial threat to public and government agencies globally. These factors are compelling payer organizations associated with these agencies to adopt analytics solutions to avoid losses incurred due to FWA and improper payments, which is driving the market growth.



North America dominated the market in 2019



North America accounted for the largest share of the Healthcare Fraud Analytics Market in 2019, followed by Europe. Factors such as the high number of cases of healthcare fraud, including pharmacy-related fraud, favorable government initiatives, technological advancements, and the availability of solutions in this region are some factors contributing to North America's large share in the global healthcare fraud analytics space.



Download PDF Brochure:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=221837663



Key Players



Major players in this Healthcare Fraud Analytics Market include IBM Corporation (US), Optum (US), SAS Institute (US), Change Healthcare (US), EXL Service Holdings (US), Cotiviti (US), Wipro Limited (Wipro) (India), Conduent (US), HCL (India), Canadian Global Information Technology Group (Canada), DXC Technology Company (US), Northrop Grumman Corporation (US), LexisNexis Group (US), and Pondera Solutions (US).
MIDDLETOWN  Ocean State Job Lot recently launched its Mask Fabric For Free campaign to supply its customers with the fabric necessary to make cloth face masks. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that all Americans wear cloth face masks in public in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Customers are invited to visit the newly-created displays in each of the retailers 140 store locations to pick up free, high-quality cotton-polyester blended fabric to craft their DIY-masks. Customers interested in making one or two masks are invited to take cloth napkins, while customers who intend to make a larger amount of masks will be supplied with a tablecloth, free of charge. To ensure that as many people as possible are able to benefit from the program, customers are limited to five units of fabric. The company is also encouraging groups and organizations who can create masks at scale to speak with their local store leaders to coordinate large orders.

During this critically-important time, its our responsibility as community partners to think outside of the box and provide as much assistance as we can, said Paul Conforti, Chief Marketing Officer of Ocean State Job Lot, in a statement. While weve been focused on sourcing critical supplies and medical grade masks for healthcare professionals and first responders battling COVID-19, our Mask Fabric For Free campaign specifically focuses on the needs of everyday people who are looking for responsible ways to protect themselves and others.

OSJL also continues to utilize its global supply chain to source one million critically-needed surgical and N95 face masks, which are being donated to hospitals and other medical facilities in the region. Last week alone, the Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation donated essential items, and also sold items below cost, to organizations including Rhode Island Hospital, Bradley Hospital, RI Free Clinic, Boston Medical Center, the State of Rhode Island, and multiple fire and police departments. These essential items included thousands of masks, gloves, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, hazmat suits, eye protection and more.

Flag sponsors sought

Downtown Middletown is once again planning its annual display of patriotism and support for military families. American flags are available to downtown businesses for a minimum donation of $25 per flag.

These flags are a way to show support and to prepare for Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day. We have ordered brand new American Flags for the 2020 Season.

For many years and again this year, Middletown Fire Department will attach new flags and the Alarm Division of the City of Middletown will install the flagpoles on Main Street, creating a show of patriotism with cooperation between the City, Central Business Bureau / Middlesex Chamber and the Downtown business community. For information, contact Daniellelee Smith in the Chamber office at 860-347-6924 or email dsmith@middlesexchamber.com.

I-Park to delay opening

EAST HADDAM  I-Park will delay the start of its 2020 residency season in light of the current health situation. Most all residency programs across the country have reluctantly shut down until further notice, members said in a statement. The first group of scheduled artists was informed that their May residency was cancelled. And those scheduled for subsequent sessions were advised that we were taking a wait-and-see attitude. In light of the multiple uncertainties associated with the current crisis, the decision was unavoidable. I-Parks first priority is the well-being of its artists-in-residence, staff and volunteers - and their families.

All public events at I-Park are also on hold at this time. Staff members are working off-site and keeping the lines of communication open. Maintenance activities continue on the grounds. Visit www.i-park.org and go to Facebook and Instagram for updates.

IPark is an artists-in-residence program offering fully funded residencies in visual arts, creative writing, music composition/sound art, moving image, and architecture/landscape design. Since its founding in 2001, I-Park has sponsored almost 1,000 residencies, and has developed crossdisciplinary projects of cultural significance and brought them into the public domain. Set within a 450-acre nature preserve, I-Park encourages dialogue between the natural and built environments, and has been the setting for exhibitions, performances, symposia, and programs that facilitate artistic collaboration. For more information, visit i-park.org.

Society to launch online archive of pandemic stories

MADISON  The Historical Society is creating a historical archive of pandemic stories of sheltering in place, struggle, and survival. Knowing that many Madison citizens of all ages may be creating a record of their daily lives and personal experiences in these Covid Days, the society invites all residents to help us preserve these written reflections, images, and other artworks for future generations.

All Madison residents are encouraged to write down, capture in photos, or record voice memos of their personal stories. Tell us how your life has changed, how your family has adapted to working and learning from home, and how you are coping with the stresses of life during the time of COVID-19.

Our children and grandchildren will tell tales of living through the great coronavirus pandemic of 2020. But, with time, memories fade. We want to capture these stories before it is too late, said MHS board president Mark Edmiston, in a statement. Those who have kept journals or documented their experiences in some form will later be able to retell their stories with great accuracy.

The societys goal is to create a collection of meaningful written accounts, photographs, and digital voice recordings. On the MHS website, the Society will provide a digital tool through which participants can share their stories. These will offer future readers an understanding of how we responded to the global pandemic.

Doubtless, many stories will tell of challenging hardships from illness, the loss of jobs, and the loss of loved ones. The Society also anticipates that many submissions will also be inspiring recollections of extraordinary kindness, generosity, creativity, and inventiveness.

Help the Madison Historical Society build this historical archive of pandemic stories by visiting the MHS website at www.madisonhistory.org, click on the DISCOVER tab in the toolbar and scroll down to the Pandemic Archive. There you will find instructions on creating and uploading a voice memo as well as other useful tools.
On March 29, as the pandemic tightened its grip on New York City, President Donald Trump said, "I've seen things that I've never seen before." He was particularly struck by the coronavirus' impact on a neighborhood he knew well, in Queens, near where he grew up.

"I've been watching that for the last week on television," the president said. "Body bags all over, in hallways. I've been watching them bring in trailer trucks - freezer trucks, they're freezer trucks, because they can't handle the bodies, there are so many of them. This is essentially in my community, in Queens."

Since then, images of disaster have proliferated and now they are coming from Chicago, New Orleans, Milwaukee and cities all across the country. Hospitals are overflowing, streets are empty, food lines are staffed by National Guard soldiers. Images circulate of homeless people in Las Vegas sleeping on a grid of socially distanced rectangles, painted directly on the surface of a parking lot, and living in tents separated by white lines drawn on the grass in Honolulu. And as shocking images proliferate, they become dissonant among one another, subverting logic. The homeless are crowded into open spaces, while grocery stores are ominously empty. The people who are most essential, who play the most fundamentally human role at the moment, medical staff and first responders, are dehumanized behind blue gowns and white masks.

Is that truck doubled parked on the streets of New York part of a movie set, a luxury trailer for cloistering camera-shy movie stars? No, it's a refrigeration truck, for bodies that have overwhelmed the morgues and cremation chambers.

No one image seems to capture the moment, evidence that the horror of what is happening has overwhelmed our capacity to brand it and contain it within a single, iconic picture. One plastic curtain looks like another, one ambulance shrieking through the empty streets is indistinguishable from the rest, one makeshift hospital can stand for all the others. The generic visuals of the catastrophe hypnotize us into receptivity to the simple facts of the matter: Inside those generic ambulances are real first responders, many of whom have no health insurance; inside those hospitals, doctors and nurses lack equipment and basic protective masks and gowns. In a visual age, there is no sufficient visual image to capture the moment, so we listen, to governors desperate to escape the free-for-all competition for ventilators, to families whose loved ones have died alone inside quarantined hospital wards, to the mindless blather of demagogues who cannot even now take a break from their narcissism.

The virus, it seems, hasn't just come to America. It has come home. That was the subtext of the president's remarks. After weeks of dismissing or minimizing the crisis, it was pictures from Queens that helped him realize the gravity of the situation.

The idea of "coming home" is basic to how we think of suffering and tragedy. A few weeks after the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, Mathew Brady's New York gallery displayed images made by Alexander Gardner of the dead lying on the battlefield. Crowds gathered and pored over them, searching out the details to discern the faces of dead young men.

A writer for the New York Times, responding to the photographs when they were published later in Harper's magazine, wrote: "Mr. Brady has done something to bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war." In that article, the critic prefigured not just Trump's sudden volte-face - the realization that the pandemic is real, and the situation is serious - but a long history of thinking about images of suffering in geographic terms. We try to situate them on a distant topographic line, with home on the high ground, safely removed from the trauma.

That home is both literal and metaphorical. Photographs of suffering disturb us when they come into our actual homes, arriving through the newspaper or screen, and when they come home to disturb us in the metaphorical sense, evicting us from our comfort and complacency.

For much of the last half century, there has been a powerful resistance to images of suffering in America. After the Vietnam War, dubbed the "living room war" because it brought the graphic reality of combat into American homes on a nightly basis, new media standards emerged, largely suppressing the most graphic images of war, famine and natural disaster. The public, squeamish about such things and always ready to complain - "not while I'm eating breakfast" - abetted in the creation of an imaginary cordon around what we now call the "homeland."

Things would occasionally break through, a starving child seemingly stalked by a vulture in Sudan during a 1993 famine, or bodies lying on the streets of Port-au-Prince after an earthquake in 2010. But when these images pierced the defenses, they circulated as representations of foreign suffering. Often, they weren't just foreign, but racially or culturally other, images of people with darker skin or different religions than what was then the majority in America.

The "othering" of these images was essential not just to our sense of comfort and complacency, but to our identity as Americans. There was a fable about American power built into them. They arrived like ambassadors from exotic lands to reassure us: Yes, there is misery in the world, but not where you live. You are different. Your government, your laws, your leadership, your culture will defend you. We suffer to remind you of the blessings you enjoy.

It was inevitable that this cordon could not hold, not just because there is a surfeit of suffering in the world, nor because suffering would inevitably come to the United States, but because those fantastical ambassadors were wrong. We, too, thought there were structures and systems in place that would defend us; that if ever we faced a terrible shock, we could weather it with less death and more grace and steadiness. But we were wrong.

The fantasy went beyond just faith in our governance and a resilient economy. American stability had forged our identity and made us better people. Bad things didn't happen to good people, at least so long as the good people were us. For as long as we believed the myth, we could behave more recklessly, we could spend without saving, neglect the safety net, eat out the larder and empty the cellar, because we were not the sort of people who starved.

Does anyone remember the images of Dorothea Lange, or any of the great photographers who brought home the human wreckage of the last depression? Does nothing remain of the outrage embedded in images of the 1960s, the last time this society grappled in any meaningful way with its inequities?

Images of Hurricane Katrina, of desperately poor people abandoned by their government in the floodwaters of New Orleans, unsettled but didn't shatter the faith. Repeated images of gun carnage from our schools, churches and shopping malls eroded a bit of it, too. But the reflexive impulse to keep the pain of other people at a remove remained vigorous, even as climate change made it clear that few of us could escape the impact of rising seawater, a supercharged atmosphere and endless cycles of droughts and floods.

Now, even the president acknowledges that we are seeing things we have never seen before. He didn't add what is also true: that these things always existed, we just refused to look. But his comments signal a profound change in the old magical thinking, and it can't come a moment too soon. Not only did the old American stability fail to make us better people, it was never stable in the first place. Not only was the message of the old ambassadors wrong - that Americans are well and safely governed - we must now rethink our identity, from first principles to final conclusions.

So the virus has come home, to Queens and everywhere else. The time has come for us to wear masks. And when at last we can take the masks off, finally then we will begin to know who we are.
As the United States combats a coronavirus pandemic that originated in China, Alabama Senate candidate Jeff Sessions wants the nation to end its reliance on Chinese medical manufacturing.

Its the second anti-China campaign issue Sessions has raised in two weeks as he seeks votes leading up to the Republican primary runoff against Tommy Tuberville on July 14, preceded last week by urging an investigation into China for suppressing information about COVID-19.

In calling for at least 75 percent of all medicines, medical supplies and equipment purchased by the government to be spent on those goods in the U.S., there is the familiar roadblock of cost. It's why the U.S. depends so heavily on an array of Chinese goods.

Its a matter weve got to step up to, Sessions said this week in an interview with AL.com. There is no reason China should be less expensive than the Philippines or India or even Mexico or some items in the United States. (China) has used their state government power to build an infrastructure and supply lines that enable them to crush competition. We have to break that advantage.

For now, though, it remains a formidable advantage.

In the scramble to meet the surging need to secure medical supplies while bracing for a potential surge of COVID-19 patients, Huntsville Hospital CEO David Spillers has said in recent weeks that the hospital has reached out directly to suppliers in China for help. As the fight against the novel coronavirus has been equated to fighting a war, every opportunity to find the required medical ammo is being explored.

"On the surface, we would all love to have manufacturing come back in the United States," Spillers said. "But if the cost of goods is 3, 4, 5, 6 times what we have to pay than when we go into China, somebody's got to pay that. If all of the sudden we have to pay $6 a mask instead of 85 cents a mask, our costs are going to go up and your health premiums are going to go up. Everybody's going to scream and holler about that."

Sessions acknowledged that it's a ship not easily turned in pushing the U.S. to wean itself from Chinese dependence. Difficult or not, though, the longtime former Alabama senator and former U.S. attorney general said it's a turn that needs to be made.

"It's time for us to reset our relationship with China," Sessions said. "This virus lies that they have told and their coverup is important for the world for sure. But it's also indicative of what they've been doing on a host of other important issues of trade and technology and internet thefts that the country simply has to wake up to."

President Trump is a key to the U.S. breaking from China, Sessions said. His use of tariffs on Chinese imports is a step toward evening the economic battle as well as a recent trade deal with China that would require the communist nation to purchase more agricultural goods from the U.S.

"President Trump gets this," Sessions said. "He and I talked about it during the (2016 presidential) campaign. President Trump understands we have leverage and he's willing to use it to protect American interests."

Later, Sessions said of Trump, "He's got the guts to pull the trigger on it and do something about it."

As Sessions lauded the president, though, Trump has endorsed Tuberville in the GOP runoff  a move perhaps spurred by Sessions disfavor with Trump for recusing himself as AG in what led to the Mueller investigation and Sessions eventual firing.

Sessions also alluded to dozens of ongoing federal investigations into China's "illegal activities" that began when he was the nation's top law enforcement officer as part of Trump's cabinet.

As an example of trying to balance the economic scales between the two world powers, Sessions shared the story of Mercedes selling automobiles in China. Before allowing it, Sessions said the Chinese required Mercedes to buy all of its car batteries from a Chinese company. A miffed Mercedes, left with that choice, bought the Chinese batteries anyway.

We dont do that to China, Sessions said. They get to sell products here and we dont demand they buy components here before they can sell here. This kind of double standard has to end. If were going to open our market to them, theyve got to open their market to us.
Thousands of vehicles lined up before dawn Thursday to seek aid from the San Antonio Food Bank.

The agency fed about 10,000 households at a South Side flea market amid the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

"It was a rough one today," said Food Bank president and CEO Eric Cooper after the largest single-day distribution in the nonprofit's 40-year history. "We have never executed on as large of a demand as we are now."

Express-News photographers William Luther and Kin Man Hui captured the scene Thursday. Below are their photos.

On ExpressNews.com: In biggest turnout yet, 10,000 hit hard by economic effects of coronavirus seek San Antonio Food Bank help
Four teenage girls have been charged with a hate crime after the New York police alleged they attacked a 51-year-old Asian woman on an MTA bus in the Bronx, making "anti-Asian statements" and telling her she has caused COVID-19.

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) alleged the suspects cursed at the Asian woman, blamed her for responsibility for the novel coronavirus outbreak and demanded to know why she was not wearing a mask.

One of the suspects hit the woman's head with an umbrella before all four of the teens fled the bus, according to the police.

The NYPD said in a statement that the woman had a cut on her head and received stitches at a local hospital.

The 15-year-old girls were arrested near the scene with hate crime assaults, harassment and menacing shortly after the attack. The Hate Crime Task Force of the police department is looking for the woman.

The incident took place at around 3 PM on March 28 when the three teenage girls and another female of an unidentified age approached the Asian woman.

Police are still seeking the fourth suspect as of Monday afternoon, who they believe is the one who struck the woman with an umbrella, NYPD Lt. Thomas Antonetti said.

Asian Americans have reportedly witnessed an increase in hate crimes and discrimination due to the advent of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) tweeted in response to the attack, "Asian-Americans have been viciously targeted and subjected to violent attacks, discrimination, and intolerance during the #COVID19 crisis."

Also Read: Mexican Man Cuts Throat at U.S. Border After Denied Entry

The woman rode the Bx13 bus near Ogden Avenue and W. 166th St. in Highbridge, according to cops.

Police have released an image of the female suspect who struck the woman with an umbrella.

According to the department's Hate Crime Task Force, it has tackled 11 cases wherein suspects allegedly targeted Asians or Asian Americans since the advent of the pandemic. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) has established a hotline for reports of such suspected bias incidents.

CNN political commentator Andrew Yang dubbed the mounting xenophobia against Asian Americans as a "heartbreaking phenomenon."

"I've gotten the same messages you have, Lisa, about friends and Asian Americans who are being either spat on or attacked or assaulted around the country," Yang said.

The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus issued a letter on Feb. 26 persuading colleagues to "help prevent hysteria, ignorant attacks, and racist assaults" towards Asian Americans due to misinformation about the coronavirus.

Authorities across the globe have called out against anti-Asian sentiments, namely New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The incident has underscored some of the prejudice and fear-mongering ignited by the coronavirus pandemic.

In December last year, China recorded the first known case of the virus which has spread to 170 countries.

Whoever has information about the assault can call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Related Article: Fact Check: Harvard Scientist Arrested for Creating Coronavirus, Selling it to China?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With people driving far less than they have in recent years due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, many of the nations top auto insurers are offering partial refunds to their customers.

In late March, consumer groups penned a letter to the countrys state insurance commissioners urging them to provide partial refunds to auto insurance policy holders due to coronavirus restrictions preventing them from driving.

Without a return of premium to the millions of Americans who are sheltering in place or have otherwise significantly reduced their driving, consumers will be paying unreasonable and excessive premiums based on outdated estimates of miles driven," wrote the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the Center for Economic Justice (CEJ).

Since then, a number of the top auto insurers across the country have announced that they will return hundreds of millions, and in some cases billions, of dollars to customers in the coming months.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Heres a look at what companies are offering.

ALLSTATE

Allstate, Esurance and Encompass will provide customers with a Shelter-in-Place Payback, offering most drivers 15% of their monthly premium in April and May, totaling more than $600 million companywide.

Customers will receive their money through a credit to their bank account, credit card or Allstate account, with the company advising that the quickest way to receive the refund is by using the Allstate mobile app.

Allstate has been helping customers overcome catastrophes for 89 years since our purpose is to make sure they are in Good Hands. We have learned to move quickly and put people first, said Tom Wilson, chair, president and chief executive officer. This crisis is pervasive. Given an unprecedented decline in driving, customers will receive a Shelter-in-Place Payback of more than $600 million over the next two months. This is fair because less driving means fewer accidents."

STATE FARM

State Farm, the countrys largest auto insurer, is offering most customers 25% of their premium for the time period between March 20 and May 31, totaling up to $2 billion.

The exact percentage will vary by state. Customers will see the credit applied to their bill starting as early as June 1.

State Farm is returning value through a dividend to our customers, said Michael L. Tipsord, chairman, president and CEO. We insure more cars than anyone and we see from our claims activity people are driving less. This dividend is one of the ways were working to help our customers during this unprecedented situation.

GEICO

Geico is offering customers a 15% credit toward their next full policy term on renewals between April 8 and Oct. 7, totaling approximately $2.5 billion.

With the companys average auto policy having a semi-annual premium of about $1,000, credits are expected to average about $150 per policy. Customers will see the credit reflected in their next policy renewal and are not required to take any additional action.

PROGRESSIVE

Progressive is offering customers a 20% credit toward their April and May premiums, totaling approximately $1 billion.

The credits will automatically be applied to the policy, with customers required to take no additional action. Those who have already paid in full will receive a refund for the credited amount.

We understand how difficult and uncertain peoples lives are right now. While auto insurance might not be the most pressing topic on everyones mind, we know that finances could be. For our customers who have trusted us to be there in their times of need, were fulfilling that promise. We want them to know how much we care, said Progressive President and CEO Tricia Griffith.

LIBERTY MUTUAL

Liberty Mutual is offering customers a 15% refund on two months of their annual insurance premium, totaling approximately $250 million.

Refunds will be issued by check or in the manner in which customers made their most recent payments, with no additional action required on the part of the customer.

For more than a century, weve made it our goal to be there for people when they need us most, said Liberty Mutual Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Long. Today, more than ever, we recognize the uncertainty and financial challenges our customers are facing. We remain dedicated to serving our customers during this unprecedented pandemic, and we hope our premium relief and other actions we have taken to offer support help to alleviate some of their worries.

FARMERS/21ST CENTURY

Farmers and 21st Century customers will receive a 25% reduction on their April premiums, with drivers not required to take any additional action.

We are committed to helping customers during this unprecedented time. Building on our Farmers Cares initiative to assist customers, all Farmers auto customers will receive a 25% premium reduction for the month of April, said Jeff Dailey, chief executive officer of Farmers Insurance. As we continue receiving updated information in the coming weeks, well assess additional ways to take care of our customers.

USAA

USAA is offering customers a 20% credit on two months of premiums in the coming weeks, totaling $520 million.

Members will automatically have the credit applied to their bill, with no additional action required.

We understand the impact this pandemic is having on our country, and especially our military community and their families, many of whom also are working on the front lines of the crisis. Returning premiums provides timely help for our members, said USAA President and CEO Wayne Peacock. USAA has been facilitating the financial security of military members for nearly 100 years, and this is another way we can serve them well."

TRAVELERS

Travelers is offering customers a 15% credit on their April and May premiums through its Stay-at-Home Auto Premium Credit Program. Customers accounts will be automatically credited, with no additional action required.

Our customers are doing their part to stay at home and help stop the spread of COVID-19, said Alan Schnitzer, chairman and chief executive officer of Travelers. Our new program recognizes their contribution to the effort we all need to make to protect our health and safety and the resulting decrease in miles driven and auto claims. We are committed to standing with our customers, agents and brokers, and this is one more step were taking to help ease some of the financial burden many are experiencing.
Company Effort to Ensure Workplace Safety and Maintain Critical Operations on Behalf of the Nation

GREELEY, Colo., April 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, JBS USA announced it is working in partnership with the U.S. federal government, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (CO) and Centennial State Lab, an independent laboratory in Colorado Springs, Colo., to secure COVID-19 tests for all of its team members at the Greeley, Colo., beef production facility.



As the world faces this global pandemic, local communities and companies have also been impacted. The Greeley beef facility has experienced increased absenteeism as coronavirus has spread across the country and local communities, including more than 670 cases in Weld County. JBS USA continues to learn and adapt to this crisis every day, along with the rest of the country.

While the measures we have taken within our facility to improve safety have made a positive impact, COVID-19 remains a threat across the United States and in Weld County, which is why we are investing more than $1 million in COVID-19 testing kits for our team members, said Andre Nogueira, JBS USA CEO. Greeley is our home and more than 6,000 JBS team members and their families live in Weld County. We currently have 36 JBS employees who have tested positive in Weld County and we are offering support to our team members and their families. No matter what measures we take in our facilities, we must all work together to prevent the continued spread of coronavirus in our communities.

Earlier this week, JBS USA reached out to Governor Polis and Senator Gardner to request support in securing COVID-19 tests for its team members at the Greeley beef production facility. In discussions with Centennial State Lab, coordinated by Senator Gardner, and with support from the White House and Governor Polis, several thousand test kits will be provided to its beef production team members in Greeley.

Story continues

In partnership with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, UCHealth, Centennial State Lab and other medical professionals, JBS Greeley will use the Easter holiday weekend, including an existing collectively bargained paid holiday on Monday, to coordinate team member testing. The company will also use this opportunity to further enhance previously announced deep cleaning efforts at the facility.

The company is optimistic that increased screening and testing, in addition to current temperature checking practices with hands-free thermometers and thermal imaging technology, will provide confidence to its workforce and the community that this critical infrastructure facility will continue to operate and provide food for local families and the country during these challenging times.

We are grateful to Governor Polis and Senator Gardner, who have helped us procure the tests, and for all they are doing to protect Coloradans, Nogueira continued. We also thank Vice President Mike Pence for his leadership in prioritizing the safety of our workforce and the integrity of the food supply, which is a critical infrastructure industry for us all. Finally, we thank our partners in our local community, including Greeley Mayor John Gates and the Weld County Commissioners for their unwavering commitment and partnership in keeping our communities safe as we face this challenge together.

To date, the company has implemented numerous measures to keep its team members safe, including:



Increasing sanitation and disinfection efforts, including whole facility deep-cleaning every day

Promoting physical distancing by staggering starts, shifts and breaks, and increasing spacing in cafeterias, break and locker rooms, including plexiglass dividers in key areas

Significantly increasing the number of dedicated staff to continuously clean facilities

Temperature testing all team members prior to entering our facilities, including the use of hands-free thermometers and thermal imaging testing technology

Providing extra personal protective equipment (PPE), including protective masks

Removing vulnerable populations from our facilities, offering full pay and benefits

Requiring sick team members to stay home from work

Waiving short-term disability waiting periods

Relaxing attendance policies so people dont come to work sick

Providing free 100% preventative care to all team members

Offering free LiveHealth Online services that allow for virtual doctor visits at no cost

JBS USA extends its heartfelt sympathy to all of those affected by COVID-19 and salutes the health care professionals who are tirelessly working to protect us all. The company also thanks everyone who is helping to keep food on tables, including producers, growers, retailers, restaurants, government inspectors, transporters and the entire food supply chain.

About JBS USA

JBS USA is a leading global food company providing diversified, high-quality food products for sale to customers in approximately 100 countries on six continents. This includes meat and poultry products, a portfolio of recognized brands and innovative premium foods.

Media Contact:

Nikki Richardson

Nikki.Richardson@jbssa.com
A Montgomery judge has denied the request by Nancy Worley and her supporters in the Alabama Democratic Party to reconsider his decision to dismiss their lawsuit against the faction of the party that is now in control.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Greg Griffin issued the one-page ruling Thursday night denying the motion filed two weeks ago.

Worley said she was not surprised by the decision and would decide later about the possibility of further appeals.

After the COVID-19 lockdown is over, we shall have a look at our options and make a decision about future action, Worley said in a text message.

Worley, who had been chair of the party since 2013, filed the lawsuit last year to try to block a meeting of another faction of the State Democratic Executive Committee that wanted to replace her. Griffin initially blocked the meeting, but the Alabama Supreme Court overruled. The SDEC faction met on Nov. 2 and elected Rep. Chris England of Tuscaloosa as chair to replace Worley.

England has been operating as party chair and the party has hired new staff.

The conflict over control of the party goes back to before August 2018, when the SDEC reelected Worley as chair over a candidate backed by U.S. Sen. Doug Jones. The Democratic National Committee said there were irregularities in how that election was conducted after complaints by some SDEC members. The DNC and Jones supported the faction that held the Nov. 2 meeting, which Jones helped facilitate. The DNC recognizes England as party chair.
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. 35 Armenian exchange students are being evacuated from the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan said 34 of them are students of the FLEX program while 1 is an ACES student.

The evacuation was organized by Armenia and Georgia in cooperation with the American Councils. The flight is also carrying Georgian students.

The Armenian embassy coordinated the American Councils actions in safely gathering the Armenian students from across 19 different states of the USA to Chicago, from where an evacuation flight embarked on the Doha-Tbilisi-Yerevan flight.

The Armenian Embassy in the USA and the Honorary Consulate of Armenia in Chicago provided the students with personal protective items at the Chicago airport. The students will be met at the Doha airport and escorted to the departure hall of the next flight.

Upon arrival, all 35 students will be quarantined for 14 days in Yerevan.

This is yet another good example of Armenia and Georgia cooperating in repatriating their citizens from different countries amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. We thank the American Councils for the quick and smooth organization of the transportation of the Armenian students, as well as our Georgian colleagues for support and productive cooperation, Naghdalyan said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Although export of this medicine is completely banned, India has decided to export this anti-malarial drug on humanatarian grounds in view of the coronavirus pandemic to countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka who are in dire need of the drug, PTI reported. Explaining the procedure, the news agency according to its sources said that countries that have to import hydroxychloroquine would have to ...

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.



Digital Editor
The Russian Investigative Committee said that it will open a criminal case into the recent removal of a controversial statue of a Soviet World War II marshal in the Czech capital.



The committee said on April 10 it would investigate the alleged "defiling of symbols of Russia's military glory," which is punishable by a fine or community service. Although Russia has no legal jurisdiction in the Czech Republic, the symbolic case could further cool relations between the two countries.



"Our investigators believe that, by acting so cynically, the Prague municipal administration has brazenly violated obligations taken by the Czech Republic within the framework of Russian-Czech bilateral agreements and demonstrated a disdain of the shared memories and history of the Soviet people's fight against fascism," Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said.

The Czech Foreign Ministry said it considered the Investigative Committee's action to be unwarranted meddling in Czech internal affairs.



"If Russian bodies continue with confrontational statements and actions in this spirit, it will be a sign they have lost interest in developing mutually beneficial relations between our countries," the ministry's statement said.



Prague municipal officials on April 3 removed a statue of Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev, who led the Red Army troops that entered Prague in May 1945 after the city had been liberated from the Nazis by resistance forces.



The monument, which was erected by the communist Czechoslovak government in 1980, has long been controversial and has frequently been vandalized since the collapse of communism in 1989.



Konev also commanded the Soviet troops that suppressed the 1956 uprising in Hungary and that helped build the Berlin Wall. Some historians believe he played a role in planning the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. He died in 1973.



Czech officials have said the Konev statue will be reinstalled at another location and that its previous site would host a new monument honoring the Prague resistance fighters who liberated the capital in the days before Konev's troops arrived.



Moscow has vehemently protested the removal of the statue.

On April 9, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu asked his Czech counterpart, Lubomir Metnar, to hand over the statue to Russia. Metnar refused, saying it belonged to the city of Prague.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has frequently criticized European countries of "rewriting history" by allegedly diminishing the role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Many Central European countries counter that Putin has downplayed the crimes of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and the consequences of the post-war Soviet occupation of the region.

With reporting by AFP, TASS, Reuters, and Meduza
A LIMERICKMAN is among those helping to rescue thousands of migrants making the perilous journey across the seas to Europe  but he has also had the heartbreaking job of recovering the bodies of 16 deceased migrants in one day alone.

Brendan Barrett, 28, a native of Ballybrown, Clarina, joined the Irish Navy in 2008, and has served on the L.E. Ciara, L.E. Niamh, L.E. Eithne and L.E. Aoife.

He is currently serving on board the L.E. James Joyce, which has been on a humanitarian mission, Operation Pontus, since July 8 last.

The LE James Joyce has now rescued more than 3,000 people in the Mediterranean in recent months, and that figure continues to rise on nearly a daily basis.

On Sunday morning last they successfully located and rescued 108 people during a search and rescue operation conducted with the Italian Coastguard 35 miles north-west of Tripoli.

Overall last weekend they rescued 531 people, and on board they received food, water and medical treatment. Those rescued later disembark in Cagliari in Sardinia.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader, Brendan, the first in his family to join the defence forces, said the crew of 60 on board the vessel deal with many stressful situations.

Migrants usually leave the shores of Tripoli [the capital of Libya] via wooden barges and rubber crafts. Once the migrants are rescued they can be on board our ship for periods up to three days while transiting to the nearest port of safety. We give medical attention where required, as we had many pregnant women and very young infants and children who were ill and were looked after by our crew. Unfortunately we recovered 16 deceased migrants in one day alone from one wooden barge, he said.

On that same day, they saved 608 from the sea, he added. While recovering the remains on the deceased is particularly tough, he said its a very fulfilling job, knowing that thousands of people have been brought to safe shores.

Brendans duties as a leading seaman include working on deck launching, recovering MST fast sea boats, as well as the security and maintaining the welfare of the men, women and children they rescue.

If we do not have any rescues, a general day consists of routine maintenance of the ship below decks and upper decks. This is very important as we need to have the ship ready for the next rescue operation.

Also we conduct many exerciseS which include Gunnery drill, firefighting, damage control and abandon ship. There will be further emotional scenes in Cork in September as Brendan returns home from this mission and is reunited with his fiancee Wendy Canty,

He and the crew of the L.E James Joyce are due to return to the naval base in Haulbowline, county Cork at the end of September. After a few days break, he will return to sea on board the L.E Ciara on a routine fishing patrol around the coast of Ireland.
pipe metal texture inside

If theres one area of the market that investors have just simply gotten wrong, its the pipeline industry. While its true that energy companies have suffered amid a glut in the oil and gas market, when it comes to pipelines, these stocks have fallen for absolutely no good reason. And that includes a stock like Pembina Pipeline (TSX:PPL)(NYSE:PBA).

After about seven years of solid growth, the company fell back in December 2017, when the oil and gas glut began to take hold of the industry. Since then, Pembina has been climbing back to its former glory. That is, until the recent market crash.

The stock fell over 70% from peak to trough and, only in the last few weeks, has been making some headway. But again, this stock has fallen for absolutely no good reason. Lets look at why.

Pembinas pipelines

Its important to remember as an investor that although pipelines and energy are within the same industry, they might as well be entirely different industries in and of themselves. On the one hand, pure oil and gas companies are going through an incredibly difficult time.

First, there was the glut back in 2017 that still hasnt resolved, and now there is the announcement from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that Russia would not be pulling back its production of oil, and Saudi Arabia would, in fact, be increasing production. This sent oil and gas prices in Canada to an even further discount, as West Texas Intermediate fell more than 40% practically overnight.

But, as I say, pipelines like Pembina are entirely different. In fact, investors should be supporting Pembina in any way they can, as once pipelines are built, the crude glut could be all but over!

In Pembinas case, the company has already completed its Peace pipeline expansion project, and it was so successful, its now looking to expand a phase six, seven, and eight. This will get crude oil out of Western Canada, where Pembina enjoys a strong presence.

Story continues

Rewarding investors

Further to its bright future is Pembinas commitment to increasing rewards as the company expands. Pembina has a history of rewarding investors as further cash comes in, and this is almost certainly going to be the case moving forward. In fact, the company has committed to a 8-10% increase in dividends through 2021, and analysts believe this should be easily achieved.

That comes from two areas. First, of course, is the companys expansion projects. Pembina has $5.6 billion set aside for secured growth projects, so, upon completion, cash should come pouring in. But under all this is the companys long-term contracts  contracts that will keep cash coming in for decades to come. That means both your stock and dividends are safe and secure.

Foolish takeaway

It doesnt get much better than Pembina. You have a cheap stock here that has an incredibly bright short- and long-term future. Even if you invested just to reach fair value, youre looking at a potential upside of 24% as of writing.

Now, you can look at fair value, but analysts believe in the next year this stock should shoot past $60 per share. As we may have seen the market bottom already, that leaves little time to get in on this stock before the price shoots back up. Thats an upside of 125% as of writing.

On top of this is the companys crazy dividend yield of 10.24%  a dividend that has increased an average of 8% every year over the last five years. This dividend is also one of the few that is handed out monthly, which is a nice way to reinvest on a regular basis.

So, lets say you decided to invest $10,000 in Pembina today. That would mean youre looking at potentially turning that into $22,568 in a year, with $604.24 in dividends. Thats not a bad takeaway during a crash.

The post Pembina Pipeline (TSX:PPL) Stock Just Sunk: Time to Buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

More reading

Fool contributor Amy Legate-Wolfe owns shares of PEMBINA PIPELINE CORPORATION. The Motley Fool recommends PEMBINA PIPELINE CORPORATION.

The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020
Every state has its own set of laws, including driving laws, but others as well. There are also myths that people believe about laws in their state.

For example, people often believe that it's illegal to drive barefoot in Georgia and elsewhere. It's not. There are no laws in any state that say you can't drive without shoes.

Now, does that mean you should drive barefoot? Maybe not because if you do and you get in an accident, you might face civil repercussions.

Beyond the issue of driving barefoot, what are some of the Georgia driving laws to be aware of?

You're Required to Have Insurance

This law isn't necessarily strange, but it is one to be aware of. In Georgia, you are required by law to have car insurance. However, the minimum car insurance requirement doesn't include coverage for your own car or your passengers if you're in an accident.

The state minimum requirement is 25/50/25. This means that you need to have at least $25,000 in bodily liability insurance per person, $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 of property damage coverage.

If you want your own vehicle to be covered, you're going to need to think about collision and comprehensive coverage.

Additionally, the minimums required in Georgia might not be enough to cover another driver if you're in an accident, and that might mean you need to increase your liability coverage too.

Hands-Free Driving

Just two years ago, Georgia passed a hands-free driving law. Under the relatively new law, it's illegal to hold an electronic device while you're operating a vehicle. This means even if you're using it for GPS, or nothing at all, it's illegal to hold it.

There are things that are still legal under the law, though. For example, you can use hands-free features to talk on the phone while you drive.

Slowpoke Law

Georgia enacted what's often dubbed the slowpoke law in 2014. Under the so-called slowpoke law, you can get a citation if you are in the passing lane of a highway and driving slowly so that you're then holding traffic up behind you or you're interfering with the flow of traffic.

The concept behind the law is that if you're going slower than the rest of the traffic around you, you're creating a risk and you're congesting the highway.

Georgia isn't the only state to have a law like this. You'll also find them in states like Florida, New Jersey, and Tennessee.

Based on the specifics of the Georgia law, if you're in the leftmost lane, you can get a ticket if you stay there even after realizing the car behind you is traveling at a faster speed.

There are exceptions to this law. For example, if the weather is bad and leads to people needing to slow down.

Even though law enforcement officials do write citations for the law, many people in the state still aren't aware it exists.

If you receive a citation for being a slowpoke, it can mean a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor in Georgia can come with fines of up to $1,000, up to 12 months in jail, and three points on your license.

Move Over Law

In Georgia, there's something called the move over law. Under the move over law, if you're traveling in the lane that's adjacent to the road shoulder, you have to move over when utility and emergency vehicles are stopped and are operating in their official capacity. This law covers all first responder vehicles, wreckers, utility vehicles, DOT vehicles, and HERO units.

If you don't obey the move over law, you might pay a fine of up to $500. If the traffic is too heavy for you to safely move over, according to Georgia law, you should slow down below the speed that's posted and be prepared to stop.

Joshua's Law

This law was enacted in Georgia in 2007. It changed the driver's license requirements for teen drivers, and it was named after Joshua Brown, who died in an accident in 2003. His parents worked with legislators on the law, and teens are required to get specific driving experience before they get their license.

Now, as far as a strange law-in Georgia, you can't honk at fairs.

It's illegal to honk your horn during a fair no matter what, so if you think you could be tempted to do so, you might want to avoid driving near any while you're in Georgia.
President Trump said that if the United States switched to all-mail voting, youd never have a Republican elected in this country again.

The G.O.P. speaker of the House in Georgia said an all-mail election would be extremely devastating to Republicans.

Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, said universal mail voting would be the end of our republic as we know it.

Yet leading experts who have studied voting by mail say none of that is true.

As with false claims by Republicans about vote-by-mail fraud, there is no evidence to back up the argument from the right that all-mail elections favor Democrats. But Mr. Trump and some of his allies are warning that vote-by-mail poses an existential threat to their party, in hopes of galvanizing Republican opposition to a voting method that is widely seen as safer than in-person voting in the era of the coronavirus.
Ricardo Roman woke up on Wednesday morning asking "God to give me the strength necessary to be able to see my father for the last time." That afternoon he attended his father's funeral.

Ramon Roman, 52, died Sunday of complications from COVID-19 at a hospital in Brooklyn. For 10 years, he worked as an auxiliary police officer for the New York City Police Department. He is survived by his wife, Yngris Pagan, four children and two grandchildren.

Image: Ramon and Ricardo Roman (Courtesy of Ricardo Roman)

Its been tough since I got the news," Ricardo, 30, also a police officer, told NBC News in Spanish. "I started crying, my two kids started crying because that was their grandfather. After that, I had to find the strength and bravery to tell my mother."

In addition to mourning, Latino families in New York are grappling with an eye-opening reality. The coronavirus outbreak is hitting Hispanics in the city harder than any other racial group, according to officials: Latinos make up 34 percent of all coronavirus deaths in New York City, while making up 29 percent of the city's population. Put another way, the preliminary death rate for Hispanics in the city is about 22 people per 100,000; the rate is 10 per 100,000 for white residents.

Amid the grief, trying to bury loved ones

As Roman comforted his mother, he called at least 10 funeral homes but several said they were too overwhelmed to help. A few others said they could pick up his father's remains and host a small service in 10 to 12 days.

Three days into his search, Roman found a funeral home available near the precinct where his father used to work. The service on Wednesday was attended by about 10 people, all close relatives, with a few members of the police department showing up afterward.

We were all apart from each other. We couldnt hug or kiss each other," Ricardo Roman said, adding that more would have attended if it weren't for the pandemic.

Roman said he last saw his father on March 14. He remembers having a long conversation with him at his aunt's house.

Story continues

Ramon Roman told his son he was looking forward to welcoming his third grandchild later this year, seeing Ricardo being promoted to sergeant and planning a family vacation for August.

"That was the last day he gave me a hug and a kiss, and the last thing he told me was: Oh my God, I love you. I just want you to know that," Ricardo Roman said.

New York state has the most confirmed coronavirus cases and related deaths in the nation. About 55 percent of the state's cases are in New York City, and 68 percent of the state's coronavirus deaths have been in the city as well.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that Dr. Havidan Rodriguez, president of the State University of New York at Albany, will spearhead an effort to research why coronavirus deaths and infections are more prevalent in communities of color.

"Are more public workers Latino and African Americans who don't have a choice, frankly, but who go out there every day and drive the bus and drive the train and show up for work and wind up subjecting themselves to, in this case, the virus?" said Cuomo. "I think it's something that we have to understand."

"The text came in and said, 'Mommy is dead'"

After the rate of coronavirus deaths among Latinos was made public, Cuomo said New York is "going to do more testing in minority communities."

But the family of Caridad Santiago says it's too late.

Santiago, 43, was a station cleaner for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for 13 years. Her teenage daughter found her dead at their Bronx home on March 29 after she had shown COVID-19 symptoms, her husband, Ernesto Salaam, told NBC News.

"I remember that day very vividly," he said, adding that he was carrying out an order when he missed a call from his daughter. "Then the text came in and said 'Mommy is dead.'"

Image: Caridad Santiago (Courtesy of Transport Workers Union Local 100)

Salaam and his three children slept in their car as more than 24 hours went by before authorities came to certify Santiago's death and remove her body from the house. Salaam said detectives did not go in to the house and had the family take pictures of Santiago's body instead.

"For a person that served the city, who even put up a post on her Facebook days before dying saying she was an essential worker and couldn't stay home, they failed her, in my view," said Salaam.

"She didn't deserve that. She was making sure the trains were clean, so other people wouldn't get the virus, and she ended up catching it. They disrespected her when nobody was there to clean her body for 24 hours," Salaam added.

City and state health officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Santiago had called the city's coronavirus hotline and other services when she started showing symptoms but she didn't get answers quickly, according to Salaam. He said his daughter received a phone call from a coronavirus hotline on Thursday morning asking if Santiago was ready to get tested.

"We were shocked." Salaam said. "We couldn't believe they were that late."

As Salaam gets ready to receive his wife's ashes in the next few days, he continues to remember ehr as "a super strong woman and caring for people."

If a person didn't have a place to live, Santiago would let them stay at her house, her husband said. "She was that type of person."

Like the Santiagos, other Latino families are mourning loved ones who worked for the city.

Victor Zapana, 61, a war veteran who was a night-shift supervisor for the MTA, died in a hospital in Queens on March 29. Ernesto Hernandez, 57, and Cesar Torres, 55, both bus operators, died around the same time. New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said Sunday that Angel Leon, an auxiliary police sergeant who served in the Bronx since 1981, had died of coronavirus-related complications.

Sandra Santos-Vizcaino, 54, a public elementary school teacher in Brooklyn, died on March 31. Rosa De Soto-Harrison, a friend, attended Santos-Vizcaino's small funeral service on Saturday.

Image: Sandra Santos-Vizcaino (Vizcaino Family Photo via AP)

"She was the backbone to her family. She was a very loving, giving person. She always cooked for us and she always went up and beyond her call of duty," De Soto-Harrison told NBC News.

Ricardo Roman expects to be able to pick up his father's ashes sometime in the next week.

Once the coronavirus pandemic ends, he plans to fulfill one of his father's last wishes.

The family will take the ashes to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where Ramon was born and where his mother's ashes lay.

"The way Ill remember him is as a man who was willing to help everyone out," said Roman. "He didnt care about their flaws or their problems. He was always there to help, not waiting for anything in return."

Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Taiwan details aid to Ethiopia in wake of WHO head criticism

ROC Central News Agency

04/09/2020 10:46 PM

Taipei, April 9 (CNA) Following accusations by the World Health Organization (WHO) chief that Taiwan has been behind racially abusive attacks made against him over the past three months amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan's government responded Thursday by detailing its aid to Ethiopia.

In addition to a stern complaint from President Tsai Ing-wen () and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) earlier the same day, the MOFA-affiliated International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) said Taiwan has helped Ethiopia -- the home country of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus -- for many years.

Through semi-official or non-governmental channels, Taiwan has extended humanitarian aid to Ethiopia in a broad range of areas -- livelihood improvements, health care, nutrition, food/water supply, education, children and women's rights as well as social support, the ICDF said.

For instance, it said, three Ethiopia nationals took part in its "environment monitoring and catastrophe prevention" and "projection and management of science industrial parks" programs in 2012 and the "clean power development strategy" workshop in 2017.

During their two-week stay in Taiwan, the ICDF said it paid each Ethiopian participant NT$150,000 (US$5,000) to cover the cost of airplane tickets, courses, food, accommodation and transport.

In 2018, five nationals from the African country participated in a "fostering program for medics from friendly countries" in Taiwan, receiving training at Mackay Memorial Hospital and the Tri Service General Hospital free of charge, according to the ICDF.

During the Ethiopian nationals' one-to-three-month stay in Taiwan, their spending was covered by different agencies, with the ICDF covering costs of NT$70,000 for each of them, it said.

Taiwan private-sector organizations, including Taiwan Fund for Children and Families, World Vision and other NGOs, have also extended help to Ethiopia through fund raising, child adoptions, and cooperative ventures with local Ethiopians.

In March, an Ethiopian exchange student received a deep vein thrombosis operation in Taiwan, the cost of which -- NT$1.45 million -- was paid by the hospital, the Taiwan charter of Kiwanis International and donations made by the public.

Meanwhile, Taiwan has also reached out to Eswatini in southern Africa -- Taiwan's sole diplomatic partner in that continent.

Yang Syin-yi (Ali Yang, ), director of MOFA's Department of West Asian and African Affairs, told a new briefing later Thursday that the embassy in Eswatini has teamed up with Taiwan's agricultural mission to hold seminars as part of its efforts to help foreign diplomatic missions and Taiwan business people there combat the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's embassy has purchased protective gear, gloves, disposable hair caps/shoe covers and alcohol hand sanitizer from neighboring countries for medical care personnel in Eswatini, and 60,000 face masks donated by Taiwan are set to arrive soon, he said.

According to Yang, government authorities or private entities from Jordan, Mongolia, Nigeria and Kuwait have sought Taiwan's assistance in the fight against the COVID-19 disease.

MOFA is engaged in many relevant projects, pending further instructions from the Central Epidemic Command Center, Yang said.

On Thursday, Taiwan announced its second round of humanitarian assistance to the global community, with 6 million masks to be donated to European Union member states, Southeast Asian countries, some U.S. states, and some Latin American and Caribbean countries.

The move came after MOFA announced Taiwan's first such donation on April 1 since the COVID-19 disease was first detected in China in late December -- 7 million masks to 11 European countries, 2 million to the United States and 1 million to Taiwan's diplomatic allies.

MOFA spokeswoman Joanne Ou () said at a news conference that the first 1 million masks will soon arrive in the designated countries.

In recent years, Taiwan-based NGOs have conducted 10 charitable clinics in several African countries that included Eswatini, Chad and Kenya, MOFA officials told CNA.

Last year, Taiwan also donated 17,000 tons of rice to Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique, they said.

(By Flor Wang and Chen Yun-yi)

Enditem/AW

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The novel coronavirus may have K-12 students in Kentucky's school districts learning at home, but researchers at the University of Louisville are using the computing power of thousands of computers in classrooms across the state to identify drugs to treat COVID-19. The desktop computers are part of the DataseamGrid, a network of computers housed in classrooms of 48 Kentucky school districts as part of a partnership designed to support research, education and workforce development.

John Trent, Ph.D., deputy director of basic and translational research at the UofL Health - James Graham Brown Cancer Center, conducts virtual screening to discover new cancer drugs using the DataseamGrid for high-volume computations. Today, he has the computers at work 24/7 to identify the most promising drugs and compounds to fight SARS-CoV-2 and its disease, COVID-19.

"In these unprecedented times, we had a resource where we could potentially make an impact quickly and switch over from some of our cancer targets to SARS-CoV-2 targets," Trent said. "We have been very successful in doing this in cancer for 15 years. We are using the same approach in targeting the coronavirus, just targeting a different protein."

Established in 2003, Dataseam is funded by the Kentucky General Assembly to provide computing infrastructure, workforce development and educational opportunities for students and staff in Kentucky school districts. Available computing power in those units is put to work performing computer modeling calculations to screen anti-cancer drugs for Trent's team and collaborators at UofL.

Like a lot of industries, we have shifted our skills and infrastructure to address this issue. We are always going to have cancer, but at least for the time being, we are glad the DataseamGrid is here for Dr. Trent to screen those drugs." Brian Gupton, CEO of Dataseam

In mid-March, Trent and his team entered new data onto the DataseamGrid, along with UofL's dedicated research computers, in a two-pronged approach to match three-dimensional models of proteins in SARS-CoV-2 to drugs and compounds that could help in treating or preventing COVID-19. The DataseamGrid provides up to 80 percent of the computational power for these projects.

The first approach is to test about 2,000 drugs already on the market and another 9,000 investigational drugs and nutraceuticals that have been tested for toxicity to isolate those most likely to be effective against the virus.

"For the immediate approach, we are testing drugs that already are approved by the FDA or have been tested in humans. If we find activity with those drugs, we could get them into patient trials a lot quicker," Trent said. "However, these drugs obviously were designed for something else and they may not have the same efficacy of a very selective drug."

To find that selective drug, Trent's second prong of research includes computational models to screen 37 million small molecules and compounds against the target proteins in SARS-CoV-2. These molecules could be used to develop a new drug specifically to treat the virus. That process would take more time, however, to obtain FDA approval.

"That initial discovery of a new, more-selective agent is more long term. You are looking at 12 to 18 months before you would even think about testing those in a patient," Trent said. "But time is of essence at the moment, so we are doing both things at the same time."

Using the DataseamGrid and UofL research computers, Trent and his team are screening the drugs and small molecules against 3-D structures of four proteins in the virus to see which compounds might bind with the proteins. A drug that interferes with the activity of any of these proteins would reduce the virus's ability to spread.

Trent began the research with the first two proteins described for SARS-CoV-2: the main protease, an essential enzyme used by the virus to break down viral proteins and make new virus particles, and spike proteins, the triangular "knobs" the virus uses to attach itself to host cells. These spikes are the knobs commonly seen in graphic images on the surface of the virus. Trent now also is testing drugs against two additional target proteins that were described very recently.

So far, the process has identified about 30 drugs as potentially effective against SARS-CoV-2. Trent recommended these for biological testing by other UofL researchers in the UofL Center for Predictive Medicine for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases (CPM). Directed by Kenneth Palmer, Ph.D., the CPM is one of only a few labs in the United States capable of testing the drugs against the virus. That testing is expected to begin in mid-April.

If the CPM researchers find the drugs to be effective against SARS-CoV-2 in the lab, they could be moved to the next phase of testing in animal models, testing that also may be conducted at CPM.

"This computer modeling is an excellent way to identify the best potential candidates for laboratory testing rapidly, and this strategy could lead to relief sooner rather than later for patients suffering from COVID-19," Palmer said.

Gupton says it is good to know the DataseamGrid continues to support urgent medical research even though students are working from home.

"Ironically, we hope to return to cancer research as soon as possible," Gupton said. "Even though the students are not in classrooms, Kentucky school districts are providing them with instruction, technology, internet access and even meals. The districts' Dataseam systems engineers are supporting both the university's work and K-12 efforts. We all are proud to be 'digital first responders' in Kentucky's part of the global fight."

As part of the Dataseam partnership, UofL provides academic scholarships annually for students from participating school districts who come to the university to pursue a degree in science, technology, engineering or math.
New Delhi: India has requested the US govt to extend the validity of H-1B and other visas for Indians stranded in the country due to coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. With fears of US economy heading for a big slump, H-1B holders could not only lose job but won't even be entitled to any unemployment benefits either.

The matter was taken by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan sharing with US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E Biegun on April 8 (Wednesday). According to sources, India is "closely monitoring the related developments."

During the talks between FS Vardhan and US Deputy Secretary of State, both discussed ways to enhance cooperation to counter and control the pandemic including "through the development of novel therapies and prophylactics against COVID-19 and ensuring the availability of essential medicines, diagnostic & medical equipment, and sharing of best practices/information", said sources.

If the employer terminates the contract of an H-1B holder employee, the employee needs to find new employment within 60 days to retain their H-1B status. But so far there has been no order from the US government asking employers to terminate services of H-1B visa holders.

With fears of unemployment in the US, news has been going around that Indians with H-1B visa might be impacted. Almost 10 million US citizens have filed for unemployment allowance which has been the larger trend and not specific to Indians. Also due to the lockdown, renewal is delayed and with US economy contracting people may be retrenched. Indians constitute the maximum percentage of H-1B visa holders in the US.

US and India have been having a high-level engagement since the pandemic broke out. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump spoke on April 4 and EAM S Jaishankar had spoken with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo April 6.
While everyone's attention is on COVID-19, things are still happening around the Russia hoax. No one should ever forget that a weaponized Obama bureaucracy spied on the Republican party's presidential candidate to prevent him from winning the 2016 election. Then, when that illegal effort failed, the entire Democrat establishment, both inside and outside government, bent all of its energies to claiming that America's duly elected president was a Russian asset who used election fraud to win.

By first acting illegally and then pushing a hoax, the Democrats and the Deep State (but I repeat myself) effectively handicapped Trump's first two years in office. They destroyed Americans' trust in government, they destroyed the last fragile shreds of reputation the media had, they corrupted various bureaucracies, and they generally did terrible damage to America's political integrity.

The Trump administration, however, is making loud noises indicating that the Democrats' and the Deep State's flagrant, unethical, unconstitutional, and illegal conduct is neither forgiven nor forgotten. The first shot openly fired is William Barr's interview with Fox News's Laura Ingraham., which aired on Wednesday.

The interview is an interesting one, for it covers a lot of ground. For purposes of this post, what's important is what Barr has to say about the attempt to overthrow Trump's presidency through the Russia hoax:

Barr also provided an update on Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation, telling Ingraham that Durham's "primary focus isn't to prepare a report. He is looking to bring to justice people who are engaged in abuses if he can show that they were criminal violations, and that's what the focus is on." "My own view," Barr added, "is that the evidence shows that we're not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness. There is something far more troubling here, and we're going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law, and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted." The attorney general left no doubt as to his own view of the investigation, which spanned nearly three years and ended in March 2019, calling it "one of the greatest travesties in American history." "Without any basis, they started this investigation of his [Trump's] campaign, and even more concerning, actually is what happened after the campaign," Barr said. "[There was] a whole pattern of events while he was president ... to sabotage the presidency ... or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency."

Barr's statements are going to have a lot of Deep State operatives calling their lawyers and sleeping poorly for many nights to come.

The second thing that should make Deep State actors sweat is that John Solomon reports that U.S. intelligence will un-redact footnotes in Michael Horowitz's December review about the FBI's FISA abuse:

The unredacted footnotes are expected to provide new data points in the timeline showing when the FBI learned, or should have suspected, that its key evidence suggesting Trump was colluding with Russia was erroneous and how high up those concerns were known, the sources said. The new information "will make clear the FBI possessed information at multiple levels that undercut the evidence it was using to sustain a collusion investigation" and will be specific enough to renew a debate in Washington over "whether the FBI intentionally ignored red flags or simply was blinded by ambition from seeing them clearly," one source with direct knowledge said. The evidence could also raise new questions about whether statements made to Congress during the Russia probe were false or misleading, and whether the intelligence community's official assessment that Vladimir Putin was solely trying to help elect Trump was contradicted by some evidence in FBI files, the sources said.

Lastly, another item related to Horowitz's report comes from Catherine Herridge, an investigative reporter at CBS. Herridge obtained a recording showing that, in October 2016, George Papadopoulos was emphatically denying that Trump had anything to do with hacking the DNC's email system, especially because doing so was illegal:

The transcript, in which Papadopulos is apparently given the code name "Crossfire Typhoon" or CT, at the end of the hours-long conversation, shows the confidential human source questioning him about the DNC hack: CHS: You don't think anyone from the Trump campaign had anything to do with the f------ over the, at the DNC? Papadopoulos: No CHS: Really? Papadopoulos: No. I know that for a fact. CHS: How do you know that for a fact? Papadopoulos: 'Cause I go, I've been working with them for the last nine months. That's (unintelligible) And all of this stuff has been happening, what, the last four months?

As soon as we're able to leave our homes and go shopping again, we need to stock up on the popcorn. Politically speaking, the next months should be fun.
(JNS)The carry-on about the dangerous spread of COVID-19 within the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community in Israel is understandable. While the rest of us are cooped up at home, with increasingly severe limitations on our freedom of movement, certain ultra-Orthodox towns and neighborhoods have been conducting business as usual.

Indeed, the contrast between Jerusalems Mea Shearim neighborhood and the city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv with the shuttered shops and empty playgrounds of cities from Metula to Eilat naturally causes rage on the part of a populace forced to comply with regulations aimed at flattening the curve of the coronavirus. Video footage from a funeral in Bnei Brak this past Saturday nightattended by masses of members of an extreme haredi sect all huddled together, yet not arrested by police foraignoring the two-meter-apart ruleelicited furious reactions from secular and religious Israelis alike.

For the past month, health officials have bemoaned the situation in the nations hospitals and warned that the exponential rise in infection, due to the incredibly contagious nature of the virus, would result in disaster. More specifically, it would lead to a situation in which the number of patients requiring ventilation outweighed the equipment. At such a point, doctors would face dilemmas about which people to put on respirators. It is imperativethe authorities tell us ad nauseamfor everyone to comply. No exceptions.

Finally, after daily persuasion and the threat of fines for violators, we began to get the message. Whether or not we thought that destroying the Israeli (and global) economy was a cure far worse than the diseasewith a sudden soaring unemployment rate and a virtual demolition of small businesseswe began to follow the directives.

We remain apart from family and friends. We stray only 100 meters (328 feet) from our buildings. We do not attend synagogue services, weddings or circumcisions with more than 10 people, a number that the government just lowered to two.

We are not able to visit loved ones in the hospital. When one dies, only a handful of us is at liberty to attend his or her funeral.

The conversations we hold by phone, Skype or Zoom always include a discussion of the latest draconian measure imposed on us to prevent the virus from becoming unmanageable. Arguments abound about the effectiveness of practically impossible quarantines, particularly in small apartments with multiple children and single bathrooms.

Social media, too, is rife with cynical comments about the futile and oppressive lockdown, with some skeptics going as far as to consider it arbitrary at best and a plot by politicians to exert power at worst.

The anti-haredi sentiment has reached fever pitch (no pun intended). If the kind of vitriol spewed at the ultra-Orthodox community as a whole had been uttered by non-Jews, it would have been considered anti-Semiticand rightly so.

The anger in Israel stems from two emotional impulses: blame and resentment. The current statistics show that more than half of all coronavirus patients and casualties are from haredi communities. We alternate between fearing that they are endangering our health, and fuming at the idea that the government in general and ultra-Orthodox Health Minister Yaakov Litzman in particular are treating them with unjustifiable lenience.

The truth is more complicated. Unlike the rest of us, who spend all day in front of cell-phone and TV screens, many haredim are off the information grid. So getting the message to them about COVID-19 has been more challenging.

This is slowly changing, with more rabbis issuing decrees to their congregants to obey the health directives. Even Litzman is now pushing to isolate Bnei Brak completely from its surroundings.

Whether the campaign to educate the haredi community to practice social distancing will work is questionable, as many live in cramped quarters with 10 or more children. Parents of two children are climbing the walls these days. Imagine what it must be like for those who have a dozen rug rats to keep occupied, not to mention fed, in the confines of small flats. All day, every day.

Turning against the haredim may be a national pastime, but in this case, we would do better to learn an important lesson from their lack of social distancing: that isolation is an effective policy. In other words, the haredim have served unwittingly as a control group in the experiment to combat the pandemic.

It is of little comfort to those whose lives are at risk, to be sure. But it should provide us with a degree of confidence that the disruption in our lives and livelihoods hasnt been for naught.

Ruthie Blum is an Israel-based journalist and author of To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the Arab Spring.
Police are appealing to find two Birmingham teenagers who have been missing for three days since driving off together.

Joss Camden and Koa Hawkes-Wagstaff, both 16, were last seen leaving Galton Road in Droitwich, Worcs., in a small red car at about 10am April 7.

Police believe the close friends, who are both white, could be in Birmingham.

Pictured: Koa Hawkes-Wagstaff, one of the two teenagers police are appealing to find

Joss is slim and about 5'11'' with short dark brown hair.

He was wearing a big black winter coat, black joggers and black trainers.

He was carrying a black 'manbag' with a BOSS emblem on it and was wearing a thick, silver chain necklace.

Koa has mousey brown/blonde hair, is about 5'9'' tall and was wearing a distinctive black and navy blue camouflage print puffa style jacket.

He was wearing black joggers, grey Nike trainers and was carrying a black and grey rucksack.

Pictured: Joss Camden, one of the two teenagers police are appealing to find

PC Chris Burgess said: 'We and the families of the boys are very worried for their welfare and would like to hear from anyone who has any information about their whereabouts.

'It is possible they are in Birmingham so we are sharing this appeal with our colleagues at West Midlands Police and with British Transport Police officers.

'We would also directly ask the boys to please get in touch, even if just with their families. You aren't in any trouble and your parents are very worried about you.'
With an aircraft carrier forced into port and staff at bases handling nuclear missiles hit by COVID-19, the US military wants rivals to understand: don't test us, we have not been weakened. Statement after statement from the Pentagon has sought to deliver that message amid questions this week over whether the US fighting force can maintain full readiness, with cases among service members now at 2,031. "We're still capable and we're still ready no matter what the threat," Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley said Thursday. "I wouldn't want any mixed messages going out there to any adversaries that they can take advantage of an opportunity, if you will, at a time of crisis," he added. "That would be a terrible and tragic mistake if they thought that." - 150 bases affected - Unlike rivals Russia, China and Iran, the US Defense Department has tried to be transparent about the outbreak, publishing daily totals of infections among its troops, civilian workers and families. Including civilian staff, military family members, and contractors, total Department of Defense infections were at 3,366 on Friday, with one death. Having initially given the location of cases, it now only offers broader totals, however, to avoid enemies knowing the points at which US forces might have been weakened. One is well-known: the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, forced to dock in Guam for an extended period because of an outbreak that has hit 416 of the 4,800 aboard. More than half the sailors have been evacuated while the entire crew is tested and the warship undergoes a thorough cleaning. On Thursday Newsweek published a map showing that coronavirus cases had appeared on 150 military bases, challenging the Pentagon's secrecy. Hans Kristensen, an expert on nuclear weapons at the Federation of American Scientists, says all but one US nuclear installation has been hit by the virus. - Social distancing on a submarine - US military strategy rests on demonstrating its ability to project power around the world at any time, so that no one dares attack. That's why the case of the Roosevelt, one of two US aircraft carriers in the western Pacific, has unsettled Pentagon leadership. When the ship's captain released a letter describing a dire outbreak aboard the vessel, it infuriated his commanders, who accused him of disclosing sensitive information related to Navy readiness. The captain was fired. But the Pentagon has been completely aware of the danger. In early March the military established a system of "bubbles," creating two separate operating teams for submarines and nuclear missile silos. Team members are quarantined for 14 days and then kept segregated so that if an infection hits one, the other team remains ready. "You can't get social distancing in a submarine or even in a tank. But you take prudent measures as best you can," said Defense Secretary Mark Esper. The readiness concerns continue. Coronavirus has surfaced in the crews of three other carriers, none on deployment: the Ronald Reagan, docked in Japan, and the Carl Vinson and Nimitz, both undergoing maintenance in Washington state. The infected sailors have been evacuated and have all recovered, according to the Navy. While also stressing that US force readiness has not diminished, Joint Chiefs vice chairman General john Hyten said Thursday the Navy was working hard to protect the entire fleet from shipboard COVID-19 outbreaks. "To think that it will never happen again is not a good way to plan," he said of the Roosevelt case. - Disinformation - Questions about US military readiness persist in part because of rumors and disinformation often coming from Russia, said Laura Cooper, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense. "We have seen a number of threads of information that are heating up about the readiness of the US military and others," Cooper, a Russia expert, told reporters. Milley said that 2,000 infected personnel out of a fighting force of 2.3 million was "not huge." "And I want to make sure everyone clearly understands that the readiness of the US military is still strong," he added. "We're still capable and we're still ready no matter what the threat."
PUP deputy leader Dr John Kyle has pleaded with the Department of Health to give loved ones personal protective equipment (PPE) to allow them to spend final moments with family members with Covid-19.

Dr Kyle, who recently came out of retirement to help in the fight against coronavirus, said a close family member should be trained in how to use PPE so they can spend the last few hours of a loved one's life caring for them.

"Saying goodbye to a parent or a spouse or a child, caring for them in the last few hours of their life, it is profoundly significant for any one of us," said Dr Kyle, speaking to the BBC's Newsline programme.

"In the course of our lives there are few things that are more important - so to have a blanket ban and say that nobody can be with their relative in the last few hours of their life needs to be looked at again," he said.

"Clearly there are practical challenges but the way it would work would be that one family member, a close family member, would be trained in how to put on and how to take off PPE and would spend the last few hours beside their loved one at the end of their life.

"To be able to say goodbye is really important," he said.

It comes as 10 further people were confirmed have died in Northern Ireland after contracting coronavirus on Friday.

It brings the total number of deaths across the region to 92 people.

In response, the Department of Health said that intensive care is not a safe place for members of the public.

A spokesperson said: "We need to protect very vulnerable patients and staff, we appreciate the distress this restriction causes. We will actively be promoting virtual visits through mobile devices."

It emerged on Friday that Stormont's health and finance departments are expected to place a 170m order for PPE on Tuesday.

The BBC's Nolan Show said funds have been set aside for a 60m deposit with a Chinese state firm, but leaked documents reveal concerns the goods may not be high enough quality.

Items on the order include 28.8 million facemasks, 12 million respirator masks and 28 million in both aprons and visors.

There are also concerns over the danger of being in competition with NI's main supply route via the UK government.

The funds being used to place the order were originally set aside for a failed order with Dublin but have now been allocated to a new supply route found by Northern Ireland officials in China.

At the Health Committee on Thursday, chief social worker Sean Holland said there were no concerns over the quality of current PPE stocks. There was more concern, he said, with the length of time medics were having to wear them.

The Department for Health said the order had not been confirmed.

In a statement it added: "It is entirely right for officials to scrutinise and test any such proposals, stressing the need for due diligence and emphasising that any procurement must be compatible with NHS four nations arrangements."

Meanwhile, a clinical lead in the Republic of Ireland has told a press conference on Sunday a Chinese batch of PPE was not suitable to be worn.

Northern Ireland had been expected to share in one of the most recent batches of PPE delivered in the Republic, before plans for a deal fell through.

Staff in Tallaght Hospital in Dublin were sent an email on Monday stating they were to wear surgical face masks around Covid-19 patients.

But Professor Michael Cormican, national clinical lead for Health Care Associated Infections, said the masks sent from China were "a defenceless barrier" against Covid-19, and as much use as a "paper towel".

"These are the poorest quality elasticated ear-loop facemasks," he said.

In a statement, a Tallaght Hospital spokesperson said: "The Dublin Midlands Hospital Group and Tallaght University Hospital take the safety and protection of staff very seriously and this includes ensuring goods supplied meet the necessary standards of the HSE, and as specified by the WHO.

"The supply of PPE is a national and international challenge. All hospitals... are working every day to ensure hospitals have adequate and quality approved supplies.

"Any staff member who has concerns with regard to PPE should raise it with their clinical director in the first instance."

A statement from the HSE said: "Many clinicians are understandably very concerned for their own safety and that of their patients, colleagues and family.

"Some believe that wearing gloves, masks and other protective equipment in all situations will make them and their patients safer.

"However, the key to protecting patients and staff from infection to the greatest degree possible is to follow the whole package of infection prevention precautions. The most important parts of this in all settings are hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette and regular cleaning.

"The recommendation that all staff should wear a surgical mask for all patient encounters and meetings between staff is not supported by current evidence and is not consistent with the current national guidance."
Gage County election officials are looking for poll workers after many have decided not participate in the May 12 primary election due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Election commissioner Dawn Hill said she typically has a total of 50 poll workers in Gage County. There are currently 23 signed up to work on election day.

We still will maintain the poll sites and I am short poll workers for many reasons, she said. People arent able to work, the most obvious reason would be the COVID-19 virus. Its all across the state, all of us are in the same boat of needing poll workers.

Poll workers are paid at least minimum wage and must be Gage County residents. Theres also an option for workers to donate their wages to an organization of their choice. Hill said there are also both Republican and Democrat workers at each site.

The state is providing masks and gloves for the poll workers, and the sites will be changed this year to allow more space between people.

Well do the best we can, and Im not sure how many people will show up at the polls, Hill said.

Voters who typically cast their ballot at the Villa at Flowing Springs will instead go to a poll site at the YMCA on account of the retirement facility closing its doors to the public.

Another change from past years is that people will not be allowed to vote in person at the clerks office in the courthouse, which is currently closed to the general public because of the pandemic.

Hill also expects that more ballots will be cast by mail because of the COVID-19 virus.

This is a lot higher mail ballots than what we normally have vote in a primary election, she said. Our applications have slowed down from what they were at first, but theyre still trickling in. People need to be aware that the option is still available. The last date we can accept those is May 1. If you are needing to do a party, address or name change, those are all things that need to be done by a voter registration and then you can request your early ballot after that.

Every voter in Gage County was previously sent an application to request an early ballot. As of Friday, 5,091 requests for early ballots were accepted and 742 ballots had been returned. There are more than 14,000 voters registered in Gage County.

As election day approaches, Hill said her office is working to ensure everyone stays safe while still having an opportunity to cast their votes.

Its a little different, but were working through it and continuing on with the things we need to do to get ready for the election, she said. Its definitely been a challenging situation here for all of us. With the pandemic you worry about your health and still want to do your job as best as you can.

Anyone interested in being a poll worker or who has questions about the election can contact the clerks office at 402-223-1300.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
New Delhi, April 10 : A study by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) indicates patients with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI), who contracted the coronavirus infection, did not have any travel or contact history. ICMR, an important body in the country's fight against the deadly coronavirus infection, concluded 39.2 per cent of COVID-19 cases did not report any history of contact with a known case or international travel.

The ICMR conducted surveillance among SARI patients, as it can help identify the spread and extent of transmission of coronavirus. SARI surveillance was initiated in the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in India. The study was also to check the possibility of community transmission of the viral infection.

The study involved examining SARI patients admitted at 41 sentinel sites from February 15 onwards were tested for COVID-19 by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Most patients in India have acquired the viral infection from their travels to foreign countries having reported positive coronavirus cases, or establishing contact with somebody who has traveled to these countries. The stage of community transmission is arrived when it is not possible to trace the origin of the viral infection and there is an exponential rise in the number of positive cases.

The median age of COVID-19 positive SARI patients was 54 year (interquartile range: 44-63), and 85 (83.3 per cent) were males; 83 (81.4 per cent) of the affected patients were more than 40 years of age. Positivity was higher in males (2.3 per cent) and in 50-70 years of age group (4.4 per cent), said the study.

"COVID-19 positivity among SARI patients increased from 0 per cent before March 14, to 2.6 per cent by April 2. In 15 states, more than one per cent of SARI patients were COVID-19 positive. About a third of COVID-19 positive, SARI cases did not have any history of contact with laboratory-confirmed case or international travel, and such cases were reported from 36 Indian districts in 15 states. These districts need to be prioritized to target COVID-19 containment activities", said the study.

Maharashtra reported the highest 21 SARI patients who tested positive for COVID-19. Delhi had 14 cases followed by Gujarat with 13 cases. ICMR has said the data involved in the study is not representative of the entire district or state.

In the study, a total of 5,911 SARI patients were tested for COVID-19. Of these, 104 (1.8 per cent) were tested positive. Among the 965 SARI patient samples that were tested retrospectively between February 15-29 and March 19, two (0.2 per cent) were positive for COVID-19. When the COVID testing strategy was expanded to include all SARI patients, a total of 4946 samples yielded 102 (2.1 per cent) cases. The positivity increased from zero during the initial weeks to 2.6 per cent in the 14th week.

According to the study, in the 12th week, 2 out of 106 SARI patients were found positive for COVID-19. The steep rise came in the 13th week, where the number of positive cases jumped to 48 out of 2877 SARI patients. Between March 29 and April 2, 54 tested positive out of 2,069 SARI patients.

"Of the 102 COVID-19 positive SARI patients, 40 (39.2 per cent) did not report any history of contact or international travel, two (2.0 per cent) reported contact with a confirmed case and one (1.0 per cent) reported recent history of international travel. Data on exposure history were not available for 59 (57.8 per cent) cases", said the study.

The study concluded that COVID-19 containment activities need to be targeted in districts reporting COVID-19 cases among SARI patients." Intensifying sentinel surveillance for COVID-19 among SARI patients may be an efficient tool to effectively use resources towards containment and mitigation efforts, said the study.

(Sumit Saxena can be contacted at sumit.s@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, over 20 thousand foreign nationals have been evacuated to different parts of the world on the request of various governments as of April 9, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

"So far, we have successfully evacuated 20,473 foreign nationals as of yesterday. This involves several countries and this is an ongoing process. We are receiving excellent cooperation. It is due to government efforts and all departments along with MHA and State governments are working very hard for it," said Dammu Ravi, AS and Coordinator [COVID-19], MEA, on Friday during the daily media briefing.

When asked about Indians in foreign countries, Ravi said: "We need to assess this situation and then the government will make a decision on how we manage the return of Indians."

"But, our Ambassadors, High Commissioners in all these countries are in regular touch with Indians abroad. They are being guided. There are helplines, and all support is being given to them. The MEA has also set up a COVID control room, where helplines are active," he added.

Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Lav Agrawal, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), were also present at the press briefing.

Ravi further said that a Group of Ministers (GoM) had approved the release of the in-demand hydroxychloroquine drug to other countries, after taking into view the domestic necessities and buffer stock.

"A lot of requests on hydroxychloroquine were already there. Several countries have made requests for this particular item and taking into view the domestic necessities, requirements, the domestic stock availability and keeping a sufficient buffer for our own requirement, a decision was taken by the Group of Ministers to release some of the surplus medicine for export purposes," he said.

He added that the first list of the countries have been approved and the products have started to be dispatched. "The domestic necessity and requirement will always be a priority for the government," he assured.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Description

GIS  10 April, 2020: The lockdown is being extended to Monday 04 May 2020, to further contain the spread of the Covid-19 in the country, announced the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, this evening, during a videoconference from his residence in Vacoas

The extension of the lockdown, a decision taken today at the Cabinet meeting, is in line with Governments commitment to ensure the safety of the population.

As at date, Mauritius has reached a total of 318 Covid-19 cases, and recorded the recovery of 23 patients. The country has also registered two more deaths, today, bringing the total number of deaths to nine.

Prime Minister Jugnauth pointed out that Mauritius is under lockdown for the past 23 days with the closure of schools and halt of most economic activities. With regard to Rodrigues and Agalega, the lockdown will end on 15 April 2020, barring the education sector.

He lauded the contribution of stakeholders of the private sector who have contributed to the Solidarity Fund. Moreover, with regard to the provision made for protective equipment, he welcomed the assistance being provided by the private sector in the production of masks and protective equipment. He also indicated that flights from China are expected tonight with some two million masks and 100 000 protective visors.

The Prime Minister commended the contribution and sacrifice of all frontliners including the Police Force and the healthcare personnel for their concerted effort in the combat against Covid-19. He called for continued vigilance and discipline from every Mauritian in this difficult moment.

Government, he added, is already working on a recovery plan that will help to reopen the economy while ensuring the safety of the population.

As for the spokesperson of the National Communication Committee on Covid-19, Dr Zouberr Joomaye, who also videoconferenced from his residence, stated that the extension of the lockdown will further contribute to limit the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

It is to be noted that the Prime Minister and other high officials of the National Communication Committee on Covid-19 have self-isolated since last night. This decision was taken after the secretary of the Minister of Health and Wellness was tested positive of Covid-19. A first testing was carried out and came up negative but self-isolation will end only after a second testing due next week.

#ResOuLakaz #BeSafeMoris
As part of its efforts to ramp up the testing capacity, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved the use of diagnostic machines used for testing drug-resistant tuberculosisfor conducting coronavirus tests.

The ICMR has validated 'TruenatTM beta CoV test on TruelabTM workstation' and has recommended it as a screening test,the apex health research body said on Friday.

Issuing a guidance on the use of Truenat beta CoV, the ICMR said throat/nasal swabs will be collected in the viral transport medium (VTM) with virus lysis buffer provided along with the kit.

"Earlier studies have shown that virus lysis buffer neutralizes Nipah and H1N1 viruses. The results of stability of viral RNA after neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by virus lysis buffer are awaited from ICMR-NIV, Pune.

"Till such time, Truenat beta CoV test should only be performed with all biosafety precautions in BSL-2 or BSL-3 setups at laboratories," it said.

Therevised guidelines will be issued once the results from ICMR-NIV, Pune are available, it said.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 199 and the number of cases climbed to 6,412 in the country on Friday, according to the Union Health Ministry.

However, a PTI tally of figures reported by various states as on Thursdayshowed at least 6640 cases and 227 deaths.

There has been a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, compared to the number of cases announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Minimum CRS score drops to 464 in second Express Entry draw in one day

Minimum CRS score drops to 464 in second Express Entry draw in one day 3,294 Canadian Experience Class candidates invited to apply for permanent residence on April 9

Minimum CRS score drops to 464 in second Express Entry draw in one day 3,294 Canadian Experience Class candidates invited to apply for permanent residence on April 9

Minimum CRS score drops to 464 in second Express Entry draw in one day 3,294 Canadian Experience Class candidates invited to apply for permanent residence on April 9 Alexandra Miekus Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

Sans Font Size A

A

A second Express Entry draw took place on Thursday, April 9, where a total of 3,294 invitations to apply for Canadian permanent residence were issued to Canadian Experience Class candidates with ranking scores of 464 and above.



This rare second draw within the same day saw the lowest minimum CRS score requirement since October 2019.

Todays draw was the fourth consecutive program-specific Express Entry draw and the second one in less than a month to specifically target candidates in the Canadian Experience Class, which is open to foreign nationals with at least one year of work experience in Canada, among other criteria.

Earlier today, Canada also invited 606 Express Entry Provincial nominee program candidates to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

The Express Entry system is Canadas main source of skilled foreign workers. Eligible candidates enter the Express Entry pool and are issued a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score based on their age, education, skilled work experience and proficiency in English or French, among other factors. The highest-ranked candidates are issued Invitations to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence during regular draws from the pool.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) applied a tie break rule in todays draw; candidates had to have submitted their profiles before January 4, 2020, at 12:16:45 UTC. This means that all candidates with CRS scores above 464, as well as those with scores of 464 who entered their profile in the Express Entry pool before this date and time, received an ITA.

The 3,294 ITAs issued in todays draw have brought the total number of invitations issued in 2020 to 26,500.

IRCC is continuing to hold regularly scheduled Express Entry rounds of invitations despite the fact that special measures have been put in place to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.



Canada welcomed 341,000 newcomers in 2019. It is targeting the admissions of 341,000 immigrants in 2020, an additional 351,000 in 2021, and another 361,000 in 2022.

Find out if you are eligible for any Canadian immigration programs

 2020 CIC News All Rights Reserved
On behalf of the staff and board of Horse Racing Alberta, HRA has announced that it would like to extend its deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Mara Coote-Freeman, who passed away on Wednesday, April 8 and will be missed greatly.

Horse Racing Alberta has lost a great friend and a strong supporter. Mara was a keen horsewoman, and she was an integral part of the Olds College racetrack programs. As an instructor and mentor, she helped guide many of graduates through the exercise rider program. Maras commitment to the students lasted beyond their time at the Olds College. Mara attended graduations, award ceremonies and was part of the development of the International Federation of Horse Racing Academies (IFHRA). Through her role with IFHRA, she was able to cheer on graduates in races in Abu Dhabi, Italy, and Spain.

Mara was appointed to the Horse Racing Alberta Board in 2018 as a Public Member and was Chair of the Strategic Growth & Sustainable Development Committee. Mara was devoted to her role and showed incredible passion and strength. She was full of ideas and energy and wanted the best for all of the people and horses in our sport. Mara was an advocate for lifelong learning, safety, and horse welfare. She was also a fountain of marketing suggestions and was committed to the formation of the industry Marketing Committee.

We will miss Maras strength, her deep chuckle, her wit and her creativity. We will also miss her commitment to racing in Alberta. Our thoughts are with her husband, Barry, her family, her horse family and her many friends.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Mara Coote-Freeman.

(HRA)
DUBLIN, April 9 (Reuters) - The total confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ireland rose by 500 to 6,574 on Thursday, the highest daily total so far, although health officials said a stabilisation in the numbers admitted to intensive care units was encouraging.

There has also been a day-on-day reduction in the growth rate, averaged out over the preceding five days, to 9% from 15% a week ago, Professor Philip Nolan, chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group said.

"The growth in cases is slowing down but frankly that number needs to be zero in order to have controlled or suppressed this epidemic," Nolan told a news conference, as the death toll from the virus rose to 263 from 235 a day earlier. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin Editing by Chris Reese)
A former Painesville man found guilty on multiple counts of rape and sexual battery is being sued by his victim.

Terry Rohn, 54, was found guilty by a Lake County jury in November and then was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison. The terms are to run consecutively for a total of 37 years to life imprisonment.

The now-adult victims lawsuit filed in Lake County Common Pleas Court alleges that Rohn caused her irreparable harm and pain. She is seeking an excess of $25,000 from Rohn.

The suit filed by the Charles Boyk Law Firm on behalf of Jordan Timely alleges that Rohn was the best friend of the victims father and moved into his home when she was 10 years old. Shortly afterward, he began sexually abusing her. The firm alleges the abuse continued after Rohn moved out of the home and into an apartment in Painesville.

He would frequently coerce and manipulate Ms. Timely to get her alone in his apartment and would engage in non-consensual sexual acts with the plaintiff, approximately from the ages of 10 to 16, the firm stated in a news release.

The lawsuit alleges the then minor victim suffered severe physical, emotional and psychological injuries of a permanent and lasting nature. The suit asks that Rohn be ordered to pay compensatory and punitive damages to the victim.

Rohn was indicted in May 2019.

As a young girl, my client suffered extreme abuse at the hands of a trusted family friend, Boyk said in a statement. For years she was a victim of sexual abuse which has caused her years of immeasurable pain and suffering. This traumatized young girl grew into a brave young woman and now wants to speak out against her perpetrator and the adults that failed her.

The case has been assigned to Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Pat Condon.

Rohn, an inmate at the Lorain Correctional Institution, is appealing his sentence, according to Lake County Common Pleas Court records. The deadline to file his appellate brief is April 16.
EAU CLAIRE  Chippewa Valley Technical Colleges Fire Safety Center will become the focus of efforts to decontaminate emergency response vehicles should the COVID-19 pandemic reach levels that overwhelm current resources.

Use of the facility is one of the ways that CVTC is offering its support in the local response to the outbreak.

Kim Nessell, retired Eau Claire fire chief and former CVTC instructor, said emergency services already have places and procedures for decontaminating vehicles from contagions and hazardous substances when needed.

However, if the outbreak becomes severe enough, those normal procedures may not be adequate to bring the vehicles back into service as quickly as they are needed.

Eau Claire is a huge regional medical center, and we have a large number of emergency vehicles coming here from all over the area. In a severe outbreak, they would also need to be decontaminated quickly, said Nessel, who is working with the Eau Claire City-County Health Department on response to the virus.

Three lanes have been set up as stations for vehicle decontamination at the Fire Safety Center at CVTCs West Campus.

Primarily the decon areas are set up outside of the building, but the center lane has been designed so that if because of severe weather they cant decon outside, they can go inside the burn room, Nessell said.

Nessell managed the Fire Safety Center for CVTC when it opened and is familiar with the controlled environment inside. He added that a personal shower site is available at the facility for emergency service workers.

CVTC is an ideal location for an emergency decontamination site, Nessell said.

Because CVTC provides hazardous-materials training for a wide area, there are a lot of resources there that can be deployed and replaced later. It would take three times as long to set up a similar decon site if it didnt have CVTCs readily-available supplies.

Other CVTC resources are also available to be deployed when needed.

The Eau Claire County COVID-19 Response Team asked if they could borrow squad cars and ambulances for transport of COVID-19 patients to isolation facilities, said Eric Anderson, associate dean of emergency services. The Criminal Justice-Law Enforcement program has donated the use of four Ford Explorers and the Emergency Medical Services program has donated the use of its ambulances.

As previously reported, CVTC has already donated personal protection equipment, ventilators and other equipment from its health and emergency services programs. We inventoried all FireMedic and Emergency Medical Services supplies, including non-disposable equipment and disposable PPE, said Mark Schwartz, emergency services continuing education coordinator. Our disposable PPE, like masks and gloves, were divided up for our 11-county area.

In addition, CVTC has now made available equipment such as portable radios, self-contained breathing apparatus, thermal-imaging cameras, a HazMat trailer, generators, level A training suits, oxygen tanks and cardiac monitors.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Industrialist Anand Mahindra has set another inspiring example when it comes to the ways one can help struggling farmers and business amid the coronavirus lockdown.

The lockdown has been extremely challenging for all of us and more so for farmers. Thousands of farmers are struggling stay afloat during the lockdown and the Mahindra Group chairman is doing his bit to help them.



One of his recent moves has been to help struggling banana farmers sell their produce. To achieve this, the plates in all his factories have now reportedly been replaced by banana leaves.

Twitter

The initiative came along after an email from retired journalist Padma Ramnath, who suggested this could help these farmers.



A retired journalist, Padma Ramnath mailed me out of the blue & suggested that if our canteens used banana leaves as plates, it would help struggling banana farmers who were having trouble selling their produce. Our proactive factory teams acted instantly on the idea...Thank you! pic.twitter.com/ouUx7xfMdK  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 9, 2020

Mr Mahindra shared a couple of images with the caption, "A retired journalist, Padma Ramnath mailed me out of the blue & suggested that if our canteens used banana leaves as plates, it would help struggling banana farmers who were having trouble selling their produce. Our proactive factory teams acted instantly on the idea...Thank you!"

Here's what people had to say:

#1

An idea coupled with action makes it worthwhile. M&M never ceases fascinating, during these dreadful days what your company is doing, you guys are winning the heart of the Nation.   Jaya Khare (@jaya2004khare) April 9, 2020

#2

I havent seen too many philanthropist businessmen . Good to have people like you in our nation.  Alok gupta (@alokg2k) April 9, 2020

#3

Another of our Indian tradition that is still prevalent in South India ..Not only are you helping the farmers ,Sir ...but you are also helping those who are served food on banana leaf..It is very healthy https://t.co/2lCy8hmLBO pic.twitter.com/IiJznVBKyN  radha raju (@radharaju18) April 9, 2020

#4

Benefits

1. Safe (Single Use)

2. Eco-Friendly

3. Fertilizer: Can be converted to manure.

4. Income for Farmers

5. Zero Maintenance.  Rajan (@absrajan) April 10, 2020

#5

Banana leaves is the best for eating. It helps the farmers, it is very hygienic, it is very good for health if you eat in that leaves. Especially Tamilnadu people prefer this for plates.   Natrajan  (@natrajan22) April 9, 2020

#6

You should also realise that its a one time use disposable item that can in turn become food of the cattle...and the food chain continues....Bharathiya for a reason and for all season  IndianDa (@jkgche) April 9, 2020

#7

There can be many use of banana leaves. And will be help to economically for for formers. It can be used as plastic plates in some places. pic.twitter.com/uXcfTue79r  Artist Diwakar (@dk5767) April 9, 2020





Small businesses are perishing, and many are struggling to make ends meet. Hundreds of thousands of cash-starved small businesses in India have either deferred or cut their workers' wages.



According to Reuters, All India Manufacturers Organisation (AIMO), an industry body representing some 1,00,000 small manufacturers, said more than two-thirds of its members faced problems in paying salaries on Tuesday, the usual day for paying monthly wages.



"We have no funds to pay wages," said K.E. Raghunathan, former national president of AIMO, who runs a solar parts' manufacturing unit in Chennai.

The nationwide lockdown, set to end April 14, has left millions of migrant workers stranded without any other source of income. And officials have warned that some states may extend the lockdowns as coronavirus cases rise.


Days after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, the mayor of Gretna, a neighboring town, deployed police officers to physically block their mostly African-American neighbors from crossing a bridge to escape the dire conditions in the city, actions that were widely condemned as immoral and racially motivated. Connecticut cannot afford such callousness and disregard for human decency in the current pandemic.

But one town, West Haven, tried to take a page from that same playbook. Relying on stereotypes that people who are homeless are dangerous, city officials there attempted to use their police force to stop an effort that provides safe and secure housing for their neighbors currently living in dormitory-style New Haven shelters.

Initially, West Haven upended the deal by requiring a hotel pay nearly $5,000 a day to have two uniformed police and a patrol car stationed at the hotel around the clock. It is only because of scrutiny in the press and the persistent efforts of the state of Connecticut and other advocates that this ploy did not succeed. That West Haven attempted to use its police power to create a financial barrier rather than a physical one makes it no less outrageous or real.

Such actions are illegal. This is because state and federal civil rights laws prohibit discrimination based on race, national origin and disability. These laws prohibit imposing different terms and conditions to discourage or prevent people from living where they want based on stereotypes about them. People living in homeless shelters in New Haven often are, or are perceived to be, people with disabilities as well as disproportionately racial and ethnic groups who have long experienced hostility and discrimination. These are not lawful reasons to require a constant police presence where they live - something the town has never previously required of any hotel.

In Connecticut, an already highly segregated state, it is all too easy to depersonalize people perceived as outsiders who are more likely to be African American, black or Latino or individuals with disabilities. That makes West Havens demands all the more outrageous because its own consolidated housing plan relies on New Haven shelters to address homelessness within its own borders. Yet in a time of need, the town tried to avoid fulfilling their obligation to reciprocate.

In the interest of public health, shelters across the state are moving residents to hotels during the pandemic. Gov. Ned Lamont has strongly supported these actions. To our knowledge, no other municipality has attempted to derail these efforts under the guise of public safety, let alone at such an exorbitant cost. Our state cannot afford the cost of a discriminatory agenda like this during a public health crisis.

In the current emergency it is vitally important to keep people housed and not give into fear. We have heard that Asian-Americans are experiencing discrimination because people believe they are carrying the virus. At the same time, people who are low income or disabled are demonized as taking advantage of the COVID-19 crisis to stop paying rent. In fact, everyone is making sacrifices for the common good. We should honor those sacrifices by taking care of everyone. If you are told to leave your housing or harassed because of your race, national origin, disability or any other protected basis, call the Connecticut Fair Housing Center at 888-247-4401 or send an email to info@ctfairhousing.org

Fionnuala Darby-Hudgens is director of operations for the Connecticut Fair Housing Center.
Bernie Sanders

10.04.2020 LISTEN

Champagne corks will be popping in the Trump Empire, for good reason. Whatever happens come November, the exit of Senator Bernie Sanders from the US presidential race will be a relief. The fractured republic can be reassured that the Democrats have not moved on, stuck, as it were, in the glades of vengeful melancholia and supposedly safe bets. Divisions will not be healed; suspicions will continue to foster. A bitter society, ravished by pandemic, will cast an eye to incumbency.

On Wednesday, Sanders delivered the news to his supporters. If I believed we had a feasible path to the nomination, I would certainly continue. The decision to end his campaign had been very difficult and painful but it had transformed American consciousness as to what kind of nation we can become and have taken this country a major step in the never-ending struggle for economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice. It was the appeal to ideas that mattered, and the continuation of the movement he had inspired.

With each Democratic candidate being culled from the initial smorgasbord, and the machinery of the Democratic National Committee doing its usual bit of mischief, the chances for Sanders netting the nomination were always slim. He started well in New Hampshire; roared to victory in Nevada. Then came defeat in South Carolina, where the black vote eluded him. Joe Bidens victories on Super Tuesday in 10 of 14 states was crushing. A week after, and failing to convince Michigan Democrats, he had a sobering admission to make. While he consistently did well in claiming the votes of the young and making inroads among Latinos, he was losing the debate over electability. The restrictions placed on the campaign by COVID-19 sealed matters.

The honours for the Democratic presidential nomination, however that will be finalised, fall to Joe Biden, who has distinguished himself in crisis by largely absenting himself. The enfeebled Biden is already weighed down by a resume thickened by allegations of wandering hands (dismissed by Biden supporters as politically motivated or pro-Putin), patchy choices on matters touching on race and foreign policy, and an evident slide into cognitive decline. The campaign strategy, one seriously chewed over since mid-last year, is simple: manufactured silence and minimised presence. Doing so minimises room for imbecilic error and any needless expenditure of energy. So far, and with stunning effect, it has worked, aided by that trusty steed, circumstance.

As the likely opponent to Donald Trump, a certain degree of presidential air, faux or otherwise, might have been conveyed. But that would have made him more vulnerable than he already is. Exposure for Biden could be electoral death. Even with his barely visible electoral footprint, he did not disappoint. He held a delayed press conference on March 12, when COVID-19 had started to bite as a crisis. A virtual town hall was staged the next day, one plagued by technical difficulties and a rather loose reading of history. Towards the end of the muddle, a caller asked Biden where he stood on the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and whether he would support legislation prohibiting hunting sports. Affirmative to both, responded Biden.

But that was not all. Brandishing pinched green credentials, he claimed sponsorship for the Endangered Species Act, one of his first acts as US Senator. Unfortunately for him, the Congressional record shows that Senator Harrison Williams (D-NJ) was the sponsor, with the Delaware co-sponsor being Republican Senator William Roth. It was yet another Hillary Clinton I misspoke moment, though in all fairness, Biden has outdone her in those stakes.

As the health crisis began to escalate  lockdowns, death tolls, social distancing directives all featuring  Bidens campaign, through such advisors as Symone D. Sanders, encouraged voters to vote in person, pouring water on any health concerns. Such instances of congregation provided rich wells of infection. The former Vice-President then disappeared, though always claiming a degree of desperation to be in daily or at least, you know, significant contact with the American people and communicate what I should be doing. Which has been, for campaign directors, mercifully little.

Invitations have been made to Sanders supporters from across the political spectrum. Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins wasted little time. I invite his supporters to join my campaign to continue to fight for socialist solutions through the Nov election & beyond. This will bring the usual uproar from jaded Democrats that a vote for the Greens or any third party candidate is a vote for Trump.

Trump did not waste much time either in the courtship ritual, thanking Senator Elizabeth Warren for her putative sabotage of Sanders on Super Tuesday. This ended just like the Democrats and the DNC wanted somewhat similar, he argued, to the Crooked Hillary Fiasco. The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party.

Biden, just as with Hillary Clinton in 2016, is doing his own bit to woo the Sanders voters. As with Clinton, the effort seems much of an afterthought, a meek attempt to consolidate a fractured group. On Thursday, he put out a plan to ease the economic burden on working people by lowering the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60 and implement student debt forgiveness schemes for low-income and middle class families. Such mild overtures actually convinced a few, such as Economic Policy Institute director of research Josh Bivens, that the Sanders effect was authentic enough.

Progressive groups, notionally aligned with the youth bloc that backed Sanders are also attempting to make their voices felt in the Biden universe. A letter to the presidential hopeful signed by an array of such organisations as the Alliance for Youth Action, Student Action and the Sunrise Movement, to name but a few, is filled with progressive hope. One was wishing Biden to promise to appoint zero current or former Wall Street executives or corporate lobbyists, or people affiliated with the fossil fuel, health insurance or private prison corporations, to your transition team, advisor roles, or cabinet. A quaintly naive sentiment.

In another 2016-redux moment, the departure of Sanders leaves his followers talking about a movement beyond the man. Feel the Bern was more than just an emotional binge, cresting on a body of ideas packed with social justice and equality. Its common now to say the Sanders campaign failed, observed Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now Radio. I think thats a mistake. I think it was an extraordinary success, completely shifting the arena of debate and discussion. True, to a point. But as with 2016, that discussion is something that has passed the Establishment fogeys by. In the end, as Andrew Marantz penned in the New Yorker, he did change the culture of America, but not quickly enough.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected]
Saudi Arabia has extended the deadline for receiving requests from Saudi citizens wishing to return from abroad to the Kingdom through the approved online platform until 5pm local time on April 14, a Saudi Press Agency (SPA) report said.



Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that this extension comes within the framework of the leaderships concern for the citizens abroad.



He added that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all parties involved in implementing the program for the return of citizens abroad continue to work around the clock to make the return of citizens safe and to facilitate procedures in light of the exceptional circumstances experienced by most countries of the world.


According to Serhiy Kyslytsia, Russia shows blatant disregard for the provisions of the UN Security Council

Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Serhiy Kyslytsia stated about Russia's attempt to use the UN site in order to obstruct justice over downed flight MH17. He did this in an exclusive commentary to Ukrinform upon the UN Security Council meeting.

"On Wednesday, Russia initiated the discussion at the UN Security Council on the international investigation into MH17 crash. We could imagine for a moment that Moscow finally decided to inform the Security Council of its willingness to cooperate with the investigation, as required by the Resolution 2166 adopted in 2014. But no miracle happened," he said.

Nevertheless, Kyslytsia expressed his firm conviction that Russia would not manage to evade responsibility for the crash.

"This fact, by the way, was clearly underscored today by Belgium speaking on behalf of other Joint Investigation Team members  the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia and Ukraine  and other Security Council members," Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN added.

As we reported earlier, lawyer Jerry Skinner filed the lawsuit against Russia and its President Vladimir Putin on behalf of 40 families of the relatives of the victims of the MH17 crash to the European Court of Human Rights.
The world's largest oil producers on Thursday (April 9) agreed to make historic cuts to production, slashing output by more than a fifth amid a worldwide lockdown that has hammered prices.

Fuel demand has been cut by around 30% with aircraft grounded, vehicle usage down and economic activity subdued.

Meeting by video conference, OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+. agreed to slash output by 10 million barrels per day - about 10 percent of global supplies - and another 5 million from other nations.

But even with the record cuts, analysts say it may not be enough to offset the heavy build up in supply due to falling demand.

Talks were complicated by friction between OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Russia.

But sources on both sides said the oil powerhouses had overcome differences amid the deepest oil market crisis in decades.

Now, attention turns toward a virtual Friday meeting among G20 energy ministers that other key oil producers - such as the U.S. and Canada - are scheduled to attend.
A few weeks ago, the experts were urging that Australia emulate Singapore, Taiwan or South Korea with their dramatic restrictions. The situation has been transformed. Loading "At the moment," the patron of the Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne tells me, "we are right in the front rank, with New Zealand. It's pretty impressive. In some ways, that makes it even more difficult  how the hell do we ever get out of it? That's the bigger question." This is a problem, but it is a problem of success. It could be worse. Look around the world. Doherty literally wrote the book on plagues - Pandemics: What Everyone Needs to Know. But the last chapter is titled "Protecting Humanity from and during Pandemics". There is no chapter on "How to Exit a Pandemic". He has a couple of ideas.

But it's really a problem for the politicians: "I'm glad we're just a lab. We don't make policy. Our politicians have done somewhat better than I'd expected," he acknowledges, with just the faintest air of surprise at his own conclusion. "I guess it was a chance for rehabilitation for Scott Morrison" after his bushfire bungling. "I think he's broadly done the right thing. He listened to what people said and came up with reasonable compromises." Credit where it's due. It's a Morrison motif to be slow and reluctant to act on emerging crises, hoping they will somehow pass him by. But when he did engage on the corona crisis, he mobilised Australia effectively. Has it been perfect? No. But no country has a perfect record in responding to a virulent new plague. Even countries that were held up as models; Singapore is fighting off a secondary flare-up right now, for instance. Loading And China, of course, is a self-parody of authoritarian impulses  vengeful censorship followed by crushing repression followed by gushing self-congratulation. But it worked, didn't it? Wuhan has been opened up, just this week, after successfully eradicating the virus, we're told. I'd just point out that China's seat of government doesn't believe it  the city of Beijing is allowing entry of a maximum of 1000 people from Wuhan per day, and only after they've been tested for the virus within the seven days preceding entry. If the Chinese capital doesn't believe its own propaganda, why should anyone else?

And Australia's one-time models, Britain and America, have performed dreadfully. The defining difference? Where Boris Johnson and Donald Trump continued to behave as if the pandemic were merely a new vehicle for old politics, Morrison has set politics aside. To his very great credit. "There are no blue teams or red teams" he said last week. "There are no more unions or bosses. There are just Australians now, that's all that matters." Loading And, by and large, he has acted accordingly. It was entirely his initiative to propose bringing the state and territory leaders together to form a so-called national cabinet, an unprecedented act of national co-ordination embracing governments Labor and Liberal. The Prime Minister hasn't sought to dominate. The two biggest states, NSW and Victoria, pushed him hard to impose more controls on people's movements and he yielded to their demands. And he's accommodated different leaders and their own state priorities, while creating the opportunity for uniformity wherever possible. Some of the smaller states have closed their borders to the rest of the country, while NSW and Victoria have not, for instance. Yet the 1.5 metre social-distancing rule is observed everywhere.

Morrison chose not to include federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese in the national cabinet. And it's fair enough to restrict it to leaders of executive governments only. But Morrison has been prepared to consult the federal Labor leader on some of the big measures that needed to go through the Parliament. This has led to some intelligent improvements, and could have led to more. Labor pushed for weeks for the government to offer the wage subsidy that it eventually passed this week, for example. And, again to his credit, Morrison agreed to a Labor proposal for a new scrutiny mechanism. Because Parliament has been suspended till August, Labor wanted a special Senate select committee to examine the government's epidemic responses. That committee was created this week. It will meet virtually while Parliament does not. The government will have a minority on the committee. It is to be chaired by Labor's Katy Gallagher. Loading Politics has not been cancelled. It continues, but it is now conducted civilly, co-operatively and with low intensity. For instance, Labor continues to propose that the government extend its wage subsidy to more casual workers. It's just that, when Morrison refused, Labor didn't try to block the bill in the Senate. Politics continues, but with the emphasis on problem-solving rather than posturing. The noisy parlour games that so nauseated most voters for the past decade have been cancelled due to COVID-19. Morrison's example of unifying leadership and the urgent, new emphasis on problem solving has allowed tremendous progress in record time. Just a few examples.

The unions and employers co-operated in rewriting the nation's industrial awards to increase flexibility. The private hospitals agreed to be included in the national pandemic response. The banks agreed to defer mortgage repayments for troubled borrowers. Manufacturing firms led by ResMed stepped forward to refashion production lines to make ventilators as a matter of urgency. The federal government agreed to make childcare free and subsidise the wages of some 6 million workers by $1500 a fortnight. Most importantly, the overwhelming majority of the Australian people has responded to the crisis by accepting harsh, temporary limits to our freedoms. Would the people have surrendered rights and freedoms so readily if we'd seen our political leaders locked in their customary combat and petty vanities? I very much doubt it. The appearance and reality of national unity and urgent purpose has been important. Leaders leading  who knew it could be done? Loading One very real result: "Walk down our hospital wards and walk down the hospital wards of other countries and see the difference," says the president of the Australian Medical Association and GP Tony Bartone. "We have enormous idle capacity, overcapacity of ICU beds, ventilator beds, waiting and ready for a potential tide of COVID patients. That's a sign that we are ready," he tells me.

"We aren't out of the woods yet, but we are ready, and compare that to the unfortunate situation elsewhere in the world." On Friday, 79 people in Australia were hospitalised in ICU beds and 38 were on ventilators. At the outset of the crisis, Australia had 2200 ventilator ICU beds. That's now doubled, according to Health Minister Greg Hunt, and on Thursday the Morrison government announced a $31 million contract for the local manufacture of another 2000 ventilators by July. Morrison has looked ahead, too. By creating the National COVID-19 Co-ordination Committee under the chairmanship of former Fortescue Minerals chief Nev Power, Morrison has created a mechanism to bring the public and private sectors together to preserve jobs and maximise economic activity during the crisis, and to consider the needs of the country afterwards. The crisis has exposed Australia's economic vulnerabilities, including its missing manufacturing capabilities. The former head of Dow Chemical, Andrew Liveris, a one-time Australian who's to work with the committee, told the Financial Review this week: "Australia drank the free-trade juice and decided that off-shoring was OK. Well, that era is gone."
Telugu TV serial actress Shanti found dead at her residence at Yellareddyguda's Engineers Colony in Hyderabad. Also known as Viswashanthi in her circle, the actress took her last breath on Thursday.

SR Nagar Police Station has registered a case as her death happened under 'suspicious circumstances' and started an investigation. Reportedly, the cops were informed about Shanti's death by her neighbours. After reaching the spot, they found her body lying partly on the floor and the bed.

Based on the preliminary investigation, a police official, in a statement, said that the 32-year-old TV actress might have accidentally fallen in a drunken state. The official further stated that only postmortem would reveal the exact reason of the death.

The police have seized Shanti's mobile phone and searched for clues at her house. A case under Section 174 of CrPC was registered by the cops. After sending the body for autopsy, the cops also lookedinto CCTV footages for any suspicious movements of any person near her residence. The actress' neighbours have also been questioned for more clues.

Also Read : Rajiv Kanakala's Sister Srilakshmi Kanakala Passes Away Due To Cancer

The police official revealed that Shanti's family members, who stay in Visakhapatnam, have been informed. On a related note, Shanti has worked in several TV serials, and her sudden demise has indeed shocked the Telugu TV industry.
The Aurangabad bench of the



Bombay High Court said while the government machinery is expected to take effective measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens are also expected to remind themselves of their fundamental duties.

Justice P B Varale on Wednesday was hearing a suo moto (on its own) petition on the difficulties faced by migrant workers, daily wagers and health workers amid the pandemic.

The court in its order noted that the Union and state governments have been issuing notifications and guidelines asking people to avoid gatherings and congregations and maintain social distancing.

"However, there are still some citizens who are committing breach of these directions and guidelines very casually and some citizens are even indulging in acts of disturbance of social and communal harmony," Justice Varale said.

"In such a situation, in my opinion, this is right time to remind ourselves the fundamental duties of a citizen. Often, citizens show serious concern about their fundamental rights, but then forget the fundamental duties," the court said.

The court observed that in the backdrop of this unforeseen situation, citizens should remember Article 51-A of the Constitution of India that refers to fundamental duties.

"In this difficult time, we may remind ourselves that it is a fundamental duty of a citizen to promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India and probably, this is an immediate need of the time," the court said.

Aurangabad District Collector Uday Chaudhari had informed the court on Wednesday that all migrant workers, daily wagers and needy persons were provided meals, shelter and medicines.

The bench directed the government and the civic body to also consider providing a link between the needy and charitable organisations that are willing to help out.

The district administration may also consider establishing a link between farmers, who supply vegetables, fruits and food grains, and consumers, the court directed.

On the issue of problems faced by health workers in their housing societies, the court was informed that the authorities were spreading awareness to ensure that doctors, nurses and other medical staff are not troubled.

Justice Varale was also informed that the state government had sanctioned the purchase of 3,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and 50,000 hydroxychloroquine 400 mg tablets.

All health workers are now equipped with PPE and there are as many as 919 kits available in reserve, the court was told.

The court has posted the matter for further hearing on April 15.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nerves and anxiety are normal for any student graduating and thinking about what comes next.

But this year, Connecticut medical students will have their degrees conferred during a pandemic, will likely do some residency orientation virtually and will jump into hospitals operating in states of emergencies.

That, however, does not faze Britton Gibson, a fourth-year student at Quinnipiac Universitys Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine.

This is something we signed up for, she said. We went to medical school knowing that we wanted to help.

But, Gibson said, the unknowns that surround the new coronavirus are amplifying the normal feelings of anxiety. Still, she said she feels energized, knowing this is an uncommon moment budding doctors are living in, and she is ready to apply her skill sets to make a real difference.

Its an internal battle and a strange dichotomy in a whole lot of ways, she said.

Gibson and her fellow medical students are set to graduate in May and start their residencies over the summer. To finish their coursework for graduation, students are studying virtually, and to complete clinical work, they are volunteering however partner hospitals need help  even if they cannot be in the actual building.

Just one state over, at the center of the nations largest outbreak, New York Universitys Grossman School of Medicine held a virtual graduation for more than 50 students Friday. Fifty-two students recited the Hippocratic oath over a conference call and became doctors two months early to assist hospitals in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. And Columbia Universitys Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons will graduate students on Wednesday, rather than in May.

Connecticut medical schools, however, are going to stay their planned courses with May graduations.

None of the Connecticut schools were planning to do early graduation, said Dr. Lyuba Konopasek, senior associate dean for education and a professor of medical sciences at Quinnipiac. Were so close to New York in some ways, and in other ways, its quite different right here, right now.

In Connecticut, medical and nursing schools have had to modify in-person, clinical requirements for graduating students, since many hospitals do not want students exposed to COVID-19.

Graduating fourth-year students at the University of Connecticut are volunteering their clinical service in the emergency department and on the hospital floor, including the University of Connecticut Hospital and some of the teaching affiliates, UConn Health Deputy Spokesperson Jennifer Walker said in an email. Coursework is being completed virtually, she said.

Quinnipiac students are no longer working in hospitals. Officials were concerned about the shortage of personal protective equipment, which would put students and the community at risk. Also, during a pandemic, clinical learning would be more difficult and would create more of a burden on an already very stressed workforce, Konopasek said.

What theyve been doing instead is doing a lot of volunteer work to support clinical partners, Konopasek said.

Quinnipiac fourth-year student Joanna Marantidis said some volunteer work is done from home, such as sewing masks and volunteering at hospital call centers. She has also delivered food to home-bound individuals through a local New Haven organization.

Likewise, UConn students are volunteering their time, assisting with pets and babysitting the children of UConn faculty, residents and staff who are continuing to work, Walker said.

Yale Universitys School of Medicine has promoted stories of its students volunteering in their community during the outbreak. Students are buying and delivering groceries, donating personal protective equipment, and through a Yale Medical Student Task Force, providing tele-health support to patients who have had non-emergency appointments postponed or canceled.

Yale did not return requests for comment for this story.

Students are ready to take what they have learned and are mentally preparing for the transition into residency during a pandemic, said Florence Yuan, a Netter School graduating fourth-year student.

Yuan said she is confident her residency program will protect her and other residents.

We knew that the first year would be tough no matter what, and the fact that were starting residency in the middle of a pandemic definitely complicates things, but our school is setting up a lot of modules and curricula to help get us ready for residency despite all of this, she said.

Konopasek said some schools considered sending graduated students directly into an early residency program. But the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has many rules about entry into residency that are meant to ensure a safe working and learning environment and best educational practices, she said.

These have not been changed and so early entry is difficult, she said.

In a statement on its website, the ACGME said it has heard of some medical schools graduating fourth-year medical students early so they could participate in the pandemic response and assist hospitals.

Except in unusual or exigent circumstances, the ACGME does not recommend the early graduation of medical students, the statement said.

Typically, students take six to eight weeks after graduation  on May 8 for Quinnipiac and May 11 for the UConn  to move to wherever they match with a hospital. Orientation starts in mid-June and work begins in July. Had they gone straight into residency, students would have started in May.

Yale did not provide a graduation date for its medical school students, but students being conferred their masters in public health receive their diploma on May 18, according to the school calendar.

Quinnipiac student Paul Irons said he feels torn. Soon-to-be a urologist, the bulk of his work will be elective surgeries  canceled for the foreseeable future with surgical intensive care units converted into medical intensive care units to handle the influx of COVID-19 patients.

While his early months of residency will not include surgical training, he said he is focusing on the positive outcomes.

We will be called on to give intensive care, which is something that as a future urologist, not a lot of programs have intensive care programs, he said. I think that is the positive outweighing the negative.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.com
Pittsfield Cancels Third Thursdays; Plans Economic Assistance to Business

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The city has canceled Third Thursday events for May and June and the fate of the popular Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade that brings more than 20,000 to the city is up in the air.

Mayor Linda Tyer made the announcement during her weekly COVID-19 update on PCTV on Friday, confirming what she'd said earlier on a local radio show.

"We hope to resume again in July, but honestly, that remains to be seen," she said. The Third Thursday program has been bringing thousands of people to North Street once a month for 14 years for music, performances, food, activities and more.

The cancellations are a reminder that it may be months before the life returns to any type of normalcy because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Instead of celebrations, the city is developing economic initiatives for local businesses using a range of funding opportunities including emergency funds that have been approved by Federal Emergency Management Agency for COVID-1-related recovery.

Tyer said the city has $789,382 in Community Development Block Grant Funds and is looking at the Small Business Fund and Community Preservation Act monies.

"The city will provide funds to individuals and businesses that are experiencing economic hardships because of the COVID-19 pandemic," she said. "There will be more details to share in next week's update."

The former St. Joseph's High School was opened this week as a shelter for homeless to provide them with meals, sleeping quarters, showers, bathrooms and laundry that will allow them to safely "social distance." The operation is open 24/7.

"This is a critical new program provided by ServiceNet because so many of the places where homeless gather during the day have been closed," she said. Those suffering from COVID-19 who do not require hospitalization will find medical care and respite at a local hotel under the auspices of Community Health Plan.

Pittsfield has also made arrangements with two hotels for a total of 28 rooms for housing first-responders who have to isolate or quarantine. This will also be available to first-responders in communities with mutual aid agreements with Pittsfield.

County Ambulance has received state approval to administer in-home COVID-19 testing for county residents who cannot get to the testing tent at Berkshire Medical Center. Those who feel they may have symptoms or been in contact within someone who tested positive must still contact the BMC hotline at 855-BMC-LINK or 855-262-5465 to determine testing criteria and get a doctor's order for a test.

"This is an incredible accomplishment and a vital service especially for seniors and others who may not have access to reliable transportation," the mayor said.

Tyer also repeated changes in fees announced earlier in the week: the due date for municipal tax payments has been delayed to June 1; no late fees or interest will accrue on late payments after March 10 that are paid before June 30; and terminations for water, sewer or trash pickup will occur as long as payments are made by June 30.

The mayor urged residents to abide by new regulations at grocery stores and to shop alone, get essentials, and do it quickly. She also said public safety and other city vehicles would not be allowed to participate in any wave or special occasion parades.

"I understand families are looking for ways to mark special occasions, especially for children," Tyer said. "But the parade becomes a reason for people to congregate and get too close to each other and put each other at risk ...

"Our message about staying at home is clear and must be consistently modeled by our first-responders."

The mayor said the data on the number of COVID-19 cases recovering is encouraging but offered her sympathy to those who have lost a loved one. The city has lost three residents including the first in the county.

"When my team and I are making decisions to protect you we carry everyone of you in our heart," Tyer said. "We know how much your lives have been disrupted but we have to ask you again and again to stay home, mind your distance and practice good hand hygiene.

"We can do this. We can be the first city and the first county in the state of Massachusetts to crush the curve."
SPRINGFIELD  Easter lilies were sprinkled around the South End of Springfield just in time for Good Friday and Easter weekend thanks to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

The flowers were preordered long ago to decorate the church, but with the church being closed we deiced to bring the flowers out into the community, said Sister Elizabeth Matuszek, a pastoral minister at the church whose religious order is the Sisters of St. Joseph.

We wanted to spread hope and uplift the employees and customers and passers-by with the beautiful flowers, Matuszek said.

The flowers were purchased by the church with help from the St. Vincent DePaul Society, a volunteer-based charitable organization.

Matuszek said the gesture of giving the flowers helps to comfort the sorrowful, which is one of the seven spiritual works of mercy in the Catholic faith.

It was just one small thing we could do to brighten peoples day during this difficult time, she said.

Springfield - Our Lady of Mount Carmel donated its Easter flowers to area businesses like Milano's Imports on Main Street in the city's South End to uplift everyone's spirits.

Related content:
Following the unprecedented racist move by Chinese nationals in their motherland to blame black Africans in their country for the spread of the Wuhan virus, Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria has joined Kenyans demanding action.

This week, it was revealed that Kenyans and other Africans in several cities of China have faced high levels of discrimination, with accusations that they are responsible for the continued spread of the Chinese coronavirus.

Many have been evicted from their houses, hotels and are been denied basic services such as using the subway and other public transport. Grocery stores have refused to sell them food, leaving many to go hungry on top of sleeping in the streets.

The state has backed this racism by deploying its police to escort Africans out of houses, once they are reported.

Moses Kuria thinks we should reiterate.

It is only fair that all Chinese nationals leave the country with immediate effect. How do you blame Africans for a virus you manufactured in a Wuhan laboratory? Go back home. Hata madeni hatutalipa, he wrote on Facebook.

His words were echoed by his Starehe counterpart Charles Njagua, who wrote, What is happening to Kenyans in China is unacceptable.Ill not hesitate to ask Kenyans to follow the Bible, it says an eye for an eye.

As of this writing, there is no word yet from the government.
Hyderabad, April 10 : At a time when people's moment within their neighbourhoods has curtailed due to coronavirus induced lockdown, a burka-clad woman from Telangana rode 1,400 km on her scooty to bring back her son stuck in Andhra Pradesh.

Braving all the odds, the school teacher from Bodhan town travelled on the two-wheeler to Nellore district and brought her son back.

Razia Begum had to embark on the arduous journey as her son Mohammed Nizamuddin was stuck in Rehmatabad in Nellore district for nearly two weeks.

Nizamuddin, a student of Intermediate Second Year (12th standard) at a private college in Hyderabad, had gone to Rehmatabad along with his friend after their annual exams. He, however, was stranded there due to suspension of all public transport and imposition of lockdown.

Worried over the wellbeing of her son, Razia Begum decided to undertake the long journey to bring him back. Razia, who serves as headmistress at a primary school, approached Deputy Superintendent of Police Jaipal Reddy and obtained a permission letter from him.

She left for Rehmatabad on the morning of April 6. Though she was stopped by the police at many barricades and checkposts, she produced DSP's letter and persuaded the police officers to allow her to continue the journey.

Someone who had never stepped out of the town on scooty, she succeeded reaching Rehmatabad the next day with the help of Google maps and locals along 700-km.

"I stopped at the checkposts to take some break and then continued my journey," said the woman, who has two sons a daughter She picked up her son and left for Bodhan on the evening of April 7 and reached home the next day. The distance was long but the concern and love for her son made the task easy. "If you have the determination you can achieve anything," she said.
Serebrennikov embezzlement hearing to be held on April 13

 RAPSI, Kirill Ryabchikov

12:34 10/04/2020

MOSCOW, April 10 (RAPSI)  The hearing of an embezzlement case involving the Gogol Center theater director Kirill Serebrennikov will be held on April 13 in the ordinary course, without the use of videoconference, the spokesperson of Moscows Meshchansky District Court Yulia Kotomina has told RAPSI.

Despite the coronavirus quarantine restrictions the court has no plans to postpone the hearing, she has said.

In late 2019, the court commissioned the third complex financial and economic, and art valuation examination. A previous evaluation in 2018 failed to establish a fact of embezzlement.

Defendants in the case along with Serebrennikov are producer Alexey Malobrodsky, ex-head of Seventh Studio stage company Yury Itin, ex-official of Russias Culture Ministry and current director of the Russian Academic Youth Theater Sophia Apfelbaum.

Ex-chief accountant of Seventh Studio Nina Maslyayava is tried separately. She admitted guilt in full.

Other defendants pleaded not guilty calling charges against them pointless and absurd. Moreover, Serebrennikov and Malobrodsky lay the blame on Maslyayeva.

One more defendant, producer Yekaterina Voronova has been put on the international wanted list and arrested in absentia.

According to investigators, defendants in the case stole 133 of 214 million rubles ($3.3 million) of budget funds allocated to the Seventh Studio company in 2011-2014 for development and popularization of contemporary art in Russia as part of the project Platforma.

Serebrennikov was arrested in late August 2017 and then placed under house arrest. In early November, Moscows Basmanny District Court seized assets belonging to Serebrennikov including apartment, car, and money in the amount of more than 360,000 rubles ($5,300), over 60,000, and $4,000.

Investigators believe that he was an organizer of the budget money embezzlement. He allegedly created Seventh Studio stage company to actualize Platforma project for promotion of art and called alleged accomplices into the organization.




Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 17:36:31|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

The headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 30, 2020. (Xinhua/Chen Junxia)

The WHO chief and his colleagues have worked day and night to devote their efforts to the cause of safeguarding the public health of human beings, Wang said, adding that their important contributions deserve recognition from the international community and their professional opinions need to be respected by all countries around the world.

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China and France support the World Health Organization (WHO) in playing its due role in combating COVID-19, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian over phone on Thursday.

Wang again conveyed consolations to the French side in the anti-virus fight and expressed gratitude to the French Embassy in China for lowering its flag at half-mast during China's recent mourning activities for the martyrs and victims of COVID-19.

The French side has made positive progress in purchasing medical supplies from China, and China is ready to continue to offer assistance and convenience, Wang said.

A resident walks on a shopping street in the city of Sceaux, a southern suburb of Paris, France, April 8, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

Wang added that China's civil aviation authorities have launched a "green passage" for approval of cargo charter flights, which will keep the transportation for urgently needed materials convenient and smooth.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the quality of export products and has taken strict supervision measures on the export of medical supplies, he said.

Wang expressed the hope that the French side would ensure the health and safety, as well as legitimate rights and interest, of Chinese citizens in France, especially the students studying there.

Wang said as permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and France should enhance solidarity and coordination in face of the daunting challenge posed by COVID-19, jointly support multilateralism and build consensus for the international community to join hands in the fight against the epidemic.

Medical materials from China arrive at the Liege airport in Belgium, on March 18, 2020. A batch of 1 million donated medical masks were flown in Belgium, en route to France. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

Any attempt to shift blame on others is irresponsible, he noted.

China appreciates that French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone conversation yesterday with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and reaffirmed trust and support for the UN health agency, said Wang.

Wang said the WHO, upholding a scientific and impartial stand, is leading the global fight against the epidemic on the front line.

The WHO chief and his colleagues have worked day and night to devote their efforts to the cause of safeguarding the public health of human beings, Wang noted, adding that their important contributions deserve recognition from the international community and their professional opinions need to be respected by all countries around the world.

China is willing to work with France to actively support the WHO in playing its due role in global anti-epidemic cooperation and jointly safeguard the international public health security, Wang said.

Residents walk on a shopping street in the city of Sceaux, a southern suburb of Paris, France, April 8, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

China also stands ready to enhance cooperation with the French side in helping African countries to combat the epidemic, he added.

For his part, Le Drain said the Chinese side had held mourning activities for the martyrs and victims in the COVID-19 fight and that the French side would like to again express its sympathy.

He thanked China for its support to France in procurement, export and delivery of medical supplies.

France stands ready to strengthen multilateral coordination with China in combating the pandemic so as to further enrich their comprehensive strategic partnership, the French minister said.

Sharing Wang's view on the WHO, Le Drian said that the French side firmly supports the WHO in playing an important role in the anti-epidemic fight and strengthening its operations in Africa. 
OTTAWA  For most people, the pandemic has turned border crossing into an impossibility. But for Laurie Dufresne, who lives in Canada and works in the United States, it remains part of her daily commute.

Ms. Dufresne is one of about 1,600 nurses and other health care workers who leave Windsor, Ontario, a city of 217,000, for daily work in Detroit, a metropolitan area of more than four million people. In Windsor, infections remain comparatively under control. Detroit, though, has one of the most severe coronavirus outbreaks in the United States.

For health workers like Ms. Dufresne, fulfilling desperately needed medical duties across the border means being in an uncomfortable position. Canadian officials have been blunt about the risks, and health workers have found themselves under scrutiny at home as potential vectors of the pathogen, not just to Windsor but to all of Canada, which so far has not been hit as hard as the United States.

In other countries, health care workers have also found themselves grappling with a community afraid they will spread the virus when they leave their hospitals to come home.
A fetid smell seeps out when an official dressed in full virus protection gear steps out of the door to the Los Ceibos hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Standing before him as he reads names from a list is a crowd of around 15 people wearing face masks and hoping their wait is over. It's an emotional scene. Some break down in tears as at last, after several days, they discover the body of their deceased loved one will be released. But for Isabel Hernandez, a 43-year-old mother of three, the wait is not over. "I last saw him when he was put on tubes, which was Friday" last week, she told AFP. Her husband died on Sunday morning of the COVID-19 disease. Although a small country of 17.5 million people, Ecuador is the third worst-hit nation from the virus in Latin America, with nearly 5,000 cases and 272 deaths. Guayaquil, the largest city, is the center of the country's outbreak. Hernandez took two days to acquire the documentation she needs to release her husband's body. Amongst those was a death certificate that, due to the coronavirus outbreak, can now be downloaded from the internet. A queue of cars topped by coffins forms in front of Los Ceibos. Hernandez is hoping her husband's hearse will have arrived by the time the official with the list next appears. "What I want is to take my husband away from here," she said through sobs. She's afraid the body will be taken to a government-supplied niche, which she views as little more than a mass grave. For weeks, bodies were accumulating in homes following the collapse of the mortuary system, semi-paralyzed by Guayaquil's curfew. The treatment of the dead has led to many Ecuadorans losing trust in the government, which has set up a special force to recover bodies from homes, although no-one knows just how many there might be. - Waiting for the dead - The port city of Guayaquil, with almost 2.7 million inhabitants, is the capital of Guayas province, which has reported 68 percent of Ecuador's coronavirus cases. Authorities say the worst is yet to come. Guayaquil is already overrun by the crisis. In Los Ceibos, the city's largest hospital, the crisis is worsening. Videos that have gone viral on social media show containers filled with bodies covered in black plastic. On the other side of the hospital, people in face masks wait, seemingly oblivious to the government's social distancing rules. Many are getting impatient sitting in seats provided by the hospital; they've been waiting for days for news. Marlene Rivadeneira, an unemployed 53-year-old, is hoping for a miracle to save her 60-year-old sister Isabel, who was taken to the emergency room on Sunday directly from her prison cell where she was serving a five-year sentence over a traffic accident. She arrived at Los Ceibos with COVID-19 symptoms that subsequently worsened. "I don't know if she is going mad because she's seeing a lot of dead people," said Rivadeneira, who spoke to her sister by cellphone before her condition worsened. "She's in the emergency room and that's where the critical ones are. She says they're not taking care of her but they are giving her oxygen." She said that while waiting she's seen at least 10 dead people brought out. - Lack of oxygen - On March 19 Los Ceibos canceled doctor's appointments and moved out its most stable patients. Its 600 beds and 91 intensive care units are now dedicated to COVID-19 patients. Guayaquil's healthcare system is under intense pressure with hundreds of patients waiting in corridors and many doctors and nurses off work due to illness. The government says at least 417 health workers have contracted the virus. In Guayas alone, 54 doctors have died since the outbreak of the virus, some directly affected and others indirectly because they couldn't receive treatment for other ailments. Supplies are also running short. Pablo Matamoros, 51 and unemployed, took his mother to hospital on Sunday after having tried two other establishments that didn't have oxygen. His 72-year-old mother tested positive for the coronavirus in Los Ceibos and the level of oxygen in her blood is low. "The doctor told me... what could happen. Now they're going to fix her up to a tube," said Matamoros. People wearing protective suits accompany a coffin on a truck near Los Ceibos hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador on April 8, 2020 Relatives of the deceased wait outside Los Ceibos hospital on April 8, 2020 Cars carrying coffins and hearses are lining up outside the Los Ceibos hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador, waiting for the coronavirus victims to be released A woman cries after learning about the death of a relative at Los Ceibos Hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on April 4, 2020 during the novel coronavirus pandemic A man speaks on his phone at Los Ceibos on April 4, 2020. Some relatives of those infected with the virus have been waiting for days for news Relatives of patients outside Los Ceibos on April 8. The hospital is now dedicated to coronavirus patients
Sources inform that the film AB Aani CD will go on the OTT platform in a few days from now to make the most of the lockdown

Amitabh Bachchans first Marathi film in a title role  AB Aani CD, in which he plays himself  had released along with Angrezi Medium in the theatres last month before being yanked off the screens when the lockdown was announced.

Earlier, the makers had decided against the continuation and planned a re-release of the film but, Things didnt go our way, and safety come first. Hence, we will not re-release the film as planned earlier but will look at a date when Amazon deems it fit to put it on their platform, says producer Akshay Bardapurkar.

Sources inform us that the film will go on the OTT platform in a few days from now to make the most of the lockdown when the viewership on the OTT platform is high.

Many other Bachchan films that were slated to be released in this period have all been pushed behind, including Chehre, Jhund and Gulabo Sitabo. His fifth film Brahmastra was already pushed to the end of the year. The actors fans will have to watch AB Aani CD in the meantime until any of his other films manage to release in the future.
This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
A vaccine that is more than a century old could become the first approved vaccine for Covid-19 later this year.

Immunologist, Prof Luke ONeill, said results of BCG vaccine trials in protecting people against the coronavirus are expected in about three months.

Prof ONeill said production of the BCG vaccine, first used on humans in 1921, is already ramping up in anticipation.

The BCG vaccine, first introduced in Ireland in 1937, can cause a non-specific boost of the immune system.

The vaccine has a strong safety record and recent studies show that revaccination is safe.

Prof ONeill said a fourth research paper from the University of Michigan in the US was the latest to suggest that the BCG vaccination could be effective against Covid-19.

Speaking on Newstalk, Prof ONeill said it is the best research paper he has seen so far that looks at the association between BCG vaccination and protection against the coronavirus.

The researchers found that countries with national policies for universal BCG vaccination have fewer deaths from Covid-19.

Mandated BCG vaccination policies are associated with a significant flattening of the increase in both confirmed cases and deaths from Covid-19 during the first 30-day period of country-wide outbreaks.

Our analysis suggests that mandated BCG vaccination can be effective in the fight against Covid-19, the paper states.

Prof ONeill said the case is getting stronger that the BCG vaccination would be protective.

It could be that children who received the BCG vaccination are not infected and that is reducing the spread of the virus to older people.

Prof ONeill said the BCG vaccination builds up a non-specific barrier against other infections and maybe they are re-stimulated with every infection for years.

Its almost like the BCG is bringing out a special police force and that is sustained through time, he said.

Meanwhile, the head of the coronavirus expert advisory group and director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, Dr Cillian De Gascun, has warned against complacency about the dangers of Covid-19.

The experience in Italy and the US has shown that given the opportunity, this virus will run rampant, he said on RTE radio.

When the time comes, said Dr De Gascun, restrictions will reduce in reverse order, with movement and retail outlets looked at first.

Infectious disease specialist, Prof Sam McConkey, said the Government could opt for a short, sharp response to stop the spread of the virus entirely, a move that will require a 32-county response.

It would be challenging. It would mean restricting travel and quarantining people coming into the country, said Prof McConkey.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
Organized in response to the pandemic, the Book Industry Study Group hosted a 90 minute video chat April 9 to discuss the results of a survey about the impact of the Covid-19 on the publishing supply chain.

The results of the survey of 241 respondents covered every aspect of the supply chain from publishing and retail to libraries and manufacturing. The survey showed an industry reeling from canceled orders and loss of revenue, layoffs and furloughs of staff, and the potential loss of a significant number of independent bookstores, according to Andrew Savikas, president of GetAbstract and chair of the BISG board of directors.

The video chat attracted just over a 100 listeners and featured survey responses to questions on how Covid-19 had changed their business, dealing with social restrictions and the solutions being discussed in the aftermath. Speaking to the publishing sector, Andrea Fleck-Nisbet, publisher of Harper Horizon, an imprint of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, said that while orders are slowing from retailers, we still see demand in areas like cookbooks, and cited the importance of using remote communications tools to create new work flows and maintain a business.

Dan Kok, senior v-p of Crossway, a Christian publishing house, said we have seen shutdowns with some distributors, but we are still running our own distribution facility, as are most publishers with their own distribution centers. Most of our outside distribution is throttled, but open. He said Crossway employees were having weekly meetings with other local Christian publishers to share whats up and support each other even though were competitors to a certain degree.

In the manufacturing/printing segment, Michael Shea, senior v-p at printer LSC Communication, said reprint orders were dropping, first printings delayed, and previously scheduled plans for press time have all been blown up. Everything is changing constantly until we figure out the retail environment. Shea added: Where do you store books when they arent being shipped out, he said. In addition to industry challenges, Shea said printers also must deal with employee anxiety over getting sick. Its hard to keep staff engaged.

BISG executive director Brian OLeary gave the retail overview citing the possible loss of many indie bookstores in the wake of the pandemic and the shift to online ordering by consumers. Indeed, nearly 50% of college bookstores have closed, he said. O'Leary suggested the retail sector needed a bigger commitment from big publishers to support bookstores, possible debt forgiveness, and even floated the possibility of new retail models, such as establishing minimum retail pricing. There was also some suggestions by callers that despite the deprioritization of books, Amazon was delivering books to customers faster than it has indicated.

Kelvin Watson, director of Broward County Libraries division, said libraries have essentially halted the purchase of physical books and are switching all purchasing to digital content. Libraries, he said, are focused on digital lending, adding online storytimes for children, and on remote learning going forward.

Overall, there was much praise about the ability of staffers throughout the supply chain to quickly adapt to working remotely on video platforms such as Zoom. But distribution, said Sam Dempsey of distributor Baker & Taylor, cant be done from home. He described a warehouse situation during a pandemic, which now includes staff checks for temperature, disinfecting spaces, and fewer staffers available due to furloughs.

Nevertheless, the utility of remote videoconferencing (and the adjustments some departments like production might need) was cited throughout the presentation. Rebecca Burgoyne, executive director of United Methodist Publishing in Nashville, discussed how the house had gone completely remote, and the need to communicate to staff the urgent need to make changes without frightening people.

Maureen McMahon, president and publisher of Kaplan Publishing, and past chair of BISG, said working remotely would eventually help diversity. Its expanded our reach. Theres a lot you can do with Zoom. She called e-books and the demand for digital the heroes of the crisis and outlined forthcoming opportunities including sharing best practices, cloud-based workflows, data portals and business continuity plans.

Other suggestions for next steps included a Covid-19 status page on the BISG website and more virtual meetings to brainstorm solutions. OLeary said the organization was dropping membership restrictions for participating on BISG committees, inviting volunteers to hear first-hand whats happening. In addition, an audio recording of the videoconference as well as the results of the survey will be archived on the BISG website.

Savikas closed the chat by citing the biggest takeaway of the surveythe need for all sectors of the industry to communicate and work together. Transparency and collaboration. The more we do both, the better chance we have of coming through all of this and becoming a better industry.

Correction: Dan Kok's comments in an earlier version of this story have been corrected.


Despite repeatedly contradicting health officials in his own administration with misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic and possible treatment, Donald Trump has denied any bad blood between him and Dr Anthony Fauci and joked that he should run against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

At a White House briefing on Friday, the president said invoked his Democratic foe in Congress, saying: "I told Tony Fauci, I said, 'Why don't you move to New York, run against AOC? You will win easily.' But he decided he's not going to do that."

Asked whether he would tell his allies to stop attacks and criticism against doctors in his administration, he said: "I can only say this: I have tremendous respect for these people."

CNN's Jim Acosta pressed the president on whether he would listen to his health officials after he has moved his timetable to "re-open" the US by Easter to later this spring, despite no clear evidence that the coronavirus pandemic will have subsided, potentially putting millions of Americans at risk of infection following Mr Trump's call to get people back to work.

He didn't say whether he would heed their advice but added: "I listen to them about everything ... I have great respect for this group."

A host of right-wing pundits have targeted Dr Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who has offered a more realistic and science-based impression of the pandemic's impact in the US, in their conspiracies accusing him of being a Democratic "plant" undermining the administration.

On Fox News, host Steve Hilton said that Dr Fauci will "still have a job at the end of this, whatever happens" while the "ruling class and their TV mouthpieces whipping up fear over this virus, they can afford an indefinite shutdown" of the economy.

Asked by Science Mag about the president's misinformation, Dr Fauci said he "can't jump in front of the microphone and push him down. OK, he said it. Let's try and get it corrected for the next time."

The president also has blocked Dr Fauci from answering questions about the efficacy of a controversial anti-malaria drug to treat Covid-19 patients during a recent briefing.

Earlier that day, Dr Fauci told CBS that "in terms of science, I don't think we could definitively say [hydroxychloroquine] works."

He said: "The data are really just at best suggestive ... There have been cases that show there may be an effect and there are others to show there's no effect."

The president has continued to push for the drug without significant evidence that it can be safely scaled for use for the thousands of people who are ill.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Joe Biden has become the presumptive Democratic nominee for US President after his last remaining opponent leftist Senator Bernie Sanders ended his campaign, clearing the former Vice President's path to nomination and a showdown with President Donald Trump in the November elections.

Hours after becoming the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party on Wednesday, Biden held a virtual fundraiser with Kamala Harris as special guest, fuelling speculation that the Indian-origin US Senator may be his running mate in the presidential elections.

Biden, 77, emerged as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party after Senator Sanders withdrew from the race and endorsed the former Vice President for the November presidential elections against Trump.

Indian-origin Senator from California, Harris, 55, withdrew her bid from the presidential race last early due to low poll ratings.

While in race, she and Biden had bitter political fight.

But, she later endorsed Biden after the former vice president made substantial gains in the Democratic primary.

Hours, later Biden invited Harris as a special guest for his virtual fundraiser.

In view of the social distancing measures being enforced across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic, Biden campaign has resorted to innovative virtual fund raising.

In his remarks, Biden expressed how "lucky" he felt to have a "partnership" with Harris going forward.

"The idea, Kamala, that you ran a hell of a race and you endorsed me means a lot. It's not an easy thing to do, but, you know, thanks for making the time and for being so loyal,' Biden said.

"And I'm so lucky to have you as part of this, this partnership going forward, because I think we're going together we can make a great deal of difference, and the biggest thing we can do is make Donald Trump a one-term president. So I'm coming for you, kid," Biden said.

The former vice president said that Harris shared admiration for his late son Beau Biden.

According to the Biden campaign, there were 52 people in attendance, including some folks who received a shout out during the fundraiser - TV writer and producer Norman Lear and former White House Press Secretary for the Clinton Administration Dee Dee Myers.

The fundraiser was hosted by former US Ambassador to Germany John Emerson, and Kimberly Marteau Emerson, a Principal at KME Consulting.

Emerson said that while the fundraisers goal was USD 100,000, the group exceeded it, raising USD 150,000.

Harris, in her remarks, slammed Trump for the "vacuum of leadership" that currently exists in the United States and praised Biden for his record of leadership.

"Joe Biden has a way of working on these issues, not only to improve the lives of all Americans, but to improve their ability to believe that everything is going to be okay.

And that's one of the things I think we all who have known him for a long time love about Joe Biden," Harris said.

"He sees people. He understands their pain, He understands their dreams. And what we need is a president who has a proven track record of leadership, and also who has the ability to lift people up. That's what people need right now," she said.

In his remarks Biden addressed Sanders' departure from the presidential race.

"He's a powerful voice for a fairer and more just American, and I want Bernie and his supporters to know: I see you. I hear you. I understand the urgency of what you've done, and I hope you'll join us because we need all of you. We need all of you," he said.

The former vice president then addressed the ongoing coronavirus pandemic gripping the country and the anxious time it has brought about while all Americans are facing the situation together but in isolation simultaneously.

"This disease is not only tearing through the nation and devastating families and wrecking the economy, we're starting to see and magnifying some of the worst systemic inequities that exist, amplifying some of the most unjust gaps in our society," Biden said, noting that counties with a majority black population have infection rates three times greater than majority white counties.

Biden said he had reached out to former President Barack Obama for advice on the selection process of his running mate.

According to some media reports, Biden has shortlisted nine individuals as his potential running mate.

Among them, include Harris and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Biden has said that he will pick a woman as his running mate.
Selbyville, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/10/2020 -- Ongoing expansion of real estate sector coupled with stringent building codes and standards toward the deployment of energy efficient electrical systems will foster the underfloor heating market. The systems have become mainstream with declining product cost and growing disposable income. Technological upgradation coupled with extensive R&D to improve the system design will boost the product adoption. The industry players have introduced multiple electric and hydronic underfloor variants suitable for deployment across existing and new facilities.



According to the research, the global underfloor heating market size is anticipated to touch the $9 billion mark by 2025.



Request for a sample copy of this report @

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2122



Ongoing development of service sector coupled with stringent directives toward installation of upgraded heating technologies will put thrust to the U.S. underfloor heating market. Construction of various multifamily and commercial units across several U.S. states will boost the product penetration. In addition, growing spending toward the residential retrofitting projects with customer inclination toward home decor & designing will complement the business landscape.



Growing recognition of the product coupled with rising demand for central heating systems will stimulate the underfloor heating market growth. Paradigm shift toward clean energy technologies along with extreme weather conditions will enhance the industry outlook. Furthermore, rising demand for home heating systems with robust deployment across bathroom and kitchen will boost the product demand.



Market Growth Drivers 



Introduction of energy efficiency standards

Increasing standard of living

Strict government regulations

Extreme climatic conditions

Rapid urbanization and commercialization

Increasing demand for space heating



Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @

https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2122



Long term energy and cost benefits coupled with rising concerns toward carbon emissions will drive the hydronic underfloor heating market growth. Growing demand across domestic establishments and high-end buildings on account of key benefits including virtually invisible deployment and comfortable heating will complement the industry landscape. However, high upfront cost associated with the system will limit the product adoption.



Continuous hot water requirement owing to extreme climatic conditions will foster the Europe underfloor heating market. Respective government authorities have introduced stringent EU energy efficiency directive to encourage the deployment of sustainable heating solutions. Furthermore, substantial drop in the installation time and cost along with introduction of flexible electrical mats for small applications purposes will encourage the product adoption.



Expansion of commercial and domestic properties on account of growing development of smart cities across several nations will foster the underfloor heating market across new facilities. Growing pollution have led to introduction of several building policies mandating the deployment of low emission heating systems. Moreover, rapid commercialization across developing economies will complement the business landscape.



Browse report summary @ https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/underfloor-heating-market



Eminent players functioning across the underfloor heating industry include Siemens, Uponor, Danfoss, Emerson Electric, Pentair, Robert Bosch, Honeywell, Schneider, Warmup, Sensata Technologies, H2O Heating, Mitsubishi, Hunt Heating, Amuheat, Nexans and REHAU.



About Global Market Insights:

Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.
Alan Yang was born and raised in California, but he keenly remembers the first time he was made to feel like a foreigner in his own country. We would always go up to Yosemite or the other national parks in our area, the writer and director of the new Netflix film, Tigertail, tells Yahoo Entertainment. My sister and I got separate from our parents, and we were looking at Vernal Falls. This middle-aged white lady came up to us... and said really slowly, I bet they dont have anything like this where you come from! My sister was like, We come from California! (Watch our video interview above.)

Reflecting on that encounter years later, Yang characterizes it as a case study in the challenge faced by all children born in the U.S. to immigrant parents. His own father and mother left Taiwan for New York City in the 1970s before settling in California, a journey that provides the basis for the semi-autobiographical Tigertail, which stars Tzi Ma and Kunjue Li as characters inspired by his parents. (Details of his parents lives have also found their way into some of his other work, most notably the Emmy-winning Netflix series, Master of None, which he co-created with Aziz Ansari.) Yang recalls that he and his sister enjoyed a childhood that he describes as pretty all-American. But when that fellow Yosemite tourist approached them, they suddenly became outsiders. Its that perpetual foreigner stereotype. We consider ourselves local, but well never look like locals  well always look like people who come from somewhere else.

Yang says that lesson has recently been driven home again with the rise in anti-Asian xenophobia that has accompanied the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. And those flames have been fanned by President Donald Trump, who has often referred to COVID-19 as the Chinese virus. Asked how it feels to hear the president engage in such talk, Yang replies with a rueful laugh, It aint great! I didnt love that photo of him crossing out the word Corona and writing in Chinese. I think that was a purposeful rallying cry to his base to purposefully scapegoat another nation for this disease.

Story continues

While he allows that Chinas response to the coronavirus outbreak within its own borders was far from ideal, Yang believes that Trumps choices of words are an overtly political talking point. It was definitely purposeful. Everyone in the world had agreed it was called COVID-19 and/or the coronavirus, and he still randomly called it the Chinese virus. I think that definitely contributed to the everyday acts of anti-Asian racism we saw. Yang reveals that his Tigertail leading man, Ma  who was born in Hong Kong, but lives and works in Los Angeles  was the recent victim of anti-Asian bigotry. He was told to go back into quarantine by a stranger while he was in the parking lot of a supermarket in Pasadena. So this is real.

Joan Chen and Tzi Ma in Tigertail. (Photo: Netflix)

In Tigertail, the younger version of Mas character works in a Bronx bodega when he first arrives in New York from Taiwan. And as Yang notes, those kinds of immigrant laborers are the very people currently putting their lives on the line by continuing to work in the middle of a pandemic, and in the face of xenophobic attacks inspired by the rhetoric from the White House and other figures in the conservative media. Think about all of those workers who we have been told they dont deserve a $15 minimum wage, and meanwhile theyre the only people going to work and risking their lives. Many of those people are immigrants, because no one else wants to do those jobs.

At the same time, Yang is quick to point out that his film isnt intended to be a direct rebuke to Trump. Instead, hes telling a version of his parents story in part to emphasize the commonalities all Americans share, no matter what they look like. I dont want people to think the movie is preachy or sort of political. The people happen to have Asian faces, but other than that its a very universal story about lost love, the passion of youth, regret, honesty and telling the people you love that you care about them. And I dont know whats more universal than that.

Tigertail is currently streaming on Netflix.

 Video produced by Gisselle Bances

For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC and WHOs resource guides.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle's newsletter.
EU Finance Ministers have agreed a half a trillion-euro deal to help countries affected by the coronavirus crisis.

The package contains three safety nets for Governments, Businesses and Workers:

A line of credit from the European Stability Mechanism, or ESM.

A rescue fund with 240 billion in loans.

And a European Investment Bank fund containing 200,000 million in loans for companies and a temporary unemployment fund of 100,000 million euros.

It is arguably the most sizeable and ambitious package ever prepared by the Eurogroup, said Mario Centeno, Eurogroup President. Its a plan that will shield us Economically and Socially as we dive into a recession.

According to diplomatic sources, the deal was clinched after the Netherlands withdrew its demand that access to the ESM rescue fund be subject to the beneficiary countries complying with macroeconomic conditions, such as structural reforms.

Madrid has insisted from the start that the loans should not be subject to the kind structural reforms or privatisation programs that were demanded with traditional bailouts, since no State is responsible for the coronavirus crisis and that view was vigorously supported by the Third Vice President, Nadia Calvino.

The final agreement states that the only condition for accessing the funds will be that the money be used for health expenses, directly or indirectly.

The Eurogroup President is convinced that countries that need access to credit will be able to identify expenses linked to the cure and prevention of the disease for up to 2% of their GDP, which is the maximum funding that the ESM could provide.

The EU Finance Ministers also agreed to work on a 'recovery fund' for the post-pandemic phase, but decisions on legal and practical aspects will be left to Heads of State and the Government.

Spain and Italy are demanding a coronavirus debt-sharing agreement between EU member states in the form of coronabonds, but Germany and the Netherlands refused to agree to that.

"We have reached a good agreement within the Eurogroup, with a triple safety net for workers, companies and States to fight COVID-19 and we will continue working on common financing mechanisms for economic recovery, Nadia Calvino Tweeted.

The Emergency Finance Package must now be endorsed by EU leaders.
1. Yes. The downtown area needs a good draw. Some quality taverns would be a plus.

2. Yes. Too many storefronts are vacant. Bars could help to bring in needed revenue.

3. No. Putting a number of bars downtown is just asking for trouble. Dont change things.

4.No. Several churches have located downtown. Putting bars close by would be a bad fit.

5. Unsure. It would depend on how the law is written and what standards are enacted.

Vote

View Results
28 years after the Maragha Massacre the hope to return to the homeland is still alive

YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. April 10 marks the 28th-anniversary of the Maragha massacre, one of the most frightful pogroms committed by the Azerbaijani military against peaceful Armenian inhabitants during the Artsakh Liberation War.



Maragha was one of the largest and richest villages in Artsakh before the war - several factories operated, and viticulture was developed in the village. After the pogroms in Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad, attacks on the civilian Armenian population were highly increased in scope, forcing most of the locals to leave their native villages. On April 10 of 1992, Azerbaijani Defence Ministry, Internal Affairs Ministry and OMON forces (Special Purpose Police Units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan) launched an attack on 118 civilians who were unable to leave Maragha. Staying there for only 5-6 hours, Azerbaijani units brutally killed about 50 people and took almost as many civilians as hostages, including 29 women, 9 children, as well as disabled people among them. Subsequently, it became possible to rescue some of these people, including all the children, yet the fate of 19 hostages still remains unknown.



***

Starting from 1989, the tension in Maragha was highly increased; the village was under constant shelling and the civilians were in a state of fear because of the attacks towards their properties and cattle, as well as themselves and their families. Maragha and the surrounding villages were systematically raided by Azerbaijani armed forces. In the aftermath, some of the residents of the village had to leave their houses and temporarily settle in other regions of Artsakh.



The village was located in the Martakert region of the NKAO and starting from 1954 to 1992, Maragha and Margushevan, a village located in the vicinity of Maragha, were united under a soviet farm named Leninavan. According to the 1989 Soviet census, Leninavan had 5000 population. The number of people living in Leninavan was highly increased after the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad and other Armenian settlements. Those who survived the pogroms found shelter in different towns and villages of Artsakh, including Leninavan. Despite the lack of data related to the number of refugees living in Leninavan, assumably, it was quite a large number since the eyewitnesses state that a separate block of houses was built for them.



The first attacks on Maragha and Margushevan took place on February 25-26, 1992. The locals had already formed self-defence units in order to protect the village under the command of Roma Karapetyan. Thanks to the organized self-defence, the villagers were able to avoid distractions in the village.



The main attack was carried out on April 10, 1992, when the Defense Ministry Units of Azerbaijan along with the units of the Internal Affairs Ministry and the OMON forces attacked the village 3 times in a row, without any success. The April 10 attack on Maragha was carried out by not only a manifold but also a big number of armoured vehicles, including tanks. The self-defence units had to retreat as they did not have appropriate military equipment to deliver a counterattack. According to eyewitness accounts, 118 peaceful inhabitants remained in the village on the day of the attack, staying in the underground shelters that were built by the residents in advance.



The eyewitness accounts state that the Azerbaijani military forces destroyed and burned the houses, practically razed everything to the ground and brutally killed the locals without any discrimination within a few hours. Roma Karapetyan and other members of the self-defence unit recall seeing Azerbaijani soldiers carrying swords. After liberating the village, they noticed Christian crosses marked on almost all of the corpses.



Over 50 people including 9 children and 29 women were taken captive. Subsequently, it became possible to rescue some of these people, including all the children, yet the fate of 19 hostages remains still unknown.



Larisa Alaverdyan, an expert of the special Commission of the RA Supreme Council on Artsakh issues at the time, made a great contribution to this issue. She organized the hostage exchange process and collected their memories of Azerbaijani captivity.



Shahin Taghiyev, the commander of Gurtulush military unit, one of the units that perpetrated the massacres in Maragha is one of the first national heroes of Azerbaijan. The impunity of the organizers and the perpetrators of those crimes contributed to enrooting Armenophobia as a state policy the outcome of which was shown off during the Azerbaijani aggression against the people of Artsakh in April 2016.



Lucy Poghosyan
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday told CNBC's Jim Cramer it's not clear when America could reopen for business, despite some optimism from the White House that it could happen next month.

When asked if shops could open up in May, she decided against offering a hopeful timeline.

"This is an era of entrepreneurship like none we've ever seen before because of the challenge to small businesses," she said in a "Mad Money" interview. "Let's recognize what that is  that optimism is  to America, but I don't think anybody can tell you a date unless we just take it a week at a time. But let's be hopeful that it's soon."

Earlier that day on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," Cramer posed the same question to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said he believed it is possible to get the economy rolling again as soon as May. The Trump administration is currently making sure businesses "have the liquidity that they need to operate their business in the interim," he said.

The U.S. economy was effectively put on hold last month as the federal and state governments hunkered down on the coronavirus epidemic by closing nonessential businesses and ordering social distancing mandates. The moves were made to slow the infection rate.

The closure of bars and shopping malls, among other businesses, however, has pushed more than 16 million Americans to file for unemployment claims in the past three weeks and lawmakers to pass a series of bills to combat the economic effect of the health crisis. The stock market, which was putting in record highs, has since been toiling in bear market territory.

The White House is reportedly mulling a second coronavirus task force to focus on the economic damage of the pandemic. Investors have worried that the prolonged shutdown could push the economy into a recession or worse.

"We could have a depression because so many people are out of work, and that's why we have to get the system really energized and working," Pelosi said in the interview. "Let's get out those unemployment checks. Let's get out those direct payments. Let's get these loans freed up."

The direct payments of up to $1,200 for some Americans that Pelosi referred to are a part of the historic $2.2 trillion economic relief package that President Donald Trump signed into law nearly two weeks ago. The stimulus program also includes rescue money for small businesses and corporations.

Despite her reservations about predicting when society could resume some sense of normalcy, Pelosi said she was optimistic that Democratic and Republican lawmakers can continue to work in a bipartisan fashion.

"We should get more credit for working together," she said.

To get the economy back humming, Pelosi said, the government needs to focus on expanding coronavirus testing and other efforts to address the health crisis, including developing treatments, before making economic progress. She added that the shelter-in-place order in her home state of California is making a "very big difference."

"We're flying blind without [widespread testing], and we're long overdue," the Democratic lawmaker said. "We still have to do [testing] in order for us to have an idea of the extent of this terrible disease, but also so that we have data, collection of racial data, so that we know how this is affecting different communities."
President Donald Trump is calling the upcoming decision of when to reopen the country for commerce, travel and ordinary life among the biggest he has ever faced.

'I'm going to have to make a decision, and I only hope to God that it's the right decision,' Trump said at the White House Friday, as U.S. deaths due to the coronavirus passed 18,000.

'Without question it's the biggest decision I've ever had to make,' said Trump.

Trump has without fail praised his handling of the outbreak, repeatedly heralding the decision to close off travel from China as it spread  although subsequent reporting has showed hundreds of thousands of people from China flew here before the ban, and new testing indicates the world-topping outbreak in New York may be linked to infection from Europe.

'Without question it's the biggest decision I've ever had to make,' President Trump said of the decision to reopen the country

The president, who is known to eschew long briefing books and speaks about trusting his instincts, said he will rely on scientists and a team of as-yet unannounced advisors as he ponders the decision that will affect death rates, unemployment figures  and his own reelection.

Issuing guidelines for Americans to remain at home and avoid large groups  first for 15 days, then for an additional 30  was an also a daunting decision. But Trump has repeatedly said he is eager to 'reopen' the country, and is setting up a new task force to consider the factors.

Public health officials are warning that if Americans go back to school and work too soon, the nation could face a second wave of infection and additional economic setbacks. Currently more than 16 million Americans have filed for unemployment.

Trump mused about the topic at his press briefing, just before Easter  when he had earlier suggested the nation might be ready to reopen.

'I don't know if I've had a bigger decision than that, if you think, right? I mean think of that decision, somebody said, 'It's totally up to the president,' and it is. I don't know if I've had a bigger decision,' Trump said.

Trump had been hopeful to reopen the country by Easter. It turned out that U.S. deaths and infections are spiking. Current guidelines run until the end of April

A man in a wheelchair crosses a nearly empty 7th Avenue in Times Square in Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New York, U.S., April 7, 2020

A pedestrian walks across Water Street empty of traffic, Friday, April 10, 2020, in the financial district of New York. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death

La Jolla Shores beach is shown empty of people during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in San Diego, California, U.S., April 6, 2020

Beaches on the Pacific Ocean lie empty after Los Angeles issued a stay-at-home order and closed beaches and state parks, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Manhattan Beach, California, U.S., April 2, 2020

In fact it is governors and mayors who have imposed stay-home orders on many American citizens, and Trump has conspicuously refused to demand that all states that impose them. But states and localities are certain to take guidance from the White House, and the president has many levers of power.

'But I'm going to surround myself with the greatest minds. Not only the greatest minds in numerous different businesses, including the business of politics and reason and we're going to make a decision and hopefully it's going to be the right decision. I will say this, we want to get it open as soon as we can,' Trump said of his task force.

Public health officials that reopening before therapeutic treatments or strategies are in order could lead to another outbreak. Decreases in deaths and infections in hot spots like New York are most likely attributable to social distancing, government experts say.

As for what to call the body, to be revealed Tuesday, Trump said: 'I call it the opening our country task force. Or Opening Our Country Council,' since there is already a task force on the coronavirus.

Trump made the statement on good Friday, after tweeting out video of an Oval Office prayer, and saying he plans to watch an Easter sermon by evangelical pastor Pastor Robert Jeffress on his laptop Sunday.

Trump also stated the nation would not have any kind of universal testing for the coronavirus, after earlier saying every American who wanted a test would get one.

On Friday, he said it was only necessary to test in 'hot-spots' and places with flare-ups  although research has showed many people with the coronavirus don't show symptoms.

'You're going to see nobody's gonna be getting sick anymore,' Trump said. 'It will be gone and it won't be that much longer.'

'People are not going to go to the hospital, people are not going to get sick,' Trump said.

A paper by the libertarian American Enterprise Institute argues that the country should only reopen when 'widespread testing' is available to 'let public health officials detect and subsequently contain any future outbreaks before everything has to be locked down.'
CHESTER SPRINGS, Pa., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Edge of Cinema, a video production and digital marketing company, announces an initiative to help Pennsylvania-based businesses who are struggling during the pandemic. All organizations and businesses that are suffering and supporting their communities are encouraged to apply.

Edge of Cinema supports the local economy in a time of need.

Ten applicants will be selected based on their circumstances as described in their application. Those selected will be given a custom 30-second commercial designed to spread their message, meet their most urgent need, and support their valuable work in the community during the crisis. Edge of Cinema's team is working safely from home, and all work under the initiative will maintain Pennsylvania social distancing guidelines and mandates.

When asked about the initiative, co-founders Matthew Scura and Jeremy Schmidt said, "COVID-19 has impacted Pennsylvania businesses in very scary ways, ourselves included. Now, more than ever, we need to support the local economy, and allowing struggling businesses a chance to communicate with their audience is how we can make a difference."

Businesses can apply at www.edgeofcinema.com/Community/

About Edge of Cinema, LLC: Edge of Cinema is a video and digital marketing company based in Chester Springs, PA. Since 2009, Edge of Cinema has created hundreds of videos and marketing campaigns for businesses and nonprofits in Pennsylvania and around the world.

Contact:

Matthew Scura

Edge of Cinema, LLC

610-304-9504

[email protected]

Related Files

Edge of Cinema - Marketing Initiative Flyer.png

Edge of Cinema COVID-19 Press Release.pdf

Related Images

free-videos-for-pennsylvania.png

Free Videos for Pennsylvania Businesses

Edge of Cinema supports the local economy in a time of need.

Related Links

Apply for Edge of Cinema's Free Videos Here

SOURCE Edge of Cinema, LLC

Related Links

http://www.edgeofcinema.com


Tropical Cyclone Harold's trail of destruction through four Pacific nations could threaten a rise in disease, authorities warned Friday, as stretched health services struggled under the added burden of the coronavirus. Speedy repairs and recovery were needed to prevent malaria and dengue outbreaks following the cyclone which killed 29 and left thousands homeless, officials said. Over a seven-day period, Harold developed from a category one cyclone into a category five super storm as it slammed into the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga. Homes and crops were destroyed, plantations felled, and roads were covered in debris including several wrecked boats. Sami Mafi told AFP the storm had forced waves directly into his home, near Fanga'uta Lagoon in Tonga, as his family hauled sodden mattresses, clothes and belongings from inside. "It wasn't the rain, it was the sea came in. The water hit the house, the door opened, my family were swimming inside," Mafi said. With the arrival of Harold coinciding with a king tide in Tonga, Mafi's fishing boat was swept 200 metres (yards) inland where it was left overturned and half buried in a pile of debris. The Red Cross communications manager for the Pacific, Carl Gustav Lorentzen, described the damage in the region as "substantial" but said it could be some days before a dollar figure could be put on it. Many areas would be without power for at least a week and in some of Vanuatu's more remote islands it could be two weeks before electricity is restored, Lorentzen said. "Crops have been 100 percent damaged, houses destroyed and we are having quite some challenges providing shelter in those areas.". - Virus complicates relief effort - In Luganville, Vanuatu's second-largest town, two people had been killed in the storm which destroyed 70 percent of buildings and left a dire need for clean water and shelter, local MP Matai Seremaiah said. "If we don't clear up the yards they start to attract mosquitoes and then the next thing, we have malaria or dengue fever coming in," Seremaiah told Radio New Zealand. In the Solomon Islands 27 people died after being swept off an inter-island ferry. In Fiji, three days after the storm pounded its way through, 4,000 people remain in evacuation centres. Several coastal tourist resorts were wiped out along with fishing boats in Tonga. "The sea was running inland about one metre above its usual highest level, which was quite devastating," Tonga's director of meteorology Ofa Fa'anunu said. The global COVID-19 pandemic has complicated disaster relief efforts, with Vanuatu reluctant to open its international borders as it seeks to remain one of the few countries without any confirmed cases of the virus. Fiji has 15 cases and Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said the virus and cyclone meant "our economy and our people have been dealt two body blows to start the year". "This storm must not compromise our coronavirus containment efforts, lest we risk damage far more painful than the aftermath of any cyclone," he said Thursday. Australia and New Zealand have immediately responded to pleas for aid with relief supplies including blankets, tests, hygiene kits and lanterns. "We stand ready to provide further help to our Pacific family in whatever ways we can," Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said. "It will be some time before the full impact of this disaster is known."
In a bit of bad irony, the country where this Coronavirus originated is openly discriminating against black Africans, for fear that they will spread the virus to them. This is despite the fact that Africa is the least affected region, with most of its cases imported.

Racism in China is not anything new, and is usually many times worse than what is experienced in America and the West. In its case, the discrimination against blacks is open, vicious and shameless.

Following the Wuhan virus pandemic, the level of discrimination experienced by blacks in China has gone up dramatically with many Kenyans being caught at the centre of it. Some of them are students who got stuck in the country before most international travel was stopped.

For the past few days, they have experienced racism on levels comparable to America in the early 1900s, or apartheid South Africa.

Black people are not allowed to board trains or other public transport. They are not allowed to shop for essentials, including food, and many of them have been evicted from their residences and hotels for merely being black.

I dont have food or money. Its not fair. We are not allowed to use public transport, we are not allowed in the supermarkets, we are not allowed to go outside our houses. They keep saying that Africans are now the ones with the virus. The police are the ones chasing people around the city. Even if you go to them for help, they say they cannot help, one Kenyan told reporters.

She revealed that some of her friends in Beijing were forced to sleep outside for 3 days after they were denied accommodation everywhere.

While there have not been reported cases of violence, most Chinese citizens are not shy to show open disregard for the black skin. They regularly call police on them for doing nothing wrong.

There are many reports that Africans, some of whom have lived in China for years, are being rounded up and put in mandatory 14 day quarantine. One Kenyan living in Guanghzou who spoke to Citizen TV on condition of anonymity said that she was forced to go into hiding after Chinese nationals came knocking on her doors. When I heard them coming, I went into hiding. Some of my friends were not so lucky and were forcefully taken away for a 14 day quarantine.



The slide into widespread racial discrimination by one of the worlds leading power is a big warning to African countries which have heavily relied on aid and invested from China in recent years.

The fact that in 2020, a whole nation can be this incredibly racist, either with full government backing or deliberate inaction is a big red flag.

Using a disease that originated from your own country under dubious circumstances, to bring out an inherent racism is beyond repulsive.

Here is a Ugandan lady speaking up on her experience.

Ugandan and Kenyan students are reportedly facing xenophobia in parts of China ??  During a live TV interview, one of the students alleged being denied medical services and access to public transport means. ?: @nbstv pic.twitter.com/PmjmHMNKU8  Joy Doreen BIIRA (@JoyDoreenBiira) April 9, 2020

And a Nigerian who was kicked out from his hotel.

Look how Africans and other foreigners are stranded on the street, evacuated from the street, denied their right to rent a place, so basically China is saying f*ck humanity and racism rules,

African virus they say

Foreign virus they say

Racist twats, yall been eating scorpions pic.twitter.com/CQbqZRsXF4  Bernardomayne ? (@bernardomayne) April 9, 2020

The world is today in economic chaos because of how China handled the Coronavirus, downplaying it and shutting up anyone who spoke up in the early days.

China may be an economic leader in 2020, but most their thinking and way of life is still as backward as it was centuries ago. Eating everything that moves with the thousands of viruses that come with that, known and unknown. In the process endangering everyone on the planet.

Once this pandemic is over, countries all around the world should start asking tough questions and making tough decisions. Japan has already taken a bold move to fund its firms to shift production out of China, and moving forward this might be the way to go for many other countries.
Washington DC: In a huge endorsement of Prime Minister Modis leadership and goodwill, the White House - the office of the President of United States, has started following him and President Ram Nath Kovind.

The White House follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his office, and President Ram Nath Kovind, making them the first non-Americans to be followed by its official Twitter account.

The White House follows only 19 accounts on Twitter of which no other non-American leader is followed except PM Modi and President Kovind. What makes it particularly noteworthy is the fact that the White House does not follow any other world leader other than PM Modi and President Kovind.

The India-centric handles followed by the White House include @narendramodi - the personal Twitter account of PM Modi, @PMOIndia - the official handle of Prime Minister of India, @rashtrapatibhvn - the official Twitter account of Rashtrapati Bhavan and is run by the Presidents Secretariat. And two others including @USAandIndia - Official account of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, @IndianEmbassyUS - Official account of the U.S Embassy in New Delhi.

The bonhomie between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often been at display whether its in Texas or Gujarat and, this is yet another proof of the deep bonding between the two leaders and the two great democracies of the world.

The two leaders have often eloquently spoken about each other whenever they have met. This mutual admiration is also reflected in the US-India relationship which has improved under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi.

Just recently, US President Donald Trump thanked PM Modi and the people of India for lifting curbs on the export of hydroxychloroquine. "Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you, India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump had said in a tweet.

PM Modi is also the third most followed world leader after US President Trump and Pope Francis. PM Modi has 42 million followers on his personal account and 26 million followers on his institutional account.
City of San Antonio

Rather than chaining chairs to a tree in Brackenridge Park to claim an Easter picnic spot and mark local tradition, San Antonians will have to find ways to celebrate at home this Sunday as the city remains under stay-at-home orders.

City parks will be closed during Easter weekend as officials urge the importance of staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because San Antonio tradition includes gathering at parks for the holiday, the city is aware residents may be tempted to host barbecues or other gatherings.
The Government has urged members of the public to refrain from wearing clinical face masks so supplies are available for NHS and care workers who need them most.

Speaking at a regular press conference on Friday Health Secretary Matt Hancock said choosing to wear a mask was not a "risk-free option".

It comes amid fears that the health service is facing shortages of protective equipment. Authorities on Friday declined to say how many NHS staff had died from coronavirus, citing confidentiality reasons.

"We follow the science and the science on the use of face masks says that they don't have a material impact outside of those settings that Public Health England have set out," Mr Hancock said.

"But also here we are following the international evidence too: the WHO themselves have looked into this and came to the conclusion that facemasks should be saved for those in health and care who really need them.

"It is not a risk-free option for everybody to wear facemasks because that means it's harder to get hold of face masks for people where the science says they're needed."

Speaking at the same press conference, Jonathan Van-Tam, one of England's deputy chief medical officers, said:

"In terms of face masks and general wearing of them by the public, I do know that this is a very vexed, and very emotive issue with citizens all around the world, frankly. We have kept this under very careful and repetitive scientific review. Our expert advisors committee ... met again this week to consider all of these matters and we do remain convinced that there just isn't the evidence base to support general mask wearing use by the public.

"You've probably seen the paper that was released four days ago by Paul Hunter's team from the University of East Anglia. They have been through all of that evidence again - we have looked at all of that evidence in that paper again, and it remains the case that we do not see at this point a persuasive argument for general mask wearing by the public .

"But I want to assure you personally that we will keep the science evidence under review and we are going to be guided by the science. If the science evidence changes then we will change."

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

This week the World Health Organisation released a review of evidence on the use of face masks. Prof David Heymann, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who chaired the WHOs scientific and technical advisory group, said that outside of a clinical setting masks were only suitable "for the protection of others, not for the protection of oneself.

People think they are protected when they are not, he added. Healthcare workers, in addition to the masks, wear visors too, to protect the eyes.
Boris Johnsons Conservative government disregarded scientific advice about the danger to life posed by the coronavirus almost from the moment when the first deaths were reported in China.

Instead, the government was mainly concerned with developing its response from the standpoint of combating public disorder and social unrest. This was the backdrop to its passing of the Coronavirus Bill on March 25 handing authoritarian powers to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his ministers.

Put on the statute book without a parliamentary vote, the 351-page Coronavirus Act 2020 allows the government to restrict or prohibit events and gatherings in England and Wales during the pandemic in any place, vehicle, train, vessel or aircraft, any movable structure and any offshore installation. Ministers have the powers to close premises. Powers were also granted allowing the forced detention and isolation of anyone, including children, and for any amount of time. The Act rubber-stamped postponing this years local authority and mayoral elections, with provisions to postpone any other electoral events over the next year.

As the bill was being rushed through both Houses of Parliament, the government announced that 20,000 military personnel had been placed on standby10,000 military personnel regularly assigned to operations among civilians, such as in floods, plus a further 10,000 troops. As the WSWS noted, The mobilisation of the armed forces has also been in advanced preparation and was a central component of the Tories post-Brexit planning strategy known as Operation Yellowhammer. Yellowhammer predicted a rise in public disorder and community tensions.

According to a government web page, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) exists to provide scientific and technical advice to support government decision makers during emergencies. SAGEs advice is made available to decision makers to support UK cross-government decisions in the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR) [also known as COBRA].

SAGE is co-chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance (government Chief Science Advisor) and Professor Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer). Both played a central role in the adoption by the Johnson government of the herd immunity, policy, i.e., the attemptin the absence of a vaccineto mass infect most of the population [up to 70 percent] with coronavirus. This was advocated in the face of all international experience from China and other countries that the mass testing of the population, allied with quarantining, social distancing and lockdowns as necessary, was the only way to prevent the spread of the virus and save lives. Had there not been widespread opposition to herd immunity, including from top scientists, the governments policy would have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands.

As the COVID-19 pandemic began, the government enlisted the advice of three SAGE groups: the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG); the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) (Department for Health and Social Care) and the Independent Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B).

Behavioural scientists played an extraordinary and unwarranted part in determining policy, compared with the input of medical professionals.

In a March 14 SAGE document, The role of behavioural science in the coronavirus outbreak, the section What is SPI-B? notes: To date, there have been three meetings of SPI-B to discuss specific topics of advice requested by SAGE. The topics discussed relate to the risk of public disorder; the use of behavioural and social interventions; and how to give guidance to people who are asked to self-isolate.

The SPI-B was asked to consider several possible behavioural and social interventionsincluding stopping large events (mass gatherings), school closures, isolation of people with symptoms and also their households, general social distancing, and lengthy social distancing for people in at-risk groups.

The criteria used was not what was scientifically necessary but rather public attitudes and support; likely adherence; and any barriers, facilitators or communication issues that should be considered.

A key passage reads in order to limit the risk of public disorder even further, the Government should: provide clear and transparent reasons for the different strategies that might be taken; set clear expectations on how the national response would develop; and promote collective action throughout the country.

After 10 years of brutal austerity, the government was acutely aware it was sitting on a social volcano and that the pandemic could mean social anger erupting to the surface.

The National Health Service (NHS) had been eviscerated over the last decade due to billions of pounds cut in efficiency savings and the privatisation agenda. The government was advised in a SAGE paper February 26, In the event of a pandemic, without action, the NHS will be unable to meet all demands placed on it. Demand on beds is likely to overtake supply well before the peak is reached.

Rather than demand additional resources, the government focused on dealing with the publics reaction to the NHS failing to cope. As far back as February 25, (Cobra) commissioned advice from SPI-B on the risk of public disorder in the Covid-19 RWCS [reasonable worst case scenario].

SAGE and the Home Office, working with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) considered the risk of public disorder, with a focus on scenarios where there are significant workplace absences, e.g. in the police, and pressures on healthcare facilities

SPI-B defined public disorder to include actions from opportunistic crime, community tension and rioting.

SPI-B were clear under what conditions social unrest could arise: Where public disorder occurs, it is usually triggered by perceptions about the Governments response, rather than the nature of the epidemic per se. For example, a perception that the Government response strategies are not effective in looking after the public may lead to an increase in tensions.

It noted that the risk of public disorder could occur where there are staff absences in police forces, pressures on healthcare facilities, perceptions that there is limited resource, e.g. limited face masks or hand sanitiser, perceptions of inadequate government response to contain the outbreak.

SPI-B warned that public unrest could develop in Specific scenarios where police actions are experienced as excessive and which prevent the public from accessing services they believe they have a right to access (e.g. food, healthcare) may lead to increased tensions.

Under conditions in which virtually no testing had been done among the population for COVID-19in contrast to China, South Korea and other countriesSPI-B stated that the public need to understand the purpose of the Governments policy, why the UK approach differs to other countries and how resources are being allocated.

It was necessary for the government to Promote a sense of collectivism: All messaging should reinforce a sense of community, that we are all in this togetheri.e., promote the lie that the super-rich and the mass of working people were equally affected by the coronavirus pandemic and shared a common purpose in fighting it.

Knowing this to be a lie, just one month after the February paper was written, the government passed into law the Coronavirus Bill in readiness to confront workers opposed to policies that have caused the deaths of thousands.

The SAGE documents went almost without comment in the media, with just one article, in the Daily Mail, noting its warnings of flashpoints over stretched healthcare facilities or goods shortages.

One of the most critical voices raised in opposition to the governments strategy was Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the Lancet medical journal. On the SAGE papers, he stated, There is evidence on modelling and on behavioural science, but I dont see the evidence from the public health community or from the clinical community.

We [i.e., the Johnson government] thought we could have a controlled epidemic. We thought we could manage that epidemic over the course of March and April, push the curve to the right, build up herd immunity and that way we could protect people.

The reason why that strategy was wrong is it didnt recognise that 20 percent of people infected would end up with severe critical illness. The evidence was there at the end of January.

Further damning evidence of how the government refused to act and enforce the most rudimentary policies to protect the population was made public this week in a Reuters special report.

In it, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care claimed the government was delivering a science-led action plan to fight coronavirus: As the public would expect, we regularly test our pandemic plans and what we learned from previous exercises has helped us to rapidly respond to COVID-19.

This is a lie. As noted by the WSWS, in 2016 the government knew from Exercise Cygnus, intended to determine readiness for a novel respiratory influenza pandemic, that there would be catastrophic National Health Service failings during a flu pandemic that would kill a lot of people. The government responded by continuing to cut the human and material resources available to the NHS.

Reuters published comments from John Edmunds, a professor of infectious disease modelling at Imperial College, of the flu pandemic modelling committee (SPI-M). Edmunds said that around seven weeks before the first confirmed death of COVID-19 in the UK, from about mid January onwards, it was absolutely obvious that this was serious, very serious.

Graham Medley, a professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and chairman of SPI-M, told Reuters, it was clear that this was going to be big from the first meeting. By the end of January, SPI-M went into wartime mode.

Despite this, on January 30 the government only raised the official threat level posed by COVID-19 from low to moderate. It was kept at moderate as deaths began to mount in other countries, including in mainland Europe, even after a February 21 meeting of NERVTAG, the group which advises the government on the threat posed by new and emerging respiratory viruses.

Reuters notes, Edmunds, who had technical difficulties and couldnt be heard on the call, emailed afterwards to ask the warning to be elevated to high, the minutes revealed. But the warning level remained lower. Its unclear why. Edmunds recalls, I just thought, are we still thinking that its mild or something? It definitely isnt, you know.

These warnings were ignored because Downing Street had set on its herd immunity policy. According to a report in the Times, during a private event held at the end of February, Johnsons key adviser advisor Dominic Cummings argued against strict measures to contain coronavirus. Those present summarised his position as herd immunity, protect the economy, and if that means some pensioners die, too bad. A senior Conservative source described his view as let old people die.

By February 28, the virus had already led to fatalities in Iran, South Korea, and Italy. It was too late to stop the spread of the virus, with Reuters noting that on March 2 the pandemic modelling committee SPI-M produced its consensus report that warned the coronavirus was now transmitting freely in the UK.

The first coronavirus death in the UK was announced on March 5. But in contrast to Italywhich had recorded 827 deaths by March 11 and ordered a national lockdownthe Johnson government continued to play down the impact the virus would have as it ripped through the population. On March 12, it officially announced its herd immunity policy. Government Chief Science Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance, stood alongside Johnson and Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty in Downing Street and said of the deadly virus: Its not possible to stop everyone getting it and its also not desirable because you want some immunity in the population to protect ourselves in the future.
GREENWICH  The suspect accused of robbing a Byram jewelry store on March 18 already had an extensive criminal record before he allegedly pulled a gun on a store worker there and made off with a large cache of jewels.

Thomas Liberatore, 62, who has been a resident of Stamford, White Plains, and Yonkers, N.Y., when not imprisoned, is now facing a robbery charge in connection with the Byram Jewelers robbery. Federal prosecutors say he was also part of a team of three gunmen who committed a robbery in Stamford March 28 that killed store owner Mark Vuono.

According to documents filed by federal prosecutors working with the U.S. Attorneys Office in Connecticut, when police arrived at Byram Jewelers, they found shattered glass from a display case, a broken mirror and a bleeding store worker. The worker was bleeding from his forehead and hands as a result of the glass shattering.

The worker told police that a man walked in around 4:45 p.m., wearing a surgical mask and gloves, and asked to look at engagement rings, the affidavit states, before pulling a gun and pointing it at him. The gunman took the rings he was being show, then demanded that the worker open the nearby case, according to court papers, but when the worker fumbled with the lock, the robber smashed it open with his weapon. The worker then dove to the floor and activated an alarm, the affidavit states, and the robber took off with the merchandise.

Authorities got an image of the getaway car, a Honda Civic, and discovered Liberatore had stolen it in Yonkers, N.Y., after taking it for a test drive from a dealership, they said. The car was later spotted in New Rochelle, N.Y., and video emerged from that discovery.

Police determined Liberatore was behind the Byram Jewelers robbery through visual identification, the affidavit stated.

Liberatore has been charged repeatedly with major felonies, according to the affidavit filed by federal prosecutors working with the U.S. Attorney Office in Connecticut. Federal authorities say he is a Connecticut resident with ties to Stamford. It says he had been staying in Yonkers around the time of the robberies.

According to the federal court papers, Liberatore has prior felony convictions for burglary in the third degree in 1976; bribery of a witness in 1978; burglary in the second and third degree in 1981; attempted assault in the first degree in 1987; assault on a police officer in 1988. He was sentenced to 25 years to life for his assault in the first degree in 1987, and was most recently released to parole on April 1, 2019. Liberatore is facing pending charges in New York state for aggravated assault in the first degree, relating to another assault on a police officer.

Authorities said Liberatore also took part in a robbery-homicide in Stamford, with Robert Rallo, 56, of Brooklyn, Paul Tony Pro Prosano, 59, also of Brooklyn.

Law enforcement officials say three men can be seen on surveillance camera pulled over at the Dairy Queen on Summer Street, eight blocks south of Vuonos store, Marco Jewelers, at about 1:15 p.m. on March 28.

Federal authorities say the men match the descriptions of Liberatore, Rallo and Prosano. The high definition video shows the trio putting on surgical masks and changing their clothing next to a black 2000 Jaguar, according to a 13-page arrest affidavit. The driver stayed in the car except to walk into Midtown News next to the Dairy Queen at one point.

A short time later, at 2:08 p.m., men matching the description of Rallo and Liberatore are seen entering Marco Jewelers, captured on video that police were able to access from a surveillance camera inside the store, according to court documents.

Vuono, the only person in the store prior to their arrival, is soon seen fighting the man believed to be Rallo, who is armed with a black semiautomatic handgun. While the fight is going on, the other man, believed to be Liberatore, begins grabbing items from the display cases inside the store, according to the affidavit.

At that point Vuono produces his own silver revolver and he and his assailant fight over the two handguns next to a large open safe.

During the struggle Vuonos attacker can be seen reaching into the safe and pulling out a third handgun, this one a .357 Magnum revolver in a holster, belonging to Vuono, according to authorities. Vuono and the man then struggle over that gun, leading Vuono to pull the holster off the gun as the men wrestle for control.

The video then shows the man shooting Vuono with the revolver, according to the affidavit. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that Vuono died from a gunshot wound to the head.

From more video, taken by a camera outside the store, authorities say the man believed to be Liberatore is seen getting back into the Jaguar, parked on Summer Street near Marco Jewelers with the man believed to be Prosano behind the wheel, according to the affidavit. The vehicle drives off, returning five minutes later to pick up the person believed to be Rallo.

A black Jaguar with license plates matching those on the car in the Stamford surveillance videos was later found on Staten Island.

Beginning on March 30, two days after the Stamford robbery, FBI agents began staking out the Jaguar. At 5:30 p.m. that day a black BMW X3 with Prosano behind the wheel rolled up, and Rallo got out out and climbed into the drivers seat of the Jaguar, according to authorities.

The FBI agents followed the cars, which rapidly accelerated, authorities said. A few blocks away Prosano crashed into a tree on a street corner and made a run for it before he was apprehended by the agents, authorities said.

Rallo got a bit further, but also crashed, authorities said. He jumped out of the car, leaving it to roll into a hydrant, and fled on foot, only to be captured five backyards away, authorities said.

Tracing the registration of the Jaguars license plate, investigators said they discovered Rallo had purchased the car a month earlier but had left the vehicle registered in the previous owners name.

After a search warrant was obtained for the BMW, investigators found 63 rings, eight bracelets, one earring, one cufflink and two tie pins that, according to Vuonos family, were stolen from the store just two days earlier, according to the arrest affidacit. A search of an armoire and bedroom inside Prosanos Brooklyn home turned up 23 pairs of earrings and three rings with Marco Jeweler labels on them, according to the affidavit. Vuono family members also identified the jewelry as coming from the Sixth Street store, the document said.

On the evening of March 30, authorities arrested Liberatore, who asked agents if they had just (him) or ... everyone, the affidavit said.

Federal criminal complaints charge Rallo, Liberatore and Prosano with Hobbs Act Robbery, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. Authorities have said they expect to make additional charges.

Each defendant has an extensive criminal history and the three men met while serving sentences within the New York State Department of Corrections, authorities have said.

The defendants have been detained in New York on state parole violation charges. Attorneys have not yet been assigned to them, authorities said. The arrest warrants issued on the robbery charges have been lodged as detainers.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.com
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Resinco Capital Partners Inc. (CSE:RIN, OTC: RSCZF, FRANKFURT: L6V1) (the Company or Resinco) is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement on an oversubscribed basis by issuance of 25,000,000 units (the Units and each individually, a Unit) for gross proceeds of $2,500,000 (the Offering).

Alex Somjen, president and chief executive officer of Resinco, said: "The oversubscription of our financing demonstrates the high level of demand and support we have received from the investment community. We are well positioned to explore new opportunities in health care sector, especially as it relates to detection of and protection against epidemics and pandemics. As is evident from the current crisis, the health care sector is an increasingly important industry that has broad implications across the global economy."

Each Unit is comprised of one common share of the Company (a Common Share) at a price of $0.10 per Common Share and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant at a price of $0.20. Each whole warrant will be exercisable for a period of 24 months from the closing of the Offering.

The Company expanded the originally announced private placement from 20,000,000 units to 25,000,000 units for gross proceeds of $2,500,000 (see the Companys news release dated April 6th, 2020). The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering for pursuing investment opportunities and general corporate purposes.

All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four-months and one day. Finders fees may be paid to eligible finders in accordance with the policies of the CSE.

About Resinco

Resinco Capital Partners is a global investment company which specializes in providing early stage financing to private and public companies. The Company engages in new, early stage investment opportunities in previously underdeveloped assets and obtaining positions in early stage investment opportunities that adequately reflect the risk profile.

RESINCO CAPITAL PARTNERS INC.:

Company Contact:

alex@resincocp.com



Tel: 416-319-5744

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons (as defined in the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration is available.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on



Friday said all 107 people who arrived in Chhattisgarh after attending last month's congregation of Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin in New Delhi have been identified and placed in quarantine.

Addressing the media through video conferencing, Baghel also said the decision to call off the lockdown in state will be taken after discussion and putting in place precautionary measures.

"None of the Tablighi Jamaat members who attended the Nizamuddin event are missing. All 107 have been identified and quarantined. Their samples are being tested and contact tracing is underway," he said.

When queried that most people mentioned in the list of Nizamuddin event attendees were Hindus, Baghel said, "The Andhra Pradesh SIB had released a list of 159 people (from Chhattisgarh) on the basis of location of mobile phones tracked in the area (Nizamuddin- during the period when the event was held)."



"The list included names of people from different communities who had only passed through that location. All of them hadn't attended the Nizamuddin event. Later, the Centre gathered information about people who took part in the congregation and identified these 107 people," he added.

The chief minister further said the decision to continue or call off the lockdown will be taken during the state's cabinet meeting on April 12 after getting directions in this regard during a video conference meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled on Saturday.

Baghel advocated that the term 'social distancing' be replaced with 'physical distancing'.

He said the state had adequate number of ventilators as well as quarantine facilities, and tenders to buy PPE kits had been processed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Willis Independent School District has announced it has canceled its upcoming graduation ceremony following Sam Houston State Universitys decision to suspend all campus events until June 30.

Willis ISD is sad to report that our graduation venue has closed through June 30, therefore the Class of 2020 Graduation previously scheduled for May 22 is canceled, Willis ISD stated on social media.

For the past several years, Willis ISD has held the ceremony at SHSU in Huntsville. While the pandemic has prompted a change in the venue for this years plans, Communications Director Jamie Fails clarified that graduation is not necessarily canceled for good.

School officials said they are still working on plans and will honor seniors in a special way.

Superintendent Tim Harkrider and Willis High School Principal Stephanie Hodgins plan to meet virtually with senior representatives next week. The school officials and student representatives intend to discuss an end of the year plan. A survey will follow the virtual meeting and be sent out to seniors in the coming weeks to provide an opportunity to submit their ideas.

I assure you that we will continue to work together to navigate these uncertain times and make sure the Class of 2020 still has the senior experience they deserve, Hodgins wrote in a letter to parents provided by Willis ISD.

Conroe ISDs Caney Creek High School also had plans at the same venue. As of Friday, Conroe ISD said it is in the process of finalizing alternate graduation options, and Superintendent Dr. Curtis Null hopes to be able to share more information during his Facebook Live update at 6 p.m. on Monday.

The district stated in a previous article that it has been working with the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands on securing dates later in the summer as an alternative option. The district intended to keep the current graduation dates with consideration to limitations on who can be in attendance.

On Friday, Montgomery ISD reported no updates, changes or cancellations for graduation, which has been tentatively planned for May 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the MISD stadium.

mellsworth@hcnonline.com
: A 19 member expert committee



constituted by the Tamil Nadu government to advise it of steps to tackle the COVID-19 crisis on Friday recommended to Chief Minister K Palaniswami that the lockdown be extended by two weeks beyond April 14 consdering the rise in number of cases.

A day after Palaniswami said a decision on lockdown extension will be taken based on the committee's recommendation, he also consulted public health experts, including World Health Organisation chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan and others via a video link from the Secretariat.

The advice of experts like Swaminathan to the government was notknown immediately.

Emerging from the meeting, Dr Prabhdeep Kaur, representing the 19-member committee of experts, said they have recommended to the State government to extend the lockdown beyond April 14 for 14 days considering the rise in the number of positive cases.

Kaur, a scientist with the Indian Council of Medical Research's National Institute of Epidemiology here, told reporters at Fort St George that so far the efforts of Tamil Nadu government in battling the virus was good and it was appreciated in the meeting.

"The public health system is robust and hence the government has the capacity to detect cases and clusters early and easily and this can be further strengthened and this was discussed."



The government has made 'good arrangement' in respect of having adequate number of beds in hospitals to treat coronavirus infected people and several steps have also been taken vis-a-vis the needs of patients and their family members, she said.

"Many efforts are being taken (by the government) for the safety of doctors, nurses and other health workers who are on the frontline in the fight against the virus.

This should be given importance as they could fight the pandemic only if they are well," she said.

"Despite all efforts, the number of cases have been increasing so far and in the past one week the positive cases was on the rise.

All experts feel that it will be good if the lockdown is extended for 14 more days and this is the recommendation of the expert committee," she said.

In the 14-day period, more testing should be done for people, including contacts of positive people and results should be collected and "based on the data, an informed decision (on ending or further prolonging the lockdown) can be taken two weeks later," she said.

On Thursday, the Chief Mininster had said that a decision on extending the lockdown depended on the advice of the 19- member committee of medical experts and the government's 12 panels on tackling COVID-19 scenario.

To a question, he had said: "We are now in stage two, there is a chance for progression into stage three and the government is taking all steps to confine the infection to stage two.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The last time Reggie Campbell captured one of his daughters first big moments with his camera was in November.

Four-year-old Zoey was starting pre-K, here in San Antonio, and Campbell, a Lifetime Fitness trainer and photographer, snapped her picture. With a future of other big moments  the passage from little girl to teen, to young woman and a mother, perhaps, with her own 4-year-old  it would be one of hundreds of pictures preserved with his artists eye and fathers heart.

Later that month, Reggie was admitted to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and was told, for the third time in less than three years, he had leukemia.

On this Easter Day, hes in ICU, battling pneumonia as he and his wife, Zenaida, wait for the elusive news that a marrow donor has been found who could give him new life.

Several times today, the couple will FaceTime with Zoey, whos staying with Zenaidas parents in the Valley until Reggie can go home. They do this every day, but that doesnt make up for the big moments theyre missing, like the first tooth she lost and Easter.

This is hard because we didnt spend the last two Christmases with her because Reggie was sick, Zenaida said by phone from Reggies hospital room. We miss her dearly, but he needs me more than she does right now. We know shes well taken care of.

More Information Be The Match Registry To support Reggie and patients like him, join the registry by texting REGGIE to 61474 or schedule a blood donation by calling 210-731-5990 or visit SouthTexasBlood.org. To learn more about the registry, visit gencure.org/ See More Collapse

Reggie is from La Marque, and Zenaida, a physical therapist, is from San Isidro. They met in the Houston area, married in 2006 and moved to San Antonio in 2010. Zoey came along in 2015.

On April 14, 2017, Reggie learned he had leukemia.

He received regular platelet and blood transfusions, but what he truly needed was a stem cell of bone marrow transplant. However, African Americans like Reggie have only a 23 percent likelihood of finding a donor on the Be The Match Registry because only 4 percent of the registry is of African American descent.

Be The Match connects patients with life-threatening blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, with a donor match.

When people donate, theyre increasing the chances of patients finding their match, said Ashley Frolick, a GenCure communications specialist who is working with the Campbells. Youre giving them a second chance of life.

Reggie photographed his first bout with cancer and had an exhibit scheduled for March 21 to April 21 at the Southwest School of Art.

Reggie has been hospitalized for all but 14 days since Nov. 25. The last time he and Zenaida saw Zoey in person was in his hospital room on Feb. 28, his 41st birthday. That was also the last time Zenaida, refusing to part from her husband, has been outside.

On March 14, Reggie had to be intubated and sedated for more than two weeks. On March 24, Zenaida was told that because of COVID-19, all visitors would have to leave, including her. They also asked for permission to perform a tracheostomy on Reggie.

She asked if she could be there for the operation. Told no, she refused to go.

I cant leave him! she said.

After hours of back and forth, hospital officials agreed to let her stay since it had been nearly a month since shed been outside. But she wouldnt be allowed to leave and come back.

Twice a day, she goes to the cafeteria for meals. Food deliveries arent allowed, but through Amazon she has ordered toiletries and detergent. She washes her clothes at the hospital.

While Reggie was sedated, she had to explain to Zoey that it wasnt COVID-19 that made her father sick.

Down in the Valley, Zoey would cry to her aunt that she was sad because the virus was killing my daddy!

Zenaida explained to her daughter that cancer made her daddy sick but he was going to be better. She asked Zoey if she wanted to see him, explaining the state he was in and that he couldnt talk. She said yes.

At first, she was asking why wouldnt the doctors let her daddy wake up so he could talk to her, Zenaida said.

Reggie opened his eyes.

She was so happy after that, Zenaida said. He opened his eyes, and she was just happy that he was alive, I guess.

A little later, when Reggie was fully conscious, Zenaida had to explain to him how COVID-19 had shut down the country.

Reggie needs the marrow match. First, he will have to go through another round of chemo and regain his strength, but that marrow match needs to be waiting when hes ready.

Zoey Campbell turns 5 on May 30. Her daddy has a lot of photo albums to fill.

Cary.Clack@express-news.net




Good Morning, Nigeria, Welcome To Naija News Roundup Of Top Newspaper Headlines In Nigeria For Today Friday, 10th April 2020

President Muhammadu Buhari has given the approval to free 2,600 inmates from correctional centres to reduce congestion amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, April 9, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola hinted that inmates who will be fortunate of the freedom include those who are 60-years of age or above, those severely ill, those with unstable mental, among others.

The National Assembly leadership has said its observation on President Muhammadu Buharis National Social Investment Programmes (NSIP) were the views of Nigerians.

Naija News recalls that the Senate President Ahmed Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, were earlier quoted to have said that the NSIP gulped N2 trillion while under Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The Kwara state government has announced the total lockdown of the state as part of efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, (Coronavirus) in the state.

According to the press statement made available to Naija News by Rafiu Ajakaiye the Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara state governor, the curfew starts by from 6 pm on Friday till further notice.

The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, has revealed why fibre optic cables are been laid in Lagos and other states.

Danbatta, in a statement by the Director of Public Affairs of the Commission, Dr Henry Nkemadu, said the cables were been laid by Mobile Network Operators for the expansion of infrastructures and improved quality of services.

The former Senator who represented Kogi West Senatorial District in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, Dino Melaye has reacted to the arrival of a 15-man Chinese medical delegation in Nigeria.

As earlier reported by Naija News on Wednesday, the Chinese medical doctors arrived Nigeria on Wednesday to help the West African nation contain further spread of the coronavirus.

The Lagos State government has declared that it has no powers to end the lockdown currently in place on the state over the coronavirus pandemic.

The Commissioner for Information in Lagos, Gbenga Omotoso made this known on Thursday while reacting to speculations in certain quarters that the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has relaxed the COVID-19 lockdown in the state.

Abia State Government led by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, has announced two days intra-state free movement as part of the slight change in the recently announced 7-day Coronavirus lockdown in the state over the outbreak of Coronavirus.

Naija News reports that in a statement issued on Thursday by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Barr. Chris Ezem, said the two- day relaxation of the lockdown on Good Friday and Easter Sunday was to enable residents shop and perform other religious activities in commemoration to the Easter celebration.

Lagos State says it has discharged seven Coronavirus patients from its isolation Centre.

Naija News reports that the governor of the state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu made the announcement on in a series of tweet on the micro-blogging site, Twitter, on Thursday afternoon, April 9.

An encounter on Monday between the troops of Operation Lafiya Dole of the Nigerian Army in the North-East and some Boko Haram terrorists has resulted in the death of many insurgents.

A statement on Wednesday by the Director, Defence Media Operations, Brig. Gen. Bernard Onyeuko disclosed the terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Nigerian Army location at 3 Battalion in the Gamboru area of Borno State but met stiff resistance from the troops.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday met with Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State over the activities of Chadian soldiers on the shores of Lake Chad.

Naija News recalls that the President of Chad, Idriss Deby, led military men on Saturday which saw Boko Haram arm store in Sambisa captured.

Thats the top Nigerian newspaper headlines for today. Read more Nigerian news on Naija News. See you again tomorrow.

Share this post with your Friends on
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits President Trump at the White House in 2017. (Sean Kilpatrick / Canadian Press)

The coronavirus crisis has increased tension between Canada and the United States, bringing a new challenge to the longtime amity that has existed between the neighboring nations.

The friction has been felt intimately amid COVID-19 fears, which has resulted in U.S. citizens being unwelcome in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver and in multiple cities and rural crossroads across the country because of health concerns tied to the possible spread of the virus.

Much of Canada shuddered when President Trump floated the idea last month of battling the virus by deploying troops at the worlds longest land boundary to protect against anyone infected with the virus entering the U.S.

This contretemps followed a series of episodes that shook Canadian confidence in its southern neighbor and longtime ally. Canadian diplomats were troubled by Trumps public doubts about the value of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and his insistence on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

In addition, Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeatedly have jousted, with the president once describing Trudeau in a tweet as Very dishonest & weak after he left a 2018 G-7 summit in Quebec.

To many, the relationship has felt unusually uncomfortable considering the many historical ties that bind the countries, beginning even before they became nations.

For centuries, people have traveled north for any number of reasons including Loyalists fleeing Revolutionary passions in the 18th century or runaway slaves traveling the Underground Railroad to Canadian safety in the 19th century or Vietnam-era war resisters fleeing the draft in the 20th century. Many of them found safety and serenity in a land that, in the words of the British North America Act of 1867, considered the countrys founding constitution, is grounded in peace, order and good government."

The Canada-U.S. relationship no longer feels special and that's in large part Trump's doing," said Stefanie von Hlatky, a political scientist at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario.

Story continues

From his erratic behavior in the NATO context to the renegotiation of NAFTA, the latest coronavirus-related jabs are keeping up with the trend of carelessness when it comes to how the U.S. is dealing with its close allies," she said. "Canada will probably have to deal with other issues as a direct result of how Trump is mishandling the pandemic crisis."

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a news conference last week that Canada had made clear its opposition to the Trump administration's idea for border troops.

This is an entirely unnecessary step which we would view as damaging to our relationship," she said.

The Trump administration subsequently backed away from the proposal. Officials also have said that leaders from the two countries have discussed the pandemic and their close cooperation in fighting the coronavirus.

In recent days, Canadians have expressed worry that people traveling north into the country may spread the the coronavirus. They are especially concerned that truck drivers permitted to cross the 5,525-mile border between the two countries may bring COVID-19 along with commercial goods.

Many in Canada have said they worry that the 1,600 nurses who live in Windsor, Ontario, and commute daily to hospitals in Detroit may bring the virus home with them, and that they were upset by Trumps demand that the 3M Corp. cease sending N95 medical-grade face masks to Canada because he wanted them for domestic use.

There are concerns especially about people from New York, said Stephane Paquin, a specialist in Canadian international relations at the Montreal campus of the Ecole nationale dadministration publique. There are lots of links between Montreal and New York, and there have been cases of contamination in Quebec from people who traveled to New York City for a couple of days. Its become a matter of concern."

There have been squalls in the two countries relationship before. Canada, which had participated in the Korean War and the 1991 Gulf War, refused to join George W. Bushs coalition of the willing in the Iraq war that began a dozen years later. The country was deeply offended when Trump cited national security concerns in imposing steel and aluminum tariffs on imports from Canada in 2018.

But many in Canada wonder why the United States, which pressed so hard to renegotiate NAFTA, has delayed approving the successor, the USMCA trade pact, which now is not expected to enter into force until summer. The new pact includes intellectual property protections, strong provisions for the protection of trade secrets, safeguards to protect U.S. financial-services companies and environmental protections.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a populist sometimes compared to Trump, said the presidents effort to halt exports of medical supplies was unacceptable.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe called the medical supplies issue nothing short of a betrayal, and Dwight Ball, premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, said he was infuriated with the president, adding that residents of his province acted fast and did what was necessary by welcoming U.S. jet travelers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.





An agreement Monday between the two countries and a manufacturing company cleared the way for 500,000 masks to be sent to Canadas largest province, where the protective devices were in dangerously short supply. U.S. officials had intercepted nearly 3 million masks at a South Dakota factory that were intended for export to Ontario in hopes of keeping the masks for use at healthcare facilities in the states.

Trudeau has said Canada would not seek to retaliate against the United States or take unspecified measures that are punitive.

We know it is in both of our interests to work collaboratively and cooperatively to keep our citizens safe," he said in Ottawa last week.

Meanwhile, fears of the import of coronavirus remain strong.

We cant help but wonder if the mayhem that is being experienced by hospitals in New York State and nursing houses in Washington state  both of which are snuggled up against the Canadian border  will soon spill over," Andre Picard wrote late last month in the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Shribman is a special correspondent.

For the record:

3:19 PM, Apr. 17, 2020: A previous version of this article mistakenly referred to Stephane Paquin of the Ecole nationale dadministration publique as Stephane Roussel.


As many states in India contemplate on extending the lockdown beyond April 14, industry body FICCI has said the country can't afford to have a prolonged lockdown that lasts for months. The industry body said India's "exit strategy" should aim towards bringing about a fine balance between normalising economic and social activity and taking measures to contain COVID-19 disease. Notably, Punjab and Odisha have already extended curfew and lockdown till April 30.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry said though India in the global context had not seen a large number of cases, the increase of infected people in the past few days might lead to a situation wherein more patients would require respiratory assistance and intensive care.

It also flagged the issue of the shortage of key testing kits. "One of the big gaps that we are currently facing is the lack of mass testing capability which is limiting our understanding on the true scale of the spread of the disease," the industry body said.

Also read: Coronavirus lockdown: Govt likely to take final call on lockdown extension on April 11

Talking about the importance of augmenting mass testing and ensuring a disciplined approach by grassroots functionaries, FICCI said to plan the "exit strategy", the government needed to ensure maximum safety and social distancing.

As part of its suggestions on "partial removal of lockdown", FICCI said the authorities needed to cordon off areas where existing cases located; extend local lockdown of such areas for 7 days (if required); ensure social distancing was practised; rapid testing; mandatory use of Aarogya Setu App; and allow only essential services in affected areas.

In case the Centre plans to extend lockdown, FICCI suggested to extend by 7 days or more if required; ensure the usage of Aarogya Setu app; rapid testing; isolation of patients; and ensure health-related and essential services.

Also Read: Coronavirus in India Live Updates: Delhi reports 183 new cases in 24 hours; 154 belong to Tablighi Jamaat
Inline with its mandate towards reaching out to indigent Nigerians, Justrite Superstore has donated food products to the Osun State Government.

The move came as a palliative measure to cushion the effect of the lockdown directive aimed at curbing the spread of the deadly Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic.

The food products include a total of 400 cartons of Indomie and 50 cartons of Golden Morn.

The company also stated that the donation is part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR activities.

Receiving the food products on behalf of the state government, the State Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funke Egbemode, stated that the gesture came at the appropriate time when the state needed to cater for its citizens.

Justrites donation would help to alleviate the suffering of the masses as a result of the restriction.

We want other companies as well as individuals to emulate them. I sincerely thank the management of the company for this timely contribution to Osun people.

On his part, the Assistant General Manager, Human Resources and Administration, Justrite Kadiri Agboola said the gesture was thought out of serving humanity.

Mr Agboola stated that the Company felt a sense of commitment to the people of the state and believed it could reach larger percentage of the population through the state government.

READ MORE:

We cannot reach out to every household in Osun State effectively, hence, we believe it can be done through the state government.

This serves as our CSR. Since we opened our store in the state, the people have been supportive and this is our way of giving back to them, he added.

As part of its measure to further aid people during this lockdown, Justrite has a WhatsApp ordering system where consumers can make orders and receive same items promptly.

Justrite Superstore is a neighbourhood one-stop retail supermarket with a wide variety of goods at competitive prices.

The first Justrite Super Store opened in Ota, Ogun State in the year 2000. Today, there are ten Justrite Mega Stores spread across Lagos, Ogun and Osun States.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police have arrested a 25-year-old man in connection with the murder of an off-duty MTA Bridges and Tunnels cop killed in front of his residence in Meiers Corners late Wednesday night.

Brandon Maharaj, of the 400 block of Bradley Avenue, was arrested on Thursday night, according to an NYPD statement.

The 25-year-old man is accused of shooting Roger Thompson, 48, multiple times in his chest and abdomen on Wednesday at about 10:26 p.m. in front of his home on Bradley Avenue near Harold Street, police said.

Police charged Maharaj with murder in the second degree, criminal use of a firearm in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

Maharaj is the son of Thompsons romantic partner and they lived together in the same Bradley Avenue home, according to police.

As of Thursday night, it was not clear if Maharaj had retained a lawyer.

Thompson was employed by MTA Bridges and Tunnels since March 2002, the Advance/SILive.com previously reported.

He was a Bridges and Tunnels officer, posted to the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, according to a spokesman for the MTA.

We are saddened to have lost a valued colleague and we offer our deepest condolences to his family," said Daniel DeCrescenzo, acting president of MTA Bridges and Tunnels.

The preliminary investigation indicates the incident began with a dispute in the street, according to an NYPD spokesman.

Police responded to multiple calls of shots fired at that location.

A witness told police that a dark-colored vehicle left the scene.

Thompson was transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze where he was pronounced dead a short time later, at 10:53 p.m., according to police.
The Queensland Parliament will sit in a fortnight to deal with urgent COVID-19-related legislation.

Speaker Curtis Pitt accepted the request to re-call the Legislative Assembly on April 22, about one week earlier than previously arranged.

In the letter sent on Thursday, Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said the government and community responses to COVID-19 were ever evolving, with supports being introduced daily and weekly to combat the spread of the virus.

Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath requested the date to be moved forward to address decisions regarding COVID-19. Credit:Darren England/AAP

"Since my correspondence to you dated 26 March 2020, the National Cabinet has met several times and collective decisions have been made which will require urgent legislative amendment," she said.
Trinity Health Of New England, whose members include Springfield-based Mercy Medical Center, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week to launch its own clinical trial studying the safety and efficacy of administering blood plasma from patients who have recovered from coronavirus disease 2019 to patients critically ill with COVID-19.

The hope is that antibodies transfused from the donor plasma will help patients in the advanced stage of the respiratory illness safely recover. Complications of COVID-19 can be particularly severe in the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions and there is no approved medical treatment for it.

There is hope for this to be lifesaving, said Dr. Danyal Ibrahim, who serves as regional chief quality officer for Trinity Health Of New England.

Some 20 to 30 percent of patients who come to the hospital with this virus end up in ICU and 80 to 90 percent of those in ICU go on ventilators and half of these patients die or succumb to the disease.

The approach of taking convalescent plasma and hyperimmune globulin from the blood of donors recovered from COVID-19 showed some promise when used by doctors in China, where the novel virus was first detected in early January, and the FDA authorized the use of the such therapies in clinical trials here as an outgrowth of a national initiative started by physicians and researchers.

The Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, is a lead institution in providing access to plasma and Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University received FDA approval to test the convalescent plasma in the critically ill - something referred to as compassionate use for those who have no other options - as well as to administer it in trials to health care workers on the front line in hopes of preventing them from developing COVID-19.

Dr. Latha Dulipsingh, who is director of the Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology Center within Trinity Health Of New England as well as chair of the regional systems review board, and Ibrahim designed Trinitys clinical trial and are its investigators.

Dulipsingh is an endocrinologist; Ibrahims background is in toxicology as well as emergency medicine and he holds a masters degree in public health from Johns Hopkins.

Both are based at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, where the regional system is headquartered, and anticipate having their trial up and ready within seven to 10 days.

They will initially seek plasma donors from the regional systems testing database.

We are fortunate in that we have administered more than 7,000 tests to date for the coronavirus in our drive-throughs, hospitals and outpatient sites and more than 1,500 have been positive, Ibrahim said.

Within the positive group are people who did not need hospitalization. We will contact them to see if they are willing to participate and donate plasma. We are looking for individuals who had the infection but who have recovered and are feeling healthy. It has to be at least 14 days since their symptom resolution and we will do a viral molecular test to prove this result.

Ibrahim said the ability to harvest an individuals plasma two weeks from recovery means the plasma has the proteins to fight the virus.

The antibodies that fight infection are readily available to give someone who is sick, Ibrahim said.

He added the FDA gave approval to Trinity Health Of New England for all its hospitals to participate in the trial. Besides Mercy and St. Francis, these include two other hospitals in Connecticut - St. Marys in Waterbury and Johnson Memorial in Stafford Springs.

If a provider at one of our hospitals has a patient they feel could benefit from the trial, we will facilitate that easily through a team taking phone calls as well as cross match the plasma to that patients blood type and deliver the plasma to that patient.

Dulipsingh said they will work closely with providers to monitor any adverse effects that can happen with any blood product.

She noted that convalescent plasma therapy has been used during other pandemics in the absence of a vaccine or other proven medical therapies.

The investigators hope to enroll between 50 to 100 plasma donors during the next 30 days for delivery to that number of recipients and to communicate results on an ongoing basis" to the FDA.

We will be looking at whether this therapy is safe in a population that has no approved option for treatment, Dulipsingh said.

Ibrahim added that the benefit of the trial, if it shows the therapy to both work and be safe, will be beyond our walls.

This virus is attacking humanity, Ibrahim said.

But it is also pulling us together to fight it across states and across the country and world.

Related:

Coronavirus: Peak in Western Massachusetts cases may come in May, Springfield hospital officials say

Coronavirus prompts Allstate to provide $600 million in shelter-in-place paybacks to customers affected by COVID-19 pandemic

Coronavirus: 107 canceled, postponed Western Mass. events cost economy $27M
He is set to return to the role of rebel spy Cassian Andor in a new Disney+ series, which will be released in 2021.

And Diego Luna spoke in delight about the forthcoming Rogue One prequel show as he took part in a live Q&A with IndieWire via Instagram on Thursday.

The Mexican actor, 40, admitted he has to keep a tight lip on plot details, but has found it a 'nice challenge' to return to the character given his bleak end in the Star Wars film.

Exciting: Star Wars' Diego Luna said on Thursday that it has been 'a nice challenge' to return to role of Cassian Andor in Disney+'s Rogue One prequel as viewers 'already know his ending'

The show finds Cassian during the early days of the rebellion, and prior to the events of Gareth Edwards' 2016 spin-off film in which his character dies alongside the crew of Rogue One during their mission to steal the plans for the Death Star.

Sharing his excitement at getting to return to the character, Diego said: 'I think it's a nice challenge, it's a good way to approach a show.

'What happens when you already know the ending? Everything is in how you tell the story, how many layers you can find, this cant be a show where we surprise you, like oh no it wasn't him, he didn't die.

'We know the ending... the last scene was a scene we all know so it makes a different part of your brain work, you cant use the same storylines people are used to, now we start with a character that people already know what he's capable of.'

Intriguing: While he kept a tight lip on plot details, Diego shared his excitement by saying: 'It's a good way to approach a show. What happens when you already know the ending?'

Rogue One also starred Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso daughter of scientist Galen, who was co-erced into building the Death Star and secretly built a defect inside that could be used to destroy it.

Determined to get the schematics for the planet killer, the duo enlisted the help of droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), Imperial defector pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), and the Guardians of the Whills' Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen).

While their mission was successful it wasn't without its consequences, as, sadly, none of the Rogue One crew survived the operation in Scarif as K-2SO, Bodhi, Chirrut and Baze died in battle, while Jyn and Cassian were killed after the Death Star's superlaser was used on the planet.

New challenge: Diego added that 'everything is in how you tell the story... this cant be a show where we surprise you, like oh no it wasn't him, he didn't die' (pictured with Felicity Jones)

Together again: The show finds Cassian during the early days of the rebellion, and prior to the events of Gareth Edwards' 2016 spin-off film, with his right-hand droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk)

Gushing about working on set of the space opera, Diego went on: 'I remember the shoot of that film as the time I experienced the most freedom in quite a long time, in every possible way.

'The way it works its pretty much at least the one I participated in, it was a homage to the early films, it was shot like back in the day, there were no green screens, we were in the ships and everything.

'Whatever you try to do you can do because you have the resources, the time, very talented people who are the best at what they do, so you have the chance to aim far.'

Great memories: Gushing about working on set, Diego went on: 'I remember the shoot of that film as the time I experienced the most freedom... in every possible way' (L-R: Riz Ahmed, Diego, Felicity, Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen)

Diego went on to say that working on the film changed his life in 'a very positive way' as it gave him 'the freedom to do the other stuff' he was interested in working on, such as theatre productions or independent films.

The Cassian Andor series is not the only Star Wars show on Disney's new video-on-demand platform, as the first season of The Mandalorian has already been released, with a second season on the way.

Meanwhile, an Obi-Wan Kenobi series is currently slated to come out in 2022, with prequel actor Ewan McGregor back in the leading role.
CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A strong weather event will push through North Carolina and South Carolina beginning Sunday afternoon and continuing into Monday, bringing with it high winds and a strong potential for power outages.

Duke Energy is monitoring the storm's path and taking steps to prepare, while also continuing to adhere to coronavirus-related protective measures and social distancing guidelines in place for power line crews and tree crews, and other employees supporting the storm response effort.

"We know how important electricity is to customers at a time when so many are home all day, every day," said Duke Energy Carolinas storm director Jason Hollifield. "Add to that, this is an important holiday weekend and sacred time for many people. We will work to respond to power outages as quickly as they occur, recognizing we must also ensure the safety of our crews and the communities we serve through proper social distancing practices and other protective measures. We appreciate our customers' patience and support as we work to serve all of our customers in the Carolinas."



Important safety reminders

With high winds, come the threat of downed trees and, potentially, downed power lines. We encourage customers to plan now for what they will do if they experience an extended power outage:

Customers should stay tuned to local news for the latest weather advisories, as well as state and local emergency management officials.

If you rely on electricity for medical needs, please consider now what actions you will take in the event of an extended power outage. With statewide "stay-at-home" orders in place, you may need to alter your emergency plans.



If you see a downed power line, always assume it is energized and stay away. Report downed lines to Duke Energy immediately. Click here for a video demonstration and to read more about safety around power lines.

Never bring a generator indoors. Generators should be operated only outdoors, and only in well-ventilated areas. Manufacturer instructions should be followed.

Duke Energy protective measures

We are working hard to help ensure you have reliable power during this challenging time and will work to restore any outages that occur from this storm as quickly and safely as possible. We are focused on helping protect our employees, contractors and the communities we serve.

Please avoid approaching Duke Energy crews in the field or entering their work zone as they restore power. If you do need to speak with someone, be advised that employees will maintain at least six feet of separation.

Please adhere to stay-at-home orders and help our crews avoid distraction by supporting social distancing guidelines as they work.

If it is necessary to leave home, customers should move over or slow down if they see utility crews or other first responders working along roads. It's not only the law, but also helps protect our crews who are working to help restore power to customers.

Additionally, employees do not travel, climb or work when sustained winds reach 39 miles per hour. When the storm passes and wind speeds drop below 39 miles per hour making it safe for travel, crews will begin damage assessment and repairs.

Tips for protecting refrigerated food during a power outage

We know that many customers may have stored up their refrigerators and freezers as part of their stay-at-home plans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends the following tips:

Have appliance thermometers in your refrigerator and freezer. The freezer temperature should be at or below 0 F, and the refrigerator should be at or below 40 F.

Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.

The refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened.

A full freezer will keep the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed.



Have coolers on hand to keep refrigerated food cold if the power will be out for more than 4 hours.

The FDA offers additional tips for proper food handling and storage before, during and after a power outage  https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/food-and-water-safety-during-power-outages-and-floods

Outage reporting

Customers who experience an outage during the storm can report it by:

Visiting duke-energy.com on a desktop computer or mobile device

Texting OUT to 57801 (standard text and data charges may apply)

Calling the automated outage-reporting system at 800-769-3766 for Duke Energy Carolinas customers and 800-419-6356 for Duke Energy Progress customers.



For storm or power restoration updates, follow Duke Energy on Twitter and Facebook.

Duke Energy

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 30,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities, and 3,000 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit.

Duke Energy is transforming its customers' experience, modernizing the energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit's regulated utilities serve approximately 7.7 million retail electric customers in six states  North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. The Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to more than 1.6 million customers in five states  North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The Duke Energy Renewables unit operates wind and solar generation facilities across the U.S., as well as energy storage and microgrid projects.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2019 "World's Most Admired Companies" list, and Forbes' 2019 "America's Best Employers" list. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

24-Hour: 800.559.3853

SOURCE Duke Energy
BALTIMORE, MD (April 10, 2020) - University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today the launch of a large-scale COVID-19 Testing Initiative that will significantly expand testing capability over the coming weeks, enabled by new funding of $2.5 million from the State of Maryland.

The new initiative will be launched with strong support and collaboration from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and its President, Bruce Jarrell, MD, who has been supportive of the program since its inception. At the UMSOM, this initiative will be led by Claire Fraser, PhD, the Dean's Endowed Professor and Director of the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) at UMSOM, and Sanford Stass, MD, Professor and Chair of both the UMSOM Department of Pathology and Department of Medical and Research Technology. This large-scale Testing Initiative will be progressively ramped up to eventually be able to run as many as 20,000 tests per day within the next few months. This will allow for far wider access to testing in Maryland through coordination with the City of Baltimore and the State Health Department.

"Our state is continuing to marshal every tool in the arsenal of public health to combat the spread of this virus, including the expertise of our university system," said Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. "Increasing our testing capability is critical moving forward, and I want to thank the Institute for Genome Sciences and the Department of Pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine for partnering with us in an effort to significantly expand COVID-19 testing here in Maryland."

The patient samples will be processed on robotic platforms with automated technologies housed in a laboratory in the UMSOM Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS). The new state funding would allow for the purchasing of additional platforms to facilitate an increase in testing capacity. Analysis of the samples will take place at the University of Maryland Pathology Associates (UMPA), CLIA/CAP accredited, which is operated by the UMSOM Department of Pathology.

"A major impediment we face is not understanding the extent of asymptomatic disease in the Maryland population," said Dr. Jarrell. "Having broad access to high-throughput testing will show us where the disease is and how it's spreading. That's the guidance we need to control this pandemic more effectively until a vaccine can be developed."

Added Dean Reece, who is also the Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor.: "The state is in dire need of increased coronavirus testing, and the School of Medicine already has the early infrastructure in place, in terms of our technology and scientific expertise to help close the testing gap. This funding provided to us will enable us to better track the spread of the virus and provide swifter diagnoses and treatments to those in need."

While 18 laboratory staff are currently needed to process a maximum 3,000 samples per day in the IGS facility, increasing to 20,000 samples per day would involve 60 laboratory personnel working three 8-hour shifts over a 24-hour period. This ramp up in staffing and sample testing will occur over a few months.

"Initially we will call in extra technicians who are currently working from home. Ramping up to a full staff will be done over time," said Dr. Fraser. "I am sure many of our laboratory staff would be eager to return onsite to work for such a worthwhile endeavor."

Most patients in the State have to wait for a week or more for commercial outfits to return their results due to a backlog of tests and limited capacity and throughput. The facility at UMSOM would be able to return the results to patients and doctors within 24 to 48 hours, dramatically increasing the turnaround time.

Analyzing test samples from patients suspected of having COVID-19 is a complex multi-step process that involves first transferring a portion of the sample to an inactivation solution and extracting its RNA, which contains the virus genetic code. The RNA is then converted to DNA and amplified using the CDC recommended assay. The laboratory at the UMSOM faculty practice site ultimately determines whether the patient's sample contains the novel coronavirus. Automation of these steps is critical to increasing the laboratory ability to test thousands of samples per day.

"We have now implemented a reconfiguration of the IGS laboratory to establish this high-throughput testing capability," said Jacques Ravel, PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Associate Director of the Institute for Genome Sciences at UMSOM. "Working closely with the oversight of the Department of Pathology, the UMPA laboratory was able to obtain regulatory approval to enable us to process samples to be tested under the supervision of UMPA, a member of the UMSOM faculty practice."

Dr. Ravel noted that Mike Humphrys, Director of the Microbiome Service Laboratory (MSL) at IGS, has led this effort, and his past-experience as a CDC laboratory scientist and expertise were key to this effort. The MSL, working with his laboratory team, repurposed and reprogrammed the robotic platforms to handle specific tasks related to COVID-19 testing, a task that they started in late February after it became clear that the virus was spreading beyond China. The machines had previously been used for research studies to characterize the bacteria that compose the human microbiome.

The testing facility at the University of Maryland Pathology Associates has been certified by the federal government to perform laboratory developed tests. These tests, referred to as LDTs, consist of a type of diagnostic test that is designed to be performed and used in a single laboratory, often located in a hospital. For COVID-19 testing, the UMSOM Department of Pathology plans to seek emergency use authorization from the FDA and then will submit submit data to the agency to verify the test's performance both in detecting true positive results for the virus and true negative results that indicate the virus is not present.

"We already have the capability to perform testing in patients who are admitted to University of Maryland Medical Center to test for COVID-19," said Dr. Stass. "This new funding initiative, however, will greatly improve our capabilities to reach deeper into the community and help provide expanded testing which is desperately needed to help bring the epidemic under control in the State of Maryland. The enhanced testing capability will also be leveraged in the longer term to ensure sustained COVID-19 surveillance across the State of Maryland."

###

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 45 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1.2 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically based care for nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has more than $540 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 student trainees, residents, and fellows. The combined School of Medicine and Medical System ("University of Maryland Medicine") has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact more than $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu

About the Institute for Genome Sciences

The Institute for Genome Sciences, founded in 2007, is an international research center within the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Comprised of an interdisciplinary, multidepartment team of investigators, the Institute uses the powerful tools of genomics and bioinformatics to understand genome function in health and disease, to study molecular and cellular networks in a variety of model systems, and to generate data and bioinformatics resources of value to the international scientific community. igs.umaryland.edu
By PTI

NEW DELHI: India is in the final stages of framing a protocol for conducting clinical trial for convalescent plasma therapy, which uses antibodies from the blood of cured patients, to treat severely-ill COVID-19 patients, a senior ICMR official said.

Kerala is set to become the first state in the country to commence the therapy to treat those critically-ill on a trial basis. A top official had said that the ICMR is learnt to have given its nod to the state government for the first of its kind project, initiated by the prestigious Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST).

The ICMR official on Thursday said they would need approval from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) before embarking on any clinical trial using the therapy. He said that it is not currently used or prescribed for patients in India.

ALSO READ| COVID-19: IIT-Ropar develops UV-technology fitted 'trunk' for homes to sanitise grocery items

"We are in the final stages of making a protocol for convalescent plasma therapy and after that we will need approval from the DCGI. As of now it will be used only in clinical trials," he said, adding that the therapy was successful in limited clinical trials in some countries on patients who were in a severe condition or on ventilator support.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 199 and the number of cases climbed to 6,412 in the country on Friday, according to the Union Health Ministry. However, a PTI tally of figures reported by various states as on Thursday late evening showed at least 6640 cases and 227 deaths.

There has been a difference in the Union Health Ministry figures compared to the number of cases announced by different states which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states.

WATCH | Cure for COVID-19? Here's all you need to know about blood plasma therapy


The Guatemalan government will resume allowing deportation flights from the United States next week after three deportees tested positive for the coronavirus after traveling in the same plane.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry suspended flights during Holy Week and said the Central American country was preparing temporary reception centers for migrants deported by the U.S. on an air force base so they could be monitored in line with health protocols.

The travel ban, in place since Monday, was brought forward after three deportees tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving on the March 26 flight with 41 Guatemalans, including 10 children.

Two passengers, aged 29 and 31, were confirmed to be infected with the virus a couple of days after their arrival. A third passenger, a 37-year-old man who was deported Arizona, tested positive Tuesday while in quarantine.

The Guatemalan government will allow deportation flights from the United States next week after issuing a ban Monday, almost two weeks after three deportees arrived from the U.S. and tested positive for the coronavirus. Pictured above are deported migrants at an Air Force base in Guatemala City on March 12

Aside from shutting down its maritime, aerial and land borders to foreign travelers, the Guatemalan government also banned intrastate travel. Pictured above are soldiers standing guard at an Air Force base on March 19

As of Friday, health officials had reported three deaths and 126 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country.

Countries in Central America have shut down their borders to the outside world in an effort to contain the virus.

The Guatemalan government took an additional step by suspending travel between its states.

As part of its agreement to permit deportation flights, Guatemala asked the United States government that planes should only carry 25 passengers instead of the usual 100, and require that health officials have to document that each person shows no symptoms of the deadly virus.

Guatemalan deportees walk near a U.S. Department of Homeland Security moments after arriving from the United States on March 12

Officials also asked the U.S. government to only deport Guatemalans from the state that includes the capital.

The government did bend its restrictions when it allowed a flight carrying 20 unaccompanied minors to land Tuesday because it did not want them to be detained for an extended period in the United States.

Social Welfare Secretary Francisco Molina said that three of the 20 children had been reunited with their families and the rest would be by Thursday.

The Guatemalan Migration Institute said that since January, the United States has deported 210 unaccompanied minors, 970 minors accompanied by a relative, and 10,578 adults.
Bomapp CEO Jay Ryu / Courtesy of Bomapp



Insurtech firm motivates consumers to design products



By Kim Bo-eun



Insurance has been one of the industries that has mostly remained unchanged for the past century. By employing agents, insurers have sold policies to customers, many of whom signed up for unnecessary policies. This was based, to a certain extent, on exploitation of the complexity of insurance policies.



Many in the industry still believe sales only takes place when this is forced upon consumers. However, insurtech firm Bomapp's CEO Jay Ryu says this is not necessarily the case.



"There is generally a lot of distrust in the industry of insurance, based on sales practices that have been conducted up until now," Ryu told The Korea Times in a recent interview.



"The existing channel through which insurance is sold has resulted in insurers basically offering the same products, making sales simply through differentiated marketing."



The problems with the existing sales channel is what prompted Ryu, who worked in the insurance industry, to establish Bomapp in 2015.



Ryu noted that young consumers are different from older customers.



"They have much better searching capabilities, by which they proactively seek products they need," he said. "For example, moms-to-be search for policies for their unborn child on online communities."



Consumers now also purchase insurance policies as gifts for friends on digital platforms that have emerged.



Ryu also noted that consumers are also much more digital-oriented.



Bomapp operated a platform where policy holders rated sales agents, but Ryu said he decided to scrap the application, as the two entities were found not to communicate much.



"We found that there are many instances in which policyholders seek out their agents after signing up, but find out that agent has left. This is not surprising as the agents are on their job for an average of two years," he said.



"There is definitely a trend toward digital transactions."



Ryu said consumers have been unable to access better policies due to the absence of a necessary channel that is able to motivate insurers to come up with differentiated products.



Bomapp is seeking to serve as this channel.



Can insurance go 100% online?



Ryu audaciously states that his goal is to take insurance 100 percent online.



This goes back to the question of whether insurers can maintain their level of sales after eliminating the role of agents. This appears possible in the case of simple policies that cover for trips or weddings.



However, in the case of long-term policies such as life insurance, it appears unlikely consumers will be willing to go through extensive insurance agreements by themselves to sign up for such a policy.



Bomapp is seeking to become a game-changer, by breaking up such long-term policies, into lighter, more personalized policies.



"Basically, what we're are aiming for is to come up with personalized policies, based on the data we have," Ryu said. "For example, a customer may want to seek coverage for only a certain type of cancer."



Bomapp is working with insurers to launch such policies, one of which is set to be available on the insurtech platform by June.



"It is a win-win situation for consumers and insurers as consumers can get the policies they need at lower costs, and insurers are able to offer better, differentiated products," Ryu noted.



Since Bomapp was established, it has focused on setting itself as a platform for insurance customers. On Bomapp, customers are able to view all of the policies they hold at a glance. They can sign up for policies and also seek claims.



Currently, Bomapp offers simple insurance policies such as those covering trips and weddings. The platform is processing claims for policies its customers hold. About 15,000 claims are filed on Bomapp each month.



Overseas business



While Bomapp is still in the early stages of its business, Ryu is also eyeing opportunities in Southeast Asia's emerging markets.



"While the insurance market in such countries is entirely different from that of Korea, information technology is growing rapidly," he said.



"The growth in consumer spending will drive contactless payment, which will then lead to the digitization of financial services."



"Growth in spending will also drive demand for insurance. If insurtech is applied, this will bring consumers directly into a digital-based insurance market," Ryu said.



According to Ryu, insurers in these markets have reached out for database and customer management services.



Bomapp plans to work together with them, in offering services there.



"Since insurance is a regulated industry, it is difficult for us to head out alone. This is why we are partnering with local entities."



Ryu explained Bomapp is developing in the local and overseas markets simultaneously, as the latter is "all about timing."



"The term insurtech was entirely unfamiliar here when Bomapp launched in 2015, but now it is catching on," Ryu said.



"This will also be the case in emerging markets in Southeast Asia, and then it will be about who was first to set foot in the market."





Posters on the glass walls of Bomapp state principles according to which employees work. The first two say "work proactively, and start first."
Now compare Roosevelt and Truman, hailing, it seems, from different planets. Roosevelt was a New York aristocrat whose forebears owned a chunk of an island called Manhattan, land on which the Empire State Building rose. Reared in mansions, educated at Groton and Harvard, Roosevelt married a favorite niece of a U.S. president, who gave her away at the altar. And here was Truman, a Missouri farm boy, schooled mainly by the stacks of a small-town library. He moved into the White House having never even owned his own home. Mrs. Roosevelt required 20 trucks to vacate the premises; the Truman family just one to move in their belongings.
Central American migrants seeking asylum return to Mexico over the border bridge between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez on March 21. (Christian Chavez / Associated Press)

The Trump administration has quickly expelled roughly 10,000 migrants to Mexico and other countries in less than three weeks since imposing its most severe immigration restrictions yet in response to the coronavirus outbreak, officials said Thursday.

After the United States and Mexico last month closed their border to "nonessential travel," U.S. officials began rapidly removing almost all migrants arriving at the border, with minimal processing. For the first time, those turned away en masse include people seeking asylum as well as hundreds of lone migrant children, both groups that are protected by U.S. law.

The actions reflect how the administration  in response to the pandemic  is taking steps toward achieving some of President Trump's long-sought goals restricting immigration, in this instance barring asylum seekers and unaccompanied children from entry into the United States, and with an end-run around the laws and bureaucratic requirements.

Administration officials said they were acting to protect U.S. residents according to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"This is not about immigration," the acting commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection agency, Mark Morgan, said repeatedly in a call with reporters. "Right now this is purely about infectious disease and public health."

The unprecedented new steps go beyond existing policies such as one known as "Remain in Mexico." Under that policy, more than 60,000 asylum seekers had to wait on the Mexican side of the border for immigration hearings in the U.S. Now, with rare exception, migrants do not get the chance to seek protection in the United States, including those attempting to enter at official entry points.

Officials cited a CDC order on March 21, when Director Robert Redfield suspended travelers from Canada or Mexico for 30 days, based on a law dating to 1944, and wrote that "the existence of a communicable disease in a foreign country or place creates a serious danger."

Story continues

Morgan said asylum and other humanitarian protections are still available to migrants seeking refuge in the United States. Those who show "an appropriate level of fear," he said, "will be processed on a case-by-case-basis."

The numbers of migrants whom U.S. officials have encountered at the southern border in recent weeks have fallen sharply from a high last spring to among the lowest levels in decades. Morgan said most of the arrivals have been adult males from Mexico, followed by Central America's "Northern Triangle" countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

The danger is potentially greater for them north of the border. The United States is the global epicenter of the pandemic, with more than 460,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as of late Thursday. Mexico and the three Central American nations combined have fewer than 4,000, less than 1% of the U.S. total.

Democrats in Congress have criticized the administration's actions. A group of senators assailed the Department of Homeland Security for a "power grab" at the border "under the guise of a global pandemic response."

"We are deeply concerned that DHS is blatantly misinterpreting its limited authorities" under the CDC order, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote to acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Tuesday. "A public health crisis does not give the Executive Branch a free pass to violate constitutional rights, nor ... operate outside of the law."

Morgan said U.S. officials at the border are acting in ways to minimize contacts with and among the migrants. To avoid transporting and then holding them in facilities not equipped for quarantine or social distancing, as the CDC recommends, Border Patrol agents are instead conducting basic medical assessments and taking biometric information, then immediately returning the migrants to the nearest point of entry, in coordination with Mexican authorities. Those not sent to Mexico are flown to their home countries.

About 80% of migrants are being returned "within just a couple hours," Morgan said. His agency, Customs and Border Protection, has fewer than 100 migrants in its custody, which he called "the intended impact of the CDC order." Last year the agency held roughly 19,000 at the peak, provoking an overcrowding crisis.

Officials on the call declined to provide the total number of children without guardians whom U.S. officials have removed since March 21, but as of April 1, nearly 300 had been expelled, according to Customs and Border Protection spokesman John Mennell. Receiving countries are indicating a dramatic increase. Guatemala received about 100 unaccompanied minors in the first week of April alone, as many as it took in during all of March.

When a migrant arriving at the border claims fear of persecution or torture in their home country, Border Patrol personnel typically refer them to trained asylum officers from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency for screening, the first step in the long process of applying for protection in the United States.

Administration officials have not said how Border Patrol agents quickly make that assessment whether to refer a migrant to an asylum officer rather than simply expel them, and Customs and Border Protection declined to share any guidance given to its agents. Asylum officers have yet to receive any direction on the new measures, officials told The Times.

A leaked Border Patrol memo obtained by ProPublica described only one humanitarian exception to expulsion: if the migrant "spontaneously" makes a "reasonably believable" claim to an agent that he fears torture in his home country. That potentially would allow one to stay in the United States under the international Convention Against Torture, but the standard for proof is higher, and it provides a less secure status than asylum for remaining in the United States.

Since March 21, asylum officers have continued to receive referrals of migrants for screenings of their fear claims, meaning the Border Patrol is "letting some people in," according to an employee at Citizenship and Immigration Services who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect against retaliation. But instead of the usual hundreds of referrals a day from detention centers in Georgia, New York, California and Arizona, the daily total is in the single digits.

Administration officials as well as their foreign counterparts initially had suggested that the policy would apply to migrants other than asylum seekers or unaccompanied children, and that Mexico, for example, would not accept noncitizens.

Morgan acknowledged that the coronavirus poses a "serious danger" to migrants as well as Homeland Security personnel and the broader public.

According to an internal report of the Department of Homeland Security obtained by The Times, more than 9,000 employees have been sidelined by COVID-19. More than 600 have tested positive. The department has yet to publicize, to its employees or the public, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases among its roughly 240,000 employees or 34,000 migrants in its custody.

The detained population has dropped sharply in recent weeks. Immigration judges, lawyers and advocates have called for migrants to be released from often overcrowded, unsanitary facilities that experts describe as "Petri dishes" for the virus. Amid a broader review, as of March 30, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had identified 600 "vulnerable" migrants in detention and released 160.

Separate from immigration enforcement at the border, Morgan said that at airports and seaports, Customs and Border Protection officers have referred more than 268,000 people returning from coronavirus-affected areas to the CDC.

International travel has dropped by almost 98%. At land borders, noncommercial traffic is down more than 70%, and about 75% for pedestrians, accounting for almost 400,000 fewer people entering the United States each day.
Representative image

The Maharashtra government might suggest extending the lockdown only in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) due to the high number of COVID-19 cases, CNBC-TV18 has reported.

The state government might recommend an extension of 10-15 days, sources told the news channel.

Follow LIVE updates on the COVID-19 pandemic here

The suggestion will be communicated to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a meeting on April 11.

PM Modi will interact with chief ministers of all states on April 11 via video, where a call would be taken on whether the 21-day lockdown to check spread of coronavirus, ending next week, should be extended.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

The video conference comes amidst indications that the central government may extend the lockdown across the country beyond April 14 after several states have favoured the extension to contain the fast-spreading virus.

(With inputs from PTI)

Follow our full coverage here
Minnesota and Wisconsin are working together to invite rural business owners to consider selling their businesses to their employees. Converting rural businesses to worker-owned cooperatives is an effective strategy for keeping businesses, jobs, and wealth in rural communities. This was the message communicated by professionals from Minnesota and Wisconsin in a Retaining Rural Business Through Employee Ownership workshop held March 5 in Viroqua at the Food Enterprise Center, owned and operated by the Vernon Economic Development Association (VEDA).

The Viroqua workshop was one of nine free workshops held in March in the two-state region and sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, University of Minnesota Extension, and Cooperative Development Services. Grant funding was provided by the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development at Michigan State University.

According to resource information available at the workshop, 110,577 businesses in Minnesota and Wisconsin are owned by people 55 years or older. Kevin Edberg, executive director of Cooperative Development Services in St. Paul, Minnesota, pointed out that over 60 percent of business ownersand seven in ten business owners over the age of 50dont have formal plans for transferring their business ownership. Business succession through families and buyout by management are also not being done enough anymore.

This lack of succession planning will lead to the loss or relocation of thousands of jobs and economic instability across the Upper Midwest, said Edberg. Selling businesses to employees and having worker-owned cooperatives rooted in communities is a strong alternative to an outside interest possibly consolidating operations and eliminating jobs. Interest and investment in employee ownership are on the rise, he continued, adding that Minnesota and Wisconsin are rich in cooperatives, and because of this, the whole region is well positioned to ride this wave of employee ownership.

What does a worker-cooperative look like? According to resource information available at the workshop, a worker cooperative is typically organized in a business with fewer than 100 employees. It is owned and controlled by its employees and is a value-driven business that puts worker and community benefit at the core of its purpose. Workers own the business and participate in its financial success on the basis of their labor. Workers also vote for their representation on the board of directors with the principle of one worker, one vote. In addition to their economic and governance participation, worker-owners engage in day-to-day operations through participatory management structures.

The benefits of employee ownership include the following:

Financially rewarding exit path with potential tax savings for the selling owner(s);

Lasting legacy for the selling owner(s);

Reward for employees who helped build the business;

Potential to improve business performance and increase employee engagement, productivity, and retention;

Retention of services, jobs, wealth, and tax base in the local community.

Information on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) was also shared at the workshop. This is a federally governed benefit plan that can be used to share ownership with employees. Woodmans in Onalaska is an example of an ESOP.

Edberg and Courtney Berner, who helped start Fifth Season Cooperative in Viroqua in 2010 and is now Executive Director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, shared examples of different ways businesses have become employee owned. More information on these and other employee-owned businesses is available at http://becomingemployeeowned.org/stories.

Berner also discussed the steps in the transition process to become a worker cooperative. Other information was shared by Michael Darger, Community Economics Specialist and Director of Business Retention & Expansion at the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality, and Anne Hlavacka, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation as well as the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center at UW-La Crosse.

Among those who attended the Viroqua workshop were a number of area business owners and their staff who are considering employee ownership. For more information, contact VEDA Executive Director Sue Noble at 608-638-8332 or snoble@veda-wi.org.

Kathy Neidert is a member of the Vernon Economic Development Association (VEDA) Board of Directors.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
A private network, GHOne TV has apologized for showing X-rated content on its channel as part of a program called DUVET, few minutes into President Akufo-Addo's address on Ghana's progress against the novel Covid-19 on Thursday.

Many Ghanaians were shocked to see a hardcore pornographic content on the EIB Network in their bid to watch President Akufo-Addos address on the channel.

The station was heavily criticized on social media on Thursday evening as a result.

A statement by Nana Aba Anamoah, Ag. General Manager, GHOne TV described the incident as unfortunate.

It said that those behind the broadcast will be punished.

GHOne TV wishes to sincerely apologise to its cherished viewers on the unfortunate turn of events regarding your favourite late night programme, DUVET, a few hours ago .

Even though the show is X-rated, we concede that the nature of the content tonight was inappropriate, it stated.

Meanwhile, tonights edition was taken off a few minutes into the show. The Presidents 6th address on governments response to the Covid-19 pandemic was fully aired.

Whilst we promise that this incident will not repeat itself, we will also ensure that the officers responsible for this mishap will be sanctioned. Kindly accept our apology, with any inconvenience caused, deeply regretted, it indicated.

---Daily Guide
The Katsina State Government announced on Friday that the wife and two children of the medical doctor, who died of COVID-19 in Daura, had tested positive to the pandemic.

The late physician, Aliyu Yakubu, had travelled to Lagos and returned to Daura after which he fell sick and was later confirmed to be infected with the virus.

He was admitted at the Nigeria Air Force Reference Hospital, Daura where he died on Saturday, April 4.

Samples of about 23 people were taken to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control; three tested positive for COVID-19, Governor Aminu Masari told journalists in Katsina.

He said the wife and two children had been taken to an isolation centre at the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina where they were being treated.

We are still taking samples of people suspected to have had contact with the victims; we shall trace anyone that had any contact with the victims. We shall ensure that the pandemic is not spread further, he said.

The government announced a total lockdown on Daura Local Government, to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

The government, in consultation with the local leadership in Daura, has decided to lockdown the Daura Local Government Area completely, beginning from 7 a.m. on Saturday, April 11, Mr Masari said.

READ ALSO:

Mr Masari, however, said the COVID-19 Rapid Response Committee would allow four pharmaceutical outfits and three grain stores to operate, to enable people buy what they might need.

The governor directed security agents to ensure that people complied with the directives, and warned residents against daring the governments seriousness on the matter.

We want people to cooperate with the government so that we can contain the disease. The lockdown may come with some difficulties, but it is very necessary so as to save lives, Mr Masari said.

(NAN)
Hours after Punjab inister Amarinder Singh claimed that 58 per cent of the country's population is likely to get infected with coronavirus while quoting a PGIMER study, the premier medical and research institute on Friday evening said it was unaware of any such study by its department.

During a video conferen the media, hosted by the AICC from New Delhi, the chief minister quoted a study of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and said the virus was likely to touch its peak by mid-September and may likely to affect 58 per cent of India's population and 87 per cent of Punjab's and other states' population.

"COVID19 epidemic in India is estimated to reach its peak in mid-September 2020 at a point where 58 per cent of population has been infected," he said, quoting the projections made by the Department of Community Medicine in PGIMER.

Quoting another figure from the projections by the institute, he said the virus can infect up to 87 per cent of the population of Punjab and other states.

Later, the institute issued a press note and clarified, The PGI, Chandigarh is not aware that any expert/faculty member from the Department of Community Medicine & School of Public Health of the Institute has carried out any study/estimate that the COVID-19 may peak by mid September and can infect 58% of country's population.

This fact has also been confirmed by the head of Department of Community Medicine & School of Public Health of the institute, according to an official release issued by the Public Relations Office of PGIMER Chandigarh.

Thereafter, the chief minister's media advisor Raveen Thukral said the report cited by Amarinder Singh was an assessment of an additional professor of health economics of PGIMER.

Please note the report cited by @capt_amarinder is assessment of Dr. Shankar Prinja, Addl Professor of Health Economics, Dept of Community Medicine & School of Public Health PGIMER Chandigarh & his team, using standard mathematical models with Punjab data provided to him, Thukral tweeted.

In another tweet, he said, State Committee on Health Sector Response & Procurement headed by @mahajan_vini (additional chief secretary) with ex PGI director Dr KK Takwar as professional advisor had sought an urgent assessment of Punjab's #COVID-19 scenario from Dr Prinja to plan its preparedness.

The Punjab government on Friday decided to extend curfew restrictions till May 1 in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Comprehensive family surveys are being conducted in Andhra Pradesh as per ICMR guidelines. The effective steps may reflect a downward trend in confirmed coronavirus cases in the state.

Andhra Pradesh government is carrying out comprehensive family survey in the third round, as per ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) guidelines and the effective steps may reflect a downward trend in COVID-19 cases. In a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the officials explained that the spike in cases was due to Delhi returnees. They along with their contacts were identified and now their samples are being examined, the officials said. The Police Department has done a tremendous job in identifying them, they said.

The Chief Minister has directed the officials to conduct a comprehensive survey of households, including more details in the questionnaire on real time basis, besides the ICMR guidelines. NewsX observed that in the villages, all outside returnees are in quarantine. Even the people who went to Andhra Pradesh from Hyderabad and Chennai are too are kept in isolation.

The CM instructed the officials to include 6,289 symptomatic members in the third survey as well. The officials said that two more categories have been added in the survey questionnaire as per the ICMR guidelines. The Chief Minister made it clear that there should be no error in the process and the details should be submitted on a real-time basis. He instructed them to set up an isolation ward in every hospital.

Also Read: Coronavirus cases in India cross 6000 mark, UK PM Boris Johnson moved out of ICU

Issues related to the agriculture department were also discussed in the review meeting. The officials briefed on the paddy and maize purchasing centres and the sales would increase in a week. The Chief Minister instructed officials to assess the number of vehicles required for transportation of agricultural produce. Sales of banana have begun with support from Self Help Groups (SHGs), the officials said.

Also Read: Coronavirus India: Andhra Pradesh government serves dry fruits, eggs and fruits at quarantine centres to boost immunity, not a single case reported since last night

Minister of Health Alla Nani, Minister of Agriculture Kurasala Kannababu, Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney, DGP Gautam Sawang, Special Chief Secretary of Ministry of Health Jawahar Reddy, Advisor to Government De Srinath Reddy were among those present at the review meeting.

Also Read: Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launches indigenous test kits

On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has launched two portals: the AP Industries COVID-19 portal for registration of units that are manufacturing essential medical supplies and the YSR  NIRMAN portal for supply of cement to government projects. The AP Industries COVID- 19 portal enables the MSME manufacturers and suppliers in the State to register themselves. The manufacturers and suppliers can register themselves in the portal for making and supplying essential items (both medical and auxiliary) related to COVID-19. The Industries department has already compiled a list of 112 units manufacturing medical essentials and 41 units manufacturing auxiliary items.

For all the latest National News, download NewsX App
Huawei, Chinas giant telecommunications corporation, faces growing extremely serious legal trouble in the United States.

The current public health pandemic, and related media obsession, make serious attention to other news even more important.

The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a superseding indictment of the China corporation in federal court in Brooklyn, charging the entity and two subsidiaries with violation of the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act. The Feds charge the Chinese with conspiracy to steal proprietary information  trade secrets  from six U.S. technology companies. The firm is also accused of aiding the government of Iran through providing sophisticated surveillance equipment used to identify, monitor and seize individuals involved in protests against the fundamentalist regime.

RICO was originally passed to target primarily members of organized crime families. However, the government for some years has also applied the law to prosecute white-collar crimes. RICO can involve seizing personal assets of those targeted. There is continuing controversy regarding both the fairness and effectiveness of this law, especially outside organized crime cases.

In early 2019, Justice Department officials charged the corporation with bank and wire fraud, violating sanctions against Iran and obstruction of justice. Huawei pleaded not guilty. The new indictment replaces this earlier one, presumably because the government feels a stronger case has now been assembled.

The federal pursuit of this controversial company reflects the wider competition and conflict between China and the U.S., which encompasses politics and national security concerns along with commerce, investment and trade. President Donald Trump has directed harsh accusations and complaints against Huawei, though on this subject he has not been consistent. Last year, he declared the company has significant strengths and might be part of a new trade deal with the government of China.

Huawei is currently the world leader in cutting-edge 5G technology. This term is shorthand for fifth generation wireless capability, which greatly increases the speed and capacity of wireless transmission.

5G is especially important for data transmission. The enormous volumes of data that today can be sent via telecom networks are significant for not only the development of markets by companies, but for governments concerned with national security  and citizens worried about violations of their privacy.

Unifying these varied anxieties and pressures  corporate, governmental and individual  is the understandable fear that Huawei, and therefore China, is accumulating monopoly power. China allegedly could take control over not only international commerce but also literally worldwide communications. That at least is the fear.

Last month, a half dozen China engineers gave a dramatic PowerPoint presentation in Geneva to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the organization that supervises communications worldwide. The visitors filled the screen with futuristic imagery. They argued that the current Internet is thoroughly outdated and therefore must be replaced with new cutting-edge technology.

The main message was that China should lead this effort. Media reaction, including by the non-tabloid Financial Times, reflected alarm.

Reality, however, is considerably more complex. Three decades ago, Japan seemed to be establishing dominance. A possible monopoly of computer chips became an obsessive focus, after Japans remarkable success in other sectors.

Arguments for an American industrial policy to mimic Japans close business-government cooperation grew popular. However, Japans dominance proved temporary as others learned to compete effectively.

Resolving current conflicts with China will involve the law, the marketplace and political negotiation. Nations beyond the U.S. must participate. Meanwhile, the pandemic dramatically and starkly demonstrates Chinas woeful public health deficiencies.

Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of After the Cold War. Contact acyr@carthage.edu.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
In its 174-year history, MacMurray College faced many challenges. None were as difficult as the financial problems we confronted in recent years.

The board of trustees and I worked for more than a year and until the day before we voted unanimously to close MacMurray to find a way to keep the college open.

The board and administration explored at least three different options: merger, affiliation or partnership with another institution; going forward by creating a new plan; and closure.

Each of these paths required time-consuming preparation and deliberation.

As with a growing list of small, private liberal arts colleges that have closed and others facing the same realities, the combination of declining enrollments, rising competitive costs, an insufficient endowment and recurring annual deficits were too much for us to overcome.

COVID-19 was a recent factor that didnt help our financial condition, but it was not the principal reason for the boards decision to close.

When I became MacMurrays 17th president last year after serving as provost, I knew we faced a tough financial future. I was determined to work with the board, students, alumni, faculty and staff to do everything we could to help MacMurray survive.

We deeply regret this decision and are sorry for the disruption and disappointment it will have for everyone in the Mac Family, including the Jacksonville community that has supported the college for generations.

Our final challenge now is to close an historic institution with dignity, preserve its legacy, and help our students transition to new colleges with honor and pride. I am especially proud of our final graduating class and hope we can honor their achievements later this year.

For students currently at MacMurray and those who expected to enroll next fall, we are working to transition them to a school where they can complete their undergraduate educations without delay and build on the academic and personal qualities that brought them to MacMurray.

To assist in this process, we negotiated transition agreements with seven schools within a two-hour drive of MacMurray. This includes our Jacksonville neighbor, Illinois College.

For staff and especially faculty, we kept them informed as best we could about the financial problems MacMurray faced and potential solutions we were exploring.

At a time of economic disruption when many people are abruptly losing their jobs, faculty and staff will be paid through the end of the semester, and most faculty will receive a final paycheck in late May that includes pay through August because they are paid on a 12-month schedule for a nine-month academic calendar.

Health insurance and other benefits will also continue through the same period of time as each faculty members employment.

We carefully considered the provisions of the faculty handbook regarding severance and sought legal review to ensure our decisions adhered to its terms, which specifies notice and severance only if some faculty remain when programs or departments are eliminated.

According to the handbook, which the faculty approved in 2019, severance payments do not apply to current circumstances because all faculty appointments will end when the college closes.

For alumni, we know how disappointed and saddened they are about MacMurrays closure. I share their pride in MacMurray, and my duty will be to work with the board to honor it.

As alumni know, MacMurray is a special place.

I noticed a predecessor of mine who served as the 12th president of MacMurray, B.G. Stephens and his wife, Sandra, shared their thoughts about MacMurray in a recent letter to the editor.

MacMurray is not a collection of buildings and grounds, they wrote. MacMurray is its people. It is the alumnae, alumni, students, parents, friends, donors, faculty and staff who are MacMurray College.

I couldnt agree more.

As difficult as the decision to close MacMurray was to make, I am comforted to know we went through a challenging process with integrity and honesty.

The honorable legacy of MacMurray deserves nothing less.

Beverly Rodgers is president of MacMurray College.
First responders and health care workers will be the first subjects for Henry Ford Health Systems groundbreaking hydroxychloroquine drug trial  which is testing to see if the drug can prevent COVID-19.

But the trial could soon be expanded to specific demographic groups like seniors and minorities, Vice President Mike Pence said in press briefing on Wednesday, April 8. Pence spoke with Henry Ford Health System officials twice this week about the subject.

The trial is the first of its kind because its testing the drug on healthy people  not people who have already tested positive for the virus.

Can hydroxychloroquine prevent coronavirus? New trial will test 3K healthy first responders in Michigan

It will go for eight weeks and remain open for southeast Michigan first responders and health care workers to apply for until it reaches 3,000 subjects. Officials want to determine if the drug can prevent or weaken coronavirus, if people take it while healthy.

There are currently no Food and Drug Administration-approved preventions, vaccines or treatments for COVID-19, per a Henry Ford Health System news release.

"Once we have an answer to this question, we hope to be able to expand it, as the vice president alluded to (Wednesday) night, to several other clinical trial pathways in our community," said Steve Kalkanis, vice president with Henry Ford Health System.

In the first four hours after opening the application on Thursday, 374 people signed up, Kalkanis said, which he called an overwhelming response.

The first subjects will begin the trial Monday, April 13, with some people getting placebo sugar pills, some getting weekly doses of hydroxychloroquine with placebos the rest of the week and some subjects getting the drug every day.

While these types of trials normally take more than a year to get going, this trial was put together in days and fast-tracked through the FDA, Kalkanis said. Henry Ford statisticians chose 3,000 subjects for the trial so the results have the statistical power to apply to the general population, he said.

Kalkanis also hopes the trial can teach us more about antibodies  proteins in the bloodstream that develop from a virus and can make you immune from it in the future  in people who get COVID-19 but don't show symptoms.

"It would be an interesting thing to know if asymptomatic people actually developed antibodies from exposure," Kalkanis said. "And then, could that be used as a way to promote immunity in the population and also to help develop vaccines?"

Hydroxychloroquine has been used for 75 years, and is used to prevent and treat malaria and help patients with conditions like arthritis and lupus. Side effects include stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and headache.

It makes sense to do the trial in southeast Michigan partly because its a hot spot for coronavirus in the U.S. right now, Kalkanis said.

The health system has $100 million in annual research funding and is already part of more than 25 studies underway or being reviewed to treat or prevent COVID-19, per the release.

Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties alone have 17,123 confirmed cases of the virus. The combined 915 coronavirus deaths in the three metro-Detroit counties are more than 47 entire states have had so far during the pandemic.

PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible.

Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more Michigan coronavirus coverage here

Friday, April 10: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.

Coronavirus cases are growing outside metro Detroit and rural Michigan isnt ready

Pfizer aims to create coronavirus vaccine by end of 2020

Michigans updated coronavirus stay-at-home order will close garden centers and other parts of grocery stores
Lucknow, April 10 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is monitoring nearly 66,036 persons who have been in quarantine for coronavirus.

These persons are being monitored by local health officials.

According to the government spokesman, 8,671 persons have been put in institutional quarantine while 459 have been admitted to the isolation wards.

The count in Uttar Pradesh, on Friday, touched 431 with 21 new patients who tested positive for the virus.

Corona footprints can now be found in 40 of the total 75 districts.

The official spokesman said that with strict enforcement of lockdown and sealing of hotspots, the Corona curve was expected to flatten in the coming week.

Meanwhile, online services like Swiggy and Zomato, on Friday, stopped service in several areas and their app simply states that the area was unserviceable.
According to new research for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), over 90% of respondents surveyed in Vietnam support government-led closure of illegal and unregulated wildlife markets.

Wild birds sold at a market in the southern province of Long An

The research was conducted in the context of the world grappling with the worst public health emergency in recent memory due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A survey conducted in March among 5,000 participants from Hong Kong (China), Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam found that 82% of respondents are extremely or very worried about the outbreak, with 93% of respondents in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong supporting action by their governments to eliminate illegal and unregulated markets.



Questions remain about the exact origins of COVID-19, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed it is a zoonotic disease, meaning it jumped from wildlife to humans. The Chinese government announced a comprehensive ban on the consumption of wild animals on 24 February. WWF research shows that citizens support similar action from other governments across the region. This was the first survey on public opinion about the connection between COVID-19 and the wildlife tradeacross Asia.



According to Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International, the public in Asia have spoken - those living in countries where wildlife markets are most prevalent are demanding that wildlife consumption is curbed and that the illegal and unregulated wildlife trade is eliminated. People are deeply worried and would support their governments in taking action to prevent potential future global health crises originating in wildlife markets.



The WHO has reported that the current COVID-19 pandemic, along with at least 61% of all human pathogens, are zoonotic in origin - wildlife trade is an aggravating factor in the spread of zoonoses. Other recent epidemics, including SARS, MERS and Ebola, have also all been traced back to viruses that spread from animals to people.



The unsustainable wildlife trade is the second-largest direct threat to biodiversity globally, after habitat destruction. Populations of vertebrate species on earth declined by an average 60% since 1970, and a 2019 report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) concluded that an average of 25% of global species are currently threatened with extinction. Nhan Dan
Guwahati/Agartala, April 10 : Assam reported its first death due to coronavirus on Friday while one more positive case was detected in Tripura, taking the northeast region's active cases to 34.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, in a tweet, said that another Covid-19 positive case has been confirmed, taking the state's total number to two.

"The patient is a 32-year-old male from Madhya Pradesh and currently staying at Damcherra (in northern Tripura). He has travelled along with the first COVID-19 positive patient in train (from Guwahati)," said Deb, who also holds the Health portfolio.

A 45-year-old woman first tested positive for coronavirus in Tripura on Monday.

Health officials said that the woman, who returned to Tripura by train on March 18-19 after offering puja at Guwahati's Kamakhya temple, is now undergoing treatment at the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital and her condition was stated to be stable.

In Assam, five samples of state's existing 28 positive cases tested negative in the last checks, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in Guwahati.

The first corona death of Assam, also the first in the northeastern region, was reported from the state's Hailakandi district.

"Faijul Haque Barbhyan, 65, from Hailakandi district died at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) early on Friday due to COVID-19. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family," Sarma said in a tweet.

Barbhyan's swab sample had tested positive on Tuesday and he was immediately admitted to the SMCH. He had a travel history to Saudi Arabia and had returned home recently via Delhi.

According to Silchar hospital's officials, the condition of the patient, a former employee of Madrassa Education Board, had turned critical on Thursday and was admitted in the ICU.

Hailakandi Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli told the media that after funeral prayers, Barbhyan's body, kept in an airtight three-layered plastic bag, was disinfected and taken to a burial ground 10 km from the Hailakandi city and buried there in the presence of his close relatives and an Imam.

Of the total 34 positive cases in five northeastern states -- Assam (28), Manipur (2), Tripura (2), Mizoram (1) and Arunachal Pradesh (1), 28 took part in a Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi last month.

A Manipuri woman and a Mizoram man tested positive last month after they returned from the UK and the Netherlands respectively.

A 52-year-old trader in Assam's Kamrup (Metro) district has also tested positive for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Sarma, while addressing media in Guwahati on Friday, said that as a public health safety measure, the state government has declared Athgaon Kabristhan Masjid in Guwahati as "self containment zone" and sealed it for 14 days.

After returning from Nizamuddin Markaz event in Delhi, eight people stayed there and on March 12 held a congregation in the presence of at lease 100 people. Three of them have so far tested positive for Covid-19.
Soi Dog Foundation distributes over 11 tonnes of food to stray animal feeders across Phuket

In preparation for an island-wide lockdown from April 13-26, Soi Dog Foundation distributed over 11 tonnes of dog and cat food to stray animal feeders across Phuket on Thursday (Apr 9).



By Soi Dog Foundation

Saturday 11 April 2020, 12:48AM

A fleet of animal rescue vehicles delivered 470 large bags of dog food and 140 large bags of cat food to popular feeding hotspots, such as temples, as well as to feeders directly.

Soi Dog has long provided food to the islands feeders through its Community Outreach Programme; however, food was provided urgently and in much greater quantities yesterday as the lockdown, once in force, could severely restrict the foundations movements. Taking no chances, the food provided should be sufficient to cover feeders for around six weeks.

Many stray dogs and cats rely on feeders, restaurants and passing tourists for food and water. However, with some feeders unable to travel to certain areas due to the lockdown, with restaurants closed and with tourism grinding to a halt, many of these animals will be unable to find sustenance such as they would normally. This puts them at risk of straying into new areas where they are unwanted, competing for food amongst their packs or starving. However, with regular feeders in place, these risks are greatly reduced.

In a recent press release, Soi Dog also encouraged local communities to look out for the stray animals in their neighbourhoods by leaving out bowls of food and clean water and monitoring any changes in their health.

Soi Dog is determined that, even in these dire circumstances, no homeless animal will be left behind.
A U.S. passenger thumbs up to reporters while arriving at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Feb. 17, 2020, after disembarking in Yokohama from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where people are quarantined onboard due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images)

CCP Virus Raises the Question: What Is Life Worth?

Commentary

The spread of the CCP virus has forced the world to a grinding halt.

Encouraging families to quarantine at home and practice social distancing in public is now the norm, even after just three weeks, with at least three more weeks to go.

But the CCP virus has also forced other things to stop: abortions; surgeries; jobs. Some of these make sense. Others dont. The CCP virus and the worlds response has raised the question about the value of life and is forcing us to answer it: What is a life worth?

As soon as it became clear the CCP virus was an unprecedented enemy that was no respecter of class, race, economic status, religion, or any other metric, health-care experts, government officialsand really, everyone else with a pulsebegan paying attention and devising ways to mitigate infections and loss of life.

Shelter in place policies are implemented nearly across the board in every state, and most states have closed all non-essential stores, organizations, businesses, conferences, and more.

While hospitals in New York City are running out of beds for people infected with the CCP virus, other reports show rural hospitals might not survive this period since they have been forced to stop all elective surgeries, which are often a major source of revenue for hospitals.

While this might seem small when compared to overflowing New York City hospitals or the rising death toll there, for rural communities, their own hospitals are their own lifesaversand they still need medical care now and in the future, too.

An Atlantic article on the topic reports that the University of Washington has decided some surgeries, such as brain-cancer surgeries, will continue without delay, but others, such as a patient who has epilepsy and who has a petit-mal seizure daily, will have to wait to receive the brain surgery that would resolve that issue, despite having planned her entire life around that surgery, down to re-arranging work, school, and child care to make time for the long recovery.

Her doctor told The Atlantic the hospital is prioritizing surgeries in which the length of your life is affected. The quality of life surgeries are the ones now getting postponed.

While I can understand the necessity to slow the spread of the CCP virus, if a hospital delays life-changing (not necessarily life-saving) procedures to the point where their own revenue stops and they are forced to close, that could also cost lives in the long run, or at the very least, impede quality of life.

Then theres an issue on the other side of the medical spectrum: abortion. Several state officials shut down non-essential medical activities, especially ones that would utilize coveted personal protection equipment (PPE) that medical personnel need to combat the CCP virus. This included abortion clinics, temporarily, of course. Multiple states have tried to halt abortions temporarily, including Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, and Louisiana.

Whereas the public has taken social distancing measures, quarantine, and even stopping non-life saving surgeries in its stride, this was not the case with abortion. Critics immediately rallied and abortion organizations such as Planned Parenthood filed lawsuits right away completely ignoring the imminent threat of the CCP virus and instead complaining that closing abortion clinics was a violation of a womans constitutional right.

Judges in four states have banned the attempt to shutter abortion clinics temporarily, although a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said Texass ban on abortions could stay while the lawsuit proceeds.

All three of these issues, the CCP virus, halting surgeries effecting a hospitals bottom line, and shuttering abortion clinics temporarily, are in many ways diametrically opposed, yet they raise the question: What is a life worth?

Right now the Jewish community is celebrating Passover. Choose life is a foundational, if not the foundational, ethos in Judaism, and in many ways that ethos appears to have taken over the world when it comes to handling the CCP virusin many ways, just not all ways.

If were going to stop the world so the CCP virus spreads slowly and thereby more lives are saved, why wouldnt we also halt abortions so that more unborn lives and medical personnel are saved? Its not only an unnecessary dichotomy but an unethical one.

At the same time, if were halting surgeries and a hospital loses so much revenue it must close and leave its residents without an ER, is that not a contradiction to the highest good as well?

The CCP virus has raised medical, logistical, financial, and political questions. Its no surprise it has raised philosophical questions, too. I hope that we as a society can continue to wrangle with these so that we know better how to handle these pressing life issues, should something like this strike us again, in the future.

Nicole Russell is a freelance writer and mother of four. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Politico, The Daily Beast, and The Federalist. Follow her on Twitter @russell_nm.

Special Coverage:

For our latest coverage of the CCP Virus Outbreak, visit our new section and sign up for our CCP Virus Newsletter.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Bob Giamio, founder of the Silver Diner restaurant chain, is hoping to receive emergency funding in the coming days through a federal loan program. But he doesn't want to spend the money right away.

Small-business owners are supposed to use the loans immediately to keep employees on their payrolls during the coronavirus crisis, but at the moment there is little for Giamio's workers to do. His restaurants in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia will be closed for sit-down service until local officials allow them to reopen.

"Getting the loan is hard enough. Using it is harder," said Giamio, who is lobbying through an industry association for more flexible loan terms.

His frustration is one of a variety shared by business owners as they try to navigate the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program -- the week-old initiative that Congress is already considering expanding with another $250 billion in funding.

The low-interest loans are meant to save businesses with fewer than 500 employees - and prevent their workers from flooding unemployment offices. So far, the rollout has been rocky.

Banks, tasked with dispersing the money, have been confused about the rules, which has delayed lending. Entrepreneurs are reporting troubles applying. And even some who make it through the application process say they're facing dilemmas about how to use the money.

The Small Business Administration, which is overseeing the program, said more than 600,000 loans totaling $161 billion had been approved as of Friday. It didn't provide a figure for the amount of money dispersed.

"Overall, this is the largest economic recovery program in our country's history and it is underway after being built in five short days," the agency said in an emailed statement. "The overwhelming response of applications for PPP assistance since the programs launched illustrates how much America's small businesses -- and those they employ -- need our help."

Small businesses across the country are pouncing on the program. About 70% of 900 entrepreneurs surveyed said they tried to apply for a PPP loan, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. Of those, about three-quarters successfully submitted an application, with the rest reporting problems.

Some entrepreneurs have had trouble finding a bank that will accept their application, in some cases because banks are limiting the loans to pre-existing customers, according to NFIB's survey. The taxpayer-funded program relies on banks to vet and approve loans of up to $10 million.

Gusto, a company that helps small businesses manage their payrolls, said its clients are having more luck applying through local banks, rather than large, national lenders.

"Anecdotally we've found small community banks have done a better job getting the money distributed," said Gusto co-founder Edward Kim.

After a slow start, big banks have stepped up their participation in recent days. Citigroup began taking applications Thursday. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America say small businesses have applied for about $40 billion in loans from each bank.

But the banking industry remains frustrated by the rollout. Banks say the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration are still clarifying how the program will operate, making it more difficult to finalize the terms of the loans.

"Clear and concise instructions are still sorely needed on access to the SBA loan programs," the Independent Community Bankers of America and more than two dozen state banking associations said in a letter Thursday to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Small Business Administrator Jovita Carranza. "Community bankers throughout the country have worked around the clock to make this critical program work for cash-starved small businesses."

Patrick Ryan, chief executive of New Jersey-based First Bank, said small businesses approved for the program are likely to start receiving funds next week.

"One thing I wish had been done differently is more reasonable expectations," Ryan said. "Everyone was in such a hurry to announce it that there were expectations that somehow we were going to flip a switch and loans were going to go flying out the door."

Several entrepreneurs interviewed by The Washington Post said they had submitted their paperwork and were awaiting final approval. "My phone is on and I'm keeping my shower door open...I just don't want to miss a call," said Alison Cayne, owner of Haven's Kitchen, a cooking school and cafe in Manhattan, who applied through her local Chase bank branch.

Cayne has managed to avoid laying people off, largely by cutting hours and pay. "My managers all went to 20 hours a week, $20 an hour so we could keep the porters and prep cooks on the payroll and getting healthcare," she said. Cayne is hoping to use part of the emergency funds to pay workers back for those lost wages.

Melissa Wirt, founder of an e-commerce clothing business in Richmond, Virginia, has also avoided laying off her 35 full-time employees, who are mostly working from home. She was approved for a PPP loan through her local bank and is waiting for the funds to arrive. "It allows me to set that money aside and not worry about whether [employees] are going to get paid," she said.

Small businesses can have the loans forgiven, meaning they won't have to pay them back, if they spend most of the money on retaining or rehiring employees. To qualify for forgiveness, they're supposed to spend at least 75% of the funds on payroll within eight weeks of receiving the loan. The rest must be spent on rent, mortgage interest or utilities, if the loan is to be forgiven. Otherwise, recipients need to start repaying the funds after a six-month grace period.

For Giamio, part owner of Silver Diner, which runs 19 restaurants, the mandated timing of the spending is a problem.

In his 30 years in business, he says he's never laid off an employee, until now. After coronavirus hit, local authorities ordered restaurants to close for sit-down service, forcing Giamio to temporarily lay off 1,600 of 1,800 workers, he said. Most of them are now collecting unemployment, he said. (Some regional restaurant chains qualify for the loans even if they employ more than 500 people).

Giamio has maintained his management team and a skeleton crew to handle pick-up and delivery orders, but can't fully open for business until D.C., Maryland and Virginia give him the all-clear. In Virginia, that's not expected to happen until June 10, he said.

He applied through a local bank for a $9.5 million emergency loan and is awaiting approval. But rehiring his workers immediately would be impractical, he said.

"There's no job for them," he said. "We would use all the loan proceeds while we're closed, and we'd be out of funds to reopen."

Giamio wants the rules to change so that the companies can qualify for loan forgiveness if they wait to rehire workers until they are legally allowed to reopen. In the meantime, he'd like to use part of the loan to pay the workers he has retained and to pay suppliers of food and other goods, but he says paying suppliers isn't an allowed use of the funds under current regulations.

He is lobbying his senators and congressional representatives to try to change the rules.

In its emailed statement, the SBA said the point of the program "is to put money in the hands of small business owners so they can, in part, keep employees on the payroll so they can make rent, pay mortgages, buy groceries and generally survive and participate in the economy."

"For a business to take this cash injection from PPP and sit on it while their employees are at home being unpaid defeats the purpose and the spirit of the CARES Act," the law that created the loan program, the SBA said. "All we are asking is that the employer use 75% of what is essentially free money to pay their employees for eight weeks."

Some other business owners said they agree with Giamio's view. Jerry Akers runs a chain of hair salons in Iowa and Nebraska that aren't allowed to reopen until next month at the earliest. He's furloughed most of his 200 workers, who are collecting unemployment.

His business, based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been approved for a PPP loan of about $1 million and is awaiting the funds. He, too, would like to wait to spend on rehiring until he's allowed to reopen, because he'll need an extra cushion as business ramps up again.

"There will be a window there where customers will take time to come back. You are going to be paying for more labor than you might need because people might not be comfortable coming out of their homes quickly," Akers said. "Probably there won't be enough revenue to take care of bills in that time."

Cortney Keene, who owns a clinic for autistic children in White River Junction, Vermont, furloughed 17 of her 20 employees in mid March, after social-distancing advice emerged.

"You can't work with a 2-year-old with autism and be six feet away," she said. "We basically lost all of our revenue immediately." Her workers are now collecting unemployment.

Her business was approved for a PPP loan several days ago, and requested receipt be delayed until early May. Her lender agreed to that start date, she said. "We can't bring our employees back till the first week of May," she said. "We didn't want to receive it now because we can't bring our staff back now."
When Christina Cone got to Franklin High School Thursday, the line of families waiting to pick up Chromebooks stretched a full four blocks.

That was at 9 a.m.

By noon, Cone was at the head of the line, which by then snaked around the west side of the Southeast Portland campus and onto a nearby street.

And those were just the people on the sidewalk.

Another set of automobile queues, no fewer than five, had also formed on side streets, some stretching as far as Southeast Powell Boulevard, one-third of a mile away.

Portland Public Schools estimates about 15,000 students, or a little less than one-third of its total enrollment, will need to borrow a laptop, tablet or other electronic tool as the district launches distance learning amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Spokeswoman Karen Werstein said the district has so far distributed more than 6,000 Chromebooks. About 1,900 of those check-outs took place this week.

A spike in demand Thursday, when Portland Public Schools directed families to pick-up sites at Franklin, Roosevelt and Jefferson high schools and the district headquarters, led to long lines and a wave of frustration as students and parents waited upward of three hours to retrieve a device.

Extremely high demand plus the need to strictly follow social practices means that there were longer wait times than we intended, Werstein said. We are making our best effort to make the loaner computer process as quick and convenient as possible. We will learn from today and improve our process for tomorrow.

At the district headquarters in North Portland, families queued up in vehicles as they waited for their turn. One parent cut in front of several others, causing a disturbance, Portland police spokesman Carlos Ibarra said.

At Franklin, the school resource officer tapped his vehicles loudspeaker to tell families the site would soon run out of Chromebooks shortly after noon and that theyd likely leave empty-handed.

You probably have better things to do, the officer said, striking a jocular tone. You dont have to wait in this trainwreck of a situation here. You can leave and come back next week and get a computer. It will be more peaceful  it probably wont be as hot."

Temperatures in Portland topped out at about 77 degrees Thursday. And although many families, some of them clad in facemasks and gloves, stood six feet apart, others had fewer than two, maybe three feet of daylight between them.

Maria Negrete and her son, Jared, a sixth-grader at Arleta School, arrived at Franklin shortly after 9 a.m. Her children, who also include an eighth-grader and kindergartener at Arleta, had missed out on the first four days of distance learning already.

The family doesnt own a computer.

I think they might fall behind a little bit, Negrete told The Oregonian/OregonLive in Spanish. But were adapting as best we can.

With students across Oregon expected to miss nearly three months of in-school instruction, parents, educators and policymakers are worried about what the loss of learning time and social connection will mean for their long-term outcomes, academic and otherwise.

Most families and educators so far acknowledge that protecting community health in the face of a pandemic takes priority. On Wednesday, state schools chief Colt Gill acknowledged the burden distance learning puts on both teachers and families.

Its a heavy lift for our educators and its a heavy lift for our parents as well, Gill said. Were asking everyone  our students, our families and our teachers  to change what they do day in and day out.

The challenge, educators and child advocates say, is to maximize what schools can deliver via distance learning supports to keep students from losing too much ground  and to give extra support to students who have the greatest learning needs and can be hardest to reach.

By the time Cone had reached the head of the line at Franklin, the pre-kindergarten teacher at Sacajawea Head Start had grown so bored that at one point she collected grass clippings from the schools freshly mown lawn to take home and toss into her compost pile.

Cone was there to retrieve devices for a pair of families in her class. The childrens parents dont speak much English, she said.

Cone isnt fluent in Spanish, either, but she managed to communicate to her students parents that theyd need to borrow district computers to access lessons to keep their children engaged while their school is closed.

The way I see it, Ive got about five jobs right now, Cone said. The first is feeding my family. The second is taking care of my daughter. And after that I take care of my students and their families.

Noah Johnson-Grenough, a second-grade teacher at Lent School, was similarly there to snag a couple of devices for his students. About 10 of the kids in his class needed to borrow district equipment, he said. Eight of their families had the means to travel the three miles from their homes east of Interstate 205 to Franklin, the distribution site nearest to them, he said.

I miss them terribly, Johnson-Grenough said, noting that it had been weeks since hed seen his students.

My Dien arrived at Franklin at around 11 a.m.

She lives in Vancouver, but her son attends Rose City Park Elementary for its Vietnamese immersion program. The first-grader had tried to access the districts online portal Monday, but the familys older iPad kept fizzing out and his mothers MacBook wouldnt load much of the content, either.

So Dien, a dental hygienist, traveled to Franklin in hopes of securing a Chromebook for her son.

Its better this way," she said. He can do it all on one device.

Kerry Weymouth similarly has devices at home but made the trek to secure two more for her children, first- and fourth-graders at Richmond Elementary.

The kids used her computer earlier in the week and the family secured a monitor for an old Mac Mini they had. But the smaller device wasnt cutting it and Weymouth needed her computer to work from home. Shes a psychotherapist.

She arrived at Franklin around 9 a.m. and by noon was close to collecting her sons devices. Weymouth was floored by how long it took to get to the front of the line and the queue that remained three hours later.

I was not expecting this. At all, she said.

Beth Nakamura of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report.

--Eder Campuzano | 503-221-4344 | @edercampuzano

Do you have a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Eder at ecampuzano@oregonian.com or message either of the social accounts above.

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.

Oregons education reporters are looking for parents who would like to speak with a journalist about the effects coronavirus is having on families across the state. Would you like to chat with one of us? Fill out this form.
The Mumbai Police on Friday has deployed five platoons of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) with 120 personnel in each platoon to ensure strict lockdown in the 380 odd containment zones across Mumbai.

Six drones are hovering over these zones, making announcements asking people to stay at home. Pranaya Ashok, DCP (ops) and spokesperson for Mumbai Police confirmed the development.

Till Friday 4am, 34,010 FIRs were registered in the state over lockdown violations with maximum offences in Pune city with 4, 317 cases followed by Ahmednagar with 3,215 cases.

About 468 people were booked for violating home quarantine and 161 people were arrested for assaulting police officers. About 18, 995 vehicles were seized and a fine of about 1.22 crore was collected from the offenders.

Lockdown violations continued on Thursday, with 92% of the total cases in city registered against people gathering in one place.

A total of 275 FIRs were registered by Mumbai Police on Thursday in which 254 cases were for gathering in public. A total of 504 people were booked and 324 were arrested in all cases. The remaining 21 cases were for unnecessary use of vehicles and keeping shops open that are not part of essential services. In all, Mumbai Police have so far lodged 2,205 cases against 4,138 people.

The central region, that comprises of areas like Mumbai Central, Byculla, Mazgaon, Prabhadevi, Worli Koliwada, are the worst hit by Covid-19 with 268 positive cases being reported till Thursday. When contacted, S Veeresh Prabhu, additional commissioner of police, central region said, We are strictly following all the instructions given by the BMC to stop the virus from spreading further.

Meanwhile, The states cyber cell registered 161 cases are registered regarding fake news, rumours and hate speech over social media in Maharashtra. There is a rising trend in hate speech cases and 73 cases are registered in this regard. In all 39 accused are arrested and 33 are identified, said Balsing Rajput, SP, Maharashtra cyber.

Six in Dharavi booked for attending prayer meet

Dharavi police caught over 10 people who attended a prayer meet at a house at Gandhi Nagar society in Dharavi. The police lodged an FIR against six people including the organiser.

Cops face home quarantine

Earlier this week, a police sub-inspector staying in Yogi Nagar in Borivali (West) tested positive for Covid-19 after which two buildings in Borivali police quarters were sealed by the BMC. Further several police officers were asked to quarantine themselves at home.

Police helpline gets 60,727 calls for Covid 19 queries

The state police have so far received a total of 60,727 calls related to Covid 19 from across the state on its helpline number 100 in which 16,111 calls were from the city.

Cops caution admins of social media groups

Mumbai Police on Friday issued an order under section 144 of CrPC warning Mumbaiites to refrain from indulging in spreading coronavirus-related misinformation, hate speech against any community, mistrust against government agencies on social media. The admins of such groups on platforms like WhatsApp will face action if they fail to report such activity to cops. Those violating the order will be booked under IPC section 188.

(Inputs from Manish K Pathak, Vijay Kumar Yadav, Suraj Ojha, Yesha Kotak and Faisal Tandel)
St. Lukes University Health Network is making sure that its front-line workers have one less thing to worry about as they work against the coronavirus pandemic day-in and day-out.

The health network started two initiatives recently thats aiding the hospital employees in their much-deserved time off during the effort to stop the spread of coronavirus and care for those afflicted. Its mainly coming in the form of free food, which is never a bad thing.

Since late-March, all St. Lukes cafeterias have been providing free breakfast, lunch and dinner to hospital workers during their shift. The menu has a variety of options, including vegetarian options.

The second initiative is one the public can get involved in. Feeding the Frontlines" is the hospital networks effort to show its appreciation for its employees by providing them with gift cards to local restaurants, so once their workday is done, they can pick up an already-cooked meal for themselves and their families.

Because St. Lukes is only allowing donations of certain foods into its facilities, gift cards have made things much easier. And its easy to be a part of that group making sure hospital workers can take it easy outside of their strenuous and heroic workday: all you have to do is make a donation on the St. Lukes website. Their Feeding the Frontlines page also has details on how to donate by check and mail, specific gift cards and donate food directly to the hospital.

Much of the community is rallying around healthcare workers in this way, such as FLAG of the Lehigh Valley, and both efforts, with their gift card purchases, are supporting local restaurants, who are facing difficult economic times with the states stay-at-home order.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Connor Lagore may be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @ConnorLagore. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
United Way of Midland County this week partnered with Corteva Agriscience to host the Midland County Emergency Food Pantry Network mobile food pantry, feeding over 1,000 local families.

On Thursday, volunteers from Corteva, United Way of Midland County, Great Lakes Bay Veterans Coalition, Midland County Emergency Food Pantry Network and numerous community members distributed food at Midland High School.

Food continues to be the No. 1 request through 2-1-1, said Holly Miller, executive director of United Way of Midland County. We recognize many need food help, some for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Corteva is an amazing partner, providing dollars and volunteers to ensure food continues to be available for so many who are counting on this lifeline.

The group worked together to distribute enough food to feed 3,600 individuals. For the health and safety of volunteers and participants, attendees were asked to stay in their vehicles for the distribution. Volunteers also wore gloves and cloth masks.

Corteva Michigan employees have donated to United Ways across the region, with a generous corporate match for the first $5,000 of employee gifts to support the response to COVID-19.

Corteva began collecting monetary donations on March 16, raising enough money to help finance this mobile food pantry and other ways to ensure food continues to be available for those on the frontlines and ALICE families.

We are grateful to Corteva and their team for stepping up, Miller said. When we have organizations, nonprofits and community members coming together, we can wrap our arms around our neighbors and help lift each other up.
The IRS has unveiled a new website to help non-filing Americans receive their emergency payouts. (Bradley C. Bower / Associated Press)

Many Americans who didnt file taxes in 2018 or 2019 because they earned less than $12,000 a year can now provide the IRS with direct deposit information in order to more quickly receive their up to $1,200 economic stimulus payout, the IRS announced Friday.

The new site -- largely targeted at low-income people, the homeless and others who it is feared may fall through the cracks in distributing the money -- is for people who: had gross income that did not exceed $12,200 for an individual or $24,400 for married couples for 2019; were not otherwise required to file a federal income tax return for 2019; and didn't plan to, the IRS said.

Using the portal, people can submit basic personal information to the IRS, including full names and Social Security numbers for themselves and any spouse or children in the home, mailing address and bank account information for direct deposit.

New America Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank, estimates that 12 million non-filers may fall into that category.

The portal is separate from the soon-to-be-launched Get My Payment portal that the IRS is creating for people who filed their taxes but did not get a tax refund through direct deposit. That portal -- which will also allow people to track the status of their payout -- is expected to be ready as soon as next week.

Congress approved the up to $1,200 payouts in the $2-trillion economic bailout it passed last month in an effort to help Americans harmed by the coronavirus-related shutdowns pay their bills. An estimated 110 million Americans, including Social Security recipients, will begin seeing the money in their bank accounts next week, but some of the payments have been delayed as the Treasury Department races to create new systems to reach the approximately 101 million tax filers who do not already have direct deposit information on file with the IRS.

The government doesn't routinely print and mail millions of paper checks anymore, and some estimates are that it would take four months or more to get paper checks to everyone if the government cannot obtain more direct deposit information.

Story continues

All U.S. residents are eligible for a payment as long as they have a work-eligible Social Security number, cannot be claimed as a dependent on another person's taxes and meet the income requirements. Those with an adjusted gross income below $75,000 (or $150,000 for a married couple) would receive the full amount: $1,200 per adult or $2,400 for a married couple. In addition, they are eligible for an additional $500 per child under 17.

Americans who make between $75,000 and $99,000 (or married couples making between $150,000 and $198,000) are eligible for a portion of the payment.

Many in Congress have pushed the Treasury Department to ensure millions of Americans who dont earn enough to file a yearly tax return  and who may not have a bank account  also get their payout.

Social Security recipients who did not file a tax return in 2018 or 2019 do not need to use the new portal or take any action. They will receive their payment in the same way that they receive their Social Security payments.

Congress specifically instructed the Treasury Department to use direct deposit data that the government already has to give the payout to Social Security recipients, but it didnt order the department to do the same for other groups it has direct deposit information for including the estimated 3 million SSI  also known as disability  recipients and disabled veterans. SSI recipients and disabled veterans can give the department their direct deposit information using the new portal.
About 15 million people face job losses in India's exports sector following cancellation of over half of the orders and gloomy forecast for global trade due to the Covid-19 pandemic, exporters' body FIEO said on Friday

New Delhi: About 15 million people face job losses in India's exports sector following cancellation of over half of the orders and gloomy forecast for global trade due to the Covid-19 pandemic, exporters' body FIEO said on Friday.

Seeking immediate announcement of a relief package for exports, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Sharad Kumar Saraf said a fine balancing is required between life and livelihood, as opting for only one can be disastrous for the country.

He said that exporters are left with "very" few orders and if factories are not allowed to work with a minimum workforce, many of them will suffer "irreparable losses" which will bring them to the brink of closure as they are saddled with a fixed cost that in any case has to be absorbed by them.

"With cancellation of over 50 percent of orders and gloomy forecast for the future, we expect 15 million job losses in exports and rising NPAs (non-performing assets) amongst exporting units, hitting the economy very badly," Saraf said.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

He added that sectors including apparel, gems and jewellery, leather, handicrafts, engineering and textiles are severely hit by the lockdown.

"We are losing markets to China. All orders are going to China as they have resumed work. It will be very late if we will not start our factories now. Small economies like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka too have announced relief packages," he said.

Saraf added that any further delay in rolling out of incentives would be "catastrophic".

He recommended steps like interest-free working capital term loans to exporters to cover the cost of wages, rental and utilities; EPF and ESIC waiver for three months from March to May; extension of pre and post-shipment credit by 90-180 days on their maturity, and extension of interest subsidy benefits.

"Huge support given by various economies to exports will put Indian exports in further difficulties as when the size of the cake reduces, competition intensifies with focus on prices," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 13:17:37|Editor: zyl

Video Player Close

CHICAGO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. airplane giant Boeing Company is mulling a plan to cut about 10 percent of its workforce amid the fallout caused by COVID-19, U.S. media reported Thursday.

The plan, which could include buyouts, early retirements and involuntary layoffs, are expected to mostly target the company's commercial arm, since turmoil in the global airline industry has put the unit under immense strain, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

No decisions on cuts have been made, with the potential 10-percent decline in labor force still under consideration, according to the report.

Last week, Boeing announced it was initiating a voluntary layoff (VLO) plan to try to stem the financial strain from the pandemic.

"One thing is already clear: It will take time for the aerospace industry to recover from the crisis," said Dave Calhoun, the company's president and CEO, in a letter to employees.

"We are initiating a VLO plan that allows eligible employees who want to exit the company to do so with a pay and benefits package. This move aims to reduce the need for other workforce actions," he added.

Boeing employs about 145,000 employees across the United States and in more than 65 countries and regions, according to its official website.
Note: While most shelters have closed their doors to the public for the coming weeks many are still meeting prospective adopters through appointments. Please visit the shelters website or call to get information on adoption or fostering an animal at this time.

Each week, MassLive showcases pets available for adoption at shelters at rescue organizations across Massachusetts. With the participation of the shelters listed below, many animals should be able to find a permanent home. Pets are adopted daily so please contact the shelter directly if you are interested in an animal.

Massachusetts Shelters:

Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society

Address: 163 Montague Road, Leverett Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Telephone: (413) 548-9898

Address: 171 Union St., Springfield Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Telephone: (413) 781-4000

Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center Address: 627 Cottage St., Springfield Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Saturday, noon-4 p.m.; Thursday, noon-7 p.m. Telephone: (413) 781-1484

Westfield Homeless Cat Project Address: 1124 East Mountain Road, Westfield Hours: Adoption clinics, Thursday, 5-7 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Westfield Regional Animal Shelter Address: 178 Apremont Way, Westfield Hours: Monday-Friday, noon-5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Telephone: (413) 564-3129

Franklin County Sheriffs Office Regional Dog Shelter and Adoption CenterAddress: 10 Sandy Lane, Turners Falls Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Telephone: (413) 676-9182

Polverari/Southwick Animal Control Facility Address: 11 Depot St., Southwick Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Telephone: (413) 569-5348, ext. 649

Berkshire Humane Society Address: 214 Barker Road, Pittsfield Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thursday, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Telephone: (413) 447-7878

Animal Rescue League of Boston Address: 10 Chandler Street, Boston, MA 02116 Telephone: (617) 426-9170 Fax: (617) 426-3028

DAKIN HUMANE SOCIETY

There are still pets available for adoption in the Springfield Adoption Center only (Leverett is temporarily closed). People are asked to visit the Dakin webpage first to see what pets we have available, then call us if they are interested in one in particular to set an appointment. The staff will return the call within 48 hours to set an appointment for prospective adopters to come in and see the animal. That will help make the adoption process go more smoothly and prevent unproductive time spent by the lean on-site staff.

Giz- These animals are available at Dakin Humane Society by appointment only.

Giz  spirit cat

Breed: Domestic Shorthair

Age: 2 Year

Gender: Male

Location: Springfield

Springfield - Animals are available for adoption by appointment only at Dakin Humane Society.

Geraldine  to be adopted with Whisper  theyre in foster care

Breed: Rat

Age: 1 Year

Gender: Females

Location: Springfield

Beanarie and Trixie - Animals are available for adoption by appointment only at Dakin Huamane Society.

Benarie  to be adopted with Trixie  theyre in foster care

Breed: Flemish Giant

Age: 2 Year

Gender: Females

Location: Springfield

Num Num - Animals are available for adoption by appointment only at Dakin Humane Society.

Num Num  spirit cat  to be adopted with Fish

Breed: Domestic Longhair

Age: 2 Year

Gender: Female

Location: Springfield

Blue - These animals are available at Dakin Humane Society by appointment only.

Blue  in foster care

Breed: Terrier, American Pit Bull

Age: 8 Year

Gender: Male

Location: Springfield

Fluffy - These animals are available at Dakin Humane Society by appointment only.

Fluffy

Breed: Domestic Shorthair

Age: 6 Year

Gender: Female

Location: Springfield

Fish - These animals are available at Dakin Humane Society by appointment only.

Fish  spirit cat  to be adopted with Num Num

Breed: Domestic Longhair

Age: 2 Year

Gender: Female

Location: Springfield

MSPCA ANIMAL CARE AND ADOPTION CENTERS

Animals are still available for adoption  you just need to make an appointment! Finding homes for our current population of shelter animals will be vital for our ability to provide temporary housing and increased surrender intake as a result of the outbreak.

Animals in need of immediate surrender will continue to be accepted by appointment . If the need to surrender your pet is not urgent, we ask that you wait to bring in your animal. This will allow us to ensure room for emergency cases and keep traffic low. Rest assured we are here to help if needed. Please visit our website at . If the need to surrender your pet is not urgent, we ask that you wait to bring in your animal. This will allow us to ensure room for emergency cases and keep traffic low. Rest assured we are here to help if needed. Please visit our website at mspca.org/surrender for more information.

Our Community Outreach teams will be reaching out to clients in our service areas to check in and make sure owners and pets have the resources they need.

Our adoption centers will make disaster preparedness supplies available to the public on an as-needed basis in the event of emergency. Supplies include dog crates, water bowls and pet food is available. Please call our adoption centers if you are in need of supplies.

Our adoption centers are determining plans for emergency temporary housing for pets whose owners are ill or hospitalized. Please call us to discuss your situation should you need help.

Shiba - Animals are available for adoption at the MSPCA by appointment only.

Shiba -

Pit Bull Terrier, 8 years old, female, in Boston.

Peanut - Animals available for adoption by appointment only at the MSPCA.

Peanut -Guinea Pig, female, 2 years old, Nevins Farm.

Shakira - Animals available for adoption by appointment only at the MSPCA.

Shakira - Arabian, female, 13 years old, Nevins Farm.

Patron - Animals available for adoption by appointment only at the MSPCA.

Patron - Silkie, Male, 1 year old, Nevins Farms.

Lemonade- Animals available for adoption by appointment only at the MSPCA.

Lemonade - Parakeet, female, 2 years old in Cape Cod.

Cody- Animals are available for adoption by appointment only at MSPCA.

Cody - Domestic Shorthair, Male, 10 years old in Cape Cod.

Gizzymodo - Animals are available for adoption by appointment only at MSPCA.

Gizzymodo - Domestic Longhair, male, 4 years old, Nevins Farm.

Ursula - Animals are available for adoption by appointment only at MSPCA.

Ursula - Siamese, female, 2 years old, Cape Cod.

Brody - Animals are available for adoption by appointment only at MSPCA.

Brody - Domestic shorthair, male, 8 years old, Nevins Farm.

Bambi - Animals are available for adoption by appointment only at MSPCA.

Bambi - Rag Doll, male, 6 years old, Cape Cod.

BERKSHIRE HUMANE SOCIETY

Shelters will be closed to the public. The main shelter at 214 Barker Road in Pittsfield will still be staffed at r our staff and volunteers and the animals in our care and to support national, state and local recommendations, we are scaling back our op

Adoptions and Surrenders will be by appointment only. You can still surrender a pet or come to see a pet you'd like to adopt at the main shelter, but you'll have to make an appointment to do so. Please call 413-447-7878 to set up a time. Adoptions will not be available through Purradise. If you do come to Pittsfield for an adoption or surrender, please know that BHS has taken extra precautions to keep you safe from the virus.

Cat Boarding will be available at main shelter. Although Purradise will be closed for feline boarding, BHS can board your cat at the main shelter. Please call 413-447-7878 extension 124.

Pet Food Bank and SafePet programs are still available. If you are a food bank recipient, please call 413-447-7878 to set up an appointment. The BHS If you are a food bank recipient, please call 413-447-7878 to set up an appointment. The BHS SafePet program is available for owners of pets through our Participating Partners.

Medical care to shelter animals, including spay and neuter surgeries will continue. BHS will keep the shelter animals healthy and adoptable by continuing to work with local veterinarians.

Low-cost spay and neuter surgeries for cats will still be available to the public . Please call 413-447-7878 extension 124.

Family Dog School is closed

Education Programs are on hold: All meetings of Humane Heroes and Defenders are cancelled until further notice as are tours and community programs.

Catch - Animals are available for adoption at Berkshire Humane Society by appointment only.

Catch -

Breed: Australian Cattle Dog

Age: 1 year

Gender: Male

Alfonso- Berkshire Humane Society has animals available for adoption by appointment only.

Alfonso -

Breed: Bulldog, American/Pointer

Age: 5 years, 6 months

Gender: Male

Pumpkin - Animals are available for adoption by appointment only.

Pumpkin -

Breed: Domestic Shorthair/Mix

Age: 10 years, 10 months

Gender: Male

Clifford - Animals are available for adoption by appointment only.

Clifford -

Breed: Domestic Shorthair/Mix

Age: 2 years, 3 months

Gender: Male

Missy - Animals are available for adoption by appointment only.

Missy -

Breed: Domestic Shorthair/Mix

Age: 6 years, 8 months

Gender: Female

WORCESTER ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE

Animals can be adopted by appointment only. Call (508) 853-0030 or visit www.worcesterarl.org for more details.

Churro - Animals available by appointment only at Worcester Animal Rescue League.

Churro to be adopted with Waffle -

Breed: Chihuahua, Short Coat/Mix

Age: 12 years

Gender: Male

Waffles - Animals available by appointment only at Worcester Animal Rescue League.

Waffle to be adopted with Churro -

Breed: Chihuahua, Short Coat/Mix

Age: 12 years

Gender: Male

Iris - Animals available by appointment only at Worcester Animal Rescue League.

Iris -

Breed: Mixed Breed, Medium

Age: 3 years, 3 months

Gender: Female

Maddie - Worcester Animal Rescue League has animals available for adoption by appointment only.

Maddie -

Breed: Mixed Breed, Medium

Age: 11 months, 30 days

Gender: Female

Sasha- Worcester Animal Rescue League has animals available for adoption by appointment only.

Sasha -

Breed: Mixed Breed, Large

Age: 2 years, 10 months

Gender: Female
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (C) speaks to the media during a press conference at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, April 7, 2020.

A Cambodian journalist charged with incitement after accurately reporting comments by Prime Minister Hun Sen was arrested because the nations leader had been joking when he said them, a police official said Thursday.

Cambodian journalist and director of the TVFB news site Sovann Rithy was taken into custody by police in the capital Phnom Penh on Tuesday evening and charged with incitement to cause chaos and harm social security under article 495 of the criminal code.

The reporter had accurately posted on Facebook a comment by Hun Sen earlier that day telling motorbike-taxi drivers who go bankrupt because of the coronavirus outbreak to sell your motorbikes for spending money  [because] the government does not have the ability to help.

The information ministry reacted by ordering the revocation of TVFBs media license on the grounds that its editor had selected the prime ministers quote.

On Thursday, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court officially charged Sovann Rithy and ordered him sent to pre-trial detention.

Speaking to reporters after the court appearance, National Police Spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun said Sovann Rithys posting was exaggerated and had created social problems.

The prime minister was just joking, but [he] published it, he said, without elaborating.

Sovann Rithys arrest prompted Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to issue a statement Wednesday demanding his immediate release and the reinstatement of TVFBs media license, while labeling his case Kafkaesque.

Imprisoning a journalist for quoting a statement by the prime minister word for word is more than absurd, RSF said.

The COVID-19 crisis must not be used as pretext for getting rid of journalists who do not blindly toe the government line, the group added, referring to the disease caused by the coronavirus, which as of Thursday had infected 119 people in Cambodia.

Cambodia was ranked 143rd out of 180 countries in RSFs 2019 World Press Freedom Index.

Draft law

Also on Thursday, RSF issued a statement urging Cambodias legislators to amend draft legislation authorizing a state of emergency to contain the spread of the coronavirus that the National Assembly is expected to approve by the end of the week, citing what it called gross violations of the freedom to inform and be informed that could have serious consequences during the coronavirus crisis.

Leng Peng Long, spokesman for the one-party National Assembly, told RFAs Khmer Service that lawmakers would vote on the draft Law on Governing the Country in a State of Emergency on Friday.

He said that despite criticism of the draft law, the government and the National Assembly feel it is important to put such a law into place.

We believe that we need the law because the constitution allows [for it], he said. When we invoke the law depends on the situation.

On Tuesday, Leng Peng Long confirmed that the draft law is nearly identical to one that was leaked last week, prompting New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) to warn that it contained vague clauses that would provide Hun Sen with a means to run the country by fiat if enacted.

On Thursday, RSF cited article 5 of the draft law as containing clauses that would institutionalize a system of surveillance and censorship never seen in 30 years of Khmer democracy.

Clause 11 provides for Prohibiting or restricting the distribution or broadcast of information that could generate public alarm or fear or generate unrest, or that could bring about damage to national security, or that could bring into being confusion regarding the state of emergency, the group said.

Clause 10, meanwhile, allows the government to surveil and keep track of all means [of communication] for the receipt of information via telecommunication contact systems in every form.

Prime Minister Hun Sen is brazenly exploiting the coronavirus crisis in order to secure his dictatorial rule even more, without thought for the health of his fellow citizens, said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSFs Asia-Pacific desk.

It is up to legislators to stop this intolerable abuse of power.

RSF cited reports that some legislators in Cambodia may be preparing to challenge Hun Sens desire to have his children succeed him and warned that the prime minister could use the draft laws articles to suppress debate on the issue.

Travel ban

Also on Thursday, Hun Sen issued a nationwide travel ban until after the April 13-16 Khmer New Year to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in the community.

According to the ban, only cargo transportation, government and military convoys, emergency and sanitation vehicles, and garment factory worker buses will be permitted on the countrys roads, and only with passengers of four or less.

The government recently announced that it had canceled the Khmer New Year holiday and said factory employees would be required to work as usual, and Hun Sen warned Thursday of tough measures for those who dont go to the factories.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Labor said workers can travel to factories if they show their identification cards to the authorities, adding that not going can be regarded as a serious violation resulting in termination without pay. Workers who incite or intimidate their coworkers will face prosecution, the statement added.

A worker in Phnom Penh named Sam Soksreymom told RFA that she had planned to travel to her hometown for the holidays, but changed her mind after the order was issued.

She said workers are concerned about COVID-19, but are also afraid of losing their wages.

The factory said if we travel to our hometowns, they will make us self-quarantine for 14 days without pay when we return, she said. I think the best option now is to stay where we are.

Free Trade Union deputy president Mann Senghak told RFA that the government should have given workers advanced notice before the issuing the order, adding that they are unhappy about the ban.

Meanwhile, he said, he is concerned over the risk of the coronavirus spreading among workers and affecting their livelihoods.

We are afraid that if workers infected with COVID-19 go to their factory, the factory will have to close, he said.

Analyst Kim Sok told RFA that Hun Sen had failed to prepare Cambodia ahead of the outbreak and is now overreacting.

He said Hun Sens travel ban would do little to help the countrys workers, who on Tuesday were told that they would only receive U.S. $70 in monthly wages if they are laid off by factories hit with supply chain disruptions due to the outbreak, instead of the U.S. $115or 60 percent of their wagesthey were promised by the government in February.

Hun Sen is tricking the workershe cant afford to pay them when they are laid off, so he is asking them to continue working [through the Khmer New Year travel ban], he said.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Tributes have poured in for a British Airways worker who died of the coronavirus where Prime Minister Boris Johnson is recovering in hospital.

Ian Johnson, a cabin service director in his late 50s, was in St Thomas' intensive care unit on a ventilator for ten days before he passed away yesterday.

He flew from Nashville, Tennessee, to London as a passenger on March 17 and is believed to be the first BA staff member to die from the killer infection.

Ian Johnson (left and right), a cabin service director in his late 50s, was in St Thomas' intensive care unit on a ventilator for ten days before he passed away yesterday

Mr Johnson, who worked for the airline for 35 years, has been lauded as a 'bright light' by co-workers who fear they may have the bug.

Melissa Clements, 34, from London, told MailOnline how Mr Johnson comforted her when she was flying from the New York to the UK after her mother died at Christmas.

The stay at home mother, who used to be a senior consultant in pharmaceuticals, said: 'I sent my daughter and husband back to London before me so I could get affairs in order. When I got on the plane, I couldnt stop crying.

'Ian was in charge of my cabin. The seat next to mine was empty and he held my hand for probably 20 minutes and told me stories to calm me down.

'Then he snuck away and handed me a whole box of Cadburys chocolates and the nicest Champagne they had on board so that I could toast to my mums memory when I was ready.'

She added: 'Its a tragedy that such a wonderful human has been taken by this stupid pandemic.'

One colleague told crew according to the Sun: 'It is with a very heavy heart I let the family know that another Angel has got his wings and gone to the room party.

'Cabin service director Ian Johnson, aka, Shirley passed away yesterday due to covid-19.

mr Johnson (right) flew from Nashville, Tennessee, to London as a passenger on March 17 and is believed to be the first BA staff member to die from the killer infection

'He had been on a ventilator and sadly did not make it, despite the wonderful care of the staff there.

'Jokingly we called each other husband and wife, well Ian my heart is broken and your ''wife'' will love you forever. Fly high darling.'

Mr Johnson had reportedly been talking about retirement just three weeks ago with one colleague.

The Prime Minister was admitted to St Thomas' Hospital, which is just over the Thames from the Houses of Parliament, on Sunday night.

The PM has been up and about as his recovery from coronavirus continues apace, Downing Street revealed.

The last time the Prime Minister was seen in person, and not on a Zoom call, was last week when he appeared on the doorstep of No 11 to clap for carers

He has been doing 'short walks', although No10 has stressed that he is still having to rest.

It is the latest major sign of improvement after Mr Johnson was discharged from intensive care last night.

A Downing Street spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery.

'He has spoken to his doctors and thanks the whole clinical team for the incredible care he has received. His thoughts are with those affected by this terrible disease.'

A spokesman for British Airways said: 'Our thoughts are with Ian's family and friends at this sad time.'
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden suggested last week that in-person voting in Wisconsins April 7 elections wouldnt be dangerous, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, so long as voters were spaced six to ten feet apart, one at a time going in, and having the machines scrubbed down. In much of the state, that was true. A huge increase in early absentee voting meant that many polling places were sparsely attended on Election Day.

While there werent lines of voters in the state capital of Madison, what made Tuesdays election dangerous was that the number of polling places in Milwaukee  the states biggest city and the location of a COVID outbreak  had been reduced from their normal 180 to five.

If city and state officials had found a way to keep Milwaukees 180 polling places open, only a little more than 100 voters on average would have passed through each polling place throughout the course of the day (a total of 18,803 voters cast ballots in person in Milwaukee).

As it happened, the reduced number of polling places meant that thousands of voters formed long lines at each of the five polling centers. Voters did their best to maintain physical separation, but some of them waited two hours to cast ballots.

There are signs that poor planning and coordination among government officials made in-person voting in Wisconsin more dangerous than it had to be.

Twenty-five days elapsed between the declaration of a national emergency regarding the coronavirus on March 13 and the elections scheduled in Wisconsin on April 7. And during that time, there was a failure of planning and a breakdown in communication between state and local officials to ensure enough polling places stayed open.

Democratic governor Tony Evers opposed postponing the election from the time the national emergency was announced until Friday, April 3, four days before the election.

On April 1, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Evers planned on using the National Guard to serve as poll workers at short-staffed sites, but that plan was news to City of Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Neil Albrecht, who said Wednesday the city learned through media reports that the National Guard would be used at voting sites.

Story continues

Had we had that information [about the National Guard] sooner, I absolutely think it could have influenced the number of voting centers, Albrecht told the Capital Times on April 7. The timing really did not allow us to maximize their presence and think about the possibility of opening more centers.

Just how many more polling places could Milwaukee have opened up if officials had known about the National Guard earlier? Im just not going to speculate. Im not going to dwell on this issue, Albrecht tells National Review in an interview. I dont want to be pulled into a lot of finger-pointing around Should this have happened sooner? Or: Is there more that could have been done in this area?

Albrecht says that as he was trying to finalize the number of polling places last week, the number of poll workers that we were going to have was changing on a daily basis. It was literally like trying to hold water in our hands.

According to Albrecht, the city of Milwaukee had fewer than 400 election workers on April 7, compared to the typical 2,000 election workers to staff the 180 sites for a presidential primary.

So, during a normal presidential primary, the city has about 11 poll workers for each polling place. On Tuesday, that number was closer to 80 poll workers per center, plus 30 National Guardsmen.

If the city had nearly 20 percent of its usual number of poll workers, plus the National Guard, why did it only open 3 percent of its usual number of polling places?

Well, for two reasons, Albrecht replies. When I had to make the judgment call on how many centers we could operate, I had to base it on the information I had at that moment in time. At that point, we were probably down to about 250 election workers. And that number was continuing to dwindle. So, I had to make a commitment for a number that I knew we could operate without compromising the integrity of the election but also that we could do safely.

The second reason, he says, is that health and safety precautions required more workers at each site who were cleaning the polling booths after each voter cast a ballot, distributing masks and gloves, enforcing social distancing or monitoring activities outside of the polling place, in addition to the voting room. Every aspect of administering the election was much more labor intensive than a normal election. So 100 people [working] at a voting site for this election was probably like 10 people at a voting site for a normal election. Albrecht says that the five sites selected for voting provided a lot of square footage inside to ensure social distancing. Health and safety regulations required polling centers to have no more than 50 to 100 people inside the premises at a time, he says.

Milwaukee wasnt the only city where a reduction in the number polling places caused long lines and waits. The city of Green Bay went from its typical 31 polling places to just two, and some voters had to wait hours to cast ballots. One Green Bay alderman, who contends city officials made in-person voting much worse than it had to be, is calling for an investigation into the decision to open just two polling places.

I volunteered, and I asked people in my district and got at least a dozen people to volunteer as poll workers, Green Bay alderman Chris Wery tells National Review. The mayors chief of staff said they werent taking any volunteers. Wery said he offered to help two weeks ago, and hes aware of another dozen volunteers from the local Republican Party who were not accepted to serve as poll workers. He also says the city failed to make use of the National Guard.

Green Bay mayor Eric Geinrich responded to criticism in a statement on Facebook: We had the option of bringing inexperienced individuals into the process, but our city clerk and I did not feel comfortable implicating untrained city employees, members of the public, or members of the National Guard in a dangerous and stressful environment.

While municipalities are in charge of running polling places in Wisconsin, state officials bear responsibility for how the election played out.

Weeks passed between the time the national emergency was declared on March 13 and the April 7 elections, but some local officials werent aware that the National Guard would be of assistance until they learned about it in the news on April 1.

Governor Evers did not come out in favor of postponing the election until April 3, and when Wisconsins Republican legislature rejected his proposal on April 4 it took no actions to ensure local officials had the resources necessary to keep their polling places open.

On April 6, Evers issued an executive order to move the election to June, after having called such a unilateral action illegal a few days earlier. The states supreme court enjoined Everss order after the legislatures leaders challenged it.

Each of these decisions deserves scrutiny, but so too do the decisions of government officials that may have made in-person voting more dangerous than it had to be.

More from National Review
India is in the final stages of framing a protocol for conducting clinical trial for convalescent plasma therapy, which uses antibodies from the blood of cured patients, to treat severely-ill COVID-19 patients, a senior ICMR official said.

Kerala is set to become the first state in the country to commence the therapy to treat those critically-ill on a trial basis. The ICMR is learnt to have given its nod to the state government for the first of its kind project, initiated by the prestigious Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), a top official had said.

The ICMR official on Thursday said they would need approval from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) before embarking on any clinical trial using the therapy.

He said that it is not currently used or prescribed for patients in India.

"We are in the final stages of making a protocol for convalescent plasma therapy and after that we will need approval from the DCGI. As of now it will be used only in clinical trials," he said, adding that the therapy was successful in limited clinical trials in some countries on patients who were in a severe condition or on ventilator support.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 199 and the number of cases climbed to 6,640 in the country on Friday, according to the Union Health Ministry.

However, a PTI tally of figures reported by various states as on Thursday late evening showed at least 6624 cases and 227 deaths.

There has been a difference in the Union Health Ministry figures compared to the number of cases announced by different states which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Yves here. As I am sure many people with elderly relatives know, for-profit assisted living facilities and nursing homes are a dubious choice. A big concern of old people is outliving their money. Private assisted living and nursing homes are much more likely to put through significant rate increases and turf residents who become broke out. By contrast, not-for-profits, particularly ones affiliated with religious groups, will usually keep these residents on if theyve paid their way for a few years (the informal standard varies but my impression is it takes at least five years at most places). So I wonder if the for-profit facilities are having more difficulty than their not-for-profit peers.

Im also a bit puzzled to see the article limiting the discussion to assisted living. Most retirement facilities make their money on independent living and make having entered at the independent living or at worst independent living stage strongly preferred factor in allocating nursing home beds (ie, if you try to get into a nursing home, there is not likely to be a place for you). Some facilities are set up to keep residents in assisted living for years (ie, the rooms are comfortable, with the common rooms and dining areas set up for the less mobile), while others treat it as a short-term way station for people in independent living whove had an ailment that means they need extra care for a few days or weeks.

The point about mentioning independent living is that while those residences are almost always well apart from assisted living and nursing home areas, they are usually served by common custodial staff and groundskeepers, as well as at least shared provisioning of kitchens. Thus there is a good deal of potential for coronavirus to propagate across all levels of care.

Finally, in Alabama, the state did, and perhaps may even still, review and publish its scores of assisted living facilities. But the ability to view ratings was disappeared about a decade ago.

By Laura Ungar, Kaiser Health News Editor/Correspondent, who also teaches at the University of Missouri and previously wrote for The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, USA Today, the Hartford Courant in Connecticut and The News Journal in Delaware, and Jay Hancock, Kaiser Health News Senior Correspondent, who worked previously for The Baltimore Sun, The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk and the Daily Press of Newport News. Originally published at Kaiser Health News

David Aguirre jumped in his truck and drove toward the hospital in the predawn darkness the minute he got the news: His 91-year-old mom was being rushed from her Texas assisted living facility to the emergency room.

Estela Aguirre would be one of five residents to die and six others to be sickened by the novel coronavirus at The Waterford at College Station, part of a financially strapped chain of assisted living sites called Capital Senior Living.

My mom was a sweet, kind person. People really felt like theyd known her for 100 years. She was just that kind of soul, said Aguirre, who lost his mother on March 28. Some days, Ill sit down and have my heart cry.

Assisted living complexes, home to more than 800,000 people nationwide, have quickly become a new and dangerous theater in the coronavirus war. Challenged by deepening financial pressures, sicker residents, limited oversight and too few employees, they now face a crisis that could force companies into bankruptcy, roil the industry and even close some facilities  putting frail seniors at greater-than-ever risk.

More than 700 cases of COVID-19 at assisted living facilities had been reported in at least 29 states as of Wednesday, according to public health authorities and news organizations.

Capital Senior Living serves as a prime case study of the new dangers facing the assisted living industry and the people they serve. The Dallas-based company, which owns or operates more than 120 senior communities nationally, told investors on a March 31 conference call that residents at three of its facilities had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Even before those cases struck, though, the company was ailing. Its stock had plummeted 80% since late February. Last week, the company disclosed a 2019 loss of $36 million. Officials said on the conference call they had sold complexes in recent months, even before the surge of COVID-19 cases, to improve the firms financial cushion. Recently renegotiated leases will also help, they said.

The pandemic looks poised to exacerbate its finances further, as residents lose their ability to pay amid the faltering economy and costs rise to care for them.

And fragile economics compound the threat of the virus that rages through assisted living facilities, which are much less regulated and medically equipped than nursing homes but serve tens of thousands of Americas most vulnerable elders.

Problems Magnified

When Georgia officials inspected Capital Senior Livings Waterford at Oakwood facility in February, their report said it failed to provide watchful oversight consistent with the residents needs.

Employees and residents told inspectors more staff was needed, and a review of the call log showed it sometimes took more than half an hour for workers to respond to residents, according to the inspection report.

Company officials said in a written statement that they cant comment on individual cases but that our top priority is always the safety of our residents and employees.

The company lists at least 650 job openings on its website, many for credentialed positions such as certified nursing assistant or certified medical assistant. But a Facebook post on an Iowa facilitys website says: If you are interested in a nursing aid position, you do NOT have to be a CNA and will be trained on site.

With 6,300 employees, the company said, it always has several hundred job openings. As employees are furloughed in other industries, it said, it has accelerated its activities to seek top talent.

Staffing levels have grown in importance  and become harder to adequately address  in assisted living facilities as people increasingly age in place and try to avoid expensive nursing homes.

In many ways, todays assisted living residents are yesterdays nursing home residents, said Robyn Grant, director of public policy and advocacy at the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care. You have a perfect storm, with the needs increasing while [regulatory] requirements have not kept up with that.

Grant said virtually no federal standards for assisted living exist, as they do for nursing homes. We have a patchwork of regulation. In some states, you have more robust protections. In some, they are weak and inadequate. For residents, it is the luck of geography.

As the pandemic grows, advocates for seniors worry that conditions will worsen as employees stop coming to work because they fear COVID-19 or must stay with children whose schools have closed. Or they may contract the coronavirus themselves.

Were really concerned about this when residents need more staff than ever, said Tony Chicotel, an attorney with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. Were gonna have the opposite.

There are more than 25,000 assisted living facilitiesacross the country, and the median monthly cost to live in one is $4,000, according to the National Center for Assisted Living. Residents,more than half 85or older and often with arthritis, memory problems and depression, need help with daily tasks but receive less medical attention than in a nursing home. Thats because assisted living staffs are typically smaller and the workers have less health care training than those at nursing homes. And fewer than half the states have minimum staffing regulations for assisted living communities.

Sheryl Zimmerman, a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said only about half have a nurse on staff, and many workers are personal care aides, not certified nursing assistants. Staffers dont receive as much training about things like the use of gloves and masks as do nursing home workers, even though they often help residents with eating, bathing or using the toilet.

Its not a health care workforce, she said. In general, they do not have the level of infection prevention you would hope to see.

Staff shortages exacerbate this issue, and the surging economy and low unemployment before the pandemic meant many senior communities were already struggling to hire employees, said Amy Orlando, a Connecticut attorney specializing in elder law.

Rising wages to attract or retain workers and fierce competition fueled by a building boom a few years ago led to financial challenges at many assisted living facilities, said Beth Burnham Mace, chief economist for the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, a nonprofit research organization.

Financial Straits

Capital Senior Living is among the companies under extreme pressure.

As the companys stock price has fallen to a few dimes, investors fear a possible bankruptcy filing, financial analysts said in interviews. They are worried new residents will stop moving in as others leave or die, hurting revenue. More than half its communities are below 90% occupancy, according to an executive on the conference call. Analysts say that level is roughly the minimum needed for profitability.

I have confidence in our ability to continue delivering great service and a warm, caring environment to our residents, Brandon Ribar, the companys chief operating officer, told stock analysts on the call.

The company declined to make executives available to KHN for an interview but said it is exercising extreme caution and following strict disinfecting and sanitizing guidelines. Among the safeguards are screening anybody entering a facility and quarantining new residents for their first 14 days.

But one analyst raised a dire scenario if the pandemic worsens: the theoretical closure of facilities.

Is there a certain rule of thumb, where if occupancy hits a certain point you just say, Hey, lets just shut down this facility, because were just going to lose too much money? Steven Valiquette, of Barclays Capital, asked executives on the conference call.

CEO Kimberly Lody, who was brought into the company last year, dismissed the concern, saying Capital Senior Living has strong flexibility to reduce staff and other costs if the number of residents decreases substantially at particular facilities.

Assessing The Quality Of Care

Several relatives of the facilities residents said they put their trust in staff members because theyve generally been happy with their loved ones care.

Barry Curtis, whose 85-year-old mother, Orvaline, lives at the companys Sugar Grove facility in Plainfield, Indiana, said he knows staffing can be a problem for communities but hasnt seen much turnover at Sugar Grove or heard complaints about staffing from his mom. But the pandemic has revived old, haunting memories of her father telling her about pulling carts down Arkansas streets to pick up bodies during the 1918 flu.

Debbie Gilbert, whose brother Donald Bussey lives in assisted living at River Crossing in Charlestown, Indiana, said staffing has also been pretty consistent at the site. Theyre doing the best they can out there, she said.

Assessing the quality of care is difficult. Theres no assisted living resource comparable to Nursing Home Compare,a federal website that includes star ratings, staffing levels and inspection results for nursing homes.

A KHN review of online inspection records in nine of the 23 states in which Capital Senior Living operates found dozens of problems in the past five years, including instances of insufficient staff, inadequate infection control and failure to screen employees for criminal violations. However, it is difficult to compare the overall quality of the companys facilities to those of other companies within most states or around the country.

But within California, records show the companys Garden Court at Villa Santa Barbara had 16 substantiated allegations since mid-2016, more than four times the average number among licensed facilities with at least one.

For example, inspectors last year found the facility contracted with an outside agency that could show no proof it was certified to provide home services to residents. Inspectors also found that staff members contracted to provide care had no records of training or licensing as skilled professionals such as registered nurses or licensed vocational nurses. The facility pledged to ensure staffers have basic training and that outside agencies have credentials before starting work.

The company added it has a rigorous Quality Assurance program and has instituted new leadership across the company that has positively impacted operations and resident care.

COVID-19 threatens to erode oversight and transparency even more. Long-term care ombudsmen, who traditionally went to facilities and talked to residents, now must assess care from afar because of restrictions on visitation. And COVID-19 has removed another type of helping hands and watchful eyes.

We know when family and friends are visiting, theyre monitoring, seeing the condition of their loved ones, Grant said. They are now without those additional ears and those additional eyes.

And theres always a foreboding, a sense the virus could find its way into the facility  as it did in Texas.

Aguirre said his mom was in relatively good health for her age. She had memory problems, congestive heart failure and Parkinsons disease, but her symptoms were mild.

Aguirre said his family was pleased with the care she got at the Waterford. The Brazos County Health Department said the facility had taken steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by restricting visitors, screening staff and using enhanced cleaning procedures.

I still hold very high praise for the staff in the facility, Aguirre said. Theyre doing all they can with everything theyve got.

By the time a hospital doctor broke the news to Aguirre of his mothers positive COVID-19 test, there was no way to save her because her lungs were so badly damaged.

The doctor offered him the chance to say goodbye if he wore protective equipment.

But Aguirre, 67, said he feared being sickened by the virus or spreading it to his family.

So he missed seeing her draw her last breath.
What you need to know today in Vietnam:

Politics

-- The ASEAN Coordinating Council held its 25th meeting in the form of a teleconference on Thursday, chaired by the councils chairman, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc talked on the phone with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison on Thursday, during which the two heads of government conferred on bilateral and regional cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Society

-- Vietnam reported no additional cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Friday morning, as the national tally still stands at 255. A total of 128 patients have recovered.

-- The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday night issued an urgent dispatch requiring grassroots-level authorities to beef up measures to enforce social distancing to prevent COVID-19 transmission, as more people are leaving their home for non-essential purposes.

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has prepared a plan to respond to a scenario where up to 500 COVID-19 cases are confirmed in the city.

-- Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday night signed a resolution on a stimulus package worth VND62 trillion (US$2.6 billion) to support people and businesses affected by COVID-19.

-- The An Giang Center General Hospital, located in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, has been allowed by the Ministry of Health to carry out COVID-19 tests.

Business

-- Prices of real estate in Ho Chi Minh City, Long An Province, Binh Duong Province, Dong Nai Province are plummeting because of the COVID-19 epidemic, according to a survey by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

World News

-- The novel coronavirus has infected over 1.6 million people and killed more than 95,600 others around the world, according to statistics. More than 355,000 patients have recovered worldwide.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
FREDERICTONRCMP in New Brunswick say theyve arrested four men as part of an ongoing probe of outlaw biker gangs in the province.

The police force says in a statement that the four arrests were made between Feb. 17 and Thursday in four communities: Edmundston, Drummond, California Settlement and Moncton.

They say the arrests are linked to investigations into organized crime, drugs and proceeds of crime, and money laundering.

The accused include a prospect and a full-patch member of the Red Devils and a prospect and full-patch member of the Hells Angels.

All four men, between 29 and 46 years old, were released pending their next court appearances.

Police say the Red Devils are considered a puppet club for the Hells Angels and operate under their direction.

Read more about:
Kinepolis Group publishes 2019 annual report

Regulatory release

9 April 2020, 8 a.m.

Kinepolis Group presents its 2019 annual report, which provides a detailed overview of the latest results and activities of the company.

The annual report consists of three parts, that can be downloaded together or separately:

Part I: Company report

Part II: Sustainability report

Part III: Financial report

Link to the 2019 annual report.

The Ordinary General Meeting and Extraordinary General Meeting will take place on Wednesday 13 May 2020 at 10 a.m. at the registered offices of Kinepolis Group NV (Eeuwfeestlaan 20, 1020 Brussels).

Considering the exceptional circumstances concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, the board of directors urgently requests the shareholders to respect the applicable government policies at the date of the meetings and, if still applicable in their current or similar form, to avoid physical attendance to these meetings and to provide the necessary proxies in accordance with the model made available by the Company. In case of new developments, the Company will communicate on this matter by means of a press release.

Link to the reports, convening notices, proxies and other documents relating to the GM and EGM.

Contact

Kinepolis Press Office Kinepolis Investor Relations

+32 (0)9 241 00 16 +32 (0)9 241 00 22

pressoffice@kinepolis.com Investor-relations@kinepolis.com

About Kinepolis

Kinepolis Group NV was formed in 1997 as a result of the merger of two family-run cinema groups and was listed on the stock exchange in 1998. Kinepolis offers an innovative cinema concept which serves as a pioneering model within the industry. In addition to its cinema business, the Group is also active in film distribution, event organization, screen publicity and property management.

In Europe, Kinepolis Group NV has 55 cinemas spread across Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Poland. Since the acquisition of Canadian movie theatre group Landmark Cinemas and American movie theatre group MJR, Kinepolis also operates 46 cinemas in Canada and 10 in the US.
UN Secretary General Welcomes Announcement by Coalition to Restore Legitimacy of Ceasefire in Yemen

Saudi Press Agency

Thursday 1441/8/16 - 2020/04/09

United Nations, April 09, 2020, SPA -- Secretary General Antonio Guterres of the United Nations welcomed the announcement by the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen of a comprehensive ceasefire in Yemen for two weeks, effective on Thursday 9, April, 2020.

In a statement issued by his office, Guterres said " I welcome the announcement by the "Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen" of a ceasefire in Yemen. This can help to advance efforts towards peace as well as the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, I call upon the Government of Yemen and Houthis to follow through on their commitment to immediately cease hostilities. I also call on the Government and the Houthis to engage with each other, in good faith and without preconditions, in negotiations facilitated by my Special Envoy Martin Griffiths."

"Only through dialogue, the parties will be able to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nation-wide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, and the resumption of the political process to reach a comprehensive settlement to end the conflict," he concluded.

--SPA

16:51 LOCAL TIME 13:51 GMT

0021

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Previous Next

Autumn McMillan, 2021 Her Grinnell style: Bohemian Afropunk. I look for articles of clothing that are multi-purposeful, [like] a scarf that can function as a headwrap, or a dress that would look good with a sweater on top but can also be worn to a formal event. When I purchase an item of clothing, I am making an investment, so I expect it to last me a long time, not just for the next trend. My wardrobe functions off a very simple color palette of earth tones and accessories with vibrant patterns. The majority of my moms career has been in the fashion industry, so she actually makes fun of me for not taking enough fashion risks. The 70s [inspire me]. Everything about [that era] was innovative and bold, both in the fashion industry and in grass-roots politics! I admire Black women in the 70s as role models in fashion and [in] fulfilling my civic responsibility as a leader. I look to women like Chaka Khan, Pam Grier and Dianna Ross. Of course, I follow women in our generation too! Like Zendayas collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger, which was a nod to 70s style with a contemporary twist, and I also love Jodie Turner-Smith, Janelle Monae, Erykah Badu and Tierra Whack. Her isolation style: Personally, the biggest fashion tragedy of social distancing has been that I was just beginning to experiment with lipstick ombres before leaving campus! Also, that I dont get to wear my myriad of colored glasses anymore. For [online] lectures, I try to look comfortable but presentable, so usually just a sweatshirt. In response to COVID-19, Ive made an outside uniform for going on runs and to work. The uniform is a rotation of clothing that I wash weekly to save me from damaging items by washing them too much. Its limited my style to modest and androgynous clothing, but never at the sacrifice of serving looks. When people ask me How do you manage to look good every day? (Yes, that was a not-so-humble brag), I always respond that the trick is to make sure everything in your closet is cute, so no matter how much of a rush youre in, youll always look good! I have outfits for everything, all the way down to my loungewear and pajamas! Quarantine has motivated me to go through my closet and minimize the unnecessary. My goal is to be able to live out of a large 50lbs suitcase, which is the standard maximum for luggage on most international airlines.

AT Tambay, 2020 His Grinnell style: In the winter [of my first year at Grinnell], my friend Max Hill came to visit me here in Southern California. Were looking for stuff to do  we go into the city  we go thrifting for the first time. For me, its such an awesome experience because I get to spend very little money, but I get to find kind of an individual sense too. When I first started getting into fashion, I really liked the idea of being able to say something with my clothes, so I would always try to dress really loudly. Now, my style has changed not in terms of what Im wearing, but how Im wearing it. I always spend as little as I can [on clothing], have some cohesion and never wear the same outfit twice. I love old, color blocked, 90s windbreakers. In fact, I never go to frisbee practice without a windbreaker. I think white shoes are essential, just a solid piece. Ive also been really into collared shirts ever since I went abroad because especially in Senegal, T-shirts are not really a thing in the school environment. Im okay not dressing up certain days, but I also know that on days when youre not feeling good, dressing up can help you out. His isolation style: The first couple days it was just straight PJs, but then I was like, I cant be a bum bro. Plus I enjoy [getting dressed]! Ive been allowing myself not to match because my grandma has this really nice lavender cardigan that she left here, and Ill throw that on top of anything if Im cold. I think that maintaining your appearance while being in the house and still getting excited about dressing up will make people who are living with you while youre isolating or quarantining much happier and make yourself much happier. Nobody wants to be living with a bum! Maybe the sweatpants quotient has increased by a factor of 1.5, 1.75, but other than that, nothing has changed.

Kate Guiney, 2023 Her Grinnell style: I guess a combination of vintage styles and bright colors make me happy. I find color coordination really fun! Its a lot of just patterns and combinations that are both obviously just aesthetically pleasing, but maybe remind me of something specific, like a movie or a person in my life or a picture. I would say a full range of decades, from like the 40s to the 80s [inspire me]. I think its really fun to pair stuff that might come from different eras and make combinations with them. Clothes are a fun game, really! Her isolation style: Now that Im at home, Im definitely wearing much more comfortable clothes all the time. At the same time though, sometimes I just want to dress up because its fun, and thats kind of part of why I did it in the first place! So sometimes Im in just sweatpants and a sweater, but if Im feeling like I want to kind of act like the worlds a little more normal, then I can dress up, and its kind of comforting, I guess. And I can try new combinations because part of nobody seeing my outfits now is that I can dress up super weird.

Az Fuller, 2022 His Grinnell style: I think it is heavily influenced by New York culture. Im from the city, so definitely through high school what I saw kind of influenced what I wore, and I didnt really realize that until I got to Grinnell. I like turtlenecks and rugby shirts specifically. I dont know why, but those two are my go-to. I feel like what interests me most is definitely if Im interested in a specific designer, kind of what theyre thinking and what they try to do with the stuff they make. I cant afford a lot of high end or high fashion stuff, but I kind of look towards that and try to take what I can to incorporate it into things that I wear and buy. I like this one brand, Opening Ceremony, which are these two Asian designers, and they make stuff that is very New York-ish. I like Frank Oceans style and ASAP Rocky. His isolation style: For the most part now, Im definitely in my PJs, just wearing whatever, cause I couldnt bring a lot of my stuff home. If I have to do an essay or something one day, Ill wear something thats not my PJs, because I feel like if Im wearing something nice, I wont sit around in my bed and just kind of waste it. I dont dress up for people. A lot of the time its more for myself. Definitely like there are some days [in Grinnell] where Im just like, fuck it, and Id wear what Im wearing now cause Im not gonna care about my outfit every single day. Its just more often here because theres no reason, really, to do it. [The fact that Im isolated] doesnt completely change the way Im dressing right now in quarantine, but it definitely affects it.
In late March, the Telegraph reported that four Islamic State (IS) militants escaped from the Ghweran prison in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah but were quickly recaptured. The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which played such a critical role in destroying IS' so-called caliphate, are in charge of the prison. The US military was reported to have provided aerial reconnaissance assistance to support the SDFs recapture of the IS prisoners. Other news stories said up to 12 prisoners escaped.

The SDF continues to be responsible for the security of the prisons in northern Syria, where roughly 11,000-12,000 captured IS fighters are held.

The March 30 prison incident highlights the conundrum surrounding the IS detainees. Western governments refuse to accept their repatriation, while the SDF believes they should face prosecution inside Syria, if necessary with an international tribunal.

Although IS no longer controls large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria, roughly 15,000-20,000 of the terror group's fighters have morphed into an insurgency. IS continues to mount guerilla attacks on Iraqi and Syrian security forces. IS sleeper cells are reportedly planning bombings and assassinations.

In October 2019, US operatives relying on sensitive intelligence killed IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a raid in rebel-controlled Idlib province that involved the use of Syrian airspace overseen by Russia and Turkey.

But the IS insurgency and IS detainees present an ongoing real and present danger to the region and beyond.

We should expect IS to exploit the following:

Acrimonious relationships among state and non-state enemies of IS, including the United States, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Turkey and the SDF.

Iraqs failure to form a government, which impedes a cohesive national security strategy.

Ongoing regional ethnic and sectarian conflict as well as a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus.

Iraqs political turmoil and the ongoing Syrian civil war have severely complicated the challenge of building a post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation plan, particularly in Sunni-dominated geographic space from which IS seeks to draw support.

Key to winning the fight against IS is building and maintaining an accurate intelligence picture of the group, including where the terrorists are located as well as their plans and intentions to conduct attacks.

The process is highly dynamic. Information collected on a terrorists location or attack plans that might have been accurate yesterday may no longer be so today.

Effective counterterrorism operations rely first and foremost on collecting information from people. This is called human intelligence, commonly referred to as HUMINT. Collecting intelligence on terrorists is highly challenging and the information is sometimes unverified or incorrect. Those who use the intelligence, especially military units that conduct raids or government leaders seeking to shore up their countrys defenses, must rely on expert analysts to evaluate the raw intelligence.

Intelligence analysis can be like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, only some of the pieces are part of a different puzzle, and others are missing altogether. There is always great value in sharing intelligence on counterterrorism, not only with a nations traditional allies but sometimes with enemies as well.

Everyone with a stake in the fight against IS should therefore consider the value of increasing the scope and frequency of intelligence sharing with an eye toward detecting and preempting looming IS threats before they are visited on our respective shores.

In September 2015, Iraq began sharing intelligence with Russia, Iran and Syria to improve their collective effectiveness in the fight against IS. The United States has also had a long-standing partnership with Iraqi security forces, which involved sharing counterterrorism intelligence.

When I served in the CIA, I learned firsthand the value of sharing intelligence with intelligence services of nations whom the United States would not regard as traditional allies. But we understood that even though some of our nations interests were antithetical to one anothers, there were other high priorities such as counterterrorism where we could find some common ground even with our enemies.

Of course we can expect some wrangling over who exactly are characterized as terrorists. For example, since becoming militarily involved in Syria in 2015, Russia has targeted a significant number of its strikes against President Bashar al-Assads opposition, whom the international community would not classify as terrorists.

Dialogue and debate about classifying terrorist targets, valuable in its own right, could potentially be a precursor to more expansive negotiation about the future of Syria.

Now its up to the diplomats, war fighters and intelligence professionals to make it happen.
DENVER - It starts with a few people letting loose with some tentative yelps. Then neighbours emerge from their homes and join, forming a roiling chorus of howls and screams that pierces the twilight to end another days monotonous forced isolation.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In this Wednesday, April 8, 2020, photograph, from left, Irina Bocomolova and her dog, Darby, join Brice Maiurro, Shelsea Ochoa and Anna Beazer in a group howl in Cheesman Park as a statewide stay-at-home order remains in effect in an effort to reduce the spread of the new coronavirus in Denver. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER - It starts with a few people letting loose with some tentative yelps. Then neighbours emerge from their homes and join, forming a roiling chorus of howls and screams that pierces the twilight to end another days monotonous forced isolation.

From California to Colorado to Georgia and upstate New York, Americans are taking a moment each night at 8 p.m. to howl in a quickly spreading ritual that has become a wrenching response of a society cut off from one another by the coronavirus pandemic.

They howl to thank the nations health care workers and first responders for their selfless sacrifices, much like the balcony applause and singing in Italy and Spain. Others do it to reduce their pain, isolation and frustration. Some have other reasons, such as to show support for the homeless.

In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis has encouraged residents to participate. Children who miss their classmates and backyard dogs join in, their own yowls punctuated by the occasional fireworks, horn blowing and bell ringing.

Theres something very Western about howling thats resonating in Colorado. The call-and-response aspect of it. Most people try it and love to hear the howl in return, said Brice Maiurro, a poet, storyteller and activist who works at National Jewish Health.

The nightly howl is a primal affirmation that provides a moments bright spot each evening by declaring, collectively: We shall prevail, said Dr. Scott Cypers, director of Stress and Anxiety programs at the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Its a way to take back some of the control that the pandemic-forced social isolation has forced everyone to give up, Cypers said.

FILE - In this March 9, 2020, file photo, the full moon rises behind the Statue of Liberty in New York. From California to Colorado to Georgia and New York, Americans are taking a moment each night at 8 to howl to thank the nation's health care workers and first responders for their selfless sacrifices during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)

The virus impact is very different for everyone, and this is a way to say, 'This sucks, and get it out in a loud way, Cypers said. Just being able to scream and shout and let out pent-up grief and loss is important. Little kids, on the other hand, are really enjoying this.

Maiurro and his partner, Shelsea Ochoa, a street activist and artist, formed the Facebook group Go Outside and Howl at 8 p.m. The group has nearly half a million members from all 50 U.S. states and 99 countries since they created it as Colorado's shelter-in-place order went into effect last month.

We wanted to do this mostly because people are feeling isolated right now, said Ochoa, 33, who works at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. I think it hit on something others needed.

Why howling?

In California, friends and family of Ochoas would howl at sunset; in Brazil, where she lived recently, residents would cheer at sunset. Maiurro, who also works at National Jewish Health, and fellow poets would howl at the moon during back-alley poetry readings in Boulder.

Theres no wrong way to do it, said Ochoa. People can subscribe any kind of meaning they want to it.

The couple suggest different themes for the evening howls, such as a recent The Day of I Miss You.

Health care workers are grateful for the support  and the nightly moments relief from the stresses of their work.

Jerrod Milton, a provider and senior vice-president of operations at Childrens Hospital Colorado, makes it a point to step outside at 8 p.m. each evening.

It not only inspires me with a sense of solidarity and appreciation, but it makes me laugh a little each day, Milton said. I cannot tell the difference between the howls coming from fellow humans and those instinctively coming alongside from our canine neighbourhood companions.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

In downtown Los Angeles, thousands of people yell, scream, cheer, applaud and flash lights from their apartment balconies and windows, thanks in large part to Patti Berman, president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, who promotes the ritual conceived by council communications director Marcus Lovingood.

I never believed it would take off like this, said Berman, who in her 70s is staying inside her apartment in deference to the health concerns of her family.

Bermans concerns are for the homeless on LAs Skid Row, the struggling family-owned small businesses, the people shes used to meeting and helping face-to-face in her 15 years on the council.

These people are my stakeholders and my job  and this is where the howl comes in  is to let them know that we havent disappeared. To preserve the human contact, she said.

Organizers say restoring and keeping that contact through such extreme adversity will be an achievement to look back upon when the crisis eventually passes.

When people look back on this and with so many sad stories, hopefully theyll also remember this as one of the good things, Ochoa said.
Mexico: getting back to business

10 April 2020

This week, Cemex was quick to announce that it was resuming operations, having previously fallen into line with the National Cement Chambers (CANACEM) decision to cease cement plant operations in Mexico on 2 April 2020.



Pressure to keep construction and cement sectors operational

Cemex's announcement was a rapid about-turn on the advice that CANACEM president, Jaime Rocha Font, had given earlier: "We will stop supplying public and private works as of Saturday 4 April, this including the more than 62,000 hardware stores in the country and other distributor."



CANACEM groups  Cemento Cruz Azul, Cementos Fortaleza, Cemex, Cementos Moctezuma, Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua and Holcim, were assured that staff would be maintained with their full salary and benefits during the emergency period. These restrictions were expected to last until the end of April, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Cemex says it will now comply with the new technical guidelines published in the Mexican gazette and advice from the Ministry of Health to ensure workers can resume work safely.

Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Mexico City's head of government, had said that she is working with some cement companies to prevent stoppage of priority work, such as the St Lucia Airport. The Mexican Chamber of Construction Industry (CMIC) for Queretaro state had also requested that the president make the construction industry an essential industry to keep construction projects running.

Financial impact and falling volumes

Cemex had previously said in March that it was also raising debt levels to open up lines of credit to fight the economic difficulties presented by COVID-19. The company improved its liquidity with a US$1.14bn revolving credit line and by receiving almost US$500m from asset sales, while it said it was evaluating postponement of some investments in fixed assets for this year. In February 2020 the company reported Mexican cement volumes slipped by 13 per cent amid the markets caution at the start of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors administration.



"Performance during the year was affected by muted public and private investment in a government-transition year and by delays and suspensions of building permits in Mexico City," said a Cemex statement.



While the country produced 39.82Mt of cement in 2019, it was down seven per cent on 2018. Mexican cement production reached 3.243Mt in January 2020 up 4.4 per cent on January 2019, perhaps indicating a return to growth before the pandemic set in.



Mexico's President announced that he would tighten government austerity measures in the face of COVID-19, but that some increases in public investment will be made without raising public debt. However, the Centre for Research in Public Policy think tank forecast that 1m Mexican people would become unemployed or work fewer than 20h/week and 0.5-0.6m people would lose their jobs as the impact of COVID-19 spread across the country.



Renewable projects face supply chain disruption

A slowness to impose restrictions in Mexico to the COVID-19 pandemic has not prevented problems in supply chains and energy. Wind turbine components being built in Spain and the UK have been on lockdown, which has caused work to stall on Mexican wind farm construction projects. The cement sector is one of the big customers for renewable power projects with Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua SA de CV (GCC) informing its investors at the end of last year that some 20 per cent of its power would be sourced from solar power going forward. The company secured a 15-year deal, to come into force in January 2021, with a Mexican solar power supplied for its cement factory in Juarez, ready-mix and aggregates operations as well as corporate offices. This will save the cement producer approximately US$2.5m per year in electricity costs.



Holcim Mexico looks to complete new plant

There has been no news from Holcim Mexico of any slowdown or progress in its plans to push ahead in its new investment of a 0.65Mta grinding plant in Yucatan. The new unit was announced in October 2019 with a cost of US$40m, and the generation of 400 direct and indirect jobs. The new factory will allow product to be manufactured locally in Yucatan rather than being sent from plants in Macuspana, Tabasco, Orizaba and Veracruz. The grinding plant will be located in Uman next to the Holcim Distribution Center, just 30 minutes from the state capital and 15 minutes from the Merida International Airport. The plant is currently scheduled to start operating in 4Q20 but may suffer delays due to the COVID-19 outbreak.



Border wall construction continues

Meanwhile, the USA has been ramping up construction of its multibillion dollar southern border wall with Mexico, despite the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Customs and Border Protection announced plans for more than 150 miles of the 30ft border wall in Arizona, New Mexico and California. US President Trump has pledged to erect or replace 450 to 500 miles of the wall by the end of 2020 at a cost of US$18.5bn.

Published under
European Union finance ministers have approved a 500bn (430bn) rescue package to support the continents coronavirus-stricken countries and aid recovery during the ongoing pandemic.

The Eurogroup, formed of the 19 members of the eurozone, reached the deal on Thursday after lengthy discussions in Brussels that saw the Netherlands soften its initial demands for economic reform and oversight.

Today, we agreed upon three safety nets and a plan for the recovery, to ensure we grow together, not apart, once the virus is behind us, Eurogroup president Mario Centeno said in a video statement. These proposals build on our collective financial strength and European solidarity.

Although the deal eases concerns that the bloc was incapable of uniting behind a common strategy, EU leaders must now ratify the accord amid a continuing climate of mistrust and tension, with divisions emerging between north and south Europe.

The main component of the rescue plan involves the European Stability Mechanism, a bailout fund that was created during the EUs eurozone debt crisis. The ESM will make 240bn available in spending for indebted countries.

Access to this line of credit is guaranteed on a commitment to use the funds for the financing of direct or indirect health care, cure and prevention-related costs associated with Covid-19, Mr Centeno said.

The EU minsters also settled upon a joint employment insurance fund worth 100 billion euros and a European Investment Bank instrument intended to supply 200 billion euros of liquidity to companies.

The agreed package is smaller than the European Central Bank (ECB) had called for. The body warned that the bloc may need up to 1.5tn (1.3tn) to tackle the pandemic, which has overwhelmed parts of the continent.

More than 65 per cent of worldwide deaths have come from Europe. Italy, Spain and France have so far lost more than 45,000 lives between them.

According to German chancellor Angela Merkel, the pandemic poses the biggest threat to Europe since World War II, testing the blocs commitment to solidarity and unity at a time of severe vulnerability and economic turmoil.

Even as the viruss reach has been indiscriminately global, most countries have acted alone and in their own interests. In Europe, it has pitted the more frugal countries in the north against Italy and Spain, who have accused their counterparts of not doing enough.

A dispute between Italy and the Netherlands over how to finance a temporary fund  that will help kick-start the recovery and support the hardest-hit states  saw talks break down on Wednesday, forcing them to be resumed a day later.

Italy, Spain and France have been pushing for this mechanism to be funded through joint debt issuance, or so-called coronabonds. Although the Netherlands temporarily stepped back from their demands, the issue is expected to resurface once the details of the package are put to EU leaders next week.

We are and will remain opposed to #Eurobonds, Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra said on Twitter after Thursdays meeting. We think this concept will not help Europe or the Netherlands in the long-term.

David Sassoli, the Italian president of the European Parliament, struck a different tone in the wake of the meeting. Our faith in Europe has proven correct! he tweeted as soon as EU finance ministers announced the deal.

The French finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, hailed the agreement as the most important economic plan in EU history.

Europe has decided and is ready to meet the gravity of the crisis, he said on Twitter.

Although Spain, Italy and other EU countries look to be turning a corner in containing the spread of coronavirus, the economic fallout of the pandemic is set to run deep.

Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has warned the world is facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Communities and voluntary groups around Ireland that are providing vital services during the Covid-19 emergency have received a funding boost.

Mr Michael Ring TD, Minister for Rural & Community Development, announced today, Thursday, April 9 a 2.5 million fund to provide immediate and urgently needed funding to groups that are participating in the Governments Community Call initiative which is being led by the local authorities in response to the pandemic.

Local authorities administer the fund and will be making contact with those groups participating in Community Call in the very near future with further details. The need for funding assistance will be kept under review.

Offaly is getting nearly 65,000 from the fund. (County breakdown at end of story).

Priority will be provided to organisations which incur costs on direct delivery of frontline services to people, such as Meals on Wheels and other similar activities. These individual grants will generally be modest in nature however it is expected that higher amounts will provided where the need is greatest.

Speaking about the COVID-19 Emergency Fund, Minister Ring said:

Local community and voluntary groups are supporting significant numbers of vulnerable people, many of whom are self-isolating, to get through this crisis. This Fund will help these groups to cover the costs of their work.

This is a response to support immediate and emergency efforts by community and voluntary groups in assisting people locally. It is recognised that there are wider challenges and impacts facing the community and voluntary sector as a whole, but this initiative will help to provide support to community groups that are delivering services at the frontline, he said.

Collaboration and partnership between the community and voluntary sector and the State are key to coordinating and responding to the needs of our communities and supporting people at this time. These groups are making a real difference to help individuals at this unprecedented time.

There is a Community Call Forum in each county to coordinate and connect the wide range of services and supports that are available.

A dedicated phone helpline is operational in every county and the national number, 0818 222 024, is also in operation. You can find your local helpline number on www.gov.ie/communitycall.

In the week since Community Call was launched, over 5,000 calls have been received from members of the public.
Hyderabad: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has issued guidelines to those who perform surgeries of the anal region to test stools for Covid-19 before operating, as stools are also a medium to carry the coronavirus.

Those using western toilets must close the lid and flush after using it as there are chances that due to pressure of water, droplets carrying the virus fall on the body.

This has been observed in cases of e-coli infections and hence guidelines have been issued that people must be careful, especially in hospital settings where there are suspected and positive patients around.

Dr Sanjeev Singh Yadav, secretary, Indian Medical Association, Telangana branch, explains, The cycle of virus shows that it is seen in urine and stools as the cases increase. Now that we have more cases, there is a likelihood of virus in stools too. For this reason, preventive measures have been issued by the ICMR. Surgeons have to now wear PPE when they are doing procedures in the anal region as the virus can spread through that too.

ICMR has also taken feedback from doctors across the state and is gearing up to examine the sewage waste in major storm water drains to check for the presence of the virus. This is important as the quantity of virus will be an indication of exposing the population again to it.
Staff members and volunteers transfer medical supplies at a warehouse of an exhibition center which has been converted into a makeshift hospital in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 4, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

US Health Workers Sue Beijing for Hoarding Global Medical Supplies

A group of healthcare workers is seeking to hold the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responsible for allegedly hoarding personal protective equipment (PPE) as frontline healthcare workers are battling the CCP virus in the United States.

The healthcare workers are suing the Chinese regime in a lawsuit filed by The Berman Law Group in a Florida court on Wednesday. The lawsuit claims that the CCP is deliberately buying up medical-grade protective masks, face and eye shields, and other protective equipment, while blocking exports on these supplies, in order to sell the items at substantively higher prices.

The alleged hoarding happened at a time when the Chinese regime was aware of the severity and transmissibility of the virus in the early stages of the outbreak, according to the lawsuit. It alleges that the CCP suppressed such information, censored reports, and made false information, leading to the viruss spread.

As a result, frontline healthcare workers in the United States were put at serious risks of death, infection, and other injuries as they struggle to find PPE to protect themselves amid the shortage, the complaint said.

They did this in January but they continue to do it all the way through March and that may be the even more despicable part of it, Jeremy Alters, the chief strategist and non-attorney spokesperson of the lawsuit from Berman Law Group, told The Epoch Times. You know, they dont have 700 cargo planes headed over here with masks and respirators, and all of the things they should be doing to solve the problem they cause. Instead, our healthcare workers are being affected and dying as a result of it.

Staff members and volunteers transfer medical supplies at a warehouse of an exhibition center in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 4, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Between Jan. 24 to Feb. 29, China imported 2.46 billion shipping cartons of supplies for epidemic prevention, valued at 8.21 billion yuan ($1.158 billion), according to recent Chinese customs data. Among them were 2.02 billion protective masks and 25.38 million protective suits.

During that time, Chinese authorities, the regimes foreign affairs ministry, and Chinese embassies around the world attempted to mobilize the Chinese diaspora to help buy up goods from around the world.

In one example, the CCPs United Front Work Department, an agency dedicated to spreading the regimes agenda inside and outside China, encouraged all overseas Chinese to buy up all available medical materials and send them back to China.

Similarly, Chinese state-run enterprises, companies with government entities as majority shareholders, and private firms also began sourcing medical supplies to ship into China since January.

It is unclear how the Chinese regime is using the supplies that theyve amassed.

Meanwhile, the Chinese regime had appeared to restrict PPE exports amid the pandemic. During a daily press conference of Chinas foreign affairs ministry on March 9, a reporter asked whether the Chinese regime had banned all exports of medical masks and raw materials for making medical masks.

Geng Shuang, the ministrys spokesman, replied, China still needs a large number of masks, and the supply cannot meet the demand. At the current phase, other countries will face difficulties when they try to purchase masks from China. But Geng denied that the government was forcing businesses to stop exporting medical supplies.

Workers produce masks at a factory in Handan, China, on Feb. 28, 2020. (AFP via Getty Images)

The alleged hoarding has also caught the attention of U.S. officials. White House economic adviser Peter Navarro raised concerns about the conduct during a recent Fox News interview.

Navarro said China tried to corner the world market in personal protective equipment.  They were buying large quantities of masks, gloves, goggles, respirators from the rest of the world at a time when the world was still sleeping with respect to the dangers of the virus.

The healthcare workers named in the complaint include two doctors, two nurses, and a surgical technician from different states across the country. Two of the plaintiffs have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus, while the others have been tested and are awaiting results.

Alters said these plaintiffs listed in the complaint represent the class action and that the firm has already well over 100 doctors, nurses, and healthcare providers who have signed up to join the suit.

Staff members transfer medical supplies at a warehouse of an exhibition center which has been converted into a makeshift hospital in Wuhan in Chinas central Hubei province on Feb. 4, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

This is not the first class-action lawsuit The Berman Law Group has filed on behalf of Americans against the Chinese regime. Last month, the law firm filed a suit in Florida, alleging that Beijings initial cover-up resulted in the worldwide pandemic.

The lawsuit alleges that the CCP knew that COVID-19 was dangerous and capable of causing a pandemic, yet slowly acted, proverbially put their head in the sand, and/or covered it up for their own economic self-interest.

China has failed miserably to contain a virus that they knew about as early as middle of December. In failing to contain that virus, they have unleashed a pandemic on the world, which, in very large part, could have been contained if they would have told the world health providers, people dealing with the issue, people who could help about it as early as early January, Alters said in a separate interview.

There were over 454,000 confirmed cases and 16,200 deaths in the United States on Thursday evening, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

We are not going to let the CCP and the Peoples Republic of China get away with harming our health care workers who are our heroes, Alters said.

Nicole Hao contributed to this report.
Tablighi Jamaat members in



Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh have been directed to inform authorities of their travel history since March 1, and failure to do so could attract charges of murder and attempt to murder, a senior official said on Friday.

The outfit's event in Nizamuddin in Delhi last month is being seen as a major source of the coronavirus spread as several of the 9000-odd attendees, many testing positive later, travelled across the country for missionary works.

An order issued by Rajnandgaon Collector Jai Prakash Maurya on Friday said,"There are significant numbers of followers of the Tablighi Jamaat in the district and during the period of COVID-19 pandemic, they visited several places. Recently, several people belonging to Jamaat tested positive for COVID-19."



"Therefore, all the followers of Jamaat are ordered that they should come forward and give detailed information to the concerned authorities, if they have travelled outside the state or within the state after March 1 or anyone from another place has arrived to their residence during this period and staying," the order added.

"If any case of non-disclosure is found then the concerned person will face action under sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of Indian Penal Code and provision of the National Disaster Management Act 2005," the order said.

On Thursday, two Tablighi Jamaat members were traced in Gopalpur here and placed in quarantine, one of them having returned from Delhi last month, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A conservative group has filed a petition asking federal regulators to prevent self-funded candidates from emulating former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who they say used a loophole to make a historically large $18 million contribution to the Democratic National Committee.

Citizens United, the group widely known for its 2010 namesake landmark Supreme Court case that helped pave the way for super PACs, on Wednesday filed a petition with the Federal Election Commission asking federal regulators to create new rules to limit the amount of leftover money that a self-funded federal candidate can transfer to the national party once the candidate has dropped out of the race.

The request followed two FEC complaints filed by other groups that alleged Bloomberg made an improper transfer.

Bloomberg, one of the world's wealthiest people, was the biggest self-funded candidate in U.S. history. After he suspended his presidential campaign last month, he donated $18 million in leftover campaign cash to the Democratic National Committee. Federal candidates can give unlimited amounts of leftover money to national, state and local political parties as they wind down their campaigns.

Because his campaign was entirely self-funded, this essentially allowed Bloomberg to give far more than the maximum one person can donate to the national party in one year.

Under normal circumstances, federal rules allow individuals to give a maximum of $355,000 per year to the DNC. The party has set up a Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee with state parties, that allows wealthy individuals to give $865,000 in one year. Bloomberg has already donated the maximum allowed to this account.

In a petition to the FEC, Citizens United and its affiliate Citizens United Foundation asked the agency to close what the groups dubbed the "Bloomberg loophole," saying that while the transfer "may fall within the letter of the regulation governing transfers of candidate funds to national political party committees it certainly does not fall within the spirit of the law."

Bloomberg campaign officials and the Democratic National Committee did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

David Bossie, president of Citizens United and Citizens United Foundation, said Thursday the groups are seeking to limit the amount of money that can be transferred from a fully self-funded campaign.

Other campaigns accept contributions from donors who adhere to the federal contribution limit of $2,800 per election, while Bloomberg's account was made up of money donated by the candidate himself, Bossie noted.

"Our proposal is designed to prevent . . . wealthy candidates from evading" that annual contribution limit by running a self-funded presidential campaign, Bossie said.

Bloomberg's transfer also exposed a potential loophole that could be exploited by bad actors, experts said at the outset of his failed presidential bid.

If someone mounted a self-funded bid solely to evade the individual contribution limit and donate leftover campaign funds to the party, that would be considered a straw donation scheme, experts had said.

Bossie said his complaint also seeks to "prevent phony candidates from evading the limits on direct contributions to national party committees by laundering personal funds through a campaign account."

Americans for Public Trust, a government oversight nonprofit that launched this year, last week filed an FEC complaint alleging Bloomberg's donation was in fact a violation of federal campaign finance laws, and that the former mayor "circumvented federal contribution limits" in making the donation.

Great America PAC, which supports President Donald Trump, filed a similar complaint asking the FEC to investigate the transfer.

The FEC is unable to conduct official business because it does not have a voting quorum. A Senate committee last month considered Trump's nominee to fill a vacancy on the FEC in an effort to restore its operations, but the nomination now remains in limbo as senators respond to the looming economic crisis in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bloomberg gave more than $935 million of his own money to his three-month White House bid, and his campaign spent at least $510 million of that money.

After suspending his campaign, Bloomberg endorsed former vice president Joe Biden for president and transferred the remaining cash in his presidential campaign account to the DNC. At the time, Bloomberg campaign officials said he wanted to transfer his funds in a way that would "support our eventual nominee and scale the Democratic Party's general election efforts."
Britain's Got Talent will return to our TV screens on Saturday night bringing a new batch of contestants hoping to wow the judges with their skills.

And one particularly bendy hopeful left judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams, recoiling in terror in upcoming scenes from the show.

In a new clip released ahead of the series' debut, at the Manchester auditions the panel could not bring themselves to look at the contestant.

Agh! One particularly bendy hopeful left judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams, recoiling in terror in upcoming scenes from the show

Amanda appeared to be the most vocal of the judges as she was seen screaming at the contestant while David jumped out of his seat to hide behind Alesha.

The contortionist had a skull style face paint and a tight black costume with a skeleton pattern painted all over.

As he bent his arms in unfathomable directions he sent the crowds wild.

Ahead of the release of the new show, hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly, both 44, revealed this year's biggest influence comes from head judge Simon's five-year-old- son, Eric.

Agh! Amanda was quite clearly terrified by the spooky moves

Scary! As he bent his arms in unfathomable directions he sent the crowds wild

Help! Simon couldn't even bring himself to look at the contortionist

Earlier in the week, the show's host joked: 'Its all about Eric and what he would like. Everything he sees that he would normally have buzzed off in years gone by, now hes like, My son would love that'

While the auditions are kicking off this weekend, the live shows have been postponed until later in the year amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

However, because the auditions were prerecorded we will have all of the golden buzzer moments in store over the next few week, with the 14th series described by judge Amanda, 49, as 'old school BGT'.

Agh! David was illustrating his usual over the top reactions

Flinching: Simon turned top the audience to calm down

The big reveal: Ahead of the release of the new show, hosts Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly, both 44, revealed this year's biggest influence comes from head judge Simon's five-year-old- son, Eric

The beauty divulged: 'Weve got the eccentric acts, the bedroom performers, and then the people who have honed their act and worked for years and years on it but never quite made it.

'As far as were concerned everyone deserves the chance, whether theyre brilliant or unpolished, because even the brilliant people have worked really hard for years and might just need a bit of BGT sparkle to push themselves to the next level'

Amanda has been a judge on every series thus far, alongside Simon, 60.

Unfortunate: While the auditions are kicking off this weekend, the live shows have been postponed until later in the year amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis
Many of us (now more than ever) hope to find a glorious tropical island  somewhere small, perfectly formed, filled with wildlife, an exotic bolthole to escape from the trials of the world.

Sao Tome and Principe, with only 200,000 inhabitants, is a good place to start. Especially as it has more rare birds per square mile than the Galapagos, and more turtles than you can shake a stick at, and is aiming for sustainable and responsible development.

It is also a safe place to visit, with virtually no crime thanks to a strong and stable government. Which is not bad for the second smallest country in Africa.

Island getaway: Sao Tome (pictured) and Principe is the second smallest country in Africa

Sao Tome and Principe (the latter pictured) were discovered by the Portuguese in the 15th century

It sits off the west coast, near the equator, directly below London. The water is warm, the sun is hot and there is no jet lag. It used to be under Portuguese rule until 1975, so it seemed fitting for my son and I to fly to Lisbon for a two-night stopover at the beginning of our adventure.

Staying at Memmo Alfama Hotel, in Lisbon old town, just behind the cathedral, we took advantage of the free walking tour  and enjoyed exploring this hilly city so much that we invited our talkative guide and his girlfriend to join us for lunch. As he told us, 'Lisbon is like a game of Tetris, played with buildings.'

Next morning, we flew to Africa, landing in Sao Tome the larger of the two islands that make up this country  for a couple of nights relaxing by the pool and beach of Hotel Omali.

Driving round with local guide, Daniel, we bought coconuts from roadside sellers, watched locals wash laundry in rivers, and learned that all islanders are descended from slaves brought over by the Portuguese. It was an eye-opening introduction to Africa's brutal past and present. 'I am not owned by the past. I am more interested in the future,' said Daniel.

Principe, with a population of 7,000, is smaller and prettier than Sao Tome. Coming in to land after a 30-minute flight, we saw its jungle-covered hills and land edged with soft beaches. It seemed remarkably unspoilt.

Tourism has only taken off in the past few years. To keep visitor numbers down, there is just one flight a day to Sao Tome from Principe, on a small plane  a deliberate ploy to encourage sustainability.

We sampled all three of the main hotels on Principe. Bom Bom Island hotel is on a tiny splinter of rock, 100 metres from the northern edge of Principe.

Santo Antonio, the main settlement on Principe island

Behold Pico Cao Grande, a 1,200ft-tall needle-shaped rock that rises out of jungle on Sao Tome

Pipi Waterfall on Principe, which can be reached via one of the islands many walking trails

It is named after the sound of waves rolling onto shore and has beachfront bungalows perfectly positioned so you can roll out of bed, step onto soft sand and go for a morning swim while looking out for low-flying parrots.

Chaplin, an African grey parrot, lives at the hotel. She was caged once, until her owner released her to the wild. After a few weeks away, she returned, spending most days hanging out with her human friends and some lucky guests.

After taking boat trips along the coast, exploring gorgeous empty beaches and snorkelling in clear waters, I can see why Chaplin never wanted to leave. Roca Sundy is an old plantation owners' house, located inland, that has been turned into a boutique guesthouse, with great views over the valleys below.

We met up with local resident Sandra, who showed us round the hotel grounds, where she lives. Roca Sundy is situated in a sleepy village, complete with schools, bakery and tiny chocolate factory.

Strolling round a nearby ruined hospital, now converted into a high-rise shanty town, we found ourselves in a house belonging to another local, Sheira. She runs a restaurant from her front room, feeding tourists grilled fish while her grandchildren play at our feet, or listen, fascinated by our accents.

A carnival parade taking place in the town of Sao Tome on the island of Sao Tome

That evening, sitting outside the hotel, high above the valley, we listened to parrots singing in the treetops as the sun set, and enjoyed the local, jackfruit-flavoured tipple. It was the perfect way to prepare for our next adventure  turtles.

We had seen their nests on the beaches, each clutch of eggs marked by a painted stick in the sand. Our guide cheerfully admitted that in the past he had caught turtles and eaten their eggs. Not any more. These days they are worth far more alive than dead, as the few tourists there are will happily pay to see them.

Walking along the starlit beach, we stepped over hundreds of crabs and watched three huge green turtles  each one the size of a wheelbarrow  hauling themselves up the sand. It was fascinating. It takes them hours to find a spot, dig their nests, lay their eggs and return to the sea. A perfect example of the locals' favourite phrase: 'Leve, leve.' (Slow, slow.)

Our final night was in a tented villa at Sundy Praia, at a whopping 800 a night  more than twice the price of the other hotels.

Proud of its eco credentials and use of local materials, it takes glamping to new heights, with enormous suites of rooms under canvas. Our bath was carved from solid rock and, apparently, weighed over a ton. It was a grand finale as we prepared to head for home.

So, if you ever want a taste of tropical joy, just head south from London and keep on going until you hit the equator. When this pandemic is far behind us, I can think of no better place to go and celebrate the simple beauty of being alive.
After rescuing 150 migrants at sea, a German NGO vessel has been unable to dock off the coast of Sicily, even as bad weather approaches.

Italy has closed its ports to foreign-flagged rescue boats, citing fears over the coronavirus pandemic, and denied a request to dock by the Alan Kurdi, the German-flagged rescue ship.

According to a statement by rescue organisation Sea-Eye, the ship is in urgent need of supplies, such as food, medicine and fuel.

In the early hours of the Good Friday, the Italian Coast Guard evacuated one person in need of medical care.

Authorities from Malta and Libya have also said their own ports are unsafe, meaning the "Alan Kurdi" has yet to find a port.

More than 500 migrants set out from Libya this week, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Their fates have been complicated by the virus.

About 280 migrants were picked up after three days at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard, but then denied entry to the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
Maharashtra government has sent an IPS officer on compulsory leave for allowing DHFL promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan to travel amid lockdown.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh tweeted, "As per discussion with Hon. CM, Amitabh Gupta, Principal Secretary (special), has been sent on compulsory leave with immediate effect, till the pending of enquiry, which will be initiated against him".

Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan were detained at their Mahabaleshwar farmhouse in a Maharashtra's Satara district after they were caught violating the lockdown.

Also read: India Coronavirus live updates: 614 active cases, 33 new deaths in 24 hours; country's tally at 5,709

The police, alerted by local people, tracked down 23 people including members of the Wadhawan family at the farmhouse. They have all been quarantined there.

According to local police officials, the family drove to the town, over 250 km from Mumbai, in five cars on Wednesday night. They travelled from Khandala to Mahabaleshwar on Wednesday evening in their cars, even when both Pune and Satara districts were sealed.

All 23 people will be booked under section 188 of IPC (disobedience of lawful order of public servant). Deshmukh said a probe will be conducted into this.

Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan are accused in Yes Bank and DHFL fraud. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had recently issued summons to Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan in Yes Bank case and asked them to appear on March 17. They skipped summons for the third time, citing risk of coronavirus.

The CBI is considering taking them into custody once their quarantine ends.

Also read: Coronavirus: ICMR urges containment action in 36 districts, hints community transmission

Also read: Coronavirus impact: Can India afford to export Hydroxychloroquine?
A shop owner who asked her landlord for a rent break during the coronavirus crisis was outraged when he branded her request as 'typical Jewish behaviour'.

Larah Bross, who runs the Bross Bagels shop in Portobello, Edinburgh, received the shocking message by text.

The former actress from Canada was trying to make alternative rent payment arrangements with her landlord, Mario Aydemir Demirezen, for the next three months due to the coronavirus lockdown, as she has done with the landlords at her four other Edinburgh shops.

Larah Bross, who runs the Bross Bagels shop in Portobello, Edinburgh, was accused of 'typical Jewish behaviour' from her landlord when she asked for a rent break

But Mr Demirezen, who is retired and has deteriorating health, said he is stuck in Turkey due to the lockdown after going there recently for private medical care.

He says he wants April's rent payment now because he is unable to sort out any financial assistance from outside of the UK.

Speaking from Turkey, the 66-year-old claimed Ms Bross, 42, has the money to pay this month's rent and said that small businesses in other commercial properties he owns in Portobello have done so.

Ms Bross is adamant she can not pay after being forced to close her five Edinburgh shops and furlough 39 of her 47 staff

And he said his reference to her 'typical Jewish behaviour' in a text message to Ms Bross concerning the dispute should be viewed as a compliment on her ability as a clever businesswoman.

He also said he has 'no intention of upsetting anyone' or 'going against any religion'.

But Ms Bross, whose Jewish identity is reflected by the kosher menu in her Montreal-style bagel shops, is adamant she can not pay after being forced to close her five Edinburgh shops and furlough 39 of her 47 staff.

She says she was 'shocked and disgusted' by the text message, which was sent at the weekend.

The shop owner says the fallout has exacerbated an already stressful situation which has involved shutting her shops and dealing with paperwork

She said: 'My first thought was "wow", I can not believe that someone, not only in this day and age but at this moment in time, can say that.

'It's incredible.'

Ms Bross, who has been donating bagels to NHS workers during the lockdown, says the fallout has exacerbated an already stressful situation which has involved shutting her shops and dealing with paperwork for rent rearrangements for her other landlords, bank loans and staff furlough payments.

She said: 'I want people to realise this is a difficult time and want to help other people who might be struggling here, other independent businesses.

'I want landlords to be considerate to their tenants who are just trying to make it through, just like they are.'

Ms Bross says she would like to maintain a relationship with her landlord and doesn't want to avoid paying rent, but simply arrange with him to pay it back at another time.

Ms Bross has been donating bagels to NHS workers during the lockdown and says she would like to maintain a relationship with her landlord

She says she also offered a compromise to Mr Demirezen to review the situation with coronavirus in May instead of automatically deferring the next three months' rent.

But she is unsure if they will be able to sustain a relationship in the future given recent discussions.

An article published on Thursday in Scottish Legal News details a recent change in Scots law due to Covid-19.

The new legislation gives tenants more protection from commercial lease termination by allowing them 14 weeks warning instead of 14 days to pay rent to a landlord.

Scottish Ministers have the power to change the 14 week period by secondary legislation.

Mr Demirezen, who says he recently had two heart bypass operations and two strokes and is currently hooked up to an oxygen machine, said: 'We are talking about the relationship between landlord and tenant here and she is a clever Jewish lady and she is taking advantage of Covid-19 and making more (money) than anyone else.

'When I say typical Jewish, I mean they are the richest people in the world and very clever people. She should be proud of her Jewish identity.

The bagel shop owner says she offered a compromise to Mr Demirezen to review the situation with coronavirus in May

'Jewish people are always clever and there's nothing wrong with that, she should be proud.

'I have no intention of upsetting anybody. All I was upset about is that all of the people in my other properties have paid up.

'She has got money but not paying it. She is doing quite well in Edinburgh with the opening of all of these branches and she has five shops.

'If you are running five shops in three years then you must be clever. I do not wish to fall out with her as a person and it's nice to be nice to people.

'I have no intention to go against any religion.'

In response to Mr Demirezen's explanation for the meaning of his text message, Ms Bross said: 'I would love to know in any context at any time where the term "typical Jewish" was used as a compliment.

'I will be happy to offer free bagels for a year to anyone who can provide me with one.'
AS the nation records achievement in taming imported cases of Covid-19, efforts must now be focused on taking precautionary measures to avoid generating home-grown cases.

The Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ms Ummy Mwalimu, made the call yesterday in Dar es Salaam when she met religious leaders, who she said had a pivotal role to play in sensitising the public on the deadly disease.

To a great extent we have managed to tame imported cases. Currently we are focusing on local transmission and if the public is not educated on how to take precautions, we will soon move to community transmission. Religious have a key role to play in this, Ms Mwalimu remarked.

She said the government would next week issue a trend and projections outlook of the spread of novel Coronavirus in the country.

Another appeal to our religious leaders is that lets continue praying; science is there but lets also pray, she told the religious leaders in a meeting held yesterday in Dar es Salaam.

The meeting, which was organised by World Vision Tanzania, was aimed at taking the religious leaders on board in the battle against the disease.

Religious leaders have a unique opportunity to send messages to the community. Y ou have your own way of communicating, which also brings hopes, Ms Mwalimu stated.

She told the clerics to also consider taking precautions such as social distancing, shortening the time of worship and encourage hand washing to worshipers during prayer sessions.

If possible, you need to disinfect your buildings for prayers after every gathering, she told them.

On other hand, she said, the government contemplates issuing new guideline on wearing face masks.

She said although the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines stress that wearing face masks was for affected people and those who attend the patients, the government may consider encouraging wearing of masks by all people when leaving their homes or going to places with gatherings.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr John Jingu, said yesterdays meeting was for one big reason; because the country was at war.

The meeting was in implementation of a directive from the minister to organise a meeting with spiritual leaders because divine intervention was also crucial.

This war also requires changing our behaviours; so we need religious leaders to help us make community members change their attitude, Dr Jingu stated.

He said since the religious leaders always serve members of the public, it was easy for them to reach out to the people and communicate the message over how to protect them from contracting the disease, he said.

On his part, World Vision Tanzania National Director Gilbert Kamanga said clerics needed to discuss and come up with a way forward on how to tackle Covid-19.

The world vision believes that religious leaders have an opportunity to fight any calamity. We look forward to seeing how the religious leaders would take part in the battle against the disease, Mr Kamanga pointed out.

He assured that the organisation was committed to ensure that childrens welfare was protected during the current health crisis.

So we are here to ensure that we (World Vision) effectively participate in the fight against the disease, he stressed.

He said his key message to religious leaders was that they should know that Covid-19 was real; therefore, their duty was to educate the people on the infections of the disease, noting that awareness was still low.

This is not a political matter; lets work together because Covid- 19 is real, he stated.

Dar es Salaam Regional Sheikh Alhad Mussa Salum said religious leaders were ready to receive directives or guidelines from the government On fighting the disease in their mosques and churches.

We are people of God; we believe in prayers, we will continue praying for Gods mercy, he said, as he welcomed the stance by President John Magufuli that houses of worship should remain open for us to continue praying and crying out to the Almighty God, he said.
Former State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, center, exits the Stout Center for Criminal Justice surrounded by family and supporters on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. She pleaded guilty to stealing from her nonprofit, Motivations Education & Consultation Associates (MECA). Read more

One of the last places you want to be during a pandemic is in prison.

These places are festering petri dishes. Social distancing is almost impossible. Face masks are in short supply.

Releasing nonviolent prisoners who are near the end of their sentences is humane, which is why I applaud authorities for granting an early release to former State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell.

The former Philadelphia representative, who was sentenced to three months in prison this year for stealing from her nonprofit, had been scheduled to go home on May 6. Then the coronavirus began spreading and Pennsylvania correctional facilities went on lockdown.

On Friday, governors in Pennsylvania and New Jersey issued executive orders to begin the process of releasing thousands of prisoners as a way to further stem the spread of the coronavirus.

 READ MORE: Thousands of inmates in Pa. and N.J. now eligible for temporary release as coronavirus spreads

I am pleased to direct the Department of Corrections to begin the process to release vulnerable and non-violent inmates at or nearing their release dates in an organized way that maintain[s] supervision post-release and ensures home and health-care plans are in place for all re-entrants, Wolf said in a statement.

Pennsylvania corrections facilities could begin releasing inmates as early as Tuesday.

Luckily for Johnson-Harrell, shes already out. Because the former state representative worked in the kitchen at the Riverside Correctional Facility, her temperature was monitored daily to determine if she had contracted the coronavirus, which is spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

It was scary, because women were getting sick all around me, she told me on Thursday.

 READ MORE: This is nothing after 28 years in prison: Philly exonerees on how to survive isolation

On Tuesday, when she got the news that she would be going home, the other inmates started banging on their doors and cheering, she told me. They hugged her and pushed notes into her hands. It was like a scene from a movie, she said.

Watching her leave and return to the relative safety of a home stocked with hand sanitizer, disinfectant, and other things necessary to help survive this pandemic gave them hope.

Inmates are literally trapped in an environment where they cant protect themselves from a potentially deadly virus. Thats troubling.

I commend both Wolf and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy for what theyre doing.

Its not about releasing rapists and murderers and others who are a threat to society. This is about about letting out more nonviolent offenders, those like Johnson-Harrell who are close to completing their sentences and thus are scheduled to be released soon anyway.

Former State Representative Johnson Harrell  poses little threat to society, said State Sen. Sharif Street (D., Phila.) via Facebook Messenger. I encourage the Dept. of Corrections to continue their policy of releasing people similarly situated. These are prudent steps during this health crisis in order to prevent community spread among staff, inmates and members of the public.

Johnson-Harrell, who is quarantining inside her home as a safety precaution against possibly spreading the virus, told me she has been sleeping a lot and is grateful to be with her family again. One day, she hopes to advocate on behalf of inmates. My last words to them were, Im not leaving you behind,'" she said.

 READ MORE: A Philly woman was in prison for life. Villanova students, and one weird coincidence, helped get her out.

Already, shes made a name for herself as an anti-gun activist. Now she can add social justice reform to her causes. Theres still not a day that I dont think about Charles, she added, referring to the son whose 2011 homicide spurred her into advocacy.

 ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters.

Johnson-Harrell is quarantining with her children, grandchildren, and husband. Shes no threat to anybody.

Nor are some of the inmates who served time with her at Riverside. Its cruel and unusual punishment to keep some of these folks locked up.

Were sheltering in place in our homes to save lives. So should they.
Physicians, nurses, technicians and other hospital staff across greater Houston have been working around the clock during the COVID-19 public health crisis.

At HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball, Panda Express showed appreciation by bringing hot meals to team members Friday April 3 and 10, according to a release by the HCA Gulf Coast Division.

Potbelly Pantry: Potbelly Pantry offers ingredients for sandwich making at home amid COVID-19

The individually-prepared panda bowls were a sensation among staff as the leadership stated they will remember this act of kindness for a long time.

HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball appreciates the love and support weve received from our community, said Eric Evans, chief executive officer. Our healthcare heroes are excited to enjoy this generous donation from Panda Express.

Panda Express expressed its gratitude to HCA Healthcare hospitals workers in locations around Houston for their service on the front lines of the fight against coronavirus.

A total of 1,100 panda bowls will have been delivered to HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball, HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland, HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center and HCA Houston Healthcare West in a span of two weeks, from Wednesday, April 1st to Friday, April 10th, according to the release.

We are overwhelmed by the generosity of the community, said Zach Thornton, RN in the HCA Tomball ER. Its so nice to come in to work to and be surprised by a free meal.

HCA Houston Healthcare is a provider of health care in the Houston area, with an employee base of 15,000 and a network that includes 13 hospitals, 10 outpatient surgery centers, 11 freestanding emergency centers and numerous freestanding diagnostic imaging facilities.

It also includes a regional transfer center that provides one-phone-call access and support for patient transfers into and out of HCA Houston Healthcare facilities as well as access to ground and air transportation within a 150-mile radius.

Tomball update: City of Tomball working through coronavirus pandemic

I want to express my sincere gratitude to Panda Express for their commitment to caring during this difficult time, said Jim Russell, CEO at HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland via the release. The kindness they demonstrated by feeding our team members at HCA Houston Healthcare Mainland was overwhelming and delicious. On behalf of everyone here, I extend my sincere gratitude.

One of Panda Expresss core values is giving back to the communities they serve, said Thomas Wen, regional director of operations at Panda Express (Zone Lead for Texas). Wen added that hes grateful to have the opportunity to serve the community, especially health care providers because they put their heart and soul into saving lives and risk their own life to make a difference.

At the HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center location, Panda Bowls were delivered to night-shift nurses by house supervisor Derrick Conover after Panda Express employees Sharon Kwok and Daniel Elizalde dropped off the Panda Bowls.

During this time of uncertainty, my team and I are more committed than ever to provide comfort and support for our frontline healthcare providers, Wen said. They put their heart and soul into saving lives. They risk their own life to make a difference, and it is our honor to be able to contribute to this important effort.

Panda Express pledges to continue feeding frontline night shift nurses, physicians, and staff in Houston area facilities, according to the release.

I am proud to be working for a company that does not hesitate to show its generosity for giving in these great causes, said Jonathan McDaniel, general manager at Panda Express via the release.

alvaro.montano@chron.com
Eagle Cement donates food packs to Bulacan residents

10 April 2020

Philippines-based Eagle Cement has donated food packs to the residents of Bulacan, amidst the quarantine period in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the assistance of the armed forces, volunteers and the local government of San Ildefonso, the company distributed thousands of food packs containing rice and canned goods to 20 barangays in San Ildefonso and Dona Remedios Trinidad.

Apart from food packs, vitamins and other medicine were also distributed to residents who are most in need. Eagle has also allocated free water supply for residents who are currently experiencing water shortages.

"Being able to help the communities where we operate and thrive has always been at the heart of Eagle Cement. Through this effort, we hope to help augment the food supply and slightly ease the current economic situation of the citizens in Bulacan," said Eagle President and CEO, Paul Ang.

Published under
By Trend

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Georgia delivered humanitarian cargo to Marneuli district of Georgia, Trend reports on April 10 referring to Georgian media.

As reported, 600 packages with humanitarian aid will be distributed to the most needy residents of Bolnisi and Marneuli districts.

A charity event initiated by the president of Azerbaijan started yesterday. Today we are in Marneuli. This action will also be held in Tbilisi and Rustavi cities as well as Kakheti, Bolnisi, Gardabani and Shida-Kartli districts, said the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Georgia Dursun Hasanov.

According to him, this once again testifies to the close friendship between Azerbaijan and Georgia.

We have one goal - to fight the coronavirus with all our might, and I know that soon we will overcome this threat. The Georgian government will make every effort for this, the ambassador said.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Virus-stricken British Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked medics for saving his life after leaving hospital on Easter Sunday, as hundreds of millions of Christians observed the holiday under lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

More than half of humanity is confined at home as governments scramble to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed more than 112,500 lives around the world.

More than 1.8 million people have been infected but glimmers of hope were emerging that the worst may be behind -- especially in Europe, where hard-hit Italy recorded its lowest death toll in three weeks and fatalities fell in France.

Johnson, the highest-profile leader to contract the virus characterised by high fevers and coughing, voiced confidence that Britain would beat the pandemic in a candid video message after he was discharged from a state-run National Health Service (NHS) hospital.

"I hope they won't mind if I mention in particular two nurses who stood by my bedside for 48 hours when things could have gone either way," said 55-year-old Johnson, who was admitted on April 5 to a London hospital where he spent three days in intensive care.

In a suit and tie but visibly worn, Johnson said he was discharged after "a week in which the NHS has saved my life, no question."

Even as Johnson headed to a country estate to rest before returning to work, Britain passed the grim milestone of 10,000 deaths.

Johnson, like US President Donald Trump, had initially resisted stringent measures such as shutting down public places.

The United States has since recorded the world's highest death toll at more than 22,020.

- 'Easter of solitude' -

From the Vatican to Panama and the Philippines, there were unprecedented scenes of empty churches as the world's two-billion plus Christians celebrated Easter from the confines of their homes.

Speaking from a near-empty Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Pope Francis offered prayers for the ill and urged "solidarity" to fight the outbreak.

Story continues

"For many, this is an Easter of solitude lived amid the sorrow and hardship that the pandemic is causing, from physical suffering to economic difficulties," he said in a live-streamed message beamed around the world.

On the outskirts of Rome, one devout follower held a video session with friends to mark the holy day in lieu of being able to gather in church.

"Before lunch, six of us connected online for the Angelus prayer," said Rosa Mastrocinque, adding that her "spirituality has increased" during her weeks-long confinement.

The pope had earlier urged creativity to mark the holy weekend -- a call that was met by many.

In Panama, an archbishop blessed his nation from a helicopter, while one priest in Portugal addressed the faithful from the open top of a moving convertible car.

In one church north of the Philippine capital Manila, hundreds of pictures of parishioners were taped to pews as a priest led a Sunday service in a near-empty sanctuary.

"We also feel their presence virtually," said Father Mark Christopher De Leon.

"This is our way of being with them, praying for them spiritually, praying for them, praying for their safety."

- 'Far from victory' -

Unlike France and Italy, Spain reported a slight spike in deaths with 619 fresh fatalities after declines over three straight days.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned there could still be tough times ahead, even as the number of new infections continued to slow.

"We are still far from victory, from the moment when we will recover normality in our lives," Sanchez said in locked-down Spain.

"We are all keen to go back out on the streets... but our desire is even greater to win the war and prevent a relapse," he added.

New York, the epicentre of the virus in the United States, has gradually seen the public health crisis stabilise after a devastating week.

"You're not seeing a great decline in the numbers, but you're seeing a flattening," Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters.

"And you're also seeing a recurrence of the terrible news, which is the number of lives lost, which is 758," he said of the past 24 hours across the state of New York.

- Questions on reopening -

The World Health Organization has warned countries against lifting lockdown restrictions too early.

Governments are under pressure to keep populations safe while preventing the collapse of their economies, amid warnings from the International Monetary Fund of a downturn not seen since the Great Depression.

Trump had earlier voiced hope at returning to normal by Easter but backtracked after dire warnings from public health experts.

Anthony Fauci, the White House's top advisor on infectious diseases, said Sunday that parts of the world's largest economy may be ready to reopen by May 1 -- but warned it would not be like a "light switch" with the entire country ending restrictions together.

In Turkey, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu offered to resign over a 48-hour nationwide shutdown that was announced Friday night with just two hours' notice.

The abrupt declaration sparked panic buying at markets -- defeating the aim of social distancing. But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to accept Soylu's resignation.

There were also worrying signs the virus could be taking hold in new -- and vulnerable -- parts of the world.

Conflict-wracked Yemen reported its first case last week, while in Mumbai's crowded Dharavi slum -- one of Asia's biggest and the inspiration for the 2008 Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" -- more than 43 cases have been confirmed.

"We have been running extensive medical camps in Dharavi and other areas of Mumbai to test more people for coronavirus and make sure carriers are not ignored," said Mumbai official Khabale-Patil.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari urged all residents to stay at home and wash their hands -- but has not said whether stay-at-home orders due to end Monday in three major cities will be extended.

Bucking the global sports shutdown, Taiwan opened a new baseball season on Sunday in front of empty stands.

burs-jv-sct/bgs/to
Give Samin Nosrat her own cooking show!!!

Reply

Thread

Link

i love her SO much. if i could have her energy and not be sick of myself, i'd really want it lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I was gonna ask "Why?" and then remembered her husband is a chef lol. This could be fun

Reply

Thread

Link

At first I read Sedaris and got excited

Reply

Thread

Link

omg i love the concept of an amy sedaris cooking show, rip that this isnt happening

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

They just hand cooking shows out to anyone with a bit of name recognition lol.



I wish there were more vegetarian/vegan cooking shows though, are there even any right now on tv?

Reply

Thread

Link

Right....I got an email, how to make a meat like substance using walnuts and tomato puree. More stuff like that!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Not on TV, but Pick Up Limes is a vegetarian and vegan cooking channel on YT that's really good.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

her son is so cute. it makes sense she'd make a cabbage patch kid.

Reply

Thread

Link

I just discovered Cooking On High on Netflix. And while I cant do marijuana its fascinating to watch the chefs use it. Some of the judges are annoying but thankfully its only one of the two guests so far that will get on my nerves (they have 2 new judges each episode ) but its funny watching them do commentary high and the chefs are amazing. Me personally? Ive rediscovered that Im a bomb ass cook despite not having cooked in over 5 years save the occasional boiling of pasta and adding a sauce. 

Reply

Thread

Link

That show didn't get renewed I don't think. The guests were annoying af, great concept show though.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

yeah i noticed it's like 2 years old. it was a fun enough watch, and the chef's were definitely the best part lol. the guests....not so much.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I didnt realize I was supposed to put this jar of pesto from Costco in the fridge (it wasnt opened yet) and I left it out overnight. I used it on my eggs today so I hope I dont die!

Reply

Thread

Link

You're not going to die of the pesto.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Haha I hope not! When I googled if it was OK to leave unopened pesto out overnight a got a bunch of stuff on reddit that made it sound like food poisoning was def in my future (or botulism!)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

It's fine. You can also freeze whatever you don't use before it goes bad.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

is she going to steal recipes from other people?

Reply

Thread

Link

Anyone any inspirational ideas for what I'm going to do with red rice? Risotto is always nice, so is curry but give me more.

Reply

Thread

Link

i find cooking shows, specifically baking, so relaxing. this is a cute concept. wish i liked her, lol

Reply

Thread

Link

Oh, and some easy cute desserts for easter dinner would be appreciated as well - parent friendly so traditional is definitely allowed.



Else I'll just do self saucing chocolate pudding.

Reply

Thread

Link

i've been baking a lot with all my evenings free. i bought 2 bags of flour, beefed up my butter supply and got some eggs. I'm good to go. I'm making my way through my fav Pinterest recipes and trying out the ones that I've put off cause I've never had the time AKA: breads that need to rise. i'm making hot cross buns tonight.

Reply

Thread

Link

i'm loving being able to cook every day. today i made everyone grilled zucchini club sandwiches with pesto. i made a pot roast earlier in the week. this weekend i'm making either bolognese or stuffed bell peppers.

Reply

Thread

Link

Since everyone is home now, Ive been doing twice the amount of cooking than before so we keep running out of ingredients. One good thing is that Im exploring more desi food and getting back to my roots and its been a lot of fun!!

Reply

Thread

Link
For 103 years, the Eleanor Club was like that: It was a place where women, mostly young and new to Chicago, shared their dreams and disappointments around a dining room table. They stood in line for the shower down the hall from the bedrooms no bigger than a monks cell. In the spacious lounge, furnished in the style of the arts-and-crafts movement, they wrote postcards assuring the folks back home that they were safe and well in the big city.
UN-backed Government of National (GNA) has condemned and called on the international community to rein in rebel Gen. Khalifa Haftar whose forces have cut water supplies in capital Tripoli amid the spread of the novel coronavirus disease.

The GNAs interior ministry, Middle East Monitor reports, in statement issued Thursday likened the interruption of the water supply to another crime by rebel leader who has struggling for over one year to uproot the GNA.

The ministry said the move constitutes a violation of international and national laws and urged international institutions and human rights organizations to document this crime and pursue the perpetrators, in accordance with the mechanisms of international humanitarian law and United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions.

The GNA has reported 24 confrmed cases and one death according to worldomeaters.info.

In a separate report, the GNAs Operation Volcano of Anger, its command in charge of derailing Haftars offensive said a ship containing 40 containers of military supplies, docked at the eastern port of Tobruk, in another violation of the UN armed embargo on the country since 2011.

In addition to Russia, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Egypt and UAE have been the pillar of support to Haftar while the GNA has been enjoying all-out support from Turkey, Italy and Qatar.

Posted by North Africa Post North Africa Post's news desk is composed of journalists and editors, who are constantly working to provide new and accurate stories to NAP readers.
New Delhi: The most popular Bhojpuri star turned television sensation, Monalisa has yet again impressed her fans with a picture on Instagram. She posted a breathtaking new photo of hers wearing a polka-doted dress but alas, amid lockdown 'nowhere to go'.

Mona captioned her picture: All Dressed Up To Go Nowhere... #goodmorning #quarantine #life #dressedup #poser: my baby @vikrant8235

The picture has been clicked by her husband Vikrant Singh.

She has a solid social media presence with 3 million followers on Instagram alone. Monalisa is seen on supernatural fiction show 'Nazar 2'.

The stars are making sure to inspire people to stay indoors and maintain social distancing in this tough time.

The deadly novel coronavirus has claimed thousands of lives globally. And to curb the situation, the government has called for a 21-day lockdown in the country.

The pandemic flu has put all the movie and television shoots to a halt.
Gautam Buddh Nagar, April 10 : Commissioner of Police Alok Singh on Friday flagged off nine fire brigade vehicles to santitise 22 hotspots in Gautam Buddh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh.

These six big and three small vehicles will not only sanitise the hotspots but also areas within the three-km radius.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had flagged such vehicles in Lucknow on Thursday.

Before these fire brigade vehicles were flagged off from Sector 108 here, teams deployed on these also gave a demonstration about their work before the Noida Commissioner of Police.

Alok Singh told the media that these vehicles were fitted with 30-feet-long pipes which would enable them sanitise narrow lanes and bylanes as well.
Pushing for green development and lifestyles

From:ChinaDaily | 2020-04-10 10:54

Since 2013, China has made the important choice of emphasizing environmental protection and green development over a focus on raw GDP growth. Also, government institutions have been reformed to strengthen enforcement of environmental protection laws.

During a visit to Yucun village in Zhejiang province on March 30, President Xi Jinping said: "The environment itself means the economy. If you protect the environment, you will receive rewards from the environment."

And in his speech kicking off the International Horticultural Exposition in Beijing in April 2019, Xi said: "The development model of 'killing the hens for eggs' and 'draining the lake for fish' is at a dead end."

Environmental protection is linked with the broader economic strategy of restructuring industry toward higher value-added manufacturing and services, away from the old reliance on heavy industry, resource extraction and low-tech steel and coal production. Of course, there is sometimes a trade-off between jobs and the environment, but much evidence shows that shutting down inefficient highly polluting factories often clears the way for cleaner, more efficient and more profitable production.

New high-tech industries will not only produce higher-quality products demanded by China's growing middle-income group. The shift toward investment in environmental protection could also allow many Chinese companies to gain a first-mover advantage in many innovative products that will be needed to improve the environment worldwide. For example, China's sales of electric vehicles are about the same as the rest of the world combined and two-thirds of the world's solar panels are produced in China.

"The future will be illuminated by eco-friendly development that is in accordance with the rules of nature ... China's ecological civilization development is on a fast track. People will live in a better environment with blue skies, green mountains and clear water," Xi said."We should protect the ecological environment like protecting our eyes and value it in the same way we value our lives."

Strong enforcement of environmental regulations is key to bringing about the green economy.

In an interview with China Daily, Yang Dongning, a professor of economics at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, said: "Previous policies with a green focus were not systematic or consistent. When the pollution issue became very prominent, there would be 'storming campaigns'. But since the central leadership with Xi Jinping as the core started in 2013 and the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) was approved, regulation has been systematic, rather than abrupt. Environmental inspections combined with Party discipline have led to very significant results."

China has seen major improvements in environmental quality since 2013. The average PM 2.5 concentration, a measure of the most dangerous kind of air pollution, fell from 93.23 in January 2013 to 63.83 in the third quarter of 2018, according to an index compiled by the Asia Society. This is a fall of 35 percent. Water quality developed more slowly, but still improved 7 percent over the period.

I arrived in Beijing in January 2013, during the famous "airpocalypse" when the air quality index reached its worst point at 993, 40 times the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization. Anyone living in Beijing or in other Chinese cities can testify to the astonishingly rapid improvement in air quality since then.

Fang Li, CEO of World Resources Institute China, said in an interview with China Daily that her foreign colleagues wanted to know how China improved its environment so quickly. In a 2012 meeting, some said it would take 30 years to improve air quality, as it has in many countries. Fang was more optimistic and thought it would take 10 yearsnot anticipating the progress that would be possible in just five years.

She explained that two factors made China's rapid progress possible. First, much environmentally friendly technology already existed, so China did not have to reinvent the wheel.

However, many other countries have not been able to take advantage of these technologies.

Second, it is key that China's central leadership has a clear plan and strong emphasis on environmental protection."It is important that the top leader insists on ecological protection or conservation," Fang said.

The central authorities can use many kinds of performance reviews to evaluate local governments, putting pollution control as part of their performance review. The Communist Party of China (CPC) has a special supervisory team to determine if local governments seriously implemented the central authorities' policies, including environmental policy. This is really serious for local leaders, she said.

Law enforcement through environmental supervision makes it a serious law, not just a law found on bookshelves, Fang added.
A woman wearing a wearing a facemask as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus speaks on her smartphone outside a shopping mall past a Huawei shop (back) in Beijing on April 1, 2020. (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP) (Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images) Nicolas Asfouri | AFP | Getty Images

Canada and France this week denied that donations of masks from Huawei would influence their decisions on whether the Chinese firm plays a role in their 5G rollouts. The Chinese technology giant, which has been caught in the crossfire of a larger U.S.-China trade and technology battle, has quietly given masks to a number of countries around the world. Huawei has been accused by at least one U.S. congressman of using the donations to win favor when it comes to participating in 5G. Huawei is in the process of giving 6 million masks to Canada, along with other personal protective equipment, Toronto's Globe and Mail reported this week. Huawei declined to comment when contacted by CNBC. The company is seeking federal approval to be a part of Canada's 5G rollout. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the mask donations would not influence the country's decision on 5G. "We are not expecting these donations to have any impact on our decisions. In fact, they will not affect our decisions on any issues," Trudeau said in French, according to Canadian publication Global News.

Meanwhile, Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, is currently undergoing an extradition trial in Canada. Washington calls Huawei a national security risk, claiming its networking gear could be used by the Chinese government for espionage. The U.S. has tried to convince other countries to ban Huawei from 5G  advanced mobile networks that promise super-fast data speeds and are seen as underpinning the next generation of infrastructure. Despite American efforts, countries such as the United Kingdom have begun to roll out Huawei equipment or plan to do so. Others including Australia and Japan have pushed ahead on 5G without Huawei, while still others are deciding what course to take.

The telecom equipment maker donated hundreds of thousands of face masks to Spain, the Netherlands and Italy, as well as 12,000 to Poland, Politico reported last month. Republican Rep. Mark Green last weekend claimed in a Fox News interview  without naming sources  that French President Emmanuel Macron asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for a billion masks. Green also alleged that Xi told Macron that China would send France the masks if it used Huawei in its 5G infrastructure. It is unclear whether Huawei actually donated masks to France. A spokesperson for Huawei was not immediately available to comment on that question. But following Green's claims, the French embassy in the United States denied that Xi and Macron ever discussed the topic of masks and 5G. @franceintheus: This point has not been raised, either during the latest discussion between President Macron and Presidenr Xi or in the course of any other exchanges China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Zhao Lijian also responded, saying that the Tennessee lawmaker's comments proved that "certain individuals in the U.S. resort to lies and disinformation to sabotage international cooperation against the pandemic."

"It would be naive in the extreme to think that these efforts were totally altruistic," Fergus Ryan, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), told CNBC. "Inevitably, these large Chinese corporates  like large corporates from any other country  would be aligning this largesse with their own commercial goals." ASPI's Ryan flagged that Huawei could use a boost in the Netherlands, where Huawei has also donated masks. The country is scheduled to hold a 5G auction in June. No decision has yet been made on the company's participation in the Netherlands' 5G infrastructure. In Poland, Ryan said Huawei "no doubt hopes its donations will help rehabilitate its image" after a sales director was arrested in on charges of conducting espionage on behalf of China. The director was subsequently fired. Huawei said at the time the employee's actions had "no relation to the company." A high-profile European politician acknowledged that some donations may be made with political motivations. "We must be aware there is a geo-political component including a struggle for influence through spinning and the 'politics of generosity'. Armed with facts, we need to defend Europe against its detractors,"Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs, said in a recent blog post.

Donations to New York
How to Do It is Slates sex advice column. Have a question? Send it to Stoya and Rich here. Its anonymous!

Every Thursday night, the crew responds to a bonus question in chat form.

Dear How to Do It,

As COVID-19 social distancing becomes the norm, my boyfriend wants us to talk more about our sexual fantasies and move into the phone sex and text sex zone, which I think is a great idea. The thing is, when Im masturbating, Im usually not thinking about himIm thinking about my boss. My boss is both really hot in a way that is pretty different than my usual type of guy and extremely decent and lovely, and I do not think would ever make a creepy move on me IRL. But hes hot, and theres the power dynamic thing, and when I fantasize sexually or watch or read porn, its usually him Im thinking about.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Im wondering how to best explain this to my boyfriend. I think he could be into some power dynamic roleplay, but the initial thing of like, the nature of our current (wonderful, equitable, loving) relationship makes you kind of incompatible with my fantasies, and also beyond an abstract sense there is someone very particular that Im into worries me. Im pansexual and will sometimes tell him about hot people I see in passing, but I feel like this is a beast of a different nature. I guess basically my question is: How do I talk about my office crush with my partner without making them feel insecure? I know that sometimes talking about open relationships or polyamory is the solution, but for this crush thats not really an option, and also, social distancing!

Advertisement

Advertisement

Whos the Boss

Get How to Do It in Your Inbox Sex advice from Stoya and Rich, delivered weekly. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time.

Stoya: There are so many threads to unpick here.

Rich: Yep. Coronavirus is like rain on an already dysfunctional picnic.

Stoya: Dude. Seriously. So, the big thing not to do is tell your boyfriend that hes incompatible with your fantasies. Thats going to be really hard to heara. And probably jeopardize the whole relationship during a time that most people are already running twitchier than usual.

Advertisement

Rich: Right. It is unlikely that can be done without offending him. Maybe in a poly situation, where everyone is extremely on board with being whatever their partner needs, it might be a feasible conversation. But in a monogamous sort of setting, its practically impossible without upsetting the dynamic. My question is: Is she attracted to her boyfriend? Is she enjoying sex with him?

Advertisement

Stoya: Is she sure she wants to be in this relationship at all?

Rich: Right. I mean, it is possible to be in a nonsexual relationship with your primary partner and seek outside sex for satisfaction, but thats its own discussion, and I dont know that a during pandemic is the best time to forge such an arrangement.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stoya: Absolutely not. This is a unique circumstance. Only a handful of people currently alive have lived through a global pandemic. Priorities must need to be re-sorted. And, as our writer notes, social distancing is not the time to strike up a new physical relationship.

Rich: Look, Im an advocate of radical honesty and I think you are too. But I also think theres a possible happy medium: Share fantasies about the boss without framing him as the only possible player in fantasies. You know, thats if the boyfriend is even going to be into hearing about them, which as the writer notes, is an open question.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stoya: I think she should start slow: Id love to share my fantasies with you. They usually involve power dynamics. Im not sure if I ever want to play them out, but it might be fun to discuss them.

Rich: Yeah! It could be particularly useful that she has a general concept shes interested in that she can attach an authority figure to, as opposed to just putting it all out there: Im just into my boss and thats that, hes hot. Framing this in terms of an interest in power dynamics is a really smart suggestion. The way I see it, there are many paths to deal with our existing relationships within societal isolation. One is to hold tight and dont do anything that will upset the balance while we (hopefully) ride this out. The other is to blow up everything as civilization may implode anyway!. Im trying to be optimistic and would suggest the former, but the latter is an option.

Advertisement

Stoya: Theres a middle road Ive been making use of: Continue to express ones boundaries and needs in the most gentlegentlest way possible.

Advertisement

Rich: That is wise.

Advertisement

Stoya: Our writer seems to want power exchange in her life in some capacity, even if its confined to the fantasy space.

Rich: I feel like being good to everyone is a worthy cause at the moment.

Stoya: Kindness is a great thing to strive for. We have to remember to take it easy on ourselves, though. Were all stressed as hell for some reason or another. Were going to make mistakes. Were going to be less than kind. Were going to forget to be thoughtful. If she does some soul searching and finds that she needs power exchange to be sexually fulfilled, she ought to express that to her boyfriend.

Listen to Slates Thirst Aid Kit in the player below.

More How to Do It

I recently started dating again and have just recently been confronted by a situation thats left me scratching my head. I have met two men who would like to date me, and they both are great! However, they both sound completely  gay. Like, out-of-the-closet, effeminate-speech gay. This is kind of a libido killer for me, and it makes my brain spin. I am not proud of my response, but is it homophobic? I guess I want someone to tell me that its possible that Im a nincompoop here and that straight men can sound gay.
Good Friday would normally be marked with torch-lit processions, pilgrimages and packed congregations around the world. But not this year.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the closure of thousands of churches and the cancellation of special events in holy cities such as Rome and Jerusalem.

Instead Christians will be marking the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ with pre-recorded messages and live-streamed virtual services.

Pope Francis will lead a ceremony without the public at 6pm in Peters Square, where a wooden crucifix which was carried in a procession during an early 16th century plague is on display.

Only ten people  including five from the Vaticans health office and five from a prison in Padua, northern Italy - will take part in the traditional Way of the Cross procession.

At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem a small group of clerics will hold a service behind closed doors before walking the Via Dolorosa.

We are living in strange days, said Francesco Patton, 56, the custodian of the Holy Land for the Roman Catholic church. Usually at this time the Old City was full of pilgrims coming for Holy Week.

Now it is a little bit sad to see that nobody is able to walk. But we know that at this moment so many people are walking a personal Via Dolorosa, when I think of those who are in the hospital and in their houses with coronavirus.

Paris Notre Dame cathedral is holding a special ceremony within the charred interior of the medieval landmark which was gutted by fire a year ago.

The event is closed to the public not just because of coronavirus but also due to the structural instability of the building. We wanted to send a message of hope, said archbishop Michel Aupetit.

In the Philippines, where the annual procession of the Black Nazarene statue of Jesus through Manila has been cancelled, churchgoers have been told to stay home and watch masses on TV or online.

I miss that moment in church when you say, Peace be with you, to complete strangers and they smile back, said Josille Sabsal, a Catholic missionary who has recreated an altar by setting up a laptop, a crucifix and small statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on a table in her home.

Similar livestreamed services are taking place in India, Australia, the US and the UK.

Good Friday is the darkest and most difficult day in the Christian story, said the Church of Englands archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. But its also the day that tells us something so important: no matter what we are going through, God is with us.

Additional reporting by agencies
Man who had earned high praise for his walrus moustaches from former Pakistan President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, is no more.

Hazarilal Raghuvanshi, a veteran Congress leader and former deputy speaker of Madhya Pradesh died on Thursday at the ripe age of 93.

Raghuvanshi had been a man of many seasons. In 2007, he had visited Islamabad in a team of Indian presiding officers at a convention of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association held in Islamabad between March 25 and 27, 2007.

When the Indian panel members called on President Musharraf, Raghuvanshi had instantly drawn the former Pakistani army chiefs attention. Delhi-born Musharraf could not resist asking him, What are you doing in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly? Why dont you be a Pak regular?

The invitation to join the Pakistan Army was in jest, but to fellow delegate Ishwardas Rohani [now dead], the Speaker of Madhya Pradesh assembly, the comment said a lot about Raghuvanshis moustache. It was a genuine compliment, I guess, Rohani, a former BJP leader had commented.

For Raghuvanshi, Musharrafs comment was the ultimate compliment. Few accessories, he would say later, convey wisdom and mystery better than an impressive moustache.

Raghuvanshi had taken the opportunity to invite Musharraf to visit Bhopal. He readily agreed, saying please send an invitation.

About his favourite topic  moustaches  Raghuvanshi used to claim he has had to shave his only twice since 1948 when he lost his parents.

It had to be done in keeping with Hindu rites, he had explained, pleased that his prize possession has braved custom and scissors to lend gravity to his visage.

Raghuvanshi had a dream  before the hairless hunks take over the world, men will pause and reflect on the timeless elegance of the growth beneath the nose.

In an age where clean-shaven seems to have lopped off to a great extent the machismo of the moustache, the Congress veteran considered himself to be an exception. Moustache deserves to be celebrated, not scorned, Raghuvanshi would often say stroking his walrus undergrowth.

Not all agreed with him. The stubble is in but for the trendy, urban male, a hairy bush is no longer a mark of virility.

Droopy or Daliesque, where long, narrow, pointed ends curl upwards; handlebar or toothbrush, walrus or pencil, the heyday of the moustache is over. And theres no need to split hairs over a losing battle, say those against the mouche unlimited.

Family sources say until the age of 80 plus, Raghuvanshi, would still do 100 sit-ups a day and eats five parathas dipped in ghee for breakfast and insist that a moustache is an important part of ones personality. Yes, it takes time and a few trials to settle on a particular style, but once finally adopted, theres no going back.

He had one regret, though, that is apart from the fast withering support for whiskers that go on and on. Neither his son nor his grandson sport a moustache.

He had tried every trick in the book, including a long period of sullen silence when he avoided talking to them, but without success. The old man is dead but for him, its long live the mouche.

(ORF Fellow and Journalist Rasheed Kidwai is Author of Neta Abhineta, Bollywood Star Power in Indian Politics. Views expressed are personal)
Right now, Bay Area diners cant sit down at a favorite special-occasion restaurant to a multicourse meal with wine pairings. But what they can do is raid some of those top restaurants wine cellars.

In this moment of economic uncertainty, as communities are left wondering how long theyll be sheltering in place to halt the spread of the coronavirus, many restaurants are selling off treasures from their extensive wine collections. For customers with disposable income, these cellar sales represent a precious chance to buy wines that arent often available at retail  and at much lower prices than a restaurant would normally charge. For restaurants that are laying off staff and wondering how to pay the rent, these wine collections represent serious cash-flow potential.

Your wine cellar is actually your best investment as a restaurant, says Matthew Dulle, beverage director of Lazy Bear. Wine is the one thing you can always sell back. It can even turn a profit: Certain wines, such as first-growth Bordeaux and Grand Cru Burgundy, can sell at auction for many times their original price, and may appreciate in value significantly over time.

These are wines for the 1%, to be sure  with bottle prices in the hundreds and thousands of dollars  but theres a market for them, especially in the Bay Area. And the tantalizing possibility for restaurants to sell off their valuable collectibles to wealthy private buyers is easier than ever. Californias Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has temporarily relaxed certain regulations, allowing all restaurants to sell wine as retail purchases even if their licenses hadnt previously permitted it.

Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos has sold over $50,000 worth of collectible wine since the shelter-in-place orders began, says wine Director Jim Rollston. Because Manresa presells its $295 dinner tickets on the online reservation platform Tock, it had to issue significant refunds when canceling reservations. We knew (the wine) was going to be a one-time booster for revenue, Rollston says. Its what youve got to do in extraordinary times.

Some of the most in-demand bottles at Manresa have included Raveneau Chablis, Keller Riesling, Liger-Belair Burgundy and Clos Rougeard Cabernet Franc. Rollston estimates that hes sold about 10% of Manresas wine cellar, by value. Most sales have been to individuals, though auction houses have contacted him to see if hes willing to consign more rare bottles. But now that the cellar has brought in some income, hes trying to slow down: Were backing off on pushing the rare-wine sales at this point, he says. Some of these bottles cant be replaced.

Its a fine line to walk, say sommeliers.

Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

Matt Straus, owner of the wine-centric Heirloom Cafe in San Francisco, has been building his wine cellar for 20 years. While he is currently selling about 50 cases a week as retail purchases, liquidating the cellar is the last decision that would have to get made, he says.

To avoid that fate, while keeping up some much-needed cash flow, Straus, Dulle and many of their peers are getting creative: offering special bottles, new experiences and retail options that they couldnt consider before the shelter-in-place orders.

Lazy Bear, which in normal times serves a high-end tasting menu in the format of a communal dinner party, has transformed its restaurant completely. Now its a general-store-style commissary: You can walk through the space and shop for take-n-bake chocolate chip cookie dough, sandwiches, a Champagne and caviar kit, and more. And Dulle has stocked the floor with a selection of off-the-beaten-path finds from the restaurants cellar.

Weve transitioned to offering some of the rarer, vintage stuff that youd see on our list if you came in for the dining experience, he says.

That includes 2009 Paul Bara Special Club Champagne ($100), a 1997 red blend from Lebanese winery Chateau Musar ($96), the 1986 cuvee from Bordeauxs Chateau Phelan-Segur ($106) and Ridges 1997 Coast Range Zinfandel ($98). Hes hosting virtual tastings for some of the restaurants regulars with older California Cabernets like 1962 Beaulieu and 1981 Freemark Abbey.

At Heirloom, Straus launched two new ventures to keep his wine customers engaged. One, Cellar-20, is a club in which members can share allocations of hard-to-buy wines; it requires an initial $5,000 or $10,000 investment, guaranteeing access to wines for subsequent years. It already has 20 members.

Most wine drinkers dont have a spare $10,000 to drop on collectible wine, though. For the other new initiative at Heirloom, called Saturday Wine, Straus will host a Zoom conference tasting with two wines that people can purchase beforehand: this week, the 2018 Domaine Rollin Hautes Cote de Beaune Blanc ($35) and 2016 Les Matheny Arbois Poulsard ($35). It will take place each week as long as shelter in place continues.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

Restaurants add a higher markup to wine prices than retail shops do, and as many Bay Area restaurants shift to retail models theyve been forced to reconfigure their pricing scheme. Were trying to incentivize people to buy, says Tara Patrick, wine director for Mourad and Aziza, the latter of which is open for takeout and delivery. Typically, Aziza marks up a wines wholesale price three times for its wine list. Right now Patrick is increasing the wholesale price by two and adding $5.

Trying to make a profit at this point isnt really the endgame, she says. Its just to maintain solvency.

Azizas wine cellar is worth about $28,000, Patrick says, with most bottles hovering around $60 or less. Thats an asset, but its not the sort of trophy cellar with investment-grade bottles thats housed, for example, at the higher-end Mourad, where Patrick says shed be reluctant to raid the depths of the cellar.

Of course, determining a strategic agenda is difficult when the world is facing a pandemic of unprecedented proportions, with disastrous economic consequences. But as restaurateurs weigh the benefits and risks of utilizing their wine collections, one thing is clear: When they can reopen their dining rooms, theyd better hope they didnt sell off all of the special bottles that they spent years, or decades, collecting.

Says Straus of Heirloom: If the cellar goes away, the restaurant goes away.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob
Wine said health care funding has not been at the forefront of government spending in many African countries because their leaders often seek treatment in hospitals abroad.

"It's clear that healthcare is not a priority for many African governments, and they put very little money into that sector. Anytime they are sick, or their children are having health conditions, they opt to go outside their countries," Wine said.

"Now the coronavirus pandemic has set a different ground for many African leaders. It has shown that they should have invested in the healthcare system of their countries which would have benefited them and the people in this crisis."

The lawmaker says monies spent on medical trips abroad could have been used to equip local hospitals with modern medical equipment such as ventilators, which have proved critical in treating some patients who have developed respiratory illnesses because of Covid-19.

Wine said some public hospitals in Uganda had become "death traps" due to years of neglect, and some citizens, including himself, have had to pay prohibitive costs for overseas treatment that could have been cheaper in Uganda.
The Maharashtra prisons



department has released on bail 3478 prisoners till Friday to reduce crowding in jails due to the coronavirus outbreak, officials said.

These prisoners are serving jails terms of less than seven years, they said.

"While 469 prisoners were released from Arthur Road Jail, 350 were freed from Thane Central, 330 from Taloja Central, 275 from Yerawada, 151 from Amravati, 141 from Nagpur, 118 from Aurangabad Central and 100 from Nashik Central," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The legal and political battles in Wisconsin, along with the gripping images of voters donning facial masks and gloves standing in hours-long, socially-distanced lines to cast ballots Tuesday, could be just a preview of what lies ahead, as states across the country anticipate the lingering impact of the pandemic on the presidential election in November.

Election officials from both parties are already sounding the alarm about the need for more resources to ensure health safety and expand alternatives to in-person and day-of voting. They also anticipate protracted partisan fights over what the general election could and should look like in the age of Coronavirus.

"We cannot let our Democracy be casualty of the current health pandemic. We cannot wait until October to gear up for alternative methods to vote. We have to get ahead of it, we have to start now," said Alex Padilla, California's secretary of state. "There is an urgency here."

US-HEALTH-VIRUS-POLITICS-VOTE-WISCONSIN

Elections Chief Inspector Mary Magdalen Moser runs a polling location in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in full hazmat gear as the Wisconsin primary kicks off despite the coronavirus pandemics on April 7, 2020. DEREK R. HENKLE/AFP via Getty Images)

Tammy Jones, president of the Florida Supervisors of Elections, wrote a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis this week raising concern about preparations. "We anticipate a significant statewide shortage of poll workers for the 2020 elections," she wrote. "Alternatives or additional voting methods must be made available to counties."

And officials in red states like Louisiana are urging Congress to push legislation that would provide additional funding to states to carry out the elections safely in November.

Polling shows that voters are also thinking ahead about the impact the virus could have on elections. A new Reuters/Ipsos survey found 72% of all U.S. adults support requirements for mail-in ballots as a way to protect voters should the virus continue to spread, including 79% of Democrats and 65% of Republicans.

Story continues

The Push to Expand Vote by Mail

The concept of mail-in voting is at the forefront of the debate over how to proceed with November's election. Four states already conduct their general elections by mail, and Hawaii is set to become the fifth state to move entirely to vote-by-mail with elections this year. Another 28 states and Washington D.C. offer "no-excuse" absentee or mail voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Now, Democrats are pushing for it to be implemented nationwide. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Ron Wyden have introduced legislation to "ensure that voters in all states have 20 days of early in-person voting and no-excuse absentee vote-by-mail."

The senators have been collaborating with a bipartisan group of secretaries of state across the country and acknowledge that the more likely reality is a hybrid system of expanded mail-in voting and early opportunities in addition to in-person voting on Election Day.

"We are not reinventing the wheel here. This is upscaling what is already taking place," Wyden told reporters on Thursday.

"The goal to us from a public health standpoint became clear: minimize exposure at polling places and maximize vote by mail," said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, noting that those goals "come with steep, steep price tags."

The newly passed stimulus package allocated $400 million to help secure elections, but Democratic leaders in Congress are pushing for additional funds. The Brennan Center estimates that ensuring a vote-by-mail option in all states would cost at least $1.4 billion, which would include ballot printing, postage costs, dropbox security, ballot tracking and processing, staffing, and additional technology. The center also estimates another $270 million would be necessary to ensure the safety of in-person voting and expand early voting.

Padilla, who also heads the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, said most states have some capacity for vote-by-mail elections. "It is a matter of ramping up that capacity, not experimenting with an untested tool," he said, adding it will take political will and resources to do so.

Florida Holds Presidential Primary Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

TALLAHASSEE, FL - MARCH 17: Leon County Supervisor of Election employees open mail in Florida primary ballots to run through a voting machine on March 17, 2020 in Tallahassee, Florida. Mark Wallheiser / Getty Images

But if Wisconsin's election is any indication, the political willpower isn't easy to come by. The state has no-excuse absentee voting, and a record number of people requested ballots, but some voters still went to the polls on Tuesday in the middle of a global pandemic, despite several legal challenges and some political Hail Marys.

The GOP-controlled Wisconsin legislature didn't consider requests from Democratic Governor Tony Evers to first send every registered voter an absentee ballot and, a week later, to conduct the election primarily by mail voting with a May deadline, the first time Evers suggested moving the date of the election. On Monday, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court shot down a last-ditch attempt by Evers to suspend in-person voting until June, and the United States Supreme Court curtailed a lower court's decision to extend the deadline for returning absentee ballots, after the Republican National Committee, Wisconsin Republican Party and Wisconsin Legislature challenged that ruling.

At the national level, President Trump is leading the charge against expanded vote by mail. "People cheat," Trump said at his daily briefing on Tuesday, though he, too, voted absentee by mail in Florida's primary last month. "The mail ballots are corrupt in my opinion. They collect them, go out and get people to sign them, forgeries in many cases." Mr. Trump argued that his Florida vote last month was different because he was out of the state on Election Day.

The Republican National Committee and the Trump re-election campaign have been pushing back against efforts for a widespread vote-by-mail system. "Democrats couldn't even make a vote counting app work in Iowa and now they suddenly believe they can redesign the entire U.S. election system," said Justin Clark, the campaign's senior counsel.

Instead, Clark said the decisions about election laws and necessary changes should be left to the states. "Vote-by-mail options can certainly play a role during a pandemic by enabling at-risk voters to vote safely. But these options already exist in every state," he said.

For his part, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has said that while he prefers in person voting, backup options must be explored now. "We have to make our democracy, as well as dealing with the disease, function. We can do both. We should be thinking now ahead," he told NBC News' "The Today Show" this week. "We cannot delay or postpone a constitutionally required November election."

No "Quickie Print": Challenges for mail-in voting

There are several challenges in expanding vote-by-mail. For starters, the current timeline is tight. States that already have a system have had one in place for a long period of time.

Washington, for example, first started allowing all voters to be a permanent absentee ballot voter in 1993. It took more than a decade and a historically close governor's race in 2004 for the state legislature to allow counties to vote by mail. Even then, Washington needed an extra five years to move over to a complete vote-by-mail system, according to Kim Wynman, the state's Republican Secretary of State, who is advising with her counterparts in other states to build up mail voting.

Wyman said staffing is a challenge for mail in voting as well as in person, and COVID-19 could have an impact on that as well. "Most of our workers are retired personnel which is the highest risk group involving people of 60 years and older," Wyman said.

Significant changes at the state level would likely require legislative action, and convening legislatures are difficult and risky while social distancing protocols are still in place.

And even states that already have a robust absentee voting system say it will be difficult to scale up in time for November's election.

In Florida, for example, absentee voting is popular and voters don't need an excuse to vote by mail. In 2016, 2.7 million cast their ballots by mail. But officials there say moving to an all vote by system isn't something the state would be ready to do by November.

One difficulty in scaling up involves the fundamental process of printing and mailing ballots.

"From our standpoint, we need to make those preparations of ordering supplies...you don't get to go down to quickie print and say, 'give me some ballots,'" said Ron Labasky, general counsel for the Florida Supervisor of Elections. "They are sophisticated pieces of paper that go through our system to tabulate votes."

Florida officials are anticipating increased numbers of absentee ballots this fall, in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, and have asked the governor to allow county supervisors to mail requested ballots up to 45 days before Election Day, and to fill ballot requests within three business days.

"One of the challenges is you are at the mercy of the postal service," says Labasky.

The state has also asked permission for county supervisors to designate additional early voting sites, and to make the sites available for up to 22 days, including Election Day.

In Wisconsin, there have been reports from people who requested their absentee ballots back in March, but never received them. On Wednesday, Neil Albrecht, the executive director for the city of Milwaukee Election Commission, said he was asking the U.S. Postal Service to investigate ballots that were supposed to be sent out on March 22 and 23, but never reached voters. A majority of ballots sent those two dates did reach voters, he said.

On Thursday, Wisconsin's U.S. senators, Democrat Tammy Baldwin and Republican Ron Johnson, wrote a letter asking the U.S. Postal Service inspector general to investigate "numerous reports of absentee ballots not being delivered in a timely manner."

"The United States Postal Service (USPS) in short, had an outsized role in ensuring Wisconsinites could safely exercise the right to vote and participate in our democracy," they wrote, noting the unprecedented number of absentee ballot requests due to the coronavirus. "Unfortunately, there have been numerous accounts from the state that USPS failed to fulfill that critical function for some voters."

Wisconsin, like many states, offers no-excuse absentee voting, but in April's election a record 1.3 million voters asked for absentee ballots. Albrecht said the incredible number of requests put a strain on clerks, postal workers and others involved in processing those applications and distributing absentee ballots.

"Wisconsin is not a state presently set up to administer a by mail absentee voting election," Albrecht said. "The infrastructure that is in place was, across the board, tested by the volume of absentee votes that come in."

Wisconsin Election Proceeds Despite Stay-At-Home Order During Coronavirus Pandemic

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - APRIL 07: An aerial view from a drone shows voters waiting in line to enter a polling place at Riverside University High School on April 07, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Scott Olson / Getty Images

Officials also acknowledge that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy, and making adjustments to prepare for this November will be a heavy lift. But experts say states need to prepare for an influx of people voting absentee out of fear for exposure at the polls.

"Voters are going to choose to vote by mail more than they would have in another election," says Matthew Weil, director of the Election Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. "Any election official that doesn't want to get caught flat footed needs to be prepared for an increase in vote by mail."

That influx in absentee ballots could also mean there will be "key swing states this year that are going to be crushed by mail-in ballots, and they just don't have the experience working with it to get those results out quickly," said Weil, noting states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. "We are going to have this kind of vacuum in the days after election day where we just don't know who won some pretty key states."

States guiding the way

While a nationalized vote-by-mail system isn't likely to be implemented anytime soon, experts say it is more likely that states move to expand options to augment in-person voting.

Hawaii, for example, already had plans to move to all vote-by-mail in 2020, thanks to legislation passed last year. Election officials in that state have been preparing for nearly two years. Efforts have included conducting list maintenance to ensure voter rolls are accurate, as well as multiple rounds of voter outreach since last summer about the changes and to collect voter signatures to match returned ballots.

The Alaska Democratic Party canceled its in-person primary scheduled for April 4 and moved entirely to vote-by-mail over health concerns, and the state legislature passed a provision giving the lieutenant governor the power to make elections through the fall vote-by-mail, specifically if there is a health risk.

The move garnered bipartisan support in Alaska where the state's largest population hub, Anchorage, which amounts to about 40% of the population, already votes by mail.

Republican State Senator Gary Stevens, who served on a task force studying the issue, said he is open to implementing statewide vote by mail permanently. "We just have to make sure that as we move long, that it's done properly," he said.

In Montana, Governor Steve Bullock signed a directive in March giving counties the ability to choose if they wanted to move to all-mail for the June 2 primary election due to coronavirus concerns. All 56 counties in the state opted to vote-by-mail. It does not, however, apply for the general election.

And this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order to allow all eligible voters to vote absentee in the state's primary on June 23, setting up another significant test for a state that isn't accustomed to large scale vote-by-mail.

Preventing against fraud

While voter fraud remains rare across the country, and is punishable by law, some secretaries of state are wary about expanding mail-in voting.

"We don't need outside federal guidelines right now to tell us how to run an election," said West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner. "Each state has its own legacy, its own history, and you have to trust those local officials who say, 'I don't want to expand opportunities for misuse of the election process.'"

Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin argued that "election inaccuracies fall upon the states and local governments, not the federal government," so each state should be able to decide their election practices.

In 2018, election results in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District were overturned after a Republican operative was charged with absentee ballot tampering.

Still such examples are rare, and states that have already implemented robust vote my mail systems say there are ample security measures in place like up to date voter rolls, signature verification measures, the ability for voters to track their ballots, and other physical security controls. Proponents have also argued for increased drop boxes for ballots.

Colorado Secretary of State Jenna Griswold said her state has "a history of extremely clean voting" by mail, and that "Republicans have won statewide in Colorado using mail ballots...this should not be a partisan conversation."

"The potential for fraud truly is a figment of the President's imagination. There's no evidence at all of anything that he described," Alaska Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich said.

"This always comes down to sending the strongest possible message: there are consequences if you rip the system off, there are consequences for election fraud," said Senator Wyden.

Governor Cuomo on reopening economy and concerns about "second wave" of coronavirus

Families grieve loss of loved ones as pandemic grips entire world

CBS News Poll: More Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of coronavirus
The hardest part must be accepting the sympathy, those reassuring messages that have flooded in, while having to acknowledge that the exterior he has always presented, impervious to triumph and setback, has been breached.

Only a week ago Boris Johnson was determined to ride out his diagnosis of coronavirus with the bravado and positive determination that has characterised his entire political career.

It didn't work out like that. But as he began his slow return to fitness after five nights in hospital  three of them in intensive care  an uncomfortable truth about how he managed his own health was beginning to emerge.

Only a week ago Boris Johnson was determined to ride out his diagnosis of coronavirus with the bravado and positive determination that has characterised his entire political career. Pictured: Boris Johnson and key adviser Dominic Cummings - both have been ill

Insiders point to a 'machismo culture' at the heart of Downing Street which frowns on weakness, and an attitude of denial, all of which may have stemmed from Boris's own robust approach to ill health.

What was being suggested was that this view clouded the threat the virus posed to the very figure leading the country's response to the infection  the PM himself.

According to Andrew Gimson, Mr Johnson's biographer, Boris always strove to make himself invulnerable.

'Part of that was not taking illness seriously  showing that you were tough enough to work through any possible thing that you might get and that you didn't need to go and lie down,' says Mr Gimson.

'Most people he employs enjoy working for Boris but they work very hard and he never notices when they are tired. I doubt he has ever said to anyone, "Look, why don't you go home".'

So how much truth is there in the claims that a macho climate exists inside No10? 'It is quite laddish,' says one Whitehall figure.

'They call Boris "boss".' Many of those around him now were working for the high testosterone Vote Leave campaign during the run-up to the EU referendum.

'They are a pretty shouty gang, there's lots of bravado.'

The Prime Minister began his slow return to fitness after five nights in hospital  three of them in intensive care - at St Thomas' Hospital (pictured)

The Vote Leave architect was, of course, Dominic Cummings  now in No10 as Mr Johnson's key adviser.

He, too, has recently become a virus victim and is off work.

Yesterday the Bloomberg news agency reported that some in Tory circles now believe the macho issue was responsible for those in Mr Johnson's inner circle failing to take the issue of his infection seriously enough.

Critics suggest this cavalier attitude began after the PM announced UK-wide social distancing policies on March 16 while continuing to hold daily press conferences inside Downing Street packed with the media.

Insiders point to a 'machismo culture' at the heart of Downing Street which frowns on weakness, and an attitude of denial, all of which may have stemmed from Boris's own robust approach to ill health

Mr Johnson stood at a lectern, with others nearby and not the regulation six feet apart. Ten days later Boris developed Covid-19 symptoms.

The layout inside Downing Street didn't help.

'No10 is like a rabbit warren, very narrow corridors and poky offices,' said Will Walden, who worked for Boris when he was London mayor.

'It's no surprise they all came down with it.'

However, Mr Walden said he doubted that a macho culture contributed to Boris's illness.

'Do I think they have been brusque about it? I doubt it. I think they have just been unlucky.'

And one friend pointed out: 'He wanted to battle on as long as he could because he has asked the country to make such huge sacrifices and that meant he could hardly shrink from them himself.'
COVID-19 Global Roundup: Over 1.5 million cases, US and UK see record number of deaths in a day, death toll of doctors reaches 100 in Italy There are now over 1.53 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the world, and nearly 89,800 people have lost their lives to it. At the same time, over 340,000 people have recovered from the disease as well. Spain reported 683 deaths on Wednesday, which was slightly lower compared to previous days

There are now over 1.53 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the world, and nearly 89,800 people have lost their lives to it. At the same time, over 340,000 people have recovered from the disease as well.

Spain reported 683 deaths on Wednesday, which was slightly lower compared to previous days. The trend there is slightly encouraging with new cases appearing to plateau and gradually decrease. Deaths in the country have now gone past 15,000. Spain and Italy, both may be looking to extend the lockdown. The death toll for doctors in Italy reached 100 on Thursday as 4 more deaths were reported in the previous 24 hours.

The US and UK, on the other hand, reported the highest daily death toll in the previous 24 hours with close to 2,000 and 938 deaths respectively. As per a study of data collected via a COVID-19 app, the lockdown in Britain seem to be having the desired effect of slowing down the spread of the infection. Russia saw a jump of close to 1,500 cases taking their total confirmed cases to over 10,000.

The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is reportedly doing better after spending his third night in intensive care. Officials reported that he sat up and spoke with doctors and remains stable.

In an effort to help workers as well as the economy, the Australian government passed A$130 billion Employment Rescue Package.

Bangladesh seals off Rohingya camps

Bangladesh said it would close off Coxs Bazaar, where over 3.3 million people (including over 1 million Rohingyas) reside, after an infection was located close to the area. No one will be allowed in or out of the area as it will be completely sealed off. While no cases have been reported within the area so far, health workers world over have raised alarms about an impending humanitarian disaster - there is not a single ventilator in the area.

Bangladesh has so far reported over 200 cases, including 20 deaths - the majority in the last week.

WHO urges countries to not politicize the pandemic

Following President Trumps attack on the WHO, the director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus responded by requesting the global community to not politicize the novel coronavirus as this would lead to many more body bags.

He acknowledged that there are many unknowns with COVID-19 and that the organization will quickly learn from its mistakes. The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, defended WHO and said their support was invaluable to the campaign against the virus.

Second vaccine enters human trials, more hope in the pipeline

The pharmaceutical company, Inovio commenced Phase I human trials on Monday after preclinical studies showed promising signs. Using DNA vaccine technology, the firm will test the vaccine on a cohort of 40 healthy adults to test immune responses and safety. It was previously involved in the manufacture of a vaccine for MERS, and phase I trials were favourable back then.

Along similar lines, the pharmaceutical company Novavax also said it hoped to start human trials mid-May in Australia. Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that 10 drugs were currently undergoing clinical trials in the US.

Researchers in Canada will begin blood plasma trials to test the efficacy of passive antibody therapy to treat COVID-19. This will be the biggest study to date with over 1,000 participants. Given the time required for vaccine development, this is a welcome study.

For more information, read our article on COVID-19 Myths and the Truth About Them.

Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.
R Rajesh Kumar By

Online Desk

This is Disease X that infectious diseases experts always worried about. We expect to see something like this once every century. Humanity is being hammered. It is not about patients alone, it is about economies...



One thing to understand is the sensitivity of the testing, even in the US, is poor. The tests till recently only had a 65 per cent accuracy rate.



At this stage, it is very important to understand the concept of life versus livelihood. What we need to do to keep life going is sacrifice our livelihood.



It is important to understand that this is going to be our life for a few months  at least for two-three months.

All these observations about the pandemic ravaging the globe are made by Dr Rajeev Fernando, infectious diseases specialist at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital in New York.

A Chennai boy at the epicentre of the COVID- 19 battle in New York, he said the world was clearly unprepared for this kind of pandemic.

In an interview with The New Indian Express, Dr Fernando stressed that a vaccine is a must now to stop the aggressive spread of this disease, but warned vaccines could have a flawed success rate in the coming seasons.

The doctor, who did his MBBS at the Rajah Muthiah Medical College, explained this by saying the current strains are all essentially similar with really tiny changes  point mutations, as doctors call it.

At the moment, the mode of transmission is perfect. It affects a group of people and they pass it on to many more. So, the virus has little reason to mutate. It is when the coronavirus is not effectively transmitting to human beings that it could say, Wait a minute, we are not being as successful as we were, let us do a big mutation. This could lead to its molecular structure changing and that could have consequences.

He drew upon the example of the flu vaccine to build his point.

Ask yourself why the flu vaccine is given every year. Thats because the virus mutates. And the success rate of the flu vaccine is pretty lousy  30-40%, he said, adding that it is certainly possible the novel coronavirus vaccine too could end up mirroring this trend later.

But he went on to stress that at this point, there is no mutation and in order to halt this crisis, the vaccine is a must.

Dr Fernando said he expected a vaccine to be out by the end of the year.

He also threw a note of caution for the young, observing that those between 18-50 years accounted for 50% of the hospitalisation. With many cases being asymptomatic and 80- 85% just developing a minor cough, it was imperative for the young, even if they had a minor symptom, to stay at home and not pass on the disease to the elderly, whom it could kill.

Asked about India, he said while he has not had the time to follow developments in the country keenly, his initial thoughts were that though there has been under-reporting, the weather seems to be obstructing the transmission of the virus.

Early studies (not universally acknowledged by experts) say the virus transmits best in the 37 degrees Fahrenheit (2.78 degree Celsius) to 62 degrees Fahrenheit (16.7 degree Celsius) range. It doesnt like heat at all. We feel if we put something with the virus in the microwave, it will probably die in the heat, Dr Fernando observed.

Then came the caveat.

India remains high-risk. If the virus gets into the villages and to packed cities like Mumbai and social distancing is not enforced, it could wreak havoc.

Social distancing is tough, but these are outrageous times and they call for outrageous measures. There is no other way out, he emphasised. Unless someone is an essential worker, they should be staying at home. I want India to be cautious.

Dr Fernando ended on a note of optimism. My message to people is that we will overcome this. This is not going to go on for years. Science will come through.
Almost one-third of all federal detainees infected with the coronavirus are being held in New Jersey, according to the latest figures from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

No other state has more.

The state houses 16 of the 50 detainees who have the virus: seven in the Elizabeth Detention Center, five in the Hudson County Jail in Kearny, and two each in the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark and the Bergen County Jail in Hackensack.

California is second with 10 detainees, all in a detention center in San Diego.

Having large groups of people confined together under one roof puts detainees and detention center staff at greater risk and only further challenges our ability to defeat COVID-19," said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who last month asked ICE to begin releasing nonviolent detainees to avoid spreading COVID-19.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

ICE recently said it would start reviewing whether to release nonviolent detainees considered most at risk of becoming infected with the virus, primarily those at least 60 years old, those who are pregnant, and others who may be more vulnerable, according to a memo sent to members of Congress and obtained by NJ Advance Media.

"While Im encouraged that ICE has agreed to take these sensible steps, they need to complete their case-by-case reviews expeditiously to save lives, Menendez said.

Menendez has said 60 percent of the 38,000 individuals now being detained had no criminal convictions and that thousands came to the U.S. seeking asylum because they had "a credible fear of being persecuted or tortured if forced to return home.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
A Fairfield County legislator is asking Gov. Ned Lamont to reopen businesses.

State Rep. Dave Rutigliano, R-Trumbull, owns a group of seven restaurants throughout Fairfield and New Haven County, tweeted what he later called an emotional plea Thursday afternoon, shortly after Lamont announced it is unlikely that bars and restaurants will be able to reopen before May 20.

@GovNedLamont its time to open up, thus is crazy, he wrote while sitting in his car in the parking lot of his friends restaurant  explaining that the spelling errors were the result of his angry, spur-of-the-moment response.

Im not saying were supposed to open up tomorrow, Rutigliano said. What Im saying is I dont think he should have said May 20. That is a full six weeks from today. We have no idea what the world will look like by then ... it may end up being true, but lets re-evaluate on April 30.

Rutigliano received sharp criticism online and has since deleted the tweet.

In an interview last week, Rutigliano seemed exasperated when he described how the coronavirus crisis has affected him as a business owner.

Ive been in business 23 years, and Ive never laid anybody off, Rutigliano said. Ive laid off like 300 people ... What are we going to do? Some of these people have been with me a long time. Im not really an emotional guy, Im not a weeper or anything. But Im upset. This has been gut wrenching.

Rutigliano said hes kept about 20 full-time employees on staff to handle take-out services across his seven restaurants, which include Southport Brewing Company and Local Kitchen and Beer Bar, and has brought in part-time staff at times when those employees have needed a break. I am so happy when I call up my hourly guys and tell them we need them.

Like many restaurants, his company is matching customer tips and distributing the tip pool across the employees who havent been able to work. Hes also allowed employees and their families to eat for free, which has also helped use up excess inventory that would have gone to waste.

Still, he said revenues across the board were down about 92 percent last week. At his restaurants in Fairfield and Norwalk revenues had dropped 70 percent before Lamont ordered restaurants to close.

If we could get a date certain of when Im going to be able to start operating that would help, Rutigliano said last week. You might say a date I hate, but at least we could plan.

Lamont, like other governors, has said the state must focus totally on keeping infection exposures to an absolute minimum. He has extended closures and distancing orders based on the predicted trajectory of the COVID-19 disease. Also Thursday, he announced schools will remain closed until at least May 20.

Every single decision that has been made under the governors emergency powers has been carefully considered for any and all consequences, said Lamont spokesman Max Reiss. The most important consideration for all decisions has been and will continue to be the public health of all Connecticut residents. The administration has worked diligently with our partners in business to try to ensure there are ways for them to conduct business during this unprecedented public health emergency.

Rutigliano said hes reevaluating every week how to proceed, and may be forced to temporarily close some locations if the closures last much longer.

The worst part about it is it has taken Connecticut 10 years to get going again, Rutigliano said. Last year we finally saw new movement. And then bang this stops us in our tracks.

kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt
By Luke Money, Jaclyn Cosgrove and Taryn Luna, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES  California has reached another milestone in the coronavirus battle as the number of confirmed cases soared past 20,000 and the state began to institute unprecedented restrictions, including efforts to keep people at home during Easter.

Sweeping rules limiting peoples movements have already been imposed statewide, but officials have added new restrictions in a desperate bid to slow the virus spread.

Being safe means safe at home, for the next few weeks to come, Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday. Everything we can do to avoid having to be in contact with other people is a really good idea.

Beginning Friday, a new order requires Los Angeles residents to wear masks when they go shopping and do other essential trips. The order also requires many essential workers to wear masks.

Beverly Hills went a step further, ordering residents on Thursday to wear face coverings whenever they leave their homes, including for walks through their neighborhoods.

Under the order, drivers traveling alone or with members of their households do not need to wear face coverings unless they lower their vehicles windows for any reason, including to interact with first responders, food service workers or others who are not members of their household.

Communities are also imposing new rules designed to prevent Easter gatherings where the virus could spread.

All public parks in L.A. County will be closed Easter Sunday. I know your heart breaks.  This is such a great tradition for the many families we have, Mayor Eric Garcetti said. But we cant afford to have one cluster of even just a few people together spread this disease to more people and kill them.

In Orange County, police said they will be out in force to prevent car cruising, which is an Easter tradition in Santa Ana.

Newport Beach announced Thursday that, in light of crowds at one of its most popular surfing spots, surfing at the Wedge will be prohibited between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. starting Friday.

The adjacent beach area will also close in an attempt to discourage public gatherings at one of the citys most visited surf spots.

San Bernardino County has urged churches to hold only virtual Easter services.

People may not leave their homes for driving parades or drive-up services or to pick up nonessential items such as prepackaged Easter eggs or bags filled with candy and toys at a drive-through location, the county said in a statement earlier this week.

After announcing the initial ban, however, the county pulled back and said drive-in religious services could proceed, but congregants must be kept apart.

Ventura County has banned all public and private gatherings of more than two people outside a single household or living unit, although an updated public health order released Thursday allows for a few exceptions.

Los Angeles County health officials announced 25 more COVID-19 deaths Thursday as the number of fatalities statewide surpassed 500.

Almost one-fourth of the people who have died in L.A. County lived in nursing homes and other institutional settings, Ferrer said.

While hospitalizations in California climbed to 2,825 on Thursday, the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care fell 1.9%, to 1,132, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

One data point is not a trend; one data point is not a headline, so I caution anybody to read too much into that one point of data, Newsom said. But, nonetheless, it is encouraging. It just again reinforces the incredible work that all of you are doing to practice physical distance. Stay-at-home is working in the state of California.

California has not seen the death toll of virus hot spots such as New York state, where more than 7,000 people have died. While the virus continues to spread rapidly in some places, including Los Angeles County, there are signs that its rate of growth could be slowing in parts of the Bay Area.

Newsom repeated that the duration of the stay-at-home order depends on whether Californians continue to follow it and wear appropriate face coverings if they go out.



2020 Los Angeles Times
Seven people in the food services department at Oregon Health & Science University have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the university and union officials.

They account for 28% of all infected OHSU staff, which, according to an update on Wednesday, stood at 25 with more than 200 tests pending. In terms of patients, OHSU Hospital is treating 10 people who are not employees for COVID-19.

The first food services employee got sick on March 27, about a week after OHSU adopted modified operations in response to the pandemic. The changes includings asking staff who could to work at home.

But managers of the Food and Nutrition Services department ignored OHSU policy, according to officials from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 328, which represents the infected workers. The department runs OHSUs cafeterias and prepares and serves food to patients.

Union officials told The Lund Report that the food department closed all of the cafeterias except for one on the third floor of the main hospital, and encouraged employees to keep on working at the open cafeteria. They said that staff were forced to huddle for meetings and that cooks were crowded in the kitchen.

Nothing was done to limit group size in the dining room, Michael Stewart, vice president of the Local 328 told The Lund Report. There was no extra cleaning for the cooks in the kitchen, either.

OHSU said in a statement that it puts safety first: "The health and safety of our employees is our first priority. Since the first case of COVID-19 was announced in Oregon, OHSU has taken a number of unprecedented steps to ensure employees can safely and effectively respond to the pandemic, including directing thousands of noncritical employees to work from home; canceling all nonurgent procedures and surgeries; and establishing a twice daily Emergency Operations Center staffed by experts from across the institution who work around the clock."

Stewart, who works at OHSU as a medical assistant, blamed food department managers -- not OHSU leadership -- for the unsafe conditions.

In my opinion this is an act of gross negligence resulting in a significant outbreak within the department that has sickened at least seven of our members, endangered those members' families (and) patients and increases the already significant risk to those front-line workers providing care to COVID-19 patients, Stewart said. Managers complete disregard for the welfare of those they supervise and serve is reprehensible and they should be held accountable."

Union officials said food services managers have fostered a culture in which it's frowned on to take sick leave. In December, they fired one woman who took three sick days within a 90-day period, the union said. It filed a grievance on her behalf. OHSU denied the grievance in February and its since gone to arbitration, the union said.

Since last month, food department workers have filed about a half a dozen complaints with the union about their managers, Stewart and other officials said. They said workers reported that managers downplayed the danger of the pandemic, saying the 1918 influenza pandemic was much worse, and that hospital workers didnt need to stay six feet apart because the hospital setting was much safer than being in a grocery store or at home.

The department, which has about 300 employees, is responsible for running OHSUs cafeterias and making and serving food to patients.

If you think about the possible spread with how many people they come into contact with in a given day - its staggering, Stewart said.

OHSU said it knew of no viral transmission between an infected food services employee and a patient.

It said the first food services employee to test positive had a family member who was infected.

The employee did not work while symptomatic, OHSU said in its statement. As soon as the employee experienced symptoms, the employee self-isolated at home.

But two of that persons coworkers also got sick. After tests showed they were infected, they were sent home, OHSU said.

Then four other employees tested positive and were sent home.

Union officials said that theyve been complaining to food services managers since the end of March about unsafe conditions in the department. When that didnt have an impact, the union filed a complaint on April 3 with the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division. Finally, the union went to the head of human resources and Dr. Danny Jacob, OHSUs president.

Now something is being done, the union said.

It took seven cases for them to finally do something, one union official said. They are now taking it seriously.

OHSU taken several steps to protect staff, including reducing the number of employees in the cafeteria at any one time, checking staff temperatures before they start work, deep cleaning work areas, training staff in infection control, requiring staff to wear masks when theyre within six feet of a coworker or patient, testing all staff and requiring anyone with symptoms to go home.

You can reach Lynne Terry at lynne@thelundreport.org or on Twitter @LynnePDX.

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said that the lack of preparedness for the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic revealed how non-state actors could access deadly strains to perpetrate a bioterrorist attack.

'Lack of preparedness may increase risks'

Addressing the UN Security Council, he said, "The weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic provide a window onto how a bioterrorist attack might unfold - and may increase its risks. Non-state groups could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe."

Guterres also said that some actors might take advantage of the current global crisis and promote further division resulting in the escalation of violence and potential "devastating miscalculations" in regions already ravaged by conflicts. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic might further erode the people's trust in public institutions if citizens perceive government have mishandled the response or lacked transparency about the scope of the crisis, Guterres said.

Antonio Guterres urged members of the Security Council to come together to fight the global coronavirus outbreak, marking the first time the 15-nation body discussed the pandemic. The engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guterres told council members.

A signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for a lot at this anxious time, he said in a text released by his office. In his speech, Guterres outlined nine areas of concern to international security tied to the virus, from eroding public trust in institutions to the economic fallout to threats of postponed elections to the risk that some conflicts will be exacerbated.

UN Chief warns COVID-19 is increasing inequality for women

Guterres also warned that the COVID-19 pandemic is deepening already existing inequalities and is having devastating social and economic consequences for women and girls who could reverse limited progress toward gender equality over the last 25 years. The U.N. chief said in a video message and policy paper that across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex.

READ | Mumbai: BMC to test 7.5 lakh residents of Dharavi in next 15 days for COVID after 3 die

READ | Centre unveils COVID-19 Emergency Package worth Rs.15,000 cr; states and UTs to benefit

These currents are combining as never before to defeat womens rights and deny womens opportunities, Guterres said. The U.N. chief urged governments to put women and girls at the centre of their efforts to recover from COVID-19.

He called for women to be put in leadership roles, with equal representation and decision-making power. According to the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, the number of people infected with the virus has exceeded 1.5 million with 95,000 deaths.

READ | Engineer assaulted at Jitendra Awhad's house: 5 men arrested, sent to 4-day police custody

READ | ICMR revises COVID-19 testing strategy to include 'testing clusters using anti-body tests'

(With agency inputs)
As the world shuts down to slow the spread of Covid-19 and only the essential shops remain open, people are moving online for other items and Spirit Clothing is there to provide.

Spirit Clothing have been selling online for the past six years and have been delivering all over the world with a more recent focus on the UK and Irish market.

The store launched its kids range, Name it, this week due to a demand from regular, loyal customers who want to buy for their kids or for gifts.

Spirit are also adding ladies styles from the popular tally weijl store, which now carries brands like Diesel Ellesse, Fila, and 11 Degrees Girl, all of which can now be purchased via Spirit Clothing online.

Spend over 50 online and get free next day delivery to anywhere in Ireland, or pay just 5 delivery charge for items under 50.

Delivery to the UK is free if you spend a minimum of 50.

Shop now at www.spiritclothing.ie.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly issued an executive order limiting the number of people at church gatherings and funerals to 10 people or fewer ahead of Easter Sunday.

The order is effective as of 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

"As Holy Week gets underway - and with Kansas rapidly approaching its projected 'peak' infection rate in the coming weeks - the risk for a spike in COVID-19 cases through church gatherings is especially dangerous," she stated on Tuesday afternoon at a press conference, according to Christian post.

Kelly said it was a "difficult decision" to include worship services and funerals, which had previously been exempted.

"Church services and funerals are still considered essential under state law. Counties cannot ban either events. "Kelly emphasized; Kansas City News noted.

"I've said repeatedly during this crisis that we will adjust to circumstances as they develop to make sure we do everything we can to protect Kansans."

The Democratic governor encouraged clergy and faith leaders to find alternative forms of worship as many churches voluntarily began virtual services already.

"All faith leaders to embrace alternative forms of worship that do not involve in-person congregation."

"Churches are livestreaming services and bringing their parishioners together over Facebook Live for Bible Study. They also are looking for alternative ways to observe their rituals," continued the governor.

Of the town's population of 4,000, more than 1,000 - some 27 percent - are age 65 and older. That age group is especially vulnerable to the COVID-19, according to health officials, Kansas City News reported.

Cathy Bien, the director of communications of the Church of the Resurrection, based in Overland Park, said Kelly made the right call.

"We need to protect our congregants and our community," Bien said. "We'll continue to offer all of our worship services and other services online as long as we need to and as long as our leaders and medical professionals tell us to."

Rick Behrens, a pastor from the Grandview Park Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Kansas, told The Star that church would have "welcomed the governor's decision regarding churches three weeks ago."

The church members already have joined video conference call for services since March 15, with no problem, Behrens said in a statement.

"We trust that the Spirit of God is at work through all the essential workers, the servants in hospitals, laboratories, and nursing homes and through local leaders like Governor Kelly," Behrens said in a statement.
Im actually quite pleased by the response, particularly in Virginia, where people are used to doing it this way, Hoffman said. Its hard for voters to change so drastically, but the response compared to the last election is encouraging.

He said he will continue to accept absentee ballot requests up to the April 28 deadline, unless the General Assembly approves Northams request to move the date when it reconvenes April 22. If that happens, the governor has asked that all absentee ballots be discarded, and officials whose terms are to expire as of June 30 stay in office until their successors have been elected Nov. 3 and have been qualified to serve.

Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw, who is running for a third term, said shes concerned putting the local candidates on the same ballot as those running for president and vice president will mean people will pay more attention to the national election than local ones. She also thinks people who have already turned in their absentee ballots will be upset.

It seems grossly unfair to discard their ballots, she said.
Have you been been let go by Soho House? Email Izzy.Nikolic@mailonline.co.uk

Soho House's chain of hotels and clubs is currently closed due to coronavirus

Resort near Chipping Norton has hosted Meghan Markle and the Beckhams

Claimed they were fired on video calls over 'poor performance'

Soho Farmhouse has been accused of sacking up to 30 staff members via phone and WhatsApp video in the last fortnight during the coronavirus crisis.

Former employees have slammed the exclusive countryside resort near Chipping Norton after they were allegedly dismissed over 'poor performance'.

All branches of the Soho House chain are closed due to the ongoing pandemic.

'Poor performance is the reason the decision was made they said. I received no prior warning that I was performing badly', one staff member who wished to remain anonymous told the Oxford Mail.

They added that the company employee around 530 people, and they had heard from colleagues that others had been fired on the same grounds.

Former employees of Soho Farmhouse have slammed the members club after they were allegedly dismissed over 'poor performance'

It is claimed that around 30 team members of the exclusive countryside resort near Chipping Norton were unfairly dismissed in the last few weeks. Pictured: Wooden cabins at the private members' retreat for 725-a-month

Another former employee said they were on a day off at home, and received a text asking them to answer the phone.

'I rang them back and had a bad feeling about it. They called me up and I was fired over a WhatsApp video call,' they claimed,

A senior staff member at one the club's London houses told MailOnline it was a similar experience across the company, and she couldn't understand why the company did not furlough staff instead.

'I was let go on the phone at the end of March with no option of furlough after being a dedicated employee for two years, they told me they just needed to reduce head count but gave no indication whether they would be able to hire us again.

'This has happened across many of Soho house's sites. I have now been forced to claim universal credit to pay my rent as it is impossible to get rehired in the hospitality industry at this time.

'I don't know why they haven't taken the government up on the offer of furlough'.

They added that the company employee around 530 people, and they had heard from colleagues that others had been fired on the same grounds

A senior staff member at one the club's London houses said it was a similar experience across the company, and they couldn't understand why the company did not furlough staff instead

A spokesperson for Soho House told MailOnline: 'There isn't a business in our industry that hasn't been affected by Covid-19, but our absolute priority has been our team and to guarantee as many jobs as possible during this prolonged shutdown.

'We took the decision to implement a small reduction in workforce in early March as part of a performance review process that was already underway, that undoubtably became more pressing in the current crisis.

'Since then we have paid all of our 8,000 plus employees' wages and continue to support them as some transition to government schemes.'

They added: 'We have also provided a monetary grocery package for hourly staff and set up the Soho Impact Support Fund, using donations from our senior team who are all taking 40 per cent pay cuts which will be distributed as grants to any employees facing hardship.'

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex famously had her hen party at Soho Farmhouse ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. Pictured: Millie Mackintosh (left) cycling with Meghan in Oxfordshire

Lady Mary Charteris, left, and Professor Green, right,, real name Stephen Manderson, are both fans of Soho Farmhouse where membership costs 1,360 a year

The Farmhouse is part of the Soho House club and hotel chain, which has 12 locations across the UK and several more throughout the world.

Babington House in Somerset and Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire are the only two outside of London.

Members of the exclusive club are known to include the David Beckham and wife Victoria, and is also a favourite among royals such as Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

And Meghan Markle also famously celebrated her hen party at the luxury spa, as it was recently reported that her and Prince Harry are looking at building a house nearby.

Princess Eugenie of York and Cressida Bonas, left, and models Suki and Immy Waterhouse and Georgia May Jagger, right, have stayed at the members-only club in Oxfordshire

The retreat opened in 2015 and comprises 40 cabins, a seven-bedroom farmhouse and a four-bedroom cottage.

Guests can use bicycles to travel between the dining venues, a 55-seat art deco-style cinema and a boating lake.

Membership costs 1,360 a year, and you must be nominated by a current member of the club for you application to go before a membership committee.

Last year, locals complained that their once peaceful lanes have become overrun with 'noisy super cars' and speeding SUVs belonging to 'a specific type of person who is more upmarket' attending the Farmhouse.

US billionaire Ron Burkle (right with President Obama in 2016) acquired 60 per cent of Soho House Group in 2012 for a reported 250 million
TORONTO  Welcome to the running of the anti-feminists, said Coco Francini, an executive producer of FXs new limited series Mrs. America. Behind her, in the parking lot of an amusement park outside Toronto, dozens of background actors dressed tidily in pea coats and pumps milled about holding handmade signs blaring, Lesbians go home and Read the Bible while youre able!

The camera rolled and Cate Blanchett  sporting a pair of pearl earrings and a voluminous blonde updo covered by a prim white bonnet  switched on a high-wattage grin as she looked upon the fruit of her labor. Tucked into the crook of one arm was a clipboard with a red octagonal sticker on the back: In white block letters, it read, STOP E.R.A.

Mrs. America, which debuts April 15 on FX on Hulu, stars Blanchett, also an executive producer, as the right-wing activist and political organizer Phyllis Schlafly, who led the charge to successfully defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. The series, created by the former Mad Men writer Dahvi Waller, unearths an illuminating and somewhat forgotten historical episode  a political battle over a womans place that helped permanently alter the course of both American conservatism and the feminist movement.

The result is a sprawling, ambitious series that spans a decade and features one of the most impressive ensemble TV casts of 2020. For Blanchett, Schlafly was a role  her first in an American TV series  that challenged easy categorization. Schlafly, who died just before the 2016 election, spent much of her life fiercely advocating traditional womens roles, yet that work took her out of her own home. She preached the dangers of feminism to the American way of life, yet she was also a kind of feminist in her own right.
After donating Rs 25 crore to PM-CARES Fund for the Novel Coronavirus relief, Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar has now pledged to contribute Rs 3 crore to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to assist the making of personal protection equipment, masks and rapid testing kits to help the battle against COVID-19.

Film critic and movie trade analyst, Taran Adarsh took to his Twitter page to share the news and wrote, "After donating Rs 25 crores to the PM CARES fund, Akshay Kumar contributes Rs 3 crores to BMC to assist in the making of PPE, masks and rapid testing kits."

Earlier on Thurday, the Good Newwz actor wrote a post where he encouraged people to use the hashtag "Dil Se Thank You" to express their gratitude to the people "who work to ensure our safety".

In his video message, the superstar recalled a conversation that he had with a Mumbai police officer, who is also a good friend, yesterday. Talking about how it gave him a new insight into the situation, the actor quoted his friend as saying, "Akshay, you people are scared to come out of your homes, and the irony is we are afraid to go home. We do not want to transfer any sort of disease to our family as we are on the streets the whole day, meeting different kinds of people."

A few days ago, Akshay Kumar joined hands with B-town celebrities like Vicky Kaushal, Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana and others for a hope anthem titled, Muskurayega India, to instill hope and positivity amid dark times.

Also, the actor posted many videos on social media wherein he urged his fans to stay at home and practice social-distancing to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Talking about work, Akshay's upcoming film, Sooryavanshi was slated to hit the big screens on March 24. However, the film's release got postponed owing to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic.

Kriti Kharbanda Opens Up About Her COVID-19 Scare: 'I Was Terrified I Had Contracted The Virus'

Salman Khan Shares Pics Of Closed Qabrastan & Empty Streets; Thanks Fans For Abiding Lockdown Rules
Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Friday warned that the coronavirus would have been more deadly than the Spanish flu if it had appeared in 1918.

I think [that] given the profile of this virus, its likely it would have been far more deadly than the Spanish flu if the coronavirus had originated in 1918 with the medical capacities of that time, Gottlieb said in an interview on National Reviews The Editors podcast.

I think its reasonable to surmise that anyone who gets admitted to a prolonged I.C.U. stay with COVID-19 who ends up getting intubated, [or] ends up getting prolonged critical carethats probably someone who would have died from the Spanish flu, Gottlieb continued. And if you do accept that assumptionif you say, some large proportion of people who are surviving COVID-19would have died from Spanish flu, then COVID-19 not only looks like Spanish flu in terms of its distribution across the age range, but looks far more fearsome.

The coronavirus has spread from Wuhan, China, to infect over 1,600,000 people and kill over 101,000 as of Friday. U.S. officials and lawmakers have criticized China for initially covering up the extent of the outbreak in Wuhan, as well as for failing to contain the outbreak when it first appeared.

China was not being forthcoming with information that could have helped us prepare, Gottlieb said. This virus has changed the course of historyThe gravity of what this virus is going to mean to society for the next two years cant be overstated, in my view, and this is the consequence of something that came out of China.

Gottlieb went on, Had China been more aggressive sometime in November, and certainly in December, in trying to contain the spread of thisthen they might have been able to fully contain this.

More from National Review
Dear Carolyn: There are parents in our neighborhood who set their kids' toys into the street, then let their toddlers (about 1 and 2) play there. Sometimes the parents are sitting close by, other times they are engaged in yardwork. This area is about 30 feet from a corner, so you turn onto our road to suddenly (barely!) see these kids over the hood. When you slam on the brakes, the parents wave and giggle as if to say, "Aren't they just adorable?!"
Passover in Israel looks like Yom Kippur - roads empty due to coronavirus A main road in Jerusalem is seen deserted in the morning of Passover amid coronavirus ( COVID-19) government restrictions

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's highways, intersections and back streets were deserted during Passover on Thursday, as coronavirus restrictions and a holiday curfew left the country looking more like Yom Kippur, when almost all road traffic stops.

Police cars stopped the occasional passing vehicle, demanding to see documents identifying them as essential workers.

Israelis celebrating the Jewish Passover holiday this week were confined to their homes on Wednesday night for the seder - the traditional large festive meal celebrating freedom from biblical slavery.

A ban on inter-city travel went into effect on Tuesday afternoon and was set to end on Friday morning. Israel has confirmed nearly 10,000 cases of the new coronavirus, and 79 fatalities.

(Reporting by Stephen Farrell and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
Manipur Deputy Chief Minister Yumnam Joykumar Singh continues to hold the Civil Aviation and Taxation portfolios, officials clarified on Friday.

The clarification comes after an order issued by chief secretary J Suresh Babu on Thursday said Singh's portfolios were allocated to Chief Minister N Biren Singh, soon after a row erupted over a controversial comment.

Yumnam Joykumar Singh continues to hold the Civil Aviation and Taxation portfolios, an official at the Raj Bhavan told PTI.

It was also confirmed by an officer at the Chief Minister's Office.

The deputy chief minister was in charge of the housing and urban development, forest, environment and climate change, science and technology, and economics and statistics, besides the less significant civil aviation and taxation departments.

The BJP had demanded the deputy chief minister's resignation for his controversial remarks against N Biren Singh over the distribution of rice to the people during the ongoing lockdown.

Yumnam Joykumar Singh is the leader of the legislature party of the National People's Party (NPP) in Manipur, a coalition partner of the BJP-led government in the state.

At present all four MLAs elected on NPP tickets are cabinet ministers in the coalition government in Manipur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
3M N95 particulate filtering face mask are seen at a store in East Palo Alto, California, United States on January 26, 2020.

Industrial company 3M announced Friday that it is suing a New Jersey company for alleged price gouging and illegal trade practices involving N95 respirators, a key piece of medical equipment in short supply during the coronavirus pandemic.

The company, Performance Supply LLC, tried to sell $45 million worth of masks at markups up to 500% to New York City officials while falsely claiming to be affiliated with the larger manufacturer, 3M alleged in the lawsuit.

"3M does not  and will not  tolerate price gouging, fraud, deception, or other activities that unlawfully exploit the demand for critical 3M products during a pandemic," Denise Rutherford, 3M's Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, said in a statement. "3M will not stop here. We continue to work with federal and state law enforcement authorities, and around the world, to investigate and track down those who are illegally taking advantage of this situation for their own gain."

Performance Supply's president could not be reached for comment from CNBC.

The shortage of respirators and other personal protective equipment has hampered efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, forcing health care workers to wear the same gear for much longer than normal.

Other major companies, including Ford and Apple, have started to produce plastic face shields and other equipment to help boost supply.

The lawsuit comes after a heated back-and-forth between President Donald Trump and 3M. Trump announced a deal on Monday that will have the company importing more than 160 million respirator masks to the U.S. over the next three months.

Prior to the announcement, Trump and the company had a public disagreement over where the company was sending the masks. The company has said that the Trump administration asked it to stop exporting its masks to Canada and Latin America.

Trump said in a tweet on April 2 that the company "will have a big price to pay!" and suggesting that the federal government might use the Defense Production Act to direct the company's production.

3M CEO Mike Roman pushed back, telling CBNC that it was "absurd" to say the company wasn't doing everything it could to help the U.S. fight the coronavirus pandemic.
A Ghanaian medical doctor, who was also a Professor at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) School of Medicine, Professor Jacob Plange-Rhule, has died in Accra today.

He reportedly died earlier Friday, April 10, 2020, after battling with an unknown illness for some time now.

The former President of the Ghana Medical Association and former Rector of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons made monumental contributions to the medical field both as a doctor and lecturer.

Confirming his passing, Dr Sodzi-Sodzi Tettey wrote: I did not receive any letter to come here. I am here out of respect for Sodzi and Ernest who asked me to come, but if we really want to improve the quality of care and set up proper structures, then we ourselves have to do things properly and formally appoint people into those roles! Prof. Jacob Plange-Rhule, Rector, Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons. RIP Prof!!! Below the belt!

What a bad day! Damirifa due, due, due 

Many others have taken to social media to praise the deceased for his marked contributions to the country.

Source: mynewsgh.com
Paris, Thursday 9 April 2020, 5.45 pm CET

Nexitys Universal Registration Document dated 31 December 2019 (in French) was filed today with the Autorite des marches financiers under number D.20-0280.

The document is available to the public in accordance with the provisions of regulations currently in force.

The 2019 Universal Registration Document includes notably:

the 2019 annual financial report;

The statement of non-financial performance;

the Board of Directors report on corporate governance; and

the disclosures relating to the Statutory Auditors fees.

The French version of this document can be consulted on the companys website (https://www.nexity.fr/en/group/finance/publications/reports) as well as on the Autorite des marches financiers website (www.amf-france.org).

A free English translation will be made available at a later date.

AT NEXITY, WE AIM TO SERVE ALL OUR CLIENTS AS THEIR REAL ESTATE NEEDS EVOLVE

Nexity offers the widest range of advice and expertise, products, services and solutions for private individuals, companies and local authorities, so as to best meet the needs of our clients and respond to their concerns.



Our business lines  real estate brokerage, management, design, development, planning, advisory and related services  are now optimally organised to serve and support our clients. As the benchmark operator in our sector, we are resolutely committed to all of our clients, but also to the environment and society as a whole.







Nexity is listed on the SRD and on Euronexts Compartment A

Member of the indices: SBF 80, SBF 120, CAC Mid 60, CAC Mid & Small and CAC All Tradable

Ticker symbol: NXI - Reuters: NXI.PA - Bloomberg: NXI FP

ISIN code: FR0010112524

______







CONTACT

Domitille Vielle  Head of Investor relations / +33 (0)1 85 55 14 97 -investorrelations@nexity.fr

Geraldine Bop  Deputy Head of Investor relations / +33 (0) 1 85 55 14 97  investorrelations@nexity.fr





Attachment
Maybe you smell the coffee someone is drinking on the pier, Ms. Cox told me. Theres this awareness of the ripples of water, the pelicans sliding right by. Maybe your heart stops as you see a wave of silvery anchovies swimming below you. In the hushed oceanic roar, you can choose to filter some things out and to focus on others.

Cognitive scientists have shown that water sounds  the rhythmic hum of the ocean, the rush of a waterfall  are calming to the human brain. We experience a drop in heart rate and blood pressure and an increase in alpha-wave activity  those brain wavelengths associated with relaxation and boosted serotonin  as well as creative thinking. While tooling around on the Spotify music-streaming service one day, I found that white-noise water sounds are some of the biggest hits there; a track called Rolling Ocean Waves has been played nearly 60 million times.

Walks in the woods are all well and good, as Thoreau illustrated in his transcendentalist classic, Walden. But during the two years, two months and two days that he spent living in that cabin at Walden Pond, he also got up early every morning to swim; he described it as a religious exercise, and one of the best things which I did. Each of his swims stimulated body and mind. Each days routine of rousing early to do so was a way to enact his desire to live deliberately in the New England forest.

Much has been made of the walk as the instrument for big thinkers: Charles Darwin; Albert Einstein; Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, who famously rambled together and revolutionized our understanding of the psychology of decision-making. Less has been explicitly made of swimming  a similar kind of aid, more medium than tool  for channeling the inner life and improving the flow of thoughts.

The physical action matters just as much as the environment does. The way we move our bodies further changes the nature of our thoughts, and vice versa, the science journalist Ferris Jabr notes in an essay titled Why Walking Helps Us Think. It follows that the pace of swimming, because of its fluid continuity, encourages a specific kind of thinking. There are the same changes to our body chemistry in swimming as there are in land exercise: faster heartbeat, increased circulation, more blood and oxygen to muscles and brain.

Mr. Jabr invokes the peripatetics of Clarissa Dalloway, Virginia Woolfs famously musing, ambulatory character, as someone who does not merely perceive the city around her. Rather, she dips in and out of her past. Woolf herself, writing in her diary about the stimulating energy of walking through London, used energetic, aquatic language to describe the immersive experience as being on the highest crest of the biggest wave, right in the centre & swim of things.

In his detailing of Stanford University research experiments on the relationship between walking and creativity, Mr. Jabr writes that walking set the mind adrift on a frothing sea of thought. For Mr. Jabr, Woolf and others, the choice of words betrays them. They talk of ideas bubbling up, the tumbling of them, the wrinkling water in a current of thought. Walking is conducive to thinking, but swimming is just as true a conduit.
Group of Vietnamese citizens, staff from Vietnamese Embassy and Vietnam Airlines at Suvarnabhumi International Airport (Photo: VNA)

According to the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand, these citizens were brought home thanks to the efforts and close coordination of many domestic and foreign agencies in the context that there are no return flights to Vietnam and Thailand had declared a state of emergency.



Defining this as an emergency, the embassy coordinated with Vietnam Airlines to implement all necessary procedures with Vietnamese and Thai authorities to bring the citizens home on a weekly cargo flight of the airline between Hanoi and Bangkok

Among the citizens, five travelled from Africa, transiting Ethiopia and arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport on March 25th for a flight to Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi in the afternoon. But unfortunely, they missed the flight due to late arrival and there was no other flight to Vietnam.

The other two were not allowed to enter Cambodia, so they had to return to Suvarnabhumi airport. They were also not permitted to enter Thailand because the country is tightening regulations against COVID-19./.
Kylie and Kendall Jenner had some good news to share on Friday. Their line has expanded to now sell at the e-commerce site Lebs.com.

'So excited to launch our collection of ready to wear, shoes, sunglasses and handbags at @lebscom exclusively for the GCC,' the note said.

The ladies shared a clip from their collection, which features themselves as models.

A hit: Kylie and Kendall Jenner had some good news to share on Friday. Their line has expanded to now sell at the e-commerce site Lebs.com

Kendall looked flawless in a cardigan in pastel colors with her hair worn straight down her shoulders and her makeup a light palette.

Kylie was also seen as she stood next to her older sister who in this set up had on a floral halter top and Cult Gaia earrings.

The 22-year-old Kylie Cosmetics founder had on an off the shoulder top with large gold earrings.

Haute stuff: The ladies shared a clip from their collection, which features themselves as models in spring clothes

Earlier this week the two shared a similar image where they credited the man who did the retouching for the photograph in a rare move.

The caption began, 'Thanks to everyone that helped with our spring shoot, we couldnt have done it without you,'

They also said there was 'more to come soon.'

Next the duo credited the photographer, Sasha Samsonova as well as others in their team like Mary Phillips, Jesus for hair.

Looking good: On Monday the duo were back at promoting their line as they shared another look from their spring campaign on Instagram where they were posed together. Then a name came up that seemed unusual: '@retouch_by_yul_zh.' Yul Zh is a post-production artist who has worked with Kylie before, like on her Playboy cover

And then a name came up that seemed unusual: '@retouch_by_yul_zh.'

Yul Zh is a post-production artist who has worked with Kylie before, like on her Playboy cover.

He has also worked with Kylie on some of her makeup shoots with Sasha. And he has done touch up work on shoots with Jessica Alba, Laura Dern and Ciara.

Last week Kendall was seen in an image from the line.

SIBS: Khloe Kardashian shared this image of her and her sisters on National Siblings Day

Pals: Kim Kardashian shared a tribute to sister Kylie on National Siblings Day

Long before she self-isolated due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 24-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star posed in a white bikini, showing off her enviable supermodel figure.

The suit was co-designed with her younger sister Kylie Jenner for their holiday 2019 Kendall + Kylie line.

The ex of Ben Simmons also had on a stylish hat as she posed outdoors.

The caption read: 'A little something for your Wednesday Holiday 2019 shot by @sashasamsonova and styled by @danixmichelle in an incredible @gladystamezmillinery oversized Panama Straw Hat.'

The retouch expert was not credited here.

The siren had her makeup perfectly done with neutral tones as the hat took over the shoot.

She loves to be in the kitchen: Jenner has been baking Easter treats at home

Ready for her closeup: And the self-made mogul has been sharing selfies from her mansion

It's been a crazy time for Kendall as she was seen in the middle of a physical fight between Kourtney and Kim on KUWTK.

Kendall was told she was sick so she did not do the work she was supposed to. Kim added that she had to step in.

The Vogue cover girl seemed annoyed but blew it off.

However, when Kim told Kourtney she does not do the work because she does not care, the 40-year-old mother-of-threw blew up.

Kim said Kourtney scratched her so hard she drew blood.

Also in March Kendall was seen in both a Calvin Klein shoot, where she showed off her killer curves, and a SKIMS shoot to mark the 6 month anniversary of Kim's brand.




SCIC is planning to sell its entire stake in Haiphong Thermal Power

These offered shares make up 9 per cent of the charter capital of Haiphong Thermal Power. The initial unit price will be VND26,000 ($1.13), nearly two times higher than the current market price. SCIC expects to earn more than VND1.17 trillion ($50.87 million) in proceeds.

The company was established in 2002 with the purpose to develop a thermal power plant with the initial charter capital of VND3 trillion ($130.43 million). In 2008, the charter capital was increased to VND5 trillion ($217.4 million) in order to implement Haiphong 2 thermal power plant.

In July 2005, Japan's Marubeni Corporation and China's Dongfang Electric Corporation were awarded the construction contract for the 600MW Haiphong 1 with two units. Unit 1 came online in July 2011, and Unit 2 in November 2011.

In November 2006, the company signed a contract, again with Marubeni Corporation and Dongfang Electric Corporation, to build the second, two-unit 600MW Haiphong 2 coal power plant, at the same location.

The first 300MW unit of Haiphong 2 started operating in August 2013, and the second in February 2014. The cost of the entire project was $1.2 billion. Loans were provided by the Export-Import Bank of China and the Japan Bank for International Co-operation.

In 2014, the thermal power companys shares were officially listed on the UpCOM with the code HND.

At present, Power Generation Corporation 2 is the largest shareholder at Haiphong Thermal Power JSC with 51 per cent of the charter capital, followed by Pha Lai Thermal Power JSC with 25.97 per cent, then SCIC with 9 per cent.

Haiphong Thermal Power has two plants (the above-mentioned Haiphong 1 and Haiphong 2 thermal power plants with a total capacity of 1,200MW) and manages and is allowed to use millions of square metres of land in Haiphong city.

Last year, the company reported a total power output of 8.1 billion kWh, four per cent higher than the target.

The company acquired a revenue of VND11.2 trillion ($486.96 million) last year and pre-tax profit of VND975 billion ($42.39 million), nearly three times higher than its plan.

Back to SCIC, it is not the first time that it plans to divest thermal power plants. In November, SCIC announced to offload its entire stake of 11.42 per cent, or 51 million shares, of Quang Ninh Thermal Power JSC. It expected to collect VND1.22 trillion ($53 million) from the purchase but it failed to find an investor.
An Indiana police officer was shot and killed after she and two other responding officers were called to a domestic disturbance at an apartment complex Thursday afternoon.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) officer Breann Leath and a female resident were both shot at the apartment in Edinburgh Square, located in the far east side of Indianapolis, according to police.

The shooting incident happened shortly before 3 p.m. Both victims were taken to a nearby hospital where 24-year-old Leath died from her injuries.

The other female victim who was shot during the incident is in a stable condition at the hospital and is expected to fully recover. Authorities have not released her identity.

Local TV stations reported that traffic on I-70 was completely blocked to clear the way to the hospital for the injured officer.

The suspect was apprehended by officers and taken into custody without further incident, police said.

Leath was with the IMPD for three years and was also a veteran of the National Guard.

She was the daughter of a public servant family. Her father was a reserve deputy at Marion County Sheriffs Office and her mother a longtime public safety dispatcher.

It is with a heavy heart that @IMPD_Chief announces the untimely death of @IMPDEast Officer Breann Leath, IMPD wrote on Twitter. Officer Leath was a loving mother.

It is with a heavy heart that @IMPD_Chief announces the untimely death of @IMPDEast Officer Breann Leath. Officer Leath was a loving mother. A veteran. Daughter of a public servant family. And the example of what an @IMPDnews officer should be. She will be sorely missed. pic.twitter.com/X6t3orHhji  IMPD (@IMPDnews) April 9, 2020

Officer Leath was an example of what an IMPD officer should be. She showed resolve, strength, and compassion in a dangerous job, and was always focused on serving the community she loved. She will be sorely missed, said IMPD Chief Randal Taylor.

Homicide Detectives and the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) are conducting an investigation.

Community Showing Support

Police departments, government officials, and mourners showed their support on social media and remembered Leath.

Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) released a statement on the fallen officer, saying, Our entire community mourns the loss of this remarkable public servant.

My statement on the death of IMPD Officer Breann Leath. Our entire community mourns the loss of this remarkable public servant. pic.twitter.com/vhIJMQWJT7  Andre Carson (@RepAndreCarson) April 10, 2020

Sen. J.D. Ford (D-Ind.) expressed his deepest sympathies and wanted to send his deepest condolences to the officers family during this very difficult time.

Today is a truly sad day for our city. Let us grieve and celebrate the officer who paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect and serve us all, he wrote on Twitter.

Lawrence Police Department said on Twitter they lowered their flags at the Government Center and police headquarters in honor of Officer Breann Leath, her family, and all the women and men in law enforcement.

The Indiana State Police Alliance wrote their thoughts and prayers are with Leath. She was a mother, military veteran, and daughter of a public service family.
Doctors and patients in another busy hospital are struggling with an outbreak of the coronavirus which has led to wards being shut.

The latest hospital to be struck by a cluster is St Columcille's Hospital in Loughlinstown in Dublin as it emerged yesterday the number of people testing positive nationally for the virus rose by a record 500, pushing the total infected to 6,574 confirmed cases.

The death toll rose by 28 to 263 with the deceased yesterday having a median age of 84 years of age.

While intensive care units in hospitals in the east of the country continued to be under pressure, it emerged 153 seriously ill patients with the virus were receiving this high-level care.

The number discharged rose to 59 but there was also an slight increase in deaths.

Nursing homes and hospitals continue to hit hardest by coronavirus outbreaks.

Another nine nursing homes have been hit with coronavirus clusters bringing the total so far to 109.

Hospitals have also been struck by 48 clusters, including Cavan Hospital. Doctors from Beaumont Hospital in Dublin have been sent to Cavan, which was struggling with a large shortage of staff laid low by the infection.

Two medical wards in Cavan Hospital were closed to admissions earlier this week due to an outbreak.

The hospital has 38 patients positive for the virus and 87 in all have been confirmed as having the infection.

At least 70 doctors and nurses have been confirmed as having the virus and many others have had to self-isolate.

Doctors' representative bodies expressed concern at the lack of protective equipment, such as goggles and masks, for staff examining patients.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said: "Cavan General Hospital has plans in place to manage additional demands due to Covid-19.

"The hospital has areas designated for care of patients with Covid-19, patients who are awaiting diagnosis and patients who are not. There is capacity available for all of these patients.

"In January 2020, prior to Covid-19, the absenteeism rate was 5.6pc, presently it is 12.2pc. The hospital continues to have a number of staff off at present."

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said yesterday there were still too many unknowns about what would happen if emergency measures to try to curb its spread were lifted.

Asked about the statistics on deaths in nursing homes he said he did not have exact figures available and would provide them.

"We know that most of the deaths in place of occurrence are happening in the hospital environment.

"We have seen a challenge in some nursing homes for residents and staff in a percentage probably higher than would have occurred in the general community."

The National Public Health Emergency Team will meet today to decide on how long the next phase of emergency measures should be implemented for.

Asked about the impact of testing on the figures for new cases yesterday, Dr Holohan said he believed the increase was influenced by the higher numbers who are being tested for the virus and the percentage of positives.

Around one in five of those tested now are proving positive.

More than 50,000 tests have been done so far, he added. "The challenge for us now is to grow the testing to have real time results on the day or following day."

Dr Colm Henry said the HSE's 50 testing centres were now able to accommodate all of those people who are referred by their GP for a swab test. They are continuing to work on getting enough reagent to increase laboratory testing.

Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that private hospital consultants who have not signed a HSE contract will be covered for indemnity by the State when treating public patients.

The doctors cannot claim any fees and it applies only up to Sunday, April 19.

Many of the 600 doctors have yet to sign the HSE contract.
World faces uphill battle in fight against coronavirus as new hot spots emerge across the globe, say experts.

At the stroke of midnight on April 8, the skies above Chinas Wuhan brightened as towers along both sides of the Yangtze River lit up in tribute to the health workers who helped the city curb a deadly outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Cheers of My Wuhan is back and Wuhan, lets go rang out on the embankments as bridges and highways opened up for the first time in 76 days, allowing people to leave the industrial hub and epicentre of Chinas coronavirus epidemic.

Beijing had sealed off Wuhan on January 23, confining 11 million people to their homes in an unprecedented bid to contain the virus, officially known as SARS-CoV-2, and first detected among workers at a seafood market in the city.

At the time, many saw the quarantine as an extreme and draconian measure. But as the virus spread across the globe, overwhelming healthcare systems in some of the worlds most developed nations, other governments also followed suit, imposing extraordinary curbs on movement and social contact.

Now Wuhans reopening is offering hope to billions of people chafing under lockdowns, wondering when life will return to a semblance of normality.

Officials and experts are urging caution, however.

China has brought the situation under control. But that may be just for now, said Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the US-based Council on Foreign Relations. There is a real risk of resurgence of cases. For two reasons  the prevalence of asymptomatic people who might spread the disease without knowing they are sick, and the threat from imported cases.

Scientists and decision-makers in China do not know the size of asymptomatic carriers and to what extent they pose a danger, he said, while imported cases are also a concern given that most people in China have not been exposed to the virus and therefore, are yet to build immunity to it.





With a vaccine at least a year away, the world faces an uphill battle, said Huang, explaining that any one country or regions success in containing the disease was shaky so long as the virus continued to sicken people elsewhere.

Indeed, despite reopening Wuhan, China  which has about 82,000 cases and 3,000 deaths  is keeping its borders closed amid fears imported cases could fuel a new local outbreak.

You cannot claim the pandemic is over until all countries can say they are virus-free, said Huang.

In addition to the threat from asymptomatic and imported cases, experts also worry the autumn and winter months might result in a new surge in infections, as SARS-CoV-2 is believed to survive and transmit better in colder weather.

John M Barry, historian who studied the 1918 Influenza pandemic which killed as many as 100 million people, said he expected to see several waves [of SARS-CoV-2 infections] extending for a year or more, each one with a flatter peak and easier to handle.

The 1918 pandemic saw three waves, he said. A mild first wave in the spring, a very lethal second wave which ran roughly from September to December, and a third wave in the winter and spring of 1919, he said, explaining that the pathogen mutated and became more virulent in the second one.

Fortunately there is no evidence, no hint anywhere, that [SARS-CoV-2] will be any more dangerous than it is now, he said.

All of this portends a long period of intermittent lockdowns for the world, with governments expected to tighten and ease controls as infections surge and fall, experts said. Restrictions on international travel may also last until a vaccine is found or enough of the worlds population develop immunity through infection, a concept known as herd immunity.

Scientists at the Imperial College in London, UK, say the severity of a second wave of coronavirus infections may depend on how many people were exposed to it in the first outbreak. The more successful countries or cities are at containing the virus, the larger the later epidemic is predicted to be in the absence of vaccination, due to lesser build-up of herd immunity, they said in a study published last month.

A successful fall in cases may allow [social distancing] interventions to be relaxed temporarily in relative short-time windows, but measures will need to be reintroduced if or when case numbers rebound, they added.





These findings are substantiated, in part, by the experience of countries and cities across Asia, which seemed to have the epidemic under control early on, only to impose stricter measures amid a surge in infections tied to travellers arriving from hotspots elsewhere, most notably in Europe.

Singapore, one of the first countries outside China to report a coronavirus case, initially managed to control its outbreak without resorting to lockdown measures. The city-state banned all short term visitors and imposed a strict surveillance and quarantine regime to keep infections in check. But last week, it closed schools and workplaces as the number of cases surged above 1,000  many of them linked to migrant workers.

In nearby Hong Kong, authorities tightened border controls with mainland China and told civil servants to work from home soon after detecting its first case in late January. When the outbreak subsided a month later, workers returned to their offices. But in late March, they were told to go back home amid a spike in infections linked to overseas travellers. In recent days, the territory has banned public gatherings of more than four people, closed its airport to foreign arrivals and shuttered some bars and restaurants.

Meanwhile, Japan, which now has nearly 5,000 cases, declared a state of emergency on Tuesday as the government sought to obtain more powers to press people to stay home and businesses to close. It also banned travellers from more than 70 countries, including China, United States and several European nations.

With the virus now having reached 184 countries and territories, experts said it could take months for countries to reopen their borders.

I anticipate there will be significant disruption to international travel for at least the next three months, and likely even longer if countries are unable to sufficiently stamp out community transmission, said Teo Yik Ying, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore.

While there are encouraging signs emerging from some of the worst-hit countries in Europe, the reality is there are countries in South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and also Latin America that are starting to see community transmission. This means, any attempt to relax border restrictions can result in importations that go on to seed the second wave of community transmission. As such, countries will naturally exercise caution before they allow trans-national travel.

Dr John Nicholls, a scientist at the University of Hong Kong who is studying the effects of temperature on SARS-CoV-2, agreed.

The coming summer months in the northern hemisphere could give countries in the north a respite from the virus, but the worst is yet to come for countries about to enter the winter months in the southern hemisphere, said Nicholls.

So dont expect international travel for next few months, or even longer, he said.
Ukraine will also test the effectiveness of antiviral drug Avigan

The peculiarity of the current pandemic is the lack of specific drugs against coronavirus. Laboratories around the world are actively working on the creation of such drugs since the virus has already claimed tens of thousands of lives and is continuing to pose a serious threat to humanity. However, we may soon be pleased to hear that such drugs exist. It is a Japanese drug Avigan that Japan will provide to Ukraine for free.

Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on April 7 that Tokyo had offered to provide anti-flu drug Avigan for free to 20 countries, including Ukraine. He said that many states had expressed interest in the drug as it had already shown encouraging results. However, more research is needed to prove its effectiveness. To this end, the Government of Japan has decided to follow the proposal of other countries for the use of the drug and clinical studies of its effectiveness.

Japan's Ambassador to Ukraine Takashi Kurai said in an exclusive comment to Ukrinform that Avigan is a recognized drug for the treatment of the new type of influenza, but its effectiveness in the treatment of coronavirus infection Covid-19 has not yet been confirmed, and clinical tests are ongoing. At the same time, the ambassador said: "Many countries express their interest in it because there is information about a reduction in viral load due to the use of the drug and improving symptoms in patients."

What is known about new drugs and how justified is the hope for their miraculous power? Will they be affordable to ordinary citizens?

IS AVIGAN EFFECTIVE IN FIGHT AGAINST VIRUS?

Avigan (Favipiravir) was developed by FUJIFILM Toyama Chemical Co., Ltd., a Fujifilm subsidiary. The drug is intended primarily for the fight against influenza of a new type. After clinical tests, Avigan has been confirmed to be effective in preventing the spread of influenza compared to Oseltamivir, known as Tamiflu. Avigan was licensed and registered in Japan in March 2014. At the same time, animal experiments indicated that the drug might be teratogenic -- that it could cause developmental malformations in embryos or fetuses.

Therefore, despite its high effectiveness in the fight against influenza, it is not sold in Japanese pharmacies. And, of course, it cannot be given to pregnant women.

In the treatment of influenza it is used with great care by the decision of the doctor and with the consent of the patient.

Therefore, it is obvious that it will not be sold in Ukrainian pharmacies too.

EXAMPLES OF USING AVIGAN

In addition to the treatment of influenza, Avigan was used experimentally in the fight against Ebola. Clinical trials were conducted by South Korea and France. South Korea recognized it as effective in October 2014, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) - in 2015, after research in Guinea. There was a significant decrease in mortality in patients.

As for the new coronavirus, in China, where the spread of the infection began, local researchers, after testing about 5,000 drugs, named only three drugs that should be studied: Chloroquine, Avigan, and Remdesivir.

Subsequently, according to the results of clinical studies conducted in Wuhan and Shenzhen on 340 patients with Covid-19, an official at the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, Zhang Xinmin, said on March 17 that Fujifilm's Avigan produced "encouraging outcomes." "The drug has a high degree of safety and is clearly effective in treatment," he said.

Patients taking this drug in Shenzhen were reported to have beaten coronavirus in four days from the onset of the disease. In addition, X-rays confirmed improvements in lung condition in about 91% of the patients who were treated with Favipiravir, compared to 62% or those without the drug.

This information from China is very encouraging. Accordingly, the Government of Japan has considered the possibility of confirming the effectiveness of Avigan for the treatment of patients with Covid-19. However, the formal confirmation procedure requires further quantitative and qualitative clinical research.

So, in fact, Avigan does not yet have official confirmation of the effectiveness of the treatment of the new coronavirus.

THE HOPE WE GIVE TOGETHER FOR ALL

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a press briefing on April 7, while mentioning Avigan: "Hope is definitely being born." According to him, 120 studies have already been conducted, and the results show improvements in the symptoms of the disease. Therefore, the government will allow the use of Avigan for patients who are willing to undergo clinical trials.

The aforementioned message from China spread around the world, and Japan received appeals from the governments of more than 30 countries, including Ukraine. Abe said that Japan would expand clinical research opportunities by cooperating with interested countries.

Thus, Japan has selected 20 countries to which Avigan will be provided free of charge. These include Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Estonia, Indonesia, Iran, Cyprus, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Moldova, Myanmar, UAE, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic.

In addition, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on April 7 that coordination was currently being advanced with about 30 more countries.

Meanwhile, Fujifilm announced the start of clinical trials on Avigan and plans to complete them in June this year. In addition to China, clinical trials are already underway in Italy and Turkey. Ankara even said at first that it had received "special medicines from China to fight the coronavirus," but these medicines then turned out to be Japanese Avigan.

Photo: microkhim.com.ua

UKRAINE DEVELOPING GENERIC COPY

By the way, Ukraine is also working on the development of anti-coronavirus drugs. Microkhim, a domestic manufacturing firm that traditionally specializes in cardiology, has recently announced the launch of work on its first domestic drug to treat coronavirus.

"In particular, the company's scientific divisions have begun to develop a generic copy of the antiviral drug Avigan, also known under the brand name as Favipiravir and T-705. The original drug was developed in Japan in 2014 and it passed the third phase of clinical trials in the United States in 2015. At the same time, it was tested during the epidemic in Wuhan and allowed for experimental use in Italy against Covid-19," the company said.

Therefore, it can be assumed that Avigan has already received a certain estimate in Ukraine. Now let's hope that getting the original Japanese drugs will help develop a generic copy.

In general, at least 90% of Covid-19 patients will not require this drug. Avigan could only be effective for patients from at-risk groups.

It is now known that Avigan is effective when the condition of the patient is not yet severe or critical. The drug prevents the transition to this condition. That is why one of the Avigan manufacturers, Kimiyasu Shiraki, recommended that doctors start giving it to patients six days after the onset of the disease.

 The quarantine in Ukraine can last quite a long time. Every morning we hear disturbing news about new infections and deaths.

The cure for the virus will undoubtedly emerge and prove effective. But no matter what, let's stay home, keep our distance with other people, wash our hands.

And the illness will recede sooner or later.

Takashi Hirano, Ukrinform
Ohioans already are seeing the benefits of the states wise early moves on social-distancing guidance and workplace closures. The states pandemic curve appears to be flattening. And on Wednesday, Ohio drastically lowered its prediction of the peak, from a possible maximum of 10,000 cases per day to about 1,600 new cases daily, likely to be reached later this month.

Thats tentative, based on current trends -- making continuing adherence to social-distancing rules critical.

And that puts a spotlight on those essential businesses that might not be adhering to the states rules on what is an essential business, or not operating with adequate distancing, sanitation measures and other precautions.

Such concerns prompted hundreds of complaints after the governors first stay-at-home order March 23.

Its generally up to local authorities to look into such matters and enforce requirements.

But in cases where two local health authorities disagree about what is or isnt an essential business, the state, pursuant to Gov. Mike DeWines April 2 expanded stay-at-home order, has now set up a Dispute Resolution Commission to moderate and resolve those conflicts. (The April 2 extension also requires essential businesses to limit the number of customers in a store at one time.)

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who will oversee the dispute commission, later said the panels decisions would be final and in writing -- and nonappealable.

Having a quick-dispute panel to resolve such conflicts is wise. Making its decisions ironclad without the possibility of appeal is, simply put, a nonstarter.

Courts generally give great deference to executive authority as exercised via administrative orders, especially those prompted by a public health emergency such as the coronavirus pandemic. Courts also generally will accelerate rulings in cases where speed is needed, including for public health reasons.

But having no appeal avenue for this process just opens the door to the potential for abuse by corrupt insiders or others.

Dan Tierney, spokesman for Gov. DeWine, told our editorial board that, even though the states rules for the panel say its decisions shall be final, court challenges are still possible.

Thats encouraging. But if that is the case, the rules should say so explicitly.

This week, the state announced that the Dispute Resolution Commission was open for business, and identified the panels members as Ohio Department of Commerce Director Sheryl Maxfield; Development Services Agency Director Lydia Mihalik; and Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo.

The panels mission, according to the state, will be to "seek to resolve disputes when two county health departments disagree on whether a type of business should or should not be deemed essential during the state of emergency. The purpose of the commission is to provide clarity and ensure that similarly-situated businesses are treated fairly, regardless of which side of a county line they operate."

True, the powers given public officials in defending constituents against epidemics and other threats to public health are necessarily vast.

But when someones business or the practice of his or her profession is at stake thanks to an adverse decision, fairness demands a way to appeal  which the states order must provide.

For more information on the panel: Visit Coronavirus.Ohio.gov and look for Guidance on Dispute Resolutions for Essential and Non-Essential Businesses.

About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization.

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
The jails are a terrible place to be very sick. This isnt the fault of our medical staff, whose commitment inspires me daily. Individual acts of tenderness abound: a doctor rolling her eyes maternally at a favorite patient bragging about his girlfriend; an officer cajoling a recalcitrant patient to go to his physical therapy appointment; nursing assistants carefully drawing a privacy screen around a bed, murmuring reassurances before dressing someones wounds. But by their nature, jails are places characterized by violence, indifference and mistrust. The pain or nausea my patients may feel because of disease compounds the discomfort of being locked in a pen or a cell or a dorm, often with dozens of strangers. Their movement is restricted, as is any opportunity to exercise personal agency  to choose your clothes or food, to turn the lights on and off at will, to go outside and feel the sun, to take medicines on your own schedule. This limits my ability to truly alleviate physical discomfort. Its hard to make someones back pain better when he spends the day lying on a hard cot. Its hard to help someone sleep when he fears what will happen to him when he drifts off.
Amid coronavirus and the tanking economy, nearly every local government nationwide is worried about its budget, including Oregons largest county government.

So Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury was shocked to hear that her county might not receive any outlay from the federal governments recent $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill either, due to a quirk in the law that affects just 26 counties nationwide  including hers.

That has set up a tug-of-war with the city of Portland, which might get $100 million while the county goes empty-handed.

Pandemic responses have taxed cities and counties as they try to contain the spread of COVID-19 while propping up local economies as thousands sign up for unemployment.

The federal relief bill passed last month will provide at least $1.2 billion to Oregon to help governments pay for disaster response.

Half of that money will go directly to the state, while the rest is supposed to be given directly to cities and counties.

Multnomah County, like most local governments, has been counting on the money to offset some of the costs coronavirus has presented. County officials have forecasted a $6.9 million revenue loss for the current fiscal year and a $30.8 million decrease for the next fiscal year.

On top of that, due to a failed special session, the Oregon Legislature didnt provide the money local officials counted on to support parole and jail operations.

The federal law directly gives counties money based on population -- except for counties that include cities of 500,000 people or more. Multnomah County is one of 26 other counties in that position.

The U.S. Department of Treasury is figuring out how to distribute those funds now and is considering doing so by a formula that would subtract Portlands population from Multnomah Countys total head count, then giving the county what is left over.

Kafoury thinks that is unacceptable.

We are the public health authority, we are responsible for being the safety net, Kafoury told the Portland Business Alliance last week in a call. This could be devastating for our ability to help our community response to the outcome of this crisis.

She is lobbying Oregons federal lawmakers to persuade the treasury department to directly fund Multnomah County. She and the rest of the county commissioners sent a letter Wednesday to make their case.

It listed the $3.5 million in unexpected costs to create and run more than 400 emergency homeless shelter beds, as well as money it is having to spend to make jails comply with social distancing protocols, make sure people who are unable to leave their homes have access to technology, prepare the coroners office for an influx of bodies and more.

All city residents receive county services; not all county residents receive city services, the letter says.

Portland lobbyists also want direct funding, however.

Were both making the argument that the city and the county perform different functions and there should be separate allocations, said Elizabeth Edwards, the citys government relations director. There shouldnt be a city versus county issue.

Edwards said city officials expect to receive about $100 million but wont know until the ink dries.

Oregons federal delegation sent a letter to Treasury head Steve Mnuchin asking him to quickly clarify which local governments will receive direct funding but did not advocate one way or the other.

The senator thinks its important that the city, county , and state get together to make sure the resources wind up where they can best serve the needs of families, small business , and front line workers who need help, said Sara Hottman, spokeswoman for Sen. Jeff Merkley.

In the meantime, Kafoury has asked Portland business leaders to urge lawmakers and the White House to ensure the county gets money straight from the federal government. A local business tax measure that was intended to go into effect this year to supplement local budgets will now fall short of making up what is being spent on coronavirus response, she said.

In normal times, we help the economy by making sure people in our community have what they need to thrive, and in a crisis, we make sure people have what they need in our community to survive, Kafoury said.

-- Molly Harbarger

mharbarger@oregonian.com | 503-294-5923 | @MollyHarbarger

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Acting UK High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson has expressed her gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi for approving the export of paracetamol to the United Kingdom amid the Coronavirus crisis that has taken the world hostage and has also affected the UK which has suffered closed to 8,000 deaths and over 65,500 infected cases, including infections to its Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Prince Charles..

Thank you @narendramodi and the Government of India for approving the export of paracetamol to the UK. Global cooperation is critical in the fight against #COVID19. UK and India have track record of working together as a #ForceforGood tackling global challenges.  Jan Thompson (@JanThompsonFCO) April 9, 2020

READ | Terrorists May See Window Of Opportunity: UN Warns Of Terror Revival Amid Coronavirus

READ | 98-year-old Indian-origin Woman Beats Covid-19 To Return To UK Home

Trump thanks PM Modi

Earlier, US President Donald Trump had also thanked PM Modi for allowing the export of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to the US, deemed a recommended prophylactic for the deadly coronavirus, saying India's help in the extraordinary times "will not be forgotten".

Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2020

President Trump and Prime Minister Modi spoke over the phone last week. During the call, Trump requested PM Modi to lift the hold on the American order of hydroxychloroquine, of which India is the major producer. India agreed to lift the ban on the export of hydroxychloroquine to the US.

Besides the US President, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in his national address extended his gratitude to PM Modi and India for helping the South American country in its battle against Coronavirus. He also took to Twitter to thank PM Modi as India reversed its former stance to ban the export of Hydroxychloroquine.

"Our thanks to the Prime Minister of India @narendramodi, who, after our telephone conversation, allowed the shipment to Brazil of a load of inputs for the production of hydroxychloroquine," Bolsonaro tweeted in Portugal.

READ | Italy Sees Its Youngest Patient Recover From The Novel Coronavirus

READ | UK Records 881 Coronavirus Deaths

COVID-19's impact on the world

The deadly Coronavirus outbreak that originated in China in December last year has spread in 197 countries across the world. Presently, there are over 1.6 million confirmed cases of the COVID-19 infection globally which has led to the death of over 95,000 people worldwide. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its spread. So far, Italy, Spain, France, United Kingdom Iran, Spain and the US have witnessed the most number of confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus.
NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and two Russian cosmonauts arrived Thursday for their mission aboard the International Space Station, temporarily restoring the orbiting laboratory's population to six people.

The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft carrying Cassidy, along with Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, docked to the station's Poisk service module at 10:13 a.m. after a four-orbit, six-hour flight. Their Soyuz spacecraft launched at 4:05 a.m. EDT (1:05 p.m. Kazakhstan time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The trio is scheduled to open the hatches between their spacecraft and the space station and be welcomed aboard by NASA flight engineers Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir and Expedition 62 Commander Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos. NASA Television and the agency's website will provide live coverage of the hatch opening beginning at noon.

Cassidy, Ivanishin and Vagner will be part of the Expedition 62 crew for eight days. Cassidy, Morgan, and Meir will participate in a live media teleconference on NASA TV and the agency's website at 10:45 a.m. Friday, April 10.

Cassidy will become Expedition 63 commander upon the departure of Skripochka, Morgan and Meir, who will return to Earth on Friday, April 17, on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft, which will land in Kazakhstan.

A change of command ceremony with all six crew members is planned for 4:55 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, and will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

It is the third spaceflight for Cassidy and Ivanishin and the first for Vagner, who are scheduled to return to Earth in October after a mission of more than six months during which they will conduct about 160 science investigations in fields such as, biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development. Work on the unique microgravity laboratory advances scientific knowledge and demonstrates new technologies, making research breakthroughs that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars.

The crew members of Expedition 63 are scheduled to be aboard the station to welcome the first commercial crew spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who will arrive on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 flight test, currently targeted to launch in mid-to-late May.

For almost 20 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, 239 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,800 research investigations from researchers in 108 countries.

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 09:47 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0fbfed 1 National COVID-19-in-Indonesia,mudik,exodus,homecoming-season,Holiday,December Free

The government will push back Idul Fitri collective leave to December due to concerns that the annual exodus could cause further transmission of the novel coronavirus.

Ramadan is expected to take place on April 23 to May 23.

It has become customary for most Indonesians, especially those living in big cities, to visit their hometowns and gather with family during the long holiday near the end of the holy month.

The country expects some 20 million people to participate in the yearly tradition, with several having already left the capital for their hometowns despite the warnings of public health experts.

While Idul Fitri will be observed, Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy has moved the four-day Idul Fitri collective leave to Dec. 28-31, from May 26-29, nearing other year-end holidays.

This policy is a follow up to a directive from the President [...] related to the no mudik appeal and the altering of the 2020 Idul Fitri collective leave, Muhadjir said in a statement on Thursday.

Read also: COVID-19: Jokowi considers adjusting Idul Fitri break, orders regions to be obedient

The government also added collective leave on Oct. 28 to commemorate the birth of Prophet Muhammad.

Shifting the collective leave to the end of the year was done in consideration that COVID-19 would be handled properly [by then]. In addition, at the end of the year, children will be on school break and families will have had enough time to plan vacations, the statement continued.

Two of Indonesia's largest Islamic mass organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, have also advised people against participating in the mudik.

The government, however, has not prohibited the mudik due to economic considerations. The government will instead disburse social aid to low-income families in hopes of dissuading people from taking part in the exodus.

As of Thursday, the Health Ministry confirmed 3,293 cases of the pneumonia-like illness in Indonesia with 280 fatalities and 252 recoveries. Jakarta, the country's outbreak epicenter, has confirmed 1,706 cases, with 142 fatalities and 82 recoveries.
Mysuru: Testing positive for Covid-19 is not the end of the world. It can be treated and you will recover, said a 35-year-old man who was the first person in Kodagu to test positive for the virus. He was the 15th poisitive case in Karnataka, and so was given the identity P 15.

Those who test positive for Covid-19 should face it courageously. They need not lose hope or be fearful or anxious, though there is a slight risk for those suffering from co-morbid conditions.

The 35-year-old man tested positive for Covid-19 on March 19, and was discharged Tuesday evening after his latest reports came negative for the virus.

P 15 shared his experience in a phone interview with Deccan Chronicle. Here are excerpts from the conversation in his own words:

When I tested positive for Covid 19, I was shocked even though I knew it could be treated. And I slowly came out of the shock as the entire Kodagu district administration including the police and doctors and nurses boosted my confidence and assured me that I can be treated. Kodagu DC (deputy commissioner) Anees Kanmani Joy regularly spoke to me on the phone and extended all support, instilled courage and counseled that I will recover.

The hospital was well maintained, and the doctors and nurses treated me well. I was given good food, and I was allowed to use my phone and I could be in touch with my family. I am thankful to all of them. And I feel good that I finally tested negative for the virus. So one need not feel worried if he/she is tested positive for Covid 19.

I came to India from Dubai, where I have a shop in Deira. When I was there, no one from Deira had tested positive for Covid-19. I must have got infected from one of my customers. I had fever for 15 days before I left Dubai. But I was completely healthy when I left Dubai. But on my arrival at Bengaluru International Airport 15 March, I had an itching feeling in my throat. So I insisted on being screened at the airport.

They said I was fine but asked me to visit the nearest government hospital in case of any health issue cropped up further.

When I reached home on March 16, a nurse visited my home and asked me to report at the government hospital in Kodagu, as all international passengers were supposed to do so. But I had no health issues.

I went to the Kodagu district hospital in Madikeri to report on March 17. But when I went to report, I told them I had had fever 15 days before I left Dubai. So they asked me to get admitted to the isolation ward in the hospital, and took a throat swab and sent it for testing the same day.

My report came positive on 19 March. But I had no fever or any health issues. I was completely fine. I have my mother, wife and three children at home, but with the grace of God none of them and none of my contacts have been infected.

I came from Dubai to attend my nieces wedding in Kodagu on March 28. I never thought I would have to spend 22 anxious days in the isolation ward in the Kodagu district hospital.

I have two brothers and two sisters. One brother and one sister also live in Dubai. They had come a little earlier than me for the wedding, but they are completely fine. My nieces wedding has been postponed now. I plan to go back to Dubai, after the wedding of my niece, once the lockdown is lifted.

I have been asked to remain in home quarantine for 14 more days. In case I have any symptoms, I was asked to report to the hospital. All my 52 primary contacts have tested negative.

Plus, the Kodagu district administration has identified a total of 498 secondary contacts. They identified 775 houses in a 5 km radius around my home, which was declared a containment zone, and another seven km area radius around his home as a buffer zone.

Besides my flight from Dubai, BMTC Vayuvajra and KSRTC Rajahamsa buses, two autos in which I travelled in Bengaluru, I also visited a hotel there. I travelled in an auto and visited a shop, two dargahs, four houses of relatives. I met a friend in Kodagu before I was admitted to hospital March 17.
(Photo : Travelex Official Facebook Page) Travelex Money Card

Foreign currency exchange provider Travelex is reported to have paid $2.3 million in bitcoin to restore its network after hackers launched a ransomware attack against the company.

Wall Street Journal reported Travelex decided to pay the 285 bitcoin ransom to the REvil ransomware gang on the recommendation of experts. REvil had threatened to publish the personal statistics of Travelex's customers if the payment wasn't paid.

Travelex, known for its foreign-exchange kiosks in airports and tourist sites worldwide, found itself crippled after a New Year's Eve attack. The company later showed in a statement that its community was offline due to the Sodinokibi ransomware, a.k.a REvil.

ALSO READ: Ransomware Dangers - Ransomware Risks

Travelex pays the price

The attack forced Travelex to take its networks, consumer-facing sites, and app offline for weeks to forestall the ransomware virus. The incident disrupted cash deliveries from Travelex's global community of vaults to divisions of major international banks, which includes Barclays PLC and Lloyds Banking Group PLC in the United Kingdom.

Asked about the charge, a Travelex spokesman told WSJ the corporation had taken advice from some of the experts. Travelex has kept regulators and partners informed about its efforts to recover the recovery since Jan. 13.

A U.K. regulation-enforcement investigation into the breach is continuing, he said. He declined to comment further on the incident.

The employer said it had started reinstating a number of its operations in January and revived its customer business in the second half of February.

It isn't against U.K. regulations to pay a ransom. However, the U.K.'s National Crime Agency discourages giving in to such demands by criminals. Doing so encourages more criminal behavior even as providing no guarantee that the stolen records are returned, specialists say. Some insurers, however, provide ransom negotiation services as part of their cybersecurity policies.

"It's like with all blackmailers: Paying the ransom, you get put on the payers' list," said Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity professor at the University of Surrey. "You are one of those [that are] most likely to pay up. That makes you a target for everybody else."

ALSO READ: This Ransomware Does Not Demand For Money: You'll Have To Master An Anime Bullet Hell Game

Travelex tailspins its shares

Finablr, Travelex's parent company, said it was preparing for a possible collapse as investors started out wondering its economic arrangements and capability to perform amid the pandemic. The enterprise's founder, Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, stepped down from the board of London-listed NMC Health PLC earlier in the year amid issues approximately economic irregularities along with understating the health-care provider's debt.

Days later, S&P Global cut Travelex's credit score ratings to junk status, mentioning liquidity constraints and breach of its contractual duties to a few creditors. Finablr's own economic issues depart it not able to guide Travelex, the rankings business enterprise said.

Finablr didn't respond to a request for comment. NMC didn't respond to a request for comment, but the business enterprise said in March that it became trying to apprehend the "nature and quantum" of its debts. Mr. Shetty didn't respond to a request for comment.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
LEWISBURG  The U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will not say if the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary is being considered an inmate holdover quarantine location for its Northeast Region.

BOP spokesperson Scott Taylor on Friday responded this way when asked about the report Lewisburg is being considered: Strategic institutions will be identified as needed for mandatory movement needs, to include detention centers and empty units that can accommodate required population increases.

These areas will serve as quarantine sites until such time inmates can be moved to their final destination.

Should Lewisburg be selected, inmates designated to the 19 prisons in the Northeast Region would stay there for at least 14 days to be sure they did not have the coronavirus.

The national president of the union that represents corrections officers accuses the BOP of looking at Lewisburg and seeing it has hundreds of unused beds but not considering the staff situation.

The current corrections officers complement is 70 percent of the allotted number, said Shane Fausey, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 33.

Inmate population at the Big House is down to 179, as it is being transitioned from a high- to a medium-security prison.

Fausey was critical of the BOP for considering Lewisburg as a holdover facility without consulting the local community.

Hospitals in the area could not handle a major outbreak of COVID-19 in Lewisburg or the Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex that has nearly 3,100 inmates in three prisons, he said.

He also was critical of the BOP sending Lewisburg staff members to help in prisons with coronavirus cases, citing the possibility they could carry the virus when they return home.

As of Friday, 22 staffers from Lewisburg have been deployed to assist locations experiencing shortages including the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and the Elkton prison in Lisbon, Ohio, Taylor said.

As a large nationwide system, we are able to leverage and transfer resources from institutions without incidences of COVID-19 to institutions with greater need, he explained.

The BOP daily issues a report listing the number of prisoners and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 along with inmate deaths.

Those figures are not accurate, Fausey claims, noting that the BOP does not have sufficient tests to screen all inmates and staff who become ill.

The numbers do not include inmates or staff members who are ill but not tested, he said. We really dont know how bad it is, he said.

Ohio provided additional tests for Elkton and Gov. Mike DeWine sent 25 medically trained National Guard members there to assist staff, he said.

There are issues across the country, Fausey said. Im scratching my head asking who is making the decisions, he said. Officials seem to be reacting instead of planning, he said.

Taylor referred to a statement in which Fausey commended the BOP for its swift and decisive actions to combat the COVID-19 actions.

That was issued in mid-March before the current issues arose including the movement of inmates during the pandemic, Fausey said.

U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, R-Pa., has introduced legislation to stop the transfers claiming these movements increase the risk of spreading COVID-19.

The union warned three years when the BOP started cutting staff positions that a perfect storm was on the horizon, Fausey said. Were standing in the middle of it, he said.
- The World Health Organisation on Friday denied having brushed off a Taiwanese warning on human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus soon after its outbreak in China late last year.

The US has accused the body of "putting politics first" by ignoring Taiwan's warning in late December, and thus helping Beijing conceal the pandemic's gravity.

President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold funding for the WHO, which is at the forefront of fighting the pandemic that has infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide since emerging in Wuhan, China.

The United States said Thursday it was "deeply disturbed that Taiwan's information was withheld from the global health community, as reflected in the WHO's January 14, 2020 statement that there was no indication of human-to-human transmission".

But on Friday the Geneva-based UN body sent AFP an email in which it denied the charges.

The WHO said it received an email on December 31 from Taiwanese authorities which mentioned "press reports of cases of atypical pneumonia in Wuhan and that Wuhan authorities believed "it was not SARS", or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome which killed 774 people in 2002 and 2003.

"There was no mention in this mail of human-to-human transmission," the WHO maintained.

The UN body said it had asked Taiwanese authorities to show how it "communicated to us" their suspicions about transmission, insisting "we are only aware of this single email which makes no mention of transmission between humans".

"But we have not received a response," the WHO said.

Its boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has urged world leaders "not to politicise the virus" has received the backing of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who said it was not the time to criticise an "essential organisation".

Relations between the WHO and Taiwan had been strained even before the pandemic but have deteriorated even further over the past three months.

Critics of Tedros have accused the WHO under his leadership of being too close to Beijing and complimentary of China's response to the coronavirus.

Some public health experts say that the WHO had little choice but to cooperate with China to preserve access in Wuhan.

China considers Taiwan -- a self-ruling democracy where the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949 -- to be a province awaiting reunification and has sought to exclude it from all international organisations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
I felt a pit in my stomach when I tried ordering food online and the wait times were at least one week for local grocery delivery. The wait for Amazon Prime was even longer. When news of an impending strike by Instacart workers crossed my Twitter feed, I knew I had to reach out for help.

Throughout my life Ive tried to not depend on anyone for anything, a subtle lesson I learned from my family, which valued independence over neediness. Ive done almost everything alone  from traveling to buying a home. And the few times Ive needed help, the surprise acquaintance or stranger has shown up and gone the extra mile.

This time is no different. A Manhattan Whole Foods was still doing same day delivery so my colleague placed an order for me and offered to send it in an Uber.

A friend in her 70s offered to sleep on my couch for the next few weeks and help with the baby, but was afraid she didnt know whether she carried the virus. Instead, she called and sang lullabies to my son on a night when he couldnt sleep, and has been a source of calm when the crying bouts get too loud and I run out of ideas.

Another friend, a fellow single mother, offered me her sons room to sleep in so I wouldnt be alone. And countless women journalists have offered advice, text check-ins and middle-of-the-night messages of support, which I have come to rely on.

One thing I hope people take away from this time is never to assume that everyone has friends and family they can count on in a crisis, no matter who they are. Right now there are victims of domestic violence who are fearing for their lives amid this shut down, older Americans who have no visitors and people who have been dealing with mental health issues like depression and anxiety that are only getting worse. Social distancing is absolutely necessary, but it also stands to magnify our national empathy gap, which is evidenced by the soaring rates of loneliness and suicide.

The current moment will require social networks, familial or not, in order to survive. We will need places to shelter in place, people to forge for food and care for our children and for our elders. We will be forced to recognize that asking and accepting help is not a moral failing but a human need. Social animals require society in order to survive.
Six Thailand nationals, who



tested positive for coronavirus and are undergoing treatment at a government hospital near here were arrested for allegedly indulging in religious preaching in violation of visa norms, police said on Friday.

The arrest was effected in the Perundurai IRT Government Medical College hospital on Thursday evening, days after cases were registered against them under relevant sections of IPC.

Police personnel were posted outside the isolation ward of the hospital, where the six are undergoing treatment.

The action was taken based on a complaint by local Tahsildar lodged with the police.

The Thai Nationals, who possessed tourist visas engaged themselves in Islamic preaching despite suffering from COVID- 19, they said.

In all, a group of seven Thailand nationals came here some three weeks ago, stayed at Kollampalayam Housing Unit complex and engaged themselves in preaching.

One among them died due to kidney ailment at a government hospital in Coimbatore. The remaining six tested positive for coronavirus, prompting authorities to launch a massive contact tracing of those who had attended the preaching sessions and others.

District Collector, C Kathiravan said 1.66 lakh people in the district have been kept under home quarantine.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Advertisement

Hundreds of people dying in their homes or on the street in New York City are not being including in the coronavirus death count even if they had symptoms - suggesting the city may be significantly under-counting its COVID-19 fatalities.

Data from the NYC fire department shows that 1,125 people died in their homes or on the street in the first five days of April alone, which is more than eight times the number of deaths recorded this time last year when when 131 people died.

The daily tally of residents who died at home with coronavirus-like symptoms exploded from 45 on March 20 to 241 on April 5, the data shows.

The fire department data is based on information collected during 911 calls involving cardiac or respiratory arrest with fever and cough - symptoms that are in line with severe coronavirus cases.

While those symptoms could also fit diseases such as influenza, the steep rise coincides with the surge in coronavirus cases and deaths in New York City.

Refrigerated trucks acting as makeshift morgues are parked outside multiple hospitals, including at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn

Hundreds of people dying in their homes or on the street in New York City are not being including in the coronavirus death count even if they had symptoms - as the city shortens the amount of time it will hold unclaimed remains before they are buried on Hart Island

Between March 20 and April 5, the number of coronavirus-like cases, including patients who survived, tripled from 94 to 322.

The percentage of calls in which paramedics could not save the person rose from 48 percent percent to 75 percent.

Paramedics have not been testing people for coronavirus if they die at home or on the street. It suggests that the soaring death toll from the virus could be much higher than currently reported.

The death toll in New York City increased by 518 on Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths to more than 4,700. The number of infections increased by 7,500 to bring the total cases to more than 87,000.

As New York City deals with the mounting coronavirus death toll and dwindling morgue space, the city has now shortened the amount of time it will hold unclaimed remains before they are buried on Hart Island - the city's public cemetery.

Under the new policy, the medical examiner's office will keep bodies in storage for just 14 days before they're buried in potter's field on Hart Island.

The city has used Hart Island to bury New Yorkers with no known next of kin or whose family are unable to arrange a funeral since the 19th century.

Bodies are taken away from refrigerated morgue trailers at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center on Friday

Healthcare workers remove a body from a refrigerated morgue trailer at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn

Healthcare workers are pictured removing a body from Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center on Friday

Typically, about 25 bodies are buried there once a week by low-paid Rikers Island jail inmates. That number began increasing last month as the new coronavirus spread rapidly and New York became the epicenter of the pandemic.

They are now burying about two dozen bodies a day, five days a week.

Until now, officials have remained tight-lipped on whether coronavirus victims were being buried on Hart Island. On Thursday, officials said they had no choice but to bury COVID-19 patients at the city's cemetery as it deals with the mounting coronavirus death toll and dwindling morgue space.

It comes after aerial images captured contracted laborers burying about 40 cases in a huge trench on Hart Island on Thursday.

City officials haven't explained whether the increase in burials at Hart Island is due to pressure on mortuaries to dispose of bodies more quickly.

Prisoners from Rikers Island are usually brought in to dig graves on Hart Island but the Department of Corrections has since hired contracted laborers to carry out the work due to the outbreak.

'For social distancing and safety reasons, city-sentenced people in custody are not assisting in burials for the duration of the pandemic,' DOC Press Secretary Jason Kersten told DailyMail.com. 'Contracted laborers are performing this important work under DOC supervision.

'Burial operations at the city cemetery remain uninterrupted and they continue to be supervised by DOC, which has been performing this solemn duty on Hart Island for over 150 years and will continue to do so until the jurisdiction of Hart Island moves to Parks in 2021.'

About a dozen workers were seen digging and burying the caskets - some of which had names carved into them - on Thursday as at least one refrigerated truck was brought onto the island

Those dressed in hazmat suits had to use a ladder to get down into the mass grave on Thursday as the new caskets were buried. They were watched by a corrections officer (far right)

At least 45 caskets - some of which had names carved into them - appeared to be buried in the mass grave on Thursday morning alone

For burial on the island, the dead are wrapped in body bags and placed inside pine caskets. The deceased's name is scrawled in large letters on each casket, which helps if any body needs to be exhumed later. The caskets are buried in long narrow trenches excavated by digging machines.

The chief medical examiner's spokeswoman, Aja Worthy-Davis, said on Thursday it would take time to collate individual causes of death from the office's records, but that it was probable some of the recent burials include those felled by the coronavirus.

OCME can store about 800 to 900 bodies in its buildings and also has room to store about 4,000 bodies in some 40 refrigerated trucks it can dispatch around the city to hospitals that typically have only small morgues.

The city's 2008 Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan states that Hart Island would be used as a temporary burial site in the event the death toll reaches the tens of thousands and other storage is full.

Brooklyn undertaker Thomas Cheeseman said funeral homes are so backed up, some people will inevitably end up being temporarily interred.

Cheeseman said the new deadlines are putting a strain on funeral homes as more and more families seek arrangements for loved ones fallen by coronavirus.

'We, the funeral directors, are overwhelmed,' Cheeseman said.

'We're inundated. The crematory can't even take bodies for two weeks. The funeral homes don't have refrigerated trucks parked out front.'

The caskets were stacked three on top of each other in the mass grave as inmates used a digger to help transport the bodies

Mayor Bill DeBlasio said earlier in the week that officials have explored the possibility of temporary burials on Hart Island, a strip of land in Long Island Sound that has long served as the city's potter's field
By Tom Hals

April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. medical professionals on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic are lobbying policymakers for protection from potential malpractice lawsuits as hospitals triage care and physicians take on roles outside their specialties.

State chapters of the powerful American Medical Association and other groups representing healthcare providers have been pressing governors for legal cover for decisions made in crisis-stricken emergency rooms.

More than half a dozen emergency room doctors and nurses told Reuters they are concerned about liability as they anticipate rationing care or performing unfamiliar jobs due to staff and equipment shortages caused by the outbreak.

Governors in New York, New Jersey and Michigan have responded with orders that raised the standard for injuries or deaths while working in support of the state's response to COVID-19 from negligence to gross negligence, or an egregious deviation from standard care.

Physicians, who have long blamed malpractice lawsuits for driving up healthcare costs, hope other states will follow.

"There are too many variables here. We are going to be second-guessed," said Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in Boston. "We need better protection, if only to guard against unreasonable claims."

On Monday, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, introduced legislation that would protect U.S. doctors who practice outside their area of specialty or who use a modified medical device. Doctors would also be protected for providing treatment outside standard healthcare facilities.

Plaintiffs firms that specialize in malpractice are keeping an eye on how healthcare providers are responding to the crisis.

The Doan Law Firm, which has offices nationwide, said on its website that some providers are adopting "untested treatment plans or use hastily-designed and manufactured patient care equipment" that could "lead to medical malpractice."

Jimmy Doan, the firm's founder, did not respond to a request for comment.

Story continues

President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that the outbreak could kill up to 240,000 in the United States and said that the impact would intensify in coming weeks, potentially overwhelming hospitals.

Doctors and nurses said they worried about the lack of equipment and obligations to resuscitate patients without the ventilators needed to do it.

In an example of how healthcare professionals could be exposed to malpractice lawsuits, several doctors said the increasing demand for hospital beds meant they weren't able to be as cautious as they normally might be with non-coronavirus patients.

Doctors routinely order extensive testing and overnight observation for patients with mild heart conditions or strokes, even if their symptoms have disappeared once they get to the hospital, for example. Now, they are sending these individuals home to make room for COVID-19 patients.

COSTLY

Malpractice lawsuits can be very costly. A Baltimore jury last year awarded $229 million for brain damage suffered by a girl born at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, for example.

Insurance premiums can top $100,000 a year for some specialists in states without caps on damages.

An image was posted on Twitter last week of a malpractice law firm's website which featured a blog post titled "What you should know about medical negligence during the COVID-19 crisis."

"It truly disgusts me to see what badness comes out during a crisis like this," wrote Eugene Yang, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington who tweeted the post, which drew dozens of comments, many from healthcare professionals, sharing his rage.

The website of the law firm, Mannarino & Brasfield, has been taken offline and a recorded message on the firm's answering system said the post was published by an outside contractor. The firm's phone message apologized and said the post did not reflect the firm's values.

Joe Belluck, a New York lawyer who brings medical malpractice cases, said he's concerned the coronavirus crisis could be used to enact a wish list of changes sought by doctors, hospitals and the medical industry to curb unrelated lawsuits.

"I just hope these things are done in a way that is tailored to the crisis taking place," he said.

Lawyers who represent patients said the law already protects medical professionals. To make their case, patients must show a medical provider negligently deviated from the reasonable standard of care for the particular circumstances.

An emergency room doctor operating in the peak chaos of the coronavirus outbreak wouldn't be judged against the standard of care provided in a physician's private office, they said.

"The question I would ask is, why arent the ordinary liability rules already sufficient to address the issues?" said Chip Becker of the Kline & Specter law firm in Philadelphia.

Kimberly Chernoby, an emergency room doctor in Indiana who works with BWH's Faust on brief19.com, a website that reviews COVID-19 research and policy, said she's not reassured.

Were in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Who knows whats reasonable?" she said. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware Editing by Noeleen Walder and Sonya Hepinstall)
Chandigarh, April 10 : With five new cases surfacing in Haryana on Friday, the total number of coronavirus cases rose to 161. Among the active cases, nearly 80 per cent of them belong to the Tablighi Jamaat, health officials said.

A majority of the cases came from four districts that lie within 50-60 km of Delhi.

After Muslim-dominated Nuh (Mewat) and upscale Gurugram, Faridabad and Palwal districts have become state's coronavirus new hotspot where the virus containment plans also came into effect.

The only saving grace for them is that no new case was reported from the hotspot districts in the past 24 hours.

Nuh has the highest number of 38 cases, followed by 32 in Gurugram and 28 each in Palwal and Faridabad.

A day earlier, Health Minister Anil Vij told media that out of active 136 coronavirus patients in the state, 108 belonged to the Tablighi Jamaat, which means nearly 80 per cent of them belonged to the Jamaat -- the super-spreader.

Vij said 15,000 people with foreign travel history had been quarantined.

He held the Tablighi Jamaat accountable for the Covid-19 spread that was otherwise under control in the state.

On the containment plan for each district, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rajeev Arora said the government is undertaking extensive screening, sampling, and testing to trace cases and prevent local transmission.

"We are going to test 450 samples in all hotspots -- Gurgaon, Nuh, Palwal and Faridabad -- and a minimum 125 tests in other districts," he said.

He said the state is currently in Stage II. "We have to identify symptomatic persons and their contacts." According to state's health bulletin, Haryana has so far sent 3,496 samples for testing out of which 2,443 have come out negative, while the result in remaining 892 is awaited.

Palwal Chief Medical Officer Brahm Deep Singh said a majority of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the district have attended the Markaz or came into contact with those who returned from Markaz.

Director General of Police Manoj Yadava said the Tablighi Jamaat members entered the state ahead of the March 25 nationwide lockdown.

"The violation on their part is that they hid their travel history and were actively socialising with people," he said.

On Thursday the state recorded three positive cases, much relief from a day earlier when 24 cases were reported.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who sanctioned Rs 5 crore for sanitization of 2,588 panchayats, has asked the Deputy Commissioners to prepare containment plans as well as set up committees to implement them to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has prepared district containment plans as a precaution, an official statement said on Thursday.

A spokesman said 36 villages in Nuh district, which reported 38 positive cases, have been declared as containment zone and its 104 villages as buffer zone so that people can be investigated.

The movement of residents in the containment zones is restricted and all these areas will be sealed by the police.

In Palwal district, another coronavirus hotspot, nine villages have been ordered to be sealed, declaring their area as a containment zone as well as 27 adjacent villages as buffer zone.

Similarly in Panchkula town, the Nada Sahib area, Civil Hospital in Sector 6, Command Hospital and bus stand have been declared as containment zones, while Moginand, Sector-7, MDC-4 and Sector-10 have been declared as buffer zones.

Thirteen areas in Faridabad district have been declared as containment zone, including Sectors 11, 37, 16, 3 and 28, Badkhal village, Green Field Colony, A.C. Nagar, Fatehpur Taga, Khori, Chandpur Aura, Mohana and Ranheda villages.

The spokesman said that no positive cases of corona have been reported so far in Rohtak, Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Yamunanagar, Sirsa, Kurukshetra, Sonipat and Rewari districts.

Fourteen Italian patients were admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, out of which 13 have been discharged, the state's Health Department bulletin said.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
The event will open for readers via the e-commerce trading floor at Book365.vn, featuring online booths by accredited publishing houses and distribution companies.

Participants in the event can place orders for newly published books and join online exchanges and talks with book authors and speakers.

The online orders will be delivered to customers by the Vietnam Post and the National Newspapers Distribution Company.

The book fair will also include activities to promote reading culture and raise public awareness of COVID-19 prevention and control, thus calling for joint effort in the fight against the epidemic.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued Decision No.284/QD-TTg on February 24, 2014, designating April 21 as Vietnam Book Day in order to encourage reading culture among the public.
Chick-fil-A founder's daughter on how mother's quiet faith, strength led to company's success

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  Trudy Cathy White, the daughter of Chick-fil-A's founder S. Truett Cathy and his wife, Jeannette, shared how the faith and quiet strength of her mother contributed to the massive success of the fast-food restaurant beloved by millions of Americans.

White sat down with The Christian Post to discuss her new book, A Quiet Strength, which recounts the life and legacy of Jeannette Cathy, who died in 2015 at the age of 92. Truett Cathy preceded her in death in 2014.

A lot of people know about my dad who invented Chick-fil-A in 1946; theyve heard his story and read a great deal about him, White said. But the story of my mother has never been told. She was such an inspiration to our family. In fact, we would say that we would not be who we are, nor would the business be what it is today, had it not been for the influence of our mom.

When Truett and Jeanette Cathy first married, they worked side-by-side, faithfully building up the Chick-fil-A business, White revealed.

My mother worked as a waitress and did all the accounting and bookkeeping for the restaurant, she recalled. And then when children came along, she realized that my dad was going to be working long hours, and she needed to be a stay at home mom and work from there.

But she did not take that calling lightly at all, she said. She actually is what I call a domestic engineer. She took care of that house, she kept everything organized. She took us wherever we needed to be. And she felt a sense of calling and fulfillment in that.

According to White, her mother was dubbed the "Chief Supporting Officer" for the positive, uplifting way she championed her husband, family, and the company behind-the-scenes.

She was the support behind my dad and everything that he did, White added. She always wanted to make sure that when he walked out the door, he was ready to be able to do his very best. Because of her, he was able to be successful."

The companys dedication to prayer and biblical principles, she said, is largely due to Jeannettes influence. She described her mother as having a simple, yet powerful motto she lived by: "You can with God."

My mother was a prayer warrior, White said. A big part of our culture at Chick-fil-A is to pray for one another, and that is the influence of my mother that has permeated the restaurant culture. She, like my father, believed good business practices are a result of good biblical principles, and we can apply those biblical principles to the practices that we have in business. She believed that God really has the formula for success in life.

The goal of our restaurants is to be a faithful steward of what's been entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A, she continued. So much of this stemmed from mom's intimate walk with the Lord. She would constantly challenge us to make sure that we were stewarding well what God's entrusted to us.

The companys policy of closing on Sunday, White revealed, was also influenced by her mother, who believed in the importance of taking a day of rest after a long work week.

My father would work so hard for six days, and hed physically be very tired, she said. He and my mother decided it was best to close on Sunday because the Bible teaches that we need to take a day of rest to honor the Lord.

Thats why, today, we're committed as a family to keep our restaurants closed on Sunday, White added. Not only is it a big help to our staff to realize they have that day off, but we know it's an opportunity to really honor God through it.

Jeanettes love for her Heavenly Father was birthed from a place of longing, White said, explaining that her grandfather had abandoned her mother when she was just 3 months old.

She (my mom) was raised by a single mother, White recalled. When she realized that she could be a child of God's, she was just enthralled by that and realized that she wanted to give her life to Christ and follow Him. Her Heavenly Father became her perfect Father for the rest of her life.

My mother understood that life can be tough, and there are a lot of difficulties that we all have to face, she continued, but we get to choose how we respond to our circumstances. Jesus was so real to her; she talked to Him, sang songs to Him, memorized Scripture, and challenged us to walk with the Lord as well. She would always say: Remember whose you are. She wanted to help us to remember that our identity is wrapped up in who God is and what He's doing in our lives and not in who we are, what we do, or what we have accomplished.

Though she worked at the family business for many years, White and her husband, John, went on to serve as missionaries in Brazil. Later, they co-founded Lifeshape and the Impact 360 Institute, two faith-based nonprofit organizations. Married for 40 years, the couple has four children and 15 grandchildren.

My mother was not just an incredible role model for me as a person as a follower of Christ, but as a wife, mother, and grandmother as well, White said. She prayed for all of us and was our biggest encourager. There's a great verse In Isaiah that says, In quietness and trust is your strength. And that is the reflection of who my mom was.

Today, alongside her brothers, Dan Cathy, the CEO of Chick-fil-A, and Bubba Cathy, senior vice-president of the fast-food chain, White continues to support the family business and carry on her parents' legacy of faith and perseverance.

I hope my mothers story encourages other women  whether they are businesswomen or stay-at-home mothers  to know that they can make a significant, God-glorifying impact wherever they are, White said. A lot of times women feel that if theyre not in the spotlight, they cant be much of an influence. But my mother was perhaps the greatest influence behind both the success of Chick-fil-A and her family due to her faith and quiet strength.

My mother, she added, was willing to step aside and let others get the praise. She always said, If you help others get what they want in life, youll get what you want out of life. Thats the challenge my mother took on. She helped others achieve what they wanted to achieve because she didnt need the praise. Her identity was firmly placed in Christ, and thats an example I think will inspire all women.
What The Study Did: This case series describes clinical characteristics of patients who died of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China.

Authors: Haibo Qiu, M.D., Ph.D., of Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University in Jiangsu, China, is the corresponding author.

To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.5619)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflicts of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

###

Media advisory: The full study is linked to this news release.

Embed this link to provide your readers free access to the full-text article This link will be live at the embargo time http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.5619?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=041020

About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is the new online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.
Algiers, Algeria (PANA) - Algeria recorded 94 new confirmed cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) in 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 1,666, the spokesperson of the Scientific Committee for monitoring the evolution of the pandemic, Djamel Fourar, announced on Thursday
Another synagogue in Huntsville has been targeted by anti-Semitic graffiti.

The Chabad of Huntsville, a Jewish house of worship and private home off Governors Drive, was spray-painted with swastikas and racial slurs overnight. Its the second Jewish facility to be vandalized in the city in as many days. On Wednesday night, as the Jewish Passover holiday began, Etz Chayim, the Conservative synagogue on Bailey Cove Road, was similarly vandalized.

We do not condone this, said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle at a press conference outside the Chabad this morning. We are going to make sure we protect our community.

City leaders vowed to bring to justice those responsible for the vandalism. The FBI is helping with the investigation.

Huntsville police Chief Mark McMurray praised Alabamas hate crime law as he said that the graffiti is a criminal act. A reward of up to $2,000 is being offered through Huntsville Crime Stoppers for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the vandalism. Anyone with information is asked to call 256-53-CRIME (532-7463).

To the person who did this were asking for you to go ahead and turn yourself in McMurray said.

Huntsville police have released photos from surveillance footage of a suspect. Not great quality, but its what they have. Anyone with info about the vandalism at the synagogues is asked to call crime stoppers at 256-532-7463. pic.twitter.com/TD2e34sHQe  Ashley Remkus (@aremkus1) April 10, 2020

The Jewish Federation of Huntsville and North Alabama released a statement condemning both incidents and saying the Jewish community is under attack.

In the night, during one of the holiest times of the year for the Jewish people, cowards have now attacked us twice, the statement says.

Passover is an annual commemoration of the story of Exodus. Jewish families gather in homes and retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

An attack on the Jewish community is an attack on all of us, the federation said in the statement. Its meant to terrify us. Make no mistake, we will not be scared out of this wonderful place we call home.

Instead we will use this as a rallying cry to squelch the sickness of hatred and bigotry in our community, the statement continues. Everyone should feel safe to practice their religion and should not be targeted for who they are. Period.

Tobias Mendelson, president of the federation, called for the community to come together in opposition to hated, bigotry and intolerance.

We will not let the acts of a vicious individual or small group deter us from staying in a place the Jewish people have called home for well over a century, he said in a statement.

Battle called the vandalism thoughtless, senseless and stupid.

You cant fathom why somebody would try to do something like this, he said. Theres anger here, theres sadness.

6 Huntsville Jewish synagogue vandalized

This story was last updated at 5:47 p.m.
Occidental Petroleum wants U.S. government financial aid for the oil industry even as the biggest producer of Permian Basin crude urges Texas regulators not to interfere with market forces.

In a sign of how important the appeal is to Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub, employees are being urged to send a pre-written wish list to Congress members. Among other things, the company wants the government to provide liquidity to the energy industry through this period of unprecedented demand destruction and unsustainable pricing until normal economic conditions return.

The letter, linked in an internal email dated April 7 and seen by Bloomberg News, also encourages the Trump administration to negotiate with Saudi Arabia and end the kingdoms price war with Russia. Lawmakers are asked to advocate for fair access for U.S. crude to Asian markets and to support buying oil for the nations Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

A representative for Occidental declined to comment.

The email was sent the same day that Occidental appealed to the Texas Railroad Commission to reject mandated production cuts. Occidental said output caps, which have been strongly supported by some of the companys smaller Permian rivals, would be extremely short-sighted and would interfere with contractual obligations.

Resolve itself

It is Occidentals position that the surge in the supply of oil coupled with the decline in oil demand will resolve itself without state regulatory interference, the company told the Railroad Commission, the states primary oil regulator.

The commission is set to hold a meeting next week to consider what would be the first production curtailments in almost half a century.

Occidentals stock has been hit especially hard in the wake of crudes historic meltdown as the coronavirus outbreak crushes demand and Saudi Arabia floods crude markets as part of a market-share battle with Russia.

OSBORNE: With $39 billion in debt, can Houston-based Occidental Petroleum survive the oil crash?

Hollub has faced criticism over her decision last year to amass debt in order to beat Chevron Corp. in a bidding war for Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Occidental has seen its bonds fall to junk and has recently replaced its chief financial officer.

She joined other oil executives in a meeting last week with President Donald Trump. Prior to the gathering, there had been some expectation that Trump could bolster the chances of a deal between OPEC and its allies by committing the U.S. to some sort of supply curtailments. But the meeting ended without any public declaration of a plan to cut domestic output, with Trump saying its a free market and up to Saudi Arabia and Russia to solve their dispute.

This letter lists the steps our government needs to take immediately, Hollub said in the email to employees. Now more than ever, we all need to inform our elected officials that inaction could result in long-lasting harm to the U.S. economy.
Having taught and been a CBS principal over a 43-year period, former Edmund Rice NS principal Brian MacMahon says teachers are doing a great job but need to consider the amount of homework they are giving parents to work with their children on, in some cases.

In an open letter to teachers sent to this newspaper Mr MacMahon, who retired in 2018, said: 'As a retired principal, I am very reluctant to pass judgement on the work that serving teachers are currently doing to keep their students as up to date as they can with their studies. However, listening to some teenagers and also to the opinions of child psychologists I would like to simply offer some food for thought.

'Anyone who worked with me when I was a primary school principal will know that I had very mixed views on the benefits of homework at the best of times. It has very limited educational value, especially at primary level. It is often very poorly designed and often consists of box ticking and space filling exercises and it often really stresses parents out when it involves maths and Irish they don't really understand or remember themselves.'

With families now more or less in lockdown, he is cautioning that teachers really need to be very careful about the type and amount of work they send home to their pupils. 'Principals need to attempt to regulate the flow of the work being sent. A secondary school first year pupil could have nine or more teachers inundating them with assignments and deadlines. I heard of two separate instances of pupils being set deadlines such as 'Midnight on Sunday' for assignments and then reminded by e-mail on a Saturday that the assignment hadn't been received. I've heard of pupils being asked to scan items, to print items, etc. Has every home got the appropriate tools to do that?

'I hear that the gardai have noticed an increase in call-outs for domestic violence and that Childline calls are on the increase. This is only anecdotal evidence I admit, but if it's true, then we have serious issues bubbling up other than the coronavirus.'

Suggested alternatives for teachers would be: creating podcasts of lessons; uploading video lessons on YouTube; creating blogs where pupils can log on for discussions; sharing video links to educational sites and broadcasts; using programmes such as 'zoom' to hold group discussions with the pupils online, etc, he said.

'I understand that most Leaving Cert students seem to be very well catered for and mostly seem to be working away. They will also need social interaction with their peers. Their mental health is hugely important at this point in time. A very wise man once asked a group of school principals the question: "Why do children come to school? And we all gave the predictable answers such as "They come to school to learn etc." "No", he said. "Children come to school to be with their friends." The point he was making was that the socialisation skills that children learn at school are hugely important and that interacting with other children is a hugely important part of their lives. Allowing them to be children is very important.'

He said now that children are really missing seeing their friends, and parents are too, it is important that schools do not add to the pressure that families are now under.

'By all means keep in touch, provide assignments and advice. But remember that education isn't about filling vessels. It's about opening minds. It's a process and not a product. Please be conscious of the many difficulties being faced within homes at this point in time and maybe just take the foot off the pedal a little? Pupils will often learn more from what you do than from what you say.'

'Pupils will very quickly catch up on missed classes when we get back to normal. This health crisis is a mental health crisis for many.

It's a difficult time for teachers too,' he said.

'Congratulations to all the teachers who are doing fantastic work. You need to look after yourselves too! Don't feel under so much pressure to achieve results in such difficult times as these. It's up to school principals to set the tone in each school and the Department of Education has a role to play as well in moderating expectations. This is new territory for everyone. Let's all continually reflect on the actions we are taking each day. Keeping all our children healthy and in a positive frame of mind should be the focus. Many schools are doing exactly that, especially at primary level. I understand that there are higher expectations and increased pressure at secondary level and that is where most of my concern lies. As stated at the outset, this letter is simply by way of offering some food for thought from one who is retired and has all the time in the world to sit and think.'
The week of New Years, Clean Slate Eatery was serving lobster, duck and caviar. Now, known as La Tacodilla, its serving tacos.

In an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker ordered all bars and restaurants to close indoor seating, leaving takeout and delivery options.

So, Clean Slate Eatery in West Dennis decided tacos  and a name change  were the best way to keep operating.

Tacos make people happy, Jason Montigel, co-owner and taco chef, told Cape Cod Online. Thats the main reason why we are doing this.

The restaurant announced the decision in March and is currently operating Friday through Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The tacos are gluten-free and there are vegan cheese options, according to Instagram posts.

Last Friday, Montigel said they served 150 tacos, but that they have the capacity to make about 200 tacos a day, Cape Cod Online reported.

These things are [expletive] delicious, one Instagram post says. Taco pop-ups and quesabirria is essential business.

Related Content:
TAIPEI, Taiwan  A dispute over whether Taiwan warned the World Health Organization about human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus before China did has renewed calls to allow the island to join the organization, over the strong objections of Beijing.

The conflict stems from Taiwan's decadeslong struggle for international recognition and China's insistence that the island and mainland China, separated at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, are one entity and should be reunified.

Now, disagreement over Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO could have consequences not only for the 24 million people living in Taiwan, but also on the health of people around the world. The growing dispute also comes as President Donald Trump increases pressure on the WHO and its response to the outbreak in China.

Officials from Taiwan contend that it told the WHO in a Dec. 31 email about suspected human-to-human transmission of the virus in China's Hubei province  the same day China officially informed the international health body of the first cases of the previously unknown disease.

Joanne Ou, a spokesperson for Taiwan's Foreign Ministry, told NBC News that the warning came from Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control and was sent to China and the WHO.

Ou said health officials in Taiwan knew from the SARS outbreak of 2002-03 that such viruses tend to be transmittable from human to human. "It's the same coronavirus family, which is highly contagious. We informed them of our opinion ... but nobody listened to us," she said recently.

NBC News asked to see the email between Taiwan and the WHO, but Taiwanese officials declined, saying they don't disclose "internal communications" because they are "confidential."

Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said he believes that Taiwan has done an "exceptional job" responding to the crisis and that if it had been a member of the WHO, "we would have learned at least two weeks earlier of the threat we were facing."

Story continues

"In addition, we would have learned at least six weeks earlier that the outbreak could be successfully suppressed and how to do so," he said in an email. "The experience of the last three months shows that exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO decreases the effectiveness of the WHO and increases risks to the world."

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

The WHO denies that Taiwan alerted it about the possibility of human-to-human transmissions in the Dec. 31 email. China's Foreign Ministry has forcefully rejected the implication that it pressured the WHO to ignore Taiwan's early warnings.

As late as Jan. 14, the WHO was tweeting that Chinese investigators had found "no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission."

It wasn't until 10 days later that the WHO announced that there was evidence that the disease was highly contagious and was passed from person to person, four days after China reported it.

The virus has since killed at least 88,900 people around the world, forced governments to put billions of people on lockdown and plunged the world economy into crisis.

Special channel for Taiwan

Taiwan has long complained that it can't get the latest WHO data and guidance directly, nor easily share its information with other countries.

In the past, the WHO required Taiwan to make requests and share data through China, but more recently, the agency has set up a special channel for Taipei to communicate with it directly.

Taiwan's allegation that the WHO mishandled information about the newly discovered disease has highlighted the fact that it is locked out of the agency. Just how sensitive this is came into startling focus on March 28 after a senior WHO official appeared to hang up on a journalist from Hong Kong who asked him about the island's membership.

It is an embarrassing scene. @WHO Director General, Bruce Aylward, hangs up in an interview with RTHK when he is asked about reconsidering Taiwans membership. Ironically, despite being so close to China, Taiwan manages to keep the #coronavirus infection and fatality rate low. pic.twitter.com/bFWRXpCyHN  Ezra Cheung (@ezracheungtoto) March 28, 2020

The WHO issued a statement later saying Taiwanese membership is up to WHO member states, not WHO staff members, to decide.

Under President Donald Trump, China and the U.S. have become embroiled in seemingly constant friction, from the trade war and protests in Hong Kong to allegations that Beijing initially tried to cover up the outbreak.

The president and members of his administration have also angered Chinese officials by accusing Beijing of not having alerted the world quickly enough to the severity of the outbreak and by using the terms "China virus" and "Chinese virus."

Now, the Trump administration has stepped into the dispute over whether Taiwan should be in the WHO, criticizing it for allegedly having bowed to Chinese pressure.

"They missed the call. They could have called it," Trump said of the WHO during Tuesday's coronavirus briefing. "They would have known, and they should have known, and they probably did know."

He also took issue with the agency's criticism of his ban on travel from China in early February, calling the agency "China-centric" and threatening to review the millions of dollars the U.S. contributes to the agency's budget.

The WHO has responded to such criticisms by insisting that it actively sought information from China, gauged the situation through its own means and shared its findings with the world.

On Wednesday, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus defended the organization, saying the agency works closely with every nation, while urging the U.S and others to join forces in the efforts against the virus.

"The focus of all political parties is to save the people. Please don't politicize the virus," he said.

The WHO has also praised China for having quickly identified the new virus and shared its data.

According to the WHO, the organization was informed of cases of an unknown pneumonia in Wuhan on Dec. 31. From Dec. 31 to Jan. 3, China reported 44 cases of pneumonia of "unknown etiology," the organization has said.

According to the state-run newspaper China Daily, authorities there said they began regularly informing the WHO, "relevant countries" and regions, and China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan about the pneumonia outbreak starting Jan. 3.

Trump's comments about the WHO and China followed the signing into law on March 26 of the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act, under which the U.S. government agreed to advocate for Taiwan's participation in international organizations.

"The responsibility now falls to the United States government to comply with each and every component of that," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said later.

On Friday, the State Department called for Taiwan to be given observer status in the WHO's World Health Assembly, specifically citing Taiwan's success in fighting the coronavirus.

"Taiwan is a leader in preventing the spread of COVID-19. The United States and Taiwan hope to share the Taiwan Model with countries around the world. Taiwan has a role to play in global health and should be a World Health Assembly observer," the department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs said on Twitter.

Image: Travelers pass through a health screening checkpoint at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan in southern China's Hubei province (Emily Wang / AP)

Taiwan participated in the World Health Assembly as an observer when relations between Beijing and Taipei were relatively goodfrom 2009 to 2016. Since 2017, Beijing has prevented Taiwan from participating.

On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian lashed out at officials in Taiwan, saying that since the outbreak authorities on the island "have been going high and low for reckless political manipulation and continuously playing up Taiwans so-called participation in WHO and the World Health Assembly, with the real aim of using the epidemic to seek independence."

"We are firmly opposed to this. Their scheme will never succeed," he added.

China has also reacted to U.S. criticism of its handling of the outbreak by accusing the Trump administration of trying to divert attention from criticism of its own slow response.

In a news briefing March 24, Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, rejected claims that the mainland had initially concealed the epidemic.

"In the past two months or so, the people of the mainland have united as one and worked hard to fight the epidemic," she said. "The achievements they have achieved are universally recognized, and they have won precious time for epidemic prevention for the world."

Zhu added that China had frequently shared health information with Taiwan and that as of March 24 had notified the island's authorities 101 times.

Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts about the coronavirus outbreak

The WHO has also rebutted Taiwan's version of events.

An agency spokesperson, Tarik Jasarevic, told NBC News that the Dec. 31 email didn't mention anything about human-to-human transmission.

"The email said that there were news reports of atypical pneumonia reported in Wuhan and that Wuhan authorities said they believed it was not SARS and that they are doing examinations," Jasarevic said, referring to authorities in the city where the outbreak was first identified. "The email ends by asking WHO if we have any information to share."

China has also forcefully rejected allegations that it pressured the WHO to downplay evidence of human-to-human transmission.

"We believe that the WHO will always properly handle relevant issues in accordance with the one-China principle and General Assembly resolution 2758," Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said March 24, referring to the 1971 U.N. resolution that recognized the People's Republic of China and ejected the Republic of China (Taiwan) from the United Nations.

Image: Medical staff transfer a patient at the Jinyintan hospital, where the patients with pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan (Darley Shen / Reuters)

In his emails to NBC News, Jasarevic also said that despite Taiwan's not being a member, the WHO works closely with Taiwanese authorities, receiving and sharing information and expertise on several health issues.

'Exceptional job'

Taiwan's officials maintain that the island is kept out of most WHO meetings and that communication between the two sides isn't as broad and efficient as it is between the WHO and its member countries.

The coronavirus pandemic and the Dec. 31 email bring up the perennial question of whether the island should be allowed to join the health body.

Chan Chang-chuan, dean of National Taiwan University's College of Public Health, believes Taiwan should be included because it can contribute in ways other countries can't.

He said Taiwan learned about the virus much earlier than others, partly because of its proximity to the mainland and because it speaks the same language, has many Taiwanese people living there and knows how to deal with diseases originating from China.

"Taiwan learned during the SARS outbreak that it cannot expect timely and accurate information from China when it comes to newly emerging diseases," Chan said. "So this time, it tried to find out information on its own."

He said Taiwan's participation in the WHO "could create another possible channel for getting timely and accurate information about China, because we're so close and there's so much interaction."

Renewed scrutiny of Taiwan's relationship with the WHO has come amid widespread praise for the island's handling of the outbreak.

As of Thursday, Taiwan had 380 active cases and five deaths  far fewer than many countries in Asia and regions farther from China. The island swiftly adopted epidemic prevention measures based on the assumption that the coronavirus could be transmitted human to human, actions that helped it avoid widespread transmissions.

Many governments have been criticized for having reacted slowly or not adequately enough, even as they watched the situation in China and elsewhere become serious and as Beijing placed Hubei province's 58 million people under lockdown Jan. 23.

It's not clear whether an early warning from Taiwan, if it had indeed been made and if it had been communicated to other countries, would have made a difference. And regardless of whether Taiwan's inclusion in the WHO would've had an impact, Taiwanese officials hope the island's success in dealing with the disease and stepped-up U.S. support mean its pleas will finally be heard.

"We need the WHO, and the WHO needs Taiwan," the island's health minister, Chen Shih-chung, said at a news conference recently.
A Newark police lieutenant and three other city cops are accused of falsifying records after going bar hopping in full uniform before one of them crashed their car.

The day of drinking eventually ended with Michael Chirico, 55, driving the wrong way down University Avenue, a one-way street, and hitting a car driven by a woman with four children inside, the Essex County Prosecutors Office said on Thursday. He now faces a DUI charge in the Jan. 18 incident.

The woman and children were not injured in the crash, officials said.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens II said his office has zero-tolerance towards officers who violate their oath and the public trust that comes with it.

The reprehensible behavior alleged to have occurred in this case undermines confidence in law enforcement, and gives a bad name to the vast majority of our officers who risk their lives each day to protect the public, said Stephens in a statement. Not only did these officers barhop around the City of Newark while on duty and in full uniform, but they lied in an attempt to cover it up. One officers conduct put innocent people at risk.

Chirico, of Newark, was driving his personal vehicle and was off duty at the time of the crash, Essex County Prosecutors Office spokeswoman Katherine Carter told NJ Advance Media. He separately drank with one officer earlier in the day and then two others later on who were all on duty, she added.

Those cops falsely reported on Jan. 18 they responded to incidents while they were actually drinking at bars throughout Newark, the prosecutors office said. Chirico, Lt. Norberto Soares, 42, and officers Erik Blount, 33, and Tashia Jones, 35, now face a third-degree charge of tampering with public records.

Surveillance footage and other evidence showed they were not present at the location reported in their patrol logs, the prosecutors office said.

Soares, Jones and Blount did not respond to Chiricos crash. Other Newark police officers responded instead, the prosecutors office spokeswoman said.

Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose told NJ Advance Media the cops have all been suspended without pay.

These officers who were charged today do not represent the hard working officers that work hard each and every day, especially during these tough uncertain times risking their lives, Ambrose said.

Newark Police Superior Officers Association Capt. John Chrystal III said the lieutenant who was charged is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The Prosecutor has to prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law, not in the court of the public media, said Chrystal. Just because you are a police officer does not entitle that officer to a watered down version of his Constitutional Rights.

Newark Fraternal Order of Police President James Stewart said it was disheartening to learn of the charges through the media, only after the prosecutors office released a statement and photographs of the officers.

Despite the claims of the Prosecutor, this is not about police officers consuming alcohol, but about omissions on a log sheet, something that clearly should be handled on an administrative level, not in a courtroom, said Stewart.

The Professional Standards Bureau of the Essex County Prosecutors Office, the Newark Police Department Internal Affairs Unit and the Consent Decree Unit conducted the investigation.

All four were charged through summonses and their first court appearance is scheduled for July 7.

NJ Advance Media reporter Steve Strunsky contributed to this report.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told Israel and Brazil that India is ready to do whatever is possible to help its friends in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

Modi made the remarks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro thanked New Delhi for allowing the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and the raw materials to produce it.

The drug has been cited by many as a viable therapeutic solution to fight the coronavirus infection.

"Thank you President @jairbolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times," Modi wrote on Twitter.

India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic, he said.

Modi was responding to a tweet by President Bolsonaro who thanked him for allowing shipment of raw material needed to produce hydroxychloroquine.

In a tweet to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Modi said, "We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends."



"Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fox & Friends host Jedediah Bila has become the latest TV anchor to test positive for coronavirus but says she is 'on the mend' while quarantining at home.

Bila, 41, announced that she and her husband are both recovering from the deadly virus in a social media post on Thursday afternoon.

'I know I've been a little MIA. I'm actually at home recovering from Covid-19. I'm very much on the mend, so please don't worry. My husband is also recovering well at home and Hartley luckily did not get sick,' she said in an Instagram post.

'This is a crazy time in the world, full of so much anxiety and fear. I've learned so much this past week and done so much thinking.

Fox & Friends host Jedediah Bila, 41, announced that she and her husband are both recovering from the deadly virus in a social media post on Thursday afternoon

'Know that I'm sending love, peace, and good energy from my family to yours. I'll be sharing more in the coming weeks. Thank you for your messages. I love and miss you all. xo'

Bila shared a picture alongside her post of her posing with a piece of orange, looking fresh-faced with no make-up and wet hair.

Her Fox colleagues commented on her post, wishing her a speedy recovery.

'I'm very much on the mend, so please don't worry,' the TV host wrote in the post

The Fox News anchor is a regular fixture on the weekend edition of Fox & Friends

Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean wrote: 'So glad you're on the mend - and feeling better. Sending so much love, strength, prayers and hugs too. xoxoxo.'

'So sorry to hear @JedediahBila,' Fox News anchor Heather Childers wrote. 'Thankful you & your husband are on the mend & thank goodness little Hartley is ok!! Sending you all prayer.'

The Fox News anchor is a regular fixture on the weekend edition of Fox & Friends and was previously a co-host on ABC's The View.

Bila is the latest in a string of TV anchors and staffers who have fallen ill with COVID-19.

At least seven Fox News Media employees have tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The network announced earlier this week that an employee in its Washington DC site had been hospitalized due to the virus.

Bila is the latest in a string of TV anchors and staffers who have fallen ill with COVID-19. ABC's Good Morning America cameraman Tony Greer (left) has died due to complications related to the illness. CNN host Brooke Baldwin (right) has also tested positive for COVID-19

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo has tested positive for the virus and has continued hosting his prime-time show from his basement where he is quarantining away from his family. His brother, New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, has made appearances on the show

THE CUOMO SHOW The two Cuomo brothers have become something of a double act in recent weeks on Cuomo Prime Time. CNN anchor Chris Cuomo is now hosting the show from his basement as he quarantines away from his family after he tested positive for COVID-19. His brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, has been making multiple appearances via videolink. The brothers engaged in another round of playful sibling banter on Wednesday night. They covered a range of serious topics surrounding the coronavirus crisis before Chris ended things on a lighter note by bringing up Andrew's new campaign 'Who are you staying home for', which encourages people to focus on how their social distancing affects the health of others. Chris stated that he was staying home for his mother, something Andrew said when he announced the campaign. Chris then flashed a childhood photo on the screen. 'I'm staying home for these two guys at the front,' Chris said of the image, which showed a teenage Andrew wearing a loud pattern shirt, white bell-bottoms and dated afro-like hairstyle. Andrew pretended to be unable to see the embarrassing snap as he removed his microphone saying: 'Bye, Chris.' 'No, no, no, don't do it. Put the mic back on. Don't be like that,' Chris said. 'Take the picture down,' Andrew said, before the playful quarrel ended. Advertisement

CNN anchors Chris Cuomo and Brooke Baldwin revealed that they have also tested positive for the virus.

Cuomo, brother of New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, has continued hosting his prime-time show from his basement where he is quarantining away from his family.

He has shared his symptoms and recovery with viewers on the show.

'I feel lousy because it's nighttime and I'm a little depressed because yesterday and today the fever came back with a little bit more gusto than it had in the past couple of days before that... and that's depressing,' he said on his show Tuesday night.

'It's hard to have a fever for 20 hours a day, it just wears you down, emotionally.'

On Wednesday, ABC's Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts announced the sad news that GMA cameraman Tony Greer died due to complications related to the illness.

Roberts paid a heartfelt tribute to the long-running member of the team.

'He was such a bright light working at our studio for more than six years,' she said.

'You could just feel Tony's beautiful spirit, you could feel it from a mile away.'

Most TV hosts are now filming their shows from their homes in efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

More than 16,000 Americans have died from coronavirus, with the death toll surging to 16,715 on Thursday night.

The number of confirmed cases topped 469,450 as the pandemic continues to make its way across states.
Every year the controversial Yulin Dog Meat festival in China that sees thousands of dogs being beaten and killed for meat receives global criticism.

Now, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has reportedly recognised dogs as 'companion animals' and 'not suitable' to be managed as livestock.

Reuters

This exclusion of dogs from farm animals in the drafted directive could mean that dog meat might be banned from dinner plates from across the country.

Recently, Shenzhen became the first in the country to ban cat and dog meat.

According to the China's Animal Husbandry Law, only animals that are officially, listed as livestock or poultry can be bred, raised, traded and transported for commercial purposes in China.

Shutterstock

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs published a tentative version of the country's Directory of Genetic Resources of Livestock and Poultry. The proposal could potentially save the lives of more than 10 million dogs that are killed for their meat every year in China.

However, a worker from the Ministry has denied that proposal hints at banning the eating of dogs.

The official told Chinese news outlet The Paper the exclusion of dogs in the directory only means they cannot be 'managed' as livestock, and it has nothing to do with the eating or breeding of dogs.

Getty Images

Nevertheless, activists are considering the proposal 'a game-changer moment for animal protection in China'.

Talking to The Guardian Wendy Higgins of Humane Society International (HSI) said that this move signals a major shift, recognising that most people in China dont eat dogs and cats and want an end to the theft of their companion animals for a meat trade that only a small percentage of the population indulge in.

Hopefully, the country will officially ban the consumption of the meat of these companion animals.
Within hours of China lifting an 11-week lockdown on the central city of Wuhan early Wednesday, tens of thousands people had left the city by train and plane alone, according to local media reports. (AP)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency on Tuesday for Tokyo and six other prefectures to ramp up defenses against the spread of the coronavirus. (AP)

The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP)

South Korea on Saturday extended for two weeks guidelines urging people to stick to social distancing. (AP)

Senior high school students begin school semester with online classes in South Korea. Schools remain closed as part of measures taken by the country's government to stop the spread of the coronavirus. (AP)

The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP)

PM Narendra Modi had in a broadcast on April 3 urged the country's 1.3 billion people to switch off lights of their homes at 9 pm for 9 minutes on April 5 and light candles, lamps, torches or use mobile flashlights standing in their balconies in solidarity. (AP)

An Indonesian police officer wearing a helmet modified to resemble coronavirus checks his watch during a campaign to promote awareness of the virus outbreak. (AP)

People queue up outside a bank to withdraw money during a lockdown in India. (AP)

A man enjoys some late afternoon autumn sunshine in a park in Christchurch, New Zealand. (AP)

A Nepalese man flying kite standing on the roof top of his house is silhouetted against the setting sun during lockdown in Kathmandu, Nepal. (AP)
Youve likely heard a few anecdotes by now: A person you know came down with a nasty cold, an unusually terrible flu, cold sweats or a high fever back in December. They think they might have caught the coronavirus early, before the outbreak.

In [late December and early January] I had crazy night sweats that soaked the bed and a strange cold (unlike other colds Ive had) that lingered, went away, and came back, said John, a local man who declined to give his last name. Thought it was weird at the time, and in the midst of this [it] certainly seems suspect, but I keep dismissing it, because the timing doesnt quite line up.

The timing indeed doesn't line up, as Dr. Alexei Wagner, assistant director of Adult Emergency Medicine at Stanfords Department of Emergency Medicine, told SFGATE Friday. As he said, its very unlikely or exceedingly unlikely that there would have been any COVID virus in the U.S. prior to January.

The symptoms that people tend to present with have a lot of overlap with other common viruses like the common cold, influenza, the common flu-type symptoms, he said. So fever, cough, shortness of breath, runny nose, sore throat  there's tons of overlap. And so we've heard [from] a lot of people concerned, OK do I have COVID or do I have just kind of a normal upper-respiratory infection that I don't have to worry about?

The first true case of coronavirus in the United States was in Seattle on Jan. 21. It involved a man who had traveled from Seattle to the Wuhan region in China and subsequently came down with a cough and shortness of breath. A short time later, the coronavirus had emerged in California; Santa Clara County reported the first case in the Bay Area on Jan. 31.

However, a study conducted by Dr. Benjamin Pinksy, the associate professor of pathology and infectious diseases at Stanford University and medical director of Stanfords Clinical Virology Laboratory, found that at this point in time, spread of the coronavirus was actually not yet significant.

Pinsky and his team collected samples from the backs of throats or lung airways from 2,888 patients between Jan. 1 and Feb. 26 who had tested negative for other common respiratory viruses. Then, researchers combined those samples into groups of nine or 10. From there, they pooled those 292 samples for SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19. Just two tested positive, and further testing of those two revealed only two total out of the 2,888 were infected with COVID-19.

I was a little surprised the prevalence was so low, but it was consistent with what our public health officials in California were observing through normal surveillance methods, Pinsky said. Our positives came about the same time that they were identifying an uptick in COVID-19 diagnoses.

The result, Pinksy said, suggested that Stanford was not experiencing significant circulation of the virus among our patients presenting for care with upper respiratory symptoms prior to the third week in February.

Still, that doesnt necessarily mean that those experiencing respiratory symptoms only have the coronavirus or another respiratory infection. As another study more recently found, some affected individuals can contract both.

They basically found that one in five people who had COVID-19 were also infected with other respiratory viruses, Wagner explains. So this is the common cold, the flu-like symptoms. And that was really surprising because people thought earlier in the course of the COVID pandemic, we were saying, OK, if you're positive for one of these other viruses, you are unlikely to have COVID.

Now its clear thats not the case, he said, and medical workers are adapting to provide more individualized care. But first, more testing is needed.

The question about surveillance and infection and when it was here, it really all comes down to testing, he said. Stanford has cleared its backlog, but in California, more than 14,000 tests are still pending.

I own that, Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom said earlier this week. I have a responsibility as your governor to do better.

A number of testing hubs have since been established across California, and to date, the state has conducted nearly 165,000 tests, according to the COVID Tracking project.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: alyssa.pereira@sfgate.com | Twitter: @alyspereira


Jack Phillips back in court for refusing to bake lawyers transgender 'birthday cake'

Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Colorado baker Jack Phillips was back in court Thursday after a lawyer filed a second lawsuit against him for refusing to create a gender-transition "birthday cake."

Phillips, who was victorious at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 following years of litigation for refusing to make a custom cake for a same-sex wedding in 2012  at a time when the state of Colorado did not recognize same-sex marriage  is again being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Despite the high court's 7-2 ruling in his favor two years ago, which found that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had shown "clear and impermissible hostility" on the basis of Phillips' religion and violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the same state agency pursued another case against Phillips because he declined to make a cake celebrating transgenderism.

Phillips filed a lawsuit against the state alleging harassment and it subsequently dropped the matter.

After that, a local trans activist and attorney named Autumn Scardina called Phillips' Denver-area bakery to order a custom made gender-transition cake. Scardina waited past the appeal deadline so he could file a new lawsuit in a different court.

Scardina is seeking more than $100,000 in damages, fines, and attorney's fees.

The state court heard oral arguments in the case on Thursday.

ADF has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Scardina is now claiming in this latest legal action, which was filed in the District Court for the city and county of Denver, that Phillips violated Colorados Anti-Discrimination Act and Consumer Protection Act by refusing to bake what the plaintiff said was a birthday cake.

This birthday cake, as described in the lawsuit, was to be blue on the outside and pink on the inside to represent Scardina's decision to self-identify as a woman.

Masterpiece Cakeshop said before the Supreme Court they would serve any baked good to members of the LGBTQ community. It was just the religious significance of it being a wedding cake. We dont believe theyve been honest with the public," said Scardina's attorney, Paula Greisen, in an interview with CBS's Denver affiliate last year.



Phillips has long maintained that he does not single out lesbian, gay, bi-sexual or trans-identified individuals regarding his custom orders. However, he's long maintained that he will not use his creative talents to support messages that conflict with his faith. Thus, he will not make cakes that celebrate Halloween, drug use, or cakes that disparage people, including those who identify as LGBT.

"It wasnt enough for Jack to lose 40 percent of his business after Colorado pursued him the first time. It wasnt enough for Jack to have to defend his freedoms all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. And it wasnt enough for Jack and his family to endure years of harassment and even death threats," ADF noted on its website Wednesday.

"For some, it wont be enough until Masterpiece Cakeshop closes its doors and Jack Phillips is in financial ruin. They want Jack, an average American business owner, to pay a hefty priceall because he wants to live according to his faith. It is time to leave Jack alone," ADF added.

The Supreme Court ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission has been seen as one of the more important modern religious liberty cases to reach the high court. Though a decisive majority of justices sided with Phillips, the scope of the ruling was narrow in that it focused on the Colorado Commission's lack of neutrality. The high court did not weigh in on the deeper conflict between anti-discrimination statutes and the free exercise of religion and free speech.
TEST results have come back negative for hospital employees that were in contact with a temporary worker who tested positive for Covid-19 on his return to the USA.





TCI Hospital made the announcement in a press release on Saturday (April 4).





The 35-year-old American man who visited the TCI earlier this March to host training for hospital employees is currently being isolated at home in the USA and is in stable condition.





He was in the territory for six days from March 8 to 13 at Cheshire Hall Medical Centre.





The TCI and the primary US state from which the temporary worker travelled and resided had no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the time of travel.





In addition, there were no causes for concern identified during his screening upon entry to Providenciales and he was asymptomatic while on island.





According to the US Centres for Disease Control, people are thought to be most contagious when they are symptomatic.





Contact tracing was immediately activated by the Public Health Department in partnership with TCI Hospital and with guidance from Public Health England.





"The satisfactory outcome is attributed to the stringent and elevated infection, prevention and control (IPC) measures implemented across the health care facility and the keen commitment of staff to IPC precautions, the press release said.





"The health, safety and wellbeing of our employees are paramount to our values.





"The Ministry of Health - Public Health Team and Public Health England are also applauded for the collaborative and aggressive contact tracing, guidance and efforts made to expedite the processing of samples, where possible.




Two Nasa astronauts have said they expect it will be tough returning to such a drastically changed world next week, after more than half a year at the International Space Station.

Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir are preparing to return home from Space after months away from Earth.

Mr Morgan said the crew has tried to keep on top of the pandemic news.

But he admitted that it has been hard to comprehend what is really going on and what to expect, when his nine-month mission ends next Friday.

Christina Koch and Jessica Meir exit the International Space Station making history as the first all-female space walk. / AP

"It is quite surreal for us to see this whole situation unfolding on the planet below," said Ms Meir, who took part in the first all-female spacewalk last autumn.

"We can tell you that the Earth still looks just as stunning as always from up here, so it's difficult to believe all the changes that have taken place since both of us have been up here."

The World on Coronavirus lockdown 1 /60 The World on Coronavirus lockdown Getty Images A UK government public health campaign is displayed in Piccadilly Circus Reuters Chinese paramilitary police and security officers wear face masks to protect against the spread of the new coronavirus as they stand guard outside an entrance to the Forbidden City in Beijing AP A usually busy 42nd Street is seen nearly empty in New York AFP via Getty Images Bondi Beach, Australia Getty Images Military vehicles cross Westminster Bridge after members of the 101 Logistic Brigade delivered a consignment of medical masks to St Thomas' hospital Getty Images View of the illuminated statue of Christ the Redeemer that reads "Thank you" as Archbishop of the city of Rio de Janeiro Dom Orani Tempesta performs a mass in honor of Act of Consecration of Brazil and tribute to medical workers amidst the Coronavirus (COVID - 19) pandemic Getty Images Rome AFP via Getty Images An Indian man paddles his bicycle in front of a mural depicting the globe covered in a mask, as India remains under an unprecedented lockdown over the highly contagious coronavirus Getty Images Aerial view of the empty 9 de Julio avenue in Buenos Aires in Argentina AFP via Getty Images A view of an empty Grand Canal Reuters Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Central cemetery in Bogota, Columbia AFP via Getty Images The facade of the Palacio de Lopez (seat of the government palace) AFP via Getty Images Miami, Florida AFP via Getty Images Aerial view of the empty Simon Bolivar park in Bogota AFP via Getty Images An LAPD patrol car drives through Venice Beach Boardwalk AP Venice Beach, California Getty Images Los Angeles, California Getty Images Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images Many shops stand shuttered on the Venice Beach boardwalk Getty Images Empty escalators are seen at a deserted train station during morning rush hour after New South Wales began shutting down non-essential businesses Reuters A nearly empty Times Square in New York AFP via Getty Images Caracas AFP via Getty Images Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador AFP via Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Midland Park in Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A general view of an unusually quiet Civic Square at lunchtimein Wellington, New Zealand Getty Images A policeman rides his motorcycle wearing a face mask in front of a closed shopping mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina AFP via Getty Images Florida Keys AP The historic Channel 2 Bridge closed to fishermen, bikers and pedestrians in Florida Keys AP The Beach on Scenic Gulf Drive near Seascape Resort in south Walton County, Florida sits empty of tourists AP Surfers Paradise is seen empty in Australia Getty Images A deserted Rajpath leading to India Gate in New Delhi AFP via Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images A general view is seen of a closed Luna Park in Sydney, Australia Getty Images Empty roads are pictured following the lockdown by the government amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Kathmandu, Nepal Reuters An empty New York Subway car i AFP via Getty Images The empty pedestrian zone is seen in the city of Cologne, western Germany, AFP via Getty Images Place de la Comedie in the city of Montpellier , southern France AFP via Getty Images An empty street in Kuwait city AFP via Getty Images A building is covered by the Portuguese message: "Coronavirus: take precaution" over empty streets in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, AP A general view shows an empty street after a curfew was imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Reuters Parliament of Canada is pictured with empty street during morning rush hour AFP via Getty Images A near empty beach on Southend seafront in England PA Near empty Keswick town centre in Cumbria, England PA

As an emergency physician in the army, Mr Morgan said he feels a little guilty coming back midway through the medical crisis.

"It's very hard to fathom," he told reporters.

Ms Meir said it will be difficult not being able to hug family and friends, after seven months off the planet. She anticipates feeling even more isolated on Earth than in space.

U.S. astronauts Jessica Meir, left, and Christina Koch pose for a photo in the International Space Station. / AP

"We're so busy with so many other amazing pursuits and we have this incredible vantage point of the Earth below, that we don't really feel as much of that isolation," she said.

"So we'll see how it goes and how I adjust. But it will, of course, be wonderful to see some family and friends, at least virtually and from a distance for now."

Mr Morgan flew to the space station last July, and Ms Meir last September.

They will return in a Soyuz capsule with Russian Oleg Skripochka, landing in Kazakhstan. Their departure will leave three astronauts, who arrived on Thursday, on board.

The three will return exactly 50 years after the Apollo 13 astronauts splashed down in the Pacific. An oxygen tank explosion aborted the moon-landing mission.
Disposable gloves seem to be an increasingly common item used by Bay Area residents trying to prevent spread of the coronavirus while visiting grocery stores and other public spots. But are they really a necessary tool to fight the pandemic at the individual level?

The short answer is no, at least for most people. While the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently advised that the public wear face coverings, it has not issued a similar recommendation about gloves. Nor has the California Department of Public Health.

Dr. Anne Liu, an infectious disease physician and clinical associate professor at Stanford University, said the likelihood that wearing gloves would be helpful to prevent contracting the coronavirus is much lower than masks. For one reason, some microbes dont survive well on human skin, but germs thrive on the materials single-use gloves are typically made from, she said.

My concern is that people wearing gloves will have a real false sense of security, and theyll be more relaxed about the two most important things that people are being encouraged to do: physical distance and handwashing, Liu said.

Liu said shes seen people in public wearing gloves while scratching their foreheads, pushing up glasses, reaching into bags after touching shared surfaces and other behaviors that would actually spread germs and defeat the intent of wearing them in the first place.

Gloves also need to be taken off properly in order to be effective  including by turning them inside out. (The CDC has previously released seven steps for safe glove removal that include handwashing immediately after disposing of them.)

Its just better to keep off the gloves, carry hand sanitizer with you and bring it everywhere, Liu said.

Fenyong Liu, an infectious diseases professor at UC Berkeleys School of Public Health, echoed that sentiment.

If you wash your hands really often, I think it serves the same purpose, he said. You dont need to wear gloves.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Its true that the CDC initially did not recommend masks to prevent the coronavirus but now says people should be wearing cloth face coverings  while still saving the surgical masks and N95 respirators for health care workers who need them most.

But several Bay Area public health departments told The Chronicle they are not suggesting glove use as a way to stop the spread of the virus and COVID-19, the respiratory illness it causes.

We do not recommend wearing gloves as a prevention measure, said Veronica Vien, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, in an email. Washing your hands often throughout the day and regularly cleaning surfaces you touch often, like doorknobs and countertops, is a better way to prevent infection.

Asked specifically if the departments guidance could change similar to the public health recommendations about masks, Vien said, This is a rapidly evolving situation, and that will continue to be true. In all of this work, we seek to continually do better, as we incorporate the latest science, data and facts into our actions and recommendations.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Yet Fenyong Liu, the UC Berkeley professor, doesnt think glove guidance will go the same way as masks.

Gloves are different, he said. The most common port of entry for the virus, for a human individual, is through the face  the eyes, the nose, the mouth. .... But if the virus has contaminated your hand, contaminated your shoe, contaminated your clothes, as long so those things are not touching your face, they should be OK.

Preston Merchant, a San Mateo County health spokesman, had similar advice for Peninsula residents.

Glove guidance isnt part of the recommendations, which are based on the fact that COVID-19 is spread through droplets from coughing and sneezing  face coverings keep them contained, he said in an email. The risk from touching surfaces containing droplets is mitigated by handwashing, but theres no harm in wearing gloves.

Circumstances may be different for certain employees on the front lines of the pandemic whose jobs  even outside hospitals  prevent them from maintaining social distance.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

UC Berkeleys Liu said gloves can be beneficial for workers such as grocery store employees and bus drivers who are in frequent contact with the general public. As with nurses and doctors, some amount of protective gear makes sense for those groups  and it can be beneficial to the people they serve as well, he said.

We want to make sure that they are not sick, he said. We want to make sure theyre not spreading it to us, either.

Even in those instances, though, proper use is important. Stanfords Liu has seen cashiers wearing gloves while handling cash and then directly handling food  something she said absolutely should not happen.

She noted that hospital employees dont wear gloves constantly. Gloves are usually used for shorter periods of time when health care workers need to make physical contact with patients or be exposed to bodily fluids, she said.

At the same time, the considerations are different for people who need gloves because they are taking care of sick people at home, Liu said. Some people may also find that gloves truly do help them behave differently in a positive way.

Theres some people who it will remind them not to touch their face, or it will just serve as a check for them, in which case its not unreasonable, she said. (But) they need to clean their gloves too. The gloves themselves are not sanitizing.

In the North Bay, Sonoma County is reminding its residents that hospitals need gloves first during a nationwide strain on personal protective gear.

Were not advising members of the public to wear gloves at this time, said county spokeswoman Jennifer Larocque in an email. We are asking residents not to stock up on them, as it may reduce supplies for medical professionals.

And at least some hospitals and systems, including the Alameda Health System and UCSF, have been accepting glove donations. See their websites or an FAQ on SFChronicle.com for more information.

J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris
Many more people may have been infected with coronavirus and acquired immunity than previously thought, according to a study in Germany.

Scientists studying the town at the centre of Germany's first big outbreak said yesterday that they had found antibodies to the virus in people who had shown no symptoms and were not previously thought to have been infected. Their initial findings suggest that as many as 15pc of people in Gangelt already have immunity - three times as many as previous estimates. That would mean the mortality rate in Germany is just 0.37pc - five times lower than current estimates.

"This means a gradual relaxation of the lockdown is now possible," said Prof Hendrik Streeck, the virologist leading the study.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a televised address: "We must not be reckless now. We could very quickly destroy what we have achieved."

It came as Germany revealed plans to start Europe's first large-scale antibody testing programme. The ambitious scheme announced by the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national infectious diseases centre, will attempt to map levels of immunity throughout the country. The study in Gangelt, near the Dutch border, is the first in Europe to research the virus effect on an entire community.

Scientists from the University of Bonn are testing around 1,000 people for antibodies, as well as current infection.

Initial results, based on around half the tests, found that 2pc of inhabitants were currently infected, and 14pc had antibodies to the virus.

Allowing for overlap, that suggests that 15pc of people in the town now have immunity - compared with the previous estimate of 5pc.

"The 15pc is not that far from the 60pc we need for herd immunity," said Prof Gunther Hartmann, another of the study's leaders.

"With 60 to 70pc herd immunity, the virus will completely disappear from the population. Then, the elderly are no longer at risk." ( Daily Telegraph, London)
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482223b48)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482226e00)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f0482223b48)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482226e00)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f04821f8b00)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482226e00)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482226e00)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481b67ba8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0482240e70)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0482240e70)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
The movie focuses on Pin-Juis relationship with Angela. It alludes to a son, who never makes an appearance. Why did you scrub yourself out of the picture?

Well, in some ways, Angela (played by Christine Ko) is a proxy for both me and my sister. There are a couple reasons to make the character a daughter. In some ways the movie is about Pin-Jui and his relationships with the four most important women in his life: his mom, the woman he loved, the woman he married and, finally, his daughter.

I also wanted to lightly allude to the fact that not just in Asian-American families, but in many families, I think the daughter often has a more difficult time. Theres many cases of the son being the golden child and he can do no wrong. So I thought it was a little bit more realistic and a little bit more interesting to have it be a father-daughter relationship.

From Master of None to The Good Place, your past works have generally been comedies. Tigertail isnt funny. Why take on a serious tone for your directorial debut?

Quite honestly, it was just the story I was most excited about. So I started thinking about this story, these characters. And it became clear pretty early on that this would be a drama, the sort of restrained drama I had seen in Taiwanese films like Yi Yi [by Edward Yang] and A City of Sadness [from Hou Hsiao-hsien]. That sort of measured drama without melodrama, being able to express a broad range of emotions without resorting to sentimentality. I guess you could see it as a pivot, but it wasnt a conscious one in my mind.
Tamil Nadu has tested 8410 samples for Covid-19 as of Friday, of which over 10% of cases have tested positive. While nearly half or 4167 of those tested are people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference in New Delhi in March, which was seen as priority testing by the state, the government is now looking to expand testing across the state.

The first step towards large-scale testing was to procure 400,000 rapid test kits. An official at the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) told Hindustan Times that the state has also procured 100,000 more real-time PCR kits.

Follow latest updates on coronavirus here

India has been using the RT-PCR, or reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, test on nasal or throat swab samples of suspected patients to test for Covid-19. These tests can take between 12-24 hours to show results. In comparison, the rapid antibody tests identify disease-fighting antibodies in blood samples and can deliver results in 45 minutes to two hours. According to an ICMR advisory, rapid testing kits (for antibody tests or blood tests) need to be deployed in areas where mass testing is required, such as evacuation camps, large cluster areas, and camps for migrant workers.

Our priority is to stop the spread of any new cases outside containment zones or quarantined areas. That is the main objective, chief secretary K. Shanmugam told reporters on Friday. TNMSC has started preparatory work from January. Whether it is PPE kits, triple masks, or ventilators, we have been procuring them directly. The order for testing kits were also made directly (with suppliers) apart from the ones we will receive from the Central government, he said,

Chief minister E. Palaniswami had said last week, Once the test kits arrive, we will be testing the family members of those who are already tested positive for COVID-19. After that, tests will be performed on those who have come in contact with these people. Then people living in the areas around the spot will be subjected to testing. That is why we have procured 4 lakh rapid test kits.

While Palaniswami had said the pandemic is at Stage 2 or local transmission and that it has chances of moving on to the next stage, the chief secretary told reporters on Friday that not one case of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) tested over the last 24 hours showed a positive result. There are only 23 cases overall in the state for which there is difficulty in determining with certainty how the person became infected, he said. At this stage we are not at Stage 3 (community transmission).

Click here for complete coronavirus coverage

We are going to increase testing centres to all government medical colleges. We are also encouraging private labs with accreditation to apply to be testing facilities, director of public health K. Kolandaisamy told HT. Now the infection is clustered in containment zones, so we are only taking samples from there and apart from testing SARI cases, he said.

Tamil Nadu has 220 containment zones. There are 19 testing facilities across the state  12 government, 7 private -- at this stage.

Dr. Ram Gopalakrishnan, an infectious disease specialist at Apollo Hospital who is a committee of healthcare and medical experts that consults with the government, told HT that there was a need to test more people with existing PCR tests and conduct serology tests on a widespread basis as soon as kits are available.

There is no question that there is community transmission within hotspots. While it is probably also true that there is little or no community transmission in areas outside these hotspots, we dont know unless we test more on a systematic basis, he said. The government criteria was quite restrictive till a couple of weeks back, now they have liberalised testing. They have also introduced serological tests which will certainly help make the diagnosis much easier. The government has its own constraints, there is a shortage of kits. Their concern is if we just open up testing all kinds of wrong testing will be done, kits will get exhausted and people who truly need tests will not have them.

Also read: How false negative results are complicating Covid-19 testing

The lockdown was a game changer as it halted the spread of the coronavirus, but widespread testing, aggressive contact tracing and isolation was the only way to fight the pandemic effectively, Gopalakrishnan said. If this gets into hospitals, we are finished, healthcare workers will be the first to be wiped out, he said. This will always be a low-grade chronic illness and that is the best case scenario. If you have this as a low-grade sporadic illness like H1N1 influenza has become then the hospital systems can handle it.

Neuberg Diagnostics in Royapettah in Chennai is amongst the private laboratories approved to test for Covid-19. We were one of the first ones in Tamil Nadu to get approval. Currently we are carrying out the RT-PCR tests as antibody tests are not approved for private labs in India, its chief operating officer Aishwarya Vasudevan said. Over the weeks, the guidelines have been constantly changing depending on the changing nature of the virus. Currently with the support the state government, we are encouraging walk-ins as well as samples from hospitals.

Also read: Covid-19 cases near 2,000 in Maharashtra; cross 900 in Delhi, Tamil Nadu

Neuberg Diagnostics has done close to 1000 tests so far. Vasudevan said that there was scope for widespread testing in India. The country has one of the largest number of RT-PCR machines but only 56 private labs are approved to test, so far.

Of course there is scope for ramping up testing. The government will have to help link it to the private sector, she said. But the routine sample testing business (outside of Covid-19 tests) has come down by 80-90% and we still have about 60% of fixed costs to run our operations, she said. The lab has been testing samples of patients with Below Poverty Line cards for free.

The expert committee on Friday recommended extending the lockdown in the state by another fortnight to the end of April. After a meeting with the committee Palaniswami said that the final decision on whether the lockdown will be extended or not would be made after cabinet consultations on Saturday.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The COVID-19 outbreak seems to be worsening in parts of India as the country reported over 700 fresh cases and 46 deaths  both new highs since the pandemic began  on Thursday.

The situation is particularly grim in Maharashtra, with the state reporting 25 more deaths on Thursday alone, the biggest spike so far in the state, taking the states death toll to 97  the highest in India. Other states such as Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi also saw a huge surge in cases.

Tamil Nadu reported 96 new cases, including 84 from one cluster, even as Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami warned of the state entering phase-III of the disease, while Gujarat reported 76 cases, with 50% of them being detected in Ahmedabad city.

In Delhi, three more persons died and 51 people tested positive for COVID-19.

In Maharashtra, among the 25 deaths, nine were recorded in Mumbai and the larger Mumbai metropolitan region, while Pune district saw 14 deaths. Among the deceased in Mumbai was a 101-year-old person. Of the 25 deceased, 12 were senior citizens.

The Mumbai-Pune belt was a cause for concern due to hotspots such as Dharavi and Worli.

At a cabinet meeting presided over by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, the government expressed serious concern over the trend of people crowding bazaars and shops.

The Uddhav Thackeray-government is contemplating of shutting down these places for some time in certain areas.

State revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat told reporters that a complete lockdown for some period of time was extremely necessary to contain the outbreak.

Crowds in markets need to be avoided. If a decision to shut markets is taken, such areas need to be finalised and crowds need to be stopped completely, he said, adding that despite restrictions people are thronging markets.

Currently, people are allowed to step out of their homes to buy essential commodities and medicines. Some districts have imposed restrictions on timings as well.

In congested areas like Dharavi, besides local police, SRPF has been called, public health minister Rajesh Tope said, adding that drones would be used for crowd monitoring and fire brigade would use power jets to sanitize public toilets.
: Chief Minister Y S Jagan



Mohan Reddy on Friday said the overall situation, consequent to the spread of COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh, was now under control and normalcy would return in the coming days.

The Chief Minister conducted a high-level review meeting on coronavirus and also a videoconference with district Collectors and doctors of 13 COVID-19 hospitals in the state and discussed the plan of action in case the ongoing lockdown is lifted, a CMO release said.

Officials informed the Chief Minister they were adopting a strategy of conducting tests on coronavirus- afflicted persons and their primary contacts and providing necessary treatment to contain the disease.

As part of the preparatory exercise, five additional hospitals were being identified in every district for COVID-19 prevention.

A critical care hospital has also been readied in each of the 13 districts, they said.

"All this will help us in meeting any future situation arising out of coronavirus," they added.

The Chief Minister said coronavirus cases in the state shot up only because of the Tablighi Jamaat attendees.

"Tracing all those persons, their primary and secondary contacts has been completed and they are kept either in isolation or quarantine," the Chief Minsiter said.

"Overall, the situation in the state is now under control and, I believe, in the coming days normalcy will return," Jagan said.

"Saluting" the medical staff for their hard work in the face of risks, the chief minister said he was wholeheartedly thanking them.

"Despite an unknown fear, you are all extending your services in all COVID-19 hospitals and critical care hospitals. Your services are commendable. I salute the doctors, nurses, paramedical and sanitation staff for this and thank them," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been shifted out of the intensive care unit but will remain in hospital for close monitoring by doctors in the early phase of his recovery after testing positive for the coronavirus that has claimed nearly 8,000 lives in the country.

Downing Street said Johnson, 55, is in extremely good spirits at the St Thomas' Hospital ward as his father, Stanley Johnson, called on his son to rest up.

"The Prime Minister has been moved this evening [Thursday] from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery. He is in extremely good spirits," a Downing Street spokesperson said on Thursday.

Stanley Johnson said the whole family was 'tremendously grateful' that the United Kingdom prime minister had been moved out of intensive care, adding that he thinks his son's illness has 'got the whole country to realise this is a serious event'.

"He must rest up. He took one for the team and we've got to make sure we play properly now," he told the BBC.

He warned that his son cannot get 'straight back to Downing Street and pick up the reins'.

Boris Johnson's pregnant fiancee, Carrie Symonds, took to Twitter to express her relief with a series of clapping hands emoticons alongside a picture of a rainbow, which has emerged as the symbol of support for the country's National Health Service (NHS) through the course of the pandemic fightback.

The 32-year-old, who has been self-isolating with the couple's dog Dilyn, had revealed her own symptoms of coronavirus last week but said she was 'on the mend'.

According to latest UK Department of Health figures, the number of people to have died in hospital in the UK after testing positive for the novel coronavirus has risen to 7,978.

Ministers and officials urged the British public to continue to observe the strict social distancing norms over what is a long Easter holiday weekend when it is customary for people to travel and get together with their friends and families in different parts of the country.

"The whole country has been practicing a stringent form of social distancing for three weeks now. Precisely because we're doing everything we can to minimise the bleak numbers that I just read out," said UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab during the daily Downing Street briefing on Thursday as he deputises for the UK PM while he is in hospital.

"Now, as we look forward to the long Bank Holiday Easter weekend, I know some people are going to start wondering is it time to ease up on the rules. So I've got to say thank you for your sacrifice. But, also, we're not done yet. We must keep going," he said.

While the initial 21-day semi-lockdown announced by Boris Johnson on March 23 comes to a close towards next Monday, all indications are that it would have to be further extended to continue to keep the numbers afflicted by the deadly virus manageable for the NHS to treat.

"We mustn't give the coronavirus a second chance to kill more people and to hurt our country," said Raab, as he urged people to continue to stay at home and leave only for restricted purposes of essential shopping and one form of exercise a day.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States would "help Mexico along" with oil production cuts that it is meant to make under a global deal to shore up slumping crude oil prices, but said the details had yet to be worked out.

The comments suggest that Trump could be considering an unprecedented effort to orchestrate a production cut in the United States, historically the world's most vocal proponent of the free market.

"What I thought I would do, and I don't know that it is going to be accepted, we'll find out, the United States will help Mexico along and they'll reimburse us sometime at a later date when they are prepared to do so," Trump said during a White House briefing on the coronavirus.

Trump said he spoke to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador about the issue on Thursday.

"And we had a great conversation and we'll find out how that all works out," Trump said.

The group of oil producers known as OPEC+, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, had hammered out the framework of a record oil cut on Thursday to lift oil prices slammed by the coronavirus crisis. But efforts to conclude the deal had hit the barriers when Mexico refused to sign up to a 400,000-barrel-per-day cut in full.

President Lopez Obrador said earlier on Friday that Trump had agreed help out by cutting additional U.S. output after Mexico offered OPEC+ a cut of just 100,000 bpd, a quarter of what the group demanded. He said Trump "very generously said to me that they were going to help us with the additional 250,000 (bpd) to what they are going to contribute."

Trump had been a vocal proponent of global supply cuts, seen as crucial to saving the U.S. drilling industry from collapse, but has resisted calls that the United States also orchestrate a reduction in supplies - saying U.S. drillers were already slowing their output for economic reasons.

U.S. laws forbid companies from colluding to reduce supply and raise prices, but does not prevent the government from ordering such supply reductions.

(Refiles to fix typo in paragraph 7)

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and John Whitesides; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Sandra Maler)
With two more COVID-19 cases in Bihar the state's coronavirus tally has climbed to 60 on Friday.

According to the Bihar Health department, the two, a male (28) and female (10), are family members of the person who first tested positive for coronavirus in Siwan district. They came in contact with the COVID-19 positive family member who returned to their native village Raghunathpur from Oman on March 21.

"Two more COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Bihar taking the total to 60. One female aged 10 years and one male of 28 years from the family of a COVID-19 patient in Siwan," Sanjay Kumar, Bihar Principal Health Secretary tweeted. Siwan, which has turned to be the hot spot in terms of corona positive cases, has a total of 29 infected persons in the district, followed by Munger (7), Patna (5), Gaya (5), Begusarai (5), Gopalganj (3), Nalanda (2), 1 each in Saran, Lakhisari, Bhagalpur and Nawada.

Moreover, Bihar Chief Secretary has directed divisional commissioner/DIG saran to camp in Siwan to enforce complete lockdown in Panjwar in Raghunathpur Block and the health department has appealed to all to cooperate.

The 60 positive COVID-19 cases in the 11 districts of the state include 42 active cases, 17 cured and discharged and 1 death.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A health worker wears a protective mask and suit as she extracts blood from a patient to perform an antibody test for COVID-19 at the Dworska Hospital in Krakow, Poland on April 9, 2020. (Omar Marques/Getty Images)

CCP Virus Immunity Cards for Americans a Possibility, Top Health Official Says

Cards proving people have immunity to the CCP virus are under consideration, according to a top public health official.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it was possible when asked during an appearance on CNNs New Day whether people could one day carry forms attesting to immunity.

I mean, its one of those things that we talk about when we want to make sure that we know who the vulnerable people are and not, he said. This is something thats being discussed. I think it might actually have some merit, under certain circumstances.

Fauci did not specify whether federal officials were discussing the idea or whether he was referring to discussions happening elsewhere. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases did not respond to a request for clarification.

If the idea is implemented, people taking antibody tests to see if theyre likely immune to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, would get pieces of paper or digital certificates with test results.

Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci answers a question during a press conference about the CCP virus as Vice President Mike Pence (L), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma (2nd L), and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar (R) look on, at the White House in Washington on March 2, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

The new virus, which emerged in China last year, causes COVID-19, a disease that kills a small percentage of those infected. The majority of them are elderly or having underlying conditions.

German researchers and a British health official are among those who have also floated the idea of presenting proof that one is likely immune to the virus. UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock proposed it in the form of a wristband.

Several experts have expressed dismay at the proposals.

Like the chickenpox parties of old, some workers will want to get infected, I. Glenn Cohen, a bioethics expert at Harvard Law School, told Bloomberg. That sounds crazy, but if having the antibodies becomes the cost of entering the job market and thus feeding your family, there may be workers who feel pressured into it.

Others voiced support, including Allison Hoffman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in health-care law. From a policy perspective, its not especially worrisome if the rest of the population has good unemployment coverage, she said. It would speed economic rebuilding, which I think everyone would want, whether employed or not.

In this March 31, 2020 file photo, medical technicians handle a vial containing a nasal swab at a drive-thru testing site in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. (David Zalubowski/AP Photo)

A significant number of patients contract the illness but show few or no symptoms, making antibody tests, also known as serological tests, the only way they can be sure they were once infected, unlike PCR tests, which only show whether individuals have the illness.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first antibody test last week.

In the future, this may potentially be used to help determine, together with other clinical data, that such individuals are no longer susceptible to infection and can return to work, the administrations commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, said on Tuesday.

Officials expect to have a large number of antibody tests available within the next week or so. Only tests validated by federal agencies should be used, according to Fauci.

Two senators this week asked federal health officials to make antibody testing free, noting that the tests will show whether a person has had the disease.

Antibody testing will make it easier to decide when Americans can go back to work or back to school, according to a statement from the offices of Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, has also mentioned antibody tests as a key part of re-opening the state after implementing a lockdown to try to blunt the spread of the CCP virus.
NSW Minister Resigns After Fine for Breaking Stay-at-Home Order

Don Harwin has stepped down from his position in the New South Wales cabinet just days after a backlash erupted when he violated stay-at-home orders during the CCP virus pandemic. The now former arts minister Harwin was dealt a fine of $1,000 on March 31 for traveling to his second home on the Central Coast.

Harwin handed in his resignation to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian around 6 p.m. on April 10, local time. Berejiklian issued a statement acknowledging his request.

The police, who have been tasked by my government with enforcing these health orders, came to the conclusion that minister Harwin breached the order, she said.

Berejiklian had defended Harwin when the news first came to light and in her statement, she acknowledged that he maintains that he did not break the rules. However, she went on to say, The orders in place apply equally to everybody.

Harwins decision to break stay-at-home orders to travel from his Elizabeth Bay home in Sydneys eastern suburbs up to his Pearl Beach residence on the Central Coast caused controversy at a time when strict stay at home orders have been implemented for Easter.

In a statement, Harwin said he didnt want his situation to distract from important work of the state during the pandemic. I very much regret that my residential arrangements have become an issue during this time, he said.

The Premier and her team are doing an outstanding job during the biggest crisis our state and nation have faced during our lifetimes, he said.

Extra Measures Over Easter

The Easter long-weekend in Australia is a popular time for holidaymakers. Extra police measures are in force during this time, restricting travel to essential reasons such as going to work, attending a medical service, or buying food.

The public health order that Harwin violated came into force on March 31. Key elements of it include following social-distancing guidelines and self-isolation rules. Non-essential travel is ruled outlike the minister, you can expect fines for leaving your home outside of the four reasonable exceptions if you live in NSW.

Its absolutely vital that everyone follows these new laws and stays at homeand that means staying in the home where you usually live, not gathering, not camping, and not relocating to a holiday home, said MidCoast Council Mayor David West.

Each Australian state has its own stay-at-home rules and penalties. Unlike NSW, in the next-door state of Victoria police deputy commissioner Shane Patton said on radio station 3AW, You got a holiday house? You can go to that. But as the Harwin found out, NSW gives out fines and even make arrests for doing this.

Harwin Backlash

NSW Police were alerted by an unnamed person that Harwin had relocated to his Pearl Beach residence on April 8. The following day, Harwin returned to his Elizabeth Bay apartment where investigators from the Central Metropolitan Region met him.

Following further inquiries, the man was issued a $1000 [Personal Infringement Notice] PIN via email just before 9 pm [on April 8], for failing to comply with noticed direction (Section 5  COVID-19), the police report said.

In a written statement Harwin said, I apologize to the Premier and the people of NSW.

I took advice from my department officials about the Public Health Order to ensure I adhered to the guidelines during this period.

I have no desire to cause a distraction for the Government at this important time and have returned to my Sydney home.

Harwins actions have disappointed some of his peers and members of the public. NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said, The rules apply to everyone, politicians arent exemptwe need to set the standard and Im [expletive] disappointed.

The Labor Shadow Minister for the Arts Walt Secord said stronger punishment should be given to Harwin and called for him to be sacked. An apology is not enough, he said.

Berejiklian defended Harwin saying that he had moved before the restrictions came in. I completely agree that we cannot have a perceived rule for everybody else and a perceived rule for others, she said.

NSW Police commissioner Fuller said everyone will be treated with the same. No one individual or corporation is above these lawsanyone suspected of breaching the orders will be investigated and if a breach is detected, they will be dealt with in accordance with the Act.

On behalf of the community, I strongly urge those with information about breaches to contact police, he said.

In Australia, NSW has the highest number of cases of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. Out of all of Australias eight states and territories, early signs are showing a flattening of the infection rate curve.

Things may be turning the corner in NSW, however. Between April 9-10, the state recorded its first 24-hour period with no new cases for the first time in months. Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt and Prime Minister Scott Morrison have agreed upon a 6-month model to combat the pandemic.
The vote on the bill on improvement of banking regulation mechanisms in the Parliament of Ukraine will be a key moment that will determine Ukraine's future  whether it will be under the oligarchs rule or in the Western-backed civilized environment reformed according to the European standards.

Ukraines Parliament will face a moment of truth when it meets [to vote on the bill on improvement of banking regulation mechanisms]... As the novel coronavirus increasingly impacts the country, the Rada must finally pass the banking legislation necessary to free up $8 billion in IMF funding, and a further $1.5 billion from other sources, former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations Kurt Volker wrote in the article for the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).

The expert highlights that the Verkhovna Rada must approve banking legislation that prevents the return of nationalized banks (i.e., Privatbank) to former owners, or the payment of compensation to those former owners.

Ukrainian taxpayers already paid once when bailing out the bank after those former owners could not account for billions of dollars. Neither the Ukrainian taxpayers, nor the international financial institutions standing behind them, should pay anything more, he writes.

Volker reminds that Ukraine has improved dramatically its finances and borrowing costs, advanced stalled reforms, repositioned itself in the eyes of foreign investors, and laid the foundations for rapid growth in recent years.

Ukraine was outpacing global markets for the first time since achieving independence in 1991, he underscores.

However, the replacement of a young, committed team of reformers with new faces  some of whom seemed connected to anti-reform oligarchs  shocked markets, the diplomat notes.

The replacement of the Prosecutor General, who had earned wide respect for fighting corruption, added to concerns. The result was a dramatic rise in borrowing costs, and darkening clouds over the national economy. Suddenly, as global markets began falling due to coronavirus, Ukraine was falling even faster, Volker writes.

However, according to him, the IMF, the World Bank, and the EU are ready to help Ukraine through the crisis.

The IMF has boosted its package from $5 billion to $8 billion, the World Bank is offering $1 billion, and the EU a further $500 million. At least $2 billion would be disbursed quickly by the IMF, making funds available almost immediately to fight the coronavirus. Without such financial assistance  and the seal of good housekeeping the IMF package represents  Ukraines financial position would fall even faster than it is falling today, Volker emphasizes.

To secure this financial support, the Rada must approve banking legislation, the former U.S. special representative underscores.

Getting the IMF package and other financing in place is also essential in the face of continued Russian aggression. Russia sees a weak Ukraine, without international support, as an easy target for the continued application of military, political, and psychological pressure, he writes.

A strong Ukraine, with a growing economy, oriented toward the EU and NATO, and with strong support from allies, can more easily stand firm.

Land reform and banking legislation are not end-points; they are steps in the long journey President Zelensky promised during his election campaign, the diplomat notes.

He emphasizes that Ukraine still needs an independent, qualified judiciary; a qualified and impartial Prosecutor Generals office and State Bureau of Investigations; anti-trust legislation and enforcement mechanisms to regulate the role of oligarchs; and an opening up of economic sectors to competition and foreign investment.

The Radas vote on April 10 is indeed a moment of truth. Lets hope it finally cements Ukraines path into the future, Volker sums up.

ol
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to hold his third video conference with chief ministers on Saturday to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, including reviewing the lockdown, which ends on April 14, Punjab became the second state  after Odisha  to extend the lockdown till the end of the month. The Union government has also asked for strict enforcement of the current lockdown, and reached out to states to assess if some categories of services and people needed to be exempted, in a sign that a set of restrictions will continue to be in place.

With the number of positive cases in India growing to 7,556  Friday witnessed 850 new cases  a fresh debate also broke out on whether the country has entered the stage of community transmission. Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh suggested the spike of secondary infections in the state indicated it had; the Union health ministry continued to deny it; and the World Health Organization (WHO) bracketed India in the category of a cluster of cases, which is a stage before community transmission.

In Punjab, CM Singh chaired a meeting of the council of ministers, which decided to extend the lockdown to check the community spread of the pandemic and to prevent overcrowding at the mandis in the light of the ensuing wheat harvesting and procurement season, an official statement said.

Singh said in a tweet, Given the seriousness of the situation arising out of #Covid19, Cabinet has decided to extend lockdown & curfew till May 1. He told the media that most of the 27 positive cases reported in Punjab on Thursday (the maximum daily increase for the state) were those of secondary transmission and expressed apprehension that the state may be entering the community transmission stage of the outbreak. Odisha had, on Thursday, extended the lockdown to April 30.

Back in Delhi, there was a spurt of activity within the government. The Union health minister, Harsh Vardhan, chaired a meeting of state health ministers. He urged them to ensure that the lockdown was strictly followed  failing which India would find it hard to battle the pandemic. I request health ministers of all states to ensure that lockdown is followed 100% in your respective states. If we lag behind in this, it will be difficult for us to win this fight against Covid-19, he said.

The Centre has constituted 10 high-level multi-disciplinary central teams to help states from where high number of cases are being reported. The teams have been rushed to Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh, to aid them in containment preparedness, hospital preparedness and ventilator management.

The minister assured all help, including providing adequate supply of personal protection equipment (PPE), N-95 masks and ventilators, in all states. A detailed discussion was also held among the group of ministers yesterday [Thursday] on the existing lab strategy, especially how to increase sampling in hot spots and clusters, informed Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, health ministry, during a media briefing

Separately, the Union home ministry reached out to states and asked whether more categories of people and services need to be exempted, officials familiar with the development said on Friday. This is being widely interpreted as a sign that the lockdown will continue in some form  but may see the staggered re-emergence of certain more segments of people, as indicated by PM Modi in his last video conference with the chief ministers.

A review meeting was also held by the Prime Ministers Office during the day on various efforts to check the coronavirus spread, including the production of PPEs, the absence of which has emerged as a key obstacle in securing health workers who are in direct contact with patients.

Meanwhile, despite the Punjab CMs statement on possible community transmission, and the fact that data from an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study said that samples of about 2% of the Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (Sari) cases lifted from within the community had tested positive for Covid-19, the health ministry reiterated that there was no community transmission.

If there is community transmission in the country then we will be the first ones announcing it, as we would need people to take extra precautions, said Lav Agarwal. The WHO also put India in a category named cluster of cases  a notch below the community transmission stage and a classification used by the global body for cases clustered in time, geographic location and/or by common exposures.
[April 10, 2020] Locate COVID-19 Testing Center Near You

As the demand for COVID-19 testing continues to rise throughout the United States, a new website launches to help individuals locate a testing site near them. Today, CareTech LLC, launches CareNearby.com. This website will allow first responders, healthcare professionals, essential workers, and the general public, who have been referred for testing, to quickly search for COVID-19 testing sites near their location. With a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country, the capacity to locate testing centers quickly is a beneficial tool for those individuals who need to be tested. Along with other guidelines established by the CDC, testing when recommended may help curb the spread of COVID-19. As laboratory tests identifying the COVID-19 virus become more available, there is a growing need to locate community-based testing centers quickly for those affected. This website will be a dedicated resource in the effort to fight the viral epidemic in the United States. According to Co-founder, Dr. M. Bud Lateef, MD, "The COVID-19 outbreak has brought many unprecedented challenges. Although most people will not need testing, the ability to find testing sites for COVID-19 should not be a barrier when testing is needed." Dr. Lateef explains, "While COVID-19 continues to affect our fellow Americans, we wantd to help by utilizing our knowledge in healthcare and technology to provide the public an essential free service in time of need."



With a dedicated team working around the clock, CareNearby.com has over 1500 COVID-19 testing sites identified and is constantly adding newer sites, updating existing ones, and encouraging testing centers to self enroll. CareTech, LLC, a Healthcare Software Start-Up, welcomes and encourages local and state health departments, as well as individual users to join in our efforts by providing information via our website at www.CareNearby.com. Users can also register to add test sites if one is not listed or can email them at [email protected] to have it listed on their portal.

About CareNearby.com Co-founded by Dr. M. Bud Lateef, MD and backed by venture capital firm, Limelight Capital, LLC, CareNearby.com is a healthcare website with a robust search engine built to cater to the needs of individuals seeking information on healthcare services near them. With a focus to serve organizations, providers, and consumers, the website aims to be a resource to navigate and select different types of healthcare facilities and services nearby quickly. More information can be found at https://www.CareNearby.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005029/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
There are now over 1.6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world. Over 97,000 people have lost their lives, and around 364,000 have recovered.

There are now over 1.6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world. Over 97,000 people have lost their lives to the pandemic, and around 364,000 have recovered and been discharged.

The United States now has a death toll of 16,600, including 1,783 deaths from the last 24 hours. While this is an alarmingly high number, it is a decrease from the preceding, record-breaking days. New York alone now has more confirmed cases than Italy and Spain, with over 160,000 cases and over 7,000 deaths. However, the Governor, Andrew Cuomo has said that hospitalization rates are gradually falling, bringing some respite to the dire situation. Spain, which is one of the worst affected countries, saw 605 deaths yesterday - the lowest daily death toll since March 23.

The European Union signed a 500 billion relief plan to assist its member states in combating the economic devastation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in a grim statement, said that COVID-19 will spark the worst economic crisis in the world since the Great Depression.

Reactivation in South Korea

Daegu, once the worst affected city in South Korea, reported no new cases for the first time since late February. Of all the confirmed coronavirus cases in South Korea, more than half are in Daegu. The country reported 27 new cases on April 10, a new low.

On the other hand, country officials reported that 91 recovered COVID-19 patients have tested positive again. In a briefing, the director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said that this may be due to the virus reactivating in the body, rather than the patients contracting the virus again.

Boris Johnson out of ICU, in the general ward now

The British PM spent three nights in intensive care after his COVID-19 symptoms had taken a turn for the worse. Diagnosed almost two weeks ago, he had a high fever that didnt break and was having trouble breathing. He was not put on a ventilator but doctors involved with his care said that it would be a while before he went back to work since he was very sick and just in the initial stages of recovery.

The foreign secretary, Dominic Saab has taken over in the meantime. The UK has tightened restrictions this Easter weekend in an effort to keep people home and control further spread of the disease.

Global concern as African cases

The WHO warned that the African continent had seen a substantial increase in cases just this week and that some countries could hit their peak in the coming weeks. While the number of cases is still low  over 11,000 across the continent and over 500 deaths  they have doubled in the last 4 days. These statistics give rise to the fear that the continent will follow the trajectory of Europe and the US, as cases begin to pile up suddenly.

The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that if testing and assistance are not stepped up immediately, the consequences could be dire.

Arab coalition imposes two-week ceasefire in Yemen

After Saudi Arabia initially moved to unilaterally stop its contribution to the war in Yemen, the rest of the Arab coalition fell in line and agreed to a two week stop in proceedings. Saudi Arabias decision was driven by a need to stem COVID-19 in the country; over 150 members of the royal family have been infected as well. The UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan were amongst the countries who lauded the decision.

Yemen, which has been ravaged by war for over 5 years, confirmed its first COVID-19 case today.

For more information, read our article on Face covers to battle COVID-19.

Health articles in Firstpost are written by myUpchar.com, Indias first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.
WASHINGTON - The Labor Department is facing growing criticism over its response to the coronavirus pandemic as the agency plays a central role in ensuring that the tens of millions of workers affected by the crisis get assistance.

The criticism ranges from direct actions that the agency has taken to limit the scope of worker assistance programs to concerns that it has not been aggressive enough about protecting workers from health risks or supporting states scrambling to deliver billions in new aid.

In recent days, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, who has expressed concerns about unemployment insurance being too generous, has used his department's authority over new laws enacted by Congress to limit who qualifies for joblessness assistance and to make it easier for small businesses not to pay family leave benefits. The new rules make it more difficult for gig workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers to get benefits, while making it easier for some companies to avoid paying their workers coronavirus-related sick and family leave.

"The Labor Department chose the narrowest possible definition of who qualifies for pandemic unemployment assistance," said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation who has spent two decades working on unemployment programs.

At the same time, frustrations have built among career staff at the Labor Department that the agency hasn't ordered employers to follow safeguards, including the wearing of masks, recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect workers. Two draft guidance documents written by officials at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the Labor Department, to strengthen protections for health-care workers have also not been advanced, according to two people with knowledge of the regulations granted anonymity to discuss the internal deliberations.

Scalia, a longtime corporate lawyer who is the son of the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, has emerged as a critical player in the government's economic response to the pandemic. Nearly 17 million Americans have applied for unemployment insurance since President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, and states are struggling to get their systems working to deliver $260 billion in new aid approved by Congress.

Democrats and some Republicans argue that the Labor Department needs to be more aggressive about disbursing money and technical assistance to states to shore up the unemployment insurance system. The department has released only half of $1 billion in administrative support for states that Congress approved almost a month ago.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said Thursday in an interview that he has talked to Scalia about the need to speed things up.

"You could have massive civil unrest if these systems cannot get checks out the door. We're talking about 20 percent unemployment, maybe even more," Graham said. "The application process is a nightmare. The state systems are failing."

Graham said that Scalia has been responsive but, "I don't see any action being taken."

Labor Department officials said Scalia is moving rapidly to help U.S. workers in an unprecedented time. They pointed to a poster and guidebook that OSHA released with steps companies "can take" to reduce worker risk of coronavirus exposure.

"Undersecretary Scalia's leadership, in the last two weeks, the department has quickly released new rules and guidance for states, businesses, and individual Americans to help those in need of relief," said Patrick Pizzella, deputy labor secretary. "The department has already distributed nearly $500 million in additional administrative funding to 39 states."

Still, Scalia has made clear he is wary of taking an excessively lax approach to disbursing aid, an argument that he used to help win GOP support for recent legislation. Writing Monday on Fox Business Network's website, he warned that he does not want unemployed people to become addicted to government aid.

"We want workers to work, not to become dependent on the unemployment system," Scalia wrote with SBA leader Jovita Carranza. "Unemployment is not the preferred outcome when government stay-at-home orders force temporary business shutdowns."

On the day the $2 trillion package passed the Senate, Scalia spoke with Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Tim Scott of South Carolina, who had raised concerns the law's new unemployment benefits were too large and would deter workers from returning to jobs.

Scalia told conservative senators that his agency would ensure that the provisions it oversees, once enacted, would not hurt U.S. companies, according to three congressional officials aware of the conversations and granted anonymity to discuss the call.

Two recent laws passed by Congress expanded paid and sick leave policies as well as the size and scope of unemployment benefits for Americans. But worker advocates argue that as Scalia begins to implement these measures, his department is being much less generous toward workers than toward companies.

New Labor Department guidance says unemployment benefits apply only to gig workers who are "forced to suspend operations," which could dramatically limit options for workers if their apps are still operating. Other workers also face a high hurdle to qualify for benefits.

The guidance says a worker "may be able to return to his or her place of employment within two weeks" of quarantining, and parents forced to stop work to care for children after schools closed are not eligible for unemployment after the school year is over. Workers who stay home because they are older or in another high-risk group are also ineligible unless they can prove a medical professional advised them to stop working.

Some states are also having a difficult time figuring out how to verify how much money self-employed workers typically earn. It might require looking at tax documents, which unemployment offices don't usually have access to.

"Some of the requirements, the standards that we're being held to, are going to be incredibly difficult to adhere to," Maine Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman said.

A Labor Department spokesperson said the agency is "providing as much technical assistance and IT support as possible" to states, some of which are using computer systems that are several decades old.

Scalia's agency is also in charge of overseeing the new paid sick and family leave regulations, which apply to companies with fewer than 500 employees during the pandemic. The law gave the Labor Department authority to exempt businesses with under 50 employees from providing 12 weeks of paid family leave to care for a child out of school if the leave policy threatens to bankrupt the company.

Businesses that deny workers paid leave don't have to send the government any paperwork justifying why. The Labor Department's guidance asks companies to "retain such records for its own files," a contrast with the heavy documentation required from gig workers who must prove they were affected by the coronavirus outbreak to get aid.

A Labor Department spokesperson said its rules on paid sick and family leave follow Congress' direction.

"The department's new rule balances allowing workers to take paid leave to care for their children with keeping small businesses open - as instructed by Congress," a spokesperson said.

Some Labor Department staffers and outside critics have also faulted Scalia for his handling of OSHA, which falls under his jurisdiction.

The CDC has issued recommendations for the public and businesses to follow practices such as social distancing and sanitizing workstations. OSHA could make those guidelines mandatory for all employers or for all essential employees but has not done so.

"Some of the OSHA staff is frustrated they can't do more to protect workers. They want an emergency standard that would require employers to follow CDC guidelines," said David Michaels, a George Washington University School of Public Health professor who served as assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health under the Obama administration.

Under Scalia, OSHA has also decided against issuing safety requirements to protect hospital and health-care workers, including rules that would mandate nurses and other providers be given masks and protective gear recommended by the CDC when at risk of exposure.

The union National Nurses United petitioned Scalia to increase the requirements during the pandemic, but a union spokeswoman said the Labor Department has not even acknowledged receipt of the letter.

Hospitals have resisted these rules for years. Tom Nickels, the chief lobbyist for the American Hospital Association, said that he hadn't spoken to Scalia but that his group has opposed these actions in conversations with OSHA staff because widening the use of N95 respirator masks would be impractical. "The equipment is in short supply," he said. "We can't get it."

OSHA also has not taken significant action to protect workers from retaliation when they speak out about dangerous conditions that expose them to coronavirus, Michaels said.

When workers at a manufacturing plant in northern Illinois tried alerting government officials about their concerns about working shoulder to shoulder, the regional OSHA official responded that "all OSHA can do is contact an employer and send an advisory letter outlining the recommended protective measures," according to an email reviewed by The Washington Post. "This isn't very helpful for you or your labor group, but it is the best I have to offer," the email said.

On Wednesday, OSHA sent out a news release reminding companies that it is "illegal to retaliate against workers because they report unsafe and unhealthful working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic."

"OSHA has completely abandoned their responsibility to protect workers on the job," said Debbie Berkowitz, who worked at OSHA in the Obama administration and is now director of the worker safety and health program at the National Employment Law Project. "I have never felt this way, that every worker is at the mercy at their boss of whether they get protected. People are going to get sick and die, and they don't have to."

This week, Scalia said OSHA would take all worker safety concerns seriously.

"We are fielding calls from workers worried about their health and from workers who believe they have been illegally disciplined by their employer for expressing health concerns," he told C-SPAN. "We will not tolerate retaliation."

- - -

The Washington Post's Amy Goldstein contributed to this report.
The government has allowed a Covid-19 patient from South Sudan to land in the country.

According to the Standard, the 53 year old woman, who is a UN staffer, tested positive on Monday, April 6.

She had flown from Nairobi to Juba, and upon the diagnosis, requested to be brought back to Nairobi.

On Monday, we received an alert from UN Level (I) Clinic and our team was immediately mobilised. The Health official said the woman was showing flu-like symptoms on Monday, with a coronavirus test coming back positive this morning, Dr Angok Gordon, the coronavirus incident chief at the Ministry of Health in South Sudan said.

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia also confirmed the incident.

This is a different case. This patient has sought to be brought back and Foreign Affairs has to liaise with the Director-General, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, for landing rights, he said.

The nationality of the patient was not revealed.
Photo: The Canadian Press Yemeni women work to manufacture protective face masks, that are in high demand worldwide due the outbreak of the coronavirus, at a textile factory in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2020. For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness.

Yemens internationally recognized government announced on Friday the first confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the war-torn country, stoking fears that an outbreak could devastate its already crippled health care system.

The case is a 73-year-old Yemeni national who works at the port of al-Shahr in Hadramawt province, Yemens Minister of Health Nasser Baoum told The Associated Press. The man is in stable condition, the minister added, without providing further details.

Yemen is a uniquely dangerous place for the coronavirus to spread. Repeated bombings and ground fighting over five years of war have destroyed or closed more than half its health facilities. Deep poverty, dire water shortages and a lack of adequate sanitation have made the country a breeding ground for disease.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels declared a cease-fire on Thursday on humanitarian grounds, to prevent the spread of the pandemic. However, fighting continued unabated on Friday, diminishing hopes of a truce that could open doors for peace talks.

Yemens war erupted in 2014, when the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the countrys north. The U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition intervened to oust the rebels and restore the internationally recognized government. The conflict has killed over 100,000 people and largely settled into a bloody stalemate.

The U.N. has described Yemen as the worlds worst humanitarian disaster. Cholera outbreaks are the worst in modern history. Over 24 million people in the country require humanitarian assistance, many of them on the brink of starvation.

Hadramawt recently witnessed an outbreak of dengue fever, with hundreds of cases filling the public hospital of al-Shahr, where the coronavirus case was detected.

In Yemen's under-equipped and barely functioning health system, it's hard to distinguish between viral diseases. One young man with dengue fever died after a hospital in Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramawt, refused to admit him for fear he was carrying the coronavirus, two local aid and government officers said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to reporters.

Some of the symptoms of dengue fever are similar to the coronavirus, including muscle aches and fever.

To try to curb the spread of the virus, provincial Gov. Farag al-Bouhsni announced on his Facebook page a partial curfew and placed all workers at the al-Shahr port under a 14-day quarantine. Residents criticized the governor for not shutting down all ports in Hadramawt, which are the main lifeline for aid and commercial shipments for southern Yemen.

The adjacent governorate of al-Mahra, which also borders Oman, sealed off its entry points just hours after the announcement from Hadramawt. Yemen's Ministry of Religious Endowment said mosques will be closed to mass prayers as well as Quran teaching sessions.

Experts have dreaded the virus eventual appearance in the country.

The arrival of coronavirus in Yemen will be disastrous for many reasons, said Altaf Musani, representative of the World Health Organization in Yemen.

Even before the war, Yemen was the Arab world's most impoverished country, the majority of its population living in rural areas, disconnected from urban centres and health facilities. With the country relying on imports for 90 per cent of its basic needs, the Saudi-led coalition's blockade triggered price hikes. Political infighting led to suspension of salaries for government employees, including medical staff, while corruption deprived millions from access to humanitarian aid.
Disaster Response Force (DRF) personnel from Telangana state wearing protective gear spray disinfectant outside the government-run Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad. (AFP)

Hyderabad: A fresh death and 18 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Telangana on Thursday, taking the total positive cases in the state to 471, Health Minister E Rajender said.

The death toll due to COVID-19 in the state rose to 12.

The number of people discharged cumulatively was 45 and the active cases 414, Rajender told reporters here.

Only one person was on ventilator support, he added.

A media bulletin on COVID-19 said till date there was no evidence of community transmission of the virus in Telangana.

It said 101 hotspots have been identified in the state.

Rajender said testing of samples of those who returned after participating in the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi and their contacts had been completed.

The number of cases related to the Delhi congregation was 388, according to a release.

The minister said tests are being conducted for all those who had returned from foreign countries and their contacts.

He also said there was a possibility of about 60-70 people (related to the Tablighi event) being discharged on Friday and expressed hope that others too would be sent home after recovery by April 22.

The number of cases has come down because of the lockdown, with 99 per cent of people confining themselves to their homes, the minister said.

Rajender also said the state government would soon introduce tele-medicine for the benefit of people having any other health problems during the lockdown.

The state government would also offer counseling by psychiatrists over telephone for those in need, he added.

State chief secretary Somesh Kumar visited Mallepally area in the city along with local MLA Jaffar Hussain Meraj, DGP Mahender Reddy and other officials as part of containment measures for coronavirus.

The government has identified 12 containment clusters in the city to combat the spread of COVID-19, according to an official release.
Pressure is mounting on the Narendra Modi government to put on hold the central vista redevelopment project in New Delhi and the construction of a new Parliament building as the nation battles the deadly coronavirus disease outbreak, which has claimed 166 lives and infected 5,095 people as of Thursday.

Almost all opposition parties have urged Modi to shelve the project and spend the money instead on advancing the fight against Covid-19.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the PM on Tuesday in which she listed five austerity tips that included suspending the Rs 20,000 crore allocated to the project. At a time like this, such an outlay seems self-indulgent to say the least. I am certain that Parliament can function comfortably within the existing historical buildings. There is no urgent or pressing requirement that cannot be postponed until this crisis is contained, she wrote.

This sum could instead be allocated towards constructing new hospital infrastructure and diagnostics along with equipping our frontline workers with better facilities, added Gandhi.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar urged Modi to consider postponing the move after examining the countrys current priorities.

His views were echoed by DMKleader TR Baalu who told the PM the need of the hour is to abandon the move. It is not required at this moment. The government should instead divert the Rs 25,000 crore earmarked for the project to step up efforts to fight Covid-19, he said.

CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury too questioned the timing of issuing the land use change notification. When all resources must be mopped up to meet this Covid-19 challenge, a gazette notification is issued for the Rs 20,000 crore central vista project. Shame, he tweeted.

TMC leader Mahua Moitra also slammed the move. The government is suspending MPLADS funds for two years for generate resources to fight Covid-19 but wants to spend Rs 20,000 crore on the central vista project, she said.

The project was scheduled to be tendered in April but given the current situation all resources have been diverted to fight Covid-19. There will be delays for now, but we are on track and will make up for the time lost, a senior official said, requesting anonymity. The BJP refused to comment on the matter.
Richwood, TX (77531)

Today

Clouds and some sun this morning with more clouds for this afternoon. A few sprinkles possible. High 61F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Overcast. A few sprinkles possible. Low 49F. Winds light and variable.
Communities and voluntary groups around Ireland that are providing vital services during the Covid-19 emergency have received a funding boost.

Mr Michael Ring TD, Minister for Rural & Community Development has announced a 2.5 million fund to provide immediate and urgently needed funding to groups that are participating in the Governments Community Call initiative which is being led by the local authorities in response to the pandemic.

Local authorities administer the fund and will be making contact with those groups participating in Community Call in the very near future with further details. The need for funding assistance will be kept under review.

Leitrim is getting 56,393 from the fund. (County breakdown at end of story).

Priority will be provided to organisations which incur costs on direct delivery of frontline services to people, such as Meals on Wheels and other similar activities. These individual grants will generally be modest in nature however it is expected that higher amounts will provided where the need is greatest.

Speaking about the Covid-19 Emergency Fund, Minister Ring said:

Local community and voluntary groups are supporting significant numbers of vulnerable people, many of whom are self-isolating, to get through this crisis. This Fund will help these groups to cover the costs of their work.

This is a response to support immediate and emergency efforts by community and voluntary groups in assisting people locally. It is recognised that there are wider challenges and impacts facing the community and voluntary sector as a whole, but this initiative will help to provide support to community groups that are delivering services at the frontline, he said.

Collaboration and partnership between the community and voluntary sector and the State are key to coordinating and responding to the needs of our communities and supporting people at this time. These groups are making a real difference to help individuals at this unprecedented time.

There is a Community Call Forum in each county to coordinate and connect the wide range of services and supports that are available.

A dedicated phone helpline is operational in every county and the national number, 0818 222 024, is also in operation. You can find your local helpline number on www.gov.ie/communitycall.

In the week since Community Call was launched, over 5,000 calls have been received from members of the public.
Michigan officials said Friday, April 10, the state has begun sending out the $600 weekly federal unemployment payments promised under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Additionally, the states self-employed workers, gig workers, 1099-independent contractors and low-wage workers affected by COVID-19 can begin applying for the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits at 8 a.m. Monday, April 13, online at Michigan.gov/UIA.

Eligible workers who have yet to file a claim can begin doing so Monday. Qualified claimants who have previously been denied will also be able to log in to their MiWAM account through the states Unemployment Insurance Agency website and complete further steps to begin receiving federal benefits.

Every eligible worker in Michigan who applies for unemployment benefits will receive them, officials said Friday. Applications will be back-dated to reflect when a claimant was laid off due to COVID-19, even beyond the previously established 28-day period.

Ensuring Michiganders have access to state and federal benefits during this pandemic is a critical part in protecting everyones health and safety, said Governor Gretchen Whitmer in a prepared statement. We will do everything we can to continue providing emergency financial assistance as quickly as possible to the Michigan working families who have lost income as a result of COVID-19.

The $600 weekly federal payments are retroactive back to March 28 -- the day after President Donald Trump signed into law congress $2 trillion stimulus package. The CARES Act includes weekly unemployment payments to eligible individuals, for up to four months, on top of state unemployment benefits.

All newly eligible workers will need to provide proof of income when filing their claim to receive the maximum amount they are entitled. This could include W-2s, 1099 tax forms, and pay stubs.

Newly eligible workers will begin receiving federal benefits as early as Monday, April 20 after their bi-weekly certification.

Were committed to making sure everyone who is eligible for unemployment assistance receives their benefits as quickly as possible, said Jeff Donofrio, director of the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, in a prepared statement. Michigan is one of the first states to begin sending the additional $600 benefit to workers and our dedicated Unemployment Insurance Agency team is working tirelessly to provide emergency benefits during this crisis.

Individuals on paid sick leave or other paid leave  and those who have the ability to telework with pay  are not eligible for federal unemployment benefits.

Since March 15, more than 800,000 Michigan workers have filed for unemployment as much of the states economy has slowed in an effort to keep people at home and reduce the spread of COVID-19. The state has seen a record number of claims for three consecutive weeks, including 384,844 the week ending April 4.

Michigans Unemployment Insurance Agency has been inundated with laid-off workers seeking to file claims since the mass layoffs began. As a result, people have reported trouble getting through to file their claims and state officials have asked for patience.

The state has added more call-takers. New online tools have also been implemented to help users report and resolve technical issues with their claim.

Weve built online prompts and other resources into the systems to help unemployed workers resolve technical issues when trying to login to submit their claim, Donofrio said. While we estimate that around 95 percent of claimants have accessed our systems without any problems, we do understand some individuals have had technical difficulties. These tools are developed to connect users to our tech team who will contact claimants directly to resolve issues such as incorrect passwords, locked accounts or errors with authentication codes.

Claimants who previously experienced technical problems that are not yet resolved are encouraged by the state to go back into the system to report the issues to the technical team, which will soon be made up of around 100 full-time state employees.

Officials encourage applicants to use off-peak times between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. People with last names beginning with letters A-L should file claims Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays. People with last names that start with M-Z are asked to file claims on Sundays, Tuesday and Thursdays.

While online is the fastest and easiest method, unemployment claims can be filed by phone at 866-500-0017. The same name-based system applies for choosing when to call.

For more information, visit the states Unemployment Insurance Agency website, here, or check out this state-created unemployment benefits fact sheet.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home ( door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

More from MLive:

Michigan reports 206 new coronavirus deaths, nearly double previous daily peak

Michigans first alternate care facility begins accepting coronavirus patients

With Michigans coronavirus stay-at-home order extended, frustration builds over whats been deemed non-essential

Read Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmers revised coronavirus stay-at-home order

Michigan unemployment questions answered: When to expect it, if its taxable and more
Scientists have found a way to restore mobility and touch in rats after a stroke using human stem cells to recreate nerve connections in damaged brains  offering patients a new hope.

The study  conducted on rats  showed that the new cells could repair the damage caused by a stroke within six months of being transplanted into the brain.

However, the researchers caution that there is much work to be done before the procedure can be considered suitable and safe to try in human patients.

Strokes are life-threatening and occur when there is either a blockage in or the bursting of a blood vessel, which cuts off blood supply to parts of the brain.

Scroll down for video

The study  conducted on rats  showed that the new cells could repair the damage caused by a stroke within six months of being transplanted into the brain. Pictured, transplanted cells send their nerve fibres across to the other side of the brain in a stroke-affected rat

'It is remarkable to find that it is actually possible to repair a stroke-damaged brain and recreate nerve connections that have been lost,' said paper author and neurologist Olle Lindvall of Sweden's Lund University.

'The study kindles hope that in the future it could be possible to replace dead nerve cells with new healthy nerve cells also in stroke patients.'

However, he added, 'there is a long way to go before achieving that.'

Previous studies by Professor Lindvall and his colleagues had shown that it was possible to transplant nerve cells  derived from human stem cells that had been reprogrammed  into the brains of rate afflicted by stroke.

The transplants are made into each rats' cerebral cortex  the part of the brain which is most commonly damaged following a stroke.

It had been unclear, however, whether such a procedure would allow the transplanted cells to form connections in the rat brain in the correct fashion to restore normal movement and feeling.

'We have used tracking techniques, electron microscopy and other methods  such as light  to switch off activity in the transplanted cells, as a way to show that they really have connected correctly in the damaged nerve circuits,' said Zaal Kokaia.

'We have been able to see that the fibres from the transplanted cells have grown to the other side of the brain, the side where we did not transplant any cells, and created connections,' the Lund University neurologist added.

'No previous study has shown this.'

With their initial study complete, the team are now exploring the effects of the transplant procedure in more detail.

'We want to know more about how the transplanted cells affect the opposite hemisphere of the brain,' said Professor Kokaia.

'We also want to take a closer look at how a transplant affects intellectual functions such as memory.'

'In addition, we will study possible side effects. Safety is, of course, extremely important for cell transplantation if it is going to be used clinically in the future.'

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
US senators oppose China's appointment to UN Human Rights Council panel, affecting organization's independence

Global Times

By Liu Xin and Fan Lingzhi Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2020/4/9 4:09:20

A recent appointment of a Chinese official from the Chinese mission in Geneva to the consultative group of the UN Human Rights Council has upset some US senators and anti-China forces who have labeled the move "abnormal."

However, Chinese experts on human rights said that the appointment of the Chinese official was made jointly by member states in the Asia-Pacific region and the US politicians' move would affect the UN organization's independence.

On April 1, China was appointed to a seat on the consultative group of the UN Human Rights Council. Minister Jiang Duan from China's mission in Geneva was nominated and confirmed by the Asia regional grouping and will hold the seat until March 2021, according to a release from the UN Human Rights Council.

On March 7, US senator John Cornyn, along with some other senators including Marco Rubio, sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressing opposition to the appointment of Jiang.

The UN gives seats to many regional groups in its branches to maintain a balance. Members of the consultative group are selected jointly by countries in a regional group, Mao Junxiang, an expert on human rights from Central South University, told the Global Times.

"Jiang's nomination showed that member states in the Asia-Pacific region recognize China's work in human rights fields, as well as Jiang's individual performance in his position," Mao said.

"Although the US is one of the UN Security Council's permanent member states, it is not a member of the UN Human Rights Council. It withdrew from the organization in 2018. The UN is an independent international organization, not an affiliate of the US government," said Mao.

According to the Diplomat, the consultative group, the body to which China was just appointed, is charged with recommending candidates to fill positions according to the mandates of the Special Procedures, the Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Expert Mechanism on the Right of Development.

The panel consists of five ambassadors, each representing one of the five UN regional groups, and facilitates the appointment of experts on issues of freedom of speech and religion; water and sanitation; housing; food; health; poverty; and conditions in countries such as Cambodia, Iran, Myanmar, and North Korea.

Mao noted what the US politicians have done is to interfere with the Human Rights Council's independence and the move also showed the US is putting its unilateralism above the multilateralism of the UN.

"If the UN Human Rights Council yields to the US' request, it would be a shame for the international community," said Mao.

In response to the US senators' request to investigate China's increasing influence on the international organization, Mao said that it is a fact that China's influence on international organizations is increasing, which shows China respects the multilateralism of the international community and tries to play an active role.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






"Had this Coronavirus situation come last year, it would have been a disaster. At least we have been given one (problem) at a time."

Dr T Prabhushankar, Executive Director of Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, sums up the water situation as the city enters its summer in the times of the COVID-19 spread.

Chennai residents are unlikely to forget the summer of 2019. Around this time last year, they were paying up to Rs 4,000 for a 12,000-litre tanker lorry that would normally cost around Rs 1,200. The state-owned Metro Water struggled to keep up with the demands as the city's reservoirs and groundwater nearly dried up, leading to private operators charging as per demand. In many places, the situation was so bad that even money was not a sure way to get water.

Fortunately, the government is in a much better position this summer even if there is an increase in demand of per capita consumption of water. Washing hands frequently and maintenance of personal hygiene requires much more water, but it might not necessarily lead to water shortage in the city in the coming months. A near-normal north-east monsoon in 2019 and more importantly, the release of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh have proved to be game changers.

The combined storage of the Poondi, Cholavaram, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam reservoirs tally 6,278 million cubic feet (mcft) as of April 8. Last year this time, the number stood at 605.

"It's nothing similar to last year," says Prabhushankar. "We had a sort of a normal north-east monsoon last year. More importantly, we received Krishna water. So far we have received around 7.7 tmc (thousand million cubic feet); it is the second largest volume in the last 25 years. That has kept the reservoirs going. It is 7.2 tmc (including Veeranam) out of a total possible 12.7. That's quite a healthy storage. The groundwater is also quite good compared to last year because it had plummeted last year. We have good surface water as well as groundwater. We are supplying 650 MLD (million litres per day) now and we might increase it further."

The other big factor that has helped the situation is the government setting up two tertiary treatment reverse osmosis (TTRO) plants last year for water supply to industries. While the industries largely relied on surface and ground water until last summer, the TTRO plants have allowed them to reuse water for their needs. Industries are shut due to the lockdown at the moment, but even when they open, the water requirements of the residents are not likely to be impacted.

"We have substituted industrial supply with reused water. We have stopped supplying surface water to industries," says Prabhushankar.

While industries have a separate source, commercial establishments (hotel and hospitality sectors, educational institutions) being shut has helped the city save up groundwater. Reportedly, the water requirement along the Rajiv Gandhi Expressway (Old Madras Road) which houses plenty of companies and educational institutions, has gone down to 1 crore litres a day from 3 crore litres a day.

"Because the companies are closed, the use of groundwater is reduced. That's the cushion we have," says Dr S Janakaraj, former professor of Madras Institute of Developmental Studies.

"On the other hand, if we look at the people's need, the domestic water demand has gone up. Personal hygiene has to be maintained, people have to wash their hands regularly. So people are using more water. Earlier, if the per capita usage was 80 litres, now it's between 90 and 100. We have to wait and see if this balances out the cushion gained from the closing of companies. Now everyone is staying at home, so they need water for domestic purposes. The demand in the offices is minimal, but that's compensated for by people's presence at home. It's not like the water demand has gone down. People cannot compromise on use of water for personal hygiene. How to source water, whether we have that much water is a still a big question mark. That is going to remain the same."

While there is no clear data, Prabhushankar estimates that there could be a 10 per cent reduction even with the increased domestic demand.

The situation is clearly better compared to last year, but that doesn't mean the city should forget the harsh lessons learnt.

"We might be able to sustain through this summer," points out Janakaraj. "But Chennai has another issue. It's not like the summer ends in June. The south-west monsoon is not going to be our primary source of water. We really have to wait for the north-east monsoon to set in, which comes in October. So Chennai in effect has two summers. One is before the south-west monsoon, and then one more around end of July peaking in August and September. So we have to manage water till October. That will be difficult. We may be able to sustain till May-June, but after that it will be difficult."

Prabhushankar says Chennai has water to last the entire year, but stresses that residents should remember to save water.

"As we go into the summer, the water table will slightly go down. But we have enough water for the entire year. There won't be any problem," he says. "The focus is on fighting the crisis and fortunately we can afford to supply more water if needed, rather than talking about water conservation for the time being. Metro Water is also disinfecting various places, we have pledged more vehicles to disinfect the entire city and helping the Corporation. Citizens should maintain personal hygiene and wash hands, but that shouldn't translate to wasting water.
SoftBank Group is determined to push ahead with its 4.5 trillion yen ($41 billion) asset sale program as originally planned despite the coronavirus wreaking havoc on markets and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week declaring the first state of emergency in Japan's postwar history.

"We made this decision [on asset sales] after the novel coronavirus was taking hold," Yoshimitsu Goto, chief financial officer of SoftBank Group, told the Nikkei Asian Review on Thursday. The company announced on March 23 the substantial disposal of assets to be "executed over the next four quarters," but financial markets around the globe have been shaken even further since then as the pandemic worsens.

Goto, however, rejected speculation about any changes to the program, including its self-imposed deadline. An extension, according to him, is "basically not in the cards. ... We have a scenario in place and will firmly execute it in this environment."

However, he refrained from making any comments on the composition of the sales package, including whether it would include share in Alibaba Group Holding, which consists over half of the group's 27 trillion yen portfolio. Despite the possibility of disposal, Alibaba shares listed in Hong Kong have risen by 5% since SoftBank's announcement until the close on Thursday. Many analysts also expect SoftBank Corp., the group's Japanese mobile unit, and Sprint, the U.S. carrier that recently merged with T-Mobile, to be among the candidates for the sale.

Among the proceeds of the asset sale, 2 trillion yen is earmarked for share buybacks, on top of 500 billion yen previously committed on March 13. The rest will be used to payoff debts and buy back its bonds.

About 600 million shares will be purchased if Thursday's closing price of 4,138 yen is assumed. That would push up Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son's shareholdings -- including shares owned indirectly through asset management vehicles -- to around 38% from 26% as of March 27, the latest filing date of his large-volume holdings report to the finance ministry.

On the potential surge in his boss' control over the company, Goto said, "For people purchasing our shares, Son's leadership aspect is part of it."

The company has remained firmly under Son's control since its founding in 1981, even after its listing in 1994. His charismatic leadership has been a major factor in its growth, to the point that it has been included in the risk factor section of its annual reports over more than a decade. The latest report reads: "Unforeseen situations concerning key members of management-especially Chairman and CEO of SBG and Group Representative Masayoshi Son-could impede the Group's business activities."

But Son's aggressive deal-making has come under intense scrutiny in recent months after the group suffered a large loss on its investment in U.S. coworking space operator WeWork -- and then continued to support the company by announcing an additional $9.5 billion investment. As concerns over another WeWork-type loss loomed, Son publicly acknowledged that Goto had urged him to declare there will be no more "rescue investments" of loss-making companies.

Nevertheless, Elliott Management, the American activist hedge fund seen as triggering the substantial asset sales and share buybacks, has also been demanding reform in the Japanese company's governance. Goto, however, brushed off any concerns regarding Son tightening his grip on ownership. "Rather, the risk is when Son's ownership declines. I reckon that is what our investors are concerned about."

SoftBank would not be the first Asian conglomerate to increase the shareholding of its founder in order to reassure nervous investors.

CK Asset Holdings and CK Hutchison Holdings announced on Tuesday that Li Ka-shing, the founder of the two Hong Kong conglomerates, recently bought additional shares in the two companies on the open market through a vehicle co-owned with his son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, who officially took over from his father in 2018. The elder Li now owns 34.48% of CK Asset and 30.14% of CK Hutchison. Li has often made such moves to indicate his confidence to investors whenever his flagship companies' share prices have come under stress.

SoftBank Group's asset sale and share buyback program triggered an almost instant two-notch downgrade by Moody's, which considered the move to be a reflection of the company's "aggressive financial policy." One of the concerns raised by the rating agency was the timing, as asset sales "will be challenging in the current financial market downturn, with valuations falling and a flight to quality," Motoki Yanase, its senior credit officer based in Tokyo, said at the time. The agency placed the company's rating on review for a further downgrade.

SoftBank Group demanded on March 25 that Moody's withdraw its ratings, to "avoid confusion in the market based on what we believe to be a misunderstanding."

S&P Global Ratings indicated a more positive view on the planned asset sale, saying it "would reduce downward pressure on credit quality," in its report on March 24. However, the agency also raised concern over the timing, saying "there remains considerable uncertainty over whether the asset sale can be completed and debt reduced as planned should stock markets remain highly volatile," in the same report.

Nikkei
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The state government has decided to extend the quarantine duration by another 15 days and now it will be 43 days, to ensure the safety of people, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner B H Anil Kumar said on Thursday. He said the decision was taken after a meeting with health officials and all stakeholders. It will be implemented not just in Bengaluru but across the state. This comes into immediate effect and is mandatory, he added.

As per the decision, all primary and secondary contacts will also be housed in the quarantine centre for the first 14 days, after which they will be under home quarantine for the next 14 days and under self-quarantine reporting period for the remaining 15 days. During home quarantine, the patient will be tracked and regularly checked by medical professionals and during the self-quarantine reporting period, the person will have to make observations and send reports to the assigned health professionals.

The BBMP has listed 17 hotels with 1,400 rooms to be used for quarantine. The health and BBMP officials found that of those who had returned from Tablighi Jamaat, Nizamuddin, have been housed at Haj Bhavan and are under regular check, of whom, four have been found positive and have been sent to designated isolation hospitals for treatment. To aid medical staffers and ASHA workers, the BBMP has appointed 26 medical professionals. At the same time, it has relieved 14 staffers, above 60, from seervice, citing age and health reasons, the Commissioner said.

The Commissioner along with Mayor M Goutham Kumar also held an all-party meeting, where it was decided to sanction Rs 25 lakh to each ward councillor to supply food packets and medicines and other essentials to the poor. The Commissioner said a final decision will be taken in a couple of days. The money allocated must be utilised not just for labourers, but for others like auto and taxi drivers, delivery boys and daily wage workers, who are now stranded.

FOOD FOR ALL

The labour department has been supplying food packets and cooked food only to labourers at construction sites, and not other places. BBMP said there are 885 sites where 72,326 migrant labourers reside and so far only 41,527 food packets have been distributed. The remaining 25,208 will be given food immediately.
While Germany has taken in Italian patients for treatment, the UK has failed to participate in an EU ventilator scheme.

Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by health systems, global economies and supply chains while coping with the coronavirus pandemic, there are positive indications that international cooperation between countries is helping to combat the spread of the disease.

Germany has sent its air force to bring Italian patients to German hospitals for treatment. Hospitals have taken in about 50 Italian coronavirus patients, the German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said last week. We stand by our Italian friends. We can only manage this together, he stated.

China is now producing 116 million masks a day  12 times its supply prior to the outbreak. Chinese billionaire Jack Ma is donating protective face masks to Europe and the United States. The first shipment, containing his donation of 1 million masks and 500,000 coronavirus test kits has already arrived in the US, and the Chinese government has already offered to export protective equipment and medical staff support to Italy and other countries.

The global cooperation of countries working together to try to curb the spread of coronavirus shows the power of internationalism over isolationism.

Trade and labour supply protectionism that curb imports or exports while applying regulations to ensure people buy local rather than make global purchases, risk strangling essential external global supply lines, limiting product provision, raising prices, and creating labour supply deficits. Ultimately, it risks costing lives.

The risks thrown up by isolationist policies have already been shown in the UK, where farmers are warning that one-third of this summers food harvest could go to waste on British farms. This is mostly down to a chronic shortage of migrant labour caused by the coronavirus outbreak and post-Brexit restrictions on low-income workers.

UK farms and food producers rely on a migrant workforce of 60,000 seasonal labourers mainly drawn from Eastern European countries including Romania, Bulgaria and Poland.

Just weeks from now, fruit and vegetable crops will need harvesting, but travel restrictions across Europe and the UK, imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19, may make it near-impossible to recruit overseas staff.

This is compounded by the UK governments announcement on February 19, 2020, that low-skilled workers would not receive visas under post-Brexit immigration plans.

The British Poultry Council has warned that 60 percent of its 23,000 workers are EU nationals, and the new rules completely disregard British food production and will damage national food security.

The UK government is urging employers to move away from relying on cheap labour from Europe and invest in retaining UK labour instead. But this raises concerns about how the UK intends to fill the demand for agricultural labour at harvest time from June to October.

One unintended consequence of the UK governments coronavirus employee support scheme (announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak on March 20) is that British workers will be paid 80 percent of their salaries during the current shutdown and may not have the incentive to take other jobs such as food-harvesting work.

This false economy of isolationism during a pandemic is also shown in healthcare provision, both in terms of staffing and supply of materials.

During the UKs Budget on March 11, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the migrant healthcare worker Immigration Health Surcharge  a fee foreign workers must pay to apply for the right to stay in the country  was being increased from the current level of 400 to 624 pounds (from $491 to $767) a year for each surcharge-liable non-EEA temporary migrant, as well as each dependent, from October 2020.

This creates yet another deterrent to migrant healthcare workers during a time of unprecedented demands requiring additional healthcare supply.

The EU procurement programme for supply of urgently needed hospital ventilators, initiated by the EU commission, uses the bulk buying power of single-market member states to obtain priority for ventilators and protective equipment, which doctors have warned are in short supply in the UK.

The UK still has the right to participate in this initiative as it is still in the transition phase of leaving the EU and, therefore, remains a member of the single market for the time being. Yet cabinet minister Michael Gove has said he is assured the UK, as an independent nation, does not need the EU scheme to get extra ventilators and has failed to participate in it.

This contradicts what the UKs prime minister, Boris Johnson, reportedly revealed when voicing his fears about a lack of ventilators in a telephone call to US President Donald Trump.

The two leaders spoke within hours of Johnson being diagnosed with coronavirus amid fierce criticism of the UK governments failure to take up the EUs offer to obtain a bulk supply the life-saving equipment.

Revealing the details of the telephone conversation, Trump said: I said how are you feeling, he said we need ventilators.

While the UK displays traits of isolationism which, in turn, is risking the health and food supply chains that are currently required to combat the impact of coronavirus, it appears that many other countries are doing the opposite  reaching out through international cooperation and seeing the benefits of internationalism rather than isolationism.

This worldwide health crisis provides us with an important reminder that many critical development challenges cannot be solved by individual countries working in isolation.

There is a clear need for a collaborative approach to find ways to combat the pandemic. Because right now, it is The World versus COVID-19.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked PM Narendra Modi for the export of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to Israel, touted to help in the treatment of coronavirus patients.

"Thank you, my dear friend, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!", Netanyahu said in a tweet.

PM Modi responded saying that India was praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel. The prime minister tweeted, "We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends".

Also read: India Coronavirus live updates: Israeli premier thanks PM Modi for hydroxychloroquine supply to fight COVID-19

India sent a five-tonne cargo of medicines, including anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to Israel to contain coronavirus pandemic. According to worldometer, Israel has reported a total of 9,968 coronavirus cases and 86 deaths, as of April 10, 8.00 am.

Recently, in a telephonic conversation, Modi and Netanyahu had discussed various steps to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Netanyahu had earlier reached out to Modi requesting him to approve and allow export of masks and pharmaceuticals to Israel.

The special request was made on March 13 after India decided to halt the export of these items to meet its own domestic requirements.

President Donald Trump also thanked PM Modi for allowing the export of the hydroxychloroquine to the US.

"I want to thank Prime Minister Modi of India for allowing us to have what we requested for the problem that arose and he was terrific. We will remember it," Trump said.

India is the biggest manufacturer of HCQ, which is being touted as a "game-changer" in the fight against COVID-19 . India manufactures 70 per cent of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine, according to (IPA) secretary-general Sudarshan Jain. India is expected to increase the monthly production capacity to 40 metric tonnes by the end of the month and to 70 MT by next month.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended the use of the drug for those involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of the coronavirus and for asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed patients.

Also read: Coronavirus impact: India's Hydroxychloroquine export warms US, Brazilian hearts

Also read: ICMR sentinal surveillance finds 39% coronavirus patients without travel history
By Kate Abnett and Simon Jessop LONDON (Reuters) - Cement and steel companies are being warned by investors over their lobbying on planned European Union carbon costs, saying they are effectively asking to be compensated twice over. A review of public consultation responses by Reuters shows lobbyists want the EU to maintain an existing scheme to support firms with carbon credits at the same time as it introduces a new carbon border tax to shield them from outside rivals. Manufacturers of cement and steel contacted by Reuters said such concerns were misplaced and they are fully committed to the EU's goal to decarbonise its economy by 2050

By Kate Abnett and Simon Jessop

LONDON (Reuters) - Cement and steel companies are being warned by investors over their lobbying on planned European Union carbon costs, saying they are effectively asking to be compensated twice over.

A review of public consultation responses by Reuters shows lobbyists want the EU to maintain an existing scheme to support firms with carbon credits at the same time as it introduces a new carbon border tax to shield them from outside rivals.

Manufacturers of cement and steel contacted by Reuters said such concerns were misplaced and they are fully committed to the EU's goal to decarbonise its economy by 2050.

"We as a company welcome it," Cedric de Meeus, Swiss cement maker LafargeHolcim's head of public affairs, said.

"This is going to be a complex transition. We are prepared to play our part," de Meeus added.

Imposing carbon costs at its borders is a central pillar of EU chief executive Ursula von der Leyen's Green Deal policy and aims to protect firms who incur costs in meeting the target.

The fear is that competition from Chinese, Turkish, African firms and others subject to less stringent climate policies could prompt EU firms to relocate outside the bloc. This risks causing "carbon leakage", where emissions move elsewhere rather than falling in line with climate targets.

"Companies should not be compensated twice for the potential risks of carbon leakage," Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change chief executive Stephanie Pfeifer told Reuters.

This European group of mainly pension funds and insurers has some 30 trillion euros ($32.6 trillion) of assets under management, whose 230 investor members will hold shares and bonds in European steel and cement firms in their portfolios.

With climate change topping lists of investor concerns before the coronavirus crisis, money managers have become increasingly vocal over any perceived risk that corporate lobbying could undermine tougher action on emissions.

"The decarbonisation pathway of this sector to-date already looks to miss the mark," Bruce Duguid head of stewardship at EOS, the corporate engagement arm of British asset manager Hermes told Reuters, referring to cement.

"We do not agree that it is necessary to have in place both free allocations and a border adjustment mechanism," he added.

The European Commission says it will publish a proposal in 2021 on the border charges and has therefore begun the consultations on the plans.

For an interactive version of the graphic, click here https://reut.rs/2wpzlqK

BATTLE LINES

Battle lines have been drawn in more than 200 responses submitted to a consultation by the European Commission on its planned carbon border charges last month over whether the measures would replace, or be applied on top of, existing industry support.

At present, the EU gives industry a share of free carbon credits under its emissions trading system (ETS), allowing them to produce a certain amount for free.

For an interactive version of the graphic, click here https://reut.rs/3e5gUsh

In responses reviewed by Reuters, groups including cement industry association CEMBUREAU, EUROFER, which represents steelmakers, and Aluminium Europe said the carbon border tax must complement, not replace, these free carbon credits.

Companies adopting this stance included LafargeHolcim and Luxembourg's ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, while Germany's biggest steelmaker ThyssenKrupp told Reuters it holds the same position. ArcelorMittal submitted EUROFER's position paper in the consultation.

"It is essential that the free allocation of emissions allowances under the EU ETS up to 2030 be strengthened and continued, applying realistic benchmarks and with no additional reduction of allocations," ThyssenKrupp said.

EU carbon credits will drop as Brussels attempts to steer industry towards decarbonisation, although firms will continue to receive some free permits until at least the 2030s.

CEMBUREAU, EUROFER and LafargeHolcim all said they were not seeking double compensation, but instead proposing a hybrid system in which any new border mechanism avoided the same emissions being covered by both forms of protection.

Under their proposal, EU companies would continue to receive free carbon permits, while companies exporting into Europe would receive a comparable share of "free" emissions, and pay a carbon border tax for any extra emissions.

"What we ask for is that third country importers are treated equally to European producers," CEMBUREAU chief executive Koen Coppenholle told Reuters.

"There should be no double protection for the same emissions," a EUROFER spokesman said. "But there should be protection for those emissions costs that are not covered by free allocation."

Aluminium Europe said existing protections should remain untouched because a border tax could not fully address the sector's carbon costs, which are mostly incurred through the large amounts of electricity needed to make aluminium.

Some say such measures will only serve to delay action to phase out free allocations of carbon credits.

"We want disruptive change, we want new low-carbon alternatives," Georg Zachmann, senior fellow at Brussels think-tank Bruegel, said.

"Therefore, we should really shift away from any measure that protects investments into dirty technology.

(Writing by Matthew Green; Editing by Alexander Smith)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 09, 2020 | 08:07 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY





The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is helping to alleviate the problem with Wi-Fi hotspots in their campus parking lots, including at West Kentucky Community and Technical College.







The hotspots are open to anyone who wants to use them. Officials with KCTCS say there have been times when as many as 1,300 people an hour are using the hotspots.







The hotspots will be available in several of the parking lots at the Paducah location, including the Paducah School of Art and Design, and the Skilled Craft Training Center in Hickory.







WKCTC faculty and staff are also contacting students by phone, email, and video to help with instructional needs and to check on their well-being.



What happens when schools ask students to begin remote learning, but many do not have access to broadband internet?
It is basically over

6-12 months

In another year or years

It was never a real pandemic

Vote

View Results
Qatar Airways has suspended flights between Doha and Zagreb due to plummeting demand resulting from the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. The last service between the two cities operated last week. Flights are expected to resume on April 30, four times per week, instead of its usual fourteen weekly rotations. From June, frequencies will be increased to seven weekly. During March, the Qatari carrier initially suspended the service for April but later rescheduled the flights, at a reduced frequency. The carrier is updating its schedule on a near-daily basis. Therefore, additional changes remain likely.
University of Houston students facing financial struggles due to the novel coronavirus pandemic can receive assistance thanks to a new fundraising campaign, the Cougar Emergency Fund.

Many of our students are struggling during this unprecedented public health crisis, yet Im inspired by their collective resilience and determination as we overcome these obstacles together, UH System Chancellor and President Renu Khator said in a news release. "Much of the financial fallout is beyond anyones control, and Im hopeful money from the Cougar Emergency Fund will enable our students to address some of their financial need so they may continue their studies."
A second report has claimed that the US collected intelligence pointing to a public health crisis in Wuhan as far back as November, after officials dismissed allegations earlier this week.

On Wednesday, ABC News said that the National Center for Medical Intelligence had known of a spreading contagion in the Chinese city in November and later presented the White House and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) with its findings on multiple occasions.

Repeated warnings were made throughout December, ABC News claims, before a detailed explanation of the issue appeared in Donald Trumps daily intelligence briefing in January.

The National Center for Medical Intelligence denied the report in a rare and unrequested public statement, dismissing it as not correct.

As a matter of practice the National Center for Medical Intelligence does not comment publicly on specific intelligence matters, said Dr R Shane Day, the centres director said.

However, in the interest of transparency during this current public health crisis, we can confirm that media reporting about the existence/release of a National Center for Medical Intelligence Coronavirus-related product/assessment in November of 2019 is not correct. No such NCMI product exists.

NBC News has since reiterated claims that US officials had amassed raw intelligence on a growing health crisis in Wuhan last year.

According to its report, officials had acquired communications intercepts and overhead images that showed increased activity at health facilities in the city.

A situation report was produced and distributed to federal public healths in late November, NBC News adds, but at that point no formal assessment was made and nor was there any indication of a mounting global pandemic.

Further material that caught the attention of health analysts allegedly surfaced in December, before finding its way into Mr Trumps briefing book in January  though it is unknown whether he read the information.

Mark Esper, the US Department of Defense secretary, said this week he is not aware whether the Pentagon received intelligence on Covid-19 in December, months before community spread of the virus was identified in the US and in military ranks.

Mr Esper told ABCs This Week that he does not recall if the department had received the assessment from the National Center for Medical Intelligence.

Before the World Health Organisation declaration two weeks later, the agency predicted a global pandemic of Covid-19 at the end of February in a briefing to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mr Esper said: We have many people who watch this closely. We have the premier infectious disease research institute in America, within the United States Army. So, our people who work these issues directly watch this all the time.

Air Force general John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on Thursday that he did not see intelligence reports on the coronavirus until January.

We went back and looked at everything in November and December, he said. The first indication we have were the reports out of China in late December that were in the public forum. And the first intel reports I saw were in January.

Experts believe the coronavirus outbreak first emerged in the middle of November in a seafood market in Wuhan.

The South China Morning Post, citing Chinese government data, reported that the first documented case of Covid-19 was recorded on 17 November.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 23:41:42|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Trade unions at all levels were urged to play a major role in advancing economic and social development while implementing epidemic response measures.

Wang Dongming, vice chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee and chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, made instructions Friday at a teleconference of the executive committee of the federation.

Trade unions should improve services to better protect the lawful rights and interests of employees and maintain the stability of the workforce, said Wang.

Efforts should be made to deepen the reform and innovation of the trade unions to boost vitality and strength, Wang added.
BEREA, Ohio

Trespassing: Prospect Street

A worker at Shell gas station, 20 Prospect, called police at about 7 p.m. April 2 and said that a 50-year-old Berea woman had just threatened her with an unseen handgun.

The worker said she and coworkers had been cleaning the store thoroughly with bleach due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The woman walked in and started grabbing cigarettes out of an ashtray. The worker warned the woman not to do so, due to COVID-19 and because the ashtray had been cleaned with bleach.

This is why I carry a gun, for people like you, the woman told the worker. Ill be back for you.

The worker said the woman had caused trouble at the gas station in the past. She said she didnt want the woman ever to return.

Police spotted the woman walking on the Henry Street bridge. She admitted taking cigarettes from the ashtray in the gas station, but denied threatening anyone with a gun.

Theft: West Bagley Road

Police hope to identify and arrest a man and two women, all middle-aged, who stole a basketful of merchandise at about 5:30 a.m. April 2 from CVS Pharmacy, 212 W. Bagley.

According to witnesses and store security video, the trio entered CVS at about 5:20 a.m. The man used hand sanitizer that was on the store counter. Workers noticed that he was missing an index finger.

One of the women grabbed a CVS basket and started filling it with merchandise. At some point, she handed the basket to the man.

At about 5:25 a.m., the woman who had originally carried the basket walked out of the store. The man and second woman quickly followed, and the store alarm sounded, indicating that they were leaving with unpaid merchandise.

A store worker told the trio that they had to pay for the merchandise. The second woman removed a half-empty Starbucks caramel mocha from her jacket and placed it on the checkout counter. Meanwhile, the man hurried out of the store, his body concealing the basket.

Fraud: Bryant Avenue

A Bryant Avenue woman was defrauded of about $11,500 through an internet scam on match.com.

On April 2, the victim told police that she had met a man on match.com about two months earlier. They sent texts to each other and talked on the phone, but never met in person. The man said he was a U.S. Army soldier stationed in Afghanistan. He said he wanted to visit her, but first needed money and her personal information.

The victim gave the fraudster her Social Security number, date of birth, address, bank account numbers and answers to security questions. He then stole her money through bank withdrawals, money orders and bitcoin transfers.

The man sent the woman several checks, but they all bounced. Her banks closed her accounts, but said they would not replace her lost funds and that they owed her overdraft fees.

Stolen vehicle: Butternut Lane

A 2018 Jeep Wrangler was stolen between midnight and 12:45 p.m. April 4 from a Butternut Lane driveway.

A neighbor saw two suspicious males at about noon walking on the street and looking at driveways.

The victim was unsure whether the Jeep had been locked, but added that someone could have entered the vehicle without keys by unzipping the soft top.

Theft: West Bagley Road

A Berea man, 21, was told April 5 that he was no longer allowed inside Marcs Deeper Discount Store, 371 W. Bagley, after he tried to steal merchandise from the business.

Marcs workers called police at about 1:45 p.m. and said they saw the man walk out of the store carrying a bag of groceries. They asked him for a receipt, but he didnt have one, so they asked him to step back into the store. He set the bag down, but walked away from the store, saying he had forgotten something.

Workers knew the man because he was a grandson of one of the workers. Police drove to the mans house, where he admitted that he might have tried to steal the groceries.

Theft: Buckeye Drive

Two credit cards and $60 in cash were stolen between midnight and 12:20 a.m. April 4 from a wallet that had been left inside an unlocked pickup truck parked outside a Buckeye Drive home.

At about 12:21 a.m., the victim received a cell phone alert from his credit card, saying that the two cards had been used to buy about $80 in cigarettes at a Speedway gas station. The victim immediately canceled both cards.

Theft: White Street

A light blue and gray Trek bicycle was stolen between 6 and 11:10 p.m. April 3 from a garage that had been left open. The bike had been locked and chained to a work bench. The lock and chain were missing, along with the bike.

Theft: Laurel Drive

A 20-volt impact drill, a 20-volt hammer drill, a 20-volt battery and a tape measure, all DeWalt products, were reported stolen at about 11:45 a.m. April 2 from a pickup truck parked outside a home.

It wasnt clear whether the vehicle had been locked. Also missing from the truck were two debit cards and a credit card.

Read more from the News Sun.
It will consider changes to the state budget

Verkhovna Rada Reuters

An extraordinary meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will be held on Monday, April 13. This was stated by the Speaker of Ukrainian Parliament Dmytro Razumkov on the air of 112 Ukraine TV channel.

"The meeting will take place on Monday, at 14:00," Razumkov said.

According to him, Verkhovna Rada will consider changes to the state budget.

The bill "On national geospatial data infrastructure" will also be examined. It is necessary in order to normalize and actually launch this process of preparation for the future opening of the land sale market.

The bill No. 3320, which is related to the fight against coronavirus, is also on the agenda.

Parliament will also consider 13 regulations that effectively prohibit Razumkov and President Volodymyr Zelensky from signing the land market law.

As we reported earlier, on March 31, Ukraines parliament officially opened the land sale market - 259 MPs voted for that.

The opening of the land market was scandalous. The idea of Zelenskys team met with resistance among a number of political forces opposing the sale of land, while agrarians held rallies under the Verkhovna Rada and blocked state highways in protest.
Ron Black (pictured) has been replaced as chief exec of Imagination Technologies by Ray Bingham

Imagination Technologiess boss left the company yesterday after Chinese investors made a failed bid to seize control.

Ron Black has been replaced as chief executive of the British chip maker by Ray Bingham, who was executive chairman and is also a partner at Imaginations parent company Canyon Bridge.

The shake-up comes after China Reform, Canyon Bridges biggest investor, sought to appoint four directors to Imaginations board, which would have effectively handed it control.

China Reform, which has links to the regime in Beijing, reportedly wanted to relocate the company and its intellectual property to China but cancelled the meeting after an outcry from MPs.

The attempted boardroom coup has triggered a probe by several government departments and spy agency GCHQ.

Imagination yesterday said it planned to ramp up investment in the UK.
The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has settled 1.37 lakh withdrawal claims worth Rs 280 crore in less than 10 days as part of the relief measures to mitigate the economic impact of coronavirus, as announced by the government last month, a home ministry official said on Friday.

The government had last month announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore welfare package as part of a fiscal stimulus under a scheme named Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana.

Under the scheme, the government is contributing both the share of the employee and the employer in the Provident Fund accounts of employees of organizations with less than 100 employees, for a period of three months. The 90% of these employees should be earning less than Rs15,000 per month for them to qualify under this scheme.

The government has also amended the PF regulation scheme to allow employees to either withdraw 75% of the provident fund money in their accounts, or a sum total of three months of their wages, whichever is lower, but this will be treated as a non-refundable advance from their accounts.

The government further eased regulations to allow 90% of the roughly 60 million EPFO subscribers who earn less than Rs 15,000 per month to produce any valid age proof document to facilitate the withdrawal of provident fund money.

The relaxation allows subscribers to get their date of birth corrected by producing any of these documents -- birth certificate, service records of central or state organisations, education-related certificate, medical certificate by a civil surgeon, Aadhaar or any other document issued by a government department.

The relaxation was given since several people in this category were unable to withdraw their money because of discrepancies in their age record.
Defective medical gear from China is drawing growing backlash overseas, with Finland, Britain, and Ireland being the latest to complain about faulty equipment.

Eager to portray itself as humanitarian amid the global pandemic, the Chinese regime has sent medical supplies to virus-hit countries around the world from Spain to Peru. Since March 1, the country has around four billion masks, 37.5 million protective suits, and 2.8 million testing kits, according to an April 5 statement by the Chinese customs administration.

Yet mounting instances of defective masks and test kits have called into question whether Beijing attempts at mask diplomacy can succeed.

Finland, upon receiving 2 million surgical masks from China on April 7 by airlift, described them to be of disappointing quality and unsuitable for hospital staff.

The Chinese market is very chaotic, Tomi Lounema, managing director of the countrys National Emergency Supply Agency, said in a Wednesday press briefing. He added that this meant that the country has to deal with a large number of obscure suppliers which makes it difficult to trace where goods are made.

Prices are rising all the time, transactions have to be done quickly and you have to pay in advance, he said. The commercial risk is very high.

Meanwhile, Toronto is recalling more than 62,000 faulty Chinese surgical masks, worth $200,000, that have been distributed to long-term care facilities, according to an April 7 press release. The city is now investigating whether anyone had exposure to the virus while wearing the masks.

Among Irelands first batch of personal protective equipment from China, 20 percent was defective, according to local media. The faulty items carry a value of 4 million ($4.37 million). The Chinese embassy in Dublin has promised to replace the equipment, according to The Irish Times. Another 15 percent of the shipment, including white overall gowns, were considered acceptable for healthcare worker use if the preferred product is not available, Paul Reid, the director of Health Service Executive, told the media on April 5.

John Newton, the British testing chief, said antibody tests sourced from China were ineffective, as they could only identify immunity accurately in those who were severely ill with a very large viral load, The Times reported. The government had ordered millions of antibody testing kits from China last week, but Matt Hancock, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said on Sunday that we still dont have any that are good enough.

The Netherlands on March 28 recalled around 600,000 masks from China, while the Spanish health ministry also withdrew 58,000 Chinese-made testing kits upon discovering that it had an accuracy rate of only 30 percent.

Factory Conditions Questioned

As demand for protective equipment skyrocketed globally, thousands of Chinese companies have rushed into the medical equipment manufacturing business, drawing concerns over whether the operations meet health and safety standards.

Last week, the Chinese regime tightened rules governing the export of medical equipment in an attempt to address quality concerns. Authorities announced on March 31 that only manufacturers who were accredited to sell their products within China could export test kits, surgical masks, protective gowns, ventilators, and infrared thermometers.

Lin Xin (alias), formerly with a timber manufacturer in Chinas northern Heilongjiang Province, is now helping to facilitate the export of masks to Europe. He said his friends in the clothing and toy industry have converted their factory floors into assembly lines.

He said this was a widespread phenomenon in the province. But a number of these companies started production before acquiring an official license, and several were recently caught, Lin told the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times.

To make money, people are jumping onto the mask manufacturing like a swarm of bees, he said.

According to the Chinese financial news site Sanyan Blockchain, almost 5,500 mask manufacturers were set up in China between Jan. 23 and March 11.

Chen had visited one dust-filled factory where workers handled masks from the assembly line without wearing any gloves or masks.

Who would dare to use masks that are manufactured like this? Who would dare to wear it on their face? he said.

Lu Honghai, founder of Shenzhen-based e-commerce site Ennews, said he found dead flies and dark spots in a random check of 350,000 masks he had purchased for export.

In response, the manufacturer Aokang Hygienic Materials in Hua County in Henan Province, with whom he placed the order on March 17, agreed to recall 13,000 masks but refused to compensate for the remainder of the order, Lu wrote in an April 3 post on Chinese social media Weibo. He has since filed a complaint with the police.

Lu said a significant portion of these masks has already been sold online to other parts of the world.

From The Epoch Times
Six fresh cases of coronavirus were reported in Haryana on Friday, taking the total number patients to 162 in the state.

While four cases were reported from Ambala, one case each was reported from Sonipat and Panchkula, according to the state Health Department's evening bulletin.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar appealed to people to wear masks whenever they venture out.

"I appeal that anyone who is outside should wear a mask, even if it is an ordinary mask, 2-3 layered mask or a cloth mask. They can even use a handkerchief as a mask," Khattar said in a televised address to the people of the state to update them about the steps being taken to check the spread of coronavirus.

The total number of active COVID-19 cases in the state now stands at 138, the bulletin said, adding 22 patients have been discharged. The state has recorded two coronavirus-related deaths.

As many as 3,527 samples have been tested so far, out of which 2,447 have tested negative.

While positive cases are 162, but the reports of 918 samples are still pending.

Among the total coronavirus cases reported in Haryana, 10 are foreign nationals, while 64 are from other states, stated the bulletin.

The worst affected districts of the state are Nuh (38) Gurugram (32), Palwal (28) and Faridabad (28).

Containment orders have been issued by deputy commissioners for 140 villages in Nuh district.

Health Minister Anil Vij maintained that the spike in cases was due to a number of Tablighi Jamaat members testing positive. He said earlier that 106 of the Jamaat members had tested positive.

Khattar, meanwhile, in his address, also said that everyone will have to put in united efforts in this fight against coronavirus.

With Nuh emerging as a hotspot, Khattar said those Tablighi Jamaat members who attended the Nizamuddin event in Delhi last month and may still be hiding should report to authorities to get themselves tested.

He appealed to Muslim religious leaders in Nuh-Mewat region to appeal all to extend their cooperation in this fight against coronavirus.

Khattar also made a reference to Battle of Khanwa, in which a famous ruler from Mewat, Hasan Khan Mewati, had extended full support to Rajput ruler Rana Sanga in the fight against invading forces of the first Mughal ruler Babur.

The Battle of Khanwa was fought near the village of Khanwa in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan on March 16, 1527 between Babur's forces and Rajput forces led by Rana Sanga of Mewar.

Hasan Khan Mewati, the ruler of Mewat, also joined hands with Rana Sanga in an attempt to build a formidable military alliance against Babur.

"Every Mewati stood with Rana Sanga. Today, I want to tell my brothers from Mewat (in Nuh district) that let's fight this war against coronavirus together. Let's fight in the same manner as Hasan Khan Mewati supported Rana Sanga," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In an interview with Orer Armenian magazine, which publishes in the Czech Republic, Ambassador of Armenia to the Czech Republic Ashot Hovakimyan said more than a dozen citizens of Armenia have addressed the Embassy of Armenia with the request for support to leave for Armenia, most of them have returned, some havent expressed the desire to return, and the return of citizens of Armenia in Serbia is difficult due to the closure of aerial and terrestrial roads in the country.

He added that the Embassy of Armenia in the Czech Republic has regularly posted information on the situation in countries to which Armenia is accredited, as well as in Armenia and has urged them to register at the Embassy.

Hovakimyan also said more than two dozens of Armenians have addressed the Embassy, including from Serbia and Croatia. When asked the regime under which the Embassy is working and what support citizens of Armenia who havent been able to leave for the homeland can expect, Hovakimyan said the Embassy works every day and with shifts. He said the Embassy is listing all the citizens who have addressed the Embassy and is in touch with them.

Touching upon the cases of COVID-19, the Ambassador emphasized that the Embassy is constantly in touch with the authorities of accredited countries and community organizations, but they still havent provided any information about coronavirus cases, hospitalization or death cases. He added that the Embassy is carrying out activities for Armenians in not only the Czech Republic, but also other countries of accreditation, including Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Montenegro.
In a move to ensure that the of class 9 to 12 students of government schools here is not hampered by the ongoing lockdown, the district administration has decided to give them lessons through YouTube.

District Magistrate Indra Vikram Singh said he and other senior officials of Shahjahanpur have agreed to teach the students online through the popular audio-visual medium.

The nation is under a 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 to contain the spread of novel coronavirus.

"A decision has been taken to ensure that the of students of government schools of class 9 to 12 continue despite the lockdown because of COVID-19 outbreak," District Magistrate Singh told PTI here on Friday.

Directives have been given to the the DIOS (District Inspector of Schools) to apprise students of all government schools of the district that they continue their studies with the help of classes on YouTube during the lockdown, the DM said.

The DM said that besides himself, SPS Channappa, CDO Mahendra Singh Tanvar and other senior officers of the district have decided to actively participate in these online classes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BANGKOK (Reuters) - People queued to buy wine, beer and spirits in Bangkok on Thursday after the Thai capital announced a 10-day ban on alcohol sales to try to limit social activities before the traditional new year and curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The announcement prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages at all shops  from April 10 to April 20, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration spokesman Pongsakorn Kwanmuang told a news conference.

At supermarkets in downtown Bangkok, shoppers wearing facial masks crowded in to the alcohol section.

I dont know how long the ban will take, so I bought a lot just in case it extended, said 39-year-old Tanawat Ruenbanterng, who bought 30 bottles of beer.

At Thai New Year, or Songkran, there are usually big water fights and people travel to visit their parents. Celebrations, often involving alcohol, have been scaled back to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Thailand has confirmed 2,423 coronavirus cases, with 32 fatalities. More than half the cases have been in Bangkok, where a mobile testing system is being rolled out.

The culture ministry has asked to stop all Songkran activities, traveling back to hometowns and pouring water for blessings with older family members, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, spokesman for the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.

Pay respect to elders from one to two meters  remember older people have the highest risk of dying, he said.

The culture ministry also recommended calling home or using online methods to pay respects.

Last week, the government imposed a nationwide curfew between 10 p.m  4 a.m.

The number of confirmed infections of the novel coronavirus have exceeded 1.47 million globally and the death toll crossed 87,700, according to a Reuters tally as of 0200 GMT.

(Reporting by Jiraporn Kuhakan, Chayut Setboonsarng, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Timothy Heritage)
PITTSBURGH, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An inventor from Chula Vista, Calif., has developed the RONE TARGETS, newly designed targets for shooting ranges, target shooting enthusiasts and the military. These shooting targets are fun to use, while also featuring environmentally-friendly designs.

"Personal experience in the military dealing with tank targets inspired me to develop my invention. My invention offers a cost-effective way to set up and use targets," said the inventor. The RONE TARGETS provide large, oversized shooting targets. They offer a more environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional shooting targets. They eliminate the need to retrieve shattered pieces of shooting targets, which saves time and effort. The targets are lightweight in design and easy to transport. Finally, they are fun, entertaining and producible in various shapes and forms.

The original design was submitted to the San Diego sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 18-SDB-1398, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp

Related Links

http://www.inventhelp.com


Punjab on Friday extended the lockdown to fight coronavirus up to May 1, becoming the second state after Odisha to do so as its count of COVID-19 cases rose to 151 and the government feared that the outbreak is heading towards the community transmission stage.

At its meeting conducted through video conferencing, the state cabinet also approved a draft ordinance to rope in private hospitals in the state's efforts to combat COVID-19.

The Punjab Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Ordinance 2020 will enforce registration and compliance of clinical standards, the government said.

"Given the seriousness of the situation arising out of #Covid19, Cabinet has decided to extend lockdown & curfew till 1st May. These are difficult times & I appeal to all to #StayHomeStaySafe & strictly observe health safeguards as you have done so far, for which I am thankful, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh tweeted.

Punjab Special Chief Secretary K B S Sidhu also tweeted about the decision. Strict enforcement, he said.

The decision comes as the Centre considers proposals from the states on continuing the restrictions beyond April 14, when the nationwide 21-day lockdown is slated to end.

A Punjab government statement said the chief minister will convey the decision to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his conference with CMs on Saturday.

Punjab had clamped a state-wide curfew on March 23 to enforce the lockdown, imposed ahead of the nationwide restrictions announced by the prime minister.

The decision is being extended to prevent the community spread of the pandemic and to stop overcrowding at the mandis ahead of the wheat harvesting and procurement season, a statement said.

Twenty-one new coronavirus cases were reported in the state on Friday, pushing the total count to 151 with 11 deaths till the evening. About half of the new cases are from a single village.

Among the fresh cases, 11 were reported in Mohali district, followed by eight in Pathankot and one each in Sangrur and Jalandhar, a medical bulletin said.

Jawaharpur village in Mohali district accounted for 10 of the new cases, an official said. Out of total 48 cases in the district so far, the village reported 32 after extensive sampling.

At a media conference earlier in the day, the CM cited grim projections on the spread of the pandemic in the coming weeks.

Quoting what he said was a PGIMER study, the chief minister said 58 per cent of India's population could be infected in the coming months.

When Chandigarh's Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research said it was not aware of any such study, the CM's office named Dr Shankar Prinja, an additional professor at PGIMER's Department of Community Medicine & School of Public Health at the institute.

It said the assessment by the professor and his team used standard mathematical models with Punjab data provided to him.

The state cabinet also decided to set up a 15-member multi-disciplinary task force to formulate an exit strategy for gradual relaxation of the lockdown and the curfew.

It approved the establishment of a high-powered committee to suggest a roadmap for the state's economic revival in the post-COVID-19 period. Amarinder Singh will request former Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to head it.

The state government will ask the Centre to establish an Advanced Centre of Virology in Punjab with an anticipated investment of Rs 500 crore, and offer free land for it.

Another task force will look into quick upgradation of the state's health infrastructure to combat the current crisis, the government said.

The Odisha government had on Thursday announced an extension of the current lockdown till April 30, amid indications by some other states that they too wanted restrictions to continue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A local resident in northern Ha Nam province has his temperature taken at a checkpoint set up by the provincial military, public security and health forces after the 251st patient was confirmed. (Photo: VNA)

The tally included 158 foreign patients, making up 62.2 percent. Of the four new cases, two had been in contact with patient 243, and two are Vietnamese nationals returning from overseas.

The 252nd patient is a six-year-old Vietnamese boy in Ho Chi Minh City. He lived in Cambodia with his family of five, two of whom had been confirmed positive for COVID-19 and are now under quarantine in Cambodia.

He returned to Vietnam with the two other family members through the Moc Bai International Border Gate in the southern province of Tay Ninh on April 8. He was put under quarantine in Tay Ninhs General Hospital upon arrival. His two other family members have tested negative.

Patient 253 is a 41-year-old woman from Hanois Me Linh district, who is the sister-in-law of the 243rd patient. She is now being quarantined and treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No.2.

The 254th patient is a 51-year-old man from Hanois Me Linh district, who is a neighbour of the 243rd and 250th patients. He is currently undergoing dialysis therapy at the Hanoi Kidney Hospital and is under quarantine here.

The 255th patient is a 29-year-old Vietnamese man from Bac Quang district, the northern province of Ha Giang. He returned from Russia on March 27 via Noi Bai International Airport on flight SU290. He was put under quarantine in the northern province of Vinh Phuc upon arrival. He is now being treated at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No.2.

Also on April 9, two more COVID-19 patients have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries in Vietnam to 128, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control./
Aayush Sharma opened up about his relationship with the nephew of Salman Khan, Abdullah Khan who passed away recently. Aayush Sharma, who made his debut in Bollywood with the film, Loveyatri, revealed in an interview with a leading media portal that Abdullah Khans demise was very upsetting and a difficult time for all of them. He further talked about how he will remember him. Read on to know

Read | Salman Khan's Manager On Abdullah Khan's Death: 'He Died Of Heart Failure, Not COVID-19'

Aayush Sharma opens up about Abdullah Khan, nephew of Salman Khan

A leading media portal in an interview with Aayush Sharma asked him if he had met Salman Khan's nephew, Abdullah Khan and how he remembers him. Aayush Sharma said that Abdullah was a very kind-hearted and courteous person. He further added that Abdullah was a good human being and always helped people and he never told anyone that he was related to Salman Khan.

Read | Salman Khan Has Truckload Of Wishes For Aayush Sharma & Saiee Manjrekar's 'Manjha'; POST

Moreover, the Loveyatri actor told the portal that Abdullah was very passionate about fitness and would work out daily. Because of his gentle nature and his strong physique, his friends and family used to call him a gentle giant.

The news of Salman Khans nephews death came amid the lockdown. According to reports from various media portals, Abdullah passed away due to a heart condition.

Will always love you... pic.twitter.com/bz0tBbe4Ny  Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) March 30, 2020

Read | Aayush Sharma & Saiee Manjrekar's New Romantic Track 'Manjha' Has Got Fans "hooked"

Read | Salman Khan's Nephew Abdullah Khan Survived A Truck Accident, Reveals Salim Khan

Image Credits: Aayush Sharma, Abdullah Khan Instagram
India on Friday reported 6,761 Covid-19 cases with the death toll climbing to 206 in the country. In the last 24 hours, 37 deaths have been reported and 896 new infections, the largest ever increase in single day cases. This is not only the largest ever single-day jump in the number of Covid-19 patients, it is also the highest number of deaths reported in 24 hours.

Earlier in the day, Punjab became the second state in the country after Odisha, to extend the nationwide lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March. The lockdown was scheduled to be lifted on April 14 midnight but will now continue in place, in Punjab and Odisha at least, till April 30.

Here are the top 10 Covid-19 related news of the day:

1. There is no community transmission of the deadly pathogen Covid-19 in the country till date, but citizens need to remain alert and follow all possible healthcare guidelines, the Union health ministry has said.

2. At least 146 government laboratories are testing samples for Covid-19 and 67 private laboratories have been given approval to conduct tests to diagnose the infection, according to health ministry data.

3. India is in the final stages of framing a protocol for conducting clinical trials for convalescent plasma therapy, which uses antibodies from the blood of cured patients, to treat severely-ill Covid-19 patients, a senior ICMR official said on Friday.

4. Twelve more people have tested positive for Covid-19 in West Bengal on Friday. The total number of active coronavirus cases in the state currently stands at 89, West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiv Sinha has said.

5. Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope has sought the Union governments permission to start coronavirus testing laboratories in Nanded, Jalna, Aurangabad, Latur and Amravati districts in the state. He made the demand during a meeting with Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan through video conferencing. Tope said the rise in the number of coronavirus patients in Maharashtra was a cause for concern, and had demanded that the Centre provide more PPE kits and N-95 masks. Maharashtra, so far, has reported the highest number of coronavirus positive cases.

6. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Centre to inform it within two weeks of the arrangements that are being made for mentally ill people roaming on the streets during the nationwide lockdown. In a statement, the NHRC said, it has taken cognisance of a complaint on the alleged violation of human rights of mentally afflicted people and asked the Union Home Ministry to respond within two weeks.

7. United States lawmakers have urged China to shut down all wet markets amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

8. Tamil Nadu has reported one more coronavirus death taking the toll reaches 9 in the state. According to news agency PTI, Tamil Nadu reported one more death due to coronavirus, taking the total to nine. Total Covid-19 cases in the state are 77 positive cases.

9. Rajasthan reported 57 new Covid-19 positive cases on Friday  the maximum on a single day  as the overall count in the desert state rose to 520. The states Covid-19 cases have been doubling rapidly. They first phase doubled from 100 to 200 cases in three days between April 1 and April 4. Later, it doubled again from 200 to 400 cases between April 4 and April 9. Ramganj, a neighborhood in Jaipur, has emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot in the state with 15 cases over the past two weeks.

10. The Punjab government has said that the total number of coronavirus cases in the state climbed to 151 with 21 more people contracting the infection. A Jalandhar resident, who tested positive for coronavirus, died on Thursday, taking the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in the state to 11, an official said. Among the 21 fresh cases, 11 were reported in Mohali district, of which 10 were from Jawaharpur village alone. Eight cases were reported in Pathankot and one each in Sangrur and Jalandhar, according to a medical bulletin of the state government.
Unworthy Republic

By Claudio Saunt

Norton. 396 pp. $26.95

---

In 1825, Sen. John Elliott of Georgia offered a picturesque image to justify America's treatment of Native Americans: "Like a promontory of sand, exposed to the ceaseless encroachments of the ocean, they have been gradually wasting away before the current of white population." Within the logic of his metaphor, expulsion of people and expropriation of property were not matters of human choice - they were natural, inevitable, even beautiful. What could be so bad about the lapping of tides against the shore? Critics of America's policies toward Native Americans were naively resisting the ocean.

From the standpoint of Choctaw leader George Harkins, the situation demanded a different metaphor. A few years after Elliott's maritime image, he likened his people's position to a man surrounded on three sides by raging fire, and his only route of escape on the fourth side was water and a distant shore. "Who would say that his plunging into the water was his own voluntary act?" he asked.

The clash between these views forms the heart of Claudio Saunt's extraordinary new history, "Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory." Saunt's book is a major achievement, commendable for his candor about the horrors of expulsion and his illumination of the crucial role that Southern slaveholders - eyeing Indian lands to take over for themselves - played in shaping early 19th-century American Indian policy. This alone would make for an important study, but he also manages to do something truly rare: destroy the illusion that history's course is inevitable and recover the reality of the multiple possibilities that confronted contemporaries. Things could have been otherwise. The "ocean" could have stopped itself.

On nearly every page, Saunt slices away the conventional euphemism of "removal" enshrined in the name of President Andrew Jackson's 1830 Indian Removal Act, choosing instead the harsher and more accurate term "expulsion." He calls American policy toward the indigenous tribes of the Southeast one of the "first state-sponsored mass expulsions in the modern world" and says that this expulsion was "the war the slaveholders won."

In the first two decades of the 19th century, the American Indian land base diminished by almost 600,000 square miles, an area roughly the size of Alaska. Incredibly, this was only the beginning of a century of conquest and bloodshed. But as late as 1825, Cherokee and Creek peoples still occupied roughly a quarter of the present-day state of Georgia and numbered more than 10,000.

Many powerful politicians and landowners in Georgia wanted to change this. In 1821, Gov. John Clark expressed the ambition to replace "all the red for a white population." A few years later, an editorial in the Savannah Republican signed by "A Native Georgian" praised the outspoken Georgia senator and governor George Troup for his determination to "maintain at all hazards, the inalienable rights you possess to your slaves and to your Indian territory!"

During debates before the passage of the Indian Removal Act, petitions opposing the legislation poured into Congress. Critics pointed out that Native Americans possessed a "perfect right" to their lands and cautioned against committing acts of "enormous injustice." A group from Dartmouth College compared American policy to the "bloody conquests of Cortez and Pizarro." Perhaps the strongest argument came from a young Cherokee scholar named David Brown, who asked Americans to consider a role reversal: "How would the Georgians receive a proposition from the Cherokees to exchange the land they now hold, (which originally belonged to the Cherokees) for a tract of country near the Rocky Mountains?"

There was one region from which no opposition emerged: Southern slave states. Rich plantation owners coveted the huge stretches of fertile land that indigenous peoples occupied, and some Southern politicians threatened to secede if Northerners interfered with their plans. Fears of federal intervention, of course, had another motive as well: the desire to avoid a precedent that might threaten their ownership of African slaves.

This belligerent states' rights pose quickly evaporated once Southerners realized they would need federal support to implement the enormous undertaking of forcibly relocating thousands of people. The national government, however, outsourced many aspects of the expulsion, contracting with private companies that penny-pinched and cost-cut to maximize their profits. Not only was there inadequate food, shelter and medicine on marches across hundreds of miles of rough terrain, the government went so far as to bill deportees for the camping equipment of U.S. officers and the nails used to construct storehouses for supplies. Though difficult to calculate accurately, death rates from exposure, starvation, cholera and despair were shockingly high.

Saunt does not belabor current-day parallels, but they are impossible to miss. Jackson threatened not to back the reelection bids of congressmen tempted to vote their conscience; he stacked the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other agencies with incompetent patronage appointees; and he was still in office when, in 1836, Congress appropriated funds to construct a 1,200-mile wall of defense in the West to maintain "a continual surveillance" of the border.

What's painful but essential to realize is how easily history could have been different. If only five congressmen had voted differently, if the president had chosen to enforce a crucial legal decision, or if more citizens in Florida, Georgia and Alabama had resisted plainly inhumane policies, one of the most shameful and cruel episodes in all of American history might have been avoided.

---

Romeo is a critic and journalist.
Interior Minister of Ukraine Arsen Avakov predicts that the country will start to come out of quarantine since the middle of May and it will take place gradually as Avakov stated on Facebook.

We, in the government, hope and do everything possible to enable the first steps for relaunching the economy at the end of April. In a number of stages, relaxing quarantine, firstly, for young people and later for olderin the second half of May, Avakov noted.

He believes that the country will finally recover from the quarantine by the summer. But such a scenario, according to Avakov is possible, in case, if all citizens will strictly observe quarantine restrictions and the further possible peak of coronavirus epidemic will be avoided.

On March 13, the government closed the border for foreigners. Starting from midnight on March 17, Ukraine closed all types of movement through the state border within the measures on the fight against coronavirus pandemic. The ban was introduced for the international railway, air and bus traffic. However, the evacuation of the Ukrainians continued. On March 25, the Cabinet of Ministers extended quarantine for 30 days, up to April 24. Besides, the state border was completely closed on March 28.
Rwandas President Paul Kagame has fired the countrys Foreign Affairs Minister, Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe from cabinet.

A communique issued by Rwandas Prime Minister stated that Nduhungirehe was removed from office for consistently acting based in personal opinions over government policies while serving as Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign affairs and International cooperation in charge of the East African Community.

In response to the news of his removal from office, he tweeted, I am grateful to H.E Paul Kagame for the trust bestowed in me for the past two years and a half, when I was privileged to serve as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of the East African Community. I am committed to continue serving my country & Rwanda Government in another capacity.

Nduhungirehe has been leading the countrys talks with Uganda following a stand-off that led to the closure of Rwandas border with Uganda at Katuna-Gatuna last year.
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has entered a final determination directing Delaware County to turn over certain records relating to a countywide reassessment of property values.

The agency made the ruling in response to a request from a Delaware County citizen, Michael Marcavage of Lansdowne.

No one from the county responded to a request for comment.

Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Charles B. Burr ordered the reassessment in March 2017 to address an apparent lack of uniformity in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The issue came to surface after a pair of assessment appeals filed by James and Lenore Kaufman of Rose Valley, and Peter and Ellen Bodenheimer of Haverford, challenging the countys process for determining home assessments.

County Council contracted Tyler Technologies, who administered a previous assessment 20 years ago, to once again place monetary values on properties within the county. Tyler is being paid $6 million for their work on the countywide reassessment, which is expected to become effective for the 2021 tax year.

The county began mailing out tentative assessments earlier this year. Marcavage submitted a request to the county on Feb. 18 under the Right-to-Know Law seeking copies of tentative assessment change notices sent to property owners at certain addresses, according to the order filed March 30. He alternatively sought a copy of an excel spreadsheet or other electronic document for Collingdale, Lansdowne and East Lansdowne that was used to generate information in the letters, the order says.

The county denied the request, arguing that it did not have possession of the requested records. Marcavage appealed to the OOR, which allowed both sides to supplement the record before reaching a determination.

The order notes Delaware County appeared to have abandoned the argument that it did not have possession of the records during the appeals process, acknowledging that it had contracted with Tyler to perform the assessment. The RTKL provides that public records in the possession of third parties are subject to disclosure where the third party performs a governmental function on behalf of the agency and the records are directly related to that function.

The county instead pivoted to argue that the requested records here reflect internal, predecisional deliberations that are exempt under the RTKL, according to the order. For that exemption to apply, the county had to satisfy three factors: That the records were internal to a governmental agency; the deliberations reflected were predecisional; and the contents were deliberative in character.

But as Delaware County Clerk and Open Records Officer Anne Coogan stated in an affidavit, the notices of tentative assessment change and tentative property values requested by Marcavage were provided by Tyler to a printer, which sent them directly to property owners.

The county also indicates in its brief that the purpose of the letters is to allow property owners to engage in an informal review process with Tyler in its mission of determining final assessment values.

Therefore, as both evidence and uncontradicted assertions demonstrate, the letters are not internal to the county, the order concluded. As the records do not satisfy the first element of the test, they cannot be exempt as records reflecting internal, predecisional deliberations.

The OOR decision is binding, but the county may appeal the decision to the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas.
Sydney councils are continuing to shut beaches and urging those wanting to exercise to stay away from busy coastal walking tracks during the Easter long weekend.

Amid warnings for residents to stay home in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus, councils and police have intensified patrols at beaches, parks, and common exercise routes from Dee Why to Cronulla.

Beaches at Cronulla in Sydney's south are closed until midnight on Monday, in a bid to deter crowds during the weekend. Credit:Rhett Wyman

Sydney's busiest beaches were thrust into the spotlight after thousands of people flocked to Bondi as the state government tried to enforce social distancing measures.

This weekend's closures affect the majority of beaches from Dee Why and Manly in the north, to Bondi and Coogee in the east, and south to Sans Souci and South Cronulla. Many are set to reopen at midnight on Monday.
Iraq's PMU, army launch major anti-terror operation

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 10:34 AM

Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and army troops have started a joint, full-scale anti-terrorism military operation in the Arab country's western province of Anbar.

According to a statement by the media bureau of the PMU, better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, the operation, codenamed "Heroes of the Second Victory," commenced early on Thursday.

It said that the operation was aimed at securing the western borders of Iraq and the desert areas in the southwestern parts of Anbar province.

In a separate statement, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) also said that the massive operation would cover the southern areas of the highway connecting the capital, Baghdad, to the Turaibil Border Compound, the only crossing between Iraq and Jordan.

It would also cover the areas of al-Salijiyah, al-Karma Island, Wadi Samil, and Wadi al-Qaddaf situated in western and southwestern Anbar, the statement added.

The joint command of the PMU and the army in Anbar also said in a separate statement that in the phase of the operation that had started, ground PMU forces were receiving cover from army helicopters.

According to Qassem Mosleh, a senior PMU commander, four PMU brigades, four army brigades, a group of PMU forces stationed in al-Rutbah City, a medical unit, a military engineering unit, a mine-disposal team, intelligence forces, and an armored unit would be taking part in the operation.

Mosleh added that the areas that would be covered by the operation had recently witnessed terrorist activity.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said Thursday she will temporarily banish cars from residential streets throughout the city, opening more space for pedestrians and bicyclists to use the roadways for exercise during the coronavirus stay-home order.

Because of the reduction in car traffic we will be closing off a number of streets, so that bicyclists and pedestrians can spread out and exercise and take in fresh air safely, Schaaf said during a virtual town hall Thursday evening.
The board of Aer Lingus Regional operator Stobart Air is locked in crunch talks with financial advisers, thrashing out options to save the business, the Irish Independent has learned.

Sources close to the situation said "all options are on the table", including potentially seeking court protection through an examinership if the board and independent accountants believe the company meets the criteria.

The situation creates major uncertainty for remaining workers at the Dublin-based airline, which before the coronavirus pandemic employed about 450 staff.

Stobart Air, whose CEO is Andy Jolly, recently laid off all but a skeleton staff sufficient to operate two subsidised routes, from Dublin to Donegal and Kerry, even though the services were being flown mostly, if not completely, empty. Before the crisis, Stobart Air operated more than 1,000 flights a week on almost 40 routes.

An examiner is only appointed by a court where it is believed that a company has a reasonable prospect of survival. The process protects a company from its creditors when an examiner can try to stabilise a business by sourcing new investment, selling assets or negotiating with banks, among other efforts.

Stobart Air is part of Connect Airways. The latter is 30pc-owned by the listed UK Stobart Group. Virgin Travel Group, a subsidiary of Richard Branson-founded Virgin Atlantic, also has a 30pc stake, while US firm Cyrus Equity Partners owns 40pc.

Connect was formed last year to acquire UK regional airline Flybe, which collapsed into administration in February. Accountancy firm EY was appointed administrator of both Flybe and Connect, and now controls 49pc of Stobart Air, with the carrier's staff owning the remainder.

Last month, Stobart Group, whose CEO is Warwick Brady, warned investors that it was evaluating how to manage liabilities it has to Stobart Air.

A subsidiary of Stobart Group, Propius, engineered a sale and leaseback of eight ATR turboprop aircraft to German firm Goal in 2017.

The aircraft are used for the Aer Lingus Regional service. Lease agreements under the deal total $15.4m (14m) a year for 10 years, it was reported at the time.

Stobart Air has been an important part of the Aer Lingus strategy to develop a transatlantic hub at Dublin Airport. The current Aer Lingus Regional franchise agreement Stobart Air has with Aer Lingus ends in 2022.

Stobart Air was known until 2014 as Aer Arann.

The UK group took a stake in Aer Arann in 2010 after the airline - then headed by Padraig O'Ceidigh - went into examinership after racking up substantial losses in the previous two years. Its creditors were owed almost 30m at the time.
EDWARDSVILLE  People may still use the services of the Self-Help Center of the Madison County Law Library, even though they are not allowed in the courthouse for safety reasons during the coronavirus pandemic.

A special phone number and email address have been set up to help people: 618-296-4900 and lawlibrary@co.madison.il.us. People can also obtain forms and administrative orders concerning the virus by visiting www.co.madison.il.us/department/circuit_court.
The deal  which still needs to be signed off by national leaders  would use the euro zones bailout fund to offer up to $262 billion in credit lines to struggling countries. In a nod to Italys concerns, the demands placed on countries that sought the money would be minimal. An additional $109 billion would go toward support for employment programs that aim to avoid layoffs. Other programs would support struggling businesses and help fund medical relief efforts. And the agreement left open the possibility that euro zone countries eventually share borrowing costs.
US attorney general William Barr has said the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election began 'without any basis' and was intended to 'sabotage the presidency' of Donald Trump.

Mr Barr told Fox News Channel's Laura Ingraham that Mr Trump had 'every right to be frustrated' with the probe which led to his impeachment 'because I think what happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American history'.

The FBI launched its counterintelligence investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia 'without any basis', the attorney general added.

Attorney general William Barr has questioned the origins of the investigation which led to Donald Trumps impeachment

Barr offered no support for his assertion that the FBI lacked a basis for opening the investigation and made no mention of the fact that the bureau began its probe after a Trump campaign adviser purported to have early knowledge that Russia had dirt on Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

He said: 'Even more concerning, actually, is what happened after the campaign, a whole pattern of events while he was president. To sabotage the presidency, and I think that  or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency.'

Mr Barr has appointed a US attorney to lead a criminal investigation into the origins of the probe led by former FBI director Robert Mueller.

Mr Barr told Fox News Channel's Laura Ingraham that Mr Trump had 'every right to be frustrated' with the probe which led to his impeachment 'because I think what happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American history'

Mr Barr, serving in his second stint as attorney general, has sought to paint himself as an independent leader who would not bow to political pressure.

But Democrats have repeatedly accused him of acting more like the president's personal attorney than the attorney general.

Mr Barr has proved to be a largely reliable Trump ally and defender of presidential power.

The Justice Department's inspector general found in a December report that the FBI was justified in opening the investigation to protect against a potential national security threat. It did not find any evidence that the decision to start the probe was motivated by political bias.

Trump and his supporters are counting on different conclusions from the investigation led by John Durham, the U.S. attorney Barr selected to examine the early days of the Russia probe. Durham's investigation is ongoing, and Barr did not provide any evidence about what Durham has found so far.

Mueller concluded that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election, but his investigation didn't find sufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between Trump's campaign and Russia. Mueller also examined about a dozen possible instances of obstruction of justice and has pointedly said he could not exonerate the president.

Barr said he believes they were more than just mistakes, offering a personal view of the probe, a highly unusual move for a prosecutor during an ongoing investigation

The inspector general's report identified significant problems with applications for warrants to monitor the communications of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2016 and 2017. Investigators were concerned about Page's ties to Russia, but never charged him with any wrongdoing.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz has said the FBI failed to follow its own standards for accuracy and completeness in wiretap applications provided to the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The report detailed 17 errors and omissions in the application process, including failing to tell the court when questions were raised about the reliability of some of the information it had presented to receive the warrants. Those mistakes prompted internal changes within the FBI and spurred a congressional debate over whether the bureau's surveillance tools should be reined in.

But Barr said he believes they were more than just mistakes, offering a personal view of the probe, a highly unusual move for a prosecutor during an ongoing investigation.

'My own view is that the evidence shows that we're not dealing with just mistakes or sloppiness,' he said. 'There is something far more troubling here, and we're going to get to the bottom of it.

The FBI began investigating on July 31, 2016 whether the Trump campaign was conspiring with Russia to sway the outcome of the presidential election.

By that point, Russian hackers had broken into the Clinton campaign and other Democratic email accounts and George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser, had boasted to a professor that he was aware that Russia had derogatory information on Clinton.

Though Trump and Barr have seized on errors made during the surveillance of Page, the investigation had already been underway for months by the time the first application was filed.
A resurgent Tropical Cyclone Harold flattened tourist resorts in Tonga Thursday, extending a week-long trail of destruction across four South Pacific island nations that has claimed more than two dozen lives. The cyclone gathered pace as it bore down on the tiny island kingdom, which declared a state of emergency, warning residents to seek shelter from destructive winds and massive sea surges. By early Thursday it had again become a scale-topping Category Five superstorm -- surprising meteorologists after signs earlier in the week that its intensity was dropping. Packing winds of up to 260 kilometres per hour (160 miles per hour), it cut power in parts of the country and police said at least three tourist resorts north of the capital Nuku'alofa had been reduced to rubble. The cyclone killed 27 people in the Solomons late last week before barrelling southeast to directly hit Vanuatu as a Category Five, obliterating entire towns in the northern provinces. There have been no reports of deaths in Vanuatu, Fiji or Tonga, with emergency workers saying residents in the hardest hit areas took shelter early. "It appears that many buildings and crops have been destroyed and some people in the most affected areas have lost everything," Red Cross Vanuatu secretary general Jacqueline de Gaillande said. Harold weakened slightly to a still-formidable Category Four as it lashed Fiji on Wednesday but hopes the storm was dissipating were dashed as it regathered momentum heading towards Tonga. "It's been a tricky one to predict," meteorologist Bill Singh from New Zealand's Metservice told AFP. "We knew the track it was going to take but initially everyone thought it was just going to be Cat 3 or 4, but as it progressed over open warm waters it deepened." - Closed borders - The storm is expected to head away from Tonga onto the open ocean late Thursday but WeatherWatch.co.nz head forecaster Philip Duncan said there were no certainties. "It's almost unheard of to see a cyclone tracking south away from the equator, weakening, then suddenly returning back to Cat 5 so far south," he said. The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated disaster relief efforts, with Vanuatu reluctant to open its international borders as it seeks to remain one of the few countries without any confirmed virus cases. "No foreign personnel are being brought to Vanuatu for response efforts at the present time, this will be an internally run operation," Vanuatu's National Disaster Management Office said. Fiji has 15 virus cases and Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said the virus and cyclone meant "our economy and our people have been dealt two body blows to start the year". "This storm must not compromise our coronavirus containment efforts, lest we risk damage far more painful than the aftermath of any cyclone," he said. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said an air force plane carrying essential supplies such as tents and water containers was on its way to Vanuatu, while assistance had also been offered to other impacted nations. "We are acutely conscious that this comes on top of the impact and difficulties created by COVID-19 for those countries," she said. Vanuatu said any supplies that came into the country would be handled with protective equipment and the air crews delivering them would be isolated in transit areas. Damage caused by Harold near Vanuatu's capital Port Vila is shown on April 7. The storm is now moving towards Fiji
TERHAN,Iran, April.10

Trend:

Iran plans to assign 200,000 half-finished housing units to applicants who can financially afford to restart the building process in current Iranian year(started March 20,2020), said Deputy Minister of Road and Urban Development.

"Our plan is to reboot the unfinished units and applicants can register online via the national housing website," said Mahmoud Mahmoudzadeh, Trend reports citing ILNA.

"The private sector investors in housing projects are concerned over the lack of customers and recession in the market but the Road and Urban Development Ministry has a new plan to resolve the issue," he said.

"The builders would continue building housing units based on estimated applicants and bank advances therefore investors, builders and land owners should not be worried for liquidity," he added.

"There are around 50,000 half-finished housing units in Tehran's zone 22 that can be assigned and solve the financial problems," he said.

"So individuals with financial capacities can register online and be part of building process while land owners can also obtain bank advances to build houses ," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 14:53:01|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has announced that it is intensifying the crackdown on cross-border gambling as well as telecom and Internet fraud amid the COVID-19 epidemic, as such crimes have grown even more rampant during the period.

Apart from perpetrators, those providing guidance, technical support and assistance with gambling money payment will be the targets of the operation, the MPS said.

Warning that it is illegal to participate in cross-border online gambling, the ministry urged the public to keep away from related activities and stay vigilant against various forms of telecom and Internet fraud.

The MPS vowed to stem the illicit flow of gambling money by clamping down on organizations providing payment transfer or settlement services.

Lawbreakers will face restrictions in border entry and exit as well as penalties to their personal credit ratings, the MPS said, adding that a blacklist of gamblers and those working behind the illegal activities will be established.

The MPS warned those who are aware of their infections or possible infections of COVID-19 against crossing national borders as they will be investigated on charges of jeopardizing public security and impairing the prevention and control of infectious diseases, among other crimes.

The ministry also asked the public to report related offenses and crimes and pledged to protect informants' privacy and security.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 15:06:43|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

China Railway Group limited (CREC) on Tuesday donated medical protection supplies to two Bangladeshi hospitals in capital Dhaka to assist the country's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. The CREC donations included 10,080 N95 masks, 40,000 disposable surgical masks, 1,000 medical protection gowns, 400 medical goggles, and 500 COVID-19 detection Kits.
New York, NY, April 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SWIM USA staff have volunteered to produce masks and gowns in the companys sample and design studios, working tirelessly for the community to provide protection for those who need it most. Placing an emphasis on smaller towns and hospitals, the company hopes to reach those who may not be getting the same aid and attention as larger urban areas. Keith Lombardi, President of SWIM USA shared that We are doing all we can to help others during this crisis. Were all in this together and community is at the forefront now more than ever. Weve been making apparel in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania for over eighty years and we are using our talented associates and know-how to support the community as best we can. Susan DeMusis, President of Miraclesuit, adds, We are proud to be producing masks for health facilities within the tri-state area including St. Lukes University Hospital, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Hoboken University Medical Center. We feel fortunate to be able to have our teams move from making swimsuits to producing desperately needed masks and other PPE, hopefully helping medical workers feel more protected during this unprecedented time. For additional information, please contact: Sandra Davidoff Director of Corporate Community Affairs sdavidoff@swimusa.com

Attachment
A WOMAN who is accused of coughing at a garda after she was stopped at a Covid-19 checkpoint in the city has been granted bail despite a garda objection.

Andrea Clinton, 36, who has an address at Hazel Grove, Bloomfield, Annacotty, appeared before a special sitting of Limerick District Court this Thursday evening after she was charged under section 19 (1) of the Criminal Justice Act (Public Order) 1994.

During a contested bail hearing, Judge Marian O'Leary was told it will be alleged the defendant coughed in the direction of a garda at the checkpoint which was set up at Island Road, Limerick on April 1, last.

Garda Eoghan Linnane said the incident occurred after two gardai - a man and a woman - attached to Mayorstone garda station stopped a blue Ford Focus.

He alleged Ms Clinton was not abiding by the social distancing rules which were introduced by the government last month, and that she behaved in an "aggressive manner" towards the two on-duty officers.

Garda Linnane said it will be alleged that she coughed in the face of the female garda who, he said, was left "in an upset state" afterwards.

"It was an intentional and reckless act to put a garda in danger," he told Marian O'Leary alleging that Ms Clinton had "intentionally coughed knowing how the disease can be spread from close range".

The garda added that when the defendant was challenged about her actions, she is alleged to have said she is "sick".

Opposing bail, Garda Linnane said he did not believe Ms Cinton would abide by any bail conditions imposed by the court. He also expressed concern that the defendant has not been staying at home - despite the strict public health restrictions.

"Gardai believe releasing her would present a danger to the public. In the current climate, the gardai believe this was a calculated act designed to cause alarm," he said, adding that the female garda is now self-isolating and is in great distress as it was unclear whether the accused had contracted Covid-19.

Solicitor Dan O'Gorman said his client has, at all times, maintained her innocence. He said she has a 16-year-old son and that she presented herself for interview when she was contacted by the gardai.

Mr O'Gorman said his client would submit to having tests done to ease the concerns of the gardai, and he insisted she will "follow through" on any bail conditions imposed by the court.

He said she is "generally a law abiding citizen" and was "co-operative" when contacted by gardai about the incident.

The solicitor told the court his client is a homeowner, who does not have a mortgage on the house she owns, and acknowledged the court has "wide powers" in relation to the assets of people who are released on bail.

Mr O'Gorman said Ms Clinton had not been arrested at the checkpoint, with the gardai calling to her home in Annacotty later that evening at 9.30pm. She was not present in the house at the time.

Giving direct evidence, the defendant said she had returned the phone call and left her number, as well as making two further calls.

However, she said she did not hear back until she received a call from a sergeant asking her to present herself.

She said in the intervening period, she had stayed with friends in Clare, as well as visiting her parents, including her 74-year-old father, who suffers from ill-health and her mother.

Noting her evidence, Inspector Sandra Heelan pointed out that those aged over 70 should be cocooning under the government restrictions and that relatives have been advised not to visit such individuals.

Ms Clinton told the court that she suffers from "asthma and a smokers cough" and she stated that when she was stopped at the checkpoint, she was returning from her GP having picked up an inhaler.

Ms Clinton said she "swears on her child's life" that she would not breach the conditions of her bail if released..

Insp Heelan expressed a general concern about her behaviour pointing out that the defendant does not appear to be abiding by the current restrictions and was not at home for three days last week.

Judge O'Leary noted this and commented that she too was concerned about Ms Clinton's apparent non compliance.

"You should be very aware what you should do if you wish to cough. We take a very dim view of people coughing and sneezing at anyone else," she said.

Despite the garda objection, the judge said she was granting bail but was imposing a number of strict conditions.

The accused was directed to pay a surety of 5,000 - half of which must be lodged in court.

She was ordered not to commit any other offence, and to remain at her home.

Any change in address must be notified to the prosecuting garda, and she must sign on at Henry Street garda station between 9am and 9pm each day.

A curfew was also imposed and Ms Clinton was ordered to "remain alcohol free" in public.

She must also provide a mobile phone number to the gardai.

Judge O'Leary told her to ensure she makes herself available to An Garda Siochana and to observe all the government regulations around Covid-19.

She will appear in court again next week.
In an expression of support for McCallie School, parents of Chinese students who are McCallie boarding students have shipped several thousand protective masks, including some N95 masks, to the school. These masks will be distributed to McCallie faculty and staff on Friday. At the same time, Headmaster Lee Burns will deliver several box loads of masks, including the N95 masks, to Parkridge Health System.

The Chinese parents shipped the masks to McCallie after hearing from their sons that the Chattanooga area had a shortage of masks. The parents, spread throughout China, coordinated a detailed effort that obtained the masks and secured their shipment to McCallie. The masks arrived earlier this week.

This is such a generous and loving gesture by these parents, said Mr. Burns. We are humbled by their act of kindness.

Mr. Burns said that the parents have sent additional masks to McCallie over the next few weeks. When those masks arrive, they will, like the first shipment, be shared with local hospitals. Parkridge Health Systems main facility is located two blocks from the McCallie campus and over the years has been used frequently by McCallie students and staff.

Tom Ozburn, president and CEO of Parkridge Health System, said, It is hard to express how grateful Parkridge Health Systems is for this thoughtful donation from McCallie School families for the continued protection and safety of our patients and colleagues. It is an honor and privilege to provide care to our communities, and in this unprecedented and challenging time for our country, its also comforting to know we have neighbors like McCallie willing to help provide support to our colleagues on the front line of patient care.

These masks will help our community stay safer and healthy, said Bess Steverson, director of Development for Special Initiatives at McCallie, who has coordinated the gift effort with the Chinese parents. We have built a strong, supportive relationship with our Chinese parents, and this act of kindness is an indication of the love and affection they have for the school their sons have chosen to attend.
Church of the Highlands on Hunter Road in Harrison had hoped to be able to celebrate a return to normal campus services on Easter Sunday. However, the renewed and additional restrictions from President Donald Trump, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger, make that not possible. Members want to be honoring to authorities, wise and alert to the risk, and honor God by making Easter a special time of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In their latest orders of banning non-essential travel, both the governor and the mayor listed church services in the essential services category, while stressing that the health CDC guidelines be observed if services were conducted.

In light of these recent developments instead of its normal on-site service, Church of the Highlands will have a drive-in service on Easter Sunday.

The services will be broadcast live audio via WDYN.com, AM 980, 94.9 FM and 94.7 FM. Participants may drive onto the campus and tune their car radio to WDYN. Pastor Scott McCurdy will conduct the service live from the deck of the Dream Center.

Church officials ask that participants remain in their cars with the windows up to avoid any possible exposure. (Restrooms will be available but we ask that social distancing and hand disinfecting be strictly observed.)

Those who are elderly, immuno-compromised or have experienced any other symptoms of illness are asked to please stay at home.

The live audio broadcast on WDYN radio and wdyn.com may be heard from home. The sermon will be posted to the COH Facebook page as well as on Vimeo later that afternoon.

Also, on that Sunday the church will be celebrating the establishment of the new WDYN tower on the church property that makes it possible to broadcast the gospel into the surrounding areas of north Hamilton County and beyond. The WDYN home station in Rossville, Ga. sustained damages from a lightning strike during a heavy thunderstorm on March 23. The church supports WDYN as a missionary endeavor on a monthly basis and will be taking up a special offering that will go to WDYN to help with the needed repair cost from the storm.

Pastor McCurdy urged the public to pray for our nation and invited everyone to join at the Church of the Highlands or via livestream on the radio for the Resurrection Sunday Drive-in Service at 10:45 am Sunday.
Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna told RTL that the current coronavirus crisis is spawning an unprecedented impact on the country's economy.

Luxembourg's Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna told RTL that it was yet too early the gauge the true extent of the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis as the government is yet to devise a concrete exit strategy. He confirmed that the initial state budget is recalculated due to the unexpected coronaviurs-related expenses.

According to the minister, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast a decrease of Luxembourg's GDP. The latter is expected to decreased by 4 to 5%. It was initially presumed to grow by 2.3%. If this grim economic forecast comes true, it would be synonymous with the worst national economic result in a a very long time, the minister warned.

Gramegna negotiated in the negotiations of a European coronavirus rescue plan until Thursday evening. This plan, which received the green light on Thursday, foresees a financial aid amounting to 500 billion. The staggering amount will be used to cover loans, guarantees, and short-time working schemes. Despite the grim outlook, the minister highlighted that the international sense of solidarity continued to reign strong in the European Union.

 Didier Weber / RTL Tele Letzebuerg  Didier Weber / RTL Tele Letzebuerg  Didier Weber / RTL Tele Letzebuerg The photos published on this site are subject to copyright and may not be copied, modified, or sold without the prior permission of the owner of the site in question.

The rescue plan in detail

The breakthrough in negotiations came after the Netherlands softened its position on the crucial question of making needy countries commit to economic reform and outside oversight in return for assistance.

The Hague had blocked the talks two days earlier by insisting that Italy, or any other country in need, deliver on governance targets -- which Rome saw as a shocking demand during a health crisis.

"Today we answered our citizens call for a Europe that protects," Eurogroup chief Mario Centeno said after the talks.

"This response contains bold and ambitious proposals that didn't seem possible just weeks ago," added Centeno, who is also Portuguese finance minister.

As a compromise, the final statement clearly states that the rescue would be specifically earmarked for costs related to the COVID-19 crisis, which has killed more than 65,000 people in Europe.

The ministers, however, set to one side a proposal from Italy, Spain, and France for a joint borrowing instrument, sometimes dubbed a "coronabond", that would have raised money towards a recovery after the outbreak.

Germany, the EU's most powerful member, has refused the pooled debt proposal and ministers agreed only to "explore" the idea under the direction of EU leaders, who are set to meet later in the month.

The package agreed is worth about 500 billion euros ($546 billion), short of what many observers believe is necessary to restart the European economy when the health crisis recedes.

Data indicate that the economy across the continent is already in a historic meltdown, with everyday life paralysed to fight the spread of the virus.

Despite 19 EU countries sharing a common currency, member states have reacted unilaterally to save their economies, giving richer countries such as Germany a big advantage over those with less spending power.

- 'Fair and reasonable' -

The main component of the rescue plan involves the European Stability Mechanism, the EU's bailout fund which would make roughly 240 billion euros available to guarantee spending by indebted countries under pressure.

Italy and Spain had the backing of the majority of member states to keep the conditions for tapping the ESM to an absolute minimum, but the Netherlands fought hard for something tougher.

Putting conditions on support is seen as a humiliation in Rome and Madrid, evoking bad memories of the eurozone debt crisis when auditors from Brussels dictated policy to bailed out Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra insisted if a country asked for any non-virus related support from the ESM -- it would still come with conditions.

"That's fair and reasonable," he tweeted.

- Coronabonds 'implied' -

However, the mutualisation of debts was a bridge too far for Berlin and The Hague, which refuse to take on joint loans with highly indebted states such as Italy, France or Spain which they consider too lax in their public spending.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the debate was still open and that everyone agreed that new sources of funding were necessary to restart the economy.

"Common debt... is not said, but it is implied," he said.

But, repeating her well-known position, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had earlier on Thursday firmly rejected the notion of pooled debt in Europe.

"I don't believe we should have joint liability (shared debt) in the (EU) in its current form, and that's why we reject that," she said.

In addition to the eurozone rescue fund, the EU ministers agreed 200 billion euros in guarantees from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and a European Commission project for national short-time working schemes.
Aslam Farooqi, chief of ISILs Khorasan Province chapter, is under arrest over bombing at Sikh temple, killing dozens.

Islamabad, Pakistan  Pakistan has asked the Afghan government to hand over custody of the regional chief of the ISIL (ISIS) armed group for further investigations, less than a week after he was arrested in connection with a bombing at a Sikh temple that killed more than 25 people.

Atif Mashal, Afghanistans ambassador to Pakistan, was summoned to the Pakistani foreign ministry to convey the request on Thursday, a Pakistani statement said.

It was emphasised that Pakistan had been expressing its concerns over the activities of this group, which were clearly detrimental to Pakistan, said the statement.

Pakistans position in this regard was being regularly shared with the Government of Afghanistan and others concerned.

Afghanistan is yet to officially respond to the request.

Aslam Farooqi, also known as Abdullah Orakzai, is the chief of ISILs Khorasan Province chapter, which operates in South Asia and Afghanistan, and was arrested by Afghan authorities on Saturday.

Farooqi, a Pakistani national, took over as chief of ISILs regional chapter in July 2019. The group has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan that killed tens of civilians.

Pakistans statement said the two countries should coordinate actions against the menace of terrorism, including through established mechanisms.

It asked that Farooqi be handed over to Pakistani authorities because [he] was involved in anti-Pakistan activities in Afghanistan.
Help India!

By Shimul, TwoCircles.net

The last few days have been hard. When it becomes a choice between holding on and giving up, unlike the vast majority of India, I have the privilege to make a choice between the two. What bothered me in particular was this dawning of realization that this is indeed a rule of the few, and the few will go to any extent to hold on to power, and that really pulled me down. No price is too great as long as it guarantees power.

Support TwoCircles



I saw a video where a woman with a child in one hand and a plastic carry bag with medicines in the other was being beaten up by the UP Police. Her fault? She was visibly Muslim. And the police who was beating her up was a woman.

Tremendous amounts of hatred have been carefully cultivated in large sections of the society  dehumanizing them and those they have learned to hate so much. It is easy to pour this venom down the gullet of a society that is built on the graded inequality of the caste system. As Babasaheb Ambedkar had explained  no one in Indian society can feel equal  they always have to look up to someone or find someone to look down upon, except the Adivasis and the Dalits  the people who carry India on their shoulders.

The other disturbing incident was that of a pregnant woman being denied care in a hospital in Rajasthan because she was a Muslim. An expecting mother was made to lose her child because a society in their new found untouchability has no value for a Muslim life. This is what institutional murder looks like. This is what murder of humanity looks like. Of course none of this is new. There were similar reports of refusing treatment to injured Muslims in hospitals in Delhi riots after Muslim communities were targeted by mobs and police in February. Barely had the blood of Muslims dried on the streets of Delhi, an inhumane lockdown gave several hundred million migrant workers just 4 hours to pack up their little material belongings and march home hundreds of kilometers, unfolding one of the largest crises since the partition of India.

India has always been divided along several fault lines. So it is no surprise to see the rise of the balcony class (mostly upper caste and class) who would step out into their balconies on a moments notice to bang on pots and pans, to light candles or  whatever is asked of them by the elites above them, but remain unmoved by the suffering of the millions who build their homes and malls, clean their sewers and grow food to feed them. Reason, science and empathy is conveniently cast aside dutifully by the balcony class to consolidate the power of a few over 1.3 billion people.

Hannah Arendt had written Banality of Evil while covering the trial of the Nazi operative Adolp Eichmann who she found was terrifyingly normal. She argues that evil is not always committed by scheming monstrous people, it is also committed as a mundane everyday act by common people. Violence of increasing intensity and reach build upon these banal acts of everyday people. My uncle forwarding fake pictures of Muslim men spitting into Biryani, asking Muslim to go to Pakistan, and more such stereotypical jokes become enablers of larger planned violence. It is no surprise to say that the balcony class has operationalized the banalification of evil.

We see hatred spewed on social media, TV screens, newspapers  the entire information ecology seems to have taken this up as a responsibility to institutionalize hatred against Muslims, Dalits and other weaker sections. We have seen hospitals refusing treatment to the injured, politicians egging crowds to murderous chants, police targeting Muslim homes in UP and Delhi, asking injured citizens to recite national anthem, attacks on volunteers delivering food to Muslim neighborhoods during lockdown, army officer tying a citizen to a jeep as a human shield, people milling around casually around someone being lynched for 18 hours and more that doesnt catch the national limelight because agents of oppression refuse to report incidents that are likely to be sourced to anyone in the privileged balcony class. All of these acts have counted on the silence or tacit support of the balcony class.

You must have watched scenes of the police singing and gently explaining the benefits of physical distancing to people standing on the balconies of their flats in Bengaluru, Kolkata and other metropolises. You must have also seen the balcony class come out and clap and be on the verge of tears seeing this humane face of the police. Our police, they say. And they are right. It is their police. It is not the police of the migrant laborer walking hundreds of kilometers with a child on their shoulder, it is not the police of the Muslim women who have to adopt Hindu names to work as maids in Delhi, they are not the police of the Adivasis who protect their crop land from earthmovers or the people pushing carts laden with vegetables that brings life to the high towers of Mumbai. As if, the skins of these people are meant to display the welts that the police lathi can create or the reactions that a disinfecting chemical, meant for cleaning busses, can have. The disinfecting of the migrant laborers in UP was reminiscent of disinfecting Jewish prisoners before entering the concentration camps. And that is what entire states like UP, Delhi, Gujarat, Kashmir have become for Muslims  concentration camps!

But choice is a privilege. Just like the banality of evil, we have to bring forward the banality of compassion and solidarity. How does that happen in a society shaped by centuries of a murderous caste system? No one may have a readymade answer, but one has to be willing to look for it. Ambedkar is one such beacon to have advocated for the annihilation of caste. There are many streams of consciousness within the oppressed people of India who have plausible solutions. But it certainly does not lie with the balcony class. One of our friends who had neither been really involved in activism nor been very vocal told me that she has decided not to let go of a racist, casteist or communal comment wherever it might be  in conversations with family and friends or in social media. She gently resists and counters every banal evil comment. This is the least the privileged can do for solidarity and redeeming their humanity.

As the balcony class watches the spectacles of untold human suffering from the amphitheaters of high rises, their humanity dies everyday in their silence, everyday they let their minds be guided by an obnoxious media, everyday they find solace in the fact that a demagogue will protect them from enemies both real and imagined.

An inflection in human history is bound to come as injustices keep piling upon each other. This inflection in human history to redeem the humanity of the oppressed as well as the oppressors, will be led by those who carry the burden of centuries of oppression in their bodies and minds. The banality of good that comes from the few in the balcony class, who refuse to participate in this bloodbath will go down as an important force of solidarity in bringing about the liberation of all.
When the world shuts down and all roads to the outside are blocked, time to catch up on all the books bought and never read or rediscover old favourites. Here is what is on the quarantine reading list' of some authors, artists and others that PTI reached out to:



JERRY PINTO:



Author of Sahitya Akademi award-winning novel Em and the Big HoomI generally read several books at the same time. And following John Ruskin's dictum that 'No book is worth reading that isn't worth rereading' I am also rereading a couple. As a special treat to myself, I am reading Chris Ware's "Building Stories" which comes in a box. I am reading Adil Jussawalla's "Shorelines" because it is beautiful and sad. And Eka Kurniawan's "Man Tiger". I have several novels sent to me to blurb so I am trying to catch up with those too.

YASHWANT SINHA:



Politician and author, the former finance minister last year came out with his autobiography "Relentless"



I was looking forward to getting Sudhanva Deshpande's "Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi", but the lockdown happened and I couldn't. Luckily, I had a copy of another book on Safdar, and I'm currently reading it again after around 20 years. It's called "PaanchvanChiraagh"and is written in Urdu by his mother Qamar Azad Hashmi. Apart from providing a detailed account of Safdar's life, the book also offers a fascinating chronicle of the times she lived in. Very interesting read.

OLIVIA FRASER



Delhi-based Scottish artist



I am currently reading "Americanah" by Chimamanda Nogozi Adichie -- a wonderful novel about identity, migration and otherness' and what it is to be American. Next on the list: "Boccaccio's The Decameron", a novel consisting of a 100 tales told by C14th Italians during lockdown due to the Plague in C14th Florence. Finally, there's a lovely book called "Elegant Simplicity: The Art of Living Well" by the amazing former Jain monk, Satish Kumar, who in the early 70s set off on foot from India with not a single penny in his pocket and walked to all four nuclear capitals of the world bringing peace tea and relying solely on the care of strangers. This book is an elegantly simple' guide to the philosophy that he lives by -- the ecological and spiritual principles behind living simply.

'NAMITA GOKHALE:



Author and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF). Her latest book is "Jaipur Journals"



Many writers, including myself, seem to be spending their time in quarantine writing about how they are spending their time in quarantine! On a more serious note, I think we are collectively renegotiating the space between the written and the spoken word, between voice and text, as we attempt to make sense of the narrative of our times. I have been working with Teamwork on the concept and themes of our digital platform JLF Brave New World', and it's been a fascinating learning curve. I have been able to centre myself differently and cherish this period of solitude. I'm not reading much, but writing at a consistent pace, and watching the world change and transform.

YASIR ABBASSI



Cinematographer and author of "Yeh Un Dino Ki Baat Hai: Urdu Memoirs of Cinema Legends"



I have used the lockdown to catch up with my reading. What have I read? "Legitimacy of Power: The Permanence of Five in the Security Council" by Dilip Sinha; "Backstage: The Story Behind India's High Growth Years" by Montek Singh Ahluwalia; "In The Service of the Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy by Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah; "Kashmir: Land of Regrets" by Moosa Raza and "Kashmir: Glimpses of History and the Story of Struggle" by Saifuddin Soz.

MARTAND KHOSLA:



Architect



I just finished "Dead Souls" byNikolai Gogol.Now reading the first volume of plays by Harold Pinter, and also dipping into "How to change the world: Reflections on Marx and Marxism"by Eric Hobsbawm.

BASIST KUMAR



Contemporary artist



I just finished a book called "The only life" by Rashid Maxwell. The other book I have just started is called "Encounters with an inexplicable Man" by Savita Brandt.

VARUNIKA SARAF



Artist and historian



Honestly, the lockdown has added so much to my work routine that my reading has come down. But I am reading P. Sainath's "Everyone loves a Good Drought". It's a heartbreaking book, and I am totally mad to read it at this time but that's what I am reading.

DEVAPRIYA ROY:



Writer, her latest book is "Friends from College"



The truth about the lives of writers is that a large part of it, the actual writing of books, is spent in a quarantine of sorts. Certainly, there's a lot of social distancing. So, for the writer I live with (my partner, Saurav Jha), who is finishing his magnum opus, very little has changed in this period of corona-induced isolation. He reads and writes and does his share of household chores ... I spend most of the time reading one of the books from our bookshelves, that had been bought with great love and never read. I feel grateful that we have enough books like this, brilliant worthy books, funny books, travel books and fat novels, that we would have read of course, if only there had been time. It is as though in all these years of buying so many books, books we couldn't possibly have read, Saurav and I had planned for this exact eventuality after all.

SUHASINI KEJRIWAL



Contemporary painter



I am currently reading "Good Economics for Hard Times" by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. Beside, the small list of books that I have with me at this time include titles like "The Golden Thread : How Fabric Changed History" by Kassia St Clair, "City of Djinns" by William Dalrymple, "The Future of the Image" by Jacques Ranciere and "Crazy Rich Asians" by Kevin Kwan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh issued a statement on the 28th anniversary of the massacre of Armenians in Maragha.

Armenpress presents the statement:

Today marks the 28th anniversary of the massacre of civilians of the Armenian settlement of Maragha, Martakert region of the Republic of Artsakh, committed by the armed forces of Azerbaijan. The massacre in Maragha is an unprecedented war crime committed by the Republic of Azerbaijan, on the basis of hatred against Armenians aimed at the annihilation of the Armenian population.

On April 10, 1992, after several hours of shelling, the Azerbaijani armed units invaded Maragha. Prior to this, a significant part of the population was evacuated, but the people who remained in the village, were subjected to inhuman torture and massacre by the Azerbaijani servicemen. The self-defense forces of Artsakh managed to liberate Maragha, but two weeks later, the Azerbaijani troops attacked the settlement again and committed new crimes against the civilians who had returned to bury their relatives.

Maragha was captured by the Azerbaijani armed forces and to this day is under the occupation of Azerbaijan. According to various data, including the reports of the human rights organizations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as a result of the war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces in Maragha over 50 civilians, including 30 women, were brutally killed. About 50 more people, including 29 women and 9 children, were taken captive, and the fate of 19 civilians is still unknown.

As testified by Member and former Vice Speaker of the House of Lords of Great Britain, human rights activist Baroness Caroline Cox, who visited the village with representatives of the organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide immediately after the tragedy, the bodies of the brutally murdered residents of Maragha were dismembered, mutilated, and burned. Lady Cox called Maragha contemporary Golgotha many times over.

The massacre of Armenians of Maragha became another manifestation of the consistent policy of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Azerbaijani authorities against the Armenian people, first in Sumgait, Baku and other settlements of Azerbaijan in 1988-1990, and later in Northern Artsakh. The fact that commander of the Azerbaijani armed units Taghiyev Shahin Taliboglu, who had committed the massacre in Maragha, was awarded the title of national hero of Azerbaijan testifies that the responsibility for this crime lies entirely with the Azerbaijani authorities.

The impunity of the crimes committed by Azerbaijan against Armenians and the lack of an adequate political and legal assessment by the international community created favorable conditions for rooting an atmosphere of hatred towards Armenians and all Armenian at the state level in Azerbaijan. 24 years later, in April 2016, during the aggression unleashed against Artsakh, Azerbaijan attempted to use the same methods to carry out new genocidal acts in Artsakh that were prevented by the decisive actions of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh.

The massacres of civilians in Maragha are a crime against humanity with no statute of limitations, and they must be condemned by the international community, and their organizers and executors must be justly punished.

Today we bow our heads in commemoration of the victims of the massacre in Maragha and assure that the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh will take all measures to guarantee the inalienable right of the people of Artsakh to live freely and safely in its homeland.
Chennai, April 10 : Scoot Tiger Airlines and Druk Air flights on Friday took off with a total of 328 passengers from Chennai International Airport, officials said.

The Scoot Tiger Airlines carried 248 passengers to Singapore while the Druk Air or Royal Bhutan Airlines, handled by Air India, took off with 80 passengers for Paro, they said.
The boyfriend of North Plains woman reported missing in December was sentenced for three crimes, none related to her disappearance, officials said.

Benjamin Hunter Garland will serve three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, fraudulent use of a credit card and second-degree theft for incidents between October and December.

The latest came Dec. 23 when investigators responded to reports that 20-year-old Allyson Joy Watterson was missing near North Plains in Washington County. Garland said the couple became separated while hiking, but later the sheriffs office said no evidence indicated they had been hiking, and Watterson was reported missing the next day by family members.

A search ensued, and deputies spotted a truck on a property. Witnesses told them Garland moved the truck out of sight as officers arrived, and he eventually admitted the vehicle was stolen, authorities said.

On Dec. 17, Garland used someone elses phone to book a ride-sharing service and, in October, he stole an estimated $700 worth of goods from a store in Hillsboro after spending hours filling a cart and leaving without paying, prosecutors said.

In addition to prison times, Garland will be subject to two years of supervision after his release.

The search for Watterson was called off after five days in December then briefly resumed in January. She remains missing.

-- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
The United Kingdom on Friday announced 12 additional charter flights to evacuate its nationals who are stranded in India amid travel restrictions owing to the coronavirus crisis.

The announcement was made by the British High Commission. The additional flights' announcement comes days after UK High Commission said that seven charter flights will evacuate Britishers from Goa, Mumbai and New Delhi.

These 19 flights will evacuate in total 5000 people from India, the UK High Commission said in a statement.The first charter flight from India reached London Stanstead on Thursday morning with 317 British nationals on board from Goa.

The embassy also announced the schedule of 12 flights. Three of the 12 flights will take off from Amritsar on April 13, 17 and 19. Two flights are scheduled to embark from Ahmedabad on April 13, 15 and two from Goa on April 14, 16.

One flight each will take off from Goa, Thiruvananthapuram Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai during the time period from April 15 to 20.

"We are doing all we can to get thousands of British travellers in India home. This is a huge and complex operation which also involves working with the Indian Government to enable people to move within India to get on these flights," UK Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon

"Over 300 people arrived from Goa on Thursday morning, 1,400 more will arrive over the Easter weekend and these 12 flights next week will bring back thousands more," he added.

The British Government had announced a worldwide partnership between the UK Government and airlines to repatriate nationals stranded due to the unprecedented international travel and domestic restrictions in place as a result of coronavirus outbreak.

India had imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown on March 24 in a bid to combat the spread of coronavirus. It also banned all international passenger flight operations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The camp serves 400 to 450 kids each summer, with staff arriving June 1 and campers following later in the month. The program requires 10 cabin leaders who work for the summer and 10 naturalists who work for a full year. Benson said he has hired two naturalists so far and has offers out to others, as well as to cabin leaders.
You know the nation is experiencing something serious when HM Treasury has to seek an overdraft from the Bank of England.

That last happened in the financial crisis and essentially means the pressure on the Government's balance sheet is so great it cannot issue the bonds or gilts used to fund public spending quickly enough to pay bills.

This is not surprising. The take-up of Chancellor Rishi Sunak's furlough job scheme, under which the Government pays 80 per cent of the salaries of hibernated workers, is so great that it will probably cost 16billion for every month that lockdown remains in place. That's before the bill of 1.2million successful new universal credit applications is totted up.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak's furlough job scheme, under which the Government pays 80 per cent of salaries, will probably cost 16bn for every month that lockdown remains in place

Then there is the loss of income from the break on business rates, VAT for smaller enterprises and the fall-off in PAYE and national insurance revenues as furloughs and lay-offs set in.

Resolving the financial crisis in 2008 was a technical struggle which required the banking system to be refinanced so as to keep credit flowing and to stop economies screeching to an abrupt halt.

The present Covid-19 crisis hits hard at the grassroots and then feeds back into the financial system: which is why it is just as well the banks are being required to conserve capital by axing dividends and limiting bonuses.

The fiscal costs of propping up countries around the world has been enormous. The International Monetary Fund has come up with a total of $8 trillion.

That figure excludes direct monetary injections such as the 200billion of extra quantitative easing from the Bank of England.

The IMF also claims there has been 'significant co-ordination'. I suspect former Chancellor Gordon Brown would dispute that.

Among the least effective responses has been that of the eurozone, in spite of the fact that Italy and Spain have been harder hit by the virus than others.

Costly: The fiscal costs of propping up countries around the world has been enormous

As is customary in Brussels, it was left to the 11th hour on the eve of Good Friday for finance ministers to cobble together a joint initiative.

Compared with the budgetary injections made by the US, Britain, Japan and Germany (acting alone), 500billion from the eurozone-17 for what is a humanitarian crisis looks distinctly unchristian.

Historic dividing lines between the mainly Protestant ethic of northern Europe against the perceived profligacy of the Catholic southern tier look to have been in play.

The German finance minister Olaf Scholz called it a 'great day' for European solidarity.

One suspects it is more of a great day for Germany and the Netherlands, which have steadfastly resisted the sharing of fiscal costs through the issue of eurozone-wide bonds. They argue that such an exercise would be unfair to their own taxpayers.

Instead, the main instrument chosen is a 'pandemic' credit line of 410billion from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a relic of the 2010-12 euro crisis.

The needy nations are in effect being asked to take further debt onto already overloaded balance sheets.

A further 100billion will come from the triple 'A' rated Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank, which finances longer-term projects and has a mixed reputation.

There are no free lunches in any of this. Countries accessing the ESM facility will be limited to spending just 2 per cent of national output on pandemic related costs.

In crude terms that is one-tenth of what the Japanese government is proposing to throw at the health catastrophe.

No one really wants commerce in the Western democracies to become dependent on government handouts.

But all the evidence suggests that the coronavirus will make consumers and firms dramatically more cautious. The consequences will be a shock to demand and could lead to deflation (already showing up in China).

In such extraordinary circumstances it falls on governments, whether they like it or not, to take responsibility for bridging the gap.
The lockdown is not going to end any time soon and I for one am profoundly grateful for that.

Surely it would be too hasty and too rash to peel away now from the path of self-isolation and locked doors?

With the number of deaths still terrifyingly high and heartfelt pleas from NHS workers for everyone to stay at home, we must all do our best to hold the lockdown line. It is hard, of course.

And it is harder for some than for others. I'm thinking of parents who have to keep young children amused and entertained.

JAN MOIR: The Queen and her We'll Meet Again speech... it made me cry and cheered me up at the same time. I also loved seeing her face being displayed on the electronic billboards at Piccadilly Circus (pictured)

Those sequestered at home with no access to outside space.

The isolated elderly, who keenly feel the pain of family separation. The vulnerable, the ill, the confused.

Those who are worried sick about their financial future or how we will recover  physically, emotionally and economically  once this is over.

But we simply must persist: all of us. If not for ourselves, then at least for those workers putting themselves at risk for the comfort and safety of others.

We owe it to them to keep out of harm's way as much as possible; to be a tiny inspiration, not a fireball of contagion.

It is particularly hard right now, just as this Eastertide blows in on a dizzying front of balmy weather and blue skies.

Outside my window I can see the trees coming into leaf, and the air in London smells fresher and sweeter than at any time in the decades I have lived here.

Outside is beckoning and tempting, yet simultaneously remote and more or less out of bounds. It is a torture.

All of a sudden, the prospect of a sunny Bank Holiday weekend like this one seems as meaningless as the days of the week.

I've been self-isolating alone for five weeks now and don't know when I will see my loved ones again.

Yet I consider myself incredibly lucky, in so many ways. To have lived my life in Britain during a time of prolonged peace and prosperity: that is already winning the global lottery.

Tycoons such as Philip Green and Richard Branson (pictured) want the government to pay some of their staff payroll instead of relying entirely on their own fortunes

Most of us have grown up being able to do exactly as we please, within limits. To go where we want, do what we want, buy what we want instead of what we need.

And if our preferred brand of baked beans or perfume or Chablis was not available today, then it would be back on the shelf tomorrow.

Now things are different. It is only 144 days since the first case of Covid-19 was reported in China, but the world has changed beyond measure. Here in the UK we now can't always get what we want.

We have to queue, Soviet-style, just to buy bread. Incredible restrictions have been placed on our freedoms.

Park benches have emergency tape on them so people can't sit down and picnickers have been moved on from beaches and beauty spots.

Would-be holidaymakers have been stopped by police on motorways and sent home. We have been denied our liberty  and we don't like it.

But if we want to protect the most vulnerable in society  the nurses and doctors, the bus drivers and shelf-stackers, the elderly and the ill  then we must stick together and do it. Of course, some of us are doing it better than others.

Here are my Covid-19 Winners and Sinners so far...

WINNERS

1. Those doctors, nurses and medical staff who came out of retirement to help. There simply are no medals big enough for each and every one of you.

2. And not forgetting those who signed up to join the N HS volunteer army. The Government wanted 250,000 but three times that number joined to help relieve pressure on the N HS, supporting 1.5 million people considered at risk. You are the very best of us.

3. The Queen and her We'll Meet Again speech. It made me cry and cheered me up at the same time. I also loved seeing her face being displayed on the electronic billboards at Piccadilly Circus.

4. Special mention to out-of-work British Airways pilot Peter Login, who has a new job as a Tesco delivery driver. Having 'hung up his keys' to the cockpit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, he is now delivering goods to self-isolators.

5. To self-isolators everywhere, each and every one of us. This will all be over one day soon. But not yet, and thank goodness for that.

SINNERS

1. Those picnickers, sunbathers and barbecuers on the beach who have been moved on by the police. Go home, you covidiots!

2. Airlines that charged customers 'extortionate fees' and high penalties to get home before the coronavirus lockdown. Plus those who have yet to refund customers for cancelled flights and holidays.

3. Tycoons such as Philip Green and Richard Branson  both knights of the realm, give me strength  who want the government to pay some of their staff payroll instead of relying entirely on their own millions. They want bucket loads of cash to help to support their workforces.

4. A reader tells me of a grocery shop in remote west Cornwall that put its prices up when the virus struck  in full knowledge that the elderly in the community had nowhere else to go for their groceries. 3.40 for a cabbage! The owners should be ashamed.

5. Those For Whom The Rules Do Not Apply. Like Scottish Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood, who was caught making repeated visits to her second home in Fife, after telling everyone else to stay at home. Maybe she was worried she'd left the iron on. Disgrace!

Look out, it's behind you

The Battle of the Bookcases continues apace. Some readers have expressed concern about former MP Sir David Lidington, who beamed into the Newsnight studios on Monday from what could have been a prison cell.

'No bookcase, no tastefully arranged furniture or art  just a bare lightbulb, an unrepaired hole in the ceiling and something unremarkable framed on the wall,' emails a Mr Stevens.

'Is he holed up in pre1989 East Germany?'

And reader Rita Allen is worried about BBC political journalistNorman Smith. ' He's got a Paddington Bear calendar. What does that say about him?' she wonders.

There has been much discussion of Michael Gove's blue toile de jouy living-room curtains. Some say they look like a giant Doric column, others that they look like Stilton cheese.

I think they're fine, but I'll have to advise my colleague Mrs Gove that the problem with her curtains is they need to be lined if they are going to appear regularly on TV. If I had a sewing machine, I'd lend it to her.

It's just twice as nice

What do the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall have in common with Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, and Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban?

They have all made a success of their second marriages, that's what.

Photographs of Charles and Camilla, released this week for their 15th wedding anniversary, certainly sum up the joy of the successful second marriage.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban (pictured) are one of the couples to have made a success of their second marriages

As a husband and wife, you are both older and wiser. You are more realistic about the hard work needed to maintain a good relationship than younger couples.

Friendship and companionship is a big part of it  you can see that in the picture of Charles, Camilla and their little dogs  they all look so content together.

Do you remember the fuss when it was announced that Charles and Camilla were to marry? What would she wear  she was no fashion plate.

Plus, a divorcee in the Royal Family? Pass the smelling salts. But Camilla turned up looking wonderful, and she has endured with aplomb ever since.

Photographs of Charles and Camilla, released this week for their 15th wedding anniversary, certainly sum up the joy of the successful second marriage

Partly because of her genuine love for her husband, but also because she has never tried to push her way into the limelight  unlike some onceroyal wives we know.

Charles and Camilla have been through everything together, including Covid-19, but always made each other happy.

The Prince of Wales would have withered as a single man  I bet he thanks his lucky stars every day that, because of her, he isn't one.

I'm concerned about the pop star Duffy, who has detailed on her social media a terrifying tale of being drugged, kidnapped, flown to a foreign country and repeatedly raped, then flown back again.

Surely these incidents are a matter for the police, not a way of explaining to fans where she has been for the past few years?

My lockdown week

Things I did this week. Decided to do something with those two bolts of linen I bought in a sale in January.

Thought about buying a sewing machine. Browsed sewing machines online. They are expensive! And also now computerised.

Do I need quilting facilities, a top-loading bobbin, a see-through cover? Will I be sewing leather? Look love, I just want to make a couple of cushion covers, not roar around like Emma Peel in a catsuit.

Didn't buy a sewing machine. Spring- cleaned the bedrooms. Chatted on email with a confused male colleague about Mrs Hinch. He wants to know why she wipes her skirt - ing boards with Febreze.

Couldn't explain this to him, because no one can. Amazon are prioritising emergency items. Thanked them for sending out my much-needed wax strips so promptly.

Gentlemen readers, do I hear you ask what I need wax strips for?

Ladies, shall we tell them? To repair punctures in a candle, of course.

Finally, I noticed that a swear-word colouring book for adults is a best - seller on Amazon. WHAT HAVE WE B ECOM E ?

Lessons in love and life from the indomitable Dame Vera

Glad to see Dame Vera Lynn is still going strong at 103.

I went to visit her in 2009, at her home on the South Downs, where she lives under skies once darkened by German planes on their way to bomb London.

She was then but a girlish 92, and kept herself busy with hobbies including art and dressmaking. Ever resourceful, she once sewed herself a summer dress from four gingham tea towels in the days of rationing.

Of course, we talked a lot about the war. 'My dear, you just have to carry on,' she said.

'It was an experience that was completely different from what we expected our lives to be. A lot of families suffered through it, but people also learned a lot.

'They learned to manage and they learned to share, and they learned to be neighbourly. I think everybody who went through the war came out of it a better person.'

Will we be able to say the same about ourselves, after this pandemic?
Opinion Article

9 April 2020

Sustainability as a concept has been in a turmoil over the last 35 years. Since the World Commission on Environment and Development Report, commonly known as Brundland Report in 1987, sustainability has been advancing as a concept of developmental strategies in a number of destinations and organizations. With the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals aiming to showcase progress towards sustainability by 2030, a number of stakeholders have been working hard to make such goals achievable and a step towards their completion.

Advertisements

On the other hand, the hospitality industry has also demonstrated a number of key advancements in the area of sustainability. From example, Accor's Planet 21 agenda, to Scandic Sustainability Goals, to Hyatt Corporate Responsibility Report, &Beyond Impact Model, to Lapa Rios in Costa Rica, all have illustrated a commitment towards sustainability and progress for 2030 Goals.

The current pandemic will undoubtedly contribute to the enhancement of the natural environment state, especially over the air quality and natural habitat. Equally, the human cost of the disease is raising as well as global business and stock markets have showed negative performance and decline. As sustainability is founded by the three main principles of environment, society and economy, where economic growth is considered to be a driver of change, the latter situation with the current pandemic poses a "rethink" of corporate governance and business models. Next, consumers will exit our current period, being a bit hesitant. Such attitudes will also have an effect on hospitality and tourism business as "getting back to normal" will take a bit of time. Considering all the factors, the industry clearly needs to redraw the strategies of development and growth. From the sustainability perspective it is crucial that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of well-being takes a center stage. That is no different to the original Brundland report, page 52, over quality of growth.

The latter report notes that the "economic development is unsustainable if it increases vulnerability to crises", page 53.

Taking all the factors into account, the period that we are currently going through does provide a platform that the existing models of governance, sustainable management and growth, ought to be seen from the original principles of sustainability.

This can be further illustrated in better measurements over emissions and climatic initiatives, so that the world can become more stable in terms of its natural conditions. That will be followed by the unparallel societal mechanism that the 2030 UN Goals are highlighting as well as initiatives of community engagement and support. Next, the economic development needs not only to recover the "lost ground" but set a platform that can become sustainable over the next years. That will involve improvements in strategic thinking, enhancement in service quality models as well as careful product design that respects the principles of sustainability. Being careful to the environment, being considerate about society as well as being economically sustainable is more important than ever before. The current pandemic has showed so far, the human cost and with such loss comes responsibility to the stakeholders to act with care and to promote strategies that respect the economic, social and environment well-being. That will only be achieved if the industry showcases its hospitality attitudes and it is more important than ever that the key attributes that drive our business are embedded in their future growth. That will enhance the sustainability of our industry and it will make sure that the current pandemic will serve as a reminder and a contemplation that quality of development and growth is, within reason, the driver of recovery and change.
A 121-year-old letter written by nursing legend Florence Nightingale asking a farmer to send her fresh eggs for an ill patient has been discovered in a box of old papers.

Nicknamed the Lady with the Lamp, she penned the note on March 6, 1899, decades after she returned to the UK a hero following her work in the Crimean War.

A homeowner was sorting through a box of old papers at his Derbyshire home when he stumbled across it and noticed Nightingale's distinctive signature on the bottom.

In the letter, a 79-year-old Nightingale asks a dairy farmer to send her six freshly laid brown eggs for a male patient who was 'very ill indeed'.

In the letter, a 79-year-old Florence Nightingale asks a dairy farmer to send her six freshly laid brown eggs for a male patient who was 'very ill indeed'

The note, written on headed paper and addressed from 10, South Street, Park Lane. W. - says: 'To the Aylesbury Dairy Co. Would you be so very good as to send me at once 6 eggs, if possible, laid this morning (or less than 6 if laid this morning) with the dark brown shells, for a gentleman very ill indeed, who fancies them - and to supply me with the same every morning for the gentleman who likes your eggs, & takes hardly anything.

'I will send them to him at once. Yours faithfully, Florence Nightingale. I shall be so much obliged to you.'

The letter's owner took it to an auctioneer's for valuation before the coronavirus lockdown and it is worth between 500 and 600.

Nicknamed the Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale (pictured) penned the note on March 6, 1899, decades after she returned to the UK a hero following her work in the Crimean War

The seller, who did not wish to be named, said: 'I don't know why I never noticed the signature.

'I'd glanced at the note a few times and always wondered why someone in my family had decided to keep a letter from someone going on about eggs.

'I've had it for years. It was on a box of old family heirlooms which I'd inherited.'

Nightingale, who was born in 1820 and died aged 90 in 1910, is known as the mother of modern nursing with her revolutionary reforms which made hospitals much more organised and cleaner.

The letter's owner took it to an auctioneer's for valuation before the coronavirus lockdown and it is worth between 500 and 600

The letter is being sold at Hansons Auctioneers in Derby, where owner Charles Hanson called the object a 'wonderful find' displaying 'Britain's most famous nurse's caring nature'

She is also credited for inventing the pie chart which she used as a way of demonstrating patient health.

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers which is handling the sale, said: 'What a wonderful find, a letter from Britain's most famous nurse aptly displaying her caring nature once again.

'As the nation battles Covid-19, it is good to be reminded of Florence Nightingale, an iconic British figure whose caring nature and dedication continues to be displayed by NHS workers today.'

The Florence Nightingale letter is due to be sold in Hansons' Spring Fine Art and Library Auction, currently delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Across the country, distilleries, who usually produce spirits, have stepped up to produce hand sanitizer to help fight COVID-19. Here in Ohio, JobsOhio worked with local distilleries to purchase much-needed hand sanitizer to distribute to Ohio's 12 food banks, whose work is extremely important during this time.

"Our team was approached by Ohio's distillery industry with an opportunity to purchase hand sanitizer in bulk from distillers of high proof spirituous liquor," said J.P. Nauseef, president and chief investment officer, JobsOhio. "We saw this as another creative and collaborative way we could answer Governor DeWine's call to help our fellow Ohioans."

This week JobsOhio placed orders for more than 3,100 cases totaling more than 1 million oz. of hand sanitizer. Shipments of hand sanitizer will be delivered to Ohio's 12 food banks next week and over the coming months as they need it.

"Ohio's food banks are proud to be on the front lines as we respond as a state to this public health crisis, and we're grateful for all of the partners involved that came together to make this donation possible," said Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks. "We're working hard to get vulnerable Ohioans not only the food, but also the personal care and hygiene items they need to keep their families safe, well-nourished and healthy."

JobsOhio partnered closely with Sazerac, Diageo, Watershed Distillery, Middle West Spirits, Brain Brew Distillery, Western Reserve Distillers, Hotel Tango Distillery, Ugly Dog Distillery and Woodinville Whiskey Company on the initiative.

"While we never anticipated pivoting toward a full-blown sanitizer operation in a matter of days, it was clear that we had the resources and capabilities to help our community stay safe and healthy, and we needed to step up," said Greg Lehman founder and CEO of Watershed Distillery.

About JobsOhio

JobsOhio is a private nonprofit economic development corporation designed to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio through business attraction, retention and expansion. The organization also works to seed talent production in its targeted industries and to attract talent to Ohio though Find Your Ohio. JobsOhio works with six regional partners across Ohio: Dayton Development Coalition, Ohio Southeast, One Columbus, REDI Cincinnati, Regional Growth Partnership and Team NEO. Learn more at www.jobsohio.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE JobsOhio

Related Links

http://www.jobsohio.com


Form 16 issued by employer will be considered to be a conclusive evidence of donation made by employee and tax deduction u/s 80-G shall be allowed to the respective employee.

New Delhi: Employers will have to show donation made by employees from their salary to PM CARES Fund in Form 16 TDS certificate, the Income Tax department has said.

Donations made to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund are eligible for 100 percent deduction u/s 80G of I-T Act.

In a notice, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has said that in cases where donation is made by an employee through his/her employer, a separate certificate u/s 80G will not be issued for every employee as contribution to the fund is in the form of consolidated payment.

"It is hereby clarified that the deduction in respect of such donations will be admissible u/s 80G of the Act on the basis of the Form 16/certificate issued by drawing and disbursing officer/employer in this regard," the CBDT said.

Nangia Andersen Consulting Director Shailesh Kumar said in many cases, the employees are donating a portion of their salary (viz 1 day or 1 week or 1 month, etc) to the PM-CARES fund, through their employers.

"In all such cases, Form 16 issued by employer will be considered to be a conclusive evidence of donation made by employee and tax deduction u/s 80-G shall be allowed to the respective employee. This is a welcome move by the CBDT and will encourage employees to donate for this noble cause through their employers, at the same time making them eligible for tax benefit of such donation," Kumar said.

AKM Global Partner Amit Maheshwari said: "This is an important clarification as there was apprehension in the minds of several employees as to how they would get the benefit after contributing to this noble cause. This clarification has made availing tax benefit simpler for them now".
The U.S. Forest Service officially proposed building a 3.4-mile access road to facilitate repairs of the aging Spirit Lake tunnel in a draft decision released Tuesday.

This is a difficult trade-off to make, Spirit Lake Project Manager Chris Strebig wrote in acknowledging the adverse effects on research that a new access road through the pumice plain, the area at the foot of Mount St. Helens, could create.

The multifaceted project focuses primarily on Spirit Lakes drainage issues caused by the 1980 Mount. St. Helens eruption. Debris from that explosion blocked the historic outflow of the lake, and engineers built a tunnel to drain the lake and prevent a catastrophic flood.

The 35-year-old tunnel needs extensive repairs, and were it to fail, the lake could rise, break through the debris blockage and cause disastrous flooding in the Cowlitz and Toutle valleys.

Re-establishing the primitive road from Windy Ridge to the south shore of the lake would allow drill rigs to access the area to take core samples of the debris blockage holding back the lake. It also would make it easier to replace the aging intake gate on the 1.5-mile drainage tunnel that keeps the lake at a safe level.

But scientists and conservationists are concerned that building the road would trash research plots, introduce invasive species, tempt unauthorized motorists and otherwise jeopardize the long-term recovery and research of the pumice plain. It is one of the most heavily researched landscapes on the planet.

Additionally, the Forest Service decision found the project would have no significant environmental impact and thus will not require an environmental impact statement (EIS). In comments to the Forest Service, several scientists and scientific organizations have called for an EIS and asked the Forest Service to come up with a less intrusive alternative to the access road.

The Forest Service considered one such alternative, according to the draft decision: Building a shorter 2-mile access road to Duck Bay at the south end of the lake and relying on helicopters and watercraft to shuttle workers and equipment to the tunnel. But the agency deemed the plan too risky for staff, some of whom would be taking daily or twice-daily helicopter trips during repair of the tunnel. It would also require a new barge loading facility at Duck Bay and delay the overall project by at least a year.

Instead, the proposed 3.4-mile access road would be built along an old road used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the early 1980s that generally tracks along the Truman Trail. Public access to the Truman Trail would be limited or at times closed during the project to repair the tunnel, which officials have said could take up to two or three years and cost $5 million to $15 million.

The Forest Services proposal would replace the drainage tunnels single corroded inlet gate and install an additional backup gate. Crews would also drill through the volcanic debris thats dammed up the lake to better understand the blockage. And a barge loading facility and a staging area, totaling abut six acres, would be built on the grounds of the old pumping station at Harrys Ridge.

The initial preparation work to repair the tunnel would take one or two seasons, Strebig said. (Construction work near Spirit Lake can only be done in the summer while the weather is favorable, he said.) Replacement of the intake gate would take an additional year. If the project was green lit and engineering began next summer, the tunnel gates could be repaired by 2023.

If no objections are raised in the 45 days following the release of the draft Decision Notice, then a formal decision could be signed allowing the Forest Service to move forward with the access road plan, Strebig said.

Detailed information on the project as well as links to provide new comments, or review old comments, can be found online at www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57259&exp=overview.

Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Advertisement

Its a set of photographs thats likely to give you goosebumps.

These intriguing  yet decidedly creepy  pictures were taken inside a crumbling abandoned doctors surgery on a tree-lined driveway in Northern Virginia by urban explorer Bryan Sansivero.

As you peer at them through your fingers, youll spy taxidermy wolf rugs, bottles containing mystery liquids and medical books and equipment dating back to the 1800s.

Urban explorer Bryan Sansivero found an abandoned doctor's surgery at the top of a long, tree-lined driveway

Next to a sink, theres a heart model, some medical tools and a skeleton model. And on the shelf there's a real human vertebrae

Inside a pink-tiled examination room. Bryan found these areas of the property particularly creepy

Plus a great deal of peeling paint and that time-honoured staple of horror films  a rocking chair.

The surgery was a separate extension to a residential mansion, explained Bryan, whos from Long Island, New York.

The rooms in this part are still full of belongings  clothes, shoes and family photographs  but theyre a terrible mess.

Those with wild imaginations might surmise that poltergeists have ransacked them.

But Bryan told MailOnline Travel that they were most likely looted or rearranged by people who stumbled upon the house previously.

Eerie go: Every self-respecting house of horrors has a rocking chair

A taxidermy wolf rug lends the building an extra layer of goosebump-inducing menace

Another frozen-in-time examination room, complete with wheelchair and gas tank

Not for drinking: Empty bottles of mysterious liquids stand amid old, dusty books

Old, brown medicine bottles  two of which have a red cross drawn across the label. One of them is Merthiolate, which used to be used as a germ killer and preservative

The surgery was a separate extension to a residential mansion, explained Bryan

A hallway in a state of disrepair, with peeling blue wallpaper and crumbling door frames

Either way, theres something distinctly horror-movie-set about them.

Bryan said the atmosphere inside the surgery was very eerie, especially the family photographs and empty examination rooms.

He was also unnerved by the real human vertebrae he spotted on a shelf behind a model of a human skeleton.

Here nature is making a bid to give the interior an even wilder look

The building contains a smattering of modern technology, which is inevitably surrounded by signs of deterioration

Bryan thinks that the mess he found in some rooms might have been the work of others who'd explored the house

An old television, childrens photographs, a wonky lamp. They sound innocuous written down, but add to the chilling vibe in the abandoned building

Ransacked by a poltergeist? Maybe, but probably another room disturbed by looters or previous explorers

Another examination room - though in the hands of a horror film director, an experiment chamber

The building can definitely be classed as a fixer-upper

Bryan said: I think photographing the unknown is really interesting. Its fascinating to me.

I believe my photographs can be interpreted in many different ways.

When my photography makes the viewer uncomfortable, confused or just think, then I think I achieved my goal.

To see more of Bryans work visit his Instagram page and website.

Another room, another frankly terrifying taxidermy wolf rug - plus mysterious black-and-white pictures

Two childrens photographs in paper frames, a mirror and an old photograph in a wooden frame sit on a single bed

Bryan said: I think photographing the unknown is really interesting. Its fascinating to me'
Two more residents of Bihar's Siwan district, which has emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot with close to 30 cases, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday, taking the statewide



total to 60, a top official said.

Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar said a 10-year-old girl and a man aged 28 have tested coronavirus positive, and both are members of the family which threw up 16 cases on Thursday, all of them contracting the contagion from a relative with a travel history to Oman.

Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar, alarmed by the spurt in cases, directed the divisional commissioner and the deputy inspector general of Saran to leave for Siwan and camp at Panjwar village in Raghunathpur block that has 18 of the total cases reported since Thursday.

They have been directed to enforce a complete lockdown there.

With 29 cases, Siwan accounts for nearly half of the total number of people having tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar. Four persons have recovered.

Gaya has five cases, while Begusarai where many had tested positive, is now left with four active cases with the recovery of one person.

Munger and Patna which had reported seven and five cases, respectively have zero active cases. Munger also accounts for the sole COVID 19-related death in Bihar.

According to the data shared by the state health department, the number of samples tested till 10 am on Friday at the four testing facilities in Bihar three at Patna and one at Darbhanga was 5,457.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The recent case of a Covid-19 positive patient who was found hiding at home in North Chennai and quietly trying out treatment at a private hospital, to evade being branded a case by the government health department, brings to the fore the stigma associated with this disease. The daily briefing by the health department is restricted to numbers; the positive cases and even deaths are not named. The idea is to protect the identity of the individual so that he/she and the families are not ostracised by the people around them.

On April 8, a man from Villupuram who had tested positive went missing. The health department passed on the baton of responsibility to the police force to track him down. The police, on their part, have been circulating details of the man, with his name and photograph, on social media platforms and even during their patrols to help get leads from people. A few state governments in India have issued a directive under Section 2 of the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897, and cited Rule 17 of the guidelines issued by the Press Council of India to not name the patients.

According to Poynters guidelines, if the media does want to name a patient without his/her permission for public health reasons, the newsperson needs to check first with the public health official in charge of the locality where the exposure may have happened. So that is what the Villupuram police have done, as the missing person may be infecting people he comes in contact with. There needs to be a concerted effort to destigmatise this disease to help ensure cooperation from patients. After all, the virus has not spared anyone with even British PM Boris Johnson testing positive.

Top leaders in India, apart from public service messages on the virtues of social distancing, need to mobilise opinion on the need to disconnect the stigma from this disease to make sure people reveal that they have symptoms. This will ensure community-level awareness, removal of fear and willingness to accept Covid-19 as a disease that can be treated if patients come forward and are selfless enough to ensure others do not contract it from them.
Tony Gutierrez, STF / Associated Press

A federal judge Thursday granted abortion providers a new restraining order against the state as officials continue their fight to ban the procedure during the coronavirus pandemic.

The ruling, another pivot in a now dizzying legal battle, is narrower than one issued last week, which was overturned by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It allows medication abortions, in which doctors give women pills, as well as surgical abortions for women who would be too far along in their pregnancies to legally obtain one by the time the states emergency ban on nonessential surgeries is lifted April 21.
The Assam government has sealed a mosque in Guwahati where three persons who later tested positive for COVID-19 had stayed to attend a religious congregation last month, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

Two of them had returned to Assam after attending a Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin area, which emerged as the biggest hotspot of coronavirus in the country. The third stayed with them at the Athgaon Kabarsthan Masjid and accompanied one of them to Dhubri, Sharma said at a press conference here.

Squarely blaming the Jaamat for the spread of coronavirus, Sarma said of the total 29 confirmed cases in Assam, 28are linked to the group.

He said even the first COVID-19 death in the state on Friday had attended the Jamaat gathering in Delhi after returning from Saudi Arabia.

The 65-year-old retired BSF personnel was buried as per the protocol near his home in Hailakandi in the presence of district officials. His family members are in home quarantine and watched the last rites from their terrace, Sarma said.

He was confirmed positive for the virus on Tuesday night.

Sarma said at least 100 people attended the Guwahati mosque congregation on March 12 and the organisers have so far given the names of 58 people, who have been quarantined.

"The fact that a congregation was held here was brought to our notice much later and we have asked the organisers to give a list of all people who attended it, he said.

The masjid has been sealed and declared a containment zone with no entry or exit allowed. The administration will provide essential items to the caretaker and other functionaries staying inside the mosque, he added.

The government is considering to lodge an FIR against one of the three persons, the first COVID-19 case in Dhubri, as he hid the fact that he attended the Jamaat event.

"He was asked by doctors in three hospitals, where he had gone for treatment after he felt unwell, whether he had attended the event in Nizamuddin or not but he denied and as a result now all these doctors have been quarantined,Sarma said.

"We are facing a shortage of doctors in these hospitals and we are considering to file an FIR against him, he added.

The remaining 28 patients are stable and five of them have tested negative after treatment but they will be tested again,the minister said. They will be released only after their mandatory quarantine period is over.

Sarma also slammed the state Congress chief Ripun Bora for alleging shortage of PPEs and N95 masks in the state, and said the stock of protective equipment was satisfactory and more was expected to come in the next few days.

"I request him to check the facts with us before tweeting such statements as it leads to confusion and demoralises the medical staff who are working so hard in such trying times, he said.

Sarma announced a financial assistance for people suffering from cancer or requiring kidney transplant or heart surgery stuck outside the state due to the lockdown.

He said the patients should contact the state helpline numbers and the assistance will be decided according to the number of patients stranded.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved out of the intensive care unit in St. Thomas' hospital in London and on to a general ward, according to a spokesperson for 10 Downing Street.

Boris Johnson was admitted to St. Thomas' Hospital on Sunday evening after his symptoms of Covid-19 worsened. The following day he was moved to the intensive care unit.

On Thursday, Downing St said he had "been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery".

The spokesperson said the UK Prime Minister was "in extremely good spirits", and thanked the medical staff for the care he had received.

Mr Johnson was given oxygen treatment in intensive care, according to Downing Street, but was not put on a ventilator,

On hearing the news that Boris Johnson was no longer in the intensive care unit, US president Donald Trump tweeted that it was "great news".

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab continues to deputise for the Prime Minister in his absence and it is thought that he is unlikely to leave hospital for some time.
Executive Member of the Tema East Constituency branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Stephen Ashitey Adjei has appealed to the government to consider drinking spots as essential service providers in the coronavirus partial lockdown.



In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Mr Ashitey Adjei popularly known as Moshake said the products that the drinking bars sold included; liquid foods that were essential for the lockdown period.



Beverages like Malta, Vita Milk, beer and fruit juices are forms of food drinks that would come in handy at a time like this for people who traditionally do not eat at home. I also think the bottled and canned packaging of these food drinks makes them relatively safer from contamination than the solid food that government is allowing to be sold by roadsides, Moshake observed.



According to him, it is useful to encourage the sale of such well packaged liquid foods in times like this, rather than prohibit their sale by closing down drinking bars.



He called on Government to reconsider its position and allow drinking spots to open and obey the social distancing and hygiene protocols.



He said since alcohol was not prohibited in the lockdown period, it would be expedient to allow patrons to buy it and take away if the government believed they would not adhere to the social distancing.



The partial lockdown of the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi areas by Government as part of measures to contain the deadly coronavirus exempted food vendors from the category of people who must stay at home unless something really critical was needed.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Pentair plc (NYSE:PNR) today announced that the location and time of day of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on May 5, 2020 has changed. The meeting will now be held at Pentair's manufacturing facility at 1350 Hammond Road, White Bear Lake, Minnesota. The meeting will begin at 8:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time, and registration will begin at 7:30 a.m. These changes were made in light of public health concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. At the same time, the company also advised shareholders to consider carefully whether to attend the meeting in person and provided information about the company's plan for an abbreviated meeting format.

The company also provided notice of an alternative location for participation by shareholders in Ireland. As a result of the change to the time of the meeting, the company also announced corresponding changes to the deadlines for voting by proxy and changing or revoking a proxy.

Further information regarding the change to the location and time of day of the Annual General Meeting and other related changes can be found in the proxy supplement filed by Pentair with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 10, 2020.

ABOUT PENTAIR

At Pentair, we believe the health of our world depends on reliable access to clean, safe water. We deliver a comprehensive range of smart, sustainable water solutions to homes, business and industry around the world. Our industry leading and proven portfolio of solutions enables our customers to access clean, safe water. Whether it's improving, moving or enjoying water, we help manage the world's most precious resource. Smart, Sustainable Water Solutions. For Life.

Pentair had revenue in 2019 of $3 billion, and trades under the ticker symbol PNR. With approximately 120 locations in 25 countries and 9,500 employees, we believe that the future of water depends on us. To learn more, visit Pentair.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005019/en/

Contacts:

Jim Lucas

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasurer

Tel: 763-656-5575

E-mail: jim.lucas@pentair.com

Rebecca Osborn

Senior Manager, External Communications

Tel: 763-656-5589

Email: rebecca.osborn@pentair.com
With visits to the church and other religious places suspended across the country, churches in Wayanad and Kochi conducted prayer services on the occasion of Good Friday.

Fr. Jose Puthiyedath, who is the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of Syro Malabar Church, led the prayer service at Major Archbishop's House Chapel in Kochi by live streaming and people offered their prayers to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, in Wayanad, a short prayer service was held with a restricted number of devotees entering the church.

"Today we are dedicating our prayers for the recovery of all COVID-19 patients worldwide. Though people are unable to join our prayers, we are praying for everyone's well being," the parish priest told ANI.

In the capital, churches remained shut but live streaming of services would be done on various official social media platforms of the churches as well.

As of now, 357 cases have been reported so far in Kerala, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Private nursing homes have been left waiting 20 days for coronavirus test results for residents and staff.

Nearly one in three of those surveyed have still not received protective wear to safeguard workers from infection, while a quarter said the protective wear was not fit for purpose.

The damning results have emerged from a survey by Nursing Homes Ireland.

In one case a resident died before their test result came back.

The ongoing behind-the-scenes difficulties faced by nursing homes highlights that the promised Government support measures are not coming fast enough.

The number of coronavirus clusters in these facilities rose to 86 yesterday, after weeks of outbreaks which have seen the deaths of several elderly residents.

In the survey, most of the 167 nursing homes said they were waiting up to nine days for a test result, but 44pc - equivalent to 74 homes - faced delays of 10 days or more.

Individual homes said they were waiting up to 20 days.

The delay means that nursing homes where workers are at home self-isolating face serious staff shortages.

Others said the results were coming back more promptly following the weekend announcement by Health Minister Simon Harris about a package of supports.

However, many nursing homes are also encountering problems securing protective wear such as gowns, goggles and masks for staff to safeguard them from infection.

Some 63 of the 205 nursing homes which answered that question said they were still waiting for such supplies.

The waiting time varied with some getting it within a few days. Some said they did not get a delivery if they did not have any positive cases of the virus.

Others have been waiting 18 days or not getting a full supply, and 44 nursing homes said the protective wear was unsuitable.

One-quarter said their engagement with the HSE on accessing protective wear was average but one in 10 said it was poor.

There were several difficulties identified by the homes, including only getting contact through email, and having no point of contact by phone.

Another nursing home owner said: "Engagement is fine but no action."

Another comment said the HSE is not giving the protective wear unless there are cases and "it is too late then".

A further comment said they got "a tiny percentage of what you asked for".

In some cases they turned to a private supplier or resorted to "home-made" versions.

Some 65pc of homes also received no contact from the HSE about transfer of homecare staff as promised.

Around 24 senior staff have left to work for the HSE as have 86 healthcare assistants.
Former Saturday Night Live writer Michael C. McCarthy has died at the age of 61.

The Chicago Sun Times reported that he died on Wednesday at his home in Chicago's North Side, after a cancer battle

McCarthy was a Second City actor and wrote on SNL from 1983 until 1985, for which he earned a Primetime Emmy nomination.

Rest in peace: Former Saturday Night Live writer Michael C. McCarthy died on Wednesday, at the age of 61, T he Chicago Sun Times reported

He is survived by his wife Susan Messing and stepchildren Liam Maxwell Conner and Sofia Mia Canale.

As well as writing on SNL, McCarthy went on to write for Sesame Street and Big News TV, among others.

He was also a teacher at Second City, iO Theater and a professor of writing at DePaul University.

As a writing teacher some of his famous students include Tina Fey, Jon Favreau and SNL actress Vanessa Bayer.

Back in the day: McCarthy wrote for SNL from 1983 until 1985, he created the House of Mutton sketch which he starred in with Michael Palin and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (pictured in the 1984 sketch)

His students and friends took to Twitter to grieve and express their loss.

'For more than thirty years, Michael McCarthy was my loyal and inspiring friend,' Ken Olshansky, a former Second City actor wrote on Twitter. 'It really hurts to say goodbye.'

One student wrote 'I've had a lot of writing teachers but no on made me feel included quite like Michael McCarthy. Godspeed to this kind, funny man.'

'Lost my mentor today. A total legend,' another user wrote. 'He also helped mentor a number of writers in Chicago at annoyance theater, for years we'd meet on Sunday and he'd help guide us.'

Old friend: 'For more than thirty years, Michael McCarthy was my loyal and inspiring friend,' Ken Olshansky, a former Second City actor wrote on Twitter. 'It really hurts to say goodbye'

Included: One student wrote 'I've had a lot of writing teachers but no on made me feel included quite like Michael McCarthy. Godspeed to this kind, funny man'

Wonderful: Another shared a photo of Michael in a scene Amy Sedaris and Steve Carell

McCarthy also took the stage to perform in numerous Second City shows in Chicago in the 80s and 90s.

At Second City her performed alongside famous faces including Steve Carell, Amy Sedaris and Tim Meadows, while Stephen Colbert served as his understudy.

'Michael was extraordinarily smart, talented and kind,' Second City told The Times. said in a statement, noting cancer was the cause of death.

Adding: 'He was someone you always enjoyed being with, and you felt better about yourself and the world when you were given the pleasure of his gracious company. Michael had true wit, and his writing felt effortless in its beauty and intelligence. '

A hero: 'Lost my mentor today. A total legend,' a user wrote. 'He also helped mentor a number of writers in Chicago at annoyance theater, for years we'd meet on Sunday and he'd help guide us'

Founder: McCarthy founded The Cat Laughs comedy festival in Kilkenny Ireland, in 1995 and it is still ongoing. The festival wrote on Twitter: 'We are incredibly sad today. [McCarthy] will leave a very big hole for a lot of people and our thoughts go out to his partner, Susan Messing and his family'

While his former stage star Sedaris said 'This is incredibly sad news. I loved Michael. He had a very dry sense of humor. He was always such a goer, a team player, generous and kind. I really loved working with him.'

After his stint at SNL, he joined the Second City Touring Company in the early 90s and went on to eventually reach the resident company's main stage.

He also had small roles on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Gilmore Girls and According to Jim during his career.

McCarthy founded The Cat Laughs comedy festival in Kilkenny Ireland, in 1995 and it is still ongoing.

The festival wrote on Twitter: 'We are incredibly sad today. [McCarthy] will leave a very big hole for a lot of people and our thoughts go out to his partner, Susan Messing and his family.'
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a young woman's body was found in a flat near the River Thames by police yesterday morning.

The 35-year-old woman was found by police at 3am in the market town of Walton-on-Thames, sparking a major murder investigation as her death is being treated as unexplained.

A man, aged 39 years, has been questioned as part of the murder investigation. He was taken into police custody on suspicion of murdering the woman and was said to be helping police in their extensive murder probe.

The woman, 35, was found dead at a house in Wellington Close, Walton-on-Thames, (pictured) which comprises three high rise tower blocks and two-storey buildings

The woman was found dead at a house in Wellington Close, Walton-on-Thames, which comprises three high rise tower blocks and two-storey buildings.

A spokesman for Surrey police said on Thursday: 'Surrey Police was called following the discovery of a woman's body at an address in Walton-on-Thames in the early hours today.

'The body of the 35-year-old woman was found at an address in Wellington Close just before 3am.

The woman's death is being treated as unexplained as Surrey Police question a 39-year-old man on suspicion of murder. Pictured: Wellington Close, where the woman was found dead

'Inquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances of her death, which is being treated as unexplained at this time.

'A 39-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder as part of our inquiries and remains in custody.

'The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with any information is asked to contact us.'
The Northern Territory Chief Minister and his wife have announced the birth of their first child and his adorable name.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner and ABC journalist Kristy OBrien welcomed their new son Hudson, nicknamed Huddy, on Thursday evening.

Mr Gunner introduced his baby boy, Hudson Thomas Gunner, in a series of Facebook posts on Friday morning.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner (left) and his wife Kristy OBrien (right) welcomed their first baby boy Hudson 'Huddy' Thomas Gunner (middle) on Thursday

He said: 'Our hearts have already exploded. How do they pack so much perfection into such a little package?'

The Labor minister uploaded a sweet family picture that featured the beaming couple holding their sleeping newborn.

Mr Gunner shared that Huddy was born at 6.03pm on April 9 and weighed '4240g of naughtiness'.

He praised his wife and said: 'Kristy was magnificent. Women are warriors.'

Mr Gunner also thanked the hospital staff for their role in delivering his son.

'Big thank you to all the doctors, midwives, nurses and staff who helped our little (big) 5th generation of Territorian into the world,' he wrote.

The minister is easily adapting to fatherhood and said he was enjoying a series of parenting firsts.

'Hes had his first cry. I changed his first nappy. And he slept through his first (false) fire alarm,' Mr Gunner said.
The US planemaker may announce early retirement and involuntary layoffs for staff as demand plunges due to the virus.

Boeing Co is considering a plan to cut its workforce by about 10 percent, which could involve buyouts, early retirements and involuntary layoffs at the United States-based planemaker, the Wall Street Journal newspaper reported.

The potential job cuts are expected to largely target Boeings commercial arm, which has been under strain due to the crisis in the global airline industry, the report on Thursday said.

Boeing declined a request by Reuters news agency for comment.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Boeing has been suspending production at various plants, including the manufacturing of its 787 aircraft at its facilities in South Carolina.

Last week, Boeings Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun outlined a plan of voluntary layoffs for employees, while warning that the pandemic would have a lasting effect on the aerospace industry.

The company had earlier frozen hiring and overtime pay except in certain critical areas to preserve cash.

Boeing has also been grappling with the financial fallout due to the grounding and production halt of its 737 MAX aircraft after two fatal crashes that killed 346 people. The 737 MAX has been grounded since March 2019 and Boeing halted its production in January.

Its European rival Airbus has also warned that it would miss earnings estimates after recording no new orders in February as demand for its planes plunged due to widespread travel restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Montgomery County mental health experts have been concerned for weeks about the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and the impact on local residents mental well being. With dire reports of statistics reported daily and worries about possible lost jobs, securing food and paying bills, a sense of despair can begin to set in, many have warned.

On Thursday, Ann Snyder of The Woodlands Township Board of Directors told her fellow board members that 11 people have died by suicide in the county since March 23. It is not known why the 11 chose to die by suicide, and several officials did not want to theorize that the deaths were related to COVID-19. Over the past five years, Montgomery County has seen more deaths by suicide in the months from January to June than other parts of the year.

ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Coronavirus live updates: Houston using private companies to test for COVID-19

Snyder, who has championed raising awareness of mental health issues and also promoted suicide prevention efforts in recent years, told the board of the statistics which were provided by Montgomery County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Judge Wayne Mack, saying it is, very sad to report.

Hard times

That is just an indicator that people are having some hard times, Snyder said on Thursday night toward the end the virtual board meeting.

Mental Health Resources National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 24-hour-a-day help line with counselors - 1-800-273-8255 or Via text message: text TALK to 741741 Mosaics of Mercy, 33300 Egypt Lane, Suite K300, Magnolia, Telephone: 346-703-0051. Online at: https://mosaicsofmercy.com/ Licensed Professional Counselor Carolyn Robistow, https://joyeffectcounseling.com/ Tri-County Behavioral Healthcare: http://www.tricountyservices.org/ -Telephone hotline: 1-800-659-6994 See More Collapse

MORE FROM JEFF FORWARD: Woodlands collects thousands of PPE items in first week of program

On Friday, Snyder said she believes county residents of all ages and genders are more stressed than normal due to the pandemic and the effects it has had on society, including being stuck inside more than normal and other concerns such as job security and taking care of family.

The outbreak and uncertainty of COVID-19 is stressful to many. Fear of the COVID-19 is causing fear and worry not only about ones personal health but the health of their loved ones. Todays economic downturn is affecting many families and can spark a mental breakdown, Snyder said. While embracing social distancing, we need to encourage our community not to socially disconnect and stay in contact with our loved ones, family and friends. We also need to take care of ourselves thru prayer, meditation and seek behavioral health counseling if we are not OK. It is OK not to be OK! If an individual is experiencing distress, it is vital that they reach out for support.

Snyder first began to inquire about the rising suicide rates in 2018, when she noticed a spike in the statistics of attempted suicides and deaths by suicide in the county law enforcement reports given to the board on a quarterly basis. Snyders concerns were later echoed by former township director John McMullan, who also pressed officials for answers and solutions. Their efforts, along with other board members concerns, led to the eventual formation of the Montgomery County Behavioral Health and Suicide Prevention Task Force in 2019, led by Mack and others.

Snyder said the recent statistics are troubling.

TELE-HEALTH: Montgomery County mental health experts say online, virtual counseling is available amid COVID-19

I am very concerned about the increase in suicides. People of all ages are experiencing mental health challenges, she said. Our community needs to continue their outreach and support the need for more mental health services. This will make the people we care about and our community stronger.

Critical conversations

Mack, who had sent a letter to Snyder for her to read to the township board, said he has been worried about deaths by suicide for many years. He cautioned the public against blaming the recent rise in suicides on the COVID-19 pandemic, saying in a telephone interview on Friday, April 10, that to his knowledge only two of the 11 most recent deaths by suicide had any connection to COVID-19.

Despite the complexity of suicide, we know suicide can be prevented. Just as there are warning signs and risk factors for cardiac disease, there are warnings signs that we can learn to prevent people from dying by suicide. Talk does save lives. Even though it is a sensitive subject, it is critical to prevention that we have conversations about suicide. Having the conversation and talking about it (is important), Mack. We know from January to June the past five years, our suicides go up. In our county, over the last five years, we always have a 10 to 20 percent increase in the number of suicides in our county for the last five years.

From January 1, 2019, through the end of March 2019, there were 23 deaths by suicide. For 2020 during the same time period, there have been 28 deaths from suicide in the county, Mack said. In 2019 from April 1 to June, there were 36 deaths by suicide.

This time of year, we have an increase. We know (with recent deaths) that COVID was a trigger, not that they had COVID, but it was a trigger. So, I dont want (people to think) suicides are going up due to cornoavirus, we dont know that, he stressed. I am not sure why (the died by suicide). The other disturbing number is, for every death by suicide, there are 25 attempts.

Recognizing signs

Mack said the critical element of preventing suicide is recognizing what signs a person may exhibit that indicate they may be having suicidal ideations.

It is very, very important people are informed. Getting informed, knowing (warning signs) and having conversations. When people start talking about (suicide), (or) there is a change in mood. Increased drug or alcohol use, or sleep issues or acting recklessly or withdrawing. Moods, peoples depression and apathy and anxiety and irritability and ragepeople have to trust their gut and assume they are the only ones who can reach out (and help), Mack explained. Another thing people need to understand is, you may be the only person who can help.

Once a person recognizes the warning signs of suicidal ideations, Mack said friends or relatives must intervene, be blunt and ask hard questions. Doing that may save someones life, he added.

We know 80 percent of people who attempt suicide try multiple attempts. MOst suicides there are going to be warning signs; when you see those things, that is when you ask them, Are you OK? You have to ask the question, Are you thinking about suicide? We do need to have these conversationswe do need to talk about this. As a nation, we need to recognize that when people die by suicide, unfortunately statistics show people who knew that person show there are greater chances of them having suicidal ideations. You cannot keep doing the same thing and expect changes. we have to talk about it in the appropriate manner.

jeff.forward@chron.com
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has called for Kyrgyz authorities to investigate allegations by a former customs officer that his ex-boss urged him to bring a Kyrgyz Service journalist from the U.S.-funded broadcaster back to Kyrgyzstan "dead or alive."



Emilbek Kimsanov made the allegation in an undated video that was posted on Facebook on April 10 by his wife, Maria Zavorotnyaya.



In the video, Kimsanov says that former Kyrgyz State Customs Agency Deputy Chairman Raimbek Matraimov sent him contact information in Prague for RFE/RL journalist Ali Toktakunov along with the command to bring him "dead or alive." Kimsanov showed screenshots on his telephone with the information about Toktakunov.



RFE/RL takes any threat against its journalists seriously," RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said in a statement on April 11.



"The ongoing slanderous attacks and threats against Azattyk journalists by Raimbek Matraimov and his associates in response to our investigative reporting are reprehensible. I call on the Kyrgyz authorities to take this issue seriously and to ensure that those responsible are held accountable for their actions.



Matraimov was not available to comment on the video.



His brother, Kyrgyz lawmaker Iskender Matraimov, dismissed the video in comments to RFE/RL.



"Kimsanov will answer not only before God, but also before the law," Iskender Matraimov said. "Let law enforcement check his statements. I would ask the people not to believe the claims of just anyone."

Millions Funneled Out Of Country



Toktakunov was the lead reporter in a joint investigation by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, known locally as Radio Azattyk, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), and the Kyrgyz news site Kloop.

The investigation, titled Plunder And Patronage In The Heart Of Central Asia, which implicated Raimbek Matraimov, chronicled how a 37-year-old Uyghur businessman from China's northwestern region of Xinjiang, self-confessed money launderer Aierken Saimaiti, moved hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan.

Before his murder in Istanbul in November, Saimaiti alleged that widespread corruption in the Kyrgyz customs service where Kimsanov worked was crucial in generating illegal proceeds that were then spirited out of the country. He accused Matraimov of exploiting his position as deputy customs chief to skim millions of dollars in illicit funds. Matraimov and his relatives reject the claim.



At least $200,000 was transferred to the Matraimov family's charity in 2016 by Saimaiti's wife in what the murdered businessman described as dirty cash. The Matraimov family says the money was simply a charitable donation transferred on behalf of a businessman they have declined to identify.

Saimaiti also provided reporters with internal financial ledgers he maintained indicating that he had wired other funds for Matraimov's benefit. The Matraimov family has denied any relationship -- financial or otherwise -- with Saimaiti.
As the coronavirus spreads, public and private companies as well as government entities are requiring employees to work from home, putting unforeseen strain on all manner of networking technologies and causing bandwidth and security concerns. What follows is a round-up of news and traffic updates that Network World will update as needed to help keep up with the ever-changing situation. Check back frequently!

UPDATE 4.27

According to the April 22 Verizon Network Report, overall data volume across its networks has increased 19% compared to pre-COVID levels. While data usage remains elevated, the changes in how people are using the network has stabilized, the company stated.

In the United States, there has been a notable decline in peoples movements during the course of the global pandemic. Mobile handoffs the times when a data session moves from one cell site to another as users walk or drive around  have reduced by 27% nationally compared to typicalpre-COVID levels. And, measured by mobile handoffs, the U.S. has seen a decrease in movements since March 1. Verizon said that the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions appear to have the most people in the nation staying at home. Verizon stated it expects usage to continue at sustained higher levels, even as movements begin to shift in the coming weeks and months as stay-in-place restrictions begin to lift . We believe all trends point to sustained network usage at this higher level for the foreseeable future, said Kyle Malady, Chief Technology Officer for Verizon.

In its fifth report tracking internet speeds across the top 200 most populous U.S. cities, Broadbandnow reported networks were slowly adjusting to the new demand placed on them. But as of April 22 despite these adjustments, internet speeds in some cases slowed to a crawl. Over the past week, 67 cities (33.5% of the top 200) experienced median upload speed decreases of 20% or greater below range of previous weeks in 2020. Through April 15, the number was 61, or 30.5%. In turn, 51 cities (25.5%) have recorded download speed dips of 20% or greater, compared to last weeks 52.
Now, there are upsides, I think, to our state. Even before this all happened I probably knew the names of 70 percent of our hospital administrators. It helps that in non-crisis times were all so close. Montanans expect to know the governor and I expect to know them.

Were all helping each other out locally  Ive gotten as many N95 masks from North Dakota as I have from than from strategic national stockpile so far [Governor Bullocks office clarified on Monday that, over the weekend, Montana received only 10,000 of the 80,000 N95 masks from the national stockpile and currently the state has received more masks from North Dakota than it has from the national stockpile.]

One challenge Im noticing is how to manage the influx of out-of-state visitors and residents coming into the state. It seems especially tricky for those who have second homes and pay taxes in the state.

Listen, I love to show off our public lands. I think the tension does exist, though. Lets take it back a couple of weeks where the National Park Service says, Come to parks, were not going to charge entrance fees to Yellowstone or Glacier. Now we have the new challenge of people coming to get away from it all and so they come to Montana and local supplies are strained at the same time were trying to curb or limit the spread. Worse yet, those gateway communities are the smaller towns where the health care system could face serious challenges.

[Authors note: Several parks have closed recently, including Yellowstone and Glacier.]

We welcome those second-home owners but Im asking them to make sure if they do come here that they quarantine for two weeks because we dont want other states problems to become ours. If you flew into Bozeman this afternoon from New York were going to temperature check you immediately when you get off the plane and say, Youre now in Montana so now we expect you to quarantine for two weeks and then to follow the directives we put out. None of that is to say were afraid of visitors or that were walling off the state. Its saying, If you are visiting Montana you have to take it as seriously as we do. And thats very seriously.

Some states  Idaho, Georgia and Florida, to name a few  have been slow to act. Are you and others putting pressure on them to be more decisive when it comes to the virus?

Each governor has to figure out how to best manage this to the best of their judgment. When I decided on our stay at home order, I reached out to a number of governors who put it in a few days before me for advice on how to implement. But I dont second guess what others are doing; thats not how I do it.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email:letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
Women have warm hands, their periods alter their sense of taste and they cant work long hours -- just some of the claims from those in Japan who believe women cant be sushi chefs.

But a growing number of women in the country determined to shatter those myths are training and working as sushi chefs in some of Japans most revered restaurants and institutions.

Mizuho Iwai is a trainee at the upscale Onodera restaurant in Tokyos Ginza, a ritzy neighbourhood home to some of the worlds top-ranked sushi restaurants.

In an industry where women are still rarely seen, she knew she would be an anomaly.

I think there are a few (female) chefs but its rare. But I wanted to challenge things because of that, the 33-year-old apprentice told AFP.

I thought: this is my mission.

And at Onodera, shes not totally alone, there was one other woman among the 10 apprentices training at the restaurant before it closed temporarily in April over the coronavirus outbreak. All 10 of the restaurants chefs are men.

The work can be gruelling and requires years to master. Apprentices must learn everything from the names of different types of fish to removing scales and slicing properly.

They are even instructed on how to correctly enter through the traditional drapes inside Onodera, by lifting and parting them with an elbow.

My colleagues have accepted me, said Iwai, who decided to become a sushi chef after cooking in small Japanese restaurants.

They dont treat me specially just because Im a woman, she added, after learning how to slice Japanese horse mackerel.

They teach me as a person.

- Strong resistance to women -

The world of washoku, or Japanese cuisine, has long been dominated by men, more so than Italian or French cuisine, according to Fumimasa Murakami, a 54-year-old teacher at Tokyo Sushi Academy, which was still running a scaled back schedule of classes in early April.

There is no official data on the gender breakdown of sushi chefs in Japan, but Murakami estimates women make up less than 10 percent.

(Resistance) against female chefs remains strong in Japanese cuisine, including sushi, he said.

Customers who dont want a female chef at the counter do exist, he added.

Older customers in particular have difficulty accepting it.

But even sushi chefs have been known to repeat claims that womens hands are too warm to keep raw fish fresh, or that their periods alter their sense of taste.

Others say the job is unsuitable for women because of the long and late hours.

In Japan, it is still strongly believed that it is women who take care of family. But sushi chefs work in the evening so its difficult for women, said Yuki Noguchi, a 32-year-old former primary school teacher who finished her eight-month sushi chef training at the academy in December.

Thats why I think the number of women who want to become a sushi chef is small in the first place, she said.

- Physically tough -

Onoderas head chef Akifumi Sakagami said the sushi worlds reputation for punishing training drove away women but also young people of both genders.

I think women need a lot of courage to jump in, the 46-year-old said.

Sakagami started as an apprentice more than 30 years ago in the northern city of Sapporo, when female chefs and trainees were essentially nonexistent.

When I joined the industry, the working conditions in the washoku world were tough, he said, as he showed Iwai how to thinly slice tuna and taught her how to properly peel freshly steamed shrimp.

It was long working hours with low pay. It was physically tough.

But the work environment is changing along with other changes in society. I think its getting better for both men and women, he said.

SEE PHOTOS: Women sushi chefs break the norm in Japan

He welcomes those changes and says being a chef depends not on gender but competence, talent and how much effort people put in.

Fuka Sano, the other female apprentice at Onodera, said she didnt think too much about the lack of women in the field when she decided to become a sushi chef.

I guess women think a sushi chef is a mans job because there are so few women, the 18-year-old said.

But she was determined to enter the profession, after a formative trip to London.

Im sorry to say this but sushi at chain restaurants in Britain didnt seem appealing! she laughed. She hopes to improve the standards of Japanese food overseas.

And Sano wants her food to be judged on its own merits, without regard for her gender.

I want them to come (to the restaurant) for food, she said, not because Im a woman.

Her fellow apprentice Iwai hopes women like her are helping change the industry.

It doesnt matter whether the chef is a man or woman, she said.

I hope the fixed image will disappear and there will be more options for women.

Its really a fun job.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
The other night I think we literally broke up an underage drinking party. There were some young folks that were in a garage with the door up, it was a beautiful night, we pulled by and I told the driver, Back up,' rolled down the window and said, Hey, youre too close. Separate yourself. Social distancing! Lightfoot recalled. "And we heard one person, I wont repeat the expletive but they said, Oh, and you can figure it out. So we had a little fun with it.
The coronavirus pandemic has paused life, but the bills are still piling up. It's a struggle and one without an end date, which is what may be most unsettling - particularly for those facing sudden financial hardship.

Unemployment rates are skyrocketing and are expected to hit 15 percent by the end of this quarter, according to industry analysts at Trading Economics. A record 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment at the end of March. Locally, Washington County's rate of unemployment for the last week of March was 5,911% higher than the same week in 2019. Saratoga County's rate was more than 4,000% higher year over year for that same week.

To help, the federal government recently signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law. The $2.2 trillion emergency stimulus bill provides sweeping relief for American consumers and businesses. Relief checks of $1,200 will soon arrive in the bank accounts of many Americans.

If you are struggling to pay your bills corporations, lenders and state agencies are empathizing and offering various relief programs and aid. Here are some options:
Oil prices briefly traded higher on Thursday after OPEC+ members, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, reached a preliminary deal to cut oil output.

The deal is to cut oil production by 10 million barrels per day for two months beginning May 1, according to Amenda Bakr, deputy bureau chief at Energy Intel.

The oil producers would then cut production by 8 million barrels per day from July to December and 6 million barrels per day for the period of January 2021 to April 2022.

The agree to Adjust downwards their overall oil output by 10 mb/d, starting on 1 May 2020, for an initial period of 2 months. For the subsequent period from July to December 2020, an adjustment pf 8 mb/d followed by 6 mb/d of total for the period of Jan2021 to April 2022 #OOTT  Amena Bakr (@Amena__Bakr) April 9, 2020

Earlier Thursday, Brent crude gained around 10%, reaching $36.04 a barrel. The commodity was last seen trading down 2.71% at $31.95.

The volatility is expected to continue as the coronavirus outbreak and resulting slowdown in economic activity put downward pressure on oil demand.

In March, the OPEC meeting ended in a Saudi-Russia price war.

On April 2, President Donald Trump applied pressure on Saudi Arabia and Russia to slash oil production. This spurred the Saudis to call for a meeting aimed at reaching a fair oil deal.

The OPEC meeting was still in progress at the time of publication.

Price Action

The United States Oil Fund LP (NYSE: USO) was down 7.26% at $4.98 at the close Thursday, while the Direxion Dly S&P Oil&Gs Ex&Prd Bl 3X ETF (NYSE: GUSH) closed 0.7% higher at $24.51.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY) shares were down 1.48% at $15.36 at the close and gaining back 0.85% in the after-hours session. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) shares were down 1.66% at $43.13 at the close and Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) shares were p 7.97% at $8.20 at the close and gaining another 2.56% in the after-hours session.

Story continues

Related Links:

Oil Market Continues To Leak, Analyst Says It Needs Rebalancing

Oil Prices Rebound, Analyst Says Market Faces Tsunami Of Surplus

See more from Benzinga

 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Good for them.

Reply

Thread

Link

I wonder if they secretly got married or it was all rumors few years ago?

Reply

Thread

Link

They seem so normal for celebrities.



"Celebrities! They're just like us!"



She is so gorgeous though. Ryan's a lucky dude and better be cooking for her.

Reply

Thread

Link

I just want that actor/musician life where I can go without working for a couple of years and still love my best life.

Reply

Thread

Link

Ugh right?



Just living your best life with the occasional project.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

most actors and musicians cannot afford to go a couple of years without working.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Iirc Gosling also owns a restaurant so he's still getting a steady check.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Honestly I just finished Julie Andrew's 2nd autobiography, and it really opened my eyes to how insane her schedule was, constantly, and all the personal stuff she sacrificed for projects. Like she was big and she still for decades was constantly working her ass off and struggling for time with her kids, I don't think a lot of famous people actually have the luxury of picking a gig here and there, save for a few? idk

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Happy for them.

Reply

Thread

Link

omg I cant believe I missed Justin Timberlake complaining about parenting 24/7. Shut the fuck up!!!! Like boohoo Im sorry your nanny cant help you with the child you chose to have right now.

I will only be accepting parental pandemic complaints from people that arent outrageously wealthy and who normally parent their children anyways and probably needed a break before all this. To everyone trying to work from home while also managing having a child home and trying to keep them on track with schooling, you have my full sympathy.



Edited at 2020-04-10 03:03 pm (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link

lol there's a video of Kim K complaining about not being able to do a makeup tutorial because of her kids. She's like "my kids will not leave me alone" and you hear North say "that's not nice".

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I just felt my soul leave my body.

The wealthy are living in another dimension.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Lol poor North gets it

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

OOF

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I can't get over the white ball pit. I don't remember which child had the privilege.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

And he only has ONE CHILD and still considers "24 hour parenting" hard. He just really told on himself and Jessica Biel with that statement.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Tbh, anytime I see celebs being private, it puts into perspective how many celebs are calling paps. Like I said before, you barely see Beyonce and I'm sure paps would love to get a pic of her without her having to call.

Reply

Thread

Link

I agree or some of these celebs have shady people in their lives calling the paps.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

When Eva was first pregnant and they had a child in complete privacy without anyone knowing , Ive learned the whole paparazzi thing was fake. Nobody is camping outside 90% of celebrities homes.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The only person I feel like was genuinely getting hounded was Britney. Although she did date the pap and so I'm sure they played a role in telling people where she was. I'm telling you, I've seen Hollywood from behind and that shit is WILD. If you all only knew the amount of illusion being presented.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

She was pregnant with their first kid during the peak of Ryan's popularity too. I remember the tabloids saying they had broken up because she disappeared and when she popped up pregnant, it became "SHE TRAPPED HIM WITH A BABY AFTER THEY BROKE UP" and people still believe that to this day. The tabloids are constantly full of it.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Sometimes paps do follow people.



I don't want to expose the kid so I won't name the parent, but my therapist shared an office suite with a child psychologist that a celeb's kid went to and our appointments overlapped so I'd see them a lot. And one time I was walking out of the building at the same time as them and there 100% were paps parked out there and trying to get a pic. lmao I actually made an effort to walk between the paps and the kid to ruin their shot. I hope I did.



Anyway, I am sure that the parents wouldn't have called the paps to their kids therapy appointment. So those paps definitely followed them there.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Yeah. Adam Driver apparently has a kid that no one has ever seen. It can be done.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I always love how Kerry Washington popped out of nowhere with a husband and media outlets didn't have a single photo of them in the same frame to run with.



And then finally they got a crap one at an awards after party of her introducing him to Melonie Diaz and they had to run that one with Melonie in it for so long cause there were no other shots of them.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

exactly, i always think of them & jlaw when celebs complain about being hounded bc even at both of their peaks they were very private & the paps didn't have much on them. & i think maybe in the early 00s when celeb culture was very dfferent, i could see paps hounding ppl but as time as gone on & the culture has changed i don't see it as much.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

mte, makes the shawn/camila and ben/ana posts look even more ridiculous

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yep, like how you didn't see Kylie the whole time she was pregnant.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Yeah I always think of someone huge like Adele and you barely get pics of her.



And then I think of someone like Hilary Duff and her walking posts during a period in which she didnt have a lot going for her. Likeeeeee



Edited at 2020-04-10 04:10 pm (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

And Melanie Laurent. She's not that big in America, but she's big in France and she showed up pregnant and married on the red carpet and was like "Yeah, my husband's not famous so no need to know his name".

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The fact that Kylie Jenner went an entire pregnancy being papped only a handful of times is all the proof needed

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Kylie Jenners pregnancy really showed how they have the pappz on their pay role. suddenly there were no pictures for months! same with Kim during pregnancy XY

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I didnt know they had kids. Come through Mendes genes!!!

Reply

Thread

Link

If they rely on family ie grandma regularly looking after them then thats kind of like having a nanny. Good for them though



Also random but I used to think she was one of the most beautiful women when I was a kid. Like shes still nice looking but eh

Reply

Thread

Link

Not to generalize but yeah, in a lot of latino cultures, its not unusual to have the grandmothers, aunts, cousins etc play a role in raising the baby. At least thats been the experience within my own family and what Ive seen among other latino families.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

So cute!



One of my favorite roles of hers was Will Ferrel's wife in "The Other Guys". Just so completely over the top and ridiculous lol

Reply

Thread

Link

A Pisces and a Scorpio. Theyre meant to be best friends/partners tbh <3

Reply

Thread

Link

As a pisces, I love my messy scorpios. <3

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

lollll also a pisces, and scorpios are my favorite people

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Haha my bff is a Pisces and Im a Scorpio. I tend to be attracted to friendships with other water signs tbh

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I'm like that with cancers. They're so fuckin cute to me, I just wanna hug em. Its weird how they usually have stuffed animals in their rooms, every single one.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

My fav cousins happen to be Scorpio to my Pisces and Scorpio in Mars self.



Screw those horoscope websites which say Scorpio's best match is Cancer. Pisces is here too.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I was in love with a Scorpio for like 11 years (I'm a Pisces) and hooboy, if that's true it was news to him because he hated me for like ten of those years...



I've got it bad for a Cancer now.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

who are the supposed best friends/partners of a poor leo :(

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

they are a very sweet couple, George seemed like a really cool lil dog too. the dweam tbh



Ryan make another album challenge

Reply

Thread

Link

Is George the dog he was photograph carrying up an escalator at the airport?

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

i legit enjoy dead man's bones so IA!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

My favorite celeb couple. I wish she was still acting because shes very charismatic and funny, but if she doesnt want to I get it.

Reply

Thread

Link

I understand they dont want to share photos of their kids but im sf curious

Reply

Thread

Link

i mean, there are loads of paparazzi pictures of them

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

You can find them.



I've seen their faces.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Damn I tried and its all just pixels and nothing current

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Love him! I didnt know Justin hated him

Reply

Thread

Link

Please, if Ryan was like J, lets bury the hatchet and shoot some hoops Justin would sprint over there faster than his career tanked.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Ooof that second video I felt chills tbh I can HEAR Ryans get your mayonnaise-flavored hands off of me thoughts



Nicole in that vid is cracking me tf up lololol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I had no idea this feud existed until right now in your comment. Thank you for this.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link
The number of coronavirus positive patients in Gujarat has gone up to 308 following the detection of 46 new cases, one of them a doctor, while the death toll increased to 19, officials said on Friday.

With two more deaths reported during the last 12 hours, the toll due to coronavirus in Gujarat has reached 19, they said.

Out of the 46 new cases reported during the period, 17 were from the Nagarwada area of Vadodara city, followed by Ahmedabad (11), Rajkot (5), Bharuch (4), Bhavnagar (4), two each from Patan and Kutch, while one case was reported from Gandhinagar, said Principal Secretary, Health, Jayanti Ravi.

Those who died during the last 12 hours were a 40- year-old man from Ahmedabad and an 81-year-old man from Gandhinagar, said Ravi.

While the patient from Ahmedabad was suffering from a kidney ailment and died at Ahmedabad civil hospital, the elderly man, who contracted the virus from a close contact, died in Gandhinagar civil hospital, she said.

Those who tested positive included a doctor from Ahmedabad who was engaged in collection of samples for coronavirus testing, she told reporters in Gandhinagar.

All the four new cases in Bharuch were from Amod taluka, where the police have been roped in to find out their travel history and possible source of infection, she said.

After the detection of 17 new cases in Nagarwada, the count of COVID-19 patients in Vadodara gone up to to 39.

IAS officer Vinod Rao, who serves as primary education secretary and is posted in Gandhinagar, has been camping in Vadodara to oversee the screening and testing operation.

He said coronavirus cases are rising because of a proactive approach by the administration.

"The entire Nagarwada, having a population of 5,000, has been already sealed and declared a red zone. Out of 400 samples collected from the area, 30 came positive during the last two-three days, taking the total to 39.

"This (rise in cases) happened because of our targeted effort and mass screening in the area. We suspect situation may escalate in future," said Rao, in-charge secretary of Vadodara.

Out of the total 308 cases reported so far, Ahmedabad has recorded the highest - 153 - followed by Vadodara (39), Surat (24), Bhavnagar (22), Rajkot(18), 14 each in Gandhinagar and Patan, Bharuch (4), Kutch (4), Porbandar (3), two each in Mehsana, Gir-Somnath, Chhotaudepur, and Anand; and one each in Panchmahal, Jamnagar, Morbi, Sabarkantha and Dahod.

Also, since Thursday, four more persons were discharged from hospitals following their recovery from the disease, taking the number of such cases to 30 till date, said Ravi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Carole Baskin, star of Netflix's Tiger King and founder of Big Cat Rescue, said drones have flown over her Florida home and she's received death threats in recent weeks.

Baskin and her husband, Howard, also called the makers of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness 'the biggest con artists of them all' and claimed their trust was betrayed after filming.

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness tells the story of a zoo owner, Joe Exotic, who spirals out of control amid a cast of eccentric characters and plans a murder-for-hire plot against Baskin.

Carole Baskin (pictured) of Netflix's Tiger King said she's received death threats since the series debuted in 2020

The Baskins own the Big Cat Rescue sanctuary (pictured) in Tampa, Florida, and house exotic animals they've rescued from unfit environments

Exotic has a deep-rooted dislike for Baskin - as seen in his several odd music videos and online rants - because she's accused his zoo of mistreating animals.

Basksin, 58, told The Tampa Bay Times that she's now afraid to leave her home after the docuseries debuted.

She claimed that she's received death threats, spotted drones flying above her home and her Doorbell camera has captured up to 30 people a day waiting outside her Big Cat Rescue sanctuary gates.

Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic, was convicted of planning a murder-for-hire plot against Baskin

Before, Baskin has answered calls from local officials to rescue panthers and bobcats injured on the side of the road.

Now, she has to decipher if the calls are true authorities or people hoping to lure her away from her home.

'Ive had to turn my phone off. I cant tell the real ones from the fake ones because theyre always out of state numbers anyway,' she said.

But the Baskins are more concerned with how Tiger King apparently swept past the atrocities of the captive tiger trade.

'I just feel so angry that people have totally missed the point' she said.

'And the point is these cubs are being abused and exploited and the public is enabling that.'

Howard said: 'Theres almost no way to describe the intensity of the feeling of betrayal.'

In an interview with Oxygen, Howard said: 'In a way this series is about con artists, people like Joe Exotic and Doc Antle who con people out of their money by convincing them that paying to pet tiger cubs somehow helps conservation.

'In my view, the biggest con artists of them all were Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin.'

Baskin created the Tampa-based Big Cat Rescue sanctuary to fight big cat breeders by saving tigers, lions and other exotic cats from unfit homes.

Her sanctuary does not breed, buy or sell animals. The public is also not allowed to interact with the animals.

Baskin (pictured): 'I just feel so angry that people have totally missed the point...and the point is these cubs are being abused and exploited and the public is enabling that

The couple is also upset that the show seemed to ignite and even play into the theory that Baskin killed her former husband, Don Lewis.

The Baskins admitted they trusted producers Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin because Goode founded the the Turtle Conservancy, a group dedicated to protecting turtles and tortoises.

One producer also helped create The Cove, a 2009 documentary about dolphin hunting in Japan.

Goode told The Los Angeles Times that 'Carole talked about her personal life, her childhood, abuse from her first and second husband, the disappearance of her ex, Don Lewis' and that she wasn't 'coerced' into sharing anything.

According to Baskin, she openly discussed the disappearance of Lewis and the ongoing, contentious rivalry with Joe Exotic because producers said the details would be used as background context.

Baskin (pictured), as well as her husband Howard, suggested the makes of Tiger King focused more on the personal lives of characters rather then advocating for animal rights

But an entire episode of the seven-part series was dedicated the mystery surrounding Lewis' vanishment.

Joe Exotic - real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage - has repeatedly voiced accusations that Baskin killed her Lewis in 1997 and fed his body to her tigers.

The storyline became a fan favorite and inspired hundreds social media memes. It also encouraged strangers to call Baskin's cell phone and leave lewd threats at all hours.

Baskin denied being involved in Lewis' disappearance and has not been charged of any crime in the case.

Viewers, Baskin said, aren't grasping the full message of the docuseries.

'They saw those cubs being dragged away from their mother. Where are those memes? Where are those comments?' she said.

Baskin claimed another betrayal was how the documentary reportedly showed her work at Big Cat Rescue out of context.

Footage from a video clip shows Basking talking to a camera while a lion is hunched in what appears to be an ill-fitting cage.

Baskin (right) was criticized after a clip in Tiger King showed a lion crouching inside a small cage to eat during her interview

She said the lion, named Joseph, had strolled from his 4,000-square-foot-enclosure into the tiny feeding shoot and was free to leave as he pleased.

Of the scene, Animal Defenders International said in a statement that such the series didn't portray the the full pictured.

'(Big Cat Rescue) provides natural vegetation, pools, added enrichment,' they wrote.

'From Tiger King, you would not recognize this as the place where our ex-circus tiger from Peru, Hoover, stepped through the woods and into the lake and began to swim for the first time in his life; such scenes were not shown.'

Although the Baskins have pushed back recent backlash, they hope the mounting attention on the captive tiger community will help propel federal legislation.

The Big Cat Public Safety Act, which they helped craft a decade ago, seeks to end private ownership of big cats and prohibit interaction with animals at zoos.

'I really hope what will come of this is that law enforcement will take this seriously. Weve all been screaming at the top of our lungs for 20 years that this abuse was happening, and no one was listening,' Baskin said.

'Now the abuse is so apparent, I hope it will encourage them to take action on it and inspire Congress to do what they can to end cub petting and private possession of big cats




As the country continues to stay home because of social distancing mandates, it seems like everybody is watching Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness," the Netflix documentary series that tells the outlandish story of Joe Exotic, an animal park owner who clashes with Carole Baskin, the owner of a big cat rescue sanctuary. The saga is full of bizarre twists, colorful characters, murder-for-hire plots, missing husbands, creeps, con artists, and other elements that have helped make Tiger King the topic on nonstop discussion, and debates about whether the filmmakers did a responsible job of portraying some of the key figures, and issues involving the private ownership of big cats.

If anything, the ongoing reaction has fueled more interest in the seven-part series. Nielsen has reported that more in excess of 34 million people have seen at least some of it, though Netflix is rarely very forthcoming with viewership numbers.

So now, of course, others are trying to jump on the increasingly crowded Tiger King bandwagon. Netflix is glomming onto its own hot topic, with The Tiger King And I, an after-show that will begin streaming on Netflix on April 12.

Joel McHale, who appears in a brief announcement video sporting a cowboy hat, animal-print scarf around his shoulders, and a bare torso adorned with NETFLIX" in thick black letters, will host.

What can we expect? According to the announcement, McHale will interview people who turn up in Tiger King, including Jeff and Lauren Lowe, John Reinke, Joshua Dial, John Finlay, Saff, Erik Cowie and Rick Kirkham, about whats happened with them in the wake of filming the series and its status as pop culture phenom of the moment.

The Tiger King and I  a Tiger King after show hosted by Joel McHale and featuring brand new interviews with John Reinke, Joshua Dial, John Finlay, Saff, Erik Cowie, Rick Kirkman, and Jeff and Lauren Lowe  will premiere April 12 pic.twitter.com/8fbbNdaiDA  Netflix (@netflix) April 9, 2020

If the Netflix after-show is aiming for a comical tone, the upcoming Fox special, TMZ Investigates: Tiger King -- What Really Went Down? is likely to emphasize the sleazy aspects -- and there are plenty -- of the Tiger King story.

The special promises to include exclusive interviews -- exclusive? It seems like everybody even remotely associated with Tiger King has been interviewed, but oh, well -- and never-before-seen footage.

Considering the tawdry details in Tiger King include Joe Exotics murder-for-hire scheme to try and kill his nemesis, Carole Baskin, who called Exotics big cat breeding and other practices abusive; the mystery of what happened to Baskins previous husband; and the arrest and ultimate conviction of Exotic (born Joseph Allen Schreibvogel, and later known as Joseph Maldonado-Passage) on charges relating to animal abuse and the murder-for-hire plot, it sounds like viewers can expect the sensationalistic touch TMZ is known for.

The special promises to, as the press release says, explore outstanding questions about whether or not Joe Exotic is guilty, an inside look into Carole Baskins husbands disappearance and the current status of the new investigation.

If youre craving the combo platter of Tiger King and TMZ, the special, TMZ Investigates: Tiger King -- What Really Went Down? airs at 9 p.m., Monday, April 13, on Fox.

On the Netflix Twitter page, the Tiger King obsessed can also see a video interview recently conducted with Exotic/Maldonado-Passage as he serves his 22-year sentence in prison.

Im done with the Carole Baskin saga," he says. Its now time to turn the tables and Joe get out of jail a free man and exonerated from all these charges.

Joe Exotic was interviewed from prison on March 22.



Here's what he told us pic.twitter.com/ueqTeWfKxh  Netflix (@netflix) April 3, 2020

Oh, but were not done yet. The Investigation Discovery channel recently announced what theyre calling a sequel to Tiger King, called, Investigating the Strange World of Joe Exotic. The upcoming series is described as a true crime investigation, which will look at Exotic, Baskin and more.

Love her or hate her, Carole is now in the center ring of the big cat circus, as the press release says. Is she a selfless crusader and protector of animals, who found unimaginable strength despite the mysterious disappearance of her husband? Or are we witnessing Carole Baskins master plan finally take effect? Despite her claims of innocence, did she orchestrate the disappearance of Don Lewis to seize control of his fortune, consolidate power and lay waste to her foes? No one seems to be talking  except for one man  and that man is the center of IDs upcoming investigative series.

Gasp! The press release goes on to say: "This is the investigation you didnt get to see, revealing the secrets only Joe knows, the exclusive footage that has never been shown and the search to answer the one question every person in America is asking themselves right now: although shes denied it, is Carole Baskin responsible for the disappearance of her husband, Don Lewis?

But neither the mystery nor the investigation stops there. What skeletons is Joe still hiding within his untold past? Is his conviction truly justified? Who is Jeff Lowe and what does the FBI really know? What secrets lie hidden within Doc Antles walls?"

No airdate has yet been announced for the Investigation Discovery bandwagon jump, er, series.

More of our coverage:

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.

Netflix has said Nielsen's numbers don't reflect the true size of a show's audience on the streamer, as they measure only TV viewing (not consumption on other devices) and only viewers in the United States.

Tiger King also brought in more viewers on a near-daily basis over its first 10 days, testifying to the word-of-mouth spread for the wild story of Joe Exotic. It averaged a relatively paltry 280,000 viewers on its premiere day of March 20, then more than doubled to 768,000 on March 21 and increased to 1.32 million the next day.

After a small dip to 1.17 million on March 23, a Monday, the average viewer count rose over each of the next five days, peaking with 4.06 million on Sunday, March 28. It came back down some on March 29 to 3.39 million, but that's still the second-biggest day for the show among the first 10.

The combination of a greater number of viewers being at home due to coronavirus quarantines likely contributed to Tiger Kings growth over its first full week. The show also had a huge social media presence, which in turn likely fed curiosity and eventually viewing.
Egypt has received samples of Japanese antiviral drug Avigan, which has reportedly been effective in treating coronavirus patients in the Asian country, the Egyptian higher education and scientific research minister said on television on Thursday.



Japan has said it will supply the drug, approved for use in Japan in 2014 against influenza, to 20 countries for free.



It is being tested in China as a treatment for COVID-19, according to Reuters.



Egyptian authorities obtained samples of the drug a month ago from the Japanese manufacturer, Fujifilm, just before international flight suspensions, Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said on Thursday.



He said that Egypt will receive another, larger, batch of Avigan samples in the coming week, in order to conduct clinical and research trials via the Egyptian National Research Centre (NRC).



"We are on our way to the manufacturing stage ... after we contact the Chinese side responsible for producing the pharmaceutical ingredients ... which is approved by the Japanese company  to get an enough of the ingredients in order to manufacture the drug  via a medical company," the minister said.



Abdel-Ghaffar said, however, that it is premature to evaluate the drug and its effect on the coronavirus, adding that "the cases must be monitored through the necessary medical radiological scanning and analyses in order to publish verified results."



Avigan works against the virus and affects the process of virus division ... as opposed to hydroxychloroquine, which is used against malaria, '' Abdel-Ghaffar said, referring to another medication which some, including US President Donald Trump, have touted as a potential treatment for the coronavirus.



"There are different kinds of drugs, but here in Egypt we are working on scientific research using both drugs to monitor their effects," he added.



Medical experts in China and the US have said the drug showed effectiveness in treating COVID-19 patients, according to Japanese news websites.



On Thursday, Fujifilm Holdings announced that it would start clinical tests of Avigan in the Us with coronavirus patients.



The virus has so far infected more than 1.5 million people around the world and killed nearly 100,000.



Egypt has logged 1,699 positive cases so far, of whom 118 have died.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Coronavirus ban on ships gives whales freedom to swim undisturbed through Strait of Messina.

The majestic sight of two whales swimming through a ship-free Strait of Messina was captured in aerial footage by the Italian fire brigade.

The sperm whales, swimming side by side, were filmed gliding through the narrow stretch of sea between Sicily and the coast of Calabria in southern Italy.

Although whales have been spotted in the area before, it is not a common sight. Authorities say the whales have "reclaimed" the normally busy strait which is currently free of ferries and ships due to the Coronavirus emergency.

Mature male sperm whales average 16 metres in length but can reach 20 metres. The whales are known to plummet to depths of 2,250 metres, they have the largest brains in the world, and they can live for 70 years or more.
STAMFORD  Tens of thousands of masks that protect from COVID-19 have been making their way along a precarious path from China to Stamford Hospital.

Fabricated in a factory in Shandong Province, the masks have hopscotched from one Chinese city to another, then to Anchorage, to Indianapolis, to New York City and, finally, Stamford.

The process is fraught with uncertainty, said David Watkins, a Stamford man who owns a company in China and heard a call from the hospital foundation for the critically needed masks. There are many pitfalls in the supply chain.

Watkins company, REsource Pro, helps U.S. insurance agencies operate their businesses more efficiently. He does not manufacture the personal protective equipment that has been in short supply since the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. in February.

But medical professionals on the front lines of the pandemic report that they are forced to reuse the equipment or go without it. When he heard that was happening in Stamford  which has the most COVID-19 cases, by far, of any city in Connecticut  Watkins, who serves on the Board of Representatives, wanted to help.

So he launched the trek of the masks, using his contacts in China to identify a factory that would manufacture a good number of the kind needed by Stamford Hospital.

Getting them made was just the first step, Watkins said.

We didnt know whether the Chinese government would let us export them, or whether the U.S. government would let us import them, or whether FedEx would fly them, he said.

At one point late in the journey it looked like one federal agency in the U.S. would block the shipment, Watkins said, so he called a member of Connecticuts Congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Jim Himes.

I wanted to make sure they wouldnt get stopped at the finish line, Watkins said.

A shipment of 12,500 of the 62,500 masks that were manufactured arrived at Stamford Hospital this week, said Chris Riendeau, senior vice president of the Stamford Hospital Foundation.

They came in over three days  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Theyve already been put into use, Riendeau said Thursday. Most people by now have heard of the N95 mask, but there are multiple iterations of that. We got KN95 masks, which are perfect as we go to universal masking.

Thats a practice that requires all persons working in a health-care setting to wear a mask, he said.

Its a huge boost to be able to provide all of the staff with masking, Riendeau said of the shipment Watkins obtained for the people working on the front lines of the pandemic.

As of Thursday Stamford had 1,113 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths, according to a daily report from Gov. Ned Lamonts office. A Stamford Hospital administrator said this week that more than 125 patients were being treated and the intensive-care unit was nearing capacity. One or two COVID-19 patients have been dying each day.

City Rep. Bradley Michelson said Watkins, his fellow District 1 Republican on the Board of Representatives, did a really special thing in obtaining masks to protect health-care workers.

He had to go through a lot of hoops to get through Customs. He had to work with the hospital to make sure the masks were in compliance with their standards, Michelson said. I think he will inspire other people to do things.

The jobs not done, Watkins said.

I havent yet delivered the full goods. I have 50,000 masks in some stage of shipment but its unclear when they will get on a plane, and whether the Chinese government will put restrictions on them  we are hearing noises that they may, for reasons I dont know, he said. FedEx stopped taking new shipments because they have no more freight capacity in China. The facts on the ground change day by day.

Watkins said he is struck by the outpouring of support for his effort. He covered some of the expenses but needed a hand with the full $140,000 cost of procuring 62,500 masks.

I reached out to people I knew. I said, Stamford Hospital has an enormous need for personal protective equipment and they are having difficulty getting it. I think I may be able to help but I need people to help me, he said. It was amazing how quickly they committed sizeable amounts of money.

Donations, which go to the Stamford Hospital Foundation, will be accepted only if the masks arrive. Contact Watkins at david@watkins44.com to find out more.

Watkins said hes grateful, too, to friends in Shandong Province who helped him find a factory, and to his employees at REsource Pro, who prepared the masks for shipment.

It took hard work and a sense of civic responsibility and generosity to make this happen, he said.

The day may come when protective masks will be American-made, more plentiful and easier to purchase, Watkins said.

Until then, there are factories in China that are making them, he said. Its expensive and tortuous to get them, but this is when theyre needed.

acarella@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2296.
As thousands of nurses across the country light the lamps of hope in the hospitals, several leading ladies play a vital role in India's war room to contain the spread of dreaded pandemic.

From developing India's first test kit for COVID-19, to despatching life saving medicines in remote areas, and from chalking out strategies for the government to tackle the spread of the virus to building treatment protocols, women from various walks of life burn midnight oil to counter the virus which is gradually spreading in world's second most populated country.



Just a day before she delivered a baby, Minal Dakhave Bhosale, a Pune based virologist, managed to deliver the first testing kit for COVID-19 to India. In just a record time of six weeks, Minal and her team including some of the best scientists gifted its first test kit to conduct COVID-19 tests at a large scale in the country, an exercise required to identify and isolate carriers of the dreaded virus.





A few kilometers away from Minal's laboratory in Pune, another virologist, Dr Priya Abraham, made an important breakthrough by isolating the virus. This breakthrough, by Dr Abraham, Director of the National Viral Institute, helps the scientists and immunologists in developing a vaccine or a drug for the treatment for new coronavirus.



Around 1500 kilometers away from Pune, in India's seat of power, New Delhi, several women bureaucrats, policy makers, health strategists, joined hands with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in chalking out strategies and initiating quick steps to prevent the country from slipping into stage 3, where disease is transmitted into communities.



Preeti Sudan, an alumni of London School of Economics, and presently the Secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Welfare, became the nodal point for the PMO to execute the key medical strategies on ground through health departments of various states."



Preeti is a workaholic. Fortunately she has rich experience of public food distribution, disaster management and PM's mega health Insurance scheme. She seems to be the fittest person to be the nodal point for coordinating the war against a pandemic, " says a 1983 batch IAS and batchmate of Preeti Sudan.







Incidentally, the person in charge of viral diseases in India's premiere medical body, Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), happens to be a well known woman scientist, Dr Nivedita Gupta. Her contribution in containment of virus Nipah in India's southern most state of Kerala is widely acknowledged in the research fraternity.



Dr Gupta, who played a key role in setting up a viral and diagnostic network for ICMR, is presently building testing and treatment protocols in India. Such protocols, adhered by the medical practitioners are vital in the fight against the virus.



The actual battle against COVID-19 could be won only through a repurposed drug or a vaccine, a field which usually comes under biotechnology ministry. As several groups of scientists launch the project of developing repurpose drugs or a vaccine to combat the virus, Renu Swaroop, a top class scientist and secretary in the Union Ministry of Biotechnology, looks after all these projects.



She hopes that repurpose drugs could be an answer to quickly deal with the highly infectious virus.Seeing her deep involvement in the going projects, the union government has given Renu Swaroop one year extension in her service.



While these scientists and bureaucrats hold the key in fighting the pandemic, thousands of nurses, who form the frontline of the battle, work tirelessly in hundreds of hospitals where patients are being treated.



"We are thankful to Prime Minister Modi. For the first time we were invited in a video conference with the PM and I am happy to say all our requests ranging from suitable insurance package to availability of Personal Protection Equipments (PPEs) were heard and sorted out, " said Professor Roy George, the President of The Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) the apex body of nurses founded in 1908.



India has over 1.2 million workforce of trained nurses, who seem to brave this highly contagious virus and redefine women empowerment as the country gears up to battle coronavirus.
Social distancing being enforced at the Sydney Fish Market in Sydney, Australia, on April 8, 2020. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

Fish Markets Beef Up Security This Easter With Temperature Checks

SYDNEYThis Easter, at fish markets around Australia things look very different. Although many have extended their Easter business hours, shoppers can expect extra security as they search for the freshest seafood during this long weekend.

Last Good Friday, about 50,000 people (pdf) flocked to the Sydney Fish Market, which is the largest seafood market in the Southern Hemisphere. This year, only 400 people are allowed in at any one time.

To manage the crowds, on arrival, shoppers are greeted with restricted parking and pedestrian entry. Police are enforcing social distancing, and workers in hazmat suits, gloves, and masks will be taking everyones temperature.

All visitors must undergo a temperature check conducted by hazmat-suited nurses. Much of the site is also operating under a one-way system, in order to get shoppers directly in and out.

These measures have been added to slow the spread of the (Chinese Communist Party) CCP virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, while enabling families to still enjoy their seafood meal at home.

The markets website says business has been slower than usual, but they expect an uptick over the weekend given how many people eat seafood for Easter meals.

For many Christians, eating seafood goes hand in hand with Easter, as they abstain from other types of meat. Fish, oysters, prawns, and lobsters are all popular for meals on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In Sydney, about 57 percent of the population self-identifies as Christian.

This year, shoppers have also been encouraged to order their fish online. According to Sydney Fish Markets management plan, Many of the markets retailers are now accepting online orders and are making deliveries.

The market was also encouraging customers to shop earlier in the week, and posted advice about refrigeration and freezer storage on the website.

Fyshwick Markets in Canberra, a market dedicated to the sale of fresh produce, including seafood, will also look different this Easter. There will be security on-site to manage social distancing and a limited number of customers permitted to enter each store, at any one time.

Melbournians looking for a seafood feast also need to follow new rules at The Fish Hall in the Queen Victoria Markets. The markets have added crowd-control measures including providing a special access route and limiting the number of customers entering.
Oswego N.Y.  Two people have been arrested after they stole childrens lunches that were delivered and left outside homes, Oswego County Sheriff Don Hilton said.

The two, Lucas W. Koch, 37, and David W. Abbott II, 27, both of Mexico, NY; were charged Friday with petit larceny, Hilton said.

School bus drivers in many school districts have been delivering lunches to families in need during the coronavirus pandemic. Children of the families would normally receive meals at school, but schools are closed.

In the Oswego County case, the lunches were left at homes and taken before the families could retrieve them, Hilton said in a news release.

"During these uncertain times communities are stepping up to help each other and our schools are delivering meals for our kids,'' Hilton said. Unfortunately some in our community choose to prey on school children who are simply waiting for their meal to eat.

The sheriffs office didnt say where the lunches were stolen or release other details.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources

Onondaga Co. coronavirus: Recoveries outpace new infections; ICUs continue climb; 456 total cases

Coronavirus: Model shows dire scenarios in CNY if we dont stay farther apart for months

From Syracuse, with love: Nurses bring supplies, expertise, hope to Long Island outbreak

Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com
The Most Reverend John Bonaventure Kwofie, the Catholic Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, says the COVID-19 pandemic, although it has been detrimental to the world since its outbreak, has, however, helped to reduce immorality.



The immorality, he said, included prostitution, fornication, adultery, armed robbery, kidnapping, and violence.



Few weeks ago, you could pass through some streets of Accra and see ladies involved in prostitution awaiting customers, but now you barely see any of them. Everyone is being cautious and that is one positive thing with the pandemic, so long as believers are concerned, he said.



He said the pandemic has also instilled the good habit of maintaining proper personal hygiene in people, encouraged a strong bond among families and generosity towards one another.



The Metropolitan Archbishop said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra while sharing an Easter message with Christians.



He believed Easter was a period of reconciliation, forgiveness, living a Christ-induced life and reflecting on ones past life and preparing to become victorious over sin.



Easter is also a period for Christians to reflect on the impact they are making on society, that has made the world a place of love, joy, hope, mercy, and compassion, he said.



Most Rev. Kwofie advised all to share, as they could not enjoy the goodness of Easter if their brothers and sisters were wallowing in misery.



If we have, let us share the blessings with others who dont have to enable the objectives of Easter to be fulfilled.



He disagreed with those who thought that the COVID-19 pandemic was a curse on the world by God, as he believed God allowed it rather turn the world around and move its people closer to him.



He said the world would become a better place with better educational and health systems after the pandemic had ended.



Although Christians could not meet in the house of God for the celebration of the Easter festivity as a result of the suspension of public gatherings including church activities and a restriction of movement, as part of measures to control the spread of COVID-19, Most Rev. Kwofie urged Christians to observe the hallelujah day in their homes while reflecting on the power of Christs resurrection.



He also entreated everyone to observe the Ghana Health Service COVID-19 preventive directives, by washing their hands regularly with soap under running water, covering their nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing with a disposable tissue, keeping a distance of at least two metres from people, and using hand sanitizers often to stay safe of the respiratory disease.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
WESTPORT  Of the predictions of a new normal once the coronavirus spread slows down, at least one Realtor sees a migration similar to what happened after Sept. 11  from city to suburb.

After this is over, I think you are going to see quite an exodus into what well call the suburbs from Manhattan, said Deb Alderson, past president of Mid Fairfield County Board of Realtors.

Alderson, who is also a Berkshire Hathway HomeServices New England Properties Realtor, said the shift of New Yorkers to suburban areas could be similar to the exodus in 2001.

I think you may see the same thing happening here with people looking for a place with a little more space, she said.

While people moving from the city is normal, she said shes seen people seeking short-term rentals in suburban areas like Westport. She also said a Bridgeport agent told her he saw a lot of people from New York moving to the lower Fairfield County area, and buying multi-family houses.

Sara Harris, town operations director for Westport, said officials are already having early discussions about the potential shift.

Weve got some great Realtors in town ready to show great homes, Harris said. Our concern for town services and their capacity being met is only if were adding units, but this is moreso people moving into existing units.

While officials havent done projections on what the level of movement may be, she said the community aspect of Westport was an understandable draw.

We talk about quality of life in Westport, and one example of this is how well the community has come together to stay home, Harris said.

The town-feel of Westport and other similar areas could also provide an attractive draw for a younger age group reeling from the impacts of the pandemic, Alderson noted.

Weve always had people moving out from the city, but I think this will be a heavy-hitter as a reason for people getting out of the Big Apple, she said.

Similar to every other business sector, the spread of the virus affected the real estate market during a time when business had been booming.

Not just Westport or Weston. There were a lot of the towns doing significantly better by either selling more houses and/or prices going up, Alderson said. This did put a wrinkle in that.

The pandemic and wide-spread closures came during the much anticipated spring market, where buyers look to find new homes before the fall and start of a new school year. With a warmer January, Realtors saw an expanded spring market which will typically last into June.

Were in the height of spring market right now, she said.

Alderson said some buyers attempted to close early to miss the looming impact of the pandemic. Others werent as fortunate.

Unfortunately weve also had buyers who have lost their job and they cant get a mortgage right now, she said.

While there are houses still coming on the market and closing, Alderson said Realtors have adapted in servicing clients.

Weve gotten creative, she said, noting the importance of technology in these times.

Virtual tours and Facebook Live walk-throughs allow for brokers open houses to continue. Buyers are also afforded the same amenities when shopping around.

Its really just how creative can you get, Alderson said. The other thing Ive seen are pictures taken prior to this happening are being stitched together with voice-overs for a walk-through of a house.

While the market has slowed for now, Alderson said she believes it could bounce back when things have calmed down.

Once we get to the other side of this we may be doing business differently for a little while, but we are going to be doing business, she said.

dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com
2. When Governor Zulum emerged in the second picture he was looking at the floor as the actor with the Buhari mask was looking at something else but definitely not at the governor which he should. Their line of sight on each other is skewed, which is a classic sign of bad photo editing. Again notice the TV is off.
Indian Embassies around the world have been working continuously to help out the diaspora in difficult times due to coronavirus pandemic. After the Indian Embassy in Hungary cancelled all direct classes and events as a precautionary measure, the Indian Culture Centre announced online courses and made it available on social media platforms immediately.

The embassy took the lead in turning to social media platforms to teach about Indian culture while the residents remain under complete lockdown. The Indian Culture Centre developed modules suitable for sharing online which includes courses taught by Indians as well as Hungarian teachers.

The courses taught by Indian teachers at the Amrita Sher-Gil Culture Centre, named after the eminent Hungarian-Indian painter of early 20th century, include Yoga, traditional classical dance Kathak, and Tabla. The other four weekly courses, including dance forms like Bharatnatyam and Odissi, are taught by trained Hungarian teachers.

The Indian teachers have been frequently uploading fresh videos based on the lesson plans and have also been conducting Skype lessons and Facebook Live sessions. They are even using WhatsApp video chats to solve academic queries and problems of the students.

Read: Hungary Rejects Criticism Over Virus Emergency Law

'Fear and anxiety'

Anuja Shankar, Director & First Secretary of Amrita Sher-Gil Cultural Centre, said that the students are worried about the prevailing challenges due to coronavirus and there is a feeling of anxiety, fear and despondency. She added that the daily video lessons not only keep them abreast with their courses, but also help them remain calm, relaxed and de-stressed.

Read: Hungary's Orban Gets Extra Powers With No End Date

The teachers record their videos and edit it before uploading on the social media platforms of the embassy and sharing with the students. Each teacher does Facebook Live once in a week which is open for general viewers as well where they interact and ask queries related to the subject.

In these distressing times, I am able to connect with my students on a very different level. Challenge is bigger, but the connectivity is also huge. I have become more sensitive towards their conditions and problems and I am able to understand their needs, said Ankita Sood, Yoga teacher.

Read: India's COVID-19 Death Rate Lower Than Many Developed Nations Like US, UK: Medical Experts

Read: Bangladesh Extends Nationwide Shutdown Amidst Rise In COVID-19 Cases
Good Friday has always been a solemn occasion of great importance to Mario Mandujano and Bernardo Castellanos. As faithful Catholics, they give reverence on this day marking the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Mandujano and Castellanos will show their respects and give thanks for Jesus ultimate sacrifice on Friday, but not in the way they originally intended.

For weeks, they had been planning to take part in the Passion of the Christ procession hosted by San Fernando Cathedral  Mandujano as director and Castellanos in the role of Jesus Christ.

But the event has been canceled for the first time in its history because of the health risks posed by the coronavirus. The procession was called off a month ago, about four weeks after the cast began rehearsals.

The passion play is a longtime tradition that drew 22,000 spectators to the streets of downtown San Antonio last year.

The event depicts Jesus Christs trial, anguish, crucifixion and death. The actor who portrays Jesus carries the cross, which weighs about 70 pounds, for several city blocks stretching from Milam Park to San Fernando Cathedral at Main Plaza. Staging the event requires the work of 75 to 80 people.

Its so powerful, said Mandujano, who has directed the procession for the last 23 years.

The cancellation wont stop him and Castellanos from observing this important day with their families at their homes. If anything, they said, the change of plans and the constant news about the coronavirus give greater meaning to the occasion.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio churches closed for the coronavirus are cautious about Gov. Abbotts new path to reopen

With this new experience, with this new time that were going through, Good Friday is going to be a bigger opportunity for us to be even more grateful for everything that we have  our family, our friends, our health, said Castellanos, 23, of Converse, who attended the passion re-enactment downtown every year while growing up.

Its going to help us be a lot more grateful for the little things that we sometimes take for granted.

Castellanos, a mathematics major at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said he wants to remind people that prayer has not been canceled.

They can pray with their families at home, he said. It might be an even bigger bonding experience for them because its a more intimate setting inside your house with your family. I want to encourage everybody to keep praying even though the public things are canceled. God sees us when we pray in private as well.

Castellanos said he will spend the day at home with his parents and his two brothers in reverence and in prayer: Remaining silent throughout the day. Not watching too much TV or not being on my phone too much. Just trying to keep it in the forefront of my mind that today is the day that Jesus died for me.

Mandujano, 53, of San Antonio, said it was hard for him at first when people started asking if this years event should be canceled. By the time the church called it off in the second week of March, he was ready to accept it.

The director, who works two jobs in food preparation services and who has been studying to become a deacon, said he took the change of plans as a message from God to slow down and spend more time with his family.

Because he was so busy, Mandujano said some days he didnt get to see his wife or children much.

On ExpressNews.com: Thousands hit hard by pandemics economic fallout seek help from San Antonio Food Bank

I was thinking God is talking to me like Stop. Stop. Stop and think about what are you doing to your life ... Are you really having very good communication with your family, with your wife, with your kids? What are you doing?

Its not about what I do for church. Its what I do for God, for Jesus, he said.

Mandujano said he and his family plan to hold their own passion play in the back yard of their home on Friday. They will also mark the Stations of the Cross.

He encouraged everyone to take time Friday to read about what Jesus went through and to compare His life to their own.

Raul Trevino, 59, of San Antonio, who directs a passion play at San Juan de los Lagos Parish and Shrine on the West Side  which was also canceled  said the event marks the victory of good over evil.

Holy Week reminds us that it can be conquered. It can be defeated. And our faith  what we believe through Christ  shows us that, Trevino said.

Catholic Television of San Antonio will broadcast the Stations of the Cross at noon Friday. Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller will conduct the observance inside San Fernando Cathedral. The cathedral is closed to the public until further notice because of the coronavirus.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

Las Siete Palabras  the seven phrases Jesus spoke during his crucifixion  will be broadcast at 1 p.m., followed by the Liturgy of Good Friday at 2:30 p.m. The archbishop will preside over those as well.

All the events also will be livestreamed on the Archdiocese of San Antonios social media sites.

Mandujano hopes San Fernando Cathedrals Passion of the Christ procession will resume next Easter. He plans to bring Castellanos back.

I already have Jesus for next year  I plan to use the same one, the director said, chuckling.

Peggy OHare covers demographics, the census and occasionally crime and general assignment stories in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Peggy, become a subscriber. pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: @Peggy_OHare
Archbishop Nelson Perez speaks during his installation Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. Perez, who was most recently the bishop of Cleveland, succeeds Charles Chaput as the archbishop of Philadelphia. Read more

The arrival of Easter this year has found us all living in a surreal landscape. The worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus has dramatically and suddenly impacted the normal course of our lives over the past several weeks. As the number of cases, the danger to our health, and the death toll have all grown, we have been starkly reminded that every life is a truly precious gift from God.

The need for isolation, social distancing, and quarantine has been challenging. While necessary for the preservation of public health, these measures have negatively affected people financially, mentally, and emotionally. In these times of uncertainty, I know there is a temptation to sink into despair.

Easter, and its message of hope, could not have arrived at a better time. For Christians the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the defining moment of our faith. It is the wellspring of our eternal hope that the purity of Gods love flowing through us will overcome all things.

During Lent, I asked Catholics across the region to keep their eyes fixed on Christ the crucified and Christ the merciful as a means of inspiration to encounter the world with charity and goodwill. Today, we keep our eyes fixed on the outstretched arms of Christ the Resurrected. He inspires us to receive and to give a love that is boundless. This love is pure. It does not discriminate. It is invincible. Neither contagion nor death can conquer it.

 READ MORE: Archbishop Perez talks ministering Philadelphia through a pandemic: Easter couldnt have come at a better time

It has been a painful, confusing, and trying time, but in Christ and His triumph on the Cross, Gods great love for us prevails. That love transcends our human understanding and is more powerful than we can comprehend. It will never fail us regardless of where life finds us. Right now, life finds us in a particularly difficult time that has slowed our world to a near stop. Yet, it has also given us an opportunity to rediscover those things that are truly important.

So, on this Easter, let us look to God with renewed hearts and minds. May His love flow through us and inspire us to encounter one another with tenderness and mercy. May that same love also strengthen us each day with the resolve to see value in ourselves and in one another. A new day will dawn and we can rebuild through Him who makes all things possible.

Please join me in praying for those who have died. May they rest in peace. Please join me in praying for those in mourning. May they find comfort. Please join me in praying for those who are sick. May they be healed. Please join me in praying for our first responders and health-care providers who are on the front lines every day battling this virus, along with our government officials who have been working so hard to ensure our safety. May they be strengthened and protected in the course of their daily work to overcome the current national health crisis.

 READ MORE: Nelson Perez helped St. William church evolve. Up next: the whole Archdiocese of Philadelphia. | Perspective

All of us owe a debt of gratitude to those working to contain the spread of the coronavirus and eliminate the threat it poses. I extend my personal thanks to them and ask you to join me in that sentiment.

At a basic level, Easter brings hope to our lives and inspires us to take actions that build a better community and a better world through our interactions with one another. Regardless of faith tradition, all of us could use some hope and all of us have a responsibility to hold and care for one another. May this Easter season bring you that hope and inspiration and may we all find renewed peace and joy.

Nelson J. Perez is archbishop of Philadelphia.
A perfectly symmetrical, verdantly green Monstera Deliciosa leaf, the just-right scent of a bougie candle, a freshly pressed eyeshadow palette  all are aesthetic currency for a specific type of contemporary success, one that reads as #influencer or #spon, reflected in the shiny digital surfaces of Instagram and YouTube. If climbing the rungs of influencer culture is a new kind of American dream, that ascent has shifted the internet into a bankable arena for flaunting status  not just selling products, but also personality.

The artist Molly Soda  born Amalia Soto  has spent much of her career dissecting the space between how we live on the internet and how we live IRL. Her latest exhibition, "You Got This," a sly series of video works and installations, analyzes the pervasive wellness, self-help, and self-improvement economies that populate Internet culturespecifically YouTubeas a conduit for consumerist behavior and aspirational "realness." Currently on view by appointment at Jack Barrett Gallery, and accessible online, "You Got This" riffs on the tropes of vloggers and stock suburban aesthetics as a way to archive this current moment in American hustle culture. Her interest in these backdrops  from a tricked out beauty room/home office to a suburban McMansion  is also eerily relevant to our current WFH moment.

"It's always a play with authenticity and relatability when it comes to the internet because I think we're so longing for it in ourselves," Soda says in a Skype call. "We want to feel that. And brands want that. We want it from each other, but it just doesn't exist."

Where did you start with this exhibition?

I'm someone that makes a lot of work about the internet and also spends a lot of time online. It really started with the window pieces. I'm interested in plants in general and the phenomenon of how popular it is to have houseplants, how there's been a resurgence in that. Throughout the show I work with iconography of popular YouTube bedroom/social media backdrop  the plant functions in that as well.

A lot of the work that I make is about performance and the idea of being looked at, or the idea of a false sense of closeness that we feel online. Whether we feel really close to someone because we watch their YouTube and they do certain things to let you in  someone appearing relatable, but at the same time having things that maybe you desire. That's something that's always existed online, but it's become more ramped up, especially as brands have permeated the internet.

I wanted to make these weird windows where you were looking into someone's space, but maybe it was the part of the backdrop the camera isn't focused on. I also was thinking about our obsession with transformations and constantly re-upping or improving. Self-improvement. Makeovers. Looking into these spaces and thinking about them as a starting point for a "Clean with Me" video or something like that. The other thing I wanted to touch on was the amount of product that is mentioned  what all of that product looks like in someone's home, what it physically looks like in a space.

Related | 15 Artists Create Work About Quarantine and Isolation

When I think about YouTube now, I mostly think about how it became a Wild West economy, a way for people to monetize their lives on the internet using relatability.

I feel like being a YouTuber  someone who gets paid for being themselves, essentially  is such a dream. We see YouTube as something that feels very accessible in the sense of  I could do that, I could be that. But there's no transparency. No one really knows how much anyone's making. No one really knows anyone's background. Someone says that they're doing YouTube full time  what does that mean? Also, I got really obsessed with multi-level marketing companies. There are these levels of aspirational: there's Celebrity YouTuber, and then at the bottom there's someone in MLM. They all feel very linked to me, and they all feel very American to me.

Molly Soda "Opening Up (Vulnerable)," 2020

Who are some of your go-to people to watch? Or genres to watch?

I watch Emma Chamberlain and some of the really big YouTubers. Recently I've been trying to find YouTubers that aren't full-time-YouTubers-that-live-in-LA kind of vibe, who are in that stage of aspiring to be a big YouTuber. You can see that in the way that they carry themselves. Thinking about how working with brands or sponsorships equals validity or success, that article that came out about teens doing fake sponcon, it so perfectly sums up a lot of this.

With influencers, perception is reality. It doesn't have to be legitimate, it's just what people think that you're doing.

There's a very intense hustle culture. Your online self is not something to try and play with, it's something to market yourself or to get a job. The internet's just changed a lot in the last 10, 15 years.

Let's talk about the "Wanna know my secret?" video. A lot of the ideas there get to the capitalist "bootstraps" mentality of a lot of these genre-videos.

I mentioned MLMs before. MLMs are really representative of the ideas that YouTube presents to us. I didn't want to do any work directly about MLMs, but I've been following a lot of MLM influencer-type people that also inhabit YouTube and use social media. They often share inspirational quotes. All of the text is made from these inspirational posts I've archived. It's very empty language. It's all very stock, but it's all very predatory. Obviously I'm sharing this inspirational post as a means to an end  I want you to read that and sign up to sell Arbonne products or whatever. I did that based off hundreds and hundreds of posts.

The video itself, I got very into another weird tier of YouTube: dumpster diving videos, which I wasn't even aware was a thing. A lot of them will be, "Dumpster Diving at Bath & Body Works" or T.J. Maxx or Ulta. I got really into the Ulta ones. Apparently Ulta employees  and probably employees at other stores  are told to do this thing called a "soup." They make a mess of this makeup to deter people from taking it from the trash. People dumpster dive and will come home with bags of stuff, but it will all be covered in foundation, crushed up eyeshadows. They usually will show you the bag and then clean it off and do the haul. It's always this visceral, fucked up looking bag of stuff. When I decided I wanted to emulate this dumpstering process, I put out this open call online and asked people to send me unwanted makeup. I got boxes and boxes and boxes of people's barely used, expired makeup.

What program did you use to make the House Tour background?

The house was designed in a program called Planner 5D. It took me a long time to make this "dream home." I greenscreen-ed myself into it. I really wanted to do a house tour based off of all the house tours I'd been watching. Everything has the same color palette, the same types of furniture. Everyone's beauty room looks the same. Everyone's home office looks the same. The beauty room-slash-home office is the pinnacle of success  work from home culture, which is really crazy because now we're all stuck in this work from home hell. But it's also this thing that people aspire to.

Molly Soda "Your Life Could Look So Different," 2020

All of these homes are stock in some way. Something that always gets me is in these videos natively on YouTube is, these people are obsessed with being organized. It's the making of the set, and then the revealing of the set. They're building out environments to create content.

Because of the way that we use the internet now, I think of everyone's spaces as little sets. I'm sure before you film, you're placing everything perfectly. As someone that's been using my room as a backdrop for so many years  my bedroom has also become a set. And so, you can almost predict what is in everyone's set.

This segues into what you were doing with the "Desktop Decor" piece.

That was the first piece I made, not even intentionally for this show, but it fit really well.

In a lot of my work I bring in desktop space. I think it's important to archive it. It's this space that no one looks at, but we spend so much time on. Also, I wanted to do something a little bit fun and try to emulate a YouTube bedroom within the desktop. I've done a lot of random things, like GIF hauls, playing with the language of YouTube and the style of YouTube in different parameters. I also was thinking through the sped-up makeover video. YouTube royalty-free stock music is really important. You know all of these songs. Everyone is using them, but you can never place what it is. That wash of familiarity, but not being able to place it, knowing that you've seen it a million times.

You mentioned iconography earlier, but I wanted to talk about these motifs more. Candles are really their own genre, their own world. Succulents. Throw pillows. What objects presented themselves to you as super significant?

Candles were definitely really important. I made an entire candle display [it just smells like literally like you're sitting on the beach drinking a margarita and you're loving yourlife and you're super rich and like you own a yacht, 2020]. Scent is a luxury good. I became really into candle reviews, hauls, and things like that because I thought they were so weird. I was like, I can't smell this. With makeup, with clothes, whatever you're hauling, I can see it, I get a sense of whether I would want that. With candles, it's up to someone's descriptions. And people have these really flowery descriptions. No one can smell these candles right now, but I made like 50 scented candles ranging from nice scents  or whatever you may think is nice  to scents like cat litter.

I made one called "Work from Home," which is the tuna scent combined with the Febreze scent. My idea was to make a dirty cat home kind of vibe, and it really smelled stale, urine, salty...a bad pet smell trying to be covered up, basically. I did make a Fritos candle called "Crumbs in the Couch." All the candles were knock off versions of regular candles like Yankee Candle, something that you would buy at T.J. Maxx. I was really inspired by T.J. Maxx and Marshalls in particular, and I wanted to make a discount candle rack. I even have a fake Boy Smells candle, same label. Scent is so personal, so it's hard to determine how people would respond to them. Some candles were cheeky. Something that smelled like firewood would be a candle called "Flame" and it would look like a small-batch artisanal type thing. I had a Love Spell candle, Victoria's Secret. I wanted to make a scent-based piece because I had never done that before. Also especially for me, who makes so much work that goes online, whenever I put work in a gallery I want it to have a physicality to it.
A hasty lifting of restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a fatal resurgence of the new coronavirus, the World Health Organisation warned Friday.

"WHO wants to see restrictions lifted as much as anyone. At the same time, lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence. The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly," the UN health body's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference in Geneva.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A glimpse into the future of tropical forests

Leipzig / Panama City. Tropical forests are a hotspot of biodiversity. Against the backdrop of climate change, their protection plays a special role and it is important to predict how such diverse forests may change over decades and even centuries. This is exactly what researchers at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the University of Leipzig (UL) and other international research institutions have achieved. Their results have been published in the scientific journal Science.

Nowhere in the world is the loss of the so-called primary forests advancing faster than in the tropics. The natural primary forests are compelled to give way to agriculture and livestock farming and, as a result of clearing, important habitats are lost. In addition, the carbon stored in the trees is released as CO2. When the cleared areas are no longer used, new 'secondary' forests grow on them and these then capture part of the previously released CO2. The promotion of such natural forest areas can therefore offer an inexpensive way of mitigating climate-damaging CO2 from the atmosphere and, at the same time, promote biodiversity.

However, not all forests develop in the same way. In order to manage the recovery and renaturation of tropical forests, it is necessary to be able to predict how the forests will develop. To achieve this, certain parameters must be known; how quickly do the trees grow and how quickly do they die? How many offspring do they produce, which then in turn ensure the continued existence of the species? This is precisely the data which has been recorded in Panama over the past 40 years, in one of the most researched tropical rainforests in the world, for 282 tree species.

Using this data, researchers were able to show that trees pursue different strategies during their development. On the one hand, they differ in terms of their pace of life; while 'fast' species both grow and die quickly, 'slow' species grow slowly and reach an old age. On the other hand, trees can differ regarding their stature, irrespective of pace of life. These 'infertile giants', also known as long-lived pioneers, grow relatively quickly, and reach a great stature, but produce only a few offspring per year, contrasting with the 'fertile dwarfs'; small shrubs and treelets which grow slowly and do not live long, but produce a large number of offspring.

But how many, and which factors of this demographic diversity have to be taken into account in order for us to be able to predict the development of a diverse forest? An international research team used a digital experiment to answer this question. In a computer model, they simulated how trees grow, die, produce offspring and compete for light as in a real forest. They allowed different configurations of the model to compete against each other; these contained either all 282 species from Panama or only a few selected 'strategy types'. The species differed in only one or two respects; their pace of life and their stature. The respective model predictions were then compared with the observed development of real, regrowing secondary forests.

The researchers found that their model worked reliably with only five strategy types, but that both strategy dimensions must be taken into account. "In particular, the long-lived pioneers are important because they account for the bulk of biomass - and carbon - in this forest type at almost all ages, and not only in middle-aged forests as assumed so far," said first author Dr Nadja Ruger, junior research group leader at iDiv and UL.

Following years of research, Ruger and her colleagues have now been able to establish a completely data-driven modelling approach which can be used to predict the development of species-rich forests, without the usual, tedious adjustment and calibration of unknown model parameters, thus saving both time and resources. "Basically, we were able to reduce the forest to its essence, and that was only possible because we know so much about the tree species in the forest in Panama," said Ruger.

While forests are being impacted by climate change, they are also significantly slowing its pace - estimates are the vegetation of the earth is soaking up approximately 34% of the carbon molecules we emit, annually. However, scientists are not sure whether we will be able to count on this significant ecosystem service in the future. "By advancing our ability to predict forest carbon storage and represent the rich biodiversity within tropical forests, we are now on a path to much more accurately capture important ecological processes in the global models that are used by policy makers to predict the pace of climate change", said co-author Caroline Farrior, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

###

This story has been published on: 2020-04-10. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 18:32:15|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

CAIRO, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian government stressed on Friday that the country's strategic reserve of wheat is "enough and safe."

In a statement, the cabinet denied any circulated news about the shortage of the grain, adding that "9 million tons of local wheat are expected to be harvested this season."

"After communicating with ministries of agriculture and trade, we assure the citizens about the strategic reserve of wheat," the statement added.

"Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, has enough stock of the grain for seven or eight months," it added.

On Thursday, Minister of Supply, Ali Moselhy, said strategic reserves of all basic commodities including wheat are "enough for at least three months."

He said the North African country is expected to purchase 3.6 million tons of wheat starting from April 15 to cover 4.5 months of consumption.

Egypt is planning to import 800,000 tons of wheat during this year's harvest season following a request from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, he added.
The row over the Cabinet minister accused of breaking lockdown rules escalated last night after neighbours rubbished claims that the mansion where he is staying is his main home.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick, a key player in the Government's coronavirus response, claimed he had not flouted his own advice by travelling 150 miles to the Herefordshire property because it was the family home.

But one of Mr Jenrick's close neighbours described claims this address was his primary home as 'codswallop'.

The Daily Mail has been told the Jenricks spend most of their time at their 2.5million townhouse in London, where the children attend school.

The Newark MP also states on his website that he lives 'in Southwell near Newark, and London'  with no mention of Herefordshire.

Neighbours at the 1.1million Herefordshire residence insisted they rarely saw him. One said: 'We might see him on the odd weekend but the family are not even here every weekend, let alone full time.

'Mr Jenrick has had builders working on the house for much of the last three years.'

Robert Jenrick (pictured) came under fire again last night after neighbours said the mansion where he is staying is just his occasional holiday home

Neighbours at the 1.1million Herefordshire (St Peter and St Paul's in Eye, Herefordshire) residence last night insisted they rarely saw him. One said: 'We might see him on the odd weekend but the family are not even here every weekend, let alone full time'

Another neighbour confirmed builders had been a regular fixture at Eye Manor, which Mr Jenrick bought in 2009 and is 120 miles from his constituency.

They said: 'It's a fact the family come here occasionally at the weekend, but they do not live here year-round.

'The children are at school in London for one thing, and both parents have demanding jobs that they could not do from here ordinarily, one would think.

'I suppose you could say this house is more like their holiday home.'

A Government source confirmed Mr Jenrick had 'moved his family to his second home'.

Another source close to the family in the capital said they lived at their Westminster address during the week. The distinction matters as the Government issued lockdown instructions on March 23 stating people should not visit second homes 'for isolation purposes or holidays'.

But Mr Jenrick travelled to his second home from London on March 29 following a press conference he gave in Downing Street.

He has also faced criticism after it emerged he visited his parents another 40 miles away last weekend in a Shropshire village.

The Daily Mail has been told the Jenricks spend most of their time at their 2.5million townhouse in London (pictured), where the children go to school

Mr Jenrick said he was dropping off medicine and food and did not enter their home. But he has previously urged people to rely on the NHS for delivering medicines.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'The Secretary of State set out in two different statements the reasons for the journeys that he made and we are confident he complied with the social-distancing rules.'

But Mr Jenrick's opposite number in the Shadow Cabinet, Labour MP Steve Reed, believed the minister had still not explained why he needed to travel across the country from London. He said: 'It would appear he could have stayed self-isolating with his family in London to prevent that further travel.'

Former defence minister and Tory MP for neighbouring Broxtowe, Anna Soubry, tweeted: 'He totally ignored his own instruction to #stayhome which he repeatedly said in media interviews and from the No10 podium.

'It smacks of arrogance and senior ministers must practise what they preach.'

Last night Mr Jenrick (pictured talking to Sky News) declined requests for further comment

Mr Jenrick is understood to have claimed his family moved to Herefordshire on March 20, before lockdown rules were announced.

The 38-year-old faced controversy when he ran for his Newark seat in a 2014 by-election after declining to mention his and his City lawyer wife's 6million property portfolio, which includes a 2.3million flat in Marylebone, central London.

He presented himself as a 'father, local man, son of a secretary and small businessman and state primary school-educated' candidate.

His party CV omitted to say he went to a 13,000-a-year private secondary school. At the time, he promised to move his family to Newark, saying he was 'almost sure' he would sell the Herefordshire house.

Despite also having a rented property in his constituency, which he bills taxpayers 2,000 a month for, locals have told the Mail they do not see him as much as they would like. Last night Mr Jenrick declined requests for further comment.

On Thursday he told the Mail: 'My house in Herefordshire is the place I, my wife and my young children consider to be our family home and my family were there before any restrictions on travel were announced.

'I have been working in London... putting in place the system to shield the group most vulnerable to coronavirus.

'Once I was able to work from home it was right I went home to do so and be with my wife and help care for my three young children.

'I will be staying at my family home until Government advice changes or if I am needed in person in Westminster before the parliamentary session resumes after the Easter recess.'
(Bloomberg) -- An historic multilateral deal to lower global oil production and stabilize prices, led by record cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia, is at risk of collapse after Mexico refused to sign up.

The impasse casts doubt on efforts to revive the market from a debilitating coronavirus-induced slump. The deal by the coalition of nations known as OPEC+, which dwarves s previous interventions and has been sponsored by U.S. President Donald Trump, would end the price war between Riyadh and Moscow that helped pushed oil down to the lowest in almost two decades.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday morning, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he had talked to Trump and had reached a deal with OPEC+, but it wasnt immediately clear if his position had shifted.

Saudi Arabia made the whole deal dependent on Mexicos participation, pinning an accord to remove more than 10% of global production from the market on an argument about a few hundreds of thousands of barrels. But Riyadhs energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman is determined the burden of cuts must be shared as widely as possible.

Attention now turns to todays meeting of G-20 oil ministers, chaired by Saudi Arabia, where countries outside OPEC+, including the U.S., are expected to make commitments to support oil markets. It presents another chance to bring pressure on Mexico. Failure to nail down a deal would likely see oil prices slump again on Monday and could revive the monthlong war for market share between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The extreme volatility we are seeing in oil markets is detrimental to the global economy at a time when we can least afford it, said Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, whos been a key figure in the diplomatic effort to broker a global deal.

In a sign that the the diplomatic push for a deal would continue at the highest levels, Russian news agency Tass reported that President Vladimir Putin would make more calls on the issue today. He held a three-way conversation with President Trump and Saudi Arabias Mohammed bin Salman yesterday.

Story continues

The tentative deal would result in cuts of about 10 million barrels a day during May and June. Saudi Arabia and Russia, the biggest producers in the group, would each take output down to about 8.5 million a day, with all members agreeing to cut supply by 23%.

It would be the biggest cut in OPECs history and highlights the depth of the markets crisis. Opening yesterdays meeting, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo described the supply-deman balance as horrifying. But it will probably buy producers little more than a bit of time.

With demand likely down 20% this quarter, we believe the agreed cuts wont be enough to prevent oil inventories from rising sharply over the coming weeks, said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS Group AG.

The refusal by Mexicos Energy Secretary Rocio Nahle Garcia to accept the proposed cuts reflects her countrys determination to keep as close as possible to the production and spending plans its been pursuing despite the crash. In a Twitter post shortly after leaving the meeting, she said the nation is ready to reduce output by 100,000 barrels a day, far less than the 400,000 barrels a day proposed by the group, and from a higher baseline.

Read More: Mexico Refuses to Cut Oil Output and Is Running Up Huge Losses

Political Pressure

Mexico can and should join the international community in stabilizing the oil market, said Aldo Flores Quiroga, the former Mexican deputy oil minister who negotiated OPEC+ deals from 2016 to 2018. The production cut is both necessary and possible. Its the responsible thing to do domestically and internationally.

OPEC+ has been put under intense pressure by Trump and American lawmakers, who fear thousands of job losses in the U.S. shale patch.

While the headline cut equates to a reduction of about 10% of global supply, it makes up just a fraction of the demand loss, which some traders estimate at as much as 35 million barrels a day.

Oil prices have tumbled by half this year as the spread of the coronavirus coincided with a bitter price war that saw producers flood the market. Brent dropped 4.1% to $31.48 a barrel on Thursday, even as the agreement began to take shape. Theres no trading Friday in New York or London due to the Good Friday holiday.

Russia has insisted that the U.S. in particular do more than just let market forces reduce its record production. Trump, meanwhile, has said Americas cut will happen automatically as low prices put shale in dire straits, a sentiment reiterated by his energy secretary Thursday.

Tapering Off

OPEC+s tentative plan would see the output curbs tapering off after two months, depending on the evolution of the coronavirus. The 10 million-barrel-a-day cut may shrink to 8 million a day from July and then 6 million a day from January 2021 to April 2022, according to the OPEC statement. The group is planning another videoconference June 10 to discuss what additional measures need to be taken.

Saudi Arabia and Russia will apply reductions to a production baseline of about 11 million barrels a day, according to the OPEC statement. For Saudi Arabia, thats lower than recent output, which rose above 12 million a day in early April. Other countries would cut from their October 2018 levels.

For oil markets, the massive oil-demand contraction is unprecedented, OPEC said in an internal document circulated to ministers and seen by Bloomberg. The current outlook looks extremely bleak, with oil markets anticipated to be severely tested on many fronts.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Statistics on coronavirus infections and deaths are starting to show the first signs that lockdown restrictions are beginning to pay off, one of the UKs most senior medics has said.

But Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, Englands deputy chief medical officer, warned that the UK remains in a dangerous phase of the outbreak and there was no room yet for relaxation of social distancing rules.

However, speaking alongside health secretary Matt Hancock at the latest daily press conference in Downing Street, he suggested that  despite record numbers of deaths announced earlier in the day  the UK might be past the worst of the pandemic within a matter of weeks.

This is not over yet, said Prof Van-Tam. We have to take the pain now to get the gain in a few weeks time

Figures released today showed an additional 980 deaths of people with coronavirus symptoms in UK hospitals  the largest daily total of the outbreak so far, bringing the overall death toll to 8,958.

Coronavirus: London on lockdown Show all 29 1 /29 Coronavirus: London on lockdown Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man walks down a deserted Camden High Street Photos Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Goodge Street Station is one of the many stations closed to help reduce the spread Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown An empty street in the heart of Chinatown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown People in masks in Chinatown a day after the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A near-empty Piccadilly Circus during the first week of lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Sonja, my neighbour, who I photographed while taking a short walk. It was nice to briefly chat even from a distance Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple sit on the empty steps of the statue Eros in Piccadilly Circus Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Making sure I stay two-meters apart  DArblay Street, Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A mannequin behind a shop window. UK stores have closed until further notice Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A notice displayed on a shop window in Camden Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown As part of the lockdown, all non-essential shops have been ordered to close.Image from Camden High Street Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A skateboarder wearing a mask utilises his exercise allowance in the Camden area Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Communities have been coming together in a time of need Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman stands alone in a deserted Oxford Street. Up until a few weeks ago, on average, half a million people visited the street per day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A couple walk hand in hand down a street in Soho, a day before the stricter lockdown was announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown During the first week of March, shoppers focused on stockpiling necessities ahead of a countrywide lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Many supermarkers are operating a queuing system to make sure only a limited amount of customers are allowed in at anyone time Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Stay Safe  Curzon cinemas are temporarily closed under the new measures Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Pubs, restaurants and bars were ordered to shut as part of the lockdown Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street There are fears that coronavirus could lead to permanent closure of struggling shops Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden Town is eerily silent on a normal working day Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Shops and supermarkets ran out of hand sanitisers in the first week of the lockdown. As we approach the end of the second week most shops now have started to stock up Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty streets around Soho Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A noticeboard on Camden High Street urges the public to stay at home Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Camden High Street, one of Londons busiest tourist streets turns quiet Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Thriller Live confirmed its West End run ended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown Empty and eerie Soho streets after stricter rules on social distancing announced Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A woman pauses for a cigarette on Hanway Street, behind Tottenham Court Road Angela Christofilou Coronavirus: London on lockdown A man steps outside onto Hanway Street, that sits behind what is usually a bustling retail hub Angela Christofilou

But Prof Van-Tam pointed to graphs suggesting that, after a rapid increase since mid-March, the rate of infections and deaths may be flattening out, and that numbers of patients requiring hospital care in coronavirus hotspot London has dropped sharply.

Looking at figures for Covid-19 patients needing hospital beds, he said: There has been a steady increase, but possibly you can see that the curve is bending.

Its impossible to say that we have peaked  however I suggest to you that the curve is beginning to bend and that your hard work is beginning to pay off.

But this is just not over. It needs to continue.

Prof Van-Tam said the UKs figures were broadly in line with what was happening in other countries.

Its still a dangerous situation, we have to keep taking measures to bring this under control, he said.

Its premature to say we are at a peak and the push we are making with social distancing just has to continue.

Mr Hancock said it was too early to judge whether lockdown restrictions would be extended when they come up for a three-week review on 16 April.

Matt Hancock at the Downing Street coronavirus press conference (EPA)

Tests for coronavirus reached 19,116 on Thursday, which Mr Hancock claimed put the government on track to meet his 100,000 daily target by the end of April. He acknowledged there was still a lot of work to do to hit the target.

Some 15 drive-through test centres are now processing frontline staff and their families, in order to identify whether NHS workers need to self-isolate or return to work.

I can announce today that we have capacity for all key social care staff and NHS staff who need to be tested to get those tests, Mr Hancock told the briefing.

Following the creation of a dedicated test processing facility in Milton Keynes, two new Lighthouse mega-labs were on track in Cheshire and Glasgow, with a further facility due to open in Cambridge at the end of the month, he said.

New Nightingale hospitals are to be opened in Sunderland and Exeter, to add to the new hospitals already announced in London, Birmingham, Harrogate, Manchester and Bristol.

Mr Hancock described the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) as a Herculean logistical effort, and urged both NHS staff and members of the public to use it only when necessary.

As part of a three-pronged approach to boosting supplies, the UK is creating a domestic PPE manufacturing capability, he said.

Urging members of the public not to use equipment like face masks which scientific advice suggests is not appropriate outside health and care settings, he said: Theres enough PPE to go around, but only if its used in line with our guidance.

We need everyone to treat PPE like the precious resource that it is. That means only using it when theres a clinical need, and not using more than is needed.

Since the start of the outbreak there have been more than 742 million pieces of PPE delivered to the frontline, including 161 million masks, 127 million aprons, a million gowns and 345 million pairs of gloves, said Mr Hancock.

But shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth responded: This isnt the first time ministers have given NHS and social care staff big promises on PPE.

But there has been a mismatch between statements at Downing Street press conferences and the realities facing health and care staff on the ground. Staff have been raising the alarm over lack of PPE for weeks. We hope the governments plans today deliver the adequate supplies of PPE our brave health care staff deserve.

Mr Hancock said that there were more than 2,000 spare hospital beds available with ventilators, with the amount of spare capacity increasing steadily.

He said: Im very pleased that thus far in this crisis there is no point where the NHS has been overrun, and every single person with coronavirus has been able to access the best possible care in the NHS, because we have taken the action to expand the NHS.

He confirmed that he was working with chancellor Rishi Sunak on an analysis of how many additional deaths might result from the economic damage caused by the outbreak and the measures needed to bring it under control.

But he dismissed a reported figure of 150,000 excess deaths due to the economic slowdown as incorrect. And he appealed to anyone with serious non-Covid medical ailments like cancer or heart complaints not to hesitate to contact healthcare providers for help.

The health secretary issued another warning to the public to stay at home over the Easter weekend.

This Easter will be another test of the nations resolve, said Mr Hancock. Its a time of year when people normally come together.

But however warm the weather, however tempting your local beach or park, we need everyone to stay at home.

Because in hospitals across the country, NHS staff are battling day and night to keep desperately sick people breathing, and they need you to stay at home.

Chief nursing officer Ruth May said: It is personally frustrating to see people clearly not doing social distancing, clearly coming out in large groups.

I was on the way here going over Westminster Bridge seeing a whole horde of cyclists coming over together. It is enormously frustrating.

Ms May said healthcare staff had faced abuse for going out to work during the lockdown.

And she said: Our nurses, our healthcare staff, need to be able to get to work, its right and proper they do, but my ask of everybody is please stay at home, save lives and protect my staff.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 14:41:03|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

HAIKOU, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China has made continuous efforts to protect its rainforests in the tropical island province of Hainan, which boasts the most concentrated and well-preserved tropical rainforests in the country.

The Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park is expected to be officially established this year, which will raise the protection of tropical rainforests to a new level, according to the administration bureau of the national park.

"As one of the ecosystems with the richest biodiversity, tropical rainforests have important ecological functions such as climate regulation and water conservation," said Jiang Shuai, a research fellow of Yinggeling nature reserve in Hainan.

Hainan set up a pilot area of the tropical rainforest national park in January 2019 to protect and restore the ecosystem. The pilot area, located in the central mountainous terrain of Hainan, covers an area of more than 4,400 square km and involves five state-level and four provincial-level nature reserves.

"Several nature reserves, which were originally separated from one another, are now put under integrated management and protection, so as to increase gene exchanges and enrich biodiversity," said Wang Xianyong with one of the nature reserves.

The park is an integral part of China's plan to build Hainan, also the country's largest pilot free trade zone, into a "national ecological civilization pilot zone."

"Building the national park is of great significance to maintaining the original state and integrity of the tropical rainforest ecosystem and saving rare and endangered wild animals and plants in Hainan," said Xia Fei, director of the provincial forestry authority.

With an area of less than 0.05 percent of the country's land area, the pilot national park is home to about 20 percent of amphibians, 33 percent of reptiles and 38.6 percent of birds across the country.

A variety of rare animals and plants also roost there, such as the Hainan black-crested gibbon and clouded leopards which are under top state protection.

Thanks to China's greater efforts to protect and recover the rainforests, about 20 novel species have been found in recent years in Yinggeling nature reserve alone, one of the components of the national park.

"Richer biodiversity means a more complex and stable ecosystem, with more ecological functions and higher research values," said Jiang, also a macro fungus researcher at Yinggeling.

"Some scientific research is expected to deliver practical value," added Jiang, who is considering spreading the planting of some medical fungi among local farmers to help increase their incomes.

China has attached great importance to ecological conservation and acted on the understanding that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.

The country plans to officially set up a batch of national parks and form a unified management system by 2020 with the aim to connect fragmented habitats and improve the management and conservation of wildlife.

Pilot projects were underway for 10 national parks, covering an area of more than 220,000 square km in 12 provinces, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said last year.
SEATTLE  A 39-year-old man was charged Thursday with second-degree murder, accused of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriends boyfriend in a Kent parking lot, according to King County prosecutors.

Vitaliy Khrol was arrested early Tuesday behind an auto parts store across from the U.S. Bank parking lot where he attacked and killed 30-year-old Richard Hamilton, charging papers say. Khrol remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail, The Seattle Times reported. It wasnt immediately known if Khrol has a lawyer to comment for him.

Hamilton was stabbed multiple times just after 9 p.m. Monday in front of several witnesses, including his girlfriend, the charges say. Hamilton had a wound to his buttocks and at least two puncture wounds to the left side of his chest. As officers and medics attempted to save him, Hamilton lost consciousness and died at the scene.

The defendant attacked the victim in full view of these witnesses, clearly not concerned about his actions. The defendant told detectives that he had previously attempted to assault the victim and threatened to break him the next time he saw him, Senior Deputy Prosecutor John Castleton wrote of Khrol in charging papers, noting Khrol is a daily meth user.

 The Associated Press
A reader, who wished to remain anonymous, recently wrote to The Oregonian/OregonLive with a question: Her employer in eastern Oregon is asking that workers wear masks out in public, but not at the office.

She wanted to know: What rights do workers have to wear a non-medical cloth face covering on the job?

Oregons Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it cannot require employers to let employees use face coverings or masks due to coronavirus concerns.

However, Oregon OSHA does strongly encourage employers to allow such voluntary use, consistent with the most recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the Oregon Health Authority, writes OSHA spokesperson Aaron Corvin.

Its been a week since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed course on its recommendations regarding masks. Since April 3, the CDC has advised people to wear cloth face coverings when out in public, to prevent people who dont realize they are sick from further spreading the disease. The agency is still recommending N95 level masks be reserved for frontline healthcare workers.

Since then, employers have been changing their recommendations as well. Grocery stores, including Fred Meyer, are now allowing employees to wear face coverings in stores. And The Oregonian/OregonLive updated its own guidance on masks, saying it would provide washable cloth masks for reporters who handle external assignments.

Corvin said some businesses are under the mistaken belief that by allowing employees to wear homemade face coverings, they could be liable if the coverings fail to meet OSHA standards for respiratory protection. That is not the case, he said.

It does not trigger the requirements of the Oregon OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard, he wrote, and in most contexts it would be foolish for an employer to refuse such requests during the current emergency.

Foolish but not, technically, illegal.

-- Samantha Swindler; sswindler@oregonian.com; @editorswindler

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
WHO urges global solidarity as rising COVID-19 infection keeps hitting economy

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 16:02, April 09, 2020

BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- As the global tally of COVID-19 cases surpassed 1.5 million on Wednesday, several governments stepped up anti-epidemic measures, notably extended wide-scale lockdown, despite the adverse effect on economy.

Commenting on different countries' different response to the wide spread disease, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged worldwide solidarity in Geneva on Wednesday, saying, "Unity is the only option to defeat this virus."

SURGING CASELOAD

A total of 1,500,830 cases have been reported worldwide as of 5:15 p.m. (2115 GMT) Wednesday with 87,706 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The United States led the world with 423,135 cases, with nearly 2,000 deaths recorded for a second day in a row. Spain and Italy followed with 146,690 and 139,422 cases, respectively. Countries with over 100,000 cases also include France and Germany, according to the CSSE tally.

Also on Wednesday, Iran reported 1,997 new COVID-19 cases and 121 more deaths, bringing the tally to 64,586 with a death toll of 3,993.

Despite a rising caseload, the pandemic in Iran continued its week-long downward trend. Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, accordingly expressed the hope that Iran would be able to control the pace of the virus spread in the following days.

Meanwhile, Turkey's tally of infections was poised to pass 40,000. And Brazil has reported a total of 15,927 COVID-19 cases with 800 deaths and the mortality stood at 5 percent.

In Asia, Japan's national total of COVID-19 infections reached 4,768 a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declaring a state of emergency on Tuesday.

South Korea reported 53 more cases within 24 hours as of midnight Wednesday local time, raising its total to 10,384.

As of 6 a.m. (1530 GMT) local time on Wednesday, there have been 5,956 cases in Australia. However, Health Minister Greg Hunt said the number could spike significantly if Australians disregard social distancing rules over the upcoming four-day Easter weekend.

ECONOMIC PAINS

More countries and regions are taking actions like imposing a large-scale lockdown or declaring a state of emergency to contain the spread of the virus, dealing a heavy blow to economy as activities of people and businesses are greatly restricted.

Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez on Wednesday decided to step up COVID-19 containment measures in major cities, including extending a shelter-in-place order due to end on April 12.

Promising "more restrictions," the president said, "The quarantine must continue because ... we have only succeeded in flattening the curve (of the infection rate) and made it slower."

After Japan declared the state of emergency effect until May 6, major Japanese cities including Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka, became unusually quiet on Wednesday, with many businesses closed and fewer people on streets.

Tokyo stocks opened marginally lower Thursday as the market mood was dampened by ongoing concerns over the global economic impact of the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Germany's leading economic institutes forecast that the economic output of Germany, Europe's main engine of growth, was likely to shrink by 4.2 percent in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus with its unemployment rate rising to 5.9 percent at its peak in 2020.

Though governments worldwide have rolled out billions of U.S. dollars of economic stimulus to guard vulnerable industries such as retailing, traffic and manufacturing, massive layoffs seem to be unavoidable with small private businesses being the worst-hit by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The International Labour Organization said in a Tuesday report that more than four out of five people, or 81 percent in the global workforce of 3.3 billion are currently affected by full or partial workplace closures due to COVID-19 pandemic.

"There will be financial disruptions and the fiscal cost of rescue will severely burden the U.S. government's budget position for a long time to come," Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Institute for China-America Studies, told Xinhua on Wednesday.

SOLIDARITY BEST WEAPON

As new COVID-19 cases in the United States surged with a daily growth of nearly 2,000 for the second day in a row, U.S. stocks index however rallied on Wednesday as investors seem to stay hopeful about a potential slowdown in the COVID-19 growth following reported peaks.

Nevertheless, Spainish Health Minister Salvador Illa said the country has "reached the peak of contagion."

The positive mood somehow splits the frontline against the pandemic as some governments are considering to relax the quarantine measures, hoping to save the battered economy, while some western leader blamed the World Health Organization (WHO) for its response to the disease.

Relaxing the lockdown "in these conditions, without precise knowledge of how the coronavirus epidemic has evolved and will evolve, is rather difficult to imagine," said Dr. Ranieri Guerra, who sits on the Technical and Scientific Committee advising the Italian government on how to handle the pandemic, and an assistant director-general for strategic initiatives at the WHO.

Referring to a plateau of the COVID-19 cases observed in Italy, Guerra said, "This means there is a reservoir of asymptomatic coronavirus carriers, which continues to guarantee the circulation of the virus."

"The WHO, with thousands of its staff, is on the front lines, supporting member states and their societies, especially the most vulnerable among them, with guidance, training, equipment and concrete life-saving services as they fight the virus," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to freeze U.S. funding to the WHO,

"It is my belief that the WHO must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world's efforts to win the war against COVID-19," Guterres said in a statement.

"The lesson that the coronavirus is leaving us with is that we are very far from global governance," said Ignacio Martinez Cortes, professor of political science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, stressing the lack of international cooperation at the moment.

In the view of Gupta, "the WHO should have as much standing and prominence as the IMF (International Monetary Fund) within the multilateral system."

"And like the IMF's annual Article IV surveillance of country financial and economic risks, the WHO should also be tasked to conduct a review of country public health preparedness capabilities every, say, three years," Gupta said.

"Now, the United States and China, all the rest of G20 and the rest of the world should come together to fight the virus," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, warning that "When there are cracks at the national level and global level, that's when the virus succeeds."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Health-care workers at St. Michaels and St. Josephs hospitals are being told that due to shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic theyll soon need to reuse N95 masks that have been decontaminated.

An undated memo from hospital network Unity Health Toronto obtained by the Star, states that they have been collecting used N95 masks instead of throwing them away. Their vice president of research and innovation, along with a team of scientists and engineers are finalizing the accepted reprocessing techniques we will use for N95 respirators.

The hospitals are already asking staff to wear the same N95 masks and face shields when seeing multiple COVID-19 patients back-to-back, unless they are soiled or contaminated, the memo adds.

And they will soon be recommending reuse of N95 respirators during a shift (taking the N95 respirator off when not needed, safely storing, and then putting back on when needed again).

Doris Grinspun, chief executive officer of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), the professional association representing registered nurses, said she was reassured by the province that at this time, under a Health Canada initiative, they are only testing possible methods to sterilize or decontaminate soiled N95 masks.

Nurses were asked to put them in a bin because they will collect them to reprocess, and now theyre being told already here in this memo, oh by the way, another memo will come soon saying to you, we will reuse them, and we will tell you how, she said.

Thats the bit that they are totally jumping the gun on, before we even know if this works.

The RNAO has been receiving emails from nurses worried that doing this wrong would leave them at risk, particularly given they are caring for patients who have a disease with no treatment or vaccine.

The only vaccine is the PPE and if theyre telling them to use reprocessed ones they will explain to all of us, including to media, including to the nurses, that this was tested, Grinspun said.

She also reinforced the importance of properly taking N95 masks on and off, a process known as donning and doffing, which the memo does not stress enough.

Nurses and other health-care professionals are already under a lot of stress and this makes it worse, she added.

They get distracted by this type of memo, and I would too, she said.

Because if youre worried about protecting yourself, and other colleagues, and other patients, it distracts you from the important work of taking care of patients.

Asked about the memo, Unity Health Toronto spokesperson Jennifer Stranges responded echoing language from it in an email about the need for additional measures to preserve PPE, specifically N95 respirators, as they expect to see more COVID-19 cases over the coming weeks and we need to continue to have sufficient supplies.

The health and safety of our patients, people and community remains our priority, and these measures are in the interest of keeping everyone well. We are working on reprocessing for N95 masks and dont have more to share at this time, she added.

There are currently 20 COVID-19 patients at St. Josephs and 20 at St. Michaels, with six and seven in intensive care respectively, according to the most recent counts posted on Unity Health Torontos website.

A second undated memo provides more details to staff, and says there is a critical shortage of N95 respirators, telling staff to reuse them during shifts.

The person who provided it to the Star, a nurse, said it was from infection control at St. Mikes.

It says that staff should label their N95 respirator prior to donning with their first initial, last name, model and size, and date.

Staff should not change the N95 respirator unless it becomes damaged or soiled  it should last an entire shift, the memo says.

When leaving for breaks it should be removed and safely stored, on, for example, a clean paper towel.

Vicki McKenna, a registered nurse and president of the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) union, said if staff are being asked to reuse N95 masks they have to train them to ensure that nurses are safe.

COVID-19 patients should also be grouped together, and nurses should only be taking care of those patients so they minimize taking masks on and off.

On reprocessing soiled or contaminated masks, we have said very clearly that unless the science is clear we would in no way endorse this, she said.

Manufacturers have not made any clear scientific guidance about this and how it should be done, and even if it should be done.

ONA is very concerned about supplies of PPE, which impact everyone.

We have to keep our health-care workers safe and if we dont, more and more of them will become ill, they wont be able to work. Its a vicious cycle, McKenna said.

Its a really difficult time right now and everybody is scrambling trying to make sure that weve got enough, weve got limited stock.The government is bringing stuff in but its all backed up.

An Ontario Health spokesperson said there is a tremendous group working in partnership with the ministry to keep supplies flowing in the face of travel disruptions and import challenges, and they applaud their efforts.

For the health of Ontarians and the safety of health-care workers, a number of organizations with support from Ontario Health are exploring various scenarios. This includes a scenario to reprocess N95 masks in case there is ever a need, they added.

Everything that we are exploring is being informed by science, is motivated by a deep commitment to safety, and is just to be prepared, if ever needed.
More than 450 South Koreans quarantined at special facilities for coronavirus patients started casting their ballots Friday, as the country kicked off early voting for next weeks general election.

South Korea is among the first countries to hold a parliamentary election during the pandemic, with citizens still asked to maintain social distancing after enduring one of the worst early outbreaks of the virus.

Seoul authorities set up polling stations at eight quarantine facilities nationwide -- provided for patients with mild symptoms -- so they can vote without having to leave the premises.

At one such facility in the southern city of Gyeongju, patients queued to cast their ballots, spaced at least one metre (three feet) apart and wearing protective masks and disposable plastic coats.

They were asked to wear plastic gloves after washing their hands with a sanitiser. Medical staff also voted.

Polling station officials donned full-body protective gear, including goggles.

Vice health minister Kim Gang-lip said Friday people who were under self-quarantine -- who are banned from leaving home during the early voting period -- would be able to vote on election day Wednesday with special time slots reserved for them.

More than 5.3 million Koreans cast their ballots Friday -- the first day of the two-day early voting period -- in a record high early voter turnout, Yonhap news agency reported.

South Korea was among the first countries to be hit by the virus outside China, where the coronavirus first emerged, and for a time had the worlds second-largest outbreak before it was largely brought under control through a widespread testing drive.
The government and local authorities have been making efforts to provide essential rations and food to underprivileged Indians caught in a lurch since the 21-day nationwide lockdown to fight coronavirus. It seems, however, that some of the more affluent class have been exploiting the relief efforts for their own selfish good.

One such incident surfaced from Raipur, Rajasthan where affluent families have been found calling the municipal helplines and ordering food as their domestic help including the cook are unable to get to work.

According to Raipur municipality, in the past ten days they have got about ten to fifteen calls per day from privileged people who can afford cars and homes. According to a report in Rajasthan Patrika, the families have been calling the helplines for food packets to save them the labour of cooking at home while their cooks are on mandatory leave.

Raipur's PR officer Ashish Sharma told Rajasthan Patrika that the people ordering the food packets often claimed to be poor. It was only upon reaching the addresses that the municipal workers delivering the packets realised they had been tricked. They nonetheless deliver the packet but with a scornful reminder that the meals were meant for those who could not afford to eat and left with no resources amid the lockdown.

Among the reasons cited by the families included spouses being unwell, inability to cook or not having enough time to cook.

Raipur isn't the only place where some people seemed to treat the special helplines set up across states in India received calls with unurgent requests. In Uttar Pradesh, for example, the Rampur District Magistrate's office was flooded with calls from a man who wanted samosas with chutney. After several calls, the administration had the samosas delivered. But at a hidden cost - the man was made to clean drains and sweep roads as punishment for harassing authorities and misusing the helpline.

Meanwhile, coronavirus has spelt doom for about 120 million migrant labour who find themselves jobless and out of daily wages amid the lockdown. Millions took to roads following the four-hour notice on March 24.

While residents of cities across India thronged grocery shops and emptied out aisles at supermarkets, millions of migrant labourers took to the streets on foot to return home.

As many as 22 migrants have died on roads while trying to reach home on foot since the lockdown.
LA Originals is part reminiscence and part reclamation. The documentary, streaming on Netflix, finds the filmmaker and photographer Estevan Oriol, who directed, revisiting his career and the career of his friend and collaborator Mark Machado, a tattoo artist to the stars who goes by the names Cartoon or Mr. Cartoon.

Both became instrumental figures in the Los Angeles hip-hop scene starting in the late 1980s and early 90s, doing work that fused the mainstream (album covers, music videos) with the citys Chicano art traditions, and also captured violence, poverty and addiction in parts of Los Angeles that in recent years have gentrified.

Although the film unfolds from an insiders perspective (with an irritating tendency to drop one name after another), it is also a good introduction to the two artists. We learn how Cartoon, already recognized for his graffiti murals, turned to skin, and how Oriol, who shot tour footage of the rap groups Cypress Hill and House of Pain, came to know Cartoon and bring him customers. The pair worked together for years in the shadow of Los Angeless Skid Row. Oriol would film and photograph the many celebrities who visited the studio for inking.
Two paramedics, who were in contact with a coronavirus patient, tested positive for the virus on Friday, taking the total number of cases in Himachal Pradesh to 31, a senior health official said.

They worked at a private hospital in Solan district where the 70-year-old woman, a Delhi resident, tested positive and later died at PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Four patients, including three who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi last month, recovered on Friday, Special Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Nipun Jindal said.

The Jamaat members, all residents of Uttar Pradesh, were admitted to IGMC here on April 5, a day after they tested positive for the virus.

Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said 127 samples were collected in the state on Thursday. Two of them tested positive and the rest came out negative.

Out of the total 31 patients, six have recovered and two died. Four patients, all from Delhi, were shifted to a private hospital outside the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Roya TV officials arrested for reporting on lack of jobs and money needed by labourers to feed families under curfew.

The Jordanian military has arrested the owner of Roya TV and its news director after it aired a news segment showing a crowd of labourers complaining about their inability to work because of the government-imposed coronavirus lockdown.

Roya TV issued a statement on Friday confirming the arrests of its news director, Mohamad al-Khalidi, and Fares Sayegh, the general manager and owner of the television station.

Al-Khalidi is also the host of the popular political talk show Nabd al-Balad, or pulse of the town.

The public prosecution at the state security court has ordered the detention of Sayegh and al-Khalidi for 14 days over the airing of a news segment, the statement said.

Roya Channel supports the Jordanian government efforts throughout all the crises as part of the Jordanian media that works professionally and patriotically and respecting the rule of law, it added.

The segment in question, which aired on Wednesday, showed a crowd of people in a poor area of the capital, Amman. One man speaking on camera said he and others were no longer able to work and feed their families because of the government-imposed lockdown.

I need to feed my family, what should I do now? Should I resort to stealing or selling drugs? Should we start begging on the streets? he asked.

A woman in the report said her familys situation was desperate as her son, who works in a sweets store, was forced to stay home because of the lockdown. They have no bread, rice, or sugar, she said.

Jordanian troops have been posted in Amman to enforce the government-imposed curfew [Ali Younes/Al Jazeera]

Industrialist Michel Sayegh, chairman of the board at the channel and father of Fares Sayegh, said in the statement he trusts the governments efforts to fight the coronavirus under the leadership of King Abdullah II.

Michel gave 900,000 Jordanian dinar ($1.3m) to Jordans government to help with efforts to fight the pandemic and offset its economic effect, after asking for donations from wealthy Jordanians and companies.

The fund has collected around $100m so far mainly from the banking and industrial sectors.

Al Jazeera contacted government spokesman Amjad Adaileh for comment on the arrest of the two television executives but he did not respond.

Jordan imposed a state of emergency in March as the country doubled down on efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, the government announced a round-the-clock, 48-hour lockdown barring people from moving, except for emergency and medical workers. Anyone found outside of their home  except in the case of an emergency  can be arrested and face a one-year prison sentence.

About 85 percent of Jordans economy is driven by small and medium-sized businesses that employ hundreds of thousands of workers. Those have now all shut down.

The private sector in Jordan employs about 1.2 million people who produce half of the countrys gross domestic profit (GDP) of about $42bn, according to Salameh Derrawi, an economics columnist based in Amman.

Government data shows the average per capita income for a Jordanian citizen was 4,200 dinar a year ($6,000) in 2019.

Jordans King Abdullah II approved a national defence law on March 17 that gives the government sweeping powers to enforce the state of emergency to combat the pandemic.

The royal decree allows Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz to impose curfews, close businesses, and place restrictions on freedom of movement.

It will be implemented in a way that it will not impede the civil and political freedoms of Jordanians, and to protect public freedoms and freedom of speech, the decree stated.

Jordan has so far recorded 372 coronavirus cases, seven deaths, and 161 people have recovered.

Follow Ali Younes on Twitter: @ali_reports
More than 2,000 complaints about working conditions have flooded into Oregon safety regulators.

Workers are worried about going to work during the coronavirus pandemic and complain their employers arent doing enough to ensure people have enough distance from one another or are doing jobs that are inherently unsafe.

As many workers fear for their safety, thousands of others are now out of work. Unemployment claims reached another new record for the third straight week.

Here are more developments to know Friday:

HELP: Oregon will funnel $60 million into its food stamp program in April and May to help people buy groceries amid the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The money will cover the costs of giving all recipients the maximum amount of assistance allowed for their household size.

CASES: The Oregon Health Authority reported four more coronavirus deaths across the Willamette Valley. The grim toll included a 41-year-old woman who died Wednesday at OHSU Hospital in Portland  now the states youngest person to succumb to the illness. Heres what we know about all 44 people who have died.

RESPONSE: About 22 percent of the states prison population -- more than 3,200 inmates -- fall into one of seven categories under consideration by the governor for early release amid the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak has prompted the Oregon State Hospital to restrict admissions, a decision that has left mentally ill defendants waiting in jails.

BUSINESS:

EDUCATION: As Portland Public Schools turns to online learning, thousands of students will need to borrow a laptop or tablet. A spike in demand Thursday led to long lines and a wave of frustration as students and parents waited upward of three hours outside to retrieve a device.

FEDERAL FUNDS: Multnomah County might not receive any outlay from the federal governments recent $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, due to a quirk in the law that affects just 26 counties nationwide. That has set up a tug-of-war with the city of Portland, which might get $100 million while the county goes empty-handed.

TRAVEL: All intercontinental passenger flights through Portland have halted, the major airlines serving the city have slashed the total flights by nearly 80% and the number of people flying in and out of PDX is down 94% compared to this time last year.

GOOD FRIDAY: Christians are commemorating Jesus crucifixion without the solemn church services or emotional processions of past years, marking Good Friday in a world locked down by the coronavirus pandemic.

LIFE TODAY:

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
PANAMA CITY, April 9 (Reuters) - Panama registered 224 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the country's total to 2,752 cases, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The death toll rose to 66. (Reporting by Elida Moreno)
Sandra Lee has opened up about her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying he will always be 'family' and she will 'be there for him' until the day she dies.

The couple broke up in September after 14 years together, but the cookbook author, 53, told The New York Times that they still communicate nearly every day and have yet to start seeing other people.

'He's still my guy,' she said. 'Neither one of us, well as far as I know, has had a date.'

Still close: Sandra Lee revealed she still talks to her ex-boyfriend, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, nearly ever day, saying he will always be 'family'

Devoted ex: The Food Network star said she watches Cuomo's daily coronavirus briefings and then shares her thoughts with him after

Over the past month, Cuomo, 62, and his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, 49, have become two of the most prominent faces of the coronavirus pandemic.

While the governor is fighting the novel virus in New York, which has become the epicenter of COVID-19, with more cases than any country in the world, his brother has been covering the illness after testing positive for it himself.

Lee, who was the de facto first lady of New York when she was with Cuomo, has been in lockdown in Los Angeles with her pet cockatoo, Phoenix, a gift from her ex when they were still together.

She told the Times that she watches Cuomo's daily coronavirus briefings and has been doing her best to help the state from afar.

'You know, nobody has a daily routine right now,' she said. 'I get up and I see what the latest news is. Of course I watch Andrew live and then share with him my thoughts.'

Lee said she is helping to direct shipments of ventilators and other supplies to New York while taking care of her ailing aunt and uncle. She is also directing donors of personal protective equipment (PPE) and hand sanitizer to Cuomo's 25-year-old daughter Cara, who has been working with her father on relief coordination.

Split: Lee, 53, and Cuomo, 62, broke up in September after 14 years together. The cookbook author noted that neither of them has had a date since their split, as far as she knows

Across the country: Lee has been in lockdown in Los Angeles with her pet cockatoo, Phoenix, a gift from her ex when they were still together

When she and Cuomo were a couple, she acted as a stepmother to his three daughters  Michaela, Cara, and Mariah  from his previous marriage to Kerry Kennedy.

'Theyre my family, and they always will be my family,' she said. 'We share a home, we share children, we share friendship. I will protect him and be there for him until the day I die.'

Lee appeared to defend her ex amid unfounded speculation that his nipples are pierced after a photo of him in a white polo shirt went viral.

The Food Network star took to social media to share a video slamming body shamers and the 'nonsense' she has been seeing online, though she never mentioned her ex's name.

'Body shaming is not OK. Its never gonna be OK,' she said. 'And when people are out in the front lines working so hard for all of our benefits, to then turn around and body shame? Shame on you. Knock it off.

'Do something to uplift people and make the world a better place. Not take cheap shots that are unnecessary.'

Hitting back: Lee appeared to defend her ex amid speculation that his nipples are pierced when she took to social media to share a video slamming body shamers

Family: Lee acted as a stepmother to his three daughters  Michaela, Cara, and Mariah  from his previous marriage to Kerry Kennedy

Lee shot to fame in the early 2000s as the host of 'Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra Lee' and went on to build a cookbook, magazine, and TV empire.

She and Cuomo were introduced at a party in the Hamptons in 2005 by political adviser Alexandra Stanton, one of Lee's best friends and Cuomo's former aide.

At the time Cuomo, son of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, was fresh off a failed run for governor and a very public and bitter divorce from Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy.

Lee had also recently divorced from KB Home CEO Bruce Karatz after four years of marriage.

With Lee in his corner, Cuomo rebounded and was elected New York Attorney General in 2006. He was elected governor four years later in 2010 and has held the office ever since.

Cuomo was by Lee's side when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy in 2015.

Support system: Cuomo was by Lee's side when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy in 2015

Forever in her heart: 'I will protect him and be there for him until the day I die,' Lee said of Cuomo

She praised him for being incredibly supportive during her cancer battle and subsequent reconstructive surgeries in 2016.

Lee held a low-profile during most of Cuomo's first two terms as governor but emerged as an advocate for cancer screening after her own diagnosis.

Rumors of a breakup have swirled for months after the couple put the home they shared in Westchester County on the market for $2 million last May.

Reports claimed that they were living apart as Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, spent most of his time at the governor's office in Albany and Lee divided her time between Manhattan and California.

The couple denied the rumors and said they were downsizing because Cuomo's daughters were grown up and had moved out.

In September, Lee and Cuomo publicly announced that they had broken up after 14 years together but were still friends.

'Over the recent past, we have realized that our lives have gone in different directions and our romantic relationship has turned into a deep friendship,' their statement said.

'We will always be family and are fully supportive of each other and dedicated to the girls. Our personal lives remain personal and there will be no further comment.'
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A fire broke out at a prison in the Siberian region of Irkutsk after a riot by inmates late on Thursday, the Interfax news agency reported.

A prison guard was attacked during the incident and has since been hospitalised, the regional office of the Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement on Friday.

"Currently the situation in the facility is under control," it said.

A video shared by Russia's Investigative Committee on YouTube on Friday showed flames towering over several smaller buildings at the prison, Penal Colony 15. In another clip it showed hundreds of prisoners, surrounded by guards, gathered outside a main building of the prison.

It was unclear what set off the fire.

The violence broke out on Thursday evening after a prisoner, who was being held in an isolation cell after violating prison rules, refused to allow guards to conduct a search, the Irkutsk region penitentiary service said in its statement.

"Convicts in neighbouring isolation cells began breaking security cameras lenses and using the shards of glass to cut their forearms," the service said.

The Interfax news agency, quoting an unnamed source, said these prisoners then broke out of their cells, attacked the guards and staged a riot.

The main instigators of the riot, around 16 or 17 people, have been blocked off in one building, Interfax cited the source as saying.

"Work is undergoing to render them not dangerous," the source was quoted as saying. "Three buildings are currently on fire. Staff are trying to put them out."

It was unclear if the fire was still raging on Friday evening.

Activist Olga Romanova, head of prisoners' rights NGO 'Jailed Russia', said on Friday that she had spoken to one of the Angarsk penal colony prisoners by phone.

"Prisoner Andrei has barricaded himself in the manufacturing area, everything around him is on fire... The riot erupted due to prison guards' regular beatings of convicts," Romanova wrote on social media.

Investigators have opened a criminal case and are questioning prisoners and staff, a statement on the Irkutsk Investigative Committee website said.

(Reporting by Maria Vasilyeva; Writing by Polina Ivanova; Editing by Susan Fenton)
(@FahadShabbir)

Washington, April 9 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Apr, 2020 ) :The United States on Thursday urged Yemen's Huthi rebels to reciprocate a ceasefire by Washington's ally Saudi Arabia, which said it would pause attacks due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The announcement is a constructive response to the UN Secretary General's call for the parties to focus on countering the COVID-19 pandemic," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

"We urge the Huthis to respond in kind to the coalition's initiative," he said.
WASHINGTON  The federal government sent over 1 million units of personal protective equipment to Connecticut from the Strategic National Stockpile, but the most of the shipments were based on out-dated population data, not what Connecticut requested or the size of the states outbreak, new data from the House Oversight Committee shows.

Now, shipments to states from the federal stockpile are done, according to the statements made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to the Committee earlier this week.

The news comes as Connecticut hospitals are burning through thousands of pieces of precious personal protective equipment per day, as the number of coronavirus cases in the state nears 9,000 with over 1,400 people currently hospitalized.

Right now, we have capacity on PPE to take care of most of our frontline responders, said Gov. Ned Lamont. Were going to do better on that.

Connecticut is operating as if it wont receive more federal supplies any time soon, making aggressive efforts to buy more personal protective equipment on its own, officials said Thursday. It has spent tens of millions to buy PPE on the private market.

From the stockpile, Connecticut is receiving 189,665 N-95 respirators, 450,883 surgical masks, 459,069 gloves, 93,606 face shields, 76,807 surgical gowns, 3,658 coveralls and 50 ventilators. Supplies from the national stockpile first starting arrived in Connecticut on March 22, based on Oversight Committee data published Wednesday, and its unclear if all shipments have now been delivered.

In several supply categories, the total Connecticut received from the stockpile is less than the states initial request made March 11. Connecticut asked for 250,000 each of N-95 respirators, surgical masks, gloves, face shields, gowns and coveralls.

In total, the state got nearly twice the surgical masks and gloves it asked for in its initial request, but only three-quarter of the respirators requested and about half the face shields and surgical gowns. Connecticut received 1.5 percent of the coveralls it asked for.

The federal shipments from the national stockpile were not based on states requests, HHS staff told the Oversight Committee on April 7.

Instead, the first two shipments to states were allocated pro-rata-based on 2010 population data. Connecticuts population decreased by 0.2 percent from 2010 to 2019, based on U.S. Census data, or roughly 8,800 people - meaning the state likely received more PPE per capita in the first two shipments than other states that had significant population increases from 2020 to 2019.

In the last shipment, called the final push, states received either one allocation of thousands of PPE items or an allocation twice that. For example, some states received 60,450 N-95 respirators and some got 120,900.

Connecticut, which has 8,781 confirmed coronavirus cases, received 120,900 N-95 masks - or roughly 3 per 100 residents in the state. Vermont, which has only 628 cases, received the same amount - thats about 19 respirators per 100 Vermont residents.

Neighboring New York - the state with the worst outbreak in the nation with 149,401 cases - received two of these final push shipments, one for the state at large and one for New York City. Thats 241,800 N-95 masks or about 1 per 100 New York residents.

No more stockpile shipments

HHS staff stated that the Trump Administration has made its final shipments of personal protective equipment to states from the stockpile, accounting for 90 percent of the stockpiles inventory of N95 respirators, surgical and face masks, face shields, gowns, and gloves. The remaining 10 percent of PPE in the stockpile is reserved for federal workers and will not be distributed to states, HHS said on April 7.

Procuring PPE, ventilators and other supplies has been the largest source of conflict between state governors and the White House as the epidemic has unfolded. States have been competing against the federal government to buy medical supplies on the private market, while decrying the fact that they are not receiving enough supplies from the national stockpile and demanding more support for their states.

On March 31, Gov. Ned Lamont declared the national stockpile was empty and Connecticut was now on its own to secure more of the desperately needed supplies to protect workers from the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump retorted that it was not empty, but many goods were being moved directly from manufacturer to hospital or state, skipping a stop at the stockpile.

Were trying to have supply sent directly to the states, Trump said. We dont want medical supplies coming in to warehouses all over the place and then we take then from there and bring them to another warehouse. So were having them brought ideally from the manufacturer ideally to the hospital or the state where its going.

The administration has tried to rebrand the national stockpile as an emergency surplus for the federal government - not states which also have their own local stockpiles. The stockpile, paid for by taxpayers dollars, is only a supplement to states, administration officials have said.

The notion of the federal stockpile was its supposed to be our stockpile, Jared Kushner, the presidents son-in-law who has joined the administrations coronavirus logistics efforts, said on April 2.

Its not supposed to be states stockpiles that they then use.

The HHS website, which previously said the stockpile was for use in a public health emergency severe enough to cause local supplies to run out, was subsequently updated to say stockpile supplies would go to states that need them most in emergencies.

Additionally, Trump has said states have been requesting supplies they dont really need and states are forgetting about supplies they are already have.

But Connecticut and other states are reporting to the Federal Emergency Management Agency every day their case data, testing, supply levels and bed space, so the administration can respond to the outbreak, a state official said.

Meanwhile, Kushner has recounted hopping on the phone with heads of city hospitals systems, asking about their needs and deploying thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment bought by the federal government the next day.

The Trump administration has used the Defense Production Act on several occasions to spur production of ventilators and other personal protective equipment. It has also launched Project Airbridge to fly in millions of supplies from other countries.

Administration staff told the House Oversight Committee the federal government is not taking control of the supplies flown into the U.S. in Project Airbridge or directing private sector suppliers to send supplies to particular hospitals with urgent needs.

Suppliers are required only to agree to sell half of their shipments to customers in hotspots such as New York, New Jersey, New Orleans, Detroit, and Chicago, the Committee said. Suppliers are not required to reimburse the federal government for the cost of air shipment.

Connecticut received a significant shipment of masks that it purchased Wednesday and more PPE is coming next week, state officials said. It has also been receiving donations of supplies.

After it receives shipments, the state distributes the supplies to local hospitals and health centers.

Weve had to be much more creative in our procurement strategies, but weve been successful in that regard, said Josh Geballe, chief operating officer for the state of Connecticut, Wednesday. In the coming days and weeks, were going to see a significant influx of PPE into the state of Connecticut that will alleviate the challenges weve been facing.

emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson
Some 6,230 citizens are ready to stay where they are and wait until the end of quarantine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said over 8,800 Ukrainians left stranded abroad amid the coronavirus pandemic want to immediately return home.

Read alsoUkraine's interior minister outlines preliminary quarantine deadlines

"As of now, we have a little increase in the number of citizens who have turned to embassies and consulates for assistance under the Zakhyst (Protection) program (for citizens left stranded outside the country after the closure of the Ukrainian border late in March 2020)  these are 15,369 citizens, of whom 6,230 citizens are ready to stay where they are and wait until the end of quarantine. They are in constant contact with embassies and consulates, 8,850 people nevertheless insist on returning to Ukraine," he said during an online briefing, an UNIAN correspondent reported.

According to Kuleba, the Ukrainian government has decided the return should take place under the terms of observation.

"My colleagues from the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development, the Infrastructure Ministry and the Interior Ministry are completing the development of a kind of 'architecture for observation' so that everything could work smoothly, causing minimal discomfort to our citizens upon return," the minister added.
Protective N-95 face masks lie on a table at an office in Washington, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Eva Hambach/AFP via Getty Images)

Man Arrested After Trying to Sell N95 Masks for $300 During CCP Virus Pandemic

A California man was arrested by police officers on Tuesday, April 7, after he tried selling N95 respirators at price-gouging prices, according to a press release issued by the Baldwin Park Police Department on their Facebook page.

Johnwill Baldonado, a 30-year-old man from Covina, California, was arrested and booked by the Baldwin Park Police Department and later released with a future court date. He was charged with allegedly price-gouging during a declared emergency.

As indicated by the press release, the Baldwin Park Police Department received a tip about an individual from Covina selling boxes of masks for $300 per box on a classified website. Initially, the authorities had the post taken down, but soon after, two more posts containing the same information were put up.

Thus leading authorities to believe that the posts were put online by the same person as the content was identical, according to the press release.

Investigators went undercover and arranged a meeting with Baldonado in regards to the $300 masks, and then purchased a box. Following the exchange, Baldonado was arrested. In the subsequent investigation, authorities found that Baldonado had 21 boxes of N95 respirator masks. Each box contained 20 N95 respirators, totaling 420 masks overall.

According to him, he bought them himself for $200 and tried to flip it for $300, and I dont believe that, said Steven McLean, the Baldwin Park Police Department chief, according to CBS Los Angeles.

McLean also stated that the FDA arrived to take a look at the masks, and said that the ones Baldonado was selling were meant for Canada.

When he got arrested he was embarrassed, but he felt he was doing what he had to, to take care of his family, said McLean. I get it, but youre not going to do it at the expense of an entire community.

According to CBS Los Angeles, Baldonado was out of work.

Baldwin Park Police Department stated that during a state of emergency, laws prohibit price-gouging on items. In essence, this meant that item prices during times of emergency are not allowed to be more than 10 percent of what they used to cost before the statement emergency.

Anybody who tries to profit off all the agony that everybodys going through  the worst health crisis in 100 years, it really doesnt get much lower than that, said McLean, CBS Los Angeles reported.

Currently, California has 19,710 confirmed cases of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, and 544 deaths recorded, according to the Johns Hopkins University resource center. The United States has a total of 454,304 confirmed cases as of the time of writing.
Ukraine, Russia-Backed Separatists Agree On Pre-Easter Prisoner Swap

By RFE/RL April 09, 2020

Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country have agreed to another prisoner swap ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations.

The Russian and Ukrainian sides in the so-called Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) made the announcement late on April 8 following a video conference.

The talks led to "fundamental agreements on the lists for the mutual release of detained persons" no later than Orthodox Easter on April 19, according to a statement on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's website.

Russia's envoy to the TCG, Boris Gryzlov, said Kyiv and separatists in the Donbas region had "principally coordinated the lists of detained persons for exchange."

It was not immediately clear how many prisoners the two sides would exchange.

The last prisoner swap in December 2019 involved 200 people.

During the video conference, held in keeping with recommendations against in-person gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic, the sides also discussed demining and negotiations on the disengagement of troops in the Donbas region.

Negotiations for a new cease-fire between Kyiv and the separatists have so far failed to halt fighting.

The conflict has claimed around 13,200 lives since April 2014, according to the UN.

The prisoner swap comes as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in March called on the warring parties in conflicts around the world to halt fighting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With reporting by dpa and TASS

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine- russia-donbas-osce/30543225.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






NEW HAVEN  The city is working with major funders to see whether an arrangement can be made to give cash to families who have lost their jobs and dont qualify for other aid programs.

The issue came up at Mayor Justin Elickers daily virtual press conference, when he was asked what the city could do for those individuals. He said New Haven will have a revenue problem this year and would find it hard to help directly, but it is exploring a solution with others.

Elicker said he was concerned with the undocumented immigrant population in particular, who dont have recourse to state programs if they lose employment.

A coalition of labor, community and faith groups came together Thursday asking Gov. Ned Lamont to help the approximately 100,000 undocumented immigrants who pay state and local taxes to be able to tap into some state help.

It asked that the governor put some $20 million aside either for residents who pay taxes by filing with an ITIN number or establishing a disaster relief fund for those facing hardship.

The main purpose of Elickers press briefing is to update the number of New Haven residents with COVID-19. Thursday evening, it stood at 463, with 14 fatalities.

Elicker and Maritza Bond, the director of public health, also addressed the issue of patients at several nursing homes in New Haven who have contracted COVID-19, a serious issue at some other nursing homes in the state.

Elicker said they mainly are concerned with two main facilities in the city. A list put out Wednesday by the state of nursing homes with at least one positive coronavirus case named the Grimes Center.

Were having active conversations with the leadership of those nursing homes to limit any additional spread, Elicker said. Bond said the buildings have different configurations, with a mix of single and double rooms. She said her staff is advising the owners on how to arrange residents to keep them safe.

Every community is a priority for us, Bond said of the nursing homes, which are under state jurisdiction. They did not name the homes because they had not discussed going public with the facility owners, but Elicker said they might in the future.

The mayor also announced that Career High School, a portion of which has been turned into an emergency 50-bed shelter for homeless individuals leaving the hospital after treatment, has its first two patients. He thanked those who worked to get it set up, a facility that is being staffed by volunteers in the Medical Reserve Corps with a doctor on call.

As for public safety personnel, Elicker said 9 firefighters have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as four police officers, one of whom has since returned to work.

The mayor said 14 firefighters, who have not tested positive, are sheltering in the dorms at the University of New Haven to minimize the potential that their families could be exposed to the virus.

Interim Superintendent of Schools Ilene Tracey announced that some 17,500 students are accessing on-line learning, which is about 85 percent of its population, based on its absentee records.

Tracey said more than 7,000 Chromebooks have been loaned to students. Officials said 800 more will be passed out on Wednesday to students who ordered them through their principals. She said that distribution is for K-12 students.

She said the system is geared to help our families as best we can.

The superintendent also said problems with free Xfinity Wi-Fi hotspots for families have now been resolved. It can be accessed by families even if they have an unpaid bill with Comcast.

Tracey also announced that on Monday they will pass out math and literacy packets put together by principals and teachers. Schools, on order by Gov. Ned Lamont, will now remain closed through May 20.

The food program established by the school system distributed 22,915 to-go meals this month and a total of 78,400 since the program went in mid-March after the system closed its buildings because of the pandemic.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com;203-641-2577
In the past week over 50 doctors in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, voluntarily hosted 14 live broadcasts to relay anti-epidemic experience with overseas netizens.

(Photo provided by interviewees)

Through online platforms the doctors, who come from various departments at the Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, benefited millions of netizens from over 10 countries, including the U.S., Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Australia.

Besides elaborating on hot topics related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the medical hosts gave advice for people based on the conditions of their countries, tailoring protective measures for special groups such as children and pregnant women.

"It is worth our 100 percent efforts, even if the live broadcasts could only reduce the infection rate by 1 percent," said Cheng Cai, one of the promoters of the broadcast series.

To make the most out of the broadcasts, the medical workers need to consider the deployment of experts, selection of topics and technology required. Sometimes they have to get up early or stay up late to host broadcasts, considering the time difference between China and other countries.

(Photo provided by interviewees)

Li Shuang, a gynecological doctor who participated in the activity, considered it very meaningful. "Pregnant women and those who have just given birth to babies require our particular attention during the pneumonia outbreak," Li said.

Some patients dare not go to the hospital for fear of infection, while some with fevers rush to the emergency department in panic, Li pointed out, adding that the live broadcasts could tell them what kinds of patients could be treated at home and what cases need to see a doctor in time, thus avoiding collateral damage amid the epidemic.
A high number of deaths among covid patients on the breathing-assist devices and longer ventilation periods has doctors concerned

The ventilator is not therapeutic. It's a supportive measure while waiting for the patient's body to recover. In this March 24, 2020, file photo, medical staff members check a ventilator in protective suits at the care unit for the new COVID-19 infected patients inside the Koranyi National Institute of Pulmonology in Budapest. (Photo | AP)

New York: As health officials around the world push to get more ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, some doctors are moving away from using the breathing machines when they can.

The reason: Some hospitals have reported unusually high death rates for coronavirus patients on ventilators, and some doctors worry that the machines could be harming certain patients.

Doctors are still learning the best way to manage a virus that emerged only months ago. They are relying on anecdotal, real-time data amid a crush of patients and shortages of basic supplies.

Mechanical ventilators push oxygen into patients whose lungs are failing. Using the machines involves sedating a patient and sticking a tube into the throat. Deaths in such sick patients are common, no matter the reason they need the breathing help.

High rate of death

Generally speaking, 40% to 50% of patients with severe respiratory distress die while on ventilators, experts say. But 80% or more of coronavirus patients placed on the machines in New York City have died, state and city officials say.

Similar reports have emerged from China and the United Kingdom. One U.K. report put the figure at 66%. A very small study in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the disease first emerged, said 86% died.

The patients may have become too sick by the time they were put on the machines, some experts said.

But ventilators can be damaging to a patient over time, as high-pressure oxygen is forced into the tiny air sacs in a patient's lungs, they said.

Could cause injury

One of the most important findings in the last few decades is that medical ventilation can worsen lung injury _ so we have to be careful how we use it, Dr. Eddy Fan, an expert on respiratory treatment at Toronto General Hospital.

The dangers can be eased by limiting the amount of pressure and the size of breaths delivered by the machine, Fan said.

Now last resort, other methods tried first

A few weeks ago in New York City, coronavirus patients who came in quite sick were routinely placed on ventilators, said Dr. Joseph Habboushe, an emergency medicine doctor who works in Manhattan hospitals.

But increasingly, physicians are trying other measures first. One is having patients lie in different positions _ including on their stomachs _ to allow different parts of the lung to aerate better. Another is giving patients more oxygen through nose tubes or other devices. Some doctors are experimenting with adding nitric oxide to the mix, to help improve blood flow and oxygen to the least damaged parts of the lungs.

If we're able to make them better without intubating them, they are more likely to have a better outcome _ we think,'' Habboushe said.

He said those decisions are separate from worries that there are not enough ventilators available. But that is a concern as well, Habboushe added.

Long periods of ventilator use

Experts say that patients with bacterial pneumonia, for example, may be on a ventilator for no more than a day or two. But it's been common for coronavirus patients to have been on a ventilator seven days, 10 days, 15 days, and they're passing away,'' said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, when asked about ventilator death rates during a news briefing on Wednesday.

The ventilator is not therapeutic. It's a supportive measure while we wait for the patient's body to recover," said Dr. Roger Alvarez, a lung specialist with the University of Miami Health System in Florida, who is a leader in the effort to use nitric oxide to keep patients off ventilators for as long as possible.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Hundreds of graduating law school students around Ohio have asked the state to consider allowing them to be licensed to practice law without taking the bar exam because of the uncertainties caused by coronavirus.

The students this week petitioned the Ohio Supreme Court and its bar admissions office to adopt a practice known as diploma privilege, which would allow them to be licensed to practice law by virtue of their juris doctorate degrees.

That would relieve anxiety among students now contemplating taking an exam in a crowded area while the coronavirus crisis still exists or delaying an exam, Matthew Wagner, president of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Student Bar Association, said in an interview with cleveland.com.

Delaying the exam, Wagner noted, would increase anxiety about the ability to practice law and begin paying off student loans. Allowing the graduates to practice, on the other hand, would help ensure a steady supply of lawyers in an era where legal representation is going to be needed, he said.

This is in response to a global pandemic. Wagner said. The best option on the table, the best option that ensures students have some certainty,  is the emergency licensure.

This years exam is scheduled to be held July 28-29.

The petition signed by more than 400 people including student bar presidents from all nine of Ohios certified law schools suggests that additional continuing education requirements be required in lieu of the exam. The students might also be required to have achieve a specific GPA as a threshold for licensing.

A spokesman for the Ohio Supreme Court said any decision on the bar exam ultimately will be made by the court and by its bar admissions staff, in consultation with the deans of Ohios law schools.

No decision has been made yet, said Edward Miller, the courts director of public information, said in an email Friday. But the National Conference of Bar Examiners has been polling states about dates for exams in the summer and fall.

The impact the ongoing COVID-19 crisis will have on the July 2020 Uniform Bar Examination is not certain at this time, a note posted to the Ohio Supreme Courts website states. We are in close contact with the National Conference of Bar Examiners and other jurisdictions as we all consider possible options for the July exam in the event that bar admission office closures or prohibitions against large gatherings remain in effect."

Already Connecticut and Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York have postponed their summer bar exams, Wagner said. Utahs Supreme Court this week ordered that qualified recent graduates in that state could be admitted to the bar without exam.

Wisconsin has long had a form of diploma privilege in place.

And a paper presented by law professors from around the country through Ohio State Universitys Moritz College of Law argues the idea has merit.

Law students already have had to adjust as a result of the coronavirus.

At Cleveland States Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, for example, students went to remote learning several weeks ago. This week, the college announced summer classes, scheduled to begin in May, would also be done remotely.

Typically, the bar exam is administered in one location with hundreds of people working at tables in a large room, such as a convention center. Nearly 900 people took Ohios 2019 summer bar exam.

It is no secret that the legal profession has a mental health crisis, with close to a third of lawyers reporting depression and two-thirds reporting anxiety. However, the effect this may have on the families of students as well cannot go unnoticed, the student petition states. Forcing a bar exam to take place, even in small settings, will needlessly expose those students, and by extension, their family members, to COVID-19. This concern will only exacerbate mental health concerns of students.
KIGALI  The Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) said on Thursday that prosecution will arraign Col. Tom Byabagamba before military courts for additional charges committed while in detention.

Col. Byabagamba is suspected of committing more criminal activities related to attempting to commit corruption and attempting to escape from prison.

Suspected criminal activities committed by Colonel Tom Byabagamba and his inside and outside accomplices are being thoroughly investigated, RDF said in a statement.

The statement did not give further details of how he intended to escape from prison.

A former commander of the Republican Guard, Byabagamba was arrested on August 24, 2014 and in 2016, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison by the Military High Court.

Last year in December, the Court of Appeal reduced his sentence to 15 years and stripped him off his military ranks.

He was found guilty of inciting insurrection or trouble amongst the population, and tarnishing the image of the country or Government.

Byabagamba was also found guilty of wilfully concealing objects that would facilitate the execution of a crime, and contempt of the national flag.

The RDF reassures the public that justice will take its course and will not tolerate any person who violates the law and RDF ethics and values, the statement reads in part.

Related
April 10, 2020

U.S. Oil & Gas Plc.

("US Oil" or the "Company")

Operations update

Highlights:

Drill permit process progressing

Multi-block hydrocarbon compartment mapped in a four-compartment East Prospect structure

Eblana-9 well to target one block with estimated 28 million barrels of oil

Additional exploration leases secured in Hot Creek Valley

OPERATIONS UPDATE

Application to Drill

In a news release of December 23, 2019, the Company reported that it hoped to drill in Q1 2020, subject to regulatory permissions. However, the permitting process is still ongoing, although the Company believes it is currently gaining momentum. The Company is engaged intensively with the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on the Permit to Drill application process. In spite of the current Covid-19 crisis, indications at present are that federal and state regulatory processes may not be slowed to a significant degree, and permitting can be expected to move forward efficiently.

The Company hopes to drill in Q2, 2020, subject to permit approval. However, possible Covid-19 constraints may impact the timetable for operations in ways that cannot be anticipated at this point. The Company will keep the situation under review and adjust its plans accordingly.

Prospect modelling

In parallel with preparing and submitting its Application to Drill, the Company has continued intensive data analysis work on its East Prospect. Further modelling of the oil system and the targeted reservoir was carried out to assist in post-drill operations and field development planning and to further reduce risk. All indications so far support the belief that the East Prospect is an analogue of Railroad Valley's Trap Spring field (15.2 million barrels oil produced to 2015).

The planned well (Eblana-9) will target 28 million barrels of oil (STOIIP) in one block of a mapped multi-block compartment in a four-compartment East Prospect structure. Eight wells can potentially be supported on the single targeted block. Two additional large East Play reservoir structures have also been identified. Field potential is estimated to be up to one billion barrels.

LEASE ACQUISITION

In a competitive auction held by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on March 24, 2020, the Company successfully bid for an additional 1,223 acres adjacent to its existing holdings in Hot Creek Valley and believed prospective in the light of currently available data. The total amount bid was $4,621. The acquisition is subject to the issuing of official confirmatory documentation. Including the newly acquired acreage, the Company's total acreage position, held by its wholly owned subsidiary Major Oil Intl. LLC, is 74,948 acres.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The statements in this communication reflect the current thinking of the Board and the Company's present plans. The Company reserves the right to alter plans in the light of developing knowledge and circumstances. Shareholders' attention is drawn to the note below concerning Forward-looking Statements.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information". Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: business plans and strategies of US Oil and Gas; operating or technical difficulties in connection with drilling or development activities; availability and costs associated with inputs and labour; drilling and exploration costs; the speculative nature of oil exploration and development; diminishing quantities or quality of reserves; synergies and financial impact of completed acquisitions; the benefits of the acquisitions and the development potential of properties of US Oil and Gas; the future price of oil; supply and demand for oil; the estimation of reserves; the realization of reserve estimates; costs of production and projections of costs; success of exploration activities; capital expenditure programs and the timing and method of financing thereof; the ability of US Oil and Gas to achieve drilling success consistent with management's expectations; net present values of future net revenues from reserves; expected levels of royalty rates, operating costs, general and administrative costs, costs of services and other costs and expenses; expectations regarding the ability to raise capital and to add to reserves through acquisitions, assessments of the value of acquisitions and exploration and development programs; geological, technical, drilling and processing problems; treatment under governmental regulatory regimes and tax laws.

All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements

THE DIRECTORS OF THE COMPANY ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE CONTENTS OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT

Neither this announcement nor the information contained herein constitutes an offer or solicitation by U.S. Oil and Gas Plc for the purchase or sale of any securities nor does it constitute a solicitation to any person in any jurisdiction where solicitation would be unlawful.

For further information contact:

Brian McDonnell, Chief Executive Officer +353 (1) 631 9022

About U.S. Oil & Gas:

U.S. Oil & Gas plc is an oil and gas exploration company with a strategy to identify and acquire oil and gas assets in the early phase of the upstream life-cycle and mature them. The Company's

main asset is in Nye County, Nevada where it holds the entire share capital of US-based company, Major Oil International LLC ("Major Oil"). Major Oil has acquired rights to exploration and development acreage in Hot Creek Valley, Nye County, adjacent to the oil and gas rich Railroad Valley area of Nevada, both of which are part of the Sevier Thrust of central Nevada and western Utah, USA.

For further information please refer to our website at: www.usoilandgas.us

###
The new Batman explains why he's saying goodbye to Gotham and hello to New York City

New Batman, New York City - why DC's Dark Knight is leaving Gotham City
Syria has rejected the findings and conclusions of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' report about the attack on al-Ltamenah in 2017 writes SANA.

Syria affirmed that the report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) about the use of toxic materials in al-Ltamenah in 2017 is misleading and included false and fabricated conclusions.

On Apr. 8, 2020, the OPCW released a misleading report by the so-called Investigation and Identification Team, which Syria and a number of countries have announced is an illegitimate and unconventional team, the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

It added that the report includes false and fabricated conclusions that aim to forge facts and accuses the Syrian government of using toxic materials in 2017 in the town of al-Ltamenah, reyling on sources that were prepared and fabricated by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists and the so-called White Helmets terrorist organization, which serves the obstructionist desires of their western operators.

The Syrian Arab Republic condemns, in the strongest terms, what has come in the report of the illegitimate so-called Investigation and Identification Team, and rejects what has been included in it, in form and content, the statement said.

It added that Syria, at the same time, categorically denies using toxic gases in al-Ltamenah or in any city of village, and affirms that the Syrian army has never used such weapons in the difficult battles carried out against armed terrorist organizations.

Syria stresses that the conclusions of that report represent another scandal for the OPCW and the investigation team that will be added to the scandal of the report of the Douma incident in 2018, and all these fabricated allegations will not affect its stance in the war against terrorism and its supporters, the Foreign Ministry said.

It added that the Syrian Arab Republic reiterates that it categorically rejects the use of chemical weapons by any side, at any time or place, and Syria has never used any chemical weapon and will not use them.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The coronavirus pandemic notched up another round of record death tolls in the United States and Europe, dousing the optimism of US President Donald Trump who insisted there was light at the end of the tunnel. The virus has now killed more than 87,000 people and infected over 1.5 million, according to an AFP tally on Thursday, sparing almost no country and tipping the world into a devastating economic crisis as global commerce shudders to a halt. For the second straight day, the US grieved nearly 2,000 deaths on Wednesday, as flags flew at half-mast in hardest-hit New York. There was also a record death toll of 938 over 24 hours in Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a third night in intensive care, his condition said to be "improving." France saw its total number of dead climb over 10,000 as the country prepared to extend its strict lockdown measures. Spain and Italy are still seeing hundreds of deaths per day despite tentative signs the disease may have peaked. And the pandemic is marching into areas previously only lightly affected: in Africa, Ethiopia declared a state of emergency and Liberia said it was locking down its capital Monrovia. Its deadly tentacles also crept deep into the Amazon rainforest, with the first case detected among the Yanomami, an indigenous people isolated from the world until the mid-20th century and vulnerable to disease. Nevertheless, some glimmers of hope shone in the darkness, with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying the epidemic curve seemed to be flattening. "We are hopefully heading towards a final stretch, the light at the end of the tunnel," said Trump. - 'Playing with fire' - All around the world, medical facilities are at bursting point as they struggle with a relentless procession of critically-ill patients. In the badly affected city of Guayaquil in Ecuador, sick patients are passing out before arriving at emergency care and the elderly are slumped outside in wheelchairs at overwhelmed hospitals. "My grandmother died, my mother has all the symptoms, my 15-year-old sister too and the government is doing nothing, nothing! We need to be almost dying in order to receive assistance," said Xiomara Franco, a relative of a sick patient. "There is a lack of oxygen, a lack of medicine, a lack of nurses and doctors, a lack of stretchers," complained Henry Figueroa, another angry relative. At the global level, the World Health Organization and Trump are embroiled in an ugly war of words, with Trump accusing the UN body of "blowing it" and being too close to China. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged unity at a time of global crisis, saying: "If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicising it." "It's like playing with fire." - 'Better to die' - Governments are wrestling with the problem of when to exit lockdown procedures and reboot a global economy that is effectively in deep freeze. The World Trade Organization warned the pandemic was likely to spark the deepest recession "of our lifetimes," with global trade poised to plummet by one third. The Bank of France estimated the country's economy shrank around six percent in the first quarter -- the worst performance since the end of World War II. Europe powerhouse Germany is seen contracting an eye-watering 10 percent as the eurozone squabbled about pooling debt for "coronabonds" to help the worst-affected members such as Spain and Italy. In Miami, hundreds lined up in cars to get unemployment forms after the website crashed due to a surge in demand. Gus Rios, a 67-year-old former factory worker, said: "People are looking for help, people (are) crazy right now, almost, to get something because we don't know the situation how long is going to be." Recent US data indicate 10 million people have lost their jobs in the world's top economy that is closed for business. In India, a virus-induced lockdown is hitting the millions of poor hardest as they wait for promised government food subsidies that cannot come quick enough for mother-of-three Rajni Devi, 30. "Last night we had roti (Indian flatbread) with salt mixed in mustard oil," she said. "It's better to die than starve like this." - 'Doing something good' - The pandemic has forced half of humanity inside, an unprecedented measure that has allowed wildlife to reclaim previously choked streets. In India, hundreds of monkeys are running riot in the roads around the presidential palace while peacocks display their spectacular trains on top of parked cars in Mumbai. In Vienna, animals are being conscripted into the fight against the virus, with horse-drawn carriages converted from a tourist attraction to a food delivery service. Christian Gerzabek, who drives one of the famous city "Fiaker", said business had crawled to a halt but "the horses still have to be moved, they want to get out after the winter." "I thought that we should combine that... with doing something good for people who need it," he told AFP. burs-ric/amj
In a shocking revelation, Bihar Police have unravelled a nefarious Pakistani ploy of spreading the deadly coronavirus in India by sending coronavirus infected men via Nepal. According to the reports, the Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB) manning the Indo-Nepal border has written a letter to the Champaran SP and District Magistrate, apprising them of a racket that is being operated from Nepal to spread the coronavirus in India.

#Breaking | Bihar police exposes Pakistan's plot. Pakistan may send infected men to India via Nepal: Bihar police. Details by TIMES NOW's Shyam. pic.twitter.com/9aFN8FsvMV  TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) April 10, 2020

As per the letter sent by SSB, a resident in Nepal is trying to send positive coronavirus Indian Muslims to India through Bihar border with the ulterior motive of disseminating the virus in India. The letter also states that Pakistani men already infected by COVID-19 may also be infiltrated to India via the Indo-Nepal border.

The Patna DGP Gupteshwar Pandey informed that after the letter from SSB was received by the DM and Champaran SP, all the other SPs of the districts bordering Nepal have been alerted of possible infiltration attempts made by intruders from Nepal.

I had talked to the Inspector General of the SSB. All the SPs of the districts bordering Nepal have been alerted about the possibility of infiltration attempts being carried out by intruders based out of Nepal. The SSB is deployed at the border. We have our police personnel also deputed at the border. Till date, there is no information that anybody has infiltrated from the Nepal border, he said.

Pandey assured that infiltration from Nepal is very difficult as the entire border between the two country is completely sealed in the view of the coronavirus outbreak.

Regarding the 14 Indian Muslims who had escaped a quarantine centre to Nepal, DGP Pandey said that they might try to return but nobody will be allowed to enter India as lockdown is underway. In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, nationwide lockdown has been imposed. Not just international borders are sealed, state borders and district borders are sealed as well. Nobody from Nepal can enter India, no one from Uttar Pradesh can enter Bihar and nobody can enter Patna from outside. Anyone who is trying to breach the lockdown, we will immediately arrest them, DGP Pandey said.
The police on Friday booked south corporation councillor Santosh Shokeens husband, saying that despite being tested positive for Covid-19 and infecting two family members, he misled authorities about having visited the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Nizamuddin last month. The man, Sukhbir Shokeen, however, has denied the claims, and labelled the charges a political conspiracy.

A case under the Epidemic Diseases Act and sections 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the councillors husband, Sukhbir Shokeen, at Chhawla police station.

Santosh is the South Delhi Municipal Corporations councillor from Nangli Sakrawati municipal ward.

The six-storey headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat emerged as the biggest hot spot for Covid-19 across the country, after a congregation was held inside the building last month, around the time the nationwide lockdown was announced. The congregation was attended by several hundred Indians and foreigners.

Shokeens family lives in Deenpur village, which is among the 23 areas in the city that have been declared containment zones by the Delhi government after cases of the contagious virus surfaced in those neighbourhoods.

Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said the village was declared a containment zone after the man and two of his family members were tested positive for Covid-19. A kilometre-wide radius around the village has been sealed completely.

The man (Shokeen) was earlier placed in home quarantine by health authorities. He was not home when a physical verification of people in home quarantine was being carried out. When questioned later, he hid the facts about his past travel and movements, read a statement released by the Delhi Police.

A police officer said that after the mans (Shokeens) medical tests confirmed he had Covid-19, he was shifted to a hospital.

Later, two of his family members were also found positive with the disease, and he was suspected to be the source that infected them. Since the health and police authorities were not able to ascertain how the man got infected with the disease, his cellphones call detail records were analysed, and the location data tracked, the officer said.

The technical investigation confirmed his visit to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin. But the man withheld this fact during the repeated medical and police enquiries, Alphonse said.

However, on a phone call with Hindustan Times, Sukhbir Shokeen  who is being treated at Ambedkar Hospital in Rohini  claimed he has never visited the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters at Nizamuddin.

Im a practising Hindu. I have no connection with the Markaz and neither have I ever been there. It is a political conspiracy as my wife is the only Congress councillor from among the 25 municipal wards in Najafgarh zone. Im being framed.

Shokeen said he has been distributing food and essential items to needy people in his ward, ever since the lockdown. I have been travelling to different areas. I could have contracted the infection from anywhere. I got my test done from a private laboratory, and got admitted to the hospital on April 1 after testing positive. My wife and daughter have also tested positive and are recovering in the hospital.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 06:01 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0f1371 1 City COVID-19,COVID-19-Jakarta,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,Jakarta-administration,PSBB,large-scale-social-restrictions Free

The Jakarta Police have said they have no plans to close any roads in the capital during the two weeks of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) that will begin on Friday.

"There are no closures or traffic rerouting on roads entering or exiting Jakarta so far, despite transportation restrictions that are in place," Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Nana Sudjana said in a virtual press conference on Wednesday.

Jakarta Transportation Agency head Syafrin Liputo said that physical distancing and limiting the number of passengers in private vehicles were the best options.



"There are no road closures in the capital city as of now," he said as quoted by kompas.com.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has announced that the city will impose stronger mobility restrictions for 14 days starting on Friday to contain the surge of COVID-19 cases in the capital.

Public transportation services will limit passenger numbers to 50 percent of their capacity and restrict their operational hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Private vehicles are still allowed to pass through the city's streets, also in and out of the capital, but with a limited number of passengers in each vehicle.

Residents have been instructed to stay at home as schools, offices and public spaces will remain closed. Gatherings of more than five people in public spaces will be prohibited.

Read also: COVID-19: Satellite cities to follow Jakarta's lead on PSBB

The Jakarta Police launched a two-week operation starting on Monday to educate the public about COVID-19 prevention as well as PSBB. The operation will end on April 19.

"The operation aims to educate road users about PSBB and increase their awareness about obeying traffic rules. It also acts as a preemptive and preventive measure to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak," Adj. Com. Sr. Fahri Siregar of the Jakarta Traffic Police said in a written statement on Wednesday.

Fahri said that police officers would also help with the distribution of staple foods and face masks to residents.

As of Thursday afternoon, Jakarta had confirmed 1,706 COVID-19 cases in the city, more than half of the country's official tally of 3,293 cases. The capital has recorded 142 fatalities out of 280 nationwide.

PSBB will be in force in the capital until April 24. (nal)
It's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas -- even though it's time for the Easter Bunny to hide a few eggs.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas -- even though it's time for the Easter Bunny to hide a few eggs.

The winter of 2019-2020 is one of those strange winters that began with a turkey of a Thanksgiving long weekend -- a massive dump of snow that disrupted travel plans, snapped tree limbs and downed power lines leaving some people without electricity for days -- while ending a few months later with Manitobans being egged with snow and below normal temperatures days as the Easter long weekend arrives.

It's like Mother Nature has joined with our premier and provincial health officials to help with COVID-19 efforts to keep people indoors for social distancing.

But, while those long weekends months apart turned out to be a white washout, in between winter was actually not bad.

"It was a soft, gentle winter bookended by two miserable long weekends," summed up Dave Phillips, a senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

Phillips said Winnipeggers had 154 centimetres of snow fall on their heads from Thanksgiving to just before Easter, which was higher than the average of 104 centimetres -- but that's actually deceptive.

"Total winter snowfall in December, January and February, our winter season, was 62 centimetres so you can see it was all about fall snowfall and spring snowfall," he said.

"Almost all of October's 36.6 centimetres fell on the 10th, with 21 centimetres, and the 11th, with 13 centimetres."

And, Phillips said, this winter had another curious white tidbit.

"There were only four days with amounts 10 centimetres or greater, which is about normal, and interestingly two occurred in October and one each in March and April," he said.

"Rainfall was less than normal -- from October to April 9 there was 35.4 millimetres compared to the normal 60 millimetres. That has helped the flood threat especially after the huge amounts of rain in August and September."

Closer to home, Rob Paola, a retired Environment Canada meteorologist in Winnipeg who operates the weather website Rob's Obs, agrees that the winter was "pretty tame.

"But we had those bookends of October and April snowstorms that were the most significant snowfalls of the winter."

Paola said snowfall in December was below normal, February was "way below normal", and January was a little above normal, resulting in 62 centimetres of snow instead of the average 60 centimetres.

"The winter itself was also very tame," he said. "We never had any big snowfalls. But on October 10 to 11 there was 34 centimetres and because there were still leaves on the trees it caused extensive damage to the tree canopy and hydro issues."

Then, on April 2 to 3, Paola says 22 centimetres of white stuff fell. And fell.

"Since 1872, that was the seventh highest amount of snow which fell in two days," he said, noting the top two-day snowfall in April was on April 12 and 13 in 1872.

But, Paola said many Winnipeggers will recall an even bigger dump of snow in April -- it's just that storm continued into part of a third day. It also was in the run-up to the Flood of the Century.

"The all time April snowstorm was 48 centimetres in 1997 -- that really is the king of snowfalls in April."

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Paola said many people think it is unusual snow to fall in April, even though it's not.

"Since 1872 there have only been 21 Aprils without measurable snow -- so 86 per cent of Aprils have measurable snow," he said.

"The average April has 10 centimetres of snow. It would be unusual if we didn't get snow."

But after the two bad long weekends, Paola said at least there is a silver lining to any snow that falls in April.

"The good thing about snowfalls in April is when it comes it doesn't usually hang around that long."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
A remote Amazon tribe has recorded its first death related to Covid-19 after a teenager who tested positive for coronavirus fell critically ill, Brazilian health officials have said.

Alvanei Xirixan, a 15-year-old boy from the Yanomami indigenous group, died on Thursday night in intensive care at a hospital in Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima state, officials said, amid concerns about the vulnerability of indigenous people to foreign diseases.

Luiz Henrique Mandetta, Brazils health minister, said the case was very worrying when it was first reported on Wednesday.

We have to be triply cautious with [indigenous] communities, especially the ones that have very little contact with the outside world, he said.

The Brazilian ministry of health has set up a national crisis committee to monitor the effect of Covid-19 on indigenous communities, according to the countrys Globo news agency.

Anthropologists and health experts have warned coronavirus could have a devastating impact on the country's 850,000 indigenous people who are vulnerable to external diseases and whose lifestyle in tribal villages rules out social distancing.

There is an incredible risk of the virus spreading across the native communities and wiping them out, Dr Sofia Mendonca, a researcher at the Federal University of Sao Paulo (Unifesp), told the BBC last week.

Indigenous groups in the country have previously been seriously hurt by disease outbreaks - such as in the 1960s, when a measles outbreak among members of the Yanomami killed nearly 9 per cent of those infected.

The Yanomami group, which has been largely isolated from the rest of the world, contains approximately 35,000 people living in Brazil and Venezuela.

Globo has reported at least seven coronavirus cases among Brazils indigenous population so far.

The country has more than 18,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 957 deaths, as Friday afternoon, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.

On Thursday, Amazonas state warned its health system had been overwhelmed by the epidemic and all intensive care beds and ventilators had already been taken.

Rosemary Pinto, head of the state health system, has pleaded for people to follow social distancing orders aimed at shutting down all but essential activities to slow the spread of the virus.

There are still too many people in the streets, she said at a news conference.

Families are sitting out on chairs in front of their homes. There are lines at the banks, including elderly people who are at risk, and that is why so many are dying.

Additional reporting by Reuters
Phoenix, AZ -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/09/2020 -- Leanne Meier, BSN, RN is the international talk show host of Once a Nurse, Always a Nurse: Exploring the world of Nursing on VoiceAmerica.com, Health & Wellness for the past 2.5 years. She currently has over 110,000 listeners in 70+ countries. Leanne led a team during a closure of two hospitals and managed information classes, assisted with placement of laid off workers and fought for fair and respectful treatment of employees while working closely with the State of Minnesota Services. Leanne has also served as a trainer for 15 years with Talent Development researching, designing and training specialized programs. Leanne's extensive experience includes 17 years of management experience, teaching staff how to deal with conflict resolution. She consulted with and mediated conflicts between managers, employees, teams and individuals. Leanne's goal is to be the conduit of nurses' voices for who they are and what they add to the life of every human being on the planet. She is an engaging and sought-after public speaker dedicated to the advancement and well-being of Nurses!



Program Description:

In the COVID-19 Pandemic in the USA there are two fights going on. One against a virulent and dangerous new coronavirus and the other on behalf of the safety and protection of "essential" workers across the country. The disease is doing an exceptional job at its mission: to infect and kill as many hosts as possible. Many cities, states, hospital administrations and political leaders are, to a large extent, failing miserably at their mission: To protect each and every doctor, nurse, hospital employee, pharmacist & tech, military, emergency workers of all kinds, public employees, grocery and other clerks, gas station attendants and bus & truck drivers with the proper protective equipment to allow them to do their jobs in relative safety. My guests, Darlene Nelson RN and Dr. Juan Nieto of Texas wish to tell of insights of healthcare workers.



Guests:

Darlene Nelson, RN is a testifying expert & nurse consultant since 1998. She is skilled in assisting both Plaintiff & Defense attorneys with preparing medical malpractice cases throughout the phases of litigation. As a Nurse Consultant, she brings a broad knowledge base, supported by thirty years of practice as an emergency/critical care, pediatric, interventional radiology & neuro-radiology nurse. Twenty years of her experience, until 2011, was obtained at a San Antonio academic, Level I Trauma, Comprehensive Stroke and Cardiac Center. She is detailed orientated with a strong work ethic and believes in getting the job done right. This has been critical in the work she is currently doing during the COVID-19 pandemic, as she holds hospital administrations and government leaders in Texas accountable for the lack of support and protection of all healthcare workers under their responsibility. Darlene also advocates for nurses in disputes with the Board of Nursing.



Dr. Juan Nieto is a Board Certified, clinically active, emergency physician. He graduated with his degree in Medicine from the University of Colorado in 1974. He has dedicated his career to clinical instruction of medical residents and the practice of emergency medicine caring for patients. He was a clinical instructor at Denver General Hospital and the Central Texas Medical Foundation. He was a practicing faculty, emergency physician and clinical instructor from 1994 until 2010 at University Hospital in San Antonio Texas. University Hospital is a large teaching hospital where Dr. Nieto staffed the Level I trauma, regional referral emergency room and provided instruction to interns and residents. Dr. Nieto continues in his practice of caring for sick and injured patients in a free-standing emergency center.
A high-profile diaspora group of some of the top Indian American corporate executives and leaders have raised USD 600 million to fight hunger and provide direct relief to vulnerable populations affected by the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and India.

ChaloGive for COVID-19 launched by Indiaspora has raised USD 500 million from its leadership network. Indiaspora also announced another USD 100 million as matching donation for its online giving campaign starting Friday.

This pandemic has exposed an already existing hunger crisis, said Indra Nooyi, former Pepsico CEO.

Together, as a society we must rise to this moment and address this great need knowing our investment in people, in families, and in communities will reap untold benefits not only now but into the future, she said.

Money raised by Indiaspora will meet demand on the ground through beneficiary non-profits Feeding America in the US and Goonj in India, a media release said.

One of the most pressing and urgent challenges facing both the US and India right now is hunger, which is a deciding factor in Indiaspora's new ChaloGive campaign, it added.

"We are facing an unprecedented situation due to Covid-19, said Anand Rajaraman, a Silicon Valley-based serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist, and an Indiaspora Founders Circle member who, along with his wife Kaushie Adiseshan, is a lead donor for the campaign.

"The drastic measures necessary to control this pandemic have created special challenges for vulnerable sections of society across the world, particularly in India and the US. Indiaspora has the opportunity to unite the diaspora to quickly and decisively help in the midst of this crisis," Rajaraman said.

"While all eyes are on frontline hospitals, millions in America and across the globe suffer silently from a growing and equally alarming epidemic of food insecurity as the COVID-19 crisis threatens to push already struggling families deeper into poverty, said Sejal Hathi, an Indiaspora Board member and physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Now more than ever is the time for communities like Indiaspora's to come together and rise to this call to feed people in need, Hathi said.

Indiaspora said ChaloGive for COVID-19 provides an opportunity for the Indian diaspora to make a collective impact toward helping marginalized communities which have been disproportionately affected by the ongoing crisis.

"This crisis has made it even harder for those who were already struggling to survive," said Kris Gopalakrishnan, chairman of Axilor Ventures and a founder of IT services company Infosys, who is also an Indiaspora Founders Circle member.

"Given the increasingly global world we are living in, India and its diaspora are in a unique and powerful position to help each other, he added.

It is essential that individuals, especially vulnerable populations who are most at risk, maintain access to food during this public health emergency, said former U.S. Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy.

I proudly support this campaign and trust its impact will go far to bring relief to those struggling with food insecurity, he said.

In India, philanthropists Rohini and Nandan Nilekani and Bollywood actress Nandita Das also have voiced their support for the campaign.

Goonj is just the kind of organisation we can rely on in this double crisis of health and livelihoods, said Rohini Nilekani.

It has decades of experience serving the most vulnerable while striving to preserve the dignity of every stakeholder, and it has time and again demonstrated a scaled up, rapid response in the aftermath of disasters. We have been supporters of Goonj for many years. They care, and they deliver, she said.

Despite our extensive experience of working in disasters, the scale and still unfolding nature of this long-tailed disaster calls for massive resource mobilization for short-, mid- and long-term work, said Anshu Gupta, Goonj founder and a Magsaysay Awardee.

We are delighted to partner with Indiaspora on this campaign as an opportunity to engage the Indian-American community and our well wishers from across the world in supporting their fellow citizens in this difficult hour," he said.

The nation and our food bank network are facing challenges unlike anything we've seen in our organization's history, said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America.

We are truly grateful to Indiaspora for its support of Feeding America through the ChaloGive for COVID-19 campaign. During this time of uncertainty, the generous donations derived from this effort will help bring much-needed food and hope to countless families facing hunger across the US, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro was booed at as he dismissed guidance on the country's social distancing measures to hug and pose for selfies with bakery workers and customers.

The far-right leader stopped by the shop in Brasilia on Thursday and was greeted by supporters, whom he exchanged pleasantries with while one of his staffers filmed the encounter, which was shared by his son on Twitter.

Bolsonaro munched on a pastry , enjoyed a soft drink beverage and made himself available for selfies with random shoppers.

The outgoing Brazilian president's visit was met with disdain as residents outside the bakery booed him and banged pots and pans to protest his stance on the global pandemic that has ravaged the South American nation.

He also visited a drug store in Brasilia where he spokewith workers and customers while granting photo requests on Wednesday.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro poses for a photo with a local bakery worker in Brasilia on Thursday. The far-right leader has been dismissive towards measures recommended to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic

Bolsonaro obliges to a bakery customer's request and poses for a selfie while holding on to a pastry and a soft drink cup

Brazil has registered record-high COVID-19 numbers in Latin America with 957 deaths and 18,176 confirmed cases.

However, the worrisome numbers appear not to have swayed Bolsonaro's view on the epidemic as he has criticized isolation and lockdown measures that state governments stress are important to containing the coronavirus.

Bolsonaro, whose popularity as of late has dipped due to his handling of the pandemic, last week shrugged off the virus' global impact and said it is 'not all it's being made out to be'.

The president has been at constant odds with Brazilian Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, a staunch support of social distancing and stay-at-home policies, whom he considered firing Monday.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro grants a bakery customer a picture request while her co-worker snaps away with a cellphone

Bolsonaro was also jeered outside the bakery as residents booed him and banged on pots and pans to protest his coronavirus dismissive stance. The Brazilian president said last week that the virus is 'not all it's being made out to be'

Bolsonaro has not been too fond of the nation's health expert refusal to fully back him on the use of hydroxychloroquine - an anti-malaria drug - to treat coronavirus patients at first signs of the illness.

Mandetta has said the drug should only be given by medical professionals to hospitalized patients, because clinical trials have not shown it is safe and effective against the coronavirus.

Bolsonaro, 65, tested negative for the coronavirus in March - days after a staff aid developed symptoms and tested positive. The diagnosis came after the Brazilian president and his contingent traveled to the United States to meet with President Donald Trump.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro (second from right) was loudly booed after met with bakery customers and workers on Thursday

Bolsonaro also visited a drug store in Brasilia and chatted with workers and customers while granting photo requests on Wednesday
Pakistan on Friday further extended ban on domestic and international flight operations up to April 21 as the country stepped up efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus which has infected more than 4,500 people in the country, authorities said.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan has sharply increased to 4,601 with more than 280 fresh infections while the death toll reached 66, the health officials said on Friday.

The Ministry of National Health Services, in an early morning update on its website, reported that four patients died of coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

The total number of patients who died due to COVID-19 has reached 66. As many as 727 have recovered while 45 were in critical condition, it said.

The total tally of COVID-19 patients in the largest province of Punjab was 2,270, Sindh 1,128, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 620, Balochistan 219, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) 215, Islamabad 107 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 33.

The official data showed that so far 54,706 tests have been conducted, including 2,478 in the last 24 hours.

The government announced various measures to meet the challenge of COVID-19, including cash payments to the most needy, which already started on Thursday and would continue for about three weeks until 12 million families were paid Rs 12,000 each.

The Aviation Ministry also extended ban on the domestic and international flight operations to contain the spread of the virus.

The ministry in a statement said that "as per the decision of the Government of Pakistan, the suspension of International and Domestic flight operations as effected earlier has been extended up to April 21, Tuesday."



It further said: "Remaining provisions as applicable to the suspension of International and Domestic flights reflected in the previous orders remain unchanged."



The original ban was imposed last month in the wake of sharp increases in the coronavirus cases in the country.

Meanwhile, Pakistan President Arif Alvi has announced that a special prayer called 'Salaat-u-Tauba' (prayer for forgiveness) will be offered on Friday at Aiwan-e-Sadr or Presidential Palace with limited gathering.

The decision was taken in a meeting of Alvif with a delegation of Council of Islamic Ideology, led by Qibla Ayaz in Islamabad on Thursday.

Friday congregation were already stopped by the government.

Sindh government announced complete lockdown from 12-3 pm in order to stop people from going to mosques to attend Friday prayer in big congregations, according to information minister Nasir Shah.

Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Peshawar on Friday, where he will be given a detailed briefing by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government on the precautionary steps taken to curb the spread of the virus.

Centres have been set up across the country to support and provide relief to those affected by the virus.

Pakistan is making frantic efforts to tackle the pandemic.

Khan has warned the people to follow official guidelines on self-isolation or the virus would spread further.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Mostly working away from the spotlight, contract sanitation workers in COVID-19 wards form one of the most important COVID-warrior teams. Unfortunately, their deplorable condition remains invisible. Social stigma and meagre salaries of Rs 9,400 per month have tested their patience.

Close to 120 sanitation workers protested against the lack of incentives and delay in hike of salaries, at Gandhi Hospital on Thursday. Speaking to Express, Kistamma, a sanitation worker on Gandhi Hospitals COVID ward, said, We work close to eight hours every day. The hospital has been forthcoming in terms of providing PPE (personal protective equipment).

However, about eight-10 workers are residing inside the hospital as the stigma and discrimination makes it difficult for us to go back home. However, salaries that were supposed to be hiked close to four years back by the contractor have seen no change at all.

As per the Chief Ministers announcement to provide 10 per cent incentive to health workers, these sanitation and security workers will get a meagre rise of `900. Whereas, GHMC workers and outsourced staff will get close to `7,500. Thus we request the government to take note of this and increase the salaries, said M Narsimha, AITCU president. The AITCU president further added: With just Rs 940, it just seems like a token appreciation for the incredibly dangerous work that these sanitation workers do.

Lack of incentives

Social stigma and meagre pay of `9,400 per month have tested the sanitation workers patience. They claim that salaries, which were supposed to be hiked close to four years ago by the contractor, have seen

no change at all
While there are increasing reports of Indian couples marrying via video calls, in Wuhan, the original epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, matrimonial websites are crashing as couples in love are not wasting any time after the lockdown there lifted.

Chinas microblogging website Weibo reports that the local marriage application system run by Chinese tech platform Alipay saw a 300 per cent rise in traffic, which caused the website to crash as it caused a temporary logjam.

Getty Images

Alipay also announced in its post that it is offering a service to couples that allows them to search and see what baby names have already been used by other couples. Apart from WeChat, Alipay is one of the most widely-used payment platforms in China.

Marriage applications in Wuhan were suspended through February and March while the city's 11 million residents were under the 76-day lockdown period, owing to coronavirus outbreak.

Reuters

Many countries around the world are under a complete lockdown including India, but China, the place where the coronavirus is supposed to have originated has lifted lockdown almost after 2.5 months.

This lift saw thousands of citizens rushing to tourist spots. Even though China has reportedly been successful in flattening the curve, there are still cases of coronavirus being reported in the country. Many patients testing positive for COVID-19 are asymptomatic.

China Daily

Nevertheless it is good news that couples, after months, will be able to marry each other.
Since 12 March he has been at his Marbella home, travelling there from Madrid after filming of the movie he is making with Penelope Cruz was suspended. His partner, Nicole Kimpel, is trapped in Switzerland with her sister Barbara and her father, so Antonio Banderas is sitting out this lockdown on his own. He says the coronavirus crisis is going to affect everybody, but at the same time he is hopeful about the future for Malaga and the Costa del Sol, even though very hard times are on the way.

In his many hours of free time he studies, reads scripts and books and, above all, coordinates the social work carried out by the Fundacion Lagrimas y Favores, of which he is the founder and president. He has also succeeded in getting the Fundacion El Pimpi and La Caixa on board.

Banderas is also working with the Agrupacion de Cofradias, the Association of Religious Brotherhoods, with its president Pablo Atencia, who is a good friend.

When we spoke to the actor from Malaga, about 1pm last Friday, he was making a puchero soup and after lunch he planned to continue working on distributing materials. With 53,000 euros and the help of his Foundation, Banderas is helping to fight the crisis. They are distributing hundreds of single-use medical gowns, gloves, masks and shoe covers to hospitals, homes for the elderly and pharmacies. They have also armed a network of suppliers in the Axarquia area through small companies and individuals: Every day volunteers collect the items they have made, and people are being fantastic about collaborating. Thats why I say Lagrimas y Favores is out in the streets. Of course it is! We send the material, which is special, and the patterns, and companies and individuals make them. We have created a large network of small manufacturers through Pablo Ruiz de Alba, and they are all working flat out, because yesterday we took 330 gowns to the Clinico hospital, for example. Were hoping to distribute 30,000 gowns....

With regard to distributing medicines, Banderas said about 100 volunteers responded to the call from the Agrupacion de Cofradias and then I spoke to the president of the pharmacies, Francisco Javier Florido, who is a personal friend in Carratraca. The volunteers leave their phone numbers with the pharmacies and when someone needs medicine and cant go and get it, they ring the volunteers and they deliver it.

With all this, I dont have time to get bored, and its comforting to think that I can do something to help others, he said. Im in regular contact with Atencia and the University, with whom we are collaborating on a project. I admire the work the religious brotherhoods in Malaga are doing in these difficult times. As I have said before, their present and future lies in being involved in society, and they have done that and done it very well.

Asked about what happens when this terrible situation is over, he was very clear: Were all going to be affected by this, firstly because of the people who have died or been seriously ill, and many families will be affected. But looking to the near future there is also going to be a negative effect at an economic level, although lets hope that is temporary. For our socio-economic reality, for Malaga and the Costa del Sol, this is a real blow and to get over it we will all have to make a big effort to regain peoples confidence. That will be essential.

He also stressed that individual and collective behaviour during these difficult times will determine whether we come out of the crisis with a feeling of pride or shame. If we all do what is needed, we will be in a much stronger position when we reach the end of the tunnel.

Soho Theatre

This regaining confidence will mean important measures being taken, because as Banderas said to us, nothing is going to be the same tomorrow as it is today or was yesterday. I dont know what others are going to do, but in my companies, to regain peoples confidence, we are going to take very clear steps.

For example at the Teatro del Soho we are going to adopt five measures: first, reduce prices; second, the whole of the theatre will be cleaned and disinfected every day and to do that we are going to acquire special ozone machines. Third, if anyone due to see the show doesnt feel well on the day we will refund their money or change their ticket for another date. Fourth, if anybody, for any reason, starts to cough in the theatre, staff will give them a mask to put on and fifth, all staff will wear special single-use anti-bacterial suits and gloves which will be changed several times a day. The staff know all this and have accepted it. Just like at El Pimpi, where the kitchens will be disinfected every night and so will the kitchen equipment, cutlery, crockery and glasses, the cooks will wear masks on a permanent basis and the waiters will wear gloves. It will seem strange at first but we will get used to it, and we all have to put special measures into effect because thats the only way to regain peoples confidence, he said.

For Banderas, the only positive thing to come out of this is the amazing solidarity of the people of Malaga and Spain in general, but we also need to take into account what is important, the quality and dedication of our health workers, State Security Forces and the enormous support from the Armed Forces for society. They are all doing a vital job and provide a lesson in sacrifice, constancy and discipline, always there to serve democracy and the Spanish people when they are needed most... I take my hat off to them for what they do.

To end, Antonio Banderas told us: Let nobody forget Lagrimas y Favores; it is dedicated to our Virgin, and that is now more necessary than ever... it has been well named, and make no mistake, Lagrimas yFavores is out there in the streets to help people through this.
A global deal to cut oil production and save the market from a coronavirus-induced breakdown proved elusive on Friday as a diplomatic initiative led by Saudi Arabia suffered repeated setbacks.

After two days of talks, it remained unclear whether OPEC+ had resolved the differences with Mexico that would allow its agreement for a record 10 million barrel-a-day supply reduction to proceed. A meeting of energy ministers from the Group of 20, which the cartel had hoped could add another 5 million barrels a day of cuts, ended with a generic statement that didnt commit to any specific supply reductions, according to a delegate.

The diplomatic obstacles cast doubt on efforts to revive the market from a debilitating slump in prices to the lowest in almost two decades, which hasthats exposed governments and companies around the world to severe financial pressure.

It was now up to Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and U.S. President Donald Trump -- who instigated the whole deal -- to salvage something.

We are trying to get Mexico, as the expression goes, over the barrel, Trump said in a White House news conference on Friday.

If the deal can be finalized, the proposed OPEC+ cuts would dwarf any previous market interventions. They would also end the destructive price war between Riyadh and Moscow thats flooded the market with crude just as demand collapses because of the coronavirus lockdown.

Even if poorly implemented, the agreement is substantial, and will make a difference to the market, said Ann-Louise Hittle, vice president of macro oils at consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd. Partial compliance of the kind that Mexico is demanding wont stop this production agreement from having a big -- and swift -- impact on supply and demand fundamentals.

Mexican Deal?

All but one nation among Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies endorsed the production cut equivalent to about 10 percent of global supply. Mexico insisted that it could only cut by 100,000 barrels a day, not the 400,000 OPEC+ was asking for and blocked passage of Thursdays deal.

On Friday morning, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he had resolved the matter in a phone call with Trump. The U.S. would make an additional 250,000 barrels a day of cuts on Mexicos behalf, Lopez Obrador said at a press conference, although it was unclear whether Saudi Arabia had accepted the proposal.

Trump said he had agreed to help Mexico along in making a deal with Russia and Saudi Arabia. He said he spoke with President Vladimir Putin on Friday for the second day in a row.

Russia appeared satisfied. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that Putin considers the OPEC+ deal to be fully agreed and regards it very positively.

OPEC+ has been put under intense pressure to do a deal by Trump and American lawmakers, who fear thousands of job losses in the U.S. shale patch. Yet the American president hasnt promised to make deliberate production cuts. Instead, he will let market forces do their work, allowing low prices to deliver automatic output curbs.

That sentiment was reiterated by his energy secretary Dan Brouillette in opening remarks at Group of 20 meeting on Friday. He predicted a decline of nearly 2 million barrels a day in U.S. output by the end of this year.

G-20 Meeting

The extreme volatility we are seeing in oil markets is detrimental to the global economy at a time when we can least afford it, said Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, whos been a key figure in the diplomatic effort to broker a global deal.

If Saudi Arabia can overcome the obstacles and lead the world to a 15 million barrel-a-day production cut, it would be an historic achievement. However, it would also be just a fraction of the 20 million to 35 million barrels a day in estimated global demand losses as billions of people stay confined to their homes and businesses close to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

West Texas Intermediate crude plunged more than 9 percent on Thursday, settling at below $23 a barrel, as traders and analysts said the cut was too small to prevent an oversupply of crude.

With demand likely down 20 percent this quarter, we believe the agreed cuts wont be enough to prevent oil inventories from rising sharply over the coming weeks, said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS Group AG.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 18:46:47|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BISHKEK, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan said on Friday it has received humanitarian assistance from China's Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation to combat COVID-19.

The humanitarian supply, including protective suits, masks and non-contact thermometers, arrived in Bishkek by charter cargo flight, the ministry's press service said, adding that rapid tests and ventilators are on the way.

The assistance is worth 1.8 million yuan (256,000 U.S. dollars). The aid was made through the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry, and the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in China with the Secretariat of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, it said.

The ministry expressed its sincere gratitude to the Chinese foundations for the assistance and support to Kyrgyzstan in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
Gasoline prices at the pump in Cheyenne are the highest in the state, and much higher than neighboring states. Even as the price of crude oil and demand has plummeted, Cheyenne residents are forced to pay among the highest prices for fuel amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

According to Gas Buddy, the lowest price for unleaded in Cheyenne this week was $1.97 per gallon at Sams Club and Sapp Brothers in Cheyenne, with some stations at $1.99. But 45 miles away in Laramie, prices range from $1.69 to $1.87. In Casper, prices started at $1.72. In Nebraska and states east along I-80, the fuel prices are even lower than all of Wyoming  itself a producer and refiner of petroleum and gasoline.

There are several reasons for the extreme pricing locally, according to Mark Larson, Vice President of the Colorado-Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association.

The street always sets the price, he said. Somebodys always a little hungrier than the next guy, and hes going to drop his price trying to pick up some gallons and get people inside their convenience store.

Even in Laramie, Larson said, not everyone is dropping their price. The truck stops havent gone quite as far as the independent Ma and Pas and the stations there.

Its almost like a price war, but this time things are different. The gas station and convenience stores are really hurting, Larson said. Because people are staying home, they are not driving, and because they are not driving, they are not stopping at convenience stores and buying candy, soft drinks and other items.

Larson called it Demand Destruction. What were seeing is unprecedented in demand destruction in all categories, both fuel, inside sales and across the board. Some of my marketers are noticing 50% of their volume on gasoline and 30% of their inside sales are gone, he said.

Larson said gas and convenience store owners around the state are worried. Were trying to determine how much worse this is going to get. We dont have any clue where this is going. Everybodys crystal ball broke.

Larson added that some owners are thinking of closing their convenience stores and just running the gas pumps.

Even with the uncertainty, Larson pointed out that prices are 18 to 25 cents lower than they were this time last year.

GasBuddy said that the U.S. national average could dip to $1.49 by mid-April, the lowest since 2004, with potentially hundreds of stations pushing their price to 99-cents per gallon for the first time since the early 2000s.

Gasoline prices have continuously dropped nationwide since Feb 20, 2020 as the coronavirus crushes the demand for oil and lockdowns reduce driving and keep Americans home. The price drops have been so swift and severe that it could take gas stations weeks to fully pass along the lower prices.

In the last week, 99-cent prices are becoming common across the nation.

"This is an unprecedented event. Were experiencing one of the biggest historical collapses in gas prices, including the Great Recession of 2008, said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. World demand for oil has plummeted virtually overnight while domestic demand for gasoline continues to fall off a cliff with more states implementing shelter-in-place orders.

Prices will continue to fall in the days ahead with currently no end in sight. Motorists need not be in any hurry to fill up, and those who do should be shopping around as prices will continue to race lower. While some lucky Americans may be able to fill for 99-cents per gallon.
White House Accuses Voice of America of Spreading CCP Propaganda

The White House issued a rare statement on April 10 accusing the taxpayer-funded Voice of America radio network of promoting propaganda from the Chinese Communist Party about the spread of the CCP virus.

Secrecy from the Communist Party of China allowed the deadly virus to spread across the world, the White House said in a statement. Journalists should report the facts, but VOA has instead amplified Beijings propaganda.

The White House cited two examples of VOA allegedly amplifying propaganda from Beijing about the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.

The first example was a video that VOA posted on Twitter on April 7 of a light show in Wuhan, China, that marked the purported end of the citys 76-day lockdown. The link in the tweet leads to an Associated Press article about the light show; the video clip includes an Associated Press credit.

VOA wasnt the only outlet to share the video.

The second example was an infographic created by VOA that compared the number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States to the claimed number of COVID-19 deaths in China.

As intelligence experts point out, there is simply no way to verify the accuracy of Chinas numbers, the White House statement said.

VOA released a detailed statement addressing the White House allegations, pointing out that the outlet has regularly exposed Chinese disinformation related to the CCP virus.

We are thoroughly covering Chinas disinformation and misinformation in English and Mandarin and at the same time reporting factuallyas we always do in all 47 of our broadcast languageson other events in China, VOA Director Amanda Bennett said in a statement.

Unlike China, VOA has stuck to verifiable facts, including publishing numerous articles in Mandarin, English, and other languages that outed Chinas initial secrecy keeping information of the initial outbreak from the world, Bennett added.

VOA has thoroughly debunked much of the information coming from the Chinese government and government-controlled media.

Bennett noted that the data used for the comparison of deaths in China and the United States came from Johns Hopkins University, a source broadly used by other media. The VOA statement includes a substantial list of articles debunking Chinese propaganda.

The Epoch Times has previously reported on multiple points of evidence suggesting that the communist regime has severely underreported the severity of the CCP virus outbreak and the total death toll from the pandemic in China. The regime has simultaneously engaged in a global propaganda campaign to glorify its response to the pandemic, while seeking to undermine the United States.

According to Sasha Gong, a former China branch director at VOA, the outlet has an overall supportive tone when it comes to the Chinese communist regime, including on topics related to the CCPs overseas propaganda efforts, such as Confucius Institutes. Gong suggested that the tone may be the result of coercion by CCP authorities, who often summon reporters for a talk among other pressure tactics.

These are typical tactics. These will inevitably affect how reporters and editors handle things, Gong told NTD Television. A lot of people, after coming back from China, no longer want to do China-related reporting, saying its too dangerous.

Bennett said that, similar to other U.S. outlets, much of VOAs reporting staff has been effectively barred by the Chinese government from working inside China.

Eva Fu and Annie Wu contributed to this report.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has told an extraordinary meeting of G20 energy leaders international co-operation is needed to stabilise the global oil market.

Mr Taylor asked leaders at Friday's virtual meeting to help "ease market volatility and restore market confidence".

A meeting of G20 energy leaders has been urged to address the volatile oil market. Credit:AP

"We believe there is a need to take action to stabilise oil markets at supply and price levels that support ongoing investment, supply diversity and energy security," he said.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, demand for petrol has fallen 50 per cent and jet fuel 70 per cent worldwide as airlines ground flights and people stay home, hammering the global oil price. Oversupply has been exacerbated by last month's split between Saudi and Russian producers, which both decided to ramp up production, although they have now agreed to cut output by more than a fifth.
In the movies, when aliens attack, earthlings forget their differences and band together. But what if instead we all burrow into our bunkers in the hope that the flying saucers will zap our neighbours instead of us?

That is our choice as we confront a non-human enemy that is not alien to Earth but certainly alien to our experience. The coronavirus pandemic can either bring us together or drive us apart. So far it's doing the latter, largely because of a lack of American leadership.

President Donald Trump has told state and local governments to compete with one another to buy scarce medical supplies. The result has been supply-chain chaos and rising prices.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has responded by trying to organise a consortium of states to buy supplies together.

Didn't we already do that during the Constitutional Convention in 1787? By limiting the federal role to a "backstop", Trump is ignoring centuries of efforts to enhance Washington's capacity to address pressing national problems.

As you would expect, a president who has little interest in fostering a unified response domestically has even less interest in marshalling international co-operation to fight Covid-19.

Once Trump belatedly realised the severity of the pandemic, he tried to shift the blame to China, thereby widening a rift with the world's most populous nation. It's true that Chinese leaders at first tried to minimise the coronavirus outbreak to avoid any embarrassment. But Trump also refused to believe the bad news - and he trusted the false assurances of Xi Jinping that everything was under control. (Trump on February 7: "President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation.")

Following a March 26 phone call with Xi, Trump dialled down his "Chinese virus" rhetoric. Now he is heaping blame on the World Health Organisation. He claims: "The WHO really blew it." Not really. Yes, you can fault the WHO for fulsomely praising China's response to the virus, including its "transparency", even though it is widely believed that Beijing falsified its statistics. But the WHO has no power to compel compliance among its 194 member states. It needed to stay in Beijing's good graces to get international experts into Wuhan and to get accurate information out.

Once it was able to do that, the WHO declared a global health emergency on January 30. Almost a month later, on February 27, Trump was still predicting that Covid-19 would miraculously "disappear". The WHO was ahead of the president not just in recognising the severity of the outbreak but also in distributing test kits around the world while the United States was still struggling to roll out tests of its own.

Rather than working to strengthen the WHO and other international organisations, Trump is predictably using the present crisis to undermine them. ( Washington Post)
Syracuse, N.Y.  Upstate Medical University has crafted the only publicly available model on what the coronavirus pandemic could do in Central New York, and its grim.

Even the better-case scenarios put a heavy burden on residents  staying at home through at least through summer. Even then, intensive care units could be overwhelmed by sick patients.

The only way to prevent that, the model suggests, is for all of us to stay even farther away from each other than we are, for many months.

Its a model, not a prediction. The model was designed to give hospital officials a hint at what might be coming through their doors, and to give public officials guidance on how to alter the course of the disease through social distancing regulations.

Like all models, Upstates relies on uncertain assumptions and incomplete data. Its further complicated by the fact that the virus is new and projections are more inexact for small populations like Central New Yorks.

The two useful applications of this model are to understand how our behavior and interventions can change what the epidemic will look like in our community, and to predict what our hospitals will need to be prepared for, said Dr. Kathryn Anderson, a microbiology and immunology professor at Upstate who helped put together the model.

The models projections appear to be vastly more pessimistic than many national models. Even the best of the four possible scenarios indicates that 2,000 Central New Yorkers could die of COVID-19 over the next year, based on the percentage of people infected and the probable death rate. Thats 10 times higher than implied by a widely touted model funded by the Gates Foundation.

Upstate Medical University has laid out four possible scenarios for the coronavirus epidemic in Central New York. Experts say we're on the reddish line now, but need to do more social distancing to keep lower the number of cases and deaths. Upstate Medical UniversityUpstate Medical University

Its not unusual for models to arrive at widely different projections. Models rely on assumptions  how infectious the virus is, how long it takes to develop symptoms, how many people in a given population are likely to die based on their underlying health  that vary widely. Even a small tweak can create wide variations in projections over time.

Yet, it is the best we have. County Executive Ryan McMahon has tweeted it out and mentioned it at his daily briefings, citing it for tougher policies on social distancing.

For McMahon, the key takeaway of the chart is that we need to get tougher about social distancing, and do it for far longer than we want, to avoid overwhelming local hospitals.

It helps us communicate with the public that this is a real threat, McMahon said in an interview with Syracuse.com. Its not the government saying it; its infectious disease experts, some of them who have very, very serious international credentials.

Anderson cautioned that even at the rate were going, defined by the orange line, hospitals wont be able to handle the peak of the epidemic in late June.

That peak is still a catastrophe for our health care system, Anderson said.

The model was crafted by six Upstate professors  two of them medical doctors  and was based upon the London-based Imperial College model that informed President Trumps actions last month.

Syracuse-area epidemiologists and health care experts said Upstates model is in line with other projections and models theyve seen, but that it, like all models, must be interpreted with caution.

Models are based on assumptions that can turn out to be faulty, and on data that is incomplete and constantly changing. The coronavirus emerged in China late in 2019, so were still learning about it. Studying how the virus and society behaved in China, South Korea, Italy and other countries gives us only a dim idea of how it might play out in the U.S.

Applying a global or even national model to a relatively small area, like Central New York, introduces even more uncertainty.

Theres not a lot of data to go on, so these uncertainty measures are really high, said Brian Leydet, who teaches infectious disease and epidemiology courses at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

And other U.S. models, including the widely cited model issued by the University of Washington and funded by the Gates Foundation, indicate far fewer deaths could occur in Central New York than the Upstate model does.

The lines on the Upstate chart indicate the number of new infections projected each day. Under the current social distancing (the reddish line), two-thirds of all Central New Yorkers could be infected with the virus, and 2,000 to 3,000 of them could die of COVID-19. The Washington study, however, projects 60,000 deaths across the United States by August; applying that rate locally would mean 120 deaths in Central New York.

We have far too little local data to say how many people will eventually die or be hospitalized in Central New York. So far, 13 people have died in the three counties covered in the model, and thats too small a number to give confidence in what the trend might be.

Other models predict that New York state is hitting the peak of the epidemic this week, but those models are heavily weighted toward the New York City area, which has about 95% of the states confirmed cases. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this week that trends show a slowing of the disease; even though deaths reached their highest numbers yet, theres a lag time of a week or more between getting the disease and dying.

Local epidemiologists have said Syracuse would likely peak two or more weeks behind New York City, but even that is uncertain.

Onondaga County will see a peak later on, and I have no idea when that will be. Maybe it never peaks if we keep social distancing, Leydet said.

All thats been made public of the Upstate model is the chart of four potential scenarios, but Anderson said modelers are still working on more detailed projections.

We built the model based on assumptions that were reported elsewhere, she said. Were updating the model with what were observing here.

Hospitals and emergency managers need to have something to plan with, so Upstate has been building the model to show what could happen under several levels of social distancing. The bottom line: We need to do much, much more for much, much longer than a few weeks to reach the best-case scenario.

That scenario assumes we reach 50% social distancing  were at about 40% now  and keep schools closed, gatherings banned, and stores and restaurants shuttered until at least Labor Day. Even then, four of every 10 Central New Yorkers would be infected with the virus over the next year, and Anderson said intensive care units would be jammed this summer.

I have the same visceral reaction when I look at the yellow curve, Anderson said. That means we have to be at 50% social distancing all the way out to August or September.

If that were to happen, we can say goodbye to the rest of the school year, the concert season, the New York State Fair.

McMahon said its not realistic to keep people inside for that long.

I dont think we can go to August, McMahon said. Sounding a hopeful note, he added: We dont know a lot about the virus. This virus might decide its time to go to the Southern Hemisphere in May, and that will change this model drastically.

Experts differ on how warm weather will affect the virus. Even if the virus fades in summer, it could roar back in the fall.

McMahon has imposed increasingly stringent social distancing measures, from closing schools and malls last month to asking people to take walks on alternating days. He says Onondaga Countys social distancing scores are still too high to control the virus.

McMahon and Upstate watch social distancing through a company called Unacast, which tracks the movements of millions of anonymous people with locational data collected by their smart phone apps. The percentage scores are the reduction in total miles traveled and on non-essential trips, although the companys methods have changed and been questioned by critics.

McMahon has simultaneously praised county residents for acting together and chastised those who are still gathering  and spreading the virus. He said its possible that either the county is at its peak of the virus, or social distancing measures were implemented early enough that there wont be a peak. He showed another chart Wednesday of hospitalizations climbing above the expected rate for 40% social distancing.

We want our curve to be its own story and show that all the experts are wrong, and we can get our lives back, he said. How do we do that? We starve the virus and we stay away from each other.

That new chart isnt encouraging. It shows the number of COVID-19 patients at Upstates two campuses growing faster than the best-case scenario line.

Anderson noted that some people might have the virus for a week or two before ending up in the hospital, so the patients coming in to Upstate now might have gotten sick before some of the more stringent social distancing measures.

Extreme social distancing is critically needed, she said.

The Upstate model focuses on the Syracuse metropolitan area, which consists of 660,000 people in Onondaga, Oswego and Madison counties. It assumes the virus came to the area in January or February, even though the first case wasnt confirmed until March 16.

In February there was an influenza peak and then a decline, Anderson said. As flu cases were coming down, we started to see a slight rise in respiratory illnesses that we think might have indicated a rise in COVID-19 before the first case was confirmed.

Dr. Kathryn Anderson and five other Upstate Medical University professors devised a model showing how the coronavirus pandemic could affect Central New York -- and how important social distancing will be to flatten the curve.

The model offers four scenarios, from no social distancing to 50% distancing, as determined by the Unacast algorithm. Anderson said social distancing was implemented early enough to avoid the first two possible peaks, shown by the blue and green lines.

On the chart, the ease with which the virus spreads from person to person is signified by the letter R. The number to the right is the average number of people who get infected from someone carrying the virus. In the worst-case scenario, each person with the virus passes it on to an average of 2.7 people. That would lead to a huge spike in cases that hospitals couldnt handle.

Cutting that R in half could mean saving thousands of lives, the model estimates, but would require extending extreme social distancing measures into summer.

Models work better in the short term than the long term, so the farther the lines go out the less reliable the projections are. Its like weather forecasting: You can confidently plan a picnic on the forecast two days away, but not on one a month from now.

The entire reason for social distancing is not to eradicate the virus, but to slow it down. Even achieving a 50% social distancing means that 40% of the Syracuse area, or 264,000 people, will get the virus this year, the model suggests. That low number will paradoxically cause additional cases later, because the virus wont disappear and the remaining 60% will still be susceptible.

Experts say the virus will only be checked in three ways: a vaccine, effective drugs to treat it, or herd immunity, when 60% to 90% of people have had the disease and are now immune, so theyre not catching and spreading it. Scientists believe COVID-19 patients do develop an immunity, but dont know how long that lasts.

Relaxing social distancing before any of those things happen could bring a resurgence of COVID-19.

How long do we have to keep doing this is the real question, Leydet said. As soon as you relax social distancing the virus will come back. Ultimately, we need a majority of the population to be exposed and recovered (or vaccinated) to get to a level of herd immunity appropriate to eliminate outbreaks.

Anderson is hopeful the community can rise to the social distancing challenge and keep more of their neighbors alive.

I think its clear we are certainly moving away from the worst-case scenario, and I think there is room for optimism and hope because we have time to act to flatten the curve, she said. Its too early to conclude that we have gotten anything under control.

READ MORE

Coronavirus: What the encouraging numbers in CNY tell us  and what they dont

How an untested company uses your smart phone to influence Syracuses fight vs. coronavirus

3-month-old Cayuga County baby tests positive for coronavirus, county says
Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands chief secretary Chetan Sanghi on Friday said that all ten persons who tested positive earlier in the union territory have now tested negative after receiving treatment.

"Some good development while #AndamanFightsCOVID19 All ten earlier positive cases are now negative after treatment. They will be shifted from hospital to institutional quarantine for 2 weeks," Sanghi tweeted.

In a follow-up tweet hours later, the senior official urged people to follow the restrictions and guidelines noting that the COVID-19 threat was not over yet.

"Many think #AndamanFightsCOVID19 is near over with 10 +ve cases turning -ve. Many examples where negatives have again come positive. So no let up," he tweeted.

Earlier, officials had informed that 11 coronavirus positive cases were reported in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jaya Bachchan, Salman Khan, Shehnaaz Gill - Bollywood And TV Stars Stranded Away From Home And Family During Lockdown
(Natural News) Are you overweight or obese? If so, your chances of developing severe complications from the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), including death, are substantially higher compared to thinner folks, according to new research.

Professor Jean-Francois Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council thats advising the French government on the pandemic, estimates that as many as 17 million of Frances 67 million citizens are at serious risk of infection and associated complications due to age, preexisting illness, and/or obesity  which common sense dictates also applies to those living the United States.

While as many as 88 percent of those who become infected with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) develop severe flu-like symptoms that eventually pass, the rest often end up suffering worse symptoms that require hospitalization, which is where its discovered that, in many cases, these folks are also abnormally large.

This virus is terrible, Delfraissy told franceinfo radio. It can hit young people, in particular obese young people. Those who are overweight really need to be careful.

This is why were worried about our friends in America, where the problem of obesity is well known and where they will probably have the most problems because of obesity, he added.

As it turns out, even young people who are fat have a much higher risk  up to sevenfold  of developing respiratory diseases that require hospitalization compared to their healthy weight counterparts.

Listen below to The Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how to naturally boost your immune system to protect against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) with cubeb pepper:

The Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) loves fat people

Delfraissys findings help to provide clarity as to the higher than average per-capita rates of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) in places like New Orleans, which just so happens to be one of the fattest cities in America. It also provides guidance as to the need for more public health initiatives aimed at getting people to slim down for their own protection.

Were just sick, says Rebekah Gee, a former health secretary in Louisiana and the current head of Louisiana State Universitys healthcare services division. We already had tremendous healthcare disparities before this pandemic  one can only imagine they are being amplified now.

According to Dr. John Morton, who heads up bariatric surgery at Yale Medicine, the reason why fat people tend to have more severe cases of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) and its associated respiratory problems is because of all that extra weight theyre carrying around, which inhibits normal breathing.

Theres something called hypoventilation syndrome, and that is when you have extra tissue around your chest, hes quoted as saying. Its harder to take deep breaths.

Patients who carry extra weight sometimes dont have an immune system thats working as well as it could be, he added, noting that being obese increases ones risk of developing other health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Because the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) appears to use a door to get inside the lungs  this door is known as the ACE-2 receptor  and because this door is made in fat cells known as adipocytes, obese people are prime candidates for easy infection with the virus.

The mortality rates by last report in New Orleans were seven times higher than what they were seeing in New York, Dr. Morton further notes, which corresponds with data showing that a whopping 65 percent of the population in Louisiana at large is overweight or obese.

It has a lot to do with the population: its considerably more obese (and) has a lot more medical problems.

To keep up with the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), be sure to check out Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

News.Trust.org

NaturalNews.com

WTNH.com
Residents of Jersey City are not the only ones mourning the death of the late Heights councilman, Michael Yun.

Countries around the world are paying their last respects to Yun, who died Monday of complications of COVID-19.

Robert Winnicki, a representative of the Polish parliaments lower house, honored the Ward D councilman by holding a moment of silence during a parliamentary session.

Dear Speaker of the House, dear House of Representatives, in these hard and dramatic times, we should remember those who have merited Poland and the Polish people, Winnicki said.

Regrettably, we have learned that the Councilman of Jersey City, located close to New York City, the Great defender of the Katyn Monument in that city, the great friend of Poland and the Polish people, passed away.

The Katyn memorial, a 34-foot-tall monument depicting a bound-and-gagged soldier impaled in the back by a bayoneted rifle, has been a fixture at Exchange Place since 1991. The city planned to put it in storage during a planned transformation of Exchange Place and then proposed moving it to a site nearby, creating both local and international controversy.

But Yun opposed moving the monument  a tribute to the Katyn massacre of 1940  and introduced an ordinance that would keep it at Exchange Place forever, garnering support of local Polish groups. He even received a standing ovation from members of the Polish community during a Polish independence day ceremony at City Hall in 2018.

The Heights councilman was hospitalized in the intensive care unit at Jersey City Medical Center on March 24 with the infectious disease after going to the hospital with a fever and difficulty breathing.

Banshalal Tamang, the mayor of Indrawati Rural Municipality in the Basmati Province of Nepal, said in a letter that his community stands with Jersey City and Hudson County in mourning Yuns death

Jersey City and the Indrawati Rural Municipality have been sister cities since December 2018.

A good man, a great professional personality, a tireless advocate for Jersey City throughout his nearly three decades of public service, Tamang said. This is devastating for all of us here, as Michael was not only part of Jersey City, but was part of our sister city family.

South Korea, where Yun was born and lived until immigrating to the United States in 1979, sent a letter to Yuns wife, Jennifer. South Korean Ambassador to the United States Lee Soo Hyuck said he is saddened by the loss and expressed his condolences for Yuns family.

Yuns sons, Benjamin and Brian, said in a joint statement the memories shared of their father have brought comfort to them and their family. They said they are grateful to learn how impactful their father was worldwide.

On behalf of our mother, Jennifer, along with the entire Yun family, we would like extend our many thanks to all those who have reached out to send their condolences and kind words, Benjamin and Brian said.

Our father dedicated himself to helping others and we are proud in knowing that his legacy will always live on, not just through his family, but also through the work he did and the lives he impacted.

Jersey City residents are encourages to place a lit candle in their windows at 7:30 p.m. Friday in tribute to Yun.
Huh, that's weird? No?

The White House announced today that impeached U.S. President Donald Trump spoke today to Vladimir Putin of Russia.

This was their second call in as many days.

Putin and Trump "discussed the latest efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and maintain stability in global energy markets. The two leaders also covered critical bilateral and global issues," says the White House.

Source: AP

White House: President Trump spoke today to Vladimir Putin of Russia. This is their second call in as many days.  Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) April 10, 2020

Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin today, the White House says. They "discussed the latest efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and maintain stability in global energy markets. The two leaders also covered critical bilateral and global issues" per WH  Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) April 10, 2020

I'd previously assumed that the lack of reported Russian cases was due to the strong leadership of Vladimir Putin. But it turns out that the government may have been dishonest and now things are getting bad. https://t.co/4U2y5xr5A1  Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) April 10, 2020

Imagine the ratings Trump could get if he aired his Putin convos live.  JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) April 10, 2020
THE National Electoral Commission (NEC) is well prepared with measures to prevent coronavirus spread, especially mid this month, when it will start voter registration exercise second phase upgrade.

Making the revelation during a meeting with political parties in Dar es Salaam recently, NEC Chairman, Judge (rtd) Semistocles Kaijage further said: We have already purchased enough protective items required to take precautionary measures against the COVID-19.

He said the commission has directed its staff that would be updating the register to stick to public health measures, which keep off coronavirus spread.

The second phase of the exercise will go in line with displaying the voter register at the registration centres to allow the public verify their registered particulars.

He said the whole processes will start on 17th this month and proceed to 4th May, this year countrywide, adding that all the activities (upgrading and primarily displaying the voter registers) will run for three days in every region.

According to the commission, some 4006 registration centres will be used during the exercises including Z anzibar.

Judge Kaijage said 12 regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Manyara, Tanga, Mara, Simiyu, Mwanza, Shinyanga Geita, Kagera, Kigoma and Tabora will start on 17 th to 19th April 2020.

Equally, he mentioned Katavi, Rukwa, Singida, Dodoma, Iringa, Songwe, Njombe, Ruvuma, Lindi, Mtwara, Morogoro, Coast and Dar es Salaam regions including the ones in Z anzibar that they will resume the exercise on 2nd to 4th May 2020.

In the upgrade, eligible voters will be required to visit the registration centres to verify their poll details or use voters interaction system in their mobile phones.

In a related development, Judge Kaijage has asked political parties to stick to the electoral laws, rules and procedures, while upgrading their voters registrations.

I call upon those who have not yet registered and are eligible to come out and register as early as possible, because this will avoid inconveniences, which may occur later, he said, while calling upon the public especially those to be involved to take precautionary measures against the coronavirus.

Speaking during the meeting, a political leader John Shibuda asked NEC to take heed of President Magufulis directive of ensuring free, fair and transparent elections is respected during the October general elections.

The politician said that NEC should put in place frequent meetings with the political leaders and stakeholders to gather views towards the peaceful running of the elections.
New Delhi, April 10 : The Union Health Ministry on Friday said the infection rate from coronavirus is not huge according to the samples collected and there is no community transmission in the country so far.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary Health Ministry, said there is no community transmission of the coronavirus viral infection, thus people should not panic.

He said the infection rate from coronavirus is not huge, for example out of 16,000 tests in a day, only 0.2 per cent cases have tested positive. As many as 146 government labs are testing samples for COVID-19 and 67 private labs have been given approval to conduct the test, said the health ministry.

The ministry official said in January this year, they began with just one lab then scaled it up to 15 labs. "We have done upscaling to 2.5 labs in a day so far", said Agarwal.

He said though there is no community transmission in the country till now, but people have to be alert and follow dos and don'ts.

On the availability of the Hydroxychloroquine, Agarwal said there is a stock of more than 3 crore tablets in the country, and the required projection of consumption is nearly 1 crore tablets.

"The stock is sufficient for the month-end requirement", said Agarwal citing the MEA decision to export surplus medicine.

The total number of confirmed cases in India is 6,412, 503 have been cured/ discharged. The country has recorded 199 deaths. There are 5,709 active cases in the country.
EU finance ministers have agreed a 500bn rescue package for European countries badly impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

Mario Centeno, who heads the group of Eurozone finance ministers, announced the deal on Friday after lengthy discussions which ended last night in Brussels.

France's Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire has described the agreement as the most important economic plan in EU history and following the deal, tweeted "Europe decides and shows itself to be equal to this serious crisis".

However, EU ministers chose not to back a demand from France and Italy to create so called coronabonds, after continued resistance from some countries towards the idea of sharing out the cost of the crisis.

The half trillion dollar package agreed is less than the 1.5 tn which the European Central Bank suggests the bloc might need to tackle the crisis.

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned the world is facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Kristalina Georgieva said the coronavirus pandemic would lead to 'sharply negative economic growth this year.
It's already week three of the nation-wide lockdown in India and is supposed to be lifted on April 14. However, the sudden spike in coronavirus positive cases and related death in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may extend the lockdown period by a week or two. Modi is slated to hold a video conference with all the states' Chief Ministers on April 10 and the final call will be taken in a day or two.

With the possibility of extended lockdown, many will be sick of home isolation as they have to work and do home chores all in one place. Also, most of the TV series, at least in India are all being retelecasted with old episodes due to cancellation of the video shooting.

If you are wondering how to make the good use of the time at home and want to develop a new hobby or learn a new skill set, photography is one good creative pastime and also adds value to your professional resume.

Coincidentally, Nikon India is offering free photography classes online for art enthusiasts in the country.



Nikon India to offer photography classes till the end of April 2020 (Picture credit: Nikon)



Nikon India's photography tutorial will be kicked off by laureate of the first edition of the Academie des beaux-arts Photography awardee, Raghu Rai. He will be followed by other renowned photographers that Nikon has collaborated to encourage people to learn new skills, as they are staying safe at their homes amid the lockdown across the country.

Nikon India will offer classes in various popular themes including Wedding, Wildlife, Effects of Focal Length, Interior & Architecture, Street, Portrait, Food & Pet Photography and more.

The company promises that the tutorials will be taught by professional photographers to offer in-depth photography knowledge to help users capture stunning photos and videos. In some of the live classes, students can participate in the Q&A session to address all their queries and doubts they have.



Nikon India's photography class details



All the classes will be available through live videos streaming on Nikons official handles of Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. And these tutorials will be conducted till the end of April 2020.

Nikons mission has always been to empower the photography community. In light of the continuing outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) across the country, Nikon India has taken a step to help people enhance their photography skills with classes that are tutored by professional photographers. In the face of this uncertain time, we aim to help individuals stay inspired and engaged through these online classes, Sajjan Kumar, Managing Director, Nikon India said in a statement.

Also read | COVID-19: Fujifilm starts free live photography class, discussions online in India

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cyber security and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
ENGLEWOOD, N.J., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucy T. Tovmasian, MD is being recognized by Continental Who's Who as a Top Gynecologist in the Field of Medicine for her outstanding work ethic as an OB/GYN at Northern Jersey Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Northern Jersey Obstetrics & Gynecology is a healthcare practice currently servicing women and families in the northern New Jersey Area. This practice employs a team of experienced and compassionate doctors who prioritize accessibility for their patients. Proudly catering to all age groups, from adolescent and childbearing years through menopause and older adulthood, Northern Jersey Obstetrics & Gynecology offers Gynecologic Care, Maternity Care, Family Planning and an array of surgical procedures.

Extensively trained, Dr. Tovmasian possesses expertise in traditional and minimally invasive surgery, including laparoscopic and robot-assisted surgery. Dr. Tovmasian offers her patients comprehensive primary Gynecologic and Obstetrical care, as well as treatment options for a wide range of Gynecologic conditions, including uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, endometriosis and abnormal bleeding and menopause management. After 11 years in the industry, her sentiment remains that a person must love what they do every day, even when it's hard to love. Dr. Tovmasian attributes her success to her worth-ethic and ability to empathize with her patients; she feels that honesty is the key to a healthy physician-patient relationship.



In 2001, Dr. Tovmasian graduated from Columbia University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in biological sciences. Her education continued at St. George's University School of Medicine, where she spent time as a member of Iota Epsilon Alpha and the International Medical Honor Society. She received her Doctor of Medicine degree in 2007. Dr. Tovmasian completed her residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2011, earning the Residency Achievement Award from the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons during this time.

Dr. Tovmasian is an esteemed member of the Board of the Armenian American Health Professionals Organization. She is also currently a Member of the American Medical Association.



A patriotic and charitable Armenian, Dr. Tovmasian is fluent in the Armenian language, each year traveling to Armenia to provide healthcare to underprivileged women and families.



Dr. Tovmasian dedicates this recognition to her parents, Mania and Thomas Tovmasian. She thanks them for their continuous love and support.



For more information, please visit https://northernjerseyobgyn.com

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE Continental Who's Who

Related Links

http://www.continentalwhoswho.com


The excruciatingly messy deal to cut world oil production has come down in the end to President Trump offering what appear to be winks and nods concerning his perennial targets, the Mexicans.

Mexico had balked at a 10-million-barrel-a-day compact the Saudis and Russians were pushing, and refused to agree to its share of cuts. That threatened to upend the proposal, though with demand wilting in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and storage capacity quickly filling up, an imminent turndown in production has become inevitable one way or another.

That reality, and the plan for global cuts, was endorsed at a special G-20 meeting Friday, but to keep the Mexican stand from undermining the fragile agreement, Trump announced that the United States would "pick up the slack" so that Mexico wouldn't have to scale back too deeply.

It's not clear how substantive a move that would be.

"We'd make up the difference," he told a White House briefing, then immediately added, "Now, the U.S. production has already been cut."

Trump, who wants to help prop up the price of oil for American producers, had previously told the Saudis and Russians that they would have to accept market-driven reductions in U.S. output in place of the formal quotas that they preferred. And, with much grumbling in Moscow, they seemed to be prepared to do so. On Friday morning, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told a meeting of the G-20 nations that U.S. production would decline by between 2 and 3 million barrels a day by the end of this year.

That's about the level that Moscow and Riyadh were looking for as they sought to enlist nations outside the so-called OPEC+ group to bring the total cuts to 15 million barrels a day worldwide.

By Friday afternoon, Trump was suggesting that the U.S. falloff was sufficient to cover Mexico's burden, as well - apparently without any sort of presidential order or quotas imposed by Washington.

But Trump mentioned the debt that Mexico would consequently owe.

"We are trying to get Mexico, as the expression goes, over the barrel," he said. "The United States will help Mexico along and they'll reimburse us at a later date when they're prepared to do so."

He and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador discussed the arrangement late Thursday evening by phone, and it was first reported by Lopez Obrador.

Some pundits couldn't resist bringing up his promise that Mexico would someday pay for the border fence - a promise that so far hasn't been met.

Mexico is the world's 12th-largest producer of oil, and has hedged much of its 2020 output - that is, agreed ahead of time to a set price, reportedly about $49 a barrel. That practically eradicates any incentive Mexico might have to go along with production cuts this year.

"Everything would suggest that Trump's 'promise' to cut oil production for Mexico is a lot of hot air," tweeted Gregory Brew, a historian of the oil business. "He has done nothing to indicate he supports taking direct action to rein in US production."

"Will the Saudis and the other #OPEC+ members swallow the toad after Trump's comments on #Mexico?" tweeted Giovanni Staunovo, an oil analyst at UBS in Switzerland.

Lopez Obrador told journalists Friday that in their phone call the night before, Trump began to read off the names of all the countries that had accepted the deal in a meeting of the OPEC+ nations Thursday. And then he asked why Mexico had not.

"I made a proposal that fortunately he accepted, which is that they [the United States] would compensate," Lopez Obrador said. "When I said that we couldn't do more than 100,000 [barrels a day], he very generously said they could help with the extra 250,000, they could handle that, and I thank him for that."

Since taking office in December 2018, Lopez Obrador has sought to strengthen Mexico's state oil giant, Pemex, and ramp up production, which has fallen for years. The leftist leader has maintained a cordial relationship with Trump despite strong policy differences.

Trump himself acknowledged that the Saudis, Russians and other OPEC+ nations might not go along with the Mexican ploy.

"I don't know that it's going to be accepted," he said. "We'll find out."

In Moscow, the energy minister, Alexander Novak, told Russian television that the arrangement to cut production would in theory last for two years, but given that nothing has been signed and the U.S. contribution to cuts depends on market forces, he added: "We will need to monitor the situation; it will inevitably change. And if necessary, either additional measures will be taken or output for countries will be restored faster."

---

Sheridan reported from Mexico City. Isabelle Khurshudyan contributed from Moscow.
Kriti Kharbanda, who has been in self-quarantine for a month, said that she started noticing coronavirus-like symptoms soon after she landed back home from a wedding function in Delhi

Actress Kriti Kharbanda has revealed that she was terrified that she had contracted the COVID-19 virus after a recent bout of flu following her trip to Delhi.

(Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak)

Kriti, who has been in self-quarantine for a month, told Mumbai Mirror that her symptoms started showing soon after she landed back home.

The Housefull 4 actress was in Delhi to attend the engagement event of boyfriend Pulkit Samrats brother. She got a cough and cold and thought it was best not to mingle because of the symptoms. I was terrified I had contracted the virus, the actress revealed, adding that since test kits were unavailable back then and she did not have a fever, doctors advised her to maintain social distance and monitor her symptoms. I was paranoid for the first three days, then, I started to feel better, the report quoted her as saying. Kriti also revealed that Pulkit has helped her through the difficult time. Kriti said she is grateful to have him with her and cannot imagine how other couples who don't stay together are dealing with the coronavirus lockdown. The actress revealed they are playing board games, dumb charades and antakshari to kill their boredom. On April 9, Pulkit had shared a black and white video of playing the piano and dancing together. The clip showed the two dancing to different songs. Check it out here



While the actor captioned the post, "Seven Notes. Several Hours," Kriti commented on it with several heart emojis.

India has registered over 6,000 cases of coronavirus and close to 200 deaths. Maharashtra has been especially hit hard with over 1,000 cases and at least 97 deaths so far.
ASEAN Smart Grid Market Anticipated to Reach $2,949. 6 Million by 2024. Key Questions Answered in this Report:  What is the ASEAN smart grid market size in terms of revenue from 2018-2024, and what is the expected growth rate during the forecast period 2019-2024?

New York, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "ASEAN Smart Grid Market: Focus on Product Offerings, Technology, End User, Communication Tech, Countries, Cost-Benefit, Investment - Analysis and Forecast, 2019-2024" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05881509/?utm_source=GNW

 What is the expected future outlook and revenue generated by the different types of product offerings including software, hardware, and support services?

 What is the revenue generated by smart grid in different end users including generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption?

 What is the revenue generated by different technologies of smart grid across ASEAN countries including transmission and distribution automation, advanced metering infrastructure, energy storage, consumer energy management, wide area monitoring, and others?

 What is the market size and opportunities of smart grid across different ASEAN countries?

 What are the major driving forces that are expected to increase the demand for the ASEAN smart grid market during the forecast period?

 What are the key market trends and market opportunities in the market pertaining to ASEAN smart grid?

 What are the major challenges inhibiting the growth of the ASEAN smart grid market?

 What kind of new strategies are being adopted by the existing market players to expand their market position in the industry including partnerships, collaborations, and joint venture, mergers and acquisitions, product launches and developments, and business expansion and contracts?

 What is the competitive strength of the key players in the smart grid market on the basis of analysis of their recent developments, product offerings, and their country-level presence?

 How is the funding and investment landscape in the ASEAN smart grid market?

 Which type of players and stakeholders are present in the smart grid market and what is their significance?

 Which are the leading consortiums and associations in the ASEAN smart grid market and what is their role in the market?

 Which are the key regulatory bodies in the ASEAN countries for smart grids and what is their role in the market?



ASEAN Smart Grid Market Forecast, 2019-2024



The ASEAN smart grid market is projected to grow from $1,248.8 million in 2019 to $2,949.6 million by 2024, at a CAGR 18.76% from 2019 to 2024.



The increasing demand for energy efficiency and the need for transparent energy consumption mechanism has propelled the need for smart grid in the ASEAN market.Moreover, there is an increased concern to reduce transmission and distribution losses across the supply chain to reduce power outages.



Furthermore, the rising share of renewable energy in the energy mix can lead to congestion and complexity within the grid.Therefore, smart grid using transmission and distribution automation software, demand response technology, and advance metering infrastructure will mitigate the abovementioned issues, which is currently existing in the traditional grid.



Therefore, the growth of the market is likely to be encouraged by the abovementioned factors, along with the growing digitalization in the ASEAN countries.



Expert Quote



"Consumer energy management is emerging as one of the prominent technologies in the ASEAN smart grid market. Consumers at residential households, commercial end user, and at the manufacturing industries are using this technology to monitor and control their energy demand. Catering to the residential households, the consumer energy management software, known as smart home controller, communicates with the all the household components. The batteries in smart homes get charged through the rooftop solar panel throughout the day. The electricity stored in the batteries are also used to charge the electric vehicles. The surplus electricity generated is fed to the electrical grid. The consumer energy management technology in smart grid works on demand response programs. With demand response programs, the electricity consumption can be altered depending on the supply of electricity during peak demand.



Scope of the ASEAN Smart Grid Market



The ASEAN smart grid market research provides a detailed perspective regarding the smart grid product offerings, technologies, and the impacted end users.Market size estimation and forecast has been provided for the entire region, for individual countries and for the respective market segmentations.



The purpose of this market analysis is to examine the impact of smart grids in ASEAN countries in terms of factors driving the market, business trends, technological developments, and funding scenario, among others.



The report further takes into consideration the market dynamics and the competitive landscape along with the detailed financial and product portfolio of the key players operating in the market.The ASEAN smart grid market report is a compilation of different segments including market breakdown by product offerings, technologies, end users, and countries.



The report also includes a comprehensive industry analysis chapter which includes comprehensive illustration of the smart grid ecosystem, key regulatory bodies and their impact on ASEAN smart grid market , investment and funding landscape for smart grid projects in the region, stakeholder analysis, key consortiums and associations, and cost benefit analysis of smart grids in the region.



ASEAN Smart Grid Market Segmentation



The ASEAN smart grid market by end user has been segmented into generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption. In 2019, the distribution segment accounted for the largest share in the market as a result of the increasing necessity for advance metering infrastructure. However, during the forecast period, consumption segment is expected to display the highest growth owing to the increasing demand for transparent billing mechanism depending upon the time of use across consumers during the peak load hours.



The trends in the ASEAN smart grid market vary across different countries. Singapore and Malaysia currently hold a prominent market share in the ASEAN smart grid market, owing to constant product innovation, expansion of automated technologies in small-scale holdings, and favorable government support in terms of initiatives and regulations to promote renewable energy. In 2019, Singapore was witnessed to be the frontrunner in the market. During the forecast period, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to flourish as one of the most lucrative markets for smart grid technology providers, owing to governmental initiative to make these two countries as smart nation. Also, these countries in this ASEAN region present immense scope for market development, owing to the increasing urban population size and growing market penetration of advance technologies such as electric vehicles charging infrastructure and vehicle to grid.



Key Companies in the ASEAN Smart Grid Market



The prominent players in the ASEAN smart grid market include Itron Inc., General Electric, Autogrid Systems, ABB Ltd. Siemens AG, Schneider Electric, Enel X, S&C Electric, Aclara Technologies, Tantalus Systems, Eaton Corporation, Landis+Gyr, Honeywell International, Wipro Limited, IBM Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric, Oracle Corporation, Fujitsu Limited, Esyasoft Technologies, eSmart Systems, Kamstrup LLC, Sympower, EDMI Ltd., Holley Technology, Prominent GmbH, Krizik Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Smart Meter Technologies, Singapore Power, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Xylem Inc., Cisco Systems, Huawei Technologies, Trilliant Networks, Nokia Networks, Rockwell Automation, Johnson Controls, Ingersoll Rand, ENGIE, and Emerson Electric.



Countries Covered

 Singapore

 Malaysia

 Thailand

 Vietnam

 Philippines

 Indonesia

 Myanmar

 Cambodia

 Laos

 Brunei

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05881509/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________

CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001
Asian markets were mostly higher on Friday after the latest US coronavirus stimulus measures boosted Wall Street overnight. In its latest attempt to ease the economic pain inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Federal Reserve said it would pump $2.3 trillion through new lending programmes. The pandemic has now claimed more than 94,000 lives around the world and hammered economies, sending governments and central banks scrambling to put together unprecedented, massive emergency measures. The strong close on Wall Street boosted Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225, which finished 0.8 percent higher. The market remains in a "tug-of-war between those who are pessimistic (about the pandemic) and those who are optimistic... they don't want to miss a rare chance to buy" shares at low prices, said Mutsumi Kagawa, chief global strategist at Rakuten Securities. Seoul also rose, gaining 1.3 percent, and Taipei was up 0.4 percent. But Shanghai ended down one percent. Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington, and Singapore were closed for a public holiday. The Fed appears to be "on a mission to blow holes in every dam that stops the flow of credit", said Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp. "And it sure sounds like they have plenty more dynamite if needed." The European Union also followed the US with its own rescue package worth 500 billion euros ($550 billion) to ease the impact of COVID-19 in the 27-nation bloc. Millions of jobs have been shed during the pandemic, with data released Thursday showing 17 million people have lost their jobs in the United States alone since mid-March. But investors appear to be focused more on the impact of the stimulus packages and if they will be able to achieve the stability governments are hoping for. - Worst 'since Great Depression' - The latest emergency measures came as the International Monetary Fund warned that 170 of its 180 members would see declines in per capita income this year. "We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression," said IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva, urging governments to provide lifelines to businesses and households alike, and cautioned that "it could get worse". All major oil producers except Mexico, meanwhile, agreed to cut output and May and June by 10 million barrels a day after marathon talks to stabilise crude prices. Oil has plummeted to near-two-decade lows in recent weeks because of the pandemic's impact on the global economy and a bruising price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. But while Riyadh and Moscow have agreed, OPEC said the deal can only take effect after consent from Mexico -- which did not agree to its share of cuts. Brent Crude was down 4.1 percent, and West Texas Intermediate was 9.3 percent lower. - Key figures around 0745 GMT - Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 19,498.50 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 2,796.63 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: Closed for a public holiday Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0951 from $1.0929 at 2100 GMT Thursday Dollar/yen: DOWN at 108.37 from 108.47 Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2474 from $1.2464 Euro/pound: UP at 87.80 pence from 87.64 pence Brent Crude: DOWN 4.1 percent at $31.48 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 9.3 percent at $22.76 per barrel New York - Dow: UP 1.2 percent at 23,719.37 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 2.9 percent at 5,842.66 (close) The coronavirus pandemic has hammered economies around the world, sending governments scrambling to put together massive stimulus measures
The report detailed 17 errors and omissions in the application process, including failing to tell the court when questions were raised about the reliability of some of the information it had presented to receive the warrants. Those mistakes prompted internal changes within the FBI and spurred a congressional debate over whether the bureaus surveillance tools should be reined in.
A test to determine coronavirus immunity in patients will soon be available, the nations leading infectious disease expert said Friday morning.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN that new antibody tests  which show if a person has previously been infected with the coronavirus, and therefore gained some level of immunity  will be ready soon.

Within a week or so, were going to have a rather large number of tests that are available, Fauci said.

It remains unclear exactly what kind of immunity a person may have once they recover from the coronavirus, according to the New York Times.

The antibody tests will be able to be done in parallel with existing tests, which determine if a person currently has the coronavirus, according to Fauci.

We still rely appropriately and heavily on the tests to show that someone is, in fact, infected, Fauci said. Whereas the antibody test says that you were infected, and if youre feeling well youre very likely recovered.

Fauci also said that immunity certificates, which could be carried by Americans who have tested positive for antibodies, are being discussed by the White House coronavirus task force.

Other nations, like Italy and the United Kingdom, are considering using antibody tests to provide such immunity certificates to their citizens, a move that could theoretically allow for immune people to begin returning to work, according to the New York Times.

Dr. Anthony Fauci: Within a period of a week or so, were going to have a rather large number of [antibody] tests that are available.https://t.co/Klsiktp7fq pic.twitter.com/9LdH5CHOFc  New Day (@NewDay) April 10, 2020

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
MIDDLETOWN  Dozens of families of Connecticut National Guardsmen queued up in their vehicles Thursday at the city field office to pick up the coveted gift of a bag of Easter candy donated by Munsons Chocolates.

Children were delighted to wave and say hello to the Easter Bunny, who greeted them alongside military volunteer reserve and other servicemen and women among those deployed throughout the state to help with lifesaving efforts as coronavirus cases spread.

Thursday was the only chance for these children to see the Easter Bunny, said Gen. Gerald E. McDonald Jr., assistant adjutant general of the Connecticut Air National Guard.

Childrens calls of happy Easter and bye, bye filled the air as little ones in the back seats peered from car windows to catch a glimpse of the familiar giant, white rabbit with a big belly. Kim Hoffman, family support coordinator for the Guard, donned the bunny costume for the occasion.

This is a small way for us to demonstrate our appreciation because they are without their military members for an extended period of time, said McDonald, who is responsible for the 1,200 Air National Guard members that make up its operational and support units.

Guardsmen are delivering PPEs and medical equipment, setting up field hospital units, such as the one at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, and performing other crucial tasks to help alleviate some of the stresses endured by medical personnel during the coronavirus pandemic. Those not deployed work as long as 12-hour days, McDonald said.

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz also was on hand for the event, which ran from 10 a.m. to noon, spreading cheer and recording holiday greetings to Guard families whose loved ones are on the front lines of the pandemic.

Volunteers prepared enough goodies for 101 families.

If Munsons hadnt given us this donation, we probably wouldnt have been able to do anything for Easter for folks who cant come to our facilities right now, Hoffman said.

She and her family plan to conduct a Zoom call on Easter. I care for my elderly mother, so we really cant afford to have anyone over, due to coronavirus fears. Her husband, who normally works in Japan, is home with her. Itll be different to have a holiday with him around.

Hoffman is also involved in the units efforts on behalf of Operation Elf during the holidays. The project provides support to military families enduring the hardship of separation, according to its website.

This is super generous of Munsons. Hopefully, people will know we are thinking about them and we wish we could be together, she said. Volunteers were thrilled to jump on board the project as it provided a chance for them to get out of the house, with many currently working from home.

The traditional Easter celebration involves a large Saturday breakfast attended by about 600 individuals. It was canceled due to the virus.

They have hundreds of kids, bouncy houses. They give out bicycles and giant stuffed animals, Bysiewicz said.

Local recruiter Jose Quinones of Meriden stopped by on foot with his 2-year-old son, Santiago Greyson, prompting cries of Hes so cute! from volunteers. Both posed for a photo with the Easter Bunny.

Quinones has been able to work remotely, much like people around the nation heeding social distancing guidelines during the pandemic. It has afforded him more time with his immediate family. Our commander is allowing us to work from home if we need to, he explained.

Kelly Strba, director of the service members and families support center, brought along staff from the child and youth team, and family assistance workers, who work with service members readying for deployment.

Now that we are putting more service members in the hospitals, families are concerned. Theyre out in heavily populated areas and theyre afraid, Strba said. Folks understand the sacrifices made by their loved ones  but that makes the separation no easier.

When it comes down to brass tacks, though, youre still a person who is susceptible. There has been a lot of financial stress, she acknowledged, although many have stepped up to help.

Normally, staff rely on corps volunteers, but thats not a resource they can use presently due to health and safety concerns.

Bysiewicz has seen countless people struggling to meete day-to-day needs as she moves around the state attending events such as these. She said 3,200 people filing for unemployment is catastrophic.

Yesterday, I saw what I think is equivalent to the bread lines of the 1930s at the regional food market in Hartford, she said.

She was there to accept a donation of $40,000 worth of dairy products for Connecticut Food Share. There were 500 cars waiting to pick up small bags of produce, for an hour of more, Bysiewicz said.

Ive never seen anything like that. You could tell by the different types of cars that every segment of our state has been affected. It was heartbreaking, shez said. The good news is the people of Connecticut are very generous, she added.

She urges people who want to help to consider donating blood to the American Red Cross as the need is great.

For information and to donate to the National Guard Foundation, which grants families experiencing hardships throughout the year, visit ctngfi.org.
By Akbar Mammadov

Russia does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state, Russian Foreign Ministry's Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing on 9 April.

"We note that regarding the elections held in Nagorno-Karabakh on March 31, there is a statement by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, which includes representatives of Russia, the United States and France. It can be found on the official website of the OSCE," the Russian spokeswoman noted.

"We presume that elections are necessary to ensure the normal functioning of the population. However, the Russian Federation does not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state. Its status should be determined through political negotiations, which is what the OSCE Minsk Group is engaged in (the whole range of problems)," Zakharova said.

She added that the so-called elections will not have any bearing on the further peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Earlier, a number of countries, including France, Germany, Turkey, UK, Canada, Australia, Norway, Pakistan, Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia, Estonia, as well as major international organizations such as the EU, NATO, OIC, GUAM, TURKPA condemned the illegal elections in Karabakh and voiced support for Azerbaijans territorial integrity.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Groups efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
Staff at a Clover school and some officials in Mecklenburg County government mourned Friday after a York County mother and her son were killed earlier this week in a double murder and suicide.

Paul Johnson Jr., 5, and his mother, Sharekia Johnson, 42, were fatally shot Wednesday outside Rock Hill, York County Sheriffs Office deputies said. They said Paul Patrick Johnson Sr., Sharekia Johnsons husband and the childs father, shot both victims before fatally shooting himself.

Paul Johnson Jr. was a pre-kindergarten student at Oakridge Elementary School near Lake Wylie in the Clover school district, said Bryan Dillon, spokesman for the school district.

He also provided a photo of the child to The Herald

Paul Johnson Jr., age 5. He was a pre-kindergarten student at Oak Ridge Elementary School in the Clover school district in South Carolina. He was a murder victim on Wednesday April 8, 2020.

Lori Maczko, principal at the school, said the Oakridge school community is heartbroken.

Our school family is devastated at the tragic loss of Paul Johnson, Maczko said. He had a personality that would light up a room, and an infectious smile. His love of music and dancing was certain to brighten anyones day.

Maczko said Paul Johnson will always be remembered at the school.

Special students like Paul make Oakridge elementary the wonderful school that it is, and he has left a mark on each of our hearts forever, Maczko said.

Sharekia Johnson worked as an executive assistant in the Mecklenburg County Managers Office, across the North Carolina border in Charlotte, according to court documents and Mecklenburg County officials.

In an email to Mecklenburg County employees on Thursday, Mecklenburg County Manager Dena Diorio told county employees that staff were deeply saddened by Sharekia Johnsons death.

She has been a valued member of our team since 2018 and we are all devastated by her loss, Diorio wrote in the email.

Sharekia Johnson was the victim of domestic violence on Dec. 17, 2019, according to York County police and court records. Paul Patrick Johnson Sr. was arrested and charged with domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature for allegedly choking and beating his wife. He was released on $15,000 bond the next day, under the condition that he have no contact with his wife.

Story continues

Paul Johnson Sr. violated bail by going to his wifes home and was arrested again, according to court records. A York County magistrate judge revoked his bond on Dec. 27, 2019. A York County Circuit Court judge then rescinded that bond revocation on Jan. 8, and Paul Johnson Sr. was released.

He had previous court orders banning him from unauthorized contact with his wife.

On Jan. 17, 2020, a York County Family Court judge signed a restraining order against Paul Johnson Sr. that banned him from unauthorized contact with his wife, South Carolina court records show. Sharekia Johnson had sought the restraining order in late December after the initial incident and arrest, according to court records.
Darran Simon, a journalist who developed an expertise reporting on trauma during a wide-ranging career that had recently brought him to The Washington Post, where he covered District of Columbia politics and government, was found dead April 9 at his home in Washington. He was 43.

A spokeswoman for the D.C. medical examiner's office said a determination of the cause of death is pending further tests.

Simon was born in England and spent his childhood in the South American nation of Guyana and in New Jersey. In his professional life, he displayed restless curiosity as well as deep compassion for people who had endured natural catastrophe and man-made violence.

"I am drawn to writing about suffering and trauma," he once noted, "because I am in awe of the human spirit's ability to persevere."

After two years as the Miami Herald's minority affairs reporter, he moved to New Orleans in 2007 as an education reporter for the Times-Picayune, compelled to document the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "Down the road, 35 years from now, when memories are all I have," he told the University of Rhode Island alumni magazine, "I'll be able to look back at this time and remember this experience."

He wrote about school reconstruction and covered accountability issues as well as the upending of students' lives in a city of dramatic inequities even before the storm. "History often depends on who is telling it," he said. "My role is to try to understand it and paint a full picture."

A reserved and conscientious reporter, he went on to cover crime for the Philadelphia Inquirer, was a general assignment reporter for Newsday, and was a senior writer with CNN Digital in Atlanta focusing on national and international breaking news before starting March 2 on The Post's Metro staff.

In covering the city government's preparations for handling the coronavirus outbreak, he reported on official pronouncements as well as delivering humane accounts of local victims of the disease, including a former "Jeopardy" contestant.

"Darran had an immediate impact at The Post with his talent, grace and earnest devotion to his work," said Mike Semel, The Post's top Metro editor. "He was here barely a week when the city he was covering shut down because of coronavirus. But he forged ahead and found great stories to tell.

"Despite his short tenure," Semel continued, "we entrusted him to write the main coronavirus news story several times over the past couple of weeks - taking feeds from his colleagues and weaving those into a coherent story. He worked so well with everyone and was a graceful, fluid writer. But beyond that, he was just a nice guy with an electric smile."

Darran Anthony Simon was born in London to Guyanese students on March 18, 1977. He lived in Guyana until he was 9 before the family settled in Iselin, New Jersey. His mother is a middle-school teacher and his father, an accountant, is a securities regulator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

At the University of Rhode Island, Simon was on the men's track and field team, won awards for student leadership and shared a top prize from the Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists for a comparative study on black student activism in the 1970s and the 1990s. He graduated in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in English and, energized by his work on the campus newspaper, received a master's degree in 2004 from Northwestern University's journalism school.

His marriage to Karin Pryce ended in divorce. Survivors include his parents, Stephen Simon and Jacqueline Simon, both of Iselin; a brother; a sister; and a grandmother.

Simon brought particular sensitivity to follow-up interviews after a tragedy that served to humanize statistics. One example, for CNN, was a profile of the spiritual leader who took over the flock of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, after a white supremacist killed nine members, including its pastor, in 2015.

In July 2019, Simon was among 15 journalists chosen from about 300 applicants for the week-long Ochberg Fellowship at Columbia University journalism school's Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.

Dart Center Executive Director Bruce Shapiro called him a "quiet, curious and very deeply engaged journalist" who had spent years writing about survivors of violence in some of the toughest cities in the United States, from New Orleans to Camden, New Jersey, and how they cope with those experiences.

For all his drive to make loss more intimate, or perhaps because of it, Simon was also known as a roving epicure with a sharp understated cool to his wardrobe and an ear for sumptuous music. On his website, Simon described himself as a "a foodie and a jazz lover who will travel anywhere for a good meal and a horn section."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Good Friday by remembering Jesus Christ in his wish on Twitter.

Lord Christ devoted his life to serving others. His courage and righteousness stand out and so does his sense of justice. On Good Friday, we remember Lord Christ and his commitment to truth, service and justice, he tweeted today.

Lord Christ devoted his life to serving others. His courage and righteousness stand out and so does his sense of justice.



On Good Friday, we remember Lord Christ and his commitment to truth, service and justice.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

Good Friday is also known as Great Friday, Black Friday, Easter Friday or Holy Friday, and this year it falls on April 10.

It is a significant day for the Christian community since it commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus, and Christians believed that Jesus came back three days after being crucified, on the day known as Easter.

The word good in Good Friday means pious or holy. The death of Jesus signifies forgiveness for all of the sins of mankind, with Jesus sacrificing himself for the good of humankind.

But this year, the day is being marked in a subdued manner.

There was no gathering at churches in Kerala due to lockdown declared by the government to prevent spread of novel coronavirus.

Several important rituals including washing of feet were skipped during the ceremonies held at the churches, attended by priests in limited numbers.

The torch-lit Way of the Cross procession at Romes Colosseum on Good Friday is a traditional highlight that normally draws large crowds of pilgrims, tourists and Romans. But this year, like all public religious gatherings in locked-down Italy, it has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Instead of presiding over the procession at the ancient arena, Pope Francis will lead the Good Friday ritual this year in a night-time ceremony closed to the public in St. Peters Square.

Good Friday is a day of mourning, and people keep fasts and pray to the Lord. It is a day to remind oneself of Jesus Christs sacrifices.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Alex Morales and Robert Hutton (Bloomberg) London, United Kingdom  Fri, April 10, 2020 15:45 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd10e10b 2 World Boris-Johnson,COVID-19,hospital,ICU,Prime-Minister,England Free

Boris Johnson was released from intensive care Thursday evening after his deputy said its too soon for the UK to relax the lockdown imposed 17 days ago in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The UK premier remains in the hospital where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery, from coronavirus, his office said in an emailed statement Thursday evening. He is in extremely good spirits.

Speaking earlier before the start of a four-day Easter break, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab signaled Britain needs to maintain stringent curbs on the movement of people imposed to stop the spread of the disease.

Were not done yet, we must keep going, Raab said in a televised briefing in London on Thursday. Deaths are still rising, and we still havent seen the peak of the virus. So its still too early to lift the measures that weve put in place. We must stick to the plan.

With good weather forecast for much of the long weekend, ministers are anxious to avoid scenes of people gathering in groups in parks, beaches and beauty spots. The government rolled out an advertising campaign on social media and in print urging Britons to stay home, protect the National Health Service and save lives over the Easter break.

Raab spoke after the death toll from the virus rose by a further 881 to bring the total to 7,978. Patrick Vallance, the governments chief scientific adviser, warned he expects the number of deaths to increase for a few weeks yet.

When the UK imposed sweeping restrictions on movement on March 23, Johnson said the measures would be reviewed in three weeks -- a deadline that falls on Monday. The lockdown has brought the economy to a near halt, and triggered a surge in the number of people claiming welfare payments for the first time.

Still, the number of deaths from the virus has continued to increase, and government scientists say they dont have enough data yet to show the restrictions are having enough of an effect to justify being relaxed.

Weeks

It will be several more weeks before scientists will be able to draw conclusions about the rate of decline in cases and therefore recommend any lifting of measures, Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London who advises the government, told BBC Radio 4 on Friday. But he also said theres preliminary evidence the lockdown is working better than expected to reduce the number of transmissions.

Johnson, 55, announced he was isolating with coronavirus on March 27, and was admitted to St. Thomass hospital in London on April 5 after struggling to shake off the symptoms. He was moved to intensive care the following evening when his condition worsened, and was given oxygen but not put on a ventilator.

Raab, who has deputized for Johnson since the premier was transferred to critical care, wouldnt say how long he expects the restrictions will be extended for. He said the government would analyze the data next week.

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty pointed to one positive sign -- the rate of confirmed infections has slowed. Instead of doubling every three days, they are now taking six days or more, he said.
Northern Ireland MPs have defended an additional 10,000 allowance to help them work from home during the coronavirus epidemic.

The money, which can be spent on laptops and printers for members and their staff, or to pay for additional electricity, heating and phone bills, is in addition to the existing 26,000 a year that MPs can each claim to cover their office costs.

New guidance published last month by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), which polices the MPs' expenses regime, said this is "an uncertain and challenging time".

It added: "Ipsa is committed to supporting MPs and their staff to carry on with their work as far as possible."

The decision to offer all MPs an additional 10,000 allowance has drawn criticism. But local representatives told the Belfast Telegraph the money will only be used if absolutely necessary.

DUP Westminster leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the rise to expenses, which applies to all eight party members, was indicative of the exceptional circumstances.

"Parliamentary authorities have made provision for MPs to avail of additional office costs to be incurred so that staff may continue to safely continue their work," he said.

"It allows for the purchase of any additional IT equipment for staff to work from home or for telephone systems to be amended so that important queries from constituents can still be dealt with.

"The support is not given directly to MPs, but enables them to purchase equipment from a central facility.

"The increase is obviously an exceptional measure and it was a decision taken quickly by Ipsa to assist during this exceptional time of crisis."

Expand Close Colum Eastwood / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Colum Eastwood

A spokeswoman for the SDLP, which has two MPs including party leader Colum Eastwood, said the cash will be a welcome boost if needed.

"The allowance is designed to allow MPs and staff to work effectively from home," she said.

"If we need to access it to enable us to provide an effective constituency service we will."

Stephen Farry, who is the Alliance Party's only representative at Westminster, said he did not think he would need to access the additional coronavirus fund.

"This is a decision taken independently from MPs and its purpose is to facilitate remote working," he said.

"I am committed to ensuring Parliament can function and meet virtually during this crisis, with constructive scrutiny and accountability more important than ever. However, I don't anticipate drawing down much, if any, of this money."

Expand Close Stephen Farry PA / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Stephen Farry

A Sinn Fein spokesman said the guidelines on social distancing had created the need for additional IT equipment.

"This proposal is not an increase in MP or staff salary, " he said. "It is an uplift in office cost allowance for ensuring a constituency service can continue to operate remotely in these times of crisis and to meet the needs of constituents.

"Given the increased demand on constituency services at a time of public health emergency, constituency workers should be able to work safely from home or adhere to strict social distancing guidelines - this inevitably creates a need for additional IT equipment.

According to The Times, the extra funds will be available until March 2021 and come with a relaxation of the rules on evidence of purchases.

In addition to increasing the money available for MPs' office costs, the authority is also suspending the 90-day limit for claiming costs and relaxing the requirements on producing evidence of money spent.

The monthly credit limit on MPs' payment cards has been increased to 10,000 and the single transaction limit has been increased to 5,000.

The authority says it will provide additional funding from the staff absence budget for workers who are unwell or cannot be in work.

Responding to the announcement, Labour MP Andrew Gwynne said: "Casework has exploded (understandably too) so it's right that our offices remain open - remotely - at this time."

But he added that it would have been better if Ipsa had done "an equipment loan scheme instead".

And Conservative MP Julie Marson said: "No MP will see an extra penny of this in their bank accounts.

"Ipsa increased the office budget to provide staff who primarily work from the office the ability to work from home, and to produce and distribute Covid-19 information."

Ipsa was established in the wake of the 2009 MPs' expenses scandal. It sets and regulates MPs' salaries, pensions, business costs and expenses.
Workers put up boards outside St Thomas' Hospital after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spent a third night in intensive care after his coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms worsened on Monday, in London, Britain April 9, 2020.

(Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom was moved out of intensive care Thursday night as he continues to recover from coronavirus, but remains under close monitoring in the hospital, his staff disclosed on Thursday.

The 55-year old Johnson was admitted with persistent high fever and cough to St. Thomas Hospital on Sunday evening and was transferred to intensive care the following day where he spent three nights undergoing treatment.

Downing Street has confirmed that Boris Johnson is in "very good spirits." A spokesperson said in a statement released on Thursday night that Johnson was transferred from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close supervision during the early stages of his rehabilitation.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputy for Johnson, had said earlier that the Prime Minister was taking "strong steps forward."

The news came as the British government initiated a publicity campaign to encourage people to stay at home during the bank holiday break, when the climate is predicted to remain warm and bright.

Earlier, Raab warned that it was still too early for authorities to lift the social distancing guidelines implemented last month.

Immediately after being discharged from ICU, the prime minister called his pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds and staff said he was upbeat, despite his fight with the virus.

The birth of his child with Symonds, 32, is also just weeks away, and the couple have been separated since Johnson went into quarantine on March 27.

Johnson became the first world leader to be hospitalized with the disease, prompting him to give Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab control of the world's fifth largest economy, just as the United Kingdom's epidemic nears what experts consider to be its deadliest point.

The death toll from Covid-19 in UK hospitals now stands at 7,978. Thursday saw an 881 rise in a single day, albeit a smaller average spike compared to the 938 seen in figures from Wednesday.

Raab tweeted that the message they all needed to hear "was the improvement in the prime minister's health condition. US President Donald Trump said the development was "great news."

Asked whether the prime minister had been in touch with him, Raab said: "Not yet. I think it is important to let him concentrate on the recovery, particularly while he's in intensive care."

Dr. Paul Cosford, Public Health England's medical director, urged the people to stay home for the Easter "because social distancing strategies are working."
WTF?! If you thought there's nothing worse than malware-infested apps, think again - several "fleeceware" apps on both Android and iOS are able to charge you significant amounts of money by using bait and switch tactics and exploiting the trial mechanism of mobile app stores. What may seem like a bargain can quickly turn into an expensive mistake even if you uninstall such an app before the end of its trial period.

In a report published this week, British security firm Sophos revealed that more than 3.5 million iOS users have installed "fleeceware" apps, which is a relatively new kind of online fraud that is becoming very popular among people that want to take your money while you are none the wiser.

Most of these apps come in the form of image editors, QR and barcode scanners, image and video filter apps, and anything related to horoscopes and fortune-telling.

The way these schemes work is that they abuse the way trials work on mobile app stores to essentially overcharge users for functionality that is otherwise present in cheap of free alternatives. When these apps flooded Google's Play Store in 2019, it became clear for researchers that it was only a matter of time before this would become just as much of a nuisance for Apple's App Store.

When you download a fleeceware app, you get access to all of its features for a short period of time, and the app gets permission to charge you once the trial expires. And since most of these apps don't offer much value in the first place, many people end up uninstalling the app, at which point they assume they will no longer be charged.

However, the developers of certain apps take advantage of app store policies that allow them to require more work on your part before you can get off the hook. This allows them to still charge your account, which is usually a small one time payment or a cheap monthly subscription fee. Fleeceware apps take this one notch further by asking for exorbitant amounts of money, usually in the hundreds of dollars.

Last year, Sophos found more than 50 fleeceware Android apps that have been installed by no less than 600 million users. And while Google cleaned out all of them after being notified of their existence, new ones have popped up and are able to rival some of the most successful legitimate apps in the number of installs.

The firm says Apple's App Store currently has at least 32 fleeceware apps that operate in the same categories as those found on the Play Store. As soon as the 3-day of 7-day trial ends, these apps will charge $9 per week or $30 per month, which can add up to $468 or $360 per year, respectively.

It also doesn't help that these apps tend to have between 500,000 to 1 million downloads, and one in particular called Zodiac Master Plus is among the top grossing apps. Unsuspecting users can look at these numbers and download them under the impression that their popularity is a measure of their value.

Jagadeesh Chandraiah, who is a malware analyst at Sophos, noted that "app publishers also have the ability to introduce new fleeceware apps by releasing new apps with the same subscription policies, or by converting a previously free app into fleeceware by changing the apps profile in the App Store, though Apple developer policies prohibit this behavior."

The best way to avoid getting duped is to carefully inspect description pages and reviews, as well as get into the habit of inspecting your account for subscriptions every time you uninstall an app. Below you have the full list of fleeceware apps found by Sophos.
SPRINGFIELD  The CRRC rail car company has donated 10,000 protective masks for use by city police, firefighters and hospital workers during the coronavirus pandemic after hearing an appeal from Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.

Sarno announced the donation of the KN95 masks late Friday afternoon, saying he is deeply thankful" to CRRC and others in the Springfield business community.

Sarno also announced the donation of hundreds of masks from the Hampden County Sheriffs Department and Titeflex Company.

As federal and state agencies had previously denied our city requests for N95/KN95 masks for our police officers, fire fighters, and frontline providers, its so heartwarming that our business/private sector heard my clarion call for assistance by continuing to step up big time, Sarno said in a prepared release.

On Wednesday, Sarno called a press conference and criticized state and federal officials and agencies for rejecting the citys request for the masks.

CRRC Vice President Jia Bo personally came to Springfield on Friday afternoon to donate and deliver 10,000 KN95 masks, 5,000 garments and additional goggles for Baystate and Mercy medical centers and city front-line personnel, Sarno said.

It is a great pleasure and opportunity to support Mayor Sarno and Springfield who have always been a great supporter of CRRC," Bo said in the citys news release. "We heard the Mayors call for support loud and clear and we were happy to answer that call.

The city has also received a donations of 400 N95 masks and 100 face shields from Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi for the Police Department, and 500 N95 masks from the Titeflex Company for the Fire Department.

"Since my public demand to federal and state agencies  our city has now received from our business/private sector nearly 12,000 PPEs (personal protective equipment), Sarno said.

As we continue to take actions to defeat this COVID-19 (Coronavirus), it is extremely important that when we start to phase back into normalcy following proper medical, health and science guidance, that without a current vaccine, we must remain prudent in our protocol efforts and stockpile the appropriate supplies," Sarno said. "While we all want to get back to normalcy ASAP, we have seen other countries move to quickly, allowing this virus to reemerge again.
State officials began releasing figures on Thursday showing the number of people who have been discharged from hospitals after being treated for COVID-19.

The number now stands at 682 people, as of Friday morning, according to a NJ Department of Health website.

Another 7,570 remain hospitalized and 1,663 are on ventilators -- about 55% of the states ventilator capacity.

The peak number of hospitalizations is expected to hit within a few days, Gov. Phil Murphy said, with about 14,400 people expected to be admitted.

The number of cases reported and deaths from the virus continue to climb. Officials said at a Thursday press briefing that there were 3,748 new positive tests and 198 more deaths reported, bringing the states total number of people affected to 51,027 and raising the death toll to 1,700.

The peak number of cases in the state could fall between April 19 and May 11, officials say.

Heres a roundup of coronavirus news:

Gloucester County announces another coronavirus testing opportunity. County residents must have symptoms and be prescreened before being scheduled for a test.

N.J. workers struggling to file for unemployment wont lose one penny, Murphy vows. Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday tried to reassure New Jerseyans who are having trouble filing for unemployment benefits after losing work because of the coronavirus crisis.

That trip to the MVC can wait. Agency closed until end of April. The closing date was extended for a second time Thursday. Expiration dates have been postponed for two months for documents that will expire before May 31.

Mayor mourns youth advocate lost to the coronavirus. Margaret Temple founded the Family Teen Center, a youth performing arts program for residents in Bergen County from ages 11 to 17.

Distilleries cant deliver booze in coronavirus outbreak. Heres how theyre staying afloat. An executive order Murphy signed to clarify a previous order allows breweries to bring you booze  but not distilleries.

Where is the coronavirus in N.J.? See the latest map, update on county-by-county cases.

Brent Johnson, Matt Gray, Larry Higgs, Rob Jennings and Tim Hawk contributed to this story.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@AllisonPries. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba welcomes the statement of the Visegrad Group foreign ministers on the future of the Eastern Partnership initiative and declared the readiness of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova to deepen political association and economic integration into the EU.

This is underscored in the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in response to the statement of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Visegrad Group countries.

Ukraine, together with Georgia and Moldova, is ready to facilitate opening a new ambitious chapter of the Eastern Partnership. We support the deepening of the process of political association and economic integration into the EU through the full and complete fulfilment of the potential of deep and comprehensive free trade areas (DCFTAs), in particular in the EU + Associated Partners format, access to the EU Single Market and enhanced sectoral integration, Kuleba noted.

He stressed that Ukraine fully shared the approach according to which the Eastern Partnership should meet the expectations of all its participants, be based on common values, more active use of appropriate incentives, "more for more" principle, differentiation, as well as to support the European aspirations and the European choice of the associated partners.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine thanked the Visegrad Group for the decision to introduce a special V4EastSolidarity program of assistance to the Eastern Partnership member states in combating the consequences of coronavirus pandemic within the framework of activity of the International Visegrad Fund.

Kuleba also praised the support of the Visegrad Group for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

As noted in the joint statement of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia on the future of the Eastern Partnership, an extraordinary V4EastSolidarity program will be launched for the EaP countries under the International Visegrad Fund, with a simplified procedure dedicated to the practical strengthening of the health, social, economic resilience of the groups of citizens of the EaP countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences.

The V4 countries also endorsed the vision of gradual access of our partners to the EU Single Market up to the levels recognized as mutually beneficial for the partners and the EU Member States.

The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint policy initiative which aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union (EU), its Member States and its six Eastern neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

ol
Amitabh Bachchan Distributes 2,000 Packets Of Food In The City; Deets Inside
Washington, D.C.  Congressmember Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) has asked California Governor Newsom to create a streamlined process for small counties and towns to request funding from Californias estimated $15.3 billion allotment of the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

LaMalfa said local governments with more than 500,000 people can receive 45 percent of their funding from the Department of the Treasury. Counties and towns with less than 500,000 people must receive their funding directly from the state.

The congress member from Richvale does not want the state to be an "arbiter" of where that money will go. He is requesting that the state act as more of a pass-through, creating an easy process for the funding to be distributed to smaller, rural jurisdictions.

"The state of California needs to be fair and even-handed while every county, city, town, and village is struggling to cope with this pandemic," said LaMalfa.

"Small and rural jurisdictions  which already operate on narrow budgets in normal years  need the capital that the CARES Act provides to address the virus at a local government level," he continued.

LaMalfa said because small communities are thinly staffed, they face higher barriers for eligibility. He wants the process for their application for funding to be very simple.
Local News, Business & Finance, Community, Charity & Cause

By Andrew Hazen Published: April 10 2020

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Discover Long Island shares a positive message for the region with new Hold Fast campaign and Community Partner Program designed to support and inspire residents, the business community, and the ...

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Discover Long Island shares a positive message for the region with new Hold Fast campaign and Community Partner Program designed to support and inspire residents, the business community, and the Nation that this storm too will pass.

Right now, theres nothing more important than taking care of each other and coming together as an industry and a community, said Kristen Jarnagin, President & CEO of Discover Long Island, the regions Destination Marketing & Management Organization. Following a year of record-breaking highs for the tourism industry on Long Island it is imperative that we now weather these unchartered waters together. Our team is striving to serve as an information portal, a resource for our struggling businesses and tourism industry employees and a beacon of light for our residents and business community.

Referencing Long Islands maritime history with the term Hold Fast, the new inspirational message encourages residents to bear down and fight through the current global storm. Discover Long Island will enlist the support of media outlets, community partners, residents and businesses to help share this message of solidarity.

T-shirts with the #HoldFast message are being created through a Discover Long Island and Island Strong collaboration and will be available for purchase at DiscoverLongIsland.com/shop with proceeds benefiting a tourism employee charity.

Hold Fast is just one component of Discover Long Islands response to the current global pandemic greatly effecting the business and hospitality industry for the region. In an effort to sustain the business community, the organizations new free Community Partner Program provides assistance and resources to all of Long Islands hospitality-related businesses.

The new program will allow tourism and hospitality entities, not already affiliated with Discover Long Island, to stay connected during this critical time and to leverage Discover Long Islands voice and influence to provide much needed assistance and extend marketing reach- all at no cost. Community partners will have access to industry updates and alerts, the opportunity to create and communicate specials and promotions, and a virtual calendar of events.

Discover Long Island remains dedicated to bolstering the regions economic development. The organization works closely with both Nassau and Suffolk Counties as well as the regions IDAs to stimulate business attraction and sustainability and serves on critical task forces and tourism sub-committees that will be crucial to driving industry recovery.

Please visit, DiscoverLongIsland.com/ Partners, for additional Community Partner Program details and enlistment. Join us in sharing Long Islands Hold Fast message and be sure to tag #HoldFast #DiscoverLongIsland.
Each year, the IRS processes roughly 150 million individual tax returns. Yours may be one of themif you have to file a tax return. Not everyone has to file a tax return, and whether you need to file depends on your age, filing status, income level, and the source of that income. Heres what you []
Dr. Robert Baba Kuganab-lem, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Binduri in the Upper East Region has donated items to help fight the coronavirus in the constituency.

The items worth over GHC26,850.00 includes 50 Veronica buckets, 10 boxes of Kasapreko hand sanitizers, 400 bottles of 200ml Doxa hand sanitizers, 25 gallons of parazo, 50 gallons of liquid soap, disposable gloves, 10 Boxes of nose masks, 20 boxes of examination gloves (20,000 pcs) tissue papers and non-contact thermometers.

The items will be distributed to the various health facilities, markets and chief palaces in the Constituency to help prevent the spread of the virus.

The MP who also led a team of volunteers to distribute some of the items to some palaces and other vantage points in some communities said he will ensure the items particularly the veronica buckets reach every chief and Tengdaana palace.

Dr. Kuganab-lem used the occasion to educate the public on the need to observe all the safety protocols to help contain the virus.

Dr. Robert Kuganab-lem said the fight against the global pandemic required the collective efforts of every Ghanaian.

He added that the national response plan put in place by the government to combat the disease would not succeed if the citizenry refuses to comply with the necessary basic protocols and directives in their localities.

According to the lawmaker, it was important to protect health workers especially those at the forefront who are sacrificing their lives daily in the interest of the public.

He however, called on the health directorate in his constituency together with other departments to called on him if the need be to kick out the deadly virus.

Mr. Eadbert Ansoba a nutrition officer, who received the items on behalf of Director Directorate of Health Services, commended the MP for the donation.

He said the donations is timely and critical to service delivery in the face of the deadly disease.

Mr. Ansoba noted that the constant availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for health workers would boost their confidence in attending to patients.

Officials present were the NDC constituency secretary, Imoro Mahamudu, deputy constituency communications Paul Abaare, Luis Mbun party elder, James Aganda and Mary Adams.
President Michael D Higgins has told the countrys citizens they hold the power to reduce the severity and magnitude of the coronavirus emergency.

In an Easter message, President Higgins said Irish people are being tested like few other times in recent memory.

Expressing solidarity with Irish citizens at home and abroad, the president stressed the importance of complying with restrictions to limit the spread of the disease.

The latest restrictions in operation since Friday, March 27 mandate that everyone should stay at home, only leaving to: Shop for essential food and household goods;

Attend medical appointments, collect medicine or other health products;

Care for children, older people or other vulnerable people - this excludes social family visits;

Exercise outdoors - within 2kms of your home and only with members of your own household, keeping 2 metres distance between you and other people

Travel to work if you provide an essential service - be sure to practice social distancing

President Higgins said he and wife Sabina will be joining the nationwide initiative on Easter Saturday night and putting lights outside their residence at Aras an Uachtarain to pay tribute to those battling the disease.

He said Easter 2020 will be a challenging time for so many.

Over the past number of weeks, all of us have awoken abruptly to changes in our way of life, he said.

There is an uncertainty, anxiety and fear to be overcome as the coronavirus takes hold in our communities. We have all been asked to take more restrictive measures in order to stop the spread of the virus  measures that would have been unimaginable just a few weeks ago and which have presented a challenge to our resolve, to our way of life, be it how we work or socialise with others.

As the number of coronavirus cases rises and the global death toll accumulates to shocking levels, it would be easy to become overwhelmed.

The president said he and his wife are greatly aware of the pain and suffering the virus has caused, as he sent their condolences to the bereaved.

He added:

All of what we are asked to do now is about saving lives, slowing the spread of the virus, and caring in the ways that have been suggested to us by medical advice, until a vaccine emerges.

President Higgins thanked healthcare staff working in hospitals across Ireland and throughout the world.

He also commended others responding to the crisis, such as those providing vital goods and services.

The president sent his and Mrs Higgins solidarity to the millions of the Irish diaspora and thanked those helping out fellow emigrants from their homeland.

He added: Easter is a time of hope, of rebirth, of new beginnings. That is what is central in the various religious services, the transcendence of suffering.

Nature in its renewal offers us perennial hope as we deal with these difficult times.

Just as the seasons change, this crisis, too, will pass, but its severity and magnitude are, to a large extent, in our hands.

At Easter we are asked to muster our courage, keep faith with our possibilities so that we can be ready for our renewal.

In keeping with the Easter message of hope, Irish people are being asked to place a light in their window tomorrow, the Saturday before Easter Sunday, a time so important in the symbolism of our Irish Independence.

Sabina and I will light lanterns and place these at the doors in Aras an Uachtarain, symbolising our shared solidarity and offering a beacon of hope in a time of darkness.

The days ahead may continue to be difficult, and for some I recognise they are more difficult than others, such as carers, but what a memory it will be, and legacy too, when the virus has passed to know that we gave of our best, and what a valuable memory it will be that we continued to save lives that would otherwise have been lost by co-operating and working with the measures suggested to us for the good of all.

As President of Ireland, I send you Easter greetings wherever you may be, and wish you well in your solidarity, vigilance and tenacity during these difficult times when we are tested like few other times in recent memory.

He concluded: In the shadow of each other we live. May the hope and peace of Easter be with you all.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
359 Shares Share

I am sitting at my kitchen table. To my right is my daughter, 9; to my left, my son, 11. They are drawing, reading, doing work that their teachers have diligently sent electronically. Between quiet stretches and fighting between my kids, I try to keep up with the nonstop, detailed emails coming from my institution, Michigan Medicine, information designed to keep staff up to date, and ready to work.

I am a practicing family physician and researcher at the University of Michigan with a focus on adolescents and young adults. The impact and gravity of coronavirus have reshaped my work life, which is now a cascade of new and changing information and more patient care. Most immediately, videoconferencing and phone calls have largely replaced face-to-face office visits except for the most urgent issues.

Some patients cried and were terrified that they had COVID-19. Some demanded to be tested. Patients had many reasons for wanting to be tested  their child was immunocompromised, they were caring for elderly parents, they were recently on a plane, and the person next to them had been coughing. I had to tell nearly everyone that they didnt qualify for testing  yet. Last weekend, while I was at home with my family, I was on call to speak by phone to patients with complex cases who fell outside the responsibility of our triage nurses. This was the first weekend since the alarms had been raised about COVID-19 in our community, which catalyzed a series of closures among schools, businesses, and organizations. People were understandably nervous and scared.

Some patients with true emergencies refused to go to the emergency room for fear they would be infected. Some elderly patients who needed to be seen by a doctor or pick up a prescription couldnt because their adult children and support people were under quarantine from work, travel, sickness, or a combination. There was no one left to help them.

What could we do? My staff and I had to think of alternate options, things many of us are learning to rely on, like grocery delivery, medicine delivery, asking neighbors for help.

On Mondays, I typically see patients at The Corner Health Center, a community health center that specializes in caring for teens and young adults. When I arrive at my clinic, I receive an email about social distancing, staying six feet away from others. I send my medical student home. The trigonometry of three people trying to stand six feet apart in an exam room is unmanageable.

For a Monday, there werent many patients in the clinic. The clinic staff had set up video visits and called every patient, converting in-person visits to phone visits, to decrease the need for clinic visits. After a few phone conversations with patients, I felt encouraged about the ease of virtual visits and how happy the patients seemed with this new way to connect. I was starting to feel as if this could work. Helping patients, while flattening the curve.

Soon after, I got an email saying that the University of Michigan had suspended all medical student clinical rotations. Whew! One less risk for transmission, as the staff work to balance patient care and public health.

Another email notified our clinic that, like other health systems, we were ending all nonurgent visits. All patients are categorized into 1) urgent and needing to be seen in person; 2) urgent but can be evaluated by video or telephone; or 3) safe to postpone for 6-8 weeks.

I know that talking to my patients by phone will allow me to personally connect with them and provide reassurance and care. At the same time, all evidence shows that the pandemic is going to get worse before it gets better. For the first time, I am giving patients my personal cellphone number.

Clinical care is changing faster than at any other time in my career. A big part of my job now is just keeping up. I consider how skeptical people were before COVID-19 that telemedicine visits could be acceptable because of ethical concerns, privacy issues, and billing. Yet, in less than a week, video visits are up and running with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, allowing health care institutions to use any video conferencing platform for patient care, including Skype and FaceTime.

Underlying all of these rapid clinical changes is a gnawing fear about bringing the virus home. Like many other physicians, I have kids at home. My partner is also a physician. Weve had to have hard conversations with our kids. They include what happens if Mommy gets sick, what happens if Daddy gets sick. As parents, we tell them that its important to be strong and help each other at home because we are a family. I hate coronavirus, my daughter says. Me too, I think, but I dont say that aloud.

A few days later, our department gets an email forwarded from a peer university stating that the overall rate of infection in our healthcare workers is lower than the general population being tested. Apparently, transmission to health care workers is still mostly from interactions in the community, not from taking care of patients. I am relieved.

Family physicians are trained to recognize that peoples relationships, emotions, and responsibilities impact health. For me, as a family doctor, the unintended consequences of the COVID-19 response are becoming apparent.

As one frustrated patient who cares for her elderly mother said to me, My mom may die of the virus, but without work, we could starve. I dont know what Ill feed my kids.

Things like social isolation, worsening mental health issues, job loss, loss of health insurance, and food insecurity are all issues I have heard about from my patients, friends, and family. The COVID-19 pandemic is our current public health emergency, and its deadly serious. But I worry that the aftermath may be just as bad. We need to plan for it.

As I reflect on my experiences so far, I want to share these messages. Please stay home and take care of yourself and your family. While health care professionals are working hard to take care of patients, doctors may not be able to respond as they have in the past. You may need to delay nonurgent visits. An in-person visit may be a video chat instead. You may see a different doctor altogether. And if you can, reach out safely to support your community, friends, and loved ones. Were all in this together.

Tammy Chang is a family physician. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
The Gurugram Police on Friday said it has deployed over 4,800 personnel on city borders and outside the nine containment zones to check any kind of unnecessary movement.

Gurugram commissioner of police Muhammad Akil said over sixty-four police pickets have been set up outside containment zones where a total of 1,342 personnel have been deployed.

The nine containment zones saw tight security arrangements on Friday, especially in Pataudi and Raipur village Sohna, where at least 15 Covid-19 people have tested positive so far.

We have chalked out a micro-level plan, and police personnel have been deployed outside the nine containment zones and 20 borders connecting Gurugram to Delhi and other neighbouring areas like Faridabad, Nuh, Tauru, Sohna, and Rajasthan. The police are coordinating with the district administration and medical teams with the screening of residents and collection of samples in the identified areas, said Akil. In a meeting on Friday afternoon, the commissioner of police assigned duties to station house officers of all police stations to monitor the law and order situation in the city. Gurugram Police has a total of 6,500 personnel.

Starting Saturday, the police will not allow any residents living in containment zones will not be allowed to move out of their residential area unless in case of a medical emergency. We have directed all the resident welfare associations (RWAs) to ensure all the shops of essential goods are open for the residents. Rest, all the deliveries will only be allowed till the entrance of the condominium, said Akil adding all deliveries will be monitored by the police teams.

Akil said the police have identified entry and exit points in each containment zones and have set up police pickets with at each spot. Maximum deployment is in areas with the most number of entry and exit points such as Sector 9, Nirvana Country, Pataudi, and Raipur village, the police said.

The police personnel will work in eight-hour shifts for at least 10 days after which they will be replaced, police said.

All personnel were deployed after their medical tests were conducted and they were declared fit. They will be deployed in three shifts of eight hours each. We have provided three tents for the personnel deployed in each zone to ensure they can take rest and can sit unless they have to check the movement of the residents crossing the picket, Akil said.

The police have taken help from Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and Public Works Department to seal the areas under containment zones. Only health officials will be allowed to enter these containment zones to conduct door-to-door health checkups. An area spread over five-kilometre is cordoned off in the identified containment zone and an additional area of three kilometre is earmarked as a buffer zone as a precautionary measure.

This containment zone strategy can also help us prevent the transmission of the coronavirus disease to the other parts of the city. We will also monitor and ensure social distancing measures in these areas, Akil said.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Leena Dhankhar Leena Dhankhar has worked with Hindustan Times for five years. She has covered crime, traffic and excise. She now reports on civic issues and grievances of residents. ...view detail
Calling for joint efforts to fight against coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India is ready to help its 'friends' in combating the deadly virus.

"We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel," tweeted Modi.

PM Modi made these remarks while replying to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's tweet of appreciation for India's decision to supply Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, seen as useful in the treatment of COVID-19.

Modi had a telephone conversation on April 3 with Benjamin Netanyahu where the two leaders discussed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the response strategies adopted by their respective governments to counter the health crisis.

The leaders also explored possible collaboration between India and Israel in fighting the pandemic, including by improving the availability of pharmaceutical supplies and by innovative use of high technology.

On Wednesday, United States President Donald Trump thanked PM Modi for lifting curbs on the export of hydroxychloroquine.

"Extraordinary times require even closer cooperation between friends. Thank you, India and the Indian people for the decision on HCQ. Will not be forgotten! Thank you Prime Minister @NarendraModi for your strong leadership in helping not just India, but humanity, in this fight!" Trump had said in a post on Twitter on Wednesday.

Earlier, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro thanked Modi for allowing the export of raw materials to his country to produce hydroxychloroquine.

Bolsonaro was one of the leaders Prime Minister Modi spoke to over the weekend in his continuing interaction with world leaders since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

India is the largest manufacturer of hydroxychloroquine in the world but the Directorate General of Foreign Trade had banned exports of the drug and its ingredients in view of the rapid rise in the infection-related cases in the country.
As states across the U.S. move to call off school for the rest of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, uncertainty remains about whether Massachusetts will follow their lead.

Sixteen states, including Pennsylvania and Vermont, have already canceled in-person public and private school programming through the end of the academic year. Several others - like Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island - have closed schools through late April or early May.

At a press conference Thursday, Gov. Charlie Baker told reporters that state officials are concerned about students who do not have the same level of internet access or resources to do schooling remotely.

Ive said many times, I think our position on a lot of these issues is well make a decision on them when we think we need to," he said. At this point in time, we would be concerned about writing off the rest of the school year, especially considering how incredibly uneven the online process or the remote education process has been across the commonwealth.

Last month, the governor announced he would be extending school and daycare cancellations from April 6 to May 4. The suspension has forced children to stay home with their parents and guardians during social distancing and has thrust educators into the world of online learning.

Parents and guardians have found themselves trying to balance homeschooling with working remotely. For children of workers deemed essential, emergency child care programs have been provided.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued guidance in March about remote learning for superintendents across the state. They urged school districts to take up at-home education models.

By April 7, schools were expected to have cemented plans for students academics in the coming months.

Baker said this week that if the state winds up calling off educational programming through the remainder of the academic year, officials will have to form a strategy on how to assist students who were not able to receive adequate schooling during the months classes were not in session.

The public health issue is real, he said. Theres no question about that, which is why we all made the decisions we made about school in the first place. But we talk a lot about some of the inequities that come about as a result of a lot of this dislocation.

"Theres a big inequity going on right now associated with education, and we need to make sure we recognize that, appreciate it and deal with it.

If youre having trouble viewing the embed to sign up on your mobile device click here.

Comment on this story on MassLives Facebook page

Related Content:
Top oil producers started a crucial meeting on Thursday to discuss a possible cut in output after a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus and a Saudi-Russian price war caused the market to crash. The video conference meeting began shortly after 1440 GMT between OPEC, its OPEC+ allies including Russia and other key non-members.

Oil prices rose sharply as the meeting opened, extending earlier big gains, but then fell back again later to post more modest gains as nervous traders took profits in volatile business.

The meeting is seen as the best chance of providing support to prices which have been wallowing near two-decade lows.

Experts warn that without concerted action the commodity risks a steep sell-off.

At the beginning of the meeting, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo warned that the rapid changes wrought by the virus meant the industry's "supply and demand fundamentals are horrifying".

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

"Our industry is hemorrhaging; no-one has been able to stem the bleeding," Barkindo said, bemoaning companies already filing for bankruptcy and tens of thousands of jobs that have been lost.

Algeria's Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab also warned of "an intolerable free-fall" in the market, according the APS agency.

Thursday's meeting intends to conclude an agreement to cut production by between 10 and 15 million barrels per day, Kuwait's Oil Minister Khaled al-Fadhel said in an interview with the Kuwaiti Al-Rai daily published Thursday.

Late Wednesday, a spokesman for the Russian energy ministry told the TASS agency that Moscow was "prepared to cut 1.6 million barrels a day", which would be the equivalent of 14 percent of Russia's production in the first quarter of 2020.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov in a press briefing on Thursday declined to give details, only saying Russia was in favour of "coordinated action to stabilise the global oil market".

"The extraordinary producing-countries meeting is the only hope on the horizon for the market that could prevent a total price collapse," said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy.

Saudi Arabia will on Friday host a separate virtual gathering of energy ministers from the G20 group of major economies in a similar bid to ensure "market stability".

Oil prices have slumped since the beginning of the year as the COVID-19 pandemic sends large parts of the planet into lockdown and brings the global economy to a virtual standstill.

Compounding the problem, Riyadh and Moscow have both ramped up output in a bid to hold on to market share and undercut US shale producers.

"Saudi Arabia and Russia have been extremely clear that they will cut production if -- and only if -- other major oil producers join in as well," said SEB oil analyst, Bjarne Schieldrop.

However, there are worries about the participation of US producers.

The US is battling to breathe new life into its shale industry, which has transformed the nation into the world's top producer, but which cannot sustain its high cost base as prices collapse.

Yet its oil sector appears reluctant to trim production, having extracted a near-record 13 million barrels per day in the final week of March. This fell to 12.4 million bpd last week.

At the same time, the global supply glut -- already weighing on oil markets before the new coronavirus crisis -- has stretched oil storage capacity to its limits, forcing many producers to scale back output.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday told reporters that he wanted to save jobs.

"Obviously for many years I used to think OPEC was very unfair... I hated OPEC... But somewhere along the line that broke down and went the opposite way," he said.

In his opening statement to the meeting carried by the Rossiya 24 channel, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak welcomed the presence of several nations outside the OPEC+ alliance, namely Canada, Norway, Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Chad, Ecuador and Trinidad and Tobago.

The International Energy Agency warned Monday that the world is set for its first annual decline in oil consumption in more than a decade because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The outbreak has shut down large swathes of the global economy, including key sectors such as air travel, manufacturing and retail.

The global oil glut could reach 25 million bpd in April, according to Rystad Energy.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has set up a new $10 billion facility to help ameliorate the negative impacts of the coronavirus outbreak on the continent.

In a statement, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said that the fund would include $5.5 billion for sovereign operations in the countries where the bank operates, and $3.1 billion for sovereign and regional operations in countries that benefit from the African Development Fund, the AfDBs arm for fragile countries.

An additional $1.35 billion will be for private sector operations.

"Africa is facing enormous fiscal challenges to respond to the coronavirus pandemic effectively, said Adesina in a press release.

We must protect lives. This facility will help African countries to fast-track their efforts to contain the rapid spread of COVID-19.

AfDBs Egypt Resident Representative Malinne Blomberg had announced on Tuesday that the bank issued an exceptional three-year bond in order to alleviate the social and economic impacts on African countries economies from the pandemic.

Blombergs announcement came during a videoconference meeting with Egypts Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat.

The bond aims at introducing flexible solutions to cope with impacts on the private sector in African countries.

Also, AfDB last week approved $2 million in emergency assistance to the World Health Organization (WHO), to enhance its capabilities in helping African countries to combat the pandemic.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


The Northeast recorded its first death due to coronavirus disease Covid-19 early on Friday when a 65-year-old patient passed away at Silchar Medical College Hospital (SMCH).

With utmost grief and sorrow, I would like to inform that Faijul Haque Barbhuyan, 65, Hailakandi district has expired few minutes back in SMCH due to complication of Covid-19, Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarmw tweeted at 2:00 am.

Earlier on Thursday, Sarma had mentioned that the condition of Barbhuyan, the 28th Covid-19 positive case in Assam, was alarming due to decrease in oxygen saturation and he has been shifted to intensive care unit at SMCH for better monitoring.

Follow latest updates on coronavirus here

The patient, who had travelled to Saudi Arabia recently, had also attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Delhis Nizamuddin area last month and returned to Hailakandi on March 18.

He was admitted to SMCH on Monday after he developed complications and his test results for Covid-19 came positive a day later. Local reports quoting the hospital say the patient died due to pneumonia.

Assam has a total of 29 Covid-19 positive cases till date and 28 of them have links to the Nizamuddin markaz (centre). Manipur (2), Mizoram (1), Tripura (1) and Arunachal Pradesh (1) are other states in the region to have recorded positive cases, while Nagaland and Meghalaya dont have any case yet.

Also read: India sets up 1,200 Covid-19 containment zones; Maharashtra tops this list

According to reports, five members of the Barbhuyans family have been shifted to a quarantine facility and their samples taken for tests. The village he belonged to has been declared a containment zone and sanitised.

Nearly three dozen people who came in contact with him have also been identified and are being monitored.

Click here for complete coronavirus coverage

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 10

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkeys export of leather goods to Azerbaijan dropped by 1.48 percent from January through March 2020, amounting to $4.6 million, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend.

In March 2020, Turkeys export of leather goods to Azerbaijan dropped by 4.24 percent compared to March 2019 and amounted to $1.6 million.

From January through March 2020, export of leather goods from Turkey to world markets dropped by 5.4 percent compared to the same period of 2019, amounting to $415.2 million.

Over the reporting period, Turkeys export of leather goods amounted to 1 percent of the countrys total export.

In March 2020, Turkey exported leather goods to world markets worth $130.2 million, which is 26 percent less compared to the same month of 2019.

Turkeys foreign trade turnover in January 2020 exceeded $33.9 billion. Turkeys foreign trade turnover in February 2020 exceeded $32.2 billion.

In February 2020, export from Turkey increased by 2.3 percent compared to February 2019, exceeding $14.6 billion.

Turkey's import increased by 9.8 percent in February 2020 compared to the same month of 2019 and exceeded $17.6 billion.

From January through February 2020, Turkeys trade turnover exceeded $66.1 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Hundreds of airline flight attendants have become infected with the COVID-19 virus. More than 100 American Airlines flight attendants have tested positive, according to a report in the Dallas Morning News Tuesday. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants union has informed its members that this is likely to increase.

American Airlines has confirmed that one flight attendant in Philadelphia, Paul Frishkorn, died from COVID-19 on March 23, and a pilot and baggage handler at the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, where the airline is headquartered, had also tested positive. Three TSA agents at DFW have also tested positive, the government agency has reported.

Responsibility for this state of affairs lies with the airlines themselves, who have not provided flight attendants with basic personal protective equipment (PPE), and have even prevented flight attendants from using masks and gloves they provide themselves. While they have not ruled out mass layoffs later this year, the airline industry has taken $58 billion in federal bailout funds through the CARES Act, provided to them carte blanche with no restrictions on wage and benefits cuts or price gouging. An industry lobby group effectively threatened to hold the jobs of 750,000 workers for ransom, threatening mass layoffs unless funds were disbursed immediately.

Handlers load baggage on to a Delta Airlines flight at a gate in Denver International Airport (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

But even with federal bailout money, the airlines will only postpone layoffs through September. United Airlines is already telling its workers to brace for layoffs as soon as the bailout restrictions end on September 30.

The airlines have been covering up the danger for months. Dallas-based Southwest Airlines has also not disclosed any specific positive COVID-19 cases at the carrier, although several flight attendants say they are aware of positive tests, have been diagnosed themselves or are in quarantine because of exposure to another flight attendant with COVID-19. The airline said in a statement provided by spokesperson, Brian Parris, that only less than one percent of the airlines 60,000 employees, that is, as many as 600 employees, have contracted the virus.

American Airlines has not disclosed the total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the company. It claims that it has contacted employees that have been exposed to confirmed cases and has asked them to go into quarantine for two weeks. Only this past weekend did the company announce that it had secured face masks for crew members.

On the contrary, airline employees who have spoken to the World Socialist Web Site assert that nothing has been done. We need not to be flying right now, a Delta flight attendant said. We have gate agents who are saying, This is ridiculous to have us still working. We see hundreds of people, and we dont know who has it.

The pilots are saying, We are just expendable. If I get the virus and it kills me, they will write up a little notice in their company newsletter, and thats the end of it.

We are working in a cesspool of infection, and the airlines will not shut down. They have cut the fares so people are still flying for whatever. We wouldnt mind working if it would help save peoples lives, but we are risking our lives to fly people for nonessential travel. It makes no sense.

It was just a week and a half ago that they started letting us wear masks and only two weeks before that they started letting us wear gloves. They were real slow about giving us any kind of protection.

They have known about this for months, but they are not trying to protect anybody. They say they will let you know if you worked with a person who has contracted coronavirus, but nobodys saying anything. Its like I am just a pawn in a big scheme. If you die off, they just move you to the side and get somebody else to keep the machine pumping out money.

On the Trump administrations drive to send people back to work, she said, When I hear Trump, its like watching the actions of a mad man running the country. It is just plain scary. He first said this was a hoax when he knew about it back in December. All he cares about is his money. The stock market is where his concern is at.

His drive to get people back to work is just going to get more people sick and more death. It is sad that more people have to die. All he wants to do is help feed the machine. It makes no sense.

They bail out the big corporations  throw them a steak, and theyre giving us a bone. Its like, Let them eat cake! Its an insult. We are getting stale, moldy cake. We dont get enough to pay our bills for a month.

Sanders is talking good. But he is still a Democrat, a politician. He is not for the people. He has got that two-faced mask on too.

In our industry, we have the Department of Transportation that says the pilots are not allowed to [walk out] under the Railroad Act. As much as we want to stop and not do this madness, they have us in a hard spot because we have bills to pay.

All the politicians, in their town hall meetings, say they want to hear our concerns. But they are not stopping people from working so they can be safe. They would rather see people die than have a work stoppage.

It is madness. They are throwing money to the big corporations instead of giving it to the poor people that need it to survive during this time. Thats the madness. The government is a business that doesnt care about the people.

The way they see it, if enough old people die, that is less they have to pay out in Social Security. This is the perfect way to wipe out the vulnerable people. Yesterday they announced it has now killed more people than the September 11 attacks.

Delta flight attendants, alone among the major carriers, are not unionized. The Association of Flight Attendants union has attempted to gain access to the company for years without success. Although the company has campaigned vigorously against union certification, the major factor behind the failed unionization efforts is the track record of the unions themselves, which have carried out concessions for decades.

The position of AFA President Sara Nelson has been virtually indistinguishable from that of the industrys lobbyists. Appearing on MSNBC with Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter of California Tuesday morning, Nelson declared her support for the bailout, declaring that it was needed to keep [workers] paychecks going.

This is about life and death, Nelson continued. So as the airlines are going out of business, like Compass Air Lines yesterday, there are more people going to the unemployment lines. If we dont direct this money and get this to peoples paychecks and keep them in their jobs, she concluded, were going to have more people on those unemployment lines and increasing the death rate, frankly, because weve got more interaction between the public.

The union is just a company, the Delta flight attendant said. They announced that 100 American Airlines flight attendants have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The union is a joke. They are not supporting us in any way. They know exactly what we are up against. They are not doing anything for us.

They have money in their pocket. They work for the companies. When they announce that 100 flight attendants have been infected, you know it has got to be more than that. They only said that because the situation is starting to boil over, and they have to say something.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is suing Florida authorities, after they issued an order preventing him from using his private beach during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Huckabee and many of his neighbours have filed a lawsuit that challenges a county order to close all beaches, according to Law and Crime.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order for the state on 1 April, after people had been ignoring social distancing advice for weeks.

The residents say that the Walton County order is too strict and prevents them from engaging in activities that the state's one allows.

Their complaint claims that police officers have been patrolling the area and threatening to "arrest or fine Plaintiffs, their family members, or invitees on their private properties."

The residents claim that the order prevents them from being able to use or even set foot in their own backyards.

In a memorandum that accompanied the lawsuit, the residents said that it is counterproductive to stop them from using their own beaches.

The countys ordinance forces family members into a confined space within their house rather than allow them to social distance and recreate in their sandy backyard, the memorandum read.

Or it forces them to public locations to recreate potentially closer to many other persons increasing the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Either way, it is counterproductive. And it is beyond reasonable dispute that any hypothetical, negligible benefit conjured by those who passed the Walton County ordinance cannot possibly outweigh the profound trammelling of the present plaintiffs constitutional rights, it read.

The Arkansas Times reports that the part of the beach closest to the water is public property.

Mr Desantis previously refused to close the state's beaches and told reporters no matter what you do, youre going to have a class of folks who are going to do whatever the hell they want to.

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, upwards of 473,093 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 16,736.
Open-air tour: Ita Honan watches Fr Malachy Conlon on the Popemobile in Cooley, Co Louth PICTURE: Arthur Carron

An enterprising priest didn't let the Covid-19 lockdown stop him from blessing his flock on Holy Thursday.

Fr Malachy Conlon, parish priest at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in Boher, Cooley, Co Louth, took to a Popemobile used by Pope John Paul II during his visits to Britain and Africa circa-1982 to bless his parishioners yesterday while still maintaining social distancing.

The faithful knelt down as he rode in the open-air vehicle around the stunning Cooley Peninsula, blessing young and old en route in Cooley, Carlingford and Omeath.

Converted

"When you can't go to church, the church comes to you," someone posted on a local Facebook page.

The converted British Leyland truck was the prized possession of the late vintage machinery enthusiast John Hanlon, from nearby Greenore, Co Louth.

Mr Hanlon, the former owner of Hanlon's Transport, paid 37,000 (42,000) for the vehicle when a Scottish collector put it up for auction in 2006.

Sadly, Mr Hanlon died two years later, but his wife Kathleen said she was happy to let the local parish use it and it went on display as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations for Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in 2015.

Read More

While Fr Malachy was still doing his rounds yesterday and could not be reached for comment, before setting off he said he hoped the bullet-proof, bomb-proof and now Covid-19-proof vehicle would draw a large crowd.

"Now that Pope John Paul II is a saint, I am sure it will be a great attraction," he told 'The Irish Catholic'. "We don't want this just to be a display of a bare vehicle.

"We will have a prayer inside the Popemobile and people can climb inside and have a prayerful experience."
Rajasthans Bhilwara was one of the first Covid-19 clusters to emerge in the country and was put under complete lockdown by the state and district authorities to contain the spread of coronavirus.

From becoming the coronavirus hotspot, Bhilwara, about 250 km south of state capital Jaipur, is now being talked about its ruthless containment model as administrations elsewhere are following the steps taken by the districts authorities.

Tina Dabi, the 26-year-old Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and a part of the team that handled the situation, spoke to Hindustan Times national political editor Sunetra Choudhury about how things turned around.

Dabi said one of the first things the team did was to isolate the district and make sure people were taken into confidence.

Also watch| Decided on curfew within 1 hr: IAS Tina Dabi on stemming Covid in Bhilwara

Even we were taken aback that we would be compared with Italy and described as the coronavirus hotspot. Preparations were in place like any other place in the country and basic measures were in place, Dabi, who has been Bhilwaras sub-divisional magistrate from October 2018, said.

Also read: Will containment zones work?

On March 19, we got our first positive case and it was on March 20 we connected the dot and we found out that it was one whole private hospital that could be the epicentre of the whole crisis, she said.

The young IAS officer was talking about the Brijesh Banger Memorial Hospital (BBMH) whose doctors and staff were the first ones to test positive in the area. The district administration decided right away for a complete shutdown and Bhilwara was sealed off, much before the nationwide lockdown on March 25.

Within a matter of two hours, the collector of the district Rajendra Bhatt took the very stern and firm decision that we need to go for a curfew and we need to go for a complete shutdown, she said.

Dabi said as soon as the order was passed and she went around the whole city, shutting everything down, convincing people, even scolding a few people, requesting and persuading them telling them not to panic.

And, within a day or two we had to work out all the system to ensure that people are not inconvenienced, she said.

The 2016 batch IAS office said it wasnt smooth sailing for the team looking to wage a war against the coronavirus disease.

For the first three-four days, we were receiving panic calls from everywhere in the city and districtWe had to tackle so many things but we always took it as a matter of pride that we are doing national service and it is a time of public health emergency and no matter how hard it gets we have to take it head on, she said.

We had just one mission in mind and we had just one target that we just need to stop it  We were sitting on a ticking time bomb where it could reach any number. There was actually a possibility of massive community spreading, she added.

The administration had to ensure door to door supply so that people understood the danger at hand and they managed.

It took a week... People wont cooperate if you dont take care of the essential services and working that out was a nightmare for my district collector and the entire team but we worked really well under his leadership.

One of the most challenging things during the implementation of the containment, Dabi said was to handle cases where people were very emotional. She said students stuck in the city and their worried parents were among such people.

When people are emotional its very difficult to make them understand that these are tough times and they really need to understand that, she said.

The IAS officer is all about extending the nationwide lockdown put in place from March 25 to April 14.

I am saying this because we really dont know the current status of the virus and how its going to pan out. We must accept that we are slightly clueless about it. But what we are really sure is that social distancing is what can really, really avert the crisis. And for social distancing, the thing which can only be done administratively is going for lockdown and shutdown, she said.

The Bhilwara model was successful because they ensured it was implemented very well despite the many problems on the ground level.

Everybody was scared about Bhilwara and now everybody is appreciating it We convinced the public though it took a short while of three to five days now they are cooperating, she said.

They finally understood that it was for their own good.

For that to happen, the administration had to make sure that the essential supplies and services were kept running.

Without this in place, people would never cooperate, your lockdown measures will fail within a day or two. And then it will be of no use, she said.

Dabi also had a word of caution. You have to also ensure that if there is an emergencyyou have to consider those cases on a case by case basis. Of course, there might be some exigencies you cant avert your eyes from that. You have to keep yourself open to that possibility.

Handling the situation in Bhilwara, Dabi said, will be one of the challenging assignments and a lifetime opportunity.

We never get this opportunity to serve so many people to handle a crisis of this magnitude. I think the Iearning experience that is going to come from it is going to be very rewarding for me though out my career and I am looking at it as a matter of pride.
Click here to read the full article.

Anyone watching Tigertail because of writer-director Alan Yangs role in creating Master of None may be surprised to find that theres nothing funny about it. With time, however, Tigertail develops a case for its modest aims. A slow-burn immigrant drama with visual polish to spare, the movie molds the leisurely plot into a lush, moving portrait of American dreams undercut by harsh reality checks. Yang infuses his earnest, semi-fictionalized story (inspired by his own fathers experiences) with the evocative narrative traditions of modern Asian cinema, from Wong Kar Wai to Edward Yang, resulting in a rich and intimate atmosphere at every turn. While the movie doesnt achieve the narrative mastery of its influences,

At its center is a familiar journey. Growing up in 60s-era Taiwan, young factory worker Ping-Juri endures the frustrations of an arranged marriage, his demanding mother, and his mounting desire to find success in America. Decades later, hes divorced, estranged from his grown daughter Angela (Christine Ko), and bitter about his failed ambition. Hong-Chi Li plays the younger version of the character while Tzi Ma (last seen as the determined father in The Farewell) plays the older man, and the two actors develop a fascinating juxtaposition as the movie shifts between two eras to explain how the romantic dreamer devolved into an icy, cynical shell.

More from IndieWire

The answer to that mystery is telegraphed early on, and Tigertail doesnt exactly build to some grand revelation about what went wrong. Instead, it lingers in the textures of its dueling eras, mapping out Ping Juis early childhood romance with Yuan (Yo-hsing Fang) as it coincides with his growing affinity for American pop culture and his desire to experience it first-hand. Yang and cinematographer Nigel Bluck (The Peanut Butter Falcon) work wonders in conjuring the idealism of Ping Juis memories, from a touching nighttime duet with Yuan that finds them singing Otis Redding by the water, to a vivid dance club number that feels like an outtake from In the Mood for Love.

Story continues

Its a testament to Netflix that this small-screen production still managed to shoot on 16mm film, as the grainy imagery plays a significant role in conveying the porous nature of the memories at hand. The accuracy of Yuans recollections may be suspect, but like the pivotal scenes of Moonlight, Yang shows how profound connections develop into dreamlike concoctions with time once the people experiencing them lose touch.

These moments draw a striking contrast to Yuans experiences once hes forced into an arranged marriage with Zhenzhen (Kunjue Li) and decides to defy his mothers wishes, dragging his young bride to 70-era New York in a desperate bid to make something of himself. Instead, he winds up with a dead-end job at a drab corner store, while his pregnant wife quickly tires of their routine. Yang gives us a handful of scenes from the waning years of the couples marriage, as Ping Jui becomes a cruel, demanding parent so hard on his wife and children that they eventually want nothing to do with him.

When modern-day Ping Jui visits his grown daughter, Tigertail strains to make her conundrum as deep and involving as its main character. Unfortunately, despite Kos formidable investment in the role, the adult Angelas own marital troubles feel shoehorned into the plot, providing an all-too-handy excuse for father and daughter to approach a reconciliation. Once that process begins, however, the movie opens up to a remarkable new passage, as Mas layered performance fuses the temporal gap by allowing some measure of the young man from the past to return to the surface.

On a continuum with The Farewell, Yangs drama taps into the personal connotations of the immigrant experience by burrowing inside it, evoking the excitement of new opportunities in tandem with the cold reality that bubbles up in their wake. As the older Ping Jui learns to deal with his past through the contemporary tools at his disposal  including a charming Facebook search  Tigertail solidifies into a poignant exploration of midlife crisis through an underrepresented filter.

However, while The Farewell explored the impact of an older generation on the assimilated one that followed it, Yang unearths the other side of the equation: the travails of an older generation that was once young and eager to explore the world, only to realize that it wouldnt embrace them on equal terms. With those ideas in play, Tigertail risks slipping into familiar sentimental beats, but manages to transcend them with its gorgeous, cathartic finale. The final shot  possibly the best frame-within-a-frame composition this side of The Searchers  finds a man forever tied to his past and making peace with its immovable boundaries, imperfections and all.

Grade: B+

Tigertail is now streaming on Netflix.

Best of IndieWire

Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
People eat in a restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden, on March 27.

JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images

Sweden is sticking with its unusual coronavirus strategy, relying on people taking responsibility and following guidelines instead of implementing lockdown measures like most other countries with the virus have done.

There's only a handful of restrictions in place, like bans on gatherings of more than 50 people, while shops, restaurants, bars, and schools remain open.

The government has defended its strategy and says that people are following its advice, while statistics show that many people are taking social distancing steps like avoiding public transport.

The parliament is also moving to give the government the powers to quickly introduce more restrictions if needed, though the government has indicated it does not yet have any plans to use them.

But the country has seen over 790 deaths and some experts have expressed alarm, and the World Health Organization is calling on Sweden to urgently take more action.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Video: What Its Like to Collect Bodies During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Sweden's government is continuing its unusual coronavirus strategy of refusing to implement a lockdown, saying that people in the country are doing a good enough job of staying apart even as places like bars and restaurants remain open.

The country acted in defiance of much of the rest of the world by not introducing lockdown measures that would force people to stay apart.

Its actions also went against almost all of the rest of Europe, where the worst-hit countries have put extreme restrictions on the reasons that people can leave their homes and most other countries have closed bars and restaurants and put limits on gatherings of people.

Sweden's decision also contrasts hugely with neighbouring Denmark, which put restrictions in place even before the country saw its first death, and is now starting to slowly lift restrictions after seeing no mass outbreak of cases.

Story continues

Sweden's strategy, which relies on individuals' sense of responsibility instead of introducing new laws, has not stopped the coronavirus coming to the country: As of Friday morning, the country of 10 million people had 9,141 cases and 793 deaths.

Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist visits the site of a new field hospital for COVID-19 patients in Stockholm on March 27.

JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images

And deaths are spiking: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were the three days with the highest death toll so far, peaking at 114 deaths.

Ann Linde, Sweden's foreign minister, described Sweden's approach on Wednesday as "No lockdown and we rely very much on people taking responsibility themselves," CNN reported.

Here's what the approach consists of:

Bars, restaurants, and malls are open.

Schools are still open, with parents required to keep sending their children.

People are urged not to undertake non-essential travel, to work from home if they can, to stay home if they feel unwell, to keep distance from others in public, and to regularly wash their hands.

People aged over 70 or in a high-risk group are urged to stay home.

The only restrictions are that gatherings of more than 50 people are banned, bars and restaurants can only serve customers that are seated to reduce crowding, and people cannot visit places like nursing homes.

Experts say that Sweden's response may be aided by the fact that people in Sweden have a high level of trust in their government and are likely to follow its guidance and the fact that already a high proportion of the country works from home.

But critics fear that the strategy could have a similar outcome to the that had been feared with the UK's original plan for dealing with the virus  the "herd immunity" plan that recommended the virus should move through most of the population that was abandoned when modeling showed it would have resulted in up to 250,000 deaths.

And on April 4, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven warned that the country's death toll would eventually reach the "thousands."

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.

Dan Kitwood/Getty

He said the coronavirus had spread slower in Sweden than in many other countries, but that did not mean it could avoid its worst effects.

"We have chosen a strategy of trying to flatten the curve and not get too dramatic a process because then the healthcare system probably will not cope," he told Sweden's Dagens Nyheter newspaper, according to The Guardian.

"But it also means that we will have more seriously ill people who need intensive care. We will have significantly more deaths. We will count the dead in thousands."

The government says people are obeying guidance well enough that it doesn't need new restrictions  for now

Still, the government has not introduced any immediate measures to force the population further apart.

Sweden's parliament is moving to give the government more powers so that it can enact new rules, like closing restaurants or schools, quickly. But Lena Hallengren, Sweden's health minister, said on Wednesday that the government didn't have any plans yet about how it might use the law.

Forbes reported that passenger numbers on public transport in Stockholm, the capital, have halved, while polls indicate half of the city's residents are working from home. Journalists in the city have also described emptier public transport,

US President Donald Trump has weighed in, comparing Sweden's plan to the strategy the UK previously abandoned. "Sweden did that, the herd, they call it the herd. Sweden's suffering very, very badly," Trump said on Tuesday, CNN reported.

People walk in the main street of the old town in Stockholm on March 25.

JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)

But Linde, the foreign minister, said on Wednesday that Trump was "factually wrong" to suggest that Sweden was using the "herd immunity" strategy. Sweden's plan is different to the one the UK had been looking at, in that it more actively urges people to stay apart and will bring in restrictions if people do not do so.

And Anders Tegnell, Sweden's state epidemiologist, told Expressen, a CNN affiliate, in light of Trump's comments: "I think Sweden is doing okay."

"It's producing quality results the same way it's always done. So far Swedish health care is handling this pandemic in a fantastic way."

But still, some Swedish experts have expressed alarm and demanded justification for why Sweden was pursuing a strategy that was so out of line with other countries.

And the World Health Organization called for Sweden to take more action on Wednesday, saying that it is "imperative" that Sweden "increase measures to control spread of the virus, prepare and increase capacity of the health system to cope, ensure physical distancing and communicate the why and how of all measures to the population."

Business Insider
Brenda Exon, right, leads a dance to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the first city flag in America  the Philadelphia Maneto flag. The event was at the University Square Complex at 3901 Market Street. Read more

Philadelphians dont let a chance to celebrate slip by.

A group recently gathered outside the University Square complex on 3901 Market St. to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the city flag, which was the first municipal banner in America.

The yellow and blue flag, adorned with the city seal, commemorates the original Swedish colonization of the city. The coat of arms was designed by Henry Christopher McCook and adopted by City Council in 1895.

McCook was the pastor of Seventh Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. He was also quirky: He liked to study the behavior of ants and spiders, and illustrated childrens books on insects.
Cleaning workers sanitized the streets of Rocinha, one of the largest favelas of Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, in an attempt to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

In addition to the cleaning, one of the major challenges for local authorities and groups working in the slum, is to convince people to stay at home.

Dozens were walking in the streets before and after the municipality workers left, and even when the cleaning was welcome, some complained that it should have been done before the outbreak.

Rocinha, home to about 70,000 people as of the latest census, is an impoverished are with poor sanitizing conditions and a high incidence of tuberculosis.

This measure came days after the Rocinha's residents asked the government to ban foreigners from the favela, due to fears of an increased spread of the virus.

The outbreak has killed more than 954 people in Brazil and infected more than 18,000, but has also had a huge impact on the economy of the country.

Rio de Janeiro's stately Copacabana Palace Hotel, a landmark in the city, will close its doors temporarily on Friday for the first time since its inauguration 96 years ago as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

Authorities in Rio imposed a series of restrictions on transit, gatherings and business operations, including bans at beaches, but did not shutter hotels.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.
Alameda County has housed some 70 homeless residents in local hotel rooms during the novel coronavirus pandemic with plans for hundreds more, a spokeswoman for the county said Thursday.

The county is operating about 400 rooms at the Radisson Hotel and the Comfort Inn and Suites, both on Edes Avenue in Oakland, to house homeless residents during the pandemic, including those who have already tested positive for the virus or who may be at a higher risk of being exposed.

The state's Department of Social Services secured contracts with the two hotels on behalf of Alameda County. The state has also provided 91 trailers to the city of Oakland to house homeless residents.

It will be over the next few weeks and months that Dr. Carlos de la Rosa will see how much his community values the Lindsay Wildlife Experience.

Less than a week into the nonprofit's "Love for Lindsay Wildlife" fundraising campaign, he's already heartened.

"The reputation of Lindsay, and the love people have for Lindsay, it's showing right now," said de la Rosa, executive director of the Walnut Creek-based museum and wildlife rehabilitation center.

The Lindsay Wildlife Experience rolled out the fundraising campaign to help the 65-year-old nonprofit sustain its hospital and education programs during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The goal is to raise $250,000 by June 30; the campaign has already gotten up to about $40,000, with contributions from Lindsay board members and from employees, volunteers, vendors, business partners and past volunteers and associates, de la Rosa said.

San Francisco-based online review platform Yelp announced early Thursday morning that it will be laying off or furloughing at least 2,000 employees.

The news was shared on the company's blog and via an internal email to employees from company co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman.

"Today we will let 1,000 of our colleagues go and furlough approximately 1,100 more, while reducing hours for others," said Stoppelman in the email. "Your department leaders will be in touch this morning to discuss how this affects you individually, and letters with more details and FAQs will follow this afternoon."

Stoppelman explained in the email that the shelter-in-place orders have led to a critical slowdown in the businesses essential to Yelp's review platform.

"The impact we've seen on consumer behavior is staggering: interest in restaurants, our most popular category, has dropped 64 percent since March 10, and the nightlife category is down 81 percent. Gyms are down 73 percent, and salons and other beauty businesses are down 83 percent," he wrote.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and District Attorney Chesa Boudin announced Thursday they're teaming up with the city's largest landlord Veritas Investments to provide temporary housing for survivors of domestic violence during the novel coronavirus crisis.

With the city's stay-at-home order now entering its fourth week, the mayor's office said for people experiencing domestic violence, their homes may not be the safest place.

Through the collaboration between city officials, Veritas and domestic violence advocates, the city was able to secure 20 furnished apartments, with the possibility of more on the way.

Under the plan, domestic violence agencies will refer clients directly as needed, based on availability for survivors and their families, including pets. They can then stay in the apartments for up to 90 days at no cost. The apartments, which will be located in several secure buildings throughout the city, will be ready by the end of the week, according to the mayor's office.

A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release four immigrants with serious medical problems from administrative detention because of the danger of COVID-19 coronavirus infection.

U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney wrote in a temporary restraining order that the four people being held in facilities in Marysville and Bakersfield are "at high risk of severe illness or death if infected with COVID-19."

Two are currently held at the Yuba County Jail in Marysville. They are Salvador Medina Calderon, 56, of Mexico, who has diabetes and has lost most of his vision, and Russian citizen Gennady Lavrus, 43, who has diabetes.

The other two are at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility in Bakersfield. They are Charles Joseph, 34, of Fiji, who has severe asthma, and J. Elias Solario Lopez, 82, a Mexican citizen who has hypertension and kidney disease.

The four are being held in civil administrative detention while awaiting immigration hearings. Chesney said undisputed evidence in the case showed they did not have access to protective social distancing or masks. She said the risks they face amount to unconstitutional conditions of confinement.

A coalition of activist groups on Thursday called on Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern to release all inmates at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin because they say their health is at risk due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

The activists held their news conference in the wake of the disclosure on Wednesday that 11 inmates at the jail have tested positive for the coronavirus so far, with results for seven additional inmates still pending.

In a separate news release, Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods called for the District Attorney's Office and other county court officials to immediately release all inmates who have less than six months or less to serve at the jail.

Woods estimated that there are about 115 inmates who are scheduled for release within the next six months, including about 60 who are scheduled to be released by the end of May.

The jail had an average of about 2,650 inmates before the coronavirus outbreak but its population is now down to 1,957, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said Thursday.

Workers countywide struggling with unemployment, withheld payments and mounting expenses as Santa Clara County nears one month under a shelter-in-place order can access support through a new hotline for the coronavirus pandemic.

The COVID-19 Assistance Navigation hotline, or "CAN," is a free resource from the Fair Workplace Collaborative and connects residents to lawyers, information about unemployment applications, housing, food banks, and financial aid during the crisis.

Residents can reach the CAN hotline at (408) 809-2124. Services are currently available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese with more languages being added.

About 900,000 eligible voters in Santa Clara County may be limited to vote-by-mail ballots in November if county leaders decide it's unsafe to open voting centers during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Voter's Choice Act approved by the county Board of Supervisors last April ensured all residents received vote-by-mail ballots in the March 2020 primary. It also replaced traditional polling centers with Vote Centers, which may be unavailable during the presidential election.

The supervisors are currently hosting their meetings online and approved board president Cindy Chavez's proposal to consider the change on Tuesday. It includes "Emergency Ballot Delivery" for marginalized voters, including those who are in jail, hospitalized, disabled or confined to their homes for medical reasons.

It doesn't include specific details on mail voting for homeless residents or those without a permanent address, who numbered at about 9,700 as of last year's count.

Emergency child care for children of San Francisco health care workers, first responders and other essential city employees will be extended through at least June 2, Mayor London Breed announced Thursday.

The child care services happening at 28 Recreation and Park Department centers throughout the city have been ongoing since Breed first announced the shelter-in-place order back in March due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The extended child care comes after San Francisco Unified School District announced earlier this week that its schools would remain closed through the rest of the school year.

The service is for children from kindergarten to eighth grade and serves essential city employees, Department of Public Health employees and children of San Francisco hospital and health care workers, as well as low-income families on the Rec and Park scholarship list.

Berkeley Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez announced Thursday that a resident in their 40s has died of the new coronavirus, the first such death the city has seen so far in the pandemic.

Hernandez said the resident had underlying health problems, which she said data shows makes people more likely to suffer severe illness from COVID-19.

She said people over the age of 60 also are more susceptible to severe illness but the coronavirus affects people of all ages.

One man was killed and another man was wounded in a shooting in East Oakland on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Officers who responded to the shooting in the 2300 block of Foothill Boulevard just before 4 p.m. Wednesday found a man suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

A short time later, a second male victim with gunshot wounds walked into Highland Hospital in Oakland and currently is listed in stable condition, police said.

The name of the man who was fatally shot is being withheld until his next of kin are notified.

Oakland police said anyone with information about the shooting should call their homicide section at (510) 238-3812.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
The President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Prof. Musa Ahmed as the Vice Chancellor of the newly-established University of Agriculture, Zuru in Kebbi State.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono in Abuja yesterday.

He added that Yusuf Bazata, from Kebbi has also been appointed as the Registrar of the university.

The Director of Information of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Theodore Ogaziechi, in a statement, quoted the Minister as saying that Ahmed was, until his appointment, a professor in the Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State.

He added that the new Vice Chancellor is also a Fellow, College of Veterinary Surgeons, Nigeria; Fellow, Institute of Human and Natural Resources and Director, International Technology Centre, University of Maiduguri, among others.

Nanono further disclosed that the don, who hails from Borno State, had over 36 published works to his credit.

The Minister expressed hope that the new vice chancellors legacies would impact positively on the institution.
COVID-19 isnt thought to be as dangerous for young adults as it is for older people, but that doesnt mean an infection comes without consequences.

Three otherwise healthy Alabama millennials talk about how the coronavirus upended their lives, from painful symptoms to ER visits to separation for weeks from family members.

Hannah Alexander, 28, of Huntsville, said having COVID-19 was one of the most difficult experiences of her life.

Huntsville: Hannah, 28

Five days after Hannah Alexanders symptoms began, she wondered for the first time whether she might die.

This was the most brutal thing Ive been through in my whole life, she said. I was surprised at how it affected me because Im young and I dont have any chronic underlying conditions that would fit into that high-risk category.

It was late at night and the 28-year-old lay alone in her bed, isolated on the second floor of her parents house. The body aches and fever of the previous days had given way to severe chest pain and what felt like spasms in her chest. She couldnt get a full breath.

It terrified her.

It felt like I was about to have a heart attack or my lungs were going to collapse, said Alexander, who lives in Huntsville. Under normal circumstances I would have woken everyone in the house and called 911. But because I knew I likely had this virus, I didnt know if it would be OK for me to go to the hospital. What was severe enough?

She didnt want to unnecessarily expose her parents, who are at high risk of complications, or healthcare workers.

She was awake for hours. Eventually the spasms and chest pain faded.

A week before, Alexander had felt fine. She and a friend rode together in Alexanders car for what Alexander described as essential volunteer work, serving a vulnerable population. They washed hands, used hand sanitizer, didnt touch each other, and didnt come into direct contact with the people they served, she said. They thought theyd done everything right.

But then her friend became ill a few days later and tested positive for the virus.

We just had no idea that she was carrying this, Alexander said. We never touched each other, but in this case, it was airborne.

By that time, Alexander had started to feel like she might have a cold. She went to get tested herself at Huntsville Hospitals drive-thru testing site at Joe Davis Stadium, then open but currently shuttered due to lack of testing supplies.

While she waited for test results, Alexander called into work and got permission to work from home. She isolated herself on the second floor of her parents house, while they occupied the first floor.

Once, during a tornado warning, she had to come downstairs to hide in a closet. Her parents sheltered in a different closet.

Fever and body aches followed the severe congestion, along with a loss of taste and smell. Then that late-night episode of chest pain that nearly made her call 911. A day later, it was nausea and what Alexander described as the worst headache of her life.

A week after her symptoms began, she once again had chest pain with an accelerated heart rate. This time, her arms, feet and lips went numb. Her mother called the paramedics.

By the time they arrived, her legs were numb as well, and they took her by ambulance to the emergency room.

Hospital staff wore N95 masks, goggles and gowns over their scrubs when treating her.

I had been at home trying to tough this out by myself, not knowing anything and not understanding what was happening to me, she said. I was just glad to be in a place where people knew what they were doing and could assess my situation.

She was discharged hours later after a clear chest x-ray, and was sent home with medication. The next day she finally got that long-awaited test result  she was positive for COVID-19.

Alexander prayed each day and communicated through social media with friends and family. Members of her church drove to her neighborhood to do a park and pray for her recovery.

Ive had so many people reach out to me, encourage me and ask how Im doing, she said. People have brought food and vitamins, all kinds of wonderful things. It has warmed my heart.

Her symptoms lessened over the following week. Shes been symptom-free for the past couple of days now, and expects to come out of isolation by the end of the week. The first thing she plans to do is to take a walk around her neighborhood in the fresh air.

People need to behave in a way as if they could be carrying it, even if they dont have symptoms, she said. You may have this and not know it.

Jimmy Johnson, 28, from Jefferson County had to live in a hotel room for more than two weeks while isolated because of the coronavirus.

Birmingham: Jimmy, 29

Jimmy Johnson has been living in a hotel room for nearly four weeks. The 29-year-old Jefferson County resident hasnt gone home in that time so he wouldnt infect his roommate.

I basically live in hotels for my work, but these four walls are closing in, he said. Its a nice hotel room, but its crazy to be in one room with no human contact for this long.

Johnson first felt ill a couple of weeks ago, while on a business trip in Washington, D.C. He works for a company building LED video walls and travels nearly every week of the year.

At the time, he couldnt get tested in D.C. because he didnt fit the testing criteria.

So that Friday, I rented a car and drove home, he said. Once he got to Birmingham, he rented a hotel room, where hes been ever since, except leaving briefly to get tested for COVID-19 at a local urgent care clinic.

His doctor called last week to let him know his test was positive. Hed have to be in isolation for 14 days from the start of his symptoms.

I had a very mild case, said Johnson. A sore throat, cough, fever and a bad headache were his only symptoms. I only had symptoms for four days and they were mild, not even enough to be annoying.

Johnson is used to travelling  hes been to Paris and Hawaii since November  but now works from his hotel room. His roommate brings him food and leaves it outside his door.

When I heard I had (coronavirus), I was more worried about passing it on to someone who would be really hurt by it, Johnson said. Its serious for a lot of folks and the whole flatten the curve idea makes sense. And I dont want the hospitals to be overrun.

Johnson said his younger brother, who lives in Cullman, also tested positive for COVID-19. They hadnt seen each other in person in a couple of months, and so likely didnt transmit it to each other.

But Johnson said his brothers case was much worse; he couldnt leave his bed for days.

Johnsons 14 days of isolation are up at the end of the week. He plans to spray everything he owns with disinfecting spray and Lysol-bomb his car before finally heading home.

Everybody should just stay at home if at all possible, said Johnson.

Shanterica Splunge, 29, of Montgomery was diagnosed with coronavirus in mid-March had had to stay isloated from her husband and children.

Montgomery: Shanterica, 29

The day Shanterica Splunge learned she was infected with COVID-19, she started a Facebook Live stream video about her diagnosis. Wearing a mask, the 29-year-old urged friends and acquaintances to take the virus seriously. She said she regretted traveling the week before to visit a friend in Savannah, and regretted thinking that she wasnt likely to catch it.

She said at that time, in mid-March, there were rumors going around Facebook that African Americans werent as likely to get the virus.

In my mind, Id started to think, I havent heard of any African Americans that have this virus, said Splunge. It seemed like, the culture could not be touched. I was the first person I knew in this area that got it.

Her video has 10,000 views and more than 500 comments.

One reason I made my video was because I was so frustrated, seeing people would still go to barbecues and go to church, said Splunge, who lives in Montgomery. People think, its not going to touch me because I live in a small town or because nobody at the barbecue has it.

She began feeling slightly ill while visiting a friend in Savannah, Ga. over St. Patricks Day weekend. She thinks she may have been infected while attending a funeral in Detroit the week before.

She took a bus from Savannah home to Montgomery and went straight to the hospital when she arrived.

As Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Splunge asked staff if shed be tested for coronavirus. It was March 16. Schools had just closed for an initial two weeks, but Alabama had yet to issue strict orders about gatherings or sheltering in place. The state had fewer than 30 coronavirus cases at the time.

Staff initially told her they wouldn't need to test her, but later said they would. Two nurses came in wearing full protective gear and swabbed the inside of her nose.

It felt like I was an alien that came from outer space, Splunge said. They taped my door so people knew not to come in. If I had to go to the bathroom, I had to let them know and everybody would have to clear the hallway.

I started getting really scared. I was kind of freaking out, thinking about my kids and my husband.

After the test, staff sent her home with ibuprofen. She isolated herself in the back bedroom at her house while her husband stayed in the front room with their twin 2-year-olds.

I was laying down and I could feel the room spinning, like my body was moving but I wasnt, she said. Parts of her body would feel numb. She had a fever, a cough and severe congestion.

Three days after her trip to the hospital, a nurse called to tell her that her test was positive for COVID-19.

She asked what she should do, and the nurse said he wasnt sure what to tell her, she recalled. He gave her two numbers to call  the CDC and the Alabama Department of Public Health. Splunge first told her husband and asked him to send their twins to stay with her mom.

Then she dialed the CDC, crying. She said the person who answered asked why shed been told to call, and told her to call the department of public health. She did. The ADPH told her to call her doctor, which she did.

Then she made the Facebook Live video. Some on social media were supportive, but others remained skeptical that she could be COVID-19 positive, she said.

A few even questioned her faith.

Ive heard it all, she said. Some people think, well, shes not a child of God because she got the virus, or that she doesnt know Christ and thats why the virus touched her.

She and her family are active in worship and music ministry at a local church, and Splunge said shes missed being able to sing at church.

Her doctor has called every other day to check on her, she said, prescribing anti-nausea medication and instructions for using over-the-counter medication to keep her fever in check. Shes had muscle spasms and body aches; one time the right side of her body went numb.

She has FaceTime calls with her kids each day. Her mother told her that the twins ask to watch a video of their dad, a musician, playing the saxophone each night before bed.

Her husband passes her food and medicine through an adjoining door to the couples bathroom and worked to keep the house disinfected.

But now, two weeks after the onset of her symptoms, Splunge said she still cant quite shake the fever.

She wants to be retested to see if shes negative or not, but her doctor so far has not been able to find a test.

Until she can get tested or her symptoms disappear for several days, she said, her doctor advised her not to bring her children home. She hasnt seen them in three weeks.

She said she still sees on social media people going to church and meeting together.

In the Bible it talks about respecting your leaders, she said. Thats what me and my family are standing on. Just do what the officials say. Stay in your home.
Andrew Alli, son of Ambrose Alli, says his family never believed that the late governor of the defunct Bendel state was guilty of any ...





Andrew Alli, son of Ambrose Alli, says his family never believed that the late governor of the defunct Bendel state was guilty of any crime.





Andrew said this while reacting on behalf of his family to the posthumous presidential pardon granted his father by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday.





Ambrose Alli was a medical professor who served as the first civilian governor of Bendel state between 1979 and 1983.





He was sentenced to 100 years in prison by a military tribunal during the military regime of Buhari for allegedly misappropriating N983,000 in funds for a road project.





He was later freed when Gabriel Igbinedion, Esama of Benin, paid a fine to the government.





He died on his 60th birthday on September 22, 1989, at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).





In a series of tweets on his official Twitter handle, Andrew said his family is yet to be officially informed of the development, adding that they only learnt of the pardon via social media.





He, however, thanked the president, for the gesture.





He also expressed gratitude to Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, for acting as a catalyst to the development.





According to Andrew, the presidential pardon is a testimony to the fact that his father did no wrong other than giving his all to improve the lot of the people of the former Bendel.





We are aware of the announcement concerning the pardon of my father, Professor Ambrose Alli, made by the Government, via its social media pages, Andrew wrote.





Although we are yet to receive any direct official communication on this matter, we are pleased to hear that our father/uncle/brother/grandfather has received a presidential pardon.





We have never believed that he was guilty of anything, other than giving his all to improve the lot of the people of the former Bendel State and, indeed, Nigeria. This is demonstrated by the enduring legacy that he left.





We thank his excellency, President Buhari, as well as his excellency Governor Obaseki, and all those who have supported the process inside and outside government, for their recognition of this fact.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain was moved out of intensive care on Thursday, a ray of hope for a country that faces several more weeks under lockdown as its death toll from the coronavirus approached 8,000

London: Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain was moved out of intensive care on Thursday, a ray of hope for a country that faces several more weeks under lockdown as its death toll from the coronavirus approached 8,000.

Johnson was hospitalised on Sunday evening after a 10-day bout with the virus and transferred to the intensive care unit on Monday after his condition deteriorated. On Thursday, Downing Street said the prime minister, 55, had been moved back to a ward at St Thomas Hospital in London and was in extremely good spirits.

Dominic Raab, Britains caretaker leader, said that Johnson had made positive steps in his recovery, though he offered no timetable for when he might return to work. He also signaled that the government would extend the countrys lockdown beyond next week.

Raab, the foreign secretary deputised by Johnson to carry out his duties, said the government would not lift restrictions on 13 April, the date the prime minister had set when he imposed the measures last month. The lockdown now appears likely to last several more weeks.

Is it time to ease up on the rules? Raab said to reporters at No 10, Downing Street Were not done yet. Weve got to keep going.

Raab said he had not spoken to Johnson since he was hospitalised on Sunday night. Now that he is out of intensive care, the prime minister will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery, the government said in a statement.

Despite the good news, Raab appeared to be adjusting to the reality that Johnson will still be convalescing as the government faces one of the most sensitive decisions of the pandemic: When, and how, to reopen the British economy. The Cabinet plans to make that assessment at the end of next week.

We in the government have got this covered, Raab said when asked whether he had the power to make that decision.

The debate over how to lift the lockdown is replete with trade-offs. Lifting it too soon, experts said, could reignite the contagion and force a new lockdown, which they said would shatter the confidence of businesses. But leaving it in place for too long could force many companies into insolvency and cause lasting damage.

Although the government put off the decision until next week, its hand has effectively been forced. Scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said Thursday that the lockdown there was likely to continue for some weeks to come, with no prospect of the measures being lifted in the coming days. Authorities in Wales made it clear they felt the same way.

That reflected their worries that, without a clear pledge to continue the restrictions, Britons would take them less seriously over the Easter holiday weekend. But while there was a consensus that it was too soon to end the lockdown, there were growing calls for the government to clarify its approach.

Keir Starmer, the new leader of the Opposition Labour Party, called on the government to publish its exit strategy, saying on Twitter: Im not calling for precise timings, but the strategy. This is incredibly difficult on people and we need to know that plans are in place, and what they are.

There are at least four possible outcomes, said Devi Sridhar, director of the global health governance program at Edinburgh University. They range from a coordinated global effort to close borders, which she said was highly unlikely, to intensive testing and contact tracing for people infected, which is more realistic.

If we can actually test people and quarantine those who are carrying the virus, we could relax it for everyone else, Sridhar said. We could keep that person and their family home for two weeks.

But the success of that approach would hinge on Britain vastly increasing its capacity for testing. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, set an ambitious target of carrying out 100,000 tests a day by the end of April. Britain, which got a slow start on testing, has fallen far short of those numbers.

Even within parts of the government, there appeared to be confusion about the duration of the lockdown. Employees responsible for processing passport applications were asked to return to work next week.

The deputy scientific advisor at the Home Office, Rupert Shute, said people were no more at risk in the workplace than at home or at the supermarket, according to a transcript of a conference call obtained by the BBC.

Shute also referred indirectly to herd immunity  a theory once advanced as part of the governments strategy but now rarely mentioned. It holds that as many as four-fifths of the population will contract the virus and therefore develop natural immunity against it.

We are working on the assessment that 80 percent of us, if we havent already, will get the virus, he said. We cannot hide away from it forever.

On Thursday, however, the governments chief scientific advisor, Sir Patrick Vallance, said that based on data from other countries, he believed that fewer than 10 percent of Britons had so far been infected.

The pressure to reopen the economy is immense. According to Britains National Institute of Economic and Social Research, the lockdown is triggering the largest contraction in economic activity since 1921. It projects that growth will decline by five percent in the first quarter of 2020, and by between 15 and 25 percent in the second quarter, if the restrictions continue.

Its a balance, Jonathan Portes, a professor of economics and public policy at Kings College London, said of the decision. You have to make sure that you have as much support for companies to keep them going.

But there will come a time when it will be too long for them, he added. My instinct is that about three months is a plausible limit at which you start doing a lot of permanent damage.

Mark Landler and Stephen Castle c.2020 The New York Times Company
John Keegan, a 79-year-old man from Cloghan, Co Offaly, is believed to have been the first Offaly victim of the coronavirus. His death was confirmed along with nine others on March 24 but his family want him to be more than just another statistic in a news broadcast.

As well as being a victim of this worldwide pandemic, John Keegan was also "a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather."

That's according to one of his granddaughters, Sinead Keegan, who spoke to the Offaly Express this week. "He adored his family and enjoyed nothing more than being surrounded by them all," she said.

"He loved life, he lived it to the fullest. Attending dances all over the county when he was in good health and boy could he dance," Sinead added.

In recent years, John's health began to deteriorate with hospital visits becoming more and more frequent. He had been to hospital almost 20 visits in the last 12 months.

His final stay in hospital lasted several weeks.

Explaining her beloved grandfather's final week, Sinead said: "A member of my family received a call to say my grandfather was being put into isolation as they believed he had come into contact with a patient who had tested positive for Covid-19.

"He was tested for the coronavirus and we believed that in, at most maybe a few days, we would have the results, but no. All the while grandad was going downhill fast with family in England contacted and told to make arrangements to get home.

"My grandfather's doctor at Tullamore Hospital made the decision to allow my family in to see grandad while the hospital was on lockdown, and even though he knew my grandad could possibly have Covid-19, my family were not given the adequate PPE," she added.

For a short time on March 24, doctors believed John Keegan didn't, in fact, have the coronavirus, a glimmer of hope his family were "ecstatic" about.

From then on, things developed and deteriorated very quickly. "An aunt of mine was in with grandad when a nurse called her out to tell her the results were back and that they were positive and my grandfather had Covid-19. Minutes later, grandad passed away. It was only then, that two of my aunts were given the proper PPE to go in and say their goodbyes," Sinead explained.

Due to restrictions, John's family couldn't give him the send-off they wanted too. Instead, Sinead described the funeral process as "strange, surreal and heartbreaking."

"We couldn't wake him, after the funeral, we couldn't all come together and share stories of the past, and smile, laugh and reminisce. Instead, we all stood in the graveyard all spaced apart, gloved, and masked. We couldn't stand together united as a family. We couldn't console one another. It's something I'll never forget; I don't think any of us will ever forget it."

"Due to some of my family being in with my grandad, infection control got in contact with them and they had to self isolate for 14 days just in case they picked up the virus from him. Thankfully none did," Sinead told us.

After her sad and distressing experience with Covid-19, Sinead is making a heartfelt appeal to the public. "I am urging the public to adhere to the restrictions put in place by the Irish government. This virus does not discriminate. You may think you are safe, but we thought our grandad was safe, in a hospital of all places. Think of your loved ones. Please."

Sinead also said the death of her grandfather brought out some of the best of her community and thanked a number of people for their help, prayers and compassion.

"I would like to thank St. Rynaghs GAA Club for their very thoughtful gesture of the flags either side of the pillars going into the graveyard. Thank you to Grennan's funeral directors in Ferbane for all their help. To my uncle Vincent and his boys, for all their hard work, Michael Tierney for helping them. Evelyn Jordan for being grandad's carer and doing a fantastic job.

"We are all so thankful and lastly to each and everyone who has sent messages and condolences to myself and my family. It means so much to us all," she concluded.
The likelihood of determining whether someone is sharing a real or false memory of a crime that has been implanted in a person's recollection is 'no better than tossing a coin', a new study reveals.

People listening to recounted events of a criminal act were only able to determine between the two with 53 percent accuracy, leaving experts to question how criminal proceedings are conducted.

Even when participants in the experiment were told that some of the videos featured false memories, they were still unable to identify the real and fake stories correctly - they were also more likely to misinterpret a real memory as being fake.

The researchers suggest the 'questioning process should be evidence-based, to reduce the risk of implanting false memories in people being questioned by the police.'

Scroll down for video

People listening to recounted events of a criminal act were only able to determine between the two with 53 percent accuracy, leaving experts to question how criminal proceedings are conducted

In 2015, Dr. Julia Shaw, a professor at the University College London, and her colleagues used suggestive tactics to persuade participants into believing they had committed a crime - and 70 percent of the subjects were found to develop false memories.

Researchers asked questions about their past and used leading questions in a way that convinced them they were recovering forgotten memories.

The tactics was carried out with the help of the volunteer's family members, who told Shaw and her team about true and emotional childhood events that had actually occurred.

They told participants that their parents had revealed a crime or dramatic, but fabricated, incident and asked them to relive that event as if it had actually happened - all of which was recorded on video.

Judges in particular should never assume that they can tell when someone has a false memory, and should consider the entire process to see if there was any risk of contamination of a defendant or witness' memories

Shaw noted they were implanting false memories about them committing a crime, such as theft and assault, when they were young.

And noted they were 'essentially doing exactly 'what not to do' when conducting a police interview.'

'Everyone thinks that they couldn't be tricked into believing they have done something they never did, and that if someone were telling them about a false memory, they would be able to spot it,' said Shaw.

'But we found that actually, people tend to be quite susceptible to having false memories, and they sound just like real memories.'

For the recent experiment, the team used the 205 footage and showed it to a group of 200 people.

After watching the videos, the new participant were asked if the person being questioned was describing an event that actually happened or was made-up.

Shaw found that participants were only 53 percent accurate when identifying false memories of committing a crime.

Even when participants were told that some of the memories they watched were false, their judgment was still no better than tossing a coin.

IMPLANTING FALSE MEMORIES For the 2015 study, 60 students who had not been involved in any crimes were interviewed. The researchers contacted their parents and asked them to fill out a questionnaire about their child's teenage years. The students then took part in three 40-minute interviews that took place about a week apart. In the first interview, the researchers told the student about two events they had experienced as a teenager - only one of these events actually happened. For half of the students, the false event related to a crime that resulted in contact with police - an assault, assault with a weapon, or theft. For the other half, the false event was emotional in nature, including an attack by a dog or the loss of a huge sum of money. When describing the false event to the student, the researchers included details about that time in the person's life that were actually true, which has been taken from the parent's questionnaire. The participants were asked to explain what happened in each of the two events. When they had difficulty explaining the false event, the interviewer encouraged them to try anyway. In the second and third interviews, the researchers again asked the students to recall as much as they could about both events. The students also described certain features of each memory, such as how vivid it was and how confident they were about it. Advertisement

Not only were they identifying false memories as true, the group was just as likely to recount a genuine memory as being fake.

'Legal professionals and police officers need to realize how easy it is to manipulate someone's memories,' said Shaw.

'Judges in particular should never assume that they can tell when someone has a false memory, and should consider the entire process to see if there was any risk of contamination of a defendant or witness' memories.

'The findings really highlight how important it is to ensure that criminal proceedings are done right.

'The questioning process should be evidence-based, to reduce the risk of implanting false memories in people being questioned by the police.'

Shaw's 2015 study was the first to successfully implant false memories of committing a crime - involving either assault or assault with a weapon that resulted in police contact.

The findings have clear implications for criminal interrogation and other aspects of legal procedure, affecting suspects, witnesses, and law-enforcers, as well as for interviews that take place as part of therapy, she added in a statement from 2015.

'Understanding that these complex false memories exist, and that 'normal' individuals can be led to generate them quite easily, is the first step in preventing them from happening.

'By empirically demonstrating the harm that 'bad' interview techniques - those which are known to cause false memories - can cause, we can more readily convince interviewers to avoid them and use 'good' techniques instead.'
New York, April 10 : Images have emerged of coffins being buried in a mass grave in New York City, as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak continues to rise in the epicentre of the pandemic in the US, a media report said on Friday.

The drone images come from Hart Island, off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, which has been used for more than 150 years by city officials as a mass burial site for those with no next-of-kin, or families who cannot afford funerals, said the BBC report.

It is probable that many of the coffins are for coronavirus victims, but it was not clear whether they fall into the above categories.

Burial operations at the site have ramped up amid the pandemic from one day a week to five days a week, according to the Department of Corrections.

As of Friday, New York state now has more coronavirus cases than any single country.

The state's confirmed cases jumped by 10,000 on Thursday to 159,937, of whom 7,000 have died, the BBC reported.

The US as a whole has recorded 466,299 cases, the highest in the world and 16,686 deaths.

The news of the images have come after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had indicated earlier this week that "temporary burials" might be necessary until the crisis had passed.

"Obviously the place we have used historically is Hart Island," the BBC quoted the Mayor as saying.

Stay-at-home orders have in the meantime closed non-essential businesses in 42 states, while drastically slowing the US economy.

New data on Thursday showed unemployment claims topped 6 million for the second week in a row, bringing the number of Americans out of work over the last three weeks to 16.8 million.

Chicago meanwhile imposed a curfew on liquor sales from 9 p.m. on Thursday to stop the persistent violation of a ban on large gatherings.

The measure, due to remain in place until 30 April, comes after health officials this week said black Chicagoans account for half of all the Illinois city's coronavirus cases and more than 70 per cent of its deaths, despite making up just 30 per cent of the population.
Sandra Lee and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo may no longer be a couple, but they continue to support each other.

Lee, a former Food Network star who has written 25 cookbooks, told The New York Times that even though she is currently quarantined in Los Angeles, she watches Cuomo's daily briefings about the novel coronavirus pandemic, and is in touch with the governor nearly every day.

The two were a couple for more than a decade before they announced their split in 2019, though Lee told the newspaper that "neither one of us, well as far as I know, has had a date," and "he's still my guy."

MORE: The coronavirus crisis is the moment Andrew Cuomo has prepared for all his life

We share a home, we share children, we share friendship, Lee said of Cuomo. I will protect him and be there for him until the day I die.

Cuomo, 62, and Lee, 53, began dating in 2005, one year before he was elected New York attorney general. He became the governor of New York in 2010, and Lee, the state's unofficial first lady, though they rarely discussed their relationship in interviews. However, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, he was by her side, even appearing in her HBO documentary, "RX: Early Detection  A Cancer Journey with Sandra Lee."

"This is a tool for people who have gone through it, who have it or who will have it," Lee told "Good Morning America" of her 2018 film. "And its a tool for their family to know how to take care of and deal with and understand."

Last year, amid reports that Lee and Cuomo had sold their suburban New York mansion, Lily Pond, because of a looming break-up, the TV personality explained that they just didn't need such a big home. Their split announcement came in September.

PHOTO: Sandra Lee attends an event in Los Angeles, Jan. 18, 2020. (Presley Ann/Getty Images, FILE )

"Over the recent past, we have realized that our lives have gone in different directions and our romantic relationship has turned into a deep friendship," their joint statement at the time read. "We will always be family and are fully supportive of each other and dedicated to the girls. Our personal lives remain personal and there will be no further comment."

The two do not have children together; Cuomo has three adult daughters from his marriage to Kerry Kennedy.

Sandra Lee says her ex, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is 'still my guy' originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 22:06:25|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Brunei reported one new case of the COVID-19 on Friday, breaking the five-day record of zero cases reported and bringing the total cases to 136.

According to Brunei's Ministry of Health, case 136 is a 28-year-old local man, who studied in Indonesia and returned to Brunei on April 8 after traveling to Malaysia, who did not show any symptoms of infection.

Seven more patients have recovered, bringing the total recovered cases to 99. Two patients are still in critical condition and require respiratory assistance, and the rest are in a stable condition.

The ministry stated that so far, 74 individuals are still undergoing quarantine, 2,308 people have completed the quarantine period and 9,342 laboratory tests for the COVID-19 have been conducted.
A Winnipeg man now being treated for COVID-19 in an intensive care unit is urging others to do all they can to avoid the same fate.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man now being treated for COVID-19 in an intensive care unit is urging others to do all they can to avoid the same fate.

Rick Sterzer, a 65-year-old retired Winnipeg firefighter, said hes been in intensive care since April 4.

SUPPLIED Rick Sterzer said hes received excellent care since being admitted to St. Boniface Hospital on April 2.

"I wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy. I dont think Ive been this sick in my whole life. I look after myself, Im in shape, I have no underlying medical conditions and its dragging me down," said Sterzer.

He said he hopes sharing his story will convince others to follow social-distancing and self-isolation orders.

"Its very important to self-isolate, very important (to follow) social distancing. Its the only way that we are going to get ahead on this," said Sterzer. "Weve got to minimize the contact."

UFFW Sterzer warned his former firefighter colleagues to be especially careful. "Take care of yourself every call. Dont (cut) corners."

He warned his former firefighter colleagues to be especially careful.

"Take care of yourself every call. Dont (cut) corners," he said.

Sterzer said hes received excellent care since being admitted to St. Boniface Hospital on April 2.

"The hospital staff has been second to none Theyve been nursing me and keeping me going," he said.

He was moved to the ICU two days later, when it became more difficult for him to breathe.

"I couldnt maintain my (oxygen) levels so they decided to bring me down," he said.

SUPPLIED Sterzer was tested a second time for COVID-19 and the results came back positive.

Sterzer said hes been given some form of oxygen supplement throughout his hospital stay. He said a few other patients appear to also have COVID-19, including some on ventilators. But he said the hospital appears relatively calm overall. Sterzer said medical staff take a series of precautions each time theyre about to enter his room.

"They have quite a procedure  and they have to be gowned and gloved and masked  Theyre very vigilant," he said.

Sterzer said he ensures hes wearing a mask every time someone enters his room to reduce the risk to others.

The former firefighters ordeal started after he boarded the Costa Luminosa cruise ship, which set sail from Florida on March 5. That was one day before the federal government asked Canadians to think twice before taking cruises, as the risks of COVID-19 became clearer. The cruise was originally set to visit Puerto Rico, Antigua, Spain and France but wound up missing most of its stops. It did dock at some points to let sick passengers off, Sterzer said.

He said passengers were confined to their cabins by March 15. He finally got off the ship in France on March 19.

"I was sick for the whole time we were quarantined. I couldnt raise my head, I couldnt do anything I had no fever, so I was just assuming that because I didnt have a fever it was something else (and not COVID-19)," Sterzer said of his initial symptoms.

He managed to fly home March 20, landing as major restrictions on international flights began to take effect. Sterzer did decide to isolate himself at home. On March 23, he became dehydrated and went to Victoria Hospital for treatment, where he was tested for COVID-19. A week later, the test results came back negative, he said. But as his illness grew more severe, Sterzer again chose to stay home. On April 2, he went to St. Boniface Hospital.

"My temperature on (that day) spiked to 42.5 C and I thought Im not going to die at home, get me into the hospital," said Sterzer.

He said he was then tested a second time for COVID-19 and the results came back positive.

Meanwhile, a Winnipeg couple who fell ill following the same cruise say theyre now recovering.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Martha Bradbury, a friend of Sterzers, said she and her husband Allan have been in isolation since March 20. She said her husband tested positive for COVID-19, while she tested negative, but both fell ill with severe flu-like symptoms after returning home. Bradbury has decided to self-isolate at home until April 14, two weeks after her symptoms showed up, then follow general stay-at-home directives that now apply to all Manitobans.

"If you know you have been somewhere where you were exposed to someone who was positive, you need to live your life like you are positive, which means you need to self-isolate and you need to physically distance," she said.

Bradbury said she hopes her recovery offers a glimmer of hope in the midst of the pandemic.

"You can get this virus and recover and  live through it," she said.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
As many as half of the 120 rooms at the Motel 6 in Sandston where Williams-Pierce lives are occupied by people with nowhere else to go, she and others there estimate.

Their ability to stay hinges on steady paychecks or tips that have suddenly shrunk or vanished amid economic fallout from the pandemic. In the last three weeks, 39,278 people in the Richmond region have filed unemployment claims.

Arun Kadimcherla, part-owner of the Motel 6, said if someone cannot pay, management will give them a few extra days. If they still dont have what they owe after the grace period, he said management would ask them to leave and, if necessary, call law enforcement to have them removed from the property.

One or two days, we can take a loss, Kadimcherla said. At the end of the day, we still have to be able to pay our bills.

Williams-Pierce said she had not received threats from management at the Motel 6. Still, she worried what would happen if she came up short.

I dont know if theyll put me out or what, she said. They may say theyll work with you, but you dont know whats going to happen from day to day.
Ravi Shankar lost his virginity aged 14 to the French dancer lover of his brother, who was 20 years his senior.

Some four decades later, another long-standing, long-suffering mistress wrote on the back of an envelope the names of the 15 rival girlfriends she knew about  Shankar had kept her abreast of his bed-hopping.

Its entirely your emotional problem, she informed him, angrily. Its a disease which you alone will have to cure yourself. Act mature.

Between these two events the Indian classical musician made some of the most astounding music of the 20th century. By 1967s Summer of Love, he had become the most sought after performer in the world.

Ravi Shankar, pictured alongside Beatle George Harrison. The Indian sitar legend was a guru for many stars such as Harrison

Shankar was guru to George Harrison of The Beatles, and lauded by the rest of psychedelic rocks elite. While his albums topped the U.S. classical charts for 26 weeks that year, his mesmeric performance was the sensation of the Monterey International Pop Festival.

Shankars ragas  improvisations on a melody, some lasting for hours at a time  were the soundtrack to a million hippy acid trips, a fact which riled the virtuoso. One did not need to be stoned to listen to his music any more than you did to appreciate Bach, he fulminated to a friend. To no avail.

He had his own addictions, of course: principally the sitar, the long-necked lute with 20 tuning pegs and in Ravis model, 19 strings. Another was the company of beautiful women.

Great fame came to him in middle age. By then he had already experienced enough to fill several lives, not least during a remarkable showbusiness childhood reminiscent of that of another musical genius, Michael Jackson.

One of many: Shankars lover Miss India Indrani Rahman, pictured. The musical guru was renowned for his sex life

All these stories  which in his early years encompassed Raj princes, sexual abuse, murder and doting Hollywood royalty  have been brought together for the first time in Indian Sun: The Life And Music Of Ravi Shankar, a new biography by Oliver Craske.

Shankar was born 100 years ago this week in the holy city of Benares  now Varanasi  on the banks of the Ganges. Both his parents were of the priestly Brahmin caste and from landowning families. His Anglophile father had qualified as a barrister in London and worked for the local maharaja, becoming his foreign minister. Such circumstances promised a life of luxury and ease.

But before Shankar was born, the youngest of four sons, his father took a second wife; an Englishwoman named Miss Morrell. This caused a scandal and his parents spent most of their subsequent lives apart. Shankar was brought up in straitened circumstances by his mother and was only introduced to his father aged eight.

By then he had suffered rape at the hands of a man he described as an uncle whom he had loved and trusted. The assaults continued over a number of years and Shankar told no one until he was in his 70s. A lonely child  his favourite brother died of plague  Shankar loved books and cinema. He first picked up a sitar at the age of six. But it seemed dance would be his means of expression thanks to Uday, his Paris-based eldest brother, who had danced for George V and had been commissioned by ballerina Anna Pavlova to choreograph two Indian-themed works.

Shankar was born 100 years ago this week in the holy city of Benares  now Varanasi  on the banks of the Ganges. Both his parents were of the priestly Brahmin caste and from landowning families

When Ravi was ten, Uday returned to India to form a touring dance troupe. Nine of the family, including Ravi and his mother, journeyed with him to Paris via Venice in October 1930. The voyage, Ravi recalled, had been a procession of wonders. And so began an artistic odyssey that did not really end until his death aged 92 in 2012.

The entire Shankar troupe lived in a house by the Bois de Boulogne. Their debut in 1931 was a triumph; on subsequent tours of Europe, Ravi, the youngest, was the most spoiled. He met such luminaries as Cole Porter and Gertrude Stein and was taken to nightclubs by his older siblings.

He also suffered further episodes of sexual assault from a new abuser. All the worse, because his mother had by then returned to India.

America was next. Aged 12, Ravi stood at the liners rails as it steamed into New York. The Shankars stayed at a hotel by Central Park, meeting Duke Ellington, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford and Walt Disney.

Ravi danced before ecstatic audiences. But during a triumphant return to India his attention turned to the sitar. And women. It was here he had his first love affair  with Simkie, Udays dance partner and mistress. She was simply the first of his countless conquests.

But young Ravi faced two devastating blows. In 1935 while on tour in Asia he learned his father had been found bludgeoned to death outside a London hotel. No assailant or motive was ever found. The following year, while Ravi was in Amsterdam, his mother also died.

By then, however, an adult figure had entered his life who would have a more profound influence than either parent.

George Harrisons interest had begun on the set of the film Help! in 1965, when he picked up a sitar used in a scene set in an Indian restaurant. Then he began to hear the name Ravi Shankar from fellow musicians, like David Crosby of The Byrds

Baba Allauddin Khan, a master musician, joined the troupe in 1936. That summer the company enjoyed a five-month residency at Dartington Hall, the artistic retreat in Devon. Here, Khan made Ravi relearn his sitar technique. He was a very demanding teacher. Everyone else was full of praise [for me] but he killed my ego, Ravi later recalled.

As World War II broke out, Ravi travelled back to India and moved in with Khans family, sharing his quarters with cockroaches and scorpions. So started six-and-a-half years of fanatical dedication  practising up to 16 hours a day  which would see him transformed into a musical legend.

In 1941, aged 21, Ravi married Khans daughter, Annapurna, herself a fine sitar player. Though it produced a son, theirs would be an unhappy marriage, which faltered within the first few years and dragged on thereafter in name only. Meanwhile he pursued affairs whenever I had the chance.

By the mid-1950s Shankar was an international star in the classical music world. He had cut a record at Abbey Road studios in London, written film scores and become a friend of the 7th Earl of Harewood, the Queens art-patron cousin.

London was to be a second home. But he had lovers all over the world, attracted by his talent and what Saeed Jaffrey later described as his curly long black locks, his large bedroom eyes and his sensuous mouth.

Among those who fell for him was Indrani Rahman, the first Miss India who had also caught the eye of John F Kennedy. Another was Kamala Sastri, a dance student of Udays who would become one of the great loves of Ravis life. It was she who listed his other lovers on the envelope.

By the mid-1950s Shankar was an international star in the classical music world. He had cut a record at Abbey Road studios in London, written film scores and become a friend of the 7th Earl of Harewood, the Queens art-patron cousin

Shankar brought Indian classical music to a wider Western audience like no other artist before or since. But this brought brickbats at home from purists who carped that his talent and the musical tradition had been compromised. Hed sold out.

Yet this uneasy marriage between Eastern and Western traditions was about to become the motor of a global movement. And Ravi Shankar would provide the soundtrack.

By the mid-Sixties the nascent hippy counterculture had begun to embrace India as a spiritual alternative to the materialistic West. For many this meant meditation, hashish and LSD.

George Harrisons interest had begun on the set of the film Help! in 1965, when he picked up a sitar used in a scene set in an Indian restaurant. Then he began to hear the name Ravi Shankar from fellow musicians, like David Crosby of The Byrds.

He bought several Shankar LPs which he found incredible. This led him to buy a really crummy sitar in Oxford Street for 70.

He brought the instrument to the Abbey Road studios for the first day of recording what would become the album Rubber Soul. On the track Norwegian Wood Harrison doubled the melody line on his sitar.

When released that December, the song caused a sensation, turbo-charging the embryonic fascination with India in pop culture. Raga rock was born. Certainly Harrison was hooked. A few weeks after the recording his Indian musician friend Ayana Angadi took him to see Shankar play at the Royal Festival Hall.

Harrison even took the sitar with him to Barbados on his honeymoon with Patti Boyd.

The following April, while recording the album Revolver, The Beatles Indian influence  driven by Harrison  was obvious on Tomorrow Never Knows and Love You Too, which starts with a sitar solo. Back home in India Shankar was bemused by this collision of pop and Indian classical music inspired by his playing. He said it was like learning the Chinese alphabet in order to write English poems.

He returned to London in May 1966. Paint It, Black by the Rolling Stones was at No 1, featuring Brian Jones on sitar. Jones had practised on Harrisons 70 instrument. In an interview Shankar was ambivalent.

I dont want to be associated with this pop, he said. People at home will criticise me.

But, he added, I am delighted young people are interested in Indian music. But if George Harrison wants to play the sitar, why does he not learn it properly?

He began a tour of folk clubs during which he forbade his audience from smoking, drinking alcohol or necking during his recitals. He also gave a private concert at a Chelsea townhouse for, among others, Barbra Streisand.

By 1978 he was having affairs with three women (Kamala was the other), across three continents

Deeply moved while playing that evening he wrote to a friend: It was as if the sitar became the torso of a beautiful woman I love and I was making love to it  tenderly  ardently and wildly! Oh what an ecstasy!

He and Harrison would not meet until July 1966, at a specially arranged dinner at his friend Angadis home in suburban Finchley. Harrison arrived in a Ferrari, Paul McCartney also attended, much to the amazement of neighbours.

The pair connected immediately. Harrison was reverential. Shankar, impressed by his humility, agreed to give him sitar lessons. A deep and long-lasting friendship was born. That September Harrison and his wife flew to India to spend a month with Shankar.

Within three days Harrison was recognised and thousands of Indian Beatles fans gathered outside his Bombay hotel chanting: Ravi Shankar! We want George!

Shankars influences were apparent again on The Beatles 1967 album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. But by then he was a star in his own right, thanks to his new friends and a series of scintillating concerts and recordings.

Two of The Doors enrolled in his new school in California. Among those others who came to pay him court were Marlon Brando and Peter Sellers. At Monterey he played for the flower children although, as he explained before he began, his was classical music, not pop. But he was glad it is popular.

That year was the apogee. In truth Shankar disliked many aspects of the hippy scene and its superficial adoption of aspects of Indian culture. By 1968 when The Beatles renounced their following of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the fad was over. The Beatles made and broke the phenomenon.

Shankar played at Woodstock, but found it impossible to connect to the vast crowd. The audience, sitting stoned in mud reminded me of water buffaloes in India . . . the music was incidental.

Once again, he was stung by the criticisms of those at home who accused him of playing Beatle sitar. But if the sales had fallen as the Summer of Love passed, his energy and skill remained the same.

Certainly his pursuit of romantic interludes was undiminished. In the early 1970s he met two more women who would enter the crowded pantheon of great loves of his life. One was Sue Jones, a 25-year-old American concert producer. The other was Sukanya Rajanay, a friend of his niece and a musician. She worked in a London bank and was married.

By 1978 he was having affairs with three women (Kamala was the other), across three continents.

While in letters he was extolling his great love for Sukanya, with whom he had just started sleeping after years of highly-charged but platonic friendship, he spent a couple of weeks with Jones, who fell pregnant as a result.

When he informed Kamala of this by letter she was deeply hurt. The baby, who would grow up to become Norah Jones, a music star in her own right, was born in March 1979.

The following year Sukanya also became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter called Anoushka in 1981. By then Shankar was 61 and a grandfather. Neither daughter was publicly acknowledged, but Kamala had had enough and ended their 25-year relationship. It was more than she could bear. Anna-purna had also asked for a divorce.

Shankar would marry Sukanya in 1989, but only after Sue had turned him down. They would remain together, happily, until his death.

As Craske writes, Shankar was a man of many parts; playboy, guru and cultural ambassador.

He had become a one-man representative of not only a system of music but an entire culture. As an icon of India he arguably ranked only below Gandhi and the Taj Mahal. As a faithful lover, his record was somewhat less exalted.

But what a life he had lived.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Just days before Easter and on the start of Passover, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report detailing the risks of spreading the coronavirus by gathering in groups, including in religious settings.

The report released Wednesday cites a Chicago man linked to the infection of 15 other people, three of whom died, and concludes that people should follow social-distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders, even if that means not attending or holding family gatherings.

The CDC has classified people such as the Chicago man, identified in the report as A1.1, as super-spreaders, since they transmit infection to several people who dont live in their household and experience mild symptoms, so they dont seek medical care. Patient A1.1 was only tested for coronavirus as part of the CDCs epidemiology study.

In February, the Chicago man attended the funeral of a friend after having recently traveled out of state and while experiencing mild respiratory symptoms, according to the report. He later tested positive for COVID-19.

The night before the funeral, the man went to the bereaved familys home and shared a takeout meal with two family members, and they ate from the same serving dishes. At both the three-hour dinner and the two-hour funeral, which included a potluck-style meal, the man reported embracing family members of the deceased to express condolences.

The two family members from the dinner and funeral developed coronavirus symptoms within two to four days after the funeral, and another funeral attendee developed symptoms six days later. Two of those patients recovered at home, but one required endotracheal intubation and a ventilator, and died about a month later.

A timeline from a CDC report shows a series of events and symptom onsets in a cluster of COVID-19 coronavirus cases likely transmitted at two family gatherings and a church service in Chicago.

Within the next two weeks, another family member who had close contact with A1.1 at the funeral, visited one of the patients in the hospital. They embraced while wearing no personal protective equipment. The visitor developed symptoms, including a fever and cough, within three days.

Three days after the funeral, A1.1 was still experiencing mild symptoms and attended a birthday party attended by nine family members. He embraced everyone there and shared food during the three-hour party. Seven attendees developed COVID-19 symptoms within three to seven days, and two people were hospitalized, required intubation and a ventilator, and died.

Only two people who attended the party did not develop symptoms within two weeks.

One of the patients who later died was cared for by a family member and a home-care professional, both of whom are considered presumptive positive coronavirus cases, since they were not able to be confirmed due to limited testing.

Three symptomatic birthday party attendees attended church six days after they started developing coronavirus symptoms. They infected a church attendee, who is a health-care worker, through close contact, including talking, sitting within one row for the 90-minute service and passing the offering plate.

In total, due to three events over the course of about three weeks, one person with COVID-19 likely spread it to 15 other people, including three who died. The patients ranged in age from 5 to 86, and all three who died were older than 60 and had at least one preexisting cardiovascular or respiratory condition.

In this cluster, extended family gatherings (a birthday party, funeral and church attendance), all of which occurred before major social distancing policies were implemented, might have facilitated transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 beyond household contacts into the broader community, the CDC report reads. These findings support CDC recommendations to avoid gatherings and reinforce the executive order from the governor of Illinois prohibiting all public and private gatherings of any number of persons occurring outside a single household.

The report references other similar events across the country, including two funerals in a small Georgia town that have been linked to more than two dozen coronavirus cases, according to The New York Times.
Twenty-four of 26 coronavirus patients in Maharashtra's Sangli district have recovered from infection, and 22 of them have been discharged, local authorities said on Friday.

All these patients were either members of a family living in Islampur town or those who came in close contact with it. They accounted for all known coronavirus patients in this western Maharashtra district.

Twenty-four members of this group tested negative twice, indicating recovery, said Dr C S Salunkhe, the district civil surgeon.

Four members of the family tested positive for virus on March 23 after returning from Saudi Arabia. Within a week, another 21 relatives or close contacts, including a two-year- old boy, were found to have contracted the infection.

"On April 5, the first four persons tested negative twice after the completion of 14-day isolation," Dr Salunkhe said.

"In the second and third slots, repeat samples of five and three family members tested negative, and recently 12 others tested negative twice," he said, adding that 22 of them have been discharged from hospital.

"Two persons (a couple) who have tested negative are still in hospital because their two-year-old son's isolation period is yet to be over, so they are with him," he added.

But those who have been discharged will have to stay in institutional quarantine for some time before they can resume normal life.

Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh and Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, who is also local MLA and Sangli guardian minister, announced the earlier and praised the doctors and nurses who treated the patients.

"These patients were under observation at Miraj Medical College. The results of their second test have come out negative, which marks a big success," said Deshmukh.

Patil said a three-pronged approach of isolation, cluster identification and social distancing prevented the spread of the virus in the area, and called it "Islampur pattern".

He, however, reminded people of the district that lockdown is still in force and it must be followed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Love Wedding Repeat

Director - Dean Craig

Cast - Sam Claflin, Olivia Munn, Eleanor Tomlinson, Joel Fry, Tim Key, Aisling Bea, Jack Farthing, Allan Mustafa, Freida Pinto

It takes around 45 minutes for the central conceit in Love Wedding Repeat to reveal itself. Thats much longer than it took for similar high-concept romantic comedies such as About Time (time travel) and Yesterday (alternate reality) to establish their inventive set-ups.

So by the time weve realised that the films title is a reference to its time loop structure  this isnt a spoiler, by the way  youve either run out of patience at its relative mediocrity, or are too wrapped up in its comedy of errors to care about wonky second-act twists.

Watch the Love Wedding Repeat trailer here

A charming young man, his venomous ex, her dumb new boyfriend, a girl that got away, a cokehead former lover and a big-shot filmmaker unite for a wedding in the idyllic Italian countryside. A vial of sleeping drops, like Chekovs loaded gun, is introduced.

The charming young man, played by Sam Claflin in proper Hugh Grant mode, is instructed by his sister  shes the one getting married  to spike her cokehead former lovers drink with the sleeping drops because hes going around telling everyone that they hooked up a couple of weeks ago. But a twist of fate  mischievous children messing about with seating arrangements  puts the spiked champagne not in the hands of the evil ex, but someone else entirely.

It doesnt take too long for a series of unfortunate events to snowball into a larger fiasco. But, a wise woman who sounds an awful lot like Judi Dench informs us in a voiceover, matters of love are nothing but a series of coincidences.

And so, at around the 50-minute mark, Love Wedding Repeat lives up to its title, perhaps inspired by the excellent Tom Cruise film Edge of Tomorrow (which was later re-titled Live Die Repeat), and resets itself. Once again, Jack is told to spike Marcs drink. Once again, the pesky kids mess with the name cards on the table, and once again, the wrong person passes out.

Eleanor Tomlinson plays Jacks sister, Hayley.

Theres a lot to admire about Claflins central performance  hes affable and kind as Jack  but Olivia Munn, as the woman of his dreams, is given little to do besides literally sit and look pretty, despite the film reminding us, on several occasions, that shes a war reporter, godammit.

However, its Freida Pinto as Jacks snarky ex-girlfriend Amanda who delivers the standout performance. Together with her new boyfriend, the whiney Chaz, Amanda and her icy takedowns routinely liven things up. It is also worth noting (and admiring) that Freida has retained her native Indian accent for the role, which might not sound like much, but feels almost alien, given the number of times she has affected foreign accents in films.

Theres an interesting movie somewhere inside Love Wedding Repeat, but writer-director Dean Craig simply cant chip away at the excesses of the story and get to the heart of the matter. For one, the characters are wildly underdeveloped, and are merely pawns in a larger chess game unfolding much too predictably. Compared to, say, the absolutely knockout About Time, whose high-concept thrills were mellowed by a genuinely moving story, Love Wedding Repeat feels too gimmicky to truly enjoy, and not nearly as snappily written as Craigs earlier hit, Death at a Funeral.

Also read: Maska movie review: Netflix and Manisha Koirala offer dollop of good-natured fun during dark times

While that film had a slightly sinister edge, this one, like its idyllic Italian setting, feels like a relic from the past. But to some, revisiting the heyday of British romantic comedies would sound like enough of a reason to tune in, not to mention the added incentive of seeing the absolutely gutted Italy being portrayed in all its former glory. And after all, a new Netflix rom-com is always welcome, regardless of whether or not a global crisis is underway.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

The author tweets @RohanNaahar
(Newser)  Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is suing Republican lawmakers who overturned her executive order limiting church gatherings in the state. The Democratic governor signed the order Tuesday limiting services to no more than 10 people, but a GOP-controlled legislative council revoked it the following day, citing religious freedom. "The last thing I want right now is a legal battle," but "Kansas lives are on the line," said Kelly, per the Kansas City Star. She said she is appealing the "shockingly irresponsible" decision to the state Supreme Court. Kelly argues a resolution passed by the Legislature giving the seven-member legislative council the power to revoke her orders is unconstitutional. The council says it actually agrees with Kelly that residents should stay home over Easter and Passover and that churches should offer online services.

story continues below

But, this is where we disagree: Kansans should not be arrested for practicing their faith, it says in a statement. One member, House Speaker Ron Ryckman, says the council would support the order with assurances that violators would not face criminal penalties but that Kelly has not yet agreed, per the Washington Post. A state health official says three of the state's 12 coronavirus clusters stem from church gatherings. In revoking the order, which built upon an earlier ban on large gatherings, the council created some confusion on what aspects remained in place and which had been overruled. However, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt told police not to enforce the order as it applies to church gatherings. The court is expected to issue an expedited ruling before Easter Sunday. (Read more coronavirus stories.)
Voters will cast ballots in the 2020 presidential race in the fall, but primary elections across the US to select the Democratic nominee, along with a host of local elections, have been postponed or moved or held under potentially dangerous conditions as the coronavirus pandemic has altered the course of candidates' campaigns.

Following those contests and nomination convention, the Democratic nominee will participate in presidential debates against Donald Trump this fall.

Republican parties in several states have cancelled their party primaries, presuming the incumbent will be on the ballot.

Here's an amended schedule of key election events  and a recap of what has happened so far  in the 2020 race.

14 January

Five candidates qualified for the seventh Democratic debate, which will be hosted by CNN and The Des Moines Register at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. On the stage will be Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

3 February

Bernie Sanders won the largest share of votes but was narrowly defeated by Pete Buttigieg for state delegate equivalents in the Iowa caucus, which captured the first votes cast in the Democratic primary race. After a chaotic release of the vote totals that ultimately led to the resignation of the state's Democratic party chair, there was heavy scrutiny over the results of the primary season's opening contest, leading to speculation for the candidates' futures as larger state primaries followed, and as the campaigns  and donors  strategised ahead of the election's crucial next few months.

7 February

ABC, WMUR and Apple News at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire hosted the eighth Democratic primary debate.

11 February

After winning the state in a landslide in 2016, Senator Sanders won the popular vote in the New Hampshire primary, followed by a second-place finish from Pete Buttigieg and a surprise third from Amy Klobuchar. Andrew Yang, Michael Bennett and Deval Patrick later dropped out.

19 February

NBC News, MSNBC and The Nevada Independent hosted the ninth Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas, Nevada.

22 February

Senator Sanders won the Nevada Democratic caucus, which offered a glimpse of candidates' success outside the East Coast in a key state with a large Latino voting population. The senator received 24 delegates to the former vice president's nine. No other candidate passed the threshold for delegate consideration.

25 February

CBS News, Twitter and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute at The Gaillard Center hosted the 10th Democratic debate in Charleston, South Carolina.

29 February

Joe Biden won nearly 49 per cent of the popular vote in South Carolina, the first southern state to enter the primary contest, serving as a test of the strength of African-American support among the Democratic candidates. The former vice president captured 39 delegates to Senator Sanders 15. Following the primary, Tom Steyer  who came in third place  dropped out of the race. Republicans cancelled their party's primary in the state, with the incumbent president as the presumed nominee.

3 March

Fifteen states across the US held primary contests on Super Tuesday, including California, which has the largest delegate count in the US, with 415 delegates pledged to the Democratic nominee, and Texas, the second-largest delegate trove, with 228 delegates pledged to the Democratic nominee. After Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar withdrew from the race and endorsed Joe Biden, his resurgent campaign won nine states, including Texas, while Bernie Sanders won California and three other states. After disappointing finishes throughout the primary, including no victories on Super Tuesday, Elizabeth Warren ended her campaign two days later. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg also dropped out and endorsed Biden.

3-10 March

US citizens living abroad cast their votes in the Democrats Abroad primary. Bernie Sanders received nearly 60 per cent of the vote, securing nine delegates. Joe Biden received 22 per cent of the vote and four delegates.

10 March

As the coronavirus pandemic gripped the US, campaign events and rallies were cancelled, though voting was still on in in Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Washington and Michigan, a crucial battleground state for the two-man race. While Bernie Sanders won North Dakota, Joe Biden won the remaining states, with a narrow victory in Washington state.

15 March

The public health crisis framed the election's unprecedented 11th debate, hosted by CNN and Univision and giving Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders and audience-free platform from Phoenix.

17 March

Ohio postponed its primary to 2 June as Arizona, Florida and Illinois held their elections as states across the US began ordering residents to stay at home and public health warnings urged people to avoid crowds, beginning a series of controversial election events in the thick of the crisis.

Joe Biden ultimately won 296 delegates by sweeping the three states. Tulsi Gabbard ended her campaign two days later.

7 April

Wisconsin held its Democratic party despite calls from voters and the state's governor to postpone. Republican lawmakers and conservative majorities on the state and US supreme courts ultimately blocked those efforts, which also prevented absentee or mail-in ballots from being cast at a later date, forcing thousands of voters into a small number of open polling sites during the pandemic.

Joe Biden ultimately won in the state, as Bernie Sanders's supporters and other critics painted the election as illegitimate. The next day, the senator announced he was suspending his campaign.

10 April

Alaska moved its primary from 4 April with candidates competing for a share of 19 delegates. Joe Biden received 55 per cent of the vote and eight delegates, while Bernie Sanders received 45 per cent and seven delegates.

17 April

Wyoming moved its primary from 4 April with candidates competing for a share of 18 delegates. Joe Biden received more than 72 per cent of the vote and 10 delegates.

2 May

Joe Biden received more than 76 per cent of the vote in the Kansas primary, with all Democrat voters participating by mail using a ranked-choice method.

12 May

Joe Biden also received more than 76 per cent of the vote in the Nebraska primary.

19 May

Joe Biden received 67 per cent of votes in Oregon's primary, followed by Bernie Sanders, who received 20 per cent.

22-24 May

The Libertarian Party had planned to host its convention in Austin, Texas from 22-25 May as delegates selected their candidate for the ballot from among the party's declared candidates.

The convention has instead held virtually, with Jo Jorgensen emerging as the nominee  the first woman in the party's history to receive the nomination. Spike Cohen was selected as the nominee for vice president.

23 May

In Hawaii's primary, Joe Biden received 63 per cent of the vote, followed by Bernie Sanders, who received nearly 37 per cent. Biden received 16 pledged delegates. Sanders received eight.

2 June

Several primaries scheduled across the US came on the heels of growing protests against racial injustice and policy brutality as well as renewed fears of coronavirus and spikes in cases as states began to reopen.

Joe Biden won each primary in Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and Washington DC, as well as in Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, which had initially postponed their elections due to the coronavirus crisis.

Controversial Republican congressman Steve King of Iowa also lost to Randy Feenstra in a primary for his House.

5 June

The former vice president clinched the Democratic Party nomination, with delayed delegate tallies pushing him past the 1,991 delegates needed to become the nominee.

6 June

Joe Biden won nominating contests in the US Virgin Islands and Guam, which participate in the primary process but not the general election.

9 June

West Virginia held its primary, originally scheduled for 12 May. Joe Biden received 65 per cent of the vote and 28 delegates.

23 June

Joe Biden received 67 per cent of the vote in New York, one of the largest delegate states behind California and Texas.

Democratic Commissioners on the state's Board of Elections initially sought to strip non-campaigning nominees from the ballots, effectively cancelling the election, but a federal judge halted the decision.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of Queens and The Bronx handily defeated Democratic primary challengers in her House district and is likely to win in a re-election bid.

In Kentucky, the former vice president received 68 per cent of the vote.

30 June

Amid a wave of progressive candidates holding primary challenges against moderate Democrats, Jamaal Bowman defeated longtime New York Democrat Elliot Engel, pending absentee ballot counts.

Following mail-in ballots in Kentucky, Amy McGrath  with a slim lead over progressive challenger Charles Booker  has secured the Democratic slot to face against Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell.

7 July

Joe Biden took nearly 90 per cent of the vote from his home state of Delaware, and he received more than 86 per cent of the vote in New Jersey. Both states moved their election dates a second time from 2 June.

9-12 July

Green Party co-founder Howie Hawkins and running mate Angela Nicole Walker were selected as the third party's nominees at its convention, which was held virtually after an initial plan to hold its event in Detroit, Michigan.

11 July

Joe Biden received nearly 80 per cent of the vote in Louisiana, after election officials postponed the date a second time from April to 20 June.

12 July

Puerto Rico's primary was postponed twice over coronavirus concerns. Joe Biden collected 56 per cent of the vote.

17-20 August

Democratic delegates were scheduled to convene in Milwaukee for 2020's Democratic National Convention, where presumptive nominee Joe Biden was officially selected as the party's nominee to face Donald Trump in November. The event was originally scheduled for July but was postponed due to the coronavirus crisis. Most the event was held virtually.

11 August

Joe Biden received more than 84 per cent of the vote in Connecticut's primary, rescheduled twice following the pandemic. It was the last state to hold a presidential primary.

24-27 August

Republicans initially planned to hold the party's nominating convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, but the party moved the event to Jacksonville, Florida over social distancing disputes. As cases surged, officials in Jacksonville announced they would require attendees to wear masks indoors after the president and his campaign sought to avoid similar precautions. That prompted GOP officials and the president to announced that the Florida event will be cancelled  all convention events will remain in Charlotte, while the president and campaign used the White House as a backdrop for partisan speeches, flouting federal law.

1 September

In Massachusetts, a heavily scrutinised primary challenge to incumbent Democratic senator Ed Markey from Joseph Kennedy III ultimately failed, with an incumbent win buoyed by progressive support.

29 September

The University of Notre Dame was scheduled to host the first 2020 presidential debate, but the university withdrew from the event over health concerns. The debate is now scheduled for Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

7 October

Republican and Democratic nominees for vice president will debate at the University of Utah, which hosts the only debate between the running mates.

15 October

The second presidential debate will take place at the Adrienne Arsht Centre for the Performing Arts in Miami.

22 October

Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee will host the third and final presidential debate.

3 November

Election Day  voters across the US will participate in a general election to select the next president, along with other candidates that appear on local ballots.

14 December

Electoral college representatives meet in state capitols to formally cast votes.

6 January 2021

Congress enters electoral votes into the record, and the Senate president announces vote tallies.

20 January 2021

Inauguration Day  the president-elect will be formally sworn into office.
Politicians and police chiefs in the UK have urged the public to abide by coronavirus lockdown rules as the Easter bank holiday weekend approaches with the promise of good weather.

Some forces have warned they may have to crack down on those flouting the rules using the powers given to them by law.

But in some parts of the UK the legislation differs slightly.

 When did the laws come into force?

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020 were introduced in England on Thursday March 26 at 1pm.

Police officers patrol a park in Northampton (Joe Giddens/PA)

 Can I leave my house?

According to the legislation in England: During the emergency period, no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse.

This is similar in the laws for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

All state a reasonable excuse includes: getting food and medical supplies for yourself, members of the same household and vulnerable people, getting money, to exercise and for essential work.

You can also leave your house to: give blood, attend a funeral (in some cases), meet bail conditions, go to court and take part in legal proceedings, move house and to avoid injury or illness or to escape a risk of harm.

But public gatherings of more than two people are banned apart from for members of the same household who are currently living together. There are some exceptions along similar lines as above.

 How often can I go out?

The laws in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland do not specify  or limit  how many times per day someone can leave their house for any of these reasons.

Although the British Government advice is to exercise once a day, the law does not say how many times a day this is allowed to happen.

But in Wales, exercise is permitted no more than once a day.

 What about rules for businesses?

In Scotland and Wales, companies which are allowed to remain open must take reasonable steps to make sure those within the premises keep two metres apart, unless they are a carer or members of the same household.

This rule is not in place in England and Northern Ireland.

 Can I go for a drive?

Ministers have urged people to only use open spaces near their homes where possible, keeping at least two metres apart from anyone they do not live with.

But none of the laws in force in any part of the UK address the use of cars or vehicles at all and do not forbid members of the public from using their cars to go for a drive or travel to a location by car to exercise.

The M1 in Bedfordshire remains quiet during the normal Easter getaway period as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of Covid-19 (Joe Giddens/PA)

 Can I go shopping, and what can I buy?

Each of the laws says you can leave the house to obtain basic necessities like food.

None of them define what constitutes food and they do not prohibit buying certain items when shopping.

Supermarkets, corner shops, off licences, hardware stores, pet shops and post offices can all remain open under the legislation.

 What can the police do?

Officers have been told enforcement action is a last resort but they can issue fines or arrest someone if they reasonably believe someone is in contravention as long as the decision is necessary and proportionate.

They can order someone to go home, leave an area, have the power to disperse a group and remove someone using reasonable force, if necessary as well as take steps to make sure parents stop their children from breaking the rules.

The first fine costs 60  reduced to 30 if paid within 14 days and double for each further offence.

The limit is 960 in England and Scotland but one is not specified in Wales

Those who do not pay could be taken to court.

Shuttered stores and police patrols on Ann Street in Belfast (Justin Kernoghan/PA)

 What else do the rules say?

The laws all define a vulnerable person as someone who is aged 70 or older, anyone aged under 70 who has an underlying health condition and anyone who is pregnant.

Underlying health conditions include asthma, kidney and heart disease, hepatitis, Parkinsons, diabetes, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, a learning disability or cerebral palsy, HIV, Aids, cancer, and obesity.

 When will the lockdown end?

By law, each of the regulations must be reviewed every 21 days after being introduced and will remain in place until scrapped by the British Government but ultimately expire six months after they were introduced, if not renewed.

In England, Scotland and Wales, the laws must be reviewed before April 16 and by April 18 in Northern Ireland.
TWENTY girls lined up for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Mara Region have been rescued, thanks to anti-F GM activists.

Some villages of Serengeti District still have this illegal practice even at this time when the government takes preventive measures to fight against coronavirus outbreak, including prohibiting unnecessary gatherings.

Hope for Girls and Women Tanzania (HGWT) has condemned the practice, saying it should not be given space in the region and the country in general.

We have reports that at least five girls have already been mutilated...We have saved 20 girls from undergoing the illegal practice ...it is disappointing that some parents are in favour of the practice at this time of the coronavirus outbreak, said HGWT Director Rhobi Samwelly.

She added that her organisation in collaboration with the Police Gender and Children Desk would continue rescuing more girls who were at risk of being mutilated.

Ms Samwelly said her organisation enjoyed good cooperation from the Police F orce to ensure girls who were at risk of being mutilated were saved from undergoing the illegal practice.

When reached for comment, Mara Regional Police Commander (RPC) Daniel Shilla confirmed that some girls had been mutilated early this month, warning that the culprits would be arrested and prosecuted.

Y es, some girls have been mutilated in Serengeti. We have arrested their parents. F GM is illegal and we will not allow the practice to continue, the regional police chief warned.

HGWT is a non-governmental organisation that leads the fight against FGM and other gender-based violence acts in Serengeti and Butiama districts.

Recently, USAID Tanzania donated a vehicle (Toyota Land Cruiser) to help the NGO intensify a campaign against FGM and other GBV acts in the districts.

The NGO, which operates two FGM rescue centres in Butiama and Mugumu in Serengeti District, has so far rescued hundreds of girls from undergoing F GM in recent years.

Besides anti- FGM and other GBV acts, the local NGO had also started providing entrepreneurship training to impart practical skills to women in Serengeti and Butiama districts.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday called a coronavirus economic rescue deal agreed by the EU "an important milestone" and said it should be implemented as soon as possible.

EU finance ministers on Thursday agreed a 500-billion-euro rescue deal for European countries hit hard by the epidemic.

The accord "marks an important milestone towards a joint reaction and European solidarity in the Corona Pandemic", Merkel was quoted as saying in a tweet by her spokesman Steffen Seibert.

In particular, member states could now take up the fight against unemployment, she said.

The EU deal was agreed after budgetary hardliners, especially The Netherlands, softened their position on economic reform and outside oversight in return for assistance.

But the ministers could still not agree on pooled borrowing via "coronabonds", an idea that Merkel has consistently rejected.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When a pandemic strikes, all hands first turn to caring for the stricken. But with Spain in a virtual lockdown for weeks, the entire country has been affected, and more than just health care workers have been enlisted in the response.

Barcelona photojournalist Jose Colon donned a mask and gloves to venture out into an almost deserted city, turning his camera on those anonymous heroes who are helping to keep the city running. Sometimes while doing this shoot I got chills, thinking of what a caring community we live in, he says.

Help for and help from the homeless

With over 1,200 homeless people in Barcelona, one priority has been providing shelter for them. The Spanish army rehabbed the Victoria Eugenia pavilion at Barcelonas convention center, which will house up to 1,000. Two dozen other homeless people, who have masks, are taking shelter at a residential home, Cadiz, next to the iconic Sagrada Familia cathedral  like the rest of Spain unable to venture outside, though they receive regular meals.

The Victoria Eugenia pavilion of the Fira de Barcelona, a convention center retrofitted as a homeless shelter in less than four days with bunk beds, tables, showers and portable sinks. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

Residents of the House of Cadiz homeless shelter manufacture handmade face masks. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

Help for the homebound and elderly

The elderly too are at high risk, particularly those in nursing homes, where thousands have died. Troops sent to disinfect the facilities reportedly discovered that some had been abandoned by the staff, leaving residents dead in their beds. But in Barcelona, some 50 volunteers from the organization Proactiva Open Arms are working with nursing homes to help test residents and workers for the coronavirus  and many seniors and workers are participating in tests of experimental therapies, including hydroxychloroquine. The clinical trial is headed by local epidemiologist Dr. Oriol Mitja, researcher at the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital, and coordinated by Dr. Bonaventura Clotet of the Fight AIDS Foundation.

Aid workers from Proactiva Open Arms carry out coronavirus detection tests on the elderly home and in private homes in Catalonia. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

As in the U.S., facilities for the elderly in Spain have been devastated by the coronavirus. In Barcelona alone, more than two-thirds of nursing homes have been sites of COVID-19 infections, according to Mayor Ada Colau. Government employees  from the armed forces to the fire brigades  have been sent out to disinfect these hot spots.

Story continues

Members of the fire brigade prepare themselves prior to disinfecting a residence for the elderly in Barcelona. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

Street vendors find a new line of work

Manteros  as the Senegalese men normally selling shoes, purses, toys and selfie sticks outside of tourist sites are called  are also hard-hit by the lockdown. Theyve lost their jobs, and many have problems paying the rent and ensuring the most basic food, says a spokesperson for the Popular Union of Street Vendors. To address those woes, the union has opened a food bank. Along with the Top Manta clothing brand, the Popular Union of Street Vendors also has turned a clothing store into a clothing factory, where hundreds take turns at the sewing machines, making thousands of masks and gowns, which are donated to workers in Barcelona area hospitals.

Senegalese workers in a sewing workshop to produce gowns and masks for Catalan hospitals in the Raval neighborhood. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

Supporting health care workers

Hospital and clinic workers themselves  dubbed Health care kamikazes by the New York Times  are one of the hardest-hit populations. Often working without adequate protective gear, at least 12,000 have fallen sick themselves, and 13 have died. Each night, residents of Barcelona assemble on their balconies to cheer them. Barcelona restaurants have joined to deliver food to local hospitals nightly, in an initiative called Delivery 4 Heroes.

Health care workers at the Hospital Clinico take to the streets to acknowledge the cheers of Barcelona residents. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

Food donated by Delivery 4 Heroes is delivered to a hospital in Barcelona. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

Coping with the deceased

With nearly 10 percent of known COVID-19 victims in Spain ultimately succumbing to the disease, mortuaries and crematoria are overwhelmed, and coffin makers cant keep up. In Barcelona, the backlog of requested cremations stretches as long as two years. Throughout Spain, public funerals with more than two people have been temporarily banned.

A coffin maker at the Eurocoffin coffins factory in Barcelona.(Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

An unfinished coffin sits at the Eurocoffin coffins factory in Barcelona. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

Coffins, most of them containing the bodies of COVID-19 victims, in the parking garage at the Collserola funeral parlor in Montcada i Reixac, near Barcelona. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

A coffin containing a victim of COVID-19 is loaded into a hearse in the parking garage at the Collserola funeral parlor in Montcada i Reixac, near Barcelona. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

Jose Colon for Yahoo News

I want you to stay home, by artist Tvboy amid a lockdown in Barcelona. (Jose Colon for Yahoo News)

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter.

_____

Click here for the latest coronavirus news and updates. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please refer to the CDCs and WHOs resource guides.

Read more:
live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Cadila Healthcare, part of Zydus Cadila group said it is ramping up production to meet the demand surge for anti-malaria medicine hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) which is now widely used as a prophalytic drug to prevent COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers and high-risk populations.

"We are currently manufacturing 30 metric tonnes per month which is about 150 million tablets. If need be, we can further increase this to 40 to 50 metric tonnes in the coming months," said Sharvil Patel, Managing Director, Cadila Healthcare to Moneycontrol.

"The priority is to ensure the availability of the drug. We are ramping up our production of hydroxychloroquine. Our efforts are geared towards making sure that all patients who need the drug have access to it," Patel added.

Patel said his company doesn't depend on any imports for the drug, implying that it makes key starting material and intermediates, which are typically imported from China for most other drugs.

Cadila Healthcare and IPCA Laboratories are two big producers globally that are vertically integrated and have USFDA approval to supply the formulation and its active pharmaceutical ingredient.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

On shortages of hydroxychloroquine for patients suffering from malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus which the drug is intended for, Patel said, "..might have been a temporary phase, but I think this should be sorted out very soon. With the production being ramped up, the drug should be available to all."

Shares of Cadila Healthcare rose almost 16 percent after India partly lifted the export ban on hydroxychloroquine on April 7 citing "humanitarian" grounds. India produces 70 percent of the world's HCQ requirement.

US President Donald Trump announced stockpiling of 29 million doses (2.9 crore doses) of HCQ as the country grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro requested India for HCQ. India obliged the request. Several other countries have started enquiring with India about possible supply of the HCQ.

The Indian government too placed an order for 10 crore tablets of HCQ from Cadila Healthcare and IPCA.

Read this explainer to know more about HCQ.

COVID vaccine to enter clinical trials in Q2FY21

Cadila Healthcare has been working on an accelerated research programme to develop a vaccine based on two approaches. One is a DNA vaccine that is based on a small portion of virus DNA to generate an immune response and another is a live attenuated recombinant measles virus vectored vaccine against COVID-19.

"The vaccine is currently in the animal testing stage and based on the results, hopefully, it should enter clinical studies in Q2 of this financial year," Patel added.
First-year medical students at Penn's Perelman School of Medicine recite the Hippocratic oath during a "white coat ceremony" in Zellerbach Theatre at the Annenberg Center. Read more

As the coronavirus pandemic fills up hospital beds across the country, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) issued guidelines stating that unless there is a critical health-care workforce need locally, it is strongly suggested that medical students not be involved in any direct patient care activities. Is this the right move for students and for patient care? A medical student debates with an admissions dean.

YES: Medical students can help alleviate pressure on an overburdened health-care system.

By Ginikanwa Onyekaba

I am a medical student. Only a few weeks ago, I was checking in daily on a patient recovering from a kidney transplant. This week, I barely checked out of my apartment.

Medical education faculty have relieved medical students of all clinical responsibilities in response to the emerging coronavirus crisis. My classmates and I have mixed emotions: fear for the well-being of our vulnerable relatives and patients, frustration with the governments response, and anxiety about our uncertain future.

But most of all, I am disappointed that my involvement in patient care has been deemed nonessential in accordance with guidelines released by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which oversees all medical schools. On the contrary, I believe this is precisely the moment to allow medical students to rise to action and to help defeat this pandemic.

Medical students can play an instrumental role in alleviating pressure on an overburdened health-care system. On the day of our white coat ceremony, we signed up to be on the frontlines, and we made an oath to treat the sick. Now that we can be of help, many medical schools have banned us from participating in patient care.

I feel like my medical education has been put on pause with a subpar replacement. How can a virtual clerkship curriculum compare? And especially at a time when the health-care system needs all the help it can get. What will be our next steps if/when the health-care system becomes overwhelmed?

 READ MORE: A call to action: Medical school students throughout the region are helping fight the coronavirus

I worry that schools have inadvertently sidelined an unappreciated workforce, taking away their opportunities to help. Students can relieve the duties of more skilled members of the medical team by assisting in tasks that are non-patient-facing. We can help with triaging patients, writing up medical notes, completing consults, and making phone calls.

I worry that schools have inadvertently sidelined an unappreciated workforce. Ginikanwa Onyekaba

Many students have been instrumental in mobilizing efforts to donate personal protective equipment (PPE) to medical centers. Ramie Fathy, a third-year student at Penn, recently started a Facebook group that has been effective in collecting and publicizing funds to assist the less fortunate during this crisis. Another student, Jalen Benson, a first-year at Harvard Medical School, is organizing a national database of medical students who are willing to volunteer and help out with tasks like grocery shopping, child care, pharmacy pickup and delivery, coordination of PPE efforts, and telemedicine triage.

In these unprecedented times, I know that we must prioritize the safety of patients and students. Schools reasonably must regard students both for the potential liability of placing them in harms way and as potential spreaders of this disease. But we are adults and should have been given the opportunity to make this decision for ourselves. We have a great deal of relevant practical clinical experience that is not only useful but soon to be in desperately short supply. By participating in non-patient-facing clinical duties, we can still conserve resources. With a little training, we can relieve the more rudimentary medical duties and free up time for skilled medical professionals to fully devote their time to patient care.

COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving situation. I dont want to look back with regret, wondering: What more could I have done? Let us help.

Ginikanwa Onyekaba is a second-year medical student at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

 READ MORE: Coronavirus is keeping Philly medical students out of hospitals, but we are still contributing l Opinion

NO: As coronavirus care increases, health-care providers need to focus on patient care first.

By Neha Vapiwala

The coronavirus pandemic inspires many adjectives about the times we are living in  unsettling, uncertain, unprecedented. The thing about unprecedented times is that there is no playbook. Amid all this turbulence, one can only hope that high-impact policies are developed with the best available data, with the most transparent processes, and with the purest intentions.

It is from this perspective that the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) issued much-needed guidance regarding one of our nations most valuable human resources  medical students. The guidelines state that unless there is a critical health-care workforce need locally, it is strongly suggested that medical students not be involved in any direct patient care activities.

 HELP US REPORT: Are you a health care worker, medical provider, government worker, patient, frontline worker or other expert? We want to hear from you.

The critical role of frontline health-care providers (HCPs) has become the focus of the publics hope and support unlike any time in recent history. Although not fully trained or cleared for independent practice, our eager medical students want the opportunity to contribute to patient care during this time of need. However, how students can meaningfully contribute varies, depending on who you ask and what you are willing to risk.

The AAMC guidance statement is ultimately based on considerations for the safety of patients and students. Local institutional officials may choose to issue policies that supersede this guidance, but it is firmly rooted in two principles critical to COVID-19 management: resource conservation and mitigation of transmission.

The frightening shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing capabilities are significant, but our frontline HCPs are also a precious resource  and not one that can be easily replaced by even the most talented medical students. Our HCPs teach, mentor, and supervise students; doing so effectively amidst the stress of active COVID-19 patient care would be untenable. Non-COVID-19 patient care has been heavily curtailed in an effort to reduce viral spread, rendering the relative value of having extra bodies to assist in clinics rather low. Even non-patient-facing duties performed onsite would require supervision and direction from HCPs, risking exposure of otherwise healthy students.

Our HCPs teach, mentor, and supervise students; doing so effectively amidst the stress of active coronavirus patient care would be untenable. Neha Vapiwala

This connects to the second critical factor of mitigating infection risk. A staggering percentage of documented cases in the U.S. resulted from viral transmission through infected health-care providers. Coupled with the fact that healthy younger members of our population are unwitting asymptomatic carriers, having medical students onsite poses a public health conundrum. Medical students who are willing to see patients may accept the personal risk, but who is willing to accept their risk of becoming vectors for transmission to others? And while volunteering sounds like a nice option, the flipside of that coin is the coercion some of their peers may experience for fear of being seen as less brave, less committed.

The guidelines of today may change based on the circumstances of tomorrow. But in the wake of so much uncertainty, despite the purest of intentions, we must first do no harm and continue to make decisions with the best available data. Should medical students be deemed essential in this fight in the coming weeks, they will be welcomed, and we will find a way to integrate them safely and effectively.

Neha Vapiwala is an associate professor of radiation oncology, vice chair for education, and associate dean of admissions in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

 READ MORE: Its Match Day: Newest crop of medical students to begin their residencies in the age of the coronavirus
The shipyard that built the Titanic has blasted its horn across Belfast for the first time in two decades in appreciation of NHS workers.

The siren, famed as the loudest in the city, rang out from Harland and Wolff at 8pm as people across Northern Ireland again gathered at their doors to applaud healthcare staff battling coronavirus

A long row of cars parked outside the yard and its famous yellow cranes, and sounded their own horns to mark the occasion.

Magic moment to hear the Harland and Wolff shipyard blast for our front line workers #ClapForOurCarers #Belfast  pic.twitter.com/sxvc8wweS3  Rebecca Black (@RBlackPA) April 9, 2020

Harland and Wolff managing director John Petticrew said: We figured that it would be appropriate because they are unique times we are in, we thought we would sound a unique alarm.

It is quite simple. It is to support all the essential workers who are working, like nurses and doctors and bus drivers, to show our support from Harland and Wolff, just the same as everybody else.

He added: It is not about Harland and Wolff, it is about the people risking their lives on our behalf.

Stormonts Parliament Buildings was again illuminated with blue light in honour of healthcare workers.

Unite the Union represents workers at Harland and Wolff.

A union spokesman said staff wanted to show appreciation to frontline NHS staff and those working to sustain other services in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The shipyard horn has not been sounded properly in 20 years and is the loudest siren in Belfast, it will be heard in all parts of the city, he said.

Story continues

A line of cars formed to hear the historic blast of the Harland and Wolff horn and beeped along their own support for front line workers #ClapForOurCarers  pic.twitter.com/5hJgGoNaWJ  Rebecca Black (@RBlackPA) April 9, 2020

Harland and Wolff, which was opened in 1861, is best known for building the ocean liner Titanic, which sank in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage in April 1912 after striking an iceberg.

More than 1,500 passengers died.

The yard built its last ship in 2003, an MoD ferry named the Anvil Point, and numbers employed have dwindled dramatically from its heyday.

It was bought out of administration last year by London-based energy firm InfraStrata.

The companys main project is gas storage at Islandmagee in Co Antrim.
Madison County health officials enacted an order prohibiting RV parks, hotels, motels, short-term rentals and other lodging facilities including licensed guides and outfitters from renting or providing housing to people for non-essential purposes to halt the spread of coronavirus.

Bonnie ONeill, public information officer for Madison County Public Health, said the countys board of health held an emergency meeting on Thursday to approve an order to safeguard the residents of Madison County and to follow the governors orders. The order is in effect until April 30, or whenever the states stay-at-home order expires.

The order allows lodging or short-term rentals for essential workers as defined by federal and state guidelines, government officials, health care, law enforcement, victims of domestic violence, personnel responding to the COVID-19 emergency and family members of those seeking medical treatment. Individuals who have a medical recommendation to quarantine outside of their home are also allowed to rent rooms.

People who are currently staying at such businesses for non-essential purposes may be given a reasonable amount of time, but no more than 48 hours, to vacate the premises.

The county's board of health order comes after Whitefish officials enacted an emergency ordinance Sunday morning that ordered lodging establishments and short term rentals to cancel existing reservations through April 30.

ONeill said the board of health looked at Whitefishs guidelines and tried to mirror them as much as possible. Madison County is also a known tourist destination.

She said the board will convene again on April 23 to review the temporary restrictions and decide whether to extend the order.

Violators of the health boards new restrictions can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor and fined up to $200.

ONeill said the board of health has a great working relationship with law enforcement officials, including Madison County Sheriffs Department and Ennis Police Department, who are educating local lodging establishments, short-term rentals, guiding and outfitting services about the new restrictions, as well as how to implement them.

The Madison board of healths order also comes at the heels of the closure of the popular Renova Hot Springs, a soaking destination on private grounds near Whitehall.

Madison County Sheriff Phil Fortner said his department is continuing to have problems with Renova Hot Springs, where there were large gatherings of up to 30 people on Thursday night and Friday morning.

Fortner said the owners of the hot springs live out of state, and the board of healths closure of the site has only brought about more problems.

I just wish people would respect peoples property and respect those who are responding to the calls, he said.

Fortner added that his office has gotten recent calls about outfitting and fishing guides floating down the river. However, he said the board of healths orders pertain more to lodging related to such services.

Its impossible for us to respond to every call related to people violating the governors orders, he said. For now, Fortner said, his offices biggest issue is controlling the number of people recreating at Renova Hot Springs.

Meanwhile, Gallatin County is not considering the same measures Madison County is taking.

Matt Kelley, Gallatin County public health officer, said one of his concerns is that Gallatin is a much more populous county and its a much more complex situation.

"If we start saying that people can't stay in hotel rooms and we can't stay in vacation rentals, we're likely to cause a lot more people to be moving around out there and that's what we want to avoid, Kelley said. We dont want to create confusion.

He said hotels and vacation rentals are being used for different reasons, such as health providers staying in hotels to distance themselves from their families.

Although he recognizes that Madison Countys recent orders excused people who are considered essential workers from staying in hotels and short-term rentals, Kelley said hes concerned about enforcement and creating confusion.

"My feeling on that right now is if we're asking people to stay at home, we need to allow them to do that, Kelley said.

As of Friday morning, Madison County had eight confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one death. Meanwhile, the statewide tally had reached 365 confirmed cases and six deaths. Neighboring Gallatin County, another tourism destination, has by far the most reported cases in the state with 134.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on Tuesday extended the state's stay-at-home order to April 24 to slow the spread of COVID-19.

You must be logged in to react.

Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Gisela Swaragita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 11:18 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd10069e 1 Food cooking,YouTube,COVID-19,Instagram,self-quarantine,coronavirus,pandemic,lockdown,recipe Free

Diah Kusumawardani, 25, an expectant mother in self-quarantine in Tebet, South Jakarta, finds cooking a therapeutic activity to shoo away stress over being pregnant amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ive isolated at home with my husband since Feb. 15 as I got a mild fever after a work task at a public place with people from other countries, Diah, a natural dye artist who was used to having workshops with a number of people, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday via text message.

Being pregnant in this condition is hard and it is so easy to get stressed after reading the news. But cooking is like therapy to me, she said.

This is Diahs first pregnancy.

Diah said she used to cook instant foods, such as chicken nuggets or pasta as she and her husband had busy schedules. Now, with a lot of free time her hand, she has been encouraged to cook more complicated foods armed with recipes she found online.

I was so proud that I successfully made doughnuts. Normally it was so easy to get out of the house and get doughnuts from street sellers, but now I dont want to take the risk of contracting the virus if I go out for a snack, she said.

She followed a recipe from her favorite online chef, William Gozali.

For other snacks, I like @yackikuka," she said.

Cooking is said to have therapeutic effects that can help you cope with stress. The Wall Street Journal mentioned that mental counselors have been using cooking or baking as therapy tools for people with depression and anxiety. Cooking is claimed to help people curb negative thoughts by focusing on following a recipe and making enjoyable things from scratch.

Some even consider binge-watching people cook a way to relax.

Along with Diahs favorite channels, there are countless cooking channels out there to watch.

For example, Bahtiar Sigar through his channel @masakdarurat shares easy-to-make recipes with simple equipment.

For Indonesian recipes, you can check out Yuda Bustara and Theresia. Both offer advanced but doable recipes, especially if you have a lot of time on your hands, such as now.

Want to go behind the scenes of the Indonesian culinary business? Agus Cuguy and Sobat Dapur are your friends.

Their content includes the exploration of familiar, beloved Indonesian street foods, such as bakso (meatball soup), fried cassava and low budget fried chicken. They also share the recipes so you can remake your favorite street foods in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Read also: Bali's award-winning Locavore restaurant continues to support farmers despite pandemic

Do you like cooking and dogs? Check out Cooking with Dog, a Japanese cooking show web series. Since its premiere in 2007, the show has gained popularity due to Francis, a toy poodle who accompanies the Japanese cooking lady by the stove and narrates the show.

Another quirky Asian cooking show is presented by Zhou Xiaohui, more famously known as Ms. Yeah. She became well-known after making a video of her cooking hot pot noodle from scratch using a water dispenser in her office. Following her success, she made more cooking videos using her office tools with her colleagues working in the background.

For more instructive Asian recipes, you can check out Marions Kitchen. With a Thai and Australian background, she has a huge appetite for both Asian and Western cuisine. She has even made the Indonesian beloved soto (soup) that you can practice in your own kitchen.

You can also check out Ryoya Takashima from Peaceful Cuisine, who made quite a ripple on YouTube by cooking vegan food without any background music. Take joy in listening to the soothing sounds of knives cutting vegetables, water boiling in a pot and coffee beans against a glass jar.

For hearty Western recipes, you can count on a Canadian chef whose expertise includes profanity, Matty Matheson. After gaining loyal viewers from his web series with Munchies, he has hosted at least eight eating and cooking shows on the internet.

Chef John from FoodWishes.com also presents a quirky personality with a distinctive accent and easy recipes. John Mitzewich, the person behind chef John, is a real-life chef who was born in New York in 1963. He started his restaurant career after graduating from Paul Smiths College in 1983 but left to focus on teaching people to cook online.

For more laughter, you can check out You Suck at Cooking where a flat, bored-sounding voice over gives you impossible instructions and quirky back stories in making the simplest, doable food such as guacamole and aglio e olio. (wng)
Working from home is easy for some and difficult for others, but one place it's downright impossible is the International Space Station . So pandemic or no pandemic, the latest crew had to get themselves up there. They've just had a successful launch and arrival, but only after a protracted quarantine period.

To be clear, ISS crews are always quarantined prior to launch to make sure they don't bring the flu up from a chance encounter, but given the coronavirus situation, this was a special occasion.

Update: Although some extra measures were taken, the quarantine was no longer than normal, NASA says. The crew went through a standard two-week quarantine in their quarters, while staff adhered to extra-rigorous infection control at the Roscosmos launch facility in Baikonur. They were not tested for coronavirus. I've attached NASA's full statement regarding the mission's quarantine procedures at the bottom of the article.

Expedition 63 will relieve the current crew after about a week of overlap, during which no doubt the ISS begins to feel fairly crowded.

This crew is special in that among its duties will be to welcome the astronauts aboard the first Commercial Crew mission to the ISS, who will arrive on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. That mission, too, is currently on schedule for May despite the pandemic.

Every crew mission for years has been done using Russia's venerable Soyuz spacecraft. These have been updated continually for decades, but still feature more than a little of what might best be described as "repeatedly flight proven" technology.

The effort to engineer a state of the art spacecraft for crewed missions has lasted several years, coming down to SpaceX and rival Boeing in the home stretch. But while both have suffered repeated delays, Boeing has had numerous other failures that have pushed its launch out toward the end of the year and perhaps beyond. SpaceX, on the other hand, is ready to go.

Story continues

The first Commercial Crew mission, whether it's next month or a little later, will be the culmination of years of competition, and the first time a crew has gone to orbit in an American-made spacecraft since the Shuttle was retired. (Virgin Galactic has piloted its spacecraft to the edge of space, but its human-rated craft is not an orbital vehicle.)

If all goes well, NASA's Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos's Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner will welcome the historic mission to the ISS soon.
Ontario Racing is pleased to notify industry participants that -- by application -- horsepeople will have the opportunity to access certain purse funds that remain available under the Funding Agreement with Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) as a result of the suspension of live racing in the province due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These funds were already committed to the industry through the Funding Agreement for Live Horse Racing between Ontario Racing and OLG. To enable this access, Ontario Racing, OLG and the other parties to the Funding Agreement have entered into an amendment to the Funding Agreement, a copy of which will be posted on the Ontario Racing website.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario Racing created a task force to address the financial impacts on the horse racing industry. The Ontario Racing Task Force has worked closely with OLG to structure the below interim process which is available to all three breeds  Standardbred, Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse.

Eligibility Requirements

In order to be eligible to receive funds pursuant to this interim measure, owners must complete an application which must be submitted to Ontario Racing Management Inc. (ORM). Eligibility requirements for this program include the following:

Horses must be trained and raced by an Ontario-based trainer with a valid AGCO license

Certification that the horse is resident in Ontario, or has completed a Stall Application for the 2020 race season, or is otherwise verified to be coming to Ontario for the 2020 race season

The horses first start following the resumption of racing in Ontario must be at an Ontario track, unless otherwise approved by Ontario Racing

Horses must be at least three years old, and either have not yet raced or have raced since January 1, 2019

Subject to meeting the above eligibility criteria, for the months of April and May, should racing continue to be suspended, racehorse owners will be eligible to receive the following payments, each of which is estimated to cover half of the monthly costs associated with boarding, feed and training fees (veterinary, blacksmith, shipping, and other fees are not included in this estimate):

Thoroughbreds - $1,500/month

Standardbreds - $1,000/month

Quarter Horses - $750/month

Horse owners can apply for payments under this interim measure by submitting an application form to Ontario Racing, c/o Sarrah Young [email protected]. Application forms are available on the Ontario Racing website and at the bottom of this note.

Standardbred horses that were qualified to race during the last week of March will be eligible to each receive $300, and drivers and trainers will receive five percent (5%) up to an accumulated maximum of $25,000 for each group.

If the suspension of live horse racing in Ontario as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic continues beyond May 31, 2020, the Task Force intends to present a revised proposal to OLG for the reallocation of purse funds under the Funding Agreement, which will include payments for two-year-old racehorses as well.

Ontario Racing will continue to pay the 1.5% of purses to the horsepersons associations so they can continue to offer benefits, benevolence activities and additional assistance to those in need.

Document not loading below? Please refresh your page or click the link to open in a new window.

APPLICATION FOR PAYMENTS TO HORSE OWNERS  COVID-19 -- Open in new window

(OR)
Infectious disease specialist Professor Sam McConkey has said that the Government is now at a crossroads and is faced with two decisions on treating Covid-19.

The first option is to continue efforts to flatten the curve over a period of six to nine months, he told Newstalk Breakfast.

The second choice is more severe and would entail a short, sharp response to try to prevent the spread of the virus entirely. Such a move would require 32-county involvement, he said.

This was what South Korea and New Zealand were doing and because Ireland is an island it was an approach that could work here, he explained.

For the more aggressive option to work there would need to be more frequent and quicker testing with results within hours and contact tracing in a speedier fashion too.

It would be challenging. It would mean restricting travel and quarantining people coming into the country.

This would have to be a political choice and the Government would have to weigh up the economic and social costs.

Professor McConkey said: I feel it has to be a national decision.

We would have to get Northern Ireland to go with us on this journey. It would have to be an all island approach. It needs national discussion and involve all the parties in Northern Ireland.

There are cost benefits with each option, but the "short, sharp" option might require using GPS apps, the willingness of people for their spatial data to be monitored and might require changes in the law, he warned.

Dr Catherine Motherway, president of the Intensive Care Society of Ireland, told the same programme that the Government is doing its best and that the measures taken to date have really helped.

The latest restrictions in operation since Friday, March 27 mandate that everyone should stay at home, only leaving to: Shop for essential food and household goods;

Attend medical appointments, collect medicine or other health products;

Care for children, older people or other vulnerable people - this excludes social family visits;

Exercise outdoors - within 2kms of your home and only with members of your own household, keeping 2 metres distance between you and other people

Travel to work if you provide an essential service - be sure to practice social distancing

She said she hoped the public would continue to observe the social distancing guidelines. It has made a difference. We havent seen scenes like they had in Italy, in Madrid and in London.

We should be proud of ourselves and continue staying at home. We are controlling it. This is one disaster that the population knows how to avoid.

Dr Motherway said that ICUs are coping with the Covid-19 crisis because plans were made in advance and hospitals were reorganised.

We will continue to control it if the public helps us by stopping the surge.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
Bay Area political events that are happening online during the coronavirus pandemic:

MONDAY

Indivisible: Progressive group hosts a workshop on creating and facilitating online meeting spaces that are inclusive, effective and motivating. 5 p.m. Join here.

Rent strikes: An organizer of the 1963-65 rent strikes in Harlem discusses their relevance to the current climate. Hosted by the Tenant and Neighborhood Councils. 6 p.m. More information is here.

TUESDAY

Democracy and the coronavirus: James Fallows, national correspondent for the Atlantic, and Kori Schake, director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, discuss how the pandemic may affect the 2020 elections and broader democratic processes. Hosted by the Commonwealth Club. 3 p.m. More information is here.

WEDNESDAY

Rep. Jared Huffman: North Bay Democrat holds a Facebook Live check-in with constituents. Noon. More information and join here.

THURSDAY

Janet Napolitano: University of California president and former homeland security secretary discusses the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on UC and its security implications. Hosted by the Commonwealth Club. Noon. More information is here.

Rep. Ro Khanna: Fremont Democrat holds a Facebook Live town hall meeting. Noon. More information and join here.

APRIL 20

Dan Pfeiffer: Pod Save America co-host on how President Trump is handling the coronavirus crisis. Hosted by Mannys. 6 p.m. More information here; join here.

APRIL 21

Change during a pandemic: Remote access-study group discusses possibilities for social change during the pandemic. Hosted by Freedom Socialist Party. Sessions on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. (register here) or Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. (register here). Reading list here. $3-$5 suggested donation per session.

APRIL 23

Christine Pelosi: Democratic activist and daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks about growing up in the Pelosi household. Hosted by Mannys. 7 p.m. More information is here; join here.

APRIL 24

Mayor Petes California campaign: Pete Buttigiegs California campaign director, Cecilia Cabello, talks about the experience. Hosted by Mannys. More information and join here.

APRIL 26

Environmentalism and social media: A livestream on using social media to drive environmentalism, hosted by the Ecology Center. 11 a.m. More information is here.

APRIL 29

Obamas legacy: David Simas, CEO of the Obama Foundation, discusses former President Barack Obamas legacy and the foundations work. Hosted by Mannys. 5 p.m. More information is here; join here.

To list an event, please email Chronicle politics editor Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicle.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 10

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkeys export of cement to Kyrgyzstan decreased by 22.5 percent from January through March 2020 compared to the same period of the last year, making up $145,520, Turkeys Ministry of Trade told Trend on April 10.

In March 2020, Turkeys export of cement to Kyrgyzstan made up $10,200, which is 90.1 percent less compared to March 2019, the ministry said.

From January through March 2020, Turkey exported cement worth $915 million to world markets, which is 9.6 percent more compared to the same period of 2019.

Turkeys export of cement was 2.1 percent of the countrys total export for the reporting period.

In March 2020, Turkey exported cement worth $317.5 million to world markets, which is 0.3 percent more compared to the same month of 2019.

Turkeys cement export share in the countrys total export made up 2.4 percent in March 2020.

In the last 12 months (from March 2019 through March 2020), Turkey exported cement in the amount of $3.5 billion.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
The following is a translation of the message:

Ladies and gentlemen,

The COVID-19 pandemic, the worst global crisis since World War II, is spreading swiftly with heavy tolls on humankind. The WHO should be commended for its role and responsibility in this global endeavour, and I wish to endorse this meaningful virtual conference under the theme Stand in solidarity to combat COVID-19".

Vietnam realised in no time the danger posed by COVID-19 when it first hit international media headlines. With strong political leadership, we understood an array of preemptive measures to fight epidemics as if fighting the enemy. The Governments actions have been rolled out in a resolute and coordinated manner, with prompt adjustments if required. Returning Vietnamese, foreign visitors, and those who came to close contact with positive cases are all subject to mandatory quarantine at designated facilities. A heavy focus was placed on isolating and wiping out the virus hot spots.

Vietnam adopted a dual approach of containing and controlling the outbreak while sustaining socio-economic stability, fending off disruption. We have been resolute in safeguarding the lives and well-being of our people, even at the expense of the economy. Immediate actions have been taken to help people facing hardship, particularly the vulnerable, poor and workers, making sure that no one is left behind. All instructions of the Party, Government and authorities have well resonated among our people. To date, Vietnam has managed to keep the situation under good control. Almost 50% of the cases have recovered with zero fatality.

However, as the COVID-19 pandemic knows no borders, the fight requires cooperation from and among all countries. A global pandemic requires global solidarity and an all-out global response. As the UNs specialised health agency, the WHO should continue taking the lead in mobilising and coordinating efforts, particularly in developing vaccine and treatment drugs, and providing medical supplies and equipment. Vietnam, in its capacity as the ASEAN Chair 2020, has issued the ASEAN Chairs Statement on concerted actions against COVID-19, and is working closely with fellow member states to step up joint responses.

As called for in UNGA Resolution 74/270 dated April 2 on COVID-19, Vietnam has, within our capacity, shared information and experience, and provided medical supplies and equipment to other countries despite our own constrains. I take this opportunity to thank the international community and the peoples around the world for their support and assistance to Vietnam and for joining this fight against the pandemic.

I have all confidence that our concerted efforts will lead us to triumph. We will be able to ensure the health and safety of our peoples, and together forge ahead toward prosperity and realising the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Agenda.
[April 10, 2020] Labaton Sucharow LLP Files Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against E-House and Certain Other Parties

Labaton Sucharow LLP ("Labaton Sucharow") announces that on April 9, 2020, it filed a securities class action lawsuit, captioned Maso Capital Investments Limited v. E-House (China) Holdings Limited, No. 1:20-cv-02943 (S.D.N.Y.) (the "Action"), on behalf of its clients Maso Capital Investments Limited, Blackwell Partners LLC - Series A, and Crown Managed Accounts SPC for and on behalf of Crown/Maso Segregated Portfolio (together, the "Maso Entities") against E-House (China) Holdings Limited ("E-House"), and certain directors, officers, and affiliates (collectively, "Defendants"). The Action asserts claims under Sections 10(b), 13(e), 20A and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and SEC (News - Alert) Rules 10b-5 and 13e-3 promulgated thereunder. It is brought on behalf of all former owners of E-House American Depository Receipts ("ADS"), who sold E-House ADS, and were damaged thereby: (i) during the period from April 15, 2016, until August 31, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"); or (ii) by way of, or as a result, of tendering their ADS as part of the Merger (as defined herein), regardless of when that tender occurred. E-House describes itself as a "leading real estate services company in China." In June 2015, the Company announced that it had received a buyout offer from its CEO, Defendant Zhou, and another Director, Defendant Shen. Shortly thereafter, SINA Corporation joined them in forming a "Buyer Group." On April 15, 2016, the E-House executed a merger agreement with the Buyer Group, where each ADS would be bought for $6.85 per ADS (the "Merger"). ADS holder approval, however, would still be required before the Merger could close. The Company published a preliminary proxy seeking ADS holder approval for the Merger on April 25, 2016. In an attempt to persuade public ADS holders to accept the deal, the preliminary proxy contained numerous flse and misleading statements and omissions. Specifically, that: (i) the Merger was fair and in the best interest of those investors not affiliated with the Buyer Group; (ii) there were no plans for post-Merger transactions; and (iii) the projections in the proxies were based on the best available information. In truth, the Merger was not fair, there were planned post-Merger transactions, and the projections in the proxies were not the best available. The merger was approved based on Defendants' false information on August 5, 2016, and closed on August 12, 2016.



According to their plans, yet contrary to their proxies, Defendants set into motion post-Merger transactions, which culminated in the registration of shares for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in July 2018. This relisting reflected a valuation far higher than the consideration of $6.85 per ADS given in connection to the Merger. As a result of Defendants' wrongful scheme to take E-House private at less than fair value (with the goal of relisting it at a higher valuation), former ADS holders outside the Buyer Group have suffered harm under the federal securities laws. If you sold or otherwise disposed of E-House ADS during the Class Period or if you tendered ADS into the Merger you are a member of the "Class" and may be able to seek appointment as Lead Plaintiff. Lead Plaintiff motion papers must be filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York no later than June 9, 2020. The Lead Plaintiff is a court-appointed representative for absent members of the Class. You do not need to seek appointment as Lead Plaintiff to share in any Class recovery in the Action. If you are a Class member and there is a recovery for the Class, you can share in that recovery as an absent Class member. You may retain counsel of your choice to represent you in the Action.

If you would like to consider serving as Lead Plaintiff or have any questions about this lawsuit, you may contact David J. Schwartz, Esq. of Labaton Sucharow, at (800) 321-0476, or via email at [email protected]. The Maso Entities are represented by Labaton Sucharow, which represents many of the largest pension funds in the United States and internationally with combined assets under management of more than $2 trillion. Labaton Sucharow has been recognized for its excellence by the courts and peers, and it is consistently ranked in leading industry publications. Offices are located in New York, NY, Wilmington, DE, and Washington, D.C. More information about Labaton Sucharow is available at www.labaton.com. You can view a copy of the complaint here. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005200/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
By Hoda Emam

Bay City News Foundation

A Bay Area man who traveled to Peru last month has been stranded in that country while an anxious family and struggling business await his return.

Max Gambirazio, who owns the San Carlos roastery business Papachay Peruvian Coffee, flew to his coffee bean plantation in Villa Rica, Peru, on March 13.

Three days later, in an effort to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, Peru closed its borders and put strict curfews in place, leaving Gambirazio unable to return.

Despite being on a U.S. evacuation list, Gambirazio said he has yet to hear anything definite from the U.S. Embassy in Lima about when and how he might leave the country.

As of Wednesday, the U.S. State Department had helped repatriate more than 6,000 Americans, according to the embassy in Lima, but a Facebook page titled "Americans Stuck in Peru" indicates that many remain stranded in the country.

Gambirazio's difficulties are compounded by the remote location of his farm -- in a high-altitude rainforest on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains.

He went to Peru hoping to send the new harvest of coffee beans back to his Bay Area business. But in order to move an 18-wheeler filled with coffee from the farm to the airport in Lima, Gambirazio would have to pass through government checkpoints, and the departments he needs to deal with for permits are all closed.

"I put everything back," he said, in a telephone interview. "I'm not shipping anything until they re-open."

The coffee estate's location is also a barrier to Gambirazio's own escape from the country. He said the U.S. Embassy only arranges to pick up Americans along Highway 1, close to Lima, and he can't find any alternative transportation.

"Even if I had a pass, people don't want to take anybody in their trucks because of the virus," he said.

Meanwhile, back in San Carlos, Gambirazio's wife Juliana has closed their storefront restaurant to reduce exposure to COVID-19. She continues to make deliveries, but most of the family's income came from the storefront and from corporate clients whose offices are also closed.

"The virus gave us a big lockdown," Max said. "No money is coming in. We are talking about months."

And while the economic consequences loom large for the family, they aren't Max's biggest concern any more. He just wants to get home to be reunited with his wife and 15-month-old daughter.

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
New Delhi: Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday (April 10) suggested that there is a need to make dedicated COVID-19 hospitals in each district of the country and notify them as soon as possible so that people are informed about them.

Through a release, he said that detailed guidelines for which category of health worker/professional need to use which category of PPE, are available at the Ministrys website (www.mohfw.gov.in) and states need to create awareness about their rational use too.

"The government is taking several steps along with the states/UTs for the prevention, containment and management of COVID-19 in the country. These are being regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level," he said while holding a video conference to review actions and preparedness for COVID-19 management with Health Ministers, Chief Secretaries/Health Secretaries of all States and UTs in the presence of MOS for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey.

Notably, a video highlighting the appropriate use of PPE in different areas of hospitals has been uploaded and available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzB5krucZoQ&feature=youtu.be

The government has announced a sanction of Rs 15,000 crore for 'India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package'. These funds can be used for treatment of COVID-19 patients and strengthen the medical infrastructure of the country with a primary focus on COVID-19, the statement said.

The package will boost the number of COVID-19 testing facilities and can be used to purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Isolation beds, ICU beds, Ventilators and other essential medical equipment and training of medical and paramedical manpower, it said.

39 domestic manufacturers have been developed for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Government of India has taken all required action to ensure adequate supply of PPEs for our frontline workers across all states, the statement said, adding "Around 20.4 lakh N-95 masks have been supplied to the states and further procurement has already been initiated to address future requirements. Also, an order for 49000 ventilators has been placed and stock is being taken for future requirements."

It further said that the ministry has also issued guidelines on blood transfusions and voluntary blood donation to ensure adequate stocks of blood & blood components, especially for those patients where blood transfusions is a life saving measure. The guidelines are available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/NBTCGUIDANCEFORCOVID19.pdf

Additionally, against the projected requirement of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) of 1 crore tablets (including Health Workers dealing with COVID-19 patients, ICU cases and high risk contacts) the availability, as of now, is 3.28 crore tablets, which is 3 times more than required for domestic use in the country. In addition to this, about 2-3 crore more have been stocked up, it said.

Online training on Pregnancy and Labour Management has been taken up by AIIMS as part of their Webinars and is also available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJwgi1LCu8o&feature=youtu.be

As of now, the capacity of testing is up-scaled through 146 government labs, 67 Private labs with more than 16000 collection centres. On 9th April 2020, approximately 16002 tests were taken up, of which 320 were found to be positive (approximately 2%). This figure, however, varies on a day-to-day basis depending on the samples collected.

The statement further said that technical queries related to COVID-19 may be emailed at technicalquery.covid19@gov.in and other queries on ncov2019@gov.in. In case of any queries on COVID-19, you can call at the ministry's helpline no. : +91-11-23978046 or 1075 (Toll-free).

List of helpline numbers of states/UTs is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf.
International airline crew are exempt from the most strict quarantine measures, in a controversial rule slammed as 'unacceptable' by Peta Credlin and Alan Jones.

Foreign nationals working on flights arriving into the country must isolate in a hotel, but only until their next scheduled flight - when they are free to leave.

Australian airline crews do not have to self-isolate at all, even if flying in from abroad.

The decision has sparked criticism after the arrival of a cargo plane which had stopped off in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Pictures showed crew from the flight walking into a Sydney hotel, where they isolated less than 15 hours before returning to China.

Flight crew from the cargo flight from Wuhan (pictured on Wednesday) self-isolated in a hotel at Sydney airport, before flying back to China just 15 hours after landing

International airline crew are exempt from the most strict quarantine measures, in a controversial rule slammed as 'unacceptable' by Peta Credlin (left) and Alan Jones (right)

The plane was bringing 90 tonnes of medical supplies to help tackle the deadly coronavirus, which started in a Wuhan market in December.

In a discussion with Alan Jones on 2GB radio, Ms Credlin said the measure was putting lives at risk, calling the rules 'unacceptable'.

'I'll give you an example - my sister is a midwife, but she works in indigenous, remote communities, she has all her life,' she explained.

'She's already in the Northern Territory, she's finished in one community and they're trying to move her to go to another - it's very hard to get experienced medical staff some of these communities at the moment.

Staff from the cargo flight (pictured on Wednesday) were required to isolate in an airport hotel until flying back to China

Airline employees and cargo handlers dressed in protective gear began unpacking the plane on Wednesday night (pictured)

'They're making her stand down in a hotel for 14 days to self-quarantine between places in the Northern Territory.

'Yet these guys, they're getting off a plane from bloody Wuhan, they're walking through the streets of Sydney, into hotels, out the next day and gone again.

'Are we kidding ourselves here?'

It arrived in Sydney on Wednesday at 9pm, where it was met with staff in full protective gears and respirators who then unloaded the cargo.

The plane and all its crew then left Sydney at midday on Thursday.

Flight crew from Wuhan are spotted checking in at Rydges Hotel at Sydney Airport on Wednesday (pictured) after landing their cargo plane full of medical supplies

Airline employees and cargo handlers dressed in protective gear began unpacked the plane's cargo on Wednesday night (pictured)

It comes after officials in South Australia last week confirmed that 11 Qantas baggage handlers at Adelaide airport had tested positive for COVID-19.

The crew from the Wuhan cargo flight were briefly pictured on the street, but only as they moved from their transport into a hotel - where they remained isolated until taking a flight back to China.

She then alluded to the Ruby Princess disaster, in which up to 600 infected cruise passengers were allowed to wander into Sydney.

Ms Credlin slammed officials for allowing the threat of community transmission from crew members, saying there is still a risk even if they're self-isolating.

Passengers wear full hazmat suits and protective gear as they prepare to depart the city of Wuhan on one of the train services opened on Wednesday (pictured)

Relieved residents leave Wuhan on Wednesday morning (pictured) after restrictions were lifted

'The idea that they would get into a vehicle, pass through the airport  think of all the services they'd touch  they'd get into lifts, talk to receptionists,' she said.

'The person who cleans the room the next day, and changes the linen.'

'Why are we putting ourselves at risk?'

Under rules put in place by the Australian department of health, all arrivals in the country must isolate for 14 days in a hotel before returning home.

For all international airline crews, the same applies - but they are allowed to leave before the 14 days are up as long as it is to fly away.

The plane from Wuhan delivered 90 tonnes of medical supplies (pictured) to help Australia with its own coronavirus battle

The supplies included protective clothing and facemasks (pictured) which was flown to Sydney from Wuhan

If they have a home in Australia, they can also isolate there.

The crew from this particular flight, which took off from Wuhan on Wednesday, stayed in a hotel.

The plane's operator, Suparna, has been delivering medical supplies to Europe since the pandemic broke out.

'Flights like this are crucial in ensuring the ongoing supply of these critical goods,' a spokeswoman for the Australian Border Force said.

'Cargo handlers operating out of all Australian airports follow strict hygiene protocols in line with advice from health authorities.'

The Chinese government lifted its two month lockdown of Wuhan on Wednesday, reopening its borders after 76 days.

Train road and rail connections have reopened however residents need to have clearance via a smart phone application to be allowed to leave.

Each user's health status is stored within the mobile phone app, which can be accessed by scanning a QR code.
There was a piece in the main section of the Sunday Independent recently by the legendary Tom McCaughren, author of many successful children's books and former RTE News correspondent. He finds himself here in 50 Ways due to his recollection of the drinking habits of the former president of Ireland, Sean T O'Kelly.

McCaughren recalled a press conference called by the then president in Aras an Uachtarain: "It was well known that he was fond of a drop of whiskey, something she [his wife Phyllis] was said to disapprove of. It was also said that he kept draught barrels of Guinness on tap in the Aras. Whether or not that is true, de Valera is reported to have been worried about his drinking, and my visit to the Aras seems to confirm that Phyllis also disapproved of it... to our surprise, the first thing Sean T did was to ask us to help him move a large table over against the door. Then, when he was sure he wouldn't be disturbed, he took out a bottle of whiskey and asked us to join him"

You gotta say that life was easier back then for the public figure with a bit of a drink problem - can we say that O'Kelly had a bit of a drink problem?

Yes, we can; indeed, it was felt by some that he had a lot of a drink problem, but then the fact that one of these people was Eamon de Valera might cast a shadow of doubt on the true extent of it - Dev was a man of austere disposition, so his opinion on issues of addiction may have been somewhat unforgiving.

Personally, I would call it like this: in today's culture, any public figure who would place a table up against a door to hide his drinking from his wife, an action that he was willing to perform in the presence of members of the media, would qualify easily as a functioning alcoholic.

And even in the culture of yesteryear, I think it would be fair to say that O'Kelly was someone who was operating at the higher end of the drinking game. It was well known that he 'liked a drop', but that it allegedly didn't interfere with the performance of his duties...

Apart, perhaps, from the time he went to visit Pope Pius XII and inadvertently revealed the Pontiff's thinking on communism when he spoke too freely of their encounter? Would that, perhaps, have been an exception to his avoidance of scandal?

Yes, I do enjoy looking back at the weird acceptance of the culture of drink which prevailed in the Ireland of that time; how a man could get a reputation for drinking too much, and how he could cause friction between the Vatican and the Kremlin, but nobody wondered if perchance there might be a connection between these things?

Moreover O'Kelly was a fervent Catholic, suspected of keeping the Knights of Columbanus informed of the doings of Cabinet. For many fervent Catholic alcoholics back then, it was felt that 'confessing' your sins to the priest was intrinsically better than seeking the help of foreign bodies such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

But Tom McCaughren recalls another distinctive aspect of O'Kelly's public persona, the fact that the aforementioned Phyllis was much taller than he was. Perhaps we can see a kind of strategic thinking here, what a modern media manipulator would call 'distraction'.

In this case, it involved the calculation that in old Ireland, a man walking around with a very tall wife would hope to divert attention from the fact that, in his own quiet way, he was drunk.

Simpler times?

Thinking again of that scene with the table shoved up against the door, and all the rest of it, maybe not so simple after all.
Many frontline healthcare workers face the most difficult days of their careers as they lead the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

But these videos show that, even in their darkest moments, doctors, nurses and ambulance medics are still finding ways to boost morale.

NHS workers across the UK have taken to social media to share clips of themselves dancing with their colleagues in hospital corridors and carparks to keep their spirits lifted.

Some have used the viral clips to communicate important messages about hygiene and handwashing while others simply want to bring a smile to your face.

The trend has also caught on around the world, with healthcare workers in the US, China and Australia joining in on the action.

YORK

Hospital worker Alice Marson, of York, shared a clip of colleagues dancing to I Will Survive

Hospital worker Alice Marson, of York, was praised after she shared a clip of colleagues dancing to Tina Turner's I Will Survive.

The fun routine was filmed in the hospital and has received more than 24,000 likes on the platform.

YORKSHIRE

Sarah, from Yorkshire, shared a TikTok video of her and her crew mate dancing in a carpark

Emergency response worker Sarah, from Yorkshire, shared a TikTok video of her and her crew mate doing the viral foot tap dance in the hospital car park.

The difficult-to-master dance gave the pair a moment of light relief.

It has received more than 17,000 likes and has been met with hundreds of positive comments from fellow users thanking Sarah for her work.

MERTHYR TYDFIL, WALES

A&E workers at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil danced to Aretha Franklin, pictured

A&E workers at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil recorded themselves dancing to Aretha Franklin this week to help raise morale.

They chose the song Respect as an instruction for people to follow the Government's advice and obey lockdown rules.

Staff dance around the department wearing face masks with some in blue gloves and plastic aprons.

BASILDON, ESSEX

Theatre staff at Basildon Hospital in Essex dance to Olly Murss Dance With Me Tonight

A video of hospital staff dancing to Olly Murss Dance With Me Tonight went viral after two nurses posted it online in mid-March.

The clip of the theatre team at Basildon Hospital has now been viewed hundreds of thousands of time online.

The medics were also treated to a surprise when Murs sent them a video message to thank them for their frontline work.

BURY ST EDMONDS, WEST SUFFOLK

At the end of March, Dr Steve Dunn, CEO of West Suffolk Foundation Trust shared this video of nurses working on a COVID-19 ward dancing at the end of a tough day.

He wrote: 'Love this video by our F10 team who are looking after suspected Covid-19 patients. Takes a lot of courage. But when they had a challenging day they did this to get through #teamwork.

'They #StayAtWorkForYou so #PleaseStayAtHome. And if you can make this viral for them!!!!'

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Mordialloc Ambulance branch workers in Melbourne uploaded the 'quarantine workout' video

Paramedics have created a hilarious dance to remind Australians how to wash their hands and practice good hygiene during the coronavirus crisis.

Workers from the Mordialloc Ambulance branch in Melbourne uploaded the 'quarantine workout' video to TikTok last week.

The clip is a parody of American workout videos in the 80s and features a Texas accent voice over to introduce the various steps in the routine.

SUZHOU, CHINA

Medics at People's Hospital of Linbi County in Suzhou, Anhui Province of eastern China

Two Chinese medical workers were caught on camera performing their version of the famous ballet 'Swan Lake' to celebrate the full recovery of their patients at the end of February.

Six coronavirus patients were discharged from the People's Hospital of Linbi County in Suzhou, Anhui Province of eastern China.

The hazmat-suited medics are seen in a video gleefully dancing on their tiptoes as their patients left the hospital to go home.
As the nation observes complete lockdown and fights coronavirus pandemic amid a flood of fake news and myths being circulated, Jacqueline Fernandez decided to do her bit in contributing to the fight against the pandemic. She conducted an Instagram live chat with Surats first Covid-19 patient, 21-year-old Rita Bachkaniwala.

Rita, who is a pastry chef, had come to Mumbai from London. In the chat, she said that she came out clear at the thermal test points at the airport. From my symptoms, doctors say I might have contracted it from airport or airplane. Places are infected. When I landed in India on 14, I had no symptoms - no cough no temperature at airport and later, I had a temperature on February 16. I called the helpline and was advised to take the test.

Jacqueline then asked her what should a person do if they have the symptoms. Suggesting one should immediately report to the authorities, Rita said, Self isolation is the first thing you do. I did not meet my parents and did everything by myself. Thats how they were not infected. I had symptoms and decided to go to the hospital. The hospital had all facilities - isolation ward, AC, bathroom, heater for hot water inside my room. There was also a small balcony kind of place where I could take a walk.

Also read: Kapil Sharma to shoot fresh episodes of The Kapil Sharma Show from home, without live audience: report

Asked if the treatment or experiencing the disease was very painful, Rita said, Breathlessness happens when it spreads. I reported promptly and my infection was detected when it was still only in the throat. It had not reached the lungs till then. I did experience oxygen shortage which caused a lot of fatigue. She further said that she spent 14 days in the hospital and was discharged when her tests came negative twice.

Asked to share her message for people getting depressed during the lockdown or in quarantine, Rita said, You are not stuck inside, you are safe inside.

About her chat with Rita, Jacqueline told Hindustan Times, I love the fact that officials have actually been there for the people who are suffering and who have contracted it. A lot of people are scared of it like they are scared that itll be the end of the world if they get it but they dont get it that there are specialists out there to take care.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 19:18:58|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

A virus is blind to borders and races; pulling together is the only way out. Based on that conviction, China has walked the talk by bolstering global health cooperation to combat the pandemic and jointly build a community of common health for mankind.

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- With over 1.6 million cases confirmed, more than 95,000 deaths reported, and 180-plus countries and regions affected, the raging COVID-19 pandemic is challenging not only global public health, but also the world economy.

Since the outbreak, China has been waging all-out war to fight the virus, and its response has proven quite effective. After 76 days of lockdown, Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease in China, started lifting outbound travel restrictions from Wednesday in a bid to return life back to normal and get its economy back on track.

A life-first principle, strong and open economic policies and a cooperative mindset have defined China over the past few months, and the world has taken notice.

SAVING LIVES

More infections and deaths are expected from COVID-19.

China's medical supplies for 18 African countries arrive at the Kotota International Airport in Accra, capital of Ghana, April 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Zheng)

So far, infections have topped 1,602,000 in 185 nations and regions, with over 95,700 deaths, an interactive map maintained by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering showed.

"It is essential that we focus on the right priorities to save lives and livelihoods," wrote International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an op-ed published in British newspaper the Telegraph.

Ever since the disease broke out in Wuhan, China's focus has been exactly that: to save lives. The Chinese government has taken decisive, comprehensive and strict measures to contain the spread, and people from all walks of life have united as one to combat the virus.

"From day one of our fight against the outbreak, we have put people's life and health first," said Chinese President Xi Jinping in his keynote speech at the Extraordinary G20 Leaders' Summit.

Some 41,600 medical personnel from across the country have been dispatched to the central province of Hubei, and the province's capital Wuhan, on lockdown since Jan. 23, has repurposed 86 hospitals for COVID-19 treatment and built another 16 offering an additional 60,000 beds.

Chinese scientists have been dedicated to creating a vaccine against the disease, with clinical trials expected to commence by mid-April.

Although the domestic spread has been basically curbed, top Chinese officials are adamant about preventing a resurgence of the outbreak.

"China's central government was diligent by pursuing measures that were designed to protect people's lives," said Jon R. Taylor, professor and chair of the political science and geography department at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

A policeman salutes medical workers supporting virus-hit Hubei Province as they arrive at Guangzhou South Railway Station in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, March 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

Christine Bierre, editor-in-chief of France's Nouvelle Solidarite magazine and an expert at Schiller France Institute, described China's attitude in its coronavirus response as "very responsible" and "exemplary."

CRANKING UP ECONOMY

To blunt the economic impact of COVID-19 worldwide, G20 leaders have pledged to inject 5 trillion U.S. dollars of fiscal spending into the global economy.

Still, the global economic outlook remains grim. "We're now in recession. It is way worse than the global financial crisis," Georgieva warned.

Amid the global economic uncertainty, China, where the epidemic is dwindling, has started to resume economic activity. From the financial markets to investment and consumption, China has tailored policy toolkits to help spur growth at home and boost confidence in the global economy.

China's central bank has sought to maintain ample liquidity in the financial markets by announcing targeted reserve requirement ratio cuts for eligible banks starting March 16. Tax and banking regulators are enhancing coordination to boost credit support for small and micro businesses.

About 98.7 percent of China's manufacturing enterprises have reportedly resumed work, and the purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector rose to 52 in March from 35.7 in February.

A man has meal beside statues at an outdoor restaurant in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

Takashi Kodama, head of the economic research department at the Daiwa Institute of Research Group, said progress in China's economic recovery is noteworthy.

If private consumption in China, which is less affected by the deterioration of the global economy, can recover quickly, it would give hope to other countries and provide a much-needed boost to global financial markets, he said.

In parallel, China has taken steps to stabilize foreign trade and investment, injecting confidence once again into globalization. The country will establish new pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce and host an online Canton Fair.

China continues to believe in globalization despite mounting skepticism from the West.

"China has not lost faith" in globalization and international trade, Kishore Mahbubani, fellow at the Asia Research Institute of National University of Singapore, told Foreign Policy magazine. "The COVID-19 pandemic will not fundamentally alter global economic directions."

FOSTERING COOPERATION

"Our human family is stressed and the social fabric is being torn; people are suffering, sick and scared," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, adding the pandemic is "a human crisis that calls for solidarity."

A virus is blind to borders and races; pulling together is the only way out. Based on that conviction, China has walked the talk by bolstering global health cooperation to combat the pandemic and jointly build a community of common health for mankind.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks at a press conference about providing necessary support to mitigate the economic and financial impact from the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Since the outbreak, China has wasted no time in releasing information about the virus, including its genetic sequence, primers and probes.

When meeting with Tedros in Beijing in January, Xi said China attaches great importance to the cooperation with the WHO, and is ready to work with the organization as well as the international community to safeguard regional and global public health security.

Apart from inviting Chinese and foreign experts to join a WHO joint mission to investigate the epidemic in the country, China has also donated 20 million dollars to the WHO to support international cooperation against the disease.

"China's good cooperation with the World Health Organization has enabled various national authorities to prepare, as best as possible, for the difficulties brought by the wave of contamination," former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told Xinhua.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro(L) greets the Chinese medical experts in Caracas, Venezuela, April 8, 2020. (Venezuela's Presidency/Handout via Xinhua)

Reciprocating the kindness of others during its toughest period combatting the disease, China has extended a helping hand to over 120 countries and some international organizations, offering them surgical and N95 masks, personal protective equipment, and test kits, among others.

Having accumulated experience and knowledge first-hand against COVID-19, Chinese health professionals are sharing useful information via video conferences with their foreign colleagues, including those from Italy, Spain, Britain, Pakistan, Brazil and the United States.

Calling China "a more reliable partner," Dino Patti Djalal, former Indonesian vice foreign minister, told Xinhua that China's timely assistance to other countries deserves their thanks.

By adopting "a strategy of international cooperation," China has assumed its role as a major country in the global anti-virus fight, said Raffarin. Enditem

(Xinhua writers Liang Hui in Jakarta, Liu Fang, Xu Yongchun in Paris, and Ye Shan, Liu Chunyan in Tokyo also contributed to the story. Video reporters: Magda, Zhao Yuchao, Han Chong, Yang Shilong, Hu Yousong, Xie E, Zhang Yue, Hu Jingchen; Video editor: Ma Ruxuan.)
Former President Barack Obama advised a virtual gathering of mayors that when dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, the biggest mistake any [of] us can make in these situations is to misinform.

Speak the truth. Speak it clearly. Speak it with compassion. Speak it with empathy for what folks are going through, Mr Obama said.

The former president was speaking at a Bloomberg Philanthropies fourth virtual Covid-19 Local Response Initiative. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also spoke at the event.

President Obama also urged the mayors to build strong, reliable teams of experts.

The more smart people you have around you, and the less embarrassed you are to ask questions, the better your response is going to be, he said.

Mr Obama also encouraged city leaders to support their most vulnerable residents: Were seeing disparities in how people are affected in cities and towns and communities across the country. Look out for the vulnerable.

He continued: When you start looking at issues of domestic abuse and you start looking at racial disparities that are popping up in your cities, paying attention to that is the kind of leadership I know all of you aspire to. You have to be intentional about it, and dedicate folks to thinking about those issues.

The former Presidents comments come in marked contrast to President Donald Trump whose focus remains on wanting to reopen the economy, despite warnings from experts that doing so would risk a spike in infections and deaths.

President Obama has said that it would not be possible to begin reopening the economy without a robust system of testing and monitoring  something we have yet to put in place nationwide.

In his remarks, former mayor Bloomberg highlighted the situation in New York: Weve now lost more New Yorkers to this virus than in the terrorist attacks of 9/11  and the numbers continue to grow. While were starting to see ICU admissions stabilise, the city is still losing hundreds of people per day.

People need to know that you are understanding what theyre going through  and that its hard, he said to the mayors. They also need to know that better days are ahead. It wont be tomorrow, or next week, but things will get better  and theyll get better specifically because of the sacrifices everyone is making today.
Naming New PM Not A Priority During Pandemic, Kosovo's Kurti Tells RFE/RL

By RFE/RL's Balkan Service April 09, 2020

Kosovo's outgoing Prime Minister Albin Kurti says he will not immediately respond to President Hashim Thaci's request to nominate a new candidate to form a government because he is busy fighting the coronavirus outbreak.

Kurti was toppled on March 25 and his Self-Determination (VV) party, the largest in parliament, was supposed to renominate him or find a replacement within 15 days.

The no-confidence vote was called by the VV's coalition partners, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), amid disagreements over the government's approach to the coronavirus crisis.

Kurti and the VV insist that no new coalition is possible during the crisis and that early elections must be held as soon as possible.

Thaci, Kurti's main rival, is calling for a government of national unity to tackle the crisis.

Thaci and Kurti have stepped up their attacks on each other since the coronavirus outbreak began, even challenging the measures proposed or put into place to suppress the spread of the disease.

"We will respond to the president at an appropriate time, but I cannot say that we will do so now. We will not leave the president without an answer, but the country can't be left without good governance," Kurti said in a telephone interview with RFE/RL from Pristina on April 9.

"The emergency was to fight this pandemic, not to overthrow the government, and pulling the strings to get a new government the way the president is doing, is even less urgent," Kurti said.

He added that even if Kosovo gets a new government, "there could be no priority other than fighting the pandemic."

Kosovar authorities have reported 224 cases so far, including six deaths.

Kurti said that once his outgoing government has brought the outbreak under control, Kosovo must hold early parliamentary elections.

Disagreements Over Curfews

However, all the political parties, except Kurti's VV, support the creation of a new government rather than organizing snap polls.

Kosovo's Constitutional Court on March 31 ruled that curfews ordered by Kurti to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country violated the constitution.

The court, acting on a motion filed by Thaci, ordered the government to repeal the measures within two weeks. According to the court's ruling, the measures will become invalid as of April 13. Thaci also urged citizens not to respect Kurti's curfews, saying such measures can only be declared under a state of emergency.

Asked if he will declare a state of emergency after April 13, Kurti said, "there is no need to declare a state of emergency because the state system has not collapsed, and the institutions are carrying out the tasks they were given by the government."

"There is no system failure so that we need to declare a state of emergency," Kurti said.

After April 13, each municipality will decide by itself on the movement limitations, Kurti said.

Pristina recently lifted the 100 percent tariffs on Serbian goods and services imposed in November 2018 in response to Belgrade's continued lobbying for countries to reverse their recognition of Kosovo, a former province of Serbia's. But Kurti's government replaced the tariffs with reciprocal measures.

The tariffs' imposition was initially supported by Kurti but has angered the United States and European Union. The United States has also opposed the reciprocal measures introduced by Kurti.

Asked about Kosovo's relationship with the United States, Kurti said, "I am convinced that the alliance and partnership between the Republic of Kosovo and the United States of America is inseparable and does not depend on the Kosovo governments or presidents."

"I believe that the United States needs a strong Kosovo, a Kosovo that protects its own interests and thus strengthens the alliance with the United States."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/naming-new-pm-not-a -priority-during-the-pandemic-kosovo-s -kurti-tells-rfe-rl/30544746.html

Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






(Image: Abhishek Singh)

Our worlds have changed. We used to say it's difficult to survive out there. But for many living in COVID-19 hotspots around the country, it is difficult to survive inside.

The Delhi and Uttar Pradesh governments have announced several hotspots in order to prevent further spread of COVID-19. While the Delhi government identified and sealed 20 COVID-19 hotspots, the UP government has applied curfew-like restrictions in hotspots in as many as 15 districts -that includes Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, and Agra.

This means in such places no one can step out even for groceries unlike the conditions of a lockdown that the whole country is under since PM Modi announced it on March 24.

There are varying degrees of lockdowns and curfews that administrations are resorting to.

A lockdown, as we all know by now, basically means that people need to stay indoors, but can go out to buy essential commodities.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Besides, some states have imposed a curfew, where everyone is compelled to stay at home, and people cannot venture out without the permission of the police.

It is stricter than imposing Section 144, in that people can go out of their house, but cannot move or gather in groups of four or more. Violation of curfew can lead to immediate detention by police.

You can read more about such restrictions in this story.

In UP, where districts are under curfew-like restrictions, only those localities that are hotspots; that is, where COVID-19 positive cases have been detected are sealed off. In other areas, the lockdown is in place as before.

As the hotspots are sealed off, the restrictions in these pockets will be stricter than those under the lockdown already in place.

Coronavirus LIVE updates

What's prohibited in hotspots and sealed areas?

> No movement allowed whatsoever in such areas people to stay inside their homes.

>Residents cannot go out of their houses for buying groceries or medicine.

> All entry and exit points are sealed and barricaded with the presence of law enforcement officers for patrol in the area.

> Visiting banks, ATMs and offices as they are closed.

>Gathering inside the sealed zone is also banned.

>For people engaged in essential services, going out without a pass is not allowed.

>Any kind of media coverage is not allowed.

The authorities are supposed to take care of supply of essential commodities, medicines and facilitating people with needs that involve medical emergencies.

The authorities are conducting door-to-door contact tracing and testing in these sealed areas alongwith sanitisation.

Following the Bhilwara example?

Rajasthan's Bhilwara district is being lauded widely for its efforts in containing the spread of the novel Coronavirus.

Sealing-off areas where COVID-19 cases have been detected in hotspots is one of the things that Bhilwara did.

Steps that are being taken now in Maharashtra, UP, and Delhi among other states were already taken by Bhilwara authorities early on that has led to only 28 cases in the district as against 489 in the whole state.

What are the ground realities?

People are facing difficulties after more pronounced restrictions were put in place, Abhishek Singh, a resident of Agra  that has been declared as one of the COVID-19 hotspot districts in UP  told Moneycontrol.

The 25-year-old boy lives in Agras Kishorpura, which was sealed on April 8 after a family of five members was found COVID-19 positive on his street.

The police took the whole family, admitted them to SN Medical College and sanitised the whole area. The streets have been sealed and two constables are permanently stationed outside our street, he said.

Also Read | Coronavirus hotspots in Delhi, Noida - complete list

Abhishek further said an ambulance with paramedics came to take the family. Nobody was allowed to look. A fire brigade vehicle sanitised the houses from the outside. Police patrolling in the area has been intensified.

This is where the problems for the locals start, he said.

We have been given a number for any help such as groceries but the number stays engaged. There should have been facilities, such as a mobile van, that could have helped us with daily-use purchases, he added.

Vegetable and milk vendors, who used to visit earlier, have been also asked not to sell stuff in these sealed areas.

(With inputs from PTI)

Follow our full coverage here
Gov. Ralph Northam is promising a boost in Medicaid reimbursement rates to Virginia nursing homes to help compensate them for the mounting costs of combating the spread of the COVID-19 virus among residents who are already medically vulnerable.

Northam said Friday that he will increase reimbursements by $20 a day for each Virginia resident who relies on Medicaid, a health insurance program for the poor, elderly and disabled that is financed by the federal and state governments.

These are our parents and grandparents  we have a special obligation to protect them, in addition to our responsibility to protect public health, he said during a public briefing on the states response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Virginia Health Care Association, representing 292 nursing homes in the state, said the additional money is necessary to help pay the additional expenses for staff and personal protective equipment, such as masks and gowns, to care for residents in nursing homes that have radically changed their operations to prevent the virus from entering and spreading through their facilities.
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 09, 2020 | MCCRACKEN COUNTY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 09, 2020 | 05:28 PM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY

A Paducah man is facing numerous charges after an argument over a set of wheels.



On Wednesday, the Paducah Police Department responded to a business on H.C. Mathis Drive after a report of a man with a shotgun in his car. The caller reportedly told officers that the man was angry about a purchase and was making threatening statements.



Upon arrival, officers saw a vehicle leaving the business and blocked its path. Officers then asked the driver, 46-year-old Salaam Muhammad, to step out of his vehicle. Officers then reportedly found an AK-47 in the passenger seat with a round in the chamber.



The caller met with officers at the business, and claimed he had sold Muhammad a set of wheels and that Muhammad had wanted to return them, but the seller had refused. Muhammad then allegedly began texting threats to him.



Muhammad was lodged in the McCracken County Jail. He is being charged with third-degree terroristic threatening, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Share this article Whatsapp

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin Nina A. Loasana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, April 10, 2020 07:27 641 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd0f2cc8 1 City HaloDoc,Gojek,coronavirus-testing,COVID-19-rapid-test,coronavirus,coronavirus-prevention,COVID-19-Jakarta Free

Healthcare platform Halodoc and ride-hailing app Gojek in cooperation with Mitra Keluarga Hospital and Kemayoran Complex Management Center (PPKK) plan to offer free rapid COVID-19 testing to some Jakartans from April 10 to 17.

The platforms will use drive-through testing to minimize the risk of transmission.

"Massive rapid testing is important to curb the spread of COVID-19. Halodoc wants to give the public access to easy and accurate screenings while still obeying the physical distancing policy," Halodoc CEO Jonathan Sudharta said in a written statement.

The testing facility will use blood samples to detect the presence of immunoglobulin in the blood, which is a type of antibody formed when someone gets the virus.

According to the Halodoc statement, rapid testing will only be available to people with a moderate or high risk of having contracted COVID-19.

Read also: Anies wants 'ojek' drivers to keep picking up passengers despite govt restrictions

To get tested, first, residents must consult with doctors through the Halodoc app. If the doctor thinks a user should be tested, the user can click the book appointment button on the app to get an exact time and location for testing. The consultation will be free.

Users are advised to go to the facility by vehicle.

"You could use motorcycles, cars or take online ride-hailing services. You will receive the results a day after the rapid tests via SMS or via the Halodoc app," the statement said.

Residents who test positive for COVID-19 will receive further instructions from doctors regarding self-isolation or hospitalization.

"Patients who practice self-isolation could have consultations via the Halodoc app. Their medicine could be delivered to their homes by Gojek drivers."
A former manager at a cooking oil firm must pay it more than 40,000 for profits lost after a rival business was set up, a High Court judge in Belfast has ruled.

Madam Justice McBride held that Paul James Gilroy breached an agreement aimed at restricting competition with a subsidiary of Northern Ireland supplier Frylite.

Part of the company's operation involves the recovery of used cooking oils and fats (UCOs). Frylite dismissed Mr Gilroy following an investigation into a direct competitor, GreaseCo, which began trading in late 2010, the court heard.

It claimed that he had used his position to direct customers to GreaseCo - allegations which he vehemently denied. Legal action was launched by Frylite, contending breach of agreements and losses in excess of 500,000.

The court was told Mr Gilroy's wife, Michelle, had owned another business, Rof Environmental, which also collected UCOs.

Under an Asset Purchase Agreement in 2006 Rof was bought by Agri Energy Ltd, with the terms of the deal including a restriction on competing against its business on the island of Ireland.

In 2010 Frylite acquired Agri and went on to employ Mr Gilroy as a manager at its depot in Craigavon, Co Armagh, according to evidence in the case.

Frylite boss Eamon McKay stated that he wanted to retain him because he had more than 20 years experience in the waste fats collection industry.

Although Frylite's core business was selling fresh cooking oil and fats, it also recovered and disposed of UCOs.

The company traditionally shipped UCOs to England, but has also invested 2 million in its own processing plant in Strabane, the court heard.

According to Mr McCay Frylite became aware in March 2011 of a new operator in the waste fats collection market - GreaseCo.

Defending the lawsuit, Mr Gilroy denied breaching the terms of any restrictive covenant or entering into a Service Agreement.

He accepted that he had helped his wife to set up GreaseCo, the court was told, but insisted he was not the owner.

Ruling on the dispute Madam Justice McBride held that Mr Gilroy acted in breach of a Service Agreement and the implied terms of his employment.

Turning to the damage sustained by Frylite, she described the loss of profits set out in a report as "over-inflated" after noting some reduction was due to other competitors.

The judge determined that 40% was down to competition from GreaseCo, with losses sustained due to Mr Gilroy's breach put at just over 40,000.

She concluded: "I find for the plaintiff and make an order that the defendant pay the plaintiff the sum of 40,855."
The Army asked its "soldiers for life" who are trained in medical fields to come back to do battle against the novel coronavirus pandemic. And to date, more than 25,000 have answered the call, officials said.

The service first sent out an appeal in late March to retired officers and enlisted soldiers from a targeted set of specialties, asking for volunteers to re-don the uniform and reinforce Army communities thinned by emergency field hospital and personnel deployments to regions hit hardest by the virus. It would ultimately expand the call for volunteers to recently separated soldiers in the Individual Ready Reserve and to "gray-area" soldiers -- Guardsmen and reservists who have completed 20 years but haven't yet met requirements for retirement.

The field totaled "approximately 800,000," officials said, meaning that more than 3% of all former soldiers contacted by the Army responded to say they could help.

Now, the service is working to process the horde of volunteers, ensuring those it takes are properly qualified and certified, and -- importantly -- not currently working in medical care in a civilian capacity.

Related: Army's Seattle Field Hospital Closes After 3 Days, Without Treating a Single Patient

"If individuals are already serving in their local communities, we are proud of their service and want them to continue serving in those communities, as this effort is not to detract from current community support, but to enhance it," Brig. Gen. Twanda E. Young, U.S. Army Human Resources Command deputy commanding general and reserve personnel management director, said in a released statement.

The calls for volunteers went out to those who had served in specialties including critical care officer; anesthesiologist; nurse anesthetist; critical care nurse; nurse practitioner; ER nurse; respiratory specialist; and medic.

But soldiers in other fields also reached out to Human Resources Command to offer their services, officials said. And the Army does plan to consider them for service, too.

Planners are now working around the clock to process applications and determine where volunteers can serve, according to an Army release.

"This effort seems very simplistic -- soldiers volunteer and we just bring them back on active duty, but it requires a specialized team of professionals knowledgeable in Reserve policy, which the Reserve Personnel Management Directorate provides," Young said. "We understand the urgency, thus we are working multiple shifts to sift through screening volunteers to get them at the point of need."

Once volunteers are screened and validated, they are sorted by specialty and matched up with Army personnel needs. No orders have been cut to date; all volunteers are still in different parts of the vetting process, according to the release. Orders are expected to be open-ended, and officials did note that volunteers will be given time and flexibility to put their lives in order before they report for duty.

The Army has not provided a precise timeline for when the first volunteer soldiers might be back in uniform, or how many volunteers it plans to accept in total. According to the release, new volunteers are still being accepted by HRC.

Army medical detachments are already deploying around the country to assist civilian providers with managing major virus outbreaks. Military doctors are now assisting in New York City hospitals, and the Army has deployed three mobile field hospital units, staffed by about 330 soldiers apiece.

One of those hospitals, deployed to Seattle, has already closed after just a few days, a sign that patient capacity has become more manageable amid extreme social distancing and protective measures.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

Read more: 'Nothing Off the Table': Pentagon Won't Rule Out Reinstating Fired Navy Captain
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office on Friday reviewed preparedness of empowered groups of officers in tackling challenges emerging as a result of spread of coronavirus. Issues related to supply chain and logistics management for availability of necessary items were discussed in the meeting, according to a statement issued by the PMO.

Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, who chaired the meeting, stressed on confidence building measures necessary to ensure seamless supply chain management. Measures to assist farmers harvest their produce while maintaining social distancing were discussed.

Last month, the Centre had set up 11 empowered groups, under Disaster Management Act, for ensuring a comprehensive and integrated response to check the spread of coronavirus.

"The gathering reviewed and expressed satisfaction on the detailed testing protocol and procedure, under which (as on date) 1,45,916 samples have been tested," the PMO said.

The meeting was the latest in a series of periodic reviews at various levels by the Prime Minister's Office to monitor the ongoing efforts to counter the impact of the pandemic.

According to the PMO statement, the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), key for preventing transmission of the coronavirus, is being ramped up and capacity building for healthcare personnel is being ensured. NGOs and Civil Society groups are also being mobilised, it said.

"Principal Secretary suggested that coordination with NGOs at district level be done to avoid overlaps and ensure efficacious utilisation of resources," it said.

"It was informed that all Chief Secretaries of States were issued instructions to arrange for shelter for the vulnerable groups like migrants and homeless," the statement noted.

Also Read: Coronavirus: ICMR urges containment in 36 districts, hints community transmission

In the meeting, the progress of roll out of welfare measures through the economic relief package under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana was also reviewed. Principal Secretary underlined that data sanctity was important to ensure that the benefits reach out to all the intended beneficiaries.>

"Steps taken to ensure timely information dissemination throughout the country were discussed and ensuring last mile outreach through communication in regional languages was emphasised," PMO said.

Also Read: Health Minister Ha rsh Vardhan hints at lockdown extension; India's tally nears 6,000

On the technology and data management front, the PMO expressed satisfaction on the roll out of Aarogya Setu app, while pitching for more user engagement.

The meeting was attended by senior officials of PMO and other ministries under the government of India.

By Chitranjan Kumar
Pass the champagne  out of reach of the ill-fated newlyweds Hayley (Eleanor Tomlinson) and Roberto (Tiziano Caputo) in the comedy Love Wedding Repeat, streaming on Netflix. The couples reception at an Italian villa becomes a drunken, disastrous lab experiment carried out by an unseen oracle (Penny Ryder) who wants to prove that happily-ever-after is merely a game of chance.

Table four is where the bride (a charming redhead with a wide smile that shifts from phony to petrified) has quarantined her English-speaking friends: one shiftless male maid-of-honor, two vengeful exes and three lovelorn fools. One of those includes Hayleys brother Jack (Sam Claflin), haplessly mooning over his dream girl (Olivia Munn), an American war journalist who gets a few muttered zingers, but is otherwise stuck acting, well, dreamy. This volatile cocktail is given one more ingredient  a glass of bubbly spiked with tranquilizers  and a twist. Devilish children have randomly rearranged the seating cards so the poisoner, Jack, isnt sure who has the sleeping potion until theyve passed out on their plate.
Lozano wanted to keep his workers employed at a time when jobs are disappearing rapidly. It also feels good to be meeting a critical need for the community and the nation.

Instead of being out of business Im busier than before, and were doing something purposeful, he said.

Other St. Louisans are also making face shields, some of them on a small scale using 3D printing technology. The more the merrier, Lozano said: Im not worried about competition unless you can make a million a day.

Lozano can see demand for Halcyons window shades coming back some day, but hes also in the face-shield business to stay. The half-ounce shields are designed to be disposable, although they can be cleaned and reused.

Even after the pandemic ends, he figures state and federal governments will need to build up stockpiles of protective equipment. Nonmedical workers, such as food servers, may start wearing face shields if they become widely available.

The market for face shields, Lozano speculates, is likely to be much larger than the market for window shades. If so, Halcyon will have turned a threat to its survival into an opportunity to thrive.

Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf is one of four international innovators selected to create cost-effective packages of high-quality accessible children's books in languages children use and understand. The initiative, from All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development and the Global Book Alliance's Begin With Books, enables the prize winners to collectively create thousands of leveled books in seven underserved spoken languages and nine sign languages, serving regions of the world where children have few or no books for preschool or kindergarten.

RIT/NTID will create 200 leveled sign-language books in six sign languages (Filipino, Indonesian, Somali, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Samoan), for a total of 1,200 books. Seventy percent of the books will come from existing free and open source libraries. Working with local disabled persons organizations, 30 percent of the new stories created will be about the deaf experience or include deaf characters. RIT/NTID and partnering countries also plan to adapt or create 40 books with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) content.

"Children's stories are often not accessible for the large majority of deaf children due to the lack of signing models who are native in their local sign languages," said Christopher Kurz, professor at RIT/NTID and one of the project's principal investigators. "This international collaborative project aims to address this by providing accessible books in multiple signed languages. Shared stories in which the main characters who happen to be deaf help make the world become more inclusive and connected."

Prize winners will create the accessible e-books in stages over the next two years. Completed titles will be uploaded to the Global Digital Library, a web-based platform that offers free, high-quality early learning resources in more than 40 languages. Many of the books will be adapted from other open source content already available on the GDL and other platforms, while new books created will be open source to allow for adaptation into other languages or contexts.

In addition to book creation, the prize winners will join the organization's new Sign Language Storybook Cohort consisting of other awardees and their partners from local disabled persons organizations to determine standards for sign-language storybook production in underserved languages.

"Millions of children around the world have little to no access to any books in a language they use and understand, thereby limiting their basic human right to literacy and education," said Kerin Ord, global sector education lead for World Vision International. "The creation of these engaging, accessible books for children in some of the lowest-resourced regions of Africa, Asia and the Pacific will empower and support them on their journey to literacy and future success in school, health, employment, and society."

RIT/NTID's Begin with Books project will scale the effective work of its World Around You platform--created with funding from the Sign On For Literacy prize--to five additional contexts. The platform enables communities to create books and learning content in local and national sign languages that can be shared via an open content digital library of folktales. The 200 books created will also be packaged and uploaded to the Global Digital Library.

"We are all thrilled that we'll be able to continue the work with World Around You," said Stephen Jacobs, professor in RIT's School of Interactive Games and Media and a MAGIC Center affiliate. "Doing our first training in Manila, it was exciting to see how quickly deaf students, parents, and teachers took to the platform. We ended up with 10 storybooks in just a weekend-long workshop. All of the participants, deaf and hearing, from teenagers to senior citizens, truly felt empowered by the tool."

"We are very proud of the work that Dr. Kurz and his team have done to create this much-needed resource for deaf and hard-of-hearing children throughout the world," said Gerry Buckley, NTID president and RIT vice president and dean. "I applaud them and the other winners of the Begin with Books Prize."

Three other Begin With Books Prize awardees were selected.

"Serving the literacy and education needs of children with disabilities in low-resource contexts is core to the mission and heart of the All Children Reading Grand Challenge," said Shelly Malecki, program manager for the All Children Reading Grand Challenge and Begin With Books prize lead. "Through the SLSC, we'll develop standards for the creation of sign language books for the Global Digital Library and a toolkit for creating sign language storybooks that we hope will change business models among book producers to incorporate accessibility features at the onset of book development."

###

The prize is valued at $200,000.

For more information, contact Vienna McGrain at 585-475-4952, Vienna.Carvalho@rit.edu, or on Twitter: @viennamcgrain.
Toronto police have identified the man shot and killed on St. Clair Avenue West on Wednesday night.

Police responded to a shooting call just after 9 p.m. at 845 St. Clair Ave. W., east of Oakwood Avenue.

Lindsay John Templeton, 37, of Toronto, was found at the back of the building with multiple gun shots wounds, police said in a news release Thursday.

He was taken to hospital where he died. He is the citys 21st homicide victim.

Callers told police at the time they had seen a dark sedan fleeing the area.

Homicide investigators are appealing to any witnesses who were in the area at the time, or have security camera footage, dashcam video, or who have any information, to contact police.

With files from Miriam Lafontaine
ALTON  The owner of an Alton bar where multiple people were cited Sunday for violating Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home order has apologized and said no liquor was sold during the closure.

Hiram Lewis, the owner of Hirams Bar at 213 W. 3rd St., reached out to The Telegraph Thursday afternoon to discuss the incident which has since garnered national and international attention. Among those cited for violating the order was Shannon Walker, the wife of Alton Mayor Brant Walker.

I admit to making a poor choice in having a few friends over when I should not have, that I did not keep myself apprised of the mandate and what was allowed and not allowed said Lewis.

I want to make it clear and on the record that at no time have we ever been open to the public, he said. I havent sold any alcohol since this shutdown.

Im sorry I embarrassed Alton by having friends over, said Lewis. Im not contesting anything in the report.

He also said he feels terrible about the incident and allowing the mayors wife and friends to come over.

Hiram said the incident took place at 205 State St. in the attached building behind the main bar and involved seven people listed in an Alton Police report that states they were found gathered at the location around 1 a.m. Sunday, despite Pritzkers March 20 executive order prohibiting all public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit.

All seven face Class A misdemeanor charges.

I thought that, essentially, Im seeing this as my home because were not open for business, said Lewis, adding he bought the building to serve as his living space and an extension of the bar in front.

The official incident report notes that a sleeping bag and some toiletries were found in the building.

The police report says Hirams Bar, 210 W 3rd St., advertised on its Facebook page March 27 that the bar would remain open every Thursday through Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

In addition to the misdemeanor citations, police filed an ordinance violation complaint for having no city-issued occupancy permit.

I am in the process of finishing what was a gut rehab when I bought this place, he said. Im not going to be inspected until the pandemic is over, but this is my legal residence.

Lewis said hes become the victim of numerous hate calls from people alleging hes to blame for spreading COVID-19.

Im afraid to stick my head out the door, he said. Im getting racist calls and everything else.

Lewis also had an outstanding warrant for domestic battery.

I also want to make it clear since my whole life is out there, as far as my domestic incident, someone made a call when we were having an argument and when the police were there, they were satisfied with our statements, Lewis said. I didnt press charges and she didnt press charges and they left.

Lewis also said he was unaware of the Madison County warrant because neither he nor his wife pressed charges in the incident.

Apparently, even though she didnt press charges, the states attorney gets involved to make sure the victim hasnt been coerced and they issued the warrant, said Lewis. He said he was released the following day upon a judges orders that he take classes.

Alton Police Chief Jason Jake Simmons, who led the bust acting on a citizen complaint and seeing dance floor lights inside the bar, said he could make no further comments on the case at this time.

I understand his position on it, and you have our report, Simmons said. Hell have his day in court.

Lewis, who is not allowed to speak with Simmons for legal reasons, said he didnt feel he was treated unfairly by Alton police. But, he said, he wanted to fill in some of the gaps with other reports he had been reading. an
Madhya Pradesh's Indore, which is known for its cleanliness, is now struggling with the novel coronavirus. There may be many reasons behind it but the biggest reason is not following the social distancing norms. Also, despite the initial cases, the n Image Source: PK

Hyderabad, April 10 : Telangana on Friday sought tax exemption for medicines and medical equipment to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Health Minister Eatala Rajender has also called for exempting imported equipment from customs duty.

He made the demand during a video-conference Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held with health ministers of all states.

Rajender also demanded that ventilators and other equipment being manufactured by public sector undertakings like Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) should be made available to states.

He also requested the Centre to take necessary steps to ensure that the states get N-95 masks, Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs) and testing kits as early as possible.

He suggested that the Centre take all measures to make sure that there is no black-marketing of medical equipment used in the management of COVID-19. He said the Centre should acquire these equipment and make them available to the state governments.

Rajender informed the Central minister that there is no community transmission of coronavirus in Telangana. "We have so far tested samples of 8,500 people and out of them 471 were found positive. While 12 people died, 45 recovered and discharged from hospitals," he said.

The minister suggested that the Centre take views of all states on the issue of extending the lockdown.
The rapid spread of coronavirus has brought the world to an emergency stop.

Airlines and airports are close to shutdown, travel plans are in disarray and many of us are out of pocket due to flights and holidays being cancelled or abandoned.

With the Government now advising British nationals to avoid all non-essential journeys for an indefinite period, heres the latest information for air travellers caught up in the chaos.

BRITISH AIRWAYS CUTS BACK

British Airways has cut back its schedule and suspended all flights from London Gatwick

The carrier has suspended all flights from Gatwick and its reduced services at Heathrow now operate from Terminal 5 only.

Passengers with existing bookings up to May 31 should complete an online form to receive a voucher valid for 12 months from the original travel date.

If you are feeling optimistic, the airline has attractive deals for this winter, including return fares as low as 249 to New York in November and 383 to Antigua in December (ba.com).

JET2.COM SUSPENSION

The low-fare carrier has suspended all flights until June 17. Affected customers can rebook for a later travel date without an administration fee until April 30.

Even though it remains uncertain how long the travel restrictions imposed here and abroad will last, the airline is offering winter flights to sunshine favourites such as Tenerife in the Canary Islands from 65 one-way (jet2.com).

VIRGIN ATLANTIC OPEN TICKET

Virgin Atlantic is currently only operating out of London Heathrow after drastically cutting its flying schedule

The airline has cut its flying schedule drastically and now only operates out of Heathrow. Customers with flights affected by the current travel restrictions can fill in an online form to keep my ticket open with no change fee.

This can be used to fly to a new destination but any fare difference will be payable and you must complete travel before April 30, 2022. Fare difference will waived for re-booked travel up until 31st November 2020.

Its website is also providing free meditation exercises for anyone feeling stressed or overwhelmed (virginatlantic.com).

RYANAIRS STILL FLYING

But only to keep the skies open and maintain vital links until Thursday.

More than 90 per cent of its fleet has been grounded for the coming weeks and affected passengers should receive an email outlining their options.

The airline has a sale of flights for travel throughout September from 19 UK airports with most fares from 39.99 one-way (ryanair.com).

QATAR AIRWAYS LOOKS AHEAD

Qatar Airways has introduced rigorous health produces and social distancing for passengers

The Middle Eastern airline has reduced its services to meet the latest travel restrictions but remains determined to maintain a strong schedule of flights.

If you are hoping to make a long-haul trip in the coming months its policy of maximum flexibility allows customers to book tickets for travel up to September 30 and then, if it becomes necessary due to cancellation or disruption, alter the date free of charge or exchange the booking for a voucher valid for one year.

The carrier has also introduced rigorous health procedures such as making its flight crews self-isolate while overnighting in a foreign city, and implementing social distancing for passengers as part of the boarding process (qatarairways.com).

EASYJET DROPS ITS FLIGHT CHANGE FEES

Fees normally charged to change a flight booking have been dropped until further notice for customers who do this using the airlines website or mobile app.

This applies to both existing and new bookings and includes travel to an alternative destination with any fare difference payable.

Passengers who have had a flight cancelled can request a voucher valid for 12 months from the date of issue, which is only redeemable through its website (easyjet.com).

NORWEGIAN OFFERS A LITTLE BONUS

Travellers with cancelled flights on Norwegian are being offered credit notes

Travellers with cancelled flights are being offered a credit in the form of CashPoints (the airlines digital currency) plus an extra 20 per cent.

If you are booked to fly by May 31 but dont wish to travel, you can rebook without a fee for a trip to be completed before November 30, or exchange for CashPoints for later use (norwegian.com).

LOGANAIRS REBOOKING TOOL

Glasgow-based Loganair is limiting its services to passengers with an essential need to travel until May 4. For those due to fly before May 31 an automated On-Hold service is available that lets you suspend your booking without confirming a new travel date.

There is no fee but a fare difference may apply (loganair.co.uk).

AER LINGUS BONUS VOUCHER

Aer Lingus is inviting passengers booked to fly before May 31 to apply for a voucher for the full value of their travel plus an additional ten per cent.

This will be valid for use across the airlines network for five years from the date of issue (aerlingus.com).
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  Purdue University will be allowing 144 College of Pharmacy students to graduate early to help with a potential shortage of pharmacists due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision was approved by the board of trustees Thursday. According to a news release, this makes the university one of the first in the nation to certify its entire class of eligible pharmacy students.

The certification will also offer an early jump to the health field. The students will be eligible to work as graduate pharmacists until fully licensed.

Ive already received inquiries from a health system about making our graduates available in case they face likely workforce issues as the pandemic intensifies here in Indiana, Barker said. Having additional trained clinical pharmacists, even graduate pharmacists, will become increasingly important.

Barker said there are concerns that pharmacy workforce issues could develop in the coming months, depending on how COVID-19 spreads.

Health care systems and community pharmacies have shifted to remote work where possible and divided their pharmacy staffs into teams to reduce the likelihood of an outbreak infecting an entire staff, he said. Such efforts have placed a strain on the existing workforce.

Our graduates will be ready to enter the workforce a few weeks sooner and could provide needed backup if the pandemic begins to impact pharmacy workers more broadly.

There are as many as 6,000 pharmacists in Indiana.
Sue was visiting sister and husband for the first time when the lockdown hit

Moved to New Zealand 45 years ago and decided to track down family last year

Margaret given up for adoption by mum - who had relationship with Sue's dad in 1948 - at two-weeks-old

A woman has told how she is in lockdown with her long-lost sister after flying to visit her in New Zealand for the first time - and says it's a 'fantastic silver lining.'

Sue Bremner, 65, from Ludlow, and her husband David, from Shropshire, are stranded in New Zealand amid the coronoavirus pandemic.

But while many Brits have desperately been trying to find the next flight home, Sue is thankful for the opportunity - as it means she has got to spend some quality time getting to know her long-lost sister Margaret Hannay, 71, who lives in Auckland with husband, John.

'The lockdown has been an absolutely fantastic silver lining for us,' she said, speaking to the BBC. 'It's given us an opportunity to make up for lost time.'

Sue Bremner, 65, from Ludlow, is delighted to have been given the opportunity to be in lockdown with her long-lost sister Margaret, 71, who moved to New Zealand 45 years ago. Pictured, Margaret (second left) met up with her siblings John (far left), Sue and Lawrence (far right) for the first time last year

Margaret was never fussed about tracking down her birth parents until she considered the idea of having siblings. Pictured left, with sister Sue, right

Sue wasn't aware that her sister existed for over 40 years, as Margaret was given up for adoption by her mother - who had a short relationship with Sue's dad in 1948 - at the age of two weeks.

The siblings first met each other last year when Margaret decided to reach out to Sue in the UK.

Following this, Sue and her husband planned a two-month trip to New Zealand and Australia on 5 March, where she planned to see her sister for a second time, but just two weeks later, the country went into lockdown.

Struggling to get back to the UK following two cancelled flights, Sue and her husband have since been staying with Margaret and John.

'We've been having a wonderful time here,' said Sue. 'We've been spending lots of time together drinking wine and cooking and having fun.'

In 2000, Sue's father informed her he'd had another child with another woman before he had met her mum, which was the first time she was made aware she had a sister.

Sue (right) says the pair have been spending lots of time together drinking wine and cooking and having fun. Pictured left, Margaret

Sue says her dad was very interested to know whether she would be embarking on a search to find her long-lost sister, as he was eager to let her know she had been in his thoughts every day since she was given up for adoption.

But after reaching out to the General Register Office and spending hours searching across social media, Sue was given the devastating news that she wouldn't be able to learn more about her sister unless she got in contact.

Despite always knowing she was adopted, Margaret wasn't fussed about trying to find her birth parents until last year, when she started thinking about the possibility she had siblings.

Just like her sister had years earlier, Margaret made contact with the General Register Office and two weeks later, they handed over her sister's contact details, and Sue sent her an email.

'Receiving that email was like winning the pools,' said Sue, speaking of their very first means of communication. 'I would've loved to have told my dad but I just kind of feel he's inside me and he knew it was happening.'

Margaret and Sue also have two brothers, Lawrence and John Connell, and they all met for the first time in the UK last year.
Beijing on Thursday expressed strong condemnation against Taiwan's attack on Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), and urged Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority to immediately stop the political rig of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council made the remarks on Thursday, saying the scheme to jeopardize "one-China policy and get a membership in WHO banking on the novel coronavirus outbreak will not succeed."

Earlier on Thursday, China's Foreign Ministry also expressed strong opposition.

"China opposes any attempt to use the epidemic for purpose of politicization or stigmatization, and strongly condemns the personal attacks and racist words and deeds against WHO director-general Tedros," Zhao Lijian, the ministry spokesperson told reporters at Thursday's daily press briefing in Beijing.

The responses come after the WHO chief on Wednesday accused Taiwan's foreign affairs authorities of being linked to a months-long campaign against him during the COVID-19 pandemic, which the DPP authorities have denied and required an apology.

Taiwan used to participate in the World Health Assembly with an observer status as "Chinese Taipei," a special arrangement made through cross-Strait consultations on the basis of both sides' adherence to the 1992 Consensus.

Because the DPP refuses to recognize the consensus, the prerequisite for Taiwan's participation in the assembly has vanished.

(With input from Xinhua News Agency)
Caritas and Luxembourg Red Cross explained that social grocery stores for disadvantaged people will remain open amidst the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

An increased number of people will also be able to benefit from the social grocery stores if they are encountering financial problems due to the crisis, the organisations said.

Access to the stores will be extended to individuals currently registered with the Social Welfare Office and who not yet qualify for food aid.

How to get in touch
At first, it appeared Michigan may have dodged a bullet.

We were the last state in the Upper Midwest with a confirmed case of coronavirus COVID-19.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer quickly took aggressive action, closing schools and restaurants within days of the states initial outbreak and issuing a stay-at-home order within two weeks.

Michiganders have been among the most compliant in the nation in adherence to social-distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders, according to various reports.

Yet Michigan now ranks No. 3 in number of coronavirus cases, behind New York and New Jersey.

Michigan has almost four times more confirmed cases than Ohio, three times more than Indiana, seven times more than Wisconsin and a third more than Illinois.

In Detroit, the coronavirus death rate per 100,000 residents is higher than that of New York City, the current global epicenter of the pandemic.

Put a cursor over the map to see the underlying data for an individual state. (Graphic: Associated Press)

Why are the Michigan numbers so dire?

Call it a perfect storm of circumstances, experts say.

Among the factors: Detroit is one of the nations poorest cities. The Detroit metro business community has extensive connections with Asia and Europe, which were earlier hotbeds of coronavirus. Detroit Metro Airport is one of only two Midwest airports with flights from China and Europe after Trumps travel bans. A presidential primary election that drew record turnout occurred the same day the outbreak was confirmed.

We have several things that all came together at once," said Dr. Mimi Emig, a retired infectious disease specialist in Grand Rapids. Its rarely ever just one thing, right?

So we had the primary, where a lot of people were out and at rallies, she said. We have a high level of poverty in Detroit, so we have a lot of people who rely on public transportation and cant social distance. We have a large international airport.

Michigan did a lot of the right things," Emig said. But Detroit was, unfortunately, terribly positioned for having an awful outbreak.

Bracing for an epidemic

As early as January, Michigan health officials were on the alert for coronavirus.

On Jan. 24, three days after the first confirmed case in the United States, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said it was monitoring three Michiganders who had traveled and showed possible symptoms of COVID-19.

Through February and into early March, hundreds more Michigan residents who potentially had the virus were monitored by MDHHS and local health officials. The list included referrals from airport quarantine stations, self-referrals, close contacts of pending persons under investigation and referrals by health-care providers.

Because of a nationwide shortage of tests, only five Michigan residents were tested for coronavirus before Feb. 29. Most were simply asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Researchers are now looking at medical data to see if people missed signs of coronavirus spreading in Michigan during February, said Emily Martin, a University of Michigan epidemiologist. Was there an unexplained uptick in respiratory illnesses? A spike in unexplained deaths?

Scientists have been looking at data, trying to figure out if there was a lot happening before we knew, and were not seeing evidence of it yet, Martin said.

Still, cases were popping up in other states, and Whitmer and her administration began to brace for a potential epidemic.

In February, Whitmer activated the Community Health Emergency Coordination Center and the State Emergency Operations Center. She created task forces to combat the spread of coronavirus and assess the impact it could have on state operations, health care, schools and workplaces. MDHHS launched a campaign to raise awareness of COVID-19 and push the importance of thorough hand-washing.

On Feb. 29, the MDHHS started processing coronavirus tests on its own vs. sending samples to the federal Centers of Disease Control. But the state obtained only 300 test kits from the CDC; for someone to get tested, they had to have significant symptoms as well as a risk factor such as international travel or known exposure.

A friend who works at a rural hospital in Michigan is quite convinced she had a case back in early March, a person who died in her ICU," Emig said. But she wasnt able to get testing for that individual because they didnt qualify at the time. She said to me that suggests we already had community spread back then.

Ironically, the fact Michigan was among the last states with confirmed cases of coronavirus made it more difficult to identify early cases, said Dr. Dennis Cunningham, an infectious disease specialist in Flint.

Test supplies were being allocated by the CDC to states based on the number of COVID-19 cases, he said. But with so few test kits allotted to Michigan, the state ran only 34 tests before March 10.

"It was a Catch 22, Cunningham said. No cases, few test kits. But with so few test kits, clinicians couldnt identify cases.

As the week of March 8 began, the United States had 539 confirmed cases in 34 states. Michigan was not one of them.

President Trump told reporters that everything was under control.

Were prepared, and were doing a great job with it," he said March 10 when asked about coronavirus. It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away."

That night, two and half hours after election polls the closed, Whitmer hastily called a press briefing and announced Michigan had just confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus.

The epidemic begins

From the start, the epicenter of Michigans outbreak has been metro Detroit.

That makes sense to Dr. Steve Kalkanis, CEO of the Henry Ford Medical Group in Detroit, and Dr. Betty Chu, associate chief clinical officer for Henry Ford Health System.

Not only is the region the states most densely populated area, but it also was most vulnerable to a pandemic being driven by global travel.

People think of Michigan as being sort of a sleepy Midwestern state, Chu said. But Michigan is more international than most people realize, given our auto industry and our suppliers, as well as the airport and the number of international travelers who come through here.

Kalkanis agreed, saying metro Detroit may have been a victim of its global interconnectedness.

Detroit Metro Airport is one of the top hubs in the world, and we have an incredible amount of commerce going back and forth to places like China and Italy, Kalkanis said. I think that level of international activity made us an epicenter.

I think our community may have simply been seeded with a level of exposure that was more than some other places, he said, "and it took hold in the 10 days to two weeks before the closings of schools and stay-in-place orders.

At the beginning of February, Detroit Metros importance as an international hub increased when the Trump administration limited flights from China to 11 U.S. airports. Detroit Metro was on the list, the only Midwest airport outside of Chicago OHare. Detroit also was one of only 13 U.S. airports with flights from Europe after restrictions were put in place in early March.

I think thats an important point not getting reported enough -- the fact weve got a major airport, we have a lot of international businesses and we have a lot of travel in and out, Martin said.

And its particularly striking when you look at Michigans business ties to China, South Korea and Italy, others say.

How could that not have an impact, when you have people traveling through Detroit from countries with COVID outbreaks? Cunningham said.

The election

As Michigans medical community was on high alert in early March for coronavirus, the state was in the national spotlight for an entirely different reason: The states March 10 presidential primary, viewed as a critical vote in determining the Democratic nominee.

In the days leading up to the election, there were numerous campaign rallies and events, mainly in metro Detroit, the states Democratic stronghold.

Bernie Sanders held rallies in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Dearborn; drew an estimated 10,000 people at a University of Michigan, and appeared at Detroit town hall meeting organized by Fox News. Joe Biden held a rally in Detroit and his campaign organized numerous get-out-the-vote events.

The election itself drew a record turnout for a presidential primary, with more than 2.3 million casting ballots.

Although coronavirus was a topic of discussion on Election Day -- and some poll workers made heavy use of hand sanitizer -- news of the states first COVID cases came after the polls were closed.

In retrospect, its possible the primary election fueled the spread of coronavirus in Michigan, especially in metro Detroit -- much like how the explosion of coronavirus in New Orleans is being attributed to Mardi Gras.

Had we known then what we know now .... , said Martin, the U-M epidemiologist.

On one hand, canceling or delaying the election wasnt even considered because there were no confirmed cases in Michigan. On the other hand, mass gatherings like campaign rallies and crowded polling places are exactly the kind of events that can supercharge an epidemic.

The fact the first Michigan cases were confirmed on March 10 means coronavirus was in the state in the run-up to the election, Martin said.

Every case were finding, the person was probably infected a week to two weeks earlier, Martin said. So we know in the first week of March, somebody had it. But we didnt know at the time."

The good news, Martin said: We acted fast once we knew.

Shutting down the state

The same night Whitmer announced the first cases, she declared a state of emergency.

Were going to keep Michigan safe and were going to be prudent," she said that Tuesday night.

Wednesday, all 15 state universities announced they were suspending in-person classes. Thursday, Whitmer announced K-12 schools would close for three weeks. Friday, she banned gatherings of more than 250 people.

The following Monday, March 16, the governor closed bars and restaurants except for takeout or delivery; banned gatherings of more than 50 people and ordered gyms and movie theaters to close.

At the end of the first week of the crisis, the state had 54 confirmed cases. But numbers began to jump exponentially as testing significantly ramped up.

Sorry, but your browser does not support frames.

By March 23, the day that Whitmer announced a stay-at-home order, the caseload was up to 1,352. By March 30, it was 6,498. By April 6, 17,221.

As of today, exactly a month after the first cases were diagnosed, Michigan has 22,783 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 1,281 have died. About 80% of the cases are in Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties.

Nowhere did the caseload explode as it did in Detroit.

The city has about 7% of the states population and 27% of its coronavirus cases.

Why Detroit?

Dr. Teena Chopra, an infectious disease specialist for Detroit Medical Center, isnt surprised that Detroit is a hot spot for coronavirus.

Southeast Michigan and Detroit are a very vulnerable population with any infection. Flu, you name it, we always have a higher prevalence, so its not just about this pandemic," Chopra said.

Theres a host of factors that make us more vulnerable, she said. You have a large number of older people with uncontrolled diabetes, with hypertension, with COPD. You have drug users and people who live in shelters.

The high poverty rate in Detroit and some of the other surrounding communities means that people are less likely to seek medical attention unless they are very sick, Chopra said.

Moreover, Detroit has had an ongoing issue with water-service shutoffs, a particularly problematic issue during a pandemic in which hand-washing and hygiene are key to preventing spread of the disease.

Its not just about health disparities.

We have a lot of people relying on public transportation in Detroit, Emig said. A lot of people who cannot socially distance because they live with multiple people in close quarters.

As a blue-collar town, Detroit has fewer people who can work at home, and many had jobs in early March that put them in close contact with others: Factory workers, retail and food service employees, hairdressers and barbers, health-care support workers.

And, Emig said, the fact many Detroiters do have chronic health issues may have fueled the spread even more.

That sets people up for more severe illness, she said, and if you have a more severe case, youre going to have a higher level of the virus, which makes it easier to pass to more people.

Virus is in control'

Its hard to know what Michigan could have done differently, experts say.

Whitmer is given high marks for acting quickly and decisively.

Among the nations governors, Whitmer has had one of the most aggressive responses and we support all of the decisions shes made on social distancing," said Ruthann Sudderth, spokesperson for the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.

Its very likely that Michigans outbreak would be even worse if Whitmer hadnt shut things down so quickly, Martin said. This would have moved even faster.

Experts also have taken note that Michigan has been among the most compliant states when it comes to staying at home and avoiding travel.

A study released March 25 using phone data to track human movement found Michigan was one of the top five states in the country in reducing its normal travel. A New York Times analysis of cellphone data published on April 2 came to a similar conclusion.

It takes a few weeks to see if social-distancing measures are having an impact. Meanwhile, Whitmer has extended the school closings through the end of the school year, and the stay-at-home order through April 30.

Data shows that most Michiganders are doing their part by staying home and staying safe," Whitmer said in a release announcing the extension. Thats good, but we must keep it up.

Numerous experts have said this week there are glimmers of hope that Michigan may be turning a corner sooner than later on the coronavirus outbreak.

Sorry, but your browser does not support frames.

Both the number of new cases reported each day is beginning to decline. Kalkanis at Henry Ford said his hospital system is beginning to discharge more coronavirus compared to the number of new patients in their emergency rooms. Michigan Medicine has delayed opening a field hospital, saying it may not be needed.

But its hard to know when the crisis will ease, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters said.

You cant put on a date on it, he said. The virus is in control right now.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus.

Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more on MLive:

Mapping spread of coronavirus in Michigan over past four weeks

Conoravirus upends Michigans Class of 2020: This isnt the senior year that anyone wanted'

MichMash: Medical supply shortage has businesses stepping up amid coronavirus pandemic

Updated stay-at-home order will close garden centers and other parts of grocery stores
The daily coronavirus update from Gov. Phil Murphy and other state officials on the latest number of coronavirus cases is scheduled to start around 10:30 a.m Friday.

It will be streamed on the governors YouTube channel.

Murphy will be joined as usual by state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, State Epidemiologist Dr. Christina Tan, and State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan at the Trenton War Memorials George Washington Ballroom.

Persichilli and Murphy will provide updated coronavirus numbers and each of the officials will entertain questions from the media.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage

New Jersey now has at least 51,027 cases of the coronavirus, with 1,700 deaths, as state officials Thursday reported another 3,748 positive tests and 198 deaths in the last 24 hours.

We know that this number is the worst of all to report to you, Gov. Phil Murphy said in reference to the death toll at yesterdays briefing. These arent numbers, by the way, these are people.

Officials said the peak number of hospitalizations could come in two to three days  with about 14,400 people with the virus hospitalized and 2,800 in critical care.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Matt Arco contributed to this report.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @briannakudisch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.
Punjab elections: You will never have to stage another dharna says Kejriwal

Covid-19 cases are rising in Delhi, but no need to panic as hospitalisation low, says Kejriwal

No lockdown in Delhi for now but some curbs, says Arvind Kejriwal amid Covid surge

How does Delhis Operation SHIELD' work in fight against coronavirus

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 10: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced 'Operation SHIELD' in 21 containment zones to curb the spread of COVID-19 and warned of strict action against those misbehaving with healthcare personnel in the city.

The Chief Minister appealed to people living in containment areas to cooperate in implementing 'Operation SHIELD' and said these are strict measures but are necessary to protect them and others from COVID-19.

Elaborating the operation during an online briefing, Kejriwal said under the first 'S' of the operation, the government seals the area immediately and its surroundings after geographical marking following positive cases there.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

"In the next stage, we put people of sealed areas under home quarantine and then in the third stage, the process begins to isolate those who have symptoms of COVID-19 and trace their contacts," he said.

About 'E' character of 'Operation SHIELD', Kejriwal explained that the government ensures home-delivery of essential items.

"After this stage, the government sanitises such areas where one or two positive cases have been found.

Fake News Buster

"Under 'D', checking of door-to-door houses is conducted to ascertain whether anybody in containment has cough or any other symptoms of COVID-19," the chief minister also said.

Talking about the incident of assault on two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital in Gautam Nagar area, he said the government will not tolerate such incidents.

"These days, doctors and nurses have been putting their lives in danger by treating COVID-19 patients.

"We will take strictest action against those misbehaving with healthcare personnel," Kejriwal said.

The warning comes a day after two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were allegedly assaulted by a 42-year-old man who accused them of "spreading" COVID-19 in Gautam Nagar area.

The chief minister said that on Wednesday, the government made it compulsory for people to wear masks while stepping out of their houses.

Fake: Kalonji seeds do not help cure coronavirus

"We understand that people are facing problems, but measures taken by authorities are necessary to contain coronavirus," he said.

The government has also cut expenses as tax collection is almost stopped, Kejriwal said, adding that everyone will also have to cut their expenses of their level in view of the current situation.

According to him, the Delhi government was giving free rations to 71 lakh people in the city.
Zimbabwe's government has authorized traditional herbalists to treat coronavirus patients, but health experts are skeptical and are urging extreme caution.

Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health delivered a letter Monday to the head of the country's main COVID-19 treatment center in Harare, asking him to consider using a herbalist who has questionable claims to have a cure for the virus.

Speaking via WhatsApp, Dr. Nyika Mahachi, the president of Zimbabwe College of Public Health Physicians, said the coronavirus was still evolving and its mortality was fairly high.

"So we cannot take a chance with traditional medicine that is not proven," he added. "Even on the regular medicines that we have, none of them have been proven to be effective in treatment or cure of COVID-19. So, this is an unwelcome development. I am hoping that this is not a true approval, something went wrong somewhere, and the ministry urgently addresses this.".

Mahachi said the government should stick to WHO guidelines on how to contain the virus. Ten people have tested positive in Zimbabwe, and one person has died.

But Tribert Chishanyu, president of Zimbabwe Traditional Practitioners Association, said his organization was happy that President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government is allowing herbalists to treat coronavirus-positive Zimbabweans.

"Traditional medicine practice is older ... than science and it is accepted by the majority of Zimbabweans," he said. "If modern scientists are given opportunities to try whenever there is an emergency disease (outbreak), why can't we do the same to traditional medicine practice? We are treating symptoms related to COVID-19, so by (some) chance we may be able to treat COVID-19."

He added that traditional practitioners are consulting with "spirit mediums" in hopes of finding new COVID-19 treatments.

Fortune Nyamande, chairman of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, said using herbs may derail the gains that came with the nationwide 21-day lockdown which ends next week.

"We wish to highlight that those who are going to use this approach (herbs) need to be aware of how to use protective personal equipment because they may end up being affected by the virus and they may end up being agents of transmission to the broader communities," Nyamande said. "By and large, we say this needs to be treated with caution. We also advocate for interventions which are grounded in science, that are grounded in evidence and that have shown to work elsewhere."

Ministry of Health officials Tuesday refused to comment on the matter, but confirmed the authenticity of the letter authorizing herbalists to treat Zimbabweans affected by the coronavirus.


VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2020 / A2Z Technologies Canada Corp. ("A2Z" or the "Company") (AZ.V) (FSE:A23), a pioneer in military robotics, services, and innovation in the auto industry, announces the appointment of Mr. Gadi Levin as Chief Financial Officer of the Company and its subsidiaries, effective immediately.

Mr. Levin has over 20 years of experience in finance and has served in a number of similar roles at various publicly traded companies during that time.

"We are pleased to be bringing Mr. Gadi Levin on board," stated A2Z's CEO, Mr. Bentsur Joseph. "Mr. Levin is a highly experienced accountant and businessman. Mr. Levin has extensive experience on both sides of the table, having served as a CFO for various public companies in addition to having been VP of Finance for a large hedge fund. As A2Z continues to grow and as we near the next stage of the rollout plan for the FTICS, our life-saving automobile technology which we believe will transform the industry, having Mr. Levin on our team is something that we, our investors, and our partners truly look forward to."

Mr. Levin has extensive experience, including executive positions and directorships with several publicly listed companies on Canadian, USA, and London stock exchanges. He has expertise in multiple key management functions, including finance, treasury and accounting, investor relations, human resources, information technology and general management.

Mr. Levin began his career in public accounting at Arthur Anderson and Ernst & Young, where, among other clients, he worked with software and biomedical companies.

Mr. Levin has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Information Systems from the University of the Cape Town, South Africa, and a post graduate diploma in Accounting from the University of South Africa. He received his Chartered Accountant designation in South Africa and has an MBA from Bar Ilan University in Israel.

The Company wishes to thank Robert Chisholm, who has resigned as Chief Financial Officer of the Company, for his past services.

Story continues

BUSINESS OF A2Z

A2Z Technologies Canada Corp. is an innovative technology company based out of Israel, specializing in military technology and expanding into the civilian markets. A2Z has been operating for over 30 years and has a client base with 75 recurring clients, including the Israel Defense Forces, Security Forces, and Ministry of Defence among others. A2Z plans to leverage their cash flow-generating core-business to expand into the civilian robotics and automobile markets.

According to Zion Market Research, the Military Robotics space is expected to reach $53.93B by 2027 for a projected CAGR of 13.5%.(Summary of Report)

Highlights:

Core Business: A2Z's line of products include unmanned remote-controlled vehicles of various sizes designed for intricate bomb disposal, counter terrorism, and firefighting, as well as energy storage power packs/generators. A2Z also provides maintenance services to both external and in-house complex electronic systems and products to over 75 clients.

A2Z has been an Israel Ministry of Defense contractor for over 30 years and a significant portion of its business is long-term service contracts.

Expansion into Civilian Markets: To drive growth, A2Z plans to adapt its military technologies for the much larger civilian markets. One patent-pending product is a capsule (FTICS) that prevents vehicle fires resulting from collisions. A2Z has also been granted a patent for a smart vehicle cover device that protects automobiles from the elements while the vehicle is parked and is stowed away safely in the vehicle's bumper when not in use.

Fuel Tank Intelligent Containment System (FTICS): In the event of a collision, the FTICS system installed into the fuel tank prevents the ignition of fuel, thereby mitigating the spread of fire and explosion, minimizing risk to human life and property damage. According to the NFPA, from 2014 to 2016, an estimated 171,500 highway vehicle fires occurred in the United States, resulting in an annual average of 345 deaths, 1,300 injuries, and $1.1 billion in property loss annually.

Management: CEO Bentsur Joseph's previous venture, Comfy Interactive, was acquired by Shamrock Holdings, the family investment firm founded by Roy Disney. Previously, Bentsur Joseph was the chairman of Elad Hotels whose holdings include the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Bentsur Joseph has a ~64% ownership stake in the business with 30,000,000 shares subject to an escrow agreement.

For more information regarding A2Z, please visit the Company's website at www.a2zas.com.

Twitter: @A2Z_Advanced

On Behalf of the Board,

Bentsur Joseph, CEO

Investor Relations Contact:

Arlen Hansen, KIN Communications

Toll Free: 1-866-684-6730

az@kincommunications.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. All statements within this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements include fluctuations in market prices, including metal prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable laws.

SOURCE: A2Z Technologies Canada Corp.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/583522/A2Z-Technologies-Canada-Announces-Gadi-Levin-as-Chief-Financial-Officer




Anti-pandemic fight tests PLA's emergency response capability

PLA Daily

Source: China Military Online

Editor: Wang Xinjuan

2020-04-09 21:14:19

By Yuan Hua

Editor's note: The author Senior Colonel Yuan Hua is the political commissar of Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital, which is a military emergency specialty field hospital constructed within ten days in February of 2020, responding to the CONVID-19 outbreak, and still in operation on the frontline of fighting the disease.

BEIJING, April 9 -- The COVID-19 pandemic is a major public health emergency with the fastest spread, the widest infection range, and the most difficult prevention and control measures since the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC). For the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), the battle against the pandemic is a test of its emergency response capability.

The outbreak is a test of the military capability of emergency preparedness management (EPM). Whether the PLA medical team to Hubei can effectively assist in the disease prevention and control is essentially a comprehensive test of the troops' combat readiness and training.

The outbreak is a test of the military capability of emergency delivery. The personnel and materials of the PLA medical team to Hubei arrived in Wuhan almost at the same time from different cities across China through emergency deliveries by military aircraft and high-speed rail. In particular, multi-type military transport aircraft were tested in actual combat situation during this emergency delivery mission.

The outbreak is a test of the joint support capability. Under orders, more than 1,400 military medics from different services and arms, quickly assembled to Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan. They were reassigned in a mixed manner according to the medical disciplines, devoted to work on the very next day of the arrival, and started treating the first batch of patients on the third day. The hospital soon entered normal operation.

The rapid integration of multiple arms and services, and the immediate entry into combat condition are the manifestation of the Chinese military's new system's preliminary results of strengthening "joint operations, joint training and joint support."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Qurantine officials disinfect an area around the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the city of Daegu, March 20, as part of preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19. Yonhap



South Korea's southeastern city of Daegu, once considered the country's epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, reported no additional infections Friday for the first time since the outbreak there nearly two months ago.

In the latest sign of a slowdown in the spread of the virus, the number of new infections in the city located 300 kilometers south of Seoul stood at 6,807, unchanged from a day earlier, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

The country's fourth-largest city, which has a population of 2.5 million, still accounts for more than 65 percent of the country's total COVID-19 cases.

The number of deaths from the city reached 142, accounting for around 70 percent of the 208 official COVID-19 deaths in the nation.

After reporting its first COVID-19 case on Feb. 18, the number of coronavirus patients had risen sharply in the city, with the daily increase reaching a peak at 741 on Feb. 29.

Daegu continued to add around 300 to 500 new patients every day in early March due to massive testing of followers of Shincheonji, a minor religious sect, but the number started to decrease in line with strict quarantine measures and social distancing drive.

At least 4,500 infections from the city were traced to the Shincheonji church, according to health authorities, and hundreds of virus cases, mostly cluster infections, were also reported from nursing hospitals.

Health authorities in Daegu, however, vowed to remain vigilant, as the city could see more cluster infections.

South Korea's new coronavirus infections fell below 30 on Friday for the first time since Feb. 20. The 27 new cases, detected Thursday and down from 39 a day ago, brought the nation's total infections to 10,450. (Yonhap)
After US authorities pulled a surprising about-face on recommendations about wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, many Australians have begun to wonder whether they should flout their own official guidelines and do the same.

The "fashion" mask trend is growing globally, and beginning to make its way to Australia with local designers offering up products that don't pretend to be medical-grade, but hope to provide a modicum of protection  and some individuality.

Milliner Chantelle Ford in one of her face masks she has started making in response to the pandemic. Credit:Ryan Stuart

Sydney milliner Chantelle Ford, whose main earners of horseracing and events are now on hiatus, has turned her skills to making masks from fabric. She says they are not medical quality for healthcare workers, but for anyone else who might need to wear one.

One such person is psychologist and social worker Eva Condeleon, who says she wants to be able to buy a mask without harming the medical supply.
A coronavirus patient at Methodist Hospital | Stone Oak was the first in San Antonio to receive an experimental transfusion of blood plasma from a recovered donor.

Dr. Rick Marple said the hospitals sickest COVID-19 patients stand to benefit from convalescent plasma therapy, in the absence of other treatments.

We are investigating treatment options that have safely and successfully healed patients with this aggressive virus, said Marple, the hospitals chief medical officer. As previously used to treat other alike diseases, we believe using convalescent therapy may help neutralize the virus.

There is a long history of transfusions of convalescent plasma being used to fight other contagions without a vaccine or cure, including for the 1918 flu and, more recently, with the Ebola virus. The treatment seeks to equip severely ill patients immune systems with antibodies from people who have successfully fought off the novel virus.

On ExpressNews.com: Its the best that weve got: San Antonio COVID-19 patients to receive plasma from donors who recovered from the virus

Earlier this week, the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center collected its first unit of convalescent plasma from a San Antonio man who recently recovered from the virus after experiencing few symptoms. The blood bank said it delivered the plasma to the hospital on Thursday.

Because supportive care, such as oxygen and the aid of ventilators, has not always proved effective for the sickest COVID-19 patients, the Food and Drug Administration has allowed blood centers to collect plasma from recovered patients so that hospitals can transfuse it into critically ill patients.

Hospitals across the country, including elsewhere in Texas, are collecting and sharing data on their plasma patients, as part of an expedited clinical trial for the therapy.

Some hospitals in San Antonio are also participating in studies of other possible treatments for COVID-19, including antiviral drugs that are still under development.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio coronavirus patients enrolled in trial of promising antiviral drug

As of Saturday, 84 people were hospitalized in San Antonio with COVID-19, including 52 receiving intensive care and 44 being supported by ventilators. Such patients could be candidates for experimental treatments if their conditions fail to improve.

Twenty-seven people in Bexar County have died after being infected with the coronavirus.

San Antonios blood center is accepting plasma from suitable donors who have tested positive for the virus and meet the requirements for recovery. Former COVID-19 patients who are interested in being donors can be screened by emailing COVID19@southtexasblood.org.

Lauren Caruba covers health care and medicine in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Lauren, become a subscriber. lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba
N'Djamena (AFP) - Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno has said his country's troops, who have been deployed to fight jihadists in the Lake Chad region and the Sahel, will no longer take part in military operations outside national borders.

"Our troops have died for Lake Chad and the Sahel. From today, no Chadian soldiers will take part in a military mission outside Chad," he told national TV in Arabic on Thursday. His remarks were broadast in French on Friday.

His remarks coincided with the end of a major offensive by Chad's armed forces against Boko Haram jihadists but also frustration at perceived failures by allies to do more in the fight.

On Thursday, the armed forces said they had wound up an operation against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region, saying 52 troops had been lost and a thousand jihadists killed.

That operation was launched after 98 Chadian troops were killed in a Boko Haram raid on a base at Bohoma in the lake's marshlands on March 23 -- the biggest one-day military loss in the country's history.

Lake Chad is a vast body of water where the borders of Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon meet.

Its western shores have been hit by jihadists crossing from northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram launched a bloody campaign of violence in 2009.

The implications of Deby's remarks for Chad's wider military involvement were not immediately clear.

The four countries bordering the lake on 2015 set up a formation called the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), also including Benin, to fight Boko Haram.

But Chad, whose armed forces are relatively prestigious in the Sahel, has shown frustration with the MNJTF following the Bohoma losses.

"Chad is alone in shouldering all the burden of the war against Boko Haram," Idriss publicly complained last weekend.

In announcing the end of the offensive on Thursday, the army said its troops had expelled jihadists from Chadian soil and had advanced deep into Niger and Nigeria.

Deby said that he had warned those countries that his forces would move out of bases seized there from the jihadists by April 22, regardless of whether their armed forces moved in or not.

Chadian troops are also part of the so-called G5 Sahel force -- a French-backed scheme to pool 5,000 troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger to roll back jihadism in the Sahel.
An order has been issued to lock down five central prisons in Mumbai, Pune and Thane districts to prevent the spread of coronavirus among inmates, a senior official said on Thursday.

As per the order, no new inmates would be admitted and no one would be let out. Even the staff will not leave the prisons.

The order would apply to Arthur Road jail and Byculla jail in Mumbai, jails in Thane and Kalyan, and Yerawada jail in Pune.

Additional Director General (Prisons and Correctional Services) Sunil Ramanand said this preventive step was being taken as these jails are located in coronavirus-affected areas, and house a large number of inmates, much beyond their capacity.

Medically examined prison staff will lock themselves up until further orders and administer the prisons without stepping out, he said.

In an official statement, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the decision was aimed at preventing the contagion from spreading in prisons.

Arrangements will be made for food and stay of jail staff inside prisons, he said.

Steps will be taken to keep the main gates of the prisons completely closed during the lockdown, the statement said.

Contact numbers of senior prison officials will be shared with families of staff so that they can call up the senior officials if there is a problem, it added.
Noting that coronavirus testing rates in India continue to be among the lowest in the world, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged the state party chiefs to ensure that reliable testing mechanisms were ramped up and made available to every single citizen in a rapid fashion.

Gandhi held a detailed video conference with all Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents across the nation to chart out a comprehensive strategy to combat and contain the threat of the COVID-19 in India.

The discussions resulted in the preparation of a 'Corona Action Strategy' across States which aims at utilising the extensive network of Indian Congress to fight the disease on a war footing.

The discussions lasted over three hours and were held using online virtual meeting tools. The meeting was conducted by General Secretary, Organisation, KC Venugopal.

A Congress press release said that Gandhi noted that the testing rates in India "continue to be amongst the lowest in the world (with roughly 120 tests per million) and the government has been unable to respond expeditiously to meet this requirement."

In keeping with the road map drawn out during the Congress Working Committee meeting held on April 2 and communicated to the Prime Minister, she exhorted the PCC presidents to ensure that reliable testing mechanisms are ramped up and made available to every single citizen in a rapid fashion," the release said.

She said that in light of the Supreme Court's order earlier this week, Congress workers must ensure that it is complied with and "every individual seeking a test is administered one free of cost".

"The Congress would also work to make sure that testing is made available rapidly in any case where the infection is suspected or in cases where an individual is likely to have been in contact with an infected person," the release said.

She also expressed concern that there was still a massive shortfall and deficit in the number of testing centres.

Gandhi urged Congress chiefs to work with stakeholders to devise innovative solutions to address the shortfall.

On the subject of prevention, she urged the PCC presidents to ensure that state governments provide a steady and sufficient supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) -- mask, gloves, coveralls -- especially to frontline workers who are at the gravest risk of infection.

She also requested those present to ensure that state governments work towards identifying and designating separate COVID-hospitals and facilities so that the infection is not transmitted to others.

The Congress President emphasised the necessity of instituting meaningful financial incentives for "corona warriors" and said it was non-negotiable.

She said that doctors, nurses, medical personnel, police, safai karamcharis must be given adequate financial protection both in the form of better insurance and wage support where necessary, in addition to the amount currently allocated.

Noting that economic aspects of the crisis cannot be ignored, she urged state presidents to ensure that their respective state governments were made aware of the economic implications which are likely to match the pandemic in scale and impact.

She urged the state presidents to devise solutions which will leverage the talents and strengths of their respective states and help alleviate the economic devastation that is being predicted.

She also exhorted them to continuously engage with the State Governments, to develop suitable and adequate financial packages for the people. These include allocation and deposit of at least Rs 7500 to each Jan Dhan account, to every small and marginal farmer, to every pensioner and especially to other unorganised sector workers through a mechanism utilising the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme.

The party said that in addition to the existing entitlements under the Food Security Act, 10 additional kg of free ration per family member for the extended 21 days of lockdown must be provided.

"This increased allocation must be continued thereafter for at least three months. There are also multiple reports coming in that the relief already allocated has not reached several beneficiaries. The Congress workers must ensure that these families are given all support necessary and their plight is brought to the urgent attention of the state governments," the release said.

The release said special attention must be given to small and medium scale enterprises. It called for a special financial package for MSMEs and the labour employed.

"States should ensure that no retrenchment of existing employees takes place by providing such subsidies as may be necessary," the release said.

The party said the central and state governments must ensure fair and remunerative prices for produce to farmers.

The Congress president also discussed the necessity of protecting fellow citizens who are stranded overseas.

The release said that some PCC presidents pointed out that certain states were "deliberately obstructing or preventing Congress workers from carrying out urgent and necessary relief measures." Gandhi said all party workers must remain steadfast in the service of our fellow citizens.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Trend





The visit of representatives of the Azerbaijani Air Force to Russian enterprises manufacturing military aircraft is a clear example of a high level of military-technical cooperation between the two countries, Colonel Lieutenant of the reserve Rovshan Hashimov, who served in the Azerbaijani Air Force for a long time, told Trend.

The large-scale reforms carried out in the Air Force of our country have ensured that Azerbaijan has won a great advantage over Armenia in the field of military aviation, in particular, in terms of combat capabilities in air operations, Hasimov said.

He noted that the ongoing negotiations on the supply of Su-35 and MiG-35 aircraft to Azerbaijan will certainly allow to further strengthen the country's air force.

In order to more clearly present this picture, I would like to pay attention to the flight performance and combat capabilities of these aircraft. The advantage of these multi-functional and highly maneuverable combat aircraft is that they belong to the 4++ generation, said

The capabilities of fighter aircraft of other generations were expanded only through modernization. Moreover, these aircraft can fly as far as possible: Su-35 - at 4,500 km, MiG-35 - at 3,500 km.

Both aircraft, with an open architecture, are equipped with a new type of radar for target detection and digital defense systems of electronic equipment, which play an important role in the conduct of local warfare. This allows the aircraft to use all modern types of aviation weapons," said Hashimov.

The Su-35, which has the latest technology, uses R-37M air-to-air missiles, whose speed exceeds the speed of sound, can, and destroys targets at a distance of up to 300 km. There are 12 and 9 suspension points on the MiG-35 and Su-35 aircraft respectively, to accommodate aviation weapons. They have a potential to effectively attack the ground and surface targets from precision weapons without entering the enemys air defense destruction zone, the colonel lieutenant said.

Su-35 can be equipped with air-to-air missiles R-73, R-77, R-27, air-to-ground missiles X-25, X-29, X-38, anti-ship missiles X-31, X -35, X-59 and adjustable bombs KAB-500KR, KAB-1500KR, MiG-35 aircraft - air-to-air missiles R-73, R-77, R-27, air-to-ground missiles X- 25, X-29, X-38, anti-ship missiles X-31 and adjustable bombs KAB-500L, KAB-500KR. Su-35 and MiG-35 are capable of simultaneously detecting, tracking and destroying several air targets at once, said Hashimov.

The inclusion of modern Su-35 and MiG-35 fighters in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Air Force will significantly increase the support of our troops from the air and will allow destroying ground military and strategic targets of the enemy," he added.












Colombian authorities on Friday ordered Bogota's Corobastos warehouses closed for two days so as to be completely disinfected as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus.

The warehouses serves as the Colombia's largest food storage center able to store some 13 tons of produce before it is transferred to local grocery stores and markets throughout the country.

Police wearing masks drove water cannon trucks that sprayed water and detergent on the exterior of the warehouses as dozens of cleaners wearing protective gear scrubbed the floors and walls of the buildings with brushes.

The Colombian government announced harsh sanctions to people breaking the lockdown during Easter Holidays, but the measure is in place since March 24.

The new coronavirus has caused a global pandemic that has sickened at least 1,650,000 people, killed more than 98,000 worldwide, crippled economies and forced restrictions on the movement of millions of people in an effort to stop the virus from spreading further and overwhelming health care systems.

According to the John Hopkins University, Colombia has 2,223 COVID-19 confirmed cases and 69 deaths.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and a cough that clear up in two to three weeks.For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

(Image Credit: AP)
Photograph: Alex Kormann/AP

Should I vote or should I protect my health? That was the stark choice that Wisconsin voters faced on Tuesday  thanks to their elected state representatives. Like much of the rest of the nation, Wisconsin is under a statewide stay-at-home order. The order is designed to slow the spread of a disease that has already sickened nearly half a million Americans and taken the lives of 13,000.

Given the gravity of the threat, the mayors of Wisconsins 10 largest cities urged the state to delay the Tuesday election  lest the state put hundreds of thousands of citizens at risk by requiring them to vote at the polls while this ugly pandemic spreads. Nearly a dozen other states had already chosen to postpone their primaries given the national state of emergency. Invoking his emergency powers, the states Democratic governor, Tony Evers, likewise sought to delay the election until early June.

Related: Wisconsin's primary subjected people of color to yet another Covid-19 disadvantage | David Bowen

But Wisconsin said no. In a decision staggering in its cynicism and recklessness, the Republican-controlled state legislature flatly refused to delay the election. What did they hope to gain?

Yes, there was the Democratic primary, but that was of little concern to the Republican lawmakers. Of great concern, however, was Tuesdays vote in a state supreme court contest. This vote pitted the sitting state supreme court justice Daniel Kelly, a strong conservative voice on the bench, against Jill Karofsky, a lower court judge supported by progressives.

Never mind that America is alone among advanced democracies in permitting many state judges to be elected officials. In this case, Republican lawmakers hoped that by suppressing the urban vote, they would help Kellys re-election bid. This, in itself, was nothing new; suppressing the vote of urban and minority citizens has emerged as staple of Republican politics in recent years.

Suppressing the vote of urban and minority citizens has emerged as staple of Republican politics in recent years.

Story continues

Unusual here was only the brazen willingness to use a pandemic  rather, than say, voter IDs  as the means of suppression. And so Republican lawmakers forced urban voters into a Hobsons choice: head to one of the few available polling stations  in Milwaukee only five of 180 designated polling stations were open  and risk exposure to Covid-19, or follow the states stay-at-home order.

Still, much of the chaos and hardship could have been avoided had the state chosen to rely more heavily on absentee ballots. Such ballots permit citizens to vote by mail, and so Wisconsin voters could have had their voice heard without sacrificing their health. But here again Republican lawmakers said no, racing to the US supreme court to bar an extended reliance on absentee ballots.

On Monday, in a per curiam decision  that is, a decision arrived at without full argument and briefing  the supreme court refused to extend by a week the deadline by which an absentee ballot could be postmarked. Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh cast the issue before the court as a narrow, technical question about the absentee ballot process, but the fact that the decision broke 5-4 along the courts sharp ideological divide belies Kavanaughs characterization.

Indeed, in her passionate dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg observed that the courts decision will result in massive disenfranchisement  which of course is exactly what Wisconsin Republicans hoped for in taking their case to court.

All this is as shocking as it is unsurprising. Wisconsin, once a thriving crucible of progressive politics, has turned into a vanguard of the Republican assault on democracy. Remember that the commanding Republican advantage in the state assembly is itself a creature of grotesque gerrymandering: despite winning only 46% of the state vote in 2018, state Republicans succeeded in capturing 66 of the 99 seats in the state assembly. Recall, too, that no sooner had Tony Evers secured the governorship in 2018, then this same gerrymandered body raced to strip the newly elected Democrat of powers long enjoyed by the states chief executive.

Tuesday, then, presented a scene as chaotic and alarming as it was inspiring. Intrepid poll workers, outfitted in jerry-rigged Hazmat suits, dutifully processed ballots. Senior citizens in masks stood for hours in snaking lines, waiting to vote.

Its too early to tell whether Wisconsin Republicans will be rewarded in their willingness to use a public health emergency to extract a narrow partisan advantage. The results of Tuesdays vote will not be announced until 13 April. But the damage done to American democracy is all too visible. And the Wisconsin experience might well be a harbinger of things to come in November 2020.
COVID-19 has truly wreaked havoc in peoples lives across the globe. Today it has infected over 16 lakh people and claimed lives of over 95,000 people.

Reuters

It is no news that the novel coronavirus when enters our body, it goes straight to the lungs. However, novel research reveals the kind of impact it has on smokers.



The research (published in European Respiratory Journal) led by Dr Janice Leung of the University of British Columbia and St. Pauls Hospital looked at the ACE-2 (which stands for angiotensin-converting enzyme II) receptors in our body. These apparently act as an open door for the COVID-19 coronavirus to infect our lung cells.

Research has revealed that people who suffer from COPD as well as who smoke constantly has far more of these open doors than healthier lungs.

If the lungs of a particular patient infected with COVID-19 are weak against the virus from the beginning, it is only going to cause more damage to the health as well as the end outcome. Researchers saw something similar while looking at case data in China.

Dr Leung explains, The data emerging from China suggested that patients with COPD were at higher risk of having worse outcomes from COVID-19. We hypothesized that this could be because the levels of ACE-2 in their airways might be increased compared to people without COPD, which could possibly make it easier for the virus to infect the airway.

Reuters

When they looked at lung samples of individuals with COPD and compared them to those who didnt have the disorder, they saw the ACE-2 levels were considerably higher in comparison.



Moreover, people who smoked too had high levels of ACE-2, regardless if they had COPD or didnt.

In case you were thinking it is too late to kick the habit, it isnt. Researchers compared the cases between people who have quit smoking and people who have never smoked before, and they found ACE-2 in similar concentrations. Leung concludes stating, This suggests that there has never been a better time to quit smoking to protect yourself from COVID-19.
Advertisement

Beauty spots and rural villages across Britain have told holidaymakers and second homeowners that they are 'not welcome' during the Easter weekend as many put up road blocks in a bid to deter tourists from visiting.

National parks and seaside resorts have been left deserted during what is normally one of the busiest times of the year for mini-breaks and staycations, with millions of Brits forced to stay home during the coronavirus lockdown.

However many have still flouted the rules banning all but essential travel to visit picturesque areas of the country, causing councils to warn anyone planning weekend trips that they can expect to be turned away by police.

Locals in beauty spots have even warned they would turn 'vigilante' to confront those visiting their second homes, causing a chief constable in North Wales Police to urge people not to 'take the law into their own hands'.

The animosity between locals and holidaymakers blew over in Snowdonia national park today when a neighbour angrily confronted a couple staying next door who had driven 180 miles to rent an Airbnb cottage.

He chastises the couple - who it was later claimed had been made homeless before moving - in the doorstep of the property in the village of Penmachno, telling them: 'How dare you come to this village and dare spread this?

The animosity between locals and holidaymakers blew over in Snowdonia national park today when a neighbour angrily confronted a couple staying next door who had driven 180 miles to rent an Airbnb cottage (pictured)

Security Chris Jepson on patrol in Lulworth Cove in Dorset, where visitors are being turned away from one of the south coast's most popular beauty spots this Easter Bank Holiday weekend

'There's a lot of old people here and sick people. How stupid are you? Do you not watch the news and see people dying out there from this thing?'

It comes as Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority shut down popular beaches and its famous coastal path as it told visitors 'we're closed'.

Police in the area carried out 1,300 spot checks on drivers and sent non-essential travellers home, with nine people receiving fines after some drove more than 150 miles to visit beaches surrounding Tenby.

One driver told police he wanted to go 'crab fishing' when his car was stopped on the A477.

Dyfed Powys Police Chief Constable Mark Collins said: 'My message is: We are out there, patrolling. We'll be stopping vehicles and turning them around.

'I'm acutely aware there are people travelling in the hours of darkness, deciding to take B-roads. We'll be out on those B-roads.'

New Forest District Council urged people to stay well away to help stop the spread of Covid-19, as it asked for walkers, joggers and second homeowners to 'avoid temptation'.

In Cumbria, police said they caught several people heading to the Lake District from outside the area.

The Cotswold village of Bibury, usually teeming with holidaymakers during the Easter weekend, is deserted after it was closed to visitors today

The residents of Worth Matravers, on the Purbeck coast of Dorset, say there has been an influx of second home owners since the coronavirus pandemic started

Gloucestershire Police revealed today that it had fined people for driving from Portsmouth and London to visit Bibury, near Cirencester

Officers encouraged those caught to go home, including two men from Yorkshire who 'chose to head to Windermere for a spot of canoeing'.

At the other end of the country, John Hart, leader of Devon County Council, said police had been turning around holidaymakers travelling with caravans or motorhomes on the A38.

Further south, Cornwall Council said it had received about 200 reports from residents that holiday lets are defying the Government order to close.

Annie Willey, brand manager of the Suffolk Coast Destination Management Organisation, which represents local tourism companies, said anyone visiting hotspots over Easter was giving a 'slap in the face' to closed businesses.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Simon Byrne said on Thursday that nearly 100 community resolution notices had been issued.

He said there would be increased patrols at car parks and beauty spots this Easter.

Dr David Rosser, chief executive of University Hospitals Birmingham, said he was 'nervous' people will put pressure on the health system by flouting the Covid-19 lockdown over Easter.

He urged people to stick to the rules and not be 'falsely reassured' about the apparent effectiveness of measures to date.

According to an analysis of data published by satellite navigation company TomTom, there was no spike in congestion in cities such as Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London and Manchester on Thursday.

Authorities will be hoping travel figures remain low as the bank holiday begins.

 Slide me  A before and after comparison shows Lyme Regis beach in Dorset, both today as it lies almost completely empty (left), and at this time last year when it was teeming with holidaymakers (right)

 Slide me  The M25 near Dartford in Kent was also eerily quiet this morning (right) compared to the busy traffic of the four-day holiday last year (left)

Rail companies Northern and TransPennine Express have joined forces with British Transport Police to launch a campaign reminding people it is 'not acceptable' to use services for leisure activities.

There will also be an increased presence of police officers at popular stations over the weekend.

For those seeking to exercise outside, national clinical director for Scotland Jason Leitch has urged them to do it near their home and for no more than an hour.

He said people should avoid long journeys and only travel by car 'if it is unavoidable'.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden warned earlier on Thursday that now was not time to give up the lockdown measures.

He said: 'The British people have really come behind this, we shouldn't be giving up this Easter weekend, that is the number one thing.'

Emma Salter, meteorologist at the Met Office, said that Good Friday will bring hazy sunshine across England and Wales, while Scotland will be cloudy with outbreaks of rain at times.

On Saturday, temperatures in London could reach up to 26C, before conditions more widely begin to cool going in to Sunday where some heavy showers could be expected.

Ms Salter urged people to follow the Government's advice to avoid all non-essential travel over the weekend.

She added: 'Despite the warm weather, stay at home and only go out when you have to.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Right) with Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday conveyed to his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli that India will extend all possible support to Nepal in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The prime minister spoke to Oli over phone, continuing his engagement with world leaders over the pandemic which has infected 1.6 million people and claimed lives of around 95,000 besides wrecking economies in almost all parts of the globe.

In the last few days, Modi held telephonic conversations with US President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, focusing on the need for having concerted global efforts to deal with the crisis.

Modi also spoke to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, King of Bahrain Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarik, Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven among others.

"Spoke today with Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri @kpsharmaoli. We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19," Modi tweeted.

The Ministry of External Affairs said Modi and Oli shared views on the crisis and the challenges it poses to health and safety of citizens of both countries and the region.

Modi appreciated the response and management of crisis by Nepal under Oli's leadership as well as the strong resolve showed by people of the country in combating this challenge.

"Prime Minister Oli reiterated his appreciation for Prime Minister's initiative in coordinating the response to the pandemic among SAARC countries. He also expressed his thanks for the bilateral support provided to Nepal by India," the MEA said.

It said Modi reiterated India's commitment towards ensuring all possible support and assistance to Nepal in fighting the pandemic.

"The two leaders agreed that their experts and officials would continue to closely consult and coordinate with each other on all issues arising out of the COVID-19 situation, including for facilitating cross-border supplies of essential commodities," the MEA said.

Nepal is also under a 21-day lockdown beginning March 24.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here
Service apartment show stable development in the real estate market

This real estate segment targets foreign tenants living and working in Vietnam, including long-term employees and a few short-term tourists. Tenants of high-end serviced apartments often work in foreign-invested companies, embassies, industrial parks, international banks, and technology companies.

According to Savills Vietnam, as of the end of 2019, Ho Chi Minh City has had around 6,000 apartment units with an average net rental of $25 per square metre per month and an occupancy rate at 84 per cent.

Le Thi Quynh Le, associate director for residential sales of Savills Ho Chi Minh City, said that backed by strong foreign direct investment flows, the serviced apartment sector continues to perform well. This resilience will be tested in the face of increased completions of hotels and a wave of new apartment complexes.

In Ho Chi Minh City, latest grade A and B serviced apartment projects can be attributed to Mai House, D1Mension Residences, and Republic Plaza, which in total offer more than 300 new units to the market. Other big brand names in this segment are Ascott, Frasers Hospitality, and Pan Pacific. CapitaLands wholly-owned lodging business unit, The Ascott Limited Ascott, has been operating in Vietnam for 25 years.

Starting with its first project Somerset West Lake Hanoi, so far Ascotts portfolio comprises of over 7,000 lodging units in 28 properties across nine cities and provinces, such as in Hanoi, Haiphong, and Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Lew Yen Ping, regional general manager for Ascott in Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, the company continues to expand its presence in Vietnam with the openings of PentStudio West Lake Hanoi and Somerset D1Mension Ho Chi Minh City in 2019, as well as Citadines Pearl Hoi An and Citadines Marina Halong City in 2020.

In addition, Ascott also will open a new brand with the Ascott Serviced Residences in 2021. Meanwhile, our first 5-star Vertu hotel in Cam Ranh under the portfolio of TAUZIA Hotels, which is slated to open in 2022, is Ascotts first move into the lodging segment beyond its core business of serviced residences, Lew said.

Elsewhere, Frasers Hospitality, a member of Frasers Property Group, has now a total of more than 670 units with two operating projects of Fraser Suites Hanoi and Capri by Frasers in Ho Chi Minh City. This company is opening its third project named Fraser Residence Hanoi this year.

Many other junior brands include names like Happy Homes, InterContinental Residences Saigon, Homestead Parkview, Merin City Suites, and Vinhomes Central Park Apartments.

The average rent for serviced apartment units now is ranging around $35 and $28 per square metre for grade A and B apartments respectively. By 2022, 1,500 new units will enter in response to the growing demand for long-term stays, which is mostly generated by increasingly favourable visa policies and an influx of foreign investment.

In Hanoi, by the end of 2019, there were approximately 4,600 apartment units with an occupancy rate of 82 per cent. An estimated 2,700 units from 22 projects will enter the Hanoian market this year, including three projects in the west of the city.

Different from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanois serviced apartments are facing stiff competition by buy-to-let apartments. Those are located in Tay Ho, Long Bien, Ciputra, and the west of the city.

The South Korean community, leading the group of serviced apartment tenants, has changed its demand from renting serviced apartments at projects to apartments that are bought by the individual investors to rent. Many of them even decided to buy apartments or houses in Vietnam.
We have had All Out Records at our First Fridays as a pop-up shop and they are a great model for entrepreneurs looking to start something on their own, said Marissa Amoni, event coordinator for Aurora Downtown, the group behind First Fridays. Weve had them at the bike shop All Spoked Up as well as the frame shop If These Walls Could Talk and we think their business goes hand in hand with our Art, Music and More theme were trying to promote downtown.
Gardai mount checkpoints on the border with Northern Ireland at Carrickarnon, Co Louth

Bishop of Down and Connor Noel Treanor officiates at the Mass of Chrism in an empty St Peter's Cathedral in west Belfast

Police are investigating a second gathering at a republican funeral.

Pictures posted on social media for the funeral of republican activist Patricia Campbell showed a large group of people follow the coffin through the streets of Turf Lodge in Belfast.

Police acknowledged how traumatic a time a funeral can be but said it was essential that people respect the current health legislation.

Public health guidelines stress that funerals can be held privately behind closed doors with family and close friends can be present and that there should be no public advertisement of funeral arrangements but death notices can be placed without arrangements.

Most churches have limited burials to 10 people plus a celebrant and urged people to follow social distancing guidelines. Most have said a celebration for the lives lost amid the coronavirus outbreak will be held after restrictions are lifted.

Chief Inspector Gary Reid said: We have been made aware of comments and photographs posted online in relation to a funeral in the Turf Lodge area of west Belfast and are making enquiries.

While we understand that the death of a loved one is a traumatic and sad time, and that a funeral is part of the grieving process, it is essential that people respect the current health legislation. I would urge all people to play their part to keep people safe during this global health emergency crisis."

Meanwhile, police are preparing a file for prosecutors after more than 200 people turned out in Co Tyrone to attend the funeral of former Sinn Fein councillor Francie McNally.

He served on Cookstown council between 1985 and 1989 and was buried in Ballinderry on Wednesday.

Those paying their respects as the funeral procession made its way to St Patrick's Church have been accused of putting lives at risk by failing to observe strict social distancing guidelines.

Two of Mr McNally's brothers were killed during the Troubles. Phelim McNally (28) was killed in a gun attack by loyalists at Francie McNally's home in 1988, while another brother Lawrence (39), an IRA member, was shot dead in Coagh in an SAS ambush in 1991.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, who represents the area as a Sinn Fein MLA, said the rules apply to all.

"The rules are there for a reason. Everybody needs to follow them. Nobody is exempt," she said. "We're all being asked to do difficult things right now, but we're being asked to do them to save lives."

First Minister Arlene Foster said it was right that police had launched an investigation.

"Everybody needs to stick by the rules," she said. "Others who have lost loved ones will look at that and say well, we stuck to the rules even though it was incredibly difficult, even though we were in a lot of pain. It's right that it is investigated."

PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne said the police position was clear.

"People have had a lot of hurt and anxiety but it's no excuse to behave in a selfish way, to ignore guidelines that are really clearly available about limiting funerals to five family members," he said.

After officiating at the funeral, Father Peter Donnelly said 10 immediate family members were present at the burial.

"Church guidelines and the law of the land were observed and upheld," he said. "I had no prior knowledge or involvement with anything else that may have happened.

"I am concerned solely with the burial and that was conducted in line with the regulations that are current."

Mid-Ulster District Commander Superintendent Mike Baird said police had been assured that only family members would be in attendance.

"It is very disappointing to see some people blatantly ignored health advice and breached current legislation and, in doing so, they not only put themselves at risk but also put at risk close family members of the deceased and those officiating at the funeral," he said. "An investigation is under way, evidence is being gathered and a file is being prepared for submission to the Public Prosecution Service."

Mid-Ulster DUP MLA Keith Buchanan said there was nothing spontaneous about the gathering.

"There was an organised party of men accompanying the coffin alongside a relatively large gathering of other people," he said.

Local UUP Councillor Robert Colvin criticised the republican funeral as an insult to those working in the NHS.

"Regrettably these restrictions to ease the burden on our NHS staff were completely ignored," he said. "There is little point in Michelle O'Neill urging social distancing if republicans in her home county are going to assemble in large numbers in complete defiance of her advice."

TUV leader Jim Allister said considerable hurt would be caused to other grieving families.

Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Eamon Martin stressed that it is not the Church's responsibility to police funerals.

After speaking to Fr Donnelly, he said the family of the late Mr McNally and the funeral directors were all in agreement that the burial was being held for immediate family members only.

Archbishop Martin told BBC Talkback: "If a whole group of other people arrive on the scene, I don't think the priest who is in the middle of doing the funeral ceremony or the family who are bereaved can police these situations.

"Some people just don't abide by restrictions."

The funeral notice for Mr McNally announced that his remains would be leaving his family home for burial at St Patricks Church, Ballinderry, noting the date and time of the burial.
Action plan: First Derivatives is headed up by Seamus Keating

First Derivatives has yet to experience any financial impact from the coronavirus, having implemented a plan to deal with the pandemic at the beginning of February.

The Newry-based global analytics software business contacted all its customers to minimise the impact of Covid-19 through various measures, including remote working.

In a trading update yesterday, it said it was "pleased that these are working without significant disruption to the business".

First Derivatives has a financial year-end of February 29. It expects its performance will be in line with forecasts of 241m (275m) of revenue and 46m of adjusted earnings.

Net debt at the end of February was 50m, better than the consensus forecast of 56m.

The company said it continues to monitor developments around the pandemic intently through "close and regular contact with customers across all the markets in which we operate". Looking forward, the business - headed by Seamus Keating - said its conversations with customers suggest that in the near term, there will be a lengthening of software sales cycles, until the impact of the deadly virus is clearer.

The group said it is protected to some extent by the breadth of its sales pipeline "across multiple industries and geographies".

"Further reassurance is provided by the repeat and recurring nature of the majority of our software revenue," the firm added.

The company has also conducted scenario testing with a range of assumptions, including a severe, extended downturn in economic activity. Under all scenarios, the company said it "remains profitable and cash-generative".

However, First Derivatives has taken a number of measures to mitigate any future potential impact of the virus, including suspending non-essential business travel and short-term deferral of its summer graduate intake.

Executive directors will not receive a bonus payment relating to the financial year ended February 29, 2020.

The board is not recommending a final dividend in respect of last year.

As of March 31, the company had gross cash available to it of 64m. This included 35m of funds drawn down on March 24 from the group's available finance facilities.

Gerry Hennigan, analyst at Goodbody Stockbrokers, said: "On balance, while clearly not immune to the economic headwinds associated with Covid-19 - potential lengthening of software sales cycles - the statement from First Derivatives should provide comfort for investors, given the obvious uncertainty around the virus".
SYDNEY - Three days before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, Stacie Hunt, a 36-year-old Australian finance broker, and eight members of her extended family arrived at a downtown Sydney wharf to begin a two-week cruise to New Zealand.

The crew had to work fast to prepare the ship for 2,647 passengers. The Ruby Princess - one of the largest ships in Carnival Corp.'s Princess division - had arrived at 6 a.m. that day, March 8, leaving them less than 12 hours to clean a vessel that would be as tall as a 70-story building if raised vertically.

A health questionnaire had to be completed for every passenger before they could board. As crew members sifted through piles of paper, they had to break the news to some international passengers that they would not get to see New Zealand's fjords or mountains.

"We knew even before we got on things were serious," Hunt said in an interview.

At the time, the screening procedures felt like a necessary, if tedious, precaution. In hindsight, they appear to have been woefully inadequate.

Fifteen Ruby Princess passengers have died, and some 660 people have been infected, either on board or from people who were, making it the deadliest known outbreak on any cruise ship and the biggest individual contributor to cases in Australia.

Australian police have assembled a 30-strong team under the leadership of a homicide detective to investigate the ship and its owner, Miami-based Carnival, the world's largest vacation travel company.

On Thursday, detectives wearing head-to-foot protective clothing seized evidence from the ship, including the voyage data recorder that chronicles conversations on the bridge.

Some of those on board say that, despite an awareness of the virus sweeping the world, there was little effort to separate passengers and that medical screening was inadequate.

When Kiri-Lee Ryder, 41, complained to the ship's medical team at 1 a.m. one day that she was suffering body aches and severe headaches, she was given headache pills and cough medicine, according to her mother, Carlene Brown. She was also charged about $300.

A week later, the Australian mother of three was diagnosed with covid-19. Ryder spent more than two weeks in intensive care, much of it in an induced coma. Before going under, she phoned her children and mother from the ward, which had banned all visitors.

"It's silly, but she calls me mommy and she just said, 'They are going to put me to sleep,'" Brown said in an interview. "And she wanted to say that she loved us. You could hear the struggle for breath in her voice.

"I said, 'We love you darling, and we will see you when you wake up.'"

Hunt, whose mother and father-in-law were infected, said she blamed her fellow passengers, many of whom did not realize that they could pass on the virus without showing symptoms.

"People were selfish and thought they were safe being away on a boat," she said. "I had people sneeze all over me. I had people squeeze themselves into lifts that were already too full.

"At the end of the day, we knew what was going on around the world. We knew how quickly it spread in ships. People just didn't care."

A Princess cruises spokesman said anyone displaying covid-19 symptoms or who had been in contact with an infected person was not allowed on board and that crew members were tested by health authorities before the ship left.

"There was therefore no reason to believe there was covid-19 on the ship," he said.

At the time, cruise ships worldwide did not conduct onboard covid-19 tests but were expected to provide swabs to health authorities for onshore testing, he added.

- - -

The Ruby Princess arrived back in Sydney on March 19, three days early. Passengers were told they would be screened by state health officials, Hunt said. Instead, they were given a leaflet explaining how to isolate themselves for two weeks.

Many could not return home right away. About one-third were from the United States or Europe. Ryder and her family spent two days in a hotel, and then took a five-hour commercial flight to Perth.

It took five days after disembarking for the first passenger to die. Another who followed was 75-year-old Karla Lake, whose husband Graeme Lake accused Carnival of allowing passengers to believe they were not at risk.

"They made a point of not letting anyone know at all that anyone was sick," he told Australia's Seven television network. "Good as gold, we thought it's fine."

Events on the Ruby Princess have blighted Australia's otherwise effective response to the pandemic. About 50 people have died, out of a population of 25 million, and known infections are growing at less than 2 percent a day.

Federal and state authorities have traded blame over clearing the Ruby Princess to disembark passengers. The final decision was made by the Australian Border Force; it said it acted on advice from the New South Wales state health department, which decided passengers could be let off before tests from 13 sick people were completed. Four came back positive a day later.

- - -

It was known among Australian officials that cruise ships were potent incubators of the coronavirus. The first Australian fatality was a passenger on another Carnival ship, the Diamond Princess, where 12 passengers died in a covid-19 outbreak that at one point accounted for more than half the world's cases outside China.

The state's chief medical officer has said the ship was designated as having a low risk of carrying the virus. The only other country it had visited was New Zealand, which did not have many cases.

"You can have laws, guidelines, practices and procedures in place, but if the people in whatever agency are not 100 percent vigilant for whatever reason, then the whole thing can collapse very badly," said David Widdowson, an Australian academic who is president of the International Network of Customs Universities.

Brown, who has emerged as an advocate for social distancing, said her sick daughter, husband and grandson should have been given medical treatment as soon as they left the ship.

"I am absolutely disgusted," she said. "If you're working as a border person, in customs or immigration, and somebody walks through with a mask from a ship potentially carrying sick people, would you not ask, 'Why are you wearing the mask? Why you have been unwell on the ship?'"

A law firm is organizing a class-action lawsuit against Carnival, whose share price has fallen about 75 percent this year. One focus is whether the Ruby Princess should have been properly sterilized before it left Sydney.

"We seriously doubt if they had enough time to properly clean the ship in those hours," said Vicky Antzoulatos, a leader in Shine Lawyers' class actions division.

The Ruby Princess is now quarantined at an industrial port south of Sydney. About one-quarter of the 1,148 crew want to leave immediately, according to state police chief Mick Fuller. Australian authorities are wary of letting any off, except for the most seriously sick.

A State Department spokesman said the U.S. government is assisting Americans on board but would not provide any further details.

Six other cruise ships off the Australian coast returning to Asia have been told by the governor of Western Australia state that they are not welcome and should not stop for supplies.
Times Union columnist Chris Churchill is conducting a Facebook Live chat to discuss the ways the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the Capital Region community.

You can watch below. Please log on with any questions you might have. This is part of a series of Facebook Live discussions with a range of Times Union journalists covering the story.
Bader says three things might help mitigate the lack of rural health care in Missouri: expanding Medicaid, introducing telemedicine and changing regulations over advanced practice registered nurses.

Rep. Dean Dohrman, R-La Monte, represents Sweet Springs. He said expanding Medicaid would take money from other parts of the state budget, like higher education. For this reason, he said he has not voted to expand Medicaid in the past.

Medicaid expansion changes the eligibility requirements for the program. Missouri is one of 14 states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion. There is an effort to gather enough signatures to put the issue on the November ballot.

Telemedicine is the practice of using online services to receive care, like using a video conference service to talk to your doctor. But its not a perfect solution. Dohrman said that although it can do a lot of good, sometimes it is hard to access because of a lack of rural broadband. Additionally, theres little that telemedicine can do in terms of emergency situations.
State investigators have accused an inmate at the Green Rock Correctional Facility in Chatham of paying $2,000 to have a Samsung cellphone smuggled in to him, court documents state.

The inmate told investigators that another inmate and an unnamed corrections officer delivered the phone, the inmate said an interrogation after the phone was discovered April 3, according to a search warrant filed in Pittsylvania County Circuit Court.

A criminal investigation in Sussex County, where the inmates external inmate calls and email messages were being monitored, helped intelligence analysts with the Virginia Department of Corrections develop actionable intelligence indicating a high probability that the inmate was in possession of a cellphone, the warrant states.

The Special Investigations Unit has investigated other occasions when offenders in possession of a cellphone used the cellphone in commission of other crimes, Master special agent Craig ODer Jr. wrote in the affidavit.

The inmate is not being named in this story because he has not been charged.

The search warrant, filed to search the data in the phone, was executed Wednesdat. The purpose, ODer wrote, was to confirm those who assisted him in obtaining the phone and to help prevent further crimes.

O'Der also wrote that the inmates wife both provided the phone and activated it with a prepaid AT&T account. During the interrogation, the inmate also said he allowed other inmates to make calls on the phone.

Representatives from Green Rock Correctional Facility would not comment for this story. The Virginia Department of Corrections, which oversees the Chatham facility, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ayers reports for the Register & Bee. Reach him at (434) 791-7981.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
Chinese health cultivation exercise plays a part in combating coronavirus

By:Wu Qiong | From:english.eastday.com | 2020-04-10 18:14

To the tune of the guqin (seven-stringed zither), Estel Vilar Bofill and her family stand on yoga mats and follow the postures for Ba Duan Jin exercise following a practitioner in a video. During the COVID-19 outbreak, such exercise has become a routine for Estel. She always practices the classic Chinese indoor exercise with her parents, younger sister and her daughter.

Estel has a Chinese name: Wei Yingxing. Her mother has been practicing qigong for three decades. Influenced by her family, Estel is also a fan of Chinese traditional culture. She began to study Chinese at the age of 17 and came to Shanghai in the 2000s. From 2013 to 2018, she also participated in a Qigong training class at the Shanghai Qigong Research Institute. As she said, After practicing qigong, all the physical conditions in my body have been improved, especially in terms of emotion regulation. Most importantly, it has provided me with a healthier thinking and practice framework.

(Estel and her family practice Ba Duan Jin)

As the coronavirus spreads across the world, the Taiji Health Center of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM) together with the Shanghai Qigong Research Institute has launched a set of online courses. The eight courses are: Ba Duan Jin; Fang Song Gong (Relaxation Exercise); Liu He Gong (Six-Unity Exercise); Gu Yin Liu Zi Jue (Six Healing Sounds); Song Rou Gong (Soft and Relaxed Exercise); Xiao Yao Gong (Free and Easy Exercise); Tian Zhu Dao Yin Gong; and Yi Jin Jing (Chinese Transformation Classic). The videos are in Chinese and have English subtitles, so that non-Chinese can better understand.

Each week, Estel practices the exercise three times by following the online videos. She believes the courses can help people around the world better understand traditional Chinese health cultivation, and offer reliable qigong practice and theoretical reference.

Estel is a director of a holistic health culture center in Spain. Having benefited from qigong and classical Chinese health cultivation, she has been imparting what she had learned in China to more and more Spanish people. After COVID-19 was spread to Spain, most citizens have had to stay at home. As Chinese health cultivation exercise can be practiced indoors, Estel is promoting the online courses to people around her through various platforms.

(Estel introduces qigong in a local radio station)

(A screenshot of the online course website)

The online course website has been visited by people from 56 countries and regions. Staff at the Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Division of the WHO have also shared the videos with their colleagues.

Rooted in traditional Chinese philosophy, medicine, and regimen, traditional Chinese health cultivation exercise refers to a general term for various physical and mental exercise methods evolved through history. It has been one of the traditional methods for the Chinese people to strengthen the body, and prevent and treat diseases since ancient times.

In the recent fight against COVID-19, medical staff in Wuhans frontline hospitals have taught patients to practice Taichi and Ba Duan Jin, bringing traditional Chinese health cultivation back to peoples attention. Zhang Dezhong, deputy leader of the medical treatment expert panel of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has mentioned the role of TCM in combating the coronavirus. As he said, symptoms of insomnia, abdominal distension, and lack of appetite in patients can be relieved by TCM therapies, and Taichi and Ba Duan Jin can significantly strengthen patients physique and accelerate recovery.

(A practitioner teaches Ba Duan Jin)

Previously, though the public did have some knowledge of traditional Chinese health cultivation, the latter still lacked recognition and transmission. Now the exercise has reemerged in the publics eyes as a positive guide, providing a new opportunity for the inheritance and promotion of traditional culture, said the person in charge of the Shanghai Qigong Research Institute.

We should encourage more people to practice this green [or low impact] exercise to prevent diseases. At the same time, they can have a new understanding of their physical, mental, spiritual and entire life. In the future, there might be more courses offered by the Qigong research institute if necessary.

Chinese health cultivation has many followers, even beyond China. They learn the exercise through different channels. For instance, international students learning TCM at SHUTCM can choose the course in their curriculum. Also, the Taiji Health Center and the Shanghai Qigong Research Institute have international training classes all year round. Many expats in Shanghai spend their weekends taking the classes to practice Chinese health cultivation. Some of them are Chinese culture lovers, while some others do the exercise for keeping well after being treated with Chinese medicine, acupuncture and tuina. Many of them, after returning to their home countries, promote the unique Chinese culture to people around them, and even work as a coordinator between Chinese and foreign universities and societies for their further cooperation. Some others, like Estel in Spain, set up classes to introduce Chinese health cultivation to others.

(Images and videos provided by interviewees)
During this unprecedented crisis, residents and businesses are looking to their elected leaders to take action and ensure critical services continue to be delivered and their needs are still being met, Lightfoot said. Despite the necessary constraints of social distancing, the City Council is fully committed to conducting the business of the city, which is more important than ever as our families and communities struggle navigate the new and challenging territory created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said the ongoing lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus should continue, while noting that predictions by health experts about the spread of the pandemic are "horrendous and frightening".

He said that a decision on whether Punjab will extend the lockdown will be taken at a meeting of the state cabinet later this evening. Addressing a press conference through video conference, Singh said that Punjab will allow district-wise relief from lockdown only to farmers to allow them for harvesting of Rabi crop.

LIVE: Special Congress Party Press Briefing by @capt_amarinder, Chief Minister, Punjab https://t.co/TCGuiupA3o  Congress (@INCIndia) April 10, 2020

He said the state was expecting a bumper crop of 185 lakh tonnes of wheat and is making arrangements for harvest of the crop. He said predictions by health experts about the spread of the pandemic are "horrendous and frightening". "Prediction by experts about spread of the virus are horrendous and frightening," he said, adding that the government is preparing itself and gearing up for such a situation.

Quoting a PGIMER study, he said the virus is likely to touch its peak by mid-september and may likely to affect 58 per cent of India's population and 87 per cent of Punjab's and other states' population.

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE COVERAGE FOR COVID-19

"....COVID19 epidemic in India is estimated to reach its peak in mid-September 2020 at a point where 58 per cent of population has been infected," he said quoting the projections made by the Department of Community Medicine in PGIMER in Chandigarh.

Quoting another figure from the projections by PGI, he said the virus can infect up to 87 per cent of population of Punjab and other states. He said, "The only good thing about coronavirus is that the drugs supply line has been broken".

To a question, the Punjab chief minister admitted that there has been some community transmission of the virus in Punjab as there are 27 positive cases from among the Tablighi Jamat congregation attendees in Nizamuddin in Delhi.
Nigeria has recorded 14 new coronavirus cases, bringing the number of infections in the country to 288.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control announced this on its Twitter handle on Thursday.

It tweeted, Fourteen new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria: 13 in Lagos and 1 in Delta State.

Fourteen new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria: 13 in Lagos and 1 in Delta State As at 09:30 pm 9th April there are 288 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Fifty-one have been discharged with seven deaths pic.twitter.com/DuP2SGUiTy  NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 9, 2020

Meanwhile, Lagos State Government has commenced house-to-house case identification to detect possible cases of COVID-19 in the State.

This was contained in a statement from the Lagos Ministry of Health on Thursday.

The statement quoted that the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, as saying this during a joint ministerial press briefing on COVID19 intervention in Lagos State held on Thursday in Alausa, Ikeja.

Recall that Chikwe Ihekweazu, the director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has disclosed that 90% of COVID-19 patients recover without any intervention.

He said: We should remember that 90 per cent of these patients recover without any intervention. So, if you take something and say you recovered and that something is why you recovered, it doesnt quite add up.

The NCDC boss further explained that very few viruses have a cure. He said COVID-19 patients are given oxygen at the hospital which is not a treatment but administered to keep the patients alive for long enough to recover yourself.

Post Views: 8
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Friday issued a show-cause notice to the owner of a pastry shop in Central Delhis Bengali Market above which as many as 35 workers were found living in unhygienic conditions and not following social distancing norms to contain the spread of Covid-19.

NDMC officials said the shop owner has been asked to explain why the health license issued by the civic body to the shop should not be cancelled for violating social distancing norms amid Coronavirus pandemic.

As per the provisions of Section 339 of the NDMC Act, 1994, the NDMC has directed the vendor to show cause why the said health license could not be revoked on account of violations within 10 days of issuance of the notice, otherwise NDMC could seal the premise without further notice, the NDMC said in a statement.

The statement added that similar action will be taken against others if found violating guidelines laid down by the administration for the containment of Sars-Cov-2.

The popular market was sealed after it was declared a containment zone when three cases had come out positive. The district administration had conducted screening of the entire area on Wednesday where it found that 35 workers of the popular Bengali Pastry Shop were living in unhygienic conditions in a cramped space above the shop, violating social distancing norms. The Delhi Police had also registered an FIR against the owner of the shop on Thursday for not following social distancing measures which may have caused the spread of the virus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that India is ready to help its friends.

The Prime Minister tweeted this message in response to the leaders thank you note for clearing the export of hydroxychloroquine, a drug widely used in treatment of coronavirus disease Covid-19.

Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you! Netanyahu said on Twitter on Thursday. In response, PM tweeted, We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel.

We have to jointly fight this pandemic.



India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends.



Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel. @netanyahu https://t.co/jChdGbMnfH  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

Brazils President Bolsonaro also thanked India with a tweet, Our thanks to the Prime Minister of India @narendramodi, who, after our telephone conversation, authorized the sending to Brazil of a shipment of inputs for the production of hydroxychloroquine.

Responding to it, PM Modi said, Thank you President @jairbolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times. India is committed to contribute to humanitys fight against this pandemic.

Thank you President @jairbolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times.



India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic. https://t.co/uIKmvXPUo7  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

Several countries have been experimenting with hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus symptoms. US President Donald Trump recently touted its potential in treating Covid-19 positive patients, requesting India to help his country with supplies.

Experts, however, have urged caution until bigger trials validate hydroxychloroquines efficacy. Chloroquine can have potentially serious side effects, especially in high doses or when administered with other medications.
Students who have paid hundreds of euro towards the J1 programme will not be refunded (stock photo)

J1 students will not be receiving refunds from travel company Usit after it went into provisional liquidation.

In a statement on its website, Usit said: "Unfortunately, due to the insolvency of USIT, the joint provisional liquidators are not in a position to pay any refunds to any category of customer or client."

The company said customer refunds "may rank as unsecured claims in the liquidation"

Kinlay Group, the company behind Usit, informed staff in late March of the "difficult decision" to have liquidators appointed.

The company said as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, "and having explored all other possible alternatives", it was left with no option but to appoint the liquidators.

Usit employed 76 people between its head office in Dublin and regional offices in Cork, Galway and Limerick.

Since the 60s, Usit has afforded Irish students the opportunity to work abroad in cities in the United States and Canada.

The popular programme has been impacted by the spread of Covid-19.

Ciara Ryan, a student at Waterford Institute of Technology, had booked to travel to New York for the summer.

She had paid 1,000 towards her accommodation in Manhattan and her 300 deposit to Usit.

"Nobody is in a position to lose out on so much money at the minute, especially not college students working two days a week who have put every cent of their wages into this," she said.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday denied Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's claim of community transmission of COVID-19 in the State.

Responding to a question during the daily COVID-19 press conference, Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said that there is no community transmission in the country yet and there is no need to panic.

"Today, the challenge is not local or community transmission. Whenever the community transmission stage comes, we will inform you. There is no community transmission in the country yet. There is no need to panic," Aggarwal said.

He also informed that only two per cent out of 16,002 tests tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

"Yesterday, we conducted 16,002 tests. Only 2 per cent of cases tested positive. On the basis of the samples collected, the infection rate is not high. Rapid diagnostics kits have also been sanctioned," he added.

According to the World Health Organisation, community transmission is "evidenced by the inability to relate confirmed cases through chains of transmission for a large number of cases."

However, the WHO in the latest COVID-19 Situation Report number 80, has termed India's virus transmission classification as 'cluster of cases' and not 'community transmission' as of yet.

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday said that with new cases emerging shows the possibility of community transmission of COVID-19 in the State as some of the patients have no travel history.

"In Punjab, 27 cases are there with no travel history. Yes, it can be said that most of them are cases of community transmission," he said.

So far 101 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed from Punjab, as the country's total cases rose to 6,412 on Friday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of these, 5,709 are active COVID-19 cases, and 503 patients have recovered or discharged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The state Supreme Court this week determined a nursing home agreement requiring residents to arbitrate their most likely claims, while allowing the facility to file suit over its most likely claims, is unenforceable.

The attorney for the plaintiffs said the opinion issued Monday sends an important message to New Mexico consumers that they can dispute arbitration agreements, and it gives a clear process for doing that.

The ruling comes in a case against multiple defendants, including the Rehabilitation Center of Albuquerque, which included in its 78-page admission agreement a clause stating that all claims, including allegations of negligent care, must go to mediation and then to arbitration rather than to court, according to the opinion. But it included an exception for claims involving disputes over the collection of money or discharge of patients  the claims the business would most likely file against its residents.

The attorney representing the defendants could not be reached for comment.

The plaintiff in the case, Keith Peavy, entered into the agreement on behalf of his mother, which specified that parties would attempt to mediate a claim first, and move on to arbitration before a panel of three arbitrators if necessary. Arbitration is a less formal, private form of dispute resolution.

Peavy filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility and others after his mothers death in 2010. The defendants responded with a motion to dismiss and to compel arbitration. A District Court judge ultimately found that the agreement was substantively unconscionable.

The Supreme Court affirmed that order Monday, saying there was not enough evidence to show that the one-sidedness of the agreement was justified.

We conclude that under New Mexico conscionability law a presumption of unfair and unreasonable one-sidedness arises when a drafting party excludes its likeliest claims from arbitration, while mandating that the other party arbitrate its likeliest claims, the opinion written by Justice Shannon Bacon states. This presumption stems from the lack of mutuality that correlates with overly one-sided contracts.

That presumption can be overcome if the drafter can show that the exceptions are reasonable and fair.

The case will be sent back to the 2nd Judicial District Court.

Attorney Jeff Pitman, who represents the plaintiffs in the case, said nursing homes often use arbitration agreements, which are frequently included in a bulky admission packet and often dont get explained very well.

Theyre asked to sign here, sign here, sign here, and usually we find that youve got an arbitration agreement tucked in there somewhere, he said.

Refusal to sign, he said, sometimes means you cant be admitted into the nursing home.

He said the ruling is big for New Mexico consumers at a time when arbitration agreements are ubiquitous.

I think its important that consumers know that they have the right to dispute these agreements in New Mexico, Pitman said. And now we have a very clear process for them to do that.
This is a special episode of Today in Pa dedicated the coronavirus pandemic. Today in Pa will be doing these evening updates every weekday throughout the pandemic. You can listen to the latest episode at this link, or on your favorite app including Alexa, Apple, Google, Spotify and Stitcher. Episodes are available every weekday on PennLive. Subscribe/Follow and rate the podcast via your favorite app.

Today in Pa. Daily Podcast | Coronavirus Update April 10, 2020

Pennsylvanias coronavirus death toll surpasses 400. Meanwhile, the state announces $450 million in loans for local hospitals and the governor is set to release up to 1,800 inmates from prison. Apple and Google have joined forces to work on new apps that could let you know if youve come into contact with someone infected with COVID-19. Pennsylvanias Attorney General has released a list of rights that all Pennsylvanians have during the pandemic.

Those are the stories we are covering in the latest bonus episode of Today in Pa, a daily weekday podcast from PennLive.com and hosted by Julia Hatmaker. Today in Pa is dedicated to sharing the most important and interesting stories in the state, but our bonus episodes about the coronavirus also look at how the disease is impacting the nation and the world.

Todays bonus episode refers to the following articles:

If you enjoy Today in Pa, consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or on Amazon. Reviews help others find the show and, besides, we like to know what you think of the program.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 12:30:23|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

UNITED NATIONS, April 9 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday endorsed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' COVID-19 initiatives, including his appeal for a global cease-fire to conflicts and his global humanitarian response plan.

At a closed meeting of the Security Council, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said China appreciates the role of the United Nations and the World Health Organization in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

China appreciates Guterres' appeal for a global cease-fire in the context of COVID-19, his global humanitarian response plan and his report on the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, said Zhang.

On Guterres' appeal for a global cease-fire, Zhang asked the Security Council to push for the cessation of hostilities around the world for the sake of the fight against COVID-19 and create conditions for a political settlement of conflicts.

He said the Security Council should support Guterres' global humanitarian response plan so that the least developed countries and those in conflict could receive help.

He asked relevant countries to answer Guterres' call for the removal of unilateral sanctions in order to reduce the adverse effects of COVID-19 on humanitarian situations.

The Security Council should work to strengthen the protection of UN peacekeepers and improve medical support for them, said Zhang.

China has made progress in its fight against COVID-19, and has now shifted its focus to fending off a comeback of the virus and managing the risk of imported cases. At the same time, China will do whatever it can to help other countries, said Zhang.

The COVID-19 pandemic shows that humanity is a community with a share future. China's experience shows that the virus can be overcome, he said.

Zhang advised against shifting blame to other countries, calling for cooperation instead. He also called for an end to stigmatization and politicizing the issue.
A 10-month-old baby girl died on Friday at a quarantine centre set up in a primary school in Uska Bazar area of neighbouring Siddharthnagar district, a senior official said.

The toddler was rushed to the district hospital in an ambulance but doctors declared her brought dead, he said.

The family had come from outside and were instructed to stay at a primary school at Chaurasi village that was functioning as a quarantine centre, DM, Siddharthnagar, Deepak Meena said.

"The baby's father told me that on Thursday evening the girl was restless and showed symptoms like those of measles. In the morning they called an ambulance and rushed the babyto the district hospital where doctors declared her brought dead," he said.

"They were staying at the school for the last 13 days and today was their last day as they showed no sign of COVID-19. The family performed the baby's burial in the village. I went to the village and met the family," the DM said.

The baby's parents had come from Mumbai and were at the quarantine centre since March 29.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The mood in Mollys Shebeen pub just before midnight in Manhattan was giddy to say the least.

A sort of incredulous acceptance washed over us as we realised (Mayor) de Blasio was serious about closing everything down that very night to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

That was almost three weeks ago, and just a couple of days after my wife and three-year-old daughter had left to spend a few days with her parents in Arizona for spring break.

As an Irishman living in New York for eighteen years, I like to think Ive become hardened by everything this fine city can throw at you. And yet, as phrases like social distancing and shelter at home left the airwaves and slid into the collective lexicon with terrifying ease, the reality of existing in isolation for an extended period of time began to sink in.

The city during those first few days of the lockdown was a virtual ghost town. The din of traffic eerily absent save for the wailing of an ambulance en route to a nearby hospital. Peering out the window of our apartment, you could count the number of pedestrians on just one hand  and all of them were dressed in medical garb.

A trip to the supermarket revealed great shortages of staples like bread, pasta and surprisingly, tins of tomatoes. As for protective masks, well an old t-shirt cut to size works equally well doesnt it?

Today, with my family on the other side of the country, the days can be long but an abundance of time has led to the rediscovery of long forgotten pursuits like reading for pleasure, painting and even candlemaking.

In one sense, New York is like any other city on the planet right now and its easy to be consumed by the fear and anxiety that seem to be everywhere you turn. And yet in all the confusion, each day brings unmistakable moments of levity that serve to lighten the mood.

The most remarkable example of solidarity takes place each evening shortly before sundown. As the clock strikes seven, New Yorkers step onto balconies and rooftops or pause momentarily on the sidewalk to holler in rapturous applause for the medical professionals that put their life on the line each and everyday.

As the ovation subsides and we move inside once more, filled with gratitude and hope for a brighter tomorrow.

We are living history. The challenges posed by Covid 19 are similar the world over but everybodys experience of this emergency will be different. In this special series, Lockdown Letters' gives our readers at home and across the globe an opportunity to share their stories about how the Coronavirus and the measures to tackle its spread are impacting their lives in these unprecedented times.

Please email your submission (400 words max.) to stories@independent.ie along with a photograph. We will publish as many letters as possible on Independent.ie and a selection in print every week.
Pakistani blogger Ahmad Waqass Goraya fled his homeland after he was threatened, kidnapped, and tortured by authorities.



But even in Europe, where he has lived in self-imposed exile for over a decade, Goraya fears for his life.



In February, he was physically assaulted by two men outside his home in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, where he lives with his family. Since then, he has received online death threats.



"I always feel in danger of being attacked or becoming the victim of a sinister campaign," Goraya told RFE/RL by phone from the Netherlands. "You always feel that someone is waiting for you on the corner of a street."



The liberal blogger is not alone.



In Europe, there has been a recent spate of attacks and harassment of Pakistani journalists, bloggers, and activists known for openly criticizing authorities back home.



Many have blamed the powerful Pakistani Army and its notorious intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), accusing those institutions of attempting to crush dissent. The military has an oversized role in the domestic and foreign affairs of the South Asian country of around 220 million.



Criticism of the army has long been seen as a red line for the media, with journalists and bloggers inside Pakistan complaining of intimidation tactics including kidnappings, beatings, and even killings if they cross that line.



'Enforced Disappearance'



Pakistan's unprecedented crackdown on the press has forced prominent reporters to seek refuge abroad. But even in self-imposed exile, many face retribution.



The latest case is exiled Pakistani journalist Sajid Hussain, who has been missing in Sweden since March 2. The disappearance of the reporter, who ran an online newspaper in exile, has been linked by a free-media watchdog to his reporting on human rights abuses committed by the Pakistani military.



Hussain, 39, fled into exile in 2012 after reporting on human rights abuses in the southwestern province of Balochistan, which has been plagued by sectarian violence, Islamist militant attacks, and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004.



He fled Pakistan after police searched his residence, taking his computer and questioning family members, and intelligence agents visited his associates. Hussain first moved to the United Arab Emirates and then to Oman and Uganda before settling in Sweden.



He had continued to run an online newspaper, the Balochistan Times, from abroad. He covered alleged abuses in Balochistan by the Pakistani Army, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings of political activists and suspected separatists, arbitrary arrests, and torture.

Hussain's family has called on Swedish authorities to investigate the case and find Hussain, who went missing in the Swedish city of Uppsala.



Wajid Baloch, Hussain's brother, who lives in Pakistan, told RFE/RL that it was "too early for us to point fingers at anyone right now" because "we don't have any evidence."



"This is up to the Swedish authorities to find out who kidnapped Sajid," Baloch said, adding that his brother had received death threats while working in Pakistan.



Hussain is from a prominent political family in Balochistan.



His uncle, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, was killed in 2011 while leading a nationalist movement.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Paris-based media-freedom watchdog, suspects that Hussain was abducted "at the behest" of the ISI.



"Considering the recent attacks and harassment against other Pakistani journalists in Europe, we cannot ignore the possibility that his disappearance is related to his work," Erik Halkjaer, the president of RSF's Swedish section, said in a statement on March 30.



Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk, said that "everything indicates that this is an enforced disappearance," adding, "And if you ask yourself who would have an interest in silencing a dissident journalist, the first response would have to be the Pakistani intelligence services."



The Balochistan Times "often crossed the 'red lines' imposed by the military establishment in Islamabad," according to RSF.



No one has heard from Hussain since he boarded a train in Stockholm on March 2 bound for Uppsala, some 70 kilometers north of the Swedish capital.



RSF said that, according to confidential information it had obtained, Pakistan's ISI keeps a list of exiled reporters.



'Fear Is Their Tactic'



Goraya is one of those believed to be on the list.



In January 2017, Goraya was abducted while visiting Pakistan. He was among five social media activists and bloggers who disappeared that month in separate incidents across Pakistan.



Released after several weeks, Goraya returned to the Netherlands. He said he had been detained in Pakistan by a government institution with links to the military and tortured "beyond limits."



The Pakistani military reportedly denied its involvement.



Goraya said he was held because he ran a satirical Facebook page critical of the Pakistani military's stranglehold over politics in the country. Pakistan has been ruled by the army for nearly half of its statehood.



The Facebook page has also criticized the army's alleged human rights abuses in Balochistan.



The military establishment "wants to control the online space," said Goraya. "And when they cannot control it, they resort to such tactics. Fear is their tactic. You attack one person and everyone becomes afraid."



'Government's Extreme Insecurity'



Steven Butler, the Asia program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), told RFE/RL that the recent attacks on Pakistani journalists and rights activists in Europe show that the exile community is "not safe," adding that the incidents are "worrisome."



"Certainly, Pakistani intelligence would be unhappy about the activities of these individuals," he said, although he added that there was "no evidence of who precisely is behind the attacks."



Another Pakistani dissident who has been targeted is Gul Bukhari, a Pakistani-British journalist and rights activist who lives in the United Kingdom.



She has been a vocal critic of Pakistan's military on social media, accusing it of meddling in politics.

Bukhari was abducted in June 2018 from a military cantonment in the eastern city of Lahore and held for several hours by unknown men before being freed. The Pakistani Army denied involvement in the abduction, which occurred one day after the military warned that it was monitoring citizens who criticized the state.



In February, Pakistani authorities demanded that Bukhari appear in Pakistan for questioning or authorities would file terrorism charges against her. Bukhari, who left Pakistan in December 2018, said she did not plan to return to her homeland.



Bukhari said she was told by journalists in London that Pakistani authorities were trying to discover her address in Britain, which she has kept secret. She said she feared she could be attacked.



"Pakistani authorities should stop threatening Gul Bukhari and other journalists and critics for speaking out, whether at home or abroad," Butler said. "Threatening to charge a journalist with terrorism and to confiscate her property over social media posts or published articles is absurd, and only reveals the government's extreme insecurity."

Crushing Dissent



Pakistan is one of the world's most-dangerous countries for reporters.



The military, intelligence community, and military-affiliated political groups have been suspected in the killings of 22 reporters in the past decade.

The attacks and harassment of exiled Pakistani journalists come as the Pakistani press finds itself under unprecedented pressure from authorities.



In the past three years, dozens of prominent reporters have been fired or have left after being threatened; the nation's most popular television channel, Geo TV, has been forced off the air intermittently; officials have disrupted the distribution of Dawn, Pakistan's oldest English-language newspaper; and leading columnists have complained that media outlets are increasingly rejecting stories critical of the army and intelligence agencies.



In March, human rights and media-freedom watchdogs urged Pakistan to release from pretrial detention the owner and editor in chief of the country's biggest independent media group.



Mir Shakilur Rehman of the Jang group of newspapers and TV stations was arrested in Lahore on March 12 by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with allegations of tax evasion in a real-estate purchase 34 years ago.



The Jang group, which has criticized the government and NAB activities, rejected the allegations against Rehman and described his arrest as "an attack on the freedom of expression."



Pakistan is ranked 142nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2019 World Press Freedom Index, three places lower than it was in 2018.
By Mark Peterson





The sixth item on my top 10 list of evidence for advocating that Korea has had a peaceful and stable history is the fact that the royal tombs have not been robbed. Royal tombs? There are the tombs of Silla kings surrounding Gyeongju and there are the tombs of the Joseon kings on the outskirts of Seoul. None have been robbed.



I did not realize how unique this situation was until one day a few years ago, when I was leading a group of textbook writers on a fact-finding tour and seminar on Korean history and culture. The seminar lasted about 10 days and began with our host, the Academy of Korean Studies, on the south side of Seoul, before we traveled through Korea looking at major historical sites.



Standing in front of the Oreung complex, the Five Tombs complex in Gyeongju, an archaeologist from the University of Utah named Bradley Parker innocently asked, "When were these tombs robbed?" The question surprised me because I knew the tombs had not been robbed. I knew this because each tomb that they have excavated, about six of them, has contained a Silla crown and a whole host of treasures intact  not plundered by grave robbers.



Yet, Professor Parker assumed that the tombs had been plundered. When I told him they had not, it was his turn to be surprised. He said, "Of course the tombs have been plundered. That's what they do. Grave robbers rob graves. That's where the gold and jewels are." It was like "bank robbers rob banks because that's where the money is."



I said that these Korean tombs had not been robbed and turned to Yi Jong-uk, a well-known Silla historian and once-president of Sogang University who was with us at the seminar in Gyeongju. He confirmed that the tombs had not been robbed.



Parker then said something to me that was so obvious and yet after years of advocating that Korea has a peaceful history, and that the story of wars and invasions is a 20th century corruption of the true historical narrative of Korea, I had not seen it. He said, "Well, Professor Peterson, this supports your argument that Korea has had a peaceful and stable tradition."



Yes, Korea has never suffered sufficient chaos that would allow opportunity for grave robbers to pillage the tombs. Even in the height of the Japanese invasion of 1592, the Korean "righteous armies" responded adequately to keep the Japanese invaders on the run, and without enough time or space to plunder the tombs. At the change of dynasties, where other countries see wholesale chaos, Korea saw a relatively orderly fall and rise of dynasties.



Parker said he studied and did field work in Egypt and the Middle East and that never do they find a tomb that grave robbers have not broken into. The grave robbers take the treasures and leave the archaeologists with the task of figuring out what was supposed to have been in the tomb. He said the pyramids of Egypt were at times plundered before the dynasty was over!



He said this really does speak of a stable government and peaceful society to have never robbed the graves of the deceased kings.



We were looking at the Silla royal tombs in Gyeongju, and it is also true of the Joseon royal tombs scattered to the west, south and east of Seoul. Which leads to the question of the Goryeo dynasty tombs in North Korea. From what we know of them, they have not been plundered either.



In fact, the tombs they have excavated have been done by careful archaeological methodology where every inch of dirt is moved carefully and noted scientifically. And they have found the Silla crowns and other artifacts intact and undisturbed. One of the first was excavated in the 1930s under Japanese supervision. And the Japanese, fearing a public outcry, utilized the visit of the Crown Prince of Sweden to involve him in the dig. They waited till he arrived to have him pull out the crown  using royalty to excavate royalty. And it worked. There were no major objections or demonstrations against the Japanese for digging up a royal ancestor.



The tombs the subsequent archaeologists have excavated under Korean authority have, interestingly, only been tombs of kings that we don't know  that is, we don't know for certain which king has been buried there. The tombs that have a strong tradition of identity with a specific king or queen have not been excavated.



Interestingly, Japanese royal tombs have not been robbed or excavated, but Chinese tombs have both been robbed and excavated, and the Ming tombs are big underground mausoleums that welcome tourists. Very different from the Korean situation.





Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.


LAPEER COUNTY, MI  A male teenager face charges in connection with two recent break-ins at a Lapeer County library branch.

The first incident took place around 9:30 a.m. March 30 when Village of Clifford employees reported to the Lapeer County Sheriffs Office that theyd discovered the librarys Clifford branch on Main Street had been broken into sometime over the weekend.

The suspect had shattered the window to the front door and taken a television, DVD players and several DVDs, police said.

A little more than one week later, a witness called Lapeer County 911 shortly before 1 p.m. April 6 after they spotted a male teenager break the front door glass to the same library branch and go inside. The suspect was last seen headed west on Clifford Road.

Deputies located the teen on Clifford Road and determined hed been associated with both burglaries. Items stolen from the library on those occasions were also recovered.

The suspect was temporarily released to their parent while the investigation is presented to the Lapeer County Prosecutors Office for review of charges.
In China, voices of discontent are growing against the current Communist leadership. A Beijing-based expert and former member of the Chinese army talked with us about the challenges facing Xi Jinping.

Taiwans president and foreign ministry rejected the World health organization (WHO)s accusations of racial discrimination on Thursday.

A reporter was questioned by President Trump on Wednesday about his background. Is what he told the president the real truth?

New York sees a record-high death toll for the third time this week. This comes amid slowing hospitalization rates.

NTD refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Partys coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Subscribe to our Youtube channel for more first-hand news from China

For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter
Tributes have been paid to Don Hewitson, the man credited with transforming the wine industry in the UK, after he died at the age of 74 from cancer.

Hewitson owned the famous Cork & Bottle wine bar in Leicester Square and his roaring success led to a number of other locations across London, including Shampers, Methusalahs and Hanover Square.

He arrived in London from New Zealand in 1972 and dramatically changed the way, and the places, in which wine was consumed in the UK.

Don Hewitson, the man credited with transforming the wine industry in the UK, has died at 74

Hewitson owned the famous Cork & Bottle wine bar in London's Leicester Square, as well as a number of other venues in the capital

'I'd heard that the situation in Britain was bad, but I was shocked,' Hewitson admitted when asked about the wine scene in the UK in an interview back in 2001, as reported by The Times.

'The British class system underpinned wine drinking, and that was a huge problem.

'The lower classes didn't drink wine at all; the upper classes would only drink Nuits-Saint-Georges or champagne.'

Cork & Bottle gathered a reputation for the vast amount of wines that they could offer from every corner of the globe.

Hewitson had built strong relationships with expert growers in hotbeds like France, New Zealand and Australia and his bars were full of the most in-demand wines.

When he arrived in the UK, beer was easily the nation's preferred alcoholic drink but now wine is on par with a market share of around 35 per cent each.

Hewitson also bolstered his reputation as a connoisseur through the release of two books in the 1980's, "Enjoying Wine" and "The Glory of Champagne".

Those who visited Hewitson's successful locations paid tribute to him on social media.

@parmitg wrote: 'RIP - N.Z Wine Bar owner DON HEWITSON changed face of U.K. wine industry.

Hewitson arrived in London from New Zealand in 1972 and dramatically changed the way wine was consumed in the UK

Those who had visited his establishments quickly paid tribute to Hewitson on social media

One claimed Hewitson had 'raised the wine bar from dismal dreariness to champagne chic'

Another said he wished he had the chance to visit the Cork and Bottle while the UK remains under lockdown

'I spent many nights in 80s early 90s drinking at his Methusalahs (Victoria), Hanover Square Wine Bar & Cork & Bottle drinking Perrier Jouet, Mumm Champagne , Montana & Wolf Blass wines amongst others.'

@IMSpardagus posted: 'Sad to see that Don Hewitson has died. The Kiwi who, in the 70s and 80s, taught us English how to enjoy good wine and, almost single handed, raised the wine bar from dismal dreariness to champagne chic has popped his last cork. Cheers, Don. You were great.'

@nfmusic added: 'Sad to read of the death of Don Hewitson. Wishing I could pay tribute this evening by going to the wine bar he founded, the Cork and Bottle, and having a Hemingway burger and a massive Shiraz'.
In a relief to Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the High Court in London has deferred hearings on a plea by the SBI-led consortium of Indian banks, seeking the indebted tycoon to be declared bankrupt to enable them recover a loan of around GBP 1.145 billion from him.

Justice Michael Briggs of the insolvency division of the High Court granted relief to Mallya, ruling that he should be given time till his petitions to the Supreme Court of India and his settlement proposal before the Karnataka High Court be determined, allowing him time to repay his debts to the banks in full.

Chief Insolvency and Company Court judge Briggs, in his verdict delivered Thursday, said there is no obvious advantage to the banks to pursue this class action at this point in time.

This bankruptcy petition is by any measure extraordinary. The banks are pressing for a bankruptcy order at a time when there are extant proceedings in India, read the judgment.

In my judgment the banks are secured, at least in part The hearing of the petition should be adjourned for the purpose of amendment and for time to pay the debts in full, it noted.

A consortium of Indian public sector banks led by the State Bank of India had sought a bankruptcy order against Mallya as part of efforts to recoup around GBP 1.145 billion of unpaid loans from Mallya.

Judge Briggs had reserved his judgment after hearing arguments from both sides in December last year over the loans to Mallya's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

In his judgment, the judge concluded that the legal cases being pursued by Mallya in India stood a reasonable prospect of success.

Although the petition to the Supreme Court and proposal before the Karnataka High Court are not guaranteed to succeed, they are genuine. The evidence supports the view that the petitions stand a reasonable prospect of success, he said.

According to the court document, the judgment on the bankruptcy petition was produced in December last year and circulated in January this year but its handing-down was adjourned for further argument at the request of the parties.

The parties agreed to a hearing after 1 June 2020. The outbreak of Covid-19 has made fixing a date uncertain. In my judgment it is in the interests of the administration of justice and in the public interest that this judgment be handed down now, the ruling noted.

While the banks had argued for a bankruptcy order to ensure they receive what is owed to them amid a multiplicity of creditors, Mallya's lawyers stressed that the Indian banks were identified as secured creditors by Indian courts, which makes the bankruptcy petition in the UK court unfair.

Why should we take less than everything we are owed, said Marcia Shekerdemian, the barrister for the Indian banks, referring Mallya's settlement offers.

During the hearing last year, the court had also heard that the banks do not accept the former Kingfisher Airlines boss' assertion that most of his assets are in India and to a lesser extent worldwide.

A villa in France and assets spread across the British Virgin Islands, a trust registered in the Caribbean nation of St Kitts & Nevis and the Indian Empress superyacht in Malta were some of Mallya's worldwide assets referred to during the course of the hearing.

Mallya's legal team, led by barrister Philip Marshall, sought dismissal of the bankruptcy petition, arguing that their client was being unfairly pursued by the banks in India and the UK on opposite grounds.

Payment has been inhibited by virtue of the intervention by the Enforcement Directorate of India the banks are seeking a bankruptcy order against Dr Mallya for non-payment but have created a situation where he can't make a payment, Marshall told the court.

A previous UK High Court ruling had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and upheld an Indian court's ruling that the consortium of 13 Indian banks were entitled to recover funds amounting to nearly GBP 1.145 billion.

The banks then launched efforts to recover dues as part of the freezing order, with the bankruptcy petition aimed at seizing UK-based Mallya's assets to recover the dues.

Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail pending a UK High Court ruling in the extradition proceedings brought by India in relation to charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crores.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Here is a selection of people starting interesting new roles in Ireland, with Duff & Phelps, Virgin Media Business, Irish MedTech Association, SMBC Aviation Capital and Comtrade Digital Services.

Niall Cribben has been promoted to managing director of the valuation advisory practice of Duff & Phelps, a global advisor in valuation, corporate finance, disputes and investigations, cyber security, claims administration and regulatory issues. He brings more than 15 years of experience advising on strategic financial issues, corporate restructurings and audits. With the firm since 2014, he is currently actively involved in advising clients on impairment analysis as a direct result of Covid-19. Niall is a fellow chartered accountant (FCA) and holds a diploma in Corporate Finance and a Diploma in Insolvency at Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Emer Kelly has been appointed as head of sales at Virgin Media Business. Having worked with the company for more than 17 years, she has delivered double-digit growth to the division and her sales experience and performance help her identify and maximise sales opportunities for the company. In her position, Emer is responsible for medium and large enterprise, partner channel, hospitality and public sector markets and her progressive leadership style which

has helped Virgin Media Business become a standout organisation in its sector. Virgin Media Business provides business internet and telecomms services including business broadband, leased lines and 4G business mobile.

Gavin Murphy has been appointed as head of operations at Virgin Media Business. Gavins leadership and contribution to the consistent success of Virgin Media Business over the past 14 years has seen him and his team be regularly highlighted by customers and competitors as leaders in the industry for delivery and customer experience. As part of his position as head of operations, Gavins responsibilities include service delivery and customer service management. He is also a leader in delivering excellence in operational efficiency, speed from sale to billing and always promoting customer experience leadership in the Irish telco market.

John OBrien, executive chair and CEO of S3 Connected Health, has been named as chair of the Irish MedTech Association, the Ibec group for MedTech. With S3, John has led the creation of businesses in the digital health, semiconductors, digital TV, and communications sectors. S3 Connected Health works with leading MedTech and Pharma companies to create digital health solutions and connected medical devices, and support health-care professionals in managing costs. John is an engineering graduate from UL. He has an MBA from the Smurfit Business School, UCD, and did the Enterprise Ireland Leadership for Growth programme at Stanford University.

Tomoyuki (Tom) Tanaka has been appointed as the new chair of aircraft leasing company SMBC Aviation Capital. He was deputy head of the transportation business unit for SMBC shareholder Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing (SMFL) in Tokyo. He will replace Shinichi Hayashida, who has served as chair since May 2012. He has previously held senior roles within the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), including joint GM in the aviation capital department in London, and general manager and country head in Sydney. He was part of the team in SMBC Europe, which managed the groups acquisition of SMBC Aviation Capital in 2011. SMBC Aviation Capital owns and manages a portfolio of 429 aircraft.

Boris Cergol has brought extensive experience in AI research and implementation to his new role as head of artificial intelligence (AI) with Comtrade Digital Services, the provider of software engineering services and solutions. He is spearheading the AI division and shaping its strategy, overseeing delivery of AI projects in production and research and development projects. He was previously CEO and CTO at AI consulting and implementation group Ektimo. He holds a degree in theoretical mathematics and a PhD in mathematical statistics. He maintains a presence within academia and continues to mentor students working on their Masters studies.
Texas State Troopers wait for drivers to arrive at a check point at the Texas Travel Information Center on the Louisiana-Texas border in Orange, Texas on April 7, 2020. (Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images)

Modeler Defends IHME Projections, Credits Social Distancing

One of the professors behind a major model that has twice been revised in recent days defended initial projections and said the shifts came after Americans practiced social distancing.

Americans are doing their part and staying at home and social distancing is working, Ali Mokdad, professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the University of Washingtons Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), said during an appearance on Fox News The Story on Thursday night.

The IHME has stated that its projections were reached assuming full social distancing through May 2020. Mokdad argued modelers didnt factor in people staying home and taking other measures before statewide lockdowns were ordered.

It was factored in, but for states that came later, it was clear that people living in those states, where there was no order to stay at home, they were practicing social distancing, he said, citing Florida. In other states, like Washington and California, early measures helped reduce the projected number of deaths, he said.

Questioned on how Japan has done so well with the COVID-19 pandemic despite not ordering a lockdown, Mokdad twice declined to answer, instead asserting that Italy and China both had high mortality rates when they didnt implement strict measures.

Employees of a restaurant wearing masks stand outside their eatery before it opens in the Chinatown area in Yokohama on April 9, 2020. (Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images)

The IHME model was one of the models cited when federal officials ordered what amounted to a national lockdown recommendation. Its projections have come under increased scrutiny for its substantial revisions. Projected deaths in the model dropped from 93,531 to 60,415 while peak hospitalizations, ventilator use, and intensive care unit needs also decreased, in some cases by tens of thousands.

Modelers have argued that the model is getting more accurate as fresh data is incorporated after initially relying on figures from Wuhan, China. Chinas communist regime has repeatedly manipulated numbers linked to the pandemic, according to internal documents obtained by The Epoch Times.

Modelers later began adding more information from Spain and Italy, two of the hardest-hit nations in the world, before using data from healthcare systems in the United States.

As data comes in, our estimates will change, much like weather forecasts adjust, the IHME said in a statement on Thursday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a federal health official, told reporters on Thursday about the shifting model: Thats a sign that when you take the data that you have and you reinsert it into the model, the model modifies.

The data is real, the model is a hypothesis, he added.

The IHMEs daily death counts have been accurate on some days but its hospitalization estimates have regularly been wrong, overestimating the need for hospital resources. In New York, that contributed to hospitalizations appearing to peak far below projections.

When the IHME updated its model on April 5, it had already overshot estimates for 15 of the 18 states that release daily hospitalization data.

A view of people exercising in Central Park during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City on April 9, 2020. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

The IHME didnt respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

One theory behind the model regularly overestimating deaths and other metrics is the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, circulating in America for longer than is now thought. If so, more people would have been infected and built immunity to the virus.

The first case in America was confirmed in January but some estimates have pegged the start of the spread as late last year.

The virus first emerged in China. The earliest report now known of a case there was in November 2019.

Asked about that theory, Mokdad said during his interview that researchers dont know when the virus was first in the United States. He also said the projected deaths will drop even further if more Americans are practicing social distancing.

Petr Savb contributed to this report.
Technavio has been monitoring the hospital furniture market and it is poised to grow by USD 4.02 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of almost 6% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005081/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Hospital Furniture Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Arjo, Hill-Rom Services Inc., Invacare Corporation, Medical Depot, Inc., and Stryker are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Increased promotion of medical furniture has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Hospital Furniture Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Hospital furniture market is segmented as below:

Product Hospital Beds Specialty Medical Chairs and Tables Others

Geographic Landscape Asia Europe North America ROW



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download latest free sample report of 2020-2024: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30789

Hospital Furniture Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our hospital furniture market report covers the following areas:

Hospital Furniture Market Size

Hospital Furniture Market Trends

Hospital Furniture Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies growing demand for improved medical infrastructure as one of the prime reasons driving the hospital furniture market growth during the next few years.

Hospital Furniture Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the hospital furniture market, including some of the vendors such as Arjo, Hill-Rom Services Inc., Invacare Corporation, Medical Depot, Inc., and Stryker. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the hospital furniture market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports.

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Hospital Furniture Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist hospital furniture market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the hospital furniture market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the hospital furniture market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of hospital furniture market vendors

Table Of Contents:

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

Market segmentation by product

Comparison by product

Hospital beds Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Specialty medical chairs and tables Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Others Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by product

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

North America Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Europe Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Asia Market size and forecast 2018-2023

ROW Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 10: MARKET TRENDS

PART 11: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

PART 12: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Arjo

Hill-Rom Services Inc.

Invacare Corporation

Medical Depot, Inc.

Stryker

PART 13: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005081/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
ty Burrell daddy

Reply

Thread

Link

I enjoyed the lightfoot pants memes, but not here for ppl propping her up all of a sudden

Reply

Thread

Link

It's the same brainless hero worship Cuomo is getting.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I have such a soft spot for Ty Burrell 

Reply

Thread

Link

Me too. He does seem nice but I dont know if I like him so much for himself or just because Phil is so lovely. Regardless, hes one of the few celebs who will make me go Aw, when I see him on TV on the red carpet or something.



Edited at 2020-04-10 10:21 pm (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Is Bruce Willis quarantining with Demi or did he just go over there to visit? Cause his wife replied to the pic that she loves and misses him so wtf is that all about

Reply

Thread

Link

omg

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

wait, so his wife is alone? that's even weirder...

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

He has 2 small children with this wife too idg

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link



still quote this regularly still quote this regularly

Reply

Thread

Link

also, this will always destroy me:

When I was growing up, he was the cool dad. He was hip. He knew all the dances from Grease. He knew all the expressions. BFF, best friends for ever. TMI, too much information. BJ, blue jeans. It makes me feel lucky. - Phil talking about his dad, season 11 episode 11

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Funny. I dressed up lowkey clothes for my remote classes. Wanted to look nice. It was also that Id step out for quick errands. Then I stopped stepping out unless I have to for a perfect reason. Lately I stopped caring. Too tired too lazy to shave. Started wearing a basic t-shirt of variety including college tees, loose harem or baggy drop crotch yoga pants all in Nike slides. With a favorite loose black soft faux sheepskin fur/ teddy jacket on a cold day. Shrugs.



Edited at 2020-04-11 03:44 am (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link

Also I want to mention Ive seen several places like barbershops and salons still open around the neighborhood so 

Reply

Thread

Link

Jerome Adams, U.S. Surgeon General, tells black people, Latinos and other ppl of color to avoid alcohol and drugs and adds: "Do it for your abuela, do it for your grandaddy, do it for your Big Mama, do it for your pop pop."



Context: Many found this language highly offensive.  Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) April 10, 2020

Reply

Thread

Link





Yall fave Fauci defended him 



https://thehill.com/homenews/media/492266-fauci-defends-jerome-adamss-remarks-on-African-American-alcohol-tobacco-usage-amid-pandemic Thats really fucked up of that dude saying that. Like, weird flex.Yall fave Fauci defended him 

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

There isn't one good person that works for this administration. Fuck them all.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I cackle cause you say one bad word about Tony you have people desperate for a hero and they go nuts.



I didnt bother replying to anybody but yeah I do know he is and I do know what he did during the dawn of aids and its kind of why I hate him.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

big question: why single out black & latino people? fucking everybody should be avoiding the smoke during a respiratory pandemic.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

and Adams is black! Jerome, what are you doing?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Both are offensive, but the bigger one is somehow like 100x worse. Reads like parody.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

the haircut reminds me of when Gov. Cuomo somehow got an haircut and his brother Chris called him out. lol he didnt say how he got his haircut tho.



Whoopi doesnt like people walking behind her, if they dont have a mask, then they sneeze. Stay inside or put on a mask.

shes not wrong. there is a report saying that ppl are much better off run next to a person then behind someone.



Ty seems like a great guy. He really like a teddy bear lol.

Reply

Thread

Link

I havent really watched the view much since back when Sherri Sheppard and Elizabeth hasselback on but Ive been watching it every day the last couple of weeks and Im really enjoying the layout of them all at home. They seem to talk over each other less. Or maybe Im just so bored idk.

Reply

Thread

Link

I miss them at the table. They are so polite with each other now and it feels like the spark is missing.



Which is also what worries me about the Atlanta Housewives reunion being all virtual. We are going to miss out on so much that we get when they are all in one room.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I have hopped into about 30 random Zoom meetings to leave a (relevant) comment and get my name out there.



There's also a Wednesday zoom chat me and some other tech folks join to bitch about microsoft and companies planning for remote work very poorly.

Reply

Thread

Link

i have some venting re: US election to get off my chest



ive been absent from social media for the last few weeks just cause im not seeing any upside from being informed about the world at large rn. Even though a lot of ppl here says I always sound angry, I always tried to find positivity in politics. trying to find escape routes to a more progressive path helps my mental health. which is how I became such a big Bernie supporter, how I followed AOC campaign from the beginning, how I felt encouraged by Corbyn in the UK. but honestly, rn theres nothing to be particularly hopeful about. and my social media was so full of politics that the amount of information my brain was taking in was legit damaging my mental health. I mean, I wasnt disillusioned at Bidens nomination only because of Biden himself: social media introduced me to all the people cheering him on and working on his campaign who were all just as disgusting. so I wasnt sad because of Biden, I was sad because of him, because of Anita Dunn, because of Neera Tanden, because of Tom Watson, because of Tom Perez, because of Xochitl Hinojosa. like, ppl I honestly want to forget exist. I mean, sometimes ignorance is bliss.



but being distant from it, without being angry at all the little pieces of this disgusting puzzle, it also helped me see the big picture. and I mean, it makes me happy how much Bernie has achieved. its clear here on ONTD. the majority of ppl here now know they DESERVE more. millions are more radical and progressive than ever. and well, you can cut a flower or two but you cant stop the spring from coming. theres nothing I can do about how rotten the political world is so I dont really see the point rn of obsessively following it but well, theres a movement and hopefully itll be the start of something (but then i see all the cuomo lovefest and i kind of lose hope again which yeah.... it's why i'm off social media).



in regards to biden, do i think he can win? I mean, yeah, he can. do i think he will? probably not but maybe. plus, i know ppl think the media will rip him to shreds but i dont think they will honestly. most US establishment media clearly prefers some right-wing dem over trump because its much easier to control a biden than a trump. biden is even more in the pockets of comcast, time warner etc. than trump is (not a positive thing btw). so i think big outlets will treat biden with kid gloves, except for the right-leaning ones such as fox news. they won't cover rape allegations and they won't attack him on his inconsistencies. of course, with social media it's debatable how much corporate media being nice to him will change anything but biden winning a primary despite being a total disaster is proof they have more than enough power so...



do i think ppl should vote for biden? i think ppl should vote their conscience. he is utter trash but its true that the dem party is only 90% trash while the gop is at 100%. so i mean, theres an argument to vote for him there. but theres also a million arguments that are just as good *not* to vote for him (the rape allegation being the most obvious one). plus, the Dem Party clearly aint banking on any young progressive voters. theyre hedging their bets at those mythical moderate conservatives and boomers showing up (and maybe they will?). so if they think thats enough for them to beat trump then why yall should bother voting for that rapist who clearly isnt interesting in convincing anyone to his left. so yeah. vote your conscience, vote down ballot and get involved with progressive politics in general because the fight is only starting.



(also, i think the women from the view are all privileged assholes who are just as uninformed and damaging as fox news anchors lmao. the fact their right-wing opinion is sold as some vanilla middle of the road entertainment to the US public explains the political scenario y'all are in. idk, since i am venting i just feel like this is important to add too lmao).



Edited at 2020-04-11 12:22 am (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link
Enemy troops used proscribed weapons, namely 120mm and 82mm mortars.

Russia's hybrid military forces on April 9 mounted 21 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as killed in action (KIA) and another two as wounded in action (WIA).

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire 21 times on April 9. One Ukrainian soldier was killed and another two were wounded as a result of enemy shelling," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation Headquarters said in an update posted on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on April 10.

Read alsoOSCE: New disengagement sites in Donbas not identified yet

The enemy opened fire from proscribed 120mm and 82mm mortars, an anti-tank missile system, weapons installed on infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms.

Under attack were Ukrainian positions near the towns of Krasnohorivka, Avdiyivka, and Popasna, and the villages of Pavlopil, Vodiane, Novomykhailivka, Pyshchevyk, Starohnativka, Bohdanivka, Orikhove, Khutir Vilny, Novoluhanske, Novo-Oleksandrivka, Krymske, and Novhorodske.

According to intelligence data, one member of the enemy forces was killed and another one was wounded on April 9.

"Since Friday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions twice near the villages of Novozvanivka and Novo-Oleksandrivka, using 120mm and 82mm mortars," the update said.

No Ukrainian army casualties were reported over that period.
Even Project Runway alum Peach Carr, who is from Chicago, got in on the effort. She donated elastic and fabric to the effort, which can be used to make over 1,000 masks, according to JourneyCare. Carr competed in the cable TV fashion competition show in 2010 in Season 8, and in 2013 on the second season of Project Runway All Stars, according to her website.
On Monday, at a coronavirus press briefing, Kentucky Governor Andrew Beshear announced that a United Parcel Service (UPS) Worldport employee had died the previous weekend from what was apparently COVID-19. According to local media the veteran employee was Roml Ellis, age 55. It was also reported that he was not to known to have had any underlying health issues.

As a company policy, UPS has refused to confirm any cases of COVID-19 infection or related deaths at its facilities citing medical privacy laws.

An extended family member who didnt want their name released for fear of company retaliation told local media that the UPS employee had become infected with COVID-19 last month. The death has also been confirmed by the Clark County, Indiana Health Department.

UPS truck (Flickr.com, Open Grid Schedule)

The death of the veteran worker underscores UPS employees concerns over the lack of safety protections at the massive Worldport facility in Louisville. The company has dragged its feet on supplying hand sanitizer, rubber gloves, and only now will be finally supplying select workers with face masks, claiming a shortage. That only after the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) called for the use of facemasks Monday.

Local media reported that the deceased UPS employee was a supervisor, an over 30-year veteran, who resided across the border in Clark County, Indiana. Jerry McGovern, a friend of Roml Ellis and a retired UPS employee with 31 years told the press, People are scared to hold UPS accountable. He pointed to the UPS practice of transporting workers across the sprawling facility in vehicles where, theyre putting 8-10 people in these vans.

Teamsters Local 89 at the Louisville Worldport facility has not issued a statement on the death of Ellis. This silence is doubly significant given that Fred Zuckerman, Local 89 president, is running for Teamster secretary treasurer as part of a supposed reform slate backed by the Teamsters for a Democratic Union that is challenging incumbent Teamster President James P. Hoffa.

Neither Zuckerman nor Local 89 have said anything about the refusal of UPS to provide information on COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, Sean OBrien President of Teamsters Local 25 in Boston, Massachusetts, the head of the anti-Hoffa slate, issued only a mild rebuke to UPS over its safety practices after reports surfaced that three UPS employees had tested positive for COVID-19 in the area at the end of March. One was a driver and two loaded trucks. OBrien did not press for any follow-up action and the matter has apparently been dropped.

Bill Gray, of Lowell, Massachusetts, with over 30 years at UPS and the Teamsters told the local press that workers were forced to bring their own personal protective equipment to work because UPS failed to provide any.

There are over 20,000 UPS employees in the Louisville, Kentucky area mostly at Worldport, which is the companys chief international air freight center. It processes some 2 million packages daily and 4 million packages per day during the peak holiday season.

While UPS cites privacy as a justification for not revealing information about coronavirus infections at its facilities, the impact is to deny employees access to vital information necessary to protect their health and safety. Managements concern is not personal privacy but profits. In particular, they want to avoid anything that will increase workers demands for improved working conditions.

Like Amazon and Walmart, UPS is implementing temperature checks of employees, one of the least costly ways of screening against potential COVID-19 infection. However, given the long incubation period in which those infected with the virus may not show symptoms, this is hardly an adequate precaution against spread of the disease.

In contrast to UPS managements claims of implementing important safeguards, a retired Worldport employee told ABC that he had spoken to numerous employees who were scared over the inadequate protections against COVID-19 infection.

A local ABC news affiliate reported, Weve received more than a dozen calls and emails into our newsroom over the past week, complaining of lack of protective gear, like gloves, and social distancing thats not enforced, mainly within company shuttles that take employees to and from the airport to sort packages.

Adding to the stress on UPS workers, Amazon has announced that it is suspending its two-year-old shipping service venture and will again rely on UPS and Federal Express (FedEx) for its shipping needs. The move was said to be partly sparked by the coronavirus-related surge in orders, and will no doubt add increased risk and burdens to the already overstretched workers at UPS, FedEx, and other logistics operations.

In addition to serving as a logistics center, the Louisville area has many thousands of workers employed at manufacturing operations including two Ford plants in Louisville and a large Toyota facility in nearby Georgetown, Kentucky. Both automakers have temporarily suspended operations, but are looking to restart production at the earliest opportunity.

Another major Louisville manufacturer, GE Appliance, is still in operation after the empty talk of a strike by the International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America (IUE-CWA) over COVID-19 concerns. There are some 3,800 hourly workers at GE Appliance building ovens, dryers, stoves and refrigerators. The company is now owned by Haier, a multinational Chinese-based company where starting pay is $14 per hour.

GE Appliance briefly suspended operations last month as COVID-19 cases multiplied, but has now resumed operations claiming the manufacture of household appliances is an essential service. The move sparked outrage among workers, who resented being asked to risk COVID-19 infection for production that was clearly not immediately critical to the functioning of society.

After a little initial bluster, IUE-CWA dropped any talk of a strike and agreed instead to a few token gestures such as for workers to receive appreciation pay at a rate of an additional $2 per hour, and allowing workers with vulnerable family members or health problems of their own a leave of absence until April that could be extended.

Managements innovative safeguards included temperature screening, staggered breaks and the installation of large plexiglass shields.

At another nearby facility, the Amazon SDF-9 returned apparel center in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, production was shut down March 28 after three employees had tested COVID-19 positive. According to workers who spoke to media, the nearby SDF-4 building would remain open.

Amazon said they were sanitizing the facility, and subsequently Governor Beshear allowed Amazon to reopen on April 1. Earlier in March, Amazon had made an announcement of its intent to expand their fulfillment centers in Kentucky and Indiana and add 4,500 employees.

Teamster UPS package truck loader John in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, spoke with nymag.com, and gave an indication of the added strain the large volume of shipments from Amazon is putting on UPS workers. He said, Yes, its pretty much just increasing every day. Ive worked Christmas seasons that werent this busy. And thats always our busiest time of year, a few weeks before Christmas.

Pointing to the extent of the spread of the coronavirus he said, I overheard our building manager yesterday say we had about 20 call outs with COVID symptoms. So thats 5 to 10 percent of our total workforce at the building I work at, calling out.
In Marbella, Tarifa, Chiclana, Valencia, Llanes, Galicia, the Costa Brava The tourists never arrived. More than 10,000 checkpoints put in place by the Civil Guard on Spanish roads, as well as those operated by local police forces  not to mention blocks of concrete installed at the entrances of Spanish municipalities with high numbers of vacation homes  were either unnecessary or dissuaded anyone who was tempted to break lockdown measures and get to their second residence for the Easter weekend.

Traffic jams seen on the exit roads out of big cities such as Madrid earlier this week were due to these checkpoints, according to the general secretary for transport, Maria Jose Rallo. A total of 3,090 drivers were fined on Thursday for breaking the confinement measures, a figure that tallies with the average daily number of such sanctions imposed since the state of alarm was introduced on March 14 by the Spanish government in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The Asturias regional premier called on residents to contact the authorities if they saw the arrival of visitors

Even so, many local mayors in places that attract high numbers of tourists have remained on the alert these last few days given the possibility that visitors would arrive from other regions to enjoy the Easter break.

The regional premier of Asturias, Adrian Barbon of the Socialist Party (PSOE), called on residents of tourist towns and villages to contact the authorities if they spotted the arrival of people from outside Asturias, explaining that there were many messages arriving from residents denouncing the arrival of people from outside. But the mayor of Llanes, the part of Asturias that attracts most tourists, explained that the data facilitated by the Civil Guard and local police contradicted these reports. Its possible that if someone sees someone they dont know, they are talking about it on social media and after that the news spreads like wildfire, he said.

From the Civil Guard we want to inform you that we categorically refute the information that is appearing on certain social media profiles denouncing the mass arrival of visitors and tourists to areas such as Zahara de los Atunes, El Palmar, or La Barrosa, said a spokesperson from the Civil Guard in Cadiz. People want to believe something that is not real, added the mayor of Tarifa, Francisco Ruiz. We have been putting tactical checkpoints in place and I am told there is nothing out of the ordinary, he added. There is no movement. The local council in Chiclana de la Frontera also denied there had been arrivals of visitors.

Marbella, Mijas and Fuengirola also saw little movement these last days, while the Valencia regional government said the same, reporting an 80% drop in traffic compared to last year. In Galicia, checkpoints were put in place on the AP-9 freeway, but no one was intercepted.

The most touristy areas of the Costa Dorada and the Costa Brava in Catalonia were given extra protection against unwanted visitors. The majority of towns and villages  including Salou, Cambrils, Calafell, Port de la Selva, Begur and Palafrugell  installed concrete blocks in their entry roads to stop vehicles from accessing them, and employed drones to detect anyone who tried to breach the lockdown. Some local mayors also called on residents to report the presence of people coming to their second homes, but there was no record of significant incidents.

Fines in Catalonia

A total of 88 people, however, were fined at the start of the Easter weekend trying to reach their second residences by the Catalan regional police, the Mossos dEsquadra. One family was stopped on their way out of Barcelona with their car filled with groceries, and they confessed they were trying to get to their second home in Salou. They were fined for breaching the lockdown and forced to return to their homes.

With reporting from Patricia Ortega Dolz, Jesus A. Canas, Ferran Bono, Sonia Vizoso, Nacho Sanchez, Marc Rovira, Jesus Garcia and Marta Rodriguez.

English version by Simon Hunter.
The Delhi government is planning to create buffer zones in the national capital around areas with a cluster of coronavirus cases. The government has also started house to house screening in all the hotspot areas which were sealed on Wednesday.

An officer in the South Delhi Municipal corporation told the Times of India that the government will soon begin random screenings in Delhi and would also monitor any coronavirus symptoms in the general public.

"The revised COVID-19 containment plan sent by the ministry of health and family welfare clearly states that the area under the geographical quarantine will be defined into the containment zone surrounded by a buffer zone. While there will be no movement inside the containment zone, the minimal movement in the buffer zone around it will be carefully monitored," said the public health official to the daily.

Another municipal offer said that according to the containment plan a buffer zone of five kilometres radius needs to be created by the local administration. The administration will chalk out the buffer zone based on road access, movement of people and the possibility of physical contact between containment zone inhabitants and the buffer area.

The buffer area will be "passively monitored" according to municipal officials. "Dedicated surveillance teams will be formed for each zone which will remain in touch with community leaders, RWA heads and local politicians to get reports on any house or flat that may have people showing symptoms. Such people will be then tested," the public official told the daily.

The officials through passive surveillance will also monitor people with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection and they would also be tested for the coronavirus.

Also Read: India Coronavirus live updates: Country's active COVID-19 cases at 5,709; death toll rise to 199

Also Read: Coronavirus impact: COVID-19 may push half million people into poverty, says Oxfam
EDWARDSVILLE  It wasnt a pajama party, and they werent up all night, but that didnt stop supporters from hosting a virtual session during the annual St. Jude Up til Dawn (UTD) event to help raise money for St. Judes Childrens Research Hospital.

Students from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville joined other college and university campuses across the country in fundraising efforts to help kids battling cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
CHICAGO, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-and the worldwide reaction to it-has compelled companies to radically rethink their strategies and the way they operate. We salute the industry experts helping companies survive and sustain in this pandemic.

At MarketsandMarkets, analysts are undertaking continuous efforts to provide analysis of the COVID-19 impact on the Specialty Enzymes Market. We are working diligently to help companies take rapid decisions by studying:

The impact of COVID-19 on the Specialty Enzymes Market, including growth/decline in product type/use cases due to the cascaded impact of COVID-19 on the extended ecosystem of the market

The rapid shifts in the strategies of the Top 50 companies in the Specialty Enzymes Market

The shifting short-term priorities of the top 50 companies' clients and their client's clients



You can request an in-depth analysis detailing the impact of COVID-19 on the Specialty Enzymes Market:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalystNew.asp?id=21682828

According to the recent report"Specialty Enzymes Market by Type (Carbohydrases, Proteases, Lipases, Polymerases & Nucleases, and Other enzymes), Source, Application (pharmaceuticals, Research & Biotechnology, Diagnostics, and Biocatalysts), Form, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Specialty Enzymes Market is estimated to be valued at USD 4.4 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 6.6 billion by 2025, recording a CAGR of 6.9% in terms of value. The growing concerns about the enzyme quality in pharmaceuticals & diagnostics and rise in demand for non-harmful biological catalysts are factors that are projected to drive the growth of the specialty enzymes market, globally.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Specialty Enzymes Market"

110 - Tables

53 - Figures

180 - Pages

Download PDF Brochure:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=21682828

The microorganism segment is projected to witness significant growth during the forecast period.

Based on source, the specialty enzymes market is segmented into microorganism, plant, and animal. The microorganism segment is projected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period, as enzymes obtained from microbial sources lead to low production costs. Furthermore, they contain more predictable and controllable enzyme content. In addition, as enzymes obtained from microbial sources can be cultured in large quantities in a short period, microorganisms are the primary source of specialty enzymes.

The polymerases & nucleases segment is projected to account for a major share in the specialty enzymes market during the forecast period.

By type, the specialty enzymes market is segmented into carbohydrases, proteases, lipases, polymerases & nucleases, and other enzymes (such as catalases, laccases, oxidases, phosphatases, kinases, esterases, and pectinases). Polymerases & nucleases have been bolstering the biotechnological advancements for research & developments in the various industries. They have been used for molecular cloning to manipulate nucleic acids to generate advanced enzymes available today for commercial uses. Polymerases and nucleases have been highly used in the pharmaceutical industry for biotechnological innovations to manufacture various types of drugs. Moreover, their usage bolsters rapid developments of new diagnostic tests that target DNA and RNA substrates.

Request Sample Pages:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=21682828

The North American region dominated the specialty enzymes market with a market share of 48.8% in 2018, whereas Asia Pacific is projected to witness the highest growth rate.

The specialty enzymes market in North America is dominating due to the increasing demand for enzymes in specialty applications. Technological innovations in machinery, optimization of production, logistics, and globalization of business have made the pharmaceutical industry one of the essential sectors in the North America region. However, the shift of industrial operations from developed regions, such as North America and Europe to Asia Pacific, has further contributed to the growth of the specialty enzymes market in Asia Pacific region. The use of specialty enzymes in biotechnology advancements such as drug cloning, transgenic organisms, and gene modification has been fueling the market in Asia Pacific. Furthermore, the European consumers have shown an inclination toward clean-label and organic products. This has enabled manufacturers to consider organic ingredients as key components of the products. Due to this, the specialty enzymes market in the European region is led by the growing focus on the production of pharmaceutical products, owing to the functional benefits of enzymes.

This report includes a study on the marketing and development strategies, along with the product portfolios of leading companies. It consists of profiles of leading companies, such as BASF (Germany), Novozymes (Denmark), Roche Holding (Switzerland), DuPont (US), Codexis (US), Dyadic International (US), Advanced Enzymes (India), Amano Enzymes (Japan), Sanofi (France), Biocatalysts (UK), Enzyme Supplies (UK), BBI Solutions (UK), Specialty Enzymes & Probiotics (US), Amicogen (South Korea), Antozyme Biotech (India), Enzyme Development Corporation (US), Nagase & Co. Ltd. (Japan), Sekisui Diagnostics (US), Merck (Germany), and Biovet (Bulgaria).

Browse Adjacent Markets: F & B Ingredients Market Research Reports & Consulting

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Sanjay Gupta

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com

Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia reported 219 new coronavirus cases and 26 new deaths, a health ministry official Achmad Yurianto told reporters on Friday.

This brings the total number of cases and deaths to 3,512 and 306, respectively.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Writing by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Of the 146 patients hospitalized in U.S. military medical centers for the novel coronavirus, one-third are in intensive care units, including a sailor from the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt who remains at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam.

According to Defense Health Agency officials, 47 of the Defense Department's 3,054 current cases of the novel virus are in ICUs. The agency declined to provide detailed information on whether the patients are on ventilators and whether they are active-duty troops, dependents or DoD employees or contractors.

The DoD releases a summary of its COVID-19 response Monday through Friday, along with the number of cases among its patient population. But it has released little information on the severity of these cases, other than saying that most are "mild or moderate."

But the 33% ICU admission rate for the hospitalized DoD population is higher than even the upper range of admissions across the U.S., according to the data company Statista.

Related: Army's Seattle Field Hospital Closes After 3 Days, Without Treating a Single Patient

In its analysis of ICU admission rates for the coronavirus in the U.S. from Feb. 12 to March 16, Statista found that they ranged from a low of 2% to 4.2% for those aged 20 to 44, to a high of 10.5% to 31% for patients 75 to 84 years old.

DoD officials declined to provide additional information on COVID-19 hospitals and ventilator use, citing operational security.

"Because equipment sets and current bed space are tied to operational plans and are constantly evolving, we can't provide specific numbers," DHA officials said in a statement to Military.com. "We can say that we are all-in regarding this effort and, as a unified system, are working tirelessly to address the pandemic, provide care when and where needed, and help return the nation to a sense of normalcy."

The Pentagon on March 27 ordered commanders to stop releasing publicly the number of coronavirus cases among their personnel, citing operational security.

Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said DoD leaders are worried that the information could be exploited by adversaries.

Less than .09 percent of U.S. forces have confirmed COVID-19 infections. By contrast, .13 percent of the U.S. population have confirmed cases of the illness.

If the ICU admission rate is higher for DoD-connected patients, the overall hospitalization rate is much lower.

The reported hospitalization rate for the military population with COVID-19 is 4.3 percent. By contrast, in New York City, where 80,204 have confirmed cases of the coronavirus, nearly 26% required hospitalization.

"We have significantly lower hospitalization rates for coronavirus than you would find in others, but that's, of course, the nature of disease," Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist said Thursday. "It predominantly affects people or is most damaging to those in [their] 60s, 70s and 80s, but even young people are affected, just not on the same scale."

As of Friday, the DoD had 3,054 active cases of the coronavirus and 3,366 total cases, including those who have recovered or died.

The number of active-duty personnel diagnosed with the virus jumped nearly 14% from Thursday to Friday, increasing from 1,786 service members to 2,031. The majority of the increase was among Navy sailors, 741 of whom have confirmed cases, up 144 from 597 the previous day.

The Army has 411 cases; the Air Force, 256; the Marine Corps, 173; and the National Guard, 409.

An additional 325 military dependents, 493 DoD civilian employees and 205 military contractors also have confirmed cases.

In the United States, more than 473,000 people have confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 17,836 had died as of Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at patriciankime@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.

Read more: More Than 25,000 Former Soldiers Have Now Volunteered to Return to Duty
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today attended a videoconference session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the meeting was attended by RF Premier Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Rumas, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan Muhammedkaly Abylgaziev, and Eurasian Economic Commission Board Chairman Mikhail Myasnikovich.

Addressing the videoconference, the Armenian Prime Minister noted that despite the emergency, everything has to be done to ensure the Organizations smooth operations. In this regard, Nikol Pashinyan welcomed the holding of meetings in this format at all levels and shared information with EAEU partners on the situation with Covid-19 pandemic in Armenia.

First, I must say that the situation is under control in the country. A state of emergency has been imposed since March 16, and a strict quarantine - March 24. Like almost all those nations that were hit by the ongoing pandemic, we have imposed severe restrictions on air and land communications.

As of yesterday, we had 937 cases of infection, 149 recovered patients, and unfortunately, 11 deaths. In the vast majority of infections the disease proceeds in quite a mild form, even asymptomatic. But we are not relaxing. We intend to intensify measures to combat the pandemic specifically by increasing the number of testing.

In the fight against the pandemic, we are working with our key international partners. And I would like to take this opportunity to thank my Russian colleagues for prompt response and effective cooperation. In this regard, I would like to note that Armenia is ready to provide support and assistance to its EAEU partners as much as possible. I do believe that we are bound by duty to coordinate our efforts in the fight against pandemic.

Second, I wish to inform you that the Government of Armenia recently adopted a package of 10 measures to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the pandemic for both the population and businesses. In particular, we earmarked more than USD 50 million for the needs of the most vulnerable segments of the population, and the same amount to support the private sector. The Armenian government is also taking measures to stimulate the economy and curb crisis phenomena, the occurrence of which is no longer called into question.

Yes, unfortunately we are directly on the verge of a recession. Apparently, this will no longer be possible to avoid. Moreover, no one knows what the scenario of this crisis will be. How long will the pandemic last? Will it have relapses and repercussions in the future? How deep will the crisis be, and what will be the behavior of the global economy in these conditions?

We believe that the present unprecedented conditions first of all oblige us to ensure uninterrupted functioning of the free trade regime within the EAEU. Restricting the movement of goods and services within the EAEU is unacceptable even amid the pandemic.

Secondly, it is crucial to ensure the smooth running of freight. Uninterrupted freight traffic with the EAEU is of paramount importance to Armenia. The Russian-Georgian border in this regard is of vital importance. In this regard, I would like to thank for the support provided by the Government of the Russian Federation. Thank you, Mikhail Vladimirovich.

Finally, as we can see it, it is necessary to speed up the adoption of measures to significantly increase the share of payments in national currencies in trade within the EAEU.

I am more than convinced that we must strengthen our Union, even in a pandemic and in the face of serious challenges of an imminent recession. We must prove the viability of our organization, its viability in times of crisis and be prepared to take advantage of all those economic opportunities that may arise in the post-crisis period.

In that regard, I would like to note that we fully support the Secretary-submitted joint statement by the Eurasian Supreme Council members. It goes in tune with our vision of challenges to cooperation stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is perhaps the range of issues that I wanted to share with you.

To conclude my speech on an optimistic note, I would like to once again express Armenias readiness to host the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Council this fall. We hope that the pandemic will have been overcome by this time. Thank you.

The meeting participants went on to discuss measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union, economic development in the current situation, as well as joint steps to deal with existing problems. The participants agreed to follow up the discussion in the nearest future in the same format. In the meantime, the deputy prime ministers and ministers will continue to work on the joint agenda.
Community group awarded National Lottery funding to expand its Wrexham wellbeing hub

This article is old - Published: Friday, Apr 10th, 2020

A community group aiming to expand its well-being hub services in Wrexham has been awarded thousands of pounds to take its project forward.

95 communities across Wales have been allocated a share of 1,242,453 from The National Lottery Community Fund.

As the impacts of the measures to control COVID-19 grow, the fund continues to award grants and support local communities to deal with the challenges posed by the lockdown. Staff are working from home and the organisation says its priority is ensuring that money keeps flowing into communities.

Three of the 95 organisations funded this month are:

 Mind Ltd in Mold applied for 9,750 to continue and expand their Wellbeing Hub in Wrexham.

 Kidcare4U in Newport who received 9,994 to support familes overcome language barriers to stay connected in their communities.

 Resolven Building Blocks in Neath, received 99,885 to deliver a mental health service over three years for families with children and young people who have disabilities. They plan to offer tailored counselling sessions, peer support groups and workshops for parents and family actions plans.

John Rose, Wales Director, The National Lottery Community Fund said: As the largest funder of community activity in the UK, our first priority is to support people and communities through our funding in the best way we can.

We want to reassure the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector that we are still here and still making awards. In fact, we have committed up to 300 million of National Lottery funding to support communities in dealing wth the current crisis. This is not new money, but it will be fast tracked into communities.

We appreciate that many of the organisations who have just heard they have been awarded funding may need to delay the delivery of their project. We will be flexible and trust that all our grant holders know what is best as they manage the impact of these challenging times.

The Fund announced last week that, over the next six months, up to 300m of National Lottery funding will be awarded across the UK, to address the current crisis.

Some of the organisations who have previously had grants are already adapting the support they offer, as they respond to government guidelines on social distancing. For example:

 Same But Different usually based in Mold North Wales has moved its weekly Coffee and Share group online so that they can still come together virtually to support one another during these challenging times.

 Mess up the Mess theatre in Carmarthenshire has moved its theatre sessions online so that the young people ,who usually come along in person, can continue to meet regularly.

 New Pathways who offer counselling for survivors of rape and sexual abuse are continuing to provide counselling services, over the phone.

Full updates from The National Lottery Community Funds response to the measures to address COVID-19 and general contact details can be found on the website www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk.
For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here.

Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Some miners began relocating workers from the east coast to the west. Others sent nurses to check fly-in fly-out staff for high temperatures before they boarded planes. Rosters were redrawn to keep workers on site for weeks at a time to reduce comings and goings, and mines began stockpiling months worth of spare parts in case supply lines were cut. Even before state governments across the country made the unprecedented decisions to close their borders to combat coronavirus, Australias big resources companies were racing to cover off on every contingency  which is a good thing, because the stakes could hardly be higher. A wave of interstate travel restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus has complicated the movement of mining companies' fly-in, fly-out workers Credit:Glenn Hunt In a time of spiralling job losses and business closures everywhere, fears of a slowdown in the $290 billion mining sector  often referred to as the engine room of the Australian economy  extend well beyond those counting company profits. Ensuring the industry stays open has emerged as a national concern. The resources sector has already shown great resilience to be in such a position of strength as we head into this current health crisis, Federal Resources Minister Keith Pitt tells The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. Its an important part of the economy. It will be an even more important part of our recovery. Swathes of the economy have been brought to a standstill, as governments intensify restrictions to halt the spread of the virus. So far, the mining sector  deemed an essential activity  has been largely spared from the brunt of closures and interstate travel bans, which could imperil the movement of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) personnel and the industry as whole. But the dial is shifting quickly. And whats permitted one day could well be restricted the next. For the big miners, this was made brutally apparent a week ago when the state government of Western Australia, the epicentre of mining, introduced a hard border closure, meaning interstate FIFO workers will now have to undertake 14 days of quarantine each time they enter.

Advertisement

Mike Henry, the chief executive of mining giant BHP, says the challenges presented by the pandemic are fluid, and change on an almost daily basis. There can be no guarantees about what further measures might be implemented by world governments or the directions that world markets might take, he says In an industry known for large workforces, close-quarter mess halls and remote desert accommodation sites, the risk of infection is real and the implications enormous. Hygiene controls have escalated. Meal times are staggered. Buses are running at half capacity so every second seat is free. We are not a business that can do all of our work remotely and we are fully focused on action to reduce the risk of transmission at our sites and in our offices, Henry says. The coronavirus has moved faster than businesses preparations in many parts of the world, with staff at major banks and tech companies testing positive for the virus. In Australias resources sector, its so far so good. Fourteen suspected cases across WA have all turned out to be false alarms. Rather than being reactive weve tried to be proactive, Fortescue Metals Group chief Elizabeth Gaines tells The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. One of the largest iron ore miners, Fortescue was the first in Australia to overhaul its operational rosters in light of the coronavirus threat, moving from two weeks on and one week off to 4:2. The changes have curbed staff movement by 40 per cent.

Advertisement

We want to make sure we can continue to operate safely, we want to maintain jobs, we want to sustain our business and we protect communities  and to do that weve had to make some challenging decisions. Last Tuesday at 3am, Gaines drove to Perth airport to see off a wave of staff leaving for a long stint in the Pilbara under Fortescues extended roster cycle. Its tough to say to somebody that you need to now be away from your family for four weeks, she says. People are still pleased to be working and have their jobs, but they do feel as though we have a part to play in not only sustaining our economy during the crisis, but also when Australia recovers from this crisis. With its fortunes closely tied to the vagaries of the global commodities cycle, the sector is no stranger to downturn. Having weathered the global financial meltdown of 2008 and the commodity market collapse of 2015-16, which wiped out the gains of the mining boom, the pandemic has now pushed the industry into uncharted waters. "Just when we thought it was starting to recover - in the early part of this year, latter part of last year - we've been hit for six again," says industry veteran Owen Hegarty, the former head of Australian copper and gold miner Oxiana. "We've been through a few of these before... financial crises, product-pricing crises... but one that's got a health issue and safety issue associated with at the same time is a bit different," says Hegarty. "That's something that's a bit beyond our control, and you're in the hands of the authorities."

Advertisement

So far, demand for Australias top export, the steelmaking ingredient iron ore, has been resilient, with the price remaining between $US80-90 a tonne. Fortescues Gaines says promising signs of an economic rebound in China  the top consumer of iron ore  could drive demand higher as industries return to work. For mining analysts like UBSs Glyn Lawcock, however, no commodity is immune while uncertainty lingers about the impact of restrictions that could lie ahead in markets around the world. Even if conditions are strong in China, which accounts for 73 per cent of iron ore demand, unfortunately, now Im worried about the other 27 per cent, says Lawcock. Nine per cent of iron ore consumption in the seaborne market is Europe, and you know whats happening there right now. If Europe cuts steel production and disruptions ease in other iron ore-exporting nations like Brazil and South Africa, what does that mean for the second quarter? There are a lot of ifs and maybes, says Lawcock. Deloittes Ian Sanders says the downturn could imperil the financial positions of some in the sector and potentially spur a wave of divestment activity in order to get cash. If youre one of the top five mining clients, youve worked hard to get a strong balance sheet over the past few years, Sanders says. At the next level, it can be more difficult when you get into these times  some of them arent going to make it through this as well as theyd like. With emergency planning in its DNA, mining leaders are confident in the sector's ability to respond decisively to the threat of disruption and protect people and assets. We know what to do when we get into these interruptions and disruptions," says Hegarty. "So there is no question we will come out of it ... but it's really a matter of timing. Kirsty Danby, chief executive of the Port Hedland Industries Council, says miners had a track record of dealing with crises, from commodity price plunges to Aussie dollar surges to global liquidity shocks. And when we all pull together as a team  with our communities and our governments  we will navigate the best recovery plan for all of us, she says. Since the crisis began, Keith Pitt, the resources minister, has been in daily contact with industry leaders and weekly contact with his state counterparts.

Advertisement
WASHINGTON  Federal contactors complained on Thursday that they were being given short shrift by guidelines released by the intelligence community for paying employees with coronavirus relief funds.

The guidelines from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence allow intelligence agencies to fund contractors for lost hours from March 27, the date President Trump signed the $2 trillion relief package into law. But federal contractors say the rules are far more restrictive than the Pentagons guidelines, which allow relief from losses the companies began to suffer starting at the end of January, when a national emergency was declared.

Because many of the nations intelligence agencies, like the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, are part of the military, it is not clear which set of rules applies.

At stake are millions of dollars to help intelligence contractors recover from losses in recent weeks, when their workers with top-secret clearances have been blocked from going to work. Because they work with classified material, which generally can be viewed only in secured rooms or on secured electronic systems, they have been unable to perform their jobs, putting the contracts at risk.
India is preparing to start clinical trials to treat coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients with convalescent plasma therapy that involves drawing antibody-rich blood of Covid1-9 survivors to treat the sick.

The therapy has shown promise in treating Covid-19 patients, the American journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), reported on Tuesday.

The countrys apex biomedical research organisation, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), is working on the guidelines to conduct the trial, and, once ready, the draft will be taken to the apex drugs regulator, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), for approvals to conduct the trials.

The draft should be ready in the next couple of days. Since it is a new drug, it has to be given on a clinical trial mode, for which the approval of the drugs controller is a must. Once the draft is ready, then ICMR, as per protocol, will approach the DCGI, for approval to conduct a clinical trial in the country, said Dr Manoj V Murhekar, director, National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai.

The therapy, the most distinct among the handful of options doctors around the world have for Covid-19 at present, had consistent and safe effects on a small group of 10 patients in China who were critically ill but began to show significant improvements after a single dose, PNAS reported.

In other countries, it has been found to be useful in limited patients who were on ventilator support. It is not meant for everyone but to begin with we will be selecting patients who would be given this medicine on a study mode. The process will be expedited as during pandemics you dont have to recruit a large number of patients for such trials. A small number is good enough, and the DCGI is quick to give approvals for anything Covid-19 related these days, so we are expecting to start soon, said Dr Murhekar.

Unless the DCGI approves, the clinical trial cannot begin anywhere in the country, he added.

The basis for convalescent plasma therapy is simple: plasma  a component of the blood  from a recovered patient carries the specific antibodies that can neutralise the Sars-Cov-2 virus, which causes Covid-19. This is transfused in a patient fighting the infection, acting as reinforcement for the immune system.

The ICMRs technical committee that reviews testing criteria also revised the guidelines on Thursday, and directed states to focus on hot spots and clusters to conduct rRT-PCR (Real-Time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction)

testing of all influenza like illnesses if the symptom (fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose) has developed within seven days.

Those who came down with symptoms more than a week ago should be made to undergo antibody based rapid blood test. If negative then has to be confirmed by performing an RT-PCR, says the revised guideline.

Also, to understand the evolution of the virus better, the Centre has involved two Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) labs, the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, and the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in New Delhi that have started working together on the whole genome sequencing of Sars-Cov-2.

These two labs have already started work on the virus, and hopefully we should be able to know the virus better, said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, health ministry.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
DUBAI/MOSCOW/LONDONOPEC, Russia and other allies outlined plans on Thursday to cut their oil output by more than a fifth and said they expected the United States and other producers to join in their effort to prop up prices hammered by the CCP virus crisis.

But the group, known as OPEC+, said a final agreement was dependent on Mexico signing up to the pact after it balked at the production cuts it was asked to make. Discussions among top global energy ministers will resume on Friday.

The planned output curbs by OPEC+ amount to 10 million barrels per day (bpd) or 10 percent of global supplies, with another 5 million bpd expected to come from other nations to help deal with the deepest oil crisis in decades.

Global fuel demand has plunged by around 30 million bpd, or 30 percent of global supplies, as steps to fight the virus have grounded planes, cut vehicle usage and curbed economic activity.

An unprecedented 15 million bpd cut still wont remove enough crude to stop the worlds storage facilities quickly filling up. And far from signaling any readiness to offer support, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened Saudi Arabia if it did not fix the oil markets problem of oversupply.

Trump, who has said U.S. output was already falling due to low prices, warned Riyadh it could face sanctions and tariffs on its oil if it did not cut enough to help the U.S. oil industry, whose higher costs have left it struggling with low prices.

A White House aide said Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Salman of Saudi Arabia about the talks, after a U.S. official said the OPEC+ move towards cuts sent an important signal to the market.

Officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia have said the scale of the crisis required involvement of all producers.

We are expecting other producers outside the OPEC+ club to join the measures, which might happen tomorrow during G20, the head of Russias wealth fund and one of Moscows top oil negotiators, Kirill Dmitriev, told Reuters.

Thursdays OPEC+ talks will be followed by a call on Friday between energy ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, hosted by Saudi Arabia.

OPEC and Russian sources said they expected other producers to add 5 million bpd to cuts, although an OPEC+ statement on Thursday made no mention of any such condition.

Brent oil prices, which hit an 18-year low last month, were trading around $32 a barrel on Thursday, half their level at the end of 2019.

By Rania El Gamal, Olesya Astakhova and Ahmad Ghaddar
Bashar al-Assad has promoted Brigadier General Yusef Ghanem Hussein, who is known for committing massacres of civilians writes Zaman Al-Wasl.

Bashar al-Assad has appointed Brigadier General Yusef Ghanem Hussein as the commander of the Air Force 24th Brigade in eastern Deir ez-Zor province, sources told Zaman al-Wasl on Wednesday.

According to military sources, Hussein is considered the most successful Sukhoi-24 pilot, carrying out numerous deadly strikes since the Syrian revolution erupted in 2011.

Hussein committed the first massacre in the city of Douma on Nov. 2, 2012, carrying out two successive airstrikes in his Sukhoi-24, which took off from Squadron 696 of the 17th Brigade near Damascus.

Commanders of the Syrian Air Force are carefully selected, as the appointments of last years show, which included officers famed for their strong loyalty and most descended from loyalists in Assads inner circle.

Assad also appointed Brig. Gen Haitham Suleiman Barakat as the commander of 123rd Infantry Regiment in the 17th Division in Hassakeh province.

Most of the promoted generals come from Bashar al-Assads hometown in coastal region and belong to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
OTTAWA

April 9, 2020

Canada

University of Calgary

Keith Dobson

Social Connection in the Era of Physical Distance

MHCC Resource Hub: Mental health and wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic

Canada

/CNW/ - Today, the Mental Health Commission of(MHCC) is releasing a collection of deliberate actions we can take to hold social isolation at bay. Developed in collaboration with psychologist and professor at the, Dr., these how-tos are intended to help make physical distancing more bearable through intentional social connection.The upcoming holiday weekend is going to challenge all of us to make important concessions  even sacrifices  in the name of the greater good. Many of us are used to gathering over Easter or Passover with family and friends. For some, this weekend will mean missed visits with loved ones we seldom see. For others, essential work will require time away from family. For those of us working at home, a three or four day weekend may entail a significant drop in our daily interactions.But whatever our individual circumstances, as we call on each other to practise physical distancing, it's never been more important to invest the time and energy to nurture our social ties.Follow MHCC on FacebookFollow MHCC on TwitterFollow MHCC on LinkedInFollow MHCC on InstagramSubscribe to MHCC on YouTubeSOURCE Mental Health Commission of
During these alarming times our country is enduring, I must take the time to bring to your attention the incredible assistance received from U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham (Toby Tyler) and Tim Scott (Deb Blickenstaff), as well as U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham (April Derr) who provided unwavering support, assistance and guidance through this ordeal.

Sens. Graham and Scott and Rep. Cunningham are true professionals with reassuring voices and emails who worked tirelessly for the repatriation of 11 young adults in Peru to Charleston.

On March 14, these Charlestonians left on a one-week vacation to explore Machu Picchu, Peru.

They saved their money, booked their flights and left expecting an experience they would never forget. And they wont.

From the time they landed in Cusco, Peru, these travelers encountered a multitude of obstacles, such as a government-imposed quarantine in response to the COVID-19 virus, canceled flights, canceled hotel rooms and confrontations with the Peruvian military and police enforcing the quarantine.

Exacerbated by the daily stress and lack of information they received, coupled with the fact they were desperate to return home, it was disheartening for these young adults to feel their country was failing to help them.

Thank God and all of those who helped repatriate these travelers that they are all safely home now.

REBECCA and LENNY BERNIER

Scotts Creek Circle

Mount Pleasant

Costly delay

Gov. Henry McMasters thoughtless delay in issuing the stay-at-home order will likely result in unnecessary deaths in South Carolina.

His mindless adherence to the wishful thinking of President Donald Trump will cost us all in the end.

TERRY TSURUTIS

Bull Street

Charleston

Leadership lacking

Where is our federal and state leadership?

Until recently, people with extended families from New York, the U.S. epicenter for the virus, could rent here (or visit their second home) without any prior testing or screening. The same was true in Florida, where they have the highest ratio of people in the high-risk category.

President Trump wants to refer to this as a war, but in what war do certain states get to opt out?

Instead of constantly patting himself on the back, how about providing proper testing for all who need it and implementing a national response instead of blaming the states and your predecessor?

Action is needed and it is needed swiftly, proactively and uniformly.

The stimulus package was a step in the right direction, but so much more needs to be done to protect all Americans.

This will be a monthslong effort and will not be prayed away or magically disappear.

Everyone needs to have access to testing and to live their lives, no matter the sacrifice, under a federal mandate. It is not up to states and cities.

With mismatched restrictions, how can we expect to properly combat this enemy and win this war?

CHRIS McQUEENEY

21st Avenue

Isle of Palms

Support aquarium

The South Carolina Aquarium is a special experience.

Guests from all over the world can attest to that. But it is a child who first touches an alligator or first sees a sand tiger shark who can really tell you about a special experience.

The doors are temporarily closed, but families can still enjoy what the aquarium offers at scaquarium.org.

As life has slowed outside the aquarium, life inside continues at its usual daily pace. More than 5,000 animals must be fed and cared for, and support systems must be maintained.

With no admissions income, that becomes a very real concern for this nonprofit organization.

The animals dont know how their needs are met, but caring people do.

While at the website, click Support then Emergency Relief Fund.

Yes, there is something readers can do to help during this unusual time.

ROBERT MILSTEAD

Spooner Court

Goose Creek

Thanking helpers

Other jurisdictions and countries are showing their appreciation and gratefulness for the helpers. And we can in Charleston as well.

For the past couple of Monday evenings, my neighbors and I have been thanking the helpers. We stand outside our homes, lean out a window, stand on the sidewalk (at a safe distance) at 7 p.m.

We then clap, hoot, holler, bang a pot or pan, ring a cowbell, use a whistle or just cheer for our selfless medical workers, our police and firefighters, the good folks still working at grocery stores, the folks who keep the lights and water on, our sanitation workers and those custodians still on the job.

I would love to see this happen across the area. We can show those selfless workers how much we truly appreciate them.

We had fun getting the kids involved, clapping, cheering and letting folks know we truly appreciate what theyre doing.

I dont know about you, but this Monday at 7 p.m., and each week during this terrible time, I will be out there, thanking the helpers with as much noise as I can make.

C.L. IRWIN

Montagu Street

Charleston

Takeout options

A big thank you to all the restaurants that are open for takeout.

My friends and I had been dining out a couple of times a week before the coronavirus pandemic.

Restaurants being open for takeout allows us to get our dinners and bring them to a friends home to dine together and play games.

It is a nice diversion from eating alone all the time. Keep it up.

SUSAN HAEFNER

Rice Circle

Ladson
Kelloggs provides food and donations to organisations across Wrexham

This article is old - Published: Friday, Apr 10th, 2020

Kelloggs has pledged to donate thousands of boxes of cereal and snacks to help those in need across the UK.

Working with its charity partners, including national charity FareShare, the company, which has a factory on the Wrexham Industrial Estate, will distribute more than three million servings of food.

This equates to 13 lorries worth and 90,000kg, to food banks, schools, charities and NHS staff nationwide.

Kelloggs will also donate funds to help with the distribution of the food, ensuring that the donations get to those who need them most in a safe and efficient way.

Locally Kelloggs factory colleagues have been hand delivering food donations to Wrexham Maelor Hospital, Gobowen Hospital, Ty Derbyn, Y Heddfan, Grove Road Health Centre, Wrexham food bank at the Salvation Army and Hafod Y Wern Primary School.

Kelloggs VP and head of UK business, Chris Silcock, said: This is a very challenging time for so many people and inevitably the most vulnerable are those impacted the most.

Thats why, we are doing our part by providing much needed food and cash donations to charities across the UK to support the vital work they are doing. Our goal is to get as much food as we can to the people who need it most.

Kelloggs has a long history of helping to deliver support to families and children in need through its school breakfast club programme, which it has been running since 1998. At this time, the company is continuing to support schools that are staying open to care for the children of key workers, including those in the NHS.

The company is also supporting the Publicis Shop Responsibly campaign, which encourages people to: stay home, stay safe, respect elderly people and NHS workers shopping hours, keep two metres apart and only buy whats needed.
Taxpayers are facing a wage bill of more than 16billion a month as businesses hammered by the coronavirus outbreak furlough staff.

Dozens of major companies including McDonald's, British Airways, British Gas owner Centrica and the fashion empire behind Topshop have rushed to take advantage of the Government's job retention scheme.

This has seen them send millions of workers home  with the taxpayer covering 80 per cent of their wages up to 2,500 a month.

Hand outs: Arcadia, owned by billionaire Sir Philip Green (pictured with wife Tina and daughter Chloe) is among companies to take advantage of the Government's job retention scheme

The scheme was set up by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to protect businesses and jobs during the pandemic.

But while many of the firms taking advantage are in a desperate situation, some are hugely profitable and have large amounts of cash in reserve.

Experts are worried that the costs for the Treasury are already out of control.

Ministers have deliberately not provided any estimates of how much it may cost to provide these wage subsidies.

Instead Sunak has promised to do 'whatever it takes' to rescue the economy and prevent unemployment from soaring.

But the boss of HM Revenue & Customs warned criminals would lodge fraudulent claims for wage subsidies.

Costly: Sunak has promised to do 'whatever it takes' to rescue the economy and prevent unemployment from soaring

Jim Harra said: 'Any scheme that involves paying out money I'm afraid attracts criminals who want to exploit it and also of course attracts the risk that people who are genuinely entitled to it will inflate their claims.'

The Resolution Foundation think-tank has predicted that between 7million and 10million workers in the private sector will be furloughed.

Economic think-tank The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated it would cost around 5billion to furlough 1million staff for three months.

Based on these estimates, it would cost the taxpayer around 50billion if 10million were furloughed for this period.

That is 16.7billion a month  or more than 555million a day.

With no exit strategy in prospect, there are concerns that the lockdown could last even longer than three months.

But experts have said subsidising the wages of millions of workers may be a price worth paying if its prevents unemployment from soaring.

Despite the Government's radical interventions, however, Capital Economics has predicted the Covid-19 crisis could cause unemployment to more than double from 3.9 per cent to 9 per cent, putting up to 1.7million out of work.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 10

By Ilkin Seyfaddini  Trend:

The total number of coronavirus infected people in Uzbekistan rose to 624, Trend reports citing the Ministry of Health.

Since April 1, Uzbekistan announced a self-isolation regime in Tashkent, Nukus and other regional centers. Citizens over 65 are categorically prohibited from leaving their homes. They can go out only to visit pharmacies and shops near their respective places of residence.

The first case of coronavirus infection in Uzbekistan was detected on March 15 in the laboratory of the Research Institute of Virology; it was an Uzbek woman who returned from France. The Ministry of Health later announced that her son, daughter, husband and grandson also tested coronavirus-positive.

The outbreak of the coronavirus began in the Chinese city of Wuhan (an international transport hub), at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 95,000. Over 1.6 million people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 355,000 people have reportedly recovered.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.

---

Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini
Dubai, April 10 : A newly-wed Dubai-based Indian couple, who travelled to the maldives for their honeymoon, were now stranded in the island nation amid travel restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, a media report said.

"Everyone's been telling us how lucky we are to be on an eternal honeymoon on a dream island, which also happens to have only a few cases of coronavirus (19 so far, with 13 recoveries)," Ria Bhatia told Gulf News on Thursday from her room at an idyllic beach resort located on the tip of South Male Atoll.

"But truth be told, it feels like the honeymoon is long over because we are very anxious to return home," she said.

Rohan Bhatia, who works as a trade development executive, said he and his wife were to fly back to Dubai on March 20, a day after the flight suspensions kicked in.

"By the time we realised there would be no flights after 12 noon on March 19, it was too late and we could not advance our return," he said.

Stuck on the island now, Rohan told Gulf news: "I did not bring my work laptop and can't do much from here. My employer has been very supportive through this.

"I don't know how long we will have to stay here and hope we can get back soon. Our families too are a worried lot." The couple said they had the option of flying out to their home countries when the flights to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were suspended.

"The Indian Embassy has been helpful but our situation is complicated as Ria is a Canadian passport holder and I have an Indian passport. We are both settled along with our families in the UAE and that's where we belong," he told Gulf News.
China plans to ease restrictions for rural residents applying for urban household registration status and allow more people to enjoy public services, according to a document released Thursday.

Cities with a resident population of less than 3 million should remove all barriers for rural residents to apply for urban household registration status, or hukou, according to the document released by the National Development and Reform Commission.

For bigger cities, those with a resident population of more than 3 million, restrictions should be loosened for certain groups of people such as migrant workers with stable jobs in cities and college students from rural areas, according to the document.

The document also directed local governments to promote basic public services, such as healthcare, education and housing, for people already living in cities without an urban hukou and their family members.

Under a national plan for a new type of urbanization, China has set a goal to help 100 million rural residents and people living in cities without an urban hukou settle down in cities and towns from 2014 to 2020.
Its too early to say how much factors like car ownership and the low-wage service jobs determined as essential will play into the pandemic, but experts said earlier crises, such as the Great Recession of 2007-08, show there could be slow economic recoveries for the same communities now seeing starkly high rates of coronavirus. In ZIP codes with the greatest number of COVID-19 deaths, the median household income is between $22,992 and $42,019, compared with the citys median income of $55,198. Roughly 1 in 4 individuals who live in these areas have incomes at or below the poverty line.
Bahargul Toleheng says she will revisit Wuhan when the epidemic passes after a video went viral on the Internet, showing her dancing to cheer up patients at a mobile cabin hospital in Wuhan city of central China's Hubei province, the former epicenter of the COVID-19 disease.

A painting depicting Tolehengs dance in the mobile hospital from her patient. (Photo provided by Toleheng)

Toleheng , deputy director of the Party and Government Office of the No.2 People's Hospital of Xinjiang located in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has returned to her hometown, currently under quarantine for medical observation, after the aid work in Wuhan ended.

Dancing to Black Walking Horse, Tolehengs performance at the hospital in Wuhan shows that Chinese medical staff not only treat patients but also relieve their stress and cheer them up through music and dance.

Toleheng shows a painting from her patient. (Photo provided by Toleheng)

"We are a family," Toleheng often cited this sentence during her battle against the epidemic in Wuhan. After coming back to Xinjiang, she still sings for the patients in the doctor-patient communication group of WeChat, a social media platform in China, while chatting about the news in Wuhan and Xinjiang.

During the quarantine period she has received many gifts, such as wash bags, cosmetics, and eye protectors.

Toleheng recalled that she met many friends in Wuhan and was moved by their stories, "I'm going to write them all down. When I have time, I will definitely revisit Wuhan to see my friends. On the one hand, I want to look at their faces after the masks can be taken off; on the other hand, I would like to see the beautiful scenery in Wuhan."

"The quarantine period is a good time for me to practice my dancing. When I revisit Wuhan in the future as I wish, I will definitely perform a complete Xinjiang dancing for my friends there." Toleheng added.
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- The economic fallout for Italy from Covid-19 is going to hammer its already precarious government finances. The countrys 1.7 trillion-euro ($1.9 trillion) debt mountain is the largest in Europe, and there will no doubt be a substantial jump in its ratio of debt to gross domestic product from 135% to beyond 150%.

Nevertheless, Romes ability to manage its borrowings may not be affected much at all. The numbers will be bigger, yes, but it should be able to maintain the financial balancing act.

Italy has always benefited from an elevated level of household savings, with plenty of retail investors putting their money into relatively high-yielding domestic government debt; Italian banks are big holders too.

These factors alone wouldnt be enough to prevent a repeat of the market exodus that battered Italian bonds in May 2018, when the populist coalition of the League and the Five Star Movement took power. Thats why the current Italian government is pushing so hard for a bigger European Union response, including easy terms on loans from the blocs rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism.

But with the European Central Bank already doing everything it can to keep Italian borrowing costs low, the nation is capable of weathering this storm. Indeed, it still offers a more attractive yield than the rest of Europe (at least for the most liquid paper).

It helps that the fiscal restraint imposed by Brussels on Italy means the countrys budget deficit coming into this year was lower than it might have been. The countrys planned net new bond issues will still be pretty modest at below 50 billion euros.

Of course, the picture is changing rapidly with Italys gross debt sale total for 2020 likely to zoom from 250 billion euros to 400 billion euros, according to Imogen Bachra, a European rates strategist at NatWest Markets. But the ECB will snap up much of this through its quantitative easing programs, meaning the net requirement for sales probably wont change much.

Story continues

Italian debt made up one-third of the ECBs asset purchases in March. And Rome could benefit from as much as 130 billion euros of additional pandemic response purchases by the euro zones central bank. After President Christine Lagardes initial miscalculation on the necessary crisis strategy, she deserves a lot of credit for turning things around.

The countrys debt balance might even improve, according to NatWest analysts, depending on how substantial the virus response package is from the EU. Including the possible help from the ESM and other bodies, and after accounting for very significant ECB purchases, the free float of debt that the market will have to absorb this year could be less than last year, the analysts said.

None of this factors in the very real danger that market sentiment toward Italy could deteriorate rapidly if the coronavirus takes another ugly turn or the countrys unstable political landscape shifts adversely. The ever-increasing debt to GDP burden has to be resolved permanently at some point, and that can only come from sustained growth.

However, in the short term the monetary response has propped up Rome in its hour of need. Any signs this week that the euro zones finance ministers have a united response to the Covid-19 crisis might see Italys sovereign bonds regain their poise.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Marcus Ashworth is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering European markets. He spent three decades in the banking industry, most recently as chief markets strategist at Haitong Securities in London.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

2020 Bloomberg L.P.
Instacart workers say that customers afraid to head out to the supermarket during the coronavirus lockdown are luring them with big tips only to cancel the gratuity entirely after delivering the groceries to their homes.

The practice, known as 'tip-baiting,' is particularly bothersome at a time when grocery delivery workers are risking their health to get food to Americans ordered to shelter in place during the ongoing pandemic.

'I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe it,' Instacart employee Annalilisa Arambula told CNN Business.

Arambula recalled one order that she received in late March. The customer, who lived just down the street from the supermarket, was offering a whopping $55 tip.

But after cobbling together all of the items and making the delivery as requested, Arambula received a message saying that the customer modified the tip post-delivery.

Instead of receiving a $55 gratuity, Arambula found she wasnt getting anything.

The big tips are offered so as to increase the chances of having an order delivered within a reasonable time frame  a challenge these days considering the surge in demand for grocery deliveries.

An Instacart shopper is seen above in Washington, DC, making a grocery delivery on Monday. Some Instacart shoppers say they have fallen victim to 'tip-baiting' by customers

The image above is a screenshot from the Instacart app which shows how a customer can modify the tip after the delivery is made. In the case above, the initial tip that was offered - $12.34 - was eventually reduced to zero after the delivery

But customers also have up to three days after the delivery to change the tip amount, and they often reduce it or remove it entirely after the fact.

It's very demoralizing, said Arambula, a resident of Portland, Oregon, who has worked full-time for Instacart since June 2017.

I don't pretend to be a hero, like a nurse in a hospital ... but I literally am exposing myself [to coronavirus] and when I return home, exposing my own family to the possibility of transmitting this disease.

When you know that it's somebody who's just doing it to game the system and to get their order when they want it, it's really frustrating.

Arambula is currently the only income earner in her household. Her husband is employed.

He is also a diabetic, which puts him at higher risk of falling seriously ill or dying if he contracts coronavirus.

As hundreds of millions of Americans remain indoors during the pandemic, delivery apps like Instacart have seen a surge in demand, so much so that the company said it plans to expand its North American workforce by some 300,000.

A spokesperson for Instacart told CNN that it is rare for customers to adjust their tips downward after delivery.

Instacart has seen demand surge during the coronavirus lockdown - so much so that the company says it will seek to expand its North American workforce by 300,000 workers

The spokesperson said the company recently removed the none option for a tip, so if a customer chose not to leave a tip they would have to type in 0.

One Instacart delivery worker, or full service shopper in Pennsylvania said she has experienced several similar instances.

Jenifer G. told CNN that one customer originally left a $32.94 tip after ordering 27 items from a Sams Club location.

After she made the delivery, however, that number dropped to $0.

Another customer initially put down a $13.31 tip after placing an order for 38 items from a different store.

After the delivery, however, the customers wiped out the tip completely.

Its a crapshoot, she told CNN.

These are affluent communities that I'm delivering to.

There's almost no need to not tip, especially because not only is this a convenience for you but we're in a pandemic right now.

Instacart sent an email to its customers encouraging them to please consider tipping above and beyond to reflect the extra effort of your shopper.

Tips in some cases make up about half of income for Instacart shoppers, who on average earn between $10 and $17 per hour depending on several factors, including the distance shoppers need to go to deliver the products, the weight of the products, and other variables.

It is not uncommon for delivery apps to offer customers a window to reduce or increase the tip amount after the fact.

Uber Eat and Postmates, which offer deliveries of ready-to-eat meals, give their customers between one and 10 hours to change their tip amounts.

One lawyer told CNN that he is considering taking legal action either against Instacart or possibly individual customers.

It's truly evil to bait and switch in this type of environment, said Bryant Greening, a lawyer with the firm LegalRideShare.

Their livelihood and well-being are on the line.

When these shoppers and drivers see a high tip, it's an opportunity for them to put food on the table, so they're more willing to take a risk on their health to achieve that goal.
It wasn't immediately clear how many of the roughly 215 staff in four offices across the state will return to their offices, said Ashcroft's spokeswoman, Maura Browning. Employees working in cubicles will generally be able to work from home, whereas employees who have offices will need to report to work, she said.
New Delhi: Even as the world reels under the impact of cornavirus COVID-19 on both the loss of lives and massive economic recession, China seems to be taking advantage of this economic slide. China is well on its way to become the CEO of the world's economy as other nations are busy fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The analysis was done by Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary in DNA, the world's most-watched news show.

Due to coronavirus, the world's economies have lost about Rs 300 lakh crore and this loss could be bigger. The entire world's economy is in the ICU for the last 101 days and now China is taking advantage of this crisis to engage in an international shopping spree that could make it the most influential, powerful and rich country in the world.

China has started implementing its master plan to control the economies of many rich countries of the world. China wants to buy big companies across all countries of the world at very cheap prices because their economy has taken a beating in this virus outbreak.

For example, in countries like Spain and Italy, which are suffering the most from the virus, China has started earning profits by selling large quantities of medical equipment, masks and ventilators to these countries. Also, China has made plans to take over the big companies of Europe at very cheap prices.

According to some international reports, several requests have been made to big global bankers in European countries and prices of these companies are being enquired. The most enquiries are being made by Chinese companies.

As the economies of these countries are in a bad state, companies are seeking financial help from governments but at such a time there is no help coming from the government to bail out companies and this has become a golden opportunity for China.

This virus which started from China has now become a boon for it while the world considers it as a curse.

China's expansion plans are not limited to just Europe and Australia, but also for India. From mobile phones to the Diwali lights, we use several products made by China.

There is a 67 per cent chance that the mobile phone we have in our hands is a Chinese phone. Because the mobile phones selling in India belong to Chinese companies like Xiaomi, Oppo, ViVO and Realmi among others. Also, it is about 22 per cent likely that the internet browser you are using is also a Chinese browser, because China's UC Browser has become India's No. 2 browser with 22 per cent market share.

Not only this, out of the applications available in your mobile phone, about 44 per cent of the applications are likely to be Chinese. According to research by a company named Factor-Daily, 44 of the top 100 mobile apps used in India are from China, from PuBG to apps like TikTok, Paytm. China has invested heavily in Indian companies too like Big Basket, Flipkart, Practo, PaisaBazar and Snapdeal.

China is preparing for an economic war, not a military war. And it is confident that without firing a single bullet, it will bring powerful countries of the world to its knees.
A woman reacts to a swab test being taken to check for Covid-19 infection in Ahmedabad on April 10, 2020. (AP)

The nation is seized of the question whether it should extend the 21-day lockdown prime minister Narendra Modi declared to contain the Covid-19 pandemic but there is hardly any discussion on what we have achieved in the past 16 days by shutting ourselves down.

Many states have demanded an extension of the measure. Odisha chief minister Navin Patnaik has announced his state will endure the punishing regime for another fortnight; several other states have announced sealing off of Covid hotspots.

The PM is understood to have told his party leaders during a teleconference on Wednesday that the government is contemplating introducing strong measures to ensure social distancing. The Union Health Ministry is pushing for more effective implementation of the lockdown.

However, while the government is very keen on imposing the social distancing protocol, undoubtedly a key tool in containing the pandemic, little progress has been made on improving the screening and testing process.

While screening is important to identify potential patients and stop them from spreading the virus, tests are a sure indicator to understand the extent of the spread.

As per data published by the Indian Council for Medical Research, India has tested 1.27 lakh samples till April 7. Sadly, this is almost similar to the number of samples the United States, which has of late woken up to the threat posed by the deadly disease, tests every day.

The relatively successful model of Kerala and Bhilwara in fighting the disease illustrates the fact that while strict social distancing norms are key, the tracing, screening, isolation, testing and treatment processes are equally important in ensuring that the numbers are within the limits.

Kerala, which has recorded just two deaths and reported about 350 positive cases, has conducted more than 12,000 tests and quarantined more than one and a half lakh people.

The success of Bhilwara, the new model that is emerging from Rajasthan, is attributed not only to ruthless containment but to also extensive screening and testing.

As per reports, the government set up about 7,000 teams which went house-to-house search and screened or tested over 20 lakh residents. The lockdown and the carefully planned follow-up action produced instant results with the district, a hotspot two weeks ago, reporting no new case in the last five days.

On the contrary, figures across the nation saw a surge in both the number of patients and number of deaths after two weeks of the lockdown.

This indicates that the lockdown alone cannot work wonders; it must be followed up with meticulous planning and resolute action on the ground. Limiting people to their homes is an easy administrative task that the government can implement using the police force but making the most of the exercise calls for more imaginative action. Focus on hotpots with aggressive screening, and random and rapid tests can also help. The proof of the pudding, as they, is in its eating.
The media is President Donald Trump's favorite punching bag - even in a time of crisis. Trump - and his allies - frequently deride the media, both for how they cover his administration and which stories they choose to cover.

Indeed, the president has repeatedly claimed that the media selectively chooses to cover stories that make him - and Republicans more generally - look bad and ignore those that make him look good, while doing the opposite for Democrats.

But is Trump right? Is the media really biased against conservatives in which stories they choose to cover?

Social scientists have done a lot of research on how ideology affects how the media covers various stories. But they have done almost no research on whether ideological bias affects what stories get journalists' attention and are actually covered.

Studying what we term "gate-keeping bias" - i.e., bias in which potential news stories journalists choose to cover and editors assign and publish or broadcast - is inherently tricky. Identifying the full range of stories that journalists could report on is hard. It could be that journalists are picking a representative sample of stories to cover and that information just happens to favor one party or another.

Studying this issue is important because the news media have a great deal of power in setting the agenda for public discussion and influencing what the public cares about and what issues they focus on.

We checked. We found no evidence of left/right bias in what U.S. political journalists for newspapers choose to cover.

- How we did our research

Our new research set out to see whether Trump and his allies are right, and to test whether political reporters are ideologically biased toward liberals or Democrats.

To test this possibility, we did three things.

First, we sent a survey out to the more than 13,000 political journalists who write for the many newspapers in the United States. We found these journalists using the U.S. Newspaper List. Among the 13,000 on our original list, about 13 percent responded to our survey. This response rate is similar to other surveys of journalists that have been done in the past, perhaps even a bit higher. Our survey gave us a representative view of where journalists stand.

In the survey, we directly asked journalists about their own ideological leanings. Then we asked them to make decisions about hypothetical news stories about either a liberal or a conservative running for office, in what social scientists call a conjoint experiment design.

Second, we collected information on the types of people political newspaper journalists choose to follow on Twitter. This allowed us to map the full network of people with whom journalists interact through that medium.

Finally, we ran a real-world correspondence experiment of our respondents' actual choices to either cover or not cover a potential news story. Correspondence experiments - which involve corresponding with the subject or subjects - help audit individuals' behavior in the real world. This approach has been used to test for bias in hiring by sending out fictional resumes, housing by sending out housing applications, and so on.

We created an email account and from there, sent an email from a purported candidate running for that state's legislature, asking the reporter to interview someone about the candidate's campaign. We randomly assigned journalists to receive an email from either a liberal or conservative candidate.

- Journalists are very liberal

In our survey data, we found that U.S. political journalists are overwhelmingly liberal. Of the journalists who responded to our survey, 78 percent said that they identified with or leaned toward a certain party/ideology. Of those who did say they identified with a political party, 8 in 10 said they were liberal/Democrats.

However, the survey data left us with two pretty big problems. First, about 1 in 4 of the journalists claimed to be independent. Given that most independent citizens actually lean toward one side or the other, where do the many "independent" journalists lean ideologically? Or are they truly independent? Second, about 1 in 3 of those who responded to the survey chose not to fill out the question on ideology.

To get past these hurdles and measure ideology for a broader pool of journalists, we collected information for all the journalists in our sample who were on Twitter and who those people choose to follow on that platform. We then used a statistical method that assesses the proportion of those followed who were liberal or conservative. This method is remarkably good at identifying individuals' political leanings. We also found that this measure of how liberal journalists are correlated well with the responses of those who actually answered the ideology question on our survey.

- Political journalists responded equally to liberal and conservative candidates' requests for coverage

On average, the journalists in our samples are far to the left of the average Twitter user and even to the left of prominent liberal politicians like former president Barack Obama. So, does that influence what candidates they choose to cover or not cover?

In both our survey experiment and our correspondence experiment of journalist behavior in the real world, we found that journalists are just as likely to cover "conservative" candidates as they are to cover "liberal" candidates.

Political reporters were just as likely to respond to our state candidate's request to be covered whether the candidate was portrayed as very conservative or very progressive. This didn't differ between liberal and conservative journalists; journalists weren't more likely to cover a candidate of their own ideology. Journalists also weren't more likely to respond to conservative candidates in areas that voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016.

In short, despite being overwhelmingly liberal themselves, journalists show a great deal of impartiality in the types of candidates that they choose to write about when a potential story is presented to them.

Why do (mostly liberal) journalists respond to conservative and liberal candidates equally? Many journalists are trained to be impartial in their coverage. Powerful norms of balanced coverage in the journalism profession appear to shape journalists' decisions in what they choose to cover.

- - -

Hassell is an assistant professor of political science at Florida State University.

Holbein is an assistant professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.

Miles is a professor of political science at Brigham Young University-Idaho.

For other commentaries by political scientists from universities around the country, see www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage
Despite India reporting nearly 200 COVID-19 deaths in last one month, the country's death rate of about 3 per cent is lower than the global rate, and also much lower than several European countries like the UK, Italy and Spain, according to some medical experts.

India had reported its first COVID-19 death from Karnataka on March 10.

Suggesting that a relatively young Indian population may be one of the reasons for the low mortality rate due to the pandemic, experts have attributed the high number of fatalities in countries like Italy and Spain to their elderly population which are more susceptible to developing complications after contracting the infection.

According to the data shared by the Union health ministry earlier this week, about 63 per cent deaths have been reported among people aged 60 and above, 30 per cent among people between 40 to 60 years and seven per cent among people below 40 years.

India so far has reported 6,412 confirmed cases of coronavirus with a death toll of nearly 200, making it 3.1 per cent death rate ---percentage of deaths with respect to the total number of confirmed cases.

As per the US official figures, that country has reported 4,27,460 COVID-19 cases with 14,696 deaths, amounting to a death rate of 3.4 per cent. However, according to John Hopkins University and Medicine, 4,66,299 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the US with 16,686 deaths (death rate of 3.57 per cent).

However, death rate is high in Europe. As per official figures from European countries, Spain has death rate of 9.73 per cent (1,57,022 COVID-19 cases and 15,843 deaths) and Italy having a death rate of 12.72 per cent(143,626 cases and 18,279 deaths). The UK has reported a death rate of over 12 per cent (65,077 cases and 7,978 deaths). All much higher than India.

Only Germany seems to be able to contain the spread of the fast-spreading virus effectively with 1,13,525 confirmed cases and 2,373 deaths reported so far, recording about a 2.09 per cent death rate.

India's death rate of COVID-19 is also lower than the global death rate of 5.98 per cent with a total of 1,610,055 cases and 96,365 deaths worldwide, according to data and statistics website worldometer.

Dr Ravi Shekhar Jha, Senior Consultant and Head of the Department, Pulmonology, Fortis Escorts Faridabad, said in Italy, Spain and the US, "older population has been affected more compared to India where the fatalities have been less, perhaps because our population is fairly young".

Jha also attributed an early and strict lockdown in India as one of the reasons that may have helped in containing the COVID-19 cases.

He, however, noted that in India, the COVID-19 mortality rates differed from region to region e.g about 10 per cent in Indore to about 1 per cent in Haryana.

Jha lauded Germany for being able to keep the death rate from coronavirus very low, because of its "excellent healthcare system".

Dr Rommel Tickoo, associate Director, internal medicine, Max healthcare, agreed with Jha, saying Germany has been able to keep the fatalities on lower side with their good healthcare system.

"Two reasons can be attributed to less deaths in India--- firstly, the high-risk group of people aged 60 and above being affected less compared to in Europe and the US, and secondly, less severity of the virus in India," he told PTI.

"In India, the 20-40 age group account for over 40 per cent of the cases and above 60 age group about 19 per cent. So, in India the younger population is getting affected more, and hence, perhaps the less number of deaths," he said.

Earlier this week, the health ministry had said people aged below 40 years account for 47 per cent of the total confirmed cases, those between 40 and 60 for 34 per cent, and those aged 60 years and above account for 19 per cent.

Dr Rajesh Chawla, a pulmonologist at Apollo Hospital, also feels India having a relatively younger population compared to the Europe could be a reason for less fatalities in the country.

"Also, the 18-60 is an active age group compared to people who are 60 years and older, many of whom have comorbid conditions. Italy has a large geriatric population," he said while elaborating on the reasons why the virus could impact the older population more.

Comorbidity refers to the existence of multiple disorders in the same person.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
About 36 years after he was sentenced to 100 years in prison, late Ambrose Alli, a former governor of the defunct Bendel State has received a presidential pardon.

Towards the end of 1983, the military regime of Muhammadu Buhari took power, removed Mr Alli from office as a civilian governor and jailed him after a military tribunal found him guilty of allegedly misappropriating 983,000 funds for a road project.

Now a civilian president, Mr Buhari on Thursday granted a posthumous presidential amnesty to Mr Alli alongside a foremost nationalist, late Anthony Enahoro.

Mr Ehanoro who died in December 2010 at the age of 87 was released in 1966 after serving 15 years in detention for alleged treasonable felony. He held several political positions afterward and it was not clear if he carried the tag of ex-convict all along.

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who announced the pardon at a press conference in Abuja, said three other prominent ex-convicts who are still alive also benefited from the presidents prerogative of mercy.

They are: Moses Effiong, a former lieutenant colonel who was condemned to death in February 1986 by the Ibrahim Babangida administration over a coup plot; Major E.J. Olanrewaju and Ajayi Olusola Babalola.

The presidential gesture means that they were never convicted and therefore would no longer carry the ignoble toga of an ex-convict.

In a slew of pardons and commutations, 70 inmates, including 39 federal offenders were freed from incarceration as part of the Buhari administrations plan of decongesting the Nigerian Correctional Centres amid the coronavirus crisis.

Mr Aregbesola explained that the president had also approved the release of 2,600 inmates across various custodial centers in the 36 states of the federation.

Only inmates that are 60 years old and above, those suffering from ill-health that is likely to terminate in death, convicts serving three years and above and have less than six months to serve, inmates with mental health issues, and inmates with options of fines not exceeding N50,000 and have no pending cases are eligible for the pardon.

Meanwhile, the minister spoke scantily of late Messrs Alli and Ehanoro. He also did not explain how President Buhari arrived at the decision to pardon them in death.

Mr Ali was the governor of the old Bendel State in the Second Republic (1978-1983) and a progressive while Mr Enahoro was a foremost nationalist who moved the motion for Nigerias independence, he said.

Ambrose Alli

A professor of morbid anatomy, Mr Alli was the first civilian governor of the old Bendel state, now broken into Edo and Delta. He governed the state between 1979 and 1983.

Late Mr Alli was an example of the institutional challenges facing Nigerian correctional centres. He practically went blind while in prison.

While serving his jail term at Kirikiri prison, Lagos, the former civilian governors health deteriorated. He underwent a surgery after which he was transferred to Jos prison by road, a journey that took a took on his health and sight. From there, he was moved to Agodi prison, Ibadan.

Many traditional leaders, including in Ekpoma, Edo state honored Mr Alli by erecting his statues.

Anthony Ehanoro

A renowned journalist and nationalist, Anthony Enahoro in 1953 became the first to move the motion for Nigerias independence which was eventually granted in 1960 after several political setbacks and defeats in parliament.

Mr Enahoro began his political career in 1950, when he, along with Arthur Prest founded the Mid-West Party. He later joined the Action Group, founded by Obafemi Awolowo.

When crisis broke out in 1962 in the Western region, Mr Enahoro was immersed fully in it. He was detained along with other Action Group leaders, accused of treason.

Mr Enahoro fled to Britain and became known as the fugitive offender.

He was however extradited to Nigeria and tried for treasonable felony and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, reduced on appeal. In his autobiography, Fugitive Offender (1965), he claimed that the trial was based on slender and doubtful evidence, which in the long run would help in salvaging his political reputation.

Advertisements



After his release in 1966, he kicked off his political career once again, taking several key roles in government. It was not clear if he was still carrying the tag of an ex-convict when he was made commissioner for information and labor in the administration of General Yakubu Gowon in 1967.

Mr Enahoro, Wole Soyinka, Alani Akinrinade and eight others would later be charged with treason in 1997. The case was dropped by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who succeeded Sani Abacha.

Mr Enahoro died aged 87 in December 2010.
How can we escape from the coronavirus lockdown? Some would have you believe that even discussing the question is reckless. What if it confuses or undermines the governments message to stay at home and save lives?

However, once case numbers come down, the route out of this crisis will require difficult choices and broad-based public support. Unless we start to build that support now, the cost of coronavirus  in terms of lost lives and livelihoods  will continue to mount.

The government has six main options for defeating Covid-19. First, it could try to maintain the current aggressive social distancing measures until a vaccine becomes available in 12-to-18 months. This would limit the number of deaths. But such a strategy would come at extraordinary cost  socially, mentally, physically and economically. We could see economic activity this year fall by as much as a third, unemployment in the many millions, and severe permanent damage to living standards. Faced with such costs it is hard to see how public consent for the lockdown can hold.

Could the government gradually ease off the restrictions once new cases of the virus slow to a trickle? On its own, this approach would probably result in another spike in infections. No country has yet been able to get the virus under control without stringent social distancing measures. Work from Imperial College London suggests that its only when weve thrown the kitchen sink at the virus that its spread can be arrested.

(MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis/Imperial College London)

Instead the government could look to dial restrictions up and down over time to control the outbreak. Tougher measures would be deployed when new cases hit a certain threshold and subsequently relaxed once numbers dropped. The health costs here would be significant, and over the course of the coming year it would lead to many thousands of deaths. But nor does the strategy offer much for peoples livelihoods. The same Imperial College team estimates that we would need to spend as much as two-thirds of the time on lockdown. Its hard to see many businesses hiring or investing in the knowledge that the economy will spend most of the year in the deep freeze.

(MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis/Imperial College London) (Imperial College London)

What about immunity certificates? If we could get a reliable antibody test, perhaps people whove had the virus and acquired immunity could be allowed to go back to work. But this poses several problems, not the least of which is that no such reliable test currently exists. Even when it does, if less than 10 per cent of the population have had the disease, are we really proposing to keep the other 90 per cent in penury, under lock and key for a year or until they catch it? Immunity certificates on their own are an ethical and economic non-starter.

Mass testing has been high on the agenda in recent weeks and its possible to imagine a fifth exit strategy based on this approach alone. But with the coronavirus incubation period typically less than a week, a clear test result is only valid for a few days. That suggests a random testing approach would need to cover many millions of people every week to keep a lid on an outbreak. It could take many months to get the supplies and logistical infrastructure in place for such a programme, and we dont have that sort of time.

The trick then is to maximise the value of the testing capacity we do have by pairing it with a system to close down the chain of transmission between infected people. If someone who tests positive can quickly alert all those theyve been in recent contact with, getting them to self-isolate, we can put this virus out of business.

(Tony Blair Institute (Tony Blair Institute)

App-based contact tracing combined with mass-testing therefore offers the only viable way out of the crisis that allows us to save lives without crushing the economy. For it to work, such an app would need to be used by a majority of the population. To allow us to move faster, the strategy could be combined with supplementary measures, like shielding of the over-65s or a region-by-region approach to ending the lockdown, until such time as app coverage and testing capacity were high enough too put the virus in lockdown.

Such intrusive containment measures will raise important questions among the public, and their effectiveness will depend upon achieving widespread acceptance.

That should be achievable. We need not ape the Orwellian powers handed to the South Korean government to track and publish citizens locations. Much more promising is the Singaporean approach of an app that logs anonymised phone details of people who have come within close Bluetooth range. Contacts are then alerted instantly of someone who subsequently tests positive for the infection. Anonymised contact data is automatically deleted after a number of days.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) advises that countries should not lift lockdown restrictions unless they are sure that they have a tracing and testing system in place that keeps communities safe. Getting that tracing system isnt just about cracking the tech, it will also require the British public to be comfortable with its use.

In this race against time, we should discuss what those urgently needed measures mean for our society, now.

Ian Mulheirn is executive director for policy at the Tony Blair Institute
[April 10, 2020] James M. Aquilina, Legacy Stroz Friedberg Executive, Joins Crypsis as Advisor to the Board of Directors

McLEAN, Va., April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Crypsis Group, a leading incident response, risk management and digital forensics firm, announced today the appointment of James M. Aquilina as advisor to the company's Board of Directors. Aquilina will lend the Crypsis board over 20 years of experience as a cybersecurity expert, incident responder, investigator and prosecutor, helping the firm continue their aggressive growth, strategic expansion and services development. Formerly, Aquilina was president of Aon Global Cyber Solutions at Stroz Friedberg, where he rose from building the West Coast offices to leading the firm's digital forensics practice, ultimately becoming president in 2017. Much of his work with Stroz included hands-on digital forensic, internet investigative and electronic discovery assignments in criminal, civil, regulatory and internal corporate matters, addressing some of the most high-profile and large-scale client investigations handled by the firm. "We are honored to welcome James to Crypsis," said Bret Padres, Crypss CEO. "We are driving significant growth and gaining momentum in the market; James brings invaluable insights to further accelerate that growth, scale the business efficiently and address increasingly complex, high-profile matters for clients across a broad spectrum of needs."



Prior to joining Stroz Friedberg, Aquilina was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, where he conducted and led investigations and prosecutions of computer intrusions, extortionate denial of service attacks, computer and internet fraud, and other cybersecurity-related matters. He is a published author on malware forensics and has served as a special master or court-appointed neutral in various complex matters involving digital evidence. "Crypsis is a high-powered, talented team that continually gains mindshare in the cybersecurity services space," said Aquilina. "I am thrilled to contribute to its current and future successes while getting the opportunity to work with some of the best and most caring people in the business."

About the Crypsis Group

Crypsis creates a more secure digital world by providing the highest-quality incident response, risk management and digital forensic services to over 1,700 organizations globally. Named one of the Top 10 Digital Forensics Services Companies of 2019 by Enterprise Security magazine, The Crypsis Group helps clients defend against and respond to cybersecurity threats through their cybersecurity expertise, global incident response capabilities and continuous innovation. The company has offices in Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Austin and Los Angeles. For more information, visit https://www.crypsisgroup.com/. Media Contact:

Lindsay Smith

[email protected]

303.882.1471 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/james-m-aquilina-legacy-stroz-friedberg-executive-joins-crypsis-as-advisor-to-the-board-of-directors-301038360.html SOURCE Crypsis

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
The Department of Health has confirmed 25 more deaths from Covid-19.

It brings the total number of deaths from the disease to 288.

It was also confirmed this evening that 480 new cases of Cornoavirus have been identified, bringing the total number of cases to 7,054.

When results from tests sent to Germany are included, the total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 here is 8089.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has said the range of ages of people who died in Ireland after a Covid-19 diagnoses since the outbreak began is from 32 to 105.

He also said that 62 people who have been admitted to Intensive Care have been discharged.

23 of the latest deaths were located in the East and 2 in the West of country.

The patients included 11 women and 14 men and the median age of today's reported deaths is 85.

16 people were reported as having underlying health conditions.

It comes as the HSE has confirmed that it now has the capacity to process 4,500 tests for Coronavirus per day, according to RTE.

This evening's figures come as the European Centre for Disease Control showed Ireland has 12% more confirmed cases of Covid-19 than the official press release here said.

The ECDC day website is showing that 7,393 people in Ireland have tested positive for Covid-19 up to yesterday, Thursday, 10 April.

This compares with the total of 6,574 confirmed cases reported by the Department of Health through their press release yesterday.

The discrepancy equates to additional 819 cases which is 12% more than the amount reported in the media here and also published on the official Health Protection Surveillance Centre website daily.

The numbers listed by the ECDC are the ones officially supplied to them from Ireland by the Department of Health.

The difference between the two numbers is yet to be clarified by the Department but it is understood to relate to the results a large number of swab tests sent to Germany for analysis in order to clear the backlog and testing in Ireland.

The results of those tests have been coming in over recent days and according to the Chief medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan about 13% of the most recent batch returned from Germany tested positive.

However, it appears that those positive test results were not included in the headline figures reported to the media by the department of health so far, a report by RTE outlined.
Nigerian author Reno Omokri has taken to his page to school many young Nigerians.

With more and more people going online to beg for funds during this CIOVID 19 pandemic the world is facing, Omokri stated that begging isnt part of the Igbo culture.

He implored those form the South East to speak to their elders about this.

Read Also: Women Who Think Their boyfriends Are Stingy Have Low Morals  Reno Omokri

If you are from the SE, I urge you to ask your elders about this: Igbos used to beat fellow Igbos who begged. Begging is never part of Igbo culture. Dont allow conditions make you lose ancient virtues that made your race the pride of Black Africa!

This #CoronaVirus lockdown condition is not enough to make you beg. After the Nigerian Civil War In 1970, when the Igbos returned to Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna and other parts of Nigeria, they were poor and broken. But what shocked the world was that they did not beg.

Instead, they used their ancient principles to trade and work their way out of poverty. That is why today, Nnewi has the highest number of millionaires per square mile in Africa

#FreeLeahSharibu #RenosNuggets
Every time the United States invokes its discretionary power to block entry and operation by foreign telecom carriers, it sets a precedent for nationalists in other countries who want to block entry to networks operated by U.S. companies, including the fiber optic networks that fuel American technology giants like Google, said Peter Cowhey, a former FCC chief of the international bureau who is now a professor at the University of California at San Diego. An ounce of prudence in regulation can discourage a pound of pain in protectionist regulations around the world.
Stacey Hampton has told her fans how she really feels about her ex Michael Goonan dating KC Osborne.

The Married At First Sight star took part in a question and answer session on her Instagram on Friday evening.

A fan was quick to ask the 26-year-old how she felt about the budding romance between the pair.

Telling: Stacey Hampton (pictured) has told her fans how she really feels about her ex Michael Goonan dating KC Osborne. The Married At First Sight star took part in a question and answer session on Instagram on Friday evening

Stacey said: 'I'm happy for them. You know, if he treats her right, then good on them.

'They're happy, I'm happy, we're all happy. It's fine,' she ended a little tersely, before blowing a kiss to camera.

Another fan asked Stacey, who split with Michael during the final episodes of the show, if she currently had a new boyfriend.

Fess up: A fan was quick to ask the 26-year-old how she felt about the budding romance between the pair

Stacey said: 'I'm happy for them. You know, if he treats her right, then good on them'

Single: Another fan asked Stacey if she currently had a new boyfriend. The mother-of-two answered: 'No, I'm trying top realise my self worth and not settle'

The mother-of-two answered: 'No, I'm trying top realise my self worth and not settle'.

After keeping their relationship a secret for weeks, KC and Michael finally made things official earlier this month.

The lovebirds, who were originally paired with other people in the social experiment, kissed in public for the first time in Elwood, Melbourne.

Fine! 'They're happy, I'm happy, we're all happy. It's fine,' she ended a little tersely, before blowing a kiss to camera. Pictured: KC and Michael

Sad end: Michael was previously partnered with Stacey on MAFS, but they broke up after the reunion dinner party in mid-January

Michael, 29, who manages his family's commercial ice business, was attending work meetings and KC, 31, was accompanying him.

He was previously partnered with Stacey on MAFS, but they broke up after the reunion dinner party in mid-January.

KC split from her 'husband', Drew Brauer, a few weeks after their final vows in December.

The couple have also gone Instagram official, with KC sharing video of pair smooching at the supermarket in Melbourne as well as a number of selfies.

So on! The couple have also gone Instagram official, with KC sharing video of pair smooching at the supermarket in Melbourne as well as a number of selfies

KC and Michael spoke to New Idea about their relationship, confirming they were indeed together.

In their first joint interview, the couple told the magazine they had been dating since early March and were self-isolating together in Melbourne.

They are planning to stay at Michael's home for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.

'It's love,' said Michael. 'We have one hell of a journey ahead of us.'
A total of 17 Grandmasters and over 180 chess players participated came together to take part in an online blitz event to raise over Rs 2.39 lakh towards the PM CARES Fund for COVID-19 relief.

The players who participated in the "Let's Fight Corona Together" fundraiser online blitz organised on Thursday by ChessBase India, a chess portal, included India's No.2 Vidit Gujrathi, national champion Aravindh Chithambaram and Nihal Sarin among others, a press release said.

Gujrathi, Sarin and Chithambaram finished on top with eight points from nine rounds before Sarin claimed the top spot on tiebreak.

The main aim of the event was to raise money for the PM CARES Fund for coronavirus relief and a total of Rs 2,39,742 was collected.

The country is under a 21-day lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has led to the death of over 90,000 people worldwide and over 190 in India.

Gujrathi also did live streaming of his games and his efforts resulted in a collection of Rs 37,028 in under two hours, the release said.

Apart from Gujrathi, Sarin and Chithambaram, young GM D Gukesh and veteran Dibyendu Barua took part in the event.

GM Arjun Erigaisi contributed Rs 25,000 and GMs K Sasikiran, Neelotpal Das and Barua contributed Rs 20,000 each.

There was no entry fee, but one had to contribute a minimum of Rs 100 to participate in the event, the release said adding all the money was collected was to be transferred to the PM CARES fund for the fight against COVID-19.

The release further said ChessBase India is also holding live sessions during the lockdown period in both English (IM Sagar Shah) and Hindi (FI Niklesh Jain) and they have raised Rs 74,179 in the last 16 days of the lockdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
AMC Theatres  whose business has effectively shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic  looks increasingly likely to file for bankruptcy with its cash reserves dwindling, according to Wall Street analysts.  Even if AMC is able to tap government bailout funds, [an analyst] wrote, the companys high leverage ratio  with $4.75 billion in debt  will make for tough sledding  thus making a reorganization inevitable.'  Variety
It has been more than a week since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's final royal engagements and official transition out of their senior royal family roles. The couple has no regrets and their mental health has been better.

However, for Prince Harry, his exit as a senior working member of the royal family has been an adjustment. He reportedly "misses" the royal family following his big move with Markle.

The prince has been "staying in touch with his father and loves his grandmother."

Mournful phone-calls have been exchanged between Prince Harry and his father, Prince Charles.

The Duke apparently feels guilty with his distance from his relatives suffering from COVID-19 and struggles to keep the royal family together during the pandemic.

He is also worried about Prime Minister Boris Johnson's health who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

A friend of Prince Harry divulged to royal expert Katie Nicholl that he was feeling emotional about wrapping up his final royal engagements before the transition out of his role was complete.

Having stepped down from royal duties on March 31, Prince Harry and Markle are no longer allowed to call themselves "royal."

"It's an emotional time for him in many ways," according to the friend. "I think in many ways it's bittersweet. He's always wanted to have a regular life and to get away from the spotlight, and that's what he's doing, but it basically means walking away from his family. Harry's a loving, loyal guy so that will be very hard for him."

Also Read: Fact Check: Prince William, Kate Middleton Will Be Reportedly Crowned as King and Queen in July?

The Duke, 35, and Duchess of Sussex, 38, have since established that they are based in North America, settling down in Los Angeles with their son, Archie, after previously living in Canada.

Prince Harry and Markle shared a message of thanksgiving to their 11.3 million Instagram followers and said their goodbye. The pair shared a photo that included their official royal cipher, reading, "Thank you to this community - for the support, the inspiration and the shared commitment to the good in the world." They simply signed it "Harry & Meghan."

According to a royal expert, they are "taking a few months" off because they "need a break." This will be followed by their plans to launch a brand and charity.

The Duke and Duchess relocated to California where they have reportedly rented a $20 million Malibu mansion.

Prince Harry and Markle had left their $10 million home in Vancouver Island, Canada where they had been living since announcing quitting their royal duties in January to relocate to the U.S. following travel restrictions between the two countries being put in place.

The British press reportedly reminded Prince Harry of the dire circumstances that ran up to the untimely death of Princess Diana, his mother.

When the Sussexes said they needed to escape the royal spotlight because the media glare was too much in the U.K., it was said his plight would be more sympathetic if he was not exchanging the British media hotspot for Los Angeles which is swarmed with paparazzi.

Related Article: Prince Philip, Queen Living Together for the First Time in Two Years

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Over 40,000 people have accessed a new online advice hub on alcohol and Covid-19 in the first week of this month.

Drinkaware, the national charity working to prevent and reduce alcohol misuse in Ireland, has urged people to be mindful of their drinking ahead of the Easter bank holiday weekend.

It comes as the charity announced it has created a dedicated online hub Alcohol & Covid-19 as a resource for members of the public looking to access essential information on the topic in one place.

It provides information, facts and practical advice to help support better decision-making around alcohol at this time. Among the information included are tools to help people be sober curious and more mindful about their habits, as well as alcohols impact on the immune system and sleep, along with links to additional resources.

Over 40,000 people in Ireland accessed the online hub in the first week of April alone. Traffic to the Drinkaware website also remains high.

Drinkaware CEO Sheena Horgan said the figures showed that there was a significant demand in the population for advice and supports during the crisis.

"The decisions and actions we take today around alcohol will not only help to mind our mental and physical wellbeing in the here and now, but also support wellbeing beyond this crisis. Drinkaware, like all other organisations working in this space, does not want alcohol misuse and alcohol-related harm to be an unintended consequence of this pandemic," she said.

Ms Horgan also warned against people drinking too much at home during the lockdown period as a coping strategy.

With the long weekend and bright evenings ahead, it may be tempting to drink more than usual but it is crucial now more than ever that we are mindful of how much, and why, we are drinking."

"At Drinkaware we are particularly concerned that there will be a sharp rise in people drinking more alcohol at home and more often in order to fill free time or to manage Covid-19 anxiety and stress. Alcohol is an unhelpful coping strategy that will worsen anxiety, not lessen it," she said.
tech2 News Staff

The pandemic that the Coronavirus outbreak is, has caused disruption to all usual schedules around the world. People have been forced to work from home, factories and production units have been shut, and in the tech world, the launches and events have been postponed. However, a report reveals that despite the viral outbreak, Samsung's next flagship launch event may still be on schedule.

According to The Korea Herald, Samsung is already prepping for the Galaxy Note 20 launch  which usually happens in August every year  and may be able to host the event as soon as July, this time.

An insider was quoted in the report saying that the preparations for the launch event are underway and that there will be no delay. However, the source said that Samsung is factoring in the possibility of hosting the event online.

The report also claims that at the event in July, Samsung may launch both the Galaxy Note 20 series and its third foldable device  the Galaxy Fold 2.

A similar report about the 2020 iPhones was released this week, which claimed that Apple is right on schedule for the launch and may be able to manage a September or October launch. Last month, Apple also postponed its annual developers' conference  WWDC 2020  which has now been rescheduled to on online-only event that will take place in June.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20: Expected specifications

Samsung Galaxy Note 20+ 5G was recently spotted on Geekbench, which hinted that the smartphone will be powered by octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ chipset, along with at 8 GB RAM. Another report earlier this year also claimed that the Galaxy Note 20 series will features a waterfall display.
Researchers have found that most coronavirus cases in New York City originated from Europe, not Asia.

The research - which relies on testing the coronavirus genomes - reports that early cases began circulating in New York City around mid-February, much earlier than the announcement of the first reported cases in early March.

Speaking to The New York Times, Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, confirmed that the American infection was primarily carried over from Europe, not Asia.

"Taken together, these results show that SARS-CoV-2 came to New York City and environs predominantly via untracked transmission between the United States and Europe, with only limited introduction from China, where the virus originated, or other locations in Asia," a press release announcing the discovery said.

Another team at NYU's Grossman School of Medicine reached a similar conclusion despite studying a different group of cases.

Until now, there was no evidence that the virus had been spreading significantly before early March. Now, it appears that early, aggressive testing could have prevented the widespread infections that currently plague the country.

Dr Adriana Heguy, a member of the research team at NYU, said "people were just oblivious."

"It was a disaster that we didn't do testing," she said.

The first steps President Donald Trump took to fight the virus in the US was to enact travel bans, but those did not begin until March 11. By then, the virus had already been spreading for weeks.

Initial testing done in the US was aimed specifically at individuals coming from China and who had displayed COVID-19 symptoms.

The earliest cases - those in Washington - were traced back to the original outbreak in Wuhan, China, but subsequent tests of the earliest New York cases revealed viruses with different mutations than the Washington cases, suggesting the viruses were imported from elsewhere.

"That's when you know you've had a silent transmission for a while," she said.

The researchers at Mount Sinai realised the cases they were seeing in New York were practically identical to the ones found circulating Europe. Though they don't know which specific flight brought the virus from Europe to New York, they believe it took place between late January to early February.

About two-thirds of the New York cases studied were European in origin.
He encouraged churches to live-stream services or conduct it in their parking lots. For the latter, parishioners must stay inside their cars, nine feet apart, with no physical interaction between them and clergy, he said. Only people in the same household should be in the car, so picking up neighbors or family members living elsewhere would be wrong, Holcomb said.
With little action to write about in the upcoming weeks, were going to focus a little more on speed ratings that we follow to detect patterns that could suggest where these horses might be on the first Saturday in September, which right now seems like an eternity. They also can tell a great deal about a horses strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately how fast they are, not only when applied to final times, but also within the body of the race. We will also touch on the latest Future Wager and see who might be the overlays come September.

1 Tiz the Law Barclay Tagg ConstitutionTizfiz, by Tiznow Last week we discussed some of the possible reasons for the mediocre time of the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) and why its not worth paying much attention to. Well, despite the decline in the Brisnet speed figure, it is interesting to note that Tiz the Law actually paired up his Thoro-Graph Holy Bull figure of negative 3/4. And you cant ask more of a horse than to run back-to-back negative figures, especially considering no other 3-year-old has run a negative number this year. So, he has the speed, the pedigree, the running style, the temperament, and an owner and a trainer who have already won the Derby. Unfortunately, hes ready to win the Derby on May 2. No one knows where hell be on September 5.

2 Sole Volante Patrick Biancone KarakontieLight Blow, by Kingmambo I put him back to No. 2, where he had been, partly because he likely will run in the Arkansas Derby (G1) and he has run back-to-back 108 Brisnet late pace figures, which is the fastest late pace figure by a 3-year-old and the fact he was able to duplicate it even in a defeat, which was designed mostly as a learning experience. Watching him stride out in the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) is still one of the highlights of the year, and I am looking for a powerful closer who can move early and sustain his run while moving effortlessly through the stretch and getting stronger the farther he goes. And I havent seen one to match this guy. With the Run for the Roses so far off and so uncertain, I just want to see that big closing kick in the Arkansas Derby (G1), which will should have a large field, or possibly be split. I love his 34-1 odds in the Future Wager.

3 Authentic Bob Baffert Into MischiefFlawless, by Mr. Greeley Deep down, Baffert would love to back off him and give him time to grow up and mature. And with the Santa Anita Derby looking like it wont be run, that is what he will do, as he points him for a summer campaign. He again showed his greenness in his most recent work when he ran up behind a pair of workers and seemed to lose focus, cocking his head out and switching over to his left lead before switching back to his right lead. We already know the talent is there, and he relaxes so well I doubt there will be a problem stretching out. His Brisnet speed ratings have been good and hes on an excellent pattern on Thoro-Graph, going from a 6  to a 3  to a 1 . If there is no Santa Anita Derby, he should benefit a great deal from a little time off, after which he should return more of a polished pro.

4 Honor A. P. John Shirreffs Honor CodeHollywood Story, by Wild Rush From a speed rating standpoint, hes not quite there, maybe a couple of races away if he continues to move forward. His Brisnet speed rating was a three-point decline from his maiden win to the San Felipe (G2), but he improved three points on Thoro-Graph, which seems to be the direction hes heading from watching his races. He ran in the San Felipe like a horse who is improving. Shirreffs said hed love to run him in the Santa Anita Derby and would consider the Arkansas Derby as an alternative, but no decisions have been made. He tuned up with an easy half in :49 and looked great, moving smoothly throughout with his head, as usual, down into the bit. He is extremely professional in his works and his races and you couldnt ask him to be doing and looking any better.

5 King Guillermo Juan Avila Uncle MoSlow Sand, by Dixieland Band With the Arkansas Derby now a good possibility and after seeing his speed ratings, you have to take him very seriously. His Thoro-Graph figure leaped from a 7 1/4" to a zero going from grass to dirt. But what I really loved was his 102 speed figure on Brisnet in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) and whopping 107 late pace figure. When a horse who is always right up on the pace can put in that kind of closing pace figure, especially off a fairly solid 92 middle pace figure, you can see why he dominated that race. No one, not even Sole Volante, could have caught him with as strong a finish as that. The Arkansas Derby should tell us just how good this horse really is. If you got him at 36-1 in the Future Wager and he wins or runs big at Oaklawn, youve got yourself a pretty live ticket at a huge price.

6 Gouverneur Morris Todd Pletcher ConstitutionAddison Run, by Unbridled's Song He is another who should benefit from the extra time. He still has improving to do based on his Brisnet numbers, but his jump from three straight 5s on Thoro-Graph to a 2 in the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) is what you want to see. He needed to take a step forward and he did, despite a less than ideal trip, from which he should learn and gain a great deal of experience in dealing with tight traffic. Right now it is mostly gut feeling, visuals, and projecting where he will be on Sept. 5. I certainly would have taken a shot at him in the Future Wager at 31-1.

7 Maxfield Brendan Walsh Street SenseVelvety, by Bernardini With him backing off before even getting started, it puts him right back to where he was. I still think as highly of him as I always did, and had him as my top-ranked 2-year-old, but until he starts working again and finds a race so we know what kind of transition hes made from 2 to 3, hell have to stay around the No. 5 to No. 7 level. But if he comes back as good as he was in the Breeders Futurity (G1), he likely will be battling Tiz the Law for the No. 1 spot. We still havent seen a horse with the explosive power he demonstrated at Keeneland. Only Sole Volante has come close. It was that move that people still remember and why he closed as one of the favorites in the latest Kentucky Derby Future Wager at 9-1 odds in spite of not having run this year.

8 Charlatan Bob Baffert Speightstown Authenticity , by Quiet American This colt is one big effort in the Arkansas Derby away from leaping into the No. 2 or No. 3 spot. We know how brilliant and professional and dominating he is. We just need to see him tested for class. His speed ratings on Thoro-Graph and Brisnet are through the roof, and he runs like a horse who will go on despite the questions about his pedigree, basically being by Sprint champion Speightstown, who in fact has sired several grade 1 winners at a mile and a quarter. The ease with which this colt does everything suggests he could be a major star in the making, which explains him closing as the co-favorite among individual interests in the Future Wager at odds of 5-1, despite never running in a stakes. Even doing things so effortlessly, he still runs monster numbers, including his ability to run triple-digit middle and late pace figures on Brisnet, something you very rarely see from a horse with only a maiden and allowance race. He is one horse who definitely will appreciate the delay and really wasnt ready for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). Now the pressure for points is off if Baffert sends him to Oaklawn for the Arkansas Derby for his big class test.

9 Nadal Bob Baffert BlameAscending Angel, by Pulpit I like the way Baffert has been working him, having him lay off his workmate for as long as possible. This colt needs to relax early and show he can rate. His early and middle pace figures on Brisnet have been strong, but his late pace figures have been pedestrian, so he needs to start evening that out, and the Arkansas Derby is a good place to start. On both Brisnet and Thoro-Graph his numbers have been just OK and fairly even with no improvement. It is hoped that with his pedigree he can learn to settle better and save something for the end. Remember, his last two wins have both been by only three-quarters of a length. He will get his big chance to move up in the Arkansas Derby. Once this colt learns to push all the right buttons theres no telling how good he can be.

10 Ete Indien Patrick Biancone Summer FrontEast India, by Mizzen Mast We established last week that you can excuse his third-place finish in the Florida Derby, and that he is a much better horse than that, and it would more helpful assessing his true ability if we could see what hes really capable of when not breaking from outside posts at Gulfstream, even though he was able to overcome it in the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2). Although his Brisnet speed figure dropped to a 94 after three consecutive triple-digit numbers, his Thoro-Graph number only dipped to a still respectable 2  following a pair of 2s. In his three previous starts, he ran triple-digit opening pace figures on Brisnet followed by triple-digit middle pace figures ranging from 103 to 106, and then still had enough left to run solid 99 late pace figures in all three. In the Florida Derby, he ran a 90 early pace figure, a 100 middle pace figure and a sluggish 85 late pace figure, all far slower than we know he can run. So, clearly this was not the same horse for whatever reason, and he deserves another chance to bounce back.

11 Mystic Guide Mike Stidham GhostzapperMusic Note, by A.P. Indy His Thoro-Graph numbers are pretty much what I expected them to be for a late bloomer just getting started. He jumped from a 10 in his career debut to a 5 , which gives him a good starting off point, and he has plenty of time to boost those numbers to where he is competitive with the leading Derby contenders. His pedigree suggests he will only get better the farther he goes, and his closing fractions of about :23 3/5 and :6.17 in his maiden victory were extremely fast. Yes, the early fractions appear on the surface to be on the slow side, but the half-mile of :48.59 was only .59 of a second slower than the victorious Wells Bayou ran in the Louisiana Derby. I believe this colt has a bright future and is the one horse to put in the Top 12 on pure speculation and visuals with the Derby so far off.

12 Major Fed Greg Foley GhostzapperBobby's Babe, by Smart Strike The Arkansas Derby is being considered, but with everything so up in the air, they are still trying to decide the best path for him, basically whether to plan for September or take the races available now. All we can do for now is wait and see what his connections decide to do. His Thoro-Graph and Brisnet figures suggest he is not quite fast enough at this point to beat some of the brilliant horses expected at Oaklawn, but there is no reason to think he wont be by September, judging by his steady climb up the class ladder, the recent trips hes had, and his scope for improvement. And lets remember his 106 late pace figure on Brisnet (yes, off a slow pace) and his 99 late pace figure in the Louisiana Derby after going very wide both bode well for the future, especially with his pedigree that is inundated with stamina.

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR

This weeks Highlight Horse -- Getting a chance to look at all the Thoro-Graph and Brisnet numbers, the one horse who fascinates me most is TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) runner-up NY TRAFFIC. It is remarkable how both figures parallel each other in rate of improvement. His last five Brisnet speed figures are 77, 83, 88, 90, and 96. His last four Thoro-Graph numbers are 13  , 8 , 5 , and 2 . That is about as steady an improvement as you can get. And what is most fascinating are his early Thoro-Graph numbers. Sandwiched between a 10  in his debut at Parx and a 10  in his third start is an outrageous 2 , which is pretty spectacular for a 2-year-old at Parx.

The question with him is how far he wants to go, as his pedigree on the surface looks to be geared more to a mile and possibly up to 1 1/8 miles. His sire Cross Traffic did win the Whitney (G1) and his broodmare sire Graeme Hall won the Arkansas Derby (G2) and Jim Dandy (G2), so there is a strong nine-furlong base. His maternal great-grandsire Silic won the Breeders Cup Mile (G1T) and the Shoemaker Mile (G2T) twice, and his maternal great-granddam Quilma won the Chilean 1,000 Guineas. But Quilmas sire Semenenko is by Vaguely Noble, out of English Oaks winner Carrozza, so there is tremendous stamina there. And Silics sire Sillery was a group 2 winner in France and was second in grade/group 1 races in France, Italy, and the U.S. at a mile and a half. On the sires side, Cross Traffic is inbred 4x5 to Dr. Fager. What is also fascinating about his pedigree is that in his first five generations on his dams side there are horses bred in the U.S. France, Chile, Ireland, and Australia.

He has excellent tactical speed and was up against it trying to chase Wells Bayou, who was alone on a slow pace in the Louisiana Derby. His majority owner John Fanelli started getting calls about him after his brilliant maiden score. He contacted Chuck Zacney, whose good horse Monday Morning Qb finished second in that race, but the asking price was too high. After two disappointing efforts, Fanelli decided to move him to Saffie Joseph Jr. at Gulfstream and asked Zacney again if he wanted to buy in, convinced he was a two-turn horse. Zacney, who also has the swift Gotham (G3) winner Mischevious Alex, was intrigued that he was a New York-bred and had those races to look forward to, so he bought in for 20 percent at a more reasonable price.

Now, after a pair of graded stakes-placed efforts, its just a question of finding a spot for him, while still not quite sure how far he wants to go. It is interesting to note that Ny Traffic earned a faster Thoro-Graph number than the victorious Wells Bayou in the Louisiana Derby, despite ducking out in the stretch from left-handed whipping. But he did seem to find another gear in the final 100 yards and was striding out beautifully at the wire, and was still going strong past the wire. He also is one of the most consistently fast workers in the country with four-furlong drills in :47 3/5, :47 2/5, and :47 1/5, and five-furlong works in :59 2/5, :58 4/5, :59 3/5, :59 2/5, and 1:00 flat.

One thing the Derby postponement does is make allowance and even maiden races relevant once again, and we have had several worth mentioning over the past two weeks.

Todd Pletcher sent out another promising colt in MONEY MOVES, who pressed the pace in a one-mile allowance race at Gulfstream before drawing off to 2 -length victory in a sharp 1:35.30. The son of Candy Ride is now two-for-two and obviously has a bright future. Runner-up EDGE OF FIRE, a son of Curlin trained by Jimmy Jerkens, is another to watch down the road. Both these colts will only get better the farther they go.

A mile and a sixteenth allowance optional claimer at Oaklawn turned out a bit disappointing with the sloppy track and the disqualification from first of WINNING IMPRESSION, who defeated graded stakes-placed FINNICK THE FIERCE by one length. The eventual winner ran a game race stuck down on the rail, and this was a good bounce-back race after a pair of disappointing efforts in graded stakes. He is one of only two horses to have finished in front of Tiz the Law, both in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2). Winning Impression had a great trip and was probably the best horse, but drifted in, bothering the 1-2 favorite ANSWER IN, who was not going to win anyway, but it did likely cost him a fourth-place finish.

A perfect example of a late discovery this year is SONNEMAN. In a seven-furlong allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream, the rapidly improving Curlin colt dropped back in distance from a one-mile maiden score at Belmont after being away for six months and exploded by the leaders in the stretch, closing from last, almost a dozen lengths back after breaking slowly, to win going away by 1  lengths. The negative is that the race was set up for him after some blistering fractions and a slow final eighth. But the positive is that Sonnemans pedigree is inundated with stamina everywhere you look, including four English Derby winners (Sir Ivor, Mill Reef, Nijinsky, and Shirley Heights) and a French Derby winner, (Darshaan), as well as Sadlers Wells, sire of six Irish Derby winners, three French Derby winners, two English Derby winners including Galileo, and two Arc de Triomphe winners, and you can add four American classic winners and the sire of two Kentucky Derby winners (Halo). So you wouldnt think he would be effective sprinting. It is interesting to note that his dam Zardana upset the great Rachel Alexandra in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes in Rachels 4-year-old debut.

In his maiden victory, I loved the way he relaxed off the pace in seventh and let horses go by him on the turn, just biding his time and not getting stirred up, despite being in traffic. When Jose Lezcano finally asked him he swung extremely wide and mowed down everyone in the stretch, including a stubborn Cost Basis, who came back and broke his maiden in his next start at 4-5 for Chad Brown and Klaravich Stable. What was most impressive was that Sonneman closed his final quarter in a rapid :23 3/5. It looks like Mark Hennig has a real good one for his longtime client Courtlandt Farm.

Sonneman is a handsome classy-looking nearly black colt with a great deal of appeal who has a fluid way of moving, keeping his legs perfectly straight under him. Definitely watch out for this guy when he goes two turns and beyond. I think by September we will all be talking about him as a serious Derby horse.

The No. 13 ranked horse THREE TECHNIQUE will skip the Arkansas Derby and point for a summer campaign. Looking at the closing Future Wager odds, one that looks to be a potential overlay projecting ahead to September is the 50-1 on MODERNIST, who is on an excellent Thoro-Graph pattern that suggests he will be a much better horse then than he is now, and he's pretty good now. Who would have thought fall that you would be able to get 53-1 odds on the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner. STORM THE COURT has not run a bad race this year, and if he moves forward after pairing up "3 1/2" Thoro-Graph numbers he could be fairly live four months from now. He just needs to figure out what his most effective weapon is.

What a year Bob Baffert picked to have five potential Kentucky Derby horses. He has an arena for two of them, NADAL and CHARLATAN, at Oaklawn on May 2 and he said he will send THOUSAND WORDS there for Saturday's Oaklawn Stakes. Baffert also said AZUL COAST will get a freshening.The all but forgotten Withers winner MAX PLAYER has been working six and seven furlongs, but also has nowhere to run. Trainer Linda Rice said she is spacing out his works until she can figure out what to do with him.

It looks like they could have a large field for Saturday's Oaklawn Stakes, which could attract BASIN, who is coming off a strong third in the Rebel Stakes, his first start since romping in the Hopeful Stakes.


A woman has been found dead at her home shortly after she got engaged.

Teresa Redmond, 35, was discovered at a flat in Wellington Close in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on Thursday.

Police arrested a 39-year-old man on suspicion of murder following her death but he has since been released without charge.

Teresa Redmond, 35, (pictured) was discovered at a flat in Wellington Close in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on Thursday

Ms Redmond was found 'unresponsive' in the early hours of morning at the high-rise tower block.

Her mother, Jules Turner, 60, said she had been informed by police that a post-mortem examination had shown no sign that her death was suspicious.

She explained that Ms Redmond had suffered from scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine, and took painkillers to handle the pain.

She said her daughter was unable to work because of her back condition but ran a Facebook page to help children with ADHD.

Ms Turner said: 'She was a bubbly girl, she was funny, always there to help people out.

'There's a possibility she was in so much pain with her back and on so many painkillers, there's a possibility she might have taken too many, she was getting quite forgetful lately.'

Ms Redmond was found 'unresponsive' in the early hours of morning at the high-rise tower block in Surrey

Ms Redmond had been in a relationship with Lee Adlam for a month before the couple recently decided to get engaged.

She had previously posted online about her former husband being in jail and alleged he had been abusive towards her.

Talking of her new fiance, she said: 'Lee, honestly you are most amazing man I have ever met and now you are all mine.

'I have never come across or met such a loving, caring and affectionate person. There is no fakeness about you whatsoever. I have never felt so free.

'I had been feeling trapped and manipulated but now I'm finally free and not trapped.

'You do so much for me... you go out your way.

'The only way I'm going is forward, never looking back.

'You are what they call a 'real man', a grafter as well.'

Ms Redmond had one son, Ryan Myers, who is training to join the British Army and had recently passed his gunner selection course.

She had been one of four children but two of her brothers had previously passed away, leaving surviving brother Chad Redmond, who said his sister had been married years before.

A Surrey Police spokesman said: 'A man arrested following the discovery of a woman's body at an address in Walton-on-Thames yesterday, has been released with no further action.

'The body of the 35-year-old woman was found at an address in Wellington Close just before 3am.

'Her family has been made aware and our thoughts are with them at this time.

'A post-mortem has been completed today (April 10), and as a result the 39-year-old man who had been arrested on suspicion of murder has now been released with no further action.

'The death remains unexplained at this time and our inquiries are continuing on behalf of the coroner.'

Ms Turner, who is unable to work because of the Covid-19 crisis, has launched a fundraising appeal to help pay for her daughter's funeral.
Major oil producers except Mexico agreed to cut output in May and June by 10 million barrels per day, OPEC said Friday, after marathon talks to counter a collapse in prices. The videoconference led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has been seen as the best chance of providing support to prices, which have been wallowing near two-decade lows due to the coronavirus pandemic and a price war between key players Saudi Arabia and Russia. The agreement, which also reduces production by eight million bpd from July to December, depends on Mexico's consent for it to take effect, the oil cartel said after the meeting. The virtual meeting of OPEC countries, dominated by Riyadh, and their OPEC+ allies including Russia, as well as other key non-members, began just after 1440 GMT on Thursday. Talks dragged on into the small hours of Friday. Bloomberg News reported that the main sticking point was the refusal of Mexico to sign up to its share of cuts under the deal, which would have been 400,000 barrels per day. Mexican Energy Minister Rocio Nahle Garcia tweeted that her country had suggested a cut of 100,000 barrels. Another virtual meeting is scheduled for June 10 "to determine further actions, as needed to balance the market", OPEC said. The current agreement also foresees a six mbpd cut from January 2021 through April 2022. An extension to the cooperation deal will be reviewed in December next year, OPEC said. Saudi Arabia will on Friday also host a separate virtual gathering of energy ministers from the G20 group of major economies in a similar bid to ensure "market stability". - 'Less than hoped' - Stephen Innes, an analyst at AxiCorp, said the supply cuts were "less than the market hoped for" given the hit to demand from coronavirus lockdowns throughout the world. "The deal currently tabled will only partially offset oil price distress, but that's what it was supposed to do. Still, the storm clouds for oil prices will only completely dissipate when lockdowns are lifted," he said. Rystad Energy also said market equilibrium would not be re-established although the cuts for May and June would prevent prices from crashing. Oil prices have slumped since the beginning of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of the meeting, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo warned that the rapid economic damage wrought by the virus meant the industry's "supply and demand fundamentals are horrifying". "Our industry is hemorrhaging; no-one has been able to stem the bleeding," Barkindo said, bemoaning companies already filing for bankruptcy and the tens of thousands of jobs that have been lost. Compounding the problem, Riyadh and Moscow had both ramped up output in a bid to hold on to market share and undercut US shale producers. While the US is not in the OPEC or OPEC+ groups, it is supportive of a reduction in supply in order to stabilise prices and breathe new life into its shale industry. US President Donald Trump had expressed optimism about the prospects for an agreement -- even as the talks appeared to be at an impasse. Fresh from a conference call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump told a press briefing at the White House at around 2230 GMT on Thursday that a deal was "close". Shale has transformed the US into the world's top producer, but the industry cannot sustain its high cost base as prices collapse. Yet the US oil sector appears reluctant to trim production, having extracted a near-record 13 mbpd in the final week of March. This fell to 12.4 mbpd last week. - Wide effort - At the same time, the global supply glut -- already weighing on oil markets before the coronavirus crisis -- has stretched oil storage capacity to its limits, forcing many producers to scale back output. In his opening statement to the meeting carried by the Rossiya 24 channel, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak welcomed the presence of several nations outside the OPEC+ alliance, namely Canada, Norway, Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Chad, Ecuador and Trinidad and Tobago. The International Energy Agency warned Monday that the world is set for its first annual decline in oil consumption in more than a decade because of the pandemic. The outbreak has shut down large swathes of the global economy, including key sectors such as air travel, manufacturing and retail. The global oil glut could reach 25 mbpd in April, according to Rystad Energy. burs/bmm Oil prices are sitting around two-decade lows, hit by the virus and a Saudi-Russia battle for market share
116 Shares Share

Im a third-year medical student, but my medical education, as I knew it, is currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Stanford has pulled its students from hospitals and clinics for the time being, following recommendations from the Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Our pre-clinical students, first and second-years, have transitioned to remote learning. Fourth-years, who have mostly completed their required rotations and have already matched into their specialties, await their turn as physicians. Third-years, however, remain in limbo  and soon our second-year peers will join us  as the AAMC works with school administrators to figure out how to replace or revise an education thats firmly centered around direct patient care.

I was halfway through my month-long psychiatry rotation before learning that my time working on the psych ward would be cut short. Similarly, my upcoming electives in anesthesia and general surgery, my rotation in neurology, and my surgery sub-internship have also been canceled. These changes are beyond reasonable; we need to preserve protective equipment, and cant have extra people in the hospital during this time.

But still, it stings.

The sting is partly emotional: Med students, who typically chomp at the bit to help patients and support physicians, are being sidelined during an acute time of need. The sting is also partly pragmatic: How will we round out our education?

Personally, Ive resigned myself to the idea that I wont get to experience the work of an anesthesiologist if I want to graduate next year. However, Im far less comfortable with the fact that I might not have enough time in the operating room between now and then to weigh my decision to become a surgeon, or to build up a suitable application for a field I unexpectedly fell in love with just a couple of months ago. Truth be told, I wonder if Ill even become a doctor in 2021, a milestone Ive been planning around  and working toward  for years now.

Luckily, Im not swimming in this pool of uncertain waters alone. My classmates and thousands of other medical students are in the same position. And of course, we have the same big-picture fears and anxieties about the coronavirus as everyone else, and these often temper the academic concerns.

While theres so much uncertainty, one thing has become abundantly clear: Med students continue to find a way to help.

Some might help directly. Earlier this month, Italy and the United Kingdom began fast-tracking their final-year students into the workforce with early graduation or exam exemptions. Last week, some U.S. medical schools began to do the same.

More junior students, now stationed at home, are coming together through Twitter, Google spreadsheets, GroupMe chats, and Slack, to brainstorm alternative and innovative actions.

Efforts underway range from small-scale deeds, like babysitting the children of physicians serving on the frontlines, to larger endeavors, such as coordinating donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) from local businesses. As of the time of writing, Stanford medical students have collected 4,000 respirator masks and 11,000 surgical masks through a student-led PPE drive. Im in awe of my classmates leading this effort and of those assisting physicians with child care.

Throughout the country, students are helping to get groceries to seniors and people in quarantine, and theyre creating fact sheets and infographics to educate the public. Theyre giving blood and organizing blood drives, and theyre assisting with triage hotlines and calling patients to deliver COVID-19 test results.

For me, seeing and participating in some of these kinds of creative and thoughtful efforts by my fellow medical students offers a real ray of hope on days clouded by a sense of helplessness.

While Im currently far from my classmates, back on the East Coast near my family, Ive found my own ways to help. Im working with a couple of medical students out of an apartment in New York City, making face shields. Im learning how to saw, sand and shape plastic  with the goal of producing and distributing 1,000 reusable face shields to help protect health workers from the virus.

Im grateful to my future colleagues for coming together and providing ideas and actions for remote assistance. For now, while my formal education is on hold, I learn a great deal from them.

Orly Farber is a medical student who blogs at Scope, where this article originally appeared.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
People wearing face masks exercise on a street in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicentre of the CCP virus (COVID-19) outbreak, on April 8, 2020. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Sadness in My Heart: Residents of Chinas Hubei, Freed From Lockdown, Face Suspicion

BEIJINGDriving to a factory in Chinas southeastern province of Fujian to meet a friend, Ye Jing was stopped by a security guard soon after returning from two months of lockdown in Hubei, the province hardest hit by the CCP virus outbreak.

His whole manner and actions changed, the shoe factory manager said, after the guard spotted her Hubei license plate and asked where she was from.

He immediately went to put on gloves and distanced himself from me. And he wouldnt let me in.

Ye reassured the guard that she had tested negative for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, but he responded, I dont trust your test results.

She added, then, I really felt sadness in my heart.

Ye is just one of many people from the central province who say they face fear and rejection after its capital of Wuhan lifted on Wednesday a lockdown against the virus that had stretched more than two months.

The move allowed those with a green health code, a QR code that contains their health information, to leave the city. Curbs elsewhere in Hubei were lifted late last month.

But since leaving, say many Hubei residents, they have faced discrimination in the job search.

When they see Im from Hubei, they immediately say sorry, or they directly say youre not suitable, said a 25-year-old from the province, who would give only her last name, Li.

She said she had sent her resume online to nearly 50 firms since mid-March, after a job offer fell through during the outbreak, which has spread globally since emerging in China last year.

News reports and social media posts reveal many instances of stricter treatment for Hubei people, whether landlords who refuse to rent to them or tougher quarantine measures.

Li Guoqiang, a Hubei lawyer who offers free advice to those facing discrimination, said he understood employers concerns, given the potential impact if staff caught the virus.

If theres a single case in returning to work, then a whole company must stop, Li said.

Silent Carriers

As more people leave Hubei, many have recently become worried about the risk from silent carriers, or those who dont show symptoms, cases that China only began reporting last week.

Ye Xiaotian, 25, who recently returned to the southern city of Xiamen from his hometown in Hubei said he waited 30 minutes to be interviewed for a job at an internet marketing firm, Xiamen Piaoxue Internet Technology Inc. on April 1.

Then he was told it was not accepting candidates from Hubei.

They said the epidemic situation is quite severe and Hubei people are coming from a place where the epidemic is quite severe, Ye added.

Xiamen requires a virus test for arrivals from Hubei, which Ye had done at a central facility that cleared him to go about his daily activities. But that was not enough to allay the fears of those worried about test accuracy.

He didnt tell us he was from Hubei, said a man who described himself as a project leader at the firm.

We would have told him immediately, dont come here now, the man, who gave his surname as Wang, told Reuters. If he came after 14 days, it would be OK.

By Huizhong Wu

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report
We're become used to hearing giant web companies described as leeches, health risks and agents of discord.

But has the tone changed, now that we're all eagerly using their services to survive while locked in our homes?

Are we quietly shelving our pearl-clutching hysteria about the dangers of 'screen time' and notional long-term health fears over using smartphones?

Do we care as much if their free, or cheap, platforms slurp data?

This week, Adrian Weckler is joined by senior Irish tech investor (and Draper Esprit partner) Brian Caulfield and data protection expert (and Castlebridge research director) Katherine O'Keefe to weave a path through the pros and cons of the scenario we now find ourselves in.

The panel also discuss the finer points of working from home, as well as the challenge that brings.

And they look at the benefits and pitfalls of Ireland's upcoming contact tracing app.
Conspiracy theories are nothing new, and of course they've come for the coronavirus.

Here's why the 5G tech conspiracy is ridiculous and has actually just been making the rogues who spread it some money.

Coronavirus impacts Britain100

The theory that links 5G mobile telecommunications masts to the spread of the coronavirus is dangerous fake news and completely false, the UK government said last week after masts in several parts of the country were torched.

When asked by a reporter about the so called "theory" that 5G telecommunications masts could play a role in the spread of the disease, Michael Gove said: "That is just nonsense, dangerous nonsense as well."

Mobile phone masts have in recent days been vandalised and telecoms staff abused in Birmingham in central England and Merseyside in northern England, damaging connectivity at a time when people are relying on it more than ever.

An arson attack at a tower in Birmingham owned by BT, Britain's biggest telecoms company, caused significant damage. It provided 2G, 3G and 4G services to thousands of people, but did not have 5G capability, the company said.

NHS England's national medical director, Stephen Powis, said the 5G conspiracy idea was fake news with no scientific backing that risked damaging the emergency response to the outbreak.

"The 5G story is complete and utter rubbish, it's nonsense, it's the worst kind of fake news," Powis said. "The reality is that the mobile phone networks are absolutely critical to all of us."

"Those are also the phone networks that are used by our emergency services and our health workers and I'm absolutely outraged, absolutely disgusted that people would be taking action against the very infrastructure that we need to respond to this health emergency," Powis said.

A lobby group for the United Kingdom's mobile operators - including EE, O2, Vodafone and Three - said it was aware of the false rumours linking 5G to the outbreak, and that telecoms staff had been threatened.

Story continues

Vodafone, the world's second largest mobile operator, said the attacks were now a matter of national security.

"It beggars belief that some people should want to harm the very networks that are providing essential connectivity to the emergency services, the NHS, and rest of the country during this difficult lockdown period," UK boss Nick Jeffery said.

He described his engineers as heroes and urged people not to spread the "utterly baseless" stories online.
Claims Welsh police officers will be used as factory inspectors denied by government minister

This article is old - Published: Friday, Apr 10th, 2020

A Welsh Government minister has denied claims that police officers will effectively be used as factory inspectors to enforce a new law to keep workers two metres apart.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones had backed the four chief constables in Wales who are unanimously opposed to the idea.

Under the new legislation introduced by the Welsh Government on Tuesday, companies are being told to take reasonable measures to ensure the health of their workers.

Mr Jones, himself a former police inspector, said he fully supported the aim of the legislation but objected to the police being expected to enforce it.

However, Local Government Minister Julie James has now clarified that police will only be called in as a very last resort.

Speaking at the regular media briefs this week, she said:Were not asking the police to be factory inspectors. Just to be clear, if youre having a problem in your workplace, you think your employer is not taking reasonable measures to ensure that you can stay safe and stay distant from your fellow workers, then you need first to tell your employer that you think thats a problem.

Contact your trade union if you have a trade union, and I take this opportunity to say that people should have a trade union in these difficult times, to do just that.

If that doesnt work, and it will work in the vast majority of cases, then contacting your local authority Trading Standards department or raising it with your local assembly member will also do the trick.

The police are obviously only a very last resort for recalcitrant employers really determined to break the rules. We do not expect to have any of those in Wales.

The two-metre social distancing rule will apply to any workplace, including homes, where work and repairs are being undertaken and outdoor spaces.

The new rules apply to those workplaces not already covered by the original stay-at-home rules introduced almost two weeks ago

Employers will be breaking the law if do not make sure that staff are able to maintain the two-metre physical distancing rule

But the rules will not amount to a complete ban on workers being closer than the social distancing guidelines.

Commenting on the legislation, which gives the police and councils the power to enforce the rules with fines of between 60 and 120, Mr Jones said: It is like using police officers as factory inspectors when North Wales Police and the other Welsh forces have important work of their own to do during the coronavirus crisis.

The Health and Safety Executive and local authorities should step up to the mark here and do their job  they should take responsibility for enforcement rather than expecting the police to do their job for them.

The police have an important job to do during normal times but now, more than ever, they need to be able to concentrate on their own role.

I am sure the public of North Wales would far rather that our police enforce essential travel legislation rather than have them visiting factories to ensure that employees are kept two metres apart which is surely what the Health and Safety Executive should be doing.

The chief constables have urged the Welsh Government to change their guidelines as a matter of urgency and I am standing shoulder to shoulder with them on this.
Italy and Spain are preparing for several more weeks under lockdown as volatile coronavirus infection rates prevent Europe's governments from easing curbs on public life.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, whose country has reported the most virus-linked deaths worldwide, is leaning toward an extension to early May, though a small number of businesses may be allowed to reopen. Spain prolonged a state of emergency until April 25 and the U.K. also is likely to extend restrictions.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined Spain and Italy on Thursday in upholding curbs on people's movement and face-to-face contacts, saying progress in defeating the pandemic is "fragile" and it's too early to relent. In a plea echoed elsewhere in Europe, she called on Germans to abide by the measures over the long Easter weekend.

"We must stay focused," she said after a cabinet meeting.

As the pandemic maintains its grip on Europe, policy makers are caught between the urgent need to restart battered economies and calls by health officials to maintain lockdowns. Political uncertainty in the U.K. eased after Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from intensive care, though he remained hospitalized to recover from a coronavirus infection.

Merkel's cautious words echo the approach in other European countries faced with major outbreaks. Italy reported a rise in deaths and infections, while France's death toll increased with a backlog of data from nursing homes. U.K. deaths, though lower than in Europe's worst-hit countries, rose by 881 to almost 8,000.

"We're not done yet, we must keep going," Foreign Minister Dominic Raab, who is deputizing for Johnson, said in London. "Deaths are still rising, and we still haven't seen the peak of the virus."

More for you White House seeks easing of shutdown in May, but some fear second viral wave

Italy's containment measures run until Monday. Conte is inclined to keep those restrictions fundamentally unchanged, according to three trade union and business representatives who met with him on Thursday. The Italian premier is expected to announce an extension as early as Friday, according to two officials.

Any slight easing will be gradual and on a regional basis, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified by name in line with policy. Businesses that could be allowed to open include bookshops and stationary stores, agricultural machinery makers, forestry companies and perhaps sellers of baby clothes, according to newspaper Corriere della Sera.

With expanded testing under way, Italy recorded Thursday a second straight increase in the number of daily new coronavirus cases, counting 4,204 confirmed infections compared with 3,836 on Wednesday. Another 610 patients died, bringing the death toll to 18,279, according to civil protection authorities.

Infections in Spain rose to more than 157,000 and deaths surpassed 15,800 on Friday, underscoring the severity of Europe's most-extensive outbreak, even as daily fatalities slowed to the lowest since March 24.

Spanish lawmakers extended a national state of emergency for a second time on Thursday as the opposition People's Party joined Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's coalition government in supporting the measure. His government's poll ratings have declined as the virus ravaged Spain's health system.

France reported 1,341 new deaths from the coronavirus on Thursday after including two days of data from nursing homes, while the number of intensive-care patients declined for the first time since the outbreak began.

"So we can hope for a leveling off, but it's a very high leveling off," Jerome Salomon, head France's public health agency, said at a briefing. "It remains to be confirmed in the days ahead."

New cases in Germany climbed the most in five days, according to figures Thursday from Johns Hopkins University. Merkel and the premiers of Germany's 16 states plan to meet on Wednesday to consider the next steps.

"I would really love to be the first one to say to you that everything is how it was and we can get things going again," Merkel said Thursday. "But that's not the case. My job right now is to say what is happening now."
The party isnt over as yet for the world that has just discovered words such as lockdown, shelterin-place and quarantine.

Earlier this week, I decided to check how party animals are coping with the drastic lockdown. Not much of a party person these days, I had to rely on gossip from the old Mumbai social circle, which had moved from crazy art parties a decade ago, to crazy restaurant opening bashes, equally schizophrenic bar opening nights, dress up and go to a south Mumbai party animals home or even to a Bollywood stars hangout bash, two years ago.

They did not disappoint me and I was led straight up to the viral video call app, Houseparty, which has been around for a while but has suddenly gone viral in India. For those who have been living under a rock and havent heard of it (like me!), let this be known: Worldwide, the Houseparty app has become quite a sensation.

The free-to-use app, developed by a small tech company, Life on Air, in San Francisco, and later brought over by Epic Games, can host up to 8 participants in an unlimited session. The makers put out a host of figures for me when I wrote to them: It is the sixth most downloaded app in the United States and at the moment, in India, it is the eight most downloaded app.

But it is what others tell me that is far more interesting. For instance, young Delhi fashion designer Mitali Kaul, who has worked on the teams of Indias biggest designers, from Rohit Bal to Ritu Kumar, says, I used to party at least four times a week  house parties, bar openings, after-parties following fashion shows. For a week, it felt pretty odd, not going out for a party. And then we got on to the Houseparty app and since then, every evening, we have been jamming together on the app.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

Narendra Kumar Ahmed.

According to data, over 2.5 million people have downloaded the app in March, many of them in India. Narendra Kumar Ahmed, designer, creative head of Amazon and one of the people on the NIFT Alumni body, catches up with his friends on the Houseparty app in the evenings, at 7 or 8. We have a drink together, discuss the day, how each of us is coping up. I think this will be our way of life for a while, I think the world will change as we know it.

Seemingly, almost everyone is on Houseparty: Kareena Kapoor and her band of friends, which includes Malaika Arora; Karan Johar and his group of friends, and that is a rather large list; the millennial stars, from Ananya Pandey to the waiting-on-the-sidelines, Suhana Khan, Shahrukh Khans daughter. So is the large menagerie of designers such as Rohit Bal and Delhis rising stars. Kareena Kapoor, used to hanging out with her girl gang when all were in Mumbai, says apps like these make it easier to create that feeling of being together in some private room, just virtually.

Not even reports of Houseparty being hacked that emerged at the end of March has dampened the mood. Not even the fact that till lockdown forced us inside, Houseparty was seen as a place where teenagers caught up. As 36-year-old artist and visual merchandiser Gauri Ahuja, whose evenings included hanging out at Soho House Mumbai with some of her member-friends, before heading out for dinner to Taj Lands End says, No one quite knows what is safe. From Gmail to Facebook, anything can get hacked. But this feeling of togetherness that Houseparty allows is rather comforting. Houseparty seems to have followed coronavirus across the world; even my friends in London are on it.

Houseparty, incidentally, has denied they have been hacked, calling recent hacking rumours spread by a paid commercial smear campaign, even offering $1m (810,000) bounty to the first person who can provide proof of such a campaign.

So, how does it work?

Many under lockdown are enjoying dinner and drinks together, called AperiTV in Houseparty parlance, even as IT companies staff, from Bangalore to Silicon Valley, host virtual happy hours. There are in-app games such as trivia or screen-sharing services that allow friends to go on dating apps or watch TV programmes together.

Techie Abhishek Saha, originally from Odisha and locked up alone in Bangalore home now, logs on to the app with his techie friends from halfway across the world, from cities such as San Francisco, to watch Netflix shows together over a virtual drink. We do this almost every day. We decide a time, what we are drinking  could be whisky one day, wine the next, what we are watching the next day, and eight of us come together at the same time.

In a bid to test out the efficacy of the party app, I downloaded it and registered, created a password, and sent out notifications to my cousins and some common friends across different parts of the country and the world to join the party, sharing the password with them. When I came online, a push notification was sent to let others in my group know. A room was be organised for us to join in.

Incidentally, rooms can be locked to limit conversations to people who know each other, or they can be left open for strangers to join. We chose to limit our family party. The video chat allowed seven of us to catch up, have a drink together at the same time, share gossip.

Living it up on Zoom Hangouts and Instagram Live

Beyond Houseparty, virtual parties are also being organised on Zoom Hangouts and Instagram Live. Bangalore indie musician, Shazi Khan, a party perennial, prefers Zoom Hangout to catch up with her buddies from halfway across the world. My friends and I never did get on to Houseparty because it just felt too not our style. We prefer Zoom; it allows us to share music, compose, learn an instrument together and share notes.

She also mentions Endless, collaborative music-making app launched on the iOS app store, on March 31, even as the world was slipping into a long lockdown. They held a collaborative jam with artistes such as Imogen Heap, Flux Pavilion and Bulgarian electronic artiste KiNK on the day it was launched, she says. The app was founded by musician and technologist Tim Exile, who wanted to create a TikTok for musicians, where they could collaborate and make music. Khan has, since the lockdown, connected with musicians in countries as far apart as Beijing and London and made some music which I will soon share online.

Angad Singh Gandhi.

There are others who are moving everything, from whisky tasting sessions to wine tutorials, to established platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, events that, till now, required the physical presence of the participants. Angad Singh Gandhi, Glenfiddich Indias brand ambassador, hosted a freewheeling chat about single malts, food pairings and such with anyone who logged in on Food Bloggers Association of Indias Instagram Live. Besides, he is also part of what he calls a Glenfiddich flight club. In Episode 1, the Asia-Pacific brand ambassador and I will go against each to talk about three different drams. Whoever speaks better, will win this duel. Our followers will choose, he says.

This is Gandhis first experience with hosting tasting sessions and accepting challenges online and he sees it as a natural evolution in times like these. I have been doing a lot of DIY videos for online platforms, such as how to make sweet vermouth at home. I am also working on videos on how to experiment for different cocktails, using whatever ingredients you have at home.

Sonal Holland.

Master of Wine Sonal Holland has been using Instagram Live to host 10-minute sessions every evening over six days on how to be a wine pro within 60 mins, with a hashtag #60minwinepro. I take people through how to taste wine like a professional, a wines journey from grapes to glass, and the must-try wines. I am also going to invite Kapil Sekhri, the owner of Fratelli Wines on what 2020 vintage would look like.

Holland says she has been working on fun IGTV videos on wines and may move on to host sessions such as Date nights at home with wine and one-minute wine reviews on platforms like FB Live. This is the time to reinvent, have fun and connect virtually. I think even after this crisis ends, the virtual world will become a bigger playground, she says.

Deepali Nandwani is a journalist who keeps a close watch on the world of luxury.
A consultant who warned Boris Johnson about the need for more personal protective equipment (PPE) to support NHS staff during the coronavirus crisis has died from the disease.

Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, made a direct plea to the prime minister in a Facebook post last month, when he asked Mr Johnson to ensure urgently personal protective equipment (PPE) for each and every NHS worker.

Mr Chowdhury, who worked as a consultant urologist at Homerton Hospital in east London, said in his post: People appreciate us and salute us for our rewarding job which are very inspirational but I would like to say we have to protect ourselves and our families/kids in this global disaster/crisis by using appropriate PPE and remedies.

The prime minister, who is currently being treated for Covid-19 at St Thomas Hospital in London, has repeatedly come under pressure to address the issue of PPE being made available to all frontline workers tackling the pandemic.

In late March, 3,963 doctors penned an open letter in The Sunday Times, saying that they were putting their lives on the line every day by working without adequate protection.

Intensive care doctors and anaesthetists have told us they have been carrying out the highest-risk procedure, putting a patient on a ventilator, with masks that expired in 2015, the letter said.

It came despite the communities secretary Robert Jenrick insisting at the time that good progress was being made on securing PPE for frontline staff.

Mr Chowdhury died on Wednesday after contracting coronavirus, and was praised by his friend and fellow doctor Golam Rahat Khan as a life-loving person.

He liked singing and liked our own Bengali culture and loved English heritage, Dr Khan said.

He was so caring, he would call us very often to come to his house. I last saw him on February 1 at my house for my sons eighth birthday.

Additional reporting by agencies
House Republicans put a property tax freeze on the table this week, calling it a homeowner protection measure in light of the financial hardships that many Pennsylvanians are facing as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

Property owners facing challenges far beyond their control deserve to know their tax bill will not be hiding any increase, a statement from the caucus read. School districts across our state show a combined $1.8 billion in unassigned fund balances, so at this difficult time, we are requiring them to work on property tax figures so Pennsylvanians, facing record high unemployment, arent forced to lose their homes.

While the House Republicans arent fully on board with the proposal, caucus spokesman Mike Straub said it remains an idea that they are still working on.

Three statewide education organizations voiced strong opposition to such a proposal. On Thursday, state Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said that is a matter for the General Assembly and Gov. Tom Wolf to address.

He offered no guidance to district officials on how they should proceed in preparing their next years budgets or when the department might provide some direction.

These times are absolutely unprecedented and in many cases, weve been creating guidance for schools real time that dont exist, everything from food and nutrition, education, providing other services," Rivera said in a conference call with reporters. "So we have not yet and dont know at what point would we provide guidance around the 2020-21 budget. Were really trying to provide as much guidance as we can to school districts for the 2019-2020 school year. So no, we have not done that yet.

But the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, and the Pennsylvania State Education Association say a property tax freeze would force cuts on vital programs at a time when districts are facing revenue shortfalls.

Due to the economic implications of this pandemic, school districts face declining local revenue collection, they stated in a letter to lawmakers this week. Districts could easily lose more than $325 million in local revenue just in the remaining months of the current fiscal year and an estimated $1 billion in local revenue for 20-21. Freezing property taxes will exacerbate this problem and cause devastating programing and personnel cuts.

On top of that, theres a level of uncertainty surrounding the level of state funding that will be made available to schools in 2020-21. The Independent Fiscal Office is projecting the state could be facing as much as a $4 billion revenue shortfall.

Given all the uncertainty surrounding available revenue, district budgeting will be difficult enough without a property tax freeze further limiting districts options, the three public school associations stated.

Forcing a one-size-fits-all approach that essentially limits ability for local communities to determine what is best for them  prior to anyone having the facts about the extent of the impact of the pandemic on local and state revenue for school districts, as well as the extent to which federal stimulus funds can begin to cover the holes  is not the right approach, their letter states.

Schools are expecting to receive some funding from the $2 trillion federal stimulus package. Annette Stevenson of the school boards association said that will provide some relief by helping pay for the continuity of education measures districts are putting place this year. But there still remain mandated costs increases districts face.

The school boards, along with the administrators and educators, while opposed to a property tax freeze, pledge in their letter to work with lawmakers to provide some degree of relief for property owners during this temporary crisis while not jeopardizing the functionality of Pennsylvanias schools."

More education news on PennLive:

Pa. schools wont reopen this spring, will remain closed until end of academic year

With Pa. schools closed for the spring, state officials focus on helping districts deliver remote instruction

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
ARLINGTON, Va., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "We urge President Trump and the Administration to utilize all existing authorities to require American corporations to expand or retool their production lines to urgently produce testing supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE). In order to respond to this pandemic, we need these items in mass quantities right now. Without a forceful and urgent call to these private sector partners, our nation won't be equipped to contain COVID-19 and we will falter in our collective efforts to suppress this virus and reopen our cities, states, and territories.

"Specifically, production should include rapid manufacturing and production of supplies and equipment necessary for rapid point-of-care COVID-19 testing including reagents, point-of-care kits, viral transport media, laboratory supplies, and related products. Our nation's recovery depends on public and private laboratories and public health, healthcare, and hospital systems having the capacity to test for COVID-19 in every community throughout the country. After robust testing capabilities are available, we will better be able to determine where and when it is safe to gradually loosen stay-at-home orders and restrictions on gatherings.

"Additionally, rapid manufacturing and production of PPE is needed to exponentially expand in settings where infection and transmission may be highest including hospitals, nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, correctional facilities, grocery stores, and other venues where people congregate. Expanding PPE access to every necessary setting will protect those who are responding to COVID-19 today, but expansion will also be critical for preventing future COVID-19 transmission and lowering community transmission rates.

Our nation's recovery from COVID-19 will be based on the rapid production of testing supplies and PPE. Now is the time for every company that can to produce these vital materials to help save American lives."

ASTHO is the national nonprofit organization representing the public health agencies of the United States, the U.S. territories and freely-associated states, and the District of Columbia, as well as the more than 100,000 public health professionals these agencies employ. ASTHO members, the chief health officials of these jurisdictions, are dedicated to formulating and influencing sound public health policy and to ensuring excellence in public health practice.

SOURCE Association of State and Territorial Health Officials

Related Links

www.astho.org


Popular media personality, Dotun, has reacted to the suspension of the lockdown order by some state governors for Christians to celebrate the Easter holiday.

Taking to his Twitter page on Friday, the on-air personality wrote;

Even in Israel that we know are Jesuss guy guy are doing Passover in their houses Nigeria, we just no get sense. You are opening churches and mosques. For what? Is Jesus complaining? cant you do Passover in your house.

This comes after music entertainer, Banky W also spoke against the decision made by the governors of Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Kastina states to suspend the restriction on religious gatherings because of Easter and Jumat prayers.

Read Also: Banky W Slams Governors Who Suspended Social Distancing For Easter

See the tweet below:
A priest wearing a face masks to protect against coronavirus performs funeral rites at a Madrid cemetery in Madrid, Spain. (AP)

The death toll from coronavirus is rising in Europe, with many countries imposing nationwide lockdowns to curb the spread of the disease.

Nations such as Italy, Spain, France and the UK have recorded the highest number of deaths of any nation in the world, according to data released by Johns Hopkins University in the US.

Globally, the number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 1.5 million this week, with over 90,000 deaths recorded in the 100 days since the outbreak began.

Below, we list the ten European countries with the highest death tolls and the measures they are taking to try and curb the spread of the disease.

Medical staff tend to a patient in the ICU unit of Rome's San Filippo Neri Hospital's Covid department, in Rome, Italy. (AP)

Italy

Italy has recorded the highest number of deaths in Europe, 17,699, with the country under a nationwide lockdown since 9 March.

The country looking at plans to ease lockdown restrictions. Shops and businesses could reopen on 13 April, and Italians could be allowed to go from 4 May.

But the World Health Organization warned lifting restrictions at this stage would be a dangerous thing to do.

Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice

Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world

Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area

6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading

Spain

On Thursday, deaths in Spain rose by 683 to a total of 15,328, while confirmed cases also rose to 152,446 from 146,690.

On Sunday, prime minister Pedro Sanchez announced he would extend the country's nationwide lockdown measures to 26 April.

It is the second time the lockdown has been extended since it originally came into force on 14 March.

The Paris city hall and the police prefecture have banned jogging in Paris between 10am and 7pm to stem the COVID-19 epidemic. (Getty Images)

France

France has become one of the worst affected countries in the bloc, confirming 1,417 deaths ion Tuesday - considered the biggest daily rise of any country in the world - bringing the total death toll to 10,869.

The nationwide lockdown has been extended for a second time, beyond the original date of 15 April, with the country announcing it had gone into recession on Wednesday.

Story continues

Paris, the worst affected region int e country, has also banned all outdoor exercise between 10am - 7pm.

Police officers talk to members of the public at a park in Northampton, UK, as the government urged people not to flout to lockdown measures over Easter. (Getty Images)

United Kingdom

The UK is the fourth worst affected nation in Europe, as the death toll rose by 898 on Thursday, to a total of 7,097 deaths.

Following a COBRA meeting, the government said it is too early to lift nationwide lockdown measures first imposed by Boris Johnson on 23 March, as the virus peak had still not been reached.

With the weather becoming warmer over Easter weekend, UK police forces will be taking further action to ensure social distancing measures remain in place and that people remain indoors except for essential trips.

The government insists it will not tighten up lockdown measures and urged the public to resist the temptation to congregate in public.

Belgium

The country has so far recorded 2,523 deaths since the outbreak began.

On Wednesday, the number of hospitalised patients dipped for the first time since the pandemic hit Belgium.

Belgiums National Security Council will meet next Wednesday to discuss the possibility of extending nationwide quarantine measures, originally set to 19 April, to 3 May.

A funeral through the canals of Amsterdam. (AP)

Netherlands

The Netherlands has seen More than 2,396 COVID-19 deaths, with 21,898 confirmed cases. The nation recorded its biggest daily increase of 234 deaths on 7 April.

Unlike Italy, Spain and the UK, instead of quarantining residents, the country has opted for a herd immunity approach to tackling the virus, in an attempt to soften the blow to the Dutch economy.

Businesses that require touching , such as hairdressers, beauticians and the sex industry have been forced to close, while schools, nurseries and universities have been shut until at least 28 April.

Germany

Germany reported 4,974 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the total number to 108,202 since the start of the pandemic.

According to official data from the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, the number of Covid-19 deaths rose by 246 to 2,107. Daily fatalities were slightly lower than the previous day, but still notably higher than in previous weeks.

Germany is considering easing restrictions on public life after imposing lockdown three weeks ago, with the first steps might be taken after Easter. Chancellor Angela Merkel and other state leaders are due to review restrictions on 15 April.

Medical worker treats a patient with COVID-19 at the HRC Hospital, Hopital Riviera-Chablais Vaud-Valais in Rennaz, Switzerland. (AP)

Workers prepare the food packages they have prepared for city's residents in need amid the coronavirus outbreak, in Istanbul, Turkey. (AP)

Turkey

Turkey has so recorded 812 deaths from COVID-19, with cases rising to 38,226 on Wednesday - the ninth consecutive day of rises.

This week, Turkey imposed stricter measures to control the spread of the virus. Masks are compulsory on public transport, in markets and other communal spaces, while 31 cities are now closed to all but essential traffic.

Health minister Fahrettin Koca urged people to abide by the rules of self-isolation and emphasised the importance of staying home amid the pandemic.

Swedish authorities have advised the public to practice social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic, but still allow a large amount of personal freedom. (AP)

Sweden

Prime minister Stefan Lofven has urged residents to behave like adults resisting calls to impose a nationwide quarantine in the country.

Only the most vulnerable in the country have been advised to self-isolate at home, while bars and restaurants are still open along with primary schools and shops.

Coronavirus: what happened today

Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo News
The Union Health Ministry on Friday maintained that there is no community transmission of novel coronavirus in the country so far while urging people to follow lockdown norms and social distancing properly.

Responding to a question over an ICMR study which stated that 40 out of 104 people having severe acute respiratory infection and later tested positive for coronavirus did not have any recent international travel history or contact with any confirmed cases of the disease, senior official of the ministry Lav Agarwal asserted, "No community transmission has happened in the country so far. There is no need to panic."



"If there would be, we would be first to tell you so as to alert people," the joint secretary in the ministry of health said at the daily media briefing.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) came out with the findings after carrying out random coronavirus tests on 5,911 people suffering from severe acute respiratory infection in 52 districts in 20 states and union territories between February 15 and April 2.

Out of the total sample size, 104 people (1.8 per cent) were found to have contracted coronavirus. Of the 104, 40 of them did not have any recent international travel history or contact with any positive case of the infection, the study by the nodal medical research body said.

Reacting to the study, Agarwal said, "Samples of most of the 104 positive cases in the study were picked up from our VRDL laboratories in locations that have reported cases of COVID-19."



He said the study didn't say these people were from a place which reported no cases but added these cases should be further investigated.

According to the ICMR study, the chances of a severe acute respiratory infection patient getting infected with COVID-19 has increased from zero per cent before March 14 to 2.6 per cent by April 2.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 206 and the number of cases climbed to 6,761 in the country on Friday registering a record jump of 896 cases in a 24-hour span, according to the Union Health Ministry.

However, a PTI tally of figures reported by various states as on Friday showed at least 7,510 cases and 238 deaths.

There has been a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, compared to the number of cases announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
COVID-19 is now the number-one cause of death in the United States, killing 1,970 Americans per day in the past week -- more people per day than cancer or heart disease.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Trump administrations top infectious disease expert, said Friday that the federal government is considering issuing certificates of immunity to Americans who have recovered from the coronavirus. I think it might actually have some merit, under certain circumstances, Fauci told CNN.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has extended its no sail order for all cruise ships under U.S. jurisdiction. The order was originally issued March 14 for 30 days, but the CDC noted that at least 10 cruise ships have reported coronavirus-like symptoms among crew or passengers. The order will now end either 100 days from when the extension takes effect, when the Secretary of Health and Human Services lifts his emergency declaration, or if the CDC director cancels the order  whichever comes first.

A record 953 people in the United Kingdom died of coronavirus in the past day, bringing the countrys death toll to more than 9,000. The 953 deaths are higher than any one-day death toll seen in Spain, and its just behind Italys daily record of 971 deaths two weeks ago. But while outbreaks appear to have peaked in Spain and Italy, the UKs figures are expected to continue rising for at least another couple of weeks.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly in good spirits after being discharged from intensive care. Johnson remains hospitalized for the coronavirus, though he is now able to take short walks as part of his recovery, according to Downing Street.

By the numbers

World cases and deaths: 1,622,167 confirmed cases, 97,264 deaths

U.S. cases and deaths: 467,184 confirmed cases, 16,736 deaths

Ohio cases and deaths: 5,512 confirmed cases, 213 deaths, 1,612 hospitalizations

General information

Coronavirus timeline: How the coronavirus spread from cases in China to Ohio in less than three months

Coronavirus in Ohio: Department of Health opens call center to field questions, open 7 days a week

Ohio is under a state of emergency because of the coronavirus. What does that mean?

Coronavirus patients can take a turn for the worse two weeks into the illness, experts say

Kids and coronavirus: Children have come down with COVID-19, but usually with milder symptoms

Coping with coronavirus: Guide aims to ease fear of pandemic disease

MetroHealth Dr. Amy Ray offers helpful coronavirus advice in video

Can you have coronavirus without knowing it? Absolutely.

Loss of smell may be early symptom of coronavirus

Heres how much it costs to get coronavirus treatment

Heres what you should do right now to get your piece of the coronavirus bailout: Unemployment and small business aid

Risk/mitigation factors

Age, race and underlying conditions: What makes you more susceptible to coronavirus?

Hypertension could be a leading factor in coronavirus deaths: Heres what to know

How will coronavirus affect allergy sufferers?

Heres why mitigating the pandemic curve matters

What you might not know about using face masks to protect against coronavirus

Ways to distribute homemade masks for protection from the coronavirus

Will the shingles vaccine help me fight coronavirus? No. Heres why

Coronavirus update: Virus could live up to 24 hours on cardboard, 3 days on plastic and steel, study says

Coronavirus and lungs: How do smoking, vaping, air pollution affect respiratory illnesses?

How humidity could help fight coronavirus

ACE2: How researchers think coronavirus attacks cells, and how it could be stopped

Coronavirus and the lungs: Does COVID-19 cause more severe pneumonia or ARDS than other viruses?

Could coronavirus travel through the air? What new research says

Antibody coronavirus tests could deliver faster results, better understanding of reach

Will wearing a mask protect me from coronavirus? The answers arent that simple

Ways to distribute homemade masks for protection from the coronavirus

Cant find elastic to make a mask? Here are some other options

Hygiene/etiquette

Washing your hands: Best public restroom etiquette in the age of coronavirus

How to protect yourself from coronavirus: An infocomic goes viral

Ohio health department chief regularly cites school study on hand-washing. What does it say?

How to keep your car clean to reduce risk from coronavirus

Coping at home

Compiling a COVID-19 coronavirus quarantine prep kit: What you should have on hand at home

Should I take elderberry supplements to ward off flu, coronavirus?

Homemade hand sanitizer to battle coronavirus? Dont use denatured alcohol -- or vodka

10 essential tips to working from home during the coronavirus outbreak

Working from home? These 10 must-have items will make the transition easier

Comfort TV options you can stream if things get too quiet while working from home

Have a back-up plan for pets in case you get sick with coronavirus, Cleveland APL says

Coronavirus and food: 5 things to know for novice chefs at home

Worried about coronavirus on your food? 165 degrees is universal safe cooking temperature, but not often necessary

How to avoid a census worker coming to your door during coronavirus crisis

FAQ: Everything you need to know about getting Ohio unemployment amid coronavirus outbreak

What to read during coronavirus isolation: Cleveland authors, literary leaders offer book recommendations

40 podcasts to enjoy during coronavirus isolation

8 at-home baking projects to combat coronavirus boredom and stress

8 at-home activities that dont involve TV or books

350+ Greater Cleveland restaurants offering takeout, deliveries

Stuck at home? How to make it a place of order, comfort and joy

12 essential grocery items for your coronavirus pantry

Ordering takeout for dinner? How to do it safely in the age of coronavirus

Hiking trail ideas during the coronavirus shutdown to get you outside

Travel

Could Ohio shut down travel for coronavirus quarantine?

Travel in the age of coronavirus: Some Clevelanders cancel trips, others wait and see

Ohio to returning snowbirds: Self-quarantine if you plan a return to the Buckeye State

Closings/cancellations

Coronavirus closings, restrictions and delays in Ohio for Thursday, April 9, 2020
With nearly five dozen doctors in 28 clinics, the Houston Eye Associates is a giant within ophthalmology, the largest practice in the state and one of the biggest in the country.

These days, though, its ranks are shrinking.

Since the coronavirus hit last month, the company has shuttered about half of its clinics and furloughed a third of the staff, according to Dr. Aaron Miller, one of its pediatric specialists. Seven doctors have abruptly left; a few were retirements that had been pushed up, but others were less expected, propelled at least in part by the implications of the pandemic.

I would have liked to stay with the group, said Dr. Belu Allam, 66, who specialized in cataract surgeries. But I'm at high risk for catching the virus and this may go on for several months.

As the outbreak spreads across Texas, thousands of doctors, dentists and medical professionals in non-frontline specialties are facing unprecedented challenges. Much of their work has been sidelined by the governor to conserve protective gear, and many have had to temporarily close offices, forego salaries and furlough staff. Some, like Allam, are contemplating whether to continue on in careers that have defined them for decades.

FOR THE LATEST: Interactive maps, charts show spread of coronavirus in Texas

While the medical community has welcomed the governors action, as well as steps to expand the use of telemedicine, doctors are also concerned that patients with non-life threatening conditions are putting off care longer than they should. And some worry they will overlook symptoms during telemedicine visits that they would normally spot when examining patients in person.

The changes that have come to the Houston Eye Associates are an example that even the largest specialty practices are struggling to weather the fallout from the pandemic.

We dont know how to do this, Miller said of the slowdown. He still performs emergency procedures a few days a week, but sees most of his patients online  what used to be between 30 and 40 visits per day is now down to 10 or 15.

It's not that we're not doing surgery, Miller added. It's just that we're doing it to correct much worse conditions than previously.

PROMISING RESCUE OPTION: Blood plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients coming to more Houston hospitals

Patient volume at the Eye Associates has dropped by about 85 percent. The practice is treading water from payments for work done weeks ago, before the governor banned non-essential surgeries, Miller said, but doctors will have to work around the clock once the prohibition is lifted to meet demand and help stabilize the companys finances. That will be harder with fewer doctors.

When you have someone who is planning on leaving, you can make arrangements for them, Miller said. It usually would have a lead time of three or four months. You can find a way to absorb their patients. Now, he said, were having to do a lot of juggling to find out where those patients go.

The restrictions on elective procedures, which last through at least April 21, have dealt a financial blow to clinics and surgical centers across the state. The impacts may be especially hard felt by older doctors, who are at greater risk from exposure to the virus. About 23 percent of physicians in Texas are over age 60.

Dr. Malcolm Mazow, 85, the last of the Eye Associates founders still practicing, had planned to retire at the end of this year. As the threat of the pandemic heightened, he decided it was best to get out immediately.

It was a very difficult decision because even at my age I love going in the morning and seeing the patients, Mazow said. It was part of my life for over 50 years. I wanted to quit on my own terms.

The losses have left other doctors at the practice to pick up the slack. Susan Fish, who practices in the Woodlands, said shes balancing a high caseload and seeing an especially large volume of serious conditions  retinal detachments that need immediate surgery, ocular shingles, herpes simplex and corneal ulcers.

These things I would normally see, but were getting so many, she said, adding that there could be a myriad of explanations, not just that patients are putting off care.

Allam was the most recent to leave. She had expected to work a few more years, but struggled last month to overcome a sinus infection, which made her children nervous about what might happen if she contracted the coronavirus. Allams husband has a pre-existing medical condition, and the nature of her work  coming within close proximity of patients faces  puts her at high risk for exposure, even once the pandemic subsides.

I thought, I guess this is my time to retire, because if I go back later I may not be able to operate or handle the demand, she said.
He's reportedly a huge fan of all the memes that have popped up based on the hit Netflix docuseries Tiger King.

But the series star Joe Exotic still doesn't know about the show's treatment of the death of his former husband Travis Maldonado.

His current husband Dillon Passage revealed to ET that he didn't have the heart to tell Joe about the documentary's brutal conclusion to Travis' story.

Too raw: Tiger King's Dillon Passage revealed his husband Joe Exotic doesn't know that the Netflix docuseries includes footage of his former husband Travis Maldonado's death, according to ET

'I feel like some things shouldn't have been shown in the docuseries, like Travis' accident in the office,' Dillon said during a video chat interview.

The cat breeder hasn't been able to view the documentary about himself as he's currently serving a 22-year federal sentence for attempted murder and multiple animal cruelty charges.

Maldonado died of a self-inflicted gun wound in 2017, though it seems to have been due to carelessness, rather than a desire to kill himself.

Joshua Dial, who worked in the park's office with Travis, revealed to People that it was a common occurrence for him to point a gun at others.

Distasteful: 'I feel like some things shouldn't have been shown in the docuseries, like Travis' accident in the office,' Dillon said during a video chat interview

Tragic: Travis, who married Joe in a polygamous ceremony, accidentally shot himself in the head after he became convinced his gun wouldn't fire a round in the chamber without a clip

The fatal shooting happened after Maldonado became convinced his gun wouldn't fire with a round in the chamber but no clip, which was false.

'He said, "Hey, did you know a Ruger wont fire without a clip?" I said, "Really?" He put the gun to his temple at that point and pulled the trigger,' Dial recounted.

Though Tiger King doesn't directly feature the accidental shooting, it does include security footage of Dial reacting to the moment Maldonado shot himself.

Shocking footage: Tiger King doesn't show the shooting, but doesn't include footage of employee Joshua Dial witnessing the fatal shooting

Exploitative: 'I feel like that was very personal to Joe and that it was used for an emotional purpose and to get people more drawn in to the show,' Dillon contends

'I feel like that was very personal to Joe and that it was used for an emotional purpose and to get people more drawn in to the show,' Dillon contends.

'I don't think that's fair to Travis. He probably would not have wanted that put all over the world... And I didn't tell [Joe] that it was in there. I feel like he's definitely gonna be upset about it, so it's best that he doesn't know.'

Despite the painful moment, Dillon said he 'really enjoyed' Tiger King and thought it was 'like 93 percent' accurate to his experiences.

Unlike the animal rights activist Carole Baskin, who claimed the directors Eric Goode and Rebbeca Chaiklin pitched a Black Fishlike documentary that departed from the final product, Passage says it turned out the way they pitched it.

'They were really honest with me from the get go. They said that the documentary was going to be about the big cat underworld so they wanted to see  obviously  about cub selling, cub petting and stuff like that,' he said. 'I don't feel taken advantage. Because they told Joe's story true as can be.'

Mostly a fan: Despite not caring for the scene, Dillon said he was a fan, and Joe has been tickled by the meme's that guards have shown him in prison

'Maybe they left out some of his more sensitive character aspects and kind of made him seem like more of an angry person who was yelling all the time,' Dillon added.

'But he was definitely a wild character and he was very outspoken and he wasn't scared to share his opinion. And I feel like they showed it.'

Earlier on Thursday, Netflix announced that Community's Joel McHale would host a new after showstyle episode of Tiger King featuring interviews with people featured in the documentary, though neither Dillon or Joe are involved.
WASHINGTON  U.S. spy agencies collected raw intelligence hinting at a public health crisis in Wuhan, China, in November, two current and one former U.S. official told NBC News, but the information was not understood as the first warning signs of an impending global pandemic.

The intelligence came in the form of communications intercepts and overhead images showing increased activity at health facilities, the officials said. The intelligence was distributed to some federal public health officials in the form of a "situation report" in late November, a former official briefed on the matter said. But there was no assessment that a lethal global outbreak was brewing at that time, a defense official said.

On Wednesday night, the Defense Department disputed an ABC News report that an "intelligence report" had warned about the coronavirus in November.

"We can confirm that media reporting about the existence/release of a National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI) Coronavirus-related product/assessment in November of 2019 is incorrect," said a statement by Dr. R. Shane Day, an Air Force colonel who is director of the National Center for Medical Intelligence, a unit of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency. "No such NCMI product exists."

But the current and former officials told NBC News that while no formal assessment was produced in November  and hence no "intelligence product," in the jargon of the spy agencies  there was intelligence that caught the attention of public health analysts and fueled formal assessments that were written in December. That material and other information, including some from news and social media reports, ultimately found its way into President Donald Trump's intelligence briefing book in January. It is unknown whether he read the information.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

James Kudla, a spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency, declined to comment beyond the NCMI statement.

Story continues

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that he did not see intelligence reports on the coronavirus until January.

"We went back and looked at everything in November and December," he said. "The first indication we have were the reports out of China in late December that were in the public forum. And the first intel reports I saw were in January."

Even after public health authorities began sounding the alarm in January, the U.S. took few steps to ready itself for a pandemic. There was no effort to boost national stockpiles of medical equipment or encourage social distancing, for example. While Trump touts his decision to stop flights from China coming to the U.S. on Jan. 31, about 381,000 people had flown from China to the U.S. in January, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Image: A rail station in Wuhan (Noel Celis / AFP - Getty Images file)

Experts believe the coronavirus outbreak began last fall in a seafood market in Wuhan.

The South China Morning Post, citing Chinese government data, reported that the first documented case of someone in China's suffering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, occurred Nov. 17.

On Dec. 31, an Associated Press report out of China was one of the first English-language news accounts of a mysterious new virus.

"Chinese experts are investigating an outbreak of respiratory illness in the central city of Wuhan that some have likened to the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic," the story began.

Initially, the World Health Organization was conservative. In a statement about the disease on Jan. 14  discussing the first case outside China, in Thailand  the WHO said "there is no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission."

Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

But by mid-January, it was clear that the virus was spreading well beyond China.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans on Jan. 6 to take precautions if they were traveling to China. The next day, the CDC's Emergency Operation Center activated a COVID-19 Incident Management System  an emergency management tool used to direct operations, deliver resources and share information.

The extent to which the U.S. intelligence community was warning the White House about the potential implications of the virus remains unclear. Senior congressional aides have told NBC News that the House and Senate intelligence committees did not receive anything that would have constituted an intelligence early warning.

The first House briefing on the coronavirus was Feb. 6, an Intelligence Committee aide said, the day Trump was acquitted in the Senate on impeachment charges.

The Washington Post has reported that U.S. intelligence agencies wrote intelligence reports including ominous warnings about the coronavirus in January and February. None of the classified intelligence reports about the virus have been made public.
Huw Edwards has admitted he has been cutting his own hair and applying his own makeup after he returned to presenting duties this week.

The BBC presenter, 58, who revealed earlier this week he had recovered from pneumonia, made his return to presenting on the Six O'Clock news on April 6.

With lockdown rules still in effect though, some were wondering where he had managed to get his haircut.

Sky News' Mark Austin, 61, tweeted at Huw asking: 'Oi, @huwbbc, good to see you back. But where are you getting your barnet cut?'

'It's DIY all the way': Huw responded to a question from Sky News' Mark Austin asking where he was getting his hair cut now he was back presenting

Edwards responded with a picture of himself in his dressing room applying his own makeup.

In his tweet he said: 'It's DIY all the way - none of your @SkyNews pampering here - now smarten yourself up man.'

The BBC News presenter, 58, revealed this week he had been suffering with pneumonia and had been been treated at Kings College Hospital, London.

Edwards did not mention coronavirus when discussing his experience at the hospital.

The BBC News presenter revealed this week he had been in hospital with pneumonia. He resumed his presenting duties on April 6 after recovering at Kings College Hospital, London

Pneumonia is an inflammation of the tissue in one or both lungs usually caused by a bacterial infection.

Symptoms include a cough, high temperature, difficulty breathing and a rapid heartbeat, according to the NHS.

Edwards colleague George Alagiah, 64, recently tested positive for coronavirus despite stepping back from presenting duties in March because of the pandemic.

Alagiah said: 'In some ways, I think that those of us living with cancer are stronger because we kind of know what it is like to go into something where the outcomes are uncertain.'
As a former Homeland Security Adviser to two U.S. presidents, Mr. Bossert helped oversee domestic and transactional security issues and advised the president on cybersecurity, global health security policy and counterterrorism. He also coordinated the President's Cabinet and ensured timely implementation of the President's decisions and priorities and served as the National Continuity Coordinator.

Mr. Bossert currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer at Trinity Cyber, a highly disruptive, cutting edge provider of technology as a service.

"We are fortunate to welcome Tom Bossert to BGS' Board of Advisors," said Michael Allen, founder and Managing Director at Beacon. "Tom's background and leadership role in contributing to the public's understanding of the COVID-19 crisis will be a great asset to our Board, our company, and our clients."

Prior to joining Trinity Cyber, Mr. Bossert served in a number of senior executive government and private sector roles. He served in government as the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to President George W. Bush and has held several other policy positions on the National Security Council and Homeland Security Council staff. Among other government positions, Mr. Bossert was a plank holder at the Department of Homeland Security, served as congressional staff, and in a federal prosecutor's office.

Mr. Bossert is a National Security Analyst for ABC News and a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He earned his law degree from George Washington University and his bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He was born and raised in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Bossert joins the BGS team, led by Managing Directors Michael Allen, Former Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and former Senior Director at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush; Jeremy Bash, Former Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense and CIA Director; and Andrew Shapiro, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs; BGS Senior Counselors Leon Panetta, Former Secretary of Defense and Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency; and Michael Morell, Former Deputy Director of the CIA; as well as BGS Advisory Board Members Robert Cardillo, Former Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; Ambassador Eric Edelman, Former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy and Ambassador to Turkey; Deborah Lee James, Former Secretary of the United States Air Force; Marc Lampkin; Richard Ledgett, Former Deputy Director of the National Security Agency; David Shedd, Former Deputy Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; Admiral James Stavridis, Former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and Commander of U.S. Southern Command; Frances Townsend, Former Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; Dr. Michael Vickers, Former Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence; and Admiral Sandy Winnefeld, Former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

About Beacon Global Strategies

Founded in 2013, Beacon Global Strategies is a bipartisan strategic advisory firm that provides clients an in-depth understanding of national security decision-making to advance objectives and solve problems in Washington and abroad. The Beacon team brings experience informed by their years of service in the White House, State Department, Defense Department, CIA, Justice Department, on Capitol Hill, and in the private sector.

For more information, please contact [email protected]

SOURCE Beacon Global Strategies

Related Links

bgsdc.com


This Saturday (April 11), 50 years after Apollo 13 launched to the moon, you can celebrate human spaceflight with a Yuri's Night livestream event.

Yuri's Night events have been held annually since 2001 and were originally designed as a way to celebrate human spaceflight. The event is named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who became the first human to go to space on April 12, 1961. Saturday's livestream begins at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT/4 p.m. PDT) and you can watch it live here and on Space.com at the broadcast time.

In addition to the main annual Yuri's Night event, including music, art, science and more, people also independently throw their own "Yuri's Nights" all around the world however they want in whatever location they want.

Related: Vostok 1: How the First Human Spaceflight Worked (Infographic)

However, while "there is no 'typical' Yuri's Night party," Tim Bailey, executive director of Yuri's Night, told Space.com in an email, this weekend will certainly be different from previous celebrations. "This year almost all local events have been canceled to help slow the spread of the coronavirus," he said. The closures also mean that the annual event will be livestreamed.

But the online event will feature an all-star cast of scientists, artists and astronauts who will be participating in the event. Spaceflyers taking part include South Korean astronaut Soyeon Yi, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and retired NASA astronauts Nicole Stott and Scott Kelly, Bailey said, while other guests include celebrity science communicator Bill Nye, former rocket scientist and current CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA Sylvia Acevedo, founding member of the Grateful Dead Bob Weir and "Star Trek: Voyager" actor Robert Picardo.

Alongside the livestream, Yuri's Night will hold a costume contest to mark the occasion, so don your favorite flight suit or get creative and make an imaginative space-inspired costume with things you already have at home. You could even win "fabulous prizes," Bailey said, if you enter your costume by posting it on Twitter with the hashtag #YurisNight.

You can watch the livestream and stay up-to-date with the evolving list of guests here .

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook .
Only on Monday did the state fully order that judges are no longer required to appear in person at their courthouses, making the court system fully virtual, an Office of Court Administration spokesman said. A very small number" of clerks and court officers are staying on in courthouses to process critical paperwork and provide security, the OCA says.
"Everybody should be able to get their cash refunds," says Charles Leocha, the president and cofounder of the advocacy group Travelers United. "They paid for something. They're not getting it. It's basic American law." Read more

In the months the coronavirus outbreak has spread across the world, the Department of Transportation noticed another uptick: an increasing number of Americans being denied their rights to airfare refunds.

"The Department has received a high volume of complaints on air travel matters related to the COVID-19 public health emergency," a DOT spokesperson said in an email. "Many of these complaints concern lack of refunds, assessment of change fees, and inability to reach an airline representative."

Before the coronavirus pandemic took a major toll on travel, the DOT had a rule in place that if an airline cancels a flight, it must provide ticket-holders a cash refund for the airfare and fees. (If a travelers cancel their own tickets, there's no rule or guarantee for a refund.)

But as people were told to stay home to "flatten the curve," travel restrictions were issued and nonessential travel was all but banned, airlines stopped following this DOT regulation, according to the complaints received by the agency and tweets from customers and industry insiders.

On April 3, the DOT issued an enforcement notice to airlines that even during this pandemic, U.S. and foreign airlines must give customers a cash refund if a flight to, within, or from the United States is canceled or has a significant schedule change.

For people still struggling to get a refund, industry experts told us their advice.

Call the airline. Travelers who were stonewalled by airlines in recent weeks may have a different result when calling back after that latest DOT enforcement notice.

"Everybody should be able to get their cash refunds," says Charles Leocha, the president and cofounder of the advocacy group Travelers United. "They paid for something. They're not getting it. It's basic American law."

For those who were given a flight credit for a cancellation and would like their money back instead, airlines are also required to honor that request.

"In that [DOT] memo, they said at the end that the airlines should now contact everyone whose arm they twisted into taking credit and inform them that they have their choice," Leocha says. "They can now get cash back, or they can leave the credit in place."

Call the airline again. As the saying goes, if at first you dont succeed, try, try again.

"First, politely say, 'Thank you, appreciate your time.' Hang up. Call again," says Scott Keyes, founder of Scott's Cheap Flights. "The reason why is that airline agents have a lot of discretion about which refunds they process. So oftentimes, it's not as though there's a blanket policy and you'll never get one agent to treat you differently than another."

Keyes says that although you're unlikely to change one agent's mind, you could have better luck with one of the thousands of other agents taking customer calls.

"I can't tell you the number of times and I've been told no on the first call, no on the second call, then yes on the third call," he says.

 FAQ: Your coronavirus questions, answered.

Make sure to be nice when calling agents. Not only is it a stressful time for everyone right now, but it's also in a caller's best interest.

"I would always be very nice, because if you're a jerk, they put a note in your record," Leocha says.

Contact your credit-card company. Keyes says that when all else fails, enlist the help of credit-card companies. Card protections are in place for these very reasons.

Keyes uses this step as a last resort, because the process can be more of a bureaucracy hassle than going to the airline directly.

"Every credit card and bank has a process where you can dispute a charge if you've paid for something and you didn't receive that service," Keyes says. "So if you paid for a flight and the airline canceled the flight, they are not allowed to hold your money hostage.

File a complaint with the DOT. Report issues with airlines directly to the DOT through the agencys website.

"The Department maintains an aviation consumer protection website that provides useful information about passenger rights, including issues related to flight delays, cancellations, and refunds," the DOT spokesperson said. "The website also has an online complaint form so that air travelers can quickly and easily file a complaint with the Department."

Both Leocha and Keyes recommend filing a complaint with the DOT.

"If the airlines refuse to [issue a refund], get the person's name, and get it in writing," Leocha says. "Say, 'Please send me in writing that you refuse.' Then it's very important to complain to the DOT."

Filing a complaint isn't about blowing off steam. It can be good for both the traveler and the entire traveling community.

The fact that the Department of Transportation put out the directive they did, I think is directly attributable to the hundreds or thousands of complaints that people were filing because the airlines were behaving so poorly, Keyes says.
Technavio has been monitoring the electric vehicle remote diagnostics market and it is poised to grow by USD 1.49 bn during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of over 47% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005626/en/

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Electric Vehicle Remote Diagnostics Market 2019-2023 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. Bosch, Continental, Vector Informatik, Verizon, Vidiwave, and WABCO are some of the major market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

Demand for EV due to reducing battery prices has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market.

Electric Vehicle Remote Diagnostics Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Electric vehicle remote diagnostics market is segmented as below:

Application Passenger Cars Commercial Vehicles

Geographic Landscape The Americas EMEA APAC



To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR30419

Electric Vehicle Remote Diagnostics Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our electric vehicle remote diagnostics market report covers the following areas:

Electric Vehicle Remote Diagnostics Market Size

Electric Vehicle Remote Diagnostics Market Trends

Electric Vehicle Remote Diagnostics Market Industry Analysis

This study identifies growing prominence of 5G technology in the automotive market as one of the prime reasons driving the electric vehicle remote diagnostics market growth during the next few years.

Electric Vehicle Remote Diagnostics Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the electric vehicle remote diagnostics market, including some of the vendors such as Bosch, Continental, Vector Informatik, Verizon, Vidiwave, and WABCO. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the electric vehicle remote diagnostics market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports.

Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Electric Vehicle Remote Diagnostics Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2019-2023

Detailed information on factors that will assist electric vehicle remote diagnostics market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the electric vehicle remote diagnostics market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the electric vehicle remote diagnostics market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of electric vehicle remote diagnostics market vendors

Table Of Contents :

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

2.1 Preface

2.2 Preface

2.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2018

Market size and forecast 2018-2023

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY APPLICATION

Market segmentation by application

Comparison by application

Passenger cars Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Commercial vehicles Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Market opportunity by application

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

Geographic segmentation

Geographic comparison

APAC Market size and forecast 2018-2023

EMEA Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Americas Market size and forecast 2018-2023

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 09: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 10: TRENDS

PART 11: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

PART 12: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Bosch

Continental

Vector Informatik

Verizon

Vidiwave

WABCO

PART 13: APPENDIX

Research methodology

List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200409005626/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: media@technavio.com

Website: www.technavio.com/
APRIL 10, 2020  Future Roadrunners can now access virtual events to help them prepare for their first semester at UTSA. These online events are designed to promote a smooth and successful transition for all undergraduate students, whether just beginning their academic career or planning to transfer from another institution.

The online events include virtual visits and tours, information sessions and Virtual UTSA Day. Incoming and prospective students can attend these free virtual events to experience campus life and receive answers to their admission questions.

Virtual Visits and Tours: Hosted by UTSA student ambassadors who will guide attendees through campus points of interest and share their personal experiences as a Roadrunner. The visits also include a student ambassador panel with online chat opportunities.

UTSA also offers a self-guided virtual tour that lets Future Roadrunners and their families explore campus at their convenience.

To sign up for any of these virtual events, visit Future Roadrunner.

Virtual Info Sessions: Held Monday through Thursday, these sessions are hosted by admissions counselors or transfer specialists. Each session centers around enrollment topics such as becoming Rowdy Ready after a student has been admitted, financial aid and scholarships, undergraduate admissions and transfer admissions.

Virtual UTSA Day: On Saturday, April 18, incoming students get an opportunity to learn more about the UTSA campus, colleges and admissions process. The event includes help with signing up for orientation, online chats with admissions counselors, presentations from different academic colleges and programs, a virtual campus tour and more to help students get a glimpse of life as a Roadrunner.
Tropical Cyclone Harold, the most powerful storm to hit the Pacific in over two years, has left a trail of death and destruction across the region. In the Solomon Islands, 28 people went missing, feared dead, after being swept off a boat in the oncoming storm.

The passengers were travelling to the island of Malaita on April 3, following government instructions for people to return home due to COVID-19. Rescue efforts were hampered by limited resources because of the coronavirus crisis. Although the country has no confirmed cases, the sole rescue helicopter could not fly because a pilot was in quarantine.

The cyclone developed into a category 5 storm, pounding Vanuatu on April 67 before heading on to Fiji. With winds as high as 235km/h, the slow-moving system passed directly over Vanuatus main island of Santo while hundreds of people sheltered in evacuation centres.

Luganville, a town of 16,000 people, has been cut off by flooding, landslides and debris. Up to 70 percent of buildings were damaged, roofs were blown off houses, trees snapped and the council building destroyed. Radio New Zealand described a ship shoved ashore by ferocious waves and rivers spilling over banks, forcing people to flee villages and hide in caves.

Telecommunications provider Vodafone reported a network outage in the islands of Banks, Santo, Malekula and Pentecost. Save the Childrens Luke Ebbs told the media there was immense destruction: In some parts of Santo Island not a single building or structure is free of damage. Homes have been flattened to the point they are unrecognisable. Many families had lost almost everything and urgently needed humanitarian assistance.

The cyclone was particularly ill-timed for Vanuatu, with a caretaker government in charge following inconclusive elections last month. While there are no reported coronavirus cases, Vanuatu borders are sealed, and gatherings of more than a few people banned. The interim government has relaxed the state of emergency as it contends with the dual crisis, allowing people to travel to seek shelter and go to evacuation centres.

Meanwhile, intensive horse-trading is underway in an attempt to form a government. The Graon Mo Jastis Pati, led by Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu, won nine of 52 seats while caretaker Prime Minister Charlot Salwais Reunification of Movement for Change and the Vanuaaku Pati both won seven. It is unclear who will emerge as prime minister.

Cyclone Harold moved on to Fiji as a category four storm on Wednesday, with winds of up to 195km/hr. The National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) activated 250 evacuation centres.

The town of Nadi was flooded and left without power after the Ba River burst its banks. Low-lying areas in the capital Suva and Nausori were flooded while many homes suffered damage. The NDMO urged villagers on remote islands and coastal areas to move to higher ground.

With Fijis tally of COVID-19 cases currently at 15, the government would not lift its lockdown and curfew restrictions. Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said people must only evacuate if flooding posed a risk and claimed that contingency plans were in place to prevent any mixing between evacuees and Fijians who were close contacts of COVID-positive patients.

Suva went into lockdown after two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the city. More than 300,000 people are confined to their homes, and all non-essential businesses closed for at least two weeks. Cyclones can kill and so can coronavirus. As we combat these two life-threatening crises, its vital that every Fijian do exactly what they are told to do by authorities, Bainimarama said.

The government has deployed the army to help the police enforce a zero-tolerance policy for COVID-19 violations. More than 500 people have been arrested for breaching restrictions. Bainimarama, a former military coup leader, said that the country was at war with the virus and warned any disobedience in our ranks would be dealt with severely. We dont care who you are. Rules are rules, he declared.

Cyclone Harold had again strengthened to category 5 as it moved away from Fiji and headed towards Tonga on April 9. The capital, Nukualofa experienced strong winds, power outages and extensive flooding from an accompanying king tide. Tongas government has announced a state of emergency because of the cyclone, after a similar declaration in March aimed at preventing the emergence of COVID-19.

The twin crises underline how vulnerable the peoples of the impoverished Pacific nations are. Cyclone Harold is the most serious since Cyclone Pam, which destroyed much of Vanuatu in 2015, setting livelihoods, infrastructure and the economy back years. Cyclone Winston, which hit Fiji in 2016, left up to 45,000 people, nearly 5 percent of the countrys population, homeless or forced into temporary evacuation centres.

The legacy of colonialism, poverty and underdevelopment, including severely rundown hospitals, renders Pacific nations particularly vulnerable to such disasters. There are currently more than 220 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the region including six deaths. The measles epidemic in Samoa last year, which killed 83 people, gives an indication of the devastation that this coronavirus could inflict.

The Asian Development Bank has warned that Pacific countries will see economic growth fall by at least 0.3 percent in 2020, but this is likely an underestimate. Fiji, Vanuatu and the Cook Islands have announced short-term fiscal bailout packages as tourism has collapsed. Samoa and Tonga rely heavily on remittances from expatriate populations, who themselves face mass unemployment.

Papua New Guineas Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey last week said the country faced its worst economic crisis since World War II and estimated that the value of its exports will plummet by at least 13 percent as the prices of resources collapse.

The humanitarian catastrophes intersect with intensifying geo-strategic tensions, stemming from the US-led military build-up throughout the Pacific. As in previous disasters, Australia and New Zealand, the two regional imperialist powers, are only interested in using the havoc to assert their interests and push back against China.

Beijing has sent medical supplies and protective equipment to several Pacific countries and has committed small sums of money to some. In response, Australias Morrison government announced that a $2 billion infrastructure lending facility, part of its Pacific step-up policy, will be used to help the region recover from the pandemic. Another $1.4 billion in aid already earmarked for the region will be allocated to combat COVID-19 outbreaks.

This expenditure, which basically directs already existing commitments, is totally inadequate to deal with the scale of the crises. New Zealand, for its part, this week deployed an Air Force Orion to Vanuatu to undertake aerial surveillance of the cyclone damage and has made available a paltry $500,000 fund for relief items. Wellingtons total support to Vanuatu, including for coronavirus support is just $US1.5 million thus far.
HOLYOKE  With her father suffering from pneumonia and COVID-19 suspected of killing nearly 20 veterans at the Soldiers Home in less than two weeks, Susan Kenney drove to the home on the hill on April 3, parked and wrote a plea for information on her car windows.

Is my dad alive? Shame on the Soldiers Home, over 30 hours with no call back, she wrote as she waited for word about her father, Charles Lowell.

She said she was desperate for information from the staff, who had always provided excellent care for her father and were previously forthright whenever she or her mother asked for information.

But on March 14 officials closed the home to all visitors as they tried to prevent the coronavirus from spreading to the veterans, who are among those most vulnerable to severe cases of the disease. When the visits ended, most of the communications shut down as well, Kenney said.

Kenney, of Ware, and her sister Brenda Lowell, of Brookfield, said communication has improved greatly over the past few days  but, the sisters said they and their mother went through more than a week of worrying and were left with no place to turn.

Their comments echo a number of family members who say they struggled to get updates about their veteran fathers, brothers and other relatives both before and after news broke that the virus was ravaging the facility and residents were dying.

Officials installed a new clinical command team to manage the facility and established a hotline for families as the scope of the outbreak became public in late March. But a spokeswoman for the the Department of Health and Human Services said earlier this week that the hotline was quickly inundated, and that reinforcements were sent in Monday.

Since they still cannot enter the home  or talk to caregivers or their father face-to-face  Kenney said she continues to worry about his condition and day-to-day care.

I feel the communication has gotten better but there are so many questions from families, she said. We have to trust what they are telling us is true. She recalled talking to a family member of another veteran who said shed been given conflicting information about whether the man had tested positive or negative for COVID-19.

Kenney serves as her fathers health proxy and is the first person contacted if he has a problem. On March 30 she got the first inkling of the unfolding tragedy when her fathers regular case worker called to say he had to be tested for exposure to the virus.

Later that night she turned on the news and was horrified to learn as many as 11 veterans had died in the past week, likely from COVID-19, and at least 25 more might have been infected.

One week later the number of veterans who have died from the disease has grown to 29, and about 70 more have tested positive. The remaining 126 residents  at least 46 of whom have been moved to a unit of Holyoke Medical Center to keep them safe  have tested negative.

At least 10 of the veterans testing positive contracted the disease after all residents were tested on March 30.

That was the day the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services sent a team to investigate conditions at the facility; Gov. Charlie Baker said his office learned about the outbreak the night before. That afternoon, officials placed Superintendent Bennett Walsh on paid administrative leave and put Val Liptak, a registered nurse and CEO of Western Massachusetts Hospital in Westfield in his position.

The state also sent in a team of medical, epidemiological and operational experts to respond to the outbreak, as well as members of the National Guard.

Walsh has denied any wrongdoing in the management of the facility and said he constantly notified officials in three different departments of the growing crisis at the home. He said has been cooperating with an investigation ordered by Baker. Two additional investigations are underway by the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. State legislators are also planning an investigative hearing to find out what went wrong and how to prevent future outbreaks.

I need to know what is going on'

The next time the home got in touch with Kenney or her family was on April 1, when a staff member phoned her to say her father  a U.S. Air Force veteran and former volunteer firefighter and Hardwick selectman who will turn 79 in June  was suffering from pneumonia. The employee could not tell her anything else.

After that she said she kept trying the hotline but couldnt get through. A person who answered a call to the homes main switchboard tried to help, but could only refer her back to the hotline.

Thats when Kenney said she gave up and drove to the Soldiers Home to see what she could find out in person  even though she knew she wouldnt be allowed to enter. While she was en route, her mother, Alice Lowell, got a call from the home with the news that her husband had tested positive for COVID-19.

While parked in the lot, one of the certified nursing assistants came out. The CNA told Kenney she knew her father and said she would do the best she could to find out information and call her.

I was sobbing to her, saying I need to know what is going on, Kenney said.

Kenney then drove to a grocery store, where a woman in the parking lot saw the message on her car. The woman said her sister was a nurse at the Soldiers Home who had been working double shifts. She offered to try to find out information for Kenneys family.

Over the weekend communication improved. National Guard members called the family twice with updates and Kenneys mother was able to Facetime with her husband on Saturday, with help from workers at the home.

I know some of the staff feels as helpless as we do, she said.

Over the April 4 weekend officials phoned the medical contact for every veteran with information. In response to complaints about the lack of communication, the state also set up a clinical team of a nurse case manager and care coordinators to provide information to families. The state has also hired additional social workers from Behavioral Health Network and Riverside Community Care, and by Wednesday every family member had received an update on their relatives health.

On Tuesday Kenneys mother received a call from their regular caseworker, who had returned to work after a five-day sick leave. Charles Lowell was up and eating and having a good day.

Since then, Kenney said, she has called daily and receives updates about her fathers oxygen levels; she learned Friday that he no longer has a fever. Her mother also is able to Facetime with him every other day.

Neither Kenney nor her sister said they blame the nurses or certified nursing assistants for the lapses in communication or the breakdown that led to the virus spreading. But, they question how management handled the crisis.

Kenney said she has questions about whether staff infected with the virus are being forced to return to work too soon. Employees are currently required to wear masks and other protective equipment when dealing with residents.

Brenda Lowell said she constantly worries about the staff at the Soldiers Home; she believes they were stretched too thin and did not have enough protective equipment. Union officials have said they had to fight to ensure employees had access to masks and other protective equipment.

In a statement released on Thursday, meanwhile, Walsh said he told state officials he was desperately understaffed and that hed made a request for help from the National Guard that was denied.

Several dozen of the homes workers have tested positive for the virus, and the state has been trying to hire contract and per diem nurses and use medical staff from the National Guard to fill staffing gaps, officials for the Executive Department of Health and Human Services said.

They are risking their lives. It has been scary for them, Brenda Lowell said. They are so dedicated. We have never had an issue, his care has always been amazing.

Instead of driving to the Soldiers Home as her sister did, Brenda Lowell set up a Facebook page to reach out to fellow families. More than 200 have joined and shared their frustrations and tips to get more information.

Whatever happened they werent informing the town and the state and the families," Brenda Lowell said of the early stages of the crisis. It caused a lot of stress and grief for families and, Im sure, the staff.

Related Content:
A LARGE collage of individual silhouettes  depicting refugees making a long journey in search of a better life  is among the installations as part of the eminent Eva international art exhibition, which opens in Limerick city this weekend.

Art works from as far afield as Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam, Los Angeles, and Johannesburg have been flown in to Limerick for this weeks launch of Eva 2016, the 37th edition of Ireland's pre-eminent visual art exhibition, which runs for three months.

Regarded as Irelands largest and most diverse art exhibition, the biennial this year includes a vast array of works interpreting curator Koyo Kouoh's post-colonial theme entitled Still (the) Barbarians, from a project incorporating Limerick lace by an artist from Ghana, and a large silhouette montage by an artist from Nigeria which aims to focus attention on the current refugee crisis.

This year's @eva_Limerick exhibition was selected from 2,000 entries and will be in 6 locations around the city pic.twitter.com/bGchlRqVAA  Limerick2020 (@Limerick2020) April 14, 2016

Londoner Mary Evans, who was born in Lagos, said this will be her first time exhibiting in Ireland, and connected her own background in migrating with the story of Irelands diaspora and the current crisis in the Mediterranean.

My work nearly always has historical references, and is about historical migration, mainly because I migrated to Europe from west Africa when I was a small child, so thats my personal starting for work that looks at a global issue, and this [piece] in particular is called Thousands are Sailing, the name of a song by The Pogues.

It begins: The island it is silent now, but the ghosts still haunt the waves, and the torch lights up a famished man, who fortune could not save.

Growing up in north west London, I knew lots of Irish people and that song is very much about Irish migration to America in the 19th century, so thats the connection that Ive made between Irish and African history, she said.

The associate lecturer at Central St Martins in London said she was inspired by an image in a newspaper of people walking for miles on end.

Im hoping there will be a real connection [with the audience]. The crisis is so difficult. I can understand of course, why people would want to move and make a better life for their families. I have benefitted from that myself.

I wish that everybody could be accommodated. Its just awful when you see these images  it breaks my heart, its really sad.

What I like about it here [in the City Gallery] is what when people walk through here and into the gallerys cafe that they become part of that work.

The silhouettes are unclothed images she, said, to highlight peoples vulnerability and include pregnant women, babies and kids, all manner of humanity, just of people upping sticks.

Artist Godfried Donkor, from London but born in Ghana, travelled to Limerick last September to work a piece, which has become the Rebel Madonna Lace Collection.

He investigated the history of Limerick lace, and combined that with lace as an aesthetic form in west Africa, and specifically Ghana, where it is considered a luxury product. Some of the motifs are inspired by life in Ghana, and he has also designed a lace jumpsuit, which will hang in the City Gallery. This too is his first time exhibiting in Limerick and Ireland.

Extraordinary works have travelled across the world from Limerick in the past few weeks and were lucky enough to have 30 of the artists here for the opening, added Woodrow Kernohan, Eva director.

This year, the exhibition, featuring some 57 artists with 50 projects, will expand to include seven venues, from four in 2014.

This years exhibition spaces are Limerick City of Gallery of Art, Cleeves factory, the Hunt Museum, the Sailors Home on O'Curry Street, King Johns Castle, the Milk Market and Mother Macs, formerly the Round House pub.

Mother Macs (formerly the Round House) will be the venue for Liam Gillicks project And Then ..., which will be an open mic spoken word film festival.

Some of the exhibiting artists have strong links to Limerick, while a number of international artists flew into Limerick some months ago to work on projects with a specifically local theme.

Nice Screams, by Deirdre Power and the Softday duo of Sean Taylor and Mikael Fernstrom, invited submissions from the public to write a new anthem that ties in with the centenary of the 1916 Rising, activating a call to action on the streets of Limerick on April 24.

A Dhuine Uaisle Uachtair Reoite (Better World in Mind) by Donnacha Toomey was selected by public vote and converted to an ice cream van chime to be performed at Eva International on Sunday, April 24.

This years exhibition focuses on new media such as video games, to traditional art works such as tapestries and oil paintings. Curated by Koyo Kouoh, from Cameroon, and entitled Still (the) Barbarians, the exhibition opens on Saturday, April 16.

It will be launched this Friday at 4pm in the City Gallery, at 6pm in Cleeves, and then there will be a launch party at Milk Market from 8pm until late. There will also be a curatorial talk with Ms Kouoh at the Belltable Arts Centre, at 11am this Friday.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- U.S. bases in Afghanistan have closed some facilities and limited gatherings under a public health emergency declared in late March to control the spread of the coronavirus, military officials said Friday.

The emergency order from Gen. Scott Miller also allows commanders to impose quarantine or isolation, close buildings and restrict movement, NATO Resolute Support said in a statement. The order issued March 28 includes service members and others under U.S. authority.

"Under the (public health emergency), a civilian or contractor who refuses to comply with the rules or follow instructions from medical professionals could be sent home," NATO Resolute Support spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said in a statement.

Measures by NATO Resolute Support to limit the spread of the virus resemble those announced in recent weeks at military bases worldwide.

U.S. and NATO dining facilities in Afghanistan are takeout only, with shortened hours for stores and restaurants run by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. Morale, Welfare and Recreation facilities, where troops could play video games or call their families, have been closed.

All indoor gyms at U.S. bases are closed, although personnel are encouraged to exercise at outdoor gyms, the Resolute Support statement said.

The U.S. mission to advise Afghanistan security forces is continuing using remote means, Resolute Support said.

Troops must maintain six feet of distance from each other and wear a face mask if that distance is not possible, in line with Pentagon guidelines. No more than 10 people are to gather in a room at one time, and meetings are to take place remotely when possible, a Resolute Support statement said.

The public health emergency declaration will continue at least through late April, military officials said.

"Enforcing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 across the force is not only a command focus but an individual responsibility," Leggett said in the statement.

U.S. and NATO medical personnel have formed a COVID-19 prevention task force and some deployed commanders are holding virtual meetings to answer questions from troops, Leggett said.

U.S. officials declined Friday to discuss how many troops in Afghanistan have since tested positive for coronavirus, citing a Pentagon directive to stop announcing local case figures.

Four NATO service members had tested positive for coronavirus after arriving in Afghanistan, military officials said in late March.

Afghanistan had 444 confirmed coronavirus cases and 15 deaths, the World Health Organization website said Friday.

Thousands of Afghans have recently returned to the country from Iran, which has been among the nations hardest hit by coronavirus, with 64,586 cases and 3,993 deaths, the WHO said.

Read more: Army Designs New Camera Drones to Be Fired from Grenade Launchers
The United States has threatened to cut off Beijing-controlled China Telecom from serving the US market because of legal and security risks, announced the Justice Department.

A recommendation by the government's top departments, including Defense, State and Homeland Security, said the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should "revoke and terminate" all authorizations for the Chinese giant's US subsidiary, China Telecom (Americas), to provide international telecommunications services to and from the United States.

"The Executive Branch agencies identified substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecom's operations, which render the FCC authorizations inconsistent with the public interest," the Justice Department said in a statement Thursday.

If approved, the move could mean China Telecom's hundreds of millions of phone and internet customers -- it is China's second largest mobile phone operator -- could lose connectivity with or through the United States.

The agencies making the recommendation -- which also included the Justice Department, the Commerce Department, and the US Trade Representative -- said China Telecom is vulnerable to "exploitation, influence and control" by Beijing.

The agencies also made the recommendation based on "the nature of China Telecom's US operations," which they said allow Chinese government actors "to engage in malicious cyber activity enabling economic espionage and disruption and misrouting of US communications." The recommendation has to be decided upon by the FCC, but will almost certainly involve the White House, where it could be weighed amid ongoing trade negotiations with Beijing.

On Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry said it was "firmly opposed" to the recommendation.

"We urge the US to abide by market principles, stop its wrong practices of using national security as a catchphrase and politicizing commercial matters, as well as stop unfairly suppressing Chinese enterprises," spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

The recommendation came just five days after President Donald Trump's administration formed an interdepartmental body to formally review national security concerns related to foreign telecommunications companies involved in the United States.

In September 2019 two senators, Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Tom Cotton, asked the FCC to consider banning China Telecom and another company, China Unicom, from the US market over national security concerns. The statement Thursday did not explain specifically what China Telecom had done to spark the recommendation that it be ousted.

It said the company has inaccurately reported to US authorities where it stores its US records and how it manages cybersecurity.

It also made specific reference to an undertaking by China Telecom in 2007 to the Justice Department, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security to keep accessible for law enforcement all records of its US business, and to cooperate with and not disclose any investigations, wiretaps and subpoenas.

US national security officials have displayed increasing wariness of Chinese telecommunications firms and technology.

Washington has banned Huawei, the world's largest provider of telecoms equipment and a leader in the new 5G technology, from supplying US government systems and has strongly discouraged use of its equipment by the private sector.

US intelligence believes Huawei equipment could be compromised by Chinese intelligence, and Washington has pressured allies to find other providers as well. The US Justice Department has also issued indictments against a number of Chinese it accused of participating in hacking operations and commercial secrets theft under the Chinese government's auspices.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
To receive Steve Gutterman's Week In Russia each week via e-mail, subscribe by clicking here.

President Vladimir Putin reaches back more than a millennium to find an analogy for Russia's fight against COVID-19, unleashing a mass of mocking memes. And, as recorded infections rise fast and Putin seeks to signal control over the country's coronavirus response, fresh signs that the official numbers are an undercount emerge.

Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.



Pechenegs And Polovtsy



The notion that Russia is surrounded by foes, or at least potential adversaries, has long been a go-to narrative for the Kremlin, as has the idea that outsiders are to blame for the bulk of the country's woes.



Frequently, over President Vladimir Putin's two decades in power, the alleged culprits have been the West, NATO, or the United States. Almost a decade ago, Putin accused then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of fomenting street protests that in fact were triggered by anger over evidence of election fraud and dismay at his plan to return to the presidency after a four-year hiatus.



And in 2004, Putin shifted the November holiday that had earlier commemorated the Bolshevik Revolution and repurposed it as a celebration of the ouster of occupiers from Moscow in 1612, during tsarist Russia's war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In a televised vow to endure the coronavirus crisis, Putin turned the clock back even further, holding out armed struggles against the Pechenegs and the Polovtsy, or Cumans -- two groups that harried Kievan Rus in the 10th and 11th centuries -- as examples of what he said was Russia's hardiness and resistance to pressure.



"Everything passes, and this will pass," Putin said in the live broadcast on April 8. "Our country has endured serious trials many times: the Pechenegs tormented it, and so did the Polovtsy. Russia has dealt with everything, and we will defeat this coronavirus infection."



Cue the hailstorm of mocking memes.



On social media, critics and commentators took gleeful aim at the arguably arcane nature of Putin's comparison and at its historical accuracy -- for one thing, it was the Kiev-based precursor of today's Russia and Ukraine that battled the Pechenegs and Polovtsy: Moscow had not yet been founded.



One satirical website ran an article saying that Putin had exempted Pechenegs and Polovtsy from the spring military-conscription campaign, while opposition politician Aleksei Navalny predicted that the ruling party would legislate major state spending on a celebration marking victory over the Pechenegs.



Natash, Are You Asleep?



A popular recurring meme featuring a photo of several house cats trying to wake an unseen sleeping woman named Natash (short for Natasha, a pet form of Natalya) quickly played on Putin's remarks, showing the cats with speech bubbles saying: "The Polovtsy tormented us," "And the Pechenegs, Natash," "And the coronavirus infection, Natash, honestly."

One journalist wondered whether Putin had "begun an online course in medieval history in his self-isolation."



Wouldn't put it past him. Putin has shown a seemingly increasing interest in history as he seeks to employ the past -- or his portrayal of it, which critics say is often skewed -- to promote his own interests and the interests he ascribes to Russia.



This phenomenon has been played into a persistent dispute with Poland, spats with other countries, the commemoration of Holocaust victims, and preparations for May 9 celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II.

But there may be some careful calculations behind Putin's decision to reach so far back into the past, choosing two groups whose names are known from history books and not much else.



For one thing, if you're looking to cast the coronavirus as a threat from abroad the obvious choice would be China, where COVID-19 originated. But the Kremlin has long sought close ties with Beijing, both as a buyer of its oil and gas and an ally in efforts to combat U.S. global clout, so laying blame there would make little sense.

In fact, Russia and China are accused of supporting one another's COVID-19 disinformation campaigns. An example is an apparent effort by the Russian Foreign Ministry, following in Beijing's footsteps, to suggest that the original source of the outbreak was not a live animal market in the Chinese city of Wuhan but a U.S. biological weapon gone awry.



Blame Game



Public finger-pointing at the West, however, might have little benefit for Putin -- particularly as he seeks to shore up an economy hit by COVID-19 and an oil-price collapse caused partly by Moscow's rejection of a Saudi Arabian plan to reduce oil output in order to bolster the price as the coronavirus cut demand by drastically curbing travel and a number of industries.

Drawing a parallel between COVID-19 and the Nazi invasion, meanwhile, would risk vastly overstating a threat that Putin has taken pains to describe as serious but manageable.



Putin's comments on April 8 appeared to be an attempt to convince the Russian public that it is he, and not anyone else, who is doing the managing.



When Russia abruptly changed tack and began imposing lockdowns, not long after Putin said the situation was "under control," it was Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin who took the most prominent role -- or was handed it.

In a change from two previous televised addresses about the coronavirus, Putin this time used a video conference with regional governors "in the role of diligent students writing down the head of state's words in their notebooks," as the political editor of Moscow-based newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Kirill Martynov, put it in a column.



It was meant to be "a visual signal that the president has not self-isolated from responsibility and is in control," Martynov wrote. He noted that Putin chose "a native format" for those Russians working from home and "holding meetings on Zoom," an app that is one of the main platforms for communication among co-workers, friends, and families confined largely to their homes.



Not everyone has a home, though, and not everyone in Russia is on Zoom. As they have in other countries, the lockdowns imposed in Russia have in many cases deepened divisions between the haves and the have-nots, making already difficult lives even harder for those in straitened circumstances -- financial or otherwise.



Pneumonia And COVID-19



Putin's comments came a day before the publicly announced number of confirmed COVID-19 infections rose above 10,000, potentially feeding fears that his government may have acted too slowly to stem the spread of the virus and may be understating the numbers.



They have risen fast this week, reaching nearly 12,000 on April 10 -- with 94 deaths -- after increasing by a record amount for the fifth straight day.

Apparent evidence that the official number of COVID-19 infections is higher than the officials are saying has continued to crop up across the country. In many instances, this has involved suspicions that people being treated for pneumonia have the coronavirus -- or had it before it killed them.



That is what happened to Anastasia Petrova, a 36-year-old journalist in the Urals city of Perm who died on March 31 following a diagnosis of double pneumonia. After a friend and fellow journalist posted a text message in which Petrova had said her second COVID-19 test came back positive, health officials changed the official cause of death to "double pneumonia brought on by a coronavirus infection."

On a larger scale, a doctor who was among more than 1,000 personnel and patients placed under a strict coronavirus quarantine at the largest hospital in Ufa, a city of more than 1 million and the capital of the Bashkortostan region, said the facility had seen an increasing number of cases attributed to pneumonia over the past two weeks.



"The flow of patients was simply enormous," Rimma Kamalova, head of the Kuvatov Republican Clinical Hospital's rheumatology department, told RFE/RL on April 8.



And, in an interview on state TV late on April 9, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that doctors would begin treating all pneumonia patients for the coronavirus rather than waiting for positive COVID-19 test results.



The minister's statement came after a number of Moscow doctors involved in treating COVID-19 patients said that the vast majority of pneumonia cases in Russia were probably caused by the coronavirus and should be treated as if they were.
Sailors prepare March 29 to admit patients aboard the hospital ship Mercy, which is docked at the Port of Los Angeles. (U.S. Navy)

To the editor: Fear of COVID-19 infection is keeping people from seeking appropriate care for urgent and emergency conditions. ("Inside California hospitals as they wait for coronavirus surge," April 4)

We at Hoag, along with staff at other hospitals, are noticing a significant drop in emergency department visits for strokes, heart attacks and other major acute problems. We are seeing patients coming in too late for salvaging acute conditions, with resulting detriment to their health.

Up to 85% of those infected with COVID-19 do not need medical attention, and more than 99% survive. That is not the case with strokes and heart attacks that require immediate attention.

Widespread fear can be detrimental to your individual health. Please use common sense if sudden onset of severe chest pain, shortness of breath, altered consciousness, visual change, speech difficulty or limb weakness appears. Balance the potential very small risk of COVID-19 infection in a well-run emergency department with the real risk of delayed intervention in an emergency.

Michael Brant-Zawadzki, MD, Newport Beach

The writer is senior physician executive at Hoag Hospital.

..

To the editor: I had to go to the emergency room recently. It wasn't for COVID-19, but rather worsening abdominal pain.

Being in the hospital was fascinating. I waited outside for a person dressed in what looks like a hazmat suit to take my temperature. I was then taken directly to a cubicle in the emergency room, where there was a bed waiting for me.

Every time a patient had to be transported from one place to another, the hallways were cleared. So, you lie on your gurney and travel down empty hallways. Every three hours they announced, "Staff, disinfect your stations."

My favorite announcement was, "Staff, the eagle has landed." My nurse explained that the local community was so generous, constantly bringing food, so the announcement meant that something had been delivered to the staff lounge.

Story continues

I could hear workers speaking in the hallways; frequently, they discussed gloves and masks. I was so impressed by their good spirit  you could tell the nurses and other staff felt they were in this together.

I am sequestered at home now, isolated in my bedroom for two weeks to protect the rest of the sisters in my convent. Still, I smile when I think of the great team that took care of me for a few days.

Nancy Uhl, Los Angeles
Princess Eugenie has encouraged the nation to download stickers to help thank every postman and woman for working tirelessly amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking to Instagram, the royal, 29, re-shared a post from the Royal Mail showing the sweet idea, and penned: 'Thank you to every postman and woman for working so hard during this time. You can download these stickers to thank you postie.'

A closer look at the label reads: 'Dear postie. Thank you for working hard so we can still stay safe and still send happy post. You are our heroes.'

She also went on to re-share another post, showing Boldon postie Jon delivering smiles to his customers by wearing fancy dress to lift their spirits. 

Princess Eugenie, 29, took to Instagram to re-share a story first uploaded by the Royal Mail's Official account, and penned: 'Thank you to every postman and woman for working so hard during this time. You can download these stickers to thank you postie'

he royal then went on to thank Boldon postie Jon for bringing 'joy' during this time by delivering letters in fancy dress

Princess Eugenie (pictured) encouraged the nation to download stickers to help thank every postman and woman for working tirelessly amid the coronavirus pandemic

The original Royal Mail post explains that so far, Jon has been a gladiator, a cheerleader, and Little Bo Peep, and has lots more to come after taking part in charity events. 

Princess Eugenie penned: 'This brought me joy today. Thank you Jon for bringing positivity during this time.'

Meanwhile, her mother, Sarah Ferguson, took to her own Instagram account and posted a snap of herself sorting through boxes of cupcakes for NHS teams in Windsor.

Alongside the photo, where the Duchess of York can be seen dressed low-key in a red and blue checked shirt and black skirt, she wrote: 'Thank you so much @kikasa_cupcakes' for the wonderful cupcakes donated to the front line workers in Windsor.'

Sarah Ferguson also took to her own Instagram account to thank @kikasa_cupcakes for the tasty treats they donated to the front line workers in Windsor

The pictures showed hundreds of cupcakes adorned with icing and the rainbow-coloured words, 'thank you' (pictured)

It comes just days after Princess Eugenie thanked NHS staff at Royal London Hospital emergency department for all they do - after delivering them fresh fruit and vegetables.

Princess Eugenie posted a photo first uploaded by @drfrankiejs, which shows a delivery driver wearing a high vis yellow jacket, holding a large box of healthy food - including pineapples, potatoes, peppers and cauliflower.

The doctor penned: 'Massive thank you from everyone at Royal London Hospital Emergency Department to the York family @sarahferguson15 and @princesseugenie for donating us lots of lovely fresh fruit and veg,' to which the royal replied:

'Thank you for all you are doing for us and our families.'

Princess Eugenie then went on to share another photo on her Instagram story, showing NHS staff in protective face masks, holding up various products from Baylis and Harding.

Alongside the photo of front line workers at Thames Hospice in Windsor, she penned: 'Thank you @baylisandhardingplc for delivering your santizer, hand wash and creams all across the UK.'

In a final snap shared to her social media page, staff can be seen holding up bars of chocolate in the hospital corridors.

The royal commented: 'Just before Mother's Day, mum partnered with @lovecocoa to get their chocolate to our front line workers. So happy they received all your wonderful donations.'
First Nations leaders in B.C. say Ottawa has agreed to match the provincial commitment to provide people on social assistance with an added $300 a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funding for on-reserve income assistance flows from Indigenous Services Canada, while that money comes from the province for people who live off-reserve.

Cheryl Casimer, a member of the First Nations Summit political executive, said Indigenous Services agreed to match the provincial emergency benefits after meetings with the First Nations Leadership Council.

"If it's a benefit being afforded to one group, just because of residency, then it should be afforded to the rest. So we were able to get that commitment from the regional director," she said.

B.C. announced last week the supplement for people on income assistance and disability and said it will be distributed for the months of April, May and June. The $300 additional payment will first appear on the next round of provincial cheques, distributed on April 22.

B.C. Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction Shane Simpson said the additional funding will be added to cheques automatically, so there's no need for people to apply for it. People receiving Employment Insurance or the Canada Emergency Response Benefit are not eligible for the provincial supplement.

'It's really good news'

Corrina Leween, the elected chief of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation, said it isn't clear when the funds from Indigenous Services Canada will be distributed to bands but she said she welcomes the matched funding for membership.

"It's really good news and it's really appreciated as well," she said.

Catherine Harrop/CBC

She said as a semi-isolated community in northern B.C., the additional funds should help reduce the number of trips people need to make in and out of the community by enabling residents on social assistance to stockpile more of the food and necessities they need.

Leween said the main focus of leadership has been on encouraging people to stay home and to make sure elders and other people more susceptible to the virus have what they need at home.

Story continues

"Every two weeks we're delivering hampers to our elders and to our vulnerable members," she said.

"So if we're able to continue to concentrate on that and maybe increase that support  given that the social assistance recipients would get more funding to do what they need to do, then that would help for sure."

Indigenous Services Canada did not respond to a request for comment before time of publishing.

As of Thursday, there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a B.C. First Nation.

On Monday, Indigenous Services Canada said it was aware of 35 cases on reserves and among Inuit  four in Saskatchewan, 11 in Ontario and 20 in Quebec.
A crackdown on real estate agents telling tenants to dip into superannuation to pay their landlords was sparked by a letter to a renter who also happens to be an Australian Securities and Investments Commission staffer.

ASIC on April 3 told the Real Estate Institute of Australia and fair trading and consumer groups across the country to notify agents that advising tenants to consider applying for early release of their retirement funds could land them in prison.

Senator James Paterson queried the regulator about the number of complaints it had received and the basis for sending the letter. Credit:Eamon Gallagher

"Specifically pointing them to and recommending them to consider the specific possibility of accessing superannuation is ... likely to amount to a breach of the act," ASIC's letter said in regards to real estate agents.

It has since clarified that agents can inform tenants about the "existence" of the government's scheme  which allows workers suffering financial hardship due to coronavirus to withdraw up to $20,000 of their super  as long as the information isn't presented in a way that implies a recommendation to act.
Along with the current Huawei Ban in the US, national security agencies are now telling the FCC that China Telecom is a national security risk and calling for its US operation license revocation.

China Telecom is a national security risk, US agencies tell FCC

China Telecom is a Chinese telecommunications company. It provides international private lines for American citizens under the CTExcel brand name. The company connects China and the US with voice and data services for businesses and carriers. It has six offices in the US, with its headquarters in Herndon, Virginia and buildings in Los Angeles, New York, and other major cities.

But despite its business locations in the US, security agencies say that China Telecom is a problem. The reason? Like Huawei, China Telecom is a tool of the Beijing Chinese Government. The telecom company belongs to the Chinese state.

Advertisement

The threat from China Telecom is a reflection of the threat that we see from Chinese telecommunications companies generally.

They are beholden to the government of China both by law and in fact to do its bidding, says national security assistant attorney general John Demers. Demers also says that China Telecom is guilty of some license violations that took place at the time its license was granted.

Chinese companies are required to obey the Beijing Government. The Chinese government could mandate any Chinese company turn over user data. In such a case, China Telecom would have to comply with Chinese law. Considering China Telecoms national loyalty and license violations, its easy to see why the telecom company is a security risk.

Advertisement

China Telecom goes the way of Huawei

China Telecom isnt the first Chinese company to find itself in hot water. Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is also in trouble in the US. The Shenzhen OEM is currently under a Ban in the States, being kept out of the USs 5G race. US President Donald Trump issued the Ban last May.

Google followed suit quickly, revoking Huaweis Android license. Huawei is still not allowed to use Googles Android software on its new mobile devices. The US Ban has cost Huawei $12 billion. Huawei could lose as much as $30 billion over the next two years as a direct hit.

China Telecom, like Huawei, denies the allegations against it. But national security assistant attorney general John Demers does have a point: Chinese companies tend to present security risks for the other countries outside China in which they operate.

Advertisement

Just this week, Google removed Zoom from its list of approved video conferencing apps because it too, comes from China and poses a risk. Zoom is leaking user data to servers in China due to the internet traffic overload in other countries, the company said.

Not every Chinese company is proving to be a security risk, but its a strange coincidence that a number of Chinese companies are. Only so many strange coincidences can add up until the coincidental becomes deliberate.
Cruise ships won't be hitting the high seas again anytime soon.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended a "no sail order" Thursday that it imposed last month to help quell the spread of the coronavirus.

While the March 14 order was intended as a voluntary measure to stay in place for 30 days, the new one could last longer.

The CDC order states that cruise ships can't board passengers and return to their sailing schedules until one of three events takes place:

 Expiration of the Department of Health and Human Services' declaration that COVID-19 constitutes a public health emergency.

The CDC director's own decision to modify or rescind its no-sail decision.

Passage of 100 days from the time the new order is published in the Federal Register.

Until then, the about 100 cruise ships in the Atlantic, Pacific or Gulf of Mexico must remain idle, either in port or wallowing at anchor, the CDC said. Those ships currently have nearly 80,000 crew aboard.

A patient is taken off the the Zaandam cruise ship after it arrived at Port Everglades on April 2, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The Holland America cruise ship had been at sea for the past 19 days after South American ports denied their entry due to the coronavirus outbreak. Reports indicated that two of four people that died aboard the Zaandam had tested positive for COVID-19.

The measures we are taking today to stop the spread of COVID-19 are necessary to protect Americans, and we will continue to provide critical public health guidance to the industry to limit the impacts of COVID-19," said CDC Director Robert Redfield in a statement.

Cruise ship lines have already voluntarily suspended most operations, leaving a dwindling number of ships left at sea with passengers aboard. Many have struggled to find ports that will allow their passengers to disembark. One ship still in operation is Princess Cruises' Pacific Princess, en route to Hawaii and then to Los Angeles with 115 passengers aboard after cutting short a westbound around-the-world cruise in Australia. The only passengers left aboard are those who had medical issues that prevented them from flying home.

More: 2021 cruise bookings are on the rise despite coronavirus chaos

Cruise ships, with their confined environments, have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The CDC notes that in recent weeks, crew members or passengers have developed either flu-like symptoms or tested positive for COVID-19 on at least 10 cruise ships.

Story continues

On some of the vessels, passengers or crew members died either on the ship or after being moved ashore to hospitals.

The Cruise Lines International Association, the trade group representing more than two dozen companies, pledged to work with government agencies but took issue with parts of the order.

In a statement provided by Bari Golin-Blaugrund, the group's senior director of strategic communications, CLIA expressed concern "about the unintended consequences of the order in its singling out an industry that has been proactive in its escalation of health and sanitation protocols, including the aforementioned proposals, as well as transparent in its reporting despite numerous challenges beyond the industrys control."

CLIA warned the U.S. economy could lose $51 billion and shed more than 300,000 jobs in the next year if the fallout is similar to what happened with the national emergency brought on by H1N1 (swine flu).

"While its easy to focus on cruising because of its high profile, the fact is cruising is neither the source or cause of the virus or its spread," the CLIA statement continued. "What is different about the cruise industry is our reporting requirements. It would be a false assumption to connect a higher frequency in reporting to increased risk/frequency of infection."

Contributing: Jayme Deerwester

More: If you sailed on these cruise ships, you may have been exposed to coronavirus

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: CDC extends 'no sail' order for cruise ships
SEYMOUR A local family confronted with apparent racially motivated threats at their Asian restaurant has been overwhelmed by the community response.

I didnt expect the community to react the way that it did, said Meng Zheng, whose parents Ju Zheng and Xuemei Chen own Sushi & Wok. Im glad that it did, though.

The restaurant has been swamped with orders, received more than 150 messages of support on social media and got an offer of $1,000 to be used to pay for the meals of local emergency responders and health workers.

The incident that put it all into motion occurred April 3 just before noon, Zheng said.

It was right as the lunch rush was starting, she said.

The restaurant received six calls from two different phone numbers blaming Chinese people for the COVID-19 pandemic and threatening to shoot up the restaurant in a profanity-filled rant, she said. The caller also seemed to be trying to disguise his voice, Zheng said.

The calls were sufficiently alarming that her parents called Zheng at her job at Yale New Haven Hospital.

She notified the police, relaying the information herself since her parents face a language barrier. Seymour police confirmed a report had been filed but did not respond to a request for further details.

Later, Zheng said, she began growing angry that her family had been the target of racial bias and took to the restaurants Facebook page to vent.

As we struggle to keep our business open, not only do we face the challenges of paying rent and dues, but we also deal with harassments from people who threaten to do harm to our employees and business, she wrote. Many people have no idea how difficult it is to continue operating a small restaurant with the constant fear that someone will come in and tear the place down. There is no need to spread ignorance, hatred, and destruction in our community in a time like this.

The response was immediate.

Im so sorry that some individuals have so much hate in their hearts and are so ignorant as to blame an entire culture for something that is a worldwide issue, wrote Alison Vance, a customer since the restaurant opened in 2013. Much love to you and your family.

Julie Mary agreed.

This broke my heart to read, she wrote. No one is immune to this virus; it does not discriminate. I think its fair to say its showing us all of us are equals. No one should be threatening anyone, least of all the people are working hard to continue to provide food to their community.

Jacklyn Meeker was more blunt.

Dont let all the (expletives) bring you down, she wrote.

Though the night passed without incident, Zheng said the community support ironically caused her a brief moment of alarm.

I called around 5 oclock to check in, and no one answered the phone, the line was just dead, she said. I texted and called their cellphones, and when no one replied I rushed over there. It was probably an overreaction, but I was thinking the worst-case scenario.

Everyone at the restaurant was fine, just busy, she said.

So many people were calling and ordering from them, I ended up staying there and working for the night, she said.

After work, Zheng made a follow-up post thanking the Seymour Police Department for having a patrol car check in on the restaurant throughout the night.

A few days later, the towns Board of Selectman took time in their April 7 meeting to voice their support too for her parents restaurant.

These people are Seymour residents just as much as all of us, First Selectman Kurt Miller said to the board. There is no place for this negativity in town, and I love seeing all the support.

Miller chalked the threats up to a keyboard warrior, a slang term generally used to describe someone who makes aggressive comments online, where he can conceal his identity.

Other selectmen echoed the sentiment, referring to the threats as reprehensible and expressing their pride at the communitys coming together behind the family.

Tom Haynes, owner of a local construction materials and hardware business, took note of the incident and was waiting at the restaurant when it opened the day after the selectman meeting, offering $1,000 to buy meals for health care workers and emergency responders.

Zheng said the family was grateful for the offer, and was trying to think of a way to implement the donation since they currently have no way of knowing who is placing orders.

Were only accepting orders through the apps right now, she said.

Perhaps, when the pandemic subsides, the donation could be used to host a thank-you party for those who fought the virus, Zheng said.

That would be great, she said.
While the battle against the coronavirus pandemic is a long one and emerging victorious will take rigorous efforts. Frontline warriors are leaving no stone unturned to save lives and keep people safe.

The country is in the midst of an unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has claimed thousands of lives and infected millions across the globe.

In India, a section of civil servants have been tirelessly managing the country's system round-the-clock to take it. These officers are from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), known as the country's brain. Despite their work being noted by people, they have been relentlessly taking measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 and managing smooth functioning of key departments like administration, finance, health, diagnosis, prevention, research and cure.

Rajiv Gauba, Cabinet Secretary

Rajiv Gauba/BCCL

From the top - Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, a Jharkhand-batch IAS officer of 1982 batch, is the man behind the decisions being taken across the country in fight against the COVID-19. His name though never came in the limelight but he is the key of all instruments managing the crisis.

Preeti Sudan, MHFW Secretary

Preeti Sudan, secretary at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has been working on aligning all departments to execute the government's policies to prevent the spread of the disease.

A 1983-batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Sudan is usually seen leaving her office at Nirman Bhawan late at night. An MPhil. in Economics and postgraduate in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics, Sudan also served in the World Bank in Washington as a consultant.

Preeti Sudan

Her ministry is the nodal agency for fighting the present coronavirus challenge. Sudan, along with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, coordinates with sister departments in the central and state government. The two conduct regular reviews of the evolving situation.

"She is also involved in the regular review of preparedness with the states and union territories. Also, she is the first point of contact for any query arising from Prime Minister's office or from the office of Union Ministers," said a senior official from her ministry who did not wish to be identified.

"She played a major role in the evacuation of the 645 students from Wuhan, China," the official added. Among her cadre, Sudan has a distinguished track record of serving in finance, disaster management, tourism and agriculture.

Ajay Kumar Bhalla - Chairperson, National Executive Committee

Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, a 1984-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer, is leading the nation's fight against the pandemic in his capacity as Chairperson, National Executive Committee under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

Ajay Kumar Bhalla/Twitter/@NITIAayog

He writes to states and coordinates with all the Chief Secretaries on a regular basis to ensure availability of essential goods, by invoking Essential Commodities Act 1955. Bhalla is handling the work of the Ministry of Home Affairs which is the nodal agency in managing law and order, internal security and other things amid the crisis and issues guidelines on intervals for the welfare of people during the lockdown.

These are among those top notch officers who are taking magnificent steps to maintain the situation inside the country without caring that their work will get publicity. Like them, many IAS officers are also contributing much more that needs recognition.

Bhabani Chainy - Cuttack

Cuttack Collector Bhabani Chainy displayed exemplary commitment to service by remaining on duty amid the COVID-19 fight despite losing his father. District administration under S Thavaseelan is becoming a bridge between farmers and citizens during the lockdown ensuring fresh local vegetable home delivery.

Rajendra Bhatt, Rohit Kumar Singh, Tina Dabi - Bhilwara Model

Rajasthan's Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh played a major role in the containment strategy in Bhilwara turning it into a model for other Covid-19 hotspots across India. Singh is being supported by young IAS topper and Bhilwara Sub-Divisional Magistrate Tina Dabi who said "What worked in our favour was that we were very aggressive and firm in ensuring that we want complete lockdown because we were facing the possibility of a community spread".

Rajendra Bhatt

Bhilwara district administration led by Collector Rajendra Bhatt also played a major role in successfully containing the pandemic in the area with his innovative and dynamic ruthless containment strategy.

Suhas LY, DM

District Magistrate, Gautam Buddh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Suhas LY has also been leading from the front on area containment of hotspots and ensuring supply of essential items to residents of containment zones. Under his guidance Noida administration ensures that all the residents living in the hotspots get milk and essentials delivered at their doorstep.

RK Tiwari , Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary RK Tiwari has been leading from the front in the fight against corona being Chairperson of State Executive Committee under Disaster Management Act.

There are many unsung IAS heroes who have been providing excellent service and supporting the government after the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defeat the deadly pandemic which has wreaked havoc across the globe.
Former Indiana Governor/Department store mannequin and current Vice President Mike Pence is famous for, among other things, the wild mishandling of an HIV/AIDS crisis in his own state. Now, he's been largely put in charge by President Trump of handling a medical crisis that is affecting the entire United States. It's ... not been a good start, and it keeps getting worse.

Luckily, we've had the benefit of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who's served under six presidents as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is actually leading the nation's charge against the coronavirus. He's seen more than a couple of major outbreaks of infectious diseases in his day, not the least of which was the poorly-handled HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. His research into AIDS and other autoimmune diseases will remain a huge part of his legacy.

A few days ago, Dr. Fauci finished some remarks, then came back to the podium to address how the coronavirus is affecting the African-American population and had this to say:
Imphal: Amidst the country's all-out battle against the spread of Covid-19, in a major political development in the BJP ruled Manipur on Thursday, the state's Deputy Chief Minister Y Joykumar Singh was stripped of all his portfolios after four ministers of NPP were asked to quit from the saffron party-led alliance government.

A notification issued by Chief Secretary J Suresh Babu said Y Joykumar Singh has been made a minister without portfolio.

The notification, which is available with IANS, said Joykumar's portfolios -- Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development, Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Science and Technology, Economics and Statists -- have been reallocated by Governor Najma Heptulla to Chief Minister N. Biren Singh.

Earlier on Thursday, BJP leaders had asked its ally National People's Party's (NPP) ministers to leave the council of ministry because of the "irresponsible and derogatory remarks Joykumar had reportedly made against the Chief Minister."

According to the media reports, Joykumar, a former Director General of Manipur Police, had reportedly made some offensive comments against Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, when some women met the former to complain about not receiving ration of rice due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing lockdown.

The leaders of the NPP, which has four MLAs, including Joykumar, in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, are yet to make any public reactions on the sudden political development.

In the 2017 Assembly elections in Manipur, the Congress had won 28 seats and the BJP got 21. However, the BJP allied with NPP, Naga People's Front and others to form a coalition government.

The latest development is likely to have a political fallout since several MLAs of the BJP and its allies have been demanding a reshuffle of the council of ministers.

The effective strength of the 60-member Assembly is now 59 after a Congress MLA, who had defected to the BJP, was disqualified by the Speaker last month following an order of the Supreme Court.

The Election Commission in June last year declared the NPP led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma as a national party. The NPP has political base in most of the northeastern states, including Meghalaya, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.

Zhang Lifa, a veteran of the Peoples Liberation Army, felt pride in the years he spent working on Chinas nuclear weapons program, even as his health faltered from the long-term exposure to radiation.

At 19, Mr. Zhang followed his father into the army, joining at a time when China was racing to build its first atomic and hydrogen bombs. He worked for six years on classified nuclear missions, including at a remote site called Plant 221, also known as Chinas Los Alamos, in the northwestern province of Qinghai.

Mr. Zhang died on Feb. 1 at a hospital in Wuhan from complications of the coronavirus, his son, Zhang Hai, said. He was 76.
U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered several undocumented immigrants inside a room of a local hotel on San Bernardo Avenue, authorities said.

The incident unfolded in the mid-afternoon hours of Tuesday, when agents responded to a report of several people inside a hotel room.

Responding agents discovered six people who were in the country illegally. They were citizens of Mexico and Honduras, according to Border Patrol.

The investigation continues.

Despite the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, smugglers continue to exploit individuals and show no regard for the health and safety of our nation. U.S. Border Patrol agents strive to prevent the flow of illegal immigration and slow the spread of COVID-19, Border Patrol said in a statement.

To report suspicious activity such as human or drug smuggling, download the USBP Laredo Sector app or contact the Laredo Sector Border Patrol toll free at 1-800-343-1994.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Friday, April 10, 2020

Page 1

California Supreme Court:

Inmates Good Conduct Can Establish Basis for Expungement

Justices Reject C.A.s Majority View That Statutory Prerequisite of Having Led Honest and Upright Life Following Misdemeanor Conviction Connotes Law-Abiding Conduct When Not in Custody

By a MetNews Staff Writer

The California Supreme Court yesterday reversed a determination by Div. Six of this districts Court of Appeal, in a majority opinion, that time spent in custody does not count toward the period of leading an honest and upright life following a misdemeanor conviction so as to qualify the offender for an expungement.

Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye declared:

We hold that a person may live such a life even if that person has been in custody since completing the sentence imposed for the misdemeanor.

Her opinion reverses the March 21, 2019 decision by Div. Sixs majority, comprised of Presiding Justice Arthur Gilbert, who wrote the opinion, and Justice Kenneth Yegan, who signed it, and embraced the view of the dissenter, Justice Martin J. Tangeman.

Trial Court Proceedings

The appellant, Misael Vences Maya, in 2011 pled guilty in Ventura Superior Court to possession of methamphetamine, a felony, and a related offense. He was sentenced to prison, completing his term in 2012, but was immediately detained by federal authorities and imprisoned pending deportation.

Maya succeeded in 2015 in gaining a reduction of his drug possession conviction to a misdemeanor. Then, in 2018, in his quest to avoid deportation, he sought to have the misdemeanor expunged, pursuant to Penal Code 1203.4a.

Ventura Superior Court Judge Bruce A. Young denied the request, holding that Maya could not establish that he had lived an honest and upright lifeas required by 1203.4abecause he has been continually incarcerated subsequent to his 2011 conviction. Young observed that there had been no opportunity...to determine whether he leads a law-abiding life when out of custody given that he had not been out of custody.

Gilberts Opinion

Agreeing, Gilbert wrote:

A model prisoner is not necessarily a model citizen.

He explained:

The trial court did not abuse its discretion by concluding that Maya has not established that he has led an honest and upright life during his state and federal custody. Compliance with prison regulations in an institutional setting does not satisfy the requirement of an honest and upright life. A custodial setting necessarily restricts an inmates exercise of free will; an honest and upright life demands more than mere compliance with prison regulations or participation in prison classes and activities. Prison confinement necessarily precludes evidence of inmate behavior in the face of outside temptation.

Tangeman insisted:

The statute requires only that the misdemeanant comply with the law for one year following conviction .This includes time spent in custody .

Cantil-Sakauyes Decision

The chief justice said in her opinion:

The text of this provision strongly suggests that a court may consider a defendants behavior in custody, including immigration custody, when evaluating whether that defendant has lived an honest and upright life. The statute directs a court considering a request for relief to evaluate whether the defendant has lived an honest and upright life since the pronouncement of judgment , not since the date of release from custody, or anything to that effect .

Moreover, a defendant may become eligible for relief as soon as any time after the lapse of one year from the date of pronouncement of judgment. Because a defendant convicted of a misdemeanor may be required to spend time in custody , the statutes focus on time after the pronouncement of judgment suggests that a defendants conduct while in custody is relevant to the courts inquiry. If time in custody were ignored as irrelevant, then misdemeanants sentenced to longer terms of confinement would be eligible for expungement after shorter periods of honest and upright living. We have no reason to think the Legislature might have intended that result.

Conduct in Custody

She went on to say:

True, the fact that the conduct occurred while a defendant was in custody can be a pertinent factor in a courts inquiry. But nothing in the statutory text or legislative history permits us to hold that such conduct is categorically insufficient to satisfy the honest and upright life requirement.

The matter was remanded for a determination by Div. Six as to whether Young erred in denying the request for expungement in light of the high courts determination that conduct during time in custody may be taken into account.

The case is People v. Maya, 2020 S.O.S. 1702.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on May 18, 2018, denied a petition by Maya for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision affirming an immigration judges determination that he is subject to deportation to Mexico. On April 11, 2018, he filed his request in the Ventura Superior Court for expungement.

Copyright 2020, Metropolitan News Company
Convicts will have their executions suspended temporarily if they are still alive after three doses of the lethal cocktail have been administered, a new decree says.

The decree, which will take effect April 15, says that the execution of a convict sentenced the death penalty is to be done with the administration of a combination of three drugs: one that causes unconsciousness, another that paralyzes the musculoskeletal system and yet another that stops the heart from beating.

One dose using the aforementioned three drugs is to be used for one person. The drugs would be provided by the Ministry of Health on the request of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security, the decree says.

Before an execution is carried out, three doses are prepared, two of which are backups. If the heart is beating 10 minutes after the first dose, the second dose will be administered, and if that does not work either, the third, the decree says.

If the person is still alive 10 minutes after the third dose, the execution would be temporarily suspended. Doctors would then report the state of the prisoner to the council responsible for carrying out the death sentence.

In Vietnam, 18 crimes including rape, murder and corruption can lead to the death penalty. The country switched from execution by a firing squad to the administration of lethal injections in 2011.
An agreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia for record oil-production cuts was endangered late on Thursday as Mexico refused to participate in the curbs and left the meeting without approving the deal.

The impasse, which came after more than 9 hours of talks via video link, cast doubt over a global effort to revive the oil market from a debilitating coronavirus-induced slump. The OPEC+ group wont cut output without Mexicos participation and doesnt intend to meet again on Friday, instead focusing on talks at the G-20 gathering also scheduled that day, according to a delegate.

Earlier on Thursday, OPEC+ had tentatively agreed to cut production by about 10 million barrels a day in May and June, delegates said, effectively ending a one-month oil price war. Saudi Arabia and Russia, the biggest producers in the group, would each take output down to about 8.5 million a day, with all members agreeing to cut supply by 23 percent, one delegate said.

Attention should have turned on Friday to the Group of 20 energy ministers meeting. A contribution from major producers including the U.S. and Canada -- possibly as much as 5 million barrels a day of further supply reductions -- could boost efforts to revive prices after the initial OPEC+ agreement failed to push crude higher on Thursday.

The dogged refusal of Mexicos Energy Secretary Rocio Nahle Garcia to accept the production level proposed for her country as part of the deal upended that schedule. In a Twitter post shortly after leaving the meeting, she said her country is ready to reduce production by 100,000 barrels a day, far less than the 400,000 barrels a day proposed by the group, and also from a higher baseline.

Political Pressure

The unexpected setback doesnt change the urgent need for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to reduce production. Oils spectacular price crash this year has threatened the stability of oil-dependent nations, forced major companies such as Exxon Mobil Corp. to rein in spending and risked the very existence of small independents.

Mexico can and should join the international community in stabilizing the oil market, said Aldo Flores Quiroga, the former Mexican deputy oil minister who negotiated OPEC+ deals from 2016 to 2018. The production cut is both necessary and possible. Its the responsible thing to do domestically and internationally.

OPEC+ has been put under intense pressure by President Donald Trump -- who spoke with the leaders of Russia and Saudi Arabia by phone on Thursday -- and American lawmakers, who fear thousands of job losses in the U.S. shale patch.

Both Saudi and Russia were going to have to cut anyway, and these cuts allow them to win political points too, said Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd.

While the headline cut equates to a reduction of about 10% of global supply, it makes up just a fraction of the demand loss, which some traders estimate at as much as 35 million barrels a day.

Brent dropped 4.1 percent to $31.48 a barrel in London. Prices have tumbled by half this year as the spread of the coronavirus coincided with a bitter price war that saw producers flood the market.



Covid-19 is an unseen beast that seems to be impacting everything in its path, Mohammad Barkindo, secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said in a speech at the online gathering. The supply and demand fundamentals are horrifying and the expected oversupply, particularly in the second quarter, is beyond anything we have seen before, he said.

Barkindo urged action to tackle the growing surplus, which he estimated at 14.7 million barrels a day in the second quarter. And he wants action not only from OPEC+ producers but from nations beyond the alliance.

Russia has insisted that the U.S. in particular do more than just let market forces reduce its record production. Trump, meanwhile, has said Americas cut will happen automatically as low prices put shale in dire straits, a sentiment reiterated by his energy secretary on Thursday.

America welcomed the proposed OPEC+ cuts, saying they would send a signal that all major oil-producing countries will respond in an orderly manner to market realities caused by the virus, a senior administration official said.

Tapering Off

OPEC+s tentative plan would see the output curbs tapering off after two months, depending on the evolution of the coronavirus. The 10 million-barrel-a-day cut may shrink to 8 million a day from July and then 6 million a day from January 2021 to April 2022, according to a delegate.

Saudi Arabia will apply its reduction to a production level of about 11 million barrels a day, a delegate said. Thats lower than recent output levels, which rose above 12 million a day in early April. Russia would curb its supply by a similar level.

The oil price war, which started in March after the collapse of previous OPEC+ talks, lasted exactly 31 days, far fewer than similar feuds in 1986, 1998 and 2016. But in that short period, it has forced companies from Big Oil giants to U.S. shale independents to slash spending, fire workers and cancel projects. Meanwhile, oil-rich countries have gone cap-in-hand to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for help, hobbled by low prices.

The curbs agreed on Thursday dwarf any previous market interventions, and are urgently needed to boost the physical market for crude -- trade in actual cargoes rather than futures contracts -- but they wont match losses from the deep slump in consumption.

For oil markets, the massive oil-demand contraction is unprecedented, OPEC said in an internal document circulated to ministers and seen by Bloomberg. The current outlook looks extremely bleak, with oil markets anticipated to be severely tested on many fronts.




(Newser)  Christians around the world observed a Good Friday like no other, at home watching livestreams instead of at church, as pressure mounted on governments to fend off further economic devastation from the coronavirus. Worldwide, the death toll closed in on 100,000, with the confirmed number of infected topping 1.6 million. Politicians and public health officials warned the public against letting the virus come roaring back by relaxing social distancing over the Easter holiday weekend, and they urged Christians to celebrate the holiday safely at home, per the AP. Some churches held virtual services online, while others arranged prayers at drive-in theaters. Authorities resorted to using roadblocks and other means to discourage travel. In Italy, officials used helicopters, drones, and stepped-up police checks to make sure people don't slip out of their homes over the holiday.

story continues below

In locked-down Paris, fire-scarred Notre Dame Cathedral came back to life briefly, days before the first anniversary of the April 15 inferno that ravaged it. Good Friday observances led by the archbishop were broadcast live from the nearly empty, closed-to-the-public cathedral. The pandemic has also slammed economies worldwide. As weeks of lockdowns were extended in nation after nation, governments were pressed to ease restrictions on key businesses and industries. After a two-week freeze on all nonessential economic activity, for example, Spain decided to allow factories and construction sites to resume work on Monday, while schools, most shops, and offices will remain closed. Some experts warned that relaxing the two-week "hibernation" of economic activity comes too early. More here.

(Read more coronavirus stories.)
Air India chief Rajiv Bansal on Thursday said that the "crippling effect" of coronavirus has further plummeted the airline's finances to a "precarious" position but despite that, it has managed to keep afloat.

Bansal, in a message on Thursday, also assured the employees of providing all the "essential armoury" in carrying out evacuation and chartered flights amid the pandemic.

"Air India has been passing through a critical financial condition much before the Covid19 onslaught. The crippling effect of the pandemic, especially in the aviation sector, has further plummeted our finances to a precarious position. In spite of this, your airline has left no stone unturned to continue to remain afloat," Bansal said in a message to Air India employees on Thursday.

Reminding the employees that the organisation is always with them during these trying times, he said, their safety and health are as important to the company as of its passengers.

"We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure you get all the essential armoury to fight this war. Our dedicated medical services team members are available round the clock for any consultation, advice or emergency. We are doing everything possible to minimise risk factors," Bansal said.

Besides taking all the precautionary measures and providing PPE to ensure your safety, Air India was amongst the very few airlines in the world, who are providing hazmat suits and other protective equipment for its crew to equip them to face any COVID-related safety concern onboard, he said.

It was the first carrier to evacuate stranded Indian nationals from Coronvirus-hit Wuhan in China in January.

It is due to these precautionary measures that so far, only one of the airline's crew members amongst so many, who have been flying our charter flights all over the world, has tested COVID positive, he added.

"I am relieved to inform you that she has also been discharged after full recovery under the watchful eyes of our medical department," Bansal said.

In recent weeks, Air India has operated flights to Israel, Germany and London, using its wide-body Boeing 777s and B787s. These services were mainly to carry foreign nationals stranded in the country due to the lockdown, which began on March 25.

Stating that all of us in Air India, no doubt, are in this war together, Bansal said, "Adversity brings the best out of us and is a litmus test of our courage and strength of character. This is also the time to show how much we care for one another.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The owner of Hedges On Broad and 100 Proof bars has been indicted by an Athens-Clarke County grand jury on charges of rape and kidnapping, according to an indictment filed in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court on Feb. 11.
Adding that if there is a silver lining in the current situation, its that it has allowed educators to get innovative and creative in their teaching, Cesario said some educators have gone above and beyond in using their tech-savvy to reach students with things like videos and cool applications.
Count of known COVID-19 cases

Numbers updated at 6 p.m. April 10

Missouri: 96 deaths, 3,799 known cases. At least 67 people in the St. Louis region with COVID-19 have died. Local officials report 1,482 cases in St. Louis County and 565 in St. Louis. There were 325 reported cases in St. Charles County.

Illinois: 596 deaths, 17,887 confirmed cases. Cases include 115 in St. Clair County, 99 in Madison County and 43 in Monroe County, according to local health departments.

National: At least 492,962 people across the country have tested positive for COVID-19, according to The New York Times database. At least 18,466 patients with the virus have died.

Worldwide: There have been 1,524,161 cases worldwide, and 92,941 confirmed deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
Meghalaya Assembly Speaker



Metbah Lyngdoh on Friday wrote to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, urging him to extend the lockdown period till April 30, as the number of COVID-19 cases have been rising in the country.

Though no such case has been reported from the state so far, the government should continue with the existing measures to tackle the crisis by end of the current month so that Meghalaya remains free of COVID-19, he said.

"There are increasing number of COVID-19 patients in the country. It is worrisome. I have written to the chief minister to consider extension of the lockdown period till April end," Metbah told PTI.

The speaker, who is also the president of the United Democratic Party, a partner of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government, said big markets such as Iewduh, Jowai and Tura should be closed for the time being.

"Only small local markets where social distancing protocols can be maintained may be allowed to start functioning after the ongoing lockdown period is over," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong hinted that the cabinet will meet early next week to decide on the matter.

While NREGA and construction works have been allowed to resume, but no workers from outside the state will be given permission to enter Meghalaya.

"All entry and exit points of the state will remain closed during the lockdown with restrictions on inter- district movements," a government official said.

The speaker emphasised on carrying out sanitisation exercise at the checkpoints so that vehicles ferrying essential commodities are sanitised properly.

Lyngdoh also urged the government to strengthen the logistics facilities for transporting agricultural produce of farmers of the state.

He appealed to the government to monitor the prices of essential commodities in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At the Jewish Pavilion we love our seniors, and we so appreciate all that the staff who work in elder-communities are doing to keep their residents safe and happy. Thanks to a generous donor, the Jewish Pavilion brought free lunches to the entire staff at Brookdale Lake Orienta in Altamonte Springs on Wednesday, April 1st. The Jewish Pavilion will continue to offer lunch semi-weekly to health-care workers. The following schedule has been established thus far: Wednesdays on April 8 - Cascade Heights in Longwood; April 15th -Savannah Court in Maitland; and April 22nd - Encore at Avalon Park. Also scheduled are Tuesdays on April 7th at Brookdale Dr. Phillips; and April 21st - Windsor at Celebration.

Healthcare workers and other staff members will be greeted by a food truck from Toasted, a Winter Park restaurant. The company provides delicious, specialty sandwiches featuring grilled cheese. Staffers will also receive macaroni and cheese and salad, a beverage and a cookie; all paid for by the Jewish Pavilion. Special thanks to the Pargh Foundation for initiating and funding this initiative.

"The senior communities are not allowing visitors at this time," said Nancy Ludin, CEO. Therefore, we are trying to reach our elders and their staff members in other ways."

In addition to this food truck event, which will occur weekly until money runs out, the Jewish Pavilion is asking community members to write letters and card to seniors. These cards can be sent to the Jewish Pavilion office, located at 421 Montgomery Road, Suite 11, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714.

The Jewish Pavilion will ensure that cards and letters are promptly distributed to elder-care communities. The Jewish Pavilion is also collecting homemade face masks for seniors and bringing them to facilities. The sewing pattern is on Jewish Pavilion's Facebook page.

The Jewish Pavilion will ensure that cards and letters are promptly distributed to elder care communities.

The Jewish Pavilion is a nonprofit that provides seniors of all faiths will loving companionship. The charity also offers Jewish holiday Sabbath programs, ice cream socials, musicales, grief support and more. Their Orlando Senior Help Desk provides free information and referral for seniors and their family members.

The Jewish Pavilion is also collecting homemade face masks for seniors and bringing them to facilities. The sewing pattern is on the JP Facebook page."

For more information, contact Nancy Ludin at NancyLudin@jewishpavilion.org or call 407-678-9363.
Adam Driver and stunt-coordinator Eunice Huthart on the set of 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'. (Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney)

Eunice Huthart has revealed she struggled to keep secrets on the set of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker  as one of the few people to have read the entire script.

The 53-year-old Brit  who got her start as a contestant-turned-Gladiator on Gladiators  said she found it exhausting to keep track of the many secrets she had to maintain.

As stunt co-ordinator, Huthart was granted access to the entire script and worked closely with director J.J. Abrams throughout the production.

Read more: Behind the scenes of the Leia Jedi scene

Huthart said she was one of the few people on the closed set for Harrison Fords  code-named The Pilot  cameo and struggled to remember to refer to Palpatine by his code name of 13.

She added: There are so many people on that film who will go and watch it and then it will all come together because, at the time of making it, they wouldnt have known what they were making.

John Boyega is Finn, Daisy Ridley is Rey, Anthony Daniels is C-3PO and Oscar Isaac is Poe Dameron in this still from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. (2019 Lucasfilm Ltd. & , All Rights Reserved.)

Its probably the film Ive made where the least people had read the script.

It was hard for me actually because sometimes I didnt know what other people knew.

Some people were getting doctored parts so they thought they knew what was happening, but that wasnt the case. Id be looking at them like do you really know?.

Read more: VFX secrets from The Rise of Skywalker

Huthart has worked on major franchises including James Bond and Harry Potter, but described Star Wars as the most rewarding job of her career and said she wasnt surprised by the divisive response to The Rise of Skywalker.

She said: Were now fed so much visual effects stuff and the bar is set so high now to come up with something unique and different that the audience is going to like, I dont think youll ever please everybody. I dont think thats possible.

Read the full interview with Eunice Huthart in which she shares more Star Wars secrets, discusses her career on Gladiators and reveals her close bond with Angelina Jolie...

Yahoo Movies UK: In your career in the stunt world, youve worked on so many huge franchise. But is there something extra special about Star Wars?

Story continues

Eunice Huthart: When I was a kid, it was films like Tarzan and Star Wars and Indiana Jones and King Kong even. These were the films I fell in love with. Me and my mates would be in the street, picking up sticks and practising fights and pretending to be the characters. Wed live the scenes wed just seen in the cinema or on TV.

For me, its part of my childhood so by far, of the franchise Ive worked for, this is the most rewarding.

Was there a particular moment on this film that youd consider to be a highlight?

It was when Chewbacca first walked on set. It blew my mind. I had a smile on my face all day. And also, we had one day shooting with Harrison Ford. I was being his safety. I didnt have to be. I could have put one of the guys in but, for me, I had to do it.

Read more: Harrison Ford doesnt know what a Force Ghost is

I was standing next to him all the time while he wasnt actually filming on camera. We had him at such a high set piece. It was amazing. He just chit-chatted and told me old stories about the early filming years and Indiana Jones and everything. It was absolutely amazing.

And how secretive was his involvement?

There wasnt many people We did a closed set and, because we were shooting outside, we put giant green screens up so nobody riding their bike nearby could get a sneaky picture. Only those who had to be there were there. I had to be there because we had him on a safety wire and a couple of the actors knew, but not many. There was a sort of circle of trust, lets say.

Harrison Ford arrives for the Premiere Of Disney's "Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker" on December 16, 2019. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)

And whats that like, having to keep secrets from so many people?

Im useless, I have to say. Im the worst. We had code names for some of the big, top secret characters, like Palpatine. His code name was 13. Id be on set with J.J. and Id go oh J.J. I had this idea for if Palpatine does this and itd go dead silent around me and everyone would look at me because I was supposed to say 13.

I was the worlds worst at it. I think they stopped telling me stuff for that reason, if Im honest.

Were there any other fun code names? Did Harrison Ford have one?

He did. Im rubbish at remembering them though. I couldnt even remember them when we were filming. [Huthart later emails to tell me that Fords code name was The Pilot]

One of them was that the spaceship that Chewbacca got captured in was called The White Van. Someone said to me Eunice, the White Vans on the backlot if you want to go and have a look and I was like why do I want to go and see a white van?. So I was walking around the backlot looking for a white van. It got really crazy with the code names.

(Left to right) Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), BB-8, D-O, Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) in STAR WARS: EPISODE IX

One of the big things in this new Star Wars trilogy  especially for J.J.  is that, as much as these are big CGI spectaculars, they also like to do extensive practical effects on set. How much of that stuff were you able to be involved in?

Well, everything I did was for real. It was brilliant. For me, its one of the most real films that Ive ever done. Nothing was CG, but anything that was enhanced like the creatures, we had life-size, puppet creatures for actors to interact with. Even when it was something that was super-imposed on a CG environment, it was still for real when we were shooting it.

Read more: Liam Neeson is not keen on green screen

It was great because we just got to play a lot more and we got to do stuff for real. The stuntmen were delighted because we were doing that many real gags with people. It was really exciting.

We spoke about keeping secrets. We hear a lot about people only getting certain pages of the script on these movies. How much of the wider story were you allowed to know?

I knew everything. I had to because we had to be setting the action beats towards it and the arc of the characters was really important. So I did know everything.

It was quite exhausting because they would only let certain people read the script. There are so many people on that film who will go and watch it and then it will all come together because, at the time of making it, they wouldnt have known what they were making. Its probably the film Ive made where the least people had read the script.

So it was exhausting. Sometimes Id be talking to somebody and then Id have to consider what I was saying because they werent to know what that would lead on to. It was hard for me actually because sometimes I didnt know what other people knew. Some people were getting doctored parts so they thought they knew what was happening, but that wasnt the case. Id be looking at them like do you really know?. It was really weird.

Eunice Huthart. (Credit: Disney/Lucasfilm)

It sounds like a totally unique experience. There have been lots of reports about it being at times quite a difficult and chaotic set. What was your experience in that respect?

Were so well-rehearsed in the stunts because I have such a fantastic stunt team. The only time I felt added pressure was when we were in Jordan. We had such a set timescale to get exactly what we wanted. We couldnt afford a curveball or a late start or anything. And we were always chasing the light.

I remember feeling a little bit of pressure in Jordan, but that was the only time. The rest of it, I felt like we were very well-rehearsed. When we were performing all the stunts and the fight scenes, the actors were well-rehearsed and the stuntmen were too, so it was okay and I didnt really feel the pressure.

Read more: Easter eggs and cameos in The Rise of Skywalker

Were there any scenes you were part of and were particularly proud of that ended up on the cutting room floor?

One of my favourite scenes, funnily enough. I was obsessing that when we really see Kylo Ren for the first time, hes like a machine. We always had a scene where he was going to fight these aliens and the environment kept chopping and changing. But we finally settled on this environment and Adam Driver worked so hard. I think it was good for him to do it.

We shot for three days on a fight that should be maybe 50 seconds in the movie, but unfortunately its only 10-15 seconds. I think it was just because of time and they just have to consider whats more story-related. But Im hoping that fight will be in the directors cut.

Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) in STAR WARS: EPISODE IX

When the movie came out, I think its fair to say the response was quite divided. Was that something that you guys were ready for and expecting?

Its hard really. I think that, because were now fed so much visual effects stuff and the bar is set so high now to come up with something unique and different that the audience is going to like, I dont think youll ever please everybody. I dont think thats possible.

So for me, it was important just to honour the Star Wars fans. I just wanted to hold the integrity of the characters and to make the fight scenes as exciting as possible. My favourite of all of the Star Wars films is Empire Strikes Back. Thats my favourite, and it still is now. I dont think you can ever please anybody now.

Its like Mission: Impossible. Youll please the action guys because they love it, but you dont believe any of it because its so far-fetched and not one bullet will hit him. I admire Tom Cruise a lot, but I dont like the Mission films because Im not attached to the character at all in any way. It was important for me in Star Wars that we cared about our characters. We had seen the vulnerability of Kylo Ren and we cared about Rey. As long as people took that from it, Im happy.

Read more: Did George Lucas cut the best prequels lightsaber fight?

I wanted to talk a little about your story. When you first appeared as a contestant on Gladiators, did you ever dare to believe you might one day be on the set of a Star Wars movie?

No way. I am very competitive and, when I went on that show, my state of mind was just to win the competition. To me, I wasnt on a show. I was in a competition. I think that probably benefited me. I did clown around in front of the cameras at the right time but, when I was in an event, I was competing and that was it.

If someone had said to me make sure you do well in this show because its going to lead to this, I think the pressure wouldve made me attack it differently and I probably wouldnt have done so well. So Im glad I wasnt aware of what doors it was going to open for me.

Suzanne Cox (L) and Eunice Huthart (R) poses with Saracen after joining 'Gladiators'. (Photo by Fiona Hanson/PA Images via Getty Images)

And what was it like to be invited back to become a Gladiator? Did you have any input on your persona?

I didnt really have any input. I wanted to have an aggressive name and be called Rage with a costume to suit that. But no, they called me Blaze. Unfortunately, I only did live events as a Gladiator and the audience just kept chanting Eunice all the time so the producers decided it might not have been a good option anyway.

Obviously, from there, you got involved with James Bond in GoldenEye. What was it like to make that jump to being on a major movie set?

I wouldnt have said I was overwhelmed by it, but I would say it was definitely surreal. What broke a lot of barriers down for me was that, when I went along for the audition, the stunt co-ordinator Simon Crane took me off to meet Martin Campbell, the director. He was so lovely and Id never met a character like him. He ran over to hug me and I clenched my fists thinking he was gonna hit me. Honestly, it was so weird.

Then, straight away, they took me to meet Pierce [Brosnan] because I was going to do a lot of my fights with him. I went and met him and he said: Oh my God, Ive just been watching you on the television on Saturday night with my son. Then it became even more strange because I was standing in front of Pierce and he was asking me for my autograph so he could show his kid. It was just weird. How can you do that? Id gone from flipping burgers in McDonalds in Liverpool and now Pierce Brosnan was asking for my autograph. Its mental.

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in 'GoldenEye'. (Credit: MGM)

I wanted to ask about the importance of Angelina Jolie to your career also. How significant has that relationship been for you?

It was great. With diversity now, they are making more women into leads but, if you still look at the ratio, there might be one women to every six male leads. Wonder Woman is probably one of the most effective films at creating roles for women.

But for me, when I did Tomb Raider, because the lead woman did all the action, I just got to showcase what I could do as a stunt performer. You dont get many occasions as a woman to actually showcase what youre capable of because the men tend to do it all  the James Bonds, the Batmans, the Supermans. It was an opportunity for me to showcase my physical ability and they got me more work.

Read more: Kathleen Kennedy says a woman will direct Star Wars soon

Intertwined with that, Angie loved the way I would respect her character. She went on to do a lot of action films, which again helped me develop in understanding where cameras go. I think for about six years I saw more of Angelina than I did of my own husband because we were working back to back movies together.

It was very influential. I probably would never be where I am now without the knowledge and the learning arc I gained throughout all of those movies. Were great friends as well. All of her kids are Liverpool fans and thats whats more important.

Angelina Jolie in 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'. (Credit: Paramount)

Just before you go, is there anything left in your career you really want to achieve?

Id love to do a Tarzan film. Id love to do a dinosaur film like one of the Jurassic World films, and Id love to do a King Kong film. I think I just want to tick boxes of the ones that are dear to me because theyre the films I fell in love with as a kid. I literally used to stay underwater as long as I could because Tarzan could swim for ages underwater. I think those films because it feels like Im paying homage to my childhood.

Then theres the great directors Id love to work with  the Scorseses of the world  just to see how they work and their creativity. Im not finished yet. Theres no way Im finished.

From flipping burgers in Liverpool to fighting dinosaurs, it sounds good to me!

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives digitally in HD and 4K Ultra HD on 13 April, and physically in 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and DVD on 20 April.
As we approach year three of the pandemic, its safe to say weve learned to be more cautious and flexible with our plans. And with the omicro
A new narrative has emerged in Britains capitalist media, with several articles questioning the efficacy of ventilator treatment for severe cases of COVID-19. These aim to cover over the Johnson governments criminal inaction and failure to mobilise all the resources necessary to tackle the outbreakincluding the necessary stockpiling of ventilators before the pandemic broke out.

The Sun headlined an article April 6, Coronavirus doctor reveals he has yet to get a patient off a ventilator alive. Once the seriously ill are put onto a ventilator, they may well be too ill to recover. But there can be no doubt that if many are not surviving being ventilated, then it is because they are receiving treatment too late. This is not the fault of National Health Service (NHS) workers but a result of the government allowing the pandemic to tear through the population for weeks as part of its herd immunity policy.

On April 4, the Spectator magazine ran a piece headlined: Ventilators arent a panacea for the coronavirus pandemic. The Spectator is a right-wing Conservative-supporting publication. Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is currently in intensive care undergoing oxygen treatment for COVID-19and is near a ventilator should the need ariseis a former editor of the magazine.

The Spectator cites Matt Strauss, a former medical director of the critical care unit at Guelph General Hospital, Canada, and now assistant professor of medicine at Queens University. He states, [A]t least two-thirds of attempts to stave off death with their [ventilator] use will fail in the short term. Of the remaining third, we do not know how many will be successful in the medium or long term. This doesnt quite seem like a convincing rationale to shut down the British economy, [and] redirect previous manufacturing output towards ventilators 

On average, around 50 percent of ventilated patients survive. If treated early, the outcome improves, yet those with coronavirus symptoms are being encouraged to remain at home in self-isolation and only report to hospital once they have become very ill.

The WSWS spoke to an NHS haematology doctor from Wales, who challenged this acceptance of death over life and the playing down of the necessity for ventilators in tackling the pandemic.

The doctor explained that in his own hospital in Wales, We have 10 COVID patients. One man on a ventilator, aged between 60 and 70 with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), survived. Around 60 to 80 percent of patients on ventilators can be saved if proper ITU (intensive therapy unit) care is given. But these things cannot be done if the hospital is overwhelmed. Then only 30 percent survive.

The doctor exposed the dire hospital conditions facing colleagues and patients as the number of COVID-19 cases rises exponentially.

His friend, an Accident and Emergency (A&E) consultant at a hospital in the north of England, has seen lots of COVID-19 admissions. He told me the hospital is partially overwhelmed, so they had to open a new A&E department because they cant cope with the flood of admissions.

Hospitals are implementing rationing because of the lack of ventilators for those with the most severe form of the disease. Speaking on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there are 8,00010,000 ventilators in the NHS, and the government target was to secure 18,000far short of the original target of 30,000. Hancock evaded answering when these additional ventilators would materialize, despite the governments own prediction that the pandemic will peak around Easter, in a few days time.

Doctors are being placed in the terrible predicament of denying elderly patients medical intervention.

The doctor in Wales commented, Doctors have to explain to patients over 70, with no underlying health issues, that the doctor has to make a decision to sign a DNR [do-not-resuscitate] order, because there are no ventilators.

The lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) is putting staff and patients in dangerthree National Health Service nurses and two doctors have died recently.

They only have surgical gowns and masks at the hospital, explained the doctor, Instead of the proper PPE. My friend got a fever and tested positive and is now self-isolating at home, at the time his service is essential to the hospital.

Another dreadful storyone of my haematology colleagues at a Hospital in Birmingham said her hospital became overwhelmed a couple of weeks ago. The hospital has been turned into a mainly COVID hospital. Doctors in all departments, like my colleague, are asked to deal with COVID patients.

Birmingham is at the epicentre of COVID outside of London. My friend is looking after patients who are recovering from COVID, who have been removed from ventilators. Up until last Friday, they only had a surgical mask and apron, used for other hospital procedures. Since then, intubation is done with some protective equipment, but not the full kit.

Policy is changing day by day. No doctors can wear face masks when moving around the hospital, even on the medical ward for stroke and heart patients. A group of nurses wearing face masks while walking on the corridors were asked to remove them by a manager and a matron, saying you must follow hospital guidelines.

I could not believe this, said the doctor, No reason has been given.

Medical staff are still not being tested for COVID-19, even if they present with symptoms and are putting the staff and patients at risk. This will possibly make the available system collapse due to lack of trained staff.

My friend got a sore throat and felt feverish. She asked the hospital administration what she should do, and could she have the test. They said we are not allowed to test you. If staff are not tested, they will give the virus to patients and other staff. It is criminal.

As in the north of England hospital, doctors are forced to leave patients, who may have a life expectancy of another 10 or 20 years, without lifesaving treatment.

At Birmingham hospital, patients who are 70 and older, even without underlying health problems, will not be put on a ventilator and the doctor signs a DNR, because the hospital cannot cope with the tsunami of COVID patients admitted without the necessary number of ventilators.

Theres a new Nightingale hospital planned in Birmingham with more than 1,000 beds. The plan is not to put ventilators in because there are no ventilators. To form a new hospital you need staff too, not just new instruments. It will be used for non-COVID stable patients, to free up space.

The doctor compared the high fatalities in the UK with countries which have implemented rigorous testing for COVID-19 alongside contact tracing. The Czech Republic followed the method taken by South Korea, and the number of patients is very low. It is well managed in New Zealand. They started testing a lot, and also because of early school closure and lockdown measures.

A letter from a GPs (General Practice) surgery in Maesteg, Wales telling patients with underlying health problems they would be denied treatment has gone viral. Dated March 27, it began: This is a very difficult letter for the practice to write to you  people with significant life-threatening illnesses, such as incurable cancer, neurological conditions such as motor neurone disease, and untreatable heart and lung conditions such as pulmonary fibrosis or severe heart failure  are unlikely to be offered hospital admission if they become unwell and certainly will not be offered a ventilator bed  We would like to complete a DNR form for you  The emergency services will not be called and resuscitation attempts to restart your heart will not be attempted. The letter ends with the cruelly ironic words, We will not abandon you.

One can only imagine the fear and bewilderment of the frail and elderly, promised care under the post-war welfare state from the cradle to the grave, seeing the fatalities increase daily at an exponential rate, now being abandoned to their fate.

The practice and health trust have since apologised for the letter due to the widespread disgust it elicited.
By Friday, Iceland achieved something no other country has: it tested 10 per cent of its population for coronavirus, a figure far higher than anywhere else in the world.

No country or scientist or doctor has all the answers about the pandemic that has swept the globe, infecting more than 1.6 million people and killing at least 100,000.

But some places, such as tiny Iceland, Europes most sparsely populated country  with a population of 364,134, broadly equivalent to the number of people in Tulsa, Okla.  may be better placed to deliver some types of coronavirus information, and even answers, than most, at least in the short term, according to public-health experts, international government officials and others involved in responding to the outbreak.

The size of a place matters. It tracks with the number of introductions of the virus. It is no coincidence the places now doing (the best work) share this feature, said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard Universitys T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

To be clear, Iceland has not yet been able to provide definitive explanations for the most pressing coronavirus questions vexing scientists, politicians and publics the world over. Among them: its transmissibility; why it hits some people exceptionally hard and affects others only mildly; the most promising vaccines and treatments; actual mortality rates; and whether lifting lockdowns will later usher in a deadly second and third wave of new infections  if the so-called coronavirus curve, in fact, looks more like a loop.

Hanage said in terms of lasting analysis models for our understanding of the virus, its also not clear for how long size will matter to health experts probing the disease.

Still, for now, Iceland may be one of best live coronavirus laboratories we have, according to Kari Stefansson, an Icelandic neurologist and chief executive officer of Reykjavik-based biopharmaceutical company deCODE genetics, which has partnered with Icelands government to carry out its massing testing efforts.

Icelands 10 per cent figure, confirmed by Stefansson, is not about bragging rights.

Among the Nordic nations findings: about half of its citizenry at any given time who have coronavirus, but dont know it, will be asymptomatic  a large percentage many experts studying the virus have suspected, but have had little firm data to corroborate.

Thats a bit scary, said Stefansson, who noted that Iceland is testing its citizens at random by selecting names out of the countrys main telephone directory, another large-scale testing strategy that has not been adopted elsewhere.

They could be spreading it and not knowing it, he said.

It means the containment efforts of the authorities are working.

Iceland has not imposed a full national lockdown.

Its restrictions are largely based on trust. Most shops and businesses are still open.

However, the country has banned gatherings of more than 20 people. Of Icelands more than 1,600 coronavirus infections as of Friday, six have ended in deaths.

Like other localities such as Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong that have moderately sized populations and relatively diminutive geographies, Iceland has proved successful at flattening the curve  keeping the number of coronavirus infections at a manageable level for medical workers who would otherwise be overwhelmed with sick patients.

In Icelands case, it has done this through a combination of rigorous testing and tracing. Authorities say Icelanders are heeding social-distancing recommendations.

Stefansson said Icelands randomized tests revealed that between 0.3 per cent and 0.8 per cent of Icelands population is infected with the respiratory illness, that about 50 per cent of those who test positive for the virus are asymptomatic when they are tested, and that since mid-March, the frequency of the virus among Icelands general population who are not at the greatest risk  those who do not have underlying health conditions or signs and symptoms of COVID-19  has either stayed stable or been decreasing.

This data has yielded, he said, yet more knowledge.

It means the containment efforts of the authorities are working, he said.

While many countries publish daily and cumulative infection and death rates, there dont appear to be comparable statistics for other countries available that give an overall sense of how deep-rooted the virus is, or how many carriers of the disease, at any given time, may have no symptoms. Iceland has not yet been able to determine how many asymptomatic infections, once confirmed, will later go on to develop symptoms.

John P.A. Ioannidis, a professor of biomedical data science and epidemiology at Stanford University, said that the best data on coronavirus is currently coming from Iceland. But that may be partly because Iceland is the only country that has so much data, even if its too early to draw unequivocal conclusions about what the data are saying.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on April 6 in a press briefing that almost two million Americans have been tested  0.6 per cent of the population  but its not clear what metrics the White House is relying on and hundreds of hospitals have complained about severe shortages of testing supplies and long waiting times, according to a report from the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services. Although access to testing in the U.S. does appear to be improving in some areas.

According to Worldometer, an online statistics website run by an international team of developers and researchers that collates public health information published directly by each state, the U.S. has conducted about 2.3 million coronavirus tests. That equates to about 7,100 tests per one million people. Using that same scale that accounts for Icelands six-figure population, Iceland has undertaken 96,000 tests per million people.

Scale is important, but for reasons you might not initially think

Some countries, such as Germany, have predicted that up to 70 per cent of their nationals could eventually contract coronavirus. And officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that under a worst-case scenario, between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S.  48 per cent to 64 per cent of Americans  could be become infected over the course of the epidemic, although those numbers dont account for various social-distancing measures underway aimed at slowing transmission rates.

Gestur Palmason, a police detective deployed as a coronavirus contact tracer at Icelands National Crisis Coordination Centre, said few other places would have the resources or serendipitous combination of factors to carry out Icelands preliminary research.

These include the island-nations remoteness, the high regard its nationals have for scientific expertise  medical experts, not politicians, are leading its response  its tech-savvy government infrastructure, a relatively tried and tested emergency agency that is used to dealing with volcano eruptions and avalanches, and yes, fewer people.

Scale is important, but also for reasons you might not initially think, Palmason said.

The smaller the population you have, the more chance there is you will know someone who is affected. Whatever your government or law enforcement may be saying, you are much more likely to want to play a part and take recommendations seriously because of that personal connection  compared to places where there are tens of millions of people and you may not have been to parts of the country or know people there.

Still, Wang Ting-Yu, a Taiwanese lawmaker who has been active in the East Asia island-states much-admired response to its coronavirus outbreak, said that while he was watching Icelands experiment with mass testing and data with interest  noting that Taiwan has also rolled out islandwide coronavirus screening  he thought that other western countries in Europe and North America would be better off at this stage of their fight with the disease by adopting a wartime mentality to combat the outbreak.

This means, Wang said, strictly enforced quarantines, protecting front-line workers with the most advanced personal protective equipment and a whole-of-government approach to keeping the public informed about lockdowns, setbacks, any changes in tactics and, crucially, developing tailored technology to deliver this information.

Taiwan has a similar population to Australia  about 24 million people. Both are islands, although Taiwans population density is far higher. As of Friday, Australia has recorded more than 6,100 coronavirus cases and 53 deaths. Taiwan has 382 cases and six deaths.

In New Zealand, another small island-nation  population 4.7 million  that early on in the global pandemic imposed a tight lockdown strategy aimed at totally eliminating the virus rather than just containing it, there has been just two deaths amid more than 1,200 cases.

Our message to our friends abroad is: centralize your response, Wang said. If you dont move quickly, or with enough purpose, then the price is peoples lives.

We now seem to be the safest place on the planet

Governments from Rome to Berlin have indicated that daily new coronavirus infections and death tolls may be on the verge or even already be starting to plateau or fall as a result of social-distancing measures. The White House has made similar claims.

New York state has actively flattened its curve with social-distancing regulations, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

Singapore, Hong Kong and even China  where coronavirus originated in December last year and authorities have all but claimed total victory over COVID-19  have meanwhile seen rising clusters of new infections in recent weeks. While most of these cases are imported, it remains unclear whether by lifting restrictions authorities around the world will be forced into a game of coronavirus whackamole with no obvious end date. In the past few days, Japan, which initially held off on a lockdown, has fortified its restrictions.

The U.S. has largely relied on a patchwork of social-distancing measures and lockdowns dictated at state level, while the Trump administration has offered federal guidance that is not mandatory to follow. More than 468,000 people in the U.S. have been infected with coronavirus and the number of deaths  over 16,600  appears on track to soon match or surpass Italy, where the most people  more than 18,000  have died.

Still, in terms of collecting actionable data about coronavirus, Hange, the Harvard epidemiologist, questioned whether Iceland would be better off focusing on serological tests that could determine whether a person had developed certain antibodies in the blood indicating that they were infected by the virus without knowing it, and recovered.

Knowing whether these antibodies exist in someones blood could, potentially, enable tens of millions of people around the world to re-enter the workforce at a time economies are reeling because they are under orders to stay home to prevent the viruss spread.

Random testing for ongoing infections helps, but runs into a lot of issues, Hanage said.

If you find someone is positive and asymptomatic now, you still have to wait until they have recovered to know the course of their illness, he added, noting that some reports out of Italy indicate that the most seriously affected towns in the countrys Lombardy region show a large portion of the population with signs of immunity.

If true, this is obviously a very good sign, but it has come at an appalling cost, he said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun preliminary studies into serological tests  called sero-surveys  to try to determine what proportion of Americans caught the disease, but evaded detection. No results have been published.

Various U.S. cities are launching their own antibody studies.

Stefansson, the CEO of deCODE genetics, which is doing Icelands testing in co-ordination with the government, said it started screening for antibodies on April 8.

Germany has started Europes first large-scale coronavirus antibody testing effort to help researchers assess infection rates more effectively.

Still, one place where the coronavirus data are especially pure, and small, is Antarctica.

While more than 100 people from Australia, Europe and the U.S. on board a cruise ship travelling to Antarctica and South Georgia tested positive this week for coronavirus, the ice-covered land mass is the only continent that remains untouched by the outbreak.

We now seem to be the safest place on the planet, said Stijn Tholen, a European Space Agency medical research doctor who is spending a year on the ice investigating how humans adapt to living in extreme environments, in an email.

The increasing darkness and cold here already feel so otherworldly, and to see what is happening in the rest of the world makes me feel even more distant, he said.
Houston reported 615 new coronavirus cases Thursday  a 62 percent daily increase and the largest single-day spike of the pandemic  as well as two additional deaths as health officials remain hampered by limited testing and delayed results.

Harris County reported 91 new cases and one new death, an African-American woman in her 80s. Countywide, there have been 3,047 confirmed cases and 34 deaths as of Thursday evening. Almost 420 ill residents have recovered.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said half of the new Houston cases came from March tests, with the remaining from the past nine days. The city received a large volume of reports electronically from testing labs and hospitals. Backlogs have led to other single-day bursts, as well, including 402 new cases reported on Monday.

The unpredictable lag between a test and confirmed case complicates efforts by epidemiologists to determine whether the virus is reaching its peak here. Houston-area hospitals are bracing for a surge in cases and Harris County by Friday plans to complete a makeshift field hospital next to the Astrodome for use as a last resort.

Turner also announced the two new deaths, for a total of 14 involving Houston residents. One was a white man in his 80s who died March 27. The other was a Hispanic woman in her 70s who died April 2. Like all who have died with the virus so far in Houston, they had underlying health conditions.

Now Playing: The latest state and local case counts and news headlines from the Houston Chronicle news team. Video: Laura Duclos/Houston Chronicle

The situation at the Harris County Jail, meanwhile, grew more worrisome for Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, who reported a fifth inmate had tested positive for the disease. The number of stricken Sheriffs Office employees rose to 40, three-quarters of whom work at the jail.

A plan by County Judge Lina Hidalgo to release some nonviolent arrestees, in an effort to slow the outbreak there, remains in limbo six days after a criminal court judge voided her order.

The number of Houstons confirmed cases had paled in comparison to other large cities, a fact Turner has emphasized while at the same time cautioning that testing has not been even close to fully revealing the virus spread here. Turner has, on several occasions, advised Houston residents to multiply the number of known cases by 10, due to the lack of robust testing.

Houston received good news on that front Thursday. The federal government said it would support the four testing sites here through the end of May, amid reports that other sites in the country have been shut down.

Dr. David Persse, the citys health authority, said the lag in numbers was due to incoming data from testing labs, which he said has led to a sawtooth pattern in the citys rise of cases.

Its frustrating for all of us to see these numbers behave this way. Its a function of the delay in the reporting, Persse said. Theres not necessarily a bad actor here. Some labs are just taking longer to get the results. And sometimes, they do cohort it before they report it to us. The law in Texas is that theyre supposed to report the positives to us immediately.

He said there is sometimes a delay on the citys side, too, as health workers confirm that each case involves someone who actually lives in Houston and parse out those that do not. That logistical hang-up, he said, would not delay reporting by more than a day.

He challenged every Houston resident to be more stringent in social distancing.

Quite honestly, what the jump today tells us is we need to do a better job with what were doing, Persse said. As individuals, we need to do a better job.

The large jump led Turner to reverse course and close city parks, a move he had resisted just one day earlier, saying he did not want to be heavy handed. The county on Wednesday announced it would close its parks for the Easter weekend, worried about crowds gathering in defiance of the stay-at-home order.

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo asked the community for continued prayers for Ramon Ray Cervantes, a 57-year-old homicide detective who remains in intensive care on a ventilator with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Cervantes was in really grave condition but has seen some slight improvements, according to the chief. His wife, Liz, also has tested positive and is isolating at home, Acevedo said.

Harris County for the first time reported a breakdown by race and ethnicity of its 20 deaths. The fatalities, which exclude the city of Houston, include: Nine white, four Hispanic, four black and one Asian. The remaining two are categorized as other, which includes more than race, Pacific Islander and Native American.

Combined with the Houston deaths, the racial and ethnic breakdown of all coronavirus fatalities in Harris County is:

35 percent black

35 percent white

20 percent Hispanic

3 percent Asian

6 percent other

Blacks, who represent just 19 percent of county residents, are overrepresented. Whites, who account for 29 percent of the population, are as well, though to a lesser degree.

dylan.mcguinness@chron.com

zach.despart@chron.com
By Olivia Rose

THE TURKS and Caicos Islands recorded its first Covid-19 death on Saturday (April 4).





Dudley Lightbourne, who had pre-existing conditions, was admitted to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre on March 21 in critical condition.





Prior to hospital admission he had travelled to the United States and later developed fever and respiratory symptoms.





He was under clinical management and isolation and went on to receive aggressive respiratory care, according to a joint press statement from TCI Hospital and the Government.





Lightbourne passed away shortly before midnight on April 4. He was the second person in the Turks and Caicos Islands diagnosed with Covid-19.





On Tuesday (April 7), Health Minister Hon. Edwin Astwood, during his ministerial statement in the House of Assembly, offered his condolences to his family.





"I want to begin by associating myself with the condolences being offered to the Member for Grand Turk North on the passing of his brother Dudley and also the entire Lightbourne family, especially Myron, Michael, Mary, Brenda, Linda and Carl.





"This was our first Covid-19 related death, and one death is one too many for us.





"We all have to continue to do whatever we can to mitigate against this virus and to prevent other deaths from occurring.





Lightbournes cousin Kier Adams posted a tribute on Facebook in which she urged the general public to stay at home.





"Wash your hands for at least 20 second with soap and hot water, practice social distancing and adhere to the advice of our frontline team, who are working hard for our safety.





"You do not want to go through what our family has endured for the last three weeks.





"We were not permitted to visit or comfort him, he suffered alone with no family by his side.





No funeral or viewing after his passing.





She added: "Remember, Covid-19 does not have anyones name on it. It could happen to the good and the bad and it could happen to you or your family.





Minister Astwood stressed that his ministry continues to closely monitor the coronavirus pandemic.





"We understand this is a stressful time for people in almost every part of the world, and our people here in the TCI want to know what is been done, and what they can do now to protect themselves and their families.





He revealed that dashboard numbers, currently show that there are now eight confirmed positive Covid-19 cases in the territory.





"Sixty-one tests have been completed for SARS-CoV-2, and out of that 53 were negative for SARS-CoV-2 not.





"A total of 331 persons have been released from quarantine/observation, and 63 persons are now remaining in quarantine.





The number of suspected cases remain at five, as of April 8. They are people experiencing relevant symptoms but with no relevant travel history or pertinent contact.





Two suspected cases are under hospital care.





Samples have been collected and sent for testing, and are currently awaiting results.




As the novel coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, contact tracing has taken the spotlight as epidemiologists scramble to identify and isolate potential vectors for the disease. Limited technology has forced authorities to fall back on manual methods, which are both time-consuming and limited in reliability since they depend on the ability of the infected individual to remember all the places and persons he/she has been in contact with. However, more rigorous tracing methods such as location tracking via GPS is frowned upon as a controversial breach of privacy.

Researchers from MIT and other institutions have stepped in to fill this gap by developing a network that allows public health authorities to identify contacts of a positive COVID-19 patient while keeping the data private. The system relies on digital "chirps," which are short-range Bluetooth signals represented by long strings of random numbers. The strings continuously change so that they cannot be traced back to a single individual.

Smartphone-Assisted, Privacy-Preserving COVID-19 Contact Tracing. Image Credit: MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Bluetooth tracking has been around for a while, allowing smartphones to broadcast their presence. Apple's "Find My Phone" system works on the same principle, where lost devices send out chirps, which are picked up by other Apple devices around and then sent on to Apple, which then decodes its location.

When a smartphone is enabled with this app, it sends out such random chirps regularly and also logs its own signals. It logs signals from other phones only if the other phone is within a six-foot radius and has been nearby for a significant length of time.

Interoperability, or the ability of iPhones to pick up signals from Android phones and vice versa, was one of the toughest challenges in developing the new system. It was overcome last week by a group of technicians. MIT's initiative to tackle COVID-19 while maintaining privacy, SafePaths, did early research on automated private contact tracing. The feasibility of the Bluetooth tracker system is built on this work.

Smartphone-Assisted, Privacy-Preserving COVID-19 Contact Tracing Play

Ron Rivest, MIT Institute Professor and principal investigator of the project, says that the strength of the project lies in its ability to use "cryptographic techniques to generate random, rotating numbers that are not just anonymous, but pseudonymous, constantly changing their 'ID,' and that can't be traced back to an individual."

If a person tests positive for COVID-19 later on, he/she can download the app and use it to scan a QR code received from the health service. This allows the infected person to upload the logged chirps to the cloud. These logs can then be scanned by anyone else with the same app. If chirps match, a notification will be issued to inform the user how long and how close an infected person was in proximity over the last two weeks.

The notification will also advise them on the next step to take, depending on the area public health protocol. This could be anything from self-isolation to COVID-19 testing. "What's also great is that the technology can be flexible to how public health officials want to manage contacts with exposed cases in their specific region, which may change over time." says medical advisory team leader Dr. Louise Ivers.

The use of chirps to log contact between devices ensures that even random strangers can be traced, while their personal information is protected.

If most people with a smartphone and an enabled app did a daily scan, they could tell if they had been in contact with an infected person, without knowing who it was. Large-scale contact tracing using this system has twin benefits - it allows authorities to accurately identify exposed individuals and avoid unnecessary quarantine while ensuring that people can begin to go about their business once the pandemic shows signs of receding. "We want to be able to let people carefully get back to normal life while also having this ability to quarantine and identify certain vectors of an outbreak carefully," Rivest says.

The team has moved forward with prototyping and permissions, meeting with giants such as Apple, Microsoft, and Google, as well as state and federal agencies to begin implementation of the tracking system. The Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health, CSAIL, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Boston University, Brown University, MIT Media Lab, The Weizmann Institute of Science, and SRI International are some of the collaborators who have worked to develop the public health project. Rivest and his team also look forward to working in a central role with other efforts around the country and in Europe to develop similar privacy-first contact tracing systems.

Rivest concludes, "We need a large percentage of the population to opt-in for this system to really work. We care about every single Bluetooth device out there; it's critical to make this a whole ecosystem. This project is a collective effort on the part of many, many people to get a system working."
The World Health Organization has pleaded for global unity in fighting the coronavirus, following US President Donald Trump's stinging attack on its handling of the pandemic, as director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hit back at accusations that it had been too close to China.

As the WHO marks 100 days on April 10 since it was first notified of the outbreak in China, the UN's health agency has faced criticism in the past both for overreacting and for moving too slowly in fighting epidemics.

But rarely was it as much scrutinised as with the current Covid-19 pandemia.

On April 8, US President Donald Trump accused the WHO having "called it wrong" and months too late, while taking US money but favouring China.

US and Hong Kong media claim that the virus was known already in mid-november 2019 and that China, knowingly, withheld information that could otherwise have prevented the global nature of the pandemic.

Too close to China

The US also sharply criticized WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus for being too close to China.

"The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look," Trump said on Twitter.

Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on. Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?"

Since an early stage, Tedros has been an outspoken advocate for the Chinese government's response to the outbreak of the epidemic.

On January 28, he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing where he said that China was setting a new standard for outbreak control while praising the country's top leadership for its openness to sharing information with the WHO and other countries.

"Spreading rumours"

But that didn't go down well with Beijing's critics. in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, Chinese officials were busy arresting and punishing citizens for 'spreading rumors' about the disease, while online censors controlled the flow of information, writes Michael Collins, a research associate with the US Council for Foreign Relations. But, he says, it didn't prevent Tedros from continuing his praise.

Don't politicise the virus

But he hit back. In a stern defence of the WHO's handling of the pandemic, which has by now killed more than 90,000 people, while more than 1.5 million people have tested positive, Tedros said that "the United States and China should come together and fight this dangerous enemy."

"The focus of all political parties should be to save their people. Please don't politicise this virus.

"If you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicising it, he said.

Disaster

Withdrawal of US funding would be a disaster for the WHO.

According to its 2018 financial statement, the organisation received a total of 2,74 billion US$ in funding.

Largest member states contributors are the US (281 million US$), the UK (205 million US$), Germany (154 US$), and Japan (86 million US$). From the African countries the DRC stands out with a contribution of 24 million US$.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation stands out as the largest non-institutional donor with a massive 228 million US$.

Meanwhile, China contributed only 6 million US$, and two Chinese vaccine manufactures, Beijing Tiantan Biological Products and Sinovac Biotech Ltd, both based in the Chinese capital, contributed a combined 92,000 US$.

Generous support

After Trump's outburst, World Health Organization chief on Wednesday thanked the United States for its "generosity" in funding global health initiatives like the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the US for its generous support so far," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in a virtual briefing, adding he believed the "US will continue to contribute its share," despite Trumps threat to have a good look at US funding.
Raghava Lawrence choreographer turned actor and director is always known for his philanthropic and genuine gestures. Whenever the people are facing difficult situation Lawrence has stepped forward and donated to the cause.

Now Lawrence has gone out of his way to donate a whopping Rs 3 Crore to organisations involved in COVID19 relief works. He has signed a new film Chandramukhi2, to be directed by the man who did the original P Vasu and it will be produced by leading producers Kalanithi Marans Sun Pictures. Lawrence has got an advance of Rs 3 Crore for the film which he will donate to various COVID19 relief works.
Britain won't know for weeks whether lockdown can be eased, a top government adviser warned today - as the Cabinet descended into wrangling over fears the draconian curbs themselves could cause 150,000 deaths.

Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson said 'definitive' proof of whether restrictions have worked will not be available for 'several more weeks'.

But Prof Ferguson, who has been modelling the outbreak, hinted the public might be amplifying the hit to the economy by following 'social distancing' better the government had 'dared hope'.

The message came as Ireland announced that its lockdown will be extended to May 5, and amid a mounting backlash at ministers for stonewalling over their 'exit strategy'.

Experts say that mass testing is the only safe way to ease the restrictions, which are threatening to destroy millions of jobs and businesses, as otherwise no-one knows what proportion of the public has been infected.

However, claims have surfaced that Boris Johnson himself was becoming alarmed at the impact of the lockdown before he was struck down with the virus, as he had not expected Britons to fall into line so readily.

According to well-connected Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, the Cabinet is now split into three 'factions' - with one wanting tougher measures, another believing the 'cure is already worse than the disease', and a third element saying the government must wait for public opinion to shift before changing approach.

A tentative estimate circulating in Whitehall suggests a long-term lockdown could mean 150,000 'excess' deaths from non-coronavirus causes. A Downing Street spokesman tried to play down the figure this afternoon, but stopped short of denying it existed. 'It is not a number that I have ever seen,' the spokesman said.

Fears are rising that the PM's hospitalisation has created a power vacuum that is preventing any major shifts in strategy. Mr Johnson's father Stanley made clear this morning that despite the premier being moved out of intensive care there is little prospect of him returning o duty soon.

In other developments today:

Downing Street was forced to warn police officers against 'heavy-handed' lockdown tactics after officers admitted to prowling through supermarket aisles in a bid to catch shoppers buying 'non-essential' items;

Italy is preparing to extend its lockdown until May in order to avoid a second wave, sparking fears the UK - considered to be two weeks behind its European neighbour - will remain shut for even longer;

Schools could reopen even if it's for a short time before the summer holidays if it safe to do so - once the scientific advice says so, headteachers have said;

Former Prime Minister Theresa May showed strict observance of the six feet rule as she waited to shop in Waitrose, pictured glancing at her phone as she waited outside the Berkshire store;

Health Secretary Matt Hancock was accused of setting a poor example on social distancing after it was claimed he was surrounded by staff during video calls with NHS chiefs;

Turkey began sending planeloads of emergency equipment, including surgical masks, N95 industrial masks and hazmat suits, to Britain to help medics fighting coronavirus.

Motorways were very quiet this morning as the British public seemingly heeded the government's rules

Fears are rising that Boris Johnson's enforced stay at St Thomas' hospital has created a power vacuum that is preventing any major shifts in strategy

Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson (left)said 'definitive' proof of whether restrictions have worked will not be available for 'several more weeks'. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab (right), who has been deputising, warned last night that it was still too soon for ministers to begin lifting the strict social distancing rules introduced last month.

PM 'waving at hospital staff' as his condition stabilises - but No10 warns his recovery is only 'beginning' Boris Johnson has been waving at staff in hospital as his condition stabilises, Downing Street revealed today. The PM gestured to show his 'gratitude' to NHS staff as he was moved out of intensive care last night. But No10 stressed that Mr Johnson is only 'beginning his recovery' - playing down the prospect of him returning to work any time soon. The positive signs came after the premier's father Stanley warned he will need time to recover before 'picking up the reins' of government again. Confirming that Mr Johnson was now on a general ward at St Thomas' hospital in central London, his spokesman insisted there is no schedule for him to return to duties. 'The PM is beginning his recovery. Decisions such as this will be on the advice of his medical team,' the spokesman said. 'The PM is enormously grateful for the care that he is receiving from NHS staff. 'I am told that he was waving his thanks to all of the nurses and doctors that he saw as he was being moved from the intensive care unit back to the ward. 'The hospital said that he was in extremely good spirits last night and I believe that definitely was the case.' Advertisement

Britain suffered another grim day in its coronavirus crisis today as officials recorded another 953 deaths in the home nations, taking the UK's spiralling victim count to 8,931.

That was up from the figure of 881 deaths released yesterday.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been deputising for the PM, warned last night that it was still too soon for ministers to begin lifting the strict social distancing rules introduced last month.

In a stark message to Easter holiday sunseekers, Mr Raab said the disease must not be allowed to 'kill more people and hurt our country'. 'We're not done yet. We must keep going,' he said.

But he hinted ministers are avoiding setting out any exit strategy due to concern the public will 'take their eye off the ball'. 'We will make the right decisions at the right moment and we will be guided by the science,' he said.

But the trade-offs involved in the crisis response have been underlined, with millions of jobs already thought to have gone and thousands of businesses facing disaster.

The respected NIESR think-tank forecast yesterday that UK GDP will be a shocking 25 per cent smaller by mid-summer than it was at the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, take-up of the Treasury's unprecedented bailout for employees has been three times higher than expected, leaving the government facing a 200billion hole in budgets, with the Bank of England extending its official 'overdraft' to ensure money does not run out.

The respected IFS think-tank warned yesterday that more than a million people could end up with long-term illnesses due to the economic misery.

Police have warned they are ready to take action against those who flout the coronavirus lockdown rules.

Downing Street offered the Government's 'full backing' to police forces seeking to enforce the restrictions over the holiday period.

But there was a rebuke for Northamptonshire Chief Constable Nick Adderley after he suggested his force could mount road blocks and search shopping trolleys to check if people were going out to buy non-essential items.

Home Secretary Priti Patel told talkRADIO: 'That is not appropriate, let me be clear on that. That is not the guidance.'

She also dismissed calls for police to be given even tougher powers.

Prof Ferguson told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there was 'preliminary evidence' that the public was obeying rules better than anticipated.

Lockdown could be varied for areas and different ages Lockdown could be lifted in stages, government experts suggested today. Prof Neil Ferguson suggested any loosening will vary by area and 'age'. 'Without doubt measures will be targeted, probably by age, by geography, and we will need to introduce - in my view - much larger levels of testing at a community level to really be able to isolate cases and more effectively identify where transmission has happened,' he said. Professor Paul Cosford of Public Health England (PHE) said it is 'not unreasonable' to expect the lockdown to continue for several weeks. He agreed that the restrictions could be lifted in stages. 'I could conceive of circumstances in which some of the restrictions are lifted sooner and some are lifted later,' he said. Advertisement

'But we have still got to see that reflected in case numbers coming down,' he said.

'Only when we can see the case numbers come down and how quickly transmissions are being reduced can we really conclude anything about what happens next and when these measures can be relaxed.'

On whether planning was being done on when and how lockdown can be eased, he said: 'Both in the scientific community .. and in government itself it is the number one topic and priority, every waking minute.'

Prof Ferguson suggested any loosening will be staged, and potentially cover areas where outbreaks are less intense.

'Without doubt measures will be targeted, probably by age, by geography, and we will need to introduce - in my view - much larger levels of testing at a community level to really be able to isolate cases and more effectively identify where transmission has happened,' he said.

Professor Paul Cosford of Public Health England (PHE) said it is 'not unreasonable' to expect the lockdown to continue for several weeks.

What are Boris Johnson's prospects for recovery? The Prime Minister was moved out of intensive care at St Thomas' Hospital in central London last night, in a sign that his condition is improving. Number 10 says Boris Johnson, 55, is just beginning his recovery and ministers have warned it may take weeks before he is back in action. The NHS says it 'may take time' for patients who have been in ICU to return to their 'normal self' and that there may be 'lingering problems'. But it tells patients that going back to a normal hospital ward is a 'big step' on the road to recovery, offering hope that the PM is on the mend. Data collated by NHS hospitals in England shows that around half of COVID-19 patients who get admitted into intensive care die. The most recent report - based on data from almost 2,300 patients - showed that 346 had died and 344 discharged. The rest were still being treated. Survival odds are even bleaker for patients who need to be ventilated to keep their body functioning within the first 24 hours of arrival. For example, figures suggest 70 per cent of patients in this critical position die, compared to 30 per cent who make it the first day without. But Mr Johnson did not need advanced respiratory support and some experts say it was likely he was admitted as a precaution. Other doctors said there was 'no doubt' the PM was 'extremely sick' and went to hospital because he had difficulty breathing. Data from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre also shows the survival rate for adults aged 50-69 is better than half (54 per cent). Advertisement

A few people were out taking exercise in the sunshine near Windsor Castle this morning

The streets around Westminster were virtually deserted today as the lockdown continues

Citizens advice warns of 'heartbreaking' job loss hardship There are 'heartbreaking' cases of employees being made redundant after being denied help from the Government's job retention scheme, Citizens Advice has said. The charity fears the Government's action to protect workers during the coronavirus pandemic could be undermined by confusion and 'patchy use' of the scheme by some employers. Advisers are seeing daily cases of people who are at risk of slipping through the safety net despite potentially being entitled to support. Research by the charity shows around six million people in the UK have had their hours cut, been laid off or made redundant. Almost four out of 10 have lost household income because of the crisis, with nearly one in 12 losing 80 per cent of household income. Demand for the charity's redundancy advice has doubled, with its web page titled 'what to do if your employer has told you not to work' being the most-read page this month with more than 175,000 views. Advertisement

'I think several weeks isn't unreasonable. Let's hope its sooner than that,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'All my experience dealing with any sort of infectious disease suggests once you start getting things under control, that is the time you absolutely need to continue with all your measures so you can bring the disease right down, essentially to crack it across the country.'

He said the restrictions could be lifted in stages.

'I could conceive of circumstances in which some of the restrictions are lifted sooner and some are lifted later,' he said.

In an article for the Telegraph today, Spectator magazine editor Fraser Nelson said Mr Johnson himself had been increasingly concerned about the economic impact before he was struck down with coronavirus.

'Our message was supposed to be: keep working, but work from home if possible,' one minister is quoted as saying. 'But that message has got lost.'

On the divisions at the heart of government, Nelson wrote: 'The Cabinet, now, is split into three groups.

'Some think still the lockdown is, if anything, too lax. (One minister has even proposed adopting a Frenchstyle system, demanding that no one steps outside without papers authorising them to do so.)

'Then we have those who think the cure is already worse than the disease and want to phase out lockdown at the earliest opportunity.

'Then a third group who think it doesn't matter what Government thinks. Public opinion, they argue, led us into the lockdown, so only public opinion can lead us out. The trick is to be ready to seize the moment when it comes.'

Mr Raab acknowledged that it was hard for people hoping to go out and be with their families over Easter, but he urged them to show restraint amid signs the measures were having an impact.

'Unfortunately right now we just can't do those sorts of things and I am really sorry about that,' he said.

'It's been almost three weeks and we're starting to see the impact of the sacrifices we've all made.

'But the deaths are still rising and we haven't yet reached the peak of the virus. So it's still too early to lift the measures that we put in place.

'We must stick to the plan and we must continue to be guided by the science.'

Mr Raab was speaking after chairing a meeting of the Government's Cobra civil contingencies committee to consider how it would proceed with the three-week review, due next week, of the lockdown rules.

He said the Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) would be looking at the evidence but it would not be possible to say any more until the end of next week.

The last time the Prime Minister was seen in person, and not on a Zoom call, was last week when he appeared on the doorstep of No.11 to clap for carers

Carrie Symonds last night posted a picture of a rainbow on Twitter with the clapping emoji as she took part in the 'Clap for Carers' campaign

Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government's chief scientific adviser, said measures were 'breaking transmission' of the disease with signs of a 'flattening off' in the numbers of new cases and hospital admissions.

However, he warned the numbers of deaths would continue to rise for a 'few weeks' and that it was too soon to relax social distancing.

'It is incredibly important that we continue to do what we are doing,' he said.

The chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said that while the numbers admitted to intensive care had been doubling every three days, that had now slowed.

'This is really now becoming not quite flat, but the doubling time is now six or more days in almost everywhere in the country and extending in time,' he said.

Also on Thursday, the hospital where the Prime Minister is being treated for Covid-19 was illuminated with blue flashing lights as people across the country joined the weekly round of national applause for NHS workers.

Mr Johnson's partner Carrie Symonds also showed her appreciation for the health service by tweeting a string of clapping emojis.

Meanwhile, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick defended visiting his elderly parents during the coronavirus lockdown, saying he was delivering items including medicines.
Some advisers said the campaign has heard from Democrats who want a woman of colour as Bidens vice presidential pick.

Joe Biden faces the most important decision of his five-decade political career: Choosing a vice president.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee expects to name a committee to vet potential running mates next week, according to three Democrats with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans. Biden, a former vice president himself, has committed to picking a woman and told donors this week that his team has discussed naming a choice well ahead of the Democratic convention in August.

Selecting a running mate is always critical for a presidential candidate. But it is an especially urgent calculation for the 77-year-old Biden, who, if he wins, would be the oldest American president in history. The decision carries added weight amid the coronavirus pandemic, which, beyond its death toll, threatens to devastate the world economy and define a prospective Biden administration.

Were still going to be in crisis or recovery, and you want a vice president who can manage that, said Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist who worked for Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign. This seems like a much more important decision than usual.

Biden faces pressure on multiple fronts. He must consider the demands of his racially, ethnically and ideologically diverse party, especially the black women who propelled his nomination. He must balance those concerns with his stated desire for a simpatico partner who is ready to be president on a moments notice.

The campaigns general counsel, Dana Remus, and former White House counsel, Bob Bauer, are gathering information about prospects. Democrats close to several presumed contenders say they have not yet been contacted.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, right foreground, signing a gun control measure in February 2020. [File: Morgan Lee/AP Photo]

Biden has offered plenty of hints. He has said he can easily name 12 to 15 women who meet his criteria, but would likely seriously consider anywhere from six to 11 candidates. He has given no indication of whether he will look to the US Senate, where he spent six terms, to governors or elsewhere.

Some Biden advisers said the campaign has heard from many Democrats who want a woman of colour. Black women helped rescue Bidens campaign after an embarrassing start in predominately white Iowa and New Hampshire. Yet there is no firm agreement that Biden must go that route.

The best thing you can do for all segments of the population is to win, said Bidens campaign cochairman Cedric Richmond, a Louisiana congressman and former Congressional Black Caucus chairman. He has shown a commitment to diversity from the beginning. But this has to be based on, like the VP says, who he trusts.

Biden has regularly praised California Senator Kamala Harris, a former rival who endorsed him in March and campaigned for him. When she introduced him at a fundraiser this week, Biden did little to tamp down speculation about her prospects.

Im coming for you, kid, he said.

Stacey Abrams, a Georgia state legislator who became the first black woman to win a major party gubernatorial nomination in US history, applauds a dignitary at the University of New England in Portland, Maine [File: Robert F Bukaty/AP Photo]

He has also spoken positively of Stacey Abrams, who narrowly missed becoming the first African American female governor in US history when she lost the 2018 Georgia governors race.

Yet those two women highlight Bidens tightrope. At 55, Harris is talented and popular with Democratic donors, a valuable commodity for a nominee with a fundraising weakness. But she is also a former prosecutor who faces the same scepticism among progressives as Biden. Meanwhile, her home state is already firmly in the Democratic column and could make her an easy target for Republicans eager to blast the party as too liberal.

Abrams, 46, is a star for many younger Democrats, a group Biden struggled to win over in the primary. And she could help turn Georgia into a genuine swing state. But the highest post shes ever held is minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, a possible vulnerability in a time of crisis.

Paul Maslin, a Democratic pollster based in the battleground state of Wisconsin, said it will be impossible for Biden to please everyone.

You can ask too much of a vice president pick to bridge everything  ideology, generational gap, gender, race, experience, he said. Theres going to be something wrong with every one of these choices.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is Democrats only nonwhite female governor. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has reportedly vouched for his states Latina senator, Catherine Cortez Masto. Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth is a veteran who lost limbs in combat. Shes of Thai heritage and has notably jousted with President Donald Trump. And Representative Val Demings, a black congresswoman from the swing state of Florida, helped lead the House impeachment efforts against Trump.

Yet all four women are relative unknowns nationally.

Biden could go beyond Washington, DC to Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, one of the three Great Lakes states that delivered Trump his Electoral College majority in 2016. She has won plaudits during the pandemic and meshes with Bidens pragmatic sensibilities, winning her post in 2018 with promises to fix the damn roads.

But it is not clear that a 48-year-old white woman from the Midwest brings Biden advantages he does not already have or cannot find elsewhere.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer stands on stage at an event in Hamtramck, Michigan [File: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images/AFP]

It is a similar conundrum for others, including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, a former rival who fits seamlessly with Bidens politics. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, meanwhile, could offer a bridge to progressives, but several Democrats said her age, 70, is a bigger liability than potential policy differences with Biden.

Several African American advocates and progressive leaders said the Democratic tickets policies and empathetic appeals are whats most important.

Black voters have to trust the messenger, said Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of Black PAC, and a black woman could stand up and have moral authority to lead on those big issues facing the country right now.

But she said that does not mean a white, Asian or Latina vice presidential nominee could not speak to the systemic issues, the structural issues that allow for inequalities to persist.
(Natural News) Farmers in Florida are seeing mounds of fresh produce rot in fields as the coronavirus outbreak wreaks havoc on supply chains. The closure of restaurants, schools and theme parks nationwide due to the coronavirus outbreak has left farmers scrambling to figure out how to sell their harvest.

Florida is Americas leader in harvesting tomatoes, green beans, peppers and cabbage at this time of year. However, only some of the crops reach grocery stores, most farmers cater solely to the food service market, supplying restaurants, schools, stadiums and theme parks  businesses that have been hit hard as cities and states have ordered people to stay at home and avoid contact with others.

According to Tony DiMare, a tomato grower who owns farms in South Florida and the Tampa Bay area, 80 percent of tomatoes grown in the state are meant for now-shuttered restaurants and theme parks.

Farmers unable to sell or even donate their produce

The farming industry is Floridas second-largest economic driver, yielding $155 billion in revenue and supporting about 2 million jobs. The loss has now created a domino effect through the industry as growers are unable to find new buyers for their crops.

This is a catastrophe, said Tony DiMare, a tomato grower who owns farms in South Florida and the Tampa Bay area. We havent even started to calculate it. Its going to be in the millions of dollars. Losses mount every day.

Trying to sell their unsold produce to grocery stores has proved difficult. Most large chains already have existing contracts with farmers who grow for retail, many of which are based outside the United States.

Some farmers have tried donating their produce to food banks. However, theres a limit on how much charities can accept as storage is an issue for perishable fruits and vegetables. DiMare pointed out that some Central Florida food banks are already full after shuttered theme parks donated massive amounts of produce.

We cant even give our product away, and were allowing imports to come in here, DiMare said.

Farmers in other states feeling the pain as well

Its not just Florida farmers whore having trouble selling surplus produce originally meant for foodservice buyers. On the West Coast, farmers who grow lettuce and other leafy greens are also feeling the pinch.

The tail end of the winter vegetable season in Yuma, Arizona, was devastating for farmers who rely on food service buyers, stated Cory Lunde, spokesman for Western Growers, a group representing family farmers in California, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. And now, as the production shifts back to Salinas, California, there are many farmers who have crops in the ground that will be left unharvested.

Lunde stated that a spike in demand for produce at the beginning of the outbreak has now subsided.

People are staying home and not visiting the grocery stores as often, explained Lunde. So the dominoes are continuing to fall.

Matching supply with demand is the problem

Producers and agriculture officials have acknowledged that supply itself is not the problem. The issue, according to them, is matching the existing surplus supply with demand and getting it to where its needed the most. (Related: China now facing its own food crisis is a food collapse also coming soon to the USA?)

All over the country, many farmers are now looking for alternative means to get their produce to peoples tables. Were using this as an opportunity to encourage collaboration and farmers working together to try to fill the gaps in this disruption, said Evan Wiig, membership director at the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. Wiigs organization is currently working to pair farms that previously sold direct to restaurants and schools with already established delivery logistics.

Its been kind of a mad rush to figure out supply and demand and who needs what, who has what, he explains. This is usually something that you do carefully over the course of an entire year. And here we are trying to do it in a matter of a week in order to prevent the closure of the farms, and also a lot of food waste.

Brian Greene, CEO of Houston Food Bank, agrees with these sentiments. He states that farmers and food banks are now sitting on a potential bonanza. The main problem is that the relationships and arrangements needed to get produce from farm to table usually take time to develop  something the farmers dont have with perishable produce just sitting out on the field.

The reality is what makes the food chain work normally is there are just tens of thousands of arrangements that have been developed over time in order to match supply and demand. Then you just suddenly break all that and youre trying to, with voluntary relationships, piece something together in a very short timeframe, Greene said. Theres going to be a lot of failure.

Sources include:

KomoNews.com

TheGuardian.com
Digital Postcards Social Media highlights the beauty of the island with thoughtful messages to keep the destination top of mind

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Tourism Bureau together with the St. Martin Tourism Office jointly launched a Digital Postcard Social Media campaign to bring positive awareness to the destination by showcasing inspiring photos of the island together with thoughtful messages, while encouraging persons to stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many are immobile and dependent on digital means to stay connected. Therefore, the Digital Postcard Social Media Campaign encourages everyone to reconnect with places and people by reminiscing on sunnier moments on the island, and by sharing those photos with the dedicated hashtag #MySXMPostcardMoment. Both tourism offices continue to echo the important message to Stay Home, but also want to remind and inspire persons of the endless beauty of the island during these unprecedented times where travel and personal encounters have been restricted.

By launching the Digital Postcard Social Media campaign, both tourism offices aim to stimulate the sharing of memorable moments by locals and past visitors alike by the use of the dedicated hashtag #MySXMPostcardMoment. A custom made Facebook frame was also created for this campaign for those that would like to highlight their memorable postcard moment as their Facebook profile picture. This campaign will be carried out on both tourism offices' official destination Facebook and Instagram pages under the usernames @DiscoverSaintMartin and @VacationStMaarten.

Anyone can participate in this campaign and share their postcard-worthy moments experienced on the island. In order to do so, one should first choose the desired photo that highlights a special moment, then upload the photo to Facebook and or Instagram using the dedicated #MySXMPostcardMoment hashtag. A selection of chosen photos will be highlighted on both tourism offices official destination Facebook and Instagram pages which are Discover Saint Martin and Vacation St. Maarten.

Across the globe, people are at home and as a result is on social media more than ever. People are actively seeking positive stories, and opportunities to share them. As a fun and interactive method of communicating, we are sharing digital postcards, from our dual-nation destination to encourage people to share the best places and moments they have experienced on the island. While we cannot physically visit these wonderful places, we can highlight beloved spots and activities to inspire visitors and locals alike. In times like this where we are called upon to stay home and reflect, we can post, and share digital postcards with our best photos and moments by adding #MySXMPostcardMoment to your post," said Aida Weinum, Director of Tourism, St Martin Tourist Office.

"We want to take people back to happier moments that were experienced on the island, and encourage them to share these moments on social media. Right now, we are all immobilized. Therefore, if we cannot go to our favorite local spots, we want to bring this to you at home by means of the digital postcards. This way we can spread positivity and reconnect people to the island, while also spreading the important message to stay home and stay safe. We want to remind our visitors that the destination and its untouched beauty will be waiting to welcome them again, and to keep us in mind for future travel plans. added May Ling Chun, Director of Tourism, St Maarten Tourism Bureau.

Both tourism offices will continue to collaborate on several projects to jointly achieve common goals. The Digital Postcard Social Media campaign will be one of many campaigns that will be launched together to ensure that the destination remains in the minds of travelers. Industry experts are predicting that people will certainly travel again due to the pent up demand accumulated by being immobile. Both tourism offices will continue to work together to ensure that marketing campaigns are ready to be launched to attract visitors to our shores once it has been deemed safe to travel again. For now, the tourism offices are encouraging everyone to stay home, stay safe and most importantly to keep the island at heart.
There could hardly have been a clearer expression of the deepening class divide. Yesterday the US Fed announced new financial stimulus measures of $2.3 trillion, as another 6.6 million American workers filed for unemployment benefits, bringing the total number to almost 17 million over the past four weeks.

As workers face ever-greater hardship and the real economy goes further into slump, the financial markets celebrated on the announcement that money is still going to be pumped out, including through the purchase by the Fed of high-yield corporate junk bonds.

And there could be even more to come with Fed chairman Jerome Powell declaring during a Brookings Institution webcast that the central bank would use its powers forcefully, proactively and aggressively.

In this Oct. 1, 2019, file photo people wait in line to inquire about job openings with Marshalls during a job fair at Dolphin Mall in Miami. On Friday, Dec. 6, the U.S. government issues the November jobs report. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

The S&P 500 index, which is already up 25 percent from its mid-March lows, rose by another 1.4 percent, with big banks and real estate companies enjoying the biggest increases.

Earlier this week the International Labour Organisation published an update on the impact of the pandemic and lockdown measures on the global labour force. Official statistics lag far behind the actual situation, such is the speed of the economic plunge, and so the ILO had to use changes in working hours to make some estimate of the state of the labour market.

Using this approach, it said the COVID-19 crisis is expected to wipe out 6.7 percent of total working hours globally in the second quarter of this yearequivalent to 195 million full-time workers.

It said the eventual increase in unemployment for 2020 would depend on economic developments and policy measures but there was a high risk that the end-of-year figure will be significantly higher than the initial ILO projection of 25 million.

Currently 81 percent of the global workforce of 3.3 billion are affected by the full or partial workplace closures.

Workers and businesses are facing catastrophe, in both developed and developing economies, said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.

The ILO found that 1.25 billion workers are employed in sectors of the economy identified as being at high risk of drastic and devastating increases in job losses, wage cuts and reductions in working hours.

Many are in low-paid, low-skilled jobs, where a sudden loss of income is devastating.

Emphasising the speed of the pandemic, the ILO noted that since its preliminary assessment on March 18 global COVID-19 infections had risen six-fold with an additional 47,600 people having lost their lives.

It said those still working, especially health workers, were most at risk together with workers in transport and essential public services.

Globally there are 136 million workers in human health and social work activities, including nurses, doctors and other health workers, workers in residential care facilities and social workers, as well as support workers, such as laundry and cleaning staff, who face serious risk of contracting COVID-19 in the workplace.

While the ILO did not make the point, those risks have elevated to unnecessarily high levels because of the decades of savage cuts to health and hospital services, leaving staff without necessary protective equipment. The resources of society have been siphoned to its upper echelons via the mechanisms of financialisation that have boosted the stock market.

There are around two billion people working informally, mainly in less developed economies, and tens of millions of them are now being directly affected by the pandemic. Informal workers, the report said, lack basic protection, are disadvantaged when it comes health care but are also involved in areas that not only carry a high risk of virus infection but are also impacted by lockdown measures.

The ILO is clearly of the view that there is not going to be some kind of snapback or V-shaped recovery when the immediate effects of the pandemic pass.

Characterising the outlook as highly uncertain, it said the rapid and far-reaching developments that had already taken place bring us into uncharted territory in terms of assessing labour market impacts and in forecasting the severity of the shock.

Economic organisations and institutions around the world are offering forecasts but none of them has an accurate gauge either of the depth of the slump or its duration.

Speaking ahead of its spring meeting next week, International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva said; We anticipate the worst economic fallout since the Great Depression.

The IMF releases its economic forecast next Tuesday which Georgieva said would show how quickly the coronavirus had turned the year into one of deep downturn. There was no doubt 2020 would be an exceptionally difficult year.

The IMF head warned that low-income countries in Africa, Latin America and in Asia were at high risk.

With weak health systems to begin with, many face the dreadful challenge of fighting the virus in densely populated cities and poverty-stricken slums, she said.

The problems confronting these countries are being intensified by the operations of the global financial system. Right at the point where additional resources are needed, money is being withdrawn at a record pace, putting pressure on currencies and government budgets.

Over the two months, according to Georgieva, capital outflows from emerging economies have totalled more than $100 billion. This is more than three times the outflows at the start of the global financial crisis. The IMF has received calls for emergency assistance from more than 90 countries so far.

The dire economic situation in Europe was reflected in two forecasts published on Wednesday

One of Germanys major economic forecasting bodies warned that the economy would contract by 10 percent in the second quarter, double the size of the biggest quarterly drop during the global financial crisis.

The Banque de France has warned that the lockdowns aimed at trying to contain the spread of the virus are slicing 1.5 percentage points from the French growth rate for every two weeks they continue.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said an index designed to identify turning points in the economic cycle showed its biggest drop on record in March. But worse may be to come. The OECD said its latest index only reflected the current situation, not how long or how severe the contraction would be.
A worker in Arizona makes masks. (Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)

The text messages and emails come in the middle of the night from strangers claiming to be middlemen and manufacturers. Deals are cut quickly; millions of dollars are wired overseas. Sometimes the supplies arrive; other times, the too-good-to-be-true offers prove to be just that.

When President Trump told governors last month that the federal government was "not a shipping clerk," he left states and local governments to fend for themselves in a global market for protective gear in which sellers have all the power, and confusion and chaos dominate.

In interviews, state and local officials around the country depicted a market that even the most seasoned say has astonished them by its logistical challenges, lack of transparency, and potential for fraud.

Prices of surgical gowns, gloves and N95 masks have skyrocketed. The masks, which used to sell for between 50 cents and a dollar apiece, are now on offer for $5 or $6, officials said.

Government employees have been told that if they don't pay 50% of the cost upfront, and the rest before the shipment has even arrived, they will lose deals to other bidders. Fearful of having orders seized by the federal government, desperate city and state officials have called members of Congress and other elected officials to ask them to sweet-talk U.S. customs officials.

The experience has been an emotional roller coaster for state and city officials. Working on the scantest of information and often with brand-new suppliers, they have had to disregard longstanding rules in order to act quickly. Too much hemming and hawing, and they could wind up with nothing to show for their efforts.

But without careful investigation, they might buy defective equipment, endangering hospital workers, police officers and paramedics.

"It has been crazy," Illinois Assistant Comptroller Ellen Andres said.

Late last month, working through a broker, officials in her state thought they had secured 1.5 million N95 respirator masks, only to learn that they would lose the first shipment to another bidder if they didn't pay within 24 hours. With a check for $3.5 million in hand, Andres sped north in her car from Springfield, Ill., to meet the broker at a McDonald's parking lot. She completed the transaction with little time to spare.

Story continues

"By doing things this way, we are driving up costs for taxpayers," Andres said. "We have lost ventilators, at the last minute, to the state of New York. And I know that Illinois has probably swooped in on some other states. It's not the way to do this."

One of the many hurdles states face is the emergence of middlemen and brokers who hold themselves out as specialists in connecting American buyers to foreign manufacturers. Some are legitimate actors working around the clock to track down supplies; other are opportunists cashing in on a global pandemic.

The task of telling them apart has fallen to hundreds of government procurement employees who are trained to take their time and typically have little experience navigating China's manufacturing industry.

To protect themselves from fraud, some states and cities have refused to work with sellers they don't know or those who demand payment upfront. Others said they don't have that luxury.

In late March, when Nevada's governor realized the federal government was not coming to his aid, he assembled a public-private task force to scour the globe for masks, goggles and surgical gowns. Headed by former MGM Resorts Chief Executive Jim Murren, the COVID-19 Response, Relief and Recovery Task Force drew on the connections of the state's politicians, casino moguls and Nevada's largest electric utility, NV Energy.

Armed with health officials' wish list, the group has chased leads all over China, competing with larger states, hospital chains and, at one point, the second most populous country in the world  India.

"The market is completely opaque," said task force member Alex Dixon, who leads West Coast operations for PureStar, a major linen supplier to Vegas hotels.

"This is in many cases dealing with several middle people who then have another relationship who has a relationship with someone in China, who then has a relationship with an actual manufacturer," he said. "Whenever you get a lead, you're like, 'Hold on, who's the actual person producing this?'"

To avoid scams, the Nevada task force runs all purchase orders through state health officials and checks potential respirator shipments against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's list of counterfeit face masks. Dixon said the group encounters fake or unapproved personal protective equipment, known as PPE, every day.

Had the federal government taken charge, centralizing the entire process, the result might have been less chaotic, Dixon believes. Fewer competitors in the market would have meant fewer transactions and less room for error.

"All of us on the task force want to be engaged and involved. It's meaningful work. It's great," he said. "But at some point you kind of shake your head and say, 'There's a better way to do this.'"

Governors nationwide have asked Vice President Mike Pence, who is heading the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak, to put the Federal Emergency Management Agency in charge of buying protective gear and distributing it. They have argued that having only one customer on the market would eliminate bidding wars between states and local governments.

"The vice president made it clear in a very nice way that that's not going to happen," said Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly.

In an interview with The Times, Kelly said the administration's management of the outbreak has hurt states where hospitalizations and deaths are relatively low compared with hot spots like New York and New Jersey, but where essential employees need masks and gloves in order to work.

"Weve been hit less hard, but that doesn't mean we have people here who dont matter," she said.

Some governments and hospitals have hired lawyers and consultants to help them vet suppliers.

Hartford HealthCare, a network of seven hospitals in Connecticut, is working with Dan Harris, an attorney who specializes in doing business with China, to help verify potential brokers. Since the pandemic unfolded, Harris said his inbox has been flooded with dubious would-be brokers and middlemen looking to offload supplies.

Harris said he suspects that the rising cost of medical supplies is mostly a result of price gouging and profiteering, not an increased cost of doing business. Prices are expected to continue to increase following new export protocols enacted by the Chinese government this month, which will likely limit the number of companies cleared to send medical goods to the U.S.

"Every hospital is dealing with this on their own, there's really no coordinated effort to weed out these bad actors," said Dan C. Pak, the network's vice president overseeing procurement, who has been calling Chinese factories to vet his orders with middlemen. "We are literally at the mercy of these brokers."

Wholesale prices of medical supplies have increased across the board. But state and city officials said they have encountered the most exorbitant price hikes in the market for N95 face masks, which are considered the most protective for medical workers.

Once supplies are found and checks cut, officials said they still can't be sure the goods will arrive. Some vendors diligently update states and cities at each point in the process; others have left officials in the dark.

Unable to keep up with ever-increasing demand, some manufacturers have shipped orders that are only partially complete and promised to send the rest in coming days or weeks.

"A vendor might tell you that you'll get the shipment on April 9th, and then on April the 6th they call and say, 'Well, we had a little problem.' Or, 'The federal government took over your order,'" Phoenix Assistant City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. said.

Amid all the uncertainty, the city's procurement employees spend every day trying to run down leads on supplies, execute orders and verify that the shipments have reached the city's warehouse. They demand to see suppliers' tax identification numbers and call around to other cities and states to check on vendors' reputations.

Even then, Dohoney said, they can never be absolutely certain that what they paid for is what they'll get. Phoenix recently ordered a shipment of N95 masks that, on arrival, turned out to be of lesser quality, he said.

"I was just told that weve gotten some product, and it wasn't at the standard we thought it was going to be," he said. "You just don't know what's going to happen."

Have a tip or story idea about states, cities and hospitals competing to purchase medical supplies? Message us at https://www.latimes.com/tips/
The Indian market has fallen about 30 percent from highs which has created an opportunity for long-term investors to put money to work at much cheaper valuations.

Not many of us had the courage to invest when Nifty50 hit a low of 7,500 in March. But, some fund managers who Moneycontrol spoke to, cumulatively managing about Rs 2,400 crore (Asset under Management), bought selected stocks amid market mayhem.

Warren Buffett once said that investors should buy the fear. It is easier said than done, but not impossible especially for those who follow a disciplined way of investing.

We dont have the luxury of buying the dips in meaningful money though we are deploying whatever new flows we have been getting on a daily basis. Also, we run a dynamic fund where we have increased the equity allocation level drastically looking at the attractive valuations of the markets, Aditya Khemani, Fund Manager, Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company, who manages an AUM of over Rs 1,600 cr, told Moneycontrol.

COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine  one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show

We believe that when an investor has given us money, he has already taken that call of putting that money into equity and our job is stock selection and portfolio construction rather than asset allocation, he said.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has shaken every industry not just in India, but across the globe. Not just the industry but most of the portfolios which investors would have made in lets say 3-4 years might have turned negative.

Rules of value investing suggest that investors create wealth if they buy a stock below intrinsic value and sell at a higher price. But, is this possible always? Well, maybe not.

But, black swan events  like the one which the world is facing now has pushed many bluechip companies below their intrinsic value which makes them a good buy at current levels.

Even though many companies are available cheap when it comes to valuations, but investors should do their own analysis on the extent of damage that they have to bear post the lockdown as the world is most likely to head into a long recession.

Given the current level of uncertainty in the markets on account of the coronavirus, it definitely requires a cautious approach, but yes, at the same time, many of the quality stocks have corrected by more than 30%, so buying on dips can be a valuable strategy provided one decides to buy in tranches, that is, in blocks rather than going out all at once, Aamar Deo Singh, Head Advisory, Angel Broking Ltd told Moneycontrol.

Averaging quality stocks is a good way to generate above-average returns over a long-term period. Also, one needs to be mentally prepared in case of any negative news impacts the market, as the volatility is still at elevated levels, clearly indicated by the India VIX, suggesting that fear is still the dominant of emotions running the market at present, he said.

What should be the strategy?

The strategy of investors is to buy right and sit tight. Well, that might sound simple but it is difficult to implement amid fear and uncertainty.

No analysis is good enough to predict a bottom and top in any trending market. All investors could do is to deploy a staggered approach when it comes to investing.

At Ambit AMC we always believe in buying quality businesses. Its these steep corrections which provide long term investors with an opportunity to build a quality portfolio, Manish Jain, Fund Manager, Coffee Can PMS at Ambit AMC who manages about Rs 300 cr told Moneycontrol.

So the approach remains largely unchanged except that many businesses which were otherwise proving to be expensive are now much more affordable, he said.

The process of economic recovery will be slow but the markets would discount everything well in advance. Much of the selling which we saw was largely on the back of foreign investors.

In the first three weeks of March, consistent redemptions were seen in emerging market ETFs and India being part of the emerging market basket witnessed the collateral damage.

The relentless selling pressure in some of the bluechip names pushed them to multi-year lows even though the fundamentals of the company have not changed much. But, the post-COVID-19 world will be different, and many companies will find it hard to recoup from the damage. Identifying those companies would be the key.

Our strategy right now is to question each and every existing portfolio company of ours and do a sensitivity analysis to ascertain which all companies will see large damage to their return ratios and will have pressure on their cash flows and exiting from those companies, Shailendra Kumar, CIO, Narnolia Financial Advisors who manages about Rs 500 cr told Moneycontrol.

At the same time some of the great quality companies of India that we had not bought in the past due to high valuation and if today we are finding that their greatness will sustain in the post-corona world, we are deploying our money there, he said.

The investment approach should always be bottoms-up and therefore what happens to Sensex, and Nifty should not be given any importance, suggest experts.

Investors should deploy cash when there is surplus, and when stocks are trading at fair values. The near term challenges usually offer opportunities to invest in a high-quality business with a higher-than-usual margin of safety, they say.

We believe that currently there are a number of ideas that are attractively priced relative to their long term prospects and quality of business. Indeed the near term will be challenging, especially since it is difficult to ascertain the extent of damage that earnings will face, Tejas Gutka, Head Portfolio Management Services, Tata Asset Management told Moneycontrol.

We have started selective and gradual deployment of the capital of our clients. We are largely deploying the capital of clients that were under-invested due to the higher valuations prevailing until a few months back. One can't ascertain clearly how further can markets fall, and therefore we are deploying capital gradually rather than all at once, he said.

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
A stall with security elements is seen in the street market, during a preventive quarantine after the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Santiago

By Fabian Cambero and Daina Beth Solomon

SANTIAGO/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - In the usually bustling streets of the downtown Santiago this week, Chilean great-grandmother Luz Maria Rios was ignoring a coronavirus quarantine and risking her health to sell Easter eggs.

For hours, she saw no customers. "I'll sell what God wants," the 76-year-old said with a shrug, gazing down the almost empty pavement.

It is a scene repeated across Latin America where street vendors defy widespread quarantines to try to eke out a living in almost empty cityscapes.

The pandemic, which has tallied more than 1.5 million infections globally and more than 89,000 deaths, is entering its second month ravaging Latin America, claiming more than 1,300 lives in Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Chile alone.

More than half of those employed in Latin America work informally, according to the International Labour Organisation.

Now, with their customer base suddenly shrunk, the returns for informal sellers are diminishing too. They have few or none of the safety nets that those working in the formal sector can fall back on.

Among them is Matias Maximo, 24, who has sold roasted yams and bananas on the streets of Mexico City for the past three years, with an income of up to 600 pesos ($ 25) per day.

Now, he told Reuters, those earnings have been halved, and he is terrified of getting sick because it would mean he couldn't make even that.

"If I don't go out, how am I going to get to eat?" said the 24-year-old, whose five brothers are also peddlers.

More than half of Mexico's active population is employed in the informal sector, according to the statistics agency INEGI, generating 22.5% of its 2018 gross domestic product.

Government support is patchy. The leader of an association of 5,000 street vendors in Mexico Citys historic center said that it would provide a 6,000 peso ($250) grant to vendors to encourage them to stay home.

In these times, we cant leave them alone, said Alejandra Barrios, head of the Legitimate Civic Trade Association.

Story continues

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) estimates a contraction of 1.8% in the region's GDP, which would push up unemployment by 10 percentage points.

The ILO said the current crisis was laying bare the risks of a shift from employment to self-employment.

"The increase in growth in the informal sector versus a reduction in salaried private sector employment is a sign of how precarious employment is becoming in Latin America," it said in a report released in February.

EMPTY REFRIGERATOR

Adela Charco, a 61-year-old woman, lives in the sandy shantytown of Villa El Salvador in Lima. She told Reuters last week she was abiding by the quarantine and instead trying to find customers whose shoes she could mend at home.

"Previously I had tuberculosis and now I am afraid to go out in case it makes my health worse. I don't know what to do ... my situation is quite critical," she said.

In Peru, many poor families do not receive government aid because of significant red tape and a lack of proper documentation.

In Chile, the government announced the creation this week of a $2 billion fund to mainly support the informal workers who do not have access to unemployment insurance and as such fell through the cracks of previously announced measures. The requirements for receiving the benefit are not yet clear.

This week, street sellers were among more than 500 people rounded up in police and military sweeps for violating strict quarantines in the Chilean metropolitan region.

Mary Estela Mamani, a single mother and taxi driver in the Bolivian capital La Paz, has gone for weeks without a fare. She said people were simply trying to survive.

"As a mother it is painful because you open your refrigerator and you see it empty," she said.

"Many women have several children and been abandoned by their partners. I wonder how will they manage if I am suffering from hunger, and how bad is this going to get?"

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero, Daina Beth Solomon, Marco Aquino, Santiago Limachi and Monica Machicao; writing by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
(CNN)  Coronavirus lockdowns across the globe should not be completely lifted until a vaccine for the disease is found, according to a study based on China's outbreak published in medical journal The Lancet.

China's draconian restrictions on daily life appear to have halted the first wave of Covid-19 across much of the country, but the researchers used mathematical modeling to show that premature lifting of measures could result in a sweeping second wave of infection.

Authorities ended the 76-day lockdown of Wuhan in Hubei province on Wednesday, as the city at the original epicenter of the coronavirus crisis emerges from the deadly outbreak that is now raging across the globe. Some restrictions will remain in place, however, with officials conscious of the risk as trains and tourist sites were packed across the country.

"While these control measures appear to have reduced the number of infections to very low levels, without herd immunity against Covid-19, cases could easily resurge as businesses, factory operations, and schools gradually resume and increase social mixing, particularly given the increasing risk of imported cases from overseas as Covid-19 continues to spread globally," said Professor Joseph T Wu from the University of Hong Kong, who co-led the research, in a Wednesday news release.

He cautioned that the speed of infection would rise unless governments ensured restrictions were lifted slowly and transmission was closely monitored.

"Although control policies such as physical distancing and behavioral change are likely to be maintained for some time, proactively striking a balance between resuming economic activities and keeping the reproductive number below one is likely to be the best strategy until effective vaccines become widely available."

The research could be critical as countries across the world -- some which have only had lockdowns in place for a few weeks -- consider how best to ease restrictions to get their economies moving again. Getting it wrong could lead to further outbreaks and new restrictions, the study found, and could be catastrophic for health services and economies.

Austria on Monday said it would gradually begin to reopen shops after Easter, one of several European countries preparing to loosen restrictions. In Germany, a group of economists, lawyers and medical experts are recommending a gradual revival of Europe's biggest economy that would allow specific industries and workers to resume their activities while steps are taken to prevent a resurgence of coronavirus.

A dozen academics wrote in that report, which was published last week by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, that they do not expect a vaccine or effective treatment for the coronavirus to be available before 2021.

The UK government is reviewing its lockdown almost three weeks after it started, but London Mayor Sadiq Khan said yesterday that it was "nowhere near" easing restrictions with the expected peak more than a week away.

British economics researchers have suggested that the 4.2 million young people aged 20-30 who do not live with their parents should be allowed to return to work first.

Andrew J. Oswald and Nattavudh Powdthavee, from Warwick University, said in a briefing paper that the idea would help ease the "severe damage" that is being done to the country's economy.

"Unless a vaccine is discovered quickly, it is unlikely that there will be any riskless or painless course of action," the paper states.

"Epidemiological and economic trade-offs will instead have to be faced. The choices at that juncture are likely to be difficult ones for politicians and citizens.

They said the idea "would help to restart prosperity before an extraordinary recession takes hold; it would lead to other societal benefits; it would also create a reasonably small, but unfortunately not negligible, extra risk to health in the country."

The effects of lifting a lockdown too early could hit some areas harder than others. Further analysis in the Lancet report showed that the risk of death for those who tested positive for Covid-19 varied substantially in different parts of China, based on economic development and availability of health care resources.

The death rate in Hubei was 5.91%, almost six times higher than outside the province, where it was 0.98%, the study found.

"Even in the most prosperous and well-resourced megacities like Beijing and Shanghai, health care resources are finite, and services will struggle with a sudden increase in demand," senior author Professor Gabriel M Leung from the University of Hong Kong, said in the release accompanying the Lancet report. "Our findings highlight the importance of ensuring that local health-care systems have adequate staffing and resources to minimize Covid-related deaths."

Strict restrictions on the movement of people and goods were introduced across China on January 23 after the novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan in December, drastically affecting the economy as well as personal freedoms. These have since been progressively relaxed in some Chinese provinces, with factories and offices gradually reopening.

The analysis of four cities and 10 provinces outside Hubei states that measures should be lifted gradually or the number of cases will progressively rise over the relaxation period.

The estimates also suggest that once the burden of rising cases is elevated, simply tightening interventions again would not reduce the burden back to its original level. This would require extra effort, likely resulting in bigger health and economic effects.

"We are acutely aware that as economic activity increases across China in the coming weeks, local or imported infection could lead to a resurgence of transmission," co-lead author Dr. Kathy Leung from the University of Hong Kong, added in the release. "Real-time monitoring of the effect of increased mobility and social mixing on Covid-19 transmissibility could allow policymakers to fine tune control measures to interrupt transmission and minimize the impact of a possible second wave of infections."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Lockdowns shouldn't be fully lifted until coronavirus vaccine found, new study warns."
Maharashtra recorded more than 200 cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for a second consecutive day on Friday, with 210 new infections taking the states tally to 1,574. The state had reported 229 cases, highest in a single day, on Thursday.

The death toll, too, rose by 13 to 110 on Friday.

The number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra has recorded a 147.8% jump since April 4  a week  when there were 635 infections. Mumbai has also seen a spike of 167% (377 to 1,008) in the number of cases during the same period.

State health department officials attributed the rise in cases to more testing across the state, especially in Mumbai. We are not waiting for people to come forward we track contacts of infected persons and those in containment zones and test them. Private laboratories have been given permission to test too. The rise in figures is because there is more testing, said an official, who did not wish to be named.

Maharashtra, as per the health department data, has conducted 33,093 tests so far  the highest in India.

However, with the number of cases rising rapidly, the state government is mulling extending the lockdown in urban areas, while it may ease a few restrictions in rural areas, especially at locations where there are not many cases. A decision on this is expected on Saturday, after Prime Minister Narendra Modis video conference meeting with chief ministers of all states.

State health minister Rajesh Tope had earlier indicated that the situation would not come back to normal after the 21-day lockdown ends on April 14.

Senior Mantralaya officials, on condition of anonymity, said the government is looking at various options, including keeping Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad  the areas with most of cases  under lockdown, while relaxing restrictions in other parts of the state. However, movement of people between districts and curb on transportation is likely to continue, said the officials.

The government has also decided to use technology to carry out surveillance and sanitisation in Mumbai, which is the worst-hit in state. Tope said drones will be used by Mumbai Police for effective implementation of the lockdown in densely populated areas and by the civic body to spray disinfectants in Dharavi.

The number of cases in Mumbai is increasing and it is a cause of concern. However, the state government is implementing measures under the containment survey action plan, Tope said, in a statement, adding that the state would deploy State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) in densely populated areas and near containment zones. The rise in the number of cases in Mumbai is worrying. Therefore to reduce crowding in densely populated areas, SRPF will be deployed. A request has already been made to the home department. Reducing crowding in areas is crucial. The control room will monitor [crowding] through CCTVs, and drones will be used for surveillance in these areas. Drones will also be used to spray disinfectants by the BMC in Dharavi. We have also asked BMC to increase sanitisation in public toilets in Dharavi.

The minister also held a meeting with Union health minister Harsh Vardhan via video conferencing on Friday and sought quicker standardisation for personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, so that its manufacturing can begin. The state sought additional testing facilities in five cities  Nanded, Aurangabad, Jalna, Latur and Amravati.

Tope said the state has 3.25 lakh PPE kits, 8.25 lakh N95 masks, 2125 ventilators, but it needs more such equipment. Maharashtra has five to six manufacturers, but the standardisation has to come from the Centre. The chief minister has already written to Government of India seeking a timeframe to provide additional PPE, masks and ventilators, he said.

State health department officials said that chief minister Thackeray would take up the issue with the Prime Minister during the meeting on Saturday.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Health experts say the new coronavirus is mutating at a slower rate than several other respiratory viruses, particularly the the flu.

The virus has already mutated close to 10 times, leading many to fear that an even deadlier strain is around the corner.

However, scientists say that the mutations don't vary much from the virus that originated in Wuhan, China, nor are they more severe.

This means that once a vaccine is readily available, it would provide protection against both the original virus and mutations - and for several years.

Scroll down for video

The novel coronavirus (pictured) is an RNA virus, like the flu, which means it's prone to mutating unlike DNA viruses such as herpes

But the virus is mutating slowly, meaning strains that have hit Europe and the US are very similar the original virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Pictured: Medics intubate a gravely ill patient with COVID-19 symptoms at his home in Yonkers, New York, April 6

But the virus is mutating slowly, meaning strains that have hit Europe and the US are very similar the original virus that originated in Wuhan, China. Pictured: A pharmacy technologist prepares a coronavirus vaccine candidate for testing in Kansas City, Missouri, April 8

The new virus - also known as SARS-CoV-2 - is an RNA virus, which means it has RNA as its genetic material.

These viruses enter the cells through a receptor found on the surface, and then make hundreds of copies of themselves that can infect cells throughout the body.

RNA viruses, such as the flu, often mutate, unlike DNA viruses, which include herpes and chickenpox.

'In the world of RNA viruses, change is the norm,' Dr Mark Schleiss, a professor in the division of pediatric infectious diseases and immunology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, told Healthline.

The flu, for example, mutates every year, which is why researchers have to develop vaccines to protect us against the most prevalent strains.

And the novel coronavirus has mutated. Currently, at least eight strains are making their way around the world.

However, the virus has mutated very slowly, and its mutations are very similar to the original virus.

This means that the mutations that struck Europe and the US are not different from the virus that first appeared in Wuhan, nor are they more infectious or more fatal.

In the UK there have so far been 8,931 deaths due to the coronavirus and there have been over 65,000 confirmed cases.

Public Health England is currently reporting the deaths on a daily basis, today there were 980 new confirmed deaths.

The graphic above shows the rate of deaths in the UK across March and going into April

However the figure could actually be many more, as this is just the number of patients that have died in hospitals from the virus over the last 24 hours.

'The sequences of the original isolates from China are very close to those in viruses circulating in the US and the rest of the world,' Dr John Rose, a senior research scientist in the department of pathology at Yale Medicine, told Healthline.

This is very good news for vaccine trials that are underway in the US and in several countries across the globe.

Scheliss says that for the last 45 years, the MMR vaccine has been very effective in protecting against measles, mumps and rubella.

That's because those three viruses are RNA viruses and have hardly mutated from when the first immunization was developed.

Which is why Scheliss told Healthline he believes that once a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available, it will protect against most mutations.

Health experts also hope that over the next few years we'll have what is known as 'herd immunity'.

This occurs when the vast majority of a community - between 80 and 95 percent - becomes immune so that, if a disease is introduced, it is unable to spread.

Therefore, those who are unable to be vaccinated, including the ill, very young and very old, are protected.

And, even if antibodies against the virus wear off over the next few decade, experts say our bodies will still remember how to fight the infection.
And the Fed provided details on another previously untried Main Street lending program that could offer some relief to major American employers left out of other government initiatives. About 19,000 United States companies have between 500 and 10,000 employees, and they employ 30.3 million workers, Census Bureau data show. Many of those are too big to get small business loans, but too small to tap corporate debt markets.

Companies with up to 10,000 workers, or up to $2.5 billion in revenues, will be able to gain access to four-year loans through the program. Banks will originate the loans and retain a 5 percent share, but can sell the remainder  in total, up to $600 billion  to the Fed. The Treasury will provide $75 billion in backup to protect the central bank.

While companies seeking the loans must commit to make reasonable efforts to maintain payroll and retain workers, according to the announcement, the central bank has yet to strictly define what that means or how it will be enforced.

Though the borrowers must follow restrictions on compensation, stock repurchase and dividend restrictions set out in the recently passed congressional package, the Fed stopped short of applying limits on offshoring suggested in the law.

Principal and interest on those loans can be deferred for one year, but the borrowing is not forgivable, unlike the small business loans Congress authorized. The program design is still open to comment. The Fed gave no guidance on when it, or other new programs announced, would be up and running.

Help for state and city governments

Fed relief for states and cities had also been highly anticipated because Congress provided only limited aid to those governments in its recent legislation. The markets that local governments use to issue bonds and finance themselves have been in turmoil, which threatened to make it difficult for officials to fund operations just as revenues dried up and the need for cash skyrocketed.

The new program will buy up to $500 billion of short term notes  with maturities of up to two years  straight from U.S. states, counties with at least 2 million residents, and cities with a population of at least one million residents, according to the Fed release.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 23:52:40|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

SINGAPORE, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Singapore reported on Friday 198 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,108.

According to the Ministry of Health (MOH)'s daily update, an 86-year-old Singapore woman died from complications due to COVID-19 infection on April 9, the seventh death in the city state involving the deadly virus. The Singaporean was a resident at the Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home, which saw a cluster of 16 cases and the second such death from the cluster.

All of the 198 cases are locally transmitted cases. Of the total, 79 cases were linked to clusters at foreign worker dormitories and 48 were linked to non-dormitory clusters or other cases. The rest 71 cases are currently unlinked.

There are now 10 COVID-19 clusters in dormitories and there are also three cases in the healthcare sector, MOH said.

To date, a total of 492 cases have fully recovered from the infection and have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities.

Of the 875 cases who are still in hospital, most are stable or improving, while 32 are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

A total of 734 cases who are clinically well but still test positive for COVID-19 are isolated and cared for at community facilities.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Friday urged the Singaporeans to comply with the government's circuit breaker measures to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.

The more strictly Singaporeans observe the restrictions, the faster they will work, and the sooner the measures can be eased, Lee said.

He also called for elderly residents to stay at home and refrain from going out.

So far, the seven COVID-19 deaths in Singapore all involve elderly people.
Such a move bewildered foreign advisers and experts.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Taran has enacted the expiration of his predecessor Stepan Poltorak's March 2019 decree on army reform.

Read alsoU.S., Ukrainian defense ministers discuss strategic partnership by phone

"To recognize Ukrainian Defense Ministry Decree No. 141 dated March 29, 2019, on the transformation of the joint leadership of the defense and military command in the Armed Forces of Ukraine as no longer in effect since it has been implemented," according to a document signed by Taran on March 31, 2020, and posted on the ministry's website.

Ukraine's media outlet ZN.UA reported that such a decision had caused foreign advisers' and experts' bewilderment and was perceived ambiguously in the Defense Ministry itself.

The Reform Committee's ad hoc group says the full implementation of the said reform requires amendments to over 15 laws, as well as the adoption of over 20 government acts, which are still in the pipeline.
The single biggest expenditure item in the private health insurers financial accounts disappeared overnight and created a rather embarrassing boon for the sector. Shaun Gath, who headed the Private Health Insurance Administration Council until 2015 when its prudential regulatory role was handed to APRA, says private health insurance is experiencing the "perverse" effect of actually receiving a windfall from the changes. The longer term implications of the government response to coronavirus could be significant for the private health sector, says Grattan Institute health program director Stephen Duckett. Credit:Jessica Shapiro "All that work which would have been billed to the private health insurers is no longer going to come through, so they are going to end up with a big windfall because they have obviously set their premiums on the basis that there is going to be this usual level of demand on them and it's not going to exist," he says. Grattan Institute health program director Stephen Duckett, a strong advocate of private health insurance sector's death spiral theory, also sees a significant benefit for these insurers.

Private health insurers in the short term are doing very well indeed because their revenue is continuing and their costs have fallen through the floor because there is basically no elective procedures being done," Duckett says. The insurers themselves are not denying this. I think there will be an acceleration of the youth exodus ... in the longer term this is not good." Stephen Duckett, Grattan Institute When market leaders Medibank and NIB announced their premium delays and support package both insurers acknowledged the point. "We hope these initiatives go some way to relieve the stress and anxiety our customers are experiencing," said Medibank chief executive Craig Drummond last month when he announced a $50 million support package. "And we are committed to ensuring that our customers benefit from unforeseen financial gains in light of the Australian government's cancellation of non-urgent elective surgery in private hospitals to free up critical health resources."

And while their respective share prices have barely been dented by the shockwave that has hit the sharemarket over the last month, analysts agree this is not the time to be anything other than good corporate citizens. "Although we recognise private health insurers could oppose many of these customer assistance options, we believe it would be prudent to exercise a strong social conscience in such a heavily regulated industry in drastic need of its own regulatory reform," said Macquarie Equities analysts of the customer hardship options being offered. To give an idea of the potential windfall for the insurers though, Macquarie estimates that a fall in claims of just 20 per cent could create a net profit of $1.18 billion for Medibank as opposed to Macquarie's previous base case estimate of $385 million based on claims growing 4.1 per cent. Of course, it is not as simple as that, especially in the longer term.

Gath says the situation is so fluid it is hard to know how this will play out in terms of concerns people will drop their insurance, or how a sudden backlog of elective surgeries will impact on the insurer's financial health. I think they are both legitimate concerns, he says. Duckett says the economic question is the big issue. "As people lose employment theyre going to have to re-evaluate pretty carefully any expenditure and private health insurers are at risk of people dropping out of insurance because they dont have the same amount of income, he says. I think there will be an acceleration of the youth exodus, there might even be a dropping out of people in older age groups as well because they have lost their employment. In the longer term this is not good." A bigger problem could be the government which will soon need to desperately gouge back what cash it can to fill the ballooning deficit spend which is increasing by the week. A potential target, according to Duckett, is the middle-class welfare payments such as the healthcare rebate.

I think it would be one of the last ones they will attack, there are others that there will be way more money in but it's still an issue that is sitting there," he says. Loading But the effective nationalisation of private hospitals like those owned by Healthscope and Ramsay Health Care might also face some interesting repercussions from their shock merger with the public health system. How that plays out in terms of the private health sector as able to sell itself as something worth paying extra for is going to be an interesting question, says Gath. Duckett agrees, saying the issue could be significant if the government decides the public system is coping with the coronavirus and contracts out all remaining elective surgery to the private hospitals leading many to question why they are then paying for private health.
Delhi University has deferred theory and practical exams until further notice in view of the growing cases of coronavirus in the national capital and the countrywide lockdown

Delhi University has deferred theory and practical exams until further notice in view of the growing cases of coronavirus in the national capital and the countrywide lockdown.

In a notification on its official website, DU informed that examinations of the students of regular colleges, School of Open Learning and Non-Collegiate Women Education Board have been postponed and the various date sheets issued in this regard stands withdrawn."

Students are advised to keep checking the official website - www.exam.du.ac.in  at regular intervals. The university also said "examinations may be rescheduled at a short notice."

It had put out an official order last month on its website informing about extension of closure of the university till 14 April due to COVID-19 lockdown.

DU said that during the coronavirus lockdown period online teaching and learning processes would continue.

The order said the universitys website has details of VPN connection for students and teachers to access the resources available in the library from home.

Last week, a letter was sent to heads of various colleges affiliated to DU asking them to support students and staff with disability during the lockdown.

The university said students and staff with disability may require additional support in carrying out their educational activities.

DU had issued another notification on Thursday regarding counseling services being provided by designated group of faculty members. Any student, faculty member and non-teaching staff can avail this service through mail, WhatsApp or rele-consultation.
by Sara Talpos - Undark Magazine

At some point in late March, Roger Alvarez, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist at the University of Miami Health System, noticed that some of his patients with low oxygen levels continued to decline, even after being placed on ventilators. This gave him an idea: Rather than putting these patients directly on ventilators, what if they were treated with inhaled nitric oxide first? The gas increases blood flow by relaxing and widening blood vessels in the lungs, and it is regularly used to treat a number of conditions, including acute respiratory distress syndrome.

As it happened, Alvarez had been studying the efficacy of a new, purse-sized nitric oxide delivery device  I had the devices sitting in my research space, he recalled  so after securing a nod from the manufacturer and approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use the device on a single patient, he and his colleagues began designing a formal study of patient volunteers so they could have clear, unequivocal evidence that nitric oxide improved outcomes for coronavirus patients on ventilators.

Of course, to do this right  to really know that the gas was the crucial factor  one of his fellow doctors advised that they should exclude Covid-19 patients who were already using other experimental coronavirus therapies, including the anti-malarial and lupus drug hydroxychloroquine (brand name Plaquenil), and tocilizumab, a common arthritis medication.

But this, Alvarez already knew, would be a challenge. I very plainly told him, I agree with you from a science standpoint, Alvarez said, but I can tell you that if you did that right now in Miami, you would have no patients in your trial. Thats because the vast majority of patients ill enough to need ventilators were already taking one or both of these drugs.

Ultimately, the team decided that if they wanted to study inhaled nitric oxide, they would have to include these patients, even though it could muddy the results. And thats a problem that many researchers  particularly those mounting smaller studies aimed at exploring new Covid-19 treatments  might soon be facing.

Major hospitals across the country had long-ago adopted hydroxychloroquine as a first-line treatment for Covid-19 when, in more recent weeks, U.S. President Donald J. Trump began endorsing it  without hard evidence  as effective and safe. A small but influential French study  one that many critics say was poorly designed  has helped to further stoke hydroxychloroquine prescriptions. And all of this, some physicians who run clinical trials say, could complicate and delay efforts to scrutinize whether any new treatment is really helping, or even harming, Covid-19 patients.

The science has to be as good as possible, said Andre Kalil, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Nebraska, because thats the way that were going to find therapies and save lives.

Clinical trials of various Covid-19 treatments are, of course, ongoing  and the FDA has ramped up its capacity to approve new studies. But researchers are grappling with an overarching concern that with so much off-label, ad hoc, and informal experimentation underway in the battle to contain the pandemic, the baseline conditions needed for decisive studies of Covid-19 interventions are becoming more challenging to achieve. They also worry that if the public comes to believe that the evidence on hydroxychloroquine is settled, few patients will want to participate in clinical trials at all. Theyll just want the hydroxychloroquine  and there is already evidence that this is happening.

Alvarez says he gets it. If the [French] study can be interpreted in a good light and its the only one that can, then individual physicians all around the world are hanging onto that because we want to help, he said. Were scared of what were seeing. I think any physician would tell you that this is scary and were grasping at straws to help people.

And yet, he and other scientists say, all that grasping might actually be inhibiting the countrys ability to figure out the most effective ways to treat Covid-19.

In a recent editorial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Kalil harkened back to the 2014 Ebola outbreak, when high quality studies were slow to be implemented, and ultimately too late to identify an effective treatment. Kalil believes that the best time to start studying treatments is the moment its clear theres an outbreak of a new disease. The best day, he said, is going to be the earliest day.

In his editorial, Kalil stressed the need to prioritize randomized controlled trials. Widely considered the gold standard for scientific evidence, they are specifically designed to eliminate bias. In this kind of clinical trial, human participants are divided into two or more groups, one that receives the experimental treatment and one that doesnt  the latter being whats known as the control arm. The groups are assigned at random. Neither the participants nor the researchers get to decide which patients get assigned to which group.

Its also helpful to have a large group of people in the study. You have to do pretty substantially sized randomized trials to rapidly figure out: Does the treatment group do better than the control group? said Janet Woodcock, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA. Her center oversees clinical trials of prescription and over-the-counter drugs to be sure they are safe and effective. In response to the outbreak, her center created the Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program, which rapidly approves study protocols  in some cases, within 24 hours, says Woodcock.

In the United States, there are currently dozens of Covid-19 interventions now being investigated in FDA-approved clinical trials, according to clinicaltrials.gov. These include drugs, devices, vitamins, and behavioral approaches such as mindfulness. A study sponsored by Gilead Sciences aims to enroll 2,400 patients to evaluate a drug called remdesivir in patients with severe Covid-19, and another seeking 1,600 participants to evaluate remdesivir in patients with moderate Covid-19. And a study sponsored by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is looking to enroll 400 patients to evaluate another drug, called sarilumab, in hospitalized patients. Several trials are also testing hydroxychloroquine at various doses and disease stages.

At the same time, though, doctors in clinical practice  those in hospitals and clinics now brimming with suffering Covid-19 patients  are making decisions to try experimental drugs on the fly. Desperate clinicians all over the country are using drugs off-label because they dont have anything else, Woodcock said. They just have supportive care right now. So theyre trying all these things because people are deteriorating before their eyes.

That reflex, of course, is easy to understand  and some people would argue that its a noble imperative. But Woodcock noted the sobering downside: Its unlikely well learn anything from that experience.

Thats what many researchers developing more methodical investigations of Covid-19 treatments want to avoid. History is full of cases, noted Todd Rice, a critical care physician and clinical trialist at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, in which physician preferences for a certain therapy turned out to be ineffective  or even harmful  when rigorously tested. This is especially true in critical care, he wrote in an email message. For example, physicians used to treat trauma victims with medication to try and achieve near-normal blood pressure. And then we studied it, Rice said, and found out that lower blood pressures might be better in that scenario.

Of course, there is a natural impulse to want to do something in the face of potentially dire outcomes. But Vinay Prasad, a hematologist-oncologist affiliated with Oregon Health and Science University, said its not a give these drugs or do nothing scenario. Were already doing a lot of things. We are monitoring somebody's blood pressure. We're checking their temperature. If they look like they're not drinking enough, we're administrating fluids. We're getting Tylenol and Advil to make them feel more comfortable or to lower the temperature. If they have difficulty breathing, we check their oxygen, we give them oxygen, and we intubate them if necessary.

So then the question is, on top of all of that, he added, do you want to add a pill that you have no idea if it helps or hurts? If a physicians answer to that is What do you have to lose? Prasad suggested, they are doing it wrong. We have learned through decades of medicine that the answer is often you have as much to lose as you have to gain, he said, which is that the pill can worsen outcomes just as easily as it could help.

To be sure, the vast majority of physicians who currently prescribe hydroxychloroquine also support the need for data in the form of randomized controlled trials. I think its a false alternative of never prescribing it until we have a randomized controlled trial result, versus prescribing it to everybody, even those patients who may not even benefit from it, said Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert and a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. There is a place, he said, for judicious use of hydroxychloroquine in the absence of randomized controlled data." Such judicious use might include prescribing the drug only to those individuals in which the risk of side effects is likely to be outweighed by the risk of the disease. A hospitalized patient with Covid-19 and pneumonia and advanced age, for example, would be a potential candidate, Adalja said, because such a person would be at high risk for a poor outcome.

But when the data do become available, he added, that should influence prescribing behaviors.

Some physicians interviewed by Undark said they believe the risks of hydroxychloroquine are relatively low for many Covid-19 patients, and it helps that the medication has a track record of being well tolerated in the treatment of lupus and malaria. But there was disagreement on that point. Speaking about hydroxychloroquine and the related drug chloroquine, Kalil said, They are toxic to the heart, toxic to the liver, toxic to the bone marrow  and those are three essential organs to fight infections.

These drugs, he argued, should not be given outside a randomized controlled trial.

Some experts have expressed concerns about a concept known as clinical equipoise  a foundational ethical principle in the world of clinical trials. It dictates that, at the time of the trial, researchers should have no compelling evidence that either the group of patients receiving an experimental drug, or the group receiving a placebo, is better off. This is because it would be unethical to place patients in a study in which one group receives a treatment option that is already known to be inferior.

Prasad says that a lot of factors have converged to poison equipoise in the current hunt for effective treatments for Covid-19. President Trumps repeated endorsements have not helped, he said, nor has the French paper, which has since come under withering critique for its small sample size, poor design, and the hasty conclusions and endorsements of its author. The FDAs emergency authorization for the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine has been followed by a surge in demand for the drugs, and its widespread use in hospitals now swelling with Covid-19 patients.

The result of all this, Prasad and other critics say, is that many patients may be unwilling to try anything else  and far more disinclined to participate in a properly designed trial in which they just might be assigned a placebo. And according to at least one infectious disease doctor at a large medical center in the South, this is already happening. (In order to protect patient privacy, the doctor asked that her name and institution be withheld for this story.) According to the doctor, one patient was offered an opportunity to enroll in a randomized controlled trial of Gileads remdesivir  a novel antiviral that, while showing some promise against Ebola and other pathogens, has not been officially approved for any use. When the patient was told that he might receive a placebo alongside standard supportive care for Covid-19, he declined the trial in order to ensure that he would receive hydroxychloroquine.

The patient wanted what he referred to as Trumps drug, the physician said. Other doctors have also reported patients declining trials in order to receive hydroxychloroquine.

A further problem, Prasad said, is that as more and more Covid-19 patients are treated with hydroxychloroquine, the population of non-hydroxychloroquine patients available to participate in trials of other treatments, grows worryingly small. If you want to ask if remdesivir is beneficial, well now one third of people starting your study have already taken hydroxychloroquine, Prasad said.

In larger studies, these sorts of confounding factors might be able to wash out of the final data.

For smaller studies, Prasad said, it really makes it kind of challenging to interpret results.

There are, of course, any number of reasons why health professionals, in particular, are so widely using hydroxychloroquine in the absence of solid data. Rice notes that as the outbreak arrived in the U.S., physicians would have seen early reports that China, Hong Kong, and South Korea were all using both that drug and chloroquine. Other factors  cost, accessibility, few suspected side effects  have likely played a role as well. And theres also a very human tendency to practice medicine off of anecdotes  particularly when the disease has become severe for some portion of patients.

This has forced all of us to make decisions with flawed and limited data, wrote Michael Putman, a rheumatologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who has been a vocal critic of the early evidence base for hydroxychloroquine, in a text message. Medicine often suffers from a dont just stand there, do something bias, which is more pronounced in times of crisis. Nobody wants to be the doctor/hospital/government who didnt give it a try, and I think that is driving a lot of our decision-making.



Thoughts or questions on Covid-19?

See our full coverage, or email us at covid19@undark.org.

Soon after the FDA approval for single use of the nitic oxide device, Alvarez treated his first patient. That patient improved and was able to leave the hospital within a week. Now, in addition to getting his clinical trial started, Alvarez is caring for a second patient treated with the nitric oxide. This time around, things have been rockier. The patient is older, more complicated, Alvarez said. Initially, the patients oxygen levels improved a little bit, but then they dropped. And now, the patient is doing better again.

I really hope this works, he said, speaking about the therapy and his plans to test it in a clinical trial.

I have plenty of good reasons to think it will work, Alvarez added. But I genuinely dont know for sure."

Sara Talpos is a senior editor at Undark and a freelance writer whose recent work has been published in Science, Mosaic, and the Kenyon Reviews special issue on science writing.

This article was originally published on Undark. Read the original article.
System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048241a910)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482475ea8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048241a910)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482475ea8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f048248b1a8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482475ea8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0482475ea8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f0481b67a48)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0482475b78)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f0482475b78)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0
Medics and hospital workers tend to a COVID-19 patient outside the Montefiore Medical Center Moses Campus on April 07, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City.

"Payments being delivered this morning account for $26 billion of the initial $30 billion, delivering funds to hospitals and providers just two weeks after the President signed the CARES Act," said Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar in a tweet.

The money will help make up for lost revenue and increased costs health systems are facing due to the coronavirus response.

The Trump administration started sending out initial payments to hospitals and physicians Friday, marking the first tranche of $100 billion in relief funding for health systems and providers passed by Congress as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security act.

The government has contracted with UnitedHealth Group to help expedite this initial tranche of payments. Normally, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid contracts with several regional health insurers to pay the government's bills under the Medicare fee-for-service program. UnitedHealth Group said it will be donating all fees paid by the federal government for the administration of the relief fund program.

"We need the money fast," said Erin O'Malley, senior policy director for America's Essential Hospitals which represents non-profit health systems which cater to lower-income patients. "Several of our members just a few weeks ago had less than a few weeks of cash on hand and since March 27th we continue to hear that."

For the initial payments, hospitals and providers will be paid based on how much they were reimbursed under traditional Medicare Fee For service, or Medicare Part A and Part B contracts in 2019. That is a concern for hospitals which have a lower share of Medicare Part A patients.

"We're worried that by only looking at Medicare fee for service revenues, it could tilt the playing field against some of our members that have a disproportionate share of uninsured as well as Medicaid patients," said O'Malley.

It could similarly mean that health systems with a larger share of patients on private Medicare Advantage plans rather than traditional Medicare would also see lower funding.

"That means in areas of the country like southern Florida, like California and some others the providers in those areas will be disadvantaged, because their Medicare Advantage didn't count that towards their percentage of Medicare," said Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, which represents for profit health systems.

In its announcement, HHS acknowledged that some hospitals may see lower funding from this initial payment, but assured that the administration is "working rapidly on additional targeted distributions" for rural providers, and those that predominantly serve patients under Medicaid.

The administration has also said that it will use part of the $100 billion to reimburse hospitals for patients who are uninsured. But some hospital groups have argued that they will need more money if some of the emergency will be used to pay for the uninsured.

In Washington, Democrats held up a vote to extend funding for small business loans this week, in a push for additional hospital funding beyond the $100 billion in the CARES Act in the next wave of relief legislation.

"As we have said, the CARES Act was an important first step," said Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, adding that he supports "additional efforts by the Congress to make sure providers on the front line  hospitals, physicians and nurses--remain prioritized for federal assistance."

Correction: An earlier version of the story said the UnitedHealth Group would donate its fees to the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund. The Company says that it has not yet specified where it will donate the fees.
Have you exhausted your options to keep yourself occupied during these weeks of social distancing? Are you stressed and feel the need to hear a soft, calming voice? If so, you may want to check out a classic Emmy Award winning TV series that has recently regained popularity: The Joy of Painting, with beloved painter Bob Ross.

All 31 seasons are available, and the good news is, every episode is free. You can view Ross create art by going to the Bob Ross The Joy of Painting YouTube channel.

Each video runs about 30-minutes long, and there are 403 of them, to keep you busy for a while. Watch them chronologically, or choose your favorite episodes.

The Joy of Painting was a half-hour instructional television show which premiered January 11, 1983, on public television, and ended after 11 years on May 17, 1994. Ross taught techniques for landscape oil painting, completing a painting in each episode. He died a little more than a year later on July 4, 1995 in Orlando, Florida.

Ross is known for his artwork, which is mostly of wilderness, and his famous happy trees, as well as his ultra-soothing voice, encouraging those watching with his gentle reminder, you can do it.

READ MORE:

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Welcome to the CUInsight Minute, sixty seconds from our Publisher & CEO Lauren Culp with the top three of our favorite things from the week.

Mentioned this week:

*What not to do in a virtual meeting: turn yourself into a potato like this woman.

How to Elevate Your Presence in a Virtual Meeting

by JOEL SCHWARTZBERG, HBR

Even before the COVID-19 crisis started, 5.3% of Americans  more than 8.2 million people  worked from home, according to a 2018 U.S. Census report. And with the outbreak turning more office workers into work-from-home employees, video conferences are becoming more routine for a wide range of business purposes, from staff meetings to brainstorming sessions to major announcements. (read more)

Smart management with rapidly changing businesses practices

by JAY ISAACSON, CUNA MUTUAL GROUP

Credit unions have always operated as centers of community, committed to the people they serve. So, its no surprise that amidst a global pandemic, credit unions have jumped into action to support their members, employees and communities. (read more)

Taking care of staff during tough times

by LAUREN CULP, CUINSIGHT.COM

We know these are unparalleled and challenging times for so many. This video is the second in a three-part series of taking care during tough times. This week, Im joined by Rhonda Hotard, President & CEO of Louisiana FCU, Brian Schools, President & CEO of Chartway FCU, and Bill Cheney, President & CEO of SchoolsFirst FCU for a quick discussion on taking care of your staff. (read more)
The United States is ready to help Mexico reach its production cut quota as part of the tentative OPEC+ deal, Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday, while the global pact to reduce production was in a kind of Mexican standoff early on Friday as Mexico was still balking at the large cuts it is asked to make.

Lopez Obrador spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday and the United States agreed to cut 250,000 bpd for Mexico to help it reach the 400,000-bpd cut OPEC+ is asking of it, the Mexican president said at a news conference on Friday, noting that he had informed OPEC+ of this development.

OPEC delegates told Bloomberg, however, that they were not aware of details of a Trump-Lopez Obrador agreement about the U.S. helping Mexico to achieve the cuts.

On Thursday, during the OPEC+ video meeting, Mexico  part of the non-OPEC group of producers in the pact since 2017  disagreed with proposals that it should reduce its production by 400,000 bpd from its October 2018 baseline.

Mexico walked out of the OPEC+ talks yesterday, and its Energy Secretary Rocio Nahle tweeted later that Mexico offered to OPEC to cut its production by 100,000 bpd for the next two months, as part of its contribution to support oil prices. Mexico was offering to cut its oil production from 1.781 million bpd in March to 1.681 million bpd, Nahle said.

Apparently, OPEC+ was not pleased with Mexicos refusal to cut more and said in its official release about agreeing to 10 million bpd cuts that the deal is conditional on the consent of Mexico.

Even if the U.S. would really help Mexico reach the 400,000 bpd cut, its not clear yet how OPEC+ would see the total U.S. contribution to the deal during the G20 energy ministers meeting, ongoing at the time of this writing.

The U.S. has argued that its oil production decline is happening naturally as a result of the free market (and very low oil prices), but the heavyweights in the OPEC+ group, and most of all Russia, has signaled it would accept only voluntary production cuts as a contribution to the global deal.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Kannan Gopinathan, who quit last year citing growing intolerance, has said he rejected the governments directive to resume duties immediately because of the Covid-19 crisis.

Gopinathan resigned from the IAS eight months ago to protest what he said was growing intolerance and curtailment of freedom of speech. He tweeted that he had no plans to re-join government service.

Received a letter from the Govt, asking me to rejoin my duty. While I extend all my services in health, wealth and mind to the Govt in this fight against Covid-19 pandemic, it will be as a free and responsible citizen and not anymore as an IAS officer, he said in the tweet on Thursday.

There was no immediate reaction from the government on his remarks.

Talking to Hindustan Times from Maharashtra, where he is now settled, the former member of the 2012 batch of IAS said he had received a letter from the Union personnel ministry about resuming duties. He said he would formally respond to the latter in a couple of days.

Gopinathan said he is ready to serve the government and society, but not as an IAS officer.

I am engaged in some service right now. I would like to continue this. If the government wants, I can go to Dadra and Nagar Haveli and any other part of the country, but only as a volunteer. Quitting the IAS was a well thought out decision and I stick to it, the 33-year-old said.

The government is yet to accept his resignation, and Gopinathan said he has no idea why the letter was sent to him at this juncture. He said he believes the authorities may take some action against him under the Disaster Management Act.

I really suspect [that] asking me to return is not with a good intent. I am not worried at all. Now I am working with some NGOs in Maharashtra. I dont need the IAS tag to do some work. I am happy with my present freedom, he said.

After quitting the IAS, Gopinathan was active in some protests and got arrested in December while travelling to the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh.

During the 2018 floods, he came to Kerala to hand over a cheque from the Dadra and Nagar Haveli administration and left the place quietly. On leave, he discreetly worked for eight days in several relief camps, loading relief materials.

He left immediately after his batch-mate, then Ernakulam district collector YS Safarulla, recognised him. His service went viral on social media after he left Kerala. But he shunned all publicity and said he was only doing his job when his state was in distress.

Gopinathan hails from Eramalloor in Alappuzha district. As a union territory cadre officer, he was posted in Dadra and Nagar Haveli when he quit the IAS.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
U.S. President Donald Trump signs H.R. 748, the CARES Act in the Oval Office of the White House on March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC.

It gives small businesses access to forgivable loans to cover payroll or wages they pay themselves over the eight weeks following the signing date. Banks and alternative lenders are administering applications for this program. The loans, which have a maximum size of $10 million, have a maturity of two years and an interest rate of 1%.

Norris had to send in a paper version of his unemployment application on Wednesday, because the state's computer system was not ready to take his application. In the meantime, he was getting ready on Thursday to apply at the bank under the $349 billion Paycheck Protection Program , part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act . "I had some money set aside, but I have pretty much gone through it," says Norris.

Jesse Norris, 50, normally spends his time flying around the globe to do process auditing for aerospace industry clients at his one-man business, Norris Consulting. But since the COVID-19 crisis grounded him, the consultant from the Tampa area in Florida has grown increasingly worried. "I have clients canceling left and right," says Norris. "They are getting shut down."

"It is a first-come, first-serve loan and potentially grant if it is used to pay payroll and rent for up to eight weeks," noted Espinal. "I expect there to be the same amount of confusion. Major lenders, for example, are only assisting freelancers and small businesses that already have a business checking account with them. That will leave many freelancers out who only have a personal checking account. I encourage people to search for lenders that are willing to take new customers. They exist."

Rafael Espinal, executive director of the Freelancers Union, said he is encouraging freelancers to sign up for the Paycheck Protection Program today.

Although the program emphasizes keeping workers on payroll, it is open to solo entrepreneurs who pay themselves by distributions, too. Borrowers under the program must submit proof the money is used to cover their pay, such as payroll processor records, payroll tax filings, Form 1099-MISC, income and expenses from a sole proprietorship or bank records, under Small Business Administration rules.

How well programs in the CARES Act deliver aid to one person will be critical to the economy. The total number of small businesses in the U.S. is just under 30 million, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. The vast majority of these firms  25.7 million  are "nonemployer" firms with no W-2 employees, mostly one-person businesses, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2017, the most recent year available. Many of these businesses don't have much in the way of cash reserves. Their average annual revenue is $47,978.

Many freelancers and self-employed workers are finding that the assistance they were counting on, such as enhanced unemployment assistance under a part of the CARES Act called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, hasn't arrived yet, as government programs have gotten mired in bottlenecks  and these entrepreneurs are becoming increasingly desperate. The enhanced unemployment assistance offers people who qualify $600 in unemployment per week for four months, on top of whatever unemployment their state's program provides.

"The process has been a disaster," says Espinal. "Specifically with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, there has been very little guidance from the federal government on how states should administer the funds, and little guidance from states on how freelancers should apply for unemployment insurance. Freelancers are also struggling to get through the web portals and hotlines to apply because of the high traffic and demand."

In theory, the programs could offer them significant help. But many advocates for the self-employed fear that bureaucracy will slow the delivery of funds to vulnerable businesses to the point it will come too late.

Saying that the CARES Act left the smallest, most vulnerable businesses at the back of the line for assistance, the Opportunity Fund, a San Jose-based community development financial institution just launched the $50 million Small Business Relief Fund to raise money for small businesses affected by COVID-19, with Wells Fargo as the inaugural founder.

A guidance on how the PPP loans will work for sole proprietors and the self-employed is expected Friday. Luz Urrutia, CEO of the Opportunity Fund, said she is concerned that money for smaller businesses may run out. "Some of the money needs to be set aside for businesses with fewer than 25 employees," says Urrutia.

Meanwhile, the self-employed have had to rely on their personal resources. Gene Zaino, chairman of MBO Partners, a provider of back-office services to independent workers that studies the freelance economy, said he had not heard of anyone who had received another component of the CARES Act, a $10,000 advance under the Economy Injury Disaster Loan program.

More from Invest in You:

Debt piling up during the coronavirus outbreak? Here's how to manage it

The No. 1 personal finance lesson to take away from the coronavirus

Here's exactly what you need to do if you lose your job

"I know of a couple of people who already got their unemployment, but not the $600  just the basic unemployment," says Zaino.

The pain is very real for solo entrepreneurs whose businesses have been shuttered because of shelter-in-place rules and can't take in any income.

Jeff Irons, 47, a captain at The Schooner Academy, a business in Honolulu where he teaches sailing, said he was on track to bring in a six-figure revenue this year. He applied for the EIDL loan advance on March 31 and so far has not received any help from the government. With a wife and two-year-old son, he said he just applied for food stamps. "There was shame associated with it, but I'm going to do whatever I have to do for my family," he said.

SIGN UP: Money 101 is an 8-week learning course to financial freedom, delivered weekly to your inbox.

CHECK OUT: How to get your coronavirus stimulus check ASAP, according to tax experts via Grow with Acorns+CNBC.

Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns.

This story will be updated as revisions are made to the Payroll Protection Program.
A lightning strike is thought to have caused a gas line explosion that forced the evacuation of several homes Thursday evening in East Bexar County.

Bexar County Fire Marshals Office investigators believe lightning struck a line attached to a propane tank at about 6:30 p.m. at 13857 U.S. 87 E.

Monica Ramos, a Bexar County spokeswoman, said the tank is between two homes that are acres apart from one another.

No one was injured, and there was no damage to either of the homes.

Upon receiving reports of the gas explosion, Ramos said area first responders were expecting a geyser of flames from the site.

Despite leaving a large hole in the ground, there was no fire.

Ramos said investigators described the outcome as remarkable.

The Fire Marshals Office is going to come back and investigate when its daylight, and see what else they can find, she said.

The rupture is near the Wilson County line. Cross Country Gas Company has since shut down their gas lines which run through the area, officials said.

The company is monitoring air quality throughout the night, she said.

Several other utility companies that have lines running through the area are checking their equipment.

Once theyve done that ... theyll let residents come back, Ramos said.

Authorities issued a reverse 911 call to 218 homes in the area. About 100 residents decided they needed to evacuate to a nearby fire station, officials said.

A lot of residents decided to stay with other relatives and neighbors, Ramos said. They are OK

Jacob Beltran is a reporter covering San Antonio and Bexar County. To read more from Jacob, become a subscriber. jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA
Spaniards might be witnessing the advent of COVID-19's decline after new reported infections and fatalities decreased, following a two-day surge.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday had a hopeful tone before the national parliament appealing for an endorsement of a second two-week prolonging of Spain's emergency lockdown.

Spain had its third consecutive daily decline in the number of fatalities from the novel coronavirus outbreak as the nation recorded 674 fatalities on Sunday, April 5.

According to the health ministry, the total deaths now stand at 12,418, the highest in the world following Italy, since the coronavirus was detected in China in December.

Sanchez said the country is nearing the beginning of a decline of the pandemic.

The prime minister told the parliament that "the fire has started to come under control" before the vote on the extension of a state of emergency until April 26. Spain has recorded a total of 130,759 confirmed cases.

Spanish officials have recently suggested it is impending that the nation is about to reach a peak of newly infected cases, but the country is still braced for a peak in future deaths.

The pressures on hospital ICUs in Spain may have eased in the past days as new coronavirus cases decreased. However, the emotional and psychological toll the outbreak as taken on the healthcare workers is only starting to emerge.

According to a private survey, Spain's services industry registered "unprecedented contractions" in activity prior to rigid lockdown measures that took effect to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Also read: Four Teens Attack Elderly Asian Woman on a Bus, Suspecting She Has COVID-19

Paul Smith, economics director at IHS Markit, said, "The March survey laid bare the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated effort to contain the outbreak, with services companies registering unprecedented falls in activity, new work and confidence."

Spain registered Monday that the number of infected cases in the country had reached 135,302, up from 130,759 the previous day.

They reported 637 fatalities on Monday, down from 674 the previous day, and continuing a downwards streak after a peak of 950 registered on Thursday.

According to health officials, 5,756 new cases were confirmed with 683 new deaths over the latest 24-hour period. This is compared with 6,180 infected cases and 757 deaths on Wednesday.

It has taken about 21 days for indications that show the country's death rates and rates of new infection slowing down.

Having undergone lockdown on March 14, Spain recorded a three-day decline in deaths from the coronavirus on April 3. Fewer deaths and new cases of the virus were reported on Thursday.

The total of cases has reached 150,000 on Thursday, according to Health Ministry data. The total of fatalities rose by 683 to 15,238, a smaller gain than 757 from Wednesday.

According to Sanchez, "The fire starts to come under control... This war against the virus will be a total victory."

One of the world's hardest-hit nations alongside the U.S. and Italy, Spain has seen 152,446 infected cases and 15,238 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

The total of people announced to have recovered has increased by 11%, to 38,080.

Related article: Fact Check: Harvard Scientist Arrested for Creating Coronavirus, Selling it to China?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
An FIR has been registered against a journalist in Mandi, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's home district, for allegedly publishing fake about migrant labourers not getting ration here, police said on Friday.

The multimedia journalist, Ashwani Saini (41), however said he was just discharging his duty by highlighting the plight of migrant labourers, who have got stranded due to the countrywide lockdown, and accused Sundernagar Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of trying to gag the press.

He also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and the High Court chief justice, saying such action from the administration would weaken the country's fight against coronavirus pandemic and urged them to direct withdrawal of the case.

Himachal Patrakar Sangh has also supported the journalist, who has been booked for his clip which was published on a local portal on April 7, and demanded the CM order a probe into the matter.

Sundernagar Deputy Superintendent of Police Gurbachan Singh said, An FIR has been lodged against Ashwani Saini under section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of IPC and section 54 (Punishment for false warning) of the Disaster Management Act on the basis of a complaint by Sundernagar SDM Rahul Chauhan.

The DSP said it was alleged in the complaint that Saini had circulated a fake that migrant labourers staying at Bharjwanu near Sundernagar were not being provided with ration.

Criticizing the registration of the FIR, Himachal Patrakar Sangh president Jai Kumar Sharma urged the chief minister to order a high level-inquiry into the matter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The African Development Bank Group has announced the creation of the COVID-19 Response Facility to assist regional member countries in fighting the pandemic.

The Facility is the latest measure taken by the Bank to respond to the pandemic and will be the institutions primary channel for its efforts to address the crisis. It provides up to $10 billion to governments and the private sector.

AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said the package took into account the fiscal challenges that many African countries are facing.

Africa is facing enormous fiscal challenges to respond to the coronavirus pandemic effectively. The African Development Bank Group is deploying its full weight of emergency response support to assist Africa at this critical time. We must protect lives. This Facility will help African countries to fast-track their efforts to contain the rapid spread of COVID-19, Adesina said.

The Facility entails $5.5 billion for sovereign operations in African Development Bank countries, and $3.1 billion for sovereign and regional operations for countries under the African Development Fund, the Bank Groups concessional arm that caters to fragile countries. An additional $1.35 billion will be devoted to private sector operations.

Two weeks ago, the Bank launched a record-breaking $3 billion Fight COVID-19 Social Bond, the worlds largest US dollar-denominated social bond ever on the international capital market. Last week, the Board of Directors also approved a $2 million grant for the World Health Organization for its efforts on the continent.

These are extraordinary times, and we must take bold and decisive actions to save and protect millions of lives in Africa. We are in a race to save lives. No country will be left behind, Adesina said.
Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing towards the Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri and Keran sectors of Kashmir on Friday, officials said.

Pakistani troops opened firing towards the Indian positions along the LoC in Uri and Keran sectors around 1 pm, police officials said.

The Army retaliated to the Pakistani firing in equal measure, they added.

There were no reports of any casualties.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Armies of Gog: a brilliant narrative that chronicles the adventure-mission of a Jewish-Palestinian spy in an ever-changing dysfunctional world that lacks of faith. The Armies of Gog is the creation of published author R.K. Sparks, a brilliant writer who creates exciting stories of fun, interest, and thrill.

Sparks shares, Eli Grollenberg is a chameleona half-Jewish, half-Palestinian spy for the NSA. His ethnic flexibility, looks and build, fluency in nine languages, and technological genius makes him one of Americas greatest assets. Simply put, he can assume any one of twenty-three unique aliases, which include three women, and be dropped into nearly twenty countries virtually unnoticed.

Following the election of Donald J. Trump in 2016, things became interesting around the world from an NSA perspective. The only thing more interesting than the brewing civil war in America was the coalition of countries assembling to come against Israel. While nothing new, this group was unique in that it included Russia and a sinister motive that could potentially change the world and fulfill hundreds of Bible prophecies.

In a world of uncertainty and potential nuclear war, Eli delivers a message of hope from the front lines.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, R.K. Sparkss new book is an interesting fiction that accounts the life of an NSA spy and the mess of a world hes tasked to work onto. Eli reaches out to everyone with a wish to inspire them with hope.

View a synopsis of The Armies of Gog on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase The Armies of Gog at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Armies of Gog, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.




Sandy Millar to help launch East Norfolk mission project

Sandy Millar, formerly of Holy Trinity Brompton, will introduce an evening this month in Great Yarmouth which will see the launch of a local mission initiative for churches from across the East coast of Norfolk and Waveney.



The Who Cares? East Coast Vision night will take place on Tuesday March 17 at The Kings Centre on Queen Annes Road in Great Yarmouth and will begin at 7.30pm (refreshments available from 7.00pm). Church members from across the area are being invited to come along and hear more about the initiative and how their church can get involved.



Who Cares? provides a way for lots of churches to come together and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with thousands of people, beginning by asking the question what hurts the most? The Who Cares? initiative began in Norfolk in 2011 and since then has been run by churches across the UK.



Revd Peter Timothy, pastor of Park Baptist Church in Great Yarmouth and one of the core planning team for Who Cares? East Coast said, Participating in Who Cares in 2014 not only helped our church to engage with its local community; the results informed and helped shape our approach to mission. Its fruits are still evident today!



At the vision night Rob Tervet who leads Who Cares? will explain the vision behind the initiative and how it provides a framework for mission in a local area. There will also be details of the plan for implementing Who Cares? on the East coast of Norfolk and in Waveney, as well as an opportunity to pray together for the local area.



Revd Matthew Price, Vicar of St Mary Magdalene, Gorleston and another member of the East Coast core planning team, explained, at a launch for church leaders in the autumn we welcomed leaders from 15 churches from Great Yarmouth, Gorleston, Beccles and Lowestoft and the surrounding villages.



We are excited about the momentum that is building for this initiative and we are now inviting as many members as possible from churches across the area to gather together, to hear more about the Who Cares? initiative and to pray for our area. We are delighted that Sandy Millar, pictured, has agreed to join us and introduce the evening.



Alongside, Peter and Matthew, the other members of the core planning team are: Adam Bradley, pastor of Kingsgate Community Church in Great Yarmouth and Ben Parish, pastor of Lowestoft Community Church.



More information about the Who Cares? can be found at the website: who-cares.org.uk and updates concerning Who Cares? East Coast can be found at facebook.com/whocareseastcoast .





The image above is taken from a previous Who Cares? vision night





Do you have a news story or forthcoming event relating to Christians or a church in East Norfolk?
Baltimore County police arrested former Ravens defensive end Ufomba Kamalu on a domestic violence charge Thursday, according to a department press release.

Kamalu faces a misdemeanor charge of second-degree assault and was released on $20,000 bond, court documents show.

Officers said Kamalu assaulted a woman during an argument Wednesday morning in the 1700 block of Reisterstown Road in Pikesville, Maryland, about a 10-minute drive from the Ravens headquarters. By the end of the day Wednesday, the Ravens had released Kamalu from their roster.

When responding to a call shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday, officers said they spoke with a woman who suffered from a visible injury, Baltimore County police wrote in its release. Kamalu was not at the scene at the time, police said.

The department issued a warrant for Kamalus arrest and served it to him Thursday morning, according to the release

Kamalu, 27, signed the Ravens last October but never appeared in a game with the team.

A Ravens spokesman told PennLive in an email the team had a brief comment on the matter: We released Ufomba Kamalu on Wednesday.

While many authorities enforce stay-at-home orders in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of domestic abuse accusations have spiked across the world, according to the New York Times and other outlets.

The NFL, and the Ravens in particular, have long worked to battle a perception that their players are frequent offenders.

In 2014, the Ravens released running back Ray Rice after media outlet TMZ published a video that showed Rice punching his then-fiancee in an Atlantic City casino and dragging her out of an elevator. In the wake of that incident, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said his team would not consider signing players who face credible accusations of domestic violence.

Kamalus trial is set to begin May 26 at the District Court for Baltimore County in Towson, according to court documents.

Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.

Aaron Kasinitz covers the Baltimore Ravens for PennLive and can be reached at akasinitz@pennlive.com or on Twitter @AaronKazreports. Follow PennLives Ravens coverage on Facebook and Youtube.
MOSCOW -- Aleksandr Kolotushkin is accustomed to being feted.



As one of the few remaining World War II veterans in a country that reveres them, he regularly dons his Red Army uniform to visit schools and reminisce about his past before crowds of children.



When he turned 93 in December, a ceremony in his honor was broadcast on state TV. And a month from now, when Russia marks 75 years since the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany, he hopes to stand alongside other veterans in Moscow to watch the spectacular military parade on Red Square.



But, even as the government pulls out all the stops to mark the anniversary in style, the coronavirus pandemic threatens to scupper its plans. Kolotushkin, who is normally inundated with messages of gratitude and invitations at this time of year, says his telephone has been silent.



"No one is calling anymore," he said by phone from Volgograd, the southern Russian city where he's self-isolating with his daughter, Natalia. "No one's inviting me anywhere. I just sit at home and keep to myself."

This year's Victory Day celebrations on May 9 were meant to unite Russia. Soaring monuments and cathedrals dedicated to the Russian military waited to be unveiled before cheering crowds and parades featuring tanks and fighter jets have been planned in major cities across the country.



In February, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that the Red Square parade will feature 15,000 troops and 375 military vehicles and aircraft, including the newest elements of Russia's arsenal. French President Emmanuel Macron was among the world leaders expected to attend, lending the event prestige at a time when Russia remains subject to Western sanctions for its intervention in Ukraine. For war veterans flown to Moscow for the event, a special four-day program was planned.

'Defend Our Ancestors' Memory'



Victory Day was also meant to cap off a political season orchestrated to reinvigorate President Vladimir Putin's government. A major cabinet reshuffle in January was supposed to be followed on April 22 with a plebiscite that would rubber-stamp a set of constitutional changes anointing Putin as Russia's undisputed leader and granting the 67-year-old a chance to rule until he's 83. Now that plebiscite has been indefinitely postponed, and the parade is in jeopardy.



"A whole lot hung on these festivities," said Yekaterina Schulmann, a Moscow-based political scientist. "Victory Day is a crucial element of the state's legitimization, the nearest thing we have to an official ideology, and it was also supposed to uphold the constitutional vote. Now these plans have all been delayed."

Indeed, the symbolism authorities used in promoting the two events left little to the imagination: billboards plugging the constitutional vote played directly on World War II motifs, calling on people to "defend our ancestors' memory" while showing images of children dressed in Red Army uniforms. May 9 was envisioned as a grand finale.

"The parade would have confirmed the triumph of Putin's decision to remain forever at Russia's helm," said Aleksandr Golts, a military analyst.



However, while Putin postponed the vote in a public speech on March 25, his administration has been coy regarding its plans for Victory Day. Veterans have been urged to stay home, and the Immortal Regiment march, an event that follows the Red Square parade with many hundreds of thousands marching through Russia's streets holding photos of relatives who died in World War II, has been cancelled.



The Kremlin is facing appeals from soldiers' rights groups to cancel the military parade, too. But, as the administration stalls, preparations seem to be in full swing. A video posted on April 2 to Russia's Facebook equivalent, VK, showed thousands of conscripts assembled on training grounds in Alabino outside Moscow, where the Defense Ministry is holding rehearsals. None appeared to be wearing masks.

'Breeding Ground For The Virus'

Opposition leader Aleksei Navalny called the spectacle a "breeding ground for the coronavirus," but the Defense Ministry said the soldiers, who each year descend on Moscow from across Russia, are given regular temperature checks and other measures are being taken to ensure their safety.



"No decisions have yet been made" about Victory Day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on April 7. In several public addresses since the pandemic began, Putin has not mentioned the parade.



"It's obvious that organizers were hoping that memory of the victory would be projected onto the current Russian leadership," said Golts. "But it seems they're now waiting to see how things develop and hoping the epidemic will begin to recede within the month."



Schulmann agreed that officials will likely wait to see whether Russia's COVID-19 crisis -- which had killed more than 90 and infected some 12,000 as of April 10 -- will begin to abate before May.



"The authorities will play it by ear," she said. "Simply put, it all depends on the body count."

But forging ahead with the milestone celebrations may be politically expedient at a time when Putin's public support is flagging. Data from the Levada Center pollster shows a drop in his approval rating from 69 percent in February to 63 percent in March, his lowest since before Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea prompted a rally-round-the-flag effect that boosted Putin's standing. The Victory Day parade is "key to maintaining his approval ratings," political analyst Andrei Kolesnikov has written.



At a time when a government-mandated lockdown is leading to unemployment and the Russian ruble has plunged amid falling oil prices, there's also the question of how much ordinary Russians actually care about the military parade. Surveys show that the victory in World War II remains by far the most celebrated moment in Russian history. But they also show that, for the public at large, economic well-being comes first.



"People are now more concerned with the epidemic and the unemployment it's causing. They have little time for parades," said Lev Gudkov, director of the Levada Center. "The constitutional vote has been postponed indefinitely. Foreign leaders won't come. So, all of this is shorn of its pomposity and significance."

Mooting Several Options



According to Russian media reports, the leadership is mooting several options at this stage. One is to postpone the military parade until September 2, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in 1945 and the official end of World War II hostilities. Another is to hold a scaled-down version on May 9, without an audience on Red Square.



The third is to hedge bets and schedule the ostentatious display of military might on June 24, exactly 75 years after the original victory parade on Red Square presided over by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

Kolotushkin is one of the only living participants of that parade. He still remembers sitting in the back of a Studebaker truck with 11 other soldiers as an 18-year-old, as they drove past the Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square from atop which Stalin observed the show.



Now, holed up in his apartment in a city brought to a standstill by an invisible enemy, he says he'd fly to Moscow at the drop of a hat, coronavirus be damned.



"My legs still carry me, and my head still works," he said. "I just need an invitation, and I'd put on my old colonel's uniform and go."



If only his daughter would let him.
(GETTY)

In a time of utter uncertainty for Canadian oil and gas, Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savages presence on Thursdays video call with OPEC, its allies, and non-OPEC nations, is a source of comfort for leaders in the industry.

Savage is representing the interests of the Canadian energy patch in the historic talks hosted by the Saudi-led cartel that will also include the United States, the worlds largest oil producer.

Jeff Tonken, chief executive officer of Calgary-based Birchcliff Energy (BIR.TO), is convinced Canada sent in its strongest player to the unprecedented meeting of energy producing nations. He said that was the consensus among his peers at this week's Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), where Savage spoke on Wednesday.

Shes the person that we want at the table, he told Yahoo Finance Canada. She understands more about pipelines and the issues of oil and gas production, and has forgotten more than most people know.

Savage has deep roots in Canadian energy. Her resume prior to politics includes a senior role at the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, and a nine-year stint at Enbridge (ENB.TO)(ENB) where she was responsible for government affairs and regulatory policy. She published a thesis on the National Energy Board while pursuing her Masters of Law in Environment and Energy at the University of Calgary.

Oil prices (CL=F) climbed on Thursday on reports that Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed on the outline of a deal to cut oil production. Key details have yet to be confirmed, such as a baseline to measure the cuts against. Russia is also reportedly insisting that a deal hinges on reduced U.S. production.

Canadian and U.S. participation in the new production cuts being discussed has not been confirmed. On Wednesday, Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO)(CNQ) president supported the idea of Canada taking part in an international agreement to reduce production to support global oil prices.

We supported curtailments here in Alberta to help balance the market when you have these issues, Tim McKay told the web-based CAPP conference. To me, as long as its a broad-based approach, we could support it.

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has announced the conversion of the Asokoro General Hospital into an isolation centre for COVID-19 patients.

The Minister of the FCT, Muhammad Bello, at a news briefing on Thursday said the FCT administration is working with private sector players to provide 600 beds for various isolation centres in the city.

Mr Bello said that based on expert medical advice, the Asokoro Hospital has been fully converted into an isolation and treatment center and can accommodate up to 100 patients inclusive of those that may require intensive care treatment.

On the Idu Isolation center, the minister said that the facility can accommodate up to 300 beds. He expressed the appreciation of the FCTA to Polaris Bank for provision of 100 beds and Fola Adeola of the FATE Foundation for the provision of 50 beds and other items such as monitors and PPEs. The Minister also thanked the CCECC for the providing the furniture, air conditioners and power and water to the facility.

The Minister also disclosed that the General Hospital Karu is being retrofitted and upgraded into a standard isolation and treatment center.

Mr Bello also revealed that more patients in FCT isolation and treatment centre at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital will be released in the coming days if their test results come out as negative.

On members of the public who violate the lockdown directive especially in some satellite areas, the minister said continuation of this will give the Administration no choice but to enforce even stricter measures as it was determined to flatten the curve of COVID 19 cases in the FCT.

On the palliative measures being put in place by the FCT Administration, the minister of state, Ramatu Aliyu, said that 600,000 households, 100,000 each from each Area Council, are billed to be benefit from these measures.

She said that there will be in place a monitoring team made up of civil society organisations, religious and traditional rulers, youth and women groups to ensure an equitable distribution of the palliatives. She also revealed that distribution will be carried out through a door to door mechanism to prevent overcrowding.

Mr Bello thanked members of the Ministerial Advisory Committee for devoting their time, expertise and personal resources for fighting the pandemic in the FCT. He also expressed gratitude to the medical personnel in the frontline of the fight against the virus as well as volunteer journalists who have used the platforms provided by the FCTA to enlighten members of the public on its dangers.

The minister also appreciated the corporate organisations that made donations to the FCTA for the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic. They include the MTN Nig PLC and Mikano for the supply of one 350 KVA generators each at the Karu General Hospital and University of Abuja Teaching Hospital Isolation and Treatment Center, Julius Berger Nig. PLC for the supply of 350 hospital beds, GE Health for the repair of broken ventilators, GT Bank and Zenith bank for their efforts at the Karu General Hospital and the Abuja Chamber of Commerce complex respectively.

READ ALSO:

Cash donations as announced by the Minister include the Bank of Industry; N100,000,000, CGC Nigeria Ltd N20,000,000, Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company , N15,000,000, Arab Contractors OAO Nigeria Ltd N15,000,000 and Gilmor Engineering Ltd, N10,000,000.

The Minister also appreciated UBA Nig. PLC for the donation of N300,000,000 to the FCTA and N200,000,000 to the NCDC as well as the NCC for a donation of N25,000,000. Also mentioned and appreciated was Honeywell Group for its donations which has become a part of the palliatives to be distributed.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Ministerial Advisory Committee, Modibbo Umar, said the Committee was formed to complement the work the FCT Administration was doing towards averting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh rose to 433 on Friday, with 23 new cases being reported, of whom 21 are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, the state government said.

It said the deadly virus has now spread to 40 of the state's 75 districts, with Agra being the worst hit at 88 positive cases and one death.

"As many as 431 people have tested positive so far in the state. These cases are in 40 districts. Of the (total positive cases), 32 have been treated," Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters.

In a bulletin later, the state government updated the total number of positive cases to 433, of whom 245 are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event.

Among the fresh cases, six were reported from Meerut, five each from Agra and Amroha, three from Ghazipur, and one each from Gautam Buddh Nagar, Basti, Auraiya , Rampur, the bulletin said.

Twenty-one of the 23 fresh cases are related to the Tablighi Jammat event in New Delhi in March, it said.

The district wise tally in the state is: Agra (88), Gautam Buddh Nagar (64), Meerut (44), Lucknow (29), Ghaziabad (25), Saharanpur (20), Shamli (17), Firozabad (11) and Sitapur (10), the bulletin said.

The districts that have recoded cases in single digits are: Basti, Kanpur and Varanasi (nine each); Bulandshahr (eight), Amroha (7); Hapur, Maharajganj, Pratapgarh, Rampur and Bareilly (six each); Ghazipur, Baghpat (five each); Azamgarh, Hathras, Muzaffarnagar, Jaunpur and Lakhimpur Kheri (four each), it said.

Besides, Auraiya has reported three cases; Pilibhit , Banda, Mirzapur, Rae Bareli, Kaushambi, Mathura and Hardoi (two each); and Moradabad, Shahjahanpur, Barabanki, Bijnore, Prayagraj, Badaun (one each), the bulletin said,



Earlier in the day, Prasad had said, "So far, 9,041 samples have been tested of which 8,250 were found to be negative, 431 were found positive and results of the rest are still awaited.

Presently, around 1,000 samples being tested every day, but the facilities at testing centres will be ramped up to 1,500 to 2,000, Prasad added.

Till Thursday, there were 410 cases in the state of whom 225 are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi last month, he said.

The death toll in the state due to COVID-19 stands at four - one each in Meerut, Basti, Varanasi and Agra districts.

Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi said 75 per cent of the total coronavirus positive cases in the state (about 300) are in hotspots that have been identified in 15 districts.

"These hotspots are under strict lockdown and sealed. A magistrate has been appointed for every hotspot," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Oh Young-jun cares for critically ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus in a negative-pressure isolation ward. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

Oh Young-jun traces the outlines of superheroes.

The stoop of a nurse's shoulders as she carries buckets brimming with biohazard waste. The tangle of a towel holding up hair dripping wet from a shower after hours in a hazmat suit. The momentary reprieve of a nurse sitting upright and nodding off in a desk chair, her hand propping up a face bandaged in spots where protective equipment has chafed her skin.

Oh knows these details well. They are images that take shape during the days and nights of his shifts as an ICU nurse at a hospital in Incheon, a South Korean port city about an hour west of Seoul.

Those hours have become more harrowing with the arrival of the novel coronavirus that's plaguing hospitals around the world. Earlier this year, Oh volunteered to be one of the nurses staffing an isolation ward for those stricken with COVID-19. He has since been caring for critically ill patients in cumbersome protective gear that has made unwieldy many of the tasks he once did with ease in his eight years as a nurse.

And on his days off, the 34-year-old art school dropout-turned-nurse picks up his stylus and sketches intimate scenes of life and death as seen through his goggled eyes and felt through his gloved hands.

Left, a nurse whose face is bandaged where her skin was chafed by protective gear gets brief shut-eye in between shifts. Right, nurses work on entering patient information, their hair still wet from having showered after shedding protective equipment. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

His trench in this fight is removed from the front lines of the battle  the hardest hit in South Korea was the city of Daegu and surrounding areas in the southeast of the country, where hospitals were overwhelmed by a surge of several thousands at the height of the country's outbreak in late February.

Some of those patients were transferred to Oh's hospital to relieve hospitals at the epicenter. Among Oh's charges were a 93-year-old woman with dementia who was one of the country's oldest infected with the coronavirus, and a 57-year-old man with chronic renal failure who'd been receiving dialysis for 25 years before the virus ravaged his lungs.

Caring for those patients has meant spending his days off away from friends and family, mostly cooped up in his apartment, for fear of spreading the virus.

Story continues

Hence, more time to draw.

Oh sketched nurses working on disposing biohazard material from coronavirus isolation wards. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

It was around the time of South Korea's last major epidemic that Oh began drawing scenes from his work as a nurse and posting them on social media.

In early 2015, Oh was a couple years out of nursing school and feeling settled in the rhythm of his work at Gachon University Gil Hospital. He decided to capture the day-to-day lives of nurses. In Korean television dramas and other media, nurses were often shown as overly feminine, subordinate, sexualized characters; menial assistants helping doctors rather than professionals in their own right.

That was reflected in the way many patients and family members spoke to and treated nurses  addressing them as "miss" or "you there," raining them with demands and abuse without the deference shown to physicians.

He wanted people to see what he saw, the grueling hours, the humanity, the sacrifice, the hushed toll at shift's end.

Left, a sketch from 2017, shows a nurse giving herself an IV drip, working through an illness. Right, a sketch from 2016 of a nurse working on a cart. Oh wanted to show the humanity and sacrifice with which he and his colleagues work, despite long hours and tough conditions. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

Oh had loved to draw since he was young but realized a couple years into art school how few make it as successful full-time artists. He decided to follow in the footsteps of his childhood hero Florence Nightingale and enrolled in nursing school.

Because he majored in Korean paintings and primarily focused on landscapes, drawing people and the intricate medical equipment populating the ICU took time to master.

In sparse drawings, as if whispers on a page, he used rough strokes and few colors. He began chronicling a sporadic series titled "Nursing Story" on Facebook  part work diary, part medical notes and part personal journal exploring the woes, joys and everything in between of life as a nurse.

He portrayed uncontrollable patients with alcohol withdrawal delirium who wreak havoc at the hospital and need to be restrained. Young children peering through the doors of the ICU for a glimpse of their mother because kids under 13 aren't allowed to visit. Abuse from patients, working through nights, holidays and illnesses, and quiet cries in the laundry room where the whirring of machines mask the sobs.

He quickly gained a following, comments flooding in from fellow nurses who saw their lives reflected in his drawings. They chimed in with their own stories.

In May, 2015, the Middle East respiratory syndrome, a deadly illness caused by another coronavirus, began spreading in South Korea.

A sketch from June 2015, when South Korea was in the midst of a MERS outbreak, shows a nurse in protective gear walking through a darkened hallway. At the time, Oh volunteered to work in a isolation ward with suspected cases of MERS, as he did earlier this year for COVID-19. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

Many hospitals, including Oh's, weren't prepared to handle the outbreak, lacking isolation beds and protective equipment. A doctor was infected in Seoul, putting medical workers on edge. Oh's hospital asked for volunteers to staff a ward for patients showing symptoms of the virus.

Oh was as scared as anyone. But as a young, single person living alone, he thought better him than other colleagues with families. He was the first to volunteer. Two others, a shift chief and a section head, said through tears they would step up too.

"Wearing protective suits, N95 masks and goggles, enduring CO2 retention, moisture, sweat and dehydration  MERS or not.... we nurses are always by the patient's side," he wrote in a post accompanying a drawing of a nurse walking down a darkened hallway in head-to-toe protective gear.

When cases of the novel coronavirus began cropping up outside China earlier this year, he didn't hesitate to volunteer to work in the isolation ward, emboldened by that experience. If anything, it felt like a welcome departure from his normal ICU routine.

South Korea, too, was ready. Many hospitals had set up negative pressure isolation wards and separate departments to handle infectious disease outbreaks. Protective equipment, of which there had been a shortage in 2015, was in ready supply for medical professionals. Despite an early surge that made South Korea the largest cluster outside of China, the country appeared to get a handle on local transmissions that brought societies elsewhere to a halt and caused staggering numbers of deaths.

In mid-March, Oh, who has a wry humor, warned his followers, whose numbers have swelled to some 85,000 between Facebook and Instagram, that he'd be posting more from his days off in isolation.

"Apologies, you may get corona fatigue from frequent updates," he wrote.

Oh Young-jun has been caring for critically ill COVID-19 patients with COVID-19 for the past few months after volunteering to staff the isolation ward at his hospital. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

In his dispatches, he portrayed himself and others trying to insert an IV line with layers of gloves, nervously monitoring X-rays of a gravely ill patient's fogged-up lungs, rushing to intubate a patient from whom phlegm spewed "like rust-laden water from a water spout."

To minimize the number of people going in and out of the isolation ward, nurses were having to take on many more tasks, including sterilizing surfaces and equipment, disposing of biohazard waste and catering to patients' every need, he wrote.

"Nurses do all of it. They're remarkable beings," he wrote. "I'm not grumbling about this situation. It's all corona's fault."

He knows nurses and other medical professionals elsewhere are fighting tougher battles, overwhelmed by large numbers of critically ill patients with limited ventilators and scant protective equipment, many of them becoming infected and, increasingly, dying. In South Korea, at least 241 medical workers had been infected with the coronavirus.

A former colleague of Oh's who moved to the U.S. to work as a nurse there  something many South Korean nurses aspire to because of better pay and working conditions  told him of dire shortages of protective equipment at her hospital in Chicago.

It sounded like us during MERS  pandemonium, he said in an interview.

Nurses don protective equipment before caring for COVID-19 patients in Oh Young-jun's sketches from this year. (Oh Young-jun / "Nursing Story")

In South Korea's coronavirus fight, Oh's patients have brought a degree of hope. The 93-year-old patient with dementia and the 57-year-old long-term dialysis patient have, after much sweat and tears from Oh and his colleagues, recovered from COVID-19 and been discharged. South Korea's daily coronavirus infections this week dipped below 50 for the first time since late February, after surging by more than 900 a day at its peak.

Oh knows from experience, there is always the next patient, the next crisis, the next epidemic. He goes on doing his part in his corner of the medical profession  lately, long night shifts during which he refrains from water or caffeine because of the time it takes to shed his protective equipment to use the bathroom.

When his shift is over, as the city whirs to life, he shuts his eyes and does his best to invite the sleep that never comes easily after years of switching from days to nights and back again.

And on his days off, he sketches.
With the great economic freight train brought to a screeching halt by COVID-19, our usual supply chains buckled, broke and then fell off the tracks.

Our normal ways of satisfying our needs disappeared. In some ways, we went back in time. In other ways, we went forward in time.

I reacted to shortages at the grocery store by ordering a dozen eggs weekly through my gym, which has a connection to a local farm. The eggs are delicious, and very expensive, compared with store-bought eggs. I feel very close to the land!

I admire my friends and relatives home-sewing their custom face masks from old scarves and bandanas. Stylish! Unique! Handcrafted! Its all very Etsy.com.

I bought a 5-gallon bucket of hand sanitizer from a friend who converted his whiskey distillery to the task.

Next request to the distillery: Please hook me up with a 5-gallon bucket of moonshine to tide me over during this period of isolation, as I spend large amounts of indoor quality time with my family.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio-area distilleries shift gears to make hand sanitizer

So, the question becomes, will the legacy of COVID-19 be a return to a slower pace of economic life, recognizable from a century ago? A life full of locally sourced eggs, hand-sewn clothing, customized distillery products and, of course, quality time with ones family unit? Its all very Little House on the Prairie. Is that our post-COVID-19 future?

No, that fantasy is silly. That train left the station long ago.

Whats happening instead, and what will remain after, is a jump-start to new ways of doing things.

In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, philosopher Thomas Kuhn argues that big change comes not as a slow evolutionary process but rather in sudden paradigm shifts. What weve all experienced and observed in the past month of social distancing is a massive jump forward  maybe by many years  into the future of certain economic processes.

Below are just a few trends that COVID-19 will rapidly accelerate.

The revolution in education

Online learning this month has offered an insight into the future of school. For the first three weeks of shutdown, the public elementary school that my fourth grader attends has worked on providing technology to all her classmates. That technology procurement was necessary because its impossible to start online work if kids in the class cant get connected. So administrators have rushed to acquire and distribute iPads, hot spots and internet access for families for whom that was previously out of reach financially.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio's digital divide gapes wider as coronavirus forces schools online

Before COVID-19, they could never do much with online learning because too many families were on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Having solved that tech problem over the past three weeks, however, new online learning and teaching methods become both possible and necessary for my daughters school.

With the education world forced to adapt so quickly and so universally, will education ever be the same? Will universities, for that matter, ever be the same? It feels like COVID-19 has forced a paradigm shift in whats expected of teachers, schools and kids.

The revolution in payments

I used the touchless Apple Pay service before now. But Ive noticed, to my frustration, that a huge number of retail establishments  like my local grocery store chain  never have the right kiosks to accept payment this way. If we understand that bills and coins are a germ-filled disease vector and that even exchanging credit cards with a cashier is too much contact, then Apple Pay represents the future.

COVID-19 may mark a sudden paradigm shift away from cash.

More from Taylor: Cash is for criminals, mostly

Apple, as always, saw the future before the rest of us.

The revolution in retail

Did we think Amazons business model already threatened brick-and-mortar retail before 2020?

Of course. But the only reasonable observation to make now is that Amazon has accelerated its takeover of retail businesses in America. Much more brick-and-mortar retail will now die, much more quickly, in a rapid paradigm-shift way, not in an evolutionary way.

More from Taylor: The death of the mall store

From the distance of time, lets say two decades from now, my freight train economy analogy that I began this column with will seem even more quaint  and even more apt. We will look back at spring 2020, before the COVID-19 transformation, and see the way we did things in 2020 as impossibly inefficient. Impossibly brutal, dumb, loud, linear and tracked. Like a freight train that can only go from one point to another. So limited.

Our sleek, smart, creative, rocket ship economy of 2040 will have blasted off from 2020, no longer held back, no longer limited, by the rails of a freight-train economy.

Michael Taylor is a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News and author of The Financial Rules for New College Graduates.

michael@michaelthesmartmoney.com | twitter.com/michael_taylor
Ansys, a global engineering simulation company, entered into an agreement with an IIT-Kanpur led consortium to assist in the development of low-cost ventilators to fight the COVID-19 outbreak in India.

Under the supervision of the consortium, NOCCA Robotics Private Limited, an IIT-K incubated startup, is developing indigenized and low-cost invasive ventilators called Nocca V110, said an IIT-K communique.

When someone has severe difficulty in breathing, they may need assistance from a ventilator which is able to move air in and out of the lungs. Invasive and non-invasive ventilators differ in how the air is delivered to the person.

An invasive ventilator is the most recommended type of ventilator for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) making it more suitable for COVID-19 affected patients for respiratory support. It is suitable for India as it ensures the safety of frontline doctors dealing with the patients.

The machines that can be tested on patients will be out in a few days. Once the prototype is out, the team targets to produce 30,000 units by May 2020, the press release stated.

Engineers at NOCCA Robotics have prototypes of a portable machine ready. They are being tested on artificial lungs, a prosthetic device that provides oxygen and removes carbon dioxide from the blood.

The entire project is being coordinated by Professor Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, professor-in-charge, Startup Innovation & Incubation Center (SIIC), IIT Kanpur.

Ansys, headquartered in the US, is the first company which has joined hands with the consortium and FIRST (Foundation for Innovation and Research in Science Technology), the premier institute's company that oversees incubation activities of IIT Kanpur, to speed up the development of these ventilators.

As part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, Ansys has come forward by offering a dedicated grant to the project that will be utilised for procuring materials, testing, trials and other expenses.

We are very happy to have Ansys on board with us for the development of this indigenous, low-cost ventilator. With their significant funding and technical support to NOCCA Robotics, we are one step closer to bringing this critical device to our healthcare providers. Our gratitude to Ansys for their generous gesture. said Abhay Karandikar, director, IIT Kanpur.

Nocca V110 is a modular, power efficient invasive ventilator that operates in a pressure-controlled mode and the IoT (the Internet of Things) enabled design allows multiple ventilators to be controlled via remote control.

It has been designed in a way that it can be manufactured on a large scale at multiple sites using materials easily available with Indian suppliers and manufacturers.

Speaking about the CSR agreement, Rafiq Somani, Area Vice President - India and South Asia Pacific, Ansys, said, Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that we are all facing today, one thing that is constantly worrying the government and the hospitals is ventilator shortage."



Nocca Robotics and IIT-K have created a consortium of biomedical engineers, doctors, R&D leaders, supply chain and medical technology businesses to harness their expertise and take the design from the idea to the actual product.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 18:49:31|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China has rolled out a host of measures to provide support for the jobless and cushion the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, an official said Friday.

By the end of March, the country had allocated 9.3 billion yuan (about 131.58 million U.S. dollars) of unemployment insurance premiums for 2.3 million unemployed persons, said Gui Zhen, an official with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, at a press conference.

Meanwhile, 67,000 jobless migrant workers have received 410 million yuan worth of temporary living allowances, Gui added.

China has previously issued a guideline to subsidize unemployed people ineligible for unemployment insurance, or whose unemployment insurance has expired, Gui said, noting that unemployment subsidies have been extended from regions severely hit by the outbreak to the rest of the country and cover all insured unemployed people.

Gui noted that the ministry has taken moves to scale up the coverage of unemployment insurance benefits by application limits, streamlining the processes and facilitating the online services.

China has made employment one of its top policy priorities as it closely relates to people's well-being and the country's economic growth.
Patna, April 10 : The Bihar government has roped in workers under the Jeevika scheme to manufacture around 5.88 lakh face masks till date to help fight the battle against coronavirus.

An official involved with the Bihar Rural Livelihood Project (Jeevika) said that women associated with the programme were preparing face masks in all the districts of the state.

The women are being provided the raw material required to make face masks.

"As many as 1,276 self-help groups involved in the activity had till Thursday made 5,88,331 masks, which will be provided to the people at reasonable prices in the retail market," Jeevika officer Mahua Rai told IANS.

She said that the endeavour had provided a source of income for those connected with the programme amid the lockdown.

By Thursday, women in Shekhpura district had made 68,902 masks, in Patna 40,017, in Araria 5,439, in Madhubani 53,785, in Aurangabad 28,815, in Nalanda 28,914, in Gaya 24,579, and in western Champaran 58,500.

Cleanliness and social distancing norms are being observed at all manufacturing sites.

South Bihar Power Distribution Corporation as well as many bank and non-governmental organisations have bought face masks for their respective staff, an official said.

Jaywanti, associated with a self-help group in Gaya district, said that around 20 women from different villages were making around 1,000 masks daily, which were finding ready buyers in Gaya and Bodhgaya markets.
An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2020 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam....
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Despite India reporting nearly 200 COVID-19 deaths in last one month, the country's death rate of about 3 per cent is lower than the global rate, and also much lower than several European countries like the UK, Italy and Spain, according to some medical experts. India had reported its first COVID-19 death from Karnataka on March 10.

Suggesting that a relatively young Indian population may be one of the reasons for the low mortality rate due to the pandemic, experts have attributed the high number of fatalities in countries like Italy and Spain to their elderly population which are more susceptible to developing complications after contracting the infection.

According to the data shared by the Union health ministry earlier this week, about 63 per cent deaths have been reported among people aged 60 and above, 30 per cent among people between 40 to 60 years and seven per cent among people below 40 years.

India so far has reported 6,412 confirmed cases of coronavirus with a death toll of nearly 200, making it 3.1 per cent death rate ---percentage of deaths with respect to the total number of confirmed cases.

As per the US official figures, that country has reported 4,27,460 COVID-19 cases with 14,696 deaths, amounting to a death rate of 3.4 per cent. However, according to John Hopkins University and Medicine, 4,66,299 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the US with 16,686 deaths (death rate of 3.57 per cent).

However, death rate is high in Europe. As per official figures from European countries, Spain has death rate of 9.73 per cent (1,57,022 COVID-19 cases and 15,843 deaths) and Italy having a death rate of 12.72 per cent(143,626 cases and 18,279 deaths).

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE COVERAGE FOR COVID-19

The UK has reported a death rate of over 12 per cent (65,077 cases and 7,978 deaths). All much higher than India. Only Germany seems to be able to contain the spread of the fast-spreading virus effectively with 1,13,525 confirmed cases and 2,373 deaths reported so far, recording about a 2.09 per cent death rate.

India's death rate of COVID-19 is also lower than the global death rate of 5.98 per cent with a total of 1,610,055 cases and 96,365 deaths worldwide, according to data and statistics website worldometer.

Dr Ravi Shekhar Jha, Senior Consultant and Head of the Department, Pulmonology, Fortis Escorts Faridabad, said in Italy, Spain and the US, "older population has been affected more compared to India where the fatalities have been less, perhaps because our population is fairly young".

Jha also attributed an early and strict lockdown in India as one of the reasons that may have helped in containing the COVID-19 cases.

However, he noted that in India, the COVID-19 mortality rates differed from region to region ex about 10 per cent in Indore to about 1 per cent in Haryana. Jha lauded Germany for being able to keep the death rate from coronavirus very low, because of its "excellent healthcare system".

Dr Rommel Tickoo, Associate Director (Internal medicine), Max Healthcare, agreed with Jha, saying Germany has been able to keep the fatalities on lower side with their good healthcare system. "Two reasons can be attributed to less deaths in India--- firstly, the high-risk group of people aged 60 and above being affected less compared to in Europe and the US, and secondly, less severity of the virus in India," he told PTI.

"In India, the 20-40 age group account for over 40 per cent of the cases and above 60 age group about 19 per cent. So, in India the younger population is getting affected more, and hence, perhaps the less number of deaths," he said.

Earlier this week, the health ministry had said people aged below 40 years account for 47 per cent of the total confirmed cases, those between 40 and 60 for 34 per cent, and those aged 60 years and above account for 19 per cent.

ALSO READ| Decision to bring Indians from abroad will be taken after reviewing COVID-19 situation: MEA

Dr Rajesh Chawla, a pulmonologist at Apollo Hospital, also feels India having a relatively younger population compared to the Europe could be a reason for less fatalities in the country. "Also, the 18-60 is an active age group compared to people who are 60 years and older, many of whom have comorbid conditions. Italy has a large geriatric population," he said while elaborating on the reasons why the virus could impact the older population more.

Comorbidity refers to the existence of multiple disorders in the same person.
A heavily pregnant mum of miracle identical triplets will only be able to see her premature babies for up to 30 minutes a day after birth, due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Emma Lennon (31), who is due to give birth in two weeks' time, will be allowed to have her partner David Hopkins (32) by her side but only for the birth of their three daughters.

The anxious mum says that although she is devastated, she understands the restrictions are needed to keep her babies and hospital neonatal intensive care staff safe.

Emma and David, from Bettystown, Co Meath, fell pregnant naturally with identical triplets, an outcome that had a 200 million in one chance.

They had given up hope of having children after trying for two years, and then discovered they were expecting three identical daughters in an extremely rare pregnancy.

"I'm 28 weeks pregnant now and medics are hoping to bring me into hospital in two week," said Emma.

"The triplets are all doing really well. They are 2lb 10oz, 2lb 8oz and 1lb 15oz, but they are running out of space to move because they are all sharing the one sac.

"I've been told to prepare myself that once the babies are born, I'll be kept in too but I will only be able to see the triplets in the neonatal intensive care unit for between 15 to 30 minutes every day.

Vulnerable

"David will be allowed in for the birth but that's it. I had hoped my nine-year-old daughter Kacey would be able to see them through a window but she won't see them until they come home.

"I understand the measures are in place to protect the most vulnerable and I understand that the highly specialised staff in neonatal are like gold dust.

"If they go down with the coronavirus we will all suffer because we won't have their talent to look after us."

Emma said the situation is causing her some anxiety.

"It's been very emotional in the last few weeks.

"I have mammy guilt that David will be left to do everything and he's been brilliant already," she said.

"If I could write a list of what I needed, it's everything he's done.

"The hospital staff at both the Rotunda in Dublin, where I'll be giving birth, and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, have been fantastic," she added.
The Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal launched a week long 'Bharat Padhe Online' campaign for crowd sourcing of ideas for improving online ecosystem of India, on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister said that this campaign aims to invite all the best brains in the country to share suggestions/solutions directly with HRD Ministry to overcome constraints of online

He added that ideas can be shared on bharatpadheonline.mhrd@gmail.com and on twitter by using #BharatPadheOnline till 16th April 2020.

He further said that the educators across the country can also come forward to contribute with their expertise and experience in the field of

"A conversation can be initiated with them, asking them that what do they think an ideal online education ecosystem should look like. What are the limitations of the current online education scenario of India? What challenges they face in traditional classrooms that can be addressed through online education," he said.

The minister has urged everyone to participate in the initiative to intensify online education in India.

The development comes amid the countrywide lockdown which is imposed to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The schools, colleges and all academic institutions have been closed for the period and several schools have started taking classes online so as to ensure that students do not suffer.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Patient waves as he leaves after being discharged from a hospital following his recovery from COVID-19, in Kochi.(PTI)

Kochi: With 27.17 per cent of recovery rate and only two deaths, Kerala now tops in the world in successfully controlling the virus transmission.

At the international level, the average recovery rate is 22.2 per cent while in India the rate is only 9.12 per cent.

Kerala, where the first coronavirus case was reported on January 30, were able to effectively contain the second wave of virus infection which began on March 8.

In Maharashtra, one of the worst affected states, the recovery rate is 9 per cent while Delhi has only 3.13 per cent recovery rate.

The Maharashtra government has decided to conduct a study on the low Covid mortality rate and high recovery rate in Kerala.

One fourth of the total infected patients have been cured, when one month is completed after the second wave of virus infection is reported.

The total number of confirmed cases in Kerala is 357 of whom 97 patients have been recovered and discharged from hospital. Currently, 258 persons are under treatment in various hospitals.

The recovery of 93 year old Thomas and his 88 year old wife from the deadly virus infection, the oldest survivors in the country, is a major achievement for the Kerala health authorities.

Recovery of all the eight foreign nationals, including seven UK tourists who were above 65 years old, also is an achievement.

The progression rate of the virus infection registered decline since April 2 and majority of the cases are being reported from three districts, Kasargod, the major hotspot, Malappuram and Kannur.

There has been a considerable decrease in the number of persons under isolation. As of Thursday, 1,36,195 people are under observation among whom 723 are in hospitals and the rest in home quarantine.

The biggest one day surge in the number of cases was reported on March 27 when 39 persons tested positive for the killer virus of whom 34 were from Kasargod.

It is the effective resistance strategy including early identification system, contact tracing mechanism and strict surveillance which helped Kerala in controlling the virus transmission, according to medical experts.
A cherished tradition that many high school students look forward to throughout the school year  prom  has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic for at least two local high schools.

And the fate of prom other local school proms is in doubt.

Midland High School Principal Tracy Speaker-Gerstheimer this week emailed families a message announcing the cancelation of the Midland High/H.H. Dow High prom, which had been scheduled for May 9 at the Great Hall at Valley Plaza.

Following is her message in its entirety:

On March 24, 2020, Gov. Whitmer ordered all Michigan residents to remain at home to avoid further spread of COVID 19, Speaker-Gerstheimer wrote. We had hoped that the stay at home order would be lifted soon and that we would be able to carry on with many of our planned events for this semester. However, it is clear to us now that this is not the case.

I am so sorry to inform you that Prom, scheduled for Saturday, May 9, has been canceled. I know that this is one of the many events you were looking forward to this semester. You have every right to be upset. Expect additional communications about other planned events in the near future.

During this crisis, we must put the health and safety of all students first.

With Chemic Pride,

Tracy Speaker-Gerstheimer, Principal

Dow and Midland high schools have held a combined prom for many years.

Meanwhile, for the proms for Bullock Creek, Meridian and Coleman high schools, the respective district superintendents are weighing their options.

Its not likely, Bullock Creek Schools Superintendent Shawn Hale said of the possibility of still holding the Bullock Creek prom, which is also scheduled for May 9, with the venue being the H Hotel.

With the scheduled date being in early May, and we dont see (coronavirus cases in Michigan) peaking until the first part of May, it doesnt sound like its going to be possible to bring students together for prom, Hale continued. At this point, were leaning toward canceling.

Meridian Public Schools Superintendent Craig Carmoney said the Meridian prom, originally scheduled for April 18 at Forest Edge, has been postponed. But he is hopeful that it can be rescheduled.

"We are working with the venue to reschedule in late July or early August," Carmoney said.

The Coleman High School prom was scheduled for a week later, on April 25 at the PohlCat in Mount Pleasant. Coleman Community Schools Superintendent Jen McCormack said it has also been postponed.

At this point, weve postponed it. Well be looking again at the beginning of May as to whether we will still hold prom or will have to cancel it, McCormack said.

McCormack noted that she has been holding Zoom meetings with Coleman students and parents each Thursday over the past few weeks, and she knows that many of them would be willing to have both prom and commencement be postponed until later in the summer if that would make it feasible for them to still take place.
Yet, for all the significance of what he said, his evidence remains shielded from public view. In Victorian sex-offence cases, accusers give evidence to a closed court room where only judicial officers and their staff, lawyers and the jury are present. This is done to ensure a complainant is not identified and to preserve their right to privacy. Associate Professor Jason Bosland, of the University of Melbourne's law school, said protecting a complainant outweighs the rights of media and the public to be in court to hear the crucial evidence. Cardinal George Pell arriving at the Melbourne County Court for sentencing in 2018. Credit:Jason South But he believes it is time courts released transcripts of complainants' evidence, provided any material that would tend to identify an accuser was redacted. In Cardinal Pell's trial, knowing what the complainant said and how he withstood cross-examination would provide greater public understanding, and rebut incorrect suggestions the cardinal received "special treatment" in having the court closed. "I can't see any reason why the court should be able to withhold that. And I think it should be the same for all cases, I don't think some cases are more important than others," Professor Boland said.

"I don't see why that transcript can't be made available to the public." Loading Courts can be a restricted area for media to report wholly, which in turn can lead to a perception of a lack of transparency for the wider public. Professor Boland said in keeping with Victoria's Open Courts Act, there should be an onus on releasing key transcripts. "Once the evidence is given in open court there should be a prima facie right to access, whether it's a document or a transcript, and then justifying why access shouldn't be granted," he said. Media covering Cardinal Pell's trials in 2018 were reliant on prosecutor Mark Gibson, SC, reiterating to the juries key passages of the complainant's evidence to get a flavour for what the man said.

In his closing addresses, Mr Gibson quoted passages of the accuser's evidence to emphasise to the jury why the complainant was to be believed. Loading But Mr Gibson and Cardinal Pell's trial barrister, Robert Richter, QC, referred to the passages of the accuser's evidence that supported their respective arguments. The second jury and the Court of Appeal, in its majority 2-1 decision, ultimately found the complainant to be credible and believable and upheld the guilty verdict. The High Court, however, said both decision-making bodies erred in putting too much weight on the accuser's evidence and discounting the so-called "opportunity evidence" given by other witnesses, who variously said they never saw the then archbishop alone and unrobed in the cathedral and that his practice of meeting parishioners after mass gave him an alibi.

Law Institute of Victoria president Sam Pandya is against the proposal of releasing transcripts of complainant evidence, for concerns it might reveal their identities and deter people in sex-abuse cases from coming forward. Loading "Their evidence could identify them so we want to make sure the system is designed to protect them so people aren't put off," Mr Pandya said. "Anything that gives people an opportunity to identify a victim I wouldn't support. "If you turn it around and look at it from a (complainant's perspective), how would they feel about that if that was able to happen?

"We don't want to make (alleged) victims feel like they can't come forward. If that would allow them to feel uncomfortable coming forward, I wouldn't be supportive of that." Cardinal Pell's legal saga, which began in 2015 when the former choirboy went to police and ended with the 78-year-old serving more than 400 days in jail before his successful appeal, illustrated the complexities of what happens when a high-profile person appears before the criminal courts. County Court chief judge Peter Kidd emphasised to juries the need to judge the cardinal on the facts, not for the failings of the Catholic church. It was the need to ensure the accused man received a fair hearing that Judge Kidd imposed a suppression order on the first trial, which stayed in place until prosecutors withdrew a planned second trial, involving allegations the cardinal sexually abused boys in Ballarat in the 1970s when he was a priest. The wider public only learned of the guilty finding from 2018 in February last year, when Judge Kidd lifted the suppression order. When the trials ran, court 4.3 was the domain of media, the cardinal's supporters, advocates for sex-offence complainants and curious off-duty lawyers and judges. During his trials, the cardinal (often wearing a jumper with an MCG logo) strolled the corridor outside the courtroom during lunch breaks, although he prompted head-turns when passers-by saw him outside the building each day.

But news of his guilty verdict prompted an explosion in worldwide attention. Such was the interest in the case that the County Court livestreamed Judge Kidd's hour-long sentence in March last year, and the appeals courts followed suit for their hearings. Loading While the High Court's ultimate finding outraged advocates for sex-abuse victims and complainants in unrelated cases, Mr Pandya believes the justice system handled the scrutiny well. "It allowed the (accuser) to be comfortable in coming forward, it allowed a jury of peers of Cardinal Pell to make a decision, and there was an appeal process for George Pell to say, 'I don't agree with the verdict'," he said. Calls from the Victorian opposition, who claimed the justice system had questions to answer about the case, were "regrettable and destabilising", Mr Pandya said.
Lisa Weir / For Hearst Connecticut Media

Housatonic Habitat for Humanity has launched a photo contest, asking people to share pictures of what makes people happy while at home.

Photos with a description of 15 words or less should be sent to susan@housatonichabitat.org by noon on Monday.
Health workers screen patients at a walk-in COVID-19 test clinic in Montreal on March 25, 2020. Premier Francois Legault hails Quebec health-care workers as "guardian angels," but some say they are being denied services at banks and pharmacies when they reveal their occupations. (The Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson)

Some Montreal Hospital Workers Say Businesses Turning Them Away Over COVID-19

MONTREALPremier Francois Legault hails Quebec health-care workers as guardian angels, but some say they are being denied services at banks and pharmacies when they reveal their occupations.

Olijah Springer, a nursing assistant and technician at the Montreal General Hospital, voiced his displeasure on Facebook last week after he was told he couldnt shop at a Pharmaprix in the Montreal borough of LaSalle.

It didnt feel good, Springer said in a subsequent interview. I dont know how to better describe it.

Springer was asked by a clerk when he entered the store if he had any symptoms, or if he had been exposed to anyone with symptoms of COVID-19. He said no but explained he worked in a hospital. He says he was then told that someone would shop for him.

At this point, I saw people that I knew from the area and theyre like Whats going on? Why are you standing on the side?  Springer said. Well, apparently I cant be a public servant and shop at the same.

The pharmacy referred questions to parent company Loblaw, which said in a statement that such measures have been adopted by up to a quarter of Quebec pharmacists and are not corporately directed.

Bertrand Bolduc, president of Quebecs order of pharmacists, said all pharmacies across the province have strict hygiene measures in place to limit the spread of COVID-19. About a quarter of them have gone even further and operate under closed-door conditions.

Those pharmacies are closed to the public, he said. Employees will do the shopping for customers and make home deliveries or hand off products to clients in the parking lot.

As for the businesses that refuse to let certain health workers into the stores, Bolduc said its the pharmacy owners decision to make.

There isnt anyone in Quebec who is being deprived of the services of a pharmacy, Bolduc said in an interview Wednesday. And each owner is doing what they feel is right for their pharmacy.

Springer says he was frustrated and eventually left the store without making any purchases. He also says he endured a similar experience at a bank, when his financial adviser explained they would be limiting contact with health-care workers.

Denyse Joseph, vice-president of the provincial nurses union says she has heard similar stories of nurses being denied service from two other businesses. She says she has yet to hear of any formal complaints.

Its not because youre a health-care professional that youll automatically contaminate people around you, Joseph said.

We know what precautions we have to take. Theyre very, very cautious about the precaution not to contaminate either other health-care professionals  patients and families, she said of the provinces nurses. I think we have to trust their judgment.

The shunning of nurses flies in the face of the premiers regular praise of health-care workers as saviours. You are our guardian angels. Were counting on you, Legault said March 13. You are doing an extraordinary job, and I want to tell you were ready to support you in any way possible.

The TD Bank says it recently met with an unhappy customer who says she was refused service at a branch in Montreals West Island because she is an intensive care nurse.

Golda McLean, told radio station CJAD that when she went to the branch March 30, she was asked if she had any contact with the coronavirus.

When she said yes, she said she was told: No, Im sorryyou guys might be angels but were not serving nurses right now.

Carla Hindman, manager of corporate and public affairs of TD Bank said bank officials have since met with McLean and resolved her needs.

To help curb the spread of COVID-19 and protect our colleagues and other customers, we continue to ask customers not to come into the branch if their needs arent urgent and necessary to do in person, Hindman said in a statement.

Instead, we are inviting them to do their banking online, via our mobile app, ATM or telephone banking wherever possible.

By Julian McKenzie
Terror first, COVID-19 next: Pakistan activates multiple launch pads along LoC

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 10: The world is fighting one of the deadliest pandemics and nations have come together to battle one of the worst crisis ever.

However, in Pakistan, which is also facing a severe problem owing to COVID-19, terror cells and operations continue in full swing. Despite the virus spreading like wildfire, Pakistan has lined up scores of terrorists and is looking to push them into India. Terror activity in Pakistan continues unabated, an Intelligence Bureau official told OneIndia.

They are looking to take advantage of the situation and send in as many terrorists as possible into Jammu and Kashmir, the officer also said. Terrorists of both the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad have been sent closer to the border and Pakistan has been looking for an opportunity to send them into India. The IB picked up intercepts that suggested that Pakistan has activated its launch pads along the Line of Control and the International Border.

ISIS suspends all terror activity in wake of coronavirus

The officer cited above said that Pakistan is taking advantage of the situation, while the security forces are busy with helping the administration fight against the coronavirus outbreak. The officer said that the launchpads have at least 200 terrorists waiting to infiltrate. Pakistan also resorts to ceasefire violations even in today's situation so that they can provide cover fire to the terrorists.

There has been a huge mobilisation that has been taking place since February. These terrorists numbering around 200 came in batches. Today, they are looking to take advantage of the situation and infiltrate to the LoC and International Border.

The recent operation in the Keran sector showed that Pakistan continued with its terror activities. Five terrorists were killed in the operation, while, five elite commandoes too were martyred.

Terror business as usual at Balakot a year after it was hit

Pakistan has been losing terrorists by the dozen in the various encounters in the Valley.

They have lost a good number of overground workers and terrorists. Most of the top commanders have been wiped out and Home Ministry data for January-February show that 24 terrorists were killed while 48 were arrested. This explains the desperation, the IB officer says.
ALL testing for Covid-19 in the TCI is conducted by laboratories outside the TCI, however Health Minister Hon. Edwin Astwood hopes that will soon change.





He spoke about his plans during his ministerial statement in the House of Assembly on Tuesday (April 7).





Astwood explained that tests are currently being sent to labs in the Bahamas and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) in Trinidad.





"Results from the Bahamas take 48 hours from the time sent, and from CARPHA the turnaround time was usually 72 to 96 hours.





There are two main types of tests, he said, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and an antibody test.





"The PCR test tells you if you currently have the virus by locating coronavirus gene sequences and creating multiple copies that can then be easily detected.





"This typically requires a nose or throat swab.





"An antibody test, this test can tell whether you have had the virus by looking for the Covid-19 antibodies in the blood from a finger prick.





Astwood said that his ministry has bought three PCR machines from three different sources, however due to shipment routes logistics, the arrival dates were delayed.





"This capacity is something that the ministry has been vigorously trying to get in place here in the country for the past six weeks, he explained.





"Public Health England (PHE) has ordered a standard PCR analyser (QuantStudio 5) along with the necessary accessories and training.





"The analyser is being built by the manufacturer and PHE shall advise when the analyser will arrive.





He said that PHE has bought 10 testing kits (PCR reagents-960 test) which are scheduled to be released this week.





Meanwhile additional testing kits will be made available during the upcoming weeks.





"An order has been placed for a PCR hood. This equipment is necessary for the manipulation of samples when using the standard PCR analyser.





"A rapid closed system PCR analyser (GeneXpert IV) along with 500 test kits has been procured.





"This analyser has four modules (four simultaneous tests) and can return a result in approximately 45 minutes (prep time not included).





"The vendor has informed that the analyser will be ordered during the current week and we can expect to receive the equipment during this week of April 6.





"A standard PCR analyser (QuantStudio 5- 96-well) is also on order. The vendor has indicated that delivery would be in two weeks, Astwood said.





The minister stressed that while the ministry is comfortable with testing being done outside the territory, having tests done on island is the ultimate goal.





"This lesson is a bittersweet moment for me; bitter because were not equipped to deliver this coronavirus testing, like many of the countries who already had PCR machines in their laboratories to facilitate testing, and only had to order the specific testing kits and reagents.





"Sweet because now persons realise why it was a bad idea to close down, disassemble, and take to pieces the Government laboratories that myself and others like Carol Mills, Shanwell Gardiner, Tanya Parker, and other lab staff at that time had taken years to build capacity in both Grand Turk and Providenciales, to bring to an ISO 7,000 accredited laboratories which at that time tested for just about everything of Medical Importance, with all the specialized analysers and safety equipment.





"It was the wrong thing to do, it was a bad thing to do, and now all can realise why they should have listened to us.





Beds and isolation sites

In updating the House of Assembly on the health ministrys operations, Astwood revealed that more beds are now available at quarantine sites.





"The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Infrastructure have aggressively sought out addition bed/isolation capacity to add to those in the twohospitals, Cockburn Town Medical Centre and Cheshire Hall Medical Centre.





He continued: "We have been successful in sourcing and additional 45 apartments (70 rooms) on the island of Providenciales.





"In Grand Turk the Government is in the process of finalising an additional 16 rooms.





"In South Caicos and North Caicos, potential properties have been identified and the negotiation process commenced.





This, he said, will give the territory greater capacity to care and treat those that may become infected.





"The saying goes, It is better to have it and dont need it, then to need it and dont have it.





The Ministry of Health has also assisted with the transfer of three long stay patients from Cockburn Town Medical Centre to the Wellness Centre - freeing up additional bed space.





PPE and ventilators

The Health Ministry currently has in stock about 8,000 N95 masks, with an additional 12,000 in shipment, Astwood said.





"We will also be placing another order for 30,000 masks, as this initial 20,000 will be for all the frontline staff which include the health teams, police, immigration, prison officers, wellness centre workers.





Astwood said currently there are five ventilators in Providenciales and two ventilators in Grand Turk.





"We have actively been sourcing and additional 10 ventilators, which is delayed in arrival due to shipping logistics.





Turning his attention to additional human resources, the health minister said a request has been made to Cuba through the Cuban consulate to augment existing personnel at the hospital and the ministry.





"Feedback is expected to be received this week.





"The specialists sought after to support ICU capacity includes physicians and nurses as well as medical officers, public health nurses, EMTs and EHOs to support the Ministry of Health.




With no individual being allowed inside the hospital for Coronavirus tests since yesterday, it came as a much needed break for the staffers

Hyderabad: For the doctors, medical staff and private security personnel at the Gandhi hospital, a majority of whom were working round-the-clock -- the past one month had been gruelling amid a war like situation. Leave alone treating Coronavirus positive patients, they were at their wits end dealing with hundreds of individuals who were put in isolation wards, awaiting test reports.

While they continue to be in the frontline as they treat the Coronavirus positive patients, today was the first day after a long tiring month that the entire Gandhi hospital staff was able to breathe easy, slightly. With no individual being allowed inside the hospital for Coronavirus tests since yesterday, it came as a much needed break for hundreds of staffers at the hospital.

Another piece of relaxing news came in the form of shifting of the Gynaecology ward of Gandhi hospital to the Government Maternity hospital at Sultan Bazaar -- a move aimed at making Gandhi hospital exclusively for Coronavirus positive patients.

''Ever since the numbers of those who had to undergo tests began increasing, our patience and professionalism was put to test. Due to the massive rush, test reports would take two or more days and keeping them under strict watch in isolation wards was a challenging task. Many would get angry, abuse us and we had to bear their tantrums all the time,'' a doctor at the hospital told Deccan Chronicle.

Ever since the outbreak of the killer virus, several hundreds have got themselves tested at Gandh hospital and the real trouble started when more individuals started pouring in while the numbers of those awaiting test reports in isolation wards was already high.

He said that now that tests are no more done at the hospital, it was a first slightly relaxed day for them. ''But we are keeping our fingers crossed as we hope and pray the number of Coronavirus positive patients does not go up,'' he added.

At the main entrance of the hospital, an ambulance came to a halt this afternoon. ''Have you com here for testing ?'' enquired one of the security guards to a man seated in the ambulance. When he replied in the affirmative, the guard told him that he needed to proceed to the government hospital in King Koti for tests and isolation.

''Many persons came for tests since yesterday but we directed them to Koti hospital. Till a couple of days ago, we had to escort the persons to the help desk, take them in a lift to the seventh floor for Coronavirus test. We had to keep an eye on them as they would just disappear anywhere after waiting for several hours for tests. After the tests too, we had to be very watchful of them when they were in the isolation wards for a day or two. Now, all of this is over,'' said a security guard at the hospital.

The police too has stepped up security at the hospital -- with barricades all through till the main entrance, a sub-inspector and four constables on each floor. They further increased their strength at the hospital today.

''All these days when people were coming in for testing, the hospital resembled a overcrowded market with so much chaos and confusion. We were literally on the edge and on our toes all through, running around to get test reports, attend to those in isolation wards, testing them and then bear with them. It is indeed a major relief now,'' said a medical staffer at the hospital.

He said that now, all their energies will remain focused on treating the coronavirus positive patients alone. ''This way, we can get much better results and our confidence levels go up,'' he added.

GYNAECOLOGY WARD SHIFTED FROM GANDHI

Meanwhile, the gynaecology ward in Gandhi hospital has now been shifted to a premises in the Government Maternity Hospital, Sultan Bazaar.

Hospital sources said that the shifting of equipment and furniture from the gynaecology ward to the Sultan Bazar maternity hospital was completed by this evening.

All the doctors, nurses, lab technicians and other staff in the gynaecology ward were asked to report at Sultan Bazar from tomorrow. They will be working in three shifts.

''A separate building has been made available in Sultan bazar maternity hospital where the gynaecology ward of Gandhi hospital has been shifted. It will start functioning from tomorrow,'' sources said.

Over the past one week, four deliveries were performed at the ward in Gandhi hospital. ''The women had been admitted as they were suspected to be infected with Coronavirus. But luckily, all have tested negative and they will be discharged shortly,'' they said. On an average, over 30 deliveries are performed at Gandhi hospital daily.
Nature magazine, which was founded in England in 1869, is considered a respectable publication. It published important scientific papers, including groundbreaking studies about nuclear fission, the neutron, pulsars, and the human genome. Nature was the outlet in which Watson and Crick published their discoveries about the structure of DNA.

From its inception, though, it was known for advancing a progressive political agenda. That's why, in the early 20th century, it enthusiastically embraced eugenics, a wholly Progressive notion.

A century on, Nature still embraces Progressive crackpot ideas. In addition to promoting climate change "science," it takes its marching orders from China. In its April edition, the editors have announced that China's connection to COVID-19 must be sent into an Orwellian memory hole. Nature's editors humbly apologize for ever having been so insensitive as to draw any connection between China and COVID-19:

When the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in February that the disease caused by the new coronavirus would be called COVID19, the name was quickly adopted by organizations involved in communicating public-health information. As well as naming the illness, the WHO was implicitly sending a reminder to those who had erroneously been associating the virus with Wuhan and with China in their news coverage  including Nature. That we did so was an error on our part, for which we take responsibility and apologize.

Nature doesn't stop with apologizing for associating China with a disease that originated in China, that China hid from the world, that ran rampant in China, killing untold thousands of people, and that has overwhelmed the rest of the world, killing many thousands more and destroying Western economies. When you're a leftist, though, re-education demands more than an apology.

That's why, after explaining that the WHO (which is run by an Ethiopian Marxist who is China's puppet) has mandated that it's morally wrong to call diseases by their geographic places of origin, the editors named names. China may not be at fault, but others are:

And yet, as countries struggle to control the spread of the new coronavirus, a minority of politicians are sticking with the outdated script. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly associated the virus with China. Brazilian lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro  the son of President Jair Bolsonaro  has called it "China's fault". Politicians elsewhere, including in the United Kingdom, are also saying that China bears responsibility.

To justify their caving to Chinese pressure about the virus's origins, the editors say that "it's clear that since the outbreak was first reported," Asian people around the world have been the victims of racism. There's no evidence of this kind of mass racism, and Nature's editors make no effort to point to evidence. It's enough that "it's clear."

Having abased themselves, scolded wrongdoers, and summoned up hordes of hypothetical victims, Nature's editors get down to the real problem, which is the fact that Chinese students studying abroad will be going home:

Law-enforcement agencies say they are making investigation of hate crimes a high priority, but such inquiries might come too late for some, including many of the more than 700,000 Chinese undergraduate, master's and PhD students studying at universities outside China. The majority are in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Many have returned home while their institutions are closed owing to lockdowns, and many might not return. Students are hesitating to come back, in part because of fears of continuing racism, along with uncertainty over the future of their courses and not knowing when international travel will resume.

Regarding the students heading home to China, the editors bemoan the loss of "a diverse campus body" and the disruption for the young Chinese scholars, but the words sound hollow. Here's the real problem: wherever they go, students from China pay full fare. In 20162017, international students from all over the world brought $37 billion to America. Of those students, 30% came from China.

That number may have dropped under the Trump presidency, with Chinese students shifting to England (home to Nature) as their preferred venue. Even without that increase, China was the biggest source of international students in Britain. In 2018, the BBC reported that, in addition to paying tuition fees (which British students don't), international students added 20 billion to the British economy, with most of this money coming from China.

If you follow the money, it looks as if Nature's humble obeisance to China has more to do with money than with principles. Whatever the reason, Nature's Orwellian effort to absolve China of the blame it deserves for unleashing a world pandemic is every bit as disgraceful today, in the early 21st century, as Nature's embrace of eugenics was in the early 20th century.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a press conference at the presidential office in Taipei on January 22, 2020.

Taiwan says it has been unable to get timely information and that Taiwanese lives have been put at risk. The WHO denies this.

Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO, due to China's objections, has infuriated the Taipei government during the coronavirus outbreak.

Taiwan, claimed by China as its sacred territory, has responded angrily to WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's assertion that "racist slurs" against him had originated in Taiwan, and demanded he apologize saying the accusations are nonsense.

China has accused Taiwan of "venomously" attacking the World Health Organization (WHO), seeking independence and conniving with internet users to spread racist comments, after the agency's chief said racist slurs against him had come from the island.

In a statement late on Thursday, China's Taiwan Affairs Office took aim at the "Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities", referring to Taiwan's ruling party and the usual wording Beijing uses for the island's democratically elected government.

"The DPP authorities are unscrupulously using the virus to seek independence, venomously attacking the WHO and its responsible people, conniving with the green internet army to wantonly spread racist comments," it said. "We strongly condemn this."

Green is the DPP's party color. China believes the DPP is seeking Taiwan's formal independence, but President Tsai Ing-wen says they are already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name.

However, Taiwan's Justice Ministry said on Friday that Twitter posts purported to be from Taiwanese people apologizing to Tedros for being racist about him, were actually posted by people in China.

"There is a concern it is a deliberate operation by overseas forces," the ministry's Investigation Bureau said.

"Falsely claiming to be Taiwanese and openly admitting to racist attacks on WHO Director General Tedros and begging forgiveness seriously damages our country's international reputation," it added in a statement.

Some Twitter users have begun using the hashtag in English #ThisAttackComesFromTaiwan to tweet out the positive things that come from the island, including its democratic system and being the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.

"Our assistance to allies in Central America has arrived safely. The people of Taiwan are proud to help friends in time of need," Foreign Minister Joseph Wu tweeted using that hashtag, above a picture of supplies to fight the coronavirus being offloaded from an aircraft.

Taiwan says China also continues to apply military pressure during the virus crisis.

On Friday, the island's Defense Ministry said Chinese H-6 bombers and J-11 fighters again carried out drills near Taiwan, above waters to its southwest. The ministry said Taiwan's air force kept close watch.
Three men were said to have been lucky to escape with their lives after a gun attack in Omagh.

Police said masked and armed men forced their way into a house in the Mullaghmore Drive area in the early hours of Friday, April 10.

They demanded money, attacked three men before firing a number of shots inside the home and fleeing the scene in a silver vehicle.

Police said the victims suffered injuries to their faces, head and body and two were treated at the scene by paramedics.

"The three victims were extremely lucky to escape with their lives," said police.

SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan described the incident as "deplorable".

It is equally sickening and deplorable to hear of this incident in Omagh that could have easily led to the loss of life," he said.

"This could easily have led to death. Thankfully there have been no fatalities.

I would encourage anyone with information to come forward to the PSNI. These types of crimes need to be eradicated from society.

Alliance Omagh Councillor Stephen Donnelly said he was "outraged and angry the people of Omagh were subjected to this unashamed display of thuggery last night".

There is no place for guns in our community and such barbaric behaviour is is a far cry from the peaceful and safe society we are striving to build," he said.

"My thoughts are with those men assaulted in what must have been a traumatic incident.

I urge anyone with information on this disgraceful attack to contact police with it immediately so those behind it can be brought to justice.

Detective Constable Una McKenna said: "This was a brazen and reckless attack, for which there is no justification.

"It is fortunate we are not dealing with serious injury or worse today.

"Enquiries are underway to establish a motive for this attack and who was involved, and I would urge anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area just prior to, or around midnight, or has information which may assist our investigation to call us on 101, and quote reference number 7 of 10/04/20.

"Alternatively call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."
The fully loaded semi-trailer was 12 hours north of Sydney on its journey to Cairns when it got the call. Laden with stands, fittings, temporary walls, TV screens and more, it was destined for an orthodontic exhibition but was told the event was off - another casualty of COVID-19.

It was part of a growing snowball of lost work for Sydney business Expo Centric, which makes stands, displays and provides equipment for trade shows and exhibitions. In the aftermath, Expo Centric owner Stan Kruss had no choice but to lay off about three dozen staff as work dried up and exhibitions were put on hold.

Expo Centric chief executive Stan Kruss with a large containment screen and home desks manufactured at his Rydalmere factory. Credit:Edwina Pickle

"The 3rd of March was Expo Centric's 11th birthday, we had 58 staff and we were looking at having our best year," Kruss says. But the loss of work saw the company "cut back to the bare bones", dropping down to 20 staff.

But after talking to industry contacts, Kruss learnt his counterparts in Europe had switched their operations to manufacturing much-needed protective containment screens for retail outlets and partitions for hospitals.
He was savagely beaten with truncheons, fists and kicks until he fell to the ground, but the punishment continued, said a criminal complaint filed on behalf of Sofiane Naoufel El Allaki, a 21-year-old deliveryman for Amazon, by a Paris human rights lawyer, Samim Bolaky.

The screams of Mr. El Allaki penetrated the whole neighborhood, the complaint said.

This is not about confrontation, Mr. Bolaky said. This is not urban violence. The streets are deserted. They didnt even ask him for his release form. He didnt resist at all.

The police in the Essone department, where the incident took place, did not respond to a specific inquiry about Mr. El Allakis claims. Mr. El Allakis case is one of several involving police violence being investigated by prosecutors.

Mr. Esmili, the sociologist, warned that the way the authorities were enforcing the lockdown was only reinforcing the worst expectations of many in Frances poorest areas.

Look, the state is completely ignoring how people live in these neighborhoods, he said. Its only response to them is an excess of authoritarianism. And the people are beginning to understand, the only response is police force.
The Pimpri-Chinchwad police here on Thursday filed FIRs against seven people for moving out of their houses without covering their face with a mask amidst the coronavirus spread.

The seven have been booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code by police.

According to the police, all accused were roaming outside in Kudlewadi area of Chikhali without wearing a mask yesterday.

After the coronavirus cases increased in the city, Pune administration on Wednesday made it mandatory for locals to wear a mask in public places.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In pandemic times, the best effort is to come together and display a gesture of solidarity.

As India fights COVID-19, Chitkara University administration, faculty and support staff have come together to participate in the cause by donating their one day salary to PM CARES Fund, Punjab Chief Minister Relief Fund and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Relief Fund.

With the coronavirus outbreak, 22 countries globally are in complete lockdown, while 90 other countries have partial lockdown to arrest the rapid spread of the virus.

With the preventive measures as the only weapon, India has displayed a great spirit in fighting against coronavirus. Timely actions ensured we do not have a rapid spread.

Chitkara University joins the nation's cause by spreading awareness, keeping the campuses clean and by practising social distancing.

Chitkara University salutes the doctors, medical staff and non-medical staffs who are working round the clock to keep us safe. International medical journals are also recognizing the efforts of India's fight against the coronavirus.

Chitkara University also appreciates the spirit of the common man during the lockdown for showcasing the highest levels of discipline.

"We are going through the toughest part that our generation has not witnessed earlier. We need to stand united and work hard towards restoring things to normal. The governments are doing their role to perfection. I would like to thank all the Chitkara University staff for rising to the occasion and contributing to the nation's cause. All of us at Chitkara University hope the situation comes to control at the earliest across the country", said Ashok Chitkara, Chancellor at Chitkara University.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 18:21:18|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

KUWAIT CITY, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait reported on Friday 83 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 993, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The new cases include two Kuwaiti citizens who returned from Britain, the statement said.

It added that 77 cases have a history of contact with infected patients and the cause of the infection for the other four cases is still under investigation.

So far, 869 patients are receiving treatment, including 26 in ICU, the statement noted.

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Minister of Health Bassel Al-Sabah announced the recovery of 12 patients from the coronavirus, raising the total number of recoveries in the country to 123.

On April 4, Kuwait reported the first death case of COVID-19.

The Kuwaiti government has decided to impose a nationwide curfew to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

On March 13, Kuwait suspended all commercial flights. The government also decided to close stores, malls and barbershops.
TRAVERSE CITY  It wasn't the homecoming that Rev. Alex Kowalkowski expected.

For over two years, the Manistee Catholic Central graduate has lived and studied in Rome in the hope of returning to Michigan as an ordained deacon, nearly ready to assume the responsibilities of priesthood.

Though Kowalkowski was set to return in June after his current semester wrapped up, plans changed as the coronavirus pandemic swept across Italy.

On March 10, Kowalkowski was informed by Bishop Steven Raica of Diocese of Gaylord that he was being recalled from Rome early, and within 18 hours the seminarian had boarded a flight back to the United States.

"I pulled an all-nighter, packed up my whole room and then left the next morning," Kowalkowski said. "By the time I got here it was midnight on (March 11) and I had been up for about 48 hours."

After returning, Kowalkowski was quarantined at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Traverse City.

"I came here for my two week quarantine and now I'm staying here to finish out this semester. So I can study and also help out with daily mass and weekend mass, which is a great gift," Kowalkowski said.

Though Kowalkowski's quarantine ended March 25, he has remained at the church to complete the training he would have received in Rome. He anticipates receiving his ordination as priest on June 20 at St. Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel's Cathedral in Gaylord.

"Right now we're still doing classes and we're still planning on doing exams, but it will be in some modified format," he said.

Within two weeks of Kowalkowski's evacuation, the entire seminary had sent people back to the United States.

"The hardest thing was just realizing that there probably wasn't going to proper closure," he said. "Even just to say 'goodbye' considering the circumstances brings some closure. There were people that I wasn't able to say goodbye to. They found out after I left that I was leaving."

Kowalkowski said that Italy had changed dramatically during the outbreak and bore little resemblance to the country he had come to love.

"It was eerie," he said. "The Italian culture is known for its hospitality and its warmth and to see Rome with empty streets was sad, because you got a sense that it was something very serious, and also something they were taking very seriously. Just to see a place where you felt the sun was always shining, and it wasn't during those couple weeks."

While social distancing has separated many Christians physically, Kowalkowski said that moments like this can still bring people closer to God.

"At least in the Diocese of Gaylord, for Catholic churches the bishop has asked that all the churches remain unlocked and open during the day so that people can still go in and pray  to the blessed Sacrament, Jesus and the Tabernacle," Kowalkowski said. "I think that it's important that the churches remain open just for individual prayer. I would encourage people to pray and to seek faith because I truly believe that this is a time of the Lord asking us to turn back to him."
President Nana Akufo-Addo has urged Ghanaians to remain patient and cooperate with the government in the fight against the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.



The President, during his 6th address to the nation on the COVID-19, stated that the fight against the pandemic is not over though the country has recorded considerably mild cases of the virus infections.



He disclosed that the number of cases recorded in Ghana currently stands at 378 but assured Ghanaians, in view of the measures put in place to remedy the situation; "the final result hopefully will be freedom from the virus".



'' . . this fight is not yet over. We are by no means out of the woods yet. As I said, we now have in total 378 confirmed cases of the infections with six (6) deaths, four (4) recoveries, two (2) in critical condition and the remaining 370 are mild cases who are in isolation and either being managed at home or at treatment centers. Fellow Ghanaians, I've come to you this evening to ask for your continued patience as we continue to implement and extend the efforts that have so far proven to be helpful. It is important that we stay the course and bear with the difficulties that come with it," he stressed.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
In an April 9 briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was asked about the U.S. State Departments decision to include a group known as the Russian Imperial Movement on its list of foreign terrorist organizations. Zakharova said she was aware of the decision and complained about double standards.

However, we have long had questions regarding what the United States is guided by in including or not including certain organizations on its blacklists [of terrorist organizations], she said.

As you know, Washington has long refused to add the ISIS group to them. But I think it would have been worth looking at that. But Washington calculated that this structure might possibly be useful for fighting the legitimate Syrian authorities.

The claim is false.

The United States added the Islamic State group to its list of terrorist organizations on Dec. 17, 2004. At that time, the group had just become known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, after the founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi received permission to be an affiliate in Iraq. Al-Qaeda was added to the State Departments list in 1999.

Even before the 2004 designation, U.S. forces in Iraq were fighting the group and its predecessor, Jamaat al-Tawhid wal Jihad (The Organization of Monotheism and Jihad). By the time the Syrian uprising began in 2011, the Islamic State group had already been on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations for nearly seven years.

Zakharovas suggestion that the United States saw Islamic State as an enemy of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria ignores history. From 2010 up to its resurgence in the summer of 2014, the group had been all but defeated by U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. raid in 2006. In 2010, another U.S.-led raid killed two subsequent leaders of the group  Abu Ayuub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.

In September 2014, after Islamic State rebounded and seized territory in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. formed a global coalition of dozens of countries to defeat it. The coalition still operates and has 82 members.

In Syria, the United States trained and equipped various groups to fight against ISIS, with mixed results. However, support for the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces led to the destruction of Islamic States so-called "caliphate" in Syria, including its self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa, from 2017 through 2018.

Zakharova's remarks came two days after the U.S. State Department said it had added the white-supremacist Russian Imperial Movement to its terrorist list.

The groups leaders, Stalnislav Vorobyev, Denis Gariyev, and Nikolai Trushchalov, were accused of providing training for acts of terrorism that threaten the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and being leaders of such a group.

RIM has provided paramilitary-style training to white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Europe and actively works to rally these types of groups into a common front against their perceived enemies, the State Department charged. RIM has two training facilities in St. Petersburg, which are likely being used for woodland and urban assault, tactical weapons, and hand-to-hand combat training.

The State Department also accused the group of providing training to two Swedish far-right individuals who committed a series of bombings in Gothenburg, Sweden, targeting a refugee shelter, a shelter for asylum seekers, and a cafe, for which they were convicted in Sweden.

Members of the Russian Imperial Movement have fought in the ranks of Russian-led forces in Ukraines Donbas region, and one member was later said to have died in the civil war in Libya, where Russian mercenaries have been spotted.

According to The New York Times, the Russian Imperial Movement is the first white supremacist group to be added to the U.S. terror list. The group is not sponsored by the Russian government, but its activities have been tolerated, the Times said.
Idealism in politics gets too much good press.

When it informs political rhetoric, elevating the pursuit of power and giving it moral shape, idealism has its place. But too often it becomes indistinguishable from magical thinking  from the empirically unfalsifiable conviction that what one's ideological compatriots hope to achieve is so self-evidently wonderful, so obviously pure, so transparently righteous that it is bound to prevail.

Witness the now-defunct presidential campaign of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

I can understand some of Sanders' appeal. For a politician with presidential ambitions, he was refreshingly honest. And he highlighted some of the very real injustices and cruelties of the distinctly Darwinian form of capitalism that prevails in the United States. This enabled him to tap into high levels of discontent among young voters.

But Sanders also campaigned for the presidency in a way that showed an almost absurd disregard for the realities of small-d democratic politics. To win elections, politicians need to build broad coalitions. They need to reach out to voters who don't immediately and instinctually respond to the purest form of their message. As an experienced pol, Sanders obviously knows this. His long-term record on guns and other issues shows that he was quite willing to make moderate moves in his mostly rural home state. But he apparently decided that he wanted to run for president as a prototypical leftist preaching a gospel of political revolution instead.

That made Sanders a quintessential idealist who bought into magical thinking. No wonder it didn't work out for him.

Part of the problem, I suspect, is that he believed his surprisingly impressive showing in 2016 was a function of the widespread appeal of his (in an American context) radical message rather than what it almost certainly was: a combination of genuine enthusiasm among the young and broad-based dislike for Hillary Clinton. Without Clinton as an opponent and foil, Sanders proved incapable of performing the same magic trick again, let alone building on it.

Story continues

This was obscured for a time by his campaign's continued strength at organizing caucuses (in Iowa and Nevada) and by a field that was deeply divided during the opening weeks of the primaries. If that division continued, there was a small chance that Sanders could have reproduced Donald Trump's 2016 inside straight and eeked out a plurality victory in the race for delegates. But as soon as the competition dropped out, that path became impossible. In the end, Sanders won fewer states this time around (9) than Rick Santorum did in the GOP primaries eight years ago (11).

Which is pretty much what one would expect from a man who insisted on referring to himself as a socialist, despite polling that consistently showed the unpopularity of the term. And who loved to point to different polls that showed strong support for Medicare-for-all, while dismissing many others that revealed serious apprehensions about it when its painful corollaries (like the abolition of private insurance and a gargantuan price tag) were presented to respondents.

Go right on down the line of the campaign's policy positions and the candidate's revolutionary rhetoric on the stump and in debates: At no point was there the slightest sign of an inclination toward moderation, compromise, or conciliation; no acknowledgement of a need for trade-offs or adjustment of expectations in the face of economic or fiscal limits; no sense that Sanders understood that lots of people besides his billionaire betes noires prefer something between socialism and the cartoonishly pro-business approach of present-day Republicans; or that many millions of Americans both deeply dislike the current president and yet have no desire to see $60 trillion in new government spending.

None of that seemed to matter to Sanders. He and his supporters wanted what they wanted, and they had faith that if he promised it over and over again without variation, the voters would respond and the candidate would prevail  in the primaries, and then against Trump in the general, and apparently even in the Senate, where of course a socialist president would be incapable of getting even the first piece of his revolutionary program passed without a 60+ majority of left-progressives.

Possible? I suppose it could have happened. Just as it was possible that the primary challenge to Trump by former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld might have taken down the sitting president. It was just exceedingly unlikely. Sanders did much better than Weld at the first part of the electoral triathlon he set for himself. But winning the presidency while sweeping a supermajority of wannabe socialists into both houses of Congress along with him? You've got to be kidding.

This is the fantasy of the true believer who allows himself to forget the political rules  or who assumes he's simply so superhuman that he possesses the power to suspend those rules with his convictions and self-evidently appealing message. Building a broad-based coalition? Setting priorities? Reaching out to segments of the electorate who didn't start out swooning for the candidate? Acting like a retail politician, selling a message to voters, meeting them part way, working to get them to buy in? All of that is beneath the One True Thing and the activists sitting at his feet. (In this respect, the campaign of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was little better. Aside from claiming the capitalist mantel for herself, she resisted drawing policy contrasts with Sanders, appeared to match his radicalism with her hundred-and-one plans for dramatic reform, and actually tried on numerous occasions to outflank him on his left on issues wrapped up with identity politics. All told, Warren proved just as incapable of telegraphing a message of moderation as Sanders.)

A socialist may recoil at the language of marketing and advertising, of buying and selling, but that's the way democratic elections work. Sanders himself never indicated even the slightest inclination toward seeking to gain power through any other means. (Only in his peculiar hesitation to criticize the despotic regimes of self-proclaimed socialists around the globe has he shown any sign of wavering in his support for democracy.) Yet there is a reason that left-wing political movements have so often taken the path of political violence and dictatorship. Absolutism, certainty, and a sense of self-righteousness, along with a distaste for the tawdry and transactional character of retail politics, have tempted many to consider themselves a vanguard entitled to dispense with democratic niceties.

This wasn't Bernie Sanders' way, but neither was the path of pragmatism. That left purity in defeat as the only remaining option. Here's to hoping the leaders to follow him on the left prove as decent  or more willing to play the democratic game to win.

More stories from theweek.com

Women's invisible labor is keeping America going

Coronavirus and the mystery of St. Mark's Easter story

Sting, Jimmy Fallon, and the Roots perform 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' remotely, creatively


Make Vietnam your second home

Although travelling to Vietnam is hardly possible amid the current international health crisis, we all look forward to a future in which we can travel to and live in wherever we want. After reading this article, we hope you would like to join us here in Vietnam. So without any further ado, lets get started with telling you about this amazing country and why you should come here.

EXCITING EXPAT LIFE

Vietnam may not be on everyones radar when it comes to the best places for living and working abroad - yet, many expatriates have given their opinions in a recent survey by InterNations and agreed that the country is among the best two to work and live abroad, right after Taiwan. The survey was conducted in 64 countries and territories with at least 75 respondents for each subcategory to be considered. Respondents could rate several criteria on a scale of one to seven, with some varying weights depending on the category.

According to the survey, there is no better place for finances and working abroad than Vietnam, ranking first in both indices. More than 80 per cent of respondents were satisfied with their finances here, with 96 per cent of them sharing that their disposable household income is enough or even more than enough to cover daily expenses. Vietnam also placed first for both career prospects and job satisfaction, combined with a satisfying work-life balance.

Although there are still improvements in health, traffic, pollution, and public transport necessary to rank higher in the responding categories, 88 per cent of respondents are generally happy with their life in Vietnam. Moreover, with the rapid development that is happening at the moment, the country will certainly improve drastically in these sectors within just a few years. For example, both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will soon launch their metro systems, electrical vehicles are becoming more and more popular, and the digital transformation sweeps through every part of social and economic life.

AMAZING CULTURE

After living, studying, and working in Vietnam for nearly six years, I feel confident in telling you that the Vietnamese are some of the most awesome people on this planet - especially in difficult times like we experience at the moment. And, Im not alone with this opinion. The blogger Keith Hancock wrote the Vietnamese are open hearted, friendly and never seem to stop smiling. A Swiss respondent to InterNations survey said The people are amazing. Other expats agreed and ranked Vietnam fifth for friendliness, with 64 per cent of them saying that it is easy to make local friends. While 75 per cent regard the Vietnamese language as difficult to learn, just 18 per cent find it hard to live in Vietnam without speaking it, the survey also stated. So, do not worry if you are not instantly fluent in Vietnamese.

In addition to its wonderful people, the country has a deep history that goes back thousands of years and is strongly influenced by Chinese, Indian, and some Western cultures, among others. There is so much that is different from what you might be used to, but I can assure you that it is worth discovering. People here will happily share their culture with you, invite you for dinner to their house or for a drink to a nearby bar or bia hoi - essentially a very light and inexpensive beer which is produced and consumed on the same day.

Along with the cultural background goes the vibrant cuisine, which is not only affordable but also delicious. You may have heard about the mouth-watering street food that the country is famous for with travellers - it is true.

If you happen to see an older woman selling some meal on the street greeting you with a smile on her face, you can almost be sure that her food will be as wonderful as her smile while still being very affordable.

Interestingly, Vietnam is also one of the few countries that is not into Western fast food. While we do have some of it here, almost nobody likes it, including myself. Instead, you will find an assortment of typical Vietnamese, Chinese, and even French meals scattered around town, much preferred by most locals and expats. Unlike some stereotypes might let you think, Vietnamese also love yoghurt and other milk products - with some of the wildest flavour combinations you can think of.

STUNNING NATURE

If you love nature, you will love Vietnam. The beautiful Southeast Asian pearl features everything from vast mountainous plateaus, mysterious jungles, and white-sand beaches to scorching deserts - all within an area similar to the size of Germany.

As such, it comes as no surprise that the country boasts many UNESCO World Heritage Sites within its premises, such as the famous Halong Bay, the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, and the Trang An Landscape Complex.

Should you decide to live here, it is easy to rent a car or a motorbike and go on a small trip, even just quickly at the weekend. Apart from the famous tourist destinations, the countrys picturesque nature presents its beauty also often on the way while you are just passing by. So, while you are staying in Vietnam, you can be sure it is going to be the time of your life.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday thanked his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for rushing a five-tonne cargo of medicines, including anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, seen as a possible cure for COVID-19.

"Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!", Netanyahu said in a tweet Thursday evening.

The Israeli's PM's thanked India two days after a plane carrying materials used to make medicines for treating coronavirus patients arrived in Israel from India on Tuesday.

The five tonne shipment included ingredients for drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, being seen worldwide as the best possible cure as of now for treating COVID-19 patients.

The dreaded coronavirus has infected nearly 10,000 people in Israel and claimed 86 lives. As many as 121 others are on ventilators in serious condition.

The Indian consignment reached Israel within days after Netanyahu spoke to Modi on April 3, requesting supply of hydroxychloroquine, with India being the world's largest producer and exporter of the drug.

India, however, had to restrict its export to meet domestic contingencies.

Netanyahu had been in touch with Modi ever since the coronavirus crisis erupted. He had made a special request on March 13 asking the Indian prime minister to approve and allow export of masks and pharmaceuticals to Israel.

"I also spoke to the prime minister of India, my friend Narendra Modi. We are dependent on supply lines from various countries. We are looking into it all the time," Netanyahu had then said addressing a press conference.

The Israeli leader spoke to Modi a second time on April 3 to discuss various steps to deal with the coronavirus crisis.

Several countries have been experimenting with hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus symptoms. US President Donald Trump recently touted its potential in treating COVID-19 positive patients, requesting India to help his country with supplies.

Experts, however, have urged caution until bigger trials validate hydroxychloroquine's efficacy. Chloroquine can have potentially serious side effects, especially in high doses or when administered with other medications.

Netanyahu's thanks to India followed soon after US President Donald Trump described Modi as "terrific" for allowing the export of hydroxychloroquine to the US, seen as a possible cure for COVID-19, saying India's help in the extraordinary times "will not be forgotten".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In todays increasingly secular world, its becoming tougher to live a Christian life. In fact, in Dare to Live Greatly, L.C. (Larry) Fowler, a graduate of Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL (BUD/S) Class 89, argues that to follow Christ today requires Navy SEAL-like toughness. No matter how dire the circumstances, a SEAL will never give upnor should any Christian.

With the coronavirus sweeping the world this Easter Sunday, here are a few tips from the lens of Christian warrior:

(1) Youre not in control so why worry? Its a waste of time to worry about what you cannot control. Worry will not add one minute to your life and makes it impossible for you to be a light for others or fulfill your God-given purpose. Bottom line, dont be a burden on others, or worsea faith coward.

(2) Listen wisely. Live wisely. God gave you science so do your due diligence. Practice safe distancing, wash your hands, and stay away from groups.

(3) Be active and be Jesus. Find opportunities to serve a retired neighbor, someone who is ill and needs groceries. If avoiding physical contact, make calls to let others know you care. If we do not take action to love others, were nothing more than a clanging cymbal.

What a great time to think about our God-given purpose on Easter Sundayhow we can best serve and love others. With 90% of our thoughts about self, can you imagine how much less anxiety wed have in America if we could reframe our self-focus to become others-focused?

Our BUD/S class 89 motto was The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday. Our class plaque with these inscribed words remains in the BUD/S compound in Coronado, CA, today. The advice couldnt be timelier during COVID-19. Dont become burdened with fear, anxieties, or worry but keep moving forward. Believe. Trust. And always thrive forward like a Navy SEAL fighting to survive training.

You can download Dare to Live Greatly free through Easter. This not just another SEAL book.

No other book juxtaposes Christian living to something as demanding as Hell Week, the Tijuana mud flats, or Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL training in Coronado, California.

Last week the secular Nonfiction Authors Association awarded Dare to Live Greatly its highest award commenting, (this book) wouldnt normally be my choice of book, but it draws you in to see links between being a SEAL and a Christian. This is a powerful story that will resonate with many readers, whatever their religious beliefs.

A Medal of Honor Gold Star family member who lost his brother in the Vietnam War sent this note to Fowler, I am enclosing my brother Mikes challenge coin to thank you for not only serving our country but for opening up to tell the world about your Christianity You are truly a breath of fresh air in our crazy society of today.

Raised in Rossville, Georgia, Fowler gave up college to follow his dream of attending Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL (BUD/S) training and become a famed member of the Navy Special Warfare community. The only problem was he didnt know how to swim.

According to S. Rawding, SEAL, BUD/S Class 89 classmate, "I witnessed this man who would rather drown trying than give up his dream of becoming a SEAL. Larry became a shining example of never giving up on your dream."

Fowler was selected by his peers at Navy basic training as their "Honor Man," and was an invited guest at the White House. More importantly, he has trained with Christian personnel across the globe, including Pakistan, Indonesia, China, and other countries at all organizational levels.

Fowler now resides in Destin, Florida. He is a Lymphoma cancer survivor and he has learned to live each day to the max.

Download Dare to Live Greatly now through April 12, 2020 (Easter Sunday).
Intel Corp., the worlds largest chipmaker, saw demand pick up in the first quarter, buoyed by orders for personal computers needed to help people work from home during the coronavirus outbreak.

Its somewhat logical and intuitive. Where our lives are disrupted and we need to do more and more things from our home, we need to ensure we have the technology at our disposal so things can go on as normal as possible, Chief Executive Officer Bob Swan said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

What that has meant is demand for more and more devices, including PCs, for parents to continue to conduct their work and for kids to continue their education.

Swans company dominates the markets for processors that run PCs and the server machines that act as the backbone of corporate networks and cloud-data centers. Demand for more expensive server chips is also higher as companies and service providers improve the systems needed to connect work PCs in peoples homes.

Companies around the world  including Intel  have sent employees home in compliance with government orders aimed at containing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. That shift has provoked a rush to invest in the infrastructure that keeps people working remotely.

Analysts and investors are now looking for signals on whether thats a short-term lift that will subside as lower economic activity takes a toll on corporate and consumer spending, or whether it is a lasting trend.

Intel is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings on April 23 and is expected to give projections for the current period. In January, before the virus had spread around the world, the company forecast about $19 billion in revenue for the March quarter.

The chipmaker was partly prepared for a surge in demand because it was already expecting a strong quarter and had facilities geared up to produce more components, Swan said.

The Santa Clara, California-based company is now working hard to convince governments that its operations are essential and should be exempt from closures, he said.

Now read: The best new gaming laptops with Nvidia RTX Super graphics
NPP Parliamentary candidate for Klottey Korley constituency, Prince Appiah Debrah on Wednesday, 8th April 2020, donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to health workers at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge) in Accra as part of his contributions towards the fight against coronavirus pandemic.



The presentation, according to Lawyer Prince Debrah, is to support the work of frontline health personnel as they treat victims of COVID-19.



The items included nose masks, protective gloves, hand sanitizers and other materials.



Lawyer Debrah thanked the health workers for their dedication, hard work and sacrifice as the nation fights the pandemic.



He was hopeful the items will help to protect the staff of the hospital as they go about their work.



You are the frontline workers of the population against this common enemy (coronavirus) disease and it is incumbent on us to appreciate your effort to be able to protect us All of us in Ghana appreciate the work you are doing. Thank you, he said.



Medical Director in charge of the Ridge Hospital, Dr. Emmanuel Srofenyoh, also express gratitude to Lawyer Debrah for the support and pledged the hospital will use the items for its purpose.







Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
An empty street in Manhattans Chinatown on March 31. Photo: Braulio Jatar/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Standing in the middle of a sparsely populated Pell Street  home to barber shops, massage parlors, and the first Manhattan outpost of Joes Shanghai, which helped catapult xiaolongbao, or soup dumplings, to a citywide obsession in the 1990s  cookbook author Grace Young addresses the camera: Im Grace Young. Im known for my expertise in wok cooking. But today, I would like to tell you whats happening in Manhattans Chinatown because of the coronavirus.

This is the first in a series of YouTube videos she has quickly produced along with photographer and videographer Dan Ahn called Coronavirus: Chinatown Stories. The duo met when Young posted to her Instagram account on March 14, asking followers to suggest a videographer to help out her mission to bring business back to the mom-and-pop shops and restaurants that define Chinatown. The following day, they recorded interviews with several restaurant owners  mere hours before it was announced that all New York restaurants would need to cease operations excluding delivery and takeout.

A lot of these restaurants  they dont have a PR company, Ahn says. I volunteered because I thought it was a great way to amplify their needs, their voices  and I just felt like it was the right thing to do.

Now, COVID-19 has inspired a multidisciplinary coalition of professionals-turned-activists who are working around the clock on a shared mission: to save the beloved institution of independent Chinese restaurants, a severely affected sector of the hospitality industry that has seen sales steadily decline since January. These activism efforts  which have been underway since before initiatives to save all restaurants  are now ramping up to provide a badly needed infusion of cash.

Everyones talking about how the restaurant industry operates on razor-thin margins, but in Chinatown its even more so, says Young, who earlier last month wrote an essay in Food & Wine that helped explain why Chinatown small businesses depend on high-volume sales, and are therefore especially susceptible to sudden declines in business. When you see that Le Bernardin has started a GoFundMe for its employees, it tells you how bad it is. Young adds, these Chinese employees have even less.

I noticed Chinatown was definitely quieter on Lunar New Year, but I feel like the media coverage has been kind of sparse, says Jennifer Tam, who works in corporate communications at Foursquare and co-founded Welcome to Chinatown along with her longtime friend Victoria Lee, a corporate strategist at the Estee Lauder Companies.

Both women live in Manhattans Chinatown. Lee grew up visiting her grandmothers apartment there every Saturday, shopping throughout the neighborhood before dinner. And, even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Tam had been on a mission to buy all her food and everyday products from the neighborhoods mom-and-pop shops.

We thought, how can we show our community that we support them and that we care? she says. There is also a cultural and generational component that might contribute to the problem. Chinese people are also really proud, especially the older generation, they dont want to ask for help, Tam explains.

The strategy behind Welcome to Chinatown is twofold. First, they collect funds to pay restaurants for bulk meal orders that will be donated to essential workers. Second, Welcome to Chinatown offers an online hub for restaurants that are still open for takeout and delivery, and for gift cards. They admit it has been challenging to engage with older restaurants that do not have the technology to sell gift cards, or even modern point-of-sale systems, especially now that social distancing limits the ability to have face-to-face conversations.

The immediate goal is to build trust by creating cash from meal orders for essential workers, which everyone can help fund. This week, they plan to deliver 600 meals to nine hospitals in every borough, with friends volunteering to help call restaurants and make delivery runs.

In Bensonhurst, the restaurant Win Parkway has seen success with this bulk order strategy, after partnering with members of the Homecrest senior center. According to Don Lee, a community activist who has been facilitating the exchange, the restaurant has already hired three more staff members and, thanks to this regular business, can now accept takeout and delivery orders from other customers  something that was not worth their while before the initiative.

Seamless is not what they would sign up for, because the cost of getting on Seamless is what their profit margin is, Lee explains. Im hoping we can replicate this model to help keep small restaurants working.

This is the critical moment, says Wellington Chen. Chen is the executive director of the Chinatown Business Improvement District and Chinatown Partnership. He has consulted with Lee, Tam, and pretty much everyone I spoke to for this story on ways to help the neighborhood survive. Theyre looking at four months of rent or mortgage, property tax, and staff wages, he says, and we dont want them to walk away and give up.

In mid-March, Moonlynn Tsai, the co-owner of Kopitiam in Manhattans Chinatown, launched Table to Table with her partner Yin Chang, an actor and founder of the media platform 88 Cups of Tea. The idea was to leverage their existing platform to help out neighboring Chinese restaurants, partly with a series of food tours to help bring about business and awareness.

Shuttered businesses in Manhattans Chinatown. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

They still plan on holding those tours, at a later date when its deemed safe, but now they have partnered with the Chinese-American Planning Council to deliver hot meals to residents in need. They found out from this organization that many seniors in their neighborhood were running out of food because domestic aides could no longer assist them, due to coronavirus social distancing precautions.

We grew up with immigrant grandparents, so that hit a soft spot for us, Tsai says.

Its hard for them to ask for help, adds Chang, noting the cultural taboos around older people asking for help.

Table to Table also makes meals for the staff of Chinatown Partnerships Clean Streets initiative, whose staff have been sanitizing the streets as well as serving as de facto watchdogs in the neighborhood. Kopitiam also recently joined Rethink Food NYCs Restaurant Response Program, making meals for essential workers.

In many ways, these activists only want a return to business as usual. But theyre also responding to an increased threat directed at Chinese restaurants and Asian-Americans around the country, which has been both dangerous and dispiriting.

All that xenophobia and racism, Chang says. People saying that you can get the virus from an Asian person or eating their food, thats so false and so harmful.

Nobody feels exempt from the danger. Just walking back from a gym, someone walked by and said, corona! and spit on me, says Victoria Lee, of Welcome to Chinatown. But I really worry for the large elderly population in the neighborhood  are they going to speak up?

In episode three of Coronavirus: Chinatown Stories, Mei Chau, the chef-owner of the Malaysian-French restaurant Aux Epices lays it out in plain terms: Our workers are afraid for their safety, she says. She then takes a long, measured sigh before going on with the rest: Because  still  we have this xenophobia. And they have to take the subway, and finish work at ten or eleven, and they fear  their family is really worried about their safety.

Wellington Chen lives off the last stop on the 7 train, in Queens  one of the most populated lines still operating. He says he can see all the hardworking folks riding it each day, and he worries for the health and safety of the Chinese restaurant workers. He also worries about the spirit of hope and encouragement thats necessary to see the light at the end of this particular tunnel.

You need to inspire hope because thats the most important thing, he says.

Chen warns the road to recovery for these small businesses will be long, and once they return, they will need more support than ever. But for now, he likens the needs of mom-and-pop Chinese restaurants to a ventilator, except everyone can chip in. A pair of socks might not mean much to a person, but if you are a person who is homeless, it means the world, he explains. So thats why I say even if its a $12 gift certificate, it will be meaningful for somebody.
Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Market Research Future Published a Half Cooked Research Report on Global Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market Research Report  Global Forecast till 2023

Major Players:

Key players leading the Global Automotive Appearance Chemicals Industry include The Dow Chemical Company (US), 3M (US), Meguiars (US), Malco Products Inc (US), Permatex (US), Terra Silikon Teknolojileri ve Kimya (Turkey), General Chemical Corp (US), Nuvite Chemical Compounds (US), and Blue Ribbon Inc (US) among others.

Industry Overview:

Automotive Appearance Chemicals are the substances that protect, maintain, and enhance aesthetics of vehicles, improving the gloss and durability of vehicles. Over the last decade, the Global Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market is growing continually, mainly due to the burgeoning automotive sector that is witnessing increasing unit sale. Moreover, factors such as the increasing demand for these chemicals in the manufacturing of passenger cars are escalating the market on global height.

Acknowledging the spurting growth of the market, Market Research Future (MRFR) in its recently published study report asserts that the Global Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market will garner exponential accruals by 2023 registering phenomenal CAGR throughout the review period (2018 to 2023). Evolving coating technology, overwhelming innovations, and the increasing adoption of this technology is a key driving force behind the growth of the market.

Additional factors that are boosting the growth of the market include the increasing popularity of the Automotive Appearance Chemicals for the aftermarket applications to prolong aesthetic appeals and high life expectancy of vehicles is fostering the market growth. Furthermore, the increase in the use of large volumes of these products by the automotive companies to distinguish their brand by improving shine and durability and also modifying sheeting effect, water beading potential, and feel is also driving the growth of the market.

Conversely, the volatility of prices and demand & supply gap in the raw materials required for the production of these substances are expected to impede the growth of the market. Nevertheless, efforts that key players operating in the market are investing in strengthening their supply chain would, in turn, support the market growth, tackling the raw materials scarcity situations.

Get Free Sample @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/7077

Industry/Innovation/Related News

April 2, 2019  Gold Eagle Co. (the US), maker of 303 Products, that is a premium line of auto detailing products designed to clean, shine, protect, and prolong the time in between waxes, or ceramic coatings announced its partnership with OReilly Auto Parts (the US), a leading retailer in the automotive aftermarket industry for the nationwide retailing of new 303 Touchless Sealant.

Gold Eagles new touchless Sealant is a water-activated wax alternative with hydrophobic technology that lasts up to two times longer than traditional wax and doesnt require wiping or buffing. It takes more time to apply as compared to the lengthy traditional process of vehicle waxing, offering immediate results, as water beads on the paint to indicate the vehicles paint is protected.

Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market  Segmentation

For ease of understanding, the market is segmented into three key dynamics: 

By Product Type: Protectors, Sealants, Polishes & Waxes, and Glass & Wheel Care among others.

By Vehicle Type: Passenger Cars, Light Commercial Vehicles, and Heavy Commercial Vehicles among others.

By Regions: North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Rest-of-the-World.

Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market  Competitive Analysis

Fiercely competitive, the Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market appears to be fragmented due to the presence of numerous matured & small-scale players. These players incorporate strategic initiatives such as partnership, acquisition, expansion, product & technology launch, and collaboration to gain an edge over their competitors. These players are developing their product portfolio focusing on advanced technologies.

The recent trend of developing customized these enhancing solutions is expected to drive the growth of the market, driving the competition further. Manufacturers developing tailor-made aesthetic products are expected to gain an edge over their rivals.

Browse Key Industry Insights spread across 140 pages with 35 market data tables & 12 figures & charts from the report, Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market Information: By Product Type (Protectors, Polishes and Waxes, Sealants, Glass and Wheel Care), Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars, Light Commercial Vehicles, Heavy Commercial Vehicles) and Region  Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast 2023 in detail along with the table of contents: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/automotive-appearance-chemicals-market-7077

Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market  Regional Analysis

The European region, heading with the presence of a significant number of automotive manufacturers accounts for the dominating market in the Global Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market. Factors such as the huge uptake of these products in its flourishing automotive sector predominantly drive the growth of the market.Furthermore, factors such as the implementation of new regulations proposed by the government to follow lightweight and biocompatible resins in the automotive industry are acting as major tailwind propelling the growth of the regional market. Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market in Italy, Germany, France, and the UK led by the growing innovation and technological advancement majorly contribute to the growth of the regional market.

The Asia Pacific Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market accounts for the second-largest market, globally. Factors such as the rapidly augmenting demand especially in China, Japan, and India due to the burgeoning automotive industry in these countries drive the growth of the regional market.

The APAC has been witnessing robust growth in terms of production and sale of the passenger cars and commercial vehicles which as a result is fuelling the demand for Automotive Appearance Chemicals. Continuing with the same growth trends the APAC region is expected to register a phenomenal growth throughout the forecast period.

The North America Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market is rapidly emerging as a profitable market, globally. Factors such as the increase in sales of luxury cars and the rise in spending of the individuals for car care are propelling the growth of the regional market. Continuing with the same growth trends the Automotive Appearance Chemicals Market in the North American region would account for a substantial share in the global market.

Read our Blogs @ http://mrfrblog.com

Related Chemicals and Materials Market Research Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/categories/chemicals-market-report

NOTE: Our team of researchers are studying Covid19 and its impact on various industry verticals and wherever required we will be considering covid19 footprints for a better analysis of markets and industries. Cordially get in touch for more details.

About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.

Contact:

Market Research Future

+1 646 845 9312

Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com
Until we know what is happening, to whom it is happening and where it is happening, we cant begin to sort through these issues. We cant know where to amp up testing, where to dispatch additional food aid, where to send emergency health support. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged this week the toll covid-19 is taking on minorities and noted that theres nothing we can do about it right now except to give them the best possible care. Giving people the best care is fundamental. But if we start collecting the numbers, they likely will point to more that can be done.
WASHINGTONTop Pentagon officials on Thursday defended the $243,000 (U.S.) trip acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly took to visit an aircraft carrier stricken with COVID-19, saying senior military leaders need to have eyes on crises as they happen.

Modly made the 35-hour trip to Guam, where the USS Theodore Roosevelt is docked, aboard a Gulfstream 550 outfitted for military use. Medical personnel are tending to more than 400 sailors sickened by the coronavirus.

Modly visited sailors on the ship and made a 15-minute speech, larded with profanity, that criticized Capt. Brett Crozier, the commander Modly fired for sending a letter to navy officials seeking help for his crew. Modly ridiculed Crozier as too naive and stupid to lead. Modly at first stood by his remarks, then tried to walk them back with an apology.

Because of his possible exposure to coronavirus, he tendered his resignation remotely to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who accepted.

At the Pentagon, Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice-chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended Modlys decision to take the trip.

If you want to know whats going on in Guam, where Im standing right now is about the worst place to try to figure that out, Hyten said. You actually need to talk to folks in the Pacific. And eyes on is always the best way to figure out whats going on.

Asked who authorized Modlys trip, Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist said, As secretary of the navy, Tom Modly does have the authority to travel, as needed, to see the mission.

The C-37B jet costs nearly $7,000 per hour to fly.

A policy enacted in 2018 under then-defense secretary Jim Mattis sought to curb costly trips, requiring senior officials, including service secretaries like Modly, to obtain waivers for travel that required the use of multiple aircraft or aircrews.

Multiple crews are required on long trips because crews have mandated rest periods. Often, on trips to the Pacific, senior officials will stop in Hawaii or Alaska for events at bases, allowing needed rest for the aircrew.

It is unclear whether Modly used multiple crews for the trip to Guam. Norquist and Hyten did not address the question when asked Thursday. Navy and Defense officials, likewise, did not have answers about the details of Modlys trip or whether the 2018 policy is still in effect.

USA TODAY obtained waiver requests and justifications in 2019 from senior officials after requesting them from the services and the Pentagon.

In 2018, senior officials received seven waivers to use multiple aircrews. Among them were the army secretary and chief of staff, the commandant of the Marine Corps and the top two officers in the navy. Most of the waivers allowed the senior officials to visit troops in combat zones.

The army secretary required a waiver for travel to Sydney, where he led the presidential delegation to the Invictus Games from Oct. 17 to 22, 2018, according to the army. The trip required an additional crew on the outbound trip and on the return. Esper was the army secretary at the time.

In December 2018, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer flew home from Kuwait on a commercial airliner to avoid the need for multiple crews to fly the Gulfstream aircraft he used on the inbound portion of his trip to the Middle East, according to the navy.

Esper forced Spencer to resign in November 2019 over his handling of a Navy SEAL whose demotion for a war crimes charge sparked objection from U.S. President Donald Trump. Esper lost trust and confidence in Spencer for failing to tell Esper of a private proposal he made to the White House that would have allowed Navy Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher to keep his rank and SEAL status, according to the Pentagon.
The big takeaway is, given what we were seeing ... in this week where we really needed to take actions sooner, we needed clear, concise messages to our communities, so they understood this is a serious threat, he said. Because that message was very, very conflicting, and it wasnt likely it was reaching the people that needed it the most.
Walt Whitman, the subject (along with author Mark Doty) of "What Is the Grass" (Library of Congress)

Taking a breather during an afternoon romp, poet Mark Doty describes looking up at his lover only to find himself face to face with Walt Whitman. He doesnt mean this figuratively. Its pointless, at this juncture to try and defend or explain myself, he writes about halfway through his ambitious new book, What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life. I saw what I saw.

Built around the reverberations in Dotys life of the long-dead poet he calls the man I love, What Is the Grass is both a biography and a memoir. Along with Jenn Shaplands recent book , My Autobiography of Carson McCullers, it holds its subject in a tight embrace  affectionate possession but possession nonetheless  describing and experiencing the authors life through another.

Both books hope to construct their own gay experience out of pieces of their iconic literary forebears. Shapland is working as an intern at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, when she stumbles upon several letters between McCullers and two women: Annemarie Schwarzenbach and Dr. Mary Mercer (Carsons therapist and later, Shapland suspects, her lover).

Best remembered for her uncanny debut novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, McCullers was born in Georgia but lived most of her adult life in New York. Though she was married to Reeves McCullers (who called her female intimates imaginary friends) not once but twice, the facts of her romantic life were willfully obscured and therefore misinterpreted by biographers.

To Shapland, its plainly obvious that McCullers was a lesbian, and the consequences of that remaining unacknowledged feel personal. Its where the author and subject meld, as Shapland demands, if Carson was not a lesbian, if none of these women were lesbians, according to history, if indeed there is hardly a lesbian history, do I exist?

Whitman is more often acknowledged as a gay man, even a gay icon, than McCullers, but more than that distinguishes the two projects. Doty and Shapland belong to different generations: At 66, Doty has published more than 20 books and watched friends and lovers die of AIDS. Shapland is 33, and this is her first book. Though the goals of the books are similar, the paths they take are understandably different.

Story continues

Jenn Shapland, the author of "My Autobiography of Carson McCullers." (Christian Michael Filardo)

Doty, buoyed by an incredible fount of information, organizes his book in order of the academic sources: first (the poetry itself), second (criticism on the poetry), third (letters to or about Whitman) and so on. He alternates between a close reading of Whitmans work, down to the granular  the meaning of the word recompense  and events in his own life that reflect the themes of the poetry or run parallel to Whitmans biography.

Shapland is working with less from the start. In the critical arena, both Carsons work and her personal life are less well-mined than Whitmans. Though her book is composed of vignettes that read like entries in an archive  Correspondence, Item 8, even a list of Carsons Possible Girlfriends  Shapland is led more by feeling and response. In recounting an episode in which Reeves asked Carson if she was a lesbian, Shapland writes, I picture them on a swing even though I know no such swing exists.

Yet for all the distinctions, the books feel as if they were written in conversation. Doty and Shapland bemoan the need for proof and evidence when it comes to sexuality. Shapland writes, Historians demand proof from queer love stories that they never quite require from straight relationships. Doty agrees: Whatever the dead did or did not do in bed is largely irrecoverable.

Shapland and Doty arent the only writers mining literary traditions to tell queer stories. Carmen Maria Machados 2019 memoir, In the Dream House, reveals an abusive lesbian relationship through literary tropes. Daniel Laverys recent memoir, Something That May Shock and Discredit You, relates the story of his own transition with interpretations of the trans in classical literature and Romantic poetry. Though the approaches differ, the goals of these memoir-critiques, published within a strikingly short time span, are remarkably similar.

The works of Doty and Shapland stand out in this micro-genre for being investigative journeys: They play detective in pursuit of queerness. I am hunting lesbians, Shapland writes; she stays in Carsons girlhood home, handling her cigarette lighter and crinkled kimono. Both discover that their relationships to these writers change as they themselves change. As Shapland writes, alive or dead, the author is a protean form, just as the self slips constantly beneath ones feet. Doty insists, great poets are, by definition, undead.

What Is the Grass may be the definitive book on Whitmans life, afterlife and poetry. But its the moments in Dotys own life  his first marriage to a woman, who had a son his age; his joy in his first love affairs with men  that the book truly glistens.

(W. W. Norton & Company)

Shaplands intimate admissions are, like her subject, more elusive. She mentions seeing her girlfriend Chelsea at the library after a day of miscommunication. I walked in prepared to be somewhat irritated with her, there she was looking lovely, her long dark hair, her posture, and she smiled. Then, in an almost-whisper: I love her. I so wished for more moments like these.

Dotys vision of Whitmans face might seem kookily metaphysical, but it crystallizes the aims of both books: searching, seeing and recognizing. But recognition can be dangerous. Shapland shares a disturbing episode in which she brings home a girlfriend (a roommate) to meet her family. Her mother finds private journal entries containing romantic language about their relationship and outs them at the dinner table, leading Shaplands girlfriend to suggest they should stop seeing each other.

You arent real, I heard, Shapland writes. When what is real is never fully public, it ceases in effect to be real. ... If this wasnt love, what was it? Who was I? And why couldnt I speak up for it, call it by name?

For Doty as well, this love still fails to speak its name: I have the language of pornography, I have the language of anatomy or medicine, I have the language of euphemism, and Im happy with none of them.

The investigative work these writers have had to undertake in their own lives readies them to pursue their subjects. As Shapland writes, to piece together the broken narrative of Carsons life, you have to read like a queer person. Shapland yearns to recognize Carson and Marys relationship for what it is, and then to extend the validation to herself and then all women who love women. I for one, am weary of the refusal to acknowledge what is plainly obvious, plainly wonderful. Call it love.

Doty is comfortable looking back to Whitman for solace and recognition. But there are surprises in this kind of book. Have I looked back to Whitman because he has all my life, though I did not know it, looked forward to me? As he gazes into the visionary dazzle of starlight in his eyes, Doty is not only looking at Whitman. Whitman is looking back at him. I allowed that face to look directly into my own until I couldnt. Then I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, he was gone.

Ferri is a writer based in Berkeley. Her first book, "Silent Cities: New York," will be published in May.

 What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life 



Mark Doty



W.W. Norton: 288 pages, $25.95
The evacuation of 112 Australian and New Zealander passengers from a stranded cruise ship infested with the coronavirus will take place "under strict sanitary measures," Uruguay's foreign minister said on Thursday. The virus-stricken Australian liner Greg Mortimer has been anchored off the coast of Uruguay's capital Montevideo for almost two weeks. More than half of the 217 people aboard have tested positive for coronavirus. "Tomorrow the humanitarian corridor will be carried out," said Ernesto Talvi in publishing a detailed evacuation procedure. "The corridor will operate under strict sanitary measures," the foreign minister added on Twitter. The tourists will be taken on buses with a police escort to Montevideo's international airport where they will board a medically equipped Airbus A350 that will fly them to Melbourne, Australia. The operation will begin on Friday evening with the flight taking off in the early hours of Saturday. The passengers will be taken straight to the runway without entering the terminal. Press will be allowed to cover the operation, but at a distance of 300 meters. "There will be practically no human contact" between the passengers and others, Talvi said on Wednesday. He said a list of the passengers and their state of health would be sent to Australian authorities. Both those that have tested positive and others to have tested negative will be aboard the flight and will have to stay in quarantine for two weeks upon arrival in Melbourne. According to the ship's owners Aurore Expeditions, 128 people aboard the liner have tested positive, among them crew and passengers. Eight people have been taken ashore for hospital treatment after showing signs that their lives were at risk. Even after the evacuation, more than 80 crew members and around 20 Europeans and Americans will remain on board the Greg Mortimer. Of those that have tested positive for the virus "they will have to wait until they test negative" before heading home via Sao Paulo, Aurore said on Tuesday. Those that have already tested negative will be allowed to leave in the coming days, provided they pass another test first.
A police officer wears a protective suit at the Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea, April 1, 2020. Photo by AFP.

Three Vietnamese students will be deported for violating self-quarantine policies, the South Korean Justice Ministry said Thursday.

The students, whose names were not revealed, allegedly broke their two-week self isolation period to go to a park in Gunsan City in North Jeolla Province on April 3, the Yonhap news agency reported.

To avoid GPS tracking by authorities, they left their phones behind, but were caught after officials called their landline and got no answer.

The three students had tested negative for the Covid-19 virus after arriving in South Korea between March 28 and April 1, and authorities asked them to quarantine themselves at home for 14 days.

No further details of the impending deportation were revealed.

South Korea has mandated self-isolation for all international arrivals since April 1. Violators face fines of up to $8,186 or up to one year in jail.

South Korea has recorded over 10,400 Covid-19 cases with 208 deaths.

Vietnam has fared better with 255 cases, including 135 discharges and no deaths to date.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected 210 countries and territories, claiming the lives of more than 95,700 people.
What is more, Grad multiple launch rocket systems are still deployed near the populated localities.

Spokesman for Ukraine's Defense Ministry Dmytro Hutsuliak has said Russian-led forces have deployed over 20 pieces of heavy weaponry, including 122mm howitzers, at firing positions this week.

"This week, the enemy has deployed over 20 pieces of heavy weaponry at previously prepared firing positions, they include 122mm howitzers," he said at a briefing on Friday with reference to intelligence data.

Read also"DPR" not planning to postpone May 9 parade in Donetsk over coronavirus

In addition, Grad multiple launch rocket systems are still deployed near populated localities in violation of the distance to which heavy weapons should have been withdrawn.

According to Hutsuliak, the command of the Russian occupying forces tries to take advantage of the quarantine measures introduced in the temporarily occupied territory in Donetsk and Luhansk regions to restrict the movement of vehicles, including those of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

In turn, Ukraine's Joint Forces steadily adhere to the ceasefire, however they are always ready to retaliate in case of Russian-occupation forces' hostile actions.
European Union finance ministers agreed on a 540 billion package of measures to combat the economic fallout of the global coronavirus pandemic. Its now up to EU leaders to approve the accord, which will require overcoming profound political disagreements.

In an emergency teleconference, finance chiefs approved a plan to stave off whats expected to be a recession of unprecedented size. The deal will lay to rest  at least for now  concerns that the EU was incapable of uniting behind a common strategy when it was most urgently needed.

In a sign of relief, ministers broke out in applause once consensus was struck.

Today we agreed on three safety nets and a plan for the recovery to ensure we grow together and not apart once the crisis is behind us, Mario Centeno, the Portuguese finance minister who runs the so-called Eurogroup meetings, told reporters.

The common response includes a joint employment insurance fund worth 100 billion, a European Investment Bank instrument intended to supply 200 billion of liquidity to companies, as well as credit lines of as much as 240 billion from the European Stability Mechanism  the euro areas bailout fund  to backstop states as they go on a spending spree to help economies back on their feet.

The ministers also agreed to work on a temporary fund that would help kick-start the recovery and support the hardest-hit countries while leaving how it would be financed. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the fund could be decided on in the next six months and may total 500 billion euros.

All of it needs approval by government leaders as early as next week, and tensions persist. With several key divisions papered over on Thursday, disagreements are likely to resurface when leaders are called to sign off.

Vulnerable Union

Covid-19 has overwhelmed Europe, with the continent suffering more than 65% of the worldwide deaths attributable to the virus. The scale of the damage shines a spotlight on the vulnerabilities of a union whose sense of common purpose has been tested over the past decade by the Greek debt crisis, an influx of refugees and then Brexit.

But the coronavirus outbreak  in the words of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a veteran of many geopolitical fights  poses the biggest threat to the EU since World War II.

While the viruss reach has been indiscriminately global, most countries have acted alone and in their own interests. Europes more-frugal north is pitted against Italy and Spain, the worst-affected countries, in a climate of mistrust and simmering resentment.

Disagreements were laid bare earlier this week when finance ministers failed to agree on a joint response after 16 hours of bitter negotiations.

Things were different on Thursday. The meeting was delayed by nearly five hours while key countries including the Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany and Spain negotiated a compromise that would ultimately be uncomfortable to most, yet acceptable to all. Once the meeting started, it took just 30 minutes to declare success.

A Compromise?

The result was an EU compromise.

The agreement on the recovery fund was a victory for countries including France, Spain and Italy, which have been pushing for it to be financed through joint debt issuance. Yet the text skirted the question of common debt and only mentioned innovative financial instruments  a reference that even countries like Germany, that are loath to agree to further risk-sharing  could live with.

The wording on the use of credit lines from the bailout fund left a lot to be desired for all camps. The conditions attached to these funds were the main sticking point earlier this week, with the Netherlands lobbying for a requirement that ensures countries return to fiscal health once the crisis is over.

In the end, the Dutch got a slightly stricter commitment that countries would strengthen their economic and financial fundamentals once the crisis was over. Meanwhile, the lines would be able to finance direct and indirect healthcare, cure and prevention related costs, a likely narrower scope.

As with many an EU deal, everyone claimed a victory and some of the thornier details were left to be ironed out among the leaders.

Illegal and Senseless

Italian Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri told his colleagues that while he backed the agreement, his prime minister would raise joint debt at the next meeting of EU leaders, according to two officials familiar with the discussions.

Italy, Spain and France are among about 10 countries pushing for what has been dubbed coronabonds to help share the burden of this crisis. Theyre likely to encounter resistance from fiscally hawkish northern EU countries.

We are and will remain opposed to #Eurobonds, Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said on Twitter after the meeting. We think this concept will not help Europe or the Netherlands in the long-term.

Some finance chiefs will have trouble selling the deal back home  especially in Italy, which doesnt want to be seen as ceding to northern Europe at a time of national crisis when the ESM already is a target for euroskeptic politicians.

Italian opposition leader Matteo Salvini said he would seek a confidence vote against Gualtiere for agreeing to Thursdays deal.

Accepting a deal involving the bailout fund would be illegal and senseless, putting the savings, the property and the future of Italians at risk, Salvini said this week.
A couple wear masks, helmets and eye protection while skateboarding in Beverly Hills last month. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The city of Beverly Hills issued an order Thursday that requires all people, including essential workers, to wear face coverings when they leave their homes, including for walks through the neighborhood.

The order, which goes into effect at 6 p.m. Friday, requires residents to wear a scarf, bandanna or other cloth over their faces in hopes of slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus. Like other city leaders, Beverly Hills officials are encouraging residents to leave medical-grade masks for health and emergency workers. At last count, the city had 71 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

We believe this action will help to protect and ultimately save lives, Mayor Lester Friedman said in a news release. While we continue to ask our community members to remain at home, those who do go outside and the people they encounter will be safer.

Under the order, drivers traveling alone or with members of their households do not need to wear face coverings unless they lower their vehicle's windows for any reason, including to interact with first responders, food service workers or others who are not members of their household.

An increasing number of cities in California and across the U.S. are ordering residents to wear face coverings.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the city's face-covering order Tuesday. Unlike Beverly Hills, the L.A. mandate doesn't require residents to wear face coverings when alone outside.
Working around the clock for two weeks, a large team of Stanford Medicine scientists has developed a test to detect antibodies against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in blood samples.

In contrast to current diagnostic tests for COVID-19, which detect genetic material from the virus in respiratory secretions, this test looks for antibodies to the virus in plasma, the liquid in blood, to provide information about a persons immune response to an infection.

The test was launched April 6 at Stanford Health Care. It differs from an externally developed test that Stanford researchers used for a prevalence study during recent community screening events.

The Stanford-developed test takes two to three days for results. Stanford Health Care is able to test 500 samples per day, and the organization hopes to scale up quickly. The effort has been led by Scott Boyd, MD, PhD, associate professor of pathology and a leading expert in antibody research.

Its essential to have the right tools to understand the biology of the novel coronavirus, said Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine. This test takes us one step closer to answering the many public health questions about COVID-19.

Serological testing gives us a more comprehensive view of whats happening in an individual who is infected, or has been infected, with the virus, agreed Thomas Montine, MD, PhD professor and chair of pathology at the School of Medicine.

Commercial serological tests are now being developed around the world, but their quality is uncertain and variable, Montine said. We thought this was an urgent medical need, and the usual supply chains were unreliable, so we decided to build our own.

How it works

The Stanford test detects two different types of antibodies: IgM antibodies, which are made early in an immune response and whose levels usually quickly wane, and IgG antibodies, whose levels rise more slowly after infection but usually persist longer.
Thousands of vehicles lined up before dawn Thursday to seek aid from the San Antonio Food Bank.

The agency fed about 10,000 households at a South Side flea market amid the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
On the internet and social media in general, it is quite easy to find stories which are misleading and fake. These misleading photos, posts and memes go viral on social media and provide people with the wrong information or at times, completely fabricated information. Recently, one such photo went viral on social media.

Also read: Fact Check: Did the Texas woman who passed away due to Coronavirus, call it a hoax?

Claim -

Recently, a photo of a soldier carrying a donkey on his back went viral on the internet. It was claimed that the photo is from World War II and the soldier is carrying the donkey in order to stop it from detonating a mine on the minefield. The photo was unusual and amusing at the same time as the donkey could be comfortably seen seated on the soldier's back. The photo claimed furthermore that if the donkey was allowed to roam freely on the minefield, it would have killed many people along with itself. Check out the photo below -

Also read: Fact Check: Did WHO say it may enter homes & remove Coronavirus positive cases by force?

Rating - False

The photo of a soldier carrying a donkey was indeed true but it did not belong to the time of World War II. The picture is reportedly from 1958's Algerian War. The Algerian War was a war against the French forces based in Algeria during the colonial era. The photo actually showcases a soldier rescuing a donkey from starvation and carrying it back to the base. The donkey was reportedly nursed back to health and given the name Bambi. This incident has been recorded in the 1991 book History of the Legion by Douglas Porch.

Also read: Fact Check: Are people in the United Kingdom burning down 5G towers?

Origin -

The photo first started circulating on various social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. The message was reportedly spread across the internet as an example of how one person can cause big effects, in the context of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The photo also found its way to WhatsApp and spread across the messenger in the form of forwards.

Also read: Fact Check: Are 5G experiments responsible for large-scale death of birds in Italy?

Google Trends analysis -

As the photo of the soldier carrying donkey went viral on the internet, many people started searching for the real story behind the photo. This resulted in a surge of Google searches for the same. Check it out below -

Also read: Fact Check: Is the picture of a 13-year-old boy in UK passing away due to COVID-19 real?
London

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved out of intensive care Thursday at the London hospital where he is being treated for the new coronavirus, as his government told Britons to prepare for several more weeks in lockdown.

Johnson had been in the ICU at St. Thomas' Hospital since Monday after his symptoms of COVID-19 worsened.

Johnson's office said he was "moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery."

It said Johnson was in "extremely good spirits."

The British leader tested positive for the new coronavirus two weeks ago and at first had only "mild" symptoms. He was hospitalized Sunday and taken to the ICU a day later. Johnson had been receiving oxygen without being placed on a ventilator.

His condition appeared to be improving over the past day or so. Earlier Thursday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who has been standing in for the prime minister during key meetings, said Johnson was "making positive steps forward."

News of Johnson's improving condition was welcomed across the British political spectrum  and by U.S. President Donald Trump, who tweeted: "Great News: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just been moved out of Intensive Care. Get well Boris!!!"

As Johnson recovered, the government told Britons it was too early to ease restrictions on public activity imposed March 23 to try to slow the spread of the virus.

The original restrictions were for three weeks, a period that ends Monday. But after chairing a meeting of the government's crisis committee, COBRA, Raab said no decision on lifting the government's stay-home order and business closures would be made "until evidence clearly shows that we've moved beyond the peak" of the outbreak.

Raab said "we're starting to see the impact of the sacrifices we've all made, but the deaths are still rising and we haven't yet reached the peak of the virus."

He said the government and its scientific experts would assess the evidence again next week.

"We mustn't give the coronavirus a second chance to kill more people and to hurt our country," Raab said at the government's daily news conference.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild to moderate symptoms such as fever and cough. But for some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause pneumonia and in some cases death.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Almost 8,000 people with the coronavirus have died in British hospitals, according to government figures. While the number of new confirmed cases has begun to plateau, deaths have neared the peaks seen in Italy and Spain, the two countries with the greatest number of fatalities.

On Thursday, the U.K. reported 881 new deaths, down from the 938 recorded the day before. Italy recorded a high of 969 deaths on March 27 and Spain 950 deaths on April 2.

The figures may not be directly comparable, however. Not all the U.K. deaths reported each day occurred in the preceding 24 hours, and the total only includes deaths in hospitals.

U.K. officials have suggested restrictions could be tightened if people flock to parks and outdoor spaces over what is forecast to be a warm, sunny Easter weekend. Currently most parks remain open, and people are allowed to go outside for essential work. shopping and exercise.

While most Britons have observed the rules, there have been breaches. Police in the northwest English city of Manchester said they had broken up 660 parties in the city over the past two weeks, including some with DJs and fireworks.

In some cases, police have been accused of excessive zeal. Nick Adderley, the chief of Northamptonshire Police in central England, said Thursday that his officers might have to set up road blocks and start "checking the items in (shopping) baskets and trolleys to see whether it's a legitimate, necessary item."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Theres never been a better time to brush up on your photography and videography skills, and there are many different resources being made available for everyone to get creative.

Different companies are offering a variety of free resources and even chances to win some cash during this difficult time.

Despite the fact that we should all stay at home, all of the businesses are promoting that creativity isnt on hold.

SIGMA SHOT AT HOME CONTEST

Sigma, a camera retailer, recently announced their Sigma Shot At Home contest. Participants can show off their best work, all done from home, to qualify for weekly, monthly, and grand prizes.

The weekly drawings will begin on April 13 and end on June 22. Winners from these drawings will win $500.

The monthly drawings will take place on the first of May, June, and July. Winners from these drawings will win $1,000.

The grand prize winner will win a Sigma fp camera and 45mm lens, amounting to $2,199. Runner up will win a Sigma lens with a value of up tot $1,000. These winners will be announced on July 3.

Sigma doesnt have any specific theme for the submissions. According to the rules, photos and videos must simply be the entrants original work and photographic creation.

According to their website, winners will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact, and artistic merit.

NIKON SCHOOL ONLINE

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, Nikon decided to help users learn some new skills with their online classes. While usually you have to pay for their classes, theyre currently offering them for free the entire month of April.

Nikon has a variety of classes covering many different topics. If you have a Nikon camera, they have specific courses to teach you the ins and outs of that camera.

For non-Nikon photographers, they have themed lessons, such as Photographing Children and Pets and The Art of Making Music Videos, that any camera-user can learn from.

STUDENT ACCESS TO ADOBE PRODUCTS

As students learn from home, they can work on their creative skills as well thanks to Adobe. Adobe is offering free access to Photoshop and InDesign for students from kindergarten through grade 12. Since many institutions have access to these programs while in the classroom, Adobe hopes that lessons can continue as normal by implementing this. Any student interested should fill out their application form.

Adobe also has a solution for college students that may be in a similar boat. If a university or college is already enrolled in an Adobe program, they are allowing college students and faculty to download the Creative Suite for free.

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS OF AMERICA COURSES

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is offering over 1,100 online classes for free for two weeks during the pandemic. To access the lessons, all that you need to do is create a free account. PPAs courses include videos, webinars, books, and more.

SKILLSHARE PHOTOGRAPHY COURSES

Skillshare is offering two months of their premium membership for free. The membership provides access to classes, content, and community workshops. Students can access the membership by signing up with their .edu or .k12 email address. Access to non-students is limited, but applications are available.

DxO WEBINARS

DxO, a photo processing software, is offering free webinars throughout April for all levels of photographers. The webinars are being hosted by DxO Ambassador Fabio Antenore, YouTuber PhotoJoseph, and instructor at the Rochester Institute of Technology Dan Hughes.
[April 10, 2020] National Bank to Donate $1 Million to Food Banks, Vulnerable Groups and the Canadian Red Cross

MONTREAL, April 10, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - National Bank will donate $1 million to support several community organizations that help vulnerable people across the country. These organizations have to quickly respond to increased demand resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds will be distributed to a number of food banks from coast to coast, two organizations that support women in vulnerable situations, and the Canadian Red Cross campaign. Members of the public can also make a donation to the Canadian Red Cross campaign using the organization's online platform. National Bank credit card holders can use their rewards points to make a donation on the Bank's a la carte rewards online platform. Quote "I'd like to commend the work of all community sector employees and volunteers who are currently on the front lines protecting vulnerable citizens and meeting their basic needs," said Louis Vachon, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Bank. "For many years now, National Bank has been supporting hundreds of organizations that play a key role in Canada's social and economic development, even during uncertain socio-economic times like these."







List of recipient organizations



Food banks Food Banks of Quebec

Feed Ontario

The Greater Vancouver Food Bank

The Calgary Food Bank

Edmonton's Food Bank

Winnipeg Harvest

Food Banks of Saskatchewan New Brunswick Food Depot

The Community Food Sharing Association of Newfoundland and Labrador

Feed Nova Scotia

P.E.I. Association of Food Banks Organizations helping vulnerable groups The Women's Y Foundation Montreal

The Quebec City YWCA

The Canadian Red Cross National Bank's recent donations $500,000 to the United Way Centraide COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund intended to support those in communities most affected by the pandemic.

to the United Way Centraide COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund intended to support those in communities most affected by the pandemic. $50,000 to the Breakfast Club of Canada emergency fund to provide nutritional support to thousands of children and their families.

to the Breakfast Club of emergency fund to provide nutritional support to thousands of children and their families. National Bank is also donating its advertising airtime and its scheduled social media ads to support Hema-Quebec as it encourages citizens to donate blood. About National Bank of Canada

With $289 billion in assets as at January 31, 2020, National Bank of Canada, together with its subsidiaries, forms one of Canada's leading integrated financial groups. It has more than 26,000 employees in knowledge-intensive positions and has been recognized numerous times as a top employer and for its commitment to diversity. Its securities are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: NA). Follow the Bank's activities at nbc.ca or via social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. SOURCE National Bank of Canada

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
While Netflix has undoubtedly named Joe Exotic as the Tiger King in their latest hit series, folks on Twitter have sounded off for a more radical feline friend.

Twitter users have deemed Antoine Yates, the man who infamously housed a pet tiger in his Harlem apartment for three years before authorities confiscated the big cat in 2003, as the undisputed 'Tiger King.'

'Just finished "Tiger King." Yeah it was wild,' one user shared after finishing the popular documentary. 'But when BET is gonna come through with the story of Antone 'Tigermann' Yates, the Harlem cab driver who kept a tiger in his apartment. (RIP Ming, An Uptown LEGEND).

Twitter users have deemed Antoine Yates, the man who infamously housed a pet tiger in his Harlem apartment for three years before authorities confiscated the big cat in 2003, as the undisputed 'Tiger King' over Joe Exotic

'Just finished "Tiger King." Yeah it was wild,' one user shared after finishing the wildly popular documentary series. 'But when BET is gonna come through with the story of Antone 'Tigermann' Yates, the Harlem cab driver eho kept a tiger in his apartment. (RIP Ming, An Uptown LEGEND)

Ming, who was born in 2000 in Racine, Minnesota, made headlines in October 2003 after he was discovered living in the Drew Hamilton Houses in Harlem with his owner Antoine Yates.

Since being rescued from the home, Ming had been living at the Noahs Lost Ark Animal Sanctuary in Berlin Center, Ohio.

Ming died 'peacefully' on February 4 of last year from natural causes at the age of 19.

Ming, who was born in 2000 in Racine, Minnesota, made headlines in October 2003 after he was discovered living in the Drew Hamilton Houses in Harlem with his owner Antoine Yates

Ming died 'peacefully' on February 4 of last year from natural causes at the age of 19

Yates served three months in Rikers Island prison for reckless endangerment and is said to live in Pennsylvania with his mother, the New York Times reports.

But the latest Netflix documentary has pushed Yates back into the spotlight, with many paying homage to the brave animal lover.

'The real tiger king was from #NYC and his name wasn't #joeexotic,' said another person on Twitter. 'It was Antoine Yates and he was from Harlem!'

The latest Netflix documentary has pushed Yates back into the spotlight, with many paying homage to the brave animal lover.

Another declared: 'Never forget... The Real Tiger King. Antoine Yates of Harlem. RIP Ming!'

Some users even went as far to say that they would only acknowledge Yates as the 'Tiger King.'

Others couldn't help but recall the 'madness' that came from the coverage Yates received in 2003.

One fan even created a funky shirt that honored the New York urban legend.

One fan even created a funky shirt that honored the New York urban legend

It all began in October 2003, when Yates was taken to a local hospital after he was attacked by Ming.

Yates claimed that he had been savaged by a pit bull terrier, but doctors knew the bite marks were too big.

Police were alerted and officers were sent to the man's project housing building located at 141st Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard.

They made their way up to apartment 5E where they were met by the most startling sight: a huge tiger peering from the fifth-floor window.

It all began in October 2003, when Yates was taken to a local hospital after he was attacked by Ming. Yates also owned an alligator and owned a lion at one point

Police were sent to the man's project housing building located at 141st Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard

The tiger was being kept inside the apartment along with a 4-foot-long alligator, named Al.

The discovery at the Harlem apartment set in motion a commando-style police operation.

They drilled a hole in the front door and used a remote camera to watch the giant cat lumbering around.

Then an officer abseiled down the side of the building to shoot the tiger through a window with a tranquilizer dart.

At the time, neighbors told authorities that they were not surprised to learn about the mini-zoo in Yates' apartment.

An officer abseiled down the side of the building to shoot the tiger through a window with a tranquilizer dart

Ming grew to be a 500-pound adult tiger - but the beast had never left Yates' small apartment, which caused him initial unhappiness when he was taken to the Ohio sanctuary

They told officials about hearing roars and reptile sounds, and that there was a strong odor coming from the apartment.

After being charged with reckless endangerment, Yates told a TV crew at the time: 'I take this from my heart, I feel for animals so much.'

Authorities eventually found out that Yates had purchased Ming from the BEARCAT Hollow Animal Park in Racine, Minnesota.

Ming grew to be a 500-pound adult tiger - but the beast had never left Yates' small apartment, which caused him initial unhappiness when he was taken to the Ohio sanctuary.

According to the New York Post, Ming was cremated and buried at The Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in upstate New York.

A tombstone was also erected, with the engraving, 'Ming, Tiger of Harlem'.

Below the engraving, the inscription reads: 'Legendary NYC tiger, raised in apartment 5E in the Drew Hamilton Houses at 141st and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.

According to the New York Post, Ming was cremated and buried at The Hartsdale Pet Cemetery in upstate New York

Netflix's Tiger King series tells the story of former zookeeper Joe Exotic - real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage.

He is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for 17 counts of animal cruelty and for conspiring to murder his arch nemesis, Florida-based big cat lover Carole Baskin.
Long before COVID-19 arrived at Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, Chief Jason Henry started bracing for the first case.

He knew that overcrowding on the reserve near Sarnia, Ont., would make the virus hard to contain, and that the underlying health conditions of many residents made it a particularly dangerous threat.

This concern  shared by some Indigenous leaders and top medical officials grappling with how to protect vulnerable communities  became more urgent on Wednesday when Six Nations of the Grand River, near Brantford, Ont., reported a community member had died from COVID-19. It is believed to be the first on-reserve death from the virus in the country, a spokesperson from Indigenous Services Canada said.

At Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, the virus crossed into the reserve in late March. A member tested positive for the virus in hospital, where he was receiving treatment for an unrelated medical issue.

By then, the chief and council had limited the size of gatherings and cancelled community events. The community then fast-tracked another key feature of its pandemic plan, installing concrete barriers and signs at entry points to funnel traffic to health check points, to screen for symptoms and limit visitors.

When the man fighting COVID-19 was discharged from hospital, the community rented him an apartment off-reserve so he could safely self-isolate, provided catered food and arranged visits from healthcare workers.

Henry said he is proud of his team for finding a way to protect the community while supporting the man, who is recovering well. But he said the band does not have the resources to make this the go-to plan for COVID-19 cases and is calling on government to help fund a dedicated self-isolation centre, possibly in the local school.

This was one case, Henry said. You have to think about what can and will happen  its that we have five or 10 or 20 members at once.

As of Thursday, there were 37 confirmed COVID-19 cases on reserves, according to Indigenous Services Canada, including four in Saskatchewan, 22 in Quebec and 11 in Ontario.

That includes the first case in a remote northern community, in Eabametoong First Nation, about 300 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., which has been on a boil-water advisory for nearly two decades and has an average of more than six people per household.

Eight of the Ontario cases are in Six Nations of the Grand River, Chief Mark Hill said in a Facebook video announcing the death to the community, which is the most populous First Nation in Canada, with nearly 13,000 members living on reserve.

When all of this is over, we will hold each other close, Hill told the community. But right now, we need to show unimaginable strength and do everything in our power to ensure we do not lose any more lives, he said.

At a press conference this week, Canadas top public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam said, A single case in any First Nations, Inuit or Metis community is high cause for concern. These communities are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 due to distances, access to necessary resources and underlying health conditions.

As the pandemic surges, many First Nations are taking dramatic steps to protect vulnerable residents from the highly-contagious and possibly deadly respiratory virus. They include establishing COVID-19 taskforces, launching public health campaigns and restricting movement through checkpoints, curfews and lockdowns.

Proactive measures can only go so far, particularly in remote communities with longstanding, unmet infrastructure needs.

Unfortunately, in a lot of these cases, we have to seek external support. What needs to happen now is that the federal government needs to recognize that First Nations know what is in their best interest  and act accordingly, said Hayden King, who is Anishnaabe from Beausoleil First Nation in Ontario and executive director of the Yellowhead Institute, a First Nations-led research centre based at Ryerson University.

The federal government has obligations to First Nations in Canada. Now is the time to fulfill those obligations, King said.

In an interview this week, Indigenous Services Canada Minister Marc Miller acknowledged the historic lack of trust between Indigenous communities and government. He said leadership from chiefs and on-reserve health authorities is critical in the COVID-19 response.

Communities have different approaches to dealing with this, depending on the situation, he said. But what Ive seen across the country is people taking this very, very seriously, knowing the effect this can have on their community and being very responsible.

At this stage of the pandemic, Miller said he is working closely with First Nations health authorities to implement pandemic plans to limit exposure and limit onset of cases.

I always encourage people to go back to their health officer and as these situations develop to liaise with my team to make sure that their needs are addressed.

In mid-March, the Liberal government pledged $305 million for a new Indigenous community support fund to address COVID-19. That includes $215 million for First Nations, $45 million for Inuit, $30 million for Metis and $15 million earmarked for organizations that serve urban Indigenous populations.

Were prepared to move quite quickly with more financial resources and more physical resources that money cant buy, such as healthcare professionals and military support, Miller said.

However, in the wake of the first positive COVID-19 case in Eabametoong First Nation on Sunday, Chief Harvey Yesno has been frustrated by the blurred lines of responsibility between Ottawa and Queens Park. He says there has been a sluggish response to his request for contact tracing. He said he tried for weeks to engage the government in Ottawa but did not receive a response.

This is biological warfare. There is no vaccine in place. We basically consider ourselves Code Red right now, Yesno said on Thursday. My biggest disappointment has been that both levels of government were not ready. They didnt have a plan in place.

In an email, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada, said, We are actively working with the community to ensure the necessary resources are in place and are in close coordination with the nurse-in-charge to ensure medical staff remains at full capacity and requests for additional staff are addressed.

Eabametoong received a supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), including surgical and N95 masks, gowns, gloves and face shields, on March 30 from the government, which also sent a shipment of COVID-19 testing swabs on Wednesday evening, the spokesperson said.

Regular checks on supply will continue to ensure the community has all the tools to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ontario Minister of Indigenous Affairs Greg Rickford did not respond to requests for comment. On Wednesday, the province pledged $37 million to support outbreak, planning, prevention and mitigation efforts to ensure the health and well-being of Indigenous people and communities  particularly those in remote and far-northern regions, the ministry said in a press release.

The announcement was welcomed by Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, who helped create a COVID-19 taskforce to respond to the pandemic in the 49 northern Ontario communities that NAN represents. He has been urging the province to come to the table for weeks.

Im hoping they can quickly figure out a way to streamline the process so that communities can easily access the funding, Fiddler said.

At Kettle and Stony Point, Chief Henry has been working closely with local partners. This week, a proposal for a 150-bed field hospital was approved at nearby Lambton College, which Henry said could benefit his community.

He is also encouraged by the response he has received to the proposal to turn part of the community school into a dedicated isolation site.

We have business plans out there, and were working closely with our provincial and federal counterparts, he said. It seems promising.
During these unknown times as the nation struggles with Coronavirus (COVID-19), very few franchise brands are growing, as many franchise prospects are hesitant to invest in opening a new business in an unknown economic climate. However, Big Blue Swim School has found a way to continue awarding franchises, signing four deals for a total of 14 units in March alone. The company has signed for 22 units so far this year.

Despite the challenges that people and businesses are facing right now, Big Blue Swim School remains an incredibly compelling business opportunity, said Big Blue Swim School Chief Development Officer Scott Thompson. Teaching children to swim is a vital life skill, and is something parents will need regardless of the economic climate. We are seeing incredible interest from qualified franchise partners in markets across the U.S.

In March, Big Blue Swim School signed deals for three units in Michigan, five schools in New York and Connecticut, three units in Pittsburgh and three units in Hartford, Connecticut.

Hiag Avsharian will bring Michigans first Big Blue Swim School to Southeast Michigan, with plans to open four pools in the cities of Ann Arbor, Northville, Canton and Royal Oak in the next five years. He signed on as a franchise partner after learning about the high-quality investment opportunity and best-in-class consumer offerings provided by Big Blue Swim School.

I chose Big Blue because of their latest advancements in technology, similar to the tech startup I was working with prior, said Avsharian. My two children, ages 10 and seven, are both competitive swimmers, so my wife and I have seen first-hand what it takes to be a successful swim school. Big Blues cloud-based platform is simply unmatchable.

For franchise partners, Big Blue delivers numerous differentiators including LessonBuddy, a proprietary enterprise system which allows partners to manage the business remotely and offers parents the ultimate flexibility in scheduling lessons. Other top-tier franchisor support services include data-driven site selection, construction, technology, and marketing.

Another differentiator is that Big Blue Swim School takes the unique approach of hiring exclusively full-time, highly trained swim associates, differentiating them from most kids' concepts. Children are taught by caring professionals who are more easily retained than a part time employee, while also helping to maintain consistency as a child has fun and builds trust with their instructor.

Founder and President Chris DeJong opened the first Big Blue Swim School in Wilmette, Illinois, and opened four other pools in the Chicago area over the next five years. Now, with an aggressive franchise growth plan in place Big Blue has already signed 81 units in 18 states across the country. With a goal of reaching 150 units by 2021, the brand is uniquely positioned to be the leader in the $3 billion learn-to-swim industry.

Big Blue Swim School franchise opportunities are still available in key markets across the country. To learn more, visit http://YourBigMomentStartsHere.com.

ABOUT BIG BLUE SWIM SCHOOL

Big Blue Swim School was founded in 2009 by competitive swimmer Chris DeJong. The first location opened in Wilmette, Illinois, followed by four additional Chicagoland schools. In 2017, Level 5 Capital Partners acquired a stake in the brand. Through that investment, Big Blue plans to grow through franchising to 150 pools by 2021. Big Blue Swim School's real estate expertise, strong brand, proprietary technology, and leadership support, coupled with its best-in-class consumer offerings, position its franchise partners for long-term success. To learn more about franchise opportunities with Big Blue Swim School, visit http://YourBigMomentStartsHere.com.
(JTA)Among the mysteries of the coronavirus is that some patients suffer and ultimately die from the disease while others experience the symptoms as akin to a mild cold.

Rabbi Daniel Nevins is in the latter category. The dean of the rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Nevins was laid up for a few days earlier this month with a fever and some aches, and then recovered.

Nevins was tested for the coronavirus on March 12 and a week later got back a positive result. A week after that, he was tested again. Friday morning, he got the result: All clear.

Within hours, Nevins was hooked up to a machine at the New York Blood Center to donate blood plasma. In the race to develop effective treatments for the disease, researchers are investigating whether antibodies from the blood of people who have successfully fought off the disease may provide treatment for people who have more serious symptoms.

Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration allowed doctors to treat critically ill coronavirus patients with plasma on an experimental basis. Plasma has been shown effective in treating other infectious diseases, like polio, measles and influenza.

I felt fortunate that my mild case of this illness might turn into a blessing for people who are seriously ill, Nevins told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The Torah teaches us not to stand idly by the blood of our neighbor. My Midrash [interpretation] is that no, instead lie down in a donor bed and give plasma.

Whether antibodies are effective in treating coronavirus patients remains to be seen. Nevins plasma will be used as part of a trial at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, which was among the first hospitals in the country to figure out how to detect antibodies in the blood of people who had recovered from coronavirus, the New York Times reported.

Its kind of difficult scientifically to know how valuable it is in any disease until you try, said David Reich, the president and chief operating officer of Mount Sinai, told the Times. Its not exactly a shot in the dark, but its not tried and true.
To summarise. Trolls, as those of you old enough may remember, were annoyingly cute, small plastic dolls with colourful, up-combed hair that were all the rage in the mid-1970s. They came from Denmark, were considered good luck by the feeble-minded, but their time in the sun was brief. After fading from vogue, trolls made a brief comeback in the early 1990s: there was a cartoon, some video games, but nothing to get too excited about. And that, one would have thought, was that.

Not so, however, because in these risk-averse days, any brand with even the vaguest audience recognition is considered fair game for a big screen remake. And so, in 2016, we got Trolls, a busy and mercilessly melodious animation which reimagined the little pests as music-loving forest-dwellers.

These trolls were tiny woodland creatures who sang, danced and hugged their way through the day and existed in a perpetual state of happiness. In the first film, their party was spoiled by the Bergen, large, uncouth ogres who believe happiness is only reached just after one has ingested a troll, so the little furballs were forced to flee their ancestral tree and seek alternative lodgings.

Despite its infernal frothiness, Trolls was pretty irresistible, thanks in large part to the work of Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake, who voiced Princess Poppy and Branch, two trolls with wildly differing world views who join forces when the Bergen attack.

Mr Timberlake can hold a tune, and Anna Kendrick is golden-voiced: their soulful vocal stylings elevated the film's quieter moments, and there was even a catchy hit single, Can't Stop the Feeling!.

The trolls, of course, emerged triumphant from their battle with the Bergen, but in this busy sequel they face an even greater threat. Trolls are divided into tribes based on their musical preference: Poppy, Branch and co are pop trolls, whose idea of a good time is to mince about in a sea of bright lights and mirror balls rehashing disco classics and Madonna songs. But their music is cordially loathed by the rock trolls, lovers of Whitesnake, Black Sabbath and Guns & Roses, haters of all tunes light and catchy.

Expand Close Rachel Bloom voices Queen Barb / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Rachel Bloom voices Queen Barb

Their fearsome leader, Queen Barb (Rachel Bloom) has decided that pop and all other genres can no longer be tolerated: each sect has a special magic string that powers their music, and if Barb and her gang can steal all of them, rock will reign supreme.

A war between the pop trolls and the rock trolls? I know who I'd put my money on, and the popsters' cause is not helped by their leader's touchy-feely optimism. Queen Poppy thinks every stranger is a friend you haven't met yet, and instead of recognising the existential threat posed by Barb, decides to go in search of her to buddy up. Branch and Biggie (James Cordon) reluctantly accompany her on an epic journey across the various troll kingdoms, during which they meet trollish cousins of many hues.

There are classical trolls, who wear Mozart wigs and belt out symphonies and concertos; country and western trolls, who line dance mournfully while singing of broken engagements and train crashes; funk trolls, who sport high heels, purple wigs and pump out driving tunes that sound like George Clinton (turns out one of them is George Clinton!). There are even reggaeton trolls, purveyors of a regrettable musical hybrid I was blissfully unaware of till now, and worse still are the yodelling trolls.

By the time Poppy and friends reach these tribes, all have suffered at the hands of the rampant rock trolls. The popsters will be next, but Poppy still believes the hand of friendship will solve everyone's problems.

Video of the Day

This is busy stuff, no question, a heady froth of music, colour and constant movement. But while no obvious hit to match the success of Can't stop the Feeling! stands out, the tunes are commendably toe-tappy, the ensemble singing is great, there are some wonderfully silly medleys, and the film's good humour never flags.

Anna Kendrick is a wonderful comic actress who would surely have thrived in Hollywood's golden age. Her mindlessly optimistic Poppy is the engine of this giddy film: her glass-half-full mania knows no bounds, so it's almost moving when she comes to the terrible realisation: "trolls, they don't just wanna have fun".

There are some nice voice cameos, from Jamie Dornan, Sam Rockwell, Mary J Blige and Ozzy Osbourne, who plays the rock trolls' addled elder statesman. But this winning family film belongs to Kendrick.

Trolls World Tour (Amazon Prime, iTunes, Sky Store, etc) - 3 stars

Streaming movies: Your guide to all the weeks latest releases online

Pink Wall (Curzon, Amazon, iTunes, Sky) - 3 stars

Relationships - they're not easy. It's hardly a pearl of wisdom, but this well-worn theme is powerfully illustrated in Tom Cullen's salty comic drama. Tatiana Maslany and Jay Duplass are Jenna and Leon, American expatriates who fall for each other after meeting in a London club. Cullen's film leaps back and forth through the five-year relationship that follows, giving us well-acted vignettes that illustrate the couple's problems. Leon's a slacker but kind; Jenna a driven producer, single-minded to a fault. Pink Wall is overwritten at times, but its jumping timeline makes the couple's mutual incomprehension heart-breaking.





The Iron Mask (Amazon, Sky Store, iTunes) - 3 stars

A motley co-production with a certain ragged charm, Iron Mask is based not on Alexandre Dumas' adventure but on a strange horror story by Gogol. Jason Flemyng is a British cartographer on a dangerous mission across Russia to China; meanwhile, in a London prison, a mysterious Chinese martial arts guru (Jackie Chan) is imprisoned with a man in an iron mask who claims to be Tsar Peter the Great. Their hefty but fair-minded jailer is James Hook (Arnold Schwarzenegger), and these two stories will eventually and circuitously be linked. It's rollicking stuff, and embraces its own silliness, which is just as well.
There's no wild applause from balconies, few spontaneous "thank you" notes, but Belgium's discreet funeral directors face harrowing challenges of their own during the coronavirus epidemic. The doctors and nurses who strive so hard to keep coronavirus patients away from death's door are national heroes. But society does not like to think too much about those working on the other side of the threshold. "We have a strong sense of being forgotten. Caregivers at least have a kind of recognition. When it came to masks and protective gowns, we had to look out for ourselves," said Jean-Christophe Saels. When Saels and his colleagues at a Brussels funeral home head to a hospital or retirement home to pick up the dead, they need to dress in the same hygienic protection as frontline health workers. "That's not how we normally go about things. We had to turn to hardware stores to find protective gear, which was quickly becoming a rare commodity. We got the suits from the Netherlands," Saels told AFP. Funeral workers are worried about becoming infected themselves, in particular when they visit care homes for the elderly, which are not equipped with morgues and cannot wait 72 hours to handover a corpse. It is the same for householders who never make it to the hospital and pass away in domestic lockdown. - Gut fear - "We work with fear in our stomach when we go to someone's home and we don't know what he or she has died of. Sometimes the doctor's report lists COVID or possible COVID," said Xavier Bouvy, who runs a funeral parlour founded by his grandfather. The daily business has changed in other ways, too. Because of fear of infection or Belgium's public lockdown restrictions, many of the dead are now buried or cremated without the presence of their loved ones. It was rare before the crisis for funeral staff to be alone at a burial, but Bouvy's firm has handled two such events this week, shooting video of the ceremony for the absent families of one 69-year-old man. During the brief 10-minute service it was funeral home staff who observed a moment of silence over the coffin, before the mechanical excavator moved in to cover it. The adjacent grave was freshly dug and covered with a heart-shaped wreath of white lilies. Three more farther along contained former residents of the same care home, hit by an outbreak of the coronavirus strain sweeping the planet. Even when families can attend, sometimes grief gets the better of their sense of self-protection and funeral staff have to step in to police social-distancing rules. "People hug, they hold hands. Emotion is stronger than reason. Sometimes it's difficult to handle. Sometimes 25 people turn up, but the rules limit the cemetery to 15 in total, including our staff," Saels said. It is an emotional time, but a busy one. With the rest of the economy effectively frozen, Bouvy's funeral parlour has seen business double to 15 clients a week, some of them among Belgium's 2,500 COVID-19 dead. Despite the stress, he doesn't want another job. "When people say thank you, it's sincere. No-one lies in moments like that," he said. When families in lockdown can not attend funerals for coronavirus victims, hard-pressed funeral directors can try to shoot memorial videos It is a busy but stressful time for Belgium's funeral parlours
The Orissa high court on Thursday pulled up the state police for seizing two-wheelers and four-wheelers of people who were out during the lockdown, and directed them to release the vehicles immediately.

Acting chief justice Sanju Panda and justice Biswanath Rath said that until particular guidelines were issued and proper arrangements made for availability of vegetables, medicines and other essential items within walkable distance for all, there should not be a complete ban on movement of two-wheelers.

It is directed that vehicles already seized would be released by obtaining undertaking from the persons concerned that they would not utilise the same any further, the HC said.

In the complete lockdown situation, people of the state are in serious misery and complete ban of movement of two wheelers in absence of system making availability of essential commodities at the walkable distance will add further to the miseries of the people. In view the precarious condition prevailing in the State having no particular mechanism in the matter of availability of vegetables, medicines and other such usable items within walkable distance for all . We hope and trust that the government in appropriate department and the DG of Police will look into this from the humanitarian approach and angle, the court said.

Over the last few days, commissionerate of police in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack seized over 6,000 bikes from people who had come out to markets in the morning to by vegetables and groceries. The police had warned people against using vehicles for buying essentials while advising people to walk down.
Zurfi withdraws candidacy for premiership as parties endorse Kadhimi

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 10:13 AM

Iraq's Prime Minister-designate Adnan al-Zurfi has withdrawn his candidacy for the post as major political factions endorse intelligence chief Mustafa Al Kadhimi to form a government.

Zurfi, who had been nominated by President Barham Salih, announced his withdrawal from the prime minister post in an official statement on Thursday, in a move that deepens the months-long political stalemate in the Arab country.

Zurfi was tasked on March 17 with forming a new Iraqi government until the constitutional deadline of April 17.

His appointment came more than two weeks after former premier-designate Mohammed Allawi withdrew his candidacy for the post following the parliament's failure to approve his cabinet.

Zurfi, the 54-year-old ex-governor of the holy Shia city of Najaf, heads the Nasr parliamentary grouping of former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

He was a former official of the US-run authorities that took over Iraq after the 2003 US invasion.

He also lived in the United States as a refugee in the 1990s after fleeing the regime of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein.

Zurfi's candidacy for the Iraqi premiership was met with widespread opposition form Shia-majority political factions, which recently endorsed Kadhimi for the position.

Many in Iraq viewed Zurfi's appointment as a US-sponsored conspiracy against the country's resistance front, which played a key role in defeating the Daesh terror group in late.

Kurdish and Sunni movements have also supported Kadhimi's nomination.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi resigned last November in the wake of the demonstrations calling for economic reforms and a meaningful fight against corruption in state institutions.

Since October 2019, Iraqis have staged street protests in several cities over unemployment and a lack of basic services, calling for early elections.

The anti-government rallies, however, took a violent turn later.

Reports say more than 550 people have been killed and about 25,000 injured in the course of the violent protests.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Spain has reported 605 fresh coronavirus deaths, which is also the lowest daily toll of confirmed coronavirus deaths since March 23, taking the toll to 15,483.

The new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours rose by 4,576, taking the nation-wide tally of confirmed cases to 157,022.

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) leaders have rallied behind a USD 1 trillion rescue deals for their struggling economies due to the coronavirus, a move which many have called the most important economic plan in the EU's history.

The EU's richer countries failed to back the poor countries' request to finance their economic recovery.

Earlier, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez issued an urgent warning that the EU was in danger of disintegration in the face of the coronavirus crisis."The EU is in danger if there is no solidarity," Sanchez had told parliament.

Spain is among the countries calling for common debt insurance, widely referred to as coronabonds, to tackle the economic fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic. Germany and other countries have sofar rejected the proposal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Victoria Police says people will not be penalised for attending shops that remain open during the coronavirus lockdown after withdrawing a fine issued to a man using a car wash.

The assurance again raises questions about government warnings that people can be fined if they leave the home for anything other than obtaining food and supplies, provision of care, exercising, and working or learning.

The Purple Octopus Multiwash Car Wash and Dog Wash in Hoppers Crossing, where a man was fined for washing his car on Thursday morning.

It comes as almost 30 people were fined for attending a protest in support of refugees in Preston on Friday afternoon. The organiser is in police custody for allegedly inciting people to join the action.

On Thursday, a Melbourne man washing his car at the Purple Octopus Multiwash Car Wash and Dog Wash in Hoppers Crossing at 1am was approached by two police officers and fined $1652, despite the man telling them he had worked a 14-hour day delivering food and did not have time to wash his car during the day.
When it comes to college admissions for the fall, the key word is flexibility.

Some Texas colleges are extending pressing deadlines, hosting virtual tours and freshman orientation in lieu of in-person ones, and are reconsidering how they will accept admission applications and test scores as high school counselors face challenges in submitting documents. Others are making SAT and ACT exams optional, while still other universities are still figuring it out.

I dont know for how long, but this is an unprecedented event in our lives, James Steen, vice president of enrollment at Houston Baptist University, says of the novel coronavirus pandemic. It has caused us to do unprecedented things.  We come up with ideas and new ways of doing things every day.

College officials are being as accommodating as possible with current and prospective students as they navigate the many effects of the virus.

Actual enrollment is another issue.

Texas Higher Education Commissioner Harrison Keller said its hard to predict what will happen during and after the pandemic. Many institutions are expecting a 20 percent or 30 percent decline in summer enrollment projections. But as colleges shift from response to recovery mode and Texas residents attempt to gain new or more skills amid an economic downturn, enrollment for fall is expected to surge.

Higher education institutions will be critical as people attempt to gain new or more skills and credentials, which will help drive up the recovery of the Texas economy, he said.

Both of those will have pretty dramatic implications for higher educations institutions, Keller said.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which Keller leads, has been acting as a facilitator and partner for institutions as they seek support, and it continues to work on its initiatives to ensure Texans who have some college or lack credentials secure a post-secondary education.

Now, those conversations take on more urgency as much larger numbers of Texans upskill and reskill, Keller said.

Other education officials also believe there will be significant enrollment growth, particularly in healthcare-focused programs and online courses.

What we anticipate is that students who have been converted to online courses  will begin to expect to be able to take classes online or will be more comfortable online, said Kyle Scott, vice chancellor of strategic priorities at Lone Star College. Were planning for that shift.

Lone Star is already working to ensure there are enough courses and faculty ready come fall for those students interested in online learning or those who are looking gain more or new skills as the economy shifts and the labor market experiences layoffs or furloughs, Scott said.

Flexibility is key

In the meantime, flexibility is the key word for colleges and universities as they traverse this new territory caused by the spread of COVID-19.

Were literally troubleshooting things on a daily basis that werent even possibilities or on the radar six weeks ago, Steen said. In a lot of ways, theres almost nothing that weve done traditionally that hasnt been altered in some way.

Houston Baptist has temporarily adopted a test-optional policy and will give undergraduate students the benefit of the doubt to self-report information and submit transcripts.

Were literally making this up as we go, Steen said.

Other colleges and universities have similarly altered their typical way of doing admissions.

The University of Houston, which announced April 3 that it will continue summer courses online, will also host a variety of admissions and registration-related events and advising sessions online. All 22 of its orientation programs, campus visits, tours with student ambassadors and other events have launched virtually or online  with a hybrid of live and pre-recorded sessions, said Mardell Maxwell, UHs executive director of admissions.

UH will offer live advising sessions to help students register for courses, and has extended its admissions deadlines by a month. UH officials have vowed to be flexible with students who might not have the ability to take ACT or SAT exams or meet upcoming payment deadlines.

We recognize for many families and many students this is a difficult time not only personally but also financially, Maxwell said. We want to help them navigate through that.

University of Texas at Austin will provide a virtual campus visit for prospective students, create online sessions for students tailored to interests and desired programs, and will arrange phone calls with students and their families in the coming weeks, according to Miguel Wasielewski, UTs executive director of admissions.

The college will also provide students with opportunities to interact with admissions and financial aid counselors, faculty members, campus representatives and current students as they approach the May 1 enrollment deposit deadline, and will work with students on an individual basis if they have difficulty meeting deadlines due to COVID-19.

At Baylor University, faculty and staff have filmed more than 100 selfie videos to welcome prospective students and will offer an opportunity for a scholarship to students who visit the site.

Baylor will similarly host campus visits, events and virtual appointments with financial aid officers online for high school and prospective students, said Jessica King Gereghty, assistant vice president of undergraduate admissions and enrollment.

We want to be really authentic in reflecting the community, she said.

Baylor has extended deadlines for transfer students, is accepting high school transcripts from high school counselors in various forms, including screenshots, and will host academic advising online this summer, King Gereghty said.

New methods

Other colleges like Rice University, University of St. Thomas and Texas A&M University have already admitted their students for the fall, but will still put new methods in place to accommodate students.

Were simply being flexible, Joseph Pettibon, vice president for enrollment and academic services at Texas A&M.

Ryan Konkright, the new director of admissions at St. Thomas in Houston, said officials have received an uptick of phone calls from students concerned about admissions over the past few weeks, and despite there being a delay, admissions letters will be sent out once a week.

Registration will be conducted online, as will virtual tours for prospective students and Transfer Tuesday and Freshman Thursday chats on social media.

Rice admitted its upcoming class of 2024 at the end of March  10 percent of its applicants  but officials worked overtime, assembling 2,346 admission packages in one day rather than the typical five, said Yvonne Romero da Silva, Rices vice president for enrollment.

Its a little to early to know what place this country is going to be in the summertime, Romero da Silva said. But our commitment is we want these students at Rice and we fully commit to having them here come fall.

The university will host digital campus tours, tours of the city, and virtual live chats with current students, alumni and professors rather than typical on-campus welcome events for students.

For Lone Star College  a community college system that has offered courses online since 1997  officials have worked to ensure that admissions and registrations continue as scheduled by training all advisers to assist students virtually and by working with school districts to obtain high school transcripts, said Scott.

Scott said Hurricane Harvey, which flooded Lone Stars Kingwood campus in 2017, helped them prepare for such a drastic transition.

Weve been able to scale their experiences across the system, and its been a smooth transition from moving this from a traditional brick and mortar environment to an online environment, Scott said.

For some schools, the upcoming semester and beyond will be a lesson in adaptability.

Despite whats going on around you, everything might be blowing up, Steen said. But you still have to fly the plane.

brittany.britto@chron.com
Publication of the Preparatory Documentation

Regulatory News:

SEB S.A. (Paris:SK) informs its shareholders that given the circumstances and in the uncertainty concerning the end of confinement in France, the General Meeting initially convened for May 19, 2020 at the Vendome Pavilion in Paris will ultimately be held without the physical presence of the shareholders at the company's headquarters in Ecully (Rhone).

In this context, postal voting will be the only way to express your vote. In advance of the meeting, being held closed doors, shareholders are kindly asked to complete their postal voting form by either voting for each resolution (for against abstention) or give proxy to the Chairman of the General Meeting. We remind our shareholders that they may submit questions:

by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to the following address:

SEB S.A., Service Actionnaires, 112 Chemin du Moulin Carron, 69130 Ecully

by email to the following address: actionnaires@groupeseb.com

Questions must be submitted no later than the fourth business day preceding the date of the Annual General Meeting, i.e., May 13, 2020.

As usual, the Annual General Meeting will be webcast live (in French) and will be available for later viewing on our website www.groupeseb.com

The preliminary notice of meeting was published in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires (BALO) on March 25, 2020. It includes the agenda and the draft text of the resolutions as approved by decisions of the Board of Directors on February 25, 2020. The convening notice includes the agenda as well as the full text of the resolutions, finalized by the Board of Directors in its April 8, 2020 meeting, together with the methods of participation to the General Meeting.

The above documents are available in the Shareholder Area of the Group's website: (https://www.groupeseb.com/en/finance/annual-general-meeting). We will regularly update this page with the information required.

The information referred to in Article R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code is included in the 2019 Universal Registration Document, also available on Group's website at the following address: https://www.groupeseb.com/en/finance-news-and-publications

The notice of meeting will be published in a Legal Gazette (LE TOUT LYON) on April 25, 2020 and in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires (BALO) on April 29, 2020.

Change of date

Please note that, following a change in the communication schedule of Supor, our subsidiary listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the publication date of Q1 2020 Sales and Financial data has been modified. Initially set for April 27th, it has been postponed to April 28th, 2020.

Below you will find the updated schedule.

Next key dates April 28 | after market closes Q1 2020 sales and financial data May 19 | 3:00 pm (Paris time) Annual General Meeting Closed door July 23 before market opens H1 2020 sales and results October 26 after market closes 9-month 2020 sales and financial data

Find us on www.groupeseb.com

World reference in small domestic equipment, Groupe SEB operates with a unique portfolio of 30 top brands including Tefal, Seb, Rowenta, Moulinex, Krups, Lagostina, All-Clad, WMF, Emsa, Supor, marketed through multi-format retailing. Selling more than 350 million products a year, it deploys a long-term strategy focused on innovation, international development, competitiveness and service to clients. With products being present in over 150 countries, Groupe SEB generated sales of approximately 7.3 billion in 2019 and had more than 34,000 employees worldwide.

SEB SA

SEB SA N RCS 300 349 636 RCS LYON with a share capital of 50,307,064 Intracommunity VAT: FR 12300349636

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200410005121/en/

Contacts:

Investor/Analyst Relations

Groupe SEB

Financial Communication

and Investor Relations

Isabelle Posth and Raphael Hoffstetter

comfin@groupeseb.com

Phone:+33 (0) 4 72 18 16 04

Media Relations

Groupe SEB

Corporate Communication Dept

Cathy Pianon

Caroline Philips

com@groupeseb.com

Phone: 33 (0) 6 33 13 02 00

Phone: + 33 (0) 6 49 82 28 45

Image Sept

Caroline Simon

Claire Doligez

Isabelle Dunoyer de Segonzac

caroline.simon@image7.fr

cdoligez@image7.fr

isegonzac@image7.fr

Phone:+33 (0) 1 53 70 74 70
The ERA-EDTA has created a European database that collects granular individual data of dialysis patients and transplanted patients with COVID-19. "End stage renal disease patients are generally assumed to be at very high risk of experiencing severe COVID-19 complications. In triage processes, therefore, they are sometimes refused admission to intensive care units. However, there are conflicting data from individual clinicians that suggest that COVID-19 have limited symptomatology in patients on dialysis or with a kidney transplant. This is why we need to collect detailed data", explains ERA-EDTA Press Officer, Professor Ron Gansevoort. "Our hope is to gain insights into the patient and treatment characteristics that are related to outcome and to learn about modifiable risk factors, which would help to improve the prognosis of our patients."

So far, the database on COVID-19 disease progression in patients on renal replacement therapy is very limited. There are some singular case reports from China and Italy, but prevalence and outcomes are highly heterogeneous. One center in Wuhan reported that 37 out of 230 patients had been infected, six of whom died. This points to a mortality rate of 16%. In a center in Lombardy, 18 patients were infected, and only one was in critical condition. A first (unpublished) analysis performed ten days after the launch of a Spanish registry showed a mortality rate of 44% in hemodialysis patients, which would be an upsettingly high number. "But several biases might have interfered. First of all, the data might be highly selective after ten days in the midst of the crisis. Nephrologists are very busy these days, so many doctors might mainly have registered those patients who had died, but not the ones who had recovered or were still struggling with the disease. Furthermore, Spain has the highest transplantation level in Europe, which means that Spanish patients on dialysis are indeed particularly frail and old and cannot be compared to the dialysis population of other countries where organ transplantation rates are much lower", explains the expert.

"All in all, we know that our patients have a higher risk of getting a severe COVID-19 disease compared to the general public without comorbidity, but so far we cannot assess the risk exactly." The primary aim of this ERA-EDTA registry initiative is therefore to gather reliable data on the outcomes of patients on renal replacement who are coronavirus-positive.

In addition, the ERA-EDTA hopes to derive risk factors for worse outcomes. "It would be invaluable to know what exactly increases the risk facing our patients. Such knowledge could help us take steps to reduce that risk", says Gansevoort.
The wages subsidy was policy five days later, on March 30, with a price tag of $130 billion, and a target audience of 6 million workers and sole traders. It is a credit to the prime minister, his senior ministers and the public service that they were able to change course so quickly. Loading But it still leaves more than 1 million casual workers on the wrong side of the divide between the wage subsidy and dole. Morrison would not wish for any job to be sacrificed. Yet the signal he sends to employers, for the time being, is that there are two classes of casual workers, and two safety nets, one that runs in co-operation with the government; the other which doesnt concern them. It makes no economic, or social policy sense because once Morrison accepted the case for a wage subsidy, every job in the economy was, by definition, worth defending. The unemployment rate, like the graph for coronavirus cases, can be bent. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg does have the power to extend the wages subsidy without having to reconvene Parliament, and there is an expectation he will do so at the first available opportunity. But the question for casual workers is whether it is already too late to save those who have lost their jobs. The health metaphor cuts both ways. Just as every Australian is responsible for containing the spread of the virus, every Australian employer, and institution, has a role to play in maintaining the safety net. There has been insufficient energy devoted by government to this aspect of the policy challenge, in part, because there is so little shared experienced of an economic shock on this scale.

The last deep recession occurred three decades ago, beyond the professional memory of most politicians, bureaucrats, and chief executives. The 51-year-old Morrison, for instance, was working for the Property Council in 1990-91. The 48-year-old Frydenberg was still at university. This is not to discount their apprenticeships before politics, but to place their cohort in context. Take a step back and consider the people running the organisations which Australians will continue to interact with even during the lockdown: schools, health insurance funds, mobile phone companies, internet service providers, energy companies, local governments and the like. Very few leaders or managers in these organisations will have encountered a challenge in their careers where they were responsible for the livelihoods of staff and customers alike. They have to balance their responsibilities to their own workforces with the ability of Australians to keep paying their bills. Every discount, or deferred payment, risks the knock-on of a staff member having their hours reduced, or being laid off. Yet every bill they insist be paid in full, for a service already compromised, carries systems-wide risks. Private education and health are obvious flashpoints. Both these sectors are being curtailed in the national interest. Students are being taught remotely, to reduce the risk of infection if schools stay open, while elective surgery is put on hold to allow the public system to prepare for the feared surge in coronavirus cases over the winter.

One in three of Australias 3.95 million students are in the private system  almost 770,000 go to Catholic schools, and a further 580,000 go to independent schools. A larger proportion (44 per cent) of all Australians are covered by private health insurance  more than 11 million people in a population of 25 million. Loading The Commonwealth underwrites both private sectors, but the states administer the public systems. The nightmare scenario for each tier of government is a run on the public system as families pull their children out of private schools, and cancel their private health insurance, stretching the capacity of the states, and forcing the Commonwealth into an unpopular bailout to prop up posh schools and gouging health funds. Australian families entered this recession with education as the fastest growing item in their budget, and health ranked third fastest after domestic power and fuel. At the end of the 1980s, the typical Australian household devoted just 1.2 per cent of their budget to education and 4.3 per cent to medical care and health expenses. Now the figures are 3.1 per cent for education and 5.8 per cent for health, based on the most recent survey for 2015-16. There is no reason why they should remain at these elevated levels if families are battling for financial survival. Recessions carry both short and long-run costs. Unemployment is fast to rise, and very slow to recover. This is understood at a visceral level by every Australian. The last recession effectively ran for three years, from a jobless rate of 5.8 per cent in December to 1989 to 11.2 per cent in December 1992. Another decade passed before the rate of unemployment returned to its pre-recession level of 5.8 per cent, in August 2003.

Although the long-run costs are harder to foresee, they inevitably leave their mark well after the economy returns to its new normal. At the federal Treasury, the graduate recruitment program was suspended for a single year in 1992, because the department didnt have any money, and staff turnover was lower than normal because of the recession. The cost of that decision was felt seven to 10 years later, a source says. "That crop that would have been knocking on the door for promotion, they werent there," he says. Every firm that lived through that recession would have suffered a similar skills gap as the economy was moving into overdrive at the turn of the 21st century. Australian families entered this recession with education as the fastest growing item in their budget. Credit:istock The long-term costs of a recession are also borne by young Australians who have not yet entered the labor market. One of the many complications of the coronavirus is the disruption to the 2020 school year. There is a long-forgotten case study that highlights the challenges for students in year 12 in particular. Jeremy Ludowyke, the principal of Melbourne High School, has been thinking back to this example in recent weeks as he prepared the switch to online classes. For him it provides a personal and professional reminder because he was a student at the school at the time. The 1971 school year is infamous in Melbourne High history. It began with a five-week teachers strike over a range of issues. Two-thirds of the teachers joined the industrial action leaving a skeleton staff of no more than a dozen to run the school. Assignments were hurried to beat the strike, and the internal school exams for terms one and two were cancelled.

Ludowyke was in year 11, one year below the class that experienced the greatest level of anxiety. Many of the year 12s, he says, still carry the scars half a century later. "There was very much a feeling that the teachers had the power to stop this," he says. "The feedback was: You were the ones who did our year in." Loading The end of year results did not suffer. But the students believed they were denied the undivided loyalty of their teachers. Ludowyke does not detect a similar anxiety this year. The students do not think the school has it in for them, because the health crisis was not something the teachers could control. But his selective school is better prepared than many in the government sector. The students have been working with devices for the past three years. Ludowyke offers another insight. This generation of students, and their parents, have not experienced genuine hardship before. The exceptions, he says, are the high-achieving local-born children of refugees, and some of the other migrant groups.
Foreign workers wave from the corridor of their rooms at the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, where there are 62 cases of individuals with the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, in Singapore on April 6, 2020. (Photo by Roslan RAHMAN / AFP) (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  How quickly fortunes can turn. It was only a few weeks ago that Singapore was smelling like roses with the country being praised, both here and abroad, for its efficient handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Today, the same government is struggling to contain the quick spread of the virus as dormitories for migrant workers open up a new battlefront.

The stark news that came out of the multi-ministry taskforce on Thursday (9 April): coronavirus cases hit a new single-day high of 287, with migrant workers making up 219 of the total number. That is more than two-thirds of the total.

Alarm bells should have rung as soon as five migrant workers from Seletar Aerospace Heights were hit in February. Without enough information, I can only make a calculated guess that these Bangladeshi workers had gone back to their dormitory and infected more before being hospitalised. With dormitories so crowded and compact, the quick spread inside these places was not unexpected.

While the urgency of fighting the pandemic cannot be understated, recent events have brought up a longstanding issue: our attitude towards migrant workers. Over many years, their treatment by employers has been extensively reported by media and NGOs. But even horrendous acts against them did not force the authorities to act in a holistic way.

Just one example: 23 years ago, a half-paralysed Bangladeshi worker was dumped in a drain in Sembawang and left to die. Md Bashar, 24 years old at the time, was badly hurt when a lift hit him at his work place. His story made for chilling reading. He told The New Papers Augustine Pang, who brought the story to light: My legs were numb. I knew then that my spine was finished. They made me lie down. I was feeling very cold and they covered me with a sarong.

He was then driven to a remote part of Singapore and thrown into a drain.

That sarong came in handy. In the drain, while submerged in black water, he waved it and screamed at the top of his voice to attract the attention of passing motorists. But none of them could hear me, because the vehicles were all air-conditioned. Later, two military jeeps passed by and the army people noticed me. They called the police and an ambulance, he said.

Story continues

Bashar underwent a series of operations and eventually went back to his native Bangladesh. Shocked by this dastardly act, many Singaporeans opened their wallets and cheque books. Those who dumped him went to jail.

While the working and living conditions of foreign workers have greatly improved since, Im not sure if Manpower Minister Josephine Teo remembers this story. It was over two decades ago and she was then an officer at the Economic Development Board. By the time she was appointed to head MOM two years ago, Bashar had become a statistic to be filed away on some officials shelf.

Besides Bashar, there have also been instances like foreign workers being dumped in containers and housed in cemeteries  even Peoples Action Party (PAP) Members of Parliament like Irene Ng called it modern-day slavery in Singapore back in 2009, and again in 2015. Ng told Parliament five years ago, Singapore owes it to foreign workers to ensure they are provided with decent living conditions here and are not vulnerable to exploitation on account of their weak bargaining power and willingness to suffer hardships just to work here.

If she did remember, Teo might have been a little more sympathetic  and decisive  to their cause. Im not sure what the stand is currently, with the messaging flip flopping between cost and giving assurances that the issue of foreign workers living conditions will be thoroughly dealt with once the COVID-19 pandemic is resolved.

Up to 49,300 quarantined

These workers wretched living conditions were brought out into the open again when the government imposed a clampdown on five dormitories (as of Friday) after infection clusters emerged there. The Straits Times plucky reporter Joyce Lim, jumped on to the story and exposed the horrid living conditions: cramped dormitories, choked toilets and filthy living spaces.

Besides the dormitories that have been designated as social isolation areas - the 160 cases at the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol currently form the biggest cluster - nine other dormitories across the country have also emerged as clusters. Authorities have scrambled to find alternative living accommodations, rehousing 21 vacant Housing Board blocks - but only for healthy foreign workers working in essential services.

It is a perennial problem which crops up regularly, then goes on the back burner, then returns to the spotlight when something bad is exposed. The media at the forefront of the issue goes on to other topics, NGOs that try to assiduously put the topic on the boil are ignored and sometimes countered by rivals spouting the same government lines, the minority public-spirited citizens are weighed by fatigue and the government reacts in fits and starts. And the stain on Teos ministry, as well as Singapores reputation, has remained.

Ironically, it has taken an unprecedented challenge in the shape of the pandemic to get the authorities to seriously address living conditions in the dormitories, which now pose an imminent threat to the health of both foreign workers and Singaporeans.

Things must change

There are two ways to tackle this problem  and it starts with you and me.

One, Singaporeans must not only open their wallets, but also their hearts to foreign workers. This is unlikely to happen as the issue is not a hot topic for them. Remember how residents of Serangoon Gardens protested against the governments decision to build a dormitory for foreign workers in their backyard just before the 2011 general election? That decision was one of the reasons the ruling party lost a prized GRC, Aljunied.

The unspoken conversation goes like this: We empathise with them, but dont let them live near us. That attitude wont disappear as Singaporeans zeal to accumulate wealth and prosperity continues. Is this the legacy we want to leave behind for our children?

Two, the government can act if it wants. But it knows it wont pay a political price if it just talks and doesnt act. It has all the power to put the screws on employers who treat their foreign workers like slaves, make them work long hours, pay them low salaries and house them in inhumane conditions. The 4G leadership, of which Teo is a member, must take ownership and try to erase the stain that a first world country like Singapore can do without.

But it looks like the 4G leadership has lost the plot on this. Now they have invited Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who was in charge of ministries that are known to take tough measures, to oversee the migrant worker issue.

As Singapore talks about holding an election in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and co must admit they have dropped the ball on this, and try to quickly erase the stain that a first world country like Singapore can do without.

P N Balji is a veteran Singaporean journalist who was formerly chief editor of Today, as well as an editor at The New Paper. He is currently a media consultant. The views expressed are his own.

Related stories

COVID-19: Singapore begins active case-finding in foreign worker dormitories, swab-testing started

COVID-19: Stadiums to be shut, parents banned from leaving children with grandparents daily

COVID-19: Toh Guan Dormitory declared isolation area after 14 confirmed cases

COVID-19: 2 foreign worker dorms gazetted as social isolation areas, almost 20,000 to be under quarantine

Filthy, cramped dorms come to light as virus afflicts Singapores migrant workers
LANSING, MI -- On Monday, April 6, the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association announced the creation of an employee relief fund to raise money for those who are out of work due to the coronavirus crisis.

Within 24 hours, almost 4,000 people had applied for the grants of up to $500, according to Amanda Smith, executive director for the The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association Educational Foundation (MRLAEF).

The first round of payments are expected to go out to 627 recipients on Monday, April 13.

Smith said the association is grateful for the donations its received so far. With little funds compared to the immense need, theyve had to make difficult choices regarding how to distribute the money.

Weve had a really great outpouring of support from Michiganders across the state who are contributing to the fund what they can, Smith said. We definitely cant help everybody.

Related: Michigan tourism engine idled, waiting for coronavirus storm to pass

All hospitality employees in the state are eligible to apply for the funds and must provide proof of employment in the hospitality industry on March 10, as well as proof of furlough or job loss in the wake of that date. Grants will be available until the fund is depleted.

Applications for grants from the Michigan relief fund are available online, here.

The employee relief fund is a 501c3 non-profit organization capable of accepting personal and corporate contributions. Financial contributions can be made online, here, or by sending a check to the MRLAEF at 225 W. Washtenaw, Lansing, MI 48933 with Michigan Hospitality Employee Relief Fund written in the memo line.

The restaurant and lodging association pledges to match, dollar-for-dollar, the first $100,000 in contributions to the fund.

Whitmers executive order also temporarily closed theaters, casinos, cafes, coffee houses, taverns, brewpubs, distilleries, clubs, indoor and outdoor performance venues, gymnasiums, fitness centers and recreation centers.

From March 8 to April 4, more than 828,800 unemployment claims have been filed in Michigan. The states Unemployment Insurance Agency has been inundated with laid-off workers seeking to file claims since the mass layoffs began.

The state has increased its number of call-takers from 150 to more than 300 and is seeking to add more call-takers as residents continue to work through the unemployment system.

Smith said shes heard from employees of the same businesses who lost their jobs at the same time and have had different experiences with the states unemployment system. Some have successfully filed claims and begun receiving payments, while others have struggled and not seen a penny.

The best way to file an unemployment claim is online at Michigan.gov/UIA, though residents can also call 866-500-0017. Workers have 28 days after theyre laid off to file their claim, though the governor and state officials have said all eligible claimants will receive benefits and have asked for patience.

MRLAEF is working on a statewide fundraiser for the employee relief fund, which will be announced soon, Smith said, in an effort to bring in more funds to assist laid-off workers.

CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION TIPS

In addition to washing hands regularly and not touching your face, officials recommend practicing social distancing, assuming anyone may be carrying the virus. Health officials say you should be staying at least 6 feet away from others and working from home, if possible. Carry hand sanitizer with you, and use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home ( door handles, faucets, countertops ) and when you go into places like stores.

Read more on MLive:

Michigans updated coronavirus stay-at-home order will close garden centers and other parts of grocery stores

$500 grants available to Michigan restaurant employees out of work due to coronavirus

Michigan sees another 26 percent increase in unemployment claims amid coronavirus crisis

Michigan unemployment questions answered: When to expect it, if its taxable and more

Friday, April 10: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan
Arab League welcomes announcement of ceasefire in Yemen

Saudi Press Agency

Thursday 1441/8/16 - 2020/04/09

Cairo, April 09,2020, SPA -- The Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, has welcomed the announcement of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, on a two-week ceasefire in all areas of operations in Yemen, calling on the Houthi militia to demonstrate commitment and responsiveness to this initiative, which represents a rare opportunity to stop the bloodshed in Yemen.

In a statement today, the secretary General of the Arab League thanked the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for this position, wishing that guns would remain silent on various burning Arab fronts, especially in Syria and Libya.

Aboul Gheit said the Yemeni people are the first winner of this important initiative that embodies a sense of responsibility and awareness of the seriousness of the challenge facing everyone at the present time, which requires solidarity and mercy in order to face the global pandemic of novel Coronavirus.

The Secretary General of the Arab League stated that the Coalition's announcement of a ceasefire puts the Houthi militia in front of its responsibilities, noting that the Yemeni people, being exhausted by years of war, are waiting for Houthis to engage in a serious peace process that leads to a comprehensive peace agreement that ends the Yemeni crisis and preserves the country's unity, sovereignty, and its neighbors' security and stability.

-- SPA

15:36 LOCAL TIME 12:36 GMT

0015

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

Elaine Thompson/AP Photo

Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist Bill Gates believes that kids will return to school this fall, he said on CNBC's Squawk Box.

"I do think school will be able to resume in the fall," he said. As for the current school year, however, he said parents shouldn't expect kids to go back. "I don't think this school year there's going to be any significant attendance," he said.

Gates also highlighted the inequalities surfaced by at-home, online learning. "In the end, the low income students will be hurt the most by these school closures," he said.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Schools across the United States have been closed for weeks, with no end in sight, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread. But Bill Gates is confident that the kids of America will be able to return to school for the next academic year.

"I do think school will be able to resume in the fall," he said on CNBC's Squawk Box.

As for the current school year? Gates said he doesn't expect "any significant attendance."

Some schools have switched to online education, to varying degrees of success  but not every student has access to the technology and services required for online education.

"Most of the private schools, they're used to online, they make sure all their students have the device and the connectivity," Gates said. "Different school districts have decided...it would be unjust in terms of the kids who don't have access, so that's really a dilemma."

As the coronavirus forces people indoors and students home from school, it has highlighted already existing inequalities in education and access. "In the end, the low income students will be hurt the most by these school closures," Gates said.

Watch the interview clip with Bill Gates right here:

Read the original article on Business Insider
Others in Hintzs district may have encountered the same problem. On Tuesday, calls began flooding the office of Dan Feyen, the state senator whose district includes Oshkosh, from voters saying they never received their ballots, even though they were told their ballots had been sent out. Nearly every one of those voters had requested their ballots on one of three dates: March 18, March 22 and March 23, more than two weeks before the election.
Mobility Airmen transport medics, supplies to aid in fight against COVID-19

By Tech. Sgt. James Hodgman, 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs / Published April 09, 2020

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- U.S. Air Force Reserve mobility Airmen from California answered an urgent request April 5, deploying medical personnel to the state of New York to help combat COVID-19.

Within a few hours of notification, an aircrew from March Air Reserve Base took to the sky in a C-17 Globemaster III bound for Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

A crew from the 452nd Air Mobility Wing departed April 5 with Air Force Reserve medics from the 940th Air Refueling Wing, Beale AFB; 349th AMW; Travis AFB; and 452nd AMW, March ARB.

"It's important to get our reservists out the door quickly to help combat the spread of COVID-19 and take care of Americans," said Brig. Gen. Stacey Scarisbrick, Air Force Reserve Command Force Generation Center commander.

According to AFRC, the command mobilized more than 120 doctors and nurses, along with respiratory technicians, who departed their home stations for JBMDL for further in-processing with the U.S. Northern Command's Joint Forces Land Component Command, based out of New Jersey.

The medical professionals are slated for follow-on movement to New York City's Javits Center, a 2,910-bed field hospital, which is one of the largest in the United States.

"California is stepping up to help our fellow Americans in New York and across the country who are being impacted the hardest right now by the COVID-19 pandemic," said California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The governor announced April 6 the state would loan 500 state-owned ventilators to the states most impacted by COVID-19, starting with New York, which as of April 6, has more than 122,000 cases of the virus.

Chief Master Sgt. Derek Crowder, 60th Air Mobility Wing command chief, said the country must come together to fight COVID-19 and Travis AFB is ready to help the nation in any way.

"It doesn't matter if you're an active-duty Airman, civilian or a reservist, we are here to answer the call at a moment's notice," he said. "We are in this together, and we will get through this together."



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held separate talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to discuss the coronavirus pandemic situation. He discussed with PM Abe the India-Japan partnership and how it could develop new technologies for the post-COVID-19 world. The PM discussed the prevailing situation of coronavirus in Nepal with Oli.

Tweeting about both the talks, the PM said he had a fruitful discussion with Abe, and they discussed the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership. "The India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership can help develop new technologies and solutions for the post-COVID world," Modi tweeted. The partnership would not only benefit citizens of both the nations but the entire Indo-Pacific region and the world, he added.

Had fruitful discussion with my friend, Japanese PM @abeshinzo about the COVID-19 pandemic . The Special Strategic & Global Partnership can help develop new technologies and solutions for the post-COVID world - for our peoples, for the Indo-Pacific region, and for the world. - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

PM Modi also appreciated the determination of people of Nepal to fight coronavirus. "I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19," he added.

Spoke today with Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri @kpsharmaoli. We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19. - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 10, 2020

The number of coronavirus cases in Japan crossed the 5,000-mark on Thursday. As a precautionary measure against coronavirus, Abe declared an emergency in the country this week. Nepal till now has reported nine cases of the coronavirus.

India has reported 5,709 active cases of coronavirus (as of 8 am, April 10), according to the Ministry of Health Ministry. Total deaths stood at 199. As many as 503 patients have been cured or discharged and one migrated.

Also Read: India Coronavirus live updates: Country's active COVID-19 cases at 5,709; death toll rise to 199

Also Read: Coronavirus impact: COVID-19 may push half million people into poverty, says Oxfam
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Sandra Bullock is doing her part to help healthcare workers in Los Angeles stay safe, donating 6,000 N95 masks.

The 55-year-old actress boyfriend Bryan Randall shared a photo of the masks they donated to Adventist White Memorial and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles on Thursday.

The photo also featured the actress herself, hiding behind a mask and sunglasses, though her boyfriend revealed it was Bullocks kids idea, Louis, 10, and Laila, 8, to donate the masks.

Mask donations: Sandra Bullock is doing her part to help healthcare workers in Los Angeles stay safe, donating 6,000 N95 masks

Kids wanted to give masks. 6000 of them went to the warriors on the front lines in downtown LA, Randall began.

Thank you Olivia at #adventistwhitememorial. Thank you Ricardo at #childrenshospitallosangeles Louis and Lailas note could not have said it better, he added.

The photo featured a masked worker accepting the packages of the N95 masks, while Bullock herself was in the background, though Randall poked some fun at her stating, Im not sure who that freak is in the background.

Kids: Kids wanted to give masks. 6000 of them went to the warriors on the front lines in downtown LA, Randall began

Due to a nationwide shortage of N95 masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE), Bullock is just the latest celebrity to donate to this worthy cause.

Rappers Jay-Z and Meek Mill donated 100,000 surgical masks, through their organization Reform Alliance.

While a majority of the supplies were heading to New Yorks Rikers Island prison, one of the largest in the country, masks will also be distributed to the Tennessee Department of Corrections and the Mississippi State Penitentiary.

Donation: Due to a nationwide shortage of N95 masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE), Bullock is just the latest celebrity to donate to this worthy cause

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have also donated $1 million to Feeding America and Food Banks Canada, while Russell Wilson and Ciara donated 1 million meals, through Food Lifeline in Seattle.

A number of medical shows, such as Grey's Anatomy, The Good Doctor and The Resident, also donated their medical gowns and gloves to real doctors.

Rihanna's Clara Lionel Foundation also donated $5 million to relief efforts while reality star Bethanny Frankel donated 1 million masks to healthcare workers.

More donations: Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have also donated $1 million to Feeding America and Food Banks Canada, while Russell Wilson and Ciara donated 1 million meals, through Food Lifeline in Seattle

Bullock and Randall have been dating since 2015, though they have largely kept their relationship out of the public eye.

The actress most recently starred in Netflix thriller Bird Box, and she was filming a new project with Jon Bernthal and Vincent D'Onofrio.

That project, and most film and TV projects, have suspended production amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Couple: Bullock and Randall have been dating since 2015, though they have largely kept their relationship out of the public eye
Discovery Metals divests non-core Exploration property

Posted by Publisher Internet

Discovery Metals Corp. (TSX-V: DSV, OTCQX: DSVMF) (?Discovery? or the ?Company?  https://www.commodity-tv.com/play/discovery-metals-well-financed-for-development-further-exploration-at-cordero/ ) announces that it has divested its 100% interest in the Congress Property (?Congress?), located in British Columbia, to Talisker Resources Ltd. (?Talisker?) (CSE: TSK, OTCQB: TSKFF). Under the terms of the purchase agreement, Talisker will issue 1,000,000 common shares to Discovery in return for 100% ownership of Congress. The common shares are subject to a four month hold period pursuant to applicable securities laws and further subject to certain resale restrictions for up to one year.

Congress is a non-core exploration property acquired by the Company as part of the Levon Resources Ltd. transaction that closed on August 2, 2019. The sale of Congress is consistent with the Company?s strategy of streamlining its property portfolio in order to focus on its district-scale silver and silver-zinc-lead properties in northern Mexico. The transaction also provides Discovery with investment exposure to an historic gold camp that sits within a large land package in British Columbia.

The sale of Congress to Talisker is subject to the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange. ?

About Discovery

Discovery Metals Corp. (TSX-V: DSV, OTCQX: DSVMF) is a Canadian exploration and development company headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and focused on historic mining districts in Mexico. Discovery?s flagship is its 100%-owned Cordero silver project in Chihuahua State, Mexico. The 35,000-hectare property covers a large district that hosts the announced resource as well as numerous exploration targets for bulk tonnage diatreme-hosted, porphyry-style, and carbonate replacement deposits. In addition, Discovery is also exploring multiple high-grade carbonate replacement-style silver-zinc-lead showings in a land package of approximately 150,000 hectares in Coahuila State, Mexico. The land holdings contain numerous historical direct-ship ore workings and significant underground development, but no drill-testing has ever been carried out on them.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release is not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the ?1933 Act?) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. All statements within this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although Discovery believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements include fluctuations in market prices, including metal prices, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. There can be no assurance that the Private Placement will close on the announced terms. Discovery does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable laws.
San Jose tiny homes.

City of San Jose Housing Department.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo announced that the city would spend $17 million on prefabricated tiny homes for the homeless.

San Jose has about 6,000 residents without reliable shelter and only 850 shelter beds for them.

Experts warned that the coronavirus could hit homeless populations especially hard, as they may be unable to practice social distancing and self-isolate.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

San Jose city leaders voted to spend $17 million tiny homes for the homeless, Maggie Angst at Mercury News reported.

Over half a million people are homeless on any night in the US, and San Jose alone has a homeless population of about 6,000. Right now, the city has 850 beds available in its shelters, enough for fewer than 15% of residents. Since the coronavirus outbreak, San Jose has compensated by leasing motel rooms, setting up temporary trailers, and converting two downtown convention centers into additional shelters.

San Jose has committed to spending $17 million on the prefab tiny homes despite a projected budget shortfall of $110 million over the next two years. To make up the difference, the city plans to tap into Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP), a state grant to address homelessness. San Jose originally planned to use the money for a homeless navigation center to help people transition to permanent housing, but the plan fell through as the city couldn't find a place for it.

Medical experts and homeless advocates have stated unsheltered residents are particularly at risk as social distancing is difficult in shelters, and people who have exposed or diagnosed with COVID-19 lack the ability to isolate themselves. A new study estimates that 3,400 homeless people across the country will die from COVID-19, and more than 21,000 will be hospitalized.

Here's what the tiny home plan looks like.

The city plans to build 500 new tiny homes within a few weeks rather than months or years, thanks to Governor Gavin Newsom relaxing environmental regulations.

Story continues

San Jose tiny homes.

City of San Jose Housing Department.

"We can't know for sure what's going to happen in the weeks ahead  particularly if there is a second wave of infections  so the need for housing that would be necessary for people who are COVID positive  or exposed or the highly vulnerable who need to self-isolate or quarantine  will be critical" Mayor Sam Liccardo said.

San Jose mayor.

City of San Jose Housing Department.

The city council estimates that $17 million will allow it to construct 500 homes, at about $25,000 each.

Assemblyman Evan Low, D-San Jose.

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

San Jose opened its first tiny home community in February, with only 40 homes.

San Jose tiny homes.

City of San Jose Housing Department.

This initiative is aimed at housing people as quickly as possible, and it's a much larger undertaking.

San Jose homelessness.

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

As people without shelter are moved from homeless encampments to temporary housing, the city is also considering repurposing units from past emergencies.

San Jose homeless encampment.

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File

So far, the city has located four sites that could serve as locations for the homes.

A discarded face mask lies on the sidewalk outside a Safeway in San Jose on March 18, 2020.

Photo by Neal Waters/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The homes are specifically intended for people who are diagnosed with COVID-19 or exposed and have no place to self-quarantine.

San Jose tiny homes.

City of San Jose Housing Department.

Liccardo said that he hopes the units could last up to ten or 15 years.

Dr. Sara Cody, Health Officer and Director County of Santa Clara Public Health Department.

Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images

California has taken some other public health measures, like deploying mobile hand-washing stations across the state.

Hand-washing station.

California has been under a statewide stay at home order since March 19.

A Safeway store in San Jose.

Photo by Neal Waters/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

As of Thursday, Santa Clara County, where San Jose is located, has had 1,380 confirmed cases and 46 deaths.

California National Guard in San Jose.

Source: Mercury News

Read the original article on Business Insider
Chennai, April 6 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday celebrated the party's 40th Foundation Day in a simple manner with the nation fighting the coronavirus pandemic. (File Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS/PIB

New Delhi, April 10 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu that the country is committed to jointly fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The PM's remark came after the two leaders thanked him for clearing the export of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a drug said to be effective against the deadly disease.

"Thank you, my dear friend @narendramodi, Prime Minister of India, for sending Chloroquine to Israel. All the citizens of Israel thank you!" Netanyahu tweeted on Thursday.

In response, PM Modi said, "We have to jointly fight this pandemic. India is ready to do whatever is possible to help our friends. Praying for the well-being and good health of the people of Israel." Similarly, Bolsonaro also thanked PM Modi for timely help to Brazil, adding that the raw material will help to continue production of hydroxychloroquine to treat patients of COVID-19 as well as of lupus, malaria, and arthritis.

"Thank you, President Jair Bolsonaro. The India-Brazil partnership is stronger than ever in these challenging times. India is committed to contribute to humanity's fight against this pandemic," PM Modi said.

The drug has been identified by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as potential treatment for the coronavirus and was touted repeatedly by President Trump as a "game changer". India had earlier put a hold on its export, but later allowed it on Trump's request.
The Defense Department is working to determine how best to lift a stop-move order that has halted all permanent change-of-station moves and most military travel since March 14, weighing considerations such as school calendars and medical readiness across duty stations.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday that U.S. Transportation Command officials, the Joint Staff and service representatives have been discussing the issue for weeks and were scheduled to meet Thursday to sort out prioritization, weighing factors such as the upcoming academic year, the availability of moving companies and pandemic hot spots.

"We know there's a date out there by which we must decide and determine if we are going to help people either get their kids in school, get to their next assignment or get to the next professional schooling.  We are working pretty aggressively on it," Esper said during a town hall discussion broadcast from the Pentagon.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said it is "too early to tell with any definitive guidance what the summer will bring," but added that the first priority is preserving the health of service members and their families.

Related: All Military Moves Could Be Delayed into July, Says Air Force Chief of Staff

"We're clearly, from a policy standpoint, looking to open up things in the summer, but ... we don't want to do anything that places the health of the force at risk. If that means further delay, it means further delay," Milley said.

The original travel restrictions were to end May 11. Milley said he understands the need for the summer surge of moves but added that the DoD will be watching how the COVID-19 crisis affects communities in the coming weeks.

"We don't want to be PCSing or moving anyone anywhere unless we feel confident that all the appropriate mitigation measures have been taken for that individual," he said.

In addition to family moves, the stop-movement order blocked personnel from returning from deployment, taking leave or traveling beyond the general area of their duty stations.

Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Benjamin Ridenhour has been in Kuwait for a year with the 401st Army Field Support Brigade, serving on unaccompanied tour orders. During the town hall, he asked via an email whether consideration would be made for personnel at duty stations without their families.

Milley said that all service members are experiencing a "degree of sacrifice" during this crisis.

"There is sacrifice if you are on an unaccompanied tour or an accompanied tour if you are being extended. ... But it's all being done with the intent of keeping you and your family safe," he responded. "Hopefully, [the rules] will open up shortly."

Another consideration being weighed by military transportation and health officials is the availability of moving companies and their ability to provide services safely, Esper said. Moving company employees may need to be screened, wear face coverings or take other precautions to safeguard the health of military families, he explained.

Also on many troops' minds regarding the travel restrictions, which have left them unable to take vacations or travel for personal reasons, is whether they will lose leave at the end of the year under a "use it or lose it" policy that lets them carry over a maximum of 60 days into the next fiscal year or 120 days for troops who served in a combat zone for at least four months of the year.

Senior Enlisted Adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Ramon Colon-Lopez said he is working with Milley and Esper on altering the policy, depending on how long the travel restrictions continue.

"We want to make sure service members out there don't lose that entitlement," Colon-Lopez said.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at patriciankime@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.

Read more: DoD Considers Stop-Loss Order to Maintain Troop Levels During Pandemic
The circle of contagion around the Rev. Angelo Riva couldn't have been tighter.

Within two weeks of sitting with his parents and a fellow priest at lunch, the 53-year-old Catholic priest was grieving the deaths of both his father and the colleague who assisted him at three mountain parishes above Lake Como in northern Italy. As Easter approached, Riva prepared for his mother to die, too.

''All of this has put in my life in crisis. It is truly an inner revolution,'' said Riva. ''It has created a crisis with respect to my life, with respect to myself, with respect to my faith.''



No one can say for sure how or when the virus arrived in Carenno, a mountain village northeast of Milan with a population of 1,500 and the largest of Riva's three parishes, or where in the priest's inner circle it struck first.

Was it when his 81-year-old father suffered respiratory distress while hospitalized in nearby Bergamo over Christmas, two months before the virus was confirmed in the province? Was it from Riva's own illness nausea with fever weeks earlier? Or was it through the 71-year-old diocesan priest who served as his assistant, Don Adriano Locatelli, the first of the three to test positive after the idyllic lunch?



The situation exploded when Don Adriano was hospitalized Sunday, March 8, Riva recalled.

Then Dad was hospitalized Tuesday and died Friday, and the next Sunday, the 15th, Mom's condition worsened.

In retrospect, he realized they all had concealed symptoms. Don Adriano's morale sank as of the virus clusters in northern Italy broke and grew bleaker. Only later did it occur to Riva that the priest probably already had a fever.

Riva said his father sounded upbeat during their last phone call, but he now suspects he was already sick. Their conversation took place such a short time before an ambulance took his father to the hospital.

''He was hiding his ailments from Mom, so neither she nor we children would worry,'' Riva said.

His 79-year-old mother initially nursed a fever while isolating at home. She soon had to be hospitalized and fitted with an oxygen mask. Riva reported Wednesday that her condition had worsened in recent days.

''There are no more hopes for my mother,'' he said.

''I don't know what to say. I am someone who is destroyed.'' Riva emerged from two weeks of home quarantine without symptoms, so health authorities said he was ineligible for a virus test. He still has no idea if he was an asymptomatic carrier of the virus, as he fears, if he had a touch of COVID-19 and recovered, or if he somehow missed getting infected.

He has been instructed to maintain social distance and wear a mask. His ministry has been moved to social media, and his personal contact limited to a daily walk around the church grounds with the town doctor.

Parishioners show their care by leaving him milk still warm from the cow and sending messages after his Facebook-streamed Masses telling him he looks like he has lost weight.

Even through his own mourning, Riva has been helping parishioners through the deaths of loved ones: Four with the coronavirus, including a 64-year-old woman and her mother, died within three days of each other.

The family was in quarantine. We asked the funeral home to pass in front of the house so the family could say goodbye, he said.

As the crisis begins to plateau in Italy with the number of new cases stabilizing and intensive care cases dropping it is natural to begin to think of the after.

Riva is drawn to an Old Testament verse from the book of Isaiah, Watchman, what is left of the night?" For Riva, that glimmer of light, what he called a new humanism, is represented by the doctors, nurses and volunteers responding to the crisis.

Through these people, who are risking everything to take care of sick people, the light of the future is already present, Riva said. This humanity of getting one's hands dirty for others, not considering the self, this presents the future of humanity. Inside the evil of this story, there is something bigger: love and charity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Despite Russia's attempts to force on Ukraine a direct dialogue with representatives of the occupied Donbas and to moderate this dialogue, official Kyiv does not support such a format and underscores that Russia is a party to the conflict.

"Russia calls on Ukraine to come into a direct dialogue with the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk peoples republics as it did in 2014. For our part, we do not establish a direct dialogue with the abovementioned formations," Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said during a live stream organized by the Atlantic Council on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The minister noted that the Trilateral Contact Group was called trilateral precisely because it includes Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE.

"And, of course, we view Russia as a party to the conflict, not as a moderator, coordinator or in any other role," Kuleba stressed.

At the same time, when asked about recent changes in the settlement policy, Kuleba noted that he did not observe any particular changes in Ukraine's policy towards Russia and vice versa.

"We discuss the same things that were discussed in 2014. In my opinion, the main narratives are still preserved," he said.

In this context, the minister informed that one of the main issues, at least for the Ukrainian side, was the release of Ukrainian captives in the format of detainee exchange.

As reported, at the meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group held in the format of video conferences on April 6-8, the parties reached a principled agreement on the next phase of the exchange of detainees in the near future.

ol
As many as 36 prisoners in Iran are feared dead after security forces used lethal force to control protests triggered by fears of Covid-19, Amnesty International (AI) said in a statement on Thursday, April 9.

Referring to widespread protests in recent days in different prisons across Iran, AI says that thousands of prisoners in at least eight prisons around the country staged protests over fears of contracting the coronavirus, sparking deadly responses from prison officers and security forces.

It is abhorrent that instead of responding to prisoners legitimate demands to be protected from COVID-19, Iranian authorities have yet again resorted to killing people to silence their concerns, said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty Internationals Deputy Regional Director of the Middle East and North Africa.

"In several prisons, live ammunition and tear gas were used to suppress protests, killing around 35 prisoners and injuring hundreds of others, according to credible sources. In at least one prison, security forces beat those taking part in the protest action, possibly leading to the death of an inmate" AI reiterated.

The international watchdog added, "An independent investigation into the torture and deaths in custody is urgently needed with a view to bringing to justice those found responsible."

Meanwhile, the chief of police in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, southwest Iran, has admitted that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) members stepped in to assist his forces, after inmates in two prisons in Ahvaz, Sepidar and Sheyban (Shiban) set fire to garbage cans.

Ahvaz is the capital city of the oil-rich Khuzestan province, southwest Iran, where the majority of Arabic speaking Iranians live.

Earlier on Tuesday, April 7, a human rights activist, Karim Dahimi, had told Radio Farda that more than eighty political and civil rights advocates held in Ahvaz's notorious Sheyban prison were transferred to an unknown location.

The prisoners had earlier protested their condition on March 31, and Dahimi asserted that he had collected the names of eight prisoners, some battered and tortured by security forces.

According to Dahimi, several inmates were directly hit by bullets, and there is no information on their whereabouts.

There were also reports earlier disclosing that the security forces had opened fire on protesters in Ahvaz's infamous Sepidar prison, killing several.

In its Thursday statement, AI says, "Independent media and human rights organizations have reported that inmates from several prisons have tested positive for the virus. Consequently, many prisoners have staged hunger strikes in protest at the authorities failure to respond to their demands for releases, testing in prisons, provision of adequate sanitary products and facilities, and the quarantining of prisoners suspected of infection."

Meanwhile, based on separate reports filed by human rights groups, the Islamic Republic security forces have so far killed ten inmates in Tehran's infamous prison, Fashafuyeh (the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary, GTCP), and Qarchak detention center in the city of Varamin, as well as in a jail in the city of Orumieh, northwest Iran.

Senior Iranian officials and the Judiciary have not commented on these reports.
We've launched an investigation into what took place and what can be done moving forward to ensure that this doesn't happen again, Gov. Laura Kelly told reporters Friday. But rest assured my administration will complete that work, hold those responsible for the outbreak to account and put in place any additional steps that are necessary to ensure that safety and order is maintained. We will learn from this.
Storyful

A rescue crew of Fairmont Fire Department firefighters and Martin County Sheriffs Office deputies pulled an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) from an icy lake in Fairmont, Minnesota, on Saturday, January 8.Due to the geese, portions of Hall Lake are still open water. PLEASE USE CAUTION if venturing out. Our department, along with the Martin County Sheriffs Office helped rescue this ATV Saturday evening, the Fairmont Fire Department wrote on Facebook.Video released by the Fairmont Fire Department shows authorities hoisting the vehicle out of the water at Hall Lake using an ATV equipped with snow tracks.Storyful has contact the fire department for information regarding the driver of the rescued ATV. Credit: Fairmont Fire Department via Storyful
Netflixs docuseries, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, follows the events that led zookeeper Joe Exotic to hire two separate hitmen to murder his rival, Carole Baskin. One of those men was Allen Glover, and it was his testimony that ultimately helped authorities put Joe Exotic in jail. So where is Allen Glover now?

Joe Exotic | Netflix

Who is Tiger King star Allen Glover?

In the Netflix series, Allen Glover is introduced as a handyman who worked for Jeff Lowe. When Lowe took over Joseph Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotics G.W. Zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, he fired a number of people and brought in his own workers, including Glover.

When I first got to the zoo, I didnt know anything about the zoo, Glover says in episode 5 of Tiger King. Jeff said Ill give you money and a place to live and whatnot, so I was like, Ill take him up on his offer.'

1:49 am: Did they ask Allen Glover to do his interview in the bathtub or was he already just in there? pic.twitter.com/3m0d4YPevY  Nave (@EvanScheinberg) April 3, 2020

In the episode, Glover also reveals that he spent some time in jail, and has had numerous run-ins with the law. I went to prison when I just turned 18, I did my time for that, he says. Ive had many other encounters with the police, but moving on with my life.

As shown in the docuseries, Glover did not get along with Maldonado-Passage. And when the zookeeper gave him money to go to Florida to kill Carole Baskin, Glover took the money and disappeared for a while.

Allen Glovers role in the Tiger King murder-for-hire scheme

When Lowe learned that Maldonado-Passage was under federal investigation, he urged Glover to come forward and talk to law enforcement. Maldonado-Passage attempted to hire an undercover federal agent posing as a hitman to murder Baskin but was unable to pay and complete the transaction. But with Glovers testimony, the authorities were able to confirm Maldonado-Passages intentions and crimes.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, during Maldonado-Passages March 2018 trial, a jury heard evidence that Maldonado-Passage gave Allen Glover $3,000 to travel from Oklahoma to South Carolina and then to Florida to murder Carole Baskin, with a promise to pay thousands more after the deed.

During the trial, Glover testified that he never intended to go through with the murder, and just wanted to take the money and run. As reported by The Oklahoman, Glover told the court that he went back home to South Carolina and then to Florida to warn Baskin, but just ended up getting drunk and high on painkillers and cocaine. I just found a beach and found some people to party with, Glover said. I had some money.

The jury found Maldonado-Passage guilty on 19 criminal counts, including two murder-for-hire counts, nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act, and eight counts of falsifying records. In January 2020, the 57-year-old zookeeper was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Where is Allen Glover now?

The Tiger King and I  a Tiger King after show hosted by Joel McHale and featuring brand new interviews with John Reinke, Joshua Dial, John Finlay, Saff, Erik Cowie, Rick Kirkman, and Jeff and Lauren Lowe  will premiere April 12 pic.twitter.com/8fbbNdaiDA  Netflix (@netflix) April 9, 2020

Glover doesnt have much of a media presence, so its hard to pinpoint exactly where he is now. However, he worked for Lowe for many years. So its safe to assume he may still be working at the G.W. Zoo or Lowes new park in Thackerville called the Oklahoma Zoo.

Netflix will air a new episode of Tiger King on April 12, but as of now, Glovers name is not on its list of follow-up interviews.


>>> PM orders urgent solutions to difficulties caused by COVID-19 pandemic



>>> German, European media highlight Vietnams support in COVID-19 fight



>>> Hanoi: Social distancing required amid COVID-19 spread

According to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, they were discharged from the Can Gio Hospital for COVID-19 Treatment in Ho Chi Minh City this morning, following their full recovery.

Both are Vietnamese and they were isolated when returning from abroad immediately upon entry. After about 10 days of treatment, the duo were declared as recovered.

Patient No. 203, a 35-year-old woman, and patient No. 234, also a female, 69, all tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 virus two days in a row on April 5 and 6. They are currently in a stable condition and have no cough or fever and thus are eligible for the all-clear.

The duo will continue to be quarantined and monitored for the next 14 days following discharge.

Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Deputy Head of the Treatment Sub-Committee under the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, said that leading experts are in consultation with hospitals treating COVID-19 patients to update the situation and have timely assistance for them, especially those in critical condition.

The good news is that the seriously ill patients are progressing, while dozens of others have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 1-2 times, with 18 patients having tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 two or more times.

As of Thursday morning, Vietnam had confirmed 251 COVID-19 patients with no fatalities so far.

* On the same day, the Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Hau Giang Province presented isolation completion certificates for 135 Vietnamese citizens returning from the Philippines, who underwent 14-day isolation to prevent the risk of infection in the local isolation camps.

Presenting isolation completion certificates to citizens at Military Region 9s Military School in Soc Trang Province, April 9, 2020. (Photo: NDO/Nguyen Phong)



171 others, including Vietnamese and foreigners entering Vietnam from Europe, were also released on Thursday morning in Soc Trang Province, following completion of isolation. Earlier, Military Zone 9s Military School based in Soc Trang also helped 602 people returning from foreign countries hit by COVID-19 finish their medical isolation and return to their families in full health.

* The Hanoi Capital High Command announced that on Thursday morning, its fire prevention and chemical unit completed sterilisation work in Ha Loi Village in Me Linh Commune in the outlying district of the same name, thus facilitating medical isolation for the village.

On the night of April 8, the unit began disinfecting the area where COVID-19 patient No. 243 resides. The 47-year-old man was confirmed as infected with SARS-CoV-2 on April 6. The source of his infection, however, remains unclear.

His neighbour was confirmed as the countrys 250th patient on April 7, after testing positive for the virus. The Ministry of Health has issued an urgent notice to track all those who had close contact with him.

Disinfecting Ha Loi Village in Me Linh Commune, Hanois Me Linh District. (Photo: VNA)



Starting from April 8, 2,973 households with 10,872 people in Ha Loi Village have been put into a medical blockade for 28 days. The Military Command of Me Linh District arranged nine quarantine posts with 250 participants to control the isolation for 24 hours a day until the end of May 6.

It is expected that the Hanoi Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control will soon deploy rapid testing for Ha Loi villagers.
Jewish Academy of Orlando held is first-ever remote model Passover seder with a 1960s-theme for its students, parents and guests using Google Meet. The students told the story of Passover in a traditional way with the four questions, traditional meal (at home), and songs. The 1960s-themed costumes, and songs added to the excitement

Students dressed in groovy 1960s gear with tie dye and more; even the faculty and staff participated.

From the Beatles to Simon and Garfunkle and Neil Diamond, the students sang Passover-themed songs set to 1960s melodies to tell the story. Each class participated during various parts of the seder. For example, the kindergarteners performed the traditional four questions while the first graders acted out the 10 plagues.

Before saying the kiddush over wine, the students sang "Sweet Kosher Wine" to the tune of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline." As they washed their hands, the students sang a parody of the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" called "I Want to Wash My Hands."

Students were given a checklist of items to have on hand such as matzah, charoset, and maror. That way, they were able participate in the seder.

Head of School Alan Rusonik dressed up as one of The Beatles.

"The seder requirement/commandment is to tell the story of Passover," said Head of School Alan Rusonik. "Our goal was to do so in a way that engaged every student at home. By using the 1960s songs we were able to tell the story in a fun and exciting way that related to students of all ages." Rusonik added, "Last year's Disney seder and the year before's Harry Potter seder were resounding successes, as they also told the Passover story in an extremely appealing way We had to top it with a theme that truly excited our students and was engaging under these unique circumstances. Thanks to our amazing faculty who pulled off yet another amazing seder. Next year at JAO!"

Jewish Academy of Orlando serves central Florida students of all faiths from transitional kindergarten through fifth grade. The school delivers a whole-child education fostering academic excellence and character education rooted in Jewish values. Jewish Academy of Orlando is accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools.

To learn more about Jewish Academy of Orlando, please visit: jewishacademyorlando.org or follow the school on Facebook facebook.com/JewishAcademyOrlando/

To learn more about Remote Learning at Jewish Academy of Orlando, please visit: https://www.jewishacademyorlandoorg/remotelearning.
PORTLAND, Maine - A judge has ruled the federal government failed to adequately protect endangered whales from lobster fishing activities, sending the industry and regulators scrambling to figure out what the future holds for one of Americas most lucrative marine industries.

Environmental groups sued the U.S. government claiming regulators failure to protect the North Atlantic right whale from harm was a violation of the Endangered Species Act. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled Thursday that the National Marine Fisheries Service did just that by understating lobster fishings ability to kill the whales via entanglement in ropes.

Boasbergs ruling states the service found the American lobster fishery had the potential to harm the North Atlantic right whale at more than three times the sustainable rate, but did not take appropriate action about that risk. A remedy will come in the future, the ruling states.

Environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, which filed the lawsuit, heralded the ruling as a victory in the fight to protect the whales, which number only about 400.

This decision should send a clear signal that federal officials must take immediate action to protect these amazing animals from suffering more deadly, painful entanglements before its too late, said Kristen Monsell oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Boasbergs ruling could mean changes for the management of the lobster industry, which was worth more than $600 million at the docks in 2018 and is based mostly in Maine and Massachusetts. Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills said she has instructed the states marine resources commissioner, Patrick Keliher, to review the decision and respond in the coming days.

Upon an initial review, this is a deeply disappointing decision, Mills said.

A spokeswoman for the National Marine Fisheries Service said the ruling was under review and the agency wasnt able to comment on it yet. Members of the industry were also working to understand what the ruling could mean for lobster fishing. The executive directors of the Massachusetts Lobstermens Association and Maine Lobstermens Association said they were reviewing the ruling and consulting with legal teams.

The lobster industry is already in the midst of numerous challenges, including a weakened seafood market caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The industry is also facing impending new restrictions designed to better protect the right whales, which have declined in population in recent years.

Right whales were one of the whale species most heavily exploited during the whaling era, when they were hunted for oil and meat. Theyve since become a major focus of the worldwide movement to protect ocean life.
The following is a rundown of various local businesses and services hours of operation this Easter long weekend.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (642 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

The following is a rundown of various local businesses and services hours of operation this Easter long weekend.

The list is far from complete. If you want your service or business to be included in The Brandon Suns next holiday hours listing, email your hours of operation a few days in advance to reporter Colin Slark at cslark@brandonsun.com, with "Holiday Hours" in the subject line.

The Brandon Sun will not be printed on Friday or Monday in recognition of Good Friday or Easter Monday, although a news reporter will remain on duty to post breaking news at brandonsun.com.

New articles will still be posted on Easter Monday.

The next editions of the newspaper will be on Saturday and Tuesday.

Note that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may be affecting services and hours at these locations.

City of Brandon

 Brandon City Hall (410 Ninth St.), the A.R. McDiarmid Civic Complex (638 Princess Ave.), the Civic Services Complex (900 Richmond Ave. East), the Community Sportsplex and the Parks Complex (2020 McGregor Ave.) are closed due to the pandemic.

 Brandon Transit routes will not be offering any services on Good Friday or Easter Sunday.

 The Eastview Landfill will be closed on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday.

Grocery stores

 The Real Canadian Superstore (920 Victoria Ave.) will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

 Sobeys Extra Brandon South (1645 18th St.) and Sobeys Brandon West (3409 Victoria Ave.) will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

 The Co-op Marketplace (1035 Richmond Ave.) will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

 Safeway (Corral Centre) will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

 Walmart Supercentre (Corral Centre) will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Liquor

 Brandons three full Liquor Mart locations, as well as the Express location, will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

 The Keystone Beer Company (1865 Brandon Ave.) will be open regular hours but has recently adjusted its schedule due to the pandemic. It will be open from 10 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays for the time being.

 Victoria Inn (3550 Victoria Ave.) will be open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Good Friday and open regular hours otherwise. However, the vendors regular hours have been adjusted due to the pandemic. The vendors regular hours are now 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to midnight on Thursday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

 The 40 (210 18th St. N.) will be open on Good Friday and the subsequent Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. It will be open on Easter Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and resume normal hours of 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Easter Monday.

Medical clinics

 The Newmount Medical Clinic at 624 18th St. will be open from noon to 4 p.m. on Good Friday and Easter Sunday and open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

 The Brandon Clinic at 620 Dennis St. will be closed on Good Friday and is normally closed on weekends.

 Brandon Clinic West at 2835 Victoria Ave. will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Good Friday through Easter Sunday.

 Wheat City Clinic at 1711 Kirkcaldy Dr. will be closed on Good Friday. The clinic will not be open on Saturdays for the month of April and is normally closed on Sundays.

 The Western Medical Clinic at 2425 Victoria Ave. will be closed on Good Friday and is normally closed on weekends.

 Rosser Medical Group at 841 Rosser Ave. will be closed on Good Friday and will reopen with normal hours on Easter Monday.

 Trinity Medical Clinic at 335 18th St. will be closed Good Friday through Easter Sunday.

Pharmacies

 With too many pharmacies to list, it would be best that one contacts their business of choice to find out their weekend hours. Even so, Brandons two Shoppers Drug Marts locations (139 Victoria Ave. East and 1350 18th St.) are known for keeping holiday hours. Both locations will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

Other things to do

 The Western Manitoba Regional Library is closed due to the pandemic.

 The Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum is closed due to the pandemic.

 Only businesses deemed essential will be open at Shoppers Mall. Visit the malls website to find out hours for those businesses. Only the entrance near Dollarama can be used to access the interior of the mall.

 The Brandon Sun
Jaipur: Rajasthan government on Friday announced it will provide an assistance of Rs 50 lakh to the family of any employee who dies due to coronavirus while on duty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, an official statement said.

This assistance scheme also includes state government contractual employees deployed on coronavirus related duty, it said.

However, those healthcare workers for whom central government had announced Rs 50 lakh insurance cover will not come under this scheme, the statement said.

Various employees like patwaris, police constables, home guards and Anganwadi workers have been put on duty to check the spread of coronavirus in the state, an official said.

Intense contact searching of the patients and massive screening of people in affected areas is being conducted through the state government machinery in Rajasthan, he added.
End-of-life wishes can limit unwanted suffering and potentially free resources for at-risk patients

Long before she contracted COVID-19 at a Kirkland, Washington, nursing home, Barbara Dreyfuss made sure to document the wishes that would govern how she died.

The medical directive she signed last year at the Life Care Center outside Seattle called for no resuscitation if her heart stopped, and no machine to help her breathe. The 75-year-old, who suffered from lung disease and heart problems, had been on a ventilator for two weeks in 2016, a grueling experience she didnt want to repeat.

Moms form said, Do not resuscitate, allow natural death, said son Doug Briggs, 54. That was her choice.

So after Dreyfuss fell ill in late February, becoming one of the first U.S. patients sickened by the new virus sweeping the globe, her family reluctantly allowed doctors to halt life-saving treatment in favor of comfort care.

Dreyfuss, a once-vivacious feminist and activist, died March 1, two days before tests formally confirmed she had COVID-19. But her decision to confirm her wishes in advance could serve as an example for growing numbers of individuals and families feeling new urgency to pin down end-of-life preferences and plans.

In the weeks since COVID-19 has surged, sickening nearly 350,000 people in the U.S. and killing more than 9,600 as of April 5, interest in advance care planning has surged, too. More than 4,000 requests poured in during the week of March 15 for copies of Five Wishes, an advance directive planning tool created by the Tallahassee, Florida, nonprofit agency Aging with Dignity. Thats about a tenfold increase in a normal volume, said Paul Malley, the groups president.

We started hearing from families that they want to be prepared, said Malley, noting that more than 35 million copies of the living will be already in circulation.

Stephanie Anderson, executive director of Respecting Choices, a Wisconsin-based group that provides evidence-based tools for advance care planning, said her organization put together a free COVID-19 toolkit after seeing a spike in demand.

We had hundreds of calls and emails saying, We need help having these conversations now, she said.

The tools and documents aim to help adults of all ages plan for their medical, personal, emotional and spiritual care at the end of life with a series of thoughtful questions and guides.

Malley said the COVID-19 crisis has spurred interest from two primary groups. The first: people immediately concerned that they or someone they love will contract COVID-19.

Theyre saying, Will we know what Mom or Dad wants? Malley said. Theyre motivated by the urgency of a health crisis around the corner.

New requests also are coming from families sidelined at home by shelter-in-place orders, he said, as they spend relaxed time with loved ones and have more breathing room for such discussions.

Their family is playing more board games together and catching up on movies, he said. Advance care planning is falling into that bucket of that thing people wanted to do when they had time.

These conversations can be difficult enough during ordinary times, but the crisis has provided an urgent new reason to start talking, said Anderson. Were hearing people are really worried, she said. Ive heard the word terrified about whats happening in the country.

Its more than just filling out a document, Anderson emphasized. The conversations about preferences and values can help provide real relief. They want somebody to talk about these things, she added.

Eliciting end-of-life preferences in advance also could help ease the strain on the health care system as doctors grapple with how best to divvy up care amid dwindling medical supplies and equipment.

Dr. Matthew Wynia, a University of Colorado bioethicist and infectious disease doctor, is planning how to triage seriously ill patients when the supply of mechanical ventilators runs short at his medical campus. Understandingand solicitingpatients end-of-life preferences are key, he said.

Weve always had the requirement that people get asked about an advance care plan, but now we are taking that incredibly seriously, he said. Because we need to know if you get much worse, what would you want?

One new and potentially controversial question his hospital is considering would ask patients whether theyd be willing to forgo a lifesaving ventilator for someone else in a crisis. Would you want to get in line for those crucial care resources? Wynia said. Or are you the kind of person who would say, Ive had a good life and Ill let other people get ahead of me in line?

The most ethically defensible way to make a triage decision is to ask patients in advance, Wynia said. By the time youre asking for volunteers, these people cant talk to you anymore.

But some experts worry that asking such a question crosses a line, even during an emergency. Malley balked at the thought of asking COVID-19 patients to weigh their lives against others, fearing it could pressure vulnerable peoplethe elderly, disabled, and othersinto decisions they dont really want.

I think we shouldnt resort to coercive questions, he said. I dont think anyone should be made to feel they have a duty to die.

Even if youve made advance care plans in the past, Malley and Wynia emphasized the need to reevaluate them in light of the COVID-19 scare. If youve documented your wishes to decline CPR or intubation because of primary disease, such as cancer, consider whether you still want to forgo such treatment for the novel virus. Similarly, if youve opted for the full treatmentprolonging life by all measuresmake sure youve considered the potentially devastating aftermath of mechanical ventilation for COVID-19.

For this condition, people who need to be on a vent for COVID-19 are staying on it for two weeks or three, and they may have very severe lung disease afterward, Wynia said.

Indeed, Barbara Dreyfusss two-week stint on a ventilator shaped her answer to questions on the medical directive that guided her care, her son said. Because of what had happened to Mom four years ago, we had already sat around as a family and discussed this, Briggs said.

That doesnt mean it was easy, said Meri Dreyfuss, 62, Barbaras sister, who called stopping active treatment a hellish decision. But as the infection in her lungs worsened, Barbara Dreyfuss was clearly in pain. I was like, Oh, my God, I cant stand the thought of her suffering, Meri Dreyfuss recalled.

Late on the evening of March 1, Briggs was with his mother in her isolation room. Nurses asked him to step out because he had exceeded the allowed contact time. But when he looked back, monitors showed that his mothers vital signs were dropping fast.

Nurses allowed him to rush back into the room. Dressed in a hospital gown, mask, and gloves, his cellphone wrapped in a plastic bag, Briggs quickly turned on the 60s music his mother loved. Nurses had increased doses of drugs to decrease her air hunger and anxiety.

Somewhere between Stand by Me and Here, There and Everywhere, my mom passed away, he said.

At the center of a global crisis, Dreyfusss earlier decision allowed her to have control over how she died.

It felt like she was peacefully sleeping, Briggs said. She just stopped.

JoNel Aleccia is a senior correspondent, focused on aging and end-of-life issues, on the KHN enterprise team. This article was first published by Kaiser Health News.
At least 27 Syrian regime fighters were killed Thursday in an Islamic State group attack in the central province of Homs amid fierce clashes, a war monitor said.

Pro-government fighters backed by Russian air strikes were battling the jihadists to prevent them from entering the desert town of Al-Sukhna in Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The air raids and clashes killed 22 IS fighters, the Britain-based monitor said.

"Russian aviation intervened to stop the jihadists from advancing and retaking the town," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

But the jihadists managed to break through and entered parts of Al-Sukhna in the evening, taking control of some neighbourhoods, he added.

Syrian regime forces recaptured Al-Sukhna from IS in 2017.

Thursday's attack was the deadliest in the area since December, when IS fighters attacked an army garrison in a gas facility east of Homs city, killing four civilians and 13 troops or militiamen, Abdel Rahman said.

IS proclaimed a "caliphate" in parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014.

After years of various offensives against it, US-backed forces finally expelled IS from its last patch of territory in eastern Syria a year ago.

But the jihadists retain a presence in the vast Badia desert stretching across the country through Homs province and eastwards to the Iraqi border, and they continue to carry out deadly attacks.

Syria's war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.
Dozens of inmates at the Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas rioted last night, rampaging through offices, breaking windows and setting small fires in apparent protest at the spread of coronavirus.

The outbreak continued for several hours before the facility was secured, a prison official said Friday.

Shocking footage posted to WorldStarHipHop which appears to have been filmed inside the prison shows inmates running amok around the cell block.

The camera pans around to some other parts of the jail. Smashed windows can be seen along with overturned trash cans and broken chairs and tables.

Some inmates even appeared to be wearing the jackets of corrections officers.

Around 50 inmates began rioting at Lansing Correctional Facility on Thursday

The prisoners managed to get their hands on cellphones and began recording video footage

Windows were smashed and paperwork was tossed outside through bars in the windows

There doesnt appear to be any staff attempting to control disorder at any point.

Officials said prison staff were all safely evacuated to another part of the jail.

It's unclear what started the riot, said Randy Bowman, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Corrections.

But in the video, one of the inmates can be heard to say: 'Y'all don't want to give us no healthcare, this is what we do'.

Lansing prison has drawn attention recently amid the coronavirus crisis, with the corrections department reporting 14 staff and 12 inmates with confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the facility.

In the video, many of the prisoners can be seen wearing masks.

Video footage captured the inmates as they wandered around the jail on both levels

For the most part, the prisoners destroyed prison property and trashed offices

Prison staff were evacuated and were able to stand outside while the riot continued inside

One innmate appeared to get his hands on a corrections' officer's coat, left, while another gestured at the camera celebrating their short burst of freedom

The disturbance began about 3pm Thursday in medium-security cell house C, said Bowman.

By 9pm some inmates had given up or gone back to their cells.

All inmates were secured and accounted for by about 1am Friday, Bowman said in an email cited by NBC News.

Bowman did not immediately return a message left Friday morning seeking an update.

No injuries were reported and staff members were able to leave the cell house after the riot began.

The prisoners ran riot through block C of the jail making as much mess as possible

State prison officials say inmates in one cell house at the Lansing Correctional Facility were out of their cells and destroying property on Thursday

Prison spokesman Randy Bowman says the riot started Thursday at about 3pm when several inmates refused to return to their cells

Bowman said the disturbance started when some inmates refused to return to their cells as ordered.

He said it appeared about 50 inmates were involved at first, with between 20 or 30 participating through the evening.

On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas asked the Kansas Supreme Court to immediately release prisoners who have preexisting medical conditions that make them vulnerable to the coronavirus.

The class action petition is on behalf of seven inmates at prisons including the Lansing facility.

The department said Thursday that state officials recognize that inmates and prison staff are especially at risk of infection and have taken steps to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in corrections facilities.

Health experts say prisons could become epicenters of the spreading killer virus as they are essentially miniature cities hidden behind tall fences where many people share cells, sit elbow-to-elbow at dining areas and are herded through halls to the yard or prison industry jobs.

They say its nearly impossible to keep six feet away from anyone, adding to tensions.

Medical services behind bars have long been substandard and even hand sanitizer is considered contraband in some facilities because of its alcohol content.

More than 2.2million people are incarcerated in the United States  more than anywhere else in the world.
New Delhi: In response to China's claim that Kashmir remains 'high on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council', the Ministry of Extermal Affairs on Thursday rejected the claim and reiterated once again that matters related to Jammu and Kashmir was internal to India.

In a statement released by the MEA on the website of its permanent mission in New York read: "We reject the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in a statement made by the spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations. China is well aware of Indias consistent position on this issue. The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India. Issues related to J&K are internal matter to India."

Also, it said that China should "recognise and condemn the scourge of cross-border terrorism that affect the lives of the people of India, including in J&K".

Earlier, China in its statement had said that it "immediately" responded and processed to the letter by Pakistan on March 10 on Kashmir and it remains "high on the agenda of the council".

The letter to raise Kashmir issue at UNSC was given by Pakistan foreign minister SM Qureshi, hoping that China, as chair of UNSC, will raise the matter. The Chinese envoy to UN, Zhang Jun had even circulated Pakistan's letter as an official document of the council, though no meeting took place. This despite growing criticism against Bejing's leadership in UNSC for failing to convene a meeting on COVID-19.

Sources from UNSC member countries told WION that China was not keen to discuss the matter as it feared releasing more information on the virus outbreak.

The first case of coronavirus infection was reported from Wuhan in China in December 2019 and since then it has come under tremendous pressure for not sharing information earlier that could have prevented the spread of the deadly pathogen and spared the lives of thousands across the world.

The coronavirus has infected almost 16 lakh people with reports of over 95,000 deaths.
Due to their recent relocation to Los Angeles, fears have begun to arise that Prince Harry may feel isolated, as contrasted to Meghan who's thrilled to resume her life in Hollywood - the moment this pandemic is over.

As published in Express, royal commentator Angela Mollard states that Prince Harry may feel out of place due to being apart from Prince William and Prince Charles.

Joined with Zoe Burrel from the ROYALS podcast, Mollard indicates that she is concerned for the Duke of Sussex.

She emphasized that although Prince Harry is a strong person, he may be feeling vulnerable.

Mollard even stressed that the duke may be in danger since he has undergone therapy in the past.

"These stories do make you worry for someone like Harry, who has talked most recently about being in therapy for many years about the pressures that he's felt since his mother died," she stated.

The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, on the other hand, was said to be eager to revisit her former lifestyle once the lockdown status in the United States has been lifted.

According to an article written by Holly Fleet, Markle was reportedly excited to go to her favorite places including the gym, exclusive restaurants and invite-only Soho club, which was rumoured to be where she and Prince Harry first met.

After years of being a part of the British Monarchy followed by the couple's shocking step down as senior royals, Markle, accordingly, has set her eyes to working in Hollywood.

It is expected that in addition to her celebrity friends like Oprah Winfrey and Elton John, she will be accompanied by her team based in Beverly Hills composed of Andrew Meyes who's in charge of her business affairs, Nick Collins as her agent and Rick Genow, her lawyer.

Markle reunites with her mother

As Roisin Kelly writes in Parade, it is also anticipated that Markle will reunite with her 63-year-old mother, Doria Ragland.

The two were said to have a close bond and are quietly spending the Easter together.

Doria lives in Windsor Hills in South LA and is staying near her daughter in a bungalow passed down to her by her father.

She's currently working as a yoga instructor and a social worker.

Meghan Markle voices 'Elephant' by Disney Plus

Now that she's back in Hollywood and earning her own money, Meghan has already finished a deal with Disney Plus.

As stated by Insider, she did a voice-over project for the new movie documentary called Elephant.

The launch of 'Archewell' postponed due to the pandemic

Harry and Meghan had a lot of plans after their step back from the throne.

Unfortunately, as reported by The Guardian, the launch of one of their biggest ventures, Archewell, was thwarted due to the COVID 19 crisis.

The couple indicated that the launch would be inappropriate since there are more pressing matters at hand.

In an interview with BuzzFeed News, it was revealed that Prince Harry and Meghan first intended to use the name SussexRoyal.

However, the Queen barred them from using the word "Royal".

When asked about the name, they disclosed that it was inspired by the Greek word "Arche" which meant a 'source of action' and merging it with the word "well" which suggests deep resources.

Noticeably, the name also resembles their son's, Archie Harrison, which was deemed to be an unconventional name for a member of the royal family.

READ MORE: Bye, Meghan? Prince Harry Hinting Return To Royal Family ASAP
Part-time work, job interviews and long-awaited internships have all disappeared for post-secondary students who were in the process of updating resumes for the summer break when a pandemic was declared.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 9/4/2020 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Part-time work, job interviews and long-awaited internships have all disappeared for post-secondary students who were in the process of updating resumes for the summer break when a pandemic was declared.

This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a plan tailored to students to alleviate financial strain  an expansion of the annual Canada Summer Jobs Program expected to create as many as 70,000 jobs, with the government offering wage subsidies up to 100 per cent.

Thats in addition to Ottawas emergency benefit plan, which provides Canadians who have lost work due to COVID-19 with $2,000 per month for up to 16 weeks.

But students say gaps in financial aid persist, and in turn, their savings for tuition and living expenses are being drained rapidly.

"This will be the first time in a long time that I cant work  and not because it's my own choice. A lot of places arent hiring or offering jobs," said Mahlet Cuff, a third-year women and gender studies student at the University of Winnipeg.

Cuff, the vice-president of external affairs at the University of Winnipeg Students Association, is the force behind a campaign to encourage her classmates to contact their local MP to demand income security for students.

Her term in student politics is up at the end of the month. With limited summer work opportunities to follow, she worries shell have to take a semester off to try to find some kind of work and save up for school.

She said she's heard from many students in similar situations, with concerns ranging from parents worried about juggling courses and childcare costs without an income to international students fearing job loss will affect their visas.

Micah Doerksen, a fourth-year student at U of W studying education, typically works two part-time jobs throughout the school year  an office job and server position. His restaurant hours were completely slashed when his employer was forced to close last month. He now makes a total of $900 per month from his minimum-wage data entry gig.

"I havent lost my income, but my income has been more than halved. I really hope they support part-time people in my situation," he said.

Also this week, Trudeau hinted at expanding emergency fund eligibility.

Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

In the meantime, Doerksen said hes in an odd position where his prospective summer job interviews have been cancelled so he is somewhat hopeful his office work contract wont be renewed next month due to COVID-19 so he can apply for government support.

"A lot of education students, we either do day camps or we do those types of learning programs or we do vocational things; its really hard because I dont know what to do this summer," he said.

Doerksen added hes been thinking often about a paper he wrote in a Canadian history class this year that was about work camps enacted during the Great Depression. He submitted it during what feels like a very long time ago, when he never could have imagined the entire workforce would soon be facing massive disruptions that have put hundreds of thousands of people out of work  students included.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
As part of our initiative, we introduced readers to intensive mentoring programs such as Friends of the Children, which finds the most vulnerable kindergartners and commits to more than a decade of mentoring. We visited the Cook County Jail, where a unique program called the Sheriffs Anti-Violence Effort, or SAVE, offers many detainees their first chance to work with a mentor and learn essential life skills such as making a personal budget or managing anger. We met with students at Campos High School, a Humboldt Park charter school in the Alternative Schools Network for kids who are on the verge of dropping out, where the students called their classmates and teachers family. And we held a live event in February where Mayor Lori Lightfoot and a panel of activists and experts discussed the issue of keeping our youth connected. We began what we hope will be a long-running community conversation.
Sixteen people were arrested



in Gujarat's Vadodara and the Union Territory of Daman for offering Friday prayers in mosques despite lockdown and social distancing orders in place for the novel coronavirus outbreak, police said.

While nine were held from Vadodara's Panigate area, seven were nabbed from a chawl in Daman, an official said, adding that they have been charged under section 188 of the IPC for disobeying official orders.

Two days ago, seven persons were arrested in Vadodara for gathering inside a mosque in Raopura area to offer namaz.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
WHO chief must apologize for accusations against Taiwan: MOFA

ROC Central News Agency

04/09/2020 12:05 PM

Taipei, April 9 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Thursday criticized "baseless" claims by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus that Taiwan is behind a campaign of personal attacks against him and demanded an apology from him.

In a press briefing Wednesday, Tedros said he has been the victim of racially-motivated attacks emanating out of Taiwan and said Taiwan's foreign ministry, rather than disavowing the attacks, had stepped up its personal criticisms of him.

On Thursday, MOFA issued a press release demanding a retraction of the comments, which it called "utterly baseless."

In an English-language Twitter thread, the ministry countered that the WHO has "mislabeled and outright ignored" legitimate enquiries about Taiwan, due to its exclusion from the public health agency, which is affiliated to the United Nations.

"But the government of Taiwan has in no way condoned nor encouraged any personal attacks on Dr. Tedros. It's always believed in Health for All and continues seeking full cooperation with the WHO to share Taiwan's response to the coronavirus with the international community," MOFA said.

Taiwan's exclusion from the WHO has become a major point of contention during the COVID-19 conovirus pandemic, as the government has called for public health to be put above political considerations.

The WHO, meanwhile, has said that Taiwanese experts are participating in the organization's response efforts and are accessing its information, albeit in an unofficial capacity.

Taiwan participated in the WHO's policy-setting body -- the World Health Assembly -- as an observer from 2009-2016 under the designation "Chinese Taipei," when relations between Beijing and Taipei were better under Taiwan's previous Kuomintang ruling party, which accepts the concept that the two sides are part of one China, with each side free to interpret what that means.

Since 2017, however, Taiwan has been excluded from the body due to opposition from China, which objects to Taiwan's current ruling Democratic Progressive Party's rejection of that concept.

(By Chen Yun-yu and Matthew Mazzetta)

Enditem/J

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






A Detroit hospital where coronavirus patients have died in the emergency room corridor is now beginning to run out of body bags as staff scramble to find places to store an overwhelming number of bodies.

At least two patients left in corridors at Detroit Sinai-Grace Hospital have been found dead by overworked nurses, sources told CNN.

Staff at the hospital are so overwhelmed that the emergency room's Sunday night nursing team all staged a sit-in to ask for more help, supported by the day-shift staff who worked for 24 hours in their absence.

The coronavirus kills around five patients per every twelve-hour shift and the hospital is now running out of body bags and places to store the bodies, as healthcare workers describe war-like conditions and an high fatality rate.

At least two people left in corridors at Detroit Sinai-Grace Hospital have been found dead by overworked nurses as the facility runs out of space to store the dead bodies

Staff at the hospital worked a 24 hour shift in support of night-shift workers who walk out in protest of the conditions in the hospital and the lack of staff to cope with the patients

'All three coolers are filled, the morgue and the viewing room next to the morgue are full and right now, we're taking bodies to the sleep lab to store them,' Jeff Eichenlaub, a weekend day-shift emergency room nurse at the for-profit hospital, told The Detroit News.

'We initially had to double bag each patient, but we started to run out of body bags and began scrambling floor-to-floor to find places to take them.'

One worker described the hospital as looking like a 'third world country in a war zone'.

Another said patients 'we know are going to pass' have been taken off monitors to free it up for 'someone else that needs it'.

'Last week,' a nurse said, 'I did witness one patient who had expired that was on a stretcher bed in the hallway next to someone in a chair'.

Detroit Sinai-Grace Hospital has one of the highest mortality rates in the country

A person is tested for Covid-19 in the parking lot at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The stay at home order in the state has been extended until April 30 as it appears to hit the worst

Healthcare workers told The Detroit News that patients lining the hallways are mostly from the local nursing homes, who staff say can not be helped to beat the virus.

Families are called to grant a do-not-resuscitate order and patients are then left to die alone.

'The "non-breathers" sitting in the hallway are a lot of our DNRs dying by themselves, and there are times where it's so busy we don't have time to even call families to inform them they've passed,' Eichenlaub said.

'Their families would call two days later and we'd have to say "let me find a physician for you".

'It's disheartening because you can almost see someone and know they're going to die. Then have to tell a family member "I know they were completely fine when they came in, but now they're dead because the virus is so rampant".'

Nurse Kenisa Barkai said she was fired after posting a video of her protective gear on Instagram.

Emergency room attending Sal Hadwan said he too was dismissed, telling The Detroit News: 'We need more help because we've been working under extreme conditions. We told them we need additional staff and went to check on patients.'

He said that the hospital has been receiving between 110 and 120 coronavirus patients a day for the last three weeks and that staffing levels are inadequate.

'They need oxygen, ventilators and multiple medications drips just to keep them alive and stable,' said Hadwan, a DMC nurse three years.

'It's unsafe for patients to have one nurse tending to 25 or more patients. It's unrealistic and dangerous to try to keep up.'

Nurse Kenisa Barkai , left, said she was fired after posting a video of her protective gear on Instagram. Emergency room attending Sal Hadwan, right, said he too was dismissed, telling The Detroit News: 'We need more help because weve been working under extreme conditions. We told them we need additional staff and went to check on patients'

Staff at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit after a 24-hour shift. A staff member has reported that as many as five patients die at the hospital during every twelve-hour shift

The hospital is the only one in northwest Detroit and happens to have the highest amount of EMS traffic, a spokesperson said.

The hospital is also in close proximity to 14 nursing homes.

'Our top priority is the safety of our patients and our staff,' spokesperson Brian Taylor said Thursday.

'Out of respect for the privacy of patients and their family members, we don't provide any details regarding the care of any particular patient.

'Among the patient population served by Sinai-Grace, there are extremely high rates of underlying medical conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, which puts people at higher risk for COVID-19,' he added.

'In addition, there are a large number of nursing homes in the area surrounding the hospital. The spread of respiratory illness and COVID-19 among that population places even more pressure on hospital resources as those patients are sicker and in many cases require ICU level of care.'

The high number of dead at the facility has caught the attention of federal officials, however.

Last week, Detroit Medical Center officials had a conference call with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because of concerns that Sinai-Grace had the highest coronavirus mortality rates among hospitals in the nation, staff were told on Wednesday.

Detroit leads Michigan in per capita coronavirus cases and deaths. The city had 6,218 cases as of Friday and 327 COVID-19-caused deaths.

Health officials, meanwhile, reported that Michigan has had 22,783 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,281 deaths from the disease caused by the coronavirus.

There were 205 new deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, the state's highest daily toll since the pandemic began.

A temporary hospital that the University of Michigan were set to open on Friday did not open as planned.

'It appears from current COVID-19 cases and modeling that the curve is significantly flattening,' university spokeswoman Mary Masson said.

'We are in communication with state officials to coordinate and determine future need.'

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has extended her stay-at-home order for residents through April 30.

'We are not out of the woods yet,' Whitmer said on Twitter.

The state has the third highest number of coronavirus cases in the country.
The story so far: Back in 2018, Wisconsins electorate voted strongly for Democratic control. Voters chose a Democratic governor, and gave 53 percent of their support to Democratic candidates for the State Assembly. But the state is so heavily gerrymandered that despite this popular-vote majority, Democrats got only 36 percent of the Assemblys seats.

And far from trying to reach some accommodation with the governor-elect, Republicans moved to effectively emasculate him, drastically reducing the powers of his office.

Then came Tuesdays election. In normal times most attention would have been focused on the Democratic primary  although that became a moot point when Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign. But a seat on the State Supreme Court was also at stake.

Yet Wisconsin, like most of the country, is under a stay-at-home order. So why did Republican legislators, eventually backed by the Republican appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court, insist on holding an election as if the situation were normal?

The answer is that the state shutdown had a much more severe impact on voting in Democratic-leaning urban areas, where a great majority of polling places were closed, than in rural or suburban areas. So the state G.O.P. was nakedly exploiting a pandemic to disenfranchise those likely to vote against it.

What we saw in Wisconsin, in short, was a state party doing whatever it takes to cling to power even if a majority of voters want it out  and a partisan bloc on the Supreme Court backing its efforts. Donald Trump, as usual, said the quiet part out loud: If we expand early voting and voting by mail, youd never have a Republican elected in this country again.

Does anyone seriously doubt that something similar could happen, very soon, at a national level?

This November, its all too possible that Trump will eke out an Electoral College win thanks to widespread voter suppression. If he does  or even if he wins cleanly  everything weve seen suggests that he will use a second term to punish everyone he sees as a domestic enemy, and that his party will back him all the way. That is, America will do a full Hungary.
Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Apr. 10, 2020 | BALLARD COUNTY

By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 10, 2020 | 02:03 PM | BALLARD COUNTY

Ballard County Schools has announced some changes to the way it will deliver meals to students.



Starting on April 13, meals will be delivered on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays  not every day. This will reportedly allow the district to reduce the presence of staff on campus to three days, instead of five, per governor Andy Beshear's recommendations for Kentuckians to stay safe at home as much as possible. It will also will reduce the communitys interactions with district staff.



We are still delivering meals for all five days, said Ballard County Schools Superintendent Dr. Casey Allen. The number of meals our families receive will not change  just the number of days well be bringing them.



Staff will deliver Mondays meals on Monday; Tuesday and Wednesday meals will be delivered Tuesday, and Thursday and Friday meals will be delivered on Thursday.



Because several meals will be delivered on Tuesday and Thursday, families are asked to do two things: Increase their capacity for receiving meals, and follow good food safety practices by bringing them inside and properly storing them as soon as possible.



A cooler would be the best way to keep meals safely, said Amber Hayes, Ballards food service director. If you can bring them in quickly, any box with a lid or top will work  we ask that families, especially those with more than one child, make sure that the receptacle is large enough to hold two days worth of food packages.



If this system works as well as we envision, we may make additional changes going forward, to further reduce risk, Allen said. However, we want our community to know that we will continue to support them through this crisis.
India on Friday said it will export 90,000 tonne of surplus wheat to Afghanistan and Lebanon under government-to-government (G2G) trading arrangement.

"India had a good crop of wheat, in surplus of its own demand. On specific demand from countries, cooperative NAFED has been asked to export 50,000 tonne wheat to Afghanistan and 40,000 tonne to Lebanon under G2G arrangement," the Union Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

The government is having a stock of about 23 million tonne of wheat and 54 million tonne of rice, which is much more than its requirement.

Right now, harvesting of wheat -- the main winter crop -- is underway in India. Farmers have harvested wheat crop in about 33 per cent of the total sown area so far and it will pick up in the coming weeks.

As per the second government estimate, the country is set to harvest a record wheat production of 106.21 million tonne in the 2019-20 crop year on the back of good rains.

Wheat production has been rising year-on-year and the previous record of 103.60 million tonne was achieved during the 2018-19 crop year (July-June).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With his father and some books for company at an apartment in Budapest, 14-year-old Indian chess player Leon Mendonca is not exactly feeling stuck even though he has been away from home for almost a month because of the coronavirus-forced travel restrictions.

The International Master, with an Elo rating of 2452, went to Budapest to compete in a tournament which was to end on March 17. But he has been forced to stay back after India enforced its first set of travel restrictions which barred flights from Europe.

He was supposed to take a flight back on March 18 but was stopped from boarding with the airline informing him about the Indian restrictions.

"We are safe and sound in an apartment in Budapest, waiting for the lockdown (in India) to get over before returning," Mendonca told PTI from the Hungarian capital.

"I wake up at 7.30 am and I say my prayers. I also do some yoga to maintain my physical fitness and do some meditation as well. I divide my time between academics and chess.

"I practice chess based on what I think is a priority, and what I feel like doing. I also read some chess books recently, 'Saying No to Chess Principles' by Evgeny Bareev and 'Life and Games of Mikhail Tal," he added.

The youngster misses his mother and sister but understands the gravity of the situation.

"It is important to remain at home and stay safe as the world battles the coronavirus. We stay at home and don't go out much. Dad cooks for us and gets supplies for up to 10 days from the supermarket nearby.

"I am doing what I would have done irrespective of the coronavirus and I don't feel much of a difference," he said.

The player's father Lyndon narrated the sequence of events before the two were stranded.

"Leon finished his last round on March 17 and we were due to return on 18th morning. We were denied boarding as the Qatar Airlines crew said that they would be forced to fly us back from Doha to Budapest instead of Delhi as we would have crossed the deadline of 18th March 12:00 GMT by the time we reached India," the young IM's father Lyndon said.

Lyndon, an engineer, said it was tough to be held up in Hungary during such difficult times.

"But it is important to stay positive during the coronavirus pandemic and also pray for the well-being of the world," he said.

Mendonca played in the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, which featured several other Indian players, and headed to Budapest after an event in Vietnam got postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Goan player is supported, among others, by Microsense Networks and had participated in the camp for youngsters conducted by the legendary Vladimir Kramnik and Boris Gelfand in Chennai late last year.

Lyndon said although the two have not needed any help to sustan themselves so far, they have been assured of help should the need arise.

"Friends have offered to transfer funds anytime," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Texas police officer who dresses as superheroes to cheer young children has been arrested on family violence charges.

Investigators arrested Fort Worth Police Officer Damon Cole, 44, Wednesday after an internal investigation followed up a domestic disturbance call last month.

Officers responded to the March 26 call at a local residence in the 7300 block of Cascade Court and spoke with an alleged female victim.

The woman told officers that Cole tried to force her to hit him two days earlier and claim that she had purposefully inflicted the harm on him.

Investigators arrested Fort Worth Police Officer Damon Cole, 44, Wednesday after an internal investigation followed up a domestic disturbance call last month

As a result of an investigation of the domestic incident, Cole, who dresses as superheroes to cheer young children, was arrested on family violence charges, the Fort Worth Police Department says. Cole is pictured while dressed as Batman

The incident resulted in Cole's arrest on charges of 'continuous violence against the family and interference with emergency request for assistance', a Fort Worth Police Department spokesman tells DailyMail.com.

Cole was released from the Tarrant County Jail after he was detained for about four hours.

The department placed him in a non-police role and stripped the officer of his arresting powers, service weapon and other law enforcement equipment.

Prior to his arrest, Cole made a name for himself outside of police work by dressing as superheroes form Marvel and DC comics and traveling the country to cheer up young children.

He even went so far to sew a Superman logo on his bulletproof vest.

On his website, 'The Officer Behind the Mask,' Cole says he had the logo sewn on to divert the attention of young children he would encounter on service calls.

Cole, dressed as Iron Man, the Hulk and other heroes, also visited with sick children, including some suffering from cancer.

On his website, 'The Officer Behind the Mask,' Cole says he had the logo sewn on to divert the attention of young children he would encounter on service calls

Cole is pictured dressed as Iron Man while visiting with Clair, a 7-year-old who suffered from an aggressive brain tumor. The officer was arrested after responded to the March 26 call at a local residence in the 7300 block of Cascade Court and spoke with an alleged female victim

Cole dressed as Iron Man is pictured during a visit with school children

Cole shows off his superhero tattoos, including one depicting Superman beating cancer

He has also worn the costumes while enforcing the law.

While off-duty, Cole chased down a shoplifter at a Walmart and arrested the man while dressed as Batman in June 2017.

He had been at the Walmart store dressed as the caped crusader for a child's safety fair when the thief set the alarm off.

To make the arrest all the more bizarre, it turned out one of the items the man had stolen was a Lego Batman movie DVD.

A year earlier, he appeared at a child's funeral dressed as Spider-Man after the boy, a fan of the web-slinger, had accidentally drowned in a swimming pool. Cole came dressed as Spidey to give the boy a hero's sendoff.

Cole appeared at a child's funeral dressed as Spider-Man after the boy, a fan of the web-slinger, had accidentally drowned in a swimming pool. The officer came dressed as Spidey to give the boy a hero's sendoff.

According to investigators who arrested Cole, the alleged victim said that two days before she called officers, Cole grabbed her by the wrists and used her hands to hit himself in the face, saying he would 'tell them you did this to me,' according to a probable cause arrest warrant, reports the Star-Tribune.

The woman said Cole blocked her when she tried to walk away, and alleged he hit his head against a wall in the bathroom and bedroom, the warrant says.

On March 25, Cole allegedly followed the woman into a parking lot and blocked her vehicle from leaving.

The woman said she heard a thud when she backed her car away and then saw Cole fall to the ground, the warrant says. She then confronted Cole, who begged her to keep their relationship going, even though she considered it over.

She also alleged that Cole afterwards called her several times from numbers that she did not know.

The night of the domestic disturbance call, the woman said Cole had forced his way inside her home. When she threatened to call 911, the woman says he grabbed her wrists and knocked her phone away.

She said he also hit himself over the head with his baton, according to the warrant. The woman tried to stop Cole from hurting himself and asked her daughter to call 911.

Cole was gone when officers arrived. He later sent several birthday presents for the woman's daughter, visited the residence and stayed for about a week, the warrant said.

The woman then spoke with investigators again and said she made up the earlier stories about the assaults, saying she was angry with him at the time when she made the allegations.

The investigators, however, found text messages from Cole to the woman, urging her to recant her statements.

During a visit with the woman, she showed police messages from Cole saying that he loved her, wanted their relationship and encouraged her to lie to investigators, the warrant said.

'She said Cole told her the department had taken away his badge and gun and his car, and that he wasn't allowed to be a police officer anymore,' the warrant said.

'She confirmed her initial reports had been correct.'
Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) is working with the customs department for deployment of more manpower at the cargo terminal for faster clearance of cargo amid lockdown and expected rise in shipments in the coming days, an official said on Friday.

The airport has been handling around two-dozen international cargo flights every day, including non-scheduled services like the one being operated under the government's LifeLine Udan scheme, since the lockdown on March 25 and subsequent suspension of all commercial passenger flights, DIAL said.

During the lockdown period, only special flights approved by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), medical evacuation flights and those carrying cargo, including medical equipment, to and from different parts of the country are operational.

Delhi Airport has two state-of-the-art integrated cargo terminals with a capacity to handle over 1.8 million MT of cargo annually, which is scalable to 2.3 million MT, besides a trans-shipment excellence centre at the airside, that helps it in a seamless movement of cargo.

"We have sought for support from Ministry Of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for getting special permissions for movement of trucks to and from the airport to carry essential goods. Besides, additional warehouse space is being created at the Delhi Airport for holding import cargo.

We are also pursuing with Customs for adequate staff at cargo terminals for faster clearance of goods as more such movements are planned in the coming days," DIAL Chief Executive Officer, Videh Kumar Jaipriar said.

The country' s busiest airport by passenger volume - Delhi Airport - also handled over 1-million MT cargo, the highest by any airport in the country in FY19. The airport is handling 20-22 cargo flights per day (including non-scheduled operations), with freighters arriving from destinations like Doha, Paris, Hongkong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Incheon since the lockdown on March 25, DIAL said.

Additional warehouse space of around 5,000 square meters is being created at the airport for holding import cargo.

In addition to the cargo flights, the airport has also witnessed 3-4 chartered aircraft movements every day for handling medical equipment and relief material to and from Patna, Varanasi, Guwahati, Nagpur and Vadodra, which is expected to increase to 8-10 flights per day, based on necessary approvals obtained by the respective operators, DIAL said.

Delhi Airport is functioning 24x7 to handle the international and domestic cargo movements for essential commodities including healthcare and medical supplies. The cargo terminal operators are working tirelessly to manage the round-the-clock operations, following all guidelines of social distancing, sanitisation and health precautions," Jaipriar added.

The distribution of essential cargo across the country has been possible in conjunction with LifeLine freight flights of Air India and Indian Air Force, who have connected areas such as Dimapur and Imphal in the North-east, as well as other cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Vijayawada, Cochin, Hyderabad, among others, DIAL said.

During the lockdown period, around 19 lakh pieces of face masks, 2-lakh bottles of sanitisers, 1.5 lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and 50,000 other medical equipments have been channelised across the country till date, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Where did the novel coronavirus come from? It is an important and serious question.



On April 3, confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections exceeded 1 million. The pandemic has now spread to more than 200 countries and regions. However, debates surrounding the source of the virus have not been settled in the three months since the outbreak began. As the pandemic continues to become more severe, the debates have also repeatedly become the focus of public opinion at home and abroad.

The history of humanity's fight against infectious diseases is also a history of tracing and exposing pathogens. Compared with pandemics throughout history, the novel coronavirus was born in an era with highly developed medical technology. Achievements in molecular biology, gene sequencing technology, artificial intelligence, sophisticated epidemiological models and big data have provided scientists with abundant tools for tracing the virus. Very early on, some scientists drew the preliminary conclusion that the novel coronavirus was derived from bats.

Although bats are believed to be the source of the virus, a series of mysteries remain to be solved, such as the identity of the intermediate host, the history of virus's mutation and how the virus came into contact with humans. Answers to these questions are important because they help us understand where the virus comes from and where it will go, as well as being useful for developing vaccines and effective drugs.

Answers to these questions could take time. After the SARS epidemic subsided, a team led by Shi Zhengli of the Wuhan Institute of Virology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences took ten years to identify the horseshoe bat as the source of the SARS virus.

However, for many media outlets and the vast majority of the public the "source" of the virus is one and the same with the place of the first outbreak and the location of patient zero. This has allowed them to attribute responsibility of the global pandemic to specific countries.

There have also been attempts to manipulate public opinion, politicize the pandemic and stigmatize certain countries. These actions have diverted public attention from the real battle against the pandemic.

Among those politicizing the pandemic on the pretext of tracing the source, the stigmatization of China by U.S. politicians has been particular severe. U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo frequently used the terms "Chinese virus" and "Wuhan virus" on Twitter and their public comments. They even tried to push to include the phrase "Wuhan virus" in a joint statement of G7 foreign ministers.

The "demonstrative effect" of prominent politicians' stigmatizing China and obviously biased reports by some Western media outlets have injected a "political virus" into international public opinion, causing China's national image to suffer a wave of vicious attacks. Consequentially, this has made it harder for many Chinese and Asian communities who are facing heightened racial discrimination and public resentments due to COVID-19. The look of hatred is everywhere and it is as frightening as the novel coronavirus.

Labeling COVID-19 with a nationality undoubtedly hides the sinister intention of attributing "original sin" to the place where the epidemic first occurred. After domestically defeating the epidemic by mobilizing national resources and making great sacrifice, China has quickly joined the global fight against the pandemic in the spirit of returning a favor. China has sent medical experts and provided materials to many countries with outbreaks.

However, in some Western media coverage, the great love and virtuous acts displayed by the Chinese government and people are often disparaged as "atonement" and "mask diplomacy" with political motives. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) and international authoritative figures have repeatedly confirmed that China's initial response to the outbreak was rapid, decisive and transparent, some U.S. politicians and media outlets have repeatedly attacked China. They claim that China concealed the nature and extent of the outbreak and was not transparent. Ultimately, they want to make China bear unlimited liability for the worldwide spread of the virus.

As confirmed cases in the U.S. now far exceed other countries, the American government and politicians are facing a domestic backlash for failing to safeguard the American people. This has led to the practice of shifting responsibility and reassigning blame to China.

Many conspiracy theories about the virus have also spread in China. These include claims that the virus was brought into Wuhan by the United States military, and that the virus appeared in Italy at the end of 2019. It is noteworthy that these unsubstantiated claims are often widely circulated in the form of "conspiracy theories," which evolve into vehicles for tearing apart social opinion and spreading populist sentiment. At the same time, many netizens have a double standard when dealing with the source of the virus. On one hand, they become very indignant when China becomes a target of stigma, but then rush to believe and share information identifying the "source" of the virus as another country without requiring more evidence. This is squeezing the otherwise scarce space of rational public opinion.

Where the new coronavirus originated should be pursued with a genuine spirit and scientific attitude, especially at a time when it poses a serious threat to the security of tens of millions of human lives. The question of which country should and can be held accountable for the coronavirus is actually a false proposition that can easily lead people into an either/or dead end.

As with many major epidemics of infectious diseases that have occurred in human history, and as with SARS, MERS, Ebola, H1N1, H7N9 and other epidemics that people have already encountered since entering the era of globalization, the responsibility for combating COVID-19 must be shared by all those who are threatened by it. It was in the light of the lessons of history that the WHO published best practices for naming new human infectious diseases in 2015, explicitly stating that disease naming should be avoided in relation to geography, race, name of person, etc.

The virus has no nationality and no borders. The result of beggar thy neighbor, standing idly by and even gloating over the calamity, is only to make oneself face the epidemic with less international moral support.

The COVID-19 epidemic is in full swing, and the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind has never been more realistic. Both the United States and China are still facing a tough test. If toxic debates surrounding the "source of the virus" continue, it will run counter to the spirit of science and do nothing to curb the epidemic. The resulting confrontation will tear apart the line of defense against the pandemic.

(Translated by Yang Xi)
An airplane on a runway

The markets have begun to stabilize. Optimism has returned, and investors are beginning to question if we are near a bottom. But the truth is, no one knows when the market crash will hit bottom.

Timing the market is not a wise strategy, and in times of considerable uncertainty, its best to average your positions. No one knows when the next bull market will arrive. We may be in the start of a new one right now, or the market may tank yet again.

What we do know however, is that several industries are still struggling to gain a footing. Aerospace is one such industry and now is the time to be accumulating industry leaders.

One of the market crashs first victims

Ever since COVID-19 started to make headlines in a meaningful way, the outlook on the airline industry began to sour. It didnt take long for Canadas largest airline to begin cancelling flights in and out of China.

It was immediately evident that a global pandemic could be a devastating event for Air Canada (TSX:AC)(TSX.AC.B) Among the first stock to drop, Air Canada is now down 65.84% in 2020 and is trading near three-year lows.

Amid the carnage, there is one important takeaway for investors: Air Canada isnt going anywhere. Airlines are receiving financial support from the government and in due time, borders will re-open and planes will once again take to the sky.

Once the market crash touches bottom, it wont take long for Air Canadas stock to also make a big move upward. For the patient and risk-inclined investors, accumulating Air Canada at todays levels may prove to be a winning strategy.

A Dividend Aristocrat cutting the dividend

The market crash has claimed another Aristocrat, the fourth thus far. There was only one Canadian Dividend Aristocrat in the aerospace industry: CAE Inc (TSX:CAE)(NYSE:CAE).

Unfortunately, the companys 12-year dividend growth streak has come to an end, as its suspending the dividend. CAE also announced that it will suspend the companys share repurchase plan.

Story continues

Although disappointing, conserving cash as it rides out the market crash is a good thing. Its responsible management and shows that the company has investors best interests in mind. Year to date, this global simulation company is down by approximately 50%.

For its part, CAE is now trading at levels not seen in five years. The good news is that the company is still operating as an essential service, and its global presence is mitigating the impact of any one countrys COVID-19 efforts.

Similarly, the companys Defence & Security segment is seeing less disruption as CAE provides mission critical services worldwide. CAEs Defence & Security and Healthcare segments account for 43% of revenue.

Speaking of healthcare, CAE is also re-directing efforts to help fight COVID-19, providing complimentary training seminars to health care providers and has a working ventilator prototype. Once the ventilator prototype is approved for use, it has the capacity to produce thousands of units.

There is no question that COVID-19 mitigation efforts are impacting CAEs operations in a meaningful way. However, the company has the financial means to ride out the market crash.

The company is also likely to see a meaningful rebound much quicker than Air Canada. At todays levels, it has the potential to be a blink-and-youll-miss-it opportunity.

The post Market Crash: Accumulate Aerospace Stocks Like Air Canada (TSX:AC) appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

More reading

Fool contributor Mat Litalien has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020
To alleviate loses and emergency costs associated with the coronavirus pandemic, higher education in Southeast Texas will receive over $10 million in emergency funding from the federal government  with at least half going directly to students.

On Thursday more than $6 billion was outlined for immediate dispersal nationwide out of a total $14 billion set aside for postsecondary education in a recently passed stimulus bill.

Whats best for students is at the center of every decision we make, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said in a written statement. Thats why we prioritized getting funding out the door quickly to college students who need it most. We dont want unmet financial needs due to the coronavirus to derail their learning.

Lamar University will receive a majority of the areas funding with $7,048,774, half of which is required to be given directly to students for pandemic-related costs.

The money comes from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act signed into law by President Donald Trump less than two weeks ago.

The funds were allocated based on a formula prescribed in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act that weighs the number of full-time students who are Pell-eligible but also takes into consideration the total population of the school and the number of students who were not enrolled full-time online before the coronavirus outbreak.

Lamar University is actively contacting each student to check on their well-being and needs during this uncertain time. LU is identifying various student needs, ranging from technology to financial to academic, and faculty and staff members will follow up with appropriate support, University spokeswoman Shelly Vitanza said. The remaining funds will be utilized by Lamar University to address our response to the coronavirus pandemic and mitigate the pandemic impact to the University.

More guidance will be coming over the next couple weeks, according to a letter DeVos sent to institutions of higher education.

The university already began processing refunds for students moving out of dorms early due to the virus, and began tapping into the Cardinal Emergency Fund, which was set up following Tropical Storm Harvey to help those displaced by disasters.

The Cardinal Fund also is accepting donations on the universitys website.

Lamar State College Orange received $1,043,319, which officials said is instrumental for the college as they deal with the fallout of the pandemic.

For the 50% that is not going directly to students, LSCO has already outlined how the funds will be used.

What that means for LSCO is creating scholarship assistance for students currently enrolled who have converted to online format and been impacted by the coronavirus, establishing an emergency fund to help support purchase of textbooks, supplies, technology (laptops, webcams, microphones, virtual and/or digital access to research resources, etc) for students and faculty during the conversion to flexible learning modality, and assisting students with TSI and other proctored testing fees that are being incurred due to conversion to remote service providers, district spokeswoman Amy Moore told The Enterprise.

Thomas Johnson, LSCO president said the money will be used to support and assist our students reach their educational goals during this difficult time in world history.

At LSCO we put students first. These funds will help us toward our educational mission which is to transform lives," Johnson said.

Lamar Institute of Technology was allocated $1,836,301, funds that were urgently needed, according to LIT President Lonnie Howard - who thanked President Trump and Secretary DeVos in a statement.

Howard said the funds would go towards making sure students impacted by the pandemic didnt have to stop going to college.

We must be compassionate; many (students) are grappling both emotionally and financially, Howard said. Some have lost their jobs. I really dont want them to lose this educational opportunity too."

With more details to be released in coming days as guidance from the federal government is released, Howard said the funds would go to those who need it.

"Under my leadership, LIT will prioritize these funds for students with the greatest need as well as ensure that these dollars are distributed in a very fair and meaningful way, Howard said.

Lamar State College Port Arthur received $1,056,684. according to the numbers released Thursday by the Department of Education.

According to federal guidelines, colleges and universities are required to utilize the $6.28 billion made available today to provide cash grants to students for expenses related to disruptions to their educations due to the COVID-19 outbreak, including things like course materials and technology as well as food, housing, health care, and childcare.

The distribution of funds is part of the nearly $31 billion Congress allocated to the Department of Education to distribute to students in K-12 schools and higher education institutions under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

Of that, $13 billion is allocated for K-12 educational support.

isaac.windes@hearstnp.com

twitter.com/isaacdwindes
Israelis could face random coronavirus tests at supermarkets

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)Israels Health Ministry and the Weizmann Institute of Science will conduct random sample coronavirus tests in supermarkets to determine where the virus is spreading.

The tests had been scheduled to start Monday in branches of three major supermarket chains, but were delayed after the locations of the tests leaked to the public. That raised fears of people with COVID-10 symptoms rushing to the supermarkets in order to get a test, potentially infecting others, the Israeli business daily Globes reported.

The ministry had coordinated the visits with supermarket managers but now will not provide advance warning.

The random samples will be taken from shoppers and cashiers, according to the report.

While most businesses in Israel have been shuttered due to directives from the Health Ministry, supermarkets remain open since they are considered an essential service.

Jewish Canadians returning home from US cause spike in coronavirus rates

By David Lazarus

MONTREAL (JTA)Jewish Canadians streaming from Florida to outrun the coronavirus and beat the pre-Passover rush unwittingly helped stoke one of the highest virus-positive rates in Quebec province.

Cote St. Luc, a Montreal suburb with the densest and most elderly Jewish population in Quebec, reported some of earliest cases and has declared a state of emergency.

According to news reports, too many of the snowbirds were bent on restocking their pantries and refrigerators instead of directly self-quarantining for 14 days in their homes as mandated by provincial authorities. The infection rate is so high, a virus test center opened Sunday in the parking lot of a Cote St. Luc shopping mall.

One-third of the citys population is over 65.

On Sunday in Boisbriand, a Hasidic enclave of 4,000 just north of Montreal, community leaders begged authorities to help them enforce a 14-day quarantine. According to reports, some members traveled to New York for the Purim holiday and helped spread the virus at a 40 percent infection rate in their own community upon return.

As is the case everywhere, Canadas Jews are struggling with the virus. All schools, synagogues and institutions are physically closed as Jewish federations figure out ways to deal virtually and in other ways with the crisis. Jewish nursing homes are allowing only deathbed visits.

1 in 3 residents of Israeli city Bnei Brak tested for coronavirus are positive

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)One in three residents, or 34 percent, of the mostly haredi Orthodox city of Bnei Brak in central Israel who have been tested for the coronavirus are positive.

The high percentage of positive tests reported Tuesday by the Health Ministry compares to 6 percent in Tel Aviv and 10 percent in Jerusalem.

There are 505 confirmed cases of coronavirus among residents of Bnei Brak compared to 568 in Jerusalem, which has a population five times higher.

Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, who is haredi Orthodox, said that he proposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Arye Deri to impose a total lockdown on Bnei Brak to stem the spread of COVID-19.

The situation there is horrible, Litzman said, according to Ynet. Every day we stall, we put lives at risk.

He rejected accusations that the haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, community was flouting government rules regarding coronavirus.

You cannot accuse an entire public of the actions of several rogue groups here and there, Litzman said. Ninety-nine percent of the public listen to the state and the rabbis.

In recent days, high-profile haredi rabbinic leaders have called on their followers to follow government restrictions, including against praying in a synagogue with a minyan.

Emergency fund launched to help Israeli nonprofits amid coronavirus

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)An emergency fund has been launched to help Israeli nonprofit organizations slammed by the coronavirus crisis stay afloat.

The Emergency Fund for Nonprofits is a joint project of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the nonprofit lender Ogen, formerly known as the Israel Free Loan Association. The project will provide consulting services and low-interest loans with no requirement for guarantors.

The initiative aims to operate throughout the coronavirus crisis, offering loans of up to about $110,000 for a period of up to 60 months, with a six-month grace period and without guarantors.

The money for the fund includes about $1 million each from philanthropic sources of the Jewish Agency and donors to Ogen. Ogen has allocated about $10 million in capital for the loans.

There are about 16,000 nonprofit organizations in Israel with hundreds of thousands of employees. They account for 16 percent of Israels labor force, according to the Jewish Agency.

Sheldon Adelson donates 2 million face masks to hospitals and first responders in New York and Nevada

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)Billionaire casino magnate and philanthropist Sheldon Adelson has donated about 2 million face masks to hospitals and first responders in New York and Nevada.

The Jewish Insider website first reported the donation, citing an unnamed source close to Adelson.

The masks were made in China and paid for by Adelson.

Some 250,000 of the masks will go to the Trump administrations program to assist health workers.

Adelson is a supporter of President Donald Trump and a mega-donor to the Republican Party and candidates. His wife, Miriam, is a medical doctor.

Western Wall stones sanitized after notes removed

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)The Western Wall stones were cleaned and sanitized ahead of Passover.

Every year, the prayer notes tucked between the stones in the wall are removed at Passover and before the High Holidays, and buried with other sacred papers according to Jewish law in the cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

This year, according to a statement from the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, the Western Wall stones, visited and touched by thousands of people from Israel and around the world all year round, were sanitized and cleaned in order to protect those who come to the Western Wall even now.

The cleaning took place Tuesday morning. The notes were removed with gloves and disposable wooden tools.

The statement noted that since Rosh Hashanah, over 8,000 prayer notes sent from around the world via the Western Wall Internet site have been placed between the stones.

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall and holy sites, supervised the cleaning and prayed there for the recovery of all those who have become ill with the coronavirus, according to the statement.

Netanyahu limits gatherings in Israel to 2 people

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)Gatherings of Israelis are limited to two people except nuclear family members living in the same home, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday evening from his home, where he is in self-quarantine.

Netanyahu and his advisers entered self-quarantine after his Knesset adviser, Rebecca Paluch, tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday. The next evening, Netanyahu and his family tested negative, though the prime minister will remain in quarantine per Health Ministry regulations.

Netanyahu announced in a nationally televised address from his home that there wont be gatherings of over two people who are not from the same nuclear family. This includes outdoor prayer services in open areas and respecting social distancing, which had previously been permitted. Funerals remain limited to 20 mourners and circumcisions to 10 people appropriate social distancing.

Netanyahu said this is the year of the lockdown seder, and that Easter and Ramadan in the country should be observed the same way.

At the start of his address, Netanyahu said that the camera was at least 6 feet away and that I did my own makeup and hair, which is why it looks like this.

Netanyahu and outgoing Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon also announced a $22 billion economic rescue package that allocates $2.8 billion to the health system, $8.4 billion to welfare and unemployment, $9 billion to help small and large businesses, and $2.2 billion for economic stimulus.

As of Monday evening there were 4,695 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Israel and 16 deaths.

6 employees and 4 residents of Jewish-operated assisted-living facility in suburban Atlanta test positive for coronavirus

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)Six employees and four residents of a Jewish-operated assisted-living facility in suburban Atlanta have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Jewish HomeLife, which operates Berman Commons in Dunwoody, Georgia, sent a letter on Sunday to residents of the facility and their families, the Atlanta Jewish Times reported.

Two days earlier, four residents in the memory unit tested positive for COVID-19.

Some 43 employees were tested on Friday as a precaution, according to the facility, including those who work in the memory unit.

The employees found to have the virus were asymptomatic, according to the letter. Employees are asked screening questions and have their temperatures taken before entering the facility, and visitors were barred early in the pandemic.

On Friday, residents of the Berman Commons assisted-living wing were directed to remain in their apartments and communal dining was stopped. Meals have been delivered to the residents apartments.

Israels spy agency acquires ventilators, coronavirus test kits and 10 million surgical masks from unnamed countries

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)Israels spy agency, the Mossad, has acquired ventilators and other medical equipment, along with 10 million surgical masks, in the fight to halt the coronavirus, all from unnamed countries.

The agency brought in 27 ventilators and 20,000 test kits, as well as N95 masks, which include air filters, Israels Channel 12 News reported. The Mossad is expected to obtain another 180 respirators in the coming days after obtaining components for 400,000 test kits last week.

The Israeli media have speculated the equipment came from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Mossad would take over the purchase of medical equipment from other countries.

The Mossad also brought in 700 overalls for Magen David Adom ambulance personnel. Magen David Adom is handling the initial diagnosing and transporting of suspected COVID-19 cases.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo renames hate crime legislation to honor Monsey stabbing victim who died

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he is renaming proposed state hate crime legislation in honor of the Monsey stabbing victim who died on Sunday.

I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Josef Neumann, who suffered brutal stab wounds after an attacker invaded the home of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg on the final night of Hanukkah three months ago, Cuomo said in a statement Monday.

This repugnant attack shook us to our core, demonstrating that we are not immune to the hate-fueled violence that we shamefully see elsewhere in the country.

Neumann had remained in a coma from the time of the Dec. 28 attack to his death. He was 72. Four others were injured in the attack.

Following the attack, Cuomo proposed legislation that equates hate crimes with domestic terrorism. The legislation will be called the Josef Neumann Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act.

Cuomo called on the state legislature to pass the act in the budget due this week.

We owe it to Mr. Neumann, his family and the entire family of New York to get it done now, the governor said.

Larry David wants the idiots out there to stay home and watch TV

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)Comedian Larry David called on the idiots out there to stay home and watch TV in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Davids 90-second rant is a new public service announcement for the state of California was released Tuesday by the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom on social media.

Youre going outI dont know what youre doing. Youre socializing too close, its not good, the Curb Your Enthusiasm creator and star said.

Youre hurting old people like mewell, not me. I have nothing to do with you. Ill never see you. But, you know, otherlets say, other old people who might be your relatives! Who the hell knows.

David said that people who are going out when they should be hunkering down due to the deadly virus are missing a fantastic opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stay at home.

Go home! Watch TV! Thats my advice to you, he said in the message to Californians. You know, if youve seen my show, nothing good ever happens going out of the house, you know that. Its just trouble out there. Its not a good place to be.

Israels defense establishment is manufacturing ventilators

By Marcy Oster

JERUSALEM (JTA)Israels defense establishment has stopped making missiles and started manufacturing ventilators.

The assembly line building the Ventway Sparrow ventilator model was set up by the Israel Aerospace Industries at an Israeli missile factory on Tuesday, Israel Hayom reported.

Thirty ventilators made in the missile factory have already been delivered to the Health Ministry, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett announced Tuesday evening. This line of ventilators can be used on both adults and children, and is already in use at hospitals and emergency centers in Israel and abroad.

The State of Israel must develop independent capabilities in everything related to dealing with the COVID-19 virus pandemic, Bennett said. We cannot remain dependent on procurement from other countries. We must develop independent, advanced capabilities.

National Gallery of Art will return Nazi-looted Picasso drawing to heirs of German-Jewish banker

By Marcy Oster

(JTA)The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., will return a drawing by Pablo Picasso to the heirs of a German-Jewish banker who sold the work at a loss because he feared the Nazis would confiscate his estate.

Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a descendant of composer Felix Mendelssohn, sold the pastel work, titled Head of a Woman, in 1934, along with at least 15 other significant artworks. He died in 1935.

In 1938, Mendelssohn-Bartholdys family bank, Bank Mendelssohn & Co., founded in 1795, was seized by the Nazis and transferred to non-Jewish ownership.

Head of a Woman was sold to art dealer Justin Thannhauser in 1934. The National Gallery of Art acquired the work through a donation in 2001, according to The New York Times.

The museum said it decided to settle with Mendelssohn-Bartholdys heirs to avoid the heavy toll of litigation, not because it agreed that the heirs claims were valid, according to the report.

Heirs of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, including his great-nephew, the German scholar Julius Schoeps, also reached settlements in 2009 with the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York over two other Picassos that Mendelssohn-Bartholdy sold to Thannhauser. Those artworks remain in the museums collections.
Most Americans with coronavirus are infected with a strain that came from Europe - but the strain that shut down Wuhan, China spread on the West Coast, recent research shows.

Coronavirus likely came to the US first from Europe, circulating unseen among New Yorkers for weeks before the state's first case was diagnosed, and even before it arrived in Washington state, where the first American case was confirmed.

It's this European strain that's driven the majority of infections in the US, now concentrated in New York and the East Coast, not the strain of the virus most prevalent in China, according to a new analysis of viral genomes by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

A second strain struck the West Coast and likely arrived later from China, despite the fact that a man who traveled back to the US from China was the first identified American infected with COVID-19.

Separately, Cambridge University scientists found that there are three distinct strains of the virus that account for most of the world's cases.

It's now quite clear that coronavirus first made the jump to humans from anteater-like animals called pangolins after getting its start in bats.

Scroll down for video

DNA Researchers believe the virus was being spread around the city by mid-February - weeks before New York's first confirmed case. This map shows the trajectory of various strains of the coronavirus as it criss-crosses the globe, according to an ongoing genome analysis by Nextstrain.org

As it has spread among humans around the world, the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, has mutated into different strains - although not as quickly as some viruses evolve.

Many scientists have delved into the genomes of these viruses to try to work out their ancestory and how each has traveled and spread.

Researchers at Nextstrain.org, traced the virus strains, coded in bright colors on an interactive map as they've criss-crossed the globe and multiplied in number from the first iteration of coronavirus in China.

The authors of the new Cambridge University study dubbed the first strain to hit humans 'type A.'

But the original didn't linger long in China, instead jumping to and taking hold in Japan, Australia and the US.

Instead, a mutated version of the virus - type B - arose and became the dominant spread in China, before moving on to Europe, South America and Canada.

Still a third strain, type C, became the dominant version of COVID-19 in Singapore, Italy and Hong Kong, according to the Cambridge analysis of viral genomes in samples from coronavirus patients.

The genetic history of the coronavirus was mapped from December 24 to March 4, revealing three distinct, but closely related, variants. Scientists believe the virus may be constantly mutating to overcome differing levels of immune system resistance in different populations

The map above shows how the three strains identified by Cambridge University scientists traveled around the world

NEW YORK'S OUTBREAK CAME MOSTLY FROM EUROPE - NOT CHINA The first cases of coronavirus in New York spread mostly from Europe, according to two scientific studies. Researchers believe the virus was being spread around the city by mid-February - weeks before New York's first confirmed case. The scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai N.Y.U. and Grossman School of Medicine studied DNA from thousands of samples of coronavirus patients and concluded the first travelers to bring the virus to the city came from Europe, not Asia. But they also found that the strain of the virus that arrived in Washington state came from China. Both research teams analyzed genomes from coronaviruses taken from New Yorkers starting in mid-March. One of the studies detected seven separate strains of viruses that arrived in the New York City area and researchers expect to find more. Despite examining different examples of the outbreak, researchers from both teams reached largely the same conclusions about its origins, according to specialists. Dr Harm van Bakel, a geneticist and co-author of the Icahn School's study, told the New York Times: 'The majority is clearly European.' Advertisement

Viruses with similar structures are grouped into families, but each specific virus often develops strains - like off-shoots of a family tree.

These strains arise in the virus's hasty scramble to copy themselves.

Viruses are primitive, compared to our cells. They're considered something more than packages of genetic material, but less than a living organism.

While human, animal and plant cells have intricate machinery that generate energy, viral particles have to hijack these cells, forcing their machinery to churn out copies of the virus's genetic material.

This ad hoc process gives rise to mutations, and the ones that happen to be beneficial to the virus's survival multiply in each host, and spread on, better at outsmarting immune systems than their predecessors were.

Researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai N.Y.U. found a slightly different pattern in the virus's travels.

While Cambridge scientists traced the virus from China to the US, the Icahn team found unequivocally that the majority of people in New York - where more than 150,000 people are infected, accounting for most of the US's cases - have a strain that came from Europe.

Dr Harm van Bakel, a geneticist and co-author of the Icahn School's study, told the New York Times: 'The majority is clearly European.'

Last week travel data emerged showing 3.4 million travelers from countries that would end up as the hardest-hit by the outbreak entered the US as the pandemic was starting.

Travel data shows 3.4 million travelers from countries that would end up hardest-hit by the coronavirus outbreak entered the US as the pandemic was starting

Figures from the US Commerce Department from December, January and February, which were the critical early months in the outbreak, reveal how hundreds of thousands or even millions of undetected coronavirus cases could have entered the country while medical experts remained unaware of the seriousness of the illness.

The world first heard about the virus in December, when it remained confined to China and mostly in the epicenter of Wuhan.

Beijing was accused of covering up the spread of the virus, which may have left China's borders through asymptomatic patients well before new cases were picked up around the world.

Most of the more than 87,000 people in New York City who are infected with coronavirus have a strain that came to the US from Europe. Pictured: Medical workers in NYC suit up in PPE at a field hospital set up by Mt Sinai Health System

Coronavirus has killed nearly 5,000 people in New York City. Some of their bodies are being buried in plain plywood boxes on Hart Island, horrifying drone photos reveal

Isolated cases started showing up in Europe in late January, before the pandemic took off in Europe in February.

The travel data shows 759,493 people entered the US from China before President Trump's travel ban on 31 January.

Another 343,402 arrived from Italy, 418,848 from Spain and about 1.9 million more came from Britain.

Medical experts say it cannot be known how many travelers may have been infected, but it's highly likely some were not exhibiting symptoms.

And as air travel has surged in recent years, enabling the pandemic to spread as it has, some officials suspect the virus' true impact was happening sooner than they realized.

Trump has been criticized for not rolling out a widespread testing program when cases began spiking in the US.

At least eight strains of the virus are being tracked by researchers around the world, using genetic detective work to show how the virus spreads.

Pictured, a breakdown of the different coronavirus genomes and to which of the three major group they belong to. The lines indicate a rough split between the type. The larger the circle, the higher the amount of cases

Methods used to trace the prehistoric migration of ancient humans was adapted to track the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19

The virus appears to mutate very slowly, with only tiny differences between the different strains and that none of the strains of the virus are more deadly than another, experts say.

They also added it does not appear the strains will grow more lethal as they evolve.

Scientists also said that despite conspiracy theories falsely claiming the virus was made in a lab, the virus's genome shows it began in bats.
American shad are running in the Delaware River, says Eric Fistler, organizer of what would have been the 10th annual Bi-State Shad Fishing Contest this month at Phillipsburg.

He hauled in 25 on Thursday from his boat, despite having to come ashore twice for storms blowing through. One was 5.6 pounds, which wouldve bested the 5.44-pounder that earned one angler the $20,000 top cash prize in last years contest.

But like pretty much everything right now, save for life-sustaining businesses and home life, the 2020 shad fishing contest is not happening due to efforts to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Its the first time since 1982 there wont be a shad fishing contest in the Easton-Phillipsburg area.

This is nothing like any of us have seen in our lifetime, Fistler, of Williams Township, told lehighvalleylive.com on Friday. I understand this is much bigger than our shad contest, whats going on. This pandemic is bad.

Fistler announced the cancellation Wednesday on Facebook, after hearing from Phillipsburg police Chief Robert Stettner the contest can't go on as planned from the boat launch off Union Square because of public safety concerns.

Plus, along with New Jerseys state park and forest closures announced this week, Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area has closed its Kittatinny Point and Dunfield Creek parking areas and boat launch. That limits anglers on where they can put in and could have forced participants to drive even farther, going against the stay-at-home orders in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

I believe the officials at the shad tournament were very understanding, Mayor Todd Tersigni said Friday. We regret that this cannot happen, but its for the safety of all the people involved. Im sure theyll make it better and well make sure that next year itll be better than ever.

Despite the dark clouds hanging over American life that now cover the shad contest as well, Fistler continues to hear from local companies interested in sponsorships. As a result, hes planning a virtual drawing to give away the $20,000 Yamaha/G3 boat package sponsored by Mayberry Marine in Port Murray, Mansfield Township, and cash prizes estimated to total $8,000. Hes thinking hell do the drawing on Facebook Live.

The application fee remains $40 to be in the running, and, along with sponsorship money, will go toward the cash prizes . Applications must be received by mail by April 22. Full details can be found at shadfishingcontest.com.

Participants will not receive a T-shirt as in years past. Fistler has 1,200 printed up with the 10th anniversary logo on the front, but with Pennsylvania's prohibition on non-essential travel, he'll hold onto them for 2021 instead of having to run to the post office to send them out.

"It's still going to be the 10th anniversary because there is not a 10th anniversary this year because it's canceled," he said.

Anglers casted off for the 2018 Bi-State Shad Fishing Contest at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh rivers in Easton.Chris Shipley file photo | For lehighvalleylive.com

Fistler started the Bi-State Shad Fishing Contest in 2011 at Phillipsburg's boat launch when it looked like the venerable Forks of the Delaware Shad Fishing Tournament would be canceled. That tournament, started in 1983, continued through 2013 before being canceled due to dwindling participation.

As many as 1,500 anglers used to take part in the Forks of the Delaware tournament, which had its headquarters in Easton's Scott Park.

The Bi-State contest last year drew a record 1,072 participants, up from 48 its first year.

Im thinking this will give people a lot of incentive for next year, Fistler said of the cancellation.

The contests are a celebration of these anadromous fish, meaning they are born in freshwater, live for several years as adults in the ocean and return to their natal waters (where theyre born) to spawn (lay their eggs) in the spring.

For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov or covid19.nj.gov and the website of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover or a personal story you want to share.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required.

Your Full Name: (optional)

Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required.
As Americans begin to lose patience with their enslavement and the tyranny of almost every governor in this country, the government should see themselves as on borrowed time. Fauci is losing credibility, says Dr. paul. Give the people back their natural right to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly, and the ability to make a living.

Dr. Paul says theres a group of people in Idaho that are on the right side of human rights and the Constitution vocally standing up to the authoritarians who attempted to enslave the entire public.

Paul and Daniel McAdams discussed the psychological impact of fear this has had on the general public. The fear has led to people accepting their chains, yet thats beginning to change. If governors and the federal government do no want to go down in history in the same manner as other tyrants, they would do well to give people back their rights and to never attempt this type of enslavement again.

Life in and of itself is a risk, and personally, Im not interested in facing tyranny for any reason, but let alone because of a pandemic. One of those we can stand against as they have done in Idaho, and the other we can take voluntary individual actions to lessen its impact without destroying our neighbors lives in the process.

* * *

GOOGLE Is Doing Whatever It Can to De-Monetize SHTFplan.com And Shadow-Ban us. During these TOUGH financial times, we ASPIRE to stay completely independent and pay our full staff, so we can continue to deliver VALUE to you. It is possible for you to HELP us, by supporting our COVID-19 expert survival report HERE! Thank You, ShtfPlan.com Staff
Russia's coronavirus infections today jumped by 1,786 to 11,917, marking the biggest daily rise in the country's accelerating outbreak.

The number of deaths also rose by 18 to 94, according to Moscow's crisis response centre.

Compared with neighbouring countries such as China, where the virus spawned late last year, both the infection and fatality tallies have been kept low.

But international observers have cast scepticism on this figure amid suggestions of a Kremlin cover-up.

Russia has also ordered 18 new hospitals be rapidly constructed to cope with a spike in coronavirus patients.

Doctors have been instructed to treat all pneumonia patients for the virus without waiting for test results.

Health minister Mikhail Murashko said: 'We're seeing that the disease progresses fast, and it has specific clinical presentation, allowing to diagnose it without confirming in the lab based on the clinical presentation.'

Sanitary workers in face masks clean up and disinfect steps outside a Moscow shopping centre. Infections today jumped by 1,786 to 11,917, marking the biggest daily rise in the country's accelerating outbreak

Guards at the construction site of a new 160-bed hospital for coronavirus patients in Novosibirsk

Russia has claimed to have conducted over one million tests after moving swiftly to insulate themselves from the virus early in the pandemic.

When the ballooning infection rate in Wuhan emerged in January, the Kremlin quickly closed its land border and the following month barred all Chinese nationals from entering.

It has since enforced sweeping lockdown restrictions such as shutting schools and ordering citizens to remain indoors.

President Vladimir Putin has rammed through emergency legislation which punishes those flouting isolation rules with up to seven years in prison.

Spreading false information about coronavirus also carries up to a five-year sentence behind bars, local media report.

But the Kremlin has been accused of suppressing a much higher infection tally than the health ministry is reporting.

Pictured: A view of the 92million Moscow hospital complex from above. Over 50 per cent of the beds at the new facility will be designated intensive care units

In a signal that the Kremlin is expecting a hike in cases, the country's defence ministry is building 18 coronavirus hospitals.

An army of 10,000 construction labourers have been working round the clock in recent days to build the 92million clinic in Moscow, the largest new hospital in the nation.

Almost half the beds in the new clinic in the capital, which has suffered the brunt of Russia's epidemic, will be in intensive care units.

Other facilities under construction in Odintsovo, Podolsk, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Ulan-Ude, and Ussuriysk are due for completion by the end of April.
BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities have initiated a national crackdown campaign targeting online pornography and illegal publications to create a healthy social and cultural environment.

Cyberspace will be the focus of the campaign this year, according to the National Office for the Fight Against Pornography and Illegal Publications, stressing the clean-up of vulgar and pornographic content in live-streaming platforms, short videos, online literature, games and social media.

The campaign will also clear up illegal and harmful publications for children, blackmailing by fake journalists and unauthorized news outlets and copyright infringement.

The campaign will run from April to November.
Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

Amid the global economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, although total capital raised in Q1 2020 was up 12% on Q1 2019, the number of private equity & venture capital (PEVC) funds closed marks one of the lowest quarterly totals we have seen in recent years, said a study.

Total capital raised is consistent with cyclical trends, but capital sits with fewer managers and in the most developed markets, said Preqin.

"Q1 private equity fundraising typically wakes slowly before its crescendo later in the year. The start of 2020, though, was met with considerable headwinds for the global economy as it faced the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic," Preqin said in its Quarterly Update: Private Equity & Venture Capital Q1 2020.

The effect on global fundraising has been muted. In total, $133bn was raised across 267 funds in Q1 2020.

Although both the number of funds and amount of capital raised fell compared with Q4 2019 by 32% and 29% respectively, these are not far out of line with Q4 to Q1 moves in prior years.

Total capital committed exceeded Q1 2019 levels despite fewer funds closing.

Private equity investors favored developed markets over Asia and the rest of the World. North America- and Europe-focused funds together captured more than 89% of the aggregate capital raised globally in Q1 2020, representing 209 of the 267 funds closed.

After rebounding into Q3 2019 with $46bn in commitments, Asia-focused funds failed......................

To view our full article Click here
The messy transition to remote learning in Americas K-12 education system as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has been marked by glaring disparities among schools, according to nationally representative surveys of U.S. teachers and school district leaders administered by the EdWeek Research Center.

Among the most significant are gaps between the countrys poorest and wealthiest schools around access to basic technology and live remote instruction, as well as the percentages of students who teachers report are not logging in or making contact.

Following are nine key findings from two surveys, completed online by a total of more than 2,600 teachers and school district leaders. The first survey was administered on March 24 and 25. The second was administered on April 7 and 8.

The big takeaway, according to experts who reviewed the data at Education Weeks request?

As its done with the countrys health care system, economy, and social safety net, the pandemic is exposing and exacerbating the deep inequities that have long shaped American public education.

Theres so much loss and distress that is being concentrated in communities that need quality schooling the most, said Janelle Scott, an education and African-American studies professor at the University of California, Berkeley. I think theres a need to pull back and think about what [public education] means in relation to the magnitude of this moment.

1. Big Gaps in Basic Technology Access

Two of the biggest hurdles to moving Americas schools online have been an inadequate number of digital devices for students and millions of families lack of high-speed internet at home. These gaps in basic technology access are particularly stark along socioeconomic lines: In districts with the lowest percentages of students from low-income families, just 1 in 5 leaders reported in late March that a lack of basic technology is a major problem, compared with nearly two-thirds of leaders in districts where the highest percentages of students are from low-income families.

The resulting scramble led to often-messy efforts to distribute schools existing stockpiles of classroom laptops and tablets and created a supply backlog that continues to hamper schools ability to order new devices, especially Chromebooks. And while numerous districts have partnered with internet service providers to expand access to free or low-cost connections, advocates have called on government to make a more systematic effort to close the digital divide.

Its not the time to be timid, said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a long-time proponent of more aggressive federal efforts to eliminate disparities in access to high-speed internet, in a March 31 statement. We have the authority right now to extend the reach of broadband and close the Homework Gap so we connect millions of children who desperately need to get online for school.

2. Reducing Early Disparities in Whether Teachers Were Teaching

In the first weeks of coronavirus-related school closures, the EdWeek Research Center also found that the percentage of teachers in Americas lowest-income schools who said they were engaging in instruction was 22 points lower than the percentage of teachers in the highest-income schools.

All told, 74 percent of teachers who completed the survey on March 24 or 25 said they were still teaching. But that figure rose to 89 percent in public schools where one-fourth or fewer of students are from low-income families, and it dropped to 67 percent in schools where more than three-fourths of students are from low-income families.

Some of that discrepancy may have been the result of the disparities in technology access. Many districts also adopted multi-stage remote-learning plans, including initial shutdowns over extended Spring Break periods that allowed for time to plan before instruction began. Still others intentionally held off on any remote instruction due to equity concerns.

By early April, the gap had narrowed considerably, to 10 percentage points, with 85 percent of teachers in the countrys lowest-income schools saying they were engaged in instruction.

Moving forward, said Scott, the University of California, Berkeley professor, its critical to monitor the extent to which the coronavirus is making existing inequities more acute.

Its the same story weve long known in K-12 schools, she said. Districts with more resources are likely going to be able to avail themselves of higher quality instruction, and higher-income families are going to be much better positioned to support [remote] learning than less-resourced families who dont have the privilege of staying at home.

3. Significant Truancy in Lower-Income Schools

One big cause for potential alarm: Teachers in the highest-poverty schools report that nearly a third of their students are not logging in or otherwise making contact. That figure is almost three times higher than the percentage of truant students reported by teachers in schools with the lowest number of students from families living in poverty.

4. Higher Poverty Schools Less Likely to Offer Live Instruction

Disparities in the type of instruction available to students are also evident.

So-called synchronous instruction, which takes place live and allows for real-time interaction, is not inherently better than asynchronous instruction. Indeed, there are often advantages to letting students access and digest material on their own time, at their own paceespecially in the midst of a pandemic, where the logistics of getting through a day can be difficult, and multiple people in a home might be sharing a single device.

But for many children, under many circumstances, the chance to talk with a teacher and see friends and receive personal support for social-emotional concerns remains fundamental to what school is all about. And the results from the EdWeek Research Center survey again found big disparities here, with leaders of districts serving the lowest percentages of students from low-income families being more than twice as likely to say they provided fully synchronous instruction than leaders of districts serving the highest percentages of students from low-income families.

5 & 6: Rural, Urban, and High-Poverty Districts Far Less Able to Reach All Students

Whatever type of online instruction schools and districts are attempting during their coronavirus-related closures, the biggest challenge has been doing it equally for all students. Federal and state governments have struggled to provide consistent guidance on the subject, largely because the underlying issues and tradeoffs involved are so thorny and difficult.

Some leaders said their districts are navigating the challenge better than otherslikely because they have a stronger technology infrastructure and narrower range of needs and circumstances to accommodate. Sixty-two percent of leaders from suburban districts and 73 percent of leaders from districts with the lowest percentages of low-income students said theyre able to provide online learning opportunities to all students.

At the other end of the spectrum sit rural and high-poverty districts, where well under half of leaders say theyre able to provide online learning opportunities for all students. Rural schools in particular face a triple challenge of poor connectivity, limited staff and technical expertise, and lack of political clout, leaving them to stitch together patchwork solutions when the coronavirus pandemic hit.

This sheds a light on the fact that some rural districts didnt have the infrastructure set up beforehand to make [online learning] happen, said Allen Pratt, the executive director of the National Rural Education Association.

7. More Lower-Income Schools Using Wider Range of Communications Tools

On the flip side, teachers in Americas lowest-income school districtsincluding many in rural areasappear to have been more creative than their counterparts in more affluent districts at finding multiple ways to reach students.

The vast majority of all schools are using email, and teachers in wealthier districts were more likely to post messages and videos online, the EdWeek Research Center found in early April.

But teachers in the lowest-income schools were more than twice as likely as teachers in those schools to use text messages, phone calls, social media, and printed communications to reach students, and they were also far more likely to send material out via snail mail.

8 & 9: Big Differences in Distributing Schoolwork Online vs. In-Person

Just as the EdWeek Research Center survey showed sharp disparities in access to technology access and live instruction, it also revealed big differences in how high- and low-income districts approached distributing schoolwork. Teachers in the districts with the highest percentage of students from low-income families were about equally likely to report collecting and returning work online and having families pick up work packets in person. In districts with the lowest percentage of students from low-income families, on the other hand, 69 percent of teachers said they distributed work online, while just 14 percent said they did so in person.

Similarly, teachers in rural districts were far more likely than their urban and suburban counterparts to say theyve provided student work in person. Often, this takes the form of work packets bundled with meals that are available for pickup at schools or delivered by school buses.

Tech-access issues almost certainly play a role, as do worries in denser communities about facilitating the spread of the virus by creating spaces where many people are gathering together. But in rural communities, where the population is sparse and the distances between home and school are often great, the dynamics of in-person pickup or delivery of schoolwork create one more hurdle resulting from a pandemic that has totally upended American lifeespecially in places already struggling to get by.

This is definitely highlighting the gaps we already have, said Pratt, the National Rural Education Association Director.
The governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has called on Christians to imbibe the virtues of sacrifice and love as they celebrate this years Easter.

Mr Bello, in his Easter message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Onogwu Muhammad, rejoiced with Christians in the state and all over the world on the special occasion commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As we mark Easter, it is pertinent to reflect deeply on the lessons of uncommon sacrifice, selflessness and inestimable love as displayed by Jesus Christ for the redemption of mankind.

The spirit of sacrifice as displayed by Jesus Christ who willingly offered himself on the cross for mankind should be a lesson for all Christians. Genuine love for humanity can only be expressed when we take the teachings and sacrifice of Christ to heart.

As a people, we must be willing to make sacrifices for the overall development of our state and the good of our fellow brothers and sisters, Bello said.

He enjoined Christians and people of the state to use the occasion to seek Gods intervention over the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging some states of the federation and the world over.

The governor also urged Christians and people of the state to maintain high level personal hygiene and observe social distancing to keep the state safe from the COVID-19 pandemic.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In the midst of a global pandemic that has taken the lives of so many, two NYPD members brought a life into the world, helping a woman deliver her baby on the side of the Staten Island Expressway Thursday night.

Police Officer Adam May, assigned to NYPD Highway Patrol Unit 5, was conducting speed enforcement along the eastbound Staten Island Expressway at Renwick Avenue, when he observed a white 2014 Toyota Camry traveling at a high rate of speed, police said.

May pulled over the vehicle and was met by the parents-to-be.

The father, who was also the operator of the vehicle, advised me the wife was in labor. He was trying to get to Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn," May told the Advance/SILive.com. "I immediately requested EMS at the location. I had them pull the vehicle a little more left to the shoulder to make it a little safe and also to give us a little bit more room in the event that we actually had to give child birth.

The woman, 32, stepped out of the vehicle and got in a position of comfort and, immediately after, her water broke.

At that point, May called for back up and Sgt. Anthony Demonte, also assigned to NYPD Highway Patrol Unit 5, arrived on the scene.

We realized that she was actually crowning. We could see the babys head, May said.

Demonte instructed the woman to push.

I guided the baby out. Once the baby was completely out I was holding the baby in my hands, May said. "I stimulated the sternum to make sure the baby was breathing, the baby let out a little cry, which was a little relief for us because we knew the airway was open, the baby was breathing and everything was going as it was supposed to at that point.

After receiving a jacket from the father, the officer wrapped the baby and put the infant in the moms arms, but at that point the umbilical cord separated between mother and son and they both needed to be transported to the hospital since EMS was not yet on the scene.

Demonte told May to get in the parents car and drive them to the hospital.

Two other Highway Patrol Unit 5 members, Police Officer Daniel Sanchez and Police Officer Brian Lamb, arrived on scene to escort the vehicle to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze.

Officer May went above and beyond, Demonte said. While he was driving he was steering with one hand, and with the other hand he was controlling the bleeding from the umbilical cord by pinching the umbilical cord.

A video of the officers rushing the family to the hospital shows May driving the car while the mom is holding the baby.

How is the baby doing? one officer asks the woman, who is sitting in the passenger seat.

Still moving, still breathing? the father asks.

Yes, the mother responds.

Once they arrived at the hospital, they were greeted by the medical personnel.

"Seeing those cheers of a new born coming in the emergency room was what really brought joy to us as well, Demonte said.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea praised the officers heroic act during a live Twitter Q&A earlier Friday.

I think God was looking down because we have a former EMT and a former paramedic and a cop and a sergeant deliver the baby in the car and then drive to the hospital one hand on the wheel and a hand pinching an umbilical cord delivering a healthy baby boy to that hospital," Shea said. God bless the baby, God bless mom and dad and God bless Officer May and Demonte for going above and beyond and doing what cops do everyday. Making us proud.

Both May and Demonte have previous experience in the medical field: May, 30, is a former EMT and joined the NYPD eight years ago, while Demonte, 43, was a former paramedic before joining the department 20 years ago.

Everybody is stressed out about the whole coronavirus. It is very tragic and its effecting all the first responders very much so. At that moment, to hear the hospital staff, hear them screaming with joy from outside the parking lot, it was a break from the pandemic, May said. In that moment for all of us, including the hospital staff, it was kind of like there was no pandemic at that moment. It was pure joy. It was overwhelming.

Both mom and son are recovering at the hospital and are in stable condition, police said.

The father was saying that we are their angels," May said. "They were very grateful.
This morning, 450,000 protective suits landed in Dallas, Texas. This was made possible because of the partnership of two great US companies - DuPont and FedEx - and our friends in Vietnam. Thank you! he wrote on his Twitter account on April 9 morning (Hanoi time).

This is the first of the two shipments of made-in-Vietnam DuPont protective suits to the US as part of cooperation between the two countries to expedite the delivery of equipment to serve the fight against COVID-19 in the US.

The US Department of Health and Human Services contracted FedEx Express to expedite the delivery of the suits to the US Strategic National Stockpile in order to address the urgent need for protective equipment for front line staff responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in the US.

The US President thanks Vietnam on Twitter on April 9. (Screenshot)



The US and Vietnamese governments have cooperated extensively in health care and the COVID-19 fight in particular. Since the beginning of this crisis, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have been collaborating with Vietnamese competent agencies to monitor and respond to the evolving COVID-19 situation.

According to US Ambassador to Vietnam Dan Kritenbrink, over the past 20 years, the US has allocated more than US$706 million in health assistance for Vietnam, and over the past decade has provided substantial technical and financial support to prevent, detect, and respond to emerging and serious infectious diseases.

Most recently, the USAID announced US$2.9 million in additional health assistance to help the Vietnamese government to accelerate laboratory systems; strengthen case-finding and event-based surveillance; and support technical experts for rapid response, risk communication, and infection prevention and control.

Previously, Vietnam had also presented medical supplies to many other countries, including Laos, Cambodia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, to assist them in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Delhi, April 10 : Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank on Friday urged students across the country to download the Aarogya Setu mobile app, which his ministry launched a week ago.

The aap that can be used on phones with iOS and android systems has been launched with the avowed aim of fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Developed under the private-public participation, the aap uses Bluetooth and Artificial Intelligence technologies and algorithm to meet its objectives of helping users make an analysis of danger from the coronavirus.

It will allow people to know about those suffering from coronavirus infection in their respective areas.

Over one crore people in India have so far downloaded the app available in 11 Indian languages.
A Shannon-based company currently shut down by the Covid-19 pandemic has been fined 3,000 for "a very serious breach" of pensions legislation.

At Ennis District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan imposed three fines of 1,000 each on Deepak Fasteners (Shannon) Ltd concerning three separate pension offences.

Solicitor for the Pensions Authority, Daragh Hassett stated that non-payment by the company of employees' and employer contributions had left a 182,539 hole in its workers' pension fund.

Mr Hassett said that "the hole has been filled and all of the money has been paid back - every single cent".

He said the company has pleaded guilty to non payment of employer's pension scheme contributions and that charges concerning employee contributions have been withdrawn and struck out.

The Pensions Authority view the breaches "as extremely serious", said Mr Hassett.

Counsel for the company, Rebecca Treacy BL, said that the company had taken a severe hit in trading conditions as a result of the green movement and uncertainty created by Brexit.

Ms Treacy said that the employee contributions were made good by the company last June as a matter of priority - three months before the matter first came to court.
CHICAGO, April 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The joint venture established by Vanke Service and Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) announced that it will actively promote its experiences in combating the pandemic.

Previously, C&W, a global leading real estate services and consultation firm, announced that it had established the Recovery Readiness Task Force (RRTF), whose resumption of work-related epidemic prevention and control scheme will be mainly based on the Chinese experiences. The task force will lead more than 70 subsidiaries around the world to prepare for the resumption of work after COVID-19.

The joint venture manages over 1,000 office building projects, and has about 20,000 employees in the Greater China region who have many practices in fighting against the pandemic. During the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, the joint venture implemented a series of standard measures, arrangements and communication with clients before returning to the workplace, having provided professional services for more than 10,000 businesses and offered full support for nearly 1 million employees.

The Joint Venture was officially founded in January 6, 2020, mainly operating commercial real estate and facility management. Vanke Service, the partner of C&W, is a pioneer in the field of property management in China. As of the end of January, 2020, it has offered residential and commercial property services in 94 cities in China.

SOURCE Vanke Service
Taiwans digital minister, Audrey Tang (Tang Feng), made the 2019 list of 100 global thinkers published by Foreign Policy magazine. She has leapt into prominence in Japan for creating an app that combats coronavirus by showing face mask inventory levels at a glance. In 2016, she became Taiwans youngest ever government minister at the age of 35. Recently she has wowed Japan and the rest of the world with her leadership on the coronavirus crisis.

Extensively Reported in Japan

Several Japanese TV networks have recently broadcast features on Taiwans digital minister, Audrey Tang, who makes for a stark contrast with her aging Japanese counterparts. What makes Tang, who is on her way to becoming something of a legend in Taiwan, just so popular?

One of the worlds top open source software developers, she started her own IT company at the age of 19. In 2014, she became a digital advisor to Apple, where she was involved in high-level artificial intelligence projects, such as the development of Apples virtual personal assistant, Siri. Under Tangs contract with Apple, she was paid at the hourly rate of 1 bitcoin: the equivalent of around 50,000 when Audrey joined Apple in 2014, and a whopping 900,000 today. The skyrocketing bitcoin price, combined with the money from Tangs earlier ventures, made her extremely wealthy.

Audrey announced her retirement at the age of 33, saying that she would spend the rest of her life doing what she enjoyed. This extends to her current role as Taiwans digital minister, which she undertook at the invitation of President Tsai Ing-wen.

Having led a very different life from most people, characterized by purposeful disobedience of social norms, she is now something of an idol for young Taiwanese, who are attracted to her unique life story and worldview.

An Avid Reader since Childhood

Born in 1981, Audrey was raised by intellectual and enlightened parents who had backgrounds in media. Her father was an avid reader who spent all his spare money on books. He was also an egalitarian, and interacted with his daughter in the same way he would with an adult. From around the time Audrey started elementary school, her father would speak to her in Socratic dialogue. He also allowed her to read his math and philosophy books. This environment helped Audreys intellect to shine through from an early age.

In an IQ test she took at elementary school, Audrey scored 160 or above, the highest score possible on the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children. Audrey dismisses claims that she actually has an IQ of 180 as incorrect. Rather, she says, because her score on the test exceeded the maximum value, it was not possible to measure her true IQ. When the test was repeated, she got the same score. When asked about her IQ these days, Audrey, who is 180 centimeters tall, either jokes that the questioner has confused her IQ with her height, or says that, in the age of the Internet, everyone has an IQ of 180.

A Misfit at School

While most children remain in compulsory education until the end of high school before going on to university or even graduate school, Audrey finished her education before the end of junior highthis after changing kindergartens twice and elementary schools five times. She says she found school to be more of a hardship than a pleasure; she understood concepts before her teachers started teaching them, getting little out of her lessons. Despite having an exceptional memory, she was unconcerned with minor details, and was often reprimanded for not bringing handkerchiefs or tissues to the classroom. Her exceptional intelligence also made her a lot of enemies.

It was after being placed in the top class at elementary school that things started to go wrong for her. Taiwanese parents take a keen interest in their childrens grades, and accelerated classes are very competitive. Audrey was always top in her class, which caused her to be bullied by her classmates. One classmate, after being beaten by her parents for not taking the top spot, told Audrey, I wish you would die so that I could take your place on top.

Audrey was born with a congenital heart condition that caused her face to turn purple in times of stress. Sometimes she would even faint. She therefore describes herself as physically incapable of getting angry. On one occasion, she passed out after a punch from a classmate caused her to slam into a wall. When her mother got her home and removed her clothes, she found a large bruise on her daughters chest, the result of being kicked.

Audrey subsequently developed a fear of school. She was in and out of school and even became a truant. She would never attend another educational institution after dropping out of junior high.

When Audrey was 14, her parents allowed her to go on a retreat to Taiwans remote Wulai district to be alone. After weeks of thinking, she made her decision.

Nothing to Learn

Audrey had earlier won a prize in a school science competition, and was guaranteed a place at a prestigious high school. However, she chose not to pursue that path, feeling that the information taught at that level was 10 years behind what was available online, and that she would be better off learning directly from the Internet.

Audreys genius also manifested itself in a gift for languages. As a child, she spent a year studying in Europe with her mother, as a result of which she speaks German and French. Her language skills enabled her to go online and learn directly from academics and experts around the world. Those who received her questions assumed they were talking to a curious university student, not a junior high school dropout.

The teenagers decision to leave school shocked her family. Her father and grandparents were opposed to her plan to teach herself and start a business. Audreys mother, however, who had left a media career to establish an experimental school, believed that there was more than just one path to learning. She was her daughters strongest ally.

After leaving school at the age of 14, Audrey entered the world of business at 16, establishing an IT company. She made good progress both as a programmer and as a manager. Establishing several companies, she worked as an advisor to such well-known organizations as Apple and Oxford University Press.

Transitioning

It was at this time that Tang, rejecting the idea of categorizing people, made a decision to transcend gender. Born male and named Zonghan, and later adopting Autrijus as her name for use in Western languages, Tang decided to transition to female at the age of 25, changing her name to the more gender ambiguous Feng, or Audrey in English. Audrey is Taiwans first transgender cabinet minister, and her gender is listed in the roster of ministers as none.

So how do her parents feel about having a transgender daughter? Both say they wholeheartedly support their daughter as long as she is happy. Being the parents of a genius requires unlimited love and tolerance!

Because of her personal experience of taking an unconventional path to success, Audrey believes that while majority rule is at the heart of democracy, societies also need systems that allow law-abiding minorities to exert influence on society.

Reflecting Minority Voices

After becoming Taiwans digital minister, Tang established a platform for fielding public opinion on government policy, and asked the Taiwanese people to come forward with feasible policy ideas. The platform she created breaks down the barriers between the government and the people and reflects the true opinions of society in government.

An environmentally conscious state, Taiwan imposed a blanket ban on plastic straws in July 2019. The ban started when a 16-year-old school student submitted a proposal using Tangs platform. The idea was endorsed by 5,000 people and subsequently written into law by Taiwans Environmental Protection Administration. Taiwan is known for tapioca bubble tea, and Taiwanese consumers purchase 1 billion drinks every year. The ban therefore represented a revolution in consumer practices, brought about by a proposal from a single teenager submitted using Tangs platform.

Pressure from mainland China has long caused Taiwan to be shut out of the international community. Audrey devised a way for Taiwan to participate in meetings of the United Nations digitally, combining technology and diplomacy to share the voices of Taiwanese citizens with the rest of the world.

Despite being a government minister, Audrey says she has no secrets and puts up no barriers. She publishes minutes of all her meetings online. Often, when attending policy meetings, she will type up a dozen or pages of minutes on her computer in real time, which she publishes as soon as the meeting finishes.

On Wednesdays, Audrey opens her office to the public. Anyone with a proposal for the government, irrespective of age or occupation, can make an appointment to discuss it. In the evenings, she holds meetings with groups of experts from both Taiwan and overseas, as well as gatherings of creative people. Food and drink is provided, and lively debates sometimes roll on until deep in the night.

On several occasions I have seen Audrey hold her own against combative celebrity interviewers. Her sharp, quick-witted nature and talent for presenting information in an ordered manner means that the interviewer usually loses the argument within 10 minutes.

The Power of Sleep

After working for 25 minutes, Audrey always takes a 5-minute break. Every night, she deletes all her emails and leaves nothing on her to do list. Her secret to staying healthy, she says, is ensuring she always gets eight hours of sleep, no matter how busy she is.

I ponder the problem Im working on as I fall asleep. When I wake up in the morning, Ive thought of a solution, she explains, noting that sleep soothes the brain and provides inspiration.

Another source of healing is Audreys weekly 45-minute session with a psychiatrist in France at a specified time. This routine is akin to the Japanese novelist Murakami Harukis daily running, and provides her with a mental detox that ensures she is always at peak condition.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Audrey Tang discusses open government concepts at an April 2017 event in Seoul. Yonhap News/Aflo.)
Partially modifying its order on



the use of two-wheelers during the ongoing lockdown, Orissa High Court on Friday said only senior citizens and handicapped persons are allowed to use vehicles to go to markets for purchase of essential items like vegetables, fruits, grocery and medicines.

"The police authorities shall also give relaxation in mobility of doctors and health workers on production of their identification and certificates," said a Division Bench of the High Court comprising Acting Chief Justice Kumari Sanju Panda and Justice Biswanath Rath.

The modification was made by the bench following an appeal by the state government seeking a clarification on the High Courts order on Thursday.

The High Court on Thursday had diluted the governments blanket ban on the use of vehicles during the lockdown imposed in view of COVID-19 outbreak. The High Court had said the government should first come out with a composite planning on availability of essential commodities locally before imposing a ban on the use of vehicles.

The HC had also restrained the police from collecting fines from the vehicle users until the third count of default.

The state government on Friday approached the High Court stating that adequate vending zones have been made within walkable distance in residential areas of the civic bodies of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar so that essential items are available there and sought a clarification on the earlier order passed by the High Court in this context.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Barcelona have denied what the club describes as "serious and unfounded accusations" of corruption after a former vice-president claimed someone "had put their hands in the till".

Emili Rousaud was one of six board members to resign on Thursday night as Barca continue to be embroiled in political crisis under their current president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

All six resigning board members called for the 2021 presidential elections to be brought forward in a joint letter published on Friday by the newspaper La Vanguardia.

In an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, Rousaud discussed the social media controversy that rocked the club in February, when Barcelona were accused of hiring a company called I3 Ventures to discredit opponents of Bartomeu online, including players like Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique.

"If the auditors tell us the cost of these services is 100,000 euros and we have paid one million, it means someone has put their hand in the till. I have no evidence and I cannot say who," Rousaud told the programme RAC1 on Friday.

Barcelona responded with an official statement that read: "In the light of the serious and unfounded accusations made this morning by Emili Rousaud, ex-vice president of the club, in different interviews with the media, FC Barcelona categorically denies any activity that can be described as corruption and therefore reserves the right to any legal action that may correspond."



Bartomeu terminated the club's contract with I3 Ventures in February. He said the company had been hired only to monitor posts on social media and announced an internal audit to investigate any irregularity.

"The analysis of the monitoring services of social networks is being subjected to an independent audit by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), which is still ongoing and, therefore, without any conclusions," Barcelona's statement added.

Rousaud had been appointed as a club vice-president in January and was seen as a leading candidate to succeed Bartomeu, who cannot stand again when the presidential elections come round next year.

Instead, Rousaud has quit, citing frustrations with the club's management, along with fellow vice-president Enrique Tombas, as well as directors Silvio Elias, Josep Pont, Jordi Calsamiglia and Maria Teixidor.

Bartomeu has overseen a string of political spats in recent months being played out in public, with Messi also involved.

Messi reacted angrily in January to Eric Abidal, the club's technical secretary, suggesting the players were to blame for the sacking of Ernesto Valverde and last month, the Argentinian criticised the club's handling of negotiations with the squad over pay cuts.

Those remaining swiftly addressed the resignations from the board.

"The resignations of the members of the board of directors announced over the last few hours have come about due to a reorganisation of the board put forward by president Josep Maria Bartomeu and which will be completed in the next few days," the statement added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
British Airways is to drop its flights from Belfast City Airport to Heathrow.

From next week, the route will be operated by Aer Lingus.

Belfast City Airport said the British Airways pull-out was a temporary measure during the current coronavirus crisis.

We understand this is a temporary suspension of the British Airways service to London Heathrow which comes as a result of the airlines review of its short haul network across various markets due to the Covid-19 outbreak, a spokesperson for Belfast City Airport said.

The Belfast-Heathrow route remains an important service within the British Airways network and to the local economy.

We fully expect the airline to restore capacity as and when demand returns and Government legislation allows.

Aer Lingus continues to operate a five-times-weekly service to London Heathrow to facilitate essential travel for key workers.

Both British Airways (BA) and Aer Lingus are owned by the same company, International Airlines Group (IAG).

Its understood there will be five flights per week between the Belfast and London airports.

A British Airways spokesman said: Aer Lingus  which is part of IAG  will continue flying between Heathrow and Belfast, ensuring that a vital route remains open.

Aer Lingus will honour any bookings which have already been made for BA flights to Heathrow.

A spokesperson for the Irish airline said: Aer Lingus continues to operate flights between Belfast City Airport and London Heathrow, using local crews based in Belfast.

The London-Heathrow route is now the only flight in and out of Belfast City Airport which is still operating.

In another Belfast City Airport-related development, Translink, Northern Irelands public transport utility, said that its Metro 600 services to and from the airport would not be operating until further notice.

Ulsterbus services 3200 and 300a to the airport have also ceased.

The news comes amid fears Northern Irelands links to the rest of the UK could be seriously damaged by the coronavirus lockdown and its consequence for business and industry.

Last week, it was learned that no passenger flights are now operating from Belfast International Airport.

Veteran UUP Councillor Jim Rodgers described the news as "very disappointing".

I will be doing all I can to ensure this is just a temporary measure as a result of coronavirus," he said.

What we cant have is a situation where these flights do not resume when restrictions on travel are lifted.

It's a vitally important business route for the Northern Ireland economy. We have already seen Aer Lingus reduce the number of flights to London from the City Airport and we cannot have a situation where Northern Ireland is completely cut off from the capital.

"We really need to keep a close eye on the number of flights as there is always a fear they will not resume when this crisis is over.
By Elias Biryabarema KAMPALA (Reuters) - Scovia Nakawooya's unborn child died inside her as she struggled to reach a hospital on foot. She died hours later - one of at least seven women in labour to become casualties of Uganda's coronavirus lockdown, a rights group said.

By Elias Biryabarema

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Scovia Nakawooya's unborn child died inside her as she struggled to reach a hospital on foot. She died hours later - one of at least seven women in labour to become casualties of Uganda's coronavirus lockdown, a rights group said.

Fearful that the viral pandemic could overwhelm already overburdened hospitals, authorities have banned private transport without special authorisation. But in a poor country with few ambulances, the travel ban can be deadly for some.

A human rights group in the East African country says seven women in labour and two babies have died because they were forced to walk to hospital to give birth. The Ministry of Health said it was investigating the reports and could not comment yet.

The government ban on private transport in place since March 30 includes people suffering medical emergencies. But public health officials say barring vehicles from the road is making it hard for patients and personnel to reach medical facilities.

"Very ridiculous," Dr. Muhereza Mukuzi, general secretary of the Uganda Medical Association, said in reference to the ban.

With public ambulances scarce, Ugandans typically reach hospital in private vehicles, but now need special permits to drive from resident district commissioners.

There is no central number to call and only one or two officials can authorise a journey in each of Uganda's 134 districts. Many commissioners have not shared their numbers or do not answer, citizens have complained in local media.

Nakawooya's family had no idea who to call as the 39-year-old mother of four writhed in pain on April 3. Her husband, Francis Kibenge, begged drivers to take her to a hospital a mile and a half away.

"No one was willing," the brickmaker told Reuters at their modest house in a suburb west of the capital Kampala.

Fresh concrete was drying on Nakawooya's grave outside. Her infant rested next to her under a small mound of red soil.

STRUGGLE

Grace Nagawa, the couple's 19-year-old daughter, curled into a fetal position and wept as she described her mother's 90-minute struggle to reach help. "Sometimes she would stop, bend and put her hand on her thigh to support her body, just to rest a bit," Nagawa said.

A doctor who examined Nakawooya at the BMC Medical Centre said she appeared to be suffering a premature separation of the placenta from the uterus.

"Walking a long distance in that condition was very dangerous," Dr. Denis Tumwesigye told Reuters.

Nakawooya died at the medical centre the next morning.

Primah Kwagala, head of the Women's Pro Bono legal initiative in Uganda, cited six other reports of women who died in labour because they could not reach a hospital.

In Wakiso, police drove a woman in labour to hospital after she bled heavily all night, but she died anyway, Kwagala said.

In Alebtong district, two babies died in childbirth, although their mothers survived, she said.

In neighbouring Kenya, the family of a motorbike taxi driver say police beat him to death when he violated a coronavirus curfew on March 27 to take a woman in labour to hospital.

Police did not respond to requests for comment this week.

Uganda had recorded 53 cases of coronavirus infections, and no deaths, as of Thursday afternoon.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema with; additional reporting by Joseph Akwiri in Mombasa; Editing by Katharine Houreld, Alexandra Zavis and Mark Heinrich)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
(Newser)  Amy Schumer posted two photos of herself on Instagram, which sounds fair enough. But the photographer says the photos taken last year weren't hers to post, and the comedian now faces a lawsuit. Felipe Ramales filed suit in New York, the Daily News reports. "One cannot use photographs without the photographers permission, even for social media websites," Ramales lawyer said. "In the digital 'right click, save as' era, photographers are seeing their licensing revenue diminish and the number of thefts of their work increase dramatically. This is a major problem." The suit seeks $150,000 for each of the two photos, per E! Schumer's representative did not immediately comment on the suit, per the Daily News.

story continues below

The photos show Schumer pushing her infant in a running stroller, wearing a sweatshirt with the words, "Plus Size Brain." On her post, Schumer added: "If you want your own #plussizebrain sweatshirt go to amyschumer.com store! Soooo comfy." The sweatshirts were sold for $30. Schumer was sent a different sort of message Thursday. Nurses battling the coronavirus at a Long Island hospital posted a video thanking her for arranging a donation of masks. In it, they thank Schumer and reality TV star Bethany Frankel, whose foundation sent 5,000 masks, per Newsday. A nurse who's friends with Schumer said, "To know there's people looking out for us, doing whatever they can, makes a big difference." (Read more Amy Schumer stories.)
WASHINGTON  U.S. Sen. John Cornyns re-election campaign should be his race to lose.

The coronavirus outbreak, by most measures, has given Cornyn an even bigger advantage as he runs for a fourth term. The Texas Republican is sitting on $12 million with ads already on TV as his challengers campaign online against each other in a runoff election that was delayed six weeks by the pandemic.

Democrats MJ Hegar and Royce West are competing for attention with the biggest public health crisis in a century as they prepare for the July 14 election. The winner will get less than four months of head-to-head campaigning against Cornyn.

Texas Take: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

The Democrats had hoped to ride the momentum from Beto ORourkes narrow loss to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz two years ago.

Instead, Sen. Cornyn is outpacing the Democrats on name identification, fundraising, and base support, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political scientist. Democrats are in a holding pattern, stalling their momentum when it was needed to ramp up support. Given where things are, it would take Beto-level enthusiasm to capture Texans attention, which is on anything but politics for the moment.

But Cornyns opponents see an opening.

They are now doing all they can to tie Cornyn to the Trump administrations slow response to the outbreak and to hammer him over health care, which their party believes is a winning issue for Democrats nationally  but especially against the Texas Republican, who played a crucial role in efforts to scrap the Affordable Care Act.

They say Cornyn has helped them make their case by tweeting pictures of Corona beer, saying it will be a piece of cake to beat the virus and blaming Chinese culture for COVID-19.

I think we have more opportunity to show people the contrast of the type of leadership they can see from John Cornyn in a crisis, which is tweeting out pictures of beer in rocks glasses, said MJ Hegar, a former Air Force pilot vying to challenge Cornyn. Now more than ever, were seeing the importance that everyone have access to health care. Were seeing how painful a health care model tied to your employment is when we have record unemployment numbers.

Cornyns campaign responded Friday.

Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi delayed relief through the CARES Act for critical days trying to inject Green New Deal provisions, and where were MJ and Royce: Silent and complicit, said Krista Piferrer, a campaign spokeswoman. Democrats are again blocking relief as we speak and instead of putting people first and tabling politics in a crisis, MJ and Royce are keeping up their partisan attacks and snake oil sales for socialist health care as a great savior.

Who wants to raise money right now?

Cornyn, who won his last campaign with 62 percent of the vote, took a brief break from campaigning when the outbreak began, but was back at it a day after the Senate unanimously passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package in March, when his campaign sent an email to supporters touting the package  and accusing Democrats of pushing liberal priorities in the bill.

Senate Democrats had shot down two efforts to vote on the package and claimed credit for the expanded unemployment benefits and stricter oversight measures for big business loans.

They werent successful, and this final bill looks close to the original, Cornyn said in the email. I expect voters will remember how Democrats wasted precious time playing politics during an unprecedented crisis.

For subscribers: Its a democratic tragedy: Coronavirus threatens Texas voter registration efforts

Meanwhile, Cornyns early fundraising has paid off better than he could have foreseen.

Who wants to raise money right now? said Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican strategist who ran Cornyns last reelection campaign in 2014, adding its just about impossible to do so. It seems uncouth when youre asking people for money at this time, especially low dollar donors, online donors.

He can focus on the general, he can focus on being a senator, Steinhauser said. That can help him be seen as delivering for the people of Texas while these Democrats are bickering among themselves.

Not that Cornyn needs the money right now anyway. He already has ads up on TV in Texas, including spots paid for by a dark money group called Doctor Patient Unity, funded by private-equity-backed companies that own physician practices and staff emergency rooms, which poured millions last year into an effort to end a push in Congress to stop surprise medical billing.

Hegar, who raised nearly $4 million during a 12-candidate Democratic primary, had just $850,800 on hand by mid-February. West, who raised $1.1 million during the primary, had less than $308,000 at that point.

A tendency to be politically tone deaf

Despite all of that, Cornyn has still managed to hand Democrats a suite of what Rottinghaus called unforced errors.

There was the beer tweet and another saying with appropriate social distancing and good hygiene this is a piece of cake.

Then Cornyn went viral when he blamed Chinese cultural practices for the disease, saying the country has a culture where people eat bats and snakes and dogs and things like that. Cornyns comments came amid growing pressure on President Donald Trump to stop calling the coronavirus the Chinese virus due to reports of increased racism aimed at Asian Americans, a growing segment of the voting population in the U.S. and Texas.

Cornyn went viral again a few days later, when he tweeted blah blah blah at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who tweeted that Democrats have voted against the stimulus because among other problems it includes huge bailouts without protections for people and workers and without accountability, and because it shortchanges our hospitals and health care workers who need our help.

For subscribers: Texas Sen. John Cornyn: China unleashed a weapon on the world with coronavirus

He has a tendency to be politically tone deaf to how his statements play, Rottinghaus said. These unforced errors limit his natural, built-in advantages.

Cornyn shrugged off criticism of his comments as the nature of social media.

People are either going to love or hate everything you say or do and they frequently will mischaracterize what you do, Cornyn said.

One of the things I hope to convey is this is not a time for people to panic, and I still believe thats important, he said. That was the balance I was trying to achieve and depending on who you talk to I either failed miserably or I succeeded.

Democrats say Cornyns comments on social media reveal his mindset.

Im more motivated than ever to unseat him given what Im seeing, Hegar said. The race-baiting, its dangerous and irresponsible, and its what you get when you have a wealthy attorney, career politician representing you.

Democrats forced to readjust

Hegar claims the first quarter of the year was her best fundraising quarter to date, though she wouldnt say how much. She says she drove tens of thousands of miles across the state during the primary establishing relationships not with powerful people, but with voters.

The payoff of all of the hard work over the last year is we have such a strong foundation, Hegar said. If youre just depending on the quid pro quo good ol boys club and high dollar donors you're not going to survive in an environment like this.

West, who squeaked into the runoff with 15 percent of the vote, arguably had more ground to make up than Hegar, who drew 22 percent and had nearly three times as much money on hand.

Then the outbreak set in and West hit pause.

For subscribers: Texas opens door to more mail-in voting in 2020 elections

The fact is that Im a state senator, West said. I had to just kind of put the campaign on the backburner, because I have a responsibility as a state senator to take care of people in my senate district.

That included trying to keep constituents informed on the disease, pushing for more testing sites in Dallas and more, he said.

West said just over the last couple weeks has his campaign started to move forward, facing a new reality of online townhalls  including one this week when he laid out his vision for how the government should respond to the virus  and difficult fundraising. West said it feels somewhat insensitive to call and ask people for money now.

Im not going to have millions and millions of dollars that are being reported, he said.

Nonetheless, the response to the outbreak by West, who has spent nearly three decades in the state Legislature, plays into the case hes made for candidacy all along: Im the most experienced in this race, and Ive readied myself to be a senator of the state of Texas.

ben.wermund@chron.com
Log on if you are already subscribed or Subscribe...
Message From Acting Secretary of the Navy James E. McPherson

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS200409-01

Release Date: 4/9/2020 1:19:00 PM

By Acting Secretary of the Navy, James E. McPherson,

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- To all of our Sailors, Marines, Civilians, and Military Families,

I am honored to return to the Navy-Marine Corps Team as your Acting Secretary.

From my years as an officer in the United States Navy, and my prior service as an enlisted Soldier in the United States Army, I am keenly aware of the sacrifices you make, and the dedication you show, every day in service to our Nation. Thank you for your dedicated service. I look forward to serving alongside you.

Today, with the extraordinary challenges posed by COVID-19, and the continual threats we face in a changing global security environment, our Nation needs you more than ever. Throughout this crisis, Sailors, Marines, and Civilians have stepped forward to protect the American people and our force. From New York to New Orleans, Los Angeles to Dallas, Maine to Guam, you have responded to the medical, logistics, engineering, and security requirements of our homeland during this time of need. And through it all, you have maintained the watch around the world.

Alongside Admiral Gilday and General Berger, we will maximize the resources and capability of the Department of the Navy to faithfully execute the priorities established by Secretary Esper in response to the COVID-19 crisis: Protect our people, maintain warfighting readiness, and fully support the whole of government/whole of nation response to protect the American people.

You are the reason I am extremely confident that we will make mission. Many of you  our active and reserve shipmates  are closing the margin and saving lives through countless and selfless acts of individual initiative and collective teamwork. I am proud of you  our Nation is proud of you. For as long as I have the privilege of serving as your Acting Secretary, I will do everything in my power to support your efforts and safety, and the safety and well-being of your families.

Working together and remaining ever vigilant of the rocks and shoals before us, I know we will help bring our Nation through the present challenge and all that may follow. It is what the Navy and Marine Corps have always done, and will always do, as long as there are people like you maintaining the watch.

Sincerely,

James E. McPherson

Secretary of the Navy (Acting)

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Communities and voluntary groups around Ireland that are providing vital services during the Covid-19 emergency have received a funding boost.

Mr Michael Ring TD, Minister for Rural & Community Development, announced today, Thursday, April 9 a 2.5 million fund to provide immediate and urgently needed funding to groups that are participating in the Governments Community Call initiative which is being led by the local authorities in response to the pandemic.

Local authorities administer the fund and will be making contact with those groups participating in Community Call in the very near future with further details. The need for funding assistance will be kept under review.

Laois is getting nearly 67,000 from the fund. (County breakdown at end of story).

Priority will be provided to organisations which incur costs on direct delivery of frontline services to people, such as Meals on Wheels and other similar activities. These individual grants will generally be modest in nature however it is expected that higher amounts will provided where the need is greatest.

Speaking about the COVID-19 Emergency Fund, Minister Ring said:

Local community and voluntary groups are supporting significant numbers of vulnerable people, many of whom are self-isolating, to get through this crisis. This Fund will help these groups to cover the costs of their work.

This is a response to support immediate and emergency efforts by community and voluntary groups in assisting people locally. It is recognised that there are wider challenges and impacts facing the community and voluntary sector as a whole, but this initiative will help to provide support to community groups that are delivering services at the frontline, he said.

Collaboration and partnership between the community and voluntary sector and the State are key to coordinating and responding to the needs of our communities and supporting people at this time. These groups are making a real difference to help individuals at this unprecedented time.

There is a Community Call Forum in each county to coordinate and connect the wide range of services and supports that are available.

A dedicated phone helpline is operational in every county and the national number, 0818 222 024, is also in operation. You can find your local helpline number on www.gov.ie/communitycall.

In the week since Community Call was launched, over 5,000 calls have been received from members of the public.
Thousands of migrant workers are being moved out of crowded dormitories in Singapore after a surge in new coronavirus cases linked to the sites, authorities said Thursday. A sharp jump in cases in the massive dormitories had already prompted authorities to quarantine four complexes housing tens of thousands of people this week. Fears had been growing among the workers, many of whom are construction labourers from South Asia, that they were highly vulnerable to infection in the cramped dorms where social distancing is difficult. Singapore health officials Thursday reported a record daily increase of 287 new virus cases -- over 200 of which were linked to the dorms. In a bid to reduce the risk of infection, many migrant workers are now being moved from dormitories to other sites including military barracks, vacant apartment blocks and a massive exhibition site where the Singapore Airshow takes place, authorities said. About 5,000 who work in services deemed essential have already been transferred, and thousands more will be transferred in the coming days with the help of the armed forces and the police, they said. "We are sparing no effort to contain the spread of the virus in the foreign worker dormitories," said Lawrence Wong, a cabinet minister who is a key figure in Singapore's fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. But he warned that "despite our best efforts at containing the situation, all of us have to be mentally prepared that the numbers in the foreign worker dormitories will continue to rise in the coming days, and perhaps even in the coming week". - Social distancing 'impossible' - The focus will be on moving healthy migrant workers who work in essential services -- such as construction, cleaning and public transport -- out of the dorms. Officials did not say how many in total would be moved. The government will also step in to help run the dorms, which are usually privately operated. There are some 200,000 workers living in 43 dorms in the city-state. The sprawling complexes are usually self-contained, have shops and other facilities on-site, and are often located in less desirable parts of the city. Construction workers typically toil for long hours, earning in the region of $400 to $500 a month building the city-state's glittering skyscrapers and shopping malls. One worker from Bangladesh, who lives in a dorm where there are several known infections, earlier told AFP that social distancing to fight the virus was "impossible". "One small room with 12 people living together... how can we make social distance?" the labourer said in English, on the condition of anonymity. He said hygiene standards were poor and workers were forced to use a communal cooking area and bathroom. "We know the virus character, how this is spread -- so if this living condition continue I am very worried," he added. The ministry of manpower has scrambled to improve conditions at the dorms, with caterers brought in to provide regular meals and cleaning services ramped up. A task force involving government officials, police and the armed forces has also been set up to provide support to foreign workers and dormitory operators. But Amnesty International warned quarantining workers in close proximity could be a "recipe for disaster", and migrant rights campaigners had been pushing for them to be moved to other sites. Singapore has reported 1,768 virus cases including six deaths, relatively low by global standards, and has won praise for its handling of the outbreak. But infections are rising sharply and authorities this week introduced tough new curbs, including closing most workplaces and asking people to stay at home. The infections at the dorms have sparked soul-searching in Singapore about the treatment of foreign labourers, who have played a key role in the city-state's dramatic transformation from a gritty port into an ultra-modern financial hub. Writing on Facebook, veteran Singapore diplomat Tommy Koh said it should be a "wake-up call to treat our indispensable foreign workers like a first world country should, and not in the disgraceful way in which they are treated now".
The coronavirus pandemic has touched every corner of the economy and massively disrupted Americans day-to-day lives. But the federal government has responded to the crisis with multitrillion dollar initiatives aimed at helping individuals, small business owners and industry powerhouses.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES Act, created $2 trillion in funding to expand unemployment benefits as more than 16 million Americans have filed jobless claims in recent weeks. The measure will also send out $1,200 in direct payments to most adults.

The CARES Act also creates more than $350 billion in loans and grants for small businesses hard hit by the pandemic, as well as another $500 billion to assist large industries, including airlines.

Let us know: Have you received your federal stimulus check yet?

But as the measures have been rapidly rolled out to stabilize the economy, the public has faced significant technical glitches and questions abound. Heres how you can access the government funds:

Economic impact payments: Most adults in San Antonio will qualify for the $1,200 checks the government will be disbursing electronically or by mail. The checks will begin to decrease for people earning more than $75,000 annually, and those earning more than $99,000 will not receive a check.

Eligible recipients also will receive $500 for each dependent child. If you file taxes as a joint married couple, youll get $2,400. And even if youre retired, didnt file taxes in the last two years or have disabilities, youre still eligible.

The challenge will be getting the money. If you filed taxes in 2018 or 2019 and received your tax refund directly into your bank account, then the Internal Revenue Service has your bank account information. That means youll automatically receive the money. The IRS has said the payments will begin going out next week. If you didnt file taxes but you receive direct deposit of Social Security benefits, then the IRS will automatically put the $1,200 into your bank account as well.

The Good Newsletter: A weekly dose of inspiring San Antonio stories, delivered to your inbox

Most people wont need to take any action, the IRS says on its website, urging people not to call the agency about the payments.

For those who have filed taxes but didnt receive a direct deposit, the IRS has said it will open an online portal in the coming weeks for people to provide direct deposit information to the agency. The portal is not currently up and running.

Some people will likely fall through the cracks. Children listed as dependents by their parents will not receive checks, and it could take much longer to get the money if you dont have a checking or savings account.

For the remaining eligible recipients, the IRS has said it will begin mailing checks to the last known address in early May. It could take until September for some people to receive their checks in the mail, though the IRS priority is to first mail checks to the lowest-income earners.

Assistance for small businesses: Small businesses, which employ about half of private sector workers in the U.S., have been badly hurt. Many have been forced to close to comply with social-distancing measures. But the $349 billion allocated by Congress for small business assistance loans should blunt some of the blow.

The CARES Act contains several provisions aimed at easing the economic pain for business owners with fewer than 500 employees.

The Paycheck Protection Program administered through the Small Business Administration is the most significant. The initiative provides potentially forgivable loans to small business owners that they can use primarily to pay employees, but also to pay for utilities or rent or to pay down debt.

The loan amount is calculated based on the business monthly revenue. The maximum loan is $10 million.

The loan becomes forgivable if the business, eight weeks after receiving the money, has the same number of employees and pays out the same amount in wages as it did in mid-February, before the viral outbreak hit. If an employer lays off workers after receiving a loan, then the loan is only partially forgivable; the rest must be repaid.

The main two (requirements for loan forgiveness) are being fully back up to historic wage levels and the same number of employees. Its two-factored, so you cant hire everybody back and cut their pay, said Daryn McBeth, an attorney with the national law firm Lathrop GPM, which is helping small businesses acquire loans.

Business owners have to apply for the PPP loans through a local lender. The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce has a list of dozens of local financial institutions working with the SBA to provide the loans. The lenders include the Bank of San Antonio, Texas Capital Bank, Frost Bank and River City Federal Credit Union.

The SBA eased eligibility criteria for the loans. Business owners do not have to provide a personal guarantee or collateral, and the SBA relaxed requirements that applicants show they could not get credit elsewhere.

Local attorney Jeff Gifford, whos helping small businesses and lenders navigate the process, said business owners who receive loans through the SBA should keep meticulous records to meet forgiveness requirements.

The regulations for the lending program are being updated daily, Gifford said, which can complicate the process for business owners.

Because the legislature passed this so quickly, theres a number of regulations that werent even out until the day that applications started being taken, and were continuing to get new guidance every day, Gifford said.

Richard Perez, CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, said business owners appreciate the intent of the loan program, but said it was initially rocky trying to apply.

If a business owner asks for $50,000 from the (PPP), they dont know if theyre going to get the whole $50,000, or if theyre going to get installments  just practical information, Perez said. I think that as Congress begins to debate additional stimulus, these will be issues that will now be known and they can use these cases in point to make the program even better.

When business owners will begin receiving the loan money is still a major question, Perez said. Most experts say the money should be doled out starting this month.

Were all kind of waiting with bated breath to see when the money starts flowing, Perez said.

Its widely anticipated that nationwide demand for the $349 billion in loans will compel Congress to roll out another loan fund. That pot of money could approach $250 billion.

Not all businesses are eligible for PPP loans, and Gifford said the biggest confusion has centered on affiliates and subsidiary companies with complex ownership and international roots.

The SBA is offering numerous other initiatives to assist small businesses. The Economic Injury and Disaster Loan program provides $10,000 grants to some small business owners, though the program is much smaller in scale than the Paycheck Protection Program. You can apply for EIDL directly through the SBAs website.

Business owners also can use the Employee Retention Credit to keep workers on their payrolls. Employers can potentially defer taxes until 2021 and 2022 under the CARES Act.

Gifford said small business owners should also consult with an attorney or accountant to figure out how to gain the greatest benefit from the CARES act.

Gig workers and self-employed workers are also eligible for the PPP loans to cover earnings up to $100,000. They can apply through local financial institutions starting April 10.

Unemployment benefits: More than half a million Texans have sought unemployment benefits in recent weeks, and the unprecedented spike in jobless claims across the nation is expected to continue. But the Texas Workforce Commission has reduced barriers to eligibility and has expanded its capacity to process the influx of claims.

Many workers in Texas had to wait days to file for unemployment, but the TWC has issued new guidelines it says will smooth the process. For workers with a phone numbers in the 210 San Antonio area code, the agency asks that you apply for unemployment Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 1 and 5 p.m. Callers with an 830 area code are asked to call Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between 8 a.m. and noon.

Unemployment benefits were lengthened under the CARES Act from 26 weeks to 39. And through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, Texans will receive an additional $600 in weekly benefits on top of whatever benefits they receive through the state.

To apply, the TWC recommends applicants go through the 24/7 online portal at ui.texasworkforce.org to free up the telephone lines. The commission also has a chatbot on its website to answer questions.

If you dont have internet access, call 1-800-939-6631 during business hours from Mondays through Saturdays.

The TWC will contact you if your application is approved. Unemployment benefits in Texas range from $64 to $521 per week, depending on your earnings. On average, it takes 21 days from the time you file for unemployment until you start to receive benefits, a TWC spokesman said.

It remains unclear when the additional $600 weekly unemployment benefits will begin being disbursed in Texas, but unemployed workers in some states are expected to start receiving the money next week.

Gig workers, contractors and self-employed workers get benefits, too: Contractors, self-employed and gig workers previously did not qualify for unemployment benefits in Texas but are now eligible.

A TWC spokesman said nontraditional workers should file for unemployment online through the normal process. If the worker qualifies for the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the TWC will notify him or her. Contractors, self-employed and gig workers are likely to receive a flat $600 weekly benefit.

diego.mendoza-moyers@

express-news.net
Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik on



Friday urged the Maharashtra government to double the salaries of the medical staff, who have been providing treatment to COVID-19 patients.

In a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the Thane city legislator said that the Harayana government has already implemented it.

Risking their own lives, doctors, nurses and other medical staff are selflessly carrying out their work of treating the coronavirus patients. Their work needs to be appreciated and hence their salaries should be doubled, he said in the letter.

"Likewise, every police personnel, who is serving selflessly during this period, should be given an insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh," he added.

"If the government wants, it can deduct the salaries of legislators up to 50 per cent from the present 30 per cent, so that the money is diverted towards those serving the society," Sarnaik said.

The Maharashtra Cabinet on Thursday decided to cut the salaries of MLAs and MLCs by 30 per cent from this month till March next year in view of the state's economy bearing the brunt of the coronavirus crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
If you own shares in Jaguar Mining Inc. (TSE:JAG) then it's worth thinking about how it contributes to the volatility of your portfolio, overall. In finance, Beta is a measure of volatility. Volatility is considered to be a measure of risk in modern finance theory. Investors may think of volatility as falling into two main categories. The first type is company specific volatility. Investors use diversification across uncorrelated stocks to reduce this kind of price volatility across the portfolio. The second sort is caused by the natural volatility of markets, overall. For example, certain macroeconomic events will impact (virtually) all stocks on the market.

Some stocks are more sensitive to general market forces than others. Beta can be a useful tool to understand how much a stock is influenced by market risk (volatility). However, Warren Buffett said 'volatility is far from synonymous with risk' in his 2014 letter to investors. So, while useful, beta is not the only metric to consider. To use beta as an investor, you must first understand that the overall market has a beta of one. Any stock with a beta of greater than one is considered more volatile than the market, while those with a beta below one are either less volatile or poorly correlated with the market.

See our latest analysis for Jaguar Mining

What JAG's beta value tells investors

Zooming in on Jaguar Mining, we see it has a five year beta of 1.19. This is above 1, so historically its share price has been influenced by the broader volatility of the stock market. Based on this history, investors should be aware that Jaguar Mining are likely to rise strongly in times of greed, but sell off in times of fear. Share price volatility is well worth considering, but most long term investors consider the history of revenue and earnings growth to be more important. Take a look at how Jaguar Mining fares in that regard, below.

TSX:JAG Income Statement April 10th 2020

Could JAG's size cause it to be more volatile?

Story continues

Jaguar Mining is a rather small company. It has a market capitalisation of CA$167m, which means it is probably under the radar of most investors. It takes less money to influence the share price of a very small company. This may explain the excess volatility implied by this beta value.

What this means for you:

Beta only tells us that the Jaguar Mining share price is sensitive to broader market movements. This could indicate that it is a high growth company, or is heavily influenced by sentiment because it is speculative. Alternatively, it could have operating leverage in its business model. Ultimately, beta is an interesting metric, but there's plenty more to learn. This article aims to educate investors about beta values, but it's well worth looking at important company-specific fundamentals such as Jaguar Minings financial health and performance track record. I urge you to continue your research by taking a look at the following:

Financial Health: Are JAGs operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why weve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here. Past Track Record: Has JAG been consistently performing well irrespective of the ups and downs in the market? Go into more detail in the past performance analysis and take a look at the free visual representations of JAG's historicals for more clarity. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in West Berkshire is now 132.

The latest Public Health England figures for Friday, April 10 show an increase of one on yesterday's total of 131.

However, not everyone with the virus will have been tested.

The first case in the district was reported on March 13.

Thames Valley Police is urging people to stay at home where possible this Easter bank holiday weekend in an effort to protect lives.

A Primary Care Hub has been established at Newbury Racecourse for people displaying symptoms of coronavirus but not needing immediate hospital treatment.
Neil deGrasse Tyson's "Cosmos: Possible Worlds" is as much a treatise of the pursuit of science itself as it is the wonderous achievements humans have reached in the realms of mathematics, physics and other scientific disciplines. Episode 9, "Magic Without Lies," explores the world of light  a concept Tyson notes has multiple meanings in scientific and cultural literature.

Tyson refers to light as "one of the greatest mysteries in the history of science," and one which would "unravel the fabric of the cosmos that we thought we knew." The story begins with the legendary Sir Isaac Newton, who contributed greatly to the study of light and color. Newton's homemade experiments  some of which involved inserting long needles into his own eyes  lead to major breakthroughs which would influence modern understanding of optical sciences. It was Newton who concluded that color is an aspect of light. "Newton's greatness stemmed from his questioning of the 'why' and 'how' of ordinary things," Tyson says of the brilliant physicist. These ordinary things, however, are about to get much more complicated.

Newton would go on to conclude and reason that light consisted of what he called "corpuscles," streams of particles that hit our retinas like bullets. Another visionary and familiar scientist, Christiaan Huygens  whose work we explored last week in Episode 8, "The Sacrifice of Cassini"  vigorously disagreed with Newton's findings; Hyugens saw light as a wave, much like sound.

Related: 'Cosmos: Possible Worlds' brings the search for E.T. down to Earth

Host Neil deGrasse Tyson kneels before a fire on the Ship of the Imagination. Much as our ancestors used fire without understanding how it worked, we have lived with the mystery of quantum physics for decades, while finding ways to exploit it. (Image credit: Cosmos Studios)

To settle the score, scientist Thomas Young  whose accomplishments included deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics and translating the ancient language, identifying a defect of the eye called astigmatism, and much more  designed the experiment meant to discover once and for all what light was made of. What he found "sent physics down the rabbit hole we still live in," Tyson says.

"There's a reason that arguments from authority hold little weight in science," Tyson says. "Nature, and nature only, settles the argument." Young had discovered something Newton had missed, and left a ticking time bomb would both astonish and disturb future researchers and scientists. He discovered light had an interference pattern, proving it behaved like a wave and not as a particle as Newton had postulated.

Physicist J.J. Thompson would later discover the existence of the electron by heating up an electrode until it spat the subatomic particles out, one by one. This discovery set scientists on a path to isolate ever shrinking units of light until they arrived at the single photon, performing Young's double slit experiment to track the path a photon took to understand the seemingly random pattern the photons generated. They found the waves from Young's interference pattern had disappeared, inexplicably; scientists had stumbled upon the quantum universe, where the mere act of observation influences the way particles behave.

Quantum physics found that both Hyugens and Newton were right and wrong; light is a wave, and a particle, and neither. Hugyens' probability theory would prove to be instrumental in how we understand quantum reality, which Tyson says represents an "undiscovered frontier," where particles "divorce from our everyday experience." To help illustrate this point, Tyson transports us to the world imagined by Edwin Abbott, called "Flatland," and extends Abbott's theory and applies it to our own three-dimensional reality.

"It's the rarest of events when a searcher happens on a hole in the curtain that hides the matrix," muses Tyson, reflecting on how hints of the existence of a quantum reality were present even when Charles Darwin found that time and the environment sculpted all living beings from the first living cell. Decades later, Albert Einstein would discover the quantum world which seemed to violate every rule of the natural world and the very rules of existence.

Related: 'God plays dice with the universe,' Einstein writes in letter about his qualms with quantum theory

Host Neil deGrasse Tyson walks the spiral stairway of time, while explaining the concept of the quantum clock: a clock one never has to wind that will only lose a single second in the next 15 billion years. (Image credit: Cosmos Studios)

Light, as it turns out, is governed by rules that we have yet to fully understand. "Is there any hope of rescuing our classical idea of reality in the quantum universe," ponders Tyson, before explaining that we don't need to understand quantum physics to exploit its power. Sometimes, science (an excellent exercise in humility, we're finding) forces us to accept certain levels of ambiguity with our research, and to withhold judgement.

"A Tale of Two Atoms"

There are some instances, however, where judgement in the practice of science is paramount, and ambiguity unacceptable. Episode 10, "A Tale of Two Atoms," recounts our history with military applications of nuclear chain reactions. The story begins with atoms, the building blocks of all matter, which Tyson sees as a fitting point of departure.

"When we seek the origin of atoms, we're searching for our own beginning," Tyson says, and this story is as much about life as it is about absolute death. Our beginning can be traced back to two atoms: a carbon atom and uranium atom.

Until the 19th century, scientists didn't know anything about the activity that went on inside atoms. It wasn't until physicist and chemist Marie Curie and her husband acquired uranium ore from what is now the Czech Republic that the scientific community would have any inkling of the secrets held within atoms. Curie and her husband, Pierre, spent years distilling and purifying the ore into pitchblende, which was 50-80% uranium. "We lived in our single occupation, as in a dream," Curie wrote of the lengthy and arduous process; it took nearly three years to process a tenth of a gram into what she called radium.

The Curies would find the material would not react to extreme temperatures and would randomly emit energy millions of times more potent than chemical energy, suggesting radioactivity. The way these "earthly stars," as Curie called them, glowed was evidence of a process occurring Inside the nuclei of radioactive atoms, proving the existence of particles even smaller than atoms. The darker implications of these findings, akin to the devastation seen in H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine," would coin the phrase "atomic bomb," would soon be known to the world.

Marie and Pierre Curie sit in their lab at night, admiring samples of their "Earthly stars"  radium spontaneously emitting energy, a new phenomenon Marie Curie would name "radioactivity." (Image credit: Cosmos Studios)

Leo Szilard, a Hungarian physicist, envisioned the concept of a nuclear chain reaction leading to a devastating nuclear reaction while waiting for a green light at a traffic stop. "This was the moment our world changed," Tyson said.

"It was just the latest development on a continuum of violence that began long, long before," he continues, before delving into the slow shift in mindset that occurred in early humans causing our "kill radius" to expand as communication became easier and faster and as technology swiftly advanced. Together, an increase in "kill range" and "kill ratio" changed the landscape of war. This leads us to the present day, where speed and technology have made the kill radius large enough to take out an entire civilization.

"It's hard to pinpoint the precise moment when the first nuclear war began; some might trace it all the way back to that arrow sailing over the treetops. Others might say it started much later, with three messages," Tyson says, referring to letters written by scientists who would inform their leaders "that a huge increase in kill ratio was possible." Scientists Paul Harteck, Edward Teller, Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard, Gregory Flerov, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Joseph Rotblat were at the forefront of the investigation into harnessing atomic nuclei for use in modern warfare.

Albert Einstein is persuaded by Leo Szilard to sign a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt alerting him to the potential weaponizing of our scientific understanding of physics. (Image credit: Cosmos Studios)

Among these, Rotblat's story is highlighted by Tyson: "If Edward Teller had a polar opposite in this scientific community, it would have been Joseph Rotblat." Scientists cited the building of nuclear weapons as a deterrent to other countries using them, and this was the driving rationale behind the Manhattan Project, the U.S. government's efforts to research, build and use an atomic bomb during World War II.

The Manhattan Project would continue long after the possibility of Hitler acquiring such weapons waned and Germany had surrendered. Only one scientist resigned from the Manhattan Project at this point: Joseph Rotblat. Denying moral superiority, he embarked on a quest to find his long-lost wife in Warsaw, only to discover that she had been killed in the Holocaust.

Today, the specter of nuclear war haunts us still. "How can we sleep so soundly in the shadow of a smoking volcano," Tyson asks solemnly, standing in front of the modest Trinity Site monument in New Mexico, where the first test detonation of a nuclear bomb took place. The small stature of the monument contrasts starkly with Tyson's words and the site's historical significance and the implications of what occurred there.

Tyson ends the episode with a warning, telling us the harrowing story of the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelee, a volcano on the Caribbean island of Martinique, whose pyroclastic flow consumed the town of Saint-Pierre in just minutes, killing approximately 30,000 people. This explosion, Tyson says, was the equivalent of just one nuclear warhead. We have "devised a means to tap cosmic fire, hidden at the heart of matter," Tyson says, adding that the ability to make nuclear weapons is knowledge we cannot unlearn.

The uranium and carbon atoms which were present at the origin of life on our planet have interwoven life and destruction into our genetic code. Ionizing radiation is destructive to living things and is what makes atomic weapons so much more dangerous than conventional ones. At high levels of ionizing radiation, exposure to lethal levels of radiation causes cells to become cancerous and genes to mutate, damage that is passed on, "vandalizing our future," as Tyson puts it. Perhaps a revolution in our thinking is what must follow the dawn of the atomic age, Tyson says. "Remember your humanity, and forget the rest."

"Cosmos" airs on the National Geographic channel on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT and will be reprised on the Fox television network this summer.

Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
But in the months before the virus hit, shed fallen behind schedule. She had taken to showing up to Wakefield at 5:30 a.m., fueled by a large iced tea from Best Buns, to squeeze in extra work before school. Still, when the schools closed, she had only completed the introduction and the first two chapters. She had at least 16 chapters to go.
San Francisco Animal Care and Control will begin offering care kits to residents who find stray kittens as kitten birthing season heats up, the shelter said Friday.

While Animal Care and Control is closed during the city's shelter-in-place order due to the novel coronavirus, it will still offer limited services, including the kitten care kits to residents starting Saturday.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  This year couldve been Ruben Enajes 34th time to be crucified on Holy Friday.

But the enhanced community quarantine imposed in Luzon to contain the spread of the coronavirus prevented him from performing his vow.

Ang nararamdaman ko ngayon dahil sa tinagal-tagal nang tradisyon na ito halos 50 taon na... Nakakapanghina ng loob. First time ganito ang nangyari, Enaje said.

Enaje in 2018

He still ended up visiting the usual spot in Barangay San Pedro Cutud where he is nailed to a wooden cross  a tradition that draws thousands of local and foreign tourists in Pampanga every Good Friday.

Enaje started playing the part of the crucified Christ in 1986, a year after he survived an accident when he fell from a building while on a painting job.

Ang panata ko ngayon kahit hindi ako makapagpako. [Para] sa buong mundo. Itong pandemic na to sana mawala na. Yan ang hinihiling ko sa Panginoon.

Finding Christ

The coronavirus forced the cancelation of traditional Lenten activities.

For Raine Eguico, its all a matter of perspective.

Yes, we don't get to go out, attend Holy Masses in our parishes, or do Visita Iglesia anymore, but if each person's believing heart continues to seek the Lord, nothing can stop him or her in making ways to still connect with Him especially in this time of pandemic. All the resources are out there in social media, she said.

She couldnt help but think of ways to go back to her "inner room" and meet Jesus there.

Because I have a lot of time to be silent these days, I grab the chance to reflect on the recent events of my life and the situation of the world today, attend online Masses, listen to online recollections and teachings, and participate in online Lenten activities.

Nico Arguelles would have wanted to observe Good Friday in a fellowship with other believers.

It's our joy and duty to remember what Christ has done for us during this day. Our current situation allows only online gatherings which are suboptimal and truly unfortunate, Arguelles said.

Carl Daniel Patambang, a high school student, said this years observance of Holy Week has become more significant than ever.

Even though the events under the holy week are cancelled, hindi 'yun naging rason to lose faith, kundi, 'yunpa 'yung naging rason to strengthen it, Patambang said.

Becoming more spiritual

Eguico said the current health crisis drove her to be more spiritual.

It is reminding me how short life truly is and challenging me to reflect on the way I have lived my life so far.

For Arguelles, the pandemic confronted him with events that he couldnt control.

Which brings me to a deeper understanding of my need for the God who is sovereign above all. Only He can grant true peace during this time.

Patambang said he cant do things what frontliners are doing, all he could do is pray for the safety of everyone  and for the crisis to end.
With 21 more persons testing



positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra, most of them in Pune and Mumbai, the number of COVID-19 patients went up to 1,385 on Friday, the state health department said.

As per the latest update provided by the health department,Pune reported nine 9 new cases followed by Akola (4), Buldhana (2) andRatnagiri (1).

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said five new coronavirus positive patients were found in Dharavi, a sprawling slum colony in the metropolis.

With 1,385 cases till now, Maharashtra leads among states in the COVID-19 patient count.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With an election date fast approaching on May 5, Midland area residents should know there will not be a local ballot to vote on, as any proposals that were slated for the election have been withdrawn due to concerns about social distancing and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Midland City Clerk Erica Armstrong said Precinct 1-6 was going to have a Bay County issue on their ballot, however, it was moved until August.

In addition, Midland Countys superintendents decided to withdraw their proposals that would have been on the ballot, said Midland County Clerk Ann Manary. The ballot proposals included a $23.6 million bond proposal and a one-mill sinking fund proposal from Freeland Community Schools; a $15 million bond proposal from Breckenridge Community Schools; and a bond proposal from Merrill Community Schools.

Gladwin County also does not have any elections this May.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addressed election concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic, handing down an executive order on March 27 that eased up on procedures for absentee voting, making it easier to vote without going to a public polling place. The executive order also urged jurisdictions to move election proposals to August.

"Numerous school districts, counties, and other local governments have scheduled elections on May 5, 2020, with in-person voting at polling locations," the order stated. "At this time, conducting an in-person election would force voters and poll workers to be exposed to an unacceptably high risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19."

So, while there wont be a local election, City of Midland residents can still take action now and sign up to automatically receive absentee ballot applications for each election going forward.

We had a large number of people requesting absentee ballots in the last two weeks before the March election, when it is difficult to conduct the process quick enough through the mail, Armstrong said. We want to avoid that in the future and have people join the list to receive their applications eight weeks before an election.

She said that will allow plenty of time to mail out ballots to voters and receive them back ahead of each election, in addition to being a convenient method to cast a ballot for Midland voters.

Voters can sign up to be put on the list by visiting www.cityofmidlandmi.gov/absentee and clicking on the Join the permanent absentee voter list button at the top of the page. The form takes less than two minutes to complete and requires only basic information such as name, address, and birth year to verify identity. One form should be completed for each registered voter wishing to join the permanent absentee voter list.

For more information on absentee ballots or voting information for voters living in the City of Midland, visit the Midland City Clerks Office online at www.cityofmidlandmi.gov/clerk.
Photo: Facebook Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada has received extra support from Rogers during the pandemic.

Rogers has stepped up its support for mentoring charity Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada (BBBS) and Women's Shelters Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regular contact between Big Brothers and Big Sisters with their mentees has been made nearly impossible due to physical distancing requirements.

Without devices or the internet at home, about one quarter of families in the program aren't able to keep their child connected to their mentor during this time.

Rogers has partnered with BBBS to donate Samsung smartphones and six months of free service to ensure the most vulnerable families who rely on the social connection can maintain this.

Partnering with Rogers to get phones and service to these kids gives them something to hold on to when everything else is uncertain. And for these kids, thats everything, says Gurpreet Lail, president and chief executive of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary.

This crisis also presents challenges for women living at home with an abusive partner, and the stress of isolation or financial difficulties can add to this.

To alleviate this, Rogers is partnering with Women's Shelters Canada to raise awareness of its services, including hosting awareness advertisements across national digital and social platforms and providing digital tools and support for individual shelters.

We are experiencing an increase in domestic violence right now as Canadians across the country are struggling to deal with the impact of COVID-19, says Lise Martin, executive director of Women's Shelters Canada. One of our urgent needs is to let women who are experiencing abuse know that you are not alone, it's not your fault, and there is someone you can reach out to, day or night. We are so thankful to Rogers for stepping up to help us get this message to women who may not know that shelters remain open and can offer safety planning through their 24/7 crisis lines.

Rogers chief executive officer and president Joe Natale says the company is doing what it can to help assist the most vulnerable.

"This public health crisis compels all of us to take special care of those who need our help more than ever before. We are pleased to help support the great work being done by Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada and Womens Shelters of Canada as they help ensure some of our most vulnerable community members are kept safe and connected."

If you are a woman living in an abusive home, or you know someone who is, you can call your local shelter's 24/7 crisis line for advice and support. Find your local shelter and its crisis line on www.sheltersafe.ca.
The Wisconsin vote was indeed insane. Wisconsin Republicans saw advantage in holding the vote. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers waffled for weeks, first supporting an election, then trying to stop it at the last minute, and desperately seeking to shove in new election rules without the benefit of legislation. This made a complete shambles of the law, and then conservatives on Wisconsin Supreme Court shot it down. And the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a federal court extension of time to cast absentee ballots.
Siriano is a fashion designer like no other, which makes him especially suited to lead during this moment of crisis. His skill is more a matter of temperament than anything else. He has happily embraced a form of mass-market fame that gives so many in the fashion industry the willies. He is comfortable being a celebrity in the eyes of regular folks rather than the insiders, the cool kids and the hipsters. There are other designers of his generation who are deemed more influential within the industry. Most of them are unknown beyond the earshot of the one percent. Siriano is part of popular culture and thats far more powerful than fashion alone.
Nairobi, April 9, 2020 In response to a Tanzanian courts conviction yesterday of Maxence Melo, founder of the online discussion and whistleblowing platform Jamii Forums, on charges of obstructing police investigations, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:

Tanzanias courts should never have entertained this case, let alone convicted Maxence Melo on charges that were transparently intended to muzzle critical voices on one of East Africas most vibrant online platforms, said CPJ Sub-Saharan Africa Representative Muthoki Mumo. Authorities should not contest Melos appeal, and should allow Jamii Forums, which is a vital source of news and accountability, to operate without interference.

The Dar es Salaam court sentenced Melo, a recipient of CPJs 2019 International Press Freedom Award, to pay a fine of three million Tanzanian shillings ($1,300) or face one year in prison, according to media reports and a statement by Melo posted on Jamii Forums. Melo paid the fine, but filed a notice of intent to appeal the case, according to court documents seen by CPJ.

The charge stemmed from Melos alleged refusal to disclose the identities of whistleblowers on the Jamii Forums platform, according to the statement.

This case, which has been characterized by repeated delays, is one of three obstruction allegations dating from 2016, when authorities raided Jamii Forums and arrested Melo, according to CPJ research.

In June 2018, Melo was acquitted in one of the other two cases; the third case is pending in court, according to Jamii Forums.
Listen

Audiobook

The Dutch House

By Ann Patchett, Read by Tom Hanks

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. Credit:

There are quiet kids, then there are the show-offs who love to read aloud in class. Tom Hanks, you suspect, was that boy down the front whose hand would shoot straight up whenever the teacher called for volunteers. You can hear the recently quarantined A-lister on Audible narrating Ann Patchetts monumental The Dutch House in ways laconic, nuanced and ever-so-slightly smug.

There are loads of celebrity narrators on Audible  Claire Danes, Reese Witherspoon, Ian McKellen  but it is Hanks, an actor associated with some of cinemas most iconic characters, who requires the biggest imaginative leap.

Never mind that theres a curious hokeyness to his aural take on The Dutch House, a historical epic about a brother and sister and the childhood Pennsylvania home from which they are banished. Or that his habit of rolling one sentence into the next without pause sometimes irks. Its more that the voice in your ear doesnt always seem to belong to Danny Conroy, the novels circumspect narrator.
The outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has changed social norms and the modus operandi for people all across the world. Some are finding hilarious ways to adjust to the new situation, and thanks to social media, we get to see how.

Actress turned producer Tara Sharma shared a video in which she explains how being stuck at home with her family for days has driven her to make use of her bathroom as her office space. In the video, we can see her locked up in the bathroom with her cell phone and laptop, to get a few moments of privacy and quiet time to get her work done. Her kids can be heard screaming from outside.

Tara posted the video and tweeted, "Some of my #loo work come #breaks haaha anyone relate?.. I love our #kids & #family more than anything of course but yep sometimes need these," and added the hashtags, '#HomeSchooling #StayHome #staypositive #StaySafe'

Many would relate to Tara for sure!

Tara is the host and co-producer of The Tara Sharma Show, where she discusses many topics ranging from family to women's issues with celebrity guests. She was last seen in the 2012 film 10ml Love.

ALSO READ: Akshay Kumar, Alia Bhatt And Others Thank Mumbai Police For Keeping People Safe During Lockdown

ALSO READ: Salman Khan's Eid Release Radhe May Get Delayed Due To Coronavirus Crisis
Armenian News- NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenian-related top news as of 10.04.2020:

 The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has reached 937 in Armenia, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported. As of Friday at 11 am, 16 new cases were recorded in Armenia.

Authorities have also reported two new deaths: the 72-year-old and 81-year-old patients have died. Both have other diseases.

Thus the total death toll in Armenia has reached 12, with 149 coronavirus patients recovered.

According to Armenian health minister Arsen Torosyan, they would offer the government to extend the emergency state in the country.

By the way, according to preliminary data, there are currently three Armenians in Ukraine who have tested positive for COVID-19.

 Artsakh has confirmed another 2 COVID-19 cases. Thus, the total number has reached five.

In addition to the nine citizens tested for coronavirus this morning, the samples of yet another four people have been sent for examination, and the results of the tests will be announced later, Artsakh Information Headquarters reported referring to the health ministry.

 Armenian MFA spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan has provided details about the return of the 35 Armenian students who are studying at various high schools in the US.

"As a result of the agreement reached between the MFAs of Georgia and Armenia and in close cooperation with the American Councils, the return of Armenian and Georgian students studying in various US public high schools under the FLEX program to Armenia and Georgia, respectively, was organized on April 9, she said.

 The process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict does not depend on the March 31 elections that were held there, said Russian MFA spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

According to her, the respective starting point for Russia is that the elections are necessary to ensure the normal functioning of the population.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Artsakh on March 31. And based on their results, it has been announced that a presidential runoff will take place on April 14.

. An Armenian woman and her two minor sons, who were taken hostage by her brother, were released as a result of a special operation in Russia. Russian media report that Hovsep M., 28, had come from Moscow to see his relatives in Pyatigorsk.

According to preliminary information, the man was suffering from a mental disorder and was registered at a psychiatric dispensary.

"The man, who barricaded himself in the apartment, demanded to transfer $200 million as charity aid to Armenia and insisted that the president phone him. In addition, he demanded a fighter jet," the Fifth Channel reports.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10)  Twenty nine-year-old doctor Joey Hernandez was catching his breath while speaking on an Instagram story on March 16.

He was trying to stay positive while suffering from a high fever, sore throat, labored breathing, and piercing headacheall symptoms of the new coronavirus infection.

Dahil nakaself-quarantine o home quarantine na ko for the next two weeks or so, baka pupunta na 'ko sa dark-side of being a Tiktok-er, he joked.

The symptoms

It started at lunchtime. He was suddenly feeling feverish. By nighttime, his body temperature rose to 40.5 degree Celsius.

Ang fever ko na nag reach ng 40.5 degree celsius. I also have sore throat. Sobrang laki ng tonsils ko. May pus, may nana. Also nakaranas ako ng mabilis at hirap na paghinga. Parang kapos na kapos sa hangin, the doctor described his symptoms in a video call interview.

He added: Sobrang sakit ng ulo ko, one-sided, tapos body weakness na yung tipong sobrang mahina and katawan ko.

Five days before this, Dr. Hernandez also experienced diarrhea. He wasnt sure if he had eaten something that upset his stomach, or if this was due to the virus.

Doctors initially thought its acute tonsillopharyngitis

Still with high fever the following day, security men from Barangay San Martin de Porres in Quezon City brought him to the hospital.

His samples were taken for COVID-19 testing. Doctors also prescribed him with co-amoxiclav, an antibiotic, to treat his sore throat. He was diagnosed with acute tonsillopharyngitis and rule out covid.

He felt better after four days. His symptoms were all gone.

Dr. Hernandez thought it was a simple tonsillitis until he got the result on March 30. He was Covid-19 patient PH 1264.

Nung nawala ang sintomas ko, kasi ako ay uminom at nakumpleto ko ang antibiotics, akala ko okay na ko. Tonsillitis lang, hindi covid. Kasi hindi pa lumalabs ang result ko, he said.

Apparently, nagco-exist pala si COVID at si tonsillitis.

'Treat yourself as if you are carrying the virus'

It took almost two weeks before he got the results. Although he was diagnosed with tonsillitis, Dr. Hernandez said he still treated himself as a COVID-19 patient while waiting for the results.

He isolated himself in his room, used different utensils from his relatives, wore mask when going to the common area in the house, and told everyone that he has had the symptoms of the virus for two weeks.

March 2 to 16 lahat ng ginawa ko, nakasaluha ko kinontact ko na. Kasi high risk ang wedding200 people, ang bride and groom kinontact ko na: eto nagpatest ako, pwede positive ako, stay alert sa aking sasbihin if may result na, he said.

Lagi ka dapat preparing for the worst. You treat still yourself as a COVID positive patient so you dont practice complacency. All measures, until proven otherwise na negative, ang mindest mo dapat positive. You still do what you have to do to not infect other people.

How he got the virus

After working as a doctor to the barrio for two years, Dr. Hernandez is currently working with the global health delivery and research organization Interactve Research and Development or IRD.

His job is office-based, which means he did not contract the virus from a confirmed or suspected case.

He thinks he got infected after going to crowded places.

Nagcocommute lang ako araw araw sa bus. Nakikipagsiksikan ako sa EDSA, sa grocery, siksikan sa grocery, Dr. Hernandez said.

Helping fight COVID-19

As of April 9, Dr. Hernandez is still awaiting for another test result to know if he is already Covid-free. He will donate blood as soon as he is declared recovered to help others fight the virus.

Dr. Edsel Salvana, an infectious disease expert and a COVID-19 frontliner from PGH explained that the recovered patients blood is rich in antibodies which could fight COVID-19. He added that this is an old method of treating patients, which works in a lot of diseases.

READ: PGH urges COVID-19 survivors to donate blood for recovery efforts

Dr. Hernandez is also helping local government fight the virus from home.

Along with the other health workers at the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians, he is conducting online lectures to help local officials in their incident command system, and prepare and set guidelines amid the pandemic. The organization is also helping barangays to set up their own isolation unit.
Dublin, April 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Data Center Market in Europe - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



COVID-19 is going to affect the data center market in Europe. A detailed analysis is included in the report.



The report considers the present scenario of the Europe data center market during the forecast period and its market dynamics for the forecast period 2020-2025. It covers a detailed overview of several market growth enablers, restraints, and trends. The report profiles and examines leading companies and several other prominent companies operating in the market.



The Europe data center market by investment is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 1% during the period 2019-2025.



The data center market in Europe has witnessed a significant boost due to the implementation of the general data protection regulations (GDPR) in May 2018. The adoption of GDPR has prompted several cloud service providers to establish data centers in Europe. AWS opened its cloud region in Sweden (2018). Microsoft opened its cloud region in Switzerland (2018), Germany (2019), and is planning to open a cloud region in Norway (2020).



Microsoft is also expanding its presence with the construction of data center buildings in the Netherlands. Apart from investing in data centers across the Netherland, Belgium, and Ireland, Google has announced to open a cloud region in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2020. Hence, the implementation of data protection and privacy policies in Europe is expected to contribute to the global data center market growth.



Another major factor driving the growth is increased investment by colocation service providers in the Europe colocation market. In Western Europe, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands continue to witness high investments, with Ireland's contribution likely to grow significantly in the next few years. In terms of colocation investments, Sweden dominates the market, followed by Norway. Therefore, the increased investment in the expansion and construction of data center projects across Europe is influencing the market.



The following factors are expected to contribute to the growth of the Europe data center market during the forecast period:

Story continues

Increase in Procurement of Renewable Energy

District Heating Concept to Gain Traction Across Europe

Increased use of Lithium-ion Batteries & Fuel Cells in Data Centers

5G Installation increasing Edge Data Centers Deployment

Increased Tax Incentives aiding Data Center Investments

Europe Data Center Market Segmentation



This research report includes a detailed segmentation by IT infrastructure, electrical infrastructure, mechanical infrastructure, general construction, tier standards, and geography.



The IT spend in Europe is growing significantly YOY with Western Europe and the Nordic region contributing to maximum share. The demand for servers is expected to grow during the forecast as service providers expand their presence globally. Cloud servers are likely to a popular choice among enterprises due to the growing demand for cloud platforms in the region. In terms of storage, enterprises have shown increased interest in the procurement of all-flash storage infrastructure. The adoption of NVMe flash storage in Germany is the highest in the region. In terms of networking, the region is mainly dominated by Ethernet switches, especially 25/40/100 switch ports. However, the adoption of 200/400 GbE ports will have a significant impact on data center interconnection solutions.



The growing adoption of cloud computing services in Nordic leads to an increased number of IT infrastructure components. Finland, Sweden, and Denmark are the leading contributors to cloud adoption with a minimum of 50% of enterprises opting for cloud computing services. The increased construction of facilities in the region is likely to be the major boost for the IT infrastructure segment and related sub-segments. Besides, the growing investment in data centers and the implementation of GDPR are fueling the growth of the server market over the past two years.



The European market has a strong potential for UPS systems due to the increasing greenfield construction, especially greater than 10 MW. The market is expected to witness high adoption of scalable UPS solutions. The UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Ireland are the major power infrastructure revenue contributors. Several facilities have adopted flexible designs to facilitate the installation of dual power feeds to the facility, 2N redundant UPS and PDU systems, and N+1 generator systems. The use of water-based cooling includes water-treatment plants and systems that can aid the consumption of water up to 20%. However, the major challenge in the region is the non-availability of skilled workforce to maintain data center infrastructure management. The hyperscale market growth is likely to fuel the procurement of 48V DC UPS systems. The facilities built in the Nordic region mostly procure >2 MW capacity generators. In Nordic, most facilities are powered through renewable energy sources with grid stability of over 95%, which reduces the procurement of redundant generator systems.



Several data centers in Western Europe support free cooling systems, which include adiabatic coolers, evaporative coolers, and free cooling chiller systems. The use of these systems will continue to grow among European countries because the region offers free cooling for a minimum of 5,000 hours per year. A few facilities also use chillers that facilitate cooling by using outside air and water-based cooling during summers. Most facilities in the Nordic region adopt free cooling techniques. The Nordic data center market facilitates free cooling for over 8,400 hours per year, and the use of free cooling systems will continue to add revenue during the forecast period. All Central and Eastern European countries support free cooling of over 6,000 hours annually. Many facilities have been equipped with in-direct evaporative/adiabatic coolers. A few facilities have also adopted water/glycol-based cooling systems along with highly efficient DX-based CRAC systems to cool facilities.



Western Europe is the most prominent data center construction market in Europe. Many facilities are designed and built to cover an area of over 100,000 square feet. The demand for data centers has increased revenue opportunities for multiple contractors and sub-contractors. Most enterprise data center operations include the procurement of modular infrastructure solutions from local service providers, thereby increasing the growth of the modular data center market. Jones Engineering, ISG, Red-Engineering, Kirby Group, and Mercury Engineering are key players providing construction services in the UK. In terms of physical security, several facilities are constructed with multi-level security. There is a growing demand for IP video surveillance systems in the market. Service providers are securing their facilities with 3-meter-high secure perimeter fencing with extensive CCTV control, vehicle lock to the site entrance, and biometric readers in data halls with 24/7-year on-site security. The growing hyperscale data center market will be a major boost to contractors and sub-contractors operating in the market. Most of these projects are built in collaboration with global data center construction contractors and sub-contractors.



Data center facilities are increasingly certified as Tier III by the Uptime Institute due to their high standard design and construction. Tie IV facilities are seen in Norway, the Netherland, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, which is contributing toward hyperscale investments. Tier IV data centers are equipped with at least 2N+1 redundancy in every infrastructure that makes the facility fault-tolerant, with some facilities having 2N+2 redundancy in few critical infrastructures such as UPS systems and PDUs. The contribution of hyperscale developers is aimed at making facilities that are fully fault-tolerant to provide customers with satisfaction while connecting with cloud-based services in the region.



Insights by Geography



TThe implementation of GDPR has been a strong driver for the growth of data center market in Western Europe. Hyperscale operators are involved in the rapid expansion of the cloud platform across Western Europe. The market will witness the continuous adoption of cloud services among SMEs, with the increased interest shown toward the digital transformation of businesses by adopting solutions such as IoT, big data, and artificial intelligence. The demand for smart devices, coupled with growing internet penetration, will fuel the growth of data centers and corresponding infrastructure in the region.



The market in Nordic is a matured market with hyperscale operators and cloud service providers as a major contributor in terms of investment. Denmark received the highest investment from hyperscale operator (Facebook) and colocation service providers such as Digiplex, GlobalConnect, and Interxion. The data center market is dominated by Russia & Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, and Serbia. Colocation service providers are major investors. The Central European government is accelerating the adoption of cloud services and moving toward e-governance. In the Central and Eastern Europe data center market, Poland is in the process of developing e-governance, which aims to bring government services and information together on a single platform. Central and East Europe is fast emerging as a center of gaming developers and software development houses, with several companies emerging as the fastest-growing ones in the region.



Key Vendor Analysis



By IT infrastructure, the adoption of ODM-based infrastructure solutions is gaining traction among enterprise operators in the European region. The deployment of OCP-ready data centers by colocation operators has aided in this growth. In terms of electrical infrastructure, Eaton, Schneider Electric, Legrand, Vertiv, ABB, and Socomec have a strong presence in the market.



Prominent Data Center Critical (IT) Infrastructure Providers

Arista

Atos

Broadcom

Cisco

Dell Technologies

Extreme Networks

Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE)

Hitachi Vantara

Huawei

IBM

Inspur Group

Inventec

Juniper

Lenovo

NEC

NetApp

Oracle

Pure Storage

Quanta Cloud Technology

Super Micro Computer

Wistron (Wiwynn)

Prominent Data Center Investors

3data

Apple

Aruba S.P.A

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Bahnhof

Bulk Infrastructure

Colt Data Centre Services (CCS)

CyrusOne

Digiplex

Digital Realty

Equinix

Facebook

Global Switch

Google

Interxion

Microsoft

Multigrid

NDC Data Centers

NTT Communications

Scaleway Data Center

STT GDC

Prominent Construction Services Providers

AECOM

Arup Group

Bouygues

Cap Ingelec

DPR Construction

Etix Everywhere

Flex Enclosure

Future-tech

ISG

Jones Engineering

Kirby Group Engineering

KMCS

Linesight

LUPP Group

Mace Group

Mercury Engineering

M+W Group

NCC

Red Engineering

Skanska

SISK Group

Structure Tone

Winthrop

Prominent Infrastructure Providers

ABB

Airedale Air Conditioning

Alfa Laval

Asetek

Bosch Security Systems

Caterpillar

Cummins

Delta Group

Eaton

KINOLT (Euro-Diesel)

Hitech Power Protection

KOHLER (SDMO)

Legrand

Nlyte Software

Piller Power Systems

Riello UPS

Rittal

MTU On Site Energy (Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG)

Schneider Electric

Socomec Group

STULZ

Trane (Ingersoll Rand)

Vertiv

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/eh6b71

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
PHILIPSBURG:--- As per the Kingdom Council outcomes of Thursday, April 9th, it is very clear that country St. Maarten needs to take its first steps out of the crisis before help from the Netherlands will be forthcoming. Meaning, that Solidarity in tightening our belts needs to first happen at home; and budget cuts across the Board are expected.

Those actions, together with a timely and qualitative follow-up proposal to save jobs will likely not be available until the May timeframe, but it is the only way forward to (continue to) obtain support and save jobs and livelihoods of St. Maarteners. SHTA agrees with the conviction of Knops that if help is to be for everybody, so should the burden. SHTA hopes for national solidarity and asks government to swiftly take their share of the burden.

Given the setup of the Kingdom, at this point, there is no other way to apply for financial aid than to comply with the demands of the Netherlands. Amongst the clear message of Staatssecretaris Knops was the high payments to Parliamentarians, Ministers and Senior Civil Servants as well as Directors of publicly owned companies, which are amongst the highest in the Kingdom is intolerable, that people go hungry and that others get paid such high salaries for relatively small islands.

SHTA repeats its offer to the public sector to share expertise and advice to comply to the demands coming from Holland. It recommends making use of the social partners insights and experience in dealing with economy and labor matters by existing councils like the Socio-Economic Council and Tripartite Committee.

Contrary to Aruba and Curacao, neither political parties, the media nor civil society organizations have at this point received insight into the details of the official proposal for COVID 19 relief; the released proposal is not yet funded, and has no clear timeline, the SHTA alerts businesses, to take necessary measures to survive in light that any support may still be far out.
Canada's health officials said the two most likely scenarios showed between 11,000 and 22,000 people would die. The total number of positive diagnoses of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, ranged from 934,000 to 1.9 million.

Ottawa: Canadas coronavirus death toll is set to soar from the current 461 to as high as 22,000 by the end of the pandemic, health officials said on Thursday, while the economy lost a record 1 million jobs last month.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added to the somber tone by saying the country would not return to normal until a vaccine had been developed, which could be as long as 18 months.

Health officials said the two most likely scenarios showed between 11,000 and 22,000 people would die. The total number of positive diagnoses of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, ranged from 934,000 to 1.9 million.

The officials said they expected between 500 and 700 people in Canada to die from the coronavirus by 16 April. There have been 19,774 positive diagnoses so far.

Chief public health officer Theresa Tam said it was crucial that people continued to obey instructions to stay at home as much as possible.

While some of the numbers released today may seem stark, Canadas modeling demonstrates that the country still has an opportunity to control the epidemic, she told a briefing.

We cannot prevent every death but we must prevent all the deaths that we can.

Howard Njoo, Tams deputy, said if all went well, the first wave of the outbreak could end by July or August. But he emphasized there would be subsequent smaller secondary waves.

Local governments across Canada have ordered non-essential businesses shut to combat the spread of the coronavirus, throwing millions out of work.

Canada lost a record-breaking one million jobs in March while the unemployment rate soared to 7.8 percent, Statistics Canada said, adding that the figures did not reflect the real toll.

Sticker shock for sure. This was about as bad as it could be, said Derek Holt, vice president of capital markets economics at Scotiabank.

More than five million Canadians have applied for all forms of federal emergency unemployment help since 15 March, government data showed, suggesting the real jobless rate is closer to 25 percent.

Trudeau told reporters the country was at a fork in the road between the best and the worse possible outcomes, predicting that once the first wave was over, the economy could partially be reopened.

Normality, as it was before, will not come back full-on until we get a vaccine for this and ... that could be a very long way off, he added, saying it could take 18 months.

The Liberal government has so far announced a range of measures to help businesses totaling around $78.3 billion in direct spending, or five percent of gross domestic product.

Canadas independent parliamentary budget officer predicted the budget deficit would balloon to C$184.2 billion in the 2020-2021 fiscal year from C$27.4 billion in the 20192020 fiscal year.
A jetliner making an approach to LAX is silhouetted in front of the moon. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

When can we travel again?

Maybe a summer road trip. Maybe Europe in fall. Maybe 2021.

Ask an expert when Americans are going to start hitting the road and flying freely again, and you'll get a spectrum of answers. The optimists lean toward summer. Others think it will be longer.

You also hear a lot of theories about how the recovery will happen  road trips first, flights later  and how this pandemic may change the world of travel in the long term  lost little shops, high-priority hygiene.

But nobody really knows, because the virus is in charge.

Here, as the U.S. and Europe face some of the pandemic's darkest days so far, is what some industry leaders  and one doctor  say you can expect.





What's in the cards for summer?

L.A.'s stay at home order has been extended until May 15, and other states have extended theirs through mid-June.

Air Canada said Tuesday it would stop flying to the U.S. on April 27, with flights to resume no earlier than May 22.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has said that its difficult to imagine us getting together in the thousands any time soon and said it was unlikely the city would allow any large events in 2020.

Organizers of the annual Burning Man festival in northern Nevada have canceled the gathering, which was set for Aug. 30-Sept. 7, in favor of a virtual event.

Meanwhile in Germany, organizers of Munich's Oktoberfest (Sept. 19-Oct. 4) have canceled the event.

Still, a more or less normal summer of travel can be in the cards, and I say that with some caution, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said April 9 on "CBS This Morning.

Fauci said summer activities depended on continued success in flattening the virus rate of transmission  and could change rapidly in the event of a spike in infections.

A recent Harris Poll asked Americans how long after the curve flattens they would go to a hotel: One fifth of Americans (21%) say they will stay in a hotel within a month," with the figure rising to 41% within three months and 60% within six months.

Story continues

For airlines, the tipping point for most Americans to return to flying comes after four to six months. And more than half said theyd wait a year or more before going on a cruise, according to the poll.

Roger Dow, chief executive of the U.S. Travel Assn., thinks travel will rebound, just not as quickly and not all at once.

One thing for sure, Dow said, Americans generally are going to stay home until next year.  Europe is done for American travelers.

The most important thing as an industry is that we have to be ready for when that moment comes.

Whenever that may be, there is the matter of gearing up, hotels reopening and flights being added back to a schedule that saw a drop of nearly 60% from Jan. 6 to April 6, according to OAG, which analyzes airline data.

The U.S. was slightly better than average; flights declined 45.2% in that time period, but Germany, Spain, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom were down 90% or more.

The rebound will not occur as quickly as the collapse, but as it does, OAG analysts said, domestic will come back first. But dont get that bag packed just yet; OAG analysts think the beginning of the recovery will occur in two to three months.





Wait until '21? Rick Steves doesn't want to, but ...

Rick Steves, who publishes travel guides, makes PBS travelogues and operates Rick Steves Europe tours from an office in Edmonds, Wash., has canceled all tours with start dates through June 14. When we spoke, he was on the brink of canceling more, including one with special meaning for him.

To celebrate his daughter's marriage, Steves arranged a 20-day grand tour of Europe that included about two dozen family members taking up a tour bus. They were going to start June 16 in Amsterdam.

Ive yet to cancel that, but Im on the verge, Steves said.

In fact, Im psychologically prepared to have no tours this year, said Steves. Thats the thing about this crisis: We just dont know.  Ill be grateful for anything we can salvage out of 2020.

When restrictions do ease, he said, I think the first thing that will come back is regional travel: going to the city thats three hours away by car. What you dont want to do is fly somewhere and find yourself in a situation where youre going to be quarantined.

Yosemite National Park is a classic regional travel destination for Californians. This is the Swinging Bridge area near Yosemite Falls in Yosemite Valley. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

When international travel does pick up again, I know were going to find an eager and welcoming Europe, said Steves, whose business withstood Sept. 11, 2001, and the recession of 2008. When something stops travel and people start coming back, its a beautiful moment for all involved. ... But Im not going to jump the gun. I just dont have the heart for that after what weve gone through this spring. Im going to be patient.

Steves fears that many small businesses, especially restaurants and little museums that operate on a shoestring, will never reopen. Those mom-and-pop enterprises, he said, are one of the most rewarding things about travel, whether you're an American abroad or a foreigner in the U.S.

Ross Castle, Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A driving trip to a small hotel in July?

Alan X. Reay, president of the Irvine hotel brokerage firm Atlas Hospitality, expects the recovery to start with short summer trips to small hotels.

If progress against the pandemic continues as some have forecast, Reay said, hes guessing that leisure travelers will begin venturing out sometime in July. The [hotel] properties that will recover the fastest are those that are located in drive-to markets. ... Youre going to have people reluctant to travel by plane.

In Southern California, Reay said, that will mean trips to Laguna Beach, Santa Barbara, Cambria, Morro Bay, anything up and down State Route 1 on the coast.

The hotels that recover the fastest, Reay said, are going to be the smaller hotels. Especially in the beach and coastal areas. The ones that are going to take the longest are the large meeting and resort hotels. ... I think people will initially avoid these larger 200-300-room hotels.

If theres no recurrence of the coronavirus in fall or winter, Reay said he would expect a steady increase of leisure travel through 2021, as more vacationers and business people take to the air.

Meanwhile, I bet these companies that rent out RVs and sleeper vans will do a fantastic business this summer, Reay said.

Two lasting changes Reay expects: Hotels will look to more robotic kinds of cleaning, and travelers are going to be very, very mindful of how close they get to other people.





If your trip is about family, you might go sooner

Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, advisor to Airbnb and founder of the Modern Elder Academy, thinks there will be a rolling process for when travel starts again based upon the intent and profile of the traveler. "

"Some kinds of experiences  weddings, family reunions, transformational travel  may snap back faster because it's the promise of happiness and connection with people you know or will get to know deeply.

Sometimes, it takes a crisis for people to recognize that they want to change their path, he said.

As the recovery advances, Conley said, many travelers will head first to extended-stay hotels with kitchenettes (because of extended visits to family or pandemic-related recovery projects). Hes expecting a gradual resurgence of close-to-home visits on the periphery of major metro areas, followed by summer leisure travel in nature, road-warrior business travelers, small conferences/meetings, international travel, major conventions, cruise vacations, in that order.

Before Americans hit the road, the Chinese probably will

William Heinecke, chairman of Minor Corp., which has more than 500 hotels in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and beyond, hopes to reopen some hotels in June. Like others here, he expects domestic travel to pick up before international travel does.

And he expects the Chinese to begin traveling first. Remember, he said, they havent been traveling since before Chinese New Year.

Heinecke, a Thai citizen, is quarantining in Phuket, which he says looks better than ever  fewer people, less trash, more wildlife.

Youve never seen beaches and water rejuvenate like this. Theres no junk, theres no yachts around. He called it a period of reset for all of our natural beauties here."

One old travel practice that may return, Heinecke suggested, is the health card, a record of a traveler's past immunizations. Once upon a time, Heinecke said, "you could not travel without a shot record." If a COVID-19 vaccine is developed and used worldwide, Heinecke said, we might see a return to that travel practice.





Is this the year of the car?

Still, travel is in our DNA, Clayton Reid, chief executive of travel industry analyst MMGY Global, wrote in a March 27 report about the future of travel after the crisis.

Reid predicted Americans would return to travel by taking shorter, closer-to-home trips. Road trips have been on the rise for five straight years, and 2020 could well become the year of the car. Those early travelers probably will head to outdoor destinations, such as campgrounds and mountain resort towns.

Sunset Cliffs, Point Loma, in San Diego, a common California road trip destination. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Rafting in July?

Karen Johnson, sales manager for Utah-based Holiday River Expeditions, feels the same way. Early season trips have been canceled. She looks to late June and early July for her companys rafting trips to resume, especially on the Colorado and Green rivers in Utah, which are good rivers for late season runs.

In particular folks within driveable distances are still looking for ways to get out on an adventure, she said in an email. A common theme I am hearing from people is that their other plans, be it a cruise or trip overseas, have been canceled, and they are looking domestically for something to do.

Given the domestic outlook, airlines will try to woo travelers out of their cars with low-fare strategies, MMGYs report said.





When will cruises return? Not anytime soon

Cruising took a big hit after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on March 14 issued a no-go order for cruise ships sailing from in U.S. ports after several reported COVID-19 outbreaks on board. On April 9, the CDC extended its no-sail ban, and did not cite a firm date for a return to sailing.

Cruise lines had been offering refunds and credits for future trips, but now those future dates are up in the air. The CDC announcement said it was working with cruise lines to adopt new public health protocols related to preventing the spread of COVID-19. Also, it appears cruise lines won't be sailing until after the pandemic lifts or the CDC revises the ban, according to the order.

Also, Canadian ports, whose cities are key West Coast stops for U.S. cruises to Alaska, are closed through June 30.

Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Norwegian Cruise Line have canceled all sailings through June 30.

Cunard has canceled all cruises on Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria through July 31. Also, the Queen Elizabeth's "entire Alaska season and all departures up to and including Sept. 8" have been canceled, a statement said.

Disney Cruise Line has temporarily halted sailing through May 17 and trips on the Disney Magic Sailings through June 7. Also sailings to and from Vancouver, Canada, are halted through the end of June, according to its website.

Royal Caribbean hopes to resume operations June 12 "for the majority of our fleet," the company's website says. Celebrity Cruises also plans to be back in the water in mid-June.

Calle Aldama, in the historic center of Mexico's San Miguel de Allende. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

What about luxury and Europe?

Becky Powell, president of Protravel International, which has more than 1,000 travel agents in the U.S. and Britain, acknowledges the allure of close-to-home destinations.

I think people are going to need their luxury resort fix before they are ready to board a plane, she said in an email. On the West Coast, we think properties like Montage Laguna Beach, Pelican Hill Resort, Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, and the Biltmore in Santa Barbara will be some of the first properties to see a strong and early comeback.

She also is seeing some people making reservations for luxury stays in Hawaii, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Tahiti, and some Caribbean sites.

Mark Anderson of Adventure Vacations in La Jolla specializes in trips to Paris. He thinks European travel may rebound before the end of 2020.

Fall would be my best bet, he said in an email. Could be as early as August, as the entire continent of Europe has the month [off], and nothing will stop them from heading to the beach.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, crisis, Anderson offered trips to Paris for a bargain price of $399, including air, hotel and breakfast. They sold well for months.

That taught me a number of lessons, among them that in the hierarchy of human needs, along with food, shelter, etc., that people need to travel, Anderson said.
Trump using coronavirus to score political points: WHO

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 5:33 AM

The World Health Organization has hit back at the US president over his handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying Donald Trump is politicizing the virus.

The WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the remarks after Trump scrutinized the UN body's initial response to the contagion, and threatened to pull US funding for the organization.

"Please don't politicize this virus. It exploits the differences you have at the national level. If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you do it. If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it. My short message is: Please quarantine politicizing Covid. The unity of your country will be very important to defeat this dangerous virus," Tedros said at a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

Tedros called for unity and a halt to "politicization" of the global health crisis, urging the United States to show "honest leadership".

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also said it was not the time to criticize the early response to the outbreak.

"Now is the time for unity, for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences," Guterres said in a statement.

Trump, whose own response to the corona crisis has been widely criticized, claimed the WHO had downplayed the coronavirus, and threatened to freeze the organization funding, only to later backtrack from the threat.

The US president accused the WHO of favoring China, while taking US money.

"I can't believe he (Tedros) is talking about politics when you look at the relationship they have to China. So China spends 42 million, we spent 450 million and everything seems to be China's way. That's not right, it's not fair to us and honestly it's not fair to the world," Trump said.

The WHO chief rejected Trump's suggestion that the UN body was "China-centric", saying: "We are close to every nation, we are color-blind."

Tedros urged the United States to join with China in combating the pandemic rather than indulging in a blame game.

"The United States and China should come together and fight this dangerous enemy. The focus of all political parties should be to save their people," he said.

"If you don't want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it. It's like playing with fire," Tedros added.

Tedros noted that Thursday would mark 100 days since China first notified the organization of cases of "pneumonia with unknown cause" on December 31.

The coronavirus has killed more than 80,000 people worldwide, while more than 1.4 million people have tested positive.

The United States recorded nearly 2,000 novel coronavirus deaths for a second day in a row as of 8:30 pm Wednesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The figure brought the total number of US coronavirus fatalities to 14,800, with 432,000 people infected.

More than half of Americans now say that President Donald Trump's government has done a poor job on preventing the spread of coronavirus, a CNN/ SSRS poll said.

55% of Americans Trump could be doing more to contain the contagion as the US health care system straining from the growing number of coronavirus cases

69% say the US government ought to be doing more to address the shortage of personal protective equipment and medical devices used in the treatment of coronavirus.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The popular hotpot chain Haidilao has reopened its doors, but customers have been surprised by the rise in prices. The company now finds itself the subject of a debate about whether price hikes are the best way to break out of the survival crisis triggered by the COVID-19 epidemic.



On Jan. 26, Haidilao closed its 600 restaurants nationwide and started to reopen them on March 12. Customers have since returned, but have been put off by the prices.

The price hike generated online controversy, with many internet users stating that they would stop eating at the restaurant if it raised its prices.

Following customer complaints, a representative of Haidilao told the media that the price hike would be limited to within 6% of pre-epidemic prices. "We will keep the price raise range at no more than 6%. Individual outlets can decide on their own how much they raise the prices according to their local situation," he said.

Even though restaurants have reopened, the authorities have maintained strict limits on the number of people restaurants can seat at any given time. Haidilao has countered this by offering a 15% to 31% discount for customers choosing to order online.

China Securities Co. estimates that COVID-19 will result in a 5.04 billion yuan ($716 million) loss for Haidilao.

Haidilao is not the only chain to hike its price. Xibei, a leading noodle restaurant chain, also raised the prices of its dishes.

China's catering industry suffered heavy losses due to nearly all restaurants shutting down during the epidemic - a period that is normally the most profitable season of the year: China's Spring Festival. Evergrande Research Institute estimated the Chinese catering industry would have lost 500 billion yuan in retail sales during the holiday.

Many restaurants prepared large food stocks for Spring Festival, but later had to put the stocks out for sale at low prices. At the same time, more and more restaurants launched take-away services, and waiters were assigned to do logistics and delivery work.

"Almost all of our 400 stores were closed due to the epidemic, and we estimated the monthly losses around the Spring Festival would be at around 700 million to 800 million yuan," said Jia Guolong, chairman and founder of Xibei.

According to statistics from China's National Bureau of Statistics on March 16, catering sales plunged by 43.1% during the first two months of the year.

A report released by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), found that since March 1, 2020, 5% of sampled companies have no cash to support their operations; 79% cannot continue for another 3 months; and only 16% have cash reserves that can sustain them for more than 6 months.

It seems the price hike reflects the grim prospect for restaurants in near future. But it may not be the only way.

Just as Haidilao announced the price increase, McDonald's launched a Monday half-price package for members. On April 6, so many customers flocked to grab the deal that they crashed its app.

Jiang Zezhong, a professor at the Capital University of Economics and Business, said: "On the basis of rising costs such as raw materials, companies can increase prices appropriately, and should even maintain the original prices to gain consumer recognition and increase market size." He believed that with the work and production resumption of the enterprises, market consumption will rebound, and the intensity would be very strong. "This is a good time for a company to increase brand awareness and customer loyalty. Price adjustment will obviously damage consumer enthusiasm and brand recognition."

Mo Yuanming, a researcher at Chongqing Technology and Business University, believed that price increases are a double-edged sword. "The advantage lies in digesting costs through price increases, which can quickly overcome difficulties, and restore normal business order. The disadvantages are that, affected by the epidemic, citizens' consumption power declines, so price hikes may lead citizens to hold onto their wallets and eat out less, which will exacerbate the problems of the catering industry," he said.

Mo suggested that the price hikes in the catering industry must fully weigh the interests of itself, the market and consumers. He also pointed out that the government's policy regulation and guidance will play a role in boosting consumer confidence and help the catering industry to overcome difficulties.

Haidilao has already been a beneficiary of aid from financial sector. In February, China CITIC Bank Beijing branch and Baixin Bank provided 2.1 billion yuan in credit funds for Haidilao.
(Support Free Thought) -

Over the past year, Carmodys case received much deserved attention and and the police department came under heavy scrutiny. After the raid, Carmody filed a lawsuit to go after the tyrants who did this to him. This month, the city of San Francisco announced they will be paying $369,000 to settle claims over its police raid on Carmodys house last May.

On March 31, the Board of Supervisors on unanimously approved the payout to Bryan Carmody, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

This was a shame to the city and county of San Francisco, and I am delighted that we are settling this case, Supervisor Aaron Peskin said. And I hope that we never in this town, ever again, suppress the rights of the free press.

As the Society for Professional Journalists points out, Californias Shield Law protects journalists from being held in contempt for refusing to disclose their sources identities and other unpublished/unaired information obtained during the news gathering process (California Constitution, Article I,  2(b); California Evidence Code  1070(a)). California Penal Code section 1524(g) provides that no warrant shall issue for any item protected by the Shield Law.

Despite this protection under the law, police still raided Carmodys home.

According to a report from NPR at the time:

The raids on Carmodys home and office are the latest in a series of events concerning the death of San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi in February, at age 59. Within hours of Adachis collapsing in a San Franscisco apartment, details from a leaked police investigation into his death were already showing up in news reports, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A number of the details in the police report were salacious, suggesting that perhaps one or more members of the police department were trying to tarnish the reputation of Adachi, who was known as a police watchdog and fierce advocate for criminal justice reform. In San Francisco, a public defender is an elected position.

After Carmody sold the report to several outlets, it showed up everywhere and this likely infuriated the police department.

There were leaks happening all over the place, Carmody recalled to the Los Angeles Times.

Due to the nature of the report painting police in a negative light and hurting their image, the raid couldve been retaliatory in nature. Indeed, since it was in direct violation of California law, it appears as such.

After the raid was investigated, the five warrants that authorized the searches were deemed illegal and quashed last summer by the same five judges who initially approved them.

Unsealed warrant applications show police did not inform judges that Carmody had a valid press pass issued by the San Francisco Police Department, reported Courthouse News.

The city egregiously overstepped its bounds, and the search warrants served on Bryan were unlawful, David Snyder, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition said. They were in violation of Californias journalist shield law so Im happy to see that Bryan is going to get some compensation for that.

As TFTP reported at the time, according to Carmody, before the raid, two cops came to his home to demand he tell them the source of his report. However, knowing full well that he did not have to, Carmody politely refused. Two weeks later, a SWAT team of cops showed up.

Carmody recalls the officers showing up to his home, who began smashing in his door with a sledge hammer and a battering ram, without knocking. To avoid having the front of his home demolished by the raid, Carmody opened the door.

This is a screen grab from my surveillance system. pic.twitter.com/qEHc0lpzs4  Bryan C. Carmody (@bryanccarmody) May 11, 2019

I dont think it was right to break my door down, he said in an interview. Im one of the original independent media companies in San Francisco. This is outrageous.

When the police came into his home, they kidnapped Carmody for over six hours, holding him in handcuffs.

Im smart enough not to talk to federal agents, ever, Carmody told The Washington Post. I just kept saying lawyer, lawyer, lawyer.'

While they held Carmody captive, the officers tore his home apart, confiscating all of his computers and equipment.

Its designed to intimidate, Carmodys lawyer, Thomas Burke, told The Associated Press. Its essentially the confiscation of a newsroom.

Naturally, the police stood by the Stasi-style raid of a journalists home, and referred to Carmodys detainment and theft of his equipment as part of an investigation.

David Stevenson, a spokesman for the San Francisco police, told the Chronicle last year that the search warrant executed today was granted by a judge and conducted as part of a criminal investigation into the leak of the Adachi police report. He called it one step in the process of investigating a potential case of obstruction of justice along with the illegal distribution of a confidential police report.

However, as stated above, this alleged investigation was completely illegal.

As NPR notes, Burke said that normally journalists would receive a subpoena, and then get a lawyer to ensure the proper protections. So much information has nothing to do with the purpose of their investigation, he said. If you are looking for one piece of information, thats why you issue a subpoena.

But this did not happen and instead, police carried out an extremely disturbing raid on a journalist.

Luckily, because Carmody had committed no crime, he was eventually released, but not before the cops took the report, stole his property, and damaged his home. This is what journalism looks like in 2019..

Despite the illegal nature of the entire raid on this journalists home, none of the officers or officials involved in it were held accountable for their actions. Instead, it was the taxpayers of San Francisco who paid up.
If Chornovol is found guilty, she faces from 10 to 15 years in prison or life imprisonment.

The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) of Ukraine has served former Member of Parliament Tetiana Chornovol with charge papers on intentional homicide.

The former lawmaker is suspected of the crime of deliberately killing another person, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons in a manner dangerous to the lives of many people (sub-paragraphs 5, 12 of Part 2 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), the SBI's press service said.

Read alsoUkraine's former foreign minister remanded in custody on murder charges

According to preliminary information, on February 18, 2014, the suspect led the actions of a group of persons and directly participated in an arson attack on a building on Lypska Street in downtown Kyiv, where the office of one of the political parties was located. A worker, born in 1948, who was in the party's premises died in the fire. He was identified as Volodymyr Zakharov.

The criminal case was opened on March 25, 2020. A search warrant was issued by Kyiv's Pechersky court on April 6, 2020.

On April 10, 2020, SBI officers conducted raids at Chornovol's house, during which they seized items of evidence for the investigation, "items having signs of cold arms and firearms," and cartridges.

The pretrial investigation into the case is carried out by the prosecutor's office of Kyiv region, while the SBI's Main Operations Directorate provides operational support.
Mumbai Police on Friday issued orders saying that "admins" on messaging and social media platforms will be personally responsible for any incorrect, derogatory and discriminatory information being disseminated from a group administered by them.

Greater Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) Pranaya Ashok issued the order vide the powers conferred under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code 1973.

The order also prohibited the dissemination of information that is derogatory and discriminatory towards a particular community or causing panic and confusion among the general public.

"Prohibitory order for restricting any dissemination of information through various messaging and social media platforms which are found to be incorrect, derogatory and discriminatory towards a particular community, distortion of facts, causing panic and confusion among the general public, inciting mistrust towards government functionaries and their actions taken in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus and thereby causing danger to human health or safety or a disturbance of the public tranquility," the order said.

"It has been observed that there is widespread dissemination of fake news, incorrect information, misinformation, and other such objectionable content in the form of messages, videos, images or memes, audio clips and other such forms of communication over internet messaging and social media platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, etc," the order said.

"Such type of content has been found to have caused panic, confusion among the general public, inciting mistrust towards government functionaries and their actions taken to control the COVID-19 pandemic and also to have created animosity towards various communities," it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Meghan Markle has returned to Los Angeles with Prince Harry and Archie Harrison, yet she still has not seen her mother, Doria Ragland. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, moved to LA to be near her mom, but the coronavirus pandemic has kept them apart. Sources claim that Meghan is heartbroken over the lockdown but is doing her part to help stop the spread of the virus.

Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland | Steve Parsons  Pool / Getty Images

The Duchess of Sussex is focusing on charity work

Meghan and Harry flew to LA right before the U.S. and Canada shut down their borders. As part of their exit, the Sussexes will be splitting their time between North America and the U.K.

The couple has remained low-key since arriving in California, and sources say that they are renting a $20 million mansion. The estate, which is located in Malibu, boasts eight bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, and a pool.

EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Markle has not seen her mum Doria since moving back to LA due to coronavirus https://t.co/FsUgwVjXRM  The Sun (@TheSun) April 5, 2020

Insiders claim that Meghan and Harry are dishing out a whopping $15,950 a day for the house. The two are reportedly using the rental to get a feel of the area before they settle down and buy a home of their own.

While Meghan and Harry are seemingly committed to living in the LA area, a source recently told Daily Mail that the former Suits star has not visited her mom, despite being in the city for several weeks.

Meghan Markle forced to stay away from her mom

California is currently under lockdown to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Although Meghan is only 10 miles away from her mother, a source says that they have not seen each other.

Meghan is absolutely heartbroken  after all, one of the main reasons she decided to live in LA was to be near her mum, the source dished.

The insider added that Meghan does not want to see her mom because of the risks of her catching the coronavirus. The Duchesss mother is 63 years old and is in the high-risk group of suffering the worst symptoms of the virus.

Meghan Markle now lives just a short drive away from her mum Doria Ragland in LA  but the two havent seen each other.https://t.co/9SUIu8eSjz  news.com.au (@newscomauHQ) April 6, 2020

To that end, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been isolating inside their rental, which is inside an exclusive gated community. They have been video chatting with Ragland every day, but, as the source noted, its not the same.

Meghan and Harry have not commented about their move to LA. Hopefully, the pair will not have to remain isolated for much longer and things will get back to normal.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry gush about California

Some royal watchers were surprised to learn that Meghan and Harry picked LA as their final destination. But an unearthed video from last year shows the couple gushing over their future home of California.

According to Marie Claire, the video was taken during Meghan and Harrys trip to Bristols Empire Fighting Chance center. The clip clearly shows the Sussexes talking about California and agreeing that it is the best.

Harry and Meghan's California dream: all your questions answered as the royal soap goes Stateside https://t.co/hqTIMuoXuo pic.twitter.com/hrchcVwMs1  Independent.ie (@Independent_ie) April 4, 2020

When they announced their exit back in January, Meghan and Harry explained how they wanted to live in North America for the part of the year. They did not specify where they wanted to re-locate, though the obvious choices were Canada, Los Angeles, and New York City.

Over the past several months, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry lived in a rental house on Vancouver Island. The coronavirus pandemic is believed to have hastened their decision to move to LA, with Meghan wanting to be near her mother during the crisis.

How is Archie doing?

While the Sussex isolate themselves in Malibu, it has been quite some time since we have seen Archie in action. Fortunately, an inside source gave People a full update on the couples son, who will turn one in less than a month.

Like everyone, they are adjusting to [social distancing], being cautious and safe, the insider shared. [Archie is] teething and is a happy baby. Im sure he is happy to be in the California sunshine.

Archie Harrison Is Reportedly Loving the California Sunshine https://t.co/OSxcZ1QxG5  Harper's Bazaar (@harpersbazaarus) April 2, 2020

Meghan and Harrys exit from the royal family became official on March 31. Moving forward, the pair will no longer use their royal titles. They are also seeking to become financially independent from the crown, though exactly how they plan on earning a living has yet to be revealed.

Meghan Markle has not confirmed that she has not been able to visit her mother during the coronavirus pandemic.
For most of us, the Great Depression is known only via scratchy, black-and-white photos of the unemployed waiting in long lines for a free handout, men on street corners selling apples for a nickle a piece and farmers in overalls, their spirits broken by the Dust Bowl.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will be remembered by its own images: supermarket shelves stripped of cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer and toilet paper; unending lines of cars at the San Antonio Food Bank; and masked and gloved restaurant workers handing bags to waiting motorists.

Different images, yet strangely similar. In interviews with those who have lived through both the Depression and COVID-19  members of the Greatest Generation now in their mid-90s and older  we asked them to compare what things were like then to whats happening today.

For example, while the homeless seem more prevalent on downtown streets (perhaps because there are so few pedestrians), the social safety net seems to be holding, so far. Its not gotten to the point where, as Margery Stout remembers from growing up in Lawrence, Kan., hobos would regularly come to her familys back door in search of a hot meal.

In the beginning, you could tell they were gentlemen because they had pretty good looking clothes and nice manners, the 96-year-old said of the men her mother regularly fed. But as the years went by, they got more and more raggedy.

On ExpressNews.com: Thousands hit hard by coronavirus fallout seek help from San Antonio Food Bank

One of the first big questions raised as the economy tanked this year was how millions of suddenly out of work people were going to pay their rents and mortgages. While evictions have been temporarily suspended and some banks and landlords are easing their terms, this wasnt the case during the Depression.

Shirley Jeffery grew up in the Seattle area and remembers her family having to move several times as her parents found they could no longer afford to live in one home or another.

I remember we lived in one house on the Puget Sound that cost my parents $12 a month, said Jeffery, 94, who lives at Morningside at the Meadows. It was a small place, but I loved it because when the tide came in the water would go under the house.

There are plenty of other good memories, too. Jeffery recalls her parents introducing her to her new little brother, whom they carried home in a basket. And the Christmas she got a pair of rabbits as presents.

They soon became more rabbits, as you can imagine, she said.

Ralph Whites parents lost their home in Houstons Heights neighborhood when he was about 4 or 5 years old.

I didnt really realize we were poor because I was too young, said White, 93, who also lives at Morningside at the Meadows and whos in a relationship with Jeffery. But I do remember we had to move out into the country to live with my aunt and uncle and their family.

Things got real when White was in sixth grade and his parents considered allowing a local doctor and his wife to adopt him.

I was upset and I cried, he recalled. I promised my dad, I said, Ill work to earn money over the summer. I was 13 years old.

His parents eventually changed their minds, and he started working with his father pouring concrete. So many years later, hes forgiven them.

I know they were thinking about what was the best thing for me, he said.

On ExpressNews.com: Three easy DIY face masks

The current economic free fall threatens to touch almost everyone, as it did during the Depression. Ernest Samusson, a retired Army colonel, was 11 during the 1929 stock market crash. He said he didnt pay much attention to what was going on  at least until it affected his pocketbook.

We lived in Fort Worth, and I had a paper route, said Samusson, 101, who lives in the Army Residence Community retirement complex. The paper was not very expensive in those days, but I had a heck of a time trying to collect from my customers. And I delivered to one of the richest areas of Fort Worth, in the Riverside area.

Samusson said that even his father, who was in the military, wasnt immune.

I was aware of the stock market crash, and I remember there were times my fathers pay was reduced, delayed or they didnt get pay, he said. But as an 11-year-old, that wasnt what was interesting to me.

One difference between then and now is that today were all practicing social distancing and staying at home to help slow the spread of infection.

White, for example, hasnt had a visit from his granddaughter Schuyler, 5, in more than three weeks.

Shes beautiful and smart, and I miss her, he said. But at least we get to talk on the telephone.

During the Depression, socializing was a way to get through hard times.

We got together to keep our spirits up, said Stout, who also lives in the Army Residence Community. We didnt do anything expensive, but we kids had fun times playing together.

Sometimes this socializing was intended to help the less fortunate in ways that couldnt be replicated today. Stout remembers how members of the Ladies Aid group at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lawrence would hold lunches and invite the families of church members they knew were not doing so well.

Theyd say, Come for lunch and feed them while also having a good time, she said.

No one knows how long the current turmoil will last, even after the coronavirus burns itself out or a vaccine is developed. The Depression lasted 10 grueling years, and the economy recovered only when the nations industrial might was awakened to prepare to fight World War II.

Richard A. Marini is a features writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Richard A., become a subscriber. rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMarini
Both the state House and Senate have passed temporary rules allowing remote voting, yet some members still choose to come into the Capitol. Read more

This story was produced as part of a joint effort among Spotlight PA, LNP Media Group, PennLive, PA Post, and WITF to cover how Pennsylvania state government is responding to the coronavirus. Sign up for Spotlight PAs newsletter.

HARRISBURG  The coronavirus outbreak in Pennsylvania could cost the state budget upwards of $4 billion, and Gov. Tom Wolf has taken action to cut spending, laying off more than 2,500 employees, halting paychecks for an additional 14,000 workers, and freezing all but essential hiring and department purchases.

But the Republican-led state legislature  one of the largest and highest paid in the country, spending $360 million each year in addition to holding $172 million in reserves  has so far taken few steps to cut expenses or offer up money of its own during the crisis.

In fact, Senate Republicans recently hired Charles Zogby, a onetime top aide to two former GOP governors, at an annual salary of $110,000 to be a special assistant on budget issues. In February, Zogby departed as the state-appointed financial administrator for the Erie School District.

Its a little tone deaf, said Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College.

For the most part, it has been largely business as usual for the 253-member legislature.

Lawmakers are paid more than $90,000 a year, with leadership earning up to $141,000. In addition to that, they are allowed to collect $178 in per diems when they travel to the Capitol for voting sessions or committee meetings, without needing to provide receipts.

Legislators also have access to state-paid vehicles, and if they opt to drive their own car, they can collect 57 cents per-mile reimbursement.

In both chambers, some members have continued traveling to the Capitol  allowing them to potentially collect mileage and per diems  despite the fact that government offices have largely shut down and both chambers passed temporary rules allowing meetings and voting sessions to be conducted remotely.

Mike Straub, spokesperson for House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster), said fewer than half of the chamber has chosen to come to Harrisburg for votes, though legislative officials acknowledged they would be eligible to collect per diems if they did.

Those members are fulfilling their duties on behalf of their constituents to represent their constituents on the floor, or in committee proceedings, Straub said.

Neither the House nor Senate has offered to relinquish all or a portion of the money it has in reserves to put toward next years state budget, which is widely expected to be battered by sagging revenue collections and increased demand for public assistance programs.

The legislatures reserve fund is large enough that it could fund the individual budgets of several state departments  including the Department of Health, a critical agency at the center of the coronavirus response  for an entire year. It is half the size of the states entire $340 million rainy day fund, which the governor can tap to help pay for services during an economic downturn or other emergency that leads to an unexpected dip in revenues.

But unlike the states rainy day fund, the legislatures reserve  which can be rolled over from one year to another  doesnt have to be used for a specific purpose. Though it has historically been justified as necessary to protect the balance of power should the governor cut off legislative funding during a budget battle, there are no rules  or limits  on how the money can be spent.

One year, for instance, lawmakers used reserve money to give themselves the option of an early pay raise that was later struck down by the courts

Its a fair question to inquire whether or not this level of financial independence is excessive  and to ask the follow-up question of whether this independence is beyond whats prudent, let alone earned or deserved, said Robert P. Strauss, an economics and public policy professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Straub said leaders are discussing options for cost savings because they anticipate long-term effects, though he did not elaborate or give any specifics.

In the Senate, Republicans who control the chamber made no commitments.

Kate Flessner, spokesperson for Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson), said in an emailed response that the Senate continues to operate fully, despite largely working remotely, and that constituent demand for services during the public health crisis has only increased.

Any cost savings that may come from holding remote voting sessions or other work adjustments will be examined as part of the budget process, Flessner said.

She sidestepped questions about whether the chamber would consider relinquishing some or all of its reserve cash to help prevent cuts to state aid or programs.

Senate Republicans also declined to respond to questions about their decision late last month to hire Zogby, 58, who served as the budget secretary under Gov. Tom Corbett, and as a policy chief and education secretary under Gov. Tom Ridge.

He is known as an advocate for school choice, charter schools, and privatizing the state liquor and wine stores. In 2018, Wolf appointed him to be the financial administrator for the distressed Erie School District. He left that post in late February.

In his new position, Zogby, who began March 26, will focus on analyzing the impact of the $2.2 trillion federal stimulus legislation, legislative officials said.

Zogby declined comment. Sen. Pat Browne (R., Lehigh), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, did not respond to requests for comment on the decision to hire Zogby.

Brownes committee already employs budget analysts and other staff who examine the fiscal impact of legislation. Wes Leckrone, a political science professor at Widener University, also noted that the state has an Independent Fiscal Office, an agency created by the legislature to provide, among other duties, independent analyses of the states finances.

It seems you could use them for budget projections, Leckrone said.

Earlier this week, the fiscal office released a report that said the state could face a nearly $4 billion shortfall as the coronavirus crisis shutters businesses, leading to mass layoffs, and weakens revenue collections.

100% ESSENTIAL: Spotlight PA provides its journalism at no cost to newsrooms across the state as a public good to keep our communities informed and thriving. If you value this service, please give a gift today at spotlightpa.org/donate.
Elon Musk took to Twitter to share a grim meme referencing the state of the world economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Musk shared a meme Friday of an asteroid smashing through Earth and a far away astronaut exclaiming: 'Oh God, The economy!'

The controversial entrepreneur captioned the image simply: 'But actually.'

Someone in the comments shared an image expressing a similar sentiment, that showed dinosaurs fleeing from an asteroid. Musk laughed at the visual.

The businessman's tweet appeared to poke fun at those more concerned with the economic impact of the virus rather than the number of people it will kill - even though he himself called the coronavirus panic 'dumb' last month.

Musk shared a meme of an asteroid smashing through Earth and a far away astronaut exclaiming: 'Oh God, The economy!'

While it is unclear exactly what Musk's message was from the tweet, some believe it was a dig at those more concerned about the economy than the coronavirus crisis

Others thought Musk was actually speaking on the state of the world's economy, noting global economic growth was going to be 'sharply negative' in 2020.

The negative growth would then trigger 'the worst fallout since the 1930s Great Depression, with only a partial recovery seen in 2021,' according to Reuters.

The tweet comes after news that Tesla is temporarily cutting pay for salaried employees and furloughing staff on hourly pay, according to a leaked internal email sent to staff Tuesday evening.

The controversial entrepreneur captioned the image simply: 'But actually'

Someone in the comments shared an image expressing a similar sentiment, that showed dinosaurs fleeing from an asteroid. Musk laughed at the visual

The move comes just one month after controversial boss Elon Musk dismissed mounting fears over the outbreak as 'dumb'.

On March 6, he tweeted: 'The coronavirus panic is dumb.'

Tesla plans to resume production of electric cars at its Fremont factory on May 4, said the email from the company's head of North American HR Valerie Workman seen by CNBC.

Pay cuts are being staggered by seniority level, with Vice Presidents and above taking a 30 percent cut, Directors and above taking a 20 percent cut, and a 10 percent cut for everyone else.

The reduction in salary will continue until the end of the second quarter, the email said.

Furloughed workers will not be paid but will retain their healthcare benefits, it read.

Tesla was forced to halt production at its main car factory in Fremont, California, on March 23.

Robots work on a Tesla Model X in the factory in Fremont, California: Tesla is slashing employee pay and furloughing all hourly workers after the coronavirus pandemic forced the firm to shutter the plant

Its solar panel factory in New York also closed and at the Nevada Gigafactory the workforce shrank by 'more than 75 percent.'

Most workers were placed on paid leave but the leaked email shows workers will now be furloughed and not receive any pay.

The email advises staff to seek unemployment benefits.

The automaker is temporarily cutting pay for salaried employees and furloughing staff on hourly pay, according to a leaked internal email sent to staff Tuesday evening

Tesla plans to resume production of electric cars at its Fremont factory (above) on May 4, said the email from the company's head of North American HR Valerie Workman

Any workers who are sick or 'uncomfortable coming to work' are also encouraged to stay home.

The company will 'respect your decision and you will not be penalized', according to the email.

Musk, who was not referenced in the communication, is known for having notoriously high expectations of his staff.

CARMAKERS SHUTTER AMID PANDEMIC Honda and Nissan also furloughed thousands of workers at their US operations Tuesday. A spokesman for Honda, which employs about 18,400 workers at plants in Alabama, Indiana and Ohio, said the Japanese automaker would guarantee salaries through Sunday after suspending operations on March 23. Honda's plants will be closed through May 1. Nissan said it was temporarily laying off about 10,000 hourly workers in the US effective April 6. It has suspended operations at its US manufacturing facilities through late April. Operations at Honda's Powersports plant in South Carolina, which makes ATVs, have been suspended since March 26. Automakers are facing a dramatic drop in sales in the US, after some states barred dealers from selling new cars while 'stay-at-home' orders are in place. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV on Monday extended its shutdown of U.S. and Canadian plants until May 4. Toyota Motor Corp has halted its US and Canadian production through April 17. A Toyota spokesman said it has not furloughed full-time US employees. Advertisement

He has come under fire on several occasions over allegations that his workers are not allowed to take sick days and are expected to spend all their time focused on 'the mission'.

In 2015, he was slammed when he reportedly disciplined an employee for missing a company meeting because he was attending the birth of his child.

Another employee blew the whistle saying that when he asked Musk if he could leave to see his family, he was told he was 'definitely not on board with Tesla's mission and values.'

In the Tesla 'Anti-handbook handbook', leaked in February, employees are told that they must use their 'Paid time off' if they have accrued it for sick leave - otherwise they will go unpaid.

The move to cut pay and furlough staff comes as Musk has repeatedly downplayed the severity of the global health crisis.

On March 6, as the world watched the global outbreak unfold, the outspoken boss took to Twitter to dismiss growing fears as 'dumb'.

'The coronavirus panic is dumb,' Musk tweeted.

His flippant comment came the same day the US death toll from coronavirus rose to 17.

Later in the month, he then sparked outrage for a Tweet many deemed irresponsible where he said children were 'immune' the virus.

'Kids are essentially immune, but elderly with existing conditions are vulnerable. Family gatherings with close contact between kids & grandparents probably most risky,' he tweeted on March 19.

The move comes just one month after Musk dismissed mounting fears over the outbreak as 'dumb'

The controversial CEO seemed to backpedal on his flippancy just days later when he pledged to reopen Tesla's New York factory 'as soon as humanly possible' to help make and distribute ventilators for the hard-hit state.

'Giga New York will reopen for ventilator production as soon as humanly possible. We will do anything in our power to help the citizens of New York,' the billionaire said in a Tweet on March 25.

Musk also bought 1,000 ventilators in China and shipped them to the US, where he delivered them to a California hospital to help with the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Oheneyere Gifty Anti, host of The Standpoint, has advised Ghanaians to comply with the lockdown directives by President Nana Akufo-Addo.



There are innumerable statistics and pressing questions surrounding coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19. These statistics and questions keep swirling everywhere in print and the electronic media.



But it appears social media, especially whatsapp is where most of the information, misinformation about the pandemic really thrives. It scares and comfort, teaches and taunts, ebbs and flows; currently the debate is the COVID-19 linkage to 5G technology.



The coronavirus pandemic has turned our heads in a million different directions, and all of it is so overwhelming that we sometimes forget to just listen or critically analyze what we read and share.



And Oheneyere Gifty Anti just want the public to pay heed to this; IT IS REAL AND NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS, PERIOD!



The host of Standpoint, advised Ghanaians to comply with the lockdown directives announced by President Nana Akufo-Addo nearly two weeks ago.



Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' program, Gifty Anti explained to host Kwami Sefa Kayi that it is in the interest of the Ghanaians that such decisions are made.



According to her, it is better to choose inconvenience over death and so urged Ghanaians to stay home.



She stated that the coronavirus is an insidious virus that shouldn't be toyed with because a person may not know where he or she may contract the virus.



Using her experience as an example for Ghanaians, Gifty Anti who was placed under compulsory quarantine after returning to Ghana from the United Kingdom disclosed how rapid the virus infection is as she revealed that before she arrived in Ghana in March, 2020, the UK had recorded 99 cases.



This, to her, should prove to Ghanaians that Coronavirus is not an ordinary disease to joke with.



"Let's take this thing serious. People are joking with this . . . We're joking with it . . . Let's protect ourselves and not kid with this," she advised.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Number of people infected with the new coronavirus in Georgia has reached 227. 57 new cases have been confirmed in the past 24 hours, RIA Novosti reports citing the government-led website of disease monitoring.

There are children, a pregnant woman, doctors and others among the infected.

According to the Georgian health ministry, the peak of the infection is expected in the second half of April.

Georgia declared a state of emergency on March 21 to battle the spread of COVID-19. The state of emergency is effective until April 21.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  An off-duty Cleveland police officer told 911 dispatchers that someone in a car tried to shoot at him and shot at him as he drove and that he returned fire delivering a gunshot that killed a 22-year-old man.

Cleveland police officer Jose Garcia called 911 shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday to report the shooting. Later in the call, he said he believed he shot one of the two people inside a car, and ordered the other person later identified as a 17-year-old boy  to stay on the ground.

You tried to shoot me up, you know that, Garcia can be heard saying on the 911 call. You cant do that.

Desmond Franklin died in the shooting. The 17-year-old boy also suffered an injury in the incident, was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. Police have not said if the teen was shot or was injured in an ensuing car crash. Garcia was unharmed.

Cleveland police have not offered any additional information on Friday and have not said if they have evidence that Franklin or the teen fired a shot at Garcia.

Cleveland Police Patrolmen Association President Jeff Follmer said its unclear if a shot was fired at Garcia.

Garcia was driving to work in his personal car and was not wearing a police uniform at the time. Follmer and Cleveland police officials said Garcia spotted the duo about a block south and believed they were stealing items out of a box car. Garcia verbally engaged with duo and drove away, police said.

Follmer said Franklin and the teen followed Garcia in their car and pointed a gun at him before Garcia fired shots, hitting Franklin in the head.

He was trying to shoot at me and I shot back, Garcia told the dispatchers. Later in the call he told dispatchers: I shot back and I think I hit him The guy pointing at me shot at my car.

The Cuyahoga County Sheriff is investigating the shooting, the first fatal police involved shooting since Nov. 14.

Garcia was placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting, which is standard for all police shootings.

Read more from cleveland.com:

Man killed by off-duty Cleveland police officer identified

Man shot to death by off-duty Cleveland police officer in Brooklyn Centre neighborhood, police say

Cleveland police investigating officer-involved shooting in Brooklyn Centre neighborhood, sources say
The death toll due to coronavirus rose to 206 and the number of cases in the country climbed to 6,761 on Friday, a record spike of 896 cases and 37 deaths in 24 hours since Thursday evening, according to the Union Health Ministry.

IMAGE: Police personnel wear face masks during a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, in Chandigarh, on Friday. Photograph: PTI Photo

While the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 6,039, as many as 515 people have been cured and discharged, and one had migrated, it said. The total number of cases include 71 foreign nationals.

37 deaths have been reported since Thursday evening, of which 25 were from Maharashtra, four from Delhi, three from Punjab, two from Andhra Pradesh, and one each from Gujarat, Karnataka and Jharkhand.

Of the total 206 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 97 fatalities, followed by Gujarat at 17, Madhya Pradesh at 16 and Delhi at 13.

Punjab registered 11 deaths while Tamil Nadu has reported eight fatalities and Telengana seven.

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have reported six deaths each while five people have lost their lives in West Bengal. Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh have reported four fatalities each while Haryana and Rajasthan have recorded three deaths each.

Two deaths have been reported from Kerala. Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand reported one fatality each, according to the health ministry data.

However, a PTI tally of figures reported by various states as on Friday showed at least 7,049 cases and 236 deaths.

There has been a lag in the Union Health Ministry figures, compared to the number of cases announced by different states, which officials attribute to procedural delays in assigning the cases to individual states.

According to the ministry's data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 1,364, followed by Delhi at 898 and Tamil Nadu at 834.

COVID-19 cases have gone up to 473 in Telengana and 463 in Rajasthan. Uttar Pradesh has 431 cases so far followed by Andhra Pradesh at 363 and Kerala at 357.

The number of the novel coronavirus infection cases has risen to 259 in Madhya Pradesh, 241 in Gujarat, 197 in Karnataka, 184 in Jammu and Kashmir and 169 in Haryana. Punjab has 132 COVID-19 patients so far while West Bengal has 116 cases.

Bihar has reported 60 cases while Odisha has 44 coronavirus cases.

35 people were infected with the virus in Uttarakhand while Assam has 29 patients followed by Himachal Pradesh with 28 cases. Chandigarh has 18 cases while Ladakh has 15.

Jharkhand has 13 coronavirus positive patients so far.

Eleven cases have been reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands while 10 were reported from Chhattisgarh.

Goa has reported seven COVID-19 infections, followed by Puducherry at five, Manipur at two while Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have reported one case each.

The Health Ministry in the meantime maintained that no community transmission is taking place as yet in India, while the World Health Organisation also put the country in a category named 'cluster of cases' -- a notch below the community transmission stage and a classification used by the global body for cases 'clustered in time, geographic location and/or by common exposures'.

Later in the evening, WHO said that a hasty lifting of restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a fatal resurgence of the deadly virus, which has infected over 16 lakh people globally since its emergence in China last December while the worldwide death toll is fast approaching 1,00,000.

While several states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh reported rising number of cases, the Union Health Ministry said the rate of people testing positive was only 0.2 per cent on Thursday when more than 16,000 samples were tested.

Cumulatively close to 1.5 lakh samples have been tested so far across India.

A PTI tally of numbers reported by various states as on 9.30 pm showed a total of 7,510 having been affected by the virus nationwide so far with at least 251 deaths. More than 700 have been cured and discharged.

A review meeting was also held by the Prime Minister's Office during the day on various efforts to check the coronavirus spread, which also discussed ramping up of production of personal protective equipment (PPEs) among other issues.

The home ministry, separately, has sought views of state governments on the 21-day lockdown, scheduled to end on April 14, including whether more categories of people and services need to be exempted, officials said on Friday.

Some of the suggestions made by state governments include allowing construction-related activities in rural areas.

The central government, while imposing the lockdown, had announced that shops dealing in essential commodities, including the online platforms, will remain open, besides services like health, sanitation, police, media, agriculture and banking. Movements of essential and non-essential cargos were also allowed by the government, but there have been reports about disruptions in the supply chain due to lack of labourers and trucks, among other issues.

There have also been reports of depleting levels of essential goods from various parts of the country.

Some states such as Kerala have suggested phased opening of the lockdown, while other suggestions from various states include allowing liquor sale to shore up the revenues and to allow private vehicles on an odd-even basis. However, most states have suggested keeping the public road transport, rail and airline services suspended for more time. Many have also recommended keeping state borders sealed, except for goods movement.

A few states have also suggested area-specific lockdown with stricter restrictions, which are as such being followed in the places identified as hotspots of the virus spread.

In the meantime, more states including Odisha and Telangana made it mandatory for people to wear masks or face covers at public places, while enforcement was beefed up for action against those violating the lockdown conditions.

The Centre also asked states not to allow religious gatherings and processions.

Government officials also said that a decision on bringing Indians from abroad will be taken at a later stage after reviewing the COVID-19 situation.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 23:34:29|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

ACCRA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Ghana will extend the lockdown period by another week in the latest bid to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced here late Thursday in a televised speech.

The president said evidence from the ground suggested that the lockdown, which began on March 30, had worked well.

"It is important that we stay the course, and bear with the difficulties that come with it. The final result, hopefully, will be freedom from the virus," Akufo-Addo said.

The president said the contact tracing and the testing team would test 10,000 additional samples in the subsequent week for a clearer picture to make a decision on the way forward.

To cushion Ghanaians against the economic impact of the lockdown, the president said that for the next three months, the government would absorb the full cost of electricity for lifeline consumers, while it also pays 50 percent of the cost for all other consumers.
The fallout from the coronavirus spread that has killed more than 83,000 people and wreaked havoc on economies around the world could push around half a billion people into poverty, Oxfam said on Thursday.

The report released by the Nairobi-based charity ahead of next weeks IMF-World Bank annual meeting calculated the impact of the crisis on global poverty due to shrinking household incomes or consumption.

The economic crisis that is rapidly unfolding is deeper than the 2008 global financial crisis, the report found. The estimates show that global poverty could increase for the first time since 1990, it said, adding that this could throw some countries back to poverty levels last seen some three decades ago.

The report authors played through a number of scenarios, taking into account the World Banks various poverty lines.

Under the most serious scenario - a 20% contraction in income - the number of people living in extreme poverty would rise by 434 million people to 922 million worldwide. The same scenario would see the number of people living below the $5.50 a day threshold rise by 548 million people to nearly 4 billion.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was back on his feet in his recovery from COVID-19 on Friday, while his fellow Britons were told to resist the temptation of going out in the spring sunshine over Easter as the coronavirus death toll rose to nearly 9,000.

The prime minister's rapid health decline shook the country earlier this week, but he came out of three nights of intensive care at St Thomas' Hospital on Thursday. He was admitted to the hospital on Sunday after his symptoms persisted. A spokesman for Johnson said the prime minister, 55, was back on a hospital ward as he continued his recovery, which was said to be at an early stage.

Also read: Coronavirus pandemic: No community transmission in India, WHO admits error

Also Read: Coronavirus outbreak: PMO reviews preparedness, relief measures for days ahead
Bello Masari, governor of Katsina, has ordered a lockdown in Daura local government area of the state over three fresh cases of coron...





Bello Masari, governor of Katsina, has ordered a lockdown in Daura local government area of the state over three fresh cases of coronavirus.





President Muhammadu Buhari hails from the local government.





In a series of tweets on Friday, the governor said the new patients are the wife and children of a doctor who died from complications of COVID-19 earlier in the week.





Masari said a total of 23 samples were sent for testing after the death of index case and three, including his wife and two of his children returned positive.





He said palliatives would be provided for the people of Daura during the lockdown.





Further to our earlier briefing on the Daura #COVID19 situation; out of the samples sent for testing, 23 results have been returned with 20 being negative while 3 are unfortunately positive. Incidentally the 3 are the deceased Doctors wife and his 2 children, he tweeted.





We will continue to monitor situations as they unfold and will not hesitate to lockdown any local government area that may record positive #COVID19 case. We wont falter in putting the whole state under total lockdown should the situation warrants.





However, 3 pharmacies and 3 grocery stores will be identified for people to patronise under strict supervision and when absolutely necessary.





The state Government will also provide palliative support to the people of Daura within the period of the lockdown.
As the rain poured, Kanye West shielded himself with a massive black jacket outside his office in Calabasas, California on Thursday.

The 42-year-old fashion designer kept his hood and head down, as he remained bundled up, while getting into his car in a pair of Yeezy boots.

The rapper opted to wear a pair of blue rubber gloves but no mask.

Bundled up: Kanye West shielded himself with a massive black jacket outside his office in Calabasas, California on Thursday

Despite the light drizzle, he took no risks with the weather in his $1,274 rain jacket from Martine Rose, which has multiple pockets and adjustable straps at the hood.

The overcoat hid his body with its oversized shape, high-neck and two front pockets.

This is the second time Kim Kardashian's husband has been at Yeezy Studio in the past three days, after sporting a pair of electric yellow boots from his new collection.

Pouring rain: The 42-year-old fashion designer kept his hood and head down, as he remained bundled up, while getting into his car in a pair of Yeezy boots

Working it: Despite the light drizzle, he took no risks with the weather in his $1,274 rain jacket from Martine Rose, which has multiple pockets and adjustable straps at the hood

On Tuesday, the father-of-four was seen wearing an eccentric pair of shoes featuring chunky lug soles, which were first shown on the runway during Kanye's Yeezy presentation during Paris Fashion Week last month.

Just last month, Kanye debuted his latest Yeezy designs - including the bright boots - at the brand's A/W 20/21 Paris Fashion Week show after a three-year hiatus from fashion runways.

Lost in thought: Kylie Jenner's on-off boyfriend Travis Scott was pictured ciming out of an office building on Thursday

He was joined by his family including wife, daughter North, sister-in-law Kourtney Kardashian and niece Penelope Disick.

He has high hopes for the brand as told Wall Street Journal in the pages of his April cover issue: 'I believe that Yeezy is the McDonalds and the Apple of apparel.

'In order to make the Apple of apparel the next Gap, it has to be a new invention. To invent something thats so good that you dont even get credit for it because its the norm.'

West worked at the Gap as a teen.

Power couple: Seemingly inspired by his wife's trailblazing in criminal justice reform, Kanye has also expressed interest in helping former convicts

Seemingly inspired by his wife's trailblazing in criminal justice reform, Kanye has also expressed interest in helping former convicts.

West said he is eager to hire released prisoners for work in apparel manufacturing and has had discussions about building factories in the US.

The artist believes that his success in music should not limit him to other fields including fashion and evangelicalism.

He said: 'I got to live out every version of ego  rapper, I had my own [version of] Jordans, Im married to Kim Kardashian West.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday conveyed to his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli that India will extend all possible support to Nepal in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The prime minister spoke to Oli over phone, continuing his engagement with world leaders over the pandemic which has infected 1.6 million people and claimed lives of around 95,000 besides wrecking economies in almost all parts of the globe.

In the last few days, Modi held telephonic conversations with US President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, focusing on the need for having concerted global efforts to deal with the crisis.

Modi also spoke to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, King of Bahrain Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarik, Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven among others.

"Spoke today with Prime Minister of Nepal, Shri @kpsharmaoli. We discussed the prevailing situation due to COVID-19. I appreciate the determination of people of Nepal to fight this challenge. We stand in solidarity with Nepal in our common fight against COVID-19," Modi tweeted.

The Ministry of External Affairs said Modi and Oli shared views on the crisis and the challenges it poses to health and safety of citizens of both countries and the region.

Modi appreciated the response and management of crisis by Nepal under Oli's leadership as well as the strong resolve showed by people of the country in combating this challenge.

"Prime Minister Oli reiterated his appreciation for Prime Minister's initiative in coordinating the response to the pandemic among SAARC countries. He also expressed his thanks for the bilateral support provided to Nepal by India," the MEA said.

It said Modi reiterated India's commitment towards ensuring all possible support and assistance to Nepal in fighting the pandemic.

"The two leaders agreed that their experts and officials would continue to closely consult and coordinate with each other on all issues arising out of the COVID-19 situation, including for facilitating cross-border supplies of essential commodities," the MEA said.

Nepal is also under a 21-day lockdown beginning March 24.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The increase of the passenger traffic is observed at the border of Ukraine; during the last 24 hours, 6,300 people returned to the country as the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported.

On April 9, 6,300 our fellow countrymen were processed at the entrance to Ukraine. Moreover, over 3,400 people left Ukraine, including 1,300 foreigners, the message said.

It is noted that during the past 24 hours, the border guards along with the representatives of the sanitary and quarantine units held temperature screening of over 8,500 people who headed to Ukraine.

According to the results of extra checks of the citizens, the doctors did not determine the signs of Covid-19 disease. However, the informative agreements on self-isolation were processed in the established order; all citizens received proper notes, the border guards noted.

Moreover, 25 violators of the quarantine were identified at the checkpoints. Police were informed about the violators.

On March 13, the government closed the border for foreigners. Starting from midnight on March 17, Ukraine closed all types of movement through the state border within the measures on the fight against coronavirus pandemic. The ban was introduced for the international railway, air and bus traffic. However, the evacuation of the Ukrainians continued. On March 25, the Cabinet of Ministers extended quarantine for 30 days, up to April 24. Besides, the state border was completely closed on March 28.
UK and French death tolls jump by 980 and 987, respectively, as Italy extends weeks-long lockdown until May 3.

The worldwide death toll from the new coronavirus has surpassed 101,000 amid about 1.6 million cases and more than 372,000 recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

Italy has registered the highest number of COVID-19 deaths, more than 18,800 as of Friday, while the United States has reported the majority of confirmed infections, nearly half a million.

However, the number of newly hospitalised patients in the hardest-hit state of New York has dropped to a one percent increase.

Here are the latest updates:

Friday, April 10

23:08 GMT  Buyers jam stores in Turkey after curfew announcement

People rushed into the streets in parts of Turkey, forming long lines outside grocery stores minutes after the government announced a two-day curfew in 31 cities to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Just hours before the curfew came into effect, people were seen queuing outside stores in panic, many ignoring social distancing rules, the private DHA news agency reported.

Fighting erupted in at least one district in Istanbul, the Halk TV television station reported.

22:50 GMT  IMF to lend Albania $190.5m

The International Monetary Fund says it is helping Albania with $190.5 million to cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

A statement on Friday said the money would address its urgent balance of payments resulting from the ongoing global outbreak of the COVID-19 causing significant losses and disruptions to Albanias economy.

20:46 GMT  Uruguay to repatriate Australians, New Zealanders from cruise ship

Uruguay on Saturday will repatriate 112 Australians and New Zealanders from a cruise ship that has been stranded in the La Plata River near capital Montevideo since March 27, the government of the small South American country said.

The operation is to begin Friday evening when the ship is scheduled to dock in the Port of Montevideo. The Greg Mortimer is an Antarctic cruise ship operated by Aurora Expeditions.

The passengers, most of whom have tested positive for the coronavirus, are to be bussed to a special airport terminal with strict health controls. They are scheduled to board a Melbourne-bound charter flight in the early morning hours of Saturday.





20:16 GMT  Coronavirus death toll passes 1,000 in Brazil

Brazil, the hardest-hit Latin American country in the coronavirus pandemic, passed the mark of 1,000 deaths, the health ministry said.

The ministrys latest figures gave a toll of 19,638 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,056 deaths.

19:10 GMT  Senegal bans layoffs during coronavirus crisis

Senegals government said in a statement that companies will be forbidden to sack employees during the pandemic, except in cases of gross negligence, starting from April 14.

Firms will also have to choose options such as reducing working hours or opting for shift work instead of temporarily suspending employees.

A municipality worker in a protective suit feeds street cats in Istanbul, Turkey [Umit Bektas/Reuters]

19:05 GMT  Turkey orders 48-hour curfew in 31 cities

Turkeys interior ministry said it imposed a two-day lockdown in 31 cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, starting at midnight.

18:58 GMT  Google and Apple join forces against coronavirus

Tech giants Apple and Google announced they would join forces to develop an app for tracking coronavirus infections using existing Bluetooth and encryption technology.

The app will rely on Bluetooth to determine distances between phone users and encryption to ensure data security, the companies said.

Privacy, transparency, and consent are of utmost importance in this effort, the companies said in a statement published on Googles blog site.





18:26 GMT  As Spain bans Easter events, Catholics make face masks

Religious associations in the small southwest town of Aznalcazar were already in the thick of preparations when news arrived that Spains tens of thousands of traditional Easter processions were likely to be banned for the first time in nearly 90 years, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

We had bought pretty much everything we needed, right down to the cloth for the uniforms for the penitentes  the hooded and cloaked worshippers in the processions, Lola Diaz Montero, of Aznalcazars Brotherhood of Saint James, told Al Jazeera.

Wed started cancelling Masses for Lent  before the state of alert was declared in the middle of March. Then the news came through that all the processions were going to be stopped too.

Read more here.

17:55 GMT  Italy to extend lockdown until May 3

Giuseppe Conte, prime minister of hard-hit Italy, said he had taken the difficult decision to extend a weeks-long lockdown until May 3.

We are extending the restrictions until May 3, he said in an address to the nation. It is a difficult but necessary decision for which I assume full political responsibility,

Italys world-topping coronavirus death toll stood at 18,849 as of Thursday.





17:52 GMT  Spain to hand out masks as people return to work

The Spanish government has announced plans to hand out out masks at metro and train stations on Monday as some companies re-open after a two-week hibernation period.

Spain on March 30 had toughened its nationwide lockdown, suspending all non-essential activities until after Easter. The measure particularly targeted the construction and manufacturing sectors.

Health Minister Salvador Illa said the masks will be distributed in metro or interurban train stations where usage is recommended and where work will resume after the Easter weekend on Monday or Tuesday.

But there would be no further easing of the lockdown, with Illa saying such measures would be enough to avoid a resurgence of cases.

17:39 GMT  France reports 987 deaths

France confirmed 987 more COVID-19 deaths registered in hospitals and nursing homes in a day, bringing the total toll to 13,197.

Speaking to reporters, top health official Jerome Salomon said a child aged under 10 infected with COVID-19 died, but the causes of the death were multiple.

In encouraging news, Salomon said there were now 62 fewer people in intensive care, continuing a trend first seen on Thursday.

17:06 GMT  Moscow to introduce passes for travel around the city

Moscows mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the city would begin to gradually introduce a system of passes next week to monitor and regulate residents movements during a partial lockdown aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

Speaking on a state television channel, Sobyanin said that the passes would be introduced in stages. The first would focus on creating permits for those travelling to work.

A man wearing a protective face mask walks along the street in Moscow, Russia [Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters]

17:02 GMT  Turkeys coronavirus death toll rises to 1,006

Turkeys confirmed cases of coronavirus increased by 4,747 and 98 people died in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll from the disease to 1,006, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

The total number of recovered cases stood at 2,423, with 281 recoveries in the last 24 hours, and the number of tests carried out in that time was 30,864, Koca said on Twitter.

Turkeys total confirmed cases stood at 47,029, he added.

16:26 GMT  New York sees first slight drop in intensive care unit patients

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units across the state dropped in the last day, offering a glimmer of hope that the surge in critical care hospitalizations might be leveling off.

Cuomo said there were 17 fewer patients in the states intensive care units on Thursday than a day prior, a decrease in that figure for the first time since we started this  journey, Cuomo said at a news briefing.

New York City is burying some of its dead in a mass grave as the citys daily death toll from the #coronavirus epidemic reaches grim new records. pic.twitter.com/kEaWvsRRr7  Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 10, 2020

Thats the first time weve seen a negative number, so thats good, he said.

16:23 GMT  British coronavirus death toll rises to 8,958, up 980

The death toll from coronavirus in the United Kingdom rose by 980 to 8,958 people as of 16:00 GMT on April 9, health minister Matt Hancock said on Friday.

15:50 GMT  Boris Johnson able to do short walks

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been able walk short distances as part of the care he is receiving to aid his recovery, his office said.

Johnson came out of intensive care after three nights and is recovering on a hospital ward.

The prime minister has been able to do short walks, between periods of rest, as part of the care he is receiving, a Downing Street spokesman said. He has spoken to his doctors and thanks the whole clinical team for the incredible care he has received.





15:34 GMT  Ireland extends lockdown until May 5

Ireland extended stay-at-home restrictions designed to slow the spread of coronavirus until May 5, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said.

The restrictions we introduced two weeks ago were due to expire on Sunday. Today the expert recommendation is to extend them for a further three weeks, he said in a televised address.

Ireland has shut bars, restaurants and non-essential retail and told people not to travel more than 2km (1.2 miles) from their home or visit friends and family.





15:27 GMT  Finlands emergency supply agency head quits over face masks

Finlands government said it accepted the resignation of the head of the countrys emergency supply agency, over the multi-million euro purchase of Chinese face masks that proved unsuitable for hospital use.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin earlier said she had lost confidence in the official, Tomi Lounema.

15:00 GMT  Georgia urges Orthodox believers to pray at home

Georgian health officials urged churchgoers to stay at home as the countrys influential Orthodox Church has not discouraged believers from attending liturgies and refuses to use disposable spoons  rather than a shared one  during communions.

Leading health officials said Easter celebrations on April 19 which usually attract huge crowds of believers could be rocket fuel for the coronavirus.

Lets pray at home for each other and for our country, Paata Imnadze, deputy director of Georgias National Centre for Disease Control, told a news conference.





14:55 GMT  Russia to block fake news criticism of coronavirus measures

Russias Prosecutor Generals Office said it would start blocking from Friday access to fake news social media posts criticising quarantine measures taken by the city of Moscow to curb the new coronavirus.

The prosecutors office said that one video in which a man accused authorities of trying to set up a digital concentration camp falsely stated that a coup detat was under way. Another post falsely described a system of special passes allowing holders to move around the city freely, it said.

The prosecutor generals office continues to take measures to restrict access to information resources where fake news about the situation with the new coronavirus are published, it said, adding that communications watchdog Roskomnadzor had been asked to remove the video.

14:37 GMT  Arsenal to provide free meals to aid coronavirus fight

Arsenal will provide more than 30,000 free meals as well as sanitary and personal hygiene products to vulnerable people in the local community as part of a response plan to the coronavirus pandemic, the Premier League club said.

The north London club also pledged to donate 100,000 pounds ($124,000) to local organisations and a further 50,000 pounds will go towards a COVID-19 Crisis Fund.

The Arsenal Foundation has joined forces with HIS Church to deliver 15 tonnes of emergency supplies into Islington, the club said in a statement. This initiative forms part of our wider community response to COVID-19, which has seen Arsenal in the Community staff volunteer to transport frontline NHS workers.





14:17 GMT  France reports 50 COVID-19 cases on board aircraft carrier

Fifty crew members on board Frances sole aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, have tested positive for the new coronavirus and parts of the ship have been put in lockdown, the armed forces ministry said on Friday.

Read more here.

13:54 GMT  The Arab doctors who died of coronavirus in Italy

The 100th doctor to die on Italys front lines as the country struggles to contain the coronavirus epidemic was Samar Sinjab, a 62-year-old Syrian woman who was born in Damascus.

Read more here.

As of Friday morning, 2,209 members of the US military have tested positive for coronavirus, a figure that includes 2,031 active cases, of which 67 are being hospitalized, and 177 service members who have since recovered  Ryan Browne (@rabrowne75) April 10, 2020

13:30 GMT  Englands coronavirus hospital death toll rises by 866 to 8,114

The coronavirus death toll in English hospitals rose over the past 24 hours by 866 to a total of 8,114, health officials reported.

Those who died were aged between 27 and 100, and 56 of them had no known underlying health condition.

13:25 GMT

Hello, I am Tamila Varshalomidze in Doha, Qatar, taking over the blog from my colleague Joseph Stepansky.

12:55 GMT  Doctors Note: Can coronavirus cause permanent damage?

As the number of people infected by COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, worldwide soars past the one million mark, we know the vast majority will make a good recovery.

But now, scientists are looking at the long-term health implications of having had coronavirus and whether or not it can lead to permanent damage to the body.

Dr Amir Khan explains the evidence showing that COVID-19 could cause long-term lung and kidney problems. Read more here.

A doctor points to an x-ray showing a pair of lungs [File: Reuters]

12:45 GMT  Dutch coronavirus cases rise by 1,335 to 23,097

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Netherlands has risen 1,335 to 23,097, health authorities said, with 115 new deaths.

The total death toll is now 2,511, the Netherlands Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said in its daily update.

12:40 GMT  Brazil: Yanomami indigenous youth dies in Brazil

A Yanomami youth has died after testing positive for coronavirus, health officials have said, raising fears that the epidemic will spread among the largest indigenous tribe in northern Brazil.

Alvanei Xirixan, 15, died on Thursday night in intensive care in the main hospital of Boa Vista, capital of Roraima state, according to the local indigenous health service Dsei attached to the Ministry of Health.

Anthropologists and health experts warn that coronavirus could have a devastating impact on Brazils 850,000 indigenous people who are vulnerable to external diseases and whose lifestyle in tribal villages rules out social distancing.

More than 26,000 Yanomami live on Brazils border with Venezuela on a reservation the size of Portugal. The Yanomami youth was the third indigenous person to die in the epidemic now sweeping Brazil with force. Two previous deaths were of indigenous people who were living in urban areas, including an 87-year-ol woman in Para state and man in Manaus.

A Yanomami youth had died after contracting the coronavirus [Odair Leal/Reuters]

12:30 GMT  Japan infections surpass 6,000 cases

The total number of novel coronavirus infections in Japan has hit 6,003, NHK public broadcaster reported.

Earlier this week, Japan declared a state of emergency to fight the spread of the coronavirus in major population centres. At least 99 people have died in the country from COVID-19.

12:25 GMT  S Korea reports recovered patients testing positive again

South Korean officials have reported 91 patients thought cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again.

Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), told a briefing that the virus may have been reactivated rather than the patients being re-infected.

South Korean health officials said it remains unclear what is behind the trend, with epidemiological investigations still under way.

The prospect of people being re-infected with the virus is of international concern, as many countries are hoping that infected populations will develop sufficient immunity to prevent a resurgence of the pandemic.

The early voting for the April 15 general elections will be held for two days on April 10-11 at 3,508 polling stations across the country [Lee Jin-man/AP]

12:20 GMT  Indias relief plan may exclude millions: Activists

Tens of millions of Indians stand to see few benefits from a coronavirus relief package worth $22.6bn, economists and food rights activists say.

Although Indias relief package promises free food for roughly 800 million beneficiaries, economists and activists say few of those in need are registered with the federal food welfare scheme, or have the documents needed to secure benefits.

I would argue for universal [food] coverage of rural areas and urban slums in most states for the duration of the crisis, said economist Jean Dreze, who has co-authored books on hunger with Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.

Read more here.

12:10 GMT  Jordan military arrests TV executives for airing virus complaints

The Jordanian military has arrested the owner of Roya TV and its news director after it aired a news segment showing a crowd of labourers complaining about their inability to work because of the government-imposed coronavirus lockdown.

Roya TV issued a statement on Friday confirming the arrests of its news director, Mohamad al-Khalidi, and Fares Sayegh, the general manager and owner of the television station.

Read more here.

Roya TV news director Mohamad al-khaldi, left ( bold guy) and General Manager and owner Fares Sayegh [Courtesy: Roya TV/Al Jazeera]

12:00 GMT  UK PM Johnson in very good spirits after leaving intensive care: Spokesman

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in very good spirits after returning to a hospital ward from intensive care but his recovery is at an early stage, his spokesman has said.

The prime minister is back on a ward and continuing his recovery which is at an early stage. He continues to be in very good spirits, the spokesman told reporters.

The PM is just beginning his recovery and he will be taking his advice from his medical team, the spokesman said when asked when the British leader would return to work. I was told he was waving his thanks to all of the nurses and doctors that he saw as he was moved from the intensive care unit back to the ward. The hospital said that he was in extremely good spirits last night.





11:50 GMT  Trump urges Congress to approve small business funding with no additions

US President Donald Trump has said a funding measure to help small business should be approved by Congress with no additions, as a partisan skirmish in the US Senate cut short a Republican effort to speed the $250 billion in new assistance.

Democrats are blocking a 251 Billion Dollar funding boost for Small Businesses which will help them keep their employees. It should be for only that reason, with no additions. We should have a big Infrastructure Phase Four with Payroll Tax Cuts & more. Big Economic Bounceback! Trump said in a Twitter post.

Democrats are blocking a 251 Billion Dollar funding boost for Small Businesses which will help them keep their employees. It should be for only that reason, with no additions. We should have a big Infrastructure Phase Four with Payroll Tax Cuts & more. Big Economic Bounceback!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 10, 2020

11:45 GMT  Cycling-Riders union warns it wont accept global pay cuts

The professional riders association has said it would not accept any global pay cut plan for cyclists amid the coronavirus crisis and called for unity across the sport.

The pandemic has hit cycling hard, with events cancelled and teams withdrawing from racing. Elite team Lotto Soudal said its riders had accepted a pay cut as part of its efforts to stay afloat after racing was halted last month.

Well never accept a generalized reduction in salaries. Well evaluate each case individually and study how to limit the problems with specific help and strategies, Laura Mora, secretary of the professional riders association (CPA), said in a statement.

Were all in the same boat, in the middle of a storm, and so to save everyone, weve got to respect the common principles and really work as a team.





11:30 GMT  US health expert Fauci: Now is no time to back off

The top US infectious disease expert has warned that even though hard-hit spots like New York are showing positive results in the battle against coronavirus, it is too early to relax restrictions on Americans.

What were seeing right now is favorable signs, Fauci said in an interview on CNN. We would want to see a clear indication that you were very, very clearly and strongly going in the right direction, because the one thing you dont want to do is you dont want to get out there prematurely and then wind up back in the same situation.

Now is no time to back off, he added.

11:10 GMT  German minister criticises US response as too slow: Report

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has criticised the US handling of the coronavirus outbreak as too slow, the latest sign of tensions between the two allies as they respond to the crisis.

China took very authoritarian measures, while in the US, the virus was played down for a long time, Maas said in an interview with Der Spiegel magazine in a preview sent to the media on Friday.

These are two extremes, neither of which can be a model for Europe, he said, adding that he hoped the US would rethink its international relationships in light of the coronavirus crisis.

Lets see to what extent the actions of the American government will lead to discussions in the US about whether the America First model really works, he said.





11:05 GMT  Switzerland death toll passes 800, positive tests top 24,000

The Swiss death toll from coronavirus has reached 805, the countrys public health ministry has said, rising from 756 people on Thursday.

The number of positive tests also increased to 24,308, up from 23,574 on Thursday, it said.

11:00 GMT  China imposes more checks on mask exports to ensure quality control

China has tightened restrictions on exports of masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE), calling for shipments of the items to be subjected to a mandatory customs inspection, with immediate effect.

The new rules mark the latest bid by China to balance the global demand for PPE to help treat the rising number of cases of the new coronavirus, while ensuring that manufacturers and sellers do not flood the market with uncertified or shoddy products.

The regulations follow highly publicised complaints from some governments and hospitals that they received PPE from China that they considered faulty.





10:55 GMT  Some African countries could hit peak in weeks: WHO

Some African countries could see a peak in coronavirus cases in the coming weeks, and testing should be urgently increased in the region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

During the last four days, we can see that the numbers have already doubled, Michel Yao, the WHO Africa programme manager for emergency response, told a media teleconference on Thursday.

If the trend continues, and also learning from what happened in China and in Europe, some countries may face a huge peak very soon, he said, adding it could arrive in the coming weeks but without naming countries.

The number of cases recorded of the novel coronavirus in Africa have been relatively low so far  with nearly 11,000 cases and 562 deaths.

Read more here.

10:45 GMT  French army reports 50 cases aboard aircraft carrier

Fifty crew members aboard Frances flagship aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the armed forces ministry said on Friday.

In a statement, it added that three sailors had been preventively evacuated by air to a military hospital in Toulon, southern France, home port of the carrier.

10:30 GMT  Air Zimbabwe to put workers on unpaid leave

Zimbabwes state-owned airline will put workers on indefinite unpaid leave after revenue dried up with the new coronavirus outbreak virtually grounding global air travel, according to an internal notice to employees seen by Reuters news agency.

With $300 million of debt, Air Zimbabwe was already facing financial trouble before the outbreak of the virus. The perennially loss-making national carrier said it would retain skeleton staff for adhoc operations and airworthiness compliance, adding that wages remained its biggest cost. Employees would, however, receive their April salaries.

Air Zimbabwe spokesman Firstme Vitori confirmed the airline was putting workers on indefinite leave because there was no money to fund financial obligations, including staff salaries.

City health workers spray disinfectant at a bus terminus during a 21 day nationwide lockdown to limit the spread of coronavirus in Harare, Zimbabwe [Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters]

10:10 GMT  Irans death toll from coronavirus outbreak rises to 4,232

Irans total death toll from the new coronavirus outbreak has risen to 4,232 with 122 new dead in the past 24 hours, according to a health ministry spokesman.

The total number of people diagnosed with the disease increased by 1,972 in the past 24 hours to a total of 68,192, the spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpur, said on state TV, adding that 3,969 people were in critical condition.

Iran is the country most affected by the pandemic in the Middle East.

09:40 GMT  Spain reports 605 new deaths, 4,576 new cases

Spain has reported 605 new coronavirus deaths, continuing a downward trend, and 4,566 new cases.

The death toll in the European country with the most reported cases now stands at 15,843 with a total of 157,022

Pictures of the faithful of the Nuestra Senora de la Paz church, placed on the churchs benches, as priest Raul Garcia officiates a Holy Week mass [Nacho Doce/Reuters]

09:30 GMT  Ireland set to lift lockdown step-by-step when restrictions ease

Ireland will potentially ease stay-at-home restrictions and allow some shops to reopen in the coming weeks as part of a step-by-step scaling back of the countrys coronavirus lockdown, a senior health official has said.

Irish Health Minister, Simon Harris, has said he expects to be advised on Friday to keep the current restrictions in place for a period of weeks after citizens were ordered late last month to stay home until at least Sunday.

Prior to that, Ireland had banned all non-essential travel within the country and shut clubs, gyms, and hairdressers. Other retailers like DIY stores were allowed to remain open and people could travel beyond the current 2-km radius limit from their house and visit family, once they maintained social distancing.

09:10 GMT  Malaysia extends movement curbs until April 28

Malaysia has extended movement and travel restrictions that have been put in place to contain a coronavirus outbreak for two more weeks, until April 28.

The curbs, first imposed on March 18, were originally set to end on April 14. Malaysia has the highest number of coronavirus infections in Southeast Asia with more than 4,200 reported, including 118 new cases on Friday.

It may take a few months before we can say we are free of the virus, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a televised address.

Medical workers in protective suits entering a building under lockdown in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [Vincent Thian/The Associated Press]

09:05 GMT  Indonesia reports 219 new cases, bringing total to 3,512

Indonesia reported 219 new coronavirus cases and 26 new deaths, a health ministry official Achmad Yurianto has told reporters.

This brings the total number of cases and deaths to 3,512 and 306, respectively.

08:55 GMT  Kazakhstan to extend state of emergency to end of April

Kazakhstan will extend the state of emergency declared over the coronavirus outbreak until the end of April, Interfax news agency has reported, citing parliamentary deputy Vladimir Bozhko who is on its emergency commission.

The state of emergency, which has allowed the government to lock down all provinces and major cities and shut down many businesses, was originally due to end on April 15.

A worker wearing a protective face mask carries meat at a local food market, also known as bazaar, in Almaty, Kazakhstan in March [Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters]

08:45 GMT  Italy closed its ports to NGOs, but boats keep on arriving

An order signed on Tuesday by several Italian ministers established that, for the duration of the national health emergency sparked by coronavirus, domestic ports could no longer be considered a place of safety.

Even though international rescue vessels are kept offshore by this new measure, small ships setting sail from Libya and Tunisia have continued to arrive on the Italian coastline.

We cannot stop migrants: if they set sail, it means that they have to dock somewhere, Salvatore Martello, mayor of the island of Lampedusa, told Al Jazeera

Read more here.

The Italian coast guard patrols the waters of Lampedusa, Italy [File: Mauro Buccarello/Reuters]

08:35 GMT  Hungarys  real test yet to come, PM warns

Hungarys restrictive steps have managed to slow the spread of coronavirus but the real test is yet to come, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said as the government reported the single biggest daily increase in infections.

Orban said that at the peak of the crisis, Hungary would need about 8,000 ventilators and intensive-care hospital beds, of which around 2,000 would be available in normal times.

08:25 GMT  Number of dead buried in NYC mass grave increases

The number of bodies buried daily at a mass grave in New York City, where the unclaimed bodies from the city are buried, has increased during the coronavirus pandemic, according to authorities.

Before the outbreak, about 25 bodies were buried at the site on Hart Island a week, according to authorities. That number has been increasing since March, officials said. Currently, about about two dozen bodies buried in the grave every day, five days a week, according to a spokesman for the New York City Department of Corrections, which oversees the burials.





08:20 GMT  Philippines records 18 more deaths, 119 new cases

The Philippines health ministry has reported 18 more coronavirus deaths and 119 new infections.

The death toll in the Southeast Asian country has reached 221, while confirmed cases totalled 4,195.

Sixteen more patients have recovered, bringing total recoveries to 140, the ministry said in a bulletin.

08:05 GMT  Vietnam in talks to borrow $1 bn as budget deficit seen widening

Vietnam plans to borrow $1 bn from foreign lenders this year, the Ministry of Finance has, adding that the countrys budget deficit is seen widening this year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Finance Ministry is negotiating with potential lenders (IMF, WB and ADB), the ministry said in a statement posted on its website, referring to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. It did not give further details.

It said Vietnams budget deficit is expected to widen by 1.5-1.6 percentage point to 5%-5.1% of gross domestic product due to the impact of the coronavirus. The country will lose 140-150 trillion dong ($5.94 to $6.37 bn) in state budget revenue this year, if the virus pandemic is contained within the second quarter, it added.

A tourist wearing a protective face mask amid fears of the spread of the coronavirus rides on a cyclo in Hanoi in February [Manan Vatsyayana/AFP]

07:50 GMT  Russia reports new record daily rise of cases

Russia has reported 1,786 more coronavirus cases, its largest daily rise so far, which took the national tally of confirmed infections to 11,917.

The number of coronavirus-related deaths rose by 18 to 94, the Russian coronavirus crisis response center said in a statement.

07:35 GMT  Singapore stops Zoom for online education as hackers strike

Singapore has suspended the use of Zoom for online education after hackers hijacked a lesson and showed obscene images to students.

In what is known as Zoombombing, two hackers interrupted a geography lesson a day after Singapore closed schools on Wednesday in partial lockdown measures to help curb local transmissions of the coronavirus. Lessons have moved online, with some teachers using video conferencing tools like Zoom.

Singapores Ministry of Education said it was investigating the serious incidents and may file police reports.

We are already working with Zoom to enhance its security settings and make these security measures clear and easy to follow, said Aaron Loh, director of the ministrys Educational Technology Division. As a precautionary measure, our teachers will suspend their use of Zoom until these security issues are ironed out.

Workers pass a row of pairs of jeans hung to dry at Punggol S-11 workers dormitory, which was gazetted to be an isolation facility after it became a cluster of coronavirus cases in Singapore [Edgar Su/Reuters]

07:15 GMT  Poland may reach peak of infections in coming days: Govt

Poland may see the peak of infections from the coronavirus in the coming days, government spokesman Piotr Muller has said.

It seems that if we will maintain our discipline, there is a chance that this infection rise may reach its maximum in coming days, to gradually slow down later, Muller told public broadcaster TVP Info.

Earlier, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland may see a peak of infections in May or June.

Poland reported 5,575 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 174 deaths as of Thursday.

07:05 GMT  East Timor reports second case

East Timor has confirmed another case of coronavirus, health authorities said, bringing the total number of cases to two.

The infected person had travelled from Indonesias West Timor region, Integrated Crisis Management Center spokesman, Sergio Lobo, told a news conference. The tiny Southeast Asian nation with a population of less than 1.3 million reported its first case on March 21. That patient has now recovered, Lobo said.

07:00 GMT  Pakistan govt begins distributing cash grants to low-income families

Pakistans government has begun distributing Rs144 bn ($863 million) in cash grants to low-income families across the country, with lines forming outside roughly 17,000 distribution centres designated for the purpose.

In the first phase, roughly $300 million was disbursed to banks by the federal government to be distributed in the form of Rs12,000 ($70) grants to low-income families who have been affected by a countrywide lockdown put in place this month to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

On Friday, Pakistans number of active coronavirus cases rose to 3,815, with at least 67 people having died and another 712 recovered since the countrys outbreak began in late February, according to government data. Pakistan appears to have slowed the spread of the virus through lockdown measures, shutting down all but essential businesses across the country, but the resulting economic slowdown is feared to be hitting working class families disproportionately.

Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced a $5.9 billion stimulus package  including the cash grant scheme  to mitigate the effects of the lockdown.

A health worker takes the temperature of a man who returned from Iran and is under medical observation at the border post in Taftan, Pakistan in February [Naseer Ahmed/Reuters]

06:45 GMT  IMF approves $147 mn for Gabon

The International Monetary Funds (IMF) Executive Board has approved a disbursement of $147 million under its Rapid Financing Instrument to help Gabon confront the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fund said in a statement.

In the short term, a temporary widening of the budget deficit is warranted to contain the virus outbreak and offset the social and economic impact of the pandemic, IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa said.





06:40 GMT  China says its trade faces unprecedented challenges

Chinas foreign trade faces unprecedented challenges due to the coronavirus epidemic that has spread to more than 200 countries, Chinas assistant commerce minister said on Friday, amid growing fears of a deep global recession triggered by the virus.

Ren Hongbin told reporters during a briefing that a survey conducted by the ministry shows that trade firms across the board face difficulties from order cancellations or delays, and that new orders are also at risk.

06:30 GMT  Hungary reports biggest daily rise in cases

Hungarys confirmed coronavirus cases have increased by 210 to 1,190, the single largest daily increase since the outbreak of the virus, government data shows.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbans government prolonged a nationwide lockdown indefinitely on Thursday to slow the spread of the coronavirus, asking citizens to observe the order despite the Easter holiday.

The crisis has presented Orban with the toughest challenge to his decade-long rule. His response  to rule by decree indefinitely  has drawn criticism from the European Union. At least 77 people have died so far, according to the government.





06:20 GMT  Taiwan reports 6th death, 382 cases

A sixth person infected with the coronavirus has died in Taiwan, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung has said.

The island also recorded two new infections, bringing the total to 382 cases, he told a news conference.

06:00 GMT  UN chief warns COVID-19 threatens global peace and security

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the UN Security Council on Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic is threatening international peace and security  potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease.

He urged the UNs most powerful body, which has been silent on COVID-19 since it started circling the globe sickening and killing tens of thousands, to unite on tackling the virus, saying its engagement will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and would count for a lot at this anxious time.

Read more here.

Antonio Guterres has urged the UN Security Council to unite to tackle the coronavirus pandemic [Daylife]

05:45 GMT  Helicopters, fines in Australias Easter travel crackdown

Australia will deploy helicopters, set up police checkpoints and hand out hefty fines to deter people from breaking an Easter travel ban, officials have warned, in their toughest crackdown against the coronavirus, even as its spread slows.

More than half of Australians identify themselves as Christians, with many in past years attending church services or going on trips to visit family and friends during Easter public holidays that run until Monday.

But with places of worship closed, bans on public gatherings larger than two and non-essential travel limited to combat the spread of the virus, Australians were told to stay home this year or face dire consequences.

Police have said they will block roads and use number plate recognition technology to catch those infringing the bans. Fines for breaking social distancing rules start at $620, but vary between states.





05:35 GMT  Yemen confirms first case

Yemen has reported its first coronavirus case in Hadhramaut Governorate, supreme national emergency committee tweeted early on Friday.

The committee added that the patient was stable and receiving health care, without elaborating.

Read more here.

05:20 GMT  Thailand reports 50 new coronavirus cases, 1 new death

Thailand has reported 50 new coronavirus cases and the new death of a 43-year-old woman.

Of the new cases, 27 are linked to previous cases and eight who are waiting for investigation into how they caught the disease, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman of the governments Center for COVID-19 Situation AdministrationThree of the new cases were imported, Wisanuyothin said.

Since the outbreak escalated in January, Thailand has reported a total of 2,473 cases and 33 fatalities, while 1,013 patients have recovered and gone home.

Hello, this is Joseph Stepansky in Doha taking over from my colleague Ted Regencia.

05:14 GMT  US CDC extends No Sail Order for all cruise ships

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced the extension of a No Sail Order for all cruise ships amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the CDC, the order will only be lifted after the expiration of the US Secretary of Health and Human Services declaration that COVID-19 constitutes a public health emergency, the CDC Director rescinds or modifies the order based on specific public health or other considerations, or third, 100 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

According to the statement, there are approximately 100 cruise ships remaining at sea off the East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast of the United States, with nearly 80,000 crew onboard.

04:58 GMT  South Korea reports 27 new cases

South Korea has reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus, marking its ninth consecutive day below 100, as infections continue to wane in the worst-hit city of Daegu.

Figures released by South Koreas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday brought nationwide totals to 10,450 cases and 208 virus-related deaths, the Associated Press reported.

While the countrys caseload has slowed from early March, when it was reporting around 500 new cases per day, KCDC director Jeong Eun-kyeong has raised the possibility of a broader quiet spread, pointing to recent transmissions at bars and other leisure facilities that could indicate eased attitudes toward social distancing.

04:25 GMT  16.8 million Americans lost jobs in three weeks

The US unemployment rate in April could hit 15 percent  a number not seen since the end of the Great Depression [Mark Lennihan/AP]

A staggering 16.8 million Americans have lost their jobs in just three weeks, a measure of how fast the coronavirus has brought world economies to their knees.

Numbers released on Thursday by the US government showed that 6.6 million workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, on top of more than 10 million in the two weeks before that. That amounts to about 1 in 10 American workers  the biggest, fastest pileup of job losses since the worlds largest economy began keeping records in 1948.

And still more job cuts are expected. The US unemployment rate in April could hit 15 percent  a number not seen since the end of the Great Depression.

03:55 GMT  Malaysias top medical glove manufacturer to start producing face masks

Top Glove Corporation Bhd, the worlds biggest maker of medical gloves, plans to start producing face masks to meet rising demand from the coronavirus outbreak, a top executive told Reuters news agency.

The Malaysian company, which makes one out of every five gloves in the world, will have a facility ready in two months with a production capacity of 110 million masks a year.

The masks  will also be available for sale to our existing healthcare customers, in order to help the market cope with the surge in demand on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Executive Chairman Lim Wee Chai.

03:40 GMT  More than 100 Italian doctors die due to coronavirus

One hundred Italian doctors have died after contracting coronavirus since the pandemic reached the Mediterranean country in February, Italys FNOMCeO health association said on Thursday.

The number of doctors who have died because of COVID-19 is 100  perhaps even 101 at the moment, unfortunately, a spokesman for the association told AFP.

Read the full story here.

03:25 GMT  Filipino Catholic devotees defy lockdown orders

A masked Filipino penitent kneels while performing self-flagellation outside a closed church on Good Friday, defying the governments orders to stay indoors due to the threats of the coronavirus disease in Manila [Eloisa Lopez/Reuters]

02:45 GMT  Mexico reports deaths of two pregnant women

Mexico has recorded its first two deaths of pregnant women from the coronavirus as the overall number of fatalities in the country reached 194, according to the countrys health ministry.

One of the two women gave birth to a son before passing away, Deputy Health Minister Dr Hugo Lopez Gatell told a news conference, noting that pregnant women are highly susceptible to infection caused by the virus. For a short time the baby boy had respiratory problems and is still delicate, he added.

Adding to their risk factors for developing complications from the coronavirus, both women were clinically obese, while one had hypertension and the other had diabetes, Lopez Gatell was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

01:33 GMT  South Korea infected patients cast ballot in parliamentary polls

Early voting in South Koreas parliamentary election has kicked off, with coronavirus patients casting ballots at designated stations and candidates adopting new ways of campaigning to limit the risk of contagion.

The National Election Commission (NEC) set up eight polling stations to be used by more than 3,000 coronavirus patients receiving treatment as well as 900 medical staff at treatment centres in hard-hit areas, including the capital Seoul and Daegu city, according to Reuters news agency.

The election itself is on April 15, but officials are hoping that people will take advantage of early voting options to reduce the number of voters crowding polling locations on that day.

The early voting for the April 15 general elections will be held for two days on April 10-11 at 3,508 polling stations across the country [Lee Jin-man/AP]

01:11 GMT  Chicago prison reports 450 cases

Some 450 inmates and staff have tested positive for coronavirus in the US city of Chicagos largest jail, county corrections officials said, representing one of the nations largest outbreaks of the respiratory illness at a single site so far in the pandemic.

The surge of cases at Cook County Jail marks the latest flare-up of COVID-19 at jails and prisons in large cities across the US, where detainees often live in close quarters.

00:50 GMT  China-Taiwan word war erupts over WHOs handling of outbreak

China has accused Taiwan of venomously attacking the World Health Organization (WHO) and conniving with internet users to spread racist comments, after the agencys chief said racist slurs against him had come from the island.

Taiwan, claimed by China as its sacred territory, has responded angrily to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus assertion that racist slurs against him had originated in Taiwan, and demanded he apologise saying the accusations are nonsense.

Taiwans exclusion from the WHO, due to Chinas objections, has infuriated the Taipei government during the coronavirus outbreak.

00:10 GMT  China reports 42 new cases

China has reported 42 new cases, 38 of them imported, along with one additional death in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan.

Another 1,169 suspected cases or those who tested positive but were not showing symptoms, were being monitored under isolation. China now has reported a total of 81,907 cases and 3,336 deaths from the virus. More than 77,000 of those who were infected have recovered.

Rescued migrants wait in line after disembarking a military vessel which arrived in Senglea in Vallettas Grand Harbour early on Friday, after an outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Malta [Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters]

00:05 GMT  California reports dip in ICU admissions

California saw its first daily decrease in intensive care hospitalisations during the coronavirus outbreak, a key indicator of how many healthcare workers and medical supplies the state needs, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday.

The rate of all virus hospitalisations has slowed this week. Those in the ICU need the highest level of care, and so it was particularly encouraging that the number of patients in those rooms actually dropped 1.9 percent on Wednesday to 1,132, The Associated Press news agency reported.

Im Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur with Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

Read all the updates from yesterday (April 9) here.
Donna Barnett doesnt know what is happening at Drake Terrace, a large San Rafael assisted living facility where her 90-year-old father lives, even after two weeks of frantic attempts to find out.

On March 27, she said, the facility emailed a letter to family members disclosing that a resident had tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Learned first (hope last!) coronavirus positive resident at Drake Terrace, Barnett wrote in her journal that day. Took it like a gut punch. Im sad, scared.

Over the next few days, the situation grew muddier. The facility, which cares for 115 residents and employs 110, told families that a staff member had tested positive but provided few details. And an official with Drake Terraces parent company, who also spoke to The Chronicle, told Barnett that the facility lacked coronavirus testing kits, she said.

I dont know if theres some secrecy around this? Barnett told The Chronicle. I dont understand.  Im getting incomplete information.

John Blanchard

Since February, when the coronavirus raced through a senior-care facility in Washington state, killing 37 people, it has been clear that the virus poses a deadly threat to nursing-home residents and their caretakers.

Still, two months later, as outbreaks infect hundreds and kill dozens at Bay Area nursing homes, senior living centers remain dangerously unprepared and poorly equipped. Many facilities are also leaving families and the public in the dark about the severity of the threat  and so are several Bay Area counties, which either didnt respond to requests for data about the outbreaks or declined to share the information with The Chronicle.

The lack of transparency has confounded health care experts, legislators, nursing home staff and resident advocates, who say secrecy during a pandemic is harmful to public health and deprives people of crucial information  particularly families who might want to move their loved ones out of facilities that are experiencing outbreaks.

On Friday, with frustration boiling over, a group of UCSF medical professionals wrote to San Francisco Mayor London Breed, calling for broader testing of residents and more transparency to prevent unnecessary suffering and deaths.

Its not fair to hide this, said Charlene Harrington, a professor emeritus in the UCSF School of Nursing, who signed the letter.

Gov. Gavin Newsom published the first statewide tallies of cases in long-term care facilities on Friday. The state has confirmed that 1,266 residents and staff members are infected with the virus at 191 different nursing homes across California.

A Chronicle analysis found nearly 400 coronavirus cases and at least 20 deaths linked to nursing homes and assisted living centers across the Bay Area, based on news reports and counts from some county officials. Many of those cases came to light over the past 10 days  often without details on how the outbreak started or when the deaths occurred.

Of the six counties with reported cases in such facilities, only San Francisco, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties have disclosed how many they have.

Santa Clara revealed Friday about 170 people at long-term care facilities in the county have tested positive for the coronavirus, including 50 employees. Dr. Sarah Rudman, a county health officer, said in a news conference that the county has deployed a special team to help nursing homes with their needs and provide testing.

Alameda, Marin and San Mateo counties, however, have refused to share similar information.

Cases have been reported to the media by the facilities themselves, but we are not confirming or commenting on them, said Preston Merchant, a county health spokesman for San Mateo, where The Chronicle found at least 10 cases and three deaths in long-term care facilities.

Cases at long-term care facilities have ballooned in the past week, driven by large outbreaks at several nursing homes around the Bay Area. About 100 cases, including nine deaths, have been linked to Alameda facilities, while about 70 cases, including two deaths, have been reported in Contra Costa County.

Meanwhile, the federal government has not released tallies of cases within nursing homes. Relying on media reports and information from some state health departments, the Associated Press recently counted nearly 2,300 coronavirus infections and at least 450 deaths linked to the nations nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

These numbers, however, are likely vastly lower than the true count. Experts say no one really knows how widely the virus has infiltrated nursing homes due to a lack of transparency as well as widespread testing.

Faced with a shortage of tests, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued evolving guidance to stop outbreaks that relies heavily on screening people for symptoms. The recommendations include restricting visitors, canceling group activities, having staff wear protective gear and, if there are already coronavirus cases in the facility, requiring everyone to wear masks.

But the continued wave of outbreaks suggest that these measures were either implemented too late or werent comprehensive enough to keep the virus from spreading.

Health experts, nursing home staff and advocates for residents also told The Chronicle that not all nursing homes have been following the CDC guidance, which has been impractical for some facilities that lack protective gear and other resources needed to fully isolate residents.

Staff members at some facilities have been sounding the alarm for weeks. At Laguna Honda, San Franciscos huge city-run nursing home with 750 residents, employees noticed in February and March that there werent enough N95 respirators, surgical masks and basic cleaning supplies, staff told The Chronicle. The San Francisco health department has said Laguna Honda staff have the protective gear they need. There are now 17 confirmed COVID-19 cases at Laguna Honda.

The CDCs recommendations have also lagged behind the latest research, which shows that infected people who dont have symptoms are a probable source of transmission within nursing homes and that the safest approach likely involves testing everyone.

Widespread testing is absolutely vital, said Dr. Alison Roxby, an infectious disease expert at the University of Washington who investigated an outbreak at a Seattle-area retirement community and discovered that residents without symptoms were infected. Everyone recognizes that we are not going to get a handle on this epidemic until we can get a handle on these facilities, which comes down to testing, she added.

Some counties are now moving toward widespread testing at nursing homes. On Thursday, Los Angeles announced that a new rapid mobile testing team would be deployed to nursing homes. Officials with King County, Wash., announced that more than 20,000 test kits would be distributed to health care workers and people who live and work in group settings like nursing homes.

Rep. Jared Huffman, who represents Marin County and five others in Congress, said the testing shortfall has frustrated lawmakers and forced nursing homes and health departments to ration their limited tests.

If you had enough tests, youd obviously be testing every staffer and every resident in a nursing home, Huffman said. But weve also got health care workers, weve got people in hospitals. How can you say they shouldnt also get tests?

Jaime Patino, a Union City councilman, said his 84-year-old grandmother lives in Gateway, Care & Rehabilitation Center in Hayward where at least 66 people have been infected and nine people have died. He said he had been given scant information, only finding out about the severity of the outbreak from the news.

The families need to know because thats their loved one in there and they need to be reassured, said Patino, who has only been able to visit his grandmother through the facilitys window for the past few weeks.

The virus moves quickly, and without testing, the results can be disastrous. On March 25, Larry Kass got a call from Gateway, his fathers assisted living facility. The staffer said a resident had been sent to a local hospital with COVID-19 symptoms but everyone else seemed fine. The staffer said they had checked all the residents, including my father, for symptoms, and my father had come up clear, Kass recalled.

Gateway wasnt administering coronavirus tests. The next day, Kass spoke to his father, Alby, on the phone; Kass noticed that Alby was coughing a little. The day after, Albys condition worsened. He was taken to a San Leandro emergency room. On March 31, Alby Kass died of COVID-19.

Many of the facilities confronting deadly outbreaks also have struggled in the past to provide quality care, racking up violations from state regulators for flouting rules intended to stop the spread of infection. Advocates for nursing home residents say these violations, which come with minimal fines, amount to little more than a slap on the wrist.

Poor oversight by regulators has taught the nursing home industry to not take infection control seriously, and now our parents and grandparents are paying the price, said Mike Dark, an attorney with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. Nobody should be surprised that, even if the rest of the state is flattening the curve, nursing homes have become viral bomb sites.

Donna Barnett said she is grateful for the phenomenal care her father, Robert Barnett, has received over the last six years at Drake Terrace in San Rafael, where he lives in an apartment with his wife. He suffers from Parkinsons disease; a former administrative law judge for the California Public Utilities Commission, he worked until he was 84.

When Donna Barnett talked to staff about the virus, she got the sense they were doing their best in a difficult and fluid situation, and she was glad that her fathers apartment had been placed under quarantine.

Still, she worried when she learned that Drake Terrace didnt have test kits or a plan to test everyone. She kept thinking about her father, who needs daily assistance from staffers. What if one of the people helping him was infected and didnt know it?

The big issue has been testing, Jerry Church, an operations specialist for the facilitys parent company, Kisco Senior Living, told The Chronicle on Tuesday. Right? Knowing what were dealing with  get us the frickin tests.

According to Martha Cook, a Kisco spokeswoman, the first resident of Drake Terrace tested positive for COVID-19 on March 27. The resident was hospitalized. After that, Church said, a few other people at the facility were tested, but Drake Terrace officials were told it would take 14 days to get results. It is unclear where the tests were being performed. A spokeswoman for Marin County said that Drake Terrace never referred anyone to the county to receive testing.

On Tuesday, Church said, Marin County officials and physicians from Kaiser Permanente visited Drake Terrace and offered support and resources. Theres a good synergy, Church said. But he did not say how many coronavirus tests the facility will now perform  and he said that to test everyone there would be overkill. Church did not respond to requests for clarification.

According to figures provided Wednesday by Cook, there were then seven active coronavirus cases at Drake Terrace. Five residents and two staffers tested positive.

The seven people who tested positive were all showing symptoms of COVID-19. As of Wednesday, Cook said, no one else at the facility except for those seven had gotten a test, even though 225 people live and work at Drake Terrace.

In a statement emailed Wednesday, the executive director of Drake Terrace, John Meyer, said the facility has stringent protocols in place to help prevent the spread of the virus. On Thursday, Meyer sent a new letter to Drake Terrace families, reporting that one of the infected residents had fully recovered, leaving six active cases.

But Meyer did not share a troubling development: By this point, one of the Drake Terrace residents with COVID-19 had died.

It was the resident who tested positive on March 27. The resident, who had underlying health conditions, died in a hospital on March 30, according to Cook.

Drake Terrace did not initially disclose the death to families or the media. Cook said on Saturday that the facility decided not to reveal the information because they were waiting for an official cause of death from the medical examiner and wanted to protect patient privacy. (It is not a privacy violation to confirm a patients death.)

Also, Drake Terrace did not include the deceased resident in its earlier tally of seven coronavirus cases.

We were just trying to report the active cases, Cook explained. If theyre no longer living, its not technically an active case.

On Friday, the same day Kisco finally disclosed the death, Barnett was able to video chat with her father on the phone.

Dad doesnt talk much because of effects from Parkinsons, she told The Chronicle in an email, but today he softly said, You look pretty. It made me feel good to hear Dads voice, see and be seen, and most importantly, connect.

Note: The story has been corrected to reflect that The Chronicles analysis of coronavirus cases at facilities across the Bay Area included nursing homes and assisted living centers.

Jason Fagone, Cynthia Dizikes and Trisha Thadani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jason.fagone@sfchronicle.com, cdizikes@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfagone, @cdizikes, @TrishaThadani
The Rajasthan Police has come down harshly on people who click selfies or pictures while distributing food to the needy amidst the coronavirus lockdown and later use it for propadaganda.

Social media platforms are flooded with pictures of people, individual and NGO representatives, giving out food rations and groceries to people who are in dire need. However, in most cases, such pictures become an act of propaganda and sway away from the purpose and intent.





BCCL

Ajmer District collector Vishwa Mohan Sharma said nobody would be allowed to take selfies and photographs or carry out videography while distributing food packets or dry ration to the needy here.



He warned that if such incidents were reported, then FIRs would be registered against the guilty under IPC Section 188.

In the last 16 days, there was a massive rush to distribute food packets and grocery among people by NGOs. But that soon became an act of propaganda. In one of the incidents, eight people in Ajmer were clicked distributing two bananas to a poor.

Similarly, seven members of an NGO of Congressman Riju Jhunjhunwala, who was the partys candidate for Ajmer Lok Sabha seat in 2019, were seen feeding grass to a cow and later loaded a photo on social media and even got it published in a vernacular daily. Others groups posted photos and videos feeding street dogs.

The administration said taking selfies and photographs was flouting the social distancing norms. To maintain social distancing, the administration issued orders that no one should take selfies or photographs while distributing anything in the city.
Chhattisgarh minister Jai Singh Aggarwal on Friday flagged that around 12 per cent of the population in the Korba industrial area in the state suffers from asthma and bronchitis due to extreme pollution and is highly vulnerable to infections like COVID-19.

The state minister for disaster management in a letter to his colleague and Industries Minister Kawasi Lakhma said that the novel coronavirus disease can have a major impact on the population suffering from asthma and bronchitis in the industrial area.

Korba is extremely polluted due to open-cast coal mines and coal-fired plants, he said.

The State Health Resource Centre (SHRC), Chhattisgarh, has in its report said that around 12 per cent of the population in the Korba industrial area spread over 11 kilometres is suffering from asthma and bronchitis. These people are highly vulnerable to the threat of coronavirus, Aggarwal wrote.

He has requested Lakhma to instruct officials in his department to take immediate steps to control emissions.

Health impact assessment should be made mandatory like impact assessment before industries are set up, Aggarwal suggested. Prabir Chatterjee, former director, SHRC Chhattisgarh, said it is encouraging to see that the minister has taken notice of the report.

We too will encourage other cabinet ministers to take up this cause and begin health impact assessments in the interest of the common man, displaced and tribal communities whom they represent, he said.

Aarti Khosla, Director at Climate Trends, a Delhi-based strategic communications body that specialises in building narratives around climate change, said, Predisposition to ill health, for example respiratory conditions like asthma, which are prevalent in industrial areas which are thermal power clusters like Korba, lead to reduced lung function.

While scientific studies can reveal exact correlation, it is only obvious that poor lung capacity makes such people a high risk group for infections like coronavirus, she said.

The findings from the health study show significantly elevated prevalence of respiratory diseases among the exposed population in Korba, the power capital of Chhattisgarh with 10 coal-fired power plants.

Korba also has the world's second largest open cast coal mines, Gevra, and other major open cast coal mines such as Kusmunda and Dipka.

The most common cause of pollution in the locality are the emissions from thermal power plants; dumping of fly ash and ash slurry; outflow of coolant water into river impacting the flora, fauna and fish and groundwater contamination because of coal storage yards and ash ponds.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Few aspects of life bring as many people together as religion.

Why it matters: In most crises, that is a blessing. In a pandemic, it can be dangerous.

As the coronavirus spread beyond China, some of the earliest outbreaks were traced to religious services or pilgrimages.

South Korea's outbreak intensified rapidly after the virus was spread at a secretive church in Daegu.

Israel's virus hotspot is Bnei Brak, where some ultra-Orthodox people defied the nationwide lockdown to attend services and weddings.

The initial epicenter of Irans outbreak was the holy city Qom. Pilgrims reportedly contacted the virus there and spread it in their own countries before shrines were belatedly shut down.

A gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat Islamic missionary movement brought followers from 30 countries to Malaysia in late February, and is believed to have led to thousands of infections.

More recently, news that the virus had spread at another Tablighi Jamaat gathering in New Delhi has fanned sectarian tensions in India, with some prominent supporters of the Hindu nationalist government blaming Muslims for India's outbreak, per Foreign Policy.

But as much of the world has moved inside, places of worship have emptied as well.

Catholic services were suspended last month in Italy, and in other countries since. This weekend, Pope Francis will celebrate Easter Mass in a near-empty St. Peters Basilica.

Saudi Arabia closed the holy mosques in Mecca and Medina in early March and is considering cancelling the Hajj, which was expected to draw some 3 million pilgrims in late July.

The call to prayer still sounds in Kuwait, but people are urged to pray in their homes.

Meanwhile, many religious organizations have played vital roles in providing for the sick and needy.

Religious institutions in many countries garner far more trust than political leaders, but this is not simply a matter of church vs. state. In some cases, its politicians who are urging the faithful to gather.

President John Magufuli has called on Tanzanians to pack churches and mosques, arguing that prayer can keep the virus at bay.

Some Evangelical churches in Brazil have defied local and state bans on mass gatherings, with the support of President Jair Bolsonaro. He has dismissed the threat from the virus and declared church services "essential."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made a similar designation after a pastor was arrested for refusing to halt services.

What to watch: Billions around the world will celebrate Passover, Easter and Ramadan this month. Many, but not all, will do so at home.

Go deeper:
Retail workers say they are "scared and desperate" and are begging for businesses to stop in-store trading amid fears for their health during the COVID-19 crisis.

Employees have told of customers openly coughing in store, coming too close to a pregnant worker, and revealing that although they were meant to be in quarantine, they were out shopping because they "needed a break".

JB Hi-Fi stores still remain open during the coronavirus pandemic, causing angst for a number of its employees. Credit:Patrick Durkin

The retail workers' union said it had been in contact with major stores nationwide as they fielded concerns from staff working during the outbreak.

A JB Hi-Fi employee, who didn't want to be named, described the company's decision to keep its doors open as "crazy".
New Delhi, April 10 : Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday held a meeting via video conferencing with health ministers of different states for taking stock of the preparedness regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.

Most of the state representatives demanded more quantity of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators and testing kits from the Health Ministry.

Speaking to the Harsh Vardhan, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said, "We need more ventilators." Echoing the demand, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma urged the ICMR to relax the testing strategy so that more and more tests could be conducted.

"Ramganj near Jaipur is badly affected. May be we have to vacate the entire area and send every single family to quarantine. We want to increase the testing capacity, therefore I request the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to relax the testing strategy so that more and more tests could be conducted." He also suggested allocating more money to the states having Covid-19 hotspots and demanded rapid antibody testing kits.

The representative from Himachal Pradesh said that the state needed more ventilators and PPEs. He said that the state bodies are working efficiently as per the guidance of the Centre, but are facing shortage of PPE and Ventilators.

Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pnadey said that there are at least 11 districts in the state which have been badly affected by the disease. He said, "Bihar has received only Rs 80 crore from the Centre," and urged the Union Health Minister to allocate more funds to the state.

Gujarat Health Minister Nitinbhai Patel requested the Centre to set up more testing labs in the state.

The representative of Haryana said that the state did not receive a single ventilator, while his West Bengal counterpart said there is scarcity of Hydroxychloroquine in West Bengal.

The representative of Haryana also complained about shortage of PPE kits. Similar issue was raised by his counterparts from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Harsh Vardhan, on his part, informed all state representatives that antibody rapid testing kits are not available in the country as of now and that the government has ordered more ventilators.

"There are no antibody rapid test kits available in the country as of now. We have placed order for them and we will give them as soon as the order is delivered," he said.

The chief scientist of ICMR, Raman Gangakhedkar, requested the state representatives not to hoard testing kits. "Many states have placed orders in advance with the manufacturers. This is unnecessary and will cause a rise in the price of the kits. Moreover, rapid testing kits are not the replacement of RT-PCR," said Khedkar.

Harsh Vardhan also informed the state representatives that the government has ordered more ventilators but they will be needed in very few cases; therefore, the states should focus on other requirements like oxygen cylinders, beds etc.

"There are 17,000 ventilators for Covid-19 hospitals, and the government has placed orders for 50,000 more. States should focus more on oxygen cylinders, beds etc.," he said.

The meeting was also joined by the MoS Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Health Secretary Preeti Sudan.
New guidelines for Int'l travellers: From South Africa to Mauritius, here is a list of at-risk countries

Indias fuel consumption down by 18 per cent

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 10: India's fuel consumption in March shrank by 18 per cent, the biggest decline in more than a decade, as a nationwide lockdown halted economic activity and travel.

India's petroleum product consumption fell 17.79 per cent to 16.08 million tonnes in March as diesel, petrol and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) demand fell, according to official data released on Thursday.

Diesel, the most consumed fuel in the country, saw demand contract by 24.23 per cent to 5.65 million tonnes. This is the biggest fall in diesel consumption the country has recorded as most trucks went off-road and railways stopped plying trains. Petrol sales dropped 16.37 per cent to 2.15 million tonnes as the 21-day nationwide lockdown enforced to prevent the spread of COVID-19 took most cars and two-wheelers off the road.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Friday, April 10, 2020, 11:18 [IST]
In line with the Government's appeal to maintain social distance to counter the spread of COVID-19, JK Tyre & Industries recently introduced a unique social media campaign #DistanceOKPlease to educate people about the importance of staying at home.

Based on the popular Truck Shayari concept, the campaign appeals to the citizens with witty popular slogans that are often seen on commercial vehicles in India. The Campaign went live on March 29, 2020 across owned social media platforms of JK Tyre (Facebook; Twitter, Instagram) with a focused outreach through Facebook.

Stemming from the necessity of creating mass awareness on social distancing, the company adopted a clutter breaking and light hearted communique through this campaign for a sustained and impactful outreach amidst the sombre environment. It brings colourful and illustrative messages on the need to stay at home during the lockdown period, such as, Phir Milenge, Tab Tak, Door Rahenge, Safe Rahenge and Jiyo Aur Jeene Do, Par Bahar Na Jaane Do.

Commenting on the occasion, Srinivasu Allaphan, Director - Sales & Marketing at JK Tyre & Industries Ltd said, It is an unprecedented and highly sensitive time for all of us, which demands us to come together  online to face this problem. It is crucial for brands to take ownership and leverage existing resources to inform the public and increase visibility and influence at the community level. We are making every attempt to raise consciousness about the precautionary steps to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

The Coronavirus pandemic flare-up has affected the lives of billions around the world, causing the entire economy to succumb to situation, posing problems for organizations around the globe. It is, therefore, an earnest attempt by JK Tyre & Industries to launch this project, promoting positivity and smiles in the hour of need.

Parallel to the social media initiative, the organization has also coordinated regional efforts, through nationwide drives, to educate truck drivers, retailers and other vendors regarding protective steps against the spread of COVID-19.
A six-year-old boy who won the nation's heart in his battle against leukaemia is pictured giving a big thumbs up as he is discharged from hospital after being confirmed cancer free.

Oscar Saxelby-Lee, from Worcester, was diagnosed with an aggressive blood cancer in December 2018 after his parents noticed unusual bruising on his legs.

Doctors told the family it would be a 'life or death' three-month race to find a match to save his life which led to parents Olivia Saxelby, 25, and Jamie Lee, 28, to launch a UK-wide appeal for donors.

Last March a record-breaking 4,855 volunteers queued in the freezing rain after Oscar's Pitmaston Primary School in Worcester opened as a testing centre.

Oscar Saxelby-Lee, six, from Worcester, gives a thumbs up as he is driven from the hospital in Singapore after being deemed cancer free

In total more than 10,000 people were tested across the UK until a match was finally found.

But months later, his family, of St Johns, Worcester, faced further anguish when the rare T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia returned.

But after a crowdfunding campaign raised 600,000, his family flew him to Singapore for pioneering treatment not available on the NHS.

Oscar became only the second child in the world to undergo CAR-T therapy before having a second bone marrow transplant.

Now Oscar's thrilled mother Olivia confirmed he was out of hospital and cancer free.

Oscar with his mother Olivia Saxelby, 25, and father Jamie Lee, 28, during his time having treatment in Singapore

Writing on the Hand in Hand for Oscar Facebook page, which is followed by millions worldwide, she said: 'He's only gone and done it!!!!!!!

'Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to our AMAZING team at National University Hospital - NUH, you have made miracles happen!

'Oscar's Army, and of course the incredible Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust.

'We love you all!

'HOME SWEET HOME, WHEREVER IT WILL BE!'

Brave Oscar, affectionately nicknamed Ozzy Bear by his parents, posed in his car seat wearing a protective mask and giving a massive thumbs up.

Last March a record-breaking 4,855 volunteers queued in the freezing rain after Oscar's Pitmaston Primary School in Worcester opened as a testing centre

Some of the 4,800 donors that queued through the gates of Pitmaston Primary School, Worcester

Jen Kelly, director of the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust, who has kept in touch with the family, said: 'It is wonderful that he is doing so well.

'They have now been in Singapore for six months and it is incredible that he is still cancer free and that his bone marrow transplant has gone well to date.

'We would like to say a big thank you to the people of Worcestershire for helping us give this lifesaving chance to Oscar and his family.'

Oscar is now out of hospital but is still returning frequently for treatment so he will still be in Singapore for several more months before returning home to Worcester.

Oscar is now out of hospital but is still returning frequently for treatment so he will still be in Singapore for several more months before returning home to Worcester

Throughout his treatment, Oscar has kept in touch with his classmates and teachers from his hospital bed via an innovative robot - nicknamed 'Ozzybot'.

His headteacher Kate Wilcock, who organised the huge donor registration event and Ozzybot lessons, said: 'Incredible news his last results are MRD negative, no disease.

'We are absolutely blown away - the dream has become a reality.

'He has left hospital to go home - obviously he will be staying in Singapore at the moment.

'Isn't it the best news ever. A very emotional day.'
Source: Xinhua| 2020-04-10 23:43:15|Editor: huaxia

Video Player Close

MOSCOW, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The Kremlin said Friday it considers a tentative agreement reached by an absolute majority of countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-aligned crude producers as a done deal.

"Definitely. Last night 22 countries reached a compromise, and the question was only in Mexico's position," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, answering the question whether the Kremlin believes the deal would come through.

In the early hours on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud confirmed in a phone conversation their intention to coordinate actions aimed at stabilizing the global oil market.

The three leaders of the top crude-producing states also agreed to work towards minimizing the negative impact of oil prices' volatility on the world economy, according to a Kremlin statement.

Later on Friday, Trump called Putin, the Kremlin said in a statement.

During the phone call, the two exchanged views on the global oil market situation, including the OPEC+ agreement, which is being worked out, it said.

Trump informed Putin about his contacts with the leaders of a number of oil-producing countries, the statement said.

The OPEC and other crude producers led by Russia, known as OPEC+, reached on Thursday a tentative agreement to cut production to stop a market free-fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The participating countries, except Mexico, agreed to cut their overall production by 10 million barrels per day (b/d) for two months starting from May 1, according to a statement published on the OPEC website in the early hours of Friday.

For the subsequent period of six months, from July 1 to Dec. 21, the total adjustment agreed will be 8 million b/d. It will be followed by a 6 million b/d adjustment for a period of 16 months, from Jan. 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022.

The agreement is conditional on the consent of Mexico, the statement said.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said at a press conference on Friday that his country was ready to cut output by 100,000 b/d, but he had agreed with Trump that the United States will compensate what Mexico cannot add to the proposed cuts.

"Trump said the United States committed to reducing by 250,000 (barrels), on top of what it was going to do, for Mexico, in order to compensate," he said.
Stan's Donuts, a fixture in Westwood Village for 55 years, closed Thursday, April 10, due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Alene Tchekmedyian / Los Angeles)

Stans Donuts, the beloved Westwood doughnut shop that fed and comforted generations of UCLA students, faculty, staff, locals and tourists, has permanently closed.

The shop served its last batch of doughnuts Thursday. In a statement posted on its website, founder and owner Stan Berman wrote the closure was due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is with a sad heart that I inform you that I have made the decision to close my doors and today will be the last day I will be making donuts, Berman wrote. Unfortunately COVID-19 made the decision happen sooner, but I hope that you will remember how our donuts made you smile for many years to come.

The news was first reported by UCLAs Daily Bruin newspaper.

Denise Snead, wearing a black face mask and gloves, stopped by Stan's Donuts Friday to pick up some doughnuts and was disappointed to find the shop closed.

"Oh no," she said as she read a sign posted on the window.

She said a friend had brought Winchell's doughnuts to work recently, and that made her crave Stan's Donuts.

"I am just so disappointed and just so sad to see them closed. COVID-19 has just spoiled everything," Snead said.

A message from Stan Berman posted on a window at Stan's Donuts: "Thank you for being by my side for all these years." (Alene Tchekmedyian / Los Angeles Times)

Berman, a third-generation baker, opened his shop in 1965 in the heart of Westwood Village at the intersection of Broxton and Weyburn avenues, across from the Fox Theatre. Originally called the Corner Shoppe, Berman described his business as the smallest little shop youve ever seen in your life to Huell Howser in an episode of the popular KCET travel program Californias Gold.

We smell up the whole area but we have a nice smell. Its cinnamon and peanut butter, Berman said. I have [customers] come from all over the country and basically from all over the world  the Philippines, Israel. I have made friends here, from Nobel Prize-winning doctors to the chancellors of the university.

Stans Donuts was known for its unique doughnut creations. The Peanut Butter Pocket  a peanut butter-filled doughnut topped with chocolate glaze and chocolate chips  was renamed the Huell after Howsers visit. It became the shops most popular doughnut.

Story continues

The Simpson, with its pink glaze and colorful sprinkles, resembled the doughnuts Homer Simpson frequently indulged in the Fox animated series. For the shows 20th anniversary, producers shipped several boxes of a dozen of the doughnuts to Fox affiliates.

Thats the doughnut that he eats all the time. Thats his favorite doughnut, Berman said.

Berman's shop inspired entrepreneur Rich Labriola, and the pair formed a relationship over their shared passion for doughnuts. Labriola opened Stan's Donuts & Coffee in Chicago in 2014 and has since opened several more locations.

Berman, too, expanded to several other locations but eventually decided to stick with his original shop, closing the others over the years.

In his goodbye note, Berman wrote customers support and friendship has meant more than you know.

Thank you for being by my side for all these years.
Yemen Army dismisses Saudi claim of suspension of hostilities

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 April 2020 5:19 PM

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces has categorically dismissed a claim by Saudi-led military coalition that it was observing a two-week ceasefire and suspension of hostilities in its devastating war against Yemen.

In a Twitter post on Thursday, Brigadier General Yahya Saree said that the Saudi-led forces had stepped up their offensives and attacks across various parts of the impoverished Arab country over the past few hours

"Saudi and Emirati forces have carried out at least five large-scale airstrikes on Yemeni areas near the kingdom's southwestern border region of Najran since the early hours of this morning," he wrote.

On Wednesday night, the coalition claimed it was halting military operations in Yemen in support of UN efforts to end its five-year war, which has killed tens of thousands and spread hunger and disease.

Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malkiclaimed that the move was decided in part to avoid a potential outbreak of the new coronavirus in Yemen. The spokesman said the ceasefire would go into effect at midday on Thursday for two weeks and was open to extension.

However, shortly after the announcement, the coalition's warplanes struck positions at several Yemeni regions, including Sa'ada, Amran, and al-Bayda, according to Yemen's al-Masirah TV.

Before the airstrikes, Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement had downplayed the Saudi ceasefire announcement, describing it as a chance for Riyadh to get out of the quagmire with minimum disgrace.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in order to bring former president, AbdRabbuh Mansur Hadi, back to power and crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have purchased billions of dollars' worth of weapons from the United States, France and the United Kingdom in their war on Yemen.

Riyadh and its allies have been widely criticized for the high civilian death toll resulted from their bombing campaign in Yemen.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past five years.

The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Anecdotal evidence is based on a real-life event, perhaps just a single occurrence. In medicine and science, much current knowledge began with an anecdote. A famous example occurred in 1928, when Sir Alexander Fleming happened to observe that mold developed on an accidentally contaminated staphylococcus culture plate, and that the mold prevented growth of the bacteria.

This led to the discovery of penicillin, saving countless lives, based on anecdotal evidence of bacteria not growing near a spot of mold. With World War II creating injuries, infections, and sepsis, penicillin was produced in mass, preserving lives and limbs.

Another more recent example comes from my world of retina surgery. An anti-cancer drug, Avastin, was injected into the eyes of a few patients with advanced macular degeneration. These few patients responded well, anecdotally. After this breakthrough was reported at a retina meeting, it almost immediately became the new treatment standard worldwide.

There were no prospective, randomized clinical trials, considered the gold standard, just the anecdotal observation that this off label treatment worked and saved vision. Despite being the most commonly used treatment for macular degeneration, Avastin is still not FDA approved for this indication.

At the time of inception, the risks were unknown. Could it cause a stroke? Inflammation? Infection? This was a drug that didnt go through the FDA approval process, at least for injection in the eye, despite it being FDA approved as chemotherapy for metastatic cancer.

Were state governors restricting its use? Were media magpies with little medical knowledge, and even less common sense castigating anyone who dared recommend such an unproven and dangerous therapy?

Yet here we are in a similar situation with the drug hydroxychloroquine. FDA approved in 1955, doctors have over fifty years experience using it for malaria prevention and various immune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. But look at the abject hysteria from the media, and even the smart set on the task force.

YouTube screen grab

Like any drug, there are potential side effects, some significant, in particular cardiac arrhythmias. Hydroxy shouldnt be taken by those with a prolonged QT interval on their EKG. This condition affects about 1 in 2500 and is easily found on an EKG. Those traveling to malaria prevalent countries take it for the duration of their travels, from weeks to months. Longer term, hydroxy can rarely affect vision, but after a minimum of five years of use, not the 5 days or so recommended for Coronavirus treatment or prophylaxis.

Meaning this a well-known and relatively safe drug. Compare this to other commonly prescribed drugs. Anti-depressants can cause suicide and blood thinners may lead to internal bleeding. Even water can cause death if one drinks too much of it.

It so happens that hydroxy has efficacy against the often-deadly Coronavirus. An upstate New York doctor treating a community of Hasidic Jews, reports a 100 percent success rate treating mild to moderate cases with hydroxy, azithromycin, and zinc. The New York Times, showing disdain for upstate New York, orthodox Jews, and anything remotely connected to President Trump, ran this headline, Touting virus cure, simple country doctor becomes right-wing star.

Across the fruited plains to Los Angeles, an emergency medicine specialist also reports significant success using hydroxy and zinc, with patients becoming symptom free within 8 to 12 hours. Anecdotal evidence, but whats the alternative?

This exemplifies the leftist elite view against anything promoted by President Trump and promoted by a simple country doctor rather than an ivory tower Ivy League grad like Dr Fauci, letting politics trump science. Sound familiar, as in global warming? To the media, saving lives of Coronavirus afflicted is apparently a right-wing cause. Isnt the left interested in saving lives too? Apparently not.

Ever since President Trump mentioned hydroxy as a potential game changing treatment, the media and the left (sorry to be redundant) have treated hydroxy as rat poison.

Rep Maxine Waters played doctor when she tweeted, Dont listen to 45 when he suggests untested hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID19.

A real doctor, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist warned, Inexcusable to ignore hydroxychloroquine side effects. No one is ignoring side effects. Unlike the brainiac who took fishbowl cleaner, hydroxy is available only via a prescription from a licensed physician. Its the doctors job to weigh the risks and benefits of any prescription they write.

Did anyone ask the cardiologist about the reported side effects of Coronavirus, such as several weeks in intensive care, permanent lung dysfunction, heart or kidney damage, or ultimately death?

Scientists want clean data, which can only come via a prospective, randomized clinical trial. This would require a control group, those sick with Coronavirus but willing to receive a placebo rather than hydroxy. How many people, given the widely known anecdotal evidence, would be willing to participate in a clinical trial knowing that they may get a placebo rather than hydroxy?

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that hydroxy works, as this recent American Thinker article outlines. Why not let doctors and patients decide whether to use it, rather than government bureaucrats whose judgement is clouded by political considerations?

Would CNN anti-Trump cranks Chris Cuomo or Dana Bash, afflicted with Coronavirus, be willing to be in a hydroxy trial and take a placebo rather than the dangerous unproven potential gamechanger? Anyone want to bet they are both taking hydroxy?

Even NY Governor Andrew Cuomo acknowledges early responses to hydroxy anecdotally suggest its been effective, and is allowing hospital use of the drug. The Michigan governor, after threatening to revoke the medical licenses of physicians who dared to prescribe hydroxy for Coronavirus, did a quick about face, a few days later asking the federal government for hydroxy for her state.

Has Trump derangement syndrome so afflicted the media and the left that their hostility toward hydroxy is based solely on the fact that President Trump promoted it? It sure seems that way.

Attorney General William Barr noticed this too,

Before the president said anything about it, there was fair and balanced coverage of this very promising drug and the fact that it had such a long track record, and soon as [President Trump] said something positive about it the media has been on a jihad to discredit this drug.

So what if the only evidence to date is anecdotal? The scientists of the Coronavirus task force may bristle at anecdotal evidence, but doctors on the front lines, those confronting dying patients rather than journal editorial boards, feel otherwise. An international poll of 6,000 doctors, Found that the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine was the most highly rated treatment for the novel coronavirus.

In an ideal world, clinical trial data is the gold standard. But when people are losing their eyesight from macular degeneration or their lives from Coronavirus, and the economy is on life support, the axiom, perfect is the enemy of good applies. There will be plenty of time for proper studies but now is the time to mitigate disease and save lives.

As President Trump likes to say, What do you have to lose?. Thats common sense for most of us, those not poisoned so much by Trump hatred that they want to deny a potential lifesaving treatment to millions of Americans, a treatment that they would demand for themselves or their family members infected with Coronavirus. Take the media hysteria with a grain of salt. Read and discern for yourself.

Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a Denver based physician and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in American Thinker, Daily Caller, Rasmussen Reports, and other publications. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and QuodVerum.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19, JD.com has been a key player in the global fight against the pandemic, allocating more than RMB 1.5 billion in resources to ensure the livelihood of Chinese consumers and support the country's economy; while JD Health now provides free online services around the world for medical and psychological consultations. Liu's donation this week aids one of JD's key markets as the British government faces enormous pressure regarding the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) available to frontline NHS staff.

Responsibility for distributing Liu's donated supplies to local hospitals throughout the country falls to several UK organizations, including The Chinese Embassy in the UK, China Charity Federation, Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation of China, UK Chinese Business Association and London Chinese Community Centre. Chinese citizens residing in the UK and students studying abroad can reserve masks free of charge over the weekend  from 10:00am on Friday, April 10, through midnight on Sunday, April 12 (GMT)  through the JD app or at https://global.jd.com/.

Liu says the decision to prioritize Chinese nationals is in direct response to the generosity extended to China from UK's Chinese residents two months ago amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. Chinese nationals who reside in the UK donated a significant number of masks, disinfectants and medical supplies through JD Logistics, and Richard Liu and wife Nancy Zhang's latest relief efforts wish to return the favor. While Chinese residents will have early, free access to supplies, Liu's donation will extend beyond this group and provide much needed relief to the broader community.

In the early part of the year, many Chinese enterprises responded to the nation's call to produce medical supplies, helping China meet domestic demand; and most of the materials in Liu's donation come from this production. JD is now leveraging its industry-leading integrated smart supply chain and logistics business to purchase and deploy relief materials to meet needs abroad.

About JD.com

JD.com is a leading technology driven e-commerce company transforming to become the leading supply chain based technology and service provider. The company's cutting-edge retail infrastructure seeks to enable consumers to buy whatever they want, whenever and wherever they want it. The company has opened its technology and infrastructure to partners, brands and other sectors, as part of its Retail as a Service offering to help drive productivity and innovation across a range of industries. JD.com is the largest retailer in China, a member of the NASDAQ100 and a Fortune Global 500 company.

SOURCE JD.com
Prepare For Big Surprises in Modern Family's Series Finale

That gave Mitch and Claire time to go steal back their skating trophy from the high school, while Cam and Gloria bonded as he steamed his suit.

Modern Family

The Dunphys

Phil and Claire thought they needed one of their grown-up kids to move out to make their house livable, but just as they decided they no longer needed that, all of their kids announced they're moving out anyway.

Alex's new job is now located in Switzerland, and she's starting up a slightly unorthodox, Haley-approved relationship with her new boss. Luke got into the University of Oregon, and Haley and Dylan realized they now have enough money (thanks to Dylan participating in medical trials) to get an apartment on their own.

With all their kids gone, Claire agreed to join Phil on an RV trip across the country.

Modern Family, Series Finale

The Pritchetts

As Gloria, Manny, and Joe prepared for a trip to Colombia, Jay seemed to be losing his mind as he just stared off into the distance, but he was actually learning Spanish in preparation to join his family on their trip.

Jay also successfully bought Cam and Mitch an insane housewarming present (see above) that they unexpectedly loved, but he will haunt us forever. Thanks so much, Modern Family.

Modern Family aired on ABC.
Boeing will redo its Starliner spacecraft test that failed to dock with the International Space Station in December, further delaying the companys timeline for launching people into microgravity.

Boeing is one of two commercial companies selected by NASA to develop spacecraft that will carry astronauts to the International Space Station. It had a key test in December where a Starliner was launched without people on board. It was supposed to dock with the International Space Station, but a software anomaly prevented it from docking and prompted Boeing and NASA to create a joint independent review team to analyze the unsuccessful mission. Until Monday, they had not announced if Boeing would redo this test or could advance to launching astronauts.

More from the review: Report finds greater scrutiny needed for Boeing spacecraft

Boeing said its committed to the safety of the men and women who design, build and will fly on the Starliner spacecraft.

We have chosen to refly our Orbital Flight Test to demonstrate the quality of the Starliner system, Boeing said. Flying another uncrewed flight will allow us to complete all flight test objectives and evaluate the performance of the second Starliner vehicle at no cost to the taxpayer.

The joint review team identified two major software errors.

The first error caused the spacecrafts mission timer, which is supposed to start at the time of launch and end when the vehicle lands, to be off by nearly 11 hours. That prompted the spacecraft to think it was in a different phase of the mission, delaying a scheduled burn and causing its thrusters to expend too much fuel too early. It didnt leave enough fuel to reach the space station.

The second software error was detected while the spacecraft was in orbit. It could have caused an issue right before the spacecrafts return to Earth during the separation of the crew module from the service module, which fuels and propels the spacecraft. The software error could have led the modules to bump together after separation, but it was caught and corrected before the Starliner returned to Earth.

The spacecraft also had a communications-related hardware issue that impeded the ability to command and control the spacecraft.

Despite such issues, the Starliner had a safe landing Dec. 22 at the Armys White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

And as Boeing works to redo its uncrewed test, NASA is moving forward with the second commercial space company. SpaceX could launch astronauts in its final test as soon as May, marking the first time astronauts have launched from U.S. soil since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011. Astronauts have since relied on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to reach the space station.

More on SpaceX: Houston-born astronaut Shannon Walker to ride on SpaceX Crew Dragon to space station

Douglas Loverro, NASAs associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, praised Boeings decision on Twitter.

Hats off to Boeing for recommending a repeat of their Orbital Flight Test for the @Commercial_Crew program, his Tweet said. Corporate responsibility takes many forms, and this is one of them.

andrea.leinfelder@chron.com

twitter.com/a_leinfelder
Kansas City Developer Pep Talk Amid COVID-19 Recession

Now is not the time to be timid: Adapting KC's spirit to confront COVID-19 Kansas City is a unique and extraordinary city. There is no doubt. We celebrate a successful corporate landscape highlighted by world class companies including Hallmark, H&R Block, Garmin, Sprint, Cerner and many others.

KCFD Stays Winning Desperately Needed Supplies

After COVID-19 delays vote, Kansas City spends $3.5 million on fire protective gear Kansas City will dip into its general fund to pay for more than $3.5 million in firefighter gear to replace old equipment, some of which is failing inspection, the City Council decided Thursday. Council members voted 12-1 Thursday to approve the purchase, which will come from the city general fund.

Kansas City Trash Party Amid Coronavirus Lockdown

Trash amnesty, leaf and brush details for KCMO residents Kansas City Solid Waste division, in coordination with contract partner WCA Waste Corporation (WCA), is having a special No-tag Week April 13-17 to help residents during Kansas City's Stay-At-Home order and the cancellation of many previously-scheduled neighborhood clean-up events. Trash amnesty Trash amnesty for Kansas City residents is April 13-17.

No Returns Amid No Fun

Delayed opening for Worlds of Fun has some season pass holders demanding a refund KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The coronavirus has put a hold on Worlds of Fun's opening day, which had been slated for Friday. It's also prompted season pass holders to demand a refund. "Am I ever going to get my money back?" Emily Thomas asked. Thomas is on a monthly payment plan for a $400 family pass.

Dems Covered By CNN

CNN mocked for changing headline on Senate Dems blocking $250B small business fund CNN was lampooned by critics on Thursday after a headline of its report on Senate Democrats blocking financial relief for small businesses was quickly changed. A $250 billion urgent request to shore up a depleting small business fund failed to pass the Senate Thursday after Democrats objected to the measure pushed by the White House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Top Doc Debunks Coronavirus Death Count Conspiracy

Fauci dismisses 'conspiracy theory' of overstated US Covid-19 death toll Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert, has warned that baseless "conspiracy theories" are swirling around the coronavirus crisis following claims that America's official death toll from Covid-19 has been overstated.

Boris Gets Better

Prime Minister Boris Johnson released from intensive care U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was released from intensive care on Thursday, after being admitted for coronavirus treatment. "The Prime Minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery," a spokesman for No.

HARVEY STAYS WINNING AGAINST COVID-19!!!

Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein survives coronavirus and is out of quarantine, spokesman says Harvey Weinstein has survived his fight against coronavirus and is out of his 14-day quarantine at Wende Correctional Facility, the New York facility where he is housed, Fox News has confirmed. According to his spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, "He has been released from medical isolation" and has now been "deemed alright."

Kansas Solar Power Stays Winning Court Fight

Inside Clean Energy: Rooftop Solar Wins Big in Kansas Court Ruling The Kansas Supreme Court has provided a rare and sweet victory for renewable energy advocates in the state, with national implications. The court issued a unanimous ruling on Friday agreeing with advocates that a 2018 utility rate plan was discriminatory in the way it created a new charge that inflated the bills of rooftop solar customers.

Show-Me Fishy Fun

Missouri anglers can still fish without permit or daily trout tag through April 15 GOOD AFTERNO. I'M ROB HUGHES.NEW UNEMPLOYMENT OUT. THE-S GOVERNMENT SAYS ANOTHER SIX- POINT-SIX LLION AMERICANS FLED FOR UNEMPLOYMENBENEFITS LAST WEEK-- AS THE CONAVIRUS PANDEMIC CONTINUES TO TAKE ITS TOLL ON T ECONOMY. I WAS THE SECOND LARGEST NUMBER OF ITIAL UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS IN U-S HISTORY -- SINCE TRAKING STARTED IN 1967 WORKERS CTINUE TO SUFFER FROM DEVASTATING JOBOSSES, FURLOUGHS AND REDUCED HOURONNECTED TO THE PANDEMIC.

Sharing Friendly Hipster Help

How to connect with at-risk loved ones during the Easter holiday An Easter card package. // Photo by Luke Searles Social distancing from our at-risk loved ones is not just the kind thing to do, it's the life-saving thing to do. This is why we need to find ways to stay connected in manners that don't require face-to-face contact.

Kansas City Aglow

Alpha-Lit helping to #LightItBlue for COVID-19 support Cities and organizations are being urged to go blue Thursday night in support of first responders, health care professionals and essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alpha-Lit KC, the sign company that gained notoriety for its clever signs at Union Station during the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl run is also doing its part to #LightItBlue.The company has two new signs to share: The first reads #LightItBlue all in a brilliant blue color.

Apropos for #TBT,. . . Yet her fashionista goodness inspires as we gather community news, pop culture reviews and info from across the nation and the world . . .And this is thefor right now . . .
U.S. immigration officials must disclose the number of releases they have granted or denied from detention centers in five southern states to migrants considered at higher risk of dying from coronavirus.

The order from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg came during a hearing Thursday - days after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement expanded the categories of detainees who should be considered for release beyond pregnant women and those over age 70.

On Saturday, ICE directed field offices nationwide to reassess custody of anyone over 60, as well as those of any age with chronic illnesses compromising their immune systems.

"What I'm looking for is, is it in fact happening on the ground?" Boasberg told lawyers for ICE at an emergency hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington in a lawsuit brought by immigrant advocates seeking release of asylum seekers detained in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Boasberg, who ordered the numbers released by April 30, said ICE's shift may "go a long way" toward releasing the most vulnerable detainees.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Simon said ICE will determine if it can release the information. He said ICE also retains full discretion over the outcome of reviews, saying "none of the [listed] factors are determinative" of release, with public safety a high priority.

ICE's nonbinding guidance came as counties and states are releasing thousands of inmates from prisons and jails fearing outbreaks of coronavirus in confined quarters. Corrections and detention authorities are grappling with public health warnings and demands from judges and prisoner advocates to free nonviolent offenders, pretrial defendants and immigrant detainees who are not charged with crimes and pose low risk of flight.

Louisiana is a national hot spot for the coronavirus, reporting the third-highest per capita death rate among states after New York and New Jersey. Louisiana is also the site of the deadliest outbreak in a federal prison, with its rural Oakdale facility housing five of the eight inmates who have died nationwide under U.S. Bureau of Prisons custody.

As of Thursday, 35 people in ICE custody, including two in facilities in Louisiana, and 71 staffers had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. ICE detained about 35,600 people in more than 130 private and state-run facilities across the country as of March 28.

The hearing Thursday came over an emergency motion filed March 31 by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana in a lawsuit challenging ICE's detention of migrants whose asylum claims are pending.

Boasberg ruled in September that while the lawsuit proceeds, ICE's New Orleans field office must cease denying nearly 100 percent of parole release requests from asylum applicants. In the lawsuit, originally filed May 30, plaintiffs showed that the office's denial rate for such detainees had grown from 24.5 percent in 2016, to 82 percent in 2017, 98.5 percent in 2018 and 100 percent in 2019 by the time of Boasberg's order.

In the new motion, the center and the ACLU asked Boasberg to order ICE to review all parole decisions from asylum applicants in the five states under the office's jurisdiction because of the threat of covid-19.

"Seeking asylum is a fundamental, internationally recognized human right, but shamefully, our government has relegated asylum seekers to prisons that amount to death traps as the pandemic spreads," SPLC staff attorney Mich Gonzalez said.

ACLU of Louisiana staff attorney Bruce Hamilton called ICE medical conditions "horrific and dysfunctional." He described medical care as limited to ibuprofen. He also asserted that detention center operations do not permit detainees or employees to keep six feet apart when residents sleep, eat or engage in recreation, and that occupants face shortages of soap and cleaning supplies.

ICE has said migrants with the virus have been quarantined and are receiving care, and those exposed to them are being monitored for symptoms. It also has advised facilities to "maximize social distancing as much as practicable" by staggering meal times and recreation activities.

ICE guidance also calls for detainees to be given soap for showers, hand soap for sinks, and "alcohol-based sanitizer in visitor entrances, exits, waiting areas and to staff and detainees in the secure setting whenever possible."

Simon said parole grant rates are "approaching 40 percent" at some site, and ICE has already been releasing detainees with heart disease, hypertension, hepatitis C or testing positive for HIV.

U.S. law has generally allowed anyone who set foot on U.S. soil to apply for asylum. However, tens of thousands of immigrants requesting relief from political persecution, torture or abuse in their native countries have been required to cross back to Mexico to await asylum hearings since last year under the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy.

Tens of thousands of people seeking asylum who are allowed to stay in the United States are held as civil and not criminal detainees while awaiting hearings before backlogged immigration courts.

The lawsuit argues that U.S. authorities are failing to meet constitutional requirements to house migrant prisoners in safe and sanitary conditions.

In the lawsuit, many asylum seekers, such as a Venezuelan dissident detained in Louisiana, argue they pose no public threat or burden and already know potential sponsors in the United States with whom they could live and self-quarantine.

Meanwhile, another petitioner, a Cuban woman, said her dorm was recently combined with that of women under quarantine for the H1N1 influenza. She alleged the other women were not allowed to bathe for three days, were sometimes denied water and were not provided food consistently.

"The women also confirmed that their sheets and clothes were not washed during the quarantine, and they were not allowed to wear their undergarments," the woman alleged. "They also said doctors never came to check on them while under quarantine, and not once did any officers come to clean the dorm during the quarantine. They look so sickly."
Fight against COVID-19 intensifies as focus shifts to 1,100 containment zones

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Apr 10: Intensifying the fight against coronavirus, India's focus has now shifted to about 1,100 containment zones. This is mostly in those states where 100 or more COVID-19 cases have been reported.

These zones arena under a more strict form of restriction, where there is a complete prohibition of movement of residents. These zones range from apartment blocks to the entire neighbourhoods, even parts of an entire district. Only health and authorised government officials are allowed to enter or exit these zones.

At 401, Maharashtra has the highest containment zones. Mumbai alone has 381 and Pune, 20. Uttar Pradesh has 105, while Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have 38 and 180 respectively. In Tamil Nadu, there are 220 and in Delhi and Telangana there are 23 and 125. Andhra Pradesh has 121 containment zones.

What does your child think about the coronavirus lockdown: Send us their thoughts

Containment zones are aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 from a locality or a village. In these zones, the special response team of the armed commandoes and the police maintain round the clock watch. They are assisted with CCTV cameras and drones. Essentials are supplied by COVID volunteers.

Fake News Buster

In these zones, teams of sanitary workers spray disinfectants at regular intervals. Officials also conduct door to door surveys and no outlet is allowed to remain open. Every state is adopting different measures in such zones. In Mumbai, a locality with even one positive case has been declared as a containment zone. In Delhi, none are being allowed within two kilometres of the containment zone.
By Chris Isidore CNN Business

Two insurers -- Allstate and American Family Insurance -- announced they will give back about $800 million to their auto insurance customers because people are driving far less during the coronavirus crisis.

Allstate said Monday it will refund about 15% of premiums paid by its customers in April and May, which comes to a total of about $600 million.

"Given an unprecedented decline in driving, customers will receive a Shelter-in-Place Payback," said Allstate CEO Tom Wilson "This is fair because less driving means fewer accidents."

Allstate's payments will go to all US and Canadian customers with personal auto insurance, whether or not their state has any kind of stay-at-home order. American Family, which only serves customers in 19 states, also said its payments would go to all of its customers.

American Family Insurance said it will give back about $50 per car that a household has insured with the company via a one-time payment. It said that will total about $200 million.

Allstate and American Family also said their customers who are having financial problems because of a loss of income can delay payments on insurance premiums without penalty if they contact the companies.

Both are also expanding insurance coverage for customers who use their personal vehicles to deliver food, medicine and other goods. Standard personal auto insurance policies typically exclude coverage that is used for a customer's car.

And Allstate says it is also offering anyone in the United States, whether or not they are an Allstate customer, free identity protection for the rest of the year "since our lives have become more digital."

But Allstate is probably giving back only a fraction of the money it is likely to save from reduced insurance claims during the crisis said Dan Karr, the CEO of ValChoice, a data analytics company that acts as a watchdog on the insurance industry.

Figures reported by Allstate to state insurance regulators show it pays out a little more than $1 billion a month in auto insurance claims, he said. Karr's modeling suggests that those claims are likely falling by about 85% due to the reduced number of accidents.

I think its great what Allstate did. But wheres the rest of savings? Karr told CNN Business. He said American Family Insurances refund will probably equal even less of the average premium than Allstates target of a 15% reduction.
US President Donald Trump's



strong advocacy of Hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19 patients has rekindled hopes of cinchona planters of Darjeeling hills as the tree's bark is used for production of quinine, another frontline anti-malaria medicine.

Beginning in 1862 in Darjeeling, cinchona plantations flourished over the next several decades in the verdant hills as Malaria sent chill down the spine of people in vast swathes of the country. And it still does.

In 2016, over half of India's population (698 million) was at risk of contracting malaria, according to the World Malaria Report.

The planters, however, started facing a crisis of sorts after introduction of synthetic-chemical production of quinine.

"We are hopeful that due to increase in demand for anti-malaria drugs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, cinchona plantation in Darjeeling will grow. We are hoping for good business after years of disappointment," Samuel Rai, director of Cinchona Plantations, West Bengal, told PTI.

Pharmaceutical companies, however, still procure cinchona bark through e-auction, as it is in demand for making various medicinal drugs, he said, but admitted that the heydays of the plantations are over.

So enthusiastic is President Trump about the usefulness of Hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of the pandemic, which holds his country in a vice-like grip, that he warned India, the world's largest producer of the generic drug, of retaliation if it does not lift the April 4 ban on export of the drug and supply it to the US.

He has been consistently extolling the benefits of the drug in the treatment of COVID-19, calling it a "game changer" despite its unproven efficacy in mitigation of the pandemic that has killed over 87,000 people globally, infected more than 1.5 million, sealed off most of the world and eviscerated the planet's economy.

India, which produces almost 70 per cent of the drug, relented and said it will be supplying the medicine to the neighbouring countries and also those that are badly affected by the pandemic. America tops the list of the countries ravaged by COVID-19 with more than 14,000 deaths reported so far.

It has also begun clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of adults hospitalized with coronavirus disease, according to the National Institutes of Health, which functions under the US Department of Health and Human Services.

According to Rai, hydroxychloroquine is a synthetic molecule as it is derived from chloroquine, which is chemically processed quinine.

Quinine derived from cinchona barks is natural, he said.

Asked why he is bullish on doing good business, Rai said, "The surge in demand for anti-malaria medicines will boost natural production of quinine from cinchona barks."



Quinine sulphate, produced from dry barks of cinchona, is actually the quinine drug needed to treat malaria patients.

"Since the demand for anti-malaria drugs has increased, we have received queries from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for purchase of dry cinchona barks. We are hopeful that naturally derived quinine could be useful (in the treatment of COVID-19)," he said.

Cinchona plantations are exclusive to Darjeeling and Kalimpong in the country, Rai said.

According to him, production of quinine has stopped in West Bengal since the closure of factories in 2001 as they failed to comply with good manufacturing practices (GMP) norms.

"We are hopeful that it will recommence very soon," he said.

Kolkata-headquartered PSU company Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals managing director P M Chandraiah said it has a stock of maximum 10 lakh tablets of chloroquine phosphate (250 mg) which is used to treat the vector-borne disease.

BPCL will not be able to supply more such drug due to shortage of key component and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), he said.

Zydus Cadilla, IPCA Laboratories, and Wallace Pharmaceuticals are the other manufacturers of the drug in India.

Indian Pharmaceuticals Alliance secretary general Sudarshan Jain said that India has the capacity to quickly ramp up production of the drug should the need arise.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Armenian authorities have launched 10 packages of measures to mitigate the socio-economic consequences of the crisis.

According to Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, $ 50 million has been allocated for the needs of the most vulnerable segments of the population and support for the private sector.

PMs remarks came during the video conference of the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council on Friday.

Armenian declared the state of emergency on March 16, and strict restrictions have been introduced over air and land communications since March 24. We intend to step up measures to combat the pandemic and increase the number of tests, said Pashinyan, thanking partners for their cooperation.

According to him, Armenia is ready to assist partners from the Eurasian Union.

Armenia has already recorded 937 COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths. Meanwhile, 777 people are currently being treated and 149 people have already recovered.
"As Latinos, we like to get in groups, to celebrate together. I think there are many of us right now (in the Latino community) struggling to not be able to celebrate Holy Week, not to be together at this time, Corona said.
Andre Ross, 30, is a floor-care specialist at Southern California Hospital at Hollywood. He disinfects the floors of patient rooms, including some where possible COVID-19 victims stayed. "Every day is like a battlefield here. You don't know what to expect," he said. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

When Andre Ross gets home from his shift at Southern California Hospital at Hollywood, he immediately strips off his scrubs, puts them in a bag and runs to the washing machine.

He showers as fast as he can. He disinfects the bathroom.

Ross, 30, is terrified of catching the novel coronavirus at work and spreading it to other tenants of his South Los Angeles apartment building.

He cant afford to get sick and miss work. Hes a floor-care specialist, part of the hospitals janitorial team, who makes $18.31 an hour. Finances are tight. Work is scary.

We dont know what patients are going to come in with the virus. Its a nightmare, Ross said. Im on the front lines every day. Im just trying to stay as healthy and positive as I can.

As the number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations and deaths skyrocket across the U.S., the experience of doctors and nurses has been rightfully framed within the context of a great war to save lives while not being sickened or killed by COVID-19.

But less attention is paid to thousands of lower-paid nonclinical hospital workers  such as janitors, food-service workers and clerks  who also worry about contracting the virus and spreading it.

I see my co-workers, doctors, nurses, housekeepers; they come to work every day, Ross said. Me cleaning my floors and making my floors look nice, keeping them disinfected, I do it for them and the patients. I feel like we are at war.

Hospitals across the country have scrambled for personal protective equipment and other gear in short supply. Nurses and doctors have pleaded for donations online, telling stories of reusing masks and rigging trash bags as gowns.

Many nonclinical hospital staffers say they, too, are woefully unprotected but feel like second-class citizens.

One emergency room doctor at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity out of concern for his job, said he is fearful for the minimum-wage support staff there who are facing many of the same potential risks as higher-paid medical professionals.

Story continues

Theres a huge number of people who are putting themselves at risk, and they didnt sign up for it the way nurses and doctors did, he said.

Nonclinical hospital staffers likely face similar to higher risks as others who still have to report to work, said Steven Wallace, a professor in the community health sciences department at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

Almost everyone in a hospital comes into contact with someone who has patient contact, Wallace said in an email.

A study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that nonclinical hospital workers in Singapore, including clerical staff and maintenance workers, were at a higher risk of anxiety, depression and stress related to the COVID-19 outbreak than doctors and nurses.

Researchers said the reasons may include less intensive training on personal protective equipment and infection-control measures, reduced access to formal psychological support, and less firsthand medical information on the outbreak.

In the U.S., nonclinical workers also face concerns about having their hours cut or losing their jobs. Hospitals nationwide have seen a lower patient volume  and are losing money  because elective procedures and tests have largely been stopped. Dozens of hospitals have furloughed nonclinical employees.

As a shop steward for Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, Ross has heard a lot of fear and frustration from his colleagues in the janitorial department.

In the early days of the coronavirus spread in California last month, some housekeepers tried to get masks at work but were told they were being given only to doctors and nurses, he said.

One housekeeper, who is in her 70s and has worked for the hospital for decades, was refused a mask early on, Ross said. She brought one from home, kept it in her lunch pail and kept reusing it.

Theyre terrified, Ross said. Theyre upset. They feel like theyre being treated differently.

Many, he said, dont want to speak out because they worry they will face retaliation.

Initially, Ross said, the only way a nonclinical employee could get a mask was if he or she did not get a flu shot, which was provided by the company in the fall, Ross said. He had declined one, in large part, because he knows some people feel ill after getting the vaccination, and he couldnt afford to take a day off.

A spokesperson for Southern California Hospital at Hollywood told The Times that a new policy requiring all employees, including nonclinical staff, to wear masks went into effect March 27.

Andre Ross said the only time he is allowed to wear full safety gear  a gown, coverings for his hair and shoes, a face shield  in addition to his surgical mask and gloves is when he disinfects the rooms of possible COVID-19 patients. (Andre Ross)

Ross, who disinfects hospital floors, elevators and the kitchen, knows his work is vital. The coronavirus can last on some surfaces, such as plastic and stainless steel, for up to three days.

He said the only time he is allowed to wear full safety gear  a gown, coverings for his hair and shoes, a face shield  in addition to his surgical mask and gloves is when he disinfects the rooms of possible COVID-19 patients.

Leah Reily, executive director of the Assn. for Healthcare Foodservice, a trade group for self-operated healthcare eateries, said hospital cafeterias and kitchens are adjusting as best they can to continue feeding doctors, nurses and patients.

Our facilities have contingency plans in place. Theyre trying to keep morale up, Reily said.

Many cafeterias have closed seating areas and gone entirely to individually packaged to-go meals, she said.

Evelia Rodriguez, a records clerk who has worked at Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center in Harbor City for 29 years, said that even as a nonclinical worker, she has always interacted with patients, helping them get medical records, disability forms and other paperwork.

A shop steward for SEIU-UHW, Rodriguez, 48, of Carson, said she pressured her bosses to close the intake desk and have patients call or email. Initially, she said, nonclinical workers were told not to wear gloves and masks because of shortages.

It was concerning because they forgot about us silo departments, thinking we dont deal with patients. Yes, we do, Rodriguez said.

In a statement to The Times, Kaiser Permanente said: We continue to provide all of our staff  including nonclinical employees  with protective equipment in accordance with the latest science and guidance from public health authorities that are appropriate for the tasks and work they are performing.

"While we currently have the personal protective equipment needed to protect our staff and patients, we are prudently managing our resources, and are actively pursuing the acquisition of additional supplies as we continue to deliver high-quality care to our members.

Rodriguez said she had to advocate on behalf of a disability claims processor who was exposed early on to two patients who were quarantined with possible COVID-19.

Our administrator who came in and asked her a few questions didnt come back and say, Go to the doctor because it was less than four minutes of contact and no droplets, Rodriguez said. They cant assume that. We dont know if they coughed on the paperwork, sneezed on it. You dont know. Shes still at work.

At home, Rodriguez has a 10-year-old son with special needs and a 4-month-old granddaughter. After work, she leaves her shoes outside and sprays them with Lysol. She sprays herself, too.

I close my eyes, and I spray from head to toe, Rodriguez said.

Ivan Yepez, 63, does patient registration in the emergency room at Dignity Health Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

Initially, Yepez said, nonclinical workers in the ER were told to take off masks because of possible shortages. Yepez, who has diabetes, said he is grateful the policy has since changed.

In a statement to The Times, Northridge Hospital Medical Center said there is no higher priority than the safety of all of our staff members, not just those that are on the front lines treating patients.

Northridge Hospital Medical Center has been working nonstop to ensure that all team members who need personal protective equipment ... have the right equipment, at the right time, regardless of the staff members role.

Yepez said he has argued with relatives he lives with in Valencia who worry about him bringing the coronavirus home from work. When he gets home, he sprays himself with Lysol and showers immediately.

A few weeks ago, Yepez said, his hospital set up tents outside to screen patients. If they have COVID-19 symptoms, their identification cards are sent inside to him in a red infectious-waste bag. He feels safer now that he is not directly interacting with possible coronavirus patients.

It is very weird, Yepez said. And then you realize this patient might be infected, and thats a life there, and who knows if this patient will make it or not? We say a prayer or two and go on.

Speaking on the phone, he began to weep.

Times staff writer Harriet Ryan contributed to this report.
Express News Service

BENGALURU: As healthcare professionals are on the frontline battling the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has been supplementing their efforts by closely monitoring the situation and ensuring proper coordination among various agencies.

What is your assessment of the current situation?

We discussed the situation in detail at the cabinet meeting and almost all the ministers suggested that we continue the lockdown, at least till April-end. Even experts are suggesting that we lift the lockdown in a staggered manner. On Saturday, the PM is addressing all chief ministers via video conferencing and we will take a decision based on his suggestion.

Karnataka, so far, seems to have managed to keep the numbers under control. What have you done differently compared to other states?

We acted fast. Immediately after one death was reported from Kalaburagi (the first COVID-19 death in India), we took strict measures to contain the spread of the virus. In fact, we were the first in India to start the lockdown. It is being enforced very strictly, with around 80 per cent success. Around 28,000 vehicles have been seized and cases booked against a number of people violating the lockdown. Closure of borders with other states too helped us. Compared to other states, Karnataka is in a better situation. But I am not happy. That is why we have decided to continue the lockdown and we will take a final decision on the basis of how people are going to support it till April 14.

ALSO READ | We may need 6 months to recover, says Yediyurappa

Despite lockdown, there has been a steady increase in the number of positive cases. Is it because of the increase in the number of tests?

We have taken all precautionary measures like conducting more tests in districts that have reported a high number of cases. We have also instructed officials to ramp up testing in such districts.

In your assessment, how has the lockdown helped contain the spread of the virus?

Staying at home and maintaining social distance is the only way to contain it. We have taken a bold step in the interest of the people, but they are not able to understand it properly.

How long can the state sustain the lockdown, as you have to build health infrastructure and also run welfare schemes to take care of the underprivileged?

A decision on the lockdown will be taken after discussing with the PM. As for the underprivileged, we have sanctioned Rs 2,000 to 15 lakh families and ration for two months is being provided through the Public Distribution System. Many people are also coming forward to help the poor by distributing food and other items. Not a single person is suffering from hunger in Karnataka. We are trying our level best to reach out to everyone.

Are we prepared to handle the situation if there is a spike in numbers?

We are fully prepared to handle any eventuality. We have a stock of 2,82,934 N95 masks and we have ordered another 10,000. The central government will also supply masks. We have ordered 10 lakh PPEs (Personal Protection Equipment) for healthcare professionals. Of these, 2,10,245 have been supplied and now we have stock of 78,245. We are expecting more supplies within the next two-three days. We have ordered 1,574 ventilators and have 24, and are expecting another 26 in the next three-four days. We have 50 ventilators now. We have 2,500 to 3,000 beds in Bengaluru and 150-200 beds in all districts. We have notified 17 exclusive COVID-19 hospitals in the state. Of them, seven are in Bengaluru.

The government decided to cut legislators salary by 30 per cent. Any plans to cut state government employees salary?

No. As of now, we are not touching government employees. Let us wait and see. In terms of treatment, State has okayed plasma infusion technology that has been developed and awaiting a nod from the Centre. Besides, India has decided to export hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Do you think allowing HCQ export will be a problem? Do we have enough stock?

We have sufficient stock. There is no problem.

What is the report youve got on this line of treatment? Is HCQ working?

Doctors told us that the therapeutic use of HCQ is working elsewhere, but in Karnataka, we have not come to that stage yet.

Karnataka is home to the IT/BT industry, will you allow reopening of those sectors as suggested by the expert committee?

We are thinking on those lines. As of now, they are all working from home. Around 50 per cent of them can work from office, but the decision will be taken after April 14.
AKRON, Ohio -- Beginning Monday, the Akron-Summit County Public Library is set to furlough 339 of its 391 employees as the branches remain closed due to coronavirus concerns.

The library system trustees endorsed the plan Thursday as a cost-saving measure, Executive Director Pam Hickson-Stevenson said in a news release.

The furloughs are expected to save the library about $691,014 per month.

All library buildings are closed until at least May 1, and the remaining 52 employees will work to support online services and other essential operations.

The coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc on our world," Hickson-Stevenson said in the release. From dangerous surges in confirmed cases to growing numbers of deaths and from Ohios Stay at Home orders to social distancing recommendations and lack of cleaning supplies, it is uncertain how long the Library buildings will be closed for business.

Hickson-Stevenson is also concerned with the library systems funding, especially money that comes from the Public Library Fund, which receives 1.7% of the total general tax revenue collected by the state. Total general tax revenue in March was 10.5% below estimates, and that will reflect in Aprils distribution of the Public Library Fund, which accounts for about 44% of the Akron-Summit County Public Librarys revenue from the state, Hickson-Stevenson said.

Library staff affected by the furlough will have the opportunity to cash out up to five days of vacation. Employees on the librarys health, vision and dental insurances will remain covered at least through May 31. Life insurance and the employee assistance program provided by the library will continue for all employees.
The majority of Britons believe foreign travel will be safe again within the next six months, a study has revealed.

Researchers quizzed thousands of travellers in 17 countries about how optimistic they were about the coronavirus crisis subsiding before October.

Out of those surveyed, 84 per cent of Britons were confident foreign travel would resume in six months. Currently, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is advising against all non-essential travel abroad indefinitely.

The majority of Britons believe foreign travel will be safe again within the next six months

Across Europe as a whole, 75 per cent thought a return to travel would be likely before October.

Americans were less confident, with 60 per cent saying travel would be safe again in six months, while in the Asia Pacific region, the figure was only 51 per cent.

The survey was carried out by flight comparison site Skyscanner, which polled over 5,000 users of its website between April 3 and 5.

Meanwhile, data from Skyscanner has also shown the top searched-for destinations on its site by Britons in the two weeks before the UK lockdown compared to the first two weeks after.

In the weeks from March 9 to March 23, before lockdown, the most-searched-for destination was Islamabad followed by New York, Hong Kong, Alicante and Dubai.

In comparison, during the weeks from March 23 to April 6, the most-searched-for destination was also Islamabad followed by Tenerife, Bangkok, New York and Alicante.

From March 9 to April 6 in 2019, the top five most-searched destinations were Malaga, Alicante, Barcelona, Amsterdam and New York.

Skyscanner has revealed Britons' top searched-for destinations on its site in the two weeks before the lockdown compared to the first two weeks after

Across Europe as a whole, 75 per cent thought a return to travel would be likely before October

Gavin Harris, commercial director of strategic partnerships at Skyscanner, said: 'Travellers and travel providers are facing an undefined period of unprecedented uncertainty. Our data reflects this with travel interest and demand down across the board.

'Comparative analysis of the top-searched destinations in the run-up to the UK lockdown being announced reveals long-haul destinations replaced popular European Easter destinations, particularly in Spain.

'This is likely due to people returning to their home countries and is supported by a large increase in the share of one-way travel from the UK throughout March.

'But there is optimism for future, with over three-quarters of UK travellers believing that it will be safe to travel abroad again within six months.

'Its too early to assess the impact of the updated FCO guidance issued this week and uncertainty will remain until there is clarity on when travel bans will be lifted.'
Wuhan, April 10 : Life in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province where the global coronavirus pandemic originated last December, was slowly returning to normal as the citys residents emerge from two months of quarantine and confinement.

Although the outbreak was finally under control, severe restrictions and preventative measures remain in place, with other new rules introduced to avoid a resurgence of the virus, Efe news reported.

New norms require the mandatory use of masks outdoors, health risk assessment codes on mobile phone apps and maintaining safe physical distances from others.

An increasingly large stream of people were emerging from their homes, excited to be allowed to walk the streets of the city as they run errands and eat and shop.

Streets were once again bustling in many parts of the city, such as Dazhilu, where bicycles, pedestrians and cars compete for space.

Retail outlets of phone companies - such as Apple, Vivo and Huawei - have also reopened, where people formed long queues.

Meanwhile, other people walk their dogs, take pictures, order food at takeaways or enjoy a stroll along a stretch overlooking the Yangtze River.

Some 620,000 passengers reportedly used the city's public transport on the first day of restrictions being lifted in Wuhan on Tuesday.

According to the state-owned Xinhua agency, the demand for bus, boat, taxi and subway services witnessed a marked increase on Wednesday, after 76 days of quarantine.

The same day, some 52,000 passengers left Wuhan by train, plane or bus, while around 31,000 entered the city.

China's National Health Commission on Wednesday reported only two deaths related to COVID-19 in the country, both in Wuhan, which also accounts for 135 of the remaining 176 critical patients.

The number of active COVID-19 infections has declined to 1,160 in China, according to official figures. Although 63 new cases were diagnosed on Wednesday - 61 of them from abroad -, the daily rate of recovered patients is much higher.

The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in China since the start of the outbreak was now 3,339 out of the 82,919 total infections, while 77,370 recovered.
Floridas last-minute scramble to beef up its broken unemployment system comes with an astonishingly high price tag: nearly $100 million so far.

In the last few weeks, state officials have signed contracts with two companies just to handle the flood of calls to the system, records show.

One contract, worth up to $79 million, is with TelaForce, LLC in Fort Walton Beach to provide at least 1,000 call takers and 33 supervisors, who must all pass background checks. The other, worth up to $17 million, is with Virginias Faneuil, Inc. to provide 250 call takers.cAnd a third contract worth up to $13 million was signed Thursday with United Data Technologies in Miramar for another 250 people.

Department of Economic Opportunity spokeswoman Tiffany Vause said late Thursday that the contracts allow the state to quickly increase and decrease the number of call takers. The contracts are only for a year, and officials dont believe theyll need to max out each contract.

The extraordinary sum would be $32 million more than officials spent to overhaul the states unemployment website seven years ago  and an indicator of how desperate they are to tackle the crippling backlog of unemployment claims.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has vowed all hands on deck and told the Department of Economic Opportunity to do whatever it takes to resolve the emergency.

Even after being approved for unemployment benefits, Floridas jobless cant collect | Opinion

The department, which operates the unemployment system, announced a new website on Wednesday night. Unlike the old site, the new site is mobile-friendly, allowing people to apply on their phone or tablet. But its not a substitute for the old site.

Since mid-March, the states unemployment website  the primary way to file a claim  has been broken by the workload. The states call center is supposed to be the backup to the website, but it has fared no better.

In recent weeks, the center has answered just 2 percent of the calls it has received, according to the contracts.

Story continues

Hialeah police officer Romeo Morales directs several residents as they line up to receive unemployment applications Slade Park in Hialeah on Tuesday.

In the last week of March, the rate was even worse. Of the 864,313 calls to the departments hotline that week, just 8,395 were answered  less than 1 percent.

Nearly 90 percent of callers were not able to connect at all, the contracts state. Those who were able to connect spent, on average, more than 6 hours on hold.

TelaForces contract states the company will handle a variety of calls, including resetting personal identification numbers, which the department says make up a third of all calls. Floridians who have applied for unemployment in the past, but cant remember their PINs to log into the site, have had to call to have it reset. Without that reset, they cant log in to apply.

The department did not answer questions about the contracts, including whether they were being paid for with federal or state dollars.

While states around the country have struggled under the crush of unemployment claims, Floridas situation is on the verge of an economic disaster.

Officials are desperate to put checks into the hands of Floridians, but it appears many will have to wait weeks. On Monday, Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Ken Lawson said they were aiming to process 80,000 of the more than 560,000 outstanding applications this week.

Over the weekend, the state upgraded the system, adding 72 servers. But it could still be weeks before people see unemployment checks.

In Miami-Dade, the county has printed old-fashioned paper applications and handed them out at 26 libraries. The reaction was stunning: On Wednesday, the first day the applications were available countywide, libraries handed out 29,351 forms.

Any Floridian who hasnt been able to successfully apply for unemployment benefits yet should now use this new website to sign up: www.floridajobs.org/raapplication.

While early reviews show that applicants have not been met with the error messages and other glitches plaguing the old site, the new site went down within a few hours of its launch.

Because its website is so flawed, Florida has opened a second website and made paper applications available for people seeking unemployment benefits.

The new site is essentially a mobile-friendly electronic form and not a substitute for the old site. State workers are taking the electronic forms and entering them into the old site. Applicants will still have to use the old site to modify their application, however.

The state on Wednesday also rolled out a mobile-friendly version of its coronavirus financial aid page, which has links to frequently asked questions and the paper applications for individuals and businesses. The new mobile-friendly site is www.floridajobs.org/COVID-19.

Before applying for unemployment, state officials recommend you first gather your Social Security number, drivers license or state ID number, and this employment information for the last 18 months for each employer:

 Employer ID - FEIN number (this is found on your W2 or 1099 tax form), if available.

 Employer name (as it appears on a pay stub), address, and phone number.

 First and last day of work.

 Gross earnings (before taxes are taken out) covering the last 18 months.

 Reason for separation.

Anyone who falls under one of the following categories should also have this information on hand before applying:

 Not a U.S. citizen: Alien Registration Number or other work authorization form.

 Military employee: Copy of your DD-214 Member 4; If you do not have the Member 4, then a copy of your Member 2-7 may be used.

 Federal employee: SF-8 or SF-50.

 Union member: Union name, hall number, and phone number.
By Express News Service

RANIPET: A 24-year-old man who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Qatar was discharged on Friday after 18 days of treatment at an isolation ward at the Govt District Headquarters Hospital at Walajapet in Ranipet district.

A resident of Melvisharam, he tested positive in the first test. But the tests later turned out to be negative twice in a gap of seven days. Now, he has recovered, so he has been discharged from the hospital, said Dr Singaravelu, superintendent of Govt District Headquarters Hospital.

However, the man has been asked to remain under home quarantine for another 28 days and will be monitored by a team of government officials.

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES

Sixteen other contacts of those who contracted the virus have also been discharged from the hospital on Friday as they tested negative during hospital quarantine, Singaravelu said.

Meanwhile, a mobile testing kiosk has been launched to reach out to people put under home quarantine.

Ranipet district collector S Divyadharshini inaugurated the mobile testing kiosk equipped with rapid test kits.

The results of the tests can be known within half an hour of taking the samples.
Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now.

The California primary feels like a lifetime ago. Believe it or not, it was just last month.

And now that local results are certified, several competitive contests have shaped up for Congress, county supervisor and L.A. City Council.



Candidates vying to win in November are facing a new reality: The COVID-19 threat means no in-person contact with volunteers, donors or potential voters.



Shaking hands and kissing babies are out. So we wanted to find out how local candidates are trying to earn your vote in the time of coronavirus.

We talked to consultants and candidates to learn how they're adapting.

THE CONSULTANTS' VIEW

Expect most politicians to angle to appear "above the fray" of a typically bruising campaign season, said Bill Carrick, a longtime Democratic strategist in L.A. He's not affiliated with any candidate for the general election.

L.A. City Councilman Herb Wesson delivers food to seniors during the COVID-19 Safer At Home period. (Courtesy of the Wesson Campaign)

There are pitfalls to appearing overly partisan during a crisis, and candidates engage in partisan sniping at their own risk, Carrick said.



"Be careful on the messaging front. Back-and-forth attack politics is really going to be questionable," he said.

Political consultant John Shallman agrees that the tone of campaigning has to change -- at least in the short-term.

Shallman is working on former Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson's bid for an open seat on the powerful L.A. County Board of Supervisors. Wesson's hoping to represent the 2nd district, including Inglewood, Culver City, Carson and parts of South L.A.

"People are going to have to really know that this may not be the right time to run these harsh, negative, personal campaigns," Shallman said. "This may be more of, 'How do I turn my campaign to be a campaign of service?'"

It's also not the time to lead with the political fundraising "ask," said Lenee Richards. She's campaign manager for Wesson's competition: State Senator Holly Mitchell.

Instead of celebrating her primary success in making the top-two runoff, Mitchell's campaign has been fielding calls about how to apply for unemployment, or what seniors who can't leave their homes should do about obtaining groceries.

"There's an immediate need that people want to know that you can help them address," Richards said. "It's an opportunity to show what type of leader you are in the worst of times. How do you show up for people?"

VIRTUAL CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Campaign staff say the front porch is now virtual. They're turning to text messages, emails and social media like never before. Add to that Zoom "happy hours" for donors, virtual town halls to share safety information, and digital organizing trainings for volunteers.

Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel is part of a 2020 field of candidates navigating a unique challenge: how to mobilize supporters, fundraise, and win over voters when the time-honored currency of local politics -- face-to-face contact -- is impossible?

There's a lot on the line. Steel emerged from March 3 to be the Republican contender to unseat freshman Democrat Harley Rouda in the 48th District. It's one of the most competitive House races on the national map.

Steel says the COVID-19 pandemic has upended plans for a traditional ground game. Instead of appearing at house parties, meeting donors at fundraising events or joining volunteers going door to door, the supervisor's current job has her at the county's emergency operations center daily, working with agency heads to try to flatten the curve of the outbreak.

"Campaigning has almost stopped. Politics is really not my focus right now," Steel said. "It's life and death in Orange County. But I still communicate with my voters with text messages and emails."

While most aspects of daily life have moved online, old fashioned politicking still finds a way.

The seats were mostly empty on a recent Sunday at Calvary Chapel of the Harbour in Huntington Beach. Congregants were online, streaming the service on Facebook Live.

Pastor Joe Pedick began his service by imploring his flock to spend more time with God while other daily distractions are put on hold because of COVID-19.

"God has our attention, doesn't He? He's stripped away so much," Pedick said.

Pastor Joe then welcomed Steel to the stage to share an update on local coronavirus relief efforts -- and he plugged her campaign, taking advantage of an executive order from President Trump's first year in office that relaxed rules for churches engaging in political activity.

"As you know, Michelle Steel is running for Congress. And we're excited about that," Pedick said during his introduction. "She holds our views, so I'm very blessed by that."

"I believe that you'd be great as a congresswoman," Pedick later added. "We'd love to have you [represent] our district here. Because I love what you stand for."



Events beamed straight into potential voters' homes, like the Sunday service with Pastor Joe, foster intimacy -- at a safe distance.

HOW HER CHALLENGER IS CAMPAIGNING

Rep. Harley Rouda delivers equipment to a Fountain Valley hospital this month. (Courtesy of the Rouda campaign)

Steel's opponent, Rep. Harley Rouda, is asking campaign volunteers to call their elderly relatives and members of their community to offer help while Orange County is sheltering in place.

"What we have seen with our volunteer base is a quick pivot to helping those in need in our community," Rouda said. "From the official side to the campaign side, everything has changed."

In February, Rouda and Steel joined forces with other OC officials to successfully oppose a plan to house coronavirus patients at a federal facility in Costa Mesa. But the congressman has also criticized county leaders over their response, including early mixed messages over sheltering at home during the pandemic.

"Where I do still have significant concerns -- I'm fielding calls daily about PPEs, personal protective equipment being available," Rouda said.

On Friday, Rouda joined other local congressional delegation members in a letter asking federal agencies to prioritize sending masks and other equipment to healthcare workers in Orange County.

BIG QUESTIONS

This is all uncharted territory, and big questions remain:

Will limited campaigning due to the pandemic help incumbents keep their seats by dampening voter enthusiasm -- or hurt them if voters connect them to a perception of slow government response?

Will high-dollar ad spending be king, instead of in-person grassroots efforts like door-to-door canvassing?

Local campaign operatives are still weighing these, along with the long-term effects of the virus on voter participation, and the role of money in politics at a time when for many small donors, discretionary cash is in short supply.
The coverage on this live blog has ended  but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's U.S. team. Global cases: At least 1,612,646.

Global deaths: At least 96,787.

Most cases reported: United States (466,299), Spain (157,022), Italy (143,626), France (118,785), Germany (118,235). The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of 7:30 p.m. Beijing time. All times below are in Beijing time.

7:30 pm: South Korea reports recovered patients testing positive again

South Korean health officials have reported that 91 patients who had been cleared of the virus have since tested positive again The director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) told a briefing on Friday that the coronavirus may have been "re-activated," Reuters reported, rather than the patients contracting the infection for a second time. The cause of the re-emergence is unclear, and officials said epidemiological investigations are ongoing.  Elliot Smith

A South Korean soldier wearing a banner reading "Covid-19 Free" and a protective mask stands at a temperature screening point at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, on Monday, March 9, 2020. SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images

7:20 pm: Swiss death toll passes 800, confirmed cases up top 24,000

Switzerland's death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 805, the Swiss public health ministry confirmed Friday, rising from 756 on Thursday. Confirmed cases in the country have increased to 24,308, up from 23,574 on Thursday.  Elliot Smith

6:00 pm: Spain's daily death toll increase eases again

The daily increase in deaths from the coronavirus in Spain eased again on Friday, with the Spanish health ministry confirming 605 fatalities in the past 24 hours to bring the total loss of life to 15,843. The total number of confirmed cases in the world's second most affected country rose to 157,022 on Friday from 152,446 on Thursday.  Elliot Smith

5:50 pm: US now has the second highest coronavirus death toll

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus pandemic reached 16,686 on Friday, making it the second highest in the world behind Italy, where 18,279 people have died from the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.  Elliot Smith

4:00 pm: Russia reports record daily increase in coronavirus cases

Russia reported 1,786 new cases on Friday, a record daily spike which takes the country's total confirmed cases to more than 11,900, according to official Russian government figures. In a televised address, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an extension of the nationwide "non-working week" until April 30, according to the Moscow Times.  Elliot Smith

3:50 pm: War-torn Yemen reports its first coronavirus case

Yemen, a country already ravaged by a protracted war which has crippled its health-care system, has confirmed its first case of coronavirus on Friday. The news comes in the wake of a two-week cease-fire announcement by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi movement, which has yet to agree to lay down arms in order to address the pandemic.  Elliot Smith

2:30 pm: Canada and France say donations of coronavirus masks won't influence decisions on Huawei and 5G

Canada and France this week denied that donations of masks from Huawei would influence their decisions on whether the Chinese firm plays a role in their 5G rollouts. The Chinese technology giant, which has been caught in the crossfire of a larger U.S.-China trade and technology battle, has quietly given masks to a number of countries around the world. Huawei has been accused by at least one U.S. congressman of using the donations to win favor when it comes to participating in 5G. Huawei is in the process of giving 6 million masks to Canada, along with other personal protective equipment, Toronto's Globe and Mail reported this week.  Arjun Kharpal

1:15 pm: New cases in Germany jump 5,323

The number of new confirmed cases in Germany continued the upward trend from the past few days. Infections jumped by 5,323 in the past 24 hours to a total of 113,525, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases. The number of additional fatalities rose by 266 to a total of 2,373.  Weizhen Tan

12:20 pm: Coronavirus pandemic will cause a 'much bigger wave' of protectionism, says trade expert

Governments around the world will turn increasingly protectionist in the near term as they try to limit the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, a trade expert said on Thursday. COVID-19 has already spread to more than 180 countries and territories and caused some countries to restrict exports of medical supplies  that's a decision that could spill into other areas such as food products, said Deborah Elms, executive director at consultancy Asian Trade Centre. "There is a much bigger wave of protectionism in the near term that we should expect, that is not just in medical supplies ... but it will also start to affect food," she told CNBC's "Capital Connection."  Yen Nee Lee

11:25 am: Coronavirus outbreak gives public health in China the push it needs

Whether it's new policies, capital, or even a school, the outbreak of what's officially called COVID-19 has intensified national attention on the inadequacy of China's public health infrastructure, from hospital beds to medical expertise. The health care challenges are global and not limited to China, which has come under fire for early cover-up of the highly contagious disease and recent attempts to deflect its origin away from the country. "I believe this current crisis is so severe it will change the public priority toward the health sector," says Joachim von Amsberg, vice president for policy and strategy at the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.  Evelyn Cheng

10:55 am: Outbreak at Chicago jail

A sign pleading for help hangs in a window at the Cook County jail complex on April 09, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Hundreds of coronavirus cases at the jail have been reported. Scott Olson | Getty Images

Around 450 prisoners and jail staff at Chicago's largest jail have tested positive, according to a Reuters report citing county corrections officials. That represented one of the country's largest outbreaks at a single site so far. The surge in cases came under focus earlier this week when inmates at the Cook County Jail posted handwritten signs begging for help at the windows of their cells, which overlook a public street, according to the report. Measures are being undertaken, according to the officials. Those include an off-site 500-bed quarantine facility for prisoners.  Weizhen Tan

9:55 am: South Korea reports 27 new cases, 4 deaths

The number of infections in South Korea continued to slow, with the country reporting 27 new cases, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It had four more deaths. The city of Daegu, which was South Korea's epicenter and had huge spikes in cases during the thick of the pandemic, reported no new cases. That brings the country's total to 10,450 cases, and 208 fatalities.  Weizhen Tan

9:10 am: Trump says help for farmers will be sped up

U.S. President Donald Trump said he has directed Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to "expedite help" to farmers who have been hurt by the impact of the pandemic. Trump added that he also told Perdue to "use all of the funds and authorities at his disposal" to ensure that the country's food supply is "stable, strong and safe."  Weizhen Tan Trump tweet

8:10 am: Mexico says new cases jump by 260

New cases in Mexico jumped by 260, bringing the country's total to 3,441 cases, its health ministry said, according to Reuters. There were a total of 194 deaths. The country also recorded its first two deaths of pregnant women who died from the coronavirus, one of whom gave birth before she died, the health ministry said, according to the report.  Weizhen Tan

7:55 am: China reports 42 new cases, 1 more death

China's National Health Commission (NHC) said there were 42 new confirmed cases as of April 9, of which 38 were attributed to travelers coming from overseas. That brings the country's total to 81,907 cases, the NHC said. There was one new death, bringing China's total fatalities to 3,336, according to the NHC. Separately, there were 47 new asymptomatic cases, where people tested positive for the virus but did not show any symptoms. That brings its number of asymptomatic cases currently under medical observation to 1,097, the NHC said.  Weizhen Tan

Travelers walk to the exit of the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Wednesday, April 08, 2020, after 76 days of lockdown of the city due to Covid-19. Barcroft Media | Getty Images

All times below are in Eastern time.

6:48 pm: Amazon says it could soon begin testing some warehouse workers for the coronavirus

Amazon said that it's working on developing coronavirus tests that could be used to help protect warehouse workers, who are particularly exposed to the disease. In a blog post, the company said it has started building "incremental test capacity" that could eventually result in "regular testing of all employees, including those showing no symptoms." Amazon said it has mobilized employees across the company, including research scientists, program managers, procurement specialists and software engineers, to form a dedicated team that will work on developing coronavirus tests. The team is in its early stages, having obtained the necessary equipment to build its first lab, Amazon said. Once work is underway, the hope is "to start testing small numbers of our front line employees soon," Amazon said. "We are not sure how far we will get in the relevant time frame, but we think it's worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn with others." Annie Palmer

6:31 pm: JPMorgan now sees economy contracting by 40% in second quarter, and unemployment reaching 20%

JPMorgan economists issued an even more dire forecast, now foreseeing a 40% decline in the nation's gross domestic product for the second quarter and a surge in April's unemployment rate to 20% with 25 million jobs lost. In an earlier forecast, they said second-quarter GDP would be down 25%. The economists, however, continue to see a second-half recovery, based on the assumption that disruptions from the pandemic fade by June. They note that the number of people seeking unemployment benefits has totaled 16.8 million in just three weeks. "With these data in hand we think the April jobs report could indicate about 25 million jobs lost since the March survey week, and an unemployment rate around 20%," they wrote, "Given the expected hit to hours worked this quarter we now look for -40.0% annualized real GDP growth in 2Q, down from -25.0% previously." Patti Domm

5:45 pm: EU ministers seal deal on half a trillion euro coronavirus rescue plan
GLICO, the one-stop shop for insurance and financial services in Ghana, has donated various essential items to the Ghana Prisons Service to assist in preventing the spread of the COVID-19.



The items included large quantities of Veronica buckets, gallons of hand sanitizers, boxes of vitamin C tablets and thermometer guns.



At a presentation at the Prisons Headquarters, Chief Executive Officer of GLICO Group, Forkuo Kyei expressed concern that in times like these, it is the vulnerable that suffers the most because they cannot afford the key essentials to protect themselves.



It is for this reason that GLICO presented these items to the Ghana Prisons Service to assist in protecting inmates and wardens.

Mr Kyei said COVID-19 has provided the opportunity to observe key hygienic rules.



He stressed the need to observe basic hygienic practices such as washing of hands, coughing and sneezing in the elbows, using hand sanitizers and tissues, keeping the environment clean of among others.



Receiving the items, Director General, Patrick Darko-Missah, expressed gratitude to the leadership of GLICO for providing the item.



He indicated that a lot of measures have been put in place at all 46 prisons nationwide to prevent the spread of the virus.



Some of themeasures include: Intensive education of inmates on the virus; re-structuring of wardens so that those who commute to work do not unconsciously import the virus into the prisons and provision of essentials to ensure personal hygiene and most importantly washing of hands.



Mr. Darko-Missah further showed appreciation to GLICO for the usual support.



We always come to you for support and you assist us, but it is best to give when we havent asked and to this we are grateful, he emphasized.



Some of GLICO officials at the event were Maame Dufie Achampong-Kyei Obeng  Managing Director for Glico Life, Andrew Achampong-Kyei  Managing Director for GLICO General, Nana Efua Rockson  Group Head, Corporate Affairs & Marketing and Ladonna Buahin  Chief Operations Officer for Glico Life.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Slate is making its coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. Start your free trial.

President Trump has taken advantage of the COVID-19 crisis to finally achieve his goal of foreclosing asylum for migrants fleeing violence in Central America and Mexico.

Two weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security (purportedly at the direction of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) announced that it would bar entry to all migrants crossing the southern border in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Migrants arrested at the border without documents would be quickly repatriated to their countries of origin. Simultaneously, the United States and Mexican officials mutually determined that non-essential travel between the two countries would be halted indefinitely. The Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for unaccompanied migrant children also announced that children were being quickly returned to their home countries on a case by case basis, rather than being admitted and considered for asylum in the United States. And in addition to closing the Mexican border to nonessential traffic, the United States has shut off access for anyone trying to claim asylum at the border. This includes more than 60,000 asylum seekers who have been forced to remain in Mexico under MPP (Migrant Protection Protocols) in dangerous conditions along the southern border. Now the people who were about to go before a judge to make their case  after waiting for months in crowded and unsanitary refugee camps  have been told that their hearings are postponed until at least May 1.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The Trump administration has been single-minded in its goal to eliminate asylum. In the final year of the Obama administration (fiscal year 2017), 120,815 asylum applications were filed in immigration courts by individuals facing deportation. In the first year of the Trump administration, the number fell to 110,469an immediate signal that fewer migrants were able to seek asylum. By the end of 2018, immigration courts were denying asylum to 75 percent of applicants under guidance of the attorney general, compared to about 55 percent denials during the Obama era. Even before the coronavirus-related guidelines, the Trump administrations efforts at the border and new guidelines on gang and domestic violence made it effectively impossible for asylum seekers to succeed in the United States.

Advertisement

Over the years, the administration has created a byzantine tangle of rules that worked in tandem to discourage migrants, put them in danger, and find reasons to turn them away.

In 2018, Customs and Border Protection implemented a metering, or waitlist, system which limits the number of people who can request asylum at a port of entry at a U.S.-Mexico border crossing each day. When asylum seekers present themselves at the border, they are told that they have to turn around and put their name on a waitlist, basically, back in Mexico and wait for their turn to request asylum. They wait weeks or sometimes months just for their opportunity to request asylum. Then, once they formally seek asylum, they are sent back to Mexico under the Migrant Protection Protocol, commonly referred to as the Remain in Mexico Policy. Under the policy, which was implemented in 2019, non-Mexican asylum seekers who presented themselves at the border are processed and returned to Mexico and told to wait while backlogged immigration courts work to schedule their hearings. Mexican shelters in dangerous border cities have been completely overrun with people who would have otherwise been released into the U.S. to await hearings. The surrounding neighborhoods of shelters are so dangerous that walking outside could result in kidnapping or death. Over a period of several months, the Human Rights First advocacy group tracked more than 1,000 reported assaults, rapes, kidnappings and other violent crimes committed against asylum seekers in Mexicolikely just the tip of the iceberg.*

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

The Trump administration then issued new regulations last summer that add a new bar to eligibility for asylum for a migrant who crosses the southern border without applying for asylum in one of the countries through which they passed en route to the United States. The person cannot apply for asylum in the United States without proof that he or she has applied for asylum in the third country first and has been denied. Since anyone from the Northern Triangle has likely traveled through Mexico, they must first apply for asylum in Mexico.

Meanwhile, the administration has drastically limited who is deserving of asylum in the first place. In June 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued an administrative precedent decision severely restricting the ability of women fleeing domestic violence to obtain asylum. The language in his decision was broad enough to make it hard for gang violence victims as well. Not to be outdone, in July 2019, the current Attorney General, William Barr, has ruled that typical family relationships are not strong enough to qualify for asylum even though persecutors may be upset at the entire family because of one members actions. Barr also has ruled that asylum seekers who have entered without inspection should be held without bail for the duration of their asylum proceedings, overturning a 15-year-old rule by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

As restrictive as these hurdles to asylum present, some applicants were able to get hearings and assert their claims. However, the COVID restrictions have halted everything. The COVID rules effectively shore up the web of asylum limitations by requiring those under the Remain in Mexico policy to report to the border and get a new hearing date. However, the migrants are told that even new date is subject to change, as they are forced to remain in perilous circumstances.

Advertisement

The inhumanity occurring at the border must end. We should learn from and acknowledge our past and current mistakes. Spending billions on harsh border enforcement that preys on human beings seeking refuge is not only cruel, but ineffective. Rather, we should focus on reducing the need for people to migrate while ensuring we have fair and humane procedures in place domestically, regionally, and internationally to handle those who flee and have claims for protection.

Advertisement

We should be redefining the concept of a refugee, which is based on outdated, overly restrictive criteria that has proven to be inadequate to deal with the gang and gender-based violence that we are increasingly seeing. At the same time, we need to re-think our commitment to fair legal process. For decades, the process has been entirely inadequate, further contributing to the pressures on our system. Immigrant rights organizations at the border reach out to volunteers on a daily basis to come counsel and advise the migrants on the asylum process and what to expect. The volunteers who respond are only able to speak with a small percentage of the 60,000 migrants waiting, much less provide full representation at deportation hearings. These efforts are likely helpful, although skeptics may wonder just how helpful, since the migrants themselves are left to risk their lives every step of the way. Relying on the goodwill of pro bono attorneys and under-funded legal services programs is a severely deficient approach that I have witnessed and participated in since the 1970s. In this unprecedented era, we need a bold new approach.
In late March, residents of the Colorado town of Telluride and surrounding San Miguel County stood in line, along marked spots spaced 6 feet apart, to have their blood drawn by medical technicians wearing Tyvek suits, face shields and gloves for a new COVID-19 test.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's tests for the virus that causes the respiratory illness have been in short supply since the outbreak began, this was a new type of test. It wasn't to see who was sick right now. It was an antibody test that would assess who had been exposed and how widespread the virus was in the community to inform decisions about managing the outbreak.

When part-time Telluride residents and United Biomedical Inc. co-CEOs Mei Mei Hu and Lou Reese had offered to provide their company's newly developed COVID-19 antibody tests for free to not just Telluride, but all of San Miguel County too, more than 6,000 of the county's estimated 8,000 residents jumped at the chance.

"People really want to be part of it," said Donna Fernald, a home health nurse who was tested the first day.

The widespread testing was an experiment in this community best known for its tony ski resort and summer music festivals. But it also served as a model for what, perhaps, could be possible everywhere to guard against the spread of the disease.

"This was a gift and an opportunity," said San Miguel County spokesperson Susan Lilly.

That was the original plan, anyway. But on Tuesday, the grand experiment with bold aspirations appeared to fall apart. Lilly put out a statement announcing that testing was being "delayed indefinitely due to United Biomedical Inc.'s reduced ability to process the tests due to the COVID-19 pandemic." Lilly declined to comment on the decision.

The test that Hu and Reese's company had promoted as "fast  results in two hours" had slowed to a virtual halt. The company had initially told the county to expect results within 48 to 72 hours after the samples arrived at the company's New York lab. Results from tests conducted March 26 and 27 were announced April 1, but results from subsequent tests have still not come in.

A San Miguel County Department of Public Health and Environment press release quoted a company statement that blamed the delay on operations and the majority of staff being located in New York, where the pandemic has hit especially hard. The press release issued Tuesday said the company is aiming to resume processing the estimated 4,000 outstanding tests from the first round of testing.

But with only a fraction of the results in so far, and additional testing in question, the COVAXX testing appears to be yet another example of the chaotic response to the coronavirus crisis gone wrong.

A different kind of test

The test that Hu and Reese donated to the Telluride community is an antibody test developed by COVAXX, a newly formed subsidiary of their New York-based United Biomedical. It's one of more than 30 commercially available tests without Food and Drug Administration approval under flexible rules adopted to address the COVID-19 pandemic. So far only one antibody test has received official FDA approval  a test made by Cellex, which uses just a pinprick of blood and produces results in about 15 minutes.

Antibody tests are fundamentally different than the CDC swab tests currently used to make official diagnoses. Where the swab test looks for the virus's genetic material to determine active infections, an antibody test looks for antibodies in a person's blood that show an immune response to the virus that causes COVID-19. Robert Garry, a virologist at Tulane University School of Medicine, said the test can't tell whether the person is currently sick or infectious.

The plan in Telluride was for participants to be tested twice, two weeks apart, with the COVAXX test because it can take a while for someone infected to show up as positive when measuring antibodies.

The COVAXX website claims its test has 100% sensitivity (that's the test's ability to find antibodies to the virus) and 100% specificity (a measure of how good the test is at differentiating this novel coronavirus' antibodies from other antibodies).

But, Garry said, no test is perfect. And creating an antibody test for the virus being called SARS-CoV-2 is "tricky," he said, because it needs to distinguish among several seasonal coronaviruses. Furthermore, he added, the COVAXX test is a peptide assay, which he said typically is not very sensitive.

"We know 100% is an almost impossible bar to reach," Garry said. "It kind of raises some red flags."

In an interview with KHN before the Telluride program stopped, Hu said that "I always hesitate when I say 100%," but she said that the company validated the test against 900 samples collected before the COVID-19 outbreak, with no false positives. She added the test also correctly produced positive results from blood samples that have been verified as positive through other tests.

Theoretically, having antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 could make a person immune to the virus, but how robust this immunity is and how long it might last remain open questions. The big promise behind testing a whole community is that if one can identify people who have been infected and recovered (or never gotten sick in the first place), one can safely send them back to work or out in the community, Reese said.

"It's absolutely my goal to make this standard for how we get the country back to a new normal," Reese had said before the test was suspended. "If we tested everyone in the whole country and were prepared to do it twice, you would know exactly when you would be back at functioning  everybody back at work."

Reese isn't alone in his excitement. Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman invested an undisclosed amount of capital into COVAXX through his Pershing Square Foundation, and bestselling author and XPrize founder Dr. Peter Diamandis is listed as part of the COVAXX leadership team on the company's website. Diamandis presents a fawning interview with Hu and Reese in a widely shared YouTube video, which does not disclose his relationship with the company. Neither responded to requests for comment.

Testing results

In all, about 6,000 of San Miguel residents were tested at three locations across the county, which covers about 1,300 square miles. As of Monday, only 1,631 of the tests had been processed, with eight (0.5%) of them deemed positive, 25 (1.5%) "borderline" and 1,598 (98%) negative. Borderline results indicate the person may be in the early stages of producing antibodies, Lilly said.

Yet the single tests alone can't provide a clear picture of how many people have been exposed.

As of Thursday, a total of 11 cases in San Miguel County had been identified with standard swab tests. Officials continue to recommend that all residents practice social distancing and that those experiencing symptoms practice further isolation to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19.

One way to look at this attempt at large-scale testing is that "everybody's getting together and trying to do something cooperative and innovative," said George Annas, director of the center for health law, ethics and human rights at Boston University School of Public Health.

"If you wanted to be cruel, you could say this is a publicity stunt," Annas said.

The program certainly won COVAXX a lot of good publicity, along with gratitude from local residents  at least initially.

And a resort town in Wyoming is following suit. John Goettler, president of St. John's Health Foundation in Jackson, said his organization is spending "less than $20,000" on COVAXX tests for about 500 health professionals and first responders. Goettler said Jackson resident Dakin Sloss, a hedge fund owner listed as another member of COVAXX's leadership team, helped secure the tests. Testing is set to begin next week, and the test will be processed at a local lab, rather than in New York.

But in Ouray County, adjacent to San Miguel County, officials decided against such testing even before the Telluride suspension.

The cost "would shoot a hole in my budget for at least the next two years," said Ouray County public health director Tanner Kingery.

But that wasn't the only concern, Kingery said. It would have required a large supply of precious masks and other personal protective equipment, he said, while potentially exposing health care workers and community members to the virus.

Dr. Andrew Yeowell, an emergency room physician and Ouray County EMS medical director, also was concerned that negative tests might give people a false sense of security. If people with negative tests felt emboldened to go out in the community and interact with others, he said, it could undermine the county's advisory to stay home.

"If you're having symptoms or feel sick, stay home," Kingery added. "That guidance doesn't really change if you have a positive test."
More than 50 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and two have died at an Illinois facility for adults with developmental disabilities.

Officials in Park Forest declared a local state of emergency after the outbreak was reported at the Elisabeth Ludeman Developmental Center.

Mayor Jonathan Vanderbilt confirmed on Thursday that two residents, men aged 50 and 67, had died this week after being hospitalized with COVID-19.

So far at least 38 residents and 14 staff members have tested positive for the virus at the state-operated facility.

More than 50 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and two have died at the Elisabeth Ludeman Developmental Center (pictured) in Park Forest, Illinois

More than 350 people live at the 60-acre property, which employs about 900 workers.

All residents, many of whom have underlying health issues that make them vulnerable to life-threatening complications from COVID-19, have now been placed in self-quarantine for their own safety, Vanderbilt told WGN.

The mayor said that the facility is in dire need of personal protective equipment such as face masks, surgical gowns and disposable stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs.

In a statement about the outbreak, the Illinois Department of Humans Services said: 'Ludeman Developmental Center has been treating and isolating individuals who are symptomatic as if they are COVID-19 positive.

'This past weekend, IDHS received test swabs and have been able to significantly increase our capacity to test residents who are symptomatic and residents who were in close contact with a positive resident.'

All residents at the 60-acre facility, many of whom have underlying health issues that make them vulnerable to life-threatening complications from COVID-19, have now been placed in self-quarantine for their own safety

Ludeman is the second largest state-operated developmental center out of seven in Illinois.

A similar outbreak has been reported at another facility in Centralia, the Warren G Murray Developmental Center, where six staff members and 17 residents have tested positive.

More than 16,422 cases and 528 deaths have been reported in Illinois, as officials warn that the state could soon become a national hotspot due to it's accelerating infection rate.

At his daily briefing on Thursday, Governor JB Pritzker said the state was seeing a glimmer of hope in flattening the curve but is not out of the woods yet.

'Keep in mind our case number and death toll are still growing and thus our fight must continue,' Pritzker said.

'And the data will show those numbers are growing more slowly and that's a very good thing.'
Google is extending the amount of time its premium video chat features will be available to schools and other organizations. The companys newly-renamed Google Meet software will now be open to all G Suite customers through Sept. 30th.

The company had previously announced premium features for Meet would be available to all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers through July 1st. Premium features include the ability for up to 250 participants to join a call, live stream support for up to 100,000 viewers and the ability to record and save calls.

Were now supporting 2M+ new users on Google Meet each day, and 100M students+educators on Google Classroom. To help businesses & schools stay connected, weve extended free access to advanced features of Meet to all @GSuite customers through Sep 30, 2020. https://t.co/RLveeT1D4z  Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) April 9, 2020

Since then, the company says its added up to 2 million new Meet users each day, with more than 100 million students and teachers using Google Classroom, the companys suite of educational tools, which includes Google Meet.

Googles extension comes as rival Zoom faces increasing scrutiny over its security practices. Some companies have since banned the software, as have many school districts. Extending the amount of time its premium features are more widely available could help Google further chip away at Zooms popularity.
A federal court judge has ordered the release of 10 more immigrant detainees amid the COVID-19 pandemic, part of the countrys first certified coronavirus class-action lawsuit against ICE.

The total number of people being released as a result of the lawsuit is now 43, the largest number of individuals released from custody because of COVID-19 in the nation, according to the Lawyers for Civil Rights, one of the plaintiffs in the suit.

The 10 detainees were under the custody of the Bristol County Sheriff, the Lawyers for Civil Rights said Friday. The lawsuit calls for the release of all civil immigration detainees held in the Bristol County jail and the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center in North Dartmouth during the coronavirus pandemic.

Judge William G. Young on Friday permitted ICE to include electronic monitoring as a condition of bail for the 10 detainees. Young has held near-daily hearings to respond to the claims in the lawsuit.

Attorneys representing the detainees have said they were packed in crowded spaces, preventing them from practicing social distancing, which health officials say can help reduce the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Detainees have claimed that the Bristol County jail lacks adequate soap, toilet paper and medical resources, as well as the infrastructure to address the spread of infectious disease or treat people most vulnerable to illness.

A health care staffer working at the federal immigration detention facility in Bristol County has tested positive for coronavirus. Two corrections staffers at the Bristol County House of Correction have also reportedly tested positive.

As of Thursday afternoon, 503 Massachusetts have died from illness related to COVID-19 and at least 18,941 residents have tested positive for the respiratory illness, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Related Content:
The solar gravitational lens (SGL) is characterized by remarkable properties: it offers brightness amplification of up to a factor of ~1e11 (at 1 um) and extreme angular resolution (~1e-10 arcsec). As such, it allows for extraordinary observational capabilities for direct high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy of Earth-like exoplanets.

Under a Phase II NIAC program, we confirmed that a mission to the strong interference region of the SGL (beyond 547.6 AU) carrying a meter-class telescope with a solar coronagraph would directly image a habitable Earth-like exoplanet within our stellar neighborhood. For an exo-Earth at 30 pc, the telescope could measure the brightness of the Einstein ring formed by the exoplanet's light around the Sun. Even in the presence of the solar corona, the SNR is high enough that in 6 months of integration time one can reconstruct the exoplanet image with ~25 km-scale surface resolution, enough to see surface features and signs of habitability.

Phases I and II of our NIAC Study made three innovations: (1) proven the feasibility of high-resolution, multipixel imaging of an habitable exoplanet; (2) devised a swarm architecture for smallsats to explore the interstellar medium; (3) designed the low-cost solar array propulsion to achieve the exit velocity from the solar system needed for the mission. While flying along the SGL, our multismallsat architecture concurrently observes the multiple planets/moons of an exosolar system. Such simultaneity of observations reduces integration time, accounts for target's temporal variability, and "removes the cloud cover".

Our affordable SGL mission architecture design reduces cost: 1) It cuts the cost of each participant by enabling multiple entities broad choices of funding, building, deploying, operating, analyzing system elements at their choice. 2) It delivers economy of scale in an open architecture designed for mass production to minimize recurring costs. 3) It drives down the total mass (and thereby both NRE/ recurring costs) by using smallsats. 4) It uses realistic-sized solar sails (~16 vanes of 10^3 m^2) to achieve the needed high velocity at perihelion (~150 km/sec). 5) It applies maturing AI technologies for virtually autonomous mission execution eliminating the need for operator-intensive mission management, (6) It reduces launch costs by relying on "ride share" opportunities to launch the smallsats, avoiding the costs of large dedicated launchers.

Under a Phase II NIAC program, we determined that much of the foundational technology exists or is in intermediate levels of readiness due to the proliferation of government and commercial smallsat programs. This Phase III proposal will reduce the remaining TRL gaps and mature the SGLF mission concept. We will advance our understanding of the SGL-based imaging and spectroscopy of many candidate exoplanets, and define a near term, affordable flight test mission to prove the concept. We will refine our understanding of the mission architecture with emphasis on the issues of thermal and stability control during the perihelion acceleration. We will employ the system engineering approach successfully applied to many space missions by JPL and Aerospace, and employed by our industry partners, to select the best technologies for long-duration, autonomous operations in deep space and to identify and mitigate mission risks.

We will continue to present the SGL imaging mission to the science community for broader support. As this mission is the only way to view a potentially habitable exoplanet in detail, we are already seeing the significant public interest and enthusiasm that could motivate the needed government and private funding. As NASA will be our primary partner for the mission to the SGL, we are already working with NASA leadership, the ongoing NAS Decadals to include SGL in their science priorities.

Our SGL mission seeks further insight into the question "Are we alone in the Universe?"

Astrobiology

Please follow Astrobiology on Twitter.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), left, and Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) in 2018. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican effort to add $250 billion to an overwhelmed small business loan program, the latest political standoff in the weeks-long effort to pump trillions of federal dollars to businesses and families dealing with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried to approve $250 billion in new funding for the Paycheck Protection Program during a brief Senate session through a fast-track method that requires no objection from senators.

There is widespread, bipartisan support to add money to the small business program. But Democrats say they wont agree to the new spending unless there are safeguards to ensure all businesses can access the capital, including directing some of the money to small banks. They also wanted to add $100 billion for the healthcare system, and $150 billion for state and local governments.

Congress already approved $350 billion for the paycheck program  money that Republicans say is quickly running out as small businesses have flooded local banks to apply. Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin requested that congressional leaders approve the additional funding.

Democrats objected to the resulting legislation proposed by McConnell, and McConnell objected to the Democrats' counterproposal, leading to the current stalemate.

McConnell accused Democrats of holding Americans' paychecks "hostage."

Do not block emergency aid you do not oppose just because you want something more," he said to Democrats, adding that there was "no chance" the Democrats' plan would pass the Senate quickly.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the Senate committee overseeing small business, called McConnell's proposal "a political stunt because it will not address the immediate need of small business."

Both parties agree that the program is extremely popular, but there is disagreement on how soon it may run out of cash. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), chairman of the Senate small business committee, says $3.5 billion is being approved each hour. "We have days, not weeks, until [Paycheck Protection Program] runs out of money," he said.

Story continues

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said the program still had about two-thirds of its cash available. In a call with reporters Thursday, she scoffed at the idea that Mnuchin demanded "a quarter of a trillion dollars in 48 hours with no data" to back it up.

Democrats say the small business program is structured on a first-come, first-served basis that benefits small businesses with existing relationships with their banks. Very small businesses have been unable to access it, they say.

Many unbanked people [or those] who are under-banked are unserved on that basis, Pelosi said in an NPR interview Wednesday. For the next $250 [billion], we really need to have a percentage of that, $60 billion, that would go to something called community development financial institutions and that includes a number of things that they would open the way for others to participate.

Mnuchin, in a CNBC interview, said President Trump is willing to address some of Democrats concerns in the next bill.

We need more money for small business, and the president has been very clear hes happy to talk about other issues, such as hospitals and states in the next bill, he said. We wanted to go to get money for the small business program, which has enormous bipartisan support.

McConnell said he is open to doing more to respond to the coronavirus crisis, but he emphasized that the need for more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program was urgent. There is no reason why this bipartisan job-saving program should be held hostage for other priorities, he said in a statement.

The standoff  between Republicans who want to respond to the crisis in a piecemeal fashion and Democrats who want more comprehensive bills  is a glimpse of the ongoing debate over how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout.

Democrats in both the House and Senate are preparing their ideas for what would be included in the next major piece of legislation, known as phase four. But Republicans are more skeptical about immediately moving to a new bill, arguing that the other three bills  including $2 trillion in the third bill alone  need time to pump through the economy.

Thursday's Senate session is expected to be short and include only a handful of senators. Most lawmakers are back in their home states during a scheduled recess for Easter and Passover.

Nearly a week after the small business program officially opened, it continues to frustrate small business owners. Though most businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 500 employees are eligible for forgivable loans, finding a bank willing or able to lend them money has, in some cases, been extremely difficult.

Some banks have erected barriers, prioritizing their largest or existing customers. Others report that they are overwhelmed, flooded with applications at the same time that theyve been delayed by difficulty accessing the Small Business Administrations online application system.

Business owners fear the program will run out of funding before their loans are approved. Freelancers and independent contractors, who will be allowed to apply to the program beginning April 10, fear the money will be gone by the time theyre eligible.

In the meantime, rent, mortgage and utility bills continue to pile up.

As were looking at the Paycheck Protection Program, the relief it provides appears to be getting smaller as our needs continue to worsen, said Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs at the National Restaurant Assn. If there isnt strong action from Congress, youre going to see a lot of restaurants close their doors and never reopen.

Times staff writer Anna M. Phillips contributed to this report.
By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices gained nearly 4% on Thursday, but pulled back from an earlier surge as investors waited for details on negotiations between top producers hammering out an agreement for record supply cuts in response to the global fuel demand collapse due to the coronavirus pandemic. A worldwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic has cut fuel demand by roughly 30%, and contributed to a crash in prices that took major benchmarks down by more than two-thirds before recovering in recent days in anticipation of action from oil producers.

By Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices gained nearly 4% on Thursday, but pulled back from an earlier surge as investors waited for details on negotiations between top producers hammering out an agreement for record supply cuts in response to the global fuel demand collapse due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A worldwide lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic has cut fuel demand by roughly 30%, and contributed to a crash in prices that took major benchmarks down by more than two-thirds before recovering in recent days in anticipation of action from oil producers.

Brent futures rose $1.30 cents, or 3.9%, to $34.13 a barrel by 12:38 a.m. EDT (1638 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 95 cents, or 3.8%, to $26.03.

Earlier on Thursday, prices jumped over 10% as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia - a group known as OPEC+ - appeared to agree to cut output by anywhere from 10 million to 20 million barrels per day (bpd), equivalent to 10% to 20% of global supplies, OPEC and Russian sources said. Details remained unclear, however.

Even with such a massive reduction in output, analysts still expect storage to fill up worldwide, forcing producers to cut back drilling activities. U.S. gasoline demand has fallen by nearly half since mid-March alone, and other nations have reported similar declines.

"It sounds like there may be cuts of 10-20 million barrels a day of production. This may help, but is insufficient to clear the oil market, considering the demand cessation due to world government actions on Covid-19," said Josh Young, chief investment officer at Bison Interests.

A cut of 20 million bpd would be by far the biggest output cut ever agreed by OPEC, but Russia has insisted it will only reduce output if the United States joins the deal. Other large producers like Canada and Brazil have already voiced support for cuts, though those nations are cutting output now due to market forces.

The United States has not said it will mandate output reductions. Instead, it has noted that market forces are already causing producers to pull back, as it expects its output to fall by nearly 2 million bpd by next year.

Analysts, meanwhile, said that even if such record cuts are agreed, they will not be enough.

"Ultimately, the size of the demand shock is simply too large for a coordinated supply cut," analysts at Goldman Sachs said on Thursday.

Following the OPEC+ meeting, energy ministers from the Group of 20 major economies are set to meet on Friday.

The last OPEC meeting in early March ended acrimoniously, with Russia and Saudi Arabia unable to come to an agreement to curb output as the virus spread, adding to the slump in prices.

A source briefed on Saudi Arabia's oil policy said it is ready to cut up to 4 million bpd of its production but only from its record output levels of 12.3 million bpd achieved in April.

Russia has said it wants output to be cut from the January-March levels before Saudi production jumped.

Oil importing countries, meanwhile, may announce crude oil purchases, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol told al-Arabiya TV.

(Additional reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver, Shadia Nasralla in London, Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Seng Li Peng in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Raissa Kasolowsky)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Europe could be close to herd immunity from coronavirus already, with far more people infected than previously thought, a controversial study in Germany has said.

Scientists studying Gangelt, the town at the centre of Germany's first big outbreak dubbed the 'German Wuhan', found as many as 15 per cent of people may have already been infected with the virus and acquired immunity.

They said yesterday they had found antibodies to the virus in people who had shown no symptoms of coronavirus, boosting hopes the spread is slowing.

If 15 per cent of people do have antibodies, Germany's actual death rate could be as low as 0.37 per cent - five times lower than the current level.

But the methodology used in the study has been called into question by some in the scientific community.

It has been alleged the antibody test would not be able to distinguish between someone who had been infected with Sars-Cov-2 and someone with the four other coronaviruses recently active.

And it has been claimed the sampling should not have counted every individual, but should have been weighted to only count one person per household.

This is because if a person in a household is infected then the rest likely will also be infected very quickly, and this could falsify the result.

Professor Hendrik Streeck believes more people in Europe could have coronavirus immunity than previously thought

Professor Hendrik Streeck, the virologist leading the study, told a press conference: 'This means a gradual relaxation of the lockdown is now possible.'

However, Angela Merkel has previously warned that the country 'must not be reckless'.

Prof Streeck's study, near the Dutch border, is Europe's first to look at the impact of the virus on an entire community.

It involves scientists from the University of Bonn testing 1,000 people from 400 households in Gangelt for antibodies.

Their initial results, after around half of the tests, found two per cent of inhabitants were currently infected, and 14 per cent had antibodies to the virus.

This means that up to 15 per cent of the town's inhabitants could have immunity, with previous estimates putting the figure at five per cent.

Prof Gunther Hartmann, a member of the study, said: 'The 15 per cent is not that far from the 60 per cent we need for herd immunity.

A mobile test station for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is pictured in the town of Gangelt in the North-Rhine Westphalian local district of Heinsberg in March

'With 60 to 70 per cent herd immunity, the virus will completely disappear from the population. Then, the elderly are no longer at risk.'

The scientists are confident that their findings could be close to real figures as they were able to identify so many previously unknown cases of people having the virus.

German army to donate 60 ventilators to the UK - and not invoice them The German army will donate 60 mobile ventilators to the NHS in the battle against coronavirus. The donation comes after the UK called for help in ensuring the NHS is well-equipped for expected mid-April peak of the pandemic. The German defence ministry confirmed the donations and said it would send 60 pieces of the life-saving equipment as soon as possible. Because of the UK's desperation, the German ministry said it would not invoice the UK for the ventilators. They are are made by two specialist German manufacturers, Drager and Weinmann. Advertisement

An immunity rate of 15 per cent is already enough to slow the spread of the virus significantly, they added.

However, they admitted that all governments need to collect more data as the world still doesn't know enough about the virus.

Last week, research conducted by Prof Streeck showed that the home of one infected family did not have 'any live virus on any surface', adding even more questions as to how the virus is spread from person to person.

Prof Streeck said the virus had not even been found on door knobs or animal fur.

He stressed there were still unknowns about how it is actually spreading.

Meanwhile, other German scientists studying the pandemic revealed that tens of millions of people could have already caught the coronavirus.

Two researchers from Gottingen University claimed countries have only spotted six per cent of all COVID-19 cases, on average.

But the team also claimed that the rate was even lower in the UK, at just 1.2 per cent - suggesting the true size of the outbreak was up to 5million.

Rates - which the researchers said were true up to March 31 - were also staggeringly low in Italy (3.5 per cent), Spain (1.7 per cent) and the US (1.6 per cent).

The latest figures from the John Hopkins University reveal more than 90,000 have died from Covid-19. The counter uses a real-time tracker and is being treated as the most comprehensive toll of coronavirus statistics

Because of the huge disparity, they described the official tallies trotted out by health ministers across the world each day as 'rather meaningless'.

Earlier, the UK's Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance admitted that a third of people worldwide who have had coronavirus may have shown no symptoms.

These are people who can act as carriers because they spread the virus without knowing they have it.

Self-isolation cannot be used for them because they have no telltale signs like a cough or fever.

However Sir Patrick said the percentage of people infected in different countries appears to be in single-digit numbers, from early information.

That could mean only a small proportion of people in the UK have already had the virus and are potentially immune to it.
10.04.2020 LISTEN

The President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and Ghanaians, are to beware of the medical freebies from China to combat or to contain the spread of, the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Are such medical products or equipment from China to Ghana or Africa in the wake of the outbreak of Covid-19 free from intentional or inadvertent contamination of any sort, and if yes, how do we prove it?

Are the Chinese indeed the best friends of Africa and are wholeheartedly seeking the best interests of Africans, or they are just acting craftily to exploit the rich natural mineral endowment of Africa to the hilt by baiting us with soft loans and substandard free items?

When say, malaria starts in Ghana and spreads globally, is Ghana not the origin of the malaria? Why then is the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana saying the novel coronavirus (Covis-19) started in China but China is not the origin of the virus? Which country is the origin of the Covid-19, if I may ask the Chinese Ambassador and how did it come to start in China? Why did the Chinese authorities arrest the male Chinese whistle-blower medical doctor only for them to announce a few weeks later that he has himself contracted the virus and died? Why have they again arrested the female Chinese medical doctor who leaked the outbreak of the virus in the hospital she works at to her other medical colleagues?

Do the Chinese authorities mean good towards the world with Ghana inclusive? Why are the swarm of Chinese nationals in Ghana openly disrespecting the laws of the land by obstinately continuing to engage in illegal surface mining (galamsey) contrary to our governments directives to stopping such activities? Why were some Chinese bold enough to beat and/or kill some Ghanaians with impunity in Ghana if indeed they care about Ghanaians? Why are Chinese maltreating some black people in China, chasing them out of hotels into the streets and refusing to rent them hotel rooms or any accommodations as I speak?

If the President and Ghanaians are not very careful, all their successful attempts so far made to contain the spread of Covid-19 will be derailed in a twinkle of an eye by the Covid-19 medical freebies the country has gladly, but irrationally taken delivery of from China.

How do we test that they have not been contaminated? Why did the Chinese in the initial stages of the outbreak of the disease test some black people in China and came out to announce to the world that the virus is incapable of infecting black people? Why are black people today dying of the virus infections? Why are the Chinese forcing all black people to be tested for the disease?

There are rumours circulating that the test kits, thus the cotton swab to collect ear swab samples or tongue blade or spoon to collect throat swab samples by standard clinical methods as had been offered to some African countries are already infected with Covid-19. This is why some white people are warning that Africans will soon be overwhelmed by Covid-19 devastation. To take swab sample, the clinical method goes thus, Depress the tongue with a tongue blade or spoon. Be careful not to touch the tongue, sides or top of the mouth with the swab. Rub the swab on the back of the throat, on the tonsils, and in any other area where there is redness, inflammation or pus.

My late friend, Dr James London, from the Kumawu Ankaase royal family once told me the following when I paid him a visit at his house while on holiday in Ghana. He said, Kwasi, I do not eat outside from home when I am battling litigation matters against anyone. He said, it is prudent for anyone to stay safe by not eating anyhow, anywhere and from whomever when you are involved in litigation issues with others.

He said this on the very day that Kumawu was celebrating its official announcement of Kumawu been granted a district status by former President Kufuors NPP government. He had been invited by then Member of Parliament, Yaw Baah (Honourable) and DCE Philip Basoah (Honourable) to attend a dinner party to round off the public celebration. However, he turned off the invitation based on his belief that He who is involved in a litigation must not eat from outside home.

You can easily be poisoned if you carry your stomach and mouth anywhere, eating and drinking, when at the same time knowing to have many enemies out there.

I was in Kumawu on that fateful day but did not know about the celebration until I called on James at his house in the afternoon and he told me about it during a conversation.

I have revealed this private conversation to alert the President and Ghanaians to be careful of what free gifts we receive from outside in this critical period of need by Ghana. We should not desperately accept anything thrown at us. We should not behave like a drowning person who desperately clutches onto anything that comes his way in an attempt to save himself from drowning. He will clutch onto a straw, a water snake and even a stick, all of which cannot save him at that moment, if not compound his false sense of hope to worsen his plight.

If you have a means to test the free gifts against contamination, please do so before you use them or else, dont use them at all if you are not sure enough. We are until now not heavily infected with the virus so we should not rush to accept any gifts that will come to spark off the acceleration of Covid-19 infection in the country.

I personally have reservations about the Chinese. I know how they hate black people with passion but pretend otherwise when it comes to doing business with them where they will be profiting more from the business than we do.

Our Ghanaian and African leaders must learn a lesson from this outbreak of Covid-19 to stop their crazy fondness for corruption, the bane of our economic emancipation and the reason for Africans always being used as guinea pigs for vaccines in clinical trial stages. The funds to use to develop our countries to make us a bit self-sufficient and less dependent on foreigners are often embezzled by our greedy shameless politicians, civil service heads and traditional overlords hence always being at the mercy of some heartless foreigners.

The government has accepted free medical Covid-19 materials from China but if you are not sure of their safety, please dont use them. If you are obliged to accept them because our hand is in the mouth of the Chinese, or tied behind our back, you are not obliged to use them.

A word to the wise is enough. Stay home. Stay safe. And, stay alive.

Happy Easter Friday greetings to the President and all fellow Ghanaians.

Rockson Adofo

Friday, 10 April 2020
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has temporarily eased the tax criteria for highly skilled foreign workers, including those from India, engaged in the coronavirus fightback in the UK during a fixed three-month period.

The Indian-origin finance minister wrote to the House of Commons Treasury Committee on Thursday to announce that the so-called Statutory Residence Test (SRT) will be waived between March 1 and June 1, which means there would be no change in the tax status of international workers coming in response to the British government's efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

"We welcome the expertise and resource from those who wish to come to the UK to combat COVID-19 from anaesthetists through to engineers working on ventilator design and production.

"Under normal circumstances, the actions and presence of these individuals in the UK could affect their own tax residence status, potentially bringing their global earnings within the purview of the UK taxation," notes Sunak's letter addressed to Conservative Party MP Mel Stride, the chair of Parliament's Treasury Committee.

"We will amend the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) to ensure that any period(s) between March 1 and June 1, 2020 spent in the UK by individuals working on COVID-19 related activities will not count towards the residence tests. It is right that these changes are time limited and only support those people whose skill sets are currently required," it adds.

The minister said that the measure will provide flexibility and support to those coming to work in the UK to serve the coronavirus fightback and is required due to the "extraordinary circumstances" unleashed by the pandemic.

But he stressed that the UK government remains committed to the wider framework of the SRT and to ensuring that all individuals pay their fair share of tax in the UK.

"The qualifying criteria will therefore be designed so that the relaxation of the rules is tightly targeted, minimising the risk of abuse. We will also keep the duration of this measure under review as the situation develops, in line with the other support already provided," he added.

Sunak, 39, has been leading the UK government's charge on the economic response to the COVID-19 outbreak and mass social distancing measures, which have put the future of many businesses in disarray.

He has unveiled a series of mini-budgets since last month to offer new loans and grants for businesses and workers to help them through the crisis.

"Our economic plan is built on one simple idea: that we depend on each other," he said earlier this week as he unveiled a new funding to support the UK's charity sector.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Members of a Japan-based Marine Corps medical battalion are sterilizing buildings and assisting with coronavirus testing in Guam, where hundreds of sailors assigned to an aircraft carrier are recovering from COVID-19.

About 230 Marines and sailors with 3rd Medical Battalion arrived in Guam this week to support members of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. The crew was operating in the Asia-Pacific region when members began showing coronavirus symptoms after a port call in Vietnam.

Now, at least 447 members of that crew are battling COVID-19, the sometimes-fatal disease caused by the coronavirus. One of those sailors was admitted to an intensive care unit in Guam after being found unresponsive this week.

The medical battalion falls under 3rd Marine Logistics Group, which is based about 1,400 miles from Guam in Okinawa, Japan. Photos of the unit show sailors testing members of the Roosevelt's crew for COVID-19 and Marines sanitizing cots and other equipment patients are using during quarantine on the tiny island territory.

Related: Roosevelt Sailor with COVID-19 Found Unresponsive in Guam

The ship stopped in Guam in late March after the former commanding officer, who was removed from his job, pleaded with leaders to evacuate the ship as coronavirus cases spread onboard.

The Navy announced the first three COVID-19 cases on the Roosevelt on March 24. That number quickly spiked, and in 16 days has affected nearly 10% of the crew.

Brig. Gen. Keith Reventlow, 3rd Marine Logistics Group's commanding general, said sending the medical team to Guam will help the military get back to carrying out its mission in the Pacific.

The Marines and sailors, who offer medical support during humanitarian-assistance missions and other events, were ready to deploy to Guam within 48 hours of getting the call to do so, according to a Marine Corps news release announcing the deployment.

The members of 3rd Medical Battalion are assisting more than 70 medical personnel on the Roosevelt, including corpsmen and members of the Maryland-based Biological Defense Research Directorate, which has been conducting surveillance on the carrier.

The team is operating out of Naval Base Guam. More than 3,100 members of the Roosevelt's crew have been moved off the ship.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.

Read more: 'Terrible, Tragic Mistake:' Top General Warns Enemies Not to Test US Military Readiness
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has extended its no sail order for all cruise ships, the agency announced Thursday, in an effort to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

The order requires all cruise ships within U.S. waters to cease operations and develop a COVID-19 response plan that they must submit for CDC approval, the agency said.

The measures we are taking today to stop the spread of COVID-19 are necessary to protect Americans, and we will continue to provide critical public health guidance to the industry to limit the impacts of COVID-19 on its workforce throughout the remainder of this pandemic, said CDC Director Robert Redfield.

The CDC first issued a no sail order on March 14. The new order, an extension of the first with few modifications, will remain in place for 100 days or until the countrys public health emergency declaration ends, whichever happens first.

Roughly 100 cruise ships remain at sea off the west, east and Gulf coasts, with nearly 80,000 crew members aboard those ships, according to the CDC. There are also 20 cruise ships at U.S. ports with cases of COVID-19 among the crew.

Passengers disembarked from the Coral Princess when the ship docked in Miami on Saturday after it was stricken with a COVID-19 outbreak. At least three infected people have died, including a South San Francisco man, and others are ill. In March, a San Francisco cruise ship, the Grand Princess, was hit by an outbreak at sea.

Under the new order, the cruise ship operators must develop a plan that includes COVID-19 mitigation efforts like medical screening, training crew on infection prevention and managing and responding to an outbreak on board. The ships should have limited reliance on local, state and federal government agencies, the CDC said.

The plans must be submitted to the CDC and U.S. Coast Guard for review and approval.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Other rules, also included in the previous order, stipulate that cruise ships cannot disembark passengers or crew at U.S. ports without coordinating with several government agencies.

Outbreaks aboard cruise ships create complex public health dilemnas, the CDC said.

As we have seen with the passenger illness response on cruise ships, safely evacuating, triaging, and repatriating cruise ship crew has involved complex logistics, incurs financial costs at all levels of government, and diverts resources away from larger efforts to suppress or mitigate COVID-19, the agency said in a statement. The addition of further COVID-19 cases from cruise ships also places healthcare workers at substantial increased risk.

Anna Bauman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: anna.bauman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @abauman2
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the fight against the coronavirus pandemic during a phone conversation with Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone conversation with Prime Minister of the Italian Republic Giuseppe Conte. The Head of State expressed Ukraines sincere solidarity with the Italian people who are now undergoing difficult challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the press service of the Head of State reports.

Zelensky underscored that Ukraine genuinely supported the Italian people.

Ukraine is with you at this difficult time. I truly believe that Italy will soon overcome this crisis," the President of Ukraine noted.

Giuseppe Conte expressed gratitude for Ukraine's humanitarian assistance to Italy, which included disinfectants and a team of doctors. The interlocutors discussed practical aspects of Ukrainian doctors stay in the Italian region of Marche.

I am glad that our doctors save the lives of Italians working side by side with their Italian colleagues. I hope this will help Italy bring the victory over the pandemic closer, the President of Ukraine said.

Zelensky is convinced that the combined efforts of Ukrainian and Italian doctors in the fight against the pandemic will be a successful example of bilateral cooperation and overcoming common challenges. He stressed that the experience gained by Ukrainian doctors in Italy in the treatment of COVID-19 is very valuable for Ukraine, which also faced the outbreak of coronavirus.

As of 09:00 on April 10, Ukraine had 2,203 laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 69 lethal cases and 61 recoveries.

ol
Actor Akshay Kumar has pledged to contribute Rs 3 crore to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to assist the making of personal protection equipment, masks and rapid testing kits to help the battle against COVID-19.

Film critic and movie trade analyst Taran Adarsh announced on the same on Twitter on Friday and wrote, "After donating Rs25 crores to the PM CARES fund, Akshay Kumar contributes Rs3 crores to BMC to assist in the making of PPE, masks and rapid testing kits."

The 'Good Newwz' actor has been informing people about the necessary precautions to be taken to stay safe amid the coronavirus outbreak through his social media handles. On Thursday, Akshay acknowledged the contribution of all essential workers during the lockdown period, and encouraged people to use the hashtag 'Dil Se Thank You' to express their gratitude to the people "who work to ensure our safety."

Earlier, the 'Mission Mangal' actor joined hands with actors including, Kartik Aaryan, Tiger Shroff, Taapsee Pannu, Kiara Advani and launched a hope anthem - 'Muskurayega India,' and made an attempt to pump up Indians with positivity amid the testing times of coronavirus.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday informed that India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,412.

Out of the total cases, 5,709 are active patients and 504 of them have been cured/discharged and migrated. With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the death toll reached 199, according to the ministry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame is currently seeking applications to fill the position of Director at Large on the organizations Board.

Founded in 1976, the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame honours the best in Standardbred and Thoroughbred horse racing for lifetime achievement. To date, 500 people and horses have been recognized for their significant contribution to the sport across the country and internationally.

A Registered Canadian charity, the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Board of Directors consists of 12 volunteer board members, the majority of which represent industry organizations, as defined in the CHRHFs bylaws. One position on the board is designated as a Director at Large.

This is a volunteer position geared to someone who has both a strong business background and an interest and knowledge of the history of the sport of Canadian horse racing. Previous work with registered Canadian Charities or previous board experience would be beneficial. Additional eligibility for the position include the following:

Qualifications:

A Director

Must be an individual Must be at least eighteen (18) years old May not have been declared incapable by a court in Canada or in another country May not have the status of a bankrupt May not be an ineligible individual as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada)

Duties of board members include oversight of the following areas:

Financial direction and goals

Strategic direction of the organization

Review and appointment of all members of Nomination and Election Committees

Nomination and Election criteria and guideline revisions

Organization governance

Board meetings are usually held in Toronto semi-annually (April and October) with board members being nominated and elected annually. Additional meetings may be convened as issues dictate. Conference call access to meetings is offered.

Interested parties are asked to submit a letter of interest including a biography and list of relevant qualifications (maximum one page in length) based on the above criteria, to [email protected] by April 17, 2020. Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame c/o Woodbine Racetrack 555 Rexdale Blvd., P.O. Box 156 Toronto, ON M9W 5L2 Phone: 416-417-9404

All submissions received will be made available to the current Board of Directors at the 2020 AGM, scheduled to take place in April 2020, at which time a vote will be held to determine the candidate appointed to the board.

Additional information about the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame may be found at www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com.

(CHRHF)
One new national poll shows Joe Biden 11 points ahead of President Trump, as his Republican allies fear his handling of the coronavirus could hurt his re-election chances.

CNN's poll, which was released Thursday, showed Biden with 53 per cent support of the American electorate and Trump at 42 per cent.

Two other national polls, including one from Fox News Channel, show more encouraging numbers for the president - with Fox pollsters finding that Trump and Biden are tied at 42 per cent support.

President Trump is behind Joe Biden by 11 points in a CNN poll that dropped Thursday, but a Fox News Channel poll has the two presidential candidates tied

The CNN poll shows Biden winning over women, voters of color and young voters - but he also wins independents by double-digits, which explains his 11 point edge

Three new polls show President Trump 11 points and 4 points down from Joe Biden, but also tied with the presumptive Democratic nominee

The Fox News Channel poll, which was released Friday, has Trump receiving his highest approval ratings yet.

The survey found that 49 per cent of registered voters approved of the job Trump was doing, while another 49 per cent disapproved of the sitting president.

A Monmouth poll, released Thursday, has Biden four points ahead of Trump - 48 per cent to 44 per cent.

The current Real Clear Politics polling average of all recent national polls gives Biden a 5.9 point advantage.

All three of the new polls were conducted before Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary race.

Sanders made the announcement on Wednesday, cementing Biden as the Democrats' presumptive nominee.

Biden's leading in the CNN poll because of the support he receives from key Democratic groups, including among young voters - who overwhelmingly tilted toward Sanders during the Democratic primary.

Sixty-two per cent voters under 35-years-old said they supported Biden, versus 31 per cent who choose Trump.

Additionally, 72 per cent of voters of color back Biden and 62 per cent of female voters support the former vice president.

Trump has a slight edge with white voters, the CNN poll found, with 52 per cent supporting the current president and 44 per cent backing his Democratic challenger.

The president has a slight lead among men as well - 51 per cent to 44 per cent for Biden.

And both candidates carry a huge majority of their own party.

Trump wins the support of 96 per cent of Republicans, while Biden is supported by 91 per cent of Democrats.

Independents, however, tilt for Biden in the CNN poll by double-digits - helping account for his large lead.

On Friday, Trump sent out a tweet that suggested Biden only won the Democratic primary because Elizabeth Warren stayed in the race through Super Tuesday, hurting Bernie Sanders' chances

He wins the group with 52 per cent support to 40 per cent for Trump.

Trump seemed to be reacting negatively to Biden's strong numbers by suggesting that he only won the Democratic primary because moderates in the race dropped out before Super Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren, a progressive like Sanders, stayed in.

Her voters may have gone to Sanders had she dropped out before the large group of March 3 primaries that cemented Biden's frontrunner status.

On Friday, Trump tweeted, 'Nobody wants to say that if Elizabeth Warren gets out of the race before Super Tuesday, Crazy Bernie Sanders wins virtually every state in a blowout...NOT EVEN CLOSE!'

'I havent heard one member of the Fake News Establishment even mention this irrefutable fact,' Trump wrote. 'FAKE NEWS!'
Food Works has announced that the registration for Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois is now open for farmers, farmers markets and local food businesses in Southern Illinois who want to connect with more Illinois shoppers.

Buy Fresh Buy Local is a nationwide branding campaign that highlights local food producers and drives shoppers to local products. The brand has been used in central Illinois since 2008, and has grown to include more than 130 farmers and food businesses.

After success in central Illinois, 10 of the leading food and farm organizations in Illinois, including Food Works and the Illinois Department of Agriculture, joined forces to expand the brand statewide. All farms that sell into Illinois and the Illinois businesses that carry their products are eligible to participate.

The brand features both an online directory and annual print directory.

Our goal is to grow the local food economy by making it easy for shoppers to find and support local food and the farmers who raise it. Now more than ever, we know shoppers want to support local products, and the Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois directory will help them find it, Jennifer Paulson, executive director of Food Works, said.

Participating businesses will be featured in an online directory that is designed to be a one-stop shopping guide to help find local poultry, fruit, produce and unique locally grown products in Illinois. The guide will feature an online interface where shoppers can search by food product, growing practice and proximity.

Farms and businesses that participate also will be featured in a regional print directory with many of the features of the online directory. Paulson said this is one way to make foods produced in Southern Illinois easier to find.

Buy Fresh Buy Local became available this week. Paulson said quite a few local food producers have expressed interest in the brand.

Farmers and local food businesses can visit www.buyfreshbuylocalillinois.org to register.

We have farmers already signing up, she said.

Paulson thinks this will be an important way for farms and other food producers to connect to consumers during the current statewide stay-at-home order.

To find or register a farm or local food business, visit www.buyfreshbuylocalillinois.org.

Love 2 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
WASHINGTON  Attorney General William P. Barr said on Thursday that President Trump was right to fire the inspector general who disclosed the whistle-blower complaint about Mr. Trumps dealings with Ukraine and that the presidents political enemies could face criminal prosecution.

In coming to the presidents defense, Mr. Barr also praised Mr. Trumps response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has touched nearly every aspect of the economy and is projected to kill as many as 100,000 Americans.

Mr. Barrs statements, made in an interview with the Fox News host Laura Ingraham, show that he remains one of Mr. Trumps staunchest allies despite a feud that erupted between the two men this year over the presidents attacks on the Justice Department.

Late last Friday, Mr. Trump told Congress that he was firing Michael K. Atkinson, the intelligence community inspector general who disclosed the whistle-blower complaint that brought to light the presidents actions toward Ukraine and prompted impeachment proceedings last fall.
When will it end?

For everyone under lockdown orders in the coronavirus pandemic, that is the key question. How long until American life can return to normal, without risking the disease reigniting out of control and overwhelming hospitals?

Examining the question are three new reports, from the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for American Progress, and Harvard's Safra Center for Ethics.

While they differ in their conclusions, all are three are bleak. Life in the U.S. will not fully return to normal until a vaccine is distributed widely, and drastic interventions will be needed until then once restrictions are relaxed, all three conclude.

All three reports call for a period of national lockdown, which could only be lifted after certain conditions are met. For AEI, restrictions would ease state-by-state after a state recorded 14 days of falling daily new case numbers.

For CAP, the national lockdown would continue for 45 days, while for Harvard, the most draconian, it would last three months.

The three plans differ in several of their proposals:

AEI plan: 14 day lockdown, capacity for 750,000 tests per week

CAP plan: 45-day lockdown, digital surveillance system for contact tracing

Harvard plan: Three-month lockdown, millions of daily tests, digital surveillance

The country's ability to expand testing to the levels proposed by Harvard is unclear -- as is the American public's willingness to accept a massive system of digital surveillance tracking their every move.

Severe as they may seem, however, ongoing measures such as these may be the only alternative to round after round of recurring lockdowns, if the outbreak reignites before a vaccine is available.

Three new reports predict that American life will not return to normal for more than a year, until a vaccine is available. Pictured: A nearly empty Times Square on Thursday

Once restrictions ease, with schools and some non-essential businesses reopening, all three reports say that massive testing would be needed, ranging from 750,000 tests per week for the AEI report, to an astonishing 100 million daily tests in a Harvard whitepaper.

The CAP report also proposes a stunning nationwide system of digital surveillance using cell phone location data to track everyone's potential exposure to known cases.

Such a system, deployed with success in authoritarian China, would be certain to raise difficult questions about privacy and individual liberty.

While they differ in their details, the common points in the three reports are striking.

Until there is a vaccine, gatherings of more than 50 people should be banned, and remote working should be continued where possible even after lockdowns end, they all agree.

With a safe and effective vaccine more than a year away under the best case scenario, it seems clear that American life won't fully return to normal any time soon.

AEI: States could ease restrictions one-by-one after two weeks of declining daily new cases

Among the three reports, the models from the conservative-leaning think tank AEI are the most optimistic about how soon restrictions could be eased.

AEI envisions individual states moving one-by-one into what it calls 'Phase Two', a period in which social distancing requirements are relaxed, but not eliminated.

In Phase Two, the majority of schools, universities, and non-essential businesses could reopen, but working from home would still be encouraged where possible. Gatherings would be limited to less than 50 people. Those over 60 or with health risk factors would still be encouraged to isolate at home.

The report states: 'the trigger for a move to Phase II should be when a state reports a sustained reduction in cases for at least 14 days (i.e., one incubation period); and local hospitals are safely able to treat all patients requiring hospitalization without resorting to crisis standards of care.'

As a further condition for Phase Two, AEI stipulates that the state would need the capacity to test all people with COVID-19 symptoms, along with capacity to conduct active monitoring of all confirmed cases and their contacts.'

AEI estimates that nationwide, 750,000 tests per week would be needed for successful contract tracing. Pictured: Coronavirus tests are administered in Malibu on Wednesday

This is known as 'contact tracing,' or identifying people who may have been exposed to known cases and ordering them to quarantine for 14 days. AEI estimates that nationwide, 750,000 tests per week would be needed for successful contract tracing.

Daily tests in the U.S. peaked at around 225,000 last week, so the AEI estimate seems attainable.

AEI's plan calls for rapid testing to be available at clinics and pharmacies, and for a national system of random testing to track the background rate of infection across states and identify community spread.

For people who tested positive, and their recent contacts, who did not need hospitalization, AEI proposes that 'Home isolation can be enforced using technology such as GPS tracking on cell phone apps.'

AEI argues that in order for a state to move to Phase Two, hospitals in a state need to be able to immediately expand capacity from 2.8 critical-care beds per 10,000 adults to 57 beds per 10,000 adults in the setting of an epidemic or other emergency.

Access to ventilators in hospitals would also need to expand from three per 10,000 adults to a goal of 57 ventilators per 10,000 adults, AEI argues.

Under the plan, Phase Two would end when either a vaccine is available, or when rising case numbers triggered a return to lockdown.

Center for American Progress: National cell phone location data surveillance system needed to track the population before restrictions ease

The recommendations under the plan from CAP, a left-leaning think tank founded by Hillary Clinton's campaign manager John Podesta, are more pessimistic about the risks of emerging from lockdown.

The CAP reports argues that a federally mandated, nationwide stay-at-home policy must be instituted 'for a minimum of 45 days'.

The report speaks glowingly of the dramatic steps taken by the Chinese government at the source of the pandemic, where in some cases families were physically locked into their apartments from the outside.

'Chinas lockdown was enormously successful in suppressing transmission,' the CAP report states. 'In China, a lockdown of two months achieved near-zero transmission, although the government does not count asymptomatic positive cases.'

In order to enter their version of 'Phase Two,' where social distancing rules are relaxed, CAP also calls for widespread testing, randomized surveillance testing, and 'instantaneous contact tracing'.

The CAP report explains that by 'instantaneous contact tracing', it means a nationwide digital surveillance system that tracks the movements of every citizen using cell phone location data.

CAP calls for a nationwide digital surveillance system that tracks the movements of every citizen using cell phone location data (stock image)

'These methods use GPS, Bluetooth, cell tower, and Wi-Fi network data to identify whether the users phone pinged the same signals as the phone of a COVID-19-positive individual during the same time period,' CAP states.

CAP writes approvingly of South Korea and Singapore, which used cell phone apps to digitally surveil the populations and track potential exposure from known cases.

'These nations use mobile phone apps or mobile telecommunications infrastructure to notify individuals on their mobile phone through notifications or text messages if they have been in close proximity to an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19,' CAP writes.

'The entity that hosts the data must be a trusted, nonprofit organizationnot private technology companies or the federal government,' the think tank proposes. 'The app could be developed for a purely public health nonprofit entity such as the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)an organization that represents state health officialswhich would host the data.'

CAP proposes that use of the contact tracing app be required for anyone who wants to travel by airline.

Any return to a semblance of normality will require several restrictions and protections to minimize the risk of transmission from daily operations.

During Phase Two, CAP calls for the use of cloth face masks in public, bans on gatherings over 50 people, a 50 percent capacity cap on all subways, buses and trains, and widespread teleworking wherever possible.

'Once herd immunity has been achieved through mass vaccination, all remaining restrictions can be lifted,' the report states.

CDC warns the only way the US can return to normal is through 'aggressive' contact tracing The CDC has warned that the only way the US can return to normal life is through aggressive contact tracing - but it will need an 'army of healthcare workers' to be able to do this. CDC Director Robert Redfield said the health agency is working on a plan for the nation to come out the other side of the pandemic and scale back social distancing measures once the outbreak has been brought under control. This plan involves 'very aggressive' contact tracing, finding people who have tested positive for coronavirus and tracking down everyone they have come into contact with and possibly infected until an entire chain of transmission is traced and eliminated. It will also require the nation to ramp up testing for the virus, Redfield said. CDC Director Robert Redfield said that the health agency is working on a plan for the nation to come out the other side of the pandemic 'It is going to be very aggressive - what I call block and tackle, block and tackle,' Redfield told NPR Thursday of the focus on contact tracing. However, Redfield warned that the US will need an 'army' of healthcare workers to be able to conduct contact tracing on the scale needed for the US to reopen. 'We are going to need a substantial expansion of public health field workers and it is going to be critical,' he said. 'We can't afford to have multiple community outbreaks that can spiral up into sustained community transmission.' The CDC has already deployed a SWOT team of around 600 workers across the nation to help states prepare for this shift. 'We have over 600 people in the field right now from CDC in all the states trying to help with this response, but we are going to have to substantially amplify that,' said Redfield. Redfield admitted that the federal government will need to draft in support for state and local public health departments. He said the plan was 'far along' but did not divulge details of how the CDC will solve the issue. 'We're definitely in the middle of all of that,' he said. 'Obviously if we're going to try to get the nation back to work shortly after the end of this month we're far along on this planning process.' He did not rule out the use of technology such as cellphone data to trace patients' contacts, NPR reported. 'People are looking at all the different modern technology that could be brought to bear to make contact tracing more efficient and effective,' he said. 'Are there more tech-savvy ways to be more comprehensive in contact tracing? Currently these things are under aggressive evaluation.' Advertisement

Extreme testing: Harvard white paper proposes that up to 100 MILLION tests a day may be needed to prevent recurring outbreaks

While both the AEI and CAP reports say that massive, widespread testing is needed in order to lift lockdown restrictions, a Harvard whitepaper argues that they don't go nearly far enough in their projections.

The Harvard paper argues that the AEI and CAP estimates are low 'by one to three orders of magnitude.'

'Even under the most optimistic scenarios, we need to be testing millions of people per day to allow a significant return to the workforce,' the authors write.

'Tens of millions per day seems more likely and more than 100 million may be necessary in the worst case,' they continue.

A driver in a vehicle drops his COVID-19 test into a bin at a coronavirus mobile testing site in Los Angeles on Friday. Harvard says up to 100 million tests a day might be needed

Under that worst-case projection, nearly a third of the U.S. population would be tested for coronavirus daily -- a logistical challenge that seems virtually impossible to surmount.

In a separate paper from Harvard's Safran Center for Ethics, it is argued that national lockdowns will need to persist for at least three months, until the end of June, to have any hope of containing the virus.

The Harvard plan argues that in order to reduce the risk of repeat lockdowns in the fall, a 90-day lockdown should be spent building a massive digital surveillance system for contact tracing and capacity for millions of tests a day, studying immunity in previously infected patients, and isolating vulnerable populations.

The paper proposes that anyone who proves immunity due to surviving the virus would be allowed out of quarantine, on the condition that they volunteer to join a Medical Reserve Corps to fight the pandemic.
None of Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded in action during this period

Donbas conflict Open source

Since early April 10, Russian mercenaries breached the ceasefire in Donbas six times. The enemy used weapons of banned calibers. Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported that.

In Donetsk region, 82 mm mines hit Ukrainian positions near Novooleksandrika. Illegal armed gangs used 120 mm mines to shell the vicinities of Novozvanivka. Mortars and grenade launchers were used in the area of Orikhove.

In Luhansk region, 82 mm mines hit Novotoshkivske. Near Krasnohorivka, the enemy opened fire from grenade launchers and heavy machine guns; in Opytne, the militants fired from small arms.

None of Ukrainian soldiers were killed or wounded in action during this period.

On April 9, one Ukrainian serviceman lost his life in combat, as Russian mercenaries opened fire in Khutir Vilny, Luhansk region. Joint Forces Operation HQ reported that on April 9. The enemy fired grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms. Ukrainian forces returned fire and suppressed hostile activity. The Ukrainian fighter sustained a fragmentary injury that appeared to be lethal.
- Tingdis finally caught a glimpse of Azziad Nasenya's dance video and like everyone else, he stayed glued to his screen

- The impressed guy complimented her intoxicating smile and noted she was extremely talented when it came to dancing

- The socialite's brother also shouted out Kenyan musicians and termed their content as unique in a good way

In less than a week, previously unknown dancer, Azziad Nasenya, has graduated from a pretty face on Instagram to a social media celebrity thanks to her fire waist and inviting smile.

The beauty left both men and women rubbing their eyes and holding their breaths with her gentle yet calculated dance moves.

READ ALSO: No more kids: DJ Mo pleads with wife Size 8 after staying home with children

READ ALSO: Magazeti ya Jumatano, Aprili 8: Wabunge 17 na maseneta waambukizwa coronavirus

Nasenya, the social media star, even got the attention of Ugandan socialite Zari Hassans brother Tingdis.

The guy was so taken by the gorgeous ladys beauty and hot dance moves he could barely breathe.

READ ALSO: Julie Gichuru excites fans with adorable tbt of herself while she was 16

The entrepreneurs sibling who rarely issues compliments decided to break his fast and give credit where it is due.

I mean, who would not get hypnotised by that tiny waist and the whines that were being presented so effortlessly by the new Kenyan queen of dance.

Tingdis even ended up praising the countrys music sector and said the sound was something worth writing home about as it is always unique and entertaining.

"Me nitawezana. Kenyan music has always sounded differently good. Her smile is infectious," shouted Tingdis.

The larger than life character could not get enough of Azziads smile (no one can), and he just felt like her dance moves were calling his name each time the beauty shook her waist.

His fans agreed completely with the guys sentiments and all they could do was describe in details how the queen of TikTok made them download an app they did not know how to use.

Well, if everyone is confessing, we might just say we also dipped our toes in the TikTok world but that is definitely a story for another day.

Azziad, the gleeful smiling machine whose tiny eyes are a trap for the mightiest men, decided to dance to Mejja and Fenas song Utawezana and in just 24 hours, her dance made the song garner 150,000 new views and if that is not smart marketing then what is?

She danced her way to the top and ended up changing her phone number because love-crazed men could not stop hitting her up.

Like they always say, good things always come in small packages, Azziad and her waist are enough proof.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

Three kenyans great invention that will fight covid-19 | Tuko TV

Source: TUKO.co.ke
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said that the faces its gravest test from the coronavirus pandemic that poses a significant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security.

The Secretary-General said the pandemic could potentially lead "to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease."

He also urged the members of the Security Council to display unity.

"To prevail against the pandemic today, we will need to work together. That means heightened solidarity," he said during a closed video-teleconferencing session of the Security Council, which held its first meet on the coronavirus ever since the pandemic that has claimed over 1.5 million lives and infected 90,000 people worldwide.

"Every country is now grappling with or poised to suffer devastating consequences of the COVID19 Pandemic; tens of thousands of lost lives; broken families; overwhelmed hospitals and overworked essential workers," the Secretary-General said in his remarks to the Security Council on the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The virus had originated in China's Wuhan last year.

"We are all struggling to absorb the unfolding shock: the jobs that have disappeared and businesses that have suffered; the fundamental and drastic shift to our daily lives, and the fear that the worst is still yet to come, especially in the developing and countries already battered by armed conflict. While the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis, its implications are much more far-reaching," he said.

Guterres identified eight risks which he said are particularly pressing including -- the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to further erode trust in public institutions, economic fallout of this crisis could create major stressors, the postponement of elections or referenda among others.

In some conflict settings, he said, the uncertainty created by the pandemic may create incentives for some actors to promote further division and turmoil. The UN Secretary-General said this could lead to an escalation of violence and possibly devastating miscalculations, which could further entrench ongoing wars and complicate efforts to fight the pandemic. Highlighting that the threat of terrorism remains alive, he said terrorist groups may see a window of opportunity to strike while the attention of most governments is turned towards the pandemic.

"The weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic provide a window onto how a bioterrorist attack might unfold - and may increase its risks. Non-state groups could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe," he said. The Secretary-General also underlined that the crisis has hindered international, regional and national conflict resolution efforts, exactly when they are needed most.

According to the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, the number of people infected with the virus has exceeded 1.5 million with 95,000 deaths.

Stressing that the engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said: "To prevail against the pandemic today, we will need to work together. That means heightened solidarity." "And it means having the necessary resources. The financial situation of the United Nations remains perilous, and we have only enough cash to fund peacekeeping operations through the end of June and limited capacity to pay troop- and police-contributing countries. This is the fight of a generation -- and the raison d'etre of the United Nations itself."

The Secretary-General also offered condolences to all countries for their losses from the disease.

Since the global outbreak of COVID-19, the 15-member Security Council has not met even once or come up with a united response or resolution to the pandemic, mostly due to a stand-off between the US and China over the origin of the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 31

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend

Uninsured coronavirus patients are insured in the hospitals in Iran, said President of Iran Hassan Rouhani, Trend reports citing IRINN.

According to Rouhani, 90 percent of the expense of hospitalized patients with coronavirus is paid by the state and 10 percent must be paid by patients.

Rouhani added that free financial assistance was also provided to low-income foreigners.

The president said that due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), the period of restriction of movement in the country has been extended until April 8.

According to the head of state, all those infected with the virus in Iran must quarantine themselves and patients with severe symptoms should go to the hospital. Those who do not follow the rule will be punished.

Iran is one of the countries heavily affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 41,400 people have been infected, 2,757 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 13,900 have reportedly recovered from the disease.

The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease.

The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.
Governments around the world will turn increasingly protectionist in the near term as they try to limit the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, a trade expert said on Thursday.

COVID-19 has already spread to more than 180 countries and territories and caused some countries to restrict exports of medical supplies  that's a decision that could spill into other areas such as food products, said Deborah Elms, executive director at consultancy Asian Trade Centre.

"There is a much bigger wave of protectionism in the near term that we should expect, that is not just in medical supplies ... but it will also start to affect food," she told CNBC's "Capital Connection."

"As countries get nervous about food stocks and food supply, food security, they're going to stop allowing the export or restrict the import of food products," she added.

Global economic activity, including trade, is at risk of grinding to a halt as countries implement social distancing and quarantine measures of varying degrees to fend off the spread of the coronavirus disease, formally referred to as COVID-19.
Vatican City

Pope Francis on Holy Thursday hailed priests and medical staff who tend to the needs of COVID-19 patients as "the saints next door."

Francis celebrated the Holy Week evening Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, which was kept off-limits to the public because of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the new coronavirus.

The same precautions forced the pope to forgo a symbolic ritual traditionally observed on the Thursday before Easter  washing the feet of others in a sign of humility.

Last year, he performed the ritual washing on the feet of 12 inmates at a prison near Rome. The ritual re-enacts Jesus' washing the feet of his 12 Apostles at their last supper before he was crucified.

The pope began his off-the-cuff homily by honoring the memory of priests who gave their lives in service to others, singling out those who died after tending to sick people in Italy's hospitals. Italy has the world's highest death toll from the coronavirus pandemic.

"These days, more than 60 in Italy have died, after giving attention to the sick in hospitals," he said. "Also doctors, nurses. They are the saints next door."

Looking weary and speaking in a subdued voice, Francis also expressed dismay that priests have been insulted or slandered because of scandals in the Catholic Church involving pedophile members of the clergy.

Addressing his remarks to priests worldwide, Francis said: "Today I carry you in my heart and I carry you to the altar."

"Ugly things are said to (many priests), in reference to the drama we have experienced with the discovery of priests who did ugly things," the pope said. "Some tell me they cannot leave their home wearing the clerical collar because they're insulted."

Earlier in the week, Australia's highest court dismissed the convictions of Cardinal George Pell for allegedly sexually abusing children. A former top papal aide, Pell spent 13 months in prison in his native Australia. Francis didn't mention him or cite a specific case in his remarks.

Ceremonies leading up to Sunday's Easter Mass have been badly disrupted by the coronavirus crisis. The torch-lit Way of the Cross procession at Rome's Colosseum on Good Friday is a traditional highlight that normally draws large crowds of pilgrims. It was canceled.
Citing the work of Rodney Stark, a sociologist of religion, Pastor Dudley told me that one of the reasons Christianity grew so rapidly is that when plagues hit the Roman Empire and so many people, including physicians, rushed out of the city, Christians rushed in to care for the sick, often dying themselves as they did so.

That kind of sacrificial love coupled with incredible courage convinced an unbelieving world that Jesus was Lord, Pastor Dudley said. How we live out sacrificial love will be different, he acknowledged. We know more about diseases and how they spread than the early Christians did, so we need to follow social-distancing guidelines, but the principle of healing the wounded still applies.

If, in this pandemic, Christians care first and care most, we may find ourselves in a whole different dialogue between the church and our culture than what has been primarily a very toxic dialogue, Pastor Dudley said. Jesus, Christians and the church may have a better reputation if we rush into care with courage and sacrificial love.

What the church can also offer the world, according to the Rev. Dr. Bill Fullilove, a pastor at McLean Presbyterian Church and an Old Testament scholar, is a reason to care for others, because, as he put it, we view each of these men, women and children  no matter their belief or behavior or anything else  as being made in the image of God and therefore inherently valuable. Christianity provides a kind of anthropology of care and solidarity with others, including those living in the shadows of society.

Leaning into the worlds pain during a pandemic can be done in a way that respects social distancing. Ministers told me their churches are donating surgical masks, reallocating significant sums of money toward Covid-19 relief and hiring laid-off restaurant workers to make meals for the unemployed. They are aiding homeless shelters and purchasing tablets that allow distance learning for schools serving children of low-income families. Congregants are signing up to bring food to those in need, with younger people volunteering to pick up groceries for older people. Some are offering their facilities to be used by cities in any way they need, including as field hospitals if necessary.

None of these acts of generosity is unique to churches, but they are characteristic of many of them. According to Peggy Wehmeyer, a former religion correspondent for ABC who attends Highland Park United Methodist in Dallas, I think it will change this historic church forever.

Some high-profile Christians presume they can divine the messages God is sending the world through suffering, natural disasters and pandemics. But most Christians I know, and all of those with whom I was in touch, wisely stay away from attempting to answer the Why? question. They point to the prophet Job, whose friends were rebuked by God for trying to do precisely that. And it was Jesus, in the agony on the cross, who cried out, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? If God didnt see fit to answer Job or Jesus, God is not likely to feel the need to answer us.
Businesswoman and Wife of Keche Andrews, Joana has revealed that shes worth at least $700,000,000.



According to her, when she started in the beginning, she was only making about $200,000 but as the business grew, she makes close a million dollars yearly.



She revealed this in a yet to be aired episode of the Delay Show.



When asked by Delay what the most money she had made in her career was, she replied: When I started in the beginning, I made $200,000 a year and then it increased to $400,000, and then $500,000 and then $1,000,000. But now I make close to $700 million a year.



List of some of her businesses:-

* GEM multimedia Ghana ltd

* Colossus Minerals Ltd

* Joana TV Ltd

* GEM Rhythms Ltd

* The GEM Ltd pub

* KESSE music Ltd

* GELL Golden page Ltd

* GELL Farms Ltd

* GELL Petroleum Ltd

* GELL Real Estate Ltd

* KBA Mining Ltd

* Joana Gyan Foundation

* GELL Timber Ltd

* ZEMA Ghana Jewelry and Fashion School, Ltd

* Royalsekt Ghana Limited



Maybe we need FORBES AFRICA to assess her wealth and include her in the Richest Africans list.

Watch Snippet of interview below:

Source: ameyawdebrah.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/08/2020 -- The mass flow controller market size to grow from USD 1.1 billion in 2019 to USD 1.5 billion by 2024, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.2% during the forecast period.



The major factors that are expected to be driving the market are growing demand for mass flow controllers in semiconductors industry and surging demand for intelligent flow meters in chemicals and water & wastewater industries. The objective of the report is to define, describe, and forecast the market size based on material type, sensor type, product, media type, flow rate, connectivity technology, application, end-use industry, and geography.



Download Free PDF Brochure:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=7748578



Pharmaceuticals end-use industry is expected to grow at fastest rate during forecast period



Mass flow controllers with low flow rates play a vital role in the pharmaceuticals industry for the measurement and control of different media (gas and liquid). For example, in the medical application, mass flow controllers are used in ventilation devices. The ultra-low flow measurement and control capability of the controllers improve the accuracy of ventilation devices and offer efficient control and safety of the patient. The use of mass flow controllers in pharmaceuticals, medical, and healthcare devices for enhancing safety and accuracy would drive the growth of the mass flow controller market.



Spray and coating application is expected to grow at highest CAGR owing to growth of semiconductors, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals industries



Spray and coating are commonly used processes in the semiconductors industry for wafer cleaning, thin film deposition, precision coating, and chemical vapor deposition. In all these processes, mass flow controllers are used to control fluid and gas flow at a low rate. The accuracy of the flow control and stability in the measurement are the 2 important factors to be considered while selecting mass flow controllers for these critical applications. The growth can be attributed to increasing demand for mass flow controllers in liquid and gas treatment applications.



Mass Flow Controller Market in APAC to grow at significant CAGR during the forecast period



The highest market size in North America is attributed to the adoption of ITS to counter traffic congestion and boost safety on roads is propelling theThe market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. APAC is expected to dominate the market due to factors such as increasing population, emerging economies, and rising adoption of mass flow controllers across different end-use industries such as semiconductors, oil & gas, medical, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals. Increasing investments in the semiconductors industry and rising demand for efficient devices for measurement and control, and industrial automation are among the major factors driving the growth of the market in this region. Most of the key players operating in the mass flow controller market have their production capacity in APAC as the production cost in this region is lower than that of in other regions.



Inquiry before Buying :

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=7748578



Key Market Players

Key players in the Mass Flow Controller Market include Bronkhorst High-Tech (Netherlands), Brooks Instrument (US), Burkert Fluid Control Systems (Germany), Instruments (US), Sierra Instruments (US), Horiba (Japan), Sensirion (Switzerland), Alicat Scientific (US), Teledyne Hastings Instruments (US), Parker Hannifin (US), Tokyo Keiso (Japan), Vogtlin Instruments (Switzerland), Azbil Corporation (Japan), FC-Technik (Switzerland), Kofloc Kyoto (Japan), Aalborg (US), Axetris AG (Switzerland), Dwyer Instruments (US), FCon Co. (Japan), Kelly Pneumatics (US), Sable Systems (US), Hitachi Metals (Japan), Apex-Sciences (US), and Beijing Seven Star Electronics (China).



About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.



Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.



MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledgestore" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.



Contact:

Mr. Sanjay Gupta

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA : 1-888-600-6441

sales@marketsandmarkets.com
(TNS)  You wake up with a scratchy throat and a tight chest, but otherwise you feel OK.Its most likely not COVID-19, but you know you should stay home, just in case.But what if you cant stay home and still pay the bills?Ive been that way for the past week  with just a cough. And maybe its just a cold or allergies. It could be, but the fact is that Im out there, Im shopping for peoples items, said one San Antonio Instacart shopper who asked to remain anonymous. I need to make money, and Im going to put that aside.With many San Antonians hunkered down, complying the citys restrictive stay-at-home orders, gig workers are on overdrive trying to meet the flood of restaurant deliveries and grocery store shopping orders.Those grocery shoppers and delivery drivers receive virtually no benefits, and each day face an elevated risk of contracting the virus.The more one works to meet the demand, the greater the risk of getting sick. And with no sick leave, workers said theyve had to choose between their livelihood and the publics health and their own.Im trying to decide if I want to continue to work as hard because I know that every time I set foot in a grocery store, Im increasing the likelihood that I will get sick, said one Shipt shopper who also requested anonymity so her Shipt account would not be deactivated. If I get sick, Im not going to be covered, and nobody is paying my bills.The pandemic has shown the absence of a safety net for gig workers, and has brought renewed public scrutiny to the technology-enabled gig economy, in which companies such as Uber, Shipt, Instacart, Lyft and others classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees.That classification gives gig workers a greater degree of flexibility than most other workers, who can set their own work schedules. But it also means companies are largely able to avoid offering unemployment, health care or sick pay to workers.Corporations have long made the case that the nature of work is changing  people want flexibility in the 21st century economy, said Brian Chen, a staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project and an advocate for gig workers. But then you see these very low-paid individuals working through a pandemic just to pay the bills, and that shows you the reality of how much flexibility these workers have.This COVID pandemic has shown we have an entire group of workers who have no rights under our labor laws, he said.Over the last month, companies such as Instacart and Shipt have touted the protections and benefits theyre providing to workers during the crisis. The companies agreed to ease rules around grocery delivery time frames, made it easier for shoppers to pay and are waiving poor customer reviews.The companies also said theyll be providing workers with hand sanitizer and cleaning products in coming weeks.Our teams are working around the clock to safely serve all members of our community, and were incredibly grateful for Instacart shoppers like you who have stepped up as household heroes during this time, Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta said in a note to workers late last month.Along with Uber and Lyft, the companies also offered 14 days of paid sick time off for workers who test positive for COVID-19, though testing capacity is still limited in San Antonio and across the nation.It still seems like a joke, said the Instacart shopper. Its already really difficult to get a test. Just because you have coronavirus doesnt mean youre going to get a test. It seems like it was a fake thing for Instacart to put up and say, Oh, were doing this. But heres all the fine print. It made a lot of people who didnt read into it feel better.In separate interviews, four San Antonio gig workers all said they willingly take on the day-to-day risks of their work  that is, frequent contact with strangers. They said theyre committed to helping vulnerable people during the pandemic.Many gig grocery shoppers work exclusively with clients wuth whom theyve built a rapport. The majority of customers on Instacart and Shipt are elderly or people with weakened immune systems particularly at threat from the virus, shoppers said.When we all initially got into gig work, we got into it for a financial reason, said a second Instacart shopper, who is also a health care worker and a nighttime Uber driver. You need to close a gap in income. You need to pay for an extra class for college. You have unforeseen medical expenses. But when coronavirus hit, that reason changed for a lot of people.There is a bit of fear involved with me going out and going shopping, being in public when were told we shouldnt be, she said. However, what would these people do if I didnt do it?Several gig workers also said they enjoy the benefits of the flexible, informal nature of the work they do.Its easy to pick up on, and you dont have to register or fill out a lot of documentation, the first Instacart shopper said. You just open the app and get started. With the way were independent contractors, it would absolutely be nice if we have some benefit of health insurance. But the price you pay is you have such flexibility. Ive got an hour to kill? Maybe I can pick something up.These days, the average gig grocery shopper in San Antonio starts their day at about 7 a.m. waiting in line outside of an H-E-B. After the hour-long wait for the store to open, shoppers dash inside  first to the cleaning supplies aisle, then a race to find any leftover perishable goods, such as ground beef.Rideshare drivers have complained of a sharp drop in ridership recently, but shoppers said demand has skyrocketed for them in recent weeks. Before the pandemic, the first Instacart shopper may have completed 5 or 6 grocery orders in a full day; he now fulfills about 12 to 13 orders.Two months ago, there may have been 20 to 30 grocery orders on the Shipt app at the start of each day, one shopper said. Now, there are between 600 and 700 orders at the start of every day, and around 250 orders go unfulfilled daily.The way I think of it is every offer is one family that needs groceries or cleaning supplies, so its kind of overwhelming because at the end of our days, its like 250 families we still havent helped, the Shipt shopper said. San Antonio has probably 2,500 (Shipt) shoppers. Theres a lot of shoppers, but a good portion of regular shoppers have stopped shopping because theyre scared of getting sick.Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently asked President Donald Trump to provide relief for gig workers in the $2 trillion stimulus package passed by Congress last week.The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance provision included in the package provides $600 per week in unemployment benefits for gig workers in Texas affected by the viral outbreak.But while the benefits may help some gig workers in the short term, experts note the federal government funding unemployment insurance for them isnt sustainable.Under normal circumstances, gig workers dont qualify for unemployment. Employers pay a payroll tax for each employee, which contributes to the pot of money in each state thats available for workers seeking unemployment.Because gig-economy platforms dont classify workers as employees  oftentimes labeling them entrepreneurs  they dont offer benefits or pay into the unemployment insurance fund for workers.Thats left the general taxpayer to foot the bill for gig workers unemployment insurance.In a system working correctly, gig workers in Texas would by any measure be classified as full-time employees and would qualify for regular state unemployment insurance, Chen said. And it would be corporations like Uber and Lyft paying their fair share in the unemployment system, rather than have the government cover it during an emergency.Khosrowshahi and other tech executives have argued workers on the different platforms prefer flexibility, and categorizing drivers or shoppers as full-time employees would mean theyd lose the freedom to work when and where they want.A Barclays analysis last summer found it would cost Uber and Lyft hundreds of millions just to reclassify drivers in California as employees, and could potentially bankrupt both companies.In the meantime, the gig workers interviewed for this story, lacking health care benefits, said theyre doing what they can to keep themselves and their customers virus-free.Each worker detailed their hygiene routines, which include sanitizing and spraying Lysol several times per day, and also sanitizing grocery bags before theyre left at a customers door, among other precautions.The day ends with the shoppers immediately throwing their outfit in the washer and taking a shower.So many of the customers that I have right now, theyre elderly, and theyre like my family at this point, said a second Shipt shopper. I know Im doing what I can for my family at home to reduce their risk of getting something from whatever I may have come in contact with potentially. But other people dont have that option. Theres that feeling of a call to duty.Several gig workers said they have considered filing for unemployment, but said they would rather continue working if theyre able to.They also said they hope the pandemic makes consumers reconsider the value of gig work.People are seeing the inequality at work when you have a certain set of people that are doing such essential work, but are so left behind by our existing labor laws and by employers, Chen said. What is the value of this work? Why dont these workers have the most basic and fundamental protections at work?
At the initiative and by the decision of the Board of AUGA group, AB (code 126264360, address Konstitucijos avenue 21C, Vilnius, Company) the ordinary general meeting of shareholders of the Company is being convened on 30 April 2020, at 10.00 a.m.

The meeting will be held at the conference room at the business center QUADRUM NORTH, address Konstitucijos avenue 21C, Vilnius.

The registration of the shareholders begins at 9:30 a.m.

Only those persons who will be shareholders of the Company at the close of the record date of the general meeting of shareholders may participate and vote at the general meeting of shareholders.

The record date of the meeting shall be 23 April 2020.

Taking into account the recommendations of the Ministry of Economics and Innovations of the Republic of Lithuania and of the Bank of Lithuania, in case on the day of the general meeting of shareholders the quarantine regime shall still be in force in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, all the shareholders shall have a right to participate in the general meeting of shareholders only by a single mean, foreseen in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Companies  by filling the General Ballot Paper and providing it in advance to the Company. If the quarantine regime will already be revoked on the day of the general meeting of shareholders, it shall take place with no limitations regarding the form of attendance thereof.

Agenda of the Meeting:

Consolidated annual report of the Company for the year 2019 and Auditors report. Approval of consolidated set of annual financial statements of the Company for the year 2019. Approval of the profit (loss) allocation of the Company for the year 2019. Appointment of the auditor to audit consolidated financial statements of the Company for the year 2020 and approval of auditors remuneration. Amendment of the rules for granting Companys shares to employees and (or) members of the bodies of the Company and approval of new wording thereof. Approval of the remuneration policy of executives of the Company. Provision of the Strategy of the Company and its implementation report.

Story continues

Drafts of decisions with related documentation and further information shall be published separately by supplementing this notice.

Shareholders of the Company shall have a right to participate and vote at the general meeting of shareholders personally or by power of attorney or represented by the person with whom an agreement on the transfer of voting rights is concluded.

The total number of the Companys shares of EUR 0.29 par value each and the number of shares granting voting rights during the general meeting of shareholders is the same and amounts to 227,416,252.

ISIN code of the Companys shares is LT0000127466.

A person attending the general meeting of shareholders and having a voting right must provide a persons identification document. A person who is not a shareholder must additionally provide a document confirming his/her right to vote at the general meeting of shareholders.

Each shareholder shall have a right in the manner established by the laws to authorise other (natural or legal) person to attend and vote at the general meeting of shareholders on his/her behalf. At the general meeting of shareholders an authorised person shall have the same rights as would be held by the shareholder represented by him/her, unless the authorized persons rights are limited by the power of attorney or by laws. The authorized person must provide a power of attorney certified in the manner established by laws. A power of attorney issued in a foreign state must be translated into Lithuanian and legalised in the manner established by laws.

The Company does not establish special form of power of attorney.

Shareholder shall have the right to authorize through electronic communication channels another person (natural or legal) to participate and vote in the meeting on shareholders behalf. Such authorization shall not be approved by the notary public. The power of attorney issued through electronic communication channels must be confirmed by the shareholder with a safe electronic signature developed by safe signature equipment and approved by a qualified certificate effective in the Republic of Lithuania. The shareholder shall inform the Company on the power of attorney issued through electronic communication channels by e-mail info@auga.lt no later than until the last business day before the meeting at 24:00. The power of attorney and notification shall be issued in writing. The power of attorney and notification to the Company shall be signed with the electronic signature but not the letter sent via e-mail. By submitting the notification to the Company the shareholder shall include the internet address from which it would be possible to download free of charge software to verify an electronic signature of the shareholder.

A shareholder or a person authorised by him/her shall have a right to vote in writing in advance by filling in the general ballot paper. Form of the general ballot paper to vote in this meeting shall be provided together with publishing the last update to the notice not later than by 10 days prior to the general meeting date. Upon a shareholders request, the Company, not later than 10 days before the general meeting, shall send the general ballot paper by registered mail free of charge. The general ballot paper shall also be provided on the Companys website at www.auga.lt not later than by 10 days prior to the general meeting date The filled-in general ballot paper and the document confirming the voting right (if any) must be submitted to the Company sending by registered mail at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice and received by the Company not later than on the last business day until the meeting.

As it is indicated above, in case on the day of the general meeting of shareholders the quarantine regime shall still be in force in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, all the shareholders shall have a right to participate in the general meeting of shareholders only by a single mean  by filling the General Ballot Paper and providing it in advance to the Company at the aforementioned address and method.

The Company is not providing the possibility to attend and vote at the general meeting of shareholders through electronic means of communication.

The shareholders holding shares that grant at least 1/20 of all votes shall have the right of proposing to supplement the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders. Draft decisions on the proposed issues shall be submitted together with the proposal or, if the decisions do not need to be approved, explanations on each proposed issue of the general meeting of shareholders shall be presented. Proposal to supplement the agenda must be presented to the Company sending them by registered mail at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice. The agenda will be supplemented, if the proposal is received not later than 14 days before the general meeting of shareholders.

Each shareholder holding shares that grant at least 1/20 of all votes at any time before the general meeting of shareholders or during the meeting shall have the right of proposing draft resolutions on the issues already included or to be included in the agenda of the general meeting of shareholders, as well as the additional candidates to the members of the Management Board of the Company (if elected). The proposed draft decisions must be presented in writing sending them by registered mail at the address of the registered office of the Company indicated in the notice.

The shareholders shall have the right to present questions related to the agenda issues of the general meeting of shareholders to the Company in advance in writing, by providing the shareholders personal identification number and consent to process personal data  personal identification number in the letter which should be sent to the Company by registered mail. The Company undertakes to respond if the questions are received not later than 3 business days before the general meeting of shareholders. Responses of a general character shall be posted on the Companys website www.auga.lt . The Company will not respond personally to the shareholder, if the respective information is posted on the Companys website.

The shareholders could get familiarised with the documents possessed by the Company related to the agenda of the meeting, including notification on convocation of the meeting, information about the total number of the Companys shares and the number of shares granting voting rights during the general meeting of shareholders, draft resolutions, and other documents to be submitted to the general meeting of shareholders as well as to get information regarding execution of the shareholders rights at the Companys website at www.auga.lt under the heading For investors. In case the quarantine regime shall be revoked in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania the shareholders shall have a right to familiarize with the aforementioned documents at the registered address of the Company at AUGA group, AB, at the address Konstitucijos avenue. 21C, Vilnius, and on the indicated Companys website at www.auga.lt .

CEO

Kestutis Juscius

+370 5 233 5340
The coalition agreement between the Likud and Blue and White was ready to be signed last week. All that remained was to put together a historic power-sharing government led by two prime ministers with equal rights and authority. However, after forcing Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to dismantle his party, one half of which balked at joining such a government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did an about-face with two additional demands. One was for veto power over the Judicial Appointments Committee in order to control the makeup of the Supreme Court. The other was for a mechanism to prevent the top court from ruling against him serving as prime minister under criminal indictment.

Gantz cannot give in to these demands. The defense of Israels legal and law enforcement systems against persistent efforts by Netanyahu and his allies to weaken them is his sole political achievement vis-a-vis Netanyahu. They are also his sole moral and historic justification for forging a deal with a politician charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Granting Netanyahu veto power over the appointment of judges means giving him control over the identity of the justices who might rule on his appeal if a lower court convicts him.

It was the latest twist in the unbelievable plot of Israeli politics over the past 18 months, the latest curve in the insane roller coaster ride that has left the state in an endless election cycle and without a functioning government.

Over the Passover holiday that began on April 8, Gantz became yet another statistic in the endless list of Benjamin Netanyahus political victims. Gantz had abandoned the friends from Yesh Atid with whom he had formed Blue and White in early 2019, leading to the disintegration of the first alternative to emerge in the past decade to challenge Netanyahus hold on power  only to discover that he had been led astray by the most devious magician in Israeli political history.

The writing was on the wall, but Gantz failed to read it. Netanyahu waited for the Blue and White breakup he had been trying to engineer for over a year and pounced. With Gantz lacking appropriate guarantees to safeguard his deal, the prime minister came out with two new demands.

Yisrael Beitenu chair Avigdor Liberman, who essentially engineered and orchestrated the lengthy operation to topple Netanyahu, could only look on and wring his hands in despair. These generals in Blue and White, he told Al-Monitor, referring to former army chiefs Gantz and his leadership colleague Gabi Ashkenazi, think they are smart, but they dont understand anything. They should have given me the keys and the running of this whole thing. They should have exerted more pressure on Netanyahu, rather than easing up. That is the only way to reach agreements with him that are worth the paper on which they are written.

Netanyahu wanted to work with Gantz for a simple reason: to share responsibility with him for the handling of the coronavirus epidemic and its attendant economic collapse and to buy himself another year and a half in the office. Netanyahu believed he could spend the additional time hammering out a cushy plea bargain with the attorney general and annexing the West Bank with the backing of US President Donald Trump. He could then step down with dignity, leaving a historic legacy and avoiding jail time.

The scenario turned out even rosier than Netanyahu imagined. Contrary to various assessments that the epidemic would undermine his popularity, just the opposite occurred. He is successfully using the crisis to fortify his status as the sole prominent leader defending the people of Israel against the deadly virus. His almost nightly appearances on prime time television aggrandize his image even further. The relatively low number of Israeli fatalities from COVID-19 compared to other countries is a big help.

Unlike Netanyahu, Gantz appears lost and helpless. His previously strong Blue and White that almost defeated the Likud fell apart with a whimper. Recent polls show Netanyahus Likud with 40 Knesset seats or more, easily crossing the hitherto unattainable goal of 61 seats with his right-wing and ultra-Orthodox allies for control of a Knesset majority. These numbers tempt Netanyahu to go for broke. Rather than having to compromise with Gantz and handing over power in 18 months, he could have it all. He could engineer a fourth round of elections, achieve a 61-seat Knesset majority with his allies, change the rules and save himself from the ignominy of a criminal trial.

However, as is always the case in Israel, nothing is ever a done deal. After the euphoria of recent days and the first day of Passover, Netanyahu began a cautious retreat. Although Gantz has been largely disarmed, he still has significant leverage over the prime minister. Many petitions demanding that the Supreme Court ban an indicted politician from forming a government are awaiting the justices ruling. As an incumbent prime minister, the law has allowed Netanyahu to continue his term even under indictment and during a criminal trial. Now, however, his incumbency has ended. He is a rank-and-file Knesset member awaiting a nod from the president to form Israels next government. According to various legal interpretations, the Supreme Court could deliver a surprise verdict that an indicted Netanyahu cannot be tasked with forming a government.

At this point, Gantz is Netanyahus solution. He is not the one forming the government. President Reuven Rivlin had tasked Gantz with the job after the March 2 elections. Gantz deadline is looming. If his negotiations with Netanyahu culminate in a governing coalition, Gantz will be the one to inform Rivlin that he has succeeded in his task  even though the government he forms will be led initially by Netanyahu.

Netanyahu knows one other thing. The situation going into an election is a given, but the situation after the voting is an unknown. Right now, he is at an all-time peak in the polls, but former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was also at the height of his popularity on the eve of the Second Lebanon War in 2006. He emerged from the fighting a lame duck. With that and other historic lessons in mind, Netanyahu called Gantz on April 8 and told him the coalition negotiations would resume at once. Netanyahu continues to dither between his aggressive gut and his cautious, rational head that prefers 18 months in the hand to an eternity in the bush.

Gantz 28-day mandate to form Israels next government ends on April 13. Given the current state of affairs, Gantz might ask Rivlin for a 14-day extension. Netanyahu could endorse Gantz request for an extension to convince Rivlin of its prospects of success. It would make Gantz Netanyahus official savior, with Netanyahu crowning him as his successor 18 months from now. For that to happen, Gantz must pray that Netanyahu does not find a way to wriggle out of a legally binding coalition agreement anchored in special legislation to switch seats in October 2021. Gantz knows that Netanyahu, the greatest Houdini of Israeli political history, is able to get himself out of anything.
But the covid-19 narrative also shows how problematic it would be to use a pathogen as a bioweapon. The attacker would be nearly as vulnerable as the target as the pandemic spread. Such a blight might be appealing to anarchists who sought only global destruction. But an Islamist terrorist group, say, would have to expect that the pathogen could kill as many of the Muslim faithful as unbelievers.
: Two municipal wards here would be



sealed for 14 days in view of five coronavirus cases detected in the two areas, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike commissioner B H AnilKumar said on Friday.

The wards are Bapuji Nagar and Padarayanapura.

"We will do it (seal) the two areas for that much time (14 days)," Kumar told PTI.

Earlier speaking to reporters, he said people would not be allowed to venture out. If they violate the regulations, criminal cases would be filed against them, he said.

"We are pretty sure that people won't defy the rule," he said.

Besides these two areas, no other area has been chosen for total seal-down, Kumar clarified.

Mayor M Gautham Kumar told PTI that the reason behind sealing the two wards is that these are thickly populated areas and people there were defying the lockdown.

"It was difficult to control people there," the Mayor said.

According to the Palike officials, nobody would be permitted to venture out as the essential goods would be supplied at their doorstep.

The BBMP has built two entry and exit gates in these areas, which are in close proximity, he said adding that there would be door-to-door screening of people living in the areas.

According to the bulletin issued by the BBMP commissioner on his Twitter handle on Thursday, 69 positive cases have come to fore in which 16 patients recovered completely till Thursday while there was one death.

As many as 2,490 persons were screened, of which 33 were referred for further tests, the regular bulletin issued by the BBMP said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The banks, which include JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, play a crucial economic role, but their importance is heightened now. Any sign that the banks are reducing lending significantly would suggest that the coronavirus shock is feeding on itself and could lead to a prolonged recession. In addition, the federal government is relying on banks to deliver much of its financial support to businesses. Senior executives on earnings calls are likely to discuss how such efforts are going.

Shares of pharmaceutical companies have done better than the stock market as a whole, in part because the pandemic has increased demand for their products. The stock of Abbott Laboratories, which has introduced a test for coronavirus, and which reports earnings on Thursday, is down 1 percent this year compared with a 14 percent decline in the S&P 500 index. Johnson & Johnson, which reports earnings on Tuesday, is down 3 percent.

Earnings will also be a chance to assess just how bad business is for retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond, which is scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday. That companys shares have lost two thirds of their value this year.

Over all, analysts at Goldman Sachs forecast that earnings of companies in the S&P 500 will decline by 33 percent this year, but then surge by more than 50 percent in 2021.

United Airlines plans to add some international routes.

The announcements have come every few days since early March, with airline after airline cutting ever more flights. Now, one is reversing course.
Spanish club Barcelona, through its foundation Barca Foundation, will distribute 15,000 PPEs as part of an agreement with Chinese internet company Tencent which has made a significant donation to support the battle against coronavirus pandemic.

"The first installment of 15,000 sets of individual protective equipment (PPE) has already arrived and will be distributed via the Barca Foundation to different hospitals and healthcare professionals currently working to deal with the pandemic and alleviate the effects of coronavirus," read a statement from the club's website.

A few days ago, Tencent launched a USD 100 million Global Anti-Pandemic Fund to help curb the devastating spread of COVID-19. The money will be used to finance basic and vital healthcare supplies, including protective equipment and other hospital and healthcare products. The Barca Foundation has agreed to support Tencent by managing and distributing part of this material in Catalonia.

The comprehensive protection equipment that has arrived includes a hood for healthcare professionals, whose composition and characteristics meet the protection requirements for use in Intensive Care Units (ICU) at the hospitals where care is provided to COVID-19 patients.

To help combat this crisis, the club, among other measures, has made its facilities available to the health authorities and for research projects, such as the one that began yesterday at the Camp Nou and which involves the collection of samples for a study to prevent new COVID-19 infections.

Despite the nation-wide toll reaching 15,238 Spanish authorities are optimistic that the death rate has again slowed after small increases in the previous two days, Al Jazeera reported.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While The Epoch Times began publishing reports about the CCP virus on Jan. 2, most outlets had yet to pick up on the story because of the CCPs lockdown on information. Three months later, over 200 countries and territories have been infected and the virus has caused over 85,000 deaths, infecting at least 1.4 million, but information is murkier than ever.

Weve pretty much heard every rumor under the sun. Weve heard every theory, every crazy rumor, weve heard all these different narratives, said Joshua Philipp, award-winning investigative reporter and host of the show Crossroads.

The rumors arent by accident: The CCP has been actively engaging in a disinformation campaign, and media outlets around the world have parroted the propaganda. As a result, entire nations have been operating under false information as they try to battle the pandemic within their borders.

Screenshot of the documentary Tracking Down the Origin of Wuhan Coronavirus. (Courtesy of The Epoch Times)

Philipp and his colleagues at The Epoch Times and its sister media outlet NTD Television thought it their responsibility to sift through all the information available, verify it, and put it into one place. The result is the just-premiered documentary Tracking Down the Origin of the Wuhan Coronavirus, which is available to watch online. In just three days after its premiere, the documentary has around seven million views across different platforms.

The film really tries to sift through all of the rumors, all of the truths, all of the falsehoods, and show people as accurate a picture as possible of what really happened and where this virus actually came from, Philipp said.

In it, Philipp pieces together the development of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, and includes interviews that shed light on the Chinese regimes actions and intentions.

Lives at Stake

It should be very telling that the nine-person panel the CCP created to address the pandemic, once it finally acknowledged the virus in January, is filled with propaganda officials, said China affairs columnist Gordon Chang in the documentary.

Many countries have accepted or bought faulty equipment from China, for example, and theyre getting duped, Philipp said. And, of course, this is because they dont understand the Chinese Communist Party, they dont understand how [the CCP] works, and even as we speak right now, the Chinese Communist Party is claiming its over in China when its not.

China affairs columnist Gordon Chang. (Courtesy of The Epoch Times)

And what that means is, as they open things up and reopen flights, theres a major risk to other countries, Philipp said. If [these countries] dont have accurate information, then what can they base their information on?

As the documentary shows, the CCPs delay in sharing information about the virus with other countries was not mere oversight. And beyond covering up the epidemic, Chinas current actions and disinformation continues to endanger lives around the globe. The CCP has gone from denying the existence of the CCP virus to spreading as many lies as it can to obscure the truth.

This is an issue of human life, Philipp said.

Why Would the CCP Lie?

From the beginning, the CCP has not been forthcoming.

We dont know whats there, but the fact that the Communist Party is covering this up should trouble us deeply, Chang said.

Those unfamiliar with the CCP will likely be shocked to discover the regimes motives.

Philipps investigation of the CCP virus in this documentary goes back to the outbreak of SARS nearly two decades ago. The CCP tried to cover up the SARS outbreak as well, and The Epoch Times was one of the few media outlets to expose this. There is precedent of the regime being untrustworthy in the event of an epidemic.

Philipp has been researching the CCP since 2008, and gave an example of its military approach to shed light on how the CCP can profit off this pandemic that most consider a tragedy.

One important thing to understand is they talk about war without morals. They talk about unrestricted warfare: war that does not take into account any concept of human rights, human dignity, human life. It is victory by any means. There is nothing they will not do, and we see the same thing in many parts of their system, including the medical system where altering the human genome is not a big deal to them, Philipp said.

The documentarys experts remind us: This is a nation that currently holds at least 1 million of its own people in concentration camps. They dont care about human life when it comes to this regimeweve seen that in their human rights abuses, Philipp said.

Epoch Times investigative journalist Joshua Philipp. (Courtesy of The Epoch Times)

The documentary is a comprehensive look at what the virus is and what has happened, and Philipp hopes it can allow nations to make better-informed decisions.

Dr. Sean Lin, former lab director of the viral disease branch at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. (Courtesy of The Epoch Times)

At the very least, we can provide this as a package of information that will inform the entire world exactly where this virus came from, and exactly what needs to be done going forward, he said. And at the very least, they will be more cautious when dealing with the Chinese Communist Party, especially at this time.

Peoples lives are at stake and we find it very necessary to do this kind of work, he said.

Talking Points

The information is perhaps more vital than ever, because while countries are turning to the World Health Organization for information, WHO is turning to the CCP.

General Robert Spalding, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former National Security Council senior strategy director, was in China when SARS broke out; he was evacuated, but he knows what a coverup looks like. How the CCP handled the SARS coverup is exactly how they have handled this one. He is among several experts who say that the CCP clearly has no intention of ending the epidemic or curing the virus.

Senior investigative Epoch Times reporter Joshua Philipp in New York City. (Courtesy of The Epoch Times)

You can see that the WHO is essentially following the Chinese Communist Partys guidelines, Spalding said.

The WHO isnt the only organization doing so; international organizations and individual academic institutions around the world are afraid to say something that may anger the CCP. In recent weeks, Philipp reached out to many well-known scientists who once suggested that the virus causing this mysterious COVID-19 disease was created in a lab, but they no longer wanted to talk.

From the beginning, the CCP prevented organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from studying the origin of COVID-19, Gordon Chang said.

The CCPs actions speak to a problem deeper than the virus. Every country has diseases, but in China they become national emergencies and global emergencies, because the real disease here is communism, Chang said.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The city has released from jail about 30 Staten Island inmates deemed at risk to the coronavirus (COVID-19), many against prosecutors recommendation, said Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon.

McMahon said his office, in discussions with the city, had agreed to the release of only seven individuals, meaning about 23 were set free from Rikers Island without his consent.

Most of those inmates were serving city jail sentences, others had been held for parole violations or in lieu of bail pretrial, he said in a phone interview on Thursday.

Inmates released against his wishes had been detained for various crimes, such as criminal weapon possession, driving while intoxicated, drug offenses and larceny, said McMahon.

One of the individuals released has been re-arrested twice  once for petit larceny and once for grand larceny, the D.A. said.

I understand the concerns of the city, but unfortunately, many of the close Rikers advocates see this crisis as an opportunity to advance their agenda of ending incarceration at Rikers without any reasonable alternative and without consideration for the general publics safety, McMahon said.

We think there should be a much more measured approach, said the D.A.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Last week, the citys six top prosecutors, including McMahon, asked the mayor and Correction Department to establish a consistent policy to set free at-risk inmates.

In a letter, prosecutors expressed concern about possibly releasing across-the-board hundreds of inmates serving city sentences.

Some of those individuals, they contended, pose a high risk to public safety.

Prosecutors were particularly concerned about those inmates serving time for domestic violence or sex offenses.

Putting them back on the street could potentially jeopardize victims, prosecutors said.

None of the Staten Island inmates released had been jailed for domestic-violence or sex offenses, although one had been behind bars for a family offense, said the D.A.

According to the Legal Aid Societys calculations, 287 of the 4,317 inmates incarcerated in city jails as of Wednesday have tested positive for the coronavirus.

That figure equates to more than 66 infections per 1,000 inmates, which is nearly seven times the rate of 9.81 infections per 1,000 residents in the city, said Legal Aid.

COVID-19 is spreading rapidly at Rikers Island and other local jails, endangering our clients, correction staff and all of New York City, said Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of the Criminal Defense Practice at Legal Aid, in a statement.

Based on this analysis, New York city jails have become the epicenter of COVID-19. It is imperative that Albany, City Hall, our local district attorneys and the NYPD take swift and bold action to mitigate the spread of this deadly virus.

McMahon, however, said he worries that many of the inmates released wont have access to health care or other needed social services. That could potentially create other problems, he said.

Many have criminal histories and mental-health and addiction illness, and theyre being poured back into the community, said the D.A.

A more sensible solution, McMahon maintains, would entail repurposing a number of buildings no longer in use at Rikers Island, including an infirmary.

Inmates could be monitored and treated in those units as opposed to sending them back to the borough where those at risk could potentially contract the disease and spread it, he said.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  The numbers are relatively small but growing every day.

As coronavirus COVID-19 infections climb in Kent County and much of West Michigan, so do the number of people showing up to Spectrum Health Butterworth and Blodgett hospitals suffering from symptoms associated with the infectious respiratory disease.

Some are having trouble breathing, telling nurses they feel like theyre trying to catch a breath underwater. Others are gasping for air. Ventilators are being used to treat those who can no longer take in enough oxygen on their own.

Every day weve seen an uptick in the number of respiratory patients, said Kendra Peot, a nurse manager at Butterworth Hospital. She added, Its pretty intense. When these patients come in, theyre declining very quickly.

West Michigan has not yet been hit by anything like the patient surge playing out at hospitals in Southeast Michigan, where some facilities are at or near capacity. But the number of people being treated at Spectrum for coronavirus  61 people systemwide as of Thursday afternoon  is inching upward.

Frontline healthcare workers like Peot are working to ensure West Michigan is ready should patient demand spike.

Theyre monitoring supplies of personal protective equipment, such as N95 facemasks, to make sure they have what they need to treat coronavirus patients.

Theyre keeping tabs on the number of intensive care unit beds to ensure theres enough available should more patients flood into the emergency room.

And in between it all, theyre comforting patients who can no longer see their families because of visitor restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus.

Where you would normally have a dozen family members coming to say their goodbyes, thats certainly not the case right now, Peot said. So, were having to step in and help families do that.

Meanwhile, people continue to flow into the hospital. Babies are being born. Heart attack and stroke victims are being treated, as are those who show up with traumatic injuries because of car crashes and other accidents.

Other illnesses dont stop, said Dr. Daniela Pellegrini, an infectious disease physician at Mercy Health in Muskegon. People still need medical care in spite of COVID.

Statewide, there were 20,346 confirmed coronavirus cases and 959 deaths as of Thursday, April 9, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Eighty percent of the cases were clustered in Michigans three most populous counties  Wayne, Oakland and Macomb. There were 240 cases and 10 deaths in Kent County, while Ottawa County had 59 cases and one reported death, according to their health departments.

Muskegon County had 56 cases and four deaths, according to its health department.

Nurses and other frontline healthcare workers are leaning on one another, and the community, for support.

Thank you cards and childrens drawings line the walls of an employee breakroom at Butterworth Hospital. Meanwhile, more than 10 people gathered outside the hospital last month, holding up cards offering praise and well wishes to the healthcare workers inside.

When I walk past these things, it brings tears to my eyes and gives me fuel to keep going, said Missy Rykse, a nurse manager at Blodgett Hospital. We take care of patients at their worst. We always have and always will.

Like Spectrum, Metro Health Hospital in Wyoming has attempted to free up space for a potential surge of coronavirus patients. It has postponed non-emergency procedures and is asking residents to not seek treatment at the hospital unless necessary.

Were ready for the surge, said Khai Le, an emergency room nurse at Metro.

When a surge might occur, or how severe it will be, is unclear.

On March 30, Spectrum Health CEO Tina Freese Decker said the number of coronavirus cases in West Michigan could peak in early May, pushing demand for care beyond what it or any health care system could handle.

She sounded a more optimistic tone on April 7, when she announced that social distancing efforts were working and have "lowered the curve by as much as 65 percent. The curve Freese Decker mentioned was related to the projected number of people in Spectrums service area that would need to be hospitalized, officials said.

The healthcare system later emphasized that the up to 65 percent drop in the curve is an optimistic projection if social distancing were to continue at the current rate.

At Metro Health, doctors, nurses and healthcare workers are treating all confirmed or suspected coronavirus patients in a special section of its emergency department. Le said he and his colleagues don all the required personal protective gear  gowns, gloves, face shields and masks  before treating any of those individuals.

Every respiratory illness, every sore throat, every person that comes in we consider high-risk for COVID, he said. We essentially just assume they have COVID.

Metro Health declined to disclose how many confirmed or suspected coronavirus patients are being treated at its 208-bed hospital. As of Thursday afternoon, the hospital was at roughly 50 percent capacity, said spokesperson Jamie Allen.

While nurses and other frontline healthcare workers are passionate about caring for patients, a shortage of personal protective equipment has put some on edge.

On Monday, a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at McLaren Flint died from complications related to COVID-19. And nurses represented by unions, including those at Mercy Health in Muskegon, have complained about a shortage of personal protective equipment.

Are frontline healthcare workers in West Michigan worried about getting sick?

I do think its in the back of everyones mind  the what if, said Rykse, the nurse manager at Blodgett. But I also feel protected in the fact that we have the PPE (personal protective gear) available when were going in to take care of patients.

She added, Weve had time to prepare, had time to work through the CDC guidelines and ensure that we have the appropriate PPE.

Rykse says she and her colleagues have seen how quickly coronavirus can leave patients fighting to breathe.

Patients will come in and will look fairly stable, meaning theyre not struggling, maybe they need a little bit of oxygen, Rykse said. But then, a half-hour or hour later, theyre struggling so hard that they need to be intubated. Thats a little different than what were used to seeing with respiratory patients, she said.

A few nights ago, Peot and her colleagues encountered two patients who were struggling to breathe and simultaneously had to be intubated and put on ventilators. Although that may happen once in a while in the emergency department, were seeing that almost every day right now, she said.

Despite such challenges, frontline healthcare workers say their training has prepared them for what lies ahead.

What were planning for is the unknown, Peot said. We dont know essentially what that need will be. So were trying to plan ahead and be prepared for that.

Pellegrini, the infectious disease physician at Mercy Health in Muskegon, echoed that statement. Mercy is not releasing how many confirmed or suspected coronavirus patients its treating at its hospitals in Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Shelby.

Because of our halting of elective procedures, its allowed there to be a significant amount of bed space available, she said. I think that is going to serve us very well.

PREVENTION TIPS

Read more:

Michigans updated coronavirus stay-at-home order will close garden centers and other parts of grocery stores

Friday, April 10: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Running out of body bags. People dying in the hallway. Coronavirus has Michigan hospital workers at a breaking point.

Healthcare workers cheer first coronavirus critical care recovery at Grand Rapids hospital
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Overland Park police now say the man shot and killed outside a library in Overland Park Wednesday night was a 30-year-old Prairie Village resident. The shooting happened near the Johnson County library at 87th and Farley streets. First responders took Micah Babick to the hospital in critical condition but he later [...]
A motorcyclist was killed after hitting a curb and tree Thursday near Vancouver, deputies say.

The Clark County Sheriffs Office said Elizabeth Dunlap and Erik Bash were riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles north on Northeast Ward Road when Dunlap hit a medians curb and was thrown from her motorcycle.

She hit a tree in the median, deputies said.

Bash, who was behind Dunlap, hit her motorcycle. The collision caused him to lay his motorcycle down.

Dunlap, a 52-year-old Vancouver resident, died at the scene. Bash was hurt but refused aid.

Deputies said early indications are that excessive speed contributed to the crash, which is under investigation.

-- Jim Ryan; jryan@oregonian.com; 503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
Subscriber content preview

OLYMPIA (AP)  The Washington Supreme Court says people are not entitled to make minimum wage for jury duty.

Three citizens who reported for jury duty or who served on juries filed a class-action lawsuit against King County, challenging their $10-a-day pay.





. . .
Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) delivers a statement at the hallway of the Speakers Balcony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on March 23, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Pelosi Urges Trump Not to Open Economy Too Soon

As the Trump administration lays the groundwork for reopening parts of the U.S. economy as early as May, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said getting up and running too quickly amid the epidemic would only make matters worse.

Pelosi, in interviews with CNBC and Politico, urged President Donald Trump not to lift lockdowns until the pandemic is sufficiently under control.

I dont think anybody can tell you a date unless we just take it a week at a time. But lets be hopeful that its soon, she told CNBCs Jim Cramer in an interview Thursday.

I would hope that the scientific community would weigh in and say, You cant do this, it is only going to make matters worse if you go out too soon, Pelosi said in a separate interview with Politico.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, told CNN Friday that there were encouraging signs of the epidemic tapering in places.

What were seeing right now are some favorable signs, Fauci said in the interview, citing progress in hard-hit New York.

But he cautioned against moving too quickly to reopen society, saying: We would want to see a clear indication that you were very, very clearly and strongly going in the right direction. Because the one thing you dont want to do is you dont want to get out there prematurely and you wind up back in the same situation.

Fauci encouraged Americans to observe social distancing guidelines around Easter, a time when families come together.

Now is no time to back off, Fauci said.

As the CCP virus has aggressively spread across the nation, with Johns Hopkins figures at the time of reporting noting 466,396 infections and 16,703 deaths, Pelosi said the House would probably not return to session in April, saying: This has taken an acceleration from when we started this  Little did we know then that at this point, wed be further confined.

Trump, meanwhile, has sought to balance the needs of Americans to make a living with restrictions intended to save lives. The president said at an April 9 White House briefing that the economic shutdowns have exacted a tremendous toll, mentally, on a lot of people.

I think were going to open up strong. I think were going to open up very successfully, and, Id like to say, even more successfully than before, Trump said, adding that, Were going to be opening up  very, very, very, very soon, I hope.

At the briefing, Trump also reported that, to date, there have been over 2 million CCP virus tests performed, with more than 100,000 people tested per day.

Millions of Americans are making profound and difficult sacrifices in their own lives because they know it will save the lives of countless others, he said, adding, But I think our country, from an economic standpoint, will end up being stronger than ever.

I think that whats going to happen is were going to have a big bounce rather than a small bounce. But we will be back, Trump said.

The Trump administrations top economic officials said on Thursday they believe the U.S. economy could start to reopen for normal business as early as May.

As soon as the president feels comfortable with the medical issues, we are making everything necessary that American companies and American workers can be open for business and that they have the liquidity they need to operate the business in the interim, Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin told CNBC in an interview Thursday.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, speaking on Fox Business Network, said the economy should be able to reopen on a rolling basis over the next month or two.

Our intent here wasisto try to relieve people of the enormous difficult hardships they are suffering through no fault of their own, Kudlow said.

Fauci told CNN that members of the COVID-19 task force look at data every day for indications we can go forward in a gradual way to essentially reopening the country.

He said task force members report back to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who will ultimately decide when to reopen the country.

That decision will be made at that level, Fauci said.

Reuters contributed to this report.
JACKSON, MI  Lauren Bryan has worked at Pollys Country Market for more than 10 years, but shes never seen anything like COVID-19 hit her grocery store before.

As shelves empty throughout the store at 1210 W. Parnall Road, the 32-year-old has witnessed a new ebb and flow of customers panic buying or buying more items than they usually do.

Instead of going and buying $60 worth of food for that day, people are spending $300 trying to make sure that can last for a week, Bryan said.

Store hours have drastically changed, sales arent advertised anymore because no one can guarantee items being in stock and employees are working more hours, sometimes in jobs theyve never had before.

Each day means stocking shelves before customers arrive with what the store still has, Bryan said. Theres usually a morning, afternoon and evening rush of customers, with a steady flow of traffic in between.

Its a scene thats playing out in grocery stores all over Jackson County and the state as essential workers work to keep food on the shelves so people can take it home to feed their families during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Before the pandemic, the Food Marketing Institute estimated almost 141,000 grocery workers across 7,609 Michigan locations. This doesnt account for recent hiring surges by larger grocery chains to help meet customers demands, said Meegan Holland, at the Michigan Retailers Association vice president of communications.

I feel really grateful right now that I do have a job and it brings me joy that I am able to help people the way I am right now, Bryan said.

Bryan used to hang sales tags and create display signs throughout the store. Now, she helps in the front cash office and service center filling out morning paperwork and running a register for money orders and lottery tickets.

Im concerned about the virus, but I know if there is a chance of me getting it, there is more likely a chance that I could be a recovery instead of those who have ended up getting it a lot worse than others, she said.

Bryan dons a pair of latex gloves after washing her hands for an additional barrier and peace of mind as she gets to work, but the gloves only go so far. By continuing to work, shes not only potentially exposing herself, but also her family to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The hardest part is that I take care of my parents who are 70 and 71, Bryan said. My dad is a diabetic, so hes more susceptible to this. Im worried about bringing this home to him.

Adapting to the situation has meant taking additional precautions.

I have mentally made it a note that I do not touch my face, Bryan said. Ive been wearing longer clothes so that if I do need to touch my face, I grab a section of my shirt.

Pollys Country Market founder Frank A. Kennedy opened the first store in Jackson in 1934. Today there are seven family-owned stores  four in Jackson and one each in Adrian, Chelsea and Brooklyn. His grandson, Sean Kennedy, current company president, now watches over the company as his stores serve the community during a pandemic.

Peek Through Time: Polly the parrot has helped fill Jackson cupboards for 80 years

Being in Jackson so long, many of our customers are friends as well  both to us and our associates, Kennedy said. It feels good to be in a position to help them out.

Employees are asking for a little help from their customers, too.

Everybodys loading up in the car to go to the grocery store because thats the only place you can go, said Adrianna Glover, who oversees cashiers at the Parnall Road store. I feel that is endangering other people and myself as a worker.

The 40-year-old wants customers to take better care of each other by doing their part to stop the spread of coronavirus.

What I would hope for is for people to be respectful of others and maintain their distances and cleanliness, Glover said.

Tamara Garcia has shopped at Pollys for 16 years and is thankful for the workers who keep stocking the shelves today. In her few trips to the Brooklyn store since the COVID-19 pandemic started, she said shes been greeted by workers with a smile despite the circumstances.

I know how it can be working with the public, Garcia said. I know not everyone is as respectful and polite as they should be. These people are still going to work despite these variables.

Pollys stores have struggled with restocking popular items, such as Hawaiian rolls, doughnuts, pre-packaged bread and some frozen vegetables, Bryan said.

The stores receive a limited amount of paper products and toilet paper sells out within the first two hours of being open, she said. Baking goods such as flour and sugar were wiped out, but now Pollys has built up the inventory again.

Customers have the best chance at getting high-demand items on Monday, Wednesday and Friday after the trucks come in to restock items around 7:15 a.m., Bryan said.

At first, bread was a hot commodity, but both fresh bakery bread and wrapped bread from large bakers are in stock now, she said.

For the first week, (customers) were even taking the gluten-free bread and everything they could get their hands on, Geni Carpenter, a Pollys bakery employee, said.

By the time the pandemic winds down, Bryan thinks it will take time for the shelves and the employees mentality to recuperate.

I think its going to be day-by-day progress, she said.

Until then, Bryan finishes work each day by washing her hands yet again and calling her parents, who only leave the house for car rides, to ask if they need any groceries before she leaves.

Lately, the list hasnt been long, she said. Sometimes its as simple as a candy bar for her mom. On this day, she grabs a Butterfinger, clocks out, goes home and comes back to work to do it all over again tomorrow.
He was briefly admitted at the clinic on Ekurede Itsekiri Road, Warri, before he was transferred to Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH) Oghara, where he died on Wednesday before the result of his blood sample came out positive on Thursday.
Actor Kriti Kharbanda says she got terrified after her recent bout of flu, worried that she had contracted the coronavirus. She said she could not get herself checked as the test kits were not available in the country back then.

Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, Kriti said the symptoms started showing soon as she landed back home after catching an international flight. I thought it best not to mingle given the symptoms. I was terrified I had contracted the virus but since test kits were not available in the country back then and I did not have a fever, the doctors advised me to distance myself and monitor my symptoms. I was paranoid for the first three days, then, I started to feel better, she said. Kriti was in Delhi for the engagement party of her boyfriend and actor Pulkit Samrats brother.

Kriti and Pulkit are living together amid the lockdown. She said he moved into the same building as hers and the couple now spend their days together playing board games. We had decided to stay in the same building to dodge traffic, but now, I am grateful to have him with me. I cant imagine how other couples who dont stay together are dealing with the lockdown, she said.

On Thursday, Pulkit had shared a video of the two playing some notes on the piano and dancing together. The black and white video showed him practising different songs.

Also read: Major Black Widow plot leak reveals villain holds key to introducing Wolverine, Deadpool into MCU

Kirti and Pulkit have starred together in Pagalpanti and started dating last year. Talking about her relationship, Kriti had earlier said, No, they are not rumours. We are dating each other. In all honesty, I wanted my parents to know first that Im dating someone and when you start seeing someone, its I think theres a time for everything when youre comfortable talking about it. Sometimes it can take five years; sometimes it can take five months. In our case, it was five months, but Im in a very happy place and I have no qualms admitting that I am dating Pulkit Samrat.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
While millions of Americans are at home, socially distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus, fleets of men and women head out daily to make deliveries. Some drop off groceries and medicine, while others hand over marijuana strains of blue dream or sour diesel.

In over a dozen states, marijuana dispensaries and pot shops have been deemed essential services and remain open through lockdowns, and illegal deliveries are also on the rise. This worries medical experts, who say smoking and vaping damage the lungs, worsening symptoms and helping to spread the virus. The cannabis trade faces a new problem: keeping employees safe from the virus.

Our business doubled: Every day is a Friday, said the owner of Jack Flash, a cannabis delivery service in New York City, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the sale of recreational marijuana is illegal in New York. Its just been really nonstop.

Jack Flash employs a team of seven to deliver cannabis products to customers across all five boroughs of New York City from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Customers find out how to place an order by word of mouth. There is only one rule: Buyers must retrieve their product and complete the transaction in the car, the owner said.